#i didn't need to make it this in-depth but here we are. whoops.

[decomposited]

ANATOMICAE

This post is supposed to be a (hopefully) thorough breakdown of the physiology and anatomy of segments and a primer for their general functions. Not required reading, but I thought it would be interesting to record my headcanons and theoretical biology ramblings somewhere for easy reference. And besides, reading through is likely easier than taking one of them apart yourself. The contents here will potentially be updated or edited as new ideas come to mind.

I. INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM

The integument, in this case, refers to the skin, hair, and nails, and the structures associated with them. Segments do (perhaps surprisingly) have “real” genuine human skin, hair, etc. It is derived from a human source, but not anyone unwilling. The organic components of all segments are directly cultivated from the original Dottore’s various “donations” and therefore at a base level all share the same default genetic profile. This results in them, for the most part, having the same phenotype (skin/hair color, eye color, etc.), barring any mutations or epigenetic changes while growing (or any bodily modifications made later).

For context, when speaking about parts being grown vs built, some of their organic parts are cultured separately in tanks (think of an oversized specimen jar) as a unit, whereas others are grown on top of their skeletal frame (which we will be addressing shortly) in their own independent holding tank.

Much like humans, the nature of their skin results in the same sorts of properties and identifying features: scars, birthmarks, freckles, moles, etc. Scarring is rarer due to the usage of panacea for more detrimental injuries when available, but more minor (and perhaps major) wounds can leave behind scars if allowed to heal normally. Without any additional help, they heal at about the same rate as an ordinary human being. 

II. SKELETAL SYSTEM

The skeleton of segments is made of metal, or more specifically titanium. Because of this, it is extremely sturdy, and resistant to corrosion and chemical interference. Basically as strong as some steels but less dense and therefore less heavy. It’s very hard to break their bones, so adjustments for intentional access exist (for example, a locking hinge system on the ribcage so it can be opened). Going for the joints is the most easily accessible option for dismemberment or dismantling.

Speaking of the joints, they are shaped and perform about how you would expect human ones to do so. However, an important caveat is the existence of powered systems to exert more force, independent of muscle involvement. Smaller joints have “electric” (loosely) actuators, converting energy from stored panacea into movement. Larger joints associated with carrying more weight have hydraulic actuators. The hydraulic fluid used to power those motors (and other fluidic systems) will be covered in the circulatory section. 

III. MUSCULAR SYSTEM

Normal muscles here, folks. Sorry to disappoint. Nothing particularly special, because like the skin, they’re grown from existing cells. The key point is that they handle all lesser or more delicate motions in the usual manner (muscles moving skeleton), but if more intense force is required, they can switch to relying on the actuators in the skeleton, which results in it moving on its own and pulling around the muscles instead. Most of a segment’s strength is reliant on the skeleton rather than their muscle mass. 

IV. CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM & CIRCULATORY SYSTEMS

The heart is one of the organs that has a mechanical replacement, and is arguably the most important one. Quite a few things need to be pushed around the body, so an organ that could both handle the strain and exert the requisite power was required. It is located where one would typically expect a heart to be, and acts in association with the lungs.

Segments have a synthetic blood replacement, which works similarly to human blood in the sense that it carries out essential processes (moving nutrients and oxygen, removal of metabolic waste products) throughout biological portions of the body. Visually, it looks quite similar to normal human blood, being red in color, but an observant individual might notice it looks particularly dark, even before it dries. The shade is a very deep red, almost approaching black, and upon drying it turns fully black, rather than rusty red or brown. It coagulates somewhat faster than human blood, but not anything too dramatic. Since they don’t have bone marrow, they don’t produce blood cells naturally. Instead, they have an accessory organ that manufactures the blood and replenishes their system when they are running low. This blood organ (if we wanted to call it that) is somewhere in the abdominal cavity.

Outside arteries, veins, and capillaries, they also have very fine tubing for carrying other materials around the body, like hydraulic fluid or panacea. These can easily be differentiated by the differing colors of the contents and the fact that they are more heavily concentrated around mechanical features of their anatomy. 

Since having hydraulics means there has to be a reservoir and pump for that as well. The main pump is attached to the heart. It is part of a closed system, only handling hydraulic fluid rather than interacting with the usual heart functions. It pumps fluid independently of the heart beating. The hydraulic fluid reservoir, meanwhile, is located near the liver. 

V. RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Two lungs, one on each side of the heart. For completely sensible reasons, the segments do actually have to breathe. That is mainly a side effect of their partly organic nature, but also does a lot of work to make them appear a bit more convincingly “human”. The lungs are enclosed by the pulmonary pleurae. 

VI. NERVOUS SYSTEM

They have a human brain stored inside the skull (where it is supposed to be). Don’t ask how he pulled it off, but Dottore somehow managed to copy his brain, in detail, without destroying it entirely. Since all the structures are identical, the segments share the memories of the original, up until the moment their brains were “finished”. Because of that, their individual paths (and the connections their neurons made) began to diverge from the template when they became conscious and started existing independently. 

Most nervous structures are matched or equivalent to the human body simply because of their inclination to grow in that way, but there are also sections where they blend into wiring and vice versa to make sure that signals are shared appropriately. The spinal cord is enclosed inside the spinal column, and still serves as a connection between the central and peripheral nervous systems. 

Internally, some areas and systems are less innervated than others, in order to minimize pain and discomfort during typical (or extracurricular) investigative procedures and maintenance. Their skin and underlying layers of muscle and fascia are perfectly capable of feeling pain as deeply as any other person. The exterior of organs, however, tends to feel sensation more neutrally, rather than indicating visceral pain. 

VII. OTHER ORGANS

Included in the “basic organ systems” package is a digestive tract, albeit slightly more efficient than normal. They don’t need to eat as much/often as an average human in the same height/weight range. Nutrients derived from food contribute to keeping all the organic parts going, but considering how much is mechanical, they could likely remain functional for a decent amount of time before expiring from starvation. Abdominal organs are enclosed in the peritoneum (a membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity) as would be typical in a human. Filtering/processing organs like the liver and kidneys are mechanical.

While they have secondary sex characteristics (that affect appearance and external traits), they don’t have internal reproductive organs. How they present, and what that even means is dependent on the segment. 

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS

Teeth/gums/tongue/other mouth stuff are natural(ish). The core of the teeth and the part that’s attached to the skull is all metal, but they have enamel on top to correct the appearance. This means they have a powerful bite strength. Use this information responsibly.

Additional body modification is typical among segments, and not frowned upon so long as they don’t physically alter the brain or certain other components. They have a tracking chip located somewhere, and that may or may not also function as a self-destruct switch. They specifically aren’t allowed to mess with that. Some segments are more interested in becoming more mechanical than others, or trying out other additions. Epsilon himself is extremely close to the “base” default build. 

Mechanical organs usually have a small glowing piece somewhere on them to indicate how much energy they have in reserve. Think of it as a bit like a rectangular HP bar. Full is optimal. The shorter the glowing section gets, the closer they are to needing a recharge (or more specifically, a panacea refill).

They do have immune systems (but don’t ask how that works). They’re very carefully calibrated to be strong without being too eager in attacking parts of themselves. So they can get sick, but unless it's something very virulent, they'll likely clear it. There is also the possibility that their bodies might occasionally sequester particularly resilient invading organisms and end up carrying them latently.

Segments don't age, exactly. They shed and replace cells, but their telomeres are modified in such a way that they appear to exist indefinitely as the same age they were "born" as. 

As a side effect of having a human brain, they also have to sleep. They should probably get as much as any other person, but that is extremely unlikely. 

[cokou]

𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚐𝚊𝚛 𝙻𝚊𝚠 × 𝙵𝚎𝚖!𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

sum. You wanted attention, you took matters into your own hands and seeked attention from other crewmates. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tw. Mdni / Smut!. Rough Sex. Jealousy. Angry Sex. Cheating (not Law). Penguin n' Shachi mentioned. Brat Taming (Law). Orgasm Denial. Blindfolds. ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ a/n. New writing style! Do not transfer or translate any of my works, this is my only account. Will not be cross posted anywhere (i might on ao3) masterlist♡

Fuck it. Your boyfriend had been busy with everything that he barely even gave you wince or even a peek on God knows what the fuck you're doing. You could've sworn you'd heard him confess everything to that pile of papers infront of him.

This time, he finally crossed the line. He had the audacity to question what was happening to you, and that you should know what you were doing. He'd been glued on those 'works' for weeks, if not even months!

So you took matters into your hands, opening your cabinet to find the perfect outfit to wear today, you decided to wear what would show more skin than the clothes itself. Walking around the submarine submerged into the depths of the ocean while wearing the skimpiest outfit ever? Bad idea. You were just happy enough that the sub was resurfaced just a week ago.

You had your plan on you, you were planning on seducing one of the crewmates of your boyfriend. Come on now, if he just gave you an ounce of attention you wouldn't of done this. You already had a person on your mind, or should you say persons.

Penguin and Shachi, they've never thought that you caught them glacing up and down on you the first day Law had introduced you to them. Plus, they looked like they hadn't touched a woman in ages. And hey, they looked fine too.

Making your way into wherever the fuck they were, you had catched them bickering in the kitchen.

"Yoi! (Name)—..." Penguin freezes all of the sudden as you enter, glaring you up and down then looks towards Shachi.

"...Woah, did the captain finally let you wear those?" Shachi chuckled with a smirk on his face, adjusting his glasses.

"Duh! No way, i can wear what i want and it doesn't matter if he doesn't like it!" You said with a shrug.

"..Well, it definitely screams trouble, (Name).." Why the hell is Penguin so concerned? Did you make a bad choice and this plan would backfire?

"Tch." You scoffed at his response, deciding to try and make this plan go perfectly. You 'accidentally' drop your glasses when you took them off, so you, bend over to pick them up, infront of them of course.

They were shocked, baffled even. Shachi fell from the chair he was sitting on, Penguin who you could've sworn foamed in the mouth from being shocked. Even so it was all followed by them smirking at your deeds.

"W-what are you doing (Name)?! If the captain even finds out, we're d—"

"And he doesn't need to know." You shut them up with both your index fingers, trailing from their mouths to their collarbone. "Shut it, then maybe I'll consider it"

They gave each other a look before turning towards you again, swallowing thickly. "Then cover for us, (Name)."

"Will do." As soon as does words escaped your mouth— you latched your mouth onto Penguin's neck, giving him soft bites while Shachi was buried at the side of your clothed tits.

As soon as everything was going just fine, someone has enetered the kitchen. "(Name)-Ya, are you—...here." Shit, maybe deciding to fuck around in the kitchen was a bad idea in the first place.

"Captain! It's definitely what you think! We—"

"It was my idea, whoops." You give Law an awkward smile and a wave.

Without a word, Law drags you out of the room, gripping your wrists so tight. It almost felt like he was tearing it off your body. He dragged you into the shared bedroom, locks the door and faces you.

"What the fuck was that, (Name)?" You felt the irritation in his voice, now it made you feel guilty. Maybe you just didn't think of your actions correctly. Fuck.

"Silent now are we? What, i haven't given you attention so you decided to be a whore?" His voice was getting lower, yet it felt so intimidating, like it was drilling holes into your brain. You felt the lump in your throat slowly grow every second.

"S-shit, m'sorry, I didn't think it through I—" "You what? Decided to seek attention? FROM my crewmates?" You definitely wont be able to excuse yourself out of this monstrosity.

"Let's see how sorry you are, ya?" That's it, this is your end. You'll die here for being selfish. You closed your eyes and waited for his attack, until he didnt. Instead, he grabbed your shoulders and throwing you into your shared bed, hitting your head slightly.

"ow.." you caress your head as it hit the bedframe, feeling the matress shifting as Law climbed on top of you and pulled you onto a deep kiss.

He grabbed your hips and flipped you, now laying in your stomach. He opened the the bed side table and ramaged through it, pulling out a blindfold and tied it against your sight tightly. You felt him grab your hips again, now pulling you closer to him, his hands were trembling and cold.

He raised your skirt, then he moves your panties onto the side. You shivered at his act and and specifically because of his cold hands. You could feel him checking the way your cunt was dripping juices.

"So wet already? I was only touching you, you must be enjoying this then." The way he speaks to you made you wanna disappear right away, his tone was cold and it brought shivers down your spine.

It only became even worser as you didn't know what he was planning, your sight was blindfolded and could only take whatever feels around you, the way his breath hitches, or his cold tone. He lands a sharp slap up your ass, causing you to jump at the sudden reaction. Then again, and again. You felt your ass being red from his harsh and sharp slaps.

"This is what you get for fucking around, especially when you have me right here. So desperate for attention? I'll give you what you're seeking for." He lands another slap, and repeats it for atleast twelve more times until he was satisfied on how he left hand marks on your ass.

"Silent now are we? Finally rethinking of what you've done?" He waits for your answer. You were thinking of finally saying that you were sorry, but you thought that you'd wanna see where this goes if you admit you weren't sorry at all. "Answer."

"N..no way! not even a bit!" ...you regretted it immediately.

He didn't answer back, he pulled your hips once again and you felt your panties being snatched by him in a fast pace, he holds the collar of your top and opens your mouth, shoving your panties inside it.

"Then you better start praying that you'll be functioning by tomorrow." He presses you into the matress, and he immediately thrusts inside you. You released a loud moan that was muffled and you felt saliva dripping at the corner of your mouth.

He barely gave you time to adjust at his length, as he almost immediately started moving inside you. From the lack of adjustment it felt painful but was replaced by pleasure soon after. His pace was monstrous and hard, you could hear the loud noises of skins colliding across the whole room.

Noises you made were all muffled from the cloth that was inside your mouth, your body was getting hot as climax climbed through you. His pace was faltering and eventually he stopped, then pulled out. Leaving you whining on his touch.

"what? You actually expect me to let you off after what you've done? Don't start whining that you couldn't cum." He grabs your panties from your mouth and removes it off you, "And you better use that mouth of yours to beg, otherwise, I'll leave you hanging."

"p-please.." your voice was low, but loud enough for him to hear.

"please what? You expect me to obey you when I can't even here your voice? Louder." You received goosebumps from the way he commanded you.

"m..your cock..please."

"louder"

"..your cock, please! I want it inside!" It took you all your guts to fully say it out loud without stuttering.

"that's better." He took another second, then thrusts inside of you once again.

You let of another moan, this time, a loud and clear one. He starts moving slowly then immediately pacing faster once again.

His pace was uncontrollable, definitely the hardest yet the best feeling he'd ever gave you. You felt yourself on the edge once again, the hotness revving through your body once again.

"Fuck— you're close aren't you?" He groans as you clenched on him.

"y-yes! P-please let me cum!" The way his pace became even faster left a permanent mark deep inside you.

"yeah, come on my cock—" his breath hitches as his pace slowed, feeling your release on him, he follwed not far behind. Thrusting his cock slowly as he pumped it all inside you, making sure not to let it drip out. You moaned his name as you felt him finish deep inside you, his cum was hot and thick. It felt as if it were melting your walls.

"(Name)—, you better fucking come to me when you need it that bad."

"I promise! But i wouldn't mind doing it again if it means by you fucked me that hard.."

—So, i actually kinda have a head cannon that he talks you through fucking you, like so teasing and a demanding tone BECAUSE he knows you like it and turns you on. <3

[flare-the-freak]

Made a fix it JJK au bc sillies! So here's some random silly things :3

I post more goofy stuff on my friend's and I's JJK server! I'll drop the invite below ;)

The only reason this somehow happens is because Toji gets paid MORE by Gojo, so he gets a salary by Gojo and ends up more in an uncle position with Megumi and Tsumaki! More in depth is Gojo helps Toji get back on his feet, and actually chooses to yoink Megumi and Tsumaki so they doesn't get stuck with the Zen'in

Suguru DOESN'T defect, but still hates non sorcerers, and sometimes rants to Gojo about how he wishes he could just- implode them! Non-sorcerers tend to avoid Suguru since he sometimes talks about this in public

Curses are actually integrated into society! There's two "types" of curses that you can encounter. The Normal curses we know (Animalistic, runs on fear as fuel, extremely dangerous and tend to kill a ton of people) or "Humanoid" curses, IE Jogo, Hanami, Mahito, etc! Non-sorcerers can see both breeds, however usually only interact with Humanoids!

Yuji, Sukuna, Choso, and Kenjaku (in Ms. Itadori's (does she have a name?) body) all live together. Kenjaku never gets in possession of Geto's body (since he doesn't die) and Sukuna is an elder brother to Yuji, but younger to Choso. Same abilities but toned down

Sukuna is a third year at Jujutsu Tech

Choso is in college, studying the fine arts

Kenjaku is a single mom. She's not the greatest in this, but damn it he's trying! (and genderfluid)

Gojo and Geto teach at JJK tech. Gojo even got Toji a job there!

Rainbow comes back! No one realized curses can reform and keep it's memories, or it's just a special case..but she's back! She found Gojo once when he was on a mission, she very clearly wasn't tethered to Geto anymore, but still clung to Gojo like a giant cat. She shrank herself down to the size of a big dog and followed him home

Gojo and Geto now have Rainbow in their house, Megumi was so mad (Curses don't need to eat though, thankfully. She keeps shredding his bed with her nails though.)

Speaking of Megumi, him and Sukuna have known each other awhile, and Sukuna tries to wing man him AND Yuji (He hates watching them pathetically flirt. It makes him so mad)

Sukuna came home with face tattoos (inspired by a JJK art piece I saw will tag once I find!) after being dared by his friends to get them while drunk. Kenjaku grounded him for 3 months. Anytime someone asks, now Sukuna says it's part of his cursed technique.

oh whoops! dropped some ocs in there! shout out to @notagremlim

for their sona Grem who I've traumatized beyond repair using Toji! GREMJI BRAINROT TIME! <3

Grem and Toji were married, until Toji got involved with some dumb shit and divorced his husband as Toji didn't want them involved. Grem was...not happy when Toji came back. Refused to talk to him for like- 3 months. Toji was like a pathetic cat, and Gojo was not great advice considering bro was a teen dad and still traumatized from getting mauled!

Speaking of getting mauled, Itadori meets Megumi through Sukuna, who had to come pack for a trip and Megumi (against his will) is forced to come with! Gojo wanted Megumi to have experience on the battlefield against the "feral curses" (Geto isn't happy.) And Itadori...man bro is GONE. Even Kenjaku is raising a brow. Megumi summoned the divine dogs to take care of some curses terrorizing some little kids, and Yuji is like "Oh shit! He's handsome and is a dog person?" Sukuna decides to take Yuji with, who then figures out his cursed technique is....well throwing hands. Pretty much canon stuff there but without Sukuna's abilities and the fingers.

Curses are extremely abundant, with humanoid ones actually helping to exorcise the feral ones. Mahito is a bit of a menace though and Jogo and Hanami are just there to keep him in check

Gojo sometimes works overtime to make sure Geto has time off in case he noticed Geto spiraling

(Suguru has to bring this up when Gojo was gone for a week, came home, and immediately collapsed all six eyes out. And yes. He has a legit six eyes here, it's just he hides it with cursed energy! But when he's super excited about something or REALLY tired they pop out, or if he just- is relaxing at home.)

Server join below ;)

[lyceana]

I felt true, visceral fear today after I returned from work and discovered that my Huion monitor tablet wouldn't connect to my laptop. I knew that bitch was all powered up and screaming but blue-balling me with only pitch-black darkness.

I shut off and restarted my laptop 5 fucking times, rammed the usb cables in and out of my laptop's usb ports, in and out... I never thought that an expensive device - wasted for just watching funny cat videos and enabling me to draw the shapely but scaly butt of Voldemort - could be violated. Learned a life lesson here: any hole can be stuffed, you just need some imagination y'all.

Fuck tentacles, ugly men & weird-ass creatures with gigantic horse dicks - give me sub laptops/pcs getting dominated by their puny usb cable daddies!

I digress. So, I turned on my 2nd laptop which is on life-support - it never asked to be an accessory to producing hardcore incest material between Tom and his hot daddy Riddle sr, btw. But, like come on! What's better than one hot, mentally maladjusted Tom Riddle? Two of course! Think about the delicious angst, the hurt/comfort, the abandonment issues, the forbidden attraction, uugh...

Why are there so few tomcest (sr) fics? It's unfair, I'm fucking starving, eh. I mean, Riddle sr is the goddamn blueprint for gratuitously hot Voldemort! Where's pathetic, blushy, snot-nosed and puffy-eyed Tom Riddle sr??? The internet lied to me! I thought you only needed two hot dudes who didn't even have to meet each other to make sweet, sweet looove to each other... there's even incest and murder for extra seasoning!

I'm begging the ao3 wordsmith gods who kin Tom Riddle/Voldemort to open their hearts to Tomcest sr T_T) We all love pathetic men in tears and Voldemort would never allow himself to show such vulnerability but that's what we have his da for... Voldy could vicariously experience such a display of helplessness through Riddle sr! And tbh, I seriously need more beautiful works of art featuring my favourite basket case twink (dub-) non-con-ing his papa into some father/son bonding. I'm going cold turkey here!

I digress again. So, I plugged my Huion into my 2nd laptop and behold! That fucker finally connected and mirrored the laptop display, thank fucking god! Little shit was playing hard to get but it still lives! Whoop, whoop!

Thank Voldy's perky ass, I wasn't forced to make a human connection with an underpaid yet bored employee at the Huion support centre. I had that tablet for 4 years and we experienced the deepest depths of human depravity together - I cried bitter tears, cursed it for reflecting my shitty art skills - my inability to draw hot men bedtime wrestling. But, we also experienced joy together when I succeeded. That fucker made me feel like an art god when it reflected how I envisioned the smut to be. I'm not ready to end this toxic relationship, I thought I'd be.

I was all 'yeah, I'm sooo stage 4 already! I only need the Huion employee to gaslight me into buying their newest, shiny model to reach stage 5!' I'm 30, a grandma according to annoying (affectionate) internet youngsters. My body can't handle eating only instant ramen for 4 months anymore. My roaring 20s are a bygone era and for once I choose to practice some self-care, to love myself even!

For once, I was about to make an adult decision and... wait. To save up the money - to accept that I'll be a temporary full-time traditional wannabe weird-ass hentai artist with a shitty phone camera... but thank god I don't have to! My beloved tablet still works and I can be a part-time traditional but mainly digital wannabe weird-ass hentai artist with a shitty phone camera! Yeah, this is how my day went. Love y'all ~ mwaaah

Shameless self-promo plug but I think you should at least look at the smut scenes to see the appeal of tomcest (sr)~ I also need some validation for providing my tears as lube for their narcissistic coupling You can read Philautia here: AO3

[sol-shines]

@ your tags PLEASE talk abt your parker designs!!!

this is for you and @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars THANK YOU for enabling me :3 sorry this took a little bit

if you don't know what this is about i drew my takes on the parkers here !

rambles under the cut:

SO what i sorta wanted to do was make. each parker flow into the next while subtly changing in between ,,, something something losing yourself to the game, becoming unrecognizable. so let's cover it parker by parker:

prime: i personally Love the hc that the coin is parker's mom. so prime is a lil ancient roman coded guy. he's SOOOO eldest sibling coded help. like he and his mom have a very strained relationship but also he thinks that if he just does whatever she wants she'll finally be proud of him :P whoops! and yeah v explosive anger (firewalker reference!), leading to ego, leading to. You Know. anyway. oh ALSO the parkers get younger as we progress so :))) they all STARTED at 19 but have varying degrees of age. so prime is in his mid-thirties.

parker ii: AH the most elusive of the parkers. SO: in my personal lore interp, parker ii was created when prime starting to push back against the coin more and more to the point where it was becoming a problem. and prime of course is very destructive and makes a mess when he's angry. so ii came about from me going "...what if parker just. said fuck it and left. didn't give a shit about ego just didn't wanna play the game anymore and found a way out." and that's exactly what my ii did. absolutely fucking vanished and quit the game for good. somehow. which uhhh MIGHT have been what caused prime to go apeshit ("why does ii get to leave and i'm stuck here?") and end prehistory. whoops. so i wanted to make them look very vagabond-y. somehow got even edgier than prime (impressive). also they're abt 30-ish. and have crazy gender stuff going on. possibly transfem. "but how is that possible if you hc the parkers as transmasc-" shhh. i don't know <3

park3r: GOD i loved doing this one. this parker is such a bitch and i love him. the first commissioner parker, created bc "OKAY so we gotta make him more young and impressionable and less unstable AND take him out of this game bc very clearly Bad Things will happen if he stays" so they made. a chronically online teenager and made them commissioner AMDNFM. god yeah i love this design he's sooo. just a 19-year-old trying to fill an impossible role and putting on a cool face about it. tragic, yes. but they're gonna complain the whole time and make everyone else miserable too. fully believe he was just scared and out of his depth the whole trial :( oops why are parkers iii and iiii so sad. i drew him closer to mid-20s here but honestly he could easily be younger

p4rker: LOVE this guy's lore so my hc is that after the trial that killed park3r it was like "uhhhh FUCK we need a new one of those. stat." so. they just. took park3r's incin'd body (ik it's not really Canon that park3r was incin'd he just Died but. let me have this) and like. stitched it back together. so p4rker is covered in burns and stitched together like frankenstein all over, and they just threw a mask on them like "see!!! new guy!!" the result of this being they didn't have. a whole ton of time to add shit like Personality, so p4rker is the outlier in that they're very naive and even polite? they don't understand what all the fuss is about them and just wants to be. nice? shame he didn't stick around long :/ the drippy bits are a little percolation nod! in this particular drawing he's like 20 :(

pvrker is. obviously the least human. park3r was more of a prototype of a commissioner, p4rker was a temporary placeholder at best, pvrker... was well and truly made For The Game. and his appearance reflects that. kinda a combination of iii's bluntness and 4's naivety. in-universe some people think he's the most sinister or whatever bc he's so directly Controlled By ILB Shit and that's not NOT true but like. give him a break guys he's like 6 days old he's new at this :(

ANYWAY that's so long holy shit. here are my rambles i hope u like them. im So Bad at blaseball lore so someone yell at me if something i put in there isn't accurate but. yeag :)

[starlightshadowsworld]

Danganronpa 3: Future arc episode 4

Thonks.

After Munakata gave an admittedly cool line...we get a recap from Monokuma who calls him a badass.

I'm sorry but if Monokuma thinks highly of you... You know you're the bad guy.

"Please note: Hagakure's stuck outside because nobody likes him."

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼.

I mean I'd rather have him than Juzo.

"Quit acting like your title means a damn thing."

Bold words for a guy who once beat a student because he was "inferior" for not having a talent.

Someone needs to stop giving this guy chairs.

Seiko's still... That and running after Ruruka and Izayoi.

The director being kind of a badass makes sense.

Wouldn't have survived this long if he wasn't.

And he's beating Juzo sips tea maybe we can trust him.

Kyoko's stunned reaction like you gotta be good to fool the detective.

Awh Asahina and Kyoko hugging.

"Why bother being like him, he's him and you're you." Look at you Kyoko giving encouragement.

I'm proud of her.

And Asahina chiming in that yeah you're great on you own. You don't need to be like Makoto.

Trust me, as much as we love Makoto one is enough.

Ahh fuck Munakata's got Makoto.

I knew he didn't kill him already, but to use him for ransom?

... Nope he's gonna kill him...

I love how everyone's freaking out and Kyoko's just annoyed.

Explaining it's a trap, to draw them all in.

If Munakata was gonna kill him he would've done so already, so they have time to negotiate.

So I was right, he is ransom.

Although I disagree on the he would've done so already.

Munakata seems like the type to play with his food, so to speak.

He's not gonna kill Makoto, not yet.

He's gonna make him suffer first.

Like Sato said, I wanted to see the light leave her eyes. That's what Munakata wants from Makoto.

To drag him into the depths and experience true despair.

Not realising Makoto has, several times.

Makoto just having no energy while Munakata is still on his dramatics.

Mood.

Also man needs to pick his side because I'm confused.

First it's, you have to die because you're that strong and gave so much influence.

And now it's you're nothing, you're not a threat of you live or die.

Is it because he's tied up?

That doesn't mean he couldn't go free, and thus be a threat?

Pick a story my dude and stick to it.

Makoto: The worst case scenario is we all die.

Munakata: Nope.

In a way I get where he's coming from in his hypotheticals.

If the killing stops after a person is killed that doesn't mean they're the killer. They could stop whenever they want.

And that person could survive and than go on to influence the rest of the foundation.

But it doesn't justify mass murder nor whatever the hell he's doing.

Also his insistence on calling it a game...doesn't sit right with me.

Man if I ever complained about Byakuya I want to apologise.

You are nowhere near as insufferable nor egotistical as this fucker.

Idk how you managed to make game 1 Byakuya "I moved the dead body to make the killing game more interesting" Togami look like an functional human being.

But here we are.

"Despair would march on with a flag of hope. That would be the worst outcome."

... Who's gonna tell him that's exactly what he's doing...

He's on a power trip and decided him and only him gets to decide who lives and who dies.

Again, stop trying to justify mass murder.

The director is here and shattered his sword. That's how you make an entrance.

Finally Kyoko gets to do her thing and investigate.

Asahina getting Makoto to safety, whoop.

Director stepping up to fill Gozo's shoes as resident badass on Makoto's side.

Rest in peace Great Gozu.

"For what it's worth, there's no doubt in my mind that you are the Super High School Level Hope."

There it is from the former headmaster himself.

I think Ryota's the traitor but I don't really have any evidence.

Just a vibe.

I hope its not though I'm not sure who it could it be.

"We used to be besties."

"Oh don't even play that card. Last I checked, besties don't get besties expelled from Hope's Peak high school."

... Yeah Ruruka and Seiko definitely have history.

Reminds me of Natsumi and Sato.

Oh so Izayoi and Ruruka also got expelled.

Interesting.

Ya'll are kinda in your own show at this point.

Oh hell yeah the Director just through Munakata on the ground.

I get he has a name but I'm just gonna call him Director.

Also him calling Munakata cynical and naive when all Munakata has done has berate Makoto for being naive.

Hell yeah.

"Despair can only be eliminated by those prepared to make the necessary sacrifices."

"Oh than I suppose Yukizome was one of those sacrifices."

OHHHHHHHHH!!!

He got you there.

Gonna need some ice for that, the old man is not playing around.

... And getting stabbed through the hand and keeps going.

Fucking hell.

And they fell through a glass balcony.

Man I don't want Miaya to die... But they're going off alone and said I'll be back...

"When we get out of here, we're gonna eat so much donuts."

Heh, yeah you guys should.

Annnd Miaya has rocket missles in her wheelchair.

Oh... Yeah the Director has been stabbed through with shrapnel.

Munakata having the audacity to say he thought the director had "lost his fangs and was just hiding behind a cheap code of ethics."

And he'd wanted to kill him for ages.

Werido.

Juzo you just committed the cardinal sin of kicking someone's ass while they're powering up.

Dude doesn't know fighting etiquette either.

... And Miaya's a robot.

No wait there's someone controlling her.

WAIT

Miaya is Monaca?!

Didn't see that coming holyshit.

... So she's the traitor?

Because I don't think she's the mastermind.

Either way... Monaca Towa is back.

Fuck.

[theadventurerslog]

The Curse of Monkey Island | Part 10

It's time, it's time, it's finale time. With diamond in hand I was finally able to complete a whopping big uncursed diamond ring.

I went back to Elaine to place the ring on her finger and break this curse at last.

Of course, if you might recall, she was winding up to punch Guybrush before the curse took hold and there was no stopping that.

I was debating whether to use this shot because I happened catch it at an awful frame, but I decided if I had to see it, I get to inflict it on you.

He was much more concerned about Elaine though.

Elaine, was understandably very confused, but Guybrush quickly explained she'd been cursed and he fixed it. Everything was going to be fine.

Just fiiiine.

Or not because LeChuck's undead army showed up and so we start Part V.

Kiss of the Spider Monkey.

This part is basically pure exposition. When we come back, Elaine is tied up and Guybrush is locked in a tram sort of cage thingy while LeChuck is ready and waiting to gloat.

We're back. Back to the Carnival of the Damned.

Where Guybrush escaped from in the first place after his failure to find Big Whoop in the previous game.

Big Whoop, as it turns out, is actually a portal to the demon nether world, and LeChuck plans to send Elaine through it to be granted immortality. By being undead, but I mean I guess that's one form. Sure, Elaine might hate him for it, but she'll come to understand the great gift of it all and the dating pool is remarkably small for the undead.

Sure, LeChuck, sure. No Minnie Goodsoup and Charles DeGoulash here.

Anyway, from this point on LeChuck is eager to talk and you can ask him about several things.

So the theme park: sailors are clearly looking for a family-oriented theme park after months at sea. So, they come here and ride the Great Monkey Mountain rollercoaster from the highest peak down into the lava providing a great supply of undead for his army. Fun and resourceful!

There are also more details about how it's run--dynamo monkelectrics. It's monkey powered. Ruthlessly trained monkeys are down in the depths of the place bound to machines of destruction and family entertainment.

And then there's a great deal about how LeChuck got the map to Big Whoop and what he did to Captain Marley--Elaine's grandfather--and his crew who originally found it, all relating back to the first two games, especially the second. But basically in retrieving each of the four pieces of the map that they'd torn up, he killed or destroyed them in various unpleasant ways.

You can also argue about who Elaine loves. Very eloquent. Does so love me. Does not. Does so, does not. Etc. They're very mature.

And you can have enough of his stories and vileness and stop listening.

Well, LeChuck had enough of his childishness (Like you're any better, LeChuck?) and came up with a fate befitting Guybrush's behaviour.

LeChuck and Elaine vanish. Guybrush seemingly does, but you still hear him and still have control. The door was unlocked so out I sent him.

La la la it's Guybrush the kid.

He walks off to another part of the theme park and knows he needs to rescue Elaine but it's hard to think. Head...foggy. He needs to clear his head.

It was time to get down to business. I didn't have a whole lot of my inventory left anymore, down to a little less than one screen's worth.

Though Murray's pasty arm remained.

Most of my stuff wasn't going to be useful except: the recipe book for a reminder of the Head-B-Clear recipe, after all he needs a clear head now, so that's what we gotta make, and the pan and the shaving cream--those will be useful.

I needed three ingredients: egg, the hair of the dog that bit ya, and pepper. Two of those could be found on this screen.

I also had people to talk to here: Dinghy Dog, Wharf Rat and... Murray on the shelf!

Naturally, I spoke with Murray first. "Are you dead yet? You look different."

He was pleased to find out Guybrush was also cursed too; they could join their cursed forces and rule the world together. Turned down again, sadly, I mean fortunately. He was still grossed out by his pasted up arm too.

Dinghy Dog runs a guessing game to guess the weight or age of the kid playing. If he can't guess one of them the player gets a prize. The weight option fails because he can guess that correctly.

Age however, we had a little advantage. He guessed "a fearsome little buccaneer" like him must be seven years old. Which of course is not correct and Guybrush was able to prove it with his SCUMM Actors Guild Membership Card. So I was able to pick a prize. Murray so wanted to be picked. I even tried--I always do--but Guybrush realized that would be a bad idea and Murray will just keep chattering while and demanding and pleading to be picked while you look at other prizes.

The only option that can be taken is an anchor. Murray was very offended by that and sulks for a while with more comments until going quiet. I'm sorry, Murray. I'd have taken you in a heartbeat if it let me.

Then I had a chat with Wharf Rat who runs "Blow the Man Down." A lemon meringue pie is fired from the cannon at the guy in the window. You can ask what meringue is and get told it's whipped from egg whites or something. And he grumbles about Dinghy Dog: "I'm not allowed to associate with His Highness The Great and Mighty Dinghy Dog" and also gives a clue about not messing him or regretting it.

So of course I was gonna mess with Dinghy Dog by continually prodding him until he lost patience and bit Guybrush.

And Guybrush snagged some hair off his suit. One ingredient down.

As for the egg, I needed a way to get one of the pies and the Wharf Rat wouldn't just let me take one.

So, I needed to get rid of the guy who was the target for the cannon. I filled my pie plate with the shaving cream and stuck the anchor in there and then added the whole thing to the pie stack. In the easier mode you can just add the anchor to the pie stack.

Then ask the Wharf Rat to fire the cannon and threaten him with the prospect of LeChuck finding out he's got unhappy kids running around here and that got him.

The poor window guy got knocked right out.

But that left the place empty for Guybrush to go in and taunt the Wharf Rat until he fired a pie at me too.

Egg acquired.

I just needed the pepper which is in the next screen where there's a guy selling snowcones. All manner of flavours of snowcones.

The list goes on for an impressive length with a lot of rhyming. I kiiind of wish I had it memorized just for kicks. It can be quite rhythmic!

He also had a pepper shaker on the counter which I could simply grab.

I ordered a regular snowcone and added all the ingredients on top of it. Delicious... It made a disgusting snowcone, but eating it, I'm sorry Guybrush, worked and he was restored to his clear-headed adult self.

Which brought me to the sixth and final part of the game.

Guybrush Kicks Butt Once Again.

This final part takes place on the roller coaster. It passes by four different diorama areas, 3 of which are based on past events of the series. You have a chance to hop out of the coaster to look around each one and get needed items. Periodically LeChuck will show up and there's a brief bit of conversation before he winds up with some fire to shoot at you and Guybrush leaps back into the passing coaster.

Through those bits of conversation, you find out Elaine got away and must have fiddled with the controls, and therefore the coaster keeps circling instead of plunging Guybrush into the lava stream. Go Elaine go.

So sections:

Monkey Island:

A little diorama of Herman Toothrot, the hung first mate, and the three-headed monkey. This is, of course, from The Secret of Monkey Island. A piece of rope can be grabbed here.

Captain Marley, his crew and their ship.

This was also one of the times I ran into LeChuck. Or he ran into me. Before that I was able to snag a keg of rum and do a little examining of things.

LeChuck's torture chamber in reference to Monkey Island 2.

Guybrush thought there was an animatronic Wally, only to realize it really is Wally. The poor guy really can't catch a break, but Guybrush apologized for leaving him to blow up in LeChuck's castle last time, and he promises this time he'll come back for him. As soon he defeats LeChuck, saves Elaine, sets all the monkeys free... and rides the Madly Rotating Buccaneer anyway.

I was also able to flip open the lantern and grab some oil.

And finally a snowy area, featuring a path leading up to "every sailor's worst nightmare. The 'Giant, Snowy Ape.'

This is the spot I ultimately needed, specifically for the Snowy Ape's arm that forms a perfect holding spot.

I had to set a trap for LeChuck. Use oil on the rope and attach the rope to the keg of rum. Put the whole thing in the Ape's arm and the oil-soaked rope would dangle down to the lower area. Then I had to wait around for LeChuck who always feels like he takes longer to show up when I actually want him.

I remember getting kind of stuck in this part the first time and needing a bit of a nudge from dad.

But while he's winding up his fire launching, blow some pepper at him to make him sneeze. Sneezey fire plus oiled rope is a fun combination featuring a burst of excitement!

Guybrush got out of there. LeChuck was less lucky.

Kaboom.

And what's a theme park without fireworks?

And LeChuck is defeated. Again. Eat explosion, demon zombie pirate.

Then we fade out to Guybrush and Elaine, newly married and setting sail.

Kind of love the suit look for Guybrush I have to admit. Okay, it's the long tail coat. I like 'em long.

Sail away, waved off by my former crew, a chicken and Lemonhead. The crew may have mutinied but it's nice they remain friendly. Or maybe they're glad to see him gone... I'll go with friendly.

And of course there's a final word from Murray:

He SHALL RETURN. (and spoiler alert: he does.)

Then credits with a bit more grumping from Murray at the start.

And finally a last scene sometime in the future with narration from a kid and his dad enjoying the theme park, but his dad tells of a story of the man who built this place being buried here and it's said his frozen body remains somewhere in the tunnels beneath the amusement park. Then it ends with a brief ominous bit of LeChuck's theme.

The End.

Happy end. Ominous end. Gotta leave room for more!

--

Final Words

This would normally be a final thoughts area, but I've played the game before. Many, many, times.

I will say, this last chunk of game--part 5 and 6--are my least favourite of the game. It's not that I dislike them or anything so extreme, but once I hit the point where I'm ready to uncurse Elaine I always feel a bit of a letdown after everything else. They had run into budget issues and such by the end and some stuff got cut and I feel like that can be felt. I've always thought the ending itself felt pretty abrupt too, but honestly I feel that for most of the series.

That aside, it's just such a comfort food game. I didn't remember to try as much or go for lesser used conversation options as much as I originally intended, so maybe, just maybe there are still a few tidbits of newness or much less familiar bits in there somewhere...for the inevitable future play.

Thank you for reading! If this was your first experience with the game... maybe not the best first go--go play it! If you've played it before, replay it! Play it!

I hope you enjoyed even with the gaps, or if you're someone in the future reading this I hope you enjoyed, gap-free!

Farewell for now Guybrush.

[starryserenade]

Sunflower: A Kingdom Hearts Story

(I'm SO sorry for posting this like a bajillion times, it's so old that I forgot which version was the final version whoops. This SHOULD be right. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go cry for being such an embarrassing mess) Fic Description: In a field of dandelions, a sunflower points the way to the light

Notes: I lost track of what lore is considered canon in KH, especially in terms of newer introductions like the foretellers, so some things may not make complete sense. That said, this is a set in a world created based on a lot of interesting hints and details that all became dead ends (as far as I'm aware). Seeks to give Mickey a more interesting and meaningful role in the world of Kingdom Hearts.

Dug this back up from the depths of the computer after getting an ask from an Anon (thanks for reminding me it exists). I'd forgotten it almost entirely. Literally didn't even know what to write for the description, so have that fun little sentence that was the first thing that popped into my brain.

Enjoy! haha

AO3

~~~

“Why do ya call them Dandelions?” 

“Because,” The mysterious wielder giggled and knelt beside the young boy. “They are all my secret wishes, the seeds I hope to plant for a world I cannot yet see.”   

The little mouse tilted his head, staring thoughtfully at her face with curious eyes that twinkled in the way only children’s do. 

“And why d’ya want me?” 

On these words she stayed silent for some time and her eyes drifted past him to the figure standing just behind, a single lantern swaying in their grip.  They exchanged silent nods and she turned back to the child, smiling softly. 

“Even dandelions cannot persist alone in the dark.  They need the sun to give them strength, and its light to guide them home.”

“I…don’t understand…”

“Little sunflower, I need you to point the way.”

~~~

He stood on the brink of dark and dawn.  To his back lay a sky littered with stars, the whispers of daybreak lingering about them in clouds of pink and blue.  There was a warmth to their shine, but it was fragile, like the flame of a match flickering in a midnight breeze. 

But before him sprawled a sea of shadow, endless and unwavering.  It met with the dawn in a violent clash, nipping at the barrier between and lashing out at every bright flicker that managed to get too close. 

Mickey had cemented himself on the side of the light, as had the others, though he was so close to the border that his shadow fell to the realm beyond.  He sucked in a shaky breath as he looked out at the world before him and did his best to cling to his keyblade.  It wasn’t easy.  A deep gash scarred his shoulder, a recent wound, and every inch of his body screamed and pleaded with him to give into oblivion. 

No, not yet, he scolded himself with what little awareness remained.  Every other bit of thought was focused on scanning the would-be battlefield for the thing he was sure would be his end.  Then it was there.  From deep in the shadows, two eyes blinked open, glowing a deep, bloody red, and Mickey swallowed, resigning himself to the inevitability of what was to come.  It was over.  His blood went cold at the thought and he realized, abruptly and with a curl of his tail, that these were the last moments he would share with the ones beside him.

After hours of standing his ground, he now took a step back. 

~~~

“I wanna go with ‘em!” squealed the boy, and he scrambled to join the keyblade wielders he’d seen rushing outside his window.

“Hm?..Oh!”  Ava leapt from her place and darted to the door, blocking the curious child’s path.  “Ah ah ah!” She wagged her finger playfully, laughing as she always did, even as he pouted.  “You know you have to stay here!”

“But why?” he groaned, ears drooping.  Then his tail twitched, and his voice got soft.  “It’s so lonely.”

Her smile faltered for only a moment before it was replaced by a sunny grin.  “I know, but it won’t be forever, I promise!” she assured him cheerfully. “Right now, we all have our roles…and theirs is just a little bit different than yours.” A wind swept past the window, carrying with it a graceful stream of dandelions, and she let out a quiet breath.  “I know how that feels, believe me.”

She bit her lip even as she spoke the words.

The boy’s eyes fell to the floor and he shuffled his feet.  “I miss Papa…when can I go home?”

Ava didn’t know what to say to that.  Soon?  After the war? 

…Never?

An answer evaded her.

So she kneeled before him and smiled softly.  “Why don’t you show me that new story you were talking about?  The one about the curious girl and her silly rabbit.”

It worked.  He lifted his head and grinned, eyes sparkling as he grabbed her hand and yanked her towards a desk very much his size, where a book sat glittering in the windowlight.  Cheerfully he flung it open and golden beams spilled from its pages.

Ava grinned as a new world took form around them, built piece by piece from those same ribbons of light.  It unfolded at first like the pages of a book, but then the edges softened and the words beneath their feet vanished until this world of make believe was indistinguishable from reality.

And as Mickey led her forward through a flourish of colorful foliage, chattering on about grinning cats and hatters and talking caterpillars (of which Ava could not begin to imagine how they might all connect), she began to realize that he truly knew nothing of his purpose.  To him, this was all a playful game of dream and fantasy, imaginary worlds to pass the lonely days by.

How might the nature of these worlds change, she wondered, if he knew of the weight they held?  Would their bright and childish nature take on a darker hue? 

No, they won’t.  I’m certain of it, she thought silently as she watched him dart back and forth between every curious little thing that caught his eye.  He could not have understood that these stories, these tales born from his own imagination, were so much more than that, were the very hope for the world to come.  But right here, right now, that didn’t matter.  He was a child and his heart was bright, and that was all the light needed to survive.  She had faith in that.

Be brave, my little sunflower.  We need you.

~~~

Starlight thrummed behind him and pulsed through his heart, reminding him of what remained to protect.  The worlds sung.  They were endless wishes, hushed and nearly lost, but all that kept him from running, all that gave him the strength to keep his keyblade in hand.  For with each step, the scarlet eyes grew brighter.  A deep growl like passing thunder echoed across the realm, leaving ripples in the skylit surface beneath Mickey’s feet.  With it, five more pairs of eyes blinked open in the dark, each a different color, every one just as menacing as the next. 

The leader padded into view, an admittedly stunning white lion with a silvery mane.  Its paws were larger than Mickey as a whole, and the mouse shuddered to think what just one swipe of those claws would do to his body.

The other creatures soon joined the lion, bearing the forms of a bear, unicorn, snake, leopard, and scorpion.  Their forms were not like usual animals in the least; if anything, they were far more spectacular.  Designs lay scrawled and shimmering across their pelts, their bodies glowing with light.  Their appearance could be described as no less than otherworldly, and Mickey could liken them only to the spirits he had seen in his dreams.  But even then, they outshone any he could remember.

But he knew now that the light was a falsity, a guise conjured which exemplified their pride in the form of something lovely and deceiving. 

He would not be deceived again.

“We need Sora…” 

The small voice beside him derailed his train of thought and he looked up to find Kairi, hands held to her chest. 

Mickey’s heart sunk.  She was right.  The boy had always been there before.  Each and every time things had looked their bleakest, he had appeared at just the right moment, ready and willing to defy all the odds. 

Not this time.

But still...

“He is here,” Mickey said after a moment, defying every fearful bone in his body as he forced himself to smile.  The other five Lights looked at him in surprise, and he did his best to hide the tears welling in his eyes.  “Awe gosh….don’t tell me ya don’t feel it too.  That’s what made Sora so special, isn’t it?  That no matter where we were, we could always feel his heart shinin’ right there beside us.  So maybe…maybe we can’t see him, but I know that somewhere out there he’s cheerin’ us on.”  Kairi laughed, a sad, quiet laugh, as he took her hand and grinned, then turned to look over the others.  Riku’s expression, dark from fear, anger, and grief, now softened and as Mickey continued, he nodded quietly.  The mouse wasn’t sure how much he believed what he was saying anymore, but did it really matter?  If this was their last stand, he was darn well certain it wouldn’t be spent lightly.  A new fire, new hope, burned in his eyes as he spoke.  “No matter how far, the light will connect our hearts.  If there’s any time to believe that then gosh, I’d say it’s now.”

As he spoke, the creatures’ shimmering forms began to shift, melting away to prepare for another, more human likeness.  “Foretellers” is what they’d called themselves.  They continued to walk forward as this change took place, the masks of their animals hiding their eyes.  All but their leader, the lion, were dressed in brightly colored garb.  Only he wore the cloak that Mickey and his allies had come to know the Organization by, though he was certainly not one of them.

The Lights watched them even as they listened to Mickey speak.  It seemed his words, and seeing the Foretellers for what they were—human—was enough to give them the courage they needed.  Kairi grasped Mickey’s hand and squeezed it, sparking a chain amongst the others from Mickey to Riku to  Aqua to Ventus and then, finally, to Axel.  And for a single, brief, moment they all stood hand in hand. 

“For Sora,” Riku growled at last.

“For Sora!”

They released hands, summoned their blades, and rushed forward.  From somewhere within the darkness, a bell began to toll.

~~~

She stumbled through her doorway, clutching her side and gasping for every breath.  How could she have been so blind?  She had sought after Luxu to prevent the war, to save these innocent children from the dark fate that awaited them.  And yet in her heart she felt that their encounter had been the spark of it all.  The events she had dreaded so were finally coming to pass.

Their only hope now was to prepare for the future.

“Mickey!” she called to her charge, wincing as she tripped over herself and knocked into one of the desks in the room.  Sweat dripped beneath her mask and her face was pale with pain.  “M-Mickey!”

Her brain was swarming and it took her several moments to realize there had been no answer.

She straightened abruptly. 

“Mickey?  Mickey!”  Her calls quickly became more desperate, and she forced herself to brace against the pain and search every corner of the chambers.  But try as she might, the child was nowhere to be found.

Oh no…

Her pain vanished, replaced by a chilled panic, and she bolted out the door.

The battlefield was already littered with fallen blades when she arrived and upon finding herself in the heart of it all, she froze for just a moment.  It was worse than she’d feared.  The wielders—no, the children who had once laughed and played with one another now fought bitterly, without regard for the hearts of their friends.  Kingdom Hearts loomed above the badlands, dark and swollen. 

But the luxury of grief could not last long for her.  Standing out as an opposing Foreteller among the crowds of younger wielders, she quickly became their target and was forced to fend off countless blows. 

“Look at what you’re doing!  This isn’t right!” she shouted to them, though it made little difference.  Persistence was something the other leaders had obviously drilled into them a little too much.  And although their attacks were hardly difficult for Ava to block or avoid, she loathed seeing the anger and hatred burning in their eyes. 

The ranks began to thin, and Ava had not spotted the mouse.  A sick feeling sat in her stomach.  He had yet to summon a keyblade, and heaven knew she had hardly taught him to fight on his own.  He was younger than the others.  Younger and smaller, and far too innocent for the battlefield. And…

And then she saw him. 

Several yards away he streaked past, a bright blue blade gleaming in his grip.  Ava gasped, first relieved to find him alive, but then shocked and almost frightened to see him wielding a weapon of his own.  Surely a heart such as his, so young and untainted, could not be part of this carnage.

The battlefield was still filled to the brim with wielders, and Mickey quickly disappeared from her line of sight. She caught only glimpses as she navigated the conflict, deflecting blades as best she could without harming their owners as she ran.  It was no easy task and she found herself locked in battle with several determined souls.  But she managed to break away and, spotting a small figure darting through the crowd, raced towards it.  For a single moment, she was granted a clear view of her charge.  But her heart caught in her throat when she saw him race straight towards a fallen wielder, his keyblade raised as if ready to deal a final blow.

She opened her mouth to shout at him, moved to try to stop him.  But then he dropped to his knees, blade and hands bathed in the verdant light of healing magic, and she stopped, watching as the other wielder took a shuddering breath that steadied beneath the spell.  The little mouse offered a hand, grinning from ear to ear as his new ally took it, then he pointed off into the distance before running off to yet another weakened soul. 

He quickly faded from sight but Ava breathed a shaky sigh of relief, even as she too was swept away by the remaining skirmishes.

A light to guide them home… she thought, recalling her own words.  How he had learned to summon his blade, how he had even learned of the war, she knew not.  But here he was, younger and smaller than any other, healing every fading heart he could find.  Ava could not have been more proud.

Only several moments later and the wielders’ ranks had thinned.  Several more, and there were hardly any left.  And then suddenly, in a swift rush of air, the world was all but empty.

It was over. 

Almost.

An eerie cloud of dust lay over the battlefield, heightening the silence that already persisted across the near-empty world.  “Mickey!” she called.  She was certain he still remained, in her heart she could sense his light.  And to her relief, his silhouette soon appeared within the haze.  She ran forward and opened her mouth to call his name once more, only to stop dead in her tracks as a second figure appeared just behind him.

“Invi…” Ava whispered, eyes widening as the fellow foreteller became clear.  The point of her keyblade was held to the child’s back, and he stumbled timidly forward, confusion and fear masking his face.  “Invi, what are you doing?”

“Fulfilling my role,” the woman hissed.  There was pain in her voice, and a deep anger.  “I trusted you, Ava.  We all did.  I believed you when you told me the Master had commanded you to gather those wielders from our unions…but that was a lie, wasn’t it?  How could you lead your own union to safety and leave the others to perish here?!”

Ava’s breath hitched in her throat.  The dust had begun to clear and the gleam of thousands upon thousands of fallen keyblades shone in the darkened light of Kingdom Hearts.  “I didn’t lie,” she breathed.  “And my Dandelions are from all unions, not just Vulpes.  You know that.”

“But I didn’t know about him.” Invi prodded Mickey with her blade and he let out a frightened whimper, tail lashing behind him.  “Not at first.  But I’ve been watching.  He’s connected to the Keeper, isn’t he?  Meaning he has a power unlike any other, and you hid it for a reason.  You wanted to keep it all to yourself.”

“No!  That’s not—”

“Don’t deny it!” The fury that burst from Invi’s mouth was so venomous, so filled with rage, that Ava found herself unable to speak.  “The Master forbid us to so much as speak to the Keeper!  But you hid his child away, using him to create perfect little worlds of your own.  You say the Master told you to do this?  Well, the Master tasked me with keeping peace between all our unions.  And he-“ She glared at the little mouse.  “-represents nothing but imbalance!”

Ava could sense the energy beginning to flow between Invi and her blade, and she gasped as she summoned her own.  “Invi, you can’t!  He’s done nothing wrong, he’s just a child!”

“So were they!” Invi screeched, flinging her free hand towards the keyblades surrounding them. 

“Master Ava…” Mickey’s terrified whisper caught her attention and she glanced at him.

“Invi, please…don’t do this.”  The words came hoarsely, trembling and clumsy.  She knew she wouldn’t be faster than her counterpart.  She wouldn’t be able to save him.  “Just let me explain..”

Invi trembled, the poise and grace so often donning her persona having vanished.  She was angry and heartbroken and betrayed.  For once, emotion ruled her entirely.  Kingdom Hearts’ now-dark form glinted on the silver of her mask.

“You say the Dandelions were your role to play?  Well this…this is mine.”

[gotchi-blog]

Tamagotchi 4U Review

It's finally here! The review of 4U. I have to admit - I never thought I would own this model. I randomly found a basically unused Tama on a Facebook group for a ridiculously low price (the seller had no idea how much that little buddy is worth.) And every time I look at my Tama shelf, I thank myself for following through with this deal. Sometimes all you need is luck!

General score: 7/10

Design

First off, I really love the shell design. I have the white shell - when I saw the offer, I didn't actually know what was the shell choice in this model. After checking out the other designs, I believe that the one I have is totally the best. I love everything about it - it's very minimalistic and the golden ring around the silver faceplate looks amazing. The faceplate is under a thick layer of plastic, making the silver shimmer with depth. The plastic is very easy to remove, so customisation is very common with this model. I think it's a cool feature.

The buttons are placed shallowly in the faceplate. I love them - they are super responsive and you need very little strength to click them, as opposed to Meets, where the buttons hide deep in the toy and demand more force. They give this slight, pleasant resistance - to me, clicking them is just a nice sensation.

The back of the toy is flat. That's linked to the connection feature, which I will talk about more later. I like that shape a lot - the Tama doesn't spin around when you put it down and doesn't get as many scratches at the back. It's stable and you can play with it while it's resting on the desk.

The most important one is the NFC system. 4U doesn't use infrared - instead, there is a special touch place at the back of the toy. There used to be touch spots around Japan that allowed you to download new content. You can connect your Tama to other ones by touching their backs.

2. Unique mechanics

There were a few Touch Cards released. They contain new content, including unique characters. It's basically like an older version of Tama SmaCards for Smart. I never really considered getting one because the additional stuff wasn't really up my alley (especially the designs of the new characters - I don't like Tamas based on humans, which was the case with some collaboration cards.)

4U includes the 4 petal clover element from previous Japanese releases. Each character has a favourite meal, item and accessory. The 4th petal is earned once you have the adult character for 48 hours.

Skills are another feature characteristic for this model. There are 3 basic skills and 5 school ones. The basic skills are using the bathroom, bathing and cleaning the house. They can be earned only as a child, which is quite difficult, considering how quickly the characters in 4U become adults. The school skills are: invention, fashion, sports, art and cooking. As an adult you can go to school, where you get them. You need items associated with those skills (experiment set, sewing kit, ball, clay and frying pan) and the notebook to be able to participate in the classes. The amount of times you need to attend the class to get the skill depends on your character.

The last thing worth mentioning are the guests in the garden. They visit only when your character is an adult. The garden option isn't very elaborate, however from time to time either a seller or guest will come around. If it's the seller, you can get unique items in a good price. If it's a guest, they will ask you for help with some projects. Being able to help them depends on your school skills. If you have the skill they need, they will give you a whooping 1000 gotchi points. Considering how little you can get from the games, that's a great deal.

3. Characters and growth cycle

And here we have probably the biggest bummer of this model, something that didn't let me give it a higher score. There is no teen stage.

...what now?

Yeah. Your Tamagotchi will go from child straight to an adult. The growth cycle is very short. You barely have the time to teach your pet the 3 basic skills. If you're a fan of the younger stages, you'll be bothered by that, for sure.

On the other hand, every character has secret evolution stages obtained by special care or performing some actions/using items etc. To me, it's more of an additional fun thing, rather than a fair replacement of the teen stage, especially since the secret stages are temporary and can be reversed.

There aren't that many characters to obtain in general. Maybe the original idea was that the downloadable content will compensate for that, but once the cards stopped being sold and the touch spots were gone from Japan, we're left with a quite poor model (in terms of evolution.)

All in all, I think that the removal of the teen stage was a big mistake. It's probably my biggest issue with 4U.

4. Games

There are only 3 games included. Two of them are in the Game Centre, and one in the park.

The Game Centre games are Bowling and Spaceship. They are easy and quick. Winning them gives you 200 gotchi points. I have to mention that the Spaceship game has a beautiful background. A real work of pixel art.

The park game is longer, but it makes your Tama lose a lot of weight. You need to follow the dance sequence by pressing the right buttons. Watch out - at some point you will need to use a combo of 2 buttons. Start pressing them when the "Push" icon shows on the screen - if you do it too early, it will be counted as a mistake, leading to losing the game.

I wish there were more games. I often have this problem with the colour-screen Tamas - they seem a bit lazy when it comes to the minigames. The exception is Pix, of course. That one is actually great. Here? Not that entertaining, still quite alright.

5. Aesthetics

As I've mentioned in the "Design" section, I love the outside appearance of this model. And I have to admit that 4U looks great also when it comes to the screen!

You can easily tell that it's an older colour-screen Tama, with less detailed animations and character designs, but it's not any sort of issue - the animations are still very pretty and the characters are fun. I love the design of the basic room. Though there are wallpapers you can buy, I always stick to the basic one due to how cosy it looks.

You can give your Tama accessories, both clothes and head coverings. However, that works only on adults in their basic form - the special stages can't wear anything.

Due to the amount of official and fan-made faceplates and other accessories, 4U is very customisable. So if you're into this sort of fun, it's a good model to choose.

An important thing to note is how vivid the screen colours are. The quality of the screen is amazing - the shapes are sharp and even the background patterns are vibrant. 4U is perfect for taking photos of what's going on the screen. I'd say that it's super photogenic, which is not the case with Pix that has a softer screen that need a proper lighting.

Generally, 4U is so pretty that sometimes I play with it just for the sake of looking at it.

6. Battery life

Not much to say here. It's good. This model isn't as involving as e.g. Pix or Meets, so you rather won't be spending that much time actively playing with it. That means long periods between battery change/recharge. As always, I recommend AAA rechargeable batteries.

7. Conclusion

Tamagotchi 4U seems like a solid product to me. Not my favourite when it comes to gameplay, but still very nice. I like it a lot. Good choice if you don't have that much time to spend playing with your pet - it's easy to take care of them (and if you manage to teach your Tama how to use the bathrooms, you won't even have to worry about cleaning up after them.)

The biggest weakness is the growth cycle, but if you don't care that much about having a varied choice of pets, I consider it a decent and fun Tamagotchi.

[the-firebird69]

I need to get ready to send us the time up which usually they do

Hera

We are working on it we're going to get him there shortly

Frank Castle hardcastle

Olympus let's move on it we have a lot of work to do here today in Charlotte county

We actually do we're getting ready

Duke nukem Blockbuster Duke nukem again whoops

They keep messing with the vertebrates was going to mess with them and there's a lot going on here the pseudo empire is moving in in numbers and didn't tell anyone and we have a lot of action and we also have a lot of action because of the first five off Tampa and it is pretty heavy they fueled up all night the first 5 miles of the second 10 and yet slow but they are going to remove them the momentarily today sometime today we expect about 11:00 a.m. all of them then they move to the next tier and start feeling and it's going to be a big event with all those timings coming out diamonds and really the pseudo empire is moving in to that area and just placing just about everybody it has a job of any kind they can't have them working in the building department or roadways or anything cuz they go around screwing around with everything

Thor Freya

We did not read what he was saying about these small ships we don't care what he thinks we don't want to do anything we could have used them last night you can use it to preach ships and we need those and you can use them in tunnels and we're doing that now and that's all we're doing and nobody wants the small ships I tell you what you're a bunch of retards for retards

Trump

I got to get on this at least in my areas

Dan

These people for what kind of poor too but holy s*** are they poor and yeah we can vent those we have studies that show that the ships are going to rot in a certain amount of time some sooner than others

Michael tew

I got to tell you something they want to keep on poisoning people here and he says if you let it flow out there all those fishing on your poisons because it doesn't do much to the aquifer anymore they're all going to come out anyways and poison yourself or you're working all this s*** around you

Mac daddy

I suppose he's right he'll probably produce a whole bunch of fish kills

Michael tew

I'm up for that and really it's not going into the aquifer that much site solidified or something and we do understand why yeah crushed down to a layer in the bottom

Justin

We did not see them get ready to unplug and we're getting ready to unplug a few if we do we're going to keep them and we'll do more

Thor Freya

We're going to do the same thing the problem is they know it's us and they keep saying it's us but you're right people won't know who the hell it is so beat the s*** out of them we've got a lot more things to worry about but I'm frankly don't think that he's going to be doing very well with these idiots here ever they're stupid they don't do a damn thing they're all idiotic cowards and they don't have any depth at all. Furthermore they're refusing to do the job so they don't do anything

Macs

This is a problem we need to examine further right now we're going to take tunnels and will take territory if they don't like it who cares we do it all over the place they're morons they just run off and get hit and other

Olympus

Good

Hera

Let's get some action going on this check where the max are at and foreigners start taking tunnels where they are so they'll start taking them we do need them to do that let's make sure this works right and I want people to start without waiting for this morons to wait for another day of rot if we can

Zues

Now I see what you're saying if they're planning on sitting here doing nothing let's start doing it as a matter of fact we'll unclog them and start blaming them anyways

Thor Freya

I really won't affect this much except the other ones who are doing it they don't really care about that and I don't either I might go out there and uncork them all cuz you're a bunch of f***** bunch of f****** steaming f*** you don't want to do anything get the f*** out of here

Mac daddy

I'm calling on Olympus to when they're in the meeting they're calling about this and related topics to set a deadline we don't see them on corking we start doing it on such and such a day and time

Zues Hera

And yeah that's Mark is yelling and screaming good what an idiot so we have something to set today I already have a day in mind and it's coming up real quick right around the corner has to do with them how they're going to rot

Thor Freya

It's the same model same type we need it it's all over the world

Zig Zag

We're going to move on and we're going to take care of this but really we do see what they're saying put it on cork him anyways uncork them and it will clear it out then if they don't take them out we will cuz it's such a pain in the ass we need all those diamonds we don't need these guys to have them and really we're getting away with a lot of stuff in the face of the warlock and we will because the foreigners and Max are here so we're going to meet and decide when it's a good call

Olympus

It is a good call and I'm going to put my vote in and he's putting his in because of the time constraints

Hera

We do see what you're saying and we can deliver them some messages but we can't formalize it and we really shouldn't it's really kind of annoying we're going to make sure something happens here he says it won't change unless we come in because they're for some reason being very obstinate about doing the job right we get that too they're nuts they're nuts went way overboard

Olympus

[dzpenumbra]

12/6/22

Big day. Drove down to the old house to do a final sweep to sort trash and bring a final load of stuff back up. It took a long-ass time, but it's finally done. I'm officially moved in. Not even close to unpacked, but officially moved in! My place looks like a bomb went off, stuff all over the floor, 90% of it still in boxes, but I'm here. Yay!

The drive was fucked from the get-go. I tried to take the trash out, had no idea where to put it, put it in a blue bin in the trash room because they told me they only have recycling on the second floor and I'm on the first so... I just... assumed it was for trash? Whoops if not. Then I went to get gas. My card didn't work. Not the tap shit, not the chip reader. Ugh. Prepaid, got a Monster, hopped on the highway and called my Mom to figure out logistics on some home supply stuff she was gonna get. She was going to get me a chair and desk for my computer and stuff, really sweet of her. Especially since I've been sitting on a side table with a meditation cushion on it for the past like 4 days and my back is getting really fucked. She had to go real quick, and my distracted ass missed my exit. I had to take the next one and backtrack.

When I got situated, we got back into the conversation and had a really good meandering talk. Sorted out the chair/desk shopping. I shared with her my reconnection with the possibility that I have unmanaged ADHD (along with the PTSD and all the other shit) and that it might explain a LOT. And that I was diagnosed with it like 18+ years ago. And she told me a story of when I was in 5th or 6th grade and she tried to homeschool me and she could NOT get me to sit still in the chair. That I actually had been doing poorly in school because of this. I don't remember it at all, but she told me. She said it was like my chair had an "ejector seat" and she could not get me to just sit still. Unless it was world history, or mythology, or art. Then I'd just sink into it and be there for hours. And I told her I'm still like that, even with the same subjects!

I'm not sure what difference having even an official up-to-date diagnosis with this would do for me, I don't know how I feel about medications, I don't know. But at very least, as I explained to my mom, it could be a good way to relate to others that my brain is not really like theirs, and things that are easy and possibly even gratifying for them can be extremely difficult and not even remotely rewarding for me. But, again... impostor syndrome pops its head out of the murky depths... "You've been misdiagnosed before, remember?" "I don't know, sometimes you feel gratification when you get all the dishes done, right?" "You sure?" "You sure you're not faking it?" "You sure you're not just making excuses so you can get away with living in a messy dump and have your life go to shit because you're constantly overwhelmed with no one wanting to help you because you're just 'being lazy'?" That fucker can take a hike tonight, I'm getting tired of it.

I've had this diagnosis since I was like 16. Back then, there was a distinction between ADD and ADHD, but now they're the same thing. Inattentive ADD is now ADHD with Inattentive presentation. I've had that diagnosis for like 20 years, and I always just went... "well that's gotta be bullshit, I know people with ADHD and they are like constantly bouncing off the walls and are really loud and shit. I obviously don't have it." I think I'm cool with going with it for now and at least having a conversation about it with my social worker dude when I get to it. But it's not like an urgent thing to address, the acute trauma and adjusting to my new environment are kinda priorities. But like... it's been at the front of my brain 1) to bring me peace of mind that I'm not a lazy piece of shit that gets overwhelmed by basic everyday shit for no reason, 2) I'm starting to socialize more... and --- okay, this is dumb, but like... I feel like I need to warn people about how different I am than them, like right upfront. Like every fucking time I face a new person I feel compelled to give them the full AA introduction "Hi, I'm ______, I'm 36, I have PTSD and ADHD, I'm an artist. If I start weirding you out that's why." Does anyone else even obsess over this shit?!

Fuck it, here's a snapshot of my night. So I'll spare the bulky details of digging through decades of memory scraps that I salvaged from my old place. When I got home, moved all the shit in, parked the car and came back... I went a new way, through a different door. When I was --- kitty was exploring a cabinet and I went to set it up for her --- so when I was coming back through the hallways exhausted as shit, like dragging my ass through the hallway, last trip, laptop bag on my back, reusable grocery bag in one hand, wicker basket of food in the other. Like... I have no awareness of how I'm perceived by others sometimes, I must've looked like... like a packmule on his last legs or something. This attractive woman passed me. I saw her heading to the elevator as I was heading out, but didn't like... see her. She was very beautiful. And she looked at me and smiled and said "Hi." I think she was doing laundry. And I like... locked eyes, and kinda mouthed "hi" barely even audibly and half smiled but my mind was like... miles away. And 30 seconds later, I was in my door and... I was just kicking myself. Like this chick lives probably just a few doors down from me. "Hey, are you doing laundry? I'm just finishing moving in, I'm really new here, could you like... show me where the laundry room is?" Talk about an ice-breaker...

Ladies and gents, here's what my brain does with that prompt, ready for it? "Look, she probably has a boyfriend, okay? She's attractive and likely in her mid-30's like you, that's like... guaranteed she has a boyfriend. So... how would you feel if your girlfriend was showing some guy around the apartment building who was like, kinda hitting on her?" I shit you not. That was my conclusion. So... I think this whole "broadcast my disorders upfront" shit is like... a way for me to like... get 'permission' from people to just be myself and say the things I want to say without having to be all paranoid like that. This is like, the more I listen to myself talk about this it's like... who the fuck cares! Oh my god, I stress out so much about what other people think. Check this out, part of my brain talking about her "boyfriend". That's her shit to worry about, not mine. If she says "I have a boyfriend", I would immediately respect that. That's just like... "duh" for me. Like what kind of a prick wouldn't. So... and this is something my social worker brought to my attention that I clearly have to keep working on, I keep on taking on the worries and concerns and responsibilities of others. "What if I'm not understood, I should apologize and prepare people ahead of time just in case." Yo, that's their responsibility. If they get confused or misunderstand, it's their responsibility to seek clarification. If anyone that isn't a brain like mine is reading this and is going "well duh...", imagine living a life of 3.5 decades where the narrative I'm describing is just common sense status quo. How exhausting it would be. How neurotic it would make you.

Waking up to this kinda stuff is very similar to a moment I had watching the Your Mom's House Podcast over the pandemic. I don't watch anymore because some of their humor was upsetting me a lot, but... they talked in one episode about how Kristina would just put on clothes without drying herself off out of the shower for ages and ages. It was just... what she was of the understanding is what you're supposed to do, and was never corrected. And they mentioned people who don't dry their feet before stepping on the bathmat, and went "oh god, I hate people like that, so disrespectful to others". Well, I was one of those people. I thought that's what bathmats were for. And I have a lot of foot fungus problems, so I don't want to spread the infection by drying my feet with the same towel as the rest of my body, and having two towels is just like... come on. But like... waking up to that whole like "oh shit, that's not normal and others don't like that and no one even told me". Those moments. Those are hard ones. So if you're going to bring something like that up with someone, please do try to be gentle. Please treat it like telling someone they have spinach in their teeth, and express that you're doing it out of caring and that it's okay. I guess I'm saying, be gentle. And compassionate.

And I'm like that with taking on other people's problems, concerns, judgements, all that shit. Compulsively. Which makes social media hell. I'm working on it, and I'm getting better. There's really no practicing it, it kinda just needs to be done in the field. And this journal is a big part of my practice with it. Trying to not apologize for being my true, authentic thought-stream. Trying to not neurotically apologize and warn people before-hand, as though they're wandering into a minefield. "Be careful, this guy is weird!" I'm learning how to be okay being me, and to actually use that as a good litmus test for the people I want to be around and the ones I can live without. I don't need to win over everyone, in fact... winning over everyone has done a lot of damage to my life. So, I hope you guys don't take offense to this, but if you don't like the things I say or if I'm too weird for you, if my spiritual side is too kooky or my posts are too long or I swear too much or whatever. You can just like... keep scrolling. It's okay. And I won't be offended, I'll actually be a bit grateful that we can respectfully part ways on peaceful terms, with a nod and going different ways at a crossroads. I think that's a much more peaceful way to exist: to live and let live. And I think we should all be doing it a bit more often.

So, maybe my rediscovering of ADHD should be more about getting to know myself and why I do what I do, what I'm not even noticing I do, more that than warning new people of how eccentric I am. I think that's a healthier place to keep that. I'm glad I digested this thought, it's a pretty new one and a very strong one, and I think this is a much healthier place for it to be than the start.

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Babe I honestly can't tell you how much I've missed you! I'm so glad you're feeling better again, because I was a bit sad to have no one to discuss my babies with 😂😂

I love how Sherlock kills Charles' attitude with just one sentence 😁

Our autistic genius child can do that <3 We love him

Look, he's not just dorky and funny, he's also smart (if he wants to be)

Key words being: 'if he wants to be'. But yeah! Mike can defo be smart as all hell! (I think in the bar chapter, I mention that he's a literal genius when it comes to computers?) Just don't ask him to sit still or study for a test....

These are the tiny little pieces that make 179cs so special. That small pieces of conversation that aren't necessarily needed for the story to work but add so much depth to the characters.

It's usually: August, Charles or Leon being a dick. Geralt or Marshall being annoyed. Mike or Sy being idiots. Sherlock being autistic as fuck (did I mention I love him?).

Something that came up in earlier reblogs: I don't think Charles and Leon are the bad guys here. In fact, they were convinced by Sherlock equally as Sy and this is impressive as they didn't really think he'd had a chance... But they are fair losers (even Charles)

YES, mostly. The fact that the three of them were 'the opposition' to begin with, wasn't even necessarily because they very strictly wanted to hold on to those traditional definitions, but mostly because they'd never really thought about that. Now Sy just asks those questions because why the hell not? He's not afraid to ask things and learn, whereas Charles wouldn't have asked - he'd have just dug his heels in, insisted Sherlock was wrong.

Chances are, if Leon and/or Sy hadn't been there, the whole conversation would have turned into a fight. Charles was graceful about this now because he didn't 'lose'. Sy did. Sy was the one who 'caved'. Leon stayed out of it altogether, letting the other two do his dirty work - as he does.

That being said: Both of them are incredibly sore losers, even if they're pretty good at hiding it. They were just lucky they could use Sy as a shield so neither of them actually had to swallow their pride.)

I'd find a reason to apologize to him if I were Dani 😁

Things are scheduled to be revealed about this in the near future.... ('Scheduled' does not automatically mean it's actually going to happen...)

Can't wait for the girl's night and definitely can't wait for new years eve finally happening!

ALSO: I AM SO HAPPY YOU COMMENTED ON MIKEY'S RABBIT JOKE!!!!! I WAS HOPING SOMEONE WOULD (I secretly thought it was very funny of me...)

Whoops there's more director's commentary in this bit than in the commentary ask XD

Part 17 - Definitions

Masterlist

Part 16 -- Part 18

Summary: A very important house meeting at 179th Crescent Street

Warnings: None! (Although this chapter does feature small people rage)

Word count: 3k

A/N: So this is a little different, I guess? Anyway... It's out there now. PSA: The 'wokeness' only goes so far as I reasonably assumed from a bunch of horny college dudes, okay?

@deandoesthingstome @geralts-yenn @summersong69 @peaches1958 @fvckinghenrycavill @keanureevesisbae

"Alright, mother Leon, you have the floor," Charles said as he lifted a beer to his lips. 

"Mike isn't here yet, should we wait?" Leon asked - they always asked. The reaction was no different this time than all the other times: laughter. 

"He'll get here when he gets here," Marshall said. They weren't mad about it - genuinely. Mike knew he was like this, he never asked them to wait, and he usually accepted whatever decision was made for the house in his absence. 

"On to our first - incredibly important - order of business." Leon's tone was such that Sherlock already sank back in his chair, looking embarrassed. "Sherlock, she stayed the night. Is the bet settled?" 

"Leon," Geralt warned. 

"I know you're in on that bet, Geralt, don't bother pretending," Sherlock muttered. 

"Oh, I'm not referring to the fact he brought it up," Geralt stated point blank, "he was just planning on being a dick about it. He shouldn't." His next glance in Leon's - and Charles' - direction was a warning shot. 

"Ah," Sherlock replied, "well. In any case, I don't know if it's settled. Personally, I find myself hung up on definitions." 

"'Are you still a virgin?' sounds simple enough, right?" Sy asked, looking amused and confused at the same time.

"On the surface, yes," Sherlock mused. In between sentences he wondered why it was so difficult for him to discuss the emotional side of these things, yet so incredibly simple to argue the semantics. Geralt looked amused by the turn this conversation was taking, as did Marshall and August. "I simply cannot accept the definition of the word 'virgin' as 'someone who has not had sex'." 

"Well, what's the problem, then?" Charles demanded. 

"The first problem with it would be the definition of the word 'sex'." 

"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" Charles scoffed. 

"That might just be why I've come to the conclusions I have come to, and you haven't." It wasn’t much like Sherlock to say things like that, but the others had noticed the growing animosity between him and Charles, and they’d all been waiting for it to come to a head. 

"Are you calling me daft, Holmes?"

"I'm surprised you managed to work that out, Brandon." That was certainly enough to piss off Charles - thoroughly. He opened his mouth to say something when August put a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm going to recommend backing off, Charles," he said with a smirk on his face that clearly showed he was impressed with Sherlock, "when it comes to a battle of wits, Sherlock has all of us outgunned." Sherlock nodded at him, appreciative of the acknowledgment - and the help in keeping Charles' fists away from his face. Charles didn't have a terrible temper, but he was generally a sore loser, which made him unpredictable at times. 

"The question?" Leon said to bring them back to the conversation. 

"Right," Charles said, "the widely accepted definition would be... How do I put this?" They all knew what he meant, but this was a particularly uncomfortable one to say out loud. You bet they were going to make him. They waited nearly half a minute before Geralt had had enough. 

"For god's sake, man, are you twelve? The widely accepted definition would be 'penis in vagina'. That's what you're trying to say, right?"

"Yes," Charles answered curtly. 

"I don't think I agree with that definition, either." Sherlock said. 

"You can't just disagree with definitions because they don't suit you, Holmes."

"I disagree with them because they make no sense, Solo."

"I have to say I'm with Sherlock on this one," August said. Marshall and Geralt nodded in agreement. Charles, Leon and Sy formed the other side. 

"Sorry I'm late!" Mike stepped into the kitchen with his coat still on. 

"Perfect timing. We're in need of a tie-breaker," Marshall said. "What's sex?" 

"I feel someone should have told you that by now, Marshall..."

"Very funny, we're serious. It's a fifty-fifty split on the…” Now it was Marshall’s turn to feel flustered over having to say that. Luckily,  Geralt wasn’t prepared to wait around for another thirty seconds, and offered up the same description he had before. 

“Yeah, well… that,” Marshall continued, “versus 'not quite sure, but not just that', what do you say?" 

"I say; give a man some time to step inside the goddamn house before hitting him with your little existential crisis."

"Mike," August laughed, "answer the damn question." 

"I'm with the side that says dicking a girl down isn't all there is to it." 

"Subtle," Marshall said. Apart from the obvious amusement at his wording, most people seemed surprised at the side Mike chose in the debate.

"Always," Mike replied with a big smile. "Besides, because I see you guys looking surprised, it's literally called 'oral sex'. I feel that that should say something." 

"Thank you, Mike." Sherlock grinned.

"Alright, but I'm gonna need a better argument. Exactly how does the traditional definition not make sense?" Sy weighed in. 

"I don't need to convince you," Sherlock said. 

"Let's make it interesting," Charles chimed in, "sway any of us three, you win the bet yourself?" He looked at the others, who all agreed to the idea. Sherlock needed to consider it only for a moment. With the seven of them in on it, that was quite a bit of money. 

"Alright, first off, by that definition, lesbians can't have sex. Typically. Neither can gay men. Again, typically."

"Correct," Charles replied, "but has it somehow escaped your attention that you are neither a gay man nor a lesbian?" 

"It hasn't, thank you for your concern, but the fact of the matter is that the definition of ‘sex’ we have established as ‘widely accepted’ functions only where heterosexual relationships are concerned. Now I would personally find it preposterous to propose that physical intimacy can only be considered sex in situations involving a cisgender woman and a cisgender man, and to suggest that any physical intimacy that does not fit the aforementioned heteronormative definition is a ‘different kind’ of sex would be a particularly outdated take on the matter. 

“If one wishes so desperately to warp the definition of sex in such a way that it encompasses all kinds of physical intimacy that could possibly be defined as sex, in any and all possible configurations of relationships, it quickly becomes a matter of where you draw the line. The argument of oral sex that Mike pointed out earlier, really makes itself. And even then, why would that be the threshold? 

"And lastly I..." There was a short silence as Sherlock tried to come up with the words he needed to express the thought he was having. 

"Please keep talking, before one of them opens their mouth," August said. Much like Geralt, he'd been enjoying watching Charles and Leon get obliterated by Sherlock's solid logic. 

"I refuse to think of the things that don't fit the traditional definition of the word as 'other' or 'less than', because it would discredit the experience and everything surrounding it, and I cannot bring myself to do that." His voice was soft as he said it, and he couldn't seem to peel his gaze away from his hands, which rested in his lap. He noticed his fingers trembled slightly, though he couldn’t say he was so nervous that it was to be expected. 

“All things considered, one might come to the conclusion that there is something inherently flawed about any concept that depends so heavily on the definition of something that is so exceptionally difficult to define.” 

"So," Leon asked curiously, "what definitions would you suggest, instead?"

"None. I would sooner come to the conclusion that the concept of virginity is, to put it plainly - and pardon my French - fucking ridiculous, completely unnecessary and nothing other than a falsely attributed currency of virtue used as a tool to impose outdated patriarchal values and the notion of commodity on women while simultaneously serving to emasculate and ridicule men who haven't rid themselves of it soon enough by anyone's personal and completely arbitrary standards. As for the definition of sex… I genuinely don’t think I care." 

"Hand the man his money," Sy said with a sigh. Napoleon pulled the cash out of his wallet and tossed it on the table while grinning widely. 

Charles shook his head in disbelief. “Bastard,” he muttered under his breath. The look on his face clearly showed he was impressed. 

“Charles, I’d like for you to take a moment to consider the following: In what universe was it a good idea to make a bet that depends heavily on the other person’s ability to present a logical argument,” August said, “with the genius law and philosophy student?” His tone was amused and only slightly derisive.  

“Now that this is settled,” Napoleon continued, “we have serious matters to discu-” He was interrupted by the door opening and a whole lot of noise in the hall. 

“What are the girls doing here?” Charles asked. 

“We were already here.” Elena appeared in the doorway. “Because, as Leon so kindly pointed out, I did spend the night here. Nice speech, by the way, Sherlock.” She walked around the table and stood next to him, an arm around her shoulder. To her surprise - and perhaps everyone else’s - he pulled her into his lap. 

“And so did we.” Anjelica looked over her shoulder to Danielle and Solveig, who were laughing about a joke she hadn’t heard. “We went out to get some groceries.” 

‘Some groceries’ was apparently a new way to describe three whole bags, completely full of food. 

“Do we have rabbits I don’t know about?” Mike ducked when he saw Marshall’s hand swinging for the back of his head, only to get hit by Geralt when he came back up. “Guys, come on, that’s more vegetables than we’ve seen in this house in at least a year!” 

“The three of us,” Solveig gestured to Ange, Dani and herself, “talked about cooking for our guys yesterday, so we asked Elena to join, and she was on board.” 

“But we figured we couldn’t punish the rest of the house for being single, so we’ll feed all of you, if you ask nicely.” Dani leaned her head against Charles’ shoulder and then gave him a sweet smile. He shot a suggestive look in Mike’s direction just to get a rise out of him, but Mikey was Mikey, and therefore wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings at all. Not the part he should have been paying attention to, at least.

“Free food, and I don’t gotta make it?” Sy said with a massive grin on his face. “Count me in!” The other three didn’t complain, either. 

Leon called for everyone’s attention again, and this time he wasn’t interrupted by everyone and everything, which was nice. The plan itself was simple: New Year’s party. 

“You’re not planning a party two days in advance?” Dani looked like her head was going to explode. That was just not possible… The other girls seemed to agree. 

“Worry not, ladies,” Charles interrupted. He put an arm around Solveig’s shoulder, but a simple look from Geralt told him that if he wanted to keep all the equipment he planned on using during that party he was planning, he’d better stop touching his girl. Charles and Leon talked everyone through the plans they’d been making for weeks. As it turns out, the girls didn’t know about this thing, because the guys had just not told them. Mike couldn’t use the others’ excuse that it didn’t come up, and had to go with the truth that he’d simply forgotten to mention it when he and Dani had discussed it. Luckily, Sloane and Ari were on board - especially now that the guys they’d been going out with had made different plans, involving different girls. Even through text, Slo couldn’t exactly hide her excitement about the fact that she was: A. Finally getting to meet Mike, whom Dani had hidden from them purposely and quite successfully, and B. getting to meet the others in the house, first and foremost: Sy. 

The girls chased everyone out of the kitchen when it was a little past two. Cooking for a grand total of twelve people was a massive chore in and of itself, that always took longer than initially expected, and some of these guys got serious attitudes when they weren’t properly fed on time. And ‘some of these guys’ could definitely be interpreted as ‘all of them’. They figured it was probably best to start early. 

“Geralt, if you do not get out of this kitchen at once, I’m not responsible for what happens!” It was a very intimidating thing to hear from the nearly 6ft. tall Scandinavian, especially since she was holding a very sharp knife. 

“Just came to check on you,” Geralt said. He was actually brave enough to walk up to her and wrap his arms around her. “If now were the time for jokes, I’d say something about your cooking skills making you wife material.”

“Ah, I see,” Sol snapped, “and in response to that, I wouldn’t laugh, and I’d tell you to cook for me sometime. So I can see if you’re husband material. Now, get out.”

“Do I need to fetch you some painkillers?” She responded with a nod and a ‘yes’ in the softest voice. 

“There’s some in my bag,” Ange said, saving Geralt a trip upstairs before kicking him out of the kitchen herself. They continued working on dinner, hoping none of the other guys would decide to come sneak a peek at dinner. 

"Period?" Elena asked Sol casually while cutting a whole load of tomatoes. Mike could just about have been right when he made his rabbit joke.

"From hell," Sol confirmed as she took the pills from Ange, "and he always knows, and he's so sweet about it, but I just yell at him." 

"Blowjobs make for fantastic apologies," Ange said and both she and Sol laughed. 

"Now I feel sad Dani has nothing to apologize for." It was Mikey's signature tone, the one where you could just hear the grin seeping through. 

“Mike! Leave!” Anjelica was scary - all 4’11” of her. 

"Drink and hug, then I'm gone," he said as he wrapped his arms around Dani, who had been tasked with peeling and mincing enough garlic to fend off a small army of vampires. 

"Hi," Dani said before turning her head for a quick kiss, "go grab a drink." She really wanted to finish this task with the same amount of fingers she'd started with. 

"Thank you," Mike said suddenly, "I've never had a girlfriend cook for me before. It's nice." He grabbed a beer from the fridge and disappeared. 

"He is so cute," Elena said. 

"Hey!" Of course Sherlock walked in at exactly that moment. Ange was just about boiling over with rage at this point. 

"Out! Holmes, get out! God is there no place where a couple of girls can talk without being interrupted every twenty-five seconds?" 

"I thin women fought long and hard for years just to make it so that the kitchen was no longer that place," August answered as he stepped into the kitchen. Funnily enough, Anjelica's anger disappeared miraculously. 

"Hey baby," she said with a sweet smile as August walked over to her. 

"Aren't you supposed to try and scare me out of your kitchen?" He sounded amused, which was an interesting new mood for most of the girls to experience. 

"August, darling," Anjelica said sweetly, "did I mention I used the money my parents gave me for Christmas to treat myself to a new set of lingerie?" Sherlock almost choked on the piece of bell pepper he had stolen from the container next to Elena's cutting board, which caused her to elbow him in the ribs.

"You didn't," August answered, clearly not liking where this was going. 

"Well you won't get to see it if you don't fuck off." 

"Simple but effective," August said before giving her a quick kiss and walking away. 

"If all of you don't fuck off, August." 

"Holmes get the fuck out of that kitchen," August yelled, and then he turned his attention to Sy, who was apparently also on his way to the kitchen: "Syverson, don't even think about it." The boys laughed - and so did the girls. 

"We need a girl's night," Dani said impulsively. She shocked herself; she wasn't usually so outgoing, and she was very glad that the others were quick to agree. 

"I live with mostly guys, and three of them are on teams with guys from here," Ange said, "my place is out." 

"I couldn't fit all of us in my room if I tried," Elena added.

"I don't even have the keys to my place yet," Sol said with a smile. Something told the others that she would be a bit uncomfortable having the three of them over, too. Not that the others were any better acquainted.

"Well, Ari and Slo wouldn't mind having everyone over at ours, and I'm pretty sure after the party we'll have intel on most of the house…" Dani grinned. 

"Marshall, Leon, Charles and Sy are missing, right?" Anjelica's tone was devious. Heat rose to Dani's cheeks.

"Marshall, Leon and Charles," she corrected. The others looked at her wide-eyed. 

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Solveig whispered. 

"I-" Dani started, but she was quickly interrupted by Charles. 

"OUT!" All four of them yelled at the same time, which had the desired effect and terrified Charles as a lovely bonus. 

"I'm making a group chat now," Anjelica said with another curious glance in Dani's direction, "girl's night is on." 

[s-brant]

Cherry Bowl (3/8)

(gif: @kiekiecarrera) (PART TWO) (PART FOUR) (SERIES MASTERLIST)

Summary: When Kie cancels their plans together, Y/N asks JJ on a date to the Cherry Bowl Drive-In. Unsure of how to navigate his first ever date, JJ seeks out advice. Unfortunately, the night doesn’t go as planned, and both parties are left shaken by miscommunication.

Word Count: 10.6k

Warnings: Smut, public sex/exhibitionism, sexual choking, angst, depictions of mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and implied/referenced abuse.

A/N: Welcome back to Tokens! Slight trouble in paradise is brewing for these two lovers, so buckle up and read because it’s gonna be a rollercoster for a little while after what happens in this chapter. I hope you all like it, and if you did, feedback is very appreciated. Have fun!

"I'm just saying that oatmeal raisin is superior to chocolate chip, why is that such an egregious crime, Kie?"

The lunch room is filled to the brim with students going to town on questionably cooked frozen foods, soggy tater tots, and sugary drinks from the vending machines despite the Obama-era posters on the walls advocating for healthier school lunches that never seemed to make their way to Kildare County High. The extent of their healthy lunches extended to a serving of overcooked canned green beans served with the worst slice of doughy pizza known to human kind, so it was sort of contradictory.

Y/N sits across the table from Pope and JJ, the latter of which being the one who launched into a full-fledged debate with Kiara about which type of cookie was better.

The clear cling wrap sits, unfolded, on the table with one of her stickers neatly placed on the back of it. As consolation for his epic loss yesterday at the beach, she paid an extra .75 cents to get him it when she arrived first to their shared lunch period—one of only two class periods they have together, the other being gym. He was still in line when she peeled a surfboard sticker off of her sheet and placed it at the center of the wrapped up cookie as if to remind him of her triumph over him in the waves.

"Thanks, hot stuff," he said, voice somewhat quieter despite the fact that hardly anyone was in the cafeteria with them. Then his smile dropped into an deadpan expression as soon as he saw her choice of sticker and looked back up at her. "You're never gonna let me live that one down, are you?"

"Never in a million years. I'll be gloating about it until I'm elderly."

"That's my girl."

The sound of the constant chatter surrounding them from at least two hundred other people drowns out the memories of yesterday that threaten to haunt her when she watches him debate with Kie. The mere recollection of their night in the back of the van has her reaching to pull the collar of her cropped tee up to assure that the hickeys remain hidden on instinct, and he catches the action out of the corner of his eye. It has him fighting a smile.

Kie quips, "Maybe on another planet, but, here, I think we can all agree chocolate chip is better, right Y/N?"

Y/N's eyes widen around a forkful of mushy "green beans" at the sound of her name being said bringing her from the depths of her memories.

Usually, she's quick to jump in and give her two cents on whatever stupid back and forth they're all having, but her mind was elsewhere. Unbeknownst to Kie and Pope, she was mentally reliving every second of getting fucked in the van last night, so her attention to detail when it comes to the Chocolate Chip vs Oatmeal Raisin case isn't all too sharp.

"Uhhh," she stops for a second, looking at the half eaten chocolate chip cookie in Kie's hand, "If I say chocolate chip is better, can I get a piece of it?"

Kie's face lights up at her words, and she's already pulling off a generous chunk of the baked good to hand off to her. The sound of a certain someone whose lap Y/N's legs are outstretched onto from beneath the table scoffing distracts her from the first bite.

"I know you prefer oatmeal raisin, you traitor," JJ says.

Their brunette friend's brows scrunch.

"Why is she a traitor?"

They try to keep from making any faces or giving anything away, but Y/N has to stifle the sound of her choking on her mouthful of cookie at the question. You'd think one of them came out and asked if they were dating or something with how she reacts, and she feels JJ squeeze her ankle in a non-verbal way of telling her to hold it together. It was her idea in the first place, yet he's a lot smoother with keeping it under the radar.

Under it all, the aspect of keeping it a secret does unnerve him to a degree. He doesn't think he'd be brave enough to communicate it, especially not when their relationship remains undefined, but the darker side of his mind wonders...

He shrugs, saying, "Cause we were friends first. Duh. Other than John B, I've known her the longest."

None of them stop to acknowledge the identical aches in their hearts at the mentioning of his name. They skip right over it like it never happened. After the funeral a few days ago, they've filled their quota on mushy-gushy sad talk for the next week and a half.

The real reason is something far more complicated than him having a claim staked on her loyalty through having the longest friendship. It's something tied up in days of slowly getting pulled into one another's worlds like the tug of gravity itself, in how he has to refrain from slipping his arm around her waist in the hallway or kissing her goodbye after a sleepover at the Chateau. But until she gives him the go-ahead, he won't let it slip to anyone.

Pope speaks up from beside him, "You literally met her twenty minutes before we did."

"Still counts. Technically, I did meet her first, so her betraying Team Oatmeal Raisin is enough to be tried for treason in Pogue Court."

"Pogue Court isn't a thing."

He crosses his arms after he pops the rest of the cookie into his mouth.

"It is now. You can be tried for treason for breaking the rules. Rule number one is that all Pogues have to admit oatmeal raisin is superior."

He's about to ball up the cling wrap to throw away later when the surfboard sticker catches his attention again. It's the same color as his board, which he'd like to think is a result of her being an evil mastermind that went out to get this sticker sheet for the sole purpose of teasing him, but he's the one who got her the sheet as a gift for her birthday, so he knows it was pure coincidence.

Last second, he peels the sticker away from the cling wrap and looks down to place it over the top of her yellow converse that were once a vibrant, paler color when Big John got them for her, but have since turned into an ugly mustard/dirt-dusted color they heckle her over.

"What are the other rules?" Y/N asks.

One of the hands holding onto where her feet are casually planted in his lap, something that they've done long enough that their friends won't see it as anything odd, slides down to caress the stretch of skin beneath the frayed hem of her dark jeans. Something she didn't know about him before whatever it is they have together started was that he constantly needs to be touching her. She can't say she doesn't love it though.

Pope answers, "The oatmeal raisin rule is not official"—a pointed glance at JJ—"But I'd assume the rest of the rules of Pogue Court would be no lying and no macking."

"So, basically you two break almost every rule except the oatmeal raisin one, and I lie," JJ says and turns to look at her, "How does it feel to be better than everyone, Y/N?"

"Pretty good, not gonna lie."

He keeps caressing little circles and tracing up and down her skin beneath the flared out pant leg of her jeans while he swipes his phone off of the table top without attracting the attention of their friends, who continue on to a new topic. She isn't too focused on what it is. She only picks up that it has something to do with a class they're in that's more advanced that hers, so she promptly checks out of the conversation.

Ever since John B died, she hasn't been performing too well in school. She tries, truly tries, but her mind outright refuses to absorb any of the information. When she reads her assigned reading, she hovers over the same paragraphs over and over until she shuts the book in a huff and hides it in her backpack again. Losing someone you love has a surprising amount of side effects.

Her phone buzzing in her hand brings her away from the impending cloud of doom that often accompanies any thoughts of John B, and when she taps in her passcode, her brother's birthday, a message bubble appears with a banner displaying JJ's contact name.

JJ (Derogatory) ur a good liar. prob could've fooled me if i weren't the one macking on u

Their eyes meet for a second across the table, then he watches her thumbs move to type a response.

Kief Princess Little do they know I break every rule now that I've switched sides on the cookie debate. Kinda impressive ngl.

JJ (Derogatory) triple threat, baby

JJ (Derogatory) thanks for the cookie btw

She smiles to herself, so wrapped up in their own world that she doesn't notice everyone in the room starting to pack up their stuff in anticipation of the bell that is due to ring any second now.

Kief Princess Had to repay you for last night somehow ;)

When she glances up to see his reaction, she watches his chest rise with a particularly large inhale, and he chews on the inside of his lip in thought.

JJ (Derogatory) strategically bringing up last night so i'm turned on in physics? ur an evil mastermind

Kief Princess I try.

Kief Princess Apparently whooping your sorry ass at surfing isn't the only thing I'm good at.

She hears him scoff.

JJ (Derogatory) first of all, ouch. second, u barely beat me

Kief Princess I'm happy to challenge you to a rematch. I have plans with Kie tonight, so I can't till this weekend. All it'll prove is that I am the rightful winner, but we knew that already.

JJ (Derogatory) what r the stakes this time

Kief Princess No sexual favors. If you beat me (fat chance) I'll formally rejoin team oatmeal raisin.

JJ (Derogatory) :( sex makes it more fun but i still accept those conditions

JJ (Derogatory) team oatmeal raisin needs u, even if ur a traitor

Kief Princess Why bet sexual favors if you're just gonna fuck me after anyway?

JJ (Derogatory) good point

The sound of the bell ringing echoes through the cafeteria, and they both pop their heads up from their phone screens to see everyone, including Pope and Kie, already packed up and raising from their seats to scurry off in the direction of their next classes. Meanwhile, their stuff is all bestrewn across the table, particularly JJ's belongings.

The sight of Kie walking away makes Y/N ask after her, "We're still on for tonight, right?

She stops with Pope's hand interwoven in hers. The look on her face when she turns would make you think she got caught doing something she wasn't meant to. Something like forgetting about the plans they made last week to watch Fear Street together. The Cherry Bowl Drive-In is premiering the first two movies as a double feature for the horror movie buffs of Kildare, so they decided to get tickets. Kiara shares a fondness of horror movies with her. Since gory movies make the boys squirm, though JJ pretends they don't, it's their own thing.

"Actually, Pope and I were gonna go to the beach. I'm sorry."

JJ knows she's more upset about it than she lets on, but Y/N simply gives the pair a smile that doesn't reach the eyes.

The sound of JJ behind her makes them laugh on their way out, diffusing the minor tension lingering in the air from the awkward encounter, "Use protection!"

After their friends offer them a goodbye, they gather their stuff quite leisurely, not really caring about being late.

It's something they've talked about before here or there: her feelings surrounding Kiara and Pope's sudden relationship. It's not as if she harbors any ill feelings for them, she doesn't, but the ripple effects of their pairing on the group, and more importantly the girls' own friendship, couldn't be clearer from her perspective. Between the missed hangouts, forgotten plans, and the convenient way she never seems to have time to hang out with her and JJ unless Pope is there too, it's been building up for a month now.

What makes it sting the most is how close her and Kie used to be. They didn't hit it off immediately the way she and JJ did as children until her thirteenth birthday when no one she invited showed up to the party Big John helped her set up in the yard of the Chateau.

She was the one who rallied the boys together to walk to ask their school friends from the year above to come hang out for an hour or two, promising a slice of the wonky-looking but delicious strawberry cake her and John B spent the morning crafting together. She can remember the sound of their high-pitched laughs and the cloud of flour that hung in the kitchen when they high-fived over the finished product like it was yesterday. In her heart, it was yesterday.

That night was when she fell in love with her friends, and that was when she first knew Kiara was her best friend. They wove friendship bracelets on each other that night and wore them for years until they withered away. No one had ever done something like that for her before. Not even JJ.

"You okay?"

Feeling his hand on her arm, slipping down to take her hand for a moment in the seclusion of the empty cafeteria, makes her glance up at him with a distinct sorrow washed over her features.

You know what? Screw this. Why should she be torn up over Kie and let it ruin her excitement for the double feature tonight? There's no way in hell she's letting her best friend ditching her for her boyfriend get in the way of her plans.

"Do you wanna go on a date tonight?" she asks him abruptly, then adds, "To the Cherry Bowl with me instead of Kie?"

The question sparks a pause in his mind, a halt of hesitation in which he worries about her avoiding having to answer what he asked, but he attempts to play it cool and not fuss over her outwardly. There have been times where being treated like that has made her feel suffocated, so he doesn't want to risk it. When she's ready, she'll talk about it, and if she takes too long and buries her feelings, then he'll intervene. For now, he tries to keep his face neutral despite the frown tempting his lips at her disappointment.

JJ looks around once more before throwing his arm around her shoulder to walk her out.

"You bet your ass I do."

What is a person supposed to act like on their first date that's not actually a date cause everything between them is the same, but kinda is a date because they called it one? If you ever find out, please find JJ and tell him because he has no clue.

Pope wasn't too much help in the Instagram group chat he made for it seeing as his and Kie's relationship is too fresh, John B isn't even alive, so he's out of service for advice unless there's Ouija Board he can borrow, and, thankfully, Kiara was his savior.

Their phones began blowing up as soon as he reached his class after lunch period ended. He couldn't under any circumstances let it be known that this mystery girl he had a date with was their friend, but thankfully Y/N already had the alibi of going to the Drive-In alone. All he had to do was make up a fake date scenario and get basic advice.

danknugstickiestickies added kiara-c and popeheyward to the groupchat

danknugstickiestickies named the group HELP ME

danknugstickiestickies i have a date with this chick i met on the beach when i was out with y/n last week. i need ur advice

His phone screen lit up with the notification that both of his friends were typing, signified with the three dot symbol bouncing in the bottom left corner as he thought it through. They couldn't possibly figure it out, right? They'd been careful, he'd been respectful of her wishes, and they'd been too busy together to notice anything new with them. He figured it would work. It was a risk, sure, but it was worth it to him. He didn't want to fuck this up with her.

Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t even treat it differently than any of their other hang outs. It's not like they haven't been romantic or sexual with each other. They've done everything but go out on an actual date, so why was he nervous?

kiara-c ummmm

popeheyward Yeah, I'm gonna need you to ELABORATE!!

kiara-c did hell freeze over? since when does jj maybank go out on dates??

danknugstickiestickies renamed the group hell froze over

kiara-c very funny, I'm laughing so hard 😐

popeheyward Do we know her?

danknugstickiestickies don't think u do. she moved here last week and hasn't enrolled in school yet. her name's steph

popeheyward What about Y/N though?

kiara-c ^^

JJ's chest muscles tightened with the question prompting a rush of anxiety that made his breathing feel slightly harder. He glanced up at his Physics teacher, who was essentially dozing off behind his desk with his hand in a bag of chips and an educational video on the projector as an excuse to not teach, and looked back down at his phone without the added stress of possibly getting his phone confiscated.

Pope's message might as well have been a sucker punch. Forget butterflies, he set a wasp’s nest loose inside of his stomach to tie it into knots and flip it every which way. His neglected textbook served as a prop for his phone to lean on as he set it down to think.

Did they know? As far as he was aware, they were getting away with it. No evidence, concrete or circumstantial, was there to prove it. At least the stress of the situation killed any chance of him being turned on by her reminder of last night in their messages. This shit was boner repellant of the highest degree.

He played stupid. Better to let them volunteer whatever information they had before he went in saying anything incriminating that they didn't already know. If anything would sour the experience of their first date, it would be him accidentally making their strange in-between relationship public behind her back.

danknugstickiestickies ?? what do u mean

Three dots bounced in the bottom left corner of his slightly cracked phone screen.

popeheyward ...

kiara-c I mean, you don't see it?

danknugstickiestickies see what

popeheyward I guess we were wrong, but all of us always thought you two had some feelings going on.

"You don't say?" JJ murmured sarcastically to himself under his breath. "Never crossed my mind, Pope."

danknugstickiestickies bro that's jb's little sister

kiara-c so?

danknugstickiestickies forbidden fruit? making john b roll over in his grave? do those ring a bell or am i speaking in tongues

He was already a proficient liar in real life, but, fuck, it was easy in text messages. There's no chance at deciphering facial expression or tone, just a plain message with no room to budge. Thank God he didn't do this in person with them. He could've survived, but it wouldn't have been as quick and painless as the group chat was.

kiara-c jeez, sorry

Pope didn't voice it, but he noticed something.

He looked up from his phone and stared off at the wall in thought in his AP European History class. It piqued his interest that JJ simply said she was off limits, forbidden fruit as he put it, but did not outright deny having feelings for her. In fact, he didn't even address the question. He made excuses for why he shouldn't have feelings for her, but he never said he didn't have feelings for her.

Kie did not notice. Not because she wasn't smart enough to either, but because she was too busy hiding her phone behind her backpack to think too deeply about it. Her teacher was one of those teachers that would flip shit if they saw a cell phone turned off and faced down on the desk, let alone being used by a student during a lesson.

In his classroom across the hallway, JJ bounced his leg up and down beneath his desk in an absentminded urge to release the built up energy the anxiety produced in an over abundance.

popeheyward Our bad then. Even John B thought y'all were sus lmao.

Since when was that a known fact? Could he tell? Did he talk to Pope about him and Y/N before he died? Either way, it wasn't the time to pry about it.

kiara-c yeah you guys honestly could've fooled me if you wanted to

danknugstickiestickies well thank u, glad ur invested in our friendship but

danknugstickiestickies please help, i have no fucking clue how to act on a date and this girl is too cool for me to screw this up

That was when they finally dropped the interrogation session and started offering up tips. The best ones came from Kie, which made sense to him since women are more likely to know what other women like than two dudes who share one collective brain cell and never had real relationships.

Rule One: Be ready to pick her up five minutes early.

He wasn't ready to pick her up five minutes early. His bike broke down by the time he made it halfway down his street, so he had to push it back up the road and into the yard before setting off on foot to reach the Chateau quickly enough. And by quickly enough, it means he got there five minutes late, not early.

Rule Two: Compliment her after you get in the car.

She tossed him the keys to the Twinkie from across the hood, not giving him the chance to open the door for her, and it wasn't until they were setting off down the road that he remembered the next piece of advice he was given.

Side-eyeing her in his peripheral vision, he tried to find something to compliment her on specifically rather than the general compliments about her being pretty that she never fully believes when he says them. He was intending to say something about the skirt she had on, but when he chanced a glance over at her, she caught him and asked—

"What is it?"

Sent into panic mode, JJ blurted out instead, "I like your shoes."

He could've bashed his face against the steering wheel twenty times right then and there at the utter absence of reaction on her part for the next few uncomfortable seconds. It wasn't that it was a bad compliment. She appreciates any compliments at all...but her shoes were hidden from his view. Not to mention, they were the dirty, mustard yellow converse that the Pogues bash on a daily basis.

She laughed, lifting her leg to expose the sneaker on her right foot, and asked, "These? Dude, you roast me for these all the time. You and John B said they look like Big Bird shit on them."

The skin on the apples of his cheeks scorched hot with embarrassment, and he was never so glad that the overhead lights in the van were burnt out until that moment. He would've died on the spot if she saw him blush like that, face flushed pinker than sunburn. All he could do to save himself was murmur something about the color growing on him and keep driving in the direction of the theater with his hands white-knuckling the steering wheel he fantasized about banging his face into.

Rule Three: Insist on picking up the check.

In this case, it meant insist on buying the popcorn and drinks, and he miraculously managed to drop his wallet somewhere along the way when he ran over to the Chateau, so when he stepped up to the makeshift concession stand with her standing at his side, he felt around for his wallet in his jeans to no avail.

His thoughts echoed back to him, You gotta be fucking kidding me. Seriously? Is this actually happening right now?

"JJ, it's honestly fine," she said softly as he leaned over to search back of the Twinkie for the wallet. "We can look for it on your street right now if you want. It has your ID and stuff, you don't want a stranger to have that. We don't need to stay—"

It took all of his control to not shout it in reaction when he said, "No way. You've been waiting for this, and Kie ditched you, so I ain't ditching you too. We're staying."

His wallet could go kick rocks.

He came too far to be dragged down by the old leathery piece of shit anyway. Would he go out and search for it tirelessly the second the date ended? Hell yeah, that fucker had twenty dollars and his debit card in it, but he couldn't bear the thought of abandoning her or ruining her anticipated movie night by taking her out to search the streets with their phone flashlights for a wallet they might not find. He'd wait till the movies ended, take her home, then haul ass around the Cut searching for it after.

Thankfully, he found a couple bucks crumbled up in his front pocket while she scavenged for coins in the glove compartment, and they came up with enough to buy a water bottle and small popcorn to share together.

Rule Four: Don't have sex on the first date.

And it may sound easy enough to not act like a complete Neanderthal for the length of two movies, but the girl makes it pretty damn difficult if he's to say so himself.

That's what led him here, laying in the back of the sideways-parked Twinkie in the farthest corner of the outdoor theater with her practically on top of him. In any other instance, he wouldn't be opposed in the slightest, but with the cursed fourth rule in mind, he isn't too thrilled with the feeling of her hand rubbing up and down his thigh.

It isn't even meant to be sexual. They're constantly touching one another this way. She'll even slip her hands up under his shirt just to feel the warmth of his skin or when he asks her if she can get an itch on a part of his back he can't reach, but for some reason his brain is short circuiting right now.

The thing is, when Kie and Pope said he shouldn't do it on the first date, they meant it for his and Steph's made up circumstances, not his and Y/N's full-blown relationship without labels. When you've had sex with someone as many times as they have with each other, the hesitancy on the "first date" is nonexistent. It doesn't matter. But JJ, trying to follow the advice given to him to the letter for the sake of being the date she deserves, doesn't think about it that way.

It shouldn't be this nerve-wracking. They've been best friends since they were children, they've been flirting since they found out what basic attraction was in the first place, and they've been forming this relationship ever since John B died. Why can't he relax? Why is this so different compared to how easy it felt between them yesterday on the beach or today at lunch?

Rule Five: Be yourself.

It takes him another few moments of laying here with her before he realizes quite abruptly what went wrong in a quick flash of a thought that brings the fifth rule back to him. The problem wasn't the bike, or the weird compliment about her Big Bird sneakers, or the lost wallet.

The problem is him. The problem is that he's trying way too hard to make this something it isn't. The part about them that he adores so dearly is how they never have to try when they're together. With any other girl or guy, they'd have to fake something or act a certain way, yet when they're together, they can simply exist and everything is runs smoothly. That's not to say they don't disagree or bump heads, they do, but short of those outlier moments, it's easier than anything else they do in life.

His eyes flicker away from the screen for the first time since the movie began, which, by the way, is gruesome enough at times that he had to divert his eyes to prevent himself from seeing it happen. They land on where she lays, completely content with the night in spite of its mishaps, with her head propped up on the pillows they brought from the Chateau.

He wonders if she can tell he's acting differently. Surely she must notice. She's the type of person that typically never misses a thing, perfect for the gold hunt they went on in the summer with picking up the clues and helping her brother unravel the mystery, so maybe she noticed how flustered this date has him. Does it bother her? Does he bother her?

With a confirming glance back up at the movie to see nothing important happening, he can't fight the urge to speak anymore.

"Can I tell you something?"

His voice appearing through the darkness of the shut off van after spending the past half hour in complete silence makes her jolt at first before realizing who it was. Though she loves horror movies, she can't claim to not be affected by them. The night she falls asleep after watching one, she often finds herself compelled to turn a light on and keep her feet from dangling off the edge of the bed. It's worth the fear, though.

When she turns to look at JJ, there's a warm smile on her face. She's cuddled into his side with a hand placed casually atop his thigh, caressing with no purpose or intent, and her movement halts when the light from the movie on the projector allows her to see the expression on his face.

Anxiety has become an increasingly significant presence in his life with the recent events in mind; John B and Sarah, the four-hundred million dollars they lost out on, and dodging his father whenever he sneaks home to switch out the backpack of clothes and personal belongings he keeps at the Routledge house.

It manifests itself in jittery nerves, stomach pains, shortness of breath, and, at worst, panic attacks striking either at random or in response to a specific trigger. It's one of the few things he still tries to hide from her, and she tries not to push him too hard with opening up about it.

She abandons the movie for the time being and rolls onto her side to face him, upper body propped up on her elbow as she examines his face with downturned features.

"Of course," she says.

The words left unsaid are, "You can tell me anything. Whenever you need someone to listen, or to talk to about shit, you can tell me." He's heard her say it enough that he doesn't need to hear it now to know it's true.

There's a pause, then—

"I feel like I fucked this entire date up," he starts to ramble and cuts her off before she can think about saying what she wants to, "and I know it's okay to you. You have way too high of a tolerance for my bullshit, and I've been trying so hard to make this perfect, but all that did was screw it up."

She's left quiet for a second, taking it all in.

Maybe if he hadn't been so anxious about it, he would've realized what was wrong with his bike when he rode it home from school, or he would've noticed his wallet fall out of his pocket. The point is, he wishes he hadn't let the label attached to this freak him out so much. He isn't sure why it does, but it does.

But she doesn't do what he expects. She isn't drowning him in reassurances and, "It's okay's" because she knows he doesn't care for them much. When he, the most stubborn person she knows, apologizes for something he did, he doesn't want it to turn into the person accepting the apology coddling him.

Y/N sighs.

"Is that why you've been acting so different all night? I scared you with the whole ‘date’ thing, didn't I? It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be."

What she doesn't know is that he wants it to be a date. He wants it to be a date so badly, he risked Pope and Kie finding them out for the sake of getting some proper advice on it, and now he's caught up in the same game of tug and war in his mind that always occurs when he wants to tell her the truth about his feelings for her.

Part of him doesn't understand why he doesn't outright say it. With every other girl he once showed interest in, he had no issues in letting them know he wanted them, but this is different. This isn't simply wanting someone, he thinks he's fallen for her. But whenever he says he's gonna grow a pair and tell her after all this time, he chokes. Involuntarily, he's reminded of his parents. Other than his friends saying it platonically, the only people to tell him they loved him were them, and with how they treated him, he sure as hell doesn't think that is love.

From his dad's brutal physical abuse to his mom's abandonment, he's too timid to tell her he loves her because of what could happen if she loves him back. Everyone else that has said that to him has either hurt him, died like John B did, or abandoned him.

He won't let that happen with him and Y/N. What they have, albeit undefined and codependent, is safe. It's the only thing he has left. Maybe it isn't right, and maybe he should open up about it to communicate the correct way, but somewhere in the misshapen logic of his mind, he correlates love to abandonment. And he doesn't want that to happen with her.

There are two sides of him at battle inside his mind. One side, the side that wants to do right by their relationship and actually communicate his feelings for once in his life, wants him to tell her everything. The other side, the side that responds based on the history of his past, wants him to hide it all.

"Will you be mad at me if we don't call it a date?" he asks.

She shakes her head.

The heavy sensation inside of JJ's chest nears a point of vitriolic violence against him as he starts to realize what he's doing to her, clearly letting her down, but he can't stop himself. Like a passive witness watching himself from outside of his body, the instantaneous trauma response to the sudden confrontation of his true feelings for her guides his actions without his permission. It shuts down any protest he has.

The sound of the movie fills the gap of silence between them the entire time. It’s a variety of bloodcurdling screams and disgusting sounds that would've made him gag if he weren't as distracted.

They can make out each other's faces through the darkness, but barely. It takes a flash of bright color from the film or a nearby car's lights turning on for them to fully see one another. Without the other knowing, they both put masks of calm and collected coolness on their faces despite the feelings raging beneath the surface—more so on his part than hers.

"Maybe," he says, pausing, "we should just keep things the way they've been."

As soon as the words leave his mouth, a soul-crushing amount of disappointment weighs her down. She said it was fine if he doesn't want it to be a date—and it is, she would never hold it against him—but that doesn't mean it can't hurt her. Things have been going so well, she almost thought...If tonight went well, she was thinking about no longer keeping it a secret, but if he said he wants things to stay the same, then maybe he isn't as ready for it as she is?

Meanwhile, JJ is on another page entirely.

She's embarrassed of being with you, a familiar voice in the back of his head croons. She's gonna leave just like everyone else does. If she doesn't even wanna tell your friends, why should you pretend you're dating?

The internal comments are the type that cause him to physically grimace when he's alone. Intrusive thoughts are just that: intrusive.

Sneaking into the guarded sanctuary of a person's mind, they set out to convince them the opposite of their reality. The only thing is, where most people's minds are guarded sanctuaries with walls of impregnable defense, his mind is the equivalent of a fortress blown to smithereens. The castle walls lay in rubble, the guards no where to be seen, and the path for these thoughts to slip past and straight to the vulnerability of his mind is left wide open.

In the privacy of his room, these thoughts attack him the most at night when he tries to fall asleep—when things get too quiet. With nobody around, when they get this bad there's nothing he can do except break down. It builds from the mere anxiety of attempting to force the thoughts away to full-blown panic attack mode. The more he resists them, the more aggressive they become. He'll gasp for air with tears streaming down his face, hitting his head with the heel of his hand as if that'd do something to stop his relentless mind.

But he can't afford to react in front of her, so the extent of his reaction is a subtle twitch of his face that she cannot see in the momentary darkness before the movie switches to another scene a second later. In a way, it does make the thoughts go away to have her here preventing him from spiraling alone. Having to focus on her keeps his mind away for moments at a time until the thoughts ease their grip on him.

When she hasn't answered for a while, he asks, terrified that he did something bad, "Are we good?"

The question seems to wake her up, snapping her out of the lonely direction her thoughts went into when he "rejected" her. It takes every bit of common sense she has left to force herself to understand that this doesn't mean he doesn't want her. He does, and not calling this a date doesn't mean they won't be together in the way they have been since John B's death, but she isn't perfect. She gets as unsure and insecure as he does.

As if the cloud of doom was lifted off of her, she makes her face lighten where she lays on her side next to him. Seeing this expression makes his chest feel less heavy, and he could let out a sigh of relief at the realization that he didn't break her heart and stomp on it. He should've known. Y/N is the sweetest person he knows, so she never would've flipped shit over him not wanting to label this as a date. That's not how she is.

And he's partly right. It isn't how she is. She would never hold it against him if he didn't want something further with her since she got herself into this position by pursuing him with his reputation with girls in mind, but she can't ignore it. Whether she wants it to or not, it had its affect on her as soon as he said it.

She leans in to kiss him, their lips meeting in the middle with the faint taste of popcorn salt mingling at the soft peck.

When she pulls away, she brushes the hair back from his face and says, "Don't worry. Nothing can change how I feel about you."

She has no clue what it feels like to hear that from her.

Despite the turmoil they unknowingly share beneath the surface due to this conversation, he could cry hearing her say it. It doesn't feel real to him that she feels the same way he does about her, because nothing could change how he feels about her either. That’s why he manages to work up the courage to repeat it back to her, and, for now, this is the closest he's physically capable of coming to telling her the truth.

"Ditto," he says.

It isn't what she wanted, but it's close enough, and if she dwells on this any longer, she might start getting too emotional and let the urge to tear up become too strong. Why does she have to be this sensitive? It's no secret that it's remarkably easy to make her cry, but this is insane to her. When all of this began with him, she didn't give a shit about him not wanting a label. She understood him, and she understood that he doesn't do this kind of thing, so why has it changed? Why doesn't she want to keep it a secret anymore? Why does she want this to be a date when she knows he doesn't want it to be?

Pulled by an invisible string back to him to silence her mind, she leans in to kiss him again with a hand cupping the back of his neck to guide him the rest of the way to her.

It shouldn't be laced with any sexual intention. She should be kissing him simply because she wants to, and, in a way, she is. Their kisses and touches are never lacking the motivation that is their underlying connection and mutual feelings for one another, but this is not the same. As he kisses her back with as much confidence and passion as always, she is reeling from the conversation that reminded her too much of a breakup.

It takes another minute of this for the kiss to heat up, their breathing becoming shallower in the moments they part to inhale, and she is undeniably the one instigating when she officially crosses the line between casual and sexual by crawling onto his lap. It's not hard for him to pick up on when their innocent moments take a turn. She's easy to read in that regard, and this has happened a multitude of times with them, so the shift of a mini make out session turning into something more is nothing out of the ordinary for them.

If he knew how shaken she is on the inside, he'd never want this. And the same would go for her if she knew what he was thinking before this. Neither of them wants to admit what they're feeling.

With her legs seated on either side of his hips, she kisses him like it's the last time she'll ever get the opportunity to. Her hands wander wherever they can, pulling at his shirt and feeling him up as his hands guide her hips to move against his in a steady grinding that she has no issue partaking in. It's an eagerness he hasn't seen from her in weeks. She's never un-excited when it comes to being physical with him either, but this is another level. The last time a girl was all over him like this, it was desperate touron at a party a few months ago.

In the span of time it takes her to glance over her shoulder to see if anyone could see them and reach to pull her skirt up until it bunches around her hips—no one can see them, by the way, since they got here late and were forced to cram the van into the back corner of the lot with no street lights illuminating the path—his brows raise at her presumptuous behavior. Not that he's one to complain, however, seeing as he's typically the one doing what she is.

Their next kiss clashes their teeth hard enough to make them wince, but he loves it. It makes him smirk into her parted mouth, alive with both the feeling her reassurance provided and the fuzzy-headed high that often finds him when they're together in this way. Incomparable to past flings or the high related to any drugs, she is the peak of everything to him. It's no contest.

His chest stutters against hers with a bout of amused laughter, asking within a brief pause in what feels like the most JJ thing he's said this awkward night, "Two for two in the Twinkie. What's gotten into you?"

Y/N's hand dips between where their bodies move together to unclasp the closed buckle of his belt in one smooth motion that has it falling apart with a clinking noise.

Her features are set with a look that tells him she means business. Whatever it is that sparked this, he wonders how the fuck to make it happen again another time. She's begged for it before, but never taken control so dominantly, and he can't deny what the role reversal does to him. The evidence is obvious in the distinct hardness she feels pressing up against the hand undoing his jeans.

"I was hoping it'd be you," she says, voice breathless and airy from the constant contact in a way that makes it ten times hotter for him.

If there were any chance of him not being in the mood prior to this, which wasn't the case anyway, it's gone now. He never wants to hear her say she doesn't deliberately try to tease him ever again.

He doesn't need to be told twice.

JJ surges forward to capture her mouth with his, this time with no intention of pulling away to breathe or speak again. No, he'll let himself get lightheaded and dizzy if it means he can stay with her for as long as possible.

With the circumstances of it all, them being visible to someone if they happened to pass by the open door of the van, they move at a pace quicker than usual. She's immediately helping him shimmy his jeans and underwear far enough down his hips to free his dick from the confines of his clothes, making him sigh out a breath of relief when her hand brushes against him in the process.

There's no opportunity to slow down, it has exploded into a full-throttle speed race that neither of them can halt.

His hand blindly flies out beside him to grope the floor of the van for the set of keys he tossed carelessly to the side once the movie started, eyes shut in the midst of the hot, messy kiss they share. His fingers find the fabric of one of the blankets they brought in case they got cold, then drifts again and lands on her Big Bird sneakers until he feels the sharp metal of her keys meet his calloused palm.

After the events of last summer, she bought a switch blade to keep on her key ring alongside the keys to the van, HMS Pogue, and Chateau. She may not like violence or weapons, seeing as she was a skeptic of JJ keeping the gun alongside her friends, but she saw it necessary. Between Rafe, Topper, and Kelce, how could she leave the safety of her and her friends up to chance knowing what some of the kooks did to them not long ago? What happened to Pope on the golf course alone was enough to make her skin crawl.

Right now, though, the knife flips out from the pressure of his thumb pushing the button to release it. He holds it out away from her at first to assure it doesn't nick her in the process, then uses his other hand to tug the side of her panties that hugs her hip far out enough to press the sharp side of the blade onto the inside of it.

She can hardly believe what she's watching as JJ cuts the delicate maroon underthings from her body as if he were doing something so normal, like it's something he's done before. Her forehead is pressed against his, her mouth parted both in shock and in a need to pant for oxygen, and she watches the knife ruin her favorite panties. The stitches come apart with a satisfying ripping noise that can hardly be heard over the sound of people reacting to the movie in the background.

Other customers of the Cherry Bowl Drive-In are too glued to the screen as a beloved character is chased down, reacting in shouts when she's seized by the killer and shoved onto the table of an industrial bread slicer, so they remain wholly unnoticed.

The lace, now ripped in half, dangles on the tip of the knife when he lifts it away from her, tosses it aside, and presses the button once more to retract the blade. It clatters to the floor, but is in no way forgotten with them resuming in a desperation to keep going until they both satisfy the need clawing at them from the inside. But her sense of need is different from his, and even with the fresh memory of him with the switch blade in mind, she's still somewhere else the whole time.

Her mind is faraway, muted through layers of sadness, anger, and disappointment as he reaches between them to line himself up to her entrance. The sensation of him running his cock, hard and messy with a few drops of precome, through her dripping pussy to coat it in her slick arousal is enough to make her moan pathetically. Yet when he's about to guide himself inside of her, she stops him.

"Wait, wait, wait," she breathes out rapidly, heart pounding so hard she can feel herself pulsating between her thighs, "Condom."

They were so antsy to get to it, they almost forgot.

"Fuck," he curses under his breath, and his eyes flicker from where they were trained between their bodies to glance back and forth around the van before it hits him. "I lost my wallet..."

But right when he thinks their public rendezvous in the back of the Drive-In is over due to his unfortunate mistake, she shakes her head and slips away from her perch astride his lap to crawl over to her bag.

She fumbles with the old tote bag and plunges her arm in to sift through the hodge podge of things that are purely Y/N in nature—stickers, glitter pens, a half-eaten bag of candy, etc—for the square foil package she decided to toss in before she left just in case. She usually doesn't keep them on her because he never fails to have one, but, thankfully, she had the random instinct to bring it tonight.

The only thing to bring her out of her cloudy, malevolent storm of feelings when she settles back onto his lap with the condom wrapper ripped open for him is him saying, "So you planned this, huh?" with his mouth tipped in a familiar self-satisfied grin.

She didn't plan it. In fact, she threw herself at him the second she sensed him withdrawing from her and can't stop herself despite the fact that she constantly feels two seconds away from letting a tear slip down her cheek. If that counts as "planning it", then sure.

"Maybe so," she answers, cool, calm, and collected—the antithesis of the truth.

They usually don't lie to each other.

They're thrown right back into it without any other hiccups once he rolls the condom on, and he takes in a shaky breath at her hand wrapping around him to align their bodies up. Before she can do anything, though, he takes chance to swipe the blanket he found a moment ago and wrap it around her back to keep her covered in case they get caught.

Y/N sinks down onto his cock with her lip caught between her teeth to stifle the sound that threatens to escape. JJ, on the other hand, doesn't bother concealing the sound of the groan he makes at the sensation of having her wrapped around him like this. The tension in her entire body from the anticipation and the looming threat of being seen by someone has her squeezing him so tightly, he can't help but be a little louder than he should.

Her soft palm slaps over his mouth with enough pressure to force his groan to quiet itself, and she watches his pretty blue eyes widen in reaction to the dominant action. Who is this girl and what has she done with his sweet, submissive Y/N? Don't get him wrong, he is very turned on by it, but it's unlike her to take the lead this way. He can't figure it out.

"What's wrong, angel?" she asks in a whisper into his ear, her hand over his mouth and her hips starting to slowly rock against him, "Watch the movie."

Once the words leave her mouth, she drops her hand, just in case he wants to stop and can't say anything because she had his mouth covered, and JJ is pretty sure he's died and gone to heaven.

He doesn't watch the movie, not at all, because he's too busy watching her. For someone losing their mind internally, she does not let it show, nor does she let it distract her from what's happening. If anything, the distraction in this situation is the sex, not what's going on inside of her head.

There's a moment of adjustment and going as slowly and gently as possible while waiting for the dull pressure of feeling him inside of her to fade away, but, for the most part, she doesn't waste any time. As soon as she feels comfortable enough with the ache between her thighs giving way to a spark of pleasure when she grinds her clit down on his pubic bone, she starts to ride him at a better pace than the initial slow movements of her hips.

She raises herself up and takes him again inch by inch, enjoying the sense of fullness she gets from having to fit him in spite of the slight discomfort at first, and she could swear that he'll leave bruises in the shape of his handprints with how tightly he clutches her hips. It's all he can do to prevent himself from moaning or saying something, ever the vocal lover she's come to know.

Unless his mouth is preoccupied like it was on the beach yesterday afternoon, JJ is usually impossible to shut up, especially in this context. With him always whispering dirty things to her, whether it be praises, pet names, or plans on what he wants to do to her, she has come to find it breathtakingly hot. He could likely get away with saying something if he wanted to, but he isn't sure he wants to risk it. If he opens his mouth to spew something filthy to her, he won't trust himself not to make a louder, different kind of noise that won't fit in the with background audio the other moviegoers are listening to.

The wet sound of their bodies colliding that fills the space of the van is drowned out by the loud and violent sequence occurring on the screen far ahead of them, and hearing it makes her bounce herself on him a little harder. She's fueled on by it all, and, strangely, what happened before she practically pounced on him is the main contributor.

Similarly to the nature of his intrusive thoughts, the harder she resists the memory of how it felt when he told her he didn't want this to be a date, the more forceful it is in its return. Her eyes trail down to watch where they connect with her forehead pressed to his, then she's thrown back into the feeling of helpless disappointment and insecurity. His head tips back against the window with his bottom lip dropped open and his brows furrowed just enough to create a crease on his forehead, and she's bombarded with the look of relief on his face when he realized he didn't have to be tied down to her with a label.

It makes her want to get rougher, harder, and she doesn't even care if it'll make her sore later on. She presses herself down so far every time she slides down on his cock, her teeth draw blood on her lip with how hard she must bite it to remain quiet. The pain of her hipbones rubbing against his doesn't even matter to either of them at this point. They're both too lost in the pleasure that has begun to take control of them to care about something as minuscule as that, or the burn in her thighs from the repetitive physical strain.

She grabs his wrist and brings his hand between them, flattening hers overtop of it and pressing down on the base of her abdomen in the midst of the increasingly feverish thrusts.

"Feel you here," she murmurs to him through a quiet moan, hoping he can hear it over the movie, and pushes down on his hand for emphasis. And if the way he reacts by cursing under his breath tells her anything, it's that he picked up on it. "JJ..."

He reaches out to grab her by the throat with his free hand and tug her forward to kiss him, as if something inside of him snapped in response to her doing that. The motions of her jolting up and down throws the already messy and uncoordinated kiss off-kilter, but they don't mind. It has them separating every time she lifts up, producing this heady little head rush from from them breathing in each other's air without actually letting their mouths meet in the middle.

Though they're trying their hardest not to alert anyone outside of what's happening, it didn't occur to him until now, when his eyes catch John B's old bandana swinging back and forth where it's secured around the rear view mirror.

They're worried about moaning while the entire fucking Twinkie is rocking with their movements. Well, at least it makes good use of the corny sticker he gifted John B last year as a gag gift. He tried to peel it off after JJ snuck it onto the side window to no avail. So, now Y/N is stuck with a sticker on her car reading, "If the van's a-rockin', come on in, we like orgies," rather than the more common phrase.

It almost makes him start laughing, and he prays no one takes that shit seriously, 'cause he is never intent on sharing this breathtaking girl. Ever.

Y/N isn't anywhere near laughing like he is, in fact, she's finding it difficult to keep herself together. She feels her eyes sting with the promise of tears, and she's never felt so pathetic before. Is she seriously about to cry during sex? Is she really that girl that is so ill-equipped to handle rejection, she can't get through it without tears?

She won't cry. Perhaps if he sees how glossy her eyes have become in a rare moment of good lighting, she can blame it on the hand around her throat putting pressure on the sides of her neck.

The worst part about her being near to crying is the timing of it.

The emotion of what she feels mentally mixes with the swirling, building sensation she feels in the pit of her stomach that tells her she's close to going over the edge, and it's so overwhelming. Was she imagining that their friendship had changed? More importantly, is this all she'll ever be to him? Sex is the only thing she's sure of with him, it's the only thing that doesn't require deeper emotions, and when the ground beneath their fragile relationship felt shaky...

He can feel her starting to unravel, and he knows that he'll come before she does if he doesn't do anything now, so he decides to take control.

JJ pulls the hand he had resting on her abdomen away as though he were burned by it, wrapping his arm around her waist to steady her body against his and using the hand around her neck for leverage to thrust up into her, effectively reducing her to a teary-eyed, moaning mess atop him. They both stopped caring about making noise the second he began to fuck her like this.

She cries out in ecstasy at the sudden change in pace and depth that has him hitting all the right places. Every time he thrusts up into her, just as rough as she wished for, the tip of his cock nudges into that perfect spot inside of her that makes her incapable of silencing her moans. This time, it's JJ that puts his hand over her mouth, letting the one he had around her neck move away to keep her from alerting everyone around them of what's happening.

There's nothing she can do to stop her climax as it barrels through her in its initial sweeping wave of bliss to contrast the venomous doubts in her mind. She's never felt such conflicting, yet powerful feelings before—the intensity of the physical pleasure that makes her whine into the palm of his hand, then the part of her mind replaying every word he said in their conversation before this.

Her body is rigid and tense through it all, squeezing down around his cock with the involuntary spasms of her orgasm, and he can't help himself anymore. All it takes are a few more frantic thrusts for him to bury himself inside of her one last time and spill into the condom, uncovering her mouth so he can drown out his own groans into a kiss.

Their skin sticks to their clothes on the inside with sweat from the exertion of their actions, and he can feel her stomach tremble where it presses up against his with each undulation of her hips that meet his as he rides it out.

But even with the added distraction of the sex, she can't rid herself of the feeling that started plaguing her as soon as things went awry. That was why he was acting weird all night. He must have been so worried about her thinking this was anything more than their typical hangouts that he couldn't bring himself to act normally.

She forces herself to look happy when they pull away from the kiss, panting, and JJ, unaware of what she's been thinking, doesn't notice the small deception.

Tag list: @gabiatthedisco

[fics-n-stuff]

Affluenza | Pt2

Pairing: JJ × Kook!Reader

Summary: Y/N celebrates her birthday with a party that she didn't want to throw and finds out a sad truth about the boy that's not quite her boyfriend, but being in each other's company makes things at least a little better.

Warnings: Mentions of abuse and descriptions of injury, reference to drugs

Word Count: 3.5k

A/N: I'm so happy that so many people liked pt1!! It means the absolute world to me that people are reading and enjoying my work 🥰 Pt3 might take a little longer to get out, but I'll try to post it asap.

Taglist: @alotbnouf @fairypitou @305weasley @thecraziestcrayon @sofamochi @arvinrussellseggplant

Thanks for reading guys ❤

Pt1 here | Pt3 here

“Why didn’t you tell me it’s your birthday on Saturday!?” JJ exclaimed, letting go of your hand and sitting up from where you had both been lying on the deck of your boat.

“I didn’t think it was that big a deal.” You replied with a laugh. “I kinda just forgot to mention it.”

“But what if I wanted to buy you a present?”

“I don’t need a present from you JJ.” You smiled, reaching up to cup his cheek and pulling him down for a kiss.

The two of you had been dating for a couple of months now, and although you very much considered yourselves to be together neither of you had said the words ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend’ yet. The time you spent together was private, you kept it a secret from everyone; you didn’t want your family to know and he was hesitant to tell his friends, exactly why you weren’t sure but you didn’t want to pry. It wasn’t as if you were sneaking around, you were just being careful.

“I have plenty things already, your company is enough.” You said, pulling away from the kiss and sitting up yourself. “But unfortunately I won’t be able to see you on my actual birthday. Mom’s making me throw a party and every teenager on Figure Eight will be there, so I doubt you’d want to come.”

“I wouldn’t be welcome even if I did want to.” JJ chuckled. You hummed in agreement.

“That’s why I wanted to celebrate today.” You chirped, getting up to retrieve a cooler that you had brought with you.

“What’s in there?”

“A special birthday picnic.”

“Oh, I see.” He grinned as you took your seat opposite him again. “And what does that consist of?”

“Well, let’s have a look.” You opened up the cooler and looked in at what you had packed with a smile. “Of course the standard picnic items; sandwiches, fruit, some baked sweets.” You listed as you took them out of the cooler. “And then, as I learned from my mother, a young lady cannot celebrate her birthday without a bottle of champagne.”

“Fancy.” JJ nodded, taking the bottle from you.

“Not as fancy as these.” You said, taking the glasses out. “Crystal champagne flutes. I snuck them out of the cabinet. We only use them for the most special of occasions and my mom loves them so we have to be careful.”

“I can be careful.” JJ poured the champagne, and you clinked your glasses with a smile. “Happy early birthday.”

“This is a much better celebration than my party will be.” You sighed, finishing your sip and setting your glass down. “I don’t understand why my mom insists that I have to have one, I’m not actually friends with anyone that’s coming.”

“But I thought you said every kid on Figure Eight was going? You’re not friends with anybody?”

“No, not really. They’re all just so fake, I can’t stand it. I genuinely don’t think that any of them are really friends with each other and they’re just constantly pretending, but I can’t be bothered to pretend.” You rolled your eyes and JJ laughed.

“Sounds exhausting.” He smiled.

“What are your friends like, J?” You asked, genuinely just curious. He told you a bit about them, stories of the crazy stuff they had done, but you never got in depth about it. You felt like it was probably because he wasn’t ready to integrate the two parts of his life.

“They’re good.” He nodded. “I mean, we’re basically family. They’re just not the biggest fans of Kooks.”

“Well, neither are you.” You giggled.

“You know what I mean. I think you’d like them, I’m just worried that they wouldn’t want to give you chance.”

“How much do you bet I could win them over just like I did you?”

“I wouldn’t love it if you won them over exactly the same way as me.” He smirked, gently taking hold of your chin and pulling you in for a kiss, which you both laughed into. “I'm gonna get you a birthday present. What if I come by on Saturday just for a minute to deliver it?”

“You know I’ll be happy to see you, but nobody else at the party will.”

“Eh, who cares.” He shrugged, and you grinned broadly.

“Okay, if you insist.” You conceded. “Now let’s eat this picnic that I so painstakingly curated.”

+ + +

Your birthday party was in full swing, the ground floor of your house teeming with teenagers. People were drinking, dancing and jumping in the pool and you weren’t enjoying any of it.

Your mother had gifted you a particularly ugly necklace that was basically just a tangle of gold chain, and Nicholas had openly bad mouthed your father for only getting you a few books, even though that’s what you had asked for. The detest that you felt for him was justified. Your dad was actually supposed to have arrived back on the island the day before, but it wasn’t unusual for him to get held up with work.

You pushed past a group of boys having some loud conversation on your way into the kitchen and poured yourself a strong drink. You threw the drink back in one gulp and slammed the plastic cup back down onto the countertop with a loud sigh.

“What’s wrong, birthday girl?” Topper asked over the music, his arm slung around Sarah’s shoulders as they came up beside you.

“I’m fine.” You shrugged.

“Did your dad get you a good present this year?” Sarah asked with a smile. “A new car maybe?”

“I already have a car.” You replied with a flat chuckle. “He got me some books that I asked for.”

“That’s kinda boring.” Topper commented. You rolled your eyes and Sarah smacked him in the side.

“I think that’s sweet. What kind if books?”

You told Sarah about the books you had gotten, actually kind if enjoying the conversation. Sarah was actually pretty easy to talk to, you felt like the fact that you weren’t putting on an act made her kind of drop hers, and it was a refreshing break from the way that the rest of the teens on Figure Eight were constantly pretending to be the perfect versions of themselves.

Your explanation of the premise of one of your books was interrupted when you felt your phone ringing in your pocket. You took it out and saw that it was your dad, and you smiled.

“I gotta take this.” You excused quickly before rushing outside to get away from the music. You answered the call excitedly, greeting your dad with a bright tone.

“Hey, Pumpkin, happy birthday!” He exclaimed. “I’m sorry I didn’t call this morning, I got caught up in meetings. You know how it is.”

“I know, dad. It’s okay, you’re calling now. Are you done with work? Do you think you’ll get here tonight?” You questioned eagerly. You heard him let out a sigh, and your smile fell.

“About that, sweetheart, I’ve had a few bumps in the road.” He began. You felt your heart sink and you were already scolding yourself for getting your hopes up before he could even tell you what the reason for missing your birthday was. “My meetings haven’t gone as well as I’d hoped and it looks like I’m going to be held up for a few more days.”

“Oh, right, okay.” You nodded, keeping your voice steady even as your eyes welled with tears. “Hope things get better then.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N, I really did want to be there. I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back; we can have a movie marathon night, completely your pick.” You let out a chuckle despite yourself. He might not be around much but he still knew you well, and movie marathon nights were one of your favourite things to do with him.

“Sounds great, dad. I can’t wait.”

“I hope you’ve had a good day, at least. What have you been getting up to?”

“I’m having a party, actually.” You replied. You didn’t need to tell him that you didn’t want to have the party and weren’t actually really enjoying it.

“Right now? I’ll let you get back to it then.” Your dad smiled down the phone. “Have fun.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Love you, Pumpkin.”

“Love you too.”

You said your goodbyes and ended the call, and you tucked your phone back into the pocket of your shorts. You just stood there for a few moments, the loud music and whooping of partying teenagers emanating from the house, before tears began to fall. You shook with a silent sob and had to take a seat on the concrete of your driveway.

You sat there, with your legs pulled up to your chest and your head in your knees, for a few minutes. You sniffed, wiping your tears away on the back of your hand, when you heard a shuffle of footsteps and looked up quickly.

“JJ.” You acknowledged quickly, furiously wiping at your eyes as he walked up the driveway.

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He asked, his voice edged with concern. You were ready to brush away his concerns, but as he got closer you saw the bruising on his face and suddenly you had some worries of your own.

“What happened to you?”

“I asked first.” JJ countered. You watched him as he came to sit down next to you, lifting your hand and softly placing it just below his purpled cheekbone, inspecting the fresh bruising around his eye and the split in his lip, then noticing the discolouration around his collarbone. He took the hand away gently, intertwining your fingers, and you saw that there was no bruising on his knuckles; these weren’t injuries earned in a fair fight. “Why are you crying?” He repeated.

“No, that doesn’t matter.” You shook your head. You weren’t trying to downplay your upset anymore, you just knew that whatever had happened to JJ was more important. “Who did this to you, JJ?”

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.” He smiled, but there was no joy or amusement behind it. You hesitated for a moment before conceding.

“My dad missed my birthday again.” You told him. “The last time he actually made it home for my actual birthday was when I turned eleven, and yet somehow I still get my hopes up every year. I hate this party, there are at least three different types of club drugs being taken in my house right now, I’m sad. You’re turn.”

JJ sighed. He looked down at your joined hands, pausing to think for a moment before looking back up at you. He let out a short breath of soft laughter, lifting his free hand and smoothing his thumb over the crease that had formed on your brow.

“Promise not to freak out?” He asked.

“Okay.” You replied shakily. You could try to limit your reaction at least. “But you have to tell me the truth, J.”

“My dad hits me.” JJ said quickly, and you felt your lips part in shock. “I stay with John B most of the time, I try to stay out of his way when I’m home, but it’s not like I can avoid him completely.”

“Wha- Why don’t you tell somebody?” You stuttered. “Call the police or protective services or-?”

“I don’t want to.” He interrupted. “I’m happy here with my friends and if I get protective services involved then they’ll ship me off to the mainland. I can deal with my dad.”

“This doesn’t look like dealing.” You muttered softly, pushing the collar of his t-shirt to the side to get a better look at the bruise that it was partially covering. “When is this from?”

“Yesterday. I went home to get some money so I could buy you this.” JJ shifted to reach into his pocket and pulled out a small, flat box. “It’s not much but it’s all I could afford.”

You took the box from him curiously, unlinking your hand from his so that you could pull off the lid. Inside was a small silver necklace, a thin chain with a small circular pendant. When you lifted it up you saw that the pendant had a map of the world etched into it. The necklace was simple and sweet, and you felt a big smile take over your face.

“You didn’t have to get me this, J.” You simpered.

“I told you I wanted to.” He smiled back. You handed the box back to him and turned to face away, and JJ eagerly fastened the chain around your neck. He struggled a little with the tiny clasp, making you giggle. His hands ran over your shoulders before he dropped them, and you turned back to him with the smile gone from your face.

“You went through that just so you could buy this for me?” You murmured. JJ's smile faltered but didn’t fall, and he nodded slightly.

“It’s not your fault, Y/N. It’s just what happens.”

You sat silently for a little while, but your peaceful moment was interrupted by a loud round of cheering from inside. You looked over your shoulder towards the house with a groan, but then lightened up when you got an idea.

“You wanna get away from this bullshit?” You asked, gesturing towards the party.

“You wanna leave your own birthday party?” He asked with a chuckle. You shrugged.

“Nobody will notice that I’m gone. I’ll just have to come back at, like, midnight to kick everybody out.”

“Okay, then let’s go.” JJ smiled.

“Alright. Give me one minute.” You giggled, getting up quickly. “Just wait here a sec.”

You ran back into the house and pushed past all of the people to the stairs, heading up to your bedroom. You had kept the door locked to keep out horny couples. You rooted through one of your drawers until you found a set of keys, switched out of your party sandals to a pair of converse, and grabbed your car key off of your vanity before heading back out, making sure to lock your door behind you again.

You paused on the stairs to scan the crowd until you spotted Sarah, and pushed past the bodies towards her.

“Y/N! Where’d you go?” She shouted over the music.

“Just outside. I’m gonna disappear from the party for the bit, can you call me if something major happens?” You asked. Sarah frowned.

“But this is your birthday party.”

“I know it’s weird, but I’ve got some other stuff going on right now and I just need to get away for a bit.”

“Okay, I guess that makes sense. I’ll call you if anything happens.” She nodded, though the confusion was still clear on her face.

“Thanks. I’ll see you later.” You smiled, before heading back out.

JJ was stood at the side of the driveway waiting for you when you came back out, slamming the front door shut after yourself. You grabbed his hand and pulled him after you to your car with a smile.

“Where are we going?” He questioned as you started the engine and began backing out.

“My other house.” You answered.

“Sorry, did you say ‘other house’?”

“My dad’s house. He hasn’t been home in eight months and I haven’t been there in about five, but a cleaner comes by every two weeks to maintain it.” You explained.

“Jesus you’re rich.” JJ mumbled. He had a teasing smile on his face but the comment made you feel a little guilty.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to show off or anything. We don’t have to go to my dad’s if you don't want-"

“Y/N, it’s fine.” He laughed. “You didn’t choose to be born into a rich family the same way I didn’t choose to be born into a poor one.”

“I know, I just don’t want to be... insensitive isn’t the right word. I just don’t want to seem like I take it for granted; I don’t want you think that I’m that kind of person.”

“I don’t.” He assured you. “You don’t treat me like I’m any different for being poor, so I don’t care that you’re rich.”

It wasn’t long until you were pulling into the driveway of your dad’s house. It was grand and expensive looking, but it was still smaller than your mom’s; she had kept the house after the divorce and since your dad wasn’t even home most of the time he’d decided that he didn’t need quote so much space.

The inside was modestly decorated, no elaborate sculptures or outlandish wall decorations like so many of the other houses on Figure Eight. The furniture was very nice, and the few paintings and things that were on the walls were expensive, but your father was a man of simple taste. He didn’t even have any fancy chandeliers.

“I expected something more opulent for the richest man in the Outer Banks.” JJ commented as he looked around.

“Since when was opulent a word in your vocabulary?” You questioned with a giggle. JJ gasped, and pinched you in the side with a frown.

“I’m not completely dumb.” He objected.

You laughed, grabbing his hand and dragging him after you into the living room. You flicked on the light before dropping yourself onto the sofa and pulling JJ down with you.

“What kind of movies do you like?” You asked him as you picked up the remote and switched on the TV.

“Uh, I don’t know, action and horror.” He shrugged.

“What kind of horror? Slasher? Psychological? Paranormal?”

“I don’t know.” He chuckled. You gave an exaggerated sigh, going into the horror section on Netflix.

“Fine, I guess I’ll pick.”

You ended up putting on The Blair Witch Project after discovering that JJ had never seen it, and the two of you settled down. You were thankful to be away from the crowded mess of your birthday party and just have a quiet night with JJ.

“But I don’t understand how they managed to make it scary, basically nothing happened.” JJ perplexed after the movie ended.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s genius.” You grinned up at him. Throughout the course of the film you had ended up lying across the sofa with your head resting on his lap. “All of the horror is in the fact that you know that something this out there but you never see it. Modern horror movies could never.”

“That’s crazy bro.” He said, making you laugh. He looked down at you with an amused smile and a sparkle in his eye that made your heart jump.

“Do you wanna stay here for the night?” You offered once your laughter subsided. “I’m sure my dad has some stuff in his closet that you can sleep in.”

“Are you sure? I mean, don’t you have to go home?”

“Nah, my mom and Nicholas are staying at a hotel tonight so that I can have my party so they won’t know that I’m not there.” You shrugged. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’d like to stay.” He smiled. You let out a relieved breath that you didn’t realise you’d been holding.

“Cool. I need to go and kick everyone out of my house but we can watch another movie when I get back if you want?”

“Sounds good to me. Do you want me to come with you?”

“Probably best if you don’t, you know, with the whole ‘every Kook on the island is there’ thing.” JJ laughed lightly at that.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He nodded. “Can I have a shower while you’re gone.”

“Sure.” You chuckled as you sat up. “You can use my en suite and I’ll get you something to change into.”

You took him upstairs, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts from one of your dad’s drawers before showing him into your room. It was plainly decorated like the rest of the house, but you had posters and photos tacked up and covering almost every inch of the walls.

“This is nice.” JJ smiled, looking around.

“Don’t go snooping around while I’m gone, a person’s bedroom is their kingdom.”

“I’ll mind my own business.” He agreed with a salute that made you grin.

“And make sure you dry off properly, I don’t want you dripping all over my nice carpet.”

“Jeeze, any more rules?”

“Uh, nope. I think that’s it.” You chirped. “I should be back in, like, half an hour. I’m pretty sure I left some chicken nuggets in the freezer last time I was here, you can have those if you get hungry. Or maybe I’ll get takeout on my way back?”

“Takeout sounds good.” JJ nodded, beaming, and pulled you in for a kiss before you left.

[tarousprettybaby]

Into the Depths (Day 4)

Day 4 of Kinktober: Kirishima Eijirou

Kink: Breath Play

Word Count 1.5k (uhhhh...whoops?)

Warning(s): MINORS DNI, afab reader, cunnilingus (female receiving), uhm drowning (please don't try this at home), choking, breath play themes, probably inaccurate descriptions of how these activities should go. (I'm serious, please don't take this fic as a guide for...anything at all lol), use of the word vixen, pwp, and maybe ooc Kiri (idk just don't feel confident about his personality, or lack of one really)

Notes from the Author: *nervous chuckle* Is my favoritism showing? As y'all can probably this was supposed to be released an hour ago, funny story I didn't write this until the last second tho soooo here we are. I hope you all don't mind the slightly longer than intended story, I had an idea for this one, but I hadn't expected my mind to run with it quite so much lol! Anyways, enjoy!

================================================

The ocean is so very blue. Especially at this time of night, a deep cerulean swirls around you, never-ending and beautiful. Well, not never-ending; the shore behind you ruins the illusion, but it’s a good enough distance that you think nothing of it.

You sigh slightly, letting the peace and quiet envelope you.

So relaxing…

Despite your thoughts, your breath does catch in your throat a little bit, as if your body is more on guard than your mind is currently. As if, in the back of your mind, you can tell that something is nearing you.

But you ignore it. Closing your eyes as you float on your back, deciding to be a little ignorant.

That is until something pulls on the shawl around your waist. It wasn’t a harsh tug per se. In fact, it was barely perceptible to the point that you almost ignored it almost. But no, instead, your eye opened, nothing but the sky in your vision, just as another tug occurred, this one a little harsher.

Ok, never mind, not funny, time to get out of the ocean.

But you barely have the time to make good on your thoughts because whatever it was now has brushed up against you. The bump is just harsh enough to make you startle and throw you off your balance, face now tumbling a little towards the water before you stave it off.

Now that you know something else is here, meeting it face to face does not make you the most excited whatsoever. No, the shore looks like the best place to be next to the unending black ocean surrounding you. And thus, you set off, beginning to freestyle your back.

It’s when you hear a splash behind you that you begin to pick up the pace. Furious arms pumping out in front of you in an attempt to get away from whatever is following you. Shark, dolphin, or hell, even a fucking narwhal, doesn’t matter. You need to get away from it. But it seems you’re guesses are wrong as you hear a sort of chuckle sound behind you. It’s low and obviously male, almost giving you turn. Could someone have possibly been fucking with you? A random frat boy or another leech of society finding a girl alone and deciding it’d be hilarious to scare her?

No, no, no- no, that can’t be it. You’d hear him, see him, anything!

Alas, you’ve thought too long, and in your thinking, your swimming slowed as well. Something, a hand may be, brushes your foot. And before you can truly comprehend it, your ankle is snatched, and you’re drug under.

You fight, and struggle, and try your best to claw away, but it’s of little help. The iron grip of this creature remains, and it only serves to pull you more into the oceanic depths. You’re running out of air as you know it. Think, escape, do SOMETHING. But you can’t.

You’re eyes begin to slide close, the last bits of oxygen leaving your chest.

All of this is so…

Exhilarating.

Air. Oxygen. And a gasp is all you register when you come back. Next is the lapping of water against your body, as gentle and calm as it had been earlier. Then it’s the odd feeling of numbness leaving you. Before finally, it’s the strong arms tightly wrapped around your middle.

“Damn,” a male voice starts, “you really gave me a scare there, babe. Had me thinking I had overdone it!” Rather than responding to the words, you smile. Body curling into his a little as a stretch racks your body, a small whimper leaving your still wet lips. Baby, my song? You are awake, right?”

Oh~, your dear sweet Eijirou, he was always so caring with these things, wasn’t he?

“I am love, I am,” you whisper to him. You feel his exhale against your head as if he had held in a breath expecting the worse. “I’m sorry I worried you. But…I handled it quite nicely, didn’t I?” you speak a little louder now, your tone holding a slight edge to it.

He huffs out, hands moving to your hips as he hoists you up and onto a rock behind, one you hadn’t even registered before.

“Maybe, but you should’ve tapped out when you thought you’d pass out. That’s not good for you babe,” his sentence lingers in the air, letting you know he’s not entirely done yet. “And, I could’ve hurt you; that’s the last thing I’d want.”

His voice is morose and apologetic, a tone you can never reasonably handle coming from him. In an attempt to calm him, your hands gently grasp his face between them, rubbing small circles into his cheeks. You also lean down to kiss his forehead, whispering, “I’m sorry I worried you, love. I’ll be more careful next time. And-”

“Next time?! What makes you think there’ll be a next time.” He inquires incredulously.

You smirk and pull back from your previous position, the simple words “Don’t act like you don’t like it.” Causing red to sprout on his face. You both knew he enjoyed the power he held over you at least a little bit. It only being thrilling because you were both playing with such a powerful concept. Life and death, such an exciting coin to spin.

But your mind was immediately pulled away from this quandary as you instead felt Eijirous head nuzzle into your inner thigh. His own natural mischief-making an appearance as he inquired, in a low deep voice, that always made you shiver, “Well…I think I’ve earned some compensation. Don’t you, my song?” His arms proceed to wrap around your thighs a yank you closer to him as they are now set on his shoulders. Perfectly framing his face with your skin tone.

A shaky breath is what falls from your lips, a hesitant breath as he nips a little at your still-clothed heat.

“Take allll the compensation you need, love, please do.”

At your consent, your bottoms are swiftly removed, and Eijirous face is promptly buried in between your thighs. He takes deep inhales, moaning at your mere scent before beginning to quell his thirst. Extremely lewd slurps and sucks sound from your lower half as Kiri ravages your sex. His tongue, ever dexterous, alternates between figure eights around your clit and plunging into the velvet walls of your cunt.

Moans of pleasure leave you as you enthusiastically encourage and beg him to continue in his pursuits.

But then stops again. Just as you’re about to whine and ask why he did, he simply states, “Wanna try something.”

He pulls your body to a much more narrow part of the rock, laying you across it, so your head is mere inches away from the water, but your pussy is still above it. Ever so carefully, you feel his hand travel up and between the valley of your breasts before reaching your neck. He slowly wraps his hands around it, maintaining eye contact with you the whole time, making sure you’re ok with this, but also turning you on that much more.

He begins to slowly eat you out once again, a mewl leaving your throat at the contact. But in conjunction with this, he also begins applying pressure to your throat, not only cutting off your air supply but also putting you closer and closer to the swirling water.

Your pussy clenches around nothing, something Kiri can feel more than he can see. He pulls from your heat, muttering, “Such an slutty vixen, getting off to me controlling your breath.” He slurps at your entrance again, his tongue once again thrusting into your cavern, seeming to reach deeper and deeper each time.

IF you could get more oxygen to your lungs, you’d be praising him more. His pace has quickened now, flattening his tongue ever so often, so your hips swirl against his face. He alternates between applying pressure to your neck and letting you breathe, the timing never consistent, always keeping you tiptoeing along the edge.

“Mhm- I’m g-gonna cum, Eijirou! Oh fuck fuck fuck fu-” your moans, reaching the level of pornographic, are cut off by his hand tightening more than it had this entire time. The cutoff leaving you a little dizzy and on the path to a euphoric feeling. His tongue never stops moving, and it’s when he nips at your clit a few times in quick succession that you find yourself tumbling over the edge. The high that much sweeter with his hand releasing from your neck and the rush of oxygen making your head swirl.

Your hips rapidly ride his face as you ride out your high, him mumbling out “good girl” and “doesn’t that feel good” right into your pussy lips. By the end of it, you’re practically a rag doll, and the only sounds between you both are the ocean and your pants for breath.

Eijirou comes around towards your face, holding it in his palm-which you kiss- and simply waiting for your response to the events that just took place.

Your reply only has him chuckling and threatening to leave you out for the sharks,

“You take my breath away…literally.”

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[soul-dwelling]

Isnt it weird that Haumea was more "evil" than Crona yet the first got a lot more happier ending than then the later?

Ohkubo definitely wrote Haumea to be seen as evil right from the beginning: how she treats Sho and Arrow, how happy she seems with all the chaos and violence happening.

Then he decides, "Actually, here's this tragic back story I am only now revealing, so you should sympathize with her."

I can't tell if that was a twist he had in mind to screw with the audience, or some last-minute change he decided to make to Haumea's character. I get that a creator doesn't have to foreshadow everything, but it was such a swerve, on top of so many other swerves, that it just doesn't help make the story compelling--it is one twist too many.

With Haumea getting this sympathetic back story, it's too little, too late for me. I know a writer can't give away everything from the beginning, but there was almost no depth to her before we found out about her back story. We needed one moment with her actually thanking Charon sincerely for something to understand that he was her one lifeline to prevent her from unleashing all of her anger onto the world.

Plus, it's yet another disablist way to write a character: "She went mad from the experience, so this is why she is so sadistic and vile."

Meanwhile, we got yet another set of twists that, maybe in retrospect, don't work in Soul Eater: suddenly, Crona is gone; suddenly, Crona is captured by Arachnophobia, except, whoops, no they aren't, Medusa of course was lying. Then a long time later we finally see Crona again, they kill Medusa, and suddenly they are the major antagonist the heroes have to stop. It's so swift with little build up, save one encounter with Black Star that goes almost nowhere. Again, it feels like Ohkubo had an idea in mind--he hinted in interviews that Crona was always going to be the titular "soul eater" and that the ending was always going to be on the Moon--but it never felt like a good setup.

I can't say, "How dare you play with our emotions and make us like Crona before you do something awful to them!" because this is storytelling, of course you make the audience feel something so that the stakes mean something. But I'm saying that we barely get a handle on anything happening with Crona before their condition just changes and worsens out of nowhere, just as how it is that out-of-nowhere swerve that we're suddenly to sympathize with Haumea. It's so abrupt that, rather than heightening tension and compelling me to keep reading, I get frustrated, thinking this all barely matters because Ohkubo will put in some twist again later to artificially raise the stakes.

It feels again like Ohkubo looked at what he did with Soul Eater and said "I'll do the opposite with Fire Force." He creates two characters, Haumea and Crona, who each largely end their stories opening a third eye in their forehead, only whereas Crona is forced to suffer a penance for what they did, intentionally or not, killing so many people and risking the world falling into deeper madness, Haumea gets off scot-free. It doesn't feel earned.

But that seems to be this weird bent Ohkubo gets to in the end of Fire Force: Shinra, as a god, decides to just absolve everyone of their sins and get to start over, while Crona doesn't. Not to repeat the already cliche Wanda line from the Doctor Strange sequel trailer, but that doesn't seem fair. Fine, whatever, life isn't fair, not every situation is going to be fair--and it wouldn't be so much a problem, if Fire Force and Soul Eater just got to be their own separate stories, instead of being forced into one timeline, where you now know this is one timeline where Haumea got that second chance, and Crona didn't. I guess at best we can say Crona chose to stay on the Moon, not as punishment but to stop Asura, so that's their own choice, while Haumea had no choice and had to be rescued by Shinra and Charon...which actually makes this feel worse, because Crona does the right thing but has to suffer for it, while Haumea does literally nothing to help and gets to have a happy ending without sacrificing anything.

(...And yes, a friend and I already have another idea for what should have happened to Haumea, and I think it would have handled better the trauma she went through, how to live through that, and actually have her sacrifice something for what she did. I get that she didn't ask to have to hear all of humanity's despair, but her behavior was unacceptable, and she seemed to have enough awareness that what she did was wrong. Ending this story without her having to pay some penance is annoying.)