#i have so many thoughts about him as I’m playing through both games he appears in. i need to draw him more but he’s so complicateddd

[fowlblue]

hail to the king, baby

(i love this terrible man)

[luffysscraps]

Thinking about dog! Hybrid Luffy🔞

Cw; Fem reader. Pet play. Non-con/Dub-con. Breeding kink. Established relationship.

-He leaves holes everywhere in your yard. Literally the moment you step out into your back yard you almost create a sinkhole due to his digging habits. And he’ll just stare at you with a smile and lick you all over.

-He’s very energetic, running up and down through the house, dashing around every chance he gets and begging you to play with him. “Y/N! Play with me! Throw ball! Throw the ball! Please! Play! Play! Play!” Luffy begs his black tail wagging as he runs in a circle around you.

-He can speak a little, but nothing complex. He says stuff like “let’s go outside!” “I’m hungry!” “Can I sleep on the bed?” “Pets please!” “Walk! Walk!” Despite his simple way of speaking he understands everything you say, but takes a while for it all to process. But he doesn’t get the concept of math at all, numbers don’t make sense to him so don’t even try to teach him it.

-“Luffy!” “ Hi Hi! Y/n!! Good morning! Wanna play? Wanna eat?! I’m hungry! Let’s play! No let’s eat! Can we do both?! Hi hi!” He appears the second you call him babbling on and once you call his attention. You mutter the syllable ‘L’ And all you hear is the jingling of his collar. He’s just so happy you called him! He thought he’d just be squeezing his chew toy all day without you. (Which he squeaks on all day regardless)

-Eats all the meat in the house. You literally can’t stock pile meat and have to buy meat literally two portions at a time. The butchers stare at you funny when you only buy three chicken legs at a time. Or one small tiny portion of beef to feed three. And you come here like every day? Little do they know you have a menace in your home who will eat every scrap of meat you have with no shame. You usually only eat one serving while Luffy eats two plus snacks and extra meals when he begs. And he’s in healthy shape due to his energetic nature.

-"LUFFY NO!" is one of your most used phrases whenever you bring him outside with you. He’s very protective of you and any other male hybrid in around you. He’s quick to jump into fights without any warning signs. He’s happy and docile one minute and then he just pounces on whatever male hybrids come close to you. A crocodile, a bear, a flamingo, he was even crazy enough to fight a dragon?!?

- As aggressive as he is, he’s also super friendly?! Like once hybrids clarify they’re not after you he’s trying to play with them after just giving them a black eye??? And somehow it always ends up working???

-He loves to explore and adventure. He’ll just get up, give you a kiss goodbye and run off for days at a time. He has so many friends with other people and hybrids that you’ve never met or heard before. Like you’re sure half of the people he’s mentioned don’t even live in this area. Where the hell did he go? Well he always returns home safe so there’s nothing to worry about. Plus he’s always so excited to see you when he gets back. “Y/N!! I missed you! I had so much fun! But I missed you a lot! “

-Call him a good boy and he’ll melt. His ears stand up and his tail starts wagging. “Really?! I’m your good boy!” He really likes that nickname.

-Oh and if you don’t like being active I’m sorry but Luffy is not the hybrid for you. He’ll literally drag you out with him, and force you to play with him. Trying to do homework? Mf eats it. Trying to play a video game or watch tv? He unplugs it. Trying to simply rest? No you’re not because he wants to play and he’s a selfish bastard. “Let’s play now Y/N!” He says with those puppy dog eyes as he unplugged the TV for the one hundredth time.

-Brings and makes you gifts all the time! They’re not the usual expensive gifts you expect from a partner. He gifts you, your sock he stole from you like a month ago, Old bones from meat he already ate and gnawed on, Dead rats he killed. And then he also likes to draw and write, he draws pictures of you and him with hearts everywhere. Your fridge is filled with them. And he writes you love letters, they’re simple and short but very sweet.

‘Y/N I love you. You pet me on my head. You play with me. You’re pretty and kind. My heart goes fast when I’m with you. -Love Luffy’

-Now when he’s in heat he turns into a horny demon. “Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex!” He chants bouncing around ripping his clothes to shreds and tackling you to the ground, dry humping your body as you just got home from your nine hour shift.

-You’ll know he’s in heat because now he’s walking around the house butt ass naked, balls out with a sweet and devious smile on his face. Don’t try to make him wear his clothes because he’s not going to AT ALL. He’ll rip them to pieces right in front of you and simply say. “Too hot!”

-Steals ALL of your panties. Literally keeps a heap of them in his bed. And has no shame in it, licking them while you’re watching him. His bed sheets have to be washed daily when he ruts because he cums gallons and will jerk off all day long.

-He just stared at you with lidded eyes. “Please Y/N… sex…” He whines out licking your earlobe. He tries his best to hold back, he really does but his urges take over after holding out for so long. He needs to be inside of you and now.

- And when you bend over it’s practically over. That’s you basically inviting him to mount you and stick his hard on inside! One minute you’re bending down to pick up a book you dropped, the next you’re on the ground, face first with Luffy’s large meaty hard cock inside of your cunt.

-He never really asks but he can smell your hormones. You want it too. Plus your moans are enough to tell him you do! Or are those his moans? He can’t tell at this point, he’s so horny and he needs to release.

-You honestly don’t mind his heat, he’s surprisingly gentle and will stop if you ask him too. But the only thing you have to do is always be on the pill- Luffy has no idea what condoms are and when you tried to put one on him he ripped it off in seconds. “Feels weird. No way!” He says with a smile before pounding into your pussy raw. And because he’s in heat, his number one goal is to get you pregnant.

-So every time you guys fuck and the next day your stomach isn’t big and round with his kids he gets mad. Just staring at you and your stomach. “What’s wrong?! Get pregnant already!” He whines with frustration. Oh well if you didn’t get pregnant the last time, he’ll make sure you do now, every last bit of his cum is going in your pussy. He doesn’t let a drop escape it when he finally releases into you.

-Yeah your hybrid boyfriend is pretty hard to handle, but would you settle for anyone else? Not a chance. <3

[euphoricimagination]

First Interactions

Feat. Oikawa, Kuroo & Osamu

Oikawa

Your friend has been bugging you for what feels like forever for you to go to see the volleyball team practice with her, and you have been denying it for the same time. It’s not like you didn’t know that your school was one of the power houses in the whole Miyagi when it comes to volleyball, you did know that. You’ve seen them play, and you actually like them enough to go to support them in official matches.

It’s the amount of girls screaming what annoyed you.

You understand it, really, Oikawa IS handsome and has a flirty personality, it’s no wonder so many girls like him. But you’ve never been fan of loud places when it’s not in the appropriate place. On a real match? Sure, it makes sense to cheer loudly for them, but it was unnecessary on a practice match.

But still, your friend has tried so hard to convince you that you could at least accept once.

You were entering the gym, but since you didn’t come here often outside of PE classes, you enter the building through the normal doors instead of the ones leading to the viewing area. A big mistake from your part.

You could hear the sneakers running around, the loud sounds of the ball hitting the players arms. Seijoh versus a school named Karasuno. After a point passed to your team, you started looking for some stairs to get out of the floor, completely missing that the infamous Oikawa was about to serve.

A loud sound from his hand hitting the ball and a loud sound from the ball hitting the court was enough to make you look that way. Just on time to see the ball coming directly at you with an ungodly speed and force. You hear some screams your way, but couldn’t make up what they were saying to you, you were only able to lift up your arms right before the impact.

Before you realize it you were on the floor, your wrist hurting so much that you couldn’t even scream in pain. Your ears were ringing, your eyes were watery; yet you could hear sneakers getting closer and some shadows appearing in front of you. They were moving their mouths, but you couldn’t make up any sound until someone kneel in front of you, making you sit properly while holding one of you arms.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?” you finally were able to process, your vision less blurry helping you make out the brown hair and worry eyes of the perpetrator of the serve. A bunch of the players looking at you with worry

“My…my wrist” you say. At that Oikawa takes your wrist on his hand carefully, making you gasp in pain

“She should go to the infirmary, Oikawa’s serves are too strong for a normal person to take” one of the coaches say as the players quickly start to disperse to resume the game

“I suggest Shittykawa to take her there. He hurt her, he should do it” said the spikey black hair dude, hitting the back of the Captain’s neck when he complained “or I could always punch you”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take her” Oikawa says, helping you up carefully “Let’s go”

The walk towards the infirmary wasn’t long, but it was awkward to the say the least. You knew he didn’t hit you on purpose, yet you didn’t know what to say to him. Once there, the nurse instructed him to hold an ice package on your wrist for a few minutes before bandaging it up, so you both stayed in silence sitting there, you in a horrible pain.

“I’m…I’m sorry” he finally says “I did saw you there, but I didn’t thought the ball will go directly at you. I’m still working on controlling that serve”

“It’s okay, I guess I shouldn’t have enter that way” you also say

“No, it’s totally my fault” he lifts up his head, looking at you with a small smirk on “if I didn’t knew better I would think that you did this just so I could hold your hand”

“You are full of yourself, not everyone likes you, you know?” you defended yourself, hearing him laugh

“And yet I’ve seen you in every match I’ve played” he smirks again, making you blush. He has noticed you multiple times, something about you always makes his eyes find you even in the largest of crowds. Maybe it was because you absolute indifference towards him in particular, maybe it was because you solely seem to focus on the sport, but that was enough to spark some interest in him.

“Me liking volleyball has nothing to do with you” you say blushing

“Sure…Let’s have a fresh start, okay? One that doesn’t involve me hurting your wrist?” he smiles at you, that smile that he gives whenever he wants something. And that something now was getting to know you.

After returning to the gym, this time entering through the right doors, your friends greets you excitedly, asking a bunch of questions about Oikawa. However now you’re with a hurt wrist and a promise to grab some coffee after the match finishes.

Kuroo

You were late.

You were on cleaning duty for your class today and were supposed to meet your classmate around 10 minutes ago to start arranging the tables and chairs, but something had happened in the subway and you had to go on a big detour just to be able to arrive on time.

You quickly took the school shoes out of your locker and put them on, getting it done on a record time in comparison of how you normally do it. However, is well known that speed can blind you from your surroundings, which was the case here.

Kuroo had arrived while you were getting ready to put your shoes on. On a normal morning he would say hi to you, after all his shoe locker was a mere few rows away from yours, but he saw how quickly you were doing your things. Honestly, he didn’t even knew that your locker was near his. He had see you around more than one more time, walking to your classrooms, on school events and such, and he honestly had thought more than one more time how pretty and elegant you were; however, since he has captain duties early in the morning and until late in the afternoon, he hadn’t found the time to properly greet you.

Until you bumped into him.

Once you were ready with your shoes on you immediately turn around to run towards the classroom; however, instead of finding a free corridor, you only found something sturdy in your way, crashing directly on it and almost falling if it wasn’t for some arms wrapping quickly around your waist. You look up to find out that you had bump into the chest of the one and only Kuroo Tetsurou, the captain of the volleyball team that was making noise not only for his handsome looks but also for how smart he was. When did he got here? How did you not noticed? Those were the questions running around your head.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you arrive” you say apologetic, only to receive a light laugh and a big smile

“No problem! Be careful though, speed is a curse, it narrows your view and makes it harder to breathe” he says, stabilizing you before letting you go “what are you even rushing for?”

“Eh... I’m late, I’m on cleaning duty today” you manage to mumble, still in shock

“Late? It’s 7.15 and classes start at 8.45, I would say that’s plenty of time to get your class ready” he smirks at you, which grows even wider once you realize the time.

“Ah” it’s the only thing you manage to say, it turns out you weren’t even late. This only makes him laugh louder

“Well” he starts saying as he stops laughing “since you’re here already and I could probably bet you didn’t even had breakfast, want to go and grab something from the convenience store with me?”

“Ehh…sure, why not” you say quite embarrassed, chuckling at your own mistake “I’m Yn by the way”

“Kuroo Tetsurou” he smiles at you widely “next time take things slowly, okay?” he says as he waits for you to change back your shoes. Sure, he had to be at the gym by now, but he could arrive late once in a while for occasions like this.

Osamu

Your day has been getting worse and worse by the second…or at least that’s what it feels like right now.

First thing in the morning you somehow managed to get your locker confused with someone else’s, almost getting into problems when a teacher find you there. Then you received a bad grade for a test that you actually did study for. And now that it’s lunch break you made one of the Miya’s fan girls mad by simply existing.

Well, being in the same class as Miya Atsumu has always been full of squeals of girls, random confessions throughout the day, and an unbearable amount of random gifts sparse through the floor; so in a way you were used to being around those type of girls. Today, however, your teacher decided to pair you up with the famous Miya.

It’s not like you didn’t like Atsumu, despite his cockiness he’s actually quite nice and even caring; which showed when he approached you during lunch break and sit with you when he saw you alone in there. It was a great gesture, you knew that he did it so you wouldn’t be left alone, and you knew that he didn’t know what the implications for that may be.

His fans were staring at you like you were the most disgusting person ever.

This lasted until Atsumu had to leave to some quick meet up with his team, when one of those girls decided to drop her water on you ‘accidentally’. This leads you here, outside of the school grounds and in front of the vending machine trying to buy a goddamn coffee to feel some comfort through this horrible day. But of course, the machine decided to not work this time, it didn’t even gave you your money back. Nothing could be going worse today.

“Fuck!” you cry in despair, kicking the vending machine to release some of your lock down emotions

“Hard day?” you hear from behind as you lay your forehead in the cold machine

“Horrible” you whisper without even looking back

“I saw my brother talking to ya through lunch, did some of those stupid girls did something to ya?” you hear, making you curious about who was talking to you. The other famous twin was looking at you in a mixture of confusion and empathy as you turn around and lay your back against the machine

“Yeah, but honestly the whole day has been awful” you admit to him “and now I can’t even drink coffee”

“Ha! That machine has some weird tricks on it” he says, moving closer to it and carefully moving you aside. He puts some coins on it and press the button hard, the sound of the drink going down as he puts more money to buy something else. Right after he hands you one of the drinks, the coffee you tried to buy, not before opening it up for you “Ye’re Yn, right? I’m Osamu, my idiot brothe r has said some things about ya, how ya were a good classmate and all”

“Yeah, that’s me” you drink a sip of the warm coffee, finally some comfort rushing through your veins. You didn’t know if it was for the coffee or Osamu though “Thank you for the drink”

“Well of course, if ye’re having a terrible day I can at least offer ya some coffee” he says with a small smile. He has heard some things about you from Atsumu, however he recently started to notice you himself whenever you both go to the nearest convenience store to buy some food or when you pass next to him in the halls, always exchanging a snarky remark with his brother and a polite smile to him

“I can’t wait to this day to be over” you sigh

“Ya know, our captain just told us we don’t have practice today…do ya wanna go grab some food after class?”

“Food? After class?” you say incredulous

“Yeah, that way ya have something better to look forward until the day is over. It’ll be my treat too”

You look at him surprised at the sudden invitation, and honestly, a little worried as well, he also had a lot of fans here. However he was right, this day has been one of the worst ones so far, so why not take this opportunity to go out with this boy?

“Sure” you smile

“Then look forward for that instead. See ya” he says leaving, a smile on his face too.

[himasgod]

Kaeya x Reader

Where Kaeya, always caught between loyalty and lies, finds in you the only refuge capable of disarming his mask.

The nights in Mondstadt were a sight to behold. The wind carried the scent of Cecilia's flowers and the murmur of citizens returning home after a tiring day. For you, however, nights in the city had begun to take on a new meaning ever since you crossed paths with Kaeya Alberich.

The Cavalry Captain had a knack for appearing in the most unexpected places, his presence a mix of enigma and charisma that always disarmed your senses. That night was no exception. You had planned a quiet stroll through the less crowded alleys, but you hadn't counted on a pair of boots echoing behind you.

"Why do I feel like you always end up in the loneliest places in Mondstadt?" Kaeya's voice was unmistakable, his tone playful.

You stopped, turning to face him. He was leaning against one of the stone walls, his posture relaxed, but his eyes—that unusual crystal blue—didn't look away from yours.

"Maybe because I'm looking to avoid nosy Cavalry Captains," you replied with a slight smile. It was a game you'd both played too many times.

Kaeya chuckled softly, the sound like an echo under the moonlight.

"Touché, my dear. But now that I'm here, may I accompany you? They say lonely alleys can be dangerous, even for someone as skilled as you."

You couldn't help but roll your eyes.

"Sure, as if you weren't the greatest danger lurking in my path."

As you walked alongside him, the conversation flowed as usual: light, full of jokes and double entendres that only Kaeya could make so natural. But at some point, his usual humor seemed to fade, replaced by an introspection you hadn't seen from him before.

“You know, Mondstadt has as many secrets as there are stars in the sky,” he finally said, stopping to look up at the firmament. “And they don’t all shine with the same light.”

You paused as well, surprised by the turn in his tone.

“That’s a rather melancholy thought, even for you.”

Kaeya tilted his head at you, a smile playing on his lips, but his eyes told a different story.

“Let’s just say that I’ve been reflecting on the weight of lies lately. It’s funny, isn’t it? How much one lie can shape an entire life.”

You crossed your arms, trying to figure it out.

“Is this another one of your charades, or are you really trying to tell me something?”

“What if it’s both?” he replied, his smile sharpening.

You sighed. With Kaeya, it was always hard to tell where the truth ended and the game began.

“If you have something to say, say it. I’m here, aren’t I?”

For a moment, you thought he would. His lips parted slightly, and his gaze seemed to stray into yours, as if searching for something to give him courage. But instead of sincere words, what came out was a soft whisper:

“Haven’t you been taught that playing with fire can be dangerous?”

You laughed, though a part of you felt like there was something important he wasn’t telling you.

Several nights passed after that, and Kaeya continued to appear at your side as if the universe was guiding him to you. But there was something about him you couldn’t ignore: a lingering shadow in his behavior, as if every word he said hid a truth too bitter to share.

One night, you confronted him. You were tired of riddles, tired of jokes that never got to the point.

“Kaeya, will you ever be honest with me?”

He raised an eyebrow, surprised by your sudden frankness.

“Honest? I thought you already knew I’m the most transparent soul in Mondstadt.”

“Transparent like murky water, perhaps,” you replied, crossing your arms.

“You always speak in riddles, always hiding something. But you can’t pretend I don’t notice. If you’re not going to trust me, then why do you keep looking for me?”

Kaeya remained silent for a moment, and for the first time, you saw him let down his guard.

“Have you never felt like your entire life is a game of masks?” he finally asked, his voice low.

“That if you let anyone see what’s underneath, everything would fall apart?”

Your heart clenched at the sound of it. You took a step closer, trying to decipher the swirl of emotions in his eyes.

“Kaeya, we all have parts of ourselves we don’t want to show. But you don’t have to carry that weight alone. I’m here.”

After what seemed like an eternity, Kaeya let out a long sigh.

"Mondstadt is my home, but… it's not quite. I haven't always been the man you see now. And my loyalty… it hasn't always been as simple as it should be."

You didn't fully understand what he meant, but it didn't matter. All you saw was a man who had carried too much for too long.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't change who you are to me," you said softly.

Kaeya looked at you with something that seemed

credulity, as if your words were more than he deserved.

“You’re braver than I thought,” he murmured, moving closer until the distance between you disappeared completely.

“Or maybe I’m more naive than you thought?” you replied with a shaky smile.

“Never.”

he replied, before leaning in to capture your lips in a kiss that was everything his words couldn’t be: sincere, intense, filled with a truth that didn’t need to be said.

In that moment, the lies didn’t matter, nor the masks, nor the past.

Only the wind of Mondstadt mattered, the stars, and the warmth you shared with him under the moon.

Here is my masterlist, in case you are interested in any more of my work or want to send me a request <3

[chososchalupa]

New to school

Fem!Reader x Megumi

♡ About! Yuji’s sister is new to Jujutsu High and Megumi may cause more issues than she’s ready for

previous

masterlist

Ch.12 - written

WC - 1.11K

The walk to Megumi's room was too short for your liking, your anxiety bubbling in your chest as you reached his door. You looked back the way you came, ‘Maybe I should just turn back’ you thought, ‘No, I have to do this’. You fought with yourself before you finally built up enough courage to knock on his door.

The door opened slowly and when you looked up from your shoes, you saw a puffy-eyed Megumi who looked like he was still on the verge of tears. He turned around without saying a word and walked back towards his bed, you looked down the hallway one last time before following him into his room.

“Here,” he said softly, handing you the clothes you had left there.

“Thanks” you whispered back, “I still have your shirt, you never messaged me back so I took it back to my room to wash it”

He nodded at your statement, “I’m sorry”

You snapped your head up from looking at your hands and stared into his eyes, “what?”

Megumi sighed loudly, running his hands through his hair before looking back towards you, “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for the constant teasing, the drink at the mall, the party, and I’m really sorry for trying to turn everyone against you. The truth is, I was scared you were taking Yuji and Nobara away from me”

You looked at him with a confused look, “taking them from you? Are you serious?”

Anger overcame your anxiety as you glared at him, “You did all of this because you were scared I was taking your friends from you? Tell me you’re joking, Megumi. That is the most childish and selfish reason I have ever heard”

Megumi refused to look up from the floor as you continued,

“You tried ruining my entire life, do you understand that? I didn’t even want to take them from you. I wanted us all to be friends. And even at the party, I was willing to look past everything you did after you apologized because I just wanted your friendship and then you KISSED me and that fucked up everything I thought I had figured out and it was all just a game for you” Tears streamed down your face as you yelled at him, you weren’t sure if they were from anger or sadness. Maybe both.

“I didn’t know-“ he started, still staring at the ground but was quickly cut off by your hand slapping him across the cheek. His eyes finally looked up towards yours as his hand moved to touch where you hit.

“You didn’t know, Megumi? That’s your excuse?” You went to hit him again but he grabbed your wrist and held it down.

“Please don’t. I know I deserve it but I don’t want to have to go to Shoko again”

You huffed in response before pulling your wrist away from his grip. “You deserve so much worse than a slap across the face”

He nodded in agreement, “I know I do and I know my reasoning was childish. I’ve just lost so many people in my life and I already lost Yuji once, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking I was losing him again. It was immature, I know. You didn’t deserve anything I did. I’m sorry”

“Thank you for apologizing but,” You shook your head “You know you’ll never lose Yuji, Megumi. I swear he loves you more than he loves me sometimes. You guys are best friends”

Megumi chuckled softly at that, “That’s doubtful. He loves you a lot. He almost beat my ass when I told him the truth about everything. Everyone had to hold him back, and I really mean everyone”

You looked at Megumi wide-eyed, “HE almost beat YOU up?”

“He did. Did he not tell you?” he asked

“No, he didn’t seem mad at all when he came to my room. He just looked sad”

Megumi stayed silent after you finished your sentence, playing with loose strings on his blanket.

“I’ll forgive you on two conditions” You smiled

A small smile appeared on Megumis face, “What are the conditions?”

“One, I get to pour soda over your head, just for us to get a little even. And Two, you let my brother hit you once”

Megumis smile slowly vanished throughout your sentence, “I just said I didn’t want to go back to shoko”

You waved your hand at his words before pulling him up from his bed, “So do you agree or not? One hit won’t send you to Shoko”

He waited a few seconds before replying, “Fine. Let’s go.”

~~~

“Yuuuuuji” you announced as you opened the door to your room

“How was- Woah, what is he doing here?” Yuji asked as you walked into your room with Megumi trailing behind you.

You looked up at Megumi before turning back to Yuji, “Hit him”

“HUH?”

“She said to hit him” Nobara giggled

“Yeah, thanks. I heard her. Why?”

“She told me she’d forgive me on two conditions, the second being a hit from you. So can we just get it over with?” Megumi grumbled, his arms folded across his chest

“Are you sure, Megs? I’m sure we can come up with something else” Yuji asked

“We did!” You smiled, “I also get to pour soda over his head!”

Nobara burst out laughing, “No fucking way. I’m definitely recording that”

You laughed with her before looking at your brother, “Hurry it up, Yuji!”

Yuji looked at Megumi for reassurance and Megumi gave a small nod before closing his eyes tightly. Yuji sighed, standing up and walking towards Megumi, “I’m sorry, bro” he said, before punching Megumi in the stomach causing him to drop to his knees in pain.

“I’m so sorry, Megs. Are you okay? I didn’t even use all my strength!!” Yuji dropped to the floor with him.

“He’ll be fine after this” you giggled as you grabbed your can of Coke from your desk and promptly tipped it over Megumis head.

“Are we even now?” Megumi asked, coke dripping down his face as his eyes finally cracked open.

You smiled at him, “We’re even, Gumi. For now”

“Finally!” Nobara shouted as she jumped from your bed, “Do you guys wanna go shopping? I told Maki you guys got even and she wants us all to go with them!”

Megumi glared at her before motioning to his hair, “Can I shower first?” he asked, causing everyone to laugh. You looked around at everyone with a smile on your face. Finally, it was over. You finally got what you’ve been waiting for since you started here. Your new school really wasn’t going to be so bad.

__________________________________

last chapter 😔😔 will continue writing short stories w yujis sister x megumi though if you guys want them bc i think it’s a cute lil au.

also i did rewrite this a bit just to cause megumi some more pain LMFAO

Taglist - some blogs won’t let me tag

@sad-darksoul @arixyzz @persephonespomegranetes @beet1ebum @weird0o0 @diogodxlot @iluv-ace @sukiischaotic @luvvmae @oliver-crow @ajayke-reads @m00nglad3-mp3 @jtoddwife @deezy12299 @swissy23 @fantasycantasy @getolvr @mint129106 @eternalalmondd

[grandisknight]

thinking thoughts / xavier, his evol suppressor and EVER Group

+ mild spoilers for the following:

under deepspace: to begin - mysterious light (chapter 1-2)

world underneath: with light - has the light vanished? (chapter 4)

long awaited revelry - breakthrough: abandoned memory (chapter 2-10)

+ note: hello another rambling post from yours truly and making speculations on aspects of the story, tried my best to cohesively put my thoughts together while sourcing from in-game ;; as always take this with a grain of salt i’m truly just yapping

i hope we get to see more of xavier’s neck suppressor once his story branch comes ₍ ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎

(but also just in general) given how xavier is essentially running on borrowed time, it’s interesting for the moments in-game story where he has no choice but to force his evol and therefore be punished by the evol suppressor

yet he has never brought it up, and neither has mc (as of this current moment)

the only other time we’ve gotten some exposition on it was through nero’s discovery (🫶 bless our lumiere megafan) as seen through the world underneath story

+ side note: xavier’s evol suppressor has appeared in both main story 1-2 and 3-3

(✍️ hc/musing time) his neck suppressor has the EVER Group emblem on it — i wonder what situation led to xavier getting entangled in EVER Group’s schemes?

are they aware of xavier’s past and that he is not from their planet but another (philos), and therefore keep a reign on him through his evol suppressor? maybe it has something to do with the chronorift catastrophe where lumiere made his debut, soon turned into a rumored tenebra…

also xavier is known to have lower bodily vitals in comparison to an average person (ie: heart rate) and is also very good at detecting energy/metaflux fluctuations… surely EVER Group must’ve picked up on it from how long xavier has been around (hundreds of years, mind you)… using their advanced technologies on someone who is essentially a superhuman in their eyes

because there is much more to EVER group than what meets the eye, as we’ve learned in long-awaited revelry chapter 2 — they surely must know something deeper about the deepspace tunnel

(✍️ hc/musing) my personal take is that the bigger story antagonist is EVER Group, they gave me the same vibes as the black swan collective from mlqc/lovepro so… ₍ ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎

they have monopolies in many fields, and important ones at that (biotech, aerospace, evol energy, international trade)

there’s no doubt their influence runs deep within linkon city and even beyond, seeing how even the n109 zone was affected — i also believe they played a significant hand in the chronorift catastrophe, using their research to purposefully trigger the opening of the deepspace tunnel and whatnot

which. speaking of the deepspace tunnel it’s the second time noted in-game of it happening… (first being chronorift catastrophe) (second being what happened with mc and sylus in n109 zone)… surely there are going to be devastating consequences right…? lol

anyhow anyway anywho this goes to say again. a lot of this is just my ramblings and speculations and im sososo estatic to learn more about the story and characters as usual ! thank yew ₍ ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎

[serhum]

[Part 3] Birthday Game - Reader x Shohei Ohtani x Yuki Ishikawa AU - NSFW

Disclaimer: This is a 18+ writing so if you’re not comfortable reading this, please skip it! There will be a lot of smut & mentions of sex in this work so beware. ;)

🖤🖤🖤🖤

What I thought to be a short 5-minute nap went into a deep slumber. The clock shows it’s 5am already and I heard both of the men on my sides snore. “They looked really cute.” I mumble to myself. It’s really kind of them for not waking me up, although I promised Shohei another ‘session’ in the bathroom. I slowly get up from the bed as I’m still naked underneath the blanket. I tried to wiggle my way out carefully so that they don’t wake up. I collected my undergarments and slide into them. Then, I tip toed towards the bathroom after grabbing my phone and closed the door slowly, not bothered to lock it. 

I take a look into the mirror and saw several kiss marks on my body especially on my neck and chest areas. The thought of me making love with Yuki and Shohei still makes me feel giddy. Then, I open my phone to see several messages I receive from my friends who wishes me happy birthday.

“Are you awake already?” I was taken aback when I heard Shohei’s voice. He’s standing by the door shirtless, leaving him with his brief. His hair is messy but he looks too good to be true. “Ohh, I didn’t realize I was sleeping through the night. How about you? You should take a rest.” I reply and he shut the door. Shohei walks towards me and I turned my body to him. He closed the gap between ours and placed his hands on my hips and lifted me to the countertop. My breath suddenly got hard. 

“I think I haven’t tell you some of the things I really admired about you.” I suddenly said while having a staring contest with him. His face was a few inches away from me and when he heard me, he pulled away. “Really? What about it?” he grins. “Before that, I want you to pull the stool chair. This is gonna be a long talk.” I said to him while tracing his chest and abs. “Sure.” After he sits on the chair in front of me, I started to tell him the reason why I like him - not in a romantic way, more to as a fangirl. 

“I first heard your name during your time in Angels. You caught my eyes instantly,” I paused and took his hand so that our fingers interlock each other. “Since then, I found a lot of interesting facts about you online. I watched you play too even with Yuki. I like how determined you are to be a two-way player, how you tryna keep a lowkey personality in the midst of your popularity, and how you keep your body healthy.” I felt his thumb caressing my hands as well and he was so into my story. “You are such an inspiration to many, Sho. And I want you to keep being that way.” I smile to him.

“That’s very nice to hear. Thank you.” He simply replied with his husky voice and showing his eye smile. Very typical of him who doesn’t talk a lot but more into actions. “Not to forget that you’re able to challenge yourself in a completely different country and look at your fanbase. So big, just like these muscles, haha” I joked while grabbing his broad shoulders and biceps. I heard him chuckles as well. 

“If I had known you before Yuki, I’ll definitely date you, y/n.” My heart beats so fast when he muttered that sentence. That sounds like a confession to me. I look at him in the eyes and automatically my fingers reached to his eyebrows, eyelashes, and finally his lips. “You don’t realize how handsome you are, Sho. If you already have a girlfriend back in the States, she’d be really lucky to have you.” his dimples appeared.  

“You make me blush. Don’t you think Yuki will get jealous if he heard you complimented me?” he asks. I shake my head, “He already know that you’re my idol. Actually he left me dumbfounded when he said that you agreed to have threesome with me as a gift for my birthday. I was so embarrassed!” I jokingly punch his chest and he stopped me by holding my hands. “Don’t be. It’s my pleasure to make you feel special on your birthday, I should thank Yuki for this moment. I get to know you better,” he paused and I feel his face getting closer to mine. Our noses touched and there’s this electric sensation I get from him.

“I like how you hold me in your arms earlier. I like how our bodies move in sync. I like it when you play your tongue with me. I like everything about you but it’s impossible for us to be together. So I am grateful for this moment with you.” I might be carried away with the situation where we share our intimacy without Yuki eyeing us. I felt that I need to confess that to Shohei so that he knows what I feels. I feel his arms linger my body, giving me a bear hug. His manly cologne is still there although he was sweating all night. I’m actually afraid that it’s me who crossed the line? I sound like a cheating girlfriend right now but I will regret it my whole life if I don’t say those things to Shohei. Because he deserves to know how he made me feel.

He then kissed me slow but passionate, “Should we keep this as a secret from Yuki?” he asked in a lower voice. Thinking about what I said earlier, I realize that Yuki might be jealous even mad of our conversation. So I nod to him. “I’ll definitely miss you when I return home. We should spend time together again.” he said calmly while staring at me. His hands are now resting on my shoulders. “While you’re in Italy, we still have some time.” I said mumbling in his chest. Oh god, I like this man. It’s Yuki’s fault that he put me in this odd position with his best friend! 

“Shall we have a cold shower? You said you like being taken care of after sex, c’mon” Shohei said but I stopped him from walking to the shower. “Wait. I like that we have this kind of intimacy. Are you okay if I take a photo of us?” I nervously asked while grabbing my phone on my side. “I’m totally fine. It’s not that you’ll share it publicly.” I smiled at his statement. 

I activated the back camera and take candid photos of him. “Don’t be shy. Show me your sexy pose haha” I told him to pose and he acted really cool which is why the photos came out so good. “Can we also have photos together? Here, stand in front of me.” He gladly put me down from the countertop and we are now facing the mirror. “Can you wrap your arms around my neck? That’d be a good pic.” he does what I tell him. “You look so petite, so cute.” Shohei said at our reflections and I laugh. “Compared to you and Yuki, I’m just like a teenage girl.” I went along with him. 

After several photos later, Shohei spun my body to face him. “Are you done, sweetie?” asked him. I put my phone down, “Is someone being impatient for the next round? Hm?” I continue by grabbing the strap of his briefs. Teasing him a bit. “I can’t wait to touch you and feel you squirm under my touch.” He sounded so sexy right now. “I need a little bit more of you, Shohei.” I whispered and with that he lifted me and walked to the shower.

My lips reach him and my tongue is trying to find its way to his mouth. He let me explore him and reply my kiss right away. My back is glued to the wall while he’s steadying me with his huge figure. “Mmh— you- taste so good- Hhh” he murmurs in between our kisses. 

With our bodies pressing against each other, I can feel his manhood on my lower body. I grab and rub it with my hands in the same tempo with our kisses. “You have no idea how sexy you are, Sho” I stopped the kiss and state what I feel. He smirked and suddenly the cold water flows on our bodies. “Oh my god!” We both chirped at the same time and laugh. “Oops, I didn’t mean to turn it on.” He said. Shohei’s figure is big enough to nudge the shower mixer without him knowing. “It’s alright. I’m the one who’s turned on by you.” I continue kissing him after those words came out of my mouth. I feel him smirking in the middle of our kisses. “Mmh—“ he let out a sexy whimper.

I feel butterflies in my stomach when he traces my body with his lips. He leaves his saliva here and there which triggers me to stroke his damp wet hair slowly. “I love that you’re the opposite of Yuki.” I said. He stopped right between my legs now, both hands still holding my thighs so I don’t fall. He looked up to see me and said, “Tell me.” “You’re more patient when we make love.” My response successfully made him grins.

Without wasting his time, he licks my clothed pussy that’s wet already. “Uhh—“ my natural responses were closing my eyes and playing with my harden nipples. My back arched more on the walls when he slid his tongue skillfully inside my vagina, making sure my thin underwear was moved out his way. His quick movements resulted in high pitched moan from me.

“Keep going.. Shohei,” I encourage him while squirming. The vibrations he gave me down there is out of this world. I feel it coming and he licked the wetness just for him to kiss me afterwards, letting me taste myself through him. “I like you, very much” I was surprised when listening to his sudden confession. 

“Can I go inside you now?” he added. “Yes. I need you inside me.” With that, he inserts his manhood deep inside me. This time I no longer feel hurt, instead I feel pleasure all over my body. “Sweet Jesus!” I mumble in the crook of his neck and reach for his muscular arms. He doesn’t go fast this time, meanwhile he increases his pace slowly. “Do you know how fucking tight you are?” he whispered. “U-huh.. and you’re so big.” I replied. We are now staring at each other intensely. When he accurately hits my g-spot with his slow tempo, I let out a whine. 

“Yeah you’re so fucking good. Come to me- come inside me—“ I chanted to him in a teasing way. I can feel him close to his climax when his body got more intense and he closed his eyes, with mouth opens. “Aahh- fuck” he sounded so manly in my ears. “But I’m not done yet.” I told him and I swiftly change our position where I pushed him to sit on the shower seat. 

I happily took control and now I positioned myself on his lap with my back facing him. “Do you like that?” is what comes out of my mouth when I took his whole length inside my vagina and sliding it up and down. His hands are now cupping my boobs from behind. “I like it when you take control, sweetheart” he responded. I turn my head to kiss his lips. “And I can’t stop riding you, Sho.” I keep circling my hips around him and feel so much pleasure. 

Minutes go by quickly that this shower has witnessed our numerous positions from the standing doggy to leg-up. We were enjoying our intimacy too much that I started to realize that Yuki is still in the bedroom next to us! Both Shohei and I have finally stopped our session and moved on to washing each other’s body in the shower. We took shower together where he rubs the liquid soap all over my body and on the other hand, I tried to wash his thick black hair. I tip toed to reach his height but he was kind enough to lower himself. It’s so fun with him around. He’s so playful but sexy at the same time. Shit, I can’t keep him out of my mind now.

“Are you done, princess?” Shohei asked me while drying his hair with a towel. I nodded. “I’m done, just a moment.” I tried to wear my undergarments and the last thing I found was Yuki’s oversized shirt so I decided to wear that. “Thank you for everything. I really enjoy our time together.” I confessed to him and gave him a peck on his lips. Before he responds anything, I walked out of the bathroom, leaving Shohei behind. 

🖤🖤🖤🖤

To be continued

[misshoneyimhome]

willy the swiftie is my favorite! what fic would you write for him since cardigan is his favorite song?

Oh babe, this sparks so many ideas ❤️ I suppose it really depends on whether William is more of a lyrics kind of guy or a melody kind of guy—does he actually pay attention to the lyrics and feel a connection to the story, or does he just enjoy the vibe, letting the soothing sounds help him relax 🧘🏼‍♀️?

I can absolutely picture him being the latter, which gives such cosy, lazy sofa vibes. The two of you lounging on the couch with a film or TV show you’ve both seen so many times that there’s no need to pay much attention. His thumb softly tracing circles on your arm as you lean against his chest, both of you simply enjoying the stillness and each other’s company.

But if he’s the type who really listens to the lyrics, trying to understand the meaning and connect with it, then that could inspire such a different moment -

➼｡ﾟ

Cardigan I William Nylander ✐

William Nylander wasn’t the type to dwell on the past. Sure, he’d occasionally get nostalgic about his childhood in Sweden or reminisce about a big hockey win from years ago, but he was more of a live in the moment kind of bloke. Unless it involved hockey stats, line combinations, or plays, he didn’t overthink much.

But over the past few weeks, something peculiar had started to happen. A specific song kept cropping up—first on the radio in his car, then in the middle of a shuffle on his Spotify playlist. Cardigan by Taylor Swift.

At first, he hadn’t thought much of it. It was catchy, sure, but not the sort of song he’d usually pay attention to. Yet, for some reason, he found himself letting it play instead of skipping it. And then, one evening, as he sat alone in his Toronto flat after practice, the lyrics stopped him in his tracks.

“And when I felt like I was an old cardigan under someone’s bed, you put me on and said I was your favourite.”

The line tugged at something deep inside him, stirring a memory he hadn’t allowed himself to revisit in years. He leaned back on the sofa, staring out at the city lights, the words echoing in his head.

“You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding.”

A sharp pang spread through his chest—unexpected, almost like his heart had skipped a beat. And just like that, your face appeared in his mind, vivid and unshakable.

He thought of you.

The way you used to look at him with those eyes that seemed to see straight through him, past all the bravado and the hockey jerseys. The sound of your laugh when he’d tease you about your so-called “armchair coaching,” only for you to throw some obscure stat back at him to prove him wrong. The way you’d made him feel like he was more than just a player, more than just a number on a jersey.

He hadn’t let himself think about you in years. Not since that last argument—the one where you’d accused him of caring more about hockey than you, and he’d said you deserved someone who wouldn’t have to split his life between love and a career.

But now, as the song played softly in the background, it was as though the lyrics were unlocking something he’d carefully tucked away. He thought about the way you used to call him “Willy” with that teasing lilt, the way you’d sit beside him at the rink, bundled in scarves and gloves, cheering him on.

He thought about how much he missed you.

William ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself for letting his mind wander like this. It wasn’t like him. He was the sort of guy who kept moving forward, who focused on the next game, the next goal, the next win.

But as Cardigan faded into the next song, the weight in his chest lingered. It wasn’t just the music. It was you. You had always been there, somewhere in the back of his mind, like a favourite cardigan tucked away but never truly forgotten.

And for the first time in years, William allowed himself to wonder: Did you ever think about him, too?

[twistedtummies2]

Top 5 Appearances of Jack Skellington

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I decided to use this opportunity to dedicate a short countdown to a film I’m very thankful for: the stop-motion animation classic, “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Why today? Several reasons: first, Thanksgiving falls right smack dab in the middle between Halloween and Christmas, as far as major American holidays go, so it seems a decent date, given the subject matter. Second, recently the movie enjoyed its 30th Anniversary, so that’s definitely something to celebrate. Third, its producer - and the man many agree is most responsible for the feature’s existence, Tim Burton - got his long-deserved star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this very year. Fourth and finally, it is quite possibly my favorite movie, and certainly my favorite Disney movie. By that measure alone, I am supremely grateful for its existence, and so a day of Thanksgiving seems a good time to talk about it…and its main character. Initially, I was going to dedicate this list to the film as a whole, but after some deliberation, I decided to focus this countdown specifically on the main protagonist of the feature, Jack Skellington. Jack is an anomaly for a lot of reasons; he’s one of the few times - especially in a movie that now wears the Disney brand like a badge of honor - where the main character of the story really is my favorite one. He’s become almost as recognized as Mickey Mouse around the company, as their resident face of both Halloween AND Christmas. And as time has gone on, his popularity has only continued to rise. What’s great about Jack, and makes him so unique, is the way the character is both so complex and yet so simple, just like the film he’s from. This is also not taking into account the many dualities inherent to the character. He’s the Pumpkin King, the scariest soul in Halloween Town…yet he’s also a sweetheart and finds a sense of childlike wonder in the Christmas season. He’s a dapper, charismatic, theatrical, somewhat grandiloquent fellow…yet he’s also a complete goober, showing a great deal of naivete and not always thinking things through. He’s typically a nice guy who acts polite and friendly to most anyone he meets…but if you cross him the wrong way, or dare to hurt those he considers his friends, he’ll whoop you in a second without mercy. It’s this constant contrast of darkness and light, of the intellectual master of horror and the childlike innocent, that makes him so engaging and interesting. That, and the fact that - unique among Disney heroes especially - Jack kind of creates his own conflict in the story. Yes, Oogie Boogie is the nominal villain of the movie, but even he really only becomes a problem in the original film BECAUSE of Jack’s bad decisions. If you took Oogie out of the equation, Jack could ALMOST be considered a villain in his own right; thankfully, he realizes and learns from his mistake and is quick to make things right. I thought it would be fun to look at some of Jack’s appearances since the film, much as I have done with some of the great Disney Villains (coincidentally) in the past. Now, I can only count appearances I’m personally familiar with to some degree or another, so if any that YOU like are left out of the running, it’s most likely just because I haven’t read, seen, or played them yet. With that said, let’s celebrate Thanksgiving by looking at a character known for its surrounding holidays…forever proving, by extension, that this holiday is the middle child of the yuletide family. Ha Ha. These are My Top 5 Favorite Appearances from Jack Skellington!

5. Pumpkin King AND The Battle For Pumpkin King.

Not only are the titles of these two pieces similar, but so are their purposes. “Pumpkin King” was a video game tie-in to TNBC, which acted as a prequel to the movie. It was released in 2005. Nearly two decades later, in 2023, Disney would release ANOTHER prequel spin-off, in the form of “The Battle For Pumpkin King;” a comic miniseries later reformatted into a graphic novel. Both of these prequels tell the story of how the rivalry between Jack and his arch-nemesis, Oogie Boogie, got started, each with their own unique twists to the concept. As far as the game goes, playing as Jack Skellington - using a variety of crazy gadgets to defeat Oogie and his goons - is obviously a major part of what makes the title appealing. The comic, meanwhile, goes even further in showing how Jack became the Pumpkin King to begin with, and presents a more dramatic and tragic arc for the two enemies, in my opinion. Having read and re-read the comic a couple times now, and compared it to the game…I don’t think either is really a perfect prequel. Each has their own pros and cons, in terms of how things started between the two and how they tie into the film itself. However, one thing I like about both is that each has a different spin on presenting Jack and setting up the character we know from the movie: in each tale, the conflict with Oogie results in some subtle foreshadowing and parallels to the misadventures Jack faces in the film. I’d recommend checking both out, in some form or another, and deciding which you prefer yourself.

4. Twisted Wonderland.

Well, if you know me, you knew this had to be coming. I was over the moon when this Event was announced for the mobile game “Twisted Wonderland”: a game that is admittedly an acquired taste, but which I absolutely love to bits. For those who don’t know already, the premise of the game has the main character - the Player - being transported to an alternate universe, where they find themselves at a school of magic inspired by seven famous Disney Villains. Throughout the game, we encounter various characters based on these villains, along with other Disney characters…but it’s rare that we actually meet any of the original Disney figures themselves. When the Nightmare Before Christmas-themed Event for Halloween of 2024 - entitled “Lost in the Book with Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas” - was announced, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to learn that a new character would be introduced in the event: Skully J. Graves, based on Jack Skellington. What was much more startling was when we found out that not only would we get this new addition to the cast…but that the player and their allies for the outing would be traveling to Halloween Town itself to meet the ACTUAL Jack Skellington AT THE SAME TIME. For me, this was just mind-boggling: getting to see both the actual Jack AND a new character inspired by him in the same Event at the same time was never something I anticipated. The result did not disappoint: Jack is totally and completely in-character for the Event, and his interactions with the students of Night Raven College are a lot of fun. Skully, as well, is a very interesting character, and the twist about his true identity at the end was, I will confess, certainly unexpected. This isn’t an example that I imagine a lot of TNBC fans would place among their absolute favorite appearances for Jack, but it’s definitely a big one for me.

3. Haunted Mansion Holiday.

This was Nightmare’s big arrival at the Parks, and it’s still one of the best things to come out of the film’s ever-rising popularity. In the early 2000s, Imagineers at Disneyland considered making a “Nightmare Before Christmas” attraction, but they weren’t sure how to go about it. The answer came in the form of a holiday overlay for the popular “Haunted Mansion” ride: ever since then, for a whole third of the year (almost half a year, if you count the time it takes to set it all up and then take it all down again), the Haunted Mansion is invaded by Jack Skellington and the denizens of Halloween Town, as they bring their own twisted Christmas delight to the home of the 999 Happy Haunts. While some people seem divided about this since-then-annual change to the famous attraction, most seem to enjoy both versions of the Haunted Mansion, and I am in agreement: the original ride is great on its own, and deserves to be enjoyed on its own terms (it’s my favorite ride at Disneyland), but the Holiday version with the TNBC cast is really fun and charming, too. Arguably the biggest highlight of the ride is Jack himself, most notably in the form of a magnificently-made animatronic of our favorite “Sandy Claws” that greets guests as they enter the graveyard for the ride’s finale. I used to be OBSESSED with this overlay, and I still love it a lot. I’m not the only one, either; the Holiday version remains popular, and has even been adopted into the Tokyo Disneyland Park. Japan has a huge following for TNBC…speaking of which…

2. Oogie’s Revenge.

Released at the same time as the aforementioned “Pumpkin King,” this game (originally made in Japan, hence the segue) was a SEQUEL to the movie. And, just like “Pumpkin King,” it was considered canon by a lot of people for a long time, until recent printed work left that more ambiguous. (In this case a novel called “Long Live the Pumpkin Queen,” which I’ve yet to read.) The plot begins a little less than a year after the events of the film: Jack still feels dissatisfied with Halloween, but he’s thankfully learned that taking over other holidays is not a good idea. So, he instead ventures forth into the real world for a couple of months to basically do some brainstorming and find some inspiration to make his own holiday more interesting. When Jack returns (on Christmas Eve, what a shock), he discovers that Oogie Boogie has been resurrected and has taken over Halloween Town! When he learns that Oogie has plans to get revenge on Santa and become “The Seven Holidays King,” Jack has to find a way to take back his throne and undo all of Oogie’s evil schemes before Christmas morning. As far as Jack himself goes, the great boon this game has is the option of actually playing as Jack Skellington himself, and getting to use different forms of him with different powers to combat Oogie and his minions. Chris Sarandon - who has provided Jack’s speaking voice since the original film, and gets to SING for him, too, in this game (he ain’t half bad, either) - delivers all of the moods and sides of Jack throughout the story with his usual enthusiasm, and the chance to explore Halloween Town in such wild depth is really fun. The game itself seems to be one people love or hate; most agree it’s not the greatest game in the world (though most agree it’s also not terrible), but it seems to be a 50/50 split between people who overlook its flaws and enjoy it, and people who feel it’s a lackluster and overly bizarre spin-off to a classic picture. Personally, while I do see some issues with “Oogie’s Revenge,” I’ve always had a soft spot for this game, and I still do. It’s definitely one of Jack’s shining moments, in my personal opinion.

1. Kingdom Hearts.

Given my love of the KH series as a whole, a lot of you probably saw this coming. However, I actually had a really hard time choosing between these games and “Oogie’s Revenge.” The greatest pro of “Oogie’s Revenge” is that Jack is the main character: you spend a lot of time with him, it’s all his story, and Chris Sarandon gets to sing as well as provide the voice in general. However, I think that - despite the fact Jack and his pals in Halloween Town (and Christmas Town) are only one small part of a much grander puzzle - the Kingdom Hearts series actually handles the character and his world slightly better…mostly just because of the writing. (And because they are better games, in general, when you really get down to it.) As far as Jack himself goes…honestly, I love how absolutely ADORABLE Jack is in the Kingdom Hearts universe. (How many undead skeletons can you call “adorable,” anyway? At the moment, I can only think of maybe four others…which is still a surprising number, honestly!) The games really lean hard into Jack’s childlike, exuberant, impulsive personality, but they also still give him elegance, charisma, and even touch onto a philosophical side we really haven’t seen anywhere else. Some of my favorite lines and moments in the games come from Jack, and of all the Disney allies Sora makes along the way, I think I enjoy his interactions with the Pumpkin King most of all. (He also isn’t too bad of a Party Member.) Sarandon delivers here just as powerfully as in Oogie’s Revenge, and a lot of the story-based elements I love about Jack’s character arc in OR are just as present in these games. Overall, while he may not be the star of the show, Jack is certainly a major highlight of these games. For me, and hopefully for many others, Kingdom Hearts will always be a shining moment in the King of Halloween’s career. It’s not an easy call, to be honest…but I’m gonna name Kingdom Hearts as My Favorite Appearance from Jack Skellington.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

James and the Giant Peach.

While this is a totally non-canon appearance, Jack cameos as the leader of a band of skeleton pirates in this cult classic adaptation of the Roald Dahl story. I have no idea if this decision was made because of budget reasons or because Henry Selick (director of both TNBC and this film) was in a whimsical mood, but either way, it’s such a weird but fun one-off return.

Disney’s Not-So-Spooky Spectacular.

A fireworks show performed around Halloweentime at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Jack acts as the host of the event, portrayed by a life-sized and absolutely immaculate puppet, crewed by multiple performers. This puppet has appeared in several other places since, including one of the “Nightmare Before Christmas Live” concerts!

What’s This? The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along.

Performed every Christmastime at Disney’s Hollywood-MGM Studios, this combination of stage pantomime and sing-along concert to some of the songs from the film is hosted by Jack. Our favorite Pumpkin King is played by the same great puppet that appears in the “Not-So-Spooky Spectacular” fireworks show!

[f4ll-for-you]

Complicated | Modern Aegon

This is dedicated to my ANGEL @valeskafics I hope you enjoy bby💖

Also a HUGE thank you to @arcielee, a writing goddess who helped me with this, you are amazing!!!🫶

Warnings: smut, mentions of drinking, Targaryens being rich snobs

Three months you’d been dating Aegon Targaryen, your best friend's older brother. After a year of pining after you, you’d finally given in and let him take you on a date, which of course, ended up with you in his bed the next morning. It took a month for you to believe he actually cared, given his fuckboy reputation that he needed to uphold. Luckily, you were happy to keep your relationship secret to avoid hurting Helaena's feelings, she didn't get along with her brother, and if she knew you were dating him you were sure she would feel betrayed. 

However, that was only the tip of the iceberg with Aegon's family. Rich, well connected, always throwing fancy dinner parties, nothing like the life you’d experienced growing up. To earn extra cash while at university, you’d often waitress at the parties, tending to Aegon's family and friends whilst they looked down on you, treating you like you were nothing and constantly forgetting your name. Yet another reason to keep your relationship secret.

Tonight, both you and Aegon were getting ready to go to the annual ‘Targaryen Family Gala’, both to attend in very different ways. You arrived at the house, through the ‘staff’ entrance, dressed in a white shirt and short black skirt, your apron basically covering it. You smirked to yourself, knowing Aegon's eyes would likely be on you most of the night. You wished Helena could be there, even if she was ‘one of them’ she always made things more bearable.

As the party began to liven up, you circled the guests, handing out champagne from the tray you were carrying. You watched Aegon in the corner with his mother, Alicent, watching her talk at him as if he were a child whilst rolling his eyes, looking up to the ceiling as if to ask for help. Making your way over, you offered them both a drink, smiling politely at the pair of them, Aegon’s cheeky wink going unnoticed by his mother. 

You continued gliding around the party, slipping in between slightly drunk, wealthy men and women. Readying another tray of drinks, you recognised two familiar voices speaking in a hushed tone, angrily going back and forth in conversation.

“Aegon look, you are twenty now, you are to carry on your father’s legacy and you must have someone suitable by your side to do it with,” you heard Alicent whisper-shout. 

“I don’t want to settle down, I’m enjoying myself, mother,” Aegon slurred, clearly having had one too many. 

“Anyway, there’s far too many options out there to settle for one,” he joked and Alicent scoffed in disgust. 

“There’s one now,” Aegon spoke, looking a tall blonde girl up and down, “I’ll be off.” He turned to smirk at his mother before walking away, enjoying her frustration and disappointment. 

Your heart dropped in your chest, you knew Aegon liked to keep up appearances, but you’d never had to watch it firsthand. A wave of anger filled your system, seeping through your body as your hands began to shake. You took a deep breath, two can play that game, you thought to yourself. 

For the rest of the evening, you flirted with each and every boy you came into contact with. You smiled innocently at Aegon every time he noticed, watching him clench his jaw at your actions.

Once his friends took an interest in you, it was game over; Aegon stormed over to you, grabbing your arm not so gently. He didn't care about the eyes of his family and friends staring at him in confusion as he dragged a waitress out of the large ballroom. “What the fuck was all that,” he growled at you, not even stopping to look at your expression before pulling you into the nearest room. 

He let go of your arm, walking further into the room, running his hands through his messy blonde locks. “Are you going to answer me Y/N?!” he shouted this time, still with his back to you. You smirked, enjoying how riled up he got because of your actions. 

“What did I do?” you shouted back, your anger from earlier refuelling. “What did you mean, Aegon, when you went off to ‘get to know’ that beautiful blonde earlier?” You asked, your words laced with jealousy. 

Aegon turned, meeting your eyes, looking shocked for a moment, before his usual cocky attitude resumed. “We agreed to keep this secret, I was merely acting the part,” he remarked, smirking at the redness in your cheeks caused by your rage. 

“As was I,” you spat, “so if you don’t mind, I’ll be getting back to my job.” Spinning around where you stood, hand reaching for the door handle. 

Before you could turn the handle, a rough hand grabbed your ponytail, pulling you back into his chest. “You’re not going back out there until everyone realises you’re fucking mine,” Aegon whispered into your ear, his breath hot on your neck, wetness pooling between your legs. 

Keeping one hand tightly around your ponytail, his other hand grabbed your hip, guiding you towards the back of the sofa and bending you over it. Your cunt clenched with anticipation as he palmed your ass, ripping your skirt up in one motion, making you almost bare in front of him. “Already wet for me, little slut,” he purred, looking at the damp patch of your panties. 

He slid one finger lightly up your clothed slit, making you stifle a moan, refusing to give him the satisfaction he craved. Aegon pulled his hand away in response, quickly coming down to slap your bare ass. You jolted at the action, only making you soak your panties more. “I will do this until you moan for me” he threatened, you clenched again at the thought, rubbing your thighs together for some much needed friction. 

“So desperate, so stubborn,” Aegon crooned before landing another heavy slap to your reddened skin. 

Two, three, four more came before you broke, whimpering at his touch. “Are you going to be a good girl for me now?” he asked, leaning down towards your ear as he spoke. 

“Yes,” you whined, barely louder than a whisper, your eyes glassy with desperation. 

Before you could even think, you felt Aegon shove his fingers into you and began to pump them into and out with precision. The familiarity of his touch brought you close to your first high and you bite your bottom lip to try and stop the noises you desperately wanted to make.He released his harsh grip on your ponytail to your throat, lightly squeezing each side. The combination of his long fingers curling into you and his hand around your neck had you seeing stars, your first orgasm approached as you moaned loudly, tightening around him, his hand dripping with your juices. Aegon brought his fingers up to his mouth, savouring your taste like fine wine.

He then knelt behind you, barely giving you enough time to recover before attaching his mouth to your centre, licking up the juices he’d missed. “Mhm no, Aeg, too much,” you whimpered in response, trying to pull away from the overstimulation.

Aegon moaned into you as he grabbed your hips, pulling you back into his mouth as he dipped his tongue inside you. You were sure his fingers would leave marks, just like he wanted. “Fuck Aegon,” you couldn’t keep your moans at bay as he kitten licked you clit, brining you towards yet another orgasm. 

“So, fucking, perfect,” he spoke against you, the vibrations of his voice making you scream out in pleasure. 

He added two fingers into you once more, curling into your sweet spot as he lapped and sucked at your clit in unison. Your body began to shake as you came, screaming his name as you clutched onto the back of the large sofa. “That's it baby, let them know who owns you,” Aegon spoke as you rode out your high.

Aegon unzipped his trousers, his cock slapped up against his chest, his tip leaking precum. You looked back at him, eyes wide knowing what he was about to do, already feeling exhausted from your previous two releases. 

He pushed into your dripping cunt, giving no time to adjust to his size. The grip on your hips tightening as he pounded into you, the lewd sound of skin slapping against skin filling the room. “Fuck, so tight, you were made for me princess,” Aegon moaned and his hand returning to your hair, pulling you back into his chest to find a deeper angle. 

The new angle allowed him to once again reach your sweet spot. You could feel your cunt begin to flutter around his length. He moaned, relentless to chase his own release with a desperation to fill you with his pearly spend. Trembling, your climax washing over you, coaxing his own as he spilled into you. The pair of you scream each other's names in pleasure, forgetting the party down the hall. 

Aegon pulls out of you gently, caressing your cheek. “Do you think now is a bad time to tell my mother we’re dating?” he jokes, looking into your eyes. 

You look wearily up at him, a wide grin appearing on your face, “at least you’ve settled down.” 

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I have two things to share today!

First, I got a new book!

I am loving all the concept art. Also found out there's a manga in the back I've heard about, but had never actually read before.

Second, something Skyward Sword related I've been thinking about today that just so happend to tie into that.

(Yes, I'm still working my way through the game but I've seen pieces of the ending)

In a lot of LU stuff with Sky and Demise's curse, I see it interpreted that Demise was the one to cause the cycle of reincarnation for the three bearers of the triforce. I have a different interpretation on that though.

See, Demise only specifies his own reincarnation. "An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind. (Blood of the Goddess, Spirit of the Hero)" That suggests that Link and Zelda were already bound to reincarnation, and Demise simply added himself into that cycle.

Then I found the manga in Hyrule Historia, and that pretty much confirmed what I had been thinking. Demise's curse didn't cause the reincarnation cycle, it simply added himself into it.

Would love to hear your thoughts on that, if you have any!

Oooo Hyrule Historia, that’s fun! :D I’m glad you’re enjoying it :)

That’s an interesting take on it! Haha Demise just shoved himself into the cycle too, like “I WANNA PLAY TOO >:( ” 😂 I can see that honestly

I mean, if you really do wanna hear my thoughts, I guess I’ll share 😅 I don’t think my take on it is a very popular one though. 😅

First of all, I disregard all mangas as they’re not canon. Like I can enjoy aspects of them and whatnot, but I’ve never read one and don’t intend to.

Secondly, the entire idea of First’s existence bothers me lol, sorry. Skyward Sword heavily implies that Hylia fought her own war against Demise and didn’t need some man to help her, and I liked that. Like LET HER FIGHT HER OWN DANG BATTLES BLAST IT. STOP WITH THE CONSTANTLY NEEDING A HERO TO SAVE HER AND FALLING IN LOVE AND—anyway that’s just a pet peeve of mine. Also, his existence would imply that Sky’s just another hero in the cycle rather than the start of it, and I liked the idea that Skyward Sword was the start of the legend, not just another chapter - and the game even heavily implies that it’s the start. It has fun callbacks, like Zelda giving Link a sailcloth based on the tradition that Hylia gave her chosen hero that—and wouldn’t you look at that, she’s Hylia and Link travels into the past to fight Demise and is called Hylia’s chosen hero - he made his own legend!! I adore that!! First’s existence and story completely derails all that, so I’ll just stick to canon. ☺️ Many people like him and they’re more than welcome to enjoy him, I just disregard him haha

As for the reincarnation, I guess it varies based on what people think reincarnation is. The way I’ve always viewed it is that if someone reincarnated their soul hops from life to life. So it’s the same person living different lives. But LoZ contradicts this when Hero’s Shade appears in Twilight Princess - that’s two separate souls, but they’re both the Hero. So it isn’t exactly reincarnation, then. And Zelda only reincarnated once - when Hylia became Skyward Sword Zelda. The rest of them, at least according to Demise’s curse, are her descendants. So neither Link nor Zelda are the same person traveling across time and destiny - instead, Zelda is bound to her bloodline, while Link is chosen by the goddesses when a hero is needed because he has the courage to do it. The Spirit of the Hero, as I interpret it, is Skyward Sword Link, who is bound by the curse, who acts as a spiritual companion and aide to the current Hero, though neither of them is really able to communicate, who imparts connections to his destiny (why Link gravitates to Zelda, why he might feel strange connections to items or places, though the games never really show that’s the case), who protects them when they cannot protect themselves (why Twilight turns to a wolf instead of being lost in the twilight realm, why the Triforce randomly splits in Hyrule Warriors and protects Wars from dying against Volga when it’s never shown to be a weapon or shield before).

But that’s just my take on it, Nintendo leaves it very vague so we can all play with our own ideas! :)

[oldwritingm]

I love your one shot about Lloyd and his twin and about the tomorrow tea. I was wondering if you if it’s not too much trouble if you have any hc about the aftermath like what happened when Lloyd arrived home, twin’s reaction to their suddenly being older, etc?

You got it!

Word count: 685

Ninjago - Being Lloyd's Younger Twin After the Tomorrow's Tea Incident

Part I here

You bounced your leg impatiently. It had been several hours since your brother Lloyd had left to help the ninjas, and you were starting to get worried. You had both been instructed to stay put while the ninjas responded to a distress call, but when you received a call from Jay requesting that Lloyd (specifically him, and not you) bring their weapons, Lloyd decided to oblige him. You tried to convince him to let you tag along, but gave up pretty quickly when you realized that you could have the TV all to yourself.

That was several hours ago. The TV was no longer of interest to you—you were watching the dark sky outside more than the screen.

You stood up, resolving to call one of the ninjas to see what was going on. Before you even picked up the phone you heard the unmistakable hiss of the Bounty docking on the roof above, and with a rush of relief you hurried up.

You were met first with Nya, who smiled at you, but there was something off about the smile. You’d almost say there was pity in it, but you couldn’t be sure. 

Jay, Cole, Kai, Zane, Wu. They were all shooting similarly pitiful looks at you as they each passed in succession. You ignored them, looking past them for your brother.

“Where’s Lloyd?”

You felt a hand on your shoulder, and Nya’s sympathetic face appeared beside you. “Y/n, there’s something you should know before you see him.”

You didn’t like her tone. Clearly, something bad had happened. You glanced over the ninjas. None of them appeared to be too roughed up, and with a sinking feeling you wondered if that meant that Lloyd had taken the brunt of an attack.

“What happened?” You asked, trying to keep the panic out of your voice. “Is he okay?”

“I’m fine,” a new voice came from the direction of the Bounty. It was familiar, but… altered. As if the speaker was using a voice filter. 

You whirled around to see Lloyd. Was that Lloyd? It couldn’t be. He was so tall! And his voice; it was slightly deeper than that of the Lloyd you knew.

But he had the same platinum hair. His emerald eyes sparkled with his signature charm—part mischief, part maturity, all lovable. 

Your apprehension must have shown on your face, because the stranger (or was he not a stranger?) laughed. 

“I look a little different now, huh?”

You heard the ninjas scrambling to explain, but their voices were just noise to you as you stared confoundedly at your brother. You caught enough to understand that some kind of magic potion had caused him to age several years at once; everything else went straight through one ear and out the other.

Lloyd was smiling somewhat awkwardly at you. You didn’t like it. His chiseled face was so different from the youthful roundness that you were accustomed to. 

This isn’t my brother. But it was.

The distrusting way you looked at him that night continued for several more days. Every time you laid eyes on him, it was as if your brain couldn’t compute that this was the same boy you’d grown up with. No matter how many times you corrected yourself, you just couldn’t seem to grasp that this wasn’t a stranger.

These thoughts weren’t helped by his shift in behavior. He had played video games with you mere hours before on that fateful night, and now he wouldn’t even sit on the couch with you. He was always training or helping the ninjas with their duties. You were lucky if he gave you so much as a passing glance, let alone a minute of his time. 

You tried to tempt him: turning up the volume while you played his favorite games, deliberately splaying Starfarer comics on the table, anything that might’ve caught the old Lloyd’s attention. But this new Lloyd was simply too busy. Too responsible. Too mature. 

You stared at your round young face in the mirror. Tears pricked your eyes as you whispered to yourself:

“He grew up without me.”

Thanks for your request, and thank you for reading! Take care sweets <33

(divider by saradika)

[euphoricimagination]

First Interactions

How you met the cute Haikyuu boys

Feat. Oikawa, Kuroo & Osamu

Oikawa

Your friend has been bugging you for what feels like forever for you to go to see the volleyball team practice with her, and you have been denying it for the same time. It’s not like you didn’t know that you it school was one of the power houses in the whole Miyagi when it comes to volleyball, you did know that. You’ve seen them play, and you actually like them enough to go to support them in official matches.

It’s the amount of girls screaming what annoyed you.

You understand it, really, Oikawa IS handsome and has a flirty personality, it’s no wonder so many girls like him. But you’ve never been fan of loud places when it’s not in the appropriate place. On a real match? Sure, it makes sense to cheer loudly for them, but it was unnecessary loud on a practice match.

But still, your friend has tried so hard to convince you that you could at least accept once.

You were entering the gym, but since you didn’t come here often outside of PE classes, you enter the building through the normal doors instead of the ones leading to the viewing area. A big mistake from your part.

You could hear the sneakers running around, the loud sounds of the ball hitting the players arms. Seijoh versus a school named Karasuno. After a point passed to your team, you started looking for some stairs to get out of the floor, completely missing that the infamous Oikawa was about to serve.

A loud sound from his arm hitting the ball and a loud sound from the ball hitting the court was enough to make you look that way. Just on time to see the ball coming directly at you with an ungodly speed and force. You hear some screams your way, but couldn’t make up what they were saying to you, you were only able to lift up your hand right before the impact.

Before you realize it you were on the floor, your wrist hurting so much that you couldn’t even scream in pain. Your ears were ringing, your eyes were watery; yet you could hear sneakers getting closer and some shadows appearing in front of you. They were moving their mouths, but you couldn’t make up any sound until someone kneel in front of you, making you sit properly while holding one of you arms.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?” you finally were able to process, your vision less blurry helping you make out the brown hair and worry eyes of the perpetrator of the serve. A bunch of the players looking at you with worry

“My…my wrist” you say. At that Oikawa takes your wrist on his hand carefully, making you gasp in pain

“She should go to the infirmary, Oikawa’s serves are strong for a normal person to take” one of the coaches say as the players quickly start to disperse to resume the game

“I suggest Shittykawa to take her there. He hurt her, he should do it” said the spikey black hair dude, hitting the back of the Captain’s neck when he complained “or I could always punch you”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take her” Oikawa says, helping you up carefully “Let’s go”

The walk towards the infirmary wasn’t long, but it was awkward to the say the least. You knew he didn’t hit you on purpose, yet you didn’t know what to say to him. Once there, the nurse instructed him to hold an ice package on your wrist for a few minutes before bandaging it up, so you both stayed in silence sitting there, you in a horrible pain.

“I’m…I’m sorry” he finally says “I did saw you there, but I didn’t thought the ball will go directly at you. I’m still working on controlling that serve”

“It’s okay, I guess I shouldn’t have enter that way” you also say

“No, it’s totally my fault” he lifts up his head, looking at you with a small smirk on “if I didn’t knew better I would think that you did this just so I could hold your hand”

“You are full of yourself, not everyone likes you, you know?” you defended yourself, hearing him laugh

“And yet I’ve seen you in every match I’ve played” he smirks again, making you blush. He has noticed you multiple times, something about you always makes his eyes find you even in the largest of crowds. Maybe it was because you absolute indifference towards him in particular, maybe it was because you solely seem to focus on the sport, but that was enough to spark some interest in him.

“Me liking volleyball has nothing to do with you” you say blushing

“Sure…Let’s have a fresh start, okay? One that doesn’t involve me hurting your wrist?” he smiles at you, that smile that he gives whenever he wants something. And that something now was getting to know you.

After returning to the gym, this time entering through the right doors, your friends greets you excitedly, asking a bunch of questions about Oikawa. However now you’re with a hurt wrist and a promise to grab some coffee after the match finishes.

Kuroo

You were late.

You were on cleaning duty for your class today and were supposed to meet your classmate around 10 minutes ago to start arranging the tables and chairs, but something had happened in the subway and you had to go on a big detour just to be able to arrive on time.

You quickly took the school shoes out of your locker and put them on, getting it done on a record time in comparison of how you normally do it. However, is well known that speed can blind you from your surroundings, which was the case here.

Kuroo had arrived while you were getting ready to put your shoes on. On a normal morning he would say hi to you, after all his shoe locker was a mere few rows away from yours, but he saw how quickly you were doing your things. Honestly, he didn’t even knew that your locker was near his. He had see you around more than one more time, walking to your classrooms, on school events and such, and he honestly had thought more than one more time how pretty and elegant you were; however, since he has captain duties early in the morning and until late in the afternoon, he hadn’t found the time to properly greet you.

Until you bumped into him.

Once you were ready with your shoes on you immediately turn around to run towards the classroom; however, instead of finding a free corridor, you only found something sturdy in your way, crashing directly on it and almost falling if it wasn’t for some arms wrapping quickly around your waist. You look up to find out that you had bump into the chest of the one and only Kuroo Tetsurou, the captain of the volleyball team that was making noise not only for his handsome looks but also for how smart he was. When did he got here? How did you not noticed? Those were the questions running around your head.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you arrive” you say apologetic, only to receive a light laugh and a big smile

“No problem! Be careful though, speed is a curse, it narrows your view and makes it harder to breathe” he says, stabilizing you before letting you go “what are you even rushing for?”

“Eh... I’m late, I’m on cleaning duty today” you manage to mumble, still in shock

“Late? It’s 7.15 and classes start at 8.45, I would say that’s plenty of time to get your class ready” he smirks at you, which grows even wider once you realize the time.

“Ah” it’s the only thing you manage to say, it turns out you weren’t even late. This only makes him laugh louder

“Well” he starts saying as he stops laughing “since you’re here already and I could probably bet you didn’t even had breakfast, want to go and grab something from the convenience store with me?”

“Ehh…sure, why not” you say quite embarrassed, chuckling at your own mistake “I’m Yn by the way”

“Kuroo Tetsurou” he smiles at you widely “next time take things slowly, okay?” he says as he waits for you to change back your shoes. Sure, he had to be at the gym by now, but he could arrive late once in a while for occasions like this.

Osamu

Your day has been getting worse and worse by the second…or at least that’s what it feels like right now.

First thing in the morning you somehow managed to get your locker confused with someone else’s, almost getting into problems when a teacher find you there. Then you received a bad grade for a test that you actually did study for. And now that it’s lunch break you made one of the Miya’s fan girls mad by simply existing.

Well, being in the same class as Miya Atsumu has always been full of squeals of girls, random confessions throughout the day, and an unbearable amount of random gifts sparse through the floor; so in a way you were used to being around those type of girls. Today, however, your teacher decided to pair you up with the famous Miya.

It’s not like you didn’t like Atsumu, despite his cockiness he’s actually quite nice and even caring; which showed when he approached you during lunch break and sit with you when he saw you alone in there. It was a great gesture, you knew that he did it so you wouldn’t be left alone, and you knew that he didn’t know what the implications for that may be.

His fans were staring at you like you were the most disgusting person ever.

This lasted until Atsumu had to leave to some quick meet up with his team, when one of those girls decided to drop her water on you ‘accidentally’. This leads you here, outside of the school grounds and in front of the vending machine trying to buy a goddamn coffee to feel some comfort through this horrible day. But of course, the machine decided to not work this time, it didn’t even gave you your money back. Nothing could be going worse today.

“Fuck!” you cry in despair, kicking the vending machine to release some of your lock down emotions

“Hard day?” you hear from behind as you lay your forehead in the cold machine

“Horrible” you whisper without even looking back

“I saw my brother talking to ya through lunch, did some of those stupid girls did something to ya?” you hear, making you curious about who was talking to you. The other famous twin was looking at you in a mixture of confusion and empathy as you turn around and lay your back against the machine

“Yeah, but honestly the whole day has been awful” you admit to him “and now I can’t even drink coffee”

“Ha! That machine has some weird tricks on it” he says, moving closer to it and carefully moving you aside. He puts some coins on it and press the button hard, the sound of the drink going down as he puts more money to buy something else. Right after he hands you one of the drinks, the coffee you tried to buy, not before opening it up for you “Ye’re Yn, right? I’m Osamu, my idiot brothe r has said some things about ya, how ya were a good classmate and all”

“Yeah, that’s me” you drink a sip of the warm coffee, finally some comfort rushing through your veins. You didn’t know if it was for the coffee or Osamu though “Thank you for the drink”

“Well of course, if ye’re having a terrible day I can at least offer ya some coffee” he says with a small smile. He has heard some things about you from Atsumu, however he recently started to notice you himself whenever you both go to the nearest convenience store to buy some food or when you pass next to him in the halls, always exchanging a snarky remark with his brother and a polite smile to him

“I can’t wait to this day to be over” you sigh

“Ya know, our captain just told us we don’t have practice today…do ya wanna go grab some food after class?”

“Food? After class?” you say incredulous

“Yeah, that way ya have something better to look forward until the day is over. It’ll be my treat too”

You look at him surprised at the sudden invitation, and honestly, a little worried as well, he also had a lot of fans here. However he was right, this day has been one of the worst ones so far, so why not take this opportunity to go out with this boy?

“Sure” you smile

“Then look forward for that instead. See ya” he says leaving, a smile on his face too.

[zieroses]

enda “rook” de riva // the last gambit p.5

extensive thoughts on the ending -

Before i reached the ending I was seeing vague snippets and critiques regarding “Solas’s quick turnaround.” I didn’t agree with that. I got the Mythal ending both times I played and I am not a solavellan, so maybe there is something to be said about other possible endings. But I felt mine was satisfactory, and I didn’t feel Solas’s turnaround was quick. I felt we’d been told multiple times over and over that Solas was prideful, too prideful to admit he was wrong, but in truth, he just needed a reason, the right reason, the exact right knife slipped into the exact right chink in his armor, for all of it to crumble. And that’s exactly what happened. I’m happy with that.

Perhaps it’s accurate to say that the actual set of dialogues and actions was quick, i.e., he very quickly cut his palm, tied himself to the Veil, and walked into the Fade. Maybe that’s what people meant by “turnaround,” so it could be semantics here—I don’t think it’s an issue so much of him abruptly changing his mind, as it is of the scene itself not taking perhaps as much time as it deserved.

So- Solas’s ending I felt was fitting (Solavellans seemed pretty happy too). The Inquisitor, though (not being a Solavellan) I am still miffed about, though in a “did I ever really trust bioware to do this in a way that would make me happy” sort of fashion. I was very attached to my inquisitor and there was so much I wanted out of this, and so many ways in which I really wanted it to be a direct sequel with the inquisitor as the protag, and so many interesting ways that could have worked, but unfortunately they just felt very bland, like a set piece. They didn’t even bother with a cool outfit for them (wtf was that grey monstrosity? ) and their prosthetic may as well have not even been a prosthetic. Something customized by class would’ve been so cool, and their outfit should’ve been an Inquisition endgame armor based on class too. I knew i was going to be let down the moment i got to the character creation for the inquisitor and it was, for some reason, dumbed down from the Rook CC, still had the same icky green lighting (what the fuck was that?), and you couldn’t choose their class or anything. I was like oh so the Inquisitor’s role is going to be WAY disappointing. Yay! (And it was.)

And as for Rook’s ending…Climbing down and then hero-posing on a ledge to the cheers of onlookers was honestly and truly the only part of the game that I thought was unbearably cheesy. I would’ve preferred almost anything else - especially a little whump would have been nice. Rook has been beaten up down and sideways fighting gods; we even see he’s clearly injured after being blasted away by Elgar’nan’s death, and struggling to get up. Let him collapse and be helped by his team—we got hints over time of the way Rook is impacted both emotionally and physically by ongoing events, but something more impactful at the end would’ve been perfect. He’s helped all his companions so much, of which they made a point—so let him crumble and be helped now that it’s all over. For that matter, give us one last romance scene, an “i can’t believe we made it through” piece! To me that would’ve made it complete.

Also, as much as I appreciate the art and understand what they were going for, the little post-game, pre-credits sequence about stories, with brief art stills about every companion…ehh. I would’ve preferred time taken to animate little scenes (in the CG style of the rest of the game, not the strangely cutesy paintings that appeared just here) showing what they’re up to. Or even in place of that, something with the team at the Lighthouse - or maybe a funeral for whichever companion/s you lost.

I honestly haven’t looked much into the secret post credits scene i will have to think further on that (i got it, just need to brush up on my lore). I have mixed feelings based on what i know. I don’t know if this comes with the secret post credits scene or if you always get it after the credits but there is also a note: “The Veilguard remains vigilant.” I’m reading too much into that but I want to be like, don’t imply that the Veilguard and Rook will be the protagonists of the next game. Not after you refused to make the inquisitor the protagonist of this one, seemingly just to have someone different every game. (That said……. I would not mind playing as Rook again to be honest. I got unexpectedly way attached to my Rook and like I already said I’m very disappointed by no dlc.)

Also re: the Veilguard remains vigilant - it seems in the art slides that they all went their separate ways to play their separate roles, sooo….vigilant in what way? I’m sure I’m overthinking it and it was just meant to be a sign off to the game which is fine. I just have PTSD from “did you disband the inquisition? Too bad it doesn’t matter” thing.

[unreadpoppy]

down by the river - Chapter 9

Raphael x Warlock!Tav

Read on AO3

Chapter 8

A/N: Okay we jumping cause we gotta move this story along. Also shout out to @sky-kiss for screen shotting the Mol scene for me, it was of great help! Also, many parts of the dialogues are taken from the game but modified to fit the story better.

After Halsin told the group that they needed to go to Moonrise Towers, Tav gathered everyone to decide on which way they should go: through the Underdark or the Mountain Pass. 

Lae’zel argued in favor of the latter, saying that there was a githyankyi crechè in the area and they would have to offer her cleansing. Shadowheart, however, favored the Underdark, considering that it would be a more discreet route. 

“I believe we could go through both.” Tav finally spoke. All eyes turned towards her. “We have means of exploring both regions, and then we determine which way is better.” 

‘And it would stop the two of them from bickering.’ Tav thought to herself. She turned towards the gith warrior. “We’ll go to the Mountain Pass first, see that the crechè gives us a solution.”

Lae’zel nodded and walked away, probably to polish her sword some more. The others left as well, while Tav kept looking at the map. 

“The shadow cursed lands.” Tav whispered to herself. As she passed her finger on where the name was written on the map, she felt the scar on her collarbone sting, causing her to hiss. 

“Have you ever been there?” Shadowheart asked, appearing next to Tav. 

“Why you ask?”

She pointed with her chin towards the paper.  “Just the way you look at the map. Seems like you’ve got some history there.” 

Tav shook her head. “I’ve never been there, no, but Raphael has a few contracts there.” She turned towards the cleric. “I can’t help but wonder what has happened to them - the debtors.” 

She made a motion to move away, saying “Now, if you’ve got nothing more to ask, I’ll get ready for bed.” 

“Actually, there is something else I’d like to know.” Shadowheart said. “We know Mizora sent Wyll to hunt after devils and demons alike, but what type of jobs did Raphael ever sent you on?”

Tav shrugged. “All sorts of things. Sometimes it was to kill someone who wronged him, or gather information. Other times, accompany him to an event, entertain a guest.” 

Playing music when he was bored, helping him with his compositions were also part of the list, although Tav wouldn’t say that out loud. “If there was something that needed to be done, I’d do it, although, since he acquired another warlock, things got a bit easier on my side.” She looked away, for a moment. “One thing is true, however. Raphael would never ask me to do something he knew I couldn’t do.”

Shadowheart nodded.  “When you put it like that, he doesn’t seem that bad.”

“Well, he’s definitely better than other masters that I have served.” Tav chuckled to herself. “It is getting late. We should go sleep, tomorrow will be a long day.” She said and moved towards her bedroll. 

That night, the dream visitor met her again, giving her warnings for the future, while telling her to embrace her potential. Tav had no inclinations of becoming ilithid, but she still needed his protection, and so, she told him she’d think about it. 

As their journey continued, Tav would keep listening to the dream visitor’s interference, but she tried to ignore it. She already had one devil telling her what to do - she didn’t need another otherworldly being bothering her as well. 

…

“Your move, Mol.” She heard him before she saw him. Of course Raphael would be at Last Light Inn, but playing lanceboard with a child was not the sight Tav expected to see. 

“You trapped me.” Mol said. “I didn’t even want to take this one.” 

“Calishmen rules, dear. The first piece touched is the first piece moved.” He explained. For a moment, Tav was transported to a memory that played much like this one. When he taught  her how to play the game, and how frustrated she had been. 

‘This doesn’t make any sense.’ She groaned. ‘I’m gonna end up losing this knight.’

‘Then make a useful sacrifice.’ He guided her. ‘Guard your Mystra or come for my Cyriq.’

Tav was snapped out of the memory when Mol asked her “Say, do you play Lanceboard by any chance? It’s my first time playing.” 

She raised her brow at the girl, easily detecting the lie. “Put pressure on him. Attack the pieces in front of his king.”  

Mol did as you say, moving the pieces around. 

“My, the Theskan Double Counter - Gambit. Vicious. Exactly what I would have done.” 

The girl soon beat Raphael. “How’s that for Calimshen rules?”

“Brava! Lovely work.” Raphael praised the girl. “I see I was right to make you the offer I did. You will consider it, won’t you?” He asked Mol, who didn’t say anything as she walked away. 

Raphael turned towards the group.“The Thasken move was inspired. I see I have taught you well.” He then looked at Mol speaking with the other tiefling children. “What a lovely specimen she is. A blushing apple, ready to be plucked.”

“I know he’s your boss, but please, let me smack this creep.” Karlach whispered. 

Tav ignored her, crossing her arms and raising a brow. “You’re offering deals to kids now? I thought you loathed chattering children.”

“I can make exceptions, from time to time. But don’t you worry about Mol - it goes without saying she still has the unconditional freedom to choose the only option she has left.” He chuckled. “Besides, I do enjoy being in this neighborhood again. It has such a history of abject tragedy.” He focused his gaze on Tav. “And as you well know, tragedy is my bread and bloody butter.”

Raphael waved his hand, dismissing the subject. “But enough about my lesser pursuits. Why bother with trifles when I’m in the illustrious presence of my very favorite client.” He bowed as he said that, making Tav suck in a breath. “It is good to see you again, O apple of my eye. I’d ask you if you’ve made any progress with your little problem, but the tell-tale twitching of your eye is answer enough.” 

“Raphael.” She greeted him. “Should I consider it a coincidence to find you here?”

He smiled. “My dear, nothing is a coincidence. Mortals trifle themselves with free will, as if their betters have not moulded every potential path ahead.” Tav cleared her throat at that. Raphael chuckled. “No offense meant, of course. I’m sure everyone in Last Light thinks they could have changed things.” 

“They’re not the only ones ripe for temptation. As you well know, Tav, my last contract here fed me for decades.”

“You were here before?” Wyll asked. “Why?”

“Family troubles. Not my family, of course.” He shot Tav a knowing look, and she gave a small nod, imperceptible to the others. “I never surrender knowledge for free, but one good turn deserves another, does it not? To repay you, for all the souls you sent my way, I offer you a glimpse of the truth.” 

The devil then spoke of Ketheric Thorm, how his army had been massacred, and even proposing more knowledge in a future contract. Tav squinted her eyes at that - although Raphael shared most of his plans with her, she knew there was something that he was hiding. 

When he was done talking, she made a move to leave but he continued. “Before you leave, I sense there’s something your friend wants to ask me.” He looked at Astarion. 

“I do. I have a proposal for you.” The elf spoke up. “My old- well, a long time ago, someone carved some runes into my back. I’d rather like to know what they say.” 

As Raphael considered his words, Tav turned towards the rogue. “Scars? What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t told them? And you’ve kept your clothes on this whole time? How unlike you.” Raphael smirked. “Why not let them see? Don’t be shy.” 

“Raphael, don’t-” Tav tried to intervene but it was too late. Her patron waved his hand and soon, Astarion found himself only in his underwear. She looked angrily at Raphael.

“Don’t worry. I’m motivated to help you. Scars often tell such wonderful stories. I think yours might be truly exquisite. I’ll see you soon.” He eyed the two of them and vanished. 

At the same time, Tav removed her clock and threw it around the elf, as he said “Well. Now you know.” 

She sucked in a breath. “Go back to camp and get dressed.” Astarion nodded, doing so as told, alongside the others. 

Meanwhile, Tav turned her attention towards Mol. Although she knew Raphael, she did not enjoy the idea of such a young child making deals with him. 

“Nice strategy back there. If we put our heads together, I bet you and me could make a tidy stack of coin in Baldur’s Gate.” The girl as Tav approached her. “But Raphael’s offered me a partnership already, and it seems like a sweeter deal than throwing my lot in with you.” 

Tav gave her a serious expression, crossing her arms. . “Be careful, Mol. You are too young to be making deals with devils. They can be quite the poison.” 

The girl squinted her eye at the woman. “Poison. Sure.” She scoffed. “You seem to love the taste of it. He seems to know you pretty well.” 

Tav clenched her jaw, and tilted her head. “Touché.” She loosened her arms. “You’ve got quite the keen eye, I see.” She sighed. “But I’m being serious, Mol.” 

“Look, you saved us. Not knockin’ that.” Mol began. “But after you left, Zevlor lost his nerve - gave up the fight. I won’t. Now there’s no grove, no coin, no one taking us to the city. I’m not letting my crew get eaten by shadows.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll make a deal, maybe I won’t. But it’ll be my choice - not the devil’s and not yours.” Mol huffed and walked away, leaving Tav to shake her head. 

… 

After that meeting, Astarion wondered when he would meet the devil again, saying that they would need to keep their ears ready for the sound of cheap poetry and the smell of sulphur. 

“I wonder, how do you handle it, that smell all the time.” The elf complained, as the group made their way towards what could be the entrance to the mausoleum they sought. “It’s absolutely dreadful.” 

“Well, it does help that Raphael is always perfuming himself.”

“Oh, really? And what scent does he use?” 

“Cherries and musk.” Tav replied. “It’s the one he always makes me buy.” She raised a brow at Astarion’s curiosity. “Wanting to buy one for yourself?” 

“No, I-” Before he could finish, Tav raised a hand, hearing a voice. In an instant, she recognized who it belonged to. 

It was, of course, Raphael and his little theatrics. 

“How long have you been practicing those?” Tav asked, once he was done rhyming. 

“Until it was perfect.” He smiled. “As your dear patron, Tav, I thought it only fair to warn you of the dangers ahead.” 

She raised a brow. “I can handle myself, Raphael.”

He scoffed. “Intrepid as ever. It would be pointless of me to try and bar you from entering but I can still…set the scene, as it were. Prepare you for your role.”

Tav frowned. “How are you so sure that there are dangers ahead?” 

“My dear, you should know better by now. You’ll find that I play my part in many a plot.” 

The leader of the group sighed, getting agitated. “Cut the chase, Raphael.” 

“‘Patience was always a virtue that you lacked.” He commented. “But very well. There is a creature that lurks in silence and shadow - a creature, who like me, is very much of the infernal persuasion.” 

“Should it make its way out through these very doors you are about to so brazenly open, you’ll have unleashed a pestilence unto this realm.” He took a step forward. “In truth, it is carnage incarnate. Should you find it, consider no other course of action - kill it.”

Tav eyed him, feeling that something was off. “I believe there’s more that you’re not telling me.” 

‘Let me guess.’ Tav thought. ‘It’s probably one of those fiends that hates Raphael’s guts.’ 

Raphael sighed. “This creature and I go back a long way. I admit it would be in my best interest that as well should it remain in the dark - or misplace its head, perhaps. I should not relish its reacquaintance. Let’s leave it at that.” 

“Very well.” Tav said. 

He turned towards the elf. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Astarion. When the beast is dead, I’ll consider that enough payment to translate those scars of yours.”

“A fairer deal than I expected.”

The devil smirked. “Ask Tav. I always deal fairly.” With a snap of his fingers, he was gone. 

…

Finding the orthon had been less than ideal, considering that in an instant, the devil recognized their leader. 

“You. I recognized you. You’re Raphael’s little dog, following him around, obeying all the orders he barks at you.” Pointing his hand bow at her, he shouted. “Tell me where that perfumed bastard is, before I end you.”

The others tensed up behind her, but Tav remained calm, if not mildly annoyed. Placing a hand on her hip, she looked at her nails as she addressed him. “I’d be more careful with that tongue of yours, Yurgir.” She looked at the orthon. “Considering I hold the key to setting you free.”

“What are you doing?” Tav heard Astarion whisper shout behind her. “Just kill the damned thing.” She ignored him. 

“What do you mean?” Yurgir asked. 

“Oh, Yurgir, you think I don’t know about your little contract with Raphael? About the song?” She put a finger on her chin. “How was it again? Oh - I remember: Spill all blood sworn to the night / Silence all prayers; Smother all rites -”

Before she could continue, the orthon shouted. “Stop it! Stop singing. I’ve had enough of this bloody song.” He lowered his weapon. “Tell me. I did as instructed, but the song still rattles around in my head - the contract still stands, somehow. If I break it, I’ll become Raphael’s slave forever.” 

“It’s quite simple, actually.” She explained. “Pay attention to the last rhyme. Leave none to hear it, then be set free / This song is your oath, swear it, swear it to me.” Tav looked at Yurgir with a condescending glare. “Don’t you see, Yurgir. You always hear the song.” Then, Tav smirked devilishly. “Kill yourself, be reborn in the Hells. Be free of your contract.” 

The orthon huffed. “If you’re wrong about this, I’ll claw my way out of Avernus and eat you alive - contract be damned.” He grabbed his sword, pointing it towards his chest. “Nicely played, Raphael. Bastard.” Were his final words, as he impaled himself, body turning to ash. 

Tav smiled, proud of herself. 

“Does that count as killing him? It better count.” Astarion said and Tav nodded. 

“That was…impressive.” Shadowheart said. 

“Well, when you live with a devil for a long time, you learn a thing or two.” 

“So the song was the contract? And how did you know about the loophole?” Wyll asked. 

Tav turned towards him. “To answer your first question, indeed it was. Parchment can burn, oral agreements aren’t worth the tongues they’re waggled upon. A song lingers.” She remembered that those were Raphael’s words, when she asked him as to why a song. “And about the loophole, well, it’s simple. I was the one who helped my master come up with the rhymes.” She shrugged. “I guess that’s the luck of having an ex-bard as a warlock.” 

Wyll said nothing, only nodding along as Tav moved and began looting the place. He felt as if everyday, there was a new side to Tav that he’d never seen before. 

…

Raphael was quick to show up back at camp, praising Tav for how cleverly she avoided a direct confrontation with the orthon and telling Astarion of Cazador’s plans. As the vampire left the two of them alone, the devil took the moment to speak with his warlock privately, bringing her close to a river nearby the camp. 

“Tell me, how have you been?”

She eyed him up and down, suspiciously. Raphael was not the type to ask this sort of thing - at least, not out of the goodness of his heart. “Never been better.” She lied. 

“Truly?” He raised a brow. “Because I have this picture on my head - of you tossing and turning in the middle of the night, thinking strange things, dreaming strange dreams.” Raphael gestured. “And there’s this little voice inside your head asking: Is this my will or is it the worm’s? But you have no answer and no way of knowing.” 

“Get to the point, Raphael.” 

He took a step forwards, nose almost brushing with hers. “The point, dear Tav, is that you’ll do good to remember that there’s only one voice you should listen to: Mine.” 

Raphael moved back. “I’ll be seeing you very soon.” He snapped his fingers and he was gone. 

[suleikashideaway]

All this love for ff8 flying around tumblr right now has got me thinking. 

So many people were so moved by this game that twenty-five years later we’re all banging our fists on the table and crying about it? It leaves me stunned. For so long I thought I was the only one. 

[Huge text post under the cut. As I wrote this I realized just how much soul-baring I was doing. This was emotional to write and just as emotional to share. Thank you to those of you who bravely paved the way with your personal stories so that I would feel strong enough to do the same. Sorry this got stupid-long lol]

My own journey with ff8, as it turns out, is very much tied to my journey in discovering writing. It overwhelms me to think of how my life is so much better thanks to both things. And how my life was potentially saved by both things.

Back in the early aughts I was not privileged enough to have any gaming consoles. My best friend, though, had just gotten a PS1 and the very first game she had was ff8. I would go over to her house every single Sunday afternoon and sit, transfixed, as she played through it. I had never seen anything like it before. We would read the dialogue boxes out loud (I was always Selphie, Zell, and Rinoa, she was always Squall, Irvine, and Quistis) and she was kind enough to save the important cut scenes on separate memory slots so I could see whatever she had played throughout the week. 

I remember adoring the cutesyness of Squall and Rinoa’s dynamic and crying when I saw the ending. But there was something more to it. I felt such an intense desire to have the game for myself, to play it alone and absorb everything in it. We finally got a little money and got a PS1, but my mom would only get games that the whole family could enjoy, so it was Crash and Spyro for a long time until I finally, finally got ff8 for myself. 

The intensity of Squall and Rinoa’s drama and romance was so important to my passionate little teenaged heart. He jumped out into space to save her!! And she brought him back from time compression with just her love!!! It was the story that set the bar for romantic love. 

And Squall…damn, I remember sitting, unblinking, at the scene when he’s curled up in bed…At age sixteen, seventeen, watching Squall voice these things was big:

“I’m fine all by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I’m not a child anymore. That’s a lie. I don’t know anything. I’m confused.”

At the time, I didn’t know why I was so spellbound by that scene, and many of the other scenes of Squall’s inner monologues, but it makes so much sense now. I was a child made to believe I had to be fully competent and capable from way too young an age, parentified and emotionally stunted, and I was about to be kicked out into the world when I didn’t know a single fucking thing about it. 

But my love for ff8 was very private. I read some fanfic to extend that feeling of being in Squall and Rinoa’s world, but other than that, I never outwardly expressed how much this game stuck with me. I was definitely an awkward, shy kid, and luckily I found a group of weirdos in high school who had no fear in sharing their love for things like video games and anime and what-have-you. But still! Even with that! I barely engaged with the few friends who had a love for ff8. It was all very intimate for me. It was my private world. And part of me was scared of taking it too far, even amongst the nerds who took everything too far. I didn’t want to stand out in that way. I had the overwhelming urge to appear normal, and sane. And anyway I didn’t know how to articulate it.

There is a scene from my college years that is so burned in my memory and I think highlights this. I was in a very small major and so I had all the same classes with the same small group of people. In these classes was a very cool girl who I admired. One day someone brought up video games and I remember feeling paralyzed, like, “I can’t bring up my weirdly intense passion for this game! Everyone will think I’m so strange!” so I lied and said I had never played a single video game in my life. And in comes Cool Girl and starts going on and on about how much she loved final fantasy 8 and I could not fathom it. I stayed silent. I was not cool enough to go back on my lie and admit that I was just as into that game, if not more into it, and that I still thought about it regularly.

I kept my love of the game to myself, and played it once or twice when I went home on college breaks. It was enough. I was busy, and burnt out, and turns out, severely depressed on top of it all. 

That first major depressive episode lasted years. I managed to get out of it on my own through a variety of life experiences and found myself in my mid-twenties, looking for love. And what was more, I knew I had to find my Squall. I had to find someone who would constantly be willing to save me from my own flightiness, from my overly-passionate heart that didn’t think things through and constantly caused my own messes, and tell me (with brutal honesty) when to knock my shit off.

And I found him!

What I didn’t know is that I was really Rinoa all along. And Rinoa, my friends, cinnamon roll that she is, has a lot of shit to work out, too. 

It was helpful as I started spiraling into depression again: what if Rinoa and Squall were together and happy, but Rinoa had a major emotional breakdown in her late twenties? I imagined it obsessively. Thinking of their future was the only way I could fall asleep at night. (lol, any of this sound familiar, @angelosearch? <3)

Their story took such a hold on me. I could feel it wanting to scream itself out of my fingertips to the point that I couldn’t hold it in anymore. I started secretly typing it up, and every time I sat at the keys, I felt better.

And I stopped disassociating. I started sleeping better. I stopped hiding in the bathroom to cry at all hours of the day. I stopped thinking that I didn’t deserve to be here. I stopped therapy. 

I felt like I had been given a second chance at life. 

About a year ago, I was finally ready to consider posting my ff8 fanfic to share with the world. I had been writing it for over a year, and brewing it in my head for (get this) about eight years before that.

I could tell, though, that I was not a Good Writer. So I put on my bravest face and went searching for a beta. I immediately found one, my amazing @failed221b-chill, who I’ve gushed about before. And my world blossomed. I discovered the true joy that writing brings me, and even just writing this essay is way better than any therapy session I’ve ever had. 

I’m finally coming into my own. I’m finally realizing I had no reason to hide my passionate self. I have to share my inner world - it’s what makes me who I am, and only in that way can I truly connect with those around me. In fact, I literally went and bought an ff8 tank top and wore it in public yesterday and felt like a fucking superhero for doing so. 

So. All that said. I’m so incredibly grateful to be here in this moment, sharing all this love for a game that clearly has affected so many lives for the better. Happy anniversary, Final Fantasy VIII! And to anyone who read this far, I love you.