#i hope you participate all week
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demaparbat-hp · 6 months ago
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Almost
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morangoowada · 4 months ago
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Ishimondo week - July 20th Free day
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seecarrun · 7 days ago
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Pokeshipping Week 2024
Prompt 7: Celebrating
Ash was avoiding her.
He had been the one to invite her. Hell, he had paid for her plane ticket! And yet here Misty was, all dressed up, sitting by her lonesome, no Ash or Pikachu in sight.
Okay, maybe she wasn’t alone, alone. Ash’s old local friends from the Pokemon School were all there as well, milling around, dancing, snacking on hors d'oeuvres and sipping on champagne. Lana had insisted she join them at their table, and she had even danced with Kiawe and Mallow for a while after dinner.
The professors and Lei were also there, it had been Lei’s first Manalo Conference appearance, and even though he lost in the first round of the single battles, his parents were so proud, they had been showing him off to everyone all night, much to the kid’s embarrassment.
But yet no Champion in sight.
She knew he was there. She’d seen him bee-bopping around the banquet hall throughout the night, just not anywhere near her, apparently.
She didn’t think he was upset at her or anything. He’d grinned and waved at her after his battle with Hau, who had won the League this year. Their battle had been close, but Ash managed to win it and keep his title for the tenth year in a row. A decade of being the Alola Champion. The whole reason this party was happening at all.
He had been rushed off to talk with the press, so she went back to her hotel to get ready, naively assuming Ash had any interest in spending some time with her during the celebration after insisting she be there.
She was just polishing off her third flute of champagne when a yellow flash out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She perked up for a moment and scanned the room to try to catch it again, when a soft, familiar whisper filled her ear.
“Meet me outside in five?” Ash asked, sending an embarrassing little shiver up her spine, but by the time she spun around to face him, he had made his way back into the crowd.
~*~
Ash’s back was to her as he casually leaned against the balcony railing, backdropped by the twinkling, tropical, Alola night sky, Pikachu mysteriously missing. Someone had apparently convinced him to put on some nice clothes and forced a comb through his messy hair earlier in the evening, but he had managed to scruff himself back up since then, probably doing something stupid and noble and Ash-like.
He was beautiful.
“I’m not avoiding you,” he told her without turning around.
Misty raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Could’ve fooled me.”
He turned around finally at that and gave her a crooked little smile. “I’m glad you’re here, Mist.”
Her heart did that stupid thing it always did when he called her that damn nickname, but she joined him at the railing and looked out into the ocean. “You gave me no choice, Ash,” she reminded him. He chuckled at that, but it sounded hollow. “You okay?” she asked. He shrugged.
“Yeah. I mean, I think so. It’s just been a weird day.” He sighed. “I thought this was going to be it,” he admitted, quietly.
Misty blinked in surprise. “It? What do you mean? Like, your last year as Champion?”
Ash nodded, a wry smile on his lips. “Hau did amazing, but Gladion almost had me last year. If he wasn’t challenging the Hoenn League right now, I think he would have taken me out once and for all.”
She studied his profile, looking for a sign in his expression to figure out how he felt about that, but he was intentionally, very carefully neutral.
At her silence, he sighed heavily again. “I love Alola. You know I do. This place is my home away from home. But it’s, you know, still not home like Kanto is home.” He paused for a moment, and ran his hand through his hair before turning to face her again and smirking. “I know Lance is planning to separate the Kanto and Johto Leagues, finally. There will be a whole new batch of Elite 4 positions opening up, and from what I’ve heard, you’re on the short list for one of them.”
“How did you hear about that?” Misty balked. “Lance said that information hasn’t left the Indigo League yet!”
“I have my ways,” Ash said with a grin, and Misty rolled her eyes. Lance was such a blabbermouth. “Lance is going to stick with Johto. You’ll need a new Kanto Champion, too.”
Misty perked up at that, realizing what Ash was getting at with a traitorous little flicker of hope in her stomach. “You want to compete to be the Kanto Champion?”
Ash shrugged a little shyly. “I mean, that had kinda been the idea. I’m not sure I have it in me to be Champion of both Kanto and Alola though. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“Ash, you’re twenty-two,” Misty reminded him with a snort.
“Exactly! ” he laughed, but his expression quickly turned just a bit somber. “I guess I was just ready to, you know, have an excuse to spend more time at home… Around my favorite people.”
It was hard to tell in the dark, but she was pretty sure he was blushing. She tried not to think too much about that. “Favorite people, huh?” she prompted, bumping into his shoulder.
He smirked. “Yeah. My mom, Brock Tracy… Gary.” He drawled, and she bit back her smile to glare at him, unimpressed, until he finally cracked with a long, loud laugh. “And you, of course!”
“That’s what I thought,” she said haughtily, and after a beat, they both broke into giddy laughter. Once they finally settled down, Misty sighed, and summoning up her courage, she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, feeling him tense up at the motion. She forced herself not to think too much about that, either. “It’ll take Lance a while to get everything sorted out, you know. It might not be until next year.”
She felt him hum in acknowledgment more than she heard it, her heart speeding up as she felt his arm drape around her shoulders, and his head gently falling into a rest against her’s.
“Yeah,” he agreed, his voice just barely above a whisper. “I’ve already waited this long. What’s one more year?”
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loopyarts · 6 months ago
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Day 7 free day Aceichiji
For my free day slot, I went insane and made a short scruffy kiss animation for them. :3c
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yuriyuruandyuraart · 1 year ago
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AFTERMARE WEEK: Day 7- the end of a beginning/ the beginning of the end
make me believe and raise my hopes up one last time, then haunt my dreams for the rest of my life
aftermare week is hosted by @bluepallilworld
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calamitydaze · 7 months ago
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long tag ramble below u have been warned
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#ok i feel like i should say Something before i start being active again#but i dont want it to be a Statement which is why i’m putting it in the tags#(also bc i procrastinated doing this for weeks so i know this is a very stale topic by now#but i also haven’t been on tumblr literally at all so this is 100% my organic authentic opinion lmao)#so read if you gaf and ignore if you don’t#anyway: george def could’ve done more to ensure she was comfortable#and as someone who has also gotten in over my head with older men and regretted it#her hurt is valid and i’m deeply sorry she feels the way she does about that night#but with that said i see no reason to believe george Should have known how she really felt#or that he deliberately took advantage of either her youth/inexperience or her discomfort#and that’s the most important thing for me— he fucked up and misread a situation but that doesn’t make him an evil person#and i hope they can both move on and grow and heal#as for my future in the fandom: i honestly dunno how active i’ll be going forward#i was already becoming pretty disconnected so this might’ve just sped up the process? i’m tired of being put through the wringer#but i also don’t really have a fandom to replace this so i might just continue casually participating in the way i have been#either way rest assured i will never become a rabid anti. that shits embarrassing#i got HORRIBLE drolo rsd the other day when tommy’s mom needed clout and vagued him so like if nothing else. droloisms are forever#also as a last thing— this feels kinda silly and self centered to say but i will anyway#sorry for not opening up my blog as a forum for discussion again the way i did with the drituation#i know i helped a lot of people sort out their feelings and that was (and is) really really important to me#but it also tanked my mental health (mostly as a result of the fallout and not the act itself but still)#plus my life irl was pretty stressful at the time when everything was first going down#so i just didn’t feel up to putting myself through that again#but i’m sorry if anyone wanted to discuss w me but wasn’t able to#anyway. i think that’s all i have to say!#i don’t want to turn this into a capital D discussion but as always my askbox and dms are open#love you all tons! i hope you’re having a good day 🫂🫶#bella talks
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sea-jello · 1 year ago
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uhh hi morro enjoyers i finally finishing crystalized and started dragons rising specifically euphrasias episode and morrotober is soon so i’m coming back. do you remember me
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no color idk just in case the colors clash horrendously
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spikeyjo · 2 months ago
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also uh im kind of not thinking about it much because its insane. but if everything goes right (and i mean a considerable amount of things that probably wont go as planned) but if they DO... i will have a major surgery in like two weeks
#vertical sleeve gastrectomy to be exact insert nerd emoji here#i might document a lot of whats going on with it and even take some videos honestly#not to share here other than some oversharing text posts about probably constipation LMAO#but like no one shares whats it like to be mentally ill and go thru vsg and like the process and not many people as young as me get it#feels weird calling myself young on the chronically 13 year old website#but anyone that does post about it posts for like a year and then falls off the face of the earth#genuinely there are so many youtubers that start talking about this stuff#then you find their channel three years deserted and its like man.#i sure hope this means you found better ways to spend your time#and like okay time to get sappy and corny as hell in the notes so go ahead and skip this part idk who even reads my notes hello#but basically everyones that gets this shit is like you gotta find your why#and most of them have kids or like a husband or plans to travel the world or do better at their job#and none of those things really apply to me#i kind of have the perfect storm for being fat#i dont do anything work wise that encourages any kind of movement#im chronically afraid of planes and i cant afford that shit anyways rn#also not very good at romance LOL and never want kids and my entire family is also fat barring my brother#thats not to absolve myself of any of the blame for this shit either like i know i put myself in this situation#i just think like wow my life is pretty much perfect for staying fat but i DONT WANT THAT#I want the highlight of my week to be more than eating takeout man#i want to live life instead of meal to meal to something better#idk what yet maybe jewelery piece to jewelery piece#i could do some serious kandi making while im down for the count#but i dunno man my therapist tells me that in order to feel like a person and not get tired of life i have to do people things and#participate in life yknow?#and its hard to do things like go to the gym talk to people explore fashion styles when i have this overloomingness of being fat#so i guess that could be my why? like i want to experience more of life#i want to be able to walk in a mall and look at all the stores. i want to walk in a mall period. cause it fucking hurts the way i am now#thats all to say the actual “why” that i have is Goddamn it i want to be able to jump from a swing#and not break my fucking ankles
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arolesbianism · 5 months ago
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Man oni can't do this to me I'm supposed to be preparing for artfight but all I can think abt is Them™ from the second I wake up to the moment I go to bed how am I supposed to prepare in these circumstances 😔
#rat rambles#oni posting#and dude the beta is probably still going to be going during that time klei how could you do this to me#like I will still be participating in artfight but I fear Ill be on oni lockdown for the first week or smth dhskdhkdh#Ill try to at least sketch some stuff out but god if I can get my hands onto any amount of lore its so jover#now thats not a guarantee this is a beta after all but god man. fuck.#also I need to know the new dupes name right now its important#mostly because I want confirmation that I got z on the cypher right lol#chances are theyll just have another a name or smth#who knows maybe theyll have a w name and be the second ever contender for being sent to the constant#although for all we know there could be plenty more w names in the cast that are just hidden in the full names like with nails#I am in such agony rn with seemingly every place ppl post abt oni being dead silent still hello is anyone there#I thought Id at least see some more speculative stuff on the gameplay side of things but Ive seen like 2 things where ppl even bring it up#tbf some of the new stuff seems pretty obvious to deduce to me like there's no way the new fox deers dont produce lumber#and we already know the bunny guys (or the big one at least) provides reed fiber at least#the plants are mostly more mysterious tho#we have the obvious one being our new bestie the oxylite plant and the lil puffball tree thats probably the new decor plant#and the crystal grapes are probably going to be a new muckroot equivalent and at least one of the new plants probably produces smth edible#as for what recourses they need we know that at least 2 of them need watered in some way#Im currently betting theyll need ethanol but thats not based on a lot#honestly if any of them use plain ol water or even any water variants Ill be surprised#I wouldn't be surprised if most of them take ethanol or some liquid gas or smth#I still am holding out on a plant that consumed liquid carbon dioxide but Im not too hopeful#one thing Im very curious on is just everything abt how the oxylite plant grows I wanna know how good itll be so bad#because I am a proud member of the desperately wants more viable oxygen production option in oni gang and I wanna see this baby flourish#but based on how seemingly abundant it is Im afraid itll just join the squad of early game oxygen options that become too much of a hassle#to sustain late game so you're usually just going to switch to exlectroliszers each time#I hope Im wrong but I wont be surprised if Im not#they already took one oxygen plant out back and shot it dead so this guy might just be a corpse on arival if we're unlucky#well hey thats why there's a beta ig gotta make sure things are balanced or whatever
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the-kipsabian · 7 months ago
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leaving in a while. wont be home for the rest of the week so i wont have computer access. just a heads up if someone somehow needs me for anything, i dont have a lot of time to be on my phone but feel free to boop me with asks and/or mentions and i'll get back to you when i can
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branchingpathway · 1 year ago
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It seems the audience is here
It's time for our first story to sprout! Don't be nervous, you'll have plenty of time to choose or debate with your fellow storytellers. Our first story will be simpler, just so we may all learn how it grows. As always, if you have any questions about our story, you can ask
Now,
🌱⭐♦️💧
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flickeringflame216 · 1 year ago
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Blessings!!
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knockknockitsnickels · 6 months ago
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WE DID IT!!!!!!!! Excellent work everyone 😎 Thank you fellow Sulemio fans for a great week, I have had a ton of fun reading up on bits of trivia and official art which I didn't know about before this poll! May all blessings find their way to you🫡And happy Suletta Sunday!
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Tumblr Top Ships Bracket - FINALS
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This poll is a celebration of fandom and fandom history; we're aware that there are certain issues with many of the listed pairings and sources, but they are a part of that history. Please do not take this as an endorsement, and refrain from harassment.
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imjustheretotrytohelp · 1 month ago
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Wishing good luck to all students who are preparing their exams! This can be a very hard period depending on how much time you have to prepare, the quality of your classes and your mental and physical health.
To all who already passed their exams and are out of college now, maybe you still remember difficulties associated to it, how much stuff you had going on or how hard it was to deal with.
I have a friend who will take her final exams for the next two weeks, except her situation is different than most. In between two classes, she has to evade bombs or shelter from gunshots. It's difficult to have time to study when you also have to raise money to eat edible food, drink clean water and buy medecine, especially when diseases are getting more widespread in your area. I am not even touching on her mental health, as losing friends, family members, her house and constantly being close to death while it all being supported by many governments is sure to take a toll on anyone.
Now please imagine having to take your exams under all of these conditions, either in the past for those who already did or in the present for those who will. This is beyond horrendous, such a common yet tiring part of many people's lives becomes an absolute nightmare to navigate.
I would like to give a little hope to this friend, like buying yourself a pastry or a good drink after taking a difficult exam to cheer yourself up. But this time it's not a little gift to yourself but helping her and her family survive.
Shahed fundraiser has been going for months now and she is still at only 60% of her goal. It would be wonderful if we could all support her during these two weeks to get her to 75% of her goal, meaning raising around $5.5k.
This could be the cost of a pastry or a drink, but if we all participate it could be what get her, her parents and her siblings to safety. So please consider donating to her and share! She is starting her exam this Monday so please send her lots of love!
Donate here!
Get a commission for a donation here!
Vetted by @/nabulsi
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lxnarphase · 10 months ago
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━━ ❝ guide you all the way down, be your nightlight ❞
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up to the challenge : ⌞no nut november⌝ edition [ pt 1 - pt 3 - pt 4 ]
☾₊‧⁺...ft. : n. kento + h. hiromi + k. choso
☾₊‧⁺...cw: fingerfucking, squirting, dirty talking, begging, deep throating condom breaking, excessive cum, riding, kento being lovey-dovey, hiromi nearly loses his mind, choso being whiny and desperate, reader is on birth control but choso is just worried about the mess of no condom, choso's part is very long and indulgent
☾₊‧⁺...synopsis : to the anon who requests choso and nanami, i hope you don't mind i threw higuruma in here too, i really wanted to include him since he gives the vibes of being in the middle between nanami and choso 🖤 thank you so much for the request !
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✧ n. kento lasts : entire month
you were the one to bring this up to kento, mentioning in passing that gojo wouldn't shut up about this 'challenge' he and geto were going to participate in. with a hum, he asks if you were trying to suggest something to him. if you wanted him to try this little 'game,' he wouldn't mind...as long as you'd let him pamper you all month. and he really does; he's breezing through each day as though nothing is wrong. kento's still as sweet as ever, constantly cuddling you, taking you out on formal dates, and telling you how much he loves you. he manages well the entire November, only showing weakness whenever you try to tease him. but of course, if you're going to try and break his streak, he just spreads you out on the bed, fingerfucking you until you squirt all over his hand. eventually, the whole month flies by, and kento genuinely feels relief that it's over. but he's a little shocked when he comes home, and you're dressed in a pretty, yellow matching lingerie set as you drag him into the bedroom that's filled with candles and roses...he pampered you all month, now it was his turn to be pampered.
"kentooo~" having you between his legs like this, cooing his name so sweetly, causes a shiver to shoot down his spine. you look so adorable, so gorgeous on your knees and pressing kisses up and down his length. those pretty kiss marks would be burned into his mind for weeks. but what makes his stomach flip the most? is that look in your eye. that needy, desperate, loving gaze...it made his cock twitch in your hands. "darling, please," he sighs, one of his hands coming up to cup your cheek. you smile at him, you fucking smile at him like you aren't peppering his cock in kisses. with a little nip to his thumb, you giggle, nuzzling into his palm. "just focus on me, okay, ken?" he nods, sucking in a breath when your lips press against the tip of his dick. "fuck, princess, god, when you suck me down like that-!" the calm, sweet environment was gone now, with the way you sloppily sucked his cock. it was so fucking messy, your lipstick smearing all over his shaft as your manicured hand cupped his balls, softly massaging them as you felt your spit dripping down to your hand. "yes, yes, just like that, princess, k-keep going. oh, you're so fucking beautiful with my cock in your throat, 'm gonna cum soon in that pretty throat," he oh-so gorgeously moans for you, throwing his head back as he tries not to buck up into your hot mouth. for being such a refined, put-together man, kento loves when you give him such messy head, seeing how your lipstick is smeared everywhere, your chin dripping with precum and saliva. you could feel him throb in your throat just from the view. your kento is so sweet like this, doing his best not to fuck your mouth. but could anyone blame him when your mouth is so hot and wet? god, he never wants you to stop, not when you make him feel so greedy. each time you take him down your throat, kento swears he's going to cum, his head lolling back again as he lets out a deep groan of your name when you take all of him down like it's nothing. he wanted nothing more than to grab you by your hair and fuck your mouth like he wanted...but he wouldn't. no, he's going to keep letting his darling pamper him how she wants...but when he keeps just moaning your name so sweetly, begging you to let him cum... "p-please, honey, I'm so close, let me cum, my pretty girl, let me cum, I'll do anything-!" how could you say no to that?
✧ h. hiromi lasts : entire month
by the end of the first week, hiromi realizes how much he fucking regretted doing this. dealing with his cases has him so stressed he's surprised he didn't go completely grey. every time he comes home, he just wants to love on you, his darling little wife, but he can’t because he’s already dedicated to beating this foolish challenge. so while he can't cum, he is sure to take his frustrations out on you. but it literally crushes him each time he makes you cum, whether it be with his hands, mouth, or dick, and you look at him with those cute pleading eyes, softly whining for him to let you take care of him and make him cum too.
you are too cute for your own good, nearly causing hiromi to cave in several times as the month progressed. even you can see how it was affecting him, as he gets more and more desperate to make you cum, his eyes always zeroed in on your face to ensure your feeling good. he was a prideful, strong man, but fuck, he was so frustrated and pent up that he started to beg you to cum. "you're close, right? i can feel it, sweet thing. just listen to your pussy, she's so wet and sloppy, just from my fingers," he groans into your ear, sounding so wrecked and needy, and he hasn't even touched himself once. but you can hear it, the annoyance in his tone. hiromi is so close to breaking, to giving up and you nearly beg him again to just fuck you, but your eyes catch a glimpse of the clock on the wall. 12:27 am. it was december. he did it, he fucking made it, and you were desperately clawing at his wrist, trying to get his attention. "'romi, 'r-'romi! 's december, you made it, please, pull it out, t-take your dick out, 'romi, need you in me so bad!" with a quick glance to the clock to make sure you weren't fucking with him, hiromi lets out a delirious laugh, undoing his pants enough to pull his throbbing cock out, and he easily folds you in half, sliding his tip through the sopping wet mess between your thighs. "i made it, didn't i? i made it. so now you're gonna reward me, right?" you squeal when you feel the tip of his cock get caught on the entrance of your hole and nudge in juuust enough for you to cry out his name, gushing from the little stimulation it gives you. "look at you...I've been neglecting this little cunt, my fingers aren't enough, my mouth isn't enough. no, no, she needs t' be stuffed with a thick, fat cock to make 'er cream...isn't that right, angel?"
✧ k. choso lasts : 30 minutes
choso was stupid. he was so fucking stupid for even thinking he could do this challenge. he literally heard about it from yuuji before but had no idea what it meant. so here he was, looking at the calendar on his phone. it was mid-morning, and 5 minutes ago, he decided to do this challenge. choso should've remembered that he was a desperate man when it came to you because the second you come out of the bedroom, rubbing your eyes as you sleepily greet your boyfriend, he knows he's fucked. but seeing you in his black t-shirt and likely nothing else and choso let out a shaky sigh. just looking at you has his mind racing with all the different ways he wants to have you. you’d look really cute in his lap with a blissed-out smile on your face. with a needy whine, he stands up, dragging you back to the bedroom as he greedily kisses you, shoving his tongue into your mouth and moaning against your lips.
"fuck, fuck, fuck, 'm sorry, you look s' cute, so pretty, m-my pretty baby, y-your cunt is sucking me in—!" choso is a mess, fucking into you from behind. his hands grip your hips, keeping your ass up in the air as his cock abuses your insides, his hot, thick tip smushing against your cervix. he's fucking you into the mattress, his moans mixing with yours and those sweet, wet squelching sounds coming from your pussy, sucking his cock back in with each pull out of you. "moan louder, please? m-move your head, stop muffling yourself w-with the pillow," he whines, his body hovering over yours. you can feel drool dripping from his mouth onto your back, and just the feeling makes your eyes roll back. knowing he was so needy and desperate just to get his dick wet inside of you that he was drooling all over you made your walls clench so hard around him. "c-cho, 's too fucking deep, b-baby, 'm gonna cum," you sob, hands clawing into the pillowcase. instantly, you feel choso grip you harder, barely pulling out of you as his hips slap against yours in a bruising fashion, your body jolting up the bed with how hard he was fucking you. "don' run, please,, don' run from it," he whimpers, choking on a sob as he feels himself twitch inside your gummy walls, his hips stuttering against yours when you keen, pushing back against him when he hits a spot that feels so good. "fuck, f-fuck, 'm cumming, your pussy's so good, so wet, so fuckin' hot, 'm sorry, 'm cumming-!" despite his orgasm rushing over him, he keeps fucking you, his eyes rolling back as he moans your name over and over again, begging you for...something. he doesn't notice the sudden change, but you do, suddenly feeling warm and full inside as he keeps pounding into you. your eyes snap open, and you whine, turning a little to press your hand against his chest. "cho, h-honeyyyy! t-the condom, you broke the condom, you're cummin' in me!' you can't lie, it feels so good, and you feel your head swimming as he pumps thick seed into your needy cunt. it's another minute until he's done, and he starts to pull out but sees how creamy his cock is...and the way the condom is ripped at the top. he...he just came in you. his thick cum was starting to drip out of you, and your hand came up to press against your hole, not wanting to drip it onto the mattress. but he only registered it as you wanting to keep it inside...you wanted his cum? you wanted him to fill up that pretty pussy? he didn't even realize he was speaking out loud, quickly peeling off the broken condom and lining back up with your creamy cunt. "i-i don't mind it, choso, b-but t-take the condom off b-before you-chooo, babyyy, w-wait, that's so deep-!" "s-shhh, s'okay, you can take it, take it for me, 's okay, i always make it fit, i-it fits so good, pretty cunt, 's all mine, 'm gonna cum 'n you over and over again until your a creamy little mess, baby, i-i'll eat it outta you too, promise, promise, just let me stuff you, please!" hm, maybe he'd tell you later this was supposed to be a challenge...maybe not and just pretend like he needed you real bad today.
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all rights reserved © lxnarphase | do not repost, copy, translate, or alter my work
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shencomix · 6 months ago
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Recently I decided to go to my local fighting game tournament.
Here's how it went.
I had been getting pretty good at Guilty Gear over the past few weeks, to the point where I was getting the input correctly for the Potemkin Buster 1 out of every 4 or 5 times I tried it. So I thought "I might not be the best yet, but, surely good enough for my local" -- and I decided to go.
It took place at a the comic & games store in the town center. The venue was full of people 10-15 years younger than me and even more drastically cooler. They all turned to glare at me as I walked through the door, but as I stood completely motionless like a gazelle hoping to blend into the grassland, their gazes slowly returned to each other and they continued to banter friendlily.
I sat down next to me first opponent, and reached out to shake their hand. They looked down at my hand, and then up at my eyes slowly.
"You're supposed to do that at the end of the match."
"Oh, s-sorry"
I got perfected twice and lost the match. At the end, I reached out again to shake their hand, but they just stood up and walked away.
Because I lost, I got moved down to the loser's bracket, which was literally below the main tournament because it took place in the basement of the comic shop. I could hear footsteps, cheering, and happy conversation in the floor above. Here in the loser's bracket though, the mood was a lot more somber.
My next opponent reminded me a little bit of me. They were equally nervous and disheveled looking. They said "Um, h-hello" and reached out their hand for a handshake as they saw me approaching. I said "you're s-supposed to do that at the end of the match." But as a look of deep sadness came over their face and they slowly put down their hand, I pulled them in for a hug.
I'm not sure why I did that.
I think that some part of me knew that, in this dark, dank, alien place, illuminated only by a single failing ceiling light and the neon glow of a few arcade machines, I had at last found a friend -- someone I understood, and who might understand me too.
They hugged back.
I lost that match by a very narrow margin, and as they jumped up and began dancing around and cheering ecstatically, I began to hate them. This was no friend of mine. A friend would not do this to me. After they were done dancing, they reached out to shake my hand. After a few seconds of pause, I stuck out my hand too, but didn't look at them and refused to close it around theirs as they grasped it. They shook my karate chop.
I thought that at that point, since I had lost and then lost in loser's bracket, I was free to go home. But one of the tournament organizers approached me and informed me that I was going down to sub-loser's bracket in the sub-basement of the store, and pointed me towards a descending staircase.
The people there were fewer, and it was darker. I could faintly hear sobbing in one of the corners, but as I went to investigate, another participant put his hand on my shoulder. He furrowed his brow in a look of pain and shook his head slowly.
"You can't do anything for them."
In sub-loser's bracket I went up against a man in a suit whose face was cloaked in shadow. He spammed May's dolphin move. I lost.
As I went to go back upstairs, one of the tournament organizers held out her palm to stop me, and pointed towards a staircase leading further down instead.
Going down through the levels, I lost to many interesting participants. One player played exclusively by bashing the controller against his face. One player was a mushroom with a few circuit cables clipped onto it, that I later learned was able to play because its bioelectrical signals got sent to a machine that interpreted them as fighting game inputs. One player didn't touch their controller at all, but instead just told me their life story, which was so tragic that I picked up their controller and won for them.
Finally, at the very bottom floor, where construction standards were long abandoned and the stairs and walls were just messily carved out of the earth's stone, I faced my final player. It was a small bit of metal framework, with a controller nestled in it. On it was a tiny piston that just pressed the jab button exactly once every second. I lost.
I hung my head for a moment, then said "close game" and stuck my hand out for a handshake, before remembering that I had played against a metal framework cube with a piston in it and retracting my hand slowly. Then I heard a slow clapping from the darkness.
"No neutral. No footsies."
Out of the darkness slowly walked a woman about my age, clad in a decorative poofy dress that looked more expensive than my entire life savings. She smiled at me warmly, continuing to clap slowly, but there was a hint of mischief in her eyes.
"No meter management. No mixups. No spacing. No learning. No strategy…
…You're perfect."
"Wh-what?"
"You're perfect. I absolutely must have you."
"Have me for…um…for what…"
(Her eyes went wide as her smile grew more manic.)
"WHY, MY MORON FAILSON HAREM OF COURSE."
"Um, I-I"
"Tell me, what do you do for a living? Let me guess, you work at a fast food restaurant? Or, retail?"
"No, I'm a--I'm a comic artist."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Oh my god, you are PERFECT. What will it take to get you."
"To-to ge--"
"You would be well taken care of, of course. 3 Michelin star dining for every meal. Only the finest, softest sweatpants and sweatshirts, pre-stained with whatever flavor of Takis your little heart desires. You would have access to the entire mansion except for the main foyer when I'm in business calls, and you could make all the comics and play all the fighting games you want."
"I'm uh--"
I knew that I had to think fast here.
"I'm already i-in a moron failson harem."
"Oh, DARN IT!! TELL ME, WHO IS IT??? WHO GOT YOU??"
"I-I think I'm not allowed to s-sa--"
She stomped her foot petulantly, her shoe clacking against the stone floor.
"WAS IT SHUXUAN?? IT'S ALWAYS SHUXUAN HOGGING ALL OF THE GOOD ONES."
"I-I'm sorry," I blurted out, shuffling along the wall to make a wide radius around her and then running up the staircase.
As I got home and began making my standard dinner of Trader Joe's microwave falafel, I thought about her offer. Maybe I should have taken her up on it after all. A 3 Michelin star meal right now wouldn't be so bad.
Then I hopped on Guilty Gear and lost 22 matches in a row.
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