#i won’t entertain mediocrity no matter the excuse

[vampireistic]

the problem with natlan / sumeru

warning: long post

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to preface this i’d like to say that i’m in no ways an expert in the topics present, i’m just an autistic dumbass with too much time on his hands who enjoys a bit of research — i’m in no way, shape or form trying to belittle players who are excited for the update, by all means i hope you enjoy it, i’m just trying to give criticism.

you can enjoy/play a game while criticising it simultaneously.

when it comes to the topic of racial diversity and a company like hoyoverse that’s based in china, there’s quite a lot of political baggage that comes along with it. while i’ll try my best to go over that, i’m afraid i can only give a very limited eastern european perspective on it and i’ll certainly get things wrong or misinterpret things — if you’d like a more thorough view on the politics, please go read the post made by @zeichannnnn (hope you don’t mind the tag my love)

firstly, i’ll be going over general misconceptions, ridiculous excuses and or stereotypes that i’ve seen commonly come up in this conversation.

any and all screenshots will have usernames cut off for privacy, i want to maintain a civilised discussion and not cause argument.

a lot of my critiques are more so towards the attitude the fandom has when it comes to this argument and their blatant colourism. as my friend above says, no one ever complained about characters in liyue/inazuma being paper white despite the fact realistically, no one in EA is that colour naturally. this of course stems from the beauty standards but that’s a discussion for later on.

the point is that if say a nation like liyue, had the same skin colour as a character like xinyan (who hails from liyue and has a liyue name) people would undoubtedly be upset. so why is it that when in terms of nations that are based off countries with a darker skin colour variety, complaining about the characters being white is seen as a problem?

culture isn’t defined by racial diversity, but when you’re monetising off the representation of different countries cultures, the very least you can do is show the actual diversity within said culture instead of slapping a cultural name on a white model (cue that one picture of the egyptian dude who looks like a plain american).

the idea that because it’s fantasy or anime, having black characters is surreal or improbable is rooted in white supremacy’s hold over unfair beauty standards as well as just the general consensus that black people are less desirable in media. which is completely false.

characters like dehya have proven that a character’s race is irrelevant when it comes to likeness, given the fact the chinese community ended up donating to charities because of said characters story.

the reason why the lightly toasted characters appear tan to you is because the rest of the cast is so horrifically pale (nahida’s hex code is #FFF7F1, cyno’s is #EEC6A6 which when placed next to each other may look like a big difference, but in reality the colours are on the same side of the colour wheel only a few spaces apart).

hoyoverse does in fact use culture as a mere aesthetic and costume to plant on white models. that is NOT to say they misrepresent culture entirely: this post goes over how hoyoverse is perfectly capable of doing impressive research to bring forth forgotten or unknown bits of culture.

even aside from the problems with racial diversity, the character design department has been known to completely fail when it comes to accurate representation. from the sexualisation of the kimono in characters like raiden shogun (which even the eastern part of the fandom have been upset about) to the character of yunjin where the chinese player based believed she was more like a lolita inspired caricature than a real depiction. they don’t understand how to mingle tradition with modernism.

in all fairness, it is difficult — and i will praise the game for making natlan much more technologically advanced and vibrant than people were expecting because having the one nation that’s based off africa and indigenous people be a wasteland would’ve ultimately been a problem. personally, i even love the slight mashup of “tribes” and the pokémon esque aesthetic — its new, and a smart way to bring two things together.

same thing cannot be said for how hyv ignores the fact darker people of colour are also significant when it comes to the building of culture.

please read over these that go more into depth about problems:

natlan being an amalgamation of three separate countries/cultures.

misrepresenting both continents natlan’s based from

another thing that’s always bothered me is the excuses people used in sumeru about the presentation of characters that were based off real people; specifically, kusanali.

yes, she’s based off a hindu moon goddess who’s described as pale and sure that could’ve been the reason she’s nearly the colour white — but how come candace, who’s based off kandake, a fully black woman, is presented as being slightly tan? you can’t pick and choose what you represent and honestly the idea that nahida’s character is supposed to be a depiction of the moon goddess is disrespect to the goddess herself (please go look at a singular picture of her and you’ll understand the utter tragedy).

hoyoverse also has a bit of a history with both whitewashing their slightly tan characters (nekomiya from zoneless zen zero, arlan from honkai star rail etc) but i think one of their biggest proofs of disrespect comes to carole pepper from hi3.

now, this is not at all me saying you can’t present female characters as very muscular — no. in fact, i would’ve loved if characters like beidou had a similar sort of build. but out of all the characters you could’ve chosen to give this to, you chose a black woman.

would this be a problem if it continued with other characters? not really. the issue lies within the fact the ONLY mother in game who’s presented as buff and “masculine looking” is a black woman — something that’s quite literally a stereotype against black women who are regarded as “naturally less feminine” than white women.

eastern beauty standards

the assertion that eastern beauty standards prevent the inclusion of black characters in video games is not only invalid but also reflects deeper issues of bias and systemic exclusion in the gaming industry. this argument is flawed for several reasons, including the diversity of beauty standards in eastern cultures, the global nature of the gaming market, and the responsibility of creators to reflect and promote inclusivity.

to claim that eastern beauty standards universally exclude black characters oversimplifies and homogenizes the diverse beauty ideals present in countries like japan, south korea, and china. these cultures are not monolithic and have their own histories and contemporary movements that embrace a variety of appearances.

creators in the gaming industry have a responsibility to reflect the diversity of the real world and promote inclusivity. video games are a powerful medium that can shape perceptions, challenge stereotypes, and foster empathy. by including black characters, game developers can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society. this requires intentionality and a commitment to representation that goes beyond mere tokenism. the argument that eastern beauty standards prevent such inclusion suggests a lack of willingness to challenge existing norms and expand the narrative possibilities within games. hoyoverse have themselves stated in their mission statement that their goal is to show inclusivity.

that’s not to say it’s not clear that china’s beauty standards have unfortunately affected the gaming market: but for a game that brandishes itself on localising itself for a global audience (meaning, outside of its region), it’s a poor excuse. those standards aren’t universal and shouldn’t be used as gateway into designing.

once again, i am NOT at all very well versed in politics especially one that’s overseas (well, next door neighbour in a way) so i definitely will misinterpret or misunderstand things unintentionally and if i do, i’m really sorry.

historical nihilism to me doesn’t relate to black people, just actual story events (hence why hoyoverse had to put a warning label for fontaine that the events presented didn’t represent that of the real world and any similarities were mere coincidence). black people existing isn’t regarded as “politically harmful” neither is it an extraordinary idea — it’s just another group of people.

although, the CCP has a MASSIVE history about their demonisation and hatred of black people therefore, even without the idea that the censorship stems from something like historical nihilism, it’s likely something to do with individual prejudice.

politically, i can semi-understand why hoyoverse is in a tight space for racial diversity. but that doesn’t mean i’m willing to baby a company that profits billions worth of profit from other cultures that they misrepresent and i’m even less inclined to hold the hands of hoyoverse dickriders who believe people complain about race just solely to whine. it’s a real systemic issue, and one that’s prevalent in a multitude of games aside from genshin.

people from the cultures presented are rightfully upset and they shouldn’t be told to just “accept”mediocrity. it’s their culture and identities being ridiculed, it’s their identities being profited from for the sake of aesthetics for a game that preaches inclusivity to the people that are willing to ignore its prejudice.

hell, even as a polish person, just thinking about what they’ll do with snezhnaya upsets me even if it’s not racially based — once again, the media emphasises the idea that eastern europe / slavic culture is purely russia meanwhile they steal little things from all of the surrounding countries in eastern europe (won’t forget the fact they changed that password thing in sumeru from “ravioli” to “pierogi”).

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TL;DR hoyoverse uses other people’s cultures and identities as an aesthetic and proceeds to profit off of it while misrepresenting the sample of people they chose to depict and while a political argument can be made in this regard, ultimately the backlash from people rightfully feeling unjustified in the lack of racial diversity is what amplifies these colourist attitudes: and while hoyoverse has seemingly much more legal repercussions to commit to their idea of diversity, the fandom has no excuse for their disregard of different identities.

also just a funny thing my friend and i did to show just how white these characters are lol

“ blackwashing “ versus “ whitewashing “

i feel like i need to add this little section too because i know there will be a lot of people that draw or reimagine the characters in a variety of different skin tones, and i know a lot of people will be upset (usually it’s just the lowlife weebs who cry at the thought of a black woman being in the same room as them).

historically, media, including video games and anime, have predominantly featured pale-skinned characters, often neglecting the representation of people of color. this lack of diversity reinforces a narrow view of beauty and heroism, contributing to the systemic exclusion of non-white individuals. blackwashing helps to rectify these historical imbalances by providing a broader spectrum of racial representation. it challenges the default assumption that characters must be pale-skinned and introduces audiences to a more inclusive range of appearances.

representation matters profoundly in media. seeing characters that reflect one's own identity can have significant positive effects on self-esteem and cultural pride. blackwashing creates opportunities for black audiences to see themselves in roles and narratives traditionally dominated by pale-skinned characters.

critics (once again, youtube creators and tiktok lmao) of blackwashing often argue that it disrespects original character designs or cultural contexts. however, the impact of changing a character's skin tone is minimal compared to the harm caused by whitewashing. whitewashing often erases the cultural significance of non-white characters, perpetuating stereotypes and denying the rich diversity of the source material. blackwashing, in contrast, does not erase cultural identities but rather enhances the inclusivity of the media. it provides a more diverse and representative depiction without detracting from the character's original essence or storyline.

in addition, usually when a character is black in fantasy media or even just an anime/game with a lore based story, it’s because their race is significant to who they are (i.e tiana from princess and the frog who faces racial discrimination — without her being a person of colour, this storyline and the events that follow wouldn’t make sense).

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i’m sorry for such a long and probably nonsensical rant, but this has bothered me into absolute oblivion especially the community’s response to the uproar of people who rightfully critique and are upset by the company.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS Para-Selene Vol.3 Mukami Kou Animate Tokuten CD

Original title: DIABOLIK LOVERS Para-Selene Vol. 3 無神コウ アニメイト 各巻購入特典ドラ

Source: Diabolik Lovers Para-Selene Vol. 3 Animate Tokuten CD

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kimura Ryouhei

Translator’s note: Of course Kou’s date spot has to be a karaoke booth! I’ve actually never been to a proper Japanese-style karaoke but it’s something I’d love to do today. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a good singer by a long shot, but the atmosphere just seems like a lot of fun. I think it’s fun how the machines usually give you a score as well. I honestly could imagine Kou getting a mediocre score and getting really salty as a result, haha. Idols are just as much about aesthetics and marketing as they are about having an actual good voice after all. (and if I have to be honest, when listening to Mukami songs, I’d say Yuma and Azusa have better singing voices. Sorry Kou)

The music stops playing.

“Wooh~! Thank you! That was it for Kou-kun’s life performance! Applause!”

*Clap clap clap*

“Aah~ I sung my heart out! Lately I’ve been doing almost exclusively interviews for magazines, it left me feeling a little unsatisfied. I’m still an idol deep down, so I think I enjoy the actual singing and dancing part of the job the most! Ah-ah~ I hope I’ll get to sing on a proper stage again soon rather than inside a karaoke booth.”

You gaze at him.

“Listen, M-neko-chan...You seem to be a little out of it, but do you have any idea how lucky you are? You are pretty much the only person on this world who gets to listen to my singing from this close!”

You nod.

“Glad you understand.”

*Rustle*

“So, how was my singing? ...Pretty cool, wasn’t it?”

You praise him. 

“Ehehe~ Thanks! Hmー But your reaction seems a little underwhelming. Hey, don’t you have any other comments?”

You tilt your head to the side.

“Mmh! For example, did you fall in love with me all over again...after seeing my ‘idol side’ come out for the first time in a while?”

You admit it.

“Figured so! You looked at me completely starstruck after all! You were basically giving me heart eyes!”

You compliment his voice. 

“Do you really...like my voice that much?”

You nod.

“Hmー Which tone do you like best? I mean, there’s a difference between when I’m singing or just talking to you regularly, right? Also...Heh~ My voice when I’m whispering in your ear like this, for example~?”

You flinch.

*Rustle*

“Ehehe~ Judging from your reaction...I have to conclude that you like this one best. You naughty girl, M-neko-chan~”

You protest. 

“Sure, sure, you can save those excuses for later. Our time’s almost up, so you should pick a song for yourself as well.”

“Mmh! Now that we’re here anyway, I’m sure you’d like to sing as well, no? Here, you can use this machine to input a song. ...Which one will you go for? Just to remind you, you’ll be singing in front of me, so I won’t let you choose a boring song!”

*Beep beep*

“...? M-neko-chan...? Could it be...You don’t know how to input a song?”

You nod.

“Eeeeh~!? Unbelievable! You don’t go to karaoke booth and such!? Guess I have no other choice...I’ll pick for you. Let me see...”

*Beep beep*

“Hm...”

*Beep beep*

“Okay! This is the one! It’s ‘the’ idol song of the moment, so I’m sure you know it as well, right? Ey!”

*Bleep*

“I chose the music video version so dance along with the visuals, okay? I can’t wait to see this~!”

You frown.

“Huh? What’s the matter?”

You explain that you’re not very confident. 

“Ahaha! It’ll be fine! I don’t expect you to be a great singer! Rest assured. I simply wanted to hear your voi...Ah...I see...”

*Rustle*

The song starts playing but Kou turns it off right away.

“ーー I changed my mind. No singing for you after all. Instead...”

*Rustle*

“Entertain me over here. ...I want to hear the sounds you make when you’re feeling good~”

*Rustle*

“Don’t try to pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about...”

*Rustle rustle*

“Why are you resisting? You don’t want to feel good together? ...Fufu~ You really love my whispering voice, don’t you? Your shoulders are twitching~ I’ve only touched you through your clothes...but you’re feeling good already?”

You squeak.

“The doors here are kind of transluscent, what if the people from outside could actually kind of see what’s going on in there?”

You try to get away from him. 

*Rustle rustle*

“Ehehe~ ...Oh come on, don’t try to run away! ...Who cares? Let’s show everyone what you look like when you’re in heaven. You love that sort of thing, don’t you? You are the one and only...’masokitty’ after all~”

They can hear people outside.

“Oh...Seems like people are gathering in the hallway.

You panic.

“Don’t worry, they won’t come inside this room. I think they’re just chatting outside. If you try to move now, you’ll only attract more attention so keep still, okay?”

*Rustle*

“Come on! Didn’t I just tell you not to move? Oh? Do you want them to see you, perhaps?”

You shake your head.

“Liar~ Your cheeks are red. You’re actually hoping...for multiple people to see you in this compromising situation, aren’t you? I’m a gentleman, so I’ll grant that wish of yours.”

*Rustle*

“Here you go. Take a seat.”

*Thud*

“Like this, they’d get a much better view, no? I hope they notice you soon. ーー Or perhaps they have already? ...What we’re about to do, that is. Perhaps that’s why they’ve gathered there in place?”

You look away.

“Come on, don’t avert your gaze. Look their way. ...Ah-aah~ Your face is completely flushed. How adorable. I can’t get enough of seeing you embarrassed. ...I’ve waited long enough, right? I don’t think I can hold myself back any longer. I’m going to suck your blood from here.  ーー Let me hear my all-time favorite cries of yours.”

Kou wants to bite down, but then the phone starts to ring.

*Riiiingー Riiiingー*

“...Ah, god! We were just getting to the best part too, but the stupid karaoke’s phone is too loud! I hate this!”

*Rustle rustle*

 He picks up the phone.

“Yes? Ah...Ten more minutes? Okay, we’re leaving now!”

He walks back to you.

“Let’s go home. I’ll help fix up your clothes.”

*Rustle rustle*

“Hm? What’s wrong? ...Aah~ Are you perhaps left wanting more because we had to stop halfway through? ...Hehe~ I wouldn’t have minded to keep going, but I don’t actually want others to see you.”

You raise one brow.

“I mean...I don’t want anyone but me to see the cute faces or sounds you make...That’s why I refuse to keep going here, even if you beg me. Besides, it’d be annoying if the phone were to start ringing again. I don’t want our time together to get interrupted again.”

*Rustle*

“That’s why...We’ll continue at home where we can take our sweet time, okay~? I promise I’ll suck your blood...until you’re utterly satisfied.”

ーー THE END ーー 

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Sin In The City***

Nalani x Lewis x Lynix Mini Series

Warning: Cursing, Plot Heavy, NSFW AT ALL, SMUUUUT, FILTH, PLENTY OF WORDS

Words: 3k {8.7k, LMAO for thinking it would be anything else} 🤣🤣

Summary: Nalani and Lynix have been friends since they first grew hips and tits. They do everything together. When Lewis tells Nalani that he’s in Vegas for the weekend and invites her to come out, she jumps at the chance, especially when Lewis says the more, the merrier to bringing Nix along. The long weekend goes from a fun time to putting the “sin” in Sin City thanks to a secret plot Nalani concocts.

Note: As you know @munteanhorewrites​ and I are HUUUUGE Lewis Tan fans. The man is just absolute deliciousness and the whole entire package. So, Ru and I got to talking about him currently being in Vegas for the long weekend, and we thought, why not treat you guys while indulging ourselves. This is going to be a four-shot miniseries where Ru and I will each write two chapters for the four-day weekend of sheer debauchery. Thank you @munteanhorewrites​ for suggesting we combine our evil powers. Mwhahahaha! 😈😈

We hope you enjoy this. As always, thank you guys so much for reading. ❤️❤️

If you enjoyed this, please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. 

Chapter Legend:

-Chapter One: @royallyprincesslilly​

-Chapter Two: @munteanhorewrites​

Chapter Three: @royallyprincesslilly​

Chapter Four: @munteanhorewrites​

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

Chapter One: Set The Stage

-Nalani-

 “My God, everybody is gonna be in town this weekend, especially since it’s a long one,” Lynix said as she plopped onto the oversized bean bag that was in the corner of my room.

 I remembered the day we’d walked into Z Gallerie just to look around. Neither of us expected something like that to be in the high-end store. It didn’t take long to instantly fall in love with it, and thankfully the store had two left in stock. They were both the same color but completely different fabrics. Lynix preferred the fur one, but I needed the leather one in my life. That’s how it always was with us, we liked different finishes, but we had the same luxurious tastes.

 “I know. I was trying to come up with a plan. Beach, and shopping tomorrow, then spa Saturday?”

 Lynix scrunched her face. I knew she loved both, but right now, I needed her to make a damn choice. She’d always been the indecisive one, especially when it came to two things she enjoyed equally. When Nix shrugged, you knew she’d come to a decision.  

 “Eh—doesn’t matter, although I think we should shop first. I’ve wanted to get a few new suits.”

 The amount of excitement that surged through me was too much for me to contain. When I screeched, Nix’s head snapped to me. As I clapped my hands excitedly, a huge smile plastered across my face. “Yeees, then I can pick up that new brow kit that Jackie just dropped. Uugh, I am so ready for it. I have so many ideas for content.”

 By looking at Nix’s face, I could tell she was also looking forward to the day’s activities. What girl didn’t like shopping for new things such as clothes and makeup. Usually, when we went shopping, we would go early and not leave the mall until it was closing, and both of us would have so many bags that were filled with things neither of us needed.

 “So, it’s a plan, I confirmed.

 Nix nodded and continued to scroll through her phone for a few moments before she stood and walked out to get ready. Living in Miami, there were tons of pros. The weather was a major one. For the majority of the year, the weather remained calm, beautiful, and sunny. That meant that I could dress however the hell I wanted. After rummaging through my closet for the perfect thing to wear, I decided on a pair of dark denim jeans, a white scoop neck tee with two slits at the sides that carried all the way up my ribcage.

 When I sat down to beat my face, I had Saweetie blasting.

 “Can’t stop, won’t stop get guap. Ten white toes in them Troy flip flops. Manicures and pedicures I’m tip-top. When they say I’m not hot, all these lies need to stop. Cause I’m icy, wifey, haters wanna fight me.”

 Feeling the music, I stood and did my best hot gyal Meg moves. Within a few seconds, I heard Nix’s telltale “ayyyyyy.” Turning, I saw her standing in the doorway, using the doorjamb behind her as a twerk partner.

 “Get it!”

 She stood and rapped the next verse. “My team is trying to eat, so we grinding til’ out mental bleed. You tryna get a bag of weed? I’m tryna get a bag a week. Put it in my savings and invest in the right companies. My dream is like a child, and I’m taking all the custody.”

 That was when I joined in too. We were rapping, twerking, and acting a fool for the next minute or two. I watched Nix drop to the floor and pop her ass from left to right. Not being the one to be outdone, I bent forward and made mine clap. When I felt her drop a heavy-handed slap to my ass, I dropped and brought her with me. We laid on the floor, laughing together for a full minute.

 “You play too much. You can’t let me be great! You and your knees like Meg head ass,” I teased. She snorted loudly.

 “I got Meg’s knees, and you got her ass!”

 “Okuuuur!

 Nix stood and straightened the ruffles of her off the shoulder white crop top at the same time my phone rang. When I picked it up off of the wireless charging port, I screeched out.

 “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

 I showed her the phone so she could see who was calling. Her smile was broad but not as wide as yours. After three rings, you picked up the facetime call. Lewis’ gorgeous face filled the screen, and your belly fluttered. His groomed mustache chin beard decorated his face in a way that was just so pleasing to the eye. It complimented his facial structure so well. The man was too damn fine for his own good, and the worst part—he knew it.

 “Hey, handsome,” I answered in my sugary seductive voice.

 “There she is Lani, Lani. How are you, beautiful?” Lewis’s smile was soft, but it still gave way to his dimples to take center stage.

 “I’m good.”

 “That’s good. Wooo, you look good as hell,” Lewis complimented in his smooth voice. It was the voice he used when he wanted something, and the voice always got him anything he wanted. I bit my bottom lip and plopped onto my bed.

 “Did you just wake up? You look like you’re in bed still.”

 “I kind of did. I caught an early flight, and once I got in and did some training, I crashed.”

 My eyes dropped to his bare chest, and I found myself wondering if he was naked. Usually, that is how he slept. The memories flooded me, and like the wind, I was gone, lost in my lascivious thoughts.

 “Lani!”

 “Sorry, babe, what’d you say?”

 “What’re you up to?”

 “Nothing much. Was just kicking it about to do some shopping.”

 From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nix trying to get a look at him. I slanted the screen so she could see without him knowing she was there. She gave me a look to say, “excuse me.” Pressing my lips together, I tried to stifle the laugh that wanted freedom.

 “I had an idea. I’m in Vegas for the weekend. You should come through.”

 Nix’s eyes bugged.

 “Vegas?”

 “Yeah. This is one of my last weekends of freedom before press, and all that starts. So, I thought, why not have some fun. You down?”

 I looked to Nix, who was now standing behind my phone with her back to my balcony's sliding door. She nodded her head excitedly while motioning for me to say something.

 “Uh—well, I don’t know, babe. This weekend? Lew, that’s like—tomorrow.”

 Nix gave you a look asking if you were crazy. I had every intention of accepting the offer, but there was no way in hell that I was going to make him think he had it like that. A girl had to have some mystery about her no matter how fine the man or how good his stroke game was.

 “I know it’s short notice but come on Lani, it’s Vegas!”

 Lewis began moving, and it gave you the answer you needed; he wasn’t naked. His black boxer briefs clung to his hips, making my fingers itch to hook in the waistband. The visual swirled, almost giving you motion sickness before his face came back into focus with all the sights of Vegas behind him. I made out a few landmarks, mainly their replica of the Eiffel Tower and the strip's blinding lights. A smile spread across your face before you rolled your eyes.

 “Okay.”

 “Yeah?”

 He was so damn adorable. He actually looked surprised as if he really was surprised you’d accepted.

 “Yeah. Why not? I’m sure you can find some way to entertain me.”

 Lewis smiled, but this was no regular smile. It was one that spoke of so much. We’d been dealing with each other on and off for the last two months or so after meeting at a music event. I’d gone to cut loose and ended up catching the eye of some rapper who had a really grandiose ideal of himself. He thought I’d leave with him and turn into another notch on his bedpost, but once Lewis and I got to talking, there was no way. He was categorically more interesting.  After two or three dates, the inevitable happened, and he dispelled all negative stereotypes about Asian men.

 “I have a favor, though, babe,” I began with a sweet as honey smile.

 “Name it.”

 “I want to bring my friend.”

 Nix’s eyes again bugged; she wasn’t expecting that. As she flailed her hands around telling me to cease and desist, I ignored her.

 “A friend you say?”

 “Yep, my bestie, Lynix.”

 “Oh, thee Lynix? Say no more. The more, the merrier,” Lewis answered.

 “Really?”

 “Yeah. I’m looking forward to finally meeting her. I’ll make the arrangements and text you the info.”

 “Okay, babe. I’ll see you soon.”

 I puckered up and blew him a kiss. Before I ended the call, I watched him lick his lips, and even more excitement filled you.

 “What the hell was that? Who said I wanted to go to Vegas and be the third wheel to your sexcation?”

 “Nix, come on. What would you do? Stay here? Call dickhead and fall back into a situation with the only benefit being mediocre dick?”

 Nix’s jaw dropped. “Wow, the call out wasn’t necessary, Lani.”

 “I don’t’ sugar coat. You’ll have more fun with me in Vegas. Plus, it’s not a sexcation.”

 They were words I didn’t even fully believe. It was just a matter of time. Nix paced the floor as she contemplated the offer. “I don’t want to be a third wheel,” she protested.

 “You won’t be. Lew is cool. It’ll be fun.”

 She didn’t look convinced, but she looked more inclined to being easy about it than continuing her protest. The moment I saw her acceptance, I sprang to my feet and hugged her.

 “It’s going to be a great weekend.”

 After a few moments of embracing, Nix was the one to speak first. “Come on! Hurry that ass up. I’m hungry!”

 She always got hangry quicker than anyone I’d ever known. After another fifteen minutes or so of primping, we left determined to catch our favorite restaurant for lunch. In Miami, everywhere anyone turned, they were met with skin, suntan lotion, muscles, and food. To some, that meant that they had to remain on point or else someone would catch them slipping, and no one wanted that. In Miami, if someone caught you slipping, you lost your man, job, or even worse your lifestyle.

 Nix and I didn’t have to worry about that. We were secure in our careers. Lynix was able to make surprisingly good money as a top food and luxury goods blogger, while I’d found my place in the fashion and makeup influencer world. Where every influencer was a copy and paste option, I worked hard to set myself apart from them. My ideas were fresh, and my content always showed that I thought outside the box. Since our bags were secured, our lifestyle was safe.

 However, when it came to men, both Nix and I liked to keep our options open. Life was meant for living. These days, a lot of men acted like they wanted to live but truly only brought headaches. Who could be bothered? That didn’t mean we were in no man’s land. Whenever the need arose to be wined and dined, we went out and entertained whoever we chose. A girl might not want headaches, but she does want to be spoiled and made to feel pretty. Lewis brought no headaches, he treated me well, and the handful of times we’d gotten it in, it showed that he had far superior bedroom manners than anyone she’s dealt with.

 At lunch, we ironed out the plan for the day now that the weekend plan had significantly changed. Bathing suits and makeup were not the only things we planned on picking up at the mall now. There was a whole new list.

 “Nix, I thought I heard you up on the phone last night. Was it Caesar?”

 Lynix rolled her eyes as she took up her burger and took a hearty bite. As she chewed, she moaned and motioned to her plate. The burger was nearly bigger than her mouth, but she made it work.

 “This is so good, Lani.”

 I leaned over the table toward the burger. She knew what I wanted and held out the burger for me to take a bite. Moaning, I relished the flavors that burst over my tastebuds. It was rare for restaurants to season their food with more than a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper, but I could taste much more than the two.  

 “You’re right. The avocado is a great addition.”

 Nix took another bite as I stirred my pasta dish before I began eating.

 “Is he bugging you to get back together again?”

 Nix rolled her eyes again, but she nodded, “You know it. I don’t get it. It’s like he thinks the third time will be the charm.”

 I loudly kissed my teeth. Men like that were annoying as hell. For starters, I didn’t think the second round was a good idea, and I sure as hell didn’t think third time was going to be the charm, but I kept that to myself this time. “What do you think?”

 “Hell no!”

 We busted out laughing at the same time, not caring how loud we were. I noticed the eyes that slid to us from nearby tables. It was clear they were curious about what was so funny.

 “I told you, you need to try something new,” I said while wiggling my eyebrows. “It’s a good thing we’re doing Vegas this weekend. I think you’ll find that something new.”

 She rolled her eyes. “Don’t make no plans for me, Lani. You always wanna play matchmaker.”

 “I didn’t have matchmaking in mind—well not in the way you think,” I gibed.

 Her jaw dropped, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Yeah, Vegas would be a damn good time all right, I thought, as we finished our meal.

 By the time we got to the mall, Lewis had texted the info for the first-class flight he’d booked for the two of us. He made sure to add the message, “Making sure two queens travel the way they deserve.” When I showed Nix, she rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was just as in awe as I was from the smile on her face.

 Take-off was eight in the morning, which meant the rest of the day would be jamb packed to ensure everything got done. We flitted from store to store and spent money like we meant it. What was supposed to be a two maybe three store stop turned into four hours of complete indulgence. With the intent to pick up something nice for Lewis, we found ourselves in Agent Provocateur.

 After trying on a few pieces, I suckered Nix into trying some things on too. She didn’t protest with this. She liked lingerie, no matter the reason.  She thought it would be just for her pleasure, but I was beginning to formulate an alternate plan, one she had no idea about, but she would—in time.

 When we were both dressed in our final selections, Nix snapped a picture of me in a yellow number and sent it to Lewis.

 MSG: Decisions, Decisions.

 In less than a minute, his response came through.

 MSG Lew: Sold! Matter fact, get it in every color.

 Two hours later, with take-out in hand, we made it home. It was late, but instead of packing and getting some rest, we decided to binge-watch the newest season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. As you ate, you gossiped, laughed, and enjoyed the time together as you always did. There was a reason you’d moved in together; you genuinely liked each other and enjoyed hanging out together.

 ~~~~~~~~~~

 -Friday-

 The next day after two hours of chaos with last-minute packing, dancing, an impromptu fashion show, and taking turns doing each other’s makeup and hair, we finally were seated in first-class enjoying a glass of rosé.

 “Man, he sure knows how to charm a girl,” Nix joked.

 “You have no idea.”

 “Uh—I kinda do. You’ve literally told me everything about him,” she added.

 She was right. I had told her quite a bit about him. I’d also tried to get them to meet a few times, but each time one or both of them had other things they had to do. I wasn’t worried they wouldn’t like each other; I was sure once they spoke, they’d hit it off. I was counting on it for my plan to work.

 “So—Nix,” I began, again in my sweet as honey voice.”

 “Don’t try to use your charms on me, Lani. I know all your tricks,” she countered.

 Rolling my eyes, I pouted and decided to forge on. “What do you think of Lew?”

 “I told you, he’s cute.”

 “Yeah, but what else?”

 Nix looked at me as if she were trying to figure out my angle.

 “I don’t know him, Lani. From what I’ve seen, he seems like a cool guy, end of story.”

 It wasn’t a raving review, but I had to take it. Maybe her tune would be different after she got to see what he was about.

 “Just—know that you’re the only person I don’t mind sharing with,” I dropped before I popped my AirPods in. I could feel her eyes on me, but I pretended not to notice. I’d give her the flight to marinate on what I meant.

 After a three hour nonstop flight, we made it to baggage claim and got our belongings, then went in search of the driver that was supposed to be waiting for us as per Lewis’s text message from this morning. It didn’t take long to find him because he held up a sign with both your names on it.

 “That’s us.”

 “Great. Welcome to Vegas, I’m Drew. I’ll be your driver. Is this everything?”

 He nodded toward mine and Nix’s six total pieces of luggage. I nodded and allowed him to gather them before he walked ahead, leading us out of the busy airport. Once we made it outside, Drew ushered us into the waiting luminous pearl white Mercedes Maybach.

 “I don’t think that yellow number from Provocateur is gonna be enough,” Nix teased, making me giggle way too loudly.

 She was right though, mans was putting in all the stops. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, though. Lewis liked to enjoy life. He liked the finer things and didn’t see a reason not to indulge in moderation.

 The drive wasn’t obscenely long, but it was filled with quite a bit of traffic, especially considering it was just past eleven in the morning. Google said it was supposed to be a twenty-minute ride from the airport, but it turned out to be nearly thirty fives. Neither of us minded. We chatted, recorded a series of lives, and took several pictures to post to our respective socials.

 Once the car pulled up to the hotel, we walked inside, taking in every detail while I pulled out my phone. It was a beautiful hotel.

 MSG: Should I just give your name to the reception or something else?

 “No need. I gotchu.”

 I spun around, coming face to face with a dimpled and smiling Lewis.

 “Aah, babe!” Lewis came in for a hug, and once he wrapped his arms around me, I moaned. His arms felt so damn strong. He was not gimping on his workouts.  

 “How’d you know we were here?”

 “I got the alert from the driver and the company,” he responded as he kissed my cheek. He smelled so fucking good.

 “How are you, babe?”

 “Better now that you guys are here,” Lewis answered with a wide smile.

 I shook my head; the charm would be the death of me. Lewis’s eyes had already drifted to Lynix, who was standing back a few feet.

 “Finally, you two can meet. Lew, this is Lynix, my best friend in the entire world,” I declared with one hand holding Lewis’s and reaching out for Nix’s hand with my other.

 They both just stared at each other for a few moments without speaking.

 “Lynix,” Lewis began.

 “Nix,” she corrected. “The only people who call me Lynix are my parents and acquaintances.”

 Lewis smiled and nodded. “Glad to know I’m not an acquaintance.”

 Nix smirked and shrugged. “You’re a minuscule notch above it. I’d be careful, though.”

 Lewis’s laugh was loud as it echoed throughout the lobby. “Wow. Of course, she’d be just as witty as you,” he said, glancing across to me. I shrugged. I had told him we were pretty similar.

 “It’s nice to meet you,” Lewis added before I slipped his hand to hers, letting them both go.

 Both of them looked at me with a question in their eyes, but it quickly faded before they looked back to each other and shook hands.

 “Same here.”

 A few more seconds elapsed with both of them holding hands before Nix dropped his. I pinched my lips, sensing that everything was falling into place. From the look on Nix’s face, I could tell she thought he was more than cute.

 “Okay, let’s head up to the penthouse and get you two settled,” Lewis announced.

 The three of you, the bellhop, and a few other hotel guests, rode the elevator. Lewis asked questions about the flight and if everything was good with the drive over. I happily thanked him for everything he’d done thus far and took the chase to tease him with touches. The thing I loved about Lewis was he was equally as flirtatious as I was. He liked to tease as much as I did and did it with ease. Every touch I placed on his arm, chest, and cheek, he returned with his lips to my ear as he whispered to me, or his hand on my hip as he held me close, or even his words. He knew his appeal and always used it as a weapon.

 Once you made it to the penthouse level and walked inside, Lewis handled the bellhop and directed him to where the bags went while I dragged Nix to the balcony to marvel at the beauty that was Las Vegas. I looked over to Nix and bounced my hip against her.

 “See. I told you this was a good idea.”

 “Fine, this is gorgeous,” she finally admitted.

 I pulled my phone out, ready for another picture. As we posed and blew kisses to the camera, neither of us noticed Lewis approach the balcony doors. When I looked over, he wore a soft smile as he watched.

 “Babe, get in these pictures!”

 He held his hands up. “I don’t wanna barge in where I’m not wanted.”

 “Oh, you’re more than wanted, right, Nix.”

 She licked her lips and shrugged. “The more, the merrier.”

 Lewis scoffed and nodded as he came over to stand to the other side of me, leaving me in the middle. After two or three pictures, I moved him to the middle, so it was a proper sandwich.

 “That’s better. It’s more aesthetically pleasing,” I remarked. Both Nix and Lewis simply nodded.

 “Everyone say, Sin City!”

 We all shouted it as my phone did snap after snap. I liked to do the burst shots because I preferred natural-looking pictures, and out of the twenty in the burst, there was bound to be at least four that were gold. After about five minutes of posing for pictures with Lewis in the frame, he took over as the cameraman. It was over then. When you put us in front of a camera together with someone else taking the snaps, we turned into a whole different monster. It was like when the power rangers morphed together into that one super ranger.

 I turned my back to Lewis and looked over my shoulder. Nix leaned close, touching her cheek to mine while resting her hand on top of my ass. I peeped the way Lewis lowered the camera for a few seconds before he brought it back up to take the picture. When we changed poses for me to lift Nix’s leg to show off the skin of her thigh, Lewis again lowered the phone, this time I saw him lick his lips before he sucked his bottom one for a few moments. This was going swimmingly, I thought to myself.

 Lewis let us settle in while he took care of a little business, and that was when I saw he’d had my bags placed in his room. It felt good to know he was on the same page as you were about this Vegas trip. Sometimes it was hard to decipher what someone’s true thoughts and feelings were. With Lewis, sometimes it was plain as day.

 The knock at the door had me turning to see Nix leaning on the door looking around.

 “So, what’s the plan? I’m starving.”

 “You’re always hungry.”

 “Listen, don’t try to hunger shame me, just feed me,” she countered as she walked inside the room to plop down beside me.

 “Look.”

 Handing her my phone so she could see the comment under one of the pictures I’d posted from the balcony shoot. I watched her face closely, and when I saw her jaw drop, I snorted.

 “Your followers are freaks.”

 The two of you laughed together before Nix stretched out on the bed. As if not liking the position, she brought her legs under her to sit on her shins. The shorts she wore had ridden up her thigh.

 “I mean, he said it, not me,” I defended as I got more comfortable. Not realizing how close my phone was, I accidentally pushed it off the bed.

 “I’ll get it,” Nix offered, crawling to the right side of the bed to bend over the edge to get my phone.

 With Nix’s ass high in the air, that was the moment Lewis walked in. Almost instantly, his eyebrow shot up with his eyes glued to her ass. It couldn’t have gone better even if I had planned it. He liked what he saw.

 “I got it.” She handed me the phone.

 “Hey, babe.”

 In shock, Nix yelped and turned, looking at Lewis.

 “You guys look super comfortable in here,” Lewis answered. I laid down, placing my head in Nix’s lap.

 “It’s a nice bed, hard not to be comfortable.”

 Lewis loudly cleared his throat before he spoke. “So, what do you guys want to do?”

 “This one is begging to be fed,” I said, tapping Nix’s knee.

 “Okay, let’s go. I know the perfect restaurant.”

 “Great,” Nix replied, instantly moving off the bed. “I’ll meet you guys downstairs.” With that, she was gone.

 Lewis’s eyes roamed over my body before he crossed the room to stand at the foot of the bed, looking down at me.

 “How long’s it been?”

 “You tell me,” I countered. His smile was again one of the flirt.

 “A few weeks?”

 “Just about.”

 Lewis lowered his body on top of mine, but he didn’t touch me. I opened my legs, pressing them back to the mattress, reminding him just who he was fucking with. I watched him look down my body to my pressed back legs. He scoffed before he looked back to my eyes.

 “Ready for me, huh?”

 Bringing my foot to his crotch, I felt his hardening patch. “Maybe about as ready as you are for me.”

 Quickly Lewis dropped his lips to mine and kissed me. Wasting no time, he delved his tongue into my mouth, swirling his with mine. I moaned on his lips and wrapped my legs around his back. Finally, he pressed his muscled body to mine, teasing me with every hardened plane of his frame. He was absolute perfection.

 Lewis moaned once more before he pulled away. “Didn’t you want to eat?”

 “I could definitely eat,” I said, reaching for the buttons of his pants. He groaned and took a few steps back.

 “Good things come to those who wait, beautiful.”

 Lewis nudged his head, signaling for us to go. He was going to be the death of me, I thought.

 Twenty minutes later, the three of us found ourselves at a restaurant that served a mix of breakfast and lunch options. When we sat, Nix moved to sit on my right while keeping Lewis on my left, but after a subtle rearrangement, Lewis was in the middle with both of us on either side of him.  I could tell she had questions, but she kept them to herself. I knew I’d have to clue her in soon.

 “So Nix, anything in particular you want to do while here?”

 She looked at Lewis as she finished chewing. “Not really. I’m pretty easy.”

 “Oh, really?”

 She smirked and shook her head, “When it comes to fun,” Nix clarified. Lewis smiled and nodded.

 “Lani’s told me so much about you.”

 “Oh yeah? All bad, I’m sure. Don’t believe anything she’s told you.”

 I kissed my teeth and rolled my eyes.

 “Oh, so don’t believe that you’re funny as hell, really sweet, talented, a damn good cook, and that you’re a great person?”

 Nix looked at me and melted. She was easy.

 “Awww, Lani,” she began.

 “Shut up, don’t make it weird.”

 The three of us chuckled before Nix continued. “Those you can believe, but I’m not as sweet as she says.”

 “You look pretty sweet to me,” Lewis slid in.

 The way Nix looked at him said she was speechless. When she looked at me, I smiled and gave her a look to say, “told you.” The man was walking charm.

 “Looks can be deceiving.”

 “You’re sweeter than you look,” I added, leaning to Lewis’s cheek to place a soft kiss to it. “Trust me,” I whispered into his ear.

 A few moments later, my phone went off.

 MSG Nix: What are you doing?

MSG: Nothing. What do you mean?

MSG Nix: You’re being weird.

MSG: I’m not. I promise.

MSG Nix: What are you up to?

MSG: Nothing.

 The look she gave me was one that said she didn’t believe shit out my mouth. I didn’t blame her. I was utterly up to no good.

 After some lunch, Lewis took us around to show us the sights along the strip. The three of us quickly roamed through Vegas’s version of Ripley’s Believe or Not before making it to do a little retail therapy. I roamed around the store with my arm laced through Lewis’s picking up different things. That was when I got one of my best ideas. With my arms filled with clothes, I whispered to Lewis for him to sit back and enjoy the show.

 When I came out dressed in a skin-tight dress, Lewis’s eyes roamed my body, examining the way it hugged my curves.

 “Do you like it?”

 Lewis signaled me to spin, so I did. When I looked at him again, he looked pleased.

 “The color’s nice on you. Looks good.”

 “Your turn Nix. Come on.”

 “I don’t have to come out. I’m good.”

 Rolling my eyes, I went to the door of her dressing room, opened it, and pulled her out.

 “Lani!”

 “Wow, that looks incredible on you.”

 She traced her hands over her body before she turned to look in the mirror, turning her back to Lewis.

 “Yeah?”

 “Definitely, get it. Right, babe?”

 Nix didn’t turn, but I saw her looking at him through the mirror.

 “Yeah, get it,” Lewis answered before his eyes dropped back to his phone.

 That was not acceptable, I thought.

 On the second reveal, I wore a low cut white top and a pair of leather pants. Lewis had me come closer to touch on the pants. While he appreciated visuals, he appreciated the touch more.  When Nix came out, she had on a figure-hugging leather dress with a plunging neckline.

 “Wow,” Lewis exclaimed.

 Bingo, I thought. Nix turned to face him, but she looked at me. Nodding my encouragement, she looked at him.

 “Yeah? Is that a good wow?”

 “Uh—it’s, you look great,” Lewis added.

 “You can do better than that, babe,” I coaxed.

 Lewis licked his lips and slid his phone back into his pocket. “It looks good on you.”

 As I walked back into my dressing room, I heard him correct himself. “Really good.”

 I considered that a win.

 After trying on a few more items, we cashed out. Lewis being the gentleman he was offered to pay for the entire thing. Nix protested, but when she did, he insisted even more, so she conceded and accepted defeat.

When we made it to one of Vegas’s most popular attractions—the sky jump from the top of the STRAT hotel, Lewis went first and made it look like a breeze. He was so carefree about it too that it made me want to go next. Nix didn’t protest; she looked terrified.

 Once I jumped off the edge, it was the most exhilarating and terrifying feeling I’d ever felt. Everything zipped past my eyes. For a few seconds, I felt like I wasn’t attached to the rope and that I was plummeting to my death, but the minute the rope snagged and bounced me up, and down I relaxed. It was incredible. Vegas was beautiful.

 When it was Nix’s turn, she damn near freaked out. She tried several times to back out, but I wouldn’t let her. After several minutes of talking her into it and assuring her it would be the best thing ever, she approached the operator only to back away. That was when Lewis stepped in.

 “Look at me, if you really don’t want to do it, that’s cool but listen to my voice for a minute. Are you looking at me?”

 She nodded. Lewis placed his hands on his waist and held her in place.

 “The worst part is right here. Don’t think about it. You’re safe. This will be one of the things you’ll remember for the rest of your life. This is all we have in life, memories of experiences, and times we truly lived. After everything Lani’s told me about you, I’m sure you can do this.”

 Though she still looked as if she were half a heartbeat from passing out, she looked more confident. Nix nodded and turned back around. She stood there for almost a full minute before she shook her head no.

 “Would it be better if Lew did it with you?”

 Both sets of eyes landed on me. It was obvious they hadn’t thought about it.

 “He can go with her, right?”

 The three of us looked back to the operator who nodded.

 “See,” I added.

 “I don’t wanna make you. It would be weird,” Nix protested.

 “No, it wouldn’t be weird. It’s fine. Are you okay with it?”

 “Absolutely,” I assured.

 Lewis suited up again, and in less than a minute, he was ready to take another dive. As I watched the operator secure them both the harness, I had to hold the glee in to yet another situation I hadn’t planned that was working in my favor. I knew Nix, and in order for her to be at all receptive to what I was going to suggest, she had to be comfortable. When they were secured, Nix and Lewis were harnessed together fastened together at the chest. They looked like conjoined twins.

 Nix looked to me, and I gave her two thumbs up and a smile.

 “You got this bestie!” She rolled her eyes and looked like she wanted to kill me for getting her into this.

 “Ready?”

 “No.”

 Lewis chuckled before he nodded to the operator, and just like that, he jumped, taking them both over the edge. I could hear Nix’s scream the entire time. It was too funny not to laugh. There were a few moments of silence, but they didn’t last long. From the video attached to the contraption's overhead hood, I could see that her legs were now wrapped around his waist, and Lewis was securely holding her to him. His laugh was loud, as was her chastising him for laughing at her. They were already bantering like old friends. By the time the operator began pulling them back up, they were now staring at each other like not quite just friends. Maybe this would be easier than I thought, I theorized.

 We took in a few more sights before we stopped at the famous Bellagio fountains to take in the show. It was beautiful. I could tell why Vegas always mystified everyone. It was easy to become another person and get lost in the lights. Coming here, lines always became blurred. When we got back to the penthouse, the plan was to freshen up and get ready for dinner, then a club.

 After a shower, I stood in front of the window, trying to decide which dress to wear. That was when Lewis crept up behind him, wrapping his arms around my midsection.

 “There you are. Where’ve you been?”

 “I had a little meeting with my team. I’m sorry,” he whispered while kissing a trail from my shoulder up my neck until he got to my ear lobe. Moaning, I sank back onto him.

 “You smell incredible.”

 “I know.”

 Lewis’s hand slowly slid down my body until it dipped into my underwear. When I felt the soft brush of his fingers against my sex, I sharply gasped, dropping my head back onto his chest.

 “Mmm.”

 “Yeah, you’ve been craving this, haven’t you?”

 I nodded; there was no point in frontin’. He began slowly, lazily circling around my clit. His touch was so damn soft. It felt as If it was barely there. Within seconds I began wriggling, hoping he got the hint to pick up the pace. Lewis chuckled, clearly enjoying how he had you.

 “What do you want, babe?”

 “You know what I want, Lew.”

 “Use your words, princess.”

 I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, but I also wanted my happy ending.

 “Make me come, daddy.”

 Lewis groaned loudly, sending the vibrations through my body. That was all it took for my body to blaze. Lewis pinched my clit then slapped it.

 “Fuck, babe.”

 “Are you wet for me, princess?”

 “So fucking wet.”

 He circled my clit again, this time giving you the amount of pressure and speed you needed. Sighing, you focused on the sensations that were coursing through you. His hands were a major turn-on for me. He looked like he used them often. Just as I was getting used to the way my body hummed from his fingers, he switched it up. When you felt him dip his middle finger inside of me, my knees buckled.

 Lewis’s strong arms held me steady as he backed us to the bed. He sat and placed me on his lap, leaving my legs wide for him. He retreated his finger only to add another digit to slip inside of me.

 “Mmm, fuck daddy.”

 “You are wet for me. You feel so fucking hot.”

 The slow way he sank and retreated his fingers inside of me only inched me closer and closer to madness. My pants echoed in the room and mingled with his deep, sultry moans. When he pulled them out to show you what a mess you’d made, he brought them to your lips.

 “Clean them off.”

 Not needing to be told twice, I lowered my lips over his fingers and sucked them clean, all the while showcasing just how deep my throat went. His moan became louder, but before you could take control of the moment, he pulled his fingers free and dipped three digits inside of you, stretching you—prepping you for his thickness.

 “Fuck!”

 His movements were no longer slow. He plunged in and out of me with a speed that had your back arching and your hand wrapping around the back of his neck where your nails sunk in.

 “You sure you wanna come?”

 “Yes.”

 “Yes, who?”

 “Yes, daddy. Please make me come.”

 Lewis added a twisting and rotating motion. It felt as if there was some sort of spiraling toy inside of me, and that was when I lost my shit.

 “Yes, yes, fuck! I’m coming!”

 It must have been music to his ears because, with his other hand, he pinched my nipple, sending me over the threshold and into a soft cloud pillow of ecstasy.

 “Such a good girl!”

 Lewis pulled his fingers free, and they were absolutely soaked. He gently tossed me onto the bed, then stood before me. I watched as he licked and sucked his fingers clean before he added a sly wink before he turned and walked into the bathroom.

 Dropping my head to the bed, I groaned out, “The fuck!”

  Dinner was delicious. Lewis picked one of the five-star restaurants that had given him an open invitation to come and see what they had to offer. When he walked in, all eyes were on the three of you. No doubt every woman wondering the same thing—how could they get a piece of him. all through dinner, the three of you laughed and told stories.

 Lewis told Nix and several stories from his set life and even dropped some fun facts about some of his costars or scenes we’d seen in some of his shows. When he asked about some of the shenanigans we got into, I didn’t hesitate telling him several stories that showcased Nix and my insanity. Every story had him laughing, and Nix cringing from all the tea I was dropping.

 “I can’t believe we did half of that,” Nix remarked.

 “Oh stop, don’t act like it was some other person. Your ass is just as crazy as me. It’s one of the reasons we get along so well. Plus, I know you always have my back,” I added.

 Lewis raised his glass. “To best friends then.”

 Nix and I raised our glasses, but before anyone took a drink, I spoke up. “To best friends and new friends.”

 The two of them looked at me, shrugged, then tapped glasses.

As the liquor burned its way down my throat, I shivered and flailed my hands. “Wooo, let’s get out of here. I’m ready to dance!”

  Within five minutes, the three of us were in the back of another chauffeured car on our way to one of the hottest clubs in Vegas.

 “So, is there a Mr. Vix?”

 “If there were, I wouldn’t be here.”

 “I doubt you’re the kind of woman who would allow a man to dictate what she could or couldn’t do,” Lewis countered.

 She has a soft smile on her lips, a sign of her conceding.

 “No, there’s no Mr. Nix.”

 “Is that by choice or circumstance?”

 “I choose my circumstances so--.”

 If there was one thing, Lewis liked it was mental sparring. I could tell he was intrigued by her. It made my plan easier.

 When we walked into the club, the music's loudness and the bright neon colors set the tone for the night. It was going to be a crazy, fun few hours. After situating in one of the VIP areas and downing a few drinks, I was up dancing with Nix while Lewis watched on and bopped to the music. As the alcohol began to take effect, we got into dancing and having a good time. Soon it became who could dance the most despite the number of drinks they’d had.

 After an hour or so, I pulled Lewis up to dance with us. I was in the middle with Lewis behind me and Nix in front. She twerked her ass onto me, while I did the same to Lewis. He held his own, but I wasn’t surprised. He looked like he knew how to dance. It was yet another turn-on. Lewis nipped my neck before he playfully rammed my ass with his crotch. Turning to him, I whispered I was going to get another drink.

 “Dance with Nix.” He met my eyes with a question in his.  Before he could open his mouth, I kissed him and walked off.

 It wasn’t a complete lie. I did want to get another drink, but I also wanted him to dance with Nix. After a few moments, Lewis approached her. She was at the railing, holding on with one hand while waving the other in the air. She was lost in her own world. I knew it was partly because of the alcohol. She turned and came face to face with him. both of them awkwardly laughed before Nix cheered along with everyone around when the DJ changed the song to Despacito.

 As she sang along, they both swayed to the beat. Every so often, Lewis leaned in and whispered something to her that had her giggling. Once the chorus started, she’d spun around and began winding her hips, adding in that Latin flare that Miami was known for, and that was also embedded in her DNA.

 Lewis dropped his eyes to her ass for so long. I didn’t think he’d make a move to dance with her, but when he stepped closer and placed his hand on Nix’s waist, I jumped as if I’d seen my own child score a touchdown. Soon their bodies synced, and they were dancing to the music but at a respectful distance. Lewis grabbed her hand and spun her back around, and the two did a mix of a salsa and bachata.

 From afar, they looked like they were having a good time. They sure as hell danced well together. Toward the middle of the song, he spun Nix back around. This time her back was pressed to his chest. That was when Nix rolled her body to dip to the floor. While bringing herself back up, she poked her ass out but not far enough that she touched him. Getting closer, I thought to myself before I made my way back over.

 By the end of the night, the three of you were tripping over your feet. Once we pushed through the penthouse's doors, it was Nix who had the idea to get into the pool. She wasted no time stripping down to her underwear and jumping in. Lewis and I were not far behind her. We swam and joked around with each other like drunken fools who had no cares in the world. After about an hour of swimming and acting like children with water games like Marco Polo and catch, we were leaned against the pool's wall enjoying another drink.

 “The two of you are a lot of fun,” Lewis sighed out before he knocked back another rum shot.

 “I tried to tell you. We know how to have a good time,” I reiterated.

 “As you can see by the one who has on no bra, she’s the one who has the most fun,” Nix teased.

 “You’re welcome to join the no bra club to take part in the fun,” I countered.

 There was no missing my meaning, and from the way she looked at me, I knew she got it. Nix looked like she was thinking about it, then her eyes shifted to Lewis who was watching the exchange. She made a move as if to unhook the front of her strapless bra, but as her hands made it to the front of her body, she lowered them and cleared her throat.

 “Ehm, I’m exhausted, probably jet-lagged. I think I’m gonna go pass out.”

 “Really?”

 “Yep.” She turned and swam to the steps of the pool before she climbed out of the water. “But by all means—you two enjoy the rest of the night.”

 Nix scooped up her dress off the floor and walked toward the sliding doors. “Oh, Lewis, thank you for the invitation this weekend.”

 “Don’t mention it.” Nix nodded, then disappeared inside.

 “Is she okay?”

 “Probably just drank too much.”

 I swam to him, took his glass, and finished it before placing it behind him. “What would you say if I didn’t trust myself to walk?”

 “Then, I’d carry you to bed.”

 Crashing my lips to his, my mouth stole his moan and made it my own. In seconds I was more than ready to be carried to bed and fucked to sleep. As if hearing my thoughts, Lewis pulled me to him and swam toward the steps. Forgetting our clothes, he walked inside, never taking his lips from mine. At the top of the steps in the hall, he pressed me to the wall giving me an idea of how much he wanted me. Scraping his back, I moaned loudly.

 “Fuck I’m so hard for you.”

 “I want you, Lew.”

 When be busted into the bedroom, he quickly dropped me back onto the bed and peeled off his boxer-briefs as I pulled off my underwear. When he pressed between your legs, you whispered to him to fuck you. Your self-control was gone, and you didn’t care if there was no foreplay. This entire day was foreplay enough.

 When Lewis thrust forward, connecting our bodies, I shrieked out and arched backward. Lewis pressed his hand to the center of my body as he rotated his hips, making my thighs hit the bed, giving him complete access to ruin you any way he saw fit.

 “Fuck, Lani!”

 His thrusts sped up and turned bruising. Each connection had your breasts swinging and your body shaking. Just when you were getting used to the pace, he set he changed the name of the game and slowed it down, making goosebumps prickle my skin. His lips found yours, and he took control of that too, the same way he was showing me owned my pussy tonight.

 “Whose pussy is this, Lani?”

 “Yours.”

 “Damn right, it’s mine!”

 As if shedding the gentleness, he kicked it up a notch with the way he plowed into me. With every dip, your body hugged him, making it next to impossible for him to retreat. With every snug squeeze, Lewis grunted loudly.

 “Fuck, right there, daddy.”

 When he pulled out and flipped me onto my belly, I knew what was coming. Within seconds, he slammed back inside of me, sending his dick so deep I saw stars. It was then I realized the blinds in the room were wide open.

 “Mm. I love how wet you are for me. Does this pussy love this dick?”

 “Yes, yes, yes!”

 Lewis grabbed the back of my neck and went to town. I could tell he was lost in his pleasure and the pursuit of his own release. It didn’t take long for your legs to shake and for you to drop onto the bed. With you splayed across the mattress, he only adjusted his angle and fed you every single thick inch he possessed. In seconds I’d come for the fourth time and gripped him as if he threatened to leave. His thrusts staggered and became sloppier and more desperate. He was close.

 “Fuck, I’m gonna come, Lani. Do you want it?”

 “Yes, daddy, give it to me.”

 After a few more thrusts, he slammed forward and shot stream after stream inside of me. Every few seconds, he grunted and tried to bury himself deeper and deeper though there was nowhere else for him to go. I was filled to the hilt. Thank god I were on birth control, you thought. That could have been the one to make him a real-life daddy.

 “Fuck, girl!”

 Lewis dropped a heavy slap to my ass before he collapsed beside me. Both of us laid there, trying to catch our breath before passing out from sheer exhaustion and satisfaction.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If anyone wants to be tagged either send a message to either @munteanhorewrites​ or me @royallyprincesslilly​ or put it in the comments.

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TagList:

@maxcullen @night-of-the-living-shred @chaneajoyyy @queenoftheworldisdead @shar74nett @raveviolet @dangerouslovefanfic​ @caramara3​ @sonjashuterbugjohnson​

Chapter Two will be on @munteanhorewrites page. 

[mama-germany]

~i have been working on this for MONTHS~ 

this is a thus-far comprehensive bio of my edgy emo child Keira.  I’m using her in a Cyberpunk Red campaign so this is her bio as relates to the campaign, so some modifications have been made.  This is not her canon form, but it’s close.  if you’re part of the Swordfish campaign, go away, bc backstory spoilers.  And trigger warnings for, uhh, a lot.

Keira’s the oldest daughter of Joey Youngwood and his wife Olivia.  Her sister Carly comes along two years later, and two years after that, her parents go through a nasty divorce.  Because of Joey’s demanding career as a contract Samurai for Biotechnica, Olivia gets primary custody.  Keira’s childhood, while not particularly eventful, is marked by a distant relationship with her mom.  Keira is a daddy’s girl through and through, she takes after her father, she resembles her father, she cherishes her time with him.  Meanwhile she and her mom have little in common, and her resemblance to her father doesn’t really help.  Keira’s dad teaches her about guns and how to defend herself and plants the seed of a love for rock music.  He buys her her first guitar.

Andrew comes into the picture when Keira’s about 14.  Olivia’s new boyfriend, he started out mediocre enough, but didn’t take well to standing off against the rebellious, petulant, and disobedient teenager, especially compared to her agreeable mother and mild-mannered sister.  Their arguments turned physical more than a few times and Keira’s mother rarely intervened, on the basis of ‘Keira needing discipline’.  For the record, to the best of Keira’s knowledge, Andrew never raised a hand to Carly.

Memories of Keira’s teenage years include studying music, similarly emo (and short lasting) boyfriends, piercing her ears and face by herself or with the help of acquaintances, occasionally stealing cigarettes, hooking up with her boyfriends in shady places, and going to prom in a short quinceanera dress at the behest of her father.

The second Keira turned 18, she moves out of her mother’s home and starts getting tattoos.  She moves into her father’s Biotechnica funded apartment.  While her father is thrilled, he’s also a busy man and Keira can’t really be trusted to keep herself out of trouble.  He asks Skyler to keep an eye on her and keep her from getting herself hurt.  That’s how they meet.  Keira resents this straight-edge man trying to ruin her fun, but at least he’s cute.  Through him she meets the rest of his friends, all elite corporate Samurai and soldiers who’ve been raised most of their lives for this kind of work.  Maddelyn takes a shine to her, fascinated by how different her relatively normal life is by comparison to hers.  Her boyfriend Dean despises her - seeing Keira as a stupid, obnoxious brat just getting in the way - and the feeling is more than mutual.  Alina is ambivalent to her presence.  Luce dislikes her attitude and distrusts her, but eventually they come to friendly terms over some common interests.  Maddelyn and Keira eventually become close, bonding over Keira exposing her to things normal young women tend to do.  They paint their nails, go out to bars, and Maddelyn is always a willing audience whenever Keira wants to practice her guitar.

For a short period of time, Keira’s got a boyfriend, Hunter, whom she meets at a music club.  They manage to last a few months, longer than any fling she had in high school, but they too eventually split.  Keira was spending more and more time with Maddelyn and the rest of the squad and, of course, Skyler.  She’s very good at getting a rise out of this generally very even-tempered man, but at least she’s entertaining.  Turns out that when she’s sort of behaving herself, he doesn’t really mind her company.  He eventually shows an interest in her guitar, he asks her to attempt to teach him, and while he doesn’t take to it easily, it’s not too long before what do you know, Keira’s got a crush.  She secretly considers Bad Company ‘their song’.  

So her life’s pretty good, for a year and a half or so.  Out of an unsafe living situation and spending time with the people that matter to her, and a couple new friends.  That doesn’t last.  Her dad’s essentially a soldier, after all.  One day he leaves for work, and he never comes back.  None of his squad do.  Night City’s dangerous.  Something took them all out.  But Biotechnica’s excuses are pretty thin.  Not that it matters to Keira - at first.  Her father’s dead.  She sees his body sent to the ovens before her eyes.  She doesn’t know what to do, where to go. She won’t go back to her mom. Skyler lets her know that she’s still welcome around them. He and Mad look after her at their headquarters for the next few days.

The next few months after are her worst. She’s erratic. She’s impulsive. She’s drinking and smoking more. When she’s not doing that, she’s attempting to navigate Biotechnica’s departments to find out exactly what happened, what could have taken out an experienced Samurai squad with so little a trace, but Biotechnica is opaque. Maddelyn shares some of Keira’s suspicions, Skyler doesn’t. The others mostly dismiss her as well.

Several months after her father’s death, in that stage where you begin to claim you’re doing better but you’re really not, Keira finds herself with an older boyfriend. A little too much older. More of a sugar daddy, really, someone who can buy her all the liquor and cigarettes she wants. She just wants alcohol and a distraction. He wants a little more from her. One night he plies her with alcohol - she doesn’t exactly make it difficult - and starts touching her and doesn’t really take ‘no’ for an answer. Keira manages to bloody his nose and fight him off, she steals the keys to his motorcycle and leaves on it. But she’s drunk, she’s shaken, her nerves are fried, she barely knows how to drive as it is, and she crashes head-on into a curb. She wakes up in a hospital bed with Maddelyn and Skyler relieved she’s alive but not exactly happy with her. She’s got lots of breaks and dislocations, but at least nothing needs to be removed. Skyler angrily resolves to never let her out of his sight again, and Keira resolves never to let this happen again. She gets wolvers, Wolverine-like retractable claws, implanted into her hand a few days later. 

She stabilizes after that, sort of.  Sobered up, she spends more time with Maddy and Skyler and the others, taking them up on their offer to have a place to go.  She’s grown a lot more attached to Skyler.  A lot.  He’s barely let her out of his sight for months and she does not mind.  Maddy notices.  Oh she notices.  The sisterly pestering begins.  They go out drinking, Mad teases her about her crush on Skyler, maybe it’s a bit more than a crush, and she says Skyler likes her too.  A lot.  And Maddy’s right about everything, all the time, right?  So the day comes when Mad decides she’s had enough of seeing them dance around each other and takes it upon herself to lock them in a room together.  Keira takes the hint and makes her confession.  She loves him.  Skyler........... doesn’t really know what to make of that.  He’s shocked.  Kinda confused.  On the spot.  Doesn’t know how he feels or what to do.  He tells her people say and think crazy things when they’re mourning.  Don’t make big decisions about how you feel like this.  

~so that hurts~ 

Keira takes a deep breath and takes it like a big girl and tells him to forget this conversation ever happened. Forget she told him anything. She will too. And she keeps it to herself, but he’s her best friend. She can’t lose him. She doesn’t have much left. So she won’t press things and make him uncomfortable and alienate him. She’ll back off. Because she loves him. She hates Maddy at the moment tho. So does Skyler. Neither of them talk to her for a little while.

At least things return to normalcy, more or less, after a few weeks of avoidance and non-eye contact. Keira actually spends more time than ever with Alina, because she cares the least about her company. They have so little to bond over, but it’s the most comfortable silence Keira can find around others. But life goes on. Mad and Skyler and Luce are still her friends. As life goes on, Keira’s mind begins to wander to her future. She can’t stay there forever. She isn’t a Samurai. She isn’t one of Night City’s best and brightest, wasn’t born into the elite.  She can’t be one of them.  Over the next few months, Keira starts pulling away from the group bit by bit.  She uses the money her father willed her to move out of his Corpo apartment into a place of her own (it’s small and shit, don’t get excited).  She starts heading back into the chromer nightclubs, starts meeting new people.  She plays a couple of small gigs, the last of which she actually got paid a meager sum for.  Talks of starting a band are swirling around her head.  Her childhood dreams of becoming a Rockerboy begin to resurface. 

till they don’t. 

She’s out on the streets with the squad one night.  She met up with them during a routine patrol.  Hanging out with Maddy, trading insults with Dean, the usual.  They get an impromptu call to deal with a disturbance in the direction of Biotechnica’s offices.  No one’s very worried about it.  But they’re in one of the city’s combat zones and Keira’s a civilian.  She’s gotta go.  The rest of the squad’s written her off as Skyler’s problem, so he gets to escort her out.  The details are hazy, but when the groups part ways, they never come back.  

In Cyberpunk RED In their absence, there’s an explosion and an as-of-yet unknown team picks off the rest of the squad.  Maddy barely survives and Trauma Team manages to put back together what’s left of her, and she goes into hiding while she recovers.  She eventually hears rumors that the story is, she and her friends were eliminated for selling off company secrets.  Framed, of course.  It’s unknown what exactly happens to Keira and Skyler.

In my story canon, that takes place 200 years in the future instead of 20, everyone’s on a spaceship, doing routine things, shooting the shit, and they get that disturbance call.  Keira begins arguing with Dean about his treating her like a pet.  Maddy knocks her out to make everyone’s lives easier, and Skyler leaves with her.  She’s given an oxygen mask while she’s out cold to make the transition to the smaller ship easier.  While Skyler’s bringing her back to base, he begins feeling faint and passes out.  When Keira comes to, and sees Skyler unconscious, she knows something is deeply wrong, and manages to pilot them to a civilian hospital, not the base.  Not on her life.  

Skyler is sequestered and once he comes to, is told that the rest of his teammates are dead.  There was an accident on the ship after he left.  The reality is, time-release gas canisters were planted in the air ducts to dull their senses and knock them out, leaving them unable to defend themselves against another ship blowing them out of the sky.  

It’s been a few days.  Keira’s access to Skyler is restricted.  And he’s not recovering.  Maybe there’s something to the whole thing about dying of a broken heart, but Keira suspects he’s being poisoned instead.  During visiting hours, she asks a hapless nurse to take him for a walk, like an invalid, and she’s allowed to.  Once hidden in a back stairwell, she jams an adrenaline shot into his chest, sets the stairwell on fire with a can of hairspray and a lighter, and they escape as the fire alarms go off.  She brings him back to her apartment and nurses him back to health as best she can, just weaning him off the poison.  

In both stories, at least he’s still alive and he believes her now.  

Back to Cyberpunk RED, after a few days Keira helps Skyler find a place to stay, close to her, and they start trying to pull it together and make a plan of action.  All Skyler can think to do is Solo work, and despite his protests, Keira refuses to let him go it alone.  That’s how they begin their lives alone together in Night City, just trying to stay alive and find out what their loved ones died for.

[tosikoarts]

SFW Alphabet | Light Yagami

Haven’t seen anyone doing this alphabet thing so here we go. Warning: there’s a lot. Check tosikowrites tag for more.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

 Light is not the best when it comes to affection. It usually served him as a method of manipulation so in the beginning it might take some time for him to separate affection as a tool from affection as a sincere feeling.

 When he finally does his affection will depend on the point of timeline:

 If it is before the L’s death, he would be extremely cautious with everything and everyone. Nobody would know about relationship and all of affection would be in virtual form. Morning texts, good nights, deep conversations or just a daily check-ups – Light would try hard to show that he cares through words since he can’t do it in any other way. He would occasionally send flowers with a box of chocolate or other traditional gifts when circumstances allow him to do so. After the memory loss, Light probably would find one calm evening for a candlelight dinner in inconspicuous but cozy restaurant.

If it is somewhere between the L’s death and rise of his successors, he would shower his dearest with affection, both verbal and physical. He would stay classy but choose more expensive gifts like wristwatch, or bracelet, or book, or box of ideal fruits. He never asks what someone wants, but will pick every single hint to make a guess. Light prefers kisses to hugs, particularly hand kisses and kisses in the corner of the mouth. He would be the ideal traditional dating type, sweet-talker, but only where all his plans for day are accomplished and Misa is not around.

 If it is after the rise of successors, Light would become distant. He would get back to texts. They would be rare, short, but full of reassurance everything will okay soon. Light would send single “I love you” before going to before going to Yellow Box Warehouse.

 B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

 That smartass friend that knows they have to stop you from doing stupid thing but still watches you doing it. Then they help you to deal with consequences and tell you how dumb you were but they wanted you to learn on your own mistakes. Yes, that’s Light.

It’s difficult to become friends with him unless he is truly interested in your personality, skills, or social position. Friendship with Light has to be built on mutual benefit of some sort.

If he helps you, you must help him as well. No excuses. Even though he is demanding, he is ready to do a lot for his best friend too.

 Also, he is the type that still talks to you like nothing changed after a long pause in communication. Once you get to some level of trust there’s no turning back. Oh, and he will make sure to keep his best friend as far from all Kira-related stuff as possible.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

 Light doesn’t initiate cuddles ever. The chance of him initiating cuddles is around 5% on the day when all stars lineup and both of your horoscopes say something grandiose is about to happen.

Nevertheless, if someone else decides to cuddle him in private, he will not reject them. Prefers spooning and being big spoon for sure.

  Definitely needs cuddles after stressful day but, again, will never admit it. The best cuddle session has to include rainy day, cold room, and freshly washed sheets.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He doesn’t think about settling down. Light may be mediocre at cooking but, boy, he won’t leave a single speck of dust in the house. Not on his watch. Laundry? Nobody does it better. Not a clean freak, Light just likes to keep things in order where he can find everything in seconds. Probably has specific schedule for cleaning too. He hates doing dishes and still does it anyway. Can you imagine what power of will he possesses?

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It doesn’t really depend on circumstances. Light will do it tête-à-tête somewhere where person feels comfortable and safe. He is cold and blunt with explanation, very convincing too. Light’s words turn everything upside-down so in the end you think it’s only logical to break up with him. How does he feel? Nobody knows. He probably suppresses all feelings, emotions, and dives into killing criminals with even more passion.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Well, if we talk about serious commitment, not a temporary contract for the sake of New World, it would take from 5 to 8 years for someone like Light to propose. He wants to be sure it is the right person by his side. At some point, he also will confess about him being Kira and make sure his loved one is okay with that. If they’re not he would try to manipulate them into accepting his mission. If it doesn’t work he will eliminate them. They don’t have to support his actions but they have no right to get in his way. After hearing “yes” and putting proposal ring on their finger, Light will go and finish all his previous affairs i.e. with Misa.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

 Oh, he can be gentle if he really wants to. It is a luxury few can afford. Pecks on the cheek, holding hands, back rubs – he is more about physical side of affection and gentleness. He will be extra caring and loving if his loved one did something special for him (like present for a Birthday) or made him proud. Anniversaries are another reason for Light to shower them with love.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

 He is not really into hugs due to the constant need to keep everyone at arm's length. If he sees that a person can go without hugs, he will prefer to avoid them. If they are needy, he may give up and wrap hands around their waist for a brief moment. His hugs are tight at first but he will loosen them as soon as he feels person is satisfied.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Not a single time until the Yellow Box Warehouse meeting. At least in the way it is meant to be. Until then he sticks to “I really like you” or cheesy “you make my heart skip a beat”. He expects person to understand his feelings from everything he does for them and sticks to “actions speak louder than words” philosophy. If he had another chance he would go back in time, pull them closer, and whisper every single thing he fell in love with them for in their ear.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Why would he get jealous? You have to try really hard to make this man jealous, he is too arrogant to even think that you can choose someone over him. Moreover, even if you do, he can always pull a piece of paper from the inner pocket and erase another poor soul from the face of the earth.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

 That’s an interesting topic. Kisses are perfect choice for Light: they are faster, more diverse, and way more symbolic. As said, he is fast kisser. Sometimes his kisses may feel empty or light as a flap of the butterfly's wings, however, the angrier/stressed he gets the more demanding they will become. He prefers hand kisses, kisses in the corner of the mouth or cheek pecks during the daytime, and lips/neck kisses during the nighttime. If we talk, where he likes to be kissed, the answer is everywhere, especially when the whole process is accompanied by merciless teasing and/or flattering.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

To everyone’s surprise, Light is great at babysitting and will keep kids entertained for hours. It doesn’t mean he will have tea parties with them or run around playing tag, but more likely give them a specific task and an exciting reward for finishing it. The best option for him would be working on the laptop while kids are doing something by themselves in his field of vision. He never screams at child not matter how annoying they may be, he never recourses to physical punishment either. That one person who reads every reachable book about parenting and strives to be The Best Dad in the eyes of his children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

  Morning is the most productive time of the day in the Yagami’s house.

By the time you’re awake, Light has already got ready for a day, watched morning news, and wrote down some names too. Kitchen smells like freshly brewed coffee. If he has to leave early in the morning he would put a sticker note on the refrigerator with grocery list or anything important you need to know. If there’s no reason to hurry, he would greet you with a morning kiss to the temple and cup of coffee with savory tamagoyaki.

 On the weekends, morning routine is a little different. Light gives himself half of hour to stay in bed to enjoy mild drowsiness and warmness of person next to him. Expect some neck kisses and burnt coffee.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

 They are very… normal. Most of the times he will ask you if you want to stay inside or go out to eat. When he is too tired or just not in the mood he will suggest watching movie together until you both start feeling little drowsy. Sometimes he will start asking you random questions that lead to deep conversations and additional material for him to analyze.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Light and opening up do not go in one sentence. He gives you information he wants you to believe, in the form that suits him at the moment. Is it truth? Is it lie? You never know but it always feels like he is frank with you and it is all that matters. There is a pinch of sincerity in his words but you still have to take everything with a grain of salt.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

 So, have you ever seen picture with a breach in the dam? This breach is critical and dam will fall under the water pressure in minutes, right? This is Light’s anger control. It is difficult to piss him off, but it does not mean that he forgets your wrongdoing. His anger fills a cup of patience drop by drop and once it’s filled to the brim, catastrophe is irreversible. Until then he is great at self-control and keeping a cool head.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

 Light remembers the most important pieces of information you give out about yourself. His brain keeps filtering your words, connecting them to your facial expressions, slight changes in tone, previous conversations so day by day he learns new ways to excite you. In his head there’s a huge detective board with your name in top of it. Red threads spreads from photo to date to quotes to another photo and whenever he sees blank space he is a little confused. Did he forget anything?

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

The next evening after he finishes all the business with L, his assistants (Aiber and Wedy), and Yotsuba group. An intoxicating feeling of freedom and all-encompassing power got to his head so fast he had to share overwhelming euphoria with someone. He would take you out to secluded romantic place like Meguro River where he will be unusually talkative and cheerful. He will constantly cling to your hand, squeezing it playfully, and stroking your knuckles with his thumb. At some point, he will just stop and plant a sweet slow kiss on your lips. Future that finally starts to look like he always wanted it to be will never feel complete without you.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

People who decide to threaten his loved one are those who need to be protected. Light starts acting like a personal guardian angel only in situation when he clearly sees approaching danger though. Even with the precautions taken, he always remembers the possibility of an unforeseen situation, and if it comes, he doesn’t mind putting few more names in his Note. Also, no, no one can protect Light better than Light himself and bunch of his fanatic minions, so we’ll leave it up to them.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

His everyday effort goes from 0 to 100 and back in a second like metronome needle. Today Light gives you everything and tomorrow he will send you few messages just to check how you are doing, but, generally, you both try to keep it 50/50.

 Goes 100% and beyond spoiling you rotten in the most elegant ways on special occasions like Birthday, Christmas, anniversaries. Always tries to find new ways to surprise you. He doesn’t have this huge detective board in his mind for nothing, you know.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

 Even if you do not know that he is the notorious Kira (which makes him so full of himself obviously), sooner or later Light’s bloated ego will become noticeable. He won’t rub his genius into your face. It’s the small things in your chats that constantly point to his superiority, and, honestly, it can be really annoying.

 Besides his screaming megalomania, Light is prone to periodical ghosting. Not because he lost interest but because intricate schemes occupied all of his time once again. After few days of radio silence, a message with the deepest apologies would pop out of nowhere, slightly embellished with details to make it more believable. He always tries to warn you about going mute but sometimes he simply forgets.

 I don’t know, if it can be considered bad habit, but he is, like, Kira. Just saying.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

 Light wants to look presentable so it’s not uncommon for him to stare in the mirror in search of imperfections. He is not obsessed with being Mr. Handsome but he tries to be always clean-shaven, with his nails short and his clothes well ironed.  

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

 So let’s be clear:

If it is not related to Kira’s case, he would be shocked. Light is not used to rejection so it would confuse the hell out of him. After keeping poker face for a whole day, he would eventually have a huge temper tantrum at home, making Ryuk say “aight, I’m out” while he flies out of window for an hour-long trip around the block. For a few weeks he will feel like someone tore a part of him, mad and disappointed, but this feeling would fade away after 2-3 months.

If he has to end relationship because of Kira’s case, for example, they still didn’t agree on his views after exquisite persuasion, Light will have to eliminate them. In this case he can’t get rid of unpleasant thoughts swarming in his head for almost a half of year, he tries to convince himself it was right decision but some doubts keep emerge now and then.

If they were killed because of their association with Kira, someone will have to pay. He may drag responsible person into his scheme and play them until the perfect execution time comes. Probably will feel mix of sorrow, dull rage, and incompleteness for indefinite time.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

  Light prefers long distant relationships to regular ones. They do not require a full commitment from him and do not occupy his free time: he can send a compliment + heart emoji while serving justice at the same time.

 For a long time I have a headcanon that Light is asexual. He just… doesn’t feel like it. He doesn’t care about sex, and the scene where he reads adult magazine is awkward not only for his father, but for him too.

He wishes his loved one could see Ryuk, but since he has to explain it somehow, he will never allow them to touch Death Note or a page from it. Ryuk needs new people in his life, goddamit.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Stupidity. Inability to understand obvious things drives him up to the walls. Not in Matsuda or Misa style, but hopeless stupidity in which person fails to use their logic and imagination in everyday life.

  I can see Light rolling his eyes at double texts. Any form of clinginess kind of irritates him.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

 Сonstant stress, world's best detective on his tail, responsibility for someone's life migrated to his dreams in the form of nightmares. He often wakes up in a cold sweat and stays up for quite some time, discussing different topics with Ryuk in complete darkness.

  In addition to this Light has problems with falling asleep. He usually goes to bed after his partner, so he can prepare the room (turn off everything, leave the window wide-open) and himself (take some pills) to sleep. It takes him up to hour to stop thinking and finally drift off.

[highkey-lowkey-as-hell]

if you want to write it, a meet the parents fic but it’s kateva and angst to hurt comfort because i like my heart broken -cotmlc

THANK YOU, CO-PRESIDENT, FOR RELIEVING MY HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, SOUL-CRUSHING BOREDOM

Also, seeing as this is angst, I’m switching the prompt up just a little. My headcanon is that Eva’s mom is the Best Mom and Kate’s parents are Trying (And Failing A Little But Overall Doing Their Best), so we’re getting Kate’s more-homophobic-grandparents instead for the Angst Factor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, yes, Kate was nervous.

Like, super nervous.

Eva had sworn up and down that she loved Kate no matter what, and while that did help her fear of losing her, she was still scared this afternoon was going to make Eva run away. Even if she didn’t, though, Kate was still expecting hell.

Her maternal grandparents were thoroughly convinced that Kate’s sarcastic, cynical, girls-and-flannel-loving personality was Just A Phase and she’d grow out of it and start wearing pink and giggling and liking guys any moment now. Obviously, that wasn’t happening. When she’d joined the cheer squad, they’d been so excited, Kate almost felt bad about disappointing them.

Almost. She didn’t actually feel bad about it.

Actually, her grandparents were one of the only things that told Kate her mom really and truly supported her sexuality. Sure, she was insecure about it, and had once asked her if she thought it was “just a phase,” but she always defended Kate whenever her grandparents asked if she was interested in anyone and she answered with “Bridget” or “Emily” or “Jennifer.”

Her mom’s mediocre support aside, Kate had been postponing this meeting for as long as she could. She and Eva had officially been together since February, and now it was July. She’d met Eva’s mother, uncle, and siblings, and Eva had met her parents and brothers. She knew for a fact that Eva had Chess’s letter tucked safely in a dresser drawer and that she reread it often. They even regularly said “I love you” now. And yet, her grandparents had only recently even learned Eva existed.

Just like always, Kate and her parents were hosting the Dalton family’s annual 4th of July party. Typically, Kate would be forced to greet everyone and then would run up to her room to read or play on her phone, or - before Derrick and Jack had left for college and gotten so distant - she and her brothers would be in the basement, playing video games Kate probably shouldn’t have been playing when she was ten. Today, though, was going to be a bit different.

Kate’s grandmother had recently joined Facebook without her knowledge, which proved to be problematic at the end of the year. Kate’s mom had made her usual post, congratulating Derrick on finishing his first year of grad school, Jack on his sophomore year of college, and Kate on her junior year of high school. The picture of Kate she had chosen to post was one Eva had posted to Instagram (and one she’d asked permission to use, which Kate and Eva both appreciated) (the caption was very sweet, irrelevant to this story, and was “GCHS cheer fucking sucks but at least I’ve got you, I love you so much”), which was a photo of the two of them after their last cheer competition. In the photo, Eva had her arm around Kate and was kissing her cheek, and it was very obvious that they were a couple.

Kate’s grandmother saw the photo.

Kate’s first reaction when her mom told her was to freeze and think fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck SHIT fuck fuck fuck - which she thought was a very logical first reaction. Her second reaction was freak the fuck out.

One thing had led to another, and now Eva had been invited to join the Dalton family Independence Day celebrations.

She showed up a little bit before everyone else, just because that’s how Eva was, and Kate dragged her down into the basement so she could rant about how scared she was.

“My cousins are just like Lily and they’ll love you and my aunts and uncles are great and Dad’s parents are pretty cool but Mom’s parents are going to hate you,” she ranted, pacing back and forth while Eva watched from the couch. “This might have been a really bad idea.”

“It’ll be fine, Katie,” Eva tried to sooth. “You’ve literally survived a stab wound, they can’t be much worse.”

“My grandparents meeting my girlfriend? Yeah, I think I’d rather get stabbed again.”

“I think you’re overreacting.”

“You won’t think that when they show up.” Kate stopped pacing and hugged herself, trying to calm her anxiety. “Promise you’ll stay?”

“I promise.” Eva stood up and hugged her, and Kate finally managed to breathe. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Kate wanted Eva to hold her like that for the rest of the day, but the doorbell rang and Jack shouted for them to come upstairs and it was time to face the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her paternal grandparents showed up first and, like Kate predicted, immediately adored Eva. They’d asked her at least four dozen questions before Kate’s aunt showed up a few minutes later, and as her relatives trickled in, Kate began to suspect that this was turning into less of a “family Independence Day!” party and more of a “Kate’s actually gay and has a girlfriend now, wow, time to overwhelm her” party. She’d made a deal with Jack and Derrick beforehand, having predicted what would happen, and invoked it now, leaving them to entertain their relatives while Kate pulled Eva into the backyard and onto the porch swing, where it would take several minutes for questions to reach them and they had an excuse to be as close as possible.

Kate was hoping her mom’s parents might not show up when her grandfather appeared in the doorway and her stomach sank into her beat-up shoes. He zeroed in on Kate and Eva right away and walked toward them, taking up way more space than he needed to like always.

“Kate, it’s been a while,” he boomed, and Kate winced.

“Hey, Grandpa,” she said, trying not to sound too sarcastic. “This is Eva.” Eva awkwardly waved, then put her hand down.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, and Kate felt really bad about dragging her into this.

“You must be Kate’s friend,” he nearly yelled (why the fuck did he have to be so loud?) and Kate nearly straight-up attacked him.

I’m basically in her lap right now! What the fuck do you mean, my “friend”?

Jack caught her eye from across the porch and gave her a sympathetic look before looking back at their elderly great-grandmother.

“Girlfriend, actually,” Kate corrected. “We’re dating. We’re a couple. Definitely not friends.”

“Right, of course.” Her grandfather winked at her, and she nearly screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day did not get much better.

When her grandmother came out, she was about as subtle as her husband had been about how she didn’t actually believe Kate and Eva were in love (maybe? In love felt a little bit strong, but it also seemed to be the best term for it and Kate didn’t have time to think of a better way to put it) and thought they were just good friends. Then, when she stood up to go and get her phone so she could show her aunt a picture of their cheer squad and Eva’s hand wasn’t covering her scar anymore, her aunt screamed and brought three people running, pinning all the attention on Kate in a really bad way.

After a few hours, Kate whispered something in Eva’s ear and stepped away, into the garage, trying to catch her breath and calm down. The door opened, and rather than being Eva or one of her brothers like she’d hoped, she opened her eyes to see her grandmother.

“I saw you leave and wanted to make sure you were okay, honey.”

“I’m fine, Grandma. Just needed a moment.” She clenched her teeth and prayed her grandmother would leave. She didn’t.

“Eva seems nice,” she continued.

“She is.” Kate almost started to hope that maybe, maybe, her grandmother would start to take her relationship seriously. “I’m lucky to have her.”

“You seem like really good friends.” Fuck, there it was.

“Okay, you know what? Knock it off!” Kate didn’t mean to blow up, but she couldn’t help it now. “It doesn’t matter how much you deny it, it’s not going to change the fact that I’m not the granddaughter you have in your head! I love Eva, okay? I love someone who’s name is Eva and not Evan. I love her and I’m a lesbian and I’m so tired of you not taking me and my relationships seriously like you do Jack and Derrick!” Then she stormed past her and up to her room, her eyes stinging with tears.

After about twenty minutes, there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Go away,” she mumbled.

“Katie?”

“Oh. You can come in.”

Eva opened the door and then closed it behind herself. “Are you okay? Your grandmother says you totally lost your shit at her.”

“I kinda did.”

“I’m not surprised.” Eva sat next to her, and Kate sat up and crawled into her arms. “They’ve been assholes to us all day.”

“I just really love you, Eva, and I want them to understand that.” Kate’s voice was muffled by Eva’s shirt. “I want them to take you seriously as my girlfriend and stop trying to deny it. I-I want them to accept that I’m not the perfect granddaughter they wanted. I’m not perfect.”

“And thank God. If you were perfect, how would I make fun of you for how atrocious you are at skateboarding? How would I keep you from fighting some people and watch you fight others?” Eva pulled her a little bit tighter and laid down, Kate still curled up in her arms. “I hate your grandparents, but I love you more.”

“Promise you’ll stay?”

“Promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone has that one relative who denies your sexuality, right? I’m not out to my family as lesbian, just as ace, and I still think they don’t quite get it. But hey, everyone’s got someone who has their back, right? I hope this was angsty enough!!!!!!

[speeding-fox]

Sorabon Vs. Porukabon: The Big Race! Enter Bolt Striker! [Part 1 of 2]

~~~~~~

Author's note:

This story takes place long before this story as well as both parts after it, and "~~~~" indicates a scene change, while ---- indicates the same scene from a different perspective.

~~~~~~

Synopsis: Sora and Polka decide to have a race to see who'll win (and claim bragging rights), and Polka and Dot's vehicle gets an upgrade. Some point during the race, Sora encounters a tough foe, and Polka realizes that some things are more important than victory.

~~~~~~

[At a park somewhere in Biida City.]

Wind gently blows as two kids, Sora and Polka, stare eachother down with narrowed eyes. The atmosphere around them seemed tense. 

"Did you really think you could defeat me, Porukabon?" Sora inquires as he glares Polka down.

"Heh, as small as you are, Sorabon, this will be a piece of cake, for me." Polka replied smugly while returning a glare.

"Your lame insult has no effect on me. When I take you down, I'll prove that size doesn't matter, and that cake will be mine!" Sora proclaims.

"Then bring it, Shorty!" Polka challenged.

The two then engage in an intense arm wrestling match over a tree stump as Tosukana, Dot, Tiiru, and Shian watched from afar. Tosukana facepalms. "There they go again." He groaned.

"After that fifteen minute Rock, Paper, Scissor's session, you'd think they'd let it go." Tiiru says.

"Porukabon is rather..."competitive."" Dot adds. "Once he gets challenged, he doesn't back down until the other side surrenders."

Tosukana sighs. "Sorabon is the same way, especially when he thinks someone's cheating, like earlier."

The three turn to Shian when they hear a bag crunching. "I don't know why you guys so annoyed." She grabs a handful of popcorn from the bag. "This is entertaining! Keep it up you two!" She raises the fist full of popcorn as she's cheering them on, some land on the ground, then stuffs her face with the stuff.

Tiiru furrows their brows at her. "Shianbon, don't encourage them!" They then stare at the bag of popcorn she's holding in bewilderment. "Where did you get that?" Shian looks down at the bag of popcorn in her hand, turns to her sibling to give them a shrug in response, then turns her gaze back to the two arm wrestlers and munches on more popcorn.

Sora sweats as he strains to pin Polka's arm as his arm was starting to lose strength, victory seemed to be within Polka's grasp, but there was no way Sora wanted to lose against the Rock, Paper, Cheater! Polka was ready to pin Sora's arm as he struggled to push back when he saw a beeron land on Polka's eyepatch, he got an idea. "Hey dude, a beeron just landed on your eyepatch."

Polka scoffs. "You're just saying that distract me from winning. I'm not falling for it!"

Dot chimes in. "Erm, Polka, he's not lying, there really is a beeron on your eyepatch."

Polka pauses as he was just about to pin Sora's arm, he hears a singular buzz, goes pale, and he lets go of Sora's arm and begins panicking. "AAAIIIIIEEEEEEEE! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!!! AAAAAAAAA!!!" He screams like a girl as he runs about, trying to get the beeron off his face.

"P-Porukabon! The beeron will sting you if you don't stop panicking!" Dot tried to shout admist her brother's screaming.

Polka was too busy shrieking to hear his sister's shouts. He soon trips on a rock, and the beeron flies off his eyepatch as if nothing happened before he fell face-flat onto the ground with a thud.

Dot cupped her hands over her mouth(?) and let out an "Oh dear.", Tosukana and Tiiru grimaced and let out an "Ooooh...", while Shian busts out laughing, mostly from not hearing Polka scream like a girl before, until Tiiru elbows her arm to shut her up. "Ow!" She rubs her arm as she glares at her sibling. "Hey! You had to have found that display at least a little funnnn-" She drones on the "n" when she sees Touskana and Dot giving her looks. "-nnnnevermind."

It was quiet for about a second, until Sora holds a fist up victoriously. "Hah! I win!"

Polka lifts himself from the ground, spitting out some dirt and grass before shaking more off, then turns to Sora with a look of disbelief. "No you didn't! That doesn't count!"

"Yes it does!" Sora argued. "You forfeited!"

"That's because I didn't expect there to be a beeron flying onto my face!" Polka argued back as he got to his feet.

"That's what you get for being lame and cheating at Rock, Paper, Scissors!~" Sora sung smugly.

Polka went over to him and was almost right in his face. "I told you, I didn't cheat, you little punk!"

Sora got right into his face and poked his chest. "You totally did, you Cheaty McCheater Pants!"

"Don't you poke me!" Polka hissed.

The two were exchanging death glares and growling at eachother, it was apparent a brawl was about to break out. "Uh oh." Tosukana muttered. "They're going to fight if someone doesn't do something."

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FI-" Chanted Shian, until Tiiru once again elbows her. "OW!"

"Shianbon, what did I say about encouraging them?!" Scolded Tiiru. She simply grumbled as she rubs her arm, during their exchange, Dot wheels over to the two boys, then raises her hands up to gesture them to calm down.

"Now boys," She starts; hearing her cause them stop growling and glaring with eachother and turn to her. "there's no need to get physical. I'm sure you two can come up with a better resolution than resorting to fist fighting. How about talking it out to reach a compromise?"

"Or having a race with your vehicles!?" Shian butted in. Tosukana and Tiiru stare at her.

"No Shianbon. A having race is a bad-" Tosukana tried to tell her it was a bad idea, but he was cut off by Sora and Polka simultaneously yelling "That's a great idea!"

"Great..." Tosukana mumbled.

"Boys, I'm sure there is a better-" Dot tries to say, but she gets ignored.

"I'm so gonna win!" Proclaimed Polka.

Sora scoffs, crosses his arms, and closes his eyes. "Psh, as if, not with your lame little hovercar."

"Excuse me?!" Snapped Polka.

"Porukabon, my Sky-Soarer can fly at high speeds to out-fly a jet-plane." Sora opens his eyes and uncrosses his arms to point at Polka. "Your vehicle can only go as fast as a regular car can, but if you want to try and outrace me, I'd like to see you try."

Polka growls. "Grrr, fine then, Pipsqueak! Tomorrow after lunch, at Biida Canyon, we'll race to finally prove who the REAL winner is, and I WILL win!"

Sora chuckles. "We'll see about." He turns around to leave the park. "See you tomorrow, and you better not cheat! Laters!"

"Is it just me, or does Sorabon get obnoxious when he gets all cocky?" Tosukana asks as Sora leaves.

"He also gets obnoxious when he's "heroing," so no, it's not just you." Tiiru replies.

"Not as obnoxious as you can get, Tiirubon." Teased Shian.

Tiiru snaps back. "Hey! I am not obnoxious!"

Shian rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, sib."

Polka grumbles, and begins talking to himself. "Grr, Sora you brat! I hate to admit it, but he's right about the hovercar, it won't be able to out-fly Sky-Soarer with its max speed being the same as a car's," He pauses, then his eye slowly widen as a great idea dawns on him, while everyone else stares at him awkwardly as he monologues. "unleesss it gets an upgrade!" He glances to his sister. "Dottobon, come on! We're going to Triple G's Lab."

He sprints off with Dot trailing behind him, not expecting him to suddenly bolt. "Polka! Slow down! Oh dear..."

Tosukana turns to Shian and says sarcastically: "Thanks for your brilliant idea, Shian."

"Hey, no need to be all sarcastic, Tucker. There's going to be a race tomorrow! Aren't you at least a little excited?" Shian questioned Tosukana.

He simply stares at her, unamused, and clearly not excited. "Actually, no, I'm not."

Tiiru adds in: "Apparently they also forgot there was going to be a storm tomorrow."

Unbeknownst to the group, the Neo Devil Trio was watching everything unfold from the shadows of the bushes from afar. The three ducked down once the show was over. Dandylion shook their fists in excitement and squeals "Oooohhhh hhhhoooo! A race! That sounds so exciting!"

"It also sounds like something Lucy would be into." Hades remarks.

"Meh, I'll pass." Lucifer replies nonchalantly.

"Whaaat?! But Luuucyyyy," Dandylion whines. "I thought you liked racing!"

"You have a collection of toy cars to prove it." Hades added.

"Yeah, and?" Lucifer inquires as he raises a brow. "I rather not race against those brats, and besides, no point in racing if there isn't gonna be an award."

"There could be an award though. Every race has to have an award for the person whom finishes first." What Hades is saying has Lucifer's full attention. "Go on."

Hades continues. "That reward is usually a nice, shiny golden trophy while the second and third place get the mediocre silver and bronze trophies, and the winner also gets full bragging rights." 

"And we both know how much you like to flex on people.~" Dandylion chimed in.

It took a moment for Lucifer to think about it, before saying: "You're both right. If I win, not only will I get a trophy," He presses his fist on his hand and rubs it for emphasis. "I will get the satisfaction of rubbing in the brats' faces!" He glances to his sister. "Hades, do you have a plan?"

"You know I always do, but it might be a bit, shall I say, "cheatsy."" She answered.

Lucifer smirked. "Who said I wanted to win fairly?"

~~~~~~

[Inside Graybon Hakese's Lab.]

"An upgrade?" The eldery Biidaman questioned Polka as he twirls an end of his white mustache. "Of course, Porukabon, but why for?"

"Because Sorabon and I are having a race tomorrow, and I want this hovercar upgraded so it can outspeed his Sky-Soarer, as well as to prove to him I'm a winner and no cheater!" Polka shouts with a fire of determination in his eye.

Graybon grumbles. "Oh of course that rascal has you riled up again." He sighed. "Fine, I'll upgrade it for you, but I'm not working on it by myself."

"You got it, sir! Dot and I will be sure to help!" Dot turned to her twin upon being volunteered unwillingly. "You and me? Polka, are you sure about that?"

"Yeah!" Polka assured.

"I don't know, Polka, I'm not sure if I can-" Polka cuts her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Of course you can! C'mon Dotto, think about all the new stuff you could learn by helping me upgrade our hovercar hands on. You did say you wanted to try something big one day, and this is your chance!" Polka hoped saying this will encourage her to say yes.

"I rather have you and Sorabon talk it out, a race could be dangerous, especially considering it's going to storm tomorrow." Implored Dot.

Polka got down on his knees, holds his hands together, and looks at her with a pleading puppy dog eye. "Pleeeease Dottobon, pretty pleeeaaase help me make our hovercar go faster. Pleeeeeaase?" He begs in a somewhat squeaky voice.

A drop appears on the side of her head as she stares at her brother, unsure of what to think. Dot has never seen her brother pull this stunt on her before, but he is her brother, and it's not like she has much of a choice, their only mode of transport home was in the vehicle bay because of Polka's competitive brashness/need for victory. She thought about her twin's plea, then sighs. "Okay, I'll help. Getting to learn something new could help us in the future."

Polka sprang up and hugged his sister. "Oh thank you thank you thank you so much, Dottobon!" After thanking her, he pointed towards the supply closet and tool shed. "Now let's get started!" He starts making his way to the slide-open doors, but stops and turns to Graybon. "Oh, and Triple G, can you call down Aobon-san and Baiorettobon and ask if they could also help out? We need all hands on deck here!"

"Oh, ahm, of course." Assured Hakese.

"Thanks, Triple G! You're the best!" And with that, Polka makes a break for the supply closet and tool shed.

Graybon and Dot watch him run ahead, then Graybon turns to her. "Your brother sure is..."something," when he gets competitve, Dottobon."

Dot replies with: "Yes, yes he really is."

[Cue montage of the hovercar being worked on, from the planning, to the designing, to the inner workings, to updating the design, and Polka painting lightning bolts and strikes on his side of the hovercar (and polka dots on Dot's side at her request); everyone had breaks inbetween of course! With this montage, a few hours only seemed like a few seconds!] 

Once he was done painting, Polka let out a "Phew." as he wipes his head with a sweat rag and backs up along with everyone present to admire his and their hours of handiwork. The upgraded hovercar definitely looks a lot better, bigger, and especially looks faster. "Wow, this looks great!" Dot chirps. "Good job everyone!"

"Yeah, nice job everybody! Thank you! Now with this," Polka rubs his hands together. "now I'll surely be able to beat Sorabon in the race with this, er, with my half!"

~~~~~~

[The next day, sometime after lunch.]

A crowd had gathered around the large plateau. None of the kids (whom were stationed at a table with a tarp over them incase it rains, and dawned a headset and mic) had anticipated so many biidaman to come to spectate Sora and Polka's race. How did they all know that a race was taking place?

"Sheesh." Tosukana mutters as he glances around the large crowd. "I didn't expect a crowd to come and watch a race between just two kids."

"How could they all have known? They weren't around during Sorabon and Porukabon's argument, were they?" Dot wondered aloud as she glances around as well.

"Anyone that were around didn't seem interested." Tiiru noted as they spot Shiro talking to some biidaman. "Hey, Shirobon-san!" They call out, and once they caught his attention, they wave him over. "Over here!"

Shiro ambled over to the group. "Heya kiddos, you guys need anything?"

"Just a question answered. How and why are there so many biidaman here?" Asked Tiiru. "None of them were around when Sorabon and Porukabon fought."

"Oh, that's because I made flyers!" Shiro answered as he takes out a flyer that appeared from nothing and shows them. On the flyer in big bold red letters read 'A BIG RACE! SORABON VS. PORUKABON! COME TO BIIDA CANYON TO WATCH THE SHOW! NO PAYMENT REQUIRED!'. "Sorabon told me he and Porukabon were gonna have a race, and he asked me to make flyers and post then all around the city."

Tosukana groaned. "Of course he did..."

"He probably did that to get a bigger head." Tiiru remarks, and right after they say that, guess who happens to show up in his Sky-Soarer. "Speak of the devil..."

As Sora sets his vehicle into neutral, opens the hood of Sky-Soarer, and proclaims confidently: "The winner has arrived!"

"Oh geez..." Tosukana and Tiiru jeered hushedly to themselves.

"There you are, champ! Ready to race?" Shiro chirps.

"Heh, of course I am, Dad! Why would you even ask?" Answers Sora.

Shiro gives his son a wink. "Just askin' cuz I'm rooting for ya. By the way, it might storm here pretty soon, so I want you to be careful out there, sport, alright?"

Sora was staring ahead at the starting line. "Yeah, careful, sure." He takes Sky-Soarer out of neutral, and hovers it forward until it was a couple feet behind it. Tosukana muttered under his breath: "Something tells me he ignored the careful part."

"Shirobon-san." Dot called out, making Shiro turn around. 

"Yes, Dottobon- Oh..." He sheepishly rubs the back of his, seeing as she now has a disappointed look for him not supporting her brother. "Sorry Dottobon, Sorabon is my son, so I pretty much have to be supportive and cheer him on." 

"No Shirobon-san, I understand." "Weelll, not just that, I've also made a bet with your dad that Sorabon is gonna beat Porukabon." Shiro points afar at Kiiro, who's handing out hot dogs while chanting "HOT DOGS! COME GET YER HOT DOGS! THEY'RE ONLY 2 BUCKS! GIT'EM WHILE THEY'RE HOT!", then adds "IF YA THINK MUH SON, PORUKABON WILL WIN, I'LL THROW IN AN EXTRA HOT DOG FOR FREE!"

Dot sighed. "That's so like you two."

"But I do wish your brother luck, and don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I have Crys-Whiter parked nearby." Assured Shiro as he gestured to his mecha a fair distance away. "By the way, good job getting the roles of spokespeople you four, I'm sure you guys will do a great job. Now if you need me for anything else," He points behind him towards some food tents set up. "I'll be over by the food tents, I heard they're having a bake sale." The kids thank him and he goes towards the food tents like he said.

"Speaking of food..." Tiiru turns to Shian, who's been oddly quiet the whole time, to see she's surrounded by food she bought, and munching on some snacks with her feet propped up on the table. "Did you have to get so much?" She responds by shrugging, and continues eating. "I hope you're planning on sharing some of those."

"Hey, Dottobon." "Yes, Tucker?" "Where's your brother?" He asked her while looking all around. "With you here, he's usually nearby, but I don't see him."

Dot replies with: "He said something about making a "dramatic entrance."

Sora scoffs. "Or maybe he wussied out cuz he knows he can't outspeed Sky-Soarer."

A voice echoes from far behind him. "As if, Shortcake!" Everyone turns to see a hovercar fast approaching, not just any hovercar, but Polka's hovercar! 

"What on E-, WHAT?!" was all Sora could yell as Polka zoomed over, and stops perfectly at the same distance away from the starting line as Sora's Sky-Soarer. Once he parked in neutral, Polka opens his vehicle's hood, then turns to the awestruck Sora with a smug look, and the crowd is in awe at Polka's hovercar.

"Polka, what the heck is that?!" Sora yelled as he points at Polka's vehicle.

"Sorabon, meet Bolt-Striker! You were right about my hovercar just being a regular car, so with some help, I went and got it upgraded to make it bigger and go much faster, faster than your Sky-Soarer!" Polka claimed as he gestured to his vehicle.

Sora didn't anticipate Polka going out of his way to get his vehicle upgraded, let alone give it a cool new look, paint job, and name. "While I admit that it does look cool, there's no way it will outspeed Sky-Soarer!" Sora proclaims as he hops into his vehicle.

Shian looks to Dot. "I guess that explains why you updated "Yellow-Flighterbug," huh Dot?"

Dot lightly blushes. "Yeah." She says, softly.

"You did a great job! Both halves look awesome!" Shian exclaims.

Dot blushes more from her compliments. "A-Actually, Polka did the painting, including the spots on Yellow-Flighterbug on my request, and I only helped with the design." "So? You still did an awesome job!" "Th-Thank you, Shian."

While awaiting for the race to begin, Polka gazes down to something in his hand: a card with gilded rims, with the letters "B" and "C" both bold, and crimson in color, in the center surrounded by a yellowish-orange sphere shooting out bolts of lightning. When he first received it, he was initially stoked to finally get a card of his own, and customized nonetheless. He recalled what Graybon Hakese told him after he give him the card though. ["The card functions the same as Tiirubon's, Sorabon's, and Tosukana Akabon's Junior Rank Biida-Cop cards, however, I've encountered an issue with it not syncing up with your Bolt-Striker. I do not know what the issue may be, but perhaps you could find a way. Porukabon."]

"Perhaps I could find a way..." He mumbles to himself. His gaze turns to the oncoming storm, before his gaze gets fixed back to his card. "Hmmm..."

"Looking at your cheat sheet?" Sora quipped to Polka, and snapped him out of his focus.

Polka stores his card in a compartment before turning to Sora and shooting him a glare. "No, and it's not a cheat sheet!"

Sora raises a brow. "Uh huh, sure. There you go with lying again."

The two begin to argue. "I'm not LYING!" "You know, if you just admitted you cheated at Rock, Paper, Scissors, we wouldn't be having a race." "I told you. I. DID. NOT. CHEAT!" "Yes you did! I saw you change it at the last second!" "I DID NOT!"

As the two kids argued, the crowd talked amongst themselves with the new information they just heard. "This race is over a simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors?" "How petty."

Shian was sitting back, watching the show as she munched on snacks, while Dot, Tosukana, and Tiiru awkwardly watched them verbally fight from the table. "To think we're friends with those two..." Tosukana whispered audibly.

Something in the far distance catches Dot's eye, and she thought to inform the others. "Guys, what's that?" She points to said object as it's closing in fast, prompting the others to look as well.

Turns out, the object was Lucifer and his vehicle. As he arrives, he settles himself between the arguing kids, stopping them from arguing further. "If you don't mind me interrupting your bickering, I'd like to participate in your race."

"Lucifer?!" Sora called out.

"That's me." Lucifer responded.

"The heck you doing here?! This race is against me and Sorabon only!" Barked Polka.

"The flyer didn't say anything about other not being allowed to join, did it? No." Lucifer nonchalantly digressed.

Sora quickly checks the flyer he just so happened to have to prove him wrong, but nowhere on the flyer did it say that others can't join. "Shoot! Forgot to tell dad to include that detail!" He tosses the flyer aside to glare at Lucifer.

 "You may be right, but you're still up to something." Polka states sternly, eye narrowed.

"Yeah. This is probably another one of you and your sibling's lame schemes. Speaking of which, where are they?" Sora looks around for the remaining two Neo Devil siblings.

Lucifer points out his siblings by the sidelines and corrects Sora. "They're right over there." Dandylion and Hades wave at their brother. "And actually, we're not up to anything for once. I'm just here to have fun and they're just there to cheer me on." On cue, the two Neo Devil siblings whistle and cheer on their brother.

Despite his insistance that he's only here to participate in the race, Sora and Polka knew better than to trust Lucifer's word, he and his siblings are always up to something whenever they're around, and he has no other reason to join other than to pull something, but at the moment, they can't prove it. They may not be on good terms right now, but they shared a look of knowing. "Just don't try anything shady." Polka finally muttered. Their attention turns to Tiiru as they blow a whistle and step near the starting line whilst holding a large checkered flag.

They raise the flag to point up at the large floating screen above, which showed a map of the route they're going to take around the Canyon. "Because Biida Canyon is so vast, there will be one lap. The path shown will be the route you're all taking to avoid getting lost, so avoid using shortcuts if you can, and no cheating!" They announced as they then use the flag to point at a floating camera. "There are these floating cameras spread throughout the Canyon to record your progress, so try to avoid ramming into them." The screen now shows a gold trophy. "First Biidaman to make it back here is the winner! Now racers, on your marks!"

The trio reach for their controls. "3!" Hands on their controls at the ready, they close their vehicles' hoods so they don't get wet incase it rains, then they look ahead. "2!" Sweat rolls down their heads as Tiiru gets ready to lower the flag. "1!" Their grips on their controls becomes firm as they prepare to floor it, and Tiiru waves the flag downward. "GO!"

None of the racers hesitated, and they all zoomed off, and because they were so close to the starting line, poor Tiiru ended up getting spun like a tornado for a bit before they stopped, all dizzy, eyes swirling, and wobbly. They dazily babble something unintelligible, then they collapse to the ground. "I'll just...laaaaay heeeere for a few miiinutes." Nobody notices the remaining two Devil siblings nod to eachother and sneak off once the three racers took off, and Dot and Tosukana were busy discussing who should check on Tiiru.

Shian pauses her snackfest to call out to them. "Yo, Ti! You aight, sib?"

They raise their hand up to hold up one digit, and they dazily reply "I was a "Tiinado." Heeheehee."

"Yup, they're gonna be fine." She told the two, then goes back to her snackfest.

Tosukana sighs and gets up from his chair. "I'll drag them back over here so they don't get wet when it rains." He goes over to them, and does exactly what he said he was going to do, shortly after he gets Tiiru and their flag back under the tarp, it begins raining; the biidaman that forgot to bring an umbrella take shelter in the tents. "Huh. I brought them back just in time."

"I hope Porukabon and Sorabon will be alright out there." Dot says out of concern as she stares into the direction the racers took off in as it poured.

"Don't worry, Dotto, I'm sure they'll fine. They can handle some rain." Shian assured her.

~~~~~~

The three racers fly through the canyon, all three are even in speed. Lucifer cuts in first, but is soon overtaken by Sora. The kid pulls down his eyelid and goes "Nah nah!" in a taunting manner, not noticing Polka pull ahead of him. When he does notice, he yells: "Hey! I was busy taunting Lucifer!"

"Should've been paying to what's ahead of you then, so you don't fall behind!" Polka quips before darting ahead.

Sora growls. "HEY!" He speeds after him.

Lucifer calls out to his siblings through his telecom. "The two brats are ahead of me. Are you two in position?"

"Positioned behind some walls obscuring anyone's view of us? Yes we are, brother." Hades replies back through the aircraft's telecom.

He chuckles. "Perfect."

~~~~~~

"Porukabon and Sorabon are head-to-head! The two make it to narrow ravine! Ohhh! They barely manage to squeeze outta there!" Shian exclaims through the speakers as she's standing on her chair. "Sorabon does an amazing barrel roll after going under that archway, and- ooooh! Holy crap! Porukabon grazes a stone and spins out, but he manages to recover and get back in the game! Sorabon's now in the lead and oh my bom this is getting INTENSE!" She stomps a foot onto the table as she scream "intense," startling the rest of the group, and almost spills their drinks.

"Shianbon, sit down! You almost spilled our drinks!" Tiiru loudly reprimands, and ushers her back into her seat, to which she is now pouting. Tiiru chuckles awkwardly. "Hehe, sorry about that, everyone. My sister can get very excitable during these events."

~~~~~~

Throughout most of the race, "bolts of lightning" would strike atop pillars of rock and cause an avalanche of debris to fall. These avalanches would slow down Sora and Polka and have them take a detour. One instance the two had to completely come to a halt so they couldn't get caught in the rockfall, and their slow down gets Lucifer to steal the lead. They blame the storm for the cause of these rockfalls as they speed after him, of the two of them though, only Sora was beginning to notice how "convenient" the "lightning" would strike as the two get close to their route, and Polka was too focused on taking the lead to take this into account. One particular rockfall occurs as they're about to catch up to Lucifer, and cuts them off from him. From behind the newly formed stone wall, they hear his taunt echo to them. "Later losers!" As well as hearing him take off.

Polka slams his fists down on the control panel and growls out of frustration. "Come ON!"

The duo get the same idea of flying over the tall craggy wall instead of taking a detour. Polka bolts on ahead after Lucifer once he flew over, Sora was about to do the same thing, but something dark sticking out of the side of a stone pillar caught his attention. "Huh? What's that?" He flies on over to get a better look to find it was the Devil sibling's aircraft, the two seem to be too busy gloating to notice him.

Dandylion laughs. "Ooohoohoohoooo! That slowed the two brats down good!"

"Indeed, the two will have a difficult time trying to catch up to him now." Hades bragged to her sibling.

"Shall we cause more avalanches?" Dandylion asks.

"Only if they somehow catch up to Lucy, but I doubt it with how long it took to get over that wall." Hades answered, then laughed.

It all clicked for Sora. He knew those rockfalls weren't caused by natural causes, they were all acts of sabotage! "I knew it!"

Hearing Sora yell suddenly startled the siblings and prompted them to turn around. "GAH! SORABON?!" Screamed Hades.

"I knew those rockfalls were all too convenient!" Sora shouts at them. "You were trying to cheat Lucifer into winning by sabotaging me and Porukabon!"

"No! We were simply watching him!" Hades lies.

Sora calls out her bluff. "I literally just heard you both talk about causing the avalanches! And watching him while trying to stay out of me and Polka's sight behind a bunch of stones is too suspicious!"

"Uuhhhh-." Beads of sweat appear on the sides of Hades's head as she tries to come up with a response, but couldn't think of one as Sora is now firing double shots at the sibling's aircraft.

Dandylion yelps as the ship gets hit. "Aah!" They thrust the control sticks forward. "F-Fly away!!" The ship flies forward speedily, and Sora and his Sky-Soarer are now in hot pursuit of the siblings, still firing at them as they chase them down.

~~~~~~

Lucifer listened to some rock music and was singing confidently about how he will win the race and have the privilege of rubbing his shiny new trophy in Sora's and Polka's faces. When he hears his telecom going off, he groans, turns off his music, and answers. "What's going on?" He asked, annoyed.

"The blue brat found us out!" Hades shouts through the telecom. "And he's chasing us down and firing at us! We need you back here to help us!"

Lucifer groans loudly. "Can't you two handle him on your own? I'm getting so close to winning here."

"We could if it wasn't pouring!" Hades yells. "Please get your butt over here, Lucy!"

Another loud groan from Lucifer. "Ugh, fine! I'll be over there asap!" He ends the call. "The things I do for the both of you, I swear."

Lucifer does a u-turn and bolts off into the other direction, zooming past Polka on his way to his sibling. Polka glances behind him. "Why the heck is he turning around?" That thought quickly dissipates onces he realizes he's in first. "Wait, if he's turning around, then that means I'm in first! Ha haa!" He laughs victoriously gazes foward. "Finish line, here I come!"

~~~~~~

The Devil siblings were chased into a dead end. Sora had them cornered, ready to fire at them once more. The two were in a panic.

"Oh dear! Oh dear! Dead end!" Dandylion shouted hurriedly.

"Nowhere to run now, Devil Dorks!" Sora yelled, charging up some shots that will send them blasting off again.

The siblings braced themselves for impact, but luckily for them, Lucifer arrives in time, and he rams into Sky-Soarer to knock it out of the way before it fired at his siblings again. Sora screamed as Sky-Soarer flew through the air until it crashed front-first into a pile of gravel. His eyes swirled as he groans. "The canyon is spinning..."

"Lucy, you saved us!" Dandylion cried out of relief.

"Yes, I did, but if I lose this race because of you guys, you both owe me." Lucifer stated firmly.

Sora shakes his head once he gets over his daze, then he checks for any damages, aside from a few scratches, and a mild dent on the left side, his plane is still functional. He gets it back up and flying in no-time, and flies back to face the siblings. "You jerk!" He bellows at Lucifer. "Not only was I right about you being up to no good and you not intending to win fairly, you dented my Sky-Soarer!"

"And I would've won by now if you didn't have a keen eye and meddled." Lucifer states. "Since you now know about our plan, I can't let you leave!"

A dark glow surrounds Lucifer, and shapes begin to form around his body, when the glow fades, he's now armored. The hood of his vehicle opens up, he jumps up, and shouts "TYRANTULA, HEADS ON!" as he backflips, spins in the air for a bit, then transforms into the head, and attaches to his transformed vehicle, now a robotic body. He poses menacingly once the transformation was complete.

He flies forward a bit to tower over the now intimidated Sora. Lucifer could easily just send him crashing down into the canyon, but that would more time than he wanted, he still wanted to win, so he came up with another idea. He glances to his siblings.

"You two have an idea of what I should scan?" He asks them confidently.

"Oh! Oh! How about scanning that pile of boulders over there?" Dandylion enthusiastically points over to said pile of boulders.

"Boulders?" Hades questioned.

"Yeah! Boulders are reaaally heavy and tough, aren't they?" Dandylion inquires.

"So you're saying if Lucifer makes a Biidaroid from scanning the boulders, said Biidaroid will be tough for the brat to defeat?" Hades, once again, questioned.

"Yup!" Dandylion chirped.

"Sounds like a great idea to me!" Lucifer affirmed as he swats Sky-Soarer out of the the way, and scans the boulder pile.

"WAAAAH!!! NOT AGAAAAIN!!!" Shrieked Sora as Sky-Soarer flipped uncontrollably. Luckily, he manages to regain control and recover right before he crashed again, not into a gravel pile, but onto a platfrom that was conveniently below him and his foes. He let out a sigh of relief. "Phew..."

That brief moment of relief lasted for merely a moment. A sudden boom, not from thunder, but from something crashing into the ground, causes him to jump out of his seat and let out a yelp. "YIKES!"

There was a cloud of dust, so Sora couldn't see what it was that landed, until the dust quickly clears because of the rain. Towering in front of was a Biidaroid made of stones and boulders. "HOLY FIDDLY-STICKS!" He screamed.

"Have fun with our friend, Rocky, kid!" Lucifer taunted before flying off, with his siblings close behind.

"Hey! Get back- WHA!" Sora tried to yell after him, but he had to dodge out of the way of Rocky's swing and fly some distance away behind the enemy. "Gah, I can't defeat it like this!" He glances down to Sky-Soarer's compartment, opens it up, and takes out his Junior Biida-Cop Card. "Time to ready up!"

He opens the hood, and back-flips out. "Junior Cop Sorabon, ready up!" He shouts as he holds up his now glowing card. He gets enveloped by gusts of wind, briefly turns into a glowing light-blue tornado, then bursts out, now dawning his armor!

He shouts "Sky-Soarer, HEADS ON!" as he does another backflip, spins in the air briefly, then transforms into a head for his soon-to-be mechanized body; Sky-Soarer shifts into a body for Sora, the two link up and became one! Lightning disperses behind him as Sora poses once the transformation complete!

The rocky foes turns around just in time to see Sora's completed transformation, and charging up his attack. "Alright, Rocky! Let's see if you can handle this! Double BiiDA SHOOT!" 

He fires two charged shots at the Biidaroid, and BAM! "Ha-haaa! Direct hit!" Sora pumps up his robotic fist, thinking he won, however, it was soon revealed that the enemy was completely unscathed from his attack. Sora was stunned!

"The-They didn't do anything?!" He stammered out. "But those were charged!"

It was now Rocky turn. It lifts and aims its heavy arm cannons at Sora, and shoots large stone projectiles at him. "WAH!" He manages to get out of the way of them before he got hit. Those giant rocks were now embedded in the wall Sora was just standing in front of moments ago.

"Oh man, this guy means business!" He stands tall. "But I can't back down from this fight now! I'll find some way to beat you!"

~~~~~~

[okietokiee]

Fic: Söt (Ch. 1)

Summary: Skwisgaar comes to terms with some extremely un-metal, disgustingly mushy feelings he has for the new kid. (Pre-Klok, right after the audition)

Rating: Teen

Chapters: 1/5

Pairings: Skwisgaar Skwigelf/Toki Wartooth

Notes: This is my first Skwistok fic and it’s basically an excuse to make Skwisgaar suffer badly over the fact that he finds Toki insanely, irredeemably fucking adorable and he can’t stand it LOL 

Also, apologies for any mistakes! 

Skwisgaar Skwigelf was not a man known for being overly emotional. He was an absolute charmer to the young and old groupies alike, but he kept a definite distance between himself and his bedmates, ever the polite, handsome, closed-off gentleman that always sent off his multiple lovers with a suave kiss to the hand and a non-committal wink, hinting at a second round that was unlikely to ever occur.

His blase, cool-tempered nature did nothing but draw even more blushing ladies to him, each more provocatively-dressed and seductive than the last. Even the GMILFs often primped themselves up a bit for him, wearing their silkiest, shiniest nightgowns and bonnets.

But no matter what, Skwisgaar kept a certain air of nonchalance around him and he knew exactly how it drove the ladies wild.

Skwisgaar would’ve been content living his days like this forever; known as the golden, emotionally-constipated adonis that could fulfill every woman’s ultimate fantasies, as long as those fantasies included nothing about a relationship or commitment.

He’d never even felt much emotional pull towards anyone in his life, not even the sexiest groupies that loitered around after a show.

Skwisgaar attributed it to the fact that no one was interesting enough to catch his eye in any way. He was a God of guitar and sex, and regardless of how much the groupies’ skimpy outfits and embroidered aprons tugged at his loins, they never tugged at his heart.

At least, that used to be the case.

Hell, it would be so much easier for Skwisgaar if it would stay that way because he’s extremely happy with his life, thank you very much. He’s a handsome, collected gentleman with refined tastes and raunchy habits.

And these are the reasons he can’t fucking wrap his head around whatever it is he’s started feeling whenever he’s around his band’s new rhythm guitarist.

The audition for the new rhythm went a lot more unpredictably than he’d originally expected, and he ended up going against his own whims and hiring some kid on the spot.

And that’s the perfect description for the guy. He couldn’t be older than 16, which was practically a child in Skwisgaar’s opinion when compared to his 25 years on earth. Toki was his name and he was young, naive, and as hilariously out of touch with American culture as Skwisgaar once was when he first immigrated.

The kid normally wouldn’t even cause a blip in Skwisgaar’s radar, let along change his course completely. Now, in the comforts of his small, dingy room in his tiny, rundown apartment, Skwisgaar rapidly fingerpicking his guitar, questioning his sanity.

He wouldn’t lie and say that he was completely oblivious to his reasons though. Shocked and appalled, yes, but regardless of what his broken english suggested he was not completely daft to the inner workings of his own mind. The kid had something about him. It wasn’t just ambition and it wasn’t just talent. There had been plenty of those types who had auditioned before him that Skwisgaar completely blew out of the water. Boring mechanical techniques and overconfident arrogance was no match for the brilliant and dexterity Skwisgaar could exhibit with his eyes closed.

No, the kid was special somehow. And it was driving Skwisgaar crazy trying to put his finger on what, why, and how this Toki seemed to shine brighter than a blazing star when he played. He can honestly say without a doubt that he’d never felt that intoxicating burst of pure energy while playing in his life.

The guitar is his heart and his music the blood that flows through it and keeps it beating. It’s the only thing that he can say, with no hesitation, brings him pure unadulterated joy and satisfaction.

The feeling of playing his music was a feeling he never thought anything in the world could top; the best drugs or hottest groupies in the world would never best the feeling of his explorer in his hands, creating the godly music that effortlessly flows through his fingertips

He never thought it could possibly get any better. At least, until that kid showed up and showed him exactly what it meant to rise to the highest precipice of his art, experience the exhilarating speed of music pouring out of his soul, and for once in his life, experience this with a kindred spirit, the first person he’s ever met who could so closely match him riff for riff. Regardless of Toki’s abrupt downfall, Skwisgaar was still awestruck at what the boy was capable of.

The fact that this short, half-starved runt that looked like he’d been living off the streets can just waltz in with his beaten up Gibson and push Skwisgaar to higher limits he did not even conceive as possible; it was infuriating and intoxicating all in the same breath.

This young boy with his familiar accent and friendly demeanor. His big, blue eyes and his soft chocolate hair.

Fuck, his existence alone was doing something to Skwisgaar and he couldn’t stand it.

Those eyes were just too blue! He’d never seen anything like them before, even in Sweden, he didn’t remember ever seeing such big, icy eyes that did something to him he felt too disturbed by to acknowledge.

Suddenly, Skwisgaar was interrupted from his pensive musing by a hesitant knock on his door.

“Comes in.”

Slowly the door opened and the pair of blue eyes driving Skwisgaar mad with something he can’t explain peeked through.

“Um… H-hellos Misters Skwisgaar, Nathans told mes I shoulds asks you if I can sleeps in here tonights... Is that alrights with yous?”

Toki, the poor lad, was tensed up and visibly nervous, bracing himself for a rejection and scolding for bothering Skwisgaar after strict instructions to leave him alone and find something to entertain himself with the rest of the band in the living room.

Skwisgaar was exhausted after a long day of battling mediocre guitarists, he wanted some reprieve from everyone and everything. If any of the other members had bothered him when he was in one of his moods, that would be grounds for a litany of angry, barely-understandable curse words, but this was different. Skwisgaar sat up from his bed, setting his Gibson down next to him, and gave Toki a slight, indifferent nod.

“Fines. Just donts be makings too much of the noises. I’m tryings to write a new solos.”

“Yes, Misters Skwisgaar! Toki will be quiets! You won’t evens knows I’s here!” Toki smiled widely, making a move to presumably leave and retrieve his meager belongings.

“Toki.”

Skwisgaar spoke too fast to stop himself. Toki gave him a confused look and Skwisgaar was internally facepalming.

“Justs… calls me Skwisgaar. I’m nots a olds grandpas yet!” He tried to laugh off his mistake.

Toki’s smile brightened even more, something Skwisgaar didn’t think was possible. “Yes Skwisgaar! Tank yous!”

And with that he was off.

It was apparent that Nathan had decided to pawn off the new kid to Skwisgaar for tonight and likely every other night in the foreseeable future until they can figure out a better living arrangement.

Out of every member of the band, Skwisgaar was the only one who had his own place. It was a ratty one-bedroom on the bad side of town, but it was his. Pickles and Nathan rented a considerably nicer place together as roommates, where they did most of their recordings, and Murderface crashed (lived) on their couch more often than not.

After they discovered Toki was basically homeless, it made sense Nathan would lump them together. The two matching Scandinavian guitarists, of course Nathan would force them together like two peas in a pod. Didn’t mean Skwisgaar couldn’t complain about it.

“Tsk. Fuckins racist.”

“Whats you say Skwisgaar?”

Skwisgaar was startled up.

“Eeuugh! Toki, don’ts comes in without knockins.”

Toki looked sheepish. “Sorries… I just wants to says I gots a sleepinks bag from Pickle! It’s… uh… okays if I sleeps now?” Toki stumbled through.

This made Skwisgaar pause. He took the moment to give Toki a long, hard look, something he hadn’t done since the kid completely changed his perception on guitar playing completely. Looking closely, he saw the obvious signs of exhaustion on Toki’s face, his sunken cheeks and dark, baggy eyes. Skwisgaar assumed its been a while since Toki had a comfortable place to sleep and a roof over his head. And a shower too now that he thought about it, seeing Toki’s clean hair and skin which was hidden under a layer of grime just a few hours ago. Did he eat? Surely the rest of the guys would’ve gotten something, though Skwisgaar was prone to skipping meals. Because the kid was definitely in desperate need of a meal-

“Skwisgaar?”

Snapped out of his train of thoughts, Skwisgaar forced himself to regain a mask of indifference.

“Yeahs, go aheads Toki. I was abouts to bes sleepinks too.” Skwisgaar waved to a plush white rug parallel to his bed to signal for Toki to take that spot. “Turns off the lights.”

Toki happily obeyed and curled up on the soft faux fur rug Skwisgaar was oddly attached to.

A few minutes ticked by in complete darkness and Skwisgaar was tense in the dead silence. Then, all too abruptly, Toki broke it.

“Ah… Skwisgaar?”

Skwisgaar forced himself to relax and apathetically replied, “Yes Toki.”

“Toki just wanteds to says… tank you. I am sos happies I mades it to the audiktions. Toki promiskes you won’ts regrets this. Good nights.” Toki said gratefully with an obvious smile in his tone.

Skwisgaar was speechless. And he remained speechless, until he heard Toki’s soft snoring fill the room. Of course he deserved to be thanked. He was the lead guitarist of Dethklok, a master of his craft. It was an act of true goodwill, him letting this runaway kid join them. Hell, Skwisgaar didn’t need much to fill his ego and he expected all mere peasants to be grateful for whatever he deans to give them.

But this was different. What Toki said, those innocuous, meek words, they didn’t fill Skwisgaar with the usual self-importance. They made him feel strange. Like there was a twisting in his gut and a disturbing pit in his chest that almost felt warm and mushy. The shit normal people probably feel when they see a newborn kitten. Not Skwisgaar though, he was the stone-cold adonis, even kittens didn’t soften his heart. Regardless of how soft their fur is, or how big and beautiful their eyes are, or fuzzy their tiny little paws-

“Euugh!” Skwisgaar let out an involuntary sneer which he quickly quieted. He chanced a glance at Toki’s still snoring form and breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes, fine, maybe kittens had certain characteristics about them that were pretty nice, but Skwisgaar was confused at his train of thought. Whatever it was that Toki made Skwisgaar feel, it was reminiscent of the yucky, gooey emotions small animals inspired in him as well.

Skwisgaar had no clue what to do with that fact, but his exhaustion was finally catching up with him. With a sigh, he rolled over, and fell asleep to the rhythmic snoring of one Toki Wartooth.

[ill-skillsgard]

Phoenix Rising, Part 6 - Valter Skarsgård

Title: Phoenix Rising

Description: The struggle for domination is paved with deceit and destructive lust as two enemies battle it out for control night after night.

Warning: 18+ swearing/mentions of rape/violence/femdom/DDLG leanings

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

I replayed my night with Valter over in my head like a tune that I couldn't stop humming. It was repeating even as we put our clothes back on and sat in the living room with controllers in our hands. I couldn't help but wonder if Valter was thinking about it too; the sensation of my pussy squeezing around him, after-shudders or if he still had the taste of my juices on his lips. The fullness he had given to me remained seeded inside of me and when I moved in my seat I was reminded of what it felt like to be spread open by a cock that I hadn't expected to be so substantial. And there he was, dressed in his jeans and hoodie with his hat back on, playing video games with me like I didn't just make him beg for me to let him come. He was unsettlingly casual about it. He didn't bite his lip nervously like I was or try to steal glances. There was concentration written on his face that made me forget about how he looked when he was watching me ride him and how sweet it was to hear him sounding desperate. We played until the early morning hours and it wasn't until about 3 AM that Valter looked down at his phone and realized just how much time he had spent with me in my apartment. The game we chose was starting to lose its entertainment value and he stretched his arms up and yawned, twisting his spine to stretch out from being slumped over on the couch for too long. "Nixy... Would you hate me if I called it a night?" He asked cautiously. "No, of course not. It's pretty late," I conceded. I watched as he set the controller down on the coffee table and turned to me. "I won't bother you any longer." Blushing, I replied, "it's no bother. You can stay over again if you like." "No, I shouldn't. I should get back home like a good little boy," he teased. Flushing harder, I watched him get up and stretch his body out some more. I was reminded of how I had just witnessed every inch of him naked but now that he was clothed it was like it had never happened and I craved to do it all again. Valter standing up and making his way to the front door to put on his shoes signified the end of the evening and the beginning of a strange limbo and a string of questions that I would be polling myself for endlessly. Was this just a casual fuck? Would he regret it? Had my aggression been too much for a first time fuck? Was he now scared of me and relieved to be escaping my home? What would he tell all of his friends? Did he actually like me? All of these possibilities jingled inside of my head like a dryer full of nuts and bolts but when Valter turned around after pocketing his cell phone he bent over, gripped both of my shoulders and smiled. "Now don't look so pouty," he nearly whispered. "You look so lost." "No, it's nothing. I'm just suddenly extremely tired." "I know. You should get to bed. I know I can't wait to lay in bed when I get home." Nodding my head, I tried to avoid his eyes but his grip on my shoulders tightened. "Hey... What's the matter?" He asked. "Nothing. Nothing, I swear," I tittered nervously. "Nix... I'm not going to go tell everyone and their uncle about us hooking up. And don't for a second think that once I leave I'll have no intentions of returning. I like you and judging by the magnitude of the pout on your face over me leaving, you like me too?" Rolling my eyes, I scoffed, "well, I don't fuck guys that I don't like." "So, then it's agreed. We'll hang out again. Soon." "Okay," I nodded. Valter dragged me into a hug with both arms coiled tightly around me and kissed the crown of my head as he took in a deep haul of my scent and sighed. "And don't worry about Riley either. We'll make up some dumb shit if he asks about anything. Or something. I don't know. We'll figure that out when we get there." "Sounds good," I agreed, still unable to speak more than a few words at a time in fear that anything I said could send him running for the hills. "Goodnight, Nixy-cat," he bid me farewell and left as a warm wave of arousal drizzled over my body like thick syrup. Once the smell of him had gone and the sounds in my house ceased to exist, I turned off my TV and went to bed with hopes that his scent may have been lingering on my sheets. I felt equal parts excited and lonely when I laid down and pulled the blanket up to my chin. Silently, I wished that he had stayed so that I could bathe in his presence and doze off in his arms but I knew that what I wanted would have been asking too much. Breathing in deeply, I tried to center myself to pull the pieces of my exploded mind back into one coherent picture. Overthinking was always something that I had been detrimentally good at and I didn't want that to be a hindrance to me any longer. I had to keep my head on my shoulders and not allow myself to fall in love with Valter no matter how nice he was to me or how cute it was when he smiled and the balls of his cheeks caused his green eyes to squint. Even if he called me pet names and made me feel small and safe. No, I had dominance to assert. I couldn't let the musings of a happy little relationship taunt me from afar. But I still couldn't help but sigh into the pillow that had cradled his head when I had fucked him, breathing in what I wanted to believe was the lasting smell of his blond hair.

~*~

Valter wasn't scheduled to work the next couple of days at the same time as me and I couldn't deny that it was upsetting that I wasn't able to see him. I kept my phone on vibrate in my pocket just in case I got a message because I was eager to hear from him even though I tried to train myself to be indifferent. The whispers of internal anxiety were telling me all sorts of things I didn't want to entertain. They told me that if he really wanted to talk to me, he would have messaged me already. Then my voice of reason would scoff and tell me that it was only the next day and to expect a good morning text from a guy that I had just fooled around with was unrealistic. I tried to drown the voices at work by keeping myself occupied. When I wasn't with customers I was cleaning and once there was no surface left unpolished, I began organizing games and making sure everything was in alphabetical order. Riley came out every once in a while to check in on me but would quickly disappear back into his office when our conversation dwindled which it did several times and quickly. The following day was the same as the last and when I got into work and shoved my stuff into my locker I looked over at Valter's and really started to miss him. Work was boring without him there to make jokes and alleviate the awkwardness that came with working with only one other person. However, Riley came out more often and seemed chipper enough to actually make decent conversation. I nearly forgot about what Valter had told me about his inappropriate comments. "Hey, Nix. Do you want to come to DND tonight?" Riley asked. "DND sounds fun. Who's all going?" "Just the guys again. I know it's probably not so tempting to sit around a table with a bunch of nerds being the only girl but... I wanted to invite you. It was fun last time." "Yeah, except for everyone drinking too much wine and dropping off like flies," I giggled. "It won't be like that again. It's just going to be a casual little Monday night campaign." "Is everyone from work going?" I asked. "Yeah. At least, I invited everyone and they all said yes." I agreed to go out for the simple fact that I wanted an excuse to see Valter again without having to reach out to him personally. Riley didn't seem to harbor any feelings of animosity and if he did, he did a good job of hiding it. That was until I got to the cafe and found Riley sitting at a table for two. Unloading my purse from my shoulder, I hung it on the back of the chair and looked around curiously. Riley was beaming up at me, motioning towards the glass of wine he had taken the liberty of pouring for me. "Where are the rest of the guys?" I asked as I took my seat slowly. "Oh, uh, yeah. A couple of them canceled last minute. Still waiting on some of them. But we can play a game in the meantime if you want," Riley suggested. "We're going to need a bigger table though," I pointed out. "There's no way the board is going to fit on here." "That's okay, we'll just move to another one when they get here." I didn't suspect anything was amiss at first. Riley suggested we play a couple games of Mastermind to eat up the time we were taking waiting for the rest of the group to join us. He kept my wine topped up and ordered a plate of nachos for us to share, stating that he hadn't eaten hardly anything all day and that he would need his strength for later. Plucking a corn chip from the mountain of cheese, onion, and tomato, I laughed uneasily and looked out the storefront window to see if anyone recognizable was pulling up. It wasn't until about an hour in that I realized Riley hadn't so much as glanced at his cell phone. We had blasted through a few games of Mastermind that I had easily won and the novelty of it began to wear off quickly. I shifted in my seat and forced accommodating laughs when Riley slung out mediocre joke after mediocre joke. "Wine?" He asked, lifting the bottle again to pour. "No thanks, I'm good for now. I have to drive. Can't really get too buzzed on a Monday night. Work and all," I shrugged. "Ah, one more glass won't hurt you!" "No, really. It's fine. I haven't had much to eat today and if I get pulled over I'll be a dead giveaway." "You're hungry? I can order more food for us if you want," Riley offered. "I'm fine. I have leftovers at home that I need to eat." "Well, if you want more wine, it will be right here waiting for you," he wiggled his eyebrows. I cocked my head in puzzlement but the pieces were all starting to fall into place. I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone to see if anybody had written in the work chat about coming out to play DND but when I saw that the last message had been read by everyone the day prior, my suspicions rose drastically. "Um, are you sure the guys are coming? Nobody has said anything in the group chat," I pointed out. "Hey, now. DND is a no cell phone zone!" Riley tittered. "Put that thing away." "We're not really playing DND right now though so-" "Yeah, but we will be! Come on now. Put that away. Really." His suggestion didn't sit well in my stomach and I brushed him off so that I could check to see if Valter had been online recently. The green light beside his name told me all that I needed to know so I opened a private chat window with him and sent him a short message.

You coming to DND tonight?

Riley arced his neck and looked at the screen that I was staring at intently. I waited with held breath for Valter to see my message and respond to it. "Who ya talking to?" Riley asked. I set my phone down in my lap and looked up at him with a twisted grin that masked my discomfort. "I'm just messaging Valter to see when he'll be here." "Oh," Riley said gravely. "What?" "Nothing, it's just... Man, I told you it's a no cell phone zone." "Dude... We're not playing right now. Relax." Moments later my phone buzzed to life with a message from Valter. My heart skipped a beat when I began to read it.

Didn't know there was DND tonight. 

Cocking an eyebrow across the table at Riley, I felt my cheeks start to turn red. The scoff that left my throat was accompanied by a shake of my head and the man seated in front of me began to squirm uncomfortably in his chair.

Wtf. Riley said he invited everyone?

"Seriously, Nix. It's kind of rude to sit there on your phone, don't you think?" When I snapped my head back up, Riley blinked profusely and a damp sheen coated his forehead. He tried to hide his guilt by sipping on his glass of wine and shoveling another handful of chips into his mouth.

I didn't get invited. But how are you going to play with no dungeon master?

"When is Liam coming?" I asked Riley. "Not really sure," he replied.

What do you mean?

Riley's mounting frustration began to show through clearly and as much as I wished it weren't true, I started to realize exactly what was going on. The man across the table from me sighed heavily when I looked back down at my phone to another message from Valter.

I'm playing AOC with Liam and Kyle right now. 

It made sense that nobody had said anything in the work chat and Riley could see me putting everything together before his eyes and the only thing he did in response was drain another glass of red wine before clapping his hands together. "Let's play something else. What do you suggest?" He asked. "Riley... You didn't invite Valter to play?" I asked. He rebuffed and rolled his eyes but I could see how jittery he had become now that I was figuring out that his invitation had been a ruse. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. So I didn't invite Valter out. Who cares? He's kind of a dick, anyway." "Valter's not a dick," I defended. "Yeah, he is. Of course, he's nice to you but to everyone else, he's really quite cocky. I don't know how you don't see that." I stood up, clutching my phone in my hand, readying myself to gather my things but Riley was quick to stop me. "Not only that, Riley, but you also didn't invite Kyle or Liam? Liam's the dungeon master." "So what? Anybody can be the dungeon master. It doesn't always have to be Liam." "No," I shook my head. "This is weird. Tell me what's really going on. What were you trying to accomplish?" He jeered and shrugged his shoulders, "I told you already!" "Did you literally just invite me out and nobody else under false pretenses?" "No! Nix... I already told you. Pretty much everyone canceled. Sorry that it's just us right now. Am I really so terrible?" "But you didn't invite Valter?" "Why would I invite some Swedish dickhead that thinks he's better at everything than everyone else? He's not that fun to play with anyway." "At least he's honest! This... This was a fucking low blow, Riley. This was a dumb move." "Nix... Wait," he pleaded as I jammed my arms into the sleeves of my hoodie. "No. I'm leaving. I can't believe you did this." "How else was I supposed to get you to agree to come out with me?" He asked, voice hovering above a whisper so that nobody else in the cafe was alerted to the spectacle that was unfolding. My anger was marked by how many times I scoffed in his direction. "I don't know... Ask? Like a normal person. Don't lie to my face to lure me out on a date with you." "You wouldn't have said yes," he murmured. Anger tightened my gut and I slung my purse across my chest before leaning over the table to bore my eyes into the sorry little man that was hiding behind a green glass bottle and a half-finished plate of congealing nachos. "Listen to me, Riley. You're my boss. I'm not interested and you shouldn't be interested in me either. This is wildly unprofessional." "And fucking your coworker isn't unprofessional?" He jabbed. I recoiled but instead of hesitating for an iota longer than what it took for my anger level to skyrocket, I shoved the chair I had been using under the table so hard that it nearly knocked over the empty wine glasses. "What happens between Valter and I is nobody's business but ours, okay? Valter is my friend. He doesn't hide behind measly fabrications and he doesn't lie right to my face." "Oh, he doesn't? Then I guess he's told you about all of the other girls he wheels. It's not just you." With fists clenched tightly, I willed myself not to blow my top and scream in the middle of the cafe at the man that had duped me into unknowingly attending what he had intended on turning into a date. "I said that we're friends," I repeated through my pressed teeth. "Oh, I'm sure you just want to be friends with the big, tall Swedish guy. Your face certainly betrays your words when I see you swooning over him while you're supposed to be working." "Riley..." I breathed, trying to steady myself emotionally. "There are laws in place that prevent you from being able to penalize me based on this encounter. You cannot talk to me like this. This is harassment." "We're not at work," he pointed out. "If you so much as whisper a word of this at work or if you try to make me feel bad for rejecting you, I promise you that I will get a lawyer and take legal action immediately. Consider our friendship terminated and from now on, the only relationship we have is professional. Don't invite me out to game nights. Don't talk to any of the others about this and if you try to punish me or Valter, I will be on the phone with the labor law board so fast you won't even have time to apologize." "There's nothing for me to apologize for. I'm well within my rights." "We'll see about that," I sneered, adjusted the strap of my bag, pivoted on my heel and left without looking back. When I got behind the steering wheel of my car and stewed in the silent orange glow of the streetlights I let out a long groan. It had taken all of my willpower not to lunge across the table and ram my fist down Riley's throat. Ferocity was bubbling over the edges of my ability to remain calm. 

Riley invited me out for "DND" but when I got there it was just him.

I waited impatiently for the three dots of Valter's impending response. After five minutes of sitting alone in my car, I nearly sobbed. I couldn't afford to lose my job and the last thing I wanted to do was get into an overblown legal battle if things were to escalate further. I could see nothing else but a mountain of shit wreaking in the distance and I was headed straight for it with no brakes.

Lol what? 

My impatience made Valter's response seem uncaring. It wasn't as though he was going to come running to my rescue. I was just a girl that he had fucked the night before and the things that Riley had said about him made me fear the worst. After all, I didn't now Valter well and if what Riley said was true then perhaps I was just another point on his kill count.

He tricked me. He invited me out and said everyone was coming for DND but it was just him. He didn't invite anyone else. Idk I guess I just feel... Violated?  

Valter's response was much quicker after I reiterated what had happened.

Are you okay? Did he try anything weird?

I typed away manically and had to backspace several times because I couldn't quite convey my level of astonishment.

Nothing weirder than luring me out on a date that I didn't know I was a part of.

He must have been awaiting my response because as soon as I sent the message it checked off as read.

Do you need me to come to get you? Or do you have your car?

I couldn't respond fast enough.

I have my car. I'm in it right now. I haven't left yet. I'm just so angry. There's a tire iron in my trunk that I want to break his kneecaps with. Ugh... Sorry. I know this has nothing to do with you but I'm just SO mad.

Valter replied in under five seconds.

If you want you can come over? I don't have a nice house to myself like you but you can come chill out here if you feel unsafe.

A smile broke out over my face as wide as I could possibly manage. With my heart aflutter, I turned the keys in the ignition and sent one last response before driving off in the direction of Valter's apartment building. I was buzzed into the building promptly after typing in a code that Valter had sent to me. He said nothing over the speaker box and the lock clicked open for me to open the door. I took the elevator to his floor and walked down the hall in the wrong direction before I heard a door open at the opposite end of the corridor. "Nix," he said softly though it reverberated off the white walls. Blushing slightly, I turned and made my way to his open door. He shut it gently behind me and I took a moment to take in the surroundings. It was a quaint apartment with a standard kitchen that branched off into a living room. Almost all of the lights were off except for the one in the kitchen that shone down over a table surrounded by a couple of wooden chairs and a bowl of fruit sitting atop. "Just this way," he nodded towards a closed door that I assumed was the entrance to his bedroom. I waited for him to turn off the kitchen light and open the door for me to step into his room. When I looked around I saw many things that would give light to anyone exactly the type of person that spent their time in there. There were posters and collectibles from video games and raunchy cartoons on shelves and light pouring out from two huge computer monitors. I saw that he had a microphone set up and a decent webcam attached to the top of one of the monitors. It was definitely a guy's room and I made my way through it as any stranger would, staring at all of the memorabilia and inching closer to the bed. "Can I sit here?" I asked, hinting toward his made bed. "Yeah, for sure. Sorry, I don't have another chair in here. I could go get one." "No, it's okay. No worries," I replied. The room smelled so profusely like him that I was immediately calmed and when I set down my bag and took off my sweater I sank onto the mattress as he sat down at his desk. "Give me one second, Nix. I just have to finish this game and then I'm all yours," Valter ran both of his hands through his hair before putting on a set of headphones and unpausing a game that he had been in the middle of playing. He told whomever he was playing with that he had to leave after their game but didn't tell them why. I waited patiently on his bed with my face buried in my phone trying to distract myself from the heart palpitations I was experiencing simply by being immersed in his domain. When I looked at his profile I felt like I was going to melt and when he took off his headset and turned to me with a smile I felt even more lightheaded. "I'm done now," he told me as he scratched the back of his head and mussed his hair in the process. "Are you all good? He didn't like... Try to kiss you or anything, did he?" I shook my head. "No. I would have punched him." "You should have punched him anyway. That's so weird. Why would he pretend to invite everyone out?" Valter began to speculate. "Trust me, I've been trying to figure it out. I don't know what planet he lives on to think that an idea like that would go over well with anyone." "Yeah," Valter laughed. "Like he would be such a good time that you wouldn't notice that nobody else showed up!" "And we all have work together tomorrow," I pointed out. "Fuck. That's going to be weird." I picked the cuticles of my nails nervously. The room went quiet until I breathed to speak up. "Riley said shit about you too. Like, rude shit." "Fuck that guy. He's so... Fucked." "You don't want to know what he said about you?" Valter snorted, "I don't give a shit what he says about me. Riley doesn't know me. We've known each other for a few weeks now." "Apparently he has it out for you," I replied. "Let him. The guy is just jealous. It's not my fault the girl he likes wants me instead." I rolled my eyes before replying, "well, it's kind of your fault that I like you." "No, it's not. I can't make you like me. Nobody can make you like anything!" "Oh, shut up. You wanted me to like you." Valter smirked at me before getting up to turn off the light. All at once, we were bathed in darkness and I giggled softly in excitement when I felt him crawling into bed beside me. "Of course I wanted you to like me. You're cute," he whispered. "Now, get under the covers. It's bedtime." "Really?" I asked. "What? You don't want to cuddle?" "Oh, cuddling. Is that what we're doing?" I followed him underneath the covers even though I couldn't see a thing. All I could feel was how warm his body was right beside mine and shudder when he pulled me close to him. "Nix... Fuck. I'm sorry. I feel like I'm fucking everything up for you." "What do you mean? It's not your fault." "I don't know... I might have said something that set Riley off long before any of this bullshit started happening." Pulling away slightly, I pressed him. "What did you say to him?" He sighed and I could tell by his tone that it was something he had hoped he would never have to tell me. Alas, there he was, trying to conduct the silence for a little bit longer before having to spill the news. "When we first started at the shop, Riley talked to me about you. Asked me if I knew if you were single or whatever. I kind of just laughed though because I thought he was joking. Like, why would a manager ask an employee questions like that? I made the mistake of telling him that the chances of you liking me were way higher than his chances with you. I was just being a dick. But I think he took it a little far." "Oh, please, do go on," I said sarcastically. "Honestly, it was before I really knew you and I was just joking with him. He was all offended that I said you would like me more. Then when you actually did start to, you know, act like you were interested it just got worse. He challenged me almost. Like it was a fucking dual or something." "I'm a conquest for you two?" Valter's grip on me tightened. "Hell no! A couple weeks went by and everything seemed okay until we... Well, until we kissed. But I wasn't going to tell him a thing. Not like I need to rub it in his face. I'm not like that." "But you DID win the game, huh?" "Nix... I know you're not a game. You're not a prize to be won. I wasn't in some stupid unspoken battle to win you over. Shit just happened naturally. You're hot... Of course, I wanted to flirt with you. Even if Riley didn't say anything about having the hots for you I still would have given it a shot." "Well, I appreciate your honesty, I guess, but now I've found myself in the most awkward mess imaginable." "You know how to solve that?" He asked. "How?" "Letting me kiss you... Letting me touch you." "Sounds like the opposite of what will make my situation less... Weird." "Hey, you're already here and... Not to be crass but... I'm already hard." "You're very presumptuous, aren't you?" I laughed. "What, you're not wet? You don't want to play with me?" I couldn't think of anything snarky to fire back at him so he punctuated the end of the conversation by kissing me. We melted into each other and the sounds of our lips connecting and peeling apart was a saliva-coated deluge of sound and stimulation. With senses heightened, everything about him became more potent. His smell, the feeling of his hands stroking down my body to push up underneath my clothes, the small moans behind his breaths when he pulled back for air- every little thing he did rang bells inside of me that reverberated down my spine and settled warmly in my pelvis. Valter's fingers disappeared down the back of my pants so he could feel the fabric of my panties. "Take these off. Take your clothes off." He impatiently helped me yank down my pants and remove my shirt so he could resume touching my body unhindered by more materials than necessary. His clothes were quick to be discarded as well and when he settled back into the mattress beside me his right hand snuck right up between my thighs with zero hesitation. "Can I touch you, please? Yes... Spread your legs for me," he whispered, humming happily when I parted my knees to allow him the access he craved. The tips of two long fingers gently stroked up and down my slit, never pushing in too far until he spread the juice of my arousal all around and up and down. In the dark, I heard him suck on those same fingers and moan gently as my flavor danced on his tongue. Drawing in a deep breath through his nose, he found my lips again and kissed me as he shifted his body closer so our chests were pressed together. "You like hanging out with me, don't you?" "Keep playing with me like that and you might not ever be able to get rid of me," I breathed. "Oh? You want me to stop? Because I can stop. I can stop making these nice little circles around your clit. That's okay." "Don't you dare stop," I adjured him and he listened right away. With his forehead pressed to mine, we shared each other's breath and he worked his fingertips over my sweetest most sensitive spot until I was shuddering and clutching his shoulders. "Tell me when you're close, okay?" "I am. Valter, I am." "Good. Turn around," he told me, leaving me to whine for his touch when he pulled away. "Go on, turn around." My obedience only came as quickly as it did because I didn't want to be without his touch for too long. When I rolled over to face away from him his hand slid down my thigh again and lifted my leg up to pull it back over his hip. "I want to fuck you and feel that pussy squeeze around my cock when I make you come for me," he managed to give his filthy words an innocence that was as delightful as it was alarming. From the angle he entered me on, I couldn't help but moan as the entirety of his hard length slid deliciously up against my augmented g-spot. The words, his breath in my ear, the fresh boyish smell of his sheets, the way he forced his arm underneath me so he could squeeze my breasts as he toyed with my clit was all too much stimulation and I made it known by moaning louder until he had to quiet me down. "Sh, quiet, quiet. I don't live alone as you do. I know you want to scream." "M'sorry," I shuddered. "It's okay, just come for me. Yeah... Come for me. Come on my dick. Make it all nice and messy for me." I never planned on having deep, passionate sex with the lights off in Valter's bedroom but when he whispered to me that he couldn't come until he felt me coming first, I smiled and thought that maybe it was okay to allow myself to be desperate in front of him just this once. After the night's traumatic events, being wrapped up in his arms while he fucked into me from behind, hushing my groans of ecstasy while simultaneously encouraging me to flood his cock with my juices, it was welcome and I almost forgot about the minefield we were about to step into together. Almost.

[justwriting34]

The Umbrella Academy. Netflix’s (new) hit show, or well I think it’s a hit, but I am not a great judge of shows. It’s my type of show. It’s crazy, without shoving your face in the crazy. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still having serious moments. It has a talking monkey, seriously, could you think of a better show? It has romance, just not enough that you feel like a kid after the perfect Halloween score. It has action, just not so much action you’re in a slaughter house, or a b rated action movie with ½ price Bruce Willis. It has time travel, that realizes that time travel doesn’t make sense. And damn it, it has the talking monkey.

How can anyone not love a show like that? I sure have to like it. The show didn’t give me much of a choice. And it isn’t like some shows that Stockholm Syndrome you into loving it. I loved it at first sight, because of the monkey. We get it, you must be thinking a lot about the monkey, you love the monkey, we get that. First off, it’s a monkey butler, that’s a very different thing. And don’t go quoting me saying that I was only referring to him as the monkey or the talking monkey or even a talking monkey. It won’t work. I won’t listen even if you are right. Which you might be. And honestly, I don’t really like the monkey, well no more than any one likes a talking monkey. I mean come on we all have a soft spot for Curious George and that monkey doesn’t even really talk, the man with the yellow hat, just makes us think we can understand him. That monkey could just be talking about throwing poo all the time and we would have no way of knowing that. But no the talking monkey butler, bet you didn’t think I knew that, can tell us what is going on. But that monkey butler is not my favorite character, or even in my top ten. Which is something special considering there are only a little over ten characters in the show.

No, my favorite character is Klaus, though I am probably more like Vanya then I would like to admit, but I’ll circle back to that in a moment, let me take a moment to talk about my favorite character Klaus. Klaus is the crazy fun that I wish that I could be. Not the drugs part, don’t do drugs kids, stay in school, ok now that I have that PSA (brought to you by the crazy rantings of a girl behind a computer), out of the way, I want to take a moment to do an appreciation paragraph about the wonderful Klaus.

Klaus is the crazy we all need in our lives. He makes the world seem just a little bit different, a little more interesting. He adds perfect comedic timing to the group, and he does it at just the right time. So, yeah Klaus is freaking amazing. Oh, and as an added note he looks great in a skirt.

See an appreciation paragraph. Now, onto Vanya. I see myself in Vanya, a lot more than anyone would like to admit. Hold it. Freeze. Yes, I mean you too. Don’t think about what I just said too much. I had a normal childhood. Well, normalish? But really, when you think about it, don’t we all have a few messed up things about our childhood. One or two things that give us that special little quirk. That little oddity, that would make people tilt their head. Yeah, well I had those. But for the most part I am normal. My childhood was normal, and my parent’s well they were as normal as parents can be. And I am not saying there aren’t a few things that my parents did that made me a little messed up, but isn’t that life. You’re a kid and you see things that your parents did wrong, even if it just one or two things, and you vow to do things differently, so then you screw up your own kids in a unique and different way, well that’s me, and that’s what I believe, but I may or may not still believe in the Easter Bunny, my traps are going to get that monster one of these days, so you probably shouldn’t take anything that I believe beyond face value.

Anyway, that got off topic, I mean I have no idea if there was even a point to all of that rambling, you know I have heard people call my writing pedantic before, and I never agreed with them until just now. I mean, I ended up talking about my plans to catch the Easter Bunny and not stay on the topic that I am supposed to be on. And now I am being pedantic about being pedantic, that takes a new level of crazy, or narcissism. I just love my writing so much, or maybe I just love to write so much.

Stopping that, and going back to the topic on hand, Vanya. Well, really, the topic is why Vanya and I are so similar. It’s simple really. I apologize for existing to. I never really thought about it that way before though. I just assumed I was apologizing for things that I should have done better, but no I have been apologizing for existing. I didn’t even realize that I was doing until there was that line about apologizing just for existing. Which is weird because, I always wanted to be an actress, ever since I was little, but I as I grew up, instead of still wanting to be in the spotlight I wanted to disappear. But this isn’t about that, not really anyway. We will spin back to why it is a little important in a moment.

But let me first say this, if I could draw I would. I would draw a kickass picture of Klaus in a skirt, maybe I would even add the talking monkey butler, yes, I know his name is Pogo, but give me a little credit for this bit. If I was good at outfits and designing and such nonsense I would cosplay as Mother. I know I just threw a curve ball or whatever the comic equivalent of that is. But you must love mother’s style. I mean it’s a classic elegance you can’t beat that. Well, maybe except for Klaus and a skirt, but I’m a girl and I can’t pull off a skirt like Klaus. Truth be told I only really have three talents.

First acting. As I’ve said before, being an actress has been my goal since I was very little. My problem is auditioning, and auditioning seems to be a very big part of the whole thing of being an actress, so in this case that talent seems a little bit useless. That talent in this case would be useless, most likely, in this case no matter if I could audition or not. Of course, like many of the other things I say hold onto that most likely because, of course, I will be coming back to that. Now my other two talents seem to be much more important now and much more important with why I started writing this in the first place.

The second one, as you hopefully, noticed my mediocre ability to write. I have seen that I have the smallest ability to write something that is readable and at least entertaining enough to keep you occupied, while doing menial tasks. Such as, but not limited to, using the bathroom, waiting at the dentist office, waiting at the DMV, procrastinating on doing any work that is much more important than my writing, that work seems hard and you really don’t want to start on a weird time or whatever else excuse you’re using the moment. And besides all that I’m almost done with this one, I think, I never can tell with my ramblings.

Last talent that I seem to have been bestowed is my vivid sometimes overused imagination. Now, what do you get when you have a writer with too much time, a laughably vivid imagination, and an extremely engaging and wonderful little show?

If you guessed a fanfiction with the author, no let me get this straight, I need to make sure that I get this right, a persona of the author, playing a major part, I would like you all to give yourselves a pat on the back, for the ones who didn’t get it right let me say you should stop reading this right now. Who my kidding? You’re not going to stop reading this. You aren’t going to go start your task they need to do. The dentist hasn’t just called you. And honestly you probably still have about two hours to wait at the DMV. Oh, as the right ones have guessed, this is a giant, wind bagged, and yes pedantic, way of introducing the fact that I have decided to put my writing of my Umbrella Academy fanfiction out not the real world.

Now, about five disclaimers though most of the people that I am addressing in this disclaimer had already written me, I’m sure, five Twitter messages ten emails, and twenty-five mean spirited letters, and have just ignored this disclaimer. And I know, this feels like the disclaimer to a medicine commercial, half the people aren’t paying attention, a quarter is going to still get upset when it happens to them and the last quarter are paying attention, but it doesn’t pertain to them. Also no one really watches regular tv that much anyway, they all have Netflix, free product placement.

First disclaimer, this is only based on the show. I bought the comic and I plan on reading it, I just haven’t had the time yet. And if I get interest, I may write one like the one I am currently writing with all of the information from the comics. Secondly, I’m doing this for fun, so please take it easy on me, if you like it, tell me, if you don’t tell me, if you think there are a few things I need to fix tell me, just do it nicely. Remember my writing may seem like I am a hot and legal combination of Klaus and Number Five, I am really just a Vanya at heart, so be delicate.

Thirdly, if either dark horse or Netflix asks me to take it down, it’s down without questions. I would hate for someone to not do the same for me.

Fourthly and lastly, promise, if Netflix and the writers want to take my twist on the story, let me a least fail at auditioning for a character that is basically me.  

So, I hope you love my writing as much as I love Klaus, and the show, and hope you are a little more interested in it than I am in butler monkey.

Oh, and one more thing, I am going to be writing in both first person and third person. Me, or the character who I fantasize about being, is going to be told in first person. And scenes my character is not in will be third.

This is the opening for my blog which anyone who likes fanfiction, Umbrella Academy, and/or crazy rantings that might actually make sense, check it out. http://umberllacoverage.home.blog 

�

[tankermottind]

Obsidian, Pillars of Eternity II, and the Impossible Kickstarter Dream

UPDATE: According to a $1000 investor who calculated using his dividends, the total costs came out to around $29 million, not $15 million. So the Fig campaign covered only 15% of what they actually spent. Good lord!

I got back into Pillars of Eternity II and checked the forums to discover that Obsidian Entertainment has been acquired by Microsoft. And Pillars of Eternity II sold only 150,000 copies and cost about three times the $4.4 million raised to “fund” it (which means Obsidian, after support, overhead, DLC development, etc. could be a good $20 million in the hole). It is likely Pillars of Eternity III, or any other serious CRPG project, will never happen, and Obsidian will forever be one bad chart performance away from ending up making tire textures for a Forza Motorsport game. Everyone is pointing fingers and arguing and blaming the media or the casuals or figures within Obsidian or the SJW hordes, but really? They brought it on themselves--excuse me, as a Pillars of Eternity II backer, we brought it on ourselves. This was our chance to have the game of our dreams made, and our outsized demands coupled to Obsidian’s outsized ambition blew the series’ future. Here is the post I made on Obsidian’s forums in case it proves too controversial and disappears:

Is anyone really surprised? The first thing I thought when it finally dawned on me how huge Pillars of Eternity II was, was "There is no way they could have possibly made money on this." The fans wanted bigger, the fans wanted better, and Obsidian gave the fans, including myself, exactly what we wanted. The biggest, baddest, most complicatedest Infinity-style RPG ever. A game nobody but us wanted.

PoE2 is huge, huge, huge. I'm 30 hours in and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of it. I ignored all the backer updates I received after pledging because I didn't want to know anything going in, and the sheer enormity of it blew me away. This feels almost Skyrimian in its breadth and content-richness, and that costs a huge amount of money, while drawing the potential length well past 150 hours and exacerbating the reputation that large CRPGs have of being scary and overbearing, which is further exacerbated by the fact that Obsidian have to tolerate RPGCodex and their legions of trolls, Trump cultists, and white supremacists because they donate and nobody outside the CRPG community was ever going to give a shit about this game. This is a game that was made for us, and only us. Made according to the specifications of a crowdfunding campaign that sold us our every desire, with little backer content bits to reflect our own vanity back at us. It turns out Infinity Engine/PoE nerds are (a) not even close to numerous enough to fund the promised game, and (b) unwilling to compromise for the sake of "casuals". I mean, that was the whole point of this whole crowdfunding thing, right? To make games that the fans want and make a profit? Funny, it looks we forgot that whole "making a profit" bit somewhere.

And for a focused, linear, and above all modest game like the first Pillars of Eternity, the money from the fans was enough to cover the budget and keep the lights on. But now we've "made it", we showed those AAAs and we're going to make a game that will blow everyone away. But we instead we got a baroque game, a niche product with a big-boy budget. It doesn't matter whose fault it is or which games journalism conspiracy is true or salacious rumors that would fail a difficulty 2 Bluff check. Pillars of Eternity II is a game too expensive to fund on the backs of CRPG nerds but seldom considers the needs and wishes of people who aren't CRPG nerds, except when it does the job so poorly it actually makes the problem worse. Let's talk about the mechanics.

For all its attempts to be fair and balanced and not screw you over for bad build decisions, the sheer number of mechanics and status effects and stats and systems makes the Infinity Engine look sleek and streamlined, if not exactly elegant. Not to mention that a lot of the people who played Baldur's Gate also played Dungeons and Dragons (which was huge at the time), while the people going into PoE2 have no such luxury. The micro-balancing with all the soft counters and clever trickery makes it more difficult to play on a truly expert level than an Infinity Engine game, so Easy and Classic are mushy and dumbed-down and basically let you coast, while the harder difficulties require you to learn far more obscure rules, some of which are virtually undocumented, than someone throwing themselves upon the rocks of Baldur's Gate 1 for the first time. However, the system is also less exploitable than the Infinity Engine, so there is also less reward for putting in above the minimum effort. So PoE2's game system is exceedingly complex, strongly favors PoE1 veterans over everyone else, hides information from the player, has too many rules, is easy to coast on by with, hard to play well, and won't ever give you the satisfaction you get from the sort of gambits even a mediocre Infinity Engine player can pull off.

Backstab instakills out of the shadows? Can't do that. Pre-buffing? Too OP. Contingencies? We'll have an ordinary spell that namedrops Contingency and pretend it's the same thing. Summoning? Nope. Incredibly powerful sword wrested from a lich's cold dead fingers? It's sure as hell not going to be as good as Daystar was in BG2. Even the simplest crafting (aside from food) requires money, just to make it less attractive. Fortunately there is a lot less of it now, and a lot more of the talking and plotting and loredumping, which is generally good if playing it a bit safe. But Eora is also a much more "out there" world than Forgotten Realms, and the comfy old Arthurian, chivalric, etc. tropes and themes no longer apply. Nor, unlike the similarly complex world of The Elder Scrolls, is it based (however loosely and occasionally disrespectfully) on archetypes from other cultures and mythologies--in fact it seems to strive towards the total obliteration of everything ready-made. Bhaal and Elf Jesus the Nerevarine are immediately relatable to the casuals in a way that Eothas and friends are not.

Why did this happen? Because we wanted it. We wanted more. More. More. More. Pillars of Eternity was good, so Bigger Pillars of More Eternity will be more good. The incentive structures of the crowdfunding model (stretch goals, etc.) encourage and exacerbate this mentality. A pirate ship! Many pirate ships! Pirate ship battles! New Vegas style politics with intersecting schemes by several power players! A reputation system underneath that makes New Vegas' implementation look primitive! Webs of intrigue! Webs of treachery! Webs of adultery and relationship drama! Voice acting for almost everybody with lines! Half-hearted commentary on colonization that pulls all its punches to avoid making white people feel bad and angering the RPGCodex crowd who gave us a big chunk of our budget! It had everything except a workable business model.

Hardcore CRPGs are not competitive on a big budget, and they never will be. There's a reason this game put Obsidian's future in jeopardy and the guy behind the Avernum series has been able to crank game after game through thick and thin, for over 20 years. If the Infinity-style RPG has a future it will involve smaller, simpler games with less elaborate graphics, less voice acting, and a much lower budget. A game with production values more similar to PoE1, Wasteland 2, or even Siege of Dragonspear. But that's what we wanted. We wanted big. We got big.

And perhaps, in the long run, lost big. Nerds never have been good at business.

[narrowtriangle33-blog]

Quotes that accurately describe White Trump Voters.

"It’s not just that he’s white. White people sneer at, mock, ostracize, and generally hate on other white people all the time. It’s that he DELIVERS RACISM and THAT is the priority to his base. This is what gets me when writers and thinkers wring their hands in befuddlement, like Nichols is doing, about how Trump’s base can “vote against their own interests.” They’re not! They’re prioritizing the babies in cages, the “shithole countries” remarks, the deadly Charlottesville clashes with literal fucking Nazis, etc OVER health care, transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels, education, assistance to the poor, and whatever other liberal agenda items one would think would be natural, rational fits for the Cleti everywhere.

These people are absolutely voting in their own interests, and getting exactly what they wanted out of the Trump admin. He has been a tremendous success in their eyes because he has delivered racism since Day 1, and that’s what they want out of politics."

"This, They will never -ever- admit it, outside of trolling on the net, but Trump has done more to support their views and find great joy in it then any GOP member before.

He’s all but given up on the dog whistles, once he found out that the media will simply ‘tut-tut’ and that delights his base. Even when he does something that will fuck them over, they overlook it because he continues to advance their agenda with huge leaps. Most of the never-Trumpers discovered early on that going against him can lead to getting primaried and Mitch is content to let Trump do whatever the fuck he wants with limited disagreement, because he’s busy installing GOP goal friendly judges everywhere.

The DNC’s response has been to avoid rocking the boat as much as they can by offering up Joe with a bone thrown to black people with a possable black woman VIP. (If that even happens), but the chances are high that Trump will get another four years to continue to do as he likes. And what will the Dems do? Protest and throw shade and offer limited resistance that won’t slow down Trump for a second.

People don’t like to even entertain the idea that Trump will win, but without a huge number of people turning out against them, what else can they expect will happen?"

"My father HATED John Wayne with a burning passion that I remember from age 3-4! He loved Westerns but he would spend the entire movie foaming at the mouth at all the racist tropes and outright historical lies of each one of them! Honestly, although he loved thoughtful rap, I think he idolized Chuck D for simply uttering his infamous lyric!

Now that I’ve reached a certain age, I find I love Westerns too - but not John Wayne, Clint Eastwood or any old ones. I like the newer ones that speak to what deplorables white cowboys were: The Revenant, Bone Tomahawk, Hostiles and the like. They’re still white-centered and white-washed but any modern thinking person can see that the cowboy image should stand for nothing but a savagely cruel, thieving, raping murderer (and we’ve been consistently lied to)."

"Does Trump accept responsibility and look out for his team? Not in the least. In this category, he exhibits one of the most unmanly of behaviors: He’s a blamer. Nothing is ever his fault."

"This is nothing but rose-colored bullshit. Anyone who’s ever spent more than 5 minutes working in corporate life knows for the most part this isn’t how white men behave. Those offices are full of extremely mediocre men who are very confident and have nothing to back it up with other than their bluster, egos, and the generational wealth that allows them a leg up over others. That generational wealth allows them to go to the diploma mills that open doors for them. Admitting mistakes or even admitting just not knowing something in that environment comes off as weakness to them. They spend most of their energy trying to project the image of confidence and control, which is why they’re quick to rage when things don’t go their way. A good example is the douche bag running Quibi that gave that horrendus interview a couple of weeks ago. He was asked a couple of questions about why his company was failing while other streaming services are thriving, and where they might have went wrong in their business model. He didn’t accept responsibility for shit. He went into his hurt little feelings and attacked the interviewer, and tried to make the questions seem like they weren’t valid.

On steroids this white American exceptionalist world view is called patriotism. It manifests in the idea that we as a country can do things counter intuitive the rest of the world just because we’re the USA. More mass shootings by far than any other country? USA! Other countries have cheap/free education through college? So what, USA! Biden even displayed this during one of the debates when Warren pointed out the same disparity in our healthcare compared to every other developed nation. Guess how he responded.

I feel like I started rambling a little but what I’m trying to get at is that whiteness, toxic masculinity, and patriotism are so intertwined that its beyond the author of that Trump think piece."

"Funnily enough as the article and subject matter were in regard to racism in the US I didn’t feel a burning need to mention Indigenous Australians but to answer your question they are pretty much in the same boat as black Americans. Did anything I say imply otherwise or were you just fishing for an argument?

"Stupid as it is, “You’re a manly-man, right? So why is your manly-man leader such a cowardly little pussy?”

That’s not what he projects and that’s not what they see. They see him using aggressive and accusatory tones and language all the time and it makes him look tough."

They fall for the “Emporor Has No Clothes” routine because they never look at him critically. They buy the bullshit on the surface, and don’t see that his words never match his actions. He said on tv several times that if anyone in the country wants a Covid test, they can get tested. Ask them how many people they know whose jobs don’t require it, have actually been tested. He down played the death toll of this disaster every step of the way. Remember when we were supposed to be in church for Easter? As long as he lies with confidence, they’ll follow him to hell."

"I’m definitely tired, and frustrated, and everything else. I keep holding my nose and voting, and that only adds to the exhaustion and frustration because very little if anything seems to change, and in some ways we keep repeating the mistakes of the past. I’d never advocate for doing nothing, but trying to engage and challenge the average Republican-voting dipshit to think critically, and not keep supporting people and policies that perpetuate and exacerbate the problems this country has??? No thanks. If you’re not black, I so encourage you to take up that mantle, but for me as a black dude in this country I can’t. Talk about shooting the messenger. Plus, to keep it a buck, this is mostly white people’s mess, if not all. They need to fix it.

Honestly I feel like racism festers because most white people just look the other way. The racism of their peers/friends/relatives doesn’t impact them personally so they’re probably just people to be avoided. Why rock the boat when you can just avoid an uncomfortable topic? Joe might forward you Fox News and OANN stories, and racist FB memes, but he’s fun at Bills games. Well what if Joe is also a cop, or in a management position over minorities? You can bet money he takes those views you overlooked with him to his job. The PoC he interacts with won’t have the benefit of seeing him at Bills games, or might not even have the benefit of being seen as equals."

"People get so caught up in the blatant, mustache-twirling racism that they don’t see the subtle pervasive way it spreads like a cancer. For every Trump there are dozens Joes, and along with the Joes are the real problem: The people who ignore the Joes. The Joes and Karens go on to commit all kinds of microaggressions that Poc pretty much have to tolerate, and in Joe’s and Karen’s minds that’s just the way the world works. I deserved to get followed around Joe’s store. I came in wearing a hoodie and Adidas so I couldn’t be up to any good. Karen felt threatened when I walked into the building she lives in, so she felt justified to call the police, never mind the fact that I live there too. This is how deep this shit runs. It’s not just politics. Racism isn’t just baked into politics. It’s part of the flour the US was baked with.

So I appreciate you if you’re willing to call these fools out. I’m glad somebody is because I’m not wasting my breath. They won’t hear me anyway."

"I mean if Tom Nichols was in front of me and read this steaming pile of shit to me I would’ve slapped him silly and said the reason that people that look like you excuse all of his fuck ups, failings and mistakes is because well HE LOOKS LIKE YOU!!!! The question that none of these mouth breathing chud monkeys seem to want to answer or are incapable of answering is would you excuse any black, Hispanic or Asian man that had his resume? We know the fucking answer.

When this bloated piece of unseasoned chicken shut down the government in January of 2019 hurting his all white, poorly educated base the most a quote from a voter in Florida was burned into my head forever. She said upon not getting her government subsidized check (I mean they have no issues with the government helping them, it is those pesky brown people that are lazy and entitled) “He is not hurting the people he is supposed to be hurting.” Let that sink in. A voting US Citizen thought it was the job of the sitting *president to hurt people. That says it all. Their allegiance isn’t based in anything other than anger and hatred of those that they deem less than them. Fuck him and them and may they both rot in hell."

"“He is not hurting the people he is supposed to be hurting.”

That spontaneous, bewildered, stream of consciousness utterance by someone who doesn’t think critically but has an indwelt recognition of like-mindedness IS the Trump voter exemplified! A racist who found themselves too poor, too old and without the power to demand or protect the status quo and just wants to stick it to their perceived enemies while retaining ‘something’ for themselves.

That sentiment has fueled every waking thought, worry and action of an American white since the founding of this country.

So, it’s not just every Confederate flag waver, every neo-Nazi and every flyover state’er; it’s every aggrieved American white who had to accept the changing world around them; there’s no reasoning with them nor changing their minds.

My fear is that I’m becoming inhumane like them because I was soooo happy when he cut her Meals on Wheels and didn’t cut her Social Security check."

"I think you nailed this right on the head. All through the article, he keeps pointing out what we already know except for one thing. After all, why would white people elect someone who is so far outside of what they claim to be/stand for? He’s not conservative in any real way. Yet conservatives stand behind him. He’s not a Christian in any practical sense by his actions. Yet Christians say he’s sent by God. He’s not a good businessman, father, or even person. Yet here we are. The only answer that makes sense in any real way is that he is proof that to many people, any white man can do the same or better than even the best black man, woman, or POC in general. There’s always a backlash to progress both real and imagined. Trump is it."

"Also, a lot of the characteristics Nichols thinks represent the opposite of idealized masculinity are actually representative of masculinity as it is performed in this country. From my experience with men who lean into their masculinity, it is about performing dominance by antagonizing people, all in the service of making shallow, insecure men feel better about themselves.  Trump is a domineering asshole, which is what too many men think being a man is all about."

"It is fascinating how unbelievably brainless racists are. Many of the commenters and you Damon have pointed out the stupidity of racism. I mean this seriously, racists have absolutely abandoned intellect, progress, humanity or desire for real greatness that could manifest through equality, in order to hold onto the despicable delusion of superiority based solely on a human having more melanin than another. The sheer simplicity of the trick doesn’t even seem like it should work; but alas, all roads merge at Slave Rd. The dimwitted aptitude it takes for a person to actually believe stealing humans, beating, burning, assaulting, selling their children on auction blocks, splitting families (and more brutalities)...... all for greed born out of sheer laziness, and again stupidity is mindblowing. You literally must turn your brain off to be a racist, and you see it now. Millions of white people, with switch STILL off, courtesy of their forefathers, have continued down this same disastrous, nose-spite-ing road. There’s a lot of white people walking around with black kerchief’s, hiding the draining blood and a ragged hole where their nose once occupied, holding a tight grasp of their hate. Their greed. Trump finally allows them to remove that blood soaked kerchief with pride for all the world see their disfigurement. It’s stunning that there is pride where instead, their should be pure shame for then and for now."

[nardaviel]

Part 3 / ?, wherein they go camping, much to Kinshirou’s dismay.

This is a long, image-heavy post. I’ve had it ready since like December but I never bothered to post it until now because I stopped playing the game for a while and I’m lazy. If you’re reading this on my blog and it’s done the obnoxious thing where it doesn’t show readmores, just click the date <3

You probably don’t remember where we left off because it’s been ages since the last post. I didn’t remember either. En had just gotten his second promotion in a few days; the game continued to insist on sending him home from work in an awkward outfit on promotion days. Kinshirou had just published his etiquette manual, and I had finally learned how to keep Atsushi from being miserable when he got home from work. However, En and Atsushi’s work schedules still kept them from spending much time together as a group.

En’s latest work of art is a beautiful, subtle masterpiece. I know that because I, an ignorant philistine, see the art of a 6-year-old, but an art gallery was interested enough to pay $50 more than he usually gets for large paintings.

This is kind of sweet, but he and En aren’t even engaged yet. Calm down, Kinshirou. It’s amazing how well the game knows them asd;lfk

Atsushi has been promoted to caterer!! A $10/hour raise so that his hourly wage is no longer a pittance, a $368 bonus, and a coffeepot. His work hours start an hour earlier and end two hours earlier, which still isn’t very good :\ but look, he’s so proud of himself.

To get to the next level of his career, he has to start learning to mix drinks. I’ve dreaded this moment because the last time I bought someone a bar to level mixology, they never wanted to do anything else again except mix drinks. I took it away in the end.

Kinshirou wakes up, sees that En’s gone, and goes to find him in the bathroom just so that he can kiss his cheek.

Since he’s awake now anyway, En paints an Enatsu painting and then a Kinatsuen painting, one after another. I can’t bring myself to sell either of them. The Kinatsuen one is going to stay where it is, but I’m putting the Enatsu one in Atsushi’s room, because it’s kind of bare at the moment.

En’s suave kiss is different than Kinshirou’s was. I assume it’s because he and Atsushi aren’t boyfriends yet? But Atsushi still seems charmed.

And now that they’ve drawn my attention to that oversight, Atsushi asks En to be his boyfriend.

You can imagine your own dialogue here. You’re all so dirty-minded.

En is into it, though.

He immediately kisses Atsushi on the cheek. I’m glad all the Sims think that’s as cute as I do.

Now they can all go on a much-deserved(???) vacation :D En and Atsushi have to take some vacation days to do it, but they want to spend some time together as a triad.

They’re going camping! For four days. It’s cheap, and they’re still a little broke. En and Atsushi are nervous, but willing to give it a try. Kinshirou...

..yeah.

Their home away from home. There are cabins and houses you can rent, but... like I said. They’re broke.

Kinshirou decides to start his vacation by practicing horseshoes. If this is all they have for entertainment, he’s going to master it.

But En doesn’t like that attitude.

En: Come on, cheer up, it’ll be fun. Kinshirou: Hmm... Maybe so, then.

Kinshirou: ...but I’ll still win at this game. Move.

As you can see behind them, Atsushi has been setting up their tents.

He’s also the only one to introduce himself to the park ranger. In other words, he continues to be the only useful Sim.

En is a miracle worker wtf

Once Atsushi’s done the boring stuff, he can join his boyfriends and spend his time being cute and flirty, as was the point of this vacation.

Kinshirou lights the fire for no reason. You’d think after part two, he’d have seen enough fire.

En... get up. What if Atsushi drops that horseshoe?

He does get up, finally. He has important painting to do.

Yes, I did add the easel to the lot before I brought them here. This vacation is costing $3 more per night than it otherwise would have.

So much excitement for a mediocre toss. And Atsushi can’t pretend to be impressed because he’s besieged by bugs.

Maybe En is trying to develop a style reminiscent of a young child’s?

Meanwhile, Kinshirou is still struggling with horseshoes.

So it’s easy, but you’re still bad at it? Got it.

Atsushi reassures him until he’s not embarrassed anymore...

...so now snobbish boredom is his dominant emotion. Look at that face. Why does anyone tolerate him?

If you’re wondering where En went, he’s taking a shower in here.

Atsushi’s first attempt at grilling!

En is drawn back by the promise of Atsushi’s excellent-quality(!!) baked potatoes. They’re sparkling! Atsushi’s so happy :D

Happy boyfriends, although Atsushi is again plagued by bugs.

Help him

Kinshirou wanders off in the middle of a conversation and goes to sleep. En is glad to have an excuse to do to the same.

Atsushi goes to the bathroom, but doesn’t return. When I check on him, I find him like this:

He’s stargazing. <3 But that’s not the spot I would have chosen, myself.

The next morning, Atsushi happily makes breakfast. He seems to be moving past any fire-related trauma from his near-death experience in part two.

Kinshirou also goes to the bathroom and doesn’t return. When I find him, not only is he making unnecessary food, he’s making exactly the same thing as Atsushi, except

wth a lot less skill behind it.

He burns himself. :c Just go eat breakfast with the others, Kinshirou.

Kinshirou: En, isn’t Atchan wonderful? He makes the best food, and he’s always so kind...

En: Yeah, you’re right. Atsushi’s great.

Atsushi looks so embarrassed... Change the subject, guys.

They’ve ventured out to the national park! They’re learning how to fish in case Atsushi ever wants to use fish in a meal.

They keep gaining friendship with each other and with this girl, even though none of them have said a word. Maybe words aren’t necessary when you’re fishing buddies.

Kinshirou catches two fish before either of the others catch anything. So when Atsushi catches one...

...he’s super excited.

Finally, to En’s incredulous annoyance, it becomes clear that he won’t catch anything in that spot.

Poor En-chan.

...poor En-chan.

There, back to normal.

Before they give up altogether on En learning to fish, they’ll try this one other spot. I just really want En to learn how to fish a;lskjf ...but the fish are too crafty for him here, too.

This is the face of a man who no longer cares.

Catching the fish made Atsushi confident, so he decides that En will be real impressed if he shows off his muscles. ...It’s sweet of En to humor him.

I see you back there, bear man. Fuck off.

I said fuck off.

If the last screenshot had you wondering, Kinshirou is telling an unbelievable story.

God damn it they’re all tense now

Kinshirou mocks the bear costume because I’m annoyed he’s annoyed about the situation. Then the three of them leave, so that they aren’t tense anymore.

Atsushi cooks his fish while En entertains them all with an adventure story :D

He follows up with a ghost story. Atsushi hangs on his every word.

Kinshirou chooses to find it amusing.

................ I forgot that ghost stories summon ghosts.

Oops.

He doesn’t stay long, though. The ghost that haunts the picnic table...

What has En done?!

En: Holy shit, my bad. Kinshirou: Well done, En. Good job.

Atsushi, in the background, is preoccupied. He’s exposing himself to the source of his fears in order to lessen the fear. No ghosts will get in the way of his exposure therapy.

They go back to their campsite, where the ghost is not. Kinshirou hopes that if he goes to sleep, he’ll be less freaked out about the ghost in the morning. En has other ideas for how to dispel his tension. Atsushi never even noticed the ghost to begin with, but he’s happy to go along with En.

...at which point I remember that this is the first Enatsu WooHoo! Congrats, guys. They get a happy moodlet from good WooHoo, as well, like En and Kinshirou did that once (except theirs was from “spectacular” WooHoo but ok whatever).

Kinshirou and Atsushi have never had a WooHoo so good they got a happy moodlet. I guess En is just really good at WooHoo.

Morning activities c:

Atsushi made this meal twice and it was poor quality both times. Fish tacos 2.0. At least he’s not so heartbroken about it this time.

This screenshot has no narrative value. I just thought it was cute.

The food was so bad it made them all feel sick... Oh, well. Atsushi is still learning.

En... I know you’re a slob, but there are limits...

“From the moist depths of the trash, En has recovered: 1 baconite.” Congratulations, En. Was it worth it.

It wouldn’t be a Kinatsuen Sims post without a screenshot of Atsushi looking distressed. This is why I put you in your tent to relax, Atsushi!! Just rest for a little while, you’ll feel better soon.

He takes it out on the bugs instead. I guess that works too.

This is the moodlet Kinshirou got after he and Atsushi WooHooed:

But this is Atsushi’s:

Kinshirou, you worry too much. Atsushi liked it, see? It looks like I spoke too soon about no happy moodlets from Kinatsu WooHoo, although it’d have been nice if they’d both gotten it.

But Kinshirou must not be too mortified, because he accepts Atsushi’s offer to be BFFs.

...and only afterwards did I realize that you can’t have multiple BFFs, and there’s no mod to make it possible. I guess it doesn’t matter too much, but poor En.

This is the only couple that hasn’t WooHooed in a tent yet. They should have a turn.

...but really that’s only an excuse to get them doing something else so that Atsushi can wander off and harvest wild things guilt-free. I want him to learn herbalism.

He identifies things by eating them, which makes me nervous. But the WooHoo back there seems to be going well.

lol.

Kinshirou now has two concurrent WooHoo moodlets. I’m proud of him.

Desperate for culture and civilization, he decides to view this big statue. But the bugs have other plans.

Dont look so resigned, En. Maybe it’ll go better this time.

(It did go better! He caught a fish. But I was following Kinshirou around in his herbalism journey and missed it.)

This again... If they can’t learn that every time you poke a fire with a stick, the stick catches fire, maybe they should just stay away from fire.

Because En is a lazy Sim, he doesn't jog when he has to go long distances like the other two do. As a result, it takes him a million years to go places. They all started to head back to the campsite at the same time, but Atsushi has already cooked and eaten dinner, and Kinshirou has burned a stick as well, by the time En deigns to show up.

After dinner, Atsushi asks Kinshirou to go stargazing. <3

There aren’t many screenshots for the next day because they don’t do much of anything interesting. That’s largely because they sleep very late.

Kinshirou, pls

This is not the time to hit on Atsushi. Atsushi is fighting the eternal battle against the bugs.

Or so I would have said, but whatever En does here, he manages to get Atsushi’s attention.

...then he turns and starts talking to Kinshirou asldjkf

Atsushi: Hey... En-chan... I’m still up for... you know... you didn’t forget already, did you?

They all keep rolling whims to get married to each other but hey don’t have enough money or friends for a nice wedding yet asdl;jfk and they would be sad in the end if they had the quick, boring type of Sim wedding. They’ll have to daydream quietly about it for a little while longer.

En ends the trip with another story. Not a ghost story this time, though. He learned his lesson. This is a fairytale. Soon afterwards, when he and Kinshirou are stargazing, Kinshirou gets homesick :C Poor baby, he’s not meant for camping.

The next day, without fanfare or screenshots, they head home. I think their vacation was good for them, but Atsushi has no vacation days left, so lets hope he doesn't set himself on fire again before he earns another one.

Will they ever get to see the community lots built and chosen especially for them? Will they get a cat? Will I, in fact, pick up The Sims again at all? When in the world will En and Atsushi have compatible work schedules so that they don’t have to run away into the wilderness to be together? Only time will tell.

Epilogue:

The lion is En’s idea of a painting that inspires confidence.

[robinrantsalot]

Melanie’s “K-12″ is Unmemorable Garbage

After a four year hiatus, you would think that this young artist would come out with a spectacular new album nothing like she has ever done before. What did we get instead? Mediocrity. We received the exact same music that was being made years prior, only with different packaging. You would think that during such a long hiatus, that even a slight change in her sound would have occurred, but maybe that’s my fault for setting my expectations too high.

The album was released in September 2019 along with a film to complement the music. For the purposes of this review, only the effectiveness of the album will be discussed. The only thing I can say about the movie is she at least offered it for free for a good while, so you didn’t have to pay to watch that second-rate crap. 💩

Melanie Martinez has only come out with one other album before this, so you would think it wouldn’t be that difficult to make the second one sound at least slightly different and intriguing. That must be asking too much of the young artist however since the songs on “K-12” and “Cry Baby” could have come from the same album. Well excuse me there is some commonality with the songs on “K-12”, every now and then a word relating to schooling will pop-up and you’ll remember that oh, that’s right! These songs are supposed to be set in a school. How different! How unique! I suppose the theme makes sense when the previous albums childish theme is taken into consideration. However what that album had that this one doesn’t is that it was something new, something that didn’t sound like anything else that was out. Now? “K-12” sounds like a song you hear when you're listening to random songs on the radio. You won’t choose to listen to it, but you may hear it in passing. It’s not an awful album, but after all of the hype and build-up, I expect a little more than average results. Julien Denizard further proves this point with the following: “While the concept does sound interesting and has compelling themes when put under a closer lens, the execution and delivery of the whole project fall flat on its face.” https://www.breezejmu.org/culture/the-world-of-melanie-martinez-is-sonically-subpar-on-k/article_a2ea88ea-d27d-11e9-8e7b-abfbd7b881d8.html If Melanie’s vocals had more punch to them, maybe this album would have had better results. Her voice just has no oomph to it, which is what these songs require.

This album was clearly not meant to stand on its own as once the album is combined with the context of the movie, it’s better. Still not great, but certainly better. That’s the problem though. The album needs to be able to stand on its own and sound good without visual assistance to make an impact.

Let’s start with the positives, shall we? There are some okay songs on this album despite my disdain for the work as a whole. Class Fight has a nice beat and a chorus that is easy to sing along to. The repetition of the song gets old after a while, but it’s not that bad. Detention also has a nice beat to it, but after repeated listens, I still have no idea what the song is even supposed to be about. But hey, at least it sounds kind of alright, how cares if it makes sense right? The song on this album that I feel actually works with Melanie’s delicate vocals and bubbly sound with a contrasting dark theme is Teacher’s Pet. Good job Melanie, one out of thirteen of your songs actually work! 

 The metaphors in this song are crystal clear in comparison to the confusion in the other songs. The music and vocals help to show the horrid and predatory behavior that can occur between a male teacher and a young and vulnerable female student. As Sound Bite Reviews points out: “Sounding unnaturally distorted and tense and the way the song builds and gets darker as it goes on works brilliantly.” https://soundbitereviews.wordpress.com/2019/09/06/album-review-melanie-martinez-k-12/

The issue with trying to criticize this album is that while the message behind the songs is a good one, the songs themselves do the meaning no justice. For instance, the song “Strawberry Shortcake” should have been the perfect anthem for the #MeToo movement with the theme being the objectification of women, but the actual music just falls flat. The sugary sweet bubblegum music is just too sweet to actually have the impact that Melanie was going for. I am all for songs that sound happy and sweet actually having a heavier theme, but come on! It just doesn’t work here, and it’s not even that catchy which is an even greater sin.

 “Orange Juice” runs into the same issue. Great message, subpar song. I listened to this song at least five times in one go and I still couldn’t recite even one part of the chorus. Most of the songs just don’t stand out, and trying to compensate by saying the meaning behind the song makes up for it is just an insult to the very movements you're trying to support. Having to explain the impact of a song rather than having the song does that on its own says it all.

Naysya Blackshear has this positive comment to say: “At times the songs blend together a bit and the only way one can notice a change is with distinguishing sounds, like a bus engine starting, or coughing and sneezing.” https://amherstwire.com/29283/entertainment/melanie-martinez-holds-nothing-back-on-new-album-k-12/ I have only this to say about this statement. Shouldn’t that be a negative? None of the songs stand out in the slightest to the point that they all just blend into one incoherent mess. How on earth, Blackshear, is that a positive?

One comment from Jeff Benjamin sums up perfectly why this subpar album was still highly regarded by her fanbase: “Her core following will jump into this next step with her as already early numbers indicate that the album will have a very healthy debut on the charts…” https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbenjamin/2019/09/12/melanie-martinezs-k-12-vision-is-a-perfect-conceptual-album-in-the-streaming-age/#3430488330fe I couldn’t agree more. It doesn’t matter if the album is actually good or not, the die-hard fans will hype up this album and it will inevitably chart, whether it deserves it or not.

Usually, this is where I would put my top 3 songs that I recommend you listen to from the album but…nah. See? Isn’t that just so unsatisfying? You expect something to happen but then it doesn’t, much like this album! Why listen when I just gave you the true experience of K-12 as an album; utter disappointment. You’re Welcome! Just kidding, but honestly? Top 3? Let’s just stick to one song this time. If there is any song on this album worth your time it’s Teacher’s Pet. Give it a listen!

Overall this album gets a 4.5/10. A mediocre score for a mediocre album. Better luck next time Melanie! 🤷

Find the whole album on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1KerGJUScYGffP3Mjmjz8c

[its-love-u-asshole]

Run and Hide [fic]

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei 

Summary: Kei was never one to turn down a good scary movie. In fact, he and Kuroo loved them, both proudly proclaimed horror junkies and all. However, maybe they'd bitten off more than they could chew with this one...

Rating: T (mild suggestiveness, some cursing) 

Warnings: none

Note: This was my big excuse to write fluff honestly, that’s what this is, useless fluff lmao. Oh, and also kurotsuki acting like huge scared losers. So there’s that. This fic is for @icecreamwithsprinkles bc we traded a lot of headcanons about this that really inspired me <3 

AO3

“Are you sure you won’t need me to cuddle you?”

Kei chucked a pillow right at his boyfriend’s face, hardly needing to aim. He could pinpoint the other’s smug tone anytime, any day.

Kuroo dodged it with practiced ease, springing forward to wrap his arms around Kei’s waist in what he thought must’ve been a surprise attack. Although, some of the coolness (if there was any to begin with) was taken away when Kei noted Kuroo’s Chihuahua patterned pajama pants. The things never failed to make Kei die of laughter, they were so damn ridiculous, but the fact Kuroo owned them hadn’t been surprising in the slightest.

Kei snorted as his boyfriend nuzzled his neck from behind, a hold Kei was quite familiar with after years of dating. As comforting as the embrace was, Kei wasn’t going to give into it so easily, crossing his arms as Kuroo started peppering kisses on any exposed skin he could get to.

It took a considerable amount of effort to keep his breathing under control, given Kuroo’s knowledge of all the spots which made Kei melt in his arms. Despite Kuroo’s dumb pants, his arms and torso looked especially delicious in the tank top he was wearing as well, though Kei would never admit it aloud. It probably was also unwise for Kei to have thrown on Kuroo’s college sweatshirt after his shower, since now the comforting scent was working against him. Plus, it tended to ignite a spark of possessiveness in Kuroo from time to time…and maybe in Kei as well.

Kuroo knew it too, the bastard. Kei could feel the smirk on the other’s face as he mouthed at Kei’s exposed shoulder. Kei hummed at the sensation, tilting his neck to allow for better access. Sue him, it felt good, and he’d get back at Kuroo later.

“Mm, much better,” Kuroo whispered against Kei, lapping and nipping occasionally at the blond’s soft skin. Kei rolled his eyes, turning and grabbing Kuroo’s chin in order to bring him up into a kiss. In the years since high school, Tsukishima had gained a few more centimeters on Kuroo, and he never hesitated to use it to dominate their kisses when it suited him.

Kuroo hummed against his lips, pushing back with equal force to meet the challenge. Oh no, nuh-uh. Kei chuckled as he pulled away, separating them right as Kuroo planned to deepen the kiss.

“Okay, okay, slow down. You’re the one who said you wanted to watch this movie tonight.” Kei laughed at Kuroo’s pout, moving away to grab the DVD case in question.

It was a Friday night, so really, he could afford to mess around if he wanted to. But the whole reason Kuroo was teasing in the first place was because they planned to watch the newest horror movie. Kuroo had somehow managed to get a hold of it in good quality, though it wasn’t actually out yet, and Kei wouldn’t deny he was excited.

“I do, it’s supposed to be the scariest movie of the year,” Kuroo said, walking over to the couch to make sure all their blankets and pillows were in order (they both got cold easily, go figure). Kuroo had done the honor of setting up their snacks on the coffee table as well, and Kei had been eyeing the box of cupcakes for the past half hour. “Perfect for cuddling.”

Kei shot him a flat look, but agreed sharing body heat was one of his favorite things about their movie nights. Not to mention he and Kuroo loved anything related to the horror genre.

He and Kuroo frequently checked out horror movies on Netflix and in theaters, no matter how bad the ratings were. If anything, they would get a good laugh out of the truly terrible ones. Once a month, the theater on campus showed midnight horror movie marathons, with changing themes each time. It had become one of their usual date places, and it had yet to get old.

So of course, when Kuroo had walked home with the new film in hand, promising genuine scares, how could Kei say no?

“What makes this so scary anyways?” Kei asked as he waltzed over to the couch, handing the movie to Kuroo to put into their player. “I couldn’t find ratings anywhere.”

Kuroo smirked devilishly as he pushed the DVD into their player, collecting the remotes as he made his way back to the couch. The look meant no good to most, but to Kei it made things rather promising.

“Well, it’s of course banned in multiple countries,” Kuroo said, waving his hands as he plopped onto the couch.

Ah, you don’t say?

“Wow,” Kei drawled, moving into his usual spot between Kuroo’s legs before he sat back against Kuroo’s chest. “We’ve never watched one of those before.”

They both laughed, because for seasoned horror pros like them, they most certainly had. It felt like more and more movies were banned nowadays, and it meant nothing when it came to measuring the scariness of a film. They’d seen hundreds of ‘banned’ films which ended up being pathetic, but maybe they were just picky.

“I know right?” Kuroo continued, opening the movie’s main menu on the television. The design was minimalistic, accompanied with the usual eerie music. Already pretty mediocre in Kei’s opinion, but he’d reserve his judgement for the film’s actual content.

“Really though,” Kuroo said, pressing the play button before wrapping his arms around the blond and adjusting himself accordingly. “I heard it was hardcore, some online forums swear by it.”

“Hm,” Kei hummed skeptically. “We’ll see.”

The blond never trusted people when it came to horror movies and games alike. People were too easily spooked or grossed out. In all honestly, he and Kuroo hadn’t felt genuinely scared by a movie in a long time, and he wasn’t expecting this one to break the mold. It would take a lot for a movie to be included in their top horror films. Those were movies which had stolen sleep from them, had made them flinch at any noise in the darkness of the night. It was an impressive thing to do, given how dedicated they were as horror junkies. They’d seen some shit, and he wasn’t expecting this to offer anything truly frightening.  

Oh well, hopefully it’ll be entertaining.

Kei reached up to nibble playfully on Kuroo’s earlobe as the movie’s logos passed on the screen, smirking along with his words. “At least if it sucks, we have other things to do…”

As stated before, it was Friday. They could afford to mess around, a lot.

Kuroo hummed, kissing Kei on the cheek in his usual sappy way, damn him. “And they say I’m the perv. Just don’t get too scared babe.”

Kei clicked his tongue, turning to see a creepy looking forest begin to fade in on screen. He dropped his voice to a whisper, reaching for the snacks they’d set out beforehand. “Of course, someone will need to protect you if you get scared.”

Kuroo gave one last laugh, eyes trained on the television. “Sure babe, sure.”

As the setting began to slowly lay itself out on screen, Kei couldn’t help but giggle to himself. This already looked terribly stereotypical and boring. Seriously, a house in a haunted forest? The music was hardly exceptional either.

It looked like this one would be another flop on a long list of rejects.

Whatever, at least it’ll be funny…

-Approximately 45 ½ Minutes Later-

It was not funny.

It was not even remotely funny.

Kei hid his face further into his pillow, letting his eyes peek out to watch the television. He could feel Kuroo’s hands gripping his sides tightly, his whole body tense and wound up like a spring.

Kei watched unblinking as the actor on screen walked through the deathly silent home, knowing any second could be their last. So far, the movie hadn’t relied on traditional jump scares, having the murderers who had invaded the home walk quietly and casually throughout the house in the blind spots of the protagonists. They’d pass quickly in the background, be shown at the top of the stairs, hiding behind curtains, anywhere. It was nerve wracking in the most eerie of ways, and it was so much worse given the film had no soundtrack or instrumentals to signal any attack or sudden event. There was only…dialogue, and footsteps. No music, no warning. It was as if the whole movie was one single tense moment before a scare, and he had no idea how to prepare himself other than to be tense and shield his eyes the whole time.

He felt Kuroo breathing heavily behind him, his boyfriend’s face pressed against Kei’s shoulder, and really, the blond could hardly make fun of him. Not anymore. His heart was racing all the same, and they’d both stopped poking fun at each other after the first death in the movie. It hadn’t been that gory either, just…disturbing. That was the other thing, the characters were more complex and likeable than in a typical horror movie, with interesting dynamics and relationships, only making their ends more upsetting and terrifying.

When the movie had first started, and there’d been a few fake scares, he and Kuroo had teased and laughed as usual. But the fun had ended real quickly.

There as a sudden creak on screen, and the movie seemed almost frozen on a shot of the living room. He and Kuroo held their breath, and for a moment, Kei thought the movie genuinely had stopped for some reason.

And then he noticed. In the frame, to the side, were the two intruders. Apparently, it was all he and Kuroo needed to find their voices, and to drop any remaining dignity.

“NO! Get out of the house now! Fucking go you stupid son of a bitch!”

For one thing, Kuroo seldom cussed, so Kei knew he was damn scared. Kei couldn’t blame him, Kei was two seconds away from throwing his pillow right at the screen, but then he’d be defenseless…

So no.

Kuroo screamed at the television more as the last surviving character walked downstairs, right into the danger zone, his hands shaking Kei furiously out of terror. “Oh my god I can’t watch,” Kuroo said, even as his eyes were glued to the scene playing out.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck…

Kei pulled his legs up to his chest, scooting as far back away from the television and into Kuroo’s arms as he could. It was humiliating, it wasn’t like something was going to jump out from the movie itself, but in that moment it felt real, and suddenly everything in their apartment was freaking him out. Why the hell had they turned off all the lights? Did they lock the door? How did they know someone wasn’t there right then?

There was another creak in the movie which sounded way too real, and as the character made eye contact with one of the murderers, the spell of silence was broken. Kuroo buried his face in Kei’s neck as the chase started, and the sudden loudness of frantic footsteps accompanied by the character’s screaming was way too much stimulation after the tense quiet.

“She’s gonna die, she’s gonna die—”

“Tetsu shut up,” Kei said in a voice way too high pitched to be his own, and fuck it, he threw his pillow.

The character finally reached an exit, a side door of the house which Kei had completely forgotten about. No wonder the opening credits had been a tour of the house, I should’ve paid more attention…

It was so unlike him, but he’d been so ready to be disappointed he hadn’t cared to look for details.

“Yes! Yes, fucking go!” Kuroo yelled as the actor messed with the latch on the door. A latch which had frozen over from the snow. “What the fuck.”

It was futile. There was no getting the door open, and the actor slumped to the ground, defeated as the killers encroached on them. The stupid silence was back too. There were no cheesy last words or taunting from the intruders, only the screams of the victim as they were surrounded.

I can’t watch, hell no.

But he didn’t have to. The movie cut to black right after, and Kei was so close to screaming into the emptiness of their apartment. What the hell? How could they end it like that?

Probably so we could scare ourselves shitless imagining it. Well played.

Well played indeed, since Kei would no doubt do just that.

Damn.

After an unnaturally long stretch of silence, a small paragraph of text appeared on screen against the black frame. Apparently, the film was based off a real crime which had happened. All seven people in the house had been killed, and the perpetrators were never found. It had happened less than a decade ago.

Fuck. No.

As the credits began to roll after the ominous message faded, Kei didn’t know where to start. He wanted to comment on how unfair and sudden the ending was, or talk about the text, or look up the actual crime to know more. But instead, he only felt frozen, sitting in Kuroo’s arms in their now silent apartment.

His mouth hung open slightly, his cautious eyes drifting throughout the darkness of the apartment. He had no idea what to do, he hadn’t felt so high-strung in a long time, the fear slowly consuming him. All he wanted to do was stay pressed against his boyfriend, but that would offer neither of them any protection from the threats his mind was conjuring up.

Kuroo’s arms gave him one last squeeze before one was reaching for the remote, ready to turn off the television, an act which would leave them in total blackness. Neither of them dared to speak.

Of course, rectifying the situation was as easy as strolling to the far wall and turning on the light, but they weren’t thinking rationally. Plus at that point, Kei doubted the illusion could be shattered so easily. They’d just watched a whole movie about intruders hiding in plain sight, like hell would the light help them. The blond looked down at Kuroo as sweat began to form on the back of his neck, and he was aware of how exposed he was in his shorts and flimsy sweatshirt. Kuroo’s scent and warmth provided some comfort, but the anxiety in the air kept rising. They locked eyes as Kuroo’s finger hovered over the power button, forming a silent pact in a matter of seconds.

Kei nodded once, hesitantly, untangling himself from his boyfriend in strained movements. He already missed the warmth, but it wouldn’t be for long. If he made it.

Oh my god, shut up. You’re being stupid, it’s fine…everything’s fine. There’s no one else here.

It was a rational, correct statement, as far as he knew. But right then, nothing in his head was convincing. Kei swallowed, his muscles ready to go as Kuroo bit his lip in thought.

Then Kuroo nodded in return, way too solemnly for his usual fun loving, easy nature. This was it, Kei thought, nothing to fear. But right as Kuroo pressed down on the power button, there was a creak from somewhere in the building, and all confidence jumped straight out the window.

They jumped up from the couch so fast Kei was sure he had sprained a muscle, but he didn’t care. He ran blindly to their bedroom door, flipping on the light as soon as he crossed the threshold. Kuroo was right on his heels (and Kei was pretty sure he had tripped at some point), rushing into the room and slamming the door right after. He locked it for good measure as he leaned against it, breathing way too labored for an athlete such as himself.

The slam seemed to echo forever in the quiet of their apartment, joined by their heavy breaths as they slowly inched away from the door, crawling into bed and into each other’s arms wordlessly. Every creak and footstep was an unpleasant reminder, and Kei gratefully scurried under the sheets. Kuroo’s eyes hadn’t left the door, and he was mildly shaking. Too bad Kei didn’t have it in him to mock his boyfriend, that’s how he knew the movie was horrifying.

The only good thing about it was he could totally recommend it to Hinata and Kageyama, ensuring they scared themselves to death too. If Kei suffered, everyone he knew deserved to as well.

The joy of the plot was dulled by the tightness in his shoulders, and Kei looked at his open closet in worry, slightly relieved to find it empty. Kei resisted the urge to pull the blankets over their heads, like he’d done as a child. Maybe that was going too far…

God, he was ruined. If anyone found out about this he was screwed. Luckily, Kuroo was the only person who knew, and he’d be sacrificing his own pride if he ever told anyone the story. They were stuck in this hell together. Kei was glad they’d been dating for two years and were fully committed to each other at this point. If Kuroo had been a new boyfriend, Kei wouldn’t have felt the slightest bit of remorse in leaving him behind in the living room to save himself.

Lucky for Kuroo, Kei was in love with him, and cared about protecting him from fictional threats. Yippee.

But the movie was based on a true story.

Kei buried his head in his pillow as he finally sank down into the covers, stiff as a board. Shut up brain.

Kuroo moved to lie down as well, still not taking his eyes off the door as he pulled Kei closer to his chest. At least the other’s rapid heartbeat was enough to distract Kei from the occasional creak or noise.

Kei was never used to uncomfortable silences. He enjoyed spending time alone, taking in the peaceful quiet and letting his batteries recharge after prolonged social interaction. But that silence was something he liked and chose. Even with Kuroo, Kei felt he could sit by him without uttering a word and be completely content. They’d always gotten along that way.

But this. This was pure torture. The last time they’d both been successfully scared by a new movie, they’d just started dating. In short, it had been a while, over two years, and Kei had walked home afterwards, free to act scared in solitude. It was almost some fucked up milestone, experiencing this together.

Kei had forgotten what it felt like to be so on edge, how arrogant of him to not see this coming.

He hardly knew what to say, if he should comment on the film at all, or if the mere mention of it was cursed or something. Should he laugh it off? Ask Kuroo if he was alright?

Neither felt like the correct response. They certainly weren’t acting alright, and no shit they were terrified. Kei clutched the sheets tighter, finally absorbing how silly it all was. Out of nowhere, he felt part of the fear inside him dissipate, making room for a warm feeling in his chest. He felt lighter, tingly almost, a happiness he had come to associate with Kuroo. It became clear from the feeling alone, how grateful Kei was about this whole annoying situation.

They were afraid. Since when did Kei let himself act afraid? The answer was never, he would rather die. It was how it was in high school too, his pride was too important. But this was Kuroo, who he loved and trusted. It was the single dumbest realization Kei had ever had.

He didn’t care if Kuroo knew he was scared, if he saw Kei hide under the covers or heard his pleas to keep the lights on. Kei could be as childish as he wanted, and Kuroo wouldn’t care, wouldn’t judge or think less of him. Sure, teasing was never off limits in these situations, but they both felt comfortable enough to express themselves regardless.

Of course, this had always been obvious, it was how their relationship worked. Kei had simply never felt it so strongly in a situation like this, had never experienced it in such a simple form.

A fucking horror movie on a Friday night. Wow.

Slowly, Kei began to snicker into the pillow, unable to fight a grin when he realized he was purposefully trying to keep quiet in case they had serial killers in the house.

Pft.

Kuroo tensed beside him, his confused gaze finally landing on his giggling boyfriend.

“Uh…Kei?” Kuroo sounded almost paranoid, like Kei had lost it and their life was magically gonna warp into a sanitarium thriller. It made Kei laugh harder, and if their apartment was truly under siege, at least he’d die happy.

“Kei…baby, seriously. What is it?”

Hell, Kuroo sounded so damn scared. It was awesome.

Fine, guess I’ll cut you a break.

Kei managed to repress his giggles enough to sit up and bump his forehead against Kuroo’s, a tactic he knew was a surefire way to make his boyfriend’s heart race. Kuroo was weak to how cute it apparently was, and Kei had shed a lot of shame in two years’ time.

Kei stared into his boyfriend’s eyes, having never gotten over their stunning color and the softness in them.

“Nothing,” Kei whispered, his face flushing slightly. “You’re lame, but I…love you.”

Kuroo’s eyes widened, and Kei laughed again as their lips met softly. That was another great thing about Kuroo, out of infinite examples. He was a great kisser.

“Mm, I love you too,” Kuroo said, breaking the kiss and reaching up to hold Kei’s face in his hands. “Where did that come from though? Are you just saying that in case we die?”

Kei snorted, nuzzling his face into his boyfriend’s neck. Moments like this almost made him forget about any impending doom. “Yeah, that’s exactly it.”

Kuroo laughed, somewhat subdued and tired, but it was one of Kei’s favorite sounds all the same. Kei pulled him into another kiss at the thought, and Kuroo, of course, couldn’t refuse.

Yes, moments like this were definitely fine with Kei, lingering fear or not.

There was another loud creak which echoed through the building, and the illusion of safety was quickly shattered. Both he and Kuroo’s eyes locked on each other’s, bodies tense and frozen once more.

Maybe ‘lingering fear’ hadn’t been the most accurate description…

They were silent for about a minute more before Kuroo could no longer take it, and his voice was so worried it would’ve been comical in any other scenario. “I…I feel way too exposed like this.”

“Same,” Kei replied instantly, already grabbing all the blankets he could. Well, thankfully they knew each other well enough to skip over all the ‘let’s be reasonable’ bullshit and fucking acted on their stupid fears.

Kuroo paused in his move to get off the bed, casting a contemplative glance at the mass of pillows on it. Their eyes met again, the same thought crossing their minds.

“…Pillow fort?” Kuroo asked anxiously, and another creak in the apartment answered. It was all Kei needed as motivation.

“Pillow fort.”

--

At the end of the day, it looked like they’d both ended up needing cuddles. Kuroo was right all along. But whatever, Kei didn’t mind. Regardless of how much sleep he lost, or how afraid he was to go get water from the kitchen, nothing beat sitting in a pillow fort with Kuroo listening to Disney songs until they passed out.

Everything worked out.

Kei doubted they’d find another movie as scary as the one that night, at least not for a while. However, Kei wouldn’t mind this becoming a tradition.

One thing was for sure though, and the thought crossed his mind as Kuroo snuggled closer to him. That movie was definitely going on their list of top horror films.

Guaranteed.

[spideychelle-romanogers]

Someone To Pick Me Up

Making of Michelle Jones - Prologue, Chapter 8

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After catching Michelle stealing jewels, the new mystery she brings into Peter's life defines his next adventure. There are new dangers coming to NYC and Michelle is playing a bigger part in Spider-Man's mission than Peter ever imagined.

Chapter 8:  "We're friends, right?" Peter asked.

"Um, yeah." Michelle was quiet and Peter could tell the silence wasn't a good thing. Was she lying?

"You don't sound convinced," he pushed, a little frustrated. Why was she friends with Spider-Man but not Peter?

T/W: none  Beta: Splendid_Splendont  Tags: spideychelle, pan!Peter, demi!Michelle, slow burn

"So you have- what, a treehouse?" Tony asked, seemingly amused. It was the first time since they'd last seen each other after Peter's experience at the bank. Peter felt a lot better and Tony's steel expression couldn't hide how relieved he clearly was that Peter was feeling better. It'd been weeks since they trained last, so getting back into it involved a slight learning curve in getting him back on schedule. While Tony attempted to fight Peter, his trainee did his best to vaguely explain Michelle and her newfound position as his computer-bound sidekick.

"It's an abandoned subway tunnel in Queens," he said distractedly. Spider-Man and Michelle planned to place a tracker on the Kerrig robbers, but Peter and Michelle had to present the physics project that they barely even started. They were between ideas when the robberies came up, and at that point they were both too distracted to remember.

He wasn't so sure they were going to be able to juggle the two. Peter didn’t know how Michelle figured out his trackers. They were built into his suit at the wrist where he put his webshooters. The tiny little spider-like mini bots sprung out onto a target and attached themselves. They would then be tracked by a device Tony left behind that allowed them to watch the robbers’ movements on a map. Peter was grateful that it meant a real chance against their opponents.

"So, what, you just found that lying around and thought- hey, why don't I make my own headquarters?”

"No, Michelle found it." Tony looked like he'd had the wind kicked out of him.

"Please tell me you haven't told her." Before the lecture could start, Peter raised his hands against Tony's swings. Peter stared at him, not expecting him to be to angry.  "Peter!"

"No! I didn't tell her. She's….helping."

"It isn't safe for her to be involved." Peter didn't know what to do. He'd brought the tunnel up to try and impress his mentor and he'd trapped himself in a horrible movie. 'This life is too dangerous' and the like. Uncertain how to continue, he quoted a line from a bad mobster movie and tried to sound confident.

"I can't get rid of her, she knows too much," he said.

"Peter. If something happens to her, that’s on you."

"I know that," he sighed out.

"So what gives, Peter?" Peter appreciated Tony’s respect for his intelligence. He always did. He wasn't wasting his time on lectures of sentiment he already had or facts he already knew.

That was what made it hard for Peter to ignore the fact he knew it was wrong.

"I can't do this Spider-Man thing alone. I need help, and Michelle is good at getting information and helping me catch these people." It wasn't a good defense, but Tony took it like it was. He sighed, and gave a half-assed excuse about a meeting that didn’t even pretend to sound convincing.

"At least you're not operating out of your house," Tony concluded half-heartedly before walking away.

Peter wished he could say that the vigilante justice thing wasn't a total grade killer, but it was. He and Michelle were good students, and really smart kids. Yet somehow they were starting their final physics presentation the day before it was due.  There they were, sitting out of gym on the bleachers, trying to get it started.

"We're going to have to work on this after school," Michelle said, avoiding the word 'tonight' because she knew they planned to track the robbers. To Peter, the project had to be mediocre at best if they were going to keep their grades up. To Michelle, it wasn't just about the grade. They would have to do a presentation at the science fair. Peter knew Michelle got first place at the science fair every year in middle school. Keeping up her record was important to her.  "I have something in the evening though."

"We could work this afternoon and then start again before school," he suggested. It was crazy, but it could work.

"We could start again overnight," she countered. They both smiled, satisfied with that answer. Peter saw something move behind her and froze entirely.

Peter wasn't entirely sure how he felt about Liz but there was one undeniable fact: she was easily the prettiest girl in school. Peter didn't know too much about her besides that. They spent so few moments together. She was really chatty, which he liked. He would mostly sit there, listen to her, and try not to stare, but it worked.

"Michelle, can I get help really quick?" Michelle straightened up when she saw Liz approach. "I can't understand the last three questions on the Spanish homework."

"Oh, uh-" Michelle turned to Peter for a second, just trying to remember the questions. She noticed Peter's expression, though, and did everything to hold in a laugh.

"The last one is 'cuanto quieres comprar'," Peter answered hoping he was right. He was really good at Spanish. So many people spoke Spanish in Queens, it only felt natural that he put in the effort.

"Wow," Liz answered, distracted from her question. "Your accent is perfect." Looking to Michelle to see if anyone had seen Liz compliment him. He saw Michelle pull out the Spanish homework. She was clearly planning on just giving it to Liz but she made eye contact with Peter and smiled.

"Hey Liz," Michelle interrupted. "You should just bring Peter your homework. I haven’t finished mine." She stuffed the paper back in her backpack. "But he's great at Spanish." Liz nodded, looking to Peter to see if he was okay with that. As soon as she was out of earshot, Michelle collapsed into laughter.

" Hey! " Peter couldn't believe she did that for him. She just lied perfectly about not having done the homework.

"You are so welcome. You owe me." She wasn't wrong. Peter kept writing out possible theories for projects until Liz came by, then he handed them to Michelle. Michelle went off and he caught a glimpse of her talking to Ned before Liz became his sole focus.

The beauty of Spider-Man and Michelle's friendship is that she did not need him to show up to be entertained. She didn't need him around all the time, especially not when waiting at the tunnel. He always found her doing homework or reading there as though it was her new replacement for the library. There was always a new stack of books occupying the space each week.

Today though she was there at the door waiting, tapping her foot. Aunt May always warned him about making a girl mad but Peter never had a girl to worry about making mad. Looking at Michelle, he felt the impulse to apologize despite having done nothing wrong. He froze in place and just stared unsure if he should say anything. He went for an apology, but she stopped him the moment he made a sound.

"When, exactly, were you planning on telling me that Tony Stark would be stopping by MY tunnel?"

"Tony," He cursed out under his breath.

"Yeah, I greeted him with a frying pan and he freaked out and thought I was trying to kill him. Then, like a million guys came in and started measuring the place. What are they doing? How do they know how to get into my tunnel? They said they were coming back!"

"Wait, a frying pan?"

"We have a rat. Mr. Stark rushed out when I told him."

"Wait, we have a rat?" That startled Peter so much that he had accidentally triggered a web so he could dangle from the roof. Michelle just stared at him.

"The Avengers, taken down by a theoretical rat." she mumbled before storming off back to her desk, clearly still unhappy. Coming back down, a little ashamed, he didn't correct her on the Avengers bit. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He would one day be an Avenger. It was only a matter of time. Hopefully Tony wouldn't rat him out.

"I didn't think he would do that."

"Is this going to become a base or something? I refuse to lose this place. You can find another damn tunnel-" She was getting belligerent and it felt like this was about so many other things, especially as her face got redder and her voice got louder.

"Michelle!" He interrupted her, and she pouted, staring at him. He got close and put his hands at her shoulders for comfort, looking her in the eyes. "Michelle, calm down. No one is taking the tunnel from you."

"This is Vin's tunnel," She started, like she was about to rev up to another argument.

"I know," Peter assured her. "I won't let anyone take it." Whatever was worrying Michelle seemed to fade. After a while, Peter realized how close he was. Clearing his throat, he stopped staring and backed away, ready to get to work.

"Can you do the tracker mission without me? I have to go," she said suddenly. Before he could say anything, she was walking past him and hurrying out through the entrance. Peter looked around, feeling so alone like the walls were closing on him. He stared at the frying pan, the only other material in the room besides Michelle's stack of books and a few maps and papers. The place felt awfully empty without her.

Hours later, she arrived at Peter's door, backpack in tow. She seemed like she recovered from whatever it was that made her snap, but he was doing his best not to check. They had a long day ahead and Michelle had her game face on.

Aunt May made them fancy pancakes from a recipe off the internet, fully supportive and always bringing by treats. She always brightened up having Michelle in the house, Peter wondered if she ever wanted kids of her own, maybe a daughter.

Michelle looked so hungry as she stared at the pancake stack on the counter, Peter thought it was almost cute how excited she was. Aunt May had to make more less than an hour later. Peter gave Michelle his share of the batch, with an added note that she ate like a beast, which amused her more than it offended her.

They kept spirits up during brainstorming. Michelle showed Peter the list of ideas he gave her. "Since nothing else is working, this idea you had about Spider-Man. I think we should do it."

Peter nearly spat out his coffee. He wasn't even sure he heard her correctly. "Sorry what?"

"You suggested maybe we could present theories on the physics of his swing and his abilities, figuring out how fast he could go. I think we should do it. That is a senior level project. I have a few equations I got off YouTube theorists and some guesses of my own. It's perfect." Peter looked at the list he wrote, taking it from her notebook. It was there, just like she said. As soon as he saw it, he felt lightheaded. He blushed out of nerves and he could feel the redness getting to his ears. He was so distracted by Liz, he couldn't believe he risked discovery like that.

"Don't worry, Peter, I won't tell anyone about your crush on him," Michelle joked darkly. Peter tried to fake a laugh that came off as more of a huff. He'd really walked himself into this one. "I think we could win this one, Peter." Turning to her, Michelle's glee at the idea of getting a win with this project was something rarely seen. He wasn't sure she could get excited about much around him that wasn't about school. Mirroring her smile he decided he wouldn't be the one to burst her bubble.

However dangerous it was.

He couldn't help but observe there was something rather off about Michelle's energy. Like the excitement was coming from somewhere deep and sad.

The next morning, Michelle and Peter were too hyper from their coffee to really sense how exhausted they were. May bought some expensive espresso for them and they miscalculated just how much it took to stay up. Practically hopping down the streets, Michelle just couldn't stop talking about how they were going to win. Peter watched her, confused at her demeanor as he helped her carry the cardboard panels for their project.

"Cheer up, Peter!" she piped up loudly when she noticed his expression. "Think about Flash. Think about how mad he'll be when he loses. We can rub that trophy in his smug little face." Peter laughed.

"You're a good friend, Michelle," He told her. He messed up. He could tell in her expression. He didn't even know what he was thinking, saying that. She stopped in her tracks. Peter knew he should feel a bit odd but truthfully he felt like he had the right to say he and Michelle were friends. "We're friends, right?"

"Um, yeah." Michelle was quiet and Peter could tell the silence wasn't a good thing. Was she lying?

"You don't sound convinced," he pushed, a little frustrated. Why was she friends with Spider-Man but not Peter?

"It's nothing," she answered. He stopped walking.

"Are we not friends, Michelle?" Peter asked, unable to help the cranky tone in his voice. Having this conversation while exhausted was a bad choice. He wanted nothing more than to end the conversation as soon as possible, by whatever means necessary.

"Oh, come on, Peter." Her tone was so cold too. It wasn't her sarcastic attitude, it wasn't in good humor. Something was wrong. Before Peter could get concerned for her, she chose just about the worst excuse. "We barely know each other."

"Bullshit," slipped out of him before he could stop himself. She'd known him as Peter longer than she knew him as Spider-Man. What about Peter was keeping them from being friends? Her tone wasn't helping, but neither were their tempers.

"Excuse me?" Peter knew there was no good answer. Michelle sighed. "Peter, you are a really nice guy and all, but we don't even see each other outside of school unless it's for homework. Even at school, you're always disappearing and no one knows where you go. Maybe Ned thinks that's okay but normal friends aren't like that. I don't know who you are or what you're about. I don't even know what's going on with you lately." Peter was sure he'd never heard her be so cold but he hated the small truths in her explanation. She huffed. "We're going to be late for school, let's go."

It took until the end of the day for Peter to get over it, but he eventually realized they were both just exhausted and venting at each other. He was wrong to push Michelle and make her uncomfortable, and she was being really harsh on him. If she truly didn't know him, she knew better than to assume. Peter learned from her he had to work on his assumptions, but it was clear Michelle was also imperfect on that front. Which was fair.

When they met for the presentation, they mirrored each other's awkward looks. "We need sleep," concluded Michelle.

"Yeah. And we didn't mean it," Peter offered.

"No, we didn't," she confirmed. She was twiddling with her fingers and Peter had a feeling that something else was wrong.

"Michelle-" She winced.

"Do you mind, Peter? I have to get ready." She gestured at herself, and he understood it was an excuse not to talk but he nodded.

The teacher loved it. He said it was likely to get an award for the physics wing of the science fair. To which of course, Michelle countered with questions as to how they could win the overall. Peter chuckled a little at that before supporting her in the sentiment. Everything seemed fine. Peter chalked it all up to Michelle's stress.

He had detention later that day, he couldn't even keep track of why at this rate. But there he was, returning the bathroom pass to the detention classroom, when Liz knocked straight into him. Before he could react, she grabbed him by the shoulders to keep him from falling. "Peter, just who I was looking for. I need your help."

Peter had never heard more beautiful words in his entire life. Clearing his throat, he nodded and tried leaning on the lockers only to realize there was no wall where he was leaning. Catching himself, he nodded again. "Yes, yup, I can help with that." She hadn't even explained what she needed, so she aimed a confused stare at him before he finally realized his mistake. "Sorry, yes, continue."

"You and Michelle are friends, right?" Peter didn't like to look dumb but he answered the question with a resounding 'uhhhh' because he knew very well he shouldn't lie.

"Why?" Liz glanced back in the direction of the room she'd just left, the girl's bathroom.

"I don't know what's wrong but she's in the bathroom and she's crying. The decathlon team is waiting for her. I don't really know what to do. I don't know her very well." Peter, in his usual habit, stared Liz in the eyes for a minute, weighing his options.

This was going to lose him any street credit he could pretend he had. Despite the other kids in the hallway, he took in a deep breath and walked straight into the girl's bathroom without another word.

He had been pretty determined, but seeing Michelle on the ground with tear tracks on her cheeks had been enough to dismantle all ideas he had of the girl. It was wrong to think of her demeanor as cold. She was as sensitive as the rest of them and like Peter, there came a time where it was all too much. 

Michelle seemed so human all of a sudden.

"I'm fine, Peter. Get out. This is the girl's bathroom," she managed through hiccups.

"I don't care," he told her as he approached carefully. He joined her, sitting on the ground facing the same wall she was. "What's wrong?"

"I, um, I got some bad news. Is all. I'm fine." She coughed and another hiccup came. She buried her face into her knees. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Everyone needs a moment," Peter encouraged her. He really couldn't help but start theorizing what happened. Not knowing was torturous. He had the idea in his head that maybe someone did something, but that was too dangerous a train of thought because he knew Michelle needed him to be calm.

"I just want to go home."

"I'll walk you, make sure the coast is clear. Okay?"

"Don't you have detention?" Peter just smiled carefully at her and she nodded. Suddenly her behavior these last few days made sense. He just hoped he could help. Or, if not him, maybe Spider-Man.

Peter didn't get any answers but getting Michelle home was more important than anything. He met her at the usual hour in costume, only to hear her breathing a little shaky, faced away from the entrance reading a book as always.

"Michelle?" he seemed to have startled her. When she looked at him, he could see her eyes were swollen like she'd cried again. "What's wrong?" 

"I, um, I-I told my dad about the money a few days ago." Her breath got shaky. "He's still not talking to me. He's going through with the other surgery. He doesn't want to use money I've stolen. So it was all for nothing. I just wanted him to get better and now he's mad at me-" Her voice cracked so much she was almost whispering. Peter rushed closer to her. 

"Everything is going to be fine, Michelle. He must know you only wanted to help."

"I never should have done it. Of course he didn't want the help. I just don't want him to get hurt. What if something happens?"

"Nothing is going to happen."

"It's in a few days and I feel like I can't breathe until it's over." It was moments like these that Peter realized he understood what Tony meant when he said there are somethings kids their age just shouldn't have to experience. Michelle didn't deserve to be worried like this.

"It's going to be okay. He's going to be okay. Just think, they might be able to help. And if they can't, then he'll realize you were right. Everything's going to be fine, Michelle." She nodded, still shaking. Peter didn't know what else to do, so he hugged her until it seemed like she was better. Before he could pull away, there were footsteps going down the longer way into the tunnel. A man's voice cleared his throat. By instinct, Peter pulled Michelle behind him until he saw who it was.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Tony joked.

Peter did his best not to blush behind his mask. "It's not a good time, Tony."

"What are you doing here?" Michelle asked, confused and still mostly hiding behind Peter.

"We've got some deliveries."

"Deliveries?"

"Well, I bought the lot-"

"Tony!" Peter raised his voice by accident, but he really didn't want Michelle to answer first.

"Listen. I bought the lot, so no one should be bothering you. I just wanted to bring by a few gifts." He snapped his fingers, and the drilling started. Peter and Michelle nearly tripped from shock. "Relax, the structure's safe. I thought your girlfriend told you I was in here checking. That blocked entrance needs some work though."

“Excuse me?” Michelle started. Peter widened his eyes and shook his head at Tony from behind her.

"My mistake," Tony said. "Your sidekick." Michelle didn't argue. The drilling continued for a few more seconds as the teens tried to figure out what the noise was. Then came the delivery men. Screens were being brought in with tables. Within the next two hours, the tunnel was filled with a bunch of gadgets Peter wasn't sure he or Michelle had any familiarity with. He expected Michelle to blow her lid, but he watched her talk intently with the men setting the tech up, the way she'd do with Ned. Suddenly he understood: she was really doing her best with this assisting thing.

"Happy?" Tony asked.

Peter was smiling so he answered mostly with a shrug, still trying to take it all in. "It's amazing."

"How much does she know?"

"Nothing. She still thinks I'm an Avenger." Michelle wiped a bit at her eyes as she spoke to an engineer and Tony remembered an old question he had.

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine. Maybe call next time?" Peter suggested.

"No service, I was in a tunnel," Tony joked.

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