#i would've given them to him myself but y'know

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

🎵 Whoooo wants a nice little short 'n sweet post-Prime one shot with Sonic and Tails and some angst and also fluff and cuddles and nightmares and sadness and cuteness and the implementing of that one headcanon from the post I made about Sonic getting more cuddly and clingy when he's hurt or upset??? 🎵

Sonic Prime - Healing Hugs

Something had happened in the cave with Sonic. Tails was absolutely certain of it.

At first, it had just been pleasant changes, pleasant surprises. Sonic had suddenly switched to being a 100% team player, had started paying attention to each and every thing Tails instructed, and seemingly communicated with Shadow just as the Ultimate Lifeform arrived out of nowhere to Chaos Control the Paradox Prism to who-knows-where.

Then there had been the more weird changes.

Every time Tails opened his mouth, Sonic would drop everything to listen to every word with laser focus, even if it was about something as simple as what he was going to get for dinner or some cool comics he'd read. He was giving a lot more hugs, too, far more than usual. Sonic used to be a lot more selective about physical affection, but now, Tails couldn't seem to get through 30 minutes of a day without his older brother scooping him up in an embrace, however brief. Not that he was complaining, it was nice.

He kept catching the hedgehog lying around in the grass, fingering the green leaves with utter delight in his eyes. Once he found him on the beach, sitting in a palm tree and singing some kind of pirate-y sounding song. Another time he found him wandering slowly around the woods nearby, talking to the flickies about how pretty the trees were.

Something was off, but Tails couldn't put his finger on it. From his perspective, he hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary happen during the battle in the cave, but Sonic's change in behavior made it painfully obvious something had.

Especially when the more negative changes started manifesting.

Not negative in a sense that Sonic was doing anything wrong. But he seemed . . . a little rattled. Some of his hugs were far more than just quick side squeezes. Sometimes he'd stare at Tails with an oddly pensive, faraway look in his eyes.

In bed, one night about a week after the cave incident, Tails found himself tossing and turning. These thoughts were driving him up the wall with how often they'd been occupying his mind lately.

He wanted so badly to sit down with Sonic and ask him what happened. He knew something had happened. But whether Sonic was willing to talk about it was another question entirely. He knew something was different, but he also knew his brother. Sonic didn't like uncomfortable conversations. If he felt unsafe, he would run.

Tails knew better than to confront him with questions that Sonic would likely not want to answer. If he'd wanted to tell Tails what was going on, what was different, he probably would've told him already.

With an exhausted sigh, Tails gave up trying to sleep and sat up in bed, casting a quick glance at the digital clock on his nightstand.

3:47 a.m.

Great. Even when I'm not working on a project, I STILL end up sleep-deprived. He smirked. At least Sonic can't get ticked at me this time, it's not my fault.

Speaking of the Blue Devil, he was right down the hall. Conked out on the couch, where he often slept. In fact, he'd been sleeping there every night for the past week.

Since he couldn't sleep, anyway, Tails slipped out of bed and crept down the hall, having memorized which boards creaked and which ones didn't. He half-hoped Sonic was awake so he'd have someone to talk to, but as he emerged into the living room, he saw his brother sound asleep, half-curled on his side.

Tails blinked and looked closer.

Sonic was asleep, but . . . he was also clinging extra tightly to his pillow. And he looked . . . incredibly stressed.

Was he having a bad dream?

Tails took a couple steps towards the couch until he stood right beside it. In past experiences where he'd found his brother having a nightmare, talking it out rarely helped. Sometimes even waking him up didn't help, either. He usually just wound up disoriented and panicking, and sometimes even ran off to deal with his feelings alone out in the wilderness.

Tails really didn't want him to leave. He also didn't want him to be alone.

He reached out and ever so gently placed his hand over Sonic's clenched fist, both ungloved.

One thing he had discovered about his brother during hard times like this was that he became more clingy. On the rare occasion he was visibly upset, he'd sometimes come up and just hug Tails without a word. When he was sick or injured somehow (and actually allowing himself to be taken care of), he tended to snuggle more. If he was in enough pain, he'd hold onto Tails as tightly as he could. Sometimes he'd do the same with their other friends, but Tails was always his go-to.

Not that it happened very often. Tails only knew these things because he'd known Sonic for most of his life. Sonic had raised him. He'd seen more of Sonic than anyone else had.

Now, he rubbed a finger over his brother's fist for a moment, then very carefully tugged the pillow out of Sonic's unconscious grasp. He set it softly on the floor, then carefully clambered onto the couch next to him, lay down, and hugged him tightly.

Without waking up, Sonic wrapped his arms around him in return and held him close, burying his face between Tails's ears with a barely audible whimper.

Tails could feel his brother's heartbeat racing, so he snuggled in closer and softly began to purr.

And, with time, he felt Sonic start to calm down.

A couple minutes went by, and his heart rate slowed down just a bit. The tension coiled throughout his entire body started to unwind, and his spiked-up quills lowered slightly in a more relaxed position. His ears were still kinda droopy, but he seemed a lot more restful than he had a few minutes ago.

Tails smiled, still bundled up tightly against Sonic. And his smile only grew wider when he felt his brother start purring, too.

There was something infinitely comforting about being held, about snuggling with his brother, the person who loved him to the moon and back. The person he loved in exactly the same way. For those moments, the very problems that had been keeping Tails awake half an hour earlier seemed to fade. He was here, Sonic was here, no words were spoken or needed, and they would be okay.

Tails slept soundly for the rest of the night.

-

The sound of flickies singing from the treetops woke Sonic the next day. He blinked blearily as his eyes came into focus, and he realized that Tails had joined him sometime during the night.

Once upon a time, waking up to find him right there had made him jump. It didn't anymore.

He smiled, carefully adjusting one hand so he could stroke his little brother's bangs and give him a tiny scratch behind one ear. Tails mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, and snuggled closer in Sonic's chest.

He grinned wider. Tails hadn't been snuggly to this level in a while. Granted, he'd always been the more snuggly one of the two of them, but still. It kind of reminded Sonic of the first couple years he'd been taking care of Tails, when the kit was between 3 and 4 years old.

His smile faded a little as he thought of Nine at that age, still alone, still being bullied and hurt, with no one to save him and show him the love and care he deserved.

He could only hope that the other Shatterverse variants were showing him such kindness now. The thought that he would never get to see him again made his heart ache in a way he couldn't quell.

Sonic studied Tails's sleeping face, noting the intense similarities and differences between him and Nine. He wondered whether Nine had always existed even before the Shatter event, as a part of his little brother that Tails would never bring to light. Was it the same with Mangey and Sails?

A tiny snort escaped him against his will as he thought about whether Mangey's existence was an implication that a part of Tails just wanted to go a little feral. Sometimes he couldn't blame him.

His suppressed laugh had Tails stirring, blinking open his big blue eyes. He looked back at Sonic, grinning sleepily. "G'morning."

Sonic ruffled his bangs again, smiling as Tails giggled. "G'morning, little buddy."

Stop calling me that!

He froze at the memory of Nine's angry shout, and Tails clearly saw it.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a gentle, inquiring frown, slowly sitting up.

Sonic sighed as he sat up as well, leaning back to stretch, then pulled his little brother close again. "I've got a story for you, bud," he admitted, deciding it was about time to open up about what had really happened in the cave.

Tails gazed up at him with surprise, but then smiled and nodded.

"I'm listening," he replied quietly.

AO3 version

Did I come up with this while hugging a giant pillow during my nap earlier today? Maybe :3

I also maybe just really wanted to implement that headcanon somewhere teehee

[shinjiikar1]

The Boy Next World and Writing a Forgivable Stalker

Now that we’ve finally made it to the reveal (for Phu) that Cir has in fact been stalking him since high school I wanted to talk about how the show has handled this plotline as well as Cir’s character.

When the red flags started to pop up (pretty much immediately) that Cir’s parallel world story might not be the whole truth, I wondered quite a lot about how they’d handle it, particularly given Cir knows a Lot of very private information about Phu. Stalking (or activities that basically amount to stalking) is not a foreign element to romance media, but the way it is handled has a major impact on how willing the audience is to accept it. For myself, it’s a behaviour that I find a bit hard to justify in a lead, it wasn’t going to immediately make me drop the show, but they were going to need to make Cir compelling enough for me to enjoy the rest of the show (spoiler alert they did).

One of the major factors that worked in the show's favour was that they really held back on showing the stalking initially. It's hinted at, but you don't really see it until around episode 7 (?) when Phu is picking up stuff for his dad. I think it works narratively, as we can identify more with Phu and his understanding of Cir, and also in the sense that it lulls the audience into a false sense of security. I know I was thinking about the implications of all of Cir's knowledge quite a lot in the first few episodes, but by the time we got that flashback in episode 7 I was almost startled, part of me had forgotten about it and it was a jarring reminder. I think this was a really good move and set the show up for the slow unraveling of the lie in the next two episodes well.

They also gave Cir some serious wet puppy treatment to engender sympathy. You can overlook his actions a little more because his whole situation sucks just that bad. Like of course his boundaries and behaviours are totally off the wall, he was raised by a cartoon villain there was no way he was gonna be normal. His interest in Phu was the only thing that kept him going and fighting at all in that situation, without it he probably would've just turned into a complete robot/asshole (as we see in the office worker universe). Obviously in real life this would never justify the level of stalking he committed, but as a fictional character it makes the audience feel enough sympathy to at least prime them to forgive him when the time comes for the resolution. I can also, on some level, understand why he never approached Phu. With his four year time limit he may have felt like it wasn't right to put Phu through that since he wasn't quite willing to fight back at that point. It's still wild to not even try to be friends with him but y'know.

Finally, his treatment of Phu is otherwise pretty solid, he's pushy and a little overbearing (but not to a level that's out of the ordinary for a love interest in romance media), but he's never aggressive or violent towards him (just people around him lol). He does seem to genuinely have Phu's best interests at heart and while his love is somewhat obsessive, he doesn't totally steamroller Phu when he puts his foot down (can I just say how happy I am that Phu has a backbone and stands up for himself?). He's also been feeling extremely guilty about his lie and has been trying to work up to telling Phu multiple times, which gets him some extra points. They've made him almost overly nice (when he's with Phu), particularly in contrast to the other Cir's we've seen. Crucially, he makes Phu happy and wants to protect him from the fucked up situation of his life. Also it's a MAME show so I wasn't going in expecting everyone here to behave in a perfectly acceptable and unproblematic manner lol. I've seen much worse and less forgivable leads, but given the tastes of the current BL market I think they toned him down enough that he's as acceptable as he can be (which might actually be annoying for some people I'm sure lmao).

I think the reveal was also done quite well, the slow building dread I felt from the moment his fiancee mentioned the stalking was great, and that final shot of Phu coming out of the bedroom looking just, So betrayed was perfect. I liked that they had him hear about it and not think more of it initially, then see the photos, then get it confirmed by Wim. Cir can't wiggle his way out and Phu can't dismiss it, it's all finally in the open and now we have to deal with the consequences.

This is not to say it will land for everyone! We all have different tolerance thresholds and icks, but for me, the show did enough that I don't just want Phu to run for the hills lol, YMMV.

I really hope the last episode tomorrow is extremely long, or we get one more, because I reaaallly want them to stick the landing. The show hasn't been perfect, but I've enjoyed it quite a lot and I'd like to end it on a good note!

[sphacelating]

As I'm playing TCOAAL again I'm thinking if Julia's and Andrew's talk over the phone would've happened differently if Jane wasn't there, prob something too small to care but y'know, I think of it

i certainly ask myself: would julia be able to listen to her gut and resist andrew’s manipulation if she didn’t have a voice of reason/someone not under andrew’s influence emotionally and psychologically, to reality check her when he starts bullshitting to pull her back in? when your head’s been fucked with through constant emotional manipulation, you can never really trust that your reason and common sense will weigh heavier than your emotions.

their separation has given her a new perspective, because manipulation and lies require upkeep. he’s very confident in that he can manipulate julia still, get her wherever he wants her, whenever he wants, just by feeding her sweet words and raising her hopes that things between them will be different— he has obviously done this many times to keep her around through the course of their relationship when she’s recognized that things between them weren’t working and negatively impacting her mental well-being, as manipulators do. but he doesn’t take into account that his ability to gaslight her is dependent on all their conversations happening without a third party’s input, because they will see through his shit no matter how hard he’s worked on julia to make her believe he’s sincere and that his intentions are pure.

he’s confused by how ineffective it is now, and it’s due to that julia has their time apart on her side, her therapist and also jane, two people who provide her with clarity that andrew’s manipulation otherwise clouds and that she lacks when alone with him. you’re extremely susceptible to manipulation and gaslighting when you’re isolated— this is why it’s so effective on andrew himself when he’s on the receiving end of it.

[tachimichishrine]

<ok guys so hear me out. this is the second time i've posted this on tumblr (originally posted on my main— which isn't a fic blog btw) AND i have it somewhere on my other platforms that i havent touched in ages... im just tryin to organize myself so pls dont remind me..... womp womps apologetically,, anywho, it's canon that jouno was a crime executive before joining the hunting dogs sooooo !!!!!! >

"sweet and sour"

◝≞▣≞◜ crime executive!jouno saigiku x gn!reader

warnings: except for a bit of guns + cursing and ooc jouno,, none! this is all fluff :) i didn't write this in lowercase??? crazy amirite

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"Jouno Sai... Saigay? I was certain there was gay in there somewhere... Anyways! Hi!! It's a pleasure to meet you!!"

The mispronounced man in question glared at the individual who was giggling happily, strolling around in the office like they owned the place, shooting a, "Hey, Fernando, did you get a new haircut?", "Lookin' good in that suit, Ichika!", and, "Oh my god! Where did you get those shoes, I swear I saw the exact same ones at that store down the street, the uh... what's it called? Y'know what I'm talking about, don't'cha?" to his fellow executives like they've been friends for years on end.

The room had always been tense, from what he recalled. When people entered, they expected to get shot by the boss, or be given a task so difficult to complete that they would ultimately get shot. In short, a meeting with the renowned organization that Jouno Saigiku worked for was a death sentence for his subordinates, even more so for rival organizations.

Yet, this person had been bouncing around the walls like a child in a candy store, waving around the knife at their fingertips like a ten thousand yen bill and showing off the gun strapped to their thigh and waist with the same bubbly confidence of a new outfit they'd just bought the previous day.

'They're going to get themselves killed in no time,' he laughed to himself, waiting for the one in charge to enter the room.

For now, he was responsible for managing the building and their potential customer (from another criminal organization. It made him wonder how on earth someone like them could possibly be working in the same sadistic field as he did) until their meeting began. He'd never met this person in particular before, and wished he would've never had to. However, business was business, and he would need to accommodate them well enough to prevent a war between the two groups to break out.

"[l/n], was it?" he smirked, a strained playful smile that was barely hanging above the devilish one he had underneath. "It's Jouno Saigiku, and I'd recommend that you refrain from making yourself too comfortable in here. You are, as you know, on our turf, which means that-"

"Bla, bla, bla! you're so formal!" they scoffed with a wave of their hands, bouncing off of the velvet couch and strolling up to the executive, glaring at him with a particular expression that he couldn't see. "I'm actually rather touched that you knew my name! [l/n] [y/n], I'm your connect with [criminal organization name ~ [c /o/n]] so don't be a meanie!"

..."Don't be a meanie? "

As if by miracle, the boss entered right when they were about to get close enough to his straightened-out figure, almost army-like in posture, to tap his nose with their fingertip as one does with children. In his field of work, only people of utmost trust managed to meet directly with the person on the top, so he considered that perhaps they were prevalent in some other field that didn't have to do with relationships and appearance. Now, all he had to do was wait for his boss to get infuriated at their attitude and demand that he dispose of them and he'd be able to drag them out back and peel off their skin...

"[l/n], dear! It's been a while, has it not?"

This keeps getting better and better.

"Kantoku!" they beamed out, running over to the old man and avidly shaking his hand. "Oh, I've missed you so! Things have changed around here, didn't they? You never told me you promoted a new executive!"

With a playful eyeroll, Kantoku - the man in charge of his crime syndicate - gestured to the couch and began to converse, almost casually. What baffled him, perhaps the most of all, was that every regular beat of their heart was steady, this wasn't a feigned façade nor overcompensation for fear. This person was truly, genuinely an idiot.

"Pst, Jouno," the woman executive standing beside him nudged his shoulder, "the boss is here so we're free to go. Plus, that asshole who stole from us isn't talking, so we might need your help."

With that, he left behind both the room and the lingering feeling of confusion regarding [l/n] [y/n].

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Jouno Saigiku did not have a very complex job.

In fact, his daily tasks mostly consisted of torture and punishment, with the occasionally laying off (which undoubtedly meant death. There was quite a bit of death around him, a certain fading scent that permeated throughout any room he'd visit. This was not a literal physical scent, for that would obstruct his sight and handicap his senses, but nonetheless he found himself rather pleased when he felt warm blood splatter across his soft cheeks.)

Today was nothing different; supposedly, someone from [c /o/n] had blundered and fled right into their territory. Given the amical relationships between the two groups, it was their job to retrieve and return the fugitive, annihilate them if they do not cooperate and it becomes necessary.

At the moment, he found himself seated in a vehicle, driving to the last location that this person was last seen, being described as "[s/c] skinned and [e/c] eyed", all attributes which couldn't possibly make any difference to him, due to his lack of vision. When he asked for a name of this person, he was shocked to learn that it was the same energetical and bubbly individual who vaguely crossed his radar a few weeks back.

"Oi, oi, Jouno slow down, we don't wanna pass 'em 'cause you're drivin' too fast, 'ight?" his coworker for this mission reprimanded. "Just 'cause you can do that fancy hearin' thing ain't mean my eyes ain't good, 'ight?"

Jouno thus pressed his foot with more force against the gas pedal, speeding up the car only because he didn't quite like the tone of this person.

"Hm?" he asked innocently. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you very well, what did you say?"

"I said slow down you-"

They cut themselves off, not allowing for a response since their silence indicated that they had learnt something new.

"Woah, yeah, they're right over there!" they exclaimed, tapping a point on the window so that Jouno could hear the faint sound and distinguish which direction their target was. "Pull over, I'll tie 'em up and toss 'em in the back."

The white-haired man paused momentarily, thin brows imitating each other as they angled upwards in confusion.

"What do you mean? That's not them."

"For a blind bitch, ya really think yer all that, don't'cha? I can literally see them right now, they're standing outside the fuckin' car so pull over and lemme mug 'em."

His lips had pressed into a line, contemplating the situation. The reason he wasn't allowed to go on his own was because they were extremely picky about identifying the right culprit, yet Jouno cared little for his escort of sorts. He'd encountered [l/n] before, and what marked his memory the most, asides from their childlike behavior, was how their heart hadn't betrayed a thing on the outside attitude, despite being blatantly threatened. This person, the one that his temporary partner had suggested was their target, was in fact sweating buckets and had such an erratic heartbeat he might've believed them to be having tachycardia. On top of this, their breathing was not the same, from what he gauged, they couldn't possibly be the right height, build and walking pattern. People on the run obviously become more more jittery when faced with escaping an impossible situation, but this conflicted his knowledge in too many ways to be true.

"I believe," he suggested calmly with a grin appearing, still refusing to unlock the doors or pull over, therefore driving past the individual, "that [l/n] might not be as gullible as we first presumed, and that this person is a decoy set up to distract us."

And so, Jouno found himself pleasantly challenged by the least likely person.

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As the sun bled out into the sky during its descent from the zenith to the crepuscule, Jouno had finally managed to shed his gravely irritating partner and complete his task alone.

That idiot - really, that's all he could call them - decided to ignore his words and kidnap the scapegoat. Of course, this person sobbed and repeatedly told them that they're not the right person, that there's been a mistake, but no one believed their words. Inevitably, they were tortured for a few hours and deemed unnecessary. Jouno shot them, then headed back to search for the real culprit.

"Now, where could they be?" he hummed, almost amusedly, to himself. "Most people tend to lay low when running from important and dangerous organizations, but something tells me..."

He was rather lucky, in a sense, that someone had spotted the fugitive near a bar. However, this was over 5 hours ago. People on the run tend to be smart enough to scatter from location to location, but he supposed he shouldn't be overestimating other people's intelligence.

The door creaked with a lowly groan, as did the floor when he applied weight onto it via his heavy tread. Upon first impressions, the bar was nearly empty.

Then, he heard a voice call out.

"SAIGAY!! Ahh, it's been a while, hasn't it?! Come, come! Can I order you anything? You look like a bourbon man, are you into bourbon? Unless... fine wine? Oh dear, don't keep me guessing, come, sit!"

Immediately, as soon as they called out his name and announced themselves with such ardor, he knew he had the right person.

"No thank you," he smiled. "I can't drink, I'm currently at work."

"Are you? Aw, you don't mean you're here to kill me?" they replied, voice dipping down to a pouty grumble as they neared the end of the sentence. "I'm tired of people trying to kill me, it's no fun."

Idling at the entrance, Jouno didn't quite motion to sit next to them, nor did he seek to keep close in case of sudden evacuation. From what he had heard, this person was without ability, so they didn't pose much danger. Nevertheless, he was a cautious man, and had known that false information could potentially be fatal in certain circumstances, especially when the target is acting so laid back.

"You stole half a million yen from one of the most dangerous organizations around, I don't particularly think you'd've expected it to be fun."

Met with muttering, he would've asked them to speak up had he not heard the nearly incomprehensible, "but I didn't steal anything" from their lips.

"You didn't?" he said aloud. "Then where do you suppose the money had gone?"

A pause insinuated, and he pondered repeating his question in a more forceful way when they answered. "Woah, you've got great hearing! I wish I were like that, half the time people talk to me and all I hear is 'bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bl-'"

Jouno pulled out his firearm and pointed it directly at them.

"Enough games. Cooperate and I'll only make it hurt a lot."

"Gee, mister, did someone piss in your cheerios? I'll come, I'll come, just give me a second! I want to finish my drink."

On the table, however, there wasn't a single glass.

Upon having Jouno point this detail out (for while he could not see, he could still visualize objects in space with his other senses), they paused briefly. "So either you're blind but scarily good at it, or you can see through that crazy squinting of yours."

"I don't appreciate you stalling," he hummed, cocking the gun. "Do you think I won't shoot?"

"No, no, it's clear you would!" giggled the individual. "But, oh, do tell me more about yourself. Being threatened is so much more pleasant when-"

He shot them once.

He shot them twice.

Both bullets landed in non-lethal locations, such as their right shoulder and calf, which was enough to get his message across without rushing his punishment for their actions.

"That hurt!" they frowned, clutching at the opening from which blood was rushing out. "Owwie! You really don't like talking with people, do you, Saigay?"

"Saigiku," he corrected with a hiss. "Do you ever stop talking? I could very well kill you right now."

"Well, I sure hope you don't!"

This just made him want to shoot them even more.

He listened eagerly as they let out a few hisses and groans, then a soft squelch and the clattering of a metal against the marble countertop. He guessed that they were taking out the bullet from their calf, since the one in their shoulder had effectively shattered into hundreds of shards, and would require special medical attention immediately if they wished to live for a few more years. Then again, he knew that they probably wouldn't live past tomorrow, so it wasn't his concern.

Letting out a soft gasp while they tore off part of their attire in order to wrap their injured limb, they still seemed to be laughing. "Thanks."

"For the gunshot wound?" the white-haired male tried to clarify. He didn't take them to be such an open masochist.

Yet, his question only spurred a flurry of coughing and chuckles. "Of course not! I meant, thank you for not attacking me further. Really thought you'd kill me here and now, but you're letting me treat my wounds without interference. Is it because you have orders not to kill me?" Adding with a terribly comedic bite of their lip, they said, "Or have you been seduced by my charm?"

Once he made it perfectly clear that he'd shoot again, they backed off on the teasing remarks and requested that he help them up. "To walk," they'd clarified. "I can't walk, y'know. How do you plan on getting me back to your base?"

"I'll drag you by your hair if I need to," he replied.

(He had to hijack a car because there was no way he'd drag a body across the city, especially not a body as talkative as this one.)

"So you're telling me," they pondered while blindfolded and cuffed in the back of the vehicle, "that you're blind, yet you have highlights? They're pretty, I'll give you that, but why did you colour it? Midlife crisis? Doesn't sound right to me, plus you can't even see the colour so why on earth would you do it? Are you responding to me? I can't hear anything with this blindfold over my ears. Aren't blindfolds supposed to obstruct your vision, not your hearing? Man, but maybe I can hear perfectly fine and it's all your fault because you're not answering me. C'mon, Saigay, humor me!"

Of course, he had no intentions of humoring them.

"You're lucky I didn't gag you," he said. "Or cut off your tongue. In fact, knocking you unconscious would've been a splendid idea."

"But you didn't!" the ex-criminal beamed. "Besides, I'm going to get beat up enough once you deliver me back to [c /o/n]. If you ask them to let you watch and/or participate, they won't say no, I think. Pops isn't too strict when it comes to those things."

"Pops?"

"Y'know, the head of [c /o/n]. He's my dad's close friend and the brother in law of your boss."

That explained a lot of things, starting with this seemingly innocent person's involvement with such dark themes. Yet, there was still something Jouno needed to know.

"And you betrayed your own family friend?" asked the blind man, quickly approaching the location of the building in which he was given rendezvous for the drop-off of the traitor.

"Ahh, connections don't mean shit," they scoffed, waving around their tied hands as if to emphasize their point. "But I didn't betray them. I'd have to be an idiot.... No, not an idiot, whatever is worse than an idiot in order to steal money from a man who would've given me the cash if I asked him for it. So, no. I didn't steal anything. That's why I didn't run; I'm not guilty of anything, running would make it look like I am."

Jouno was interiorly perplexed. So they've got a decent brain behind all of that buttery personality, after all. But, there was just something about them that didn't fit with the narrative, something he couldn't wrap his head around.

"Why wait for me to tie you up?" he finally suggested aloud, hearing his own words formed allowing him to make more sense of his confusion. "Why not just waltz into the building? This makes you look both stupid and guilty."

A laugh burst from the backseat, the kind of laugh that makes you want to join in despite not fully understanding the reason behind it. It was however cut short, due to a sharp inhale of pain then a few curses murmured at their injuries.

"Maybe I am an idiot. Maybe I wanted to get caught. Who knows? Maybe this was all part of my master plan to lure you near Negishi Station so that I could use my all-powerful ability."

He spent a few seconds registering that last bit. Lure him out to Negishi so they could...

"BOOM!"

With a jolt, he nearly crashed the car; luckily, in time Jouno had realized that this was just a sound effect from the hostage, and not a real crash caused by an ability. They were, in fact, right next to Negishi, which made the whole thing a huge coincidence, but other than that, nothing occurred. They were still in the car, unharmed and untouched by any ability that he could detect.

Meanwhile, [l/n] was laughing their ass off.

"BWAHAHAH, you actually fell for it!!" they managed between heaving breaths and uncontrollable laughter. "I knew that since you were blind you would be sensitive to loud noises but that worked so much better than I thought it would, you should've seen your face! You were all like," then they proceeded to make a plethora of faces he couldn't see, but that he knew were all mocking him.

[l/n] continued, "By the way, just because I haven't used it doesn't mean I don't have an ability. So watch out for your ass, pretty boy, or else I might just... BAM!"

He did not flinch this time, but he found himself rather frustrated with his previous reaction. People, normal people, never teased him this way. He'd have thought [l/n] would be a bit less friendly around him after sustaining the injuries, but so far, that appeared only to drive them towards a playful alternative to revenge on par with a snowball fight between two children.

"I'll tell you what," concluded the hysterical individual attempting to calm themselves down, "let's do this again, same time tomorrow? Muah, it was lovely meeting you Saigay!!"

Before he could protest or question this, they waved around their somehow uncuffed hands, reached for the handle of the car door, pushed it open and leaped out.

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He found himself standing at the entrance of the bar the very next day.

It was beyond frustrating to pick up the pieces of yesterday's aftermath; based on his recollection and the most probable situation, [l/n] likely used the loud noises not only to ruffle and distract him, but to cover up for the sound of the click of their handcuffs being taken off, courtesy of a pin they had picked the lock with. On top of this, their haphazardous mention of Negishi station was just a way of situating themselves in space (since they had been blindfolded) so they could think of the safest escape route.

He quite frankly did not expect to be outsmarted by someone who can't even remember his name right. Yet, the fact remained that he was strolling up to the entrance of the same place as he'd previously apprehended them at, same hour of the day. He rather hated the sunset; nothing felt right for him. Not the consistent buzzing of the cicadas during the day nor the melodic trilling of the crickets; dusk never held a sustainable aura, and for this reason he'd grown to loathe it, despite being told repeatedly that the setting sun was beautiful.

Rushing curtly inside the building, the bells connected to the door jingled, and, almost on cue, a loud cheer roused him from his lucid trance.

"Saigay!! Over here, over here! Can't say I expected you to show up, but I'm pleasantly surprised!" gleamed [l/n] upon his arrival.

"It's Saigiku," he repeated for an umpteenth time, "and I'm here to turn you in."

They shook their head. "I'd have hoped you'd realized that I don't take to being kidnapped. But I do appreciate the perseverance, so I'll make a deal; have a drink with me, then I'll cooperate for an entire 5 minutes without trying to escape."

"...You truly are an odd person," said he, despite taking a seat by their side and waiting. He didn't know what trick they had up their sleeve (rather, their cast. Turns out, they'd gone to a private medical professional in order to have it looked at. He smiled when he noticed this; a sure sign that victory was much more likely tonight.)

"I'll take that as a compliment!" [l/n] laughed heartily, then called for the waiter. "One [favorite drink] for me, and he'll have a cup of whiskey. The good type, y'know what I mean, darling?"

The waiter raised a brow at the nickname and odd hint, but took the order anyways and began preparation. Meanwhile, Jouno sat, trying to protest that he did not want anything to drink, but was quickly cut off by his temporary enemy's much louder affirmations that he did indeed want some.

"You don't look like the type to be trying out sobriety," they hummed, "but I know if I let you chose for yourself, you wouldn't get anything. You'd be all," (and here their voice deepened and became gruff in an attempt to make it clear that they were looking to mock him,) "'I'm here to kill you! I'm a mass murderer so fear me!!' Am I right or am I right?"

Before he could respond, the fingers on their uninjured hand began to flick his dangling earring, on the right side of his face.

"You have an earring," they pointed out, almost stupidly. "Why don't you have one on the other side?"

He wasn't going to respond to any of this. In fact, he was toying with the knife in his pocket, gauging the right moment to strike with such an unpredictable opponent.

"Because I don't," he said dully. The waiter came, their glasses clinking with the ice inside as it toyed around in the liquid, gently being placed onto the counter.

"Fair enough," they smiled. "Okay sooooooo, wha'd'ya wanna talk 'bout? Gimme anything, I hate silence."

That made two of them.

"What is your ability?" he said rather bluntly, with a soft hum. He was in an optimal position to strike, only a few centimeters away, but he thought better than to attack without knowing such an important piece of information. Besides, with the way the conversation was going, they seemed to be eager to tell him the truth, for whatever reason, so he wouldn't lose anything to try.

After taking a long sip from their drink, they paused. "Nothing, I don't have one. You?"

The cautious man pressed further. "I find it hard to believe you haven't an ability in such a dangerous environment."

With a chuckle, they took another gulp from the glass. Then, turning to him with a relaxed heartbeat, they said very calmly and slowly, "I don't believe in needless deceit. Unlike you, Mr. Hide-my-knife-in-my-pocket-that-I'm-going-to-stab-you-with, I don't play dirty. So, when I say that I don't have an ability, don't be so surprised, yeah? The majority of people don't. I supposed when you're gifted, you don't quite try to sympathize with those unlike you."

So, they're aware of the weapon, yet made no move to dodge? Perhaps he's overthinking this, after all there are many people who seem invincible just because one doesn't act based on rational decisions, but based on their feelings. He should know, he spends most of his free time toying with said emotions and tearing them apart.

In one swift movement, he let his knife slide back down his pocket and removed both hands from the shadows.

"You sound genuine," he said, almost to himself.

"Well, I sure hope so," they laughed, despite nothing particularly funny being said. "I am being genuine, after all. You'll be able to bring me in and tie me up properly in a little while, so I'm going to enjoy the now while I still can, that's my philosophy!"

"Your philosophy is to drink something before you get kidnapped instead of trying to escape?" he repeated, incredulous. Perhaps their drink was laced with something, some kind of drug that drags your mood to a high. Even if he smelled no trace of anything other than [favorite drink], he concluded that this was the only reasonable explanation to this indecipherable human being.

Doubling over with a violent wheeze, they were (yet again) laughing at his words. They babbled a few words between gasps for breath, such as, "Didn't know you had a sense of humour!" and "Please, I can't breathe!" like he'd been a world renowned comedian. He almost felt the urge to clarify that he was attempting to degrade them, to criticize them and point out their stupidity, but one does not simply explain themselves when insulting another. Typically, their words transmitted the message well enough, but this was far from a typical recipient.

Finally recovering, they put on a mock angry face and waved around their finger. "You fiend, take it easy, I'm injured! At this rate, you'll make me pop my lungs out, ahah! Is that your master plan? To incapacitate me verbally? Bravo, I didn't expect that!"

"I wasn't..." he said, trailing off as he was thoroughly perplexed. What does one say in his situation? At this rate, his biggest concern was their oddities, not their capture.

On second thought, he nearly forgot that he was here to capture them.

"That's the beauty of it," they exclaimed, waving around their drink and spilling a considerable amount on his shirt accidentally with the grand gesture. "Unintentional torture! Wow, you must be even better than what I've heard about you, Saigay."

Not even bothering to correct them, he said, "And what exactly have you heard of me?"

"One, that you're very attractive. Two, you're ruthless when it comes to sadism. Three, you have exceptional intellect and four, you can hear heartbeats. Is that last one true? Wouldn't that make you a living polygraph?"

He was, but also wasn't, listening. The first thing they'd mentioned was his attractiveness, likely physical, but what an odd thing to point out, that is! Fighting down the odd feeling blooming in his chest with success, he finally mustered a response; an affirmation.

"That must be your ability," they pondered. "Isn't it? You'd be too strong if you had something else on top of this."

With a grin, Jouno explained, "It is not."

A melodramatic gasp could be heard echoing throughout the mostly empty room. "It isn't?? Gah, I must've been astronomically lucky to have escaped you last time!"

He'd've agreed had he not been promptly cut off by a rush of guesses regarding his ability. Most were way off, a select few absurd, and the entirety of them wrong. He felt his face contort into that of a confused expression when they suggested that he might be able to listen to people through walls, drawing an example by explaining that he might, and here the words were engraved into his mind, "listen in on people while they went to the bathroom, thus deducing whether their digestion was going well." Somehow, this had become a conversation in which they recounted the vivid tale of their daunting task of finding a bathroom once when they'd been in a 'foreign environment' - also known as the downtown region of the neighboring city during a negotiation.

All done and said, they'd contented themselves with a fairly one sided discussion, and he sipped down the Japanese whiskey he'd been handed. Upon noticing this, [l/n] stuck out both of their wrists as best as they could, pressed near one another as if pleading.

"Well, a deal's a deal! Take me away, Saigay! Ah! That rhymes! Maybe I should become a poet!" they giggled.

Jouno considered this for a long time, the topic that was on his mind ever since his arrival. The previous day, he'd told his boss that [l/n] couldn't be found, and that he must've made a mistake when saying that the doppelganger was a fake. This, of course, was untrue, but it also gave him leeway in case he found himself up against a formidable opponent. All of this meant that, if he did not turn [l/n] in to [c /o/n], he himself would not lose anything.

It wasn't sympathy, he told himself, that led him to get up and walk away as they left their arms extended. No, it was just an avoidance of unnecessary effort. If he walked away now, he would save himself the hassle of detaining them, all the while giving this person a second chance. Who knows, perhaps they'd be useful to him in the future.

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Jouno had not expected to be called by the lower ranking members of his organization early in the morning. What he had expected was to go to his office; not being told that there was a "package" waiting for him at the base.

He hadn't a clue what this package was. His first instinct was that it was a weapon of sorts, a bomb, anything that did damage. Although, it could very well also be a traitor who had been tied up and sent to him as a peace offering. The more he thought about it, the happier he was as he approached the location in which he was expected.

"J-Jouno-sama!" exclaimed one of the nervous underlings - a kid, really - holding a...

...A dog?

It barked at him, growling and struggling in the grasp of the two kids tasked with holding it down.

"What is this, a prank?" Jouno hissed, ready to make them pay before he even got the entire story.

One of them audibly gulped as their blood drained from their face, while the other stuttered an explanation. "N-No! We f-found this dog attached w-with a leash right in front of the building, and there was this attached to its collar," they said as they handed the executive a wrinkled piece of paper which, upon further inspection, turned out to hold an uncanny resemblance to a napkin from a nearby fast food place.

On it, there were an assortment of dots which were ink being pressed hard onto the fabric. Braille, he concluded. This person seemed not only to have specifically destined this to him, but desired to keep the contents for him only, rather than have someone read it for him.

On it, he managed to decipher the following:

'Dear Saigay,        Thanks for not trying to kill me!! I'm certain you're just a big softie heheh.         The doc told me I shouldn't be moving around too much after those wounds you gifted me, so now I'm kinda on house arrest lolol. Either way, I'd've loved to thank you personally but can't so I got you a present, its name is undecided yet BUTTTTTT they're a bitch just like you so I called them saigay jr. for the time being ♡ plus I figured you never had a guide dog, right?? So here you go!  XD

p.s. you never told me what kind of drink you liked. was I right about the whiskey? pls tell me!! i'll recover properly then find you, so you better have an answer by then >:( p.p.s. heheh peepee s p.p.p.s. you still haven't told me why your hair is dyed p.p.p.p.s. SAIGAY JR HAS YOUR MISSING EARRING BTW!!'

What on earth-

He certainly was no longer angry at this weird dog, but at the owner.

What made it worse was that the two kids had finally gotten over their fear of him and started calming down the dog (which he was not going to called Saigay Jr., much less Saigiku Jr.), noticing the earring; it was only a clip on that was obviously made up of cardboard clippings and poorly colored insides, as well as engravings that he could physically feel and recognize, but the resemblance to his own was noticeable. He wondered if this was an insult from [l/n] disguised as a present, but decided that there were too many exclamation marks for this to be anything resembling a threat. Not to mention the "XD".

Now, he had to figure out the dog. It's too much noise and too much effort, besides he doesn't like dogs all that much. He supposed he'll just have to snatch off that wretched earring and dispose of it before anyone makes the link and this haunts him, then kick it out. Surely it'll wander back off to its home or whatever. None of what followed would be his concern.

"Jouno s-sama, what should we do with the dog?" uneasily asked the kid. He shook his head, snatched the makeshift earring in one fell swoop and crumbled it into a ball in his hand.

"Take it outside, it isn't mine and I don't care about it. This was just a prank from someone I know."

With this, Saigay Jr. was released back onto the street, the collar still coated with braille dots that spell out its name.

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Once work was done, he decided to go for a walk, for some fresh air. However, Jouno was not expecting to hear panting coming from his side.

Saigay Jr. barked at him, happily wagging their tail and bouncing on their paws.

"What is wrong with you," he swore under his breath, then made his tone much vocal. "Go away! I don't want you here!"

None of this, obviously, got across to the dog, who was still following him closely.

"I said go away!" he yelled, a bit louder but also significantly harsher. "Stupid bitch."

It somehow reacted differently, barking much more avidly and skipping over to him with apparent excitement.

At this rate, he'd never get rid of the dog. He contemplated calling the pound and having someone take them in, but knew that this was likely an unnecessary step to take. Regardless, he'd have to get rid of it soon. All this barking is going to make him dizzy soon.

The sounds subsided as it transitioned from growling to a soft whine, choosing to lay down. It was then that he noticed a certain odor that he hadn't paid attention to before.

...Blood?

He almost could've sworn the dog was injured.

Jouno decided that it was not his concern and left it there, on the street, alone.

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The dog was certainly a stubborn little thing, as it was there when he came to work the next day.

He took out his gun, shot it in the air (loud noises hurt him a lot, but he knew the same applied to the animal) and hummed contently as it scurried off out of fear, out of his life.

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Saigay Jr. came back the very next day.

"Oh, will you fuck off already?" he groaned, taking out his gun yet again to fire a warning shot. Of course, he wasn't going to actually kill the beast, but he was reaching a point where he was very well considering it.

He stopped himself as he heard it whine, then lower itself to the ground, almost bowing to him in a human fashion.

"I'm not keeping you. [l/n] should've just left you in the dump where they found you," he said, realizing that he was talking to a literal dog.

He reached his hand out with a sigh, and began to pet it. This clearly made the dog calm down significantly, as it was finally getting recognition from the one it believed to be its owner, and so it didn't noticed as he curled his fingers around the leash, detached the ends of the collar then used it to attach the canine to a post.

As soon as it realized its situation, it began to growl, barking aggressively at him, then pouting and almost seeming like it was about to cry. Jouno didn't care, however, as he took out his burner phone and dialed animal patrol.

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Somehow, by some un-abiding law of the universe, Saigay Jr. was there, sitting happily, waiting for him outside of the building in which he operated.

Its leg and arm seemed to be getting better, he could tell, which made it likely that it wouldn't stop coming back to annoy him.

"It's like a miniature [l/n]," he laughed to himself.

Over time, he'd almost began to enjoy his daily encounters with the animal. He found it almost enjoyable to pet and ruffle its soft fur, eliciting the pleasant reaction of a calm dog.

Today, he decided, he would stop pushing it away. It's Houdini, this mynx, a Houdini who refused to disappear and could get out of any trap he laid for it.

"First off," he crouched down, stroking its ear, "ground rules. You are not my dog. I'm doing this to see if it'll get rid of you once you get bored with me. Got it?"

Ears drooping, Saigay Jr. seemed to be saying, "aww, but I wanted to be your dog!", to which Jouno replied with a look that said, "Don't make me get up and leave."

"Second rule, keep your piss and shit away from me, I'm not touching or smelling any of that. Third, you do as I tell you to. Understood?"

He wasn't expecting the dog to nod, but would've liked seeing it react other than burrowing its head further into the palm of his hand. Reluctantly, Jouno didn't resist, and sat there entertaining its need for physical touch for a few moments before springing to his feet.

"I'm going home. You are not allowed in my house," he warned, turning around.

Saigay Jr. followed him home anyways.

Somehow, as the day turned into night, he found himself helpless when it comes to resistance against this dog. It was thankfully very unproblematic, not making much of a mess when they arrived to the apartment which he lived in (it wasn't his, evidently. The criminal organization he worked for simply scared off all the tenants and let their members live there, unofficially.) He gestured to a corner for it to stay while he settled down, and stuck there for as long as he told it to.

As he took care of his own affairs, the time to rest finally came, and the dog didn't appear to have any plans to depart from its new best friend.

"Leave," he repeated forcefully, pointing to the door left ajar for it to crawl outside. "I said leave."

The message seemed to be getting across, as Saigay Jr. finally began to trek towards the entrance.

Then, it used its snout to shut the door, returning promptly and sitting down in front of him, waiting for some kind of reward.

"I'd really wish you'd die right now," he threw a hand on his face, tilting it upwards to display his frustration. "Fine. Let's play this the hard way."

He walked outside his apartment, knowing that the dog would follow, and shut the door behind them both. With a smirk, he activated his ability, disintegrating into the smallest specks and re-entering the room while sifting through the openings on the side of the door.

This way, he was back inside while the animal was whining from the outside, scratching occasionally to ask him to let them back in.

"Absolutely not," he laughed proudly, tossing himself into bed, trying to will himself to fall asleep before he'd begin to feel guilt about leaving the diligent and loyal gift from [l/n] outside.

A click, a creak and a shuffle later, and he heard a very clear panting noise.

Saigay Jr. had somehow managed to get inside.

"Fuck, you know what? I don't care anymore," groaned the tired man. "I give up. You win."

As he let himself doze off, the dog had crawled up onto the bed and softly laid its head on his chest, breathing steadily.

Jouno wouldn't admit that the sound and feeling was a nice change to his norm.

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At this point, Jouno had practically adopted Saigay Jr.

He didn't hear anything from [l/n], which he found odd since it had been over 6 months since he'd last seen them. He knew that he shouldn't be thinking about them; he'd only known the peculiar individual for a grand total of about 3 encounters, one of which he hadn't even interacted with them and the other two being attempted kidnapping and murder. The white-haired man knew that the only reason their image stuck in his head was due to this dog, this constant reminder of them, on top of their boisterous personality that he could've swore made him look at people like him (who had little to no personality, all business and no fun, as they might've said) differently.

The dog was a weird new addition to his life as well. He'd never seen it eat nor require to be walked. In fact, their relationship had gotten to the point where he was becoming more and more eager to be in its company; he woke up with Saigay Jr. (whose name he couldn't bring himself to change nor get out of his head), the both of them walked to his work, and then when he was done with his daily torturing, the loyal animal was waiting for him at the door of his apartment. He occasionally let it sleep in his bed, but mostly it found a small corner on the couch where both of them seemed content. It was a particularly odd situation; Jouno did not like pets. In fact, he didn't like people, so why would he expose himself to this small, fluffy thing for daily companionship? He didn't know, but found that there was no need to question a mutually beneficial situation.

Today, however, something odd had happened.

Saigay Jr. was not waiting in front of his door when he got back, covered in the heavy smell of blood for today's session was especially... artistic.

"Junior?" he found himself calling out, a name he never had the need to say out loud due to their chemistry. Yet, there seemed to be no movement nearby.

Weird, he thought, but there's no need to make a big deal out of this. The animal probably had to attend to its animal business, or whatever. Maybe the meeting that they always attend while he's at work was running late, he humored himself.

A few hours later, and nothing happened, no one showed up scratching at his front door or barking at it. He'd told himself that he was going to keep going on with his day as if nothing happened, but sleep was difficult to find because of the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

It was then that he heard a knock at his door.

Not a scratch, but a knock.

He grabbed the firearm from the drawer next to his bed, and greeted the guest with a smile as he unlocked the door cautiously.

"Saigay!!"

He couldn't believe it; [l/n] was standing at his door.

"Sorry, sorry, I know this is sudden but at least be glad you were wearing pants when I knocked on the door," they spoke casually, letting themselves into his apartment and spreading themselves on the couch like they'd been living there for a while, in a particularly odd way that eerily resembled that of his dog, "but I was running late since my dad was telling me that I should come clean about this whole thing and bla bla, y'know that old man wisdom? You seem like you know what old geezers think. Anyways, Dad was givin' me the lecture and whatnot, so I told him that since I was mostly recovered, I might as well come and say hi without barking."

"Without... barking?"

He squinted his eyes even further as he tried to make sense of this.

"So you didn't gift me a dog, you..."

"Were the dog? Yup! The name's actually Soseki [y/n], and I've been a spy at [c /o/n] for about a year or two, can't remember too well since my time was cut short by a certain injury some pretty asshole gave me. Annoying, ain't it? I hate getting shot at. Being a dog is so much easier."

"You lied," he said, trying not to panic from the fact that he had been sharing his life for quite some time with another person in disguise, "when you said you didn't have an ability."

"Of course! Isn't that what everyone does? People lie tons, like when you told 'Saigay Jr.' that you didn't have a ticklish spot, only for me to find out that you have sensitive ears and chest. Very ticklish, especially when you think no one is watching."

He felt the blood rushing to his face while he swallowed dryly. What else had he done accidentally in all that time? He couldn't possibly have kept track of everything.

"Aw, he blushes," they laughed, tapping his nose before he could recover. "Relax, I'm not out to get you. I thought you were interesting and cute when you kidnapped me, so I thought I'd put you to the test for a bit while I recovered from my injuries. Okay, not so much a test, per se, but I wanted to hang out with you. I had a feeling you were lonely, and I was right!"

Heartbroken wasn't the right word to describe how he felt; what was running through his mind was a hellish mixture of embarrassment and fear of vulnerability. It's the sensation one feels when one is deceived and looks back on it, wondering how they could've been so foolish. He should've known, he kept telling himself.

"I get that you probably feel humiliated. Dad says that most people do, so I've just gotta smile and remind them that I've got a terrible memory," they laughed, reading his mind. "Maybe once you get over it you'll come to realize that I wasn't lying about wanting your friendship."

With a timid smile, nothing like what their usual bubbly personality would typically make, they bowed gently to him, seemed to consider leaning in to hug him, then decided that this all would be too much at once.

[y/n] left, hesitantly adding, "Same place... tomorrow?"

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Why had Jouno showed up at the bar where they had originally been introduced, all those months ago, when he'd been so foolishly deceived?

Perhaps it was as he kept repeating in his head, that he was there to pick up the pieces of his torn dignity. Or maybe it was to finally kill them and receive the reward on their head.

Or was it to accept their offer?

He reassured himself that he couldn't possibly, that people were terrible and he couldn't let himself get soft with this one or else he'd become mushy and weak. He wasn't sure what terrified him so much about that idea, but he didn't even consider it as an option.

As always, the bells jingled as he entered, but there was no shout of his mispronounced name.

Nevertheless, he took a seat at the counter, ordering the whiskey not because he wanted some, but because he subconsciously attributed it to this location and time, despite not having an overwhelming number of memories here. He supposed that certain memories can be short but impact you more than you could ever fathom.

Even while he waited, he'd began to feel the pit of his stomach drop, like he had a cavity in his chest in place of a soul. Jouno hadn't realized up until now how accustomed he'd grown to a persistent joyful presence in his life, be it [y/n] under human or canine form.

The waiter returned, placing his order against the counter, and murmuring in a melodic voice, "I didn't expect you to come."

He didn't have to glance upwards to know it was [y/n], and so kept his gaze downcast.

"I'd say I'm sorry but I don't quite see anything to apologize for," they said, taking a sip out of his drink, lips lingering at the rim of the glass. "I had a lot of fun in the past few months, haven't you? My approach might've been a bit cruel, but think of it as Karma for shooting me, twice. This way, we're even! Wha'd'ya say? We good?"

Jouno's mouth betrayed him as he snatched the cup from them, chugged it all down at once, then said, "yeah, why not?"

Immediately, their heart rate sped up from excitement, and they leapt across the counter to trap him in a bear hug. Trying to resist but knowing there was no point, he eventually melted into their embrace.

Pulling away, they giddily babbled, "Okay, so now that you've forgiven me, I feel like it's a great time to mention that I've seen you strip multiple times and I would've told you that it was weird to change your clothes in front of a dog but I didn't know how to tell you or look away without acting weird so I just went with it and I feel like maybe I should compliment your stellar abs while I'm rambling like this but complimenting you will probably not do much good so how about I just offer you another drink and we forget this whole thing?"

Jouno cursed under his breath, nearly chuckling but not quite, realizing that they were right. "Fuck, what else did I do?"

"Well, I've got to tell you that your snoring is adorable, but you roll a lot in your sleep and that, mister, is something we need to take care of."

For the first time since he could remember, Jouno laughed a genuine laugh, not laced with malice or sugarcoated, as he listened to [y/n] vividly recounting their numerous embarrassing tales of him, only to be teased back for their dog habits like the panting and tail wagging. He'd've thought that the drinks were making him loose, but [y/n] had actually told the waiter to give them both multiple shots of apple juice.

As the night progressed, Jouno slowly found out that he'd opened himself up a lot more than he was comfortable admitting. Yet, this made him both want to retreat and lock [y/n] out of his life and invite them into his daily rituals, to never let them go. On the other hand, [y/n] had always found him to be a wonderful person, and only became further entranced as they watched him operate on a daily basis.

Somehow, Sweet fell in love with Sour, and Sour fell in love with Sweet.

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Another set of months later, Jouno returned from a particular mission given to him in the middle of the night, exhausted, ready to do nothing expect collapse onto the bed and sleep.

He was practically dragging his feet as he approached the door of his apartment, inserted the keys lazily and opened it. As always, his partner called out for him.

"Sai!" they said, skipping up to the door and noticing his beat up expression. "Damn, what did they force you to do this time?"

He shook his head before burying it into the crook of their neck and letting his hands dangle by their side. "The guy I had to interrogate was an opera singer, lungs of fucking steel." Strands of his hair were brushing by their skin, and his lips were murmuring against the warmth. "He wouldn't stop screaming my ears off, even with the gag."

Unable to contain their laughter, they poorly comforted him with a rub on the back while shaking from giggles. "My poor baby, today hasn't been your day, has it?"

Almost like handling an infant, they snuck their arms under his own and half-carried him to the bedroom. Getting in with him and tenderly placing a kiss on his cheek, [y/n] traced out random features on his face with their fingertip, hoping to soothe his body with touch.

"You smell terribly by the way," they said sarcastically in a deep sultry voice. "Do I kick you out to sleep on the couch or are you gonna take a shower? I can smell the blood on you, darling."

Half-asleep already, he slurred a, "Tomorrow...", followed by, "It's not my fault you've got the nose of a dog."

"You aren't any better," [y/n] teased, rolling over on top of him and kissing his sensitive lips with the delicacy of a flower blooming in spring snow.

"Just... let me sleep," he groaned, waving them away like a fly, only to have his hand caught by their own.

"Mnn, fine," murmured the [h/c] haired individual, gazing at him softly with heavy eyelids, as mesmerized with him as always. "Want something fluffy to snuggle into?"

"No, stay the way you are."

With another kiss that lasted a bit longer and in which Jouno participated weakly, [y/n] rolled back and cradled his head, bringing it onto their chest.

"'Night, [y/n]," he managed to say, shifting himself so that he was curled up against their figure. After a brief pause, he shuffled himself again under the covers, resting his head on their body. With their chest steadily rising and falling in sync with their consistent breathing, he found that he slept so much better.

They smiled gently.

"Goodnight, Saigiku."

[star-man-in-the-sky]

School's out and Summer's in! What could be a more perfect time for a group beach trip? So, after a few hours of bargaining and convincing, a date was settled for The Eltingville Club and Co. to go out on a little adventure. Gwen drove them all there to avoid conversations whilst Bill tried to avoid getting vomit spewed over him by Alex who looked just about ready to pass out. The drive was a couple hours long at best but, eventually, they made it to the seaside with as little conflict as possible. Joan huffed in amusement as Alex hunched over, groaning from motion sickness,

"Be so for real; the drive was not that bad."

"Maybe not for you! eugh..."

Joan didn't seem to hear their response as she bolted towards the nearest slot machine nearby, dragging Pete and Jerry along with her who only seemed to fuel her mild gambling addiction. Gwen - on the other hand - was more interested in the little shops along the pathway and, with the rest of the group, scoped out what the seaside had to offer.

Beach Episode (Joan's Version)

Alex's Version|Gwen's Version

After completing abandoning the majority of the group to appease my gambling needs, I found myself glued to one particular machine. It was one of those claw games that are near impossible to win anything in and usually I would've given up but this machine had something I wanted- no! NEEDED!! Because in this claw machine was the coolest Sailor Moon figure I have ever seen and I simply had to get it. So, with my feet planted in a spot that was comfortable but also gave me the best view of where to lower the claw, I began my tedious job of getting the figure. My dilemma: the box was too heavy!

"Ugh! These damn money-hungry assholes why do they have to make these things so difficult?!"

"Because they're money-hungry assholes, it's kinda in the name." Pete quipped from an opposing slot machine, trying less to get prizes and more just get a shit ton of money.

"I don't even know why you're still trying; they're built to be impossible."

"I refuse to leave without this damn figure! Besides, ye of little faith, I've already won a bunch of cool shit, I don't need more."

After a while of unsuccessful attempts I eventually ran out of coins, which is crazy because I had a whole TUB of coins when I got there. So, what did I do? Well...

"What the hell man?! You can't just snatch my coins and get away with it!"

"Bee-dee bee-dee bee-dee uhh, I don't think you should argue with her, Buck. She's looking kinda scary right now..."

"...Yeah maybe we should take a break, Joan..."

"NOT UNTIL I GET THIS FIGURE; I NEED HER!!!" I hissed, recieving a startled expression from the two NERDS boys with me. I used the last of our loose change and...

"YES!!! I DID IT!" Victory was mine! Take that capitalists! I mean, they still got all my money but I won so... Eh.

"Anyways! We can go now!" I beamed, my sudden switch in demeanor practically giving Pete and Jerry whiplash.

"Uhh okay, Buck..."

"Yeah.. let's... Go."

We met back up with the others and took turns showing what we'd bought, Bill complained about not finding anything 'cool' like a little bitch but he got glossed over pretty quick. Somehow we got onto the topic of the beach so I said:

"Speaking of which, are we gonna actually go to the beach now? That's like the main event."

And so we did. Lambert took Pete and Jerry off somewhere, something about cryptids I dunno it's Alex stuff. I decided to go straight to the deck chairs and get in the shade - pulling out my switch to play some Tomodachi. I whistled over Josh and that ginger kid Ironjaw to show them all my Miis based off of us all.

"... And that's you, and that's Mousey-"

"-Wait why is Gwen's so well made compared to mine?"

"And why is my room a hamster cage?"

"Well, to answer both of those questions: A) I make my Miis to reflect how I feel about people so that's why Mousey's is so beautiful and yours just looks like you, you're just some guy y'know?"

"Right..."

"And B) uhh... I don't actually remember what's up with the hamster cage. Probably just didn't have anything else." I stated with a shrug.

"Wait so everyone's Mii is how you see them?"

"Yup!"

"Can we see Bill's then?" I laughed evilly before responding,

"Sure, Bill's Mii used to look pretty normal but once he pissed me off too much so I edited his character to look like a bug and gave him the run-down looking room."

My conversation was cut short by Alex, freshly suncream-ed, invited me to join her in the water. I would've gone along with Mousey and Lambert but decided to challenge Bill to get in with us whilst I was plaiting my hair, I said he was too scared to and he didn't take it too kindly. As soon as he got in a close enough radius I pounced on him. I jumped Bill dickey in the ocean - bit of a weird moment in my life but regardless I did it.

"YOU SHOULD'VE BEEN SCARED OF GOING IN THE WATER, GEEK!!!"

"Get off of me you bitch! You're insane!!!"

I swear I would've drowned him that day if he didn't get ahold of my hair. The bastard dragged me under mid-breath!

"Eughhh I just swallowed so much salt water!"

We did continue to fight for a while after this but it was admittedly very underwhelming, Bill's not a better fighter so I kicked his ass. Eventually he managed to break free and ran off like a wimp but luckily that's when Mousey and Lambert came back.

"Damn it! Did I miss all the fun?"

"Not quite..." Alex said with that creepy ass grin she always does. Before I could say anything I was back in the water, my hair now dripping from the previous fight, and jumping over waves like a kid. We were all giggling like schoolgirls until Lambert knocked me over with her lanky ass legs and I landed straight on my ass. By that point, none of us could contain ourselves and we laughed so hard it hurt (I swear Lambert almost started crying). After our laughter fizzled out I dared Alex to bury some of Bill's shit,

"I dare you to bury something of Bill's! He'd freak it'll be hilarious!"

"Ehh.. I dunno, I don't want him taking my shark teeth as revenge.."

"What? Scared of the consequences, Lambert?" God I know how to get under people's skin. So, with the help of Josh, Bill's phone was successfully buried somewhere in the beach. Unfortunately this is when I noticed a stinging sensation over my back and arms. Shittt... I forgot suncream again... OWWWWWWWW!!!

By this point Mousey was about to fall asleep and Pete and Jerry had bolted into the sea so my only saviour was Ironjaw.

"A-are you sure you want me to do it? Aren't you worried I'm gonna spit on you?"

I swear to god I nearly cried on the spot, I was not thinking about anything other than the fact I felt like I was being cooked alive!!

"I've already had my hair soaked in salt water, touched whatever germs were all over those slot machines and now my skin is about to peel off, that's the least of my concerns. Now, help me before I freak out!" Luckily that convinced him and I had at least a little relief, Ironjaw wasn't too bad of a conversationalist either - at least it wasn't Bill.

After a very productive conversation about Madoka Magica with Ironjaw and Bill giving Gwen a very rude awakening, we got to go home. Mousey slept on my shoulder during the way back because there was no way we could let her drive, luckily Lambert offered to take the wheel so there was no real issue other than the chairs pressing on my sunburn. Owch...

[twothpaste]

Giegue/giygas for the ask game, maybe?

First impression: I learned about Giygas through internet osmosis long before I even thought to play EarthBound. All the usual "ooooh this game is secretly sooo dark" and "he's ack-chewally an aborted fetus, see, oooo" kinda shit. I remember it giving me the impression Mother was way scarier and edgier than it turned out to be. (I played games like OFF and Yume Nikki first though. So by the time I got around to Mother, it was very refreshing to play somethin bright & uplifting at its core, lmao.) (In retrospect, I kinda wish Giygas wasn't among the first things every prospective player is told about the EarthBound. Going into the Giygas battle blind seems like it would've rearranged my brain molecules, and I wish I'd gotten to experience it like that.) I forget when exactly I learned about Giegue (I didn't get to play M1 blind either), but I'm pretty sure my first impression was honestly pretty neutral? The imposing presence of a huge alien spaceship, 8-bit sci-fi machinery, and a barely legible creature in a capsule was pretty wicked to see for myself the first time though!

Impression now: Giygas is a big triple decker chocolate layer cake worth of metaphor & symbolism. The existential horror of growing up, the fear of losing who you fundamentally are in the process, the horrific inhumanity adults are capable of, the hopelessness of coming to terms with the world as it is, and so on. Not really a character per se, but the quintessential globular slurry of adolescent angst Ness & pals've gotta contend with. Giegue is a bittersweet little story about a broken family. An internal conflict between vengeance, familial love, and maybe where one's obligations lie? Cool antagonist for sure. I wanna like him more than I do (M1's cryptic hands-off approach to storytelling is hard for me to sink my teeth into 😔). I've speculatively written (and drawn a comic for the upcoming zine 😉) about how Giegue became Giygas, and read some good fics on the topic. In the canon we're given, though? There's really so little binding them together narratively or thematically… I have a difficult time reconciling the two, in the context of the games themselves. Mother 2 in general feels more like a reboot than a sequel - and there's hardly if any "lore" weaving Giegue & Giygas together - so Itoi's choice to declare they're one and the same just seems kinda odd to me. C'est la vie. Fan creators make do.

Favorite moment: The Giygas battle, but like, before he goes sicko mode. When he's bound to a chamber of wires and innards, reflecting Ness' face back at him, and it turns out our fervently raving buddy Porky is actually the one in "control". The atmosphere is so intense and unnerving, such a bizarre yet captivating way to ramp things up. There's like, this sense of stomach-churning dread, as you begin - if only scarcely - to realize the alien overlord you were expecting is an entity far more powerful and personal and helpless and incomprehensible than you ever could've imagined. I mean. You know, because the internet spoiled you when you were 11. But in the bigness of the moment it still makes my mitochondria itch on a primal and cellular level. /pos. Love it.

Idea for a story: My favorite Giegue thing is the vague implication (??) of whatever the hell George did to to him. Y'know, whatever made him hate humanity so much. Whenever I see fan content speculating on how George might've experimented on him or mistreated him I do in fact Feel Somethin' There. (I have been a sucker for angsty-creature-in-a-lab stories from the time I saw Mewtwo Strikes Back in kindergarten all the way to Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 a couple months ago, and I don't suppose I'll ever be sick of 'em.) The conflict it introduces between George and Maria is intriguing too. Like, her husband's treating her dearly beloved child like a science project? Trying to extract the secrets of PSI from his oversized alien brain?? You know if this kinda shit went down, those two were on a caliber of divorce drama the world has rarely seen.

Unpopular opinion: I really like Giegue design interpretations that're freaky and grotesque and biologically unfamiliar. When the beast isn't just mammalian in nature. Truly out of this world.

Favorite relationship: A mean-spirited but otherwise ordinary 13-year-old willingly aligned himself with the alien emodiment of all things evil. And the alien embodiment of all things evil willingly let the kid be his right-hand man. And I'm normal about it. EarthBound tells us basically nothing about how Porky n' Giygas' partnership in crime came to be, but speculating about it sends me into a shark frenzy. Porky seeking power over the world that wronged him, at literally any cost. Giygas weaponizing a child's worst, most vengeful impulses. Porky ultimately usurping Giygas, at least in terms of agency. Witnessing the absolute horror his "master" becomes, and simply sidestepping out of the universe itself to dodge the mess he brought about. I like to imagine there was a period where Giygas was still cognizant enough to maintain a rapport with Porky - and that the two of them fucking hated each other. Both of 'em using the other as a means to an end, assured in the conviction they're the one with the upper hand. And they're kind of both wrong. Bloaw up da worl.

Favorite headcanon: Giegue/Giygas speaks (telepathically?) with a rural midwestern accent. Courtesy of the fine folks who raised him. Other aliens probably think it's weird and mondo cringe, but are too intimidated to say so.

[batsplat]

sorry if you’ve answered this before, but do you count Marc as an alien? I’ve seen some people do it on Reddit & I fully get why, but personally I kinda feel like only the og 4 can count??? I find myself saying “the aliens AND Marc” but then I’m wondering if I’m just being dumb about the semantics of it lol. Do you know if ppl more broadly in the sport (commentators, other riders, etc) count Marc as an alien? (god I swear this sport makes me type out the dumbest sentences I’ve ever written in my life lol)

I'm not massively fussed about this either way, though I personally do include marc as an alien because it's just a useful shorthand for those five riders. the term for those 'og 4' that gets bandied about is 'the fantastic four'... I cannot tell you why, but personally I just cannot bring myself to call them That. (though I've also seen the term being used for the top four in this year's championship, which I fw even less.) I talked about how I use the term in this post, where my main point was that to me the term primarily is about an era. there was a specific time span in motogp history where the championship was completely dominated by a small group of riders, partly because they were just very good and partly because they had a substantial machinery advantage over everyone else. in any given year from 2007 to 2015, you could safely predict that every single race would be won by one of four riders. the only exceptions to this are le mans 2007 (vermeulen on a factory suzuki), motegi 2007 (capirossi on a factory ducati), donington 2009 (dovizioso on a factory honda), and assen 2011 (spies on a factory yamaha). all of these races were conducted in the wet too... in the dry, it's complete domination

which, again. this is partly about the machinery, like this was just an era with way more substantial a factory/satellite divide than you'd get today (or indeed in the 990cc era). you never know what would've happened if more riders had that quality of machinery - though obviously it's worth pointing out that dovi in three years at repsol honda secured a single race win to dani's nine. (and casey got ten in 2011 alone, when all three of them were teammates.) still, it's at its most useful to me to describe them as like. a group. as a dynamic that consistently played out in competition across a set number of years. which to me marc is a part of. basically this:

because marc took over casey's role in ensuring that dynamic SO completely, I think it makes sense to include him in that group. the dynamic is essentially the same, right? until change in tech regulations, control electronics and michelin tyres and all the rest of it, as well as gradual competitive decline of the 'og aliens' and shift of the competitive balance between yamaha and ducati from 2016 onwards signals the end of the alien era. the aliens describe a cohort more than riders of a certain talent level (which is fine by me since I am not a fan of discussions of talent). but valentino has roughly the same age gap to dani as marc has to jorge, so... might as well expand it to those five

as for what the wider motogp world says, yeah, I do think they're mostly on board with calling marc an alien. again, I think when people are trying to talk only about the non-marc aliens, they tend to use the term 'fantastic four'. I do not use this term and generally just rely on context to make it clear who I'm talking about. but also if you prefer to not use the term to include marc, y'know, fair enough - the term wasn't originally used to apply to him. the difference is whether you're talking about a group of competitors elevated from the rest in 2007 to 2012, or 2007 to 2015. in practical terms, to me there isn't a massive difference between the competitive dynamics when casey was on the grid versus when marc was on the grid, so. that's where I come down on this

[aresmarked]

kanamafu anon again! thank you for the lovely response! here’s an imo trickier niigo question: what do you think of ena’s dad?

i often see fans blow his shittiness out of proportion, like making him a physical abuser to the whole family or acting like he’s always been unsupportive when the text itself says he was supportive of ena’s art when she was a little kid. i agree that he’s shitty, but part of me thinks that… his relationship with ena can be salvaged, somehow? i know other fans wont forgive him even if he and ena get closure, which is fine, but i dont really feel that way? i keep trying to ask myself what sets him apart from, say, mafuyu’s mom in my mind, when they both say harsh things to their kids in an attempt to “protect” them. it’s like my brain’s really clinging to that part about how he wasn’t always like this, unlike mafuyu’s mom who has always used guilt tripping to control mafuyu. but maybe that’s silly of me, dunno. part of me thinks he’s just an emotionally stunted old man who is piss poor at phrasing things and that he just has some serious growing to do to salvage this, but then again maybe he shouldntve been a parent before that point and he still sucks because, again, he at least had the sense to not say “this art is shit” to, like, a seven year old so maybe it IS his fault? i do consider myself a fan of his character so i ponder this a lot. given your insight about mafuyu’s mom, though, i was just curious as to what you thought!

...Hfhfhf, almost right out of the gate with the essay questions. Hm.

I'd break my thoughts up about him into a few main points, but TL;DR if I knew a parent like this I'd go out of the way to make sure the kid gets some positive feedback from me, but he's a character/parent i could see improving in time.

He's one of those guys who's good at his craft but terrible at teaching. (You see these sorts a decent amount, for better or worse). While he had valid points, the way he chose to 'advise' isn't great. if a parent said something like that around me about one of their kids i'd have a Hard time reining it in.

As remarked upon in the game itself, he didn't talk to Ena as his daughter, but more as another artist, and moreover, I'd say, an adult artist. A few additional words would've made a huge difference in how Ena walked away from that conversation. like 'right now'. or advice on, y'know. what to actually work on. see point one again.

The major difference between him and Mafumom is that he does consider Ena's wishes, not hindering her from going into the arts, and not inserting himself where he's very much not wanted. He does respect what Ena wants to do.

Doesn't stop him having done a wrong and needing to repair that, to move forward. People are full of faults and strengths and I appreciate PSekai actually writing people with those. parents with those. it makes us feel even more strongly for ena cause yeah, a parent's mistake hurts a Lot! It makes a better tale cause it's real!

That said, while I think it's possible for Ena and her dad to potentially mend their relationship, as you say, such a mending will take time to believable and acceptable I think, not just to readers but to Ena. She's got no real interest in mending their familial relationship right now. and a 'forgive your parents' plotline when said parent hasn't taken real steps to actually mend the familial relationship would just be. so tired. that grounds been trod a thousand times. 'You'll understand when you're older'. i hate those plots where the kid forgives their parents without the parents really doing anything to reflect on their actions. the fact it's still a bit of a revolution when a parent does admit they've done wrong speaks mountains.

[thatoneguy031]

I've heard that people are making pinned posts, so I thought I might as well do it, too.

Heya. Y'all can call me Guy, and I'm the head honcho for this(more or less) ask blog, and I think there's a few things you should know about me:

-I'm currently in my junior year of high school, and posts happen... basically, whenever I feel like it. If I don't get to an ask immediately, don't take it personally; I'm just a bit busy with other things.

-I'm bisexual, with a heavy, heavy male lean. I'm single too, but I'm not really taking any suggestions at this point. It'd be unfair for someone to show me their face and not have me show them mine. He/Him pronouns, too.

-This is also a Pokemon IRL blog. I only evolved recently, and I'm still getting used to being a Samurott. I'm currently learning about how to battle and act... y'know, like a Samurott. What does that mean, I don't know. But I'm trying my best!

-I like making stories. Like, a lot of stories. I have tons of characters, all of which are all available for asks.

-I'm a really dedicated memer. If it isn't about anything regarding plot development, don't expect it to be taken very seriously.

-I am a huge anime and VG fan. Current playthroughs/playlist of games(Reminder, I only have a Switch): The World Ends With You(Final Remix, the Switch release) Pokemon Scarlet Hollow Knight(I'm lost, please help) Rivals of Aether(Orcane main, Forsburn and Eliana secondaries) Super Smash Brothers Ultimate(I change mains every other week, honestly) Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4(Kakashi, Obito and Minato main) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe(I'm a Dry Bones main, who would've thunk?) Brawlhalla(I'm a Mako main, and Ragnir and Onyx secondaries) Pokemon Unite(I main Alolan Ninetails, but I've been dabbling in Garchomp due to personal reasons you'll see in later posts) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild(I'm lost, help me)

That's about it for me. I don't really involve myself in any political conversations, and I begin to feel uncomfortable when I have to talk about those kinds of topics with people. But, for those who want to know: Pro LGBTQ-whatever, obviously, but I don't pay attention to current events too much. I'm also not racist, if that had to be said.

If you're into the whole p3do or zoo thing, please leave. You genuinely need help, like, now. Oh, and bigots, racists, homophobes and all that jazz can get the boot, too. And I'll slam the door on your fingers on the way out.

I'd prefer if NSFW accounts didn't pay mind to this blog, as I'm trying to make sure that anyone can enjoy this place safely. I'm just want to make sure this place isn't the next Twitter.

As for my ask thingie, the reason why I even made this thing in the first place:

There are some obvious rules here that the public have to follow:

-No NSFW asks. A majority of my characters are children(About the same age as me), and I don't feel right putting them in such risque situations.

-If a character chooses not to answer a specific question. They might have some personal demons they need to fight before bringing up the topic, or they just might... not want to answer directly.

-I'm occasionally gonna be busy making updates to a character's story before I get to questions, so as mentioned before, answers won't be given out in a timely manner. I apologize in advance if there's any delays.

Here's some ask hints, I guess(Color-coded to associate the characters with the stories)*:

-Delta: Ask him about how he feels about Hertz or his living situation

-Hertz: Ask about his "academic" "performance", or why he decided to take Delta under his wing to begin with

-Jason: Ask him about his past experiences with Pokemon or something about Jayden, or something about his friends

-Jayden: Basically the same thing, or something about being the older sister of the family, or how she feels about Cheren and Bianca

-Cheren and Bianca: How they met Jason or Jayden in the first place

-Chris, or any member of his team(Stephanie, Wave, Lucas and David), for that matter: Try to get them to talk about their background or early childhoods

Smudge, Charles and/or Katie: Their hobbies, how they feel about each other, or how college is treating them

Trevor: His music career, and/or how he got into the music bandwagon in the first place, how his current job is going and stuff

Bryant: How he met Trevor, why they're friends, or their general connection

*Obviously, you can ask them anything, but these are some good starts if you don't know what to ask them.

Also, don't be afraid to ask me any questions, either, I won't bite. I'm just a dude tryin' to develop some social circles. Ask me about anything, really. Heck, you can even send anon asks, if you're too shy to show your face(Don't worry about it, I do the same thing all the time). If anything, I'd love to get some kind of advice with how to deal with evolution and all that stuff.

That aside, there are going to be tags on this post that can help you filter what and who you want to talk to, for both your sake and mine.

Now, without further ado...

Welcome to the show!

And I hope you enjoy your time here!

[mvtk42]

I recently got involved in a book club in my town, and for the most part I enjoy it - it's run in a combination bookstore and bar, and the vibes are immaculate. It's been a lot of fun reading both good and bad books, then talking about them over an alcoholic beverage with others.

The book we'll be talking about next week is The Ritual by Shantel Tessier, and to say I'm infuriated I've contributed monetarily to this author is the kindest thing I can say about this book so far, and I can't wait until next week to bitch about it.

TW: DISCUSSION OF DEPICTIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TOUTED AS DARK ROMANCE.

It's like Tessier took the worst parts of Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey and went, "Y'know what, I bet I can miss the point of BDSM EVEN HARDER."

Every sex scene so far is a poorly-disguised rape apologist fantasy. If Tessier has ever heard of Safe, Sane, and Consensual, she hit it over the head with a stout club and dragged it out behind the shed to shoot it. The concept of aftercare is given the same consideration a worrying amount of the country gives vaccines: disregarded where not outright disparaged.

The book's concept is, "What if women volunteered to be sex slaves for the Illuminati?" The book takes great pains to point out women must volunteer for this servitude - except the FMC had never heard of this group, was not at all involved in it, yet was still given to the MMC without her knowledge or consent. Then the MMC begins stalking her, at one point sitting in his car in the parking lot of her apartment building jerking off to watching her while she has no idea he's there. Classy.

It turns out the FMC's boyfriend is also part of this group (not that she knows that) and was given another woman. He doesn't even do her the kindness of breaking up with her bedore gallivanting off with this other woman, and the heartbreak of betrayal and the author's sophomoric understanding of mommy issues cause FMC to lose all respect for herself and allow herself to be used as a cum rag under the misconception she's "finally making her own choices."

I don't know about you, but when I'm mad at my mom, my answer is not to roofie myself by drinking a random bottle of liquid someone broke into my apartment to leave on my nightstand.

Then the MMC breaks back into her apartment to finger her while she's senseless. He would've sexually assaulted her with his dick, but the Illuminaughty says he can't fuck her until she takes a vow.

Like, I understand CNC is a valid kink, but she had no idea what the liquid was, nor did she know ol' boy was gonna come do stuff to her. She was never given the opportunity to knowingly consent, because drinking random shit (while displaying the survival instincts of a helium balloon in a cactus orgy) is NOT consent.

The scene that made me put the book down to type all this out was when FMC finally gives her vow - not that she has any idea what she's agreeing to, cuz no one explains it to her. MMC uses police-issue handcuffs on her, purposefully tightens them way too tight, half-drowns her in a Slut-Shame Baptism (to "wash away the touch of other men," even though FMC is a virgin and MMC knows this), then violently shoves his dick in her mouth for the benefit of the audience.

Once she's gargled his Good Time Goo, MMC drags her out to the back of the building, and as she's begging him to take the handcuffs off because she's in pain, he shoves her underwear in her mouth and prepares to go to town because now he's finally allowed to fuck her pussy.

At that point my face was aching from the expression of appalled disgust it'd been locked in for the past hour and I needed a break. Like, I get that this is supposedly dark romance, and it'd be one thing if these sexual assaults were depicted as that - or even if the FMC had some reaction to them other than "Tra la la these are just things that happen I guess tee hee wow my pussy sure is wet." But so far this is literally just the author saying over and over again, "Women sure do love getting raped," and it's disgusting.

[namelesschurch]

Weekly update:

Lev: Lev's back. Honestly, that's the biggest thing for me. She hasn't told me much about what happened. She says she got caught in some sort of VR world with a slightly reasonable megalomaniac? When I asked her about that, she just said "no one died" and then also proceeded to try and reassure me that there was no risk of dying for her - cause of Rook - who was this spellcaster that Lev mentioned earlier before she went on that month-long mess. I think I bawled half the time and yelled at her for the other half.

And now the idiot is picking fight with gangs. Gangs with guns. I can't. I can't lose her. I need to figure out how to distract her in someway. Maybe I should reintroduce her to Crow - her once guardian a timeline ago - at the very least, I can tell Crow that Lev wants to be a vigilante, cause she has massive opinions about that and kids. It's a low blow, but I will not lose her again. She'll either be strong enough to overpower everything that's out there or stay put until she is ready.

----

Mads: So. Mads became a god. Of second chances apparently. And I also made a stupid mistake assuming that Mads would be accepted like Kris is. Needless to say, I was forced to reveal some things about Chi and myself to remedy it. But I don't regret it. I have a bad feeling that if I had gone with my original plan and waited... well, it wouldn't have been good for Mads.

Hopefully, he won't make the connection. I really am the most pathetic goddess apparent, and Chi is unfortunately dragged into my mess by virtue of being her.

I am concerned as to the sort of mannequin-like state when the World Boundary had thoroughly suppressed him. Is that his vessel? Like I've heard that angels were created - and that for them to exist in the mortal world, they require something of Malkuth - of the physical realm - a vessel to exist in. Well, this is assuming the angel he is and the angels I know are similar. But why is he afraid of other mannequin / puppet-like things then?

Kris: He's gone exploring into Chi's Dream World and will have an update when he's done. I hope it's a good distraction for him at any rate. And...I am curious as to why Chi is connected to that world.

...especially if it is that dream world I am thinking about - the one that Lev always chided me on wasting skill points on. How did it end up turning into a game?

Crowley: I'm glad to see that seaweed hell hasn't eaten her. What is a little ominous is her reply tags to my enormous crab MTG post. I hope this is just her "the horrors are normal everyday things" sorta humor - and not y'know having an island-size crab that needed dealing with.

Erna: She's probably the one I'm most worried about. I don't think I can stop it either. Like Lev said, if she's the only one who has not been called... she'll likely accept the Calling willingly next time it happens.

bookkeeperofthescions: Will need to ask in the next week if she needs help with anything. It sounds like almost all of the Scions are down and likely in need of life-sustaining treatment - both soul and body-wise. I might not be able to teleport stuff myself, but the BC's can at least transport things - even if they tend to eat the stuff they transport.

Yugi / Seto / Mokuba / Joey / Rook? : Seems like the card game squad has come back safe and sound - Lev did say that. I am admittedly a little bit worried about Joey given his inactivity, though I'm fairly sure if anything did happen to him, Yugi or Lev would've mentioned it, right? Like I keep telling myself that if the events that happened to them were incredibly dangerous, I feel like one of them would've mentioned it - and then I remember Yugi has a talent for understatement, and Lev's opinion of danger is that it probably has to be city-ending for it be on her radar.

Nata: It seems she went back to Seattle after the damage from the alien? person. Was it the right thing to go "no I will not bring them back?" I can't really say. I know that if Lev disappeared, I would do all I can to bring her back - I did do all I can, limited as it was. But for random people I don't know, I probably wouldn't. Life and Death and Reincarnation have its place - messing with those things probably created the term "playing god."

Lark: Seems to be going to school, I guess? He obviously doesn't like it. Should also keep in mind to refer to him as a witch and not wizard - he's made clear the difference in societal context. Might be some personal context to, given how vehement he is about the subject.

holyhappyhour: Have not seen a response from Le after her comment on the moon. Hopefully, this is just her doing her periods of inactivity thing. Not everyone treats social media as their journal after all. And not someone as cagey as her.

Wayne Enterprises: I do not know what they are playing at. Inviting me to a dinner I do not have the qualifications to be part of - and then inviting me to a partnership that honestly seems fair on paper for the vertical farming project seems almost too good to be true. All I can think of is that I somehow hit some sort of alarm when I started asking about developing caves in the area - an alarm that's present in pro-company, the water is now poison, Gotham. Are they worried about me doing something - or are they already doing something in the caves? I don't have the connections to go blindly investigating - maybe this partnership could be a bribe even. But that's less likely. There's a lot of stuff a multibillion dollar corporation could do to make my life - a millionaire - and my company miserable. They don't need to cater to me.

plushwave: It is hard to tell how much it is Rose's very bad sense of humor coming out or if she's actually being serious. Also interested in the set-up of her world as mentioned by her comments of "Qin." I have also learned that completely different cultures and countries prevents direct comparison of cultures and countries - like you'd think this is a given, but it's a lot harder to actually put into practice when half the stuff it sounds like should be common culture. Or at least that's what I think. Anyway, cares a lot for Aloisia clearly.

enqueter: enqueter. Because I don't think I've seen any mention of name on enqueter's posts. Has some sort of genetic-related powers going on utilizing ADAM and what's called Plasmid. enqueter is a private eye that deals with ADAM-related stuff enough to be a sorta expert on the subject - has a related ADAM power called electrobolt?Not much information as of late. Will keep any eye on.

[byicarus]

sydney wasn't usually one to go all out for halloween, but impressing maddox? that was at the top of his list. he wanted to pull out all the stops, knock him off his feet, and make it impossible to say no to him — even if he turned out to be straight. thankfully, maddox hadn't taken much convincing, but sydney couldn't say he wouldn't have been the same way if the tables had been turned. "i mean, no... i'd probably beg you for it anyways," he answered. he should've been ashamed or embarrassed, but he was nothing if not audacious and brave. "do you like having that much control over me? you like knowing i won't cum unless you tell me i can? or that i'd drop down and worship your feet in a heartbeat? i promise you, mads... you're never gonna find anyone else quite like me — who'll let you treat them like a slut and still make you breakfast in the morning," sydney questioned, a smirk turning up on the corners of his mouth. perhaps sydney had garnered a reputation around the frat house that he was a bit of a slut. it didn't bother him... but he'd never given them the proof, and well, halloween was certainly going to chain that. sydney would've forgotten where they were if it weren't for the bustling conversations and flashing lights. "'m not gonna pussy out. all those feet and all that cock? i won't be satisfied 'til i'm covered in cum and dirty socks," sydney answered with smug grin. "and i want you to pick a friend or two you'd share my hole with. i'll bet you'd bust just seeing three cocks in my tight little pussy." maddox still had some learning to do; like that doubting sydney would only make him prove you wrong more. the thought of all those guys, buff and sweaty, surrounding him had his cock twitching. he'd barely even touched it all night, which was certainly some kind of record. "whip your phone out whenever you're ready, daddy. i look very pretty on camera. don't see why my own feet wouldn't make me even prettier," sydney answered. "show it to whoever... post it wherever. let the whole world know i'm you're fuckin' little gooner cumdump." he giggled softly, a proud grin on his delicate, pink lips. "and for the record, yes, i get off to my own feet a lot. might pretend they're yours sometimes, but they're irresistible either way." sydney couldn't wait to spread his lithe, muscular legs in front of all the partygoers. what he really wanted, though, was to show them that he was maddox's, and maddox was his. he wanted the whole party to know that maddox was a real man, even as a freshman. "i'll make sure to take the best care of it, daddy," sydney promised. "you'll bust load after load just from tongue. win or lose, you're going to be scoring big time with me. i'll make sure of it, daddy... nothing but the best for you."

sydney did want to settle down eventually. he could see it with someone like maddox. he was a hotshot, sure to make hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. not to mention, he was handsome as could be. he'd be taken great care of — sydney would make sure of that. he'd cook him meals in something slutty, and clean up around his house... as long as maddox was happy with his life, that was that mattered to sydney. "just a little," the raven-haired male admitted. "i can't wait to see what you pick out for me... just remember, 'm your whore turned housewife. i'll even let you pick out what i wear all day long. just be sure you don't get jealous of the boys who might wanna touch me 'cause of it — they'd never stand a chance." whatever little fantasies maddox had in his pretty little head, sydney was going to make them come true. no matter how depraved and filthy or sweet and gentle, his pleasure would always come first to sydney. "if i can handle my own, 'm sure i can handle yours, daddy... but yours'll be even better. y'know, i probably won't be able to control myself, and i'll have to beg you to let me fuck them," he explained. "the guys'll probably never look at me the same way again. it'd be so pathetic just fucking those feet like a little bitch, but god... i know they're soft and sweaty, and they'd look so hot covered in my cum. 'd give anything just to do it." he sucked in a deep breath. where all of that had come from, he didn't know, but he was happy it finally was freed. there was nothing barred back where sydney was concerned for maddox. it didn't matter how embarrassing it might be, maddox would know every little kinky thing sydney had ever dreamt of. "i hope you know i want it rough. i want you to mark me up while you fuck me. if i'm gonna be your slut, you better make sure everyone knows. pull my hair, spit in my face, drag your nails down my back... all of it — and in no time, i'll be covering myself in my own piss," he breathed out. the crowd surely overheard him, but it didn't matter. he was sure he'd be on a bunch of random frat bro's snapchat stories, showing off how big a whore he was, in the morning, but all he cared about was swallowing down every last drop of that golden liquid. those plush lips were parted, letting his mouth fill up again before swallowing. maddox's flow never seemed to end, and sydney didn't want it to anytime soon. the next thing he knew, the younger male had taken the next step and was showering him in his piss. he let it cascade all over him and moaned. his hand rubbed against his aching length. the crowd had drawn closer, and the flash from all the cameras signified that there was surely recording going on. that didn't deter him. with maddox still going, the warm fluid dripping down his face, sydney turned to the boys. "i fucking love his piss. 'd be his fuckin' urinal all day if i could. 'd swallow every drop ," sydney began to narrate. "there's not a thing i wouldn't do that my daddy could ask of me. i'm his little slut." his fingers brushed up against maddox's low-hanging balls, teasing him just a little. "sorry, boys — 'm too addicted to his cock. you'd get if you got a taste of his piss." lips parted again as he started to drink down even more of the golden liquid. his green eyes turned back to maddox once again. "think you might like the audience, daddy," sydney teased. "show them i'm your slut. you've got the reigns. don't hold back."

maddox typically opted out of sigma chi's weekly festivities, but something was different this time. he had to see what tricks sydney had up his sleeve for halloween—he wasn't expecting the boy to show up in a costume that matched his own, but luck seemed to be on his side for once. seeing sydney in a skirt was enough to light a fire under his ass, to finally get the ball rolling after months of torturous interactions with the older boy. maddox's innocent crushed had evolved into unadulterated desire, and he was willing to do whatever necessary to get what he needed—even with their frat brothers watching. "do i even have to say the word?" maddox asked, lips curled into a knowing smirk. "all i had to do was show up tonight, and you were all over me. put on this slutty little outfit to catch my attention—and when you thought that wasn't working, you pushed me up against a wall and begged me to plow that cunt 'til you were pissing all over yourself and gooning on daddy's cock." by now, maddox knew that sydney had always been planning to give him what he wanted. he didn't care if there were other people around, or if his frat brothers caught him slobbering all over a freshman's cock. "that's a good girl," he hummed sweetly, combing through sydney's curls. "if you can get me that spot, daddy will give you anything you want—no limit. but we'll have to see if you can handle all that cock, all those sweaty feet. hopefully you won't pussy out, princess." maddox didn't know why he liked that idea so much, why the thought of sharing sydney with the team had his cock twitching in his jeans, but sydney seemed to like it just as much. the words that left the older boys lips only got filthier, the hunger in his green eyes growing more intense. maddox was entering uncharted waters, discovering things about himself that he was previously unaware of, and it was all thanks to sydney. "we're gonna have to film the whole thing, 'cause i'm definitely gonna watch that back. maybe that's what i'll show the team—they'd fucking wreck you after seeing how slutty you look stretched around a thick cock, sweaty feet in your face... you'd put on a good show, wouldn't you? bet that's what you get up to every night, even without a camera," maddox teased. he couldn't get the idea out of his head—the more it formulated, the more he wanted to see sydney spread out in the middle of the locker room, surrounded by the soccer team's sweaty feet and thick cocks. maybe he'd record the whole thing and make sydney watch it while he pounded his pussy once more after everyone was gone, or maybe he'd keep it to himself for when sydney wasn't available. maddox didn't know what he would do just yet, only that he needed to make it happen. "you're gonna get unlimited access to daddy's hole, babygirl," he said with a naughty grin. "after practice, or a game... you're gonna clean me up from head to toe, and you're gonna love every second of it. my balls, my feet, my pits, my ass... then we'll finish it off with a load on your ass and my piss down your throat. how's that sound?"

maddox hadn't the slightest clue what he was doing, or if he was doing it right. sydney was older and experienced, while maddox was brand new to the world that he was now apart of. he did his best to match sydney's energy, to vocalize any filthy idea that popped into his head—and luckily, it seemed the senior was eating it right up. all maddox cared about was showing sydney that he'd made the right choice, that there wasn't another boy on campus who could satisfy his needs any better. maddox was going to make sure that, by the end of the night, sydney belonged to him. "aw, look at you, princess. does letting daddy dress you up make you blush?" maddox teased, tenderly brushing his thumb against sydney's cheek. "i'll make sure you're always in something expensive and slutty. gotta look your best if you're worshipping daddy's feet and taking his loads in front of the entire house, right?" truth be told, feet were not something maddox thought of sexually until sydney came along. one look at the older boy's feet in a pair of sweaty socks and a few google searches later, maddox had a brand new fixation. it was just something he needed, whether it was his sweaty feet on sydney's face, or sydney's stroking his cock until he was busting all over them, maddox needed to get his fill. "you're gonna love daddy's feet, princess. coach was relentless today, had us running suicides for hours. my socks are drenched... i'll be surprised if the smell doesn't knock you out," he chuckled. "you're gonna have the time of your life. the entire house is gonna wish that you were their little slut, they'll want you to get on your knees for them, too. all of your friends are gonna watch you go crazy for a pair of sweaty feet... and that's not all, 'cause once you're done, your little cunt's gonna get the pounding it deserves. and i'm not gonna stop until you're pissing all over yourself and proving what a little gooner whore you are." the group of boys watching them had nearly doubled by now, but maddox could only focus on sydney. a few of them were recording, and some had even whipped their dicks out—it gave maddox a sinister idea, but he wasn't prepared to unveil it just yet. "they're you go, princess. tell everyone how much you love daddy's piss," maddox ordered. there was a gleam in sydney's eye that let him know the boy was enjoying himself, that he wanted more. with a smirk on his face, maddox aimed for the other's body, drenching his little outfit in the golden liquid that never seemed to end. "you like being covered in daddy's piss, angel? look at you, slut... you're filthy, and you love it. you've got a whole group of guys who'd love nothing more than to rip those clothes off you and shoot their loads in your tight little cunt, but you're too busy drinking piss to even notice," he teased. each of the boys that surrounded them perked up, thinking that maybe it was their turn to have a bit of fun with his slut. "you know what, why don't you turn around and get a good look at them... and while you're at it, look into that camera and tell them how much of a filthy whore you are."

[tartagliad]

Clothing

Summary: just you wearing your boyfriend's clothing :3

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Characters: Diluc, Childe, Ayato, and Zhongli

Genre: fluff!

Warnings: none

(A/N: completely self-indulgent from myself, that's why this idea came out, ehe~ also first time writing Ayato, hope i did it well :D)

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Diluc:

Let's be real, that black jacket is his favorite

Not only him, but you also loved it

Given the fact that it's not to heavy yet it still feels warm to wear

I know Diluc has a lot of set of clothing, but he just love wearing this one

Today though.. he can't find where it is

He asked the maids where was it and they said that it was already washed and was already in his closet

He gave up after that, thinking maybe he was looking at the wrong place

Since he's rushed and needs to work in the tavern, he just wear a black button-up shirt and a white outer (y'know, this one-)

Diluc then left and walk to the tavern

Nothing special happening in the tavern, just people ordered some drinks and have talk then proceed to get drunk

He was just wiping the wine glass when you came to the tavern

You walked in and sit on the bar chair in front of him, "ah, finished with your work already, dear?" he looked at you and you nodded

Diluc was about to turned around when he looked at something you were wearing

It was so similar to the one that he usually wear..

"uh.. y/n" tilting his head, you looked up at him, "is that my jacket..?"

You giggled and nodded, "it's fluffy, okay? i wanna wear it.." you said using an innocent tone

He swear that his heart almost burst out how cute you are wearing it

like miss- may I just hold you all day and night cause you look UNBELIEVABLY smol-

You saw him smiling and blush at the look of you, guess you have the permission to use it when ever you want

"Seems you look good in it than myself.. haha, you can use it anytime you want then, but be sure to tell me first.. maybe I would've ran with it-''

Childe:

ngehehehe-

You would love to steal his clothing and wear it to anywhere you want

Work? Meeting? or just have a walk? you would wear his clothes no doubt

It's just so comfy and warm, especially when he's out on a mission

You would wear it because you missed him so much :(

So yeah everywhere you go, you just wear it, yes it's big but you loved it

When he came back tho.. ehe..

Face would fill with confusion when he opened the closet

Childe didn't remember that he bring that many clothes with him but almost half of it is gone..

He checked his suitcase, it's only about eighth of what he had

Then he checked the laundry, it was filled with his clothes..

"Babeee.." he called you, a few minutes later you came, "yeah?"

His eyes is still locked to the basket and he didn't realized that you're wearing one of his

"..say.. since when I used that many clothes..?'' he aksed, you just hold your smile, "hum? you were the one who bring them, sugar..'' you answered

Getting more confused, Childe turned around finally facing you, "that's weird-'' that's when he understands what happened

"hah.. so the criminal behind this was here all along..~" he said playfully

You giggled and almost ran from him, but he already captured you

"ah ah~ you ain't going anywhere, girlie~" he picked you up and lie you on the couch

"Since you wear it without my permission.. tickle attack!!" he then tickles you as a punishment

"hahaha, I'm sorry- hahhaha!!" you laughed

Well, at the end he just let it slide and let you wear it, you look good with it either way

"What should I do now, hm? I guess now I have to baught some extra clothes for myself since you loved mine.. I don't mind it, you look cute in it either way.."

Kamisato Ayato:

I know his clothing look really long, but I literally would wear it-

It looks fun? cool? elegant? yes

He probably had a lot of different colours and models, would also use it depending on his mood that day

The fabric is soft and smooth, it's also surprisingly very comfortable to wear on a daily basis

Well, there's no doubt that Ayato can just sleep with that on if he's too tired to change-

When both of you are out and it's suddenly windy, he would give you the outer part which is the jacket on you

You swear that thing is actually so warm yet light??

You loved it so much, sometimes you forgot to give it back to him lmao

"Haha, darling.. my jacket is still on you", Ayato then gently takes it off you, you just pout

Since this is Ayato we're talking about, he would tease you and pretends to not know :(

"Darling, I'll be back soon, don't worry too much~", he smiles innocently, urgh.. that tone of his..

You just nodded, still pouty.. kisses his cheeks and wave a goodbye

Too cute he thought, Ayato is just having fun after that and went inside his office

Maybe he'll borrow you some of his clothes and tease you a bit

After all, he also wants everyone to know who you belong to~

"Hmm, it looks cute on you, darling. Maybe I should let you have a few of my clothes. Sure you don't want it~? It's comfy like me, y'know~ haha~"

Zhongli:

Zhongli has SO many layers on his body-

Doesn't it feel hot? Especially in Liyue Harbor..

Anyways back to the topic, it looks heavy not gonna lie

It's not light and breathable like Childe's or soft and flowy like Ayato's

It's also really big, it would just cover your body from top to bottom like a blanket would

Almost like Diluc's but this is thick thick, I like to imagine that the dark brown-black colour part of his clothes are like really firm fur (see how it rhymes-)

You liked it since it feels like it's protecting you :3

Maybe you can fly with it-

On some days when you feel really like you missed him too much

You would wear it, either the button ups or the outer

It smells like him too, it soothes the feel of you missing him :)

At the end, you just wear it around the house

Zhongli tends to find you wearing it when you're sleeping

He thought it's cute, your body just cased by his own clothing

"Hmm, is it warm, dearest?" he sat beside you and you nodded, leaning your body towards him

He adores how cute and beautiful you are in his clothes, Zhongli just stayed there, holding you and smiled to himself

You never failed to make him blush

Maybe he would try to wear some of your oversized clothes because some of them are his sized.. :D

"Seems you like wearing them rather than wearing your own.. You can wear it for as long as you like. I still have more that I can wear, it's all yours, dearest"

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[bi-bard]

Waiting - Dream of the Endless Imagine (The Sandman)

Title: Waiting

Pairing: Dream of the Endless X Reader

Word Count: 898 words

Warning(s): mentions of death

Summary: After being forced to say goodbye to the person he loved, Morpheus finds himself obsessed with getting them back. All while the person they love makes themself at home in the world of the dead.

Author's Note: Yeah... I should've known that my readers wouldn't let me get away with an angsty ending.

PART ONE HERE!

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Being dead wasn't as bad as many people thought it was.

There was no pain. It was all just over.

Then, you spent the rest of eternity in your own personal freedom.

I don't think that I would've ever seen it that way if I hadn't seen my death coming. If I hadn't known about it ahead of time. If I didn't get to say goodbye.

I got more than most people did. I got to say goodbye to the person that I loved most.

I still thought about Morpheus constantly.

Death had been very kind. She befriended his raven to get updates about him. She would then report those updates to me. It felt like I hadn't been gone all that long. Like I was still a part of his life.

My life beyond life wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Hell was my biggest fear, so anything better than hell was a gift in my eyes.

I had found my personal freedom in this small house. A shelf of ever-changing books, a small kitchen to make whatever I wanted to attempt to make, a small fireplace to rest by, two cushioned chairs by said fireplace, and a small corner for me to finally pursue art as a hobby. My eternity had given me a head start when it came to developing that skill.

I was home.

Home and free.

I had long stopped tracking how long I had been locked away in this little home. I just knew that I was happy.

That all changed when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called, placing the pan I had been holding on the counter.

I knew who it was. I just smiled as Death walked in. I threw my oven mitts on the counter and took off my apron.

"I have a question," I said. "If this is the death realm and the rules of living existence don't apply here, then why can't I make one soufflé?"

She looked at the dish that looked- without a doubt- like a disaster. And shrugged.

"Y'know, that's really not helpful."

She chuckled. "I come with news."

"Always a delight," I said, going to lean my hand on the counter.

I yelped when my hand went through the countertop. I used my other hand to push myself back up.

I looked down at my hand that was flaking away. Turning into dust. At the time, I thought I was fading away. That I wouldn't exist in any realm. Not even that of the dead.

"Death," I said, tears filling my eyes. I took a few stumbling steps backward as my breathing sped up. As if I could've avoided it.

"I was coming to tell you," she explained. "He did it."

"What?"

"Dream," she stepped toward me. "He did it."

I didn't have time to ask for more of an explanation as my legs started fading away.

"Help me-"

"You'll be okay," she promised. "Trust me."

I nodded and closed my eyes, letting myself crumble to dust.

I was in the world of complete darkness for mere moments.

I soon felt myself being put back together. Piece-by-piece until everything that had turned to dust had been reconstructed in my image. My eyes felt like the last thing restored.

I looked down, silently checking on myself. Two legs, two arms, one head... everything seemed to be in order. Even clothes. Nice to know that the universe could be kind.

I looked out to the horizon. It looked like a beach. A beach that was clouded with fog.

"(Y/n)-"

I turned around when I heard my name, completely prepared to defend myself against anything that could've attacked me.

Morpheus was there. He held his hands up to me when he saw how scared I was.

"I don't know how much you remember-"

"Morpheus!"

I ran forward and hugged him. I hid my face in his shoulder as he hugged me back. One of my hands found its way into his hair. I heard him let out a sigh as he relaxed against me.

"What did you do," I whispered, not wanting to let go of him to ask. I was terrified that I would lose him if I did.

He stepped back slowly, only moving far enough to look me in the eye. "I made you a dream."

"A dream," I repeated. He nodded. "And everyone's safe now?"

He nodded again.

I cupped the sides of his face and let out a relieved laugh as my eyes scanned every part of his face. I ignored the tears falling from my eyes as I leaned forward and kissed him. It felt like I had spent an eternity waiting for me. Maybe I had.

Maybe I didn't care. Because I had him back. I leaned back, my forehead resting on him. I pecked his lips a few more times before nudging my nose against his.

"I love you," I muttered. As if it was some kind of secret.

"I love you too."

While I was dead, I never thought that I would ever see him again. But now that I had him, I knew that I hadn't accepted my fate. I was just waiting. Waiting for him to find me again.

And I would've waited for him for all eternity.

Because I loved him. And that's all that mattered.

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Masterlist (Includes links to All Writing Challenges)

What I Write For

Some Original Characters

[cruncherzz]

⚠️ SPOILER Warning⚠️ (if you wanna play SOR blind then don't read this)

Shadows of Rose is an objectively bad DLC. You're free to have your own opinions but this is mine. It's a garbage DLC with horrible pacing, exposition, and energy.

I'm gonna start this off by saying one of the first things that stood out with this fucking thing--the Duke. What? The Duke is evil in this DLC?! Woah, why? Literally why, Capcom?! Was he upset that Amazon was running him out of business and took it out on the only able-bodied person around? Motherfucker went from being a tasteful NPC that entertained you with his small one-liners and timing to "Evil Pillsbury Doughboy with a shitty Halloween mask." It baffles the mind as to why he's evil in this for no fucking reason.

Also, why all the Rose's?! WTF? I would've loved to know why there were infinite Rose's just mulling about in this Megamycete Hellscape.

Also, also, Rose is a really annoying protagonist. It might just be because I genuinely don't care about Ethan Winter's and his "saga" anymore but I digress. Her motivation for wanting to get rid of her powers is that she doesn't have friends-- motherfucker, I don't have friends. Deal with it. They haven't posed a serious issue besides being a point of complaint like legitimately this girl's horrible past with her powers boil down to her having "white sweat." Her sweating milk like a platypus is what drives this bitch into going into the consciousness of a being dubbed the "Black God."

Ethan is also really dumb in this. "I called myself Michael because I didn't want to shock you." Omfg dude, she's already in the BLACK GOD'S consciousness and freaking out about dying to these deux ex machina Dementor ripoffs. Tell your fucking daughter who you are??? It really makes me laugh that Capcom still doesn't show his fucking face on screen too. Is he really that ugly? WHEEZE

Okay... the only thing. THE ONLY THING that I semi-enjoyed was seeing Eveline in this--and it's still not a very good encounter. Like, you deal with fighting Eveline specifically for like a minute and then you're done. It's just a repeat of Ethan's bit in RE7 where she shockwaves you backwards a bit and you deal damage to her after. No difference. It's lazy.

I kind of liked the Beneviento house for the horror aspects, I'm personally really terrified of mannequins. I hate them with a mf passion so the dolls and mannequins were a really nice touch.

I didn't like that none of the lords were there, we don't even get a mf backstory for any of them and yet this fucking character that was an infant in RE8 gets her own 3 hour DLC?? Cool. Awesome.

Speaking of the lords, Miranda's back! She also looks just... weird. It's barely noticeable but like... she doesn't look all the way like her normal character design; they fixed how fucking shiny she was from the RE8 game though so that's... good? Girl ain't greasy no more. One thing ticked right then, Capcom.

The final battle. Ooh, the final battle. Hah! ...I actually kinda liked the final battle because I like the animation for Miranda's wings but that's mostly it. I don't care for the speech that Ethan gives Rose about never giving up and all that jazz. Also, despite you only being able to use a certain amount of Rose's power throughout this DLC, because of the power of Moldy Papa speech and plot armor, she now can throw full as fucking trees at this bitch, absorb projectiles, and teleport. Not a joke. Where was this like 40 minutes ago??? It's just... annoying.

Y'know what really annoys me also? The ammo in this game. You actually get less ammo found and given to you in this game then the ammo drops around the Baker house in RE7. Like, "Michael" gives you some because even the game devs know they didn't fucking put much.

And one of the biggest things for me--Mia Winters. Where the actual fuck was Mia fucking Winters? Rosemary Winters mother, y'know, the woman who raised her and loved her?! She is mentioned--guess how many times--fucking once. She is mentioned once in this whole fucking thing. It's mind-boggling. I get on the Wiki for this game, it's established that Rose doesn't see Mia much now that she's grown up and shit. Does that eliminate the right to her having a relationship with the woman though?! Does Capcom just hate this woman?! Mia is mentioned once in a diary entry of Rose's from when she was a kid, it wasn't even directly about Mia. It was about her white fucking milk sweat and her wanting to have friends. Bitch, I could care less about your friend problems and milky skin. I waited this entire DLC for a flashback, a scene, a story with this woman and I got a paragraph from a elementary schooler complaining about side effects of mold puberty and mannequins that resembled Mia slightly that scared the shit outta me. Great work, Capcom. God, I hate this fucking game.

This game is really fucking irritating like... I actually am seething in vc right now with @highlifeboat. Capcom said they'd deliver and they did.

Fucking dogshit.

Absolute fucking dogshit

Anyway, my favorite part was when I got to turn off my Xbox and forget I ever touched this piece of shit.

[byicarus]

zachary auburn, at his heart, was a hopeless romantic. he looked at the world through rose-colored glasses and was totally in love with thought of being in love . . . only he'd never quite gotten there. he'd never had a boyfriend or so much as been kissed! he was a pathetic excuse for a gay guy, but no one would've ever known from the teasing he'd gotten in high school. zachary would have thought spending an afternoon with heath would've surely been a disaster waiting to happen., but even in the freezing cold, zachary had found he'd completely misjudged heath. even his arrogance was somehow alluring. he was beside himself, and he didn’t quite know what to do about it. "how'd you know i think you're attractive? b-but thanks, y'know, for not being a total . . . butt hole," the smaller male questioned, his cheeks rosy. heath clearly had worked him up, but zachary would’ve blamed it on the chilling pennsylvania winter if he'd been called out for it. "oh . . . well, it's not my area of expertise," he giggled nervously. he hadn't realized it was possible to totally be at ease with someone and completely nervous at the same time before! why did heath have to make his blood rush and his heart beat a million miles a minute?! it was completely unfair what the beaumont boy was doing to him! "really? you like 'em that much?" zachary questioned with a lifted brow. "i mean, yeah, i could . . . how about this? you can come over and keep me company while i make them. there's nothing worse than a lonely kitchen, everybody knows that! plus, i'll need someone to lick the spoon clean," he offered up with a gleaming smile. it faded soon enough though. hearing about the beaumont christmases just made his little heart ache. it seemed like heath hadn't a had true, bonafide christmas in years, and that simply was not okay in zachary's book! "we're gonna do somethin' about it. mark my words, heath beaumont. you're about to have the best christmas ever — even if i have to drag santa out from the north pole myself!" zachary promised. he never would've guessed he'd end up trying to pull off some christmas magic for a beaumont . . . but stranger things had happened. after all, they had been paired up for the bake sale; it must've been fate! he sighed, nodding his head. what was in the past was in the past, and truth be told, zachary didn't want to visit it at all — lest it ruin their good moment. any grudge or resentment he'd harbored had vanished into the chilly winter air. "well . . . that doesn't matter now. to think, all it took was some christmas cookies to get you to like me. 'd've never guessed it'd be so easy!" the blonde boy teased, scrunching up his nose playfully.

zachary found himself warming up to heath with ease, and zachary might've even felt the small — okay, gigantic — inklings of a crush forming . . . but he swore any hope of being in heath's presence again was about to be over before it even began. only for heath to surprise him yet again. "well, i still am sorry," he said softly, his dainty hand resting on heath's broad shoulder. his heart skipped a beat just being so close to him. he was becoming a walking cliché — a sweet, naïve gay boy falling in love with the first straight guy who showed him attention — but he couldn't have cared less. "well, then i'm happy to take your mind off i—" zachary was quickly shut up by the taller boy pulling him in. his heart skipped a beat, and his head went all hazy. he didn't even realize heath was kissing him for the whole town to see until his eyelids fluttered shut and his lips started to move against heath's. it was over too quick for zachary's liking, and heath was retracting like he'd just made out with a wad of seaweed . . . which would've given zachary pause for concern if he wasn't freaking out over the fact that — oh my god! — he'd just had his first kiss! his hands went to his lips, where he could still feel heath's lingering on his. electricity was buzzing throughout his whole body, and zachary felt alive — and more than he did on christmas morning! "why are you sorry?" zachary questioned, eyes wide with concern. "was i, like, bad or something? oh god . . . did i mess up my own first kiss?! should i go?"

heath and zachary weren't just from different families, they were from different worlds — and while heath might have liked to think that he had given the kid a fair shot, he knew that he'd judged the book by its cover. fate had brought them together for the bake sale, however, and heath was quickly figuring out that his perception of zachary auburn just might have been incredibly wrong. "i wasn't judging you, dude... look, let me go ahead and make this clear — i'm not going to kick your ass or anything. so you think i'm attractive, big deal... everyone else does, too," heath said with a shrug. "and it's cougar, by the way. not panther." despite his stone cold exterior, heath didn't want the kid thinking that he was unsafe in his presence. he knew what it felt like to walk around on perpetual eggshells, and it wasn't pleasant. if zachary had to endure the beaumonts, he might as well have any ally. "it's not really my fault you make such good cookies, bro... do you think you could make some of these just for me? i'd offer you something in exchange, but... i don't really think i have anything you would want," he replied, a small chuckle falling from his lips. heath had gone through at least a dozen scenarios, but he could never have anticipated that they day would go like this. he was growing quite fond of zachary, despite his best efforts to keep to himself. the tiny blonde was a nice distraction from the fiery hell his life had turned into, and he liked that he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. "no, dude... you're totally right. but what am i gonna do about it?" heath shrugged. he leaned back in his chair, thick thighs spread as he folded his arms behind his head. "i... look, zachary. i think we both know i can be a bit of an asshole, but i'm eating my words now, aren't i? i've had, like, six of your cookies," heath chuckled. he instinctively flinched as zachary touched him before relaxing into the gesture, swallowing around the lump in his throat. it suddenly felt too hot, despite the snow on the ground around them. "don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong," he assured, clearing his throat. he looked up at zachary, allowing himself to take in the beauty of those crystal blue eyes for the very first time. "believe it or not, i would rather be here with you than dealing with any of the other things i have going on right now — and i, uh... don't have a girlfriend," he gulped. between the hand on his broad shoulder and zachary's pale pink lips in such close proximity, heath's head was a mess. heath had only ever been with girls, but he'd always been curious about boys — that was a large part of the reason the kid made him feel so uncomfortable in the first place. it wasn't a side of himself that heath was ready to confront, but that was quickly forgotten with zachary looking so pretty. he curled an arm around zachary's waist and tugged him closer, the smaller boy falling into his lap as heath planted one right on his lips. once he started, it felt like he couldn't stop. his hand fell down zachary's spine until it reached his waist before he realized what he was doing and pulled away abruptly. zachary was a boy, and they were in public! his father would have his head on a silver platter, that his mother would eventually display at the christmas eve feast, if he found out. "i, um... i'm sorry," heath said, clearing his throat. "i have no idea why i just did that — should i leave?"