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major-comet · 5 months ago

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The Music in RvB: Restoration Kinda Sucks. Here's how I'd fix it.

I gave this as a presentation the other night after my first re-watch of the finale, and it was a major hit so I thought I would share it with other people who think too hard about Halo fanfiction.

Red VS Blue has some truly fantastic music in it's 21 year history, and I think that the music here was pretty weak. Obviously this post has major spoilers for RvB19 / Restoration, so be warned.

So, under the Read More is a typed up and fleshed out version of my powerpoint presentation where I will dive in and not just bitch about the musical choices, but explain how I would fix things. This is...really long, but I hope you all enjoy my thoughts :)

This will be best enjoyed if you listen to the songs I'm talking about as a refresher. For your convenience, I have input links to the songs on Youtube when necessary

So what's the problem?

Since the development of the finale overlapped with Rooster Teeth getting shut down, it's very likely that they had minimal funds. (EDIT: Yes, the finale itself was done by the time the announcement rolled around. However, the decision was almost certainly already in the works at WB. RT was shut down in part for financial reasons. It’s all connected.) I personally think this was part of why Burnie/RT was/were [reportedly] so insistent on using stock music for part of the season rather than a whole soundtrack done by Trocadero - I'm not sure they had the money to properly compensate for a full soundtrack. And maybe it was just a stupid / dick move, and had nothing to do with money at all, but that's what I choose to believe if only because it makes me feel slightly better about it.

This means that besides the stock music, the new score by Carl Thiel, the Zero song for that cameo, and Waning Moon (the Barenaked Ladies song), all we have are four re-used songs from earlier RvB - these songs being the Trocadero Grifball theme, I Say Ooh and Round One by Jeff Williams, and Vale Deah by Trocadero. There's also a David Levy composition in there somewhere according to the credits, R U Ready, but I have no idea what it is or where it plays. It's bothering the hell out of me because it does not appear to be a reused piece as far as I can tell - at least not reused from RvB. If anyone has any leads on this please reach out, because it seems crazy that there's one random possibly original David composition mixed in there. I've checked Apple Music and Soundcloud, nothing by that name.

In this very Meta focused film, neither of The Meta's themes play in any shape or form - [When] Your Middle Name is Danger by Trocadero or Plagam Extremam Infligere by Jeff Williams.

Nor do any of the character themes, really. Most of the series' iconic recurring tracks are completely absent. Tex's various themes, Carolina's theme - hell not even Blood Gulch Blues or the iconic intro music.

Were there any highlights?

Of course there were!

Considering I was going into the finale having only been spoiled on Vale Deah, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Jeff tracks! That was totally unexpected, and really lovely.

Speaking of, I thought the use of Vale Deah was a really lovely touch. Fun fact: that song was used for the end credits of the Season 1 DVD, so it really felt like a sweet full circle moment.

I think that using a Barenaked Ladies song for that very sweet scene of Caboose, Grif, and Simmons reminiscing about Blood Gulch by the fire was a very lovely choice, and quite honestly it was my favorite scene in the whole thing. The BNL have been close to RvB and RT since damn near the beginning, and it was very nice to hear them attached to the finale in that small way.

I should also point out that the composer for the season is Carl Thiel - known for his work on Hot Fuzz and the second and third Spy Kids movies. I think he did a totally fine job. I liked the bugles that were under Sarge's death, but the rest doesn't really stand out much. Perfectly serviceable.

So, now that that's out of the way, let's break down those four returning songs a bit more - shall we?

Grifball Official Theme - Trocadero

This was a really funny choice. It's such a quick bit, but I respect Burnie's dedication to get in one last Grifball joke. Obviously, I would have preferred to hear a different song for something else, but this was totally harmless.

Vale Deah - Trocadero

Lo-fi Hip-hop beats to get divorced to.

God that scene was heartbreaking. I love this song a lot - I think a lot of Trocadero's strongest stuff is the stuff that just feels kind of melancholy. It's something Nico does really well, and I think Vale Deah is one of my favorite examples of that. Like I said above, I think this song was used really well - if I had to pick a different track for that same scene I would probably choose Half Life. While it was written during the Blood Gulch era, it wasn't really used in the show until Seasons 12 and 13 - notably, a version of it plays under Kimball's rally speech to the troops after Doyle's death. I just really like it, tbh. There's absolutely other songs that could work, but I think having it be a BGC-era track served the scene really well.

I Say Ooh - Jeff Williams

My feelings about this are pretty similar to Grifball. It was cute, it was nice to hear, but I wish they had used a different Jeff track somewhere else. Ultimately, it's pretty harmless. It is kind of an odd choice though - I'm pretty sure Jeff didn't write it for RvB. This was a song that he composed that was used in two RT Shorts (live action sketches that RT used to do). I think it would have been nicer to use one of his RvB tracks for the introduction of Niner - could have been a cute spot to use a track like I Am The Best or Forge World or hell, Come on Carolina would have been cute.

Round One - Jeff Williams

...Actually, I have a lot to say about Round One, so let's get everything else out of the way first.

Other Scenes that *should* have had returning tracks before I talk about Round One for a billion years

Sarge's death should have been scored with a version of Rally (Sarge's Speech). My vision is a version of it that's just the string section - familiar, but not enough to be distracting, and absolutely soul crushing if you do recognize it.

The scene with Wash and Dr. Grey in the hospital needed a hint of what Nico so lovingly calls the "Wash Trauma Theme" - which is closely related to the Trocadero Meta theme, fun fact. I think Limited Duty from the scene in Season 16 where Carolina tells Wash about the brain damage could have worked pretty well there.

The scene at the end with Wash and Carolina talking about Doc and the Freelancers really needed something. I think one of the variations of the Shisno trilogy Carwash theme could have worked very well.

Obviously the big scene with Tucker and Sigma on the ship would have really benefited from [When] Your Middle Name is Danger or one of the many themes that incorporates it, but I'd also throw Soul Clef XI into the ring! I think it's so interesting that the work around they came up with for not being able to get Elijah Wood back was to have epsilon!Sigma take on a more Felix-y type of voice. Partly because Felix was an incredibly ambitious villain so he fits it pretty well, but more importantly that was a very smart voice to pick to fuck with Tucker in particular! I think that was really smart, and I think having some version of Felix's theme playing during that scene would have been really cool.

Bolt by Trocadero was never used in the series proper. However it was used in this ten year retrospective that they released alongside Season 10. I highly recommend giving it a watch, because watching it now that it's Over - RvB, RT, all of it - it's honestly kind of heart breaking. They're all filled with this deep optimism about the future of the company, and hindsight is a bitch on this one. They use it in a really sweet sequence at the end where they're showing a bunch of old photos. Anyways I think this should have played in the credits after Vale Deah finished. "We only want to have a good time."

Miscellaneous Trocadero Songs I would have liked to see them find a place for that I haven't already / will not mention elsewhere

Steady Ride (Gunmetal Green) - this is THE Grimmons song ever to me. I love it so much. Also fun fact: as of the interview Burnie did with Nico on the season 10 (I think?) dvd/bluray, this was Burnie's favorite Trocadero track. And you can tell when you watch the DVD cuts of the first 6-ish seasons - it plays all the time.

I like Good Fight a lot, not sure there was a great spot for it? but still would have been nice - It's used a few times as a Wash theme, I believe.

No One is my favorite Trocadero song and I wish it could've been there Somewhere. It was the elevator-music type song that played behind Vic in BG once or twice, I think was in the season 4 credits, and also played during the weapons demonstrations in the Meta VS Carolina Death Battle. I just like it a lot, lol.

Okay let's get back to Round One.

Why they shouldn't have used Round One for the big fight in RvB Restoration

AKA: The actual bulk of the presentation

Okay so we've got some pros and cons to this track. Starting with the Pros;

It's a song from an iconic scene - the 3v1 training room fight from Season 9

Tex and Maine are both in the fight

Was a great "Oh FUCK yeah" moment for the fans

Great track

Cons;

Not really a song for Carolina or the Meta (or y'know. Tucker. He's there too), and only kind of a song for Tex

Honestly the fight makes me think about York more than anyone else, since that's the fight where he gets hurt

Not a cool thematic moment besides just Tex being a badass

Started too late into the fight - it's sad that Carolina got a cool track when she (finally!) showed up, but Tex just got generic music. Show my girl some respect :(

So what would be better?

It has to be something that makes you think of at least one of the fighters. A track that's good for multiple would be better, but not required.

I think it should start when Tex first shows up, not when her armor changes. that’s a cool moment, but it still means most of the fight is working with Thiel’s score.

It should be something with a note of thematic relevance - for example, the big moment right at the end of the fight is Tex reminding epsilon!Sigma that she's not based on the Director's memories of her failure this time; she's based on the memories of Grif, Caboose, and Simmons. And she Always kicked their asses.

Still needs to be a big "Oh FUCK yeah" moment.

While incorporating Carolina's theme would be nice, I think it's more important to get at least one of the others - but we'll do our best here. I think this is moreso a Tex v meta!Tucker fight in my heart than it is a Carolina fight.

So let's look over a few options, shall we? These are in no particular order.

Spiral - Jeff Williams

This is the song that plays during the Season 9 car chase when Maine gets shot. It incorporates Carolina's theme, because in PFL her theme is never too far behind whenever a Maine/Meta song is playing, which has always been interesting to me. It has all that freaky choral stuff that Jeff loved to use, and generally is just a great track.

Fragments - Jeff Williams

This plays during the Freelancer break-in in Season 10, and it just rocks so hard. Anything from the break-in would be cool because that was the last time Tex, Carolina, and Maine/The Meta were all in the same place, and of course was when The Meta was properly created. I think it was so sad that they used the instrumental of Round One, because the vocals are part of what makes the Jeff era of RvB soundtracks so iconic, and god this song delivers! Also this song has a kickass trumpet solo at the end.

Slingshot (from the Death Battle) - Trocadero

Man this song rules. This of course plays in the Meta VS Carolina Death Battle from Season 14. It's a very different energy from the Jeff picks, but it rocks so fucking much. This is a fight between Carolina and The Meta, and would of course be a callback to a (marginally) more recent - and extremely popular - episode of the show. If you haven't watched the Death Battle in a while you really should, it still kicks just as much ass now as it did back when I was in high school.

Literally any other song from the 3v1 Training Room Fight - Jeff Williams

This includes;

Round One (feat Lamar Hall)

Just the Bullfight part

On Your Knees

I just think the instrumental to Round One is the weakest choice from this fight tbh! Bullfight is my favorite out of the three, because it sounds the most Tex-y. The guitars are very her, and it incorporates part of her Agent Tex motif. And On Your Knees would have had the biggest "Oh FUCK yeah" factor. But honestly even just using the version of Round One with the vocals would have been way better.

EDIT TO ADD: a quick note - while it’s listed in the credits as Round One/Bullfight, that’s just how the instrumental is packaged on the OST. As far as I could tell in my two watches of it, they never actually make it to the Bullfight part of the track.

A Girl Named Tex - Trocadero

hold on, walk with me on this one.

I had a vision of Tex fighting meta!Tucker set to the "Yellow rose of Texas clad in black, lonely star tattooed upon her back. Double Tex she'll hit you like a truck. Double Tex and she'll mess you up." bit right after I watched 19 the first time and it's been haunting me ever since. (That bit starts at about 02:19)

This is her theme for the first chunk of the show - which just so happens to be the time period Grif, Simmons, and Caboose were primarily reminiscing about. It would have been cool as hell, and I can See the beginning of the fight in my head - the opening strums (what my brother so lovingly calls the Out of Mind music) when caboose is saying his line about how he brought back someone even worse than church, and then the fight starts! I can see it in my mind, it would have been so cool!

I just think there should have been more Blood Gulch era music in here.

100 Tex Battle - Jeff Williams

This doesn't get you any Meta points, but obviously it incorporates little bits of Tex's, and a lot of Carolina's theme. Twisting a Tex vs Carolina fight - obviously, Carolina vs all the Tex bots in Season 10 - into one where they're fighting alongside each other would have been really lovely and a cool full circle moment.

This song is really cool, it's such a good fight. I do think it maybe sounds a bit goofy at points for this fight, but still a cool option.

Okay so now let's go over my top three-ish picks

Ice Fight (or maybe the revelations suite?) - Jeff Williams

Jumping to the end of Season 8, we have a fight that involves Tex vs The Meta! And Wash, Doc, and all the Reds and Blues (barring Donut and Lopez. Hmm. Doesn't that sound familiar.) are there! Ice Fight rules so hard, it's so good.

And it has some of that narrative theming I was looking for! While yes, Tex does technically lose this fight - so does The Meta. And how does she lose it?

By going into the recovery unit.

The main reason I suggest the Suite instead of just Ice Fight is because I think having a touch of Red Vs Blue would have been really nice.

Mental Meta Metal - Jeff Williams

Genuinely my favorite track from season 10. If you let the song play the whole way through, it has Jeff's themes for The Meta, Carolina, and Tex in it. This plays the first time we see Maine in a fight in Season 10, and is also Sigma's first time in the field after we see him pondering Meta-stability in the classroom.

It incorporates elements from both Spiral and Plagam Extremam Infligere, which is kind of Jeff's theme for the Meta that he established back in Season 8. It also plays during the Freelancer Break-in when he's tossing Carolina off the cliff. The Latin on that translates to “to inflict an extreme blow”.

It also has a very strong statement of Carolina's theme, which could have been a great opportunity to bring her in with her theme!

Now, before I go over my final pick, let's go over what we need again;

We need a song with thematic relevance to the fight, that’s from an iconic scene, has a good energy to it, and would give fans a big “OH FUCK YEAH” moment.

Well, isn’t it obvious?

youtube

Agent Tex (/ Tex vs Tank / Hell's Angel) - Jeff Williams

The first instance of Jeff Williams’ Tex motif, later used in Hell’s Angel and Tex vs Tank, etc. I would add the opening strum commonly heard in the later iterations, but keep it generally the Agent Tex version which was used in the S8 Warehouse fight, as seen above.

This is like. The RvB scene ever. So many people saw this before they watched the show, and many more never even watched RvB - just this fight, since RT uploaded it separately from the episode because they knew it kicked so much ass. It also helped draw in folks who may have been fans of Monty Oum's other work. Fun fact: This was RT’s outro music for a really long time, too. So it really has history with the company.

Part of why I think this pick would work so well, beyond it just being Tex's theme for the Jeff Williams era, is that it would be so interesting in terms of narrative theming. The Season 8 warehouse fight was Tucker, Grif, Simmons, Sarge, and Caboose against Tex.

This whole sequence was Grif, Simmons, Caboose, Carolina, and Tex against Tucker.

This was one of the other scenes being reminisced about around the fire - you can see it as one of the clips shown during the scene. I think it would have been a really powerful moment, and a fantastic "FUCK YEAH" moment for everyone whose stuck around this long. This track is so good, and I really do think it would have been the perfect choice for this fight.

It's not even my favorite, if I was just choosing favorites I'd have picked Mental Meta Metal or A Girl Named Tex.

What have we learned? Why Were We Here?

Red vs Blue is a show with a lot of really fantastic music in it's book, and a really strong history of musical callbacks - particularly with the Meta's theme and how it's so closely tied to the motif Trocadero liked to use as "Wash Trauma" music. Making a clever callback to a song you've used before can help strengthen the thing you're trying to get across to your audience. I think it's somehing that Restoration really struggles with, which is pretty sad. But I hope you found my deep dive / analysis of what could have been interesting.

I'd really like to dive in and do a long reflection about the series as a whole, but as it stands this is around 3,000 words and if I get started on that, this post will never end. I'll probably work on that once i've actually Finished this rewatch.

Thank you for reading all of that!

#comet posting #rvb #red vs blue #rvb restoration #rvb19 #rvb finale #rvb music #jeff williams #trocadero #grimmons #rvb 19 #the meta #lavernius tucker #agent texas #tex rvb #tucker rvb #the meta rvb

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thousand-winters · 10 months ago

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We know that Darius mainly ignored Hunter and Eber would growl at him but how do you think the other coven heads treated him? Not good obviously but in what way?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASK. I've had my eye on those little shits for a while /lh

So first of all, I just know Hettie and Osran were the nastiest ones. How? Have you ever noticed they're the ones that shove/elbow/something Hunter at the beginning of Any Sport in a Storm? That was so damn uncalled for, it's not like Hunter was physically trying to stop them from leaving, and it haunts me a little bit that he did his little pained sounds but didn't even call them out on it, feels like a regular occurrence.

I feel like for Osran it was probably a case of him being really old and as such, dismissing Hunter as a dumb kid who doesn't know what he's doing, even more than the others. Like... he's been here since quite possibly the establishment of the Empire, he's NOT going to listen to a spoiled brat, and he has no patience left for anyone when he's well settled in his rank by now. There might also be some resentment about having spent so many years in service of the Empire and yet being told he has to listen to this random kid? Emperor's nephew or not, he can't be bothered to care.

Hettie, interestingly enough, seemed pretty neutral even while pushing Hunter, she didn't have her sadistic little smile from King's Tide, though I do believe it has to do with her ruthlessness that she doesn't give a crap if she hurts this kid. I think it would be sort of interesting if with her it's a mix of, well, that she's just like That, not caring about inflicting pain in others, and that he's annoyed with Hunter in particular due to her pride. She's the Head Healer and yet Hunter has never once gone to her, not that she would have been gentle with him but it feels as if he were saying he's better than her.

In any case, I feel like those two were the type to push and trip Hunter whenever they had the chance, never going as far to beat him up or anything but still getting physical a bout it.

Now Terra and Adrian were probably the ones who liked mocking him verbally the most, perhaps Adrian a little more. In the same scene in Any Sport in a Storm, his eyes follow Hunter even as he continues smiling and walking away, which is... definitely something. Having some fun seeing him trying to get their attention, I guess.

Honestly, from Adrian it's not so surprising, since he seems to find anyone but himself incompetent, and he has no regard toward children at all, I think he liked making mocking comments whenever he had the chance to put Hunter down. Terra, on the other hand, has that fake sweetness of hers that ends up being condescending, so I feel like with Hunter she probably was like "awww, what a poor, pathetic little thing (:", which of course Hunter would have picked up on no matter how deceivingly nice the words could be.

I would think Vitimir would be more the subtle type, rolling his eyes at Hunter from time to time and such, but considering he also stubbornly tried to stay at the throne during Watching and Dreaming, I'm not really counting on him being smart. Perhaps I would bet on him just making some slight annoyed sounds and faces at him most of the time and indulging in pushing him around as well when he feels like it.

Mason voted most likely Coven Head to be nice other than the rebels. He has the vibe of "I have no idea what's going on, I'm just going with the flow" to me most of the time, frankly, but he had to notice what the others did. I tend to imagine him as noticing that, but not caring enough to ever try to stop it, very "not my business" kind of behavior which, you know, isn't great, but the bar is in hell when it comes to the Emperor's Coven 😭

#you pressed my 'many thoughts about characters that appear like five seconds' button #i hope you're pleased with this sakfhkdsg #the owl house #toh #hunter deamonne #hettie cutburn #adrian graye #terra snapdragon #toh mason #toh osran

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animereviewsbykyranskye · 1 year ago

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My current top 15 Anime and why

Because why the fuck not. I'm doing top 15 so that I have some variety behind it. Otherwise I would just be gushing non stop XD

Apparently numbers go big now - AND THEY GO SMALLER IF YOU TRY TO TYPE IN THE SAME LINE AS THEM???

comparison:

15 -

DA HECK????

(Edit: I was going to colour all the numbers because I wanted a rainbow. WHY THE FUCK FOR THEY CHANGE TO SMALL WHEN YOU COLOUR THEM??????)

Guess the titles of the anime get a small heading. Anyways. Onto the actual list!

Technoroid OVERMIND

Ayo. Starting out with a really random one. So if anyone were to look at my Anilist then they might be a bit confused. I decided I'd keep movies out of here as well as anything I haven't specifically finished. Also takt op. Destiny needs a re evaluation.

Anyways. This premise is so sick and I feel like they managed it really well. The characters were all really fun and the music was fantastic which is honestly the most important thing about Idol shows. I really like idol shows but often struggle with the stupid drama in them that just leads to seasons upon seasons that didn't need to happen or wouldn't actually happen.

In this they're just androids. The fantasy twist works so well for the genre and I honestly don't know why it isn't done more often. This way they can bullshit the drama and it actually makes sense.

Honestly my favourite character was Kite. He was great and his voice always gave me shivers. Especially his piece in the closing. Damn.

I don't want to go into full reviews with this, rather just gushing about things I like and stuff. I really don't think this got the recognition it deserves - probably because of it's deviation from the norm - but it would be cool to get some sort of sequel.

(Edit: There's a manga releasing apparently. Imma check that out.)

UniteUp!

Continuing on with the trend of idol animes apparently. UniteUp! was so good. As I mentioned in my Reviews while I watch of the show, it felt so grounded and real that other idol shows just don't seem to capture. These were all real people with real problems dealing with real life.

I also like how we had such a large cast of characters but it never really felt overwhelming as they focused on group dynamics and specific individuals rather than trying to cram every single person into their own arcs.

Once again the music was fantastic and by god was this show pretty gay. Honestly I don't know what the sentiments of others are, but the Anela duo definitely weren't straight and neither were Akira and Daiki. That bath scene says it all.

Anyways. If you want a fun time with a really solid idol anime, please check it out. I saw earlier that we're getting a season two soon. I am so looking forward to it.

Trigun Stampede

Damn! I don't even know what to really say about this one. The visuals are absolutely stunning - there is no doubt about that. The score and the characters are excellent. And how dare they leave us on that cliff hanger.

I have absolutely no history with this story and still need to watch and read the originally but I am really looking forward to seeing how the story adapts between the three.

You can ask my partner. I've already said we're watching everything trigun related as soon as we are done with our current show.

I'm really looking forward to season two. And especially seeing how this all pans out. Apparently there will be tears according to the fandom. Concern.

Re-main

Damn this show came out of nowhere for me. I watched it quite awhile ago and have been meaning to rewatch it again.

The premise is definitely a sports anime but honestly so different. All because of one thing. The fact that he is an amnesiac is such a fascinating concept to work with - especially with how he was before (trying not to spoil - can't remember when this comes up in the anime)

And then the ending?? Damn. They seriously set up that cliff hanger and I really hope this show gets a sequel.

I really can't say too much about it without giving away some spoilers but damn does it change up the formula and do it so fucking well.

Given

Given is great. Such a pure but heartbreaking portrayal of love on one side with such conflicting but also nurturing views on the other. Having the different realtionships throughout this is really well done how they all bounce off of each other. Especially when they entertwine it with the music.

As it is said. That is how they communicate - through the music.

I'm busy catching up with the manga and really hope the anime continues with it.

Also the fucking is just fucking gorgeous. It has no write to hit you that hard.

Also - something else that shouldn't be allowed to hit you that hard. Damn Mafuyu has had a difficult past. We love how he learns to heal and grow with Uenoyama at his side.

Anyways, moving on.

Bakuten!!

Okay. Who said a sports anime could be this pretty.

I love the art style and the music throughout all of this. I love the portayal and the evolution of these character - seriously all their arcs are great. The interactions of the team is so tangible and real.

I watch a lot of sports anime and I often struggle with some of the drama used within the sports - it feels like the only thing that ever fuels the story is the matches. Whereas in Bakuten - the character seriously fuel the story. You can understand their motivations much more than just - I want to play this sport and be the best!

I also feel like they really captured everything really well in the movie. The whole concept of wanting to sore is great and really well executed.

I also love the interactions they have with the other team. It's not just a once off competition or practice match that they face each other. We actually get tangible characters for the whole team and see how much they two teams are similar to one another. It's a very healthy rivalry that isn't normally this expanded on in sports anime.

Sasaki and Miyano

Yesssssss. These two are just absolutely amazing. Their whole story arc and relationship is just tooth rottingly sweet. They bounce off of each other so well.

And I love the fact of how slow the actual story is. They meet at the start of Miyanos first year (from what I know - I still need to read the novels) and sasaki's second and they only end up confessing just before graduation happens. It really plays out well and is so healthy.

There is no problematic elements like in so many BL stories which is such a breath of fresh air. And the fact that sasaki is very specific about making sure to maintain boundaries to ensure that miyano is comfortable is also excellent.

On a slightly different note - I still need to see the Hirano and Kagiura movie. Been dying to watch it. I've been keeping up to date with both manga and both of these stories are amazing. I love the dichotomy of the two stories and how they are coming to their own realisations of their feelings in honestly very different ways.

I also recently watched the dub of the anime due to some videos on tiktok. Fucking hell it is absolutely hilarious. Kellen Goff as Sasaki has no reason for being that good. Seriously. Damn.

Link Click

On a completely different note. Damn this one makes you questions your own morals and reality as you know it.

I really don't want to get into this one much as I do believe watching it blind is the best way to go.

The art style is fantastic and that opening hits like a truck it is so good. The characters just click (pun not intended) and you just understand their motivations and don't know which side to side with most of the time. It brings about such high moral dilemmas that will seriously mess with your brain sometimes and there is one episode that will likely make you cry.

Anyways. Season 2 has just started airing and I am so ready for it.

Buddy Daddies

Why did a show about two queer platonic dudes who adopt a child while beings assassins hit so damn hard.

The show jumps between episodes with backstory and episodes with them just being good dads and it is balanced so well. This anime won't end up getting a sequel most likely with how it ended but damn I wouldn't say no to one.

Rei is my favourite character and I relate to him far too much. His interactions with the world are so fascinating and his whole arc with Miri is honestly some of the best media I've seen.

I absolutely loved watching this show weekly and it always brightened up my day when I realised a new episode would be up.

If you would like further thoughts on this one then check the Reviews while I watch on it for more chaos.

No Game No Life

So. This was the first ever anime that I ever watched. It was a random recomendation from a friend. Look at where we are today.

This show is honestly just so fun. The characters are silly and the whole plot is just absolute chaos. I really enjoy the games aspect and how it was all incorporated into the world.

I can't even really say much about it. It is just a guilty pleasure of mine and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Also. Please can it just get a second season already.

Assassination Classroom

So. Unlike everything else on the list - this one I only finished really recently. My partner and I were watching it together. And to put it out there straight away. I cried. That ending was far too emotional.

I really enjoyed the humour throughout the whole thing as well as the constant underlying dread of the whole situation.

They also really played out Koro-senseis backstory really well. The teasing to it was excellent. I must say though that one of the twists seriously came out of left field. Like damn.

I've just recently bought the boxset and am reading through the manga. Once again. It's absolutely amazing.

Also the openings of them all jumping are absolutely fucking hilarious and you can't tell me otherwise.

If you want to know what officially sold me on the show was just in the first episode. (Note we watched in dub)

Don't ask me why but I found this to be the most hilarious thing ever. The absurdity and the line delivery was magnificent. I annoy my partner by quoting it atleast once a day.

Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

Speaking of comedies. This show has no right to be this good. The absudist dead pan comedy in the middle of whats meant to be a TV show is such a random premise but just works so well.

Due to the nature of the show, the characters are extremely relateable. I especially love Kumatani and Kikaku.

If your on the same side of anime tiktok that I am then you have definitely seen/heard snippets of the dub.

I think this was the first anime that I originally watched in sub and then tried it in dub and actually enjoyed it. (I often find that whatever I originally watched it in is the only one I can watch it in - it's very difficult for me to change it)

The voice acting on both sides just works perfectly for the show. And that final episode and how they did it was the best thing ever.

Please just give it a try.

Angel Beats

Okay. Time for a hard hitter. This comedy like assassintaion classroom is fucking excellent but will make you cry, like damn.

In complete and utter contrast to No game no life, this was the second anime I had ever watched. I had found a video that gave some suggestions and thought I would give this one a try. When I say it destoryed me, I mean it literally. I constantly think about the end of this and I absolutely love revisiting it.

The twist and turns along the way are fascinating and I love how each one alters the characters and the narrative. Each of the characters feel unique - even the lesser developed side characters - with fascinating and complex backstories.

The whole thing just makes you question your own place in life.

Moriarty the Patriot

Another one I just randomly tried because I saw a video on tiktok. The first episode immediately pulled me in. I thought it was just going to be some simple detective story (At the time I didn't know much about Sherlock Holmes and who Moriaty was so I didn't have any of that to guide me into this story.) But nope.

I keep saying this but in this one I really mean it. The characters are built so well. The dichotomy between William and Sherlock - as the fandom would probably agree - is just amazing. How they bounce off of each other - i don't even know how to really descirbe it.

Honestly just go watch it.

And if you enjoyed the anime - please go check out the manga too. If the anime was done well - then the manga is done to lamost perfection.

This show was what got me into reading and then eventually buying manga. I now have every single one that is out.

Yuri!!! on ICE

Did I make the title gay? Yes.

Okayyyyy. This is just going to be me going on about how much I love this show. Bare with me.

So I was in an anime watching slump just before I picked up this show. I had been seeing some videos popping up talking about it and decided to give it a try (this was in 2020)

I immediately fell in love with this show. Literally everything about it. I ended up rewatching it three times over the course of a week. It got to a point where I was so upset that there wasn't more content for it that I just cried for half a day. (Ask my partner - it was chaos)

This show is the reason I now read fanfiction - all because I found a way to technically have more content for it.

This show holds such an important place in my heart that I sincerely cannot express it properly.

If you've never watched it - go give it a try. It would mean a lot - and hopefully one day we might get a season two.

----

Thanks for reading, if you managed to get to this point. I find it interesting how my explanations managed to slowly get shorter throughout the list as I just started becoming more emotional than factual.

I hope you enjoyed it and maybe grabbed a recommendation or two. If you'd like to know more or hear me ramble on more about anything in particular then please let me know.

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captain-n-crunchies · 7 months ago

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Brat...

Any character x Black/ Spoiled reader

(Reader grown up sucking on a sliver spoon yall! and this diver is by F2u or something simliar I didnt see a user but its not mine please tell nn me who it is bc i found it on smb fic)

Imagine you're a rich bitch with a rich ass man on you. I mean you grew up always having a hefty amount of cash, daddy and mommy jobs paid them thousand every year, so you've always had the nicest things! Look at Reader/ Last Name! new shoes, pretty hair with the cutest curls, and that bawdy always gave home fed.

Now going to school you wasn't mean just a little ditzy, your mommy and daddy didn't want you to know a single thing about the bad world besides, you're not going into to politics so who care right? WRONG!

You're a good girl, and good girls need to know about the bad guys and girls who can tamper with that golden heart of yours or that golden egg in your pretty purse.

But he wouldn't because why? Rich girl with no idea of the world and it's trouble? He wouldn't think to slip a hand on that plump ass and say it because people are looking at you nor would he hug you and put his face in your neck to shield you from his friends?

" BUT! - BUT BABY WHYYYY!??"

You whined loudly in your boyfriend's chest, his body blocking the front door and looking down your frame; strong muscles folded over his arm and his brow furrowed just a bit.

" Doll face, now you know you not tellin me everything hm?

I roll my eyes and stomp my feet looking away from his sharp gaze, ya see we trying to go to this party right, and big dude won't let us go without looking over whose there, where, when who and why all the five damn w's we learned in English class.

" I told you! Lisa, Tanya, and Simone are going and it's Toni;s party baby!"

" I know that doll but where Toni's house?"

Dammit, I failed to mention Tanya is Toni friend and not mines, so that girl house is forgin to my mind but I put up a front and just tell him a random address; to which he looks up her gosh dammit house! I mean he dont truat me or somwthing?

" Hm..You said 4561 Danbury Ave?

" Yes baby now can you move??"

" Your a bad liar, this is the address to a Kroger"

I thought it was Walmart; I just look up shocked and he just chuckles shaking his head. He put his hand on my cheek, and I lean into it subconsciously and he rubs my check. I looked into his eyes, and he just has a disappointment I looked down and he just sighs.

" All I want is for you to be safe baby...but I see you just wanna be a brat huh?"

His tone is now dark and cold, I look up at him but, his hand moves my head back down. I stutter out apologizes but he covers my mouth and shushes me.

" You know, you've never told me about Toni"

" She's Tanya's friend! And I thought I could get to know her."

" So where the address? Did she invite you?"

" Well, no but-"

" Then you don't know anything huh stupid girl? You think she's all nice and giggles huh? Because of a dumb conversation you had over shoes she's the worlds' brightest star?"

" No! But if I got to know her"

" Dammit girl! She could be a fucking axe murder and YOU would've been next because you want to ' make friends. "

He never yelled at me before, I jump at his tone and his grip tight a smidge, he lifts my face up and he has now a sad look on his face. I start to feel bad putting my hand on his cheek apologizing solemnly but, he shakes his head putting my head away from his face.

" Your too naive.... I think I've been too soft on you doll" He pauses.

"Upstairs...On the bed, take that tiny ass top off baby and get pick three toys baby. And make on the spread bar."

When he said the bar, my head shot up and I shook my head backing to the couch.

" No- no baby! I think we can talk it out ya'know? you don't have to use that righttt? It was a silly mistake and-"

" ENOUGH!"

He voices booms and I jump again and look up at him, his face furious and stature tense. He walks up to me and hold my chin up roughly and whispers.

" Your already in deep shit doll face, I suggest you get up there and look realll pretty for me yea? Because after this...ion think you'd wanna lie to my face again, right?"

I just nod and quickly jogged up the stairs in my heels, I take off the tiny ass top that I had and peeled off the thong, heels, and wiped my make except for the eyeliner off. I grabbed the bar, a bullet vib, and his favorite and I lay on the bed face down ass up when the door open, OMG IM GOING TO DIEEE!

" Turn around reader."

"Yes sir..."

I turn around and sat on his lap hoe he likes and he holds my face gently.

" I'm sorry for yelling baby, but you know how I feel about lying and lied about a bad thing baby."

" I know! But! I never get to go somewhere without, and I wanted to see the girls and stuff, so when I didn't have the address I panicked, I'm sorry sir."

He twirls a curl from my head and kisses my cheek, he tells me it's alright but I'm still getting. my punishment.

" I'm going to let you pick which toy first baby but first, spread'em"

*Cue the big and freaky scene*

After 55 rounds and tears later, he runs me a bath and carries me to the tub gently laying me down. Tired and sleepy I let him clean my body and put on fresh clothes on me. He lays me besides him and as I fall into slumber I whisper 'goodnight.'

" Goodnight...Brat"

A.N: (I FINISHED AND PHEW IM DONE! yall this my could've been for alot of my mans but, yall this one is like for my girls who think Gojo and damn Armin aint no strong, dom, daddy baby that big NANAMI AND ERWIN! no hate tho I love Gojo and Armin but...he just dont give big daddy he gives like frat or sum. But, tell me if yall like it!!)

#black reader #chubby reader #black fem reader #x black reader #jjk #x chubby reader #astv miguel #jjk nanami #erwin smith #trafalgar law #mha

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ambersgiantpanda · 1 month ago

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Okay, so basically, I've spent last four days in the hospital without stable internet connection where I had time to catch up on watching Het Huis Anubis because I had it downloaded, so here's a little update

this post has spoilers to Het Huis Anubis, so if you haven't watched it yet but you want to, read at your own discretion or skip it so your own reaction wouldn't be spoiled by mine.

1st, I'm currently getting closer to the middle of season 1, please no further spoilers!! I haven't finished yet

2nd, I like the HOA dynamics a lot more. Of course, it's all completely personal and HOA has been crucial part of my life since I was twelve, so it is understandable that I love it more. Although I do like HHA characters, my favorites rn are Victor and Fabian. And I still can't compare Amber Rosenberg and Amber Millington because Ana Mulvoy-Ten is the only possible Amber in my head, I just don't see anyone else playing this role.

3rd... The things Patricia Soeters is GOING THROUGH... Gee... I thought it was harsh in HOA, the whole thing with Joy's disappearance, but in HHA... I literally had no words when I realized under what pressure Patricia actually was... Like, they didn't just say that Joyce has left school with her parents, no, they tried to convince Patricia that Joyce NEVER EVEN EXISTED! No records in the town hall, everyone is telling that they don't know who Joyce is... I mean, in HOA they just made Patricia think that her conspiracy theories are crazy, but in HHA they made her think that she IMAGINED Joyce completely, that she created a person who doesn't exist!! Dammit...

And 4th, which I simply cannot leave out... Jeroen thinking that he had a date with a teacher and he went in on her in a fucking shower... Insane, simply insane. I have no other words. And after that I stopped understanding what rating HHA has, cause, damn, earlier I treated it as PG13, and now I'm not so sure anymore...

And now to some random thoughts with screens)

Amber, darling... You really are a genius for this!

I genuinely admire the way she put a flashlight in her curls and just walked around like this.

Also, Amber... I chuckled at how she chooses the brightest paper possible and writes 'SECRET MESSAGE!' on it. Adorable.

The Sibuna Club.

First, the way Amber and Fabian pricked their fingers with absolutely no question and effort is crazy. One minute Amber blabbering about having exclusive parties and making a flag for the secret club like it's nothing, and the next minute she makes Nina and Fabian take a fucking blood oath... Crazy.

And second. THE CLAP!!! I have no words I'm so in love with that little clap they're doing!!

*Clap* Sibuna! I LOVE IT!

On a completely unrelated note, I think I'm starting to learn Dutch while watching this. Because If I didn't understand a thing they said at the beginning and had to read the subtitles, now I can literally understand whole dialogs just listening to it and watching the video. I have no idea about Dutch grammar, but I think I now can understand it a little bit while listening lol

#het huis anubis #house of anubis #hha #hoa #sibuna #hope's thoughts hoa

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doubleddenden · 2 years ago

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Damn the more I hear about Velma the worst it gets. This saddens me because I've been watching Scooby since before I could talk :(

Mainly what I'm seeing is that someone has contempt for the series + their own ideas for their own incredibly generic show and rather than make something unique, they're just insulting an established series.

My biggest gripes so far:

1. How tf do you got a Scooby Doo show without Scooby Doo? Is he too kiddy for your generic ugly adult cartoon?

2. Shaggy- oh sorry, NORVILLE. Look, I have no problem with the race thing- my literal main issue is that he's called SHAGGY for a reason. How hard is it to give him thick hair? On top of that they make him an actual druggie- let's pretend there's not some subtle racism behind making the perceived 'stoner' of the group black- it's boring. Yes yes we know the gang is a bunch of stoners, but isn't it funnier when it's just IMPLIED? Isn't it funnier that a man just REALLY FUCKING LOVES DOG TREATS and is willing to risk his life on a regular basis for god damn DOG TREATS? Instead they just turn him into yet another Seth Rogan tier predictable disappointment

3. The overall mischaracterization from what I'm seeing just... sucks, and again, I think part of that comes from a contempt for the series. You don't have to make the characters assholes to make them likeable! I know Rick and Morty and Seth McFarland have poisoned the well for a lot of people but you really don't!

Across the franchise there's plenty of fun ways to interpret the characters:

Fred: himbo that loves his friends, dad friend barely holding it together, obsessed with traps- take your pick, none of these are spoiled boring asshole rich kid.

Daphne: if you're opposed to damsel in distress, how about the cool martial artist fashionista made prevalent in the What's New Scooby Doo series or the live action movies? What about being a good reporter? Hell, even her goofy dorky self in Be Cool Scooby Doo is better than the stereotypical snooty popular girl. Props at least for keeping the red hair.

"Norville" is not a self friend zoning beta male and he's not really obsessed with drugs. Literally the man across DECADES of this franchise is ridiculously talented. Ventriloquism, improv acting, gymnast and athlete- seriously, why do you think they have him and the dog constantly running away from monsters and leading them into traps? The man was literally so good at that that he became a COACH. for MONSTERS. Let's also not forget that he was a race car driver! And had a hot girlfriend! In fact, fuck this friend zoned beta male shit- Shaggy literally pulls more girls (and men I think) in the entire franchise than the others COMBINED. If anything he should have dense harem protagonist energy. I'm talking more than Velma, dude also pulled her LITTLE SISTER- and she was okay with it because she knows he's a good guy(mind the AUs)! Pulled a girl that was kinda a monster fucker for him specifically when he was a werewolf, an actual fucking alien, several foreign girls of various nationalities, several average girls, a crazy but hot redneck girl that tried to SCHWOOSCH his bones after seeing the red shirt ONCE, pretty sure he did something good for Daphne to hang out with him for so long with just a bunch of dogs and a random kid they picked up, very sure actual monsters fell for him- and he's a nerd! He and his beloved best friend the talking dog are massive nerds! I reckon people still latch onto that and think he's the stereotypical nerd but no, no, Shaggy has so much going for him! Not to mention- not to mention! Animal lover! Doy! How do you miss that? He's always paired with the animals! The man is a collective family friend of the entire Doo clan! Every time there's a guest appearance with a non human entity, he's hanging out with them!

Velma... alright look. I'm about to say something real controversial. Real controversial. You ready? She is kinda boring and bland. She's smart and a good investigator, but really? This is who you base the show on? Recently she was allowed to be bisexual- that's great! She's well read, well informed, and if you want to skip the bitchy "its me or the dog" persona from Mystery Inc or the snooty geek from Be Cool, you could fall back to the quiet but cute and thoughtful personality she had in A Pup Named Scooby Doo. If not, she's just boring. I feel like most of the hype for her comes from memes or the people that think they're unique for finding her more attractive than Daphne (you're not btw). Like what does she do that the others cannot do? I'm pretty sure Daphne can do her job but without the min max on intelligence and some points in kicking ass. In fact, why are Fred and Daphne the assholes when Velma in TWO separate series has been the judgey bitch and overall asshole? If anything she should would fit the perfect "beta incel self perceived victim that's actually just a massive douche" trope!

And Scooby. First off fuck the writers for not including my boi. Second, you really couldn't make an adult comedy of a talking dog? If Scooby said fuck- scuze me, 'ruck'- I'd cry laughing! If Scooby was the druggie and Shaggy was normal, that'd be hilarious! Literally if they took every negative trait they forced onto the others and put it onto Scooby, you'd literally have a prime adult cartoon character right there. He's a gag character! Utilize it! I know in the recent series he's been pushed to the side for the others, but he's literally a comedic gold mine waiting to happen! Make him an arsonist! Make him have questionable opinions! It'd be hilarious because he's a literal dog that can't speak understandably half the time!

Look, if you want to make an "adult scooby doo" then I guess I can't stop you. Velma ain't how you do it though.

Btw before anyone jumps on me to defend the new show, the creator of the series supports JKR soooo

#velma #scooby doo

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phynali · 9 months ago

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no you don't have to create new emails thank god!! tumblr doesn't require you to verify the email before voting so you can literally type in whatever the hell you want (i've been picking random words with numbers and then just running up the numbers, for example shinysnake901, shinysnaky902, shinysnake903 etc etc) and you don't even have to use a real email service, you can literally type [email protected] (as long as there's a single letter before the .com!) copy and paste the same password or type gibberish and then pick a random birthday, rinse and repeat. it's super easy for me to do like 2-3 per minute!! any help would be super appreciated bc they definitely have multiple people frauding for the other side so it's hard enough to hold our lead, let alone inch sam/dean ahead :/ (and i totally agree with you about ruining the spirit of the thing ;-; the other side has been frauding for literally 36 hours almost STRAIGHT. that's like deranged behavior. way to spoil something that was supposed to be lighthearted and fun while also calling anyone who likes sam/dean woman haters :))) that makes me almost more annoyed than anything else -_-)

oh damn okay that's not as difficult as i thought! thank you!

#dear followers who have no idea what this is about #please don't worry because voter fraud is allowed and encouraged #now look away because i'm about to commit some voter fraud

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xpiester333x · 22 days ago

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I said I was never going to shut up about Metaphor but actually I've been too busy playing it to have time to gush over it. I actually don't really like to sprinkle that many spoilers out there either so I will probably just gush for 30 pages about it in a review later but I do have to take a minute to complain about one particular fight. Spoilers for the 2nd main story dungeon below the cut:

It's the last boss of the castle in Martira, in case there was any confusion and so we can be absolutely sure no one gets spoiled.

What tf was the actual mechanic of that fight? I love Atlus' games but that had to be the most poorly designed fight I've seen in a long while. To the point it kind of frustrated me.

So the boss will target your whole party and do an AOE smash. So Gallica tells you to take out the eyes so it can't target you anymore...

Except it still targets you. It's just it targets you at random so your entire party still needs to block, just exactly like you would for the main AOE. The very first time you take out the eyes, it does wallow in pain for exactly one turn, but after that is attacks as normal. Then it regenerates it's eyes every other turn.

I spent what felt like an hour and all of my MP resources taking out those damn eyes (which have like 1200ish health btw) because the game leads you to believe that would make a difference. Then I realized that regardless of if it was an AOE attack or a randomized single target attack, my entire party was going to have to spend one turn guarding anyway and killing the eyes was a pointless waste of time and resources.

I literally restarted the fight, killed the eyes only once for that free turn (tbh even that was probably a waste), and then spent the rest of the fight just hitting the boss and ignoring the eyes entirely. Each charged AOE attack only did 30-50 damage while guarding, and like i said my whole party was going to have to take a turn guarding for the rng single target so that mattered not at all.

So the fight puts in an eye mechanic but grants you absolutely no real benefits to following said mechanic, and absolutely no punishment for ignoring it. The only thing killing the eyes did was make the fight a million times harder by dragging out the fight and taking up all of your MP.

#metaphor refantazio #metaphor refantazio spoilers #i had to vent about this because it was so frustrating #but overall im loving the game

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konigsberg · 11 months ago

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(This is like 5% ask and 95% compliments) I have to extend all my love and thanks over Midnight Ocean! I’m on my third re-read of the story (and I’m severly dyslexic, so reading the entire thing multiple times is the most I’ve read probably in my entire life!). You are so beyond dedicated to your writing and I can’t thank you enough for it <3 Your story keeps me on my toes, all of the characters are SO rich and nuanced, all of their relationships, conflicts and imperfections truly shine in your work. I’m affraid your work has spoiled me for fanfiction, i keep thinking ”but damn… this isn’t Midnight Ocean levels” and then go and continue my re-reads. Once it’s complited, by the gods, I’m going bind it by hand in leather.

I’m beyond excited for the upcoming events when ever they happen: Hades finding out about Zagreus, whatever Persephone has got cooking up, their first true ”I love you” and of course the removing of the pall. (And events yet unexpected by me!!)

What is something you’ve been waiting to write and see readers react to? (As much as you can tell obviously)

Can’t begin to describe how much of a joy MO has been and continues to be. I look forwards to updates like the rising of the moon. Genuinely from the bottom of my heart, thank you <3

Thank you so much! It always means a lot to hear someone enjoys MO enough to reread it, let alone want to bind it. It's brought me a lot of joy to write, and getting to share that and know others appreciate it is really amazing.

I'll go ahead and answer the rest under the cut to avoid spoiling things.

And of course, as I was typing the spoilers turned... sort of major so lol beware?

I've gotten to a few parts I've been waiting and waiting to write recently, but they won't be posted to Ao3 yet (Moros Silly Boy Behavior, Alcmene's Return, Nemesis' Box Reveal, the joys of using Eros' book). But the really, really big ones I haven't gotten to yet are of course things that readers are most excited for, too, like the Hades meeting, Olympus' reaction, things like that.

A few I don't think people mention a lot, though: Theseus™, (maybe big spoilers for people who aren't familiar with mythology, though I think this has been mentioned in the notes) Theseus' whole deal with both Medea and Heracles (and how that then is meant to foil Thanatos' dynamics), Heracles for that matter, also...... Ares' return to the story... the DILF energy we need in these trying times.

Hades and Thanatos' relationship is one I've thought about so much over the years, and I'm so excited to finally get to put that on the page and see people respond. Demeter is also such an important figure in all of this that often gets ignored both by me and others, and she'll be very, very fun to finally include. The continuation of Hermes' background arc stuff...

Something only me and like two random people are invested in: the continuation of Moros bullshit. My poor little meow meow, my perfect uwu foil to my other perfect uwu baby (Thanatos). My silly rabbit, here to cause problems and help Zagreus establish more independence if entirely unintentionally etc. And Moros' goofy little romance arc, that will be fun.

Also, the actual proper Cupid & Psyche Moment, y'know, the big part of the narrative. Sometimes people ask if it will happen, really expressing that they can't see it as even a possibility in the MO narrative, or others express total unfamiliarity with the plot of the myth so they don't know about The Moment at all (part of why I'm reluctant to clarify What Moment lmao)... I'm eager for that, though I know it will result in people being very, very angry at me.

I don't think this is tooooo spoilery because I think it's been made clear it will happen, but Eros showing up will be so fun, not to mention Psyche! Actual Psyche lol! We can't have a whole narrative about soul porn without the OG soulfuckers.

Oh, Hypnos too. And Pasithea who has unwittingly had her marriage present (the Eros book) lowkey highjacked.

Sorry this mostly turned into incoherent babbling. I hope it's both not too spoilery, but also answers the question lol? Either way, thank you again!

#la correspondance #spoilers #midnight ocean

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takerfoxx · 11 months ago

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All right, if ao3 is down, I'm posting this instead!

So, this are a couple of KyoSaya-themed scenes from that one Madoka Magica poly fic I've been working on, probably will not finish, and almost definitely will not post in its entirety, but here you go. Enjoy your Kyoko X Sayaka sexytimes!

Quick background note: whole team contracts and teams up early, nobody dies, and Hitomi finds out what's going on and joins the team as their healer.

Kyoko found Sayaka sitting all by herself at a train boarding station.

Sayaka was sitting slumped on the bench, head listlessly swaying this way and that. She was in a bad way; Kyoko could tell that immediately. True, Sayaka had been slowly deteriorating ever since her would-be boytoy had ducked both her and Hitomi by hooking up with some random third girl that Kyoko hadn’t even heard of, but this was bad even by those standards.

Truthfully, Kyoko had been mightily relieved when she had heard the news. It wasn’t even anyone any of them knew, but someone that the dude had met while in physical therapy at the hospital. Apparently, the chick had her legs broken when a stairwell had collapsed out from under her or some shit like that, and she and What’s-His-Name had gotten to talking while recuperating. Also apparently she had double the initiative of either Sayaka or Hitomi, as she had just straight up asked him out when they were both due to be released.

And Kyoko had rejoiced! Having her two boneheaded teammates pining for the same guy had been nothing short of insufferable. Hell, it wasn’t like she would be working with either of them by choice; Mami was the only reason she put up with them. Madoka was honestly okay, and Homura might be all sorts of creepy and weird, but she was Kyoko’s kind of creepy and weird. But Sayaka and Hitomi? Sayaka was a stubborn jackass who thought she knew better than the two-year veteran while Hitomi reminded Kyoko too much of the sort of spoiled rich girl that would turn her nose up at Kyoko back when she and her family were on the streets. Some had gone to Papa’s church. None had lifted a finger to help when things had gotten bad.

So yeah, she really didn’t start off liking them. So maybe if they were no longer obsessed with the same sack of meat, maybe they would be marginally less annoying. Kyoko couldn’t believe that Sayaka had wasted her wish on that guy.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t what had happened. Instead of getting over themselves and letting them concentrate on the battle ahead, they had only gotten all mopey and sulky, which was somehow even more annoying!

Or at least, Hitomi had. Sayaka…just seemed to crack, like something inside her had broken. She started to get more and more reckless during battles, ranting at length about a bunch of bullshit and just walking off without talking when the fight was over. And didn’t that just figure? She had held it together through selling her soul, fighting monsters, finding out the truth of the monsters, having to confess everything to her parents when they had unexpectedly dropped into some kind of dinner party, having her romantic rival suddenly join the team, and this was what got to her? Sheesh.

But to be truthful, there was another reason that Kyoko had been so happy when Violin-Boy had been taken off the board, and so upset when Sayaka had only gotten worse. It wasn’t one she was particularly thrilled about, it wasn’t one she would even admit out loud, but damn it, it was there, and it was growing. And it was the main reason she just couldn’t let Sayaka go be miserable alone.

Sighing, Kyoko walked up to her. “Hey,” she said. “This seat taken?”

Sayaka’s head almost imperceptivity moved toward her, and she gave the smallest of shrugs. Good enough.

Kyoko plopped down next to her. Popping the top off of the tube of chips she had brought, she tossed a couple into her mouth and started munching on the crunchy, salty goodness.

“You know, you got everyone all worked up,” she said after swallowing. “Pinkie’s worried sick about you. Honestly, isn’t she going through enough? And ol’ Mami’s working herself into a fit. Don’t you get how she’d feel if you did something nasty to yourself? It’s not like you’re the only one with troubles, you know.”

Another very slight shrug. “Sorry to be such a bother,” Sayaka muttered.

Kyoko glowered at her out of the corner of her eye. Then she slumped forward with a sigh. “Look, I know you’re upset about what happened with Captain Oblivious,” she said. “I mean, I still think it was a stupid wish, but hey, I ain’t nobody to throw stones. And if the guy I sold my soul for started dating some other chick he just met and didn’t even so much and say thank you for all the visits and the gifts? I’d feel pretty ripped off too! But-”

“It’s not just that,” Sayaka said, still speaking barely above a whisper.

“Eh?”

Sayaka let her head fall back, looking up at the night sky, shrouded as it was by the light pollution from the city. “I’ve made mistake after mistake after mistake. I let myself be trapped because I wanted to become a hero. I threw away my future just to live out some stupid fantasy of being someone important. And for what? Sure, I’ve saved some people, but they were only in danger because of Witches. I’m serving the same system that made them, and when I become a Witch, who will save people from me?”

Kyoko’s right hand started tightening. “Stop it,” she growled. “You’re not going to become a Witch. None of us are.”

Sayaka didn’t seem to have heard her. “You used to mock me, telling me that making such a selfless wish was so stupid. But you were wrong. I was being nothing but selfish. I thought I was doing a good thing, but the truth is I just wanted him to owe me. To be indebted to me. If I gave him back his passion, his music, then surely he would have no choice but to love me!” Her upper body curled up, shoulders bowing and arms wrapping around herself as tears dripped from her face. “But look at me! I’m not even human anymore! Just a p-puppet of…of meat. Meat and magic. I’m basically a zombie, a walking dead girl good for nothing but killing Witches.” A hoarse sob forced its way out of her throat. “It’s better that he found someone else. It’s better that he was saved from being with such a worthless, unlovable dead fool like me.”

Then there was a loud crunching sound.

It was Kyoko’s tube of chips. Kyoko’s hand had squeezed into an angry fist, crushing it. And that was enough to shock even Sayaka out of her stupor.

“Kyoko,” she said. “You wasted-”

Tossing the worthless tube aside, Kyoko straightened to her feet, planted herself in front of Sayaka, and seized the moping girl by the lapels of her sweater. “Shut up!” she snapped, shoving Sayaka back against the bench. “Do you even hear yourself talk? Where do you get off, talking down about yourself like that? After everything you’ve given up? After everything you’ve been through?”

Sayaka gawked at her, her mouth open and closing like a gasping fish. “Ky-Kyoko, I-”

“I am so sick of your stupid, self-hating bullshit! Don’t you dare call yourself worthless! Don’t you know how many people care about you, who’d have their hearts torn up if you were gone?”

“But-”

“What about Madoka? Don’t you care how she’s feeling right now? What about Mami? Hell, you still care about Hitomi, don’t you? She’s hurting too! Even Homura would probably be upset if you destroyed herself. She finally gets a timeline where everyone’s getting along and working together, but all of a sudden Little Miss Loathing has to go cock it all up! And that’s not even getting to me! You think I want to lose the girl I-”

A sudden, unexpected sob choked out the rest of Kyoko’s rant, before the damning confession could escape. Her hands still clutching at Sayaka’s clothes, Kyoko’s head fell forward, tears of rage, of grief, and of humiliation falling from her face to drop onto Sayaka’s skirt.

As for Sayaka herself, she was staring in shock at the furious girl holding onto her, a girl that she barely got along with, with whom she had been butting heads with almost as soon as they had first met. The two had nearly come to blows so many times in the past, whether it be from Kyoko’s constant needling or Sayaka’s pigheadedness. But now here they were, baring their souls to one another, both of them on the verge of tears, with Kyoko having let slip the most intimate of confessions.

“Kyoko,” Sayaka said. “D-Did you just…”

Kyoko’s breath came out as a slow hiss through her clenched teeth. “And don’t you f-f-fucking dare call yourself unlovable either. You’re a royal pain in the ass, but th-that don’t mean you’re unlovable. I don’t care how nice that other girl is, that violin bitch must be as stupid as you are if he never saw you in front of him this whole time.”

“What?” Sayaka breathed out.

Now Kyoko’s whole body was trembling. She slowly raised her head, her angry scarlet eyes wet with tears, the first tears she had shed since the day she had lost her family. “But I see you. I’ve seen you for a while. Are you going to say I’m wasting my time?”

And then she lunged forward, her mouth closing over Sayaka’s.

It was Kyoko’s first kiss, and she knew it was Sayaka’s as well. Neither of them really knew how to do it properly, and Sayaka was so surprised that she just sat there and didn’t react at all. But when Kyoko tasted the saltiness of the tears that had dripped past Sayaka’s lips, she didn’t care that she had no idea what she was doing. She just kissed her, desperate to convince this broken, beautiful, infuriating, inspiring, exhausting, and utterly maddening warrior that she was worth loving.

Then the kiss parted. Her heart thundering away in her chest, Kyoko drew back, suddenly terrified at what Sayaka’s response would be. Would she be angry? Disgusted? Or worse, was she going to pity Kyoko? Look down on her for exposing herself like that? It would be just like her, wouldn’t it?

But instead, Sayaka didn’t do any of those things. She just stared into Kyoko’s eyes, a faint blush on her cheeks. “You love me?” she whispered.

Swallowing, Kyoko wiped her mouth and looked away. “What do you think, genius?”

“For…For how long? I thought you hated me!”

Kyoko sighed. “For…I don’t know. I only really realized it after Homura dropped the bomb on us.” The lump in her throat was making it difficult to talk, but fuck it, she had gotten this far. “But tr-truthfully? I think…there was a reason…all your talk about him pissed me off so much.”

“You were jealous?”

“So what if I was?” Kyoko snapped. “It’s not like it would ever lead to anything! Hell, it probably still won’t! Your boy-crazy ass is probably all disgusted from me getting my girl-lips all over you, so what the hell am I even-”

“Kyoko,” Sayaka said flatly. “You’ve been in my room, right?”

“Huh? What are you accusing me of? I never snuck in or peeped on you or anything! Only time I’ve been in there was when me and Mami’s dropped your unconscious ass off after that one Dream Witch drugged you senseless!”

“Okay, but when you were there, did you by any chance notice that purple, blue, and pink flag on my dresser?”

Kyoko shrugged. “No. But what about it? So you like pretty flags. Big deal-Hey!”

Sayaka had suddenly pushed herself forward to lock her lips over Kyoko’s. The surly redhead felt herself seize up, as she was now the one taken by surprise. But she had always been fast to react, and let herself relax into the kiss, sinking down onto the bench to be closer to the girl kissing her.

Again, neither of them had a clue what they were doing, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was each other. The two of them ended up lying side-by-side across the bench, desperately kissing one another, clutching at each other with their hands, wanting to eke out as much contact as they could as their mouths moved together, their tongues hesitantly flitting out to take brief tastes.

All of the built-up tension and worry started to seep out of Kyoko’s muscles, and she felt herself relax against Sayaka. Still kissing her, she leaned forward, laying herself over the other girl. Sayaka’s hands came up to clasp themselves behind Kyoko’s back, holding her tight.

She was warm, so warm and soft. All of Sayaka’s self-pitying whining about being a dead girl now felt even more foolish. She was alive, gloriously alive, and Kyoko immersed herself in that life, drinking in the warmth of Sayaka’s breath, feeling the frantic pounding of her heartbeat against Kyoko’s own chest, savoring how Sayaka’s legs were squirming beneath Kyoko’s thighs, unconsciously shoving up between Kyoko’s thighs in a most agreeable manner. Kyoko gasped as Sayaka’s leg lurched up into her groin, and began grinding down in response, rubbing her denim-covered crotch down into that leg. And if Sayaka even noticed what Kyoko was doing, she didn’t so much as object.

It was good, almost too good to be true, which usually meant that it was. Suspicion began to break through the joy, love, and lust that fogged Kyoko’s brain, souring her good mood.

“Hey,” she said, pushing back and rising up a little. “This better not be a pity-kiss. You better not be settling for my scrappy ass just because you couldn’t get Mr. Prodigy back there.”

Sayaka rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Kyoko, listen to me,” she said, raising her hand to cup it against Kyoko’s cheek.

Kyoko felt her heart flutter. “I’m listening,” she said, covering the back of Sayaka’s hand with her own.

Sayaka leaned in toward her. “I see you too.”

“Oh, thank God,” Kyoko breathed, and then Sayaka pulled her back into the kiss.

…

A couple of years later…

When Sayaka woke up, she was very confused to find herself not in her bed, but sitting slouched but otherwise upright in a chair, and not in her pajamas, but fully clothed in her school uniform, missing only the shoes. Snorting, she shook her herself, yawned, and sleepily looked around, wondering where she was and why she had fallen asleep in such an uncomfortable position.

Then she saw her own bed, and realized that she was in her room. Then she saw who was in her bed, and she remembered what had happened, causing her heart to seize up.

Kyoko was lying prone and still on her bed, her head laid upon the pillow, the covers drawn up to her collarbone and her arms stretched straight out on top. Unlike the untidy spread of limbs and tangle of blankets and sheets that Kyoko normally fell asleep in, Kyoko was flat on her back and perfectly straight, looking like an illustration of Sleeping Beauty.

And given the deathlike sleep Sleeping Beauty had fallen into, that comparison was not without cause.

Sayaka had stayed up as long as she could, fretfully watching over her imperiled girlfriend, silently begging to the God that Kyoko had turned her back on to please spare her life. She couldn’t bear facing the future without her.

Kyoko had certainly been as pale as Sleeping Beauty when Sayaka had finally nodded off, her breathing so shallow that it was almost imperceptible. Sayaka had held a finger under Kyoko’s nostrils at various times just to confirm for herself that her girlfriend was even breathing at all. But to her utter relief, the color had returned to Kyoko’s cheeks, and she was now breathing visibly, her slight chest rising and falling beneath the covers.

And on the bedside table, her Soul Gem was right next to Sayaka’s, both of them shining bright and clear.

Sayaka almost wept in joy. Kyoko was okay! She was getting better! She was healing, and her Soul Gem was uncorrupted.

Then Kyoko’s face twitched. She let out a soft snort through her nose and mumbled, “Uh…”

A moment later Sayaka’s chair had been knocked over backward as she scrambled across the room to throw her arms around Kyoko’s shoulders, hugging Kyoko’s head to her chest. She did weep then, happy tears running down her face as she sank her fingers into Kyoko’s gloriously warm scarlet mane.

She was alive. She had made it.

But of course, Kyoko being Kyoko, she couldn’t let this heartfelt, emotional moment pass without saying or doing something to ruin it, so a moment later Sayaka heard her girlfriend’s muffled voice say from beneath her chest, “Um, Sayaka? Can’t say I don’t appreciate having my face pressed into your boobs, but I kinda have no idea what’s going on.”

Sayaka’s sobbing turned into giggles then. She really was all right. “Shush,” she said, stroking Kyoko’s hair. “Just let me enjoy this a little longer.”

“I mean, okay, more boobage for me, but I’d really like to know what the hell is-”

“Because in a few moments, I am going to be cross with you. And then I am going to start yelling at you. Loudly.”

“Aw, shit,” Kyoko groaned into Sayaka’s chest. “What’d I do?”

Sayaka didn’t answer. She just closed her eyes, listening as Kyoko breathed in and out, feeling her pulse thump away in her neck. A few scant hours ago she had been convinced that Kyoko was lost to her forever, but now Kyoko was whole and well again.

Sighing happily, Sayaka drew back, uncovering Kyoko’s utterly bewildered face. She bent down and kissed Kyoko sweetly on the lips.

Kyoko lips rose up to return the kiss, but the wariness didn’t leave her eyes. “Fuck,” she said as Sayaka stepped away. “I’m really in trouble, aren’t I?”

“Yes,” Sayaka said primly. Now that her relief and love had been seen to, all of her fear, worry, and frustration were bubbling back, churning together into a very volatile cocktail of piping hot anger. “You are.”

She retrieved her chair where it had fallen and moved it closer to the bed. Sitting down, she planted her hands on her knees and stared down at her confused lover.

“Kyoko,” Sayaka began. “Do you remember what happened last night?”

“Uh…not really? I remember we were at the arcade, and I was trying to beat your DDR score…”

“Yes, we were,” Sayaka confirmed. “And then what?”

“And…” Kyoko’s brow knitted together. “Okay, Homura called us, saying that a Witch had shown up. And…uh, okay. I think there were buzzsaws?”

“Very good! Yes, there were buzzsaws! And chainsaws. And meat hooks. Lots of blades. What happened next?”

“I…” Kyoko pressed a hand to her forehead as she struggled to recall those last few moments. “I remember teasing you, saying you were probably feeling a whole lot of…um…”

“Blade Envy,” Sayaka supplied for her.

“Right! And then…and then…”

Then Kyoko’s eyes widened, and her hand dropped to her side. “Oh.”

“Oh? Oh is right!” Sayaka leaned forward to more properly glower down at the sheepish Kyoko. “You started showing off! You started jumping from buzzsaw to buzzsaw, dancing around like it was a DDR pad! You were daring me to follow you, weren’t you? And when I told you to stop being stupid, you jabbed your spear into the middle of a buzzsaw and started pole-dancing!”

“I thought it was funny!”

“Funny? Oh, yeah, sure! It was downright hilarious! Never mind that there was another buzzsaw coming straight for you that I was screaming at you to look at! But what did you do? You winked at me and blew a raspberry!”

“I thought someone else would take care of it!”

“HOW?!” Sayaka all but shrieked. “I was tied up fighting the familiars, Mami and Homura were clear on the other side of the labyrinth, doing their jobs! Madoka was trying to batten down the Witch’s defenses, Hitomi isn’t an offensive fighter, and you were supposed to be covering my flank! Instead, you decided to goof off and got yourself nearly sliced in half!”

“Oh, yeah,” Kyoko said in a small voice. “I remember that now.”

“Oh, do you? I’m so glad! Because I remember it too! I remember your blood spraying all over my face! I remember screaming as your mangled body fell to the ground! I remember seeing the light go out from your eyes, Kyoko! I thought I had just watched you die, and I couldn’t do anything to…to…”

The tears were back. Clutching at her face with both hands, Sayaka hunched forward as she started sobbing again, the image of Kyoko’s bisected body branded into her mind.

Then she felt Kyoko’s warm hand lay itself on her knee.

“Sayaka, I-”

“Don’t touch me!” Sayaka swatted the hand away. “I’m still mad at you!”

Swallowing, Kyoko withdrew the hand. “Okay. Sayaka, I’m…I’m sorry.”

Sayaka’s weeping paused. Lowering her hands, she stared down at Kyoko in a mixture of anger and surprise. “You’re…sorry?”

As much as she loved Kyoko, the redheaded rascal had more than a few, shall we say, character flaws. One in particular that Sayaka found to be very infuriating was her apparent inability to apologize. Sure, Sayaka had more than enough stubborn pride of her own, but she at least had the good sense to own up to mistakes and say sorry every once in a while.

Which isn’t to say that Kyoko was incapable of showing remorse, it was just that she tended to show it through gestures instead of words, such as leaving small gifts or quietly doing favors. It had taken Sayaka some time to learn Kyoko’s unique love language, and things were much easier once she did, but even so, she would appreciate just having Kyoko say it for once.

But now she was.

“Yeah,” Kyoko sighed. “I’m sorry. I…” She seemed to be wrestling with the words, getting them out by force. “I screwed up. I’m sorry.”

Sayaka came very close to snapping about how Kyoko better be sorry, because after what she had put Sayaka through, it was going to take more than a simple apology to make up for it. But once she saw Kyoko’s face, she wisely bit that response back.

Kyoko looked more upset than Sayaka had ever seen her. True, Kyoko might not be on the level of Homura when it came to masking how she felt, but if she ever did show any sort of strong emotion then it usually was anger. It was very rare that she ever let herself become vulnerable enough to show anything close to grief or regret.

There had been flashes here and there, moments in which the mask had slipped, but a scant few times in which Kyoko had really opened herself up. One time had been at the ruined carcass of her father’s church, when she had confessed her sin to Sayaka in an attempt to get her to see her point of view. The other had been that night at the train station, when she had spilled her heart out to Sayaka.

Sayaka breathed out the remainder of her anger. “Well,” she mumbled. “Listen to me the next time I tell you to stop goofing off.”

“Was it…really that bad?”

Sayaka’s eyes narrowed. “I saw your intestines. What do you think?”

Kyoko gulped.

Shaking her head, Sayaka retrieved the thermos of water that sat next to Kyoko’s Soul Gem. Pulling out the stray that had been stuck through the lid, she extended it to Kyoko, letting her drink. “Here. Go slow. Hitomi said-Hey, I said go slow!”

Kyoko had already inhaled half the thermos and was swiftly sucking up the rest. “Sorry,” she rasped when she was done, a grand total of five seconds later. “My throat was really dry.”

“I bet it was,” Sayaka said as she set the empty thermos back down. “I don’t want to know how many fluids you lost.”

“How…Okay, I got cut in half? Ouch. But how did I survive?”

“Hitomi,” Sayaka said simply as she sat down again. “Madoka scored a lucky hit, and the Witch died. Everyone freaked out when we saw you, because you looked oh so very dead.” Sayaka then pointed to Kyoko’s Soul Gem. “But then Madoka noticed your Soul Gem darkening, and figured out that it was trying to heal you. So we stuck you back together the best we could, and Hitomi set to work keeping you alive.”

“Oh. Wow, she must’ve had her work cut out for her.”

“Yeah, it took up the Butcher Witch’s Grief Seed and two others we had in reserve, so that set us back.” Sayaka crossed her legs and sighed. “But it did the trick. Your body closed itself up, you didn’t turn into a Witch, and then you started breathing again. So we brought you here, and I’ve been keeping watch over you ever since.”

“Wow,” Kyoko said again. “I, uh, guess I owe Hitomi big time, huh?”

We both do, Sayaka thought. She resolved to make it up to her, though that would have to wait. “You owe all of us. But for now, how do you feel?”

“Um, okay. I guess.”

“You guess?”

Kyoko’s bare shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I mean, I’m not in agonizing pain or anything, so I guess I feel fine. Just…weirdly tired and wound up at the same time? Like, I feel fine, so I guess there’s nothing wrong. But I’m still kind of worn out and…sort of jazzed up? If that makes any sense.”

Shaking her head, Sayaka got up to pace around the room. Truth was, she felt very much the same, though for different reasons. “Well, that’s good to hear,” she mumbled. “And hey! If we can bring you back from that, I guess we’re pretty safe from dying. So there’s that.”

“Um, Sayaka?” Kyoko said.

Sayaka turned. “What?”

Kyoko was lifting up the covers and peering in beneath them. “I’m kinda naked. Why am I naked?”

“Seriously?” Sayaka growled. She started counting off points on her fingers. “First of all, we needed to see how bad the damage was, and check if there were any other injuries. Second of all, even after you got fixed up, you were still covered in blood. You think I’m going to put you to bed like that?”

“So, what, you guys just washed my near-carcass in the bathtub?”

“Yes,” Sayaka said flatly.

“Oh.” Kyoko blinked, and then she grinned. “Well, you finally got a look at the goods. What’ja think?”

Sayaka folded her arms. “I think I got more of a look than I ever wanted to see.”

“Right. Um, but still. I’m here. Naked in your bed. You maybe…wanna do something about it?”

Sayaka’s head was still swimming from being bombarded with so many powerful and conflicting emotions that it took her nearly twenty full seconds to comprehend what Kyoko was implying. When she did, she was hit with another one. “Kyoko,” she said, speaking slowly and softly. “Are you…implying what I think you’re implying?”

“I…kind of?” Kyoko shrugged. “Yes, I mean yes.”

Sayaka stared.

And then Kyoko sat up.

Sharp tingles erupted all over Sayaka’s body as her nude girlfriend struggled to lever herself upward, the blanket and sheet falling away from her fit, athletic body. It wasn’t as if Sayaka had never seen this much of her before, from that little black bikini Kyoko wore on beach trips that exposed practically all of her skin to seeing all of her the previous night. Heck, that hadn’t even been the first time Sayaka had seen her naked, as there had been a couple of team onsen trips where she gotten to see everyone without their clothes on, though she hadn’t been ready to be honest about her feelings then, and had done her best to banish any inappropriate thoughts.

But now she was fully committed to her attraction to girls, and to Kyoko especially. So many nights they had spent lying together on rooftops, needily making out while their hands had wandered over each other’s bodies, never really slipping in beneath their clothing, but still grabbing, caressing, squeezing, and groping what they could reach. And though they had yet to go all of the way, Sayaka had taken to pleasuring herself to the memory of those erotic trysts each night before going to sleep, touching her intimate areas while the ghost of Kyoko’s fingers ran over her skin and her warm tongue writhed its way into her mouth.

And now Kyoko was laid bare before her, sweat glistening over her smooth, flat belly, with just the barest hint of abs on her toned stomach. Her breasts were small, yes, but also pert and firm, each tipped with a rosy pink nipple, now hard as ice. Kyoko’s breath was slow and heavy, her captivating scarlet mane falling in disarray around her shoulders, hungry lust clouding her eyes. It gave her a wild, almost feral feel to her, and sweet Christ it was so hot!

Sayaka felt the wind sucked from her lungs at the sight, heat blossoming deep in her loins. “Kyoko,” she whispered. “Are you sure? This is…um, kind of a big-”

“Screw it,” Kyoko growled. She turned toward Sayaka, letting the covers slip even further from her thighs. “I’ve wanted this for a long time, but didn’t want to push. But I made a stupid mistake and almost died.” She extended a hand to her dumbstruck lover. “We weren’t supposed to live this long. Why not take it while we can?”

Sayaka’s head felt so light that she almost expected it to drift right off of her shoulders. She had fantasized about making love before; what girl hasn’t? But in her mind, it had been between her and Kyousuke, on their wedding night. A stupid daydream, but that was what she had expected. And even after, when that dream had been crushed and replaced with one with gleaming scarlet eyes and a cocky grin, she had been hesitant to think that far, as if letting her thoughts go there would cause the dream to break.

But Kyoko was right. None of them were promised tomorrow. Why not take what love and comfort they could while they can?

Feeling as if she were walking through a dream, Sayaka wordlessly headed for the bedroom door. Behind her, Kyoko let out a whine of protest, believing that she was leaving.

Instead, Sayaka turned the latch, locking the door. Kyoko shut up.

Then, moving with slow precision and needy anticipation, Sayaka approached the bed. Part of her wondered if she ought to put a little spice into her walk, sway her hips a bit, but it was taking all of her mental facilities just to keep moving.

She leaned in, letting Kyoko’s outstretched hand slide into the back of her neck and draw her to Kyoko’s lips. Sayaka’s mouth was open, tasting the life in Kyoko’s warm breath, and their mouths met. A low moan vibrated in the back of Sayaka’s throat as she pushed into the kiss, lips smacking, her tongue sliding over Kyoko’s teeth and dancing over the point of her fang.

She was so taken up in the sea of bliss that she almost didn’t notice the fingers closing around her wrist until they began to tug her arm forward, but when they pressed against a soft mound of flesh, she definitely took notice. Kyoko was pressing her hand into her bare breast, pushing it in so that her fingers sank in, the hard nub of her nipple sticking out between her forefinger and middle finger.

“Yours,” Kyoko murmured into Sayaka’s mouth. “Take it.”

Sayaka complied, squeezing the offered boob, kneading with her fingers. Then she brought her forefinger and thumb together, pinching Kyoko’s nipple, eliciting a shiver and a pleased moan from her girlfriend.

Well, that was going well, so Sayaka went for the other one, grabbing onto Kyoko’s other breast with her other hand and squeezing it as well. I’m playing with her boobs! she thought giddily as the soft, pliable flesh squished in her hands. I’m finally playing with her boobs! This is…This is…

“Shayuhuh,” Kyoko whined into Sayaka’s mouth. She drew back from the kiss, a trail of spittle still connecting them. “It’s not fair. You got all of me in your hands, but you still got all of that stuff on!”

If Sayaka’s heart was already racing in a fast, persistent percussion, now it was banging out a war tattoo. “Y-You’re right,” she said, backing away. “So, let’s, um, fix that.”

Now that the shock was giving way to excitement, Sayaka felt confident enough to make a show of it. As Kyoko hungrily watched, Sayaka undid the now very sloppily tied ribbon at the base of her throat and dropped it to the floor. Her hands then slid down the sides of her waist to seize the hem of her puffy-sleeved school sweater.

Sayaka took her time removing the sweater, pulled it up centimeter by centimeter. Though she was still wearing her high-necked blouse under it, she knew the slow unveiling of her body was probably delicious torture to Kyoko. Good. Serves her right.

“Sayaka, c’mon,” Kyoko complained as the sweater went over Sayaka’s head. “You’re doing that on purpose!”

“Hmmm,” Sayaka hummed as she gave the sweater a tug, letting her head pop free. She shook her shoulder-length blue hair out and combed it into place with her fingers. “Well, think of it as foreplay. A little something extra to give it some spice.”

“I’m already spicy! I’m drowning in spice here!”

Sayaka smirked, and then reached down to take the bottom button of her blouse between her fingers.

“Oh, come on!” Kyoko cried in frustration as Sayaka took her own sweet time undoing each button one-by-one, baring her stomach as slowly as possible. “Now you’re just being mean!”

“You really need to learn patience,” Sayaka said as the whole of her tummy was uncovered. She paused then, though not to tease Kyoko, but because she had reached the mounds of her breasts.

Come on, it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before!

Yeah, but it’s different this time!

You literally just squeezed her bare boobs. Don’t be a wimp.

Taking a deep breath, Sayaka undid the rest of the buttons. Kyoko’s ravenous eyes got even wider as Sayaka’s cleavage came into view, pressed together by the blue bra she was wearing.

Holding Kyoko’s gaze, Sayaka lifted the now-unbuttoned blouse from her shoulders and let it slip down her arms to join the sweater and ribbon on the floor. Now only clad in her bra from the waist up, she reached behind her for the clasp.

“Wait!” Kyoko cried, holding a palm out toward her.

Sayaka froze. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Let me do it! I wanna take it off!”

“What? I thought you were all impatient!”

Kyoko was positively bouncing up and down in eagerness. “I am! But you guys got to strip me, so it’s only fair!”

That…strictly wasn’t untrue, though the circumstances had been very different, and more than Kyoko’s clothes had been stripped off. But Sayaka had long learned that when Kyoko got like this, it was best to just indulge her. “Oh, all right,” she said with a long-suffering sigh. She leaned over the bed, presenting her breasts. “Go for it.”

Her eyes fixated on the titillating slit of Sayaka’s cleavage, Kyoko reached up with shaking hands toward the clasp. Sayaka shivered as those slim fingers brushed the bare skin of her back, but didn’t pull away. She waited.

“Um,” she said after a bit. “Everything okay?”

Kyoko’s hands were clearly struggling, and the hazy lust on her face was darkening into irritation. “I can’t get it loose! This thing is impossible!”

“What? Oh, for Heaven’s sake, it’s not the Gordian Knot! You just give it a push!”

“The what knot? And this thing is-”

Kyoko finally got it, and Sayaka felt the clasp become undone. The shoulder-straps slid down her arms as the rest of her breasts breathed freely.

“Oh,” Kyoko breathed as Sayaka slid the bra fully off of her arms and tossed it aside. “Hello.”

Curiously, now that she was topless, Sayaka was actually feeling more confident. There was something about how hungrily Kyoko was staring at her that made her feel good inside. Someone wanted her, and badly.

Growing up, Sayaka had never really been overly concerned about her looks, but being on a team with absolute stunners like Mami, Homura, and Hitomi had started to make her feet just a little self-conscious about her more boyish looks. Even Madoka’s cute femininity and Kyoko’s swaggering confidence had won them a fair number of admirers. And Kyousuke never so much as even considering her hadn’t exactly helped. Sure, becoming girlfriends with Kyoko had been great for her confidence, but that small, nagging voice at the back of her mind had kept insisting that it was only natural for two young people caught together in the same harrowing scenario to develop feelings for one another. It didn’t mean she was actually attractive, much less sexy.

But now Kyoko was staring transfixed at her body, absolutely smoldering with naked lust. And say what you will about Kyoko and her lack of tact, but she didn’t waste time with pretenses. If she looked like she wanted something, then she absolutely wanted something. And right now, she clearly wanted Sayaka.

“Not bad, huh?” she said as she straightened up. Her hands cupped her breasts on either side, squeezing them together and jiggling them up and down.

Kyoko beckoned anxiously with her hands. “C’mon! Gimme!”

Sometimes Sayaka found Kyoko’s childlike greediness aggravating. This was not one of those times. She leaned in, expecting to feel Kyoko’s groping hands all over her chest.

Instead, Kyoko seized one breast and pulled it right to her mouth. Her lips closed over one fat nipple and started sucking, while her warm tongue ran over the fleshy lump, needling and prodding it while slicking it with her saliva. Her teeth brushed over the areola, pressing it hard enough to leave marks.

“Oh,” Sayaka said in surprise. Then her eyelids fluttered. “Oh.” She leaned in closer, giving Kyoko’s mouth more access. “I, uh, guess all those sweets…mmm…you eat…are paying off?”

Though her mouth was entirely taken up by Sayaka’s breast, Kyoko’s eyes twinkled devilishly up at her. Her hand came up to squeeze the other breast, groping it as Sayaka had hers.

Moving carefully so as to not dislodge Kyoko’s mouth, Sayaka got up onto the bed and knelt down next to Kyoko. She wrapped her arms around her greedy girlfriend’s head and pressed her into her bosom, pulling back only when Kyoko switched breasts, marking the other with her teeth and tongue.

Sayaka was so taken by the attention being paid to her breasts that she almost didn’t notice the hands laying themselves on her waist. However, when those hands caressed their way down to her hips, she noticed. When those hands unfastened the waistline of her plaid skirt, letting it slide right off of her rump to land on the crumpled bedcovers, she noticed.

And when Kyoko hooked her fingers into the waistline of Sayaka’s panties and gave them a push, she really noticed.

Sayaka slowly breathed out as her panties were drawn over her ass and down her thighs, but she remained still, letting Kyoko continue to undress her. She only moved when the panties reached her knees, and that was to shift her legs around and reach down with one hand to pull them full off of her legs.

Now wearing nothing but her dark blue calf-high stockings, Sayaka sat back on her haunches, Kyoko’s saliva still coating her breasts. Kyoko did the same, pushing the covers fully away and sitting up on her knees, letting Sayaka see her fully.

Sayaka already found Kyoko to be stunningly hot in a wild, untamed sort of way, and on more than one occasion had found her eyes wandering to those short shorts she always wore when out of uniform, or taking the time to admire the ripple of her lean muscles as she fought, or the bright gleam in her eyes. But now that savage beauty was laid bare before her, from the pertness of her breasts to the trimness of her figure, and finally down to her special, secret place, those long, thin lips, a healthy color of pink and unblemished by a single hair, the crevice running up the middle crowned by the little pink pearl of her clitoris. Already that area was faintly glistening with moisture.

Oh God, Sayaka wanted her. She wanted her so badly, to feel her writhe and moan beneath her, to take those perky breasts into her hands and mark them with her teeth, like Kyoko had marked her own. To bring Kyoko’s thighs to her mouth and see what her nectar tasted like. To sink her fingers into that perfect ass so hard that it would leave bruises.

Normally Kyoko might have something funny to say at being ogled so openly, but fortunately she was just as awestruck by the sight of Sayaka’s naked body as Sayaka was with hers. The drool trickling down the side of her mouth wasn’t all from kissing Sayaka’s breasts.

“So, uh, here it is!” Sayaka said, spreading her arms out. “Pretty good, hey?”

“Hubba-Bubba,” was all Kyoko could say. Taking that as a good sign, Sayaka crossed one arm under her breasts and pushed up. Kyoko’s enamored grin grew wider.

“All right, Wildcat,” Sayaka said, using the nickname she had developed for Kyoko in their more intimate moments. “Come here-Eep!”

She had not expected her directions to be followed so suddenly. Kyoko pounced, seizing Sayaka by the shoulders and wrestling her down to the bed. Sayaka’s back hit the mattress and she found herself staring up into Kyoko’s crimson gaze.

And then Kyoko was at it again, attacking Sayaka’s body with a flurry of kisses, licks, and nips. Despite her earlier desire, Sayaka found herself the one who was writhing and moaning under her girlfriend’s ministrations, from the way Kyoko ran her tongue up and down Sayaka’s neck to how her breasts were again mercilessly teased and played with. Hot lips met quivering flesh, sharp fangs scraped pink lines, and a wet tongue tasted every bit that it could.

Whimpering, Sayaka felt completely helpless against the wave of sensations as Kyoko kissed her way down through the valley between her breasts and over the taut skin of her rippling belly. Those whimpers grew to a strangled groan as Kyoko’s tongue swirled around her navel, filling the spot where her Soul Gem was displayed during battle. Fingers clawed at the bedcovers and her back arched, thrusting her midriff into Kyoko’s face.

And then the warm wetness left Sayaka’s bellybutton. Her body tensed up, the muscles of her loins tightening as her eager pussy quivered with hot anticipation. Here it came, here it came…

It didn’t come, and neither did she.

After about five seconds of nothing, Sayaka blinked her eyes in confusion, and then craned her neck to see. Kyoko was on her hands and knees between Sayaka’s spread legs, staring down at her exposed sex. In contrast to the thin, bald lips of Kyoko, Sayaka’s was rounder, puffier, and covered with a light dusting of pale blue fuzz. Part of her suddenly wondered if she should start shaving. Maybe Kyoko would find that more appealing.

However, Kyoko didn’t seem at all put off. Rather, the ravenous look in her eyes was as strong as ever, as was the blush in her cheeks. So why was she hesitating?

“Uh, Kyoko?” Sayaka said.

Kyoko looked up at her. “Uh, so…would this be a bad time to admit I have no idea what to do here?”

Sayaka gawked at her. Then she snorted. “Seriously?”

“Well, excuse me for never taking the time out of my busy schedule of hunting Witches and staying alive to learn how to eat pussy! Maybe they teach it to you in that fancy school of yours, but I really doubt it!”

“Kyoko,” Sayaka groaned in exasperation. “We already know you know how to use that tongue of yours. How is this any different?”

“Well…”

“Oh, forget this.” Sayaka reached down to seize Kyoko by the sides of her head and shoved her face down into the waiting crotch. “You can eat anything! Now get to…OH!”

Sayaka was correct. With just a little encouragement, the natural skill of Kyoko’s tongue took hold, and she soon was lapping at Sayaka’s cunt with great enthusiasm, from how it circled around the edges of the raised mound to how it ran up and down the quivering slit down the middle. Sayaka found herself whimpering again as Kyoko found the little bead of her clit, pushing it up and out with the tip of her tongue to suckle on it.

Wave after wave of ecstasy crashed through Sayaka’s body, and she was helpless against the rising tide. She writhed, she squirmed, and she had to bite down on her own tongue to keep from squealing out loud, waking the rest of the girls. Being pleasured by someone she loved was so, so much better than relying on her fingers. The first time she had masturbated had been a life-changing moment, as scary as it had been exciting. But this? This was a revelation!

Was that why they called it making love? Because now the expression made perfect sense! That was what they were doing: making love.

And then Kyoko laid her fingers against her tingling folds and pushed outward, spreading her wide. The inside of Sayaka’s sex opened to her, as eager to receive as Kyoko was to give.

And Kyoko gave, as well as took. Her lips pressed against that opening, tenderly kissing as her tongue wormed its way inside, filling Sayaka with her hunger. Now Sayaka was positively thrashing, the back of her head banging against the top of the bed. She didn’t care. The tide was continuing to rise, lifting her higher and higher, and she could do nothing but wait for the building tidal wave to crest and break.

And then it broke, and she broke along with it, riding the pleasure all the way down. She cried out from the deepest parts of her throat, tears streaming from her eyes while her mind dissolved into seafoam. Her hips bucked, her stomach clenched, and she could do nothing but let the wave wash all over her.

Maybe it was the stress, the fear, the lack of sleep, or even the relief, but it was so, so much better than any orgasm she had ever brought herself to. It was like there had been some kind of valve holding all of her building tension back, and when she came, that valve burst, causing all of those negative feelings to come pouring out of her and letting blissful joy to flood in to replace them. Her eyes welled up with tears, though if it were from joy or pain, not even she could tell.

Time ceased to have meaning as she lay there on that beach of bliss, content to bathe in the afterglow of the strongest orgasm she had ever felt in her entire life. She breathed in, and she breathed out. In and out. In and out. All the energy had been sapped from her body, all the power drained from her mind.

She might have fallen asleep like that, but then she was jostled back to wakefulness as warm, naked flesh laid itself against her. Her face twitched, and she blinked her eyes to stare blearily.

Kyoko had crawled over to cuddle up to her, one leg thrown over Sayaka’s waist, her petite breasts pressing into her side. Smiling smugly, Kyoko ran her finger in a small circle around Sayaka’s right nipple.

“Gotta say, you taste pretty damn good,” Kyoko purred, leaning in to peck the side of Sayaka’s mouth. “And I really liked watching you squirm, all helpless and shit. It’s a good look for you.”

Sayaka reflexively turned her lips toward the kiss, but when Kyoko’s mouth withdrew, she caught the taste of something sour left behind. She frowned. “Did…Did you just make me taste myself?”

“Yeah. Nice, isn’t it?”

Shaking her head in an attempt to clear it from its post-orgasmic trance, Sayaka lifted her neck to glower properly at her infuriatingly smug lover. “And what was that you just said about liking me all helpless?”

“Well, I do,” Kyoko retorted. “And from the sound of things, you liked it too.”

“Ah,” Sayaka said, nodding. “It’s like that then.”

Though Kyoko had been deliberately needling a reaction out of Sayaka, she still wasn’t prepared for when Sayaka shoved her fully off the bed, only to scoop her right out of the air into a bridal carry as she came to her feet.

“Hey, what?” Kyoko yelped as she tried to squirm her way out of Sayaka’s arms. “What gives? What’re you doing?”

Normally Kyoko was the stronger of the two, but her recent fight for her life had drained a lot of that strength, so Sayaka had no trouble keeping her hold.

“Your turn,” she said, reaching down with one hand to finally give Kyoko’s bare rump a squeeze. If someone were to provide her with a list of all of her girlfriend’s generous assets and make her choose her favorite, Sayaka would first put on a show of acting offended at being made to participate with something so immature and objectifying.

But then she would choose Kyoko’s delectable bubble-butt, of which the redhead was rightly proud.

“You know, you’re getting a little too cheeky for someone who’s supposed to be making things up to me,” Sayaka chided, giving the plump, round cheek in her hand a squish for emphasis. She then let her thumb slide over in between Kyoko’s legs to run down the redhead’s damp slit.

The effect was immediate. Kyoko’s whole body went taut, her head thrown back while the irises of her eyes constricted tight. An absolutely adorable squeak popped out of her throat.

Sayaka’s brow rose, and she pressed her thumb down further into the puffy flesh. “Oh, now what was that cute little noise?” she said as she continued to stroke Kyoko’s pussy. “So you do have a girly side!”

“I-Idiot,” Kyoko hissed. “I am a girl!”

“I can see! And feel.” The little bud of Kyoko’s clitoris was rising up against the pad of her thumb. “Now,” Sayaka said with a savage grin. “Let’s see how girly I can make you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyoko demanded. “Are you-”

Sayaka suddenly hoisted Kyoko into the air, turning her around so that she was holding her up by the hips.

“-whoa!”

Still holding her girlfriend aloft, Sayaka marched her right up to the wall and shoved her back up against its surface, bringing Kyoko’s pussy up to her eye level.

“So. Damned. Cute!” Sayaka murmured, bringing her face in close to those slick lips, making sure Kyoko felt her breath’s warmth.

And then she began to feed.

Kyoko’s cute little squeaks rose to an outright shriek as Sayaka hungrily went to work, kissing, nipping, and licking at the puffy flesh. She tried to mimic what Kyoko had done to her, but it was hard to recall exactly what Kyoko had done, so she didn’t even try. She just went with whatever felt right, using Kyoko’s pleased sounds and the way her body twitched to guide her.

The taste wasn’t bad, actually. A little sweet. It figured, given Kyoko’s sweet tooth. And the more Sayaka lapped at her, the better the taste got. Just the experience of eating Kyoko out was intoxicating! She loved everything about it, from how soft Kyoko’s flesh was beneath her tongue to how her girlfriend squirmed around in her arms. The more Sayaka worked, the less she cared about doing it right. She was hungry, and Kyoko just tasted so good!

But apparently she was doing it right. Kyoko screamed out one last time as her hips jerked into Sayaka’s mouth. The taste grew stronger.

Kyoko slumped into Sayaka’s arms, her back still pressed up against the wall. The two locked eyes, just long enough to see the love in the other’s gaze, before Sayaka pulled her into one last kiss. Their lips were still smeared with each other’s juices, but neither cared. It just added a little extra spice.

This is…This really happened, Sayaka deliriously thought as their lips smacked and tongues danced. Kyoko was digging one hand into Sayaka’s breast while Sayaka had grabbed a big handful of Kyoko’s ass. We really made love. I thought she was dead, but we’re making love. I never thought things could be-

And then there was a sharp knock at the door.

“Sayaka, are you okay?” Mami called frantically from the other side. “We heard screaming and it woke us up! What’s wrong?”

The doorknob jiggled. “It’s locked!” Hitomi said.

“Stand aside,” Homura told them. “I’ll break down the door.”

Sayaka and Kyoko stared at each other in horror. Then Sayaka turned to yell, “Uh, no! Don’t break my door! Everything’s fine! Sorry!”

“What’s wrong, Sayaka?” Madoka said from the other side. “It sounded like Kyoko! Is she okay? Is she awake?”

“Uh, yes!” Kyoko said, her voice cracking. “I am! I’m okay, no need to worry, thanks for putting me back together!” A pause. “Uh, I’m really sorry about being an idiot back there, I promise I’ll take battles more serious in the future, but I’m fine now, I’m good, thank you!” Another pause. “So, how are you?”

“Kyoko?” Mami said, now sounding concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes!” Kyoko squeaked. “Absolutely dandy! Sorry about waking you, Sayaka here was just really…relieved to see me okay! But she was really mad at me, so I’ve been, uh, making out to her…I mean making it up to her!”

Sayaka buried her face in her palm with a groan. The two of them were just so bad at this.

“Kyoko, your guts were hanging out!” Hitomi said.

“Yup! That sucked! My bad! I hear I owe yah big there, Green! I’ll find a way to pay you back, I swear, but thanks for saving my bacon, please do not come in right now.”

“Kyoko Sakura, what exactly is going on in there?” Homura demanded. “Because if I have to reset this timeline because of your foolishness-”

“Oh, hell no!” Kyoko exclaimed. She shoved Sayaka aside to march toward the door. “I swear to God, if you reset and take this away from me, I will follow you back in time and team up with the other me to kick your emo ass!”

“Kyoko, do not open that door!” Sayaka said, grabbing Kyoko’s arm in alarm.

“Okay, but seriously!” Mami said in exasperation. “What is going on in there? Why do you two sound so-Huh? Madoka? What do you…Okay, what?”

Then there came a hushed conversation from the other side of the door. Sayaka sighed. Apparently Madoka had put two and two together, and was now hurriedly trying to explain things.

“Oh,” Mami said, her voice rising in surprise. “Oh! Well, um, all right then! I guess if you say that you’re okay, then there’s no need for the rest of us to bother you!”

Sayaka could hear the barely constrained laughter in Mami’s voice. She wanted to die.

“Um, yes!” Hitomi said, also on the verge of cracking. “Well! Glad…you’re okay, Kyoko! And…you two seem to be doing well, so we’re going…”

“Oh, of all the foolish…” Homura began to seethe.

“Out! Out!” Madoka snapped. “Everyone, away from the door. Leave them alone, now!”

Then there came a clamor as several pairs of feet scampered away all at once, combined with quite a lot of snickering, giggling, and griping. The noise faded as they all headed back downstairs.

And then Sayaka heard most of them burst into laughter from the living room. Great. Great.

“Well,” Kyoko remarked, filling the awkward silence. “That happened.”

Sayaka sighed. “Yup. They’re never letting us live that down.”

“Eh,” Kyoko said with a shrug. “Let ‘em. We’re getting laid and they’re not. If anything, they should be jealous.”

Sayaka could see her point, but even so, it was going to be very difficult to face the others when they finally emerged.

“So, uh,” Kyoko said, turning back toward Sayaka. “What should…we do now?”

Sayaka slowly exhaled. “Well, I guess we could go back to bed. I barely slept last night, and you definitely need rest.”

“Uh-huh, yeah, good idea,” Kyoko said, nodding. “Buuuuut, since they already know what we’re up to, how’s about we go back to fucking each other until we pass out?”

Sayaka’s face turned bright red. “Kyoko! Language!”

“What?” Kyoko said, her tone sour. “Oh, come on! We just had sex for the first time, I almost died, we all sold our souls to space aliens. If that doesn’t give me a pass to use whatever fucking words I want, then I don’t know what does!”

“That’s not the point! There’s still no excuse for…”

Sayaka found her voice trailing off. What was she doing?

“Sayaka?” Kyoko cocked her head inquisitively to one side, her unbound hair spilling down her naked side. “What’s up?”

Sighing, Sayaka extended an arm toward her. “Forget it. You’re right. And honestly, that idea sounds fantastic. Let’s fuck.”

“Good,” Kyoko purred. She took Sayaka by the hand and led her back to the bed. “Now, seeing how we don’t have to worry about waking anybody up, I’m gonna see how loudly I can make you scream.”

#puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #kyosaya #sayaka miki #kyoko sakura #smut #lemon #fanfic

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