#is find a decent piece of rope. idk. but everything is so much and i just want it to stop and it feels like the ground itself

[butnotbubblegum]

using the tags to vent my current emotional state into the void bc ig story feels like a bad plan for this, don’t read them if you’re having a bad day, they’ll probably not help in the slightest.

[secondhand-trash]

Centrifugal Force

Kinktober 2020 — sex swing

A/N: I struggled MAJORLY with this one and especially because I started a new job around the same time I got stuck on this so I put it to the side for a while (a while means a week, I worked on this for a week). I do hope it turns out decent hhhh

Pairing: Akaashi Keiji x f!reader

Description: An unconventional gift from his friends opened up a whole new world for the both of you.

Warning: sex swing (does this count as some type of bondage idk tbh), face fucking, vaginal penetration, creampie

Word count: 3026

-

It started as a harmless joke.

The news of the former setter’s successful proposal subsequently revived the Fukurodani volleyball club group chat from the state of a few messages here and there during birthdays and holidays to what could rival its bombard of messages at it’s prime. The messages poured in almost immediately as the news went live with a subtle picture of the silhouettes of your bodies embraced together against the glimmering sea, the subtle spark of the diamond on your finger almost unnoticeable under the dark sky.

“We should do something for Akaashi and y/n!” the former captain said in the chat, accompanied with a dozen of emojis that looked like the text came straight out of a spam bot’s chat history.

And so a new group chat was formed, one without the groom-to-be. At some point, they added people from other schools who might be able to make a valid contribution. It ended up being chaos, utter chaos as they probably should have expected. Suggestions were all over the place, some seemingly more reasonable while others might earn them a stern glare from the one member who was missing from the chat. They ended up listing everything out and doing a draw to see what they should do, handing the job of making the randomisation to poor Tsukishima who really, really did not ask for this.

The chat fell into silence for a while, everyone waiting for Tsukishima to show up again bearing the final results.

The speech bubble popped up, only for it to go back down after a short few seconds before it showed up again. Everyone watched as Tsukishima typed and stopped and typed again, until he sent out a screenshot that had everyone freezing in place.

Until everyone started cussing out the one person who suggested that sending a sex swing to a newly engaged couple was a good idea.

-

Akaashi was certain that the delivery came to the wrong address when he got the parcel.

“Hm? But it specifically says it’s for mr Akaashi Keiji?”

Akaashi stared at the very tall, very large box with a lot of concern and an equal amount of guesses as to what it might be in his head. It really had his name on the receipt with no sender, so it was not a mistake on the shipment agent’s part. 

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep opening the parcel or not when he sliced the seals open to find a card laying on top.

“We hope you will have fun with this but if you don’t, just know that it is Kuroo’s suggestion. Congratulations on the engagement!”

Akaashi felt his head pound at the letters that were scrawled on the piece of paper. He had a bad feeling on what it might be, and it seemed like his predictions were correct when he moved the card away to see the label plastered across the items in the parcel.

Akaashi was not usually a foul-mouthed person, but what the fuck was this supposed to mean?

“Keiji, what is this-” you peered over his shoulder to see what he was crouching over, and stopped in place when you saw what was inside, “why, I didn’t know you’re into this...”

“I did not get this...”

“If I knew you were interested I would have brought it up way earlier-” you paused, your eyes meeting with his widening ones as your hands froze mid-air, “oh.”

He blinked, watching as you slowly flickered your gaze away from him with a sheepish smile. “Oh.”

Akaashi had never really thought much about sex swings, if he had to be very honest. It just didn’t seem practical or all that feasible for apartment living. But that night, when you hooked your legs onto the hooks that dangled off the frame, your face physically burning up with your body being completely exposed under his attentive stare as your legs parted and swayed as your hands gripped tightly onto the handle. The strap sat right below your ass, arching you up and presenting your bare cunt to him as you leaned back against the supportive strap at the back.

“Don’t just stare...” you muttered, feeling very small as he just stood there and raked his eyes all over your frame.

He let out a soft gasp at the way you fell back when he ran his finger up your sex, every heave of your chest and curl of your toe completely within his view as he slowly rubbed his finger against your folds.

You were completely wrecked that night, your voice hoarse after he made you cum again and again on his cock with his hands on the suspensions, slamming you down on him with a brute force that had you seeing stars with each swing of your hips forward. The adrenaline rush he felt when he pulled out of you and watched his cum dripped between your legs onto the floor was unreal, your cunt clenching around nothing as they laid bare for him to see. 

He decided on the spot that he was going to keep the swing as he helped you down from the seat, your body slumping onto his arms immediately as your knees bucked the moment you finally touched the floor again.

-

“My, my, look at you...”

Your breath hitched at the voice that rang behind you, a soft whimper escaping your lips when you felt his warm palm pressing onto the small of your back.

Akaashi admired the way your body was held up so perfectly by the suspensions as you laid stomach first on the seat. The support on your torso had you arching your back up, your ass perching mid-air as your legs were strapped onto the two cuffs at the side. He could see the way your folds were fluttering from the position, taking note of how you seemed to be turned on just from being laid out on your fours for next time. Your body spun just slightly as the suspensions twisted under your weight, letting him take a good look of you from each angle as he held onto the straps that led to the handles your hands were gripping onto for dear life.

You whimpered when he slid the metal frame of his glasses off the bridge of his nose with two nimble fingers and he chuckled at the reaction. You could see the glint in his eyes clearly now that the two lenses were gone, goosebumps rising on your skin at the amused smile that accompanied the glimmer in his slanted eyes.

“Beautiful.”

A soft peck on the lips when he kneeled down in front of you set your skin aflame, the barest bit of contact making you ache for more when he pulled back after the light touch. He cooed when you chased his lips after pulling away, his hand running along the suspension belt to trace along your fingers that were latching onto the handle.

“Gonna be good for me?” he hummed at your eager nod in response to his question, the way you arched your ass up further did not go unnoticed by him.

“Good girl,” he muttered under his breath, his hand going down to take his cock in hand as he gave it a languish pump. He let out a content sigh and the sound made your mouth run dry, poking your tongue out to wet your lips as he deliberately distanced himself as his length filled and warmed in his hand. 

Your body was pushed back when he fisting your hair in his free hand and yanked your head back. A slight tap at your cheek with his hard tip was the only signal you needed to open your mouth up, holding back the urge to whine when he placed his cock on your tongue that was flat against the base of your jaw. Your drool was pooling up in your mouth as he just held it there, the weight making it hard for you to focus on your breathing as heat spread across your face from the burning shaft against your warm muscle.

An unexpectant thrust had you gagging around his girth, the snap of his hips jerking you away from him before gravity slammed you right back down. The soreness at the back of your throat shot right up to your nose, prickling tears at the corner of your eyes. 

He gritted, through clenched teeth, pulling your hair taut against your scalp as he set a vigorous pace, each gag as the tip of your nose brushed past the tuff of hair at his base sending vibrations to the center of his stomach. His hand that was holding on the suspension that held you up clenched around the rope, swinging you back and forth simultaneously with each move of his pelvis, the tightening of your throat had him shoving you down just a little deeper at a sudden lack of control. The handle that was in your hand was the only thing you could hold on for leverage but it did nothing to stop the way your body met him mid-thrust as you swayed helplessly on the swing. 

You felt your inner walls clench at the rough treatment, the burn in your throat prickling through the back of your scalp and melting into a numbing shock. In this sate, you were nothing but a few holes for him to use and the sheer control he had over you made your next gag came out as something resembling a whimper.

The sound of his cock gliding against your drooling lips was sloppy in your ear. He grunted when he pulled away all of a sudden, feeling a power rush at how you still hung your jaw slack with your tongue lolled out even as you had nothing to wrap your lips around. Your eyes were glassy from the tears, the silver string of spit that coated the tip of his cock and your bottom lip was nowhere near graceful. You huffed, struggling to regain your breaths temporarily as he held your head still. You whined when he rubbed his tip around the rim of your mouth, the leaking bead of pre-cum and your drool messing you up as the substance threatened to slide down your chin.

He arched your head back, admiring his handiwork as he stared down at you. The sharp gaze as he inspected your opened-mouth and white trails darting all over your chin had you letting out a muffled whine, your tongue still extended and slack against your bottom lip in an attempt to please him.

“Ah...” he let out an approving note from the back of his throat and the gravel lingering his voice made you shiver, “keep that mouth open for me, won’t you?”

You could not utter a word of response, only able to let out a muffled whimper when he took a stride until he was right behind you. Jolts of numbing shock rushed through your body when he trailed the very tip of his index finger along your spine as he moved, the lightest of contact eliciting goosebumps on every inch of your skin. You still felt the phantoming feeling on your back when he lifted his finger with a tread, the edge of his well-trimmed nails barely scraping against your skin. 

Your back arched uncontrollably under the tingles and pushing your ass further up, which was met with a pleased caress of his palm against your perched hips.

A firm smack against your flesh had your entire body swinging forward, the force that brushed past your skin when you rocked backwards from the swing had you clenching and moaning through parted lips as the sting settled in. Akaashi took in the way your ass jiggled and especially how your core was glistening with the sheen of your arousal right in front of his eyes. You whimpered when he held you still by your thighs, hilting the swinging of your frame to a stop as he lined his tip at your drooling cunt. 

“Hugn-”

Your eyes rolled back when he pushed in inch by inch, his eyes glued onto the sight of your folds sucking his cock in greedily as your spit that coated his length mixed in with the mess that was dripping down from the root of your thighs. He let out a sigh when he sheathed inside of you, the plump curves of your hips pressing right against his pelvis as he hilted balls deep in you. Your shoulders were tensing up as your hands gripped vice at the handle, each huff that slipped off your lips made his blood curl. The soft whimper you let out when he took his hands off your legs was like a mewl, your walls clamping down around him as you were once again at the mercy of nothing holding you up but the seat and cuffs.

One push of his hands on the sling shoved you off his cock only for you to slam down in full force when he rocked you backwards. You let out a broken cry at the sudden stretch, throwing your head back when he pulled out all the way only to plow deep in you as the swing sent you jolting back. You could do nothing but moan and scream as he took advantage of the swing, his fingers curled around the suspensions that linked to what cuffed your legs down with each handling of your body. 

Each push and pull was in perfect timing with his thrusts, the swoosh of the seat meeting his bucking hips midway to pulse into you until his hard tip was kissing the spot right below your cervix. He showed no sign of slowing down, grunts and hisses seeping from his gritted teeth as he was wrapped around your warm walls, feeling your insides taking him in like it could not get enough every time he threatened to pull out with a shove of your body forward.

He could not get enough of seeing your shaking frame and the soft flesh of your body jiggling under his force, your skin heating up with each slam of his pelvis against you and his balls slapping against your clit that was already puffy from the sensation. You were sure to feel him in you for days even after he pulled out, his cock drilling in you like he was determined to bruise you up until you were reminded of how he could make you break for him with each buck of your knees even as your feet touch the ground once again.

You were panting with each slap of his skin against yours, the erratic breathing made all the more difficult as you struggle to keep your mouth open as he had asked you to. The violent sway of your body together with each hilt of his cock in you made you feel light headed, as if your world was spinning both literally and figuratively. The waves of your orgasm ripped through your body as a numbing chill, making the tip of your ears heated up until you could not feel it within your burning senses anymore. Akaashi grunted at the feeling of your fluttering folds around his girth, your pulsing walls that hugged him closely from you crashed down making him all the more eager to have his way with you. You let out a weak whine when you felt his fingers digging into your hips, roughly parting the flesh to watch as his cock disappeared in you with each slam. Without his hands controlling the swing, the way your body moved with gravity was much sloppier but so much more forceful as it swung back and forth from nothing but the snapping of his hips.

You whined when he held you close, the sudden stop making your head dipped forward and your body tilting down. The strings of warmth that filled you up with a choked moan from the man behind you had your vision hazy, his cock pulsing in you as he shot his load inside your abused walls in the intimate position. He pressed you against him for a brief moment, drinking in the feeling of your bodies being so rawly connected before finally letting gravity took its charge.

Your jaw was slack as you lazily retracted your tongue, a whimper rolling off your lips at the sudden emptiness when he pulled out of you. Sparks lit up on your skin when he put his thumbs on both sides of your slip, pulling it apart to see your fluttering folds pushing his cum out of you. The sticky substance seeped out of you bit by bit, dripping onto the floor as you laid on the seat limply and too fucked out of your mind to even push yourself up.

“Think you need help getting down?” he asked with a light chuckle, his hand running along your leg in a soothing manner before carefully uncuffing your ankles and rubbing against the marks that were left.

“Please do...” you muttered, leaning into his touch when he got in front of you and leaned your upper body against his chest. You nearly put all your weight on him when he helped you down from the seat, your hands flailing to grip onto something only for him to prop you up with his hand under your arms.

You laughed when he slipped his hand under your knees, using the last bit of energy in you to hop up so he could carry you in his arms.

“We should really let them know that they picked a really good gift...” you mumbled as he carried you to the bathroom.

He paused, before shaking his head, “No, I think it’s better to not give them any more ideas.”

There was no way he was going to let anyone know what you were up to in the bedroom, less he wanted them to never stop bringing it up.

[saoirsetm]

hey y’all ! i’m kat and we’re FINALLY opening ?!? i’m so hyped, you don’t even know. i’m a double leo Trying to survive video lectures in a noisy house who loves dark chocolate and 80% of the kpop releases so far this year ( stream feel good by fromis_9, it’s such a cute bop ! ) i’m also a cat mom to my almost fourteen year old babies who are still like energetic kittens, so ask for pics and you shall receive DSLKGJ but without further ado, here’s my girl who’s gonna prove that hindsight is INDEED 20/20, so this is gonna be fun:

✧ ˖ * ° ><> ╱  abigail cowen,  cis female,  she/her  —  look  who’s  fresh  from  the  ferry,  aren’t  you  SAOIRSE LEARY  ?  your  eroda  brochure  says  you’re  TWENTY-THREE  and  that  you’re  currently  residing  in  MARMOTON  .  your  favourite  tourist  attraction  to  hang  around  is  ERODIAN BEACH  ,  and  the  locals  around  these  ports  would  describe  you  as  INQUISITIVE  &  INTREPID,  STUBBORN  &  IMPULSIVE  .  your  resting  fish  face  really  gives  off  LONG HAIR BLOWN BACK BY THE OCEAN BREEZE, LATE NIGHTS SPENT PLOTTING THE NEXT GREAT VOYAGE, RED LIPSTICK IMPRINTED ON A MUG OF TEA  ,  and  i’m  a  big  fan  of  the  VINTAGE CELTIC KNOT NECKLACE  you  seem  to  always  be  attached  to.  well,  if  you  see  the  minister  this  morning;  make  sure  you  head  on  home  as  quick  as  possible,  you  never  know  what  bad  luck  he  could  bring.  ╱  ooc;  kat,  23,  she/her,  ast.

tw: needles ( tattoo mention ), cancer mention, death mention

miss saoirse...... oof

GDFLSJL where do i begin with her honestly ??

full name is saoirse eve leary, affectionately called cece by her family since she was young and runs with it as her nickname !

born and raised in cork, ireland with two siblings, a working class father and Slightly upper middle class mother

her childhood wasn’t like, Majorly eventful; she was considered a bit of a tomboy which isn’t a surprise bc she’s always been a bit of a spirited, adventurous girl, has the odd nomadic moment strike her and loves to travel

had a SUPER close relationship with her maternal grandmother before she passed a few years back, still has a close one with her grandfather and paternal grandmother as they’re still living

is a big family girl overall, so much so that she’s eagerly awaiting the day she gets to be the cool aunt

had a decent cluster of pals over the years that’s likely dwindled due to everyone going their separate ways after high school

saoirse Did go to uni between her travels — and graduated — and has aspirations of becoming an anthropologist to explore other cultures and meet new people/understand them

which.. obviously ain’t happening now LFSGJGF rip

came to eroda partially bc it seems like such a pretty and quaint place, partially to explore its “ myth ” that you can never leave; her naturally curious ass questions the whole thing, at least in the sense that there’s no way to challenge your supposed fate on the island and won’t deny entertaining some conspiracy theories around the mystery

she still doesn’t understand that.. yeah, she Literally is stuck here for the rest of her life now, probably because she hasn’t made a Real attempt to put that to the test, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it FDSLKJDS

anyways she came here solo ( more than likely ) and has enjoyed her time getting to know the locals and other visitors, taking in the scenery, etc

probably took up a part-time job at sally’s tavern to cover her expenses since she lives in marmoton and it ought to be close enough for her to get to gfjlsdg

personality and everything else

a sociable, ( relatively ) fearless ginger with an eclectic taste in music and a profound appreciation for pastries.. 

despite being all about cleaner eating habits and lowering her sugar intake, she takes a cheat day or week wherever she can LSDGFJK

parties, game nights, etc, you name it ?? she’s there !

kinda competitive while we’re bringing up games and such, but she’s not about the whole sore winner/loser thing — rather she’ll groan and sulk a little before moving on

like i said before, loves to travel, loves pretty places in general so prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures on her insta feed of where she’s been or where she wants to go

loyal as hell, but she has her limit if you misuse the trust that comes with it

she’s just v wholesome and has a mix of small town city/endlessly curious energy with a sprinkle of being the life of the party……. kinda

however, she’s the most ?? hard to place person all the same

that feeling of freedom that comes with her exploring and all makes her a little hard to tie down; she doesn’t plan on staying in eroda ( which is unfortunate for her considering.... fglsdk ) as she has more to accomplish and see

very much does her own thing and doesn’t wanna hear any criticism for it

as if she’s that out of line DLJGDSLK but still

always wants to try new things, no matter how dumb they might be; except for anything that’s a Legitimate death sentence or is.. a GENUINELY dumb idea, she has enough common sense to know what Not to do KSGFDJDS

has little tattoos on her wrist and behind her left ear for her Favourite trips/symbols/whatever and her family, will let y’all know what they’d be whenever i figure them out since i’m so damn picky with these things

a Big supporter for buying/investing locally, has little trinkets and such to prove it

in fact, she has a collection of thrifted or vintage clothes from her travels and back home, and a chest full of cute jewelry she switches between daily

one piece she wears all the time — only parts with it when she sleeps — is the celtic knot pendant mentioned in her app that’s become something of an heirloom on her mom’s side of the family !

she has the cutest irish lilt in my mind, kinda the same as miss ronan’s and aisling bea’s

really loves her freckles, partially bc i love her freckles and my own :(

tea > coffee, but she loves coffee-flavoured things; bring her a peppermint or camomile tea as her shift winds down or.. idk, just because, and she’ll be forever indebted to you fldjgs

loves to hang out by the water in her free time — she loves the scent and sounds that comes with it, it’s one of the few places where she can put her mind to rest for a bit

the sound of rain hitting a rooftop is her perfect sleep soundtrack

kinda wants to adopt a pet, but doesn’t wanna leave them if she goes on an excursion where they can’t come with her :(

baths with epsom salts, candles that smell like lavender or something just as pleasant and calming, etc during a night in soothes the hell out of her soul

top three products she has in her bag at all times, besides personal info and her phone ? lip balm, a powder spf and mints FGLGKSD

btw.. miss ginger hair and freckles will probably gasp at anyone going out with no spf on them and scold tf out of them bc ‘ hello, melanoma ?? sunburn ?!? ’

wanted connections

childhood pal(s) she’s bumped into: reunited by chance, cece’s glad she has a couple of people she knows to keep her grounded when her mind runs wild at what Might happen when she decides to try her hand at leaving

cousin(s), other relatives: idk, figured it’d be fun for her to have a family member or two running around and not realizing the other relative is the Only one they’ll see in person from here on out

best pal(s) in eroda: someone she’s taken to since arriving, likely spending their free-time eating pastries on the beach, talking shit over tea, little market dates, going to the rainzone half-drunk and trying to rope each other into new things

opposites attract.. of sorts sfdlgkj: basically just a traveler meeting a local who’s never been off eroda, telling all about their ( quite limited ) excursions and bonding in other areas over time !

hook-ups, fwbs.... ENEMIES with benefits?? idk, point is the girl’s probably gotten laid since arriving, it’s all a matter of the situation that fits your muse(s) best FHGSDKJ

roommate: she lives in marmoton, likely in a rental of sorts, and i can’t see her living alone given the situation on the island ( though i’ve viewed her as the type to live alone in a space for one and a half people any other time tbh ). so she has just One and they make the arrangement work ! depending on their personalities and such, we’ll figure out how well they get along Exactly, if at all

ex ??: the girl’s bi so y’all can toss anyone at her for this one as well ! question marks bc i was thinking it’d be an on-and-off thing but maybe not come the time i post this intro LSGKD. basically they were seeing each other for a few months, she fell hard Quick/they moved kinda fast bc they were vibing and they would distance themselves upon realizing this — though i see cece giving them distance bc she knows they need it rather than needing it herself. if it IS on-and-off, they’re definitely off rn and treading lightly ( though she finds it hard to stray and hates things not being fully resolved no matter what happens ?? ), so all it’s a bit angsty regardless of how it goes dfgkljsdg

fellow mystery fiend: someone please fuel her curiosity to the max and try to crack the impossible case of eroda’s captive capabilities with her.. and proceed to watch true crime shows with her when that clearly goes to shit SDFKLJ

older sibling or mentor dynamic: someone to look out for her/teach her some things to help fully support herself/give her advice when she probably needs it most.. idk, i just like the idea of someone becoming a stand-in relative type of friend to her 

just give her someone to confide in, to swim at night with, stargaze and all that cute shit, be it platonically or otherwise !

she’s not gonna click with everyone and that’s fine, BUT maybe they run in the same social circles and cece thinks they seem nice enough, but they never really talk amongst themselves ?? just a case of awkwardly starting from scratch and seeing where it takes us !

[blurglesmurfklaine]

Cornelia Street (3/?)

A/N: oh my god they were quarantined

yes. It’s one of those fics.

AU, obvs

I’m posting as I go and idk how many parts this is going to be, likely won’t be very long but I literally don’t know what I’m doing and should i be starting yet another WIP? definitely not but fuck it lets fucking go

Title is from T-swizzles Lover album, I’m OBSESSED

Summary: Three years ago, Kurt and Blaine went on a disaster of a date and never quite got off on the right foot. Now, just before they graduate from NYADA, there’s a national outbreak and they’re both self-quarantined in a mutual friend’s apartment.

Read On AO3

On Tumblr: Part 1, Part 2

Part 3

Kurt has the art of avoiding someone he’s sharing a confined space with down to an art. Blaine stays in the bedroom most of the time and the morning stiffness in Kurt’s joints from sleeping on the couch is well worth not having to interact with his roomie. He spends the first few days decompressing from the stressload of his schoolwork, social media, extra pampering, the usual.

This is enough to keep him entertained for a few days, but the first few hours of day four drag on like molasses. 

Kurt lies on the couch, flippantly scrolling and cycling through the same social media apps over and over again until he’s seen every tweet, every snapchat story, and every. Single. Facebook. Post.

This routine is fine when he has a full and busy life, but it can’t be all he does. He’s going stir crazy.

It’s this boredom, he tells himself, that motivates him to knock on the bedroom door. Because he’s a generally social person, and he’s certain that even the likes of Blaine Anderson could offer him some temporary entertainment.

“The living room TV doesn’t come with Netflix,” he explains when a confused Blaine opens the door. “And my social media feed is dry, so you can either let me in on whatever you’re watching, or you can deal with the consequences of not doing that. I should let you know, I have a brother, and I can be very annoying.”

Blaine hums, looking Kurt up and down. “I also have a brother who can be ridiculously annoying, so I suppose I can’t risk it.” He speaks carefully, but Kurt has a sneaking suspicion that Blaine’s just as out of his mind bored as he is and would appreciate the company. 

He opens the door wider to allow Kurt passage in the room. 

Blaine moves towards the bed, where he’s clearly made some sort of quarantine nest for himself—the blanket is puddled near the head of the bed where Blaine was lying, a few books scattered by where his feet would have been, a bowl of half eaten ramen abandoned on the nightstand. 

Kurt… doesn’t quite know what to do. He starts for the computer chair by the desk, but Blaine waves him away. “You can just sit next to me,” he says dismissively. “That’s Sam’s gaming chair, and it is just absolutely hell on your lower back. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

He raises an eyebrow, crosses his arms. “Is that what I am to you?”

Blaine looks at him like he’s genuinely surprised by the remark. “What? I… No. Not at all.”

“Really?”

“Look, Kurt, I know we have a weird history and we don’t particularly get along, but I don’t hate you.”

Kurt eyes Blaine up and down for a second, assessing him for any signs of deceit. He finds none, pulls the cover back and slides underneath it. “What are you watching?”

“Let It Snow. It’s a Netflix Original. It just started, do you want me to rewind it?”

Kurt waves a hand. “No, that’s fine.”

On screen, two teens are trudging through the snow towards a building with AFFLE TOWN on top of it. 

“If the train made you feel real, Waffle Town is gonna blow your mind.”

In the movie, the cheerleader character kisses the other main red-headed girl in the bathroom, but acts like nothing happened when the rest of the squad comes in. 

“Oh, she’s totally not out of the closet yet.” Blaine murmurs. 

“What? But she said she was, at the beginning.”

“I mean, yeah, but there has to be some sort of twist.”

“Hm. Seems like you have this movie all figured out.”

“I mean, movies like this are supposed to be predictable on some level. Let’s be real, we watch these movies because no matter what happens, no matter what misunderstanding there is, you know everything’s going to be okay.” He looks at Kurt, and Kurt’s heart does not skip a beat. But objectively speaking, Blaine is ridiculously adorable, and maybe he has a teeny tiny reaction when Blaine says, “You know that the right people will end up with each other.”

About twenty more minutes in, all the different storylines have been introduced and Kurt realizes why this movie seems so familiar. “Oh my god,” he says. “This is totally just a teen version of Love, Actually.”

Blaine chuckles. “Oh my gosh, you’re right!”

They both laugh out loud at the end, when the crappy best friend realizes she’s been crappy and gives the red-head a little speech. 

“If you and Beyonce were trapped in a house that was on fire and I could only save one of you... I would let Beyonce die.”

The movie draws to a close and Blaine leans back against the pillows, obviously satisfied with the ending. “See? Happy endings rule. They’re a little cheesy, a little predictable, but that’s what I like about them.”

Kurt smiles and looks over at Blaine. “Yeah, me, too.”

*

When the movie ends, Blaine excuses himself for a moment to go grab a drink from the kitchen.

When he finishes his glass of water, Blaine heads to the hall closet, clamoring around for that stash of board games Sam keeps for game nights. He finally finds it and grins a bit, pulling out Battleship. This should keep them entertained for a while.

He stops dead in his tracks, just outside the room, when he hears Kurt in a heated conversation on the phone. “No, Adam. I meant it, this time. We’re over… I know there’s a national crisis right now, that’s why I’m at—don’t… stop… will you let me—! You always do this! Stop talking over me! Oh my god, if you’re not going to listen, then this conversation is over.”

Blaine silently backtracks a few steps when he hears Kurt sniff, then after a minute or two, starts walking again, making sure to slap his bare feet against the hardwood floor so that Kurt hears him coming and can take a second to compose himself. He rattles the battleship game for extra measure and says loudly down the hallway, “So I found this battleship game in the closet, thought it might be a good way to pass the time.”

Kurt still looks a little lost in thought by the time Blaine is back in the bedroom. “Uh, sure, yeah. Why not,” he mindlessly agrees.

It takes them a few minutes to set everything up and figure out logistics. As a gesture of goodwill, Blaine insists that they both sit on the bed for this activity. He still feels a little bad for… whatever Kurt is going through right now. 

They’re well into the game when Blaine decides to tug a little more on the thread that will unravel Kurt Hummel.

“J1,” Kurt grumbles.

“Miss,” Blaine responds. “So… I thought I might’ve heard you on the phone earlier,” he says, and Kurt’s hard gaze pierces through him. “Everything okay?”

“Why do you care?” Kurt snaps.

Blaine felt his own defenses rising up. “We are going to be stuck with each other for days on end, so excuse me for trying to be a decent person.”

Kurt de-bristles himself. “Sorry,” he murmurs, shaking his head. “Sorry… I um… my ex is trying to get me to go stay with him. But I know he’s just going to rope me into getting back together again and I just… I’m done. Sorry,” he repeats, lifting his knees and wrapping his arms around them. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”

“It’s okay,” Blaine says, mouth twitching. “We’ll chalk it up to social distancing. Speaking of, I know why I’m self-quarantined, why are you? If you don’t mind me asking. Why not go home like everyone else? B4.”

Kurt sighs. “Hit. My dad had a heart attack back in high school. Left him in a coma for a while. Then he had a cancer scare last year, so his immune system isn’t the strongest. I can’t risk taking anything back to him. J2.”

“I’m sorry to hear that… Hit.”

“Thanks. What about you?”

“C4. Kind of the same thing. My aunt has lived with us pretty much my entire life. She's pretty much my second mom. She’s diabetic, and a year ago she needed a kidney transplant. If she even gets so much as a cold, it could mess with her anti-rejection meds.”

He doesn’t get a response for a while and Blaine looks up to find Kurt staring at him. The other boy blinks, like he himself has just noticed his fixed gaze. 

“Um, hit…” he says, looking back down at his board. Blaine thinks he might see a hint of a blush crawling up Kurt’s neck. “J3.”

“Miss.”

“Miss? That’s impossible. J1 and I2 were misses.” Kurt snaps his head up, narrowing his eyes at Blaine, but there’s a playful light that wasn’t there earlier. “Are you cheating?”

“Maybe,” he teases, evading the question because it actually is a hit. In fact, it’s the winning move. “Maybe I just don’t want this game to be over so soon.”

For a moment, Blaine wonders if his comment was too close to flirtatious territory. But then he thinks, so what if it is? There was a reason he agreed to be set up with Kurt freshman year, and after half a conversation with him, Blaine is definitely intrigued, to say the least.

Kurt’s lips curl up into a smile. “Alright… I don’t want to go back to being bored either, so how about this? We each move one of the small pieces and the first one to get a hit wins.”

Blaine agrees, taking one of his small pieces off and moving it.

“I’ll start us off,” Kurt says. “You mentioned you had a brother. What about the rest of your family? A6.”

“Miss. I’ve only got the one, thank god, because he is a handful. My mom is a total goofball, gives the best advice. I love her to death. My dad is the essence of I hate everything except my family. He can be a total grump sometimes, but I know he’d do anything for us. G7. You?”

“Miss. I mentioned my dad. My mom passed away when I was eight.” Blaine’s eyes glaze over with sympathy. “She was… she was really something. I miss her everyday, but I’m also really grateful that my dad found someone as wonderful as my step-mom. They got married my Junior year of high school, and I got a brother out of it. He drives me up the wall sometimes, but I love the big lug.”

Kurt tells Blaine all about the ridiculousness of his high school show choir, his relationship with his dad, and the bullying he endured in high school. In turn, Blaine confesses some insecurities he has about being a musical theatre major, about how he absolutely adores his kooky aunt, and his love for harry potter.

The game takes longer to finish than it should since occasionally they get so deep into conversation that they forget about playing the game. Eventually, it’s nearly two am, and Kurt decides to call it quits.

“Alright,” he says. “I’m calling it. I’m never gonna fund that darn ship of yours.”

“You’re right about that,” Blaine agrees. Kurt had actually hit his piece about three turns in, but again… Blaine wasn’t ready to say goodnight yet.

Kurt snorts out a laugh and rises from the he’d, stretching his arms high over his head. “I’ll see you in the morning,” he groans.

Blaine has no idea what compels him to say this, but he does. “You don’t have to sleep in the living room.”

Kurt freezes and gives Blaine a look. 

“I just mean…” he swallows. “I’ve had the bed enough nights. Time to pay my dues. I can take the couch tonight.”

He hops off the bed before Kurt even has the chance to protest. 

“I… um, thanks,” he gives Blaine a shy smile. 

“I’ll see you in the morning, Kurt.” He returns the smile—more than just a nicety at this point—and turns around to head to the living room.

He can’t keep the dazed grin off his face when he pulls out his phone to text Sam.

Part 4

[thebestplltheories]

PLL 7x17 Driving Miss Crazy - Thoughts

- LOVED the episode. Entertaining from start to finish! Look, we all knew that “answers every week” is bullshit. I say this every week, but we’ve waited so many years, so we can wait 3 more weeks. So let’s just set aside the fact that we get no answers and just appreciate the fast pace and lack of fillers. I’m glad that the build up to the almighty answers-episode is fun. Season 7 really is the best season to date in my opinion.

- This episode should've been called Mona Mania, instead of that season 3 episode! She owned this episode. I won't even list everything she did that justifies her walking around town with a crown on her head. You know all the reasons. Just every Mona scene was so damn entertaining.

- NO ALI!!! Instant success!!! It felt like a good old season 4 episode. I say this a lot but Ali still feels like the outsider to the group. The dynamics just work better with Spencer, Hanna, Aria and Emily. I love those 4 together. Ali still doesn't fit in the group, in my eyes. I might feel like that because we had 4 whole seasons with just the 4 of them so I’m too used to it and I never adapted to the change properly when she came back in 5A. No hate on Sasha, but I’m just not a fan of Ali’s character, I’ve always thought they ruined her once she came back from the dead. This episode just had great vibes without her, just like 713.

- Hastings drama was on point. Nolan is doing an amazing job playing Peter.

- We did it! Another thing this Tumblr community guessed right: Aria was filing a police report against Ezra during the time she found out he was writing a book. It’s a shame they’re not going further and doing the abortion story, but I still like this.

- MARY!! Welcome back. I actually feel sorry for her. I think she’s the most misunderstood character ever in PLL history.

- I did really enjoy the plot twist that Peter and Jessica were planning to kill Mary but she intercepted and killed Jessica. Self defence. I never saw that coming. It doesn't change the final outcome that Mary killed Jessica, but it’s a nice additional layer to the overall story to show just how complex this mystery is. I appreciated and enjoyed that unnecessary layer. 

- Ezra pisses me off SO MUCH. He’s so blind. He’s so stupid. Just like last week, he thinks everything is about him. “You still don't trust me because I wrote a book?” UMMMM NO???? Two weeks ago (PLL timeline) Hanna was abducted and EVERYONE, including Ezra, got a message from someone named AD, and the twin of a dead woman rocked up in town. Why has Ezra forgotten all of this??? Does he think AD just packed up and went home?? Does he think Hanna’s abduction was just a prank gone wrong and that all the messages about ‘find Hanna before it’s too late’ was just for fun? He saw ‘Hanna’ hanging from ropes in the bell tower, and he thinks the thing bothering Aria is trust issues from 6 years ago? Open your eyes Ezra. Someone is messing with your fiancé again. Not everything is about you.

- On a positive note I did appreciate his comments about regret with the book situation. I know that was very sincere. But get a hold of reality. Aria’s change of mood is not about you, ffs. 

- Did that shirt from Radley belong to Spencer’s twin? Idk, just something to think about.

- The fact that AD is trying to break apart the Hastings house feels like AD has a vendetta against the Hastings. Perhaps, Twincer is angry they adopted Spencer but not herself? Revenge?

- Spencer’s numberplate was CHD. I know we shouldn't be looking into this stuff because not once have these had meaning, but, I couldn't help but think back to Charles DiLaurentis.

- Thank god the musical number was short. I mean, I enjoyed it, and Janel can sing, but it did feel a bit random and out of nowhere. Perhaps that’s because I was so immersed in the episode and enjoying it so much, that when that came on, the pace was ruined out of nowhere. But judging it for what it is, standalone, it was cool! I don't understand Lucy’s comments that all the girls were in it? Were they, and I just didn’t see them? haha

- I’m surprised Spencer hasn't pieced together that Aria is doing this. The earring... bringing dinner then leaving? I don't know about you guys but not once in my entire life have I driven to my friends house to drop off dinner for them and then leave? That’s just weird. Some might say it’s a polite gesture... and it is, but it’s weirdly polite. No one does that?? “Hey I brought you dinner! Ok I’m going now!” wtf?

- Can Marco just arrest them already!? They’re dwindling on this story for too long. Too much talking, not enough action.

- The episode felt incomplete. I don't like how they’re dragging on a few storylines into the next episode, such as Aria’s reward (we know it was her files... but I wanted to actually read them in detail) and the doctor’s ID. Those storylines were the stories of THIS episode. Episode 17 was about THOSE things - they should’ve got total resolution, to define the episode and say “episode 17 revolved around these things”. I was just waiting for them to say Wren’s name (in regards to the doctor who did the procedure). And it never came. This episode should’ve had just one more reveal of sorts. And I don’t like that they didn’t just reveal things then and there. Oh and also the puzzle pieces... I thought with 2 more pieces, we’d get a better idea of what the pieces are forming. But no. So that was a tiny bit disappointing, that Aria did all that work and she/we still didn’t really get much out of it.

- That ending confirmed for me that Mona is not AD. It’s too obvious. I know CeCe was obvious because they literally showed her in a hoodie... but this is different. This is too close to the finale. I don’t believe Mona is AD. Instead, Mona wants to win the liars’ trust back so she’s working to solve the game, rather than administer the game to them. Also she is saving their assess by taking the shovels/potential evidence - it’s good not bad. Unfortunately this all comes back to Mona dying in the finale. She’ll get way too close to AD’s identity, and then AD will kill her. Thankfully, the girls will pickup where Mona left off and end it themselves. Then, they'll realise they couldn't have done it without Mona. So sad, but it’s a great story arc especially for a series finale.

- Caleb’s talk about Hanna to Ashley was adorable. That was a really well done scene. I loved their tent scene with the rings and Hanna bringing the bottle because she anticipated Caleb would say “yes I meant those words”. We all know the writers chose a tent because that’s where they spent their first night - I like that attention to detail. Terrible song choice... oh my gosh. Why not just use the same song as 1x19 (I think that was the episode?) Nostalgia always sells.

- Overall, my second favourite episode this season! 8.5/10. I really did like it. Again, I’ve gotten over the fact that we don't get answers every episode. It was a lie, yes, but I’m not going to sit here and whinge when the answers are just 3 weeks away anyway. I’m just taking the episodes for what they are, disregarding all comments from writers, and I’m loving the ride. Fast paced, good writing, amazing mystery/story. Decent romance too - coming from someone who only watches for mystery, they’re doing well. I honestly would’ve rated this a 10/10 episode if they just went that extra mile and revealed the doctor’s name (Wren), showed us Aria’s reward properly AND give us insight into what the puzzle pieces are forming. The episode felt incomplete that they started stories this episode and never resolved them completely. But nonetheless, it was amazing. No Ali definitely contributed to that ;) 8.5 might seem high for an episode with no answers, but I was entertained from start to finish, no fillers, decent romance, really good mystery... can’t say much bad other than it feeling incomplete. This was an episode of PLL doing what it does best. IF ONLY THEY JUST GAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE IN THE FINAL MINUTES.

EDIT: SORRY I MEAN DONOR - NOT DOCTOR. It’s 2.30am right now, and I just finished watching the episode. I was going to watch it in the morning but I stayed up to get this post out - I always get messages asking when my thoughts post will be up!

[goron-king-darunia]

The Tales games are some of the best to come out of Japan, though some of the mainline games are better than others. Here’s our ranking of the best Tales games.

=======================================

Annon-Guy: Found this a while back.

Bet you disagree with what the ‘worst’ title is though. 

=======================================  GKD: It’s gentler to DotNW than some other rankings I’ve seen. I tend not to trust people that like Vespiria best “because the writing is good” to like DotNW at all because they’re looking for some VERY different things in the narrative than I am and most definitely will not like Emil as a protagonist if they like Yuri as a protagonist. I agree that Abyss belongs pretty high on the rankings along with Symphonia and I agree with the rankings of the other games I’m at least aware of (I haven’t played most of the titles yet but I’m planning to and know a decent amount through osmosis.)  Most people that don’t like DotNW tend to have the same few complaints: “Lloyd bad? No! GAME BAD!” Like... Lloyd stans, I love y’all, but I know a fair chunk of people refused to play the game because they heard Lloyd was the villain and instead of going “that’s not Lloyd, Lloyd would never do that, I wonder who it actually is or if we’re playing as the real bad guys.” a lot of them went “That’s not Lloyd, Lloyd would never do that. Therefore the game is bad for implying Lloyd is any different than the Lloyd I loved playing as.” This ties into the second group of people that don’t like DotNW for the “nostalgia goggles” reason. Symphonia was probably their first Tales game and they loved it so much that this game not being everything they wanted out of a sequel made them so disenchanted with it that they can’t enjoy the parts of it that make it a separate game and just see all those parts as “places they could have made it MORE like the game I loved” instead of “Ah yes, the new content that’s good on its own and is kind of ruined by the fact they tried to cram the old cast in here for me.” Then there are the people who hate the mechanics which is... fair but... unless a game’s mechanics have made it impossible for me to do something because of a poorly timed button press (see the rope swinging levels of Wind Waker which were easy for me as a kid and make me want to scream as an adult with slower reflexes.) I’ve never hated a game for the mechanics alone. If people find the game unplayable or unpolished because the mechanics don’t gel or aren’t intuitive? That’s fine. That’s just not something I’ve ever had a problem with before. Then there are people who hate the story. These people and I will never see eye-to-eye because apart from a few unanswered questions, which kind of leave intrigue more than frustration, Marta’s development being completely shoved into the journal and a few skits, and some of the best content (the Alice and Decus and Richter sidequests) being too easy to miss, the story is one of my favorite things about the game if not my FAVORITE thing. Maybe they like the plot to spell everything out for them. Or maybe they like even more vagueries. Maybe they want more twists like in Symphonia. Maybe they want a straightforward narrative and hated the plot contrivances. I’d be curious how the haters of DotNW’s story would react to the original Baten Kaitos and the prequel Origins, because I think it would be about the same. I think Symphonia lovers would like BK but not Origins and DotNW lovers would like Origins and either dislike or just kinda enjoy the original BK. And then there are the people who hate DotNW because of Emil. And again, I don’t think I’ll ever see eye-to-eye with them. Emil’s development as a character is almost perfect to me. IDK if people just happen to prefer silent-protags with snarker options like some of the new Links from the Legend of Zelda series, or just hated having to play in the shoes of someone who wasn’t always heroic, but I honestly LOVE when a game doesn’t give me just a cookie-cutter protag like Lloyd. If a game wants the protag to be a version of me? Then I want things like the Elder Scrolls where you can customize a fair bit about your character including the dialogue, even if it’s just window dressing. If the game wants me to play as a character they invented? I want that little bugger to be interesting. I want to get attached. And DotNW does that for me with Emil. Baten Kaitos did it for me with Kalas. I don’t need them to be perfect. I need them to be interesting. I don’t need them to be my mouthpiece, I need them to be fun to watch. Sonic the Hedgehog is a perfect example of that. Sonic’s personality is completely independent of my actions in the game. He’s a free-spirited 90s kid who likes to go fast, though his exact aesthetic seems to update depending on the demographic playing since he wasn’t always a 90′s kid aesthetic. XD To me, the entire point of DotNW is watching Emil grow (it would be nice if it was about watching EVERYBODY GROW, like Marta and Richter and even the original cast.) Having Emil start out as a whimpering little “coward” and watching him grow as he learns more about himself, the world, and how he fits into that world is so good. Lloyd was always kind of cut out to be a hero especially because the plot bent around him to ensure basically anything and everything he wanted was “the right choice.” Lloyd never had to change. He never had to grow. He stuck to what he believed and made the world change around him. I guess that’s powerful to some people, believing they can change the world and are already perfect as they are. But Lloyd never struck a chord with me the way Emil did. And before I started liking Colette more, Zelos was my fave from Symphonia because he WASN’T PERFECT but also wasn’t a shitty dad like Kratos. XD Emil was WAY more captivating and engaging because HE HAD TO CHANGE to make the world around him change. He had to go from being Ratatosk -  a powerful summon spirit, alone, depressed, enraged, vengeful, completely broken after what happened to him - to a human boy - timid, weak, but caring an passionate - and then spent the entire game becoming a synergy of those two aspects. Merging the best of both sides into something BETTER. Perhaps getting closer to what Ratatosk was before his tree died. Mithos did say that Emil’s kindness and Ratatosk’s strength and confidence are what he remembers most about the original Ratatosk. So Emil might not have gotten fully back to that, hell he may NEVER be that Ratatosk again, but the fact that he PUT HIMSELF BACK TOGETHER AT ALL, the fact that he didn’t have to become unkind to be strong again and the fact that he didn’t have to stay weak to keep his kindness was VERY POWERFUL as was the message that kindness is a strength of its own, maybe even more powerful than physical strength, because it’s only when the characters show each other kindness that things really seem to change (and kindness takes COURAGE which as we know is the magic that turns dreams into reality.) Like... the game was SO MUCH MORE about emotional beats. So as much as I like the original Symphonia, the OVA is WAY better because Lloyd actually has a bit more personality and HAS TO CHANGE if only a little bit, though he still has MASSIVE plot armor. DotNW might fair better as an OVA since it could linger on the emotional aspects I liked a lot more and it might provide that separation for people who just hated DotNW because it “made them play as a sniveling brat.” And then there are people that hate it for the monster-catching thing. Which was like a bonus for me because I love Pokemon but like... if you don’t like catching Monsters then just... don’t? I sucked at catching Monsters and I still got strong enough that the later half of the game was manageable my first time around. If you don’t like your “worse version of Pokemon” then just... don’t use that mechanic. You can level up enough by grinding like the original Symphonia to get strong enough for the rest of the game. I’m sorry you joyless people don’t like adventures with cute critters. The monsters, other than Richter and Emil, are my fave characters in the game because they’re ALL SO CUTE! XD But yeah. These aren’t all the reasons I’ve heard, and just because I disagree doesn’t mean they’re not valid reasons. Liking or not liking DotNW is an opinion and everyone is allowed to have an opinion. People can like what they want and dislike what they want. So I was glad to see an opinion piece that didn’t eviscerate DotNW off-hand (some critics never even played the game and this person at least seems familiar with the controls so they played at least a bit.) It’s still always sad when people don’t like DotNW, and it’s especially sad since a lot of DotNW’s fans are the JP audience that I can’t talk to very easily because I’m an American idiot that only speaks basic Spanish and only knows minimal Japanese from being a teenaged weeb. But I’m happy that at least this particular critic recommends the game for Symphonia fans, even if they didn’t like it themself. I’m also very happy that Bamco made it a main title and not a spin off so it’s canon now and people can stop saying the game doesn’t matter or doesn’t count because they didn’t like it. I’m fine with them still hating it, but they have to at least acknowledge that this is a story the developers wanted to tell in line with the main series and not just “something they made because Symphonia made lots of money.” I do think that DotNW would have done better with the USA and European audience if the team had gone with their original idea and set it far enough in the future that the Symphonia crew wasn’t there or that only the half-elves and possibly Lloyd and Colette (or Zelos since he’s technically an angel too) were there. Emil’s story, Richter’s story, and (the good parts of) Marta’s story are all interesting enough that they could be told without the Symphonia cast being involved at all. That being said, I LIKE the old cast being there. But because they had to change the old cast to fit the new narrative, I know that it disappointed a LOT of people who were expecting “more of the same” from the old cast and didn’t get it. So while I love the game as-is and wouldn’t change it, if it had been released according to the original vision and NOT had the original Symphonia cast in it, I think it would have been at least a little bit more well-recieved.