#letting the voices win
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guacoholic · 6 months ago
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Posted this on the clock app and I might as well here too
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m3lodyxo · 9 months ago
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Salvation for the damned
Priest!Sanji x fem!Reader smut
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Minors, do not interact!!!
Author's note: This is my first smut, go easy on me. I'm not used to actually posting what I write. Ever since I saw @hunnismokah 's fanart of Sanji as a priest I haven't had a WINK of sleep. She has unleashed something feral into the world.
Warning: if you're uncomfortable with themes of religion, I'll advise you to scroll away.
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"What is troubling you, my child?"
Sanji fancied himself a man of God. From a young age, he knew his role in life was to serve The All Mighty and help lost souls find the right path again.
He gave an Oath, and swore his body, mind and soul to The Lord, in promise to never stray from the path of light. And Sanji was a man of his word. Hence why he was sure you were sent by the Judge Of All, to test his strength and devotion.
Oh, you were the most angelic being he had ever laid eyes upon. Or at least so he thought, because, in truth, he saw you as a temptation crafted by The Devil specifically to torture him. And as much as he prayed and kneeled before God, begging for expiation, you wouldn't leave. As hard as he cried out to the heavens for a chance to atone, his screams were never heard.
You would always creep into his dreams, where he was most vulnerable, and force him into sin. You were a foul succubus, the daughter of Satan, and you have come to ensure his fall.
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"Father, I must atone for these terrible sins I've committed against the Holy One."
He hadn't expected you to turn up so late, looking deeply troubled near the Church's entrance. He let you in without a second thought, and as soon as you reached the altar, you dropped down to your knees, your hands clasped together, looking up at him in desperation.
His face softened and he smiled ever so slightly. He was glad you finally decided to turn yourself over to The Light. Sanji lifted his hand over your head and spoke with firmness in his voice.
"Speak now child, lay yourself bare before The Lord and share your troubles. Pray that He may forgive you."
He felt closest to God during confessions. It was as if The All Mighty spoke through him, accepting the wrongs of those before him into his heart and engulfing them in pure holy light.
"I've been plagued by impure thoughts, Father. The sin of Lust and Desire has claimed me and shackled me in its repulsive hold and I have become its slave."
Through the silence, a shaky breath was all that could be heard. Sanji felt his body shudder and pool in a cold sweat, a chill running down his spine. His knees were so weak he thought he might keel over any moment now, had he not been holding Saint Patrick's Cross so tightly in his other hand.
Taking a deep breath in through his nose, Sanji composed himself. Right now, he had to help this poor woman redeem herself before The Lord.
"Very good, my child. The first step to redemption is seeking out the forgiveness of God. Stand."
You did as you were told immediately, without asking a single question. Good. The expectant look in your eyes could melt the resolve of the most cold-hearted man, had you only wished to do so.
"For your heinous crimes, you shall face punishment, and you shall suffer, and you shall be freed. Now, are you ready to carry out God's task?"
Oh, that spark in your eyes. He could almost feel the devotion radiate off your body into zaps of energy. Almost. "I am ready, Father. I swear that I will do whatever it is The Lord asks of me."
Before you even finished speaking, he had already turned around and instructed you to follow him.
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Not before long, you found yourself in his private quarters. Just as you were about to question why, he called out to you, and you answered. Sanji was sat at the edge of his bed, looking up at you with a gentle smile adorning his face.
"Kneel, child."
You sank back to your knees, reaching out with your hands and hesitantly placing them atop his own, all while looking at him. He extended his hand to you and gently cupped your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb.
Breath caught in your throat, you dared not utter a word, lest all kinds of sinful thoughts escape through, in-between your teeth.
"Do you know what you must do?" You could feel his thumb brush across your plush lips and pull the bottom one down.
"Yes, Father."
Sanji felt your hands drag up his thighs and settle on the zipper of his pants. He held back a groan at the feeling of your hands on him, inhaling sharply once you pulled his cock out and sat up on your knees to press a featherlight kiss to the tip.
You licked your lips and pressed one more kiss to it before wrapping them around the head, sucking lightly. He let out a gasp and shut his eyes, basking in the way your perfect lips wrapped so well around the head of his dick. Sanji felt you pull away and opened his eyes only to see you spit on his cock and wrap a hand around to stroke him. Your palm so soft and gentle, your pace slow and sensual, easing him into the feeling of your skin pressed to his. He was trying so hard not to let out soft moans of pleasure as you touched him, your skin igniting a spark in him that ate away at his soul deliciously so.
He could feel sin seep through his skin and into his heart, pulling him away from all that he deemed right, enticing him to beg for more. But he couldn't allow it, couldn't allow to lose himself to such carnal desires.
His resolve, however, faltered the second you took him into your mouth again. Enveloping his cock in its warmth and continuing to stroke whatever you failed to fit with your hand. Sanji let out a whine, and pressed his palm to the back of your head, keeping you in place. You had long since closed your eyes, basking in the feeling of him filling up your mouth, making you imagine what it would feel like for him to bury himself deep inside you and claim you as his.
Oh, you've dreamed of him for so long. You knew it was wrong to want a man of God, selfish, to wish he'd devote himself to you instead. You'd stay awake at night, desperately pumping your fingers to feel even the slightest relief, but your body knew what it wanted. And it wanted it badly.
Whatever you did, you couldn't satisfy your hunger for the man, and tonight, after hopelessly trying to chaise you high for hours and failing miserably, you decided enough was enough. You had to have him.
Snapping back into the present, you moved your tongue against him, hearing him let out yet another sinful cry, tears threatening to spill over his eyes. You could feel yourself clenching around nothing. Sanji tugged on your hair, and a moan escaped your throat, making him mewl in ecstasy.
He could feel a knot begin to form, like a balloon ready to burst, so he pushed you away, panting.
You looked up at him, confused. Had he not enjoyed himself? Did he perhaps change his mind? Maybe he finally realised how wretched you were.
"Come, sit." You wasted no time in hastily removing your bottoms and straddling his lap. Sanji placed both his hands on your hips, pressing gentle kisses to your neck and collarbone. A sigh left his lips when he felt your fingers swiftly undoing his ponytail and running your fingers through his long, golden locks of hair.
You aligned yourself up with his cock and sank, taking him in inch by delicious inch, filling yourself. Once you finally fit him all inside, a breath of relief left you.
He was still pressed closely to your chest, holding you tightly and squeezing your hips as if you'd disappear should he let go. And his grip became tighter once you started moving. Sanji felt like he'd lose his mind by how tight, wet and warm your walls were, pulsating and squeezing around him and greedily sucking him in.
"Father...please." Your voice was so weak as if the wind was knocked out of you, leaving you gasping and craving for more. He groaned and tried to meet your hips with his, thrusting up into your cunt in chase of the pleasure engulfing him whole.
"Fuck, you feel so good my sweet." He was quickly losing himself in you. Breathing in your scent and feeling it fill up his lungs, it was almost as if his mind was spiralling into insanity.
"Call me by my name...Let me hear you say it." You could barely register what he was asking of you, too drunk on the feeling of the man you've been craving for so long finally giving you what you've been wanting.
"Sanji, please don't stop." A shameless whine interrupted you. You couldn't form coherent thoughts anymore. All you could think about was him and how good he was making you feel.
He just kissed your forehead and began fucking into you harder, hitting that special spot deep inside you every time. He knew you were close by the way you tightened so much around him, it was evident.
"I know darling, 'm close too. Fuck- Been dreaming about this pussy for months. Been dreaming of filling it up to the brim with my cum. Is that what you want love? For me to paint your insides white?"
All you could do was throw your head back and moan like an animal in heat, desperately moving your hips to chase that high.
"Use your words, sweetness. Tell me you want it." He didn't falter in his movements, keeping up the brutal pace and abusing your cunt, set on hearing you.
You locked your eyes with his, barely able to keep them open. "Want your cum Sanji, please give it to me. Want you to fill me up." He groaned, hearing you barely get out the words, too focused on the pleasure he was giving you.
"Since you asked so nicely, you better take it all." You could feel your eyes roll to the back of your head as you tipped over the edge, his words alone making you lose your mind. You moaned out his name again and again, like a prayer and he felt that knot finally snap.
With a final thrust of his hips, Sanji came, spilling deep inside you, painting your walls white. You felt your insides warm up as you milked him of every last drop until he was spent.
With both of you panting, he gripped your face with one hand to make you face him again and asked. "What do you say now?"
"Thank you, Father."
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sammytherat · 9 months ago
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Embracing my cringe side and making an Ultrakill sona just to ship it with Gabriel (every artist can relate in some way)
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Their name is Icarus (He/They/It) and is actually a demon in disguise… and yes, it’s based off the Icarus myth! His false form is that of an angel, while his true form is his demon self. For being a demon, he’s fairly alright at doing angelic duties (although they’re bound to slip up at some point). Expect more art of them at some point interacting with my other ocs!
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I should rlly post more often,,, Haven’t been mainly cuz of the fandom jumps I’ve been going through, but either way I know this is my page and I can do what I please … mweheheh…. My motto is be cringe be free after all…
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zorangezest · 15 days ago
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thanks for listening
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tsuki-in-faerun · 2 months ago
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can we talk about jammer consistently refusing opportunities that give him an advantage over other people in his community?
i keep getting stuck on the magical community kitchens that he wanted to create in the epilogue of the initial season. evan thinks about abolishing the wall between magic and mundane, k thinks how to facilitate access to information, sam thinks of leading with kindness and education. jammer thinks of the essentials of life. if we have a kitchen that can make anything without the burden of material resources, why would any being in the world go hungry?
jammer leaves school to preserve his sovereignty over his body and freedom of movement, but he also gives up something that would make him meaningfully more powerful than anybody in his day to day. with magic being wild and unpredictable, he can't funnel it into solving the most pressing problems affecting the people around him and therefore, there's not enough incentive for him to push past how freaky it might make him look to whip out a wand and do magic about it.
whitney doesn't have to be at LEEP as much as he is. he doesn't have to be getting 40-50 points a game. he tries to do a little magic because someone specifically asked about it but magic itself is not making enough of a fundamental impact on the way he can achieve his goals for him to use it. so he puts it away.
what i am getting out of jammer's arc so far is that the other members of the pilot program function to ask what magic can do. what is the nature of it in this form or that form? jammer is on this quest to ask "what is magic for? can we use it so that every body has everything they need to live a good life?"
love jammer.
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bakuzen-xiv · 5 months ago
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I don't have an excuse for this
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lifemod17 · 1 month ago
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"I love you too, don't you ever forget that"
🎥: thisphantomlife | x
Riverstage, Brisbane || 11/18/2024
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gunsatthaphan · 1 month ago
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i'm still here btw ✌🏻🧎🏼‍♀️
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insomni-frog · 29 days ago
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just redesigned him and now I've already drawn him with his shirt off... might be a new record or something-
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she-wu · 7 months ago
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hoshi progressively losing energy on going rangers #2
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triangular-static · 4 months ago
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congrats to bill cipher on managing to be both sides of the "it's me boy i'm the ps5" meme
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pareidolla · 4 months ago
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bro really saw para and hero get a second route together and squeezed himself between them as fast as possible huh
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m3lodyxo · 9 months ago
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Okay so, I kinda have this Adam headcannon that's like.... Weird? Humor me for a few seconds please.
We all know what he was created for. To start human kind. To procreate. (And name all the animals in the garden of Eden but I'll just skip that detail here) So it makes sense he'd be a... A horndog. He's build to go at it like a rabbit durring mating season.
So like... Do you guys think he "recovers" quicker than normal humans? I'm not experienced in the field, and thank fuck I don't have a dick, but I know that a guy can finish at most like, what? Twice?
But Adam was the first man. And getting a woman pregnant isn't just a "we fuck once and it's done" job, although I imagine Lillith and Eve were created with that in mind.
So like, it would make sense that he could go at it for far longer than any other human.
Plus his load is probably more than the average guy.
Idk, maybe I'm just letting the voices in my head talk. And lemme tell ya, they don't stop yapping.
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clowningaroundmars · 6 months ago
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aromantic mike chilton for @aggressivelyarospec week!!!! :D
accompanying story under the cut!
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It didn't work out with Julie.
They had broken up and decided it would be best to stay friends. After all, with Mike... nothing really changed at all. Like... nothing.
And that was kinda the problem.
Julie didn't think herself to be too judgmental of a person, not after everything everyone's been through. She and the Burners worked hard, played hard, and succeeded together (oftentimes against all odds).
They slept in cuddle piles after dinner some nights whenever Julie could slip away for more than a day without arousing her dad's suspicions. They passed bongs around for a lung-hacking hit or two, went skinny-dipping in the lake at night, patched up each other's bloody wounds countless times.
And then somewhere down the line, Julie fell in love with Mike.
She had no idea when exactly, since she doesn't really do feelings like that, can't afford to with a life like hers. But it happened... somehow.
Julie couldn't quite place exactly what it was that initially drew her to him, especially at first. Sure, the guy was friendly, decisive, assertive without being too overbearing, and unbearably charming. But.
It was the charm that caught poor Julie totally off-guard, really. She'd often hear her father ranting and raving about his golden-prodigal-son-turned-traitor, and his ID photo in his file wasn't really much to look at, either. Julie would never admit it out loud, but she had snuck down to Motorcity for the first time ever with low expectations.
Later, she came back up to her pod in Deluxe with stars in her eyes.
But she wasn't in love with him then, no. She knew this because she was pretty sure her constant Mike Thoughts did not manifest until after the kids all went to Antonio's together for the first time.
It was summertime, around nine months after the group was (un)officially formed. The heat had Mike shirking his jacket and leaving it in Mutt, and his old t-shirt was getting a tad bit tight after all the exercise he was getting around the hideout, especially after Texas moved his workout gear in and Mike took him up on his offer for semi-regular sparring sessions.
And boy, did that Mike fella fill out. Mhmm.
Even Julie-- a girl who was mostly blind to typical male affections directed at her in school-- had to admit to herself that when Mike put on a little more weight in the right places, when his biceps bulged a bit as he flexed an arm and his shoulders got a bit wider... it took a lot more effort to wrench her studious gaze away.
Geez Louise.
Before long, she was doodling their initials and combining both of their names in her little sketchpad. Gag. Gross.
But Mike never seemed to pay attention to her the same way in return. She didn't catch him looking away from her at inopportune times, and he'd never lay a single hand on her aside from a typical friendly pat on the shoulder, or a comfortable lean on an arm while the Burners all lounged around during movie nights. Hell, he seemed more affectionate with his best friend Chuck than he was with her most times.
So she kept her thoughts to herself. Easy peasy. She kept secrets from her dad, from her friends, and now from Mike. Like everything else, she created a neat, separate file in her head and tucked that little secret away. She managed to conceal it for long enough.
Until it became too big to ignore.
And then it happened.
And it really just... happened. Julie hardly registered herself even doing it.
It happened like this: Mike had rescued Julie from certain death at the lake after she crashed an out-of-control 9 Lives out through the barricades and into the water, and they were panting and coughing up water on the sand after Mike succeeded in dragging her out. Dutch and Texas were busy racing around and distracting the Kanebots, luring them all away from the pair.
Julie didn't say anything. Neither of them did. Julie just... surged forward when she blinked the water out of her eyes and saw him, his angelic face hovering mere inches away from hers. She remembered the dewey drops on his long lashes and the warmth of his lips more than anything else.
And then she's pretty sure she blacked out afterwards because the next thing she remembers, she's waking up on the couch wrapped in blankets and towels, wearing Chuck's hoodie.
She doesn't ask anyone why Chuck opted to be the guy to lend his clothes to her.
(It wasn't Chuck who lent it to her though.)
After Jacob makes sure she has a steaming mug of soup in her hands and is generally fussed over enough, he bids her a goodnight and leaves a big holoscreen playing old-timey anime shows for her.
Shortly afterwards, Mike slips into the room on feet far too quiet for a rowdy teenage boy like him. Julie almost misses his entry and startles when she notices him casually leaning on a wall over to her right, almost blending in against the garish grafitti and street signs.
They sat down and spoke quietly, privately.
Julie appreciated that Mike had enough tact and forethought not to confront her in front of all of the guys. Thank god. Julie wouldn't even know how to handle the endless teasing that would inevitably assault her from all angles if they ever even suspected that she had a crush on Mike.
And how embarrassing, really! The only girl on the team falling for the charming and roguish leader of a group of rebels. Double gag.
It was by some miracle that no one ever suspected Julie's true feelings, and that the actual love interest found out before anyone else did. Lucky her!
And incredibly, Mike shared her feelings too! Who would've thought it! Definitely not Julie, that's for sure.
Mike hadn't even seemed to glance her way at all in all the time they had known each other. He always maintained the same level of friendliness with her as he did with the other guys. But he confessed then that he knew Julie was special, and that their bond that grew in the time they had known each other was special, too.
Wow. Look at them, both hiding their feelings so well! It's like they were meant to be.
So they agreed to go steady.
Eventually, they told the rest of the Burners. Well, it really was just that it was kinda hard for them to ignore when Julie would sneak her index finger over to Mike's hand and hook it onto his pinkie as they walked back to their cars after a quick errand run for the Skylarks or an easy mission.
So they decided to make the announcement at Antonio's, which Julie thought was perfectly poetic. It was where she first fell in love with Mike, and now here they were a year and a half later, making it official.
They didn't expect the other guys' reactions, though. The Burners received the news... lukewarmly.
"You guys were in love?" Texas spewed bits of pizza all over the table as he chewed with his mouth open. Ugh. Typical Texas.
"Oh! Wow... uhm. Congrats, guys." Chuck seemed to hide behind his hair even more as his shoulders hiked up in a nonchalant shrug.
Dutch rubbed his chin. "...Yeah. Uh, yeah...? Cool. Congrats, you two."
And then silence fell over the table.
"Is... is there a problem with this, or?" Julie dared to press.
Everyone silently exchanged glances.
Mike-- bless his heart-- misread the situation and clasped his hands together on the table.
"Guys, look," he started, "this isn't gonna change anything about the team. We're still gonna be friends, I’m not prioritizing Julie over anyone else on missions. It's just... we're gonna... we're gonna be the Burners, except I’m dating Jules now! That's all!"
Mike smiled warmly at all his friends. Chuck chewed on his lip.
Dutch bobbed his head thoughtfully. Then, after a while, he said "nah, yeah. We figured. I mean, you're a pretty great guy so it's not like we thought you were gonna up and abandon us or anything. It's just that... uh. So when did this uhhh, yanno, this whole thing start?"
Julie blinked.
Mike cocked his head. "Start?" He asked.
"Y'know, like when did y'all start liking each other? Because uh, no offense, but this is kinda comin' out of the blue for us. Literally nobody thought this was gonna be a thing. Tell us some stories!"
Mike blew out a breath and leaned back in the booth. Julie smiled.
"Weeeellll," Julie squinted with excitement and then let the cat out of the bag.
She told them all about it, how in this very same booth she watched as Mike's t-shirt stretched over his muscles all those months ago and how his smile seemed to shine brighter than the diner's neon signs. Then about how she leaned against Mike's broad chest after agonizing for hours over not being able to free him from her father's maximum-security prison that one time. About all the dreams she'd have of them together, the intimate late-night talks they'd have while having a couple of drinks on the rooftop of some abandoned building. How she loved his bright eyes and strong hands...
When she finished, she had a dreamy kind of look all over her face. Mike had a brow quirked, but he smiled back at her all the same.
Everyone exchanged glances again.
"So Mike. Was it like that for you?" Chuck asked eventually. It had a strange sort of lilt to it, like he was in on an inside joke that Julie wasn't.
She bristled a bit.
"Oh! Uh." Mike glanced around quickly. "Not... really? But Julie's super pretty, so when she confessed to me, I was pretty stoked."
Mike grinned like a goofball. Julie grinned like a goofball. The rest of the Burners looked skeptical.
"Hm. Cool! Well, great." Chuck turned back to his loaded pizza slice.
And just like that, things mostly went back to normal.
And, uh... Mike was right, this... really wasn't changing anything between them and the Burners. Like at all.
A small part of Julie was kind of hurt by it, but she tried to wave the feeling away. It was nonsense, and she should be happy. Mike loved her! He just wasn't a romantic type, that's all. He loved his friends, loved being a Burner... it was fine.
Right?
It was normal for her to have to remind Mike every now and then to go out on a date with her. He's a busy guy, and this was his first relationship. Julie just had to be patient.
Patient... patient. Yeah. She could be patient.
It was when Chuck joined them for their sixth "movie date" in a row that the patience was starting to run a bit thin, though.
Chuck and Mike settled side-by-side on the communal couch, swapping snacks as easily as breathing and nursing a popcorn bowl between them. Mike hooked an arm over Julie's shoulder though, so Julie said nothing.
It was a couple of months later when Mike makes a quiet confession to her as they laid together in his pristine bed one night.
"I don't really like kissing all that much," he mumbles, face half-buried into his pillows. "But I like holding you. Is that okay?"
Julie's heart sinks into the covers. But she nods anyways. "Yeah. That's okay."
"Really? Do ya mean it? It's not weird or anything, right? We can still be together but not kiss. Maybe I can give you forehead kisses instead?"
Julie sighed softly. "Mmnyeah, that's fine."
"It's not you, it's me, Jules. I just--"
"Mike. Trust me, I get it. It's okay, seriously."
Mike gave her a grateful smile back.
Damnit. Well.
Anyways, life continued on. Julie resigned herself to accepting the fact that her boyfriend was just simply a guy's guy.
Julie liked cars but Mike was all over Mutt. Loved the damn thing more than he loved her, honestly. She loved being a Burner, but it seemed like it was Mike's purpose, like he was more devoted to the city under the dome than he was to his girlfriend. And above all, Mike loved the Burners. All of them. He spent a bit more time with Chuck than he did with anyone else in the team, but he was always there for everyone just as passionately.
Which was. Fine.
Freeing Motorcity from her father's reign of terror was indeed way more important than holding hands with a cute boy!
Duh, of course, stupid Julie.
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Whatever.
When they inevitably broke up, it blindsided Mike. He thought they were the best of buds! The bestest of buds-- aside from him and Chuck, of course! But while he loved Chuck fiercely, his love for Julie was... different. Fierce but different. He could never describe it in words but he knew what he was feeling was real.
He loved Julie! So when she suddenly broke up with him, it was like getting hit with a sack of flour out of nowhere.
They were leaned up against Mutt's hood on a cliff overlooking Lake Erie when Julie finally broke the news. They were casually smoking a cigarette, passing it back and forth. Mike's idea of a "date." Anyways.
"I can't really keep doing this, Mike." Julie sighed out a cloud of smoke. She said it so matter-of-factly, as casually as if she were simply commenting on the weather.
Mike whipped round to look at her. "Keep doing what?"
"This," Julie threw her hands up and tucked them into her vest pockets after handing Mike the cigarette back. "This... 'relationship'. It's not working out."
"What... whaddya mean? We just started dating, it's kinda too early to tell--"
"No, Mike." Julie interrupted loudly. Her eyes were avoiding Mike's face carefully. "No... it's not. We've been together for months and we have never moved on from our friendship. You... just admit it, dude. You're just not into me."
Mike pushed himself off of Mutt and placed his hands on both of her shoulders, forcing them to stand face-to-face. "Julie, look at me." He had his jaw set.
Julie swallowed as she peered up at him from her bangs.
"I love you more than you can ever know. I know I’m messing up, but... but I’m trying, okay? Just give us one more chance, Jules. I can make it right, I know it!"
Julie took a step back, wrinkling her nose. "Mike! Just give it up, okay? I know you don't feel the same about me as I do about you," she pleaded, mortified. "It's okay! It's fine! We can just move on and let it go!"
"B-but it's not! No, Julie c'mon, bro--"
"Bro?!" Julie exploded, hands in the air now. "Are you hearing yourself right now? Am I your girlfriend, or your bro?"
Mike gaped at her like a fish, mouth opening just to close again. Then, he hunched his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets.
He kicked a couple of rocks off the cliff, watching the pebbles scatter and plummet dozens of feet below.
Then he ran his hands through his hair, a nervous habit of his, before returning back to Julie.
He exhaled loudly. "What... what's the difference? You... isn't that what dating is all about? Being best friends with your partner?"
Julie glared at him. "Yes! And it's also about being more than that, too!"
Mike scoffed. "More than friends? What does that even mean? Nothing is more important than friendship, Jules. Not in Motorcity."
"Nothing is more important than friendship?! Mike--" Here, Julie took a step back to pinch her nose and exhale. "Look. When I confessed my feelings to you for the first time, what were you feeling?"
"What was I feeling? Uh, I dunno, happiness I guess? What, did you want me to say that I didn't care? I care about your feelings, Julie! I do!"
"So you started dating me because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?!" Julie shouted.
"Where are you getting that from?!" Mike shouted back.
"Mike! You are just not into me! I can just tell! It's okay! W-we can just be friends, like how we used to be. I don't even know why you're fighting me so hard on this, I'm the one breaking up with you. You can't change my mind!"
"Right," Mike huffed, "because you don't love me anymore. No, I get it. It's fine."
They glared at each other for a beat.
Then, Julie shoved her hands back into her vest pockets. "No, Mike. I do love you. I just think..." she sighed, all the wind in her sails blowing away, "I just think it's best for us to go our own separate ways."
Mike startled. "Wait, what? Jules... are you...? You're not leaving the Burners, are you?"
"No, I'm not leaving the Burners." Julie says through clenched teeth. "I'm just gonna take a quick break and then when I come back? We're gonna be just friends again, Mike. Alright?"
Mike inhales deeply, his own anger trickling out of him like water as well. "... Fine. Fine, yeah. Whatever you want, Julie." He hangs his head.
They then stare off into the horizon together, watching the twinkling star-like pinpoints of light on the underside of the dome. Watching as the lake's waters undulate and shimmer in the darkness of the cool evening, a gigantic dark mirror reflecting the pinpoints back to the ceiling.
Mike idly scuffs his boot on the ground again, putting out their shared cigarette. In a sad sort of way, the dying ember of the smoldering stick being stomped out into rocks and gravel was a lot like their relationship: dead and done. And of course it had to be Mike to put them both out, huh. Right.
Real poetic.
Julie turns around wordlessly, climbs into Mutt and sits in Chuck's seat.
Time to go.
After a few seconds Mike nods once, fixes his collar and slides into his own seat.
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The ride back up to Deluxe is quiet.
Except this time, it had been a long while since they had the time to relax like this. These days, Kane's attacks were getting more and more savage, brutal... and cunning.
It was a couple years later when the kids were a bit older --but not that much older at the same time-- that they all filed past the doors of Antonio's and slid right into their usual booth.
Kane's latest attempt at a hostile takeover of Motorcity involved way too many sneaky double-crossing spies all trying to break the Burners up and weaken the city's best defense. Sneaky bastard, that Abraham Kane.
But they thwarted him yet again, despite it all. They beat the bad guys, restored peace back amongst the gangs and the civilians, and saved the day.
It had taken weeks this time, but they succeeded.
So now to celebrate, they're placing their orders for the greasiest, most heart-clogging fast food on the menu and sitting back to happily sip at their drinks. They're finally enjoying their time together again, and Mike is especially pleased that everyone made it out alive.
Sitting elbow-to-elbow with his bestest friends in the world, Mike takes advantage of a lull in the conversation to clap his hands together and get everyone's attention.
"Okay, guys!" He announces. "So, I'm pretty sure we're all kinda fried after... y'know, everything. Everyone's probably too tired to care about what I'm going to say next! So... confession time."
"Hmhmm! Spill, then," Chuck smirks, his chin in his cyborg hand. It was a recent upgrade to his prosthetic, and it shone a beautiful silvery-blue under the diner lights.
Mike chuckles nervously. "Uh, I... I think that... I figured out that I can't fall in love!"
Everyone stares at him.
Chuck casually slurps his milkshake through a straw.
Dutch turns to him then. "Wait. You knew?"
Chuck sits up. "Uhh hahaha, whoa. Where'd that come from? You psychic or somethin'?" He deflects awkwardly.
"You're clearly not surprised," Dutch points out.
"Pfft yeah I'm not surprised. Who's been Mike's best friend since, like, kindergarten again?"
"Ah. And ya didn't think to let me know anything back when we were dating? Sure would've saved us a lot of time," Julie quipped drily.
Chuck holds his mismatched hands up. "Now hold on a minute! I didn't know back then, obviously. Besides, you two dated years ago for like... three seconds!"
"Two years ago, smartass," Julie snips back.
Mike clears his throat conspicuously. "Guys! Guys, no need to fight over me," he jokes awkwardly, "because I, uhm, I've decided I don't belong to anybody! I'm just me, and I'm not dating anyone. Like, ever."
Everyone turns back to him again.
With four pairs of eyes on him, Mike draws in on himself a bit as he continues. "Yeah, it's. It's something that I've been kinda discovering about myself and I'm still... exploring it. But I'm pretty sure I've never had a crush in my life. I was just walking through life distracted by everything else for so long that I never noticed it, but... yeah. I've just. I've just never felt love for anyone else before, I guess."
"Which is fine," Chuck blurts out suddenly. "It's... it's fine! That Mike's never fallen in love with anyone. It happens. Some people just don't experience a common thing most people do... like romance, or sex. Yeah! Totally normal!"
Dutch smirks at Chuck. "You too, then? You a non-romantic as well?"
Chuck shakes his head so hard his bangs swing. "No! Nuh uh, I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm definitely a romantic!"
"Why so nervous all of a sudden, then?"
"Because," Chuck replies, "because... it's fine! To not ever fall in love or like... date, or kiss or have sex or whatever. We're in Motorcity now, and we can get to do whatever we want. And if we don't wanna date, then we don't have to!" Then he clamps his mouth shut.
Mike perks up then. "That's right! And ah, yeah! Speaking of, Chuckles... lemme tell ya, I really gotta hand it to ya. If it weren't for you, I'd've never figured this one out. So, thanks, buddy! As always, you really had my back on this one."
Chuck and Mike smile at each other and Texas raises a brow.
"Huh?" Texas says. "What's that s'posed to mean?"
Chuck titters nervously as Mike pulls up a screen and opens up a forum.
"It means that Chuckles here helped me find a site that explained everything I was experiencing! Or... not experiencing, really."
Chuck clears his throat, clearly relieved. "Uh, yeah! Well, after Mike's like, 10th girlfriend that one time he couldn't stop bringing people back home, he came to me all frustrated and stuff and... well, we went off to find my friends in the LARPing arena to see if anyone had any idea why he was burning through dates like Mutt burns through tires. And so someone suggested he might be aromantic, and uh... well, the rest is history!"
Dutch and Julie hummed in acknowledgement.
Everyone knew what that was like, how weird it was that Golden Child Mike all of sudden started bringing people home from parties and bars shortly after his breakup with Julie. Sometimes he even had two people on his arms, some men, some women. Never the same person after two or three times, though.
They were all perplexed when they first heard laughing and chattering behind Mike's bedroom door. Once the moaning started, though... well! Everyone poked fun at him the mornings after and teased him to varying degrees, but things were mostly chill in the beginning.
Everyone remembered Mike's frustrations after a while, though. How he could never quite land a steady relationship-- no matter how hard he tried, with whoever. It got to the point where the Burners stopped their teasing and became quite concerned after Mike introduced his 5th girlfriend in the span of like... 6 months, once upon a time.
It was shortly after his final breakup that Mike flopped down onto his best friend's messy bed one evening and finally had The Conversation.
It went well, all things considered. Chuck, patient as ever, listened to his friend and then when he couldn't offer any solid advice, he offered a distraction. The LARPing arena proved to be much better help than they could ever hope for.
Ever since then, Mike's been up late into the night often, completely engrossed in all things aromantic. He wanted to learn more about it, yearned for a community that knew exactly what he was feeling; so he stayed awake just swiping through sites and PDFs on his holoscreens, eating every bit of information up.
Now, it looked like Mike was at peace with himself and his station in life after all this time. That was a relief!
"Aromantic! That's it! Look at this, guys." Here, Mike grins and pulls up a photo of a striped flag. "This is the community flag. Look familiar?"
The colors of the flag had two shades of green at the top that then cascaded into white, then grey and then black.
Texas leaned forward. "It looks like Mutt!" He practically shouts.
Everyone laughs.
"Yeah, that sure is a you flag if I've ever seen one," Julie quips.
"Right? Like it was meant to be! So I guess I'm part of this community, then. I mean, this really is a kickass flag..."
"But what does that mean, though? That you can never fall in love with anyone, ever?" Julie asks.
Mike closes his screens and clasps his hands on the table, exhaling a bit. "Uhh, well? Well, yeah! I can't ever fall in love... but it doesn't feel that way to me! Ugh, I'm probably gonna do such a bad job explaining this," he laughs self-consciously.
"It's okay, dude. Take your time," Dutch smiles warmly.
Mike shoots him a grateful smile back. "... It... it's like. Well? It's like... I've never felt butterflies in my stomach before, so I have no idea what that's like. But I like you guys, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. I love hanging out with you all even though I don't think about any of you guys like that. I love making friends-- like true friends-- and I can't stop thinking about how happy hanging out with people makes me. I guess I'm just way more platonic than romantic, because I am just... so bad at love! God, I've never had so much trouble with anything in my life before like I have with romance," he groans, grimacing.
"And when Mike Fucking Chilton says that, that's how you know he's struggling!" Dutch puts in.
Everyone giggles.
"Wow," Julie gives Mike a side-long glance. "Finally. Something that The Great Mike Chilton is bad at! We've finally got him, boys."
Texas leaps out of his seat and enthusiastically karate-chops the air. "Hoo-WAH!!! Finally! Something I got over on ya, Mike. Texas is better at romancing than you!"
Julie rolls her eyes.
Mike guffaws. "Psshhwhat? C'mon guys, I'm bad at plenty of stuff. This isn't the first!"
"Oh yeah? Name one thing!" Dutch challenges.
"Uhhm well uh, I...? I'm pretty bad at... hm." Mike drums his fingers on the table. "I'm bad at coding! I'm not nearly as good as Chuck at the software and tech side of things!"
"But ya could be! You could totally learn how to, if you'd just sit down with me for more than 20 minutes," Chuck points out.
Mike stubbornly folds his arms across his chest. "Well, I don't wanna! What're you gonna do about it?"
And just like that, the kids all return back to normalcy, bickering and quibbling about nothing as they finally receive their food from the waitress. Soon after, Chuck and Texas are throwing pizza toppings and wadded up paper at each other and Mike is mom-ing at them to quit it before they all get kicked out.
It was as if nothing even happened.
It was simultaneously comforting and also thrilling how easily Mike was accepted back into the fold; the Burners' Heartless Leader who could never fall in love.
On the inside, Mike was deeply grateful and his heart felt full upon learning this, though. It was a nourishing feeling that his bestest friends in the whole world who worked hard, played hard, lived fast and free alongside him... they loved him and accepted him back, no matter what. It was a much nicer and fuzzier feeling than any romance-filled relationship or hookup ever gave him.
Now, the Burners are finally leaving the diner, all tipsy and giddy from their impromptu late-night happy hour session.
Mike has a casual arm slung over Chuck's shoulder as they traipse on over to Mutt. Everyone casually daps each other up and offers quick goodbyes before climbing into their respective cars.
Mike slides behind the wheel and exhales. Chuck clicks himself into his secure harness.
"Well! That went pretty well! A little too easily, honestly but," Mike breathes.
Chuck's blonde head bobs. "Well yeah, dude. Of course. What'd ya think, that'd we kick you out of the team for that?"
Mike shrugs and turns his skeleton key into Mutt's ignition, bringing her to roar awake again. "I mean... no. But, y'know. It's weird, having a leader of a gang that can't ever fall in love, right? Like some heartless freak or somethin'. I dunno," he chuckled wryly.
Chuck frowns. "Mike. You're not a freak," he says firmly.
Mike gives his best friend a sidelong glance. "Chuck..." he speaks, voice low, "it's not like that! You know what I mean... it's just that sometimes people who are different don't get treated so well all the time, yanno?"
"Yeah, sure, back up in Deluxe," Chuck argues. "But it's different down here in Motorcity. It's good here for people like us!"
Mike hums thoughtfully as he drums his fingers on the wheel. "Yeah, you're right..." then, he smirks at Chuck. "So if that's true, then why didn't you come out, back there? I actually thought you were gonna do it. It even looked like Dutch suspected something, too!"
Mike smiles at his friend, who is doing his best impression of a carseat cover now.
"Mmnyeah... yeah, I could've." Chuck gives a noncommittal shrug, hesitating.
"What's wrong?"
After a few seconds, Chuck swipes at his bangs self-consciously and clears his throat. "Uhmm well... being aromantic and never falling in love is kinda... badass, don'tcha think? But for a guy like me, never wanting to have sex and being a dope for romance is just pathetic," he laments. "If people hear that I'm asexual and that I never want to bang anyone, I'd get laughed out of the room! It's not an asexual thing, Mikey, it's a me thing."
Mike throws Mutt into reverse and backs her out of their parking spot with practiced ease.
"Chuckles. My guy. Look, who cares what other people think? If you don't wanna bone, you're just not gonna. That doesn't hurt anyone at all, so screw anyone who says anything about it. If anyone gives you a hard time, call me up and I'll spin the block for you,"
Chuck bursts into a peal of nervous giggles. "Whoa, whoa Mikey, geez! Christ, thanks, man but that's really not necessary. I appreciate you, though,"
They smile at each other again.
Then after a beat, Mike adds, "plus, if they know about aromanticism, they're gonna eventually find out about asexuality, too, dude."
Chuck laughs weakly as he clutches his arms. "O-oh...! Yeah... yeah that's tr--"
Mike suddenly slams his boot down on the gas pedal and Mutt growls as she lurches into hundred-mile-speeds from a standstill. Her tires screech loudly on the pavement and she leaves a giant plume of smoke and dirt behind as everyone careens over a drop straight onto the Deluxian Supply Pipes.
"Miiikkee-eeyyyy!!! We just ate!" Chuck screeches, horrified. He clings onto the car seat with both hands as Mike laughs.
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Chuck's screams and Mike's loud, joyous shouting and whooping can be heard far and wide throughout Motorcity as they race all the way back home.
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lesbiangiratina · 2 months ago
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Dizzy and testament having 5 voice lines between them is kind of fucking bleak to be so real. I kinda hate strive when it comes to character interaction. If you dont make it into arcade mode youre fucked. Testament and dizzy interact more substantially in the shitty 2006 psp spinoff game than strive
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hotgirlmanifesto · 1 month ago
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god i need to be blonde
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