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unseededtoast · 8 months ago

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Turtle Doves | Joel Miller

Part Six

Chapter Directory

Series Summary: In which two broken souls connect so deeply, that if one should perish, the other would surely die of a broken heart. (slow burn, timeline changes. After TLOU1, before TLOU2, assumed knowledge of infected, uses elements from both show and game)

Series Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, and sexual content.

Also cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. Link to my masterlist for everything else I’ve posted!

I see Joel lingering out there and it looks like he's trying to decide if he's going to leave or stay.

My fingers anxiously play with the metal chain around my neck, fiddling with it as my mind races. The sun is setting and I know I have to go now if I'm going to at all. James' words replay in my mind and it's all the motivation I need to finally grab my backpack and leave. I make my way down to the street, the golden sunset shining in my eyes as I look in both directions. Luckily, James is nowhere to be found and I know my path to the tunnel is clear.

I adjust the straps of the holster on my thigh as I begin walking towards the secret tunnel that leads out of the QZ. James had shown me the tunnel when I once went with him to meet our pill supplier. It's just an easy way to get out of the QZ without FEDRA interference, and not a lot of people know these tunnels even exist. And if they do, most of them probably assume they've been blocked off by FEDRA; they'd be wrong.

Before I turn the last corner, I check to make sure nobody is following me one more time. A few stragglers walk the streets, not paying attention to me. The coast is clear. With a deep breath, I take the first step into the culvert, the bottom of it covered by a small stream of water from the previous storms. I hate that I didn't have the night to prepare for my departure, but I shouldn't be gone for more than a few days, I should be fine.

I take the small leap down from the culvert onto the ground, looking to the QZ border that's on my left. I see soldiers protecting the front gate, so I take a right to get out of their line of sight. I'm not sure which way the killers went, but I think if I can find somewhere high to rest for the night, then maybe I'll be able to see a fire if they build one; or any sign of life.

Vibrant greenery has overtaken many of the buildings, vines of ivy climbing high with the skyscrapers and the natural grass is decorated with wildflowers. If the infected didn't pose such a threat, I'm sure I'd spend hours outside of the QZ, admiring the flowers and picking the prettiest ones to go on my aged kitchen table. But now I find myself out here, maybe against my better judgment, with the opportunity to do so.

As I walk towards one of the abandoned skyscrapers on the outskirts of the QZ, I bend over and pluck a beautiful pale pink geranium. I twirl the stem around in my hand, admiring the softness of the color and petals. Bringing it to my nose, I inhale the light smell that resembles roses. Smelling the flowers is a simple pleasure that I rarely get to indulge in anymore and it reminds me of better, simpler times.

I focus back on my surroundings, knowing that I can't stay off guard out here. The geranium stays in my fingers as I scope out a few buildings, trying to determine which would give me the better vantage point, and which would be the safest in terms of structural soundness and the absence of infected. I stand and contemplate the best course of action, when someone clearing their throat behind me startles me. Out of instinct, I grab the handle of my knife that's conveniently stored on my belt and turn to the sound. For a split second, I wonder why I didn't reach for my gun that's strapped to my thigh.

The stranger from James' apartment stands in front of me, hands raised in surrender. I keep the knife in my hand, but lower it to my side. The anger I felt earlier returns as I realize James must have talked this man into following me. Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I speak to the man.

"I know you're out here because James asked you to be. But I'm fine, really. There's no need for you to follow me." I keep my voice steady, but soft, as to not attract unwanted attention. The man's eyes are intense, and causes me to break eye contact first.

"Wasn't planning on stickin' around. He wanted me to get this to you." The man simply states and digs into his pocket. He hands me a piece of paper, his broken watch reflecting in the dying sunlight.

He watches me unfold the paper and I read the messy handwriting on it.

Noelle,

I know you're going out there no matter what I say. That's just your nature, you're a stubborn shit. When you come back we'll talk. But until then, stay safe and kick ass. Make those bastards pay for what they did.

P.S. I want this back when you return

-James

I read the note a few times, knowing that I was right about James, we always seem to mend things no matter how frustrated we are with each other. My eyebrows furrow as I read his post script at the bottom, and I look back up to the man. He slings his rifle off his shoulder to get his backpack. I look around us as he rummages through, finding whatever it is James wants me to have.

Seconds later, the man stands back up and hands me a small, curved blade that's reminiscent of a claw. I recognize it at James' favorite knife out of his vast collection. It fits nicely in my small hand. My traditional hunting knife works well, but I always find it to be rather cumbersome for my hand, I can't get much mobility with it but it packs one hell of a punch. I place both my traditional knife, and now my curved knife, on my belt for easy accessibility and am now left with a deafening silence with the man.

"Thank you, I'm Noelle by the way, if you hadn't caught onto that yet." I offer him my gratitude and a handshake. He didn't have to come out here and track me down for James, but he decided to anyways, and that's worth something in my eyes. He gives a short nod in response,

"Joel." Is all he says, dropping his large hand from mine and equipping his bag and rifle back on his shoulders. Trying to be discreet, I stretch the hand that he shook. His grip was strong, though I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt me.

With a sigh, I give him one last polite nod. He returns it and I turn to walk towards the building I've picked for the night. To my shock, Joel starts walking the same way as me, at the same time. We both pause and look to one another, he must headed in the same direction. Smirking, I try to alleviate the uncomfortable tension between us.

"Let me guess, you're headed to the same building as me too?" I motion towards one of the skyscrapers. He doesn't seem to find me humorous though, and keeps his answers short.

"Don't know. Was just gonna lay low 'til morning." His bluntness is not something I'm unfamiliar with, but it's not everyday I get to meet new people, and the conversation would be nice. I drop my gaze from the man and we both start walking silently until an idea comes to mind.

"If you wanted to stay in the same building that's fine. I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight. I can keep watch so at least you can get some rest." I offer, knowing I'll be on fire watch all night. Out of the corner of my eye, I glance at the man, only to see that he's quizzically looking at me. Perhaps I overstepped a boundary.

The sound of crunching greenery under our boots fills the silence, and I almost hope he doesn't take me up on my offer. Spending the entire night with him, and his obvious lack of interest in any type of conversation, seems like the most miserable way to start my investigation. I try to occupy my brain with identifying as many plants as I can to distract myself from the quietness.

The sun is quickly dying behind us, but thankfully the skyscraper isn't too much farther. My pace quickens as I realize it's about to be dark, and I don't want to be out in the open with the creatures that roam the streets. If there's anything worse than infected, it's the infected at night, when you can barely see them. My hands find the blade James lent me and I hold it tightly, making me feel more secure.

Relief hits me as I walk up to the doors of the skyscraper. Ivy clings to the glass and I easily cut it away so that I can open the doors. Before I open them, I listen for anything moving inside. My ear is pressed up against the glass and I hold my breath. After a few seconds, I conclude that the only thing I can hear is my heartbeat and that it's probably safe to enter. I put the handle of the knife in my mouth as I grab the door handle with both hands. With some effort, I'm able to pry the door open enough for me to slip through.

Once I'm inside, I see Joel lingering out there and it looks like he's trying to decide if he's going to leave or stay. A part of me wants him to leave simply because he can't carry a conversation, and another part of me wants him to stay so that I don't feel completely alone and vulnerable out here. However, I will respect whatever he chooses. I hold the door open with one hand, showing him that my offer is still on the table, and grab my knife from my mouth.

"It's okay either way." I tell him, not wanting him to feel obligated to stay for whatever reason. He told me he wasn't planning on sticking around, so I understand if he wants to keep going. As if on cue, I hear a clicker somewhere above us, probably on one of the higher floors. I wish I heard that before I opened the doors.

Genuine fear strikes me and I feel like I could get sick. I knew they were out here, I just didn't think they'd be so close to the QZ. It's been about two years since I've had to fight the infected, and though I think I could easily fall back into the rhythm, a part of me is nervous that I've lost those skills. Out here, there are no second chances. Your actions must be effective, or it could cost you your life. I swallow my fear and put on a brave face, my heart pounding in my chest.

The man looks at the higher floors of the skyscraper, and then his brown eyes fall back on me momentarily before he looks to the ground and shakes his head while running a hand over his face. It's like he's having some sort of silent conversation with himself. When he picks his head back up, he starts walking towards me. A small smile finds its way to my face as I realize I'm not going to be left alone here tonight with a clicker.

I step out of his way and let him take lead once he's inside the building with me. From the looks of him, he probably is more familiar with the outside world than I am. He grabs the rifle off of his shoulder and walks quietly with bent knees. I follow his example, and the two of us make our way to the stairwell.

We pass the second floor without incident, neither of us seeing or hearing any infected as we briefly looked. The third floor also passes our inspection. As we approach the fourth floor, the screech from the clicker sounds out. I jump slightly, forgetting just how loud they really are. Joel seems unphased by it. I follow him to the floor's entrance door and he waits for me to join his side. Silently, he holds a finger up to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I nod my head, showing him I understand, and crouch down as he opens the door.

The floor looks like it must have been some sort of office space, there are cubicles on the left and right sides, with a wide open aisle in the middle. I readjust my grip on the knife in my hand, my palms becoming sweaty as I try to locate where the clicker is.

I hear it's softer clicks to my right, and turn my head, seeing its staggering figure walking down one of the cubicle aisles. Silently, I switch the curved blade for my traditional one, knowing the traditional one has a better chance of penetrating the clicker's fungal armor. Looking around at the available supplies, I try to piece together a rough plan in my head.

There's a tipped filing cabinet to the left, if we can get the clicker to run right for it, then it should trip. From there, we should be able to stab it. Quickly, I come up with a fallback, just in case things don't go as planned. If for some reason, it doesn't trip over the filing cabinet, we can use the cubicle walls as cover and throw other objects to get it off our backs. These are the best case scenarios, of course.

I check the location of the clicker once more before leaning to my left and bringing my mouth right next to Joel's ear. Steadying myself on his shoulder, I whisper my plan to him and pull back to see his reaction. His eyebrows are drawn tightly together and he looks to the left, eyeing the filing cabinet. After a few moments of contemplation, he nods his head in agreement.

The two of us take our time getting to the filing cabinet, making sure our steps are soft and we don't accidentally step on something noisy. He crouches off to the side with a large knife in his hand, and I stand right behind the cabinet. I have to draw it directly towards the cabinet, not to the side of it. Checking to see if Joel is ready, I prepare myself for the clicker to sprint towards me. Once I see Joel's approval, I take in a deep breath.

Without giving myself too much time to think about it, I kick the filing cabinet with my steel-toed boot. The clicker screeches and turns to us, running full speed ahead with its hands reached out for my flesh. I kick the cabinet over and over until the clicker is about ten feet away, and then I duck to the right. With wide eyes, I watch as the clicker runs and falls over the filing cabinet and in the blink of an eye, Joel has his blade embedded in the back of its skull.

As the clicker goes silent, my body relaxes. Count this as the easiest clicker encounter I've ever had. I step over its body as the two of us head back to the stairwell, wanting to get a few floors higher before we call it good. Joel leads the way once more and as we ascend the stairs, I watch the blood drip steadily off his blade.

We make it to the ninth floor before we're both out of breath and tired. Joel pries the door open and to our relief, there's no infected to be found. I shut the door behind me and find a chair to wedge under the handle so that nothing can get in behind us. Joel walks off to some corner and I go towards the tall windows, looking out at the dead city.

Everything looks so different in the moonlight, the vibrancy of nature is dulled and it reminds me of the true state the world is in. The dark shadows house the most vile and dangerous creatures. My hand presses to the cool glass and I scan the city for any sign of smoke, only to be disappointed. Maybe they'll start one later.

I turn from the glass and see that Joel has unloaded his gun and his bag, and is resting against a wall. Though I know he's not one for conversation, I go to him anyways, being mindful to give him space. I sit on top of a desk, my feet dangling above the ground and I keep my sight trained on the city in front of me.

"Thank you." I quietly say for the second time tonight. I kick my feet back and forth, not expecting him to say anything back.

"Was nothin'." He surprises me with a response. We fall back to silence before a burning question refuses to leave my mind.

"How do you know James?" I ask, trying to find some common ground between the two of us to make things somewhat bearable. Through the darkness, I feel the man's eyes on my face.

"Same way you know him." He answers, letting me know that he's aware of who I am to James. They must have talked about me after I left. My head tilts to the side,

"I know all of our smugglers though. Never seen you before." I know that I would've remembered his face. He huffs, probably annoyed of my questions.

"I've been gone a while, had another job to do." His words are like a puzzle piece, and I snap my head towards him.

"You were the one who got James into smuggling. You're one of the arms dealers." I say, maybe a little too enthusiastically.

"Was. Not anymore." He replies, leaning his head back against the wall. I almost ask about his partner, but the voice in the back of my mind warns me against it. My focus turns from him back out to the city and I sigh, trying to keep hope that I'll see some sign of life out there.

"Well, get some sleep. I'll be up on lookout for the night." I get off the desk and cross the floor so he has enough personal space to feel comfortable.

My eyes are glued to the horizon as I search for smoke. Maybe it's possible they got further away than I gave them credit for. Or, they know better than to start a fire that close to a QZ.

Even if I don't see smoke, there has to be some sort of clue they left behind. If they were careless enough to leave those papers in the warehouse, I don't think they're terribly concerned with covering their tracks.

Nervousness edges into my mind, along with self-doubt. What if I can't find these people? Will I be strong enough to take them on? What would I tell James if I go back and they're still out there somewhere?

The answers to all of the questions floating around my mind serve as more fuel to finish this job. I have to find these people and I have to make sure they're wiped from the face of the planet.

Part Seven

#joel miller #joel miller tlou #joel miller x oc #joel miller fic #joel miller fanfic #joel miller fanfiction #tlou #tlou fic #the last of us fanfiction #pedro pascal #the last of us #the last of us fanfic #the last of us joel #joel miller hbo #joel tlou #tlou fanfiction

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joka13 · 9 months ago

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FANFICTION (REQUEST): Weasley Twins x Reader (Hufflepuff Girl) - Lovesick - Part 2/5

WARNINGS: none

Night fell over the castle, and, as usual, Fred and George stayed up far longer than they should have working on the next product to go in their skiving snack boxes. Though the twins appeared busy, their minds were intensely preoccupied by something (or rather someone) else.

George had taken upon himself the dull task of reading through library books to get enough information about a certain magical plant, but he quickly found himself struggling to concentrate. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, his thoughts frustratingly continued to drift towards you.

Fred became stuck in a similar predicament, and at one point caught himself stirring the cauldron for too long after replaying in his head the day's interaction with you in Filch's office.

Both Fred and George ended up going to bed early (at least earlier than what was typical for them), though neither of the twins admitted that it was because they were too distracted to work.

"I can't sleep," George grumbled after he had been tossing and turning in his bottom bunk for almost half an hour.

"I know. I can feel you wriggling like a snake lit on fire," Fred chuckled from the top bunk.

George laughed. "Sorry."

"It's no problem. I can't sleep either."

The twins lay in silence for a long moment.

"I bet I can guess what you're thinking about," said Fred eventually.

"No bet. You can always guess what I'm thinking about," George snorted. "It's probably the same thing you are thinking about."

"You're probably right," Fred chuckled.

More silence.

"And... What exactly are you thinking about?" asked George.

"You tell me!" Fred laughed.

"Fine, fine," George snickered. "We're thinking about... that Hufflepuff girl."

"Y/n," Fred sighed.

"Yeah, y/n... I can't believe I've never noticed her until now. She doesn't look like a first year."

"That's for sure."

Both twins chuckled knowingly.

"We should hang out with her," George said.

"We should have breakfast with her tomorrow," said Fred.

"And lunch. And dinner."

Fred and George laughed together.

"Look..." a disgruntled voice said from the top bunk to Fred's right. Lee Jordan sat up and rubbed his eyes, and Fred had to hold back a laugh once he saw Lee's severe bed-head. "I'm happy that you guys have a nice lady friend or whatever... but could you maybe fantasize about her in your heads?"

"We've been doing that all day," Fred huffed.

"Hmm... I don't know if I've been exactly fantasizing..." George chuckled mischievously.

"Then there will be plenty of room for it in your dreams," Lee sighed, irritated. "Just make an effort not to talk in your sleep. I don't wanna hear any of that." There was a fwump as Lee's head made contact with his pillow once again, and the twins snickered in unison.

The twins eventually fell asleep and did, in fact, dream about you.

Fred dreamt he was back home, back at the burrow. He sat on the sofa in the living room, wrapped in a soft blanket. On the side table next to him was a hot cup of tea. It was early enough in the morning that anyone else in the house was still asleep, so it was peacefully quiet. All that could be heard was the faint tweeting of birds outside and the crackle of dancing flames in the fireplace.

All of these things were great, wonderful even, but what made this dream so perfect was the precious girl Fred held in his arms under the blanket. Her head rested on his chest as she slept soundly, her breathing steady. Fred kissed the side of her pretty head, though ever so lightly so as not to disturb her. She smelled like chocolate. She smiled contently in her sleep, and Fred's heart melted. He hoped that this moment would never end...

George dreamt he was playing a serious game of quidditch. He zoomed across the field on his broom, beater's bat in hand, to wack a bludger aside just before it could make contact with his teammate's head. Deafening cheers rang throughout the stadium as George laughed triumphantly. He appreciated the praise, but there was only one person he really cared to hear cheering.

Though the roaring audience completely filled the surrounding stands, George easily spotted her in the crowd. She jumped up and down for him, waving a small Gryffindor flag like her life dependended on it. Her voice was lost amongst the other whoops and hollers, but her beautiful, smiling lips mouthed, "Geor-gie! Geor-gie! Geor-gie!"...

And then, all at once, the twins' sweet dreams turned into nightmares.

Fred closed his eyes and sighed, totally cherishing the happiness that he felt. He had never before had someone like her to love in such a way as this, and he wasn't going to take it for granted.

Suddenly, the wonderful weight of her body leaning against his disappeared, and Fred's eyes snapped open. She was gone.

George grinned like a fool, but he didn't care. He didn't have a single care in the world as long as she was cheering in the stands for him.

But the merry moment was not to last. The bludger that George had previously batted came back for revenge, catching him off guard and breaking his broom entirely in half on impact. And as George fell, all he could wonder about was what she must think of him.

Fred and George sat up in their beds at exactly the same time, choking and unable to breathe for a short while before coughing up whatever was blocking their airways.

The twins sat clutching their chests and panting heavily as they recovered from the shock. Down in his bottom bunk, George eventually reached over the side of and under the bed for his wand.

"F-Fred?" George breathed. "Are you alright?"

"I think so... You?" Fred whispered from above.

"Yeah... I... couldn't breathe... Lumos." The tip of George's wand began to glow and illuminate the strange scene before him. Strewn across the bed cover were light pink flower petals.

TAG LIST: @tomhockstetter7-111 @jasm-1ne @costheticbabe @luthien-elvenia-asher @megablonde22 @thecuteavocado @weasleylady92 @websfromallthespiders @rubyintheforest @weasleylover4eva @georgeweasleyslostearhq @im-coolrat @them-cute-boys @xmadigurlx @keirasinbin

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thirteen-jades · 3 months ago

Note

hi Gamer! :3

1. Games you’re currently playing?

2. Do you like playing with mods?

5. Games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed?

8. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved?

13. A series you’ve enjoyed since your early days of gaming and still enjoy to this day whether it still has games coming out or is one you return to? damn, i wish i'd asked nee-san this one, i missed it earlier...

14. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing?

19. A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

23. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

32. Game you think you’ll finish next?

35. What's your favorite genre of game?

56.Multi-player or single player?

57. Ask anything you wish!: Games you're looking forward to playing soon?

❤

1. Games you’re currently playing?

OSRS, Ace Combat 4, and Old World are the main ones I think? Also Wartales whenever the GOG and Steam versions sync so we can actually do that again

2. Do you like playing with mods?

I tend to default to not modding things just because for a long time mods never really seemed to work right for me in just about anything I tried to apply them to. I've been doing it more though, and I think they're frequently quite good.

5. Games you’ve played in the past 12 months that you really enjoyed?

Armored Core 6 has to take the #1 spot here I think, but there's a bunch of others too. In no particular order, Old World, Old School Runescape, Ace Combat 4, Age of Empires 2, and... probably a lot of others I'm forgetting. I think I first played Wartales more than a year ago, but I've really been enjoying the recent playthrough again

8. A game you played completely blind with no prior knowledge of and enjoyed/loved?

Dark Souls. That game was an absolute blast, even if I was remarkably bad at it at first. One of the few things that's gotten me so immersed/distracted that I actually forgot to do homework/school-related responsibilities.

Oh, I'd have to think here. Starcraft was my old favorite for sure, but I've sorta fallen off the train with that one, so to speak. I'm not sure there's much left that I still play from my early days? I think if I had to pick *something* for an answer, it would be Lego Racers. I really liked that as a kid. Should go back and replay them sometime

14. A character you particularly like in the game you’re currently playing?

None of the games I'm currently playing are particularly heavily character-focused I think, unless I'm forgetting one. If we include TTRPGs, then my PC for Skull & Shackles. Otherwise maybe my character's daughter from that one Old World campaign that snuck out of her room three nights in a row to go fuck some other noble family's daughter. I really liked her

19. A game you didn’t finish but would like to get back to or restart someday

There's a lot of them, but Gothic 2 and Planescape: Torment both come to mind

23. A game ending that’s really stuck with you

Mary Skelter 2. You know why

32. Game you think you’ll finish next?

Ace Combat 4 tonight, probably/hopefully!

35. What's your favorite genre of game?

RPGs, particularly when they actually remember what the first two letters of the acronym stand for

56. Multi-player or single player?

Never choose "or" when "and" is on the table

57. Ask anything you wish!: Games you're looking forward to playing soon?

Many! AC4, AC 6-7, trying out Runescape 3, the eventual AC6 DLC/expansion, probably some others that are eluding me still. Maybe Elin sometime too

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squoxle · 1 year ago

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𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒－𝑆𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑆𝑖𝑚 😵‍💫 {𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡 5}

*𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓯𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓲𝓷 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓫𝓸𝔂𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭*

✩✩𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴：ⓌⒶⓇⓃⒾⓃⒼ

<<𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭, 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐱, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫��𝐥, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐝𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐲-𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥, 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟

✩𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔：𝖧𝖾𝖾𝖩𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗑 𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 （𝖿𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗅𝖾）

✩𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑟𝑒：𝖫𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝖳𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾／𝖥𝗈𝗋𝖻𝗂𝖽𝖽𝖾𝗇 𝖫𝗈𝗏𝖾

✩𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡：3,604

✩𝑆𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦：𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞'𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧��𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝...𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠.

✫꥟⁂✵⁂⁂✰✵✵✵𓇽✩⁂🜸✵✵🜚⁂★🜚✪✩✵꥟✥✩✪𓇽✵

꧁𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢...

❀𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐲. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦? 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭?

<<Prev★☆Link to pt. 4☆★

❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥❥

The next day, you and Jake got dressed for the mall. The weather was hot, but the constant cool breeze made it bearable. Jake had to wake up earlier so that he could pick up the rental you guys would use for the duration of your stay. When you were around Jake, you pushed all sensual thoughts about Heeseung in the deepest corner of your brain, because there’s no way you could look at him thinking like that. You were in love with Jake, but you weren’t against the idea of being with Heeseung. However, when you were alone, that dream replayed vividly in your mind, as if you were experiencing it all over again.

“Woah! Babe! Check this out!” Jake chirped, pointing to a Lego store. Both Jake and Heeseung loved building Lego sets. You never really understood why, so you just dubbed it as a guy thing. Although you knew most guys weren’t interested in legos. He bought two sets, one for him and one for Heeseung. “Do you think he’ll like this one? Or should I have got the other one?” Jake debated with himself. You couldn’t help but giggle at his cuteness.

After what felt like hours at the mall, you had bought a few souvenirs for your family back at home and a few outfits to wear on the beach and when you go to meet Jake’s parents. You were getting a little hungry at this point, so you asked Jake if he was feeling the same way. “Yea, I’m hungry too. We can pick up something on our way to Heeseung.” Jake replied. You had completely forgotten about the fact that you had to see Heeseung today. Yesterday, the boys talked about how they wanted to play soccer together.

After picking up Heeseung from Jake’s parents' house, you headed to McDonald’s. The three of you sat at a booth near the window to eat. Maybe you were crazy…or maybe not, but the way Heeseung looked at you seemed deeper than what you initially assumed. You wanted to be alone with him just to clarify one more time. You had to be sure.

Jake drove you and Heeseung to a public soccer field. Jake opened the trunk to grab his blue and white soccer ball. “Oh, kids are already here. Did you want to come back later?” Heeseung asked Jake as he noticed the group of kids on the field. “Nah, we can play with them. It’ll be fun.” Jake giggled. “Hey guys! How ‘bout a game of football? 4 against 4?” Jake said to the kids. “Sure, but I wanna be team captain.” Said one kid. You watched as each of the boys played and laughed together. It was really cute to see Jake playing with kids so well. As time passed, their voices grew faint as you dozed off in your head.

You thought back to the way Heeseung’s behavior changed since you established a strict friendship between the two of you. Yes, he was different, but you didn’t want to accuse him of an assumption.

The boys continued playing until late. You hadn’t even noticed when the kids left. Not until the quiet settled in. Heeseung and Jake were laying on the field talking. You didn’t want to be nosey, so you took this opportunity to think about what you were gonna do when you met Jake’s parents. Even though you guys went over to pick up Heeseung, his parents didn’t come outside. Jake talked about his parents here and there, but nothing like how they feel about you being his girlfriend. Honestly, you weren’t even sure if that’s what you wanted to be anymore. Jake’s girlfriend…

After Jake and Heeseung were finished playing, we dropped Heeseung back at Jake’s parents’ house. One more day before Jake introduced you to his parents…this was your last thought before drifting off to sleep.

The next day, Jake took you on a tour around Brisbane. He showed you a few places from his childhood before eating at his favorite food stand. “Maybe tomorrow we can go on a picnic. It’s been a while since we did that…what do you think?” Jake said as he ate into a handful of fries. “Huh?” You asked. Jake’s question cut through your thoughts. “Did you wanna go on a picnic together tomorrow?” Jake repeated. “Don’t we have to go see your parents tomorrow?” “Oh, yeah…I forgot.” Jake chuckled before sipping his coke. Jake has been really sweet, but only one person was on your mind and that’s who you’d rather be with.

After the two of you finished your meal, Jake looked at you in a way he had never looked before. “Well, how about we go on a picnic right now?” Jake smiled as he jumped from his seat. “What? How are we supposed to do that?” You were genuinely confused. “Just trust me,” Jake said, before grabbing your hand. He ran with you into the nearby field before reaching a clearing. “Well, we already ate…so technically we were in part 1 of a picnic. Now, we’re in part 2. This is when we lie in the grass and talk about our cozy cottage life.” Jake breathlessly chuckled. *God…why’d he have to be so cute* you thought to yourself. Playing along, you entertained Jake’s fantasy. You liked Jake a lot, but deep down in your heart, you loved Heeseung.

While you were out with Jake, Heeseung was back at Jake’s parents’ house thinking about one person…you. As badly as he wanted to let you be happy with Jake, he also wanted you to himself. He intended on shooting his shot one last time, but he felt like it would be unfair to ask you something like that when you’re on vacation with Jake. But this wasn’t just any ordinary vacation. Jake had brought you out here to meet his parents. He has never done that for any of his exes. This proved that Jake was very serious about you. “Heeseung. Do you mind taking Layla out for a walk?” Jake’s mom asked. “I didn’t want to bother you, but she’s getting quite jumpy, and I don’t want her to get hurt.” She continued. “No, I don’t mind. I’m here to help you with whatever you need,” Heeseung replied with a smile. “Oh, thank you so much. I kinda miss having a son around.” She said with a sigh. “Well, maybe Jake and I can come out more often.” Heeseung replied before Layla yanked the leash. “That sounds like a great idea, but we should talk about it more later. Looks like Layla is growing more and more impatient.” She chuckled.

While Heeseung was walking Layla, he spotted the two of you walking out of the field, holding hands and smiling. “Heeseung! Hey!” Jake shouted upon seeing him. “Oh, hey guys.” He replied. “What are you doing out here?” Jake said as he caught up to pat Layla’s head. “Your mom told me to take Layla for a walk.” He replied. “Oh! Well, let’s take her to the park.” Jake smiled. “Hey, girl. You wanna go play at the park?” Layla barked excitedly as Jake took the leash and walked toward a nearby playground. “You don’t mind if I spend a little time with Layla, do you?” Jake asked you. “No, you have fun with her and I’ll be over here when you’re done.” You replied. “Okay. Thanks, babe.” Jake said before kissing you on the cheek.

Now it was just you and Heeseung. Alone. Together. Again. At first you quietly watched Jake play with his dog, but then your mind wandered…right back to Heeseung. “Hey—“ you were cut off by Heeseung attempting to start a conversation. Oddly enough, the two of you spoke at the same time. “You can go first…” you said shyly. “Okay…but don’t get mad…” he hesitated. “Why would I be mad?” You asked. “Just promise me, please.” His expression and the tone of his voice worried you. “I promise.” You said in a quiet voice. “Remember that time we stayed up all night on the phone and we went to that cafe the next morning?” He started. “Yea…what about it?” “I lied.”

Before you could respond, Jake and Layla came running back to the bench where you and Heeseung were sitting. “Heeseung, I’d love to play with Layla all day, but I have a few things I have to do before tomorrow.” Jake said as Layla waved her tail around. “Umm…yea sure, man. That’s fine. I should go now anyway. Your mom is probably waiting for me to help her or whatever.” Heeseung said, before shoving his hands in his pockets. “Let’s go Layla.” He continued as he walked back to Jake’s parents’ house.

Jake stopped to pick up a gift for his mom and dad before heading back to the resort. That night you were restless. You couldn’t stop thinking about what Heeseung was going to say. Was it something about Gemma? Was it something about Jake? Or was it something about you?

It was finally the day that you had to meet Jake’s parents. You were excited, but not as much as you felt like you should’ve been. “Baby…what’s wrong? Are you nervous about meeting my parents? They’re super chill, so you don’t have to worry. I know they’ll love you.” Jake whispered in your ear as he placed soft kisses on your neck and shoulders. He gave you a gentle squeeze from behind. “Do you wanna talk about it? You know you can tell me anything.” He continued. Jake is such a sweet guy and you love him for it, but you couldn’t bring yourself to speak up about what was really bothering you. You couldn’t think of what to say, so you said nothing. The two of you continued to get dressed before leaving to go see his parents.

“Hi Mom. Hi Dad.” Jake greeted his parents with a hug. “Long time no see bud. You really should come around more. Your mother is missing you like crazy.” Jake’s father said, nodding his head toward his mother. “Don’t be silly. I know you’re busy with school and I’m proud of you for doing so well.” “Awww, so you don’t want to miss me?” Jake chuckled. “Of course I miss you.” She replied, giving Jake another hug. “So, who’s this lovely young lady?” His father asked. “This is my girlfriend, Y/N.” “It’s nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Jake has been telling us so much about you.” His father said before shaking your hand. His mother then gave you a hug and invited you to their house. “If you need help finding anything, just let me know. I’ll be in the kitchen making some tea. Jake either be on the couch with his father or outside with Layla.” His mother said before walking to the kitchen.

You were just about to go in and help her when you saw Heeseung in his room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with his phone. He must’ve felt you staring at him because he looked up and met your eyes. He then tucked his phone away before getting up to greet you. “Hey.” He said in a calm voice. “Hey…” you replied. You didn’t want to jump straight into interrogating him, but you had to know. “What were you trying to tell me yesterday?” You asked. “Oh…it was nothing. Don’t stress about it.” He brushed off your question as if it had never happened. “What was so important about the cafe? Huh?” You weren’t giving up so easily, so you continued to push for an answer. “Nothing. Forget about it.” He said, this time his voice was more stern. “I don’t want to forget about it. I want to know right now.” You demanded. “Will you just drop it already?” He was getting really upset at this point, but the two of you kept your voices low to avoid drawing attention to yourselves. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and I don’t think I ever will. So tell me.” Heeseung grabbed your arm and pulled you into his room. Closing the door behind you.

“You really wanna know?” You could feel the anger and frustration burning off of him like fire. “Yes.” You replied just as strong as he did, but you were not prepared for what you were really getting yourself into. “I love you…not just as a friend. I love you more than that.” He said, staring into your eyes. “Sorry I lied.” He continued. “I love you too, Heeseung.” This time, when you said it, you meant it. Upon hearing you say these words, Heeseung pulled onto your waist and started kissing you desperately. This was unlike anytime you’ve ever been with him. He shoved his tongue between your lips without fully departing from your face. He would come back every so often to bite your lip or catch a breath. He moved down to your neck and slipped his hands in your panties. He was rubbing your clit and sucking your neck at the same time. You couldn’t help but let out a few soft moans. “Shhh. We don’t want anyone to hear us.” He whispered before turning you around. Now your hands were against the door and Heeseung was behind you. He reached his hand around and continued to stimulate your clit before hiking up your dress, exposing your ass to him. He slid your panties down to your ankles. Then he turned you around again to face him. He tucked your panties in his pocket before lifting one of your legs over his shoulder. He lapped at your pussy with his tongue. “Fuck. You taste so good.” He said before sucking on your clit and inserting two fingers into your pussy. You winced because you hadn’t been warmed up enough for two of his fingers. “Ah ah ah…what’d I tell you about being quiet?” Heeseung quickly jerked his fingers in and out, causing you to groan from pleasure. He stood back up and turned you around to face the door again. You felt him glide his dick between your ass before ramming it into your pussy. As you were about to let out a scream, he covered your mouth with his hand. “I told you to be quiet.” He said, pounding your pussy. “Be a good girl and listen to daddy alright.” He continued before slapping his hand hard across your ass. Out of instinct you let out a yelp, but a knock at the door surprised the two of you.

“Heeseung. We’re gonna take Jake out to go see his cousin and we’ll be right back. Call us if you need anything. Oh, and Layla is outside playing around. We’ll be fast, so you don’t have to worry about feeding her or anything.” Jake’s mom said through the door. “Okay, thanks for letting me know.” Heeseung replied. You could hear footsteps followed by the front door opening and closing. “Hmm…you’re not very good at listening.” He said before walking you over to his bed.

He wrapped his hands around your throat as he continued to fuck your sloppy, wet pussy. “You like it when I fuck you like this?” You nodded your head. “Good girl.” He said before kissing your lips. “I could fuck you all day, but we both need to finish before they come back. You can make as much noise as you want.” Heeseung fucked you harder while rubbing your clit. Your pussy was throbbing at this point and you were nearing your climax. “That’s it Baby. Cum for Daddy.” Heeseung said before you let out a loud moan. It was something about his voice that turned you on. He pumped his hot load into your pussy.

The two of you fixed your clothes before walking out into the living room. You could still feel your pussy dripping. And that’s when you realized that Heeseung still had your panties. “Heeseung…I need my panties back.” You pleaded. “You can get them back when you give me a new pair.” He winked. You hurried to the bathroom to clean yourself up…since you’d be going comando for the next few hours.

It wasn’t long before Jake, and his parents returned. Remembering what had just happened in that room not too long ago, it was hard for you to look him in the eyes. “Hey. What’s wrong, baby? Are you ok? Did I do something?” Jake asked, squeezing your shoulder as he pulled you to his chest. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.” You replied with a heavy heart. “Come on. Please. You know you can talk to me. I can tell that something’s up. You’ve been off since this morning.” He said, turning to face you. “Let’s go somewhere private to talk about it, okay? It’ll help you feel better if you get it off your chest.” Jake stood up to take your hand. “Hey, Mom. We’re gonna step out for a bit. We’ll be right back.” “Okay, but don’t be late for dinner alright. We’ve been waiting long enough.” His mother replied as he walked with you outside.

Jake hopped in the rental car with you before pulling out of the driveway. He started to play some music in an attempt to set the mood, but you were silent. “Alright. Talk to me.” He said in a concerned tone. You were becoming so overwhelmed with shame and guilt that you cried. “Hey, whatever it is, I want you to know that I’ll still love you no matter what.” “I-I can’t.” A stifled cry escaped your mouth. “Try for me, please. I want you to be happy.” He reached over to hold your hand before placing a gentle kiss on the back. “Jake…I...I love you.” “I love you too.” “But…” “But what, babe? Did someone do something to you?” “No!…well, not exactly.” “I don’t understand. What happened?” By this time, Jake had pulled over. The car was parked near a beautiful scenery of trees and water. You could even see the sun setting on the horizon. What a beautiful place to share such ugly news. “You know Heeseung…" “If he did something to you I’ll—“ “No, it’s not like that. We used to be friends a few years ago.” “Really? He never told me that. But I remember him saying something about a girl he had a crush since 6th grade…wait…was that…you?” “Yea…” “Do you like him as more than a friend?” The question sat in your mind. This was like déjà vu, but worse. You could tell that Jake’s emotions were now all over the place. You’d already made it this far, so you might as well tell him the truth. “Yes.” You dropped your head as Jake let go of your hand. “Jake. I’m s—" the sound of the car horn cut you off mid sentence. Jake had slammed his fists on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe my own friend fucking betrayed me.” He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. “And you…you fucking lied to me. You know someone had told me they’d seen you two kiss, but I didn’t want to believe them. I know I fucked up, but I changed who I was for you. I left the party life because I wanted a life with you. You were more important to me than popularly among multiple women. I loved you and I trusted you. And my best friend…what else did you do with him? Huh? I know that couldn’t have been the only thing.” You had never seen Jake so upset. He was enraged. Even though he was crying, his voice hadn’t cracked once. “We…had sex…” “FUCK!” Jake stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind him, causing the car to shake from the force. You could hear him screaming outside. It hurt you so much to see him cry. Were you being selfish for choosing Heeseung? No, because if you stayed with Jake, the cheating would continue and that’s way worse than just letting him go.

After a while, Jake came back to the car and didn’t say a word. The whole ride back to his parents’ house was cold. What did you expect after dumping him for his best friend?

“When we go inside, you’re going to act like everything is normal. I don’t need the drama and neither do they.” Jake said as he parked the car. “Make sure you clean up your face, too. I don’t want to see you near Heeseung anymore tonight. Don’t even speak to him. Make it look like we just went out for a nice ride and everything is okay.” You didn’t want to say anything to anyone, and you definitely didn’t want to make a scene. So you did exactly what Jake told you to do.

“When we get back home, you can run away with Heeseung. I couldn’t care less. But I never want to see either of you again,” Jake said after the two of you made it back to the resort that night. You slept in the bed all alone and Jake slept on the couch. For the rest of the trip, Jake was cold and distant toward you, unless he was around his parents. And just as promised, when you were back home, you started a relationship with Heeseung. Jake had excommunicated with both of you and it felt like he’d disappeared until you’d see him at random moments. But at least you were happy with Heeseung…right?

This is the end of this series. Thank you so much everyone for being patient with me.

I also released the full uncut version of this story.

Taglist: @cherrriesss @furious-eagle

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crystalelemental · 4 months ago

Text

When I was a child, there was something that really bugged me in Pokemon games. Why was it that some Pokemon showed up so late? I really like Misdreavus, but it's all the way in Mt Silver! Even smaller issues like Seel in FRLG felt annoying. I have to beat five whole gyms without this thing? Why even pick it up? This led, inevitably, to my first hacking device: a GameShark for Gen 3. I have a vivid memory of replaying FRLG, excited to hack in my own personalized and very normal starter, Articuno. Articuno was so great when you caught it! Surely it would be even better if I could use it all game!

Now...I did not have the internet at the time. And by Gen 3, I was perhaps overconfident about not needing a strategy guide. So while you may know what happened already, I did not know what was coming. Articuno sucked. Like, really bad. If you look at it, it turns out the answer is obvious: it only knows Gust and Powder Snow as attacks until Ice Beam at level 49. Which...hey, wait a second. That's only one level below what you catch it at to begin with! And it turns out, this was similar all over. Seel didn't learn anything but Headbutt until level 17, it was useless against Brock despite its typing. What is going on? Why do all these Pokemon I like when I catch them at the intended time suck so badly when I get them early?

At the time, I blamed it on the Pokemon being bad and just hacked rare candies. But over time, you begin to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the game was designed on purpose? That maybe there was a structure to the game at large that kept things in balance. With age, it stops being "this was badly designed because I didn't get what I wanted out of it," and starts to become its own thing. To quote a famous Nuzleaf, I believe all of this is happening for a reason.

Friends...let's talk Sword and Shield.

My team was Rillaboom, Thievul, Butterfree, Mr. Rime, Alcremie, and Dragapult kinda sorta, with additional showcasings for Carkoal and Perrserker. I say sorta kinda on Dragapult because I intended to use it, but it didn't fully evolve until after I beat Leon. Oops!

If the intro wasn't a giveaway, I want to talk gameplay first. While we'll get to the story issues, I think gameplay matters more to Pokemon, and is the bigger problem that keeps Galar low on my list. To get some small housekeeping out of the way first:

I will not be harping on graphics, I don't care. Yes I know performance isn't good, but it's mildly annoying at worst.

I will not be harping on designs, they're largely fine. The starters are one of the weakest sets, and the box legends might be my least favorite, but there are plenty of good ones to the region as well.

I will not say "game too easy," but I will be discussing factors that led people to that assertion.

I will not be talking about Dexit. While I hated it at first, having calmed from it, I think it's for the best. I liked when Gen 5 forced you to use the new stuff to generate new favorites, and if anything Dexit should go harder by removing Home so they can more severely tweak stats and movesets between generations.

My problem with Gen 8 gameplay my very well be my own preferred means of playing, but I'm going to attempt making my case with three examples.

First: Growth via TM progression. In my Crystal run, I ran a Togetic, and have a pretty rough time of it. Togetic was never particularly strong, but it had an arc, picking up Mud Slap for Morty, Sunny Day/Solarbeam/Flamethrower for several Kanto gyms, and then falling back on Psychic/Zap Cannon when the earlier set wasn't working out. Togetic had an arc of struggle, in which it had to find tools that made it work for each phase of the game, that came down to recently acquired TMs the game provided naturally. Barring Flamethrower, all of these were free acquisitions.

Compare this to Thievul is Galar. It also is pretty bad, despite access to Nasty Plot, because its best attacking move is Snarl. It needs TMs to learn anything else. But in Galar, TMs are no longer infinite, as TRs now cover the really good moves. And the only way to get them is random den drops, and random shop items around the Wild Area for thousands of Watts, when a full den gives only 300. Acquiring the specific TM it wants is next to impossible. Dens aren't guaranteed to be Dark type, and even if they are, you could get other dark moves like Crunch. The shops aren't guaranteed to sell Dark Pulse, and even if they are, how long will it take to farm 5000 Watts? There is no control over what the Wild Area produces, and thus no arc to be had for anything specific.

Second: growth via learnset progression. In Emerald, I ran a Mawile. Caught at level 37 in Victory Road, we needed several levels before it could learn the move that would give it relevance, and the EXP options were scarce. I had to use an EXP All, cutting the entire team's EXP gains just for Mawile to catch up, while trying to find optional areas with trainers left, and at times trying to keep Mawile in to win the fight herself. There's a struggle and a cost to the growth unit perspective.

Compare that to my Butterfree. Until it gained Quiver Dance, Butterfree contributed little beyond the occasional Sleep Powder lockdown. It took off once it learned Quiver Dance, but the means of getting there was just...have it in the team. Even on the back row, it'll be fine and catch up with no real issue. There's not much of a struggle to overcome, or a sense that you're building things. It just kinda happens to you.

Third: Galar's Intent. I do not have a comparison point for this, but Mr. Rime. Probably my MVP! Once it hits Mr. Mime, it has Icy Wind, Psybeam, and Dazzling Gleam. With a Thunderbolt TM I had randomly picked up from an early den, it had excellent coverage that took down a majority of the region past its evolution. This was a fairly fun find.

I think that's the intent of Galar's structure: accidents. Surprises. The Wild Area lacks any sense of control, holding events locked to the day and forcing save commitments that refuse to allow soft resets for different outcomes. If you can roll with the punches, and accept whatever comes at you, this game probably is a lot of fun. That's probably why my wife likes it so much. But if you can't...well, you're like me, and this game is really difficult to appreciate.

I will, however, argue that it's not just me. The Wild Area's structure is awkward, being the sole home of a lot of different Pokemon, who will only show up under specific weather conditions and at very low rates. Look up how to find Dreepy some time. But the dens lack control as well, unless you manipulate the system's clock in the right way. Then, even if you find something you want, you have to hope for the random TM to drop too. I decided to use Rillaboom because I never once ran a starter, and part of Rillaboom was wanting TMs that required time manipulation to find in stock. If you come in wanting literally anything, the Wild Area is very likely to deny you. You have to come in wanting for nothing at all, working only with what's handed to you, to have a good time.

Which feels crazy disingenuous to me? Pokemon is all about the little critters you can find, and growing an attachment to things you want to catch. Not everything even comes from what's randomly found, sometimes you see something in an enemy team and get really excited for that thing. Like, imagine seeing something like Cursola in Allister's team, and going man, that looks cool! Regional Corsola and it gets an evolution, sign me up! So you go out into the world hoping to get it, only to find that it shows up exactly 5% of the time under one (1) specific weather condition in one (1) region of the Wild Area. Better hope that one area has the right weather condition or there is no way in hell you're getting that Corsola!

I just...I get that replaying Pokemon games is a thing, and that each experience can be different, and that having some random outcomes is beneficial. But Galar takes it way too far. I think their intent was to give players technical access to what they want right away, without making it actually available. See, this is something I heard and agree with: Pokemon is most engaging while you're building the team. Postgames have felt difficult for me to appreciate because my team is done, my moveset is done, I don't want to do the volcano in Platinum I just want to finish. You need to have a ladder to climb and a goal to reach for the game to remain engaging. But players are also impatient, and have gotten worse with this series over time. Learned movesets went from situations where Gyarados learns very little of value naturally, to learning its best Water move at like level 21. Players will tell you they want the feeling of being done early, but that provably kills the experience.

Another thing I'd do with hacking as a kid was bring in all TMs. Yeah, let's start HGSS with a Swinub that has Ice Beam, Rock Slide, and Earthquake, what could go wrong? It turns out everything at once, as you just clobber the entire early game with no resistance. There was no real challenge to approaching the game in this way, and the run turns stale fast because oops, Swinub had its best moveset right out the gate. I started a lot of runs in those days but rarely finished, and it's why nowadays I do have some compulsion about the purity of a run. It can actually take away part of the joy. And more than likely, the devs know this too. So if players demand the ability to kill that joy, but you want to sustain it, what's the compromise?

Make it all so random that it's borderline impossible to account for anything. Yeah dude, you can get everything right away! But you can't get anything specific at all. Which solves nothing and creates new problems. Because now there's no progression toward the endgame outside of learnset, and some learnsets in Galar are hilariously bad. You ever looked at Coalossal's moveset? Its best Rock move is Rock Blast at 54. Good luck not using TMs and making that thing work to any enjoyment. It feels like they overshot the mark, and for anyone who plays like I do, thinking about what Pokemon you want to run or trying to chart a course for the game, it's naturally going to be miserable. Galar still ranks really low for me, but I at least feel like I understand what Galar may have wanted to do.

Gameplay aside...it's time to talk about the aspect that got my wife laughing at me, and will probably have @alphakuriboh saying some things too. Story.

Much like XY, Galar is generally considered a low point for story. Doesn't make sense, antagonist is stupid, etc, you know the drill. However, I do think they Galar was cooking to some degree.

Rose is the main sticking point regarding story, because...again, the antagonist's actions are the only story we get in Pokemon. And he kinda pingpongs. Worried about a millenium from now, he refuses to wait 24 of god's own hours for Leon to finish his sports tournament, and unleashes hell. He acts sad about the state of affairs but resolved that he must do it, then after you beat him is back to borderline cheerful about how fun battles could be. You solve the problem, and Rose turns himself in, never to be heard from again. That is. An event, my dude.

Thing is, I think his actions make more sense given his character, and the theme of Galar. Galar's big theme is a sort of "passing the torch," best summarized by Opal. The old need to know when to step out of the way, but we're not done yet. Opal's stance and her actions tell the full picture. It's not that the old blood needs to disappear, but rather that at some point, the young need to take ownership of their future. They're the ones most impacted by the conditions going forward, after all, and it's important they be granted the ability to decide for themselves what they want.

Rose, as a character, denies that entirely. He manipulates the younger generations for his own ends, and his motivation is about maintaining his own view of things and his legacy 1000 years in the future. Yes, it's a far off problem that can be solved a bit later, but that's not the point. This is his problem, and it has to be solved his way. And most importantly, solved how he commands it. His lack of patience isn't about truly being so hasty. It's about forcing Leon back into compliance. Even if Leon didn't strictly say no, it wasn't a yes, and that's not how this goes.

Rose acts kind, propping up Leon as the unbeatable champion and giving Bede his position and mission. But his actions aren't altruistic. Leon now holds the same neuroses as Rose, taking everything on as his own responsibility. Accidents at the power plant? He'll talk to Rose, you all go on. Dynamax Pokemon going out of control? He'll take care of it, don't worry. Eternatus is unleashed? He'll catch it and take care of it. That last one is even what Rose wants! Leon falls completely into his expected role that Rose shaped for him. Bede also falls exactly into the role he expects, even if it results in discarding him and banning him from the competition as a result. Rose controls the youth in order to shape his vision of the future.

While I didn't play it, I imagine this is the intent with Shieldbert and Sordward, too. Control over the truth of the past alters what you think to do in the future, and so they are just another iteration on this idea, albeit less fleshed out.

Rose's future also lacks accounting for everyone's future. Spikemuth is in horrible poverty because they lack a power spot to draw energy from, or to Dynamax for spectacle from. Any future Rose builds will continue this inequality. His vision of preserving the future isn't a net positive for others, but that's not important. What's important is that it's his future. Which is why he lets himself be locked up. If the energy crisis was really the main concern, then your character catching Eternatus and beating Leon should result in another attempt. It never comes because at this point, whatever happens next is no longer his future. He can't care if it's not what he wanted.

The flip flop on his general mood state is a little harder to read with certainty, but I imagine the intent is one of cycles. I doubt he crafted this company from nothing, and his family likely had their own expectations of him that led to him perceiving every little thing as his concern and losing connection with the fun of things. It's a bit messy, but I'd be lying if I said the start of his fight with him gripping the Pokemon wasn't a cool individual scene.

Now before I get too positive, I do think Galar's story is also rife with problems. Primarily, its refusal to engage the player in anything. We feel utterly disconnected from anything going on with Rose or the region, because Leon's taking care of it instead of us. It does hinder the feeling that we're doing anything particularly important or special.

I also feel like some of their decisions were rather...poor, regarding passing the torch. Mostly Magnolia, if I'm honest. I think the decision to not even use your first old female professor to play up her 20-something granddaughter is...telling. God forbid female professors be old, they have to be super young and pretty. I just think it would've been more interesting to have Sonia acting as assistant to Magnolia and piecing together what your player character does instead. It gives Magnolia more spotlight, and gives Sonia like...an actual function beyond turning to you all the time to ask what you think, rather than posit ideas of her own.

Lastly and most vitriolically...what is the point of Marnie? No really, why is she here? Spikemuth's situation is understood, but Piers carries all the interesting stuff. Refusing to Dynamax as a statement about the inequality and the value of its residents is fantastic, and Marnie just throws it out the window. She holds no convictions, and at no point in the story does she really do anything. She's around for the ride until Piers shows up and has an actual emotional stake in things. His own passing the gym leader torch to her doesn't even feel valuable because she's so disconnected from his philosophical stance. I think Marnie should've been the one out here making that statement by refusing Dynamaxing while climbing the League's ladder, and Team Yell benefits from this as their interference can be interpreted as concern that their one chance for a Champion is playing risky by not using Dynamax for some political point. She just feels pointless.

The less said about postgame the better. That entire sequence is just tedious and annoying and completely missed its mark dramatically.

Unlike Kalos, Galar remains low on the list. I'll admit, I have been harsher on the game than was strictly called for, but I maintain it's one of my least favorites. Its entire design is just so functional antithetical to what I like in these games.

Next...I'm gonna be real, I have no idea. I'm kind of in stasis right now. I don't feel like replaying Gen 9, that's too fresh. I considered White 2 but didn't love White 1, so I'm hesitant. I considered ORAS, which...might be next. And for my own console time...it's either BDSP or I pick up one of the games in my backlog. We'll see what I feel like doing tomorrow.

#pokemon gen 8 #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon replays

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suzuran777 · 1 year ago

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Review: Shingakkou -Noli me tangere- (PIL/SLASH)

This is a game I've been wanting to replay for a long time! It has been 10 years, so I had a fun time revisiting it.

The story focuses on protagonist Michael, who's enrolled into a seminary. Excited to finally reunite with his family, Michael and his twin brother Gabby return home during their Christmas holiday, only to find out that someone has killed their parents and sister. To make things even more strange, they find a mysterious mark on the wall, written in their father's blood. Upon returning to the seminary, Michael discovers that this mark belongs to a secret society that exists in his very own school.

It turns out that this secret society is a group of devil worshippers called "Akahebi no Tsuichi" (soil of the red snake). After receiving some hints about how to join, Michael joins their group to find out the true identity of its members. During their first meeting, some of the voices sound familiar to characters you meet earlier in the game... I will try to avoid mentioning any big spoilers in this review because it's more fun to experience it yourself!

The first three routes follow a kind of similar story, you can choose between Leonid, Cecil or Neil. I personally think it doesn't really matter, so I started with Leonid's route. I ended up really liking him. At first he seems like a very serious character who has a lot of responsibilities, but later you learn he also has a different side. Michael often has to help him clean his room because Leonid has a habit of not organizing anything (to put it lightly...). When he does try to organize his belongings, Michael ends up finding shoelaces in tea cans and shirts stuffed in drawers... He's voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru who is in a lot of older BL games, so maybe I'm biased.

I guess it's important to mention that it definitely feels more like a horror game than a mystery game, so after playing the first route you kinda know what to expect from the next routes already, but it's still interesting to see how each character reacts to everything that happens in the game imo! I played Neil's route next, followed by Cecil's route. I thought Neil's personality was really fun, he teases Michael a lot but he also has a serious and caring side. I must admit that Cecil wasn't really my type, but he's Michael's closest friend and I'm sure there's many people out there who do enjoy childhood friend characters.

After playing the first three routes... it was time for August's route. And oh boy this is where things get a lot worse for Michael! I like how you can still choose who tops and bottoms by the way, which you can do for every character in this game. I remember I somehow didn't expect August of all characters to bottom LOL... I actually quite liked the ending because it's so different than the previous three routes. Some very cool symbolism at the end of his route too which is hard not to appreciate! August's route unlocks Gabby's route, which is the final route of the game.

So, one thing you immediately notice in the first routes is that not many people seem to talk to Gabby, he mostly chats with Michael. When him and Michael get too close to the lake, which is kind of a prohibited area to visit, only Michael gets scolded for being there. One of the only exceptions is when August talks to them, who mentions both of them. I promise everything does make sense eventually and I actually really liked Gabby's route and ending... It was also fun to learn more about the side characters!

I think it was interesting to see how the game handled topics like religion. I remember I wasn't sure if I would like a game with these kind of themes, but it was actually quite good. Even though the seminary has very strict rules, many of the students have different interpretations of what religion should mean to someone. In the end it turns out Leonid is not very religious at all and wants to create a world in which same-sex marriage is accepted, and even Neil, who's revealed to be a pastor in his own route, thinks it's fine that people sometimes question if God really exists. At the end of the game Michael also mentions that maybe the god they believe in isn't the one that is literally described in the bible, but that he still believes that there is something out there.

I thought the horror in this game was pretty well done too, not super scary but it never failed to surprise me. As the route progresses, Michael starts having more and more nightmares and hallucinations. Demons, bugs, ghosts etc. Some scenes have these "jumpscares" but I wouldn't say they're too bad. What caught me off guard is whenever the faces of the other characters became weirdly distorted, which was quite creepy.

I guess my only "complaint" would be that it's one of these games in which every route doesn't really have a completely different story, therefore it can get a bit tedious when you have to complete Leonid, Cecil and Neil's route before you can play August's route, which unlocks Gabby's route. I always try to play every route though, so for me it was no big problem.

I was actually surprised there's a completed Shingakkou manga which focuses on Neil's route! I think it has also been fan-translated, so if you do want to get a feeling what the game is like before playing it, it might be an option to read that instead. Shingakkou hasn't been translated into English, but it's very easy nowadays to download a tool like Textractor and to play it using machine translation. I definitely recommend checking it out yourself!

#shingakkou #shingakkou noli me tangere #pil/slash #blvn #blvisualnovel #blvnreview #review

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eurydicees · 9 months ago

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center by sir chloe ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼

shoutout to when i asked for music recs in exchange for fics in september and then wrote, like, one of them. well. better late than never?

the heart of the matter is that i love you quietly

summary: in the car, after a confession, kuroo talks. kenma listens. everything is as it should be, except for how it's not. prompt: music recs, center (sir chloe) pairings: "it's complicated/situationship" tetsurou kuroo/kenma kozume words: 2031 warnings: none

In Kenma’s head, they’re on the train together, making their way home from evening practice. They’re pressed close together on the seat, their thighs just brushing and knees knocking together every now and then with the unpredictable motion of the train.

Kuroo is on his phone, texting or scrolling through some social media app Kenma hasn’t checked in months. Kenma is on his PSP, playing a game, maybe one he's already completed but found himself yearning for a replay and a chance to try out a new route.

In Kenma’s head, they are eternally comfortable with each other and Kuroo never said what he did and nothing ever changed.

But the truth is that they’re stuck in the never-ending Tokyo traffic on a road that doesn’t seem to ever turn or smoothen out and Kuroo is humming softly along to the music and—by all means, this should be fine. Except there’s a tension in the air that hasn’t been there in years—not since the first time Kuroo said it—and maybe Kenma is the only one who notices it, but it’s there nonetheless.

Kuroo says, “There must be an accident up ahead,” and Kenma just nods. Kuroo continues, “Well, according to the GPS, we’ll be back in less than two hours, at least,” and Kenma offers a bare hum of acknowledgement.

“You’re awfully quiet today,” Kuroo observes.

Kenma shrugs, turning to look out of the window. It’s dark, much later at night than he really would have liked to be out, and he can’t see much in the way of scenery. There’s just headlights and a glint of his own reflection. He looks tired, even to himself.

“I’m always quiet,” he says, eventually.

Kuroo snorts. “Not like this. There are different kinds of quiet. This is your overthinking and anxious quiet, not your contemplative or bored or analytical quiet.”

“I thought I was supposed to be the observant one,” Kenma mutters. “I’m fine, Kuroo.”

“I’m allowed to steal your tricks once in a while.” Kuroo quiets for a moment while the car inches just a little further forward. Then, “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? What I said earlier.”

Kenma swallows, shrugging noncommittally. Kuroo doesn’t say anything, though if that’s because he’s waiting for Kenma to speak or because he doesn’t have words of his own, Kenma doesn’t know.

Finally, Kenma turns away from the window to glance at Kuroo, and then to the license plate in front of him. “How can I not think about it?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Kuroo says, subdued and dulled. “Or it doesn’t have to be. I told you not to worry about it. It’s my problem to worry about, not yours.”

Kenma can feel his heart flinch at those words. “Then why even bother telling me?”

Kuroo’s hands tighten their grip around the steering wheel. If he weren’t driving, Kenma imagines his knee would be shaking: up, down, up, down. In his head, they’re going to forever be on that train, before the first time; and now, before the second time.

They had gotten halfway through the train ride back to their neighborhood when Kenma felt Kuroo’s eyes weighing on him. And it’s not like that’s exactly abnormal, because Kuroo watches people in much the same way Kenma does, even if he’s able to play it off as friendly rather than analytical. But this gaze felt different. Kenma remembers pausing his game to look over at Kuroo and ask what he was looking at.

In his head, he had not done this. But the memory goes differently than he would have liked it to.

What happened, instead, is that rather than ignoring it, he looked over at the flush of Kuroo’s cheeks and the unsteady bouncing of his knee and the stiff, uncomfortable way he forced himself to sit straight up and look away from Kenma. What happened, instead, is that Kenma studied him just a little too long; and saw that it’s almost like Kuroo was scared of what he himself would see in Kenma, or, like he was scared that Kenma would keep seeing him.

“Say it,” Kenma had told him. “What’s wrong?”

Kuroo exhaled, a little shaky, but determined. No—resigned. “Lev told you, didn’t he?”

Kenma swallowed. He looked away from Kuroo, and maybe that was answer enough, or maybe it’s not, because Kuroo forced himself to continue.

“He told you I’m in love with you, right?”

And look, Lev might have said something during a water break only a few hours ago, sure, but Kenma already knew. He knew before Lev, he knew before that train ride that feels they never left. He knew back in middle school, when Kuroo had begun to grow more and more excited about his life at Nekoma but never once looked away from Kenma. He knew.

But still, it’s different to hear it said out loud. It’s different for it to come from Kuroo himself. It’s different, Kenma knows, because hearing Kuroo say it, confess to him, hurts so much more than Kenma had ever imagined it would.

In the end, he had said, “Yeah,” and Kuroo had given him a sharp nod, wordless but still saying so much, and that had been the end of that. Kuroo didn’t bring it back up again, and neither did Kenma. On top of that, Kuroo must have told someone who told someone who spread the word, because any teasing about the blurred lines of their friendship stopped by the next day.

That should have been the end of it. Only here they are, two years later, and Kenma is once again thinking about what he was almost able to forget about after so much time and careful establishing of platonic boundaries; and after two years of Kenma pushing down and away all the thoughts and feelings and wantings of his own that are all so much easier to strangle than to say.

In his head, Kuroo did not confess in high school and it didn’t change everything for months and months, until they settled into a new rhythm with Kuroo away at university. In his head, this first confession did not wake up anything so overwhelming inside of Kenma himself.

And in Kenma’s head, Kuroo did not confess again, only an hour before the biggest game of his university career so far, when Kenma had come to watch and then to drive back home together for the weekend. He had not done it in an empty hallway between the court and the locker room. He had not pulled Kenma aside only a few minutes before the game’s start.

Kuroo had not said, “Don’t freak out when I say this, okay?” and he had not said, breathless and anxious and, again, so resigned, “I’m in love with you and I think I always will be, and I don’t expect you to—I don’t expect—I just need you to know. I’m tired of keeping secrets from my best friend. And it can’t come from Lev or whoever again.”

Then Kuroo had been pulled away to warmups, leaving Kenma with that stupid, soft, adoring smile. Leaving Kenma to stare after him in that deserted hallway. Leaving Kenma to his desperate wishing that those words had never been said aloud.

“I don’t like keeping secrets from you,” Kuroo says, sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, staring out at the taillights on their drive back home, some darker, more practiced echo of what he had said under the fluorescents of the stadium hallway. Then he laughs, a little too self-deprecating for Kenma’s comfort. “It’s not like you didn’t already know, Kenma. We’re both well aware that you knew.”

Kenma doesn’t say anything to that. He turns back to the window, squinting at the glass to see past his own reflection and into the spot in the road next to them. “That lane is moving faster. You should merge.”

“It’s that kind of attitude that creates traffic,” Kuroo says, which Kenma isn’t totally sure is true, but for once he doesn’t feel like taking up an argument.

It would be such an easy way out of the conversation—starting a mindless argument, that is—but Kenma doesn’t take it, despite everything in him wanting to avoid the actual subject at hand. He sighs, deep and steady.

“Yeah,” he admits, more to himself than to Kuroo. “I knew.”

Kuroo seems to recognize immediately that they aren’t talking about traffic anymore. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps his gaze steady on the car head. Again, the silence is uncomfortable, strained, and Kenma hates it, hates what this confession has done to a decade of friendship, hates that Kuroo was brave enough to give such a confession—and, really, honestly what Kenma hates is that he himself still isn’t brave enough to listen to it.

Because—because it’s not like Kenma doesn’t love him back. It’s just that Kenma is too scared to say it.

Kuroo has been waiting for Kenma to hear him out for two years now. He’s probably willing to wait a lifetime for Kenma to be brave enough for the vulnerability that comes with sharing a heart with another person. Kuroo has always been patient, if it’s regarding Kenma.

Kenma, meanwhile, has been waiting for Kuroo to give up or get discouraged or frustrated or angry or bitter for years, and it has yet to happen. But still, there’s always time for the other shoe to drop. One day, in his quest to uncover all that Kenma has kept hidden, he’ll bite down too hard and make bleed the hand that feeds him.

“Kenma—” Kuroo stops. Takes a deep breath; lets the car roll forward another few feet. “I don’t expect you to love me back, whatever promises we made back in high school. A lifetime has passed since you said to give you time to think, you know? I don’t expect you to be in love with me—that’s not why I confessed.”

Kenma swallows, another question or protest or something on his lips, but Kuroo shakes his head and Kenma shuts up.

Kuroo finally turns away from the stillness of the traffic to look at Kenma. He’s smiling, even if it’s a little sad, when he says, “You don’t need to worry so much, Kenma, I promise. I’m never going to get tired of being your friend. Whatever you figure out about your own feelings, and however long you need, that’ll always be true.”

“You deserve better than waiting for me,” Kenma says, feeling somewhat hollow as he says it, as he suggests that Kuroo find someone else to love.

Kuroo snorts, turning back to the car ahead of them. “Do you listen to anything I say? It’s not waiting for anything. You’re my friend first and I’m never going to be tired of having that.”

Kenma closes his eyes, tired of the taillights and the reflection of his own breaking heart. “Okay. If you say so.”

Kuroo hums. There’s infinite understanding in the sound and Kenma isn’t sure that he deserves it, but Kuroo has always been the kind of person to give until he has nothing left and Kenma has always asked for infinity.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Kuroo says tentatively, “but can I tell you I love you now? No expectations, just—it’s nice to say out loud.”

Kenma’s heart is in his throat, a lump of coal which could maybe be a diamond if Kuroo keeps pushing and Kenma keeps letting him. “That’s okay.”

“Okay,” Kuroo says, a real smile broadening over his face. “I love you.”

Kenma bites down on his bottom lip. He thought that the weight of Kuroo’s I love you would be oppressive and stifling, but he finds that he’s biting back a pleased laugh rather than the urge to cower. “You’re so embarrassing.”

Kuroo laughs. “I can live with that as long as we’re friends.”

Kenma rolls his eyes, but—yeah. It’s definitely something happy he’s holding in at the center of his chest, at the molten core of his heart. Maybe one day soon, he’ll be brave enough to taste it on his tongue and let it fly free. “Sure, Kuro.”

#i have a normal number of emotions abt kuroken btw.#my writing #haikyuu #kuroken #tetsurou kuroo #kenma kozume #kuroo tetsurou #kozume kenma #haikyuu fic #haikyuu fanfiction #kuroken fic

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thecurioustale · 6 months ago

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How to Make Final Fantasy X Actually the Best Game in the Series

(Spoilers for Final Fantasy X.)

FFX is one of the strongest contenders for best game in the series, but...

It would be so much better if Yuna knew the whole time (but the audience didn't) that Tidus would have to "disappear" at the end of the game.

One of the worst narrative failures in the game is when Tidus kind of just randomly learns out of nowhere toward the end (but not actually in the endgame sequence) that he's a dream who will disappear. Super anticlimactic. It should be that he doesn't learn it until the very end, at which point it should make total sense to him and not provoke any kind of reaction other than calm acceptance.

For nearly the whole game, Yuna is hiding from Tidus (and from the audience) the fact that her pilgrimage will kill her if she completes it successfully. This is a great plot twist, and the reveal to Tidus late in the game is done pretty well.

Nevertheless, I think that Tidus, and the audience, should learn this explicitly about halfway through the game, maybe even a little earlier, but that Tidus should conceal his awareness of it from her. Why? So that audience will notice that Yuna is continuing to hide her fate from him, and will believe that this is why she is so sad.

Then, toward the end, maybe in that wonderful scene where "Suteki Da Ne" plays, he can confront her with this, but it doesn't really change her behavior or mood. And we the audience don't learn why until the very end of the game: Yuna is keeping two secrets: Both of them will cease to be. But Tidus only know about one of these; only knew about her fate.

The thing is, you can leave the game's existing text and cutscenes almost completely as-is, but Yuna knowing Tidus' fate the whole time (presumably from her powers as a summoner to see such things) creates a double layer of meaning that makes the game's story completely different on the first replay. Like, completely different.

I never played FFX myself; only watched a roommate play it in college; so my memory was foggy. Today I am under the weather, and watched the 9-hour FFX cutscene "movie" over the past day, and I actually thought that this was what was happening: That Yuna knew they were both doomed. It makes the whole story incredibly sad, in the best way. And the dialogue and narrative monologuing in the game are so ambiguous that I got away with my false recollection almost to the very end of the game, when they're in the temple of the fayth for the last time and it becomes clear that Yuna doesn't know.

If FFX were done to my specs, then for the first half of your original playthrough you would see the various party members inexplicably dour and sad. Then for the second half of the game you would know about the Final Summoning (and Yuna's fate), because Tidus knows now. But then at the end you would get the true gut-puncher that it was Tidus with a clock over their head the whole time, and that saving Yuna's life doesn't mean they get to be together.

Only on the second playthrough would a lot of these great interactions between them become fully clear.

Anyway, just a thought...

#Final Fantasy X #Final Fantasy headcanon

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teatimemols · 2 months ago

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Heyyy. It seems like you know a lot about PSI. What do you think about PSI world-building? Or maybe the world-building in Jester's other stories? And how they would compare to RC's current no. 1 book, HSR??? I heard some players praise HSR for its plot but I never heard about the world-building because I'm a sucker for it. Thanks!

So, I replayed PSI... a lot. I mean, I don't normally replay books, but then again, most books lose me in their final season or halfway through, so I've never replayed other book as I did PSI. I've replayed Lotw until season 2 because I made a mistake to restart the story, but that's all.

PSI got me to the end, just like Lotw (my beloved), but I hated my PSI final! I felt like I was bullshitted with that just because I don't follow any personality path religiously.

Anyway, it doesn't matter which directions I was going to the following playthroughs

So I've read earlier parts with contexts we didn't know at first, so the story got more and more complete in my head.

There are things that I'm unsure if they were completely fazed out to us, but the world building is quite rich.

Like, there are structures of power that we actually know the ideology of, under what principles they work with. There are important conflicts between those structures and within those.

Even the Church/Inquisition has quite reasonable ideals and ideas - not all, of course, which can make one feel ambiguous towards it.

PSI is heavily based on Dragon Age, but PSI has its own flavor, with how everything people do is so futuristic and, at the same time, food and medicine are so odd and complicate.

I didn't like PSI much at first, but Jester is good with world building. And, he keeps the plot inside what is somewhat realistic and feasible, despite grand.

He's almost the only one who keeps me entertained with the plot, despite any LI blownout - which, in his stories, didn't happen to me yet.

I think he has always had a strong base for his stories. Maybe not for Moonborn idk, Moonborn is complicated.

Now, HSR and ABH are my current fave stories.

As I think some other people said, the divine creatures are finally creatures of their own, which changes everything about their relations to humans and other divine.

The story feels like a classic survivor horror game.

The best part of the world building in this story may still come yet.

Like Lane, what we know of the world itself, of her post-apocalyptic world, is quite limited and partial.

And we've been living in a very small part of it - this world.

I think the monks' motivations should have been more explored somewhat, also to give us a better understanding of the Roskov's village.

I hope we can get to ADAM and have more memories resurface.

The monsters are very intriguing. I hope to see more lore about them soon, too.

The ambiance is very well done, with the music, with Lane's monologue, the constant sensation of isolation of the Siberia village.

I just think the world is not quite so clear to me yet.

Sorry for the delay 😅

#hsr #romance club #rc hsr #psi #rc psi #long post

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mrsbsmooth · 1 year ago

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For the anon from earlier (the one abt lewie) and all of us who are loyal to Lewie + love him in our playthroughs and need some reassurance, we need to have faith in our man Lewie. That man has been set on mc since DAY 1, and everyone in the villa seems to know it. The ppl in the villa are always saying that he's a keeper and to not let him go, and look how hard he fought for mc when Roberto was going after her and even Elliot too. I do genuinely believe Lewie may have felt pressured to talk big game about Chloe to the boys and that's why he said what he said, he's a people pleaser after all. Was there interest from him to Chloe? Maybe, but he even said himself that it doesn't compare to how he feels with mc and again everyone seems to pick up on it too. Even the Casa boys say that he got all and I quote "melty" about mc and wouldn't stop talking about us on his date. I also find it as a good sign that when Chloe tried to make a move he turned her down because he doesn't want to "Mess things up with mc". This is the second time he's been on a date and someone has played big moves on him and he turned them down cause of us, not to mention miss Ivy trying to kiss him behind our back and he also turned her down. You can tell he's very serious about mc, that man has slept on the daybeds every time he wasn't sleeping with us. So I have faith in him and I think we all should :) I've been seeing around that people are upset he didn't leave with us but FB can't do that cause we were going to Casa but who knows lewies reasoning as to not going. Maybe the reasons will be explained once we get back.

Ihave a possible theory that Lewie maybe didn't leave with us because he wanted to make sure that he was 100% about us, that that spark he's never felt with anyone before (in his own words) is with mc and ONLY with mc. He probably stood behind to think out everything and to see if any of the other girls made him feel the way Mc did. Which I know sounds bad but he won't do it in a douchebag kind of way, he's just doing it to prove something he already knows, that his and mcs chemistry + feelings can't be reached by any other girl. Catch me being delulu here ^

P.s. I also feel guilty because I've been crushing on Andy a lil and I have kissed him and flirted with him, but I replayed it and am staying loyal to Lewie. Andy just makes it really hard 😭

Hopefully this does not age poorly and Lewie/FB will not prove me wrong :D

Babe I’m with you.

I’m gonna go and replay once I wake up properly (5:45am here now) and be loyal to Lewie. I just can’t do it to his little face. Even if he does bring a girl back, even if he did kiss her, god, even if he did more than that. EVEN IF HE SAYS HE OWES IT TO HER TO GIVE HER A SHOT which is the single most hurtful thing he could do.

(Like side note, personally he could do absolutely whatever he wanted in casa and if he immediately dropped her when he saw us again I would forgive everything straight away)

But for real I just can’t do it to him. Lewie has my heart and my whole ass, I love him and I want him back 😭

#LITG Lewie #litg #love island the game #love island game #LITG s6

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unmeiokaemasu · 2 months ago

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beat new mystery

no strong feelings, but I like recording my impressions after beating another fe game, so here we go

I went in fully expecting to hate the player avatar, but honestly I liked Kris and I liked Katarina and the whole assassin plot thing. I understand if you liked am earlier iteration of this story, and even I could tell Kris's parts were ungracefully inserted into an otherwise complete story, but since I've played all the GBA FE games, the main story otherwise feels like a less interesting version of those. I know that's not fair since it came first, and maybe the earlier versions tell the story better, I have no idea, but anyway, I liked Kris both as a unit and as a character. I liked their personality in the base conversations (getting exasperated with Xane and calling out Michalis being a broody coward were two of my favorites) and I wonder if it changes at all if you pick different background options (I picked "child of a farmer" or whatever that one was). Heck, I might even replay it to pick different options.

The one thing that was as annoying as I thought it would be was all the characters saying how wonderful and special and good at everything the player character was, but it didn't ruin anything for me.

The base conversations made me rotate who I deployed more than I thought I would, since you were guaranteed to get a support conversation with Kris. It made me pick the sequel characters more than Shadow Dragon characters, although now I might like to go back and pick some of them.

idk. I may or may not do that. it was probably a little too meh for that.

Anyway now I should finish Shadow Dragon...I've got like two chapters left or something. After that Valentia...ugh. I got to the same point I got to in my first playthrough of that before stalling out, because I couldn't advance on Celica's side and either needed to grind more or strategize better, and....hhhhrrrrgh. idk. I can't get into it. But I really want to finally finish it.

I have a barely started Radiant Dawn run languishing somewhere, which I started with the data from my most recent Path of Radiance run. When I loaded it, it was the second part of a multi-part chapter, my units were weak and in bad shape, there was some sort of time pressure with reinforcements, and I did really badly and wasn't sure if I should restart or not. -_- It's always hard for me picking up and old playthrough, but. MAN do I not want to play the beginning RD chapters again.

So there's those three, and then there's the Jugdral games. We'll see which I put off the longest. But the fact that after all this time I STILL have Fire Emblem games that I can beat for the first time is pretty cool.

Oh yeah btw my switch is dead...so I don't have the distraction of working on my various Three Houses runs to keep me from the older games. (I had a playthrough for each house on each difficulty going simultaneously. The only beaten one was hard mode Azure Moon. I was really focusing on trying maddening mode runs, but I was super stalled out on each of those.)

#catfish plays fe

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kozykricket · 4 months ago

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okay okay so yknow that feeling when you like. you open up a game when you're not sure what to play and... you start playing it like yea! im gonna have some fun doin this! and then you're met with like. a miserably dreadful feeling yknow that type of flavour of it that happens with minecraft in particular? its just like, an immense Bluh feeling that hits you after a short period of playing and being like yay ! minecraft! i feel like. i may have uncovered a new way to think about it... because i felt SUCH a minecrafty feeling the other day when i tried to go back to a terraria world i had abandoned a whole year ago (FYI ive been playing some modded terraria and enjoying it lots. waiting for 1.4.5 to start a new vanilla world)

i think... it could possibly be . well for one it could just be forcing yourself to play a game when u dont want to (especially if its alone) but i think it may be from a feeling of aimlessness caused by a dissonance of interest from the game. like, a dissonance between what you think you should be feeling, and how you actually feel. in that case, i thought i'd feel a lot of determination to continue the world and truly beat the game on that world... but i just, yknow, it had been so long since i had played that... i had kinda forgotten about the world. but heres another aspect: maybe its also just, the pressure of the world opening up to you? perhaps thats why post plantera in terraria is my most bleh part... because its like minecraft in that the entire world is open for you to do whatever you could desire. and that can sometimes REALLY get my brain going. to the point where. i can overwhelm myself its like... yes, theres tons of things to do earlier in progression, or in a game like stardew valley. but i never get overwhelmed in THOSE games. in fact, i feel a level of "oh theres so many things to do!" in an EXCITING way. not a demotivating way of "oh god im never gonna get these things done" but in a way of like. it feeels like im satisfyingly checking stuff off of a todo list. like alright ive upgraded my coop in stardew, now lets go give a gift to this npc! and oh, my crops are almost done! its like... im really engaged, and theres TONS of things to think of that could be overwhelming me but really arent. possibly becuase theyre paced really well, or that ... eh who knows. maybe its that not everything ist echnically open to me at once and i gotta make a choice on like, what to spend my resources or money on either way point is i think it'd be interesting to try and think about the psychology of like. why we get those burnt out feelings. is it merely the dissonance of wanting to enjoy something but just not holding any interest? is it a large thing in minecraft because we constantly start new worlds and then abandon them, so it can feel meaningless to work on anything at all? is it just that minecraft has SO MUCH to do?

i mean, i know when i play modded minecraft i... can kinda feel like, less of a connection to my world. perhaps just knowing its an "unofficial" thing. like fangames even... i cant really feel committed to replaying a fangame like i would a. game game. but anyways ive gotta get going and i wanna just hit post instead of drafting this rn so. bwam!

end of the day i love both minecraft and terraria and if u wanna diss either of the games then. kindly do not interact with this post

#jake post #minecraft #terraria

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coughdontfeelwellcough · 1 year ago

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Sicktember - sick and injured

Fandom: Spider-Man (insomniac game.)

Words: 1484

Authors notes: Welcome to my first sicktemper post for this year! I wrote this after replaying the ps4 game ready for the new one but they're are no game spoilers and both Peter and MJ are aged 23.

I hope you enjoy!

Peter wasn’t going to make it home. He’d just gotten out of a rough fight and Peter was not in good shape. He needed help, he couldn’t exactly collapse on the streets of New York. He refused to go to May, she couldn’t know about he was Spider-Man and that only left one person.

Peter crash landed on MJ’s balcony, hissing in pain as his body collided with the floor. He’d lost a lot of fights in his time but it had been a long time since he’d felt pain like it.

“Jesus! Peter!” MJ was at his side, helping him limp into her apartment. He made it to her couch where she helped take off his mask, wincing at the sight of his bruised and bloodied face.

“You need a Doctor.” she grabbed her phone and Peter had to reach out to stop her before she dialled 911.

“Don’t.”

“I don’t think you’re in any shape to negotiate right now Peter. What the hell happened?” she asked.

“Met the new guy, calls him Tombstone. Don’t tell Fisk but this guy could give him a run for his money,” Peter replied.

“And he did this to you?”

Peter nodded, wincing at the movement. “Him and his thugs.”

“Did you stop him?” she asked.

“No, but I imagine Yuri is hot on his tail.”

MJ sighed and put her phone away, it wasn’t like she’d been able to explain to the paramedics anyway. They’d danced this dance before and Peter hated how defeated she looked every time.

“What hurts the most? Because to be honest you look like hell.”

Peter tried to laugh but it just sent stabbing pain through his ribs. “Right shoulder is definitely dislocated, I’d say at least six broken ribs, a few dozen cuts and bruises oh and I’m pretty sure my left leg is broken.”

“Fuck sake Peter, anything else? Any limbs hanging off I should know about?”

“I’m all good.” “I highly doubt that.”

MJ went to fetch her first aid kit, one she kept specially stocked up for the many Spidery related injuries. He remembered the first time he’d drought Curtis Conners and had stumbled into her apartment with claw marks across his chest. She’d screamed and almost driven him to the hospital before he’d managed to calm her down.

“I’m going to start with your shoulder, just deep breaths and it’ll be over.” MJ grabbed his right shoulder and forced it back into the socket. Peter whimpered and leant back against the couch, heart pounding. No matter how many times she’d done that it never hurt any less.

“I’m just going to rest your leg for now and then we’ll get you changed in a bit, let me first clean you up a bit,” she said.

MJ took a damp cloth and started cleaning the blood and sweat from his face.

“Peter, you’re really warm.” she said, touching his forehead with her wrist. “In fact you’re burning up, are you ill?”

“I dunno know, maybe? I wasn’t feeling so great earlier but then the whole Tombstone thing happened and I kinda forgot about it.” Though now she’d mentioned it Peter was suddenly aware of how achy and clammy he felt, a headache forming behind his eyes.

MJ sighed, pushing her hair back from her face. He knew that look, she was disappointed in him.

“MJ I’m..”

“If you say sorry right now Peter Parker I will end you. It’s just how do you go out and fight mob bosses without realising you have the flu?”

Peter shrugged and coughed roughly into his fist. Each one sending a stabbing pain through his ribs and tearing at his throat.

“You sound awful,” MJ said, patting his back as the fit ended.

“Well, I feel great,” he replied, wincing.

“Shut up so I can take your temperature and see how high your fever actually is.”

Peter did as he was told, only coughing lightly as she placed the device under his tongue. A minute later and it beeped a red 103.4 flashing up on screen.

“You don’t do anything by halves do you?” MJ asked, frowning.

“One of the joys of being me, I might heal quicker than most but it means I get sick quicker too.”

“I remember, we were sixteen and on the ferris wheel in Central Park when you suddenly and violently came down with the stomach flu…”

“Ew, don’t remind me.” Peter groaned.

“Well it’s burnt into my memory, I’ll never be able to wear strappy sandals again.”

Peter wanted to laugh but only ended up coughing, thick and chestily into his elbow.

“Okay, I think it’s time to get you out of your suit. You can’t be comfortable and it can’t be doing anything for your fever.”

“Whatever you say Doc,” Peter sniffed.

“Do you think you can stand?” MJ asked.

“I once fought Rhino with my leg broken in half three places and a concession, I think I can manage this.”

It took both of them to get Peter on his feet, MJ had her arm around his waist as all remaining colour leaving him face the moment he tried to put weight on his injured leg.

Getting him changed was a challenge, Peter couldn’t stand for any length of time and could barely go a minute without coughing. By the time he was dressed in some spare comfy clothes he was exhausted and trembling. His flu symptoms were truly starting to hit him, his head felt fuzzy and he could feel the congestion starting to settle in his chest. MJ joined him on the bed, rubbing his back as he coughed miserably into his wrist.

“How are you feeling? Honestly,” MJ asked.

Peter sighed, his voice weak and shaky with pain and illness. “Not great.”

“Can I get you anything?”

“Some tea would be lovely,” he rasped, the pain in his ribs was the worst and he struggled to keep the tremble out of his voice.

“Okay, tea coming up,” she replied, kissing the top of his head.

“Can you help me back to the couch?” he asked.

“Are you sure? I thought you might like to lie down.”

“I’m not taking your bed MJ, the couch is fine.”

MJ gave him the look again but he refused to back down, it was bad enough he’d dumped himself on her in such a state. He wasn’t about to make her give up her bed as well as everything else.

“Okay,” she sighed. “Come on.”

They stumbled back to the living room, MJ managing to get Peter back on the couch as he coughed and struggled to catch his breath. She helped him get comfortable and even got a stack of pillows to rest his broken leg.

“Do you have a blanket? It’s freezing,” Peter asked,

“That’s your fever talking,” MJ replied, still she returned with a blanket.

She wrapped around his shoulders before running her fingers through his hair, checking his fever.

“You’re getting worse,” MJ sighed.

“It’s a talent of mine,” Peter rasped.

MJ gave a weak smile and kissed his forehead. “Do you want to try some medicine? You’re really burning up.”

Peter gave a stuffy groan. “You know it won’t do anything.”

“Humour me okay?” she said, putting a couple of Tylenol in his palm.

Peter nodded and did as he was asked, and he leant back against the couch, his expression miserable as he failed to mask the pain. MJ squeezed his hand, he knew she hated it when he got hurt and even though he had healed faster than most it didn’t stop her from worrying.

MJ finished making the tea and returned to Peter hacking up a lung, the sound as harsh and congested as ever. He barely managed to calm his breathing, a nasty wheezing coming from his lungs.

“Here, drink your tea,” she said, passing the steaming mug.

“Thank you,” he croaked.

“Losing your voice? I never thought I’d see the day,” MJ teased.

Peter pouted, giving her his best sad puppy eyes. MJ just laughed and brushed his hair out of his face, running a hand over his feverish skin.

“I hope you’re feeling a bit better.”

Peter nodded, coughing pitifully into his wrist and almost spilling his tea.

“You know, you are terrible at looking after yourself.”

Peter smiled, leaning over to rest his head on MJ’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, I know you’ll be there to look after me.”

MJ wrapped her arm carefully around his shoulders, kissing the top of his head.

“Of course I will,”

Unfortunately getting injured on the job was just part of being Spider-Man, it never lasted long but it was always good knowing he had someone to go to. Peter rarely admitted it himself but he needed Mary-Jane Watson, she was his other half and he could always count on her to put him back together.

#sicktember 2023 #sickfic #coughing #fever #injury #sicktember

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