#most of these were even remotely spectacular ideas

[fangaminghell]

On the idea that Taen and East are brothers:

There's exactly a 9 year age difference between the two

If I go with the " East's family used to be rich before falling into ruin" idea, East being the oldest probably had a lot of expectation on his shoulders. Taen probably often saw East working, even at a young age.

I still think East cared for his brother, but in general was incredibly busy.

I think East's parents were....not the best people. Probably had shady dealings with the underground, and were more focused on maintaining their status than their children.

However, when they did pay attention to their children, it was usually bc they were of some use to them. East was the heir to the family name, and Taen was growing to be a scientific prodigy. Their goal was to mold them into something useful.

This goal grew as their status started to decline - they were desperate, and needed their sons to be something spectacular.

Okay, this slightly contradicts my last point but another idea: What if Taen was a bastard child? And the only thing that is keeping him in the mansion was that he was a science prodigy. Of course, he was hidden from the public because that would be horrible for press. Not that it mattered. But maybe they blamed Taen for their downfall.

Continuing this train of thought: East was probably the only one remotely kind to Taen, but like I said before, his parents were trying to mold him into the perfect heir, and thus was taken away from Taen for a time. Still, East tried to be there for his brother. Tried to, anyway.

I think at some point, Taen runs away.

When the family was finally, truly in ruin, the parents pretty much ran off, leaving East to clean up their mess. If Taen didn't run away before, he definitely would have done so then.

The reason that I thought of Taen being East's half brother was their eyes. Sure one parent could have had golden yellow eyes, but I think it's interesting if those eyes were someone else's.

Plus, if Taen was well known already, it would make him joining Reukra harder, as in it could bring some unwanted eyes. But if he was the bastard son of some rich family that was kept hidden - then yeah, I think it would be more compelling and easier to hide.

East does not know what happened to his brother. Maybe he finds out when trying to conduct business for Jaern, but overall, with the position he was placed in, East couldn't really afford to look for Taen.

As for Taen - I imagine he would be in his teens when he first meets Reukra, who would either still be in college or freshly out of it. Taen would have also known Harmony and Anastasia, though was much more loyal to Reukra who he felt understood him most.

Taen kinda sees Reukra as a father, but knows it isn't really reciprocated, and is generally okay with following orders, wanting to impress the older man. As he gets older, his dreams become a bit bigger though.

Aaaaand....yeah! I like this idea, and adding the half-brother's bit was pretty fun. Thoughts?

[melbmemories]

This is an excerpt from the book Favourite Footy Yarns, by Journalist, Ken Piesse.

Sir Doug Nicholls 1906 - 1988.

Racial prejudice and vilification was a cruel reality in football in the 1920's.

Tiny Douglas Nicholls had his heart set on a League career but after six weeks at Carlton walked out without playing a game. He’d been shunned by the players and even the trainers who refused to rub-down a black man. One said he smelled and several others said they couldn’t see him because he wore black shorts.

There was no such colour bar as a teenager growing up in Cumeragunga in Northern Victoria, where Nicholls had become known as “The Flying Abo” with his acrobatic leaping and scintillating speed. He was short, but could run like the wind and had exceptional ball skills which were his ticket to a new life.

Joining the VFA club Northcote, he played his first game in late May 1927, prompting one Melbourne Herald writer to comment:

The ten-stone Hercules had the spring of a rubber ball, the speed of an Emu and the strength of a Giant. He could flash between followers, bounce higher than a six footer and squirm through a pack. His kicking and passing on the run, his speed of turn, his spectacular leaps - like a little frog with spread legs - set the crowd roaring. They knew they were seeing as good a footballer as they were ever likely to see.

So impressed were his team mates that they had a ‘whip-around’ for him after the game. He played in the team’s 1929 Premiership at the MCG, being one of the most Outstanding afield. For two years running he was the Brickfielders’ best and fairest player. Despite his popularity among his own, rarely would he play a game without being abused by opposition players and supporters for his colour and race. His brother Dowie also joined the club for a season, the brothers being nicknamed ‘Chocolate and Cocoa’.

After five years Nicholls joined Fitzroy in the VFL where he earned Big V Selection and finished third in one club Best and Fairest behind Brownlow Medalists Haydn Bunton and Wilfred ‘Chicken’ Smallhorn. The club also gave him a job sweeping out the stands.

On his very first night at Fitzroy, Nicholls was changing by himself in a remote corner of the room when Bunton walked over to him, “What’s the idea?” he asked, “Why aren’t you with the others?”

“You know how it is” replied Nicholls.

Bunton bought his gear over and changed beside Nicholls, a ritual he repeated every Tuesday and Thursday.

Nicholls was one of the first Indigenous Australians to play 50 VFL games. Football gave him fresh status he could never have had back at home at Cumeroogunga. “I was quick on my feet and quick of eye”’ he told the interviewer. “I got it from my ancestors, they needed it to get out of trouble”.

For him, football was more than a game, it was his salvation. “How I look forward to each Saturday’s play,” he once said. The roar of the crowd is music , I revel in the tense atmosphere of the game and the preparation for it. So keen am I on football, I’d go anywhere for a game. Once on a football field I forget everything else. I’m playing football and I never take my eyes off that ball. My aim is not only to beat my opponent but also to serve my side. I realise that in football, as in other things, it’s teamwork that tells.”

At just 157 centimetres (five feet two inches), Nicholls conceded height to almost all his opponents, but possessed electrifying pace and could out run them all. Before joining Fitzroy he’d won the Nyah and Warracknabeal Gifts. Embarrassed Carlton officials always claimed it was Nicholls height that prevented selection, but it was purely a smokescreen. A couple of lines in ‘The ballad of Haydn Bunton’ by Ken Mansell and Peter Bell are particularly poignant.

When little Dougie Nicholls came down from the scrub,

Football was a white man’s game, at Carlton he was snubbed,

Just an Aborigine, they would not let him in.

No one saw his blinding pace, just the colour of his skin.

One of Nicholls proudest moments came when he was selected for Victoria in 1935. He was the first Indigenous Australian to be so honoured. Such was his popularity that during his time with the Victorian side, Police in Perth exempted him from the after-dark curfew normally imposed on Aboriginal People.

On the train bringing the Victorians to Perth, Jack Dyer, then just 21, came into Nicholl’s compartment, “How are things going Dougie?” asked Dyer.

“I don’t like you Jack Dyer.”

“Why? What have I done?”

“You called me a N***** on the football field”.

“I don’t remember Doug….”

Fitzroy was playing Richmond last year. We jumped for the ball together. You pushed me , “out of the way N*****,” that’s what you said.”

“Doug, I’ve got a big mouth….I’m sorry.”

Nicholls immediately accepted Dyer’s apology, grinned and said, “Bet I was flying high, when I should have stayed down, Can’t help going after the ball, the coach gets mad at me.”

It was on that long train trip across the Nullarbor that Nicholls saw and met Aboriginal people begging for money and tobacco at several of the stops. Their clothes were filthy and the young wore no clothes at all. The train guards weren’t even allowed to give them water. The Authorities wanted them out of sight and out of mind. Nicholls made a promise to himself that he would do everything he could to improve their circumstances. He wanted black and white to work together and in time he was to become one of the most revered of all Indigenous Australians, a lay preacher and pastor and a champion for his people.

More than any other Aboriginal Sportsmen of his era, Nicholls helped to break through the white man’s colour bar. In 1957 he was the first Aboriginal Australian to receive the MBE and in 1972 the first to be Knighted. He served as Governor of South Australia from 1976 to 1977. He was also Father of the Year in 1962, the first Aboriginal Justice of the Peace in 1963 and even became King of Moomba.

At his funeral in 1988, well wishers lined Bell and High streets almost all the way to Campbellfield. It was a fitting farewell.

[lea-heartscxiv]

Renga Valentine's Day

Renga were the second winners in this poll and here is the date they had on Valentine's Day this year on our sims gameplay.

You can see all images (because here it can only be uploaded 30 images) and extras of Renga in our Blogger. (From me and @van-yangyin)

Blogger: English | Español

Read their date below the cut line ↓

It was getting close to 7:30pm and Reki and Langa started to close Dope Sketch store.

An hour before...

Oka: Reki, Langa, I'll leave you here to close whenever you want 😉 I have a date. Reki: With a new woman? Oka: Don't be so nosy, Reki. Langa: If you don't mind, we'll close before 8pm. Reki and I will go see a movie.

Oka: And have you already chosen it? Langa: No. Oka: Then let me recommend one for you two. 😁 «Reki, that's what you get for being nosy» - thinking. Reki: WOW, a special recommendation from Oka. Okay, tell us what you have to offer us. 😏

Oka: "桜の木に吹く風" (The wind among Cherry blossoms), it's a nice friendship between two friends, also one of the main themes is skateboarding. 😁 Reki: Oka, you're a genius! Oka: You're welcome. 😁 Langa: You must really like it to be smiling like that. Oka: Sure... I went with some friends and we had a lot of fun. And there they did some spectacular tricks. Maybe they give you some ideas. 😁 Reki: Okay, so tomorrow we'll talk about the movie, Oka.

Oka: Of course 😁 «You're welcome Langa, I'm sure Reki will hold on to you tight 🙌» - thinking.

So following Oka's recommendation; about closing when they wanted to; they were going to close it at 19:30h. When the time came, they packed up, changed clothes, turned off the lights and closed Dope Sketch.

Langa: I can't wait to see that movie.

Reki: Yes, especially because during the year it's very unusual to see skateboarding premieres... Although it's weird that I'm not familiar with it...

Langa: Reki... Maybe some of the other main topics are not so much of your interest?

Reki: Maybe, although that sounds even better, it means I'll enjoy it even more!

Once they closed, headed towards the movie theater and saw that two premieres were announced on the billboard.

They went inside and looked to see in which room the movie was being shown.

Langa: Room 1.

Reki: This must be the movie Oka recommended.

Langa: Reki... The shadow that appears on this poster has red eyes... Doesn't it remind you of someone?

Reki: *a shiver ran through his whole body* ... No! He doesn't remind me of anyone... He doesn't have a longboard so...

Langa: So we're thinking of the same person.

Reki: Well then I hope the character doesn't remotely resemble "that person", because then the story is going to get boring. 💦

Langa: But at least it will have good tricks.

They went to get two tickets and Langa also bought popcorn. It was half price so was quite cheap. They entered the theater and sat down to wait for the movie to start.

Reki: Do you think movie will be good? I don't see many people sitting down.

Langa: Well, movie starts at 8:30 pm, there's still time, Reki. It will probably fill up with more people little by little.

Reki: By the way... Why did they put on the ticket that movie is rated for 16 years and over?

Langa: There might be street fights, don't you think that would be a good reason?

Reki: But if skateboard fights aren't so dangerous... Unless are on "S"...

Langa: But it can be if are street fights.

Reki: Well, we'll see. It looks like movie is about to start.

When the film starts, Reki sees something weird about it. Why were most of the shots taken at night? Well... Okay... He knew that most of time he skateboarded with Langa, it was at night, especially if they were on the streets in the car lane... But... Why did all the shots and soundtracks seem like they were made expressly to be scary? After a while Langa had eaten all popcorn without leaving any for Reki, he seemed to be very excited about the plot. On the other hand, Reki thought that Oka had put more "tricks" than he was actually seeing on stage.

Langa still thought that guy with red eyes reminded him of "that person" although seen from a different point of view and more now that he was half an hour into the movie.

Langa: Reki, the guy with red eyes looks sad and full of anger, are you sure now that ghost doesn't remind you of someone?

Reki: Gho... ghost?!

Langa: Yes, a 御霊 (goryoo), I think it's called that way. ⁽*¹⁾

⁽*¹⁾ 御霊 (goryoo) are vengeful Japanese ghosts from the aristocratic classes.

Reki was so deep in his thoughts thinking about everything Oka told him that didn't understand much of the plot...and begins to realize that the movie is not romantic at all but... SCARY!!!!

Reki: Langa, are we leaving now?

Langa: But... The story is very interesting...

Reki doesn't hear anything and runs out in panic, towards the exit of the room.

Langa is left alone, sitting down.

Langa: I'll have to buy the Blu-ray to watch the ending with mom, I'm sure she'll like it.

While outside the room it can be hear:

Reki: OKAAAAAAA!!!!

Reki runs to the washroom in a panic and Langa runs out of the room and into the washroom with him.

Reki: Oka I knew it, he knew it was scary!

Langa: But Reki, the story is interesting, and tricks even if they were few seemed good.

Reki: I'm sorry, Langa. You know how I'm with anything scary....

Langa: It's okay Reki, I'll buy the Blu-ray and watch it with mom. 

Reki: Are they going to release Blu-ray of that?

Langa: I don't know, but they usually release Blu-rays of everything after a while.

Reki: You're right, hehe. Can I go in the bathroom for a minute and then we'll head to the Skatepark?

Langa: Sure. *spends some time* Reki...

Reki: Uh-huh?

Langa: I'll always be by your side when you're scared, so you can hold on to me tight... Like when in Miyakojima...

Reki: Thank you, Langa... Although you know that my fears are stronger than I'm... Shall we go to the Skatepark?

Reki and Langa arrive at the Skatepark and the former gets very close to the latter.

Reki: Langa, I know Valentine's Day is celebrated differently in Canada, but this is my gift for you. 

And gives Langa a kiss on the cheek.

Langa: Reki... Do you want to try tricks from the movie? They seem pretty easy to perform, I don't think they put much thought into doing something new.

Reki: But... You know I haven't seen almost anything...

Langa: I'll show them to you!

Reki: Okay, I'll follow you!

[AN: The mod we use for the skateboards doesn't allow the switch between Regular and Goofy, so here both are shown as Regulars, imagine that Langa has his right leg in front. Next time surely we'll make special poses if skateboards are used]

They tried performing several of the tricks shown in the movie, in which Langa was right, Reki saw that they hadn't innovated much.

Reki: Langa

Langa: Reki

Reki: Shall we go there?

Langa: Yes.

Both of them vibrate their mobiles and start reading the notification they have received from "S". (Read here if you want to know what Reki and Langa are reading.)

Langa: Reki, are you reading it? I want to participate.

Reki: Okay, but as soon as you participate I will challenge you to a beef. I'll get to give you the chocolate to prove my love, and I'll defeat all the other Regulars that stand in my way! And for me it won't be allegorical.

Langa: I can't wait for the day!

Reki: By the way, ADAM is also participating, if you see you can challenge him.

Langa: Yes, I'm sure many will challenge him to a beef and he'll have as much fun as I.

Reki: You're right. Joe was left wanting last time... But come on, Langa, go ahead and register if you want to. So I can challenge you to a beef. I want to be one of the first who wants to give you a chocolate.

Langa: That's it, Reki. Be that as it may, I'll always enjoy your chocolate.

Reki: But this time I'll give it to you, and I'll defeat everyone who wants to stand in my way!

Langa: This time?

Reki: I'm just saying, Langa.

~The End?~

Maybe you want to read too:

JoeCherry Valentine's Day | Miya Valentine's Day | TadaAi Valentine's Day | Shadoka Valentine's Day

[traveltranquilitynepal]

Can a Beginner Climb Mera Peak?

If you’re new to mountaineering, the idea of climbing Mera Peak can be both exciting and daunting. Standing at 6,476 meters (21,247 feet), Mera Peak is one of the highest trekking peaks in Nepal. But don’t let the height scare you off! With the right preparation and mindset, even beginners can reach the summit.

My First Steps Towards Mera Peak

When I first considered climbing Mera Peak, I was filled with a mix of excitement and fear. I had some trekking experience but had never attempted anything this challenging. The journey began with months of preparation, including physical training and gathering the right gear. I remember my first day of training, feeling overwhelmed by how much there was to learn.

Physical Preparation

Climbing Mera Peak requires good physical fitness. Before the trip, I focused on building my endurance through regular cardio workouts like running, cycling, and swimming. Strength training, especially for my legs and core, was also essential. I spent weekends hiking with a loaded backpack to simulate the conditions I would face on the climb.

Choosing the Right Season

The best time to climb Mera Peak is during the pre-monsoon (March to May) and post-monsoon (September to November) seasons. I chose the post-monsoon period because of the stable weather and clear skies. This decision paid off, as the views of the Himalayas were breathtaking and the conditions were favorable.

The Journey to Base Camp

The trek to Mera Peak Base Camp is a beautiful journey through remote valleys and traditional Sherpa villages. Each day brought new challenges, but also new friends and unforgettable moments. I vividly remember the kindness of the locals and the camaraderie among fellow trekkers. Despite the physical demands, the support from others kept me motivated.

Acclimatization: The Key to Success

One of the most critical aspects of climbing Mera Peak is acclimatization. Spending several days at various altitudes helps your body adjust to the lower oxygen levels. We had scheduled rest days to allow our bodies to adapt. During these days, short hikes to higher altitudes and then returning to sleep at lower elevations helped a lot. I can’t stress enough how important it is to listen to your body during this process.

The Summit Push

Reaching the high camp at around 5,800 meters was tough. The air was thin, and every step felt like a marathon. The night before the summit push, I barely slept due to the cold and anticipation. We started our climb at around 2 AM, with headlamps lighting our way. The trail was steep and icy, but the sight of the sun rising over the Himalayas gave me the energy to keep going.

The Emotional Journey

The climb to the summit of Mera Peak was not just a physical challenge but an emotional journey. There were moments of doubt when I felt like giving up. But each time, I reminded myself why I started this journey. The thought of standing on top of Mera Peak, the highest point I would have ever reached, kept me moving forward. When I finally reached the summit, tears of joy and relief streamed down my face. The panoramic views of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu were more beautiful than I had ever imagined.

Tips for Aspiring Climbers

Train Well: Focus on cardio, strength, and endurance training. The fitter you are, the more enjoyable the climb will be.

Acclimatize Properly: Take your time to acclimatize. Listen to your body and don’t rush.

Get the Right Gear: Invest in quality gear, especially for cold weather. Good boots, warm clothing, and a reliable sleeping bag are essential.

Choose a Good Guide: A knowledgeable guide can make all the difference. They provide support, local knowledge, and ensure your safety.

Stay Positive: Mental strength is just as important as physical fitness. Stay positive and believe in yourself.

Conclusion

Climbing Mera Peak is a tough but attainable challenge for beginners. You may reach the summit of this spectacular peak with correct preparation, mindset, and assistance. The journey will push you to your limits, but the rewards will be beyond words. If you’re considering climbing Mera Peak, go for it! It’s an experience that will live with you forever.

[stingslikeabee]

Carving a home amidst an entire new society was not something unfamiliar to Melissa - and perhaps that explained the seasoned movements in-between guests and servants alike, mixing the role of hostess and supervisor to ensure nothing about that housewarming of sorts would derail. While by no means of humble origins and spoiled rotten as a child, the eldest daughter of Edgar Drysdell had seen less exuberant times - and it wasn't until marrying into old European nobility that her fortune (literally and figuratively) changed.

Now, with the family crest of her last husband engraved into a ring that never left her left hand, Melissa demonstrated why she was new money in America - but not a novice to the lifestyle flaunted by the rich and famous. There was nothing remotely modest by the house acquired across the Atlantic, the lavish decoration of its opulent chambers (which were even more painstakingly rearranged for the party) or the woman's attire and jewelry collection.

But no matter how impressive her bank statement was, the thing that had drawn most people to her opening of the season was the hostess' own past. The black widow, the blood countess, the poison ivy - many had been the curious epithets attributed to the lady given her tragic backstory, filled with misfortune where husbands were concerned. Luckily the last one, a proud heir of the old Italian nobility who still cared to parade his title around even though monarchy had been long abolished, prevented further scandalous deaths by making sure his last wife inherited it all to thrive without another male soulmate.

Melissa's party had it all - the precise invitees from the relevant business conglomerates, those next in line of the local political powers, the chief sponsors of art and drama, the most renowned lawyers and doctors. And yet, all these guests seemed to be hoping for a sliver of a confession, some sort of confirmation of their own suspicions that were never acknowledged by the countess except with the slightest twist of lips.

And if they expected a femme fatale in red or a grieving widow in black, they were sorely disappointed. Melissa made the rounds in a spectacular white dress, pristine as a dove and just as delicate. With the exception of a generous slit for the legs which made her attire a distant cousin of anything demure and fit for a wedding, she was covered in pearls and diamonds - like a blank canvas for the audience to project their hopes and twisted dreams, a simulacrum of the virgin she no longer happened to be after three marriages (and a equal number of funerals).

A local senator had been following Melissa like a hawk - the disapproval on his face was more evident than on the others', perhaps because of her choice of attire when the entire house had been decorated with darker shades, dim lights and pleasant music aiming to foster less than chaste impulses. The scene caused her to drop a comment close to another guest - the esteemed doctor Hannibal Lecter. A foreign one too, according to her research - but well-established enough in the new world, enough for many to forget he hadn't always been a treasure of the land of the free.

At his remark of how the entire room was potentially eager to see her tumbling (and falling), Melissa smiled at him in a way that only those experiencing true elation could offer. The odds could be stacked against her - but her confidence was palpable, and the idea of being doubted or tested seemed to only offer more adrenaline.

"Ah - is the good doctor an ardent lover of the Montepulciano such as myself?" the brunette returned the toast, sampling the wine herself - it was not so frequently found in America (or even in most of Europe outside Italy, for that matter), but it paired splendidly well with the entrées and it was a nice throwback to her ties with the old continent, particularly the lands where the count's family had originated from.

"I hope this means you are not terribly upset for not hosting this month, but even a newcomer such as myself has heard of your special evenings. The rumors paint a picture worthy of the classic Italian masters - I would hate to deprive this town of the staple of their social life," Melissa nodded in a sign of respect - hers was no empty flattery; after all, the local circles of ladies remarked upon Dr. Lecter's gatherings with a note of awe.

"If I can count you as being on the corner for a good night, Doctor Lecter, I would love some company later for a dance. I think we shall make a great pair," her smile widened just a bit behind the rim of the glass, almost like a younger girl playing coy at prom - but only almost. Melissa made no attempt at inspiring innocence, after all.

"Like wine spilled over tablecloth - or perhaps blood over canvas."

For once, Hannibal wasn’t the object of interest in the room. It was an invite he had agreed upon, for social circles overlapped, and he properly declined a hosting for this month. There was a reason for this: to scope out the room without being accosted by others in favor of offering their delighted, sugary words of doting admiration of the meal that he had tediously constructed with his proper flair. The ethic butcher could properly put down the knife and gaze upon the market of his guests.

He wore a dark blazer, buttoned up with his merlot vest and equally deep shade of a Balthus knot patterned tie. It was a move to allow him to blend in with the backdrop of the low-lit estate for aesthetic preferences. A red wine, nearly matching the color he chose tonight on his person, swirled within his glass as he let his eyes do most of the talking in the room.

Hors d'oeuvres of delicate delights made their rounds on silver platters; even here, he eyed their construction. Muted conversations took the frontal lobe section of his mind, dissembling some entrees and reworking them to what he would showcase.

A familiar scent took his gaze from the event and fictitious smiles; he knew this aroma well enough by now. Her (@stingslikeabee) face materialized in his mind before he even placed his eyes upon her. She was what a few called ‘new money’ at least; she was ‘fresh’ in a sense to the area. While most of the people who invested in these parties had their fair share of years upon years of promoting their brand, Melissa was reasonably new.

He could also detect the expensive, nourishing skincare lotion she used. It wasn’t from the United States, a scent he was all too keen to detect on the streets of Paris in his youth.

He deduced that she blended in wonderfully. How her smile outshone even those who were known to reach theirs to their eyes. She was well aware of the company that others kept, and with a passing gaze and a light brush of their mingling, he caught her words—whispered but clear.

“He’s waiting for my first mistake.”

He matches it, though his gaze is a full sweep of the room, a head leaning in as he brings the wine glass nearer to his lips. The words echo within the shell of it, directing preciously in her range of hearing. “I believe a full room is awaiting it.” Rising as she was in the social constraints of this tier, there were still people out there who whispered of her past. Even he had his ears pricked when her name was on the tongue of others.

It intrigued him.

The wine cascaded across his tastebuds, and he closed his eyes to soak in the flavors before speaking. “No matter what the platter looks like, swallow it all.” A common mistake those who were newly introduced to this circle endured. Anyone who graced their expression with disapproving lines was met with a cold shoulder and a curling lip.

“At the very least.. the wine is exquisite.” He lifted the glass, offering her a small toast.

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Go Go Karasuno: An Old Rival (Pt 1)

THIS FIC IS 18+ 

Warnings: swearing, light teasing 

Word Counts: 7,000+

Flasback

"Keishin you asshole" you shout for the end of the court. God how you despised Ukai Keishin! The man was the bane of your existence at Karasuno High. He was always one upping you. Always one step ahead. He always got the praise while you remained in his shadow.

"Calm down Y/N! I'm just teasing you. I promise I'll be quiet during your serve this time" Keishin says as he smirks at you through the net.

"You say that every time asshole, yet we continue to have this discussion" you say with a huff.

 You are annoyed and honestly just fed with with him. You didn't even want this practice match but of course, a lot of the girls had crushes on the boys team so you felt like you had to join. Even thought you couldn't stand Keishin’s big ego clogging up your breathing room.

"Just serve Y/N. Ignore him" one of your teammates shout.

 You take a deep breath, tossing the ball up to serve.

Serving required the utmost concentration for you. You didn't know how people could effortlessly serve with background noise and people cheering. You hated that. You're teammates knew it and so did your coaches. Most of the time you didn't have to worry about noise, but when you were playing the boys team, you knew you always had to worry about something.

"Just do it already" you hear a voice shout as your hand smacks the ball in front of you causing it to barrel towards the net.

"Aye net ball" Keishin yelled from the other side of the court as he snickered at you.

"I'm seriously gonna kick your-" you start to say as your teammates gather ground to stop you from commit a felony.

"Alright that's enough" Coach yells from the sidelines "lets wrap it up."

You sigh as the boys high five each other, celebrating their victory. You line up with your team as you prepare to thank the boys team and shake hands.

You approach the net, extending your hand to Keishin while looking down.

 "Better luck next time Y/N. But hey I can see the improvement. Just try getting it over the net next time" he smiles shaking you hand as you continue to stare at the floor.

Anger. You are so mad that he beat you again.

You sulk to the sidelines as you begin to dry off with a towel and drink your water.

"Will I ever be as good as him?"

Flashback ends

8 years. 

8 whole years have passed since you last seen Keishin or any of the Karasuno Alumni. Now you find yourself standing at the gates wondering how fate brought you here.

It wasn't like your memories of High School were awful. You got good grades, played volleyball. You were even the captain of the girls team your 3rd year. For all intensive purposes, you loved High school. 

 You just hated Ukai Keishin with a passion. Sure you realized your teenage hatred of the man was petty. Of course it was. It was almost 10 years ago but yet you couldn't forget the man. There was just something that irked you to no end about him and you were glad your past 8 years had been Keishin-free.

After high school, you traveled to Toyko for school. After graduating you worked in Tokyo in a corporate office. You loved the job a lot. The city life was right up your alley. The people, the shopping, the nightlife. Everything. Not that you necessarily partook in those activities but you enjoyed the options. You had friends, your whole life was in Tokyo.

It's not like you wanted to be back in Miyagi. It wasn't by choice you were here.

 You're parents had left after you graduated high school, following you to the cities. Unfortunately, when your grandfather got sick, you were the only one who could help. 

Your parents both had prior commitments with work and you didn't have family in the area. You're job allowed you to work remotely. It was both a blessing and a curse. You were only going to be in town for a few weeks. Just to get your grandfather and grandmother settled in a senior living center. 

 Your parents had offered them to move in with them in Toyko but your grandfather would have none of it. He was as stubborn as they come. He hated the idea of "the big city". Your grandmother didn't really mind anyway but she wasn't going to leave your grandfather as long as he was living so you just gave up.

So how does that bring you back to Karasuno you ask? 

Well a few of your fellow alumni had found out you were back in town. I'm talking Takinoue Yūsuke and Shimada Makoto, both former classmates as well as former volleyball players. You knew they were friends with Keishin but you never minded them. They were always nice to you and treated you kindly. Sure they joked around with you but they never pressed you like Keishin did. So imagine your surprise when you showed up to Shimada Mart with your grandma in toe only to find Makoto stocking shelves.

To say you were shocked wouldn't be entirely accurate, I mean his name is on the store. You just figured he had moved on. When he invited you for drinks with Yusuke, you accepted. 

 Not once did the conversation turn to Keishin which you appreciated. The men knew of your rivalry well. It almost seemed like neither of you had moved on from one another.

They had talked about the boys team and how amazing they were. You still enjoyed volleyball talk and even played on a small team in Toyko on the occasional weekends. They told you about their neighborhood association and how they were playing a match with the boys of Karasuno. They mentioned needing a setter to which you immediately perked up. You didn't ask questions, not even thinking about why they needed a setter.

You figured since the conversation avoided Keishin that he was no longer in the area. You knew of his families store but also knew that he probably didn't live around here. You offered your services as a setter for a practice game. The men looked at one another, nodding in agreement. You figured what could be the harm. You got to play volleyball and kick some kids asses.

It would be a lot of fun.

Keishin finished up his shift at his family store leaving it to his mother to tend while he attended practice. He hadn't thought much high-school since he graduated honestly. He was happy in his life.

He had good friends, a solid family support system and of course, he was the head coach of the Karasuno boys volleyball team. He walked to practice as he's thoughts drifted. They often did. He'd light a cigarette, think about things and by the time he finished, he was at the gates to Karasuno. He had scheduled a practice match tonight. He knew the neighborhood association lacked members but the Karasuno boys were always willing to fill in. 

For some ungodly reason, his thoughts drifted to you. He hadn't thought about you in years.

That was a lie. A complete lie.

He actually thought about you often and how he was a complete and utter jerk in high school. He would never admit he had a crush on you back then but he did enjoy your little rivalry the two of you had. He always thought you were a great setter but he always strived to be better. It was just how he was. He knew his little crush would never amount to anything. You were way smarter and way more attractive. You had life goals and he strived to stay on the volleyball team. He hadn't dreamt of leaving Miyagi. He knew he wasn't college bound. He knew he'd always be here but you, you always dreamed of more and he admired that.

He thought you were probably some rich lady by now with a husband and a family. He laughed because he imagined your husband staying home while you worked because that's just how you were. You were strong and independent. You never settled.

Keishin entered the gym where the Karasuno boys were practicing.

"The neighborhood association will be here in 10 minutes" he yelled.

"Yes coach" the boys yelled in return as they continued to warm up for their practice game.

"Suga I'm going to need you to set for the association again tonight" he said. Sugawara Koushi nodded as he went back to warming up with the spikers. Takada Ittetsu, Karasuno’s faculty advisor and other coach, soon came bounding into the gym as he often did. He was always racing around it seemed like. 

 He had meetings, papers to grade and other things teachers worried about. Keishin laughed at how different him and Takeda were yet they made a great coaching team.

"Alright guys the show is here" a voice shouted from the doors as they were thrown open.

Keishin sighed, placing his head in his hand. 

"Takinoue you talk to much" Shimada rolled his eyes as he smacked Takinoue on the shoulder walking over to Keishin.

"I've got Suga warming up for you guys" Keishin said to Makoto.

"Ahh no need tonight man, we've got a setter" Shimada said as he rested his hand on Keishin’s shoulder.

"Huh?" Keishin questions and the doors flew open. His eyes and the eyes of the rest of the teams eyes flew to the door.

Keishin froze

"Damn I see they still haven't fixed these God forsaken doors. It's been like 10 years damn" you said as you switched from your street shoes.

Everyone was staring at you.

"Hello everyone" you smile as you wave, still not noticing the long blonde hair coach on the sidelines staring holes in your head.

The boys bowed to you as you smiled.

 You turned your body to walk to Shimada as you begin to speak "you should have told me-" you stop making direct eye contract with Keishin, your mouth dropping open.

"Keishin?" You say shockingly

"Y/N?" Keishin said equally as shocked.

"Oh whoops" Takinoue looks at you laughing awkwardly "I guess we forgot to mention the little detail that Keishin is the Karasuno teams coach ha ha"

Shimada's eyes went wide as he waited for you to speak.

"Yes you forgot to mention that LITTLE detail" you speak sharply as you whip your head to both Shimada and Takinoue.

Keishin is still frozen.

You're here? Why? How? And your setting for the Neighborhood association? Oh dear God!

"Long time no see Keishin" you speak directly as you look at him.

He thought you were beautiful then but now you looked spectacular! His brain and heart were thinking and beating at 1000 miles per hour yet no words were formed from his mouth.

Gosh this was awkward.

Shimada and Tokinoue watched in wonder.

 Everyone did.

 The Karasuno team could sense the tension between you two.

"What's with coach I've never seen him this quiet" Tanaka Ryunosuke whispers to Nishinoya Yu.

"No clue but it's making me nervous" Noya said in response.

You wanted for Keishin to speak only to be met with silence

"Well ok then" you clap your hands together "I'm here to set so let's get this show on the road."

You walk towards the practice jerseys as you slip one on. Everyone seems stunned but nobody says anything. You look back at everyone as they awkwardly go back to their tasks.

Takinoue walks up to you as you start stretching. You glare at him.

"This is all your fault" you say sharply as he puts on a practice jersey.

"Don’t expect any sets today" you growl as you walk to the sidelines talking with your new team for the evening.

The boys welcome you with open arms. Ennoshita Chikara, one of Karasuno's wing spikers greats you with a bow.

"Umm miss would you mind if we practice a few sets before the game starts?" He asks pleasantly.

"Oh please call me Y/N! And of course! I'm a new setter to you so I totally understand wanting to get comfortable" you smile as you walk towards the net.

Keishin is still staring. You're sure his eyes dried out by now from not blinking.

Ennoshita describes his ideal setup to you as you are mental notes. You remember a teammate who had a similar style so you try to adjust what you can.

 Ennoshita throws a ball to you as you set perfectly for a kill.

"Nice kill" you say with a smile. Ennoshita blushes.

"That was a great set Y/N! I don’t think I've hit a ball that confidently in a long time" he says with a smile as he rubs the back of his head.

"Well thank you but I'm a bit rusty. The ball drifted a bit too much towards the net for my liking. I'll adjust" you say with a smile as the next teammate tosses to you.

“She hasn't changed a bit” Keishin thinks to himself.

He always thought you were too hard on yourself in high school. He admired you but you were always trying to do more. He knew you didn't really like him but he didn't actually know the reason. He just thought you found him to be annoying.

Keishin snaps out of his thoughts as he blows the whistle. Everyone lines up, thanking each other for the game as they proceed to their spots.

The game goes on for a while. You see Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shoyo’s quick and your eyes sparkle. You knew that move had to be a shocker to almost anyone playing against them. You learned to never underestimate a player. You knew the smallest players were out the most dangerous. But you had to admit that even the quickness and trust the duo displayed was phenomenal.

During a break, Kageyama asked if you'd observe his technique. You felt honored as you knew the boy was a prodigy. He was a quick thinker on the court and adapted well. You could also tell he was a lot like you were. He was hard on himself and always strived to do better. You observed the infamous "falling toss" that just stopped mid air. It was amazing to see. You'd never even dream of being able to pull something off like that.

Honestly it seemed like a “Keishin” move to you. You laughed as you thought about all the times you rolled your eyes at his ridiculous sets. He was always trying to outrun the blockers. Always trying to open the paths for his spikers.

"That tosses was phenomenal boys" you smile as you applaud their efforts. They both bow as they disperse and continue their training. 

Your eyes met Keishins again.

Honestly we're you really going to ignore him this whole time?

“It's been almost 10 years Y/N he's probably matured” you think to yourself as you gather the courage to approach the coach. Then again this was Ukai Keishin we were talking about. The asshole who constantly made it a mission to get under your nerves in high school.

When the second practice match started, you were you to serve. Keishin smiled to himself thinking about the cute look you got on your face as you prepared to serve. It made his hard warm. You didn't fail to notice his smile but you're thoughts automatically drifted back to high school. You hated that smile so much.

You prepared to serve as suddenly you heard someone clear their throat. You missed the serve completely, hitting a net ball. Keishin snickered to himself.

“Man you really hadn't changed all that much” he thought as he was thinking about how much you hated missing serves.

Your neck snaps to him as you glare "I know you did that on purpose" you spit at him.

Keishin just smiles "Y/N you really think I'm out here to mess your serves up?"

You definitely hadn't changed.

You huffed as you glared at Keishin as he smirked.

Shimada and Takinoue looked at each other. Part of them was hoping they would see you chuck a ball at Keishin while a part of them wondered how you two had managed to ignore your feelings for each other for so long.

The game ended as the boys cleaned the gym and thanked you for the game.

Keishin watched as you took off the practice jersey. Your shirt lifting, exposing your tummy bit to reveal your smooth skin. It was now or never .

"Umm hey Y/N, thanks for helping out" he says as he approaches you

You continue to wipe the sweat from your forehead as you take a drink of water. "No problem. It's a great team you have here" you say while avoiding eye contact.

Keishin wished you'd just look at him. You really didn't still hate him did you?

"Well I’m off" you say as you wave and smile to the team and the association. You quickly move to the gym doors, replacing your shoes and walking away.

"You sure blew that one" Shimada snickers behind Keishin.

"She really had no clue I was the coach?" Keishin looks at Shimada.

"Not one clue" he says in return "besides this provided so much entertainment." He throws his head back laughing as he walking towards the gym doors.

“Wyou blew this one Keishin” he thinks to himself as he sighs taking a seat in a folding chair.

He really did blow this one.

taglist: @axoxtxhxh​

[juniperhillpatient]

To expand on this because I got bored & fell asleep at the end of this movie (not a great sign…) I think the first 30 or so minutes of this movie felt like a typical Blumhouse movie. Nothing spectacular or noteworthy but fun! I feel like I’m constantly coming off a bit disdainful toward the Conjuring movies & Blumhouse overall but to clarify my feelings -

1. It’s a whole studio of course it spits out some masterpieces (I really liked the Blackphone, that was actually an original & interesting movie & I’n not surprised given it was based on a story by Joe King) thanks to the diversity of creatives involved I just think a lot of this studios movies are very basic unchallenging ghost stories & other studios like A24 are often producing more interesting content.

2. I do like the Conjuring movies as fun popcorn flicks. There’s nothing wrong with a little lighthearted spooky fun, but that’s all they are. There’s nothing challenging or special or subversive about the series. Every one of them is like the template for a basic ghost story. And I’m sorry but while some of the stories surrounded by the Warrens are interesting (I do find the real case behind the Devil Made Me Do it fascinating for many reasons) many of their stories have been all but proven to be exaggerated at best & hoaxes at worst. So like…. The franchise is fine? I’ve seen most of them in theatres & had a good time! But they aren’t particularly special as horror movies in my opinion.

Back to the Exorcist: Believer - this movie started off okay, like I said! It should’ve leaned into the plot about the two girls coming back from going missing Not Quite Right (& maybe not over explained the already obvious stuff so much? The Christian moms grating explanation that the girls were gone for 3 days just like Jesus & that it seems like they were in Hell - things that were already made abundantly clear through basic inferences & paying attention to the film even a little - was especially grating.)

The film really went downhill for me when it became your typical Hollywood reboot - leaning obnoxiously far into how hyped they were to get Ellen Burstyn & to play into nostalgia. So many shots in this movie were just the original but Worse. The second half of this movie is disappointing on every level. It’s not confident enough about the source material - the “feminist” parts like Chris’ rejection of the patriarchy (out of nowhere?) or speech about how Christianity & the church isn’t just about specific beliefs but about community (where did this speech come from?) & then a lady giving the exorcist (at least this one was sort of explained by the priest leaving after the church rejected his request & bordered on touching an interesting idea) —- these elements were such bland moments of hollow Hollywood feminism that actually detracted from the overall vibe of the movie.

And yet despite its lack of confidence in the source material, this movie was also not confident in itself enough to do anything original or subversive or remotely interesting. It’s the same old bed shaking scenes & creepy voices that made the original famous but it’s TWO girls now.

I haven’t actually seen the other Exorcist sequels but I LOVED the Fox television series which I think is painfully underrated & is genuinely really smart & scary horror tv as well as a much more compelling continuation of the original then…. This movie.

I’d be curious if anyone thinks the other sequels are worth watching or if anyone else has a different opinion to share about the 2023 movie but yeah - I thought it was pretty disappointing on every level LOL

I’m only about 30 minutes in & of course my review could change but so far this movie isn’t bad by any means like I’m very entertained & hooked but it is a very typical Blumhouse ghost movie. I think it would have faired better if it didn’t attach itself to the Exorcist name & allowed itself to exist on its own. maybe I’ll change my mind but it’s very typical Conjuring series spoopy vibes so far, none of the bark or bite of The Exorcist

[moonlit-imagines]

Grand Novice

Loki Laufeyson x Grandmaster’s child!reader

warnings: death, weapons,

a/n: obviously y/n is a grown person in this?? i just didn’t know how to label them correctly ???? you feel???

prompt:

“I like him.” You told your father when the newest arrival of Sakaar had been dismissed.

“Well, good for him! He’s safe!” Grandmaster cheered to you, who didn’t take to many as quick as you had to Loki. “For now.”

“Oh, stop it, dad!” You giggled while Topaz stood behind you with the melting wand, offering it to you as if you were hiding your true feelings. “What about what I just said made you think we should melt him? Put that thing away!” You shook your head and gazed upon the crowd to see your new guest acclimating nicely to the subjects of Sakaar.

“Why don’t you go sit with him for a while, my dear?” Your father nudged you in his direction, but you didn’t need much more than that. With your robe dragging on the floor behind you, you parted the crowd and seated yourself right next to the Asgardian.

“Hello there, your highness.” Loki smirked when you leaned on his shoulder, but he genuinely didn’t mind it a bit. “How has your day been?”

“Oh, just wonderful.” You reached out for his hand shamelessly while other Sakaarians watched with hidden gazes. Now, Loki wasn’t one to get uncomfortable so easily, but he also wasn’t one to rush into something like this.

It’d be foolish to reject someone in a position of power, wouldn’t it? Loki was just given a spectacular opportunity, there was no passing this up.

“And why’s that?” He questioned, lifting your hand to his lips for a respectful kiss that only wooed you more.

“Well, I met a man who might just be perfect for me.” You weren’t one to hide your feelings, Loki appreciated that much. Although a liar could read another like the back of his hand, a truth-teller was impossible to figure out. At least, for him.

Maybe the challenge was another reason he grew attracted to you, because by the second week that he had been stuck on this miserable planet, he’d actually started to care for you. His romantic gestures were not forced, he had begun to open up, and he couldn’t spend a moment away from you.

The day that Thor arrived was a different story, though. Loki had mentioned his brother died recently, but now he was an eligible contender! Funny how the universe works.

“Are you worried for him, my darling.” You inquired as you played with his hair, he was noticeably zoned out, you’d like to help him any way you could.

“No, not at all.” Your boyfriend had brushed your concern off. “Thank you for asking, though. You’re too kind.” He placed a kiss on your forehead after cradling your face.

“I’m glad to hear that,” you practically melted around him, and you’ve seen people get melted before, “would you like to watch him contend, then? We’ll have the best view in the stadium!” You hugged him tightly and awaited his obvious agreement, he couldn’t help but giggle at your excitement. Had he truly gone soft?

Loki’s life had truly flipped once his brother had broken loose and rampaged above the streets of your beloved home. You were outraged until Loki offered to take his brother down, declaring it was for you.

Someone like yourself didn’t work very hard, you had better things to do. You were of a higher class, but you weren’t completely useless. You had much more energy than the Grandmaster, which is why you spent it on following the tracks of Thor, leading you to Loki suffering a constant shock on the floor.

“Oh, no!” You rushed over to assist him, grabbing the remote nearby and releasing him from the painful device. “Are you okay, my love? Please tell me you’re alright.” You hopped on top of him and pressed your ear against his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat continue on. His arms engulfed you in a real act of selfless love, he couldn’t believe his life had come to this. It was more unfortunate that you had no idea that this was the first he had ever felt this way.

“I’m alright, thanks to you.” The crown of your head collected a kiss and you rolled off of him.

“That scoundrel will pay for this!” You clenched your fists and ran to a ship equipped with weaponry, but Loki had done a bit of contemplating while he was confined to electrocution. Maybe he had gone mad, or maybe this was a turning point?

“Y/N, wait.” He sighed, catching your attention fairly quickly. You spun around and ran right back to him, holding his arms as he placed his hands on your hips. “Before me, when was the last time you were happy an Sakaar? And I mean truly happy?”

“I...” You blinked through thoughts as you tried to pinpoint an answer in your mind. “Why?”

“The Grandmaster, he thinks you’re happy, but you’re not. I can see it in your eyes, my dear.” He traced his tired fingers down your cheekbones. “Your father, he doesn’t give you all the freedom you desire, does he?”

“No, but—” You were cut off before you couldtry to defend him.

“We’re more alike than we appear, mine was the same way.” Loki explained to you. “I ask you this because...I need to go back to Asgard. I have a sister who is about to doom our people, but I don’t want to go without you.” You were caught off-guard by Loki’s change of plans, however, they were enticing. “You’ve never been off of this planet, I can show you the rest of the galaxy, give me a chance!” Now he held your hands so enthusiastically, yet so gentle. He knew he was getting through to you.

“Loki, my love,” you looked away and to the collection of your father’s ships, then took a pause as Loki’s expression grew concerned while studying yours, “We’ll take the biggest one, but we may need to take some of the prisoners for backup if we want to save your people.” You finally agreed and witnessed Loki breathe a sigh of relief and pull you into such an emotionally deep and serious kiss, you couldhave cried.

“I’ve never once in my life felt this way about anyone before you, y/n. You have succeeded in stealing my heart away from me and I couldn’t even see it coming.” His own way of making a declaration of love was all you could dream about, but you were running out of time here.

The plan was going better than you could have thought once the contenders burst through the doors, that was one thing off of your list.

“Great for you to join us, all! Would you like to come with us to help Thor?” You asked the group, who had their suspicions about you.

“Aren’t you the Grandmaster’s child? Is this a trick?” The one made out of rock had asked, earning agreement from the group.

“Y/N’s had a change of heart.” Loki kept one of your hands in his while he squeezed it tightly. You couldn’t tell if he was comforting you or himself, but at least it was guaranteed that you’d be sticking together.

“Oh. Alright then.” The Kronan understood without anymore questions, easy enough.

“Great! Everyone in that big ship now! We’re already late!” You led the army away, Loki supposed that leadership was in your blood. It came so easily to you, and it was a smidge attractive, too. What can he say? Power will always be his first love.

You’d never seen combat through your own two eyes, but you had begged Topaz to teach you how to use “big guns,” so you made do with what you had.

“Scrapper 142, would you be willing to trade places?” You called to her as she rode in the sky with your father’s ship.

“We aren’t on Sakaar anymore, your highness! I’m not a scrapper here.” She retorted, making your face heat even more than the exhaustion had done.

“My apologies! Please forgive me, I’ve better start getting used to life off of Sakaar.” You told her as she made room for you to use the exhilarating weapon. “Will you be flying?”

“Hopefully,” she said as she got control of the craft, “I’d like to keep this thing in the air for as long as I can.” It was a rocky start, but you trusted her for it. And she was beginning to trust you, as well. You weren’t a complete basket case like the Grandmaster, you’d be capable of changing. You could become a dear friend.

The ship crashed.

“Y/N!” Loki came rushing your way as the ship exploded in a multicolored blaze behind you. “Are you alright? Let’s get you up.” He helped you to your feet, but you were in no mood to slow down. Honestly, this was the most fun you’d had in ages.

“I’m more alive than ever!” You looked over his shoulder to take in the commotion. “Do you have any other weapons I could use?”

“Would...a dagger work?” It was a simple gesture, but you’d appreciate it to the end of your days after you plucked the blade from his hand. You’d never fought with a dagger, but there was no harm in trying. Yes, there was. But fortunately, fortune was on your side. The fun never lasts though, that was a fact. “Might I suggest you help evacuate instead, darling?”

“I suppose that’s an option!” You figured he’d realized just how dangerous hand-to-hand combat would be for someone without experience, but you were still living in some sort of fantasy land, you needed to be grounded.

So you rooted for them from the sidelines, helping people onto your ship. It was extremely hard to concentrate at times, especially when you couldn’t find Loki out there. A little warning that he was running off, that would’ve been nice.

And then there was an explosion that really rattled your bones, you’d never been in so much danger before. That’s when Loki darted straight towards you and each of you hopped into the ship.

“Are you hurt?” He moved his hands up and down your body to check for any injuries, but you insisted on doing the same.

“No, no, I’m fine. Are you?” While both of you were clutching onto each other, you shared another passionate kiss, glad that you both were still in good health together. Now the two of you merely spectated to destruction of the planet he had called home. “I’m sorry about Asgard.”

“No, I am.” He lowered his head. “I imagined a life with you here, but those plans will have to change.”

“That’s alright,” your tired voice softened once you laid your head on his shoulder, “we’ll make it work.”

—————

Loki didn’t live long enough to build a life with you, Thanos made sure of that. The entire reason you left your homeworld was to be with him, now you were stranded in space without a plan for your future. Who knew what this galaxy held? You’d been so naïve to run into the unknown, but there was only one thing left to do now, and that was get revenge.

taglist: @alwaysananglophile // @rorybutnotgilmore // @locke-writes // @sweetheartliz07 // @queen-destenie // @natasha-danvers // @lokihiddles // @frostedficrecs // @emygirl // @lotsoffandomrecs // @johnmurphyisbisexual // @teenwaywardasgardian // @pappydaddy // @captainshazamerica // @freya-xo // @ravenmoore14 // @thisetaernallove // @ofthedewthesunlight // @canarypoint // @zoeyserpentluck // @randomawesomeperson102 // @spideyandtheboys //

[dubububbles]

SHINee scenario: Dates

(can u work ur magic and write sumthin about going on dates? tnx :>)

Requested by anon

- I’m sorry for being very slow with the requests. I’ve been having a hard time writing lately 😓 I’m still very unsure about this but I hope it’s okay! Otherwise, I can make a part two later on when I’m back on my feet. Also, thank you so much to those who helped me with ideas! ❤️🙏

Onew:

When both you and Onew had a day off at the same time you decided to make the most of it and go on a date. Normally you would do something simple, such as going to a cafe, having a picnic or simply strolling around downtown. However, for some reason, your boyfriend suggested visiting the city Zoo and since you didn’t have a better idea you agreed. 

It didn’t really strike you as a common place for a date, but rather a place for families, but that thought changed when your boyfriend turned into an excited child at the sight of live animals and you couldn’t help but find it adorable. 

The two of you calmly walked around the whole zoo to examine each animal and talked about anything and everything in the process. You were also enjoying the fact that you could share some fond and harmless skin-ship, such as holding hands and exchanging small kisses every now and then. In addition, your boyfriend made you laugh with some of his silly antics, which you could never grow tired of. 

It was a very wholesome date and although it was more fun and chaotic than it was sweet and romantic you didn’t mind it one bit since it was spent with your favorite person on earth. 

“Today was really fun.” You told him as you were heading for the exit and expected him to respond but instead he simply smiled and gripped your hand a bit tighter as he headed in a specific direction. It didn’t lead to any of your apartments and when you asked him about it he simply stated that it was a ‘surprise’. 

After a brief walk through a small park and up a steep hill you eventually reached a small viewing spot where you could gaze over a large portion of the city below and it was indeed a spectacular sight. 

“Wow. It’s really beautiful.” You managed to utter in a mix of surprise and admiration. 

Your boyfriend simply agreed and led you both over to a bench where you could sit down. “I like this place.” He expressed in a calm voice and went on to explain how he came across it and also his wish to show it to you. His words made you smile as you held onto his hand with both of your own and fumbled with some of his fingers, as you tended to do subconsciously at times. He hadn’t told you but it was something he was actually rather fond of. 

The two of you spent the rest of the afternoon at your new location, watching the city turn dark as the sun set, before you headed home. Your boyfriend walked you the whole way, as he always would, and outside of your apartment building you shared a long hug and a sweet kiss before ultimately letting go of each other. He then uttered the words ‘Let’s meet again soon’ with his usual bright smile as he waved and watched you get inside safely. 

Jonghyun: 

After dating for a little over a year you and Jonghyun both decided to take some time off work and go on a trip together. The location was Tokyo, Japan and it was only over the weekend but it gave you a couple of days of pure freedom to spend however you liked. 

Since it was early spring you decided to visit a large park with a botanical garden on your first full day. The weather was perfect and you could roam around peacefully to examine the beautiful flowers and large cherry blossom trees that had just begun to bloom. It was a very simple but romantic idea of a date that you both enjoyed. 

Moreover, walking around holding hands and taking a closer look at the different plants, you found a patch of grass where you could sit down and eat some snacks that you had bought beforehand. 

It would evolve into a deep conversation which would then be followed by some harmless cuddling. At first it made you feel a bit shy, as there were many people around and you weren’t always comfortable with PDA but your irresistible boyfriend assured you no one was watching. In addition, he also flashed one of his very enchanting grins which made you want to roll your eyes in a playful fashion. 

In the end, you were able to relax and simply enjoy your sweet moment. None of it was actually new but it still gave you a sense of butterflies in the pit of your stomach. 

After talking and enjoying each other’s company for some time you decided to explore the rest of the park and also take a bunch of pictures before ultimately leaving. Though, your day didn’t end there. You spent the remaining time exploring the city, doing some shopping and also having dinner at one of Jonghyun’s favorite restaurants, as it wasn’t his first visit. 

All in all, it was definitely a very calm and romantic day but you preferred it that way and any time spent together with your amazing boyfriend was always wholesome. 

“I love you.” The words came out randomly as you were on your way back to the hotel but he didn’t seem to mind. He simply chuckled in a surprised fashion before returning them in a loving tone. 

“I love you too y/n.” 

Key: 

Since you and Key had been together for a long time you were both comfortable in your relationship and didn’t often go on traditional dates or make grand plans just the two of you. Instead, your idea of a date was simply doing something together that you would both enjoy. 

On a weekend when you were both free you decided to do just that and since you were both interested in art you agreed to check out a new exhibition at your favorite museum. 

Despite it being a weekend it wasn’t overly busy and you could both walk around calmly, hand in hand, and examine the new art. In addition, you also decided to visit some old favorites and went to the part of the museum dedicated to the painter who sadly lost his life too young. Vincent Van Gogh. You had already seen his works several times but there was still something about it that would pull you in. 

“Wow. Van Gogh’s art is really beautiful, no matter how many times you see it.” You exclaimed in slight awe. 

At first Key was silent, almost as if he was thinking something over, and then turned to you camly. “Sure they are but they aren’t as beautiful as the art whose hand I’m currently holding.” 

His suddenly flirty words and teasing smirk certainly made you blush but you then nudged his arm and fought your urge to roll your eyes at his cheesiness. Though, it would be a lie to say you didn’t enjoy it. Especially when his eyes also sparked with sincerity, which made you all the more flustered. 

Later, as you both exited the museum your boyfriend suddenly tugged you and started walking in a different direction, stating something about ‘wanting to take you somewhere equally beautiful as the painting you had admired’. 

You didn’t question him and as you realized where he was taking you your face instantly lit up in surprise. 

“Namsan tower?” 

He nodded in response and kissed your cheek before you headed towards the cable car that would take you to the top of the mountain where the tower and observation deck was located. 

As it was late afternoon you could camly stroll along and watch the sunset together. It was a very romantic end to an otherwise casual date but it was just the way you both preferred it. 

Minho:

After a busy week you and Minho were both excited at the idea of meeting up in your favorite part of town and enjoying a fun night out in each other’s company. 

It was something you did ever so often as opposed to having indoor dates at home and this particular night you decided to visit the cinema to see a movie together. 

By the time you arrived your boyfriend was already there waiting for you close to the entrance. Despite it being a casual date he appeared to have dressed up ever so slightly and looked as handsome as ever. It made you smile as you made your way over to greet him the way you normally would, with a hug and a quick but sweet kiss, before you made your way inside. 

The movie in question was a good one. Minho had picked it, thinking it was something you would enjoy, as it had an exciting love story plot, and he wasn’t wrong. Though, even if it had been uninteresting it wouldn’t matter as you simply enjoyed being in his company. 

Later, after leaving the cinema and getting something to eat you decided to roam around the city, as you often would, and ended up at an arcade. It wasn’t a surprise since you were both fond of games and became competitive as you were put against one another. At times you would find yourself stuck in there for hours on end, competing while having fun and simply forgetting about time. This time was certainly no exception. You tried out a variety of games, where you beat him at some and then giggled at his sulking face. 

You spent most of the evening there until you finally decided that enough was enough. It was already rather late at that point but before calling it a day Minho suggested walking along the han-river since it was a rather beautiful sight at night and you also knew it was something he really enjoyed, so you agreed. 

“Did you have fun today?” He questioned out of the blue after walking in silence for some time but you didn’t hesitate to nod in response. 

Although you could both be romantic you could also enjoy a casual day like this simply playing games and having fun. In fact, you enjoyed it as much as going to a fancy restaurant or having a cozy night at home. 

You definitely wanted to do it again sometime very soon. 

Taemin: 

Although you and Taemin had been dating for a while it was still unknown to the public and anyone outside of your close circle of friends or family. Therefore, you rarely met up outside just the two of you and if you did it was always in a remote place or late at night to avoid anyone possibly spotting you and making a story out of it. It was tough at times, as you would find yourselves spending a lot of time apart, but you knew that it was for the better. 

After you planned to meet up one night Taemin picked you up in his car outside your apartment building and then drove off to one of your usual places. 

You were both wearing casual clothing rather than being dressed up but neither of you put much thought on that. Instead, you focused on actually spending time together and being able to talk and catch up on everything that had happened since you last met in person. Your relationship was rather simple in that sense.

At your chosen location, a small beach by the river, you both walked around freely for a bit before you found a place to sit down. It was completely vacant, since it was nighttime, and you could cuddle and watch the night sky together without the fear of being spotted. 

It was a simple but wholesome date where you shared some food you had brought along and shared endless conversations about your lives or whatever was on your minds. Of course, you also used the opportunity to share some skin-ship. 

“We should meet like this more often.” Your boyfriend expressed along with a small sigh as he hugged you tightly in a search for warmth. “I really hate it when we are apart.” 

His sincere words made you smile. Especially as they were followed by him sulking, which you couldn’t help but find cute. 

“Then let’s make more time to meet up. It should be okay as long as we’re careful, right?” 

He nodded to show he agreed and then stared at you for a moment while smiling It sort of made you feel shy, almost to the point that you were blushing, and you ultimately uttered a brief ‘what?’ to find out what he was up to. 

At first he shrugged so you expected him to mumble ‘nothing’ in return but he didn’t. Instead, he raised his hand to gently poke your cheek with his index finger. It definitely puzzled you, until he suddenly uttered his new favorite English word in a playful voice. 

“Adorable.” 

Since it wasn’t the first time he used the word, and probably not the last, you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Although it was done in a fond fashion, since despite him being annoying you still loved him more than anything. 

[jarofstyles]

Dirty Business IV- Macchiato

A/N: This is all we have from these two for now :( but please do let us know if you’d like more!! Thank you so much for reading!

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pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

warnings: hints of angst, references to trauma 

word count: 14k

Paris was spectacular. 

It was truly a trip Y/N would never forget. She had Harry had a week worth of incredible sex, delicious dinners, and of course, romance. They’d gotten to know each other quite well, on a deeper level too. Business wise, things went incredibly smooth and Harry had saved the company way more with his deals. Y/N’s father couldn’t stop singing his praises. Y/N has already felt herself healing, showing more of herself around him and to her surprise he was reacting well. Harry really was a good guy, really was committed to her and that was something she was still trying to get through her head. 

When they landed back in New York they didn’t want to separate just yet, so she had the car drop her off at hers so she could put some of her things away before she hopped back in the car to go back to Harry’s. She was very excited to be back, of course, the mugginess wasn’t exactly welcomed. 

“I’m so excited to meet Oliver!” Y/N really had been waiting to meet him the entire trip. “Your friend, Niall, is he there? Or does he just come to feed him?” She asked, feeling like she needed to prepare if she was going to meet his friends. Y/N wanted to make a good impression.

“Yeah, he came to feed Oliver but he went home. You can meet my friends soon, if you want. We go to the bars sometimes on fridays and you can come with me.” Now that they were a thing— a real thing— he was going to have to integrate her into more of his things. More of his lifestyle. He was curious as to what she would like about it and what she wouldn’t. It was fairly obvious she had grown up in the rich world and hadn’t been in the middle class let alone broke territory. That’s what Harry was used to. No matter how big or rich he got, he wouldn’t forget that. Or fast food or primark jeans and tee shirts. “C’mon then.” He was a bit worried about her seeing his place but... she wasn’t judgey, he didn’t think. The girl was a diva but didn’t seem to value people less because of their monetary value.

Y/N thanked the driver again as they got out of the car, helping Harry with his bags before making her way towards the apartment. A brownstone. How cute. Of course, he probably wasn’t renting the whole thing, maybe just a floor. When they walked up the steps she smiled, happy he was on the second floor. Higher ceilings meant more space. Had a balcony too. Once they stepped inside she was greeted by the smell of something woodsy... hints of cinnamon and vanilla. It was very Harry. Of course. He turned the lights on and Y/N smiled to see that it was a lot like she had expected. Brick interior, lots of books and vintage looking things. 

“Baby, this is so cute.” She cooed, immediately feeling like she’d be coming over a lot. It had a homey feel that she wasn’t used to. His place looked very lived in which was nice. Y/N was constantly living in homes where not a single thing was meant to be out of place, looked like a damn museum. Her house was a little messy, but still. It wasn’t cozy like his.

“There’s my boy!” Harry smiled when he heard the patter of little kitten feet and a few mews coming from the hall. The orange kitten appeared and went straight for his dad, climbing up the leg of his jeans before Harry grabbed him. “There you are. I’ve missed you.” He kissed all over his little face as frantic putts left the tiny thing. He was so happy! This was a joyous occasion. “Want to say hi to Y/N? Yeah?” He asked, gently placing the kitten into her hands. The kitten was purring and let out a little chirp in interest as it sniffed her skin, little tongue peeking out to lick it. He felt his heart melt as he watched her kick off her shoes and hold the little kitten he loved so much, cooing softly at him.

Y/N was all soft and melty at the sight of Harry and his kitten, he certainly had missed him and Y/N understood. She would miss Harry too. Hearing the kitten let out such excited mewls made her heart happy, clearly excited to be back with his owner. Of course, Y/N was more than happy to give them their time. 

“Oh hello!” Y/N cooed, gently taking off her shoes so she could properly give the kitten attention. “Aren’t you the cutest little thing?” She pet over his tiny little head, scratching at his ears and smiling when he closed his eyes and purred for her. “Sorry I kept your daddy away from you, promise, it won’t happen again for a while.” She told the kitten and held him close to her chest, pressing a kiss to his little nose. She looked up at Harry with an excited gleam in her eyes, walking over so that he could show her around and give her the tour. He had quite a lot of space, more than she expected at least. Yes, everything was sort of cramped up into an open plan with few walls but it worked. She liked it a lot.

“We've got the kitchen, just off of here.” He pointed. It was an older one, definitely dated but it fit the feeling of the space. He had added a microwave but everything else came with the apartment. “The living space. The couch is kinda ugly but.. fucking comfortable. It was my first splurge here.” He pointed to the worn leather sectional with ottoman, made to look vintage but so comfortable. “Then we have my bedroom over here.” He had her following him as he turned on lights and Oliver purred in her arms. There was one cat tree in the living area and one in his room near the large windows. His bed was lower set but covered in a soft faux down comforter and lots of pillows because he liked comfort. There was a shelf with books and then his closet. “I have a tiny office but it’s a mess. It’s my desk and shelves.” He opened the door for her to see. It was messy with papers on the desk but he was over exaggerating with it. It was fine.

“A mess? Please baby, that’s normal.” She knew her father definitely had a much messier desk in her childhood home, wasn’t so sure about now but yeah. Y/N took a seat on the bed, smiling at how soft and comfortable it was. The only problem is that he probably slept in it with Caroline. “It’s really nice, baby. I like it a lot.” She said with a smile, placing Oliver in her lap in which he circled around a few times before curling up in her lap closer to her tummy. He most likely liked how warm she was. Y/N was melting though, looking up at Harry with glossy eyes because the kitten was so damn cute. “How could you even leave him? Oh my goodness... I would have had such a hard time.” Y/N pouted, noticing he was starting to unpack his stuff. It made sense though, he probably just wanted to get everything out of the way and change into something comfy.

Harry stopped unpacking when he turned round to look at her. She was sitting on his bed, with his kitten on her lap. It looked like she belonged. Like the girl was meant to be there with him. He wanted this forever. His smile was soft as he walked to her, leaning down to kiss her gently before going back to unpacking. He didn’t say why he kissed her and he could feel her confusion but acceptance of it as he took out a large sweater for her. It was a bit chilly in the apartment because the air con was actually good. He needed to turn it down. 

Y/N didn’t expect him to come over and kiss her like that, but it definitely did feel nice. Felt like she was very welcome here, like this was her safe space and that here she could do whatever she wanted. That she could be relaxed and herself and no one would judge. Harry would always make her feel overwhelmingly appreciated. She loved that about him. 

“Here. Put this on for now, the air conditioning is strong right now. Gonna go turn it down.” He left her in his room as he went to the hall to turn the thermostat down. He could hear her apologizing to Oliver as she must be changing.

“Sorry, angel. I know.. one second. Promise it’ll be even more cozy.” Y/N spoke, changing out of her outfit. It was always so nice just to dress down. The sweater was big on her but it was perfect that way. She reached in her bag and found a scrunchie, pulling her hair up into a messy bun and sitting back down comfortably on the bed with Oliver in her bare lap now. She was leaning with her back against the wall, a pillow behind her as she gently let the kitty who was enjoying her thighs. He pushed his paws against them, stretching his fingers out. He was precious. Is this how normal people lived? We’re these the pleasures of everyday life?

Harry came back in with a smile, seeing her leaning back on the bed. He took the television remote and threw it next to her as he began to unbutton the shirt he had been wearing. 

“Choose something’ to watch, baby.” He murmured, opening the closet to grab a soft tee shirt and sweats. He needed some comfort and Y/N and a good pair of sweats could easily be it. “Gonna grab us some waters and then I’ll be back.” He got up in the middle of the night for water so he always kept bottles in the fridge. Getting them, he walked back towards the room. It was only when he sat again did he realize— he was fucking starving. 

“Shit. I could really go for some dominos. You in?”

Y/N took over the remote, going on to Netflix and finding something that she felt like they both would be into. A nice feel good movie or something. She needed help choosing though so she decided she’d let him pick from her options once he sat back down. Her brows furrowed when he mentioned dominos. 

“What?” She asked, turning her head to look at him. He looked shocked at her answer. “What is that?— don’t give me that look baby...” Y/N whined hating that she had no idea what he was talking about. She was always embarrassed whenever something like this was brought up because if she didn’t grow up the way she did she’d know what that was. The rest of the world knew. 

“Hold on— we are getting dominos. S’pizza, baby. Can’t believe you’ve never had it!” He muttered in surprise, checking his phone and opening the app. Of course he had the money to get better stuff but it was comforting. “And we’re gonna get... 2 pizzas, Parmesan breadsticks and the cinnamon breadsticks.” He said decidedly. Yes. Absolutely. It sounded so good. “Christ, feels like the munchies. Haven’t smoked in a bit but even still.” He laughed, rolling on his side to hug her after he ordered. 

“Oh— okay, yeah.” She chuckled and felt a blush creep on her cheeks. “My mom never let me eat fast food as a kid and I never had cause I wouldn’t know what to get.” She explained shyly, “Do you wanna watch a Disney movie, a Rom com, or just comedy?” She asked curiously, feeling like she was in the mood for all three. Y/N knew sometimes when she was comfortable she could act like a child, Harry very much knew that after spending a whole week with her, but now being in a home environment it was different.

“Mm. Hate to break it to you, baby bun. But you’ll be having lots of fast food and will know what you like. S’a guilty pleasures, especially after smoking or drinking. Don’t tell your dad about the smoking though.” He requested though knew she wouldn’t. Y/N had missed out on a lot because of her parents. She hadn’t told him that explicitly but it wasn’t hard to miss that she was probably not having the most welcome upbringing. He could see in her eyes that she resented her mother especially whenever it came up. “Hm. I think... Disney, maybe? Proper cuddle material while we wait.” He wasn’t too picky and he was more so in the mood to bury his face in her tits and relax. Then eat. Yeah, he could go for some food. The airplane had snacks but no full meals because Y/N said it wasn’t worth it unless they brought it on at the airport. Besides, he was a lot more relaxed at home and that much was obvious.

“I won’t tell him if you won’t.” Y/N chuckled, knowing she had her own set of drug problems. As every fashion person did, she smoked cigarettes on occasion and did her fair share of cocaine as well. It wasn’t her proudest point, but everyone had to let loose somehow. It was just unfortunate she hadn’t found Harry sooner, maybe she would have a reason to not be so dependent on substance. That was all on her though. 

“Wanna cuddle, but Oliver looks so cozy.” She pouted, seeing the kitten all balled up and cozy in her lap. Y/N sighed and picked him up, pulling Harry to koala on to her the way she usually did with him and placed Oliver at her shoulder so he could nuzzle himself there. This was nice. Perfectly cuddled up and surrounded with warmth, between Harry and Oliver, Y/N felt properly complete. Nothing could touch her or hurt her here. None of her parents expectations, none of the social pressures, just warmth and comfort and love. Y/N placed a kiss on top of Harry’s head, hands combing through his hair the way he liked. It seemed to relax him well.

“Have I ever told you that I love your tummy?” Harry asked, his hand had gone under the sweater and ran his hand over it. “Really. S’cute. Wanna leave love bites all over it. Haven’t cum on it yet but I’d like to at some point. S’just great.”

Feeling Harry’s hand on her tummy made Y/N feel rather vulnerable. It wasn’t something that she heard often, or ever for that matter. She often hated that she had meat on her bones because she could never really be a model or anything like that. Other times it made her happy because she knew lots of men went wild for her curves. But to compliment her tummy? That was a first. 

“No...” She murmured shyly, feeling her cheeks get all red and her eyes tearing up a little because it just hit home. It hit really hard. Y/N pressed a long kiss to his head, whispering a thank you against his hair. It was something that she never thought she’d hear, having it heard it from her mother nearly everyday of her life growing up.

“Yeah, baby. Love it a lot.” He leaned his head up to kiss her before he slid down and lifted the sweater up to kiss on it. Tender kisses all over the incredibly soft skin, he hummed happily as she played with his hair. Normally when he was between her thighs he was at her cunt but right now he was having fun just kissing from under her breasts to her waistband of her panties. “S’so pretty. All mine.” He sucked gently on the middle of it, watching her face. Oliver has abandoned ship to go lay in his basket, and she has the ability to readjust herself now. “Soft and smooth and all mine.” He repeated. He liked knowing she was his but he also had a feeling she liked being claimed. His kisses moved from her tummy to her thighs, kissing up her legs until he got to her ankles. “The prettiest legs... sexiest feet too.” He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he really did like her feet. Kissing the bottom of her heel, the sole, then the arch.

Y/N was enjoying him properly kissing at her. She liked feeling all loved up on, especially by Harry. He was very good at making her feel appreciated and beautiful, it’s like he worshiped her but that’s the way that she liked it. To have control over him in some way even if he had control in every other way. It was the feet comment that surprised her. She always had small feet, made her rather clumsy, but they were always pedicured and smooth. Most women that wore heels all the time didn’t have the most attractive feet, but Y/N certainly took care of hers. She hadn’t realized how sensitive they were either until he started kissing on them. She squealed a little, feeling ticklish at the arch, his stubble pricking at the soft skin. It was the little things like this that made her realize he really was into her. Harry clearly appreciated a woman’s body, wanted to give her his all. She’d happily take it too.

“Mm. I like them quite a bit.” He smirked, kissing each of her toes. She was squirmy but he didn’t stop until each one had been kissed. It was fun to worship her and show her exactly what she was. Perfect. “I really enjoy touching you all over. Your thighs, your stomach, tits... all of you is so beautiful. Y/N. I feel like no one has properly told you just how stunning you are.” He frowned, looking over her body. “But that’s what I’m here for. Wanna hear a kink of mine?” He hadn’t admitted this to her before but she looked incredibly intrigued. “Mm, there are two. First are your feet. Never had a thing for feet before but yours are gorgeous. Gonna get you a toe ring or something. Love seeing them in heels. Sexy as fuck.” He kissed the side of her foot before letting it down, moving back to lay between her thighs with his hands back on her stomach. “Second one is a bit more taboo. Obviously.. can’t happen now. But I love the idea of gettin’ you pregnant. Watching your tummy grow. Being full of me. Cumming in you so it catches and you’re all mine, fully.” He nipped Above her belly button. “If you ever need me to cum, that’s the type of talk that’ll get me going quick. My Achilles heel, if you will.” He realized he needed to be open with her and tell her more so she would in turn open to him. “Didn’t know I had these kinks until you. Must be Y/N exclusive.”

“Never had a guy who likes feet before...” Y/N was a bit surprised at his admission, but she figured that it was his way of opening up and letting her in. If they were going to be having sex often it would be important to know what he liked. Y/N smiled at him, “can pick what color I get my nails done then, yeah?” She decided she’d be texting him every time or asking him the day before just so she knew what he wanted. “Wanna get me pregnant one day?” She asked curiously, deciding it would be an interesting topic to discuss. Y/N would of course happily have his child, especially if he would be the owner of the company. It was strange because she knew they just started dating, but he basically signed himself into having her hand in marriage. If he wanted the job he couldn’t leave her in a way. “I’ve got a thing for hands... and I really like your hands.” Y/N said and bit her lip softly, “and you know I do like when people are watching or can hear.” Their little escapade with Caroline on the phone proved that. “But a little more taboo though, I do really like being tied up... I struggle a little but it’s part of the act. Like being slapped and spanked too but...”

“Yeah? Wow... that’s hot.” He admitted bluntly. “Like to be slapped? Gotta work up to that. Your face is so precious..” he caresses it from his spot at her stomach. He would if she wanted it through. “Tied up.. that's especially hot. A struggle. Could be fun for role play.” He wondered just how kinky his girl could get with him. He would have to explore more of her. They had 2 days until he had to return to work and he was curious if she wanted to spend it with him. “Now spanking... we have tried and I love it. But I like that you like my hands. They’re on you whenever I have the chance.” Now that it was clear his job wasn’t on the line for daring her, he wasn’t as nervous. Granted he didn’t want to flaunt it too much but, Y/N was worth the ridicule he would face. “But yeah. Wanna get you pregnant for sure. Pretend until then. It’s just sexy to me.”

She was all warm and fuzzy at the thought of him agreeing with her, thinking it was hot. Her sweet sweet boy. Y/N turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand.

“Roleplay huh?” She raised her brow, “feel like that could be fun.” Y/N was excited at that thought because they could fulfill any fantasy they had. “Could pretend you’re trying to get me pregnant if you want, don’t mind that.” Y/N was on the pill and if it didn’t work and she actually ended up pregnant it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. What she was more excited about, was exploring this concept of roleplay a bit more. “What ideas did you have roleplay wise?” She asked curiously, “kinda already had a few fantasies come to life.... bosses daughter, having a mistress...” Y/N teased with a small smirk. “Could have all sorts of fun, hmm?”

“All sorts of fun. I like the idea of you stealing me away. Like you did in a sense... dunno. It’s so hot to me. Maybe be a little maid, know that my wife isn’t giving me what I want so you show me what I need. Or a teacher one. You being a terror of a student who needs a bit of punishment. The opportunities are endless.” They could do so much. “What are you thinking, baby? What gets you all wet?” He was curious to know what she would really get off on when it came to scenarios.

Y/N listened and hummed at the thought of all these scenarios. She was getting all excited, excited to try things out and see where they went. “I like those... a lot.” She hummed, her mind specifically liking the one where she’s tied up. 

“Just really like the idea of you taking complete control.. anything like that gets me going.” It might be her escapist complex, but anything where she didn’t have to be herself was already a win for her. “Wonder just how taboo you are with it though...” Y/N wouldn’t judge because she was rather kinky, but she didn’t want to say something that would freak him out. “You know all those classic porn set ups... the step sibling ones, can pretend we hate each other, pretend we’re cheating... love the idea of like.. animalistic sex. Maybe a police officer? All kinds.. think you’d just be hot doing anything to be honest.”

“Trust me.. I’m in for anything.” His eyes darkened at the scenarios. Nothing would scare him away from her. Nothing at all. He couldn’t be swayed. Not when potentially best found his soul mate in this woman. “Fuck.. all of those. Step sibling, cheating.... you want me to lose it hm? Want me to get all primal with you.” He could see a pattern in her. She liked doing what she wasn’t supposed to, and doing it as taboo as she could. He loved that. “Don’t have to worry about how taboo you are with me, baby. Nothing can scare me away. I want it dirty and kinky and wrong.” He licked his lips. “Made love to you the first night and it was amazing but... sex with us could be so much fun. I’d love to do all of those.” He wanted that badly. To have adventurous sex. “Like doing it where people can hear or know we’re fucking too. May have to take you to one of those fancy stores and have you in their dressing rooms.”

That last suggestion hit differently, that being something quite realistic for Y/N. Of course she knew that since she was a loyal customer they’d never tell her she couldn’t come back, but it would definitely be a place where she would at least have to be a little quiet. 

“Come up here.” Y/N mumbled, wanting him back up with her so that she could properly kiss on him. “Already got me going and we’ve got a pizza to eat...” She whined, cupping at the side of his neck and leaning up to kiss him hungrily. Y/N doubted they’d be able to hold back for long anyway, they’d spent 6 hours on a plane and an hour ride back without doing anything. That was a new record. “Gonna let me live out all my fantasies, hmm? Especially when you’re the CEO... gonna fuck me on your desk.” Y/N mumbled against his lips, “Gonna call you daddy for real too... can’t wait.” She really was so eager to please him especially in knowing that he was just as adventurous as she was. She couldn’t imagine why on earth he denied her for so long if his ex was as vanilla as he described.

“Course. Gonna try out every fantasy we have, I think. S’never gonna get boring with us.” He knew that pretty well. Y/N was exciting and full of new prospects. She was a dream. It was then that he heard the doorbell ring. “Fucks sake. Gotta open the door with this stiffy now.” He sighed, gently peeling himself from her. 

“That’ll be one lucky pizza person.” Y/N chuckled, smirking to herself because she knew she had a sexy ass boyfriend who looked incredibly fuckable right now. Of course, they’d have to eat pizza... and probably brush their teeth after so they didn’t taste like garlic, not that either of them cared but still. 

“Be right back, baby.” He grabbed his wallet with the tip included, opening the door to a younger teenage girl who flushed at the sight of him. His mouth was red from kissing and Harry a mess, and his cock was visibly hard in his sweats. A tiny smirk raised on his face as he took the food and gave her a 50, telling her to keep the change. Which was quite a bit, to be fair. He made his way back into the room, placing the food on the bed. At her shocked look it was apparent she never really ate in bed like this but it was a first timer for everything. “Can’t wait for you to try this. S’better when you’re drunk but I think every food is.” 

“Really?” She eyed him and saw he was getting cups for their soda. This was new for her. It did smell really good. “Okay.. teach me, what should I eat first?” Y/N asked, wondering if there was a way to eat it. Thankfully, he had ordered a basic cheese pizza and then the other had toppings on it. She’d try both. Taking a bite was like heaven. It tasted so fucking good she moaned louder than expected. “Oh my god— how is this food?” She asked with a mouth full. Y/N was practically ready to inhale it. Never did she think it would taste like this.

He grinned proudly to himself. Yes. Finally, he had introduced her to the delicacies in his world. She may have Caviar, but Harry had dominos and McDonald’s at 3 am. A proper little feast.

“Can’t believe you’ve never had it before. Welcome to my world.” He chuckled, obviously teasing her. “S’the world of calories and carbs. I have to work out for sure sometimes but it’s worth it, I think.” He shrugged. Yeah, it was. Y/N wouldn’t need to work out. Secretly he wouldn’t mind if she got a bit thicker. He just loved that. “Mm.” He took a drink of his water as he watched her do a little happy dance at the taste. She was so beautiful. He was lucky. Genuinely so lucky. “You’re cute.” He grinned at her. She stopped and looked at him with full cheeks of pizza and blushed a little bit. He loved it. She was so real at his house. Not that she wasn’t real other times but this felt so much more authentic to what he saw in her.

“It’s so good!” She told him, eyes wide as she continued to eat. Y/N couldn’t tell you the last time she had any carb that wasn’t gourmet. Maybe never. Y/N has pizza but only the really flat veggie packed stuff. Not this bready cheesy goodness. “You’re an angel.” It might seem small to most people, but not to her. Her mother never allowed her to eat stuff that all the other kids were able to eat, even when she went to birthday parties she’d have her eat something else. It was always embarrassing, she felt almost guilty eating a lot of it but she couldn’t stop herself. Y/N blushed, looking at him as if she’d been caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to but eventually cracked a smile and giggled a bit. “‘s good I can’t help it..” She mumbled and took another bite, holding the pizza with both of her hands.

He was falling in love with her and he knew it. He could tell by the way his heart beat harder Just looking at her. She sat there and giggled over pizza and was in his sweat and damn, did he want to rail her right now. 

“We can get it whenever you want, baby. Gotta start indulging a little bit.” He wasn’t going to let her hate any bit of her or hold herself back for stupid reasons. She was going to enjoy life with him, damn it. “You’re so lovely.” He gently rubbed her thigh before returning to his own pizza. Still, he watched her. He felt himself falling. And he wasn’t scared of it. Not at all. He was welcoming it. He had a feeling she needed someone to love on her and Harry had a lot of love to give. Especially to her. He wanted to make her feel beautiful and appreciated because he knew it meant a lot to her.

----

Y/N didn’t mean to. 

She didn’t mean to be so clingy but she couldn’t help it. Spending time with Harry felt like walking on air, she had not a single worry when she was with him and it seemed like she could do no wrong. So forgive her for clinging on to such positivity and light, that’s all she ever craved and wanted. 

It started with her coming into his office for just about any reason she could think of, she would stick around until he father or someone else called her to do something. She didn’t even say much when she was in his office, just came to sit down and hang out with him and listen to him handle business. Then, it moved on to her asking if she could come over... little by little she started coming over his house nearly every single day, taking care of Oliver or even helping him with his chores. Yes, that’s right, she even did chores for him. Willingly. She moved on to buying him more gifts. More vintage stuff, new clothes and decor. Little things that she knew he would like, things she knew would make him smile. Be it a movie poster or a vinyl. Anything she could find, she got for him. She loved him, felt like she needed to thank him for everything.

Harry was a bit shocked to say the least. He had assumed that maybe she would be a bit of the type that would want gifts, but Y/N was the opposite. Instead she was the one bringing him things like watches or buying him fucking gucci boots, records or movies and first editions of books be liked. He didn’t really know what to do. He loved that she was thinking of him but didn’t want her to spend money like that. The suggestion not only fell on deaf ears and he woke up to a knock on his door and Y/N with a gourmet breakfast sandwich in hand the following day. It wasn’t like he didn’t like the fact she was around. She was lovely. Y/N made him feel like a king. But he also worried if he was doing enough. If she wanted more. How he could do that. 

It was a huge change from being alone most nights, to Y/N calling at 10 pm with a pout in her voice that she was cold and lonely. He usually ended up with her in his arms half an hour later. The thing that worried him the most was work. His reputation was still important to him and while Y/N was trying— she was also trying to sneak. Nearly every day this week he had seen her and had her come in to bring him a coffee and pout her lips for a kiss, only getting one after the door was closed.

Today, just like every other day, Y/N brought coffee and breakfast for herself, her father and Harry. Her father was of course on board with her buttering Harry up, happy that his favorite employee was dating his daughter. Of course, Harry didn’t realize Y/N had told him that. 

“Hi baby!” She cooed, walking right over to him with her heels clicking against the floor. “Brought you your favorite... and a little treat because it’s the weekend.” Y/N hummed, looking at him with a bright smile. Harry thought that them being together would threaten his reputation, but to be honest, it was making it even better. Her father was even more inclined to give him the promotion, more inclined to give him a bonus, more responsibility, and more paid time off. All because he was making his little girl happy.

“Hi, my angel.” He said lowly, motioning his head to close the door first. He didn’t love hiding their relationship but he also knew that Y/N was quite loud. And the people on this floor were very nosy. As soon as it was closed, he motioned her over so she could sit with him, but instead she found her seat in his lap. Hm. Well, that wasn’t a complaint, really. She felt good. The way she sat on his thighs and brushed her long nails through his hair... well? He couldn’t complain. “You’re being awfully sweet.” He said suspiciously. “What are you avoiding asking?” He knew the way she was when she wanted something. While she was normally sweet? Y/N got this little look. This little giggle to her words and batting of the lashes to soften whatever blow there would be it he wasn’t happy.

Y/N tried not to take it to heart, him choosing to hide their relationship while at work. She tried to remind herself that this was something he wanted and she needed to respect that, Y/N was working on putting some of his needs first. It was something she read on a relationship blog once. After closing the door and letting herself into his lap, she got comfortable, setting the food on the clear space of his desk and humming a little bit as he leaned into her touch. 

“I’m not...” Y/N mumbled, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Was just... thinking maybe we could go out for lunch today? And then... maybe you and Oliver could come over to mine for dinner?” She knew it wasn’t really much to ask in her mind, but she just wanted to do something for him because he was constantly doing stuff for her. In his eyes, he wasn’t doing much at all, but to her? He was opening up a whole new world she never got to experience. “Cause we’re always hanging out at yours, and I really like it at yours... I just wanted to show you my place and like... hang out and stuff, but we don’t have to!”

“Oh? That’s all?” He was expecting something else. The nerves she had looking a bit, he had expected something much more extreme. Going to her house wouldn’t be an issue. “Lunch, yeah. That’s fine. Just tell me where to go. We can go to yours tonight, pumpkin. I didn’t want to ask to go cause I was letting you keep privacy is that was something you wanted. But I’m happy to come over. Oliver will love to as well.” He knew the kitten loved Y/N possibly more than him. It was crazy. He was incredibly confused at how Y/N had so quickly managed to sneak herself into every bit of his life but she did. He didn’t mind at all, either. That’s the crazy part. “I'd like to see your stuff. I’m curious to see all the things you’ve got.” She said she collected stuff so he was happy to finally be let into that part of her. Plus, he would have a much larger bed. She had said she had a California king. His was a queen so, it would be a welcome change.

She still had that little voice in her heart saying she asked for too much. Her previous boyfriends didn’t like how clingy she was and she tried to wind it back as much as she could. With Harry she just couldn’t seem to hold back though, she constantly wanted his attention and praise as if one day he’d turn on her. She was slowly learning how to properly trust. 

“Really?” Y/N smiled widely at his agreement and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. She kept it quick because she knew he would scold her, but she giggled and went to kiss his cheek. “Yay!” She genuinely couldn’t wait to have him over. Y/N has lots of space for Oliver to roam around, she had already bought him a little box and some food. Even bought him some toys to play with in preparation. She was thinking of getting herself a kitten too because she liked Oliver so much. “I’m excited... we’re going to have so much fun! I can’t wait!” Y/N was practically bouncing in her seat. “Eat your breakfast, baby.” She cooed to him, nodding at the breakfast that was laid out on the desk. Y/N, in the meantime, pulled out her phone to make a reservation for lunch at Harry’s favorite fancy place.

He watched as she made a reservation. Her mood was significantly higher today, as yesterday he hadn’t been able to have a sleepover with her because he’d gotten back very late and had to go in early. She felt a bit more clingy today in energy but... honestly? He wasn’t angry about it. It was a good type of clingy. A good type of feeling to him. It was a warm and fuzzy type of thing that had him smiling when he realized she always liked to have a hand on him. It made him feel a bit less bad for telling off a dickhead in the break room who had commented on her tits. He hadn’t told her about that though. He had been professional but displeased and told him if he heard something else like that about a guess that he would go to HR. Or her father directly, more like. It was hard not to punch him in the snotty face. “I did miss you last night.” He murmured. “A lot less warm, even though you’re a blanket hog.”

Y/N set her phone down on his desk and moved to push some pieces of hair away from his face as he ate, she was hoping he wasn’t too busy. Not that her dad would mind if he didn’t get something done on time because of her. She had the upper hand that way, father’s guilt and all.

“Hey!” She pouted, “am not!” Y/N scrunched her nose and let out a little sigh. “Just wanna be closer to you, don’t know how the blanket gets there.” She really did wish she could stay clung to him as they slept. He was so warm and comfortable, but tonight they’d be sleeping on her massive bed so there would be plenty of room for them. She had a big big plan for dinner, she was actually going to cook it herself. She had been practicing and it turns out she wasn’t bad at it at all. 

“What’s your favorite food?” Y/N asked curiously, knowing she had asked him before but she wanted to make sure so she could get the stuff to make it tonight.

“Hm. I like loads of things. Love chicken parm, I like tacos. Egg rolls. I dunno, I don’t know if I have one set favorite. I have categories.” He hummed around his food. “Love ginger lemon scones and strawberries on waffles for breakfast. Also that Nutella shit on French toast.” He felt more comfortable around her to speak freely. “And I have my favorites at fast food places. A loaded question.” Harry really did like his food and loved to eat. It was a lot. He knew that much. 

Y/N took notes, thinking about what she could manage to make for them tonight. Chicken parm seemed simple enough, she could definitely cook them up some of that. Some pasta on the side. It would be perfect. The waffles idea sounded great for breakfast and she could manage that too. She had everything. Y/N felt like she was doing something right for once, trying to be a normal girlfriend for him.

“But—“ he wasn’t interrupted by the door slamming open, Y/N’s hand holding his hair as they startled slightly to see a frazzled woman walk in. 

Oh, for fucks sake. Caroline. The woman looked irritated seeing Y/N sat up on his lap, legs bare as her skirt didn’t cover much when she sat. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Y/N looked over and spotted Caroline, her face immediately falling. There goes her good mood. Y/N wasn’t nice when she didn’t get her way. 

“Who the fuck let you in here?” Y/N snapped, getting up immediately and stepping towards her. Someone was getting fired today, that’s for sure. It had been a few weeks since she and Harry got together, almost a month, and this woman was still at it? Harry stood up and stepped behind Y/N, his arm resting on her waist. He didn’t want a fight to truly break out, as hot as it may be in his mind. Y/N was too important to him to get hurt. He didn’t like it at all. 

“I just walked in! I said I was here to see Harry.” She glared at him. “But I see he’s still busy trying to sleep his way to the top with some used heiress cunt.” 

She just walked in? Oh. Someone was definitely getting fired. 

It was shocking because Harry hadn’t ever seen this type of shit from Caroline. It didn’t really make much sense because Y/N had been with him for a while now. 

“You little—“ Y/N was cut off by Harry voice.

“Caroline... absolutely not appropriate. Y/N is wonderful and I won’t stand you speaking to her or about her like that.” He said darkly, pulling her back into his body.

Y/N felt all warm in her stomach. As sweet as it was, Y/N was still angry and fully intended on handling this all by herself. She placed a hand over Harry’s and thumbed over the skin. 

“You wish someone wanted to use your cunt.” Y/N spat, “get the fuck out of here. It’s pathetic, you couldn’t keep him if you tried....” Y/N’s tone was lethal. “Coming ‘round invited to talk to my boyfriend? About what? What can you offer him that I can’t?” She wasn’t going to let her win this, wouldn’t let her leave unless she was walking out with her tail between her legs.

“He’s going to get bored with you! Get the promotion and use your body until your implants and shit pop! And then he’ll be crawling back to me.” Where Caroline got this type of information or how she thought that didn’t make such sense whatsoever. 

Harry was a bit worried about if Y/N would read into it but she was a scrappy little thing, Harry holding her waist and letting her approach slowly. He didn’t want a physical fight. Y/N nearly raised her hand to slap her but Harry held her back, her jaw clenching. 

“Sweetie, you know full well my shit is real! Give it up!” She was seething, trying to avoid calling her names because she didn’t want to make herself seem like she wasn’t classy. “Think he would want you after me? You’re delusional.” She scoffed before continuing. “Harry was going to get the promotion before he even went to Paris! Hell, probably earlier! He’s fucking incredible at what he does and is more the capable of running this company regardless if he’s balls deep inside my cunt!”

Harry placed a kiss at the back of her head which did calm her down some. It reminded her that he was here for her and that nothing this woman could say would change how he felt. Y/N was still defensive, knowing she wanted him back and knowing Harry did have a history with her. She’d be devastated if he did leave her to get back with Caroline.

“I’m not leaving her, or using her for a promotion. I don’t know what’s going through your head right now but it obviously isn’t what is needed.” He muttered, kissing the back of Y/N’s head again. Hoping to keep her calm. “She’s what I want. We broke up. You’ve heard more than enough.” He raised a brow, bringing up that phone call again where she had heard her fucking Harry. “And what a wonderful cunt it is.” He snickered against her hair, but he knew Caroline could hear it when she growled out angrily. 

“This isn’t fucking over! You’ll come back. You will.” Caroline turned from Harry to Y/N, giving her a glare. “Trust me. He’s boring as it is, but he’s mine. Understand that? Leave it be. Go marry a fucking governor or some shit and leave him to me. I’m not giving up.” She seethed before stomping out of the office.

“What the fuck?” Harry asked, leaning against his desk as he tried to catch up on what the fuck just happened. Y/N was angry. He felt that, so he held her hand and pulled her closer to him, bringing her into a hug. “S’okay. Relax. I don’t know what the duck that was about... but we’ll make sure she doesn’t get back up here.”

“I’m going to kill her.” 

Y/N was angry for multiple reasons. One being she stepped into this office without being allowed to, second, she disrespected her, third, she disrespected Harry, and on top of all that, she said he was hers. Absolutely the fuck not. Y/N wrapped her arms around Harry and rested her head on his chest, hands pressed flat against his back. 

“The fucking nerve... I’ll end her.” She might not physically kill her, but she would definitely ruin her life. If she kept acting up Y/N could make her disappear. “How dare she say that about you?” She asked, lifting her head so she was looking up at him. “How dare she...” Y/N mumbled and cupped his cheeks. “You are not boring at all. And I meant what I said... you’re more than capable of ruining the company now if need be.”

“I know. I know that she’s angry and saying stupid things. Don’t play into her. As sexy as it is to see you angry... it isn’t worth any pain.” He explained. He understood that Caroline had riled her up, but she didn’t mean anything to him. “She means nothing to me. Nothing. Not the dirt on my shoe. How could she when I have the sexiest and most brilliant woman?” He smoothed his hands down her sides, stopping at her hips. “Already all sorts of better. Especially where it all counts.” In bed and in the heart. “Seeing you come to my defense is incredibly sexy, don't get me wrong, baby. I just think it isn’t worth the time getting angry. You’re mine, yeah? M’yours? Nothing else matters besides us.” He wanted to be chill and relax.

Y/N knew she shouldn’t play into it, realistically she knew that, but there was a bunch of insecurity that Y/N felt about the situation. She knew Caroline wasn’t right, but it wasn’t like Y/N wasn’t already trying to be as ‘normal’ as she could whenever she could be. She was scared of pushing Harry too far with all her expensive tastes, knowing that once they got back from Paris they sort of just hung out at his and ate take out and honestly... it was amazing. Y/N was happy doing that if it meant she got Harry. It was the first time in her life where material things didn’t matter as shallow as that sounds. 

Did he ever think about what it would be like if he wasn’t dating her? How could he be so quick to say Caroline meant nothing when he dated her for a while and was so reluctant to give into her? Maybe it was just her insecurities talking. 

“Yeah... you’re right... ‘s not worth it.” She mumbled softly, having zoned out a little bit. Y/N would be okay, they’d be okay. It just wasn’t something Y/N wanted to think about this morning. “I’m going to go sort the security out... put her on a list or something, I’ll let you get back to work.” She spoke gently, giving him a small smile before she left the office.

Y/N had let a bit of her anger out at the security guy downstairs for not following orders. She didn’t fire him, knowing he was a nice man who had a family, but she certainly scolded the fuck out of him and the lady at reception that both knew she wasn’t allowed up here. Y/N hated that she couldn’t exactly say Harry was her boyfriend yet either. Another kick to the stomach when she was already feeling down. 

There was a little tiny voice that crept in then. Was Caroline right? Was there a reason that she came back or felt like she needed to come back? Harry has been so adamant about not telling anyone about them being together but was also weary about getting together in the first place. Y/N knew it was stupid, she shouldn’t think that way, she trusted Harry. She swore she was in love with him. But she was still insecure, felt like maybe he was ashamed of her or something. 

She tried to pick herself up before lunch, not wanting him to think there was anything wrong because it wasn’t at all his fault that she was feeling anxious. She was taught to stay quiet about these things, her previous boyfriends hated when she got this way and refused to listen. She didn’t want him to yell or get upset at her for thinking something so stupid. 

When she noticed he was a few minutes late she got a bit nervous and for a second she let that voice slip through and thought maybe he forgot. It startled her a little when he sat down, noticing the soft smile on his face. A wave of relief hit her at that and she returned the smile after a beat, saying a small ‘hi’ and ‘it’s okay’ 

“Sorry I’m a minute late. A bit of traffic downtown with an accident.” He murmured, settling down. “Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong, babe?” He asked, sewing right through her little smile. “Cause I know you’re upset or thinking about something and I don’t like thinkin’ about you like that. Was worried since you left the office.”

Y/N’s body froze a little when he asked her about what was wrong, knowing full well she wasn’t slick and Harry would see right through it. He always did. She remembered even when they were in Paris he could tell whenever even something small was off about her. 

“I’m okay, I’m just thinking too much...” Y/N didn’t want to have a breakdown in public.

“Yeah?” He reached out and took her hand in his own, squeezing it gently. “If y’want to talk about it we can. Or you can wait and tell me tonight. But you can talk to me.” He didn’t want to push her too hard or too fast because he knew opening up wasn’t an easy feat. But he also wanted her to know that he was there. He wasn’t upset or angry and could see she was upset. “What’s good here?” He loved on because he was going to let her tell him when she was ready. However he wouldn’t let it go. He could give her time but he wanted to know what bothered her. He knew that in relationships, if you didn’t talk shit out it would blow up in your face. Y/N looked saddened when he had taken his hand back so he placed it back on the table so she could hold it. Her smile returned slightly and he felt the warm small hand back in his own as he looked at the menu.

“Can we talk about it later?” She hated how small her voice sounded. Y/N was a sensitive little thing, especially if someone was able to press the right buttons. It was one of her weaknesses, but thankfully she didn’t have many. “They have really good sandwiches... I also really like their poke bowls.” Y/N spoke and decided she would get one of those. It was essentially like eating sushi in a bowl format. She was happy he returned his hand to the table for her to hold, especially because she was feeling a little fragile. She would get better as lunch went on but she just needed to get her mind off of everything. “I told daddy I wasn’t going back to work after lunch, but I’m going to go home and relax a bit... you take your time though, yeah? I gotta go grocery shopping and stuff.” Y/N didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

“Oh, that’s alright. I’ve got some things to finish and I want to get things done. After that I’ll get my things and head over.” He was still concerned about what Y/N was upset over however he knew he only had so much power and he wanted her to trust him and come to him when she was ready. 

Harry ended up with a sandwich and they had a light conversation over lunch about kittens and her place, it was rather nice. Calm. Relaxed. He was happy to be able to do that. All he wanted to do was give her a reason to smile today. He knew that he was often a bit stoic and kept to himself about it but he was hopeful that tonight would be less tense. He kissed her mouth and nose goodbye before leaving, promising her he would be at hers by 7. He wanted to shower first even though it was probably they’d get dirty again, and he needed to get Oliver’s little carrier. He would be excited to see his Y/N.

Y/N had asked her driver to take her to the nearest Whole Foods so she could get the stuff for dinner. She had a list on her phone of stuff she needed to get for the recipe and bought everything she needed. Just in case it turned out crap, she bought a frozen pizza and some ice cream for dessert so that they still had something to eat. Sure it was all still floating around in her head but she was feeling much better now. She knew she just had to talk to Harry about it when he came over and that would clear things up both for him and for her. She would be safe to cry in her own home and he wouldn’t judge her. He never did. 

----

To Y/N’s surprise, the meal turned out pretty good. It smelled amazing and looked delicious, she just needed to keep everything on the heat so that it was warm when Harry got here. She had changed into some comfortable clothes, hoping he would do the same and went to go fill Oliver’s bowl with some food and water.

Harry had changed out of his work clothes and carefully packaged up his bag. It was the weekend so he didn’t have to worry about a suit, but he didn’t know of her plans so he put in a good outfit as well as his normal clothes. Oliver knew something was going on and mewed the whole time, happily getting into his carrier. Harry stopped and got flowers for her on the way, bringing them up to her penthouse. His name was apparently on the list of who to let up and he was buzzed in, given the floor number and sent on his way. This building was fancy as fuck. And big. He was a bit surprised, though he shouldn’t be, turning about and seeing only two doors. Y/N and someone else’s.

Y/N was nervous. She wasn’t sure why, but she was. You’d think inviting your boyfriend to your house wasn’t something you’d be worried about, but Y/N just wanted everything to go well. She didn’t exactly have the best day and hopefully this dinner and a nice chat with him afterwards would make her feel better. Maybe this could alleviate some of her worry. When he arrived at the door Y/N smiled to herself walking over to open it up and instantly feeling a bit of relief. Just knowing he was going to be here for a little while already made her feel better. They were safe and protected. It felt good. 

“Oh— these are for me?” Y/N was surprised, looking at him with the softest and most gentle gaze. He really went out of his way to get her flowers. It meant more than he would know. It wasn’t like he got a florist to make her a bouquet, he personally picked one to bring to her. “Thank you, baby.” Y/N cooed and went in to give him a hug and a kiss, beckoning him inside. “I um... I made dinner.” She said with a blush. Those were words he had never heard before.

“You did?” He was happy. Y/N making him dinner meant way more than anything else would. The fact she had put time and effort into it made his heart all happy and soft. Truly, it was something that had his stomach warm and happy. “That’s so amazing, sweetheart.” He said happily, placing the carrier Oliver was in down so he could open it up. Immediately the kitten mewed and went for Y/N, pawing at her leg until she picked him up. He knew they were both gone for her. 

Y/N nodded her head proudly, letting out a little giggle when he paid her the compliment. It meant so much to her too, to see him appreciate the work and effort she put in. She didn’t do this for anyone. Only him. He was the most important thing in her life and Oliver of course. She giggled when pawed at her leg and picked him up with her free hand that wasn’t holding the flowers. 

“Hi buddy! How are you? My sweet angel?” She asked and kissed his head, “you excited to be at my house? I got lots of stuff for you to check out! Lots of places to explore.” Y/N cooed and led the pair into the kitchen. She set Oliver down for the moment on the floor so she could put the flowers in a vase with water before looking back over at Harry. 

“Your place.. wow.” It was huge. Very big and kind of.. empty. But beautiful. It was modern style and it was nice. Definitely a lot less vintage and honey than he would prefer however, he was happy right now. Just being with her at home. “Smells really good, baby. I’m so hungry.”

“Do you like it?” She asked shyly, wondering how he felt about her place. “I—I know it’s really empty and stuff but, I don’t really know how to make it feel more occupied when I’m the only one here...” Y/N explained, hating how it wasn’t nearly lived in enough. Maybe if he came over more it wouldn’t feel as weird. “It’s chicken parm and penne pasta. It’s almost done! The chicken is done just have to finish tossing the pasta in the sauce and then we can sit down and eat.” Y/N was excited. It tasted good, she made sure she tried it before so that she knew she wasn’t serving shit to her boyfriend.

“Wow... that’s amazing, baby. Made it just for me?” He was ecstatic. She had asked him early to make his favorite? He felt himself melt and brought her into his arms, kissing over her forehead a few times before he moved her out of the way to help get some glasses. “I like it. It’s very roomy and has a ton of potential. I would be a bit lonely with so much space, but I think for multiple people it would be a dream.” If he had a place like this, he would add lots of warm things. Plants and his record player, a comfy rug and couch, art. Stuff to make it at home. “What would you like to drink?” He asked, opening her fridge. She had some juice, sparkling water, wine coolers. It made him laugh a little at the last one. And he saw a pack of beers, she no doubt got for him.

“Just for you... you’re my favorite...” She blushed as she watched him get some glasses. She went to go put the pasta in the sauce and looked over at him, “um... wine? There should be a few bottles in there. You choose..” Y/N was definitely not short of options. Her fridge was massive though, definitely fit for a family but it was just her for now. So she used it for drinks. 

Y/N hoped that maybe one day, the two of them could live here together. Have their own family with kids and kittens and just everything that she ever dreamed of. “I do get a bit lonely, ‘s why I’m always at yours... but you’re welcome to come stay here whenever you want! Both of you, you’re always welcome.” 

It tickled Harry more than it should have when she confirmed he was her favorite. It felt good to know that he was. She was his favorite too. 

“Lonely? You can always come to mine. Or we can come to yours. I always figured you wanted to keep this place private, so I never really bothered you about it.” He explained, but now that he knew? He would be likely to come over often? If that’s what she would like. He chose some white wine which would go well with the chicken, placing the glasses down at the sleek looking dining table. It was then that he leaned against the kitchen island and raised a brow at her. Her little apron was adorable and he wanted to squish her so badly. Also see her in nothing but that. “I gotta say... m’sad.” He sighed. “I didn’t get a proper kiss from you.”

Y/N had finished plating everything, covering the left overs with lids before walking them over to the table. She looked up at him when he said that he was sad, tilting her head to the side with a frown. 

“Oh! I’m sorry baby, I just got really excited and I didn’t want the food to burn!” She pouted and ran over to him to wrap her arms around him again so they could have a proper kiss. She leaned forward and attached their lips, giving him a sweet and solid kiss. Y/N couldn’t quite explain it, but she was putting all her love into this kiss and it wasn’t meant to be intense. It was just meant to show him how much she cared. How much she well... loved him.

Harry was a little shocked by the kiss. There was... something behind it. It felt warm. His hands holding her waist tightened and he hummed happily into it, head leaned down to take her mouth the way she wanted it to be taken. He pulled back with a smile, cupping her cheeks before pecking her mouth a few more times. “There’s my girl. That’s what m’talkin’ about.” He loved those kisses. Was truly starting to fall for her too. “I missed you.” He said again. Last night had felt weird alone. It had only been about 4 total nights he had been alone and they were starting to feel more and more odd. He liked being around her and didn’t want that to stop or end any time soon. Ever.

Y/N smiled back at him and moved to nuzzle her face into his neck for a hug. Sometimes you just needed a hug and his little ‘I missed you’ only made her squeeze him a bit tighter. 

“Missed you too.” She mumbled against his skin and pulled away again to look at him. “Let’s eat, yeah? Don’t want it to get cold.” She herself was surprised at how good the meal was. Maybe she was trying extra hard because she knew Harry was going to eat it, but regardless it turned out great. It redeemed her hope in being the girlfriend Harry deserved. She didn’t just want to be some prissy rich girl, though she could never stop being the prissy rich girl. 

Oliver has found his things which made her happy, he seemed to really like the little cat tree she got for him, as well as the Gucci cat toy. What? Oliver deserves some nice things too.

“You did not get him a fucking gucci cat toy?” Harry scoffed, a laugh erupting from him as he watched the kitty carry it over and plop down next to the table with it. Y/N merely shrugged. “Christ. You’re somethin’ else. You know that?” His smile was enough to prove he wasn’t angry but amused. Y/N was a giver and he knew that but a cat toy? Like that? Probably at the least $100? It was amusing. 

“What?” Y/N shrugged, looking over at Oliver and smiling at how he seemed to like it. “He’s got expensive taste. He’s lucky he’s got a mommy like me, hmm?” She spoke down to Oliver and realized she had taken claim in the cat. She looked up at him with a questioning look, as if to ask if it was okay. Y/N also knew he would bring up what happened earlier after dinner. She wasn’t really ready to talk about it, but she had to let him know what was going on in her mind. Only he could give her the real clarity that she needed anyway

Harry didn’t mind. She basically was his mommy anyways. She cared for him and bought him things, gave her all the loving she could and was sweet to him. What else could a cat want. Plus... he kind of liked that idea. It was a little scary— don’t get him wrong. But, he didn’t want her to go away. Ever. 

The whole dinner was amazing. However, he was still worried about the girl and what had upset her beforehand. He was hoping Caroline hadn't gotten under her skin but he had a feeling that perhaps it was, and that made him annoyed. Not at her— but the fact that she had been so stupid to come to his office after he blocked her number and obviously had moved on? The food had been really good, especially because he knew she didn’t cook much at all. He had done it for him and it meant a lot to him. 

“Thank you. It means a lot that you’d cook for me.” Harry smiled, bringing his plate towards the sink so he could rinse it off.

“You’re very welcome... I’d do just about anything for you, you know?” Y/N spoke sweetly, coming up behind him and kissing his back before allowing him to rinse off her plate as well. Y/N took this time to put all the leftovers into Tupperware, deciding that they could eat it again for lunch tomorrow and then maybe get some take away for dinner. 

When Y/N finished she helped him dry off the clean dishes and put them away, pressing a kiss to his cheek as a thank you before she took his hand and led him upstairs to her bed room. Oliver would follow them if he wanted, she also had stuff for him upstairs. The view from her bedroom was incredible, much like his office, the entirety of the wall was glass and it looked beautifully over the city. The night sky was clear and everything just seemed to be perfect in this moment. Y/N walked over to her closet and set his bag down in there, already having made a little section for him to have if he wanted. She came out dressed in just one of his tee shirts and climbed into bed, letting him take his time with the view.

Harry has caught her crawling into bed, his eyes following her body. God, he adored this woman. So much. She was incredible and sweet and he was feeling all sorts of wound up but he knew he needed to get what was in her mind, out. He stripped down to his briefs, like he always did and crawled into bed next to her. She immediately found purchase curled up against him when he decided to bring it up while he played with her hair. 

“Can you tell me what’s bothering you?” It was a simple request. Really, it was just because he cared, but he needed to establish good communication with her because he was hoping that they could take this long term. He had no plans of leaving and wanted to work on them, fully. Get to know her the best he could and date her until the time was right. Most people would be scared but Harry likes to feel things out. So far, it all felt very good. Once he had given in.

Y/N was tracing over his tattoos when he asked her about earlier. Honestly, she didn’t know how to fully explain to him what was going on, but she owed him an explanation of sorts. He was only asking because he cared and he wanted to know. He wasn’t going to make fun of her or anything. She just had to get past that in her mind. 

“I... I know that what she said wasn’t true, I know that.” Y/N prefaced, “it did strike a chord with me though, because... it was already something I was sort of battling already in my mind... like, the idea that maybe I’m not ‘normal’ enough for you.” Y/N knew how it sounded, but to her it was a genuine concern.  “Afraid that— that since those slimy businessmen that I dated before thought I was too much to handle that you definitely would think I’m too much to handle.” Y/N tried to keep herself as calm as possible but it wasn’t really working. “A—and it’s my biggest fear that  someday you’ll be fed up with me like they were and that you won’t want to deal with me anymore.” Y/N hid her face farther into him, her arm around his waist gripping him tighter as if he was going to get up and leave. “Just... Scary cause I don’t know... what if she was right? What if you do get tired of me? I—I wouldn’t know what to do.” Tears started to escape her eyes. “It’s— it’s why I try so hard to, to try and be more normal and stuff, don’t want to just be your prissy rich girl girlfriend... want you to be proud to call me your girlfriend, don’t want you to be ashamed or want to keep me a secret..”

“Oh... baby, no.” Harry felt a crack in his heart. He hated that she felt that way. While he found understanding that she could feel that way... he knew that she would be thinking all sorts of stuff. “First of all... you’re very different to girls I have dated. But I think that it’s wonderful.” He began to explain, trying to brush tears away. “Baby... fuck, please don’t cry. S’okay. M’not going anywhere.” He tried to soothe for a moment before continuing. “I don’t think that anyone else would be as perfect to date as tou. Not only are you understanding of my work and the environment, but I know you wouldn’t be using me for money.” He joked, letting her nuzzle her face into the palm of his hand. “You are a light. Yeah? A pretty light that keeps me lookin’ up. How could I ever get tired of you? The fact of the matter is, she was projecting. She knew I was tired of her. And the reason for that being— she didn’t communicate with me, she wouldn’t do the things I’d like or take the time to truly know who I was or what I like. And then you....” he raised a brow. “You spoil me rotten even though I don’t ask. I barely have to ask for anything but kisses because you just naturally know.” He explained smoothly. 

“You get anxious and needy a little bit, that isn’t at all a problem with me. In fact, I like that you like being close to me. I’m not at all ashamed of you. At all.” He needed to stress that point. “I keep us out of the office because I don’t need people harassing me or you about it and the promotion. What I was thinking, was  once I’m there? I don’t care. But... if it really really hurts you? I don’t mind... if it’s something that pains you. I can let people know.”

Y/N listened closely, taking in deep shaky breaths. Her bottom lip was still trembly, mostly because the second she got going she couldn’t really stop, but she was trying for him. Y/N swallowed thickly and pressed a soft kiss to the palm of his hand before nuzzling against it. She let out a sad little giggle at his comment, sniffling and nodding along because she didn’t quite trust her voice just yet. Y/N knew he wouldn’t be angry or upset with her, but the reassurance was definitely something she needed a lot of. She had a lot of trauma and she needed that support. The fact that he was even willing to change something that was important to him just for her made her heart swell up, clearing her throat before she spoke. 

“Don’t wanna hide...” Y/N frowned as she looked up at him, “know people aren’t going to like it... but they won’t like it either way.”

“Alright. If that helps you, baby. I didn’t know it hurt you so badly.” He murmured, stroking her hair. He was curious to see how people would react but he cared more about Y/N than he did about anyone else. She was wiggling her way deep into his heart and under his skin. “You’re right. I’ve been holding off for a long while. I think it’s because I’ve been worried how people will perceive the promotion and think I’m climbing the ladder hut... you told me that the promotion was already mine to begin with.” He had trust in her and didn’t think she was making it up. “I’ll let you show me off then.” Harry figured, fuck it all. “But I wanted to let you know that, I don’t plan on ever leaving or getting bored. Okay? Trust me. It’s alright. I wouldn’t be with you if I didn’t want to.” Y/N didn’t know just how much Harry genuinely liked her. “I wanted to for a long time. Even before I gave in, obviously. But I’m happy that now, we can keep it going.” He wanted her to continue loving on him. Maybe now he wouldn’t have to close the office door if she came in. 

“Next time please tell me if you feel that way. Don’t sit on it and make yourself feel awful all day.” He muttered. “I don’t like that.” It was nice to have him just calmly talk to her about things and understand where she was coming from. These days, she never thought she would find someone that ticked all of her boxes the way he did. He didn’t care that she was a lot of work, he wanted to work on things with her. He was willing to try for her. 

“You... he hired you already knowing you’d be the one to take over, he just... he wanted to make sure I liked you.” Y/N explained with a sniffle, “cause I’m gonna have to be involved.” She didn’t want to drop it on him that her father wanted them to get married but he was a smart man, he would figure that out on his own. She was happy that he wanted her to show him off, glad that she wouldn’t have to close the door or wait for kisses or hugs. Wouldn’t have to explain why she was defending him so hard whenever someone chatted shit about him. “I’m sorry, I’m just used to doing stuff this way. No one ever wanted to listen, I just had to get over it on my own... I appreciate you more than you even know..”

“I’m sorry that you had to deal with dickheads who wouldn’t listen to you. That’s what’s truly fucked up. I don’t understand why they’d have a woman like you and still manage to be a dick.” He huffed, rolling his eyes. Y/N deserves better. He was better. So they both won. “There’s gonna be none of that shit with me, babe. Alright? If you’re upset, you tell me. Angry? Tell me. We can progress if we don’t talk about what bothers us and what doesn’t.” He murmured, rubbing her cheek before he kissed the wet spots where her tears were. He wanted to take them all away. “We’ve got this. I think the both of us are going to be fine. It’ll be a bit of an adjustment for you, but I think one of my most important things is to be truthful.” He didn’t like the idea of anything but. Lying wasn’t something he would tolerate.

Y/N closed her eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her cheeks, humming a little in his hold. She cared about him so damn much and he treated her so well. Y/N wasn’t sure what she did to be so lucky but she was going to try her hardest to keep him for as long as she could. Forever. They would make it, they would keep the communication open and be truthful. They would talk it out and work on things. Y/N was positive that she wouldn’t be able to find anyone better than him, not that she wanted to find anyone else. She swore she... 

“I love you..” She mumbled softly, opening her eyes again to look up at him. Y/N was nervous, but she meant it. She meant to tell him that and wouldn’t take it back. Even if he didn’t feel the same right now, she definitely was falling for him at a hard and fast pace.

Harry froze for a moment, tilting his head as he looked at her. It was a surprise, for sure. But he trained his face, thumbing over her cheek one as he took her in. 

“Yeah?” He smiled, obviously not a bit upset at the confession. He had to think over his feelings a bit later. Because he was nervous if he admitted it so soon, and he didn’t mean it. He felt like he was getting there. Falling for sure. But not at the point he could say it. He leaned forward and kissed her, soft and sweet as appreciation. “M’fallin.” He could return the words back but she wasn’t alone in the feelings. He felt a lot for her and wanted to make sure she knew that it was getting there and there was nothing to be embarrassed of.

“Yeah.” She smiled back, biting her lip for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her. It was a nice feeling, warm and comforting. Y/N knew what she was feeling, but wasn’t exactly ready to say it back. That was fine, she just needed to get it off her chest because she really did love him. She’d never cared for someone like she cared for him and Oliver. She felt like they were her own little family, little paradise where anything could happen. Hearing him say he was falling just made everything feel better. Whenever he was ready, he could tell her felt the same. For now, they’d just continue on with their night. 

“I feel better now...” Y/N mumbled as she pulled away from the kiss gently, “thank you, angel...” She hummed and returned her lips to his, finding a comfortable position for the two of them to just lay there and love up on each other.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

[part 5]

A/N: please let us know if you’d like to see more from them! - n + d

masterlist

[danceswithwlfs]

if i hold on to you, i’m only hurting me

Ellie & Dina Week: Day 1 (Ache)

Ellie reluctantly pushes the gate open to the lower garden, grabbing a set of tools from the basket as she sulks in. 

Fucking farming rotation. Another day in paradise.

Ellie really doesn’t mind most jobs around Jackson. Even though she’s practically counting down the days until she can join patrols, helping do repairs on houses, or being assigned to the butcher shop aren’t so bad. However, farming rotation is the job she likes least. 

Maybe it’s because of the level of skill required. You have to go through rigorous training to join patrols. Hell, it’s practically a full day of hands on lectures about horse safety before you can be assigned to stable duty. Sure, growing food is important - everyone needs to eat -  but anyone can plant herbs and shuck corn.

The throbbing headache she woke up with certainly doesn’t help the situation either.

At least she is scheduled to work with Dina. That will make the morning go by significantly quicker.

However, as she approaches the group of half asleep teens receiving their assignments she is surprised to find that she has actually arrived before Dina, who is always the more punctual of the two. 

“Morning Ellie!” Sandy, the head gardener greets her a little too happily for 6 AM. “You and Dina are going to be working on beds ten through twenty. The tomatoes need to be pruned and the hornworms are in full force this season.” She purses her lips as she hands Ellie the designated pest control bucket.

Ellie can’t stop the huff of air that escapes her lips. “Great.” She takes the bucket, devoid of enthusiasm, and gives Sandy a half-hearted wave before making her way to the first bed of tomatoes. 

After she’s made it through a handful of the plants she hears the gate swing shut and turns to see Dina shamefully entering the garden, a good fifteen minutes later than she should have, hoping she might go unnoticed.

“Dina!” Sandy exclaims, “so nice of you to join us this morning.”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Even from across the garden Ellie can see the blood rising in Dina’s cheeks as everyone’s attention is turned towards her. The sight alone is almost enough to make her forget about the pounding in her head.

“Have Ellie fill you in on what you’re doing. And don’t forget your tools.”

“Oh, uh, right.” Dina has to awkwardly make her way back to the tool basket by the entrance.

Damn. Ellie doesn’t even bother holding back her smirk and raised eyebrow as Dina approaches. 

“Well, well, well - so nice of you to join us this morning,” Ellie says mockingly and Dina rolls her eyes.

“You’ve been missing out - we get to harvest today.” She gently pushes the pest bucket into Dina’s hands, a few hungry caterpillars wriggling around wildly in the bottom.

“Oh yum!” Dina sighs as she looks into the bucket, her face screwing up in disgust.

“Ya know I’m sitting here, soaking up the sun of this perfect fucking day, and I’m thinking ‘fuck, Dina must really be doing something important to miss out on a morning as spectacular as this one, here, with me - picking hornworms off of tomato plants.’” Ellie returns to her position by the planter bed, and glances over at Dina with a spark in her eye.

“Which you really need to get a jump on by the way, or we’ll be stuck here later than everyone else.”

Dina is surprisingly quiet, just returning Ellie’s ribbing with an amused smirk. She takes up shop on the opposite side of the planter and dutifully gets to work.

Normally Ellie is on the receiving end of Dina’s badgering when it comes to tardiness - she’s a bit surprised Dina isn’t giving anything back. Regardless, she isn’t going to miss an opportunity to goad Dina for the role reversal.

“So what were you up to?” Ellie doesn’t drop the playfulness from her tone. “Saving Alex’s kitten from a tree? Helping Eugene patch that awful fucking hole in his favorite shirt? Teaching Jesse how to read?” She tosses a smug look at Dina, quite proud of that last suggestion.

“Actually…” Dina hesitates and lowers her voice, glancing down at her shoes “Jesse spent the night last night.”

Ellie can feel all the color leave her, along with her jovial mood, as she tries to hide her face behind the foliage of the plant in front of her. She is filled immediately with regret. God. Don’t be weird, Ellie. Don’t be weird. 

Dina and Jesse had been something for a while now. She first noticed the way they would hang back from the group at town events, brush their hands against each other, and laugh even when the other didn’t do or say anything remotely funny. When Dina finally told her about her crush on Jesse she had to put on a smile for her best friend, before allowing herself to be envious of her other best friend.

‘It’s just puppy love.’ Ellie told herself at the time. ‘It won’t last.’

Some days she hates herself for letting her think those things. She’s knows it’s dumb of her to be jealous. It isn’t like she is under some delusion that Dina would ever feel that way about her, but it would certainly dull the ache if she didn’t have to watch them hold hands, or slip quietly away from the crowd, or...

“It was the first time, uh, you know…” Dina raises her eyes to try and meet Ellies, and a smile blossoms across her lips. Ellie can tell she’s happy. Really happy.

“Oh,” it comes out much more awkwardly than she had hoped. Fuck. She doesn’t know what she was expecting, but she certainly never wanted to think about Dina and Jesse’s sexual relationship. 

“He didn’t have to be up early today… So uh, ya know, I didn’t want to be in any kind of rush either.” Dina blushes, and Ellie can feel the emptiness inside her stomach take over. Her headache is completely replaced with numbness and she has no idea what to say in response. 

Ellie clears her throat and finally lets her eyes meet Dina’s, “Well, uh, priorities.” She does her best to force a smile on her face. “Guess I’ll have to give Jesse shit about making you late later.” She doesn’t know how to change the topic, but she’s hoping Dina will start talking about something, anything, else. 

“I am sorry. That you had to get started without me, this job sucks.” She hesitates again, bringing her hands together and staring at them for a minute before looking at Ellie again. 

“I really like him, El.”

Ellie wants nothing more than to flip a switch and forget about these gnawing feelings. To be genuinely happy for Dina.

“I know.”

But nothing is that easy.

[astrovian]

the official ranking of Claude Becker outfits

the official ranking of Daniel Miller outfits here

the official ranking of Adam Price outfits here

all Claude Becker outfits & rankings under the cut

we all know RA looks good in a suit, blah, blah, blah

after two of these rankings, this outfit is the physical embodiment of a yawn

I do appreciate the patterned tie to change things up a tad even if I’m not into the pattern itself. the intent is there, just not the execution

I will give props to the team for giving Claude a patterned dress shirt here (you have to squint a bit on the second image - more on patterned dress shirts later), but they really should have upped the game a little - change the tie & be less subtle with the shirt pattern

and I ask you, does Claude Becker not strike you as a man who would insist on at least a pocket square with his suits?? dream bigger stylists

3/10

@whoever stores old movie props if these weren’t disposed of immediately after filming i will pay you for a copy of one of these

putting aside the hilarious social commentary and fucking literal writing on this magazine cover done by some poor prop designer at 2am (”How to starve artists and other capitalist things”, as well as ”Claude Becker rolls up his shirtsleeves and unties his tie and puts on a vest and casually hangs his hands from his pockets” etc.), this is a nice change-up that made me question why we don’t have RA in just a waistcoat and dress shirt more often

also that tie pattern? fab. I love it. that is how to do a patterned tie. I hope we all know RA looks good in a suit, blah, blah, blah is paying attention

that being said, minimal points because we don’t actually see Claude wearing it in real life

4/10

where, oh where is my polo shirt? oh look, it’s right there

is there any RA character who is not afflicted with a polo shirt? not recently, apparently

I genuinely thought that it was a dress shirt for a moment which had me disappointed at the banality but then that turned into utter devastation as I realised we actually are looking at a long sleeve zip up polo shirt

the draping of the coat? phenomenal and what really brings this entire thing together

the long/three-quarter sleeves? the zip-up rather than buttons? better than one can normally expect from a polo shirt... and then they went and added stripes to the collar and sleeves?? regret

could be a lot worse but could ultimately also not be a polo shirt as well 4.5/10

could have tried harder during lessons but was a pleasure to have in class

I’m sure you all know my long-sleeve shirt obsession with RA but I made a promise to be honest with myself on these lists. the only feeling this outfit evokes is a ‘eh’

the equivalent of a middle slider 5/10

the Claude you’d actually have a fun day with

there’s something about RA in a hoody that just bangs. good lord I also have a weakness for those forearms

I also thought for a good moment these were dark jeans, but they disappointingly turn out to be sweatpants? however, it has made me think that we need to see RA in some darker denim shades more often 

this Claude is could have tried harder during lessons but was a pleasure to have in class but with just a little more fun and class to boost it *just* outside of the ‘eh’ zone

5.2/10

now this is how we do a long-sleeved shirt

I think it’s been fairly well-established by now that loose, long-sleeved RA is my ultimate weakness, so it’s nice to see that Ocean’s 8 is also making a concerted effort to murder me

also Claude’s obsession with sweatpants is giving me life

this is the Claude you make pasta with. and that pasta would be damn tasty, too

5.9/10

come hither

just-woken-up Claude is made 100x better by the bed head hair and the sleepy gaze

this man needs to get back into bed for a snuggle (preferably with me)

I can’t decide if I’m into the loose boxers or missing the tighter Adam Price undies. either way, it’s definitely not a bad aesthetic. and it reminds me, like dad chic Adam Price, that we don’t get enough of RA in shorts

I feel bad assigning numbers to a a shirtless one BUT Claude does transform into being fully-clothed in this scene so I’m going with it 6.4/10

you can kiss my hand anytime

the blessing of this film is not only the visual assault of attractive actors from all sides and genders, but it also instigates in me the thought that RA is wearing printed dress shirts and I can’t remember the last time I saw this?? I never even realised how much I need to see a lot more of this kind of look on RA until we were blessed with this vision

look at those lil’ elephants!! adorable. I hope Claude has a closet full of these with different animals on them

this outfit was so good, RA even wore it in his behind-the-scenes interview

7/10 for a printed, suited dream

the Claude you take home to mom & dad

god, it’s even better without the suit jacket

this is my honest appeal to the powers that may or may not be to put RA in more printed dress shirts

7.6/10

sometimes I think I should be more ashamed of myself

I feel like I need to preface this one thusly: okay, but like hear me out for real this time

I know this is ultimate hipster white-dude look and RA plays into that character so fantastically with Claude here. I mean just look at his expression. something about this whole look makes me want to simultaneously punch this man in the face and also take him home with me

this is a man who you know is a mistake before you make it, but choose to follow through anyway. he’s that last shot of tequila or the 5th glass of wine. you know you would go for him too. don’t even try to deny it

is the high ranking because of the novelty factor? is it because I’ve never seen RA wear a beanie like that and honestly the infamous running Daniel Miller could take notes? is it because I can’t take anyone who wears a beanie like that seriously?

all we do know is that I also can’t believe this is so high on the list

7.8/10

the moment we all learned Claude is 100% a bottom

one of the most iconic Claude moments in the film. RA plays the ‘dumb horny idiot’ character so well in this scene

not so into the pinstriped suit jacket but the hoodie peeking out from underneath combined with the thin scarf makes it for me

8/10

question: how may teeny-weeny scarves does Claude own, exactly?

who could forget the iconic moment when Sandra Bullock nearly shivs RA?

we have another printed dress shirt and I am HERE for it. it even has birds this time!! nice to see that Claude is not just a land mammal sort of man

I will concede that this is the sort of pattern that few men can pull off but RA is making it work and I am living

8.7/10

I’m not sure I can make a comment on this one that is even remotely appropriate except for “I told you Claude is a bottom”

safety first, buy some proper restraints for the bedroom please Claude/10

 modern royalty au Thorin

this is the moment that every single Hobbit fan went “hell yeah, now I have the perfect new aesthetic for my modern royalty Hobbit AU” (as an avid lotr/hobbit fan, I am not joking here)

RA looks like royalty here because he should be. please sign my petition to have RA usurp the British Queen

for real though, that baby blue sash is the 1000% perfect added touch to this suit and we love RA in a baby blue. a decent (and clearly successful) effort to match the faux Met Gala theme: European royalty. however, it is also pretty accurate re: the imaginative effort that most men have with altering their Met Gala outfits to fit that year’s theme

we need more RA in ‘modern royal’ roles for the #aesthetic and also so that he can dress like this more often

9.3/10 for a princely (or dare I say kingly?) figure

James Corden looks so gleeful running after Claude that it makes me happy. I get it, James. I get it

there’s really nothing spectacular about the general outfit here - except for the swagger RA is giving this

pants? shirt? boring, meh

check scarf? a brilliant switch up from Claude’s normal thin scarves. 

the popped coat? now we’re cooking

the sunglasses and wind-ruffled hair that screams “I’m hungover but I still look effortlessly handsome”? delectable

the dogs?? the best set dressing one could ask for

the attitude and ‘I’m too cool for you’ swagger? priceless and what makes this the second-best outfit of the whole film

9.6/10 this man could punch me and I would be grateful

hot diggity dog, someone get me Claude’s handcuffs

from the front view, it could be argued that this outfit (well, technically it may not really be a separate outfit as it’s the undone version of modern royalty au Thorin), while fairly exceptional, does not first place make

however, someone had the idea to shoot RA from a side angle in this and for that I am eternally in their debt

it’s all about the tease with this one. the glimpse of the suspenders (and holy shit, RA in suspenders was not a look I had thought about before). the way the waist coat hangs off Claude’s chest like that, just enough to make its presence obvious. the cufflinks. the delicate pocket watch chain.

if previous outfits on this list have been all sex and swagger, this is the foreplay. the subtle strip tease.

10/10 

[gallagherwitt]

Parents, don't let your babies grow up to be soldiers.

I've debated for a long time about posting this, and after some of the things I've read this past week, it's time.

To be clear, I have nothing but respect for people who serve. Whether your reason for joining the military is to serve your country, to gain access to the GI bill, to escape a bad situation, or any other reason -- respect. I'm also only speaking out the US military, as I don't know enough about other countries' forces to comment one way or the other.

So.

People sometimes come to me and ask for advice for themselves or for their high school age child who is considering military service. Which branch should they choose? Should they enlist or become an officer? Do a four-year stint or go for the 20-year career?

And it's hard to have those conversations because the answer I want to give is "Don't do it."

The suicide rate in the military is on the rise, and the powers that be keep wringing their hands and wondering why. Anyone who's paying attention can clearly see why.

Toxic command climates. Multiple year-long combat tours. Financial stress (food stamps are not uncommon in military families). Separation from loved ones for months or years at a stretch (either to remote duty stations or on deployment). Long periods of severe sleep deprivation. Untreated addiction, mental illness, and PTSD. Untreated or maltreated injuries or illnesses. Sexual assault is taken even less seriously than it is in the civilian world. Domestic violence is rampant.

The military has resources available for all of these things, and channels that service members can use to report problems. On paper, the support network is strong and present.

On paper.

In practice, it's a very, very different story.

The simple act of asking for help for depression, anxiety, burnout, PTSD, suicidal thoughts, sexual assault, harassment, etc, can literally end a person's career. At best, it can seriously derail it, diverting even the most promising upward trajectory. At worst, it can lead to a person being deemed unable to do their job, being stripped of security clearances, railroaded into dead-end rates, etc.

People are unofficially and indirectly punished for whistle blowing. Report sexual assault or harassment? Well, they'll need to separate you from the other person... which means you're probably going to wind up behind a desk in a promotion blind spot, and whether anything happens to the perpetrator or not (spoiler: it probably won't), you're not getting promoted. If you don't get promoted, you don't get to reenlist.  Snitches get stitches.

If you're a dependent of an abusive service member, it's even more complicated and intimidating to get help than it is in the civilian world. You're told -- sometimes directly, sometimes not -- that reporting this can end your spouse's career, so you'd better be *real* sure you want to open that Pandora's box. After all, if you end their career, then you have financial stress *and* your spouse has yet *another* reason to be angry with you. Couple that with the difficulty spouses have holding down careers with multiple moves, and you have abused spouses with no means of supporting themselves if they leave.

Got a knee that hasn't been the same since that training exercise last year? You can go to Medical and get some Motrin, but if you can't PT, it's going to hinder your ability to get promoted. Physical readiness is a job requirement, and the doctor says it's fine, so just keep knuckling through. Then when you fail a couple of physical readiness tests and finally get booted out, you can go see a civilian doctor and find out how badly you actually injured your knee and how much damage you've done by continuing to stand and run on it. The VA might take care of you, but don't hold your breath. After all, the military doesn't maintain equipment it's no longer using. Once you're off active duty, you're no longer a priority. Not that you or your health are much of a priority on active duty -- all that matters is your physical readiness.

It's not just *your* health that's compromised either. If you're in a rate where overseas duty stations are necessary to move up the ranks, your family needs to be -- at least on paper -- in tiptop health. You can lose overseas orders if one of your dependents has a medical condition -- even something like depression or if they're in need of dental work.  Alternatively, you can go unaccompanied and live apart from your dependents for the duration of your orders, which is spectacular for morale and families.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Except no one expects the military life to be easy. After all, those are the sacrifices people make to serve their country and defend our freedom, right? Let's be real: No one has fought for the safety and freedom of Americans since World War II. Vietnam, Gulf War I, Afghanistan, Iraq -- those were over politics and oil. Now we're sending troops to defend oil in Saudi Arabia.

We're not allowed to say all that out loud because we're supposed to support our troops. And I do support our troops. I'm married to a service member, for God's sake. It's because of that support that I AM saying this out loud:

Our service members are fighting for politics and oil.

Not freedom. Not America. Not democracy.

Politics. Oil. Other people's promotions.

Service members deserve support, and they deserve better than the top-down failures from leadership that have been rampant in the military for decades. It's considered noble to serve because by enlisting, you're handing the United States a blank check to be cashed in the amount of up to and including your health, your sanity, or your life.

We're just not supposed to pay attention to what's in the memo line on that check:

Politics. Oil. Other people's promotions.

And in the end, when you've served your time, and you've either reached the end of your contract or the end of your usefulness -- whichever comes first -- then you'll be expected to transition to a normal life as a productive citizen who hasn't seen and done things few can imagine in exchange for a handful of benefits. No one wants to hear about the horrors you've lived and the nightmares you have even when you're awake. They want you to be a dignified veteran so they can thank you for your service.

So if you come to me and ask for advice regarding you or your child joining the military, I'm going to be honest. I'm going to say the only thing I can, in good conscience, say after watching service members get chewed up and spit out one after the other:

Parents, don't let your babies grow up to be soldiers.

[iguessweallcrazyithinktho]

Home body

Summary: quarantine with your friend Henry brings up some bottled down feeling between each other

Warning: NSFW. Friends will benefits relationship, fingering, light Angst, but most importantly Fluff

Pairing: Henry cavill x reader

Author note: this is really shitty. It took me a long time to finish

Word count: 2.3k

Masterlist | request closed momentarily

Please don't post any of my content anywhere else without my permission. Comments and reblogs welcome

The virus came all of a sudden. It surprised you and it did the same to Henry. He was supposed to be filming, but he couldn't. That pissed him off, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Fuck." Henry cursed into the phone. You laughed dryly. "What's wrong hen?" You know exactly what was wrong. He sighed into the phone. You could tell his fingers were running through his hair. "I'm just caught off guard with all of these." He muttered. 

You hummed softly understanding, "Yeah well we gotta quarantine until further notice." You breathed out. "I'm going to miss spending time with you." You felt butterflies interrupt in your stomach at your own words. 

Henry was silent for a brief moment, you thought he hung up. "Henry, are you still there?"

 "Yeah, yeah," he cleared his throat. "I was just thinking what if we quarantine together? You are going to be alone for awhile and so I'm I, so why don't we just quarantine together." 

You never even thought about that. It was a good idea. "Henry, that's a good idea. When should I come over?" You sat up waiting for Henry's answer. "Um… how about today? He asked you. "The sooner, the better."

A small smile creeped up onto your face. "Okay, I'm going to get packing then. I'll see you later." Henry smiled on the other end of the phone at your voice. "See you later." You hung up and got out of your bed walking to your closet. You pulled out your suitcase and started shoving your clothes in there. You weren't sure how long you were going to stay at his house, so you just put everything you could in the bag hoping it will be enough.

-♥-

As soon as your call ended, Henry went to make sure he had everything ready for when you came over. You have stayed at his house plenty of times, but it felt different this time. 

He made sure there were clean sheets on the bed in the guest bedroom. He made sure there was enough food in the fridge and made sure the whole house was clean overall.

He was happy that you agreed. He was really wanting to spend time with you, he felt like he hasn't done that enough. 

You had your bags packed. Your clothes, hair products and skin care products, Everything you needed. You put your things in the car and made sure you had everything before you left. When you noticed you had everything you got in your car and drove to Henry's house.

The drive to Henry house wasn't that long. You parked your car into the driveway, turning off your car and got out. You got your bags out of the trunk, slinging them over your shoulders.

Kal heard your car pull up and begin to bark. Henry walked to the window, pepping out. There you were. Henry felt his inside turn to mush at the sight of you. You were one of the most stunning women he has ever met, and that would never change.

Henry decided to stop staring at you through the window and greet you. He walked to his front door, opening it. "Y/n." 

You turned when you heard Henry call your name. He had a huge smile on his face as he walked up to you. "How are you?" You stopped what you were doing. "I'm doing good." Henry smiled at you, chuckling slightly. He wrapped his arms around you, hugging you tightly. You laughed. "How about you, how are you Henry?" 

He pulled away looking at you. "I'm great. Happy that you're here." He said. You smiled. "Well let me get my bags." You grabbed your bags and walked into Henry's house. Henry watched as you walked into his House with a small Smirk on his face. You sat your bags down near the door and greeted the excited bear near the door. 

"Hi Kal. Oh I miss you too." He licked your face, his tail wagging hard. You almost fell to the ground, but Henry's hand rested on your back preventing you from falling. 

"Alright Kal let her breath." You stood up straight, picked your bags back up. "I'm going to go take these to the guest room, be right back." You hurried up stairs to the guest room. You opened the door a little bit placing the bag by the door before shutting it and walking back down the stairs.

Henry was waiting for you in the kitchen with two beers in his hand. You beamed seeing him. "Here you go darling." You happily took it, sipping at it briefly before pulling away with a sigh. Henry looked at you, your brown eyes that always sparkled meet his. A smile tugged on your face as it always does when you looked at him.

"So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" You were waiting for an answer, but Henry was so engrossed by your stunning features that he didn't hear you. "Henry!" You snapped your fingers in his face causing him to snap out of his daze.

"Sorry, what?" His face turned bright red from being caught. "I asked you what are we going to do for the rest of the day?" Henry sighed. "Oh um… we can watch a movie and I'll make some dinner for us." You nodded, "okay, do you want me to help you?" 

Henry faced scrunched up at your question. "Uhh… no." You gasped acting shocked, but you know you can't cook for shit. "rude." You slapped him on the arm, Henry laughed. "You can't cook y/n, sorry." 

You sighed, nodded. "Alright fine. I'm just going to go change into something more comfortable and then I'll be back." Henry said okay and you walked off.

-♥-

You returned 10 minutes later wearing a slip on silk dress that you loved. Henry loved it too seeing you wear it a few times, but he's acting helped you not notice.

You walked back to the kitchen where Henry was cutting up a few veggies. A pant was on the stove heating up. Henry looked up when he heard you enter the room. He was about to say something, but he's breath was hitched when he saw what you were wearing. He loved how your skin glowed like gold in the black slip on.

"Alrighty." You took a seat on the kitchen island chair. "What are you making? "Honey garlic glazed salmon and some veggies." Your stomach rumbled at the thought. "Sounds nice." You got up and looked at him. 

"Well I'm going to go and pick a movie. I'll be waiting for you." Henry nodded, still chopping things up. You walked out of the room after getting your answer. Henry looked up and watched you walk off. His cock was starting to strain against his pants at the sight of your ass. He wasn't sure how to make it through quarantine with you.

-♥-

Henry finished making dinner and plated it up for you both. He walked into the living room seeing you petting Kal whose head was on your lap. "Here you are." Henry handed you your plate and sat beside you. 

Kal lifted his head up and tried to get a bite of your food. "No, no Kal. Not for you buddy." Kal whimpered, jumping off of the couch. You felt a little guilty, but began to eat your food. 

Henry's eyes were glued to the TV screen, deeply engrossed in the movie that was playing, at least that's what you thought. He's mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about that silk dress you had on and how he wanted it off of your body. He felt weird thinking the way he was thinking, but he couldn't keep them bottled down, especially when you're sitting beside him looking spectacular.

Henry shifted, trying to cover up his growing bulge. You looked over at Henry, you noticed his bulge right away.

"Hen, you okay?" You looked up at his eyes. "Yeah." He cleared his throat. "I'm good. Um I'll take your plate to the kitchen." He took the plate from your hand before you could say anything. You watched him walk off, he was turned on and you know it. You had an idea on how to fix that.

Henry returned a minute later sitting back beside you. "Alright let's finish watching the movie." He was getting comfortable on the couch when you reached for the remote control and paused the movie.

Harry looked at you confused. "Y/n what are you doing?" You swung your legs over his lap.

"Henry you think I didn't see your boner huh?" Henry's eyes widened slightly. "You uh noticed?" You nodded cupping his cheek. "Yeah. I'm starting to think maybe inviting me over is going to start something between us. Something that we have been hiding deep in ourselves for a long time. And Henry um I want to act on it." 

You leaned in kissing his cherry red lips. Henry was caught off guard, but warmed up to your lips quickly. You feel him getting hard under you again, you grinded down on his lap making Henry moan into the kiss. His hand went to your ass, messaging it and forcing you to grind on his cock all while his tongue was in your mouth.

Your panties were soaked. You pulled away from Henry's lips out of breath. "God I'm so wet for you Henry." You breath out. Henry growled lowly. "I'm so hard for you y/n." Henry wrapped his arms around your waist and flipped you over so that you were laying on the couch. He hiked your dress up revealing your pink panties, your wetness was visible for Henry to see. He ran his fingers lightly over the spot, you whimpered at his teasing. "Henry stop teasing me." 

"He looked up at you, a smirk resting on his face. "You look so good when you beg." He pushed his hands past the waistband of your panties and ran his fingers down your soaking slit. He growled at your juice coating his fingers. "Mhm so wet for me." He circled your clit lightly, you looked at him, he was biting his lip as he played with you. You tried to grind on his fingers but Henry pulled away before you could even feel it.  He hooked his fingers around your panties pulling them down and tossing them to the floor.

 He started working at his belt, you watched him biting your lip. Henry pushed down his pants, next his boxers. His hard cock sprung free slapping against his low stomach. You groaned at his size.

You looked back up to his eyes. "Henry you're so big." You breathed out. He grabbed his Stroking it a few times. "Yeah, you like that?" His voice was so low that it made you shiver. "Yes I do." 

Henry chuckled softly, he knew what he was doing to you. He pushed your legs open so he could get better access to your sex. He ran his red tip through your wet fold collecting your juice. You moaned softly, shutting your eyes. 

Henry found your dripping core and pushed his tip in slowly so you can adjust to his size. You moaned out as he got deeper until he couldn't anymore. You opened your eyes looking at Henry. 

"Are you alright?" You smiled at him. Even though he was deep in you he was still the same sweetheart he always was. 

"Yes. You can move in me."Henry smiled slightly before he pushed your legs back against your chest and thrusted Into you. You moaned loudly at how good it felt. 

"Uh Henry… that feels so good." Henry gripped your legs tightly as he pushed into you. "His pace quickened as your juice made your walls slick.

"Fuck doll…. So tight and warm for me." He muttered under his breath. You wailed out as his tip brushed your g spot, he was making you feel so good and he knew it.

"Yeah doesn't that feel good? Huh, you like how my cock fills your tight wet hole?" He smiled as he asked you that question. You looked up at him. "Yes, yes fuck. You make me feel so good." 

Henry laughed deeply, it sounded so nice it ran straight to your core. Your wall fluttered around Henry's twitching cock. 

"You going to cum?" You nodded because you couldn't seem to find the words.  Henry groaned as he twitched in you. His thrust became sloppy, he was near his release. 

"I'm going to cum. Cum with me okay?" You whimpered out ok. He thrusted Into you repeatedly hitting your g spot perfectly. The heat in your stomach began to burst as you came, Henry came not far behind you, spilling his cum in you.

Your back arched off of the couch as your high took over your body. Henry grunts filled your ears as he Experienced his high. You could feel his cum leaking out of your hole. 

Opening your eyes; you looked up at Henry who was panting, but looking down at you. "Damn that was amazing." He slowly pulled out of you making you whimper at the loss of contact. 

You shut your legs and quickly stood up, but your legs gave in. Henry was quick to catch you. "Whoa You okay?" You laughed and stood up the best you could. "Yeah, you just fucked me up." Henry chuckled softly. "Here let me help you. Maybe we can take a shower together." He pushed your hair out of your face, running his thumb over your cheek.

"I think we should do that, but you gotta Carry me." Henry laughed, picking you up. "Alright." 

From that day forward you and Henry quarantined together. Sex, cuddles, him teaching you how to cook, lots of long showers together. This was definitely going to extend beyond quarantine, but you didn't mind. You're just happy you both got your feeling out there and that you both feel the same about each other.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭ 。.・

@iam-laiya @maya-the-cute-ass-bee @msblkfire84 @stephartrave @eevonhon @pieceofshittytitty @thereisa8ella @sausagefest1996 @grungeisntmything @palmstreesallday @ah-blossom @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @aaescritora @xxxkatxo

[olivemeister]

OKAY NEO THOUGHTS NOW THAT I’VE BEATEN IT AND HAD TIME TO MARINATE. no spoilers for another day bc i haven’t finished it yet, but i did go “no, why shan’t i? i have the internet” and watched the secret endings on youtube so those and the secret reports will be discussed. yeah. so here’s some thoughts. i’m going to talk a lot about the more contentious things, i think. and again i haven’t finished another day so nothing to do with that, but of course major ending spoilers for the main scenario.

these are my opinions both as a writer and a media consumer, so there’s kinda two levels here. it is very freeform “as i think of it” structurally so my sincerest apologies if it’s all over the place. i am trying to keep specific topics confined rather than splattering the same plot point/whatever all through the post, but it’s not like i’m posting a peer-revied academic essay here. it’s also fucking enormous and i would say sorry but that would be a lie.

the majority of the game, i actually really enjoyed. the localization was excellent and i can’t praise it enough. i know people threw fits over the “horrible overstep” of... teenagers using slang. but did you know, in real life, teenagers use slang? even in japan, there’s slang? wild but true! the dialogue was great, and while i can’t say much re: the jp cast since i played in english, the newcomers for the english cast were spectacular. i actually think the newcomers were, in some cases, stronger than the returning cast. even in characters where i didn’t like the voice (nagi had to grow on me, i admit it), they were a fantastic match for the character’s personality.

the emotional beats re: character deaths, typically, landed the way i think the writers wanted; kanon’s death in week 3 had me devastated even though i could see it coming a mile away. i think that’s a testament to the best parts of the writing; as soon as i understood how the current game was being run, i knew it was fairly inevitable that every other team would eventually lose. odds would be that, barring something like someone changing teams or a team merger, the majority of the other teams would be completely wiped out. i knew far in advance that kanon would likely not make it to the end of the story, but it still fucked me up when it finally happened not just because i cared about kanon, but also because of how much the other characters cared about her. some character deaths affected me far less, of course. i think kanon was the epitome of “this hit exactly as hard as the writers wanted it to”, but i do feel they fell short with others. ayano’s lack of development really hurt my ability to be saddened by her death, especially when it was so clear that she set up her own possession as a trap for shoka. it undermined things for shoka in general, because while she was devastated to lose ayano, the game did a poor job at making their relationship tangible and meaningful. i felt worse (not necessarily sadder, just worse) about motoi’s death, and i didn’t like motoi. speaking of him...

the biggest issue i have with the game is a chronic square enix issue. kubo is the Man Pulling The Strings, whatever, this is fine. the problem is that he, minamimoto, motoi, and arguably susukichi are the only characters in the game with dark skin. they are all morally grey at best. i don’t think i need to elaborate on why this is an issue. we’re not going to pretend that racism and colorism don’t exist in japan. i’m just going to say that all of the dark-skinned characters are either totally evil, excessively violent, and/or morally dubious. this is my biggest qualm, but i don’t feel it needs more elaboration. yes, i know motoi turns it around in the end. yes, i know susukichi ultimately changes sides as well, and he’s ultimately portrayed as sympathetic. minamimoto is........ his own beast. but the fact remains that we don’t get a single major character who’s darker and unambiguously heroic.

second big issue is that while i understand the decision to keep shiki off camera until the very end for emotional impact, i feel like this was to the detriment of the story and to the detriment of said impact. she was mentioned, sure, and she was briefly seen from the shoulders down in a cutscene long before her introduction, but i feel that this was ultimately for the worse. her absence in the plot made her a borderline non-entity that can easily leave the audience going “why should i care about this?” on what’s supposed to be a huge emotional cathartic moment. yes, people should know this is a sequel and neku and shiki’s friendship was a crucial part of the original game, and much of the endgame of neo makes no sense if you’re unfamiliar with the original, but their interactions in the ending felt incredibly shallow. and i think this is because of how little shiki appears and how isolated she is from her other friends. eri is unseen and unmentioned. she doesn’t interact with rhyme. she hardly interacts with beat, using him as a translator at best. her other relationships are just... stagnant at best, ignored at worst, and despite having had just as vital of a role in the first game as beat did, she does nothing of import onscreen. her only narrative actions are “fix mr mew (mentioned but not seen)” and “be sad about neku”. so, functionally...

for some reason (we know why) the story decided that the only thing that was important to shiki was seeing neku. but by holding off on this reveal of her, we lost the impact that their meeting could have had. because the game refused to show her it didn’t show how much his absence was affecting her, which leaves their reunion feeling incredibly hollow. shiki was gone for upwards of 90% of the game. if not for the first game, this reunion would mean nothing; the narrative does a terrible job of reminding the audience that neku and shiki have a strong relationship and i don’t know if it’s that they expected the first game to have done the heavy lifting, or they thought that what neo gave us was good rather than “good enough”. imo this was an enormous failure and i wish we had gotten more for her both as part of the plot and as a character.

this was an issue present with rhyme as well imo, though to a lesser degree. i think they should have given up the ghost much sooner on confirming that the shadowed figure was rhyme; it was obvious by the time they showed us her silhouette, so i don’t know why the narrative held off on showing her. they didn’t have to introduce her to rindo (or give her the name splash screen) yet, but people who played the first game and are paying attention know it’s rhyme, so why bother hiding her? most of what rhyme accomplishes in this game is off-camera as well, but she has double the screen time that shiki gets.

the shiki thing is another symptom of a common squeenix problem these days, which is poorly-handled implied romantic interests. and i think that was also present with how the end of the game treated shoka. rindo and shoka as an implied romance in general did not bother me; more than a lot of squeenix protags, and perhaps primarily because of the excellent job the english cast did, i actually was unbothered by the suggestion of budding romantic feelings because it felt genuine. they actually felt like a pair of teenagers who were starting to be interested in each other, trying to play it cool and prioritize. this, and shoka’s characterization in general, is really helped by the reveal of swallow’s identity; it retroactively heightens her closeness to rindo specifically and offers enormous insight into her decision to help the team covertly. however, i think this budding implied romance was severely undermined by having other characters comment on it, especially because it felt so out of place timing-wise whenever someone commented. it was never warranted; there are times where they seem to be... not flirting, but not doing a good job of pretending there isn’t an interest. this is not when comments come. the comments come when they are having a totally normal interaction that does not suggest any non-platonic feelings whatsoever.

up until the final day, i had fairly ambivalent feelings about the idea of them as the designated hetero pairing. i felt it was a vast improvement from recent shoehorned romances in squeenix properties. the ending made things much more contentious to me, specifically how shoka is vanished by joshua. the audience should at least have the suspicion that he’s reviving her, but the circumstances surrounding it are the problem more than joshua being a deus ex machina. it’s not the first time joshua was a troll re: reviving someone, but the context of why shoka’s revival is necessary is, well... unnecessary.

they barely foreshadow the shinjuku rules re: reapers, and i will freely admit it’s not remotely ooc for shoka to hide something like that until she can’t any more. but they seem to be just a contrived excuse for shoka to be taken away... and from the framing of it, not from the player, but from rindo. which, i don’t know that i need elaborate on why i wasn’t fond of that. and i won’t lie - i know everybody beefed it in those cutscenes, including beat and neku. but when the dissonance noise grabbed shoka it gave me the exact same vibe as the demon tide grabbing kairi in kh3, and i don’t think i need to elaborate more on why that would put a bad taste in my mouth and make me fearful for shoka’s future treatment in the game. i was worried that the narrative was going to yank her away from rindo like a prize being snatched from him, and it did! while i do also think it’s ic for joshua to fuck around the way he did when reviving her, it also seems contrived and brings up a major question.

if shoka is still playing by shinjuku rules, why does shibuya’s composer have the ability to overturn her erasure? yes, i know, shinjuku is gone, but its composer is still active. surely joshua having the authority to do what he did indicates that on a cosmic bureaucracy level, shoka is a shibuya reaper. the secret reports offer a potential that joshua exploited a loophole by waiting until the second after the shinjuku rules resulted in shoka’s soul being dissolved in order to snatch it up, so perhaps the explanation is that her erasure meant she was technically no longer a shinjuku reaper and no longer beholden to its rules. but that doesn’t answer a different question that honestly bothers me more than the admittedly sorta insignificant question of whether or not joshua overstepped in reviving shoka.

shinjuku’s game has ended because shinjuku has ended; why are its rules still in play for former shinjuku reapers? i am aware that shiba is the conductor “legally” and he has made changes to shibuya’s game, but they’re careful to specify that the “ex-reapers are erased at the end of the game” rules are from shinjuku and do not apply to shibuya reapers. is she considered by the higher plane to be joshua’s underling and not hazuki’s? the secret reports confirm that the transfer of personnel from the destroyed shinjuku to shibuya was authorized by the acting conductor (uzuki) and this is standard procedure, everything was done properly. so “legally” the formerly-shinjuku reapers are shibuya reapers, right? hanekoma notes in particular that it’s a culture clash leading to the shinjuku reapers being designated as such and that they’re only nominally shinjuku reapers. why are a defunct game’s rules still active?

the biggest issue is that shoka’s threat of erasure was unnecessary from a narrative perspective, especially given how quickly it’s introduced and resolved. what was the point of putting this in the story if five minutes later the issue is just dealt with, no effort, minimal tension, by a (narratively speaking, don’t come after me joshua fans) minor character who doesn’t even appear until after the plot is resolved? i honestly wonder if it was just the writers deciding joshua needed to do something so that his appearance in the ending wasn’t just shallow fanservice for people who wanted to see the original gang. joshua’s lack of action is also presumably going to be contentious with fans; i’ve read the secret reports, and i don’t feel that they sufficiently justify why he doesn’t make any moves to protect his city despite being positioned both in his own dialogue and the secret reports as someone opposing shibuya’s purification. i will talk about this a little later re: kubo’s motivations though.

i also think it’s kind of stupid that joshua sets up “find her and you win” and then... rindo doesn’t do anything in that regard. he just bumps into her in the scramble. i know i already said i hate the idea of her being a prize to be won in a game but if they’re going to set it up, why make it pointless in that regard? it feels so unnecessary. joshua portrays shoka’s revival/return as something to be earned, and unlike the ending of twewy there’s no recognition that he was actually just fucking with them.

this is similar to my mixed feelings about kubo’s defeat. on one hand, i wanted to smash his face in personally, i have hated him the entire game. on the other hand, having him jesus beamed and rewritten out of existence without any warning or chance to resist was fucking hilarious and i actually laughed out loud. my speculation as to why he didn’t get a boss fight is that developers worried about people having trouble suspending disbelief over the party being able to defeat an angel. ultimately i think the only way this could have been done was to have it be a boss battle where your victory doesn’t matter, like the week 1 fight with susukichi, and have hazuki curbstomp kubo in the post-battle cutscenes. ultimately, i feel like this was a lesser of two evils; i don’t think the “you lose in the cutscene” approach would have necessarily been significantly better than what we got, i recognize that “the battle didn’t matter and you lose in the cutscene after” is a contentious game trope. and i would understand people struggling to accept the cast defeating a being from a higher plane without intervention from said higher plane. the only benefit would be the catharsis of getting to slap kubo around, which admittedly i kind of miss. having him as a secret boss was an option i guess but i think it would bring more questions than it was worth.

kubo’s motivation is also just bizarre; i understand that it’s given as him getting overzealous after carrying out his orders to purify shinjuku, but why? i feel like this could have easily been fixed/rationalized by “shinjuku’s surviving reapers fled to shibuya, leading kubo to consider shibuya to be an extension of shinjuku”, but that’s solely speculation. i do not know why kubo decided to also start an inversion in shibuya. they didn’t give me enough information. his conflict with joshua is inexplicable and almost entirely offscreen via the secret reports. i do not feel like i have a grasp on why the plot of the game even happened. hazuki’s involvement is iffy; i can’t say whether he initially approved of kubo’s overstep and changed his mind, or if he just took his time collecting his errant underling. the secret reports suggest the former, and hanekoma noting that the contentious nature of the previous game’s events gives a speculative explanation for why no action was taken if hazuki was actually making moves against shibuya rather than kubo being out of line. hazuki could damn well have been lying, there’s a precedent for composers being full of shit and telling bold-faced lies to protagonists, though in the previous game these lies were all eventually uncovered. this leaves me to believe that ultimately, hazuki’s statements regarding kubo acting outside of his given authority were mostly honest. but what i don’t understand is why joshua took such a hands-off approach.

yes, he says he figured the main cast had it under control and would have stepped in had things gotten worse, but this appearance and statement comes long after rindo fails and shibuya is destroyed in multiple timelines. why did he not step in in the first timeline? i can speculate, but the game and secret reports do not do a great job in explaining why the proxy vs. proxy game even happened in the first place. kubo is hazuki’s underling, which makes joshua higher in the pecking order than kubo. if hazuki was capable of exorcising kubo instantaneously, why didn’t joshua just flick him off the board like a flea before he even got started trying to cause an inversion in shibuya? in the epilogue of a new day joshua is seen in conversation with hanekoma, who’s taking shinjuku’s inversion seriously, which seems at odds with how easily his fellow composer ends the problem.

retroactively, i guess i could rationalize this as him realizing that either shinjuku’s composer must be responsible for said inversion or that potentially shinjuku’s composer has been compromised in some way. and i can rationalize him failing to immediately jesus beam kubo as well - it’s possible that, as kubo was initially acting under the orders of another composer (assuming hazuki is still technically “legally” one/at the bureaucratic level of one), joshua’s hands were somewhat tied re: what actions he could take without potential consequences. it could be that joshua would get in big trouble if he took disciplinary action against another composer’s underling, but 1. the legal transfer of personnel should mean kubo is joshua’s underling, not hazuki’s, see the shoka problem 2. hazuki’s status as a composer is questionable given that his territory is now purified and its game is defunct 3. given that kubo was acting outside of his original composer’s turf and outside of his initial orders (purify shinjuku) at this point i feel like that isn’t likely. it could be that he was trying to avoid a conflict with hazuki himself. it may be that he considered it hazuki’s responsibility to retrieve kubo, but that’s at odds with him choosing a proxy to combat kubo’s and his claims that he totally would have done something, really, he swears. they don’t give us much info at all as to why joshua entered a game with kubo in the first place. i have reason to believe that something’s fishy in the secret reports, and i would like to see the japanese text, which i’ll mention again in a few paragraphs.

i know the absence of shibuya’s composer is partially, and perhaps primarily, “there wouldn’t be a plot if joshua fixed it”. but it really feels like they just kinda tucked joshua in the corner and hoped fans wouldn’t be like “hey where is shibuya’s composer and why is no one mentioning them?” that part is probably for the same reason we don’t see shiki until the very ending, teasing the audience by holding off on revealing him until the last second, but it’s jarring to me that shiki is mentioned but neither neku, beat, nor any of the reapers (!) think “we should contact the composer”. even if just to say “we can’t contact the composer, he is unreachable”! i guess it’s to avoid people remembering how significant joshua is and thinking too hard about it, because joshua is simply too powerful of a character to be running around freely. the plot falls apart when you have a character who’s so strong and, in his own words, kind of omnipotent, who could trivialize the conflict in an instant if he took action.

i feel like they surely could have given a more explicit reason for him to not be involved in the story, even if it’s a reason like “he’s in trouble with the higher plane”. which could have easily been set up! hanekoma is clear in his reports that shibuya’s impurification is highly contentious in the higher plane; people are big mad about it, potentially people higher in the chain of command than a composer. this could have been easily utilized as an explanation for why joshua is hands-off; he’s on a shit list and needs to step carefully as a result. but it’s just not addressed. hanekoma is unreachable according to his reports, and he notes that people are trying to contact him for help. are we just to assume that people have looked for joshua to ask for help in the past but it was so long ago that it isn’t even worth mentioning now to the newcomers? according to other reports, the higher ups are pissed with joshua about his game with kitaniji and are turning a blind eye to what’s happening with kubo in shibuya as a result. but this doesn’t explain why the members of the shibuya UG never discuss the composer. hanekoma’s reports have him confused as to joshua’s lack of action as well; he knows the context of what’s going on in shibuya but doesn’t understand why joshua is staying silent.

that said! the fact that hazuki’s motive for the destruction of shinjuku is never stated does not bother me too much. he’s placed in a position very parallel to joshua in the first game, and he even says he felt like he was following in josh’s footsteps. when you add his seemingly-genuine inability to understand why people care about shibuya, i feel there’s enough evidence to... not dismiss, but nudge this aside as “He Too is a misanthropic bastard”; shinjuku’s destruction is a parallel to the intended destruction of shibuya in the first game. hazuki just carried on where joshua had a change of heart. the secret reports complicate this; it might be that someone fucked up in transcribing, but the reports i read online state that shibuya’s composer, i.e. joshua, was responsible for the destruction of shinjuku due to a game with kubo. this does not make sense given everything else, including hazuki’s own statements and later reports, so i’m setting that aside for the moment as either an uncaught mistake either in translation or transcription online (most likely) or hanekoma not knowing the actual truth until receiving the post-purification shinjuku reports. hanekoma also suggests that hazuki’s goal was also the purification of shibuya, but as he’s not shibuya’s composer this is certainly not his jurisdiction so i’m curious as to what exactly happened there.

EDIT: i’ve been informed by a helpful anon that this is not a mistranslation, the japanese secret reports do state that it was a game involving joshua that resulted in shinjuku’s inversion. with that in mind, i have figured out how to rationalize this and it solves a lot of problems: if it was a proxy game between joshua and kubo, then joshua must have been the opposition to shinjuku’s inversion. though you could argue that joshua is responsible for the end result, he didn’t destroy shinjuku; his proxy lost, probably because kubo’s had the support of shinjuku’s composer. kubo’s overconfidence in running rampant in shibuya is now explicable and he may have been trying to rub it in that joshua lost.

if hazuki was still backing kubo post-shinjuku, this could explain why hazuki felt he could make decisions about shibuya’s fate and wander around it; joshua had already overstepped onto his turf to meddle in purification, so he was returning the favor. at this point in time, i figure that joshua’s proxy was either tsugumi’s brother (shinjuku’s conductor) or coco (she’s noted to have inexplicable powers for a rank-and-file reaper, but joshua’s opposition to her killing of neku throws this into question), and if we truly had a scrapped “shinjuku’s final game” plot then joshua’s proxy could also have been neku. kubo’s proxy was presumably shiba. this actually answers a few questions that i couldn’t rationalize when i assumed joshua was uninvolved (why would shinjuku’s composer be running a game against kubo when they wanted the same thing?), so i’m gonna chalk it up as an absolute win.

i think hishima as a character was... sort of nothing. he was just there. yeah, it was kinda funny how he dressed shiba down, but i don’t know that the plot needed him. his role in the endgame could have easily been given to tsugumi without much fuss, and i feel tsugumi deserved a much bigger part in the narrative given how much she was hyped up by solo and final remix. she was so prominent and anticipated that the fans called her hype-chan for years before we had a name for her. this could also be folded into the problem with hiding shiki until the very end; it feels like we missed a whole sequence with both of these characters simply because the narrative refused to show us shiki. instead, we’re told that shiki showed up and fixed mr. mew, and somehow this freed tsugumi. i think the fact that they don’t even give a flashback of this crucial event after shiki’s proper introduction is just a questionable decision. the story tells us that tsugumi’s release from the plushie is of the utmost importance and shiba can’t be swayed without her, setting it up as a vital event, but it happens offscreen with no real interaction with the main cast. it also only happens after multiple failed loops, even though rindo’s interference is what prevents the meeting between coco and shiki to repair the plushie. i don’t understand this from a logistical standpoint; if coco isn’t pulled to escort rhyme, she must have met with shiki and released tsugumi in timely manner, but tsugumi does not appear until after you replay to get coco back to her original schedule. you could wave it off as “she didn’t get there fast enough”, but i can’t accept that as a reason given the circumstances; it’s not like she would have to look hard to find shiba. this one’s flawed writing; i know in a meta sense why she didn’t appear, it was to build tension etc etc, but in-universe it’s a plot hole.

coco being so absent from the plot is also somewhat conspicuous. i wonder what reception of her was like in japan and if that influenced her lack of presence in the story. i honestly don’t even know if she was received well by the english audience, all i know is that i did not like her at all in final remix. not from an “i don’t like the villain because they’re doing bad things” perspective, from an “i don’t find this character compelling and i think they’re annoying” perspective. also curious as to whether or not her speech patterns changed in the japanese dialogue since final remix; i found her far less jarring and obnoxious in neo and i think it’s enormously because she stopped talking verbally in internet shorthand. overall, coco’s retool was imo a change for the better, but she’s barely there for me to appreciate how much of an improvement she was. it feels like there’s an entire narrative we were set up for by a new day, yet it’s almost completely missing. the ending of a new day laid out this framework for neku and minamimoto to be forced allies in an unseen future game. i had mixed feelings about this conceptually, but the narrative setup was fairly transparent. not only does this not happen, coco’s motivation in a new day and what ultimately happened were so lacking to me.

i feel like something got lost and we were originally going to actually see and perhaps play the shinjuku game that ended in disaster instead of just getting a summation and brief flashbacks of the survivors fleeing. this kinda ties in with my complaints about how hyped tsugumi was by solo and final remix, and then she turned out to have a very small (albeit crucial, via her trailer ability) and mostly unseen role in neo’s story. retroactively we learn that rindo’s visions are from tsugumi, but this is something she does entirely off-screen. all of coco’s scheming was for nothing, because joshua was a deus ex machina and whisked neku away the second he died. this feels to me like cut content or rewrites; there’s a whole game’s worth of story that just happened off-camera and we got to hear a little bit about it. it wasn’t enough, imo. i think doing it as a midquel is still possible, but it’s a hard sell to create a video game with a downer ending and we know shinjuku’s fate is already set in stone... even though a new day ended on the tragic cliffhanger of neku’s death, it’s a little different since it’s coming as an optional postgame sequel hook after victory rather than the entire narrative you fought through ending in failure. i suppose it could be done with a Distant Epilogue now that we know shiba and most of his surviving reapers will return to rebuild shinjuku. ultimately i really think that if not for the concern about neku overshadowing the new cast, shinjuku’s purification could and should have been the prologue to neo. it would be a tough balancing act, but i do think it could have been done right and it would have done a lot for narrative tension with his absence if we had a prologue following him that ends in a cliffhanger re: shinjuku’s purification. neku’s role in the story was done decently i think re: how big said role was, but a lot of circumstances surrounding his absence, legendary status, and reappearance leave much to be desired.

frankly, i just don’t like how much they glossed over neku’s three year absence. we’re given a vague explanation of what he was doing, but it isn’t actually an explanation. definitely again feels like a plot rewrite situation; there’s this huge blank space of neku doing nothing because there used to be a story that we were going to play through and it got scrapped for whatever reason. overall i feel neku’s characterization was very odd and perhaps a little inconsistent in this game; he didn’t have much of a personality at all, which i struggle to reconcile with the original game. we don’t see how he reconciled with coco, it’s just dismissed entirely as “no we’re good now”. how are we good? why did you forgive her for playing murder games instead of just explaining shit? i know he forgave joshua for his gatekeep gaslight girlboss behavior in the first game, but we had context as to why he made that decision. also what the fuck was keeping him from coming back to shibuya, i don’t feel like that was sufficiently explained either? for someone who was so hyped up by the narrative, i was a little let down by how insignificant neku ended up being to the plot as a whole. and again, his personality seemed very watered down and neutral despite the seriousness of the situation. why was he so mellow? the circumstances of his return i did really like, because... well, we’ll talk about character relationships i guess.

i already summed up my feelings on rindo and shoka and i think i’ll leave them on the note of “unnecessary elements dampened my potential for overt enthusiasm, but overall i feel neutral-positive about the suggestion of romantic interest” which is a lot more than i can say about a lot of (semi-)official pairings. on a broader and more platonic scale? generally i have positive feelings about the new cast and their interactions; i feel like their development is more understated than neku’s in the first game, his character arc is very in your face and the neo cast is not nearly as overt, but you can see the difference in how the team interacts across the three weeks. rindo and fret’s established friendship, not to be dismissive of it, does exactly what it needs to. i mean this in a completely positive way. it’s an established friendship, they feel like friends, and they serve initially as anchors to one another in the beginning of the game as a “you’re the only person i know in this chaos” setup. this contrasts neku in the first game in an excellent way because of how it highlights their biggest character flaws, which i’ll talk about later; it’s important to rindo’s fatal flaw that he has someone to fall back and rely on in the beginning of the game in the same way that it’s crucial for neku’s development that he’s surrounded by strangers who he must learn to trust and rely on in order to survive. rindo and fret can lean on each other in the beginning of the game, and as people who have known each other for some time, are able to recognize and appreciate each others’ positive changes.

i do love the development of nagi’s friendship with fret, particularly how it’s sometimes but not always remarked on when she shelves her initial aloof attitude with him. i prefer when a narrative is more subtle on that kind of thing; pointing it out every once in a while is okay, but i don’t want it shoved down my throat via dialogue that characters are developing an emotional bond. we can see that nagi is slowly becoming more receptive to fret and less likely to dismiss or disparage him. it seems like their initial relationship is that of two people who have opposite struggles; nagi is notably closed off in the beginning, but fret immediately approaches her with an unearned and offputting level of familiarity. their slow and understated (more noticeable with nagi than fret) development towards accepting each other as friends is mutually beneficial to them even outside of the context of their personal relationship; nagi opens up a little with everyone, not just fret. placing two people with very different perspectives on how to interact with new people in close proximity helped both of them grow. i’m sure other people have different perspectives, but i do not feel like they were being teased as a pairing which i enormously appreciate, i am tired of “pair the spares” shit. (minor note: i also appreciate how while fret’s crush on kanon was very overt and strong, she was also fairly clear that she considered him a kid and his feelings were never going to be reciprocated because of that age gap. i know, the bar is low, but thank god.)

i love how, despite nagi now having been confirmed as older than beat, as soon as beat joins the narrative he takes this hard stance of “i’m the one who’s already been in this hellscape so it’s my responsibility to help the newbies”. he really embodies the big brother role so well in this game; he knows a little more about what’s going on, this isn’t his first rodeo even if it’s not exactly the same, so he considers himself to have an obligation to protect the others. he serves as sort of a physical and emotional rock for the team from the second he joins, becoming an excellent support for them both as a combatant and an older brother figure. he has experience in being both of these things, and i think beat’s writing is some of the best in the game.

despite his position as a former player who’s back in the UG, he meshes with the newbies perfectly. he doesn’t overshadow the rest of the team despite having more lived (ha) experience in the reaper’s game, he doesn’t feel like he’s on a different level from them or anything like that. he fits in while serving an important unique role that he can only fill because of his prior time in the UG. it’s completely understandable and reasonable why rindo remains the team leader despite beat’s presence. he’s had a three year gap since his last game and doesn’t even understand how he returned to the UG. he’s not a fish out of water, he knows the UG and the game. but he’s really truly gotta shake the dust off, and he’s trying to figure out what happened to him in the first place because he knows he shouldn’t be in the UG at all. he didn’t have a huge bump in intelligence since the first game, but it’s hard to dismiss him as a complete idiot. he has both large and small perceptive moments where another narrative might have chosen to keep him as the dumb muscle. in fact, his firm convictions serve an important role for the others - beat knows he didn’t die and can’t be convinced otherwise, and his confidence that he’s a living player is part of how rindo and gang realize they also aren’t dead. he’s clearly not simply a comic relief character. another story might have positioned him as more of a mentor figure, but he plays to his strengths and serves to ground the team instead. beat is honestly a highlight of this ensemble cast to me. i’m unsure as to how much of that is simply because he was one of my favorites from the first game, but i really truly love beat in this game.

shoka and neku’s late introductions to the team mean they have far less “we are now firmly allies and friends” interactions with the rest of the ensemble for unavoidable reasons. i will say that the excellent casting and localization for the english version, particularly shoka, has done a lot to mitigate that issue; yes, the plot doesn’t develop her relationships with the team as a whole as thoroughly as some of the others, but the combat interactions with her are so genuine that i found myself shocked when writing this because, well, those combat lines did so much legwork making her role in the party seem earned and cohesive. i had such a strong sense of her place in the team that just isn’t reflected in the cutscenes, and i find that very interesting but i’m unsure as to whether it’s good or bad; i think it’s incredible that the combat dialogue did such a good job fostering this air of “we are a unit” for these characters and it really is a testament to the skill of these actors, but i do wish it was more prevalent in the cutscenes itself. beat’s established relationship with neku and their relaxed nature with one another does a lot to ease neku’s entry into the group; he has an “in” with a firmly established member and a well-written dynamic with him that helps him out here.

as a nekubeat appreciator i feel very fed and i hope there’s an uptick in interest for the pairing following neo. i love how beat, who throughout the game is constantly forgetting who people from 3 years ago are (doesn’t recognize his former superior bc she’s wearing a suit now and can’t even remember her name), immediately recognizes coco despite her changing her entire aesthetic specifically because he’s so angry with her for killing neku. he’s ready to throw down the second he sees her, which gives this feeling of “he’s been waiting for this moment for 3 years”. because the narrative never addresses beat’s change in style, particularly that he wears his hair like neku now, i choose to believe it’s because the last time he saw neku was immediately after coco shot and killed him. it could be that this shit’s been haunting him ever since neku died. my city now, if you don’t talk about it in the game i make shit up. both their cutscene interactions and combat quotes do an excellent job of maintaining the sense that these two have been close friends for a long time and distance hasn’t changed that. they fall right back into old ways with one another immediately.

even outside of the context of me being a nekubeat shipper, their relationship and continued partnership (UG game context partnership) feels very genuine. neku and joshua call each other partner, but it rings hollow. i’m sure it’s partially the lack of screentime that makes it so they don’t feel like partners any more than neku and shiki do, but the game doesn’t even try to push closeness the way it does for shiki - more on that in a minute. beat is the only one of neku’s partners that seems to have retained the same strength in their bond with him despite the three years; shiki and joshua are super absent in the plot, which really undermines their relationships with neku. i’ve already talked about my problems with shiki’s lack of focus and how i feel it harms her relationship with neku, but as for neku’s relationship with joshua, i think neo has taken an interesting approach that i feel will have a mixed reception.

it actually feels like neku and joshua ended this game on worse terms than the first one even though joshua was a far more benevolent figure this time around. neku is very clear about wanting to return to the RG despite this meaning he will have no access to the UG (outside of potentially text-based communication since rhyme paved the way for RG residents to bust into the RNS and... however it was that shoka’s fanGO account worked, since she and rindo were fanGO friends long before his entry to the UG) and doesn’t show any hesitation or reluctance in stating this desire. he seems quite content with not having joshua be a part of his life, as opposed to the first game’s ending where he extends an open offer to joshua to join his friend group. i understand how this would (and will) let a lot of people down, but i actually think it’s for the best. i have no real opinion on neku’s capacity for forgiving joshua after the first game, good or bad, but i think putting distance between them in this game is the correct move.

i take this viewpoint especially given that after the first game, joshua did in fact choose this distance - neku invited him in, and he did not take the offer. it was his decision to not join neku’s group in the first game’s ending and he continued to remain separate from it in the three year gap; he may have masqueraded as a fellow player and peer in age, but joshua is not and has never been an actual peer to neku, shiki, and beat. his life experiences are so different from theirs that i would struggle to suspend disbelief that they have enough in common to maintain a close friendship. he intervened when neku was killed by coco and placed him in a safe area and gave moral support in the ending, and i think this is the most we should expect of a reforming (not reformed but in-progress) misanthrope like joshua. he’s an enigmatic figure sure and largely benevolent if inactive in this game, but he isn’t a good person and he clearly considers himself to be on a different level from neku and his peers. hanekoma notes that joshua’s somewhat reluctant to continue to remain separate from neku’s group, but i think the narrative places him both objectively and in his own mind as someone who is just... from a different world. joshua chose distance, he chose to cut contact, and this is the consequence of that decision. i think that’s a good lesson to teach; it may not be a given, but it’s natural that sometimes a friendship you ignore will fade. it doesn’t necessarily mean the time you spent didn’t matter, but you shouldn’t be shocked if a plant you don’t water wilts away.

i feel like that wasn’t the intended takeaway, that it was just questionable writing that i’m reading too deep into, but that’s how i feel about the situation.

i’m also incredibly grateful that hazuki was introduced as an age-appropriate option for joshua and i hope they’ll draw attention as a bastard boyfriends ship, both because i think it’s very funny and because i have opinions about shipping joshua with the teens. i know it’s contentious and i’m not going too deep into it, so what i’m going to say is this. the secret reports state in plain objective text that joshua downtuning his vibes aged him down and his true appearance is older. neither the narrative nor supplementary info state anything about how old josh was when he died or how long he’s been a reaper/the composer (reapers ageing is ??? as well, we don’t know if it’s not a thing or if it’s optional or what). however, it is firmly canon that he is older than 15. if that canon upsets you then that’s your problem to either work through or ignore indefinitely. suffice to say, joshua and hazuki do not have the schrodinger’s pedophile issue and i wholly support and strongly encourage that over the alternative for this reason and again because i find it funny and think they deserve each other. i hate to say hazuki is a healthy choice for joshua because i think both of them are just walking messes, but they are actual peers on the same tier of the higher plane pecking order and more importantly the disaster they could be as a couple has infinite potential.

on the girls side of things, i am still mad about eri’s absence not just because it’s a relationship shiki had that just got ignored. i know the story wants us to believe that neku and shiki have something but shiki and eri had more. i’m sorry writers you made a more compelling f/f ship by accident in the first game and i am not invested in the one you weakly suggested between neku and shiki here. if you made shiki have more of a role in neo maybe i’d feel differently, or maybe you would have screwed it up worse. we’ll never know. i think it’s a shame that they couldn’t make me care about neku and shiki as a pairing, but it is what it is.

i was briefly worried that the game would try to suggest something between kaie and rhyme because sometimes people lose their minds when a boy and girl stand next to each other, but i was quickly set at ease with that one. they felt like two people who are starting to straddle that line of acquaintance/friend in a believable way despite how little interaction between them we see, and i appreciate that. i was also briefly worried that fret would develop a crush on rhyme based on his initial reaction at being introduced to her, but again quickly dismissed. can you tell i’m a little gun shy about strangled “him boy her girl” romances in fiction these days? yeah. i’ve been let down too much recently by bad writing.

i think all of the party members could have benefited from more development with one another outside of combat lines - i would like to see more interaction between nagi and shoka, or neku and fret, etc - but that would come at the expense of the narrative’s pacing. i think it could have been done by tweaking certain details, but ultimately i can accept this as a sacrifice made in the interest of keeping the narrative from getting bloated.

i wanna talk briefly about the new main cast a little.

rindo’s ups and downs re: development are much more subtle than neku’s were, but with the secret reports in mind i feel his arc is actually pretty excellent. i think we could have done with a little less of fret pointing out rindo’s increased confidence and how he becomes more assertive, i think the audience is smart enough to notice that on their own. but i’m a huge fan of how the narrative quietly places rindo in this position of a leader who fears that responsibility, but nonetheless has to grow and accept it. hanekoma’s reports may spell it out in plain text postgame, but the narrative already told us in our own way that rindo’s development stalled when someone else entered the cast who could take over for him and this is demonstrative of a(n understandable) lack of maturity and failure to grow. neku’s fatal flaw was his rejection of others, and so he was forced by the narrative into a position where he had to learn to trust them; rindo’s is that he relies too much on them and the narrative forces him to stand on his own.

while i think this is a little muddled (he was right in some instances to not make hard solo decisions; thinking specifically of ayano, it was absolutely the right call to ease shoka into this inevitable loss rather than forcing her into the situation unilaterally) and i wish we saw more consequences of his initial waffling behavior, rindo’s indecisiveness is an actual flaw that i think a lot of people can relate to and i think it contrasts him wonderfully with neku without being heavy-handed. rindo working through it from “relying on others to make choices for him -> still valuing the input of others but not wholly dependent on them -> capable of making difficult calls without anyone else to support him” was subdued and while it had realistic hitches in the form of other characters who he could consider authority figures, it was steady and imo very good. he’s a teenager coming into his own, stepping out of this world where others in his life - motoi as an0ther, shoka as swallow, presumably his parents, teachers, etc - have made the big, scary decisions for him or guided him through them, and into a place where there aren’t these people to guide him. he’s surrounded by people who either don’t know anything more than he does, or don’t care about his best interests; he’s clashing and changing and it forces him to grasp and accept his own autonomy rather than falling back and relying on someone else to fix things when it’s too frightening or difficult.

we can talk cultural differences re: the level of autonomy and responsibility that’s right for teenagers but i’m not really interested in drawing hard lines there. this is a coming of age story; as he approaches maturity, rindo is learning how to be an adult. i think that’s a classic and important narrative concept and it’s done well here.

fret, interestingly, is imo a case where the subtlety didn’t work out. to me, there wasn’t a huge distinction between flippant “telling you what i think you want to hear” fret and “genuine” fret. his initial interactions with kanon don’t seem different from their last conversation; maybe he comes off as less initally honest in the jp version, or maybe this one was a writing fumble. maybe it’s just me, and other people don’t feel the same way! he seems to be a far more static character in a strange way; the narrative tells us that he’s developing via other characters’ dialogue, but it doesn’t seem to support that. to me it’s a failure of “show, don’t tell” - i don’t take a hard stance on “show, don’t tell” as some kind of holy rule of writing, there are plenty of situations in a narrative where telling is perfectly acceptable and i think rigid adherence to showing and not telling can result in a bloated narrative, but in this case i feel like that’s where the narrative failed. it failed to support fret’s development outside of other people telling him he’s changed. i like fret, but i feel like in this ensemble cast fret and nagi kinda serve more as nominal protagonists and are more strong supporting characters than true leads.

as for nagi, i love how, despite it being low-hanging fruit, not only are there no real digs at nagi for being a vocal fangirl of a visual novel dating sim, it actually ties perfectly into her character as someone who understands people. dating sims are about people and relationships. how people interact, the importance of conveying your feelings, the consequences of bad communication; that’s what nagi is obsessed with. and rather than this being a detriment and making her avoid others, it ends up priming her to have healthy friendships because her gaming taught her to value knowing other people. it takes her time to actually open up, but rather than the video games closing her off to others they actually set her up to be an excellent friend. elestra in general could have been a subject of enormous mockery, but instead it’s viewed in a very neutral way and is given the implication of universal appeal by fret picking it up in the epilogue. nagi’s not in the spotlight for most of the game, but the payoff of her monologue to fret about being human was immense and was one of the best bits of dialogue in the entire game to me. it’s not going to be as iconic as hanekoma’s “open up your world” and “enjoy the moment”, but i truly think it’s one of the only parts of neo’s dialogue that approaches its level.

shoka is a character that i think is better on the replay, and i say this as someone who was very fond of shoka the first time around. i thought she had a lot of personality in her mannerisms alone, and i firmly appreciate how she wasn’t a one-note tsundere character. she had some of those minor elements, but subdued and with a reasonable context - she’s hot and cold with rindo and his team because she’s supposed to be working this rigged game to erase them, but she’s already rindo’s friend in a different context and is struggling to reconcile these two parts of her life. knowing her motivation as swallow gives so much retroactive depth to her actions; she was circumventing the game itself not just because she was exhausted by it or unease with shiba like some of the other turncoat reapers, but because rindo was her friend from before the story even began.

i will say that i didn’t actually fully call swallow being shoka simply because at first i had the impression that it would be rhyme (before rhyme’s role in the story became clearer), and admittedly by the time the climax hit the mystery of who swallow was had kind of dropped out of my mind completely, but i think it does a lot to develop shoka. whether this development being retroactive is strictly good or bad as an issue is subjective; neo is a game that has a built-in chapter select, so replaying the game and rewatching the cutscenes with the full narrative context is incredibly easy. however, for a lot of players, if you’re replaying the game it’s with a specific goal of getting something you missed earlier in-game, so you’re rushing through those cutscenes trying to get to that completionist bit. i think a line could have been walked re: giving more of a hint that shoka was swallow before the very end without fully giving it away, but i definitely think the rewatch value is more subjective and based on how you specifically play the game. if you’re here looking to watch all the cutscenes again now that you know everything, shoka being swallow is a huge treat regarding changing the context of her behavior - if you’re fast-forwarding trying to find a pig, it’s totally wasted.

i would have liked to see more of shoka’s backstory and interaction with the other shinjuku reapers for sure, and i wonder if this is another thing along the lines of “we were supposed to see more of shinjuku’s final game than we did”; if we’d gotten more of shinjuku, we certainly would have seen more of its reapers. i talked briefly about how i feel like ayano’s death didn’t hit the way i think it was intended to, but if the game had let us see more of her as a shinjuku reaper i feel like the entire plot would have benefited. it would have benefited shiba as well honestly; they tried to have him as a repentant “now i shall fix what i destroyed” character at the very end, but i don’t feel like they did a good enough job portraying that he had changed and he was brainwashed so it fell flat. if we’d seen more of shiba as the compassionate leader who deserved the loyalty of his reapers that they say he was, the contrast would have done a lot to help define the tragedy of his backstory. overall i think this is another “we lost a chunk of the plot in rewrites or something” issue, which i admit is not based in anything like interviews. it’s just my speculation because it feels like something that was supposed to be here got left behind - i can’t say if i’m right, or why it happened if so. it just feels to me like the shinjuku reapers besides shoka went fairly undeveloped not because of writing/lack of screentime alone but because we lost big pieces of shinjuku content entirely. it’s insane that we only learn in the secret reports how tsugumi became trapped in the mr. mew plush to begin with; to me, this screams “we had to cut something”, and the more i think about it the more convinced i am that we were originally meant to see more of shinjuku’s inversion. hell, the secret reports just flippantly inform us that tsugumi’s brother was shinjuku’s conductor and he’s why she survived - but he goes unnamed and unseen, mentioned only in a piece of postgame content that many players may never unlock.

shinjuku’s final game is just left as this incredible story that was never told, with a cast who we barely see. again, it doesn’t bother me that they never explained to us why hazuki purified shinjuku. but i do wish we could have connected with its reapers to see how they reacted to its impending fate; who was on kubo’s side, who was trying to protect shinjuku? who knew what was happening, and who was just swept up in the chaos? how did the purification affect them emotionally after their escape to shibuya? just from the secret reports we see that tsugumi’s brother is this tragic hero of another story, the conductor opposing the executor and fighting to save his city before ultimately sacrificing himself to keep his sister alive. this is enough content that it could have easily been a standalone, but it wasn’t. i think that’s a damn shame. i’m sure there are people who are already chomping at the bit to write about shinjuku’s tragic final game and it’ll make a stunning fanfic in the right hands, but this is a big gap for fanfiction authors to be filling in.

this was mostly a narrative thoughts dump, but i wanna say just a couple of things about the combat: overall i liked it! i was significantly overleveled for the vast majority of the game partially because i was having fun with the combat, i feel gameplay was very intrinsically motivating. because of how the food system worked, being overleveled didn’t mean too much since it only affects HP, but i also was eating constantly so i was in fact just OP for much of the game. so i suppose, take my gameplay commentary with a grain of salt because i was busted quickly. if i hadn’t been such a powerhouse from early on, i expect my gameplay experience would have been much different.

my biggest complaint: there were some significant issues in enemy design related to battles being timed and the timer having consequences. some enemies were a reasonable/intuitive pain, say, elephants being bullet sponges and chameleons having an invisibility mechanic. these things made them challenging, but in a sensible way. like, of course a big honkin’ elephant has a ton of HP. i think that chameleons in particular could have been tweaked; you have to be very close to them when they’re invisible in order to lock on, and i think this could distance could have been extended a bit to minimize frustration. likewise, it felt like party members that get grabbed by a t.rex were trapped for ages; i feel this could have been tweaked as well. i know a lot of people had issues with wolves for this same reason, but their comparative frailty and my pin choices meant that i quickly overcame wolves and they became a minor nuisance at best until endgame introduced a beefier wolf. even then, i found t.rex noise to be much more of an issue because of their sturdier nature and higher damage output. these are minor gripes; i didn’t like seeing these enemies, but i didn’t hate seeing them. no, here’s what i hate: rhinos and pufferfish.

to me, these are the most annoying enemies in the entire game outside of maybe a handful of bosses. i feel they were poorly thought out in general. the tendency for rhinos to put themselves against the arena walls and the delay on pufferfish exploding after their HP hits zero do not mesh well with that battle timer. i find myself very frustrated by these enemies because it feels like i’m being punished not for a lack of skill or bad decisions choosing weak pins, but simply bad luck. very few pins can circumvent the rhino’s front guard and the hitbox for their guard feels enormous, so i can’t imagine i’m the only player having difficulty herding them out of corners to actually damage them or get beat drops. there’s a postgame dive with a big noise rhino, and it was my worst experience with the entire game because it just kept backing into a corner. i quit that dive multiple times because of how much time i wasted with the rhino; i changed my pins like crazy trying to take advantage of elemental weaknesses or use pins that could circumvent the guard. but it wasn’t about what pins i was using, it was just bad luck with hitboxes. when i finally got the gold rank on that dive it wasn’t that i did anything significantly different, the rhino just didn’t park its ass in the corner that time.

as far as i know, and i hope i’m missing something that someone can enlighten me on, there is no way to prevent pufferfish from inflating and exploding outside of a killer remix. i have not discovered any way to make them explode faster. the amount of time it takes for them to blow up seems to vary not by species but by individual, i’m not sure if it’s being triggered by proximity to a party member or what but i know sometimes one of those little shits will inflate and chase me across the entire arena before finally exploding. in a chain battle, that wasted time adds up. the pufferfish issue could have been severely mitigated, if not entirely fixed, if the gap between HP hitting zero and explosion was just the time it took for them to inflate. that would have basically eliminated my needless frustration with them. but instead i just... don’t know how to make them pop faster.

in normal combat, your post-battle score is primarily just bragging rights/making yourself feel good to have gotten a good grade. but when it comes to dives, where the timer directly decides how many of the finite friendship points you get, the appearance of a rhino or pufferfish specifically is something i approached with dread and disappointment. i already mentioned the postgame dive giant rhino specifically being a nightmare, but this was a reoccurring element for me through the entire game with just normal rhinos. i know rhinos are a returning enemy and kept their front-guard schtick, but the shift to a 3D environment has made them a much more (imo needlessly) difficult opponent.

regarding the pin system itself, i was enormously disappointed to learn how the multi-pin input worked. it turns out that you can only have multiple pins using a single input no matter how many multi-pin wields you unlock; gone were my dreams of having 2 Y-input pins and two ZL input pins (i played on switch). the inability to multi-pin wield uber pins regardless of how many uber slots you have filled is also a huge bummer. i feel like in the postgame i should be able to be an absolute god of destruction, but this didn’t pan out.

this seems to be a switch issue, but autosave was the MVP of the game because i had a few cutscenes crash or freeze (the one with kubo’s reveal seems to be a common source of a crash on the switch version as it fails to load the 3D cutscene); this was annoying and needs fixing, but it was slightly mitigated by autosave kicking in immediately after boss battles. i was crushed thinking i was gonna have to go through the shiba fight again after kubo crashed my game, so the relief i felt upon loading up again and going right into the cutscene was immense. don’t get me wrong: cutscene freezes and particularly crashes are a big problem that a game like this shouldn’t have launched with, but at the very least i didn’t lose my progress on that crash. related, i appreciate the ability to speed through cutscenes you’ve already seen, but i do wish we had the option to skip them entirely because that would have saved me from the freezes that i had to manually close the game and lose progress for.

a more minor complaint that i admittedly am unsure as to how to fix (maybe utilizing the d-pad instead of having it be camera/target select alongside the right stick?) is that i do not seem to have much control over which character my camera centers on in combat. typically selecting the pin that’s equipped to them will focus the camera to them, but every once in a while i’ll be locked to someone whose pin is rebooting while my other party members are actively attacking on the complete opposite end of the arena. i have no idea why this happens. if i’m missing something please let me know. the static nature of the overworld camera took some adjusting to, at first i was offput but i got used to it quickly. if camera was fixed position in combat it would have been a nightmare, but it being fixed in the overworld isn’t the same beast.

this has gotten obscenely long, so props and condolences to everyone who has made it this far. i wanna end on a high note because i want to reiterate something: i have so many criticisms here and that’s actually praise. i enjoyed so much of this game that i’m critical of where it fell short specifically because it’s such a strong contrast to how much i felt it did right. the main story was pretty strong in general, though some character interactions were lacking. the plot itself i didn’t talk a lot about because i thought it was good. there wasn’t much to say, they did a good job! the dissonance noise being created from deleted timelines was great, i loved that. i don’t feel like predictability makes a narrative bad, so it’s not like i was upset when it turned out replay was (gasp) part of a dastardly scheme. for me, foreshadowing is an excellent thing even if sometimes i wish it was handled a little differently.

i vastly prefer this game’s vague sequel hook with minamimoto over how final remix ended a new day; that sequel hook i hated and it had me so worried about neo. thankfully a lot of my fears didn’t come true, and i am very happy overall with the game we got. if another game is greenlit, i would hope it progresses with a mostly new cast; as long as we stay in shibuya some supporting characters can and should be staples imo, like kariya and uzuki, and i hope to see more of what’s being set up with minamimoto even if not necessarily with him as a protagonist. but overall i think twewy’s worldbuilding lends itself much more to a rotating cast if it develops into a full franchise; that’s just the nature of the UG, and i would like to see further installments taking advantage of that and allowing characters to have a complete arc and then retire from the narrative naturally.

i’ve got some pigs to erase and some bosses to slap the pins out of, which i’m sure will take me some time. another day certainly has a secret boss and/or time trial boss rush, so i’ll take a look at that sucker soon as well. i’m looking forward to continuing my playthrough, and i expect to sink quite a few more hours into this game. i really truly enjoyed neo despite my qualms, and i’m leaving the main storyline behind for postgame stuff with almost entirely positive feelings and a hopeful stance on the potential future of the series. i know this was a long-ass post, which is why it’s beneath a readmore, but to anyone who cared enough about my thoughts to keep reading the whole thing... thanks for the time you spent, hope you got something positive out of it!

[tangtownie]

Questioning Authority - Reader Insert x Bucky Barnes

Author’s Note: So, I saw someone commenting on TFATWS TV-series and while their comment made no sense to me, it ignited something in me. Which then lead to this, so I’m sorry and you’re welcome.

Also, I was kinda tipsy while writing this, so I might regret it in the morning, who knows? As always, the dividers are by the talented @firefly-graphics​ 

Tried to make some time jumps that seemed natural, so I would love some feedback on whether or not that worked? Or feedback in general, a girl really ain’t picky. Might write a real smutty continuation to this. 

Also, writing for a new hottie this time, so hopefully some of you will like that! 

Warnings: Reader is a BRAT, also a massive flirt, cursing, talk of a foot fetish, so much sexual tension, mention of alcohol and drinking, reader is kind of a bitch to this guy she’s dating, description of drunk reader, descriptions of smut but nothing more than reader’s own fantasies.

Song Inspiration: Shut Up by The Black Eyed Peas

Word count: 2.077

It had stemmed from honest curiosity. It really had. I was genuinely looking for an answer to my question and who better to question than the sources themselves? But the way Bucky’s entire body had tensed: his eyebrows furrowed, jaw clicking loudly as he barred his teeth, biceps and shoulders flexing in tandem with his fists and the slow, barely controlled breaths that escaped him. It was a damn sight. My hand suddenly twitched with want, although it was impossible to tell if I wanted to touch Bucky or myself the most.

Sam had cackled loudly, albeit shortly, as Bucky send his killer glare in Sam’s direction. It was a much better reaction than any answer I could’ve ever wished for. A smug smirk wrapped around my lips as a thrilling rush surged through my body at the thought of all the potential havoc I could wreak. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Bucky, I really did. But the thought of riling him up, whether it was with anger or something else, always sent a thrill through me that I couldn’t quite explain.

There was something so ridiculously attractive about Bucky when he was pissed. Maybe it was the subconscious, and yet never-ending, flexing, maybe it his scowl. Maybe it was just him. I had been careful, though, I didn’t need him to know exactly why I always seemed to be the one pissing him off. So, I tried my hardest to maintain an indifferent look on my face, as I prompted them for an answer again.

“Well?” I said. “Should I call Sam Captain or not?” A loud grunt escaped Bucky; almost like just hearing those words were hurting him. “I mean after all, Steve did give the shield to Sam, so it only makes sense that Sam would also inherit his title.” I shrugged casually, like my conclusion was the only logical one. Which to be fair… it was.

Bucky’s eyes were cold as steel, a small muscle clenching in his jaw giving away just how much restraint it was taking him to keep quiet. I felt a shiver ripple down my spine at the thought of that look being directed at me. Sam, however, was openly smirking at my suggestion and my resolve finally broke as he leaned over the counter toward me. “Oh, you definitely should.” Sam’s voice was low and teasing. His smirk was mirrored on my lips as I leaned forward towards him as well. “Oh yeah? You like that, Captain?” I put on my most sultry voice, practically purring the title back at Sam.

Bucky scoffed loudly, a fresh wave of annoyance and distaste washing over his face. “Could you at least hold off on that until I’ve left the room?” Bucky’s voice was clipped, and for a second I felt bad for him, but only for a second. “What’s the point, James?” I raised my eyebrow with a condescending glance in his direction. “You could hear us through the walls, anyway.” A triumphant smirk curled around my lips as Sam’s boisterous laughter filled the room.

Bucky stared coldly at me; his jaw clenching like crazy and that vein in his neck pounding like it was about to pop. “Stop calling me that.” He practically hissed at me and I could feel my face flush with heat. Fuck, I loved it when he hissed at me. “It’s your name, isn’t it, James?” I said it casually, slowly pushing myself back up from the counter that I had been leaning on.

Bucky eyes quickly flitted down to my boobs that were practically spilling out of my bra and tank top and another smirk wrapped around my lips. Sam and I shared a look, as Bucky continued ogling my boobs. I wondered if Bucky had noticed my pierced nipples yet. I had always had a feeling that they would drive him crazy once he did. Suddenly, Bucky seemed to realize that he had been staring and he turned and stormed out of the room. Laughing gleefully, I couldn’t help myself as I yelled out after him. “See you later, James.”

---

I was lounging in the common room, my favourite sweatpants on, the ones with ‘juicy’ written across my ass, while I was painting my toenails. It was kind of stating the obvious as anyone with eyes could see that my ass was fucking spectacular, but I loved the attention and the sparkle. I was going on a date with Oliver later, so I had chosen a deep red nail polish for my toes. A classic look for a reason.

I briefly glanced up at the sound of someone entering. Bucky had stopped in the threshold of the room, almost like he had changed his mind after seeing me. While refraining from rolling my eyes, I simply said: “Hello James.” Even without looking at him, I could sense his jaw clenching and a wave of annoyance rolled off of him. “That is not my name.” He bit harshly, before throwing himself on the couch opposite of me.

“Whatever you say, James.” I kept my eyes peeled on my toes, as I worked patiently. He grumbled something underneath his breath before angrily picking up the remote and zapping through the channels. Bucky zapped back and forth for a solid 10 minutes before he groaned loudly and turned the TV off again. “What are you doing anyway?” He asked impatiently. Frankly, I was surprised that he even tried to start a conversation with me, but I wasn’t about to let it show.

“Painting my toenails, James.” I said calmly, briefly interrupted by his deep groan as I kept insisting on calling him by his given name. “Why? You bored? Want me to paint yours next?” A smirk curled around my lips as I imagined Bucky walking around the compound with my Bahama Mama polish on his toenails. He stared at me incredulously at my suggestion. “Why the fuck would I want that?”

I couldn’t help but scoff at his question, finally making eye contact with him. “To draw some attention away from those nasty dinosaur feet of yours, James. I mean have you even heard of a pumice stone?” My lie was as convincing, as my tone was condescending and Bucky glared at me in response. Thankfully, he seemed to buy it. It wasn’t really a lie, but I also didn’t particularly feel like sharing the real reason why I was painting my toenails.

How in the hell would I even go about explaining to him that I was trying to get back on my date’s good side? He would just want to know why, which I was never fucking telling him, and why painting my toenails was the way to do it, although that one really should’ve been obvious. I couldn’t very well tell Bucky that my date was upset with me, because the last time we’d had sex I had accidently called him by Bucky’s name.

A shudder went through me when I thought about how Bucky might react. Would he like it as much as I did? I could imagine him wrapping his hand around my throat and roughly pulling me into his lap, still with that displeased, almost mocking expression on his face and his free hand ghosting over my pussy while he drilled me. How often did I think about him? Did I always picture him when I was with other men? And if I told him everything that I had thought about with him and asked real nice, maybe he would give it to me.

A loud scoff broke my train of thought and, as I became aware that I was not sprawled across Bucky’s lap completely at his mercy, disappointment filled me. “Are you even listening to me?” His sharp voice broke the last fragments of my illusion. Swallowing drily, I simply said: “No.” Bucky’s eyes rolled so far back into his head that they might just get stuck. “God, you’re such a brat!” I swallowed back an excited moan, as he leaned over the coffee table toward me, his voice practically seething. I wanted so badly to just weave my fingers through his hair and yank him to me.

Instead, I sent him my signature smirk. “If by brat you mean bitchy, rambunctious and tantalizing, then yes, James. That is exactly what I am.” I locked eyes with Bucky and noticed his heavy breaths, his cheeks slightly flushed. Before I could do anything I would regret, I tore my eyes away from his, recapped my nail polish and strutted out of there, deliberately swaying my juicy ass for him to look at.

---

The date had been a bust. That’s what you called it when you got dumped for saying someone else’s name during sex, right? I honestly didn’t know and as the alcohol pounded through my system, I wasn’t even all that sure I cared. I still couldn’t believe it had happened again, though. I needed to get a fucking grip. Stumbling out of the elevator, I giggled a little to myself. Maybe heading straight from Oliver’s apartment to the bar wasn’t the greatest idea.

But really what was a girl to do when she was left high and dry? And even after I made my feet all pretty for him! I scoffed indignantly, because really, how dare he? Suddenly, I realized that I was in the kitchen. I slumped heavily against the counter and let out a deep sigh. God, I was tired. And as I realized, when my eyes landed on the faucet, thirsty. My fingers could just reach the faucet, so I turned it on, tugging it toward the cold water. Shuffling toward the sink, I ended up bent over the edge of it, hips pressing into the cabinets as I slumped against the counter, too damn tired to hold myself up any longer.

The second the cold water touched my lips a loud moan escaped me. Had water always tasted this good? I honestly couldn’t remember, but as I lapped greedily from the running faucet I could’ve sworn that I was in the Swiss Alps drinking straight from a river. It was the only explanation as to why this water was so damn refreshing.

My feet were aching, so I kicked off my heels and moaned again. All without lifting my head and stopping my slurping. Just a little more of this heaven sent water and I’d go to sleep. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat behind me and I jumped. It felt as though I spun around at the speed of light, but as I would come to realize in the morning, I had never moved quite so slow before.

Bucky was standing behind me with an amused smirk curled around his lips and a goofy smile grew on my face as I saw him. Any other night, I would have flirted with him shamelessly, but tonight I was just too damn tired. “Good evening, James.” For some reason, I spoke with an overly posh British accent and Bucky tried his hardest not to laugh at me. “Enjoying yourself?” His eyes twinkled with amusement, as I stumbled a little while straightening up. “Very much so, James. Had to find some way to turn this night around, just never thought that water would be the thing to do it.”

Bucky’s smile diminished and his brows furrowed. “What do you mean?” He asked guardedly. I sighed deeply before answering him, this time with my own accent. “I got dumped, James, so it’s kind of a shit night.” Again, I stumbled as I bend down to get my heels. Bucky quickly swooped in and grabbed them for me. “I’m sorry about that. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.” Bucky’s voice was soft and gentle in a way that I’d never heard it before and it made a whole mess of emotions flutter in my chest.

Before I could get swept up in them, I pushed them back down and forced a laugh. “You’re telling me! I even made my feet all pretty for him and the bastard still has the nerve to dump me?” Bucky’s face flushed a bright red, as he realized just what I meant. Before he could respond, I snatched my heels from his hands and strutted out of the kitchen. “Good night, James.” I called out after me and I could’ve sworn that I heard him mutter “Good night, Y/N.”