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terriblequalitymovie · 4 years ago

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His Kitten

Pairing: Niragi x Reader

Rating: (M) for language and explicit sex

Summary: Niragi catches you with Arisu and Chishiya too many times for his liking and thinks you’re getting a bit too comfortable

Warning: orgasm denial, cursing, degradation, no aftercare

A/N: I don’t even know yall, what type of shackles does this (fictional) man have on me.

***

It started as a normal day at the beach. The loud music echoing through the resort, the smell of alcohol and weed mixing in with chlorine, sweat and sunscreen. You laid back on the reclining chair, soaking up some much needed sun. Two newcomers passed by you, reminding you of yourself. It had been maybe two weeks since you found yourself in Borderland, and about a week and a half since you came to the beach. You tried not to think too much about how you ended up here, it was a bit hectic and made your head spin. You were visiting Tokyo with a couple of friends, and had gotten separated from them while sightseeing. You headed into a cafe and the next thing you knew you were the only one around, being forced to survive by playing games.

Since then however, you’d come to slightly accept your new found reality. You chuckled, your friends were probably back at work and you were catching a tan. Just as that thought brought a small smile to your face, you felt someone’s shadow fall over. You frowned, sitting up. Glasses being pushed atop your braids, you locked eyes with Usagi.

“In five minutes, get up and come to the rooftop.” She said, and then disappeared back into the crowd. You looked around, and then laid back against the seat, wondering what that was about. But five minutes later, you found yourself navigating towards the rooftop, making sure there were no militants in sight. You wouldn’t mind seeing Niragi, although if he caught you that would end in a number of ways that seemingly all ended in you being bruised. That thought both excited you and frightened you and you picked up your pace.

Up on the rooftop, you were hardly surprised to find Chishiya, Kuina, Usagi and Arisu. They all turned to you as the door slammed shut behind you. You looked between the four of them, a bout of confusion in your mind.

“You’re probably wondering why you’re here” Arisu said.

“Yeah probably.” You joked.

“The Hatter’s system is flawed, so we’re stealing the cards and figuring it out for ourselves.” Chishiya announced. Again, you looked at the four of them, your brow furrowed.

“Where do I come in? And how do I know you won’t throw me to the militants if we get caught?”

“That’s just a risk you have to take.”

You bit your lip, you agreed. The whole idea of collecting the cards solely for only the Hatter to return to the normal world was selfish and for lack of better word unfair. But would you be willing to die over playing cards? (Granted you could die at any given time in Borderland).

“Fine. I’m in.” You sighed.

After going over the plan, the five of you headed back inside. While Kuina and Usagi headed in one direction, you followed Arisu and Chishiya.

You were engaged in small talk, telling them where you were from and how you got there, when the Aguni, Niragi and a few of the other militants passed by. Niragi turned, sneering at the two men in front of you. His eyes met yours with a dark look, and another round of excitement and fear shot through you.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” You said, puckering your lips. Talking to Niragi like that, especially in front of Aguni was brave, even for you. He stepped towards you, the grip of his gun tightening, but the smirk on your face didn’t falter.

“Careful y/n, don’t want me to lose my temper.”

But you did, you wanted to push his buttons and see what would happen. However, in front of Aguni and the militants, along with the two new friends (or allies you weren’t exactly sure what to call it) wasn’t the right place. You stepped back and looked away but the smirk didn’t fade completely. He huffed. Brat.

The three of you went your separate ways, your mind still reeling with Chishiya’s plan at the forefront. That was until the music stopped. The eerie silence meant one thing, games night. You sighed, and found your way to the entrance. Arisu, Chishiya, Usagi and Kuina were already there, and you found yourself climbing into the same car that they were.

6 of diamonds. That’s what had you chained to each other by the ankles. A mound of keys laid before you. Simple you thought, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, but with metal keys and there’s a two hour time limit that ends in death. There were ten players in total, and each person could grab a key. They could only pass the keys to the person directly on either side of them, and once a key was out of rotation it couldn’t be used again. Of course, there were newcomers who were panicked about how they ended up in Borderland and the significance of the game. And a few players who weren’t thinking of the bigger picture. However with Chishiya and Arisu’s quick thinking, you weren’t too worried. With that confidence in mind, you grabbed a key.

One and a half painstaking hours later, you were free of your shackles. And rubbing at your ankles. Your fingers reeked of metal and you’d much rather be in your room.

Upon returning to the hotel, you and the others were in a surprisingly jovial mood. You had your arms wrapped around Chishiya and Arisu’s shoulders. Kuina made a comment about Arisu being a ladies man, which caused his cheeks to turn a rosy color and had you in a fit of laughter.

You were still chuckling, when the militants passed by again. Niragi shot a menacing glare in your direction, mean to scare you and the company, but you only felt heat pooling in your core. However, you stood up straight, letting your arms fall by your side.

It took a while to get back to your room, but your shoulders instantly relaxed just seeing the numbers. The room was dark, and you were sure you’d left the light on. The curtain was open, letting in the moonlight. The door closed behind you with a thud and you stepped forward slowly. Something was off in the room, but you weren’t sure what. That’s when you felt it, warm and wet against your neck.

“Niragi.” You breathed.

“Y/n” he answered.

“How did you get in here?”

“The door.” He answered simply, and you could tell he was smirking.

“But tell me y/n, did you have fun today?”

“Fun? Sure I guess.”

“Make a lot of friends?”

Your eyebrows knit together, it was unlike Niragi to care about something like that. You were about to answer, when you realized why he asked. He was jealous.

“Oh yes. Chishiya and Arisu are great company.” You gushed. Niragi finally stepped into the light, pushing you backwards onto the bed.

“But can they make you scream like I can?” He asked, licking another stripe across your neck. You let out a shuddering breath. All the plans for a bratty reply left your head, as he lifted your shirt, turning it into a makeshift restraint. His tongue continued down to your stomach and both of your legs. Effortlessly, he pulled off your shorts and bikini bottoms.

Niragi bites your thighs, pulling a gasp from your lips. His mouth finds your entrance, already soaked. Niragi eats you out like a man starved, his fingers gripping your thighs. His tongue lapped at your folds roughly, the piercing cold against your core. You wanted to touch him, to run your fingers through his hair. That’s exactly what you did, freeing yourself from the hold of your shirt, and rooting your hands in his hair. Abruptly, Niragi pulled away from you, the night air sending a shiver down your spine.

“Hands off pet.” He warned, pinning your hands above your head. You pouted, but it melted away as he returned to his ministrations. You whimpered, as your high crept up on you.

Niragi could feel your legs beginning to shake and he knew you were close. He stayed a few seconds more and then pulled away, with a devilish grin.

“Something wrong kitten?” He asked licking his lips. You frowned.

“I was so close.”

“I know kitten, but do you deserve to cum?”

You pouted, but it only made him chuckle. He runs his fingers along your thigh, the skin still sensitive from his bites. He gets closer to your core but pulls away at the last second.

You heave a sigh of frustration, and Niragi slaps your thighs. You were buzzing now, the tension of a denied orgasm tingling through you. He wanted you to beg, to hear your neediness, your submission.

“Beg.” Niragi slid his fingers slowly back into your dripping heat.

“Please.” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

“Can’t hear you y/n.”

“Please!”

“Manners kitten, please who?”

“Please Niragi.” Niragi’s fingers were right where you needed them, his thumb rubbing circles into your clit. It didn’t take long for you to feel that tightening sensation again. He teased pushing his fingers in deeper, before pulling them out. You could practically taste it, the release that never came.

Niragi sucked his fingers, your eyes trained on the slender digits covered in your essence. He hummed, a popping sound could be heard as he pulled them out of his mouth. He was driving you crazy, and he loved every minute of it. You were practically trembling now, but you were at Niragi’s mercy.

The sound of his belt being unbuckled sends a shiver down your body. He pushed your thighs apart with his legs, dragging the tip of his dick against your clit. Niragi bent over you his hair falling into your face. His hand wrapped around your throat, and your back arched as he thrust into you all at once. He pulled back slowly, and before you know it he was fucking into you like his life depended on it. You couldn’t hold back your moans any longer, sure that everyone that lived in your hall could hear you. Niragi’s grip tightened around your throat his fingernails digging into your skin. The pain only pushed you further into pleasure. As you felt your orgasm approach a third time you wrapped your legs around Niragi’s waist, holding him in place. His name fell off your lips, the only coherent thing you could say, as your orgasm washed over you. You were breathless and tears streamed down your cheeks but that didn’t stop Niragi. He kept going, chasing after his own high. His teeth sunk into your skin, replacing his fingers.

“Fuck.” You hissed. His long tongue brushed over the broken skin, another hiss leaving your lips. Niragi’s thrusts grew sloppy and he pulled out, releasing onto your stomach. He wiped your tears, and squeezed your cheeks with his hand.

“So pretty like this pet, and all mine.”

#niragi x reader #niragi smut #alice in borderland

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bitch-for-bo · 4 years ago

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Forever (Kageyama x chubby reader) (possessive Kageyama)

POST TIMESKIP

Kageyama is possessive. Rightfully so though, every where you went you attracted, no, demanded attention. You were beautiful, inside and out. And many days Kageyama wondered just how he was lucky enough to have been the one to catch your attention. You were his world, his angel, and whenever someone else tried to entertain the thought of being with you, he wasn't happy.

So sometimes he needed to show you that he belonged to you, and that you belonged to him.

ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS ALLOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You watched as his chest rose and fell steadily with exertion. The sweat on his forehead was clearly visible and you could tell that his body was beginning to grow exhausted. You loved seeing this, everything about him when he was like this oozed power, from the way he stood, with his feet planted firmly with his muscular arms extended above him, to the look of overwhelming concentration on his face.

Your fiancé only got like this when he was playing volleyball, or when he was making love to you. It wasn’t something that he allowed others to see, saving it exclusively for his volleyball team and his loving partner. No one else got to see him like this because while it was when he was most concentrated, it was also when he was most vulnerable. When he played volleyball, he wore his feelings on his sleeve. It was as if he was trying so hard to control his physical state, that his emotions were left completely exposed.

Most days, this kind of passion on his face and in his movements, had the ability to take your breath away, and today was no different. The way that he practically glided across the court reminded you of a panther. You looked away, you could feel your body heating up as you watched Tobio play and the last thing you needed was to get aroused. You were here today to watch his practice and be a supportive girlfriend, nothing more nothing less.

Of course, the only person on the all-Japan team that knew you were Tobio’s partner, was Hinata, Kageyama’s volleyball partner and best friend (Besides you of course). Seeing as they were best friends, Tobio hadn’t been able to keep you a secret for very long. It had only been a month into the two of you dating when Hinata had finally figured it out, and you reckoned that you would’ve been found out slightly faster if it was anyone other than Hinata.

Seeing as only Hinata knew, Tobio had asked you to keep the PDA to a minimum. It’s not that he was embarrassed to be with you, very much the opposite. He felt that if his teammates knew of your existence, your beauty and naturally charismatic personality would draw them in much closer than he would allow any of them to be. You had decided to oblige because while it was sometimes fun to rile Tobio up, you really didn’t want to deal with his possessive side at the moment.

As soon as you had calmed down slightly, you looked back to the court to find that all of the players were now laying on the gym floor stretching. You decided that it would probably be okay if you walked down the bleachers and waited near the gym doors, it’s not like you were going to disturb the already-over-practice.

As you walked down the stairs, your eyes caught Hinata’s, who was currently leaning onto Kageyama as he sat on the gym floor, assisting him as he stretched.

“Look! It’s Y/N!” he shouted, one of his hands leaving Kageyama’s back as he reached up and waved to you, a bright smile taking over his face.

You smiled and waved back, hoping that his comment wasn’t loud enough to draw the attention of either the coaches or the other players. You really didn’t need the extra attention or even possibly a scolding.

Down on the court, Kageyama reached up behind him to swat Hinata on the back of the head, causing the redhead to let out a surprised yelp and glare down at his friend.

“Shh,” Kageyama hissed, “I don’t want anyone knowing about my relationship you dumbass.” His voice was hushed yet didn’t lack his usual biting tone.

“Why?” Hinata asked, his curiosity causing him to completely forget about the fact that Kageyama had just hit him. “They would love Y/N!” He beamed.

The first time that Hinata had met you, he could think nothing other than the thought that Kageyama had struck the lottery with you. You were everything that anyone could ever want. You had a sweet, patient personality (necessary to deal with Yama’s awkwardness and mood swings), you were incredibly smart, and to top it all off, you were one of the most gorgeous women that Hinata had ever seen.

Hinata remembered exactly what you were wearing the first time that he’d met you. It was during the summertime, it was actually at the wedding of one of Hinata and Kageyama’s mutual friends. Hinata could remember how Kageyama had reacted when they found out that each quest was encouraged to bring a plus one. He had been shocked that Kageyama had been so calm about the situation, usually, his best friend would freak out at the thought of having to plan out having a guest with him. As soon as Kageyama had simply agreed with the plus-one invitation, Hinata had known something was up, and pretty soon, Kageyama told him about you and told him that he’d be able to meet you at the wedding.

It was a summer wedding and it was outdoors. You had chosen to wear a very simple, light lilac summer dress. You were always careful when you went to weddings to follow the proper etiquette, not wearing a color too close to white, matching the dress with nude heels that were no higher than 2 inches. Unfortunately, you had never been a small woman so even in 2-inch heels you ended up towering over the bride. Luckily, you only saw her when Kageyama went to greet his friend and congratulate him.

It had been almost sunset when Hinata had met you, and with all of the times that he himself had been compared to the sun, he couldn’t help but see you as the purest definition of the star. The way that the orange-pink sky lit up your face as Kageyama introduced you to him, nearly left him breathless. That along with the way that your light, flowy dress hugged and accentuated your breasts and hips, managed to make Hinata develop a blinding crush on you (much to his dismay).

Thankfully, over time, Hinata realized that while you were incredibly beautiful and kind, he saw you as nothing more than a friend as well as the girlfriend of his best friend (although sometimes he would still find himself slightly jealous that Kageyama had managed to snatch you for himself).

Kageyama just pushed Hinata off of him and stood up.

“That’s the problem.” he whisper-shouted at the redhead. He didn’t want any of his teammates to notice you, you were his to view and his only.

“Ahhh…” Hinata nodded, knowing all too well of Kageyama’s possessive tendencies. A smug look came over his face as he hurried to catch up to Kageyama, who was walking towards you on the side of the court. “Your stingy side is showing Kageyama.”

Kageyama just rolled his eyes as he finally came to stand in front of you.

He smiled down at you, a light blush painting his face as he tried to regain his cool. He couldn’t help but get a little starstruck each time he saw you. You were so so stunning that he almost had to pinch himself to remind himself that this wasn’t a dream, that you were really his.

And the same went for you. To you, everything about Tobio was perfect and nothing had more rewarding to you than watching your fiance go from the awkward, stumbling 21-year-old he was when you had met him to the brilliant man that stood before you. Over the last 3 years, you’d had the honor of getting to watch your boyfriend truly flourish.

“Hey,” you said, grinning up at your boyfriend, careful to deny the urge to jump into his arms and hug his sweaty form.

He just grinned right back at you, his blush only growing as he fought his own urges to lean down and take a kiss from you.

“Hey,” he replied, “Thank you for coming, I know it must’ve been boring for you.”

“What?” you scoffed, your eyes widening at the ridiculous statement. “I love watching you play.” The genuine excitement in your voice made Kageyama blush even harder.

“Aww, what about me Y/N don’t tell me you were only focusing on stupid Kageyama!” Hinata whined, slinging one of his arms up and around your shoulders.

“Of course not, you did great Hinata” You complimented, knowing that Hinata was probably the only other player that you could complement without Tobio getting fussy.

Hinata picked your hand up, inspecting your engagement ring.

“Really is a shame you’re wasting your life on this idiot though.” he tutted, before giving you a quick kiss on the side of the head and running back onto the court.

“Ignore him.” Tobio scowled, earning a light giggled from you.

“You know I usually do.” You assured. “So, when will you be home?” you asked quietly, making sure that no one could possibly hear.

“Well I think the team wanted to go out tonight...so…”

You nodded, the whole team had been working so hard lately, they deserved some off time.

“Okay baby,” You smiled, “since you’re going out with friends, I might call my girlfriends up and have a night out myself.”

Kageyama nodded. He loved how easy going you were. He couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have you.

“Be careful and have fun.”

“You too,” you said. He gave you one last love-filled glance before turning and going back onto the court, probably on his way to the locker rooms.

You turned and left, fishing your phone out to call your friends.

**************************

The music at the club was loud, and the flashing lights were almost intense enough to give you a headache. It was also almost overwhelmingly hot in the club as well, which had led you and your friends to take a break. You all had decided to cool down, so you went and ordered a couple of rounds from the bar.

Seeing as you had been at the club for at least 30 minutes already (and did some pregaming before) you and your friends were a bit more than tipsy. Still, you didn’t have work tomorrow and Kageyama didn’t have practice so both of you were going to be able to sleep in as long as you like.

Right after you had put your order in with the bartender you looked towards the entrance of the club, your jaw hitting the floor in surprise.

“Oh my god…” you gasped, how unlucky was this?

“What?” your friend asked, her eyes trying to follow yours across the club.

“Look” you replied, pointing your finger towards the entrance where nearly all of the all-japan team members stood.

“Damnnn... “your friend gasped, “too bad you have a fiance bitch…”

You scoffed, pushing her into the side of the bar. Your eyes went straight back to the entrance, scanning the men as you looked for a familiar stoic face.

“You idiot! That is my fiance. That’s him and his team!” You couldn’t help but laugh a little at your friend who just gaped at you.

“You never told me he had hot friends! I hate you!”

You just laughed. You really wanted to approach your fiance and greet him, but you also knew that without the distraction of practice, it was more likely for some of his other teammates to see you. So you settled with turning your back to the team, hoping that Hinata hadn’t seen you because you knew that if the rambunctious redhead caught sight of you, he would definitely approach you.

For the next couple of minutes, you tried to form a plan on how you could avoid the team, it was a fairly large club so you were pretty sure that it was possible for both of your groups to co-party without crossing paths.

Little to your knowledge, Hinata had already caught sight of you and snuck away from Kageyama and the team so he could greet you. He would tell Kageyama that you were at the club after he said hi to you, otherwise, Kageyama wouldn't allow him to draw any possible attention to you.

You were still trying to think of all of the possible problems with your plan whenever you felt a strong arm wrap around your shoulders. You quickly turned towards the arm with your fist raised, ready to put a handsy bastard in his place.

“Woah! Hey there!”

“Hinata!” you scowled. As soon as you saw him, all of your hope of having a stress free night disappeared. You wondered how he could be so reckless, how dare he blatantly walk up to you!

“Sorry!” He said smiling, his arm unhooking itself from around your body as he leaned against the bar, trying to kind of block you from the team. Despite what you and Kageyama thought, he wasn’t a complete idiot.

“It’s fine… it’s not like I was going to be able to avoid you anyways..” you sighed, resting your chin against your palm in a pout.

“Wait,” Hinata said, “you already knew that we were here? I thought I was doing you a favor by telling you.”

You smiled at the sweet sentiment, before nodding.

“Yeah, I saw you guys when you came in.”

Hinata nodded. Of course, you had noticed, you never failed to impress him with your observation skills. God knows that if you hadn't had good observation skills, you never would’ve realized that Kageyama was flirting with you when the two of you had met.

The bartender came back and set the screwdriver that you’d ordered in front of you. You nodded in thanks before taking a large sip.

“What’re you gonna do?” He asked, yanking the beverage away from you and stealing a bigger than polite gulp.

“We can avoid each other as long as I and my friends stay at the opposite side of the dancefloor and stuff.” You said, swatting at the back of his head as he went in for another drink.

“Ahh,” he said, taking two more gulps and finishing the drink. “Well, good luck!” He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away from the bar, most likely to go back to his teammates before suspicions rose.

You simply flipped him off as he left, but before you could order a new drink, a new hand wrapped around your arm.

“Hey Y/N let’s go back to dancing!” Your friend said, trying to drag you to the dancefloor. You glanced towards Kageyama’s group, noticing that they had kind of dispersed, some of them staying at the side tables, others heading to the bar, and a few headed towards the dancefloor.

You decided that you liked those odds, and it was probably okay for you to relax a little.

You and your friends returned to dancing, trying to stay towards the middle of the floor. It might seem a little counterintuitive, but being in the middle of the dancefloor meant it was easier to blend in and become just another body in the mass.

At least something about this night was going right, the music the club was playing was probably the best mix you’d heard playing in there in the last couple of visits. Your group was having the times of their lives as you focused on having fun and moving to the music. You could feel the stresses of the week melting away with the music and alcohol when suddenly, a pair of electric blue eyes met yours.

You stopped moving, you couldn’t tell if your heart was beating because of the dancing or if it was the striking look of your fiance looking at you from across the club.

Kageyama must’ve gone home when you weren’t there and changed. He was dressed simply in a dark blue button-down and black slacks but you couldn’t help the shiver that ran through your spine as your body grew hot.

You could tell from the look on his handsome face that he wanted to approach you, but before he could take a step, one of his teammates, a man nearly as tall as Kageyama with bleached blonde hair, slapped him to the shoulder before starting to talk to him about something.

Kageyama broke eye contact with you, turning his face to talk to Atsumu. But neither his heart nor his mind was in the conversation as he couldn’t help but try and sneak glances back out across the club, searching for the figure of his fiance.

After only a couple of seconds of searching, his eyes found you once again and he had to stop himself from letting out a groan.

You were intentionally swinging your hips in the most inviting ways possible, making sure to give Kageyama a nice show. The security of him being across the club meant that you could behave like this and have it be completely within the rules. After all, none of his teammates were watching you dance, only him.

You could feel Tobio’s eyes on your ass as you swing your hips around to the song playing over the club. Since your back was facing your boyfriend, he wasn’t able to see the teasing smirk on your lips as you ground your hips in a circle.

Your body was heating up more and more by the second, you could almost feel his body beneath you as you drew circles with your hips, throwing your head slightly back and rolling it around, exposing the flesh of your neck for his viewing pleasure.

Kageyama was barely keeping a grip on himself as Atsumu continued to talk to him, the blonde had pulled Kageyama into a conversation with him and Kiyoomi, not knowing anything of the battle occurring between Kageyama and his beautiful girlfriend (whom the team still didn’t know existed).

He was having trouble focusing as you danced. He knew that you were acting this way just to tease him, and he also saw that purely by coincidence, you were wearing one of his favorite dresses. The way that the dark red dress hugged your figure was enough to drive him crazy. Even from his position across the club, he could see the way that your breasts and ass were on perfect display, as well as the soft bounce of your thighs as you continued to move.

His legs were twitching with the urge to go and shield you from everyone else in the club. He knew that you didn’t mind people watching you dance, but he did and he could already see several male glances glued to your body. But despite how much he hated all of those men staring at you, he couldn’t blame them. You were almost ethereal in the way that you commanded attention with your movements. Your confidence oozed out of you, attracting and drawing the attention of almost everyone within a 10-foot radius.

He almost growled as he saw you wink at him before shaking your ass at him, he knew that you were aware that he couldn’t approach you and obviously you were having great fun making him miserable.

He felt himself getting hard, and he knew that he needed to stop watching. Hopefully, if he stopped watching, you would stop dancing like that.

He shot one last glance your way, a glance that said ‘you’ll get your punishment later’ and made you clench your thighs.

You just laughed as he turned away. You knew that it was mean to act like this, but you just couldn't help it. Plus, no harm no foul.

“Y/N!” You head a shout behind you, turning to find Hinata. “Dance with me Y/N!” he asked his eyes like an excited child.

You only laughed in response, before stepping towards him and beginning to dance (much more innocently)

You and Shoyou danced for at least ten minutes, just having fun and laughing. Seeing as Kageyama rarely danced, you were grateful that he had such an energy-filled best friend. After a couple of more songs, you both decided that it was once again time for a drink break, and went to the bar together.

After demanding it of him, Hinata bought you a drink to make up for the one he had stolen earlier but as soon as the bartender set it down in front of Hinata, a hand popped out and stole it before you had the chance to claim it.

“So Shoyou, this is where you’ve been sneakin’ off all night?”

You glanced around Hinata to see the blonde that was talking to Kageyama earlier. Hinata gave a small awkward laugh, his eyes glancing to yours apologetically.

“Hey, Atusumu..”

“So….” Atsumu drawled, walking around Shoyou to get a better look at you, “this yer girlfriend Shoyou?” You could feel his eyes glancing down your body, causing your face to heat up and embarrassment begin to rear its ugly head.

Atsumu really was quite handsome, you thought. You couldn’t help but get a little flustered as he eyed you hungrily.

“Haha,” Hinata chuckled nervously, his hand resting itself protectively on your upper back. “No, just a friend.”

“Just a friend….whatta relief thought I was gonna have to steal your girl from ya…”

It was your turn to laugh nervously as Atsumu leaned across the bar to order a drink.

Atsumu was glad that you weren’t Shoyou’s girlfriend. Ever since the first time Hinata had snuck away from them, he had seen the redhead approach you, and ever since then, you had been caught in the crosshairs of his sight.

He couldn’t help but admire you from across the club, the way that your dress complimented your plush body was something that he’d been practically drooling over all night. He could only imagine how soft you were underneath the lovely material, he’d noticed the way that as you had walked to the bar with Hinata, the dress had slipped slightly up your thighs, exposing the supple curve of your legs.

With as flattering as the attention from the blonde setter, you knew that you needed to leave. Your plan to avoid the team had clearly failed and you had decided just to take the loss and call it a night.

“Well,” you said, stepping away from the bar to make your quick escape, “I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick.” It wasn’t completely a lie, you were actually going to go to the bathroom, you were just gonna leave the club right after.

“Promise to come right back?” Atsumu grinned, leaning slightly closer to you.

“How about this,” you drawled back, deciding that the best way to get him off your back at the moment would be to lie your ass off and promise to meet him later, “I’m here with my friend right now, I’m gonna make sure that she has a good time before I worry about myself, so, why don’t you try to find me in about an hour, then maybe you’ll have a chance.” You had leaned towards Atsumu as well until the two of you were only inches apart.

“Deal,” he said, his hands itching to attach to your waist, you were so close…

“See ya then” you smirked, throwing him a wink before sauntering off to the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind you, you let out the breath that you’d been holding.

‘Fuck’ you thought, ‘ Kageyama is not going to be happy.’

But it’s not like you had a choice. In fact, you thought that you had handled the situation pretty well. Hopefully, Atsumu would get drunk and forget about the whole ordeal.

Once you’d regained yourself, you pulled out your phone and called your friends to tell them that you were going to head home. They whined a little but eventually understood that you’d made up your mind.

Now all that was left was to sneak out without looking super unnatural.

***************************

“Yeah, that’s her,” Atsumu said cockily to the table, causing Kageyama to clench his fists in an attempt to calm himself.

He couldn’t believe that he’d been so careless in letting you out of his sight. He couldn’t believe that he was so unlucky that his teammate made a move on you…..well….. He could believe that. With as enrapturing as you were, it was impossible for someone not to try and approach you. He was just unhappy that it had to be Atsumu.

The blonde had come sauntering back to the area that the team had been inhabiting and had begun to brag about the promise that you’d made him. Of course, at first, Kageyama hadn’t known that it was you who Miya was talking about, but soon Hinata had timidly whispered in his ear, just what the situation was. Kageyama couldn’t even be mad at Hinata, after all, he knew that the over-exuberant spiker couldn’t help it.

The team had only seen you briefly, you were walking into the crowd, trying to get to the exit. As soon as you had ducked into the mass of people, thankfully, none of them could see you leave the building.

After you’d disappeared, a couple of members of the team made comments on your body, congratulating or teasing Atsumu over what they deemed to be a hopeless endeavor, telling him that he didn’t stand a chance.

All of the comments made Kageyama livid, but at the same time, it made him feel totally victorious that he was the one who would get to go home to you later. He didn’t like the way that they were talking about you, and soon the possessive side of him couldn’t stand to stay and listen.

He and a couple of the guys went over to the bar and got a couple of drinks, all of them thankful to be away from the more rambunctious members of the team who were still either conversing at the table or springing around on the dancefloor.

As he sipped his drink, Kageyama couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to you. That dress was truly one of his favorites. The way that you looked in it never failed to distract him, and when he’d seen you in it earlier, he’d almost forgotten how to breathe.

He couldn’t wait to go home to you. He wondered if you had already showered and gone to bed yet, it was a shame that he wasn’t the one to strip that dress off of you, but he was hoping that you’d replaced it with one of his shirts, or even nothing at all.

He set his drink down. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer, he needed to see you, to hold you.

He passed back by the team on his way out, coming up with some lame excuse of feeling too tired to continue the night, getting teased by Bokuto that he was secretly taking someone home, which wasn’t completely off base.

As he walked out of the club into the cool night air, he thought of how you had been dancing earlier, the way that your eyes had flitted to his before you would expose your neck to him, or how you would drag your fingers down your sides, outlining your perfect shape for him as you danced.

‘ Fuck’ he thought, ‘I’m hard.’

He hailed a cab, eager to get home to you. Soon, he was opening the door to your apartment and walking inside. He quickly removed his shoes, eager to find you and wrap you in an embrace. But halfway down the hallway to your bedroom, he stopped.

“Fuuuuckkk….” he heard the high pitched moan drift out of the closed door, the sound going straight to his dick as he anticipated the sight awaiting him. Your moans continued to grace his ears as he slowly peeked in the door, avoiding making any noise so that he could watch you silently.

He found you with your back to him, kneeling on the bed as you pressed a vibrator against yourself. You had shed all of your clothes, leaving your skin bare to his eyes, every goosebump and shiver completely visible to his hungry gaze.

He silently approached you, working his belt off of his hips as he walked. When he got close enough to you, he cleared his throat appreciatively, his dick hardening when your head dropped back to look at him.

God, you looked so good for him. Your eyes were watering and from where he stood, he had the perfect view of your pretty tits as well as a view of the little pink toy vibrating against your already soaked pussy.

Suddenly, your mouth dropped open and another string of moans came out. Kageyama raised his hand to your cheek, his gentle fingers caressing your face, carefully pushing the sweaty wisps of hair that were sticking to your temples. His heart lurched as you looked up at him, your teary eyes filled with love. He looked right back down at you in adoration, not believing how lucky he was that he was yours.

“How long did you have to wait for me baby?” he asked his voice calm despite the furious blush gracing his face.

“....not long…” you whimpered, your insides twisting as your fiance slowly leaned down to join his lips with yours. You almost cried into the kiss, the warm feeling of his mouth against yours making the last couple of hours of torture completely worth it.

“You looked so sexy tonight baby.” Kageyama praised as he leaned away, allowing you to catch your breath after the searing kiss. He sat on the edge of the bed before running his hand down your body from your breasts to your naval before wrapping around your hand that was currently holding the vibrator.

He took the toy away from you, making you whine pathetically at the loss of contact.

“ Shhh… ” He hushed you, pressing a quick kiss to your lips as he stood up again. “I’m gonna fill you up so good, but first I want you to suck me for a bit” He unbuttoned his slacks before letting them drop to the floor.

Your eyes hungrily made their way across his powerful thighs, your mouth practically watering at the sight of the thick muscle that laid underneath his dark boxer briefs. You looked up at Kageyama, moaned lightly as he began to work on unbuttoning his shirt with his long, graceful fingers.

You wanted those fingers inside of you, you thought, keening at the mental image of getting stretched out by Tobio before he filled you with his cock.

You quickly sunk down to your knees and pulled his underwear down his thighs, biting your lower lip almost painfully as his hardening dick popped out. You drooled at the sight, Kageyama had to of had one of, if not the prettiest cocks in the world. The way that the hot appendage stood proudly, long and thick with a gorgeous vein running halfway up the length put art to shame. The slight upward curve made him fit perfectly in your hand, made it perfect for rocking into your fist as you got him off.

“ Please …” he whispered, and that was all it took for you to eagerly wrap your lips around his cock, your hand twisting gently at the base.

“ Shit ,” Kageyama grunted, throwing his head back at the sudden sensation of the warmth of your mouth surrounding him. He threaded his fingers into your hair as he gently guided your head down onto his cock.

“You take me so good,” he mumbled, his praises going straight to your clit as you moaned out around his dick, your fingernails raking down the fronts of his thighs as you gripped onto the muscles.

You were slowly building your pace up, going from giving the tip of his cock small, hot licks, to taking him as far down your throat as you could muster.

Kageyama was putty beneath your fingertips, his whole body felt like it was on fire as you worked him just like he liked to be worked. He could feel himself starting to lose his control over himself as the overwhelming urge to fuck you silly started to creep up his spine.

“Fuck baby,” he breathed as you swallowed him into your throat again, relaxing around the thickness as best as you could, he knew that he was close, “ keep going, baby… .”

Your pussy only clenched harder at his encouraging words as you quickened your pace, trying desperately to make him cum. One of your hands left his thighs to lightly grip his balls, the light touch pushing him that much nearer to the ledge.

“ Ooh fuck….. Please….wanna cum in your pussy baby” he moaned, his fingers sweeping the hair across your forehead as he looked down at you with blown-out pupils.

All you had to do was nod before Kageyama pulled his cock out of your mouth and hoisted you up onto the bed. He leaned over you, claiming your lips in a searing embrace as he ran the tip of his cock against your pussy, making you moan at the feeling of his pulsing cock against your lips.

“ Please Tobio …” you begged, your legs wrapping around his hips in an attempt to pull him inside of you.

After pumping his cock a couple of times in his hand, Kageyama lined himself up with your opening, before easing himself in.

All it took was feeling your tight walls wrapped around him for him to lose himself, his hot cum spurting into you as he buried his face into your neck, licking and sucking at the flesh as he gently rode out his high, careful not to thrust into you too hard seeing as you hadn’t been properly stretched.

“ Tobio ….” you breathed, the feeling of his seed inside of you making you yearn for him to breed you that much stronger. “ Please...fuck me Tobio… ”

“ Shhh… ” he soothed, trying to pull out of you as carefully as possible, groaning at the lewd squelch that your pussy made.

He crawled down your body until his face was level with your cunt, his fingers spreading the lips of your pussy apart as he inspected the sight of his cum leaking out of your hole, groaning at the incredibly sexy display.

Timidly, his tongue poked out of his mouth and prodded at your clit, pulling a high pitched whine from your lungs as your fists gripped the sheets underneath you.

Kageyama wrapped his mouth around your clit, sucking the little bud into his mouth as his fingers began to prepare you, scooping his cum up and fucking it back into you.

“So good for me baby…. You’re being so good for me aren’t you?”

“ Yes!” you cried, your hips trying to grind down onto the digits that were fucking into your dripping cunt far too slow for your liking. “Please give me your cock.”

Tobio decided to indulge you, crawling back up your body and realigning himself with you.

“Fuck, you’re so tight baby.” he groaned, his hips slowly pushing into you until he bottomed out.

You were being reduced to a whimpering mess with the feeling of being so completely full of your boyfriend. You wrapped your arms around his back, your chest pressing against his as he began to thrust into you with slow, calculated movements.

“ Please …” you sighed, your hips bucking desperately as you tried to coax him to go faster.

As Kageyama stared down at your blissed-out face, he could only thank god that you were his. After seeing how his teammates ogled over you, how much you were desired, he could help but feel like the luckiest man alive as he buried himself deeper into you, your walls clenching deliciously around him.

“ Fuck baby… . No one else can fuck you like this but me….” He groaned, his hips beginning to snap in and out of you a little bit faster.

You almost cried at the change in pace as you nodded and babbled out, “ yes, you fuck me so good, only you… ”

Tobio continued to thrust into you, whispering praises and compliments into your ear as he pounded into you, telling you how good you felt around him, how lucky he was to have you all to himself.

He could feel your end approaching as he reached down and began to circle your clit, taking the small bud between his thumb and index finger and rolling it, causing your eyes to roll back into your head.

“Fuck! Tobio!” you cried, your fingers digging into his shoulders, “...m’ gonna cum…”

Kageyama’s head rested in the crook of his neck as his thrust quickened even further, he could feel his second high rising within him as well.

With a few more thrusts of his hips, he had you crying as you came on his cock, milking his second load of the night into you.

Kageyama stayed inside of you even after you both came down from your highs. You keened in the feeling of being stuffed full of his cum, his cock acting as a stopper to keep any of it from leaking out.

If you had your way, he would never pull out, you would never have to let go of this full feeling.

“Wanna stay in you forever.” He mumbled against your skin, his cock twitching as small aftershocks rocked through your pussy, surprising him with small squeezes every few seconds.

“Ok.” you giggled, wrapping your arms around him happily.

He let himself indulge for a few minutes before deciding that he wanted to inspect his work, he went back down to be eye level with your pussy, once again groaning at the sight of his cum along with your juices seeping out of your puffy hole.

“ No please. .” you gasped in surprise as his fingers started shoveling the cum back into your hole, pressing against the spongey texture of your g-spot with every thrust.

“Come on baby….” he encouraged, his fingers going from 0 to 100 as he mercilessly finger fucked you. “Give me one more orgasm, K?”

You nodded, there were tears in your eyes and your thighs were twitching as the sting of overstimulation took over your pussy. You knew that Kageyama would never push you too far, you knew that he only wanted to make you feel good.

Your second orgasm took you by surprise, the high ripping through your body as you began to convulse against your fiance’s fingers.

“Tobio!” you squealed, your hands flying down to his wrists, trying to stop the digits from continuing to fuck you through your high, you could feel yourself creaming all over the sheets and his teeth bit into your thighs.

“ Good girl ….” he growled as he replaced his fingers with his tongue, lapping up your juices as your body went limp against the bed. He pulled away, his chin glistening with your cum as he smiled adoringly down at you.

After a moment’s rest, he climbed off of the bed, leaning over and lifting you into his arms. He carried you to the bathroom and sat you down on top of the counter before retreating to the shower to turn it on.

When he returned to you, he wrapped his arms around your waist, enjoying the feeling of your plush, orgasm-rocked body against him.

“You did so well for me…..” he whispered into your skin, “I love you so much…”

You mewled at his words, your nose nestling against his hair as your own arms returned the gesture of wrapping around him.

Once the shower warmed up, he put both of you under the steady flow, the hot droplets relaxing you as you melted back against his chest while he contently washed your body.

Tobio looked down at you.

“You know all of my teammates wanted to take you home tonight…”

You hummed in response, only half-listening to your fiance as you continued to bask in your post-orgasm glow.

“I almost had to tell that you belong to me,” he continued, running his fingers across your body, lathering soap against your skin.

You hummed again.

“Tell me who you belong to baby,” he whispered, turning you around in his arms.

You looked up at him with a sweet smile on your face, your fingers coming up to thread through his soft wet hair. You leaned up and placed a sweet kiss against his jawline before resting your head into his chest, hearing the gentle thudding of his heartbeat.

“Tobio Kageyama,” you stated, “I am completely yours.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

#haikyuu smut #haikyuu x chubby reader #haikyuuxreader #haikyuu 18+#kageyama #tobio x y/n #kageyama tobio

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sw124 · 4 years ago

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BonelyHearts Reader insert 2

{Gender Neutral!ReaderXSkeleton household}

Foxes and Chickens!

—————————————-

“Why are we even doing this?”

Boss growled as he checked his black tank top once more, everyone stood dressed in ‘gym-class’ attire. Well somewhat, everyone was either in tank tops or short sleeve shirts and basketball shorts. You though were in sweatpants and a baggy tank top. But you were smiling your head off, today was ‘your’ day. All of you gathered inside the large basketball/gymnasium of the Rec Center.

You stood confidently with your hands on your hips.

“Today boys we are playing a game from when I was a kid.”

The skeletons looked at you, a tad perplexed but could see you were not going to be swayed, Poplar spoke up next.

“What is it called?”

You beamed. “Foxes and chickens!”

Their expressions did not change, you chuckled and decided to explain further.

“This game is a mix between Tag and Hide’n seek, one of us is the ‘Fox’ and the rest of us are ‘Chickens’. The ‘Chickens’ will be given about a minute to find a place to hide, then the lights go out and the ‘Fox’ with their flashlight will go looking for the ‘Chickens’ among the mats or ��Coops’ as I like to call them. The last ‘Chicken’ to be found is the winner and the get to be the ‘Fox’ in the next round! Everyone get that?”

The skeletons looked at each other, Blue’s eyes sparkle; this did sound like fun. Not one to shy away from challenges Boss and Papyrus were all for it as well.

“Yes, we’re in! What are the rules?” Asked Blue.

“The rules are simple, when you find your hiding spots you stay in that spot until the fox finds you, you can only hide in or around the mats, when your found you must sit by the entrance and wait until all the players are found, no helping the ‘Fox’ in anyway by revealing hiding spots thats cheating, no running or teleporting to different hiding places, you can share hiding spaces and lastly there is absolutely, positively...NO BETTING!”

Instantly you hear Blue whine, you go over and give him a half-hearted hug, playfully petting his head like he was a kitten.

“Mwah, there, there baby Blue, you can bet on something else.” You chuckle when he pushes away, crossing his arms and pouting.

“Ok, ok, now that everyone knows the rules lets start the game, first though lets see who wants to be the ‘Fox’ in the first round.”

Instantly Blue and Papyrus raised their hands, oh this was gonna be tough to pick. You opted to flip a coin to see who gets to be first as the ‘Fox’. Papyrus chose heads Blue chose tails....it came up tails. Blue happily took the flashlight and waited outside.

“Ok everyone, one minute to hide!” You squeal as you bolted for the ‘coops’.

Everyone scrambled to hide as well, you found a sweet hiding place, one of the mats that was standing up had a small fold where you easily fit into. You shut it tight almost like a door and waited, you could hear everyone else scrambling for a hiding spot. You restrained a another squeal when the lights went out, you heard the gym doors open.

“Ready or not here I come!”

You covered your mouth as you heard Blue run all over, calling out the names of everyone he found. The first person he found was Stretch, you knew that cause Blue was shouting how he didn’t bother to hide properly...and Blue shouted out his name. In fact he was shouting everyone’s name the moment he found them. After Stretch was Rus, followed by Sans, Ash and Poplar then Boss, Red was cursing at Blue for shining the light right in his eyes,; finally Papyrus and Nox were found. You were knew you were the last but Blue still couldn’t find you.

You could hear him running past your hiding spot more then four times, peeked out and saw him. His back was to you, a Cheshire grin formed on your face as you snuck out. Tip toeing closer you reached both hands out and-

“FOX!”

You yelled as grabbed his sides, he yelped and dropped the flashlight. Laughing you bolted, weaving in and and around the mats. Blue squawked out something and gave chase, you ran for the gym entrance and without thinking did a baseball slide towards the group. You laughed when you collided into them, not hard, you slowed down enough where you just barely pushed some of them. You slid into Papyrus and Sans, Blue ran up and huffed.

“That was rude! You said no changing hiding spots!”

You laughed. “I wasn’t changing hiding spots, I was the last to be found so I just saved you the trouble of finding me. Besides I couldn’t resist giving you a little surprise!”

Oh you knew Blue was gonna get back at you, it was why you had to be sure to find him quickly in the next round.

An so the game continued, Ash won the next round, Blue did get you back when it was your turn by jumping out at you but in doing so ruined not just his hiding spot but also Nox and Red’s. Everyone got their chance to win, you actually enjoyed Rus being the ‘Fox’ in one round cause he’d constantly was muttering a curse if he couldn’t find someone.

After a while you checked your watch, over two’n a half hours had past since you started the game. Wow how time flies, you waited till the current round was over before announcing the end of the game, it was time to get some lunch anyway.

“Ok everyone’s been found, its getting close to lunchtime so lets pack up the mats and grab some food.”

“We’re already done?”

Oh man, it wasn’t fair to see half of their faces go into ‘sad puppy’ mode but you only rented the place for three hours and you had to put everything back, which would take twenty minutes with everyone’s help.

“Sorry guys but I only rented out the place for a little while, besides we can do this again another, that and we need to put the mats away properly.”

That answer was suffice, everyone....well almost everyone pitched in, Sans and Rus were laying on one mat they set aside. But that was rectified by Boss and Nox, flipping the mat they were laying on over. It took a bit longer then you thought but you had five minutes to spare, you went and told the Rec-center supervisor you were finished and got your deposit back. He’s such a sweet old man, with that you went back to the others and told them to clean up and change into their street clothes. You went and did the same, despite it being a low energy game you and the boys still worked up a sweat.

Once that was done you all proceeded to walk towards the restaurant in question, you had reserved a spot in a nice little Japanese noodle place you like to frequent. They had all kinds of delicious noodle based dishes that you hoped would please some of the skeletons, it was also a very accommodating place as it had an entire menu dedicated to people who were vegetarian. You piled into the large round booth, sitting between Poplar and Ash.

As you waited for your drinks and enjoyed an appetizer of tempura sweet potatoes, you decided to see what they thought of the game.

“So did you guys have fun?” You were a little worried..

“A tad immature but it was still an enjoyable experience, something we can do at least once in a great while.” Said Boss taking a sip of water.

“I liked it a lot, its a nice change of pace.” Said Rus as he munched on his sweet potato.

“It was a wonderful game human, thank you for sharing such a fun cherished game with us!” Said Papyrus.

“Yeah, gotta admit it was fun, ya didn’t have to do much when you got to hide and being in the dark hiding in the mats...I can see why a game like that is fun for you.” Said Sans giving you a playful wink.

You smiled, beaming at everyone. Soon the waiter arrived to take everyone’s order, you helped Ash and Poplar make a choice from the vegetarian menu. You tried some of the stuff on that one and recommended the Ramen bowls with fried tofu in it along with the beautiful array of colorful veggies such as mushrooms and cabbage.

You went with the kitsune soba while everyone else got Ramen, when you got your food it was a treat seeing everyone trying to eat with chopsticks. Yeah it was mean of you but seeing some of them struggle you told them there were forks wrapped in the black cloth napkins placed around the table. You had gotten some deadpan looks from some of the skeletons but all you could do was smile, you used chopsticks before and were pretty good at using them.

You took a moment to look at everyone, some engaged in a conversation, some content on the food itself or simply listening to others talking. It filled you with a sensation of comfort, you couldn’t have asked for better neighbors or friends.

“So, human.”

Your attention was grabbed when Nox spoke up.

“What game do you plan to show us for next time?”

End.

[For some backstory, this was a game I played back when I was in grade school. Normally durning my gym class we’d go outside and play during gym but of course if was winter or raining we’d stay inside the gym. One rainy day our gym teacher came up with this game and I loved it so much, I wanted to do a fanfic that was more innocent. The world is so serious and telling us we need to ‘grow up’ but sometimes its nice to be a little kid again and thats why I wrote this particular Reader insert. Oh this is also for the @bonelyheartsclub I hope you enjoy it, it was such a treat to write]

#undertale #fanfic #bonely hearts club

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blessedarethebinarybreakers · 4 years ago

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Wrestling with the Bible’s most disturbing stories

An excerpt from Rachel Held Evan’s book Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

“Growing up, I noticed the ugly details in the Sunday school stories; children always do. I remember I was deeply troubled by the fact that God drowned all but two of each kind of animal in the Great Flood (to say nothing of all the people), and wondered aloud at the dinner table how God could be all-knowing and all-powerful, but also filled with regret. A friend's seven-year-old captured the angst well when she recently asked, 'Mom, is God the good guy or the bad guy in this story?'

This question of God's character haunted every scene and every act and every drama of the Bible. ...Feminist scholar Phyllis Trible aptly named these narratives 'texts of terror.'

'If art imitates life,' she wrote, 'scripture likewise reflects it in both holiness and horror.'

Rereading the texts of terror as a young woman, I kept anticipating some sort of postscript or epilogue chastising the major players for their sins, a sort of Arrested Development-style 'lesson' to wrap it all up -- 'And that's why you should always challenge the patriarchy!' But no such epilogue exists. While women are raped, killed, and divided as plunder, God stands by, mute as clay. I waited for a word from God, but none came.

...When I turned to pastors and professors for help, they urged me to set aside my objections, to simply trust that God is good and that the Bible's war stories happened as told, for reasons beyond my comprehension.

'God's ways are higher than our ways,' they insisted. 'Stop trying to know the mind of God.'

It's an understandable approach. Human beings are finite and fallible, prone to self-delusion and sentimentality. If we rely exclusively on our feelings to guide us to truth, we are bound to get lost.

When asked in 2010 about Joshua's conquest of Canaan, Reformed pastor and theologian John Piper declared, without hesitation, 'It's right for God to slaughter women and children anytime he pleases. God gives life and he takes life. Everybody who dies, dies because God wills that they die.'

Piper's dispassionate acceptance represented pure, committed faith, I was told, while mine had been infected by humanism and emotion -- 'a good example of why women should be kept from church leadership,' one acquaintance said.

And for a moment, I believed it. For a moment, I felt silly for responding so emotionally to a bunch of old war stories that left the rest of the faithful seemingly unfazed.

But this is the deleterious snare of fundamentalism: It claims that the heart is so corrupted by sin, it simply cannot be trusted to sort right from wrong, good from evil, divine from depraved. Instinct, intuition, conscience, critical thinking -- these impulses must be set aside whenever they appear to contradict the biblical text, because the good Christian never questions the 'clear teachings of Scripture'; the good Christian listens to God, not her gut.

I've watched people get so entangled in this snare they contort into shapes unrecognizable. When you can't trust your own God-given conscience to tell you what's right, or your own God-given conscience to tell you what's true, you lose the capacity to engage the world in any meaningful, authentic way, and you become an easy target for authoritarian movements eager to exploit that vacuity for their gain. I tried reading Scripture with my conscience and curiosity suspended, and I felt, quite literally, disintegrated. I felt fractured and fake.

Brené Brown warned us we can't selectively numb our emotions, and no doubt this applies to the emotions we have about our faith. If the slaughter of Canaanite children elicits only a shrug, then why not the slaughter of Pequots? Of Syrians? Of Jews? If we train ourselves not to ask hard questions about the Bible, and to emotionally distance ourselves from any potential conflicts or doubts, then where will we find the courage to challenge interpretations that justify injustice? How will we know when we've got it wrong?

'Belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man,' Thomas Paine said. If the Bible teaches that God is love, and love can look like genocide and violence and rape, then love can look like...anything. It's as much an invitation to moral relativism as you'll find anywhere.

I figured if God was real, then God didn't want the empty devotion of some shadow version of Rachel, but rather my whole, integrated self. So I decided to face the Bible's war stories head-on, mind and heart fully engaged, willing to risk the loss of faith if that's where the search led.

I listened to sermons. I read commentaries and theology books. I became a real downer at dinner parties:

'If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?' 'Have you seen any of the Oscar-nominated films this year?' 'What's your Enneagram number?' 'Do you think God condones genocide?'

The explanations came hurried and certain. Oh, God told Israel to wipe out the Canaanites because the Canaanites were super-duper evil, like the worst people ever. They worshipped idols and had orgies and sacrificed children to their gods. So God condemned the practice of child sacrifice...by slaughtering children? Well, that's just how things were back then. It was kill or be killed, tribal warfare and all that. Israel did what it had to do to survive....

I began to feel a bit like the disheveled Berenger, a character from Eugène Ionesco's play Rhinoceros, who grows increasingly bewildered as the people of his provincial French town acclimate to the sudden presence of rhinoceroses in their community. In one scene, a rhinoceros thunders through the town square, trampling a housecat. After their initial shock, the villagers get sidetracked debating whether the rhino had one horn or two, and whether its origins are Asiatic or African. And on it goes throughout the play, as the townspeople themselves transform into rhinos, one by one, arguing all the while over pointless trivialities, until only Berenger remains human.

The play is about fascism, I think, but it reminds me a bit of Christians and their Bibles. Sometimes it seems as if there are all these rhinoceroses barreling through the pages of Scripture, pooping on sidewalks and flattening housecats, but we've grown so accustomed to defending their presence we end up debating the length of their tails.

...

My questions came with consequences. We left the church in which I was raised, and rumors of my 'rebellious spirit' circulated around town, prompting more than a few well-meaning interventions. ...

But accepting the Bible's war stories without objection threatened to erase my humanity. ‘We don’t become more spiritual by becoming less human,’ Eugene Peterson said. How could I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength while disengaging those very faculties every time I read the Bible?

So I brought my whole self into the wilderness with God – no faking, no halfway. And there we wrestled."

#rachel held evans #inspired #bible #bible study #christian books #progressive christians #reading and studying the bible #bible tag #long post #quote tag

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wookie92 · 4 years ago

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WHAT IT’S LIKE TO HAVE A MICROPENIS

My micropenis is approximately ½ to 1 inch long when flaccid and 3.3 inches long when fully erect. When fully erect it has an upward angle and a slight banana curve. It is also very thin (2.8), though proportional to the length. According to calculations my penis has a volume of 36.19 ml / 1.22 fl oz (us). Various studies suggest that the average American penis is 2.8–3.9 inches flaccid and around 4.7–6.3 inches when erect. According to online information at SIZEMEUP, in a room of 1000 guys only 1 would be shorter than me.

In an adult, the average stretched penile length is about 13.24 cm (5.21 in.). An adult micropenis is a stretched penile length of 9.32 cm (3.67 in.) or less. Growing up I remember reading that a micropenis was defined as any penis shorter than 2.8 inches in length. But have been subsequently given new information that slid me well under the 3.67 inch upper limit.

Where Do I Stand On The Penis Size Chart?

All this to say: the majority of average flaccid penises are longer than mine when I am erect.

I cannot say that I am deeply ashamed of my micropenis, but certainly I have experienced shame with regard to my size. I can say that I am extremely self aware of my penis size. This is largely because of the of things I hear women and women say about micropenis, and people’s reaction to my own micropenis.

I can only speak from personal experience, but the number of times I have heard women making fun of men for the size of their manhood is staggering. At one time, I actually overheard three or four of my colleagues at work all agreeing that "men with small dicks should be required to wear a warning sign."

In school, especially high school and as an undergraduate, I was subject to a lot of hazing and bullying that was directly connected to my having a micropenis. As a sophomore in high school I was depantsed at the pool by three bullies when I got an unwanted erection. They lifted me up and held my arms behind me to prevent me from covering my erection so the entire PE class present saw what happened. The coach had left the pool area when it happened. While the three boys were penalized, the damage was done any my “secret” became known through out the school before the end of the day. The teasing commenced immediately and was unrelenting. Even my mother got calls from some friends who had heard about the incident (and my condition). My mother reacted in anger at me that somehow I was responsible for the situation (and her subsequent embarrassment). No empathy there. I was depantsed three more times before I graduated from high school and it was clear to me why I was being targeted.

I was on the swim team and during a competition with a neighboring town, discovered that two of the players from that town recognized me as the guy with the “baby dick” which got shouted as I started my event. So, word had spread. I felt like a pariah.

Numerous scientific studies have suggested time and again that for the majority of women in the western world, tiny penises are simply undesirable. I am 28 and have had just only three sexual experiences (through personal choice) with women, two of which were very humiliating, to say the least.

In high school, my first consensual sexual encounter was with a boy named Billy. I was 13 and he was 15. He was interested in anal sex, and wanted to top me. I was willing to bottom despite the fact that he was very well endowed. He did tease me about my micropenis, but seemed to accept it. I was not prepared for how painful the experience of bottoming would be, but he continued to be interested in me, and treated me well (we even kissed) so I was willing to continue to have sex with him as a bottom. I fell in love. Then he disclosed to his homophobic older brother that we had been having sex and that put an end to our relationship. His brother let me know (rather violently) that I was to stay away from Billy or he would castrate and kill me. Billy, who had a black eye, never spoke to me again.

My first sexual encounter with a woman happened during my Junior year in high school. She was a sophomore and I was a Junior. When I undressed I could tell she was “shocked” even though she was a virgin and had never seen a man naked. She has seen photographs of naked men, and she had a brother in college. She was well pleased with my digital and oral skills, and actually squirted into my mouth (something I didn’t even know was a “thing” that might happen). Unfortunately when I attempted to penetrate her, my condom slipped off, and my orgasm was triggered prematurely as I was trying to thrust into her. She tried to push me off of her as I locked up and started squirting, and was furious that I had ejaculated into her vagina. She said she could feel me ejaculating. She got up and douched. I was too embarrassed to speak more than an apology. I helped pay for her “morning after” pill and discovered that she had disclosed the whole evening, including my premature ejaculation, and condom mishap, to her friends.

As a freshman in college I encountered a very attractive university student who seemed to be attracted to me. When I stripped, she stared at my micropenis, giggled, and put her hand to her mouth, muttering simply "OK" in a tone that suggested she was taken aback. When it came to actually performing, first I found that the condom wouldn’t stay on, but more frustratingly, my micropenis kept falling out every time I tried to penetrate her. She actually asked the traditional joke question, "Is it in?" mistaking my penis for my finger. I wanted to die. It was clear that she was getting nothing out of the experience. I genuinely tried my best to make her happy via oral sex, but she didn't orgasm or enjoy that either. I suspect her encounter with my penis through a wet blanket over the whole experience. When at last I finally thought I was making her content, she suddenly huffed in an annoyed way and got up, saying she needed to use the restroom. And that was the end of it.

I can only imagine the level of disappointment and frustration she must have felt. It must have been a horrendous experience for her.

I decided after that to become a master of cunnilingus so that any future women I encountered would be satisfied, if not by my penis, then my oral skills would more than make up for it. And I did master the art.

While in graduate school at the University of Texas in Austin, I met and married a girl. We had engaged in some sexual activity before our marriage, so she was aware of my micropenis. However our marriage was short lived when I discovered she had been having sex with my then best friend. When I confronted her with her lack of fidelity, she blamed my shortcomings as a lover and told me that my micropenis disgusted her.

Since that time I have mainly had sexual experiences with gay men, though I had a threesome with a woman that went very well.

Aside from personal experiences, the media doesn’t help my self-esteem either. Men with small penis are an ongoing source of amusement in TV shows and movies. I noticed that penis shaming was mostly reserved for villains and comic sidekicks who were never taken seriously. There are more TV shows with “little dick jokes” than shows that don’t have them. No shows make fun of women’s breast size, but targeting men with small penises as a source of humor seems to be socially acceptable. All that tells me that the writers don’t really care if men with small penises are offended or hurt.

The way the media treats the body-shaming of men compared to the body-shaming of women is wildly different. When Donald Trump makes questionable comments about the looks of women, he rightly causes outrage. Lists and videos decrying his sexist remarks have gone viral. Yet when a naked model of Trump with a micropenis was displayed in public in New York City, it was treated like a punch line rather than an attack. Some publications even called it a wonderful piece of art. Hundreds of Americans now have selfies of them laughing at Trump and his micropenis. We defend Heidi Cruz and Megyn Kelly, but where are the people defending small penises? I am no Trump supporter, but targeting him because of his small penis seems wrong.

GUYS WITH MICROPENISES KNOW THEY ARE NOT WELL-ENDOWED, THEY DON’T NEED REMINDING OF IT.

From my experience (having read hundreds of articles, forum posts, videos, and having spoken to hundreds of men and women online), it feels safe to say that the overwhelming majority of sexual partners aren't thrilled about the prospect of sex with micropenises. And if we don’t accept that these views are likely the majority, then we are never going to challenge this blatant discrimination.

I would like to ask people to think about this: If you are attracted to somebody enough to ask them to bed, and if the guy is kind to you, is it fair to write him off based on size alone?

So what do I plan to do about my love life?

Luckily I am bisexual and enjoy the company of men as well as women. I fear that straight men with the micropenis condition suffer worse shame than men in the gay community. ��Let me be clear, a great many gay men are “size queens” and I have been rejected by more than a few gay men, but now that so many men can meet on line I have been able to meet men who actually “prefer” men with small dicks and so they are not surprised by what I have to offer when we meet. Many of them enjoy SPH (Small Penis Humiliation), but in my life I have adapted to being the subject of humor and, in some cases, can even find that sexually arousing.

So the answer to that question is “nothing”. I try to focus my life on my work, my writing, working out, outdoors activities, sports, and other subjects that interest me. If I started to look for love, it would just make me feel down, and I already struggle with depression and anxiety secretly. I don’t need the humiliation and hurt that looking for love would bring me. Sure, everybody gets rejected, but usually for less hurtful reasons. As a bottom, many men don’t care how well I am hung. Instead they care about how I make them feel when they fuck me, and I have learned to be a power bottom.

Guys with micropenises know we are not well-endowed, we don’t need to be reminded of it. If I’m attracted to a sexual partner, then what they have in their pants doesn’t matter to me; I care more about what that partner has in his/her heart. My extreme self-consciousness about my body makes me feel like everyone else's opinion must be right, that there is something wrong with my size. I just wish people could look past it, so I could too. Because intellectually I know my size is just a variation.

I try to look at it this way. Not everyone is attracted to red hair, or freckles, or blue eyes, or black skin, or hairy chests. People are attracted to differing qualities. As long as I can find some people who are interested in the qualities I possess, and are also interested n me personally, than I am gratified.

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lady-griffin · 4 years ago

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Hello! I was just wondering if I could ask your opinion on something :DD I was just thinking about how differently Maria's life would have been if the events of the game still followed. Would her heart be satisfied with not gaining any friends but instead a lover? Can the four boys mend the relationship between Maria and her mother like Katarina did? Would being engaged with a noble/prince give her emotional freedom or would she be ostracized by society even more? Thoughts?

I have so many thoughts on how Katarina’s impact on everyone is so much more significant than Maria’s impact/change on the guys and their impact on Maria in the game.

No shade towards Maria or the guys, but…I mean its Katarina. She’s a goddamn force of nature. None of them can compare to the positive wreckage of Hurricane Katarina.

I would say that Maria’s heart would be “satisfied” with a lover, but more because all Maria wanted was someone to look at her and see her for who she was and it’s clear that each of the guys did that for Maria, in the game’s timeline.

However, just because she’s satisfied with her situation with a romantic partner (because it’s better) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best situation for her or even that healthy for her.

While sure her relationships in Fortune Lover with the guys puts her in a better place than she started, we still have to ask how much better?

Potential Spoilers Below

It was hard for me to organize my thoughts for this question...so I’m sorry if it’s nonsensical Anon (and sorry for any grammar mistakes).

Thank you for asking me this!!

We know from Katarina, that Fortune Lover never went into Maria’s backstory. Katarina knows nothing about Maria’s backstory and even got the wrong impression from what the game chose to show her about Maria.

When Katarina played the game, she thought Maria was simply an unstoppable genius; but in the real world of Fortune Lover it’s clear that Maria worked so goddamn hard.

Maria got where she is, not because she’s another Geordo, but because she put so much time and effort into getting herself at that level.

Maria is very similar to Mary in that regard.

In Hamefura (and Fortune Lover), so many characters only see “Perfect Mary” and not all the work, time and pain she put herself through to get to that point.

That’s basically Maria’s situation with those who play Fortune Lover. They only see the end result, not her countless years of effort and struggle.

But Katarina does see it and recognize Maria for her hard work, after she meets Maria.

Each time Katarina talks about the plot or a certain event, it’s largely about how Maria emotionally saves the guys or heals them.

While the guys do physically save her form the bullies (at least Geordo and Keith), the focus is clearly more on how Maria saves their broken and lonely hearts rather than how they save her own lonely and broken heart.

Her being saved (like how the guys were) by the guys isn’t really a factor in Fortune Lover. Because she’s the vehicle for the player.

Because it’s an Otome game, the game developers clearly didn’t care enough to develop Maria further than what they needed, unlike the guys, who are the main draw of the game.

And however, this world came into existence - The game being unknowing based off the world or the world existing because of the game. The actual world of Fortune Lover, what we see in Hamefura, greatly expands and fills in the gaps that Fortune Lover left behind.

It’s safe to say that the guys didn’t impact Maria’s relationship with her mother.

While it is possible Nicol and Sophia did visit Maria’s home on Nicol’s route, I highly doubt it.

Katarina doesn’t compare her own visit to anything that happens in the game – so the guys more than likely did nothing to help mend Maria and her mother’s relationship.

On the other hand, Katarina is the catalyst for Maria and her mother.

In the Light Novel, Maria’s mother sees how happy her daughter is (with Katarina and Keith) and realizes that she needs to be better. She’s known that for a while now; but it’s finally just hitting her in that moment that if she doesn’t act soon, she’ll be left behind by her daughter and be unable to mend their relationship.

Maria’s mother can’t stay frozen in her own despair and depression if she wants to be with her daughter.

Which gives me the impression that in the game, while never brought up, Maria does leave her mother behind.

I mean she probably doesn’t abandon her mother and if she marries one of the guys, she can easily improve her mother’s situation with money.

But that’s rather hollow in comparison to Maria and her mom working on their relationship together and getting to a better place together.

Katarina doesn’t do the work for Maria and her mother, but because of Katarina, Maria is in a better place to mend her relationship with her mother and vice versa.

Katarina is the catalyst for Maria’s Mother’s self-improvement. Which is very true of Katarina with the majority of the characters she impacts in the story.

Fortune Lover - Bad Endings

I am definitely looking into this way more deeply than I should.

But given how Maria can either receive a good or bad ending with each of the guys, indicates that an actual relationship (in ‘reality’) with each guy is a dangerous thing for Maria to embark on. We can look at it like this –

If Maria’s relationship doesn’t go well with each guy, she’s so screwed…so very screwed.

Geordo’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – that probably weighed on Maria’s conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – With Katarina dead and no Geordo to protect her, it doesn’t seem crazy that the Claes family (not Keith) might or would try to retaliate against Maria.

Geordo self-exiles himself, leaving her behind – Basically the one person she bonded with and put all of her energy into leaves her. She’s alone once more. There’s also a good chance the kingdom will blame her (since Katarina’s dead) for their beloved Prince leaving them – so she’s going to be ostracized by nobles and commoners alike

Not great all-around.

Also given how twisted Geordo is in the game’s timeline, a part of me wonders if Geordo actually did love Maria in his bad route.

Or if he was simply using Maria as a reason to get rid of Katarina and escape his noble life.

Dark? Yes. Possible? I think so.

Keith’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – again, probably weighed on Maria conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – This time Maria is a key part in not only Katarina’s death, but to the Claes family losing their heir…so not great for Maria.

Injury – Maria gets injured by Katarina...or Keith is the one who gets injured, it’s unclear to me. But basically, there’s a chance she gets physically injured.

Keith disappears (goes into hiding, leaving her behind) – Once more the person she put her time and attention into leaves her. She’s all alone. Again. Nobles still probably don’t like her and neither do the commoners and there’s probably so many more vicious rumors about her at this point, because of Keith killing his sister.

Now in Alan and Nicol’s Bad Routes the consequences are less dire, significantly so, but it’s not a stretch to say Maria would still end up alone and maybe even more isolated than she started when she got their bad endings.

And of course, there is the one Bad Route where the whole Student Council (including Maria) gets murdered…

Basically, going pass the point where the game ends, Maria’s life is made so much worse by the bad routes.

Now if Katarina and Maria stopped being friends, it’s not exactly going to be rainbows and butterflies for Maria either.

But I just don’t see things being that dire for Maria IF Katarina’s bad route was to come to pass (so to speak).

I think one benefit befriending Katarina, is that if she were to leave someone (death/non-death reasons), she leaves the person in a better place.

In all honestly though, if Maria fails at romancing Katarina than basically Katarina’s bad route is that you just remain friends with her…so you know, still fucking great.

Also the Katarina route is essentially the friendship route for Maria.

Largely because the Student Council are a large group of close, childhood friends (who are all in love with Katarina) and they all befriend Maria. Which is different than how the student council was in Fortune Lover.

While Katarina is definitely the point of focus for Maria, Maria’s social group has far exceeded her expectations, not just with the student council, but even beyond them.

Fortune Lover - Good Endings (?)

Geordo and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Personally, I find it difficult to imagine that these the game versions of these two would live happily ever after.

It just seems like such a stretch that Maria undoes the 16 years of Geordo’s fucked up life and disposition in one year and everything is great and dandy afterwards.

But we are told that they do end up happily ever after, so we’re going to take the story’s word on the matter.

Maria would still end up so goddamn isolated. I mean she would be ostracized by noble society to such a scary and threatening degree if she ended up with Geordo.

Katarina is a Duke’s Daughter; she is at the top of the social hierarchy and we’ve seen how certain nobles treat her. So, imagine what Maria’s treatment would be like.

After years of being socially isolated in her town, to being bullied and socially isolated at school, to gaining all that hatred and jealousy of all those noble girls who love Geordo.

I don’t think anyone could handle that.

Geordo would probably try to get back at those people and take care of them (to possibly a dangerous degree), which I don’t think would help Maria and might even cause her to further retreat into herself.

Given how Hamefura pulls the curtains behind Fortune Lover, I just find it so difficult to truly see Maria being happy with Geordo (and vice versa).

But it’s not exactly peaches and roses with the other guys.

Alan and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

She’s definitely would be socially isolated and bullied by noble society. Probably not to the degree she would be with Geordo…but still pretty badly.

I can easily see so many noble girls being upset that even though Alan leaves the perfect Mary, he chooses the commoner Maria over them.

I guess it’s possibly for Geordo and Alan to leave their princely lives for Maria, but again, I see Maria taking the brunt of that decision from the nobles.

Nicol and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

While Nicol is described as the most normal, he and Sophia are clearly co-dependent on one another in the game, to such an unhealthy degree.

I’m sure if we knew more about Nicol’s route, Fortune Lover would have said that Maria saved the two siblings from the isolated world they only shared with one another.

But would she have? Or would she simply end up joining their isolated world?

Again, Nicol has so fans (men and women), I just see Maria being socially isolated and ostracized by noble society.

And unlike the other guys, there’s no way Nicol would abandon his duties to his family or to his noble life – he feels a great deal of responsibility towards his family and as his father’s heir.

So while her good ending with Nicol could still be a legit good ending for her, I still see some snags for the two of them.

Keith and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Probably the happiest one, in all honesty.

In the Light Novels, it’s stated that Keith and Maria elope together and Keith abandons his position as the Claes heir. Which yeah, that makes absolute sense.

There’s no way Luigi Claes would be happy with his heir marrying the girl who he would absolutely blame for his beloved daughter’s exilement? No way.

So those two would escape Noble Society together…so they would probably be okay and be able to live normal lives.

Though I will admit, it does seem like they would probably become co-dependent on one another.

Seeing as both of them have been neglected, emotionally abused, isolated and bullied by others and neither of them have probably learned the proper tools in handling all of that.

Also, I doubt there’s therapy in this world…so yeah.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t be able to save one another from their loneliness and build a foundation off of their shared experiences…but given how Fortune Lover focuses on Maria saving Keith from his loneliness and not so much the other way around –

Maria would probably be doing the brunt of the emotional work in their relationship.

…Okay, I may have been way too dark on Maria’s happy endings with the guys.

It’s more than likely her situation if she had ended up with one one of them she would’ve been fine and a lot better than what I’ve portrayed above.

But I still think she would;ve been socially isolated and ostracized (to varying degrees), while still being emotional repressed herself.

One of the reasons why Katarina saving everyone feels severely more balanced than Maria saving everyone one… is that Katarina is well-adjusted.

I mean emotionally speaking she was doing so much better than everyone else when she first met them.

Don’t get me wrong, Katarina has plenty of her own problems and issues – from her self-esteem to legit thinking her friends would abandon her or even kill her.

But Katarina was able to save everyone by just being herself.

And while Fortune Lover and Katarina basically presume that’s true for Maria… it’s not.

Because we see and get to know the real Maria and see how emotionally repressed, she was before she met Katarina.

Her saving each of the guys or all of them together, probably cost her, her own emotional freedom and salvation.

There’s the saying, the saddest people smile the brightest.

Which is not a bad saying, but it can imply a somewhat dark idea if you think about it.

The saddest people have to smile bright to save others, because they know what it’s like to be sad and don’t want that from others.

That gives the impression that those sad people don’t allow themselves to be sad or at least not in front of other people, because they always have to happy and smile brightly for others.

I think that’s Maria’s in a nutshell in Fortune Lover.

One of the beauties of Hamefura is that we see Maria needed to be saved as much as everyone else did.

She was pain and crying out as well, but since she was just the vehicle for the game and player, she wasn’t truly saved.

Maria says her big finale line to Katarina, the one that she always says to the guy she ends up with at the end of the game.

But I think the weight of it, is so much more real with Katarina than it was in Fortune Lover with the guys.

Maybe I’m completely off base, but it just feels more like it comes from a genuine desire when directed towards Katarina rather than a deeply rooted fear of being alone again.

Again, that could just be me.

I think Maria being with Katarina, platonic or romantic, is immensely healthier for Maria as an individual.

For me, I would always choose having multiple good to epic friendships over one epic romance that I’m completely dependent on.

Thaks for the ask anon. And I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense, it was just hard for me to organize and write down my thoughts for some odd reason.

#Maria Campbell #Katarina Claes #Hamefura #Otome Game No Hametsu Flag #Destruction Flag Otome #Bakarina #My Next Life As a Villainess #Fortune Lover #Anonymous

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chilling-seavey · 4 years ago

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HH wedding blurb?

Ahh thank you for this! I was surprised I actually hadn’t thought about it at all but this was fun to write. 🥰

Also can we take a second to look at that photoshop job I did yesterday- I literally scared myself when I pulled off his face swap--

September 1, 1961

“Five minutes.”

Daniel sighed heavily, adjusting his tie in the mirror for the uncountable time that morning, his impatience making him antsy. Five minutes was far too long. And that only got him in the car to the church.

Christian leaned on the doorframe of Daniel’s childhood bedroom, arms crossed over his chest and small smirk on his face.

“What?” Daniel asked, sensing his older brother’s eyes on him.

“Nothin’. It’s cute seeing you nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.” Daniel corrected, setting his hands on the top of his dresser and narrowed his eyes at himself through the mirror. “I just want to get there already.”

Christian hummed, shuffling over to stand at Daniel’s side, the two brothers staring at their reflections. Over the last three years, Daniel had earned a few more inches over his older brother and he smirked proudly at that fact in the mirror. He had grown a lot since the summer of ’58 and in more than just his height: he was freshly graduated as of that spring, had a nice little office job lined up, and had met the girl of his dreams, his soulmate.

Life was going to be good and Daniel was so impatient to just get it started. Today was the first important step.

“You look good.” Christian slapped his hand on his younger brother’s back.

“Thanks.” Daniel cracked a small smile.

“Little brother’s getting married before me. What kind of life are we living in?” Christian teased.

“After only six months of engagement at that.” their mother added from the doorway as she showed up to fetch them.

Daniel grinned bashfully and grabbed his can of hairspray for one last application. Six months certainly wasn’t a long time to be engaged but Daniel and Loretta simply couldn’t wait any longer – they probably would have wed even sooner if their parents didn’t step in to shut that idea down. They needed to have a proper wedding in a proper church after a responsible amount of time. So they agreed on six months and booked the church for a sunny September morning and were going to be married by high noon.

Christian and Daniel got into the iconic red Thunderbird and their parents and sister piled into the second car to drive towards the church.

“Roof up, Christian! I don’t want to see a single fly away on either of you boys when we get to the church!” their mother reminded as she climbed in the passenger seat of the family car.

Daniel turned up the radio as they drove through the suburbs of Los Angeles, leaning back in his seat and watching the familiar neighbourhood speed past. His anxiousness was only growing as they approached the church and he let out a deep breath as Christian found a parking spot and shifted the car into park.

“You alright?” Christian asked.

“Yeah.” Daniel breathed, glancing out the window towards the entrance of the church where a few guests were already mingling. “Let’s go.”

Christian stood at Daniel’s side as they headed towards the front doors and the friends and family members who were outside in the warm sun greeted the groom and his best man excitedly. Daniel shared kisses with his grandparents and aunts and handshakes with his uncles and Loretta’s few extended family members. They shared their excitement and well wishes as the priest invited everyone to find their seats.

“There he is!”

Daniel was barely one step into the church before Jack and Zach were rushing down the aisle towards him, their dress shoes clicking over the smooth wood floors. They nearly jumped on him, hyping him up eagerly and complimenting how sharp he looked in his suit. The three best friends hurried down the hallway to the dressing room, Jack and Zach talking Daniel’s ear off the whole way.

Usually Daniel would be chiming right in with their banter but he was far too nervous and excited and anxious to be phased. The groomsmen gathered in the small room until it would be time for the precession; Tyler already waiting in there with poured glasses of whiskey for the five of them.

They cheered to Daniel and his happy marriage he was to start that day and downed their shallow drinks.

Outside, the black limo was pulling up to the front of the church and Mrs. Howard was eagerly rushing to open the back door for her daughter. The crowd had mostly gone inside to their seats by then, meaning only the parents of the bride and her bridesmaids were outside to welcome her.

Loretta was so excited she hadn’t eaten anything all morning no matter how much her mother tried to insist. She was dressed in her white gown that fell just past her knees and was trimmed in soft lace up the bodice and across her neck and her veil was fastened into her brown curls that had been set in curlers the night before. Loretta couldn’t wipe the grin from her face from the moment she looked herself in the mirror after she was all done up.

Her father helped her step out of the limo and her bridesmaids smoothed down her dress and her veil as she straightened up.

“What time is it?” Loretta asked softly.

“11:50.” her father answered after a check to his watch.

“Ten minutes.” Loretta whined impatiently, shifting her weight from foot to foot in her nervous excitement.

“Feeling okay?” her mother asked.

“Great.” Loretta beamed.

“You’re going to crease your makeup, Lori.”

“I can’t help it.” Loretta whispered bashfully and her mother only pressed a kiss to her daughter’s cheek.

With all the guests sitting down in the church pews, the men were sent in to take their spots at the alter in a straight processional; Zach then Jack then Tyler then Christian and finally, Daniel. The groom stood beside the priest with his groomsmen lined up behind him quietly.

Loretta’s mother slunk down the aisle and sent a sweet smile and wink to Daniel and her presence – although obviously expected – made Daniel’s heart race. It meant Lori was there and she was going to be coming in any moment and he exhaled deeply with his eyes locked on the double doors at the opposite end of the aisle.

He was startled by the organ player beginning as the clock struck noon and then began the processional of the bridesmaids, starting with Tyler’s daughter dropping little flower petals down the aisle out of a wicker basket before rushing over to her mother, then each of Loretta’s closest friends in soft pink dresses made their way down the aisle. They lined up opposite the men and all smiled eagerly at Daniel. He didn’t pay much attention to them.

The guests all stood and turned towards the far doors of the church as Loretta and her father stepped inside. If you thought Loretta was grinning outside the church, you should have seen her face when she finally saw Daniel. She was smiling so wide you would think her face was stuck like that and her poor father nearly needed to hold her back from running down the aisle.

Her smile was infectious and Daniel found himself biting his lip to keep from grinning too wide, wondering why they chose the church with the longest aisle in the entire country.

Soon, Loretta was right in front of him and he took the single step off the alter and gently pulled up the front of her veil to drape it down her back and then took her hand from her father’s. The simple touch of her palm in his had Daniel filling with that familiar comfortable warmth and he politely tucked his fingers around hers, running his thumb over her knuckles.

Raymond gave Daniel a pat on his shoulder and left his only daughter with a kiss to her cheek before finding his spot beside his wife in the front row.

“You didn’t eat this morning.” Daniel whispered to Loretta as they turned to step up towards the priest.

Loretta only got half of a quiet reassurance of, “I’m okay” out before Daniel was tripping over the single step and nearly falling right on his face if it wasn’t for Loretta lunging over to grab him as the crowd gasped.

Daniel swore softly under his breath, cheeks bursting pink in embarrassment as he stabled himself – especially with Jack and Zach sniggering from a few paces away – and Loretta set a comforting hand on his chest. Meeting her eyes had Daniel biting back a nervous smile and she just giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

They stood facing each other, hands held together until the perfect warmth of their touch was nearly radiating up their arms. Daniel swore his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. The priest said his opening statements and a quick prayer and introduction as the ceremony started.

When it was time for vows, Daniel was to start, and he spoke to his bride a little faster than intended,

“I, Daniel, take you, Loretta, as my lawfully wedded wife; to be your partner in life, bounded by fate, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”

Loretta nearly cut off the priest as he passed over the same instructions to her, far too excited to wait to hear the rest of his sentence,

“I, Loretta, take you, Daniel, as my lawfully wedded husband; to be your partner in life, bounded by fate, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. I will love and honor you all the days of my life.”

Christian stepped up next with the two rings and the priest thanked him as he passed one to Daniel first, stating the lines he was to speak into truth as he slid the ring onto her finger.

Loretta offered her left hand to him, her small diamond engagement ring already placed on her fourth finger and Daniel slipped the wedding ring on next to it before looking back to her eager green eyes.

He spoke his vows shakily, as if realization was setting in at that very moment, “I give you this ring as a symbol of my undying love; with all that I am and all that I have, for now and forever, as written in the stars.”

Loretta beamed, taking the second ring from the priest and took Daniel’s left hand in hers to give him his own wedding ring, “I give you this ring as a symbol of my undying love; with all that I am and all that I have, for now and forever, as written in the stars.”

The priest looked between them with a calm smile until Loretta was sure she was going to die with impatience but he finally spoke loudly to the church congregation, “By the power vested in me, the universe, and the state of California; I now pronounce you man and wife; you may kiss the bride.”

Daniel barely leaned in before Loretta was throwing her arms around his shoulders and pushing her lips on his. He gasped lightly into it before wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her back until electricity tore down their spines right down to the tips of their toes. The room erupted into applause and cheers from their family and friends and Daniel and Loretta broke their kiss with mirrored giggles and beaming smiles.

They walked back down the aisle hand in hand and were then escorted to another room to sign their wedding certificate with their best man and maid of honour. When they were finished the legality of it all, they headed out to the limo, stepping out into the sunny afternoon to the sound of church bells and their excited family and friends tossing flower petals over them. Daniel and Loretta’s hands stayed tucked up together tightly as they moved through the crowd of their loved ones to the limo and he helped her in first before following after.

The reception was to be held at a hall farther into downtown and the whole drive there, the newly weds could hardly keep their hands off each other and Loretta was nearly draped right over Daniel’s lap in the backseat of the limo as they kissed softly between continuous ‘I love you’s.

“I’m so happy.” Loretta whispered, scratching her fingers through the back of his hair.

“Me too.” Daniel smiled, giving her hip a little quick squeeze as they both leaned in for another quick kiss.

“I’m so hungry.” Loretta breathed through a soft chuckle, still tucked up close beside him so their noses were brushing.

“Why didn’t you eat this morning?” Daniel asked softly.

“Too excited. I enjoyed your French toast though.” Loretta giggled.

“Good.” Daniel laughed, “Christian made it special.”

“Don’t talk about your brother when I’m going to kiss you.”

“How was I supposed to kno-”

She shut him up with that expected kiss and they breathed out soft laughter into it like teenagers.

When the limo arrived at the public hall, they were the first ones there and the photographer was there to take a few photographs as the guests started to arrive and soon everyone headed inside. They weren’t wealth by any means but the hall was nicely decorated by their mothers with white streamers and table linens and polished silverware. Their food was catered by Sherry’s of course and the servers at the hall had a strawberry milkshake at the head table when everyone headed inside, topped with a perfect swirl of whipped cream and a cherry and two straws.

The live band played music throughout the afternoon and Daniel and Lori shared their milkshake and ate their lunch right up next to each other until it was time for their first dance. You can probably guess what song they chose; walking to the middle of the dancefloor together as the intro to Elvis’ I Want You, I Need You, I Love You was played by the band. They held each other close and swayed to the song they knew all too well, Daniel singing softly to his bride as she held him close and buried her proud smile into his shoulder. His hands glided over the lace of her dress, keeping away from the curve of her bum like a true gentleman, no matter how many hand gestures Jack and Zach threw at him from across the room to ‘go lower!’. Daniel just smiled and pressed a kiss to Lori’s cheek, giving her hips a squeeze as he pulled her closer, perfectly innocent, perfectly in love.

Next was time to cut the cake and the photographer got set up as everyone crowded around the small circular table in the corner of the room. The layered white cake was decorated in white flowers and topped with the bride and groom figurine – a cherished keepsake that would be accidentally broken by their children a few years in the future – and Daniel took the knife from the dessert plate beside it.

“Get nice and close now.” the photographer instructed.

Daniel shuffled up behind Loretta and they each set their hand on the handle of the knife, slicing a clean cut in the vanilla cake and then a second to pull out a piece.

“Good work.” Loretta praised them as they flopped the piece of cake onto the plate.

Daniel picked up the plate and went to reach for a fork but she was just picking up the piece in her bare hand and pushing it into his mouth. Daniel laughed as she fed him, the icing getting all over her hand and his face with the ungracefulness of it all but it was very them and their guests all shared a sweet “aww”.

After a full afternoon of food and dancing and good music and company, the guests started to leave; each one sharing well wishes with the couple before heading out into the evening. Daniel and Loretta were soon seen off by their immediate families, getting back in the limo with cheeks that hurt from smiling for hours on end and hands that didn’t seem to want to disconnect. Each of their suitcases that were brought over by their parents were put away in the trunk and they were waved off to the start of their honeymoon. They spent a night at a hotel in LA and early the next morning flew across the country to experience New York City in the early fall for a few weeks. The first few days of the rest of their lives mapped out in front of them.

#i also did not edit this because i wrote it in one go and i am starving #so dont mind any mistakes lol #im going to eat!#🍓#daniel seavey #why dont we #soulmate au #daniel seavey fanfic #soulmate!wdw

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rpgmgames · 5 years ago

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November’s Featured Game: Grimm's Hollow

DEVELOPER(S): ghosthunter ENGINE: RPG Maker 2003 GENRE: Indie RPG, Adventure WARNINGS: Discussions of death, losing a loved one, grief SUMMARY: Grimm’s Hollow is a spooky, freeware RPG where you search the afterlife for your brother. Reap ghosts with your scythe, explore haunted caves, and eat ghostly treats on your journey through death.

Download the game here! Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *BB: My name's Bruno and I did some of the music along with Nat! I’m super happy to have participated in this game! *NW: I’m Nat Wesley, a.k.a. Natbird! I’m a composer available for hire with a few projects in the works. I’m honored to have had the chance to work on the soundtrack to Grimm’s Hollow! *GH: Hello! I go by ghosthunter online; I started developing RPGs with a friend in school when we found out that we both enjoyed RPG Horror. I enjoy art, webcomics, cartoons and narrative-driven indie games a lot. I bought RM2K3 on sale and started pouring pixel art into it, before learning how to do things like chase scenes, cutscenes, etc. I used to fantasize about making my own game, drawing dungeons and ghosts in the back of my sketchbooks, before I finally started Grimm’s Hollow. Now I’m near the end of high-school, and I’m hoping the best for uni!

What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially? *GH: Grimm’s Hollow, originally, wasn’t as ambitious or personal. It was simply just going to be “my first game”, something that I could finally put my doodles and RM2K3 skills to. I wanted a game that a younger me would have enjoyed, back when I first discovered the classic RPGMaker games and replayed them constantly for those endings. That was my initial inspiration. It eventually evolved into an action turn-based RPG that relies on timing, yet it’s mostly narrative-driven. You traverse death in search of your sibling, and try to make an escape. There are unexpected pieces of me that ended up in this game, some of which I’m still noticing even now.

How long have you been working on your project? *GH: Since the summer of June 2018.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *GH: Standstill Girl, OFF by Mortis Ghost, Undertale, Over The Garden Wall, and the animation medium in general.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *GH: Many! Making your first game is such a giant learning curve, that the list of challenges goes on. I would say that the most difficult issue I encountered (and that, in some ways, I am still facing after release) is working around the limitations of the game engine I am using. I wanted to see whether creating an engaging but simple 1-party RPG in RM2K3 (without going completely custom) was feasible, and I experimented with quick time events as part of that. I worked around the engine’s built-in formulae so players could see progress when they upgraded their stats - although the game might display as defence as “10”, in reality the game stores it as 40 since the engine splits defence by 4. Since I did not want to create an RPG which was too complex for my first game, I also scrapped traditional staples such as armour or weapons. There were also issues such as having an appropriate “game over” handling event which wouldn’t shoot you back to the title screen after you lost a battle; getting RM2K3 to play a small cutscene where you faint and respawn somewhere else was tricky. I felt that if the player had to reload after a loss, it would disrupt the game flow.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *GH: Like I mentioned before, the game started off impersonal. I just had a soft spot for a spooky cute aesthetic, and I wanted to indulge in that. It was (and in its essence, still is) meant to be a short story, to keep the player invested for the short game length - nothing grandiose. The original draft did not have Baker play a role in the narrative - he was just an ordinary shopkeeper NPC. For a long time during development, Lavender did not even have a name. In the very first draft, she was a silent protagonist the player could name and customize. But she played a very active role in the final outline, so it was hard not to give her own unique voice when one emerged from the narrative naturally. I am glad I did; she grew on me quite quickly! Grimm was virtually unchanged from beginning to end. The only difference was that a close friend suggested that he seemed like he would be into drinking Oolong tea - so that’s what he offers you when you meet him. Timmy also did not go under massive overhauls like Lavender and Baker did, but his relationship with Lavender became much more fleshed out as I wrote the narrative. In other facets of the game’s design, there were not many changes to the original prototype.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *GH: It was just myself, doing the art, writing, programming, etc. But halfway through creating the second cave, I realised I would need a very specific sound for Grimm’s Hollow. So, I contacted Nat for music, but I also created a post on tumblr calling for a composer since there were many tracks to make. I met Bruno as a result! I am very happy with their work and I am so grateful I’ve got to work with them! (Some players are asking for an OST release, which is in the works).

What is the best part of developing a game? *GH: I really enjoyed the early stages of development: creating new tilesets, sprites and maps and piecing them together in the editor, then taking a small screenshot and sharing it with my friend over summer vacation … It was nice to see the game’s world slowly come together. I think that’s what I enjoyed the most from beginning to end: that sense of world-building, that sense of relaxation from making a small cosy game. The latter started to disappear as work and other responsibilities started to intrude, and pressure began to seep into development time - but I never stopped loving making the world and characters. I also want to say that, by lucky chance, I have met a lot of kind people from making my first game. I’m very grateful for that, so thank you to everyone.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *GH: All the time! Other RPG Maker 2003 projects are great inspirations for pixel art tilesets, as well as how to code harder features such as custom menus. They’re also just fun to play.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *GH: Lavender and Timmy are relatable to me in multiple ways. I can’t elaborate on Timmy since that would go into spoiler territory, but I somewhat relate to Lavender’s insistence on managing her life on her own - sometimes to her own detriment. I’d say the most fun character to write for was Grimm. He can be unintentionally silly while speaking in the most formal way, but also very caring too. Everything he does and says was easy to write, whereas I had to think harder for the interactions between everyone else - especially for very crucial scenes regarding their development. That being said, my favourite is still the game’s central two siblings. I can not pick between them for the life of me.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *GH: I wish I started testing even earlier! Not only does it give you a good sense of what’s missing, but seeing people enjoy what you’ve made yet get hindered by bugs is a very strong incentive to fix your game immediately. When I was lacking motivation or was stuck, I found that good feedback and support made me motivated again. I also wish that I could have pushed the deadline a little further, or perhaps released the game on Early Access since it will take me a while to refine post-release bugs - but as it is, the 31st of October really was the deadline for my game due to external circumstances (no, that deadline wasn’t just because it was Halloween!). Other than that, I wonder if using an updated version of RPG Maker would have produced the same game …? It’s hard to tell, but I hope people enjoy it for what it is - I will be working on that post-release patch soon!

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *GH: There are no current plans, but I would be happy to have the opportunity to improve and expand on the game. As it is, the game’s released for free and done as a hobby, so I would struggle to do that by myself.

What do you most look forward to now that you have finished the game? *GH: Earlier on, I was really looking forward to players’ reactions. Games are made to be fun, and I would have felt distraught if my game didn’t achieve what it was set out to do. Yet it was not just about the gameplay; it was about the narrative. I hoped that what I found funny, the player would too; what was heartfelt to me, was heartfelt to the player as well. Like sharing a laugh, or just a good experience together. I hoped they would enjoy the feeling that went into it, despite the struggle of making it against circumstance and limitations. Now, I look forward to resting and sleeping once this over. I want to explore my other interests, improve, and explore new media. I want to relax, and refocus again like I was before the heat of development.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *GH: Bugs! Some are easy to fix, but others are harder due to the limitations of the engine (e.g an error in one ending is caused by an overflow error).

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *GH: Show your game as early as possible, to as many people as possible. As soon as you have something playable, it’s ready for feedback. You’ll see if that game mechanic you spent hours refining works, or if it doesn’t work and why. You’ll understand what players enjoy and what they want more of, but also what they don’t like or don’t enjoy. And you will definitely encounter bugs. You’ll be able to pinpoint and fix minor problems early on that can easily become a larger issue later. You’ll be able to fine-tune your game so its best bits shine, and the difficulty is just right.

Question from last month's featured dev @dead-dreams-dev: Is there anything you’ve added to your game for no other reason than because you’re hoping fans will get a kick out of it? Fanservice, fourth wall breakage, references to other games, jokes, abilities that are just ridiculously overpowered and badass, etc? *GH: It’s hard to say; game design is trying to find the intersection between what’s good for the player, what the developer enjoys, and what’s feasible to implement. Every decision made should be conscious of that … I think a lot of the game’s early light-hearted jokes was not only made because I enjoyed it, but I hoped the player would “get a kick out of it” too. But more so, I think it’s because I would struggle to write a story which is serious and bleak from beginning to end. The game is a little self-indulgent in the narrative that way.

We mods would like to thank ghosthunter & team for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Grimm's Hollow if you haven’t already! See you next month!

- Mods Gold & Platinum

#rpgmaker #rpg maker games #indie games #pixel games #rpg #adventure #cute #grimms hollow #grimm's hollow #gotm #game of the month #gotm 2019 #2019 #game of the month 2019 #november #november 2019

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press-x-tojason · 4 years ago

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Giant Bomb is dead, and I care way less than I thought I would. Probably because 83% of the people who I ever cared about had already left or died, or were already relegated to reduced content roles.

Honestly, though, the writing’s been on the wall for a bit. They haven’t had anything worthy of paying for premium in several years, and, even though they’ve had well over a year to figure out a plan for the COVID era, they maybe made it a month with their plans to have a series of streams daily. I actually managed to forget I followed them on Twitch at all, for about 4 months, because they only streamed the podcasts and the occasional former Harmonix employee (who was literally paid to make content with their games while employed at Giant Bomb, which was funny because he blocked me on Twitter for making a post, addressing no one, back in 2014, which was asking about the legitimacy of the leaked list of “games “””””journalists”””””” who had taken money from publishers for positive reviews, a list which included him and multiple then-coworkers. I didn’t follow him, he didn’t follow me. He was manually searching the keywords, because he was, and is, a prick.) solo Rock Band stream in the last 8 months or so. Even when Jeff would manage to do one of his 20 streams from home a year, it would be on his own channel. There was just no content. And they’re surprised their “pay for our unique premium content!” model failed. They always “feigned” anger at Dan for “making” them do the Mario Party Parties, and literally never promoted his and Drew’s Metal Gear series after the first game... but I bet that, when only those, UPF, and the ad-free versions of the podcasts were premium features, those two series were keeping them afloat. Well, that and the remaining goodwill they miraculously managed to hold onto for a few years after Ryan died. Shit, I follow several people who are GB staff-adjacent, and... I can’t think of the last time they mentioned anything that happened on-site. Even the people who’ve been directly supporting them for over 10 years were out.

But yeah, the site is super dead. They pretended in the announcements like they’re going to make a go of it still, but... you’ve got like 4 content people left, and the only one people give a shit about is Jeff. You just saw 3/4 of the side of the site that was still trying these past several months jump ship in a 3 month span. One of those was, by nearly any definition, a founding member. Of which you had already lost one, and are losing another from the main side. Jeff’s been way less active until the last week or two, probably because he heard they were leaving and was like “oops, should probably check on the ship that’s been sinking for years!” Then you have Jason “The Human Mumble” Oestricher, the charisma vacuum, whose legitimate public-facing reaction to first hearing that all but one of his GB predecessors were going to be gone. was, and I quote, “Hoo Boy.” Ben and Jan are the definition of “fine”. They would have been great, as they are today, as secondary members 8-10 years ago. But carry the site, they cannot. They’re down to, what, 5 named members now? It hasn’t been that dire since the beginning of 2009, before they hired Drew, when they hadn’t even started the P4 endurance run. You know, that surprise massive, internet-changing thing that essentially popularized the Let’s Play concept, loosening its definition and making it something that could be as personality-driven as game-driven, made simply to give them something to put on the website, beyond the rare review and, slightly later, quick look. This kinda illustrates the problem with modern Giant Bomb. When they were figuring shit out, flying by the seats of their pants, they came up with great shit, and they gave enough of a shit to make it happen. 0.000% chance they do a 10 hour Thanksgiving Kinect stream if the Kinect was new today. 0.000% chance the core members would have done an endurance run in the last 10 years if CT and Shenmue (which I haven’t watched) weren’t driven by the younger members. And you could see it in the fact that they never made a real, true mobile app. The number one thing that would have made them indispensable this past decade, an app to integrate premium features, the podcast, their video player, etc. all in one place in a mobile-friendly package, that could sync with the website... and they never even raised the idea publicly. I wonder how much of the innovation was the group think-tank of the first 5 years. Beyond Dan’s couple major contributions, I don’t think they added a single new type of content after 2012, which... still means the last 6.5 years lacked any semblance of innovation. I guess that’s a big part of why I fell off tremendously quickly after late 2014. There was just nothing new, and believe me, I was looking. I wanted reasons to stay watching. I supported them with my dollar. I believed in those brave early days. And I went back yesterday to watch the DP endurance run from VJ again. I still miss that rapport. And really, that hurt, too. Vinny moving back east, less than a year after Ryan passed... short term, it was fine. You had more people than ever to cover the gaps. But the spark was gone. The chemistry made the site. When I think of Giant Bomb, I still think of Jeff, Vinny, and Ryan, first and foremost. Those early podcasts, the NintenDownloads, the crazy tangents that everyone could seamlessly follow up on(well, except Brad, because he essentially slept through most of the podcasts, unless he was talking about the thing he did that week), the weird high-concept GOTY stuff... it wasn’t perfect, but you were entertained. You laughed. You were engaged. It never felt like you were watching them working, even though you could see the work they put in. It felt like, when they released something, you were experiencing a group of legitimate friends doing what they wanted to do anyways.(And boy have I seen enough groups do everything they can to NOT be enjoying doing that, and break up as a result due to hating the jobs that they chose to do).

Part of me would love to make it as simple as “Ryan died, and so did the original spirit”, and... to a degree, it’s true. If you go back to any retrospective they’ve done about the founding of the site, or the podcast they recorded after Ryan passed, you can’t help but recognize that Giant Bomb never happens if these core members don’t all quit their jobs, led by Ryan, because they respect their boss/manager, Jeff, and know he’s doing the right things(for them, for the reader/viewer, etc.) ahead of what GameSpot management wants him to do. Jeff could have been left in the wilderness, trying find a spot elsewhere, with the rumor going around between executives that Jeff wasn’t going to help them promote anything, essentially killing their revenue. He would have been done in terms of getting employed by a major site. But Ryan first, and soon after, Vinny and Brad, gave up their jobs to make this fledgling little project go. As much as the ERs brought me in and gave the impression that Jeff and Vinny were the long-standing duo, no, it was Ryan who was Jeff’s partner in crime. And, 8 years later, I can comfortably say... Giant Bomb never recovered from losing him.

But it was so much more. Everything that set them apart slowly went away, in time. I don’t think they’ve posted reviews for games in consecutive MONTHS since 2017; 2018 at the latest. They have done one Endurance Run in 9 years. They have not had a meaningful live event in 6 years. Unprofessional Fridays were more formulaic and lesser in volume and frequency after the major players started moving east. The lack of coordination between coasts killed the camaraderie, to the point that I think one of the last 5 true gameplay crossovers was their series of 2016-2017 PUBG shitfests. I remember when Vinny starting GBEast was supposed to be the start of a new era of content, and... it was, but not in a positive way, like it sounded. When half of each side seemed to constantly have no interest in making anything, nothing got made. But I guess that’s what happens when your second in command in one of your headquarters is just a former marketing grunt with an attitude problem, and the guy with the biggest ego on the team is the one who refuses to move to join either side, and just pushes out the most self-important drivel as a header to what were literally just copy-pasted articles from other sites every week while sitting at his desk, dreaming of the days Gawker would pay him to plagiarize political drivel instead, because that’s what really gets the soulless clicks. One of your founding members becomes depressed due to losing his two closest work friends, one for real, one to a 3000 mile separation, within a year, while the other one who is left virtually stopped playing anything but DOTA 2 for 2 years. Suddenly your most prominent personalities are the 2 new guys(one the aforementioned charisma vacuum, the other a walking mark) and your previously-mostly-off-camera producer who is best known to the wider Internet for... blinking. So, yeah, lifeless. And NOW, all you’ve got is old melancholy dad, charisma vacuum dad, and the two ADHD kids whose defining trait is that they choose to exclusively refer to their partners as “my partner” in voices that make it sound like they are embarrassed to have partners, while also talking more about what their partners are doing than what they do. It’s confounding.

But yeah, TL:DR: RIP zombie Giant Bomb. Glad you’re finally getting taken behind the shed. It took 3 years too long, minimum.

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rpgsandbox · 6 years ago

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A special kind of magic happens when kids gather around a table to play a fantasy role-playing game. Legends are born, friendships are forged, and they begin to experience real-world personal growth.

For the past seven years, we have been using tabletop games as therapy to help kids become more confident, creative and socially empowered. We're ready to help thousands of children around the world, but we need your help!

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Critical Core is brought to you by Game to Grow, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, and co-developed with autism advocates, parents, therapists, and educators.

Suitable for cognitive age 9+, including teens and adults.

2 to 4 players recommended, plus one adult that acts as the facilitator. (Game Master)

Players must have basic listening and verbalization skills.

When running games with young players on the spectrum, parent or certified therapist should be present.

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Facilitator's Guide - For parents, therapists, and Game Masters, our best practices on running fun and effective therapeutic gaming groups.

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Adventure Modules - Tested and tuned to be challenging and fun.

Dice (4 sets) - One for each player, one for the Game Master. Enough to run a 3 player game out-of-the-box.

Character Sheets - 4 popular hero archetypes, each with their own unique abilities.

Game Cards - Not required for play, but helpful aids for both players and Game Masters - Visualization, quick-reference rules, and spell cards.

Game Tokens - Visualization aids for working with the included map.

Reusable map - whiteboard marker friendly.

Please note: Artwork shown is work-in-progress and may be subject to change!

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Critical Core is built on established developmental frameworks and distills seven years of practical gaming therapy experience into an easy-to-use format. It is an amazing tool that can be used at home, at school, in a therapist’s office, or out in the community. And above all, it's great fun.

Game to Grow - Adam Davis (MA Ed) and Adam Johns (LMFT)

Critical Core is brought to you by Game to Grow, a 501(c)(3) organization that runs tabletop RPG therapy gaming groups every week. Founders Adam Johns and Adam Davis are distilling 7 years of experience and best practices into the Critical Core project so that the benefits of intentional gaming can be spread to an even wider audience.

Virginia Spielmann (MSOT) - Executive Director of STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder in Denver, Colorado.

Virginia is a British trained Occupational Therapist with more than 20 years experience working in pediatrics. Virginia co-leads the development of the Critical Core Project, defining the system within the established DIR Floortime™ framework of developmental intervention.

mcgarrybowen Greater China - creative agency

The Critical Core project was initiated and co-created by creative agency mcgarrybowen Greater China as part of an ongoing program to provide creative solutions for social good.

ICDL - The Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning

A not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting each person's development to their fullest potential. ICDL was formed over 20 years ago to be the official home of DIR® and DIRFloortime, recognized as the next generation of evidence-based intervention for autism and other developmental challenges.

Your passion and support can make Critical Core a reality. Please, pledge now and then get a friend to do the same. Together we can bring the incredible benefits of intentional gaming to those who need it most.

We're committed to getting this right. The majority of our time will be spent improving and refining the Critical Core Starter Set with the feedback from beta testers and testing groups. We also have some final artwork and design work to take care of, and of course there is the physical production. We'll be keeping you informed throughout the process, and probably asking for some help and advice along the way!

Game to Grow is a not-for profit 501(c) company, and our donations are allocated to helping run game groups for kids across the Seattle region. Kickstarter is important for two reasons:

First, you are an amazing community, and if anyone can help spread the word about the incredible benefits of role-playing games, it's you!

Second, there are costs involved in developing and manufacturing Critical Core, so Kickstarter helps us to produce this amazing project!

Perhaps you already have a favorite role-playing game and are wondering how Critical Core can fit into your gaming life. Like many of you, we are avid gamers and have many games we’ve loved for years.

Critical Core can improve the games you’re already playing.

If you’re already playing an established RPG with your kids, your students, or your community, Critical Core can still help you improve your game and boost your outcomes.

Critical Core contains a rule system, designed to be easily accessible to a neuro-diverse population as well as new facilitators, but that’s not all! If you are already established using a game that you enjoy and find effective, you’ll be able to use the other components of Critical Core that are designed to support a game facilitator in helping their players learn and grow.

Critical Core contains a unique module design where in-game scenarios are targeted to real-world development outcomes. This can be translated to most established role-playing games. Additionally, the Critical Core kit includes a facilitator’s guide which contains the learnings of the past seven years of facilitating role-playing games for social growth.

Do I need prior experience with role-playing games to run Critical Core? No. Critical Core is a 'rules-light' tabletop RPG, and the instructions will be designed to help brand new Game Masters quickly learn how to facilitate games that are enriching and fun. We are also planning to release video guides and tutorials to help you out!

I'm already playing tabletop RPGs with my kids!

Awesome! You already know the amazing benefits we're talking about. You also know from experience, that tabletop RPGs can be easy to pick up and play, but learning how to be a great Game Master can be challenging, especially for new players.

Why not use an established role-playing game platform?

Critical Core's rule set is adapted from D&D's 5th Edition Open SRD. We have taken out some of the complexity for new players and Game Masters. Think of Critical Core as an entry-level platform: easier for parents, schools, and clinics to pick up and play.

Are you trying to replace my favorite game?

No way! We see Critical Core as a stepping stone to the wide world of RPG gaming. Actually, we hope that as kids grow familiar and comfortable with the system, they can move on to your favorite platform. If you're already using some of the great games out there, then more power to you!

So how is Critical Core different?

We have applied our experience and best practices to help children (and caregivers) have the most effective and fun experience possible.

Meticulously designed adventure content to help empower kids with social and problem-solving challenges.

Game encounters, guidebooks, mechanics heavily influenced by established developmental frameworks (DIR/Floortime).

Rules have been adapted to be easier for new players and Game Masters to pick up.

Adventures divided into 'one-shot' chapters that can be completed in 90 minutes.

Goldilocks Content' - not too complex/scary and not too easy/cartoony. Just right.

I've been GM'ing for years, what's in this for me?

For starters, you'll be able to pick up the Critical Core system in minutes. We have had inquiries from organizations from across the globe who want to start using Critical Core. You could be a great mentor or GM partner for Critical Core games. Please contact us for more info on how you can help!

Kickstarter campaign ends: Fri, April 26 2019 8:00 AM BST

Website: Game to Grow

#RPG #kickstarter #Critical Core #Game to Grow #autism

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aspiestvmusings · 5 years ago

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ZEP: Max & Zoey - Thoughts 1

Here’s my take... on some of the storylines/scenes/lines:

Again.. super long post. SPOILERS up to 1x10, and possibly hints at what is coming. Hence...SPOILER WARNING.

Analyzing the M/Z storylines from the perspective of “things that fans don’t understand or like about Max’s character behaviour”. And possibly providing a different perspective to look at some of the things/behaviour...

Mentions of Z/S relationship/storylines.

In the Pilot Max was encouraging Zoey to go after Simon, cause he knew she’s interested in the new guy... but that changed...at about the time she/he/they found out the guy is taken/engaged. That’s the moment when his “best friend mode” kicked in & tried to not let Zoey make her past mistake again with overly complicated, exhausting for everyone & not good relationship choices...

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The one & only reason I can’t be Team Simon.

I cannot ever consider Team Simon for one simple reason - the writers had the character be in a relationship/engaged...when his emotional affair with Zoey started. IF he would have been single, I could talk about choosing sides/teams, but this single fact takes Simon out of the equation. No matter how good looking, cool, hot, or compatible he might be with Zoey. No matter if their relationship grows in the future... Their first moments were cheating (on Jessica), and no matter how “human” and “real”, that is the line for me that shan’t be crossed. And the fact that the relationship ended does not change what happened before - they kissed while he was still engaged. You can’t take that back. IF the writers would have made him single..since start...I could debate which Team I’m on, but the fact he was engaged eliminates him for me. But none of their cute moments or shared grief bond... or hot dances change the simple fact that he cheated on Jessica.

Sidenote: if we’re talking cast, then I'm both Team Skylar AND Team John C. Those two gents are both great AND they can both sing!

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Yes, unless Max knows something we don’t know about Zoey (that she, just like her dad, actually, secretly loves big gestures and moments) his choice for how he professed his love seems to be wrong way to declare his love for this specific lady. Because according to what we know Zoey is not into music (but then again...the use of a flash mob was a plot twist device by the writers... who just decided to use that surprise for Max/Zoey, when it could’ve been any other character... but this was simply done so that the show could mess with Zoey’s powers and give her character “oh, this isn’t in my head, this is real” moment.) But... that’s just a possible bad choice by the character, not anything horrible. And that’s the way he knows how to say it, even if a small, personal, reveal seems more Zoeys style.

But... are we actually correct in assuming this? After the flashmob she never once mentioned anything about it being “too much of a public declaration for her taste”. She even called it “an amazing gesture”, which tells us that while she might be uncomfortable with “big moments” in general (public speaking...), she is comfortable with them with people she’s closed to (her dad, her best friend...) And we saw her talk about it with Max & with Mo. Her only worry was related to him telling her, in reality (not just in her mind...via heart song) that he has feelings for her. She has not shown any worry regarding it being done via “grand gesture”. So... is it possible that it actually isn’t so “not her” as we assume?

Just as perhaps Max from 1x09 is not as “passive” and “not interested in promotion” as Max from 1x01? Perhaps time & peer reviews, and everything else...has changed him? And he’s actually interested in climbing the career ladder.,.. as opposed to the Max in the Pilot, who told Zoey that he does not want any of that...

Maybe Zoey is her fathers daughter, and actually (secretly) loves big moments & grand gestures? Because her dad is all about “big moments”. And maybe it’s actually really appropriate for Max to tell Zoey about his feelings this way, in “big moments/grand gesture” style flash mob? To honor her dad...in a way. Cause Mitch loves these kind of moments & Mitch is No 1 in Zoey’s life, so... maybe we’re all wrong in assuming it was “not Zoey’s style”?

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From Max’s POV this is what’s going on with Zoey/his relationship with Zoey:

She ends their regular movie nights...with no explanation. Something that they’ve done...forever...since they are best friends. (He probably thinks it’s because of her dad’s health and that she’s focused on..that... after her promotion he even asks if her “weidness” is because of “her dad” and/or her now being his boss)

She starts acting strangely...around him, and general...and she doesn’t talk to him anymore (it’s been implied that they’re BFF and talk about everything... but she hasn’t told him what’s up with her). He wonders if it’s because of her dad’s health and everything related to it (but he doesn’t know if its only because of that, or if there’s something more/else, too)

He has feelings for her, but he doesn’t tell her (she only finds out cause she can hear his heart songs). Finding out that her BF has deeper feelings for her freaks her out, even though he himself does not pressure her or anything like that..yet. She is the one who assumes their “discussion” at work is presumed as “lovers quarrel” & she is the one who presumes that “is it a date” means he considers a meal together as date...when all he means is “are you free to go” (to the new place which they both wanted to go to..as friends) Up until the flash mob there is zero “pushing” from him.

He only sings love songs to her when he’s single - during the time he’s dating someone else (Autumn) he stops singing to her, because he’s not a cheater. When he’s with someone, he’s with that someone, and devoted to that person..only. So he stops for a while.

He sees & hears her say that the thing she had for/with Simon is over (1x06) & that she’s not doing any of that anymore. Since she doesn’t talk about any of it with him, this is all he knows so he assumes she meant it, and she’s done chasing the engaged man. This is also probably the only inside info she has on the whole Z/S situation - what he sees/hears during the “burnt roses” moment. (So... it is not a nice surprise when he learns in 1x08 that after everything her words were not true, cause it’s not all over/done with S...)

Why he doesnt believe her right away when she tells him of her powers: As a rational person he has a hard time believing her claims about superpowers at first. Also... it seems like such a “lie” to change the subject, and simply avoid giving him an honest answer (yes OR no) But after hearing some more facts he starts believing. And by the time she “glitches” he has no doubt that she’s going through all this...

Both Zoey and Max are emotionally challenged. (tbh, just like Max I believed Autumn when she said that all is cool when they broke up during their morning jog. I’m emotionally challenged, too. I honestly did not know that what she said and what she thought/felt were different, so I get why it came as a surprise to him to learn she wasn’t cool about it) The whole Autumn/Max break-up tells us that Max doesn’t get the subtle clues, and needs to hear the words to know the truth. Hence he believes what Zoey tells him... at first.

He misreads her signals in 1x05 - 1x06 - 1x07 (”I need more Max”, reinstating their movie nights, touching his bicep, commenting she needs more Max in her life, checking him out when he’s shirtless, etc), and based on that confesses his love for her via flashmob. What surprises him is not so much that she doesn’t respond with the same, but that she doesn’t give him an answer...at all. (Mo explained it best to Zoey...later; the boy deserved an answer... even if it’s “I don’t know...yet”. Also... we’ve never heard her say that she didn’t appreciate it because it was a big gesture...so she might not be as uncomfortable with the gesture as we think) Instead she runs, and then she avoids giving him an answer, kinda changing the subject, and telling him about her powers. Instead of telling him the truth right away, cause truth might hurt, but it’s better than avoidance/ignoring.

This is shown later in the episode, when after Zoey finally gives him her...messy & selfish answer... he’s hurt, but content. She tells him that the reasons why she isn’t ready to go from friends to more is because her focus has to be on her dad for now & because she’s afraid that “they” won’t work out & she’ll lose her best ftiend...for good... and she can’t risk that... at this time. This is not the answer he hoped for, but as Mo predicted...this is the answer he accepts. That can be seen in the elevator scene with Simon. He’s OK with waiting & this not being the right time (cause she needs to focus on her dad at the moment). He also doesn’t say they’re done, he asks what she asked - pressing pause on their traditional friends activities like movie nights.

During the 1x07 end elevator convo he also learns that the totally engaged man has been “keeping tabs” on Zoey & Z/M. Which concerns him. Cause why is an engaged man looking at other women & paying attention to whom they socialize with (when his focus should only be on his fiancee)? Like Mo, he probably thinks “the guy is a player” after this convo. And again... he, as Zoey’s friend, is not in the wrong, when he thinks he should “protect” her from the morally questionable guy.

Then in the “very next day basically” he learns that she wasn’t completely honest with him. And since she promised 100% honesty to him, he’s hurt that she as his friend isn’t being honest. She sings him a love song (it is possible that she wasn’t aware of her deep feelings for him...but after this she definitely is...100%)...but then tries to take back the honesty and claim that the truth she spoke is not the truth. But what really hurts him is how her “honesty” from their last convo turns out to be a lie (and we know it is, because we’ve seen Zoey tell her mom & Mo about her real feelings, not the cleaned up version she told Max at the end of 1x07) - and he voices why he’s upset. It’s not because she doesn’t return his feelings, it’s because she wasn’t honest with her best friend. Because through her heart songs he knows for a fact that she has feelings for him - that she loves him, too. So he’s not upset that she doesn’t love him back. He even says it during their bathroom convo - the best reason to be “mad” at her is that she told him she loves him/she’s his, when she didnt mean to tell him this (the truth). Meaning: she thinks it’s “unfair” he’s upset that “she sang him a heart song, when she didn’t mean to”... or in other words: she thinks it’s fair to keep the truth a secret from him...and this rigth after she promised 100% honesty to him... and he doesn’t agree with the secret-keeping.

We saw Max’s feelings progression since Pilot: in 1x01 he THINKS he’s in love with her, in 1x02 he’s a SUCKER for her & by 1x07 he fully admits he LOVES her. With Zoey the timeline is..kinda... starting in 1x06... The “500 miles” moment is her “I think I love you” moment & her heart song to him in 1x08 is basically her “I love you” moment.

She claims she isn’t ready for a relationship because she needs to focus on her dad right now, when in reality she really is torn between two men - and she wants Max to be her emotional support and shoulder to lean on (knowing he loves her, and knowing that he knows that she knows he loves her), while she herself is pursuing another man, Simon. An engaged man she’s obsessed with cause she “finds his body hot & has a grief bond with”. (in reality: her role has mostly been being his grief therapist - and she’s not really told him about her dad that much...so it’s pretty much one-sided anyway) But just as she didn’t want to be the other woman, he doesn’t want to be the other man/third wheel... and that’s understandable.

Then when Max gets the job offer he goes to his best friend for support. And while I personally read the scene as him saying “no, that was not the right answer, but it gave me mine (I’m taking the job)” being a response to her asking “was this the right answer?” because this meant she wasn’t still being honest with him, and instead of giving her her true answer she gave him the answer she thought he wanted to hear... I am willing to accept that what the writers meant was that he wanted her to give a more personal answer and/or ask him to stay because he is a valuable member of the team.

Her reply was as his boss, and co-worker/friend. She only focused on their work relationship, not their personal friendship. She’ll miss sitting across from him... not that she’ll miss him outside work (and yes...it’s only two floors up, and working in different departments does not mean they can’t hang out oustide work...) but still her answer did not include her role as best friend/possible future romantic partner....even when he asked her to specify the “I’m Your’s Zoey’s” answer - she only focused on the work related part when replying...to that. This gave him the clarity needed - she’s not into him, so he did the right thing & put space between them. Since she didn’t include the “I’m Yours Zoey” that meant to him that she’d choosen Simon...and just as it’s very human to grieve and cheat...it's also very human to feel hurt/heartbroken. And he should not have to subject himself to seeing her with someone else (when he knows she has feelings for both) - making the same mistakes over again she’s made before with her relationships. So his choice was the right one...for both. They need time apart, time to grow as individuals, time to reflect...

Yes his speech in 1x10 was directed mostly to her, but he was adressing the whole 4th floor/Team, really. Cause no-one stood up to give him a “good luck” hug when he came to collect his things. And his best friend didn’t even have any encouraging words to him...on the day he moved to the 6th floor.... and even admitted she didn’t get to get him a “good luck gift” (which he could just assume is because she’s busy with her dad, but we know that while she had 4 days to buy that pen/mouse...and didn’t, she managed to get a plant as housewarming gift for the other man in like 4 hours. And we also know that she voiced no concerns about losing her best friend and a good team member at work...while talking to Mo... yet she had lots of things to say about “the man who just broke up, and whom I said I would not chase anymore, but now that he’s been single for 4 seconds, we can make out and it’s not cheating this time anymore”... so she’s showing no signs of caring about his best friends life changes, while caring a lot about the other mans life changes)

So of course he feels underappreciated on the 4th floor. The peer reviews, the boss, the team manager, the job offer... it all plays a part in his decision. And the D*rk Point boss knows exactly what to say...to make him feel appreciated...something he didn’t feel he got on the 6th floor... but he didn’t realize until he heard Ava point out his good work..with the maze, with the chirp pitch...and though he may not realize that Ava, too, has her own agenda, hearing that he is appreciated...as a worker & as a human...made him feel good (we saw how important positive feedback is for everyone during the peer reviews plot), and he realized he didn’t get any of that, really, on the 4th floor. And once again... while he may have secretly wanted to hear her say “stay”, what he actually really wanted/needed was for her to encourage him, and show genuine happiness for him, and for her to be completely honest with him. And he didn’t feel like that’s something she could be right now. To put it in her own terms: “everyone is so nice & polite, and no one is giving me the raw & honest feedback”...cause her reply to him when asked about the job offer was “polished” & “nice”, not “honest & raw”. (and I think we all agree that her telling him to take it & him taking it was the right move...for all... cause they both need space & to grow individually)

In the Pilot we learn that Max thinks he’s not management material & he’s not looking for career opportunity. So to Zoey's knowledge this is not in character for him? So whether or not he’s changed during the time between then & now, to Max’s knowledge she knows that he likes being just a coder. So for her to not know him...and not remember that he’s told her this, could be disappointing. So her reply: That’s a great career opportunity MIGHT tell him that she doesn’t know him and what he wants. (this is the flashmob argument: we, fans, think that a flashmob is “not Zoeys style” & we, fans, think that promotion is “not Max’s style”. We might be wrong, cause we don’t know everything about the characters + they can change...over time...)

Another thing she says to him when he asks advice regarding the job offer is “I would never stop you from going after what you want”. When they both know that what he really wants is her - he’s made it clear. And yet... here she is saying she’d not stop him, when she is “stopping him” from doing just that. And at the same time...as pointed out in the last part... is a promotion what Max really wants? Cause it is not the case for “1x01 Max”...and we & Zoey haven’t been made aware that he’s changed his mind. So... does his best friend not know him? (or does she known him better...and know he’s changed his POV on promotions)

Max & Zoey have been best friends & colleagues...for 5 years...since the first day on the job. From Max’s POV...something changed..suddenly...a few months ago. For a while he didn’t know why and what, but now he knows why. And just like it took time for Zoey to adjust to her “power”, same applies to Max (adjusting to her powers).

From Max’s POV...his best friend is dishonest with him, she avoids him, she has changed, she comes to him when she needs him... but she herself doesn’t offer anything back (yes, he is aware she’s grieving, and he understands it, but his best friend is not letting her friends help her during the time she needs to lean on family/friends). We have rarely seen her talk to him about anything else than office gossip...or her powers related stuff...recently. And it’s heavily implied they used to talk...all the time... about everything. His best friend also set him up with another woman...just to avoid him after she learned that he has feelings for her. His best friend claims her focus has to be her dad, and she can’t do more than friendship at this time, but at the same time she continues pursing another man. And this after she promised to be 100% honest with him. And she betrayes that trust the “very next day”. So he has every right to be upset, and hurt.

Zoey has every right to be upset about the fact that she thinks Max is “pushing her to have feelings for him” (when they both know... for a fact..after her heart song that she does have feelings for him), but in this case Max has every right to be upset about the fact that he thinks “she is avoiding him”. She has the right to grieve, so does he. If she has the right to be upset that Simon doesn’t return her feelings... then Max has the right to be upset that she doesn’t return his feelings. The same rules have to apply to all, not just main character. And if you look at the storylines closely, you’ll see the parallels... the things that Zoey is upset about (fans are upset about) regarding Simon’s behaviour (when pursuing him) are the same exact things that Max is upset about regarding Zoey (his pursuit of her). The same way that some fans point out Max is “obsessed with Zoey” there’s a parallel story with Zoey is “obsessed with Simon”. All Max wanted from Zoey was what Zoey wanted from Simon - clarity. For her/him to have clarity. And just as she felt the other man didn’t have it, he felt that she didn’t have it.

Because we, the audience, know that Zoey (thinks she has) has feelings for both men - her behaviour in past episodes (especially 1x06 - 1x07) and her heart song confirm that she has feelings for Max, and because he knows her secret, he knows that that’s a fact. So he has every right to be upset that she “doesn’t like him back/doesn’t want to be with him”, when he knows that she does love him back, while claiming the opposite. And she won’t talk to him about it...

From his POV it is as follows: they both have admitted they love each other. She claims she needs time to deal with her grief and can’t risk their friendship. She tells him she loves him...and the very next minute goes to another mans arms - that’s the part that upsets him. He’s not upset that she’s not returning his feelings/not wanting to date him, nope. He’s “upset” because he, as her best friend who knows her & her past relationships, knows that her thing with the engaged man will not end well for her. And yes, he is not wrong in saying that in a case when she has feelings for two men it’s a better option to choose the best friend, who has always been there for her (she’s said this herself) than the totally engaged (until just recently) & morally questionable, emotionally unavailable grieving hot guy.

While Max choices have been just “mistakes” (perhaps not the best idea to confess your feelings via flash mob to a girl who only listens to podcasts?), then Simon’s choices have been actual “bad decisions” - cheating. And though both Simons & Zoey’s bad choices have been rooted in their grief/depression, they cannot “excuse” it with being a mess due to grief. Instead of continuing the downward spiral they should own their mistakes, acknowledge them as not good choices. It’s one thing to use the wrong gesture to confess your love to somone, and completely another thing to cheat on your fiancee (and blame it on being a mess cause of grief). Those two things should not be comparable.

I can’t believe how some people see Max response to her “no one understand why you got the promotion” (translation: you didn’t deserve it) as harsh. Like her cruel words were “justified” because she’s grieving..or just because...even though she was not right to say them, but his behaviour has been “unacceptable”. Yes, his comments to Zoey are not the friendliest (when he’s telling why he chooses 6th floor over 4th... after the “The Boy is Mine” sing-off, but they are nothing compared to Zoey’s “you don’t deserve this promotion & you are selfish for not being there for me whenever I need something from you”.

We can all see & understand that each character has flaws & makes mistakes & says some things they shouldn’t. But some of these things are “worse” than the others. And his reply to her rude-fuled-by-her-anger-phase-of-grieving comment to him was tame. He was actually quite calm & cool during his response to her (you’re calling me selfish?). And he directed the coded message at Zoey on the 6th floor directly at her because he knows she’s emotionally challenged, so she needed to undrerstand that it was directed at her, too...so she’d start understanding that she hurt him with her words/behaviour too. He wanted her to get that message, cause he had seen that until now she had no idea how her actions/inactions affect him.

He may seem like being “upset” with her... but it’s also understandable, because she kinda broke his heart, and just as she’s allowed to not return his feelings, he’s allowed to feel sad that she doesn’t. To put it in “fairytale terms”. But he’s in no way pressuring her to return his feelings & start a relationship now. All he wants/needs from her is honesty & clarity.

And mostly... when will Zoey finally give Simon the advice he needs - go see a professional therapist! What the man needs is professional help not a mind-reader, who is a mess herself. And is Zoey doesn’t stop keeping it all in and won’t talk to her family/friends about her grief, then she, too, will soon need professional help... (therapist).

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Through all of this Max’s there for her: he supports her when she’s interested in the new guy..(until he finds out the man is taken); he supports her to go after the promotion; he brings her dad... his “closest thing to a dad he’s had” soft food...that he can eat, he goes to support her when she gets a call about her dad’s health & he finds a way to get her to her dad..fast; he saves her “glitch song” and turns it into a pitch for the CEO; he goes to check on her, & gives her her mom’s message..even when he’s hurt by her (and on top of that he gives her good friend advice about her dad). And she does acknowledge this..on several occasions. So...this “social distancing” (physical distance between them during work & off work) is needed to make her/them start to see things from different perspective, and realize some truths... that only distance/change could give them.

There is a real inconsistancy between what she really feels & thinks...and what she says/acknowledges she feels & thinks.

ETA: And it all won’t start moving forward & she won’t start character development until she’ll truly embrace her powers. Cause she still seems to view them as “burden” instead of “helpful tool”. Sure... she has started to realize the good she can do with having this ability (in general Howie/Abigail situation was the first time she really used her ability to really improve the situation & first time she really emphatized), but until she fully embraces it all, she’ll remain “lost”. The turning point will be actually losing her dad...for real.

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#SPOILER #text post #analyzis #THERE ARE MANY OTHER THINGS....BUT THE POST IS ALREADY TOO LONG #ZEP #ZOEY'S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST #ZOEYS EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST #ZEP spoilers #ZEP SPOILER #Max Richman #Zoey Clarke #Max x Zoey #Zoey x Max #Team Max #Clarkeman #Zomax #Zax #long post #analysis

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bibbykins · 5 years ago

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Folie à deux (Yandere Drabble)

A/N: I had this idea, and then my dog ran across my keyboard and typed this, so if you hate it, it wasn't me. Although, it was fun to not write it. Big shoutout to my first class and the notes I never take trying to upload fics

Category: Drabble (?)

Pairing: (Scopophilic Affection) Soft Yandere! Jin x reader

Words: 2k

Things with you had been going great, much to Jin's relief. You had gracefully moved in without protest. Although, he expected as much considering your last place of residence. You even agreed to sleep in the same bed as him. While building a relationship from the ground up after one party confessed undying love was a learning, it had been progressing well enough. Jin had learned quickly you had no idea how to express your romantic emotions. Your face would heat every time he relayed his love and you would stutter each time he called you a pet name. He honestly wasn't sure exactly how you felt about him. You never introduced him as your boyfriend, but never made an effort to stop him from introducing himself as such. You hadn't told him you love him, but you did wear the extravagant promise ring he had gotten every day. You always faltered in PDA, but you had a rather active and affectionate sex drive at home.

He wasn't complaining in the slightest, just perplexed. Even as he sat on the bed, watching as you got ready for a gala, he would give the world for your thoughts.

Why in the fuck was he looking at you like that?

You fought the pout on your lips as you perfected your eyeliner. Your peripheral vision distracted you from the dire task at hand in favor of prioritizing your million dollar man simply gazing at you.

Does he not like how you look? Should you change?

You stood straight, making firm eye contact with yourself. Did you look fit to stand next to Kim Seokjin?

You huffed, scrutinizing your form. The dress was stunning, but were you stunning in it? You gnawed on your glossed lip. Things with Jin had been like a dream. Waking up to soft kisses, eating wonderful food, experiencing unbridled support and honest criticism when you needed it. He was lovely, honest, and you had no idea how to tell your boyfriend how much you loved him. The words would get swallowed down by tsundere responses you didn't even know you possessed. It was either that or mindless bumbling.

You preferred the honest truth, but you were so scared of what would happen if you said it. At this rate, you would marry the man and only be able to say how cool he is in your vows. You had never felt such a connection or such love, and you had absolutely no idea what to do about the reciprocation you realized within the first months of living here. He speaks poetry to you and all you can do is mumble a thanks when not crying about how mean your family is. Even when you do cry about your family, prince charming is there to hold you. The only time you can show him how you feel is during sex, which is fantastically mind-blowing sex, but you should be able to say a simple "I love you" if you can orgasm countless times with him inside of you.

Beyond your emotional idiocy, you had another problem at hand. You were going to a gala. Sure, you went to a couple of company events, but you had Jin's friends' girlfriend's to keep you company. This time, it was for some tech things. Jin gave you the details, but you forgot them upon your panic after he said it would be a mix of his associates outside of the company.

As you gazed at yourself, you wondered if you should just tell him you'll stay home. He would understand. He's always considerate. He should understand that he looked amazing and you looked-

"You look absolutely breathtaking." Jin breathed, standing from the bed while you faced him shyly, "I feel unworthy to have you on my arm." He mused as he made his way over to you.

Your head tilted down in embarrassment, "It's the dress, not me, silly." You murmured only to feel a soft hand tuck under your chin to tilt your face up so he could place a short kiss on your soft lips.

You watched with a giggle as he rubbed the swapped lipgloss between his two lips, "You've never been more incorrect, my love." He spoke softly, "If this event wasn't so big, I would keep you home to show you how ravishing you are without the dress." His hand slipped to the small of you back as he pulled you close. You let your eyes close briefly, taking a whiff of his cologne, calming your nerves.

You could convince him to do just that, but your love for him ran deeper than a tussle in the sheets. You knew he wanted to go and talk about all the tech things he excitedly tells you, despite the lingo going right over your head. Even so, nothing made you happier than to see him with that goofy smile on his face, "You can show me when we get home." You breathed as you planted a kiss on his neck, soft hands going to rub away your deposited gloss, "Maybe even on the car ride back." You whispered, voice sultry. What you were trying to say was that you loved him too much to let him pass up the opportunity to talk binary and coding to people who could respond with the same enthusiasm.

"You kill me so softly." He led you out to the car, opening your door like the gentleman he always is, "I can't wait to show everyone you're mine."

You smiled softly, "It's more my honor than yours." You smiled brightly as you watched Jin grow a giddy smile at your affectionate comment.

----

This event sucked so royally, but Jin seemed to be having a grand old time, and that was enough for you. The food was also plentiful and delicious, so after making the rounds with Jin to the major players, you sat down at your table while he discussed breakthroughs in everything having to do with what his other love, technology. Much like Jin would at your theater events, you watched with a warm smile as he chatted it up, waving at you every now and then.

You only moved from your seat to grab more finger dishes when you caught sight of a beautiful woman, tossing her head back in false laughter, her manicured hand playfully patting Jin's chest.

Your Jin's chest.

The chest that has on more than one occasion been littered with love bites and nail marks from you.

You sized her up, only to feel exceptionally smaller than you did before. You didn't know it was possible to feel more self-conscious than you did now, but her pure beauty was enough to make you put your snack down with a sigh. Your eyes couldn't help but dart to her fitted dress and even fitter body. Could you stand to lose some weight?

Your eyes didn't even flicker to Jin's face as she shook his hand extremely slow. Your eye twitched when she began to stroke his hand. She was probably talking about how soft they were. Jin had angelic skin, and you knew how soft his hands were since they ran down your body every day.

That's right. It's your body those hands touch. It's your laugh his ears enjoy to hear. At least he says he does. Could all his love flit away as quickly as it came? Did he genuinely love you or was he just infatuated? Did you fall for a man who never fell for you? You weren't suited for him, it would make more sense if he didn't love you.

You could feel tears knock in your ducts. This wouldn't do. You would have to cry later. Not now. Maybe not today, but tomorrow and the next, Jin will love you. He would continue to love you because he's yours just as you are his. She can try to take him away, but you will only keep him closer to you.

With this resolve, you straightened your back as you walked to your man with a poise you seldom exhibited. The woman has let go of his hand in favor of moving her silken locks to show off her neck, a seduction tactic you read in a magazine when trying to spice things up for Jin, only to find the article too boring.

Did he like boring?

Too late for that, since your hand had made soft contact with his bicep, "Honey, do you have my lipgloss with you or did I leave it at home?" You watched a dust of red tint Jin's cheek at the term of endearment. You glanced to the side, "Oh my, I'm so sorry to interrupt, I didn't even notice." You faked a shocked gasp.

"Nonsense, y/n, I was wondering where you were, so I could introduce you." He placed his hand atop yours and you suddenly felt like a fool jumping to conclusions. This poor woman was probably just making polite conversation and you-

"I'm Soojin, Seokjin's childhood friend." She spoke with a pearly smile. Aren't you a bitch? She was just catching up and you- "We were betrothed when we were kids."

You should tear off her million-dollar nails and pawn them.

She gave your hand a squeeze that you assumed was supposed to be intimidating, but with Jin's hand on your hip, you didn't falter.

"That's so cute." You gushed, and Jin could tell it was fake as you let go of her hand, "I'm Jin's fianceè." The word left your mouth before you could reel it back in.

What the fuck was wrong with you?

You swore the world stopped in the worst way to give you more time to soak in your own craziness as you watched Soojin's face twist with mocking disbelief.

You were glad you couldn't see Jin's face as Soojin's eyes darted to your promise ring, "Emerald is a bit funny for engagement, no?" Her eyebrow arched and you could swear you went down a couple inches.

How could you be so mindless?

"I'm waiting until we finish our Master's to make our official statement with the official ring." Jin spoke up and you breathed a subtle sigh of relief, "Although, I don't do anything by status quo from betrothments to engagement rings." He spoke with a strain you had never heard in his voice before.

You turned to see his jaw clenched, "You alright, my love?" You asked, genuinely concerned, "You sound a bit peckish, should we go?"

"I don't notice anything wrong." Soojin nearly sneered.

"You know me so well, dear." Jin gazed down at you with the same loving gaze he always had, "I suppose it's best I turn in, see you around." Jin barely gave Soojin a passing glance as you spared a cheeky wave before bidding more genuine farewells to associates.

Guilt ate you alive the whole ride home. You sat with your head in your lap as Jin let you be, only confirming the anger you figured he had in you. How could you be so careless like that? So juvenile, so fucking stupid.

Upon getting home, you made a beeline for the guest room, figuring that would be where he wanted you to stay. On the opposite side of the house, as far from him as you could be. You were only halted by a swift clutch on your forearm, bringing you to clash into his unmoving form. Your face hit his chest as you tried to budge, only to be held firmly against him, "Leopard? What's wrong?" His voice was soft and yet, a dam broke inside you as you cried, "Were you overwhelmed?" He pondered as he held you closer, "I knew we should've stayed home."

You shook your head, "I'm sorry I was mean to Soojin." You sniffled and Jin pulled you from him to look at you properly.

You felt your bottom lip quiver as he looked at you with confusion, "Mean?" He cocked his head to the side.

Before he could continue, "She's just so pretty! And I know I sound dumb!" You exclaimed, "But she kept touching you and patting your chest, and I felt so…" You huffed, hot tears trailing down your face, "Inferior like she could just take you from me at any moment and-"

"You were jealous?" Jin was genuinely confused as his thumbs went to wipe your tears, his palms cradling your face, "Why on Earth would you be jealous of someone like Soojin?"

"Have you seen her?!" You were exasperated, "She's stunning and intimidating, might I add, and I just love you so much I didn't even think when I-"

Jin stopped listening as soon as those three words left your beautiful lips. He thought you had been humoring him when you introduced yourself as his fianceè. He had plans to reward you, but when he saw how upset you were in the car, he figured he would talk to you at home.

"You love me?" You stopped short of your rant to gasp, "Is that why you said you were my fianceè? Because you were jealous?"

It was your turn to be confused, "Of course, why else would I do that without talking to you about it?"

"I thought you did it to butter me up." He laughed, the sound going from amusement to pure joy, "But you just love me so much, that you do something as crazy as saying you're my fianceè-"

You whined at the use of the word crazy as you slumped down, "Jin, I'm sorry, I just-mmph." You felt the most familiar pair of plush lips atop your own as Jin pulled you to him for a searing kiss. Almost immediately, your tongue intermingled with his own as he drew in a heavy break, squeezing you close to his body.

Quickly the kiss turned into a heated prelude to one of your favorite events, sex with Jin. You both stumbled your way to the bedroom, heels kicked off, dress noticeably looser with the zipper down, and when your back hit the most comfortable million dollar bed, you groaned. Jin attached his lips to your neck in a frenzy, "Say it." He moaned against your neck.

"Say what?" You panted as your fingers threaded through his hair.

He placed a quick bit that extracted a strangled moan out of you, "Leopard, I love you." He grit out as he tore the dress down your body.

"I-I love you too, Jin." You shot up when you heard the sounds of threads snapping, "Watch it! That dress costs more than my tuition!"

"You're more valuable." He grunted as he slid the fabric down your body, completing with your request to show more care. You rolled your eyes at his cheesy comment but chose to focus more on unbuttoning his shirt.

You could hardly help yourself as you sucked on the side of his neck. You were never one to give hickeys like Jin was, but you could definitely understand the appeal now. Jin was absolutely terrible when using concealer to cover it up, so the whole world could see them. This would embarrass you any other day, and probably will tomorrow, but it hardly mattered at this moment.

Jin, on the other hand, was in heaven. Not only did the love of his life love him back, but you were dreadfully, adorably, territorial as you licked around the busted capillaries that lied beneath his skin. He let out a throaty moan as his fingers threaded into your hair, tugging ever so slightly, only spurring you on more, just like he always did.

If you like my writing, consider buying me a ko-fi if you can

#yander bts #kim seokjin x reader #kim seokjin #jin fic #yandere jin #bts fanfic #jin fluff #drabble #scopophilic affection

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ghostsray · 5 years ago

Text

Ch4: Science

(...i swear, this chapter did not go how i planned it at all.)

(first - prev - next)

Danny was panting when he entered the school building. He had arrived in time despite the ghost he encountered on the way. As he leaned over on his knees to catch his breath, Sam walked over nonchalantly and handed him a filled worksheet. "I did your biology homework for you," she explained. "You're welcome."

Danny blinked. "We had biology homework?"

Sam rolled her eyes and said, "What would you do without me?"

"Fail school, for sure," Danny said and gratefully accepted the paper from her.

A girl passing by them suddenly paused and came over. Danny recognized her from a few of his classes, though he didn't remember her name. "Danny--" (He might not know everyone's names, but everyone knew his name; it was kind of hard not to recognize him with the Fentons' reputation)--"I didn't know you had a brother!" she said.

Danny furrowed his brows and said, "Brother? What brother?"

"That freshman who looks exactly like you," she responded, glancing between him and Sam with knit eyebrows. "Are you not related?"

Sam and Danny met each other's eyes. No doubt, the same thought was running through their heads: a fourteen-year-old boy who looked exactly like Danny? Sure, it could be a coincidence, but it was more likely to be Danny's oh-so-beloved clone, Niel.

Danny frowned at his classmate and asked, "Where is he?"

She pointed down the hallway, still confused, and Danny moved in the direction of her finger before she could ask any more questions. It didn't take him long before he spotted the freshman she had been referring to, standing alone by a locker.

Niel looked nervous. As much as the idea of being around other kids was appealing to him, the reality was a bit overwhelming. There were all these students milling about who didn't speak to him and whom he didn't know how to engage with. More than a few were staring at him and whispering to each other, which Niel found pretty rude, considering he was right there.

He perked up when he saw Danny approach him. Finally, someone he knew! Niel turned away from his new locker and greeted Danny with outstretched arms and an exclamation of, "Danny!"

Danny did not reciprocate his friendliness. Instead, he crossed his arms and demanded, "What are you doing in my school?"

Niel dropped his arms (a little disappointed) and replied, "Learning, supposedly."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "You mean you--? But I thought you were homeschooled."

"Not anymore," Niel responded with a grin. "Dad thinks being around others my age would be good for me. Er, my physical age, that is."

"That's great and all, but did it really have to be this school? No offense, but I think people would notice that you and I, you know..." he gestured between their faces and said, "look exactly the same."

"Actually," Niel said, holding up a finger, "sometimes look-alikes exist even though they aren't related at all. After all, genes are based on chance, and as the infinite monkey theorem says: if you allow a monkey to hit a typewriter at random for an infinite amount of time, eventually he will surely write out the complete works of William Shakespeare."

"The infinite mon...whuh?"

"All I'm saying is, it's scientifically proven that there's a one in 135 chance of someone having a perfect genetic double who isn't a twin--or a clone. It's rare, but not impossible."

Danny scratched his head. "You seem well researched on the subject."

Niel smiled and said, "Of course! I love knowing stuff."

"Wonderful," Danny muttered. "I bet you'll fit in just great with the nerd table."

"Nerd table?" Niel asked, sounding genuinely interested. Danny could already picture it in his mind: his double sitting with Mikey and Lester and the other nerds, standing out among their high pants and round glasses with his punk hair and luxurious clothes.

Danny wanted to stay and verbally fight Niel further, but he realized there was nothing to berate him for. Niel had long ago given up on recruiting Danny in joining Vlad, and he wasn't the kind of person to cause problems in school for no reason. Sure, he could be plotting something under Vlad's orders, but Sam had promised him that she had "recruited Niel into the rebellion against the tyrannical rule of parents", so he doubted it. Niel was, simply put, here to learn.

Danny narrowed his eyes at him just in case, then grumbled, "Welcome to Casper High, I guess. Try not to cause any problems."

"Rich of you to say, but all right," Niel said. A few students nearby giggled. Danny didn't know how Niel already knew about Danny's so-called deliquent status at school, but he frowned at Niel's smirk before turning away with the intent to go to class.

He paused mid-step when he caught Wes watching them intently. Oh, boy. Wes. That guy must be having a field trip--an exact double of Danny suddenly appearing at school? No doubt he was already formulating theories in his head about Niel's existence.

Danny and Wes caught each other's eyes. Danny smirked and made his eyes glow for just a split second. Wes scowled.

"You seem well acquainted with the new kid," Wes spoke with narrowed eyes. "He's not just a look-alike, is he?"

Danny shrugged and said, "The truth doesn't matter, especially since nobody will believe you either way."

"You're dead to me," Wes growled.

"Don't you mean I'm dead in general?"

Danny's grin was shit-eating as he walked past Wes like he wasn't there.

Wes glared at Danny's back before returning his attention to where Niel stood, but the other boy was already gone too. The bell rang to signify the start of class. Wes balled his hands into fists and muttered, "I will find you out, clone."

"Really, Wes?" someone said, and he turned around to find that Star still hadn't left the hallway yet.

"Oh, come on!" He gestured wildly and said, "Surely you must have noticed that they look exactly the same!"

"They have different hair. And eyes."

"Hair can be styled, and contact lenses exist."

Star rolled her eyes and said, "You're delusional, Wes."

"I am not!" But Star ignored him and was already leaving the hallway. Wes grumbled loudly to himself before eventually sighing and shuffling to class.

School was pretty easy for Niel. In fact, being the son of a scientist--as well as an avid reader and Wikipedia diver--made the subjects he learned in class seem like child's play. As he and his classmates stood in the chemistry lab, the other students oohed and aahed at the rainbow display when the teacher added boric acid to a flame, but Niel wanted to scoff. He'd seen much more impressive things in his dad's lab. Hell, he was a scientific marvel himself, so to speak.

The teacher told them to replicate the experiment in pairs. Immediately, everyone else in the room quickly paired up with their partners, and Niel suddenly found himself an outcast. Danny and his friends weren't in this class; he didn't know any of the faces around him. He didn't have the half year everyone else had to get acquainted with each other, and he doubted anyone was interested in being paired with the new kid.

Niel was just about to accept the prospect of him being partnerless when a boy quietly slid into the seat next to him. Niel looked up in surprise. The boy was tall, and Niel had a feeling he would make a pretty good basketball player. He looked sort of like Danny with red hair--which was a funny thought coming from a literal clone of Danny.

The redhead turned his eyes on him. Niel was suddenly reminded of the way Dad used to look at him during his first weeks of existence outside his pod. Studying him.

"Hello," Niel said, thinking it a polite way to greet this person who chose to be his partner.

The boy just narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's your relation to Danny?"

Did this person know Danny? "His parents and my parent were college buddies," Niel answered truthfully.

"Riiight. College buddies." His eyes squinted so hard at Niel, he wondered if something might have gotten inside his safety goggles. The boy leaned toward him and said, "So you're not, say, I don't know...a clone?"

Niel's eyes widened, but he thought he hid his worry pretty well. Dad had made him promise before going to school that he would not reveal to anyone his clone status. It was a closely guarded secret, like the existence of human-ghost hybrids.

So it turned out Danny was right about people noticing the physical similarities between them. But Niel told himself not to worry yet.

"We do look sort of similar, don't we?" Niel said conversationally. "It's pretty cool, actually. Did you know there's a one in 135 chance of--"

"Cut the bull," the boy interrupted. "I searched that up on my phone just now. The chance of actually meeting your look-alike is about one in a trillion."

"Then I guess I'm the one in a trillion?" Niel said with a shrug, but sweat began to form in his palms. The boy wasn't convinced.

"Yeah, right," he said. "You're way too similar to Danny for it to be normal. Either you're some long lost twin, or you're his clone."

Alarms blared inside Niel's head. He tried to think of a valid response to save himself. Luckily, he didn't need to, because a student from the table in front of them groaned and said, "Leave the new kid alone, Wes."

The boy--Wes--looked at the girl who spoke and said, "Come on, Ashley. You had to have noticed how much he looks like Danny."

"I don't know, his hair's different," Ashley retorted, turning around in her chair to face them. "Are you sure this isn't just your Danny obsession acting up?"

Wes spluttered and shouted, "It's not an obsession!" After getting a glare from the teacher, he lowered his voice and repeated, "It's not an obsession. You're all just too blind to admit the truth that he's Phantom."

Wes knew that Danny was Phantom? Yet, apparently, nobody believed him. Ashley rolled her eyes and drawled, "Suuuure. Just because he's absent most of the time Phantom appears--"

"Not most of the time! All the time!"

Ashley's lab partner snickered and said, "Right, and I must be Batman because we've never been seen in the same room together."

Wes growled. "Nathan, you know Batman isn't real. Phantom is. And he's definitely Fenton."

"Hey, how dare you imply Batman isn't real?"

Wes grabbed at his hairs and made a whimpering sound in his throat.

Niel was starting to realize that these people will never believe Wes no matter what. A sly grin worked its way onto his face, and he said, "No, you're right. I am absolutely a clone."

Ashley and Nathan covered their mouths and giggled. Wes gave Niel a stink eye.

"You're just like your original, you know that?"

Niel shrugged.

Ashley stopped giggling to squint at Niel. A second later, she said, "Actually, hey, I see it now. You do sort of look like Fenton."

Crap. "Really? I don't see it," Niel said, then mentally kicked himself. How could he say he doesn't see it when he already admitted their similarity earlier? Really, Niel, you're starting to slip with your lies.

Nathan just shrugged and said, "Big deal. Everyone tells me that me and my brother look the same."

"Yeah, but that's because you two are related," Wes retorted. "What's Niel's excuse--apart from his extremely unlikely cover story of being a random doppelganger?"

Ashley suddenly gasped and said, "What if Niel and Danny are brothers?"

"I thought Niel is the mayor's kid," Nathan said and scratched his head.

"Of course he is, but who's the mom? Haven't you ever noticed how close Danny's parents are with Masters?"

Niel really hoped she wasn't suggesting what he thought she was suggesting. "I'm adopted," he told her.

"That's exactly what Masters would say to the media," Ashley said with a smirk. She leaned forward and said, "Come on, tell the truth. Am I right?"

"No!" Niel replied, his face burning. Of course, if his dad knew that someone even thought he, um, went to bed with Maddie, he'd be elated. But Niel was not elated. "Danny's mom doesn't even like my dad."

"But Danny's dad does, right?" Nathan said, stroking his chin. "And you do sort of look like him, minus the size."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Okay, now you guys are just making stuff up. How do two men have birth together?"

Nathan shrugged. "They're scientists, aren't they? Maybe they, like made him in an artificial pod."

Niel silently panicked. Obviously, the idea of Vlad and Jack in a relationship was plain wrong (and a bit funny, considering how much Vlad hated Jack), but the part about the pod baby was a little too close to the truth for comfort. Also, what the heck was with them discussing his birth right in front of him?

Niel was about to find something to say to get them to abandon this conversation when Ashley suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

"What?" Nathan asked.

Ashley held silent for a few moments to increase the tension before she slowly said, "Vlad Masters is trans."

Silence. Niel was suddenly aware that several other kids in the lab had abandoned their projects to listen in on the quartet's discussion. They observed Niel, as if trying to find the similarities in him to Vlad and Jack.

Niel slowly and deliberately whispered, "What the butter biscuits?"

Danny stomped down the hallway with a frown. He found Sam by her locker and approached her.

"As everyone knows, I'm all for brooding, but what's with the sour mood?" Sam asked. Danny glared at her.

"You did my biology paper, but you didn't think to remind me that we had an English assignment due?"

Sam held up her hands innocently and said, "Hey, I can fill out your worksheets, but I can't write your assignments for you. Mr. Lancer is crazy good at spotting differences in writing style."

"I thought you were good at copying styles."

"Maybe, but then I started thinking about what sort of creative writing you would think of, and it bummed me out too much to do it."

"The goth girl thinks I'm too much of a bum?"

"Exactly, Danny. Your life is sad as hell."

Whatever reply Danny was about to say was interrupted when the same girl from earlier ran up to them and said, "Danny, I didn't know you had a secret half-brother!"

Danny didn't think it was possible, but he was even more confused now than he had been before. "A what now?"

"Oh, right, my bad. It's supposed to be a secret." She winked.

"Wait, what? What secret?" he called out, but the girl already left.

Niel walked over to them. For some reason, his face was buried in his hands, as if he was in too much shame to make himself seen.

"Niel," Danny began, "what the heck have you done, and why are people calling you my secret half-brother?"

Niel just slumped his head against a locker and murmured, "The doppelganger excuse didn't work."

That didn't explain much, but just then Tucker came over laughing and slapped Niel on the back. "Niel, I know we haven't spent much time together, but I love you," he said between laughs.

"Can someone please explain what's going on?" Danny demanded.

Tucker spent another minute or so laughing, but after he eventually stopped with a satisfied sigh, he grinned at Danny and said, "People are starting to write Mpreg fanfiction of your dad and Vlad."

Danny choked on his saliva and probably would have died if he had needed to breathe. Tucker's guffaws picked up again, and Niel looked like he was seriously considering phasing through the earth.

#Danny Phantom #dannymay #dannymay2020 #niel masters #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #wes weston #fic #fanfiction #writing #mine

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