#oh and if you have any more cool ideas lemme here ���em

[appleciderjulie]

OK ITS TIME FOR ME TO YAP ABOUT WHAT I WANT IN THE NEXT GAME TO COPE WITH SPLATOON 3 ENDING

ok so first of all, congrats team past!! y’all fought hard (hard enough for me to ragequit at one point actually,,,)

im gonna be completely honest, i reallyyyyy dont want a great turf war/legends-arceus-but-splatoon game, or for that at least to be the entire game, anyway. that would put the main story on pause for around 5 years, and bring us back to the main conflict between the inklings and octolings, and im gonna be honest, im so done with that. and plus, the weapon roster would have to be narrowed significantly in order to fit in with the plot.

what i think would be absolutely AMAZING would be for the main city to be have an 80’s retro vibe, similar to the aesthetic of the octo expansion. we can all agree that octo expansions aesthetic was on point, yeah?? i feel like that could be an awesome main city.

now, getting to the story mode/dlcs,,, i think it would be really really cool to have a time-travel based game. for the main story mode we could travel back to the past, maybe to the great turf war, but also maybe to other important events in splatoon lore, like stuff going back to the human extinction.

for the dlcs (plural, i hope and pray) we could have one take place in the present, im not entirely sure what the storyline of that would be… i haven’t thought about it a bunch… but continuing the theme of time travel, we could travel into the future for the next dlc. i think that’d be so cool.

im gonna be kinda honest- im not entirely sure i want a new agent. i think a cool feature could be a 4-player mode in the solo campaigns could be maybe picking your agent, and then playing as them maybe?? im not really sure how that would work out, but i was talking about it with my little brother today and i thought that was a fun idea. not sure how realistic it is, but all the same.

ok yap session over, did i cook chat

[666writingcafe]

The Dining Car

"So, according to the pamphlet, we'll be on the train all night before arriving at the station closest to Lake Io Lanthe in the morning. Once we get off the train, we'll be walking the rest of the way."

Once I'm done talking, Mammon rolls his eyes at me. I understand not wanting to share a room with Luke, but that doesn't completely explain the bad attitude he's had all day, nor does it excuse it.

"You need to take this seriously," Luke chides Mammon. "What if we get lost?" Another eye roll.

"At least I'm not bouncin' up and down like a kid in a candy store."

"That's not how you behaved in the kitchen," MC retorts, glancing up from their copy from the pamphlet to glare at him. Mammon merely returns to picking at his food, which suggests to me that he's too scared to talk back to them. It's interesting, the idea of him fearing them. I don't think he feels that way about anyone else, not even Lucifer--and I've heard some rather loud yelps from him when he's caught red-handed by his brother.

But he has been known to argue with Lucifer, and he's not even attempting to do anything like that with MC.

"Apparently, each of the cars on this train is named after an angel," MC reads out loud.

"Lemme see!" Luke exclaims. Once MC hands him the pamphlet and points to where the information is located, his face lights up.

"That's so cool! It shows just how much they love angels here in the human world." A brief pause, followed by a gasp. "And the first car is named after Michael himself!"

I take a sip from my beverage in order to stop myself from sighing. I really wish Luke didn't hold Michael on this high pedestal. It's only going to hurt him in the long run when he discovers that the seraph is far from perfect.

Don't get me wrong; Michael is ultimately a good person. He just has a lot of issues, his obsession with Lucifer being one of them. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't gotten in trouble for his shrine. The mere possibility of the de-facto man in charge worshiping the Avatar of Pride rather than devoting himself to God--I mean, Father--would bring about an amount of chaos that hasn't been seen since the Great War.

It would certainly make my situation seem far tamer in comparison.

"I mean, when it comes down to it, are angels really that great? I don't see what's so special about 'em."

"How dare you!" Great. Luke and Mammon are arguing.

"Take a deep breath, Luke," MC instructs.

"You're right," he replies once he's calmed down. "I can't let Mammon's stupid attempts at provoking me succeed."

"You know I'm sitting right here, don't ya?"

"Oh, look; dessert's here." The words sound incredibly hollow coming out of my mouth. I just want to eat in peace. The food's not great enough to warrant enjoying it per say, but it's at least edible.

Luke immediately digs into his dessert, offering some to MC in the process.

"Yo, Luke, gimme a bite of that dessert of yours!"

"Eww, no! Why should I give you any of my dessert?!"

"There ya go, actin' like a brat again. Like, take it easy. It's just dessert."

"Look who's talking! You're the one who's insisting on having part of someone else's dessert. That's way more childish!"

I'm getting a headache. This isn't good. It always starts with a headache. Maybe if I can sneak away and decompress--

I feel something grab my hand and squeeze it. Glancing underneath the table reveals it to be MC's hand, although you'd never tell by the look on their face that that's what they did.

I appreciate them trying to comfort me. I really do. This isn't the sort of thing I want them brought into, though. As it is, I've already revealed too much to them about it.

"We'll flip a coin. If I win, I get your dessert."

"No thanks. I don't even want your dessert."

"What, afraid you're gonna lose, are ya? Luke the loser is scared, is that it?"

Tight muscles. That's phase two. Phase three is the internal screaming.

Except everything feels more intense this time. Yes, I'm upset at Mammon for bullying Luke for no apparent reason, but it shouldn't be enough for me to feel like chewing his head off. Besides, I'm usually able to calm down before it gets this far, and yet none of my techniques are working.

"That's impossible! You cheated, didn't you?!"

Another squeeze.

The hand.

"MC, let go," I hiss.

"I can't." I try to myself, but I fail as well. "I'm sorry, Simeon."

I feel bad. I really do. Everyone in this dining car is about to see a nasty side to me. The only thing I can do is hope that no one gets hurt.

"You're Michael's little puppy. You sit in his lap and sniff him and snuggle up against him all day long, doncha?"

There it is. The final straw that broke the camel's back.

"That's enough!" I snarl. Instantly, all eyes are on our table. I'm sure a few other cars heard me as well. I can get rather loud when I'm in this state.

Dinner's officially over.

[many-gay-magpies]

Hi it's Quill! ❤️ You said you love to talk about writing, I'd love to hear some of it, so here it is: can you please answer 13, 14, 27, 63 and 64? AND as a bonus (if you want), answer the question you really wanted someone to ask you when you saw the list 😜

hi hi @shadowquill17, thank you sm for asking!! I am glad you would love to hear because I have written. A Lot. thank you for giving me license to yap lmao

13. what’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

more and more lately, I've been following the advice of "write the scenes in the order you want to write them, you can connect the dots later"- it just makes for such an easy flow as opposed to trying to write everything in perfect chronological order to get to the scenes you really want to write, because often by the time you GET to those scenes you're worn out by trudging through the writing in-between, or the words have fled from your brain. and oftentimes I end up majorly rewriting those scenes I wrote early on to make them fit with the stuff I wrote after, but like, it's such a relief to just. get the words on the page (or screen, technically). and now im realising that this tip may not exactly be COMMON but it's one I follow a lot kshdfkhsdfkh

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

I mean, I don't know that the writing of emotional scenes is something I really consciously think about? like. any scene that has characters in it is going to have emotions in it. because I am writing people, and people are feeling emotions. pretty much all the time. but I get that this question more means, like, big breakdowns or emotional climaxes or cathartic moments, so- I don't know? I don't know that I feel what the characters feel (although sometimes yeah probably); it's more that I just imagine how THEY would feel and act in the situation, based on how they've acted in the canon material and whatnot. for some things I have drawn on personal experience, like the description of Edwin's touch starvation in to a grave dug for fear is VERY drawn from my own physical feelings in similar situations, especially the "grip around his heart like a scream about to burst" description of the hug at the end. but mostly yeah I just, like, envision the scene in my head as if I was watching it as a scene on TV and then write it. writing emotion and emotional scenes is very well-practiced/comes very naturally to me, so it's not really something I think about anymore skhdfkshdfkh

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

ooooh lemme think. I think most favorite: right when you have a fresh new idea and you're just on a ROLL writing it, everything's coming out so smooth and perfect and you feel so INSPIRED and so happy with how good it is/is gonna be. that's my favorite and then my LEAST favorite is that stage of editing where you've been looking at a piece so long that you start to hate it, and now phrasings and bits of dialogue you started out loving look weird and clunky, and oh lord why has no one ever told you you use this many semicolons??? that's too many semicolons. cool it with the semicolons. and the em dashes as well. coming back with an edit because I remembered another least favorite part (which really pertains more to the ABSENCE of writing): that specific mood where you have an idea that you know would be really really cool to write, you have the plot and character dynamics and arc and everything perfectly envisioned and you know it would be SO SO GOOD... but the actual spark of motivation that makes you want to write the thing just is not there. it's always like UGHHHHH IM SO SORRY I CANT DO YOU JUSTICE, YOU WOULD BE SO GOOD IF I ACTUALLY WANTED TO WRITE YOU TT. but instead it sits there and rots. I despise this

63. Something you hate to see in smut.

I don't know if it's an outright HATE, and I can push through it sometimes if the rest of the smut is more or less enjoyable, but like. I strongly dislike when there is not clear, explicit, enthusiastic consent established throughout the scene- like, if a character just DOES SOMETHING without asking first, or just saying like "can I try something?", and waiting to get their partner's agreement before proceeding. oftentimes I see this happen in fics with a dom/sub dynamic where the just-going-for-it-without-asking is written into the general commanding-ness of the dominant person in the relationship, which is just. eugh, no thanks. I think DBDA fic in particular has diminished my tolerance for lack of explicit verbal consent because so many DBDA smut fics have SUCH prominent and fantastic consent established. also when characters in a d/s dynamic are made to do or say things that are just completely out of character (imo) in the name of pushing that dynamic further

64. Something you love to see in smut.

Conversely, of course, I love seeing explicit and enthusiastic consent in smut, ESPECIALLY when someone asking "can I try something" "can I touch you" "is this okay" "do you want to stop" etc etc is answered with "anything" "do NOT stop" or just straight-up begging. like. such a lovely lovely way of confirming consent while maintaining the mood >> (although consent doesn't BREAK the mood anyway). or like, when a character does something on accident, the other character reacts with a gasp or a loud noise or whatever, and the first character is like "oh no did I hurt you??" and the second character (who was really into it) is like "FUCK NO DO THAT AGAIN" In the interest of giving a different answer tho, some other stuff I love in smut is dynamics where a character that hasn't gotten to let go or be vulnerable in this way really ever is given the space to do that, and even ENCOURAGED to... where someone who thinks they aren't good enough or don't deserve this gets assured irrevocably that they ARE and they DO through sex... cough cough sub Charles fics cough cough-- yeah generally just. some good home-grown life-affirming smut. thumbs up emoji also desperation/lack of composure/greed/intense unrestrained desire/want bordering on hunger is hot. especially characters that have been composed/trying to hold back before just fucking losing it. but I think that's kinda the name of the game with a lot of smut

hope you enjoyed this essay lmao

[dragonentusiast]

BB vs Antagonists Aka alternative endings akaka if Hero wouldn't be lazy and be more aggressive instead.

⚠️ Warning for bad language! ⚠️

The scene in the great hall when the crew found the article about Ivy and her twin.

Daniel: Ivy couldn't have done it!

BB: I don't want to deal with Ivy's ever growing schizophrenia.

Daniel glaring at him.

BB: But I guess I have to.

The scene where Ivy cast evenesco for the first time.

Prof Longbottom: Where did you learn that difficult spell?

Ivy: I...I don't know. I don't...remember.

BB: Well it's pretty convenient that you don't remember too much lately.

Ivy: I don't know what's happening to me.

BB: Oh gee it's either that you are amnesiac, or bear with me for a second, maybe just maybe there is a spell that can wipe out a person's memory? But that would be too inconvenient right?

The gang opens the suitcase

Ivy: Winifred?

Daniel: It must be a Bogart!

BB: Why did you open it in the first place?

BB walking around the Bogart to close the suitcase.

Ivy:....

Daniel:....

BB: Ivy can rediscover herself when I'm not around.

The scene where Cassandra turns Daniel upside down.

BB: Neat trick.

Daniel still struggling: Whose side are you on?!?

BB sighing: Okay okay lemme just...

BB pulls out out a rope and ties Daniel down the right way.

Daniel: Is this your idea of helping?

BB: Nope this is my idea to keep your blood the place it belongs.

BB: By the way this activity is past school time so my shift ends here. Byeeeeee

The history teacher turns out to be a puppet of the antagonist.

BB: I know this is Hogwarts we hire any ex death eater but would it be really too much to ask for a background check before you hire people?

The ending scene.

Lottie is being held hostage.

Bly: One more step and the girl will meet her father sooner than she should.

BB: Ya know if you kill her now we still have the advantage. Like you already killed one person killing another will just gets you more jail time.

Bly:....

BB: Logic people. Logic.

Bly: So...you are okay with me killing her?!?

BB: You missed my point entirely didn't you?

Daniel and Ivy: Hero!

BB: Okay fine loserssaywhat!

Bly: What?

BB: Incendio!

Everyone looking dumfounded.

Daniel: Why did that work?

BB: One he talked so he couldn't cast a spell while doing so. Two: Fastest. Spell caster.

Ivy: At moments like this I actually forget that you are an exceptional dualist.

When the tree is burning and the goblin appears.

Daniel: Don't let him run away!

The goblin run but yelped when he turned around the corner of a house.

Ivy: What happened?

BB who emerged from behind the said corner: A bear trap happened.

Gridley trying to make a deal with Daniel.

BB: So let me get this straight. You have a hostage.

Gridley: Of course but-

BB: She isn't here.

Gridley: Yet.

BB:.....

BB: Then what the actual fuck stopes me from incendioing your ass right here right now.

Gridley: My arms are very long my boy. Besides you couldn't possibly defeat me.

BB: Because of your gloves?

Gridley looking surprised: How did you know?

BB: I know the guy who came up with em. And I have a pair too.

BB proceeds to pull out the same gloves that Gridley was wearing.

Gridley: Well now we both cannot attack each other.

BB forming a fist: I wouldn't say that...

Gridley:...What are you implying?

BB: Square up bitch.

In the end Daniel dragged Hero out of there.

Meeting Eliot Evers.

BB (not at all jealous by the way): Oh when Eliot does it it's sooooo cool but when I do it it's always Hero don't throw Fischer out the window or BB don't cheat in duels or Hero stop throwing hands with a ten year old child.

Eliot: Are you-

BB: Silence bad boy. Trick me once and you can say bye bye to your bones.

In Gridley's van for the finale.

Gridley: I'm getting impatient young Daniel.

BB: You are not even gonna address me. K.

Daniel: I have your key.

BB: I would like to stop you there.

Gridley: You are playing with your friend's sister's life.

BB: Nuh ah.

Gridley: The fuck you mean nuh ah?

BB pulls out a hammer and breaks the table.

Gridley: What kind of Satanic child-

BB: I told you to square up. You thought I would be fighting fair?

Daniel: Hero stop! They are going to kill Esme!!

BB: Oh her? That's not Esme.

Everyone in the room: What?

Esme transforming to a tall man.

Mobius: Hey little one!

BB: Sup dad.

Daniel: Whaaaaaaaat?

Mobius: I monitor Hero even in school so I knew about the whole thing.

BB with the hammer in hand: I don't think you need explanation to why I'm under supervision.

Daniel: Nope. Not at all.

[chimckennoodlesoup]

Somnium's tail flicked in exasperation as they silently waited in the ship's lobby for Vagrant to be done mingling with the other guests. The Gieeg had (surreptitiously) booked tickets for themselves and their partner to go on a luxury space cruise, which they figured would be a welcome respite from their usual routine of traveling the stars and looking for problems to solve...

Only, it was awfully hard to kick back and relax when Vagrant was off with the luggage and the keys to their room, doing who knows what and talking to who knows who.

Yes, Vagrant was carrying their things... the human had insisted on being the one to do so, despite only having one arm to make do with. "You're the one who planned this whole darn thing," they had argued. "Lemme give you a hand! Besides, it's not like we're takin' a whole bunch of stuff..." Fair enough. Most of it was Vagrant's clothes, Somnium had to suppose. And some odds and ends-

"'Ey, partner! Quit standin' around and let's go see our room already!"

Somnium snapped to attention! They looked down to see Vagrant, who was tugging on their arm. "Oh, bellhop! I didn't see you down there!"

"Bold words, for someone whose stuff I'm carryin'!" Vagrant flashed a cheeky grin. "For your information, wise guy, I was just catchin' up with some of our pals! Bumped into Degirue, and then Myke an' Ariine..."

"Really?" Somnium's head tilted as they led the way to the central elevators. "Fancy meeting all of them here..."

"Well, can't blame 'em for havin' the same idea. It is a great season for a cruise, after all! ...Probably." Vagrant set their bags down for a spell as the elevator began to rise. "Hard to tell in space. I suppose any season's a great season when y'aren't fightin' pirates or gettin' pelted with asteroids... hey? Look!"

Through the glass wall of the elevator, Vagrant had spied a familiar pair of Arkans, who were riding the opposite elevator going down. They tried, in vain, to grab the attention of the other two.

"Is that... Cercil and Uno?" Somnium peered over the head of their partner to get a better look.

"Naw, I'm sure it's just some other cyborg and one-eyed, cloak wearin' pal!" Vagrant guffawed.

"Don't make me turn this ship around!" Though Somnium's arms were crossed, the smile on their face betrayed their amusement.

"Go ahead, silly! Ship's not even movin' yet! Heard we're on a slight delay... after a mix-up at the front desk involvin' an hombre wearin' some kinda mask." Vagrant was the first to step off of the elevator as it reached their floor.

"A... mask?" Somnium repeated as they followed suit.

"Yeah. Saw 'im on the way in. It was a cool mask! Some of the other guests seemed a little uncomfy about it, but hey. Life's a masquerade, we all got our masks..." Vagrant shrugged.

"Mmm." Somnium nodded their assent as Vagrant turned the keys to their room. "A fair point."

"Hoo, boy! Lookit all this!" Vagrant threw down their belongings before jumping directly onto the large bed at the center of the extravagant suite. "Dang, this place is fancy!"

"Glad you're already having fun. Don't mind me..." In sharp contrast to their partner, Somnium was already reading over the emergency evacuation itinerary. After all, it was better to be safe rather than sorry! It looked like each cabin was part of a buddy system in the event of an emergency, and their assigned buddies were...

"Kaylin and Kai Madrid?" Vagrant had already made themselves at home, and was leaning over Somnium's arm to read. "Well I'll be! Small world, hey?"

"Quite... we have more than a few friends with us on this voyage, it seems. And from all over." Somnium folded the pamphlet neatly before tucking it away.

"An' I bet we'll make more friends, too! One was taggin' along with Degi, even." Vagrant fell back onto the bed, which was luxuriously soft. "Kulgen was his name. He's a Gieeg, too, and really into Earth culture and the like. So-"

"Just like Degirue. Birds of a feather really do flock together, eh?" Somnium chuckled. "I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to socialize more at dinner. For now... Vagrant?"

The human, who had apparently been more tuckered out than they let on, was already snoozing on the criminally comfortable bed.

"Ahahahaha. Here's to a relaxing vacation, then, hmm?"

[dobits]

DAY 27 ... max braddy’s dumping confessional

did you see that dumping coming at all?

“am i a dumb cunt if i say no? it’s the most random night ever. and, look, i know everybody’s got big beef with dejan, but... at least the guy’s more interesting than most of the fools around here. i mean, c’mon, bash? maddox? rhys is only here to fluff josh, i’m telling you.”

do you think you deserved to stick around?

”fuck yeah,” max laughs, leaning back in the chair. “c’mon, you can’t look at my, what? five or six days here and say i had a fair chance. at least i made the most of my last couple.”

is there anything you would’ve done differently on the inside?

this takes some real thought. mostly because he was pretty drunk for a lot of it and the memories are all hazy. “i would’ve told josh me and jenny fucked raw.” the leering grin quickly melts off in favor of a manufactured look of sincerity. “just kidding, we totally used a condom. in the shower. yeah, always stay safe kids.” anyways. “nah, that was actually a really tender, meaningful thing to me. i mean, it was really fucking fun and i’m just lookin’ forward to seeing her on the outside. if anybody has any ideas for what could rhyme with shower, lemme know, ‘cause i’m drawing a blank.”

is there anyone else you would’ve liked to see leave instead?

”rhys and bash, obviously. but i get it, my fellow islanders wouldn’t know good tv if it smacked ‘em in their shiny, white veneers. oh, sorry, josh -- is it too soon?”

do you think any of the current couples have a shot at making it to the end?

“well, i’m gonna go on a limb and say josh and jenny’s time is probably running out,” he strokes his stubbled chin, half pretending to hide his growing grin. “there’s no way naomi and dylan are gonna last either. well, they’ll probably try their best to grit their teeth and power through it, but if the guy has any self-respect, he’ll grab the first bombshell he sees.”

 who would you like to see win?

“i think frankie and callie have a real shot, to be honest with ya. far as i can tell, they’re the realest ones in there. they got my vote.”

who do you think you’ll stay friends with after leaving the villa?

“me and josh are gonna go on a boys trip, first thing.” can’t even get the words out without snorting. “nah, i’m cool with everybody in there, i don’t give a shit. if you mean who do i think is gonna get more than just a follow back on ig? the usual suspects, of course - the blondes. frankie, jenny. seb and me always been chill. and, y’know, call me crazy, but i don’t think you’ve seen the last of me and miss naomi santos.” there’s a pause as he thinks, feels like he’s forgetting somebody. “oh, shit, dejan. hey, do you know which jail they dropped that fool off at?”

anything else you’d like to add about your time in the villa?

“was fun as fuck, i’m glad i got the opportunity. to those who were team max, i love you, baby. and, uh, yeah... oh, album’s dropping next month, stream it wherever you listen to music, and tour’s kicking off at the top of summer. first stop is the avalon. LA, i’m lookin’ at you. see ya’ll there.”

[glowstone23b]

You're actually reading my mind we have all the same headcanons. Stop that omg hsbdjfkds (don't really stop it, it's so cool). Flint's like. 6'5" bc I wanted him to be pretty much a head taller than me/my character, so somewhere in that realm. Dropout brute also, so he's a little bigger than some of the others. I adore that you use in game height measurements you are so cool and thank you for the height references i will be using them for evil drawing purposes <3 not evil, just mischievous. And excited... something like that. Thank you for listening to my rambles, goodness gracious. If any of this^^^ is coherent to you, you're doing better at understanding me than most, lol

"water content to be found in various trees, barks, leaves, and fungi" girl help ME TOO!!! Thinking about them tapping large fungi for water like we tap trees to make maple syrup!! It's not pure water, it probably tastes a bit earthy, but hey it's better than nothing! They'd probably be able to distill it, but most don't mind using it straight from the source

Literally not kidding it's in my doc "Water is very rarely drunk, as piglins get the majority of the fluid they need from what they eat (hoglin, fungus). They likely have pretty powerful kidneys/concentrated urine/whatnot like tortoises or kangaroo rats etc" like I'm not joking we have the same brain here. I feel distilled water would be used primarily for sick/elderly/young piglins, in the off chance that the taste of it is a bit off putting. Depending on what you think about specific blocks, I also think that shroomlights would be delicious! Almost like peaches of the nether, lol. They're like large fungi fruits/spores, but I think they'd just be sooooo succulent. Good stuff!!

Ouuugggghhhhh I LOVE thinking about potions. Regeneration potions would just taste like summer, like melons and a little salty bc of the ghast tears! Though I guess all potions would be a little earthy bc of the nether wart base... but I believe it's just good at taking on the flavor of whatever you give it, like rice or tofu or something. A good staple crop in Nether society! As for ghast tears being a source of water, I feel it might be a bit tough to farm? Unless they domesticated ghasts... ghasts are kinda jellyfish-y, so they may just hold a lot of liquid on their own? Who knows! I do like the idea of them being able to be ground down and used like that since they look crystalline-- maybe they're produced more like pearls are!

Since you ask to see more piglins :)

This is the only one I really have a set idea in mind for-- Rust/Rusty, named as such for her reddish coat! The bottom right in the last image was the first idea and then I got too excited and started making a ref for them based off of that. I need to add the tusks to the fullbody, but they're kind of a babirusa mix? I was trying to get a middle groundish between babirusa and some sort of feral hog, I just love the mohawks that grow on those guys. Anyways, she's kind of like. Always wanted to be a brute, and tried to get into training with the others, but was mostly on the outskirts of it during their upbringing. A bit rowdy, and usually eggs people on or instigates fights to show their strength, but people tend to steer clear of it (or just watch the foolish ones who decide to challenge her with some popcorn, lol). Idk much about him yet, but I'm thinking about em. Maybe gets to be a lower ranking bastion guard or a barkeep or something of the sort. Idk, but I like toying with the idea!

*Looking at you with big wet eyes like a dog* Does your bastion have a name? Any bastions surrounding it? Lemme have a trade route or two with you pretty please let's be sister bastions /nf

Oh, those poor piglins in that video sbhdfjjds they did try their best, but man are withers tough stuff. Dereck had technique, is all I can say! And maybe a shield. That definitely helps. The person in that video is living their best life fr!! I wanna have an origins playthrough as a piglin because I'd have the time of my life doing so. I love these funky little dudes!!!

:DD!!! yes!! a wither!! (i saw a video once of some guy spawning a wither in the nether and letting these piglins have at em, cuz theyre naturally aggroed on wither skeletons as enemies and i thought it was super cool- i think one suevived nearly the whole fight? and it just,, gave me ideas!)

the immortality thing is kinda like a player status thingy! so yeah! (in part cuz im super attached to some of them, namely dereck, rylan, and grimm; and so i while i was super cool with them getting hurt and outcasted and going thru a lot of angst essentially, i was super super uncomfortable with them experiencind death in any permanent capacity, so here we are 😔) so respawning is a thing! and my thought was since players (people playing the game) are able to be any kinda skin they desire, i figured itd make sense like this "player" status was bestowed upon them like a gods blessing! if that makes any sense,,

and yea so with dereck, with his withered status, it cant really go away cuz he was withered BEFORE the wither died and he got blessed, aha 🤭 🤷 (lol i just thought that what if he treats his condition with milk like in game, and so he keeps trades with zombie piglins and other players who go to the overworld so he can drink it since its not available in the nether omg *enter he needs some milk vine* and and lol if he does nothing to take care of it hes just gonna fall into a death loop cuz hes immortal 👀)

omg flint is so cute i wanna draw em together 😭 who knows if i have time tho. they WOULD be friends omg taking care of the littol ones together 🥺🥺

thank you!! i love the wither star idea! just a littol trophy for him ^-^

dereck loves u too

How tall would you say your ocs are? Dereck here but rylan and grimm for future reference? No reason (I lie, it’s for drawing reasons). I would love to draw them together also!! I love piglins :) if you couldn’t tell fhdbsjsk

Poor guy with his chronic illness & pain 😔 but hey he’s a good channel for staying on good terms with the local overworld villages and whatnot bc of trade routes, it works out! RIP dude, don’t fall into a death loop… maybe overworld like… cow’s milk has special properties that help soothe ailments that are caused by negative statuf effects? I assume they could probably get milk from hoglins or like. Idk. Ghasts or something fbdbsjjs or maybe if nether fungus variants of mooshrooms existed? Who knows!

I’d like to see that tbh— I’m surprised a bastion could hold their own against a wither in game 😳 that’d be interesting to see the outcome of for sure! Makes sense why an oc would come of it, haha.

I have a couple more piglins in the works, but I’ll have to refine designs, tbh. I’d love to have a solid brute, but most of the ones I come up with end up being retired brutes or dropouts/wannabes, lol. Maybe a good set of piglets to draw consistently or something, too. Idk I have a bastion in my head and I just need inhabitants for it 🤔

Trying to find a good in between for in-game mechanics versus irl influences is so tough !! I do my best but sometimes I realism too hard. It’s kinda fun to mess with though :D

[venusiangguk]

gold rush | jjk (m)

>>pairing: jungkook x reader

>>genre: pwp, smut, college au (kinda), established relationship

>>word count: 5k+

>>warnings: oral (m/f), fingering (f), phone sex, normal sex, explicit sex, slapping tits, slapping, crying, degrading, dirty talk, all the sex stuff, jks a lil mean and condescending but it’s very cool and sexy

>>notes: hello! this is my first post on here :) it’s part of a longer scenario i’m just seeing how it’s received before posting the full length version~~

>>summary: jk comes back from a weekend away and he wants to show you just how much he missed you. 

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3

It’s a Saturday night and you’re laying in your boyfriends dorm room bed by yourself. You’re bored and alone because Jeongguk had an away tournament that was far enough to warrant a hotel for the weekend. Typically you would have tagged along like many of the students at your university, but you had had a test on Friday that you couldn’t miss. Which is why you found yourself wrapped in one of his t shirts, under his blanket scrolling absently through your phone not really paying attention to anything much, just going from app to app.

Due to the lack of anything better to do, you boredly slipped your hand under the waist band of your panties. Not particularly horny... just passing the time you would say. You casually ran your fingertips over your smooth lips before yanking your hand out, being struck with an idea. You quickly type a text to Jeongguk.

you :

hi

i’m touching myself rn

Short sweet and to the point. You nibble on your lip as you see the typing bubble pop up not even 5 seconds after it says ‘delivered’.

koo 🥴:

hi

pics ? 🥺

You roll your eyes. Two years of dating and that’s still how he responds.

you :

no way

wyd rn ??

koo 🥴:

:(

why not

i’m at dinner w my team

jimin and tae say hi

-insert pic-

You smile at the pic your boyfriend took of his friends. You were pretty close to all of the team but more so Taehyung and Jimin, seeing as you and Jeongguk would go on double dates with the couple quite often.

you:

tell them i said hi and that they should kiss 😌

Immediately he responds.

koo 🥴:

they said only if u send me pics 😌

You laugh before snapping a selfie to send to him.

you:

you didn’t even ask them but ok 🙄

koo 🥴:

ur in my shirt while jerking off ?

😩 🤌 🏻

pics PLASE

PLEASE**

You giggle and you’re about to respond when you get a facetime call from him.

“You’re so impatient,” You scold. From the looks of it, he’s in a bathroom stall.

“And you’re so mean.” He pouts. “Lemme see ‘em.”

You think about being annoying and making him wait more, but he looks so handsome and hopeful that you just can’t bring yourself to tease much. You grab the bottom of his loose t shirt and pull it up and tuck it under your chin. The cool air of the room makes your nipples harden and you grab one of your tits in your free hand and squeeze and shake it gently. “These?” You ask sweetly.

His eyes are hooded and he subconsciously runs his tongue over his lips before biting the plump bottom one softly. He’s blushing when he says, “Mhmm, they’re so pretty. Will you lick them for me, baby?”

You groan. “You know I hate doing that.”

He swallows, and fusses with his hair for a second before his hand goes out of frame again. “I know it just- makes me so hard, I love watching you do it. You don’t have to though.”

You sigh and grip under your boob, and do your best to get your nipple to your mouth. They aren’t small but at the same time they aren’t the biggest so its kinda tough, but if you really try you can get it done. Once you swirl your tongue around your nipple, you hear a soft moan come from your phone speaker and you feel it go straight to your pussy. You suck on your nipple a little more before pulling off with a loud pop!

“Are you hard?” You ask, a slight shake to your voice as you get more and more turned on. He nods. “Are you touching?” He nods again. “Show me.”

He doesn’t hesitate. He pulls his sweater up and holds it between his teeth so you can see his toned stomach as well as the bulge in his pants. He runs his hand over it, toying with the tip some, making soft muffled noises fall from his lips. His stomach tenses a little bit.

You put your hand down your panties again, and tease a little at your clit. “You look so good, I wish you weren’t so far away...” You whine quietly.

Jeongguk groans and brings his face back into view. “I know, baby. I can’t even stay here with you to help or coach will get suspicious. We are supposed to be team bonding before the final game tomorrow.” He rolls his eyes. “I’ve got to will this boner away and go back out there.” He sounds like it pains him as much as it pains you to finish off alone.

“Take it out really quick, just for a second,” You say quickly before he goes.

He scowls playfully. “I really can’t stay, so just a little.”

You lick your lips and nod quickly, rubbing your fingers on your clit a little faster.

He gets the angle right and unbuttons his pants and pulls his hard cock out just enough for him to stroke up and down. He groans once he gets a hand around himself at the same time that you let out a high pitch moan.

Jeongguks cock is so pretty. It’s fat and plump and pink. Shiny at the tip where he’s already leaking. He always gets so wet for you, just like you get wet for him. His hand wrapped around himself is truly a sight. His long slender fingers moving up and down before the whole hand grips around his girth. He’s thick and long and the thought of him filling you up makes you whine and your pussy pulse.

“Are you touching yourself baby?” He whispers.

You nod. “Yes, yeah... please come home. Right now.”

He hums on a laugh. “Show me how wet that pretty pussy gets for me.”

You swirl your fingers around your wetness before bringing the glistening digits up into view of the camera. He groans and his head falls back before putting the camera back down to his cock to show you how fast he’s stroking.

“You get that wet for me even though I’m miles and miles away? How slutty baby... How do you taste hmm? Sweet like when I last tasted you just a couple of days ago?”

You’re just about to suck your fingers into your mouth for him when you hear a door open through your phone speaker.

“Kook? It’s time to stop jerking off and participate in the bonding activities, Captain .”

You can tell from the deep voice that it’s Taehyung that came to get him. You giggle quietly.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming give me a minute.” He says through the bathroom stall. He sighs, and gives you a playful eye roll like he’s exasperated.

“Don’t cum while I’m here, and be thankful that it was me that came to get you and not coach. Bye y/n!” He says loudly.

“Bye Tae!” You squeak as you hear the door close.

Jeongguk groans, but smiles lazily at you. “Guess I gotta go.”

You hum. “Guess you do Captain.”

He laughs a little as he does his pants back up, tucking his now mostly soft cock away. “I love you. Cheer me on tomorrow. I’ll see you after, but I probably won’t get back to the dorms till late. Are you gonna be there still or are you going back to yours?”

“I’ll wait for you. Score a goal for me, and text me later. Love you.” You smooch at the screen and Jeongguk does the same before the call ends.

And with that you are once again left alone, but a lot more horny than before the talk. So you do what any sensible person would do.

You pull up the hub.

~~~

Jeongguk walks into his dorm room around 10 pm, and the first thing he sees is you, right where you were when you hung up the night before after your little facetime sesh. The only difference is that you’re wearing a different shirt, still his, and you have ice cream in your hand and your laptop set up on your lap a show playing in the background.

At the sound of the door opening your eyes find his and you quickly set your food down on his night stand, and fling the covers off your lap, paying no mind to the mac book that is now buried somewhere under his comforter, before squealing and flinging yourself into his arms.

He grabs you easily, bags dropping to the floor, hands under your butt to keep you hoisted. You wrap you legs around his tiny waist and smush your lips to his cheek and mumble a distorted, “I missed you.”

“Okay so kiss me about it,” He says back, eyes glinting and lips puckered.

You giggle, placing your hands on his cheeks, angling your head to slot your lips between his. He parts easily for you, and starts to walk you both back to his bed before he drops you where he found you. You bounce lightly and take a second to take him in.

He’s wearing oversized comfy clothes, grey sweats and a big white long sleeve shirt. His long hair is soft and shiny, falling over his pretty face delicately. He must have had a shower at the hotel after the game. He looks soft and oh so sweet. You just want to devour him. From the looks of the semi in his pants, he’s feeling the same way about you.

“Ah, already getting hard for me?” You coo, hand cupping him over his sweats. He pushes against your palm, unashamed. “You just got here baby.”

He shrugs looking down at you. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you all weekend. I had to rub one out in the bathroom room last night as soon as we got back to the hotel. Tae and Jimin were right outside.”

You nuzzle into the material of his sweats feeling his cock quickly become fully erect as you mouth at it. His hand comes down to cup your cheek, run through your hair. “I watched porn after we got off the phone.”

“Did you?” He asks, shifting away for a second so he can pull his sweats down, leaving him in his briefs. You see a little wet patch where the tip is. You suck lightly over the material and he moans loud and clear for you. He sounds so much prettier in person, over the phone just doesn’t compare.

“Yeah, came so hard. Was thinking about you and me.”

“Fuck. Did you make a mess all over my sheets?”

You shake your head as you slowly pull the waist band of his briefs down his hard cock. Once it’s free it bounces in front of your face, flushed and begging for your mouth. You stroke lightly while saying, “No, but I did find something that I wanna try.” You flick your tongue under the head and the hand in your hair tightens and pushes slightly. You part your lips and let him in.

“Mmm, you can tell me all about it once I’m done with you. I can’t wait any longer baby. Swallow me,” He moans, both hands going to the back of your head and pulling you farther onto his cock. He jerks when he feels you swallow around the tip. “So fucking good.” He sighs.

You let him have his way, fucking your throat a little, although he’s much gentler than he usually is when he does it, and he does it for a much shorter time. He must be tired from the weekend, or he must have something else in mind for tonight.

“Lay back baby.” He says when he pulls out of your throat, crawling on the mattress. He finds your discarded laptop and places it under the bed out of the way. You both remove the rest of your clothes before you do as he says and he settles down between your legs.

You figure since he got hard literally on arrival, that he wouldn’t waste time with teasing, would get right to the good part. But no. He takes his sweet time kissing, licking and biting at your thighs, squeezing them roughly in his hands. He nuzzles into your skin flicking the lightest lick over you pussy lips before pulling back and blowing a little. You gasp and roll your hips, trying to get him closer to where you wanted, spreading your legs even farther apart, presenting yourself to him. But he’s having none of that.

“Stop fucking squirming,” He groans before you feel his grip tighten on your hips. But still he doesn’t go where you want him, so you fight against his hold.

“Stop teasing then,” you whine with a scowl.

He bites at your inner thigh. “Hush baby.”

You huff and hit your tiny fists on the bed, frustrated and fussy. “Make me.”

Jeongguk stills and you gulp. He glances up from between your thighs, and he quirks an eyebrow at you.

“What was that?” He asks, much too calmly.

“I said make me.” You whisper poutily.

He sighs and sits up. You get to whine for just a second before you’re yelping and squeezing your legs shut. He just smacked your pussy.

“Shut up.” He says. He doesn’t sound angry, very casual in fact. He rubs his hands over your legs, easing them back open. “Y’know y/n, I had a very long weekend. Travelled hours to play 4 games in two days. Travelled hours back.” He’s running his fingertips over your pussy lips, smearing around the slick you know is pouring out of you. You shiver. You love it when he gets like this. You love it every time your guys are together, but when he’s extremely one way or the other, extremely dominant or extremely submissive? It just makes your entire body burn and your pussy ache. “I even scored a goal for you in the final.” He glances at you, finally sneaking his finger between your folds, he grazes your clit and you shiver, legs spreading even more. “All I wanted to do was get home and take care of you... Make my girl feel good...” He’s rubbing circles around the little nub and your hips slowly start to rock into his touch, breathing heavy from the pleasure. His girl. Yes. You’re his girl. You tell him so.

“Really?” He asks. You nod. He hums. “That’s funny because all I see here is a brat .” He spits out, before another smack lands on your sensitive cunt.

You cry out, trying to close your legs again, but he holds them open. He settles between them again and says sternly, “Now be good. I’m going to do it how I want. Do you understand?” You whisper a tiny yes. He sighs like he’s relieved that you’re not going to be difficult and put up much of a fight, so he can finally do what he’s been wanting to for days. He pushes back on your thighs so your cunt it fully exposed to him, and he spits on it before rubbing his fingers around the sticky mess. Every time he rubs over your clit you twitch, but you’re trying to be good.

“So fucking messy baby. So gross.” He says sweetly as presses his tongue flat on your opening before licking all the way to your clit. He moans at the taste of you despite his words just a moment ago and your eyes roll back. He’s in a mean mood now. And you’re gushing for it. “You’re lucky you’re so pretty baby... because your little cunt is so nasty , just leaking all over the place. I’ve barely even touched her, and she’s dripping down to my sheets. How did you manage to keep them clean while I was gone hmm?” He doesn’t let you respond, quickly sucking your clit into his mouth suctioning it just a bit before flicking the tip of his tongue over it quickly.

“Ah, f-fuck-“ You gasp. You raise yourself onto your elbows so you can watch. He hums around your clit before he flicks his eyes to you. You whimper, squeezing your eyes shut before falling to your back again, not able to handle the gaze he gives you.

He pulls off and uses his fingers to open your lips and pull the hood back before making his tongue flat and licking slowly over your exposed clit.

“Oh my god- That’s- that feels so good baby,” You say between breaths. Your legs are starting to get a slight tremble to them but still, you pull them farther back, making yourself as open as you can for his tongue.

He hums and then smiles, biting at your clit gently, making you jolt. “Feels good baby?” He rubs his fingers all over your core again. You nod and he says, “Could have felt good before and not had spanks if you weren’t so fucking bad.” He swats your cunt again lightly, before sighing and kissing your clit sweetly. Your head is spinning from the switches in his mood but you love it. Love that you don’t know what to expect when he slides his fingers into you. He moans and rests his head on your inner thigh, watching as his fingers slip in and out of your heat. He looks like he’s in awe of your cunt, watching as it clenches and sucks his fingers in. He looks so lovely between your legs.

“Always so fucking tight, can’t wait to get my cock in here.” When he says ‘here’ he curls his fingers inside of you and your back arches off of the bed, and you moan his name loudly. “That’s it baby...” He whispers against your core before he starts to thrust his fingers into you, curling on the pull out. He adds his mouth and you start to shake. Your hands find his hair and you pull him closer, feel him lick and suck at your clit like its the best thing he’s ever tasted. He moans while he eats your pussy. And he has the nerve to call you nasty. He’s absolutely filthy.

“I- close-“ You choke out, relishing in the sloppy wet pleasure that his mouth and fingers are giving you.

He says ‘mhmm’ against your clit before pulling away to get out a quick, “Fuck. Yeah you are, cum for me.” and then he’s diving right back in, focusing on where you’re most sensitive, your clit and your g spot.

“There baby, yeah- fuck , don’t stop ,” You whine quietly as your body tenses. Your legs are shaking out of control, before the string in you snaps and you cry out. Your thighs close around his head and you grind your cunt into his face riding out your orgasm before it gets too much and your try to squirm away. But Jeongguk holds you there until you’re almost crying from the overstimulation.

You pull at his hair, begging him to stop, and finally, he does. He pulls away from your messy cunt, and lays himself on top of you before kissing you deep, wasting no time sticking his tongue in your mouth so you can taste yourself on him. You moan and twine your fingers through his long hair, arching your body to get as close to him as you can. You feel him start to rut his cock over your sensitive core, and gasp. He’s so hard, you can feel him throb against you. He pulls away and grips his cock at the base, lining it up with your pussy before sliding it up and down, teasing your clit even more, mixing his precum with his spit and your slick. He focuses his frenulum on your clit, and his hips twitch. His head rolls back, and his mouth opens in a silent moan. He pulls back and when he looks at you again, he looks wild. His eyes are dark with desire and his pupils are blown. His hands grip at your body like he can’t get enough of you. You’ll have pretty little bruise blossoms all over your body in the morning. Finally, the tip of his cock breaches your center.

You’re so hot, and tight, and so fucking wet around him, that Jeongguk can’t keep the moan that falls from his lips locked away as he pushes inside of you. He pushes all the way to the hilt, you can feel him flush against your clit. Your mouth falls open in pleasure, but your eyes never leave him, the first thrust always being your favorite. Finally getting filled up like you wanted. You can feel him in your belly, heat pooling there as he lets you adjust to his size. Sometimes he likes press his hand into your tummy while he fucks you. Says can feel his cock splitting you open. You watch the man above you part his lips and furrow his brows in pleasure while he does his best to not go too fast, tries not to thrust into you wildly like he so wants to.

He’s leaning over you, hands on the side of your head. You run your palms up his sides, whispering, “I’m good, you feel so good. Give it to me please.” You lean up and press a kiss to his collarbone.

He’s quick as he hikes your legs up and hooks them on his shoulders. He rests some of his weight on you, bending you in half as he starts moving his hips. He pulls out to just the tip before slamming back in with one swift motion. Your hands claw at his back, the angle he has you in allowing him to reach even deeper. Gasps are punched out of you as he starts to set his brutal, sharp pace, not forgetting how bad your were earlier. He’s going to make sure you feel every inch of him for days.

“Oh my god, fuck. That’s so fucking good, Jeongguk. Please fuck me,” Your moans are high pitched and close to sobs.

He leans back some and spreads your legs wide, hands on your ankles to keep them open and he looks down slowing his thrust to watch as he slides into your little cunt. Your pussy is swollen and pink around his cock. He can see your arousal shiny on the base of his cock. “Fuuuck,” He moans as he closes his eyes basking in the feel of you clenching tight around him. He’s slowly pulling his cock from you, only for you pussy to pull him right back in. “This pussy was made to take my cock, huh?” He says speeding up. You nod and tell him, “Yes only your cock gets me this wet, this fucking hot.” He pumps his cock into you hard enough for you to get jostled, so your words come out in choppy and incoherent moans.

The way he’s fucking you makes your tits bounce, perky and pretty. He growls and leans down to suck a nipple into his mouth. You arch into his touch, cute little mewls falling from your lips as his tongue flicks over the small bud. You brush his long hair out of his eyes, holding him to your tit as he makes goosebumps rise to your skin.

“That feels so nice baby,” You say. It’s quiet and desperate, you head thrown back, neck extended and bared to him.

His eyes flick up to look at you, still playing with your nipples. He sees you bared in submission and can’t help the hand that rubs up your torso all the way to your neck. Just begging to have a hand around it. He pulls off your your tit, letting one of your legs fall to around his waist and you moan loud and long as the picks up his pace again.

Your favorite position. He knows how to fuck you any and every way, but like this he fucks you just right, making you fall apart in no time at all. The hand around your throat tightens at the sides, making the moans and whines that come out of your mouth high pitched and airy. The lack of blood flow to your brain makes you feel lightheaded and fuzzy, almost euphoric as he fucks you into submission. His free hand smacks your tits lightly, and you clench from the dull pain as they jiggle. Jeongguk swears.

“God your pussy is just milking my cock, not even letting me pull out all the way. Such a greedy , selfish little cunt. Can’t get enough of this cock filling her up.” He grips your hips with both hands and watches your pussy swallow his cock.

You giggle, soft and delirious as you feel the first signs of your orgasm pool in the pit of your belly, right where Jeongguk’s cock is pounding into you.

“You think that’s funny?” He questions. He grips your jaw and makes you look at him. Your cheeks are smushed and your eyes water from the hold he has on you. “You think being a selfish, greedy little slut is funny?” He presses against the side of your face, biting at your cheek like he just needs to sink his teeth into something to let out some of the pent of feelings coursing through his veins.

“I just love it. Love your cock so much,” You whimper.

Jeongguk pulls back so he can look into your eyes again. He looks at you mockingly. “You love it?” His voice is condescending and it makes your pussy drip. “You fucking love it?” He looks crazed as his hips jackhammer into your cunt, the slaps of his skin meeting yours ringing loud and clear throughout the dorm. Bless his poor neighbors.

“Yes, yes I fucking love it,” God you’re going to cum.

He feels how close you are, sees the way your legs are trembling. He’s moaning when he says, “Shit baby, show me how much you love it. Show me, make that little pussy cream all over my fat cock.”

You nod helplessly as your body jerks in his hold. You can feel your pussy contract over his cock as he brings you the precipice of your pleasure. Tears fall from your eyes from how overwhelmingly good it feels.

Jeongguk fucks into you a few more times, the last of your orgasm leaving your body, as you listen to the higher pitched moans falling from his lips at a faster rate than before. He gasps as he pulls out and positions himself over your heaving chest, cock right in your face as he fists it fast.

“Fuck, open you mouth,” He says, voice dripping with pleasure. You do, smiling, tongue out. He groans deep before his hips jerk and he whispers, “I’m gonna cum,” with heavy lust filled eyes. You feel the first shot of cum land on your cheek.

“Mmm yeah, cum all over my face,” You hum, blissed out.

He milks every last drop of his load out, and you suckle on the tip until he’s whining and shivering, pulling back with an overwhelmed, overly sensitive gasp.

He catches his breath for a second before he gets up and makes his way to bathroom. He sees you about to wipe the cum off your face and says, “Wait a sec.”

You sit patiently, criss cross apple sauce, cum on your face, eyes red and wet from the tears you shed, until he comes back with a wet wash cloth in one hand. He makes a stop at his bags on the floor and fishes his phone out.

He sets the wash cloth on the night stand next to your forgotten, melted ice cream and pulls up the camera.

“Smile baby,” He says, softly giggling.

You do, big and radiant, throwing up a little finger heart. You hear the shutter a few times before his phone takes the place of the wash cloth on the night stand. You reach for it to clean yourself, but he pulls away, wanting to do it himself.

You smile as he concentrates and gently cleans up his mess from your face. His tongue peaks out of his lips and you peck him. He stills before scowling with a small smile, and continuing.

“You look so pretty when you have my nut all over you face,” He says absently. His thumb brushes under you eye. “When you cry too.” He cups your jaw and runs his thumb over your cheek bone. “I wasn’t too mean was I? Too rough?” His eyes search yours. You shake your head.

“No I like it when you get like that, ‘s sexy,” You say wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him so that you both are laying down. You wrap around him like a koala. He yawns and settles in your hold, snuggling into the bed.

“Okay good. You can be mean next time,” He sounds sleepy.

You scoff, knowing that you both know that when you take control it’s in a softer way. Degrading and being mean was his thing, what you liked. Jeongguk liked to be praised.

“Yeah okay,” You say sarcastically. “You’d cry in a non sexy way if I was even half as mean to you as you are to me,” You scratch at his scalp and he purrs.

“I’m sensitive,” He whines. Another yawn. “And sleepy. Shhhh.”

“Jeongguk wait,” You say.

“Hmm?” He says already close to knocking out.

“I wanna eat your ass next time.”

“Mhmm, okay. Now sleep please. Turn off the lamp.” He turns over, wanting to be the little spoon.

You know he didn’t actually listen to what you said, but that would not stop you from holding the ‘yes’ he gave you over his head in the morning when he’s more coherent. You flick off the lamp, and throw an arm over his waist. He snuggles back into you, fitting his body against yours. You kiss his shoulder and say, “Okay, remember that you said yes in the morning.”

All you get in response is a soft snore.

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

and there it is! let me know if u want me to finish and post the whole thing! comments and feedback are appreciated!

part 2 here!

part 3 here!

[osakaso5]

IDOLiSH7 6th Anniversary Special Story: Full of Heart...

Chapter 5: To All Of You In The Past

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

Yamato Nikaido: Morning, Yaotome. Sorry for making you drop by so early in the morning.

Gaku Yaotome: It's cool. I was free, anyway.

Mitsuki Izumi: Ah, Yaotome. Morning. Have you had breakfast yet? I can make you a little something if not.

Gaku Yaotome: I'm good.

Nagi Rokuya: OH! What a thick file you have. Is that an album, by any chance?

Gaku Yaotome: Yeah.

Nagi Rokuya: What about yours, Yamato?

Yamato Nikaido: Me and Yaotome were chatting the other day, and we realized our photos for the show might be too similar.

Mitsuki Izumi: You and Yaotome's? How come?

Yamato Nikaido: Both our dads work in the entertainment industry.

Gaku Yaotome: Both of us are only children.

Yamato Nikaido: Both of us wore paper helmets on Children's Day.

Gaku Yaotome: Both of us wore jinbei in the evenings.

Yamato Nikaido: Both of us wore hakamas on New Year's.

Gaku Yaotome: Both of us wore yukatas to summer festivals.

Yamato Nikaido: Both of us wore golfwear in the autumn.

Gaku Yaotome: Both of us wore winter sportswear in the winter.

Mitsuki Izumi: Wow, that's nice! I had no idea your dad was as doting as Yamato-san's, Yaotome.

Gaku Yaotome: I wouldn't call him doting. He's just been trying to get me into the industry since before I could remember.

Gaku Yaotome: Unlike Nikaido's, these pictures are nothing but promotional materials.

Yamato Nikaido: It's not like my old man doted on me, either. He just wanted to relieve his guilt by showering his illegitimate kid with presents.

Yamato Nikaido: If anyone here was spoiled, it's gotta be Nagi, right? What with him being a prince and all.

Nagi Rokuya: Would you like to see my favorite horse?

Gaku Yaotome: An actual prince on a white steed!?

Mitsuki Izumi: Looking good, Nagi! Who's that on the light brown horse behind you?

Nagi Rokuya: My brother.

Yamato Nikaido: Oh, Seto-san! He looks super young here!!! Like a textbook pretty boy!

Gaku Yaotome: Wow. So this dude's Rokuya Senior. I'd like to meet him someday. Bring him over if he's ever in Japan.

Yamato Nikaido: That's a prince you're talking about. You'll end up  causing some kind of diplomatic scandal if you call him stuff like  "Rokuya Senior" or "this dude". 

Gaku Yaotome: Ah, right. What should I call him then? Prince Senior? His Royal Brotherliness?

Nagi Rokuya: Just "Prince Seto" will do.

Gaku Yaotome: If Prince Seto ever comes to Japan, I wanna meet him. I'll feed him the best Japanese food he's ever had.

Nagi Rokuya: Thanks! I am sure he would love that.

Gaku Yaotome: What about you, Izumi Senior? What kind of picture did you pick?

Mitsuki Izumi: This one! Ta-dah!

Yamato Nikaido: Ooh! You're doing a parody of Zero's Midnight! Looks cool!

Gaku Yaotome: It's his most iconic album cover, and you completely nailed it! Where'd you get the costume?

Mitsuki Izumi: My parents made it. Iori helped too, with the accessories and stuff.

Nagi Rokuya: Wonderful! You were a little star! The loveliest of idols!

Gaku Yaotome: It's a great photo! I'm willing to bet your Zero cosplay'll be the most exciting one on the show!

Mitsuki Izumi: Thanks! What kind of photos did you two have in mind?

Yamato Nikaido: Well...

Gaku Yaotome: Let's see that album of yours, Nikaido. I'll help you choose.

Yamato Nikaido: You wanna pick out my photo?

Gaku Yaotome: I'll give you suggestions. Feel free to do the same with mine.

Yamato Nikaido: What? That's a pretty tall order. I have to be careful not to pick anything your fans might jump me over...

Mitsuki Izumi: Let's see 'em. I'll help too.

Nagi Rokuya: In that case, I will help Yaotome-shi choose the loveliest Yamato we can find.

Gaku Yaotome: ...There sure are a lot of those in here.

Nagi Rokuya: OH... It is nothing but lovely Yamatos.

Mitsuki Izumi: Seriously? Lemme see.

Yamato Nikaido: Oh, come on! They're not that big of a deal!

Gaku Yaotome: Now there's a smile that'll melt your heart.

Nagi Rokuya: Yes indeed.

Mitsuki Izumi: Ah... He's totally got the look of a spoiled rich kid!

Yamato Nikaido: Stoooop!!!

Mitsuki Izumi: You've been telling people to count on you, when you were like this yourself!? You must work so hard to put up that leader front!

Yamato Nikaido: I-it's not like that!!!

Mitsuki Izumi: It's fine! You're a man, just admit it!!! We can hug it out later!

Yamato Nikaido: I... I don't need your hugs..!

Gaku Yaotome: You look like you'll burst out crying as soon as someone pinches your cheek.

Nagi Rokuya: Hm... It does not look as if you were ever bullied.

Yamato Nikaido: Crap. Now I wanna drop out of this project..!

Gaku Yaotome: It's nothing to be ashamed of. I like this photo. The one where you're eating melon.

Nagi Rokuya: OH! How lovely, pretty, and cute! You were so sweet, Yamato!

Mitsuki Izumi: It's super cute! Looks like little Yamato here loved his melon! Isn't that nice!?

Yamato Nikaido: "Loved my melon"..?

Gaku Yaotome: A melon farmer could use it for an advertisement. That's how nice you look here.  

Nagi Rokuya: It is the very picture of happiness. We should hang it on the living room wall.

Yamato Nikaido: Stop it, seriously...

Gaku Yaotome: Jokes aside, it's a nice photo. It shows off what a warm-hearted guy you are. Let's use this one.

Yamato Nikaido: Really..?

Gaku Yaotome: Trust me. It's this one or nothing.

Yamato Nikaido: I guess I'll use it, then... Ugh... I bet my face is gonna be bright red when they show this... I'll need to wear at least three pairs of glasses to cover it up.

Mitsuki Izumi: Don't be silly. Instead of worrying about your own picture, why don't you pick something for Yaotome already?

Yamato Nikaido: I could pick one at random with my eyes closed, and he'd probably just be his usual cool self in it.

Gaku Yaotome: I can't tell if that's a compliment or an insult. Either way, no closing your eyes.

Yamato Nikaido: Damn. This one's like something out of a manga... How were you this cool-looking in grade school..?

Mitsuki Izumi: He looks super stylish..! And check out that charismatic look in his eyes!

Nagi Rokuya: Why, it almost rivals mine!

Gaku Yaotome: I've got some goofier ones in there, too. Like this one with the wooden chopsticks...

Yamato Nikaido: No way. That one's way out. I don't want the face you're making to backfire and make you even more popular somehow.

Gaku Yaotome: What do I need to do for you to like even one of my pictures..?

Yamato Nikaido: Your thoughts, Mitsu?

Mitsuki Izumi: I'll let you decide, since Yaotome did the same for you.

Yamato Nikaido: You're mean. And here you were, offering to hug me just a minute ago...

Nagi Rokuya: Perhaps we should hang this sweet Yamato on the living room wall after all?

Yamato Nikaido: No! Hmm... Let's see...

Yamato Nikaido: How about this one?

Mitsuki Izumi: Ah... I like it.

Nagi Rokuya: OH... Has he fallen over, I wonder? His knee is injured.

Mitsuki Izumi: He looks hurt, but even though he's got tears in his eyes, he's trying really hard to hold it together.

Yamato Nikaido: Classic Yaotome move.

Gaku Yaotome: Is it? I guess I'll go with this one, then.

Mitsuki Izumi: Did President Yaotome take this one?

Gaku Yaotome: Probably.

Mitsuki Izumi: What kind of parent takes a picture when their kid's hurt..?

Gaku Yaotome: My old man never was the type to run over all worried. He'd just stare at me and tell me to get up.

Yamato Nikaido: Would he at least reward you for doing as he said?

Gaku Yaotome: Of course not. He'd just go off on one of his sermons. Telling me that I was too rowdy and careless.

Gaku Yaotome: Then again... I was tough enough to get up after a little fall.

Mitsuki Izumi: So that makes it okay?

Gaku Yaotome: Doesn't mean I didn't wish he had worried, or ran over, or picked me up...

Gaku Yaotome: But if he had, I'd just have gotten mad and told him I was fine on my own.

Gaku Yaotome: So, uh, I'm thinking we were fine the way we were.

Yamato Nikaido: He sounds strict... But I think that's cooler than if he’d  just have pampered you, and not told you to do things for yourself.

Gaku Yaotome: You looked pretty happy being pampered, though. I mean, just look at this melon farm  posterboy...

Yamato Nikaido: Stop calling me that.

Mitsuki Izumi: I guess our childhoods affect us all in different ways.

Nagi Rokuya: Yes. We each have our own, wonderful tales.

Nagi Rokuya: Hello, my friends from the past. I will meet you soon enough.

Mitsuki Izumi: Haha, talking to our pictures, are you?

Yamato Nikaido: What are you, a time traveler?

Gaku Yaotome: No need to be soft  on me, if you ever go to the past. I'll work things out for myself.

Nagi Rokuya: OK. Hello. I am Nagi Rokuya, time traveler. And I love you all.

Nagi Rokuya: I could not be more excited for when we finally meet. It will be so nice to see you. Until then, I wish you well.

Nagi Rokuya: Please be happy. 

To be continued...

[simpz-art-stash]

Late beginnings

Summary: Mac goes out for a drink, and happens upon some advice he takes into consideration about his skewered relationship with Wukong. Before finally taking some action to mend the long burnt bridge. (Author’s note: I barely did any beta reading for this so if it’s worded strangely that’s just how I write without the normal filter on. I’m country so HOWDY) Next Page ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The night was late, but he didn’t care, he might as well have been nocturnal with the way his whole life revolved around the whole stereotype of shadows and shit. He’d walked into a bar he’d passed through a few times before, donning his human disguise of course beforehand, and walked in without sparing anyone else a glance. Before planting his rear in one of the stools seated at the front bar, ordering a drink to get the night started. “I’m really looking forward to seeing that new Monkey King movie with the trailer they just released. You saw it too right?? The whole style of the film is on par with their most recent game- OH, you think they’re gonna make a game of it?? I bet you they wiiiill!~” Ugh, great, just what he’d come here to avoid.

Mac’s eyes glanced to the blabbermouth boasting about whatever new movie was being made about his ex, to see two girls residing a ways down near the other end of the bar a few seats away from him. Both looking to have had a fair night themselves already if any of the cups and plates hanging around their spot was anything to go by. “Probably. I hope it’s better than last game that came out on the Brick 360, the bugs in that thing were gross to deal with.” Their friend commented back. Before looking down at their phone and claiming that it was getting late and that they had to go. “Yeah I’ll see ya Monday!” The chick waved their friend off a lazy farewell after they’d paid their bill before going back to their drink, now taking less tedious sips as the mood seemed to smooth out from their conversation prior. “I see someone’s a pretty big fan of that ol’ man.” Macaque piped up from where he sat, earning the attention of the stranger he’d directed his comment towards. “The Monkey King yeah?” Sparks danced in the chick’s eyes at the recognition of the name, before the stranger perked up and beamed a smile back at him, “You betcha! I’m a total nerd for that legend.” ‘A legend, hah.’ “S’the whole reason I moved to China in the first place.” She jabbed a thumb at her chest, “All the way from America!” Mac whistled, “That’s a pretty far leap to take, even for a legend. What, you hopin’ you’ll get the chance to see em’ or somethin’?” He sneered, taking his glass and lazily swirling it in his hand. “I wish!” She laughed, “Nah I mostly just moved here for work. If anything though it’s cuz a them for where I am now. I’d never even heard of him till about five years ago!” Mac blinked, lowering his drink from his lips, “You’re joking…”

“Not at all! No one hardly knows the story back home. Only reason I found out was cuz I just started gettin’ into anything monkey-related as a hobby.” She pointed at him, “Don’t laugh either, it’s a wildly popular standpoint to have these days online.” Mac quirked a brow at that, he’d hardly touched the internet these days save for whenever he needed some quick info on something he couldn’t find elsewhere. He held his hands up, “Hey I ain’t judging…” He smirked a little to betray the look that he totally was though. It was kinda funny how ironic it was him being there right then. She squinted at him, “Anyways...Yeah, I’d seen stuff of him online, but I’d never paid much attention to it up until recently.” “What made you change your mind?” Mac boredly probed, taking a sip. She simply shrugged, “I was in a dark headspace, guy made me laugh.” He paused, “Wait, seriously??” “I mean have you HEARD half the crazy shit he’s done??” ‘Babe I’ve LIVED through half the shit he’s done.’ “Like, literally, the guy is HILARIOUS. My favorite story out of them all being one where he literally tricked THREE taoist immortals into drinking his own piss!!” She burst out laughing while Mac choked on his drink a little, not having expected to hear that of all things. Sure he’d heard a few of the shenanigan’s his peaches had gotten up to throughout his journey to the west but he’d never heard that one before. Nor had he the patience to read through all that mess of context that had been published either. “Ahhh man, it still gets me…” The chick sighed with a few leftover laughs as she wiped a tear from her eye. “What about you? What’s your favorite story?” She asked. And suddenly Mac felt like he’d been put on the spot as he stared back at her. “Come ooon, surely there’s one that’s gotten your gut rolling.” She pried. ‘Plenty, but there ain’t no way in hell I’d tell a soul.’ “Bahh...there ain’t the first one that comes to mind that I’d like. Honestly I’m not even much of a fan.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Whaaat?? Aw come on! There’s tons of cool n’ funny stories!” “Heh..can’t imagine what you find so charming about a guy who’s too good for his own friends.” Mac spitefully twacked himself mentally for spewing something so personal like that out. Ugh, and he hadn’t even finished half his drink yet… The chick sitting to his left seemed to tilt her head a little before she squinted at him. Her silence being what brought his attention from his drink to her as he blinked back with a quirked brow. “What?” “Your eyes, they’re like raging storm clouds.” She pointed out. He blinked, not really sure how to feel about that. The only one who’d ever really pointed that out to him before was… “...So?” “Nothing!...” She shrugged, turning back away towards her own drink as if no conversation at all had happened between them. Whatever...he had his fill of shit to drink to either way. The night might’ve been late but he was just getting started. “He makes me laugh though.” She pointed out, earning her a glance. “All his stories n’ stuff. If there was ever a man I’d want, it’d be one who could always make me laugh.” “Hmph, not one for strength?” He took a long sip. Ignoring the bitterness of others fawning over someone he’d come to love before he’d gotten so popular. “Strength is fine n’ all, but it can only take a relationship so far..you gotta have more pieces to put in that crockpot of a relationship if you wanna make it taste good. Stuff like patience, honesty, a little bit of everything to help it all come together to make it juuuuust right.” “Hm…” “It can’t be all just you putting the stuff in there either, it’s gotta be a contribution from both gardens. Otherwise you’ll just barren your lands and be left with nothing to spare yourself or others in your life with.” She glanced at Mac, “Relationships are tricky like that, but they should always be a 50/50 split~” She winked. That...actually sounded like pretty sound advice. Something he’d heard a little here and there before but never so simply laid out. Though it made sense from his standpoint, fairness n’ all that. But he’d been that way with Wukong before and it had never worked out, all the bickering and such, so what had gone wrong? “Can I...ask you something?” Mac inquired. “Shoot.” “What’re your thoughts on..a relationship that seemed fine, but then the other changed so much that everything about it fell apart?” “Mmm...care to sprinkle in a lil more context?” The chick eyed him. Mac’s face scrunched up a little, no idea why he was asking some random mortal for relationship advice of all things. “Hey man. We’re both probably never gonna meet again after tonight, so if you’ve got skeletons in your closet, your best place to let em’ out is here. Bartenders are known for being the most well kept secret keepers in all the world after all~” She winked at the bartender in question who simply looked the other way with a look that might’ve suggested such a fact as truth. “Hm…” Ah screw it, “Alright alright…” He sighed and put his drink down, “There’s..someone. We used to be real close, we were strong together but then uh..shit got real and he had to go deal with it. But when he came back he uh, wasn’t the same as before, an I might’ve sorta assumed he was cheating on me so…so we kinda fell out.” The chick nodded, “Ahh..the classic misunderstanding of change and cheating, a tale as old as time.” She seemed to hum a moment before she turned from where she was seated, if not to hop down off her stool and plop down on the one right up next to him. “Uh-” “Shhh, lemme see those eyes.” She squinted, leaning in and staring deep into his. It’d would’ve been really unnerving if she hadn’t said anything about them before, now he was a lil put off that he might’ve been asking a witch of all things for advice… “Right. Well, at least you feel bad about it. So there’s that.” He blinked and his brows furrowed, “Wh- of course I feel bad about it, it was his fault-” He suddenly had a finger pressed to his lips. “Nope! Nooononono, you do not get to throw all the blame elsewhere like that sweetheart. There ain’t no way in hell you’re gettin’ a second chance with them if you keep that up.” She pulled her hands back. His face scrunched up and he found himself crossing his arms, if he had his tail out it would’ve been irritably swaying behind him right then at just how annoyed he was getting at this weird lady and her words. “Oh yeah? An what do you think’s best then huh?” “I dunno if you’d be up for that kinda challenge…” She idly fiddled with an imaginative piece of lint off her sleeve, which only seemed to irritate Mac further at the thought of him not being able to handle Wukong of all people. Like sure he’d gotten his ass handed to him before but he could still hold his own! “Try me.” The chick glanced back at him with a smirk, which caught him off guard for a second before he shot her a glare back. “Alright, but it’s definitely not gonna be as quick or easygoing of a recovery as you might hope it’ll be. Nor is there even a chance of you recovering it in the first place. But, you at least got that spark enough to try so who am I to deny?” ‘Hmpt, dam right I got a spark.’

“First of all, no more blaming, if you’re gonna tackle this properly, you gotta do yourselves a favor an quit it with the blame placing. Sure it’s easy, but it ain’t gonna get you nowhere but back to square one. It’s all in the past, the now is now. So push forward to fix it and put it behind you two so you can focus on the more important things.” “Easier said than done…” “Hey man, even if they don’t follow the same ruleset at first you could always work things out to make it one later on. I’m just tellin’ ya right now so you won’t just go diggin’ yourself a deeper hole.” Honestly at this point he was pretty much six feet down under, death to him would’ve been a mercy right then. “Fine…” He rolled his eyes. “Next up, apologizing…” -----------~----------- “I thought I told you to stay off my island.” Mac didn’t really glance back from where he stood high up on one of the breathtaking ledges that which Flower Fruit Mountain bolstered. His arms crossed, eyes sternly held against the leftover warmth of the late afternoon sun as it shifted the skies hues from blue to blood red. Hopefully that would be the only tinge of red the Mountain would see after today. “I know.” “What, no witty remark? Give me one good reason-” “I just wanted to talk.” Mac stated plainly. “Why the hell should I give you the chance?” “...” Mac wasn’t sure if he could come up with a good enough reason after the shitshow he’d caused him the last few centuries, most recent being his spat with him between MK. “I’m sorry.” That seemed to catch the king off guard, as he paused in his vicious glare to stare at the other. “Excuse me??” “I’m.Sorry.” Mac turned finally to Wukong, that look of fiery malice having softened immensely upon meeting their eyes. “I was wrong for what I did and I’m sorry.” Wukong’s face looked like it had had a stroke with how frozen in place it was, almost like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Hurting everyone around you just to get back at you, I was wrong for doing that. And I just wanted to apologize.” Mac’s face twisted a little, the words coming out a little rougher than he’d liked, but he’d managed to get three steps in so far… “If you think a few sorry’s are gonna be enough to make up for all that crap then you gotta nother’ thing comin Mac.” Wukong finally shook off the surprise and crossed his arms with a steely gaze. “Nah I know they ain’t worth shit with as long as it's been...which it’s been..a really, really long time come to think of it..nearly 3000 years…” Fucking yikes. “What’s your point?...” Wukong raised a brow at him. “My point is...my point..” What was his point? To make amends and hope they’d get back together? To go back to the way things were? That couldn’t be done with the way things were now. Wukong had a successor, a moral compass, a lotta shit that Mac didn’t. A lotta shit that he wanted but never could figure out how to get his own. His face scrunched up a little and he sighed, “I..just wanted to make things right.” “Oh-hoh? After so long you finally decided to admit you were at fault? Sorry Mac, but it’s waaaay too late for that.” Wukong huffed, “Honestly, this is probably just another one of your stupid tricks if anything. The old Macaque would never throw himself down like that.” “Well maybe I’ve changed!” Mac exclaimed suddenly, his temper flaring a bit as his eyes flashed lightning. “3000 years later? As if…” Wukong rolled his eyes and turned away, “You’ve still got that same look in your eyes you always do whenever we fight. Do me a favor and just keep away from the hot springs this time yeah? The last time you were here you sent a whole dam boulder over there and smashed half the pools.” He waved his hand dismissively. “And I happen to take my once a month bath’s very seriously.” Mac’s nostrils flared a little at just how flamboyant Wukong was acting towards him and his attempt to make amends. How he just saw his attempt as a joke and nothing more, it pissed him off. Wukong had changed and everyone had accepted him, well not everyone, but still, why couldn’t the same be for him? Had he really fooled himself into believing that there was a chance he and Wukong could be together again? His shoulders slumped a little. Of course, who was he kidding. A 3000 year old pit of grudges wasn’t about to just up and disappear at the wave of a white flag. This was Wukong, the same guy who still playfully pestered the gods and demons around him for past conflicts that had happened between them. -----------~----------- “But you can’t just go, ‘ooo I’m so sorry for what I did.’ Nah, you gotta follow the five steps.” The chick claimed. “Yeesh, this a learning course now?” Mac tilted his head to the side. “It is if you wanna make things right.” She claimed matter a factly. “The five steps have never failed me before and have worked wonders for any an all my relationships. Might not quite have the same range of effect you’re going for but it’ll at least be a good start.” “Heh, you got the guts to back up that case?” Mac sneered. “I will if you don’t manage to screw it up.” The chick pointed out. “The five steps go as follows.” - express sorrow (I’m sorry) - own guilt (I was wrong) - name specific wrongs (I did X) - name impact (I hurt you) “And finally...” -----------~----------- “What can I do to prove myself to you?” Macaque asked finally. “What can I do to at least make it to where we can..not fight anymore..and just talk?...” Wukong stood there for a long moment, his features unreadable as their silence was muffled by the wind bellowing between them both from being so high up. “You really are serious about this aren’t you?...” Wukong’s head shifted ever so slightly, but not enough to where Mac could get a reading on his emotions. “I’m tired of fighting and waiting and thinking that if enough time passes things’ll go back to the way they were...when they never will. Trying to hurt you isn’t gonna make the old you come back, no matter how many times you beat me down...It’ll never be the same.” Mac admitted finally. A quiet gust settled down between them, before Wukong seemed to let out a dry chuckle and shook his head. “Can’t believe it took me 3000 years to beat the sense into you.” He turned and looked back at the other, where he no longer held a look of seething hate, but more akin to that of the same tired look just as the one Mac wore. Mac felt a sliver of guilt wriggle its way into one of the cracks of his heart and he glanced away, pulling a hand back and scratching his head. “Yeah well...your kid hit me pretty hard last time, enough to knock it in place.” A small smile crept a little onto his face. “Hm~ He’s gettin’ pretty good at hittin’ stuff with that old stick.” Wukong’s eyes glinted a little at the appeal of how proud he was for MK having taken Mac out the way he did. A little over the top and flashy, just like him.” “He’s got a pretty strong master to thank for that…” Mac found himself yearning a little for that same glint to be reflected on his memory the same way as MK’s. Not that he couldn’t see himself holding the same appeal for MK the way Wukong did, kid was strong, just a lil desperate in some of the cracks that shaped his outline. Something Macaque found that was easy enough to take advantage of, and something Wukong held a blind eye to. “Hm.” Wukong’s reply pushed him out of those thoughts for the moment as they shared a brief look between one another. A glimmer of reconsideration flashing between the two before Wukong finally turned his head away to drink in the sunset before them. “One chance.” Mac felt his heart nearly stop at that answer. “I’ll give you one chance, but if you screw this up, don’t even think about showing your face to me again.” Wukong replied, “I mean it this time…” Mac swallowed a little and nodded. Anything, he’d be willing to do anything to gain back what little trust he could from Wukong. “Good...you can start making up for it by apologizing to MK.” Mac blinked and sputtered a little as Wukong turned away and began to make his way back down the mountain. A smile playing on his lips while Macaque groaned to the heavens about his next trial.

[cobaltusami]

Bro Bonding Time

Hey hi hello! I'm like 12 hours late with this but I fell asleep writing and then had to run errands this morning, but like I've said before I'd rather post late than post something I rushed and didn't like.

So fun fact, Leon Is actually one of my fave's from the first game, and I thoroughly enjoy Lee!Leon because oof this child deserved so much better than he got. (All my favorites did. ;-; Apparently it's a requirement that If you become my fave you have to suffer--)

Characters: Lee!Leon, Ler!Mondo, Ler!Taka

Word count: 2324

Part one: Mercy

“For our first hang out,” Mondo said loudly, on purpose. He locked eyes with Leon. “Wanna help me get revenge on a certain Redhead?”

“Yeah, Let’s get him.”

The two newly united ‘Bros’ advanced towards Leon, who was still hiding behind Sakura. “Come on Mondo, It was totally fair! Taka never tickled someone before!” He tried to defend himself.

“He’s right. You had a brother growing up so you had more experience In that field, Taka didn’t.” Sakura spoke up, Trying to help the aspiring rockstar.

Taka stopped. “I guess you’re right…”

“Fuck that. Move outta my way Sakura, Or I’ll take you down too.” Mondo threatened, Standing directly In front of the Martial artist.

“Come on, Let’s let the boys do their thing.” Aoi sighed, getting up and moving towards the door. She stopped however when she realized Sakura wasn’t following her.

Sakura locked eyes daringly with the Biker. “Bold words from someone who just submitted.”

Mondo’s face flushed with embarrassment, he was taken off guard by her defiant demeanor. “W-What the hell did you just say?!”

“Sakura, Let’s go.” Hina tugged at her friend’s arm.

The Martial artist looked to the Swimmer and let out a small sigh. “Fine.”

“No no, Fuck that. You think you can take me?”

“M-Mondo! I thought you didn’t fight women!” Taka panicked, Sensing the rising tensions In the room.

“Sakuraaaa.” Aoi narrowed her eyes up at her.

She glanced at Mondo then back at Aoi. “Let’s go.” She mumbled. “I achieved my goal and gave Leon enough time to run away anyway.” She smirked at the Biker and left with a mischievously giggling Asahina, Who had realized her plan and played along.

Mondo’s eyes snapped back to where Leon had been hiding and found only an open door. “SHIT!” He swore as he bolted out the door after him.

Leon was running as fast as possible towards his room, He could hear footsteps barreling like roaring thunder behind him though, He knew he was about to get caught. “STAY BACK!” He yelled over his shoulder.

He skidded to a stop by his door and went to dive into the safety of his room but Mondo threw himself Into the doorway, hooking his arms around the rockstar as he fell to the floor inside the room, taking Leon down with him. “Where do you think… You’re going… Ya little shit?” Mondo panted as he began to catch his breath, tightening his grip when Leon started squirming.

“M-Mondo! Come on man, This Is so not cool! Let go!”

“Nice try, But Sakura overestimated how fast you can run.” Mondo smirked as he stood, pulling Leon up with him.

Taka poked his head into the doorway. “Oh, There you are!”

“Get In here bro, Let’s start our hangout.”

Leon yelped as he was tossed haphazardly onto the bed, he tried to roll off the bed to evade them but Mondo was quick to block his chance at escape by jumping onto the bed and tackling him to the mattress.

Taka shut the door and approached the red haired student who was throwing out strings of swears and protests at the biker pinning him down. Mondo was half laying on his side, propped up by the arm he was resting on, he used that same arm to ensnare both of Leon’s.

“Not cool man! Let me go!” He intended to sound angry, but his words came off as nervous instead.

“No way, you brought this on yourself. Ya shoulda stayed out of our business, Twerp.” Mondo chuckled evilly as Taka joined the two over on the bed, settling on the opposite side of Leon.

“Okay, Time to give you a real crash course In tickling.” Mondo smirked, adjusting his hold on the red head. He moved so that he was holding both of his arms over his head with one hand and shoved his shirt upwards with his free hand. “Now bro, Kuwata here Is hella ticklish. His worst spots are his hips and his feet. But ‘lemme teach ya a trick.”

Taka nodded attentively, hanging off of every word Mondo spoke as though his life depended on it.

“When you’re tickling someone, anticipation and build up are your friends.”

The Hall monitor blinked. “Anticipation and build up? What do you mean by that?”

Mondo grinned wickedly. “Well, with some people It’s most effective to just dive into their worst spot full force… but for other people, you need to start off slow, target less sensitive spots and psych them out.”

“Oh! Kind of like with you!” Taka nodded, Mondo paused as he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Leon snickered at this.

“Sh-Shut up bro… But you get the idea, Yeah?”

“I believe so. It’s the lingering feeling of impending doom that makes them more sensitive, Correct?”

“Bingo!” Mondo gave a thumbs up. “Things like teasing verbally and through action will make it worse for a lot of people… Leon, Is one of ‘em.” He winked.

Leon choked back a whimper at the borderline evil grin he received from the biker. “Guys c’mon… I was just playing around earlier!”

“Just as we’re playing around with you now.” Taka smiled mischievously, causing Mondo to chuckle.

“That’s exactly right bro. Alright, enough talking. I’m better with actions than words anyway.” with that Mondo unceremoniously dug his fingers into Leon’s stomach, causing the Ultimate Baseball star to yelp as he buried his face in his arm to muffle any further embarrassing sounds.

“What you wanna do Is…” Mondo glanced over at Taka, who had just been intensely staring at the two as if deep In thought. He blinked his red eyes and met Mondo’s gaze. “Start at his sides, and slowly work your way up to his ribs. But just before ya reach his ribs, go back down his sides and keep repeating until ya think he’s gonna get caught off guard.”

“How do I know when to do that?” Taka inquired curiously.

“Oh, you’ll know.” was his unhelpful answer.

Taka sighed softly at that and gently began skittering his fingertips up Leon’s sides, he watched with interest as his body trembled and twitched under his gentle touch. But oddly enough to the Moral Compass, He wasn’t laughing. “Mondo, Is this normal? For someone not to laugh…?”

“Yeah bro, some people are stubborn and try not to laugh.” he nodded.

“Oh, Kind of like what you tried to do earlier but started giggling after a few--”

“Taka!”

Leon let out a few snickers at the exchange before him.

Mondo narrowed his eyes at the aspiring rockstar. “Oh, Ya think that’s funny huh?” he lightly ran his fingers across the exposed bit of his hip bone, causing the trembling student to flinch violently away from his touch with a mangled squeal. Unfortunately his attempt to flinch away didn’t make him any safer, It only made his body shift more into Mondo.

“Whatsa matter? Don't cha like that spot?” He asked teasingly, tracing his fingertips ever so lightly across the hip bone. He glanced up at the other attacking student and nodded at him.

Taka took this as his cue and attacked Leon’s ribs, this resulted In the redhead yelping and bursting out laughing. “Shihihihit! Ahahahaha! Stohohohohopp!” He whined through his laughter, trying to jerk away from both Taka and Mondo, which again only made him press more into Mondo.

“Why should we? Seems to me that you like this.” Mondo smirked. “Seeing as ya keep snuggling more into my hold.”

“Ihihihihihim nohohohot trying tohohoho!” He protested, blushing. “You’re tihihickling my hihihip!”

“Bro, What do you think? I think he’s enjoying this.” Mondo ignored Leon’s reasoning, still delicately tracing the hyper ticklish spot.

“I must agree bro! Why else would he instigate and constantly talk back? I believe deep down he wants to be tickled!” Taka agreed, smiling in amusement.

Does Leon enjoy this? Hmm… No, Not really. It all depends on his mood, he does have days where he gets in a lee mood, but those are kind of uncommon. And he certainly doesn’t like getting wrecked when he gets tickled. (Unless he does.)

He normally doesn’t like being tickled by Mondo because he gets destroyed every single time, he prefers to annoy Hiro until he tickles him if anyone because normally Hiro isn’t merciless.

“I dohohoho nahahahahat!” Leon argued, blushing more.

“I don’t know... Your face is quite red, Leon! Perhaps you are just embarrassed to be called out about It!” Taka teased, his fingers ghosting across his ribs slowly.

Mondo grinned, squeezing his hips briefly before his fingers trailed back up to his stomach. “Good point!”

Leon shrieked, his body jerking as if he were shocked by electricity. He squirmed to the other side away from Mondo, but unfortunately this put him closer to Taka and his evilly teasing touches.

This action was rewarded with much more thorough tickles to his ribs and the spots between them from the Moral Compass. “Well, If ya wanted Taka to tickle you more, ya coulda just asked.” Mondo chuckled, switching to lighter tickles against his belly.

“Kyahahaha! Thihihis ihihis bullshihihit!” Leon laughed, flustered. He wasn’t sure which one was worse. As soon as he’d squirm to one side, closer to one student, they would tickle him much more viciously and the other would be lighter to lure him back to their side.

Taka laughed. “Yes! I would’ve been more than happy to oblige!”

Leon squirmed back over to Mondo’s side more out of reflex than actual want, and just like before Taka lightened and slowed his tickles and Mondo began tickling much more vigorously.

Though unexpectedly, Mondo leant down and blew a raspberry against his stomach, giving a few quick squeezes to his hip when he did.

When I tell you Leon screamed.

“FAHAHAHAHACK! NAHAHAHA!” He cackled, tears welling up in his tightly shut bright blue eyes.

Taka paused, taken off guard by the reaction.

Leon’s body flew away from the mean biker, his midriff knocking against Taka’s leg. “GEHEHEHET AWAHAHAHAHAY FROM MEHEHEHE YOU DIHIHIHICK!”

“Ya think he’s gonna save you from me?” Mondo laughed sadistically, blowing another raspberry against his heaving stomach.

Taka felt a tinge bad for the rockstar, remembering how horrible the intense tickles to his sides were. But he pushed those feelings aside for a moment when Mondo paused his ticklish assault on Leon and looked at him. “Uh Bro? Ya good?”

“Y-Yeah, Sorry. I got lost In thought again.” Taka responded.

Leon just laid there giggling tiredly and gasping for air, his body felt weak from all the squirming and laughing he was doing.

“No worries.” Mondo grinned. “Let’s wrap this up then. You want his hips or his feet?”

The panting student beneath them felt himself pale at the thought of both his worst spots being tickled at the same time. He would have tried to escape at that moment when he thought Mondo wasn’t paying attention, but he didn’t have the energy to.

Taka thought about it, devising some sort of plan of his own in his mind. “Hips.” he said carefully once he came to a decision.

“Aight, make sure you keep a good grip on him.” He instructed, releasing the redhead as soon as Taka had a hold of him by the hips.

This action alone garnered giggles and small squirms from the tired student.

Mondo grabbed his ankles and unceremoniously tore away the only two layers of protection from his weakly kicking appendages. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Taka affirmed, loosening his grip on Leon’s hips. Something he took notice of immediately.

Though he didn’t have time to react thanks to Mondo’s hellish tickle attack starting on his feet, Taka made it appear as though he was tickling Leon’s hips, but wasn’t actually.

When Leon opened an eye to look up at Taka hesitantly, He winked at him. Silently assuring him that he was going to help him rather than help his Kyoudai.

Catching on quickly, Leon latched his hands onto Taka’s wrists and made It appear as though he was trying to rip his hands off of his hips.

“NAAHAHAHAHAHA!” Leon laughed loudly, throwing his head back and arching his back to sell it further.

Mondo glanced back at Taka and grinned at him. “Good job, Bro! You catch on quick.”

Oh you have no idea. Taka thought to himself with a smile. He leaned down to whisper In Leon’s ear. “We need to catch him off guard, So make some kind of--”

“AAACK! NONONO!” Leon jolted away from Taka, laughing hysterically. Taka blinked in surprise but followed. Apparently, his neck was very sensitive and Taka accidentally brushed against it. “DOHOHOHON’T! PLEHEHEHEHEASE!”

Mondo paused what he was doing to look back at Leon and Taka curiously. “Ohh yeah, I forgot his neck Is hella ticklish.” he chuckled in amusement.

Now was their best chance as Mondo was turning his attention back to his feet. Taka quickly released his ‘hold’ on the rockstar, who in turn immediately launched himself at Mondo’s back with newfound strength, sending them both flying off the bed and crashing to the floor with Leon on top of Mondo’s back.

“Ow! Fucking hell!” Mondo swore into the carpet, slightly disoriented from the fall.

Leon jumped up and bolted out of the room as though he were being chased by a serial killer. (Or a singer with a knife--)

Mondo sat up, rubbing his head tenderly. Confused as to what just happened.

Taka got down onto the floor next to him, feigning surprise. “B-Bro! Are you okay?? I am so sorry! He slipped out of my grip, I wasn’t expecting such a violent reaction out of him. Do you want me to go after him??”

Mondo patted his shoulder reassuringly. “Nah don’t sweat It bro, I’m fine. C’mon, Let’s go find something else to do.” He stood up and offered a hand to help Taka up, he took It with a smile.

“Yeah, Let’s.”

[drabbles-of-writing]

Reverse Au! Dump

Don’t mind my idea dumping here. Brain decided to have fun while I was at work and I have too many wips as it is, so… Thought I’d ask before I dumped, experience. Used morningmark’s comics as a base, so if you want reference. Now this isn’t all that well compiled, but here it goes.

~

Magic in the Other World is varied as it is crazy. So many styles over the generations and not a lot of organization. There are some that try to categorize it all, but that works as well as you’d expect. Some were lost, some erased, some weren’t passed down/recorded because “the power is all mine! Ahahaha!” It took a lot of time and collaboration, but eventually a sort of system was installed to help out. Still a lot of work to do, but its a step forward. Nowadays the term Wild Magic is generally reserved for those that aren’t all that well documented and understood.

Some Magics are very powerful and desirable, but also tend to be very high risk/high reward, kinda pass/fail, pretty literally Do or Die most times. So not a lot of people can use those or are even willing to. Story says this one guy named Odin hung himself on a massive tree by his own spear for nine days, no food water or rest in constant pain before he could unlock the secret of Runes. But it’s also said he gouged out his own eye to drink from the Well of Wisdom so… 

There are lots of different ways to channel magic too: wands, staves, jewelry, certain gems, familiars, potions, enchanted armaments, chants, scripts, etc. Each tool has its own advantages and disadvantages and play into a Witches’ style. Every Witch has at least two methods of spellcasting. Only children have one. Haven’t thought of how Luz gets her Palisman though. Maybe its one of those magic Artifacts like Dr. Strange’s cloak, Elder Wand, Thor’s hammer, or a Green Lantern’s Ring. Something that can’t be recreated because the secret is lost, materials no longer exist, too hard/dangerous to make, accident that can’t be recreated, etc. Happens more often than people like.

Camilla is sometimes called the Blue Witch. She’s a healer by heart and trade, but push her and she will become a one Witch Battleship. Bismark who? Aaaaand she just deleted a whole battalion. And the fortress behind them. Hide me. There are the very rare occasions, like count on one hand rare, when someone near and dear to her heart is in trouble that she takes up her other job. She’s especially terrifying when she decides to torture, those who know how to heal the body know best how to break it. Many shades of Blue, some are very close to Black. She doesn’t necessarily hate Humans exactly, but doesn’t have the highest of regard from past experiences.

Luz has training and is a proficient Witch for her age. Camilla and her father were adamant about having a general knowledge/skillset alongside her specialized skill. Jack of all trades and a master of none, still better than a master of one. She has gone through the system for her magic with varying success. Oracle magic? Zero talent. Bard classes? She can play an instrument, but can’t sing at the same time. When she does sing she tires too hard and messes up. It’s only when she doesn’t try, like absently singing along with a song or playing by her heart, that she’s good at it. Beasts? Can use them, but would rather play with them. Bleeding heart and all that. She does have a good handle on healing magic partly due to Camilla drilling necessary skills into her and partly osmosis. Her father arranged for some CQC lessons from an old friend of his which the girl loved. You get the idea. It wasn’t until she discovered Glyphs that she found her niche and her skills took off. Glyphs are one of those ‘eccentric’ or 'archaic’ styles since they haven’t been used in so long after being lost and are barely understood. She still has a long way to go, but she is on her way.

Luz never really had much in the way of friends, partly cuz of high profile parents which leads to certain pressures and a target on her head, partly because of her magic style and personality, and partly because of the trouble been going on. Luz grew up her whole life with this tension of a group of anarchists trying to burn society that’s just trying to do the right thing. The anarchists started small, but have been a growing problem the past few decades with talk how to 'reshape the world’ in not a good way. Anyone with critical thinking skills can tell this is a bad idea, but they are too brainwashed to notice. They harass anyone who doesn’t follow their rhetoric and attack anyone who even questions them. Luz’s parents put a real kink in a lot of their plans for years, which makes Luz guilty by association. 

Luz got caught in one of those sudden larger scuffles and was accidentally chucked/blown through a portal created by an attempted tactical retreat that went off course. Hence why she can’t go home because she hasn’t learned how to do portals yet. Those are high level anyway so how did these guys pull it off so easily? Luz has a hard time blending in obviously. Learning how to use a phone was a fun endeavor. Internet was a trip. Luz is amazed how these people can do all this cool stuff without magic. Keep a low profile sure, she can pass off as a weird out of town kid. Keep the beanie on, underperform in gym and stuff because some things don’t change, like genetics. Someone sharp eyed will see discrepancies. The Beanie has a small Glamor spell built in that covers her witchy traits but she forgot the ears which is why it sits like it does. Luz can erase memories in case she has an accident, but it’s less of a 'remove my face from this picture with a scalpel’, and more of a 'lemme just hack off the past hour or three from your brain with an axe.’ If she tries to take any more then she starts burning into some more dangerous territory and those Wiped are groggy and disoriented for a while after already. Then the magic attacks start happening and her heroic instinct/anti-bystander complex kicks in and there goes that. It runs in the family so Camilla isn’t surprised in the slightest when she finds out.

“Oh titan, why did you curse me with another me?” “I’m right here Mami!”

Eda has a shack very akin to Grunkle Stan. Lots of junk that Lilith can’t believe that people are dumb enough to buy. She’s also involved in some not so legal dealings on the side. Well, Eda isn’t actually hurting anybody and the tax dollars she should be paying would only go towards some politicians’ next yacht or another pointless overseas 'investment’ instead of where it’s supposed to go so. Eda does give some good intel on occasion and a place to vent so Lillith overlooks her. Lil’s more of the secret police for witches and a petty crook isn’t part of her job anyway. Eda understands Luz’s predicament and is willing to help. The cover story is that Camilla work in hospitals and has to work crazy hours while her dad passed away so is living with Eda for a while. King is that kind of critter that grew up weird and acts like ten different animals all the time.

Gus is the nerdy kid who infodumps on everybody, even if they’re not listening. Loves anything fantasy/sci-fi related and plays Minecraft too. A good kid at heart, but needs some social skills. Keep him away from anything more sugary than tea. Luz learned a lot listening to him. Not all of it is entirely useful, but still. Some of his ramblings give her some good ideas for magic and stuff, like putting Glyphs on cards.

The Blights are the cool rich kids obviously, and have some discipline and social issues. Big family name makes them intimidating for normies and a meal ticket for the unsavory. These kids need real friends. They decided to act out to get some attention from the parents who then decided to ignore them. “If you’re going to act like a child tantrum, get treated like one.” Ed is perfect for Drama classes, if he were allowed to partake. Can’t decide what Em is great at, hacking perhaps? Amity’s car is an inheritance from the only family to treat her as such Twins aside, even if she’s too young to remember it. She only remembers that she has feelings surrounding the car. All three of them were pretty impressed with Luz for standing up to them, calling them out on their shit, and not giving a crap about their family name. Being treated like a normal person is pretty weird. Can we get her to do that again?

Amity tried dating Boscha once, didn’t work out very well. Boscha is still hurting over Amity’s comment of “I’d rather go date the new weird kid (Luz) than go back to you.” It’s one of the reasons she goes after Luz. She has that kind of Bud personality from Spider Man, feels lesser and so acts out so much. 

“Wow, this new Witch is amazing. Not as cool as the original Witch.”

“What is it with the Witch with you?”

“Oh, she’s a hero. Looks out for the city and the little guy. She inspires me. Makes me want to be a bigger person. *sees Luz* What’s up Luz-er?”

~

And that’s what I got right now. I know there was more, but it’s lost to the void right now. Might come back later, maybe not. Lemme know what you think.

............

DAMN you weren’t lying when you said you had an info-dump this is *chefs kiss* you got me intrigued now

[ragingbookdragon]

To Fluster Or Not To Fluster? That Is The Question

Muriel x M!Apprentice

Word Count: 1.5K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author’s Note: Since apparently half the Arcana fandom is losing their goddamn minds rn, how about we take a moment to chill and read a funny fic? Yeah? Enjoy! -Thorne

           He was a terrible person. He was an absolutely terrible person and was probably going down in history as the most terrible person to ever have lived. Well, besides Lucio that is. Of course, the level of terribleness between him and Lucio was about the size of an ocean—Lucio was a selfish prick, and while he couldn’t say that sometimes he wasn’t one, he was usually just a jackass. All things considered, he was still going down in history as a terrible person solely because at every chance he got, he flustered Muriel however he could. He couldn’t help it—it was just too easy.

***

           Muriel was content to let (Y/N) do the talking and greeting. While he’d certainly gotten somewhat used to being in public and a bit more comfortable around people he didn’t know, he was still reserved in his words. That being said, it didn’t bother (Y/N) to talk for him; it gave him a pride to know that Muriel trusted him enough to do so.

           He passed the merchant a few coins then turned to the man beside him and smiled. “Anything else you want Muriel?” Another thing (Y/N) was proud of—Muriel had finally gotten used to asking for things, wanting things, most importantly, knowing that he deserved them all.

           “I need a new pair of gloves,” Muriel murmured, digging around in his pocket to reveal a pair of worn, but well-loved gloves.

           (Y/N) nodded and took his hand, tugging him around to one of the stalls in the marketplace that was selling a collection of assorted garments. He craned his neck looking for the stall keeper, but none was around, then he caught sight of a little sign on the top of the stall. Be right back!

           “Stall keep isn’t here Muriel, but I don’t think they’ll mind if we look around.” (Y/N) looked at him and then tipped his head to the stall. “See any you like so far?”

           He watched as Muriel stepped up, silently gazing at the selection. He reached over, and neatly shifted them around until he found a pair, a dark forest green with golden embroidery on the back. He flipped them over and examined the leather patches on the palm and fingers. After a moment of observation, he met (Y/N)’s eyes.

           “I like these ones,” he quietly stated and (Y/N) nodded at them.

           “Try ‘em on and see if they fit.” He did so and smiled softly.

           “They do.”

           Muriel started to take them off and (Y/N) reached out. “Wait a second Muriel, put the ends of your palms together and make a ‘V’.”

           He did so, albeit with confusion etched across his face, then looked at him. “What now?” (Y/N) smirked and leaned forward, propping his chin at the base of Muriel’s hands, cheeks pressed comfortably between his lover’s palms.

           “Just as I thought,” he announced all knowingly. “They’re the perfect face cradling size.”

           Muriel’s mouth snapped shut quicker than he’d ever seen it, and he watched as pink bloomed across his cheeks. Just as (Y/N) started to snicker, he pulled away and spun on his heel, marching off in the other direction.

           “Nevermind! I don’t need any gloves!”

           (Y/N) cackled as he tossed a coin purse onto the table and hurried after him. “Wait for me Muriel! We need to see if they’re the perfect size for handholding too! Muriel wait—how are you moving so fast?!”

***

           “Is this even?”

           (Y/N) glanced up from the magic tome Asra had lent him and peered at Muriel who had his back turned to him. He’d been adjusting the tapestry for almost ten minutes now, never satisfied with how high or low it hung. He hummed and drew his gaze up Muriel’s back to his broad shoulders, then to his arms and ultimately his hands.

           “Maybe a little downwards,” he recommended.

           “Which way?” Muriel asked, tilting it down left then right.

           (Y/N) tutted. “Not that way, the other way.”

           Muriel sighed and shifted the tapestry once more. “How about now?”

           “Hmm…I don’t know…lemme see the other way again.”

           The man started to shift, then a sudden realization came across him and he stopped and glared over his shoulder. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

           Feigning innocence, he replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

           “Yes, you do,” Muriel countered, and while a flush crossed his cheeks he added, “You’re making me move it back and forth so you can stare at me.”

           (Y/N) scoffed, offense coming over his expression as he snapped the tome shut and stood to his feet. “Okay, I’m not going to sit here and listen to you accuse me of something I’m clearly doing.”

           Muriel cocked a dark brow and deadpanned, “Oh so what are you doing to do then?”

He gathered a few pillows from off the bed and walked over to where Muriel was standing before he dropped the cushions down. Collapsing on the floor, (Y/N) curled his hands under his head and stared up at Muriel, who was still glowering at him with enflamed cheeks.

           Nodding, (Y/N) said, “I’m going to lay here and watch you work.” Grinning, he chirped, “My big strong craftsman.”

           Muriel spluttered and turned around, ignoring every comment (Y/N) gave him afterwards.

***

           Now Muriel wasn’t a fool. And sometimes, just sometimes, Muriel gave as good as he got, and returned (Y/N)’s teasing with some of his own.

***

           The night had drawn on, and though (Y/N) loved a good party, for some reason, he felt tired. Mentally and physically. It was the kind of tired that made him want to crawl under the covers and sleep for an entire day. That or have someone crack his back like a glow stick and send him on his way. Given the way he was feeling, he figured that causing worry amongst his friends wouldn’t be polite, so he slipped out the back and wandered down to the fountain for a breather.

           (Y/N) laid down and stared up at the starry sky for a few moments before shutting his eyes. Just a few moments of shut eye would revive him for the last couple hours of the night and then they’d all go to bed; Nadia had happily fixed a room for he and Muriel—then again, she said they always had a room at the palace.

           He placed his hands across his abdomen and breathed deeply, the scent of daphne flowers settling over him. As the peace washed over him, the tension drained from his body and he went boneless against the cool, stone rim of the fountain, slowly beginning to drift into sleep. Rustling leaves sounded, but with as comfortable as he was, there was no way that (Y/N) was going to open his eyes, let alone care.

           Footsteps came his way until they stopped before him and heaving a sigh, (Y/N) cracked an eye open, a lazy smile crossing his lips when he gazed up at Muriel.

           “Found me, did you?” he joked, and Muriel merely gave him a good-natured huff and moved to sit down, gently maneuvering (Y/N)’s head until it rested on his thigh.

           “You left.”

           (Y/N) groaned and shifted his neck until he was comfortable again, closing his eyes once more when Muriel began to softly caress his cheek.

           “Needed a moment of reprieve.”

           Muriel snorted. “Consider dinner with our friends a painful event?”

           “It is when Asra and Julian start going at it over whether magic or science is easier to perform.” (Y/N)’s grunted. “I’ve never seen a couple so in love get so heated over a subject.”

           The hand caressing his cheek stopped and he heard, “This coming from the man who argues with Nadia whether sleeping on silk or satin sheets is better.”

           (Y/N)’s eyes flew open, and he griped, “It’s practically the same thing!”

           Muriel tipped his head side to side. “Well, satin is a weave of fabrics and silk is a natural fiber, (Y/N). Technically they’re not the same thing.” He smiled. “And silk is shimmery whereas satin is glossy.”

           He glowered at the man. “Whose side are you on? Because right now it seems like you’re agreeing with Nadia over—”

           Muriel leaned down and pressed a kiss to (Y/N)’s forehead, effectively silencing him before he murmured, “I’m on the side of the person I love the most. And that’s you, (Y/N).”

           He felt his cheeks warm, and he let out a ‘pfft’, looking off into the distance. “I can’t believe you’re flirting with me so casually.”

           Muriel chuckled. “Must be your influence on me.”

           (Y/N) met his eyes. “Good or bad influence?” His lover took a moment, seeming to think seriously about it. “Really? It’s taking you that long to decide?”

           Muriel shrugged. “You’re not exactly a shining pillar of moral perfection, (Y/N).”

           “Is this revenge for being a jackass all the time? This is revenge for being a jackass all the time, isn’t it?”

           His lover huffed a laugh. “You’re my jackass.”

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

Top 5 Brotps

Ahh... to be a pair of bros trying to survive the dreadful world of the apocalypse together...to have a bro who watches your back so that walkers don’t get the drop on you, and to have a bro who is willing to actually listen to you when things are extra rough and you need support.... to probably watch your bro die a super shitty death because it’s twdg and you have no control over the situation...

Good times. 

So yeah, I wanna talk about some of my favorite brotps across this series. We tend to put more focus on romantic duos rather than friendships, so why not shine a spotlight on some platonic love, y’know? 

Also wanna note that I’m more talking canon brotps... as in I’m using what the actual games gave us rather than going off of headcanon... if that makes sense. So like, as much as I could like to put something like brotp Clementine and Mitch on the list since they’re one of my favorites to write, there isn’t enough in the actual text to justify putting them in a top 5. Understand? Cool? Cool. 

5. AJ and Tenn

I have such a soft spot for these two... which is super unfortunate since Tenn always ends up dead whenever I replay TFS because I refuse to have a dead or tongueless Louis by the end..... but that doesn’t mean I don’t love the friendship between these two before tragedy strikes. 

If you’re brave enough to not trust AJ, therefore sacrificing Louis or Violet, Tenn survives to the end of the season where he and AJ have a really nice heart to heart. If you haven’t at least watched how the scene plays out, I recommend it. 

I love the idea of AJ having someone closer to his age that he can have as a buddy, and I love the idea of Tenn learning how to be a better survivor from AJ. They can teach each other how to be better, y’know? 

Plus, it’s cute to hear AJ say that he likes Tenn the most, that he’s his first real friend. Somethin’ real wholesome about that. 

...Which again, adds to the tragedy of trusting AJ. Sigh. 

4. Javi and Tripp

I know I’ve said in the past that I wish these two could’ve had an actual romance, but y’know, we gotta accept that it’s never gonna happen in canon.... sigh. 

However, it’d be a sin to overlook the bromance these two have. 

Sure, they got off to a rocky start after Clementine kinda murdered that dude, but that doesn’t stop them from developing a friendship over the course of the season. 

One of my favorite moments between the two is when Tripp confides in Javi about his feelings for Eleanor, and in turn, Javi can explain what’s going on with him and Kate. While I disagree with the love interests actually being talked about, it’s still a quiet, real moment between them. Tripp isn’t afraid to be a bit of a poet when talking about his feelings, and Javi is supportive of that. Two bros who listen to each other? Love that. 

Also there’s something so damn tragic about Javi wanting to save his bro when Joan decides to be a proper antagonist and does the ol’ switcheroo on him. 

All in all, love this bro dynamic and will be forever salty that Tripp has two unpreventable deaths. 

3. Lee and Doug

I won’t talk too much about this one because I already covered it in my Top 5 Reasons Doug's Pretty Great, but I gotta put them on the list. So, to summarize:

Lee and Doug are the real bros of S1. Y’all thought it was Lee and Kenny? Nah man. When you’re friendship is so fragile that it could totally break with one single disagreement, then I can’t say it’s all that great. And yeah, you could argue that Doug is only Lee’s bro is you save him, and that’s true because otherwise, he’s super dead.

But after saving him, if you disagree with Doug on anything, he doesn’t immediately get all “Ya saved me ONE time, Lee! What have ya done fer me lately?? >:(” In fact, I’d argue that even if things went down differently, Doug would still be a good bro to Lee. 

So Doug wins the bro award. 

The two of them care about each other, from Lee worrying about Doug’s mental health, to Doug going out of his way to save Lee’s life at the dairy, to them having genuine feeling conversations. 

Again, want more details then go read the previous T5F. Just know that they’re best bros and I’ll die on this hill. 

2. Michonne and Pete

The Michonne mini-series gets a bad rap and that’s not okay. If you're one of many who skip this one when going through the series then shame because you’re missing out on one of the best pair of bros in this series-- Michonne and Pete. 

Listen, Michonne and Pete are great. They’re a couple of bros who have each others backs at all times, Pete cares so deeply about Michonne’s mental health and making she she has what she needs, Michonne feeling comfortable enough with Pete in confide in him about her daughters and the visions she has of them, and they’re more than willing to fight and sacrifice themselves for the other if necessary. 

Sure, they disagree on things, but their friendship isn’t built on “you have to agree with me” so they can actually work things out and be better for it. 

I just love them, okay? Pete wants her to feel like part of the crew and give her a safe space, and Michonne wants to help him in anyway she can, I just.... no one talks about them and it’s not okay. 

Go play Michonne, even if just for these two. They’re worth it. 

1. Clementine and AJ

Surprise.... but not really. 

C’mon, I think we all know that Clementine and AJ are the ultimate bros. Do I even need to explain? Probably not, but I will anyway. 

Clementine has know AJ since he was born, she has cared for him and did everything she could to get him back-- good and bad things. She could’ve said, “A baby? Fuck that.” but she didn’t, she took little baby AJ and protected and raised him. And we already know that AJ would do whatever he had to in order to protect Clementine back. 

True, the relationship isn’t perfect and miscommunication is, uh... a thing sometimes, but together they grow and become better. Even AJ makes terrible mistakes [y’know... like murder] she promises to help him atone... unless you’re one of the ones who tells him he’s justified which like no judgement or anything but..... y’know. Maybe a little side eye.

Anyway, more than that, they play off each other well and feel like two people who have know each other for years, they feel like a pair of siblings trying to survive in this shitty world and find a home together. 

And can’t forget to mention the cave scene. Not the one with James, but the one where AJ gets upset and the two of them talk some shit out. Don’t get me wrong, I love the James cave scene for how wild it is, but there’s something about the cave scene where it’s just Clementine and AJ, and the choice to trust him or not. 

Oh, and the barn scene? I mean.... c’mon. 

Over all, as far as platonic relationships and brotps go, Clementine and AJ are my favorite. Could write an essay on them and why their dynamic is one of the best parts of TFS but that’s not what we’re here to do. 

Clementine and AJ.... bros for life. 

---

Honorable Mentions

- AJ and Louis.... bros even after everything that went down with Marlon and Tenn.  -Clementine and Rosie. Rosie is best girl.  -Lee and Omid. Two history nerds who should’ve have more bro-time.  -Kenny and his mustache. -Lee and Ben. Yeah, I stand by it. I won’t shut up until someone gives me my Lee and Ben buddy cop dramedy.  -Mitch and Willy until the dumb thing happened.  -Clementine and Lee would count, too, but only really the second half of s1. -Nick and Luke but only for two episodes. -Louis and Violet’s friendship routes are pretty good, too. 

---

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with my picks? What are some of your favorite brotps? Lemme know! 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

—

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Best Executed Deaths

[yikesharringrove]

Oooh spin the usual narrative around and maybe Steve got some really cool tattoos on his back after high school and Billy is just being all sweet on him later and notices them and LOVES them and is all like "ride me and show me" and won't let Steve finish until he describes all his tatts on his back

Smut

-

Billy hadn’t been in Hawkins, Indiana for about three years.

He had fled pretty much as soon as he got that diploma, had packed up his car the night before, tossed his stupid cap and gown in the trunk, and just fucking left.

But here he was, ready to watch Max and the rest of her brats graduate.

He was standing, feeling weird in his best shirt, sweating under the Hawkins sun.

And there was Steve Harrington. Of course he would come for his kids, was probably gonna tear up as they made their way across the stage. He could see Steve’s big hair sitting close to the front, with Henderson’s mom, looking just the same.

He spent the entire ceremony glaring holes in the back of Steve’s head, only looked up when Maxine Elizabeth Mayfield stomped across the stage, rolling her eyes as Susan and Neil made a big to-do somewhere in the crowd.

Then went right back to staring at Harrington.

He looked good.

Like, still looked as hot as he did in high school, but he looked,

he looked like a man.

He had shot stubble along his jaw, and he looked a little more filled out.

He was waiting for Max, standing with her mother off to the side when Steve turned, and noticed Billy.

His eyes went wide, and he began making his way over.

“Jesus, Hargrove. Long time no see.” He pulled Billy into a hug, a tight, sweet good-smelling hug. “You look good, man.” He smiled brightly at Billy.

“Yeah, Harrington. You too.” And he did.

“Hey, uh, all the kids are having a little shindig at The Byers’, I’d love to catch up with you.” He rubbed down Billy’s arm, made him so much fucking hotter than the bright sun.

-

The kids’ party was a nice barbecue in the Byers’ backyard.

They were all running around, getting in food fights and being stupid idiots.

Billy can respect that, the last summer before leaving all your friends.

Billy didn’t really have friends to leave, though. Just kinda, left, one day.

He kept his eyes on Steve the whole time, watched the way he smiled and laughed with the kids, the way his eyes kept flicking back to Billy.

The sun was beginning to set when Steve came over to the stairs Billy was perched on, two beers in hand.

He gave Billy one, settling right next to him.

“So, what have you been up to? Been, what three years?” Billy had left the day he graduated, hopped in his car and didn’t stop ‘till he saw the ocean.

“Moved back home. I’m working at a garage, now.” Steve gave him another nice smile. “Saving up to maybe go to school, or get a house or something.” He shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. “What about you? Got a girlfriend?”

“Ha! No. Not really, dating right now.” A slow grin spread over Billy’s face.

“Just fuckin’?” Steve’s cheeks went red, but he didn’t deny anything. “Yeah, me too, Harrington.”

Steve laughed, pushing at his rolled up shirt sleeve.

It was just under his elbow, and Billy zeroes in on dark black ink winding down to an elegant curl on the side of his elbow.

“Any good stories?” Billy licked over his teeth.

He had stopped pretending in California, didn’t really want to here either.

“Well, I mean, there was this one guy, just absolute maniac. He had this thing about getting caught, so we’d go out to shitty bars, see how long it took before we got kicked out. We got away with a lot at most of ‘em, though.”

He watched Steve carefully, didn’t even see a twitch.

And then,

“Oh, I was kinda seeing a guy like that.” Billy’s brain shorted out. “There’s a gay bar down the block from my place in Chicago, and he’d take me out on the dance floor, and this one night, we just about fucked before someone noticed what we were doin’. It was kinda fun.”

Billy’s mind was racing, pictured pulling Steve onto a crowded dance floor, pushing his hands down his pants, fingering him, letting him rut against his thigh until he cums in his pants.

“So you, you’re gay?”

“Bi, actually. Figured that one out right away after movin’.”

“Yeah? Let your queer little flag fly?”

“It’s been fun.” Steve shrugged. Billy licked his lips, had an idea.

“Y’know, you coulda been havin’ fun way before you moved.” He leaned into Steve’s space, looking at him through his lashes.

Steve’s cheeks went red.

“It’s not too late, is it?” Billy stood up, tugging his keys out of his jeans pocket.

“I got a shitty motel room bed with your name on it, Pretty Boy.” Steve scrambled behind him, tossing himself into the passenger seat of his car.

He grinned at Billy.

-

Billy drove like a bat outta Hell, getting Steve to his motel room as fast as possible.

He led him inside, slamming Steve against the door the minute they got in.

He kissed Steve roughly, licking inside his mouth.

Steve moaned into his mouth, fumbling with the buttons on Billy’s shirt.

Billy pulled him, shoving him onto the bed, taking Steve’s shirt off in turn.

And there was the ink.

It curled down both of Steve’s arms, leading from his back.

“Holy shit.” Billy traced on of the curling tendrils. “Never begged you for a tattoo type.” Steve shrugged, his eyes flicking down to trail over Billy’s body.

“I like it.”

“Can I see?” Steve pushed on him gently, but then he got an idea. “Wait,” he grinned at Steve. “Ride me and let me see them.” Steve smiled devilishly back up at him.

He pushed Billy, swapped their positions.

He was straddling his waist, could feel how hard Billy was underneath him.

“Only if you get me all ready.”

Billy undid Steve’s belt, tearing his khakis open.

Steve sat up, awkwardly wiggling out of them to sit back down, completely naked on Billy’s lap. He took Billy’s hand, kept direct eye contact as he sucked on Billy’s fingers.

He was like a fucking pornstar, his eyes going all dark and sultry as he licked over Billy’s fingers, sucked them into his mouth.

“Jesus, Stevie. You’re so fuckin’ hot.” Steve smirked at him, pulling his fingers out of his mouth with a pop, guiding Billy’s hand around his hips, leaning forward over Billy.

“Go ahead.” Billy jostled him a little closer, rubbing his spit slick fingers over his hole.

He pushed one inside.

Steve’s eyes fluttered closed, and he moaned, so loud and pretty.

“God, wished we had done this years ago.” Billy was now pumping his finger in and out of Steve.

“I was pretty repressed back then. Don’t know if I would’ve done this.” Billy eased in another finger. Steve took him so well.

“Then, glad I got here just in time.”

“Welcome to my slutty phase.” He grinned at Billy, grinding his hips back and forth on his fingers.

Billy spread his fingers, scissoring them open and closed, getting him open. Steve squirmed a little.

“Just like,” he took Billy’s wrist, shoving his fingers in deeper. Billy curled his fingers. “Oh, yeah.” He started tossing his ass back, fucking himself on Billy’s fingers. “Fuck.”

He collapsed forward, burying his face in Billy’s neck.

Billy tried to get a look at the dark ink covering him from neck to upper ass cheek.

“I’m I’m ready.” Steve bat Billy’s hand away, turning around.

He lined up Billy’s cock, sinking down on it.

Billy’s eyes fluttered closed.

“Jesus Christ,” Billy groaned. Steve felt like Heaven.

He looked over his shoulder, tossing him a wry smile. Billy clung to his hips.

“Like what you see?”

The tattoo was beautiful.

It was an intricate monster, tall and skeletal, a face like a flower, opened up with rows and rows of horrible teeth. There appeared to be black smoke coming from behind the monster, delicate furls of something, maybe vines? They climber up Steve’s shoulders, wrapped around his arms.

It shouldn’t have been sexy, staring at this thing while Steve bounced on his cock, but it was Steve bouncing on his cock, tossing his head back and moaning.

“What do you think?”

“I think, you don’t get to cum until I tell you all my thoughts on this art.” Steve moaned loudly. “This fuckin’, fuckin’ monster. Black ink looks real pretty on you, Baby.”

Steve turned again to look over his shoulder.

“Tell me about it.”

“I mean, I shouldn’t be turned on, lookin’ at this thing. It’s like, it’s like it’s screaming at me.” Steve shuddered. Billy didn’t know if it was a good shudder or a bad one. “I can, I can see the saliva in it’s mouth.”

And then Steve stopped, panting heavily.

He pulled off of Billy, turning to face him again.

“Sorry, that’s just, you know, not the best dirty talk material.” Billy grinned at him.

In one swift motion he rolled on top of Steve, slamming his way back inside of him.

“You want good material? You want me to tell you about how often I jerked off to you in high school? Pictured how pretty your lips would look around my cock? Thought about how tight your little hole would be?”

That was apparently the stuff.

Steve’s eyes were wide, his hair wild on the pillow behind him. He was panting shallowly, just accepting what Billy was giving him.

“Thought about taking you all kindsa ways. Thought about bendin’ you over in the showers after P.E. and just fucking you right there, in front of everyone.”

Steve’s back arched beautifully, and his thighs trembled against Billy’s sides as he came, thick white spunk sticking their stomachs together.

“Yeah? That get you going? The idea of people watching, of being made my bitch?”

“Jesus, Billy, I already finished.” His cock gave a flimsy little kick as if proving his point.

“Yeah, now I’m getting myself off.” Steve laughed at him, shifting his hips to let Billy drive in deeper.

“That what get you there? Pining me down? Making me your bitch?” Billy moved a little faster, a little rougher. “Now’s your chance, Tiger. Gimme your cum, ruin me.”

Billy bit down on Steve’s neck, made him yelp as he bucked his hips, cumming inside of him.

He breathed for a minute, rolling off of Steve.

Steve stretched like a cat, wincing slightly.

“Lemme see your art again. Was a little distracted with the sight of my dick in your ass.” Steve laughed, rolling over onto his stomach.

Billy traced the monster’s mouth with light fingers.

“It’s cool.”

“Will Byers drew it. Kind of reminds me to, you know, put the past behind me. I know it’s cheesy but,” he shrugged, trailing off.

“Sometimes cheesy works.” Steve’s cheek was smushed against the pillow as he studied Billy.

“What’s it like being back in Hawkins? Must be weird coming back after being gone.”

“Nah. Nothing’s really changed. Weirder coming in blind that first time.” He traced one of the black vines. “I thought you were in Chicago?”

“I am. Only moved out there about six months ago. Didn’t get into college or anything, so I’ve been working shitty jobs, saving up some money. Thinking about running away some more. Get further away.”

“You’re always welcome in California. I got a pull out couch.” He licked over his teeth. “Or you could share my bed.”

“Are you asking me to give you sex in exchange for a place to stay?”

“You did say you’re in your slutty phase.” Steve laughed, burying his face in the pillow.

“We’ll see if I get desperate enough to get outta here to take you up on that offer.”

“You could drive back with me. Stay for awhile, fly back. See if you like it.”

High school Billy would be creaming in his pants right about now, asking Steve Harrington to run away to California with him.

Steve looked at him, his face unreadable.

“I could go for a little adventure.”

[fanimesenseiwrites]

Another two parter because I just really love starting new lines and Tumblr can't stand it. But yeah, this addresses all the shit Mammon gets from his brothers because it really bugs me. NGL, I was inspired by the Devilgram story "One too many insults." Not in this part, but this story will feature eventual sexy times with a sort of trigger... (not me using my writing to deal with my issues again!)

Mammon's Lament

Hoshiko was in their apartment, studying a spell book when they got a text from Mammon.

-Hey, can you talk?-

Hoshiko looked at the message and grinned before replying.

-Yeah, you miss me?-

-I just really need to hear your voice right now-

Hoshiko frowned at the message; that didn't sound like Mammon. They called him immediately.

He answered almost immediately. "Hey Hoshiko," it was Mammon's voice but he sounded almost melancholy.

Hoshiko's frown deepened. "Hey honey, what's wrong?" They put a bookmark in the book and closed it.

"I just really wish I could see you right now."

Hoshiko didn't like the sound of his tone, they were growing increasingly worried by the second. "I'd love to see you too, I'll summon you if you tell me what's wrong."

"I... I'd rather not."

"Please? I'm worried. Just tell me what's wrong and then I'll summon you," Hoshiko tried to compromise.

He groaned. "I don't want to be near my brothers, okay?"

"I'm sorry but, that doesn't sound like anything new," Hoshiko told him, still trying to sound supportive.

"Just summon me and then I'll tell you the rest," he tried to bargain.

Hoshiko sighed. "Okay fine. Grab onto anything you wanna bring with you and give me a minute."

"Thank you," he told them before hanging up.

Hoshiko frowned and got up from where they were sitting on the couch. They walked over to their purse and pulled out their keys and held the keychain that Mammon gave them. Hoshiko ran their thumb over the keychain and briefly reminisced over the time that they got the keychains before kissing it, then speaking an incantation. "Hear me, denizens of the darkness. You who are born of shadow and you who give birth to it. Hear me and do as I command. I, Hoshiko Higure, call upon you to send forth one of your number, one whom I have made a pact with. I call forth, the Avatar of Greed, Mammon!"

A circle of light appeared on the floor and a humanoid silhouette slowly materialized within the circle.

Hoshiko smiled wide as they watched the process unfold before them.

The light faded and Mammon was left standing there holding his toothbrush and DDD charger.

Hoshiko smiled at him. "Hey Mammon."

Mammon looked at Hoshiko and smiled slightly before walking over to them and hugging them tightly.

Hoshiko found it unusual that he didn't say anything, but just hugged back. "Guess what."

"What?" He asked, still holding onto them.

"You're the first out of all of y'all that I've successfully summoned," they sang, actually really excited despite the circumstances.

Mammon pulled away just enough to look at them. "So you're saying that I'm another one of your firsts?" He asked with a grin.

Hoshiko nodded, feeling relief at seeing his usual shit-eating grin. "Yes, I am."

Mammon just hugged Hoshiko again, even tighter this time.

They rubbed his back. "... Will you tell me what's wrong now?"

Mammon sighed and dropped his head onto their shoulder.

Hoshiko ran a hand up his back and into his hair. "Do you want me to make you some tea? I can do that while you talk. Or we can just lay in bed and I'll hold you while you talk. But you gotta talk to me, I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

Mammon sighed and pulled away from them to go sit on the couch. He set his things down on the side table. "I dunno if you can help..."

Hoshiko frowned and followed him. They sat down far enough away from him so that they could easily pull him down to lay his head in their lap. Hoshiko knew it was his favorite position when he was feeling down, but they also knew he wouldn't ask for it, so they just did it.

Mammon allowed himself to be moved and just looked up at Hoshiko once his head was in their lap.

Hoshiko stroked his hair and pulled off his sunglasses. "Will you please talk to me now? I'm worried," they pleaded.

Mammon sighed and looked away from them. "I'm just sick of bein' called an idiot."

Hoshiko frowned. "Is Lucifer in a mood?"

Mammon snapped his head to them. "Hell! I wish it was just Lucifer! It's all of 'em!"

Hoshiko frowned and scratched his scalp, hoping to get him to calm down.

"Its always "You're an idiot" or "a scumbag" and even when I am trying to do right I don't get any recognition for it! I get no respect! I'm the second oldest, the second strongest..."

Hoshiko would've sworn that they physically felt their heart break. They knew the brothers could gang up on Mammon, but they didn't know that it got to him that bad.

"I don't wanna be feared like Lucifer or nothin', I just... I want them to treat me like I'm their brother..." Mammon looked away from Hoshiko, a soft blush on his cheeks.

Hoshiko had to will themself not to cry. "Oh..." They racked their brain for anything they could say to make him feel better. "Ya know, it always bothered me that you're the only one who got no kind of understanding for your sin."

Mammon looked back at Hoshiko.

"I know you all tease each other, but like... Asmo doesn't get strung up in the stairwell for going out and having a bunch of sex."

Mammon appeared to think about what they said. "Yeah... You're right!"

Hoshiko chuckled. "I know I am."

Mammon sat up and turned to look at Hoshiko. "And I don't ever lose control to the point of changing forms like Beel or Satan!"

Hoshiko nodded. "You're right. So how about you just stay here for a couple days, let your brothers worry a little and then by the time you go back down they should be nicer."

Mammon grinned, but it quickly faded. "Can't I just stay here forever?" He asked, his voice small.

Hoshiko blushed, they weren't necessarily opposed to the idea but they knew they had to be realistic too. "You know, Lucifer will come looking for you eventually."

"Then why don't we just see how long it takes Lucifer to find me?" Mammon asked, a mischievous grin growing on his face.

Hoshiko chuckled but shook their head. "No, just a few days. The longer we wait the more likely we're to be in trouble with Lucifer."

Mammon groaned. "Fiiinnneee...."

"How about we go shopping and I'll get you some more clothes for your stay here?"

Mammon immediately perked up. "I like the sound of that."

Hoshiko grinned. "I thought you might." They stood up and stretched; they looked down at their pajamas then back at Mammon. "Lemme change and then we'll go."

Mammon gave them a once over. "Oh, yeah."

Hoshiko chuckled. "Did you just notice that I'm still wearing pajamas?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm an idiot..."

Hoshiko frowned and walked over and grabbed his face and made him look at them. "You're not an idiot. Sometimes we don't notice little things, especially when we're upset and focused on something particular. That doesn't make us stupid. It just means we're people, with thoughts and feelings. Having magical powers doesn't make us infallible."

Mammon just stared into Hoshiko's eyes.

Hoshiko blushed. They tried to decipher the look in Mammon's eyes, hoping to figure out how he felt, praying that they hadn't said something they shouldn't have. "Mammon?"

He pulled his face out of their hands, a blush staining his cheeks. "Thanks... go change."

Hoshiko just nodded and went to their bedroom and closed the door behind them.

Hoshiko couldn't get the look in Mammon's eyes out of their head as they got dressed. Had they embarrassed him? They were just trying to make him to feel better, he deserved to really feel good about himself. 

Hoshiko got dressed in some leggings, an oversized sweater and some over the knee boots before walking back out into the living room.

Mammon was up and looking at the pictures of Hoshiko and Asmo that were framed and hanging up. He looked at Hoshiko when they walked out. "Why do you only have pictures of you and Asmo up?" He asked with a pout.

"Those are the pictures we took together so he could give me something dear so that I could summon him."

Mammon nodded and looked back at the pictures.

Hoshiko walked over to him. "And the picture of the stars is Beel and Belphie's stars."

"They gave you their stars? Really?"

Mammon chuckled. "So... where's what I gave you?"

Hoshiko nodded then pointed to the framed script. "Levi gave me his script of 'With Me' that Simeon signed."

Hoshiko then pulled an old, leather bound book off the bookshelf. "Satan gave me the book that made him and Lucifer switch bodies, all the magic has faded from it now."

Hoshiko picked up their keys and shook them so that they jingled. "It comes with me everywhere I go."

Mammon grinned wide. "So I'm always with you?"

Hoshiko nodded. "You and Lucifer."

"Lucifer?" Mammon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hoshiko held up their hand and showed him the ring of light. "Kinda can't take it off... unless we want the three realms to descend into chaos that is." They chuckled nervously.

Mammon nodded.

Hoshiko fidgeted with their hands, feeling awkward now. "So... ready to go to the mall?"

Mammon perked up. "Yes!"

Hoshiko smiled and grabbed their purse. "Come on, let's go."

They left the apartment together and took an Uber to the mall.

"That Uber thing is pretty cool," Mammon commented as they walked into the mall, hands in his pockets. "A lot easier than hailing a cab."

"And cheaper!" Hoshiko chimed.

Mammon grinned. "That's always good." He looked around the mall. "So, where to first?"

"I'm thinking Abercrombie and Fitch is good a spot for your style and my price point."

Mammon chuckled. "Sounds good, lead the way."

Hoshiko hooked their arm through his and led them through the mall.

Mammon grinned, more than happy to have Hoshiko on his arm.

As they shopped, Mammon seemed to turn back to his normal self more and more.

Hoshiko felt a lot better as Mammon's spirits lifted.

"Are you having fun?" Hoshiko asked him.

"I'm always having fun when I don't have to pay for stuff," he told them with a grin.

Hoshiko snorted but grinned. "Of course." The metaphysical store caught their eye from across the way. "Let's get you some demonius to have with dinner." They headed toward the metaphysical store.

Mammon raised an eyebrow as he followed them. "Uh, that's just one of those hokey chakra stores not a real magic store."

Hoshiko grinned at him. "Just follow me."

When they walked in, Hoshiko waved at the girl at the counter. "Hey Selene, we're going in the back."

Selene smiled at Hoshiko but eyed Mammon suspiciously.

Hoshiko grinned. "Selene, this is Mammon. Mammon, Selene; she's a witch."

Selene's eyebrows shot up at Mammon's name. "/The/ Mammon?" She asked with a grin.

Mammon grinned at Selene. "In the flesh!"

"Wow, I never thought I'd meet one of the seven rulers of hell."

Hoshiko made a face. "Selene, I have pacts with all of them. I was bound to bring one of them in here at some point."

"Yeah, but with my luck I thought it would've been on my off day."

Hoshiko chuckled and shook their head. "Like I said, we're going in the back."

Selene nodded. "Okay! It was nice to meet you Mammon ~"

Mammon grinned at her. "Always good to meet a fan."

Hoshiko rolled their eyes and pulled Mammon into the back room. They held their hand out parallel to their chest and a magical circle appeared around their hand. Hoshiko turned their hand to the right and a glamour barrier parted, revealing a lounge and a counter where true magical items could be bought.

Mammon grinned at Hoshiko. "That's pretty cool."

Hoshiko smiled wide and motioned for him to walk in.

Mammon walked in and Hoshiko followed him, resetting the barrier once they were both inside.

Mammon looked around briefly before plopping down on one of the couches.

Hoshiko shook their head and headed straight to the counter. "Hey Camille," Hoshiko greeted the girl behind the counter.

Camille smiled at Hoshiko. "Did you bring in who I think you brought in?" She asked with a grin.

Hoshiko chuckled. "Yeah. The Great Mammon, Avatar of Greed."

"Is he just... here, or are you doing something...?"

Hoshiko raised an eyebrow, suspicious of her attempt at a question. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Like... are you two doing a ritual or something?"

"Uh, no. We're just hanging out. We're actually friends. I will say, having a pact makes it convenient to see each other though."

Camille nodded. "I bet. So what did you come in here for?"

"Some demonius, a phoenix feather, and..." she eyed the pre-made potions on the back shelf.

Camille watched them briefly before grabbing a small vial full of a shimmery purple liquid and setting it down in front of Hoshiko. "This is the one you want," she told them with a smirk.

"How do you know what I want?"

"Because demons can and have gotten humans pregnant, and it's not fun, especially if it's not expected."

Hoshiko felt their face get hot. "T- that's not-!" They tried to protest but they couldn't quite find the words.

"Oh wait, I know you're genderfluid but I thought you had female bits, am I wrong?" Camille asked, suddenly embarrassed.

Hoshiko shook their head. "No, you're right..." They were even more embarrassed than Camille.

Camille breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. But seriously, you want this one," she reiterated as she tapped the top of the bottle.

Hoshiko made a face. "I dunno..."

"How about you take this one for free, as a trial sample?" She asked but she still put it in a bag along with the other things Hoshiko had asked for.

Hoshiko sighed, still red in the face. "Fine." They had just handed their credit card off to Camille when they felt Mammon's demonic aura flare up behind them. Hoshiko whipped around, suddenly fearful that they had missed some attack, but that feeling quickly changed to some awful mix of anger and jealousy when they saw Mammon flaunting his demon form for a gaggle of witches who had gathered around him while their back was turned.

"I'm gonna kill him," Hoshiko muttered under their breath before marching over to him and grabbing one of his wings.

Mammon growled and whipped around to see who dared to touch him.

You could tell who the experienced witches were by the ones who didn't flinch at his show of aggression.

Hoshiko stood their ground and glared at him.

Mammon's face immediately softened when he saw that it was Hoshiko. "Oh, hey... why'ya pullin' on me?"

Hoshiko just stared at him for a moment, trying to decide on what to say. "Change back," they demanded, their voice eerily calm. "We're leaving."

"Oh, we're done shopping?" He asked, mildly oblivious to their change in demeanor.

"Yes," they responded as they took their card and bag from Camille. 

"Oh okay." He changed back to his human form.

Hoshiko walked over and parted the barrier so they could leave.

Mammon headed out.

"Bye Mammon~" a few of the witches called after him.

Mammon turned back to smile and wave at them. "Bye!"

"Oh my god, let's just go," Hoshiko nagged.

Mammon looked at them. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going." He walked out.

Hoshiko followed him out, resetting the barrier as they left.

Hoshiko was absolutely silent until they got back to the apartment; a deadly aura seemed to emanate from them.

Mammon, who had felt death auras many a times, didn't try to talk to Hoshiko until they got back into the apartment.

Part 1, 2, 3