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rae-writes · 8 months

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An Angel?

om demons x reader (+Simeon, Solomon, Mephi, Raph)

wc : 2.k

warnings : more simping bois, more humor, a lot more sprinkles of suggestive comments

synopsis : a deviltok trend has the boys on their knees for you, part two: electric boogaloo

a/n : for the record, Luke was in the room while Mc was making it, cheering them on, doing his cute little “Waahhh!” // idea brought to me by the lovely [your-next-daydream] // AND, as usual, let’s not talk about how ridiculously long this took me to finish ahaha rip me-

demon ver.

<Simeon> Mc looks rather...heavenly, don’t you agree?

[attachment sent]

Intrigued, he wasted no time in clicking on the file, grinning when he realized it was one of your deviltoks. Decked out in your RAD uniform, you sat in a chair with your hands clasped together.

“Who are you?”

Smoothly, almost as if you were floating, you stood and took a few steps towards the camera with a rather shy smile.

“An angel.”

You bowed ever so slightly, flitting your gaze to the floor.

“What’s your name?”

You spun suddenly, sending your red accessory swooshing in front of the camera, covering everything from view.

“Michael.”

As fast as the transition happened, it ended; the view was cleared to reveal you— angelic down to a T and beautiful wasn’t even enough to describe you.

You were adorned with sheer, white clothing that was loose and flowy, probably swaying due to a fan that was off camera. Light blue accents were scattered here and there- including an extension piece in your hair of the same color. Sparkling gold accessories glinted under the light, but not as much as the halo that hovered above your head. It was a gorgeous molten gold tint, partly transparent with glitter floating around inside (with a few cracks decorating the outside of it). It only brought attention to the snowy wings spanning out behind you, flecks of iridescent scattered amongst the feathers.

[9 people saved a video attachment]

Lucifer

Ah. Yes. He’s not combusting on the inside, not at all.

*insert internal screaming*

Ahem. Now that his jaw has been picked up off the floor, he is immediately wondering how the fuck Simeon of all people got access to the video before him

Don’t get him wrong though, he is on the way right now- leave the door open, Mc

He has to put his marks all over your body to get rid of the fact that you looked that pretty while using Michael’s name

Possessive urges aside, please keep the outfit on

Does not care if you’re dressed up like an Angel, he will gladly corrupt you

In fact, he wants to corrupt you- let him see that pact mark of his while you look so angelic, yeah?

might be into role playing it if you’d like

Mammon

Blinks a couple times before looking around slowly; poor boy really thought he’d been yeeted back to the celestial realm for a minute there

It’s all quiet before suddenly everyone in the house (and probably outside) hears “HOLY FUCK WHAT”

You never cease to amaze him, by the devils, is he in love

The blush on his face- if he was anything other than a demon- would look severely concerning. Like no, it’s not a red beacon of light, it’s just him coming through the halls

Is creepin outside ya door practically on his knees. Please let him in. His greed is flared and you’re the only cure even if you’re also the reason

He is dying to have a diy photo shoot of the two of you in your angel fit

Step on him. Do it- it’s the perfect angle, the shot comes out beautifully and he is putting it right in his wallet once it’s developed

Will step on you in return if you ask

You’ll let him kiss all over your body, wontcha, Mc? (he’ll even be gentle with his fangs when he nibbles around that golden necklace you’ve got on)

Levi

*cue his very nervous yet giddy laughter*

This is just like that anime he saw last week called ‘Help! My human s/o just turned into an Angel but I’m a demon and actually kind of into this?!”

Seriously though, you look so beautiful, Levi was immediately down in the floor with his face covered and tail wagging

Please allow 3-4 business months before he can recover

Jk lol he’s hovering in your doorway before you you can even click on his contact

Shyly asks if he can touch your halo and wings (and ends up with his tail wrapped around you, knocking you side to side because it’s still attempting to wag)

Unlike the eldest brother, Levi practically begs you to roleplay this with him and have a cosplay photoshoot

Will shamelessly keep you to himself for the rest of the day and hiss at everyone who gets too close

Please sit on him and call him mean names while also holding him sweetly

Satan

Sign him tf up- he’s got a pen at the ready

Irony aside, Satan thinks you look absolutely stunning— straight out of a fairy tale

Irony not aside, Satan is actually so into this and craves to play it out with you

He was never an Angel to begin with, he was born a demon; just thinking about making your ivory wings turn black makes him excited

Satan understands it’s just a simple spell you’ve casted so he won’t get too out of sorts (but if you like it, then what’s the harm?)

Wants to read a forbidden love trope book and maybe act out some of the scenes while you’re still dressed like that

The hopeless romantic in him is front and center the entire time

If you think he’s gonna let you go now, you’re sorely mistaken— let his brothers try and take you away

He’s got tons of scenarios to act out if you can handle him

Asmo

That weird high pitched sound you hear from across the house that should be something only dogs can hear? Yeah that’s Asmo squealing

Posting your video EVERYWHERE bc everyone needs to see how fucking gorgeous you look

You can hear his footsteps from a mile away as he hurries to your room

He MUST see your outfit in person ASAP

Azzy. Is. So. Fucking. Down. For. This. Shit. He thinks he’s dreamed about this once actually

Please let him just examine every inch of you, he’s begging

Once again his camera is out and ready for a photoshoot and his demon form is out right alongside it

He will be keeping you for the next 24-48 hours thanks

Beel

Choked. Again.

Don’t be alarmed by the loud rumbling sound— it’s not Beel’s stomach for once, but instead a growl

He didn’t mean to make that sound but you just look so— and he just— and you— and and— A a a A A

Has that cute little blush plastered over his face all. day.

Might be tempted- or actually try- to take a bite out of your halo or something else ifykyk

Rewatches the video at least ten times because you're just. Wow. Wow. W O W.

Is now in the mood to eat some celestial realm food with you

though his appetite is half for food and half for you

Pls don’t mind his staring or the way he’s probably drooling a bit, he can’t help it :(

Belphie

“...wait, what?”

Lays there staring at the ceiling for a moment bc PHEW you got him sweating and he hasn’t even moved yet-

Manages a straight face all the way until he enters your room and sees the outfits in person

To which he is, once again, dropping right at your feet with a look of ‘PLEASE’

He needs a whole ass minute or two to catch his breath from how fucking gorgeous you look and then he needs another whole ass minute or two to scan you over again

Please sit on him

Is uncharacteristically stuttering through every sentence— how can he possibly concentrate on stupid words in these [amazing] conditions?!

Gatekeeping you AGAIN

Underneath you the entire. time.

Barbatos

*windows shutdown*

*windows restart*

…aaand we’re back ladies and gentlemen and every cool dude in between but Barbatos is still fucking astonished— absolutely flabbergasted at how badly he’s got it for you

He dropped everything he was carrying in that moment and swiftly picked it back up, hoping no one saw

Diavolo saw. He recorded the entire thing and sent it to you, zooming in on Barbatos’ blush

There’s just something primal in him that makes him want to sink his teeth into you and coil his tail around your body so that you won’t be able to go anywhere else until he lets you

Everyone be damned, Barb will be having you to himself for the entire night

Will also run his fingers along the faux wings and halo before he absolutely ruins you until the magic dissipates

He is…totally normal about the entire thing..

Diavolo

His father help him— Diavolo is so incredibly thankful for the exchange program

Is OUT of the castle at mach speed before Barbatos can even say otherwise

And then he’s speeding right back and summoning you to him instead so he can have you to himself

Mans is kneeling at your fucking feet the second he lays eyes on you

And while it isn’t ‘proper’ for someone who wants unity between all three realms to want to corrupt you—

—he does. So badly. He thinks he might even beg you for it

Also wants to take a picture of the two of you with him in his demon form (it’s the it picture for weeks after he posts it)

Cannot stop looking at your halo; please let him touch it

(If you slowly begin altering your wings to bleed black, he’s practically foaming at the mouth—)

bonus:

Simeon

*sharp inhale* . . . *yeets halo*

He deadass forgets he’s an Angel himself for a few minutes bc he’s too busy simping fawning over you

God who?? Like get tf outta the way, beep beep, archangel on a mission comin through

Is begging as soon as he steps foot through your door. Please, please let him touch you and explore— he should be ashamed with how unabashed he is but fuck look at you

Will let his own wings out just so you can compare your angels forms (melted on the spot when you brushed your wings against his)

Honestly can’t decide if he wants you to corrupt him or if he wants to corrupt you…or both at the same time

He’s not sharing you. Not now. Not like this.

You may look like an angel, and he may be an angel, but he won’t treat you like one tonight

If you do the fancy trick of letting your wings turn black, he’s completely bowing down to whatever you wish right then and there

Solomon

Kinda forgot he was immortal for a split second and wondered if he’d either died or accidentally traveled to the celestial realm

Gains his bearings rather quickly, but the hold you have on him is still very much there

And he’d like you to have a hold around his throat— what? Who said that??

His pretty little blush where he averts his eyes all nervously? YEAH THAT

He’s taken aback for a couple moments before his usual shit eating grin comes back but that blush? Still there.

Backs you against a wall, in a corner, and let’s his hands roam with a small laugh, quietly asking how you manage to make him lose composure so easily

Is so soft and sweet for a minute before his eyes darken and that SEXY smirk crawls onto his face

Plucks that halo right from above your head and tosses it behind his shoulder because how could he possibly do what he has planned if you’re an angel?

Makes your wings bloom black himself (and challenges how long you can handle him)

extra little bonus:

Mephisto

Simply raises a brow and wonders why the hell his body got so hot all the sudden

Ignores the video for a couple hours until he realizes he can’t stop fucking thinking about it

Promptly decides he’s going to go straight to you and demand how dare you invade his thoughts like this

And then promptly decides he’d rather just revert to using his hands instead when the sight of you makes his mouth dry and water at the same time

Will take it upon himself, right then, to corrupt you

Because there’s no way in the seven rings of hell he’s letting you switch sides and he’ll break the magic you’re using as proof

After though *cough cough* he will bashfully tell you how gorgeous you looked…

Raphael

Let me tell you, mans was not ready

Like if you’ve seen the video of the person with a stacked ass on the stretcher being carried by and the news reporter’s face afterwards, that’s Raphael.

Luke takes a picture of his expression and makes a meme

Won’t address it until the very next day, stiffly telling you that your outfit was very pleasing to the eye (he thinks you’re drop dead gorgeous, okay, he’s just struggling)

If you offer to show him in person, he is ascending right back home. Won’t deny, though. Like please do.

In awe for the whole experience

And blushes an alluring deep shade if you show him some ‘corruption’ tricks you have up your sleeve

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schoenpepper · 2 months

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Rook Vs. Ramshackle

Intro: Ramshackle's in tatters and Crowley's a bitch. Luckily, your boyfriend is here to make things better! or worse idk

Warnings: bad writing, awful grammar, not proofread i got lazy with the format, Rook is a warning in his own right, a sprinkling of suggestiveness at the end

A/N: This is also a request so @voidlesslove I hope you like it. Kinda short, I don't think I had all too much inspiration with this one, kids.

Masterlist

Your dorm is never in good condition, constantly falling apart at the seams (literally). Crowley's stinginess with your allowance definitely doesn't help with all the repairs you need just to make the place livable.

You've had just about enough when your door cracks off its hinges and almost turns Grim into a tuna-filled cat pancake.

Enter your boyfriend: Rook!

He's always watching (affectionately), so the hunter comes to the rescue of his cutie in distress and pops up from a bush on your way from classes.

"Bonjour, mon amour! I have heard of your plight and have come to your aide."

"Hi Rook, there's a leaf on your hat."

Being the caring lover he is, he's more than happy to spend his own money to buy materials. (You turn him down when he offers to hire a renovation company)

The most important thing is that he will be paying for a majority of the items, can't have you floundering about due to a lack of cash, no no.

Surprisingly (unsurprisingly?) good with woodwork! He makes you a whole new door because the one to your bedroom doesn't lock + has holes that he could peep through.

He doesn't peep through your door though, he promises he looks through your window it has a better view.

Fixes up the floors with you and teaches you how to use the tools if you didn't know before.

Probably makes interconnecting rooms in some of the walls for future use (???)

It's okay, you'll never find out.

Treats you to roasted meat while you're both filthy af so you can take a nice little break before going back to repairing the holes in your roof.

What's this? Rats? Cockroaches? Any sort of living organism unwanted by his amour? Non, not anymore 🥰

Tell him you like Grim before the kitty cat gets purged.

The next day when Ramshackle is fully livable again (he had to actually call in professionals for plumbing and gas he cannot DIY that even if he tried), he gives you a bouquet of your favorite flowers as a housewarming gift!

Don't be too surprised when his hands start wandering during the hug though.

You've both been busy for a good few weeks and he thinks it's only right his hard work is repaid, no?~

#disney twisted wonderland #disney twst #twisted wonderland #gender neutral reader #x reader #twst x reader #rook hunt x reader #rook hunt #rook x reader

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scandinavianfairytale · 8 months

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Filthy

Pairing: Senator Steve Rogers x Assistant Reader

Warnings: This is straight up filth 😅 18+, Rated R 🙈 Smut, including but not limited to: oral, PinV, cheating, power dynamic is askew, age gap...

It was wrong. So wrong. So very wrong. For a number of reasons.

1. He was married.

2. He was significantly older than you. And we're talking about that he could be you father older than you.

3. He was your boss.

You could probably think of other reasons why, but these were the major ones. Yet, it didn't stop you from lusting after the senator. And you tried to distract yourself, mainly with work, but whenever you were alone with him, your knees shook, your core throbbed, and your head felt dizzy.

But you couldn't seduce a married man.

Or maybe you could.

Just not as directly as you would any other men.

In the beginning you were subtle. A button opened there, a skirt too short there. A little moan or gasp sprinkled in between the meetings. A hand lingering too long.

Nothing. There was no reaction from Steve.

So then you resorted to blatant tactics. Before going into his office you changed into the same clothes, just two sizes two small. On a number of occasions you even forgot the bra.

Still nothing. He was driving you insane. After every meeting where you basically offered yourself on a silver plate,.you had to go to the restroom and take the edge off. Your hands felt like cheap alternative to what you were actually after. Even at home, your toys paled in comparison to the fantasies that were playing in your head.

In one last ditch effort, you put on the tightest skirt you had in your wardrobe, a skirt that was more like a second skin than a piece of clothing. Ditching the thong, you entered Senator Rogers office, knees shaking in anticipation of what might happen.

He fucked you that night. Three times. Your head was spinning by the end of the fuck session. You were bent over the table, taken on the floor, on all fours, the couch used for support after your arms gave out and then to properly finish the evening, you got down on your knees and sucked him off.

After that, you were hooked. You were insatiable. How could you not be? The way he looked, sounded, and carried himself was enough to drive a woman insane. Put that together with the best fuck you experienced in your life and you got yourself a proper cock whore.

Steve was preparing his notes for tomorrows speech when a soft knock on the door of his office interrupted his train of thought. Your head poked through the crack and he smiled, motioning you in.

"Why are you still here so late?" Steve asked as he patted the chair next to him, insinuating that you can or should sit.

"Well, there are so many things left to do by tomorrow." You replied as you sat down. Steve picked up his scotch and leaned back in the leather sofa he was sitting in.

"There's always a lot of work to be done. And I know all the necessary things have already been done, so why don't you try again, sweetheart." He smirked.

"I wanted to catch you alone." You bit your bottom lip.

"Oh?" Steve cocked an eyebrow.

"I want to help you. I can see you're stressed and I thought, maybe I could help."

"How do you think you could help me?" You stood up, and you took his hand, guiding it under your skirt. Steve's eyes widened as his hand came into contact with your bare and very wet pussy. Your breathing deepend as his guided hand cupped you, and your tummy tensed in anticipation.

"I think you might be right." Steve smirked as he scanned your face, eyes hodded, lips parted and a little flush in the cheeks.

Beautiful.

"Stand wider. I want to feel you." He commanded, and you obeyed, no questions asked. As soon as your skirt was hiked up, Steve's fingers invaded your slippery hole, making you moan. He started fingering you, and those wet, squelching noises that he loved started coming from you. Plus combining with your pants and moans...music to his ears.

He knew he was bad. Sick, some would even call him. After all, he was MUCH older than you and in a position of power.

But it's not like you were that innocent either. Not when you flaunted your assests just to get a rise out of your boss. You definitely were not innocent when you grabbed his tie, pulling him into a supply closet at the Gala and giving him the best head he's ever had, while his wife was looking for him. And especially not when after just swallowing his cum, you talked to his wife, laighing with her as if you were good friends.

And it's not like he didn’t feel the guilt. His wife was the love of his life. They made a life together. A good life. He still loved her. Steve knew he would always love Peggy. He knows he will never love anyone else, but love and lust are not the same. Missionary sex once a month in the shared bed is not the same as the risky, almost violent, ball busting sex in all positions in all places at all times pf the day or night.

"Senator." You moaned, as you stopped holding back your need and your hips started gyrating against his hand. That. That right there, that was what sealed the deal for him. That was when he realized that while it was a regrettable mistake, he was going to make it again and again. And again.

"Are you gonna cum?" Steve's eyes darkened as he watched your pussy grinding against his hand and knuckles and how your juices oozed out, dripping down his forearms.

"Uh-huh" Your needy voice surprised you. You have never been this needy before.

"Come here." He demanded, his other hand grabbing your hips, steadying them and he blew on your hot pussy, making you throw your head back, screaming in pleasure. Steve smirked before delving next to his fingers, and he started lapping at your juices, savoring the taste like a starved man.

"More. Pleaseee, senator." You begged.

"Call me Steve." He smirked and he stopped everything he was doing, making you keen.

"Steve! Please, don't stop." You uncleanched your eyes, but he could see how much you wanted to roll your eyes in pleasure.

"Better. Now cum, sweetheart, let me taste you, properly."

It took only a few thrusts before you squirted all over his face. He held you in place, saving you from crumpling down on the floor as your knees shook. Steve kissed your pussy, smiling up at you as your breathing started getting back normal.

"Let me take care of you." You whispered as you straddled his hips, opening his trousers and pulling his painfully hard cock out before slowly sinking on him, your overly sensitive pussy, pulsating as it made room for his gritty cock.

"You feel amazing." Steve moaned as he felt your wet walls. You kissed him, pressing your body as close as you could, letting both of you feel the stretch. His hands traveled down to your ass, gripping it tight before he started thrusting up.

"Wait." You stopped him. "You just sit here, I'll do everything."

How could he refuse? How could he say no to you, really?

Sure enough, you got to work, grinding against his pelvis, thrusting your hips up and down, sending shivers and pulses down to your tiptoes. But Steve could not just sit still while you did all the work. He unbuttoned your blouse and pulled down your bra so your breasts spilled out. He realized all your cloths fit you now, as opposed to a few weeks ago.

"Before we started this, did you change your clothes every time before coming to see me?" He asked as he grabbed your jaw, making you look at him.

"Yes." You moaned. "I wanted to give you a preview."

"You certainly don't leave anything to the imagination, you dirty whore." He smirked and slapped your tit. He thought back to that day when this began. You nervously entered his office, bringing him the files he asked for. Just before reaching him, you tripped, and all the papers fell on the floor. He was going to help you, but then he noticed how tight the skirt you were wearing was and how it stuck to your skin, providing a visible outline of your pussy. At that point, he had been trying so hard to resist the temptation, but having this clear of a view of your pussy, he snapped. He bent you over the desk that night.

"Fuck yes." You screamed as his hand went to your clit and pinched it.

"Come on, you said you wanted to take care of me. Do it." Steve taunted. "Try harder."

You started circling your clit, while grinding at his pelvis. He could feel you clenching around him, and he knew you were close. He pinched one of your nipples, rolling it in between his fingers, while his mouth started sucking on the other.

"God, yes. Steve-I-" Your voice broke as you squirted again. You bucked your hips a couple of more times, before you climbed off of him and kneeled in front of his opened legs. His cock was just perfect, a little red, soaking from his precum and your juices and so thick. Your mouth practically watered at the sight of Senator's Rogers dick.

"Fuck." Steve let out as you took him down your throat. You were always eager to give a blowjob. You knew guys usually don't get good head and women in general don't like giving head. But you fucking loved it. There was so much power in this.

You took him whole, until your nose touched his hair base. Staying there, breathing through your nose, you stared at him.

"Fuck." He groaned as he looked at you.

Finally, you started bobbing your head up and down his shaft, the noises both of you were making were egging you on. One of your hands massaged his balls, while the other stroked his perineum, making the man above you shudder and thrust his hips further into your mouth. You smirked with your mouth full of cock. It really was a power move.

"C'mon, stop playing and make me come." Steve groaned in frustration, slapping you face and shoved your head down to the base of his cock, making you choke. You tapped his thigh and he let you go.

"Use my throat." You leaned back on your heels, opening your mouth, inviting him in. Steve stood up and pushed his cock down your throat again. His hands framed your head, and he started thrusting into you.

"God yes." Steve yelled in ecstasy. Your hands went to your pussy. One started playing with your clit while with the other you shoved three fingers in it.

"That's it, play with yourself." He shoved his cock faster and harder into your mouth. Like he was fucking your pussy and it made you so wet. It was the perfect sinful melody that filled the office. As you listened to him pant and groan, you knew he was close. His thrusts became erratic until finally he slammed your head down his cock and kept you there as he emptied his sack. You came at the same time, he shoved you down last time, squirting again.

As he let you go, you opened your mouth, showing him you swallowed every last drop.

Steve zipped up his pants while you sat in your own release, still panting. He brought you tissues to clean yourself up before helping you stand up and giving you a glass of water.

"Do you feel better?" You asked. Steve let out a chuckle.

"I feel much better. I think tomorrow's speech is going to go smoothly." He observed you. "Let me take you home. You shouldn't be driving this exhausted."

You nodded before taking his hand and letting him take you to his car. Steve let the driver know where to go, and he closed the door, waving you off, before returning back to his office and cleaning the mess you created.

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

Thank you for reading 🙈

The GIF doesn't belong to me 💙

Yeah...so I have no words other than this is filthy 🙈 I'm not sorry though 🙈

#chris evans #steve rogers #senator steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #senator steve x reader #senator steve imagine #marvel #filthy #fanfic #fanfiction

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vicsy · 3 months

Note

Had no idea what to pitch so I literally looked up one word prompts and chose the first few. Pick whichever inspires: Daniel x Max + Sunburn/Tease/Emerge/Afternoon/Impulse/Nurture/Rough/Polaroid/Good

maxiel + polaroid, sunburn

"Drink?"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. Can't stay long. Duty calls!" Daniel makes an exaggerated gesture. Max cracks a smile. He probably follows the pundit stuff Daniel does more than actual racing these days. "Just wanted to pop by since you're back to calling Monaco home. Nice place, mate."

If not for the sim rig installed in an empty guest room that could have been a nursery in a life he brushed aside, nobody would have ever guessed Max lived here. His new apartment was clean, spacious, incredibly faceless. A simple home for a creature of habit Max always was but not quite a home.

"I wanted to go watch the race this weekend," Max admits and pads through the cluttered living room to the adjacent kitchen, straight to the fridge. It's shiny, sophisticated and very empty, except for a monthly supply of Red Bull and yesterday's leftovers. He grabs a can for himself, wishing he had that beer Daniel used to love. "But I am of course happy to see you after, well. Who knows, yeah?"

Couple years, give or take. Max stopped counting after turning thirty-three.

Behind him, Daniel claps his hands together. Max throws a surprised look over his shoulder, blindly rummaging in the fridge. The shine of Daniel's smile hasn't diminished over the years, but the crow's feet around his eyes, Max discovers, are more prominent than he remembers. He wonders if Daniel notices the little changes about him, too; if he cares for them at all. Max does.

"Oh, congrats on your team winning, uh, another virtual racing thingy," he delivers the line with that old, addictive enthusiasm and, to Max, it's a gut punch. He schools his face, a lump forming in his throat. Daniel gives him a thumbs up, turns around and walks along the empty shelves attached to the TV wall. The lack of decor there makes it look kind of pathetic. Max had only managed to put two of his WEC trophies on display, a helmet he wore for the last race and a nice-looking box of assorted knick-knacks dear to his memory. "Any plans to decimate Le Mans this year, Mr Three Time champ?"

"Fernando is busy with Dakar, so probably I'll skip it. Oscar texted me about doing it next year together, so," Daniel's back is facing him still. Max closes the fridge and opens the Red Bull can, places it on the kitchen counter. Stares at it for a second or two. Then, out of a long-forgotten habit, Max goes for a poorly planned half-joke. "Didn't know you started watching iRacing in your old age. Quick, what's a livestream?"

It's a desperate attempt to even the gap between now and before. Daniel flips him a bird without looking, too occupied with whatever he found on Max's sad little shelves.

"Har, har, fucker. I mean, I gotta keep myself in the game, everything is changing, like, a lot. And, come on, it's you–" he stops talking. Max takes a sip from the can, watching Daniel finally face him. "Huh. Didn't know you still have these."

Max has gone lengths without having to experience a solid enough crash and the debilitating aftermath reverberating through his body. In the sun-flooded apartment, on the freshly turned page, it catches up to Max as abruptly as a rainstorm in the summer.

Forty-three year old Daniel is standing in his unfurnished living room, a splotch of color among the backdrop of generic white paint and a mount of unpacked boxes. Forty-three year old Daniel, with a sprinkle of salt in his hair and a tan line on the ring finger of his left hand, looks at Max like he's a ghost from the past, like it's him who just had to ruin everything when things got too real. He wasn't there when Max paid the price of his own happiness in retaliation.

Forty-three year old Daniel, who sent out an invitation to a wedding Max never attended, holds up two tiny polaroids taken almost a decade ago and all Max can think of is his signature on the divorce papers, the ink still wet.

He swiftly closes the distance to Daniel and snatches both pictures from him, cradles them to his chest. Daniel's hand is left suspended in the air between them. Max ignores the wobble in between his ribs. His eyes trace the line of the rose tattoo in the direct line of vision, memory bristling, anger thrumming underneath his skin.

"I kept them," Max spits. He doesn't mask the bitterness in his voice. He had it bottled up long enough the cork had gone rotten.

Daniel stares back, mouth slack. He looks good and Max hates that, hates his stupid colorful hoodie and his meager attempts to make amends. Above all, Max hates himself for ever conceding. Daniel has always had one foot out the door. Missed chances were Max's fuel and they've still propelled him back to square one.

"Yeah. I figured," Daniel says, too soft, too familiar. Placating. Max should ask him to leave.

Instead, he drops his gaze to the polaroids laid flat on his palm. They're in good condition but Max also hadn't looked at them in months, maybe years; it doesn't matter since those Daniel and Max, everything they stood for, ossified and turned into dust. It doesn't keep Max awake at night anymore.

Out of the two photos, only one comes from the Red Bull PR department. They never cared when it went missing. Max remembers the video they shot too starkly to be unbothered it ever happened — him and Daniel in matching team gear, insane rain in Monaco; Max winning that weekend and Daniel watching from the pit wall.

The other polaroid, a bit rough on the edges, had never seen the light of day. It captured just a part of Max's sunburnt face, a corner of his smile; Daniel's lips pressed to his cheek, his wet curls in disarray. Max gets a phantom ache in his chest when he remembers how the camera ended up in the sand, falling off a small table where they had propped it up against a half-empty cocktail glass.

Daniel cups Max's hand holding the photos from underneath, painfully hesitant. Max flits his eyes up to the hollow of Daniel's throat, to his full beard; to the pleading look stabbing daggers into the soft edges of Max that were once hard and unforgiving.

Stashing those polaroids was Max’s way to forget he wished to go back. He was never the one to leave in the first place; that was Daniel's sworn prerogative. But he's in Max's living room now, a lifetime away from running.

"Max–"

"I think," he cuts in before Daniel makes it worse or gives him hope. His hand slips from Daniel's hold and Max retraces his steps back to the kitchen. Daniel tracks his every move. "I think I will put them here."

He sticks the polaroids to the enormous fridge door with a Welcome to Monaco magnet he fished out of a nearby drawer. The photos look whacky but, to Max, it's a long shot. He lingers in place, berating himself for giving this another chance.

When he turns back around, Daniel is just an arm's length away.

"About that drink," Daniel says, low. Max watches his tongue dart out, wetting his lips. His heart jackhammers against his ribs.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Max's back hits the fridge.

Send me a ship/character(s) and a one word prompt and I will write a 5 sentence fic abou

#here's some emotional damage in the form of divorced (from other people) maxiel #i thought this would be shorter but alas...#you know me #vicsy writes #maxiel #maxiel fic #333 #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #daniel/max

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yuri-is-online · 9 months

Note

Back with some more thought experiments! This time, let’s talk about the actual worldbuilding of Twisted Wonderland. I mean, this is a completely separate world where fairytales and fantastical things actually exist. It’s functionally impossible for Twisted Wonderland to just be Earth plus some Disney sprinkled on top.

The biggest point that really gets me is that fact that methods to foresee the future exist. Astrology is a valid class in NRC and Yuu suffers from plot convenient prophetic visions. The mere idea that the future can be foreseen should have huge ramifications on how businesses and governments operate. Imagine knowing the effect of a deal or policy before it even happens. Or minimizing crisis by knowing about it before it strikes.

Magic should also affect technological development. We know that there was an age before magic was widespread among humans, thanks to Trein in GloMas. In that sense, I can see how up to a point technological development may be similar… but post-magic the technology should be different due to a different set of limitations.

Language is also an interesting topic. Setting aside things that humans probably can’t event speak like the Fae languages seen in game, what of the languages used in Twisted Wonderland? Would they be similar to Earth as a result of the Disney movies used to create its history? Does that explain why Rook speaks French?

This isn’t accounting for religion either. The Age of the Gods is a thing, drawing from the Hercules movie. That would mean that the Greek gods actually exist in Twisted Wonderland. So how did they fall out of worship? I mean, only Hades seems to be recognized anymore due to the Great Seven, and not even in a religious way.

Look, I’m going to hit the character count if I keep trying to list all of my questions. This is just all so fascinating! And true to my fixation on Yuu, this is all great content for exploring just how alien Twisted Wonderland must feel. Like, Yuu should honestly ask more questions. I don’t buy how easily they adapted in the game.

- 🦐

*cracks knuckles* Shrimp you have brought up stuff I've been thinking about for a hot second, I'm so glad you have come into my inbox ( ๑ ˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و ♡

I agree that I don't think Yuu would have adjusted as easily as they are depicted to in game, but this is a mobile app gacha game licensed by Disney so it's not going to focus as much on stuff like that. Luckily that's what we're here to do anyway~ I am going to go through these points one by one.

Point One: Astrology

The most we learn about how fortune telling works in game is from the Scalding Sands hometown event. There is an exchange between Cater, Trey, and Jamil about using coffee grinds to tell fortunes, and Trey specifically says something I think is interesting: we get two really interesting lines:

From what's said here we can tell two things: A) there is a distinct difference between types of fortunes and B) a distinct difference in the quality of fortune tellers. Someone like Cater is correct most of the time with his divination, but not everyone will be making actively relying on it for major decisions. I could absolutely see older kingdoms having a seer employed who a ruler could call on for supernatural advice, but I don't think that would be common practice in modern day Wonderland outside of maybe Briar Valley. Besides, just because you know something bad will happen doesn't mean you will be able to efficiently mobilize your forces in time to make a meaningful difference.

Speaking of which, not to touch on spoilers too much but Leven seems to be implied to posses the ability to actually clearly see the future, and as for Yuu's visions...

Well Lilia says he thought they might have a curse like Silver's (not that he knew why they were dizzy)... and the ability to see the future IS often handed out in Greek Myths as a curse, but well. Make of that what you will.

Point Two: Magi-Tech

The way technology works in Twisted Wonderland is a bit vague. From how Idia talks, I think there is a distinct difference between technology and magitechnology, with Idia specifically specializes in the latter. I actually went a really long time thinking that since Yuu hadn't a single trace of magic on them they wouldn't be able to ride a magi-wheel because of how Deuce talks about it syncing with your own magic and what not. Even magicless people in Twisted Wonderland don't seem to be completely magicless, they just don't have enough of a mana pool to actually cast a spell.

I think it would make sense to suggest magic and magitechnology probably affected Twisted Wonderland's development in the same way the silicone chip did ours, but the key difference would be that if you put too much magic into a device most humans can't use it. That would bring up a completely separate set of setbacks and issues... while there might not be a difference in the type of things built their internal construction would definitely be wildly different.

Part Three: Language

I think the easiest answer to this is yes. We know there is a "common" language that most places now use... I like to headcannon that language as being unique to Twisted Wonderland but I have seen some people think it is probably English. Which brings out my scrunchy face because the prevalence of English in our world is because of the British Empire... which never existed in Twisted Wonderland.

Rook speaks French because one of his favorite plays is set in Fleur City/the Shaftlands... which as a side note. In his Vampire card vignette he names the play that made him like Neige so much: Kingsroad~ The Sword to Become King!~ which is literally the Sword in the Stone based off of the little song he sings from it. I have been going crazy since GloMas thinking about if this suggests that King Arthur is french in Twisted Wonderland or if Rook is referring to another play... personally I think he's from Sage's Island but that's a crack for another post

Part Four: Greek Myths and Religion

There doesn't really seem to be any religious presence in Twisted Wonderland at all. It's unclear if Hades was ever worshiped or if he was just referred to as a god due to his perceived immortality and power. Given that there is something called the Jupiter group... and the Shrouds are a branch of the Jupiter family... AND that the Titans you fight in Chapter 6 are yelling about getting to and killing Jupiter... I think that it's highly likely there are events in Twisted Wonderland's history that correlate to the stories of the Great Seven, but didn't necessarily involve the Great Seven themselves. It's just that those events are remembered as having been done by them... for some unknown reason. Not to be conspiratorial... but do we have any proof they ever actually lived in Twisted Wonderland at all? (━＿━)ゝSure there are relics and things, and there are apparently paintings in the Land of Dawning Meusuem, but where did they come from? How old are they? I don't need sleep I need answers, is this a primary or a secondary source about the Queen of Hearts Riddle?

The End

I also wish Yuu would ask more questions, but I get why they don't :/ this is a gacha game blah blah blah but also. I don't think Yuu knows what questions to ask, there's a lot of stuff about life you don't think about as being abnormal until someone looks at you funny and I think Yuu realistically does a lot of that, but if you put every single instance of that into a game it would get very exposition heavy very fast. Luckily you, I, and everyone reading this have massive brains and can talk to each other about it!!!

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst yuu #twst theories

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sophswritingthings · 10 months

Text

so what — blue eyed samurai

pairing: mizu x f!oc

warning(s): a bit of a steamy scene at the beginning but technically no smut; sex/sexual mentionssss. swearing!!

tropes: protective!mizu, canon divergent, just some good old fluff, a little bit of angst; I guess? cuddling, mizu with ✨feelings✨

a/n: writing these fics have become my life and I’m way too invested and also flustered writing these things so bare with me

summary: after their kiss at the brothel, they find themselves staying with a swordsman and his workers before traveling again. mizu wants to keep their new found relationship to themselves. mio, however, does not feel the same way.

word count: 1,476 words / 8,122 characters

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mio's chest heaved up and down, her breath came out in puffs, almost like smoke. her kimono was half pushed off her top half, exposing the sensitive skin of her neck and shoulder.

meanwhile, there was mizu—sitting behind her, bent into the crook of her neck, kissing and sucking on her neck and shoulder. leaving red marks up and down her skin…

footsteps pounded outside the bedrooms door.

mio stayed relaxed, her muscles never tensing. sure, it made her a bit embarrassed someone could catch them like this, specifically, but she didn’t care if someone saw them together.

on the other hand, she felt mizu’s arms around her waist tense. her head shot up from mio’s neck, pulling up the girls kimono, making her look as presentable as possible.

“.. no-ones coming in here, mizu,” mio murmured, glancing at the samurai over her shoulder. “It’s probably only ringo… he knows not to bother you.”

“I’m not taking my chances, mio,” mizu’s eyes narrow, “besides. you should get to sleep—we have a long day tomorrow and I don’t want to listen to you complain.”

there was a hint of kindness in her tone—a hint of empathy, despite her actual words. mio sighed flopping down to rest her head on the pillow of the mattress.

“I suppose your not going to stay with me, can’t risk it, can you? so scandalous to be seen with a woman you like, isn’t it?” mio hissed, burying her face into the soft pillow.

“I- mio,” mizu choked out. it wasn’t that she was—embarrassed by mio, not at all—mio was a courteous, beautiful woman to which she liked. she didn’t want to admit to herself how nervous she was. how nervous she was to be seen with someone; being a samurai of her reputation.

“no, no—go. go ahead,” mio sighed. “If that’s what you want, mizu, it’s fine.”

was it fine, though? was she fine with this? being hidden away like she was some dirty secret?

mizu stopped in her tracks. she quickly sat back down, gazing at mio with somewhat of an unimpressed expression.

“happy?”

mio gazed at her for a moment, somewhat of a flustered smile coming over her lips.

“I won’t be truly happy until you come over here,” mio murmured, chuckling a little.

mizu rolled her eyes, climbing up to the top of the mattress. she settled behind mio, wrapping her arms tight around the woman’s waist—as if something was going to come out and hurt her. her head tucked into mio’s neck.

mizu practically raised warmth; compared to mio’s small body.

“you crack so easily,” mio murmured, her voice slipping off into sleep.

mizu rolled her eyes, “no. I don’t think I do,” her voice was raspy, growing more tired by the second.

mio slipped fully into sleep. mizu’s arms around her waist, her head tucked into the crook of her neck—their legs intertwined as warmth radiated from their bodies. the closeness of someone you liked so much could warm a heart in seconds.

snow sprinkled on her silky black locks; the snow riding up her ripped kimono. she’d probably be able to get a new one, at some point—but as of now she’d have to deal with it.

they trudged through the snow, the cold wind nipping at her exposed skin. the weather was turning her naturally light skin bright red.

a hand brushed against her cheek, making her look up unexpectedly.

when she did, there was a somewhat kind expression in front of her—partially hidden by a hat and glasses.

“.. you’re freezing,” mizu murmured, pushing her glasses up her nose with two fingers.

“what did you expect,” mio chuckled nervously. “It a fucking blizzard, out here.” her tone was somewhat rough, eyes narrowed.

was she still a little upset about the keeping them a secret, thing? sure.

but she felt that it was petty; so she didn’t bring it up. she should understand, right?

“we’ll be inside soon,” mizu shifted her gaze away from mio. she had quickly caught onto the woman’s tone. she glanced at her, “you’re upset with me. for what I said, aren’t you.”

mio folded her arms across her chest. partly because she was upset, yes; but partly to keep herself warm.

“maybe I am,” mio murmured, her dark brown eyes locked on mizu's blue eyes, hidden by those glasses she wore. “Is that not allowed?”

“don’t say things I didn’t,” mizu narrowed her eyes. “you’re allowed to be upset with me, mio, it’s fair. have your own opinion.”

mio glanced at mizu, raising an eyebrow, “okay,” she whispered. “so—what? what do you have to say about it?”

“you do have to understand this from my view, mio,” she pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated by the situation. she let her hands than fall under her cover up. “.. you act as if this is completely common for us to do. you act as if someone saw us together; they would not hesitate to kill either me or you in mere minutes.”

mio huffed. it wasn’t like mizu was wrong. she let her eyes rest on mizu's again, “I do understand that,” she sighed. “but you have to get that I have enough trust in you that you would not simply let that happen.”

mizu paused for a moment, listening to mio's words. she had an expression of surprise over her face; as if she couldn’t believe a lick of what mio had just said.

she let out a breath in a little huff, seemingly now not wanting to accept her words as truth. “I suppose.. you are not wrong, princess.” her eyes narrowed a little, “I wouldn’t let anyone lay a hand on you.”

mio couldn’t suppress a smile, her hand ruffling under mizu's over-coat, looking for the samurai’s hand. when she finally found it, her hand clasped around mizu's. they were rough, war torn. scratched and practically ripped to shreds from her years as a samurai.

but they were just right for mio.

mizu took a moment to adjust to the new feeling; but when she did, her grip was incredibly tight. she didn’t want to let her go; she didn’t want mio to go even an inch out of her sight.

mio was slightly surprised—they were walking along with ringo, to their next destination. and yet it was as if her words made any shred of doubt mizu had about their safety, about their relationship, was whisked away with a flick of her hand.

a warm, inviting light was up ahead. mizu pulled her forward with no hesitation, slipping inside. she seemed to know the swordsman and his men settled inside; and quickly pulled her little group into an empty room. lit by a fireplace and two mattresses lain about the floor. one for ringo, one for them.

“ringo?” mizu glanced over her shoulder with those piercing eyes, “go and shadow the swordsman for an hour or two; think of it as part of your training.”

mizu than glanced at mio, the slightest hint of a smirk on her samurai’s face. mio's eyes met hers, looking a little anxious. yet excited nonetheless—anytime she had with mizu was always good.

when ringo disappeared, mio cleared her throat.

“why do I have the feeling you're thinking something you shouldn’t be,” mio raised an eyebrow. “we are guests, here, mizu.. I’m sure we do not wish to.. bother the others here, yes?”

mizu was already busy, pulling off her glasses and hat. she placed them tenderly to the side, as well as her sword, hidden in the scabbard. when that was all said and done, she turned to mio. her footsteps came closer and close, til they were inches apart.

the samurai’s fingers pricked at mio's waist, drawing her in. she tugged her into her body by the hips. her face sat inches from mio's painted red lips.

“someone is bound to hear us,” mio practically murmured against mizu's lips, her eyes flickering from the woman's lips to her eyes ever few seconds.

“so what,” she hissed, her eyebrows creasing for a moment. “does it seem as if I care at the moment?”

mizu's earlier anxiety had washed away; washed back by comforting waves of mio’s presence. her trust. her touch, her love, her security. there was no need to be secretive; to beat around the bush when it came to them. she didn’t give a shit what anyone thought anymore; she was strong enough to take down any asshole who dared look wrong at her princess.

“no… it doesn’t,” mio muttered, closing the gap between them. she had one hand rested on mizu's chest, the other curling up around her samurai’s neck.

mizu pulled back for a moment, taking mio's hand and leading her to the mattress. Mio gave a breathy laugh; she was in for a night.

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a/n: mizu sending her fucking apprentice away to fuck her girlfriend canon

tags: @jspidey5

#blue eyed samurai #mizu x oc #mizu #fanfic #sapphic #lesbian #fic #writers on tumblr #writing

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fandomfluffandfuck · 3 months

Note

congrats on finishing finals! i’ve just finished so finally enjoying my free time before i start my summer job. I’ve got a request (if you’re willing) of probably my favourite scenario for stucky.

Basically it centres around the eagerness of whoever tops (preferably steve) and probably edging towards them being the sub with how much they want the other person. The whole scenario is just begging and whining when it finally happens. Also if it happens somewhere spontaneous like a kitchen counter that’s just a cherry on top. Sprinkle in a bit of praise kink and my life is yours.

Thank you!! Congrats on getting through your finals, too. And this took me a while to get to, so I hope that your free time before your summer job was nice and relaxing 😘

I'm so down for this prompt! Here you go:

Steve doesn't sleep in.

Steve doesn't sleep in and on a related note Bucky could be convinced that it's because the real underlying purpose of the seurm was to make fucking sure that Steve would become an even bigger pain in Bucky's ass that he could be before when he was a 5'4" asthmatic-ass punk. The serum makes sure that Steve can run faster head first into danger, putting Bucky's heart attack on speed dial, the serum makes sure that he can take bigger bullies and come out with bruises and a broken, bloody nose that heals faster, meaning Bucky has to get angrier at the people who take advantage of his speedy healing, the serum makes sure sure he has enough energy to bounce up and down on the balls of his feet all day every day and still wake up at the ass crack of dawn to roll out of bed, jostling Bucky awake as he leaves for his run, murmuring something Bucky can't process in his ear and leaving a sloppy, morning-breath kiss on his cheek. So. Steve doesn't sleep in. Almost ever. Thank you, super soldier serum.

That being said, it's a fucking miracle that Bucky woke up this morning by himself, no too-early interruption of Steve leaving to run or coming home from his marathon-length sprint to make noise like a bull in a chinanshop as he gets ready for his day. Showering. Getting dressing. Rustling around in the nightstand and the closet and--

Thank you, most recent top-secret mission, for exhausting my stupid boyfriend enough that he crashed for over 10 hours without leaving him seriously injured, just sleep deprived, Bucky muses to himself. He's in such a pleasant mood surprisingly early that's he's humming to himself as he makes eggs over the stove top, still in his loose gym shorts and stretched-out, comfy t-shirt. With two super soldiers sharing a single bed, it's too hot to sleep in clothes, but Bucky does have standards. He has unfashionable lounge wear. Of course. He's human.

Bucky smiles at his ridiculous amount of eggs--nearly a whole carton and a half dumped and scrambled just to keep his metabolism (and Steve's by extension) happy. He's not a morning person. He never has been. Normally, he's grumpy right about now. But, today is a good day, Steve is catching zzzs, safe and sound at home, and Bucky woke up on his own volition, and he gets to surprise his boyfriend with cheesy, spicy eggs. It's disgustingly domestic for two aged soldiers who have been war-torn and tortured. Or, it would be domestic if--

"Heyy," Steve's sleep rough voice is suspiciously deep and slow, announcing his sudden presence over Bucky's shoulder before the sound of his feet on the hardwood.

--Steve would let him actually have a moment of innocent peace.

Bucky will protect his peace, though--just like he does when Steve is stomping his feet in their bedroom, early morning, post-run, throwing a pillow at his sweaty boyfriend. Self-defense. Anyone in court would side with him, he's sure.

"I know what tone, Mister," Bucky tells Steve, not bothering to turn around just yet. He has priorities. Food. "Don't even think about it, I'm making your breakfast too, you know."

"I haven't done anything! I barely said anything!" Steve wheedles in response, padding farther into the kitchen and slouching against him heavily. He radiates heat like a furnace through Bucky's thin clothes. Steve, however, is still fully nude.

"Not yet," Bucky points out. Literally. Turning around to point his egg-y fork at his stupid, big, bare chest. Steve is, just, acres of pale skin and faint freckles smooth over shapely muscles, and... Bucky can't quite blame the way his mouth waters on his empty stomach.

One of Steve's stacked pecs twitches at the end of his fork, pointed at and ostensibly offended. Simiarly, Steve's hands come up as do one of his eyebrows, impressively defensive for a guilty man, "tough guy this morning, huh?"

"Tough?" Bucky challenges, poking the fork into his right pec. To be fair, they're the only ones eating these eggs, so it's not unsanitary, and Steve looks ripe. Juicy, even. He could be eaten, though Bucky would prefer to eat him without cutlery; he wants to tear into him with his teeth. "'S that what you call it, making sure we don't starve to death?"

Steve cocks his head to the side, barely hiding the blantant need in his wide eyes with a sparkling smirk.

Matching his silence, his game, Bucky dares to turn back around, thinking he's dismissed the tank of muscle and nuclear-level sex drive that is Steve, but he pays for his mistake when Steve plasters himself to his back. Again. Harder this time. Tighter to him with the heat of his big chest all-ecompassing, the flat plains of defined, solid abs making Bucky want bad things, and the impressive, insistent pressure of his uncovered erection achingly noticable.

Pushing the words out of his mouth, sharper than he feels, Bucky teases, "I can't believe you're not dizzy with that thing in your pants taking up so much of your blood."

Steve tries to snort, but he doesn't exactly make it. The sound lands somewhere closer to an exhaled, wanting pant of air more than anything else.

"What pants?" Steve jokes, then, "you wanna check to make sure I'm not dizzy, 'cause... I'm not so sure, Buck," Steve hooks his chin around Bucky's shoulder, letting his knees weaken. If he looks, Bucky knows he'd be pouting, pretending to be faint. Big idiot.

"Mmm, I'm more willing to check to make sure it's not a gun."

Steve makes another noise that's supposed to illustrate his amusement. He misses the mark by a mile, though. Especially as his hands--baseball mitts, really--start wandering, and this hungry little groan bubbles up from his chest. He's groping him. There's no other way to say it. Groping. Big and heavy palms with strong, thick fingers, squeezing handfuls of his chest and then scratching his blunt nails down his abs, slipping up under his shirt to pet the silky trail of hair that leads down to his waistband with a breathless moan.

Bucky is making eggs with a sleep-puffy face and rumbled bed hair, and Steve is reacting as if he's a stripper working the pole, showering him with ones, getting inappropriately grabby. Life is a trip. Steve is stupid. What a huge dummy. There's something wrong with him, Bucky swears it.

"Having fun?" Bucky asks, intentionally letting his voice drag, sounding bored.

Steve doesn't pay him any mind. He just whines softly against his shoulder, using his whole face to nuzzle against his thin shirt. And Steve's insistent hands roam down, down, down, over his crotch to his thighs, squeezing hard at his thick quad muscles through his loose gym shorts.

"You're making me feel like a stress ball, Steven." He deadpans. He's still half asleep, but his body is coming more and more online by the minute or more accurately, more online by the fondle. His boyfriend really is just... grabbing him. Squeezing him. Hands digging in, nails biting, leaving fingerprint bruises in his wake.

"Am I?" Steve says, voice even lower, if possible. He doesn't give a shit about what Bucky's saying at the moment. It's undoubtedly going in one ear and out the other since he's started rutting against him. Grinding filthily, not even all that stealthy. He's completely shameless this morning. And his hips are against flush to Bucky's ass making his dick push between Bucky's cheeks, and, oh, making his underwear and shorts ride up, pressing against his hole and rubbing.

Bucky can close his eyes and imagine in perfect detail how it would feel for Steve to tear down his clothes and slide right in, splitting him open, filling him up until he chokes on it. Unable to do nothing but moan Steve's name. He's so close, positioned just right. He's, he could--

Ngh.

Bucky shakes himself, settling his resolve by taking a minimally shaky breath, trying to cool off.

Keep it cool, Barnes.

"Mmm-hmm," what the hell was he talking about? Oh, right, "I do." Bucky murmurs, voice even, "'cause, in case you forgot, I'm trying to keep you fed so you don't waste away on me, but you're crawling all over me like I'm a jungle gym. Imagine how that feels for me, hon."

"Jus'," Steve's breathing is getting faster and faster, his hips are moving faster and faster, too, sloppier, "w-wanna feel you."

"Yeah?" Bucky stirs his eggs, he already covertly turned them down, drawing this out. He doesn't want to be distracted and burn them, but he also isn't willing to let them finish just yet, nor is he willing to turn them off and leave them half cooked and ruined. Yeah, he's a tease, so what? "Can't you wait five minutes, shovel down some protein, and then feel me up like I'm some plaything?"

"No." Steve says petulantly, digging his hands into him as if that's convincing enough evidence.

"'Course not," Bucky sighs.

"Haven't seen you in five days, Buck!" Steve whines. Whines. Some big, manly soldier. Ha. If only the public knew the Steve Rogers under the proverbial mask. "I can't take it!"

Bucky tries to and does successfully snort. Take that, Steve. "Such a hardship, Rogers. The real tragedy in our lives, hm? You not getting your dick wet once during the whole work week?"

"Mmm," Steve replies, his filthy mitts all over his ass now, spreading him open to better fit his dick between his cheeks, pushing himself in closer and then going back to doing his thing. Rutting. "mmm-hmm, it is, Buck. It is. You got no idea what it's like!"

"Pfft, I'm retired, dumbass, not dead," Bucky snips back. "I do plenty of my own missing."

"Poor you," Bucky teases, trying to think about anything but the fuck-me whine that's in Steve's voice, as effective as a dog whistle at making his body obey. He's trained to his dick. God. What a time to be alive.

"Yeahh, but... ugh," any of the rest of his complaints briefly turn into a whimper. He recovers shortly to further agrue his point, typical, "at least you get alone time when I'm gone. I'm gone, and I can't get away to get off."

"It's terrible!" Steve rambles on, more complaining than anything else, "'cause when I'm here, I'm in you all the time, soaking in you, swear to fuck," Bucky can play cool all he wants on the outside, but he can't deny the arousal getting tighter and tighter deep in his gut, "and you're always so tight around my dick, squirming and moaning, and then I gotta leave and you--" Steve breaks off into a shaky moan as his grinding becomes rougher, less about the rythm and more about the desperation, "you got no idea what it's like, Buck! I have dreams about it."

It.

Dreams about it.

Bucky should be scandalized to be objectified and referred to that way, as a thing, but he isn't. This is Steve. He wants every dirty, filthy part of Steve. And Steve dreams about his hole. That arousal deep inside him? Yeah, it's not buried deeply anymore. It has him in a chokehold, forcing him to gasp for air or suffocate under the weight.

"I wake up on mission fucking my bed--" Bucky's thinking about it, oh, yeah, he is, he's thinking about the sculpted roundess of his ass and the way the muscles in his back and legs move, how he'd look from the top down, so desperate to stick his dick somewhere wet and hot and tight that his body will work with anything, even a mattress "--wanting you so bad. I stake out and get so bored, and I can't think about anything else than jerking off, wishing my hand was your ass. I can't help iiit!" He's so fucking whiny and, unfortunately, it really works for Bucky. "Everything, anything, sets me off. Just wanna get in you so bad. I miss it so much. You're so hot inside. It's, it's, God, it's like heaven, I swear."

Bucky can't even put words together for a moment. 'Cause apparently more sleep does Steve a whole fucking world of good, unlocking his mouth and letting it run. That, or, Bucky will have to re-check with Sam and make sure Steve didn't get hit in the head on mission.

"Please, Buck, please," he begs, faster, jerkier, no rhythm at all to his hips which is, admittedly, stupidly, really fucking working for Bucky. "Please," he murmurs, "turn off the stove, Buck, I need it. Need you!"

Bucky laughs despite his brain melting.

Steve takes offense, hugging Bucky tighter back against him, grinding harder as if he can somehow rip through the layers of Bucky's shorts and underwear with just his dick--if anyone could, it would be Steve.

"C'mooon, I'll be quick! I don't..." he cuts himself off seemingly without realizing, taking the time to suck a sloppy kiss into the exposed skin between Bucky's shoulder and neck where his worn sleep shirt collar is stretched beyond repair, marking him up, using his teeth, getting needy, messy, just how Bucky likes him. "I don't even gotta put the whole thing in, just the tip, I'll, I'll be good! Anything you want, I just wanna fuck you."

God.

His begging.

Lord in Heaven above, if Steve could fucking hear himself. If only that worlds-greatest-tactical mind was in the room with them right now. Christ. If Hell exists, he'll risk it for this. Damn, Bucky wants this fucking moment on vinyl so he can play it again and again and again until it wears so it skips and cracks through the speakers. He's so sweet when he wants to get his dick wet. It's like it's all he can think about and there's nothing else.

Bucky grumbles for show, but his hands are shaking as he snaps the oven knobs to point at 'off,' and his dick is laughably hard, pawed at too eagerly, clumsily by Steve's big, stupid hand. Bucky takes the opportunity to rut against Steve's warm, all-ecompassing hand once, twice, three times, before--

He struggles in his octopus grip until Steve realizes he wants to turn around, not squirm away. Once his slow-on-the-uptake boyfriend is on board, then Bucky does turn, and suddenly, chest-to-chest, he grabs Steve's unfairly square jaw. What else is he supposed to do? He pulls him into a bruising, vicious kiss. Slotting together how they always do, passionate yet well-practiced.

They kiss and kiss, until with their lips still together, mouths sliding salaciously against each other, Bucky threatens, "if you don't put the whole fucking thing in me right goddamn now, I'm gonna take my shower and stuff myself silly with a dildo instead of you. And you can listen while you make your own breakfast."

Steve's eyes are blown, so dark as he makes an aching, soft whimper that is decidedly satisfying and arousing, but not what Bucky's looking for--

"Got it, Rogers?" He rattles him, digging his fingers into his jaw and shaking him around a little. Just for fun.

"Sir, yes, sir." Steve rasps, out of breath despite the fact that they're not kissing like they're about to die anymore.

"Great," Bucky smirks, lifting one leg smoothly to wrap around his waist, then following it with the other, easy as a practiced dancer. Steve's heavy hands land on his ass immediately. "Counter," Bucky orders, adding, "hop to it, soldier," when Steve just stares for a moment. Staring at nothing, his eyes are hazy, and his mind is gone. He's severely caught up in the heat and friction of their erections finally fucking being pressed together but... Steve's a good boy, so he follows, breathing heavy like he's already inside him and battling against the velvet-soft tight heat of his body.

Cute.

Bucky is gonna have fun this morning. He's gonna dig his nails into Steve and make him fuck him through orgasms--not his own, but Steve's stupid big, sensitive, full-body Steve-gasms--until he's nothing but a shivering, electric lump of putty on top of him, barely thrusting into him, barely making sense as he begs to be done. Hypersensitivite. Feverish. Wet. Bucky will hold him to wanting to soak in him all day when he's gone, and Bucky will be soaking. Steve-gasms don't come without a fuck-load of cum and Bucky is prepared to be more filled than he's ever been in his life.

I intended to add more praise, but then I got carried away with the endearing Steve "himbo when horny" Rogers mentality. I hope that was still worth the wait 😘

#asks #fandomfluffandfuck #steve rogers #bucky barnes #stucky #big sub steve #top steve #dom bucky #bottom bucky #talking shit and getting off? yes please

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whitevelvet-ly · 2 years

Text

polaroid pictures

PAIRINGS: aether x reader, kaeya x reader, venti x reader, scaramouche x reader

HEADS UP: gn!reader, romantic, slight crack, probably a modern au unless you imagine the pictures were taken from kameras instead, headcanons

A/N: I'm running out of ideas HAHAHAHA

SUMMARY: the types of pictures he takes of you.

AETHER

⇒ this man takes the most breathtaking, jaw-dropping, gorgeous, awe-inspiring, eye-widening, and spectacular pictures of you. ever.

⇒ every photographer on teyvat be jealous rn /j

⇒ aether thinks you're very beautiful, and his photos reflect that perfectly

⇒ he'll often take pictures of you even when you notice

⇒ if you tease him about it he'll start becoming shy but smile and still do it

⇒ even though you notice sometimes, he prefers it if the photo is natural

⇒ his photographs usually consist of you walking around, staring off into the distance, or smiling and laughing

⇒ will he show them to you? yes; if you ask

⇒ so yes, basically he's your paparazzi

KAEYA ALBERICH

⇒ kaeya doesn't take as much pictures as aether does.

⇒ he still has pics of you though

⇒ you know what his gallery shows? ugly candid photos of you

⇒ but he listens to your begging and doesn't show anyone HAHA

⇒ don't worry though, he doesn't just have those photos

⇒ almost a third of his gallery are those kinds of photos, but he also has nicer photos of you in the rest

⇒ mostly consists of you talking to someone, reading books at a library, bird-watching, and all the little things

⇒ he uses those pictures to show you off hehe

⇒ will he show them to you? yes, but the goofy photos only 🤭 but if you mention the other photos he'll show them to you

VENTI

⇒ I think you already know what venti's pictures of you look like

⇒ gallery is full of zoomed in pics of you

⇒ menace

⇒ takes a photo of you even when you lunge at him 😁

⇒ if you have a resting b face, he will zoom into your face and take a picture 24/7

⇒ he will take every chance to take goofy pics of you

⇒ has a bunch to show you

⇒ as compensation he also takes pics of himself and shows them to you

⇒ does bird eye views on top of his forehead and below his chin

him:

⇒ will he show the pics he took of you? definitely, even out of nowhere

⇒ anyway, so my point is: a goofy man takes goofy photos

SCARAMOUCHE / WANDERER

⇒ no.

⇒ scaramouche will never take photos of you

⇒ that's what he says

⇒ his gallery is actually sprinkled with lots of pretty pictures of you here and there

⇒ it's like a hobby for him to take photos of you without you looking

⇒ but if find you out that he does have photographs of you he has stupid pics just in case

⇒ will he show you the pics? no. absolutely not. shan't.

⇒ when you try to get a glimpse of his gallery he will punch you so don't even try /j

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cybertroniannugget · 11 months

Text

Pangea and mt Vesuvius

Not what I originally intended to post here, as I'm writing some spice at the moment but THIS is what my mind was occupied with all freaking day... The whole desaster takes place somewhere in the first movie or between 1 and two. Some details are changed up Which I did on purpose. I know all the movies from start to finish because the hyperfixations are hyperfixating real hard right now.

This is just a random story of how I get idk let's say teleported into the bayverse movies and how I'd probably handle that.

While I sprinkled in a bit more confidence than I actually got, I think it's an accurate representation of what kind of person I am: always cracking jokes, overthinking EVERYTHING, random useless knowledge that turns out to be somewhat useful.

About this fic: sfw, implied romance with OP, trans ftm character, no reader just Alex, confused Autobots they still need to learn so much about earth and everything, I also don't know okay?

This is just me struggling while simping hard for Optimus.

But we still ain't know what fucked up big M's navigation system when he crashed. Infact, why are all of our navigation systems useless here?! ", Jazz adressed, arms crossed over his chassis. "We all be getting lost all the time.

"I think I know why"

Oh please, why did I speak up just now...

All optics and eyes were fixed on me as I said that, making me immediately regret opening my mouth in the first place but here we are now.

"What? Maybe your systems think you're on Pangea.", I said, taking in the same position as Jazz by crossing my arms over my chest.

Optimus leaned closer, one servo on the railing, blue optics studying me thoroughly as to look for any signs of lie in my attitude.

"Pangea? May you elaborate?"

Hearing this deep voice so full of interest made me feel things honestly.

"The supercontinent. Wait, Imma show you."

I take out my phone, careful not to reveal the background, because I couldn't find the time to change it yet.

"Here, this is earth today. You see everything, Europe, Asia, South and North America, Autralia, Greenland and all the islands in the oceans."

"And this is Pangea, it broke apart into the continents as we know them today about 200 million years ago. This is probably what Megatron had in mind. See? When you look at a map of earth today you might think, if you turn south America around and snug it up to north America, they fit like a puzzle. It's because they were together as part of the supercontinent. Or push it up to Africa, same thing. Just squish it all together"

"That human is incredibly well educated.", Ratchet chimed in.

"That human has a name and thank you."

"But why did that happen? It makes no sense.", Ironhide complained, lifting one servo as to show his frustration in what I just said.

"If I may...", I look at Lennox, awaiting some kind of approval to continue. He nods and so I proceed with my explanation.

"Well, I don't know how to explain it scientifically, but I'll try to make it understandable."

Optimus nods, listening carefully. How do these highly educated space robots not know about that? But who am I to judge, they aren't from here so I can't expect them to know everything about earth.

"I think it probably started because of something called mantle convection. That means the heat from earth's interior rises up to the hardened crust. That caused it to break open, creating a volcanic rift zone. The cracks went further, the tectonic plates drifted apart. The rifts filled with water over time and while the plates drifted farther away, the oceans were formed. Or something like that I don't know but today we've got 6 continents."

Always undermining everything I say, great job on trying to act confident...

"And Greenland, I don't discriminate.", I added as some people eyed me.

"But I don't know if Pangea is what your systems used as the base to calculate. There were other tectonic combinations even before that, but it's a wild guess I'd say. I am certain it was one of them."

As I was explaining, Optimus' gaze changed to a warmer tone and I could feel my pulse rise to my ears. He was just so beautiful, and seeing him for the first time in person made my heart flutter uncontrollably. I wish I could tell him how I feel,

But this is real. No scenarios, no daydreaming or fanfiction. It was as real as it could get. Damn it, I wanted to shift here, not get teleported or whatever caused me to end up here with all of them. I hope we can atleast become friends. No need to get my hopes up though.

"Alexander?"

The baritone voice of the Prime pulled me out of my thoughts about him.

"Hm?"

"What kind of heat were you talking about?"

"Oh that. Well, starting at earth's core, it's liquid magma. It's really hot, like 5.200 Celsius hot. 9.000 something Fahrenheit for the Americans here..."

This was met with laughter and I continued with my lesson or whatever you might wanna call it I don't care, I'm struggling here okay?

"The further you go up, the 'cooler' it gets.", I say, underlining the word cooler with my hands in a joking matter.

"They probably got fancy scientific names but don't ask me which. Anyways shit's really hot. And it's what shoots up from volcanoes.", I finish as I look into a round of confused optics and a few tilted helms.

"Volcanoes? When tectonic plates crush against each other, or built up pressure is released, no?"

They all look at eachother, chuckling coming from my fellow humans around me.

"Okay here, that's mt vesuvius, big ass volcano."

"Sometimes these mfs shoot lava from this hole up there, pretty fascinating and scary at the same time.. It looks like this.", I add as they look at the pictures, not knowing whether to be amazed or afraid.

"The glowing stuff you see here is the lava. When it's still underneath the crust it's called magma."

"Are there many on earth?"

"Yup, don't get too close."

Optimus' optics widen at that statement of mine

"Don't worry bossbot, not on this island. The closest from here is next to Madagascar, Africa. Unless you decide to swim a few rounds up there there's no need to get worried."

The Prime relaxes, shoulders dropping while optics still focused on me.

Why is he looking at me like that? I mean I ain't complaining but if he continues like that Imma internally combust.

"You explain everything so well Alexander."

"Please, call me Alex. Alexander seems so long."

The Prime nods understandingly. "Very well then, Alex."

Oh god make it stop. I love you so much Optimus please...!

"His heart rate just shot up exponentially.", Ratchet mentioned and it was right then and there that I wanted to vanish, dissappear, sink into the ground, never to be seen again.

"Haha yeah, chronic Tachycardia, no need to worry."

That was a lie. Yes, my pulse is through the roof right now, but I've got no heart disease.

As I was met with confusion from every bot except Ratchet I explained before any questions could be asked.

"It's a general term to describe an elevated heartrate. You know, the thing in a human's chest that pumps blood through our body."

"Blood?"

"Oh come on. Okay, well then I can explain that to you guys later. And answer any questions you have as it seems no one else here cares about your education on earth and it's inhabitants.", I say grumpily, looking at Lennox, who raised his hands in defeat.

"I can see us becoming friends Alex.", Jazz laughed.

"Looking forward to it!", I said, pointing fingerguns at the silver bot, which is met with more laughter.

"Okay, class is over, what are we gonna do now?", Ironhide asks into the round of bots and humans.

I just shrug, looking at Optimus, who was still looking at me. But when I looked at him, he quickly looked away to Ironhide.

Cutie~

"Alex seems to know so much, why not ask her?."

That statement of a bystanding soldier was met with a glare from Optimus.

"Alex is a he, you better make sure to remember that!"

They went to protest, but Optimus wouldn't let them. "Unless you wish to get what humans call fired."

Oh shit he's really mad...

"I will make sure of that if you continue your unreasonable behavior."

As he said that I could swear I saw the soldier shrink right then and there infront of my own two eyes.

He looks at everyone. "This counts for everyone here. You will respect Alex."

Oh god, he's standing up for me I can't please marry me Optimus, like right now!

"Okay, lessons aside.", Epps put a hand on my shoulder, smiling. "You were great by the way. I think we can use that for good."

He looked between everyone, a stern expression replacing the warm smile, hand leaving my shoulder. "As much as of a crucial hint this is, we can't know for sure what's exactly causing the malfunction. Better dig people."

True honestly, but HOW is anyone supposed to figure it out without cutting someone open? Megs maybe...?!

"Something's on your mind again, I can see that.", Bumblebee said with snippets over the radio.

"What, me?! It's nothing."

"Nothing?!", Jazz protested. "You just gave us the best clue we could ask for. I'm no Optimus Prime but I can say that I wanna hear ya out my man."

He looks up at Optimus, who was looking at me again after listening to his lieutenant.

"I must say, that you have given us great insight on your mental capabilities Alex."

He leans closer and it took everything of the mental capabilities he just mentioned to not kiss him right here right now.

"Well uh, it's just some kind of impulsive thought. You know, the ones you can't really control...",I said nervously, one hand behind my neck, avoiding everyone's gaze.

But he didn't budge, only blinking once while awaiting an answer.

"Okay, you're not budging I see. Fine."

Taking a deep breath and regretting every life choice I had made up until that point, I went on. "Look, I don't know anything about Cybertronian culture and how things are handled. Especially this right here. Us humans, we always wanna know what exactly caused certain events. For example death here. So we came up with analyzing the body of the dead by cutting them open and stuff, it's called autopsy. Maybe, just maybe we could find something. I know Megatron ain't dead but he's in some sort of... Stasis? Someone could check his navigation system and maybe find the cause for the disruption."

I lower my shoulders, trying to be as small as I possibly could infront of Optimus, who's gaze I couldn't quite interpret.

"On Cybertron, there is quite a similar practise."

"So you're saying it's worth a shot, Prime?", Ironhide asks, unsure of what to think of the situation. "But he's not dead, as Alexander pointed out correctly.", Ratchet added.

Optimus turned around to face his Autobots.

"This may be our only chance. We must take it. For the sake of both worlds. This war has been going on for so long, we cannot let this hold us down. And now it seems there is a way to find out why this is happening. We will fix it, together."

Now it was on Lennox to speak up again.

"So we gon' dissect Megatron? I'm all in honestly. That fucker did enough damage."

My eyes widen at that. "They're not gonna kill him!" Unsure of the righteousness of what I just said I looked at Optimus, who nodded.

"See? They're just gonna take out the navigation system and leave."

"Ooh, big M is gonna be SO mad when he finds out."

"He won't.", Optimus retorted with an absolute certainty in his voice.

"Alright then, it's settled. Prepare people and gather as much information as possible for this mission and await any orders from Big O!"

And with that final order of Lennox the soldiers scattered around, leaving immediately.

Okay great, I'm gonna go be useless again wohoo.

"Alex?"

I look toward the sound of the voice I already grew to cherish. "I know, I know. I ain't accompanying you. I'd die if I did, already know that."

The Prime nods.

"I am glad you understand."

I love you so much I wish I could tell you...

As he remained standing there I grew nervous, fidgeting with the strings of my hoodie.

"Is there something you need?"

"Wha- me? No! Just... go be a hero.

You know you're good at it."

I clear my throat, pretty sure Optimus could hear my pulse. "But remember to take a break sometimes. I always see you up and about."

Did I overstep? I knew it. Chance blown. Goodbye earth. No romance.

"I highly appreciate your concern Alex."

He's always saying my name help. Is he just being polite or what does this mean?!

"There is this human saying. What was it again? I grab it with my heart...?"

Please he's so cute I can't~

"I'll take it to heart was it probably. It means to honor someone's wishes as you see them important."

He tilts his helm in question. "The person or the wish?"

That is when I think all the 5 liters of blood inside my body went up to my face.

Keep calm, stay cool Alex. Don't embarrass yourself.

"It's up to the person saying that."

Whatever higher power there is, please help me!

"You deem my wellbeing as important and so do I"

Phew, that was close...

"Can it be both?"

WHAT

"Eh, sure. There's always room for interpretation."

I guess...?

What has my life come to? They probably think I'm a know it all person. I gotta keep my damn mouth shut from now on.

"Very well then Alex, I look forward to working with you."

I only nod, trying not to get lost in those beautiful blue optics.

"I'm sure it's gonna be great Optimus!"

Unless I unsubscribe from life because a Deception squishes me...

#transformers x reader #optimus prime x reader #optimus x reader #what the fuck #what is this #what is happening #i don't know #what am i doing #send help #i do be simpin

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soulsbleedink · 3 months

Text

𝙇𝘼𝘾𝙐𝙉𝘼 | 𝘼𝙇𝙃𝘼𝙄𝙏𝙃𝘼𝙈 𝙓 𝙆𝘼𝙑𝙀𝙃

Prompt: Alhaitham spends his time cooped up in his office, but unable to actually finish any work. Kaveh checks in, and notices the scene. Although Alhaitham refuses to rely on anyone; including Kaveh. At the end anyway, the Acting Grand sage comes undone with his thoughts. But Kaveh is there.

Warning[s]: Mentions of inability to fit in, and so forth.

Pairing: Alhaitham x Kaveh

Word count: 2.1k

masterlist

is this what writing on the wall does to a person? i think so. anyways, have fun reading. according to an alhaitham kin, i did good. so i'm showing my face here /j

Alhaitham’s eyes scanned over the words etched on the pages of his book, but none of them made sense for some odd reason. He’d spent the whole week out helping Cyno, although most matters were simply trivial. And required just a sprinkle of common sense, which he found that most of his friends could not acquire, even if they tried. Although, he did suppose they had their own strengths, which were beyond admirable. But at the moment, he deemed himself ready for a break, or maybe his thoughts were buzzing so loudly in his head he could feel his teeth chatter because of it. Which he’d not admit to anyone. Actually, he himself was late to notice it. When his tea spilled a bit as he placed his cup down forcefully, he realised that he could trace the path of blood rushing in his body, and just how sick the realisation felt. The couch beneath him felt too soft, like he could sink into it, or like it could crumble to the floor. The pages felt too rough underneath his fingertips, but he chose to ignore it. The words weren’t dancing, but they meant near nothing. His mind was a rushing mess with thoughts that threatened to crack open his skull and spill over.

Beside him, his pen was lying aimlessly as his eyes darted across the room, and everything felt wrong—He shouldn’t meddle on that, but how could he not when his thoughts were screaming at him? Paperwork sat on a desk across him, and yet he couldn’t find it within himself to look at it. The words in the book didn’t make an ounce of sense, he knew better than to try to just push through. He knew that not many great applications passed for him to read, but at the moment; he couldn’t even muster the energy for one.

Cyno had offered to lend a hand, and yet he refused. Because how would it be if someone else did his work for him? That didn’t sound right. For so long he struggled with being someone worth recognition, mostly in his own mind but still—now he finally had a role; and somehow still he was struggling to fulfil it. And surely Cyno himself had many matters to attend to. Alhaitham didn’t quite understand why he had offered to help.

He forced the book out of his sight, forcefully placing it beside him. He felt slightly foolish, having told Kaveh only a few days ago that he shouldn’t overwork—Yet, here he was. But was it even considered overworking when he simply couldn’t put his mind to it in the first place? He supposed not. Perhaps he was just incompetent. No. Thoughts like those did no good. Kaveh was his prime example. He would hate it if Kaveh found him in a similar state and had to console him.

Still, nothing felt right. He couldn’t force his paperwork, he couldn’t force himself to move, he couldn’t do anything. He felt rooted to the spot. He desperately wanted to call out for someone, Kaveh was probably cooped up in his workspace, he could use a break. There was no need for that, Alhaitham’s mind was just making up excuses now. He shook his head, as if that would rid him of these thoughts. Of all these distractions. He tried to stretch his limbs, but it didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, with every second that passed, he just felt like he was wasting time. And some deep part in him wanted to ask for help. He just wanted to finish this. And he wasn’t ever the type to tie his worth to his accomplishments, not all that much at least; but when he couldn’t even finish one single paper, he just felt unaccomplished to a new level. And it all felt just a bit wrong. Like he could lock himself up in here and blame himself for all the wrong he’d ever done. Including letting Kaveh struggle until he was right in his arms, and… breaking down.

He felt bad for it. Maybe he should’ve done something. He should’ve never let it reach that point. He was trying so hard to rationalise all of his thoughts right now, but they all seemed to be digging him into a hole that would be created from his destructive nature that manifested in moments like these. His eyes darted across the room, settling on the door. And maybe his ears were ringing, but he firmly believed he could hear footsteps growing louder. Someone was walking towards his office, and the only other person in the house was Kaveh.

He inhaled deeply, hearing the door creak as it was slid open. He looked towards the intruder, willing his expression to remain calm, impassive even.

“You’ve not been out in a few hours,” Kaveh stated. Worry was written all over his face, and Alhaitham couldn’t deny the guilt that was piling in his gut. “Are you trying to copy me? I wouldn’t call myself a role model, you know…” He laughed, but he was the only one.

“No, I’ve just got quite a lot of work.” And can’t seem to finish any of it. Alhaitham didn’t say that. He let his forced unamused expression speak for him, but even the fidelity of that; he was questioning. And how authentic he could act like it was. Kaveh’s eyes landed on the pile of paperwork. He fully entered the room. Alhaitham willed himself to stand up, and put a hand in front of his approaching roommate. “I’ll deal with it.”

“I’ll help,” Kaveh offered. An instant shake of Alhaitham’s head was his reply. “Really, you should let us help. Even Cyno was saying it. He offered to, and you said no, but you’ve not been out of this office in hours.” A soft frown played on Kaveh’s lips. He inched closer anyway. And this time Alhaitham didn’t try to fight back. He actually wanted to see someone, and something that wasn’t his work.

“Pay no mind to what he says, there’s just been a lot to do.” Alhaitham turned away, but couldn’t. A warm hand was placed on his shoulder, warranting him rooted to the spot. He didn’t like that his body stilled the moment Kaveh touched him, but it felt right. So he turned back. His roommate smiled.

He shook his head slowly. “Then let us help you.” He smiled. Alhaitham didn’t feel as cheery. On the contrary, he felt heavier. He appreciated it, but accepting any help when he’d spent his whole life being the helper, being the one that was supporting; it felt so beyond wrong. He didn’t recognise it. And the unfamiliarity of acceptance was tingling on his skin. He willed himself to drink it in, not turn away from it for once.

“You won’t have to bother yourself with my mundane tasks,” Alhaitham tried to reason, he was really giving it his all, and quite frankly, it was a bit embarrassing that he couldn’t uphold his impassivity.

“We would like to,” Kaveh said, squeezing his roommate’s shoulder gently, smiling. He steered him away from the desk, to a far corner of the room next to his bookshelves. With a gentle push, Alhaitham’s back hit the couch and a sigh forced its way out of his mouth.

“It’s rotten work.” He looked at Kaveh who was humming. His eyes followed the blond, watching as he hummed, hands collecting a whole array of items. All for Alhaitham’s comfort, apparently.

“Not to us—Not to me, not when it’s you.” His voice had grown much quieter as he got closer, placing the items in front of his roommate. The table creaked a bit, but neither of them paid any mind to it. Alhaitham tensed a bit, and then he inhaled deeply.

“You are wasting your time.” Alhaitham looked away, he couldn’t meet Kaveh’s eyes. And that made shame crawl up his skin in waves, but Kaveh only chuckled.

“You think so, but I most definitely don’t.” He poured Alhaitham a cup of water, and the latter was surprised at how cold the cup was to the touch. He raised an eyebrow at Kaveh, who smiled. “Cold, it’ll help you cool off.” Kaveh shrugged.

Alhaitham hesitated, but took a sip anyway, sighing softly. “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. But you do realise that you can always us Cyno, Tighnari or I for help, right?”

Alhaitham nodded wordlessly, he knew. He just didn’t want to. He wondered, did they know of all the walls he’d built to feel better about the fact that he just couldn’t fit into groups. That he was different, but being different had never felt so wrong until he was the victim of it. Did Kaveh ever realise that Alhaitham wished to be more ordinary? That extraordinary wasn’t going well for him?

“Of course I can,” He ended up saying, letting all the other thoughts die in his mind.

“We get that you don’t like relying on others, and that most see you as extraordinary but—”

“Kaveh, it’s nothing great.” Alhaitham sighed. On days when his skin felt worn, and all his thoughts felt incoherent, he’d sit with himself, and he would wonder how everything could’ve gone so wrong. His grandmother always told him that he was unique, and that being so was beautiful. And yet he sat here with himself some days, and he could feel all the doubt crawling up his limbs, anchor into his mind. “I don’t want to be extraordinary, I don’t want to be looked at like I’m inhuman. I don’t want to feel inhuman. I feel out of place. Is that normal?” He looked at Kaveh.

Kaveh stared at him, sadness written all over his features. It made Alhaitham feel sick. His roommate frowned softly. “You shouldn’t.”

“But I do, just because I shouldn’t, doesn’t mean it ever stops. Kaveh, it’s always there… I thought that maybe if I started relying on people less, it would feel better, but when I see people, when I see how they’re normal, it all goes back to where it started.” He shook his head, laughing sadly. He said he wouldn’t let it get to him. But it did anyway.

“Let me elaborate further, don’t you wish I was more ordinary sometimes?” He asked, fully facing Kaveh now, smiling sardonically at his own idiocy, at the thoughts that formed in his own mind. And his roommate, his poor roommate looked terrified. He felt bad for him.

“I don’t. I’ve always known and loved you for what you’ve been, and that will never change. I swear, Alhaitham—” Kaveh ran out of words, his frown deepening so much Alhaitham thought it could be etched right into his face.

“You don’t have to justify—” He started.

“I’m not justifying anything.” Kaveh got closer, and somehow his hands found Alhaitham’s shoulders. He turned him around, forcing him to meet eye-to-eye. “That’s how I’ve always thought of you. You don’t have to be any different. And I know you’ve always struggled with fitting in, with trying to be what you think is ‘normal’. I’ve noticed, even at the Akademiya, but I promise; my opinion or views on you have never changed, and I’ve never wanted you to change. Stay annoying, please.”

Alhaitham inhaled shakily, and he started laughing. He didn’t know how to deal with his emotions, and he just… lost it. Often. He’d laugh sardonically, but his voice would shake. And then he’d stop, and the silence would sink in, sickeningly deep into his conscience and turn everything he ever knew into shame. For being unable to deal with himself.

“I know you don’t want to and can’t rely on others, but please. Don’t lose yourself in work, in whatever depths of your mind. It’s terrifying. Don’t let those thoughts get to you.” Kaveh squeezed his shoulders. And the desperation in his voice made his roommate want to shrink away.

“I’ll try not to,” Alhaitham said. His hands found Kaveh’s, and gently; he pried them away. “I… promise.” His roommate sighed, in relief. He assumed. And then his body relaxed.

“Thank you.” And he repeated those words. Again, and again. Until Alhaitham had to tell him to stop. Then he laughed, but he did stop.

Alhaitham blinked, feeling lighter. He laughed, really did. And Kaveh stared at him, evidently confused. Though, he didn’t elaborate further. Alhaitham turned to look back at his roommate. He smiled. Kaveh flushed, but smiled anyway. “Thank you.”

Kaveh blinked, but shrugged. “No worries. Anyway, stay annoying.”

“For you, I might.”

#genshin impact #genshin impact fanfic #alhaitham x kaveh #haikaveh #kavetham #sumeru characters #writing #writing on the wall behaviour #writerblr #writeblr #have fun <3 #alhaitham #kaveh

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lfghughes · 1 year

Text

Know You're Enough pt.2

a/n: see i told you guys i'd give you a happy ending, just gotta sprinkle some pain in first

“I just need to get some air.” Maybe not the words a fiancé would want to hear right after you had told them yes to marrying them. But you felt like there was no air in this room and you needed to get out and find Trevor, wherever he had gone. The good part of this was your new fiancé didn’t even think twice about your reaction, instead he was already chatting it up with the rest of the table when you made a quick exit.

Your eyes found Trevor outside, he hadn’t made it all that far. Maybe he had figured you’d come looking for him or maybe he just needed some air after all that too. “Trevor.” You caught up with him and you caught the hurt look on his face. “I didn’t know he was going to do that.” You explained and a not amused laugh left Trevors lips. “That’s typically how proposals work.” His snappiness definitely stung but you couldn’t even blame him.

“You told him yes, that’s the thing that bothers me.” His voice cracked slightly and you could feel your heart squeezing tightly in your chest. “You don’t love him. I know you don’t. He also doesn’t love you, not the way I do at least.” That was the first time you had really heard those words. It had always been an unsaid thing between the two of you but this time it was really out there. “He’s still in there, laughing and having a great time. Probably hasn’t even really noticed that you left and that something was wrong.”

This was something you knew was true, it was the first thing you noticed when you were leaving the restaurant. The voice in your head letting you know that if roles were reversed and it was Trevor, he would have followed you out of the restaurant because he always knew when something was wrong. But at the same time were you supposed to walk away from the life you had built for something that could easily crumble too. “Trevor, I’m sorry.” Those weren’t the words that you wanted to come out but they did and Trevors mouth dropped slightly, surprised that you said those words. “Have a nice life.” Those were the last words you heard from him before he walked away from you and your life.

That had put you in a mood for the rest of the day and shockingly later that night your fiancé had actually noticed your mood. “You know for someone who got engaged today you definitely don’t seem happy. Most girls would be grateful.” Those words were all you needed to snap you out of this little bubble you had been in. “You’re joking right?” This had to be a bad joke but you knew he was serious. “Most girls would kill to be in your spot and to get a big ring but you’ve always been ungrateful. Or at least since you started sneaking around with Trevor.”

This time you were the one left in a state of shock. “Oh what? You think I’m stupid? I see the way you guys always manage to leave the room at the same time. Or the puppy dog look he gives you. Go ahead, leave me for him. You’ll come crying back in a few months when he dumps you for someone else.” The words angered you because you knew they weren’t true. Your fingers went to the ring that was around your finger and you pulled it off, tossing it at him. “Don’t count on it.”

As you were driving away from your life it really hit you everything that you did and that’s when the tears came. They weren’t from sadness of what you lost because you didn’t feel like you were losing. They were more from anger that you let this go on for so long blindly believing it was best. You pulled up to a house that had become familiar in the past few months. You knocked on the door and there he was opening the door. One look at your face and he knew what happened, his eyes going to the ring that was supposed to be on your ring finger.

His hands went to the side of your face, wiping away the tears that were still leaving your eyes. “Hey, hey. Come here.” He pulled you in, placing a kiss on your forehead as his arms wrapped around you. “Don’t worry. I got you.” Those words replayed in your head over and over again because if there was one thing you were sure of right now was that Trevor did have you.

#trevor zegras imagine #trevor zegras x reader #trevor zegras blurb #trevor zegras #( know you're enough ft trevor zegras )

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wfagamerants · 3 months

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With my Jamboree hype still in full force, I decided to revisit both previous Switch Mario Parties as a refresher, with some 3, 6, Star Rush and Top 100 on the side to help with some things I wanted to compare.

Mario Party is one of my favorite series in anything and I have been vocal about my relationship with the Switch games being rocky. I was curious to see if the benefit of hindsight changed my views on them.

The answer is one No and one Yes, with some no sprinkled in.

Super Mario Party

This is the big one for me.

From the Hudson games, to the first five NDCube titles, I unironically enjoyed every previous entry, as is well known with all the cheerleading I do for 10 and Star Rush in particular and even Island Tour has some good stuff well worth experiencing.

With all that in mind, it probably comes as a surprise THIS is the one Mario Party I genuinely can’t stand and a revisit did not change my mind one bit.

Not like I didn’t try either, even with my enjoyment of the other NDCube games, of course I was excited to see the old formula back, but that only means so much when it doesn’t do it well and that’s what I really do think is the case here.

Going point by point, as I like to do, I wanna start with one thing I do find praiseworthy…despite not liking it that much, the character roster.

Mario Party usually doesn’t have much going on in terms big roster numbers, so to see one push so far is genuinely refreshing and they did need to put work into it, given the amount of characters that needed to be updated (Hammer Bro and Dry Bones) or never had a playable MP outing period (Pom Pom, Goomba, Monty) not even mentioning all examples here, that stuff is commendable.

I’m just personally not that big on the selection. Losing the Toads really hurts and I am generally more in favor of less mook centric rosters, even if I like all the ones on offer. Pom Pom to me, even as someone who loves the boss characters like the Koopalings, King Boo, Petey, King Bob-omb, etc, is just a really lame and unappealing character, no better than Boom Boom who at least had Strikers to make me warm up to him.

Bowser being playable is also iffy for me. I love the big guy, but taking him out of his usual role has some very drastic consequences in function and flavor, which I am very happy Jamboree is addressing, to give us the best of both worlds, but more on that later.

Objectively, this is a good roster, it’s just very not for me.

Another thing I find praiseworthy and do enjoy is the hub. Dropping regular main menus in favor of an interactive hub where you can walk around and chat with characters is a cute concept I want to return.

Once we get to the actual board gameplay though, the cracks start to show right away.

Everyone already complained about it, even when the game was new and generally praised, but yeah. 4 boards is an absolutely abysmal number and that could at least be salvageable if they were all good and fun to play on but….you already know where this is going.

I will say, I do love the themes. As much as I think the previous games did more with the NSMB tropes than they are given credit for, it’s great to go back to something more original again. They are cool themes, they are visually great, that stuff all works out.

Too bad they’re really bad boards.

It’s been talked about to death, but yeah, the boards are incredibly tiny and small boards don’t even need to be bad. DS had smaller boards and did such a good job with them you barely felt it, on top of to me, being a Top 5 Mario Party.

Not only are Super’s boards even smaller than the ones for the game that HAD to scale them back, but they are also very linear, with little in the way of interesting gimmicks or alternate routes.

You can call most MP boards, aside from deliberately linear ones like Pagoda Peak, basically big circles or squares. That’s fine, they are BOARDS after all, it’s more what you can do on them that matters and makes you not even notice that.

King Bob-omb’s Powderkeg mine feels like the closest to an aversion to this and even it just amounts to choosing either the smaller circle or the larger circle, to run in circles in. There is simply nothing interesting going on and the events are too basic and lame to distract from it.

What doesn’t help is that Super made some changes to fundamental aspects of MP we take for granted and it really says a lot about how well thought out those elements were.

For one thing, the Dice has been reduced from a 1-10 to a 1-6. This was already a thing in 9 and 10, but in those games you were all in the same vehicle and progressed together, it was way more about wanting the best result out of your current situation. In Super, being a classic style MP again, it just makes progression feel fundamentally more sluggish, since cutting down the dice numbers so hard means you will go by nature, much slower and the odds of barely going anywhere are way higher.

There is also just the general lack of truly threatening obstacles on the boards. This especially shows with Bowser being playable. Gimmicks like him being on the board like MP1 and MP4’s Bowser’s Gnarly Party are off the table, as is him having his own board or game specific ideas like Bowser Time in MP7. Instead of Bowser Spaces we now have Bad Luck spaces.

They Suck. Really hard.

The penalties are just not threatening and the game feels rigged to prioritize the tamest one. The coin penalties barely hurt, losing an item is really not that big a deal here, the star moving is rarely anything but a non-punishment, etc. They do get a bit more punishing during the last 3 turns, but not only does that window give them little time to come into play, but even losing a star is less of a big deal than it would usually be, for one particular reason.

The economy in SMP is totally out of whack.

Now second and third place also get coin rewards in minigames, which WAS a thing in 9 and 10 as well, but in those games that had more of a purpose, given the much more limited control during board play for everyone. In a classic Mario Party though, this already has implications and it only gets worse with other elements thrown in.

It just doesn’t feel that rewarding to be good at minigames, because even if you play well, you may not even build up much of a lead, with Hidden Blocks, Hidden Block items and Lucky Spaces that can give coin rewards in abundance and ALL that is combined with how little everything costs.

Stars cost only 10 coins and combined with how small the boards are, getting to one rarely feels like a hassle. Even stealing a star only costs 30 coins and items are remarkably cheap and that’s on top of there being so few events that really threaten your coin count. King Bob-omb is really the only one that makes a real attempt there.

All of that results in really dull board play. More than ever the game really is all about the dice roll, with nothing from the board layout, to events, to the items, doing anything interesting to let you strategize or anything like that.

There’s also the small annoyance of them finding it necessary to give you needless tutorials and tips, like when you open the map or getting an item for the first time, which you can’t disable.

On a final note for the board play are the allies and ally spaces, as well as custom dice, all taken from Star Rush. A lot of people dislike them, but I do find their implementation to be the most interesting thing on SMP’s boards. Supremely unbalanced, it needs another pass there, but I can see interesting potential for it in a MP with boards of more substance.

There is also Partner Party, which is essentially the Star Rush mode of the game and as Star Rush fan, I should love it.

Eh.

I appreciate the thought, but you can’t do free for alls, There are way fewer opportunities to get and especially steal allies and the boards continue to be void of anything interesting. Even just playing the 4 boards it had once each, with the minimum Turn count of 10, felt like a slog.

Then there are the minigames, which I often see praise for and honestly, they’re okay enough, but I do find the overall selection pretty meh.

It has genuine highlights, Slaperazi, Croozin’ For A Broozin’, Don’t Wake Wiggler and Fuzzy Flight School all being ones I really like for instance and I don’t hate the motion controls, I think they work fine.

It’s really not so much that there are a lot of bad minigames and more that it misses types I really like. There are no platforming minigames, no brawling minigames where you just punch and kick other players off of a platform, only one mashing minigame, etc. That’s on top of the fact that I feel a lot of the rumble minigames are really samey. There are like three separate minigames where you use the rumble to select the biggest/most of the thing you are meant to get.

There is also a general major sense of reduced player interactivity that plays into this and the most blatant example of it for me is comparing Hammer Drop from Mario Party 1 (and Superstars) to Super’s very own Lightning Round.

They are very similar coin minigames, but there is a major difference that sets them apart. While the hammers and lightning strikes both aren’t much of a threat, Hammer Drop lets you jump to swipe the incoming coins and coin bags, even jumping on opponents and hindering them or even ground pound opponents to hold them back. In Lightning Round, that interactive element doesn’t exist and everyone is just slowly running to the coins, while dodging total non-obstacles.

That example sums up a lot of why I find SMP’s minigame selection to be just not as interesting as the rest of the series and it also contributes to a stylistic difference I am not fond of at all.

I always loved Mario Party for being a more zany kind of Mario game, putting the characters in all kinds of wacky scenarios and to be fair, Super isn’t FULLY devoid of it. It’s still a rare time you see, say, Peach, helplessly chased by a giant Wiggler or Broozer army entirely as a gag at her expense one moment and then the next she pilots a big Sidestepper mech to whack Bowser with hammers with. That stuff is just awesome.

Super just has very little of it, due to the lack of interesting board gimmicks and action-heavy minigames and even what is there is heavily scaled back. Like characters just go into their dizzy animations when a Bob-omb blows up on them, rather than flying off-screen and said Sidestepper mech minigame just flings the characters away with a generic flail the game uses for almost every single negative event, as opposed to the other MPs which will just totally crush the character.

Is it pure flavor? Yeah, but I like flavor, flavor is good. MP just has a particular personality to it that Super doesn’t capture. It has plenty of personality in other areas, but it is missing a particular aspect I thought helped make the games really energetic, competitive and cartoonishly charming. It’s as if Mario took a page out of Wario’s playbook to be more wacky and I miss that.

Having said all that, one area the game does quite well in are the side modes. Champions Road is a perfectly functional ‘’Play all the Minigames’’ mode and Toad’s Rec Room hosts some minigames I honestly wish had regular play counterparts.

River Survival is decent, not something you can go back to much, but it’s a neat concept that at its hardest, does offer a challenge and its own minigames are pretty enjoyable for the most part.

Sound Stage meanwhile is the big star of Super as a whole for me. I love the rhythm minigame approach, there is a great energy to it, it’s got some lovely charm with all the dance animations for the cast (Waluigi’s moonwalk being the best, just sayin’), it’s just a good time. At most I wish I found the music more catchy, but it does its job at being fun to play along with.

I didn’t mean to be as negative as this likely came across, but it is just how it is. While it has some content I really like and ideas I think have potential, SMP on the whole I just do not like at all. It brought back the classic formula, while totally butchering it and it’s just all around lacking in so many things I like about the series. I went back to it to see if time and benefit of hindsight changed my mind and sadly no, if anything I have only grown to dislike it more.

Mario Party Superstars

By contrast, Superstars won me over on several things I was iffy on. I still have my gripes, but overall, I was pleasantly surprised.

One not pleasant surprise since the game came out, to start similarly to the Super section, is the roster. It’s small, it’s lame, we all know that. Of course character choice rarely affects anything in MP, but as I said, flavor is good and besides: When a series makes this much money and makes so heavy use of reused models, animations and voice clips across games, I do expect it to at least be able to compete with games that came out in the 2000s in terms of content in all places.

Speaking of which, this game is a bit funny to evaluate because it is all remakes of older content, but there is still plenty to talk about.

First there are the boards, five in total. Only one more than Super in terms of quantity, but they are all so much better than all of Super’s boards combined that they may as well be four boards more than Super had. That said a 6th board would have been appreciated, ideally they wouldn’t have just a N64 focus, but if they really wanna then at least give 3 a second board.

The board selection itself is quite pleasing. It has Horror Land so that alone is already a slam dunk, but there is a good quality level all around. The lack of a proper finale board is felt and I would have rather had a second MP3 board than two from MP1, simply because the former has much more interesting board design, but as it is, it’s fine.

Peach’s Birthday Cake made me roll my eyes when I saw it, but it turned out to be the most pleasant surprise of the whole game. The addition of items, a shortcut ramp and Bowser also doubling as a short-cut, if with a penalty, along with the lottery being moved, makes getting around and actually getting stars is far smoother and quicker. This also makes star stealing Piranha Plants far more of a threat, since there actually is something to steal now and that’s on top of there also being coin stealing Piranha Plants now.

This game turned what I thought was easily the worst Hudson era board and turned it into my second favorite one in this game. I am still stunned to this day and the improvements made to it show some really smart thinking that makes me optimistic for Jamboree’s new original boards.

The other boards haven’t seen any major changes and that’s perfectly fine. Playing Yoshi’s Tropical Island with items is a fun new experience though.

The actual board play has improved a lot, on top of playing on actually good boards, the coin distribution after minigames has been reworked to give the winner 10 coins again instead of only 8, with second and third only getting 2 and 3 respectively, making minigame wins far more of a benefit to build up a lead again. Stars are also back to the usual 20 coins and Bowser is back and as punishing as his spaces always are, so seeing harsh loses through that and the returning Chance Time brings back a ton of value to coins and stars that they largely lost in Super.

One new addition that’s consistent across all boards is Lucky Spaces, functioning the same as in Super. The coin and item rewards you get from those can be really extreme and coupled with how many of these spaces there are, it gives the game a pretty chaotic feeling at times. For this particular game, I’m cool with it for this game, but ideally future games cool it a bit with these things.

There are also some nice QoL additions that once again, give me a lot of confidence for Jamboree. The generally increased game speed is a plus. Getting to choose between random Bonus Stars and the classic three is a feature that always should have been there. Getting to save up to 8 sessions, even online ones, is incredible and having the option to speed up board event scenes is a godsend for ones you may see many times in a row.

So yeah, the board game portion to me is a total hit in this game. The minigames are where I get more mixed. Not counting item minigames there are 100 in total and over half of those were already in Top 100. Not a bad thing by itself, but it does make some choices made bother me even more. Also not a fan of the N64 focus on the minigames as well, since it not only throws out a lot of good minigames, but it also screws over the GameCube and Wii & Wii U minigame packs, which would have been really cool options with a bigger selection.

Despite the latter gripe, I think the selection is….okay. It has it’s winners, particularly Hot Rope Jump and Dungeon Duos, but also some really notable stinkers like Spin Doctor, which wasn’t even in Top 100, so they deliberately picked that over something like Camp Ukiki or Apes of Wrath from the same game, genuinely bewildering. Duel Minigames in general really got the short end of the stick with only 5 in total and of all things, they pick stuff like Spin Doctor (which is at least okay) or Mass Meteor (one of MP6’s few stinkers).

Top 100 wasn’t perfect in that regard either, but I found its overall selection way more consistently solid and satisfying.That and bringing back certain minigames a third time just baffles me. Piranha’s Pursuit is a really bad minigame in all its incarnations, that can way too easily turn into a free win for the one player. It was a weird choice in Top 100, but bringing it back again in Superstars, without any changes for the better, really pushes it.

It’s still largely a good selection, it’s just easy to see the cracks when you have older versions to compare these games to and some did get butchered a bit. Tidal Toss’ hitboxes for the biggest waves not matching the visuals in particular being a NASTY example.

The characters also make far more grunts in many of the minigames and...yeah they can get pretty insufferable, especially with how small the pool of voice clips in this game is, compared to say, MP10, which had two minutes worth of clips for everyone.

There is also a case where the game still feels like holds back on bit on Mario Party’s old personality, with alterations to some minigames, for some examples:

You don’t see losing players bounce away in the lava anymore in Bumper Balls, they just vanish.

Several minigames replace more distinct damage poses with the generic flail, even if the more appropriate animation is elsewhere in Superstars.

The characters just lamely fall off the record in Dizzy Dancing, instead of crashing into the walls.

Squared Away lost it’s ending animation, which was already a thing in Top 100, the only time it took something like that away, but that had an excuse due to it using a generic minigame results screen like the other NDCube games did before.

Even taking the slapstick aside, replaying 3 in particular really revealed how many small things got cut for more generic animations. Hide and Sneak in particular has the characters just all do a heads down ducking pose, as opposed to the original where everyone had a distinct one, like DK adjusting his tie or Mario lying down.

Again, all this is flavor, but it sticks out even more when you are remaking content and if the roster is gonna be that small, going the extra mile on a few things would be appreciated.

It feels weird too, because the game oozes personality in so many other areas.

The title screens are all lovely.

The board ending pics and loser elimination sequences at the end of a round are very classic Mario Party.

The way characters literally pull out maps when you study the board map is amazing.

The dismayed reactions everyone has when landing on a Bowser space are great.

The Stickers are a fun evolution of taunts that can express way more.

Really, the game is full of great personality, it’s just in the minigames where some of the old charm they had gets weirdly sanded off.

Lastly there is online which is as functional as one could hope for. Has its hick-ups, but for Nintendo standards it’s fine. It’s not a disaster ala’ Mario Maker 2.

All nitpicking aside, this is a good game and a good Mario Party. I don’t think it’s one of the best ones, but the QoL additions and generally really solid board gameplay show the potential for it is there.

More than anything it feels like a testing ground to study the old board designs and test out things like the online, rather than something meant to be big on its own. I didn’t even touch on side content because there really is nothing to discuss.

Good game, but I was waiting for the next big thing and now it’s finally happening.

Super Mario Jamboree

My thoughts back here still apply and are very up to date, since we haven’t seen anything new since:

Playing the other two games again just really put into perspective how many things already got improved from one game to the next and it makes me all the more hopeful for Jamboree.

I have no doubt it will be the MP I have been waiting for all gen and I couldn’t be more excited~

#mario party

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mazeinthemiroh · 2 years

Text

together, we watch the sun rise.

Genre: Fluff, a bit of crack

Word Count: 1k

Requested?: Yes

Synopsis: Jeongin decides to go on a trip with you despite having to wake up extra early. And, you know what? It was all worth it.

Warnings: None

A/N: This one's short but sweet. It's very much a spring fic because I am sooooo ready for spring and I'm trying to manifest warmer weather because i am currently shivering IN MY OWN HOUSE. anyways, rant over. i hope you enjoy this fluffy fic :]

Jeongin would never have thought he would have the motivation to get up in the early hours of the morning. But when it came to you, he didn't seem to care half as much.

"Come on, it'll be fun," you said with a big grin as you wiggled your eyebrows at him, hoping that the little gesture would persuade him.

"What's in it for me?" He teased as he crossed his arms over his chest. He knew he was going to say yes to you because, of course, he would never turn down an opportunity to spend time with you. But that didn't mean he was going to give in that easily.

"Oh, gee, I don't know, how about spending one-on-one quality time with your partner?" Your hands slid to your hips as you jokingly glared at him, "but hey, if that's not a good enough reason maybe you should find a new partner."

Jeongin chuckled and rolled his eyes at your dramatics, "I'm only joking, you idiot!" He grabbed your wrist and pulled you closer to him, "I would love to come."

And so here you both were, driving out of the city and on your way to the countryside before the sun had even risen. No, Jeongin would have never thought he would wake up this early at all. But he was with you, so he needed to trust the process. And so he let himself

Although his eyes were tempted to close as you sat in the driver's seat, eyes focused on the road as the soft, chill playlist sounded through the car, he resisted going to sleep. He didn't want to be too tired for what was about to come.

Time seemed to dissolve and the view soon changed from a city scattered with buildings and lights, to the dark countryside, sprinkled with hills and greenery as far as you could see.

"We're here... sort of," you said through a yawn as you parked up. Jeongin's eyes scanned the outside of his car.

You both were, indeed, in the middle of nowhere. Jeongin didn't know whether to feel terrified of his new environment or relieved for being free from its business.

Getting out of the car, you grabbed each other's hands and set off on your new journey, not quite at your final destination yet.

Using your phones as flashlights, you watched your step as you began to ascend a very tall hill. The sky was barely beginning to show signs of light, remaining dark as you trudge your way up. It took some walking at first. Actually... it took a lot of walking. It was steep too. Walking up a tremendously big hill did not look easy. If you were by yourself, you probably would've given up. But neither of you felt the strain in your legs or the burn in your calf muscles because both of you were distracted by each other's company and the conversation you shared. Travelling as a pair felt less like a want and more of a need. You couldn't imagine enjoying yourself any other way.

And then you both made it, to the very top. You collapsed on the grass and spread yourself out like a starfish, trying to catch all the breath you had lost on the ascend. Jeongin plopped down next to you, also trying to regain his breath, but chuckling lightly at your exhausted state.

After a handful of minutes gone by, both of your breathing finally evened out. This was when you could fully appreciate the scenery before you. The countryside, with its rolling hills and scattered trees, places to explore in the forests and farms and fields of flowers. Over the great expanse of greenery, you could see the city from where you and Jeongin just fled. It felt weird seeing it like this; above and away from it all at once.

The sky got ever so lighter.

"What a view," you gasped, eyes fixated on the beauty before you.

"Yeah," Jeongin breathed out dreamily, only he wasn't looking at the view.

He was looking straight at you.

Feeling his gaze, you turned to face him, brushing his arm lightly with your hand as you felt your cheeks heat up.

"You're not here to gawk at me, Mister!" You laughed playfully, feeling your heart flutter as Jeongin grinned shyly.

"Hey, you're my only view~" he said playfully, grabbing your waist and pulling you closer to him on the grass. You tried to object but you couldn't help but melt into his softness.

"I like the view right now~" you sang obnoxiously loud in his ear, making him wince slightly.

"Gah, Y/N, you ruined the romantic moment!"

"Was that your attempt at romance?"

You both burst into laughter. You were convinced you had woken up a couple of livestock that minded their own business from the bottom of the hill. Certainly woken up a few sheep because your laughter bounced off the hills and ran through the quiet, morning countryside.

The sky got noticeably lighter. The moment you had both been waiting for.

"Look!" You interrupted the fit of laughter as you point to the orange eruption in the sky: the sun was rising.

The pair of you grew quiet as you set together, hand in hand, staring at the great expanse of the sky. There were little swirled clouds that twirled like smoke, caressing the face of the sun as it rose slowly. With each passing second, the sky would change ever so slightly. Dark orange to light orange to a peachy colour, pinks tickling the white clouds that rose with the sun. Then a yellow set in, and soon the sky had a creamy hue, the sky getting lighter and lighter still.

This very natural recurring earthly moment for some reason felt very small and intimate, as if it were a performance for just you and Jeongin to watch.

He turned to you, the smile on his face soft as he kissed your cheek, making you turn to him and return the kiss, this time on his lips.

Why did everything feel so calm? So perfect? You sighed into the kiss as you released his hand, tangling your own hand in his hair. Your mouths moved in perfect synchronisation, slow and easy.

He was the first to pull away, just to look into your eyes as they sparkled in the new sunlight.

"We shouldn't definitely do this again."

taglist: @hearts4sungie, @seokshineswiftie, @alyszaen, @jtrstp, @a-wandering-stay, @leeknowww, @hyungenie5, @hanstan127, @strayteez3staner

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iguessyouregonnamissthepantyraid · 4 months

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FOUND FAMILY LUCY & THE GHOUL SUPREMACYYYY!!! your fic is perfect in every way… a shining beacon of light in these dark times. idk if you’re going to write a long story with them or anything but i fucking love your mind and already know i wld be eager to read whatever you might write about them <3 !!

thank you! i'm a found family bitch til the day i die, i simply cannot help it. i am technically working on a full length fic with them, but i'm not sure if/when i'll ever string it all together into something coherent lmao

but hey, here's a scene in the meantime!

About halfway through their journey to Las Vegas, nearly perfectly sandwiched between a week’s worth of miserable walking to the west and another week’s worth of miserable walking to the east, they stumbled upon a small town in the middle of the desert that called itself Delta. There was a sign and everything—a really old one with faded grayish lettering on faded reddish stone, all of it bearing more than a few well-worn cracks. But there was also a painted sun on it, half a shining sun rising above the town’s name like it was just peeking over to say hello, and that sun was almost still yellow.

Someone must have cared enough to maintain it, she thought, even just a little, and something about that felt important.

Lucy never bothered mentioning any of this to her companion, of course. He probably would have blown it off as nothing if she did, especially if his standoffishness ever since they entered the town was any indication.

Speaking of which.

She shifted, turning over onto her side on the twin bed she’d rented for the night—a real bed, and after so many nights of sleeping in the sand, she wasn’t even turned off by the musty smell of these sheets—and she wound her arm underneath the poorly stuffed pillow for some extra support, looking across the little motel room. He was still sitting up on his own bed, one knee bent up and his gun propped up against his thigh, and he was still looking at the door.

When she moved, though, it did get his attention. He glanced in her direction and frowned, as if to ask, What the hell are you looking at?

“You know,” she said, before he could say that out loud or tell her to go to sleep, “we’re not in the middle of the desert anymore.”

“Is that right? ‘Cause I could’ve sworn—”

“We’re not out in the open in the middle of the desert anymore,” she cut him off, rolling her eyes. “I’m just saying, we don’t really have to take turns sleeping tonight. We’ve got a door. With a lock. You could actually go to sleep, too.”

“Mm,” was all he said to that, and he returned his focus to the door.

Lucy sighed, and she rolled over onto her back, frowning at the ceiling. She really didn’t know what his issue was. This town was actually nice. Don’t get her wrong, it wasn’t like anyone had rolled out a red carpet for them and sprinkled flower petals at their feet, but no one here had shot at them, no one had tried to steal from them, no one had even said anything particularly mean to them. The woman who owned this motel—a lady named Josie who might have been fifty or might have been a very healthy ninety for all Lucy could tell—had barely even spared either of them a second glance, let alone turned him away for being a ghoul, and they were even allowed to bring Dogmeat into the room with them for an extra ten caps.

She folded her hands over her stomach and tucked her toes under Dogmeat’s side. Dogmeat didn’t seem to mind; she just let out a soft groan, stretching her legs out and settling back down with a sigh.

“Not everyone is trying to kill us,” Lucy said. “I know a lot of people are, but not everyone is.”

“Is that right.”

“Yes! Some people really do just want to help others. There are good samaritans out there. Just because you don’t see them very often doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

“You wanna bet on that?”

“Yeah, actually. I will.”

“Go on, then. What’s your startin’ bid?”

She thought about that for a moment. She was certain that she was right about this, but technically, given that they were walking through a desert from one end to the other, they weren’t likely to run into very many people, period, so the odds weren’t exactly in her favor.

Finally, she offered, “One bottle cap.”

He actually huffed a laugh at that, and when she turned her head, she saw half an amused smile on his face. “One whole cap, huh? You better watch yourself. You go making gambles that big and you gon’ be broke as a joke before we even hit Vegas.”

She shrugged, looking back up at the ceiling. “It’s more about the bragging rights than the money anyway.”

“That so?”

“Yep.”

“Well, now, no one here in Delta counts, y’know,” he said, “seeing as we paid ‘em for the help.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair,” she admitted. “But even if they’re only helping us because we paid them, they are helping us. Right? That’s something. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t see any of these people breaking down the door in the middle of the night after that. I don’t even see why they would want to.”

He was quiet for a moment.

He was quiet, actually, for long enough that Lucy felt the need to look at him again. When she did, she found him exactly as he was before, looking straight ahead at the door in exactly the same way he’d been doing since they got to their room over an hour ago. Something had changed just a tiny bit, though—it was in his eyes, like he wasn’t looking at the door so much as he was looking through it. He was thumbing the safety on his gun, though not enough to switch it on, and she wondered if he was only doing it to remind himself that it was off in the first place.

Finally, quietly, he said, “People always got their reasons, Vaultie.”

Lucy blew out a raspberry through her lips and pouted, looking up at the ceiling again.

It was true, of course, that she didn’t know even half of the terrible things that people up on the surface were capable of—actually, no, that wasn’t fair. Not just people on the surface. As it turned out, she didn’t know even half of the terrible things that anyone was capable of, up here braving the radioactive wasteland or tucked safely away in a Vault or anywhere in between.

But even knowing all that, even knowing the sort of terrible things that certain circumstances could drive a person to do, she had to believe that most people still had something altruistic and selfless and good underneath.

Deep underneath, in some cases.

Very, very… very deep underneath.

“Okay,” she conceded, because there was a time and a place for debates about the nature of humanity, and this probably wasn’t it. There was also a certain type of person that it was worth having said debates with, and it almost certainly wasn’t him. She pulled her feet out from underneath Dogmeat, and she turned over, putting her back to the ghoul and his gun and the locked door. “Wake me up in six hours?”

“You know I’m gonna.”

She half-buried her face in the pillow, waiting for the exhaustion of ten-plus hours of walking to finally take her under.

She didn’t have to wait long.

#this is meant to take place midway through my oneshot but as like. a flashback. in the sequel #cooper breezes right over the town they pass in the narration because he barely gives it a second thought #lucy on the other hand!#fallout #anon #sam answers stuff #have i fleshed out the plot for this story? no #have i made a spotify playlist for it? absolutely!#fallout show #i'll give a crisp high five to anyone who figures out where i got the town name from btw

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jedifarmerr · 2 years

Text

Pepper Sprout (mini-series)

Pairing: Joel Miller x F!Reader/OFC (no physical description, established backstory & personality.)

Premise: Set after the events of the Last of Us Part 1, Joel befriends, then slowly falls in love with Ellie’s teacher.

Rating: E for future chapters (18+ blog)

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: some violence at the beginning (guns and blood), language, a tiny amount of drinking, and ambiguous age gap. This is pretty tame...for now.

A/N: Hello! I thought of this series a few months ago while playing the game and I am seriously so excited to finally be sharing it. Currently, this is shaping up to be around 5 or 6 parts? This will include some spoilers (the ending) of The Last of Us Part 1. Reader is related to a character from the Last of Us Part 2, but it's a faceless NPC.

Part 1

The air stunk of dry-rot wood, spoiled food, and flesh. He could practically taste it as if it was sitting on his tongue like a wet fuzzy sock.

Joel was hanging back by the host stand, scanning from salad bar to sundae bar. Finger hovering over the trigger. This fight wasn’t over.

Not yet, anyway.

He’d dealt with enough infected over the years to know that in a horde of this size there would always be an aftershock. Just waiting and watching; somewhere out there - lingering.

But where?

This Golden Corral was a buffet of Cordyceps. A goddamn petri dish. The floor was covered almost entirely in torpor corpses; a dusty gray with sprinkles of crimson from those freshly slain. Florid fungus cobwebbed itself to the walls.

A crack of glass – a screech – echoed throughout the restaurant.

Joel whirled around. Just as the kitchen doors burst open and out flung a spider-crawling stalker. Bingo. Joel jerked his gun, aiming right between its jaundice eyes. The barrel kicked back with a bang, and blew straight through its moldy brain.

Splat.

Its head broke into tiny bits and pieces; blood gushing from the severed neck.

Never one to be too careful, Joel waited a long minute before slinging the shotgun around his back, calling it.

He took a step and immediately winced. His knees were inflamed to the point he could hardly walk. Hobbling to the nearest chair that wasn’t wrapped up in bone-dry veins, he slumped down.

“That was too damn close,” he grumbled at Tommy as he went on massaging his achy joints. Despite the cool weather, he was drenched in sweat. His shirt was completely ruined – soaked through and through with guts.

So much for a day off, and one he could’ve really used. He was completely exhausted. Running on pure adrenaline, and one too many shitty cups of coffee.

The last three weeks had been intense with fall officially here, and the infected beginning their official migration north for winter.

Tommy swaggered over. “11…12…13. 13 of those fuckers, and look at that - barely a scratch. Shit, that’s gotta be some kinda record.” He brought a hand down on Joel’s shoulder and squeezed.

Even with blood smeared along his brow and sweat-greased back hair, Tommy looked unfazed. He actually appeared elated, reveling at the carnage and their ultimate victory.

And fine. Joel could at least admit this was a pretty solid win.

Too bad the bodies still needed to be searched, and god - he was so desperate to get out of here. He gave himself ten second of rest before forcing himself back onto his feet.

“Mike’s gonna be sorry he missed it.” Tommy crouched beside a clicker with a shiv sticking out of its neck. He wiggled the handle loose, and blood oozed from the wound.

But hey - at least the blade was still intact.

“Yeah, right,” Joel scoffed. “That guy owes us big time - that’s for damn sure,” he reiterated for the dozenth time that day.

It was a Tuesday, meaning the on duty patrol for this route was Mike and Eugene. Now, Eugene was actually sick with a nasty case of the flu. So, he could slide, but Mike. Hell no. His excuse was, now get this - his ankle was bothering him.

His goddamn ankle.

While it was probably an old injury flaring up from days of chilly rain, the guy decided it exempted him from the patrol, reciting some bullshit he’d memorized from the handbook.

Seriously, who wastes their time reading that?

Section four of protocol states…blah blah blah. What a fucking nerd. Joel couldn’t stand him before, and this definitely didn’t help.

“Lucky for you, he won’t be joining us for dinner,” Tommy said, as he jingled a few shotgun shells loose from the last in his pile. “Ellie did tell you who’s coming, right?”

Joel flicked his tongue over his lips, and chuckled under his breath. Man, he really should’ve seen that one coming because knowing Tommy: he’d been waiting all day for the chance to slip her in.

Maria and Tommy had been playing cupid, and recently landed on a new target.

Mike’s younger sister, who just so happened to be Ellie’s teacher, and also, a family-friend of Maria’s. It was all a very twisty hodunk small town over here.

“She sure did,” Joel stated. Matter-of-fact. He couldn’t feed the beast, or else it would never end.

Joel checked over the last runner, and pocketed a travel-size bottle of hand sanitizer. Some good that did them.

“And you’re cool with that?” Tommy trailed over to the busted window they came in from. His eyes wide and bright and full of ulterior-motives.

Joel curtly nodded befor climbing on through.

“Guessin’ you would be.” Tommy tapped his fingers against the gun at his side. Joel stared down the end of the street at the McDonald’s; the horses were safely holed up in the Playplace: tied to a support beam for the windy slide. “Thought I remember, you saying you liked her, like as a person.”

“I barely know her,” Joel shot the conversation dead.

He was just telling the truth. The bulk of what he knew came from Tommy and Ellie and whatever people around town said. Always good things. She was like this patron saint of Jackson. Mother fucking Teresa.

And who knows? Maybe she was. Joel had hung out with her a whopping three times: two of which ended up being a complete mess. The first one had ended with her doubled over and hurling outside the Tipsy Bison, choking and gagging out apology after apology. She was a lightweight and supposedly, too much sugar made her sick.

Anyway –

Then, came meet-the-teacher night where he took his turn making a complete ass of himself. It’d been fine until Ellie upped and left to use the bathroom and alone – it was painfully awkward. He’d take the piss for that one. Small talk and pleasantries were never really his forte.

“Well, I’m not gonna say she would be interested, but-”

“Okay, Tommy,” Joel scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed. “I know where you’re going with this, so before you go on and get any ideas. It’s still a no.”

Tommy’s expression dipped into a frown. “But what about -”

Joel held up his hand. “I appreciate it, but I’m just not interested,” Joel let him down easily, but the assurance in his tone left little room for an argument.

Tommy opened his mouth, but quickly clamped it shut. He huffed – defeated. Once again. That was his fifth reject; one for every month Joel had lived here.

Despite the outcome always being the same, Tommy just kept trying. No. No. No. Not even a maybe. Not once. Joel had made his stance pretty clear. Scratch that - translucent. Dating was out; marriage was a hell no. It’s not like his first go-around had been anything to write home about, clearly.

What a crapshoot.

Joel viewed relationships differently than Tommy. His little brother was sickly in love, and good for him, but Joel thought the whole thing was nothing more than another liability.

Why would he risk it?

If he’d never been any good at them in the first place. It always seemed to be the wrong place or wrong time or too late. He’d never been able to get it right, so it was just better off this way.

He was better off this way

---

Cleaned up and rested; later that evening, the five of them gathered at Maria and Tommy’s for dinner: roasted meat and rosemary potatoes. Served family-style, just like her mother used to do.

Rory wasn’t here to babble away like usual as he was staying the night at his grandpa’s.

The conversation was otherwise nothing special, mostly centered around the newbies in town. Some whispers about Jackson had spread south, and what had once been three hundred had steadily grown to around four or five. More would probably come spring.

Joel slugged back his beer, and stole a glance at the woman beside him.

She was attractive, and being this close, in this light, he could appreciate her features even more. She was inches from him, and he could smell her perfume? Soap? It was real nice. Fresh and clean and soft and as sweet as her famous nickname.

Lolly.

A childhood nickname that stuck to her like glue.

When he’d first heard it, he’d expected some young girl, barely 18 to be sitting at the bar top.

Not…her; a full-fledged woman.

Sure, she was younger than him, but not by enough to make his stomach curl with cradle-robber shame whenever his gaze lingered for just a moment too long.

Like now.

Joel shook his head, and focused on Ellie, talking about school, and her extreme dislike for their most recent unit.

While school wasn’t mandatory, all the kids enjoyed going. It was only three times a week, and half-days with all age groups coming together on Friday. Younger kids still learned how to read and do basic math, but at Ellie’s age, it was mostly job and life skills. Sometimes people would come and speak about their occupation, other days they learned how to read a map and purify water or currently – sewing.

“Laugh all you want, I almost lost a finger.” Ellie flashed the band-aid on her pointer as proof. Lolly looked slightly guilty, even as she giggled.

“Well, not everyone can be as talented as Lolly over here,” Maria boasted, pointing to Lolly’s little dress. “Let me guess, you made that yourself?”

Lolly’s chewing slowed as she squinted at Maria. She was no dummy; it’d taken her all but a few seconds to sniff out the set up.

She swallowed. “No, actually. This is one Mike brought back from that boutique in the square. I just added a little material here and there, so it would fit.”

Joel’s gaze traveled over the dress, following the flick of her wrist. It was a rusty orange number with big sleeves that reminded him of the 70’s. Even though it was completely impractical, it was also hauntingly cute.

“Still impressive,” Maria insisted, and Lolly clicked her tongue - not playing along.

A moment of silence followed: amplified by the scratch of silverware on porcelain.

“Joel and I had a pretty eventful day, ain’t that right?” Tommy perked up, spearing a cherry tomato on his fork, and popping it into his mouth.

Great, now it was his turn to be buttered up.

“Oh. Trust me, I’ve heard. Everyone in town won’t shut up about it. They keep saying you might be the best patrol we’ve ever had.” A teensy smile teased her lips, and Joel’s tongue immediately became dry toast.

Joel gulped, and waved off her minuscule praise. “Oh, no. It was nothing-”

“Nothing?” Ellie snorted. “Psssh. Sure smelled like something to me.” Ellie wrinkled her nose and shooed away the residual stench.

Goddamn kids and their honesty. At least, Ellie didn’t mention finding him sprawled out on the couch with enough ice packs to drown each leg.

Joel leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Really now? You think you can do better, kiddo?” Joel challenged – light-hearted.

Ellie shrugged – a cocky maybe.

“Guess we’ll be finding out soon enough - 8 months?” Tommy pointed his fork at her.

“9.” Ellie glanced at Joel.

He’d snuck her a few times, and taken her up to the pond for those swimming lessons he promised her. He would surely do it again once it warmed up.

Ellie looked at Lolly, and her brows wrangled up with some sudden thought. “Have you ever been on patrol?”

Maria’s head whipped up as fast as a sucker punch. Lolly eye’s widened, but Joel wasn’t sure if it was Maria’s reaction or the seemingly innocent question itself that caused her to react, but then neither of them said a word.

Joel wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on. He looked at Ellie, then his brother, but Tommy looked just as confused as them.

Lolly must’ve noticed the regret creeping up on Ellie’s face, since she immediately offered her a small grin.

“Believe it or not,” she said, “I used to go all the time.”

Joel blinked back. What? When?

He’d never seen her name listed in a single log book, and those dated back almost 10 years. Give or take.

While Joel had only been here around six months, he’d never heard anyone talk about it, or anyone ever stopping patrol so young. Most people kept going until they either couldn’t or died. Eugene was like, 70? And he was still out there a couple times a week.

Nobody said anything for a long minute; the silence sat heavy and tense and uncomfortable.

Maria clapped her hands, “Anyone want dessert?”

---

Fluffy chocolate mousse was the answer as the conversation returned to idle nothingness until it was time to go.

While putting on their coats, Tommy offered they walk her home because the streets of Jackson were crawling with crime and all. She’d brushed it off at first, but Ellie insisted.

Turns out, Lolly knew a thing or two hundred on constellations and Ellie used the walk to pick her brain. Joel trailed a step behind them, watching Lolly’s finger trace the blanket of stars.

Lyra. The W – named for some vain queen in Greece. Cassie something or other. Next to it, was her husband. Another C name. Supposedly it looked like a stick figure house, but Joel didn’t see it.

Still, he listened to the sound of her voice; there was something soothing about it.

Sadly, that peace couldn’t last as Mike was out on the front porch. He was chilling on the small swing, downing a beer as if he knew Joel would end up walking her home.

“I was wonderin’ when you’d get back.”

Lolly jumped at the sound of his voice. She’d been so engrossed with Ellie that she’d yet to spot him.

“Ellie. Joel.” Mike spit his name out like a jagged piece of glass. Oh yeah, the dislike was mutual.

Joel drawled out Mike’s name; a little friendlier than usual, just to irk him. “How’s the ankle?” He pointed to the hack job wrapping.

Mike sneered. “Better. Thanks for asking.”

“What’re you doing out here?” Lolly butted in; the words spoken through a tight, nervous-looking smile. She refused to look directly at him or even Ellie for that matter.

“It’s a nice night, don’t ya think? Guessin’ it’ll be the last one for a while, so thought I’d enjoy it. By the looks of it, seems as if you two thought the same.”

Mike glared at Joel with a threat in his eyes: think about touching her and I’ll knock your teeth in. Joel would love to see him try.

Joel wondered if Mike was always this suffocating. If so, maybe that’s why she was still single because who would want to deal with him? Mike was about to square up with a middle-aged man and a 15-year-old girl for what? Walking his sister home?

His adult sister. Nonetheless.

Joel didn’t try to understand it.

Lolly held Mike’s gaze for a moment before turning around with a word. She forced a smile, and it actually looked believable which was slightly concerning.

“Well, uh. Thank you both for walking me home. Ellie, I will see you tomorrow. Joel-”

Mike cleared his throat and the anger seethed from her pores. She squeezed her eyes shut, so tight she nearly burst. Taking a deep breath, she peered back up at Joel. “It was nice seeing you again.”

With that, she spun around and bolted up the steps. Mike didn’t seem to give a fuck, rocking back and forth so slow that the rusty screws gave into a haunting squeal.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Ellie spoke out of the side of her mouth, waving at Mike while taking a step back, then another.

“You read my mind.”

Joel and Ellie booked it down the road.

Fuck, if he would ever go back there again.

#joel x reader #joel the last of us #joel miler x reader #pedro pascal fanfic #last of us fanfiction #joel miller x f!reader

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