#snooze button battle

[seaquestions]

they should invent a “falling asleep before youre dead tired” that doesnt feel like “savescumming a boss fight that instantly kills you”

[tonythr]

We need to talk about the Pale King's foresight ability

Ok, I waited a very long time to make this post. The story of the Pale King is my favorite aspect of the whole narrative of Hollow Knight, and there's so much mystery surrounding it that I can't not think about it on a daily basis. There are a bunch of questions left unanswered, and I believe that most (if not all) answers were left in the game specifically so that players could interpret them the way they think is best. So I wanna see what interpretations ARE there and maybe pick one (or two. or three. or all of them. or maybe really just one.) I dunno. Anyway, the point is, this is probably gonna be a long one. Big shoutout to anyone who makes it all the way to the end.

Now, enough with the rambling. To the point.

It all starts with the mushrooms.

The part that started all this train of thought was this particular line.

Unlike other areas of the game, Fungal Wastes don't have a boss that correlates with the area's native species. The shrooms don't have a higher being they worship. They don't have a civilization. They don't have a Dreamer. All they have is this big old mushroom elder that sleeps eternally with this one thought in their mind. All this to say that this line here is *probably* hella important.

The lore tablets of the Wastes also echo it.

So keep this in mind: when the Wyrm, reincarnated as the Pale King, started building and expanding his Kingdom (it's safe to assume that he started doing that AFTER he turned into his bug form) and got to the part where he had to make an alliance with The Mushrooms, they agreed to be a part of Hallownest ONLY because they knew that the Pale King had an ability to predict the future. Remember, they looked down on all the bugs that weren't part of their mycelium-sharedSelf-mindUnited thing. They were perfectly happy with their way of life. They didn't need the Pale King's gift of mind. The only reason they agreed to accept his will was because of his foresight ability. They assumed that, since he can see what's going to happen in the future, he will protect them (along with the rest of his Kingdom) from any possible danger. And that was a smart decision.

And yet, it didn't work out. And not just for them. For the whole Kingdom.

The main question is why.

From the way the mushrooms talk about the Wyrm, we can assume that his foresight ability didn't quite suck, which is to say that he really COULD see a big part of what's going to happen. So basically, we have two possibilities:

A. The PK's foresight didn't allow him to see *too* far into the future. It had its limitations. Maybe he could see what was going to happen in an age from now, but he couldn't predict *everything*.

B. The PK's foresight could reach as far as all eternity, meaning he knew the 'Eternal Kingdom' was doomed to fail from the moment he started building it.

In any case, Elder Mushroom's words suggest that, at one point, PK actually KNEW his Kingdom was going to fail.

And, since the most important part of his story is his battle with the Radiance (like, what else would the Mushroom be talking about?), I think it means that he potentially knew that the Hollow Knight was going to fail, but created and Sealed it anyway. So, the question is:

If the Pale King could see that his plan of creating an empty vessel to seal the Radiance would inevitably fail, why did he go through with it in the first place?

Here's the first, most simple answer.

He knew that the Infection was inevitable, so he decided to postpone it indefinitely. Hit the snooze button, but make it last forever.

Actually, that's not even an answer. This is just a straight-up fact.

Hallownest is literally frozen in time.

(Actually, I think it's so frozen that sometimes it makes rocks levitate)

The Hollow Knight's sacrifice was made SPECIFICALLY so the inevitable arrival of the Infection could be set back for all eternity. That's why the game has a big leitmotif of night and day.

That's why the Radiance's main goal is for the Dawn to Break. Because she's the Sun, and what she's fighting against is an eternal night.

But now we're entering the mystery zone. There are two questions about PK's foresight ability that have to be answered in order to understand what's actually happening.

Question 1. Does freezing time also freeze the foresight? If the Kingdom is left in a stasis without a changing future, can PK still see past that stasis? Could he see when it would end? If so, could he see what will happen after it ends?

Question 2. Is Time actually predictable? Is there just one timeline where everything that happens was doomed to happen in the first place, OR are there infinite possibilities and some room for the free will? If so, can the future be changed if one knows what actions will have what consequences? And if so, are there things that are actually inevitable, no matter the choices?

Whatever the answers to both of those questions are, I want to emphasize this:

Those lines spoken by the Radiance, along with the Elder Mushroom's words about a demise unavoidable, as well as some other things I'll mention later, make me think that the Infection and the Radiance's rise to power is an event that was truly inevitable.

Here, it doesn't matter if the free will is real or not. Remember: in the Pantheon of Hallownest, the Radiance ranks higher than the Pale King. She is a candidate for a God of Gods title, the highest of the Higher Beings. So maybe PK could shape the future with his knowledge of it. Maybe his foresight actually protected his Kingdom by preventing some bad things that he, as a Pale Being, had power over. But the power of the Radiance was stronger than that. She had the strength to assert her dominating will in every possible timeline, so that, even with his foresight, the Wyrm couldn't do anything to stop the Dawn from Breaking. After all, it's the power of Nature itself - the day always inevitably comes to replace the night.

So that's the entire reason the King decided to use the Void in his battle with the Radiance. The Forgotten Light had the ability to conquer Fate. But the Void, in his own words, had the ability to deny Time itself.

So, even if the Infection was inevitable, the power of Void could either prevent it, postpone it, or straight-up defeat it. I think that the reason for this is that the Void possesses a will that is stronger than any Higher Being. The Night and Day can follow each other, but the force that represents the End itself is beyond that.

So, now we're gonna ask the REAL question.

With the Void being able to deny Time, could the Pale King see the future the Void's actions will bring?

And for that, I have two facts that suggest that PK, in fact, couldn't at least foresee SOME of the Void's choices.

The first one is the fact that the game has multiple endings.

Look into those eyes and tell me that they're looking at something that could have been predicted and prevented by a dead monarch, albeit a godly one. The existence of multiple endings tells us that free will IS real, at least for The Knight/The Shade Lord.

Oh and speaking of dead monarchs, here's the next fact.

That man is fucking dead.

The Pale King's whole deal was to last eternally, right? To build a life that would ensure his endless reign. To achieve immortality.

So if he could see what was going to happen after he let the Void into the picture, why would he still try that despite it clearly leading to his demise?

The nature of PK's death is mysterious, to say the least. He didn't just die of old age. He tried to run away, bringing his whole Palace along with him to the Dream World. He tried to run away from something - probably from the consequences of his own actions. But even that escape didn't save him from being killed. And what killed him was most definitely the Void.

The throne room is dark.

In fact, it's so dark that the Kinght has to pull out the lumafly lantern. The only other room in the entire White Palace where that happens is the workshop, where PK worked on creating the Kingsmoulds and the Wingsmoulds. The space is filled with black smoke and black particles - the same ones that are seen in the Abyss and many areas that are located above it. When the Kinght strikes the Pale King's body with the Nail, it sounds the same as striking a training dummy outside of Oro's hut, which is made out of a lifeless husk. It's like the Pale King's body was literally hollowed out.

The form that was given to the Void by the Pale King to create the Kingsmoulds guarding the throne room is lost here, implying that it gained some other will that was beyond the Pale King's control.

And again, the only other place we see something like that is the Palace Grounds in the waking world.

...Which are located just above the Void Sea. Also, the same smoke and particles surround the place, and black tentacle-like vines reach inside the body of the Kingsmould containing the Palace.

No need to doubt. It was definitely the Void that killed the Pale King.

But what does it mean?

Well, here's some important info about the Void. It is a manifestation of this world's regrets.

If you look deep enough, it makes a lot of sense for the Void to symbolize literal regret. The Shade is a manifestation of the Knight's regrets about what went wrong on its journey. The Void Sea in the Abyss is probably the regrets of the Ancient Civilization's dead bugs. And the Void that surrounds the Palace Grounds and the Pale King's throne room is a manifestation of his own regrets. That's why he couldn't escape from the Void even in the Dream World. Because you can't escape your own guilt, your own darkness, your own regret. That's also the reason why the Knight has the right to sit on the throne after striking down the Pale King: it's because, at that point, the Kinght is set on a path that includes facing its own regrets, accepting them and uniting them under its will. Something the Pale King failed to do.

But the question remains: what exactly were those regrets that the Pale King was running from and that ultimately killed him? I mean, of course, it's the whole deal with the vessels that he regretted, but I think there's more to that. I want to lay down a list of theories about his foresight. Each of them can also explain which specific regret got him the most.

Each theory would also change the interpretation of this famous line:

...Which is important. Obviously, this line refers to the Vessels being sacrificed in order to create a Pure one, but, depending on the possible range of PK's future vision, it can have an additional, deeper meaning. You'll see what I mean.

But first, there's some other issue here that needs to be addressed, that makes this whole discussion twice as complicated. It's all about this one line:

So, here's another fucking question. Does harnessing the Void by creating the Vessels and the Moulds make those creations a part of what the Pale King could see with his foresight ability?

There's some kind of scale here that varies from 'There are multiple endings that depend on that one Vessel's choice, so that means the Void is outside of the PK's ability to predict the future' to 'The Vessels and the Moulds are the Void that is harnessed by the Pale King, so his future vision applies to them as well; it's just that the Knight gains the power to choose the ending only when it takes control over its own Void by gaining the Void Heart'. So, what if the Pale King could foresee that the Knight would be able to defeat the Radiance in the dream world? What if he couldn't see the Knight's arrival at all? What if he COULD see it, but his vision only applied to the events of the Hollow Knight ending, the only one that doesn't include the Void Heart? What if even the Embrace the Void ending was visible to the Pale King after all, as one of many possibilities he didn't pay too much attention to?

But the Knight is one thing. What about the Hollow Knight? Was its failure a part of the future PK could see? Or, since THK is a Vessel too, its choices were off limits as well? What about the Kingsmoulds? Was the fact that they would succumb to the Void that was going to kill PK available for him?

None of these questions have a clear answer. Probably. Or maybe they do. But there are multiple explanations for what was really going on. I'll try to present them as a list of theories. Each of them will give us a different interpretation of the Pale King's foresight ability's true nature.

PK didn't know what the Void would do but decided to try using it anyway.

PK only saw that the Void would help the Hollow Knight seal the Radiance, but his vision was limited (either because it was limited by its nature (option A, see above), or because the stasis created by the void limited his abilities (question 1, see above)), and so he didn't see that the Hollow Knight would break.

PK knew the Hollow Knight was going to fail but doomed his Kingdom anyway.

PK only saw the timeline where the Knight seals the Radiance without killing her. Every other ending besides The Hollow Knight was beyond PK's foresight.

PK knew that there were multiple possibilities once the Pandora's box was opened, but he saw that one of those possibilities was the Void successfully sealing the Radiance and/or killing her, so he decided to roll the dice. So he could see that Dream No More was possible, but he didn't consider Embrace the Void.

Each of these theories holds some interesting interpretations. Let's take a closer look.

I'll use a timeline to mark the possible range of PK's vision for each theory:

Just to clear things out: when I talk about what PK could or couldn't see, I mean what he could or couldn't see while using his powers at any point before his death. It IS possible that he saw some things when it was already too late to do something. That's what I was talking about when discussing possibilities A and B above (so maybe he saw that THK would break before he even made the Vessels, or maybe he figured it out only after it got sealed). Every theory accounts for that. It's complicated. You know what? Nevermind this whole disclaimer. I'll get to it.

Theory 1. The Void neutralizes the future vision

Basically, what this means is that once the Void got into the picture, the Pale King could no longer use his powers in any meaningful way. The Void, being a will that denies Time, created too many different possibilities for the King to account for, yet he decided to go through with the Hollow Knight plan just because he didn't see any other option.

The line 'No cost too great' in this case might refer not only to the Vessels being sacrificed, but to PK's foresight ability itself. The cost is his future vision, sacrificed to a state of uncertainty that might or might not bring salvation.

If this theory is true, the Pale King's story is a story about a monarch who, in his efforts to save his Kingdom from a wild force of radiant nature, accidentally unleashed something far beyond anyone's control and paid for it not only with his main ability, but with his life as well. Both the Vessels' and the Abyss' actions couldn't have been predicted, and that's why PK accidentally allowed for the Hollow Knight to break and for the forces of the Abyss to overpower him with his regrets about the countless children he murdered.

The risk he took is his main regret.

The flaw of this theory is that, if it's true, it means that:

a) The Elder Mushroom was completely wrong about PK being able to foresee the second coming of the Infection.

b) Harnessing the Void doesn't do shit besides changing its form. Even while being contained inside a semi-sentient Vessel, its actions don't bend to the Pale King's will or his foresight ability.

All in all, this theory basically means that both Pale King's powers and his judgment sucked, and the whole collapse of Hallownest happened because he was incompetent, reckless and stupid.

(That's why I don't like it)

TL;DR: The Void does what it pleases regardless of the Pale King's future vision, and he was stupid for trying to use it.

Theory 2. The Hollow Knight's failure was beyond the Pale King's future vision

This is probably a very controversial one, but it does have some interesting implications. The point is that PK didn't see that the Hollow Knight would fail, and so he went through with the plan thinking it was flawless.

In this case, the Hollow Knight counts as a 'harnessed' part of the Void, so its actions up until its breaking were completely predictable. The Pale King saw that the Infection would be sealed successfully, and that a stasis would be created. He got what he wanted, but at some point (could be any point) he realized that he didn't know if anything was going to happen next.

That could happen for one of the two reasons:

The stasis created by the Pale King literally meant that the time was frozen, which meant that nothing relevant wasn't going to happen unless this stasis would somehow break. But, while inside this state of stasis, the Pale King himself couldn't see anything beyond that state. What future vision is there if there's no actual future?

The future vision was clouded by the Pale King's inevitable death. It's possible that, while looking into the future, PK couldn't see the Hollow Knight breaking simply because his future vision doesn't allow him to see beyond the moment of his own death.

Anyway, what this theory suggests is that the main thing the Pale King didn't or couldn't predict was his own death. Or maybe at some later point he saw it was coming and tried to run away from it by hiding his Palace, but the Void got him anyway. It happened because the Void that destroyed the Kingsmoulds' bodies and killed the Pale King was a force beyond anyone's control an beyond PK's foresight.

A major proof of that is the situation with this guy:

Notice how they apologize directly to the Pale King, and how the Void slowly took over their mind. This guy was a royal retainer, which means the King probably ordered them to keep the lighthouse running himself.

The question is, why did he take such a half-assed measure to keep a whole Sea of raw dark power at bay? It looks so stupid! Just one lighthouse for a whole unchecked Void Sea? And just ONE lighthouse keeper who couldn't even resist the Call of the Void? Why such carelessness?

The answer is right here. That was because the Pale King simply DID NOT KNOW what the Void Sea was actually capable of, because its power (unlike the power of the Void trapped inside the King's children's bodies) was beyond his foresight. Without a clear answer from his future vision, he figured that this Void might or might not be an issue and decided that he had more important stuff to deal with instead of even hiring a whole team to watch one lighthouse.

So, while he managed to reach his goal creating a stasis that would keep his Kingdom lasting eternally, there was one thing he didn't account for, and that was the vengeful wrath of the dark force he dared to use as his plaything. The lighthouse was turned off, and the Void soon started to rise up through the rocks of the Ancient Basin towards the White Palace. The King tried to run, hiding himself and his Palace inside the Dream World, but the Void seeped in easily, killing the monarch. After all, the Kingsmould that was used as a gate to the Palace was also made out of Void.

If this theory is true, then the line 'No cost too great' could refer not only to the Vessels, but also to himself. If he didn't know that the Hollow Knight would break, then he probably thought that his Kingdom WOULD last forever, and that even his own death wouldn't change that. So he sacrificed his own life, gave in to his regrets about everything bad he had done, but managed to save one glimmer of pride, thinking that, even though he killed a bunch of children and abused the Void, he still managed to deliver eternal happiness to all his subjects.

But the thing about this theory is that now we also need to explain why the Radiance broke free despite everything the Pale King thought he did. Here, this theory divides into two additional theories (I'm really sorry for this long-ass post):

Theory 2.1: The Radiance is like 'Nah, I'd win'

Basically, PK's plan to achieve eternal life for his Kingdom at the cost of his own life was actually good. There was no flaw in it, and it should've worked perfectly. But we know that the Radiance might be a being that is higher than PK on the power scale. So, just like the Void, her actions might be beyond what PK's foresight ability could help him see. PK did everything right (not morally), but the Radiance broke through anyway because she's just... that much better.

Theory 2.2: The death of the King is what triggered the whole thing

Going back to the Void's actions messing with the future the Pale King could predict, I say it's possible that his own death, caused by the Void, is what made the stasis wear off.

Think of it this way. The Hollow Knight contained the Infection, but that merely eliminates the possibility of a HIGHER FORCE enacting some sort of change. Preventing EVERYTHING ELSE from breaking the stasis is the job for the Pale King himself. But, once the Void (another higher force) kills him, there's no one that could keep the stasis running, and it just... ends. That gives the Radiance (as a force of change, opposed to a state of frozen time) an opportunity to break free.

Or maybe it was the Sealed Vessel that was affected by the Pale King's death. After all, we probably know what its only thought (the one that ruined everything) was:

So, the Pale King dies, the Hollow Knight senses that a familiar presence is starting to slip away, which makes the Vessel panic (or something like that), and the Radiance makes her move, infecting its mind.

OR it could be both of those things! Maybe the Hollow Knight's attachment to its father AND the Radiance's insane higher power both played a role in filling up the power vacuum that was left after PK died.

Anyway yeah, that's it for this theory. The only thing left to discuss is the new interpretation it gives us for the line spoken by the Elder Mushroom:

'A demise unavoidable', in this case, refers to the demise of the Pale King himself. He didn't necessarily foresee that his death would lead to the destruction of Hallownest, but at some point he might've figured out that the Void was coming to get him but decided to stick with his plan anyway. But then it raises the question of when and how the Elder Mushroom learned about the Pale King's demise, and why they assumed that he could see it coming. That's the main issue with this whole theory: it just doesn't explain how the Mushroom's line fits into all of this.

TL;DR: The Void killing the Pale King is the only thing that he couldn't foresee in the long run, and even if he could do that at some point, the consequences of his death AND/OR the Radiance's actions were beyond his control.

Theory 3. Self-fulfilling prophecy

Ok, so now we're on the theory that I personally consider the closest to canon, or at least the implications of canon that we have. This is also the one theory that brings (some kind of) consistency to this whole question. This is because it explains the earlier question of how the future vision actually works.

See, there's no way the Pale King actually knew that the Hollow Knight would break from the very start, right?

Why would he doom his Kingdom when all of his actions were meant to prevent that? In fact, that's exactly the question that the Elder Mushroom is asking.

"Pale Wyrm... What good to foresee a demise unavoidable?"

Well, the answer here is actually kinda simple this time.

He saw it coming, and he tried to postpone it.

This is the simplest explanation possible, because we already have all the proof right here on the table.

The King sees that the Infection will come, and that it is inevitable (the inevitability is the key part).

He knows that, when the predicted moment comes, the Radiance will return and wreck his shit. No matter the timeline, no matter the choice. The flow of Time itself inevitably leads to the Infection happening.

The only option is to use a force that is able to deny time itself. The solution is to use the Void to metaphysically freeze the very flow of Time itself. The plan is not to try to change what is meant to happen, but to create a stasis that makes it so that it never comes to it. The timer never reaches zero. The eternal snooze button.

The stasis, however, dampens the foresight ability. If there's no flow of Time, the King can't see what's going to happen.

[A little digression: For the purpose of proving this theory, let's say that the foresight ability works better the closer the observer is to the moment that is being observed.

For example, while looking into the future from a point in time before a big war, the observer CAN see that the war will end on a certain date, but only when that date comes closer to them can they see HOW the war will end, and WHO will end it, and any other detail.]

The stasis wears off because of the Radiance's power (like in theory 2.1).

The King is finally able to see the exact nature of the Infection breaking free. He sees that the Hollow Knight itself, the Vessel he personally created to be the only key to the Kingdom's salvation, will be the reason everything goes to hell.

Wracked with guilt and regret, he escapes to the dream realm before the break happens so that he can at least save himself and his palace.

The Void makes a move that the King could or couldn't foresee, killing him. He thinks about the 'no cost too great' philosophy one last time before realizing that it is, in fact, utter bullshit. He dies with a feeling of everything he built crumbling to dust and his core belief being proven faulty.

The Infection breaks free, having harnessed the Hollow Knight, as inevitable as always. With the King being dead, there's no power to uphold the time stasis, which becomes the final push. The Vessel breaks.

Only then the Kingdom sees the arrival of a void being that has the potential to actually change things from their set course. The Knight, being a part of the Void that was beyond the Pale King's future vision range, enacts an end of its own choosing.

This ties to the game's themes of determinism, and flashes out the Kinght's strength to break free from the fate's chains, empowering the player and making the whole plot twist with the final battle against the Radiance even more epic.

The monarch who justified killing his own children by his desire to prevent the higher will from destroying his artificially made Kingdom has succumbed to a force beyond his control, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The chosen hair of its father's will becomes the reason why the inevitable finally happens. The only one who is free of obligations, desires and beliefs becomes the one to save the Kingdom once and for all, avenging the deaths of its kin. Beautiful.

And the Mushrooms who probably just didn't believe in the stasis from the start turned out to be right, smugly reminding us that it was always inevitable and PK couldn't do shit. There's no good in seeing a demise unavoidable, and it's foolish to make sacrifices to postpone it.

What the Pale King lacked was acceptance. The ability to embrace the true nature of things.

Something that is the main ability and the main character arc for the Knight, whose nature is to consume and to use its will to make even the darkest shadows become a part of it.

A little spoiler though: this theory has another variation that is even cooler. I'll leave it for the very end.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Infection was inevitable from the very start. He tried to postpone it. He failed, becoming a part of a self-fulfilling prophecy. When he figured it out, it was already too late, so he fled and was then killed by the Void.

Theory 4. The Masterplan

Ok, so, while the previous theory was probably the one closest to the canon implications, there are still a couple of possibilities that make this WHOLE thought process worth the time spent on it, because the mere CHANCE of this one theory being true makes the whole game feel even more nuanced. It's not even necessarily correct, but it's not about that. Team Cherry made the lore surrounding the Pale King's foresight ability vague enough for us to feel it's POSSIBLE that the whole plot was predicted by him. And that's how this narrative works: it allows the players to come up with different interpretations of itself, never proving or disproving any of the theories that it inevitably creates inside our heads.

So anyway yeah, what if the Pale King knew that another Vessel would usurp the Hollow Knight? What if THAT was his plan all along?

So, let's discuss a very important question.

How was the Hollow Knight chosen among other vessels? Why did that one child become the Pure Vessel while millions of others were left behind?

Well, judging by these lines and by the Birthplace cutscene, the trial to be chosen as the Hollow Knight was to climb up from the Abyss.

But why? How does scaling a huge pit prove a vessel hollow, and devoid of thought? Is it about the strength? Is it about not caring about other siblings who fall down? Is it about controlling one's inner Void in order to not succumb to the regret of the whole situation? Is it something like a sperm and an egg thing? A bug thing? Maybe it's all of those things. Maybe it's none of them. One thing we can assume, though, is this:

The Knight also passed this trial. It could have become the Hollow Knight. The reason it didn't was because the Pale King didn't see it and the Hollow Knight didn't care about it.

But in the end, it was the same reason why the Kinght became a more worthy candidate.

Think about it this way. If the Void is what is needed to seal the Light, and if the Void is created and channeled through regrets and past pain, what could be a better fuel for it than a father's abandonment and a sibling's indifference? Passing the life's trial but losing a chance to live anyway creates the strongest darkness, and that darkness is the reason the Knight becomes the best Vessel possible to do this task.

But it's not the only trial the Knight had to pass in order to qualify for this role.

(Notice the phrasing used in the Quirrel comic - 'ascend to that fabled land')

We don't know how it happened (Team Cherry teased us once about revealing it), but the Knight not only escaped the Abyss through some other path, but managed to leave Hallownest and then come back, purified by the mind-wiping winds. That's what Hornet says about it, too - she specifically states that the Knight's resilience was born of two voids: the one that's outside of the Kingdom and the one that's below it.

And we also know that many other Vessels attempted the same thing.

So basically, had any of them been more successful at the quest the Knight did succeed at, the Kingdom could have had a greater, if not near-infinite, amount of replacements for the Sealed Vessel. One Knight takes the Infection inside of itself, holds it in until the Infection inevitably starts to break free, but then another Knight arrives, answering its sibling's call for help, and the cycle continues. Convenient, huh?

Sounds like a thing some very perceptive godlike monarch could come up with as a plan to save his Kingdom.

It could ALSO explain why there are SO MANY Vessels in the Abyss. Maybe it's not about the White Lady being crazy horny. Maybe it was a part of the plan (which included the White Lady being crazy horny) all along. A way to measure up to eternity by creating an amount of heirs that no one would be able to count. Yes, it IS finite, but with THIS many spare Vessels it wouldn't really matter.

That said, there ARE some flaws in this theory. First, there's no live Vessels in the Abyss, so the ones that survived the Pale King's trial probably either died or left the Abyss already. And it's likely that there weren't too many of those who escaped, so maybe there weren't enough vessels after all. But then again, it only takes one to save the Kingdom for multiple ages, so who knows how that would work.

Second, as far as we know, the Knight was the only one who had the potential to actually seal the Radiance once and for all. Letting weaker vessels try to usurp the Hollow Knight would mean risking the Kingdom. But then again, that's what Hornet was there for. On the other hand, even she was surprised with how the Knight was able to defeat her, so either she didn't know about the Masterplan, or it was never real in the first place, and the Knight IS the one unique Vessel who has the strength to save Hallownest for good.

Honestly, I'm inclined to agree with the latter assumption solely because of the narrative weight of the Birthplace cutscene. I mean, there was no other vessel that was in the same position as the Knight. No one else had that same experience of passing the Abyss trial just in time to see the first Hollow Knight walk away with its father, who then shut the door in their face.

But anyway, this theory is still pretty valid. If it's correct, it would mean that:

a) The 'No cost too great' line spoken by PK at the moment of his death basically means 'Whatever bitches, I may be dead but Hallownest WILL last eternally because I had those Vessels ALL FIGURED OUT, and there's SHIT you can do about it now!'

b) All who doubted PK's plan are proven wrong, and the Mushrooms' smugness is worth nothing.

c) The Pale King's future vision is fucking OP.

...Whiiiich yeah, makes the Pale King look like the coolest mastermind in all fiction, but at the same time takes away the tragedy of his whole story and the uniqueness of our dear beloved Ghost Knight. Still fun to think about it tho.

TL;DR: The King knew that the Hollow Knight would break, so he had every other possible Vessel in mind as a replacement. The new Vessel would be the one who survived the Abyss, escaped, left Hallownest, and returned at the call of the previous Vessel. With millions of Vessels born, the cycle could have been repeated so many times that it wouldn't matter when the Abyss would run out of Vessels.

Theory 5. The Masterplan but cooler

Now THAT's what I personally consider a big stretch.

See, for THAT theory to be correct, the Pale King should have known the EXACT moves the Knight (and only the Knight) would take in order to defeat the Radiance one way or another. He should have accounted for things such as:

The Knight being left in the Abyss in the exact way that it was; broken mentally by the chance that was taken away from it.

His own death.

The Knight arriving to Hallownest, passing all the tests, getting the Dreamnail, breaking the Dreamers' Seals.

The Knight becoming the new Sealed Vessel in at least two of the possible timelines.

The White Lady gifting the Knight her part of Kingsoul.

The Knight successfully entering the White Palace, finding the King's corpse, and taking the second half of Kingsoul.

The Knight returning to the Birthplace, getting the Void Heart and uniting the Void.

The Knight entering the Hollow Knight's dream with Hornet's help and actually killing the Radiance by making the Void consume it.

I think there's exactly a 0.00001% chance of that being the case. But hey, it's possible!

Actually, I don't believe that. It just doesn't feel like that's what the canon implications are about. And then again, if that theory is correct, why couldn't the King predict the Embrace the Void ending? And I do believe that SHADE LORD wasn't on ANYONE'S bingo card at all (except for maybe that one goth bug who gives us the Shade Cloak). Or did the King just decide to risk it all by defeating one God of Gods by creating another, much stronger one? I really don't think so.

I think the Void's will, as well as the Knight's, has the nature to defy any type of fate or future vision. And once the Knight gains the power of the Void Heart, the future of Hallownest is entirely in its hands, and its choice is now inherently outside of anyone's foresight.

TL;DR: The King predicted everything. Could he predict the Shade Lord though?

Theory 6 (the secret one). The 'human' factor

Ok, so, up until now, I discussed the possibilities the Pale King had with his future vision, and how said possibilities could influence his actions and the history of Hallownest as a whole, with the Self-fulfilling prophecy theory (of which this one will be an extension of) being the most plausible one. There's just one thing though. None of those theories really accounted for the possibility that, at some point, Pale King could've just not used his powers, or, more realistically, used them but chose to do something despite the information he got.

But why? What could possibly make him do that? The literal God of Mind, not being rational? Sounds like something that Team Cherry wouldn't fail to include in the game as an emphasized plot point. A lore piece so important must've been given some significant place, perhaps even locked behind some insane platforming gauntlet...

I swear, this one moment drives me crazy.

The Pure Vessel. The Sealed sacrifice. The Empty God. The Hollow Knight was created to be the one and only savior of Hallownest, of everything the Pale King worked so hard on. It was created not as an heir to its father's throne, not as his child, but as a tool to win a war that had been going on for ages. And we all know that it failed because it gained a mind, a will to live, a desire to crave happiness.

And this moment at the end of Path of Pain tells us exactly how it happened. The Pale King, being a god whose main power is to give bugs the ability to think, shared exactly one moment of pure fatherly affection with his empty creation. And that's all that was needed to plant the seeds of a mind-conquering disaster.

And right now I want to focus on the Pale King himself here. If you watch the cutscene, you'll notice that he is the first to turn his head towards the Hollow Knight. He was the one who initiated this moment.

And one might ask: why? Didn't he know that that could lead to the Vessel having a thought that was terminal for the whole plan? Couldn't he PREDICT that him showing even an ounce of affection towards this hollowed-out child would ruin everything he built? His whole Kingdom, his whole dream, his whole civilization? WAS HE STUPID?

But hear me out. What if what we're looking at here is not the Pale King messing up his entire career as a monarch, but him actually achieving the only thing that could satisfy him? Think about it. Who knows how much time he spent in his workshop trying to harness the Void. Millions of his children were left for dead, locked inside a horrible bottomless pit as bones and shadows. Three of the Kingdom's greatest bugs agreed to sacrifice their lives for the King's plan. All so he could achieve what he considered perfection. The impossible ideal. All the struggles of this Kingdom led to the creation of that one being. And when the Pale King knew he had succeeded, there was nothing left to strive for. Finally, he could allow himself to be satisfied. To forget about the greater good. To forget the never-ending battle. To live.

To love.

And maybe at that point he refused to use his future vision. Or maybe he knew that this would ruin everything. Maybe he always knew. For that moment, none of it mattered. The god of mind finally experienced something that had nothing to do with rationality. And once that happened, nothing else mattered anymore. No cost was too great for this one moment.

And so, nothing that happened after that mattered as well. The King's radiant enemy would soon take his Kingdom. His beloved Queen would go into exile. He himself would not be able to fight the regrets of his dark past and would soon cowardly flee from the waking realm, only to be killed on his throne by the very power he so foolishly used to achieve his goal. But at that point that goal didn't matter to him anymore. He was ready for the eternal Void, because he had already achieved the only thing worth achieving.

Too bad that meant he would doom millions (if not billions) of live creatures and make the only being he could actually love experience the cruelest torture unimaginable. Too bad that, when gods attempt to achieve a higher ideal, countless souls must suffer. Too bad that because of that one achievement everything Hallownest was had to end.

But everything ends at some point. That's one of the main themes of this game, and the idea that I believe is represented by the Void. The Knight arrives to reap the sins of its creator, witness secrets sealed, bring some hope to a ruined land, and enact the end of an era. Only a silent agent of change is there to witness the dark consequences of the Wyrm's quest for happiness.

Neat theory, right? Now guess which one is my favorite!

TL;DR: The Pale King realized that the act of loving his child is worth sacrificing everything he worked for, so, even knowing that sealing the No-More-Hollow Knight would doom Hallownest, he decided that his life has already peaked anyway and that there's no point in trying to do anything anymore. He knew that he was cooked though, so he fled and died only with the closest circle of family and friends to keep him company.

----

The post is over now. Big, bigger, yet bigger, the biggest thanks to anyone who genuinely made it through to the end. My grammar is probably flawed as fuck tho, because English is not my native language, so please cut me some slack in that regard. I hope what I was saying there was at least somewhat cohesive. I also hope that the more obscure bits of information I used (like cut dream dialogue) didn't throw anyone off the thought train. It's probably gonna be a big deal when I release this post, so I probably will be coming back to it. Any discussion, as well as disagreement, is always welcome! Please just let me know I didn't write all this for nothing lol. Thanks again!

TL;DR: Skill issue.

[fairytsuk1]

i NEED to hug alex so bad i know that boy gives life changing cuddles

cuddling with alex ...

[morning]

it's way too early for your alarm, something you muse after a song blares right into your sanctuary of warmth and alex and soft sheets. you can barely see the snooze button, but you slam your thumb down and shut your eyes to eagerly try to savor the last few minutes of slumber. alex shifts, and you feel a bit of guilt in your chest as you know it definitely disturbed him, too.

"so early," he barely can breathe out, eyes still shut as he battles for consciousness, "too early."

"i forgot to turn it off, 'm sorry," you whisper to fluttering eyelashes.

he doesn't reply and at first you wonder how it's possible to look so cute in one's sleep. he catches you. an eye opens and then closes before he pulls you even closer to him.

your hearts are touching. chest to chest. can he hear yours beating? as though your bodies were meant for each other, little air pockets and gaps flit out of existence until you are both molded against each other. if your skin could fuse, you're sure it'd be this beautiful mix of brown, and it'd smell like vanilla with a hint of spice.

the two of you are one.

"stop thinking and sleep, already."

"don't tell me what to do," you chide.

he doesn't have the energy to do it now, oh, but he'll chide you. he makes this fact known with a squeeze to your ass that makes you giggle. the squeeze turns to soft strokes, to barely there touches, to soft snores, and then peaceful nothingness.

[afternoon]

it's after his stream that alex seeks you out like a moth to a flame. he peeks his head into every room before finding you lounging in the front room. you're too occupied with your phone to notice his feline mannerisms emerging as he prepares to pounce.

"oof, i didn't see you coming!"

"i know, i'm sneaky like that. what are you up to, what's going on?"

alex eagerly worms his way into your space. he's absolutely unashamed to wrap his arms around your waist and take a deep inhale of your sweet, sweet perfume. you respond between peppered kisses before probing about his own stream.

he's a bit muted. closed up. he doesn't want to talk about it, he'd rather sigh into your skin and squeeze you tighter, "quiero relajarte con ti."

"bueno, lo que quieras," you sink a bit further into the couch.

you show him memes on your phone and funny tweets, and alex makes funny voices and kisses your beauty marks. it's light. with every breath you take, you're on cloud fucking nine.

[post-coital]

it's rare you get to have him like this. so many emotions, feelings, and stressors run through his caramel skin and into his veins. he can be so quiet. pensive.

other times, like this, he's all mush in your arms. he lets his hair sit sweaty against his forehead; his skin glistens and stretches as he pulls out of you. your bodies had connected in a rhythm that was rich and succulent.

alex loved having you pliant under his fingers, moans making your ribs heave from pleasure as his hips met yours over, and over, and over.

"felt so good, 'lex," you curl further into him, pulling him closer as if he'll leave. "feeling so sleepy. so... satisfied."

he doesn't respond at first. alex only looks at your form, utterly vulnerable and laid bare for him. it could take eons, and he could never get enough of you.

both of you caress each other, knowing with any wrong movement, the heartache would be so intense you'd have no other option but to crumble from it.

thankfully for both of you, there was a love embedded in every stroke of skin, every kiss, and every cuddle.

[agentmaxa]

Late to the Game (Uswnt x Reader)

Not Requested

Sorry for any mistake, please enjoy.

"Kelley I swear if you don't-

"Sorry Y/n, I can't hear you from all the way down there."

Kelley teased the youngest player of the national team by resting herself on Y/n while propping herself up.

The 17-year-old let out a huff, as the teammates around them laughed at Kelley's antics. Only a handful of them had seen the look in Y/n's eyes that told them this was about to take a turn.

Taking a large step to the side Y/n caused Kelley to fight gravity which was a losing battle.

O'Hara basically face-planted it on the turf and everyone burst out laughing.

Y/n chucked along as Kelley got up.

"You think that's funny?" Kelley teased.

Y/n replied, "Absolutely hilarious."

Causing O'Hara to purse Y/n while shouting, "Get back here shortstack!"

-----

Y/n went to get a ball from off the sidelines, picking it up in hopes of doing a few tricks to pass the time during a small break in practice.

Until O'Hara bumped into Y/n by accident. "Oh, sorry L/n-"

"It's fine-"

"Guess I just didn't see you from all the way down there."

"It's one freaking inch," Y/n said exasperated, over the fact that Kelley kept pointing it out.

Kelley chucked to herself, "That's what she said."

On any other day, Y/n would have found that humorous as well.

But not today.

"That's it!"

Y/n tackled Kelley to the ground, putting her in a headlock, and attempting to give Kelley a noogie.

They tossed with each other for a few minutes gaining the attention of most of the team.

"Hey look, they're starting a new line of mini WWE Wrestlers for the national team."

Sam and Sonnett joked as they saw Y/n and O'Hara's roughhousing had turned into a little bit of a wrestling match.

Unfortunately, for them, Kelley and Y/n had also heard the comment.

Partially out of breath, Y/n looked at Kelley, "Truce?"

"Truce."

The two grinned and Sonnett and Sam soon realized their mistake.

"Nonononon- wait!"

Nothing was stopping Kelley as she tackled Sonnett to the ground while Y/n pursued Sam.

Chasing her, Y/n gained enough speed to leap onto Sam's back dragging her down to the ground the two laughing as they stayed there for a little.

Only interrupted by the whistle calling the whole team to circle up.

Y/n and Sam got up but saw Kelley had sat on Sonnett's back keeping the woman down.

"O'Hara, I'm warning you."

"I'd like to see you- AAAHH!"

Kelley tried to grasp onto something but Sonnett managed to throw Kelley off and get up.

"How's it feel being down there for a change?" Y/n teased.

"Pretty nice actually, maybe move to the left a bit. You're not blocking the sun enough, mini."

-----

Getting ready to leave for the plane, Y was packing some final things.

"Ready to leave already squirt?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Y/n turned to O'Hara.

"Almost."

"I'm still not sure how you're okay with this."

"Do I have a choice?"

Kelley shrugged her shoulders.

Y/n wasn't going to the World Cup. Reason being there were more players with more caps under them to choose from. Y/n had done the camps and games but just didn't make the cut.

"I mean I know it's not the worst thing possible for you but just saying you've proved your spot more than enough."

"Let's be real here Kels you just need me so you have a headrest."

"That too."

"Just don't lose too badly out there."

Kelley dawning a hurt expression, "I see how it is."

The woman took Y/n by surprise, taking them both down, and roughhousing ended in fits of laughter.

-----

Y/n was woken by the blaring alarm, "Nnnnooooo."

As tempting as the snooze button was Y/n knew being late wasn't an option.

Gathering some belonging and packed luggage Y/n heard a familiar voice from just beyond the bedroom door.

"Sweetheart you up?"

"Yeah, I'll be downstairs in a few Dad."

Getting everything ready, Y/n left a few things by the front door and headed into the kitchen to see Dad and Papa.

"Ready for another camp, sprout?"

"Yeah, although I do wish you'd stop calling me that. The sprouting has stopped in case you haven't noticed."

"And did I ever say anything when you called me Pop-pop?"

Y/n laughed, "I haven't called you that since I was like eight."

"Your point?"

Y/n let out a chuckle, "Okay Pop-pop. I need to get going, don't want to miss my flight."

"Wait, I packed you a small snack."

"Dad small or normal people small?"

Y/n teased Dad knowing sometimes he over-packed.

"Har-har. I just want you to have options."

"Love you too, old man." Y/n kissed his temple as he drank his coffee grabbing the bag that had the 'snack' in it.

Y/n looked down a little as Papa could kiss the top of Y/n's head.

Hurrying out of the house Y/n heard one of them say, "Call us when you land!"

"Always do!"

-----

Y/n walked into the hotel lobby, not seeing anyone else yet Y/n just checked in with the receptionist.

Heading up to the room, Y/n double-checked for any messages left by the team.

Hearing the elevator open to the room floor Y/n walked out and then did a final check on messages from anyone and saw one from Ash.

'Do you have a tall twin by chance?'

Not even replying Y/n looked to the elevator to see Ash and Ali already trying to figure out who just walked past them.

"Hey, guys."

"Bubs?!"

Ali and Ash both said the nickname they personally had for Y/n, shocked that this was the same person.

"A few inches taller but yeah."

Ash, without warning, ran towards Y/n, clinging to Y/n like a koala to a tree.

"No growing up anymore!"

Y/n lightheartedly chuckled, thinking about how Dad and Papa nearly had the same reaction when noticing the very late and sudden growth spurt.

"Don't worry, I think this is as tall as I go."

Y/n put Ash down. Ali was looking at Ash and Y/n with a smile, noticing Y/n must've only been an inch or two taller than Ash.

"It better be." Ash acknowledged that Y/n was the tallest out of the three.

"Alright, come here bubs." Y/n smiled at Ali, not used to leaning down while hugging the majority of the team.

"It's good to see you guys again."

"I didn't know Sam was here." The three heard Crystal's voice, the hug ending.

Y/n turned around, "Hey Dunn."

The woman just put a hand on her hip, "Well if this isn't a surprise."

"Believe me, I'm still getting used to it myself."

"I'm gonna miss my short buddy."

"I mean I'm pretty sure that just means I give better piggybacks."

-----

Giggling and laughter were heard through the hallway to the cafeteria.

Everyone turned to see who was making the commotion.

Suddenly Y/n came through the doorway with Dunn piggybacking. Both laughed at the situation.

Nearly every person froze. Not seeing Y/n since the last camp before the World Cup.

Dunn got off of Y/n's back, giving the young player a pat between the shoulder blades.

"Shortstack?!"

"Hey, Kels," Y/n said nervously as Kelley's jaw went slack.

"You're.... you're..."

"Tower of Power 2.o?"

As Kelley continued to fumble Sam walked up to Y/n, "Damn, yeah. Welcome to tall people club."

Sam smiled seeing Y/n was still around an inch shorter than her.

While everyone went back to what they were doing before the chaos, Sam and Y/n sat together with Kelley, Sonnett, and a few others.

"Hitting your head a lot?" Sam inquired.

"Not as much, mainly when I just don't think about it."

"Don't worry, you'll learn to auto-duck."

Y/n chuckled, "I think I'll just miss the lost bed space. My bed feels so small now."

Sam nodded in solace.

"The price we pay."

"Were you bitten by a radioactive spider?"

The whole table kind of froze and slowly turned to Kelley.

"Not that I recall?" Y/n answered a little confused

"I'll find out soon enough."

"You wanna tango with my extra muscle, O'Hara?"

While not the most notable change in Y/n, the growth spurt caused Y/n to eat more and in turn, needed to work off more food. It also meant more time in the gym to work out some muscles.

Kelley thinking Y/n just meant the height difference mumbled, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Y/n shrugged the woman off.

"Well, none of that matters because now I get to ride all the grown-up rides!"

The enthusiasm caused the room to erupt in laughter.

[yatogami-shorts]

Art by: Smaii_i (find them on X!)

This is part 2 of my previous story!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking up in the mornings was never easy for her. No matter how many alarms she set, she either slept through them or favored the snooze button. It wasn't really something she did on purpose, considering sleep didn't really come easy. Even though the dust had settled from battles past, the nightmares would still come up from time to time. So the fact that she was sleeping so soundly without disruption was...a little suspicious.

The soft light of the sunrise spilled in through the window, illuminating the room with a warm golden glow. Her eyes fluttered opened slowly, adjusting to the brightness, as she sat herself up, taking in a deep breath of the crisp morning air.

"When did I get here...?" She said to herself, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before glancing down at the bed.

Nestled next to her was Cloud, sound asleep. She shifted slightly, careful not to disturb him, and smiled.

"I'm going to assume it was you," she said softly.

His hair was spread out across the pillow, somehow making his normal spiky style even messier. She reached out slowly, her fingers brushing a stray lock of hair away from his forehead. She watched him as he slept, his breathing slow and steady, face displaying a calm and peaceful expression. Tifa’s heart softened as she took in the sight, appreciating the rare sight of Cloud's vulnerability.

Carefully, she leaned in closer, her heart skipping a beat as a mix of affection and admiration filled her. Tifa pressed her lips to his forehead, the kiss soft and tender, before reluctantly pulling away.

"Thank you," she whispered, stealing one last glance at Cloud's resting face.

Without warning, a muscled arm found it's way around her waist as Cloud suddenly sat up and pulled her into his lap and embraced her.

"You're welcome," he said, his morning voice a husky melody to her ears. "Though, you prob'ly shouldn't sleep on the couch."

"You were awake?" She asked in surprise.

"Light sleeper, remember? SOLDIER thing."

"Right," she giggled, resting her head against his shoulder, the warmth of his body enveloping her. "I didn't fall asleep there on purpose, you know. I was waiting for you."

"I know."

Cloud wrapped his arms around her, giving her back a gentle rub and placing a chaste kiss against her collarbone before fiddling with a lock of her hair.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Nothing. I just....I miss your dolphin tail," he replied, tying off a red ribbon at the end of her hair. "You haven't worn your hair this way in a while."

She giggled against him, a small smile breaking upon her face as she lightly squeezed him in her arms.

"That so?" She teased, nuzzling herself closer. “I guess I got a bit lazy with it. Things have been busy.”

Cloud chuckled, his fingers continuing to lightly stroke her back. “I get it."

Moments passed as they stayed in each others embrace, a comfortable silence enveloping the room. It wasn't long before Tifa found the peace lulling her back to sleep, but was soon interrupted by the unmistakable sound of her stomach growling. Her face flushed with embarrassment as she realized how loud it had been, especially in the quiet of the morning.

"Hungry?" Cloud asked, a tone of amusement in his voice.

"Maybe...a little." She muttered.

"How about a breakfast date, then?"

She pulled away slightly, her cheeks still a slight shade of pink.

"I'd like that," she said with a nod and a smile.

She made her way towards the edge of the bed and stood, her arms above her head in a deep stretch as she began walking towards the bathroom.

"A breakfast date, huh?" She said to herself, pulling her hair over her shoulder to admire Cloud's handiwork. "Guess I better give it my all!"

And maybe, just maybe, she'd keep doing this hairstyle.

Prob'ly.

[nicksolemnlyswears]

WASH YOUR WORRIES AWAY

pairing: opla!buggy the clown x reader

word count: 2.8k

warnings: 18+, cursing, oral (male receiving), p in v, honestly this one is pretty tame but it's cute <3

a/n: hi hi hi! im back with my bullshit! no but this one is really fucking sweet (maybe a tad cheesy at the end). i had the idea for a while so i was really happy to see that he people of tumblr voted for this choice on the poll.

i started this being super naughty with sanji and zoro and now look at me being a doll with buggy and mihawk (which is strange cause they can easily be the kinkiest mfs).

so i think im gonna write another oneshot for buggy in the near future. maybe one for nami and then i'm gonna go back and write the third part for the sanji x reader x zoro. that's gonna be real fucking interesting. it'll be my first time writing a threesome so wish me luck!

thank you guys for reading and putting up with my wild imagination!!

(as always my psa that this is solely based on the live action)

Buggy the Clown stomps into the Jolly Roger angrily. His crew is nowhere to be found on the empty deck. He expected them to be awake, running around, making plans to get their Captain back. Instead, they are snoozing in the rooms of his ship, shielding themselves from the cold ocean breeze.

Buggy mutters insults towards his freaks under his breath. The lot of them should freeze for all he cares. The fishmen kidnapped him, and all they're doing is getting their fucking beauty sleep. He's starting to believe he wasn't missed.

He beelines to the Captain's quarters, where he finds a pretty sight welcoming him. You're on his side of the bed, peacefully asleep. Buggy intentionally slams the door behind him, rudely waking you up from your slumber.

You jump at the bang and sit up, looking alarmed at the intrusion. "Buggy!" You gasp, relieved to see him, "You're back!"

You and the freaks have been working nonstop on keeping the ship afloat and searching for its Captain. You've barely rested in weeks, tracking down Arlong and his crew.

Today, you finally found the location of Arlong Park and set sail. You stopped an island away to let the freaks rest before marching into battle. They will need it to beat the fishmen or at least make enough damage to get Buggy out.

"No thanks to you and my useless crew," Buggy bites, throwing his coat to the side dramatically. At least his theatrics were not hurt while he was away.

You stand from the bed and approach him softly. He's like a wounded animal that might bolt at any second.

"That's not fair. You know we were on our way," you softly say, feeling bad about his harsh tone. Buggy loves to tease you and push your buttons, but it's not often he's genuinely angry at you.

"Taking your sweet ass time, it seems," he cries out, gesturing at the door as if referring to his sleeping crew.

You let it go and decide not to continue arguing. He's physically and emotionally wounded. Not to mention his ego. You stand centimeters away and grab his gloved hand, "Let me make it up to you, Bugs."

Being this close, you can assess his appearance closely. His makeup is smeared more than usual; it's faded on some parts as his blue stubble breaks through the white face paint, and his eyes look defeated.

"Yeah, make it up to me. Let's see what you come up with," he says sarcastically, letting your hand fall from his grasp. His words might drip with sarcasm, but they are a plea for help in disguise. So you pay him no mind, knowing that by the end of the night, you'll have him like putty in your hands. Only to rebuild him back into the Buggy the Clown you know and love and the Marines fear.

"I'll be right back." You tell him, leaving the room momentarily. You return minutes later with a freak who pushes a wooden tub behind you with steaming water. The freak barely spares a glance at Buggy, scared that the clown might lash out at him.

Closing the door once he leaves, you prepare the water with oils and fragrances. Buggy watches from afar, sitting on the wooden chair he has in his room. He's used to hunching on it for hours, examining his maps, and executing master plans for the next big adventure. He likes looking over his shoulder to watch you sleep peacefully as insomnia grabs hold of him. It brings him peace.

"Come 'ere, Bugs," you say, grabbing his hand to help him up. Buggy grumbles in protest despite looking forward to the bath. "Let me take care of you," you whisper, looking up at him. You place your hand on his chest in comfort.

"I don't need you to take care of me. I'm a grown ass man," Buggy gruffs out, avoiding your gaze. It's not like he's felt like a man in the past few weeks as he's been carried around in a sac as a mere head while his body was beaten constantly by the fishmen. It was degrading and made him feel extremely weak.

You roll your eyes at him but play along, "You're right. You are a grown, strong man. Will you indulge me, though? It'll make me feel better seeing you're okay."

Buggy finally meets your eyes and nods, "For you."

There's no reason for him to say no. You're the person that knows him best in this world. You probably know what he's feeling without him telling you in the first place. Still, he acts difficult because he's bratty like that and because sometimes he has a hard time understanding you're there for him no matter what, with no ulterior motive.

You softly smile at him and pat his chest. Your hands trail up to the scarf tied around his neck, and your fingers swiftly undo the knot. You throw it on the bed as you continue down his chest, reaching the buttons of his vest.

Buggy watches you closely as you concentrate on undoing the buttons. Your touch never lifts from his skin for more than a second, granting him the pleasure of feeling your soothing touch after many weeks.

The vest falls on the floor as you push it back over his shoulders. Fingertips tickle his arm as you reach his hand to take off one of his gloves. Your eyes timidly meet his as you plant a small kiss on his palm.

Before he met you, he never thought such a minuscule action could mean so much. Now, he craves it often. It's your way of saying 'I love you,' seeing as Buggy is not good with words. You give him options to show his love, and that's priceless to him.

Your curious eyes have already taken in all his bruises and minor cuts. There's no doubt Arlong's men had been beating him up. You don't bring them up, knowing Buggy will close up again. He'll talk when he's ready.

You kneel on the floor, helping him off his boots, and quickly after, you get rid of his pants, too. You guide a butt-naked Buggy to the tub, ordering him to get in.

"Ohh," Buggy bites back a moan as the warm water soothes his aching muscles. The smell of eucalyptus wafts up to his nose. It's his favorite scent because it's the one you used when you met.

"Would you like me to wash your hair?" You ask him, untying the knot on his head scarf.

"You said you were gonna take care of me. Do whatever you want, sweet cheeks," he knows you've already made your decision, as his hair is already down before he can respond. You beam at the nickname, knowing your Buggy is softening up.

His bright blue hair falls down his back and into the water. Grabbing a jug, you fill it with water and softly tell Buggy to tilt his head back. The water cascades down his head, wetting his hair and turning it a beautiful deep teal.

Buggy opens his eyes and sees your calm expression as you concentrate on not getting any water on his face. A small fraction of his anger chips away, seeing how much you care for him. Only you'd know he hates the feeling of water pouring down his face.

You grab oils from your selection and brush them through his hair, ridding him of any sand and grime stuck in it. Buggy involuntarily closes his eyes as you massage his scalp with the tip of your fingers. A mixture of a sigh and moan falls from his lips.

When his hair is clean and untangled, you grab the bar of soap and a sponge to clean his body. Your eyes are attentive to any bruise or cut, careful not to hurt him any more than he is.

You notice his neck is quite stiff as you spread the soap suds across his back, so you spend some time massaging the area. You dig your thumbs into the tension knots, causing Buggy to become more vocal, groaning and moaning whenever you hit a spot that needs extra care.

Moving to kneel beside the tub, you wash his chest and stomach. Buggy simply stares as you focus on getting every speck of dirt off of him. Any other day, he'd be making you laugh and throwing inappropriate jokes, but the time didn't seem right to him. So, he kept quiet and observed how you tried to hide your grimaces whenever you encountered a nasty bruise.

You massage his knees when you get to his legs because you know they hurt. Buggy might not complain about any pain, but you know the chop chop fruit makes his joints ache when he uses his abilities.

As the dirt is washed away from his body, so does his anger. He's sure that by the end of the bath, he won't be any better than a harmless puppy, and that's all you wanted. Buggy needs to let go of the anger he harbors inside so he can come back stronger than ever and lead the crew to its next adventure, whatever that may be.

You leave his face for last. You're the only person on earth who has the honor and pleasure of cleaning his face free of its makeup. Carefully, you wipe away with a rag the grease paint covering his handsome face. There's layer upon layer of paint staining his skin. A splash of blue over his eyes, red on the corner of his lips, white on his hairline. You wipe away each layer until you're able to see your Buggy. Not Buggy the Clown.

"There you are," you smile, cupping his face. Buggy's hand comes up to encase yours to simply kiss your palm. Beautiful blue eyes stare back at you shyly. Without all the makeup, he tends to feel more self-conscious about his nose.

"You know I was coming for you, right?" You ask him to make it clear you never intended to abandon him.

"I know, Princess," he says, leaning further into your touch. Your thumb brushes over his stubble before you pull back your hand. A soft protest leaves him.

"Let's get you out," you murmur, helping him out of the bath. You tell him to stay where he is as you fetch the towel.

Once you start something, you have to finish it. With the same love and care, you dry Buggy's body, kissing his bruises as you go along. You get on your knees to dry his legs as well.

It's a very intimate position you're in. Buggy's manhood is right in front of your face. He's looking down with hooded eyes, waiting for your next move. He'll go as far as you want to go tonight.

Having him away for so long, you can't resist kissing around his pubic bone. You avoid touching his cock for now as you tease him, looking up at him innocently.

His length begins to harden as you keep brushing your lips all around his thighs and pubic area, but not where he needs to feel you most. You notice his fists clenching as he holds back from grabbing your head and placing it exactly where he wants.

Finally, your lips kiss his length, all the way from the base to the tip. That alone gets all of his blood to surge down to his cock. You continue this torturous pace for too long, teasing the tip of his cock with your tongue.

"Fuck, Princess," Buggy groans, looking into your eyes.

He's tired. He's been away for weeks. Despite wanting to fall on his bed and die for the next ten hours, his need to have you wins out. So, with the energy boost you gave him with the bath, he grabs your arm and pulls you up.

There will be time for you to suck his cock another time. Now, he needs to feel you as close as humanly possible. Buggy grabs your face and presses his lips against yours.

He kisses you deeply and sloppily, tasting your minty lip balm. He hunches over you as you lean back, overwhelmed by the sudden display of affection. Kissing him back just as fiercely as your arms wrap around his sides, pulling yourself closer.

His hand leaves your cheek to tug on the strings of your night dress and push it off your shoulders. The falling fabric tickles your skin as you're left just as exposed as he is.

Buggy grips your breasts, your sides, your thighs, and your ass. All to feel you so fucking close to him. He doesn't care if he's suffocated by you. After weeks of being tortured, all he wants is to feel your soft, caring touch.

You push Buggy back into the bed, and you tumble down with him as his hold on you is unrelenting. You won't be leaving his side tonight. Buggy sits in the center of the bed with you on his lap, grinding against his length.

"Fucking adore you," Buggy breathes, digging his head on your shoulder to leave kisses there, "and the way you take care of me."

"I'll always take care of you, Buggy," you tell him, cupping his jaw so you can look into his eyes, "You're mine. I gotta take care of what's mine, okay?"

A whine comes out of him as he nods at your words. He kisses your palm again, telling you everything you need to know. Buggy leans his forehead against yours. Something he had to get used to at the beginning due to the fact your noses also touch, but right now, it's the farthest thing on his mind. Having you close is his number one priority.

You line his cock with your entrance and slowly sink into it. You watch Buggy's face contort into one of pleasure as his mouth slightly gapes and his eyebrows furrow. You start bouncing softly, being mindful to be gentle with his aching body. Meanwhile, he grabs into your hips, helping you along, his fingers digging into you, afraid this is all a dream, and you'll go away.

There's no way this is a dream. You feel too warm and tight around him for it not to be real.

Buggy's arms encase your body as he pulls you flush against him. Chest to chest. Stomach to stomach. It doesn't matter that it makes it harder for you to move on top of him. Buggy drags his short nails down your back, relishing the heat of your skin. It's not with the intent to hurt but to feel you close.

You keep your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling at the roots just how he likes it. You've resorted to grinding on his lap, as that's how much movement he allows you. His eyes bore into yours, depicting so many emotions he can't begin to comprehend, much less talk about. But it's enough for the two of you.

You peck his lips and ask, "You doing okay?"

Buggy nods and whispers, "I'm doing fucking perfect." He steals a kiss and another and another. Each kiss you let him steal gets progressively longer until he has his tongue in your mouth, tasting you.

The grind of your hips is enough to bring him to the edge. With a warning to your lips, Buggy spills inside of you. He revels in the level of closeness that brings. You play with his hair as he rests his head on your chest, catching his breath.

You need not say anything. It's a moment of vulnerability, and you let him have it. Buggy is resetting and pulling himself together back to the person he usually is.

That night, you sleep naked with Buggy basically on top of you. His head rests on your chest as he falls asleep listening to your heartbeat, and you hold him all throughout the night.

Except, when you wake up, he's gone. As your senses fully wake up, you notice the boat rocking. You've already set sail. Quickly, you get ready and go out onto the deck.

"About time you woke up, Sweet Cheeks!" Buggy yells from the helm, standing by the ship's wheel. The sun beams on Buggy's face, the familiar makeup freshly painted on his face. "It's time to get to work. I have some pirates to deal with."

"Yes, Captain!" You say, which earns you a sneaky wink from Buggy. With a soft laugh, you shake your head and walk through the ship to help the freaks with whatever they might need.

With you by his side, there is nothing Buggy can't overcome.

[shewhohangsoutincemeteries]

wrapping up the last three hundred and sixty-five days with a round up of all the 'x reader' fanfiction I have published in 2022. thank you all for all your requests, feedback, reblogs and support over the last twelve months, especially during the 10k month of fic! sharing this love for these characters with you all is such a mental refresh for me, and hopefully I can publish even more fics in 2023. and I hope that you'll love all the new fics as much as you've loved these ones :)

happy new year!

full content warnings and content can be found on each individual post, and each fic is labelled for length. follow me on bartonstark to find all my fic in one place, or check out my ao3. smut/sexual content: *** personal favourites: ///

BRUCE BANNER:

afterwards (drabble) *** aftercare with bruce.

bend, don't break (oneshot) *** /// the take a reprieve during a party, and take a new step in your relationship.

fear and loving in iowa (oneshot) when you’re injured in johannesburg, bruce blames himself.

fireworks (oneshot) thanks to the frigid air at the top of the tower, you share a tender moment.

first times (drabble) *** having sex with bruce for the first time.

p.s. (ficlet) an unfinished note leaves you confused during your college graduation.

restoration (oneshot) after johannesburg, you have nightmares. bruce provides you with comfort.

BUCKY BARNES:

bedside manner (oneshot) sam calls you to say bucky has been hurt on a mission,and you panic.

early hours (oneshot) *** after a mission, all bucky wants to do is crawl into bed with you.

morning grind (drabble) *** morning sex with bucky.

shards of glass (oneshot) *** /// you share a past, and now bucky's tracked you down to find closure.

CLINT BARTON:

after hours (oneshot) *** clint stops by your office after work to distract you the best way he can.

body heat (oneshot) *** /// the there's-only-one-bed trope in the back of an suv during a blizzard.

bound (drabble) *** clint is really into bondage and you're happy to spoil him.

coffee break (ficlet) there's an avenger bleeding in the bathroom of the cafe where you work.

crossroads (oneshot) clint receives an offer that could change his life & you encourage him to take it.

a delicate hand (oneshot) /// clint attempts to pull you out of a funk by helping you get ready for the event.

green light (oneshot) *** /// you surprise clint with a new toy, and he is very eager to try it out.

hey, you (ficlet) *** /// you receive a note from a certain avenger in the middle of a crowded bar.

in the stacks (ficlet) *** you steal a moment of intimacy in the back of a bookshop together.

respite (oneshot) when you’re hurt on a mission, clint has to convince you to take a breather.

think of me (oneshot) *** /// when you're dragged out for a night, clint has an idea of what to do in the club.

three a.m. (oneshot) /// a knock on your window comes from a certain injury-prone avenger.

we could play pretend (oneshot) you bond over all the little things you miss about being in a relationship.

welcome home (drabble) *** you welcome clint home after he's been away on a mission.

JESSICA JONES:

reprieve (oneshot) she has to drag you out of a dingy bar in the middle of the night.

snooze button (drabble) jessica isn't exactly a morning person.

MARC SPECTOR:

fast lane (drabble) *** /// marc gives you a preview in the car of what to expect when you get home.

NATASHA ROMANOFF:

follow my lead (oneshot) natasha offers to teach you how to slow dance.

PETER QUILL:

raincheck (oneshot) /// convincing quill to go to bed isn’t exactly an easy feat.

SAM WILSON:

miss me? (oneshot) you're finally reunited with sam in the middle of the battle of earth.

soul food (oneshot) /// when you’re sick, he ditches his responsibilities just to make you feel better.

STEVE ROGERS:

lost time (oneshot) *** late for your date, steve walks in on you working off your frustrations.

TONY STARK:

afterglow (drabble) *** after care with tony.

as you're told (oneshot) *** /// tony calls you to his office with a new game in mind…

between the sheets (oneshot) *** you've decided to try for a baby, and tony can't wait to get started.

come back to me (oneshot) after tony almost dies, you’re left lost and furious at what just happened.

count (oneshot) *** /// tony is nothing if not a giver. but… he is also a bit of an asshole.

echo (oneshot) /// you’re struggling to forget the past, so you try to bring part of it back to you.

idiot (drabble) *** just an soft, sexy moment between the two of you.

insatiable (drabble) *** the real question is, which one of you is the bigger tease?

mood lighting (ficlet) *** tony spoils you by candlelight.

on your knees (oneshot) *** the idea of having you on your knees is far too tempting for tony to resist.

quick question (oneshot) tony has a question to ask you, battlefield be damned.

red and gold (ficlet) an afternoon in central park lets you appreciate the seasonal color change.

simple pleasures (drabble) *** tony loves nothing more than eating you out.

sober hearts (oneshot) a look at your relationship as it has evolved over the years.

spare key (drabble) *** you give tony a key to your apartment.

subtlety (oneshot) *** impatient, you make use of the ‘emergency stop’ button in the elevator.

warm hands (ficlet) *** the two of you share an intimate interlude out in the snow.

WANDA MAXIMOFF:

hold tight (oneshot) *** /// she loves to spoil you & sometimes that means leaving you a quivering mess.

reflected in you (oneshot) you try on your new uniform, and wanda helps you find your confidence.

spicy sweet (oneshot) *** you plan on surprising wanda, but disaster means a change of plans.

sweetness (oneshot) *** /// wanda loves the way you sound, and doesn’t care who else hears it.

THREESOMES/POLYAMORY:

hands free (oneshot) *** /// you find clint on the phone, and you can’t help but distract him.

player three (drabble) *** /// clint x bucky x you. game night takes a turn when they team up on you to win.

SERIES:

to ashes chapters (full series, this year's chapters in bold) prologue - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - more to come...

tags: @startrekkingaroundasgard @wittyforachange @lovely-dreamer19 @castieltrash1 @wefracturedmotivation @january-echoes @glossyloner @capitalnineteen @youclickedthislink @s0ftness @drakelover78 @queenoftheunderdark @fandoms-pizza-wifi-ym13 @lol-you-thought @sebbystanlover-vk @mikariell95 @csigeoblue @abrunettefangirlnerd @babyblues915 @aar-journey @moistpotatobear @bellamyblakemorley @diesinspanishbcimhispanic @sentimentalalien @agustdowney @akumune @xxboesefrauxx @patheticallysentimental @loki-is-loved @ruderavenclaw @enna-core @hearmyharmony @katsies @youralphawolf72 @whovianayesha @bradfordbantams @alice-the-nerd @ace-fandom-dumbass @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @twsssmlmaa @earth-pig-fish @hallothankmas @meeksmusic83 @fallinginlovewithqueue @justanothermagicalsara @dragon-chica @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @starrynightsforever @baku-writes @sorryurnotbrucebanner

[im-not-buying-it-ether]

Billy wakes up.

He has a test today. It’s Friday, his science class has a test every Friday to go over what they learned in the week. He feels optimistic, but then his League communicator pings.

Felix Faust in Star, send backup

He sighs, bumbling down the stairs to catch Rosa and Darla setting up a quick breakfast before school and tell them he needs to head out. Rosa says she’ll write a note that he caught a sudden flu, he’ll take his test Monday when he gets back. He runs outside, calling down his thunder and is off to help as he always does.

Billy wakes up, his alarm blaring as he turns over with a groan to silence it. He brings his hand down to hit the snooze button and the side table breaks into splinters, the Strength of Heracles had activated without his permission. Again

He worries over it, spending too long silently mourning the side table his dorm room had come with and the phone that still had so much use left in it. It feels like a waste, both mourning the action and almost crying over what he lost. It’s what a quiet voice in his head tells him, that he shouldn’t cry over something so trivial, like his phone was split milk and not something that felt so special to him as the gift the Vasquez’s got him when he actually stayed until his birthday. Something he hadn’t done for any other previous foster home, something he only shared with them like he used to when he still had his mom.

He goes through the motions of getting ready for classes at the academy, going slow and measuring every pull of fabric like his shirt over his head and his jeans up to his hips. They don’t tear, but he’s scared his— that Heracles strength would cause him to ruin his clothes if he rushed like he normally did or put in too much effort.

He heads to class and listens to his history lecture, doing all he can to ignore the aged voice of a long dead king not picking their teaching technique and reminiscing their own past. The classroom one voice louder than it should be.

Marvel wakes up, jolting from sleep like the thunder claps that summon him. Hands flying to pat himself down as he looks down with horror. “Shazam!”

He’s gone as soon as Billy had woken up, the window by his bed now broken in from the lightning arching through the opening to detransform him. He heaves a breath in, then another, and quickly spirals into hyperventilating.

He didn’t even wake up in his own body. He went to bed as Billy, why did he wake up different? Wouldn’t he wake up from transforming?

He looks out the broken glass of his window, steadying his breath the best he can as the storm clouds roll away.

Billy wakes up above his bed, free falling into his mattress from the few feet he’d gone up while unconscious. Face planted into his pillow, he cries himself back to sleep.

Billy wakes up from a nightmare fighting Arson Fiend with his fist through the wall his bed is pressed against and into the neighboring room, the kid on the other side awake and yelling at him as to what he was doing.

Billy wakes up.

Billy wakes up.

Marvel wakes up, his new phone buzzing on the floor next to his bed. He’d moved it to the middle of the room, he’d started tying an ankle to the post to keep from flying out too high or far from his bed. His phone buzzes again, a call. Looking over the edge has his sisters face smiling at him, and the strength of Heracles nor the courage of Achilles helps him muster up the will to answer her with a voice not his own. He hardly has the strength to mutter his word, something he’d call out proudly with a lions roar now reduced to a complacent whimper of the battle cry it once was.

He’s told he’s just growing up, that what he’s feeling is something everyone else has had to go through. He wants to believe his teachers, the Titans, his parents, but as well meaning as they are he can’t find himself able to believe that what he’s feeling is normal.

The phone goes silent, and eternity drags on.

Inspired by @billymarvel ‘s post about Dick absolutely sucking at his lil’ pep talk to Billy about his powers going wonky, he’s a sad lil bean and I want to hug him

[ijustwanttoreadfanfiction]

Friendly Sex - Chapter 4 - The Interrogation

This chapter is pretty dialogue heavy to cover some middle ground. Also my finger slipped and some smut copy and pasted itself onto the end, whoopsie.

On a serious note, there are discussions in this chapter regarding divorce, custody battles etc, and poor relationships with parents and their partners, which I know can be triggering for some people. I was raised solely by my mum who did an incredible job and have no contact with my dad, so it's been interesting to explore the dynamic between reader and her dad.

Chapter warnings: (MDI) 18+ only, phone sex, mutual masturbation, dirty talk, swearing, consensual use of the word slut.

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

You awake groggy and disoriented, your alarm clock beeping incessantly, slapping the snooze button groaning at the bright sunlight streaming through the window, you burrow back down under the covers. Rolling onto your back you stretch out noticing a heaviness in your limbs not too dissimilar to a pulled muscle after running track, but it was the slight dull ache between your legs that made you smile.

There was something sinful in the way it made you feel, knowing what had caused it, knowing it was going to happen again, assuming Eddie hadn't woken up screaming in regret. And there was the enigma himself; Eddie Munson. On paper Eddie was not your type; metal head, underachiever, drug dealer, troublemaker, potentially needed a good wash, dressed like he'd fallen into the lost property box of an Iron Maiden concert…

Steve Harrington was your type; pretty boy, immaculately groomed, athletic, caring, funny, trendy.

  But, even in your wildest fantasies about Steve you hadn't dreamt about half of the things you actually did with Eddie in the space of 2 hours. No, fantasy Steve was all about making deep and meaningful love to you on feather beds, not fucking you in the middle of the street, or eating you out in the back of a beat up van.

Fantasy Steve called you sweetheart in an adoring way, when Eddie called you sweetheart it went straight to your cunt. 

Warmth blossoms in your belly, remembering the sensation of Eddie suckling at your clit, the way his cock stretched you as he rutted against you. With a deep sigh you put your hand down to your panty covered mound, only for your alarm to start beeping shrilly once again.

"Alright, alright I'm up." You say to no one in particular, turning off the alarm and heading into the bathroom.

"Oh sweet Jesus, no." You catch sight of yourself in the mirror and are horrified, pulling the neck of your sleep tee down for a better look. Hickey's . Hundreds, if not thousands, ok three. Three hickey's proudly adorning your neck and chest, the darkest and largest on the right side of your throat far above where any item of clothing could cover. Mentally cursing Eddie with every fibre of your being, you scramble about for your tube of concealer, you wouldn't ordinarily wear makeup to work but today was definitely going to be an exception.

***

Try as you might, and oh boy were you trying, you couldn't completely make the mark disappear but at least it looked more like a smudge of dirt now as opposed to 'look at me I got attacked by a vampire!' You were going to kill Eddie when you saw him, making another amendment to the pact in your head, no visible hickey's without prior approval .

Your work shirt mercifully covered the remaining two blotches he had sucked into the skin of your chest, and whilst your inner thighs and hip bones had also received the Eddie special, it was still early April and not quite warm enough for shorts season so you could wear pants without suspicion.

Concealing the mega-hickey had taken up most of your time, so it was in a flurry of movement you entered the kitchen, still tugging on socks, waistcoat half on, shucking open a pack of Pop Tarts with your teeth and ramming them in the toaster. 

  "Forget to set your alarm?" Your Dad asks pointedly, making you jump, he was sitting at the kitchen island sipping a cup of coffee and working on a crossword puzzle.

"Uh, I just lost track of time." You answer, hissing as you pull the hot pastries out.

"You seem to be doing that a lot." He says, giving you the same look as last night, like he was x-raying you.

You didn't trust yourself to respond so bit into the scalding Pop Tart instead with a pained shrug.

"Are you wearing makeup?" He asks suddenly, staring at you in confusion, you choke around your mouthful, zooming past him stopping only to plant a crumb covered kiss on his cheek.

"Gotta go Dad, bye!" You call thickly, racing out the door.

Wheeling your push bike out of the garage you cast a longing whine at your Dad's car, you had yet to pass your driving test, but even when you did your Dad had made it clear you would not be using his pride and joy a cherry red 1968 Chevrolet Chevelle, so for now you were stuck using your rusty but trusty pedal bike.

***

Family Video was only a 15 minute ride from your house but it felt like an hour, the tenderness between your legs making itself known from the minute you sat on the broken down seat.

"Fucking Munson." You wince with a groan, locking the bike outside the building.

  Entering the currently empty store you wander over to the Westerns section thinking a Clint Eastwod night with your Dad might be a good way to stop him from taking too much of an interest in your personal life. You pull out the Dollars Trilogy, as a hand grabs your shoulder making you scream.

"Oh good you're not dead." Robin glared at you with a highly pissed expression.

"Jeez Robin you scared the shit out of me!" You complain holding your chest.

"Well now you know how I felt when you disappeared last night, where the hell were you?" She asks, hands on her hips. 

You were cornered, it hadn't even occurred to you to come up with an explanation for your absence from the party and Robin was not the type of person to let something go without a fight, the two weeks you were away visiting your Mom last Summer had her translating Russian and exposing a secret KGB science experiment; so you didn’t have a hope in hells chance.

You hated yourself for doing it but a classic 'Steve pity party’ play was the best way to throw her off the scent, laying it on thick you let your shoulders slump sadly, sighing deeply.

  "I'm sorry Rob, seeing Steve and Nancy it just kinda killed my buzz, you're right though I should have told you I was going home. I'm-"

"OH MY GOD, YOU GOT LAID!" She shrieks, grabbing your shoulders.

"What?! No I didn't!" You hiss, heart hammering wondering if your concealer had melted off, you were going to sue Cover Girl, �� all day wear’ my ass.

"Oh you so did!" She laughs loudly, positively vibrating with excitement.

"Robin, would you shut up !" You whisper frantically, Steve could be anywhere and you did not want him to hear.

  You knew the only way to appease her would be to give her some form of the truth, whilst it would mean admitting you had sex, you could just say it was some random guy at the party, she didn't need to know it was Eddie. You shove the videos back onto the shelf, grabbing her hand, pulling her behind the curtain into the adult section, the irony not lost on you.

"Ok, yes, you're right I hooked up with someone but-"

"YES! I KNEW IT!"

"ROBIN!" You chastise, covering her mouth with your palm, which she answers with a lick much to your disgust.

"Ew, you're so gross." You complain, wiping your hand on her waistcoat, undeterred she launched her interrogation. 

"Was he at the party? Does he go to our school? Do I know him? Is he hot? Was it good?" She asks you at a dizzying speed.

“Which one do you want me to answer first?” You query, desperate to keep her volume below foghorn.

“The most important one obviously, was it good?” Her grin is contagious, and you find yourself smiling in spite of your worry about being found out, once again your mind conjures up visions of Eddie, licking, biting, sucking, thrusting.

“Wow…” Robin breathes out staring at you with a slight jealousy.

“I didn’t say anything yet.” You laugh.

“You didn’t have to, the look on your face was enough.”

You both lapse into giggles, the teenager in you wanting nothing more than to gossip with your best friend.

  “So, do I know him?” She asks again, eyes sparkling in curiosity.

“No, you don’t know him, he's just a random guy, friends with the older brother of some of the jocks who were there.” You were impressed with the lie, vague but with enough details to make it sound real.

"Wait, so if he’s older and doesn’t go to our school, is he a college guy?” She grabs your shoulders again. “Holy shit did you hook up with a college guy?"

"Who hooked up with a college guy?" 

This time you both scream in fright, Steve pulling back the privacy curtain.

  "Some girl."

"She did!"

You and Robin answer at the same time; your stomach drops, heart catapulting up into your mouth, you stare at her open mouthed in abject horror.

"You hooked up with a college guy?" Steve asks in surprise, an odd look on his face.

"Uh, yeah." You mumble, scuffing your sneakers against the linoleum, your face burning with embarrassment.

“Well, uh, hey good for you.” He says, the smile seeming forced. “We should probably open up.” 

***

It was an abysmally slow Sunday shift, why Keith insisted on having all three of you in you would never know, there had only been one customer in the last 45 minutes and you were beginning to lose the will to live staring aimlessly out the window from behind the counter.

“Hey.” Steve came up with a boxful of tapes.

“Hi.” You reply leaning back against the countertop trying to act casual, but your heart was already racing, brain steadily filling with a kind of fluffy static, Robin referred to these episodes as ‘having the Harringtons’. “Are these returns for going back out?” You ask rooting about in the box.

“Yeah, I thought it might help kill some time.” He smiles, running a carefree hand through his god-like hair; your heart sputters and you think you might faint so you quickly distract yourself,  pulling out five tapes at a time, checking they’ve been rewound.

  “So, it sounds like you had a good time last night.” He says, coming around the counter to help you with the task, his proximity making your hands shake.

“Uh- yeah, it was fun.” You answer lamely, mind going blank as it so often did around Steve, putting a half rewound copy of Fast Times At Ridgemont High to one side

“Gotta say, I’m surprised, you’re so shy, didn't think you had it in you.” He didn’t say it like it was a bad thing, in fact he almost sounded impressed?

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” You reply with a small smile, leaning across him to grab some more tapes from his pile.

“Evidently not.” He laughs and you feel goosebumps erupt up your arms at the sound.

“So, you gonna see this guy again?” He asks, logging some data onto the computer system.

“Do you think I should see him again?” You don’t know why you ask him, the words tumbling out like vomit before you can stop them.

He turns to look at you fully and you’re trapped under the weight of his gaze, mouth going dry, he stretches a little and you catch a glimpse of his happy trail, you were definitely ‘having the Harringtons’ again.

“It’s not really up to me honey.” He answers kindly, Honey, sweet Jesus, he's trying to kill you. “Do you like him?”

  The question threw you, you had spent so much of the day talking to Robin about the made up mystery man that you had almost disassociated Eddie from the entire situation, but now his face was all you could see.

“I haven’t really thought about it.” You say, while a little voice in your brain whispers 'Liar'

“Yeah I guess you only met him yesterday huh? Well so long as you’re having fun, that’s the main thing.” Steve smiles encouragingly, patting you on the shoulder.

"Yep, fun." You mumble with a nob, grabbing some more tapes.

***

  5pm rolls around like a slug stuck in glue, the three of you desperate to get out of the store. 

Shoving the Dollars trilogy into the basket of your bike, you set off with a wave, Robin calling after you as she clambers into Steve’s BMW.

“See you at school you hussy, I've not finished grilling you!”

“Bye!” You yell back with a laugh.

The ride home was refreshing after being cooped up all day, and you were pleased to note the soreness between your legs had all but disappeared, you whistle as you wheel your bike up the driveway looking forward to a quiet evening with your dad.

  “I’m home and I've brought Mr Eastwood with me.” You call traipsing through the front door VHS’s in hand,  toeing your sneakers off. “Dad?”

“In here Sprout.” Your Dad calls back from the den, you slouch in, flopping onto the couch next to him, leaning into his side. “Good day kiddo?”

“Slow, but looky looky, and I thought we could order pizza?” You say with a smile shaking the tapes at him, he smiles back taking A Fistful of Dollars but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” You ask warily, somehow already knowing what his answer would be.

“Your mom called.” And there it was. “She’d like you to go up for a weekend next month.” He says, focusing intensely on the back of the video description like he hadn’t seen the film 100 times before.

“Why?” You snap.

He sighs deeply, putting the tape onto the coffee table.

“Because she’s your mom, and she would like to see you.” He replies in a measured tone.

“But it’s not summer, the agreement was 2 weeks every summer break and every other Christmas.” You know you’re being needlessly difficult, petulant even but you feel the indignation rising.

“That was the minimum, she is well within her rights to see you as often as she wants to.” He reminds you carefully.

“I don’t care, she gave up her rights the minute she walked out on us!” You shout, standing from the couch, gazing furiously at your father. “You’ve already agreed haven’t you?” You ask accusingly.

His shoulders slump, running an exasperated hand over his careworn face.

“Yes Sprout I have.” He murmurs tiredly. “Your flight to Chicago is booked for Memorial Day weekend.”

“Unbelievable.” You huff, storming out of the room, stomping louder than necessary on the stairs.

“Hey, what about the pizza.” He calls after you.

“Eat it yourself, I'm not hungry!” You yell slamming your bedroom door, locking it for good measure.

  You strip off your uniform, pulling on a worn flannel shirt and some sleep shorts all the while cursing under your breath, furious with your dad but even more so with your mom. Maybe you could beg Keith to give you extra shifts that weekend so you wouldn’t have to go, already knowing your dad would put a stop to it, likely calling Keith tomorrow to clue him in.

You slam the play button on your stereo, Fleetwood Mac’s - Storms filling the air from where you had last left off on the cassette, you were feeling guilty now, regretting taking your anger out on your dad, you’re just about to swallow your pride and apologise when your phone rings.

“Robin, I'm really not in the mood to discuss my sexual exploits any further tonight.” You say snapping into the receiver, plopping onto your bed.

"Uhh, hi." Came Eddie's confused voice. You feel your cheeks turn pink, cringing, having completely forgotten that he said he would call.

"Oh! Hi, sorry I thought you were -"

"Robin, yeah I gathered." He chuckles lightly. "Been gossiping about me sweetheart? I wondered why my ears had been burning all day.” 

“What? No! Well sort of…” You ramble. “Robin somehow guessed I'd gotten laid, but I didn’t tell her it was you, just some random guy at the party.”

“Just some random guy huh? Was this random guy any good?” God you can practically hear the smirk.

  You lean back against your headboard, placing the phone more comfortably in your lap so you could play with the cord.

“I’ve had better.” You say nonchalantly with a smile.

“Fucking liar.” Eddie laughs. “So you ok, you sounded pretty pissed when you answered?” He asks.

“Just family stuff.” You shrug, not wanting to go into it, but for the second time today you appeared to have word vomit. “It’s my mom, she wants me to visit next month.”

“And I take it that’s a problem?” He queries.

“You could say that. It’s complicated…” You trail off wondering if you should be going into all of this with Eddie, then you remembered Rule 3 - Communication. “She left when I was 10. She worked for a pharmaceutical company and met this heart surgeon, Phil.” You couldn’t keep the contempt out of your voice.

“Ah.” Eddie says in understanding. “And Phil is a massive dick right?”

You laugh, twirling the cord around your finger.

“The biggest.” You concede. “But he’s only part of the problem. It was a really messy divorce, my dad had a heart attack halfway through from the stress. When it came to custody of me I'd already made up my mind that I was staying with Dad, but my mom didn’t even fight for me; she was already pregnant and living a brand new life with her perfect surgeon. In the end it was settled. I got to live with dad permanently but have to stay with Mom for 2 weeks every summer and spend every other Christmas with her.” You heave a deep sigh, the sting of abandonment resurfacing.

“So, how come she wants to see you next month?” Eddie asks, and you’re honestly surprised that he paid attention to what you had been saying.

“No idea.” You mumble. 

  “My old man writes to me sometimes, asking me to visit him in prison, but I never go, I hate him for what he put my mom through.” He says, you knew from the high school gossip chain that Eddie’s dad was in prison and his mom passed away during his middle school years, so he lives with his uncle in Forest Hills Trailer Park. “Parents huh?” He adds with a wry snort.

You feel bad for bitching about having to see your mom when he probably would do anything to see his, you shift uncomfortably, biting your lip.

“Sorry Eds, I didn’t mean to dump on you.”

“Hey, it’s cool princess, everyone needs to let off steam once in a while.” He soothes. “Anyway, what are you wearing?” He asks, putting on a seedy voice.

“God, you’re such a pervert Munson.” You laugh.

“If I remember correctly, you were the one who came when I called you a slut last night.” He says teasingly and you feel your face flush with colour. “I gotta say baby, I've been thinking about your pussy all day.”

“Eddie.” You warn breathlessly, trying to ignore the spark of arousal in your belly.

“What are you doing right now?” He asks you, his tone lower than before.

“I’m in bed.” You say, fingers wrapping and unwrapping the telephone cord nervously.

“Touch yourself for me.” He says suddenly.

“Eddie I can’t, my dad is downstairs.” You hiss.

“You’ll just have to be quiet then, won’t you sweetheart.” His voice goes straight to your cunt.

  Heart hammering, you get up checking your door is properly locked, creeping back your bed you lay down once more, hand resting on your stomach,  receiver propped up to your ear by your pillows. 

“I’ve never done this before.” You admit shyly.

“I’m guessing you never had sex in public before last night either, but there’s a first time for everytime.” He laughs. “We can stop though, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He adds seriously.

“No, I want to.” You mumble, allowing your fingers to drift downwards slipping under the waistband of your shorts and panties.

“Good girl.” He praises. “Are you touching yourself?”

“Uh huh.” You tease your slit softly, surprised at how wet you were already, fingertips coming 

away warm and slick, moving back up to lightly circle your bud.

“Are you wet?” He asks, and you hear the chinking of a belt buckle on his end.

“Yes, i-i’m rubbing my clit.”

“Oh sweetheart.” He coos, his breathing picking up slightly. “I want you to pinch your nipples for me at the same time, can you do that for me princess?”

“Y-yes.” You whisper, your free hand unbuttoning your shirt to your naval, fingers pinching first at your left breast then right. “Feels good.”

“I bet it does.” Eddie groans softly. “What are you thinking about, baby?”

You bite back a low whine, hips rocking a little as you dip a finger back into your tight heat.

“You Ed’s, thinking about how you tongue fucked me.” You gasp, too turned to feel any kind of embarrassment.

“Mm, you tasted so good sweetheart, I can’t wait to get between your thighs again. Jesus baby, you’ve got me so hard.” He moans.

“I wish you were here Eddie, want you to fuck me.” You whimper, sliding a second finger into your cunt, your other hand rubbing more insistently at your swollen clit.

“Fuck-” He chokes out, and you can hear the slick pumping of his cock. “Me too princess, wanna fuck you so badly.”

  “What would you do to me?” You ask barely above a whisper, hips canting up in earnest to meet your fingers. 

“I’d fuck you from behind, on all fours, see that perfect ass bouncing back against my cock.” He groans. “You want me to take you from behind sweetheart?”

You bite back a sob, fresh arousal coating your fingers. “Please Eddie.”

“Such a good girl for me, maybe i’ll come visit you in work soon, fucking bend you over the counter.” He pants, a small whine escaping your throat. “Shit you like that?” He laughs incredulously. “Is that what you want baby, my little slut wanting to get fucked where anyone could see again?”

“Y-yes. Fuck Eddie i’m so close.” You cry softly, fingers strumming faster.

“Oh sweetheart, I’m going fuck your sweet cunt so hard tomorrow.” He sighs. “Gonna fuck you so deep you’ll feel my cock in your belly.”

“You will?” You ask, feeling your orgasm start to crest.

“It’s a fucking promise.” He growls.

  “Fuck, fuck, Eddie i’m gonna cum.” You pant desperately, heat spreading from your toes in an unstoppable wave. 

“Yes, cum for me sweetheart, I wanna hear you cum.” He pleads, your breath catches pleasure shooting up your spine, exhaling on a broken sob. “G-good girl, fuck i’m -” He cuts off,  hearing him working his slick cock for all it’s worth, you whimper along with him teasing aftershocks from your throbbing cunt. 

“Cum for me Eddie, please.” You beg, he groans loudly almost feral in your ear, both of you breathing heavily down the phone.

“You ok?” You ask after a few moments, still listening to him panting. “Eds?”

“Shit, sorry sweetheart, I think I blacked out for a second.” He wheezes and you burst into fits of giggles.

“That good huh?” You ask proudly, sitting up in bed.

“Incredible. You’re incredible” He says softly, you smile a different type of warmth blooming in your chest, before you can respond there’s a soft knock on your door making you jump.

  “Sprout, you awake? Pizza’s here if you’re hungry.” He calls.

“Uh, yeah give me a minute Dad, I'm just on the phone to Robin.” You answer, quickly moving off the bed.

“Ok kiddo, tell Robin I said Hi.” He says, you wait until you can hear him on the stairs before talking again. 

“Eddie, I gotta go.” You say.

“Pizza, yeah I heard.” He responds still sounding out of breath. “See you tomorrow princess, that’s a promise.”

Taglist: @avalon-wolf

[ellethespaceunicorn]

Dennis waking up to babygirl crying, but not waking up reader because this is the first time in a long time she's finally getting some good rest. Then, I feel like once the reader wakes up well-rested, breakfast is already on the table for her and DJ. ❤️🥹

OMG Nonnie, I love this so much. Let’s flesh out this little vision!

At the first sound of the baby’s cries, Dennis stirs.

The arm that was wrapped around you is moving ever so slightly, making sure you don’t wake up. Since taking on some extra responsibilities at work, you have been getting home late and barely sleeping at night. Dennis refuses to have you wake up before you are ready.

With you taking on a leadership role at work, Dennis decided to scale back. Working from home allows him to devote half of his day to his career and the other half to his family. Plus, that means he gets to play his favorite role.

SuperDad.

Tiptoeing out of the bedroom and down the hall past DJ’s room, Dennis enters the baby’s room. Soft pink light from the humidifier illuminates part of the room, and as the door squeaks open, little cries start to melt away at the arrival of Daddy.

“Hello, my little warrior princess. I can hear those battle cries from a mile away,” he whispers, smiling down at the wiggling three-month-old before picking her up and cuddling her to his chest. He rubs her back softly as she quiets down.

He makes small talk with her as he changes her diaper, making funny faces to get her to giggle. Tickling her tummy and planting kisses on her face. He checks his watch and sees it is almost time for DJ to explode out of bed like a bomb went off. He decides that since he is already awake, he can start breakfast.

After a bottle, he wraps Deanne up in the sling carrier so he can move freely about the kitchen and still keep his eye on her. He breaks out the eggs, milk, and flour for fresh waffles for you and DJ. He pushes the button on the coffee maker and begins his work.

Within ten minutes, waffles and fresh-cut fruit are on the table. Syrup and butter are placed on the table just as Dennis hears DJ jump in bed and wake you up. He can only laugh when he hears DJ’s loud giggle, as you are probably tickling him.

Dennis pours you a fresh cup of coffee as he hears you making your way down the hall with your son.

“I don’t know, DJ. It smells like Daddy woke up early and made us something delicious,” you say before turning the corner into the kitchen. You smile as you see Dennis holding a snoozing Deanne in her carrier on his chest as he holds out a steaming mug toward you.

You take a big sip of the wonderful brew and close your eyes, relishing the warmth spreading throughout your body.

“Sit down, eat. I’ll get him settled,” Dennis insists, helping DJ sit in his booster seat.

When the little man is eating and content, you dig into your waffles and fresh strawberries. Taking a bite, you look over at Dennis. He has a hand on the back of DJ’s chair, watching him while he eats, while his other hand is on Deanne’s back through the carrier.

He catches your eye, winking at you before his attention is taken back by an animated DJ whose loud sound effects wake up his little sister. Dennis coos at his precious baby girl, and DJ pats her back gently when she starts to fuss. When the boys fail at quieting down the little one, you offer your services.

“Ok, guys, I think the little princess needs Mama.” You giggle when DJ just goes back to eating and Dennis makes a face like he doesn’t want to give up the baby so easily.

When he puts his hands around her little body held against his chest, you roll your eyes. “Dennis, let me just see if she’s hungry, and then you can have her back, I promise.”

With the terms agreed upon, Dennis unwraps the carrier and kisses Deanne’s forehead before handing her over reluctantly. He busies himself with cleaning up DJ of the syrup and juice stickiness from breakfast.

After a feeding and a changing, Deanne is in much better spirits, babbling and holding onto your finger. You find the boys on the couch watching Bluey. Dennis smiles up at you, and as promised, you hand him the baby and he makes a show of pressing kisses into her cheeks.

You sit on the couch on the other side of DJ, and he cuddles up to you. You watch as Dennis is wrapped around that little girl’s finger, and you smile. You love your little family and wouldn’t change it for the world.

OMG I love this family so much. I love them, you guys.

[herblackabyss]

About • Tag List • Ask • Series Masterlist •

[Title] 7 Dates, 7 Conflicts [Rating & Genre] [M] 18+, strangers to lovers, Collage AU [Pairing] Jeon Jungkook x Reader (Amaya Bradford) [Trigger Warnings] one little cuss word

[A/N] I'm working on two other fics along with this one, not BTS related sorry besties but I'm super excited about them especially the Mingi one. Rengoku Mingi lives in my soul rent-free 24/7, 365. but anywhoo I hope you all enjoy. I spent tiiimmmmmeeee editing and refining because I wasn't satisfied with the flow but I guess it's okay now... it's actually stressing me lol kmt. Your feedback is always welcomed guys it helps me improve my writing so feel free to critique in a helpful way. Also I named MC because it really helps with my writing but y'all can just replace the name ig <3

[Word Count] 1802

Tag List

@btsffreader92 ♡ @tinaluvtae ♡ @natalimurghulia ♡ @grltwin ♡ @hobisstar ♡ @namjoonsthottie

7:48 AM

If there's one aspect of school that I utterly dread, it's undoubtedly these cursed early mornings. Dragging myself out of bed at the ass crack of dawn feels like a form of punishment, a ritual concocted by the overlords of academia. I can almost picture them huddled together, plotting in the dim glow of a single desk lamp, cackling as they birthed this diabolical plan to subject students to ungodly class hours. It's as if they extracted it straight from the depths of a collective sleep-deprived nightmare. Yet, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it, luck seemed to take a vacation during this particular semester. My favourite professor of all time, Mr Moody, and his highly sought-after class turned into the academic equivalent of a rare collector's item. The moment that registration portal creaked open, it was as if someone had fired the starting pistol at a track meet—the slots for Mr Moody's class were filled up faster than a Snapchat story on a roller coaster. So here I am now, faced with the one option that clung to the registration page like a stubborn sticker—an 8 am lecture..

Goddamn it.

It's the first day of the new semester, and I can already feel exhaustion seeping into my bones. Despite my reputation as an academic overachiever, I've developed a chronic allergy to early mornings. The mere thought of tearing myself away from the warm embrace of my blankets before 10 am sends an unbearable itch coursing through my body. It feels like I'm wrestling a goddamn grizzly bear every single morning just to make it to class on time.The snooze button has practically become your best friend—Ahem, sorry, not sorry, Chenle. And let's not even talk about the inner battle that rages on when I have to choose between a few extra minutes of precious sleep or a decent breakfast. Navigating through a labyrinth of corridors, I finally arrive at the lecture hall, securing a seat right in the heart of the middle row. I've always held the belief that my choice of seating speaks volumes about my stance on the upcoming semester. For me, it's all about striking that perfect balance. Front rows are out of the question—too much scrutiny from the professor's watchful gaze. But the back rows are equally unacceptable, a potential vortex of distraction among the Neanderthals. So I opt for the middle ground, a conscious decision to engage without being swallowed whole. As I settle in, I lazily rummage through my backpack, unearthing the recommended textbook for class, a fresh notebook, and that pencil pouch I scored from a Sugar Rush Riot concert during summer break. My gaze sweeps across the sea of semi-conscious faces in the room, hoping to catch sight of any familiar ones. And lo and behold, I manage to spot a few friendly faces. There's Ava, my ethics class companion from last year, Gina, my partner-in-crime for surviving Mr. Hanson's painfully dull physics lectures, Issa and Lucas, the dynamic duo who effortlessly infused Parisian flair into my French class last semester, and, unfortunately, the notorious campus Lothario, Jeon Jungkook.

He's got quite the reputation, you know? A real crowd-pleaser, widely sampled, and utterly disrespectful. Around campus, it's like every girl has her very own "Jeon Adventure" to share, each tale brimming with explicit and intricate accounts of how he managed to leave them a quivering, breathless mess. Frankly, it's rather revolting. The way they flaunt every encounter with him like it's some kind of prized badge, casually boasting about every single detail of their time spent together.

A sigh escapes my lips, and I shake my head in mild exasperation. Jungkook might be popular, but I'm not interested in becoming a chapter in his little escapades. I certainly can't afford a distraction of his magnitude and certainly have no intention of sharing a guy with the entire campus.

Lazing there, lost in thought, waiting for class to commence, my eyes are inexplicably drawn to his striking side profile. Absently, I trace the line of his sharp jaw, observing the corners of his eyes crinkling as he engages in animated conversation with his friends. A subtle twitch of his nose, almost like a telltale sign, triggers a charming smile that graces his lips. His head tips back in response to a particularly hilarious joke, and in that instant, his gaze locks onto mine. His lips curl into a languid grin as he watches me. His sudden attentiveness snaps me out of whatever trance I was in, and before I know it, my face scrunches up into a deep scowl. I dramatically roll my eyes before diverting my attention elsewhere, avoiding any further visual contact.

With impeccable timing, Chenle saunters into my peripheral vision, deftly navigating through the rows of my fellow classmates with two steaming cups of coffee and a pair of assorted bagel boxes from Avery's Baegel Shop. Always the savior, isn't he? Seriously, where would I be without him? He's practically rescued me from the brink of starvation more times than I can count. He seamlessly slides into the seat next to me, placing the delectable breakfast on the desk in front of me. The mouthwatering aroma triggers an intense craving, causing my mouth to water involuntarily.

"What's with the expression?" he playfully teases, a mischievous smile tugging at his lips, noticing the way my brows knit together.

"Nothing," I replied with an annoyed huff, a hint of a smile curling up the corners of my mouth as I popped open the lid of the tempting treasure trove before me. My eyes locked onto the ideal choice—a cinnamon and creme bagel, practically begging to be savored.

As I took a bite, the explosion of flavors enveloped my senses, prompting a contented moan to escape my lips. Chenle chuckled at my reaction, well aware of just how much I appreciated his thoughtful gesture. He's always had an uncanny knack for understanding exactly what I need, even without me uttering a single word.

"I knew that one would hit the spot," he remarked, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"You know me too well," I replied, savoring each delectable bite.

"Oh, by the way, guess who's in this class?" I casually tossed out, locking eyes with my friend and flashing a knowing grin. Chenle and Jungkook happened to share the same major, and they'd endured numerous classes together. Most of my insights about the dreadful experience of sharing a lecture with Jungkook had been filtered through Chenle's complaints. Apparently, the guy had a knack for transforming classes into needlessly complex puzzles.

"You've got to be kidding," he scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically, disbelief etched across his features. I subtly nodded in the direction of the back row, where Jungkook was comfortably settled. I took another heavenly bite of the warm bagel, savoring the exquisite blend of cinnamon and brown sugar that danced on my taste buds. "But hey, don't sweat it too much. Rumor has it that Mrs. Steel doesn't take any nonsense in her class. Maybe she'll be the one to rein him in."

Almost as if on cue, Veronica Steel strode into the lecture hall, exuding an aura of self-assuredness, her car keys swinging carelessly from her fingers. Her lack of teaching materials upon entry suggested that she might not have an elaborate agenda for today's session. Fortunately for me, this was my only class on a Monday, leaving the rest of the day blissfully free.

"Good morning, everyone," she began, introducing herself with a confidence that immediately put me at ease. Her subtle Spanish accent added a touch of warmth and familiarity to her words. "I'm your instructor, Mrs. Veronica Steel."

"I won't keep you too long, given that this is our first class. However, I do have some important information to share." Her words lingered in the air, grabbing everyone's attention. "All the assignments for this course will be completed in pairs, and I've already assigned your partners. You should have received an email this morning containing the list of assigned pairs." The room sprang to life as students scrambled to retrieve their devices and check their emails, myself included.

My laptop springs to life, and I eagerly navigate to my inbox, searching for the email from Mrs. Steel. Hoping against hope that I've been paired with Chenle, or at the very least, with Gina or Issa, anyone who won't make my life a living nightmare. My eyes scan the list, darting over each name with bated breath, and then Chenle leans over and lightly taps the "Ctrl+F" keys on my keyboard. I can't help but feel a hint of embarrassment; it's not like I've forgotten such a basic keyboard shortcut.

With deliberate care, my trembling fingers spell out my name. Dread courses through my veins, fearing the prospect of being saddled with a partner who'd expect me to carry the entire load. With each letter that materializes on the screen, the suspense heightens. And there it is, as I complete the last letter, my partnership materializes on the screen: Jungkook Jeon & Amaya Bradford.

The air seems to vanish from the room. This can't be real. Out of all the potential partners, it had to be Jungkook. And to make matters worse, this partnership is locked in for the entire semester. Veronica's voice keeps rolling, outlining the expectations for the upcoming assignments. "Each pair will evaluate their partner for every assignment," her words hang heavily, driving home the gravity of the situation and the potential impact on our grades.

The idea of spending a whole semester partnered with Jungkook feels like a mental minefield. We're polar opposites, like oil and water, each with a distinct approach to academics and life. Finding common ground for effective collaboration seems an insurmountable challenge, one that's thrust upon me, whether I like it or not.

Mrs. Steel's voice rings in my ears, emphasizing that switching partners is off the table, no negotiations allowed. The pit of dread in my stomach deepens. This is unavoidable, a collaboration sentence I'm forced to endure.

Against my will, my gaze drifts towards Jungkook. Fuck I really can't stand this guy—an infuriating, self-assured grin plastered on his face. He's relaxed, clearly the king of his realm, ignoring the brunette whispering away on his right. His eyes, however, are locked on me, as if I'm the only presence in the room that matters.

As Veronica concludes, she leaves us with a parting shot. "Thanks for showing up, and I can't wait to see the amazing work you all produce. Welcome to COMM101." And just like that, she's gone, leaving me to wrestle with the chaos in my mind.

"Fml," I whisper, my forehead making contact with the table's surface with a resounding thud.

NAVIGATION | NEXT →

[everygame]

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age (Definitive Edition)

Developed/Published by: Square Enix Released: 27/09/2019 Completed: 14/02/2024 Completion: Finished the main story then defeated the true final boss in the post-game.

Well, where to start with Dragon Quest XI? I actually “finished” this before I even played through Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (and not long before–I can’t believe I did two lengthy Japanese RPGs in such quick succession) but the thing about Dragon Quest XI is is that it makes it immediately clear when you finish it that it’s not really the ending and you have to do the post-game to truly finish it. So I thought “oh, well, I’ll put it down for a while and play some other stuff and come back to it.”

That (obviously) meant I put it down for a year and after Strange Journey every time I thought about picking up another RPG I’d think “oh, but I haven’t really finished Dragon Quest XI…”

So with Persona 3 Reload and that out now I thought I better rip the band-aid off.

The band-aid could probably have stayed on?

Here’s the thing about Dragon Quest XI: It’s fine! It’s fine. It’s just… I never found it that interesting. I remember loving Dragon Quest IX, but here I could just feel the structure immediately and nothing exciting enough happens narratively that I became engaged. It’s the classic story: you’re the chosen one (snooze). You’ve got to collect X things from different parts of the world to defeat the big baddie (snooze). Every location you visit has a wee story chain/quest that involves you visiting the local dungeon, killing the local problem, and fixing the local situation.

It’s all… fine. The game is a bit too forgiving in that it’s super easy to avoid enemies so I think they accidentally broke the pacing, and in turn the character development is so expansive and complex that it’s just too much, with every character ending up with this huge list of spells and abilities that you end up using about 3 of (this is especially annoying when you come back for the post-game and discover you need to re-equip and respec your entire team because you’ve gone back in time and blah blah this blah blah that.)

Even if I loved the narrative and the play (and listen: I do like myself a turn-based battle from time to time, and I imagine the end-of-act 1 twist worked for some) Dragon Quest XI does the same thing I get annoyed at, say, Monster Hunter for: they keep just enough legacy interface to make doing things annoying.

There’s absolutely no reason that there’s both a menu on start that includes some things you use all the time (like your forge, or your mounts) but also a menu on a totally different button that has a bunch of stuff you use all the time as well (including quitting to the main menu, which is nested under “misc.”). And then you have things like an “Items” option and an “Equipment” option, and you can only easily see the equipment in your equipment bag from the… Items option. And character still have to be equipped with items before battles, which takes forever and every item is held individually (they do at least let you instantly put all non-essential items back in the item bag rather than have to remove them one at a time, but it’s still an almighty ball-ache.)

The game is full of these little niggles; things that are probably second nature to people who have been with the series since the beginning, but decidedly unenjoyable for those of us who aren’t. It could all just be a little more streamlined.

The thing is though is that it’s pretty obvious that Dragon Quest is a “if you like this sort of thing, you’ll like this sort of thing”, er, thing, and I think if you are someone who likes levelling up pre-existing characters, or like avoiding enemies and trying to farm metal slimes, doesn’t mind the interface or just are cool with yet another chosen one plot because you get to do those things, then Dragon Quest IX is pretty great! It looks good, there’s always forward momentum, and Eric from Two Doors Down voices your grandpa. Can’t really say fairer than that.

Will I ever play it again? No.

Final Thought: I should recount, however, something very funny. The post-game of Dragon Quest XI takes the plot in a weird, time-travelly direction that doesn’t make a ton of sense without you putting in a lot of work (“er, timelines can only exist if there’s a luminary… so the first timeline is absorbed into the second, but the third one is actually a loop…”) but offers a sort of open-world, “second quest” experience where you can go anywhere and fight all the bosses again but they’re much harder.

However you really only have to fight three, two who you fight basically immediately and then a third you can put off for as long as you like, meaning that the most efficient way to do the post-game (if you just want to see the credits) is to just farm metal slimes for a while and then beat the boss…

(Which actually raises another thing about Dragon Quest XI that annoyed me. You go back in time and because the protagonist is by tradition silent, he doesn’t explain anything to anyone. Meaning that there’s an entire sequence where he knows someone is a baddie, but just hangs out with them and relies on a different baddie stopping that baddie? I mean he just goes to sleep leaving the important mcguffin that destroyed the world in the previous timeline out??? And don’t get me started on the ultimate bad guy appearing and then just… hanging out in the sky doing nothing. Like what, was he ever going to do anything? What was he waiting for???)

…Wait, let me get to the funny thing. So I spent quite a while playing the post-game because misunderstood something I’d read. I believe that you needed the “Supreme Sword of Light” to make fighting the final boss not impossible, which is a weapon with a fairly complicated, specific plot-chain to unlock. Once I’d got it, I got into the final battle and it didn’t work.

Turns out you actually need the “Super Sword of Light” which you already have in your inventory to begin with.

I guess that’s what I get for skimming FAQs as soon as I get stuck…

Hi. If you’ve been following this tumblr, you will be familar that I usually try and drive to towards my ko-fi after every article. However, I would instead like to ask you for a favour–could you check out the fundraiser my best friend Steven is running to help cover travel insurance costs? I know there are so many deserving causes, but Steven has a stage 4 brain tumour and it would mean the world to me if you considered donating, or sharing his page, to help make his remaining time the best ever.

[ladykailitha]

Fuck, @staff. You can’t make shit sparkly all the time. My seven days ran out on my snooze the live button before I could catch it and suddenly it was there and sparkling. Within a minute it was making my eyes hurt and as I had been battling a migraine the last couple of days, that shit would have brought back FAST.

Please make turning it off permanent. PLEASE!

[sam-vdl]

Heartbeat - Roger Taylor x oc

Mara is close to finishing her first year at Music University. She is alone in one of the practice rooms banging on her drums when a tall, skinny blonde walks in who has quite the attitude toward her. Both being excellent drummers creates a natural rivalry and tension between them… Will they ever beat each other's mind games or will this connection light a different spark between them?

warning: smut and violence/strong language

It's April 1969, two more months until it's summer break. Mara swings her ginger hair around as she hits her drums thinking about what she will do once her first-year ends. As she hits the drums she doesn't notice that she's banging louder and louder until...

The door of the isolated practice room opens. A tall blonde guy with drumsticks in his hands walks in abruptly. "Hey, do you mind? I'm not supposed to hear you through these foam walls that's what they're for carrot."

Mara looks up, who does this British cunt think he is?  She moves her drumstick to the other hand and looks up. The first thing she notices is his pink glitter converse, she looks up a bit more and is exposed to his blue bell-bottom jeans and red button-up chemise. Not to mention, long locks of blonde hair covering his shoulders.

"Well I'm sorry am I interrupting your drumming and your ego?"                                                              She looks him up and down, "Blondie."

His blue eyes look her up and down "whatever keep it down 'cause I'm this close to throwing these fucking drumsticks around" He slams the door.

I didn't even get his name, bro thinks he owns the building. Mara looks up at the clock 03:24, she grabs her backpack and says goodbye to her drums for the weekend.

The bell rings and halls start to fill themselves with students excited to go home and recharge for Monday.

She pushes herself through the crowd to get to her locker with Helter Skelter still fresh in her mind. She opens her locker and puts her drumsticks in there, one falls out and rolls all the way to the brown backpack at the end of the hallway.

She closes her locker door as she sees the backpack being picked up. you got to be kidding me. She looks back into her locker "pink glitter fucking converse, fuck me" Her locker door slams closed. It's him. "Hey I have a name and no thank you I'm not that kind of guy." 

merde, I said that out loud. "Well, what kinda guy are you then?" He spins her drumstick in his hands "The kind of guy who runs across the hallway to give someone's drumstick back, even tho they're very loud and kinda a shit drummer."  

Mara snatches the drumstick out of his hands. "Very funny goodbye see you Monday."

He calls after her: "Don't you wanna know the name of the guy who just saved your entire drum career?" 

She stops walking.

"It's Roger, Roger Taylor."

She thinks for a bit and turns around "Mara."

She turns around and starts walking again

"That's all I get, just Mara?"

"That's all you need to know."

She presses snooze and turns back around...

Mara's alarm clock rings.

Monday morning 6am.

RING RING

The phone by her nightstand rings, she turns around and looks at the phone not sure if she wants to answer it or not.

RING RING

It starts to get to her so she picks up the phone "Hello"

There's a pause

"Hello Carrot!"

She sits up "How the fuck did you get my number?!"

"Not important I was just wondering why you aren't here"

she rolls her eyes "Blondie I swear you could do this at school why would you-"

He interrupts her.

"Well let's just say I meant school and class started an hour ago so you missed your first period and maybe even your second"

She looks over at her alarm clock 9:30am.

FUCK. "Well I'm not coming today and I don't see how that's any of your business."

He laughs, "You might wanna be here cause I just put my name down for Battle of the drumbeat"

Her eyes widen, that's the reason she wanted to go to music school in the first place.

Battle of the drumbeat is epic and it's the first opportunity to give herself a name.

She's thinking so much that her mind has tuned out Roger's rambling.

"Well you know I've been playing like since forever in a band even called Smile you probably know about us-"

She hangs up.

I have to go to school and write myself in, I don't need a band to succeed. I can do this on my own.

She throws on a quik jumper, jeans and sneakers & heads out the door.

She runs into the building on her way to the announcement board, looking trough the endless flyers she sees a silver paper with stars on it.

I only have 2 weeks?!?

Battle of the drumbeat!

April 20th 1969, 7pm

JOIN US HERE ☟︎︎︎

She looks at the names, and there he was, taking up 3 lines of the fucking paper.

Roger Taylor.

She writes her name above his and starts running to her class.

She opens the door and sees a blonde dude with safety glasses sitting in her usual spot.

Why the fuck is he here he isn't even a freshman he's a junior.

She sighs, "I can't Mister there's a junior in my seat."

Her professor looks at her confused

"Mara everything alright? Please go sit down"

"Well go with next to him he isn't contagious and he doesn't bite."

He smirks to her while she walks over.

"Hi lab partner ready to do this project?"

You got to be kidding me.

"Hi. Blondie."

It was dead silent the rest of the class.

She opens up her locker when she hears someone whistling California Dreaming.

It's him.

"Carrot I saw you signed up for Battle of the drumbeat, good luck"

She rolls her eyes. Why does he care so much about what I do?

"Okey do you have like a crush on me or something?"

he laughs, "Yeah no not exactly my type unless I'm yours, then maybe you could be."

She shakes her head while closing her locker

"Keep dreaming Blondie"

She starts walking thinking about what he said. If she was honest he is her type. the long blonde hair the blue eyes & the clothing style, not to mention that British accent that makes everything sound lighter but also heavier when it's needed.

He was exactly her type.

Mara stares at her reflection in the window above her while she lies on her bed. She stares at her hair while her hands go through it. 

carrot, yeah right. she laughs and turns around when she hears the phone ring.

"Hello this is Mara"

"Hello, carrot! I was calling 'cause you forgot something I picked up for you recently."

she starts thinking, he picked up... for me? Also, i still don't know how he got my number.

"Roger I don't follow"

"Oh look at that you called me by my name, don't get your hopes up love, you're still carrot to me-"

"Blondie. get to the point. I have better stuff to do."

"Alright Jesus Christ is my timing inappropriate, is it the wrong time of the month or something?"

Mara rolls her eyes, why do men always have to, like- be like that?!

"Well find out for yourself 'cause if you don't tell me right now I'll shove this fucking telephone RIGHT UP YOUR ASSHOLE."

"Calm down carrot calm down no need to assault me, it's just that I noticed your drumsticks were still in your practice room, you know the ones in the little jar by the tiny balcony?"

How does he know that those are the drumsticks I take home with me-

Her thinking is disrupted by him calling her name, well you know what I mean by name.

"Carrot you still there?"

"Yeah, ehm, what about them?"

"Well since we only have two weeks until Battle of the Beat I thought you might need them, so..."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Can you come, and get them?"

Get them???? Does he mean like at his house?

"You mean like, come to your house?"

"mhm, now don't get it twisted a lot of ladies enter this cave but it's not like that"

"A cave? You call your house a cave?"

Of course, he does, he may look like a young adult man but I swear his IQ is that of a 10-year-old.

"Yeah, what? The first houses were literal caves so why would you find that-"

"Blondie, just give me the address."

"Alright alright, it's Winchester Street 375"

"Cool but two rules: one, I'm not coming in and two, you better not be standing outside already waiting like some old grandpa judging people from his veranda."

"Got it carrot, see you in 10!"

"See ya"

Mara jumps out her van and starts walking towards the blue door.

She knocks three times.

She waits in agony but after a solid 5 minutes of waiting, nobody opens.

She knocks again a bit louder this time.

She hears a voice from inside the house, it's a woman.

"Roger there's someone at the door?"

She hears someone running down the stairs.

"That must be Mara, just stay up there love it won't take long"

He calls me by my real name? She stares at the door hoping she can somehow open it with her staring.

The door opens,

"Hey carrot! Let me get your sticks!"

Mara looks him up and down with wide eyes.

Couldn't he atleast put a shirt on? Does he know I still have to see him after this?

As he turns around she notices his backmuscles.

He might be an little prick but I can see why he has got girls in his bed. It's not like IQ or speaking is involved in those activities.

Mara's thoughts don't let her hear Roger calling her name.

"Hey carrot?"

"Carrot your sticks?"

He pushes the sticks in her hands, "Mara."

She snaps back into reality.

"Oh thanks, see you at school."

She starts to walk back to her van when  a sudden thought stops her.

"You know, we're even now."

Roger laughs, "what do you mean?"

Mara turns around facing him.

"I stopped calling you Blondie once, you stopped calling me Carrot."

He smirks "and why is that- is that like relevant?"

Mara smirks "I'd say we drop the nicknames Blondie."

Roger goes trough his hair "Alright fine, Mara."

They hear someone coming down the stairs "Roger you alright?"

it's the girl Mara heard talking when she rang the doorbell.

"Roger who is this love?"

Roger looks down, almost embarrassed.

"Right, This is Mara, Mara this is Crystal."

"Cheryl."

"Right Cheryl my bad."

She looks Mara up and down

"Are you next hun?"

Mara looks at Roger and laughs

"Yeah no definitely not, I don't think i'l ever even be on the waiting list."

Roger covers his mouth to hide his smile "yeah no Cheryl, it's not like that."

Mara looks down to hide her laugh

"Anyways, thank you for the sticks see you at school. Bye Roger, nice to meet you Cheryl."

"Bye Mara" Roger closes the door.

Mara walks back to her van.

"I don't think I'd ever even be on the waiting list?" What the fuck Mara...

It sounds like you want to be but don't think you can be- Fucking idiot.

[nykloss]

Sometimes out of spite I do this thing called "taking a nap but worse" where I set two different alarms, with two different snooze intervals, 17 and 20 minutes out from when I initiate my nap and then fall asleep for two hours, constantly getting woken up by alarms every small handful of minutes, until I eventually reach a zombie-like-medatative state where I am am simultaneously asleep while attacking my snooze button like whack-a-mole, going through hundreds of rapid-fire-dream shots by the end of it. I am aware of what time it is the entire time while I am asleep and do this for hours until my dreams become extremely jumbled and disturbed. I wake up feeling not refreshed and with a time hole in my dad with various unfortunate visions. Also my alarm sound is the pokemon black and white 2 plasma battle theme at max volume.

There is no benefit to this.

[kairunatic]

Considering that Azathoth said that Cthulhu probably only wakes up if he finally get the 'good ending', I assumed that he probably be an ally when the time is come. If not then he probably pull snooze button again and go back to sleep.

If he is gonna pull a snooze at least let MC use there powers. To help them in battle