#so now it seems to be trying to tempt into actually playing a game that seems to contain men with too many abs

[pegglefan69]

hey can anybody explain to me what this means

[selvepnea]

Been playing Vampyr lately (not a recommendation)

[wherewolf]

the responses i’ve seen to shiv’s ending seem very quick to write her off as just another sad victim of the cycle, which isn’t without truth BUT!!! that is not even remotely the summation of shiv’s story.

i don’t think she votes yes to “save kendall” or to try to finally set her brothers free. and i don’t think her main concern was that ken was becoming their dad. she absolutely noticed and didn’t love it, but that was not her motivation in betraying him. she was thinking about herself.

it’s tempting to make a martyr out of her as she is the only female child and we see her suffer the onslaught of misogyny that comes with that. but to make her into a saintlike figure who got beat takes away the power and intelligence behind her decision.

at this point she’s stuck between two non ideal choices, but she recognizes that they have accidentally made her the single most important player in the game. because while she can’t have the outcome she’d prefer, she has the power to decide the fates of everyone else. the written off lone woman now holds in her hands the fate of every man in her life.

so she thinks about the long term benefits of both options and realizes that one side leaves her completely without any leverage.

her brothers have proven to her multiple times in the last few days alone that they will cut her out and walk all over her the first chance they get. siding with them leaves her nothing to bargain with. she would just have to hope that ken would actually take care of her. and that level of vulnerability is not only unacceptable to her, it’s stupid. and shiv fuckin roy is not stupid.

so she thinks about the other side and about what she actually wants for her life. and against her better judgment, it’s becomes unfortunately clear that she wants tom. the way she wants him is not altogether loving or even good but it is necessary to her. she sees relationships as having winners and losers and she chose this man specifically so that she could be confident in her ability to win. except now he’s grown some balls and made himself unavailable to her.

she may not like the way her husband is evolving but she already placed her bets on him, so she’s sure as hell not losing to him now. there’s also a part of her that feels intrigued by this new man she’s married to. it’s interesting to have a sparring partner in him instead of having to looking for excitement outside of their marriage.

so for maybe the first time ever, she processes what tom has said to her and thinks about what he actually wants.

he needs her to prove that she cares. he needs to know that she is capable of sacrifice. if she can’t find it within herself to do this for him, then she will lose him, and by extension, she will lose.

siding with tom gives her the opportunity to once and for all make a grand-stand gesture of love, but more importantly, it creates leverage for her. never again will he be able to hold the moral high ground over her head. never again can he say she doesn’t love him. never again can he call her selfish or uncaring. above all, he can never betray her again, because she just removed all of his moral justification for turning on her. he doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s just taken back all the power in their relationship. just in a more subtle way than she’s used to operating.

and just like that, she has the ceo of a multi billion dollar company in her pocket, while situating herself as the only descendant of logan roy to still be playing the game, having removed her brothers from the equation permanently. she may still be far from the top but she’s creating a path for herself to climb.

so yes, she’ll let tom play king for a day, and she’ll have his baby and say “congratulations,” and play the gracious wife, but tomorrow is a new day with lots of room to maneuver. and when her husband puts out his hand, she’ll place her own on top. but she won’t grasp it because she doesn’t need to.

[nadvs]

out of bounds (part two)

pairing zach maclaren and soccerplayer! female reader

rating mature 18+

summary zach has never been the type to rebel, but when he meets you at a soccer camp where you’re both working as counselors, which has a strict policy against dating between staff, he’s tempted to break the rules for the first time.

» part one

» masterlist

Your footsteps fall in and out of rhythm with Zach’s as you walk over the soccer field.

Even under the inky night sky, you can easily make out the sharp white lines spray-painted on the pitch as he stands across from you, your back to the net.

As a center back, this is where you spend most of your time in a game, defending directly in front of the goal. You used to love the nerves you’d feel before a match, but by the final month of the school year, you’d start every game already waiting for it to end.

You hope you can fix that this summer. And Zach is the perfect person to practice against since his main objective in his position is scoring.

He picked up a soccer ball from a storage shed on the way over, tossing it in his hands. You wonder if he offers to help all the newbies work on their game or if it’s just you.

“I don’t know if you know this,” you say, “but the ball’s supposed to be on the ground.”

“Most people say thank you when someone does them a favor,” he jokes, dropping the ball and dribbling it between his feet.

“I think you need to actually do the favor first,” you reply.

Zach smirks. He’s always been the type to chase the feeling of fun, and right now, he enjoys how easy things are with you.

He kicks the ball to you, and you stop it under your foot.

“Don’t go easy on me,” you say. “I’m serious.”

Zach sighs with a smile.

“What?”

“Nothing, just… my sister says that to me all the time,” he says. The memory makes his chest pinch. This is the hardest part of being at camp for seven weeks. It’s only been one day and he misses his family already.

At least when he’s at college, he can visit whenever he wants, but at camp, it’s a no go.

“Does she play soccer, too?” you ask. The ball scruffs over the grass when you kick it back to him.

“No, Avery hates sports,” he says. “It’s when we play video games. She kicks my ass and she tells me to stop letting her win when I’m genuinely trying my hardest. It’s embarrassing.”

“How old is she?”

“Ten.”

You smile. It’s sweet that he spends time with his kid sister.

“And she beats you? That is embarrassing.”

He kicks the ball to you with a chuckle.

“So, she’s not interested in coming here?” you ask, considering Camp Summit is for kids in her age range.

“No chance,” he says. He asks about your family and you continue to chat about your home life while kicking the ball back and forth until you eventually decide to do what you came out here for.

“You ready?” he asks, heading backwards a few steps.

“Give me your worst.”

Zach jogs towards you, expertly kicking the ball with every stride, approaching you quickly. You keep your eyes trained on his movements and the ball, reading the opponent’s body like you always do.

You shift between your feet quickly, trying to gain possession. He side-steps and fakes right, but you notice it in the way he’s positioned, and you take the window of opportunity to steal the ball.

You succeed and rush past him, then turn to smile at him, locking the ball under your foot.

“Jeez,” Zach says, hands on his hips. “Nice one.”

“Stop,” you laugh, convinced he’s just trying to flatter you.

“How’d you catch my fake-out?”

“It’s all in your body language,” you say. You kick the ball to him.

“So, you’re looking at my body,” he says, his tone sarcastically suggestive.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” you laugh, heading to where you were standing originally to reset.

“Too late.” He rushes back to the center of the field.

Your cheeks go warm. He wouldn’t risk dating at work. It’s against the rules. You could both lose your jobs.

But what’s the harm in flirting? He seems to like to do it with you just as much as you do it with him.

Zach jogs towards you again and you turn with him slightly, closing the distance once he comes close enough, mirroring him as he darts over the grass.

“It’s good that you don’t dive in right away,” he says between breaths. “I always get past defenders when they rush me.”

“Are you trying to distract me with flattery?” you ask.

“If it’s working, yeah,” he replies.

You laugh and continue to jockey, both of you moving with sharp, fast movements as he shuffles with the ball.

It’s a struggle, but eventually, he gets past you, sending the ball flying in the net.

“One-one,” he says. “You really made me work for it, though, huh?”

As you watch Zach run to grab the ball out of the net, you’re taken by how kind he is. Even after he gets a ball past you, he compliments you.

You refocus when he resets and jogs down the field towards you again. As the night goes on, you start to feel comfortable enough to make contact with each other, brushing arms and legs.

You stop keeping score, but it feels pretty equal by the time you’re huffing from all the exercise.

“You good to call it?” he asks, looking down at you as he pants after you steal the ball from him yet again.

“Yeah. I think that was more than ten minutes.”

His tongue swipes over his bottom lip as he smiles. He completely forgot he was out here with you, under a time limit, all because he was waiting for his friend to escort yours out of his cabin.

“I noticed something you do,” he says as you walk off the field together, taking turns kicking the ball far ahead of you. “You kind of give up when you think you won’t win the ball.”

“Why waste the energy?” you respond with a tired laugh. You check your phone to see that it’s almost 10:30.

“My coach always tells us that you have to believe that you’ll win every tackle,” Zach says. “It seems like you tell yourself you might as well stop trying.”

You consider his words. It’s true. It’s a bad habit you’ve picked up in the past year, a result of your dwindling confidence. And he’s a sharp player for catching that weakness.

Zach watches you, afraid he might have offended you.

“I hope I didn’t - that wasn’t out of line, was it?”

“No, no,” you say. “You’re totally right. Thanks. It’s helpful.”

You reach the dirt path, approaching the storage shed. He puts the ball away and joins you again as you make your way towards the staff cabins in the humid night.

“Gotta be honest,” he says, thinking back to what you said by the fire, “I’m surprised you’re not confident in your game.”

“My team doesn’t do that well,” you admit. It feels like you’re constantly ruminating over last season’s win/loss ratio.

“And what, that’s your fault?” he asks.

“I am usually the last one the other team crosses before scoring,” you say with a shrug.

“Actually, the goalie is.”

“No, she’s great,” you reply. “It’s not on her.”

Zach snorts.

“What?”

“You don’t blame her, but you blame yourself,” he says. “Makes sense.”

You nudge his firm shoulder. The contact is brief and playful and you’re comfortable doing it now considering you got so close on the field.

Zach nudges you back, touching you as if he always does. As if you didn’t just meet today.

“You mad I’m right?” he says.

“A little,” you reply with a small smile.

You reach your cabins. The shirt on his door is gone. It seems like your cabin-mates are back to their respective beds.

“Yeah, I’m still knocking very loudly just in case,” Zach says.

“Good call,” you laugh, heading towards your cabin. “Thanks again for the help.”

“Any time,” he says. You hope he means it.

Ami’s sitting up in her bed when you come through the door.

“Hey,” she says, “I’m surprised the bonfire went that long.”

“It didn’t,” you reply. “I was out practicing defense with Zach. Because his cabin was occupied.”

Ami grins. After she gives you a recap of her time with Malcolm, which she says went no further than heavy making out, she turns the attention back to you.

“How was practice?” she says. “If that’s what actually happened.”

“It is,” you laugh. “Great. He’s really good.”

“At what?” she asks suggestively.

“At soccer,” you laugh again. “We honestly just practiced. And even if he’s into me like that, he seems serious about the no dating rule. I wouldn’t risk it, either. I don’t know what you’re planning with Malcolm but apparently they’re actually strict about it, so be careful.”

“I will, but I’m not worried. We talked about how we’ll only be casual. And discreet. You be careful, too, okay?”

“Nothing to be careful about,” you say with a shrug.

“So, if Zach asked you out, you wouldn’t be down?”

Truthfully, you’re not sure you’d be able to resist dating him, even if it had to be in secret. Zach is impossible not to like.

“It’s not happening,” you simply reply.

Just like every other year, welcoming campers the next morning is havoc. Zach feels a sense of pride when he sees a familiar face, another kid who loved this place so much that they wanted to come back.

After the campers are directed to their cabins, orientation is held at the dining hall, followed by breakfast.

Voices bounce loudly around the hall as kids dig into their food, every counselor sitting at the head of the table with their cohorts.

He makes conversation, asking his boys questions to encourage them to talk with each other. His eyes flit up to you every so often, hoping he doesn’t get caught staring.

You’re sitting a few tables away, smiling as you chat. He almost can’t believe how much fun he had with you on the pitch under the stars last night.

Things are just so simple with you. He doesn’t have to think about what to say, because he knows you’ll play along or just laugh at his dorky joke. He likes you. A lot.

The rest of the day is dedicated to games across the campground, with training scheduled to start tomorrow. At one point, you ask over the walkie-talkies if anyone knows where extra flags for a game are kept.

Zach replies to check the top shelf of one of the storage sheds. You thank him and even though all he does is say You got it, newbie over the radio, you think about the way he said it for much longer than you would if it were anyone else.

Lunch goes by quickly, followed by more games. Throughout the day, Zach has noticed that one of his new campers, Oliver, has kept to himself. He tried to talk with him every so often, but he just got one-word answers.

So, when Oliver approaches him before Zach blows his whistle to signal the start of the last game of the day, he’s hopeful that he’ll ask about the game and finally show some interest in camp.

“I don’t want to do this game,” the little boy says. “I’m tired.”

It’s disappointing, but Zach doesn’t want to push him. Some kids just need time.

“That’s okay,” Zach says. “You can go sit in the shade. No pressure.”

Half an hour later, everyone goes to the dining hall for dinner.

While he eats, Zach is already exhausted and regrets volunteering to do one of the overnight shifts the first day. Every night, four counselors are scheduled to sleep in one of the four camper cabins, so that campers aren’t ever left without supervision.

It’s a guarantee of a bad sleep. Kids are always way too excited to do anything but talk to each other in their bunks on the first night, having to be reminded over and over that yes, even whispering counts as talking.

But Zach has always hated disappointing people, so he couldn’t risk letting down his aunt and uncle by not volunteering. He has the longest tenure of any other counselor here. He needs to set a good example.

After dinner, the kids are given free time before lights out, free to either hang out in their cabins or by the campfire. This gives some of the staff a moment to congregate by the dock, offering the perfect spot to keep an eye on campers without being heard by them.

It’s just past dusk as you stand by the boarded walkway leading into the shallow waters, looking out to your cohort of campers around the fire. You hear Zach ask about how the first day has been.

You look over to see him chatting with a couple of other counselors, a big smile on his face. It’s a good reminder that he’s simply a friendly guy and might not even be into you like that.

But when his eyes land on you and his smile gets a little wider, your heart refuses to agree with your mind. He must feel something, too.

Zach shifts closer to you, crossing his arms. His biceps bulge under his t-shirt. You quickly tear your gaze off of his muscles and up to his blue eyes.

“You surviving?” he asks.

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

“Don’t know. Some people just don’t have what it takes.”

“You’re so much nicer to the other counselors,” you tease, looking down and shaking your head.

Zach feels himself blush, tense that you’re calling him out for brazenly flirting with you. But when your eyes flitter back to his, he can tell by your innocent smile that you don’t have any intention to embarrass him.

“It’s all an act,” he says. You laugh and cross your arms, mirroring him. “Your kids getting along?”

“I think so,” you say. “They already have their little cliques.”

“Yeah, that happens,” Zach says. He looks out to the campfire and you catch his smile slowly fade, his strong jaw tensing.

“How about yours?” you ask.

“Got one who seems like he really doesn’t want to be here at all,” he admits.

You follow his eye-line to the boy sitting on the steps of a camper cabin, staring down at the book in his hands as he reads under the porch light.

“Usually with those kids, it just takes a few hours and they settle in,” he says, “but I don’t know. I’ll give it another try.”

Sure enough, when Zach crosses the distance and asks Oliver what he’s reading, he answers with the title, then ducks his head to quickly back to reading.

You notice from far away, confident that if you were close enough, you would see disappointment on Zach’s face.

The next morning, Zach is even more tired than he expected. The overnight shift was full of interruptions. He’s sure he’ll sleep like a rock tonight.

As everyone sits in the dining hall for breakfast, you dig into your food, listening to your campers talk to each other.

Then, your eyes drift over to Zach. You realize he was already looking at you. It makes your stomach go numb. He quickly glances away.

You notice that the same kid he talked about last night is sitting at the end of the table, alone, picking at his food. Considering how helpful Zach has been, and simply because you like him, you decide to see what you can do.

Near the end of breakfast, campers begin to clear off and put away their plates, and you walk over and crouch at the end of Zach’s table.

The boy looks up at you with an unreadable expression. You introduce yourself, pointing to your name-tag, asking him his name.

“Oliver,” he says, looking back down. You notice he hardly ate anything.

“How are you liking camp?” you ask quietly. Your eyes dart up to look at Zach at the other end of the table. His lips quirk into a hint of a smile.

“I’m not,” he answers.

“Is there anything that would make you feel better?” you offer.

“Leaving,” he says. You stifle your frown.

“Besides that,” you reply. “And you can be totally honest.”

“The food here sucks,” he mumbles. You look down at the uneaten pancake he’s pushing around with his fork.

“What if we got better pancakes?” you ask.

“I don’t want pancakes,” he replies. “I want waffles.”

“Waffles,” you say with a smile, glad you at least got an answer. You stand. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Oliver looks up at you with surprised eyes. Something tells you that he isn’t used to being asked what he wants and actually getting it.

You head back to your table to rally your girls, but you find Zach before counselors start leading their groups outside.

“You said you had connections, right?”

Zach turns to see you standing behind him, trying to ignore the fact that his stomach flips when he makes eye contact with you.

“Yeah,” he says. Campers rush around you as you stand by the front door of the dining hall.

“If you can sneak in some waffles, I think Oliver might like it a little better here,” you say.

“He told you that?” he asks.

“No, I’m a mindreader,” you tease. “Yes, he told me that.”

Zach smirks as you turn away to rush back to your group. He can’t stop smiling even after you’re gone.

It’s a long, hot day. You were disappointed when you saw the schedule this morning, because while you like all the vets, you had hoped Zach would be one of the counselors you’d be paired with for drills today. Maybe tomorrow.

All afternoon, your walkie kept crackling and losing signal. You mention it to one of the directors, Ruby, when you see her by the main office and she promises to get you a new one soon.

After the campers go to bed, you head back to your cabin, expecting to see Ami. But her bed is empty. You double-check the schedule in the staff group chat to confirm she isn’t one of the overnight shifts tonight.

You figure she’s hanging out somewhere else on the campground. You settle in for the evening with a shower, then get into your pajamas and decide to do some skincare and self-pampering.

Zach lets out a tired, heavy sigh when he sees Malcolm’s text. He exits the dining hall and steps into the thick night air, rereading the message from his cabin-mate.

Ami’s over. I’ll text when she’s gone.

He just came back from the closest grocery store specifically to buy as many boxes of frozen waffles as he could carry after he got the okay from his aunt. He used up all the freezer space he could find in the dining hall kitchen and now, he just wants to lie in his bed.

He’s not sure what to do. He’s never been that confrontational at work, preferring to keep the peace, but if this becomes a habit of Malcolm’s this summer, he’ll have to say something to him.

He heads towards his cabin, just in case his best friend texts in the meantime. He doesn’t.

Before he can turn around to go sit by the lake to kill time, he notices the light spilling out from behind the edges of the blinds on your cabin window.

Maybe you’d like to keep him company like you did the other night. Without much more thought, he knocks on your door.

When you open it, you’re in pajamas, your hair wet from the shower, pink gel strips under your eyes.

Zach smiles, thinking you look adorable and wishing he could say it out loud.

“Hey,” you say. You notice he’s still in his work clothes, even though lights out for campers was over an hour ago. “What’s up?”

“I was, um… I was gonna see if you wanted to hang out,” he says, holding up his phone. “I just got the text version of the shirt on the doorknob.”

You laugh and quickly clue in that Ami is with Malcolm next door.

“So, that’s where she is,” you say. “Come in. We can hang out here.”

When the door shuts behind Zach, you wonder if he also feels the weight of the privacy you two have now. This is different from being out on the pitch the day you met. There’s no chance of anyone seeing you behind your closed cabin door. It’s intimate. Almost risky.

“How was your day?” you ask, sitting on your bed as Zach settles on the chair tucked under your desk.

You’re trying to act casual and relaxed, but it’s hard to when you meet his eyes. He’s too cute not to get shy around.

“Well, I just went into town to buy like, ten boxes of Eggos,” he tells you. “That’s a first.”

“Did you really?”

“I thought it’d only be fair if I got enough for my whole group,” he explains. “Turns out we don’t have a waffle maker, but we do have toasters, so it was the best I could do.”

“Nice,” you say. “I’m glad the kitchen staff were cool with it.”

“Oh, yeah,” he says. “I’m actually sneaking in the kitchen tomorrow morning to make them. The cooks have more than enough work, so as long as I don’t get in their way, I think I’m good.”

You still for a second, endeared. You knew he’d make an effort to help Oliver feel welcome, but he’s going to all these lengths just to make a kid happy?

“Anyway, my point is, thanks for the intel,” he says, realizing he’s tiredly rambling. “I appreciate you talking to him.”

You bashfully glance away. He tries not to stare at you. It feels like trying not to stare at you is all he does when he’s around you.

He’s damn near enamored. He likes the smell of your shampoo, the way you look in your pajamas, how sweet your smile is. He hopes his nervousness isn’t obvious.

“No problem,” you say. “So, you haven’t been in your cabin at all since lights out?”

Zach shakes his head, his smile not quite meeting his eyes. He’s clearly tired and bothered by his cabin-mate kicking him out of his room. You wonder if he’ll say anything to Malcolm, but for his sake, you decide to keep the atmosphere light.

“I have a lot of these,” you offer, pointing to the under-eye strips on your face. “You wanna try? It’ll help you relax.”

“Is it that obvious that I need to relax?” he says.

You only smile in response and stand to pick up a stack of multi-colored packets of gel strips from the basket on your dresser and hold them out to him.

Zach’s eyes travel over the colorful array, sitting still as you stand over him. You’re not surprised that he’s actually going along with it.

Some guys would be tense, acting like skin-care is feminine, and therefore, embarrassing, but he’s relaxed and nothing but green flags, like usual.

“Lots of options here,” he says pensively.

“Are you always this indecisive?” you tease after a long moment of quiet.

Zach looks up and pretends to glare, but the dimples framing his stifled smirk give him away.

“You mad I’m right?” you echo his words from last night.

“A little,” he says, just like you did. You got him pegged. He’s always been bad at making choices, especially under pressure.

“I can pick for you.”

“Bossy,” he replies. “But, yeah. Pick. Please.”

You laugh and randomly choose a packet, opening the purple packaging for him and holding out the film. He takes it in his hand, looking at it with furrowed brows.

You decide to help him out. It’s what a friend would do.

“Here,” you say softly, pushing down your nerves. Warm eyes meet yours and you try to act composed. You peel off one of the strips, pressing it up just above his cheekbone. His skin is hot, his stare strong.

You step a little closer, focus etched onto your face, the corners of your lips slightly turned up. As you apply the other strip, your legs brush against his knees and he imagines how nice it’d feel to drag his hands up the backs of your thighs.

You’re so close and so pretty that it almost hurts not to touch you how he’d like to. You’re just as flirty with him and he’s sure you’d want his hands on you like that, but he’d ask before doing it. That is, if you weren’t coworkers.

You can’t help but giggle when you step back to look at him.

“What, is purple not my color?” Zach asks.

“No, it totally is,” you reply. “Keep them on until they feel dry.”

You settle in your bed again, your back pressed against the wall, legs stretched out.

“How was your day?” he says, having to clear his throat. “I never asked.”

“Yeah, you didn’t. Rude.” Zach smiles at your joke. “It was good. My first overnight shift is tomorrow. How was it last night? Did you actually get any sleep?”

“Not really,” he admits. “But the first night is always the roughest. You’ll be fine.”

He fails to stifle a yawn. You figure that after a bad sleep, a busy day, and running an errand in town, he must be exhausted. Once again, like it always does with Zach, your curiosity is too strong to ignore.

“Does this bother you?” you ask, vaguely motioning in the direction of his cabin.

Right now, Zach doesn’t mind Malcolm keeping him out because it means time with you. And while he’d normally say something like that openly, never having been one to shy away from sharing thoughts like these with a girl he likes, the stakes are so much higher right now.

Because dating is against the rules. Because you might reject him. Because he’s actually never been this nervous around a girl before.

“It’s okay,” he simply says. You wonder if he’s just not one to stand up to people.

“I can talk to Ami if it becomes a problem,” you tell him. “I won’t say you said anything, but let me know if you want me to mention it.”

Before he can reply, there’s a knock on your door. You answer it to see Ruby standing at your front step holding out a new walkie.

“Hey,” she says. “Sorry you had tech issues today. We can swap.”

“Oh, perfect,” you say. “It’s no problem. Thank you.”

Zach freezes when he sees his aunt. This looks like… well, it could simply look like two friends hanging out. But it might look like more.

As you take the new walkie and cross your small cabin to exchange it for your malfunctioning one, Ruby catches Zach’s gaze and offers him a genuine but confused smile.

He decides to try to act normal, even though he feels like he just got caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing.

“She’s not going to get in trouble for breaking it?” Zach jokes, pointing to you.

“I didn’t break it,” you reply with a laugh as you hand the old walkie to your boss. “I’m not in trouble, though, am I?”

“Nope,” Ruby says lightheartedly. Zach nervously chews the inside of his cheek. Her tone could mean that while you’re not in hot water, he is.

He watches you shut the door. It’s not like you got caught hooking up. But he wouldn’t even be able to explain what he’s doing here. It would mean snitching on his best friend for breaking one of the major rules staff need to follow.

A rule that it looks like he’s breaking. His stomach twists. He always hated disappointing authority figures, especially ones he so badly wants to impress.

When you settle on your bed again, you notice Zach peeling off the gel strips, his lips in a firm line.

“Everything okay?” you ask.

“Yeah,” he replies. “Thanks for these.”

“Sure. Doesn’t seem like they relaxed you, though.”

Zach tosses the patches in the wastebasket and stands. Your heart sinks when you realize he’s leaving.

“They did. I just wanna lie down,” he says with a soft chuckle, hoping he’s not being terse. “I’m beat.”

“You can rest here while you wait for-”

“No, it’s alright,” he interrupts, heading for the door. You realize his whole demeanor has shifted after Ruby popped by.

Zach looks over his shoulder to see your features drawn in confusion and sadness. He opens his mouth before the words come to him seconds later.

“Sorry,” he says. “It was fun hanging out with you.”

“You, too,” you reply, your smile erasing the hurt on your face. You want to tell him he’s welcome any time, but he leaves in a rush.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking or maybe he’s simply a nice person, but you’re sure you both feel the magnetism between you.

And he must be really freaked out at the thought of you doing something about it, based on how stiff he got after Ruby came by, possibly suspecting that things are more than friendly between you.

The more time you spend together, the thinner the ice you’re skating on gets. You don’t want to risk the fall and cost you both your jobs.

So, as you get up to brush your teeth, you promise yourself that no matter what, you’ll keep things strictly professional. For your sake and Zach’s.

(part three)

divider credit

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[often-daydreaming]

Road Trip

It was... It was always just a fight but the last one between Jason and Bruce had been one of their worst and things only escalated after he accused Jason of having something to do with the Joker's disappearance.

It was another thing to hold against him. Another excuse to keep the Red Hood at arms length but Barbara knows Jason wasn't anywhere near Gotham when the clown went missing. Bruce checked. Tim double checked, but she knows because it wasn't like Jason was even trying to hide from any of them.

He was just traveling.

At first it was with the rest of the Outlaws for a bit and on and off after for a while afterwards with the rest of his team joining up at different points along his trip across the country.

He'd spent weeks spent on the road from New York to Pennsylvania before anyone even noticed the Joker was gone, then took a detour down to Atlanta and through Kentucky. The weekend after that was spent traveling between Michigan and Toronto and a surprising sighting in Kansas which was one of the only stops she still didn't understand since he'd have to be traveling all night just to get to that small town he'd been spotted in and Jason didn't seem to be in any hurry.

A part of her had been tempted to call Kara and see if she'd look into the matter for her but cases kept piling up and they got busy. If it wasn't the usual villain of the day causing trouble then it was the power vacuum left behind by the still missing Joker or one the guys getting into trouble. So she left it alone.

Jason didn't seem like he was in any trouble. He'd come back sooner or later. He always came back. Except he didn't. Weeks turned into months, then a full year passed them by as sightings of the Red Hood grew less and less frequent and it was only a preemptive notification she sat up so long ago that reminded her of Jason's absence as she stares down at the computer monitor playing a few seconds of footage displaying a small crowd of people, the Outlaws, some of Young Justice and the Titans along with a few other people who were cheering him on as he slipped a ring on some red haired woman's finger. The context was clear enough but she didn't find out more about the what and why until later that night when Roy sent out an update to the rest of the Titans claiming dibs on being the best man.

The above is just something that I cobbled together after reading a few Jason leaves Gotham fics and the thought of Jazz killing the Joker for (insert reasons) so my mind kind of jumped to Jason living out his best Cinderella moment, chasing after, flirting (along with getting threatened by a pair of overprotective parents) and road tripping with his team while trying to find the woman who lost her bloody baseball bat. After they meet he's just doubling down on everything with the intent of marrying her, Jazz getting her own little road trip, telling Jason where they're going next or even making a game out of if he can find her at the next stop on the Fenton family supernatural hunting/cataloging road trip cause I know they love talking about ghost but the image of Jack and Maddie fighting Bigfoot is amazing.

And the Fentons are happy for the two of them. At least he wasn't another Johnny. They had Tucker check just to be sure while everyone else just kind of assumes the rest of the bat family already knew when it was actually a mix of (we're super busy right now) and (maybe things will be a little peaceful if we give Jason some space) leaving Bruce trying to play catch up and depending on if he's reformed having to outdo Vlad who is already paying for everything.

[revelboo]

When you have the time, I’d love to see some more of Lost Light Megatron 🥰♥️ I’d happily be his little therapy human, that old man deserves a gentle kiss, a good cuddle, and maybe a good frag to show him we want all of him, in everything capacity 🤣

Definitely all three

Invisible Monsters Pt 7

MTMTE Megatron x Reader

• That warm press of your mouth against him lingers in his thoughts. Everything shifting between you both to a sort of anticipation that hums through him. Every day, you exchange poems. Both of you trying to capture what you want and what neither of you can seem to say out loud. Every day that tension is a bit harder to ignore, especially when you lay on him, his servos draped against your back. You’re still awake, warm against him, little fingers tracing the curling design on his chassis. A decoration he’d added as a gladiator. Now just a reminder of his past, of what he’s survived. “Really?” You ask, voice soft as he slides a servo down your spine and you shift against him.

• Rumbling softly under you, one corner of his lip quirks. “I just see this bot, barely more than a sparkling, running up and he catches on fire. Just lights himself. Couldn’t control his ability and the heat is sizzling on my plating,” he says, that servo sliding up between your shoulder blades then down nearly to your butt as he talks about Rodimus. “Furious and out of control. He’d have made a good Decepticon.” Back up all the way to the base of your skull and back down over the curve of your butt. Distracted in the memory and not even realizing.

• “We could spar again,” you blurt, face red when he glances at you. “Unless I’m a lost cause.” You certainly are against any Cybertronian, but you’re also giving him permission to touch you. Focusing to mass shift under you, hearing your sharp intake of breath as your palms smack down on him and his hand lands on your hip to keep you steady, he smiles. Still so small straddling him, as he resists the urge to let his hands wander. “Alright,” you mutter, shifting distractingly against him until he growls as you slide off of him and put up your little fists. Rolling to his feet, he flexes his servos and circles you. You’ve forgotten all of his lessons, lunging and throwing a clumsy, predictable punch.

• His servos wrap around your wrist as he sidesteps and then yanks you back into him, his other arm curling around you, servos on your hip. “You’re not even trying,” he growls in your ear, lips brushing you. And he releases you, moving out of reach with a shocking agility. But he’s smiling faintly, enjoying this game. Deliberately feinting, he grabs you and then you’re flat on your back as he straddles you, dropping you so much more gently than he had when you’d actually been sparring. “Now you’re dead,” he says, a big hand splayed against your chest to pin you. And you catch his wrist when he tries to lift his hand, about to put some distance between you again.

• “You never took prisoners?” You ask and as he frowns you lift your arms above your head, wrists together like they’re bound. There’s mischief, heat, and an aching uncertainty in your eyes as you look up at him. Asking for something you can’t say you want any more than he can. Giving permission. Watches your little tongue wet your bottom lip as your face heats.

• Palm sliding up your side along your ribs, he vents raggedly. “I conquered my enemies.” Those red optics sliding possessively over you. “Is that what you want? To be conquered, little one?” That deep voice is little more than a growl as his hand slides up to cup your throat. And you make a soft noise. Wanting something urgent and frantic, not the gentle, flowered lover he plays at in his poems. Two sides of the same coin and you’re not sure which you need more. And he leans forward when you hesitate, lips brushing yours. Kissing you as he reaches to pin your wrists above your head. The warm slide of his mouth the only thing that matters.

• You arch under him, tempting him to take what you’re offering. To lose himself rutting against you. Rung had wanted you to bring out a better, gentler part of him. Not the hungry warlord, but maybe he can’t change. Not really. It’s an effort to pull his head away, seeing those need darkened eyes and knowing he could have this. Have you right now. Is he just an itch you want to scratch that you’ll regret later? An impulse. Remembering your hesitant words you leave him, the aching vulnerability in them, he knows that’s not it. “Don’t go,” you whisper, sensing his hesitation. Releasing your wrists, he shifts onto his side. Waiting as you reluctantly face him and he reaches out to cup your cheek. Trying to rein himself in as you shift against him, mouth brushing his. Little hands on him, straining his control. Tempting him as he slowly allows himself to explore.

Previous

[sorceresssundries]

'Time can prove to be a trickster on one's recollections - what would be multiple lifetimes for others now separate me from my captivity... Perhaps I have lost perspective on what happened to me.

I... have not had true confidantes for some time. The Shadow Curse robbed me of almost all my peers, and replaced them with the weight of responsibility. Perhaps that caused me to gild undeserving memories of my youth. '

Discussion of mental health below the cut.

Halsin breaks my fucking heart, man.

He spent so long shouldering the weight of the curse that he neglected dealing with his own shadows.

Right before this, he mentioned being chained to a bed for three years as a prisoner, yet he has convinced himself it may not have been as bad as it seemed, thinking perhaps he was actually a 'guest.'

As someone with CPTSD, I'm convinced Halsin has some form of it as well. Trauma and (C)PTSD affect the areas of the brain where memories are formed and kept. When traumatic memories are recalled, the perception of them can be altered leading to self-blame or minimisation of the trauma's severity.

Halsin's struggles are often downplayed, especially by him. - He doesn't have a tadpole, he isn't trying to ascend, he isn't being tempted by a dark path, and he doesn't require you to convince him to be good. He plays the part of the healer well, despite still needing healing himself.

Time can be a fixer, but it is also a trickster—and the more of it that passes, the trickier memories associated with trauma become to unpick. Centuries have passed for him.

I'm happy with the outcome of the game for Halsin, that he gets to relax, settle, and find his place alongside nature in the land he helped to free—but I almost wish there was more to explore with him. He deserves the world.

Sorry, i'm not sure what the point of this was I just have a lot of feelings about Halsin.

[buckyownsmylife]

out of the woods (chris evans x famous!reader smut)

the one where Chris watches an interview of you on the Ellen show

Warnings: mention of small stature in comparison to Chris, smut thoughts, Ellen Degeneres trash talking/thinking, cursing, mention of prescription medicine, talk of age gap (reader is younger than Chris), jacking off, daddy kink

WC: 3k

A/N: this doesn't really have an ending, so if you all like it, I might make a series out of it - the idea is that you are also famous (for acting, singing, writing) and have been friends with Chris but there's always this underlying tension between the two of you. It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: no, he's not married in this story nor do I intend to feature Alba in any part of it whatsoever.

Chris’ P.O.V.

I was scrolling through Twitter when I realized some fans were tagging me in a short video of Y/N on Ellen DeGeneres’ show. I knew she had gone there by herself, mostly to promote her new album, but also to give some publicity for our movie, so I was aware that she would probably talk about me at least a bit… Curiosity got the best of me and I clicked the link to check the video for myself.

She looked gorgeous as always, her hair down in that way I loved so much and her skin seemed to be as soft as ever under the mini dress she chose to wear, her legs stretching out and making her look taller than she actually was. I chuckled, remembering just how small she looked by my side.

I remembered one time when I lifted her up, bridal style, and spun her around the pub we had close to the set, after the Patriots had won a game. Despite not understanding the game, she tagged along and celebrated every time I got excited, like the cute person that she was. I got so transfixed by her giggles back then. They were the sweetest sound and the only thing I heard, despite the fact that we were in the middle of a very loud bunch of dudes. 

I found myself imagining again, as I had then, what it would be like to have her under me, trapped by my arms in bed, or better yet, against a wall, only my thighs securing her in place while I made her moan with my touch. How would she sound? Or, better yet, how would she feel?

Christ. 

Shaking my head, I tried to gather my thoughts so as to not let them stray too far in that direction, something I didn’t have much success in doing, despite the fact that I had been practicing that simple habit every single day since I met her. But it was proving to be a nightmare. She was just far too tempting.

Shaking my head once more, I focused on the video in front of me. My heartbeat had sped up as soon as it started, but I tried to tell myself it was because I was scared for her, since I knew how Ellen could get invasive sometimes.

“So, Y/N…” She started, eyeing my co-star. “You have just finished working on a movie with someone we’re very familiar with, isn’t it?”

Y/N giggled, nodding at the blonde woman. “I suppose so. We have just finished the promotion for it, maybe you guys have already seen it?” She asked the crowd, who went nuts at her. It was sweet to see this kind of feedback, I truly believed in our movie and the fact that I got to know her was just an added bonus.

“For those of you who don’t know what we’re talking about, it’s called ‘Be Here Now’ and it’s currently in a theater near you. Y/N stars alongside Chris Evans, who we love so dearly here, and they play brother and sister as they try to reconnect after their parents' passing.”

More applause at that. I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes at her idea of love. Last time I was there, she made me pretty uncomfortable, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

“So, how was the process for you? We know you’re familiar with the filming process, since you star in your own series ‘Evermore’, that sent you to stardom, along with your songs, but you had said before you’d never act outside of it, since your true passion relies on music. What changed your mind?” Ellen sat back as she said that, already comfortable with the fact that something good would come out of this interview, since Y/N had been pretty vocal about what made her decide to do the movie, even with me.

“Chris did, actually. Or, in fact, the fact that he was cast in it.” A chorus of “aws” echoed around the room and there was no way to know if they were real or prompted, but they were quickly interrupted by the host.

“So, you were a fan?” She instigated, as to what Y/N nodded again.

“Of course. Well, my mom more than me, but I was the one who introduced his work to her, so…” She poked her tongue out at the camera, to which my heart (and my cock) jumped in response. “Ever since I got into this, when I first had the idea for Evermore with James, I told him time and time again I would never act outside of this, because I had no intention whatsoever on becoming an actress. I have always been in this for the music. Well, the writing. I’m a writer, I like writing scripts and songs, I’ve fallen into this performer thing by accident. But I’ve always been adamant about the fact that if I ever had the opportunity to act alongside Chris, I’d take it. It doesn’t matter that I don’t think I’m good enough. It didn’t even matter if the script was terrible, which thankfully wasn’t the case, I just really admire him and his work and I would never live with myself if I turned this opportunity down.”

Even though I knew most of this, I couldn’t help but to gloat at the fact that this incredible woman actually admired me. She was so much better than me in so many things, even acting, and she still thought I was great enough to get her to participate in a movie. 

“So, what I’m hearing is, you have a little crush, that’s right?” And there it was. The coup. Of course. That evil wench…

“That’s what you took out of everything I said? Jesus, Ellen, has anyone ever told you that you listen like a man?” Ouch. That one was perfect. Being the ambassador for females and lesbians everywhere, it couldn’t not hurt her, especially coming from someone as angelical, sweet and universally-loved as Y/N. I appreciated the quick second her smile faltered before it became plastered on her again.

“No, I haven’t heard that before… But tell me, have you met any of the other Marvel actors? I mean, granted, there are a lot of them now, but especially those who have worked closely with Chris?” Y/N shrugged at that.

“I have been friends with Elizabeth Olsen for a very long time, we’re very close, but other than that, no. I haven’t had the chance to properly meet, or rather, hang out with any of them.”

“Who’s first on your list?”

“Anthony Mackie,” Y/N promptly responded, getting a few laughs and claps from the audience.

“My, you had that answer ready” Ellen teased, to which Y/N simply shrugged again. 

“We talk through social media sometimes and I know for a fact he’s hilarious. I hope we get to meet sometime. I might just have to bug Chris about it.” She had already, in fact. I couldn’t wait to introduce them to each other and I was already planning my next party just to be able to make that happen.

“What about Sebastian?” Ellen asked, a glinter of something extremely suspicious in her eyes.

“Sebastian Stan? No, we haven’t met, but I’d love to get the chance to someday. He seems extremely sweet and I know he’s very talented and Chris loves him, so I think it’s a matter of time until it happens.”

“I heard somewhere you had a bit of a crush on him, right? Even if you don’t admit that you have one on Chris?” This fucking woman. I could fucking kill her right now. But, to my surprise, Y/N simply laughed.

“Truly, you have got to check your hearing sometime soon, because that is absolutely false.” 

“Really?” Ellen pushed, to which Y/N beamed even brighter at her.

“Positive.” A beat as the two women stared at each other down. “I think what you meant is that I have had a huge crush on his character, Bucky Barnes.” Y/N explained, laughing at the host. “I admit that only happened after I saw Sebastian’s portrayal of him, but my attraction to a fictional character can’t be really connected to him.”

Ellen nodded, obviously not paying attention to anything she was just saying. “Well, let’s figure out who do you actually feel attracted to, shall we? Let’s play fuck, marry or kill!”

The audience screamed and, to my surprise, Y/N didn’t even blink, a patient smile painting her lips as she calmly watched the interviewer. “So, Y/N, between Anthony, Sebastian and Chris, who would you rather fuck, marry or kill?”

Y/N shook her head, still smiling at the older woman. “I couldn’t possibly answer truthfully to this question, Ellen, mostly because I am not capable of feeling carnal attraction to people I have never met, but I can 100% assure you that I would marry Chris without blinking twice if there was a choice.” 

My heart skipped a beat at her words. The crowd went crazy, obviously satisfied with the answer.

“And you’re sure you don’t have a crush on him?” Ellen’s eyes glistened with mischief, as she stared at the younger woman.

“Ellen, I think the question here is… Are you sure *you don’t have a crush on him?” The laughs from the audience was the last thing to come from the video before it stopped, and I found myself echoing them in the silent living room. Oh my, how I missed this girl.

I tapped my fingers nervously on my jean-clad thigh, looking around the room. I had been staying in Boston with my family for the last few weeks, since the movie premiered and we had finished promotion, and I had found myself constantly calling her to share funny stories from my nephews or to hear about her day. I knew she wanted to meet my family, she had always said she admired the fact that we were so close, despite there being so many of us.

My mom obviously loved her, having been a fan of hers long before I even heard about her existence. So what if…? 

Before I could second-guess myself, I pressed call in the name of the woman I had been thinking about. The phone rang three times before she picked up, stopping me from giving up on this crazy idea.

“Hey, Chris! How are you? I missed talking to you, it’s so weird seeing you everyday for four months and then suddenly not at all anymore.” I know I was literally forty, but I literally melted at this girl’s words.

“Did you now? Is that because you wish we were married, so we could see each other everyday?” Her breath hitched as she realized I had seen the video and I could just imagine the cute little embarrassed expression she was probably sporting right now. I tried to ignore the fact that my words and tone of speaking had suddenly become way too similar to when I was flirting with a girl.

“Fuck, you saw the interview.” I had never heard Y/N curse before, so the fact that I suddenly had no control over my mouth could be explained by the unavailability of blood in my head, since it had all gone south.

“Come stay with me for a while,” I spilled suddenly. Silence was the only answer I got from the other side of the call and my heart sped up in a way that only happened when I was truly anxious. I was already cursing myself out for scaring the poor girl when she finally answered.

“Are you serious?” She asked, her voice barely over a whisper. It was obvious how vulnerable she was feeling, and a sense of overprotectiveness overcame me. “Please don’t joke about this, Evans. This better not be a prank. ‘Cause I really do miss you a lot.”

Fuck indeed. There was no way something good would come out of this idea, but there was no way I would go back either.

“Of course I’m being serious. Come to Boston. You can stay with me, but I think my mom is going to steal you before you even settle in.” A large breath came from the other side.

“Okay. Okay! I’m going to pack my bags. Yay! I’m so excited!” She was clearly jumping up and down with the perspective of what was to come, and I couldn’t help the smile that painted my lips not only at her cuteness, but also due to my own excitement at her arrival. 

“Great! I’ll be waiting.” My heartbeat still hadn’t gotten back to a normal speed. “Text me the details of your arrival, I’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“Chris, I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” I knew what she meant. If someone caught sight of us together at the airport, or even the fact that she was here in Boston, all hell would break loose in the press.

“Shhh, don’t worry about it, baby girl. I’ll take care of it.” I froze, only then realizing what I had just called her. A few seconds ticked by while I silently freaked out, wondering how I could brush this over, when she intervened.

“Thanks, Chris. That was pretty much the best thing I’ve ever heard. I just might forgo my prescription medicine while I’m over there, because you’ve been able to completely relax me with just two sentences.” She giggled and if I was at first leaning towards thinking she was sarcastically teasing me, just by the nature of her words, the tone of her voice made it clear that she actually meant what she had just said.

Once again, I was at a loss for words, especially because I couldn’t help but to allow myself to imagine that this was her, flirting with me a little bit. The blood I so desperately needed in my brain had once again left to pump another organ full of life. I was saved from having to answer, though, as Y/N quickly wrapped up the conversation.

“I’ll text you the details of my flight in a little bit. See you soon, angel.” She hung up before I could process the nickname she had given me. 

“Fucking hell,” I whispered, finally relenting and getting up from the couch to take a shower to rub one off.

I had found myself in this situation more times than usual after meeting Y/N. Normally, I’d only do it out of boredom, preferring to fuck someone whenever I’d get sexually frustrated. But the last few times I had taken girls from parties into my bedroom, I could only see her. Y/N. And I hated how disgusting I felt after it was done, the fact that I didn’t care about the girl I just fucked and the fact that I imagined my younger friend.

So now I resorted to this kind of activity. As the warm water started to hit my body, I allowed my right hand to travel the extent of my body until I found my hardened member. “Fuck,” I found myself whispering into the bathroom as I tugged on my cock. Images that I had spent a lot of time concocting in my head flashed in front of me, all of them starred by Y/N. 

I imagined her nude body here with me, under the falling water. How her breasts would heave with every breath she took. Would she be as filled with desire for me as I was for her? I imagined the path the warm droplets of water would run across her skin and how I wished I could lick its remnants. 

Maybe she’d fall to her knees before me, looking up from under her eyelashes with that coy expression that drove me crazy. Her lips would softly kiss the tip of my cock and she’d still be watching me, analyzing my reactions. I would do my best to restrain myself, allowing her to get accustomed to my member, but my hands would eventually find their way to her wet strands, creating a makeshift ponytail that would facilitate my vision of her work while I still managed to control myself and not use it to guide her.

She’d kiss the skin all around my cock, quick little kisses just to tease me before going further down to suck on my balls. I’d throw my head back, begging her to do what I needed, and she’d finally succumb, wrapping her lips around my tip before slowly sucking further down my dick. She’d be relentless, eventually being able to swallow my whole member down her throat, and I would look down again to see her looking up at me with a proud gaze in her eyes.

“Such a good girl,” I would whisper, just before I finally snapped, using my grip on her hair to pull her from my cock until just the tip remained tightly squeezed by her lips, until I pushed her all the way against me again. “Take this fucking cock like the little perfect girl you are for daddy.”

And she’d take it like a pro, a satisfied smile on her lips as I fucked her mouth, eventually breaching into her throat, making her gasp for air, tears in her eyes as her hands flew to my hips in an attempt to slow me down. But she wouldn’t really, opting for simply carving her nails on my flesh as she took every single rope of cum I’d deposit between her eager lips.

Fuck. I let the water wash away the sin I had just committed while sending up a prayer for better control when Y/N arrived. The last thing I needed was to be stuck in the bathroom, touching myself while she was at my house.

[miharuhebinata]

do you mean twilight princess, in which she held a sword exactly once in a flashback and pretty much immediately dropped it in surrender? or wind waker, where she forgets how to use a sword the second she turns into princess zelda until literally the final battle 🤔? and i genuinely can't think of whatever other time you're referring to that she apparently uses a sword. spirit tracks? ok i'll give you that one, i guess, because phantom zelda is pretty badass, but other than that.........??

"ummm actually it's a good thing that zelda plays differently from link, because link has the triforce of courage so of course he fights and uses swords! meanwhile zelda has the triforce of wisdom, so obviously she's going to find more clever ways to solve her problems teehee ;)" hey did you guys know you can still be excited for the game while also acknowledging it's pretty fucking shitty of nintendo to act like zelda is incapable of picking up a sword in a mainline game.

[iliketangerines]

I need some absolute deviousness rn but, hear me out;

Yandere god Raiden getting mad when you get bored of playing mortal kombat, like he knows he's in a game and so does all the others and sometimes you could see his character look at you through the screen eugghhh

And then he overrides the new game you're playing and snatches you up :33

stuck in a dream

a/n: god i need him so bad it isn't even funny

pairing: lord raiden x afab!reader

warnings: nsfw (MDNI), nipple play, pussy eating, finger fucking, electrostim, creampies, size kink, praise kink, slight overstimulation, not proofread

you stare at your desktop, trying to decide whether or not to play the new Mortal Kombat 1 game or to play Mortal Kombat 11, and you flick between the two of them

the appeal of the new game is tempting, but you had a soft spot for Mortal Kombat 11, especially Lord Raiden

you had painstakingly unlocked every skin and detail and item for the god, had bought stickers of him that decorated your water bottle and laptop, had pins of him on your bag, had hung charms of him from your keys

your friends often joked about your obsession with lord Raiden, and it never failed to make you blush and smack them out of embarrassment

sure, maybe the obsession you had with him was a little unorthodox, but it wasn’t like he was real or anything

staring at the screen, you purse your lips and click purchase on the new game, watching the little icon load and give you a loading time

a couple of hours, enough to get some dinner and then take a nap before you play

you set down the controller and get up out of your seat, stretching out your stiff muscles and walking over to the door, ready to go and microwave something from the fridge

the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as a feeling of unease creeps up your spine, like someone was watching you, and you turn around

your bedroom was still empty, the window blinds open, and you place a hand over your beating heart and walk over to the window and make sure it’s locked before you close the blinds

seems like you were on edge for no reason, but it was a tad strange still for you to be on edge so sudden

you shake off the feeling and pad off to the kitchen and microwave some leftover rice and side dishes, scrolling through your phone mindlessly and avoiding spoilers left and right

as you finally wash the last dish and leave it in the drying rack, you fill up your water bottle and walk back to your bedroom

sparing a glance to your computer, you nearly have a heart attack when you see the Mortal Kombat 11 game open on the character select screen, Lord Raiden staring right ahead

okay, you most definitely didn’t open the Mortal Kombat 11 game when you left your room, and you sit back into your chair and take hold of the controller

Lord Raiden stares ahead at you, and you purse your lips

something felt different, like he was actually staring at you and not just forward, and you quickly exit out of the game, watching your screen load and then finally close the game

static shocks your fingers and you drop the controller into your lap, rubbing at your fingers and staring at your controller

that…that most definitely was not normal, but maybe you were just tired and needed some sleep, that nap sounded really appealing right now

you check on the progress of the game, halfway done downloading, nothing seemed wrong with it, and you rub at your eyes and sigh

yeah, you were definitely just tired, work had just been long today

standing up from your chair, you just flop onto the bed behind your chair and don’t bother with covering yourself in the blanket as you close your eyes

it’s easier than expected to fall asleep, and you sigh and snuggle, letting yourself drift into the land of dreams

a jolt wakes you up, and you twitch violently, eyes snapping open, except you’re not in your room

the room resembles more a temple rather than your apartment room, and you blink for a second, sleep still heavy over your body

oh, you were probably just dreaming

getting up off the bed, you open up the door, heavy and sturdy beneath your fingertips and walk through the compound

it’s like you’ve been transported into a historical c-drama about monks, the temple vast an gorgeous and clearly built with a lot of respect and love and money

something buzzes in your brain, the temple looked so familiar, but you’re sure that you’ve never seen this building in real life

turning another corner, you find someone large and much too tall to be human standing in a room, talking with two others

wait, no, was that Liu Kang and Kung Lao? were you so deep into Mortal Kombat that you had started dreaming about them?

Liu Kang glances over to your and his eyebrows draw up in surprise at your appearance, his mouth slightly opening as he repeats your name

oh yeah, definitely a dream, but your heart still stutters in your chest when the tall imposing figure turns around and reveals himself to be Lord Raiden

heat rushes up to your cheeks, and you clear your throat and say hi to all three of them, hoping that you didn’t look as flustered as you felt

Lord Raiden stares down at you, hands twitching at his sides, and he steps toward you, making you crane your neck up to stare at him

you don’t expect it when his hands come up to cup your face, almost as if inspecting you, bright eyes wide with wonder as he touches your face

he squishes your face slightly and then murmurs something underneath his breath that you can’t quite hear over the beating of your heart

his eyes seem to glow as he stares at you and a shiver goes up your spine, the same one from before

strange, but the thought it swept away when he grabs onto your waist and hoists you over his shoulder, making you squeak and your hands to try and steady yourself

the last glimpse you see of Kung Lao and Liu Kang is them looking at you with a terrified expression before a flash of lightning overtakes your vision

you blink away the white, nearly losing your breath when Lord Raiden throws you onto the bed and just towers over you, just staring at you and breathing heavily

he mumbles that he’s been waiting for this for so long, to finally have you in this bed, and your brain swims with this self-indulgent fantasy

well, you might as well enjoy this while you can, and you smile up at him, telling him to show you just how much he had longed for you

his lips part and then he leans down and kisses you, warm and heady all the same, broad chest pressing firmly into you, only his own arms holding himself up

you throw your arms around his neck and kiss him back, humming into his mouth at how warm and real this felt

brains truly were a wonderful thing

his lips are desperate, never stopping, barely tilting his head back to catch a breath before he’s back on you, groaning about how he wished for this ever since he had laid eyes on you

a slow warmth fills you up as he continues to kiss, and you tug off his hat and his cowl, threading your hand through his hair and slightly opening your eyes

bright white hair that seemed to glow in time with his heartbeat, how interesting

he pulls away, blinking slowly at you, pushing his hips toward the bed, forcing you to part them open to accommodate for his size

you continue to play with his hair, mindlessly playing with it, and he lets you, staring at your lips, your eyes, your neck

he leans down and presses light kisses to your neck, slightly nipping at the skin, and you let out a surprised sound when his teeth are sharper than you had expected

Lord Raiden doesn’t acknowledge your surprise, shoulders simply flexing as he kisses his way down your neck until his lips reach the edge of your clothing

one of his hands lift up to remove the offending piece of clothing, and you smile at him and tell him that you can get it off yourself

his lips downturn into a frown at the thought of having to get off of you, and he shuffles back up just enough to place another kiss on your lips before slowly peeling himself off of you

you sit up on the bed, grabbing onto the edge of your shirt and slowly taking it off over your head, teasing him with your skin

he focuses right onto your chest, the skin unmarked and all for him, and twitches toward you ready to get back on you and adorn you with his worship

slapping at his hand lightly, hs eye twitches, almost offended that you had told him in essence to stop touching you

but the expression quickly fades when you hands travel down to your pants, and you slowly take them off along with your underwear

his chest heaves up and down as he stares at you, completely enraptured with how you look, and one of his hands come toward you, squeezing at the soft flesh of your thigh

Lord Raiden looks back up to you, breathless and then mumbles that he truly had made the right decision, and before you can question him, his lips press to your chest

one of his hands palm at your chest, taking your sensitive nipple in between his rough fingertips and pinching lightly

you bite your lip and let out a small sound, one hand going over your mouth as you watch your favorite character kiss and lick at your chest

truly, this dream was a blessing

he sucks at your chest, drawing hickeys to the surface and then pressing the flat of his wide tongue over the mark and then lightly biting it

it makes you jolt and gasp, and the god looks back up at you and then closes his eyes as he wraps his lips around one of your nipples and sucks on it

his moans travel through you, making you gasp and let out a small whimper as your hands finally make your way into his hair

Lord Raiden just sucks harder, pressing his tongue into your nipple and flicking it back and forth before lightly nipping at it

his hand teases your other nipple, pinching and rolling it in between his rough fingers, and you whine out his name, hips jutting upwards

he opens his eyes to look at you, detaching his mouth from you for just a second, a string of spit connecting your nipples to his mouth, and he looks up at you expectantly

you suddenly feel embarrassed as he asks you what you want, his low voice making your head buzz, and you just manage to squeak out for him to go easy on you

rather than answering you, he simply switches his mouth to your other nipple, sucking on it and lightly nipping at it to make you whine and gasp while his other hand goes back to your spit-slicked nipple to roughly squeeze

squirming underneath him, you feel him groan into your chest as your hips rut upward for some type of friction on your clit, and he finally moves on from your chest to kiss down your stomach

his hands grab onto your thighs and bring them into his shoulders as he stares at your pussy, taking two of his fingers and spreading your folds apart to look at the mess you had made

heat spreads through you as he just stares, mouth slightly parted, and you frown and tug at his hair, asking him to please touch you in a hushed voice

for a dream, Lord Raiden sure liked to take his time

he flits his gaze to you before looking back to your dripping pussy and finally pressing the flat of his tongue against your clit

you moan and tilt your head back and close your eyes, mouth slightly parting as you let him taste you

it feels better than anything you could have imagined, the wide flat of his tongue lapping at your desperately, sending you spiraling into a pool of pleasure

the heat spreads throughout your body and fills your body with cotton, only your fingers firm as you hold onto his hair, trying to keep yourself grounded into reality

soon enough, your grip on reality disappears when two of his fingers slip in between your folds, collecting your wetness and then stretching open your cunt

you whine and squeeze around his fingers, gasping at how thick he is and panting into the air as you try to regain your sense of self

Lord Raiden grins into you, wrapping his lips around your clit and sliding his fingers in deeper, crooking his fingers upward to try and find your sweet spot

he doesn’t take long to find it when you whine loudly and then snap your mouth shut when you realize just how loud you had been

his fingers press into that spot insistently, sending pulses of pleasure echoing through you, and your legs squeeze his head, as if trying to get away from the stimulation

but it’s addicting, how he presses into you, how his tongue lavishes your clit with attention

you let out a sharp sound when a jolt of electricity runs through your sweet spot, your vision going white for a brief moment, and your hands twitch in his hair

another jolt goes through your sweet spot, and he brings his head away from you and slightly adjusts your position so that his other hand can press his thumb into your clit

realizing just a second too late what he’s going to do, you’re helpless as he runs electricity through you, blinding pleasure racing through you

your back can’t help but arch off the bed as you whine and whimper, mind going blank as you cum on his fingers, hips desperately rutting upwards to get away from the stimulation

the electricity running through your clit stops first and then his fingers buried deep in you finally relent on the electricity, opting to instead scissor them inside of you

you stare up at the ceiling of the bedroom, mind still reeling from what was probably the most intense orgasm of your life

he slips his fingers out of you, and your head lifts up just in time to catch him tasting your release on his fingers, moaning at the taste of you as he cleans his fingers off with his wide tongue

somehow, you think you’re more aroused at the sight, and you clench around nothing

Lord Raiden looks back at you and shuffles back upward, pulling his pants down just enough to reveal his cock, and you suddenly thank whatever god was up there that this was a dream because that would most definitely not fit inside of you in real life

it was flush at the tip, leaking pre-cum and you probably wouldn’t be able to make your hand wrap completely around it if you tried and you swear that it was longer than your forearm

he brings your attention back to him as one of his hands cup your cheek, and he tells you he’ll make it fit, that you and him finally have all the time in the world

odd comment, but you just smile back up at him and tell him to kiss you

smiling at you, he says he gladly will and leans down to kiss you, and you reach your hand down to try and give him back some modicum of pleasure he had given you earlier

his lips frown against yours, and he pulls back and slaps your hand away, telling you that he was going to enjoy his spoils today, that perhaps another time he’ll have you suck his cock

you frown at him, wanting to at least get a taste of him before you woke up, but he leaves no room for argument as he kisses you again and brings your legs to wrap around his waist

his cock grinds into you, dragging deliciously against your clit, and you can’t help but moan into his mouth at the feeling

it’s all he does for a moment, just kissing you, and your hands grip onto the back of his shirt, wanting to pull it off, to feel his skin underneath yours

he ignores your silent request and pulls away from your lips only to get up onto his knees, lifting your hips with him into the air and lining his cock up with your pussy

slowly, he pushes his way in, and you squeeze your eyes shut and claw at the sheets at the sting of pain that rushes through you

Lord Raiden doesn’t stop, simply pushing in further and further, and you gasp and whine out his name once again, trying to say that it was too much as you clench around him

he simply adjusts one of his hands so that his thumb covers your clit, and he slowly rub it back and forth to get you to relax

the pain and pleasure mixes and swirls in you, your body unsure of whether it wants more and if it wants to get away

pleasure wins as you hear the squelch of your pussy struggling to accommodate to his size, and he only stops when there’s too much resistance

finally, Lord Raiden speaks, telling you that you’re doing so well taking him, so so good for him, letting him taste you, to test on you, to kiss you

he glances down, saying that you still a little bit left, but that was okay, he would make sure to stretch you enough so that you could take him all one day

his words muddle and turn into a puddle in your brain as you let out labored breaths, still trying to adjust to his size

thankfully, he moves his thumb insistently against your sensitive clit, keeping you relaxed and slick as the sting of the stretch finally morphs into pleasure

you whimper for him to move, and there’s a slight pause before he finally draws his hips back slightly and thrusts back in

it still slightly stings, but you bear through it as he praises you, telling you that you were doing so well, so good for him, taking his cock so well

his thrusts slowly get longer and longer, rougher and rougher, until he pulls back so that just the tip remains and thrusts in, the wet sound of your pussy echoing in the room

your breathless pants fill the room with you whines and moans, and Lord Raiden is quiet, only letting out a few groans here and there

his lips are pursed together, as if he wanted to hear you better, to hear how he pleasured you

in the haze of pleasure, his cock stretching and pressing just right against that spot that makes pleasure flood through you, you don’t notice how his hands grip on tighter and how he mumbles under his breath that he finally has you forever

he fucks into you, and you whine out that you’re going to cum, hands gripping onto the sheets

Lord Raiden tells you that he knows, and he continues to rub his thumb against your clit, waiting breathlessly for you

you whimper and moan out his name, tilting your head back and letting out a long moan as you cum on his cock, hips slightly twitching in his grip

he groans as your pussy squeezes around him, and his own hips finally stutter as he buries in himself as deep as he can and groans out your name

his hips shallowly thrust into you to fuck his cum deeper into you, almost hesitantly like he didn’t want to leave your warmth

opening your eyes, you look up at him with half-lidded eyes, and he presses his lips together as he slips out of you, looking almost mournful at the loss of your heat

you only groan, overstimulation starting to kick in, and close your eyes again, feeling his hands brush up against your skin and then cup your face

his lips press to yours again before he tells you to rest and that he’ll get you cleaned up, and you let out a hum as you turn to your side and slightly curl up to get comfortable

when you take up, your vision is still slightly blurry with sleep, but you recognize the bedroom from your dream

you’re still not in your own bedroom

okay, so that was a little strange, and you lightly pay your face with both hands, trying to wake yourself up

you get up out of the bed and then fall down to the floor when you your legs don’t work, your body sore and tired from earlier

panic slightly sets in when the pain of falling down to the wooden floor doesn’t jolt you awake back into your own world, and you force yourself to stand up, using the nightstand next to you to grab onto with your hands to help yourself up

the door to the bedroom slides open, and Lord Raiden rushes over to you, saying that you were not nearly well enough to get up out of bed yet

you stare at him, complaining underneath your breath that this was some dream, and Lord Raiden quirks his head at you

he says that this was no dream, you were in his world now, for good

in his world

what the fuck

his smile unnerves you as you start to struggle, words sputtering and failing as you try to ask what he meant, and he only settles you back into the bed and says that he and you had all the time in the world since you were finally his

now that he had brought you from your world into his, everything was finally perfect, and your brain struggles to comprehend the weight of his words

he hums at your dumbfounded expression as he sits down on the bed, the mattress creaking and tipping toward him as he says that he has spent many many years here now

and you, his god, the player, his only solace were finally here in his arms, he wouldn’t be letting you go now

you start to understand why Liu Kang and Kung Lao had looked so terrified when he had whisked you away when his eyes slightly crackle red as he stares at you

[rallamajoop]

The Complete Guide to Eye Colour In Resident Evil 7

An addendum to my guide to eye colour in RE8: here's everyone from RE7 too! Getting close-ups of these was way harder than for RE8, because RE7 does not come with a model viewer, so I'm stuck using in-game screenshots and promotional images.

Once again, we'll start with the cheat-sheet version:

The whole Baker family: Blue (except when...) Mia: Brown (FOR NOW) Eveline: Green Alan: Hazel/green Deputy OneSceneWonder: Brown Chris: Hazel/brown (FOR NOW) Clancy, Andre and Peter: Brown Ethan: Still hazel

But it can never just be that simple, can it? So, further notes below.

The Baker Family

The Baker family all have blue-grey eyes. In fact, post-infection, they all have the exact same blue eyes (see top line in comparisons below). You could maybe put this down to genetics for Zoe and Lucas, but when Jack and Marguerite have the same eyes as each other too, that's when you start wondering just how many backwater-hillbilly-stereotypes are in play here.

Mind you, they do have slightly different eyes in the pre-mould flashback that is the Daughters DLC, which you can see in the second row above. All are brighter blues, pre-infection, and Jack gets smaller pupils while Lucas gets a slightly larger iris (Zoe gets nothing, as she's the viewpoint PC and we're not redoing her face if you're not going to see it). So maybe we can hope there's some genetic diversity in the Baker-clan (renders of their eyes in their actual faces also look a little more distinct, but maybe that's a lighting thing). Either way, the Bakers = blue eyes! Got it!

And then we meet Uncle Joe in the other DLC who... has hazel eyes?

IDEK, maybe Uncle Joe's real dad was a different mailman.

Once we get deeper into mould-monster territory though, things do get a little more interesting.

Both Marguerite and Lucas appear with much creepier whitened eyes later in the game ‒ Marguerite's during her boss-fight transformation. Lucas, however, remains steadfastly human-shaped throughout the main campaign, but his eyes are whitened in his video message to Ethan, and in his (pre-monstrous transformation) DLC appearances too. Jack, by contrast, doesn't seem to get new eye textures even after blowing off the top of his own head, or in the boss fight that follows (monster!Jack from the fight in the boat house has completely different eyes, of course, and more of them). Mia, too, has her own set of creepy-alternate-mould-monster-eyes, but they're completely different again.

So what's the internal logic here? I could speculate that Lucas' eyes-only transformation is a sign he's in control of himself in a way Jack and Marguerite aren't, but it doesn't quite add up. If anything, those eyes make more sense as something Lucas was given because we never see him transform like Marguerite, or blow pieces of himself away like Jack: Lucas may look human, but the eyes are there to remind us he's not. There'll always be some details that end up being more about effective storytelling than cohesive lore.

Interestingly, though they don't appear in the game, there are also promotional pics of all four members of the Baker family with glowing white/silver eyes, which are definitely a supernatural feature. It's tempting to try and associate the effect with Rose's glowing eyes from the Shadows of Rose DLC, or perhaps even the general pale-grey-eyes of Miranda and the Lords (more on both in my post on eyes in RE8). But that's territory that really needs its own post or we'll be here all day.

Clancy, Andre and Peter

These are the three ill-fated crew of the Sewer Gators tape you'll encounter early in the game. You may notice Peter (rightmost in the pic above) seems to have even more dilated pupils than the majority of the cast. Amusing as it might be to theorise that he's just on drugs or something, I think there is an explanation: the closest shot we see of his face (and the first shot of the tape) is a close-up into a camera while the team is outside in the dark. His pupils would naturally be dilated in this sort of environment.

So why aren't Andre's dilated too? Well, the closest look we get at his eyes (also pictured) are the final shot of the tape, where he's already dead, and his eyes are covered by a red film. Medical plausibility aside, dilated pupils presumably didn't add to the effect here, so Andre gets regular pupils.

Speaking of assets, there is actually one photo of the three of them in the game, from the pamphlet you can find in their van at the start. You can even almost make out Clancy's face!

Clancy's own eyes are their whole own kettle of worms, but we'll get to that below.

Chris Redfield

Is an odd one: I can't share an eye-texture asset for Chris, because he doesn't actually have a character model at all in the main RE7 title. And explaining that one is gonna take some context.

While RE8 renders nearly all cutscenes using in-game models, RE7 stores far more of its major cutscenes pre-rendered in .wmv format. The opening is pre-rendered, video messages from Mia and Lucas are pre-rendered ‒ even the big moment when Eveline blows out the windows of the tanker and throws Mia into the river is pre-rendered. Not all cutscenes work this way, but basically anything that would require loading a lot of assets that aren't needed in gameplay (eg. the view of the river and tanker for outside) seems to have been pre-rendered as a video instead.

And since Chris' only scene in all of RE7 is in the pre-rendered ending sequence, he doesn't have a model at all (or at least, I couldn't find it). We do see Chris in openings and endings of the Not a Hero DLC as well, and the End of Zoe ‒ but these too are just .wmv files, presumably for all the same reasons.

Now, obviously, Chris is also playable in the DLC, so he does have a character model there. But we still don't get eye textures for him for a couple of reasons: firstly, he wears a face-concealing mask that only comes off for opening/ending cutscenes. But even without it, we might just hit other weirdness surrounding player character models...

As I've already noted, both Chris and Mia get completely different new blue eyes in RE8, but back in RE7, Capcom seemed a little more aware that brown or hazel eyes were a real thing regular white people do have sometimes.

A note on player-character models

Although we mostly just see the hands of whoever we're playing as (usually Ethan), gameplay still uses a full-body model, presumably to aid in rendering dynamic shadows, and give enemies something to cover in blood. Things get weird around the character's head, which isn't actually visible so it can't get in the way of the camera floating inside it, but will still cast shadows and still has textures associated with it (though usually in much lower resolution than other models we'll actually get to see). There are three playable characters in RE7 proper: Ethan, Mia, and Clancy (from the video tapes) ‒ each with their own model and textures.

Ethan and Mia also have more detailed 3rd person models, since we see plenty of Mia playing as Ethan, and a little of Ethan playing as Mia (if only from behind).

Why does this matter? Well, distinct as the three PCs are otherwise, their player models all have the same eyes ‒ top row above shows Ethan, Mia and Clancy, in that order. And they look nothing like Ethan's and Mia's eyes have ever looked elsewhere, which you can see in the comparison below.

I mention this mostly because it's pretty easy to find Ethan's player-model in the game files, note those generic-hazel eye textures with it, and go, "hey, you got his eyes wrong!" But these aren't the same eyes that come with his higher-res texture, or the ones that were copied over into RE8. In fact, the existence of the player-character-default-eye-texture back in RE7 is one of the reasons why I do tend to take full-res Ethan's eyes as 'canon', even though we never see them in either game: someone took the time to repaint Ethan's eyes for his full-res model, and make them distinct from the low-res default used for everyone in 1st person mode. That at least suggests there was some real, intentional effort put into deciding what colour eyes Ethan was supposed to have.

This does leave poor Clancy in more ambiguous territory, however: as he's never seen by any other character, he has no high-res model, and thus no eyes but the default-hazel that Mia and Ethan are rendered with in that mode too. So is this to be taken as Clancy's official eye colour? It may as well be, I suppose. We see so little of Clancy in any form that I was genuinely surprised to find out his he's actually got a player model which is completely distinct from anyone else in the game, with curly greying hair, a neckbeard, and a baseball cap worn backwards.

Render by nightsatkendalls over on deviantart.

I do not have the skills to produce a render of this quality myself, but I can tell you that the cap he's wearing has the logo for the RE Engine on the front (the in-house game engine behind all the modern RE titles, and many other Capcom games).

You'll never see it in game, of course ‒ you'd need both a freecam mod and a mod to make his head visible. But it's there as a weird little easter-egg nonetheless.

Eveline

Eveline is perhaps the only character whose model may not have been updated at all for RE8, but given she's only a hallucination or ghost, that stands to reason. In RE7 though, she also appears as her aged 'grandma' self, who pops up around the house in her wheelchair looking spacey. Grandma-Eveline has two different eye texture assets ‒ one far more washed out than the other. There's next to no good official pictures of her, but fortunately, since she doesn't move around or attack you, she was one of the very few characters I was able to get a decent close-up shot off with the free camera mod. And inasmuch as you're ever in a position to look her in the eye in game, only the faded version of her eyes ever seems to show up. Is the clearer version actually used somewhere I didn't catch? I have no idea.

What really stands out about granny-Eveline's eyes, though, is that they don't look anything like her child-self's eyes do. Child-Eveline is basically the only character in either game with distinctly green eyes. But Granny's are hazel, and not even a particularly similar shade of hazel.

In fact, they look far more like the generic-default hazel of the player character textures than they do like her younger self. Close-up comparisons below.

You could speculate that it was deliberate that Granny-Eveline's eyes don't look anything like kid-Eveline's eyes to avoid tipping off the player that they're one and the same ‒ but realistically, no-one without free camera mods is ever going to get a good enough look at either of them to notice. And it's kind of a shame they didn't just take young-Eveline's eyes and apply the same kind of distortions they seem to have applied to the generic-hazel template to age them up ‒ that would've been a lovely, creepy little detail to find in these textures. But no, generic old hazel it is.

Then again, whatever the real logic at play, the fact Granny-Eveline's eyes are effectively a faded, distorted version of the very same eyes the player themselves never does get to see in the mirror is a pretty creepy idea itself. And intentional or not, that's what I've got to leave you with.

[screamforyani]

warnings: stepcest, noncon to dubconish but no actual smut

wc. 1k

it was hard not to admire ethan.

how could you not? he was bright and good-looking, and had the personality of an elf. you were proud to be able to call him your stepbrother.

sometimes he acted like he was older than you. even though he wasn’t, which he seemed to forget, but you let it slide. he was really caring and seemingly protective over you. his roommate, chad, had tried to hit on you a couple of times, and every time it ended with ethan humiliating him and chad backing off. 

needless to say, after a couple of iron-willed attempts, chad left you alone.

you thought it was cute. neither you or ethan had siblings prior to your parents marrying and so now that you could finally say you weren’t an only child, you and ethan spent every waking moment together. studying for college, watching movies, playing video games. maybe a couple of times you’d considered things escalating into something more, but you quickly brushed those thoughts away. ethan was your stepbrother, for heaven’s sake.

you entered your bedroom with a towel wrapped around your figure, having just gotten out of the shower. you nearly dropped it until you noticed the body sitting patiently on your bed, making you shriek in shock. “shit, eth, what the fuck are you doing here?”

“i was waiting for you,” was all he said, his face completely blank.

you furrowed your brows. “waiting for me…”

before you could even finish your sentence, ethan grabbed you and spun you around, lowering you to your mattress. you cried out, trying to get him off of you, but he was quite stronger than you. you’d noticed (and maybe did a little more than that) him buffing up over the past few months after he started going to the gym with his roommate. god dammit, chad.

your towel slipped and you tried to reach for it to conceal yourself, but you and ethan were clearly not on the same page and he grabbed it before you could, throwing it off you completely. it was a little embarrassing, being naked from head to toe in front of him while he was entirely clothed, but ethan seemed to be enjoying it and his heavy stare made you squeeze your thighs.

ethan leisurely trailed a finger down your torso, his cold touch making you shudder. you were inclined to let him do as he pleased, but then you started to have a guilty conscience and said, “stop! ethan, stop, or i’ll tell…”

ethan, chuckling, interjected, “don’t tell me you seriously think they’ll believe you.”

“why wouldn’t they?”

“because i’ve never done anything wrong before in my life,” ethan replied, tempting you to roll your eyes had not the situation been as dire as it was. “and it’s no secret that you like attention.”

you were affronted. “are you calling me an attention-seeker?”

“well, you know what they say - if the shoe fits, wear it. i think you like my attention, though.”

“no,” you denied, despite it being a lie. you couldn’t admit that. though the truth was between your legs. 

ethan merely laughed, craning his head stopping when he got a whiff of your scent. you always smelled delightful, but even more so fresh out of the shower. “you smell good. what kind of body wash is that?”

“lilac,” you blurted. so much for not liking his attention.

your stepbrother snorted, prying your legs back open and his hand and dipping his hand between your thighs. you reached for his hand in a pathetic attempt to hinder him, but he threw it back at you and continued, skirting his fingers on your thigh. you sucked in a breath, heart racing. you were more nervous than you were afraid and felt a sweat approaching any second now.

“ethan, i…”

“i thought you didn’t like my attention,” ethan cut you off, tilting his head. he brought his fingers up and let them glisten in the sunlight filtering through your bedroom, now coated in your arousal. “what’s all this then?”

you swallowed.

ethan was looking at you expectantly, but you didn’t say a word. you were frozen. “now you want to be quiet? that’s alright. i’ll give you all my attention.”

you both knew what that meant, the implication not lost on you, and it’s enough to make your breath linger in your throat. if you were bad now, you were much worse when he pushed a pair of his fingers between your legs, filling you with his long, slender digits.

you called out his name in a whimper, lips parting. all he wanted to do was taste them. you looked so delightful, moaning his name, your sweet cunt tightening around his fingers. he could only imagine how you would feel around his cock, and if you were being frank, the same thought was heavy on your mind.

“ethan,” you called out, reaching for his wrists, but never trying to stop him. “ethan, i’ve never...”

ethan played dumb, cocking you a concerned glance. of course, he already knew what you were trying to tell him, but he wanted you to say it. “you’ve never what?”

“i’ve never… i’ve never done it before,” you muttered, somewhat embarrassed.

for a moment, ethan paused, and then he was eyeing you incredulously. “seriously? never?”

you shook your head. 

“in that case,” ethan said, kissing your stomach tenderly. “i’ll make it very, very special.”

you didn’t really know what ethan had in mind, or in store, but when he brought his head to to kiss you, you kissed him back with fervor. you were tired of lying to yourself about what you wanted. maybe it was wrong, but the longer you were under the influence of ethan, the less you began to care.

when he took his underwear off, you were a little nervous, but ethan returned to the sweet, loving boy you knew and had grown to love for a while and whispered, “don’t worry. i’ll go slow.”

so when he pushed inside of you, he was slow and steady, holding your hand and slipping his fingers through yours.

[garoujo]

!!nagi swears that kissing you before practice or a match gives him good luck!!<3<33

✩ ˛˚ . NAGI SEISHIRO ; — it seems the teams way to get nagi motivated has its drawbacks.

warnings: sfw! no warnings just nagi being the sweetest :3 note: hi nonnie!!! i decided to just write this lil thing cause i thought it was super cute so i hope u like it sob!!!

for the most part, it was beneficial when the team decided to start inviting you to their morning practice — as a means to motivate nagi, noticing that the usual sleepy, slacker of a striker seemed to have a little more motivation whenever he’d look over and see you in the stands.

but now.. actually getting him to come onto the pitch to play was a whole other problem entirely.

“hey, nagi! get on the field, jeez.. we’re still a goal behind, ultra genius.” you hear reo call from behind you, huffing when your boyfriend infront of you doesnt even seem to give him a second thought as he waves him off from over his shoulder. you think it’s amusing though, the pleading look his bestfriend gives you like he’s begging you to help him out.

nagi on the other hand, is currently leaning over the barrier at the stands — shooting you a starry-eyed look from under his messy bangs. his gloved hands fidget with the hem of your t-shirt and you feel them twitch tighter around the fabric every few moments, like an adorable little attempt to pull you closer as he sends you a pout.

“this is a pain, ‘ts in the way.” your boyfriend breathes as his longer limbs shift and fidget over the metal fence against him he’s referring to — surprisingly enough managing to support his weight as he leans against it, probably finding standing too bothersome given how long they’ve been practicing already.

but you give nagi an inch as you take a step closer, just enough to let his hands graze along your hips as he lets his head lean forward and rest on your chest. “you’re needed on the field, sei.” you try to reason as you push his snowy bangs away from his gaze, letting you take in the pretty, drowsy expression on his face when he blinks slowly up at you.

“eh, don’t wanna. wanna stay here.” another slow drawl and his fingers are squeezing at your skin, feeling him nuzzle deeper into your chest as he leans even further into you — making the barrier squeak slightly under his weight. you’re not sure it’s quite built to balance lazy 190cm strikers.

“but i wanna see you score more goals. we can get lemon tea before we go home.” it’s tempting, especially when you say it in that pretty little voice you know he loves. so you feel nagi’s head twist against you before he’s sending you a cute little look, cheek smooshed against you as he huffs.

“i’m sleepy though, i wanna have a bath and play video games with you instead. ‘ts no fair.”

“i’ll give you a kiss for every goal you score.” it’s quick, your reply — it doesn’t give him a moment to consider it because you know it’s a bargain he can’t pass up. only a few simple things could get nagi seishiro motivated and your kisses were right up there next to video games and well— that’s it.

“wan’ them now. need ‘em for a power up.” it’s hard to say no to him when he’s giving you that look, it’s sleepy and doe-eyed and there’s a soft glow that swims in the deep colour of his eyes that makes you smile before you’re scratching your hand through his hair. it makes your boyfriend shudder and he pulls you closer before you’re reminded of the time limit when reo sends you a wave followed by a grumpier sort of look.

“three goals for three kisses.” your words are rushed but they make nagi stand to full height just as quickly despite the way his arms remain around you — head leaning into the press of your palm when it cups his cheek.

“yay.” it’s soft, spoken under his breath when you push his hair from his features to peck him once on the lips, followed by another before he’s meeting you quickly for the last — urging it to be a little deeper than the other two as he pulls you into him. you hear him hum and you decide to give him a little extra motivation when you swipe your tongue between his lips, hearing a sweet whimper sound from him before he’s parting them for more — but just as quickly as it deepens, you pull away to grin.

“hey, why’d you pull away. wasn’t done yet.” nagi’s words are whinier now but there’s a soft flush on the tips of his ears and you think it’s cute just how easy it was to get him drowsy on kisses.

“it was just for good luck. three goals, sei. then you’ll get more!” you let your fingers scratch through his messy hair again as he groans, followed by a quick thumbs up to reo from over his shoulder before you’re pushing him lightly. he sways before he turns and you laugh at the next pout he sends you as his arms fall to sway by his side — his eyes still on you even as he makes his way back towards the team, although there’s something darker in his gaze now.

“eh, i guess. but it’s so bothersome, three goals is too easy.”

© 2023 GAROUJO. please do not copy any of my layouts or writing and translate or repost onto any other sites.

[kanmom51]

Public service notice

Remember how I said I haven't blocked you just yet @chaotickoalacat ?

Well, got your reply ask, and let me tell you this:

I'm really tempted to do it right now.

I am not going to answer this ask, more so because I know how you will be literally crucified in the comments not only for the utter nonsense you are spewing but the way you are doing so.

I will address a couple of things you are saying though. Because seriously dude, I'm in utter shock as to how you are actually able to come up with this stuff.

You believe MHJ? Really?

You tell me that because she created NJ then her saying that Illit are copying her then that's it? It must be true? She also said that BTS copied her concepts in the past, that true too? You are aware of the fact that she is all about the visuals and has nothing to do with the music part of things, right? Just checking.

And in the same breath you are also full on acknowledging that she was the one behind the BTS leaks, including the damaging leak of JM's private info.

So, let me get this straight, you have no issue in believing a person that is untrustworthy and moved to hurt your fave, as long as it suits your current agenda? Seriously? I kind of think that once untrustworthy always untrustworthy. Or in your world is it once untrustworthy sometimes trust worthy as long as what's coming out of their mouth is what I want to hear?

Btw, you most definitley showed your true colours with the whole "JK's fling" idiocy. Prey tell me what does it say about JM, or more so, what does it say about what you think about JM if he sticks by JK's side while JK, in your warped mind, is an untrustworthy copy cat cheater? You must think so highly of JM for sticking by JK's side when JK treats him like shit (according to your warped views).

And let me make my views clear as day here. JK did not copy JM nor is JK an asshole cheater that can't keep his dick to himself. Balloon busted for you, I guess.

And yes, we are both BTS fans (or are we? cause you seem to be a solo stan and not a fan of BTS the band and all it's members), but clearly you lack the basic emotional intelligence that someone who is mature enough and with some life and long term relationship experience has. Either you are very young and inexperienced or for some reason lack that healthy relationship experience. Because thinking so low of JK and yet believing at the same time that JM would stick around someone like that, yeah, there is something lacking in your life experience. Maybe no experience, maybe bad experience, maybe too much Kdrama watching experience. Whichever it is, please, do not try and compare us.

There is NO comparison.

You say that you don't view JM as a damsel in distress, that he is a strong person, stronger than JK seeing how well he did in the army. Let me start by saying what a load of bull (not the him being strong part, but the part where you claim you aren't out to 'save' him). He's strong when it suits you, which is when you want to prove he's better than JK and/or the others (I'll get into how disgusting and disrespectful that comparison you are making is in a second). But at the same time he, supposedly in your fantasy world, allows JK and the company to step all over him, to copy his ideas and creativity and to scorn him and mess around with others, and continues to play along with their game, of showing up for JK, going on trips with him, enlisting with him even after he's supposedly, again, been mistreated, disrespected, cheated on. I would kind of suggest that you make up your mind which is it?

As for this constant comparison with the others when it comes to their army service, I've been vocal about this in the past and I will say it again. It sickens me how disrespectful you are towards not only the other BTS members, each and every one of them doing their utmost best within their army placement, but it's disrespectful towards every single other SK young man that is doing their compulsory military service. How easy it is sitting on your comfy chair in the safety of your own home or wherever it is you are sitting, which isn't an actual war zone, behind your screen and keyboard, grading these young men that have left their lives behind for 18 months to enlist into active duty in a military that is at war with another country. Please have more respect not only for every single one of the members (each serving at their utmost best within their assigned duties) but also for all the other young men that are doing just the same. JM is amazing, he's assigned duties are utilizing his high level of intelligence and mathematical abilities. Kudos to him for excelling at it. But why is it so hard for you to say that and at the same time say the same about each and every other member? Why is there this need not only to uplift one, but to do so at the expense of the other, diminishing what the other is doing? This whole attitude is just so childish and stupid. And you know what? Like I said, it's disrespectful not only to the other members and to every single other soldier, but also to JM, who doesn't need to bring down the others to show just how amazing he is.

This is it. Let me make this as clear as day that even if I end my sentences with a question mark, it's a rhetorical question and not an invitation for your response. I will not reply to any more asks you might throw my way. Obviously you are intrenched in your ideas and opinions, as warped and unhealthy as they may be.

Good luck trying to save JM from the one person he is showing us all that he wants to spend every second, every minute, every hour with.

And good luck with it all when Jikook Karma strikes, cause it's coming and it's coming strong, and when it does come well, all those that lack the respect to either JK or JM, those who are willfully closing their eyes and ears to what they have been showing and telling us for years now...

...the day is coming when it can no longer be ignored.

[fivestar-outlaw]

New Horizons (Park Seonghwa) (Ch.1)

Chapter 1: Turnips

Pairing: Park Seonghwa x Fem!Reader

Words: 2.0k+

Warning(s): None

A/N: aYO first story on this blog, hello everyone. I hope you enjoy this self-indulgent series. I lub Seonghwa so I knew he had to be the first one posted here.

Reader is implied to be living in the US bc uh TIMEZONES ARE FUCKY and i didnt realize how reliant i was on mine (PST) when looking up KST

Italicized is English, just an fyi

Summary: Attempting an all-nighter while playing Animal Crossing alongside your bias, you didn't expect your turnip prices to be such a high amount... nor did you expect Park Seonghwa to actually accept your offer to sell his turnips on your island.

Series Masterlist | Navigation

You take a small bite of your snack before you made your avatar walk around your island. Seonghwa's livestream was playing in the background and he, too, was playing Animal Crossing. You made sure to stop and talk to the villagers who you came across outside, pull up some flowers before they overwhelmed areas on your island, and dug up some fossils, which you set aside to get assessed later. Right now, you planned on taking your turnips you bought from Daisy Mae to Nook's Cranny. With the help of time travel, your game was set during the day rather than matching the bold 4:40 am on your phone.

It was a chill all-nighter. None of your classes assigned homework over the weekend, you had the weekend off from your part-time job, your roommate was out of town until Sunday... You didn't mind ruining your already rocky sleep schedule to play Animal Crossing along side your bias.

Before you got into Ateez you already had been learning Korean, figuring having a language degree would help you with future careers. You had been a fan of Ateez for awhile. You adored all of their personalities and enjoyed their music, but for some reason you gravitated towards Seonghwa. You then started collecting albums when you had the extra money and made sure to check into their live streams when you could. Seonghwa even pulled you out of your Animal Crossing burn-out too which you were grateful for.

Currently, you finally got your avatar to Nook's Cranny, your turnips in tow. It was the last day to sell and the previous prices were all bellow a hundred bells. So you prayed to the Lord Tom Nook and hoped for good prices. You tapped the check prices and waited eagerly to see how much they would take for the turnips. Your eyes widened when little Timmy answered the prices.

660 bells.

You immediately sell your turnips to them, making a lot of bells in the process. Finally, you could give Tom Nook a sizable amount of money towards your last loan payment.

Seonghwa's voice, sounding frustrated, caught your attention. You looked at the livestream and saw he was holding his switch up. You could make out that his turnip prices were a mere 34 bells and he mentioned the prices have been like that for him all week.

"That sucks." You murmured to yourself.

For the hell of it you quickly type up in chat that you'll let him come sell his turnips and added the price being offered. You saw how fast the chat was going but you decided to tempt fate. After double-checking for any spelling errors you hit send.

The chat stuttered for a bit, your message right in the middle. You figured it was on your end but then you saw Seonghwa's eyes widen and watched as he scrambled to touch something on his phone. He spent a few moments typing and then hesitating on whatever he just did. You heard him sigh, tapping his phone before setting it down off screen in front of him.

Then, you saw a notification pop up on your end. Curiously, you opened it and when you did, your eyes nearly popped from your head.

Seemed as though Seonghwa, through the Ateez account, direct messaged you.

'Can I sell my turnips after stream?' It read. You immediately go and click the profile, just in case it was someone trying to pull your leg. All that did was lead you back to the official account. You tried it again a few more times just in case but it was the same result.

Seonghwa actually messaged you.

You could hardly contain your excitement coursing through your veins. You took a deep breath, switched your phones keyboard over to Hangul and carefully typed up your response despite your shaking hands. You had to pause several times on what to say but after a few minutes you responded.

'Sure! Just let me know when I should open my island and I can send you a code. I apologize for any mistakes in this message. I figure it would be more comfortable for you ^^.'

You hit send and put your focus purely on the livestream, your game forgotten about. You watched as a few moments passed by and saw Seonghwa glance towards his phone. A small smile grew on his face as his eyes trailed back to his game.

You focused back on yours. You got those fossils assessed (all were ones you already had), visited Brewster, found a gyoird, and stopped by at Marshal's house. You still cringe at how you accidentally told him yes when he asked to move. You caught it too late and the game saved the decision. Your little squirrel you spent hours island hopping for was leaving.

"I'll miss you buddy." You sigh to yourself as he told you he'll miss the island. None of your friends still played nor had space on their islands to save him for you. Maybe Nookaz-

"Yes!" You heard Seonghwa exclaim and you glance back over to his stream. "Cephalobot wants to move." He had such a big grin on his face as he proceeded to tell the robotic octopus villager to move. You couldn't help but smile along with him before focusing back on your island.

About an hour passed when Seonghwa said goodbye to the stream, making a heart with his hands, before shutting it off. You stifle a yawn and grab your phone, bringing up the messages between you and the offical Ateez account. You weren't sure if you were to message first or if you should wait for him to message you. You stood up from your chair and stretch your limbs, hearing a few satisfying pops.

You glance down at your phone and promptly sit back down.

'Ready when you are.'

You smile and start heading to your airport to get a code for him when you passed Marshal's home. You stopped your avatar when an idea popped into your mind. You picked up your phone and quickly typed up a message.

'If you don't mind time jumping to get an empty spot on your island and don't mind swapping friend codes, I have Marshal ready to move if you want him. I accidentally said yes when he asked to move. Only if you want to of course. :)'

You hit send, took a deep breath of air, and looked away from your phone, too nervous to see his reply.

"The worst he will say is no. And understandably so." You say to yourself under your breath. You didn't want to even look at the message but decided to calm your nerves. You turn back to your phone and saw he messaged you back.

'That would be great. Thank you, Atiny. Give me a few more minutes please.' You then saw he sent his friend code.

"Okay, what the hell?" You couldn't believe it. "I guess he really is serious about this game." You chuckled and pressed the home button. You typed in his friend code, making use of the Switch's touch screen and sent him a friend request.

You saw you were immediately added back. You take another deep breath and open your game back up. You went to your airport and opened the gates up for friends. You let your avatar stand idle as you waited. You figured he'd have to time travel a day to get Cephalobot in boxes and then travel again to have an empty plot for Marshal.

You got up from your spot and quickly got a drink of water. You couldn't stop the yawn escaping past you lips, the lack of sleep is starting to hit. You quickly return to your couch and plug your switch back into the dock since the battery was getting low and grab your controllers, the game appearing on your TV screen now. You unlock your phone and opted to lay on your side on the couch, viewing the new message Seonghwa sent.

'Almost ready. Hopping back on now.' His message read.

'Gates are open :)'

A minute passed when you got the notification a friend was arriving to your island. After the little animation finished you see his avatar walk into the airport. You quickly do a little wave and walk out, seeing he is following. You lead him to your Nook's Cranny and wait outside as he goes in to sell his turnips. You simply wait outside so you could take him to Marshal next when you see another message pop up.

'Can I buy the cabinet?'

'Go ahead. I am outside and will take you to Marshal when you are done.' You smile and do nothing to stop another yawn from escaping.

A few moments pass and his avatar walks out of the store. He stays still for a moment before he does the little 'joy' reaction, which you return. You then start heading to Marshal's home with Seonghwa in tow. If sudden tiredness hadn't washed over you, you'd probably much more outwardly excited.

You finally get to Marshal's home and watch as Seonghwa's avatar enter; you opted to stay outside again. Another yawn left you and you had to blink a few times to keep your eyes open.

"I'm just not built for all-nighters anymore..." You mumbled to yourself. You realized sitting up may help keep you awake, but you were just too damn comfortable laying down as you were. Your eyes droop but you were trying your best to stay awake to see him off your island.

You hear the door in game open and close and see Seonghwa's avatar leave. He did another joy reaction and stayed like that for a moment. You get on your phone again and saw he had sent a message.

'Thank you again, Atiny <3 your island is cute.'

'You're welcome, Seonghwa'

You watch as his avatar heads back into the direction of your airport, though, you did not stay awake long enough to hear your game let you know that a friend has left the island.

---

You woke up about eight hours later feeling like you were hit by a car. You couldn't tell where you were for a moment, what time it was, what year it was,and your stomach ached with hunger. Finally, your eyes fully adjusted to being awake, though you didn't have the energy yet to lift yourself up off what you know realized was your couch.

You lay there contemplating life, cursing your past self for trying to do an all-nighter. You glance around and saw your Switch controller and phone on the floor. You then look to your TV and saw it was off. You had a half drank glass of water on the coffee table and an almost finished snack.

You finally sat up, making sure to stretch your limbs. You felt more awake now. You pick up your phone and curse at the low battery life. Quickly you unlocked it and then nearly dropped your phone, the messages between you and the official Ateez account were still open.

You played Animal Crossing with Seonghwa.

You played Animal Crossing with Park Seonghwa.

You take a deep breath to calm every emotion hitting you and get up to turn your Switch back on. You grab the controller and immediately look to your friends list.

He still had you added.

"Should I unfriend him...? He didn't unfriend me but..." You sighed. You go in and change the time and date to match real life before opening the game up. You quickly press through the usual Isabelle announcements.

When your avatar exited the house you noticed you had in game mail. You figured it was probably a goodbye letter from Marshal. You had your avatar open the mailbox and to your surprise, Seonghwa had sent you a letter and a present.

'Thank you again for letting me sell my turnips and for letting me have Marshal. Let's send gifts!'

You favorite the letter and take the present. You opened it and felt immediate excitement. He sent you a piece of artwork you knew you for sure didn't have for the museum. You could barely contain your excitement at the prospect of being Animal Crossing buddies with Seonghwa.

[changingplumbob]

Chatting about Dating Deanna - Reece Edition

At Devin's insistence Deanna has agreed to take a trip to Thrift Tea or whatever it's called to let Devin try find her some outfits for the show. Not being a shopper herself she's convinced her best friend Reece to come along since they have similar fashion tastes.

Reece: I just can't believe you're actually doing it

Deanna: Yeah well, you've found your person haven't you. You seem happy. I want in on that. But not with you and Samir because ew. Do you want to see the pictures from the first lot of applications

Reece: I would but... you know I only like guys. I would just say they're all cute and have nothing else to offer. Talk to me once you've met them

Deanna: Deal

Devin: Oh! Oh! What about this one???

Deanna: Devin it's a dress. Try again

Reece: But you've worn dresses before. Like at prom

Deanna: I will wear some dresses if she insists but they have to be the fashion style I like

Devin: Don't worry De I am on it. Oh Luna, what do you think of this one for you? Gorgeous and pink

Deanna: Devin and Norah have been working on challenges for the contestants and honestly I'm a bit scared with their brains. Like are the people there to woo me or play survivor?

Reece: Well yeah but whoever wins will have to put up with Devin

Devin: HEY! I heard that and I'm fabulous

Reece: I just mean you've got her and Artemisia and Joey, they'll need to be able to handle your family

Deanna: True

Reece: I've been thinking about my contribution

Deanna: Okay genius, dazzle me

Reece: Joey was mumbling something about not being able to call households households because of something watcher related and I thought... give them group names!

Deanna: What?

Reece: For when they're in the villa with you. And you can name them... after robots! Because you like building robots

Deanna: That is the most geek idea I have ever heard

Reece: Yeah well I'm a young adult now, I've embraced being a geek

Devin: Ohhhhh! What about this one?

Reece: That dress does actually look nice

Deanna: *sighs* Since I like the colour I suppose I'll try it on

Devin: YES! Okay Lu see if you can find some matching shoes

Deanna: But Reece there won't be enough robot names for all the rounds so think of some other names options please. Less geeky ones would be great, I am not a geek after all

Reece: Maybe not but you are a tech head

Devin: De come on! Dress up time

Deanna: You know if being trans was a decision and not a state of being I'd be tempted to say Devin's constant dress up games when we were kids made Emisia a girl

7 spots available!

Dating Deanna - Contestant List, Challenge Overview, Joey's Contestant Creation Walkthrough, F.A.Q, All In Guide