#the bastards of these games are always my favorite and she could have been one god damnit

[ladykailitha]

A Love Connection Part 1

In a very special engagement (as in a don't normally post 5 days a week), I introduce "A Love Connection"!

If the premise looks familiar the original idea is from here, where a couple of people in the notes or tags said they'd love to try it. And after a year, I figured I'd try my own hand at the idea.

This will update on Tuesdays at 10am and 10pm EST. With hopefully eight chapters.

Summary: Steve has tried everything under the sun to find someone to truly connect with, so he gives up after a particularly horrible date. Then Chrissy introduces him to her favorite game show "Love Connection". When Chrissy and Robin apply for him, they don't think they'll except him, but he does. His suitors are Billy Hargrove, Tommy Hagan, and Eddie Munson. Will Steve crash and burn again or will his connection be there waiting for him?

~

Look, to say Steve’s love life was a disaster would be unfair. That would be underselling it. It was a fucking catastrophe. He had gone to bars, joined hobby groups, used all the apps, even Grindr; though that was mostly for hookups, which sucked. But that was the nature of the beast if he was honest.

And the beast had completely devoured him. All his dates were either only interested the casual, cheated on him, or wanted one-night stands. Which Steve absolutely did not want. He wanted connection. Intimacy.

“I absolutely give up,” he whined to Robin, after the last date tried to slip out in the middle of the night, knocked over their lamp into their goldfish bowl, killing the goldfish, then he tried to hide the evidence by dumping it down the garbage disposal and turning it on! Lied about it, then stole their last beer as “compensation for his trauma’ and told Steve to never call him again.

“Look, Ryan wasn’t the best guy,” Robin replied with a grimace. “He liked Oasis and Tool unironically. Always a red flag.”

Steve snorted. Robin was a music snob most days, but she wasn’t wrong about that. Ryan and he had been dancing around and with each other for weeks before they finally got so hot and heavy that they went back to Steve’s for sex.

“It’s not fair,” he huffed. “You went to that bar and you a hottie girlfriend and I went to that bar and fucked a fish killer! I loved Garfield! He lived for five years before that bastard mercilessly murdered him. That’s long than my last ten relationships combined!”

Robin winced. “Ooh... I’m going to have to call Chrissy and let her know we can’t go back to that gay bar again.”

“Oh he’s so dead now!�� Steve ranted. “Not only is he fish killer, he has driven us from our favorite bar!”

“Let me order us some take out,” Robin said standing up, “then I’ll call Chrissy over and we’ll all cry over Ciarán Hinds and Amanda Root falling in love.”

Steve sniffed away a couple of tears and nodded. “Then can we have a funeral for Garfield?”

Robin tilted her head and smiled sadly. “Of course we can. It’s a Sunday so none of us have work. We can watch as many weepy romance movies as you want, okay?”

“Okay,” Steve croaked. She gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. He watched her wander into the kitchen to see what leftovers they had in the fridge so they could order from somewhere else. He loved her so much.

~

Sometime in the afternoon when they were more than a little tipsy, Chrissy commandeered the remote and turned on her favorite game show.

“Love Connection”

“Noooo...” Steve whined, burying his head into a throw pillow. It was Garfield shaped. It was what inspired the naming of the valiant fish. “This is the last thing I want to see. It’s so fake. No one gets together on these things. It’s so cheesy.”

“Exactly!” Chrissy crowed. “That’s why it’s perfect, we get to make fun of them!”

Steve thought that the only good part of the show was the second half. The first half was split into three different rounds. The first round was each suitor answer the one question, for a total of fifteen and then the catch would rank them, best got three points, second two, and third only one.

Then in the second round there were a set of rapid fire either or questions that the catch would yell out and the suitors would write down their answers. If their answer matched the catch’s they would get a tally. Whoever had the most tallies would win five points. Then three points to second place and one to the last place.

Then in the final round, each suitor would be asked separate questions and the catch would rate their answer one through three and that’s how many points they would get. Then at the end of the round all the points would be tallied up and the two highest would move on to the next round.

To the part that Steve actually liked. The first question always asked was “what would you do for a first date?” And the suitors got to take the catch out for the date and then afterward for drinks, the two dates would ask the catch some of the questions he asked them. Then the catch would pick the one they connected to the best.

It was all the stupid questions that bothered Steve. That was the fun part of dating, having these conversations and learning about them as you go. But then maybe that’s what Steve’s problem was, is that the people he dated didn’t care about these types of conversations.

“Why would you say you hate sports,” Steve huffed, waving his hand at the screen, “when the guy is a major soccer fan? Like did she think that she was going to put a stop to him enjoying it after starting dating?”

“Ooh yeah,” Chrissy agreed. “Just pick a different catch.”

Robin turned to her and tilted her head. “Do they get to chose their catch? I thought it was all random.”

Chrissy paused the show and pulled out her phone and the Wikipedia article. “Okay, it says here that people can apply to be suitors,” she waved at the row of women in the three booths. “Or catches.” She indicated the guy with her hand. “If they’re chosen to be a suitor then they are given a list of catches, headshot included. Then they rank vote them, so if four people pick Henry, then one will be on their second rank vote. And that part is randomized. According to them, anyway.”

Steve snorted. He highly doubted anything was randomized or voted on. They went for the biggest drama and everyone knew it.

“How long has this show been going on?” he huffed. “Like please tell it’s new and shiny and that’s why people like it.”

Robin snorted and shook her head. “Sorry, babe. But this is season twelve.”

“Oohh...” Chrissy said. “We need to show him the season six finale. That was hella juicy!”

So despite Steve’s protests, Chrissy pulled it up on her streaming services even though they hadn’t even finished the episode they were on.

When the credits rolled, Steve stared at the screen in utter shock. “What the honest fuck was that?”

Two of the three guys got into an all out brawl when the one guy had scored the lowest and felt that the second place suitor cheated. Not first place, second. Both guys were arrested and hauled off the set.

“It came out later Sven was right,” Robin said. “Elliot cheated. His cousin was an ex of the catch so he went in knowing a lot about Stella. The things he got wrong were things that had changed since she was dating his cousin.”

Chrissy nodded. “That’s why the have partitions up between the suitors now and why they have vigorous screening now. The show was almost canceled.”

“So why wasn’t it?” Steve asked honestly. “That was a shit show, if I was Stella I would have sued them into oblivion.”

Robin squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. “She did, but they settled out of court.”

“Basically,” Chrissy said, pouring them more wine and handing the first glass to Steve, “she wanted them to completely overhaul the system. She didn’t want it off the air, she wanted it safer for future participants.”

“The more the fool them,” Steve huffed. He took a long sip of his wine. “All right, fine. Let’s start at the beginning.”

Robin and Chrissy cheered and they all huddled up together on the sofa to watch this absolute train wreck of a show.

They were about half way through the third season and twice as drunk when Steve slurred, “Why are there no gay peemles in this? It’s a trav–trad–tramajesty.”

“Travesty!” Robin slurred back, her language skills always being the last to go when she’s three sheets to the wind. “And you are absolutely right! This is homophobic!”

Chrissy nodded solemnly and pulled out her phone. “I’mma show them...” she muttered with her tongue sticking out. “At loveconnectionUSA Need more gays, hashtag loveconnection hashtag need more gays.”

It wasn’t long after that that the three of them passed out on the sofa, empty bottles all around them and a message on the screen asking if they’re still watching.

~

There was a loud beeping noise and it absolutely was hurting his head. He reached over to where his phone was usually plugged in on his nightstand, but his hand went straight through it. He waved his arm all over the place but still his nightstand eluded him.

He peaked open one eye but his vision was obscured by a mass of blonde hair. He tried to push it out of the way but it kept falling back into his face. Finally he pushed Robin off him and onto the floor with a thud.

“Hey!” she yelped.

Steve peered over the edge of the sofa with a look of confusion. “Why are you on the floor?” he muttered over the still beeping of his alarm.

“Stop!” he mumbled and somehow, blissfully it did.

“I’m on the floor because you pushed me there,” Robin huffed, getting to her feet. She did a sniff test and grimaced when she completely failed. “God... how much did we drink yesterday?”

Chrissy struggled to sit up and blinked at her girlfriend groggily. “Not enough if I feel like this.”

Steve rolled over and looked at them both in confusion, then the events of Saturday and all day Sunday came flooding back in.

“Oh fuck...” he muttered, sitting up himself and rubbing his face. One eye was blurry from where his contact had shifted in the night. He wasn’t even sure why he had them on. Probably from sheer force of habit.

He got up and stumbled toward the bathroom where he emptied his stomach of all its boozy contents. He really didn’t remember them eating after breakfast, only a steady stream of harder and harder liquor.

While his was puking his guts out, Chrissy and Robin stole the shower. Thankfully only taking the time they needed to get the gross feeling of being hungover off their skin.

Then Steve closed his eyes as they exited the shower and snuck into Robin’s room to get ready for work. They all worked at Hawkins Middle School, where Steve was a history teacher who coached swimming and basketball. Chrissy was a health teacher and advisor for cheerleading. And Robin was the language teacher. The principal snatched her up because she could teach French, Spanish, and Italian, with her only needing to hire a German teacher.

Steve got his shower and then opted for glasses instead of his contacts, not trusting his shaky hands not poke out his eye or some shit.

They all were mostly human once they got coffee, painkillers, and cereal in them, the three of them, no doubt looking like escaped extras from a zombie flick. They moved as one, gathering up their stuff and shuffling out to Steve’s car. Chrissy sat in the back, Robin riding shotgun.

Chrissy opened her phone to check to see if she had any messages. “Holy shit!”

~

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Look I'd be sorry about the cliffhanger, but you're only waiting 12 hours for it, soooo...

Have fun!

Tag List: TEN SLOTS OPEN

1-@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @cryptid-system

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

[emjiroki]

I couldn't contain myself, I had to write something for Reo. He's been plaguing me.

Nagi's stepsis! Reader x Reo (kinda enemies to lovers sort of)

Wordcount: 1k-ish

TW: Dubcon (Reo is a perv and a little selfish and a lot impulsive), explicit scenes and language, all characters over 21+, this wasn't rushed but written pretty quick cause my brain was working for once. Hope everyone enjoys 💕 likes, reblogs, and comments always appreciated.

Reo always acted like he hated you, couldn't stand that you were even on the planet, despite being the one to insist on staying at Nagi's place. Where he knew you would be. Nagi's pretty stepsister who, Reo claims, is the bane of his existence; always arguing with him and being pouty like the spoiled brat you were.Nagi had explained to him on the ride over that you were just staying with him for a bit as you finished up the last semester of university before you moved into an apartment with one of your friends; But how was he supposed to keep up the facade and act like he wanted nothing to do with you when you were flouncing around his best friends house every time he showed up, with your glossy lips and gorgeous eyes that begged him to fuck your throat till tears were spilling from them. He'd never admit it to anyone but his favorite piece of material in his spank bank was a picture of you at your birthday dinner last month, wearing the tight houndstooth pattern skirt he had bought for you and and looking absolutely gorgeous in it. Had he handed you the gift bag and barely uttered a happy birthday before heading off to the gym with Nagi? sure but it didn't mean he liked you. Just... begrudgingly tolerated you. Despite stroking his cock till it was nearly raw every night to thought of fucking you full of his cum and make you his girl.

○●○●

Reo had been trying and failing for the last hour to concentrate on the game him and Nagi were playing online with Yoichi and Hayoma; but the only thing in his mind was you and that whiney voice of yours. Bratty. Pleading with "Shiro-ni" to let you have the big tv in the living room to watch one of your dumb movies, despite having a perfectly good fifty inch flatscreen in the guest room you were staying in to use. Reo couldn't help the way his dick had jumped at your begging, his breath stuttering as all the blood in his brain rushed south. He wanted you whiney and begging for him, tone dripping with lust and brain full of nothing but him.

"Died again. Damn it" Nagi groaned rolling his eyes when he Chigiri taunted him over the headset, "what is up with you tonight?". It took a moment for Reo to realize Nagi was talking to him.

"Huh? Nothing, what's up with you?" He retorted, shifting uncomfortably in the beanbag as his cock throbbed and strained against his sweatpants, "been letting us get our asses kicked".

"Me? You're the one over there spacing out thinking about my sister". Reo's heart began hammering in his throat and he could feel his face heating.

"Oh god as if" He scoffed, rolling his eyes and breaking contact to look away, "She's so goddamn annoying".

"Right, I know you like her dude" Nagi said simply, getting up to switch his controller now that the battery had died before the next round.

"Whatever, Im gonna go piss I'll be back" Reo said, his jaw tight.

"Grab those chips we got at the convenience store earlier while your out there". Reo waved him off as he shut the door but he would grab them anyway. He didn't actually have to piss, he just wanted to leave the room and break the tension, Damn that white haired bastard for calling him out and being right.

Reo didn't see you when he walked out into the living room, the last twenty minutes of your movie still playing and setting the room in a bright glow. It wasn't until he got to the doorway of the kitchen that he saw you, sprawled out asleep on the couch, the throw blanket you had been using falling off onto the floor and leaving your shirt rucked up and short sleeps shorts on full display. He nearly swallowed his tongue when he realized you were wearing one of the T-shirts he had left over here, an old one from when he was in BlueLock. The sight of your soft skin with the cotton pulled up, knowing you most definitely were not wearing a bra underneath, had his blood running hot again; saliva pooling against his tongue and his cheeks burning like open flames. 'Chips, get the chips' He chided himself, turning his back and going to the cabinet to pull the bag out. But then he was in the doorway again, bag lightly gripped in his hand as he stood there a moment, just gazing at you and wondering about everything wrong with him. Everything inside him that was shuffling his feet forward to get a look under your loose shorts, just a look. He'd just pull them to the side real easy and you'd never even know. He was on his knees at the side of the couch, chip bag forgotten on the floor, feeling equal parts shame and excitement as he hooked his fingers beneath the soft material; feeling the lacy edges of your panties. You were so warm under his fingers and it made him throb to think about how wet you'd be, what you'd taste like. He bit back a groan as he let his mind wander for a moment, thinking about how sweet you would be against his tongue and how much he craved it. Craved it like a dog. He couldn't help the feelings of shame dissipating as the mental image of you spread bare and dripping for him broke the last of his restraint. It would only be a taste, just to quell the urge and allow him a little self indulgence. That wasn't wrong right?

Reo was still delicate as he moved your shorts and underwear to the side, not wanting to risk waking you by trying to take it all off, his bright purple eyes taking in every bit of skin he could see until he finally had your pretty pussy on display.

"God, angel just look at you" he murmured just below the volume of the tv, inching his face closer to your exposure until he brushed his nose against the wiry hairs at your mound. He was fulfilling every fantasy he had the moment he sucked your clit in against his tongue, running the slippery muscle up to nudged at the sensitive little bud before dipping down to taste at your entrance, your body tensing beneath his hand lightly on your hip. He couldn't get too greedy, not wanting to wake you but also so so desperate to make you cum so you'd drip against his tastebuds. He tried so hard to be gentle, delicate and light with his menstruations but the more of you he tasted, the drunker he became; vision growing hazy and his moans getting harder and harder to hold back. He was trying so hard not to buck his hips, to not cum in his pants like some inexperienced teenager, rolling and suckling your clit with his lips and tongue stimulating you so much your hips began to unconsciously chase his mouth anytime he attempted to pull away, which only drove him more crazy. You wanted him, you needed him,at least that's what his fuzzy brain was screaming. Craved him as much as he craved you for the first time and his animal brain wasn't about to let up and disappoint you. He needed you to cum for him, needed it like his lungs needed air, and any thought other than getting you to that high was irrelevant; his cock heavy and leaking through his underwear a distant thought. Drool was smearing from his lips against your puffy clit and the light rub of his teeth against your sensitivity had a breathy moan gracing his ears. Reo thought he had died and gone to heaven when he felt a hand card through his violet hair, and not that you had awoken when a desperate groan had spilled from his lips and vibrated against your pussy. He didn’t stop, trying in vain to gain his breath as his heart sat like a rock in his stomach and he was barely able to look up knowing that you would be looking at him.

"Reo?" you mumbled sleepily, pressing up against his fervent mouth even as uncertain butterflies burst through your stomach. You could practically feel the heat radiating off his face as he grunted a confirming sound, not able to tear himself away even as he gained the courage to flash his gaze up to you when you didn't push him away. The stars in his eyes were infectious, addicting in a way you weren't expecting as he looked at you; his pupils blown wide and expression pleading you not to reject him as he pressed closer to devour you and bring you to your high. You were a lot closer than you thought, the feeling of him spitting messily against your clit sending you over the edge with a cut off moan, your hand clamping over your mouth so as not to alert Nagi, your legs tensing around Reo's broad shoulders and shivers running up your spine. He eased back just as your toes uncurled, pressing soft kisses against your inner thighs and smearing your slick against your skin and across his chin. You giggled breathlessly, focusing on the feeling of his shallow breaths and the softness of his hair beneath your fingers.

"Reo, if you wanted me so bad all you had to do was say pretty please" You admitted quietly, watching as the purple haired man smirked and bit your flesh teasingly before shouldering his way past your thighs till your legs were around his waist and his lips were hovering over yours, the pussy drunk look on his face only sending heat to your core again. He kissed the corner of your lips and then your cheek before trailing down your throat to your pulse point, a shaky breath and groan fanning your skin.

"P-Pretty Please"

[vickytaa]

Those Blue Eyes"

Part 2.

(part 1)

"Can you move idiot?" Matt said.

I felt his blue eyes on me.

how could he be such a bastard? He didn't even bother to say hi.

As I walked away from the department, I felt my mind burning. How could he be so rude? Did I do something?.

3:00 pm

I was trying to do some homework when I heard my phone buzzing. It must be Nick.

Nick

heyy girll, do you have any plans for today??

Y/n

hii, nop. I was doing hw, but I wouldn't mind taking a break :)

Nick

Alright, wanna come here to start the science project??

Y/n

on my way.

I was so excited, I dressed up with a white T-shirt and grey pants.

I walked downstairs and grabbed my keys.

While going to Nick's house, I was looking at every building. It was all too different from home. My vision started to get blurred. I missed home. Family. Friends. I haven't been a full week yet, and I already missed home.

When I arrived, I asked myself if I really wanted to be there. Before I could think of an answer, the door opened, and there he was, standing right in front of the door. "Nickkk!" he smiled and stepped away, inviting me to come into the house.

As soon as I passed the door, I could feel his presence, his eyes on me. I felt like I was in another dimension. Why? I don't even like him.

I turn so I can see him sitting on the couch next to Chris. He smiled, and I thought I might pass out. He is such a dickhead but that doesn't stop him from being so fucking pretty.

We sat on the dining table and we all started to take out our books.

"So, here it's says, 'To start, choose a human body system'." Chris says

"I think we should do Digestive sistem, we all know about it and it's the easiest one." I suggested, and they all agreed except Matt. He was quiet, so I looked at him to ask again, and his blue eyes were staring at me. Our eyes met. I know I wasn't the only one who felt the tension in the air. Why in school was he so different? Is he the same person?

"Uh, yeah, sure" He says, as a little smile formed on his face.

We started to search images and information about it.

As we were getting tired, I heard Chirs say, "we should play Mario Kart."

"Suree, I love this game," I said, excited to play, a bit nostalgic because it was my brother and I 's favorite video game.

While playing you could see how good I was. I was killing them. And there faces where priceless.

And when it finished I was so happy, laughing at them, but not in a bad way. They were laughing too, but more because Chris was shocked, he has always been the best and you debated him like nothing.

Soon the sun came down and I knew I had to be early at home so I grabbed my things, and I looked at them, smiling, they looked like they were having a great time, me too, so I thank them and made my way out.

☆

When I arrived I saw Jess sitting on the couch while looking at her phone.

"I told you it would be easy for you," She whines. I giggle. "So, tell me about it"

"They are triplets, Nick, Chris and Matt.

Nick is so sweet and funny, but Chris is the funniest and weirdest." I laughed."And Matt.. he is so handsome, but I don't really understand him, I know it's the first day I met him, but in school, he is a person, and out of it is another completely different."

"Don't worry, girl, they are men. Nobody understand them." And we both laughed.

When bedtime arrived, I laid down, closed my eyes, and there he was, again.

Those Blue Eyes he got, his brown hair, and the way he could undress you just by looking at you was unique.

And my memory of him staring at me and then smiling was all over my thoughts. I couldn't take it out of my mind.

But then I remembered, tomorrow was my first volleyball practice here. I'm so nervous. What if I don't get with any of my teammates? would they be better than me?

My mind was killing me slowly.

☆

Matt's Pov

When I first saw her enter the class that day, I was shocked. How is she so beautiful? But damn, she looks stunning.

When the teacher said the project was with groups of four, I looked at Chris and Nick, and they asked if we should ask her to be with us. It was her first day, so I thought she might have no friends yet.

"Hii, my name is Y/n." I tried to look everywhere, avoiding her. I knew that if I looked at she, I might be an hour staring at her.

Later that day, I was walking towards the PE department, and suddenly, I saw her. She can't know that I like her, even if I just met her, and didn't know her last name or her favorite food. "Can you move idiot?" I said. Wow, now she thinks I hate her. Why did I say that? She is not Chris or Nick to talk to her like that.

☆

Nick said Y/n was coming, so I tried to look as good as I could.

When I saw her pass by the door, my heart started to go faster and faster, but when she looked at me, I pretended that I didn't care, although I had been waiting for this moment all day.

We sat at the diner table, and we started to take out our books.

I couldn't take my eyes off her. I tried, but just couldn't.

"So, here says 'To start, choose a human body system'. " Chris said. "I think we should do Digestive sistem, we all know about it and it's the easiest one." Y/n suggested. I wasn't paying attention to her words because of his beauty. Then, she looked at me like she was going to ask me again. Our eyes met. It was such a beautiful moment. Wait, we are talking, and my brothers are looking at me. "Uh, yeah, sure." I knew she could feel the tension between us.

Then, when we were playing Mario Kars, I was actually shocked. How is she so good at this? She is breaking our three asses. When the race finished, I saw Chris's face and started laughing so much that my stomach hurt. Such a good time.

Then, I watched her leave, a bit sad because it's been a long time since I hadn't laughed that hard.

As I fell asleep, all I could think of was that 5 seconds when our eyes met. Y/n couldn't leave my mind. Why? I barely know her.

☆☆☆

_______________________________________

Omgg I'm so excited for what is coming nexttt. :))

hope you liked it.

Remember that my first language is not English, if I have any mistake let me know :)

Final part

Tag list: @amelia-sturniolo3

[dance-to-mythoughts-blog]

HERE WE GO AGAIN: BAKUGO X BLACK FEM! CHUBBY READER

Alright, children. Since it was voted on here you go. Y'all love our spicy Pomeranian man huh? lol.

Warnings: dick in pussy, praise, degrading, facials, squirting, nut swallowing, doggystyle, nipple play, fingering under the table.

ALL CHARACTERS ARE AGED UP TO ADULTS.

It was Friday and you were sitting in your apartment. It was peaceful until your roommate, Mina, came home from class.

“Hey Y/N! What are you doing later tonight?” she asked.

“Nothing that I know of hoe, why? Wassup?”

“Well, the boys invited us to go to this party tonight. I didn’t wanna go by myself so I wanted to know if you were down?” She looked at you as if you couldn’t deny her.

“The boys? What boys invited you, sis? And by boys you mean your boyfriend Kiri?”

She looked shocked “He is not my boyfriend… yet. Anyway, hoe, he said they guys are having some kind of dinner party that turns into a party tonight. Figured we could go shopping.”

“Hmmmm… I don’t know. Who all gone be there out of this little circle?”

“Everybody. And that includes explosion boy.”

You can not stand that motherfucker. Since you guys were kids, he was always a thorn in your ass. An itch that just couldn’t be scratched. You and the Bakugo Katsuki had been going at it for years. It came to a point when everyone thought you had feelings for one another and y'all were playing. You both were very competitive. You both took game night to a whole other level.

“Mina...” you said in a warning tone “Why do I wanna go somewhere with that nigga? All he’s going to do is fucking cry and whine and complain about EVERY. FUCKING. THING. You wanna hear him complain for hours about how the chicken didn’t have any seasonings?”

She looked at you because she knew you were right. The friend circle that you guys had, y’all were very close. You guys knew each other like the back of your hand. But it was always funny because everyone knew each other’s buttons. So, from time to time, you guys would push these buttons and get a kick out of shit. So, you thought long and hard about going to this event. You missed your friends, except that blonde-haired loud bastard, and wanted to see them.

“You know what Mina? Fuck it. I’ll go. Let’s go shopping. It’s only 8:30 AM. So, I have plenty of time to get an outfit and do hair, nails, and makeup. What time is the event?”

“Dinner is at 7:30 PM and the party starts at 8:30 PM. But knowing the boys, it probably starts at 9 lol.”

“Fine. Get your shit and let’s go! We’re so taking your car today Mina” Y/N said.

“Why? We always take your car. Since it’s better than mine.”

“Indeed, it is. But you convinced me to go to this shit at the last minute and then you want me to drive us shopping? And I’m assuming you want me to do your nails too? Correct?”

She looked at you with a knowing smirk. “Exactly. The least you can do here is drive us around. We gotta hit our favorite store! They have all the good shit.”

“You know it!” she sang as she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.

______________________________________________________________

We pulled up at the mall. Surprisingly it was not packed at all. You both hit several stores. The final store that you guys went to was where you found the dress of your dreams. It was a beautiful yellow dress that you bought instantly. You bought a pair of clear heels to go along with it.

“Mina. LOOK!” She turned around and was blinded by the beauty of the yellow dress. Just holding this yellow dress up to your skin complimented you beautifully. You knew you were turning heads at this event and Mina did too.

“Whew. Girl this dress is going to get your eggs scrambled and you broke in half.” She laughed.

You laughed right along with her because you knew it was true. It has been a minute since you had some dick, and you could use a man’s touch. Wouldn’t hurt at all.  “You’re right. I will surely be eaten because I will be looking super good.”

As you guys put your bags in the trunk, Mina’s phone rang. She answered and of course, it was the guys calling to make sure we were still coming. Pretty sure this bitch told them I was coming even tho she didn’t ask me shit. She turned the car on and hooked her phone to CarPlay. Their loud voices blasted through the speakers.

“Are you guys coming or what? We got security and everything and this is gonna be a good time. Did you tell Y/N? Is she gonna come outside today?” Kirishima asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“Hey!! Fuck you, Kiri! I don’t abandon you asshole like Sero says.”

“Yes, you do!” Denki says in the background loud enough for you to hear. “Oi..tell her to shut up.” Bakugo says. As soon as you hear his voice you immediately start going off on him. Why not? It’s Bakugo. Fuck him and his sensitive ass.

“Is this Sero or Denki I’m talking to now?”

“Denki. Don’t mind Kacchan, he’s being an asshole. You know his usual self.”

“OI!! Shut it Pikachu. Before you get blasted to hell.”

Mina was so amazed. She is used to the shenanigans by now so she doesn’t give a fuck. She made that clear after the last game night we had.

______________________________________________________________

Flashback

You guys are sitting in the boys’ shared apartment. This time, in particular, Bakugo was streaming on Twitch. Out of you, Mina, Kiri, Sero, and Denki, Bakugo has the largest amount of followers on Twitch. During the game nights, one person streams while the others are in the party. That’s how that works. When one of you streams, you guys decide who is joining the party for the streaming broadcast. This game night in particular, again, Bakugo was streaming Call Of Duty. He was pretty good at it but not better than you. You streamed too but not as frequently as the others. Bakugo was the party leader, you, Sero, and Kiri joined his party for game night. You guys got Hella dubs(wins). Bakugo was jealous because you got more kills than he did. So that started an argument. You both were very competitive.

“OI. You stole my kill.” Bakugo cried.

“You were playing with your food. And I didn’t steal it. They gave it to you. That was a kill confirmed. You’re welcome assface.”

“Fuck you”

“You wish you could fuck somebody’s daughter. If you could fuck properly maybe you’d still be getting laid” you smirked. Knowing that that would push his fucking buttons. You had heard through the grapevine that he couldn’t satisfy his women. Since all he wanted to do was hook up. That shut his ass up from talking shit to you for the rest of the match for about 5 mins before it started up again. That shit went on for the rest of game night.

______________________________________________________________

“Dammit Mina. LOL. This nigga thinks I care about him telling me to shut up. Aww. My feelings are hurt. NOT.” You said sarcastically. Everyone took a deep sigh.  “Not this shit again. Can y’all chill the fuck out? Please” Sero asked. By the tone of his voice, he was begging you guys not to do that ghetto ass shit again.

“Fine.” You said defeated. “ I will see y’all tonight. But I’m gonna stop talking and let Mina take back over.” With that, you put your air pods in and listened to the music on your phone. By the time Mina was done with her conversation, you were annoyed that you even agreed to this shit to begin with and the fact that Bakugo just pissed you off. But you decided to get petty. You were gone show up to this event looking good as fuck because he called you ugly a while back.

____________________________________________________

When you and Mina got back home, it was around 3:30. You guys immediately went ahead and did your hair and nails. Mina decided on a bone-straight look. You decided that you wanted to do slight curls. You curled your hair, pinned the curls so they would set, and got started on your nails. You’ve already done your feet. You decided to do some Gel-X nails. You settled on an XS (extra short) white French tip to match your white toes. It did not take you long to do your nails. The time became later and later, and it was getting close to when you and Mina needed to get dressed. You took a shower and used some Jasmine-scented body wash. After you get out of the shower, you use your Jasmine-scented body oil, which you put on directly after your shower. Your dress was low cut, so you opted not to wear a bra for the event. You wanted everyone to see these beautiful brown titties of yours. You did your make-up. You opted for the 90s look and something a little more modern as well. With yellow eyeshadow that complemented your smooth silky skin beautifully, natural lash extensions, smelling like you came out of heaven, wearing a beautiful yellow dress that no one wouldn’t be able to resist you in. This dress was bright yellow. So bright that it put the sun to shame with how bright it was. The dress was form-fitting and it hugged you in all the right places. You and Mina finished getting ready around the same time. So, you went to her room to see if she was almost finished.

“Bitch. Are you almost done? Are we driving or are the boys supposed to come and get us?” you asked.

“They said they would. But seems like they might just send Bakugo to come get us.” She took a double take at how damn good you looked. “Fuck you look good girl! Look like a fucking goddess. Yellow dress suits you very well.”

“Why thank you! I love being praised sis” you laughed out loud. Mina was a bad bitch too. That’s why that man Kiri wanted her. We all knew it. “Good shit sis! You look damn good yourself. Ass poking, titties sitting right, smelling good. Kiri Is gonna have to fight to keep these dudes off you sis. Maybe you can get some dick from him since you’ve wanted it for so long.”  Y/N said. Mina looked at you confused.

“What do you mean I want Kiri?”

“Girl, we know you have been feeling for that man so bad. From the looks of it, man got a thing for you too.” Y/N smirked at her.

“So, Bakugo is coming to get us? Is that official or is it just something that was already decided, and no one told me?”

“Yes, Bakugo is our personal chauffeur. We better get our stuff because he will pull up any minute. You know this man is always punctual. Sure enough, here comes this blonde-haired nigga knocking on the door super aggressive. You open the door.

“Cocksucker! Stop banging on the door like you are a psycho.” You slightly yelled.

“Ahh put a sock in it… such a fucking B-“he started but was shook by your beauty. Lord. You looked so damn good. So good that the Bakugo Katsuki couldn’t stop staring at you.

“Like something you see pervert?” you asked smirking at him.

“Nothing at all. Brat. Get your shit and let's go. Come on Raccoon eyes. Move it!”

“don’t call her raccoon eyes you mutt.”

“I will call her what I want. Cunt”

“Ahhh. That’s the problem. You can't get any pussy, so you argue with women, Typical small-dick behavior. Hurry up and drive us to this thing”!

As soon as Bakugo was about to say something smart, here comes Mina.

“Always fucking arguing. Y’all are fucking annoying. Jesus. Let’s go”

____________________________________________________________

You guys arrive at the restaurant.

“Damn Y/N. you look good as fuck.” Denki told you. And you got approval from all the rest of the guys too. “Mina. You look good as fuck too. Good enough to eat.” Kirishima stated as he was looking Mina up and down.

“Get a fucking room,” Bakugo said with his usual scowl on his face.

“Maybe if you weren’t such a prick, somebody would take yo bitch ass to a room.” You said that completely pissed him off. And you didn’t give one fuck about him being upset. The rest of the friend circle laughed.

“she’s right Bakubro. When was the last time you had some pussy? Cami? Tonya?” Sero asked. Bakugo looked so fucking annoying that he was getting roasted. Damn. He knew it had been a minute and he was sick of your shit.

“You are such a pain in the ass Y/N. You know that? Just goofy as fuck” Bakugo yelled at you. You started to look at him differently because he looked good.

“Fuck You Katsuki. Such a damn crybaby. You have always been a thorn in my side. Always complain. Being a weird bitch.” You spoke. That pushed him over the limit. He decided that he has enough of your shit. As soon as he was about to say something, the waitress greeted everyone, and it was time for everyone to go to the table. As usual, you just got into it with Bakugo and now you have to sit next to him. Mina sat next to Kirishima, Denki, Sero, you, and Bakugo at the end. As the waitress came around and you guys ordered your food, Bakugo decided to be bold and lean over and whisper in your ear.

“You are such a fucking brat. I hate you so much. I mean that shit. Such a fucking thorn in my ass. But I can't lie. You look good as fuck In this dress. What were you thinkin? Oi… I’ll make him jealous? To piss him off? Well, you got it. I’m fucking pissed.  Especially since you said I couldn’t get no pussy.” Bakugo said. He had never spoken to you in this manner, and it had you all hot and bothered. In a good way. You turned to look at him and he was dead ass serious. He looked good and smelt good too. He had a nice jawline, beautiful red eyes, eyebrow piercing, and an undercut that you could see. He smelt like musk and burnt sugar and it smelled so fucking good. Intoxicating if you will.

“Man fuck you. Still a crybaby. You like to be an ass. So, fuck you. Someone’s daughter is staring at you, and it isn’t me”

Bakugo took that as a challenge. Shortly after that, your drinks came and the waitress was going around to take orders. She started with Mina since Mina was sitting at the end. You felt Bakugo’s hand on your knee. But you ignored him. He then slowly decided to massage your knee and slide up to your leg. He inched slower and slower into your panties. He leaned over and whispered in your ear.

“Such a fucking slut. You not even wearing panties. You look good. Let us see if you feel good too.”

Bakugo slides his hand up your dress and started to rub slow circles on your clit. It felt so fucking good but you were still in public and at the dinner table with everyone. Thankfully, no one was paying attention because everyone decided that they were doing their own thing.

“You…are such a fucking cunt. Lord” you whisper yelled. But you couldn’t deny that he had you feeling so fucking good. You couldn’t believe that Bakugo was making you feel good as fuck like this. Like this nigga knows what the fuck he is doing. “But you feel sooo good Katsuki. I mean shit that feels good. Gonna cum if you keep it up.” You moaned but kept it to a whisper that only the both of you could hear. The waitress came back with the drink and started to take food orders. As the waitress was starting to take orders and come around the table, Bakugo decided it would be amazing and he would stick his finger in your pussy. In and out his one finger went and it was so good.

“Fuck you tight as fuck. So wet fa me. We’re in public baby and I hadn't even touched you yet. Fucking needy. Be good and tell her your order because she’s coming.”

And sure enough. She got to you and it was a struggle to talk because it felt good.

“I’ll take the jerk chick with rice and peas, and double cabbage. Thanks” You said in one breath. She understood but everyone at the table was confused and wondered what was up.

“You ok Y/N?” Sero asked.

“Yeah. I’m ok.” Bakugo kept fingering you under the table and then you eventually came. Soon as he finished fingering you, the food came and he decided to lick his one finger that was all cozy in your cunt.

__________________________________________________

The dinner party was over and you and Bakugo had ended up riding together because everyone wanted to go their separate ways. As you and Bakugo entered your apartment, Bakugo’s lips were on yours. His kiss was soft and needy. He hugged you and kissed you in all the right places. His kiss became needier and needier, and he grabbed your ass to the point where your cheeks spread open and gave it a nice smack. Who would’ve thought that you would be getting ready to fuck Bakugo? Not Me.

“Katsuki, take this shit off please” you practically begged him. You were so horn that it fucking hurt. He started to undress you and you could not take it anymore. You got down on your knees, pulled his boxers down and his dick sprang out. It was long, thick, and had a pretty little vein that was at the top and his tip, swollen and leaking with precum waiting to be milked.

“Fuck!” you said as you immediately went to heart eyes. You grabbed his dick and shoved it in your mouth going antagonizing slow. You bobbed your head up and down showing major love to the tip. That’s where you focus all of your energy. “Fuck, princess. That feels good” he said as you slurped him up like a slushie. You knew he was getting close because of the way that he was cussing and grinding.

“Fuck Y/N. Imma cum…..Shit” Bakugo groaned and shortly after he nutted in your mouth. You were so happy that you had him nut in your mouth that you decided to swallow. After you swallowed, you went back and sucked the dick some more until he couldn’t take this shit anymore.

“Fuck. I'm gonna ruin you. Fine chocolate ass. Wearing this tight-ass dress for me and only me. Fuck. Bend over this couch now.” He demanded. It was so sexy to see him take charge that it made your pussy even wetter than before. You bent over as he said.

“Fuck.. so wet f’me. Thought u were wet at the restaurant. This is like I put my hand in the water. AMAZING” Bakugo moaned just at touching this pussy. He didn’t even have time to prep you for the dick. He inserted himself and he was slowly inching in. As soon as he was fully in to bottom out, he started to ram into you.

“Fuck kkkaaattsuki…yes that feels so good baby. Keep it going “you moaned at the feeling of his dick plaster away into your pussy.

“you like that? You like when daddy fucks you like a good little slut?”

Fuck yess. I-uh fuck”

“Yeah. You’re doing such a good job f’me. Take this dick baby” he groaned.

“Katsuki.. I’m coming” you screamed. “Fuck yes Daddy it feels so good.”

“Where u want that nut baby?” he asked as he sped up his pace to go insanely jak rabbit.

“I want it on my face baby” you moaned. “Fuck Katsuki, cum on my face day”

“Such a nasty filthy slut for daddy. I'm bout to come on that beautiful face of your brat” He praised. He pulled out and nutted all over your face.

Katsuki looked at you and decided that you were going to be his woman forever and a day. After all, you both knew each other like the back of your hands, and he’d seen you covered all in his nut. What else could you ask for from a spouse?

“I love you. Would you be my girlfriend” he asked. This was the first time you had ever seen him in a soft era.

“Yes” as you went to cuddle next to him and give him a soft kiss on the nose. “ I will be your girlfriend”

Alright guys!/ I hope you liked it. This is what was voted on the last 2 polls so I hope I delivered. Please like and reblog! I think I might do a tag list. comments and let me know if you want to do a tag list.

[honeybewrites]

Writerly Questionnaire

Thank you @paeliae-occasionally for the tag, @harmonic-melodii for the tag, @the-golden-comet for the tag, @sableglass for the tag, @the-letterbox-archives for the tag,

@ominous-feychild for the tag and @willtheweaver for the tag!! Also thanks to @davycoquette for creating the game!!

About You

When did you start writing?

Hmm, that shouldn't be a hard question and yet here we are. Honestly, I don't know. I have a really shitty memory, especially when it comes to my childhood. I think I might have been around ten when I first started?

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

No, I definitely like writing the same stuff I read. Fantasy and sci-fi is my jam! Throw in some massive world building, some angst and whump and you've got me hooked.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

I definitely haven't been compared to anyone. I would like to emulate Brandon Sanderson in the sense of his massive world building and phenomenal magic systems.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

I don't really have a set space. I often write on the living room couch because it's the most comfortable. I do have a desk that I will occasionally write at, but it's pretty uncomfortable after a short while, and I mostly use it for other work instead.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

The car or the bathroom. I know it's sounds super strange, but driving without any music, or better yet riding with it, often gets my brain thinking. And wether I'm showering or just washing my face, a lot of my best ideas come to me in the bathroom.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I really don't know, but I doubt it. Like I said, my memory is shitty. We had moved about five or six times by the time I graduated high school. It was all in the same city at least, but different parts of it. As for people, I was a hermit. I didn't have any friends or hardly ever talk to people my age.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Does whump count? On a more serious note, I haven't done what I call a deep edit in years. I think, just off the top of my head, trauma and abuse are pretty reoccurring, along with internal emotional issues like trust.

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

That's a tough one! I love my babies! I think my current favorite would be 703. She's been around the longest and honestly, she'd helped me through some bad times and I'm not sure I would be here without her.

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

As much as I love her, 703 and I would not get along. She's a little too trigger happy and I'm a little too non confrontational. I think Rage and I would hit it off pretty well though. Maybe Fres too if I could break through their barriers.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

I have said this before and I'll say it again, Master Gerd. That man is a straight up bastard and I would gladly choke the life out of him if ever given the chance. He just makes me so angry.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

It's pretty different for each one. Sometimes they start with a name, other times they don't. It is pretty consistent that I just start writing them into the story before coming up with all the details. If the character sticks around and starts to have a more predominant role, that's generally when I'll go into detail about their backstory and they get their own file in my doc. But this isn't always the case. Sometimes, I just already know all this information from the start and I can write it all down. 703 was like that. Sometimes things come up along the way slowly. But for the most part, I just start writing and everything else works out fine.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Trauma!! Gotta have the dark backstory haha! Most of my OCs have very unhappy and traumatic childhoods/young adult lives 😈. Protectiveness also comes up quite a lot along with being physically strong. I mean, most of my OCs are in a "cult" of some kind that generally goes around fighting things... okay maybe cult is a theme too now that I'm thinking about it. I've got the Mors (bad cult) Oraniz (morally gray cult) Ryuk's pack (wholesome cult) and mafia like organizations in Rune Storm (also bad/morally gray cults)... yeah I think that might be a theme.

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

Animation style. I've always wanted, especially when I was younger and life hadn't taught me anything yet, to have my work turned into an animated series. Even now, that little dream, that I realize is very unlikely, stays the same. I think you can do a lot more with animation than you can live action, and it's always how I've imagined my OCs. Albeit it is a little more "realistic" animation, like Dreamworks, Disney, those kinds of things.

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

If I don't write down my OCs and world, I'm pretty sure I'll go mad. I love sharing my writing, but I write for myself first and foremost. And writing has gotten me through a lot of really hard times in my life. It's something I can always turn to and it helps me express and process things. I can't imagine my life without it. It's just a part of me.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

Honestly, just saying you enjoyed it is more than enough. I never thought I'd have anyone that would be interested in my writing enough to leave comments on it. Every time I get one on anything I post, it always makes me smile.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who “gets” the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

I think I’d like to be seen as just a really good world builder and nice writer in general. I don’t really have any expectations 😂

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Um world building maybe? I’m not really sure I’ve got any greatest strengths deal when it comes to writing. I don’t think I’m horrible, but I’m certainly not great or anything.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

Uh, no. This is the only place I’ve ever talked about my writing. Don’t exactly have any irl to discuss it with or anything I trust to read it. That would get me in a less than ideal situation pretty fast.

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

I think it could use a lot of work if I ever want to publish it. I definitely enjoy doing it, but I don’t think it’s all that great.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Yes. Honestly, I never thought anyone would be interested in my writing anyway. Plus, if I’m the last human, I need some form of entertainment haha

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

I’d like to say it’s pretty much for my enjoyment, but I’m sure there’s some influence of what other people might like too. I’m a chronic people pleaser unfortunately

Tagging @yourpenpaldee @fractured-shield @anaisbebe @aalinaaaaaa @nczaversnick

@kaylinalexanderbooks @wyked-ao3 @diabolical-blue and anyone else who wants to hop on!! Seriously, everyone should do this tag game, it's super fun and insightful!

[thewritetofreespeech]

Could I request Kazuki, Rei, and Kyutarou with a super sweet s/o losing it when she hears someone badmouthing or hurting them?

Buddy Daddy Boys + Protective S/O

Kazuki

He was too good natured for his own good sometimes.

Sure he’s a contract killer, but he wants to see the good in people too. Give them the benefit of the doubt. When someone is being rude or mean to him, he just tries to brush it off and keep going.

Which is a little hard to do when someone has his collar in their fist.

“Come on man. Relax. It’s just a game.”

“You owe me money!” The hulk of a man yelled in his face, as he demanded the money back from the bet he just lost. And for some reason blamed Kazuki for.

“I can’t really give you any money if you’re holding me here. Plus, I just lost all my cash too. Why don’t we use my last buck to grab a beer and drown our sorrows.”

“I don’t want a beer!” The blonde’s natural charms not working on him. “I want my money! Either you give it to me or I’m gonna take it out on your face.”

‘Aw geez….’ He really didn’t want to resort to violence in his favorite casino. He’d like to come back some day.

“Hey!” The two men look over the hulk’s shoulder at s/o standing there. “Put him down now.”

The man growled. “Or what?!”

“Or you’re about to feel what 800 volts feels like on your asshole.” An ominous chatter from their pocket taser, poised just at the brute’s backside, sounded. Letting him know that he might get one hit, but he wasn’t going to get another.

The man grit his teeth, realizing he’d rather not get intimate with their taser, and roughly let Kazuki down before stalking off. “You really didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did.” S/O argued. “You refuse to stand up for yourself. So I have to do it for you.”

“By threatening a man with a taser?”

“When the situation allows.” Kazuki smirked at their reply as they put the taser away. “Let’s go. I think your luck has run dry.”

“Yeah sure.” He agreed. And for once, left before he was completely penniless this time.

Rei

Unlike Kazuki, Rei never sees the good in people.

He always assumes that people are selfish, horrible, mean bastards who are only out for themselves. His childhood taught him that.

Because of this he’s never surprised when people act bad or cruelly to him. He just takes it and keeps it in before letting it go. His childhood taught him that too.

“Excuse me.” Rei glanced to his left when he realized [Y/N] was standing there. Her face scrunch in a fussy brow as they confronted the laughing group of teens that just cut in front of him. “The line is back that way.”

“Oh come on.” One of the teens replied, shrugging them off. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll all get to the front of the line eventually. No reason to make a scene.”

“But….controller…..” Rei muttered under his breath. There were two things that would willingly get him out of the house for the day: work and the release of the new Morio Kart: Race Across the Universe game. To promote it, the store was also giving away a commemorative controller with each new game purchaser for the first 100 buyers. Rei had gotten up early and been standing in line all day for the sale to start. Only to have these kids jump the line and mess up his precise count.

“There won’t be a scene if you just go to the back of the line.” [Y/N] told them.

“Ugh. God. Chill out ok. I’m just getting this stupid new game for my brother. We were just late because we were studying for finals. Our education is important.” The one and only girl in the pack whined.

“And yet you haven’t learned anything.”

The girl, with way too much makeup on in Rei’s opinion, frowned; making the creases in her makeup worse. “Listen, lady. I need to get this game for my kid brother or my parents will be pissed. Besides, aren’t you a little old to be interested in games like this?”

“Are you a little old to not know how lines work? Or color matching for that matter?”

The girl looked ready to boil, but then stormed off in a huff instead. The boys, who apparently were as dumb as they looked, didn’t know what to do so they just took off after her. Getting out of the line and letting Rei resume his properly counted place. “Thank you.”

“For what? I just can’t stand rude people.” Still, Rei smiled just a little at her and the line continued.

They each bought a copy of the game. Rei promised to pay her back, but he really wanted two controllers for him and Miri. Of course, [Y/N] couldn’t say no. “Next time someone cuts in front of you in line, why don’t you hip check them into the bushes.”

“My hips aren’t big enough for that.”

Kyutarou

Owning a bar was a lot of work. People often stayed away, since it was more off the beaten path, but every now and then he’d get a crowd looking for that and be packed. Kyutaro tried his best to maintain, as the only bartender, and was very grateful he had a supportive significant other willing to pitch in and play waitress when need be.

“Hey! Barkeep! More beer!”

Kyutaro sighed as he settled up the tab of one of the customers, before going over to the drunk patron at the end of the bar. “I think you’ve had enough sir. Why don’t I get you a complimentary coffee while I settle your bill.”

“Coffee?? Who the hell wants coffee? I drink enough of that crap at work.” The drunk pounded down what was left in his glass and slammed it down on the bar. “If off the clock. I want beer!”

“I’m not giving you anymore.”

The bar fly glared at him (or as much as they could with how drunk they were). “Listen four-eyes!” Kyutaro was taken aback. Not only was it rude, but no one had called him ‘four eyes’ since grade 3. “I said I want more beer and you’re gonna give it to me! I got money. You got beer. What’s the problem?!”

“Besides you’re completely sauced?”

The men look up at [Y/N]. Tray of empty glassware in one hand and the other on her hip. “Come on man. Time to call it a night before this gets any uglier. You’re not gonna talk to the owner like that.”

“Oh yeah?!” The man tried to get up off his bar stool. He did, but with legs about as shaky as a new born deer. “I’ll…talk to whoever I want however I want. You’re not gonna stop me!”

[Y/N] huffed and sat their tray down. “Look,” she told him, “either you can leave on your feet or leave on your ass. Pay your bill like a man and go. Otherwise, I’m gonna throw you out of here like a cartoon character. Ever literally been thrown out of a bar? There’s no coming back from that.”

Despite his brain being pickled, the man seemed to realize that this wasn’t a good idea and surrendered. Although loudly as he continued to grumble as he pulled out some cash, threw it on the bar, and wobbled his way out. “Think he’ll be ok?”

“Who cares?” [Y/N] replied as they counted out the bills. “After that four-eyes crack he can getbuddy his by a cab for all I know.”

“That’s rather cruel.” Despite this, Kyutaro still chuckled at the remark.

“So,” [Y/N] said as they looked up at him through their lashes. “I like your glasses. He shouldn’t have made fun of them.”

Kyutaro smirked and started cleaning the glasses she’d just brought over. “Well, thank you. And thank you for your help.”

[zibiscusloon]

Because it's impossible to choose one, rate and order the cameos/easter eggs you loved most in the movie

I’m gonna go with some of my favorites off the top of my head! There were so many across the whole movie and I loved each and every one, lol

(Note this is in no specific order!)

1. Chica’s fucking Magic Rainbow

My friend Axe ( @gayfrogsarecool ) caught this lil easter egg while we were watching the movie and it managed to flood back so many memories. So.. many… memories…. (All of yelling at a rude ass rainbow-)

I’m probably in a minority of people who loved Fnaf World during its initial release, so I really wasn’t thinking there’d be a World reference! It was really sweet to see!

2. Balloon Boy (lil bastard-)

I can’t believe I’m admitting that this lil shit is the only animatronic who managed to succeed on every single fucking jumpscare. He got me each time— There was no excuse for them to work every time! He was literally just standing there! But noooooo, Freddy biting Max in half only gave me a brief pause of “Oh.” But the batterie thief himself is the one who made me jump from my seat- what the fuck-

3. Sparky the Dog! (And Sparky’s Diner!)

Every single fan who has been around since Fnaf 1 knows who Sparky the Dog is! The original hoax character. I remember when I was little and I’d be up watching theories trying to debunk whether or not he was a real character! A fan character was a big surprise and seeing that he even has an in universe diner themed around him made me feel like a kid again! (Only this kid now gets confirmation of a Canon Sparky-)

(Also Imma just say his movie design is adorable I love him sm-)

4. Carl & The Cupcake

Noticed this one out more recently! So during the whole segment where Max & her friends are picked off one by one by the gang I learned that the dude that the Cupcake straight up mauls happens to be named “Carl”! I have no idea if it was intentional or not but it could be a nod to The Cupcake’s fanon name!

5. The Ella springlock suit

So Ella on her own was a rather eerie and intriguing concept from the books (Saying this as someone who is still really iffy with how the whole “Charlie is a Robot” concept was handled)

But seeing her as her own animatronic in the movie really managed to bring up her creep factor! She just looks so ragged and forgotten, she looks like a creepy af porcelain doll (and I love that-). Makes me wonder if we’ll ever see animatronic Ella up and running (probably not but it’d be cool none the less!)

6. Cory & Matpat!

Coryxkenshin has always been a comfort channel for me! I always found his content genuinely nice, genuine, and I have a habit of going back to plenty of his old game playthroughs when I’m feeling down. Man also got jumped by BB- you and me both pal-

When I tell you the cackling I had from the whole “That’s just a theory” line, cheeky son of a- (also I now hc Ness as the Hurricane local menace who is a constant thorn in William’s side cause he keeps breaking into the Pizzaria on the weekends looking for evidence and shit from the MCI)

7. And Of course..

I mean did they really expect to have this as the end credits song and for me to not loudly sing it? Childhood in song form-

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #72: Game of Thrones, but make it Ptolemaic

There's something fascinating about the way the Ptolemys took over Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great - sure, anyone can conquer, but it takes an interesting mind to look around for ways to legitimate their rule and fall on sibling marriage as the solution. Yes, it was common among certain royal dynasties, but the Macedonian Greeks, from whom the Ptolemys descended, despised it. I would love a snapshot into how that first sibling marriage came to be.

It was this in mind I stumbled upon the idea for my next terrible fic idea: What if Jon and Robb were not of age with each other?

Aka: The Weirwood Queen Fic

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon, with two exceptions: 1) Lyanna dies giving birth to a daughter at the Tower of Joy. Ned names the girl after their favorite Great-Aunt, Jocelyn; and 2) Catelyn loses the child she conceives on her wedding night.

(Robb is still born, but his birth date and the birth dates of all the other Stark children are pushed back two years.)

Now, it is one thing to return from war with a bastard when your wife has just given birth to a legitimate heir; it is quite another thing to return from war with a bastard after she miscarried. For this reason Ned choses to pass Jocelyn off as his brother Brandon's bastard daughter with Ashara Dayne.

Jocelyn's childhood is similar in many ways to canon, but not. Without her "twin" or any trueborn siblings to draw attention away, most of the castle dotes on young Jocelyn. Even once her cousins are born, Jocelyn remains the oldest of the lot, filled with the confidence that a child only has when they know they are loved. She loves her cousins in turn, but with the age gap they're never quite as close as canon, and she's more nursemaid for the younger ones than a playmate.

Catleyn, of course, loathes her, and begs for her to be sent away - which she eventually is. But instead of sending Jocelyn to the Silent Sisters, or across the sea, or marrying her off to a loyal man-at-arms stationed on the edge of Stark lands... Ned accepts widowed Rickard Karstark's offer for Jocelyn's hand. He's a loyal bannerman whose family has often wed Stark bastards and was notorious for his care and devotion to his first wife. It is the best Ned can do for her.

And so Jocelyn becomes the second Lady Karstark, which is awkward, as her stepsons are quite a bit older than her and her stepdaughter Alys is only six months younger, but Jocelyn thrives as a lady of a Northern House. Her husband is kind enough and largely allows her to run the house as she will, which is as best as she could have hoped for in a marriage.

By the time King Robert rides north two years later than canon, Jocelyn has given birth to a son, Brandon, and is pregnant with a daughter, Lyanna.

Canon continues apace, if somewhat delayed. Ned becomes hand of the king and loses his head. The North rises up, names Robb King in the North... and Rickard's sons Torrhen and Edward are killed by Jaime Lannister, for which Rickard kills two hostages. Robb still choses to execute Rickard Karstark.

Meanwhile, Jocelyn has been rallying forces to take Winterfell back from the Greyjoy's in the North. She succeeds, only to learn within the week that her cousin has made her a widow.

Jocelyn quietly rages. She'd never loved her husband, but she'd been fond of him. It's the hypocrisy that gets her most - because the Starks have always put family first, but she's known from the beginning that some family counts more than others, otherwise Ned would have never killed her uncle Arthur, or led her mother Ashara to throw herself off a tower, or allowed his son to think it fitting to kill her husband while they knew Jocelyn was preparing to take back his home for him.

And so what you have is Jocelyn continuing to rule Winterfell in her cousin's name but largely acting on her own, never outright ignoring Robb's commands while he's still alive but following the letter rather than the spirit of the order.

This continues for some time, with Jocelyn Queen of the North in all but name after the Red Wedding - holding off the Boltons and the Greyjoys - and gaining the respect of the North.

Into this enter Bran (as played by the Three-Eyed Raven) and baby Rickon.

After four or five years of playing Regent for Sansa, still held hostage in King's Landing, the last thing Jocelyn wants to do is give up power to her thirteen year of cousin who 1) spent the last five years beyond the Wall, letting her do all the hard work of ruling and 2) has no idea what the political situation is in the North. Most of the Northern lords feel similarly and insist Bran and Jocelyn wed, if only so Jocelyn can continue what she's been doing while Bran learns the ropes.

Jocelyn is even less happy about this, but goes along with it in name only, sleeping in a separate part of the castle.

This goes on for about two years, Bran making all sorts of subtle attempts to undermine Jocelyn's rule that - if they'd succeeded - would only have destabilized the North. Jocelyn is gearing up to have him declared addled by his trip beyond the Wall when she catches Bran - or, rather, the Three-Eyed Raven - trying to jump ship into Jocelyn's son seven-year-old son, Brandon Karstark, who with his Targaryen and Stark blood would make a better host.

Explaining to her bannermen just why she murdered her second husband is a challenge, but the evidence - that he was trying to kill her son - is rather irrefutable. Unfortunately, it leaves her in the same position as before, this time having to marry her her ten-year-old cousin Rickon to continue ruling the North.

Through all of this, it should be clear Jocelyn is doing this less out of desire for personal power - though there is a glimmer of that, especially when certain lords demand she give up her regency to man - then desire to stabilize the North. Ned and Robb had gone south, and it had nearly cost the North everything. All Jocelyn wants to do is keep the madness consuming the south from infecting the North too.

Meanwhile, Daenerys and Young Griff have joined forces in Essos, married, and begun their reconquest of Westeros. Amid the chaos, they succeed brilliantly.

They leave the North for last, attempt to replay the submission of Torrhen, but in a much weaker position than The Conqueror was - they have dragons, but winter is setting in and their martial might is largely exhausted by a decade of warfare. Regardless, Jocelyn tells Rickon to bend the knee, realizing the North can't survive on its own for long. For this they get many concessions - a break in taxes, the title of Prince of the North, and the betrothal of the Dany and Young Griff's son and daughter to Jocelyn's children Lyanna and Brandon Karstark respectively.

Jocelyn continues to rule the North, largely without the input of her third husband, who after his majority largely spends his time in Dany and Young Griff's ongoing military campaigns - putting down rebellions throughout their empire, pirates in the Stepstones, and the like - until he is killed crossing a river in Essos. The title of Prince of the North falls to Jocelyn's son, Brandon Karstark, who drops the Kar from his name and rules well - with the help of his mother.

Bonuses include: 1) Jocelyn never expressing anything other than familial fondness for any of her husbands, never sleeping with the second two, and largely being presented as an aromantic asexual who because of societal expectations forces herself to try to have romantic/sexual feelings for her first husband, fails, and then keeps her second two firmly in the baby cousins category; 2) An exploration of family dynamics in Westeros - specifically, what it means to be on the outside looking in as a bastard and knowing that your uncle and cousin don't seem to count the death of your mother, mother's brother, or husband as kinslaying, and being a woman allowed to hold the reins of power while the men are away and being expected to turn everything over to the first male claimant who shows up after you've done all the hard work; 3) The Three-Eyed Raven putting on a masterclass of how to be subtly creepy enough to cause everyone around him to think they're imagining things, when in reality it's worse than they imagined, and having been working even beyond the Wall to help bring about the Targaryen Restoration; 4) No one ever suspecting Jocelyn as being Rhaegar's daughter, and historians using the Valeryian looks her children have with their Targaryen spouses as proof Young Griff was really Prince Aegon; and 5) An exploration of the North, its traditions, and its religion, with Jocelyn somewhat inadvertently bringing about a revival of the last two through her desire to Damnatio Memoriae her late and unlamented Aunt Catelyn.

And that's all I have. I suppose its not as ptolemaic as it could be, but I was thinking of Cleopatra VII and her marriages to her two younger brothers as I wrote it, so. As always, feel free to adopt this plot bunny, just link back if you ever do anything with it.

Other Jon Snow Headcanons: Aelor the Accursed | Aegon the Adopted | Aegon the Undying | Aegon the Unyielding | Aemon the Adventurous | Baelor the Brave | Bastard of Winterfell | Daemon the Destroyer | Daena the Dreamer | Daeron the Desired | Dyanna the Defiant | Elia the Magnificent | Jon the Fair | Jon Whitefyre | King of the Ashes | Lady Arryn | Lady Baratheon | Lady Lannister | Lady Stark | Lord of the Dance | Maekar the Maester | People's Queen | Prince Consort | Prince of Summerhall | Queen Mother | Queen of Nightingales | Red Queen | Rhaegar the Righteous | River Queen | Shiera Snowbird | Visneya the Victorious | Weirwood Queen | Wolf Queen

More Terrible Fic Ideas

[mister-fisch]

I've finally decided to do an intro post so here we go. (:

My name is Luigi(or that's at least what I'm going by right now),you can call me Luigi,Lui,Gi,Willard,Will,Willi,Bill,Jone,Jones,Jonesy,Kirby,or you could come up with a nickname i dont mind that either ,I use He/They/It pronouns.<3

Some facts about me are:

•My favorite colors are:Black,Pastel pink,Pastel blue,and Pastel yellow

•I'm a cosplayer,I've been cosplaying since 2017 or 2018.Im currently working on making a Vox cosplay.

•My favorite music artist at the moment is Will Wood.<3

•I play a decent amount of video games.The most played game I've played is stardew valley.

•I love stuff animals.

•I always break the clips off of pens and mechanical pencils.

•I love bad movies(e.g. The velocipastor,inhumanwich,bloodsucking bastards,etc)

•My favorite animal is probably a biturong or a zebra shark

I used to have an older account but I lost access to it when I got my new phone lol.(It was basically just a dhmis blog, @geraldsverygerrythoughts if anyone is curious,(@im-gerry was one of my old accs sideblogs))

Currently,I'm really into Spooky month and Stardew valley(mainly spooky month rn lol),but I'm always willing to talk about the following: Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel(I wish to make it ABUNTDANTLY CLEAR,that I DO NOT SUPPORT VIVZIEPOP,i do enjoy her shows ik there flaws and i desperately hope for change,the reason i still remain to watch hb and hh is because of the nostaligic memories of me and my cousins watching them when i still lived with them.I dont like VivziePop as a person,i dont support her,i and her shows are insanly flawed in many many regards.I just want to make this clear),Undertale/Deltarune,Cuphead,Dhmis,The Stanley parable,Total Drama,TADC,Unicorn Wars,Ddlc,Animal Crossing,BATIM,Death and Taxes,mha(I'm not entirely caught up lol,nor do i especially like it anymore),eddsworld,the stanely parable,Jojo's bizarre adventure,Hellsing,BNA,She-ra,Centuarworld,Villianous.(There are probably more I can't think of lmao.if you arent sure if im i to something just me.)

Do not interact if:You are a homophobe,transphobe,aphobe rasict,pedophile,anti-furry,zoophile,ableist,zionist,an asshole,etc,etc,etc.Someone who ships problematic ships,eg:child× adult ships,incest ships,etc,etc.if you like Nazi characters

This blog is basically just for art and random shit I think of.Eventually,instead of just posting Fandom related stuff I wanna start posting stuff about my ocs and whatnot which I will do at somepoint.<3

Other blogs: @irritated-incendiary (an Ignacio from spooky month ask/rp blog), @uneasy-itto (a spooky month oc ask blog), @dexter-the-exterminator (a dexter from spooky month ask/rp blog) , @the-prophet-of-the-universe (a spooky month oc ask/rp blog), @jamface-daily

Friends' blogs(go follow them): @blood-guts-goreeee , @father-gregors-guidance ,@alicethescenequeen @xachanimations

[agentoli]

I love the flip-flop AU! I have some notes and questions, if you don't mind:

Interesting move putting Tex in red team

Maybe Maine could have Lopez's role of being misunderstood in conversation and one person (probably Wyoming, the bastard) keeps badly translating? Just a thought

Do Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie teams have armor abilities? I might have some ideas if you're interested

Where are other state name people? Florida, Georgia, Utah, the triplets, Illinois.

How much does Tucker complain about being Cyan when his armor is Aqua?

Why are Team Bravo all birds except Lopez? Maybe his could be a bird in spanish. Aquila is already taken though with Sarge being eagle

Again, love this AU! The only time I've seen something like this is a fanfic (Quantity Over Quality) where the Reds and Blues (just Sarge, Simmons, Grif, Donut, Tucker, and Caboose) were AI assigned to different agents (Florida, York, North, South, Wash, and Carolina respectively)

Ahh! Tysm for the ask!! I'll try my best to adress all of your notes/questions!!!

Tex being a Red

->Tex being a Red was pretty much the first thing I made concrete. Mostly because I knew having her on a separate team from Carolina would create an interesting telephone dynamic. Carolina keeps asking York about the woman who looks scarily like her late mother, and York is just confused because Tex is one of the most competent soldiers he's ever been in charge of.

Maine Translation hijinks

->Oh definitely. Wyoming would absolutely give shitty translations both ways, though never maliciously. Mostly just to mess with the big guy. I mean, what else is there to do in a box canyon in the middle of nowhere? Though Carolina often corrects him when she can.

Suit Units?

->I actually haven't thought about armor abilities/units because I'm playing musical chairs with some AIs and the og sim troopers (mostly red team because honestly they would have fun dynamics regardless of pairings). Suggestions for that stuff are always welcome!

The other state names

->As for the other state name people, Florida already has a spot in the story. Everyone else is kind of floating around. Though I have been playing with the idea of replacing the Flag Zealots with the rest of the state names.

Tucker hates the name Cyan

->All. The. Time. The way codenames/callsigns are given out is up to the team leader, and Church, being the insufferable little bastard he is, took the opportunity to mess with Tucker. However, he often shortans Cyan to just Cy, which sounds cooler and leads to less rage fueled distraction in the field. (Cobalt is shortaned to Coby, and Royal gets Roy. Poor Caboose can't keep up with all of these funny nicknames :[ )

Agent Lopez / Uno

On a related note, Lopez was built after codenames were assigned. Unfortunately, after one of the Freelancer game nights held every week, Lopez was unceremoniously branded with the name of the gang's favorite card game. And it just stuck. Yes, he hates it. Lopez 2.0 was given Dos to continue the trend.

QoQ

->This AU was largely inspired by QoQ! I haven't gotten around to actually finishing it, but I am already in love with the writing and dynamics.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[necrotic-nephilim]

18, 19, 20, 22!

for the chose violence ask game!

18. it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on...

oh SO SO many things. so many things this fandom sleeps on, by proxy of a lot of people not reading the comics. i think the fandom is sleeping on the fact that Jason was Red Robin before Tim. i think the fandom is sleeping on Batman: Prodigal, the *first* time Dick was Batman and Tim was Robin with him and how they bonded during that era, when it was just them. (the DickTim potential. it's all i'm saying.) i think the fandom is sleeping on Helena Bertinelli in *general* and her connections to the Batfam. i think the fandom sleeps on the family that the Bats have outside of the Batfam. (ie: Cass' siblings, Damian's family on his mother's side, Dick's sister, Steph's mom, etc) i could go on forever. but i think the main thing is family, just bc to me i always find it odd when the Batfam are stripped of their family and important relationships outside of their little sphere bc i find it wildly unrealistic and boring and sometimes i wonder if the fandom knows these characters even exist.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

BAD PARENTS JANET AND JACK DRAKE. it's my guilty pleasure. and i KNOW it's not canon and OOC from the information we have. i even actually really enjoy Jack Drake as a character and i especially enjoy Dana Winters, Tim's step-mom. in canon i find these relationships are really nuanced and rich. but for fanon? everytime i will always lean into the Drakes sort of sucking. i'm just unhinged for concepts where they're cartoonishly neglectful, members of the Court of Owls, literal criminals/psychopaths, etc. it's so fun to add that layer of nuance to Tim even though the whole point of Tim was he was a normal kid with a normal life who happened to find out Bruce Wayne was Batman. like i will always defend Jack Drake when discussing canon. but i will write him as an evil, evil bastard in fics. i can't explain it. it just calls to me.

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

when Bludhaven blew up and the whole One Year Later thing. it felt sloppy and so fucking needlessly petty on behalf of Dan Didio. he wanted to kill *one* character he had a hate boner for, and an entire city gets nuked and then we flash forward a year? it's just such needless writing. it's tedious to work around in fanfiction and i always ignore the entire thing. nothing about it was done to develop Dick or any other character, or done to have real consequences and a thought out plot compared to things like No Man's Land, it was just Dan Didio trying to kill off Nightwing. so i don't like it. i also found the era when Jason was Wingman pretty boring. i think it could've been fun to try to pivot Jason's character but the whole thing is bland to me and i ignore it, even as a pre-Flashpoint Jason stan. also, the entirety of War Games. but i wouldn't say i find that boring, more-so i find it infuriating how much the writers despised Stephanie Brown and bent over backwards to make her the villain and put so much destruction on the back of a teenage girl just trying to be good. also i find most Crisis Events tedious and i ignore them. i simply cannot be made to care.

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

oh this is so tough to answer without repeating answers from above oh god. i think the fact that Helena made Cass' Batgirl suit is a big one for me, and that she was briefly Batgirl. there are so many interesting things to be done with Cass wearing a suit that Helena made instead of making her own. and that the mouth covering is something we associate with Cass' verbal issues, but it was Helena who put it there first, meaning Cass didn't pick it, but she leaned into it anyway. i think you could do a lot with that character wise. also Bette Kane. i would like her to stop being ignored. oh and the entirety of Knightfall. how is such a massive arc in the comics largely glossed over by the fandom, i will never understand that there isn't at least *mention* of Jean-Paul in fics where Tim is Robin.

oh ALSO my favorite thing, that Dick has hallucinated Jason multiple times while Jason was dead. that will never leave my mind. the common thread of most of the Batfam hallucinating people is just neat in general.

[shadowsxgwynriel]

@gwynweekofficial Day 5: Friends

Catnapped 🐈‍⬛

Synopsis: When Gwyn’s cat is stolen by her neighbor, she enlists the help of her friends to get him back.

I had this random idea in my head, and hopefully I was able to do it justice 😅

Word count: 1,677

Read on AO3

“Shady! Here boy!” Gwyn waved the can of tuna in the air, hoping to entice the feline. “Aren’t you hungry?” He’d ran out of the door when she’d gone to check the mail, and she had spent the last hour and a half looking for him, but to no avail.

Gwyn had hoped that she would have found him by now. Usually whenever Shady managed to sneak out, she was always able to find him within twenty minutes. Not this time unfortunately.

Feeling a bit anxious, Gwyn headed back to her place to grab some of Shady’s favorite treats. She had to keep looking for him while the sun was still up. Coyotes frequently roamed the area at night and her stomach churned at the thought of something happening to her baby.

She was about to go inside, but movement from the house next door caught her attention. Curiously, Gwyn turned her head—and honestly couldn’t believe her eyes.

Shady was inside her neighbors house, lounging in front of the bay window, his smokey gray coat gleaming in the sunlight.

What the actual fuck? Her neighbor had stolen her cat!

She’d never actually met her thieving neighbor. Whoever it was had moved in about three months ago and kept to themselves. Gwyn had thought maybe they were just antisocial, but now she knew their real motive. The asshole had been watching and waiting on the perfect opportunity to steal her beloved Shady.

Thinking quick, Gwyn pulled out her phone and snapped an incriminating picture of Shady inside the house. Then she sent the photo to the group chat.

Me: My neighbor stole Shady!

Her phone rang immediately.

“Hang on, let me add Nesta to the call,” Emerie said. “Okay, now why exactly do you think that’s Shady?”

“He ran out the door earlier and I couldn’t find him—until now that is.” Gwyn narrowed her eyes at the house harboring her cat. “I can’t believe my own neighbor would do something so evil.”

“But that doesn’t mean it’s Shady. He could have his own cat, Gwynie,” Emerie pointed out, always the reasonable one.

“I mean . . .” Nesta started. “It does look a lot like Shady.”

Gwyn smiled to herself. “See!”

Emerie let out a sigh. “Remember that time in the fourth grade? You thought that Cynthia Reynolds had stolen your lunchbox, but it turned out that she just so happened to have an identical one?”

“That’s irrelevant since happened so long ago.”

This time Nesta was the one to speak. “Well, do you remember two years ago when you thought that Brad Haymitch had stolen your Game of Thrones mug, and—“

“What time is it?” Gwyn wondered.

“Um, four thirty seven,” Emerie answered. “Why?”

“Because that’s the official time that our friendship has ended,” Gwyn told them, deadpanned.

“Sorry, but you’re stuck with us for life,” Nesta declared, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

”Which is exactly why we’re on our way over to your house right now,” Emerie told her.

~~~

Approximately thirty minutes later, they were all sitting in Emerie’s car, with a pair of binoculars pointed at her neighbors house. They’d even changed their clothes for this covert mission.

“So?” Gwyn questioned.

Nesta lowered the binoculars. “That cat looks just like Shady.”

Gwyn nodded enthusiastically. “Right? It’s definitely him.”

Emerie took the binoculars and looked for herself. After a few minutes, she slowly offered them back to Nesta. “And you’re absolutely positive that your neighbor doesn’t have the same cat?”

She shrugged. “I can’t say for sure,” Gwyn admitted. “But how often do two people have identical cats and live next door to each other? It has to be rare, right?”

“So, what’s our plan? Are we going to knock on the door and confront the bastard?” Nesta asked.

She shook her head. “Nobody’s home, so we’ll have to go with plan B.”

Nesta lifted an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

Because, after Gwyn had gotten off of the phone with them, she had knocked on the door before running to hide in a nearby bush, waiting to launch an attack. But when nobody had opened the door, she had formed a new plan. “I knocked and no one answered.”

“What’s plan B?” Emerie asked. “And why does it involve us being dressed like this?”

Like this was referring to the unicorn onesies that they all had on. Gwyn’s was blue, Nesta’s was white, and Emerie’s was purple.

“We needed to match for this mission,” she replied.

“You don’t think that three women dressed up as unicorns, breaking into someone’s house, won’t be suspicious?”

“But who would actually expect three women dressed as unicorns to break into anywhere? If we had worn all black, then we definitely would have looked suspicious.”

Emerie sighed in defeat. “Sadly, I can actually see how your logic makes sense.”

Gwyn smiled, then glanced over at Nesta. “Do we have eyes on the target?”

Nesta pointed the binoculars at the bay window. “Target is still sunbathing in the window.”

“Perfect.” She looked at her friends. “Ready?”

Emerie and Nesta nodded. As a collective, they all raised their hoods over their heads and got out of the car. After casually strolling up the walkway, Emerie and Gwyn stood in front of the door, blocking Nesta from view as she picked the lock.

“How do you know how to do this?” Emerie inquired.

“I don’t,” Nesta admitted, still jiggling the lock. “I watched a few videos on YouTube.”

Gwyn frowned. “They have videos on how to break into someone’s house on YouTube?”

“Technically the video I watched was titled how to break into your own house.” Nesta continued to mess with the lock, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“Wait a minute, why don’t we just try and open the window?” Emerie suggested, walking over to it.

“What? There’s no way that they just left the window unlocked—oh!” Gwyn gasped when it actually opened.

Emerie opened the window enough for Gwyn to reach inside and grab Shady. Her cat meowed as if annoyed that his peace had been disturbed. Gwyn cuddled him close and they all made a dash over to her place.

Emerie went straight to the kitchen. “I think I need a glass of wine.”

Nesta collapsed onto the couch. “I’m going to leave a comment on that video. None of that shit worked at all.”

“Maybe you just did it wrong,” Emerie told her, returning with a glass of white wine.

Nesta stuck up her middle finger.

Gwyn scratched Shady on the head and took a seat. “You’re too trusting,” she scolded her cat. “The next time a stranger tries to take you, I want you to claw their eyes out and meow for help.”

Shady purred and rubbed his head against her neck in response.

Emerie took a sip of wine. “So, now that our felony is over with, have you guys had a chance to read the new Sellyn Drake book?”

Gwyn nodded. “I started the audiobook yesterday.”

“The smut in this book is probably some of his best.”

“I’m still waiting on my special edition to be delivered,” Nesta mumbled.

Gwyn winced in sympathy. “Mine hasn’t arrived either, that’s why I got the audiobook.”

They continued to talk about Sellyn Drake until they were interrupted by a knock on her door.

She got up from the couch and went to answer it.

Gwyn still had Shady in her arms. He was being uncharacteristically cuddly today, not that she minded. Clearly, his catnapping ordeal had terrified the poor guy. She swung the door open and paused.

Standing on her porch was a handsome man with hazel eyes, dark hair, and golden brown skin.

“Uh, hi?” she asked in confusion. Who was this guy?

Instead of answering, his eyes locked on Shady in her arms and narrowed. “I’d like my cat back.”

Gwyn blinked. “Excuse me?”

He sighed. “My name is Azriel, I live next door. My ring camera alerted me to three unicorns stealing my cat, so I’d like him back,” he repeated.

Then it clicked. “Wait a minute, so you’re the thief who stole my cat?”

She heard Emerie and Nesta walk up behind her, no doubt ready to beat the criminal if he so much as tried to take Shady back.

The man—Azriel—scoffed. “I didn’t steal your cat lady. You and your friends stole my cat.”

This time Gwyn was the one to scoff. “Oh, please. This is clearly my cat, Shady.”

“His name is Bat, not Shady, and I’d like him back now.”

Nesta snorted. “Bat the cat?”

Gwyn forced herself to ignore how ridiculous the name was. “You have some nerve you know that? First you steal my cat, and now you’re—“

“Uh, Gwyn?”

She turned to look at Emerie, reluctantly taking her eyes off of the deranged man. “Yes?”

Emerie pursed her lips. “Look in the birdbath.”

Confused, Gwyn looked over the man’s shoulder at her empty birdbath and gasped in shock. There was Shady, just sitting there, watching her make a fool of herself.

Horrified, Gwyn looked down at the cat in her arms and he meowed, almost as if to say, yes, you stole me from my home.

Without a word, Emerie walked outside and collected Shady from the birdbath. And the cat didn’t even have the grace to look shamed for his actions. He wouldn’t be getting any treats for a week.

“Can I have my cat now?” Azriel drawled.

Embarrassed, Gwyn handed over Bat, then quickly slammed the door shut, wanting nothing more than to hide in her house forever.

Slowly, she turned around and faced her friends. Gwyn gave a nervous chuckle. “I swear, we’ll laugh about this one day.”

Emerie rubbed her temples. “I need more wine,” she said, walking back to the kitchen.

“Bring the whole bottle!“ Nesta called. “And the ice cream! We need a girls night after this fiasco.”

Despite the embarrassing situation that had just occurred, Gwyn couldn’t help but smile. She had two of the best friends ever.

[lizardtheartist]

So I came up with a concept of my own multiverse night at the inventory thing, featuring ghost max….

We have 10 players in total: Sam, Demon Sam, Swap Sam, Samantha, Werewolf Sam, Max, Saint Max, Swap Max, Maxine, and our beloved Ghost Max.

The Sams and the Maxs both play at their own tables, talking to their own groups, like that extremely awesome Ao3 Fic, credit to the writer for coming up with that idea/srs.

Info about these certain multiverse sams and maxs:

Sam: just your average canon Sam, he’s been through all the stuff that happened in the games/cartoon/comics, he’s the Sam ever. Just this time, with a dead Max and an alive Max companions.

Demon Sam: After becoming the new ruler of the underworld, he’s decided to take it easy in life, or unlife? He doesn’t have as many Satan-y responsibilities as he thought he would, so he just hangs out with his very adorable angel husband. He has a more stern demeanor but he means well, I think? Him and Saint Max are called the Freelance Holy Ones. (Despite how unholy the two can really be)

Swap Sam: Sam but instead of being a more levelheaded detective, he’s almost just like normal Max in every way possible, yes, even height wise. Swap Sam is everything you could ever want in a rabid dog, he even probably has rabies. He loves to run around and cause trouble, he gets mistaken for a puppy sometimes due to his height and chubby physique. Him and Swap Max are still called the Freelance Police.

Samantha: Samantha (Sam for short but that gets confusing fast.) is literally just Sam but he’s wearing more feminine clothes. Honestly you could look at em and just assume it’s Sam in his drag persona. Samantha acts a bit more feminine than Sam as well, but not too much to make it obnoxious. I like to think she has a very nice and smooth middle age woman voice? I’m not sure how to explain it. Her and Maxine are still the Freelance Police as expected.

Werewolf Sam: This Sam has been a werewolf ever since he was little, inherited from his parents, he had the ability to transform into a werewolf during a classic full moon, but recently, as he’s gotten older, the werewolf part has since become more prominent and now he’s more werewolf than normal dog. He doesn’t entirely mind this, even though he has violent tendencies more often, he’s still a very wholesome and sweet guy, Max calls him his big ol’ dangerous teddy bear. Max is his werewolf caretaker, after formerly being a werewolf hunter, he decided to give up the job in order to support his Sam.

Max: Everyone’s favorite little lagomorph, he’s the same ol’ max from the ending of 305. We all know him, we all love him.

Saint Max: Saint Max is everything holy and good in the world, which is what he likes to think he is. Saint Max often acts nice and chipper, always seeing the best of EVERYTHING ever but underneath that thinly veiled self, there’s a thirsty little bastard gremlin who can be a brat sometimes. People think that some of Demon Sam had rubbed off on Saint Max, but no, that’s how he’s always been.

Swap Max: Swap Max is basically just Max but with Sam’s personality, but I made this personality slightly more edgy like Noir Sam. Why? Cus I thought it’d be interesting. Swap Max is still a rabbity thing, but he’s much taller now, he’s also bulked up slightly but not much. He still has a comedic side like Sam but it comes out a little less, but one thing I do know, is that he uses long winded words and sentences just like any normal Sam would.

Maxine: Maxine is EXACTLY like Max, in almost every way, she’s just Max with a bow around her neck and some yass queen earrings. Her voice is slightly raspier and her mannerisms have a touch of feminine traits, but she’s still just Max in a cute lil bow.

Ghost Max: Ghost Max is just Max before 305, coming back down from space, he hangs out with Sam and Max as their “ghost buddy” because they still haven’t gotten it through their thick skulls that the ghost is just Max. Ghost Max can play with both the Sams and the Maxs, because no one actually sees him, they just see floating cards that he’s holding. He’s equipped with a red marker, he can write simple words and drawings on a notepad or something. It’s supposed to look like blood but he didn’t have any spare blood on hand. Ghost Max has the ability to cheat and switch cards around. If this poker night game was a real thing, the player would probably be Ghost Max himself.

A quick look at the cast themselves:

(All credit for the multiverse poker idea goes to SofiaTheRandomDemon on Ao3, if you see this Sofia, your shit is written so well on GOD) (also credit to @impostorwhipplesshow for the insane idea of ghost max joining in on the poker stuff)

[cybercore-creations]

I just killed my Ex

Summary: Survivor!Danny x Fem!GF!Reader. Song fic based on "Kill Bill" by SZA

TWs: Murder, Stalking, Obsession, toxic relationships

She couldn't stay away. No matter how hard she tried, she still slunk around the survivors camp. Oh, how she wished you could just take him away, keep him all for herself, but unfortunately, kidnapping was not a perk that came with being the entity's favorite. Their blood boiled as he smiled at the blonde standing next to him. That smile should be for her. Her robe flowed in the wind as she turned around, leaving the area.

Of course she started with the mature idea. She spoke with other killers who told her that nothing ever good came from falling in love with Survivors. Nurse knew that best. Of course killers would make passes at eachother. Some strong bonds, other casual hook ups. "There was always other people" Amanda said with her arm around Hunteress. Just like Danny had Kate right now. No. She only wanted him and if she couldn't have him. No one could.

They were swept into the fog on a date. Danny loved nature walks, taking photos of everything. She loved them for scoping out a new base. Then the fog came. Pulling them apart. The entity was a sick bastard. At the beginning, she avoided killing Danny at all costs. When the entity finally threatened punishment, her hand (Well knife) was forced. But with him? No fun quips or a fucked up mori. Just a hook and moved on. He couldn't protect Kate then. That's when she had her fun. She'd rather put herself through the pain of killing Danny to get to the tattooed woman.

Every day, she hoped it was a fling. Danny was always a charmer. Girls practically threw themselves at him. After she found them walking hand and hand together in the woods like they used to do. "I wish I had my camera, you're the perfect model." He laughed. How she tried to spare him pain, but now the rage overcame her. Now, he'll be a victim like the rest. He didn't deserve her kindness anymore.

Danny and Kate were pretty much attached at the hip especially during trials. It made her sick. She wouldn't deny how beautiful Kate was. Shiny golden hair, perfect figure, intricate tattoos littering her skin. She couldn't blame Danny, he always went for the alternative girls. The fog swept over her as the trial began. Pulling up her tablet to see what survivors were playing his name was right on top, Kate's next to him. Now people would consider it fucked up for the entity to do that, but she smiled. Guess The Entity was reading her thoughts, giving her exactly what she wanted. She was ready to have him face down in a basement, snapping a pretty photo of his bloodied face.

Was it petty? Yes. She could have definitely been the bigger person and started treating him like everyone else. A victim, A piece of meat, apart of the game she had to win, but sadism was in her blood, even before the fog. She promised Danny she'd never hurt him when he first learned she was Ghostface, but promises get broken. He must of knew that as he protected Kate with everything he had. Now he was just a toy to torture however she wanted.

The first time she snapped a photo with him as he died, she sent a rush through her. It felt good. She expected it to break her heart like it did when she killed him regularly, but she was smiling this time. Though she still didn't give him the pleasure of hearing her voice. Even with the distortion by the modulator, he didn't deserve it. Easily hooking him up and laughing as the entity took him. In the distance, she watched a familiar woman run for a hatch. "Will this girl ever learn?" she mumbled, chucking her knife at Kate, directly hitting her in the neck. Huh, guess casual axe throwing with Huntress came in handy. As she came back to the camp, the other killers stared at her before Frank spoke up. "Huh, I never expected you to do it." "Love makes you do fucked up things kid." She sighed pulling her mask off. Nurse hugged her "Proud. Strong." She whispered barely speaking.

"What was that?" Claudette looked wide eyed. "Ghostface always goes easy on you Danny, what did you do?" "I'm... not sure?" He said, a bit shaken up with how quickly the behavior of the killer changed. "Well, he came the same time as you. Do you remember anyone it could be?" Dwight asked. Danny shook his head.

"Hey, maybe it's a girl." Nea suggested."No way. there's no way a girl could have killed him like that." Jake cut in."That is so sexist. The killer could easily be female. Basic Instinct." Nea rolled her eyes. "That was an ice pick. Not exactly the same as brutally bashing someone's skull into the concrete after they're dead. Takes a man to do that." Jake argued. "Or a man's mentality." Nea raised her eyebrows.

They didn't notice the killer hiding in the tree. "Huh, he really forgot about me." A slight hurt filled her chest. She KILLED for him before the fog. How could he forget that? How could he forget everything about her? Suddenly, that pain wasn't heartbreaking. It was rage, and it was no longer towards Kate.

All the other survivors were dead. The last hour was a game of Cat and Mouse between. "Oh Danny. Why are you running." She called out, pout in her maculated voice. Danny's hands shook slightly as he worked on the generator. Quietly she creeped next to him. "Boo" She whispered next to his ear. As he got up he attempted to run, only to be shoved to the floor.

"Danny, Danny, Danny" She sighed "What to do with you" She stood over his back. "You know if you would have stayed loyal the entity wouldn't have served you to me on a silver fucking platter" She laughed sitting on his back. "What?" He breathed out. She drove her knife into the back of his back like she'd done many times before but this time was different. She pulled up her mask over her lips and pulled him up by his hair. Her warm breath fanning over his ear. "Smile for the camera sweetheart." Click.

[hetalia-club]

Stark Family Tree

This is only immediate family.

House Stark

Not my favorite house at all. But they are the subject of the main character of my main story in my AU.

Why exactly does Ivan think Peter is his bastard? Well probably because Amelia told him that, why did she do that? She's not even totally sure. She also told him that he was never born and she drank moon tea to get rid of it. Which is what she was SUPPOSED to do with Arthur’s kid but she didn't really feel like it. She lives for creating unnecessary drama in her life and pinning powerful men against each other and watching them fight over her like rabid dogs a girl needs a hobby I guess. Not like she can play Nintendo or something.

Not to mention if he just thought about it logically for a second, which is asking a lot here. He would realize the time lines don't even add up. But 'not using their brains' is what got both he and Arthur into this situation. Poor Amelia just wants to go to Essos...just someone drop her off there already and forget about her she causes so many problems. Abandon her in the Dothraki Sea she would be fine. She would be married to a Khal in a week and have them all convinced she’s their moon goddess. She would be fine.

Lovino actually doesn't care about any of this and he's off at Casterly Rock dicking around. Which is his favorite thing to do.

Now I can explain this situation a little bit. Amelia was engaged to Arthur first. 2 years ago before the story starts he snuck her away one night and took her sailing, this is where Peter comes from. When he was born her father shipped him away to Pyke to 'hide her shame' assuming when they got married they could just brush it under the rug and legitimize him and then no one would care. Which she was very upset about as you can imagine. She did get to name him at least before they sent him away. She would ask Arthur about him a lot in letters. This left Arthur at an Impasse, he had zero desire to raise a kid. But allowed Peter to just exist in his house basically because he was his key to Amelia. She started showing a lot more interest in him romantically when he had her son at his house.

After Arthur broke a treaty her father called off their engagement and set her up with Lovino Tyrell. Amelia didn't want to marry him because she thinks he's boring and instead started messing around with her cousin Ivan because she really just wants to fly his dragon across the sea. So she sets up this whole murder plot to kill his sister and Ivan is dragging his feet about actually doing it afraid for you know 'getting caught' which is a very big deal and would end them both being killed. So, Irritated with that Amelia starts up sending love letters to Arthur. I mean she doesn't actually mean what she's writing in them and it's more just to get him worked up and make him mad. Again she just wants his boats. Om her side that’s all this is and all it’s ever been, while Arthur genuinely believes she is madly in love with him and revels in it. He does not necessarily ‘love’ her in the traditional sense and she is mostly a status piece for him. She very beautiful and a lot of the high lords want her as matches for their sons, so it’s like a “haha look who I have” type thing for him. He does think she’s beautiful and he does think he’s in love with her. But again it’s more of an obsession than actual love. So she sets up an elaborate kidnapping for herself by him. He takes her away to Pyke. He wants to get married basically the second she steps off the ship and she just rolls with it. But she kind of hates him a little bit because he's a prick and always drunk but he's a pirate so what can you expect. But he's also like crazy about her, like actually crazy. Like 'If you try and leave me I'll lock you in a cell, but don't worry it would be a nice cell.' crazy. So now she's stuck there. Too bad so sad, play stupid games win stupid prizes. But she is pretty happy to have her son back, so that’s one win I guess.

[charlenasaxen]

The Grandest Game Favorite Quotes

“There was a price to be paid for power, always. The only question was how steep that price was”

Rohan opted for a different tactic. “We both know I’m a magnificent bastard.”

There it was: the game, the stakes, the threat.

“Go,” the Proprietor said, blocking the way back to Rohan’s rooms. “Now.”

“Look for an opening. Look for a loophole. Look for a weakness. His mind churning, Rohan looked for a pint.”

“Fortunately, Avery Grambs had never been a member of the Devil’s Mercy.

Hello, loophole.”

“Rohan’s lips curved, more on one side than the other”

“Were two of them opposites? Did one of those opposites vary from the remaining choices only by nuance?”

“I’m not in this class,” Lyra repeated. “I fell asleep in the prior lecture.”

“trick questions backfires if the person taking the test knows how to look for tricks.”

“For the past three years, Lyra had done everything she could to seem normal, to be normal”

“the woods and the creek and generations of Kanes carving their names into the same tree”

“Lyra had grown up at Mile’s End. She’d carved her name into that tree”

“She was just treading water.

But that was better than drowning.”

“But sometimes, all you could do was push.”

“No, Lyra thought, picking up the ball. A circus. The circus of assholes probably wasn’t expecting her to punt the ball over their heads.”

Ricocheted off, and smacked the jerk who’d catcalled her in the back of his head.

“No,” Lyra called out. “I didn’t.”

“a message scrawled across it in dark-blue ink. YOU DESERVE THIS.”

“The words engraved above the code were instantly recognizable.

The Grandest Game.”

“A steady hand caught her elbow. A suit-clad arm encircled her waist.”

“He made things happen in an instant. Grayson Hawthorne bled power.”

“He won arguments with a single arch of his sharply angled blond brows!”

“Grayson, however, was impossible to take off guard”

“A group effort between the Hawthorne brothers and the Hawthorne heiress”

“Avery and Jamie requested I be boots on the ground. I’ll be running things.”

“Gigi had gathered—through her powers of inference and also snooping”

“Grayson was the grandson that billionaire Tobias Hawthorne had molded from childhood to be the perfect heir: formidable, commanding”

“Am I to take it that your mahogany bedframe is now residing in someone else’s home?”

“Anticipating—correctly—that he was about to have a very large cat placed on his head”

Grayson did not vamoose. “I have something for you.” He reached inside the jacket of his Armani suit.

“It’s yours if you want it.” Grayson’s voice was softer now. He wasn’t a soft person.

“If I had a tenner, Rohan thought, for every time someone pointed a gun at the back of my head…”

“Sitting on the edge of a bed that was not his, wearing nothing but a lush Turkish cotton robe, Rohan twirled a knife slowly”

“He lost the robe but kept the knife”

“A bishop, a rook, a knight, two pawns, and a queen.”

“if any of them had the versatility of the queen”

“A Hawthorne did this.

And then, a riddle: What begins a bet? Not that.”

“You’re late,” he called.

“If by late, you mean early.”

Lyra froze. She knew that voice.

Grayson Hawthorne.

“I assume, Jamie, that you’re aware that you’re being watched.”

“his gaze going back to Lyra’s, his lips slowly curving into that smile”

“Jameson flew the helicopter, which surprised Lyra less than the fact that Grayson deigned to ride in back”

“a sharp jawline, and he wore an expensive fleece sports vest over a collared shirt”

“worse things in the world than being handed a strategic advantage, right off the bat”

“rich, dark blue woven through with shades of green just as deep”

“He had the kind of face that looked like it had been carved from ice or stone—sharp angles, hard jaw, lips full”

“Grayson Hawthorne looked, in Lyra’s opinion, exactly like he sounded, like weaponized perfection”

“Or would you prefer I rephrase the question: On whom am I about to hang up?”

“Lyra’s heart rate ticked up. Forget Grayson. Forget the Hawthornes. They’d been children.”

“Jameson looked from Grayson to Lyra and smiled”

“Lyra’s eyes flew open. Grayson Hawthorne stared back at her.”

The two of them were standing far too close.

“You are aware that there is a cliff here?”

“Lyra looked down at his hand on her arm, and he dropped it”

“if you intend to make your recklessness my problem, you should expect that problem to be solved.”

She hadn’t even heard him move.

Lyra swallowed. “You’re in my way.”

“There was something gallant about the motion, a match for the finely tailored black suit”

“Recovering.”

“A recovering physicist?”

“The entire ocean-side wall of the house looked to be made of glass”

“She’d won her ticket, one of only four wild cards in the world”

“Gigi hadn’t spent that much time with her half brother’s half brothers”

“This was a competition. Gigi scuffed the chalk off with the heel of her hand.”

“They were talking about a girl, and, from what I gather, she’s dead.”

“She slid her arm under the chain, looping it over her shoulder, and began to climb.”

“Oh, he liked her. Rohan had a certain appreciation for being put in his place.”

“She let go with one hand and lifted the chain off her shoulder and up over the top of the flagpole”

“Your knee, Savannah.” Grayson Hawthorne bore a striking resemblance to his half sister.

“there is some chance he’s carrying a grudge about that whole business with the ribs.”

Ran a little experiment. “But that would require turning all of my attentions to Lyra Kane.”

“when her entire body was on fire? Then she climbed, exploring the cliffs and the rocky shore below.”

“More pages.

She bolted from one tree to the next.”

“She watched as her biological father’s name—all of his names, variations on a theme—burned to ash”

“so pale a blond it looked almost silver”

“The last thing Lyra noticed was the girl’s eyes. Grayson Hawthorne’s eyes.”

“But cruel? Avery Grambs and the Hawthornes four? I think not.”

“Ignore him,” Savannah advised. “It’s good for the soul.”

“And just like that. The gloves come off.”

“A delicate gold chain held a stone the exact deep blue-green as the ocean”

“I’m talking drawer in the morgue, I’ve been refrigerated, and steps have been taken to prevent me from resurrecting myself.”

“she hadn’t said anything to suggest that it was a particularly nefarious death”

“I take back my appreciation of your eyebrows.”

“Tick-tock, little girl.”

“Sunset’s coming, and you’re on the wrong side of the island. I run a five-minute mile. I’m betting you don’t.”

He sighed. “If this is about your brother’s ribs…”

“But Nash Hawthorne wasn’t looking for another little brother”

“Congratulations, by the way,” he called after Nash. “On the babies.”

“Crossing the threshold into an enormous foyer, she saw a white spiral staircase”

“It had been built into the cliff”

“marked by a card on which a name had been written in extravagant calligraphy”

“Conceited vest, darkened soul. Lyra had to hand it to Gigi: That was descriptive.”

“DON YOUR COSTUME AND YOUR MASK.

THE BALL BEGINS AT QUARTER PAST.”

“bodice was a dark navy blue, almost black, like the ocean at midnight”

“She lifted the gown off the bed, revealing a mask, delicate and jeweled, underneath”

“Surely those were rhinestones. Surely those weren’t diamonds, arranged in elaborate, hypnotic swirls.”

“inch by inch, to a brilliant blue that gave way to a light, frothy one”

“but not this. She hadn’t expected it to feel like this. Like magic.”

“Lyra stared at herself, and then the words on the mirror changed. GAME ON.

She put on the mask.”

“A library. Lyra took three steps forward—and spun.”

“stained glass that, in daylight, would have cast colored light across the gleaming wood”

“the skirt full and covered in breathtaking stitching in a shade of silver like moonlight on water”

“black gold? If so, some artisan had cajoled it into delicate, interlocking tendrils”

“Not a player. “You’re Avery Grambs.” The Hawthorne heiress.

“The one at the center of this game. The billionaire. The philanthropist. The Avery Kylie Grambs.”

“When she’d gathered herself, when she glanced back—

The Hawthorne heiress was gone.”

“Avery Grambs was nowhere in sight. It was like the heiress had disappeared into thin air.”

“Towering chocolate and white chocolate fountains sat opposite Greek columns. Each column boasted a platter piled high with meat or fruits.”

“Soaring ceilings boasted an elaborate crystal chandelier”

“an unvarnished panorama of the Pacific Ocean at twilight. Thousands of fairy lights dotted the rocky shore.”

“based on the number of tuxedo-clad masked men present, at least some of the Hawthorne brothers had to be there”

“Not Grayson. Lyra couldn’t shake the feeling that she would have recognized him instantly, no matter the mask he wore.”

“how striking the other girl looked draped in ice-blue silk”

“they walked in a slow, seductive circle around each other. The dance looked like it had been lifted from another era, watching the two of them circle each other, Lyra found it hard to breathe.”

“The stork flies at half past ten,” he said dramatically. “The hummingbird eats a cookie. My dog is named Tiramisu.”

Grayson had displaced him. “May I cut in?”

“She’d known that she would recognize him, no matter the mask. His was black. No adornments. Just… black.”

“They were circling each other now, their hands barely touching. Lyra had never felt so aware of every inch of skin.”

“The music changed, and with it, the dance. Grayson effortlessly took Lyra’s hand.”

“A Hawthorne did this. Lyra steeled herself against the feel of Grayson’s hand on her back, the interweaving of their fingers.”

“he would have—the way Avery Grambs apparently had for the Grandest Game”

“Grayson Hawthorne could damn well move mountains with a flick of his wrist”

“she would have cut him down, but he was Grayson Hawthorne”

“Except,” Grayson said, the oddest undercurrent in his tone, “for me to stay out of your way.”

“That’s the only thing I could ever want from you, Hawthorne boy.”

“Focus on them. Not him. Never him.”

“the remaining Hawthorne brothers took up position around Jameson and Avery”

“think of the five of them as anything other than a unit against the world”

“The masks you’re wearing tonight,” Jameson said, “are yours to keep.”

“The people in this room with you tonight are the only ones who will ever know what it was like to play.”

“From now through the ends of your lives, that’s something you’ll share.”

“Growing up,” Jameson said, looking at each of his brothers in turn, “it was something of a rite of passage in Hawthorne House to receive a pin.”

“Win or lose, you’re all a part of something now.”

Avery smiled. “You are not alone.”

“Every story has its beginning, Knox.” Avery’s voice took on an almost musical lilt.

“Until then…” Avery held out an arm out for Jameson, who took it. “Follow us.”

She realized that she’d just stepped from rocks to sand. Black sand.

“Shoes off,” Jameson called out. Clearly, he was enjoying this.

“like she was some kind of demented Olympic discus thrower. Knox had cursed her out and gone after the bag”

“Through the bathroom wall, she heard someone in the next room turn on the shower.”

“Instead, she looked to the floor, where Brady’s tuxedo was strewn”

“Odette hurled the glass box to the ground. It shattered, shards raining down into the crevices.”

“Neither the gown nor the chain seemed to slow her down. They should have.”

“I am not in the habit of wanting things. I set goals. I achieve them.”

“Grayson Hawthorne stepped into the room unaccompanied”

“suddenly unmistakable now: a heart, a diamond, a club.

Three symbols. Three teams.”

“There are three teams,” Avery reiterated, her voice coming from all around them. “And eight players.”

“Search that tuxedo, Mr. Hawthorne. I wager you’ll find one of these.”

“Ten feet away from Lyra, Grayson executed an efficient search of his tuxedo”

“In the end, to win it all, one must best a Hawthorne.”

“for that dance and the way she could still feel his hand on her back—Grayson Hawthorne owed her”

“face the last person on the planet she wanted to be locked in a room with”

“Grayson stared back at Lyra, his pupils expanding, inky black”

“It hardly seems I have a choice,” he said. “I value my life, and you appear to have a temper.” Muscles shifted over his granite jaw, like he’d entertained the idea of smiling.

“Locked in. With Grayson Hawthorne.”

Grayson walked to stand directly behind her and translated: “And so it begins.”

“but there was an intensity to him that could not be ignored”

“covered in the remains of the hourglass. Shards.

A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.”

“Ask me how often I won my grandfather’s games,” Grayson suggested silkily

“Lyra reached for the poetry magnets. Grayson did the same. Her fingers brushed the back of his hand.”

Grayson’s gaze settled on hers. He arched a brow. “Are we going to have a problem here, Lyra?”

“Rest assured, Lyra.” Grayson’s voice was low and smooth

“Tuxedo Abs, because hey, the man was built”

“on the three obvious desk drawers and the hidden one on this side, which I’m sure you’ve both already noticed, right?”

“And speaking of, am I the only one who’s noticed that chair is made of swords?”

Gigi could see the effort it took Knox not to look down.

“She knew what it was like to be a part of that kind of we.

And then, suddenly, not to be.”

“The eighth player is your brother.”

“Half brother.”

“Do you intend to keep that appendage?”

Savannah caught his wrist.

“I assume that you are also attached to your appendages.”

“A beam of light and a concave mirror.”

“Grayson flicked a button open on his tuxedo jacket with one hand”

“I could do that. Lyra looked up to see a single strand of blond hair fall into that stone-carved face of his.”

Certain words cropped up again and again.

“Power, crown, adage.”

“It took Lyra a moment, but she got there. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

“Grayson Hawthorne had the kind of presence that extended well past his body”

“Or do we have to earn that information, your highness?”

“I’m feeling magnanimous.” Grayson’s lips twitched.

“That same damn strand of blond hair fell into Grayson’s face a second time. He brushed it back.”

“Grayson ran his hands over the granite, left to right, then down, his movements automatic”

“aware on some level that she’d adopted Grayson’s exact pattern of movement”

“The number of scars my brothers have obtained directly after uttering the statement I can handle a little glass means you will have to forgive my skepticism.”

“Suddenly, Grayson’s fingers were right next to hers. True to his vow, he didn’t allow their hands to so much as brush.”

“It sank inch by inch, crystals vibrating with the movement, clinking”

extended her gesture to encompass Lyra. “You’re going to have to lift her up.”

“She knew already how Grayson’s touch could linger”

“Remember an interview she’d seen, years earlier. Grayson Hawthorne and Avery Grambs. That kiss.”

“there is again an adage and a crystal chandelier.”

“And there is, again,” Odette added, “a girl.”

“Grayson’s touch was gentle, but it wasn’t light”

“His fingers wrapped around the front of her body, spanning her hipbones”

Lyra ripped the bandage off and beat him to counting. “Three.”

Grayson lifted her up and over his head.

“Grayson’s hand moved upward to her back, which arched in response”

“Grayson slid the other one down, gripping her thigh through the gown”

“It shouldn’t have felt like a pas de deux. Swan Lake. She shouldn’t have felt Grayson Hawthorne’s touch like an invitation, a beckoning.”

“Not on him. The gown, his hand, my thigh—”

“beneath her, Grayson began to rotate. Slowly. Delicately.”

“Crystal after crystal after crystal.

Lyra breathed, and she felt him with every damn breath.”

“The next thing she knew, both of Grayson’s hands were on her thighs”

“Got it.” The words came out guttural.

“Grayson caught her around the waist an instant before she would have landed”

“Just like that, his touch was gone”

“a honey-whiskey whisper that sounded raw, even to her own ears”

“I need a moment.” The muscles across Grayson’s shoulder blades pulled visibly.

“What are you doing?” Grayson’s moment must have ended—either that, or he could multitask.

“The Grandest Game is a real family affair this year, isn’t it?”

“Gigi could feel another nepotism rant coming”

“Gigi fell. Knox caught her. His rehabilitation had officially begun.”

“every visible muscle tensed beneath his apparently thin dress shirt”

“I triple-majored in undergraduate. My brain likes A Lot.”

Gigi smiled—and not slightly.

“glorious though she might be, is an asset—a queen, perhaps, but a game piece nonetheless.”

“He’d spoken those words from the floor. Lyra’s eyes flew open. Grayson was kneeling.”

“Being wrong,” Grayson said.

“You have to practice being wrong?”

Grayson kept right on. “And some of us live with each and every mistake we make carved into us, into hollow places we don’t know how to fill.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. “About the nature of this puzzle.”

“Grayson’s voice was edged, each word precise and as sharp as the tip of a knife”

“An anagram.” Grayson was suddenly right there beside her.

“The intensity radiating off Grayson’s body came out in his tone. Lyra matched that intensity.”

“the same word at the same time, his voice low and clear, hers husky, their tones blending together”

“so intense that Lyra could feel it, like a fire burning inside her, like a hollow place suddenly filled”

“A sword. The hilt was simple but beautifully made, gold at the ends.”

“Another second passed, and he turned and gestured—gallantly, of course”

“No.” Lyra gave the sword a test swing. “After you.”

Knox looked away, his body wound tight. “And constellations.”

Brady went very, very still.

“what it might be like to touch Brady’s stomach the way he was touching hers”

“saw the answers, all three of them, all at once”

He could hardly blame her for doing the same. “Then by all means, love, go around me.”

The staircase turned, and Grayson’s voice cut through the darkness. “Take my hand.”

“she could tell he’d turned to face her, and somehow, her body’s sense for his was so strong that she knew exactly where his hand was in the darkness”

“Why would an eighteen-year-old with a multi-million-dollar trust fund need to win the Grandest Game?”

“WAIT, THAT’S NOT RIGHT

AT LEAST THE ANSWER IS BLACK AND WHITE”

“Do I seem as though I consider myself playful?” Grayson replied

“Something she couldn’t quite grasp.

Something forever just out of reach.”

“the cruel beauty of a moment, gone too fast and burned into skin”

“everything makes perfect sense. If an answer fails to reveal the trick.”

“Grayson took the sword. Something about the lines of his body and the way he stood.”

His silvery-gray eyes coming to rest on hers. “I’m rather starting to like them.”

“like it had killed his puppy or given him a wedgie or both”

Whatever advantage Brady’s size gave him, it wouldn’t last.

“Push the button, Gigi.”

“Everything okay?” A voice—Avery’s—sounded

“pretty sure that Avery wasn’t the one snorting”

“Brady, if I win the Grandest Game, I swear I’ll make sure your mom is taken care of.”

“Eventually, I started eating dinner at his house, too. Every night.”

“My mama’s a good cook.”

“Terrified,” Rohan replied. “You have yourself a wager.”

“Grayson Hawthorne’s body was never far from hers”

“She saw that one, stubbornly imperfect bit of his pale blond hair fall carelessly into his eyes. Again.”

“He crossed the chamber in two long strides and slid under Odette’s other arm”

“I also do not need living crutches, and yet, here the two of you are.”

“Has any good ever come of telling a Hawthorne they were wrong?” Odette retorted. She shrugged off Grayson’s arm.

“her chocolate chip pancakes with cream cheese icing and rainbow sprinkles”

“She jabbed the Pointy Finger of Accusation”

“And maybe the players and the game makers aren’t the only ones on Hawthorne Island.”

“he deeply suspected the only way he’d be able to get that chain off Savannah Grayson was by invitation”

“She lunged for the rotary phone, and Rohan remembered her promise”

“He locked an arm around her body, and she bit him, hard enough that he felt it”

As calmly as if they didn’t have each other in painful holds. “Black and white.”

Some whispers were weapons. “One that caters to the very powerful.”

“I can only hope that you appreciate the truly undervalued art of yodeling.”

“Always.” Savannah strode past him into the unknown.

“The man’s was sizzling, as she plucked the martini from his hand and downed it. He leaned forward and brought his lips within inches of hers.

The danger of touch…”

“She’s four years old. Today. Today is her birthday.

Another bang.”

“Lyra.” A voice washed over her, familiar in all the right and wrong ways.

skin against her skin, warmth

“You will come back to me, or I will make you come back to me.”

The real world came into focus, starting with Grayson Hawthorne.

“the lines of his face, sharp cheekbones, stone-cut jaw”

“so warm and steady and gentle and solid and there”

“Grayson’s thumb lightly stroked her cheek”

“What are you doing?” Grayson said, his voice softer than it had any right to be

He adopted what he probably thought was a very pleasant tone. “Why would you want to stay bugged?”

“A something-to-behold, earth-shattering, hope-you-don’t-ever-want-to-breathe-again kind of smile”

nearly so quiet. “Being human. You should try it.”

“that the laws of physics and man did not apply to you”

“Lyra pushed down the urge to follow him. She didn’t need to be close to Grayson.”

“Grayson moved like a shadow, silent and swift”

“In other words,” Lyra said, her voice dry, “yes, you can read Greek.”

Grayson held out a hand. “May I?”

“Fair assessment.” His Majesty seemed to consider that high praise.

“allowing herself to take in the lines of his body”

Grayson said in that same quiet, steady voice, “I once ended up locked in a cello case for six hours.”

Him.

Grayson bent to block out the rest of the world from her view. “Give me your eyes, sweetheart.”

“A kitten?” she managed.

“A calico, I believe.”

“the kind of voice that reverberated down her spine”

“Lyra wasn’t even aware that she’d reached for Grayson, but suddenly, her fingers were clamped down on his arm”

“Grayson leaned his head toward hers, until their foreheads brushed”

“HERE THERE BE DRAGONS.”

She reached over to pat Knox’s shoulder. “I call that nickname progress.”

“like she’d slowly started turning into a moose, which was actually a pretty common response”

His throat tensing against the words, “is Calla Thorp. Orion is her father.”

“Knox was set on playing the Grandest Game, and he wanted a partner. I guess some part of me wanted us back, so…”

“And knowing that, Knox sold me out to Orion Thorp for a ride.”

“all Gigi could think was that Knox had never denied that Orion Thorp was still his sponsor”

“The detailing work was exquisite. Tiny pearls lined the bottom and accented each knife-sharp point of the crown.”

“The largest of the crowns, it looked like something out of a dark fairy tale, the metal carved in a way that called to mind antlers and thorns.”

He moved his game piece next to Savannah’s. “Your turn, Savvy. My dice or yours?”

“THIS IS NOT YOUR CLUE.”

“Grayson pulled back from her, just enough to turn his head”

“Grayson cocked his head slightly to one side, a tiger sizing up his prey”

“Tell, Mr. Hawthorne.” Odette stared Grayson down. “Have I told a single lie?”

Grayson’s gaze flicked toward Lyra. “No.”

“Never trust a sentence with three ifs,” Grayson told Lyra. “Particularly when spoken by a lawyer.”

“The last thing. Lyra wondered just how much time Odette had left.”

“Grayson ordered. He was obviously trying to protect her, to spare her.”

“Grayson’s pale eyes locked on hers with an odd kind of recognition”

“who’d met gazes across a crowded room only to realize they’d met before.

Like they were the same.”

“It has taken me a lifetime,” Grayson said softly, “to learn how to be weak.”

“Look away from his eyes, Lyra told herself desperately. Look away from him.”

“all she could think about was the poem she’d destroyed, the one he’d pieced back together”

“she did her best to not think about Grayson Hawthorne and mistakes—about weakness and running and living”

“Lyra watched that kiss with Grayson Hawthorne beside her, unable to keep herself from thinking about the kind of mistakes that were worth making”

peeled the long, velvet gloves off her hands. “And also: This one is one of mine.”

“The man I married never made my father a star,” she said, an odd glint in her eyes. “I was another story.”

“Dollhouse was an understatement. Gigi took it all in. The entire spread was eight feet long.”

“In between, the streets were lined with shops—some Victorian, some medieval”

“If you can get them to spit you out, it’s pretty much just a massage.”

“When she grasped the tiny scepter between her forefinger and her thumb and tried to pull, she was met with resistance.

The head of the scepter was a dragon.”

“Tiny, plastic books spilled out onto the dollhouse floor.

Scrawled onto each of them, there was a number.”

“After all,” she continued, her eyes like knives, “society is kindest to women who do what they should.”

“where the game makers’ command center was and what they had been doing to pass the time”

“three objects: a silver hairbrush, a pearl-handled knife, and a glass rose”

“Not poker.” Avery Grambs was the one who replied. “Truth or Dare.”

“The two of you are most welcome to try and risk not getting your hint. Bonne chance.”

“making it clear that he and Avery knew exactly what was at stake”

“Compared to the Proprietorship of the Devil’s Mercy, what was one little game of Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.” She reached for the pile of white and gold cards.

“the past had clawed its way to the surface of his mind twice, and that was two times too many”

“That’s the most vivid part of the memory. I’m in the water. I can’t swim. I can’t see anything. And it’s not the first time.”

“I can come up with another dare.”

“I want,” Savannah said, “to win.”

“Rohan.” The way she said his name was like a knife slid between ribs.

Savannah.

Savannah.

Savannah.

“Rohan took the knife in his hand and wondered if she was punishing herself for feeling—or him for making her feel”

Savannah stood, towering over the strands of her hair that littered the floor. “Your turn.”

“And now what he likes or wants or expects no longer matters.”

“You want an explanation, Rohan? Try this one: Money isn’t the only thing you get if you win the Grandest Game.”

“That was the truth of Rohan’s life. The Mercy was his, and he was the Mercy. Without it, he was just a five-year-old boy drowning in dark water.”

“It was all connected. Why she was here. That anger. Her father. What else does the winner of the Grandest Game receive, besides money?”

It shattered into pieces.

“There you are, Savvy,” Rohan murmured. I see you.”

“He tried to destroy me.” Odette smiled that eagle-on-a-hunt, grandma-baking-cookies smile. “It didn’t take.”

“And both of them had connections to Tobias Hawthorne, to that List of his.”

“It makes one wonder, doesn’t it, what else they arranged just so?”

“Jameson Hawthorne’s wicked smile, back on the helipad. Right after his brother heard my voice for the first time.”

“Minutes and hours had lost all meaning. It felt like they had been locked in for days, but soon enough, one way or another, this night would end.”

“Lyra would never have to speak to or look at Grayson Hawthorne again”

Grayson angled his lips downward, toward her ear.

His voice was just barely audible—and only to her.

“pushing down the incredible urge to look at him”

“What drawers?”

Like magic, a section of thick, velvety fabric fell away from the wall.

“The metal bore only one word.

FINALE.”

“Gigi took one of them from him, her fingers brushing his outstretched palm”

“We’re in the library.” Her eyes widened. “Books and books. Little ones, big ones.”

“And so it went, book after book. The moment they decoded the last one.”

“A stained-glass panel on the ceiling swung down like a trapdoor, creating an opening overhead.

And down fell a rope.”

“I don’t get to make you feel like that? Like what, precisely, love?”

“Careful, Rohan. He could still feel the moment the knife had cut.”

“There were pieces made of marble and glass, crystal and wood; boards that folded and boards that were bejeweled; simple sets and works of art”

“Beneath, there was writing: USE ME.

Rohan lifted the board, sending the pieces scattering.”

“Veritas.” Rohan said it out loud. There was a beep.

“This moment in time, was coming to an end. Soon the two of them would no longer be a team.”

She was a player, too. “I believe it’s time,” Rohan said, locking his eyes on to hers, “that you and I struck a deal.”

“How long did they have until the first haze of soft morning light would appear?”

“Memory was a physical thing. Back arching. His fingers, my thighs.”

Grayson said behind her. “Every time you move, you dance.”

“I do not.” Arguing with him was the easiest thing in the world.

Grayson’s voice was deeper now. “You never stopped dancing.”

“with Grayson Hawthorne saying things like that?”

“Yes, well, doubt has never been my strong suit.” Grayson’s gaze cheated toward Lyra’s.

“keenly aware of the way she moved and the way he watched her”

“A person could have written a book about all the ways that Grayson Hawthorne could almost-but-not-quite smile”

“Grayson actually smiled then, and Lyra wished that he hadn’t. She really, really wished that he hadn’t.”

“Unable to keep her eyes from going to Grayson’s hands.

His fingers were long and dexterous. The skin of his hands was smooth, the muscles leading to his wrists defined.”

“She thought at first, just from his tone, that Grayson had seen something”

Looking up at her like he might never look away. “And last year, when I told you to stop calling—I didn’t mean it.”

Knox said, putting on the sunglasses.

“The rhinestones really bring out your eyes,” Brady deadpanned.

“That sucked the oxygen out of the room. Brady didn’t so much as check Knox’s reaction, but Gigi did. Wounded eyebrows.”

“She’s not missing. She didn’t meet with foul play. And I know that, because the night before Calla left, she came to me to say good-bye.”

“Knox pulled his collar roughly down, baring the skin at the base of his neck—and a white, puckered, triangular scar”

“An alliance where the end goal is betrayal.”

“He could see Savannah from every side. Angles. Curves. Power.”

“shining, silver thread. SURRENDER.”

“Half brother.” And there it was.

“I’m…” She almost said fine, but that word felt loaded now.