#the way he fights in this game is just perfect

[thankskenpenders]

Thoughts on two specific areas of the writing in Sonic X Shadow Generations

The best new 3D Sonic game in over a decade (or even two, depending on who you ask) dropped late last year. And I didn't write anything about it! Sometimes life happens. Well, I've finally sat down to finish Shadow Generations, and by now everyone has already been singing its praises for three months. This is the rare instance where the entire Sonic fandom, and even mainstream reviewers, are in agreement on something. The level design is the best it's been in a long, long time and the cool factor is off the charts, embracing Sonic's peak cringe era in an incredibly confident way. It's great. If you're even reading this post, you probably don't need me to tell you that. So I won't!

No, what I'm really interested in here is the writing. Because this is me we're talking about. But I actually don't want to talk about the main narrative of Shadow Generations, which is really solid little story about Black Doom trying to mold Shadow into his perfect soldier. No, I'd like to zero in on two other aspects of the writing here: the revisions made to Sonic Generations, and Gerald Robotnik's unlockable journal.

The updated Sonic Generations script

The new package mostly presents Sonic Generations how you remember it. There are some tweaks, but it's not a major overhaul. Graphically, I don't think the game has been touched much, if at all. I certainly can't notice any difference without a side-by-side comparison, despite playing it on a PS5. The most notable update is that the game's script has been rewritten by Ian Flynn.

Naturally, this caught my attention. Generations always had a nothingburger story, so with Ian rewriting Pontac and Graff's lame dialogue there was nowhere to go but up. (I don't like to pin the blame for those games' stories entirely on them, as a ton of it was dictated to them by Sonic Team, but, well, I don't think they're very good dialogue writers.) But it's less a complete rewrite and more like Ian was brought on as a script doctor for some minor touch ups here and there. Many lines of dialogue are completely identical to how they were originally written in 2011, and many others only have slight wording changes. Ian was clearly not allowed to request additional scenes or extend the ones that already existed. He has to match the original beat for beat so that they can reuse 99% of the cutscene animations. Don't expect it to be a whole new experience compared to the original.

Still, I think the new script is an improvement, albeit a minor one. Various things have been tweaked to maintain characterization consistency. Cream calls Sonic "Mr. Sonic" instead of just "Sonic." Instead of calling Sonic "buddy," Rouge uses the pet name "Blue," like she tends to do in things like the IDW comics. Espio doesn't have to remind you in the dialogue that he's a ninja, and he no longer has a line making it sound like he has some kind of soul reading power. I also like that Modern Sonic now actually has responses to what his friends say when he rescues them, rather than being silent like Classic Sonic. They won't blow you away, but they make Sonic feel a little more engaged with everything.

In general, the altered dialogue just seems tighter to me, and some of the more childish or trite wording of Pontac and Graff's script has been altered. Here, let's actually make a direct comparison, just because this stuff is interesting to me as a writer. Here's a couple lines from after the Egg Dragoon fight late in the game, in the original script:

Modern Eggman: Ooooh... I can't believe this! I was supposed to beat you this time. Modern Sonic: Aw, I'm sorry! I didn't get that memo. I beat you every time! [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat this guy every time. It's like it's our job or something!

This is a simple exchange. Eggman is mad that he lost. Sonic is unflappably confident because he always beats Eggman, and he explains this to his younger self. But the wording here isn't particularly good. Eggman's simple and direct wording makes him come off like a little kid who's mad because his older brother beat him at Mario Kart, rather than a mad scientist who just had his plans foiled. It's making light of the situation.

And I've never liked Sonic saying "It's like it's our job or something!" That doesn't feel like a thing Sonic would say, it feels like a thing an outside observer would say about Sonic. This is a frequent problem with so-called "MCU dialogue," where quips meant to echo the commentary of a casual, somewhat disinterested audience are inserted into the story itself so that the writers can be like "See? We get it. We're genre-savvy, too!" It also just reminds me of bad Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric lines like "Rings! It's like they're made for me!"

And then here's Ian's rewrite:

Modern Eggman: I recalibrated everything! This was supposed to be my time! Modern Sonic: Oh, please, keep dreamin', Egg-head. I beat you every time. [Turns to Classic Sonic] No, seriously, we beat him every time. Our score card's flawless.

Eggman's still mad about his defeat, but the line "I recalibrated everything!" makes it more specific. He put all this work into the engineering side of his latest scheme and got tunnel vision, thinking if he got his creations just right there'd be no way he could lose. "This was supposed to be my time!" also turns it into a time travel pun, which is a bonus. He's still pitching a fit over losing, but it feels more like Eggman pitching a fit, rather than sounding childish.

And then instead of saying that beating Eggman is "like his job or something," Sonic says he's got a flawless score card against Eggman. He doesn't take Eggman seriously as a threat—at least, not to his face. He acts like it's all a game. But he conveys this in a way that feels truer to the character, rather than feeling like the words of a real world observer poking fun at the tropes of the Sonic series.

Is this amazing, A+ dialogue that blows me away? No. Again, it's not a completely different scene from the one we already had. Ian had to fit the beats of what was already there. He couldn't go all out and write an all new story confirming his longstanding headcanon that the Time Eater is a remnant of Solaris or whatever. But the wording here makes the existing story land a little better and feel truer to the characters in subtle ways.

But to me, the main change is that the Sonics and Tailses seem to have a more solid understanding of what's going on with the timeline and the Time Eater, compared to how idiotic they sometimes seemed in the original game. Which is good! No more standing outside Green Hill and wondering why it seems so familiar. Thank god. As part of this, yes, there are a few more references to past games in the dialogue, like Sonic briefly being confused about the fact that they're time traveling without the Time Stones, or South Island and Westside Island being acknowledged as the normal locations of Green Hill and Chemical Plant. Yes, ha ha, insert joke about how Ian loves references here. Look, it's Sonic fucking Generations. It's a game built entirely out of nostalgic references. Just own it! And, again, in this instance Sonic and Tails come off as less stupid when they make it clear that they do, in fact, remember their adventures from presumably less than a year ago in-universe.

Eggman, too, seems to have a better understanding of the powers he's toying with. Where in the original vesion his focus was simply on going back in time to undo his previous defeats and he seemed kind of oblivious to how much the Time Eater was actually fucking up the universe, here Eggman says he wants to use the Time Eater to give himself complete control over the entire timeline. Eggman also makes way fewer references to his own failures and shortcomings. Of course he won't admit that Sonic has defeated him time and time again. To him, he's never truly lost—Sonic just keeps delaying the inevitable total victory for the Eggman Empire.

So, yes. The new Sonic Generations script is better. It won't blow anyone away, but it's better than it was. It's been elevated from "kinda lame" to "fine." No, if you really wanna see Ian flex his ability to breathe new life into old Sonic stories, look no further than...

Gerald Robotnik's Journal

Hoo boy.

The story of what happened aboard the ARK has always been... a bit confusing, to say the least. Fans with encyclopedic knowledge of the script for every route of Shadow '05 may disagree, but it's the truth. We've had all the pieces to understand the story for a long time now, but that info was given to us out of order by a pair of unreliable narrators—Gerald, who became a vengeful lunatic shortly before his death, and Shadow, who was subjected to multiple rounds of amnesia and altered memories. Some of the ambiguity left by Sonic Adventure 2 was cleared up in Shadow '05, but that game also retconned in a bunch of new elements to Shadow's backstory (aliens!) that lead to further confusion. Not to mention the fact that that game had multiple routes and only revealed the truth about Shadow if you sat on the ultimate final boss battle for WAY longer than the fight would normally last. Or the fact that Sonic X made its own tweaks in its telling of the story. Or the fact that none of these things ever had the best English translations. I can't blame anyone who hasn't played those games in two decades for not remembering the truth about these characters and getting some details mixed up.

What we needed was something to piece together all of the info we have into one coherent backstory, told in chronological order. And thanks to Shadow Generations, we have that, in the form of an official journal tying together what we knew from Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow '05, and Sonic Battle into the tragic tale of Gerald's rise and fall.

Ian Flynn was the perfect man for the job here as the guy who started his career by tidying up the mess that was the first 159 issues if Archie Sonic. This is what he excels at: taking disparate bits of weird Sonic lore from multiple different sources, boiling them down to their most interesting elements, and connecting it together in a way that will make the audience see the dramatic potential he's always known was there. Rather than feeling like a cynical exercise in franchise building, going back and explaining things that never needed explaining so that people can add more bullet points to the wiki, he puts a new spin on things that retroactively enriches those past stories. The story here means something to the characters involved and gives us a better understanding of them as people, rather than as plot devices to motivate Shadow.

(And, of course, Ian didn't do this journal alone. He wrote the story, but I also have to give a huge shout out to Evan Stanley, who made the final product. All of her handwritten journal entries, sketches, and "photos" included throughout. The physical damage done to the journal over the course of 50 tumultuous years, passing from Gerald to Eggman to a certain special someone at GUN. The way Gerald's handwriting gets less and less legible as his mental state declines. So much love was put into what could have been a mere text dump in a menu, and it really elevates it to the next level. Congrats on officially getting hired by Sega, Evan, you've sure as hell earned it!)

The main idea the journal conveys is that Gerald was under a lot of pressure from a lot of different parties—GUN, the President, his colleagues aboard the ARK, Black Doom, even his own family—and boy did it get to him. The known incidents aboard the ARK mentioned in previous games are put together here to form a story where everything slowly spirals out of control as Gerald keeps compromising his morals to further his research, thinking he'll eventually find some way out of all this because he's a genius. I won't recap that whole story here (if you haven't already played the game and read the journal entries, I would highly recommend at least reading it on the Sonic wiki), but I'd like to highlight my favorite elements of the story, as Ian tells it here.

1) The Eclipse Cannon

Here's something that never quite made sense in Sonic Adventure 2: why does the ARK have a laser that can blow up the Earth built into it? It was supposed to be a peaceful research colony. Sure, Gerald went crazy and swore revenge on the Earth, but, like... when did he have an opportunity to go back up to the ARK and modify it? Did he have someone else do it? How? The ARK was raided by GUN and shut down! And then they arrested him, held him in prison for an unclear period of time, and executed him by firing squad when he was no longer useful! It doesn't add up. Shadow 'the Hedgehog '05 would give its own answer by introducing the Black Arms and saying that the Eclipse Cannon was always supposed to be a secret trump card against the Black Comet. But, like... we know that's kind of a bullshit answer, right? You don't need enough power to blow up a whole planet just to destroy a comet.

Well, the new journal retains what we already knew, but it paints a much more complete picture.

See, long before Gerald ever made a Faustian bargain with Black Doom, he had already made one with an even greater evil: the military. GUN gave Gerald much of the funding for the ARK, Gerald's personal utopian research station in space, but it didn't take long for GUN to start pressuring him to design them weapons. Gerald tried to get GUN off his back by personally contacting the President of the United Federation, and the President gave him an alternative: how about, instead, you just use your genius brain to figure out the secret to immortality for us, so our soldiers can be immortal? Gerald was initially sickened by the notion and found it completely absurd, like chasing a shadow... but given no other option, the sarcastically named Project Shadow soon began in earnest. (Maria would later put a more positive spin on the name after Shadow's awakening, pointing out that a Shadow can show us the direction of the light, like she says in the game itself.)

Of course, this search for the ultimate life form didn't go very well, and without any results on that front GUN kept hounding him for weapons. Gerald would throw them a bone here and there to get them off his back. His research on Chaos resulted in the Artifical Chaos prototypes, which he worried would be used for warfare but could at least theoretically be used for search and rescue missions in floods, in his mind. But that wasn't enough. So he gave them Chaos Drives to power their mechs. And that still wasn't enough. He's got Emerl. He'll give them Emerl. They're not impressed by Emerl. They'll shut the whole ARK down if Gerald doesn't give them something big.

Fine! GUN wants something big? Gerald builds a huge fucking laser cannon into the ARK. However, as a middle finger to GUN, Gerald makes it so powerful that it would destroy the Earth if it was ever fired at any target on its surface. In other words, GUN now has their ultimate weapon of mass destruction, fulfilling his contract, but they can never actually use it. Oh, the delicious irony. (And also Shadow will blow up the Black Comet with it in 50 years yada yada yada.) Is this perhaps extremely shortsighted and naive of Gerald, to believe that such a weapon would never actually be used just because of the risk? Of course. But hey, that's Gerald for you. And I love this as an answer.

(Also, this, uh, kinda echoes something from real life! Remember the bit in Oppenheimer where he says all nuclear war will become unthinkable, and Edward Teller responds "until somebody builds a bigger bomb"? Yeah, Teller went on to conceptualize a superweapon codenamed Project Sundial that would have been able to kill all life on the planet, as the ultimate deterrent for war. This was never made for obvious reasons, but hey, there's a basis for this sort of thinking outside of heightened sci-fi! There's a whole Kurzgesagt video about this if you're interested.)

2) The Biolizard

The Biolizard is, of course, brought up as the initial failed prototype of the ultimate life form, from before Gerald met Black Doom. We don't really learn all that much about it that we didn't already know, but I just love the way it's framed in the story.

As you can see above, we actually get to see a picture of Maria holding up the cute little salamander that would end up mutating into the Biolizard through Gerald's experiments. (Researchers want to figure out how to replicate salamanders' regenerative abilities for humans in real life, too, so this was a natural starting point for the project.) And then, after it grows to a monstrous size and goes out of control, Gerald has to lock it away in an unused sector of the ARK. He needs to keep the poor thing alive for his research into harnessing Chaos Energy, building life support systems directly into it, but he doesn't have the heart to tell Maria what happened. So it just becomes this first dark secret weighing on his conscience. The Biolizard becomes Gerald's Tell-Tale Heart beating beneath the floorboards of the ARK. I love that.

3) Lost Impact was the breaking point for the ARK

Remember the level Lost Impact in Shadow '05? The flashback level on the hero path where Shadow is running around fighting Artificial Chaos enemies on the ARK 50 years ago? Yeah, that wasn't just a random incident. That was important, as we now know due to its placement on the timeline.

See, Emerl's rampage aboard the ARK that was chronicled in Sonic Battle and Dark Beginnings set off a domino effect. Emerl riled up the Artificial Chaos, causing Gerald to lose control of them. They became violent, and so Shadow had to stop them, as depicted in Lost Impact. The thing is, that incident sent an SOS signal to GUN telling them that shit was going down on the ARK. Gerald didsn't fully understand the trouble he was in and assumed that he'd simply be reprimanded by the higher ups, or maybe face legal action. But, well... the next time he heard from GUN, armed troopers were raiding the ARK.

So Lost Impact was the straw that broke the camel's back. I just really like that detail.

4) Maria

And, of course, there's Maria herself. Maria has often been more of a symbol than a character, this perfect embodiment of everything that's good and pure in this world who gets killed to motivate Shadow and Gerald's revenge plots. But I really like the wrinkles this journal adds to her and Gerald's story, and their relationship. This is the most fleshed out they've ever felt.

For one, the journal leans into the idea of Maria's intellectual potential. The rest of the Robotnik family is all geniuses, after all, and she was proving to be a really bright kid. She excelled in her studies on the ARK, and she even helped design Shadow's jet skates and inhibitor rings. When Maria died, the world didn't just lose a symbolic personification of purity. She genuinely could have been a hugely influential scientist who did so much good for the world. That's what Gerald wanted for her. But we'll never know, because GUN killed her.

Speaking of her family, their presence isn't just mentioned for the sake of fleshing out the Robotnik family tree. It's mentioned that as Gerald struggled to find a cure for Maria's illness through his genetic research, he faced mounting pressure from his family. They didn't want Maria to be up on the ARK forever. They wanted Gerald to hurry up and find a damn cure, or otherwise just send her back home to Earth so she could be with her family again. She'd been up on the ARK for so long that Gerald's coworkers started thinking that she had been born up there. Eventually she gains a baby sister on Earth who she's never met. A rift forms between Gerald's two sons, and he's unable to really deal with it because he's so consumed by his work. There's this sense that the family is falling apart, and that everyone is dreading the possibility that Gerald will never find a cure and that Maria will just spend her final years up in space and die far away from her family, because Gerald just couldn't let go. If that happens, it'll break the whole family. But he can't stop now. So he just keeps working. Curing Maria is the only way to win his family back, in his eyes. It can't all be for nothing.

But my favorite detail regarding Maria is this one paragraph:

Maria is growing into a lovely young woman. It breaks my heart that someone as bright and energetic as her is diminished by disease. There are no visible effects, and I've caught my fellow researchers muttering to each other, doubting her illness. It is infuriating. I find all my reason and restraint vanishes when she's slighted.

This is SUCH a great addition to the story! It's always been true that Maria doesn't really seem all that ill, just looking at her in cutscenes. With this one little comment, Ian flips that issue on its head and turns it into a story about invisible disability. She doesn't act like she's in chronic pain, so she must not be, everyone thinks. And this really, really gets to Gerald, as does the pressure from his family. He's dedicating his whole LIFE to saving her, and they think she's faking it?! It's such a small addition, never referenced elsewhere in the journal, but it adds so much flavor to the story, as does the implied family drama. It grounds Gerald and Maria and makes them feel more like real human beings, rather than being pure archetypes. It's just enough info to let my imagination run wild filling in the blanks.

You also get the feeling that Maria being such a walking ray of sunshine was the only real source of joy Gerald had left in his life before Shadow was awakened, and the only thing keeping him from snapping under pressure sooner. All this stuff just keeps piling on, everything's spiraling out of control, but at least Maria is keeping her chin up, right? It makes so much sense that losing her would make him go off the deep end when it's framed like this.

It's just... man, I never thought I'd care so much about Gerald and Maria. But that's the Ian Flynn touch. After years of less than stellar Sonic writing that seemed to be embarrassed of itself, I'm so happy to have new games coming out that fully embrace the history of the series like this, making its world feel so rich and real instead of just serving as an excuse for a string of platforming levels. I don't even like Shadow '05, but I'll be damned if Ian and the rest of Sonic Team didn't make something amazing by "yes, and"-ing Shadow's cringe past here. Sonic has truly reached levels of "we're so back" never thought possible.

[player042]

HER SUN, HIS MOON | kang dae-ho.

pairing: kang dae-ho (player 388) x reader

summary: opposites attract, they say, but absolutely no one could prepare you for the impact dae-ho would have in your life. requested here.

warning: pre squid game au, grumpy x sunshine dynamics, reader has personality similar to sae-byeok's, kinda colleagues to friends to lovers, heart-melting dae-ho being utterly smitten and protective, mention of fighting and blood, prepare for banter and love that feels like the perfect balance, and please enjoy ♥️

word count: 3.7k

Dae-ho and you were written in the stars. Not in words, but through a bond that neither time nor reason could break. As if the universe itself had signed a soul contract on your behalf, interlinking the two of you forever, one bright as the sun, the other dark as the night. Because you could think of no other explanation for how you and Dae-ho had found your way to each other.

For he and you were opposites in every conceivable way. He was golden hours spent laughing, and you were the quiet serenity of midnight. He was the light on a summer day, you were the shadow on a winter night. He was a golden retriever, bounding through life with enthusiasm and a need to love and be loved, while you were the black cat, aloof and deliberate, your affection hard-earned and fiercely given. He was the proverbial sunshine boyfriend, and you? The grumpy girlfriend, even if you'd never admit it aloud.

You still remembered the early days before you were together. Back then, you had avoided entanglements, thinking emotions were too unpredictable, too messy. Dae-ho, on the other hand, had been nothing but heart, an open book that practically had shouted his feelings with every glance, every action. Easygoing. Flirty. Compassionate. Gentle. Funny. Supportive. That's how he'd always been. You had worked at the same bookstore café as part-timers, making money on the side while studying at uni, and he had been the kind of coworker who brought in homemade snacks to share, who remembered the regulars' orders, who lit up every corner of the room just by being there

And you? You had preferred the quiet. You'd worked the closing shift to avoid the chaos, stocked the shelves in peace, and only spoke when absolutely necessary. Yet somehow, Dae-ho had decided you were his favorite person in the room.

Work had been slow that day, the kind of lazy afternoon where time seemed to drag. You had been in the back, sorting through new stock, when Dae-ho had appeared like a whirlwind of energy. As usual, he had brought his sunshine into the room, whistling a tune as he had sauntered over to where you had been crouched on the floor.

"Need a hand?" he asked, grinning as he leaned casually against the shelf. His eyes sparkled with that familiar mischievous glint that always made you wary.

"No," you said simply, focusing on the stack of books in front of you. "I'm fine."

"That's debatable," he replied, crouching down next to you. "You've been glaring at those books like they owe you money. Which, knowing you, isn't completely impossible."

You bit the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling, refusing to give him the satisfaction. "They're disorganized. It's irritating."

"I think you mean it's irresistible," he corrected, emphasizing the word as he tilted his head to get a better look at your face. "Because you're clearly putting all your energy into ignoring the most charming guy in the room."

You'd turned to him then, giving him a flat look. "Charming? You?"

His hand went to his chest, mock offense lighting up his features. "Ouch. That hurts. Right here." He tapped his heart, then flashed you an exaggerated pout. "You wound me."

"Good," you shot back, turning back to the books. "Maybe it'll teach you some humility."

He let out a soft laugh, his voice dipping lower. "Nah, I think I'll keep my ego intact, thanks. It's my best feature. Or… is it my smile? You've been staring at it a lot lately, so maybe I should ask you."

Your fingers froze on the book in your hand, and you felt heat creep up your neck. Damn him. He always knew exactly how to get under your skin, and worse, he lived for it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," you said smoothly, though your face betrayed you with the faintest hint of pink in your cheeks.

"Oh, come on," he teased, leaning in closer. "Don't play coy with me. I see the way you look at me when you think I'm not paying attention."

You turned to glare at him, which only made him grin wider. "You're imagining things."

"Am I?" His voice was soft now, his gaze steady as he inched just a bit closer. "Because I'd bet my entire paycheck that you're thinking about how good I'd look kissing you right now."

You blinked, your heart skipping a beat at his boldness. But you weren't going to give him the satisfaction. "That's a terrible bet," you deadpanned with your best pokerface, setting the book aside. "You don't even make that much."

His laughter echoed in the small space, rich and full of delight. "See? That's exactly why you're my favorite."

"You're annoying," you retorted, standing up and dusting off your jeans.

"And yet, you keep me around." He stood as well, towering over you slightly. His boyish grin softened into something more genuine, his eyes lingering on yours. "Admit it, you'd miss me if I wasn't here."

You had rolled your eyes, "You wish."

"I do," he remarked, "And you love it," he winked at you before strolling off, whistling that same tune as before.

And damn it, you did love it.

No one understood it back then. This thing you two had. They still didn't understand. How could someone so effervescent, so outwardly bright, have chosen someone so reserved, so calculated? How could two people so different orbit each other with such ease? But honestly, they didn't need to understand. It was him and you that counted. Two sides of the same coin, perfectly balanced in your differences, inseparable in ways that defied explanation. 

And so, it began, this undefined connection between you. Gradually, you found yourselves spending more and more time together. Dinners after work became a casual routine, and weekends often led to shared nights out at bars.

On one particular Saturday night, the bar you went to was packed; the air buzzing with laughter, clinking glasses, and the low hum of a jukebox in the corner. It was one of those rare nights where you let yourself relax, even though relaxing wasn't exactly your forte. Of course, it helped that Dae-ho was there, his larger-than-life presence somehow managing to make you forget how crowded and loud the place was.

You were sitting at the bar, nursing a drink, while Dae-ho leaned against the counter beside you, a mischievous grin perpetually plastered on his face. He was in rare form all evening, tossing out jokes and one-liners, testing just how far he could push your usual stoic demeanor.

"Come on," he teased, nudging your arm gently. "I know, you're having fun. You're smiling. At least on the inside."

You shot him a sidelong glance, unimpressed. "I don't smile."

"Not true," he countered, wagging a finger at you. "You smiled that one time when I tripped on the stairs."

"That wasn't a smile," you clarified with absolutely no emotion in your face, "That was schadenfreude."

"Call it whatever you want," he replied with a wink. "It still counts."

Your lips twitched slightly at that, betraying a flicker of amusement you tried to hide. Of course, Dae-ho noticed instantly, pointing at you triumphantly.

"Aww, I'm growing on you."

"Like mold," you muttered, taking another sip of your drink to mask your expression.

Undeterred, he leaned closer, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial tone. "You know, I've been told I have a certain… effect on people. Charm, charisma, devastating good looks, take your pick."

"Is that what your sisters told you?" you asked, raising an eyebrow.

His grin widened. "Ah, there's the sharp tongue I love. Keep it coming, baby."

"Stop calling me that," you grumbled, even as your stomach flipped at the nickname.

As the evening went on, the two of you fell into a rhythm of teasing and banter, your words volleying back and forth like it was second nature. The bustling crowd and occasional jostle of bodies around you became background noise as your attention fixated on each other. What you did notice, however, was how close he's got. His shoulder brushed yours, his warm breath tickling your ear as he spoke in that low, teasing tone.

"So," he said casually, his eyes gleaming with mischief, "how long are you going to keep pretending you don't like me?"

You snorted, leaning back slightly in an attempt to create some distance, not that it helped. "What makes you think I like you?"

"Your complete inability to look me in the eye when I do this," he explained, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind your ear. The gesture had been so smooth, so effortlessly intimate, it left you momentarily speechless.

"Is your ego always this big, or is it just me?" you managed to ask, though your voice had sounded weaker than you intended.

"Just you," he replied, his grin softening into something more genuine. "You bring out the best in me, moonbeam."

Before you could formulate a snappy retort, a commotion erupted behind you. Raised voices and curses cut through the background noise, drawing your attention to a group of men arguing near a table. One of them shoved another, and you instinctively tensed.

"Dae-ho," you hissed, elbowing him. "Something's happening."

"Huh?" He blinked, finally tearing his gaze away from you to glance in the direction of the chaos. "Oh. Looks like a fight."

"Yeah, thanks, Sherlock," you muttered, standing up as the tension escalated. One of the men pulled out a knife, waving it threateningly.

"Let's just get out of here," you grabbed Dae-ho's arm. But before you could pull him away, the fight spilled dangerously close to the bar.

Everything that happened next was a blur. The man with the knife lunged forward, clearly aiming for his opponent, but the latter ducked, and somehow, Dae-ho, who inexplicably stepped forward, took the hit instead.

"Shit!" you yelled, catching him as he stumbled back. The knife had grazed his side, leaving a shallow but nasty wound. Blood seeped through his shirt, and panic had gripped you.

"Dae-ho!" you exclaimed, your hands gripping his shoulders. "What the hell were you thinking?"

He winced, a crooked grin tugging at his lips despite the pain. "Guess I wasn't."

"No kidding," you snapped, grabbing a napkin from the bar to press against his wound. "Who gets stabbed because they're too busy flirting?"

"Is that… your way of admitting I'm hard to resist?" he asked, his voice strained but still tinged with humor.

You glared at him, though your heart was racing for entirely different reasons. "Shut up and sit down. You're bleeding."

"I've had worse," he said, but he sank obediently into a nearby chair, his hand covering yours as you applied pressure to his wound. "Besides, I couldn't let anything happen to you."

"I was fine," you muttered through gritted teeth. "You're the one who almost got killed because you can't stop playing knight in shining armor."

"Be honest," he said with a weak chuckle. "You'd really miss me if I wasn't around."

You froze at his words, remembering the last time, he's said them, your breath hitching. But this time, the thought of losing him, wasn't so far away. Momentarily, the noise of the bar faded, replaced by the sound of your heartbeat pounding in your ears.

"Don't be stupid," you said softly.

"I knew it! I do have an effect on you," he grinned triumphantly, "I'll take my victory now, thanks." 

You rolled your eyes, but the faint tremble in your hands gave you away. "Just… try not to die, okay?"

His grin widened, despite the pain etched across his face. "If it means seeing you worried about me? Worth it."

As much as you wanted to deny it back then, he hadn't been wrong. You would miss him. And that had terrified you more than any knife ever could.

Your relationship had always been a slow burn, like embers catching fire after months of waiting for the perfect conditions. On that rainy Saturday night, after the chaos at the bar, you found yourself driving Dae-ho to the hospital, his side patched up with hastily wrapped gauze that barely held back the bleeding. He sat in the passenger seat, uncharacteristically quiet, his usual energy dampened by the pain and the rain drumming on the windshield.

"You didn't have to do this," he muttered after a while, his head leaning back against the seat.

"Of course I did," you replied without looking at him, your knuckles tight around the steering wheel. "I wasn't going to let you bleed out in some alley."

He chuckled faintly, the sound tinged with both amusement and exhaustion. "You've got a funny way of showing you care."

You ignored him, keeping your focus on the road, though your heart clenched at the way his voice sounded weaker than usual.

At the hospital, you stayed with him through the stitches, arms crossed over your chest as he cracked half-hearted jokes to distract himself from the needle. When the nurse asked if you were his girlfriend, you didn't bother to deny it, instead rolling your eyes and muttering, "Just patch him up, will you?"

By the time you were finally helping him to his apartment, the rain had turned into a steady downpour. He leaned on you as you guided him up the stairs, his weight a reminder of how fragile this moment felt despite the humor he tried to inject into it.

As you reached the cover of his apartment's awning, you let out a breath, finally releasing your grip on his arm. The warm glow of the entryway light cast over the two of you, highlighting the faint smirk tugging at his lips despite everything.

"I've got to say," he began, leaning heavily against the doorframe, "I think this is the longest you've ever willingly spent with me. Kind of feels like progress."

You shot him a look, but there was no real heat behind it. "You're an idiot," you said, shaking your head. "Why do you always make everything a joke?"

"Because someone's gotta balance us out," he quipped, though his grin faltered as he studied your face. "You're always so serious, moonbeam."

For a moment, neither of you spoke, the sound of rain filling the silence. He tilted his head slightly, as if debating whether to push further. Then, in a softer tone, he said, "Why do you act like you don't care when I know you do?"

His question caught you off guard, the vulnerability in his voice digging into the walls you'd carefully built around yourself. You looked away, the words forming in your throat before you could stop them. "Because caring about people… it hurts. And I've had enough of that."

Silence stretched between you again, heavier this time. When you finally looked at him, the teasing glint in his eyes was gone, replaced by something deeper, something that made your chest tighten.

"You don't have to be scared of me," he said quietly. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't get it," you mumbled, more to yourself than to him.

"Don't get what?"

"You. Why you're always so nice to me."

He tilted his head as he studied you through the rain. "Because you're worth it," he said simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, his voice soft but certain. "And because I like you."

The words caught you off guard, your heart skipping a beat. You could only stare at him, the rain a gentle soundtrack to the weight of his confession.

"Say something, moonbeam," he teased, his grin crooked but genuine.

The rawness of his words, the way he had said them like a promise, made something inside you snap. Before you could second-guess yourself, you stepped closer, your hands reaching for his collar. You kissed him, tentative at first, your lips brushing against his like you were testing the waters. He froze, clearly surprised, but only for a short moment. Then his hands were on your waist, steadying you as he kissed you back with a tenderness that belied his usual boldness.

The warmth of his lips, the faint taste of blood and rain, made your head spin. It wasn't rushed or frantic, it was slow, deliberate, like he didn't want to miss a single second of it. When you pulled back, his eyes searched yours, his expression soft but unreadable.

"That's a good start," he murmured, his fingers brushing a raindrop from your cheek.

And that was the night everything shifted.

Even now, years later, as you sat curled up on the couch in one of his oversized hoodies, that kiss lingered in your memory, replaying in these quiet moments like a favorite song. You hadn't realized it then, but that kiss had marked the beginning of a life you'd never imagined for yourself, a life with him. You were lazily scrolling through your phone, as the smell of coffee wafted from the kitchen, a comforting scent that told you Dae-ho was busy doing something, blending with the faint hum of his voice as he moved about.

You smiled to yourself, tracing the worn fabric of the hoodie with your fingertips.

"Babe," his voice called from the kitchen, teasing and light, pulling you from your thoughts, "if I bring you coffee in bed, does that make me husband material, or is it too early for that kind of promotion?"

You snorted, setting your phone down as you stretched. "You've gotta stop campaigning so hard, Dae-ho. It's getting desperate."

He appeared in the doorway, holding two mugs of steaming coffee and wearing the kind of grin that made your stomach flip. "Desperate? Honey, this is a demonstration of premium boyfriend services." He crossed the room, setting the mugs on the coffee table before flopping down next to you.

"Premium?" you asked, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't even bring toast."

He gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to his chest. "Are you doubting the quality of my care and devotion?"

"I'm just saying," you replied with a smirk, "a little effort wouldn't kill you."

"Oh, you want effort?" he teased, leaning over you, his face suddenly much closer than you anticipated. His arm stretched over the back of the couch, caging you in just slightly. "Name it, and it's yours."

You stared at him, biting your lip to keep from laughing. "Okay. Toast. I want toast."

He narrowed his eyes playfully, tilting his head. "You sure about that? Not, I don't know, me? Because I'm sitting right here."

You rolled your eyes, but your cheeks warmed as he leaned closer, the playful glint in his eyes softening into something warmer. "You're still annoying," you said under your breath, trying to sound in-fact annoyed, but your voice betrayed you, coming out softer than you intended.

"And you're adorable," he shot back, his lips brushing against your forehead. "I think we're even."

The warmth of his breath lingered on your skin as he pulled back just enough to meet your gaze. His hand slid down to your waist, tugging you closer until your legs were tangled together, his thumb idly tracing circles over the fabric of your hoodie.

"You look good in my clothes," he murmured, his voice dipping lower. "Almost too good. How am I supposed to let you out of this apartment now?"

You couldn't stop the small laugh that bubbled up, even as your heart raced. "Who said I was going anywhere?"

His grin widened at your response, and before you could say anything else, he turned you with a swift motion, settling you on top of him so that your legs straddled his hips. The shift left you breathless, your bare thighs brushing against his sides as his hands splayed firmly on your waist, holding you in place.

"Good," he said, his voice lower now, a little rougher around the edges. His dark eyes held yours, their usual playfulness tempered with something deeper, something that made your stomach flutter. "Because I can't get enough of you."

His words sent a shiver down your spine. He tilted his head back slightly, his thumb tracing absent patterns along your hip. "You, moonbeam," he murmured, his gaze intense. "You're addicting. Like I'm craving something I can't ever stop wanting."

You felt your breath hitch, your heart thudding in your chest. You tried to compose yourself, to play it cool, but the way he looked at you made it impossible to be unaffected. Instead, you leaned forward slightly, letting your hands rest on his chest. "Dae-ho," you softly said his name the way you knew it drove him crazy, "You keep talking like that, and I might think you're the romantic one in this relationship."

His lips quirked into a smirk, but his hands tightened on your waist, pulling you even closer. "Don't think. Know. And I'll keep proving it until you never question it again."

You couldn't help but laugh softly, the sound blending with the warmth of his presence. "You're setting the bar pretty high for yourself, you know."

He shrugged, his hands never leaving your waist, "That just means I have to keep finding ways to spoil you."

In that moment, the world outside disappeared, leaving just the two of you tangled together. His hands slowly slid down to your thighs now, his thumbs brushing over your skin, while his gaze never left yours. You leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, and his arms circled back around you, holding you impossibly close as though you might vanish if he didn't.

"I told you," he murmured against your lips. "Addicting."

"I know," you said softly, capturing his lips in another slow kiss. "And that's why I love you."

His boyish grin returned against your lips, softer this time, "I love you, too. But I'm still not getting up for toast."

You burst out laughing, and he pulled you even tighter against him, his chuckle rumbling through his chest as he pressed a kiss against your jaw. Right then and there, everything felt right, like the world had narrowed down to just the two of you. You smiled, letting yourself melt into him, and you thought to yourself that this was where you were meant to be. Not because he was your sun or you were his moon, but because together, you created something whole. 

Something timeless. 

Something infinite.

And you wouldn't have it any other way. 

[chleem]

One shot: bf!rafe cameron x gf!reader

Summary: rafe teaches you golf

Genre: flirty/sexual tension + lil verbal fight at end (read at own caution

⋆.˚ dont copy or translate my work pls!

♡⸝⸝ russian roulette with rafe

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Rafe wasn’t sure why you decided to join him at the country club today. 

He remembers you calling golf the “most boring thing ever,” practically mocking it the last time the subject came up. 

But here you are, standing beside him on the manicured greens, your eyes scanning the course with a look of curiosity. 

He’s trying to keep his attention on the game—Topper lining up his shot, the sound of the club meeting the ball—but his eyes keep drifting back to you, walking over to the golf cart. 

The golf skirt paired with the pink polo you wear gives the perfect balance of sporty and feminine, suiting you perfectly. 

And whenever you move, the skirt hikes up just enough to expose your ass cheeks. 

He doesn’t know whether it’s the outfit or just you, but it’s definitely distracting.

“Aw, shit,” Topper mutters under his breath, the ball flies off the mark, heading straight for the trees. “I can’t catch a break today.”

Rafe remains motionless; eyes focused as you rumble through the bag of clubs. 

You have no idea which one to grab, but the way your fingers move with confidence makes it look like you’re in control.

“Rafe, your turn,” Kelce’s voice breaks through the moment, pulling Rafe back into the game.

“Wait! Lemme try,” you butt in, your voice light but with a hint of determination.

Rafe’s eyes flick back to you, a little surprised by the interruption. He watches as you step forward, confidently grabbing the club you had been fiddling with earlier. 

But before you can even get ready, Rafe steps in, stopping right in front of you.

“That’s… uh, not really the one you want,” Rafe says, his voice lowering slightly, but there's no mocking in it—just genuine concern.

He reaches out, his fingers brushing yours as he takes the club from your hand and holds it up for a moment, inspecting it. 

9-iron. 

He glances up at you, a small smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, his gaze flicking down your frame before landing on the club again.

Yeah, your 165 ass isn’t using that one. 

He steps away for a brief moment, and comes back handing you a different club—a 7-iron, lighter and a little more forgiving.

“Here,” he says, the briefest smile on his lips, “this one’s better for you. Trust me.”

“Thanks babe,” you smile, your tone warm and easy, the words slipping out naturally.

Rafe watches you, his eyes following as you walk toward the ball (the one Rafe previously hit), but then his expression shifts—he notices the way you're positioning yourself.

You're totally off, standing at the wrong angle, about to take a swing in a way that's definitely not going to work. 

His brows furrowed as he watches, a mix of concern and amusement crossing his face. 

He hears the quiet, muffled laughter of his friends and shoots a glare their way, silencing them instantly.

Stepping in once again, he lines himself behind you, his body pressing tightly against yours as he adjusts your posture. His broad shoulders come around, and he reaches forward, his hands settling over yours. 

He’s practically hugging you from the back. 

The proximity sends a slight pulse of awareness through you—his body so close, his presence solid and sure.

“You’re holding it- completely wrong,” he murmurs, taking your hand. 

Through the rough texture of his gloves, you can feel the warmth radiating through as he steadies your grip, guiding you to the perfect hold on the club. 

Rafe then lines your arm up to the ball, but not before his hand slips briefly to your lower stomach.

“Arch your back,” he instructs softly, his breath near your ear, making the moment feel more intimate than it should.

You do- and it causes your ass to further curve into him. 

A light groan escapes his lips, the sound somewhere between a chuckle and a soft exhale. “From your hips, babe, not your waist.”

“Oh,” you reply, your voice laced with a mix of realization and a little embarrassment. You quickly adjust, shifting your weight back from your hips like he said. 

“Good,” he mutters, his voice low, lips brushing against your cheek. “legs shoulder-width apart, and knees bent.”

As you settle into position, you feel your body anchor itself, grounding you in the stance.

“This feels weird,” you comment, the unfamiliar grip suddenly feeling heavy in your hands.

Your words slip out of Rafe’s mind, his mind consumed with this position of you. The way you have it all backed up into him- it’s making it hard to keep the dent forming in his pants under control. 

“Rafe? How do I swing it?” you ask, interrupting his thoughts.

“We should try this tonight,” 

Rafe whispers to you, his voice dropping to almost a possessive tone. 

It sends a chill down to your spine, and you turn your head over to him, meeting his blue eyes. They stare lazily into yours, the color sparkling just enough for them to reflect.

“What? Golf?”

His lips twitch into a smile, not playful, almost smug. 

His gloved hands tighten its hold around yours. 

“…sure,” he murmurs. 

Taking a breath, Rafe then shifts his focus back to the sport. 

“Right,” he says, his voice a little raspier than before. “First, rotate your hips as you swing. Don’t just use your arms.”

He moves along with you, guiding you as you raise the club to the height of your waist, your arms moving in sync with the flow of the motion.

“And follow through, keep your head down and eyes on the ball.”

His lips are near your ear, voice low and steady, guiding you like he's teaching you more than just the swing.

He takes a step back, eyes scanning your stance.

You feel the space between you widen, and for a second, you almost miss the warmth of his body. 

You take a breath, focus on Rafe’s voice in your ear, rotate your hips, eyes on the ball.

The club swings down, and there's a sharp, satisfying thwack as the club hits the ball.

The ball takes off, flying straight and clean.

There’s cheers behind you from his friends, but all you focus on is Rafe’s expression. His eyes locked on you, lips slightly parted, a look of quiet approval in his gaze.

You can’t help but smile, feeling that warmth spread through you.

“That’s my girl,” he says, his voice soft but full of pride.

“She’s better than you, man,” Kelce teases. 

You play along, turning slightly and giving an exaggerated bow. “I’m a natural,” you say with a playful grin.

Rafe chuckles too, but his eyes never leave yours, affection still clear in his gaze. “Yeah you are," he mutters, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

The next one up is Kelce, and once you return to Rafe’s side, he casually slips an arm around your waist, pulling you a little closer to him. It’s a natural move, but the closeness sends a warm jolt through you.

“You think I’ll be this lucky next round?” You ask him, leaning onto his shoulder. Your eyes glue to the side of his face, watching the way his jaw tenses ever so slightly.

Rafe’s lips curl up into that half-smile of his, the kind that makes your stomach flutter. “That wasn’t luck,” he starts, “purely you…and this great teacher you have.”

He tilts his head slightly toward you, giving you a side glance, his expression playful but with that underlying intensity you’ve come to know so well.

You roll your eyes at him, earning his throaty laugh. 

“Don’t flatter yourself, Cameron,” you say flirtatiously. 

But before you can add anything more, Rafe leans a little closer, his lips brushing your ear as he murmurs, “You’re driving me crazy.”

The comment is soaked with horniness, and your thoughts are confirmed when the hand around your waist slips underneath your skirt, kneading the soft fat there.

You can’t help but let out a soft, surprised whelp—louder than you’d intended. The sound catches the attention of his friends, eyes on you again. 

Flushing, you push his hand away playfully, trying to cover up your flustered reaction. “Nothing- there was a spider," you lie, mumbling shyly. 

They laugh lightly, and that’s when you notice Kelce was done with his turn. 

“Hey y/n—” Rafe pauses, leaning in to plant a soft kiss on the side of your forehead, his arm naturally wrapping around your shoulders as he pulls you back in. “How ‘bout a private sesh?”

His friends, already finished, start heading over to their golf carts, clearly ready to move on. But Rafe doesn’t seem in a hurry to follow.

You glance up at him, seeing the playful yet lusting spark in his eyes. 

He’s too easy to read, honestly. 

You bite down on your lower lip, trying to suppress the eager smile threatening to break free. “…no funny business,” you tease, while your hand gives his clothed crotch a light pat. 

Rafe’s smile deepens, taking your hand and interlocking it with his. 

He peers over your shoulder, yelling back at the guys, “You guys go ahead, we’ll, um…”

The group pauses, looking between the two of you, and then Rafe glances down at you with that familiar, devilish smirk, “don’t wait for us.”

As if on cue, the group doesn’t need another word. They exchange a few amused glances, rearranging the carts (leaving one for you two) before heading off. 

The faint chatter and laughs echo away, leaving just you and Rafe on the opened golf course. 

Rafe wastes no time, leaning in and kissing you hungrily. 

Both of you drop your clubs, your arms wrapping around his neck to pull him closer. You feel the rough glove wrap around the back of your head, angling your face so his tongue dives deeper into you. 

It’s a sloppy kiss, but one that only gets more passionate by the second. 

“Shit,” he mumbles against your mouth, hands slipping under your skirt again. He kneads your ass again, another hand going to undo the buttons of your polo. 

But you hurriedly stop him, almost panicking as you pull back. 

“Not here, Rafe-“

“There’s no one here-“

“Cameras, and people over there-“

“Let them watch-“

“No, Rafe,” your voice finally cuts through his, and distance is created through the both of you. Your chest rises and falls, from both the breathless kiss and the sudden rush of energy. 

Rafe’s smirk fades slightly, but his eyes stay locked on yours. “You sure?” he asks, voice low, a hint of challenge in it.

You hesitate for a second, your pulse hammering in your ears. “Yeah, I’m sure,” you reply, steadying your breath. 

You glance around, and you were right- someone drives by on their cart. 

“You couldn’t be patient for a couple of minutes?” You scold lightly, picking up the two golf clubs from the floor. 

Rafe’s eyes flicker briefly to the cart passing by, then back to you, the realization of you being right settling in. 

“I can,” he says, following you as you make it to the golf cart. “But you sure as hell make it difficult.”

Once you're at the cart, Rafe casually takes his gloves off, tossing them somewhere inside without a second thought. Before you can even react, he’s already taking the clubs from your hands, placing them back into the bag. 

“Just sit down already,” he tells you, a flicker of frustration in his voice. 

Somehow, he’s irritated again, the short fuse of his temper flaring up. 

Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, you hop into the driver’s seat. 

“Fuck, and you know where to go?” he asks, his voice laced with snark.

You shoot him a look, before scooting over to the passenger side. You cross your arms, deliberately not engaging with his mood.

Rafe sits down, resting his hand on the steering wheel, his eyes flicking to the wide field, as if he's suddenly noticing how much of a dick he's being.

The silence stretches between you for a moment, and then his jaw tightens, like he's working through something. Finally, he exhales sharply, glancing over at you.

Tapping his fingers against the wheel, he says, “I didn’t mean to snap- get angry like that.”

The words hang in the air, but you don’t respond. Instead, you keep your body angled away from him, building that invisible wall between the two of you.

Rafe notices, his gaze darkening as he watches you, his lips pressing into a thin line. 

With his mood swings and your stubbornness, things can easily spiral south, and he knows it.

“C’mon, don’t do this,” he mutters under his breath, more to himself than to you, “I- I’m not even mad to begin with, c’mon babe.”

His voice drops to a softer tone, and his hand wraps around your thigh. The touch is soft, almost like a silent plea for forgiveness. 

You turn your face back to him, and meet the desperate, pretty eyes of his. 

“Just drive, Rafe,” you murmur, your voice soft but resolute, an unspoken surrender.

He pulls his hand back reluctantly, resting it back on the steering wheel. His gaze lingers a moment longer on your face, studying your features. 

“Yeah,” he mutters, a little defeated, “I’ll drive.”

He starts the cart, the hum of the engine filling the space between you. 

As he drives off the grass and onto the paved road, Rafe’s hand slides over yours, forcing it onto the wheel. His fingers curl around yours, covering your hand completely, holding it firmly in place.

When you don’t pull away or argue, he takes it as a win. 

Even more so when he feels you scoot over slightly, your head gently resting on his shoulder. He doesn’t say anything, but the subtle shift in your proximity softens him, a hint of relief washing over his features.

“…you really think I did good today?” 

You whisper over at him, and he glances down at you. 

His lips curl into a small smile, “yeah.”

He then adds on more firmly, “Yeah, you did. Join me next time.”

“Okay,” you softly whisper, the quiet affirmation slipping from your lips like a promise.

Maybe golf can be the most interesting thing ever, if you do it with Rafe. 

Plus, there’s most definitely a bonus at the end, which is, three rounds of orgasms flowing out of you. 

As soon as the two of you got back to the main building of the country club, Rafe wastes no time in fucking the brains out of you, of course, with your skirt on. 

And now, almost every time he’s on the course, you’re there with him.

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

word count: 2.4k

ִ ࣪𖤐 a/n: ngl, relationship with rafe is: mood swings. and its mostly rafe's. one moment he could be very loving, and then boom, he gets a bit annoyed (but thats just imo

but hope you enjoyed...whatever this was! its so fun to write about rafe

other | russian roulette w/rafe

[imblueeforyuu]

yandere frontman x male player reader

a/n i wrote this when i was high as shit and had to spend to much time editing it i want to kms

Your hole in the wall corner store was going bankrupt, you were millions in debt and your life was falling apart. This store has been in your family tree since forever, it was your family's pride and joy. And you were ruining it,  Of course you were. the one thing you had to live for was being taken from you. You were ashamed and embarrassed. Why did you have to be the one to ruin your family business? You felt hopeless, there was no way you could continue to live like this, i mean it wouldn’t be selfish to kill your self, right? You have no family to take on the debt you created, so it’s fine. Maybe it was best to take the cowards way out. Someone stopped you though, on your way back home a strange business man stopped you and offered to pay you if you played a simple game of Ddakji, you couldn’t turn that down, no way. In the end you managed to make half a million won, which was not nearly enough but you were out of options. The strange man gave you a card and went on his way. 

With nothing better to do with your already broken life you decided to join this game. You didn’t expect to win, god no, you just wanted to try something so you could say you really did attempt to make some money, and you didn’t just give up. 

You woke up with a quick breath, you look around quietly, you notice a 002 on your uniform. Interesting, were you the second person to join this game? Whose the first, they had to be more desperate than you to join so fast. You had a personal mission now, to find this number 1 guy.. You crawled out of your bed to start your search. Everyone was either waking up or still asleep. This would be your perfect opportunity to find this guy, or girl. You looked around for a good while and found nothing. It wasn't until the masked guards took you to the first game you gave up. You don’t know why you're so interested in this man you're sure it’s just some boring fat old man. you were so incredibly focused on finding this guy you didn’t realize people were dying around you. Well you did but it really didn’t matter to you. On the walk back you noticed something, your number 001! And two guards leading him to the line of players, why was he with them? Maybe he got separated but you doubt it. You are definitely going to keep an eye on him now. 

“Hey your number one,” you stated, you really weren’t good with interactions. your dad always used to tell you that your awkwardness was what was going to run the store to the grave, and it really did. 

“Oh, yes I am,” he said looking into your eyes. You stare back looking at every detail of his face. He was older but definitely still attractive. He didn't look like he belonged, he had the look of someone more well off. You glare slightly before continuing walking. You felt his stare bore into the back of your head.

Next was voting, you pressed O, you did want to continue the game. Why would you want to stop here, it was fun, and easy. It was just kid's games. It had been awhile since you were a kid  but you're sure you still had it in you. You went back to your bed and sat observing, there was a group of people surrounding the person claiming they’ve played this before, You can’t blame them who wouldn't be intrigued? you also noticed a purple hair guy and his little minion pick a fight with some other guy. Boring, what wasn’t boring was the reaction of a certain number one. He was really interesting, first he supposedly worked with the guards and now you've learned he's really good at combat. Maybe he was secretly a guard, or some type of spy, you needed to gather more information on him. You look around the room and notice player 456, the crazy one. Maybe he knew something. 

Your chat with him was unsuccessful, player 001 came back, the very person you wanted to gossip about. Maybe you didn’t want to talk about him exactly, still if he was someone important and noticed you trying to get more information you're pretty sure he’ll have you killed. Unintentionally you’ve found yourself part of 456s group. You tried to slip away when 001 came back but you were too slow. Fuck now you were stuck interacting with this creep. 

The time the second game happened you’re so done with these people. Player 001 whose name you've learned to be Young-il especially, he made you feel nervous, it’s probably all in your head that he’s a spy or something. You’ve done this before; get it in your head someone’s out to get you when they're really innocent. But there's definitely something off about this guy. 

6 legs was pretty much boring, you split away from  gi-huns group as soon as the opportunity came. You don’t dislike the group by any means but they were loud, you've always been so introverted.  Maybe you were just jealous, you probably were.

“002,” 388 came up to your bed with the rest of the group following behind . You peel your eyes open, god you're not ready to talk to them.

“Yes?”

“Where did you go?”

“I lost you guys,”

You probably shouldn’t make them hate you especially because they were your ticket to a good amount of money, even though they were against the games they were smart. And strong. Perfect for victory. They started talking about voting and you could care less. you wanted to keep these games going. 

Mingle was annoying, you were the last pick of the group. When it finally was time for two players, young-li grabbed your Hand. You expected him to pick gi-gun who was practically his boyfriend, but no he picked you. When you got to the room you didn’t expect someone to already be there. You were at a loss. Maybe it would be best if you just walked out. But young-il can never not shock you? He grabbed that poor man and snapped his neck. You were shocked but that proves your suspicion, this man was not who he seemed. 

It was Time for gi-huns master plan. To fight back, you didn’t have the heart to tell this delusional old man there was no way he would win but you did have a use for this. Finally proving that number one was evil. You were going to wait and see him betray them, but You decide to join the raid and follow in the back. When it was time to go to the front office you joined young-il and the group that went with him. You said you were going to stay with 456 and 390 but secretly followed behind him and his group. You saw everything, him shooting the people with him, him pretending he died and his smirk at the camera. You smile. perfect.

“Got you.” You raised your gun to face him. He didn’t seem to take you seriously, he smiled softly before moving closer. You glare.

“Back up,” you yell, you clutch the trigger. 

You shouldn’t have let your guard down so quickly, you saw him reach to put his gun down. Seeing him submit you released your grip on the trigger just a little bit. He must have seen you relax, because Out of nowhere he grabbed his gun again and shot your leg. You fall over unable to hold yourself up. You saw young-il move closer towards you until he was standing right by your head. He crouched down before smiling even wider. You look into his eyes, you were expecting anger not pure bliss in your bloody weak body. Your world went black.

When you woke up you noticed you were on an uncomfortable leather couch. Your head was propped up on a pillow. Your eyes were still somewhat blurry. You reach to rub the blurriness out but you notice your hands were tied. You try not to panic just yet but that fails miserably. You look around desperately and wiggle around, unintentionally knocking something off a table, ouch now your leg hurts. You freeze for a moment, damn it now your kidnapper knew you were awake. The elevator door dings causing you to flinch, fuck time was running out. Quickly you rush to hide somewhere. Unfortunately your feet and hands were tied so there was not much you could do. Of course besides rolling. You quickly roll under the couch which fortunately was tall enough for you to fit under but damn, rolling off the couch must have reopened your gunshot wound , you almost scream in pain. You heard the clicking of dress shoes come closer, they stop for a moment before continuing. They stop right at the front of the couch before the owner of the pair of expensive shoes starts to talk

“You know your feet are showing,” young-il, if that even was his name, said. You kept quiet even though you knew it wouldn’t help at all. 

“You can come out,” he paused before continuing. “I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk.”  

Talk my ass. There is no way he just wanted to talk, if so why would he kidnap you? Yes, maybe you held a gun to him but still. You crawl out from under the couch, Or well wiggle out. When you finally managed to get out you saw young-il he was drinking a glass of whiskey. You were still on the floor wiggling around trying to free yourself from the rope. Young-il stood up and crouched by you. 

“What happened to all your confidence? You were so sure of yourself with that toy gun of yours,” he smirked and started to pat your head. You flinch and scrunch your face. 

“Fuck you,” you glare.

“Sh [name],” your eyes widened, you don’t remember telling him your name. But if he was the mastermind behind this you guess he would know your name after all. It still did disturb you. He disturbed you. The way he smiled, the way he crouched, and how he patted your head. There was something off about him, I mean of course there was. You felt helpless, he had tied you up and was treating you like a child. You spit at him, what else could you do? You were helpless, ok? That seemed to make him mad, good. He stood up abruptly and stared down at you. He kicked you swiftly. the middle of your back hit the leg of the couch. You winced and curled up into a ball. 

“What the fuck do you want from me,” you glare at the floor. You were still in the ball and your voice was low. You're not sure he could hear you. 

“Hm, you.” you heard the leather of the couch crinkle as he sat. What did he mean by you? Why Did he want you? You were just a failing business owner, you were about to end it when you were invited to these games. Maybe he liked that stuff? You hugged your legs closer, being careful of your wound. Why the fuck did you have to be so interested in him? 

[mathewryf]

Ellaboration time

One major component that used to be a major part of Sonic's character was his ability to read people. You can see this in games like Sonic Adventure or Sonic Rush. That's not to say his readings on people are super precise, but generally he was able to look past the surface.

In Sonic Adventure, the two interactions that stood out to me most were his interaction with Big before the Chaos 6 fight, and his refusal to seal Perfect Chaos before that fight.

The one with Big is minor, it's really just him figuring out "this guy's friend is trapped, that's why he's here in harm's way". Still, it's a good example of his intuition at work.

With Perfect Chaos, it's a culmination of him taking the information Tikal gave to him throughout the game and usjng that information to do what he thinks is best. He says it best during his refusal: "How can [sealing Chaos] help? It won't change how he feels."

As for Sonic Rush, his first proper meeting with Blaze leads him to internally comment that "it seems she's had a rough past." That gut reading he gets further informs both what he says and how he confronts her before, during and after their fight.

I'm out of time 😅 I can add onto this during lunch.

i think other people catch onto tails’s insecurity and self loathing problems faster than sonic does. sonic just thinks his brother is the coolest in the world and he can’t fathom why tails would ever think negatively about himself while everyone else is like “there’s something wrong with that boy”

[megwritesriddles]

Rough sex headcanons for Alex (sdv) please and thank you! Their relationship is writers choice.

MDNI 18+

thank you sm for the request!! I hope you like it!! I accidentally included a few random relationship headcanons (all suggestive tho) (not proofread because my grammar software wasn't working)

word count: 0.7k

Although Alex is a secret softie, he loves to be all macho and strong

Part of this will be talking a big game about sex even if he’s… not quite as experienced as he likes to get across

It’s a small town, give him a break

But anyway, while the two of you are still only flirting (over text) he will talk a big game

“I could have you screaming my name in no time, baby ;)” 

“Hope you don’t need to walk any time soon,”

“That dress you were wearing today… fuck… almost bent you over the ice cream stand,”

(He def sent you tons of thirst traps of his muscles and dick pics during that time, with your consent ofc, def asked for tons of nudes when he realised you’d be down for that sort of thing (prob keeps them in a folder on his phone))

“Like what you see babe? ;)”

“Look what you do to me when you send pics like that,”

“Fuck… that body of yours, you’re certainly doing something right,”

Then when he actually gets you alone he’s a little nervous

Not because he thinks he can’t please you, no no, he can definitely please you

But he’s quite a bit bigger and stronger than you are and doesn’t want to hurt you

Yet after he first sinks into your tight cunt and you give him those eyes… oh… you’re done for

He fucks rough every time, hips slamming against yours at a punishing pace, hands grabbing harshly at every inch of you, filling you up over and over and over, rubbing your clit with his thumb

“Yeah? You like that baby?”

You’re lucky your farm is so secluded, because he really does end up having you screaming his name

He loves to watch you come undone beneath him, it gives him a great sense of control over you

In doggy, he will grip your waist, pressing your arched back into your mattress as his cock bullies your cervix

He LOVES to show off his strength by manhandling you

Bending you forcefully over surfaces and holding you in place if you try to playfully fight against his grip

Holding you up in his arms as he fucks you in mid-air or against a wall, strong enough to hold you up for several orgasms

Throwing you over his shoulder, one hand playfully gripping your upper thigh as he walks you to the bed if you’ve been teasing him too much

His nerves around hurting you have disappeared, you take everything he gives you so beautifully and seem to relish in the sting in your legs after you’ve been fucked particularly hard

If you’re into that sort of thing, he might squeeze the sides of your neck as he fucks into you, keeping you from squirming away as he leans down to kiss you

Quickies are particularly rough, slamming into you, chasing his high relentlessly

“You always take me so well babe, so good just f’me,”

He is such a tease out in public, he seems to be in the mood 90% of the time and is constantly whispering dirty things in your ear, hoping to tempt you into taking him home and letting him use your body

Loves to gently squeeze you where you’re sore as a reminder of what you guys do when you’re alone, never enough to hurt, just enough to fill your mind with filthy flashbacks

Definitely grabs and smacks your ass a lot and even in public (as long as you’re around people that it’s appropriate around, he’s not crazy)

Always sends you off with a little pat on your ass.

“See you later, gorgeous,”

I can see him using a pic of you in a bikini as his phone background and not understanding why it embarrasses you

“What? Babe, you look hot!”

Brags about you to the guys on his gridball team in Zuzu city in a ‘guy talk’ way, but he makes sure not to be too gross and to respect your privacy (mostly)

He just wants everyone to know he's fucking the hottest girl and that she's absolutely perfect in bed and they will never have her

Usually wants to be on top of you, but on the odd chance he lets you be on top, he’ll lift you up and down at his usual brutal pace, practically using you as a toy, showing off his strength at the same time

If you ever gain weight, he will just train harder so he can continue manhandling you around

Definitely likes to pull your hair lightly while you kiss… or while you’re in doggy

Loves seeing your nail marks down his back in the mirror, its mark to him that he did a good job

Acts like a stereotypical fuckboy, but he adores you deep down

[bliss-wily]

Idk if you're busy right now, but will you be posting specific intros from sparking zero? Even if you won't, will screenshots of Zarbon's moveset be OK for now?

Yeah, absolutely. I’ve been playing (just trying to grasp the controls ^^”). I’d love to post videos but I might need to upload elsewhere as Tumblr has a file limit, as some of this is fun - really fun.

I’ll post what I have at the moment which admittedly isn’t much yet. I’ll share for both his forms on this post.

[fisheito]

on one hand, i can make olivine the biggest juiciest bottom where eiden has to top him with climbing gear attached

on the other hand, i could make olivine the equally powerful priestly short king who only reaches eiden's bellybutton but can twirl that boy around his finger like a weighty necklace

[ghostlymarauder]

On that same note, you know what I also love about Epic???? The late-motivs, they're are the most perfect thing ever

So, this is a list (in no particular order) of the late-motivs throughout the musical:

(Disclaimer: I'm not adding things like Telemachus' sword making the rhythm to the chorus of Little Wolf in the song Odysseus because that's just insane omfg)

Mutiny + Survive (During the part where Eurylochus is talking about the Sun Cows the rhythm of the verses it's the exact same as the ones from Survive)

Gods Game + Warrior of the Mind (Before Athena begs Zeus to release Odysseus from Calipsos' wrath, the melody that plays is the one from Warrior of the Man) (took me too long to notice that one, unfortunately)

Gods Game + Thunder Bringer (After Athena wins Zeus' game, his verse it's essentially the same as the ones from Thunder Bringer)

Would You Fall in Love With Me Again? + Just A Man (After Penelope's final verse, the melody that plays it's the chorus from Just A Man)

Remember Them + Warrior of the Man (When Athena tell Ody to kill Polyphemus, the start is the same as the one from Warrior of the Mind)

Six Hundred Strike + Full Speed Ahead

Dangerous + Full Speed Ahead

Six Hundred Strike + Monster (When Ody is fighting Poseidon, there's a short late-motiv to the song Monster)

Every song where Penelope is mentioned + The Horse and The Infant (After the first song, Penelope's name becomes a regular late-motiv)

My Goodbye + Warrior of the Mind (The rhythm to one of the moments where Athena says 'my goodbye' it's the same as the one from 'warrior of the mind')

The Challenge + Hold Them Down (Of course, the late-motiv is the challenge in itself, BUT I ALSO WANT TO MENTION that Penelope says 'my husband's old bow' with husband as a present thing and the bow as the old thing while in Hold Them Down they say 'the old king's bow')

Odysseus + Hold Them Down (When Telemachus gets to where suitors are and they start to fight)

Mutiny + Luck Runs Out (When they betray Ody they sing a verse that resembles to the ones from Luck Runs Out)

Dangerous + Keep Your Friends Close (When Hermes gives him the wind bag he says something along the lines of 'keeps this bag closed if you want to get home, sir' which the wind also says in Keep Your Friends Close)

The Underworld + Ruthlessness

Get in the Water + Ruthlessness

Six Hundred Strike + Ruthlessness

Done For + Puppeteer

There Are Other Ways + Puppeteer (I think in both songs there's a late-motiv, if not, it's only in Done For)

Different Beast + Suffering (When they say 'we won't take more suffering from you' is a late-motiv to when the siren tells Ody 'I can take the suffering fron you'

Ruthlessness + Just A Man (After Poseidon kills most of the men)

I want to make a particular mention to Ody saying 'I'm the darkness moment' when he reveals his name to the Cyclops and the Poseidon telling him the same thing in Ruthlessness

I want to make another particular mention to Telemachus saying 'give me sirens and a cyclops' in Legendary because omg that's just what your father it's fighting somewhere around the globe

There's probably more, so I'll add onto the list as I notice late-motivs. Also, for reference I wrote this initial list at once and mostly off the top of my head, so that's how obsessed I am with Epic.

Honestly, one of my favorite parts about Epic it's when someone replies "what" to whatever Odysseus or anyone else is saying. So, I'm making a list of the songs where this happens:

Polyphemus (Ody being surprised that the Cyclop still wants to kill them after he just straight-up lied to Polyphemus because he didn't trust him will never cease to amuse me)

Storm

Keep Your Friends Close

Ruthlessness (Poseidon offended 'what' when Ody says all he has to do is open the wind bag lives rent-freen in my mind)

Puppeteer (I actually think this is the best one, like Odysseus sounds so dumbfounded and I love it)

Not Longer You

Perhaps I'm missing one or two songs, so, I'll probably add more songs once I listen to Epic again (for reference, I've listened to that fucking musical about a hundred times in the last few weeks, Jorge Rivera-Herrans is the vane of my fucking existence (but I love him so damn much))

[stuffyflowers]

*massaging my temples with an irritated expression* I am soooooooo tired of people misunderstanding starlos character

[solitaireships]

I'm not huge on the ending I'm pretty sure I'm getting for Wyll here and will be rewriting it in my head, but this was sweet

[jackass-jones]

Girl like. The reason he said "this is how it should be" and faced death with a smile....is cuz he wanted to die. For 2 years he sat there thinking he was worthless and deserved to die. If he hadn’t be shot, his death would’ve been suicide, he was fully planning to die in a gutter somewhere undetected. When saying "this is how it should be" hes literally saying "don’t cry because I’m dying, my death is a good thing actually because I fucking suck and you are better off without me". I don’t think that’s badass even slightly, it’s actually really sad and really shitty. Shinjiro is so convinced that he deserves to die and hates the idea of anyone giving a shit about him because he literally can’t wrap his mind around the idea that he will be missed when he’s gone, that his death is a bad thing actually. And his last words were meant to be comforting because he fully did not intend for anyone to be there when he died, he intended to die alone, so he says them as a reminder that he’s not worth crying over

Personally, if it were me, if I was holding my dying best friend in my arms who was deeply depressed and suicidal and he said "this is how it should be" uh. I wouldn’t admire him for it??? Like am I losing my mind when I say the way this game handles Shinji is bad or is anyone else seeing this too 😰

[todayisafridaynight]

God that reminds me I was writing this longass reply to when you were comparing MineDai to AraSawa and part of it was basically like. Hear me out but While I've Concluded MineDai Should Not Be Parents For Various Reasons… If they were. Non-zero chance the kid could plausibly turn out like Masato 😭😭😭like spoiled and entitled “wait ’til my FATHER(S) hear about this” nepo baby who can’t connect with either dad and actively resents at least one while taking advantage of their familial ties and living a life of (financial) privilege just sounds about right I'm sorryyyyyyyyy

So it was funny to me because just as AraSawa is MineDai With Dads… perhaps MineDai is AraSawa Without Kids… and AraSawa is the alternate, still-doomed timeline…

its only natural that if arasawa is Minedai But Dilfs then minedai inversely is Arasawa But. One Of Them Sees Red Around Happy Children

[storm-driver]

hi im storm and i write essays in my tags

[shaykai]

Oooooh I forgot how much I hate the end of Warcraft (ignoring the MMOs I don’t fuck with those djdjjd)

[ashenberry]

honest to god looking at people talk about the ganondorf fight im surprised i did so well as someone who could not Flurry Rush or Perfect Parry for shit