#these are so silly goofy but I had a fucking blast writing them

[phonydiaries]

could I perhaps get some of P being oblivious about lots of human behaviors still and going to the reader with questions ???

yes you fucking can

Lawful Dumbass P Headcanons

Pinocchio was initially very intrigued when you explained him where you can find and a human's heartbeat. He would sometimes hold fingers to your wrist and just below your jaw out of the blue as if needing to double-check your status as living, just in case.

On one occasion he presses his head to your chest and listens to the dull thump of your heart in a sort of trance. However, he jumps back in surprise upon hearing your stomach rumble. He looks at you with wide eyes in utter shock. You assure him about a million times that this is normal and unlike him, humans get hungry all the time. He is not entirely convinced and seemed to think there was a creature hiding in your torso for days.

While you're writing one day, he notices you absentmindedly biting the end of a pen, deep in thought. He starts doing this when he's pacing around Krat, although he really just grabs whatever happens to be nearby that could vaguely fit in his mouth. You've seen him try this with one of Eugenie's screwdrivers. She did not want it back.

You told Pinocchio a secret once and made him pinky swear not to tell anyone. He cocks his head to the side, confused. You take this opportunity to explain to him that a pinky promise is a time-honored human tradition of the utmost severity, a symbol of trust never to be broken. "In fact, if you are ever to go back on your word," You speak in a low grave tone, extending your pinky finger to him, "you'll be cursed. Forever." He takes this very seriously, locking his finger solemnly with yours before laying his hand over his heart with a stern expression, now forever oath-bound to you. It's damn near impossible for you to hold back laughter. As far as you know, he still believes you to this day.

There was a time that he came to you seemingly insecure, feeling wholly overwhelmed with an existential line of questioning about his burgeoning humanity. Was he really still only a puppet? Could he ever truly be considered human? Was he some unknown third possibility, alone in his otherness? You try in earnest to comfort him, assuring him that his exterior is irrelevant in the end. Though he may not be made of flesh and blood, it's what lies beneath the surface, deep inside, that matters. He seems to really consider this, and immediately retrieves his literal mechanical heart from his chest, holding it out to you quizzically. You gently push it back into his hands and shake your head. "Oh. No. Not like that." You stammer in complete awe.

[soapsbaby]

Silly Spicy Call of Duty headcanons

Characters: Simon "Ghost" Riley, Johnny "Soap" MacTavish, König, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo "Rudy" Parra, John Price, Valeria Garza, all x reader Rating: 18+ (Minors DNI) Themes: All NSFW but very lighthearted, nothing particularly triggering but ask to tag! Word count: 750ish

These are just silly little headcanons about them, PLEASE if you have any like these send them to me i had such a blast writing them lol!!

Ghost

Sometimes his mask slips a little and he looks goofy as hell, you have to do your best to not laugh into his face because you know he won’t let that slide.

Uses British lingo sometimes. Has called your pussy a “fanny” before. Got mad when that made you giggle.

Once got so frustrated with trying to figure out how to operate one of your vibrators that he broke it. Was very apologetic and immediately ordered you another one afterwards.

Soap

He is clumsy as hell. Every time you have tried to fuck in a position that is anywhere near athletic, something goes wrong. It’s a miracle neither of you have broken your necks trying to get it on in the shower. He will always take the fall though, protecting you with everything he has and curling himself around you even if it means he will end up bruised or bleeding.

Makes a lot of typos when sexting, never notices. Called you “baby gorilla” once (you will never let him live that down).

Gets offended when you call him “Soap” in the bedroom. You know my name, what are you calling me that for? Dummy.

König

He doesn’t usually wear his balaclava under his mask when you have sex since it gets too sweaty but since his mask is pretty loose he will sometimes have to pft-ppf-tpftt when it gets stuck in his mouth. Has almost choked on his mask before.

Gets so flustered that he will just start sputtering nonsense. Has on several occasions been so out of it that he has messed up the nicknames you use for each other. “yes show me that I am your little babygirl, wait- no, you are… I am your boy… you’re… Wait, I’m sorry”. Not a gender or kink thing, which would of course be alright with you, just him being a dummy.

Is a bit of a crier and drooler sometimes which wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that he will sometimes accidentally waterboard himself in his mask and not tell you.

Gaz

Has called you mommy once and was mortified. Neither of you have really spoken about it but sometimes you will drop little hints around him to get him flustered.

Likes when you suck him off while he is playing video games but then gets too into the game and genuinely can’t help but get annoyed when he loses because you distract him.

Cpt Price

Is oblivious to any signs that you want him. Will go into Dad story telling mode and completely ignore the effect he is having on you until you grab him by the shirt and just tell him to fuck you.

Has a sex playlist called "sensual" with just the most cliché sex songs on it possible. Can unironically have sex to "Careless Whisper" and “Let’s get it on”.

Has given you rug burn with his beard before. 0/10 very unpleasant experience (you’d do it again, though).

Alejandro

Will say things that could be interpreted as sexist in the moment and then immediately get apologetic. Who’s my good slut? I mean… If you want to be. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to… Are you okay with that? Okay. Cool.

Will fuck you in uniform because he knows you’re into that and then get distracted by things he finds in his pockets like shopping receipts. 

Doesn’t care whether or not you understand him, he will speak Spanish to you.

Rudy

Gets tormented by you with new pet names every day. mí amor, I don't know what a Zaddy is. I don’t even know if that’s a good thing.

In the beginning of your relationship he was completely oblivious to most kinks. If you ever expressed anything out of the ordinary to you, he’d raise his eyebrows in confusion and say something like “what? why would anyone want that?” but was always open to trying anything. Now he is probably even more of a deviant than you are.

Valeria

Has this roleplay thing going on where you are a traitor to her cause and she discovers it and gets to “punish” you. You find it a little silly but it gets her super riled up so you play along.

Secretly loves to bottom and to be taken care of by you but would never tell you (you know anyway). Thinks she is being very good at hiding it (she is not).

[heckinhacker]

hi so i was wondering if u could do one like “Eric Cartman x Reader - South Park's days are OVER.” but with kyle, like they are the same and everything, idk if u have already done it

Kyle Broflovski x Reader - South Park might be saved, after all??

Which means we get the version where Kyle meets someone similiar to himself! It's like a 'sequel', (but not really, more like an alternative version with same trope) to “Eric Cartman x Reader - South Park's days are OVER.”

Remember that when I write for South Park, they're teenagers at less(16 y/o minimum), adults at most! it's silly i write it every south park post but better safe than sorry~

I gave Kyle green color for easier reading experience in dialogues!

note: color code might be broken because lately tumblr on pc is being silly goofy

Kyle had a great grasp of how fucked up situations in south park are having occurances

Aaand he's pretty aware there will be noone else who understands him.

Or so he thought.

There is a new student announced to be in his class while you all were in 4th grade or so?

And you seemed not too quiet, nor too shy, but surely smart enough not to push yourself into any weird situations.

Teacher sat you both together and Kyle tries to talk you up-

"Hey! I'm Kyle, it's refreshing to have a new face around. Want to play with us on long break?"

It's nice to have a new group to play with, so you agree.

Ah, kids and their not complicated feelings, right? <3

You tag along, and you grew really quickly to dislike Cartman-

It's not hard to hate him he's UNBEARABLE,

Kyle wants to let out his signature "Shut up, fatass!"

but you beat him to it-

"Shut up, fatso, mama did not taught you to behave, or was she absent in your life like yo papa?"

You had NO idea he's fatherless and it made other guys go "OOOHHHH--"

you made yourself an enemy in Cartman,

but an ally in Kyle.

You seemed to have similiar nerdy interests,

From playing Stick of Truth and heroes,

to DnD (that he played online, because not with his group-- but he invited you into his new online session!!)

Beside Terrance and Philip, Kyle also liked that vampire/werewolf series called "Under Devil's grasp" that seemed mostly for girls or boring, yet he liked it in secret and once he caught you watching first episodes, just...because,

and then joined you, for his own re-watch and your first watch, he liked seeing how you reacted

"HOW COULD YOU?" you asked out of sudden once, in a call,

"How could I what?" Kyle asks, having you on speaker while he does his homework.

" YOU KNEW ALL THE TIME THAT BARRY WILL BE KILLED AND YOU DID NOTHING TO WARN ME, I GREW TO LOVE HIM AND NOW HE'S GONE."

"Well, you said no spoilers?"

"KYLE."

He giggles, "Plus he had death flags since always so-"

He's playing, it turns out Barry barely lived and hid for like season and a half to return in dramatical moment that he watched with you and you SCREAMED.

And he has a blast with your reactions <3

And so on, you bond over similiarities,

Over years you put many blood, sweat and tears into your friendship, and you're glued by hip. Kyle won't ever pick between you and Stan who is his closer friend, it would be even cruel to ask.

You two got along decently, good, not badly, but it always seemed you're more closer with Kyle than Stan.

You grew beside each other and your families became one, big family because of how close you've gotten between each other and made them grow closer. (Or not if your relation with them is bad)

No matter your family (or your own) relligion, you spend Hanukkah with Kyle and it's almost a norm of you being around.

Listen, Ike? Absolutely adores you. Kyle sometimes has a laugh your'e more of an older sibling than he is.

(Absolute bull, we all know Ike loves Kyle the most <3)

Kyle's family wanted to make little ride to nearest amusement park

Of course they suggested you go too! You're a part of the family already <3

You have the fun of your lives, all of you. Kyle's parents mostly chill around but you, Kyle and Ike are using all the activities possible while you can, stuffing yourselves with snacks and sweets.

Bad idea, if you'd ask me

You went to roller coaster and none of you paid no mind in that choice,

but Kyle's stomach DID pay a mind

Especially in a middle where he felt like throwing out

And hell, he did! But he took out his hat and puked int oit so noone got blessed with mix of dinner and snacks.

He was almost carried out of the roller coaster by you--

You decided to go to ferris wheel and call it after a day.

They were two-people cabin on the wheel, so Ike let you two have one while he went with some other random kid.

Ike is your biggest wingman, he did that on purpose of course. Little guy <3

When you're up high, alone, with Kyle, having option to look at all the view, you can't help but to look at little buildings under you, and then to take a peak at Kyle.

Oh boy, were you surprised when you met his gaze-

He blushed furiously and muttered "Sorry- Uh- did not mean to stare."

Of course - you did not mind, but that was SURPRISING.

You did not bother him about it though. Whatever he had in mind - nothing, or something, he will come around.

But you might've realised that you DO have feelings towards your childhood best friend. For sure.

You remember how I mentioned your shared liked series with Kyle, "Under Devil's grasp" ? Soo...

Imagine it was near end, and studio decided to make finale into movie, two and half hour long one.

It's a series you two follow since you were kids, OF COURSE you have to be there in the cinema.

You ride with Kyle to big city, with his freshly acquired driver license and shitty car of his.

You enjoy your WHOLE drive there, time spent in bigger city, it all was just amazing.

Series, even though it was mostly about vampires and werewolves, was called "Under Devil's grasp" and it's very questionable, for years there were just theories, yet the movie after all those years of content literally ended with said title as last words.

Y'all were crying already enough but it was such a HIT in the face

When you walked out of cinema you whipped your tears out of your eyes, so did Kyle, as you giggled and gushed about the ending of your beloved series.

Ride home was mixed, going from peaceful to chaotic, just atosphere was...magical. Lights of highway, music blasting loudly and Kyle jamming to it, while you take a glance with full adoration at him.

You sing a little, then you rest and sooner than later end up in South Park.

Kyle drives to your house first to drop you off, walks out of car to walk you to your door, and gazes at you.

"Thank you...for today. I had fun! I hope you did too."

"I did, you kidding me? Thanks for even offering. I...really appreciate it."

Kyle seems to hesitate, and then sighs deeply.

"...I love you."

" Yeah, good night to you too man- oh wait what the fuck-??"

"I...wanted to say so, and today's spent time with you made me realise I'd hate you to spend the day out of South Park with someone else. I'd hate for you to have late-night drives with somebody else, I'd hate to see you happy with somebody else because...well, I wish you stayed with me. Of course I mean- have fun with others, I just...I wish you'd keep your heart on my hands. It's fine if you'd prefer to stay friends, I hope it doesn't break our friendship. But I uh...I wanted to let you know."

...that was...a lot. Wow."

He thinks it's a rejection, but...

It's not, really

You grab his cheeks and kiss him before he can get into tangent of self-doubt.

Then smile at him,

and say:

"Information saved. Let's grab something to eat tommorow together too, alright, boyfriend?"

You smile and wave him away goodnight and closed your door.

...

"...boyfriend?"

He's so giddy pls <3

Other's reactions:

Ike:

FUCKING FINALLY 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALO.

My little dude was waiting for the moment you hold hands and kiss each other already for TOO LONG

I mean, don't kiss too much in front of him he'd gag, it's still his older brother we're talking about

but at least Kyle pinning over you days are OVER.

He congratulates you and gives you gift cards of "congratulations on marriage!" drew with crayons and pencils

My man Ike is an anime fan, he made you badass gift card <3

Stan:

Not surprised but surprised at the same time.

He's second biggest fan, first being Ike

He learned the news from Kyle himself the same night you became a thing, later Ike hit him up because he was excited BSHSH

He hears Kyle out and congratulates him A LOT

Kenny:

He kind off knew? everyone kind off knew but he was sure you were already dating so...

news were shocking because

"Weren't you dating already? damn-"

he was sure you're married and expecting a kid/j

he doesn't have strong reaction because, as I said, it's not much of a news for him not going to lie

Cartman:

He always tried taking away whatever Kyle loved the most

So he's salty he failed this time

He always makes you both miserable, with slightest show of affection he is making big clown show out of it

Enough that just guys ask you to STOP with PDA because Cartman is being fucking annoying

He's just that salty single friend man for sure <3

Lemme be honest, it's not one of my best works, but I have (I am in a middle of...) 9 days streak of work straight, I am exhausted beyond human belief, but maybe because my ability to hold my ground is shitty, thanks depreshon--

So yes, It's not my best piece, but it was pretty much expected, so :>

I wanted to tag @bath1lda because of "kyle kyle" spam ask hehe- I hope you, and everyone else who read it, a nice "have a good read" :>

[cxncrie-a]

Anonymous asked: 💖💖💖💖 pcrplevenom asked: 💖💖💖

send a 💖and the mun will talk about a random mutual they love and appreciate!! || Accepting

Oh??? Bet ??? 

@fearedelight ;; Honestly was SUPER intimidated by them because they looked SUPER cool but oh my god I ???? adore them to pieces ??? They were just so sweet and friendly when I approached them and the fact they talked to me instantly about a plot idea I just ??? weeps. Also god let me tell you the silly lil threads, crack or not, are a blast. Definitely make my day a lot better bc they genuinely make me laugh. 

@pompedia ;; Love for Pom ?????? you fucking BET. God I was scared of her for a LONG while but I just { grabs and shakes her affectionately } Love her writing and just all the thought and love she puts into muses, she's a BLAST to talk to oocly and has helped me SO MUCH with learning photoshop and photoscape ?? Def glad I met her and I am NOT letting her go until she kicks my ass to the curb LMAO.

@monmuses ;; THIS WHORE RIGHT HERE { affectionate }, one of the few people that helped me get out of my funk along w/ some others and god I cannot be more grateful. She saw me at my worst and stuck with me regardless. Because of her I had help making proper choices when it came to making things better for myself like choices to cut off those who had hurt me. She's super supportive and a WONDERFUL friend. Not to mention her A+ writing { even if she is on semi-hiatus rn }

@demondads ;; SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM, a goofy lad, a fun guy, always livens up the dash whenever he's around with his silly lil fellas. I hold him up like simba, look at him, look at the fella. Never forget Lucifer Harem Applications JKFDGHDFGHJ. But genuinely, he IS a joy with both muses and talking oocly !! 

@xluciifer ;; Luci, a total sweetheart. For as much as I { affectionately } bully them, I think they're a total sweetheart and a joy. Her shenanigans never fail to make me laugh. I LOVE seeing her threads on the dash and just seeing how much love and care she puts into her muse between threads and headcanons I just ??? I don't regret following for a second.

@mghtfall & @pantheon-panic ;; another duo that if one gets something nice then so does the other. Zander and Alastair have been nothing but kind to me, and while I'm still nervous about talking to them I do very much care for them. I love their muses and their writing, it's always very nice to talk to them both on the rare chances I do but I do hope to speak to them more.

@waywardsculs ;; and finally for this one, Ritsu. Absolute dear really, love seeing them on the dash and while I'm still sort of scared to approach { because believe me, I do want to approach and MAYBE ship if I can think abt who to send at you }, I absolutely adore seeing them on my dash even if it's just silly lil things. Also I'm taking that flamethrower away from you ma'am.

[lockawayknight]

why were you drawn to each one of your characters?

from asks for multimuses [accepting!!]

oh this is a fun one,,,,, let’s see,,

creighton: i immediately identified with this idiot when i first played ds2, just his dedication and obsession and loving devotion that borders on psychosis and the fact he is a huge fucking extrovert despite it all… his design, his voice, his mannerisms, his disposition, his heart, his mind, his EVERYTHING,,, i was so drawn to him immediately and never looked back. adores my mans

magerold: another char i identified with pretty quickly, he’s such a dork but so insular despite it. his humour and positivity and goofiness and just all that fun stuff. my partner always jokes that i’m kinning my muses and maggie tends to be the one i do most. he is just fun and silly and i adoreee him. goofball

ornifex: orn started out as a muse i wrote as a side-char who i then got super fucking attached to and wrote more and more often until she stuck. she is just such a great girl with such a great, honest personality, and her dialogue is SO fun to write. best girl

navlaan: THIS motherfucker… he started off bc i can certainly identify with the metaphor in his narrative of having a sort of separate entity within yourself you know and can acknowledge and want gone bc of what it does and knowing it’s a part of you yet also not anD I MEAN U GET THE IDEA. i’m schizy as hell so i saw him and was just kermit nodding gif. poor vessel,,, i need to write him more i mostly write the entity lmao

rat king, titchy gren, and chloanne: putting all the tertiary muses together cus the story is the same: i wrote them as side-chars in threads long enough they kinda took over and became muses themselves. they’re a wacky bunch with different reasons i was drawn to them but it all boils down to: their strong personalities. the king’s pride and intelligence, gren’s snarky sassiness, and chloe’s passive nonchalance… adore them all

mohg: WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN WITH THIS MENACE,,,, his design is what immediately drew me towards him, but it got out of hand when i learned about his lore. his childhood, his upbringing, the fact he turned outer-hate into self-love, his LOVE and devotion that crosses the border into insanity, his everything is just so GOOD and i can’t help but feel for him a lot more than i probably should lmao. he is a very special muse and i am so glad i picked him up despite the ickiness surrounding his lore by some of the community. i may have him kinda-sorta on hiatus but he is,, very special

alberich: deadass i only found out about this guy like two weeks ago DJFJDJKS but i was drawn to him IMMEDIATELY bc of his lore and the personality that i instantly gathered of him from his encounter in the roundtable. MANIAC!!! but a fancy one!! i love clown coded assholes he is so good and has been a blast to write. no regrets.

laurence: the last but not least… i always had a bunch of Thoughts about laurence but never really thought i would put them on paper tbh,,, until a friend made a bloodborne server and needed someone to write him. i got attached to the idea really fast and then my love for him i’d been holding back just Exploded out of me and now he is a full-blown primary muse. i have projected a lot onto him ngl but it is Good it’s okay dw djfndj he is a bastard… no laurence apologists allowed in my house but i’m so glad i picked him up cus his backhanded and secretive, sly politeness and manipulativeness is SO fun to muse. adore him.

so yeah i think that’s everyone i muse on tumblr!! gosh that’s a lot djfjdks but ty ty for q!!💕

[bahamutgames]

RPG TIME: LEGEND OF AFTERTHOUGHTS

Game: RPG TIME: The Legend of Wright (March 10, 2022)

Console: Xbox One

Look at that! My first RPG of 2023! RPGs are always the biggest part of every year to me, naturally since it’s my favorite genre. So of course it doesn’t take long for me to sink my teeth into one at the start of the new year. And the one we have here is VERY interesting.

I actually bought this game when it launched but it just took me a really long time to finally sink my teeth into it. But I’m very happy to say I did FINALLY play it and now you can read all my thoughts on the experience! How exciting!

As always, this is not a review. This is just me throwing up my thoughts on the game now that it’s done. If you’re interested in playing the game at all, PLEASE check it out and support the devs! Please don’t expect my thoughts to be super well written and don’t expect any serious critique.

SPOILER WARNING FOR RPG TIME: THE LEGEND OF WRIGHT! DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS!!

Opening

SO! This is a little game I’ve had my eyes on since it was revealed a good long while back. It was shown off during E3 I think at one of the Microsoft conferences? Regardless, it was a game I was SUPER excited for, an RPG with a super cute notebook aesthetic? I used to draw my own RPGs all the time as a kid!! I was stoked... And then it just completely fell off my radar.

Until it launched! Then I remembered it existed and had to pick it up asap! But like I said, it took me a good while to play it. But at the start of this year I was out in the living room and decided to finally play it since it had been sitting there for so long. And I’m glad I did cause this was actually a very interesting game.

Stuff I liked

There’s a LOT to love about this silly little game. I think right out of the gate I need to talk about the art style and whole theme around this game’s graphics and aesthetics. I ADORE how this game looks. It’s all played from a first person perspective of you playing an RPG a friend made in their notebook. And because of that the main gameplay is all cute handdrawn pencil sketches, occasionally interrupted by real life items and other fun stuff in the classroom it takes place. I LOVE how this game looks. In addition to being very charming the actual pencil sketches all look great, are cute to look at, and even the real world elements look very good and cute. Thankfully they made a good call by not showing any of the real world humans so I really think the graphics in this are basically never gonna date themselves.

As for other not gameplay things. I think it has a SUPER cute ost (again the theming around the music is ADORABLE as your friend is playing it through an MP3 player and you like, actually see the track names and they come from other made up in-universe games and sources). The writing is also very funny and charming, it’s got a lot of scenes that gave me a good chuckle. Lots of goofy as fuck and random stuff happen so if you want a game where there’s never a dull moment you really cannot go wrong here. The story is also pretty basic BUT it’s standard RPG fare which I always love. Similar to Dragon Quest where the stories are pretty standard high fantasy stuff but it’s always unique enough or something you really haven’t seen before regardless.

I think the part that stuck out to me the most and was probably the most surprising with how much I enjoyed it was the gameplay. Particularly the battles. I LOVED the combat! Like, a LOT. Basically the way it works is you have a pencil sword (the you in the game, not Wright, the guy you play as.) and you have to pick where, when, and what direction to slash across the enemies on the page with that pencil sword. It’s probably not super easy to understand if you don’t see it, but it’s a REALLY clever idea that I LOVED. You’ll have to use it to slash things with timing, hit between bars, ect ect. It’s super cool and I genuinely had a blast with the fights! I do have only 1 problem with them but we’ll get to that later.

Even outside of combat is pretty cute. Not amazing but it’s fun to wander around and see all the little details in each map (there’s TONS). The whole game is just full of loving little details sprinkled across every single page of the notebook. One of my favorite details is how the center fold in the notebook is actually something Wright will walk behind. It’s cute. This game is just so damn cute!

The ending in particular really got me, the final boss is fine but I was pretty surprised that the ending almost made me cry. It’s so good and really emotional. The kid in universe who made this game is a pro. Overall the whole experience was fantastic, there’s great visuals, great character designs, interesting gameplay, and LOTS of crap to see and do. I didn’t even do everything and I already saw stuff I missed out on. There’s special move slot machines, mini ninjas hidden on every page, a drawing minigame. There’s TONS of shit to see and do in this game.

Stuff I didn’t like

Truth be told, with a smaller and more experimental game like this, there’s not a whole lot I can really take away from it as being bad. But there are 2 points I have here that bugged me a little bit through the game.

Number one is just that the game gets a little boring part way through. I would say the airship, town sections, and dice adventure chapters are kind of a drag. Thankfully they’re very short. The game never gets so boring that I don’t want to play but it has some sections where I’m kinda like... Eh? The tank game really stands out to me as being kinda dull. But again thankfully it’s short.

No my main issue with this game is that there’s not enough combat!! I LOVE the battle system in this game! Like SO much! But every fight is a very scripted affair so there’s only a handful you really do through the whole game and you don’t really refight any enemies. This is fine, it worked perfectly fine. But I can’t stop thinking about how much I would LOVE if this game had like, random encounters and stuff and each enemy was a puzzle to figure out. I’m sure that could drag the game’s flow down pretty hard but I think it can be done right, Undertale is a great example of enemies who are puzzles to solve but it works pretty well. And you could have random encounters be done on flash cards so it explains how the pencil markings go away every time.

I think this whole game could benefit from being a more traditional RPG. I know that’s really not the point. But I do think having more battles, a more standard gear system, and junk like that, could be pretty cool! Regardless, if you like RPGs that are lacking in a lot of RPG staples but are still VERY good, I think you cannot go wrong here. I swear this is not an insult but this really reminds me of the secondary Paper Mario trilogy. Both in its art style but how it also tries to make an RPG without doing a lot of the stuff that makes RPG games what they are. However... And I hate to say it, RPG TIME does this a lot better in my opinion, particularly by having REALLY fun combat. I think this new Paper Mario style could honestly learn some stuff from this game.

Final Thoughts

And that’s that on that! My first RPG of 2023! It wasn’t a very traditional one, but it really is a love letter to the genre and now it’s got me REALLY fired up to play a straight up traditional turnbased RPG.

But yeah, I had a great time with this game! It’s a fantastic little game that I haven’t really seen ANYONE play and that is SUCH a shame. I think a lot of people I follow would be REALLY into this. Like seriously if you like RPGs or goofy and cute games or ESPECIALLY Mario RPGs I think you really should check this game out. It’s now out on everything including Steam and Switch, so if you’re interesting I REALLY recommend giving it a chance! This game deserves a lot more attention than it got!

===

Thank you for reading! For some reason I had a hard time forming my thoughts on this game so it was a little difficult to write up what I wanted to say about the game. That’s why I liked doing these as twitter threads, it helped me keep my thoughts concise. But sadly I am stuck here... doomed to share my thoughts where no one can see them for eternity. Oh well.

I’ve got a lot of games I want to play this year, so I really need to get a move on. Sad to say I’ve been a little distracted from gaming this month due to being depressed, work, or just getting sidetracked with other games like Fraymakers (which is SO MUCH FUN HOLY SHIT. I hope Wright can show up in it!) and... Embarrassingly, Fornite. Which me and 2 of my siblings who are both very into Battle Royales have gotten very into recently. But I’m FINALLY making some progress into my next major game! So that’s nice. There’s some releases coming out this year I want to check out, lots of stuff on Game Pass I’ve had my eyes on for a while (which I guess I should take advantage of ASAP if it’s gonna go up in price. ugh.) And just TONS of old games I gotta play. My to-play list for 2023 is really stacked! Hopefully I can make time for everything, but if I get distracted by other games not on my list, so be it.

As always follow me on twitter for... uh, twitter stuff... And follow me here for more.... uh, gaming stuff? The year is still young, so let’s make the rest of 2023 great!

That’s all I got, thanks for taking some time out to look at my thoughts! Go out and play a game that makes you feel super creative!

[thankskenpenders]

And so that’s it... nearly 200 issues deep, we’re done with the contributions of original writer Michael Gallagher. I’ve been asked in the past about the possibility of writing an article going over Gallagher’s run, like what I did with Penders. And I might still do that. But for now, here’s a shorter postmortem summarizing my feelings on the work of the original writer for history’s longest-running video game comic

I think it’s easy to look back on Gallagher’s silly old stories with a lot of nostalgia, especially after seeing what the series would become in its Dark Age. I can’t blame anyone who feels this way. I feel that way sometimes, too. It was a simpler time, with short, self-contained stories and a ton of puns, and it was a lot more easily digestible than a lot of the teen melodrama and half-baked sci-fi that followed. But the thing is... that doesn’t mean that Gallagher’s writing was good

Gallagher was always an odd fit for Sonic. I can’t really blame the man for introducing lame concepts like Cal and Al that didn’t fit in with Sonic early on because it’s not like he had much to work with in the early days. The guy was expected to write a monthly comic series based on a couple 16-bit platformers with very little story and some snippets from a cartoon that wasn’t out yet. He also had no way of knowing that his work here would lay the foundation for the longest video game comic ever made. I don’t envy his job. Of course he’d do a goofball story where Sonic travels back to caveman times. It’s not like he had much else to do

But as the series progressed and the cartoons and games gave the comic writers more material to work with, Gallagher didn’t really play along. He gave us a few solid, fun stories like Mecha Madness, but for the most part he was off in his own world, trying to sell us on shoehorned characters like the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters or the Downunda Freedom Fighters who existed almost exclusively to deliver new flavors of lame pun. One time he even worked with Jim Valentino to make a naval-gazing parody of classic Guardians of the Galaxy so they could make lame puns about a comic they used to write (that very few children in 2001 reading Archie Sonic would be familiar with)

People generally pinpoint Penders as the guy who became obsessed with his own pet characters over the main cast as time went on, but really, Gallagher was just as guilty. And honestly, sometimes Gallagher doing it bugged me more. At least Penders had some prominent characters people actually liked, like Elias, Lara-Su, and Julie-Su, as well as some semblance of an overarching plot to work with. Meanwhile Gallagher was over here trying desperately to get people to care about a group of characters he had created exclusively as a vehicle for trite Australia jokes

Gallagher did introduce a few characters who stuck around, but he doesn’t really deserve much of the credit for that. Most notable would probably be Fiona Fox, who would become a major recurring character under later writers... except Gallagher only really invented her robotic doppelganger that Robotnik tricked Tails into falling in love with that one time. He created Knuckles’ grandfather Athair, the one comic character to somehow make it into a cartoon, but Penders helped out with that lore and did more with the character, meaning most people just assume he’s another Penders echidna. He created Tails’ parents, but Karl and Ian were the ones who actually did stuff with them. And he created the Ancient Walkers, who were kind of neat at first but quickly devolved into a tired plot device, only to be killed off by Ian almost immediately to cut down on the deus ex machinas. If you look at the list of characters Gallagher created, it’s mostly just randos he created for the sake of puns

And that’s really what most of it comes down to. Lame puns. I’m totally down for Sonic stories that go for a silly tone. I love Sonic Boom as much as the next fan, and I’ve been having a blast with the extremely goofy Sonic X comics. I’m not a cartoon snob who won’t watch a show that doesn’t have action and drama and lore, I’m out here watching shows like Apple & Onion. But while Gallagher could write good jokes sometimes, he mostly relied on groanworthy newspaper strip-level puns. (I guess it’s fitting, considering he’s related to both the guy who created Heathcliff AND his successor who makes those comics about the Garbage Ape.) I love me a good pun from time to time, and a lot of Gallagher’s are funnier when shared out of context, but when a story is just wall to wall puns it becomes agonizing. Puns should be a spice, not a main ingredient. And when Gallagher got a chance to follow an ACTUAL newspaper comic strip format in the Off Panel, he fared even worse. It was so rare for the Off Panels he wrote to actually be any funny

He WAS genuinely funny at times, though. I’ll give him credit for that. I don’t want it to seem like I hated ALL of his stories. (He did impress me with at least one political joke that’s sadly still relevant today, and in hindsight there’s something really funny on a meta level about the dark and gritty return of Cal and Al.) I think his best work came when he was paired with better artists. Scott Shaw’s more energetic Sonics really helped sell the cartoony comedy in the original miniseries, and obviously Spaziante’s work on Mecha Madness made that story legendary. When he was stuck with the less exciting Manak or Mawhinney, though, not so much

Beyond the puns, there was also this undercurrent of nastiness, meanness, and general grossness in his stories that I don’t see as many fans pick up on. This was mainly evident in the many odd decisions he made with the female cast

We had his take on Sally, who was treated as little more than Sonic’s annoying, moody, bossy girlfriend who bickered with him, sat on a big throne, and occasionally got to be a damsel in distress. He added Bunnie to the cast early on, but it felt like he didn’t have many ideas for what to do with her except make her the butt of jokes about her being a southern belle, including literally making her say “the South shall rise again!” We had Barby Koala’s extremely creepy flirting with Tails, who was half her age. We had that tone deaf Off-Panel joke about turning the special dedicated to the female readers into a swimsuit special (which isn’t far off from what everyone else actually did). And we also had that baffling story where Dulcy killed her mother. I have NO idea what the fuck he thought he was going for with that one.

It wasn’t just the girls, though--Antoine was somehow even more of a punching bag in Gallagher’s early stories than he was on SatAM. At least in the cartoon Sonic was responding to Antoine’s’ massive ego when he poked fun at him. In the early comics, Sonic would constantly rag on Antoine at any opportunity he got. It was VERY distracting in the early issues, and it made his Sonic come off as way more of a jerk

Later writers would often talk about needing to fix certain characters. Penders, for all his countless insufferable faults, used his early stories to steer Sally towards the version of the character fans knew from SatAM. (He then ruined Sally in his own special way, but, you know.) Just about every writer who touched him spent years and years trying to fix Antoine and make readers stop hating him. The unspoken part here is that the original incarnations of these characters that everyone had to work so hard to fix... were Gallagher’s

Again, Gallagher didn’t have an easy job as the first writer on this series, and most of his stories were... fine. Nothing I’d recommend to non-fans, but they had their moments. They make for an amusing read for their sheer absurdity. But a lot of it ranged from not very good to outright bad. We’ll always cut him some slack for having so little to work off of when he started and for writing stories that were, in hindsight, better (or at least less grating) than a lot of the melodramatic schlock that came later. I’ll always have some nostalgia for those simpler times. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gallagher’s stuff was ever all that good

But I can’t hate the guy too much, because he gave me the greatest Sonic character of all time

[artificialqueens]

I Don't Know How I Know (But I Know) (Taywhora) - Ortega

fic summary: Tayce and A’whora have been friends for three years and the joke around school is that they’re joined at the hip. They started working there at the same time and they were both given the year two classes, so they planned together, filled out their assessment folders together and prepped for parent’s evenings together.

Tayce and A’whora have been friends for three years and Tayce has been a little bit in love with her for two of them.

(in which Tayce teaches year five, A'whora teaches Reception, Tayce hates Valentine’s day, and A'whora has a plan to change that.)

a/n: with thanks to my co-author, Lawrence Chaney. title from Intuition by LIZ, please listen to it it’s a vibe. happy valentine’s day everyone xo

***

Tayce has heard people say that teaching is a form of acting. She thinks this is true, for the most part. After all, there’s no way in hell she teaches her year fives the same way she would act around her friends.

She pretends she doesn’t know the TikTok dance to Savage Love and fakes ignorance at the memes her kids all communicate in. She’s impatient with her class when they run in the corridor and chew gum (because they’re almost the oldest in the school, and they should know better) but she’s patient when they struggle with area and perimeter and brings her chair over to sit beside whoever’s confused to explain it all again. She’s strict- she gets the girls passing notes to each other into trouble as if she didn’t do the exact same with her friends at the age of ten- and she’s built up a reputation for being one of the teachers that doesn’t take any shit. She expects a lot from the children she teaches, knows they’re a blank canvas and that they’ve got the potential to understand things that some adults struggle with, so she teaches them about racism, homophobia and transphobia, makes it part of her everyday teaching as opposed to one milquetoast lesson about Martin Luther King per year.

Some of the parents fucking hate her for it. She’d be lying if she said that wasn’t one of her favourite parts of the job.

It takes a lot for her not to drop that persona sometimes. When she has to tear through one of her boys for muttering “ah shit, here we go again” as she hands out a worksheet on direct and indirect speech instead of bursting out laughing as if it’s one of the funniest things she’s heard in years, which it is. It’s times like that when she wishes she could be more like A’whora.

A’whora with the blonde hair and the Disney-princess smile who teaches Reception. A’whora who does silly voices for all the characters when she’s reading picture books to her class and who sits and does colouring-in with them when they’re playing. A’whora who’s too nice to them all because she thinks they’re too cute to discipline, but her class love her so their behaviour is good regardless.

(A’whora with the completely inappropriate nickname only disclosed to Tayce five mojitos deep on the staff Christmas night out, which she’d earned herself at uni via her reputation. Tayce hadn’t asked for any further details.)

Tayce has never seen a teacher better suited to the youngest class in the school than A’whora. She’s constantly got specks of glitter on her face from the crafts she completes with them, she hums the silly little songs she uses to teach them their sounds when she’s at the photocopier without even realising. She turns up to work in immaculate outfits and finishes the day with them covered in glue, marker pen, and even (horrifically) a child’s snot once, but she doesn’t even mind, simply zips them up into little bodybags and puts them in for dry cleaning.

Tayce is never done telling her how she could never do what she does, she could never teach the little ones; her patience would snap, she’s too mean for them, she’d get bored having to teach the most basic of basic stuff. A’whora only ever brushes her off and says how she couldn’t teach Tayce’s year group either; they’d eat her alive, they’d walk all over her, she wouldn’t even be able to do the complicated maths she’d have to teach. Besides, she argues, drawing a glare from Tayce every time, she’s definitely goofy enough for the Reception kids.

Tayce and A’whora have been friends for three years and the joke around school is that they’re joined at the hip. They started working there at the same time and they were both given the year two classes, so they planned together, filled out their assessment folders together and prepped for parent’s evenings together. They worked well together, so when their headteacher sent them to opposite ends of the school Tayce almost had a meltdown. Still, they sit next to each other in the staffroom and at every staff meeting. They take turns making each other lunch every day and walk to the roll shop to get toasties every Friday. Tayce walks down from her classroom to come and sit in A’whora’s at the end of every day and they chat and bitch and sometimes cry and get absolutely nothing done for at least forty minutes. A’whora picks her up on the way to work every morning and terrifies Tayce with her bad driving and the way she almost causes road traffic accidents with only a “whoopsie!” of acknowledgement, but she’ll make up for it by taking them through the Starbucks drive-thru if they’ve got a meeting after school that night. She blasts songs by artists Tayce has never heard of but are all in the same energetic, poppy, Y2K-esque genre that A’whora seems to love.

Tayce and A’whora have been friends for three years and Tayce has been a little bit in love with her for two of them.

***

A’whora’s friends tease her and tell her that teaching five year olds must be the easiest job in the world. A’whora loves her friends, but she fucking resents them when they come out with that shite.

A’whora knows that she herself is not the brightest crayon in the box. She had known that she’d never be one of the girls in her year at high school that went off to study medicine or law, and she’d known she’d never graduate uni with a first class degree or write an award-winning dissertation.

(When she’s having a bad day she comforts herself with the fact that at least she’s not joined a multi-level-marketing scheme under the guise of being a “businesswoman”, and this helps her feel a little better.)

But what she lacks in academic ability she makes up for in spadeloads by being a damn good teacher. She’s big-hearted and silly and patient. She always picks up crisps and KitKats when she’s at the shops and keeps them in a drawer under her desk to sneak to the kids who come to school without a snack. She sits in the construction corner with her kids when they’re playing and asks them about the models they make, and pretends to die a gruesome, slow death when they shoot her with their little lego guns instead of trying to get them to make something less violent like she knows she should do. She reads books about unicorns that captivate the little shy girls in her class who come up to her afterwards and whisper in their tiny voices that they think unicorns are real, and A’whora agrees with them and watches their faces light up. She makes every day fun for her little ones; because the beauty of teaching is having the control to plan what happens every hour, so she makes sure that none of the six they have to spend in her care are boring.

The key to being a good Reception teacher is to essentially make a fool of yourself every day for the benefit of twenty-two four and five year olds, which A’whora has no problem doing. She doesn’t care what her pupil support worker thinks of her when she acts out The Gruffalo with soft toy puppets she borrowed from the library. She doesn’t care what the management team think of her when she turns up for World Book Day dressed as The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The only person’s opinion she does maybe care a tiny, ever-so-slight amount about, is Tayce’s.

Tayce is that teacher. Tayce is the cool teacher. Tayce is the teacher that all the children want to be taught by. A’whora hears the year fours whisper to each other in the corridors every June and watch as they cross their fingers and close their eyes before they open the envelope addressed to their parents, then give a screech of excitement and joy when they see the name Miss Szura-Radix on their class allocation letter. She wears heels all day without so much as a grunt of complaint and jumps in A’whora’s car each morning with a full face of makeup on at half past seven (while A’whora paints her face at quarter past eight at her desk in between shovelling a croissant down her throat in an attempt at ‘breakfast’ and sorting handwriting worksheets). The year five and six girls straighten their hair to a flattened crisp in an attempt to emulate Tayce’s endless shiny locks and she’s the only teacher that the rogue group of year six boys addresses with respect. She has the discipline of Miss Trunchbull with the heart of Miss Honey, and A’whora thinks she’s the best teacher she’s ever seen.

A’whora’s been friends with Tayce since she started working at the school but her heart still flutters in its chest whenever she sweeps in to her classroom to chat after work, or sits herself down next to her before a cluster meeting with two cups of tea in polystyrene mugs and two biscuits, or whenever A’whora mysteriously finds a packet of Percy Pigs on her desk hidden under a pile of marking with a post-it note stuck to it that says “u are a pig (but i love u)”.

She wonders if that feeling will ever go away. She kind of doesn’t want it to.

It’s that feeling that made her volunteer to help out at the year five camp last March. Tayce was complaining about having to go to a remote outdoor centre and supervise ten year olds completing various death-defying tasks for a week all in the name of character building, and A’whora had said she’d go with her. The smile it had put on Tayce’s face was worth every minute spent up to her knees in mud. Similarly every second she spent waist deep in freezing water was worth the moment Tayce fell asleep on her shoulder on the coach trip back to school on the last day.

(And she still hasn’t told anyone else about the moment she thought her heart might explode; on the last night of the week when temperatures had unexpectedly plummeted and A’whora had been trying to get to sleep but all she had been able to do was shiver and chatter her teeth and toss and turn, and Tayce had sighed dramatically, rolled her eyes, thrown off her duvet cover and patted the space in the bed beside her, with a “just get in quick, before it gets cold”. A’whora had spent the following hours until morning with Tayce’s body tangled around hers, in the most blissful sleepless night she’d ever experienced.)  

There’s so many things that endear Tayce to A’whora. Her smile, her secretly chaotic funny side, the way she never, ever makes A’whora feel like an idiot. The way she’ll ask the questions A’whora’s too scared to ask in staff meetings. The way she cares so deeply and passionately about the futures of the kids she teaches to the extent where sometimes she’ll develop a little crease at her brow in front of her attainment spreadsheet and A’whora will have to gently pry her away from her monitor to reassure her that she can’t control the way her children’s lives pan out. The way she’ll sometimes call her Rory, which makes A’whora’s heart expand at least three sizes.  

Something else that makes her heart expand three sizes is the way Tayce acts with the Reception kids, despite her insisting she could never teach that year group. It happens one day when A’whora’s marking literacy while letting her kids play and Tayce swings by her classroom without so much as a knock. They’ll do this to each other sometimes when one’s in class and the other has planning time; just drop by and check in to make sure the other isn’t having a meltdown.

“Hey bitchtits,” she murmurs quietly, smirking as she leans onto A’whora’s desk. “How’s your day going?”

“Terrible since you decided to show up,” A’whora cocks an eyebrow back, then jerks her head towards her distracted kids. “This lot are like sponges, y’know. You can’t be dropping that kind of language in this class, even if you think you’re out of earshot.”

Tayce sticks her tongue out at her. “Aw what, you gonna report me to management?”

“Report you to management and say you’re in my class annoying me during teaching time!”

“Piss off! I’m the highlight of your day and you know it.”

“Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“No. Just some very lucky ladies,” Tayce bites back with a smile, instantly rendering A’whora’s cheeks beetroot red as if she’s been slapped.

“You’re horrendous. You’re an actual deviant. Olly Murs without the Pringles can,” she rolls her eyes, trying to style out how flustered she’s become. She can see Tayce open her mouth to shoot a comeback her way, which is why she’s glad when one of her boys appears beside her desk holding a crumpled piece of paper covered in crayon blobs which are clearly meant to represent objects.

“Hi Archie! You okay?” she smiles brightly, turning all her attention to the little boy and trying not to cringe at Tayce getting full view of her Cbeebies-presenter voice.

“I made a picture for you,” he says, showing her the piece of paper and pointing out all the features of his drawing with a chubby little finger. “It’s a dragon that breathes fire and bombs, and he’s called Squish.”

“Wow! Thank you, Archie, I love it!” A’whora keeps smiling, blinking at the drawing the boy’s still holding. She points at some shaky rectangles with a pink acrylic. “And I can see he must be really tall because those buildings are tiny underneath him!”

Archie’s no longer interested in her or the drawing, though, as he’s looking up at Tayce through his glasses. “You’re my brother’s teacher.”

“Am I?” Tayce says, surprised that the attention is suddenly on her. “Who’s your brother?”

“Joshua. Joshua White.”

Tayce’s face instantly lights up in recognition. “Of course, you’re Josh’s brother! I should’ve known, you look so alike.”

“He’s ten and I’m five,” Archie adds, somewhat unnecessarily.

“See, I think you might be taller than him, though,” Tayce deadpans. A’whora watches affectionately as Archie’s entire body crumples up in a laugh and he splutters out a “nooooo!”. Tayce’s face breaks out into a smile- warm and genuine with her nose wrinkling up. It’s maybe the most adorable thing A’whora has ever seen.

“Josh is good at art as well. He’s not quite as good as you, but he’s good,” Tayce smiles, and as Archie smiles back A’whora feels her heart melting.

Archie turns to Tayce suddenly with the drawing still in his hand, and holds it out for her to take. “This is actually for you.”

A’whora gives a snort of outrage and amusement, which she quickly turns into a cough. She watches as Tayce accepts the drawing gratefully, giving Archie a little squeeze on his shoulder as she says thank you and Archie scuttles away back to his friends all bashful. There’s a second where Tayce smiles after him then looks down at the drawing with fondness, and A’whora’s feelings for her hit her like a tidal wave.

Tayce doesn’t notice (because of course she doesn’t) and as she straightens up she grins triumphantly at A’whora, holding the drawing in her face proudly. “Well. Guess Archie’s got a new favourite teacher then, doesn’t he?”

“He wouldn’t last five minutes in your classroom,” A’whora smirks, lying. The image of big-hearted Tayce with a class full of the littlest kids drying their tears and helping them get all organised for the day ahead is so unbelievably cute it makes A’whora want to squeal like an embarrassing teenager. She doesn’t, though. Instead she holds out a hand expectantly, raises her eyebrows at Tayce as if she’s one of her students. “Am I getting my drawing back or what?”

“Easy come, easy go,” Tayce winks at her, flouncing out of her classroom door just as the bell rings for break.

***

Tayce doesn’t really flirt with A’whora. Well, no, that’s a lie. She flirts and then immediately laughs it off, brushes it off as a joke or banter even though maybe if she’d taken flirting with A’whora a little more seriously she wouldn’t still be in this position two-bloody-years in.

Because she knows A’whora flirts sometimes. She’s positive she isn’t making it up. The way she’ll deadpan a “well, you look like shit” as she hops into her car in the mornings, the way she’ll sit close to her under her fluffy pink blanket if she’s round at Tayce’s for a movie day (because yeah, they hang out outside of work, because that’s what friends do). It’s always a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it raised eyebrow here, a laugh there, a touch of her arm and a squeeze of her hand and a smirk that bites back a thousand words Tayce wishes A’whora would just say.

So Tayce will flirt back because that’s probably just what A’whora does with her friends, and that’s all Tayce is to her. Maybe. Tayce is never sure if A’whora likes her back or not, and the risk of completely wrecking what is her only workplace friendship is too great to actually do something about it, so she’s happy being her friend for now. Every second she gets to spend with A’whora is a treat, so she can’t complain.

It would be easier if she was still labouring under the delusion that A’whora was straight, which was the whole reason it took Tayce so long to start slowly falling for her. A’whora had had a boyfriend for roughly the first six months Tayce had known her, so she hadn’t even thought of her friend in that capacity at all. Then one day on a rainy January she’d thudded her bag down on Tayce’s desk and told her they were going for drinks after work that night because her boyfriend was a cheating piece of shit and she’d broken up with him.

Tayce’s fate had further been sealed when they’d been sitting together for an inservice day on LGBT training and A’whora had turned to her and rolled her eyes.

“We don’t really need to be here, do we? We could just piss off to McDonalds.”

Tayce had laughed softly, fixing A’whora with a slightly confused glance. “Huh?”

“Well, I feel like we probably have enough lived experience of the whole thing to not need training. Still, we could always duck back in in time for the transgender part. But I mean we probably don’t really need to be told how to support kids struggling with their sexuality, do we?”

Tayce still remembers how A’whora had snorted at her, her face obviously looking as if she was searching for the last puzzle piece in the world’s most confusing jigsaw. “What is it?”

“I don’t get…what?” Tayce had said awkwardly, still unsure of what A’whora had meant.

A’whora had pulled a face, giggling a little. “Are you telling me that rainbow flag is on your desk for shits and gigs?”

“No…” Tayce said slowly, the pieces slowly falling together. “So…”

A’whora gave another funny little snort. “Tayce, did you not know I was bi? I’m sure I’ve told you this before.”

Tayce still thinks she deserves an Oscar for still being able to keep the conversation going despite the fact her entire world had been flipped on its head like a globe made of hourglass. “You’ve not! You’ve never. I mean, like, why would you need to? It’s not something that matters. I mean obviously it matters to you, but it doesn’t matter to me. You’re my friend either way. I mean it just never occurred to me because…your ex, and uh…you can drive.”

Mercifully, their headteacher had started speaking before A’whora could respond to her beyond a single raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

It’s been ever since then that Tayce has been looking at A’whora in a different light. How gorgeous she is at the start of the day with nothing but her laminated brows and lash extensions to pass for makeup and how gorgeous she still is at the end of the day with her mascara and eyeliner smudged a little at the edges and her lipstick all rubbed off. How she’s generous and patient and how she’ll go out of her way to help Tayce understand the new flavour-of-the-month resource their headteacher makes them use, pulling one of her kid’s chairs over to sit close beside her to see the monitor and bumping her knee against Tayce’s every so often.  

It’s how she acts around her kids, though, that really highlights everything Tayce completely adores about A’whora. Tayce is on her way up to the staffroom with two tubs of chicken shawarma salad in her hands (one for her and one for A’whora, of course) and she makes it up one flight of stairs when she suddenly hears a cry like an air raid siren pierce the air, as well as a gentle, soothing voice muttering quiet consolations.

It’s the sheer hysterical nature of the crying that catches Tayce’s attention at first, and she looks over the bannister to see A’whora on the level below, sitting a little boy who’s bawling his eyes out down on the red squashy chairs outside the office. With a stab to her heart Tayce realises that it’s Archie, the boy who’d given her the picture all those weeks ago. Both his knees and the palms of his hands are torn to ribbons; he’s obviously had a fight with the tarmac and emerged the loser. Tayce knows he’ll be okay if an adult’s seeing to him, especially if that adult’s A’whora, so she knows she can leave. She doesn’t need to stay and watch the situation play out.

But she does. She watches as one of the ladies from the office comes out and reassures A’whora that she can take over, and as A’whora waves her away kindly and says it won’t take her two minutes. She watches as A’whora puts her hands on the boy’s shoulders and directs his breathing, talking to him calmly and softly. She watches A’whora rip into a packet of sterile wipes with grim determination, telling Archie how brave he’s being and that she knows it stings as she wipes quickly and carefully over his little cut hands. She watches A’whora peel the wrapping off four plasters, making it seem effortless even with her long acrylics, and the way she makes a joke about Archie being bandaged up like a mummy which brings a smile to his little tear-stained face and a smile to Tayce’s too. The other staff don’t get to see A’whora’s caring nature very often (given how often she whispers judgemental comments to Tayce during meetings) but Tayce sees it all the time. A’whora has the biggest heart of anyone she’s ever known, and the whole scene makes Tayce feel so endeared towards her that it almost frightens her.

It’s at that point when Archie looks up at Tayce on the bannister and makes eye contact with her. He flicks his eyes back down to his teacher.

“Uh, Miss Boyle? I think Miss Szura-Radix wants to talk to you, because she’s been there a long time.”

Tayce’s heart freezes solid at the same time A’whora turns around, who fixes her with a sort of funny smile, confused but not exactly unhappy to see her.

“Uh. Coming to the staffroom?” Tayce shouts down, under pressure to explain herself but simultaneously not having any explanation.

“Two seconds!” A’whora yells up apologetically.

“I’ll wait,” Tayce yells down, reassuring her.

Tayce is used to waiting for A’whora. She supposes another minute or so won’t make a difference.

***

This is the third Valentine’s day A’whora has spent with Tayce.

The first fell on a Monday and had been an abject disaster (or success, depending on how she looked at it). A’whora was still getting over her ex and Tayce had confided in her that she hated Valentine’s day and all its commercialised, capitalist tat with a burning passion, so they’d gone to the pub after work and got so outrageously drunk that the two of them were so hungover the next day A’whora drove them to McDonalds for lunch.

The second had been last year- a Tuesday, where Tayce had been subdued and a little down until A’whora had forced her into helping her choose new clothes for the roleplay area for her kids and the pair of them had collapsed into endless breathless giggles as they both tried on costumes made for five-year-olds, the memory of Tayce in a hi-vis vest, safety goggles and a tiny hard hat one that still makes A’whora laugh if she thinks about it.

Really she’s lucky that she gets to be one of the few people who’s spent the 14th of February with their crush for three years in a row, but not for the reasons she might want. Still, she can live in the delusional daydream she’s taunted herself with many times; how maybe today Tayce will turn up at her classroom door with helium balloons and a teddy, how she’ll say she’s been secretly in love with her for years and how she’s booked them a table at that fancy seafood restaurant in town that just opened up for an actual proper date (not a mate date and not some gal-entines or pal-entines bullshit).

And then Tayce hops into her car in a foul mood with her hair drenched from waiting for A’whora in the rain with no umbrella and a face like a cow’s backside.

A’whora tries to cheer her up. She blasts the R&B that Tayce loves but Tayce just asks her to turn it off, telling her that Kiana Ledé, Mahalia and Ella Mai are exactly what she doesn’t need to hear on Valentine’s Day, endless songs about being in and out of love. So A’whora blasts Charli XCX instead, which works well until shuffle puts on Forever, and then Tayce is in the huff again.

Teaching the year fives doesn’t exactly help her feel much better, A’whora thinks, as they both sit down to lunch together and Tayce turns to her with an incredulous scowl on her face.

“They’ve all got bloody boyfriends and girlfriends!”

A’whora stops eating the pasta salad Tayce has made for her and narrows her eyes inquisitively. “Who does?”

“All the kids in my class. They’ve been going around all day telling me who they’ve paired up with, who’s snogging who, the detailed dating history of these bloody ten year olds. They keep asking me what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day. ‘Are we making cards?’ No! We’re doing more work on decimals because none of you bloody understood it the first three times I explained it to you. Make a card in your own damn time,” Tayce rolls her eyes while A’whora snorts with laughter. Tayce side-eyes her, unimpressed as A’whora tries to defend herself.

“Oh come on, Tayce, you’ve got to admit it’s a bit funny.”

“Is it? Is it though? Is it funny that a ten year old boy can get himself a girlfriend but I can’t?”

Tayce’s words make A’whora’s heart jump a hurdle. She plays it off with a joke. “Yeah, but he’s got a ten year old girlfriend, Tayce. I’m assuming you don’t want that.”

“No, funnily enough!” Tayce shakes her head. She pouts uncharacteristically, tilting her head to the ceiling. “I just…I don’t know, I just want someone that’s there for me. Who’ll always listen to all my shit, someone that makes me smile when I feel like crap. Someone I can just be myself around and have a laugh with whatever the hell we’re doing.”

A’whora nods and doesn’t say what she wants to. We do that. We do all of that together already.

“But I don’t want all the shit of having to actually get to know people, having to go on dates and do the whole talking stage and get my hopes up only to have them let down. I wish I could just…” Tayce sighs, and A’whora’s on tenterhooks wondering what’s coming next. “…I wish I just already had that person, you know?”

You do have that person. I’m that person.

A’whora nods silently and the bell rings signalling the end of their lunch break.

Since she’s not as enraged by Valentine’s day as Tayce, A’whora has planned to get the sequins and glue out and get the kids to make Valentine’s cards. She loves planning tasks like this, mainly because five year olds don’t need much help when faced with a glue stick and a shaker full of glitter, so it means she can put her feet up and have a chilled afternoon. She explains to her class what they’re going to be doing, feels her heart burst with affection as they all get outrageously excited at the very notion of using glitter. She shows them how to fold their piece of paper carefully to make a card shape, and shows them the array of colours they can choose from (and has to explain to some disappointed boys that no, she doesn’t have any blue card so no, their Valentine’s Day card can’t be the colour of Crystal Palace football club).

She’s giving out the different colours of card to her kids and cutting them to size when one of her girls stops, peers carefully at the selection of colours, then looks at A’whora thoughtfully.

“Miss Boyle, are you going to give a Valentine’s card to Miss Szura-Radix?”

A’whora almost slices through her own hand in shock. She looks with incredulity at the little girl in front of her. “Bella! No, of course not. Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re best friends and you love her,” Bella shrugs, A’whora’s attempts to shame her into silence obviously having no effect. A’whora tries to scowl, tries to do her best ‘cross face’ despite the fact that the thought of giving Tayce a Valentine’s card sets her heart racing so fast it makes her genuinely think about driving to A&E.

“I don’t…” she starts, until Bella speaks again.

“You told us before that girls can fall in love with girls and you said that we can make our Valentine’s cards for our friends too,” she insists innocently. A’whora finally musters up a frown, thrusts a pink piece of card into her hand.

“Why am I even entertaining this conversation- go and get on with your work, madam!” she says firmly, and Bella walks away with her blank card in her hand, nonplussed.

But as her kids all begin to make their cards and they’re all too caught up in glitter and painting their hands with PVA glue to even need her help with anything, A’whora begins absent-mindedly folding a spare piece of pink card in half. She draws one, two, three love hearts on it, then takes one of the little glue sticks and carefully, neatly, fills them in with splodges of clear glue. She asks one of the little boys sitting at the table opposite her if she can borrow the red glitter when he’s finished with it and he nods his head, A’whora’s heart involuntarily swelling with pride at how good her children are at sharing. She tap-tap-taps the glitter shaker over the hearts on the paper, making sure each one is covered completely before standing the card upright and watching the excess fall off like sparkly snow. Opening the card, she takes the gold shiny gel pen from her desk and writes without really thinking it through.

Maybe if Tayce isn’t going to magically read A’whora’s mind and figure out what she’s been yearning for, A’whora just has to give her a little nudge in the right direction.

When she’s done she folds it back over, stands up, crosses the room to her empty yellow message folder and slides it inside. She asks her class if anyone knows where the year five classroom is because she’s got a message to send there. Fifteen tiny hands fly up and A’whora basically has to whittle the volunteers down to the only two kids who actually know where they’re going, and she gives them the folder and tells them to take it up to Tayce’s classroom.

She doesn’t think about the reality or the implication of what she’s just done, because if she does then she’ll start hyperventilating and not stop until perhaps June of next year. Instead she catches the eye of Julia, the little girl who moved from Poland in January. She can’t speak or write a word of English yet, but the way she’s looking at A’whora with a little smile on her face makes her genuinely wonder if she knows. Sometimes kids can pick up on these sorts of things. She shoots her a little wink and puts her finger to her lips in a “shhh” just in case, and the little girl breaks into a grin that shows two missing front teeth.

The thing about teaching is that it’s a great job for providing a distraction. A’whora can’t think about the card she made for Tayce when she’s cleaning up an entire pot of glitter that Jared spilt all over the carpet, nor can she think about what she’s written in it when she’s comforting Angelica because she didn’t get to finish her card in time for hometime. But the moment she’s waved the kids off and dropped them off to their parents she walks up the stairs from the front entrance with an impending sense of dread which only increases with every new step she takes.

“What the fuck have you done,” she mutters under her breath, earning her a weird look from one of the ladies at the office.

When she gets back to her classroom to find Tayce sitting on one of the tiny tables waiting for her, A’whora feels her heart freeze in her chest and the blood rush to her face, blushing just from seeing her there. Tayce looks in a better mood than she was at lunchtime, though, which is a good start. Maybe she never even read the card. Maybe A’whora’s reception kids took it to the entirely wrong class. Christ, that would be even more embarrassing.

“Hey, boo boo,” Tayce smiles gently at her, as A’whora crosses the room and elects to sit on the desk opposite her so they’re face to face and not too far away. “How’d your afternoon go?”

“Oh, uh, y’know,” A’whora stammers out, blundering her words in the world’s worst attempt at appearing nonchalant. “Lots of glitter, lots of PVA. In fact I’m probably sitting in a massive glittery splodge of it, as are you.”

Tayce laughs, checks the table comedically.

“How was yours? You seem a bit more cheerful,” A’whora continues, looking to the floor and not darling to meet her eyes. “Did decimals finally click with your lot, or…?”

“I am a bit more cheerful,” Tayce smiles, A’whora’s heart racing and soaring in anticipation at the same time. “But not really anything to do with decimals. More to do with the fact somebody made me a really very lovely Valentine’s card.”

Tayce reaches behind her back and produces her card- A’whora’s card- from the table behind her, and A’whora feels her pulse race at her wrists and her heart leap into her mouth to the extent that she’s rendered almost too shy to speak. What the fuck was she thinking? Tayce is probably about to rip the piss out of her for it, it was a huge mistake, and she’s probably thrown their whole friendship away for nothing.

However. There’s a little something in Tayce’s eyes, a little sparkle that makes the grey shine silver. So A’whora shrugs, fixing a carefree smile on her face even though she feels anything but.

“Well, I know you hate Valentine’s day, so…I thought maybe if I gave you a card you’d stop being so mardy about it.”

When she looks at Tayce again she can see there’s a little crack in her perfect armour, the sparkle in her eyes dulled slightly. When she speaks her voice is quiet and nervous, so stripped of its usual hyperactivity and energy that A’whora wonders if it’s even Tayce’s voice at all. “Is that, uh. Is that the only reason you made it?”

A’whora can practically feel herself clam up. She has no idea where Tayce is going with this; to clarify that it was a joke or to clarify that it was serious, and A’whora doesn’t know which one Tayce wants it to be.

“What you wrote,” Tayce continues, her gaze fixed on the glitter-covered carpet and making it even more impossible to figure out her intention. “Was that, like…some girly besties chat, or was it…did you mean it…like that?”

“Yeah, I did,” A’whora says instantly. It’s out before she knows it, a terrifying leap into a freezing cold conversational plunge pool with no life raft to help her climb out. There’s only one way out and it’s Tayce’s reaction, whatever the hell that might be. She snapped her head up the moment the words left A’whora’s mouth, and her eyes are wide in what could be shock but could quite easily be horror.

A’whora doesn’t think she’s ever been more hopeful and frightened all at once. The seconds tick by and Tayce is still frozen in position, and A’whora can literally feel herself inching closer to the edge of the desk in terrified anticipation.

“Jesus Christ say something, Tayce, before I cringe myself to death,” she says breathlessly, her blood feeling almost electric as it races in her veins.

Tayce leans forward, not giving much away as she brings a thumb up to A’whora’s cheek.

“You’ve got a bit of glitter on your face,” she murmurs.

When she leans in and closes the gap between them, A’whora feels herself melt against Tayce’s lips with relief. They’re in the middle of her classroom at quarter part three with the door open and she’s very well aware that anyone could walk in at a moments’ notice, but A’whora doesn’t care. A’whora only cares about the fact that Tayce is kissing her and she’s kissing back, and it’s so hard to believe it’s actually real and not some daydream come to life, and it’s happening on Valentine’s day which makes it even more far-fetched. But every time A’whora starts to think that maybe she’s dreaming she feels Tayce’s thumb stroke her cheek, or their knees bump together, or she brings a hand up to rest at Tayce’s jaw just to make sure it’s all real.

When Tayce pulls away and they smile at each other, giggling and blushing like one of Tayce’s year fives, A’whora only allows herself to properly believe it’s all actually happening when Tayce presses their foreheads together, takes both of A’whora’s hands in her own and murmurs quietly to her what A’whora’s wanted to hear for entirely too long.

“I love you too.”

[alolowrites]

Gold Coins and a Gold Heart

Summary: Bakugou is forced to help give out candy at your factory’s annual Halloween trick-or-treating event—costume included. 

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! I’m back with another story and this time it’s for Bakugou (yay!!). It is a sequel to Everyone’s Got a Sweet Tooth! I had fun writing this, so hopefully you all enjoy it too :D 

Word Count: 1.6K+

Bakugou collapsed on the chair.

His afternoon patrol was crazier than usual today, which meant only one thing—it was Halloween. The early dumbasses roamed the streets like brainless hooligans disturbing the peace. As always, Bakugou reined them in with a simple blast to the face. It was fun at first, but Bakugou’s patience was wearing thin after dealing with the twentieth fool that day.

He ripped the mask off and closed his eyes. All he wanted was some peace and quiet—

“Knock, knock!”

He spoke too soon.

Bakugou’s irritated eyes watched as you gleefully skipped toward his desk with a large garment bag. Your beaming smile never wavered despite feeling the hero’s heated glare; you were practically immune to it. An exasperated sigh left his lips. Bakugou knew better not to ignore you whenever you visited him. You were persistent, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with your childish pestering afterward.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t even get a ‘hello’? My heart, babe,” you pouted, gripping the bag in your hands. Bakugou mumbled a half-assed greeting in return. A shit-eating grin stretched across your face; he was so whipped. “Thank you. So, are you excited for tonight?”

“What’s tonight?” Bakugou rested his chin above his hand, barely paying attention to you.

“The annual trick-or-treating festivities at my factory!”

“And?”

“Don’t tell me you forgot,” you huffed, slamming the garment bag on his desk. Bakugou jumped, mouth ready to bark. You wagged a finger at him like a parent scolding a child. “Ah, ah, ah! You promised me you were going to help give out candy tonight for Halloween.”

“Since when!?”

“Glad you asked!” you clasped your hands together, standing up straight. Bakugou wouldn’t be surprised if you whipped out a detailed PowerPoint to support your case. “On September 18th at exactly 10:48pm, you agreed to help me out. As a matter of fact, your exact words were ‘Yeah, I’ll do the damn thing’ in between our passionate make-out session—”

“Oh, for fucksakes!”

“You still promised!” Seconds later, you added: “Besides, you can’t back out of this. Kioshi officially added it to your schedule, and your PR team approved it, so you’re going!”

“I’m gonna kill Small Head.”

You rolled your eyes. “No, you’re not. Stop being such a drama-hoe.”

“Fine, I’ll do this stupid event,” Bakugou’s finger lifted the bag before letting it fall again. “What’s this?”

“Your costume, silly!”

“I’m not wearing a fucking costume!”

“Oh, don’t be such a sour puss,” you chastised him, walking around his desk and planting yourself on his lap. Bakugou made no move to push you off, but he also refused to look at you. Your soft, lovable kisses peppering along his cheek proved otherwise. “I know wearing a costume sounds stupid for you, but it’s Halloween, Katsuki.”

“Can’t I just go as Ground Zero?”

“You’re Ground Zero every day! Halloween means dressing up as someone you’re not.”

“This is stupid…”

“No, it’s not,” you slapped his chest lightly. As Bakugou continued to brood, you lifted his chin and bopped his warm nose. “C’mon—your fans will love it, the kids will love, and, most importantly, I will love it. Won’t you do it for me?”  

Bakugou’s throat tightened at the sound of your melodic voice; it was like pure honey. On the surface, it sounded innocent, but Bakugou knew this voice well. You only played this card when you wanted something from him. At first, the hero refused to succumb to your wicked spell. Except it was hard when your delicate fingers danced across his hero costume. A shudder ran down his spine, and he squirmed slightly—you drove him over the edge.

You shot Bakugou a smug smile when he gripped your waist. His intimidating glare proved useless against you. Especially since you both knew who won this battle. Bakugou banged his head on the leather chair, grumbling a curt ‘fine’ shortly after. You squealed and delivered a quick peck on his lips.  

“I knew you would understand,” you perked up, ruffling his soft mane before checking your watch. “Well, I gotta skedaddle. There are still some last-minute preparations to get done before the kids come. Ooh, this is so exciting!”

You hopped off Bakugou’s lap much to his displeasure; he wanted you back. Your steps fall in tune with a Halloween song you heard this morning. His eyes silently follow you toward the door, and you called over your shoulder, “See you later, babe! And don’t be late!”

Bakugou gruffed just as the door closed. He slumped back against the chair while pinching his nose. Why does he always get dragged into your ridiculous shenanigans? Damn your infuriating but cute personality. Red eyes narrowed at the garment bag sitting patiently on his desk. He unzipped it halfway to take a peek at the costume…

…and exploded.

“Fuck!”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Bakugou gritted his teeth.

“I can’t believe I’m wearing this shit.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad,” you chimed behind him, smoothing out the costume’s wrinkles. Bakugou huffed and grudgingly turned around. Your Cheshire cat-like smile grew as you stepped back to admire the final outcome. “You look so handsome!”

“Shut up.”

“My handsome pirate—”

“I told you to shut up!”

Your giddy laughs bounced off the walls; Bakugou snapped his head away with a growl. However, he was betrayed when a slight blush dusted his cheeks. He felt absolutely ridiculous in this outfit that belonged in the dumpster. Except for the jacket—Bakugou secretly liked how it emphasized his broad shoulders.

“Was this why you attacked me with that damn measuring tape last time?”

“Honestly, it was more fun than just asking Kioshi for your measurements.”

“Unbelievable.”

“Sorry, not sorry,” you shrugged, smirking as Bakugou’s eyes raked up and down your own pirate costume. It was seductive yet tasteful for tonight. Only your bare shoulders were exposed and Bakugou’s clenched his mouth—they were his weakness. “Behave tonight, and I’ll make sure to reward you well, captain.”

“Tch, damn tease.”

“I know,” you winked, tugging his hand as you both walked out the door. It was almost time to start tonight’s event. Bakugou grumbled as he followed your lead. “But seriously, behave. That means not making any child cry tonight.”

“Let me blast any idiot who tries to pull some shit on you, and we got ourselves a deal.”

”Fine, but not the kids.”

“Deal.”

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

Tonight was harder than Bakugou thought.

No one flirted with you, much to his relief. However, the hoard of kids screaming at the gates drained his energy and tested his limited—or nonexistent—patience. Security guards safely managed the crowds while staff members let in a few groups of kids at a time.

You hopped on your tippy-toes every time a new batch approached the steps. Bakugou, on the other hand, showed disdain and tried—unsuccessfully—to keep his distance from them; the kids stupidly disagreed. Bakugou scowled, but it wasn’t enough to scare away the waves of mini vampires or superheroes. Instead, they rushed up to him with goofy smiles.  

“Trick-or-treat!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, here’s your candy.”

Bakugou reached inside the large treasure chest for the black pirate pouches. A friendly-looking skull graced the front and contained delicious goodies inside—chocolate gold coins and colorful sugar jewels. You spent weeks designing the Halloween candy so they fit with the pirate theme this year. It was a lot of trial and error, but you never settled for anything less.

That was something Bakugou noticed and silently admired.

A small tug pulled his attention away from you. Crimson eyes peered down at a little girl wearing a butterfly costume. Fuzzy red antennas bounced in the air as her innocent eyes glanced up at the pro hero.

“Are you really a pirate?”

Bakugou froze and blinked at the question. You softly laughed while handing out the pouches to the other kids. Before Bakugou could answer, a young boy blurted out: “Of course he’s not a pirate! That’s Ground Zero, dummy!”

“I’m not a dummy!”

“Yes, you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

The young girl was on the verge of tears. You were about to step in to defuse the situation, but Bakugou quickly beat you to the punch.

“Hey!” Everyone stood at attention after Bakugou’s rugged bark. All eyes were on him as he pointed a stern finger at the robot boy clutching his candy bag. “Does Ground Zero wear a pirate hat and carry a plastic sword?”

“N-no.”

“Then I’m not Ground Zero today, I’m a pirate,” he raised his head up high while adding, “and a captain pirate, too. Do you understand, kid?”

“Yes-s, sir.”

“Good, now apologize to the butterfly for calling her dumb.”

Mr. Robot did, and surprisingly, Bakugou dropped a pirate pouch into his bag. Muttering a curt ‘Go,’ he watched the young boy waddle away. Faint sniffles interrupted the silence shortly afterward. Bakugou averted his gaze to the little girl again.

“Hey,” he called out with a gruff but soft voice and crouched down. Round, puffy eyes stared in disbelief when Bakugou dumped two candy pouches inside her Halloween basket. “Don’t let anyone call you dumb, got it?”

“Okay.”

“Good.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pirate!”

The girl happily skipped away. Bakugou stood up and bristled at the sight of your shit-eating grin. He forgot you were still here, which meant you saw everything. You sauntered toward him with amused eyes and teased, “You’re such a softie!”

“Eh?! Quit spewing bullshit,” he barked weakly, folding his arms over his chest. “You said no kid should cry, right? I did just that, so slap that stupid grin off your face.”

“Technically, I said you shouldn’t make any kid cry.”

“Whatever.”

“Softie,” you whispered before pecking Bakugou’s cheek; he grumbled an insult to save face. You poked his forehead while laughing, “Frown all you want, but you can’t hide that gold heart of yours. At least not around me.”

Bakugou’s lips twitched into a genuine smile reserved only for you.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

A pirate who managed to steal his gold heart? Yeah, it all made sense now.

Thanks for reading!!

Spooky Season 2020 Masterlist

[taerrorize]

Can you tell me the songs that express Shinee's style through the years ? PS: I'm sure your week will end up well !! All the love xxxxx

Anon u rly have me googling “SHINee discrography in order” on my work computer rn lmao

I’m gonna try to do 1 title track + 1 bside per year and see where that takes me lmao but I’m only going to do Korean releases bc if I added Japanese songs into the mix I’d simply explode it’s too much

2008:

Replay (obviously) is just pure SHINee essence at its finest in my opinion. Sweet and cute and catchy all at once. Timeless.

Love Should Go On it’s kinda funky, lots of minkey rapping which is just *chef’s kiss* but also the added plus of baby Taemin rapping as well, plus jongyu’s beautiful vocals. Idk there’s just something about this song that I’ve always adored. Maybe because it features all five members’ voices in ways that worked for them, which wasn’t super typical in the earlier albums since Taemin’s voice was still developing. Adorable.

2009:

Ring Ding Dong (yes I’m picking it over Juliette it was a rough decision but I did it) it’s just such typical SHINee in the sense that it’s a timeless bop, everyone knows it, everyone remembers it. Everyone knows NEVER to listen to it before an exam (which I learned the hard way in college bc I thought it was fake as fuck but then haha middle of a history final mumbling ringadingdingding elastic fantastic in my gotdamn head it’s a miracle I passed that exam lmao)

Romeo+Juliette it’s not like a super popular song I don’t think? But again, there’s just something about it that’s so purely SHINee. The beat, the way they sing so well together, the way their voices just match & compliment each other’s so well? It’s a little slower paced, but you could definitely still dance along to it. Kinda sensual I guess? A good teeny bopper song by a teeny bopper band of teeny bopper boys. Was my absolute favorite song all through high school lmao the way jonnghyun’s voice is so soft yet powerful at the same time? Spectacular.

2010:

Lucifer I mean it’s just obvious again like Replay, it’s what dragged me into the pits of Kpop hell. Everyone knows Lucifer. It’s quintessential Kpop at this point. Taemin’s dang stripey shirt hypnotized me in that dance practice Istg.

A-Yo is sweet and funny and silly and still so so good all at the same time. Taemin essentially calls you a dumbass in the first like 45 seconds but manages to do it sounding sweet as could be. Really uplifting. Catchy. Easy to sing along to. Listen to it whenever you’re sad and I’m telling you it’s instant happiness. Minho actually gets to sing in it and his voice is just lovely I adore this song with my whole heart. It’s lighthearted and fun. SHINee to me had always just been a group that’s uplifting and comforting, and this song is, in my opinion, the greatest example of that.

2011 (they didn’t have any Korean releases in 2011 so bonus songs from earlier years!)

The SHINee World (Doo-Bop) [2008] I mean I feel like this is self explanatory. Dibidibidiss my name is Minho.

Jo Jo [2009] again, SHINee’s just good at happy fun sweet songs. Jo Jo is always fun to sing along to.

Electric Heart [2010] is a bit darker in the way it feels. Very sensual. Breathy voices and all that. I was super obsessed with this song in high school as well idk. A nice look at SHINee transitioning into a bit more of a mature group, breaking away from the typical teeny bopper boyband vibe. Still funky fresh tho.

2012:

Sherlock aside from being the only title track from 2012 lmao SHINee have often mentioned this was when they felt like they really started acting like a Team and relying on each other more heavily. This was also when the Cold War took place but I personally don’t remember seeing any of it, so to me, Sherlock was just a cool song with a cool dance and Taemin having a terrible weave (and I got in trouble during an after school religion class bc I showed my friend Taemin’s shirtless promo pic and the Youth Leader thought it was porn lmao)

Honesty was a song that really felt personal, idk why. Like the members singing directly to us. Soft and sweet and still so meaningful. Like I’m gonna cry just thinking abt it lmao

2013:

Everybody so 2013 is so hard bc so many good songs came out that year. Like I genuinely am having a hard time deciding, but I think Everybody is a good pick because it shows how SHINee has never been afraid to experiment with their sound. It sounds totally different than anything else they had ever put out, but it still was so SHINee. It’s powerful and it makes you pay attention and like lmao god I’m not quiet abt loving a man in uniform so the wardrobe rly did it for me. But also wow all of their vocals are so good in this song THE LONG HIGH NOTES love it love to see it.

Beautiful just seems like a good pick. Again, 2013 is jam packed with amazing songs, it’s difficult to narrow it down. But beautiful was a song that was always super comforting as well. Their high notes and the way they sing together. Idk. I adore this song.

No Korean releases in 2014 and I’m getting tired lmao so no bonuses

2015:

View of course. Still the best summer bop in existence. We really see the members start to get more involved in this song specifically, from Taemin choosing the choreographer, Jonghyun writing lyrics as always, and Key picking the wardrobe. It’s a fun lighthearted song. I still listen to it when I drive by the beach because that’s just the vibe. Definitely a turning point for them, in my opinion, because this is when I think they really become more mature? Idk how to explain it. They don’t seem like a “boyband” anymore at this point to me, they’re just a band.

An Encore genuinely brings me to tears anytime I listen to it. It’s a SHINee ballad, and a really soul crushing one at that lmao. Idk why it’s soul crushing, necessarily, it just is.

2016:

1 of 1 is funky and fun and goofy and just so so SHINee. It’s not that other groups wouldn’t be able to perform a song like 1 of 1, it’s that SHINee performed it in a way that no other group could do it. They take every song they’re given and make it theirs, really. They own it.

Beautiful Life is another song that just makes you happy. It’s a ballad and it’s sweet and Jinki wrote the lyrics why am I only just finding this out now??! It’s a beautiful life. SHINee will always remind you of why life is worth living, tbh. Minho’s voice is beautiful in this song just a fun fact.

No korean releases in 2017

2018:

Good Evening 2018 is really hard for me to pick tbh. But Good Evening is a song that’s so heartfelt and emotional and soul crushing while still being fun? Maybe I’m projecting my own feelings from the time it was released to the song itself, but whatever. Good Evening is a bop. Love it. Makes me cry literally every gotdamn time I listen to it love that love crying on the freeway blasting this song it’s great.

Undercover was a personal favorite. Tbh a lot of the songs released in 2018 were very hard for me to listen to, and I still haven’t listened to all of them. I just can’t do it yet. But Undercover was fun and funky and idk, that’s just what SHINee is all about.

No releases in 2019 or 2020

2021:

Atlantis listen, this is also a hard decision. Don’t Call Me is quintessential SHINee in the way that it strays from the norm, it’s them trying something entirely new to them, but Atlantis feels like coming home after being away for a long time. It’s not that it’s the same kind of song they usually do, but there’s just something about that’s so familiar and comfortable.

Area is a song I cannot listen to without crying my eyes out. Doesn’t matter how many times I listen to it, doesn’t matter what time of day it is, doesn’t matter what I’m doing. It’s a beautiful song written by Minho and we all know it’s for Jonghyun. And that’s what SHINee is all about, too. It’s about the five of them being together, working together, being a team. The song makes me cry, sure, but it’s a good kind of cry. Also their voices are so beautiful as always.

HONORABLE MENTION

I fucking love Body Rhythm [2021] we all know I love Body Rhythm I feel personally victimized by Minho for promising a Body Rhythm performance and NOT FOLLOWING THROUGH I still nag him abt it on bubble idgaf. Anyways it’s sexy and horny and makes me wanna dance with someone while drinking a vodka cranberry and wearing skimpy clothes and red lipstick WHERES MY BODY RHYTHM PERFORMANCE CHOI MINHO YOU ABSOLUTE T E A S E

[dicecast]

Blast to the Past: Why do people like Fallout 2

So in yesterday’s episode I did Fallout 1 so the logical next step is Fallout 2, often cited as one of the best RPGs of all time. Just like I did with Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II.  The problem is that Baldur’s II, while using the same ruleset as BG, is a very different animal in terms of quest design, aesthetic, play style, and story focus, high level D&D play is a totally different animal.  While Fallout 2 is basically Fallout 1 but with a lot more stuff in it, better writing and more detail.  So most of what I said that recommends Fallout 1 applies to Fallout 2, just more of it here.  (also I really recommend playing this game with the restoration mod).  Basically Fallout is sort of a prototype for the game that Fallout 2 is, so everything good I said about the first game, it all applies here.  So what is unique about Fallout 2?

1) Radically different play experience:

Due to Fallout 2 length and the more extensive mechanics with the greater randomization elements, it is effectively impossible for two players to have the same experience playing the game.  Even if me and a friend made the same exact builds at the start, the massive amount of randomness in this game means that we would quickly have different experiences.  Last time I played i remember dying multiple times against difficult bosses, only to suddenly win when they crit failed and instantly killed themselves.  The sheer amount of randomization makes every play through sort of its own story, even if you aren’t trying to diversify

2) Character expression.  This really kicks off in New Reno, but after a certain point in the game you really start to get to personalize your character, with a ton of choices where you can sort of choose a career path for yourself, from mobster to boxing champion to porn star.  While in theory you had absolutely amazing stats you could do all of them, most likely you will only do a few of them without hte assistence of a walkthrough.  Fallout 2 isn’t really a game where you go in and do everything, its more of a game where you do what suits your character before going off to finish with the plot

3) Seeing a growing world.  This game picks up 80 years after Fallout 1 and the world has changed, the anarchic small town wasteland of the first game now supports actual cities and society is starting to rebuild.  Like the first game you have ending slides, but unlike the first game its a lot more about what kind of new society is emerging in the Wastes and how is the world putting itself back together

4) Themes.  This game isn’t just a clash of ideologies, it has very overt themes, particularly in the villains of The Enclave, the humanity that was left behind.  If you want a game that has very strong things to say about nostalgia, conservatism, and xenophobia, then i’m sorry, we don’t yet have a Republican Party video game for you, but this will serve as a good exploration of those toxic mindsets

5) Humor.  This game is fucking hilarious, it isn’t a full on humor game, but Fallout 2 is a lot more willing to be goofy and silly than Fallout 1 or the Baldur’s Gate Series.  And its not just the low intelligent content, which is hilarious, but there is a lot to laugh at in this series, ranging from the absolutely absurd to the dry wit, to the situational comedy.  I don’t really want to go into it because that is just spoiling jokes, just that this game is one of the most consistently funny RPG

(I found this meme online and I can’t not share it)

6) I hesitate to say maturity?  Fallout 2 touches a lot of subjects that most RPGs, even today don’t, from drugs, to sex, to more nuanced politics.  How good of a job it does depends on the specific instance, sometimes it is surprisingly thoughtful and cunning, other times is darker and edger shit.  

7) I should have mentioned this when talking about Fallout 1 but Fallout as a series is relaly interested in the idea of specialization.  Unless you really grind, it is almost impossible in the SPECIAL system to be good at everything, every character is going to have glaring deficient, and that means you are going to miss out on a lot of content.  Its actually possible to do a lot more if you grind and are very clever about it, but as intended to be played, you will never do everything.  

[malcolmbrights-a]

ship meme ray x claudia

SHIP MEME

where was their first date ?: their first date was surprisingly really cute? like i know their meeting was essentially a meet-ugly, instead of a meet-cute, since they they didn’t like each other so much. but since they ended up becoming close friends, and claudia ends up writing to him while he’s overseas, after a while raymond ends up asking her out. it’s after he gives her her first kiss and she’s so fucking shocked, but in like, the best way ever. because she never assumed he liked her and probably assumed dayting just wasn’t his thing. also when she’s younger she doesn’t want a boyfriend, not really, but then when raymond asks her if she wants to date him, they end up going for dinner and then to play laser tag and they had fun. it was during the springtime because i love the idea of them going to the park often before that. because i feel liek the park is ‘their’ place, you know? so before their first date, in a way, they had lots of friend dates.

what my muse would do to cheer your’s up: claudia makes a lot of stupid as fuck jokes to make raymond laugh when he’s feeling down. like she has no idea what he went through overseas and she knows shit all about the assassin stuff because she doesn’t know he’s an assassin. but she does know how debilitating ptsd can be so she’d want to make sure that he was fine, so she’d make him smile, she’d hold him, she’d make him his favorite foods. she’d also talk to him about nothing and everything just so he can have the company. and i feel like he returns the favor when her bipolar is acting up. because they are just really supportive and helpful with each other when it comes helping each other with their mental health issues. 

who wakes the other up with kisses ( and where ) ?: raymond for sure. at first claudia was surprised by it cause he doesn't come off as a romantic at all. so when was asleep, and got woken up with kisses, she giggled and told him to stop being a fucking sap, even though she was super into it. i think at some point, when she wakes up earlier than him, she'll wake him up with kisses too. Or she'll fucking jump on him and straddle him, put her forehead to his and be like "wake up, raymond, darling…" lol 

who would pour water on the other to wake them up ?: claudia sksksk he would've had to do something to piss her off the day before for her to resort to childish behavior like. i can't think of what the thing is on the top of my head, but it'd be bad. maybe it's the day after she finds out he's a vigilqnte murderer in the verse where he is and she isn't.

how my muse would wake your’s up: i said above, with kisses or by pouncing on him. but on days where she's behaving, she'll wake him up gently by getting on top of him to nuzzle him awake. he usually smirks while she does it and will try to keep from laughing. and when he does end up laughing, he'll give her lots of mouth kisses and turn her on her back so her can kiss her more.

who would start a food fight while baking or cooking ?: claudia. she's a bit childish at times and has a playful sense of humor whenever she's not working. her and raymond would be in the kitchen baking because that what claudia does after retiring from the fbi. then claudia gets this wild idea to put icing on his nose, kiss it, and then ray puts a handful on her cheek and it turns into an all out war that ends with a huge mess and them laughing so hard that they both cry. and rory eventually walks in to see what the commotion is all about sees, the message and just leaves. HES NOT HELPING CLEAN THAT SHIT UP. NO THANK BRUH

who would suggest putting marijuana in the brownies ?: oh god claudia, but only for her and group of lady friends cause raymond is a former addict. 

who said i love you first and how ( or when ) did they say it ?: claudia says it first, surprisingly. the two of them are in his room, listening to some music that ray likes, and she ends up resting her head against his shoulder. the reaches for his hand - albit awkwardly - and turns up to look at him. she ends up smiling because even though he’s a bit goofy looking to others, she thinks he’s really handsome and he looks even handsomer while he’s in thought while listening to music. he catches her staring, goes “what?” and she blurts out that she loves him. she’s so embarrassed when he doesn’t say it back immediately, and almost leaves his room so she doesn’t like get teary eyed. but before she can leave, ray grabs her by her elbow and pulls her down to him, giving her a soft kiss before telling her he loved and pulling her down to him. 

who would get into a physical altercation over the other ?: they both would fight for the other. like claudia will hear some bitch talking shit about ray and she’ll be ready to fucking pouce - man, woman, nonbinary - and the only person who can stop her will be raymond lmfao. she will be like so mad that anyone would even THINK to talk about her mans like that. like how could they do that - how? also ray doesn’t tolerate people talking shit about claudia either. so really people need to like keep their words to themselves when it comes to these chaotic dumbasses. 

who insists on purchasing a pet together ( and what kind of pet ) ?: lol claudia. raymond doesn’t like the idea because at the time they’re like in their early twenties with a baby, and adding more responsibility to what they already have could be too much for them. but claudia assures him that she can take care of a dog and rory. he kinda of doesn’t budge on it at first, but then claudia does puppy dog eyes and pouts all day about it. does that thing where she fake cries like a brat. and like he gives in because he can’t deal with it anymore. anyways, they get the dog and ends up being a mental health dog and he’s raymond’s best friend after that. like he prefers raymond to claudia and claudia is always so fucking butt-hurt about it. 

who is louder ( in and out of bed ) ?: claudia is louder in and out of bed oh lord. she honestly is such a noisy person in bed because she likes how she sounds and wants her partner to know that she’s enjoying herself. like if she’s not being noisy it’s either really emotional sex or like she’s not feeling it at all. there’s no inbetween when it comes to her tbh. like no inbetween at all. she just has no middle ground. raymond is quieter but more dominant and he actually makes some noises (like you said he does)

who takes more risks ( in and out of bed ) ?:  holyshit, miss claudia here of course. she goes about doing everything face first and always had. it has been her downfall time and time again, but it has also opened the world of new opportunities to her. i feel like in college, before raymond went overseas, that the two of them would do a lot of stupid impulsive shit like grafiti the street and steal candy from the store. go to strip clubs for the fun of it. follow people to parties when they don’t even know them. stuff like that, and they have a blast. when they’re older claudia takes more risks but like she’s not into partying of stealing or whatever. she’s fine with just living her life with ray. but ooooooooooooh in bed i feel like it’s ray. claudia didn’t have sex until she met ray so ray would have more experience than her. i remember you saying he’d show her new things, and tbh i love that because she’d be so excited to try them. and her favorite thing would be spankings because she thinks they’re so damn exciting. like the rush she gets - how ray talks to her when she gets them. like it’s the biggest turn on ever for her. 

who would bring up the word ‘daddy’ first ?: none of them. like claudia wants to fight when guys tell her to call them daddy, and i’m pretty sure raymond thinks it’s gross lmfao. but you did say he called her ‘baby’ when he wanted to calm her down or when they were in bed together. she’s like in love with him using that as a pet name and it really makes her feel loved and wanted in and out of the bedroom. like wow he cares enough about her to have a special name for her. god that does things to her. both sexy and affectionate things. ahhhh

what is their shared, favourite kink ?: they’re both into light bdsm so i’d say their shared kink is their shared kink is basically sex games where you’re fucked silly but you  can’t orgasm unless you’re told to do so. or where you can’t touch unless you’re told to. or when you can’t touch yourself unless you’re told to. stuff like that. or just you know, not being able to do what you want unless you’re told. and since they’re both switches, sometimes claudia will be the dominant one, while other times it’ll be raymond. so they get their thrills from sex because it’s never just the same thing, you know? it’s always different. even when it’s similar to how they’ve done it before because they shake things up.

describe their typical kiss: their typical kiss is surprisingly really soft and not rushed? like you’d expect them to have these gross, over the top passionate kisses, but that’s just not how things go. these two, contrary to everyone’s beliefs, are really soft for each other and love each other very very much. like they’re always trying to do things to show they care for each other and it makes me so fucking emo dude. 

how my muse shows their love for your’s: god, she shows her love for him through acts of service and general affection. like she will cook meals for him and make him coffee just because she loves him and wants him to know that. and she’s always surprised that on days where she’s not the one showing love through acts of service, he’s the one doing it. so she shows him by doing little things for him. like she’ll help him shave his chin, her face really close to his so that it’s really sensual and so that she can really focus, and he always seems both into it and grateful. and later on he’ll draw a bath for her or whatever. It’s basically a back and forth where they take turns showing each other love in various ways.

their favourite ways to give affection: god before raymond claudia just would not kiss or hold hands (family not incestious just like cheek kissus, you know?) with anyone who wasn’t family. like she refused to kiss them or touch them or anyway. sure she was seeing a lot of people at the same time and just wanted to have her fun and the enjoy the company of others, but it always bit her in the ass when she didn’t want to give her company affection or sex, cause suddenly they didn’t want her anymore. raymond wants to be around her in the beginning even when they don’t kiss or hold hands though, but that’s because he’s usually not one to kiss and hold hands, so it’s like, you know mutual. and when he first kisses her she’s so shook that she’s not fucking repulsed by it and just wants to kiss him again, and when they’re not kissing, she thinks about kissing him again. and it’s just so goddamn girl with a crush on a bad boy lmfao. but anyway, she shows her affection with kisses and hand holding and that’s wild to me bruh

who is more dominate ?: they’re both pretty dominant, but for the most part it’s raymond. i feel like a lot of people would be surprised by that since he’s so goddamn soft spoken and claudia is so goddamn loud both with her body language and in general,  but no, he’s the dominant one for the most part and claudia lets him be. like honestly, she prefers him to be if i’m gonna be honest. she likes the feeling of letting go and not being in charge for a moment in her life. it feels really fucking good just to break free from it all and just let someone else have control for a little while. 

who sings in the shower ?: claudia because she likes to hear herself own voice and has always been that way because she thinks she’s god’s gift to mankind. her voice is great tho not gonna lie. like it’s really crisp and beautiful. however she is the type who forgets the lyrics to songs so she sings the wrong lyrics. i feel like it would annoy the shit outta raymond with other people when she sang in the shower or when they were in the car together, but when it’s claudia doing it he finds it endearing. but like, i could be wrong. i have no idea what raymond would think cause i know he is easily annoyed by certain things

who washes the other’s hair in the shower ?: raymond washes claudia’s hair and claudia just melts into his touch, arching her back and loosening her body. it always feels really good to her. to the point where she lets out little satisfied hums that she just can’t help but to release. eventually, she does end up returning the favor and washing his hair - even though he doesn’t have much - because these two are all about taking turns with each other. but it ends up with them having a soap war cause claudia is chaotic as fuck haha. like she be that way

who initiates shower sex despite being in a rush ?: raymond, and claudia is like “bruh, i have to go to work - stop and behave” and he grabs her ass and she just gives in, even though she was gonna give in anyways. like she loves being groped by him and always has liked being groped by him. it is so fun and exciting to her and makes her feel like he’s really into her body - not that she assumed otherwise cause she thinks she’s a goddess - and she loves that because it makes her feel powerful to know her spouse is fucking in love with her body. like ha wow

who teases the other under the table at dinner with the family ?:  claudia but only at dinners with her mother because she doesn’t respect that woman and she makes her anxious. so for some reason that makes her want to bone raymond. it’s probably surprising to him every time because he just fucking gets jumped as soon as they’re alone in the house and has no idea where to go with it because he doesn’t want her to regret jumping him later. but eventually, as time goes on and she does this shit over and over again throughout the years, he starts to see that she isn’t really gonna be upset after they have sex because it’s a form of stress relief when they’re visiting her families manor.

who has the weirder taste in music ?: i’d say claudia since you said ray mostly listens to 70s rock and roll. meanwhile claudia will listen to trashy country, trashy pop, or the worst trap music ever made. she doesn’t give a fuck. music is music and it nearly always makes her feel better. on days where she feels bad she will listen to a few random songs that are upbeat and suddenly her life is much better and she’s the happiest girl in the world. like it’s temporary, but it’s enough for her to be satisfied with her mood for a little while.

who would initiate dancing in the rain ?: claudia because she just enjoys the idea of it. she loves copying what she sees in the movies and i bet she saw something that made her do it. raymond gave her an odd look when she asked, but since it’s ray, he did it anyways, and ended up having a blast. i think as an anniversary gift to themselves, if it’s raining they’ll dance in it. and if it’s not, the two of them will dance in the sprinklers cause they’re fucking secretly saps. SECRETLY. Okay, not so secretly. Everyone knows how gross they are by that point. They both went from ‘don’t touch me’ to always holding onto the other always and i think it confused the shit out of the few friends that they shared between them. 

who would be the one to suggest marriage ?: raymond. claudia wasn’t sure if she wanted to get married. she really liked the thought, especially, since she was pregnant with rory before they got married, but she never expected them to actually get married because ray had talked shit about marriage to her in the past. but then, one day, she was going through a bag he’d left on the ground and she found her ring while he was standing behind her and instead of saying sorry, that bitch screamed and said yes. that fool could’ve been holding a ring for a friend, but claudia didn’t give a fuck, they were getting married now. but the ring was for her so yeah. 

what would they name their children ?: oh clyde and joyce!

who would their children take after more ?: joyce is more raymond, rory is more claudia.

[sternenteile]

★*･ lovely ooc meme.

TAGGED BY:  y’all i stole it from multiple ppl on my dash TAGGING:  idk just take it from me and let the thief train continue

NAME:  nikki NICKNAME:  nikkibun, bun, assturd AGE:  26 weeps......... FACE CLAIM:  my bunsona!! my bunsona’s icons are so old and crusty tho so i’ve just. been using geno’s. rip. PRONOUNS:  she / her, but they / them is fine, too! HEIGHT:  5′3″ i am berry tinie BIRTHDAY:  april 4th

AESTHETIC:  cute animals (namely bunnies and cats), a basic n64 with a purple controller, pastels, piles of tasty chicken wings, and. and. more terribly charismatic buns.

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO:  y’all listen the lavender town theme from pokemon lgpe is absolutely destroying me and it was absolutely the last thing i listened to. i love it.

FAVORITE MUSE ( S ) YOU’VE WRITTEN:  my boy papyrus ( @outbraves ) was easily one of my favorites ever. i just had... so much fun with him and had a lot of development for him, and just. i have such fond memories of rping him. i love my bone boy, even though his muse has long gone.

tbh, tho? geno is climbing up there, too. in so short a time, i’ve already got so many ideas and so much development plotting going on. given how expansive the mario universe is, too (esp. compared to undertale’s), there is just... so much room for different things to do with him?! i’m really excited. the potential is bananas.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO TAKE ON YOUR CURRENT MUSE ( THAT YOU ARE POSTING THIS ON ):  ok i’m not going to lie. this is a bit of a story, and it starts off in a very interesting way. at first, i actually... didn’t really give a single floppy titty for geno? seriously. i didn’t care. i played smrpg and i just fell for mallow that much more. i was like, gee, i wonder what people see in him. he’s cool and cute, but mallow has all this development and stuff! basically, based on my memories of smrpg and how ‘overrated’ i felt he was, i just didn’t really give geno much of a chance.

now, rosalina is my favorite mario character. ever. i used to rp her a long time ago. i absolutely adore her. thanks to smash speculation really bringing geno to the forefront of peoples’ minds again, i was like, huh. i wonder what kind of lore could come from her and geno? a lot of stuff i saw was implicating ship stuff, and i was... not impressed LMAO. i was like, naw, i see them being like mother and son. he’s a star spirit, after all, very similar to a luma. she’d totally be his superior + mom figure.

and then i started headcanoning more between them, which... via causation, started the headcanon train going for geno in general? i was like, no, i’m not going to get attached to this dumb doll, he’s overrated, blah blah. then i started thinking of him more, started doodling him, seeing why people liked him so much, and i was like... fuck. shit. damn. i used to have a weird disdain for you, you fuck puppet, why are you wiggling your way into my heart. no. get out.

needless to say, he didn’t get out, and i had to unleash my creativity with him. i missed rping, too, and i was like... this, this will do. voila. here we are.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ASPECTS OF YOUR CURRENT MUSE:  where do i even begin omg... ok. let’s see.

first, his design in general is just? really great. he’s a design that fits in the mario universe while also feeling so unlike it. mallow feels more integrated, yet geno feels... so... otherworldly? so different? his design philosophy hinges on round, soft familiarity while also being colorful, complimentarily so, and encapsulating it in a way that comes off as both cute and mysterious. i just love his design. even in all of my disdain for him initially, i’m pretty sure i always liked his design.

with that shallower bit out of the way, let me tell you about the virtues this boi has that i love (or, at least, in terms of my version, most of it not being canon oops). i love how courageous and forward he is, even if at times, it results in some fumbling. he’s fascinated in the world around him and has an innate desire to explore, to experiment, to experience. he gets pretty into it, but it does result in some very silly moments where his cultural differences play a large factor. he’s so distant from the modern world in a lot of ways, and it shows. between this and his curious nature, he’s just... god, he’s just a dork. he’s just a huge dork.

but boy, his vices. he doesn’t have much of... any at all in canon, but it’s clear how attached to his duty he is, even in what little we see. building flaws off of that has been a blast. i love how he feels so tied to his purpose that he feels branching out isn’t an option, yet it conflicts with his desire to break free and just be. he’s still figuring out how to be his own person, how to be geno and not just ♡♪!?, the protector of star road. even then, he’s trying not to fail his most precious person, rosalina, and those who depend on him. it’s a lot of conflict that pulls his heart in a lot of directions at once. chances are that he’ll progress and then harshly regress multiple times, going through a bunch of shit before he finally manages to find a happy medium. it’ll be a long road ahead, and what can stem from this has me soooo excited.

also he’s just rly cute. did i mention he’s cute? he’s so cute. he’s literally a doll and i need to cuddle him.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATION WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING:  honestly? steven universe and undertale have played huge inspiration into the way i write. undertale is obviously because i love it (and deltarune) and have written a muse from it. it’s just kind of integrated into my writing to the point that it feels natural. it’s... it’s something that’s just there now, lmao.

steven universe, however, is more particular. it hasn’t really influenced how i write in general, per se, but some aspects have inspired my geno, actually. garnet’s cool demeanor with inner conflict and a goofiness that she often shows? yeah, that definitely inspired a good chunk of my geno’s exterior personality. 

in terms of his inner self, those bits of garnet, plus the pearl + rose and steven + rose conflicts, pretty much shaped that up in my head. pearl + rose on its base level minus the romantic aspect definitely touches stone on how geno feels about his duty, his dedication to rosalina, and how he’s trying to become his own person, not just a star spirit in servitude. steven + rose more represents the mother + son aspect, the way geno wants to live up to her and what she wants, the way he views her as a parental figure that’s just unattainable (even if in a more figurative sense than steven and rose). there’s also a tiny, tiny bit of lapis in there, solely the tendency to flip a switch and bail if he thinks it’s best, just for less selfish reasons and more dutiful reasons. it’s. it’s very minuscule and very base-level, but it’s there.

in terms of geno himself, those two have to be my biggest inspirations at this point. ye.

FAVORITE TYPES OF THREADS:  god. anything is great, but these two are especially important:

slice-of-life. given geno’s distance from earth traditions, customs, and general livelihood, slice-of-life threads are immediately that much more interesting and even a bit crazy. being able to show how much of a curious little nerd he is and Hecking Things Up is always a good time.

finally, anything that draws out his insecurities. something that conflicts with his view on his purpose in life, that stirs his longing for parental recognition, that turns his beliefs on their heads... things like that. just. yes. gimme that.

BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN REGARDS TO YOUR CURRENT MUSE:  honestly, the fact that he’s such an old character that nintendo and square doesn’t care for is easily the worst part of playing him. it’s rough knowing that, even with all of the fan demand, he’ll likely never get a revival. he’ll just fade out of a lot of peoples’ memories more and more, and he’ll be even more irrelevant than ever. every time someone so much as knows who geno is, it just makes me giddy. i want that to stay alive, even if nintendo and square won’t do anything with him. the fan base keeping him going makes me feel so warm.

[thekidultlife]

Adagio Cantabile | Woozi College AU

Words: 9227

Genre: Porn with Plot or Plot with Porn?? (generally fluff with a mix of angst and smut); Enemies to lovers

(Because of Ep 7 of Going Seventeen, Change Up, now Pinwheel, I’m falling for Woozi more and more. He’s just too handsome. Anyway, this contains pretty obscure musical terms and I may or may not be correct in using them because I just got them from the net wiki and my own experience and before I started doing SVT fics, I used to write about music because I really, really love classical music and I often go to orchestra concerts annually. Well I hope you like this~)

“In case you’re becoming deaf or blind, Y/N,”

You rolled your eyes as your strutted down the lobby of the College of Music in Seoul National University, fury seething from your rigid figure.

“Let me tell you that, that D sharp is not a fucking fortissimo.”

Hate. Hate was the only thing you would describe the student conductor for the Annual Gala Night. You hated him with every fiber of your being as you gripped on to the score of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor on your hands.

“’In case you’re becoming deaf or blind, Y/N’… well, fuck you!” you repeated his words with a mocking tone, walking towards the nearby dorms and seeking out the sanctuary which was your room.

“Where the fuck are you looking?! Look. At. Me. Y/N!”

You could still hear his voice buzzing in your ears which was making you more livid than ever before. He shouldn’t have embarrassed me in front of the whole orchestra! Fuck this! Fuck him!

Brashly inserting your keys into the doorknob, you slammed the door open and shut it at the same manner; leaving no care for those who are unfortunate enough to hear you angrily knocking things over. You tossed the loose scores on top of the black baby grand piano in the middle of your tiny living room (which was already filled with the large mass of the instrument) and plopped on your poor excuse of a sofa without much grace.

You were quiet for a second. Then, you were not.

“FUCK YOU, LEE JIHOON!”

Lee Jihoon might or might not have heard someone screaming how he was such an asshole but, not like he did care. He was so used to being hated by every musician in Seoul National University that he had grown immune, or, he might not have given any shit in the first place. What was important was the Annual Gala Night which will be held three months in the future and time was running out. He, the conductor, the orchestra members and the concert pianist were already chosen a year before based on school performance and scores were given six months prior—this gave no one the opportunity to excuse himself with lack of time and practice.

Because of this, Jihoon expected a well-seasoned performer not a shitty second-rate, a poor excuse of a pianist. Not that his description had any bias; it just so happens that the concert pianist was his greatest rival in the whole universe. Jihoon shared classes with you because he had piano as a minor degree and you were there just to show how you were so much better than him in the piano.

Yeah. He knew he was being an asshole. But it doesn’t matter.

Jihoon made for the comfortable bed at the far side of his bedroom, near the window. He hadn’t had any good night’s sleep since he began studying the score for Piano Concerto No. 3 and he felt especially entitled for an afternoon nap after that shit of a first rehearsal.

But no. His brain was wide awake. Had he taken too much coffee this morning?

“Fuck this,” Jihoon muttered; staring at the expanse of his cream colored ceiling and praying to the higher beings to let him sleep for once when he needed it the most.

As if on cue, Jihoon could hear the faint musings of a piano floating with the late afternoon sunlight and he never felt a song so appropriate to the ambiance of his room that he thought for a second that someone might be playing for him.

“What’s the title of this song again?”

It was an involuntary whisper; he was not even aware that he had said something yet he knew it was good—really, really good that it had calmed his nerves at once as if it was morphine. He felt the melody wrap around his senses, dulling them and then trapping him into a dream-like trance. Jihoon didn’t care though. If it was the only thing that could make him sleep, then so be it.

1 year ago

It was literally one of the best nights of your life—the party was lit, your date whom your friend Soonyoung suggested was no less than perfect—you were enjoying the night away after getting the role of concert pianist in next year’s Annual Gala Night. Nothing could make you happier that day.

“Congrats, Y/N! We knew you’d get it!” a fellow piano major, Junhui gave his salutations to you as he swayed with flashing lights and the booming music, the ever-changing lights gave his blond hair various hues every ten seconds. “You’re the best in our year after all!”

“Yeah sure. If you’re tone deaf, that is.”

A familiar stingy voice emerged from the crowd and you just groaned, knowing who it was. Yet you would not let anything destroy your absolutely perfect night, especially not him.

“Bitter, aren’t we Lee Jihoon?” you replied with equal amounts of sass and you simply looked at his frowning figure standing by your mutual friend Soonyoung, who you knew was a dance major.

“In case you missed it, I’m actually selected as the conductor. So, I’m not exactly bitter, Y/N,” he remarked as he shot an eyebrow at your glaring eyes. “Better be prepared next year. I’m quite a demanding conductor.”

He stalked away after imparting his final words as if on cue and you just pursed your lips together, humoring his natural hate towards you. You haven’t actually done anything wrong towards him, yet he just despised you and you were logical enough to return it.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. He’s kinda on the edge lately…probably not having enough girls to fuck,” Soonyoung, who was left behind, offered consolation and you smiled at his concern.

“I still wonder why you and Jun are friends with that jerk,” you said with a scoff, swirling the red cup of alcohol on your hands.

“Nah. What’s actually weird is that he dislikes you so much. He’s just grumpy on the normal,” Jun exclaimed, and then running off after spotting another dance major, Minghao entering the stage.

Right on cue, your date for tonight Jinwo appeared right behind you and Soonyoung knew he had to bail out. So he gave you a congratulations and went to where vocal majors Seungkwan and Seokmin were.

It was truly a beautiful night. Everyone was having fun including you. Jinwo proved to be quite an awesome companion—laughing at silly things, trading inside stories about how you beat Lee Jihoon’s ass during that one recital, and doing goofy things one after another. You two just clicked together. You decided on that night that you were going to say yes when he asked you on a date another time. You were happy, ecstatic, with a heart full of laughter and lightheartedness.

Well, that is, until Lee Jihoon ruined your night as easy as breathing.

“Seriously, Y/N? Him?” he asked with a disgusted look as he refilled his cup with cocktail by the buffet table. “Who knew you’d stoop so low just to get a guy?”

“Excuse me, Lee Jihoon. What do you even know about Jinwo?” you defended with arms on your waist and a brow shot high on your forehead. Jinwo was beside you, glaring at the brown haired man who had a mocking smirk on his face.

Jihoon simply eyed at your date and then scoffed as if he knew something that you don’t.

“You don’t know, Y/N? He’s like dating one girl from every department in our college,” Jihoon grinned after continuing; amused at how you were wide eyed and speechless.

Yet Jinwo simply looked enraged that time as his face flushed red and gave you the cup of vodka he was holding. Your date took a step closer to Jihoon who didn’t even flinch when the taller guy seized his collar.

“Say that one more time, you fucking bastard!” Jinwo dared and you knew Jihoon was going to do it just to provoke him. So you moved to stop Jinwo’s arm from hitting Jihoon’s face even though you wouldn’t mind it.

“Jinwo, stop!”

You were shouting at him yet his fist was faster than you could have imagined. Jihoon got squared in the jaw and the fight erupted soon after. Jihoon was hitting Jinwo with an intensity you never imagined he could and the taller man was surprised at how the other was so intent to kill him.

Afraid that it would transform into a bigger fight, you called for the host, Choi Seungcheol who quickly separated the two. Jinwo was still thrashing around, held on the arms by Kim Mingyu as he was brought outside of the venue until you can’t see him from the crowd of onlookers. Jihoon, with a cut lip simply stood beside Seungcheol with an arrogant composure as he fixed the collar of his sweater.

You were still in the middle of shock when Jihoon grabbed your arm and dragged you out of the party. He must have said something to you yet you weren’t really listening to anything anymore. At your grasps, you had everything you wanted in your life then it all came crashing down because of one single guy who was now guiding you down the street towards your dormitories. You had realized this and halted in a screech.

“What the fuck is your problem with me, Jihoon?” you weren’t shouting, more like you were getting tired of his unexplainable shit that it all came into one exhausted question.

“I don’t like you. You know that,” he replied nonchalantly, without turning to look at you.

“And so?”

“So, what?”

“Did you know that you just ruined my entire night? I was having a blast! I got a main role in the Gala, my date was the best I had for two years, and I had friends congratulating me! But what did you do? You fucking picked a fight with Jinwo! Can’t you just leave me alone?”

He was silent under the dark shadows of the elm trees on the sidewalk yet you weren’t really waiting for an answer. You walked pass him; having enough drama for one night and strode straight ahead to your dorm.

You knew he was gazing at your retreating back yet he stood there motionless in his spot until you turned at the curb.

“Where the hell is that asshole?” you hissed to yourself after tuning the piano with the whole orchestra.

Apparently, Jihoon was late for practice and this was the first time it happened. Normally, he was right on schedule and he would scold anyone who would dare appear late. You never tried to, though it was somewhat tempting to piss him off yet for the sake of everyone, it was better not to provoke the conductor. You were broken from your reverie when you heard the auditorium doors swung open and out came marching a panicky Jihoon who had his scores messily gathered in a folder and his baton sticking out from his pocket.

“Sorry I’m late. I assumed you would have finished tuning so let’s begin with the 35th measure of the second movement,” he blurted out rapidly as he climbed the stairs and to his podium right beside you. He assumed position without even catching a breath, raising both his arms with a baton on his right hand as he said, “Alright. Let’s begin.”

“Stop. Stop,” the brunet conductor slammed his baton on the music stand and sharply turned to you, who looked both confused and wounded. “You are supposed to play in the background! Can’t you tell that you’re being too loud?!”

You grit your teeth at him as you shot daggers with your eyes. You tried to remind yourself not to go along with his outbursts yet you just couldn’t let it go without defending yourself.

“How would I know what you want when you keep on scolding me like that? Can’t you just tell me normally that you want me to play pianissimo in this part? That’s the problem with you! You keep things to yourself so how are we supposed to play like you want us to?!” you retaliated as you sat up from the piano bench and marched towards him.

“You should know what to do by now! How many times have we practiced this piece since last week?” Jihoon narrowed his eyes at you and then continued. “Or maybe you don’t want to follow what I say because you’re that much of a show off? Why don’t you just fucking play solo? You don’t need the orchestra!”

His words bit you so cruelly that you were simply rendered speechless and warm tears pooled from your eyes and fell down to your flushed cheeks. You held on to your fists as you bit your lip; trying to contain the emotions which were welling up from inside you.

“I hate you so much.”

You cursed under your breath and then escaped from the stuffy auditorium so that your jerk of a conductor would no longer witness how his words scarred your self-esteem.

 Jihoon dragged his body from the front door towards his bedroom and upon reaching the comfy mattress, he allowed himself to fall into its soft comfort face front. Today was the worst among all the shitty practices he had in his life and it was not helping his headache nor his insomnia.

What he needed right now was that song.

If he could hear it one more time, he vowed to himself to give his neighbor some gratitude for helping him calm down. It was the reason though why he woke up so late in the morning and thus, almost missing orchestra practice yet he didn’t care. Nothing could make him sleep so soundly, however, without it, Jihoon was cursed to replay the events that happened just half an hour ago in his head.

The image of you crying was burnt into the back of his mind. The tears running down your cheeks and the words you told him had widened his eyes and tug on his heart and when you made a run for it, Jihoon felt too exhausted to continue the rehearsal and dismissed everyone.

You should apologize to her. It was his conscience calling him yet his pride was pulling him not to.

A man shouldn’t make a lady cry. Jihoon bit his lip and gave a defeated groan against the comforter. So what if some of his pride was crushed? He did accuse her of things she wasn’t and she was hurt by his words.

He must have had that line of thinking when the song began playing again from the other room and it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep; lulled by the gentleness of the melody.

3 months ago

He shouldn’t have come here.

“Jihoon! Your turn!”

He could hear Soonyoung forcing him to swallow the shot of soju on his hands and he was too tipsy to even whine a refusal.

He shouldn’t have come here.

“Wow! How many shots have you taken, Y/N?”

“I dunno. Close to ten, maybe?”

Jihoon could hear the reason why he was in that drinking party in the first place and he couldn’t even formulate an insult at his condition.

Fuck this. Fuck my life. Fuck Y/N.

Hm. That wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

No. Bad Jihoon.

“Y/N! Could you take care of Jihoon for me?

It may be Soonyoung talking or something. He saw you looking hesitant at the request.

“Are you insane? He hates me, I hate him!”

Yeah kinda. But he was just too drunk to say that he can take himself home even without your help. Jihoon simply slid down the floor; looking at your general direction and mesmerized by your actions.

“I know you won’t kill him, so just take him home please! I’ll treat you with anything you want after!”

“I’ll make sure you treat me with some expensive shit.”

Jihoon wasn’t really paying attention anymore to the conversation and the next thing he knew, you were holding him by his arm and dragging him down the street to the dorms. You were cursing and complaining about everything as he slumped his head down; mind muddled up with the scent of alcohol and your perfume.

“I can’t believe such a puny guy can be so heavy! Jesus Christ!” you grumbled as you towed him over your shoulders; realizing that the dorms were just too far away. “Dammit Jihoon! Walk, for fuck’s sake!”

“Sorry…” he muttered and then tried to walk, in which he barely succeeded, nearly toppling both of you to the ground. “Am…shorry…Y/N…sho sorry…”

Somewhat surprised that he was apologizing to you, you haven’t uttered a single word; afraid that anything you would say would sober up the demon inside him. Upon arriving to his front door, you struggled to fish for the keys Soonyoung gave you before he disappeared with a random girl on his arms.

“Jihoon, where’s your bedroom?” you asked the brunet hanging by your side as you flicked on the lights of his dorm.

“O’er there…” he replied, pointing weakly at the door beside the grand piano and so, you continued to drag him until you gently laid him to his bed.

“Shit. I feel like my arm’s gonna fall off!” you exclaimed as you sat beside him and stretched your upper body. You had completely forgotten about Jihoon for a moment and had a small heart attack when he suddenly tugged your shirt to get your attention; half-lidded eyes and red cheeks met yours.

“Sorry…sho shorry…didn’t…mean to,” Jihoon repeated again and again as he feebly sat up; seizing one of your hands and gently massaging it. “Good…?”

You stalled for a few seconds until you remembered how to breathe and then stuttered to answer him. “What…what did you say?”

Jihoon frowned slightly and then started to press on your muscles harder. To say that you were absolutely confused about his sudden behavior was an understatement—you were completely baffled and weirded out. Lee Jihoon wasn’t supposed to be soft. He was the devil incarnate; a little gremlin—you often described him. He doesn’t know how to apologize to you, much less show a little gratitude or affection. He’s as bitter as his favorite black coffee and as cold as his permanent narrow gaze.

Yet here he was, massaging your tired hand as a way to recompense.

“Good…Y/N? Am…I…goooood…now?” he asked for reaffirmation and you nodded at him slightly; still somewhat stunned and you thought you couldn’t become any more astounded than you are currently. Yet when he gave you a small warm smile; his dimples showing and his eyes forming an eye smile, you thought that all of that night was just a dream.

“You’re…um…doing great. Tha-thank…you,” you mumbled and then stumbled on your words when Jihoon gave you a bright grin; cuddling on your shoulder right after.

“I’m happy…so…so happy,” he whispered solemnly. He had ceased on massaging your hand, instead, he simply held on to you tightly as if you might run away. You would have under normal circumstances, yet everything that night was not normal. Jihoon smiled…the world might be ending tomorrow.

“Have…to practishhhh…Y/N….shorry…tessst tomorrow,” he suddenly changed avenues and shifted on the bed yet he was too weak to do abrupt actions, so he simply remained on his position but continued mumbling anyway.

“You can’t. You’re shit drunk, Jihoon,” you scolded, however you didn’t attempt to move him in any way; afraid that the brunet might cling to you more.

“Have to…be…besssht…have to top…” he replied with a meeker voice than before. “Or they…they…won’t…I…can’t…shtuddy…no more,”

“That’s…um…I—”

“Mother…Father…scoldssss me…doesn’t like…me not…best.”

“You’re already great. Better than me actually.” Good thing he’s drunk.

“No, no. Y/N…Y/N’s good…really, really…good. ”

“This guy, really…you shouldn’t go to drinking parties when you get drunk so easily.”

You sighed and faced him; placing the hand which he was not grasping, on his head as you began to gently pat him. He seemed to like your gesture and nuzzled closer to your neck as if he was a child. Or your boyfriend. Ok. Y/N. Just because he turned soft on you for ten minutes, you’re now having weird thoughts. He might be Romeo when drunk but still Jihoon the gremlin when sobered up.

“If he’s just a bit nicer, it wouldn’t be weird if I did have a crush on him.”

 Jihoon couldn’t exactly recall what he had seen or heard that night. All he could remember was a melody playing on the piano; his piano. His thoughts were too scattered to realize that nobody should be playing on the piano because he lived alone and never gave anyone a duplicate of his keys, yet it didn’t matter. The song was nice—it suddenly became his favorite tune—lulling him to a paradise where his parents appreciated his work, where he wasn’t pressured to succeed and where he had a nicer relationship with you.

When a few streams of sunlight flashed upon Jihoon’s face the next morning, he felt like a train had hit his head last night and his mind was like a collection of jumbled ideas and images. He was staring at the ceiling yet he couldn’t recognize that it was indeed the ceiling he was looking at. Then the next thing he knew, he was on the sink; emptying his stomach.

“I shouldn’t have gone to that fucking party.”

“What’s this?”

Raising a brow, you took the sticky note off your door and read it more closely.

“’Liked that piece you played on the piano. Slept well ‘coz of it. Thanks.’ Well, what a way to start a day!” you exclaimed and inserted the note on your piano scores with a grin on your face. At least you were in a better mood to ignore your conductor’s rants.

Since your first class was around one in the afternoon, you decided to take a good bite at the nearest sandwich shop. You were in a good mood after all.

Ordering something like a chicken panini or whatever, you happily munched on a booth nearest to the window; your sheet music sprawled on the table for you to review the certain parts that needed your attention.

“Wait, what? A pianissimo after a series of octave jumps?” you whined as you took a bite on your lunch, chewing as you imagined how the piece would go. “C’mon! I have Rachmaninoff on my plate!”

“Why? Can’t you have Liszt and Rachmaninoff at the same time?”

You choked on your chicken panini when you heard the voice you wanted to hear the least; snapping your head in front of you and meeting his tired gaze. You automatically reached for your bottle of soda and drank the contents of your mouth down your throat.

Jihoon sat on the chair in front of you without giving any sort of preamble and just watched you panicking because of his unexpected presence. His hands eventually reached for your music sheets and helped you arrange them back to your folder.

You got more and more weirded out as you saw him help you clear away the table and by the time you were done, you sat back on your seat slowly; watching him with a confused expression.

“So…um…what brings you here?” you asked with hesitance; still wondering why he wanted to talk to you in the first place. “Is this for the rehearsal? The assignment in music theory? Or…um…chicken panini?”

The brunet conductor shook his head at all three of your questions and then suddenly retracted as if he had said something wrong. “No wait. It’s…yeah, it’s about the rehearsal. The other day’s rehearsal…”

“The other day…” you repeated his words and scrunched up your brows in confusion until you finally remembered why you went home crying in middle of your last rehearsal. “What…what about it?”

Jihoon gazed at you for a few seconds as if trying to scrutinize what you were feeling that moment before closing his eyes to collect himself. After some time, he opened them once more and then began to speak.

“I…well…I’m—I’m s-sorry. I said things I shouldn’t have…and, um…I made you cry, so…” Jihoon clasped and unclasped his hands as he struggled to spit out the words. “It’s against my conscience to make girls…no, um…rather, you cry. I don’t want you to cry…”

You honestly thought you were still asleep—there was no way such a day would be so good to you. You didn’t even want to breathe or blink, or Jihoon might disappear in front of you; so you sat as still as you could.

Yet Jihoon was not planning to stay a bit longer. As soon as he blurted out what he wanted to say, the brunet dashed out of the sandwich shop faster than you can react and you were left there standing and staring at his retreating back.

“What on earth am I supposed to feel?”

1 month ago; Leeds, United Kingdom

Leeds International Pianoforte Competition.

Your hands were sweaty as you stepped a foot into the lobby of the competition’s venue with the music score on your hands. It wasn’t your first time entering a contest abroad yet the Leeds was one of the biggest competitions you had in your entire life and you knew you can’t just screw it up because it means a great deal to your future career as a classical musician and—

“Would fucking hurry up, Y/LN? Unlike you, I don’t want to embarrass myself later.”

Your thoughts were abruptly interrupted as you were shoved away by Kim Jaehwa, another competitor from your university which seemed to be more hostile to you than Lee Jihoon simply because you refused to date him back in first year. Not wanting to stress yourself before the competition, you moved pass him yet the other simply clicked his tongue and gave a mocking laugh.

“What? Can’t seem to taunt back?” Kim Jaehwa called out from your back yet you simply rolled your eyes and continued walking. “Hey! I’m still talking to you, Y/LN!”

Proceeding to walk without any care, you ignored the shouts of the idiot behind you. You only stopped when you heard Lee Jihoon’s voice which was definitely weird because you knew he was back in South Korea doing god-knows-what. You turned around immediately, only to be greeted by the image of the smaller Jihoon arm-locking Kim Jaehwa.

“Better go elsewhere, buddy. Or I might break every single bone in your hand right now,” Jihoon muttered to the guy as you simply stood there watching in awe.

Luckily, Kim Jaehwa was smart enough to run away because you knew Jihoon would definitely break his fingers if he would try to retaliate. So, breaking out of your initial shock, you placed your arms over your chest and began questioning the other person in the lobby.

“Mind if I ask why you’re here?” You arched a brow and he gave a careless shrug.

“Why? Can’t I?” Jihoon smirked and you sighed in exhaustion. “My competition in Germany is already over, so might as well watch you embarrass yourself.”

“Thank you for your unwanted concern, Mr. Lee. I better go and embarrass myself now. Goodbye.”

You turned around and walked towards the backstage slowly with pursed lips, leaving Jihoon alone to his own devices.

“I’ll be waiting for your mistakes later. Be careful with those runs and match with the feelings of the piece!”

He still warned you though. Fucking perfectionist. Yet, you smiled for the first time that day.

And when the conductor raised his baton parallel to his chest, in one breath, you began. 

Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26 by Sergei Prokofiev

It begins with a slow andante clarinet solo; soft and mysterious and then gradually followed by the orchestra in the same slow tempo yet suddenly turns into a fast-paced movement with the piano entering immediately—also in fiery tune. With the whole orchestra clashing into one another in a threatening unrest, the piano almost in a battle with the orchestra. Reverberating low chords, tolling melancholic bell-like tunes, rapid movement mimicking a chase, strings foreshadowing a struggle about to unfold—it was as if the whole symphony was telling a story.

While Jihoon has higher standards than the highest mountain in the world, yet with you playing, you managed to go even beyond that. He can feel his whole body quivering in excitement as the notes kept on jarring with each other; forming an overall sound which made his eyes widen in exhilaration and anticipation for more.

It was a difficult piece. Just by hearing it, Jihoon knew that it was not a piece you can easily defeat in just a few days. The fingering techniques needed for those rapid piano movements interspersed with one another, for short, your hands were on top of one another while moving up and down the keyboard.

It was a performance which took him into a different realm…this is how Y/N would perform…this almost otherworldly performance…it resonated inside him.

Fuck.

That day, Lee Jihoon became afraid of his feelings.

3 months later; Seoul National University Auditorium

“Ahhhh. I feel so nervous!”

You could hear Kim Mingyu, who was contrabass one whining at the farthest end of the backstage and you simply sighed; trying to expel all the tension building up in your body. It was the Gala Night and everything which you and the whole orchestra had rehearsed would be tested and heard by everyone tonight. It was a night that would decide what comes after university.

“Alright, listen everyone!” The conductor, Lee Jihoon shouted as he stood above a wooden crate so he could be seen by everyone. “I won’t say don’t be nervous because you never listen anyway. However, this is it. This is our judgement day, our day of reckoning. Perform like it’s your last concerto and remember to be careful. I know we are all here for a reason. Let’s show those people why.”

You nodded yet continued exhaling breaths to control the shaking on your arms. God, you hated that feeling. Everyone dispersed with a calmer atmosphere and went back to reviewing the scores however, your  eyes were still trained to Jihoon’s that he had immediately noticed your gaze. He got off the wooden crate and walked towards you with a substantive expression which scared you.

Both of you never really had a decent conversation after Jihoon had apologized that day in the sandwich shop. Rather, he had grown somewhat on guard every single time you were around and he would limit his interaction with you as business-like as possible. You wondered if you had done something wrong because why is Lee Jihoon, who insulted you in every opportunity he gets, suddenly became so silent? It felt both unnerving and empty at the same time. You did miss fighting with him.

When the brunet finally came up to you, you weren’t really prepared to say anything. Instead, you just stared at him as if waiting for him to begin and so he did.

“So…um, how should I say this?” Jihoon stuttered as he scratched the back of his neck as the suit suddenly made him feel stuffy. “Even though I told you many times that you’re not that good of a pianist, I know that um…you…y-you—”

“Oh stop it Lee Jihoon,” you broke off his words with a groan and sighed. “I know it’s hard for you to compliment me, so just say what you want in the language you’re most comfortable with, because you being this weird is really, really frightening.”

Jihoon blinked at you for a few times until his apprehensive expression turned into his rare dimpled smile that made his eyes look like tiny upside down crescents and showed his small but sharp canines

“Alright. I’m looking forward in watching you embarrass yourself up there. Try not to be too excited,” he mocked you yet his tone seemed to be teasing rather than offensive.

“If I embarrass myself, you go down with me. Remember that, Mr. Conductor.”

“Then, remember to look at me and go with the feelings of the piece.”

“Since when did I find it difficult to look at you?”

“What? What did you say?”

“Nothing. C’mon, it’s our cue.”

As you made yourself comfortable in front of the grand piano with your stunningly exquisite golden gown, you glanced down on the ivory keys. Tonight, they are both your ally and your enemy as you battle with fate, with chance, with your body and your mind.

Under the glaring overhead lights, the whole orchestra stood before the expecting audience. Lee Jihoon had picked his baton with controlled composure and placed a glance at you. Nodding at him, you took a deep breath and a small prayer before he waved at the orchestra to begin.

Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30—Sergei Rachmaninoff

The first movement begins with allegro ma non tanto revolving around a beautiful, almost song-like melody; diatonic in nature. It then fully dives into a B-flat major key as the first theme—trotting gradually to a loud development section which opens with toccata like quavers in the piano and reaches a loud chordal section. It was emotion brewing; hidden under layers of notes and cadenzas as if it was an ode to life’s complexities. The climaxes were ferocious especially in the cadenza and morphs into a quiet wind and brass solo section. The first movement ends with the piano restating the first theme alongside the orchestra, and concluded with a rippling coda; a nostalgic retrace of the second theme.

As the second movement had set off filled with its heavy romantic thoughts, you recalled that this piece was one of the hardest to play in the whole world and it wasn’t a concealed fact that you had cursed, complained, cried and suffered during the whole three months of practice. The violins rolled in with the movement’s second theme as the orchestra accompanies the soliloquy of the piano. You glanced at Jihoon in front of you, guiding the orchestra to the masterpiece of the night. He must have sensed you watching him as you pressed your fingers on the chords and he turned to you with a small smile.

When the second movement had ended and the piano had continued to the final movement with a cadenza-esque passage nonstop, the mood of the auditorium was immediately charged with your quick and vigorous attacks on the piano; the brass section adding flair to every note. However, the final movement diverges from a regular sonata-allegro form and Jihoon had precisely informed you during rehearsals to be careful with the unconventional development which was a long-winding digression using the major key of the movement’s first theme. It was much easier for you after that, with the recapitulation of the original themes building to a toccata climax much like the first movement. As the conclusion draws near, the sweat in your brow was falling down your cheeks as you pressed four-note rhythms in a victorious and passionate melody in D major as the orchestra accompanies you through the end. Your hands and arms were quivering as you felt the vibrations of the music well up your emotions and with a final notes on the piano, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto in D minor completed with tumultuous cheers and applause.

Two years of failed auditions, one year of anticipation, three months of general rehearsals and tonight it had all ended.

You, for a moment, had muted out your surroundings yet when Jihoon finally tapped your shoulder to stand up, you immediately averted your gaze towards his eyes. He gave you a wide grin which you were secretly fond of as he clapped with the audience.

“Wasn’t that perfect really. You made a mistake in the first movement yet I’ll excuse you for tonight. You did great,” Jihoon had whispered to your ear as he guided you to the backstage to get a glass of water and the standard bouquet of roses.

“You really love to pick on me, don’t you?” you replied with a huff after downing cold water down your throat.

“No, I just don’t like you. Better prepare for an encore, by the way.”

“Wait, what?”

“You forgot? It’s tradition.”

When you got back on stage as the audience clapped once more, you were cursing Lee Jihoon silently for not informing you that concert pianists needed to do encores during Gala Nights. Feeling rather unprepared yet having no choice, you sat in front of the piano and decided to play something you knew by heart.

As you began with a sweet yet calming melody reminiscent of a quiet afternoon ambience, the whole crowd suddenly became quiet and the buzz from the excitement earlier had gradually died down. You were playing the main tune on your right hand and simple arpeggios on your left with a serene smile on your lips. Despite being instrumental, the piece you were playing was closer to a song—an adagio cantabile.

Jihoon who was standing just at the mouth of the backstage, felt his breath stop momentarily as his ears heard the notes you were producing on the piano. He felt confused, moved, astonishment and an assortment of emotions which he couldn’t describe any longer.

Fuck.

“It’s her. It’s her all along,” he muttered under his breath.

As your encore had finally ended, you gave a bow to the audience and shook hands with the concert master before walking back to the backstage for your long awaited rest.

Jihoon was still there in the same position and when you finally walked pass him, he had grabbed your arm and whisked you away from the oncoming barrage of orchestra members.

“What the hell is it again, Jihoon?” you asked with a bewildered and slightly annoyed expression. “You’re so difficult to understand!”

“And you’re always barging into my life!” he replied with the same tone as yours.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“It’s you! You’re—”

“Jihoon.”

You would almost roll your eyes at the person interrupting your discussion when you felt Jihoon visibly freeze on his spot. When you turned to place a glance at the newcomer, you immediately understood why.

“Father. I—”

“You disappoint me, Jihoon,”  

The first words which came out of his fathers’s lips stung to the deepest recesses of his being like poisoned thorns. And you simply stood beside him like an idiot, watching the events unfold.

“I’m sorry. I did my best so…” Jihoon heard his voice going smaller and smaller and his words choking him on the throat.

“Best? Tell me again that you did your best when a company or conservatoire approaches you after the concert. No one did, am I right?”

“Father…um…”

“I shouldn’t have let you study music when you’re just going to slack off.”

Unable to just observe the scene in front of you, you walked in front of Jihoon’s father with courage you never thought you had.

“Excuse me, sir. I may be intruding but I just want to point out that Jihoon never slacked off. He gives everyone hell but he gives himself something worse than hell. So for the sake of us who suffered under him, please retract your words.”

Jihoon’s father simply looked at you with the same cold gaze Jihoon had yet you grew immune to that certain hard stare that you were not by the least intimidated.

“And who are you?” the father asked, his tone harsh.

“Just some pianist. But that’s not the point. Please retract your words, sir because Jihoon was never a disappointment. He has won tons of awards and he will be working in Europe after we graduate!” you defended him with an intense glare before taking a breath and began talking once more. “He’s the most hardworking person I know that he even wants to practice even if he was dead drunk.”

Jihoon simply glanced at you with wide eyes and his mouth ajar, wondering how the hell you knew so much about him. But before he could ask you, his father had beat him to it.

“Let me ask you again. Who are you?”

You grit your teeth because you knew what he was asking for. He wanted to know who you are in Jihoon’s life yet that was a question you don’t know the answer to. He was neither your friend nor your worst enemy any longer. He was not your conductor because the Gala Night had just concluded. Jihoon was just a schoolmate and a friend of a friend yet you were defending him in front of his father.

That is if you continue to deny who Jihoon really is to you.

“I’m…I’m…I, um…wait—no, Jihoon is…Jihoon is someone I care about a lot. So Mr. Lee, please retract your words because it invalidates all of the efforts he did and struggles he had while studying music.”

You answered resolutely as you pursed your lips; waiting for an answer.

“I still think Jihoon has disappointed me tonight,” his father replied as he glanced at Jihoon who was staring at the concrete floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, and then looked back at you. “But, I will acknowledge that he had been working hard. Just like you said, Ms. Pianist.”

Jihoon’s father turned around and began walking towards the exit but before he disappeared in to the door, he had called out to Jihoon who twitched at the sound of his name.

“You should pick better friends, Jihoon.”

As the older man had gone off the backstage, you heaved a long sigh and placed your hands on your hips.

“We’re not even friends, for Christ’s sake!” you exclaimed however, instead of replying Jihoon simply seized your arm once again as he dragged you out of the auditorium and towards the compound of dormitories just far ahead.

“You need some explaining to do Y/N,” he told you as he pinned you on the door to his room; eyes boring through your soul as he stared at you intently.

“What? What are you talking about?” you replied as your brows knitted in confusion.

“Don’t play dumb with me. Tell me how you knew about my parents,” he demanded and you simply arched a brow at him, silently surprised.

“I…well, you told me…when you got drunk during Soonyoung’s birthday party and I had to drag your ass back to your dorm room,” you replied slowly as Jihoon simply gave you a puzzled look. “You…you don’t remember, do you?”

Jihoon stared at you blankly for a while as he tried to processed what you said and compare it to what little memory he had that night. Moments later, you didn’t need to be told that Jihoon had finally realized that you were telling him the truth. 

“Fuck. This is so embarrassing!” He grimaced but you simply shrugged.

“Well, what’s done is done. So can you let me go now?” you asked yet he snapped back at you again and you just had to give an unamused frown.

“I’m not done yet.”

“What is it now, Jihoon?” You groaned as you sighed; rolling your eyes in irritation.

“I should be the one irritated here. Have you had any idea how much you messed up my life?” he asked you and you stared at him incredulously.

“Wow, bro. So it’s my fault that your life is shit? Excuse me, Jihoon, you may not notice but you’re the one who keeps pissing on my life!” you replied, your blood beginning to simmer.

“Good that you noticed how I’m trying to get rid of you from my life but you keep on coming back that I don’t know what to do anymore!”

“Alright, Lee Jihoon. It’s your time to start explaining.” You pressed a finger on his chest as you shot daggers at him with your glare. “Why the fuck are your trying to get rid of me when I have no fucking idea what I did wrong? Tell me! Did I say something offensive to you? Did I physically hurt you? Did I hurt your chances of dating other girls—”

“YES—!”

“For the love of God, Jihoon—what the fuck did I do? Shit. Did I make you seem uncool during class or some—”

“Would you just fucking shut up—”

You were shouting at each other for a moment, then the next thing you knew was the feeling of his soft lips pressed roughly on yours; his hands cupping your cheek as your eyes dilated in shock. Jihoon moved and slightly angled himself to gently nibble on your lower lip as your breath hitched at the sudden action. He must have realized your surprise when he pulled away and gave you a tentative look before nuzzling his head on your neck.

“I’m never going to think of someone else as much as I think of you. It’s your fault. No one’s gonna be better than you, nicer than you, funnier than you or prettier than you. No matter what I do to make you leave my mind…insulting you, ruining your day, teasing the hell out of you, but it’s all just making me feel like shit,” he mumbled on your shoulder as you closed your eyes to digest everything he had said.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. I swear this guy…!

“Lee Jihoon?” you called out his name softly with restraint and he hummed in indication that you had his attention. “Someday, I fucking swear I’ll hit your head on a concrete wall. But for now I just want you to kiss me.”

As soon as he heard your words, Jihoon immediately left your shoulder and gave you a look of surprise. However, you didn’t have time for that and simply yanked the collar of his suit and pulled him towards you for a kiss.

It didn’t even took much for Jihoon to reciprocate as he again nibbled and licked your lips, earning a gasp from you which he took as an opportunity to insert his tongue in your mouth. His hands travelled to your hips as yours went around his shoulders; fiddling with his brown hair.

Playing with your tongue, he pressed his hips against yours and definitely felt his half-hard member grinding against your thigh. You left out a soft mewl as Jihoon pulled away from your lips and went in for your jaw and down to your neck; placing butterfly kisses here and there. He ghosted his lips on your pulse point before leaving marks that you wouldn’t care if it would stay until tomorrow.

One of his hands left your hips and opened the door behind you, letting both of you inside his room. Jihoon kicked the door shut while giving your collarbone a variety of nips and bites up until the upper part of your chest as you held on to his head, moaning every time he sucked harshly on your skin.

“J-Jihoon…ahh…the afterparty…Soonyoung might—”

“I don’t care. I wanted you for so long and no one’s gonna stop me.”

He then pulled you into his bedroom where his hands found your cheeks once more and gave you a long-drawn kiss as you hummed happily against his lips. Jihoon snaked his way to the zipper of your dress and pulled it down to get your bulky clothes off of you and pushed you down on the bed. As you hit the soft mattress with only on your underwear, you could immediately get a whiff of Jihoon’s scent on the sheets as the real Jihoon standing in front of the bed, discarded his coat and shirt and hovered over your sprawled figure.

“You’re so beautiful,” Jihoon whispered as he bent over your neck and peppered small kisses which eventually turned to licks and harsh bites.

“Jihoon…”

His name escaped your lips as soon as he began to touch your bare breasts; licking your nipples which hardened against the cold temperature of the room. He pinched and sucked as you cried out his name; your hands on the back of his head, messing his soft but messy brown hair. One of his hands then moved to your hips and then to your inner thighs, stroking the sensitive skin. You felt the wetness between your legs drench your underwear as Jihoon caressed your body more.

Without giving much warning, he pinched your clothed clit and your breath hitched in surprise, however, he continued to play with it, making you grasp on the sheets to control yourself. Impatiently, Jihoon pulled your underwear off and knelt down between your legs as he began to kiss, then suck on the skin of your inner thighs. You wanted to close your legs together instinctively however, he was holding you at the back of your knees that you couldn’t do anything but arch your back and exhausted your throat with breathy moans and gasps as Jihoon latched on your clit; ruthlessly sucking.

“Fuck! Jihoon…god! Your tongue feels so good…”

Screaming, you held on to his head as he ate you out; pushing a finger in and out of you which made you pull on his hair lightly. Eventually, you reached your own climax as your body quivered and shook at your own release. Jihoon hummed pleasantly as he lapped on your juices while you cried out his name over and over again; proud that he was making you feel good. He then sat up and wiped his cheeks which were glistening with your own juices; licking his hands clean as he gazed at you and only you.

“Did that feel good, baby?” he asked you, smirking as he placed chaste kisses on your cheeks and forehead and then chuckled at how helpless you looked. “But I’m not done with you yet, Y/N. You think you can handle rough?”

“Wha-What the fuck…Jihoon—”

“Of course you can, right? You’re the only one who can handle me.”

Your half-lidded eyes widened at his suggestion as excitement filled your lower half once more.

“Alright. On your knees, baby,” he ordered and you instantly followed; secretly exhilarated on what was about to come.

You shifted on the bed with your ass high on the air as your arms supported your upper half. While you were doing that, Jihoon finally pulled both his pants and boxers down as he pumped his erection at the sight of you. You could see on your peripheral view that he was bigger than you had expected him to be and you were slightly frightened with how much he would stretch you out.

Jihoon approached you from behind and caressed your ass as he slid two digits into your still sensitive pussy. You mewled when Jihoon pulled his fingers out as quickly as he pushed them and instead rubbed his shaft against your lower lips; his cock grinding against your clit. You could hear him chuckling behind you.

“Damn it, Jihoon. Stop teasing and fuck me already!” you cursed; having enough of his playfulness.

However, instead of following you, he merely bent down by your ear and whispered. “I’m sorry. What did you say, Y/N?”

You bit your swollen lips as Jihoon continued to grind himself to you; deciding long before that you needed him so much that it doesn’t matter if you begged.

“Jihoon…fuck. I need you. Please, please fill me up with your cock,” you pleaded; letting out a silent moan as he did not waste any time filling you up, his dick stretching you out.

Waiting for you to adjust to his size, Jihoon placed small kisses on your back, oftentimes, sucking on your skin and giving you kitten licks. However, when you finally told him that it was okay to move, Jihoon pulled and thrusted into sharply; making you scream on the pillows that smelled so just like him. His pace was relentless—fast and rough thrusts into you as he rubbed circles on your clit; grunting every time you tighten up for him.  

“You…feel…so good, baby. I wanted…you…for so long,” he breathed in every word as he pushed into you; filling the room with the sound of skin slapping and your sweet cries of pleasure.

When Jihoon shifted and altered his angle, his cock had brushed against your sweet spot that you didn’t care anymore if other people could hear you two fucking. Your voice was long hoarse yet you couldn’t help but scream when he pounded into our G-spot ruthlessly.

You felt your release building up as Jihoon continued to overwhelm you with pleasure until you collapsed on his pillows, crying out his name as your climax washed over you. Jihoon on the other hand, felt himself fall on the edge as you tightened around him; making his thrusts erratic. After pounding into you for a few more times, he finally pulled out and came on your back with his loudest groan.

Being so exhausted, you have never even realized that you had drifted to sleep until you stirred from your slumber. You felt an arm snaking around your waist as another body was nuzzling on your hair and for a moment, you panicked at the foreign sensations, however after remembering what had happened earlier, you simply sighed in relief and turned around to Jihoon who you never thought would be capable of cuddling.

You simply watched him sleeping for several minutes until his peaceful face contorted into an annoyed frown.

“Y/N, stop staring at me and just go to sleep,” Jihoon scolded you with a gruff voice and placed his head back on top of yours; breathing in the scent of your shampoo.  

“Jihoon I have a question.”

“Make it quick before I fall asleep,” Jihoon mumbled almost unintelligibly and you shrugged, knowing he would really fall asleep.

“Before your dad arrived, what were you about to tell me that time?”

“Huh? Ah…I just realized that you were actually the one who was playing that song after all this time. I really liked it.”

“Song? What…what song?” you finally replied with a rather small voice.

“You know, that one that goes like…”

Jihoon began to hum the tune of the song he was talking about and you realized then and there that he actually has a good singing voice.

“Oh that. I composed it a long time ago and I would play it when I feel really stressed.”

You could feel Jihoon hum an acknowledgement and you knew he was slowly drifting off. So, you went to tell him what you wanted to say before he falls asleep.

“Y/N, just be quiet already.”

“Hey. If I wake up alone here, I swear—”

“I won’t leave you alone, okay? We have a date tomorrow so shut up already and sleep.”

You shot a brow up as a small smile perked up on your lips.

“I want to eat ice cream tomorrow. Remember that,” you remarked and buried your head on his chest.

Jihoon smiled as he thought of ice cream parlors that you might like to go tomorrow before he had finally fell into slumber.

 Admin Hyeri

[oneddashone]

Games of the Year 2020

Given that I don't think anyone reads this, especially since I've largely stopped using it for anything other than these lists, it feels silly to write an intro on "what a weird year 2020 was" or whatever. It is worth mentioning, however, that in a "normal" year, it's quite possible that my GotY would have been different.

I think every game on this list was played on the Nintendo Switch, which, aside from FIFA, is really the only device I play games on these days. I've waxed poetic about this in the past, so there's no reason to talk much more about this now. I'm really hoping a "Switch Pro" comes out next year—to me, that's much more interesting and desirable than either a PS5 or X-Box Series Whatever.

Anyway, on to the list.

***RECOMMENDED*** What the Golf Minecraft Dungeons Bubble Bobble 4 Friends Mr Driller DrillLand Carrion Panzer Paladin A Short Hike Part Time UFO Immortals Fenyx Rising

I kept a list of all the games I played this year, and more than half didn't make the cut at all, so the games in this lowest category are all still extremely worthwhile games, in my opinion. What the Golf was originally a mobile game, but I played it on the Switch and had a blast. Very funny and inventive, and more than enough "game" there, in case you were wondering. I played through and beat Minecraft Dungeons with my daughter, which was a blast. She knew all the lore, and I knew the genre, so we were genuinely able to help each other out throughout the game. The new games in the Bubble Bobble and Mr Driller franchises were largely carried by my nostalgia for them—neither was perfect, but absolutely worth the investment if you care about the series. DrillLand in particular had some surprisingly inventive takes on the established formula.

Carrion and Panzer Paladin were nice surprises when they came out. A lot was written about the former when it debuted and I don't have much to add to that conversation, but I didn't see nearly as much love for Panzer Paladin. It's a fun little retro platformer, something like a "12 bit" art style, and you play through levels in any order you want, a la Mega Man. The most interesting part of the game to me is actually the weapon management system—you get a ton of weapons throughout the game, and the real strategy lies in choosing when to break certain ones, maintaining a steady supply of good ones, and even in using them to trigger checkpoints.

I watched my friend Ben stream A Short Hike when it first came out on PC, and I was excited to finally play it myself. It didn't disappoint, and I loved the relative short length, combined with the overall carefree and relaxed vibe. My daughter played through to the end too, which was nice. Another short-ish game this year was Part Time UFO, which, like What the Golf, was a originally a mobile game. Part Time UFO was made by HAL, and it shows throughout—most obviously in that Kirby shows up in the background from time to time, but also in the overall craft and polish.

The last game in this tier is Immortals: Fenix Rising, which nearly ended up being a tier higher, but in the end it just felt better here. This is a great take on an Ubisoft BotW clone (which I mean in the nicest way possible), and the setting is fantastic, but ultimately there are some key flaws that hold it back for me. Ubisoft's seemingly insatiable appetite to Get More Money Out of the Player, even after they've purchased the game, comes to mind immediately. Requiring a login and creation of an Ubisoft account is another. You don't really think about these things when you're playing the actual game, which is great, but it ended up being enough for me to dock it a little bit in the end.

***ESSENTIAL*** Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition One Step to Eden Streets of Rage 4 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin

Kentucky Route Zero is another game that I feel like has already been written about and discussed a lot, and I don't know what I have to add to that. I'm so glad it ended up on consoles—it always seemed to me like the kind of game that would be trapped on PCs forever. The one moment that will always stick out for me was when I was playing it in bed one night with the kid. We found something in our inventory that had a phone number written on the back, so, in effort to kind of indulge her and be a little goofy, I decided to actually call it. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't the fully realized "Guide to Echo River" (voiced by Will fucking Oldham!) that we got. It was an incredible experience, one of many in this extremely beautiful, thoughtful game.

One Step to Eden introduced me to a game genre I didn't know I needed—basically, "what if deck-based roguelite, but with an action-based real-time dexterity component?" It's all well and good to create a perfect deck in something like Slay the Spire, where any nerd can take as long as they need to run their perfect calculations or whatever during their turn, but it's really something else to try and do it while dodging complex enemy attack patterns at the same time. I feel like I read that this was based off a Mega Man spin-off, but to me it felt like a breath of fresh air in the increasingly oversaturated roguelike genre (oh, but more on that later).

Streets of Rage 4 is the perfection of a genre that I thought I was completely done with, and one that I think a lot of other people were done with too. Belt-scrollers made a certain amount of game design sense when they were first introduced in arcades, what with the goal being to collect as many of your quarters as possible—but the gameplay hook suffers tremendously when there's no tangible cost to failing. And yet the team behind SoR4 breathed new life into the genre, via incredible art, animations, and music. Most importantly of course is how it feels, and the deep combat system allows players of all different skill and interest levels to get exactly as much out of the game as they put into it. A friend played this in a much deeper way than I did, chaining combos across entire levels at times—whereas I just played through twice—and yet we both came away from it completely satisfied. This is a masterpiece of the genre.

Clubhouse Games is a sequel of sorts to the DS game of the same name. The first thing I think of when recalling this game is just the incredible amount of craft that clearly went into making it. From the heavy thud of the Hanafuda cards being forcefully plopped down to the sound of marbles jostling in Mancala, every little detail of this game has been thoughtfully executed. Sure, there's a few games I played once and never wanted to play again, but mostly this collection is just an outstanding bang for your buck. It also succeeds as a kind of virtual history lesson/tour of the best and most-loved tabletop games from around the world; and, especially during a pandemic, who could say no to that?

Sakuna snuck up on me towards the end of the year. Apparently it was first announced as a PS4 exclusive, but Nintendo saw it and rightfully made a big effort to get it on its platform as well. The gameplay mostly consists of an incredibly satisfying loop of starting the day by tending to your rice field, in full 3D life sim style, and then going out and exploring levels in fairly fast-paced 2D action/platforming levels. During the 2D parts, you'll find supplies that help your rice field, and by completing tasks there you'll unlock better equipment and weapons for the platforming levels. On top of all of that, there's a night/day cycle as well as a seasonal one, which vastly changes the type and amount of work you need to do in the field each day. That might sound like a lot, but it all snaps together wonderfully, leading me to quite a few "well I'll just play one more day" long nights. Oh and I haven't even mentioned the clear reverence shown towards the surprisingly complicated act of actually growing rice—every step of the way is a different kind of mini-game, essentially, and I ended up taking a lot of pride in making the best rice that I could. This is one I'll definitely still be playing into the new year.

***RUNNER UP*** Hades

Everyone's favorite horned-up mythological roguelike ensnared me pretty deeply when the full version was released on Switch this year. I had seen snippets of it on Early Access, which was enough to pique my interest, but I was still caught pretty off-guard by just how incredible this game actually turned out to be.

I haven't talked much about story in these write-ups so far, but it's clearly the first place to start with Hades. If I had to pick one thing to set it apart from similar games, it would be how perfectly the notion of dying and restarting is to the central story of Zagreus. Every time you die in an unsuccessful run, which will be a lot early on, you're encouraged by NPCs to try again—and not only that, it makes thematic sense with—and in fact is central to—the story of the game. This completely removes the sting of feeling underpowered and kind of helpless in your early runs, and to keep playing and powering through it.

The pantheon of gods in this game will show up and offer to help by way of boons. These grant you temporary new abilities, which not only vary depending on which weapon you've picked, but will also combine with and modify other boons that you pick up in the run—not unlike the weapon synergy of Binding of Isaac, for example. The gods have their own agenda, of course, but with some experience you'll start to favor certain builds over others, and to try to and build towards a fully-optimized set of skills to tackle the underworld. Then again, sometimes you'll get something you've never seen before, and change up your tactics on the fly. It's all very rewarding and incredibly replayable.

As with a lot of roguelikes, you do carry some things forward from run to run. As you unlock all of the weapons, purchase upgrades and new abilities, and naturally start to learn how the game works and improve your own strategy, you slowly begin to feel much stronger and eventually, well, god-like. The near-perfect difficulty curve gives players of all skill levels complete control over how hard or easy to make the game for themselves. This carries over perfectly into the "Pact of Punishment" system that's unlocked after your first successful run, which lets you dial up the difficulty to frankly fiendish levels in order to, first and foremost, keep skilled players engaged, but also to provide a ton of "end-game" content for those that want to keep playing.

And really, you'll want to keep playing. The first ending is just the beginning, as the story compels you to keep playing and see how everyone's stories pan out. The NPCs are incredibly well-written and the voice-acting more than lives up to the lines they're given. I was completely invested in these characters and the fates they would have to reckon with by the end.

I got my tenth clear—the first one to roll credits—fittingly enough on attempt #69 (nice). This seemed like where the game naturally "ended," and I put it down—even though there's still a ton of previously mentioned end-game stuff I could do in the game if I wanted. But the end of Zag's main story felt so pitch-perfect, and so earned by the experience with the game overall, that I decided to leave it on that perfect high note.

***GOTY*** Animal Crossing: New Horizons

This wasn't my first Animal Crossing game (it was, I think, my...fourth?), but it was the first Animal Crossing game that a lot of my friends played, and that alone made for a different experience than I've had with the series before. In the early days of quarantine, we were visiting each other's islands every day, trading items, sharing insider tips on the Stalk Market, and just generally enjoying the game in a social way that was suddenly not allowed in day to day real life.

For the most part, that lasted for about a month. Maybe two. But I kept playing, every day, for a few reasons. First was that I have a lot of time with this series, and more or less knew what to expect going in. I didn't get disappointed when Nook's Shop was mostly just stocking items I already had, for instance. But more importantly, I knew not to burn myself out on it early on. And look, I know there's no "right" or "wrong" way to play a game, but Animal Crossing (at least to me) seems unique in that the gameplay is so clearly designed to be enjoyed in 20-30 minute, daily chunks. There's just not that much to *do* after a half hour or so, but I was seeing friends' hours totals in triple digits after just a few weeks.

Two other things unique to this entry helped keep it persistent for me, I think. One, Nintendo committed to and delivered on a regular update schedule, which kept things fresh (and safe from the naughty time travelers of the world, even). Pretty much every month, something brand new happened, and it was enough to keep my interest even after I'd donated every fossil to Blathers.

The second, and much bigger thing by far, was that my daughter started playing. She named our island ("Turtlerock") and moved in on day one. We'd talk about villagers—which ones were our favorites, which ones we wouldn't mind seeing move away—and collaborated on the city-planning of our island. I played first, and was therefor the "primary resident" or whatever it's called, but I never made a big decision without checking in with her first. We're both invested in it, and it's been a fun experience to share together over the course of the year. Hell, we even counted down the last seconds of 2020 together in local co-op.

Sure, my house is paid off, I have two million bells in the bank, and my museum is roughly 95% filled out—but I still play this pretty much every day. It's become a ritual. Usually right after work, which happens to be the best light on the island; sometimes later at night, especially during a meteor shower; and on the weekends frequently in the morning—but no matter when I'm playing, the remarkable thing to me is that here we are, nine months later—still in quarantine, and still playing Animal Crossing.

[mulder-isms]

Musings over pizza - (Thorcid fanfic)

A\N: Hi *coughs because of the dust*

This fic was first inspired by this prompt I’ve got from anon:

Since they've known each other for so long, I'd love some sort of throwback about Thorgy and Acid knowing each other and then Acid seeing Thorgy becoming more and more popular and creating a scene in Brooklyn

also this adorable feedback:

Call me vanilla but I'd literally read anything you wrote like you could write 5000 words about Thorcid eating pizza on the couch and I'd be down.

And you need to know some things in advance:

1) Watch Thorgy playing the piano cardboard performance 

2) In a recent interview (7:13) Thorgy talked about his early adventures with Aja, so yes, Aja is in this fic COME THROUGH SEASON 9

3) Also this pic

4) This happens in the thorcid novel universe, but you have to ignore The birthday series lol and remember what happened in Twilight Time 👌  

5) Smut for your nerves!

PS: feedback is the wind under my wings, so help a bitch to still be inspired 💋

*

“It’s always Shane doing his Shane-nigans!”

The voice of his father echoed and hit the back of his head. It was his cousin’s birthday. Shane was 7 years old. The energetic little boy thought it was a cool idea to open one present. But then he wouldn’t stop after the first one and ended up opening all of them, consumed by his curious nature.

Every time he would do something crazy or reckless, or just existed being his unusual self, people’s reaction was always the same: a heavy sigh accepting what it was unchangeable. Shane was a force of nature. Wild and unpredictable, nevertheless still pure.

The year was 2006.

It was his first time performing out of the campus in an actual bar. He felt silly with his platform shoes and crazy make up, no padding, no body or a hint of glamour.  But all his friends were there to support him. He took a deep breath. This is what he wanted. To be free of conservatory rooms with perfect acoustic. He wanted loud and bad music blasting on his ears. He needed the chaos.

“Shane, you’ll be up in 10 minutes” an older queen warned him backstage. He started jumping to warm up and relax his tense muscles.

His dorm neighbor friend spotted a very well-known face strutting among the crowd, “Oh my god Acid Betty is here!”

Shane heard about Acid Betty but never saw her in the flesh. She was a vision with a huge blonde mohawk and an eyeliner that would go all the way to her forehead, cutting the dancefloor like a fierce goddess.

“She is fucking amazing” his friend mouth dropping admired, but his expression was changing by the second. “Oh shit she is coming this way!”

Their eyes met and she winked at Shane. He peered behind checking if it was really for him. But she was really going into his direction. She stopped being out of focus to be inches in front of them, an explosion of colors and a very luring presence.

“Good luck, kid. Hannah told me it’s your first day. We surely need a dance off to pop your cherry and spend that tip money” she spoke loudly and her voice was deep and matched her persona in a weird way.

“I don’t guarantee the tip money but the dance off and embarrassment is for free” he replied surprisingly fast and staring too much at all details of her outfit. He wondered if she noticed and was going to make fun of him. She was quite terrifying.

The facade broke when she laughed throatily in a dorky way and left them behind. Shane’s friend was still starstruck. Shane felt like he was possessed for some seconds, her strong presence taking over his body lighting his fire to kill that performance.

Drag was beautiful.

Maybe he would be that beautiful one day.

*

Jamin lungs were filled with the thick air, the mixture of perfume, cigarettes and the nauseating sweetness of fog machines. It’s been months since he was in a gay bar. Months since all his Acid Betty attires were hanging on his studio, lifeless. He didn’t want to touch it anymore. Acid Betty was dissolving from his skin every day.

He had a regular job where he could still be creative. A regular boyfriend by his side. Some people still recognized him and he pretended to care about them and smiled politely. Bar 4 had terrible lighting, and the stage was, well, there wasn’t one. They sat in a table next to it and his boyfriend was complaining about the noise. There was a painting decorating the black wall of the performance area. Just a blast of watercolors splashed on the canvas.

He used to be that.

A blonde tall queen entered the stage. He heard of her, people talking about how funny and witty her performances were, Brooklyn drag was going in all directions. Thorgy Thor. He had recollections of meeting her few years ago. He remembers her fire dancing by his side on the dancefloor. She had a different name. Something goofy.

The performance was a voice over, and she was playing a character that was that typical I’m-an-actress-singer-dancer L.A rejected type. He felt a strange connection. She had beautiful legs under the light blue tights and she was acting like she was in an audition.

“I guess everyone is a drag queen nowadays…” his boyfriend bitched taking a sip on his drink. Jamin didn’t care and kept staring at queen hypnotized.

“Actually, I’m Thorgy and I would love to audition for you!” the blonde queen pleaded in response to the voice over.

“Well, you gotta a cute look. What can you do?” the other voice on the recording asked.

“I’m an excellent pianist, and I can kick my leg really in the air like this!” and then she demonstrated throwing her leg high and people in the bar were laughing. Jamin chuckled and his boyfriend threw him a judging glance. “And I really can suck a great-

“Uh-huh!” the voice interrupted and everybody was cackling loudly. “Well, play away!”

Jamin observed Thorgy playing on the cardboard piano with all the feeling and intention in the world. He thought she was great and creative. He felt inspired. And staring at her endearing smile he couldn’t help but wonder if she really could suck a great dick.

“I’ve heard she actually plays the violin and other instruments”

He overheard someone commenting behind their table. He glanced at Thorgy again and that painting on the wall. People are full of colors.

*

After a couple of drinks and a lot of bitching Chris wasn’t feeling well and Jamin left him home. He was starving and decided to stop in his usual pizza place. It was open until very late and it was the favorite place for dawn stoners and starving drag queens post gigs.

He sat in his booth, ordered a large pepperoni one with nothing to drink since he was on a diet. He was drunk, tired and drained of Chris’s negative energy the whole night long. He heard a loud cackle coming from a group of queens that were eating and laughing on the balcony.

“We’re leaving, girl. It’s fucking 3 am how are you even still eating. We’re outside for a smoke, we give you 10 minutes”

One of the queens said to Thorgy that was devouring a piece with both hands and no napkin. The other queens left and Thorgy continued engaged in her piece. Their eyes met across the room. Jamin wasn’t sure if she was going to recognize him, although they’ve met a couple of times out of drag. He waved coyly and Thorgy squinted her eyes trying to recognize him for a few seconds.

She opened a smile with a half full mouth, got out of her stool and was on her way to join Jamin in the booth. He regretted the decision immediately as she was approaching holding her pizza.

“Acid Betty on Joe’s! What an unexpected encounter!” she chanted sitting in front of Jamin.

“Hi” he replied putting his pizza down. “ It’s the only place open after you spent hours tucked and hungry and that people won’t judge you”

“Yeah, but you’re not tucked or hungry”  Thorgy noticed eyeing him curiously biting her lower lip. Her make up was smudged and her gray blue eyes were popping out because of the blonde wig and navy headband.

“I’m drunk and pissed, and these make me hungry” he replied quickly making Thorgy laugh. It was an unarming sound.

It was funny how they would have this brief encounters with fiery witty conversations.

“I was at the Bar 4 with my boyfriend. I really liked you performance” he remarked grabbing another piece.

Thorgy looked at him for a few seconds surprised with the compliment, her mouth curling into a half smile feeling her heart suddenly beating faster.

“Um…I was kinda feeling like shit when I recorded. Thank you” she replied looking down and playing with the plastic fork that was on the table.

“I overheard you actually play the piano and the violin. You should do it in drag”

Thorgy scoffed. The idea of playing her violin in the middle of drunk people banging on the walls to Lady Gaga was at least scary. They would throw tomatoes at her.

“Listen to your heart. Fuck other people.”

He answered her unformulated question and Thorgy was quite stunt by it.

“I’m afraid if I start listening, it will never shut up and I already have enough voices in my head” she confessed. Acid analysed her with curiosity, as if she was something to be discovered. It was an enticing look.

Thorgy was afraid of the randomness of everything. That the people that could be important to you, that could read you like a pleasant book, might just pass you by. We can never know what they really mean to us. There’s no soulmates signs on their foreheads. There’s no sign of “keep me” popping out of their heads.

They both stood in silent and Thogy noticed her friends outside making gestures for her to hurry up.

“Chris was asking about your name and I never asked you about it.” Jamin recalled chewing and noticed Thorgy staring at his mouth.

“My middle name is Thor”

Jamin raised his brows surprised and chuckled.

“I’m Shane Thor Galligan”

“Thor-gee” Jamin concluded before she even finished and Thorgy just nodded. “You have the fierceness, the viking dreads, but you’ll need the hammer at some point, girl”

Thorgy smiled and got out the booth making a gesture that she needed to go.

“For now I don’t even have a car” she shrugged squeezing Jamin’s shoulder before leaving him with three remaining pieces. Jamin observed her fading inside the crowded car into the night through the glass of his booth. ‘Until the next random pizza sharing encounter’ he thought.

*

It was one of those weeks where getting out of the bed was a struggle. An unseen force would pull Shane down, would break his spirit. Hours wandering around the house. Rearranging the closet that was already arranged. Alvaro was worried about his friend, and if a life long friend is worried about you something must have been really wrong.

Some people paid him a visit, and he wasn’t expecting Aja to appear on his door at all. She was a cool Brooklyn chick, fresh blood and full of energy. He once was like this. He too thought he was the new cool drag that everyone was talking about. Aja was around with her group of friends and she had all figured out like all millennials. Bursting into parties with fake ID and turning on the dancefloor.

Right now in front of his door it was just Jay, with a box of pizza and a bottle of wine. He was wearing a jeans jumper and a ripped t-shirt, a backpack on his back.

“Bitch why you cancelled yesterday. It was amazing at the metropolitan. Now I’m officially legal to drink”

“Officially legal to die drinking you mean” Shane remarked. “Girl, what are you doing here?”

Shane was walking into the living room indicating that Aja could come in. He sat on the couch embracing his legs as Aja opened the box of pizza.

“This is a cheap ass wine that I use for some cleansings. And speaking of that…” he observed Shane and the apartment that was unusually tidy. “The energy of this place seems a little off. And you girl, where are your ‘woos!’ storage?”

Shane shrugged defeated. He went to the kitchen to pick up some glasses for them. “I guess I’m out of it”

“I’m here for a little magical intervention. I owe you girl, you’ve booked me to all these gigs last month. I want to read the cards for you and get rid of whatever is giving me chills right now” he said shrinking and brushing off the invisible force. Shane laughed shaking his head.

“You’re a cuckoo witch”

*

Aja put some Kanye on while Shane protested but after a few glasses of wine and some conversation about Aja’s crazy dates and adventures he was feeling lighter. When he started sorting the cards on the coffee table Shane was having his second piece of pizza.

She pulled The wheel of fortune at first.

“This too shall pass” he started mysteriously. “Whatever you’re feeling right now, remember, everything vanishes. Also a huge change is on the way about your career.”

“Well, after listening to this record I’m quitting classical music officially” he drunk stated taking a big gulp on his glass.

“It’s funny, because my mother read the cards for me this week and it was my first too”

Shane was observing Aja’s painted nails going through the cards and his head already spinning with the possibilities. He picked out another one.

“Lovers” he scoffed rolling his eyes showing the cards of two identical hearts together. “You’re a gemini. That’s your official card. It means it’s time for you to stop whoring around and pay attention to love. The good type, ya know? From Nicholas Sparks books and shit. You need to open up the possibilities that you can be loved” then Aja stopped talking and looking at the wall behind Shane. He widened his eyes scared. Was he seeing something?

“What bitch?” he asked nervous and looking behind.

“The image of something related to a new year came to me…like a sunrise?  A sunrise after a New Year’s eve party?”

As Aja was speaking Shane got chills on his spine. The memories of that unforgettable New Year’s Eve with Jamin emerged from the depths of his mind.

“I don’t know, sis. This wine is cheap as fuck and the mushrooms of this pizza” Aja speculated organizing the cards again to put in the case again.

“That’s it?” Shane grunted still curious.

“I’ll write you some things you need to do. You’re going to have the bath of your life”

After finishing the pizza, Aja left some notes for teas and a bath that involved milk as an ingredient, so Shane could snap out of whatever was going on is his busy mind. The image that he conjured was still haunting.

He also wondered what changes could happen to them. Everything seemed so still, like the world wasn’t moving around, and gravity was sinking his feet. He felt like nothing could change. Aja was still young and vibrant, and maybe her visit was a reminder that he still had it too.

*

The auction was going well. People were buying Acid’s iconic attires and wigs but somehow Thorgy felt defensive about it. As she was watching Jamin talking to audience, she didn’t want to see those outfits go. They were part of Acid’s history, and so of her too. She never minded auctioning her stuff because they were most from thrift stores. But these were made by Jamin’s beautiful hands. And they would become just a disconnected piece of an incomplete look.

After the gigs, they all went to Jamin’s house to hang around in his studio to have some drinks. Alotta was there and Shane questioned how this friendship bloomed. Jamin was part of the Brooklyn scene again and he couldn’t be more happier. After all the queens left, they ordered a pizza.  Since he didn’t have the intention of staying, forbidden by Jamin that said he needed to organize the place, he just took a shower and put on a purple jersey he had on his bag for weeks and nothing underneath.

Jamin was on the couch of his studio just browsing through his phone, no shoes, feet on the coffee table. The pizza box was closed waiting for Shane. He was still wearing his checked suit and Acid Betty’s t-shirt.

Shane came in the room analyzing the whole place, checking some of his paintings and toys. He held a sweet smile, like this place was the core of Jamin. He picked up a troll doll that was on the shelf and stroke the blue hair. Jamin glanced up and down aware of his presence, and then he looked up again locked with the vision of Shane with that oversized jersey, no shoes on, the hairy legs in all their glory and the dreads half loose in a bun. His complete weakness.

“I’ve never seen a jersey so out of place in my whole life” he pointed out checking his body and he approached to join him in the couch. Shane just shimmed and sat by his side putting his legs over Jamin’s with no ceremony and lying down. His arm reached for a piece of pizza that he shoved into his mouth still laid.

The Jersey was barely covering his crotch and Jamin side looked down at him still holding his phone, placing his elbows on Shane’s legs.

After some seconds in silence eating his pizza and observing his boyfriend Shane felt like talking but he paused. He noticed the lines on Jamin’s forehead. His perfect lips wet by the red tomato sauce of the pizza. His black hair fading away with the memory of the first time he saw Acid out of drag. Blonde and skinnier.

He loved this version if front of him more than any memory of their long history of brief encounters. At last, found in translation.

“I was bothered to see all your stuff go. I don’t know. I’m kinda sentimental about outfits. The wig that you were wearing when I first met you was there. You make everything you wear. I felt like I was seeing little pieces of you being taken away by strangers”

Jamin stopped typing on his cellphone and sighed looking at his boyfriend, he rubbed his legs and laid by his side, hugging Shane by the waist, putting a leg over him. He started nuzzling on the hollow of his neck and Shane continued eating but started giggling with the ticklish sensation of Jamin’s stubble.

“Don’t bother, Thorg. They’re just outfits. Sometimes you need to get rid off the old stuff so your mind can see things without dust on it. I’m creating plenty of new stuff.” he reassured him whispering on his neck. Shane wasn’t still very convinced. He reached out another piece and handed it to Jamin that devoured it quickly.

“We’re on that stage. We’re eating pizza laid down with onions falling on our faces and we don’t give a fuck” Shane realized disgusted but accepting the reality.

“And we’re going to have sex smelling like pepperoni” Jamin added and Shane raised his brows with a smile curling on his mouth.

“Are we? I’m not staying over. You were the one kicking me out saying that you needed to organize your studio” he recalled playing difficult and prompting himself to a sitting position brushing off all the pizza remains that were on top of him.

“Well, you appear naked wearing a goddamn purple jersey you leave me without options” he defended himself pulling him back by the waist but he fought back. But not much since Jamin started kissing his lower back sending shivers to his spine.

He got back to the couch and Jamin was on top of him and their kiss was deepening. His stubble was scratching faintly at his skin in a way that was making him tingle all over. Shane’s hands were exploring Jamin’s back, going south to grab his ass and pushing his hips further between his legs. Jamin’s cock was hardening and rubbing over Shane’s belly, his pants becoming small and uncomfortable.

Jamin positioned himself on his knees so he could remove his suit. Shane was watching him still painting and flustered, legs locked around him, throbbing with desire.

“Take off your pants and lay on your back” Shane ordered before Jamin could even decide what to do. He laughed getting out of the couch so he could remove all his clothes and Shane followed him.

“You’re such a jock with this jersey” he teased Shane that pushed him to lie on the couch where he collapsed. He was on top of him in seconds with Jamin’s cock in hands, licking the head as if it was his favorite popsicle. Jamin could feel Shane’s cock squeezed between his legs and he rubbed making him moan in pleasure. He took him to the whole and the vision always made him impressed. Shane grunted in appreciation as Jamin’s hips were rising against his face.

Shane was so dedicated to this task, it was clearly he was relishing every second. He suddenly stopped and changed position, making Jamin open his legs and he lowered himself, kissing the inside of Jamin’s thigh and he shivered, both at the touch and at the loss of the pressure of his mouth.  

He was rapping his hand around Jamin, resting the thumb on his tip, smoothing the precum that was forming. Jamin’s fingers were raking through his dreads while he moved lower, licking his balls to find his entrance.

“Fuck Shane…” he pleaded overwhelmed with the stimulation. Shane laughed watching him with eyes closed, his stomach going up and dowm. Shane was grapping his hand around his cock pumping him firmly and slowly, up and down, with a mischievous grin. He slid one of his finger slowy inside him, licking the place to make the move smoother.

Shane’s mouth and finger work in tandem was too much. Jamin was fighting the urge to push his head further inside him, but instead of that he pulled him to stop. Shane was already kissing his stomach, slowly going up, his tongue swirling on his nipples.

Jamin pulled him for a kiss and softly chuckled holding him onto his chest.

“You are so horny today” he stated still short of air as Shane removed some pubic hairs from his mouth giggling . “I thought you were still sore from yesterday” Jamin was still painting looking down at Shane, his cheeks all rose and lips swollen.

“Well…I am…” he realized as if he was aware of that only in that moment and numb the whole time with desire. “But I want you to fuck me. Really hard. Like, now”

Jamin’s eyes widened and he cackled scared of his urgency.

“Get the lube” he gave up trying to make some sense into Shane’s head.

“Ugh” Shane complained. He was perfectly nested on Jamin’s chest and he didn’t want to get his purse inside the apartment. He eyed the bottle of olive oil on the table and wiggled his brows.

“Are you serious?” Jamin was incredulous as Shane reached for the bottle over Jamin as if he was a rug, pressing on his lungs.

“Come on, bicth” he ordered again. “It’s an oil. Smells great and it’s edible.”

Shane laid on his back and Jamin put some olive on his cock and on Shane’s making him giggle.

“You’re paying to wash this couch” Jamin complained but he was extremely turned on with the whole thing. Shane pulled him by his neck impatiently.

“Shut up and fuck me already” he whispered inside his mouth. Jamin’s stomach tensed in anticipation as he slid one finger inside Shane, preparing him, making him moving his hips up and moan.

He placed himself inside him slowly making Shane ache with the urgency, their gaze locked. Shane removed his glasses and Jamin’s and put on the coffee table so he could cup his face as Jamin’s hip was going further in and out of him. Shane could feel the energy radiating from his body, and his breathing quickened, his stomach fluttering with anxious desire.

They were kissing as Jamin went faster, placing himself on his knees and putting Shane’s legs up over his shoulder. Shane started pumping his cock but Jamin took over, and kept thrusting, Shane’s butt cheeks burning with the pounding. Shane’s cock was glistening with precum but Jamin didn’t stop pumping him.

Their bodies slapped wetly together, and he grunted as he held Shane’s hips still, his cock savagely pounding into him. Shane’s thighs were shaking, and he knew that he was on the edge. He kept moaning non stopping incoherence mumblings.

Shane’s breathing hitched as he felt her orgasm building. “Don’t stop,” he panted breathlessly, as his body began to convulse, the knees tightening, his core arching forward. Jamin continued his assault as Shane was still pulsing around his cock, their moans matching in intensity.

Shane was curling in pleasure as he stroke his cock feeling the other orgasm hitting, spilling his cum all over his stomach. Jamin followed him right after, removing his cock and shooting over his stomach too. He felt the waves of pleasure spreading all over his crotch and legs and he collapsed over Shane reaching for a languid kiss. They were just breathing heavily and nuzzling their noses. They were feeling the hot liquid between connecting them like glue. The sensation was quite funny.

“We’re like a very disgusting pizza” Jamin whispered, his head resting under his chin. He observed Shane’s purple jersey on the floor.

“I think there’s olive oil even on my hair” Shane touched the top his head grabbing some dreads.

They stayed there entwined by olive oil.  Shane paid for the couch cleaning but Jamin decided that it needed a new fabric. It was dirty again with paint and make up two weeks later.

*

The Metropolitan bar was full. Everybody was excited for the new episode of season 9. Thorgy was in the dressing room almost ready to come out with Aja fixing her orange suit and skirt. She looked like a futuristic secretary from the 60’s. Thorgy was listening to “Que sera, sera” from Pink Martini on her phone as Aja was finishing her make-up.

“Girl, did you take that bath that I prescribed to you years ago? Oh my god, I’ve never asked you about it!”

Thorgy was wearing his curly brown hair wig and fixing it with a comb. She stopped trying to remember what she was talking about.

“Pfffff, I lost the paper and probably ate the ingredients” she scoffed fixing her Thorgy t-shirt looking at the mirror.

“And how about the new year party thing?”

She just shook her head trailing off the subject. Aja was the real deal and the younger queen took her silence as a confirmation.

“Sis, I told ya. Wheel of fucking fortune.”

Then Aja posed to the mirror sending a kiss to her own image. Thorgy thought that maybe her witch friend could win. Maybe the wheels were still rolling.