#this is also from the arcade but I didn’t want it on the same post

[hums0ftheheart]

[hopelessromanticwh0re]

20:40

One of the most exciting days for you was always when Vernon came back home after weeks or sometimes months on tour. He would sweep you into the biggest, warmest hug, making you feel whole again. You’d spend hours catching up, talking about the tour, how much you missed each other, and the new foods he’d tried while he was away. To top it all off, you’d always go on a date that same day—usually something silly and fun like the arcade or bowling.

However, today was different from your usual routine. Vernon came home looking tired, but there was something else, too—something that seemed to be weighing on him. The hug that usually melted all your worries away felt short and distant. Instead of heading to your shared room to talk, Vernon quietly slipped off his old clothes, threw on some basketball shorts, and lay down on the bed, face halfway buried in the pillow.

You followed him, sitting on your side of the bed and looking at your boy.

“Baby,” you said softly, giving him a gentle shake. Vernon turned his head slightly to look at you, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, and his pink lips set in a pout.

“Bub, you okay?” you asked, stroking his fluffy brown hair.

“Just sleepy,” he mumbled.

“Yeah?” you replied, and he nodded.

“Sleep well,” you whispered, leaning down to kiss his cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too, bub,” he murmured, finally closing his eyes completely.

Vernon ended up sleeping longer than you expected, and eventually, you drifted off as well. When you woke up, it was around 1 a.m., and you noticed Vernon wasn’t beside you. You found him on the patio, smoking a blunt in silence. He didn’t smoke often, but when he did, you knew something was wrong.

“Baby,” you said quietly from the doorway. Vernon sat on a chair, his elbows on his knees, the blunt in his right hand. He turned his head to look at you.

“Hi, Princess,” he said, motioning for you to sit on his lap. You walked over, straddling his lap and burying your head into the crook of his neck.

“Sorry we didn’t get to talk much today,” he whispered, rubbing your back.

“It’s fine,” you assured him, your voice soft.

“What’s the matter, baby?” you asked, lifting your head to look into his eyes. Vernon placed the blunt in the ashtray and shook his head.

“Love, you can tell me,” you encouraged, bringing your hands from his neck to his hair. “That’s what I’m here for.”

He took a deep breath before speaking. “I think I want to go back private,” he said, looking into your eyes. You paused for a moment, waiting to see if he had more to say.

“That’s fine,” you replied without hesitation.

“I saw the way people were talking in your comments the other day,” he continued.

A few days ago, you had posted a picture of you and Vernon before he left for tour. Some fans were upset, leaving hurtful comments, but you hadn’t taken them to heart. Vernon knew that things like this didn’t usually bother you, but he still didn’t like that it was happening. He had also received a bunch of messages about the post from fans.

“And I’m so sorry you have to see all those mean things just because I’m your boyfriend,” he said, his sad brown eyes looking up at you. He rested his head on your chest, and you gently played with his hair.

“And I don’t want to be a bad boyfriend and not protect you from that kind of stuff,” he added.

“Oh, baby, don’t apologize,” you soothed, still running your fingers through his hair. “It’s not your fault. You shouldn’t feel guilty because of other people’s actions.”

“But if I was a regular guy, you wouldn’t have to deal with this kind of stuff,” he murmured.

“Maybe, but I knew what I was getting into when you asked to be my boyfriend,” you reassured him.

“I just feel like a bad boyfriend for putting you through that,” he said, sounding slightly upset.

“You’re not a bad boyfriend. You’ll never be a bad boyfriend,” you said gently, trying to calm him down.

“Are you sure?” he whispered.

“Positive,” you affirmed. “But, baby, if you feel this way, we can go back private—just me and you.”

“Yeah?” he asked quietly, looking at you with hope in his eyes.

“Of course,” you said, smiling at him.

Vernon wrapped his arms around you even tighter, placing tender kisses on your neck and up to your cheek.

“You’re truly the most perfect girl in the world,” he whispered in your ear. “Like, seriously, I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you.”

“I’d do anything for you, baby, and you know that,” you said before kissing his soft lips. “I’m happy if you’re happy.”

“I didn’t like sharing you that much anyway,” he teased, making you laugh. He smiled at the sound of your laughter.

“I love you so much, Princess,” he whispered near your ear, his voice filled with affection.

“I love you too, bub,” you replied, giggling at his ticklish kisses.

That night, you both decided to take a step back from the public eye. You deleted all your posts with Vernon and made your account private. Vernon deleted his post with you and logged off Instagram for a while.

It was just you and him, back to where you both felt most at peace.

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

okay so im back yet again. I wrote this like a month ago while I was listening to Mac miller and like came up with this idea idk. im not sure if it like my best work or even its a good idea in general, but yk it whatever. I hope you liked it guysss ily sm and thank for reading ofcc LOVE YAAA 🩷!! (also this was not proof read sooo sry if I fucked up somewhere)

[unhinged-simp]

LOVE YOUR HC!!! Can I ask for Haku, Romeo, Sho, Subaru courting the reader? And maybe a jealous HC if you are comfortable haha (could be combined to one or separated HC)

Haku, Romeo, Sho, and Subaru Courting Reader HCs(Gender Neutral Reader)

Of course! Thank you for requesting.

Ahhh thank you!

I'll do a separate jealous HCs since I didn't really include it in this post. I wasn't as well versed in courting hcs as I was in dating hcs, so I hope you enjoy.

Spoilers for the Hotarubi chapter in Subaru's part

It happened one day, out of the blue, when Haku asked you if he could court you. 

When you agreed, Haku began.

It started with texts. You two would converse whenever you had free time.

The texts ranged from ordinary school life to the flirting that Haku did occasionally. 

Next, Haku would give you little gifts. Flowers, little keychains that reminded him of you, plushies, and many more gifts.

And finally, he planned out many dates.

Restaurant dates were the first kinds of dates you went on. Then you went on trips to amusement parks and arcades. Now you guys go on little fun dates.

Haku would make sure to set boundaries between you and him.

If you enjoy physical content, he would make sure to initiate it. If not, he'd respect it.

Haku would ask Subaru and Zenji for advice for courting.

You would meet with the other ghouls in Hotarubi very often, having tea parties and talks.

Even though he's busy most of the time, he always makes time for you.

Romeo is a bit worse with courting. He didn’t even tell you he wanted to, he just started doing it. 

When you told him that you’d go through with the courting, he didn’t really react besides a “good choice” and a smile, but inside he was ecstatic.

Romeo was not that great at flirting at first, often times more of a backhanded compliment than a real compliment. Though after some conversations with Rui, reluctantly, he managed to get the hang of it.

The gifts Romeo brought you were oftentimes things he uses and owns. 

Similar clothes, the same perfume he wears, and even similar sunglasses. He also gets you lots of flowers.

Even with his busy schedule, he managed to plan dates. 

Fancy restaurant dates were the most common, although if you expressed interest, you could convince him to go to an aquarium, amusement park, or site seeing different spots in Japan. 

Romeo is very possessive and proud. The gifts he gives you are his way of “marking you.” 

He'd only be affectionate in public if it was a way to brag about you, and the fact that you’re the one dating the great Fico. 

He would actively keep you away from Taiga and Rui, especially Taiga. 

He’s always eager to meet up with you whenever his work ends.

Sho doesn’t really know how to court properly, but that still doesn’t stop him.

After much consideration, he asks you if could court you. 

He already texted you a lot, but he ups the romance a bit. He tries to flirt with you, but it ends up failing, at least you got a smile out of it. After lots of research he starts getting the hang of it.

Sho learns your preferences to pick out perfect gifts for you. 

He gives you your favorite flowers, clothes he knows you'd like, and jewelry that you love.

Though he does buy you small things like coffee and food.

Dates with Sho are often held at your dorm with a home cooked meal made by him. He does take you on amusement park dates, arcade dates, and even cooking dates.

Sho does enjoy physical touch, and often holds your hand. Kisses and hugs are saved for private. He loves cuddling with you.

He actively keeps you away from Leo, but he doesn’t mind you being around Alan. 

You’re his encouragement, and he looks forward to whenever he gets to see you.

Subaru is a mess when it comes to courting you. When you approve of him courting, he nervously starts.

Subaru’s texts are polite and romantic. He doesn’t know how to flirt, so he often asks for advice from Haku and Zenji. 

Subaru uses his stigma to learn your preferences, which helps him not overthink presents for you. He also gets help from Haku about gifts for you.

Lots of flowers, jewelry, and little trinkets are given to you by him. He gives you a pretty decorated good luck charm that he made.

Subaru’s dates are pretty chill. He takes you to watch Kabuki, you two have little tea dates, and you take little walks through scenic places. 

Subaru doesn’t like physical touch due to his stigma, but if you do, he’ll deal with it. He does like hugging you, he just wishes his stigma doesn’t activate.

You have tea and snacks with Haku and Zenji occasionally. Subaru sometimes joins in with them when he isn’t busy. 

[mimikyuno]

🎨🎀 cozy mizuena headcanons to cope with mizu5 🎀🎨

ena and mizuki sometimes post dancing videos on tiktok! ena is Terrible at learning the dances and mizuki teases her the whole time so when they eventually have the videos ready for upload ena is always frowning in them

for ena’s birthday, mizuki once made a 2dmv using ena’s selfies (which she animated) as a silly present… ena pretended to be annoyed but she was in full lesbian panic thinking of mizuki spending hours animating and editing her selfies alsgslsgsk disaster lesbian

mizuki’s real present that birthday was to pay for ena’s desserts at a cute cafe! ena loved taking cute pics of the place for her account but by the end of the day she ended up with more pictures of mizuki and of the two of them together than of herself or the place

this is not rly a headcanon bc it’s been established in game but they go shopping together at the mall at least once a week! they both get butterflies in their stomach and blush when the other recommends some clothes or makeup that would suit them

they love lending clothes and make up to each other!! they both act rly gay in private when they try on the other’s lipstick/lipgloss (their hearts hammering in their chests bc “this is an indirect kiss…”) and they breathe a bit deeper when wearing the other’s clothes, the scent making their chests feel tight with longing

for their first official date, they took the train and went to the place where they went on a picnic with airi and shizuku all that time ago. this is because they didn’t wanna run into anyone they knew and wanted a quiet place to be alone. they have a nice picnic and both are too nervous to talk but then mizuki breaks the silence by teasing ena about her bento looking all funny (she tried her best okay!). after that it’s all like usual!! the share bentos, talk about nothing, and on the walk back to the bus stop their hands brush together and they are both so red in the face they laugh at each other. they hold hand properly as they wait for the bus, looking at a beautiful sunset

after they get together, they don’t immediately tell mafuyu and kanade bc they’re scared they’ll think something in their group dynamic would change. they tell them in a very officious manner at the usual family diner, and kanade frowns while mafuyu deadpans “you talked about dates in the main channel. also kanade and i are in also involved, we thought you knew, we don’t hide it.” it’s all a bit chaotic after that but then they all laugh (and mafuyu smiles ever so slightly). mizuki already knew that knmf had mutual feelings for each other but she thought they’d say smth if they started dating. ena had no idea.

this is more of a kanamafu headcanon but they think they’re obvious bc they stand very close together and fix each other’s clothes and hold hands etc. but mizuena thought nothing of it bc you know. kanamafu are both quite autistic so norms don’t really apply to their behaviours.

mizuki wants a prize figure for a magical girl anime she likes so they schedule a date at the arcade. mizuki tries her best to get the prize figure but cant. ena decides to be a good girlfriend and says “leave it to me.” she sucks so bad that mizuki cries from laughing as ena yells abuse at the machine and everyone stares at them. ena punches the machine and the figure (which mizuki had moved near the edge) falls in the hole. they both look stare at each other in silence for a second and then laugh so much their bellies hurt. seeing ena laugh so much makes mizuki impulsively kiss her for the first time. they both stare at each other in shock before giggling and hugging

akitoya were at the arcade too, and when akito heard ena yell at the machine he grabbed toya and ran out the arcade without looking back.

akito and ena accidentally plan their coming out on the same evening and it’s chaos at the dinner table (bc they start accusing the other of copying them and “why didn’t you tell me first” and “akiyama? of course… you two are really made for each other” “what is That supposed to mean?!” etc) . their dad doesnt have much to say, but their mom demands they invite mizuki and toya there for dinner some time.

dinner with the shinonome’s is a lot of fun for mizuki! she gets to see ena and akito being silly and keeps teasing them when their mom is out of earshot (she wants to make a good impression). ena’s mom smiles very fondly when she sees ena sneakily putting her carrots on mizuki’s plate and mizuki pretending not to notice. ena’s dad comes back late from the atelier and shakes mizuki’s hand and asks her to take care of ena. it’s a very short meeting but it makes mizuki realize she really IS dating ena and it’s official and she can barely fall asleep that night even though they have been dating for a month.

once ena tried to sketch mizuki but she’s so nervous her hands keep shaking and mizuki’s teasing her but she’s also feeling very self-conscious and her heart wont stop beating fast! ena eventually manages to make a nice portrait, and mizuki grins all the way back home, and hangs the portrait over her bed. she think she looks cuter in the drawing, and keeps grinning thinking that’s how ena sees her.

ena meets yuuki one time when she is back from france and they hit it off rly well!! mizuki is so so happy to see the two most important people to her talk about fashion and french pastries! yuuki was told about ena’s sweet tooth so she brought her some macarons from france, and ena is so happy she is a bit over enthusiastic in thanking yuuki, and mizuki teases her quite a bit about it.

when mizuki goes to get them some drinks, yuuki takes ena aside and thanks her for all she did for mizuki since middle school (with niigo) and asks her to take good care of her little sister while she’s away. she gets a bit teary as she says this, remembering how lonely and miserable mizuki was and how happy she is now. ena also gets teary and when mizuki comes back with drinks, she finds them crying on the sofa lmao

while yuuki is still in town, the three of them go shopping together and yuuki helps both ena and mizuki coordinate their outfits. when it’s time for her to go back to france, she promises ena she’ll sew her some clothes and ship them her way

now that they are dating, mizuki starts going to school more often and actually stays till the end of the day so that she can wait for ena to come take her evening classes. and ena starts going to school a bit early so they can hang out on the roof for a while before mizuki goes home and ena’s classes starts. on the roof, they chill and share snacks and do each other’s make up and read fashion magazines and browse social media together and discuss the music video they’re working on for niigo… sometimes ena draws and mizuki watches editing tutorials on her phone. they always sit very close, hip to shoulder, and sometimes one of them rests their head on their other’s shoulder and they just close their eyes and enjoy each other’s comforting presence

[lovetaroandtaemin]

Kinktober 2024

Day 19: Cucking

Kim Hongjoong x Reader x Song Mingi Word Count: 2,154 THIS FIC IS NSFW, MINORS DNI!!! Warnings: Dom!Hongjoong x sub!Reader x sub!Mingi, Voyeurism and exhibitionism, masturbation, boob play, unprotected sex, implied round 2. A/N: If you would like to be added to my Kinktober taglist, you can send an ask, send a dm, or comment on any of my Kinktober-related posts with the username that you'd like tagged. Happy reading!

Taglist: @unlikelysublimekryptonite

Fic is under the cut.

You and Hongjoong sat together in the dorm’s living room, drinking wine and discussing your kinks. The rest of Ateez was out of the house, and you were grateful for the alone time with him to just hang out and talk. While you weren’t entirely sure when the topic of conversation shifted, you weren’t really upset about the change. You’d been dating Hongjoong for a while, but you still didn’t know much about what he did and didn’t like in bed. You had expected a bit more preparation before that particular conversation happened, but you’d be lying if you said that it wasn’t fun to just talk about it with no added anxiety or pressure.

“Alright, there’s one other thing I haven’t told you about,” Hongjoong said, “You have to promise you won’t judge me, though.”

“I promise, honey. What is it?”

“Cuckoldry.”

You were quiet for a minute, processing the new information. While you hadn’t tried anything like it before, you certainly were willing to give it a shot. Hongjoong interpreted your quietness as discomfort, though, quickly adding, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, no, it’s ok. I was just surprised. I’m down to try it as long as you’re sure you want to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, why not?” you asked with a smile.

Before the two of you could discuss further, however, Mingi stumbled through the door. He saw you and smiled, asking you how your day went. Whether it was the alcohol in your system or the way he smiled at you, you weren’t entirely sure, but you felt butterflies in your stomach. You loved Hongjoong dearly, but you’d be lying if you said that you didn’t think that Mingi was sexy. You briefly considered asking Hongjoong if he would be willing to indulge his newly revealed kink by watching you fuck Mingi, but you were hesitant. What if it ruined their friendship? What if it ruined your relationship?

You were snapped out of your thoughts by Mingi saying, “Hello, Earth to (Y/N).”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“How was your day?”

“Oh, it was good. Thanks.”

“Are you ok, baby?” Hongjoong asked.

“I’m ok, I promise,” you said, “Just a bit tired. Can we go to your room?”

“Sure baby. Good night Mingi.”

“Good night!”

Mingi could tell from the way that you acted around him that you liked him. While he would never come between you and Hongjoong, he had to admit that he found himself thinking about you a lot. Most of the time those thoughts were innocent, sure, but there were also a lot of times that they weren’t. This was one of those times that they weren’t. He considered dealing with the growing ache between his legs before he went to sleep, but he decided against it. He was too tired. Besides, he didn’t want to risk you or Hongjoong hearing him.

Hongjoong could tell from the way that Mingi looked at you that he liked you. Maybe it was the fact that he was tipsy and not thinking clearly, but he was certain that he saw you looking at Mingi the same way. He considered asking you about it once you were in his room, but before he could, you were out like a light. So, he decided to ask you about it another time instead. If he was right about your attraction to Mingi, and Mingi’s attraction to you, he wanted to ask both of you about trying out one of his biggest fantasies.

The next day, Hongjoong had the perfect opportunity to find out if his suspicions were correct. All of Ateez had a rare day off, and most of the group already had plans outside of the dorms. Wooyoung, San, and Yeosang had made plans to go to an arcade and were getting ready to leave. Seonghwa, Jongho, and Yunho had already left to go shopping and see a movie. That left you, Hongjoong, and Mingi at the dorms.

You and Hongjoong sat in the kitchen together, eating breakfast. After he finished, he asked, “Would you and Mingi be willing to talk about something with me?”

A million thoughts and anxieties ran through your head. For a moment, you wondered if he had noticed the way you sometimes stared at Mingi. Before you could panic too much, though, you took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, of course.”

“I’m gonna go get Mingi, ok?”

“Ok. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

When Hongjoong came back to the kitchen a few minutes later, with Mingi behind him, they both looked just as nervous as you felt. Hongjoong looked like he was about to do something he would regret, and Mingi looked like he’d gotten caught doing something that he shouldn’t have. You couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, as well as what was about to happen. You didn’t have to wonder for long, though, because Hongjoong said, “Tell (Y/N) what you were doing, Mingi.” The man in question mumbled something that you couldn’t quite make out, and Hongjoong said, “Speak up.” Mingi was completely silent this time, so your boyfriend turned to you and said, “He was moaning your name while he jerked off.”

“Shock” was not a strong enough word to describe how you were feeling. You had no idea how to respond to the new information, so you stayed silent. In fact, everyone was silent until Mingi looked at Hongjoong and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to see or hear that. I thought that-”

“Be quiet,” Hongjoong said. “I’m not mad, I just had an idea that I wanted to talk to the two of you about. I was hesitant at first, but now I know that there might actually be some interest. What would you two say to indulging a certain fantasy of mine?”

You knew immediately what Hongjoong was referring to, but Mingi looked incredibly confused. So, you said, “He’s asking if you would be ok with him watching us fuck.”

“Oh, wow, ok. That is not what I was expecting,” Mingi said.

“If you don’t want to, we can pretend this conversation never happened,” Hongjoong said.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, are you sure?” Mingi asked.

“I’m sure,” Hongjoong replied.

“I guess we could give it a shot,” you said.

“Yeah, I mean as long as you’re sure, I’m down,” Mingi added.

“I’m going to clean up the breakfast mess. I want both of you to go to my room now. I also want both of you naked when I get there.” Hongjoong instructed, leaving no room for either of you to argue.

You and Mingi both went to Hongjoong’s room, nervous and excited for what was to come. You took a deep breath before you removed the pajamas you’d worn to bed the night before, while Mingi removed his own. Then, you sat on Hongjoong’s bed and waited for him to come in.

It felt like hours had passed before Hongjoong finally came in, though it was probably only a few minutes. When he saw you and Mingi sitting on his bed, completely bare and waiting for his next instructions, he had to admit that it greatly boosted his ego. He looked at Mingi and said, “First, ground rules. No marking of any kind, no tongue kissing, and absolutely no cumming inside her. Understood?”

“Understood,” Mingi said.

Hongjoong turned to you and said, “Do you understand, baby?” You nodded, and he said, “Good. You two can start whenever you’re ready."

Mingi hesitantly cupped your face in his hands and kissed you. When he felt your lips on his, though, all of the nerves he was feeling went away. He pulled away to check your face for signs of discomfort, and when he found none, he smiled and went back to kissing you.

Once the initial nervousness wore off, you found yourself melting into Mingi’s touch. You were so lost in the way his lips felt, you almost didn’t notice the sounds of something scraping against the floor. When you pulled away to see what it was, you found Hongjoong moving a chair closer to the bed. Once the chair was where he wanted it, he sat down.

You wanted to say something to Hongjoong, but your focus was quickly brought back to Mingi when he pinned you to the bed and kissed your neck before making his way down to your chest. As he sucked on your sensitive nipple, a loud moan left your lips. The tent in Hongjoong’s pants only got more noticeable as he watched the two of you. He hated to admit it, but he was already struggling to control himself.

Mingi continued to kiss and touch your breasts until you felt like you were going to explode. When you found yourself unable to take it anymore, you said, “Please just fuck me already.”

Mingi lifted his head from your chest and said, “Gladly, princess.” As he aligned his tip with your entrance, he found himself hesitating. He had thought about this moment for so long, but now that it was happening, he was unsure.

Hongjoong must have noticed Mingi’s hesitation, because he said, “Go ahead.”

Mingi didn’t need to be told twice after that, slowly moving his hips forward. When you gave the ok to start thrusting in and out, however, he showed much less restraint. At first, you tried to hold back your moans. Then you heard your boyfriend say, “Don’t be shy, baby. Let Mingi hear you the way I get to,” and you couldn’t hold back anymore.

Once Mingi started fucking you, it didn’t take long for Hongjoong to discard his pants and boxers. As he watched the two of you, he started slowly stroking his cock, significantly more turned on than he originally thought he would be. He kind of wished that he was the one fucking you, but the sight of you so fucked out as Mingi thrusted in and out of you was something that he found himself really enjoying.

Mingi was amazed by how good you felt and how sexy you looked. He’d definitely fantasized about fucking you before, but none of his fantasies could compare to actually doing it. He knew then that he was going to struggle to last, especially since he’d already been so close to an orgasm before Hongjoong walked in on him.

The sight of your boyfriend jerking off while you got railed turned you on much more than you originally expected. When Hongjoong first asked you and Mingi about indulging this specific fantasy, you thought that you’d try it out but not actually go anywhere with it. When you heard the way Hongjoong moaned as he stroked his cock, however, you found yourself determined to give him a show. And that was exactly what you did.

You begged Mingi to fuck you harder, and he happily obliged. Loud moans fell from your lips as Mingi pounded into you, and he found it difficult to contain himself, to say the least. Especially when you brought your hand down to your pussy, playing with your clit in a desperate attempt to reach your high faster.

It didn’t take long at all for Mingi’s orgasm to approach. It still took longer than he thought it would, however, so he was grateful that he at least lasted for a little while. He warned you that he was close, and before you could even process his words he was pulling out, cum hitting your stomach as his climax washed over him.

Once Mingi came down from his high, he noticed you rubbing your clit faster, desperate to cum. Once he caught his breath, he replaced your hand with his own, kissing your neck as he played with your clit. Turns out, his mouth on you was all you needed, and you came with a series of moans and expletives leaving your mouth.

As you came down from your high, you felt Mingi pull away and leave the room. When he came back, you saw a wet cloth in his hand. He smiled when he saw how fucked out you were, and he started wiping the cum off of you. Once he was sure he had wiped everything away, he climbed back into bed and held you until he heard Hongjoong clear his throat. When he was sure you were ok, he stood up and got dressed, leaving you alone with Hongjoong once again.

Hongjoong smiled and got into bed with you, holding you close. You kissed him, and he groaned softly. That was when you remembered that he hadn’t finished yet. The idea of getting fucked by two different people in one day shouldn’t have turned you on, but it did. When you pulled away from the kiss, you leaned closer to his ear and whispered, “It’s your turn now, baby.”

God, you were insatiable, but Hongjoong loved it.

Thank you for reading! If you'd like to see what else I've written so far and the rest of what's planned, you can find my Kinktober masterlist here. If you'd like to read one of my non-Kinktober works, you can find my general masterlist here. If you'd like to see what I'm going to be working on once Kinktober is over, you can find my upcoming works here. If none of that interests you, or there's something specific you'd like to see, send a request via asks or dms!

Thank you again for reading, happy spooky season!

[sugawarassoulmate]

okok im back with incel!kenma

whats even worse is if you really can’t tell if you’re a guy or a girl, the type of person that gives gender envy. if you have longer hair he just assumes your like him and can’t be bothered to cut it.

OKAY THIS THOUGHT JUST HIT ME MID TYPING! YOU’RE THE BITCH NERD!/LOSER!KURO CANT STOP TALKING ABOUT. THERES TWO MAYBE THREE WAYS HE CAN FIND OUT ITS YOU.

also ik this isn’t one of your hcs for kuro but nerd/loser!kuro x mean!goth!gf but maybe you’re not mean to him but everyone else, people even look at him the wrong way and you have them absolutely terrified. and during your face chats with him you never have your makeup or you daily clothes on. normally just bare faced and in something of kuros. surpising how he didn’t pick up kuros old nekoma jersey

number one: maybe kuro posts a picture of you on his story possibly at your pc playing with incel!kenma. or it could be one of the spicy mirror pictures you made him post because why the hell is the dumb bitch from class feeling up on your man for. maybe you even rant to kenma about this dumb bitch who can’t keep her hands to herself, and why the fuck is she touching a taken man. (okay i think incel!kenma is misogynistic but not homophobic because why the fuck would anyone want to deal with some needy whore constantly.) but that rant solidifies the thought that you are infact a guy maybe not one who hates women on the same level as he does but a man nonetheless. but once kuro posted that picture he figured it out and was disgusted.

number 2: kuro is at your house studying, so to keep your boredom at bay you hop online with kenma, it’s about two hours in when he hears a knock shuffling in the back ground followed by the sound of someone falling onto your bed when he asked about it your response is casual “oh its just my boyfriend.” and he doesn’t pick at it anymore. but then the mic catches a familiar voice in the background. “pretty girl when are you gonna be done, i want to take a nap with you” you give a hum in response to his question. “alright bro gotta leave after this round, so we have to win don’t wanna lose the last match of the day.” obviously you land up losing because kenma can’t get his pretty little head around the fact that he couldn’t tell you were some fucking bitch, you never told him either so that makes you a fucking liar (even tho he didn’t ask). when the game disconnects he’s seething.

number three: this is the worst option really kuro begs him to come hang out with him at his girlfriend, he swears up and down that she’s not the type of woman he’d hate. promises that they have a lot of the same interests. maybe he sends a picture of you cosplaying as one of his favorite characters but that just lowers his opinion, in the photo he can’t even tell its you though. so he’s even more confused when he meets you guys at the arcade. he cautiously calls you by your in game name and you respond with a smile and respond with your irl name. he’s genuinely not sure how to react. not just bc you’re the person he’s been gaming with for almost a year, but with your thick ass platforms you’re just as talk as kuro if not taller. you literally look down at him, can he even talk shit about a bitch like you with out getting his as beat.

anyway this drug out for way longer than intended. but yeah incel!kenma making assumptions and being totally wrong. how funny would it be if he had a crush on kuros gf

bestie.....my beloved......all of the options just sound so amazing to me omg *kisses u*

the absolute torture incel!kenma has to go through upon finding out that 1) his favorite gaming buddy is a disgusting female, 2) she's dating his best friend and somehow he never knew, and 3) she's so fucking hot that kenma can't stop picturing her face every time he rubs one out.

and you just won't let him live you're so fucking mean to him that kenma can't even get a word in when you're roasting him. the only thing that reels you in is kuroo's soft, pleading voice asking you to be nice.

kenma's embarrassed that his friend has become such a simp but fuck if he didn't wish he was on the receiving end of your sweet words.

[purpleshimmer]

Music Videos in Season Two vs Season One

@thenationofzaun made a post about this too so I won’t talk too much about what they already said, but I wanted to talk a bit about why I feel the music videos in this season aren’t working the way they did in season 1

Spoilers below!

I love love love the music videos/sequences in season two, I really do! I think all the artists did an incredible job and the soundtrack is full of bangers so far. I love that Fortiche is branching out with different animation styles like the comic book sequence in episode 3 and the watercolor pictures in the flashback with vander. However, because they’re trying to fit so many plot points in 9 episodes they’re using these 2 minute music videos to tell stories and explain events that should’ve been given at least 15-20 minutes of screentime. The music videos are a great way to experiment with new animation styles and set up plots/events, which they did perfectly in season 1. 

S1E5 - “Enemy”

Enemy is played as Vi walks through the bar on her way to confront Sevika. However, we got plenty of context beforehand! We know why Vi is angry with Sevika, how she knew where to even find her, and got a really great fight scene between the two after the music played. The song showed Vi being badass and cool and set the mood for the fight, but wasn’t used to replace the Vi vs Sevika conflict. 

Compare this to something like the "Hellfire" music video in S2E3, where we don’t even see the task force enter Zaun. We should have seen Vi’s internal struggle with joining the Enforcers like she did in episode 1, but instead we can only assume that the event at the memorial service moved her enough for her to abandon her beliefs about the enforcers that she’s held since she was a small child and join them. We don’t get to see how Steb, Loris, Vi, Maddie, and Caitlyn work together and what their dynamics are like. We don’t see what Vi’s reaction is to releasing toxic gas on her own people, or them raiding the Vyx, we only see the aftermath of that and the scene in the arcade. The music video should have been used to set up the events, and then at least a few minutes of the episode should have shown the first raid on Zaun by the task force.

S1E6 - “Guns for Hire”

This is one of my favorite parts of season 1. The entire episode led up to the huge moment at the end where Jinx lit the flare to try and find her sister and for Piltover to block Zaun citizens out of Piltover. The end scene didn’t need to have dialogue or be drawn out because it was already explained for the entire episode. The music served its purpose by making us feel emotional and setting the next episodes. The same goes for “What Could Have Been” at the end of episode 9. I feel the same way about Woodkid’s other song, “To Ashes and Blood” in S2E3. The whole episode led up to that moment, so I think it was fine to have a music sequence as the final battle played out. 

S1E7 - “Misfit Toys”

This is the most “official” music video in season 1; the others are more so sequences with music played overtop of them instead of dialogue. The music video sets us up with information that we should know about the firelights BEFORE officially meeting them. We learn from the lyrics and the video that they are a group of Zaunites that are working to stop Silco and provide people a safe place to get away from Silco’s shimmer-ravaged city. It’s also just a great song and an incredible music video with a unique style. However, this isn’t ALL that we see of the Firelights. It’s used as a supplement, not a replacement, to their story. At least 1/3rd of episode 7 is about the Firelights, Ekko, and their relationship with Silco’s Zaun and Piltover, allowing for the audience to sympathize and connect with them further. 

This episode also features “Dynasties and Dystopia,” another great music video sequence. I love that it switches between Jinx and Ekko currently and as friends. It expands on their history and draws attention that these two used to be close friends, but are now trying to fight to the death. It works, in my opinion, because we already knew that they were friends, as this was established in the first three episodes of the show. The music video added to our knowledge, but wasn’t the first time we learned that they were friends. 

S2E1 - “I Can’t Hear It Now”

This one was so beautiful and made me sob the first time I watched it. The end of episode nine and the first parts of this episode prepared us for Cassandra’s death, and the funeral serves to show us Caitlyn’s reaction to it. It’s absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful; I wouldn’t change a single thing about this scene. 

S2E2 - “Sucker” 

I LOVE this song and I really like the music video that goes along with it. HOWEVER, the music video should have played at the beginning of the episode to remind the audience of the turf wars between the chem barons, and then at least half of the episode should have expanded on those conflicts. Instead we just got the two scenes with Smeech, who died almost immediately after. We never get to see Margot or Chross again, despite the fact that they are almost certainly still fighting. What was the result of that? We see the displaced people coming to Zauna and later Viktor’s camp, but why didn’t we get to see any of the political struggles between them (or any of the chem barons before their deaths)? We don’t get to learn about their organizations, we don’t see more of their personalities, we don’t see them fight outside of the music video, nothing. Maybe I’m just biased because I’ve loved the chem barons since their brief appearance in season 1, but the only reason I wasn’t upset about their small amount of screen time in season 1 was because I was expecting them to play a huge role in season 2. 

I loved the “Renegade” sequence, that was really fun and I don’t have anything negative to say about it other than that I wish my best friend Smeech didn’t get killed. 

S2E6 -"Remember Me"

I actually like this one! Putting aside the flaws with this plotpoint bc that’s not what this post is about, I actually think this one was well incorporated. We already knew some background about Vander and Silco’s relationship from season one, so this wasn’t sprung upon us randomly, and we even got a decently long flashback scene between the two. The music video was used to show a bit more information that could accurately be portrayed through the watercolor animation and without any dialogue, which I think it did successfully. 

S2E5 - “Cocktail Molotov” 

Again, I love this sequence, the song fits perfectly with the situation and it was exciting to watch. However, instead of playing at the beginning to set up Vi’s new living situation, it was the only part of her pitfighter life that we got to see. This was especially strange to me because of how much Riot hyped up pitfighter Vi before the season dropped; I really thought it would be a major part of the episode. We didn’t get to see a full fight between her and an opponent, we didn’t see any conversations between her and Loris, we didn’t even see how she ended up as a fighter in the first place. It was just “look at how cool she is! Also she’s drunk and sad” but we never got the chance to connect with her and feel what she was going through the way we did in season one when she was experiencing changes and struggles in her life.  

I didn’t cover all the songs bc this post is already really long, but that’s kind of how I’m feeling atm. I’d love to hear you guys’ opinions in the comments/tags!! Again I still love the music videos. I just think the ones in season 1 were better. I really hope I’m not sounding like I hate the show or something. I feel like a lot of my recent posts have been super negative 😭 I still love the show, I just have more criticisms with this season than I did for season 1, as I think a lot of people do.

[aaajaxolotl]

Feast Your Eyes: Fandom Cookbook Recipe Review #3

Pizza, Pizza, Where’s My Pizza?! - The Official Five Nights At Freddy’s Cookbook

Tonight's menu: sourced from the Official Five Nights at Freddy’s Cookbook

Main Dish: Funtime Foxy’s 3-Cheese Veggie Surprise, pg 18

Side Dish: Garlicky Pizza Twirls with Spicy Dip, pg 20

BONUS REVIEW 1: Pizzaplex Master Dough, pg 13

BONUS REVIEW 2: Easyplex Pizza Sauce, pg 14

Full review under the cut!

Aurum Leuci’s Log:

[Begin recording.] Hello? Hello, hello? Is this thing on? Okay. That was a close one. Your machine is totally broken, man. This time I ended up in a mall… arcade… thing. With an actual kitchen. I unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to try and fix the portal generator, because there are GIANT SCARY ROBOTS that for some reason want pizza. I MADE pizza. I don’t know how they’re eating it. But they sure are.

Look, I know you’re getting these transmissions, it wouldn’t let me record more if you weren’t, but I’m not getting anything back from you. I need instructions, or a plan, or something. ANYTHING to make sure I’m not jumping aimlessly across spacetime until I inevitably get eaten by something or other. Please. I want to bring my findings home… At least this pizza is pretty good for a weird robot-infested mall. Aurum Leuci out. [End log.]

Please see this post for my full review scale!

Main Dish: Funtime Foxy’s 3-Cheese Veggie Surprise

RATING:

Difficulty: 5/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 3/5

Time: 5/5

End Result: 5/5

TOTAL RATING: 23/25

This pizza… was incredible. Aside from the sauce (see the bonus reviews for that), it was easy, it was delicious, and it gets bonus points for being somewhat easy to make plant based. For full disclosure, I didn’t use the Taleggio cheese (and also forgot to add parsley, but who cares about parsley?) and substituted in Miyoko’s plant-based Mozzarella spread instead— so ours was kind of a two-cheese veggie surprise (parmesan and mozz) but it was incredible. I would never have thought to put zucchini on a pizza, but it definitely impressed me. The only reason this pizza loses points is that I don’t think Fazbear Entertainment would serve something this high-quality!

Side Dish: Garlicky Pizza Twirls with Spicy Dip

RATING:

Difficulty: 5/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 5/5

Time: 5/5

End Result: 4/5

TOTAL RATING: 24/25

I’ve been looking forward to tackling this recipe since I got this book as a gift. And it DELIVERED! Like the main dish, I also forgot the parsley on this one (silly me, completely forgetting the existence of parsley) but I really don’t think it would have added anything. These twirls, complete with fresh ingredients and a homemade spicy sauce (using the easyplex sauce as a base) absolutely feel like a delicious arcade snack. My only complaint (and this may have been something that I did wrong) is that I don’t think this recipe really makes 10 pizza twirls. The two on either end of the dough log came out completely devoid of cheese or sauce— still delicious, but not a pizza twirl. Just a bread twirl.

BONUS REVIEWS: Pizzaplex Master Dough, Easyplex Pizza Sauce

Pizzaplex Master Dough:

RATING:

Difficulty: 3/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 3/5

Time: 5/5

End Result: 5/5

TOTAL RATING: 21/25

This recipe, despite not getting a perfect score, came out pretty great. I don’t have any real notes on it, just that I don’t think Fazbear Entertainment would make their dough fresh in-house, and also that yeast is really hard to work with. If you’re ever using yeast for anything, just… please look up instructions on the internet. Your cookbook cannot help you. (Same with proofing your yeast. Look it up. King Arthur Flour has a really good walkthrough.) In terms of at-home cooking, though, this recipe was relatively simple, and really, really delicious. And it makes enough for 4 pizzas (or 3 pizzas and a delicious batch of pizza twirls.)

Easyplex Pizza Sauce:

RATING:

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredients: 5/5

Immersion: 1/5

Time: 2/5

End Result: 5/5

TOTAL RATING: 14/25

OH MY GODS, this sauce. Okay. Okay, so. It’s really good, it tasted great and was versatile (I used it in the pizza twirls, the main pizza, and the sauce for the pizza twirls) but, like… The only step is “mash canned tomatoes through a sieve with a spoon and mix in the tomato paste and spices! See how simple!” and IT IS NOT SIMPLE. YOU WILL MASH THE TOMATOES FOR AN HOUR. Your hands will hurt. You will regret your life choices. Your sieve will take as long to clean as the tomatoes took to mash. You could have just bought and seasoned pre-mashed tomato sauce. It was right next to the can of tomatoes you bought. Freddy Fazbear Entertainment is not making their restaurant staff MASH TOMATOES.

The sauce was good, but once I run out of the other half of this batch of it (probably this weekend, since I’m making another pizza) I’m just going to buy canned tomato sauce and season it the same way. I’m not that much of a gourmet.

Tune in on Friday (6/14/24) for another fandom cookbook review!

[iamtotallyfineokay]

Okay so people actually like my previous yandere UCN idea, surprisingly, even one of my fave writers came to comment, so I guess I’ll continue the headcanons I guess. This is just a more detailed in a nutshell version of the previous post. Also thank you for the notes from the previous one, I was really surprised when I checked it! ——————————————————————————————————

As I said before, Yandere UCN is terrifying. In the universe I’m gonna set my Yandere UCN x reader, it’s gonna involve all sorts of animatronics from the whole franchise. Basically it’s Ultimate Custom Night slowly becoming Ultra Custom Night but with only the original and fanmade models. Oh and this might be out of character, so tell me in the notes if I did something wrong!

Part 1

Let’s start with the Classics. I personally think Freddy would be the type to be a gentleman of sorts. He would be glad to sing you a little song if you like, maybe you can also join him as well! Bonnie would definitely play the guitar role for you guys in your songs, since he seems to be a person with a laidback character, where he would kinda prefer to third wheel in a relationship. He enjoys your presence though, as you routinely like to check up on him for some reason. Chica would also be delighted by your presence! She’s sometimes told off by the others for being a bit too childish but you don’t mind it and kind of like it! She’s happy with that, along with Foxy! I think he and Chica would be a common duo who like to compete with others for your attention, with Chica acting as the wingman(girl) to your little relationship with them in UCN, while Foxy is just that slightly nervous kid in the corner who absolutely wants and not want your attention at the same time. He’s just so happy to actually receive attention from you after being neglected in his previous establishment! Golden Bear watches his cohorts enjoy this moment, he’s glad he doesn’t need to constantly give them plans or constantly comfort them, and he also wants some comfort himself through compliments from you!

The Toy animatronics absolutely indulge in your presence, along with the Withereds and Shadows. They all absolutely delight themselves in your presence. For the Toy animatronics, let’s say you played as a night guard in their establishment before you went into UCN. Toy Freddy was always so lonely, sad that he didn’t seem to be as cute as his cohorts sometimes. That is when you arrive! Maybe you even accidentally introduced Toy Freddy to playing arcade games because you couldn’t ‘bear’ how lonely he seems to be sometimes. He even wishes indulge in small tea parties with you in nights when his AI is sent down to one! Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica also seem to be a common duo! They go through the vents and such in UCN. You met them both in their previous game when you may have accidentally lured them to the office through lights! However, when your night is over, you sometimes comment on them being so pretty and adorable! This may have kicked a part of their code aside, but they indulge in you secretly when your night ends, as they prepare for your next night. UCN is where they just get more violent for attention!

Balloon Boy and the Puppet also have something in common: being creepily too ‘human-looking’ to most people. Even Balloon Boy gets comments on his weirdly shaped teeth while the Puppet is commented for their tall and lanky figure. Balloon Boy mainly acts like a child to their parent with you when your friendship becomes closer! He doesn’t steal your batteries in the original game, but he’s more hungry for praise from you in UCN, whereas he would steal more batteries from you, since he was given a deal by Withered Foxy to make the night end faster. Puppet also likes your presence, finding comfort around you as if you’re a warm blanket of mental comfort. For that, they give gifts to you when nights end in UCN, though they may trap you in their box when they win the night by jumpscaring you. Mangle is kind of the same as Puppet, only instead always needing constant praises of validation from you to feel ‘beautiful’. You used to like her so now she’ll return it fully by trying to make you as pretty as her!

The Withereds are like their original counterparts but more aggressive compared to them. Their restless, now feeling upset they don’t get to be on that shining stage anymore. Withered Foxy and Bonnie are the most aggressive of the four, being the first animatronics to turn on during the FNAF 2 game, with the indigo no-faced bunny now needing approval for his hopes to be turned up, while his cohort the red fox pirate, needs attention both physically and mentally to remember his short happy days on stage in his corner. They do team up though when they don’t at least argue for 1 minute, and damn do they made a good duo. Withered Freddy is just like his Classic counterpart, but now more laidback, kind of welcoming the fact his time on stage has reached its end, though he does dream and someday returning to it, and maybe sing along with you. However, not acknowledging his presence gets his temper a bit worked up, making him storm to your office and trying to get to the door. Withered Chica and Golden Bear kind of watch this unfold. Chica watches her male cohorts while she just decides to take things more slowly while maintaining her happy yet slightly now mature personality, hanging out with you during nights when the others have their AI set to 0 or 1, just kind of hanging out like couch potatos. This also applies to Withered Golden Freddy! He’s more tired, having a higher chance to materialise even when his AI’s set to a very low place. He likes to hang out and just chill with you during other nights, sometimes appearing while wrapping an arm around your back. He’s glad your here in this purgatory meant just for you!

The Shadows stay more distant from you. You’re just here, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, at least to them. Though they start to warm up to you, with Shadow Bonnie being the more friendly one of the two, and Shadow Freddy just overall being glad you’re here! Finally someone who they get to talk with who’s not a robot! Though instead, they may trap you in abandoned rooms to spend time with you! Better be careful, these two seemingly a kind of a mind alike! Oh well, what could they say? You’re as sweet as a birthday cake, and boy do they get greedy!

[lulu2992]

hi! i hope you don't mind me asking you this, but i feel like you're the most reliable source for this, haha. i saw that you answered an ask about john, explaining what to keep in mind when writing him, and i was wondering if you could do the same thing with jacob? as in, what characteristics to keep in mind when writing him and all !! i would seriously appreciate it a lot!! i wish you all the best and thank you for everything you're sharing with the fandom <3

Hi! And thank you very much for your kind words :)

As I did in the post about John (here, for anyone who is interested), I’m first going to give you a few links and facts about the Soldier! By the way, “the Soldier”, unlike “the Father” and “the Baptist”, isn’t Jacob’s official title in the cult, it’s just how he was called in promotional material (and by Dutch).

You must have played Far Cry 5 and seen the cutscenes already, but I’m still going to summarize his backstory and beliefs to try to write a comprehensive post. And in case you’ve missed them or want to listen to them again, here are:

His radio calls in chronological order (here, here, here, here, and here)

His sermons (part 1 and part 2)

The comments he makes during the trials

The audio of his two videos (“I own you”, broadcasted inside the Stone Ridge chalet, and the one with Pratt)

The message on the phone in the Stone Ridge Chalet

What he says during the final fight against him (here and here)

His Arcade lines

Finally, even though they were cut, you can find his unreleased lines here.

I wrote a summary of what other characters say about Jacob here (masterpost here), but you can listen to the NPCs’ comments here (cultists) and here (Resistance/civilians).

As for in-game notes, to my knowledge, only one was undoubtedly written by Jacob. It can be found in his bunker, Jacob’s Armory:

Dan Hay (Executive Producer/Creative Director/Writer) and Jean-Sébastien Décant (Narrative Director/Writer) talked extensively about John in a video for IGN, but unfortunately for us, the other members of the family didn’t have that privilege...

However, in a now-deleted interview for GameCrate, Drew Holmes (Lead Writer) said the following:

Jacob Seed, who’s the older brother, maybe doesn’t necessarily believe in Joseph’s message that God told him the end of the world was coming, but he believes in his brother, doesn’t matter if he’s right or wrong, he going to march forward with him.

And although Jacob loves his brothers, he reportedly doesn’t care much about Faith, according to the Lead Writer and NPC dialog.

In The Book of Joseph (which you can read here), Jacob is described as a protective big brother and an adventurous child who loved nature and “only felt comfortable in the outdoors”. He would sometimes steal candy for his two brothers so they “could have a bit of sweetness and comfort in [their] lives”. Their childhood was indeed miserable, mostly because their father was very violent. While he was “strong” and could withstand being beaten regularly, he hated seeing his youngest brother John in pain, so he started thinking about getting rid of their abuser. It’s unknown if he would have done it, but he never got to put his plan into action thanks to Joseph, who convinced him not to, and to child protective services.

The boys were sent to an orphanage and adopted by a couple, but they treated them like servants and “livestock”, even making them sleep in a barn. One night, Jacob had enough and, after waking his brothers up and freeing the animals, set fire to the property. When the couple ran outside, he also knocked out the husband with an axe handle. That led him to be sent to a juvenile detention center and separated from his brothers. There, he was “a bit of a troublemaker” and the guards didn’t like him. However, the teachers believed he had potential and was a good leader. At the end of his sentence, Jacob joined the army.

He spent several years (20, according to Dan Hay) in the military (the Marines according to the book, the 82nd Airborne Division according to the game) before being declared unfit for service because he suffered from PTSD. He then spent some time in a military hospital but was kicked out when he couldn’t afford it anymore. After that, he never received his pension (for unknown reasons) and started living on the streets, basically becoming invisible. Joseph found him “completely hollow” in a homeless shelter and only recognized him because he was calling his brothers’ names in his sleep.

Once the three brothers were reunited, Jacob “slowly came back to life” and swore to follow Joseph to the end. In the cult, his goal is to build and train an army so they’re ready for the Collapse, able to survive in the post-apocalyptic wilderness, and protect the rest of the Family.

In the game, he talks about the moment that redefined his life. During the first Gulf War, he and another soldier named Miller got separated from their unit because of an ambush and had to survive in the Iraqi desert. On the eighth day, he realized they were most likely going to die and accepted it, but “in that acceptance came clarity”. He saw Miller, who was barely able to walk anymore, as “an opportunity” for him to live… implying he cannibalized him. He adds it wasn’t something he wanted but something he had to do; his “test” (from God, I assume).

Because of this dehumanizing (and traumatizing) experience, Jacob came to believe that humanity was divided into two categories: the weak and the strong. The weak are not meant to survive, but they have a purpose. He thinks people are “meat”, “tools”, and expendable, so he doesn’t hesitate to “cull the herd” (his mantra) so only the strongest soldiers are in his army. He thinks society and modern technology have made humans weak and that people should return to their natural selves, like ancient men (who were an example of strength, to him). The Collapse will be a new beginning, but his soldiers need to be ready for it, which is why he obsessively selects and trains them, and doesn’t hesitate to experiment on converts.

As demonstrated with the Deputy in the game, Jacob conditions potential recruits using Bliss, violent images, and the song “Only You” (because of this scrapped idea) so they uncontrollably go on a killing spree whenever they hear the song. He starves them, keeps them in cages, and makes them go through trials to test their strength and teach them how to hunt and kill. He also expects them to “sacrifice”, as explained in this note (Grand View Hotel):

To pass through the Gate you must SACRIFICE something of yourself, to let go of the past and fully embrace your future with the Father. It has to have meaning. What is it that is keeping you here? What is it that anchors you, that prevents you from giving yourself freely to the Father? Is it your husband, your wife, your child? Maybe your brother, or mother? Once you have rid yourself of the shackles of your old life then you can open your heart to the Father’s voice.

He experiments on animals as well, mostly wolves, to turn them into mind-controlled “Judges”, more powerful and aggressive, and able to attack on command.

Like his siblings, Jacob has a strong personal philosophy inspired by his past. He basically makes the people he converts relive his trauma because he thinks it will make them better, fitter to serve the Project. He has specific goals but, as brutal as his actions are, isn’t cruel for the sake of cruelty. He tests people the way he believes he was tested, makes them go through starvation and dehumanization so they can revert to their primordial instincts, become warriors and be truly alive; reborn.

Jacob isn’t a very demonstrative man and is rather stoic, but I don’t think that means he doesn’t feel anything; he just doesn’t want/like to show his emotions (except maybe to his brothers). And as the eldest, it seems he doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind to Joseph. That said, while he isn’t sure if the Father can really hear God’s voice, he still has faith in him and is ready to give his life for him and the Project. In my opinion, Jacob possibly even believed that he had to die for Joseph, as his weapon and his sacrifice. He trained the Deputy so they would kill his former ally and main rival Eli for him, but I think it’s likely that he expected them to be strong enough to kill him as well, so the prophecy (and his destiny) would be fulfilled. As much as he told the Deputy they were neither strong nor special, in the end, he probably thought they were...

We don’t know if the traumatic memories of the war that would “surge up at any moment”, according to The Book of Joseph, still torment Jacob in the game because his PTSD is never really shown or mentioned, but we can assume it’s still there to some degree. It’s unknown where exactly his scars come from or what caused them, but he was most likely injured in combat. In my opinion, he also sometimes sounds like he has respiratory problems, but that’s never discussed, either.

To summarize this summary, Jacob is ruthlessly committed to his goals and convictions. He says nature doesn’t have empathy, so he shouldn’t, either. He went through hell several times and believes he only emerged stronger, so he thinks others can and must be hardened the same way to become the best, most primal version of themselves. He doesn’t fear death and possibly even expects it to come for him early, but it doesn’t matter because he would have fulfilled his destiny, and he has a legacy anyway: his army. Because of how strong and well-trained his soldiers are, he’s confident the Family will be safe, even after his death. Despite his incredibly twisted vision of the world and violent methods, deep down under all the hatred and trauma, it seems there’s still a little bit of that big brother who would try his best to protect his siblings and brighten their lives, somewhere, somehow…

[infinitebrians]

Favorite Games of 2023 Part 2: Super Mario Wonder

What a weird thing to say but this really is the best Super Mario has been as a 2D platforming game since the Super Nintendo! An overall creatively fresh look on that guy Mario and what he can do when he’s only got two directions to run around in. Just a true delight all the way through, I never had a bad time playing it. The new features like the badges and wonder seeds all gave the game a fun amount of variety and character to the game always keeping a sense of surprise in each area that at their very worst was easily ignored. Also a very lovely game visually that gave character to its characters and a fun new set of weird critters to appreciate.

A unique aspect for my playthrough of Mario Wonder was I insisted on playing through the whole game using my new snackbox leverless controller (arcade stick controller sans the stick). I’ve been wanting to try that controller with a side scrolling game because I kept hearing people play other side scrollers with it and it sounded like a fun perfect test case for that idea. I had a blast playing through the whole game with it. Using it’s button based directions felt entirely natural to play through the entire game with it and I’m absolutely going to be using it for any further similarly structured games in the future. The only time the unique button controls did not feel natural was when I was in situations involving four way direction like the water levels or those surprisingly frequent times where you turn into slime. That controller rules and I always feel bad I don’t like using it too much since I don’t always want to just get absolutely destroyed at fighting games all the time.

The thing though that I will always remember Mario Wonder is surprisingly enough it’s online feature. When this online aspect of the game was announced, a feature while you’ll see and be able to lightly interact with live ghosts of other players who are also playing the same level as you, I joked about Mario Wonder being the second ever strand game. Now having played the game 100%, I am absolutely standing by that statement. I’ve had numerous tiny but memorable experiences with other players with that feature either dancing around, spamming the simple emotes, or even helping each other out through tricky parts of the level. One experience of that in particular, the one this post’s drawing is referencing, happened during the final final challenge level where a Japanese Nabbit player and I were helping (them more to me than me to them) each other through a series of areas in that level. We would emote chirp at each other, cheering us on, and more importantly, wait at the room exits so when we left the room at the same time we’d maintain our online instance together. It happened for a whole checkpoint’s worth of that final level and it would’ve been longer if I didn’t screw up immediately with the infinite sprint badge room LIKE A FOOL. That player was a huge help to me with the few of the toughest rooms of that whole challenge and a very appreciated companion.

These little stories and memories I gathered from such a silly little feature gave me such a warm feeling toward everyone I was playing with in the game, we were all here to help push each other forward. A mechanic that gave people the encouragement to help each other out and feel good in the process of doing it, a fun look at what can be done with online semi anonmyous interaction. I’ll always appreciate that Nabbit player, I hope they’re having a happy new year.

[sharky857]

Gamer Bond

PREMISE: Long time no posting a fic in here. Yep, I wrote one, which can also be found on my AO3 (if you have an accounjt over there).

I may or may be not slightly Amir-starved since the mall has gone POOF until this coming winter, and I felt a mild mighty need to write a self-indulgent and cutesy ficcy.

Besides Ao3, you'll see it also by clicking/tapping "keep reading" in this very post. Enjoy~!

(Minor warning for explicit language -thanks, Damienne- and past bullying -thanks, Amir's brain-)

--

Lately there had been a lot of visitors in that mall.

Like… A lot lot.

Seemingly, he couldn’t really care less. None of them had seemed like a threat this whole time and his other squad mates had been overall chill as well. Besides, most of them would hang out nearby the stage, dancing and vibing to the only, forever-looped, On-Lyne’s song.

But he too had spotted them nonetheless with the corner of his eye, while sprinting non-stop from an arcade game to another. Despite the overall semi-darkness, it had been quite hard to miss them, especially the glowier ones.

Some kept on showing up with their own “warframes”, as if they’d wanted to keep their real identity a secret or something, while others were there in person; sometimes it was only an adult, some other times a lone kid. And a few had been bold enough to show up in pairs.

Like these two young ladies.

For some reason, apparently so far only Eleanor knew of the real nature of these “visitors”, given how she would reassure them that their “secret” was safe with her.

However, these two seemed not fussed by being seen together. One was a scrawny kid with her mahogany hair side shaved except for some long, straight locks to each side of her face and some kind of ponytail to match, dressed mostly in a dark olive green. The other had only a different-looking outfit, but the colours were identical, as well as the hairstyle.

They too were clearly two faces of the same coin, like any other of those “visitors”, but they also didn’t give a crap about being seen together like that. If anyone had ever tried to inquire them, the pair could’ve merely said that they were “big sis” and “lil sis”, as they would often refer to themselves also when they were on their own.

= = = =

“Psh, isn’t that guy too old for games?”

Amir had barely heard the scoffing remark an imposing redhead had just whispered to the unknown black Gyre next to them.

The technician couldn’t help but have a quick flashback of his own childhood and some bullies.

Mocked for the bouncy legs and restless hands. Teased for being a weakling with little to no stamina. Taunted for being a geeky nerdy loser. Scoffed and scolded for making “weirdass and annoying noises”. Shouted at for seemingly not paying attention in class.

Enough!

Dear brain, don’t you fuckin’ dare to go there again! Different times. Past times. Gone times.

‘Sides, both those guys and those teachers were probably one with the Techrot by now, while he was still Amir Beckett and getting the jackpot of those neat superhuman powers, which also improved his own stamina greatly.

Haha! Who’s the geeky nerdy loser now?

With his own confidence restored and without losing his focus on the ongoing games, Amir was about to scoff right back at the pair standing on the entrance, when…

“Aren’t you too young to be judgemental grumps?”

A young woman with a hairstyle to match that of a young girl next to her asked nonchalantly as she stepped into the arcade room from another entrance.

“Ugh, you two must be real unfun at parties.” The shorter kid next to her crossed her arms. “Just… kindly piss off.”

The other duo stood agape for a brief second.

“… Watch your mouth, scrub. Unless-”

“Unless what, fuckwad?” Both “Damiennes” took a single step forwards, which made the others two instinctively take a step back.

“You really wanna go?” The shorter Damienne cracked her knuckles with a feral grin. “I’ve heard that Uncle Teshin’s place is lovely to visit this time of the day.” She added, referring to the “Conclave”, where all Tenno could spar with their own peers.

The redhead was about to snap right back, when a small nudge from the black Gyre caught their attention.

The warframe brought a bent hand midway between her own collarbone and the throat, then moved it back and forth a couple times while slightly shaking her head.

Just forget about them.

The dickhead only cast one last glare at the other duo. And then, without saying another word, they stormed away with the warframe silently following suit.

“Yeah, go back to the nursing home, asshat.” Damienne scoffed, before getting a nudge from her own Drifter.

“Now don’t push it, lil sis.” The older counterpart hummed, albeit with an amused smirk.

“Ungh! This violent video game is… influencing my emotions! Societal norms… eroding! Morality… subsumed! I. MUST. KILL!”

Amir’s small ramble brought the attention of the two back inside the arcade room.

There was quite an amount of arcade machines in there, most of them functional, but two in particular seemed to be so very good to cause the technician to constantly dash back and forth between them.

Amir had figured a way to get his clues for when to go from a game to another.

Whenever he would hear his character taking damage in the fighting game, the technician would send the ball as high as possible inside the pinball and then instantly dart to deliver as many blows as he could to the AI-controlled opponent on the other arcade game, all while keeping an eye -or better: an ear- at the sounds coming from the pinball machine itself. And when he would hear the small ball hitting some specific bouncers on the pinball machine, Amir would perform a combo that could leave the opponent momentarily stunned, and then immediately dash back to the pinball.

And of course, usually all this would also require all of his focus.

“Ohh… He really needs to teach me how to multitask like this!” Damienne remarked, observing the other in action.

Not getting a response from her older counterpart, the Tenno looked around, only to find “big sis” standing in front of the free pinball machine, silently staring at it. Had she been a Kavat, her pupils would’ve been fully dilated too.

The whimsical music… The mechanical sounds… The way those smooth and big buttons felt under her gloved fingertips… The clicking noises of the flippers in motion… The light show…

Something had definitely clicked inside older Damienne’s head, something real good that had just tickled her inner gamer soul just right.

That was gonna be a blast and a half to try out!

There was only one, small catch: apparently, the machine wanted to feed off some “coin”. Which neither Damienne nor Damienne had any, for obvious reasons.

“Uhm…” The Drifter turned to Amir, trying to talk fast before he would zoom once again to the fighting game. “Is there any way to fire this baby up in an alternative way, besides coins?”

As expected, first Amir zoomed to the fighting game, dashing back to his pinball machine a moment later; without breaking eye contact with said machine, he swiftly released a tiny blue spark right into the crack that would usually accept coins.

That second pinball machine immediately stirred to life, and a small, metal ball was released on the launching ramp, ready to be, in fact, launched.

“There you go, sister.” He hummed. “A little zap, and... infinite credit! No more insert coin!” The other explained with a mischievous grin, before pondering something.

“Not that we could insert coin. We have no coin.” He added. “Once we had coin, but now Aoi has smooshed all the coin.”

“Coinnnn.” Amir muttered to himself as he dashed yet again to the other game.

Damienne nodded her acknowledgement, not fazed in the slightest by what others would’ve described as “a weird quirk”.

Both herself and her younger counterpart -who had silently taken a note to bring “Zappy” along as well, next time- were already quite used to all sort of “peculiar habits” from their friends and acquaintances.

“Thanks, Amir. I owe you one.” The older Damienne smiled warmly.

“No biggie.” The other answered the moment he sprinted back to his own pinball machine.

There was only a brief pause where he zoomed to the fighting game and back, then he added: “How d’you know my name, anyway?”

“A lil’ lady snitched on you.” Damienne jokingly referred to Aoi, as her own Drifter -after getting more accustomed to all buttons and levers of the pinball machine- started her own game, unable to wait any longer.

As if to confirm the words of the younger Tenno, the familiar voice of Aoi reminding Amir “to hydrate” echoed all the way from the long gone music store.

“Oh… Aight.” The technician nodded as he dashed from a game back to another for the who-was-even-counting time.

“Hmh, I noticed she says so a fuck-a-ton lot of times.” Damienne hummed. “You… did remember to hydrate, right?” She took a small step forwards as she leaned slightly towards the technician, while being careful not to stand in the way of his zoomies. “Riiiight?”

“I… can’t really recall right now.” Amir replied with a hint of awkwardness.

“Bruh, how long have you even been in here?” The older Damienne inquired, barely moving her gaze from the colourful lights.

“Uhhh…”

No, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he’d been in there for literal hours. Amir honestly had not the slightest clue how long he had been (hyper)focusing on those games.

“Good question.”

“Well… No matter. Damienne to the rescue!” The Tenno mimicked a superhero pose, then trotted to a corner of the arcade room, where she had spotted a couple of vending machines.

“Ahh… I haven’t fixed those yet!” The technician warned the kiddo.

He didn’t need to divert his gaze from his games to know what the other was intended to do, as those vending machines were the closest source of “hydration”.

“Oh, no need to wait for a fix.” The other hummed back.

“Hold up! You… fixed everything in here?” The Drifter counterpart asked as she stared at the ball bouncing between a bouncer and another. “Must’ve taken you forever!”

“Eh, not really.” Now from the fighting game, Amir shrugged lightly. “It’s all basic wiring, nothing too fancy. Even a rookie electrician could’ve done the job, if we had any around. Maybe the biggest challenge have been those speakers near the stage. Wasn’t really as easy navigating through all that techrot over there.” He went on as he dashed back to the pinball, then grinned as he kept his gaze firmly on the ball. “But hey, I did it! Although now we’re kinda forever stuck with that literal brainrot of a song. But I don’t really mind it, Aoi seems to enjoy it, and the others seem to just ignore it.”

“It-it-it~…” The technician chanted under his breath for a brief moment.

“Dunno if I can say the same for Quincy, though.” He then resumed like nothing happened. “His little target practice corner is right next to that stage… Still low-key waiting for the day he’ll snap for good and use the speakers as alternative targets.”

Amir’s small rambling was momentarily covered by the noise of a couple of hard kicks against the side of one of the vending machines, followed suit by the unmistakable noise of soda cans hitting the floor.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.” The younger Damienne hummed as she picked the cans up and trotted back to the pinball games.

Seizing the opportunity of her own ball bouncing close to the upper side of the pinball, for a brief second “big sis” Damienne simply stared at her in a quizzical manner: why didn’t “lil sis” just make use of “that Void fuckery beam”?

The answer came to the Drifter shortly after: Damienne had just wanted to grab a few cans, not to blow a vending machine sky high.

“Hmmm…” The Tenno hummed pensively, staring at the cans in her arms.

“What’s the matter?” Her Drifter inquired, resuming her game.

“Hmmmmm…” The other hummed again, until it hit her. “Ah, I knew something’s still missing!” Damienne eventually replied, then left the cans neatly on the edge of the Drifter’s pinball machine and darted outside the arcade room, while shouting “I’ll be right back!”

= = = =

Straws. That’s what was still missing. Straws to drink from the cans while keeping on gaming non-stop.

It wasn’t just any straw; “lil sis” had rushed to the Pizza Byte place and grabbed a handful of the silly-looking ones with intricate hoops.

No, the Tenno didn’t care about them looking silly.

…

Okay, she had picked them also because they were kinda cute.

But the main reason was practicality, as those were much longer than the regular straws she had first fished from behind that counter.

“Is there any flavour you may fancy, sir?” The younger Damienne held the cans of soda high enough for Amir to have a glance with the corner of his eye, while jokingly pretending to be some kind of waitress from a fancy restaurant.

“Grapes, please.” The other answered.

“I don’t like raspberry.” He then grumbled under his breath as he moved back to the fighting game. “Tried it once, and my whole body wanted to curl up in a miserable ball of pain and suffering.”

When the technician made his way back to the pinball, there was a grapes-flavoured soda can open and ready to be chugged. Silly yet practical straw included, of course, which “lil sis” had also made herself sure to match the colour to the scribbled grapes on the side.

“There you go, buddy. I now declare you out of the dehydration danger zone~”

Amir cracked a shy smile.

“Thank you.”

He then cast a very fleeting glance at the “big sis” right next to him, as her younger self opened a can of strawberry soda for her own Drifter -setting a “silly straw” in a pink colour in it-.

“And… thanks for earlier as well.” He murmured, referring to the way the two Damiennes had dealt with the other duo.

“No biggie.” The other hummed, returning his smile. “Some people just need to learn the concept of minding one’s own fuckin’ business.”

“Oh, definitely.” The other agreed.

A mild tugging recalled older Damienne’s attention, cutting the conversation short.

“Sooo… When is gonna be my turn?” The Tenno asked expectantly.

“When this big sis will lose this ball.” The Drifter answered after a brief pondering. Then smiled smugly “Which might take a while. I think I’m getting the hang of this baby.” She added teasingly.

With the corner of her eye, the Drifter caught a glimpse of a mischievous smirk on the other’s face.

“Don’t even think about it, or I’ll get back at you.”

“You know I won’t lose this easily~” The other hummed back.

“Hmmm? I don’t recall the Ludoplex has a pinball game installed.”

“The- what?” Amir asked.

“Ludoplex.” Both Drifter and Operator answered simultaneously.

“I got it a while ago from Simaris.” The latter then added. “It comes with a small handful of games. They aren’t much, but they’re good.”

“Though the Happy Zephyr one always makes me want to chunk the whole thingy straight into the Void…” The former grumbled.

“Yeahhh, that one is the bad shit.” The younger Damienne agreed. “But Wyrmius and Framefighters are the good shit. Especially Framefighters.”

Then she turned to Amir. “You know what? Next time we’ll visit, I will bring the Ludoplex!” The Tenno grinned. “If you like beating the shit outta a bunch of programmed bots,” Operator Damienne nodded briefly towards the fighting arcade game to underline her words, “you may definitely love beating the shit outta other players. Framefighters is fully PVP.”

“Is that an invitation to party?” The technician hummed with a small smirk as he dashed back from said fighting game to the pinball machine, mimicking the stereotypical manner of speech of some main character from a generic action movie.

“Yup!” Both Operator and Drifter answered simultaneously once again.

“Aight… Count me in, girls!”

[steviestits]

WIP Wednesday - By the Pricking of My Thumb Ch4 Part 1

From now on, going to be posting previews of what I have of the fics that weren't originally posted to my Tumblr on Wednesdays. The first three chapters are here on Ao3 if you wish to read them.

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Rating: T Summary: After Jonathan bashed Steve's head into the pavement, Steve remembered he had powers, setting off a chain reaction from Nancy breaking up with him early to certain enemies showing up sooner than expected.

Coming back into consciousness, Steve felt as if his head was about to explode, like he’d just healed from a major injury. He didn’t know how he’d been injured, though. The last thing he remembered was Eddie apologizing to him behind the arcade then the rest was blank. He didn’t hear Eddie now and only heard the sound of a coffee pot gurgling in the distance, which he shouldn’t have heard since his bedroom was on the second floor, furthest from the kitchen.

Steve opened his eyes then glanced around, recognizing the space instantly. It was his bedroom, but not the one in the house that belonged to the government. When the weather had warmed up, Hopper built an addition onto the hunting cabin, hoping that Steve would use it whenever he needed a break. However, Steve hadn’t. He felt like he was intruding since Hopper was El’s dad, not his, and he didn’t want to become a third wheel yet again.

The room wasn’t large, only able to fit a full-size bed, work desk, and armoire. There were some shelves on the beige walls, for his sports trophies Hopper had said, though they were still empty since Steve never planned on using the room. Everything in the room was empty without even a comforter on the bed, but it was a different kind of empty than the one he was used to back at the other house. This room was empty in an expectant sort of way, as if it was waiting for someone to add personal touches to it.

Though, if Steve was here, that meant something had to have happened since he wouldn’t have left the kids at the arcade alone. And since Hopper was involved, he was sure that the kids got home safely, which was at least one thing he didn’t have to worry about. What he did have to worry about, though, was Eddie, since at some point, Hopper had gotten involved. Had Eddie’s apology gone wrong somehow? Did Steve piss him off enough to the point where it came to blows? He guessed he could ask Hopper, but that would involve leaving his bed.

Fate wasn’t on his side, however, as a knock on the door sounded before it slowly opened to reveal El. She toed her way into the room, edging in carefully, worry etched into her face. She was different than when they met for the first time after her escape. It wasn’t only that her hair had grown out or that her face was a little fuller, but also that she didn’t look at Steve like he was a stranger any longer. They were siblings again.

“Okay?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Steve assured her. “What about you? You okay?”

“Better now.” El smiled brightly. “Hop made breakfast. Come eat.”

“Triple decker extravaganza?” When she nodded excitedly, Steve laughed. “Why am I not surprised? Tell Hop I’ll be right there.”

El smiled, showing she understood, then left, not bothering to close the door behind her. She most likely felt as if she didn’t need to, assuming that Steve would follow her directly to the breakfast table. Steve, however, couldn’t as he had to change his shirt first since he was dressed in the same clothes he wore yesterday. He figured he could get away with wearing his jean again, but the shirt would be too obvious.

There was a second-hand dresser shoved against the wall, and Steve rose out of bed then walked over to it. The drawers were filled with spare clothes, so he wouldn’t have to pack if he ever needed to lie low from the suits. He chose a maroon long-sleeved shirt with blue stripes, feeling that the color suited, and changed into it quickly.

A mirror hung above the dresser, which Steve used to check his hair. He grimaced when he noticed how wildly out of place each strand was and attempted to use his fingers to style his hair into something that didn’t resemble a bird’s nest. Despite his best efforts, though, Steve only seemed to be making it worse, finding that he couldn’t get the same hold without his hair spray.

“Jesus, kid, you’re going to make yourself go bald pulling at it like that.”

Looking over his shoulder, Steve saw Hopper standing in the doorway. The police chief looked awkward, trying to appear casual, though there was a tension in stance that couldn’t be missed. His brow was also furrowed, possibly with worry, making Steve question what had happened last night and how he ended up here.

“Do you have a brush I could borrow?” Steve asked instead. “You know, so I don’t go bald.”

“Yeah, I do. Go sit at the table and eat before your waffles get cold. I’ll bring it over afterwards.”

“Fine. Fine. I get the message. I’m going. I’m going.”

Hopper grunted in acknowledgement then stepped aside to allow Steve to pass. Steve tried one last time to fix his hair on his own but quickly gave up when his efforts proved fruitless. He did as Hopper suggested and left the room to join El at the breakfast table, who was sitting eagerly in her seat, waiting for Steve’s arrival.

There was an extra chair at the table, clearly squeezed in to make room for him, and a third plate filled with waffles and whip cream. If he allowed himself such fantasies, then he’d think that maybe he could be a part of their family. Steve knew better by now, though. The facility would never let him go, never let him have anyone besides his handlers as parents. At least El got to have a family outside the other numbers, friends that she found on her own, and El being happy was enough for him.

[delusional-dinosaurr]

Nice Sleepover? Part 2 (Alessia Russo x Reader)

It's time, you've all been asking for it. So here it is!

I present to you, Nice Sleepover Part 2! Sorry I've been super busy! Whilst I take forever, be sure to check out my other one shots on my masterlist HERE

Oh and Part One to this fic is HERE

(Note: In this story the Euros isn't during this year)

It's been 3 months since you got loaned to City. You and Alessia have been messaging each-other ever since the night you both reconnected. You haven't had a lot of time to take her out for dates, you only managed to take her out for the one official date since you had your night together. You took her out to an arcade and made it your mission to win her something. You not only surprised her but you surprised yourself by winning her 4 toys from the claw machines! You still hung out on nights where you could but with your conflicting schedules it was still difficult.

You received a call from Jonatan to recall you back to Barca for the final match of the season as Alexia had gotten injured. It was very last minute but unfortunately your contract stated that you could be recalled at anytime with no notice. You were booked on a plane to leave 6 hours later so you panic messaged everyone letting them know your loan spell was up. Alessia was in an absolute state at the news, just when she thought you guys were close again, you'd already been snatched away from her. She spent that evening crying on Ella whilst you were flying out to Barcelona. Your new/former housemates were also absolutely gutted at the news of your departure. Your words to them as you left them at the airport were "I'll be back before you know it, I promise” and Lauren trusted you on this, you've never broke a promise.

━━━━━

You arrive at the airport in Barcelona with an injured Alexia on her crutches and a very hyper Mapi helping her.

“Y/N we missed you so much!” Mapi gives you a massive hug and squeezes you to the point you feel as if you can’t breathe. Alexia gives you a gentle hug but leans on you a little for support.

“ACL huh?” You sigh and give Alexia a sad smile, she doesn’t quite meet your eyes when she confirms it’s her ACL. You grab her hand and give it a gentle squeeze.

“You’ve got this, if anyone can bounce back from an ACL injury it’s Alexia fucking Putellas!” You say as you all slowly leave the airport and go to Mapi’s car.

━━━━━

Match day comes around, and you’ve had a week or so to get back into the Barcelona groove. Your contract is up with Barcelona in a month, and you’ve already had your contract agreement settled for the future, you’ve just gotta wait for the media team to officially announce it at the end of the season.

You didn’t wanna say to the team about how you missed your teammates in Manchester as you were worried they’d be offended. You always felt somewhat dismissed in Barcelona, a bench warmer and a super-sub. You were shocked to hear you were called back in the first place as they surely would’ve wanted to sign someone else on, but you also felt excited to be back at the same time, you’ve missed Barcelona with your team.

You’ve been constantly calling and messaging Alessia since the day you left and you already can feel that you miss her. You regret not asking her to be officially your girlfriend whilst you were there as you don’t want it to be a case of asking her over a video call or a meet up for a day whilst you have a trip there.

You’re sat in the locker room taking in your surroundings, making sure you can remember this day vividly, as who wouldn’t want to remember a match that they’re in the starting 11 against Real Madrid. You’re watching your teammates dancing around and singing whilst you have your headphones in, listening to a playlist that the England girls have been listening to pre and post match. Your music quietens as you receive a text.

Good luck today! I can’t wait to watch you win!

You grin as you receive the message from Alessia and quickly send her back a thank you. You normally did a pre-match call to help not be so anxious for a match but you can only assume that due to the distance it may not be easy to call.

“What, or should I say who, has got you all smiley?” Ingrid nudges your shoulder. Ingrid took you under her wing when you started at Barcelona and she was one of the main few that you missed the most in Manchester.

“Just uh, this girl I’m talking to” You blush thinking about Alessia.

“Oh shit! You have a girlfriend? You go to Manchester for like 3 months and have already found a girlfriend? Nice one Y/N!” Ingrid cheers.

“Oh we aren’t together, just an old friend, another player, who I’ve reconnected with, nothing official” You say back, packing your headphones away and start getting ready to head out the room.

“If she’s got you smiling like that, you need to ask the girl out!” Mapi interjects. Alexia hobbles into the room in a leather coat and jeans to help give the team a pre-match pep talk and give the captain armband out. She gives her speech and walks over to you.

“Today Y/NN is going to be the captain! Her contract with us is nearly up and hopefully this helps secure a longer future here with us in Barcelona! Just know you’re appreciated by us and we all love you” Alexia cheers whilst the team huddle around you. You already know the outcome of your contract agreement and grin at Alexia’s little compliment to you.

The match starts without a hitch, fairly dirty game from the Madrid side but the Barcelona girls somewhat keep their cool. Half-time comes around and its 1-1, with Claudia Pina scoring an absolute belter of a goal to equalise. You give the team a big talk at half-time which gives the team an enormous boost to morale. You’ve already won the league and the team have already had the cup and party but this would mean that they went the whole season unbeaten, which has never been done in the history of the team.

85 minutes in. The score is 2-1 to Madrid. The girls are making more poor decisions with tackles, Mapi and Ingrid both receiving a yellow. However, you manage to make a sprint towards goal before your legs get swooped out by another pair of legs from behind you. Instantly the ref blows her whistle whilst angrily pointing to the penalty spot, the crowd is roaring with excitement at this whilst the ref shows a yellow card to the Madrid player, followed by a red quickly after. She protests before stomping off the pitch. Mapi goes up to take the penalty and nails it into the top right corner whilst the goalkeeper dives the other way. You run up to her and lift her whilst both yelling as other teammates join the huddle.

“Lets show them why we’ve already won this fucking league!” You yell to your team.

90 minutes have passed. 2 minutes of extra time. Both teams have been fighting hard, one to go unbeaten and the other team pushing hard to beat their rivals unbeaten streak.

Mapi sends you over a perfectly timed cross whilst you’re closing in on the goalkeeper. You pass it to your right to Claudia who runs it out slightly to help free up some space in the box, a Madrid player knocks the ball out of play, resulting in a corner for Barcelona.

Mapi steps up to take the corner as you all get in position in the box, she sends it soaring over to you so you jump and header it as best as you can. You thump to the ground and hear the stadium erupt, you jump back onto your feet and kick the ball back into the net in celebration. The final whistle is blown and your team instantly run to you and lift you up, playing at Camp Nou is always special but today felt different. You’re taking it all in as your team are underneath you celebrating loudly.

━━━━━

After all the celebrating you eventually head back to your hotel and start packing your stuff ready for when you next need to travel.

You hear your phone chiming on the bed to see Alessia’s name, requesting a video call.

“You are absolutely insane scoring a header like that!” She says instantly, you can hear Tooney in the background chanting your name.

“I take it you watched the game then?” You giggle.

“Of course I did, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Sadly I didn’t have a Barcelona shirt to wear at home whilst supporting you but I’m sure I can always steal one from you next time we meet up!” She says smiling at you through the screen.

“I’ll get one from my next match for you, if you’re extra nice I can even sign it for you!” You giggle, earning an eye roll from her.

“I really miss you Y/N. Like a lot” She sighs.

“I know Lessi, I miss you loads. I’ll be visiting soon though, not quite sure when but I promise it’ll be soon!” You smile back at her.

You carry on talking for what feels like hours before heading off to sleep ready for the next few days.

━━━━━

You’re sat with Lauren Hemp at a Man United v Liverpool match at the front row of the Manchester supporters section. You’re wearing a lovely red ‘Russo’ shirt as you lost a bet with Lauren the previous night on how long it’d take you to mention Alessia. Lauren keeps mentioning how she feels like she’s sinning sitting in a United supporters area. Underneath her hoodie she is wearing her City shirt so she feels ever so slightly less disgusted. You laugh at your friend's antics but nevertheless, she sticks it out with you to watch your girlfriend but not girlfriend play.

As the match wraps up between the two sides ending in a 6-0 win to United the teams make their way around the stadium chatting with fans and taking photos. Eventually a few come your way, catching Tooney’s eye.

“Lessi, there’s someone wearing your shirt there, go chat with them” She says casually, nudging her best mate in your direction.

“I was hoping to get my Russo shirt signed if you wouldn’t mind? I’m a massive fan. I’m so glad to hear you’re staying in Manchester for another 2 years” You smirk. Alessia is yanking you over the barriers and onto the pitch with her.

“I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea” She says squeezing you tight.

“I missed you too gorgeous, carry on with your fans. I’ll meet you as you leave, I can give you guys a lift?” You say with her nodding back.

━━━━━

Alessia and Ella meet you and Lauren outside the stadium as you offer to give them a lift home rather than get on a team coach back to manchester that takes a lot longer than a car. You all chat amongst yourselves and sing along with the radio.

You drop Tooney and Alessia off first. Lauren smacks your shoulder.

“Mate invite her over, the spare room is still only for you until you go wherever you go! Just keep the noise down yeah?”Lauren chuckles. You quickly jump out the car and grab Alessia. “Can I help you?” She chuckles looking at you.

“Uh so I’m staying at Laurens for the next few nights whilst I’m here, and was wondering if you wanted to stay over?” You say nervously. “I’d love to, let me just go drop off my stuff and I’ll be back!” Alessia runs into the house to drop off her stuff and grab some clothes for tomorrow.

“Bye Ella! I’m going for a sleepover!” She yells as she leaves the front door, whilst she can hear Ella yell something about protection.

━━━━━

You, Alessia, Lauren and Leila are all sprawled out over the sofa’s in the living room after eating your bodyweight in fast food. You hear a few yawns from the group and Lauren stands up.

“We are all clearly knackered, bed time!” She says, clapping at you all. You all get out of your seats and Lauren begins pushing you all towards the stairs.

Once Alessia gets settled in your temporary room she leans into you and kisses you gently, but that gentle kiss keeps escalating until the both of you have to break apart in order to breathe.

“You have no idea how hot it was to see you in a United jersey with my name on it” She says leaning in for yet another passionate kiss.

“Well you have no idea how hot it was to see you tackling people and getting angry at the ref” You say back. “Well the ref was being stupid, I still can’t believe he-” You break her complaining with a kiss, she straddles your lap and starts taking your shirt off.

“God I’ve missed you” She says whilst attacking your neck

The rest of the night continues as you’d expect. By that, you didn’t really sleep a lot. After all you did have a lot of catching up to do with Alessia.

━━━━━

You wake up the following morning to your phone ringing, you quickly grab it and answer.

“Yes I’d love to! Thank you so much, I’ll be there as soon as possible” You say trying not to scream with excitement, Alessia has woken up and looks as confused as ever.

“What was that about?” She asks you, prodding your side.

“Oh nothing, you’ll find out soon!” You smirk at her “That reminds me, can I take you somewhere today? A surprise date if you will”.

“I’d love that, we do need to make up for all the video calls whilst you’re visiting!” She smiles at you “Where are we going?”

“About that, it’s going to be a surprise” You grin with Alessia looking at you confused.

After a short drive with Alessia complaining about being blindfolded and the odd "This is a bit kinky" comment you eventually arrive at the date destination.

“Ta da!” You say as you remove Alessia’s blindfold. She winces at the light and looks out the window.

“Very funny Y/N, you know I will always be a United fan and you cant convert me!” She says sighing at the view of the Etihad Stadium in front of you.

“Oh well I guess you wouldn’t wanna go in for a tour with me then!” You smirk, she sighs and gives in. You’re both greeted at the door by some staff who guide you back outside, where Gareth Taylor is waiting whilst admiring the stadium.

“Hey Gareth!” You say as you shake his hand, he shakes Alessia’s hand and greets her too.

“You ready to see it?” He asks you whilst patting your shoulder, and you nod excitedly in response. Alessia is looking between the two of you, confused at what is going on, whilst you’re looking at a big display that is blank, until it’s finally on display. He pats you on the back and walks back into the stadium whilst yelling a “See you at training!” in your direction.

“Welcome Y/N Y/LN!” is written on the display with a photo of you in your City kit on the display with “2025” written underneath too.

“Wait, is this what I think it is?” Alessia squeals whilst hugging you tightly “You’re coming back?”

“I am, and there’s no chance of Barcelona stealing me this time” You squeeze her back.

“I can’t believe it, this is the best day ever!” She starts tearing up on your shoulder, you kiss her face repeatedly and can’t wipe the smile from your face. Your phone starts buzzing with notifications, which means the whole world know that you’re officially signed at City.

“I love you Alessia” You blurt out whilst hugging her, she pulls back to look into your eyes.

“I love you too Y/N, more than you’ll ever know” she presses a gentle kiss to your lips whilst smiling into it.

“I guess this makes us girlfriends now?” You ask her.

“You haven’t even asked!” She jokes, pretending to be offended.

“Oh I’m sorry! Alessia Mia Teresa Russo, will you be my girlfriend?” You say bowing slightly to her and extending a hand out to her whilst laughing.

“You’re so dumb” She giggles and takes your hand “But yes, of course I’d love that” She kisses you again, this was by far the happiest day of your whole life so far, but you knew it would be overtaken in the future, as long as Alessia was part of it.

━━━━━

Hopefully this was a nice part 2 for you guys and that you enjoyed the ending! <3

[ironladders]

okay so you gave us your thoughts on ashrahs outfits, your favorites, your critiques, now give us that same thing but for syzoth. hes got much more so i feel like you have more to work with here too. you can choose to include unused outfits or not

(this answer took me so long to type my god 💀 if this post is incoherent im sorry)

oh do i have OPINIONS on syzoth’s outfits. get popcorn because we will be here for a minute

since syzoth’s been around for so long, i’m just going to go in chronological order here because that’s what makes sense to my head:

while he wasn’t playable until the second game, syzoth’s presence has been in the franchise ever since the first mortal kombat. fun fact: he was the first ever secret boss in a fighting game, being a male ninja recolor with a mix of sub-zero and scorpion’s powers.

there’s not much to say about this one; the arcade sprites couldn’t have much detail, and as mentioned before the male ninjas were all recolors of each other, so syzoth’s outfit doesn’t have much going on. still, i’ve always liked this classic outfit the male ninjas had. it looks comfortable idk.

the outfit he has from the second game is, again, yet another recolor sprite. the only difference here from the first game’s costume is a few minor details have been tweaked & the texture of the green cloth has more detail. i actually think i prefer the shade of green here as opposed to the one he had the first game, not sure why though.

i'd like to see it make a comeback in mk1, who knows. but i wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t since he got his umk3 skin already

SPEAKING OF:

this one is also nice, but it's pretty similar to the the previous costume so i'm really not sure what else to add here. there's lines, i guess.

i actually really like how it looks in mk1 though! the textures are neat & they managed to keep the simplicity of it while still making it look nice. i also think the little cat ears resembling how john tobias drew the ninjas is really cute :)

now, savor those classic looks.

absorb how simple, yet cool they look.

because after mk3 is mk4/mk gold, which has….. syzoth’s worst costume ever:

WHAT WAS MIDWAY SMOKING?

there is nothing good about this at all. full stop. making him suddenly have scaley skin is one thing, but does he have to be ugly??????? because he is so ugly it’s awful. WHY IS HE BALD???

i have mentioned i hate his union of light skin from mk1 but this is ten times worse. just awful stuff, all around

they did this weird thing with his mask where, when syzoth opens his mouth, the mask moves with it, so he doesn’t have to take it off to eat or bite people or anything, i guess. but that’s really dumb to me?????? can he not just take it off like everyone else in these games who wears a mask???? why does he specifically need the open-mouthed stretchy mask?????

WHAT IS GOING ON. HUH????

also i really don’t like how they randomly decided to make the legs of his outfit purple; i get his skin is suddenly green and maybe they wanted some contrast, but come on guys. color coordination for these characters was established very early on, you can’t just throw reptile in purple out of nowhere when he's always worn green😭😭😭

i also don’t like the metal part on his crotch, and the top half of the costume is super boring. like okay sure graphics back then only allowed for so much but come on, do SOMETHING. this whole outfit sucks. burn it immediately like holy shit. mk4 was such an awful time for syzoth in general because not only did he get the ugliest design in mortal kombat design history BUT HE DIED IN HIS OWN TOWER ENDING.

you really cannot get worse than syzoth’s mk4 outfit & i think they realized how bad his design was, because midway redeems themselves in mkda:

i actually like syzoth’s mkda appearance, sure he’s a bit freaky but this is leagues better than whatever happened in mk4.

his default really suits the more monstrous/animalistic vibe they were going for him, and i like how they leaned towards a more lizard-y appearance than the weird human with scales was happening in mk4. lore-wise it also makes sense, because he's supposed to be "devolving"/losing his shapeshifting abilities due to not being around a zaterran matriarch for so long. the outfit itself is also nice; i like the shoulder pads, and the sharp points all over it fit in well with his theme + general villainy. there's enough contrast happening to make each part of his outfit stand out, while also staying cohesive and just generally looking good.

his alternate costume is also nice! they went for a different feel with it for sure, this one gives me "stuck in a desert and forced to fend for himself" vibes... if that makes sense. it's missing his regular color scheme which is.... weird... but at least it's actually interesting to look at and not ugly. i also like the animal skulls being used as armor throughout, like he hunted them down himself & then made sure to use as much of the remains as possible. it's cool!

i also do like syzoth's shaolin monks costume. now that i'm looking at it, the mold here is pretty similar to his mkda default, just with some tweaks? there's more green in the outfit, which i like because of the contrast it creates, and i also don't mind that his face looks slightly more human-ish despite being all scaley. i know i just complained about that for his mk4 costume but that's because he was ugly there (the bandages covering everything also helps. i also really like those btw)

also! i think they should bring this skin back in mk1 because i know it would look good on him. i don't think, i know, because this is his alt in mksm:

you see that??? HUMAN!! sure he's a little teethy, but he looks SOO GOOD in his human form wearing this. i'd really like to see mk1 syzoth in the mksm costume just based on this alone because i know it'd eat. the material is right there i just need nrs to act on it.

following the game release timeline, we get to mk armageddeon, where everyone keeps their appearances from the 3d era (unless you're a character who disappeared for several games and never got new costumes). so there's nothing from there to add. then everyone dies in that game, the wb acquisition happens, and with that comes the mk9 reboot.

and like... idk how to feel about his mk9 default? it's just There for me. i really can't explain why, but there's something about this design that just feels weird to me but i have no idea what about it is throwing me off. it's not an awful design but it's just. boring to me for some reason. also i've never liked how only one of his shoulders has a shoulder pad; it's just a super random asymmetrical element to introduce in a design that is otherwise symmetrical. could at least make it big and dramatic or something but noooo

i DO like his mk9 alt costume more than his default like i LOVE it

DO YOU SEE THE SNAKES WRAPPING AROUND THE FRONT WITH THEIR HEADS STICKING OUT FROM HIS SHOULDERS???? THE OPEN-MOUTHED SNAKE WITH THE FANGS AND TONGUE ON HIS CLOTH???? THE STITCHES ON HIS PANTS???? UGHHHHH IT'S SO GOOD. MY SECOND FAVORITE DESIGN FOR HIM. BRING THIS BACK IN MK1 NRS #PLEASE

the only other mk9 skins he has besides the klassic ones are the unused ones from the concept art.

i.. do not like this. it's a pretty big departure from the vibes his outfits have had the past few games, and not in a good way. he's supposed to be a master of stealth and i'm sorry but i can't see him being stealthy in this really clunky metal armor. maybe if he was a more knight-based character i'd be able to get behind it, but even if that were the case i'd still want to tweak some stuff. like the lack of boots feels weird (i know he's got claws but come on) with how the leg armor just cuts off, and i don't like the mask. idk, i'm not sure why nrs considered this but thank god they didn't go with it

on the flip side, you have the mk9 concept art where he's human and ohhh myyy godddd he's beautiful........

where is heeeeee 😭😭😭😭 i'm in mourning i didn't realize this existed until i started looking for all of his costumes, and i'm genuinely so sad because now this outfit will never see the light of day?????? he looks so good?????? the only thing i would change is the shade of green because i feel like a more teal color would be something they give to hydro or one of the sub-zeros. but other than that this costume looks so pretty, i need it instantly

there's not much to say about mk9 syzoth besides his appearance sadly. i mean, he's there, but i swear to god he doesn't talk a single second in all his scenes in the story mode for some reason. all he did was show up, get his ass beat, then leave. and sadly, this carried on into mkx

his default skin feels pretty similar to his alt in mk9 in terms of silhouette, which makes me wish they'd been a bit more creative with this design, but besides that i like it. i was a big fan of the bones in his mkda alt and it's nice to see some incorporated again into another reptile outfit. it makes me curious if zaterrans have some sort of rituals/traditions regarding bones, but mk rarely elaborates on zaterran lore so #whoknows

my only real complaint about it besides the similarity to his mk9 alt, is that there's virtually zero green in his outfit (which also bothers me abt his mkda alt outfit now that i think about it). yeah syzoth's skin is green already, but it's been shown in games such as mksm that you can have syzoth be a green-skinned reptilian while also allowing his outfit to have a pop of color. there should at least be green accents if nothing else. like his tournament skin!

i want them to bring this back in mk1 so we can see syzoth boobs huh who said that. hahaha!

but yeah i like his mkx alt a lot.......... the little tears in the cloth make syzoth look more roughed up, but that's probably the point. he's existed as the last of his kinda, working for the most heinous of men to try and bring back his species, for years. dude's gonna need to stitch some of his clothes back together lmao. i'm glad they retconned this to be his outfit from the tournament rather than the mk9 one, because it feels less lacking to me.

the only other official skin (besides the klassic) syzoth has in mkx is the kraken skin

i like the concept of this one, i really enjoy when they do fun themed skins like this! my only issue is that the gold plate on his face feels really out of place, especially beacuse he's not wearing anything else? iirc there was an option to not have it, which... thank god lol. i also wish his skin was more green rather than the actual colors they went with, but i can excuse it since a kraken is a more underwater creature.

before i move on from mkx i need to talk about syzoth's concept art because holy shit does it rule

some of these are definitely chops but with the good ones i feel robbed. betrayed. how could they take these from me

LOOK AT THE COBRA SHAAAPEEE

LOOK AT IT!!!!!

and then it looks like they were considering giving him a tail, but for some reason didn't 💔💔💔💔💔 this is awful look at what we lost

zaterrans are lizard people, okay. whether you want to design their true forms leaning more humanoid or animalistic, i'm of the opinion that they should always have tails, syzoth included. again, i feel like they missed out on giving him a tail because it allows for more unique silhouette opportunities

it also seems they were considering bringing back his 3d era outfits, or at least something similar to them, but...... both got scrapped?????????

the second one i guess is more loosely inspired, but it reminds me of his deadly alliance outfit.... i dunno....

i need them to take one of these and bring it back to the new era as syzoth's emissary outfit. it just looks so clean and i know this would bang in modern graphics. the vibes it gives off too would be perfect for a syzoth serving alongside empress mileena. GIVE IT TO ME, NETHERREALM.

if you've made it this far along the post:

sorry

congratulations because we're in the final stretch 🎉🎉 we have arrived to mk1

this is the best fucking default skin syzoth has had in any of these games and no you cannot argue with me. if you were not there when the banished trailer first dropped then i feel bad for you because literally everyone was rejoicing over mk1 syzoth. not only was every single reptile fan happy that he's a good guy & no longer desperately trying to bring his species back, but his mk1 design is flawless!!!!! this is probably my favorite design they've done for him yet because it's so fucking good!!!!

i complained about his mkx default not having any green, and they fixed their mistake becasue he has green in his outfit again. but it's not like an overwhelming amount of green, if that makes sense. i mourned him not having a tail in the previous few games, and while syzoth is tail-less in his human form the loincloth mimicking a tail in the back makes up for it & is just a super smart design choice. i also love the little storytelling elements in his default.... at first glance syzoth just looks like your average masked ninja, but upon further inspection you can point out all the little reptilian motifs in his design; from the tattoos to the silhouette of his outfit, and the scale textures scattered about. not to mention the keys at his hip hint at his role as shang's slave without fully spoiling his storyline in mk1. one time i saw someone say this outfit sucks and i'm sorry but i can't trust anyone who doesn't like syzoth's mk1 default, because again this is arguably the best he has ever looked. nrs did a good job by finally settling the "reptilian vs human" debate that was happening with reptile fans by just making him both!!!! they cooked SO fucking good with syzoth in mk1, which i'm happy about because for years now he was literally one of mk's favorite punching bags. all fans of syzoth wanted was for him to be happy and have an important story role, and he finally got that (even if it cost him a wife and kid and some of his mental health).

i have talked for way too long, and i think i've gone over his mk1 costumes in a different ask, so i will be brief:

uol is ass, only rivaled by mk4. burn them both to the ground

ood has to be one of my favorite looks for him, it feels like something he would've worn in the previous games, in a good way. big fan of the spikes and scales everywhere

i like his earthrealm skin but at the same time he's got to be sweating under there lol. the only thing i actually dislike about it is that i wish they didn't remove his face tattoo but other than that it's great. i really want his jacket

i did not get syzoth's christmas skin because i didn't have enough krystals at the time and it haunts me. every day. this is his only skin i don't have, and i wish i had just caved and bought some krystals for it. look at him he's so cute 😭😭😭 you can tell they had fun with this one. the dumb pointed shoes with bells are hilarious, his candy cane tattoos are really cute, and he genuinely looks like a really silly elf. you also can't tell because his hood is up but they even colored his hair white!!!! im obsessed with the little details on this skin

ALSO WHEN YOU HAVE HIS XMAS SKIN EQUIPPED HIS ZATERRAN FORM HAS SPRINKLES!!! AND CHOCOLATE AROUND THE MOUTHHH which he probably shouldnt be eating bc syzoth canonically cannot stomach human food.

like are you kidding me hello????? he's adorable 😭😭😭😭😭 im so devastated i don't have this skin and that it probably won't come back until winter rolls around again

okay i think that's all his skins? i hope? because this post is so damn long & i think there's an image limit that i've just barely hit at this point. if i forgot any syzoth skins i'm sorry but also i'm at the point where i have got to wrap this up somewhere

in short: love all his mk1 skins except uol, mk4 is the worst out syzoth's had Ever, klassics are great as always, and i need them to bring his 3d era outfits back.

okay thank you for reading, bye

[underratedandoverit]

You Wanna Wish Away Your Sins (1/3)

After losing to Best Friends at Arcade Anarchy, Kip undergoes shoulder surgery. One person reaching out to him afterwards sends Kip spiraling, turning all the pain and suffering in him into… Flowers? Flowers growing in his lungs?

Kip Sabian/Chuck Taylor. Hanahaki disease. Angst. Hurt/comfort. Emotional hurt/comfort. One-sided attraction.

Marked Mature on AO3 for general content. Warnings for mentions of hospitals, surgery, medical stuff. Described feelings for choking and vomiting.

Other characters include Penelope Ford, Trent Beretta. Kris Statlander and Orange Cassidy are mentioned. Background ship of Penelope/Kris is heavily implied, but never specifically shown.

part 2 || part 3

On AO3

I reeeeally only wanted to start posting this after it was all done, but seeing how I'm two weeks behind on what I wanted the original publishing schedule to be, I need heavy motivation to actually finish this (its about halfway done as of posting this), so! Here's the effort to hopefully help with that! Cause I am planning on finishing this, I have full plans for all three chapters and the epilogue (that'll be tacked onto the final chapter), I just need the energy to realize that its worth finishing so.. I'm getting this up now. To maybe hopefully see its worth it and people want to see this through. Idk.

I have been thinking maybe this concept would have been better with another ship, but I started with this and its very fitting for them, and I need more of this propaganda in my life and seeing how I'm the only one making it… Yeah we're sticking to Kip and Chuck. Sorry not sorry. (also tag list might change a little as i post the rest, tho this should be it generally. i tried to keep it spoiler free for now)

@midnightpretenders0 @stormbornpirate @ss-trashboat

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

Beep.

Kip tried to ignore the heart monitor to the best of his ability, and yet his brows furrowed, irritated, at the sound. The soft groan was barely audible in the hospital room that was empty aside from him, as Kip came to witness as he forced his eyes open, returning back to the real world from the sleepless rest he had been attempting to get for the last few hours.

Some would have guessed that sleeping would have been easier when you lost feeling from one of your four limbs, especially from the one going through the extreme levels of pain. But what those same people didn’t understand, was that the medication they put him under with, was amplifying most of his other senses to the point where it was almost painful to just even listen to certain sounds.

Beep.

Kip glared at the monitor, watching the little line on it beep an extra time, almost as if it was mocking him and the hatred raising his heart rate. Kip leaned back on the bed, turning away, eyes landing on the window across the room. The soft rays of sunshine indicated early morning hours, which wouldn’t have surprised him a bit. After coming to from the surgery Kip had been in various states between high alert and sleeping like a log, dozing off whenever he felt like it. Not that it mattered, they didn’t let him go home yet anyway, so he was just taking advantage of sleeping away as much of the irritation and pain he could while he was alone.

Beep.

Slowly Kip’s eyes dragged away from the window, landing on the little drawer next to the bed. Some nice nurse, was his guess unless it really had been Penelope, had left his personal belongings on it on a little tray. Honestly Kip was slightly surprised they had been just left for him like that, out in the open. While sure, he wasn’t sharing the room with anyone else, anyone could just walk in at any time while he was out cold and grab his wallet, keys, and phone and just bail out.

Or even worse, he himself could have used the phone before he was fully aware of himself and his surroundings yet, being under the influence of the painkiller and/or anesthesia. Almost as bad as some of his younger days of drunk dialing.

Beep.

Kip closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as he tried not to get irritated at the sound piercing his ears every couple of moments. As he calmed himself down, he slowly opened his eyes again, landing them back on the phone on the tray. He observed it for a moment, trying to count in his head how long it had been since he was wheeled into the operating room, how long it had been since he had last checked anything.

Really all he could remember was the little kiss Penelope placed on the top of his head, whispering him good luck before he was wheeled away from her too.

Beep.

Kip’s hand slipped away from under the thin covers of the awfully medical feeling blanket thrown over him, reaching for the phone. It was easier said than done to be honest, having to navigate the world now mostly with his non-dominant hand and everything. Kip fumbled a little, almost letting the phone slip from his fingers, letting out a string of quiet curse words from under his breath as he barely caught it again before it managed to fall to the floor, where he most definitely wouldn’t have been able to grab it without getting some help first.

With a sigh he lowered the phone into his lap, brushing a hand through his hair. Everything was just so bothersome and irritating to him, he could barely do things by himself. And every single little bit that he required some kind of help with, Kip hated even more. He understood the situation he was in, absolutely, but that didn’t mean that he was going to enjoy being so dependent on others when he could just as easily do all of this, and more, by himself before.

Beep.

His eyes landed back on the phone now sitting on the bed in his lap, the fingers of his right hand carefully drumming against the dark screen. It felt cold to the touch, clearly not having been turned on for a while or being held in a hand using it. Kip had no idea if there would even be any messages for him to return to, sure there were people like his family, friends, and co-workers who knew he was going through the surgery, but most people he felt like had already been in touch the day before, wishing him luck. He vaguely remembered Penelope telling him she would send him reminders about things he needed to take care of after surgery, but that was all he was expecting.

And yet, there was some sort of odd feeling of hesitation in him as Kip’s fingers kept drawing circles on the screen, only mimicking opening apps and scrolling through them.

Beep.

It was almost as if the sound was mocking him at this point, screaming at him to do something. Kip glared at the monitor on his side, eyes slowly returning back to the phone. He carefully took it back into his hand, weighting it for a moment, his thumb navigating on top of the power button almost on instinct. Kip barely stopped himself from pressing it down, taking a moment to ask himself if it was worth it.

As far as he knew, nobody was going to need him while he was gone. He was going to have to turn it on later to get in touch with Penelope about getting out of the hospital as she had promised to pick him up, but apart from that… Kip didn’t really know what to expect. On the other hand though, this kind of silence gave him a good chance to catch up on other important things he might have missed, if there weren't people he needed to get back to.

What could go wrong?

Beep.

Kip held down the button, watching as the screen slowly lit up, greeting him with the familiar opening screens. His eyes narrowed a little at the sudden bright lighting hitting him, but soon enough he was booted in, allowing him to adjust the screen brightness to his liking. Kip was still trying to get used to being awake and feeling like himself in his own body, and coming off from heavy medication, even if it had been a day since then, it was like a dark cloud hanging over him. He didn’t enjoy it in the slightest, but Kip knew it was a necessary step if he wanted to get through all of this. Unfortunately.

As he got himself back into his phone, Kip absentmindedly scrolled through some of the messages that were popping up little by little all over the place. Mostly it was just few remaining co-workers and friends that hadn’t reached out earlier wishing him speedy recovery and hoping that the surgery goes well, the usual things you’d message to someone you didn’t talk to more than occasionally but who you knew was going to go through something heavy like this and you had their contact info at hand. Kip scrolled through the well-wishes, smiling occasionally a little more as he watched the different names and profile pictures he recognized, wondering how many of these people actually cared or if this was just a cleverly arranged mass ruse so he would maybe feel a bit better after being under the knife.

And then.

Kip’s eyes locked onto one of the messages, starting with a word he didn’t expect to see.

‘Sorry’.

He didn’t notice his grip on the phone getting tighter until holding it actually hurt his hand, but Kip pushed the thought aside. Unblinking eyes stared at the phone screen as it burned the images of the words on his retinas until they were hurting too, but he was too deep in his own head to look away, to stop reading the message he didn’t think he would be getting. Not now, not ever.

Not from Chuck.

‘Sorry about your shoulder. Heard from Kris you were getting surgery. I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad. Hope you heal well. If you need something, let me know.’

Kip’s mind was nothing but static. The phone light hurt his eyes, his grip hurt his hand, reading and processing the words in his head. The pain shooting through him was almost comparable to the jolts he experienced going through the structure Chuck had thrown them both down to from the stage, only this one was even worse somehow.

‘If you need something, let me know.’

He didn’t read that right. He couldn’t have read that right. There was no way Chuck Taylor out of all people would say something like this to him. Or even text these kinds of lines to him. To Kip.

To the man that had been looking at Chuck from a distance with a mixture of interest and admiration for so long without saying any words out loud, without making any moves, without taking any actions to realize the thoughts and feelings he had. There was no way Chuck was doing this, offering help to him if he needed it, without knowing that there was something going on in Kip’s mind that he wasn’t sure was going to be able to handle daylight.

‘I didn’t mean to hurt you that bad.’

Chuck didn’t know Kip was already on his way out when Arcade Anarchy was announced. He had already been told he would require surgery on the torn shoulder, but this match was approved even with the ending spot as it wasn’t going to make his condition any worse than it already was. Kip hadn’t dared to say anything to the Best Friends, in fear that it would hinder their performance; he wanted them at their best, not feeling sorry for him, not trying to be careful with him. Miro knew, but he kept his promise and didn’t say anything either.

For better or worse, Kip wasn’t sure anymore.

Beep. Beep.

He finally tore his eyes away from the phone screen, letting it drop from his hand. Kip curled the fingers a few times trying to ease the pain, eyes blinking as rather painful tears stung in the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t sure if it was a sign of emotional distress or just a side effect of staring at the screen, but it didn’t matter to him. Whichever it was, he didn’t want it, and it was making him feel awful.

Beep. Beep.

Kip slowly looked over at the heart rate monitor, watching the little line make extra jumps and letting out more irritating noises than necessary. His eyes trailed one of the cords leaving from it, watching it being attached to his chest with a little patch. Kip snorted at it, turning away.

Stupid. It was all so fucking stupid.

Beep.

His eyes landed back on the phone, hand reaching for his face as he wiped away a couple of tears. He wasn’t sure why he got so worked up over this, it wasn’t like this meant anything. Chuck was just worried, offering him his condolences and a little help if he needed it, just like everyone else did. That didn’t mean anything, no more, no less, than that he was being a good co-worker. Not even a friend.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Beep.

Maybe that’s why he took it so hard, to be honest. Kip inhaled deeply, almost frightened over how shaky his breathing sounded. He hadn’t expected this to hit him so hard, but something about seeing Chuck Taylor out of all the possible people reaching out to him after hearing about the surgery just sent him spiraling. Short circuited his brain. His thoughts were all gone. Kip’s mind blank, nothing but a newly debuted white canvas ready to be painted on.

And the only visual that appeared on it was Chuck, the moment he held onto Kip seconds before throwing them both off from the stage.

The words he whispered to Kip when the camera was pointing the other way.

“Are you sure?”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

In that moment he had been, only for the fact that he knew Chuck would prevent him from hurting further. At least, in the physical sense. Mentally at that point Kip was already so far down the rabbit hole that it didn’t matter. He would have said yes. Not only to that, but to anything that Chuck asked him.

Was Kip sure? Yes.

Was Kip going to be okay? Yes.

Did Kip want him?

…

Yes.

Yes he did.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

He looked back at the monitor, watching the line make extra jumps again. It apparently wasn’t a concerning enough feature, considering how long it had been going on and not a single nurse had gotten in to even check on him yet. Kip understood it though, in a hospital full of patients in worse conditions than what he was in, he was merely a second thought to anyone passing by his room. He didn’t make a sound, he wasn’t in pain, he didn’t exhibit extreme amounts of discomfort.

At least, not on the outside.

Beep. Beep.

Kip leaned his head back against the propped up bed, eyeing the monitor. If he wasn’t thinking about the phone that was still quietly buzzing in his lap, his heart rate slowly went back down. Of course he couldn’t keep this up forever, eventually he would probably have to reply to Chuck, and who knew what kind of fresh hell of wounds that would open on him. How awkward it would make everything if he dared to actually take on Chuck’s own offering and ask him for any help. Of course Kip didn’t need to do that, knowing that Chuck hadn’t actually caused any of this like he was thinking that he did, but…

Maybe it would be a way to get a step closer. To spend time with him. To figure out if Chuck could possibly feel the same way Kip did.

Beep.

Kip closed his eyes, trying to focus on his breathing. It would be all fine, he lied to himself. It wouldn’t matter if Chuck said no, it wouldn’t matter if they became just friends. Another lie. Kip could live with it if he could just tell Chuck how he felt, and whatever came out of that was just perfectly fine with him.

Kip was such a masterful liar sometimes.

Beep.

He hummed at himself a little, obviously satisfied with the way he made himself at least on some level believe everything was going to be okay. A small smirk tuck the corners of his lips, but Kip resisted it, thinking it was a step too far. He allowed himself to be proud of himself in this situation, but showing it outwards was a little too much.

Instead he yawned, followed by a cough as Kip could feel something scratching in his throat.

Beep.

He tried to gently cough it out, only making the scratching worse. Kip opened his eyes, glancing around him, trying to see if there was even a cup of water somewhere close by, but no such luck. Instead he coughed again, the burning in his throat just growing stronger and feeling grosser the more he tried to physically force whatever was stuck in his airways out of his body.

With a few more coughs the feeling was turning unbearable, Kip rather violently jerking forward as he coughed loudly, hand flying on to cover his mouth as he could feel something dislodging in his throat, attempting a forceful exit out of his mouth.

Beep. Beep.

Maybe he wasn’t as over the side effects of anesthesia as Kip thought, or nausea was a side effect of the painkillers. As the thoughts raced through his mind, Kip tried to keep his mouth covered by his hand, eyes shooting around his limited moving space, trying to find something he could safely vomit into. He could feel another scratch on his throat, knowing that he just had to take it and let it all out, Kip shoved the phone from his lap to the floor in a semi panic, barely hearing it landing with a loud thud before he allowed his insides to empty themselves into his lap.

Beep. Beep.

With his eyes closed to bear the pain, Kip could feel the burning in his lungs, but it all felt different than usual. It was an odd sensation, it felt more like something was scratching and crawling its way up his lungs rather than his throat, pushing painfully out of him rather than flowing in the liquid form like usual. It still burned, but in a softer, almost calming way compared to what Kip knew it should be.

Fearing the mess he had made, Kip slowly opened his eyes, thinking that he might have to call a nurse over to help him out, as much as he hated it. But instead he froze in place, eyes widening in shock as he tried to process the small pile of purple shaded rose petals sitting on his lap instead.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip carefully reached a hand towards the petals, shaking fingertips tracing along one. It felt soft, like it was freshly plucked from a flower, the kind of fresh petals you’d spread on a bed for a romantic surprise to a loved one. But the moment was nothing but romantic, it was surprising for sure, but it was more making Kip internally freak out than giving him any sentimental feelings over the sudden pile of petals in his lap.

They had come out from inside of him.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip had no idea why. No idea how. He could feel something crawling in his throat again, letting out a soft cough, watching a single petal flowing out of him, landing on top of the pile that had already formed.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip’s hands slowly grabbed a hold of the petals, squeezing them in his fists. He froze for a moment, feeling the soft petals against the palms of his hands, against his exposed skin, almost tearing wounds onto him despite their petite appearance.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Kip screamed.