#to be fair they do get kills as the session goes on

[beacon-lamp]

love how in theory, the watchers have bestowed cleo with the ability to bring other players back from the dead—the only power granted that directly goes against the fundamental nature of the life series. but in practice, her newfound necromancy skills have just made her a single mother of two incredibly needy, prone-to-dying children.

[traveler-at-heart]

Good Luck Babe

Summary: Wanda's boyfriend is the biggest asshole you've ever met. You think she'll choose you in the end.

Wanda Romanoff x F!R, eventual Natasha Romanoff x F!R

A/N: Don't be fooled by the summary, this is a Natasha Romanoff x R fic

Classes can be a drag. Especially the early mornings, where not even a cup of coffee can make you focus.

And then, there’s Wanda Maximoff, looking at the professor as she speaks, diligently taking notes while looking perfect, as usual.

She catches you staring and you have to look away, pretending that you weren’t just wondering how she manages to look effortlessly beautiful.

Class is dismissed and you take a minute to pack your things, preparing for the next session. You try not to roll your eyes as you find Wanda with her idiot boyfriend right at the door. As usual, they take up too much space, and you have to push one of them aside.

“Coming through, princess”

You don’t have to look back to know Wanda glares at you, annoyed at the nickname.

To be fair, the first time you used it you thought you were both involved in playful banter. Hell, you even meant it to be flirty, but she took great offense in it, which was the case with most things you did, whether they were aimed at her or not.

It was pretty clear she hated your guts. You just didn’t know why.

——

“I don’t know what her problem is” Wanda says, the music loudly booming across the house.

“What?” Jarvis says, leaning forward because he didn’t hear a word Wanda said. Partly due to the loud music and also because he’s looking at other girls, albeit discreetly.

“Y/N. She’s always being a total ass” the girl says, watching as you enter the house, avoiding her stare.

“She’s just jealous because you’re so pretty” he says and that’s enough to distract Wanda.

Across the room, you curse under your breath at the sight of the Maximoff girl. God, you hate her stupid boyfriend. Always runnig his mouth to his friends about Wanda, telling them private things… you’d overheard them at a bar once and it took every ounce of your being not to kill him right then and there.

Not to mention, the rumoured affairs that everyone knew about. Everyone, but Wanda, that is.

“You made it!” Carol greets you, and then follows your gaze. “Ugh, that guy’s the worst”

“Agree” you nod, turning to look at her. “Shots?”

“Hell, yeah” your friend says, taking you to the kitchen where Val is pouring some alcohol.

To your relief, you get to avoid Wanda for the entirety of the night, and as your friends arrive you quickly forget what had soured your mood in the first place.

Wanda, on the other hand, is not having such a great time. At some point while she was chatting with Pepper, she lost sight of Jarvis and can’t seem to find him anywhere. Knowing Stark could get crazy ideas, she worries that they might be doing something reckless so she goes around the house, looking for her boyfriend.

She’s expecting everything but seeing him with his pants around his ankles while a girl Wanda doesn’t even know gives him head.

“Wanda!” Jarvis shouts, startled.

“That’s not my name” the girl says, smiling playfully. “Or are we role playing?”

“I need to get out of here” Wanda says, closing the door.

Of course, he chases her down the hall, desperately sayig any excuse he can think of. Wanda tries to walk past him, but he blocks her from going downstairs.

“Don’t be so uptight about it” he loses his patience when Wanda refuses his apology. “Guys just need to do it more than girls, it meant nothing”

“You’re an ass” she says, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Wanda, don’t leave” he warns, as she finally walks around him to go to the first floor. The shouting makes some people turn around, and it’s almost impossible to ignore the commotion.

You’re standing next to Val and Darcy, unable to look away as the oh so happy couple keeps shouting at each other.

“Guess he got caught red handed this time” Darcy mutters. She and Wanda were friends but had a fallout and you suspected it had to do with Jarvis and his side pieces.

“Let go of me” Wanda insists when he takes her arm, pulling her close to him.

“People are staring, shut your fucking mouth”

“You’re hurting me” she protests, trying to losen his grip.

Maybe it’s the way she says it, so defeated or even scared, but those words make you snap, and you walk up to them, pushing Jarvis away.

“Stay out of it” he warns.

“Make me”

You are expecting the first punch so you dodge it in time, but he manages to land another one on your mouth, and you feel the taste of blood.

“You’re gonna regret this” you say, launching yourself forward until you knock him over, landing on a coffee table that breaks. Grabbing him by the shirt, you land two punches and go for a third one when he kicks you, making you gasp for air.

“That’s enough” Thor steps in, his brother looking delighted at the chaos. “You better leave”

Jarvis glares at him, but truth be told, Thor doesn’t like him and he is your friend. He leaves the Odinson house, cursing under his breath.

“I’m fine” you tell your friends as they bring over ice to put on your cheek.

“Want us to take you home?” Carol offers.

“It’s good” you say, shaking your head. “I should go, take some painkillers”

“Call us if you need anything”

“Ok” you pat Darcy’s back, leaving the house where everyone’s partying like nothing even happened.

As you walk to your car, you spot Wanda, sitting on the sidewalk, wiping away the tears that roll down her cheeks.

“You ok?” you ask, standing next to her.

“He’s an idiot. No, I’m the idiot for being with him” she rambles.

There’s a very sarcastic comment at the tip of yout tongue but you save it.

“Did he drove you here?” Wanda nods and you jiggle the car keys. “Come on, I’ll drive you to your dorm”

“I don’t want to be alone” Wanda hugs her knees, and in spite of everything, your heart aches for her.

“Any friends that can take you in for the night?” she shakes her head no and you sigh. “Wanna stay at my place?”

“Are you sure it’s ok?”

“Yeah, come on” you say, walking to the car. You drive in silence, eager to get home and put some more ice on the punch.

Wanda gets out of the car and follows you to the dorm you share with Carol, who usually stays with Val most nights.

“Take the bed” you say, handing over some clean clothes so she can change.

Wanda looks at you, and you feel uncomfortable at the intensity of her gaze.

“I… thank you, Y/N”

“Sleep tight, princess” you say with a smile and for the first time she doesn’t look upset as you call her that.

——

The smell of bacon and butter wakes you up and you stretch, trying to remember why you’re in the couch.

When you see Wanda in your kitchen, everyhing that happened comes back and you groan, rubbing the sleep off your eyes.

“Ouch” you say when you rub close to the punch on your cheek.

“You’re up” Wanda says, smiling. It’s a strange sight, as she’s used to glaring at you or just ignoring your presence.

“You sleep ok?” you say, trying to hide your blush when you notice she’s still wearing the clothes you let her borrow.

“Yeah, thanks” she nods, pulling up two plates with pancakes. “I wanted to thank you for everythig you did last night”

“No need” you say, grabbing a fork and eating. Wanda’s just being nice and you honestly don’t want to force her to interact with you, so all you want is to finish your food and give her an out so she can leave.

“He’s been texting me” Wanda says, looking at her food but not eating anything. “Saying it was a mistake, a one time thing and that it would never happen again”

“And you believe him?” you try to control your tone.

“I’d heard the rumors… even from Darcy. You probably know already”

“We assumed that’s why you fought, but she told us it was none of our business. And I know this isn’t none of mine, but you deserve better”

Wanda giggles at that and you look at her, intrigued.

“I’m just… I thought you didn’t like me”

“Where’d you get that?”

“The nickname, your constant glares across the room…”

Oh, shit. Here you were thinking you were obvious about your crush, and Wanda thinks you hate her.

“I hate… Jarvis. I knew he was a dick so I always disliked him. Seeing him with you. Yeah”

“Do you like me?” Wanda asks and you take a deep breath, shrugging your shoulders.

The girl smiles, finishing her food. You stay in the kitchen, fidgeting with your fork until she comes back, changed into her own clothes.

“I should get back. Do you need anything? Painkillers, ice?” she leans forward, her hand touching your bruise gently. Then, you notice her eyes drifting to your lips.

“I’m fine” you say and she nods, stepping back.

“See you in class?”

“Yes” you say, smiling as she waves goodbye. Carol walks in ten seconds later, looking behind her.

“Was that…?”

“Yes”

“Did you…?”

“No” you cut her off. “She just didn’t want to be alone after what happened”

“Y/N…” Carol says in that tone you dislike so much. You’re about to get scolded over something that isn’t that big of a deal.

“Carol, come on. She slept in my room, I stayed on the couch. That’s it”

“I just don’t want to see you getting hurt” your friend says and you nod. “I mean, you got a split lip and a black eye already so maybe it’s a little late for that”

“Yeah, that’s true. Come on, there are some pancakes left”

——

You tell yourself it means nothing. Wanda sits next to you during class, and offers a second scone she got from the cafeteria.

“How’s the eye?”

“I’m not blind” you shrug your shoulders. “Jarvis hits like a little bitch”

Wanda snorts at that, and you can’t hold back your own laugh. That attracts the attention of Professor Harkness, who focuses on your eye.

“Do I even want to to know, Y/L/N?”

“Nah” you shake your head and she rolls her eyes.

“Alright”

With that, the lesson begins. You try hard to focus, but Wanda smells really nice and you’re only human. At one point, she shuffles in her seat, her leg coming in contact with yours and you give up on taking notes.

“You ok?” to your surprise, Wanda follows you out of the classroom. “I can let you borrow my notes, if you want”

“Wanda” you stop abruptly, sighing. “Listen, you don’t owe me anything. I helped because it was the right thing to do. So don’t worry about paying me back in any way”

“That’s not… ” she stutters, fixing her hair. “I don’t really have any friends. I was always with him”

“Oh” you feel like an idiot. “Well, ok. I could use those notes”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, come on. I’ll trade them for a coffee” you smile, walking next to her to the library.

—

It surprises you, how much you and Wanda have in common. She likes sitcoms and though you’re more of a Friends kind of girl, it’s fun to watch those old shows where they dance and sing from time to time.

“I only know Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins” you confess one time, which prompts Wanda to invite you to her dorm for a marathon.

“Where are you going?” Darcy says when you walk past her and Carol that evening.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun” Carol smiles and you glare at your friend.

“Well, Wanda and I…”

“Oh, my God! You traitor. Brutus!” Darcy shouts, throwing a napkin at you. “She’s the worst”

“I wouldn’t know. You didn’t tell me what happened”

“She got you there” Carol points out, eating popcorn while she enjoys the show.

“That is besides the point”

“Look, I’m not putting Wanda on my will or anything, we’re just hanging out. And if she mentions you, I’ll be the first one to defend you”

Darcy sighs, chewing on her lip.

“It’s not about me. Wanda has the habit of just… using people when she’s bored or on a break from that idiot. And then they get back together and forgets about you. Which sucks. I wouldn’t want it to be the case for you, that’s all”

“I’ll be careful” you promise.

Once at Wanda’s, you’re trying to enjoy the show, but Darcy’s words are echoing in your head. You had to admit that if you spent more time with Wanda, you’d probably develop an even bigger crush. And if she went back to that asshole, it would hurt you.

Was it really worth it?

“Is the show boring? We can watch something else. I know it’s weird that I like this” Wanda pauses mid episode.

“No, it’s just… Darcy said some things…”

“Oh. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t want to hang out anymore” she sighs, looking down at her hands.

“I’m just thinking… maybe it would be good if you fix things with her? Say sorry. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it”

“I can try, but you know her. She won’t make it easy” you both laugh at that. “Is that all?”

“Yeah” you lie. “Come on, let’s keep watching. I wanna know if Rob goes to Ritchie’s play”

Wanda smiles, this time moving closer to you. Her head rests on your shoulder, relaxing against you. It’s so intoxicating, to have her so close, to feel her warmth.

And all you can think over and over again is “please don’t break my heart”. But you can’t ask for the impossible.

—

You’re really not expecting Wanda to take your suggestion at heart, but one day you see her speaking with Darcy in the hallway, your friend pretending to not be interested in the conversation at all.

The only sign that she actually forgives Wanda is when you’re sitting with the girl at the cafeteria and Darcy sits next to you, carrying a tray.

“This is the only seat that I could find” she mutters unconvincingly, making you and Wanda smile.

Though you spent most of the time in each other’s dorms, watching movies or shows. You learn that Jarvis was the one that dragged Wanda to all those parties and anytime you invite her to one she politely declines.

Now, you’re staying in while the rest of your friends are at the Odinson mansion. You don’t know if they’re allergies or a mild cold, but you’ve been feeling sick all day and wanted to rest.

“Coming” you groan when someone knocks. You open the door to find Wanda on the other side. “You’ll get sick, what are you doing here?”

“I made you soup”

“Thanks” you take the container, and you gotta admit the idea of warm soup makes your mouth water. “I’d say do you want to come in, but I really do worry this might be contagious”

“I’ll be fine” she walks inside, finding her usual place in the couch and patting the spot next to her. “Come on. We’ll even watch that boring show you like”

“The Office is not boring!” you huff, making her laugh.

A couple of episodes later, and you feel your eyes slowly closing, a side effect from the  medicine you took. Wanda notices, and makes you walk to your room.

As you lay in bed, you’re drifting off to sleep when you feel Wanda sliding next to you, her hand on your forehead.

“Your fever is down”

“Mhm. Thanks to the magic soup”

“I’m staying, in case you need anything”

“Ok, baby” you nod, too sleepy to notice what you’re saying.

Wanda’s heart flutters at the term of endearment, and she watches you sleep peacefully, her mind racing with thoughts about what could this possibly mean to you both.

On the other hand, you don’t remember anything and are startled when you feel someone sleeping next to you.

“Wanda?” you say when you turn around, smiling at how cute she looks, all confused.

“I must have fallen asleep here. How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks” you lay on your side, still smiling. Wanda is still thinking about the way you called her and it’s fairly obvious you don’t remember.

Still, she leans forward and you almost watch in slow motion as her lips meet yours in a short kiss.

“Why did you…”

“You make me feel… I don’t know. Safe. I’m sorry, if I crossed line. Maybe I should go…” she sits up and you follow suit, making her turn to you.

This second kiss is a bit more urgent and less delicate, but you hope it makes a point.

“Now I really hope that what I had wasn’t contagious”

Wanda laughs at that, her hand over yours.

——

The next few weeks you grow closer to Wanda. You spend most of the time at her place, watching sitcoms and more often than not, you end up making out on her bed, until you’re both out of breath.

She also enjoys teasing you endlessly, like that time she sat next to you in Agatha’s class and put her hand on your thigh. Your knee jolted forward, crashing against the table and making the professor glare at you.

This time, you’re supposed to be studying in your room, but you find that looking at Wanda as she goes over her notes is far more interesting.

“Stop” she says after a few minutes and you smile.

“I’m not doing anything”

“You’re staring”

“Can you blame me?” you crawl behind her, placing small kisses down her neck. She sighs at the contact, leaning against your front.

“Are you doing this to get my notes?”

“Maybe” you laugh against her shoulder, making her turn until you’re kissing her, and she pushes you down on the bed, straddling your lap.

“You better work for them, then”

Next day, when you’re done with your test, the first thing you do is reach for Wanda’s hand. To your surprise, she flinches away, grabbing the strap of her bagpack.

“Did you do ok on the test?” she’s quick to ask, hoping you won’t push it too much.

“I think so, yeah”

“If you pass, I’d say you owe me for borrowing my notes” she smiles.

“Well, we could go out to the movies. Or dinner?” you suggest, your heart beating faster. It’s a thought that has been going through your mind recently.

Not that you don’t enjoy the kissing and sneaking around, but you’re eager to take Wanda out, find new places together, talk about something else other than classes and her old shows.

“I’m not sure I can make it” Wanda says, avoiding your eyes again.

This new rejection stings and you drop your shoulders, looking for an excuse to leave.

“Yeah, you’re right. We have lots of stuff to do. I’ll catch you later” you say, walking faster and not waiting for Wanda’s reply.

The rest of the day is spent in your dorm, which isn’t unusual. The only difference is that you’re alone instead of enjoying Wanda’s company, and hiding from seeing her.

“Wanna go to Joe’s with us?” Carol offers. “To celebrate midterms are over”

“Sounds fun” you agree, because it’s been forever since you’ve been with your friends.

“You can invite your girl”

“She’s not my girl”

“Oh?” Carol tilts her head to the side, putting the pieces together. “So that’s why you only hang out in the dorms”

“What did you think we were doing?”

“Having sex like crazy”

No answer comes to you, because sex is something that hasn’t happened yet. Or maybe never, considering Wanda doesn’t want anything more.

“I don’t think she knows what she wants, Carol”

“Do you?” she asks gently. Your immediate response is a shrug of your shoulders, and it’s a lie, because you know exactly what you want. “Come on, it’s her loss then. Let’s just go out and have fun”

Meeting your friends does improve your mood and you’re happy you listened to Carol. You eat and play pool, until everyone gets restless and looks for something else to do.

“Heard Stark is having a party” Carol says, knowing he always gets the fancy booze.

“Pass” you’re the first one to speak.

“Why?”

“Isn’t he best friends with Jarvis?” Darcy says. “We don’t want to have another fight, do we?”

“Oh come on, there will be so many people he won’t even notice that you’re there!” Carol insists, and you can tell she’s gonna be stubborn and annoying until she gets what she wants.

So, you agree, but spend the whole time looking around, waiting for that jerk to pop out of nowhere and pick up a fight.

“I don’t think he’s here” Darcy says, patting your back. “Let’s just have some fun, then Val will drag Carol out of here and we can go home, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan” you nod.

For the next hour, you do enjoy the party and are even surprised when Tony seems happy to see you. To be fair, he is a lot nicer than most of his friends. You’re relaxed, dancing to the music and doing shots with Darcy and Val, almost forgetting why you were so sad in the first place.

That is, until you walk out of the living room to get another beer, but the place is so crowded you bump into a girl.

“Sorry, are you ok?” you say, turning to make sure she’s fine.

Your stomach drops when your eyes meet Wanda’s.

She calls for you, but the sound of her voice is drowned out by the music and the ringing in your ears. Jarvis says Wanda’s name, and you take advantage of the distraction to escape, pushing people out of the way.

When the fresh air hits you, the first thing you do is bend over the railing of the porch and throw up, coughing and wretching violently.

“It’s ok” Darcy comes out of nowhere, getting the hair out of your face.

“Shit” Val sobers up immediately. “Time to go home?”

“Yeah, come on. Let’s get a cab” Carol says, patting your back.

They think you’re wasted, but all you are is heartbroken. Wanda was with him, after everything you’ve been through.

The shame over being so naive makes you stay in your dorm for the entire day.

Wanda shows up the minute Carol leaves.

“You should go”

“Please let me explain”

“I don’t think that’s possible” you shake your head. You know it, deep down. She’ll never give you a place in her life.

“We’re just… friends. He wanted to talk, apologize”

“Wanda” you plead, hoping she’ll stop. But instead, she pushes past you, her hands in your face.

“I can’t lose you”

“Why would I stay?”

Wanda answers with a kiss, that is slow at first, and then borderline agressive. You’re pushing, then pulling, unsure of what you want from her, but she pulls your pants down, just enough for her hand to fit, moving past your underwear and circling your clit. Your nails dig into her shoulders, gasping and breathing as she enters roughly, her fingers moving fast and hard.

It’s not nice or affectionate, but a way to further claim you, ruin you, brand you. Now she’s reached and touched more of you, and you’ll never be able to erase it.

Your orgasm comes unexpectedly, and after the high, you come crashing down. All you feel is bitterness and guilt and anger. Wanda stays inside, biting your neck. The sting reminds you, you’re only gonna get pain out of this.

—

It becomes a vicious circle. Wanda is distant in public, because more often than not Jarvis is by her side. And then, she corners you in any spot she can find, kissing you and pressing her body against yours.

The more you let her in, the weaker you are and it’s nearly impossible to stay away. It will hurt if she leaves, and it hurts to be with her.

“I don’t know how to stay away” you confess to Carol one particularly hard night. Darcy was called to offer her support, and she provided that along with snacks. “You were right, Darcy”

“I didn’t want to be” she says, holding your hand. “You’re the only one who can put a stop to this. She’ll never stop looking for you”

You can’t see yourself doing that, but then you walk past her in the hallway, and you hear her saying those words to Jarvis.

“I love you”

You couldn’t even get her to hold your fucking hand.

Pushing past her, you walk away, hoping to find the nearest bathroom and lock yourself there. Lucky for you, Wanda doesn’t follow you.

There’s someone else waiting outside.

“Miss Y/L/N” Professor Harkness greets and you nod, looking at your feet and hoping she doesn’t notice your red eyes.

“Professor”

“You’re too advanced for my class. My wife has a spot in her lecture. New people to impress, most of them pHD students”

Her emphasis in the new makes you understand.

You won’t have to see Wanda in class.

“Ok. I’d like that”

“Keep your head high, kiddo” Agatha says, her hand on your chin. “And don’t tell any of this to Rio or she’ll accuse me of going soft”

“Yes, Professor Harkness. Thank you”

“Mhm” she nods, giving her signature smirk and turning around.

One less place where you’ll have to see Wanda.

Soon after that, you change everything about your routine. Where you eat, study, even go out for runs. Hell, you change your phone number and Darcy is kind enough to let you stay with her for a while. That, and the Thanksgiving break are enough to give you three weeks of space.

It hurts and more than once you have to stop yourself from looking for Wanda. But what’s the point of being a secret? The longer it goes on, the more it will hurt.

Still, there are days when anger weights heavier than sadness. You’re mad at yourself, for being so stupid. At Wanda, because she was a coward and a liar. And those times, you get restless and go out to run, listening to music until you reach a hidden lake. It’s one of the few places you can be at peace, because you found it after Wanda broke your heart. So, there’s no ghost of her here, only you and your conflicting emotions.

Throwing stones at the lake is a way to pass time, and you’re doing exactly that when you hear rustling behind you.

“Sorry” a raspy voice says. Your eyes meet green ones, but these are softer, almost shy. The girl has beautiful red hair, braided with a few strands lose. She misinterprets your silence, and quickly retreats. “I’ll find another spot”

“That’s ok. I can… I can go”

“No, you don’t have to” she’s quick to reassure.

“Well, we can always share” you propose, smiling. The girl nods, and places her bagpack next to a log. She pulls out a book, and begins reading. You continue throwing rocks, stealing glances here and there.

“Is the book any good?” you finally ask.

“Depends”

“On what?”

“On your fascination with social expectations in Russian society during the 19th century”

“Pass. Got anything lighter?” you joke. To your surprise, the girl pulls out another book.

“How about the perils of indulging in romantic fantasies?”

“I know those very well” you say, grimacing. She puts the book down, smiling at you. You try to smile back, but turn your attention back to the lake until you’re able to calm down.

“Lit major?” you guess, pointing at the spot next to her. She moves her bag, allowing you to sit.

“Yeah. You?”

“Anthropology. Minor in Art History. I’m surprised we haven’t seen each other in the building”

“I'm a grad student, so I’m usually at the library” the girl says.

“No parties?”

“No one ever invites me” she shakes her head.

“I’d invite you” you blurt out, finding her blush adorable. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be forward”

“It’s not… you’re fine”

“So. Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. Are you trying to find out if Tolstoy really wrote his book with Flaubert’s in mind?”

The girl gives you an appreciative smile, nodding.

“Yeah, but it’s more about how men in 19th century wrote about women. Even in two different societies, the protagonists are punished for following their desires”

“No one should be punished for that” you say, looking at her. She averts her eyes, holding back a smile.

“Why Anthropology?” she changes the subject.

“Because. We’re the same and we’re not, even thousand of years apart. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“How so?”

“Do you think you have anything in common with someone who lived thirty thousand years ago?”

“We need food to survive. Sleep, water, oxygen” she lists, and you nod.

“Mhm. All basic needs. Next question, did you make a drawing of your hand when you were a kid?”

“Everyone did” she says, as if it’s obvious.

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to see what it looked like. Because it was my hand and no one else’s”

“And people thirty thousand years ago thought the same thing. And left their handprint in a cave in Southern France. Isn’t that something wonderful?”

She stays silent for a second and then smiles.

“I suppose it is, yes. To have an impact, so long after you’re gone too”

“You get it” you nod. “I’m Y/N, by the way”

“Natasha” she says, smiling at you.

The next few days, you catch yourself thinking about Natasha, and even with all the distractions, your mind goes back to her. It takes every ounce of self control to not wait everyday by the lake. Why would you want to get hurt, when you just started healing?

Love never ends well for Anna Karenina, Emma Bovary or yourself.

And yet… three days later you’re by the lake, holding a book of your own collection and an extra scone. You’re about to give up when Natasha shows up, and she seems as eager as you.

“Hey”

“Hi” she answers, a smile on her face. “Am I interrupting lunch?”

“This is for you. I mean, I was hoping I’d see you here” you stutter, looking everywhere but Natasha’s eyes.

“I was hoping to see you too” she confesses. It takes you by surprise, so she grabs the scone and the book as you try to gather your thoughts.

“Emily Dickinson” she reads. “Enjoying it?”

“You can borrow it if you want. I mean, yes I enjoyed it when I read it. But I just thought, you might like a change from male authors”

“Thank you” she nods, holding it close to her. “I actually have to go…”

“Oh, right” you nod, trying not to look disappointed.

“Can I have your number?” Natasha blurts out, her cheeks turning almost as red as her hair. “To give you your book back”

You smile, handing over your phone.

“I recently changed my number and I haven’t memorized it yet. So give me yours”

“Ok” she says. As soon as the device is back in your hands, you send her a text.

“See? Now I’m sure I gave you the right number”

“Talk to you soon. Thanks for the food”

When is it appropriate to text someone without looking desperate?

Either way, you can’t hold back your excitement as you walk to your dorm, jumping on Carol’s back as she’s eating her cereal.

“Are you mad?” she says, flakes and milk flying all over the counter.

“I’m just happy!”

“Why?” she glares, hoping you’re not back to your old ways.

“I spoke to a girl. And she gave me her phone number”

“Oh, my God! Y/N!” Carol shouts, the rest of her cereal thrown away as she dances around.

“What’s all the fuss?” Val says from the shower, concerned over the noise. Carol runs to the bathroom and opens the door wide.

“Y/N met a girl”

“Way to go!” Val joins the celebration and you’re about to say thank you when you notice she’s stepping out of the shower.

“Gah, bye”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want your new girlfriend to think you’re a pervert!”

“Shut up” you say, walking to your room and flipping her off without turning back.

The rest of your evening is spent studying, but also looking at your phone waiting for anything to come through.

As you’re getting ready to sleep, there’s a text.

Nat: I’m ready to give the book back.

Y/N: It’s been… seven hours?

Nat: I’m a fast reader.

Nat: Secret spot? Saturday morning.

Y/N: I’ll be there

—

It’s the first time you’re there so early. The light filters through the leaves, birds chirping as their day begins with the rays of sunshine.

The walk to the lake is lovely, and you spot a couple of small flowers as you find your way to the place. Deciding to get one for luck, you twirl it around in your fingers.

You sit by the log, looking at the fog over the surface of the water when you hear soft footsteps approaching.

“I was afraid you’d stood me up” you joke when Natasha sits next to you.

“And stole your book?”

“The book, I could get over” you admit, giving her the flower. Natasha smiles, her fingertips caressing the petals delicately.

Your eyes are focused on the curve of her lips and those beaufitul eyes.

“Well, I’m here” she says, smiling when your eyes meet hers. “Thank you, I enjoyed reading it”

You take the book, your hands touching briefly.

“There’s a problem, though”

“What is it?” you say, worried that something’s wrong.

“I gave the book back, but I still have to thank you for that scone”

“Oh” you laugh.

“So, what is your preferred payment method? Ice cream? Coffee?”

“It’s a little early for ice cream”

“Then we’ll get it later. I know just the place”

“Yeah. I’d like that”

Though there are no classes, Natasha still has to meet with her advisor, so you chat for an hour until she has to go back to uni, agreeing to meet at your dorm in the evening.

“Is this a date?” you ask your friends on the video call as they agree on what you should wear.

“Of course it is, you silly goose!” Carol says, her face occupying half of the screen. “Wear something hot!”

“No, something comfortable. It’s an ice cream date, not a club” Val argues, trying to get a glimpse of the options.

“Something comfortable AND hot”

As they keep arguing, you opt for a pair of jeans, a white cotton t-shirt and a light jacket.

“Gotta go” you say when someone knocks. After hanging up, you are surprised to check Natasha’s ten minutes early. Plus, you don’t remember giving her your exact room number, agreeing you’d come down and meet at the lobby.

You’re about to open the door when the voice on the other side makes you stop in your tracks.

“Y/N? Please. Open up. I need you”

Wanda.

That voice, those words, the feelings you’ve been trying so hard to push away and bury come back. But instead of hurting you, they make you angry. You’re about to go out with a wonderful girl, who seems geniuenly interested in you. And here comes Wanda, trying to stain that as well.

Without thinking twice, you climb out of the window, holding on to the emergency ladder. You look down, unsure of what to do when you reach the last step.

"What are you doing?" Natasha says, rushing to stand above you.

"Parkour?" you reply weakly. "Is it too high?"

"Don't worry, I'll catch you"

Trusting her, you jump. Truth to her word, she eases the fall as you land, but you drag her along with you as you stay on the floor.

“Are you hurt? Why did you do that?”

Her hands are running over every inch of your face, going down to your shoulders and arms. The worry in her eyes only makes your heart beat faster.

“My roomate accidentally locked me inside”

You figure it's better than saying "My situationship is outside my door and I wanted to avoid her"

“You could have told me, and I would have gone and find her” Natasha insists.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Let’s get ice cream? I won’t ever do this again” you promise, holding her hand. The redhead rolls her eyes, but nods and leads you away from the building.

You make small talk, appreciating how her hand doesn’t leave yours as you get away from campus and to the walking district. You try to look discreetly behind you, hoping Wanda didn’t see you and followed you.

Natasha finds the store, opening the door for you.

“Rocky road, please” you give Natasha puppy eyes and she smiles, ordering strawberry ice cream for her.

“So, what’s your deal?” she asks as you leave the store.

“My deal? What do you mean?” you say, mouth full of ice cream. The girl wipes the corner of your mouth with her napkin.

“You mentioned parties. Are you some sort of wild girl looking for someone to charm every night?”

“Oh, yes, I’m quite the Casanova” you laugh. “No, come on. My friends are cool and we just like to have fun from time to time”

“So, not a player” she notes with a smile.

“I did get my heart broken, though”

“Fella done you wrong?”

“His girlfriend done me wrong” you correct, wishing you were talking about anything else. But truthfully, if you want things to work out, you better be honest. “She was with me, but only on her terms and as if I were a secret”

“I’m sorry, you don’t deserve that”

“I moved on. So, don’t think I’m just messing here, Nat. I really like you” you hurry to say, blushing slightly.

“I like you too” she takes your hand. “Now, let’s finish our ice cream so I can show you this awesome bookstore I found”

The next few hours are spent talking about college, some of your plans for the future and also, your friends. You smile when Natasha comments she’d love to hang out with them.

Before it gets dark, you walk back to campus. Worried that Wanda might still be at your door, you asked Darcy a while back to go check. Apparently, the coast was clear.

Natasha walks you to the door.

“I had the best time” you say, smiling. “We should do it again. Maybe go to the movies?”

“Would love to” Natasha nods, her eyes drifting to your lips. You lean forward, heart beating fast as you’re eager to feel her lips on yours.

“Are you still here? I told you to beat it!” Darcy opens the door, making you both jump back. “Oops, I thought you were someone else. Sorry, I’ll go back inside. Pretend this didn’t happen, make out”

“Darcy” you groan. Your friend doesn’t get inside, though.

“The famous Natasha. Y/N here won’t shut up about you”

“Shhh, don’t listen to her, she’s off her meds” you ask Nat, covering Darcy’s mouth and pushing her inside. As you close the door, you hold it so she can’t open it again.

Natasha laughs, her hands going to your hips and pulling you softly. You take a few steps forward, smiling as she lifts your chin, leaning to connect your lips in a slow kiss.

It’s mindblowingly good, although too short for your liking.

“So, when are we doing this again?”

“The date or the kiss?” she jokes and your hands go around her neck.

“Both”

“As soon as you’re free” she says, kissing you once more before leaving for the day.

Darcy snaps a picture the second you walk inside.

“That’s the gayest you’ve ever looked, congrats” she says, sending the picture to the group chat.

You roll your eyes, pulling out your phone and smiling.

Y/N: Best I’ve ever had

Nat: The kiss or the ice cream?

Y/N: What do you think?

Smiling at your phone, you walk to the couch where your friend is sitting.

“I’m happy that you’re happy” she says, relieved that you’re healing from everything that Wanda put you through.

“Me too” you sigh, pulling your knees against your chest. “Though I do have to ask. Did Wanda say why was she here?”

“I didn’t care enough to find out. All I did was tell her to leave you alone. And then I pretended you were inside so she wouldn’t go anywhere else looking for you”

“You’re a great friend” you nudge her with your foot and she glares.

“Ew, get that thing away from me”

“I take it back” you show her your tongue.

The next week, you text Natasha between classes, and though she’s very busy, she’s always making time to get back to you. You agree to go out on another date on Friday, but neither one can wait to see each other, so you end up at the library on a Wednesday evening, each one focused on your work.

Well, Natasha is focused on her work. You’re looking at her, because this is the first time you’ve seen her wearing glasses and it’s adorable.

“Find anything interesting?”

“Plenty” you say, not even pretending to be reading your notes.

“You’re not the only one who’s staring” Natasha’s eyebrow arches, speaking without looking up. “Brunette, green eyes, a lot of rings and eyeshadow”

“Oh”

“Is that the infamous ex?” she says and you’re scared she’ll be upset about this whole situation.

“Uhm… yeah. I’m sorry. If she’s making you uncomfortable, I’ll just leave…”

Natasha looks up at that, eyeing you up and down as you struggle to read her expression. She surprises you by pulling your chair until it bumps against hers, leaning forward and kissing you, one of her hands on your thigh and the other holding your chin, in that signature move that always makes your head spin.

“Maybe that’ll keep her away” Natasha says, smiling and bumping her nose against yours.

“You can’t just kiss me like that and expect me to focus on an essay” you say, biting your lip.

“Then let’s get something to eat. We need a break from all this studying” she proposes, picking up her things and leading you out of the library, her hand in yours.

You don’t care to look around for Wanda to check if she’s watching, because this moment with Natasha is yours. She’s holding your hand, kissing you, spending time with you whenever she can, instead of hiding you like you’re a dirty secret.

By being herself, she’s given you the one thing you always craved for. Something real.

Finally, Friday comes and you’re buzzing with excitement, getting ready to meet Natasha.

“Wanna go to a party tomorrow? You can invite your girlfriend” Val says, painting her nails while Carol throws a ball in the air.

“We haven’t had the talk about being each other girlfriends”

“What? And you call yourself a lesbian? This is the second date, you should be adopting a cat by now”

“Like you and Val with Goose?”

“Yes!”

“Well, sorry to disappoint the sapphics, I’m just trying to not scare her away. And about the party, yeah, if Natasha’s up for it, we’ll stop by”

“Alright, it’s at Stark’s”

“Oh. Maybe not, then”

Your friends share a look, and you glare as they both stay silent.

“You can’t avoid her forever” Val is the first one to speak. “She’s gonna keep looking for you, getting in the middle of what could be a good relationship just because she thinks she can”

“Yeah, next time you see her, don’t jump out the window. Open the door and tell her off” Carol agrees.

“You did what?” Val looks at you, baffled.

“It’s ok, Nat was there to catch me. Speaking of which” you hear a knock on the door, and stand up. “See ya, cat ladies”

“Hey! We only have the one”

You laugh as you open the door, but then you’re interrupted by Natasha’s lips on yours.

“Hey”

“Hello” she smiles, and then looks behind you as your friends whistle.

“Meet Val and Carol. My two former best friends” you grumble when they make kissing sounds.

“Nice to meet you” Natasha greets over your shoulder.

“Bring her home at a decent time” Carol says. “Unless you plan on having sex. In that case take her back to yours so she doesn’t wake me up”

“I hate you so much” you sigh, pulling Nat away.

“We’ll see you at the party tomorrow”

“Sorry about them” you mumble when you’re going down the stairs.

“What was that about a party?” she asks, opening the car door for you.

“Ever heard of Tony Stark? Big house, bigger ego. Loves to have parties. We don’t have to go unless you want to” you say, half expecting her to turn down the invitation.

“If you want me to go I’ll be there”

“I just want us to spend some time together, doing whatever you want” you say, blushing.

“I did promise I’d try going to a party with you, and it seems like the perfect time. Could meet the rest of your friends”

“Alright then” you nod, excited and terrified about how things could turn out if a certain someone is there.

Carol is right, though. You can’t be looking over your shoulder all the time, expecting Wanda to approach you and open those wounds.

If you have closure, in whatever way that is, she won’t have the power to hurt you anymore.

It’s hard to focus on the movie with Natasha by your side, her hand clasped in yours over your leg. At one point, you lean against her shoulder and she kisses your temple.

She’s so perfect, it makes you dizzy.

“What did you think about the movie?” she asks as you go out of the theater, her arm around your waist.

“It was good. I’m glad I understood most of it without having watched those other Alien movies”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have picked a different one” she protests, pulling you to a stop.

“I just want to be with you. Plus you looked so excited to watch it, I had a hard time saying no”

“Is that so?” she arches an eyebrow.

“Don’t use that against me, Natasha” you warn, getting ready to argue but her lips silence you, and you moan against the kiss.

It’s not nearly enough, and you need more of her, not just kissing.

“So if I ask you to go back home with me, will you still have a hard time saying no?”

“On the second date? What do you think I am, a harlot?”

“I’d count the lake as a date of it’s own. And the library too”

“So, this is like the fourth one?” you say, counting with your fingers.

“You don’t have to, I was only…”

Natasha’s words are cut off by your lips on hers, and she holds back a moan of her own when you run your tongue over her bottom lip.

“I’d very much like to go back to your place”

The drive back is silent, but not in an uncomfortable way. There’s a certain tension, and the expectation of what is about to happen makes you feel like your heart is beating out of your chest.

“This is home” Natasha says, opening the door to her apartment. Of course, as a grad student, you expected her to have her own place, but you still admire how homey it feels. There are books everywhere, which makes sense, and pictures of Natasha’s family.

“It’s lovely” you say, turning back to look at her. The tour of the place is forgotten, as you watch Natasha approach you slowly, her hands dropping to your waist.

“Nervous?”

“Yeah. A bit” you admit, because lying to Natasha has never been something you’d consider doing. “I want this to be perfect. And for you to really like it”

For me to be enough.

“It’s already perfect” she says, coming closer and kissing you slowly. Your eyes close as you enjoy the sensation of her lips against yours, hands wandering to your lower back. Without breaking the kiss, you discard your jacket and take hers off as well, and she immediately pulls you against her, your hands holding her cheeks as she deepens the kiss.

“Are we doing it standing up?” you ask when she breaks apart, breathing heavily against your neck. “Because I’ve never tried it, but I am open to experimenting”

“You could just say that we should take this to the bedroom” she laughs against your temple.

“Now, where’s the fun in that?”

Still, she laughs as you pull her by the belt loop of her pants, guessing that her bedroom must be that last door to the left.

“Bingo” you smile, opening the door. There are more books scattered on the nightstand and the floor, but at least the bed is clear. “God, Nat, your reading is gonna kill me” you say as you fall to the bed and make her land on top of you.

“Sorry, I don’t have company very often”

“Are you a virgin?” you tease, knowing full well she’s dated in the past, though nothing serious.

Instead of answering, she kisses you again, her lips drifting down to your neck, and then lower to your stomach. In one swift motion, she unsclaps your bra and lifts your shirt up, her tongue swirling around a nipple. You moan, surprised at the contact, holding her head in place as she moves to the other nipple.

“Does it look like my first time?” Natasha says against your lips, her hands going down to undo the button of your jeans.

“I’m sorry, I was only joking, baby” you say, and it’s almost embarassing how desperate you sound.

“Good girl” she comments, pulling your pants down. You struggle with your underwear and Natasha’s too impatient, so she pulls it aside and starts eating you out, her tongue making circles and swirling around your clit.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” you say, biting your hand to keep you from screaming. Natasha nudges your clit with her nose as she moves to go up and down and you’re close when she stops. “Why?”

“I want to be inside you”

It’s a mystery, how your brain doesn’t stop functioning at that, but you manage to discard your shirt and start to undress Natasha, eager to feel her skin against yours. Once you’re both naked, she flips you, so you’re on top of her, straddling her lap.

“I’m debating if it would be better to have my fingers or my strap buried in your pussy” she says, and you wonder how the girl who is so well spoken can manage to be so crass.

Not that you’re complaining.

“Anything you want” you say, aware that you’re rubbing your center against her thigh.

“What’s that?”

“I… please. Just use me” you plead, desperate for some release.

Those words do it for Natasha, who takes out a strap on from her nightstand. You protest when she stands up to fasten it around her hips, feeling like you’re gonna combust if she’s not touching you.

“Shh, I’m here” she soothes you, laying on top of you and rubbing the strap against your entrance.

“Fuck me, Nat” you squeeze your legs around her, hoping she stops teasing you.

“That’s the plan, baby. Tell me if it hurts?” Natasha asks as she begins to fill you up, and you’re too far gone to give a verbal confirmation, nodding instead.

“More” you insist when she stops, searching for any sign of discomfort. Natasha thrusts forward, sinking the entire shaft and you moan, arching your back. “Harder”

Truthfully, Natasha’s never been so adventurous or forward in her sex life, but the way you’re pleading, clenching and panting underneath her, wakes something entirely new inside her. Pushing your knees against your chest, she moves in and out, reaching new spots that make you see stars.

“Yes, yes, yes” is all you manage to say, holding on to the sheets as your knuckles turn white. “Nat, I’m gonna…”

The words are stuck in your mouth as a powerful orgasm takes over, leaving you breathless. You feel Natasha slowing down her movements, and then she goes to kiss your neck, the strap still buried inside you.

“That was…” you sigh, trying to make your brain work. As your breathing steadies, your muscles relax and you let a finger run up and down Natasha’s side. “I don’t know what to say. You’re the one with the big words”

“That was fucking hot” she says, making you laugh. “And I’m not done with you”

Good thing your schedule was clear for the next day, because you weren’t getting any sleep tonight.

—

Your muscles feel sore when you wake up, stretching and turning in Natasha’s arms, watching her sleep.

Her alarm woke you up, but she’s still sound asleep.

“Nat” you say, moving her fiery hair out of her face. “Baby”

“No” she protests.

“Time to get up. You’re meeting your advisor, remember?”

Natasha curses under her breath, clearly not caring enough to wake up.

“Hey… what if I sit on your face?”

“I’m up” she says, opening her eyes and pulling you by the waist. “Come on, giddy up”

“Nuh-uh. Get dressed”

“Why would you lie about something like that?” she whines, burying her face in your neck.

“I didn’t lie, because technically, I didn’t say I’d do it right now. Get dressed, I’ll make breakfast and then we can go back to uni”

“Fine. But this discussion is not over” she kisses your cheeks, neck and then your lips, smiling as you laugh. “Morning”

“Morning, baby” you say, appreciating how beautiful she looks even with bed hair.

When she gets up, you find one of her t-shirts and go to the kitchen, looking at your options. You opt for french toast and make some coffee, because Natasha is definitely gonna need it to stay awake.

“Tastes amazing” she comments when you sit down to eat.

“Breakfast or me?” you tease and she almost chokes with her coffee. “Sorry, let’s eat”

“So, what are the plans for today?”

“Laundry, some homework. Standard stuff”

“Do you have any plans for lunch?” Natasha asks and you shake your head no. “Would you like to eat with me? After I’m done with my meeting and you finish your stuff, of course”

“Would love to” you say, smiling at how domestic and perfect it all feels.

Once you finish breakfast, you get changed and walk to Nat’s car. Parking close to your dorm, she kisses you goodbye and walks to the professor's offices.

You’re so distracted, thinking about everything that happened that you don’t notice Wanda sitting outside your dorm until you’re at the door.

“Wanda” you say, your hands in the pocket of your jeans. “Hey”

“Y/N? Did you just get here?” she says, looking around and then at the time on her phone. “You didn’t sleep here?”

“What do you want?”

“I want… to apologize”

You sigh, hoping the conversation ends soon so you don’t have to ever talk to her again.

“Anything else?”

“I thought he would change. He promised. But then it happened, again and again. And all I could think about is how you’d never do that to me”

“No, I wouldn’t. But now it’s too late. You made your choice”

“It was the wrong choice. Please, just give me another chance. I was scared before…”

“No, Wanda. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to hear it and we’re not gonna be anything at all. Natasha is… she’s amazing and I want to be with her. You had a choice to make and you went with him. And now… I have to choose the girl I’m in love with”

“Is there anything I can do or say…?”

“No. I’m sorry” you shake your head. Wanda nods, wiping away the tears. It does tug at your heart, seeing her so alone and broken. But it’s not on you to fix this.

Not anymore.

You let out a sigh when she leaves the hallway, turning in the other direction so she doesn’t see you wiping away a tear of your own.

Your eyes meet Natasha’s. She’s holding a bouquet, looking at you intensely.

“Nat. I can explain.”

The redhead drops the flowers and you’re scared she’ll walk away, but instead, she approaches you, lifting you as she kisses you. You sigh against her lips, holding on to her as if she’s the only thing in the world.

“I heard. Everything. You don’t have to explain anything” she puts you down, smiling. “I’m in love with you too”

“I don’t… know what to say” you laugh, craddling her face in your hands.

“No need to speak” she pulls you closer again, walking back until your're cornered against your door.

“I swear to God, if it’s that girl again I’m going to…” Carol opens the door without a warning, making you almost fall. “Awww, you guys! Val, come look! They’re kissing”

“With tongue?”

“I hate you so much” you complain, hiding your face in Natasha’s neck. She laughs, kissing your temple. “Now close the door so I can say goodbye to my girlfriend”

“Girlfriend? Val, they’re girlfriends!”

“Wohoo!” the girl screams from somewhere inside the apartment.

“Agh, it’s like having overbearing lesbian mothers” you slam the door shut, turning to Natasha. “I’m staying at your place tonight, or they will drive me insane with all their questions”

“Tonight, every night. Whatever you want. Just know… you’re getting very little sleep” she says with a smirk, kissing you.

“I can live with that”

[oimitocat]

MIND ME | HC

txt ot5 (separately) x gn!reader

reacting to reader with dark/trauma humor + implied past suicidal tendencies + implied past trauma + coping with humor + therapy sessions + idol au! + implied eating disorders

a/n: literally fair warning, if you can’t handle it, move on. this is fiction but with real life tendencies.

—HUENING KAI

one day you had to do your therapy session over the phone due to your busy schedule. kai had come in to sit with you as your session was close to an end. the basic “see you next time, call me if you need to chat or have questions” thing goes on and then you hang up.

he’s comfortable in your bed, you crawl in to cuddle with him.

“anything new?” he asks, he’s always so caring, so tender.

“nah.” then you pause, smiling.

“what is it?” he asks, “why are you smiling?”

you shake your head, “just remembered this joke i made to my therapist.”

“a joke?” he asks, curious.

you watch him, smiling at the mess of his hair. “so like, i use to self harm-“ his eyes widen a bit, yet he quickly fixes his expression, “-and so she asked if i still do it and i joked and said ‘no i have alcohol now’…” you sigh, “she didn’t laugh.”

and you bust out laughing when kai purses his lips, unsure if he should cry or find it funny either.

“y/n!”

“kai! i don’t drink! be for real!” you cackle as your cuddle him, easing his worries.

—CHOI BEOMGYU

“y/n, do you want to stay with me and keep practicing?”

“what? you’re saying i suck and need to keep practicing?”

beomgyu gasps, “no! what? i just- well the step we keep messing up! we should practice it!”

“so you’re saying i’m bad at it and you’re covering it by saying we both do? great, another thing i’m bad at.”

“what’s the other thing you’re supposedly bad at!” he argues, smiling at you.

“oh it’s a long list,” you say with a grin.

“as if.”

“no for real,” you pick up your water bottle, back facing his, “killing myself is number one. apparently i’m bad at it.” you shake your head before pausing.

“what?”

“i’m joking,” you say quickly, seeing the worry in his eyes. “beomgyu.”

“ah…” he just watches you, messing with his water bottle. “am i allowed to laugh when you joke like that?”

“if you want, i don’t care. would be preferable.” you pat his back, “let’s practice yeah?”

—KANG TAEHYUN

you were watching people getting their bones popped. it’s crazy what areas can be popped to soothe the body. yet you and taehyun were cringing and laughing.

“oh- ah!” taehyun flinches, watching how they popped someone’s neck.

“dude maybe i should go get my neck snapped.”

“don’t you mean popped?” he asks, smiling at your silliness.

you shake your head, “no. i mean snapped.”

taehyun rolls his eyes, “you wanna die or something?”

“always have.” and you get a smack on the arm, to which you laugh at. he knows your joking, and that makes you feel warm.

—CHOI SOOBIN

literally you love food. sadly the industry makes you develop a decently bad relationship with it sometimes. so, one day you’re eating sweet bread and go- “shit, i’m supposed to be on a diet for our comeback.”

“huh? why?” soobin frowns. “wait, really?”

“it’s okay, i’ll just starve until then, it’ll be like this never happened.”

“y/n, what?”

you glance at him while chewing, “what?”

“why the hell would you starve?” he eyes you, “wait, what does your diet consist of then?”

“coffee and antidepressants.” you joke.

“funny.”

“i know.”

—CHOI YEONJUN

it’s a task. literally, all of you are on a reality show and you have to fill out a questionnaire or something. you’re thinking on this question.

“what’s wrong?” yeonjun asks you while beomgyu and soobin make ruckus about what their answers are.

“i’m not sure what to put.”

“y/n, it’s basic questions.”

“that’s what my therapist said and then i was diagnosed a bunch of stuff.”

“the question is literally what’s your favorite childhood memory?”

“so about that, i don’t remember cus apparently — fun fact, when you experience some sort of trauma as a kid your mind blocks any memory during that age and time. i don’t remember shit,” you whisper. “what am i supposed to put? that my mom beat me with a spoon until i finished my homework?”

he stares at you, unsure what to do with that bomb drop. he knows you cope with humor, hence, “steal one of mine then.”

“bet.”

[avelera]

big agree on your post on stuff people overlook with Jayce and Viktor.

fwiw though, people taking issue with Jayce making weapons for Cait feels very fair considering what the grey doea. that regardless of whether they were working for the barons or not, anyone impacted by the grey was a civilian. like even if it only hit chem barons employees which feels very doubtful since it's a gas, we've already seen like in the shimmer factory that many working for them probably didn't have better options. it's plausible Jayce didn't know about her plan with the grey and simply trusted her and figured anything she would do would be the lesser evil but that is a hard pill to swallow.

Personally I don't see why Jayce would know about the use of the Gray. He's resigned from the Council, as far as we can tell, after the Memorial attack he basically goes into his lab to look after Viktor and never leaves again except once to make the weapons for Cait's squad.

Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence, etc etc but I'd say there's as little evidence that he knows about it as there is that he does. The Council meets below ground because these are top secret sessions and Jayce isn't part of them. That's if he even cares. Jayce seems wholly focused on Viktor from that point forward and then when Viktor leaves, Jayce basically goes into a depression coma. He's not taking part in current events, much less reading briefings or attending meetings that are going into the strategy for the hunt for Jinx.

On that note, if we're going to look at extra-narrative evidence for or against Jayce's knowledge, just going by a gut feeling he knows, I'm going to counter with my gut feeling he doesn't based on the fact that Caitlyn is leading a top secret strike team operation.

Piltover has recent, painful experience with officials in high places betraying them through the former Sheriff Marcus. I would see Caitlyn's strike team operating on a strict need-to-know basis in order to prevent leaks that could give away where they're going next, much less what methods they're using once there. And again, even if that knowledge was available for Jayce to know, that even if he'd gone to those Council sessions or asked Caitlyn he would have learned the details of her plan for flushing out the Chem Barons, I simply don't see Jayce as being in a place where he wants to know right now. You can see that as its own crime, but my read of the scene was he made weapons while hating himself so that Caitlyn and her team would be safe, then fucked right off back to the lab.

As for the whole use of the Gray argument, honestly, I'm just going to go with the word of god from writer Amanda Overton on that: Caitlyn used it with pinpoint accuracy, only Chem Barons and their operatives were impacted, but that doesn't necessarily make it right and the narrative wants you to question how you feel about that. Caitlyn certainly hates herself later for everything she did to hunt down Jinx while consumed by rage and grief for her mother.

But I am a little sick and tired of the widespread assumption made by the fandom that civilians must have been impacted too even though we have zero evidence of that, these assumptions that Caitlyn is murdering children all over the place when that is never seen or shown. As far as we know, once the operation is over, she turns the vents back on in that location. Let's absolutely question whether using tear gas, which is what the Gray effectively is, is the right thing to do in that situation at all (Silco certainly didn't have a problem with it when he used it on the other Chem Barons himself) but let's not add a body count that isn't shown onscreen just because of a gut feeling. Arcane doesn't shy away from showing us children getting hurt or killed, I don't know why they would shy away from showing Caitlyn's strike team hurting innocent civilians and children if it was happening, especially when they showed it with another character: Jayce. So I don't buy the argument that they just don't show it because she's a popular character or something, Arcane is totally fine with showing its beloved characters kill children. Therefore, I conclude that it didn't happen. They're not hiding it. It didn't fucking happen.

Finally, and I can't believe I need to say this, but that whole arc is very influenced by 9/11 and the writers are the right age to be deeply impacted by that event too, unlike many of the young viewers commenting right now. So perhaps you don't know that there was a heated discussion of whether a full invasion or a strike team was the better option for going after the lone, deranged perpetrator of the attack. Sound familiar?

Most people from my generation who were in on that debate believed that justice was necessary, but the progressive side of the argument was that an elite strike team was better than an invasion in terms of loss of life. Arcane is a world that exists with a lot of nuance, where no one is wholly good or wholly evil, where there is no perfect option, but it's wild to me that so many people are saying that the strike team was automatically evil when the alternative was all-out warfare that would have absolutely been indiscriminate in the death of children and civilians.

[tubbytarchia]

Wild Life Session 4 smallidarity thoughts (+ some Scar and Lizzie)

See it was all fine, nothing to worry about!! Joel couldn't bring himself to kill Jimmy, he barely even harmed him. I'm pretty sure he shot him just once (after Jimmy trampled their crops so. fair)? Joel calmed down, he rebuilt his car, everything is fine. He says at the start that he's wary of Jimmy because of him going after Joel last time, and that's about it for the time being

Jimmy dies and Joel makes a deal out of it and calls him a muppet. As per usual. Meanwhile Jimmy is still adamant to get at Joel whilst Scar tries to deter him because they want to be an alliance

He and Jimmy meet up at some point after their brief interaction at the start where Joel shot him, and they just banter. And Gem and Scar are just standing there like "guyss we're a family come on" meanwhile Joel and Jimmy's exchange goes as follows: Jimmy: "you're the ones with tasty lives!" Joel: "yeah bet you wish you could have a chunk of me!" "Oh I'm having a chunk out of you!" "Yeah and you know where to take that chunk out of!" "Oh I'm gonna take it! I'm taking it!" "You should!" And then Gem and Scar tell them to break it up and Joel goes "we're just flirting!!" ? what the fuck? Genuinely WHAT are they talking about. is this an innuendo of some sort. is this another ambiguous smallidarity sex scene sorry who said that

Jimmy gets a double kill (in the most adorable way btw. The way he weasels his way in there and backs off and comes back to try again all crouched. animal) and goddd people hyping him up is so so sweet. He deserves this. He's also a little bit evil, he's getting the murder rush but I'm happy for him. He needs to kill more people, he needs to get this out of his system, he deserves this, things need to get worse before they get better. ANYWAY Scar all "that was the greatest kill ever on the life series" is so cute. And man I gotta agree. There's more unique and funny and impressive kills but I would not mind calling this the best just for the fact that it's Jimmy. He's competent, he can do shit like this, but it feels like most everyone and the world is continuously against his survival, but here he is... my son...

And then Joel coming up to congratulate him... Really blummin cute. In Joel's POV also, he says "I went to congratulate Jimmy and we had a moment" which I wager he might be referring to the creeper incident as 'the moment' but that'd make no sense to call it that. With that tonation. Why did he say it like that. Stop being cute

But yeah Scar tries to blow Joel up with creepers only for Joel to save him from his own creeper and he's so casual about it. He is incredibly kind to the bamboozlers, it's really cute...

And then Jimmy does it!! He gets Joel!! And he gets him real good!! And can you believe that the first person to kill either of the family duo is Jimmy, of all people. Scott has died by this point too and Jimmy is the one to make a dent in the full 6-life alliance. Crazy. I'm so proud of him. It was seriously really good too, see, when Jimmy puts his mind to something and is able to focus he excels, he really does. And Joel, oh Joel is such a good sport about it. He keeps saying how it was good and fair and that he still wants an allyship with him. Tells him "welcome back to green" aww. And they make a truce, Jimmy got it out of his system and now they can be friends and go kill other people instead and Joel is proud of him... Jimmy "Joel, I finally got you, so I will stop now, so let's do the perfect dap" and then they both count down and clap their hands to simulate slapping palms. Awesome. All of Joel and Jimmy is just really cute this time around. Very happy about them being a more proper alliance now, but we'll see if it sticks... Joel can only be so mean to Jimmy at this point though I don't think he has it in him to betray him or anything lol. Can't speak for the rest of them but not too worried for the smallidarity, it's a plentiful crop...

Also a very important exchange between Lizzie and Jimmy at some point: "I just finangled a load of diamonds off of Joel" "Oh? How did you do that?" "I asked him just really nicely" (lie btw she was moreso extorting Joel) "Oh, that doesn't work when I... I guess... you are his wife, I guess..." "Yeah..." "Lucky for some I guess- right (unrelated topic)" I'm not 100% confident that's what Jimmy said at the end, it's a bit hard to make out but. what? Hello?

I also extend gratitude towards Lizzie for being so nice and supportive of Jimmy, she was the one to suggest the cobweb creeper trap that ended up taking Joel out, but she also insisted that he drink a health restoration stew beforehand in case anything went wrong. Jimmy didn't end up doing so (he was full) and Lizzie is all "why?" and "something could have gone wrong". man. Nice to him...

[gremlinmodetweeker]

Now imagine shifter!König, not shifted, and going through the lunches in the fridge. Finding his Finches, cause turns out the little bird is stupid good at cooking. And 'Finch' not 'Handler' now, storming into the enclosure squawking and shouting and accusatory fingers pointing.

"You big bloody bastard! Those are mine!" 'Finch' squawks out, unable to even try and reach those stupid exercise rings. They're a bitch to clean as it is up that high and asshole König likes to lounge on them now knowing it pisses off his Finch. Wait, his...? ....Yes, his. His Finch.

Okay so, before I keep going, can I steal the name Finch? I always like naming the readers for the stories and Finch is just so darn cute. I love it so much. Would I be able to use it going forward?

Now, onto the response:

Art from This Post

König is just a hungry man. As the largest shifter on KorTac's Eastern European base, he's well known as 'The Vacuum' for how he hoovers through food. He'll happily go through other people's lunches to get some extra snacks. Does he feel good about it? Somewhat. If KorTac wants to have such a giant shifter, they should be giving him more to eat. In a way, this is his form of silent protest. If KorTac won't feed him, he'll feed himself. It's only fair, he says to himself. You're a dick, everyone else says. I don't care, König decides.

Handlers and shifters alike know to be wary of König's efforts. Locks don't keep König out of lunches, but if you put your lunch at the very back of the fridge and not towards the front then usually you're free of König's snooping.

When you go to put your lunch in the fridge, you find it a bit hectic and messy. It's bizarre, seeing everyone's lunch pushed in the back. You can't help but wonder why everyone is piled up in the back of the fridge. The clamber to the back of the fridge has people piled up until they hit the top of the fridge, with another lunchbox or two shoved in to boot. It's a complete mess that's probably squishing their lunch into oblivion.

So, finding plenty of clear space at the front, you put your lunch tucked to the side and go about with your day.

All the others would say it was predictable, but the shock and horror upon finding your lunch raided had you chewing the culprit out to another handler near by.

"And whoever it was ate all the good parts, too!" you grumbled, "like, how? I just don't get it! It took me ages to make and this fucker comes along and eats all my hard work!"

The other handler, a foggy-eyed man who was closer to retirement than recruitment cleared his thick throat with a cough. You turned to face the old man with a scowl.

"Do you know anything about this Louis?" you snapped.

"Do I ever," the old Frenchman wheezed, "I bet you twenty balles that König was the one behind it."

That has you stalling for a minute. König? König ate you lunch? Oh you were going to kill that feather duster the next time you-

"He's so big but the big man doesn't give him any extra ration tickets," Louis explained, "I'd feel bad for him if he didn't eat my wife's cooking more than I do."

You drummed your fingers on the desk.

"Is there any reason he goes after the handler's fridges? He has the whole cafeteria at lunch.

Louis grinned, "He likes to snack. Don't you know?"

You grit your teeth. The stupid snacking bastard had another thing coming for him, just wait. You'd snap his little bird next when you got your hands on him.

You didn't actually manage to get around to König until after his training sessions for the day. Luckily for you, he had another session of training in his shifted form for you that day. You clenched your fists in preparation.

Of course, preparation means nothing if you never expected what was coming for you. So of course, you were completely bowled over by the sight of König unwrapping a little square of chocolate, the chocolate you'd saved for days, while sitting in a folding chair. He took one clean chomp before he perked up when he noticed you.

"Ah, Handler! What are we working on today?" he cheered, "do you have any good riddles today?"

Your eyes focused in on the little speck of chocolate at the corner of his lips.

"My chocolate..." you muttered quietly.

"What was that?"

"That's my chocolate, you feather-brained idiot!" you squawked, "you-YOU ATE MY LUNCH TODAY!"

König licked his lips, "Oh, you were the one who put your lunch in the front?"

"Fuck yeah I did!" you puffed up, "it took me ages to make it! I put so much time into that sandwich you wouldn't believe it! I was looking forward to it all week, but I had to age the-You know what nevermind. I don't care. I'm better than this. I'm better than all of this. I-"

You trailed off as König strode across the gymnasium floor to the rings, crouched down, then smoothly shifted into his monstrous form as he jumped up to go to the rings.

"GET DOWN FROM THERE!" you bellowed, "I WASN'T FINISHED WITH YOU YET!"

You heard a throaty cackle above. Your hair stood on end instinctively, but the fire inside only raged further.

"GET DOWN HERE!" you screeched like a little monkey.

Up above, König wove through the rings with masterful ease. Your whooping and howling wasn't of that much interest, but he took a moment to stop and hang by his tail from one of the rings. He cocked his head to look at you.

There, down on the ground you spluttered and spat, hopping up and down and waving your arms like a little bird.

Like a little finch, König thought to himself.

"Little Finch," König let out a hoarse laugh, "Little Finch, Little Finch!"

"Who-ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME!?"

"Little Finch Little Finch!" König tossed his head side to side as he sang out his little nickname for you.

"COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW! I'LL SHOW YOU A 'LITTLE FINCH'!"

Oh, König found this terribly amusing. He had a wonderful little game now.

[just-horrible-things]

There’s a bunch of different ways it can go from here. Most of them are pretty grim.

One is that Anders shoots her. He’s very on the fence both emotionally and intellectually about whether it’s the right choice. On the one hand, she reminds him of himself and the other numbers and his impulse is to help her. On the other, she’s a torturer, she’s everything he hates, she hurt Alex, he despises her. On the one hand, executing her would be fair for her crimes and a clean death would be a mercy. On the other, how can the Resistance take her life as well after committing an atrocity like this against her.

If he doesn’t kill her, Anders helps her. If he helps her, the only reasonable outcome from there is to let her go. Keeping someone prisoner indefinitely is almost as antithetical to his ideals as torture. 

How much help Anders gets her and how long she’s therefore in his care, is essentially up in the air. The situation is too close to Anders’ trauma and he’s making erratic choices. 

At the lower end, he still almost certainly gets her a (paid) healer at least once – enough to fix her ribcage before it kills her, enough to stabilise the worst of the displaced breaks. It’s a lot of damage and, although a paid healer will have more magic available than a half-starved Alex, one session of healing still leaves her extremely injured and helpless.

At the upper end – perhaps he’s thinking more about the cost to the kept healers who will undoubtedly be made to heal her otherwise – she’s his prisoner and patient until she’s more or less mobile and capable of simple self-care tasks. Still a lot of healing, natural or otherwise, to go, but at a point where she would heal naturally.

Alex wants to help, if/when he finds out what happened, because his sister did this and he feels culpable. He probably isn’t allowed. If he doesn’t see how bad it is, it’s easier for him to accept that maybe he doesn’t have to be involved.

Either way, when Anders decides he’s done enough, he leaves her somewhere out of the way with a burner phone, and either calls emergency services for her (if she’s not able to use a phone yet) or lets her do it herself. 

Ariadne goes to hospital, she gets debriefed, she gets some kind of mandated therapy (that honestly is probably more like reaffirmation of patriotism, self-sacrifice, and hatred of magic). Her family get a confusing letter of “sorry, the notification of death we sent you previously was actually in error”.

She tries to go back to work as soon as possible. She can’t really handle interrogations anymore and she’s too injured and traumatised for field work at least for a long while, so she gets a desk job. She finds it a bit tedious but it’s okay. In some branches of possibility, she does quit. In most, she sticks at it. The organisation is her support network, she doesn’t know what else she’d do.

She hates warlocks and magic more than she ever did. Why they changed their minds after torturing her and nursed her back to health and handed her back, she’s very confused about. Her lead theory is that Anders Reyan is actually just crazy. (Not too far off the truth.) But the fact remains that they tortured her pretty horrifically.

This scenario lacks the absolute undeniable self-sacrifice of Alex running off with her, so it doesn’t have the same impact on her views. She’s still a prisoner. Anders is spending resources on her, yes, but not at great personal cost. Her caretaker is not someone she personally hurt. And Anders did hurt her before he “changed his mind”. She’s left confused, not convinced she was in the wrong.

The government uses her torture as propaganda, evidence of the crimes of the cruel Resistance terrorists. X-rays of her skeleton are in the papers. She hates this, but as a loyal government agent she cannot protest. 

Taryn is in so, so much trouble. Anders is absolutely furious with her. In the immediate aftermath he screams at her, tells her she’s just as bad as their enemies, and makes her wear anti-magic cuffs because she cannot be trusted with magic. She’s devastated. Not least because she sort of agrees with him.

Daniel –  her mentor and almost-parental figure is angry too, if in a much more controlled way. Not only was it an awful thing she did, it was also thoughtless. The resulting propaganda has done serious damage to public perceptions of the Resistance. She is stripped of her semi-formal position as next-in-line to lead the Resistance in the event of Daniel’s death. She doesn’t want it anymore anyway, she’s appalled with herself.

All in all it’s a pretty dark timeline. Not the worst, but nothing is improved by things going this way.

There are other small-likelihood scenarios that branch off of this timeline, but I’ve written quite an essay anyway so I’ll stop here haha.

[redwolfstabs]

hi billy!! saw your post so i gotta ask bc you asked me haha - team loomis hcs?? please? 🩶

OHHH ABSOLUTELY SWEET SWEET SAM

[Note: This post will be with Ghost!Billy and a version where Billy doesn’t die because they’re both delicious to me] [SPECIFICALLY for Parker, Parker will see the vision.]

Team Loomis hcs [survivor version] - for the Sam to my Billy 🩵

Billy has a lot of trust in Sam, as crazy as that is. An example of what I mean would be, let’s say, crazy shit starts happening because someone has figured out Billy really was the murderer in ‘96, he would be honest and open with Sam about it, because he’s worried for her safety, being so close to him. And he trusts her not to tell anyone [unless it’s Tara, which he deems is fair in this circumstance], and he especially trusts her NOT to tell the police.

At First, Billy wasn’t sure how to be a dad. He wasn’t even sure how to be a normal person. But, once he’s figured out what works for them, he’s feeling comfortable and safe being her dad.

Billy is a menace and does it to mess with Sam. Soft Example:

Billy:..what do you say we go bonding? Sam: that depends on your example of bonding. Billy:…I got a new knife, so- Sam:We’re not killing random people! Billy:OH OKAY. You hate me? You want me dead? In jail? You HATE ME?! Sam:..*sighs* you are so dramatic.

He can be a little too protective over Sam, because that’s his daughter and yeah, maybe he got a late start at it, but he wants it to be good. Sam gets a partner? Billy intimidates them, on purpose. His reasoning: he thinks it’s safer before she gets attached and gets hurt, because he doesn’t want her hurt. [If said partner stays even after his intimidation? Bonus points from Billy]

YOU SAID THIS BUT I WANNA REITERATE: they are nonstop bickering. That’s one of the main ways they communicate. Sam says something indirectly about Billy? Billy joins the conversation and it turns into the two of them going back n forth. Billy looks at Sam even slightly weird? Sam calls it out, they bicker. It’s usually playful and it’s fun and games, even if it bothers others around them

Sam has to convince Billy to try and be a dad to Tara as well. Billy initially didn’t want to, nothing against Tara, but he didn’t see a reason because she “wasn’t his the same way Sam was.” But what really helps convince him? Seeing the relationship Sam and Tara have, it makes him want to parent them both.

Sam can get Billy out of his head and vice versa. Assuming there’s no Stu here, Sam learns when Billy goes into his head and gets lost in a maze, and she learns ways to get him out of that maze. If Sam is ever stuck in her own head maze, Billy notices immediately, and helps get her out.

Even though they’re a lot alike and bicker, they never have any actual arguments. If they do, they take time and get some space, and when they come back together again they try and act normal when talking to each other.

Billy would genuinely kill for Sam if she asked.

Sam is prone to seeking validation from Billy, but won’t ask for it. She’ll do something and just go “hey- I did a thing, wanna see?” And of course billy wants to see, he wants to be apart of what she does, and every time he’s prone to letting her know she’s doing good / she’s so cool etc etc

When they FIRST started trying to be Father/Daughter, they both agree to seek therapy, and it did end up working. Now if they’re still in therapy, they sit by each other and treat it as a gossip session

They both constantly try to scare each other, and it gets worse during spooky season. Billy can’t be scared easily, Sam can’t either but it’s a little easier. The one time Billy did manage to scare her, he got a knee to the stomach and decided he would not be scaring her like that again because

Billy: Ow- Sam. Sam I’m in pain. Omg Sam. Sam that hurt. Why would you do that” Sam:..you fucking scared me?? What did you expect? I’ve almost died too many times for this shit. Billy: Ohhh you’ve almost died?? What about me?? I was stabbed and almost shot!” Sam: You sound like a five year old.” Billy: You look like a five year old.” Sam: Okaaaay old man—

Along with the head maze: Billy is very observant with Sam. Constantly watching her and making sure she's alright which helps him when too comes to noticing when she's sick / feeling down. He notices way before Tara, and if Sam finds this concerning that's just for her to know.

If Sam ever gets a pet, Billy is cautious around the pet. Especially any kind of dog. Sam will notice, and will slowly [and in a not too obvious way] get them to like each other.

They are both horrible when it comes to saying how they feel. Especially expressing any kind of words about love. So, Billy will randomly leave notes in areas he knows only Sam will find and see and they say various things like "I'm proud of you", "You're a good kid" etc- and Sam loves and appreciates them alot. In return, she buys him small little gifts like keychains or any nicknacks like that because she knows he'll love them.

Ghost!Billy version of Team Loomis hcs! 🩵

Every time Sam is in danger, Billy is there and watching. [yes, this is slightly canon but I wanna elaborate more.] it’s easier to see him in reflective surfaces, and if Sam gets the chance, he’ll be there guiding her. BUT, if that’s not the case: he talks to her. [example of this from something I’m writing rn for fun ⬇️]

“Saaam..” his voice comes out in a cold singsong way, and Sam shivers on instinct. ‘Kinda busy.. trying not to die here..’ She thinks, a ragged breath leaving her as she looks around, trying to map out her area. “You’re not gonna die..” everytime she hears him but can’t see him, it makes her nervous. Anxious. She always pictured him as something that wasn’t real. Something that her mind created. This? This is starting to disprove that, and it makes her nervous. “You are slacking though- Move. They’re coming down the stairs. You have.. what? A minute? Losing time the more you lay there.. cmooon Sam.”

Billy is prone to messing with Sam, even in this state. He’d constantly knock stuff off her desks, shelves- any flat surface with her stuff really. Imagine an invisible cat, that’s exactly what it is.

Anytime Billy isn’t around, Sam gets wildly concerned. In some ways, she’d be happy. Not having to hear or see him, dealing with his teasing and menace behaviours. But if he isn’t around for more than 32hrs she gets concerned, especially if she’s gotten used to him being around.

Sam constantly asks him his thoughts on things. And it could be about anything. If Sam meets someone new, she’d find ways to ask for Billy’s honest opinion.

This kinda goes with the one previously, but Billy also tells her when she’s near a dangerous person if Sam hasn’t realized it. Being around Ethan? Even if he’s friendly? Billy is there beside her, talking to her, telling her she needs to grab Tara and run. Billy has no proof to show Ethan is an issue, but Sam does feel obligated to listen, knowing Billy is probably correct.

Billy knows that Tara is mostly unaware of his existence, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to get Sam to talk about it. He approves of tara knowing he’s Sam’s dad, but he wants Tara to know more. To know that Billy is There. Sam doesn’t tell Tara for months about it, from being nervous in how Tara would react.

Sam HATES when Billy jump scares her through mirrors, says it’s irritating and annoying and makes him seem childish. Billy keeps doing it, because he is dramatic and playful.

This was very very fun to think of and write and just RAAAGHHHH thank you. I needed these out my HEAD

Let me know if you want more / your thoughts of these <33

[cherrytasticc]

Kengan Omega OC's reference!!!

Still working in the reference of all of my Kengan ocs, but for now i have the main (cofcof favorites cofcof) ones!!

More information of them below the cut!!!

Ajani —

He was part of the Kengan vs Purgatory tournament, same as Nicolás/Jean, he uses Jiu Jitsu, but as a side attack form. He usually goes for the punches

Along w it, he's a boxer, usually training with Jun because when he was growing up, Jun was the motive of why he become a fighter. He's a super star to him.

When Purgatory fighters could fight against Kengan ones after these two didn't become one, he and Sheila had a match: That's where he got the scar on his chest.

But they're friends!!! (Even if she kicked his ass and he returned the favor some weeks later. But they're gym friends.)

He's aside of being a DJ, is an excellent chef, he loves to be in the kitchen because is like his happy place. He loves fighting, but need a rest once in a while. Usually makes more to invite his friends, he doesnt like eating alone sometimes. That's what make him sad of being independent.

He got along (Purgatory) with: Nicolás, Liu, Naidan (BRO'S DEAD SADLY), Terashi, Rolón, Ryan (oc of @andy-kuramy ), José (Barely, he hate him just because don't think he's good enought for his bro Ryan, but don't make a huge deal out of it.)

And w the Kengan ones: Naoya, Himuro, Kaneda, Mokichi, Rei, Sen, Sheila, Saw Paing and Gaolang. (He don't talk a LOT with most of them, but he doesnt have problems with them, so, 👍)

He hates Akoya. Akoya is an asshole. (Totally not because he beat his ass)

Oc x Canon w Saw Paing (TWO RABIES DOGS FIGHTING FOR WHO LOVES THE OTHER MOST)

Sheila—

She make her debut in Kengan Ashura, being part of the aniquilation tournament with the company of her deceased mother who was a member of the Kengan Association.

Defeated in second round. (Everyone was surprised that she even passed the first one)

As years passed, she wanted to be more strong and grow her experience, so she went from country to country, training with some fighter, obviously paying them for taking their time if necessary (Muteba, Jun, Gaolang and Gensai). Her lost only give her a wish to become STRONGER. Never. Giving. Up.

She created her own style, she doesnt have a name for it, she just call it "Doing what she thinks she have to do." Is a combination of gymanstics, dance and box. She's pretty fast, mini sonic.

But She's more analytic that harmeful, she preffers winning fair and square, without killing anybody.

She has nails, wich since she was 12, prepare them to be a weapon, so the 10 nails of her hands are a venenous menace. She uses especials gloves to not hurt anybody outside the ring.

When Koga arrived to CJW and saw her training, she didn't think of her much of a menace. "I don't want to hurt her." He said, one day Jun put them to a sparring session after Sheila asked him to

"Hurt me?? Who you think you are?? Jun?" She asked, Jun in that moment just laughed, as when José, just give Koga a short explanation "She's Sheila. She comes here once in a while to train when shes on the country, she wanted to see of good where you." With that, Koga just nooded "Hm. Got it."

She, for experience of the time, ended winning, while seeing him, she sighed. "And with that you think you can be like Ohma in how long?? Six months? Yeah, you're totally screwed if your mind think a work of maybe decades can be done in just that."

She's a determinant, strategic and fair person, uses a lot of logic, her overthinking is sometimes her own weaknesses, she stays daydreaming sometimes.

She's not pretty used to the fancy life she has tooked in such a short period of time. Still being weird for her. But she loves her partner.

The three accesories with she holds her hair where given by him, actually.

She gets along with (Kengan): Yamashita, Ohma, Cosmo, Gaolang, Jun, Kaneda, Muteba, Naoya, Himuro, Adam, Sayaka, Karuo, Haruo, Rei, Sen, Lisellotte (Another oc of Andy, Lis is her sister), and Raian (Barely, just because he's her brother-in-law).

Oc x Canon w Rama XIII (Delulu)

[crumb]

okay okay so re: this post about this gifset

tell me what you think--did Benson plan on killing everybody in the restaurant? did he plan on killing himself after? did he expect to spare Randy, or was he on the fence? was he gunning for Chris and Chris alone and anticipating having to improvise?

I just love the way this scene plays out and how, despite the horrific violence, there's still something undeniably human about Benson as he goes about it. I would LOVE to hear your take!!

Holy shit my response is so long and rambling I'm so so sorry but uhhhh here's my thoughts under a cut to save people's dashboards from my dumb brain 🙈

Omg so yes this is something I think about ALL the time. Chris is, of course, a definite 100%. He was basically dead the moment he grabbed Benson's shoulder and said "...I'll have no problem turning your peaceful redneck existence into a living hell..." Benson warned him, gave him a chance to back down from bullying Randy, but Chris doubled down so RIP lol. Which was the spark that lit the first fuse.

The rest I think may have been improvised a bit but not by much. I think he planned on killing everyone, except Randy, but wasn't sure how exactly it would all go down. There's a chance Hardy might not have heard Jess screaming and never come out of the back. Which that alone I find funny that it was Jess' shrieking and not the two shotgun blasts that managed to rip him away from his morning jerk off session. So Benson might have planned on getting Hardy in the office by surprise after doing in Chris and Jess.

Jess is interesting because Benson tries to quiet her first before getting frustrated and shooting her to shut her up. Like, was bro gonna give her some speech before offing her? I wouldn't be surprised. Something about not dating entitled dickheads? I get why some people think he might not have killed her if she stopped screaming, which is a fair theory! But I also think she's been clearly joining in on the bullying and egging on Chris with her little comments and giggling like she had been earlier that morning. So I think she was already firmly on his kill list by that point, plus she would have no use to him other than being another witness—and the whole thing wasn't about her, it was about Randy, so dragging her around with them, or leaving her behind, would be pointless and risky.

Randy Randy Randy. I don't think he ever intended on killing Randy at any point, except maybe there being the risk of it happening when he was shaken after the whole Sheppard situation. At that point, Benson was so out of his own body I think almost anything could've happened, though ultimately I don't think that would've ever been on purpose, only in a knee-jerk reaction. I do think it was a liiittle bit of a test. I think Benson, like he said in the diner (the first round lol) that seeing Randy just stand there doing nothing and waiting for Benson to kill him was the only thing he believed in. He, like Benson mentioned, had been watching Randy and knew he was smart, but also knew he wouldn't do anything to stop what was happening. But I think a small part of him was hoping he would be proved wrong, hoping Randy would do something and show some agency.

And then there's Benson. I've mentioned this before but yeah, I think throughout the film he kinda goes back and forth on having a deathwish. I think when he's having his smoke and probably semi-planning what he's gonna do he is also fully aware that this is the end of the road for him and Randy is his... I don't know, I guess one last chance at redemption before ending things. Pulling Randy back from the brink of dead-end small town small thinking monotony is his like... last hurrah. Ok well maybe killing Chris and everyone is really the last hurrah, but helping Randy figure his shit out is like his last good deed, helping Randy not end up like him. When they're driving to the diner after cleaning up BBB he's in high spirits. The relaxation and acceptance phase of his road to inevitable death/suicide. But then as things progress and he learns more about Randy and everything, once they reach the school, I think at that point he had stepped back from the ledge and was thinking, maybe wishfully thinking, that he could make it out of there. But then Sheppard had to show up and ruin everything. I think Benson had started to think that maybe things could be alright, if only he could get Randy to Ms. Beard's, get that checked off the to-do list, and then they could try escaping. But Sheppard appears and reminds Benson that no matter what he can never escape. He'll never escape what happened to him, the things he's tried to forget, or who he is. So at that point it's like trying to save a sandcastle from an incoming tide. There's no use. Benson didn't have the tools to deal with seeing Sheppard, especially not on a day like that day when he had already spilled blood three times. Chris and them, maybe they deserved it to an extent in Benson's eyes, but no one deserved it more than Sheppard. So after Sheppard he's given himself whiplash. He had accepted his death, then got hopeful, and then had the ceiling cave in on him causing him to have to re-accept his fate, though not as steadfast. There's a few points after Sheppard where it feels like Benson is mentally clawing at the oncoming events in panic. Ms. Beard getting that call and answering it before they could leave. Benson hearing the sirens after Randy calls the cops. Both times it looks like he's reliving some cosmic disappointment like even though he's had to re-accept his fate, he's still desperately looking for an off-ramp. I think that's maybe what Benson means at the end. "I was never in charge, Randy." His fate or inevitable end was in charge and was something he'd already considered set in stone. Though I think that's also due to some self-sabotage. Like Randy tried to tell him, he had the opportunity to just run and never look back but instead decided to go on some self-assigned white knight quest for Randy in circles around town. Following some perceived path to "fix" Randy in ways Benson could never fix himself. Benson is a walking self-fulfilling prophecy. So to answer your question about whether I think Benson planned on killing himself after killing Chris, Jess, and Hardy (and after "helping Randy")—in my opinion, yes, I believe so. But I also think it switches back and forth from yes to no like 15 times between them leaving BBB and watching the cops pull into the diner parking lot that night, lol.

[toxic-ship-tournament]

ROUND 3 / POLL 4

Lucille x Jo (@radioactive-dragonlover) vs Amaro x Calamari (@hottopicabbacchio & @corpsoir)

who makes up your ship?:

Lucille and Jo

why does your ship deserve to be considered the most toxic?:

Lucille is a rich woman who has nothing to do in her life, she's eternally bored and wishes for something new— something fresh to happen. Jo is a quiet woman with some repressed violent tendencies and who works minimum wage bug is struggling to make ends meets. One night, Jo decides to rob Lucille's mansion and kills her without meaning to in the process, escaping the scene anxiously thinking she's going to go to jail once the body is found. However, Lucille wakes up the next day, with the events of the murder burnt into her mind but her body spared of any wounds. Turns out getting killed is EXACTLY the spice in life she was waiting for! So she decided to track down and knock on her murder's door— not to rat her out, but to ask her to do it again. Jo wasn't really for murdering again, especially with how anxious she ended up getting in the aftermath, but begrudgingly accepts. And it seems that Lucille IS actually very fun to kill for her, too. Cue to Jo murdering Lucille on a Weekly basis, getting very Gay about it each time. Lucille get the thrill of death she wanted, and Jo gets an outlet for her violence. A relationship starting as purely transactional at first slowly turns into a murder romance. They're both kinda fucked up in isolation to one another but complete eachother awfully well. Like "you two are perfect for eachother but never pull anyone else into your bullshit" kinda deal. They keep eachother contained. You feel me.

ship tags/playlists/pinterest boards?:

Ship tag on my art blog ( nihonium-art ) : Undying love ( although fair warning for gore ) Playlist : https://spotify.link/TPbt2y12Syb

****

who makes up your ship?:

amaro (he/him, by hottopicabbacchio) calamari (he/they, by corpsoir)

why does your ship deserve to be considered the most toxic?:

Amaro used his stand (make you fall in love) on a lot of people, Calamari came around and he used his stand on them for one night too, but Calamari kept coming back after the effect wore off so Amaro continued to use his stand for a bit being afraid of him leaving/because he thought it would be fun. Eventually, Amaro realized that he had stopped using his stand on Calamari and actually fell in love with them. They have a good 3 year run where they're together and fine and in love UNTIL. one day going on a job for information (mafia business), Amaro is talking/flirting some of the information out of the guy theyre after and Calamari over hears some guys talking about how "Amaro is after another one" and how they had been affected by his stand power before. It gets Calamari thinking if Amaro had used his stand on them before (yes, but only at the beginning) and they start thinking that the whole relationship had been a lie. They get in a big argument - Calamari confronting Amaro while Amaro desperately tried to prove to Calamari he hadn't been using his stand for years - and they end up breaking up. After about a month, Amaro gets worried about not seeing Calamari around and goes to their apartment that he still haa the spare key too and goes inside to find him. Instead, he finds a mess and Calamari eating cold pizza in an empty bathtub alone. Calamari half agrees for Amaro to stay and help them clean, which they assume and know thats the only reason they would have come, and doesnt believe Amaro about their relationship no matter what he tries to say. Over time - a cleaning session maybe once a week or so with Calamari making as little talk to Amaro as possible and Amaro just wanting to make things right again - Calamari suddenly realizes that he might be falling in love with Amaro again and confronts him about using his stand again and tells him to show her to them. Amaro had made a vow to himself to not use his stand around Calamari ever again, but caves and shows Calamari that the swords (where his stand power is) are all still there. Currently, they are working on getting back to how they were before, but there is still Issues and Problems <3 They both want it back but Calamari still cant trust Amaro but Amaro had never been in love with someone like that before

ship tags/playlists/pinterest boards?:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4AcBeDHX48BYcmdda13KNL?si=fkg9IR4NT5Klw4bUt-0QoQ&utm_source=copy-link playlist by hottopicabbacchio, character tags on both op blogs under amaro avvoltoio and calamari pavone

[pyropsychiccollector]

Irina: Right! Now that Kayano-chan's back with us, we can get to that special training I promised last week. (❋•‿•❋)

Kaede: … What's Professor Bitch on about? >_>

Yukiko: Nobody knows. (✿◠‿◠);;; During our English lessons last week, she made some giddy announcement about training that none of us could get her to elaborate on…

Rio: She DID say we all needed to be here for it. (✿◠‿◠)(✿◠‿◠)(✿◠‿◠)

Nagisa: … I have a bad feeling about this… ಠಿ_ಠ

Karma: Aw, don't say that! (❋•‿•❋) Bitch-sensei must have a grand idea if Kayano-chan needed to be here~

Kaede: Why are you saying that so ominously?! (╬≖_≖) Now I see where Nagisa's coming from.

Rio: You WOULD. (✿◠‿◠)(✿◠‿◠)(✿◠‿◠)

Karma: (❋•‿•❋) shows pic of Nagisa kissing Kaede from last week

Kaede: Will you DELETE THOSE ALREADY?!?!?! (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)

Karma and Rio: No. (❋•‿•❋)

Irina: (✿◠‿◠)*** If the peanut gallery would kindly shut up, I would be glad to give you your instructions. Be good brats and take out a sheet of paper. You only need to write down the names of three classmates you would prefer to practice seduction lessons on. That's it.

Everyone: … ಠಿ_ಠ WHAT?!

Hinata: Seduction lessons?!?!?!

Okajima: You mean like taking babes' clothes off?! __

Isogai: (✿◠‿◠);;; This doesn't sound kosher…

Meg: Because it's not. (╬≖_≖) Who authorized giving Junior high kids seduction lessons?!

Irina: I did. (❋•‿•❋) Stop being babies and sack it up. You wanted to learn to be kickass assassins, and one of the tools you'll have is seduction~

Rinka: We're training to kill the Octopus, not drag him into bed. (╬≖_≖)

Irina: Yeah, well, you know how he gets all orgasmic about you kids pairing off. (❋•‿•❋) There's a good chance you can distract him with lovey-dovey shit, and the rest of you can go in for the kill~

Touka: Well… I guess that makes a weird sort of sense…

Hinano: Can we put down teacher names?! _

Irina: Meh, sure, why not?

Kaede: ……… This is because of last week, isn't it? (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)

Irina: (❋•‿•❋) The inspiration hardly matters. What's important. You don't have to worry about advanced techniques yet. Right now we'll only be practicing kissing.

Itona: With three people of our choosing?

Irina: Yup. Gotta be fair and spread the love around~… Well. It's more practice than anything else. Get you used to kissing fast. (❋•‿•❋)

Kaede: (╬≖_≖) Three names, you said?

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; … Why me…?

Irina: The only rule is NO BLANK PAPERS! Everything else goes! (❋•‿•❋)

Yukiko: … Oh. Okay. (✿◠‿◠)

Rio: I like this. (❋•‿•❋)

Yuzuki: Loopholes are great. (❋•‿•❋)

Irina: … Eh? Why do you brats look so smug? (╬≖_≖)

Kaede: ≖‿≖ Just because YOU'RE a bitch, doesn't mean the rest of us are.

Irina: Will you all cut that cheeky crap out?! Turn your papers in if you're done!!! (╬ಠ益ಠ)

~*~

an awkward hour of kissing later, end of the day

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; Not to sound ungrateful, Professor Bitch, but why can't I go home?

Irina: pinches his cheek Because, my dear sweet Casanova, as you might have noticed you didn't get any action during that practice session. (❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: Well, yeah. I mean, I was hardly the only one. Okajima only got to kiss the three he wanted to. A lot of the guys were like that. ಠಿ_ಠ

Irina: (❋•‿•❋) Ah, but they DID get kissing. YOU didn't even get the ones on your list.

Nagisa: … I just figured we were out of time. It's not that big of a deal. (✿◠‿◠);;;

Irina: On the contrary, it's a very big deal. ≖‿≖ Turns out you were quite popular on the surveys. Some smartasses even listed you thrice. ≖‿≖*** Well, it was my fault for not considering repeats as a way for people to get out of spreading the love around. Oh well. You got a long afternoon ahead of ya. (❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: You could list repeats?!?!?! (⊙▂⊙✖ )

Irina: (❋•‿•❋) Thank YOU for being a better sport and listing three different girls~ Gave me plenty of data. (❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: ……… I need an adult.

Irina: I AM an adult. (❋•‿•❋) slides open the classroom door, hauling Nagisa back in Okaaay~ Everybody here? counts off … Yep, all nine of you. Fantastico~… (❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: (⊙▂⊙✖ ) staring … H-How many of you guys listed…me…?

Kaede: head buried in arms to hide her crimson face, raises hand

Yukiko: shyly raises hand

Rio: shamelessly raises hand

Rinka: awkwardly waves hand

Yuzuki: proudly waves hand Loopholes! (✿◠‿◠)

Touka: chirps brightly, waves hand After seeing you put Kayano-chan out of commission, I just had to know! (✿◠‿◠) ignores Kaede's indignant squawk

Hinata: meekly raises hand

Hinano: waves hand guilt-free I didn't know about the loophole, but Mister K said I only got one chance anyway! (✿◠‿◠)

Ritsu: raises hand with a dead serious expression No one else struck me as attractive with kissing.

Nagisa: (⊙▂⊙✖ ) All of you…?!

Irina: (❋•‿•❋)*** Yup. And just about all of them listed you three times. Kurahashi only gets the one, Hayami twice, but everyone else was a smartass. Though if this training goes well, you might have a promising future ahead of you. (❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: P-Promising future?! (⊙▂⊙✖ ) doesn't want to hurt any of their feelings, he's nervous as hell

Irina: Let's get that hit rate up, okay? pinches Nagisa's cheek No excuses this time~

Nagisa: … mutters I'm so dead by the end of this. ಠಿ_ಠ

~*~

Hinata: D-Don't get any weird ideas!! >////////<* I picked you because you and Isogai were the least troublesome boys, and I figured Isogai was gonna have a line a mile long… I never pegged YOU as a womanizer! >///////////<*

Nagisa: I'm not!!!!!! (⊙▂⊙✖ ) God's honest truth, I didn't even WANT to put names down, but Professor Bitch said no blanks…!

Hinata: … huffs I guess that's true. You're like the opposite of that idiot Maehara… >///////////>*** Let's just get this over with. Can't believe I had to put you down three freaking times……..

one lengthy session later

Irina: Alright, break it up~ You can go home, Okano-chan. You're done. (❋•‿•❋)

Hinata: (⊙▂⊙✖ ) Wh-What do you MEAN done?! W-We only just got started!!

Nagisa: ಠಿಠ zoned out after three kiss sessions went by in a barely lucid haze Tha… ಠಿಠ struck speechless at how much he liked it

Hinata: Youuu…! >///////////////<* F-Fine, but we're practicing later, you big perverted j-jerk!!! @/////////////@* runs out the door, steam whistling out of her ears, beet red face

Nagisa: ಠಿ_ಠ

Irina: Ufufu. Seems Kayano-chan wasn't an accident. (❋•‿•❋)

~*~

Hinano: I don't expect too much from you. Mister K will always be my #1! (✿◠‿◠)

Nagisa: Th-That's fine, Hinano-chan. (✿◠‿◠);;; We only have to do it the once.

Hinano: Just pucker up already. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)

a couple minutes later

Hinano: Wha?! It's over?! Σ('◉⌓◉’)

Irina: You had to come up for air sometime, sweetie. (❋•‿•❋) You can go home.

Hinano: Σ('◉⌓◉’) looking very conflicted at Nagisa

Nagisa: ಠಿ_ಠ I-Is it over yet? glad he only had to kiss Hinano once, but it was a kiss sessions he didn't want to end

Irina: Not even close, dear. (❋•‿•❋)

Hinano: Σ('◉⌓◉’) nudged out the door and questioning whether she liked kissing Mister K or Nagisa more

~*~

Ritsu: I have performed the necessary research while awaiting my turn. I am reasonably confident practice will be a nonissue. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)

Nagisa: … (✿◠‿◠);;; You…studied? Like, watched clips or something?

Ritsu: nods sagely Clips. Read up on specific techniques. I am certain I will "wow" you, Nagisa-kun. (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑)

Nagisa: ……….. doesn't want to be hearing this right now Let's… just get this over with. (✿◠‿◠);;;

three lengthy, dizzying rounds later

Ritsu: Over? (☉_ ☉) This cannot be. I swear to you, we only just got started. (☉_ ☉)

Irina: (✿◠‿◠)** Yeah, well, hate to break it to ya, computer junkie. But you were about to go for Round 4. I can't let you do that… Wouldn't be fair to everyone waiting.

Ritsu: Impossible. (☉_ ☉) My mind went blank and I forgot everything I learned. I merely reacted to Nagisa-kun… This is troubling. Nagisa-kun seduced me. (☉_ ☉)

Nagisa: I'm telling you, it was as much of a blank for me!! ಠಿ_ಠ

Ritsu: Untrue. You were singularly focused into overwhelming my senses. (☉_ ☉) Do not lie to me.

Nagisa: twitching violently, unable to deny that he was…focused…on the exercise after Ritsu promised she'd studied up ಠಿ_ಠ I was hoping to learn a little bit more than that… You said you studied! DX

Ritsu: (☉_ ☉) We will have to save it for…next time…

Nagisa: ಠಿ_ಠ twitching

~*~

Rinka: I did kiss Chiba earlier, just as a head's up… >///<***

Nagisa: That's…okay? ಠಿ_ಠ I mean, if you like Chiba, I'm not going to tear you away from him…

Rinka: huffs It's not like that. >///<* I mean… He's a good friend. But I don't honestly know anything about this lovey-dovey stuff. I put you down twice cuz you obviously had the skills, knocking out Kayano… But I didn't know if Professor Bitch would allow that. So I put Chiba down as a fallback. >///<* Should have just went with my gut.

Nagisa: … ಠಿ_ಠ Everyone keeps bringing that up, but I was just saving her life… Anyone would have done the same.

Rinka: groans Just come here. I'm tired of hearing you all down in the dumps. >///<***

couple rounds later

Rinka: >///////////////////<*** Just blind luck, my ass.

Nagisa: ಠಿಠ I'm pretty sure you were pretty… experienced… Yourself. ಠಿಠ

Rinka: No. >/////////////////<*** I'm a damn greenhorn, and I just refused to roll over for you. That's all. This is supposed to be practice, so I have it my all, too. Thanks for not holding back, but I've got a long way to go.

Nagisa: ಠಿ_ಠ I don't think that at all… W-We can try again later?

Rinka: Goes without saying. @/////////////@***

~*~

Yuzuki: Fufufu. My time to shine! (＾ω＾)

Nagisa: ಠಿ_ಠ I'm surprised you wanted to kiss me, Yuzuki? I mean, I'm not even that good.

Yuzuki: That's not what Kayano-chan's starstruck face said. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) And I'll have you know I came prepared! I rewatched a bunch of lovey-dovey anime that featured this very type of scenario!! You have no chance! (＾ω＾)

Nagisa: huffs out a sigh I keep telling you guys, it was no big deal… (✿◠‿◠);;; But if you think you're prepared, I'm…happy for you? I'll try and learn from you, Yuzuki-sensei.

Yuzuki: Don't patronize me! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'll have you roll over and beg me for more!!

A few heated sessions later

Irina: Alright, break it up, you two. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Fuwa-chan, you look sweaty~… Your shirt is not doin' so hot. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Yuzuki: It's…….over? (☉_ ☉) No. No, no, no!!! It can't be over!!!!!! (☉_ ☉) shakes Nagisa like a ragdoll Gimme back my three lives, damn you!!! I didn't get to show you anything!!!!! (⊙▂⊙✖ )

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; still kinda spacey I think you showed me p-plenty, Yuzuki-sensei… G-Give yourself more credit. (☉_ ☉)

Yuzuki: @~~~@*** Unacceptable!!! It can't be over…! getting yanked by Irina to the exit I-I still have my Ace to play! J-Just gimme one more chance!! DX

Irina: Nope… (✿◠‿◠)*** swats Yuzuki's hand away before she can strip off her soaked, sweaty jacket Advanced techniques come LATER. What part of that do you not understand?!

Nagisa: watches them go, shivering (☉_ ☉) Can I go home yet? doesn't know how much more he can take

~*~

Irina: (✿◠‿◠)*** Touka, dear. Clothes stay ON, you got that?

Touka: (＾ω＾) Of course, Sensei! I am a professional!

Nagisa: (☉_ ☉) I know you're besties with Kaede, Touka… But you wanted to kiss me, too? Seriously??

Touka: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) After seeing the mess you made of Kaede-chan, I just had to see how I stacked up~ You're pretty formidable, Nagisa-kun. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; You guys give me too much credit… I have nothing to offer…

Touka: We'll just see about that! (＾ω＾)

a few steamy sessions later

Irina: ………… (✿◠‿◠)*** Right. You guys are done. Touka. Go home.

Touka: was prevented from removing her sweat-soaked shirt every time throughout the sessions >:[ Mean, Sensei. It's getting hot in here. Just let me-

Irina: I SAID GO HOME!!!!! (✿◠‿◠)*

Nagisa: (☉_ ☉) feeling sooo conflicted about Irina interfering in Touka's attempts at "cooling off" Actually… It is p-pretty warm in here…

Irina: (✿◠‿◠)*** Nagisa, don't think I didn't notice how you kept groping where your hands didn't belong.

Touka: Pshaw. They were right where they were supposed to be. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Let's meet up later, Nagisa. Alone. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Nagisa: (☉_ ☉) hardly has willpower to refuse such an invitation

Irina: For the last time, you knuckleheads…! Advanced techniques…….ARE FOR LATER!!!!!!!! (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)

~*~

Yukiko: (✿◠‿◠);;; I didn't think my turn would ever come…

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; I'm pretty sure Professor Bitch was always going to make us see it to the end… B-Besides, I did put you down on my list…

Yukiko: Really? (❋•‿•❋) I-I was afraid I'd be too…plain for you… >w<*

Nagisa: N-Not at all!!! (✿◠‿◠);;;;;;; You're amazing, Yukiko… I know probably every guy in class had you on their list…

Yukiko: Well… I suppose there's some truth to that… (๑•́ ₃ •̀๑) But even if I'm considered… popular… I don't think that about myself at all. >//////////////<* A-And besides, I was curious why you never got a turn… I'm glad you ARE appreciated, even if that means a wait time for me. >///<*

Nagisa: Honestly, this is surreal for me… I'm not that special at all… >///<***

Yukiko: Not true!!! ٩(๑ `н´๑)۶ You're VERY special!!!

Irina: Could you two lovebirds get to it already? (╬≖‿≖) As much fun as this is, I'd like to go home, too. (╬≖‿≖)

Yukiko: L-Lovebirds?! Σ('◉⌓◉’)

Nagisa: B-But Yukiko's way out of my league!!! (⊙▂⊙✖ )

Irina: Just shaddup and pucker up already!!! (╬≖‿≖)

a few dreamy sessions later

Nagisa: (☉_ ☉)

Yukiko: short-circuiting from how happy she is (✿◠‿◠)

Nagisa: unable to tear Yukiko off from her adoring hug she's got him trapped in (☉_ ☉) … Not sure if he wants to be free

Irina: Time to go home, Yukiko-chan! (✿◠‿◠)*** picks her up by the back of the neck like a kitten and scootches her to the door

~*~

Rio: (❋•‿•❋) Myyy tuuurn~

Nagisa: (⊙▂⊙✖ ) B-But I got done with Touka…! I was supposed to be safe from hereon. Σ('◉⌓◉’)

Rio: Oh, I'll keep you safe, hubby. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'll blow all those others away~…

Nagisa: staring horrified at Irina (⊙▂⊙✖ ) N-No crossdressing allowed, right?

Irina: (❋•‿•❋)*** Clothes stay on, Nagisa. You know the drill by now.

Rio: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) I'm cool with clothes on. We can get nice and oily just like this~… rubs up against Nagisa sensually

Irina: Advanced techniques…LATER. (╬ಠ益ಠ)

a few steamy sessions later

Rio: standing over Nagisa faceplanted on the floor I'm the best~ (＾ω＾)

Irina: sighs Yes, yes, Rio darling. You can continue your kissy obsession later. (╬≖‿≖) Nagisa still has one more to get through.

Nagisa: …

Rio: I'll wait outside~ (＾ω＾)

Irina: HOME. (╬≖‿≖)

~*~

Kaede: >////////////<*** I was hoping Professor Bitch would get bored by now…

Nagisa: sighs (✿◠‿◠);;; She's not. She's filmed each one.

Kaede: WHAT?! (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)

Irina: (✿◠‿◠) For feedback purposes~ Relaaax~

Kaede: I'M GONNA MURDER YOU!!!!! (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; L-Let's just get this done and go home, Kaede. I won't let her humiliate you.

Kaede: E-Eh…? @///////@*** W-Well… If… If you don't mind, Nagisa…

Irina: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) starts filming

a few hot minutes later

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; Professor Bitch, Kaede passed out… Again…

Irina: I saw. (❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋)(❋•‿•❋) You were a real stud~… All that practice paid off~…

Nagisa: (✿◠‿◠);;; Can you…take her home?

Irina: Nope! I've got business to attend to. Don't worry, you can ask Karasuma where she lives. (❋•‿•❋) Don't do anything I would~ leaves a deeply disturbed Nagisa holding a limp, unconscious, but content Kaede in his arms

Nagisa: Professor Bitch!!! (╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ)(╬ಠ益ಠ) Grrr… walks into teacher's lounge … (☉_ ☉) does an about face when he sees that Mr. Karasuma has gone home for the day, and instead all the other girls are sitting in there waiting for him

Rio: You're not getting away that easily! (❋•‿•❋)

Nagisa: gets yanked back into the office with Kaede in tow, door sliding shut (⊙▂⊙✖ ) I need an adult…!

[sincerely-astra]

Can i request Yandere Choir/Ride the cyclone with Trishna? (Noel being platonic) (Idk if you do for Cut Characters)

She's a cut character, she's a shy, nerdy and curious girl who's into entomology and has a crush on her neighbor and classmate Hank! (Now idk things about Hank, but i'm pretty sure he was supposed to be the kindest boy in town or whatever)

Thanks! Here's a virtual flower and hug for you! 🌷🫂

☁️Yandere Choir x Trishna🌧️

Hopefully, this is okay since I don't know a lot about Trishna or Hank, I do write for cut characters though! They are very interesting to learn about. :)

⚠️WARNING: General yandere content!⚠️

Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg:

Ocean's impression of Trishna was nothing notable. They had met through Hank after Ocean urged the other choir members to find new recruits, the new recruit Hank brought being Trishna.

Though, in Trishna's own words, "I'm not really planning on joining the choir actually..., Hank just asked me to at least look at it." But Ocean wasn't going to have it, as she had done with basically everyone else in the choir, she was gonna make sure Trishna joined them!

Her plan was simple: become Trishna's friend and soon coerce her into joining. She started by sitting with her at lunch, then walking with her in the hallways, and eventually, they would have study sessions together. Trishna wasn't stupid though, she very well knew the only reason they were hanging was for Ocean to make her join the choir, but she didn't really mind if it meant she could have another friend.

Ocean treated Trishna a lot like how she would Constance, they were friends, sure, but it wasn't too rare to see Ocean interrupting Trishna or pushing her to do stuff she didn't want to.

Ocean's tactic had worked though, Trishna out of obligation joined the choir...

In all fairness though, Trishna would've joined the choir at some point even if Ocean didn't push her to do so, Hank had been trying to persuade her for years after all.

With Her and Ocean's friendship simmering down a little, Trishna is still lowkey terrified of Ocean but also curious on why she acts the way she does. There's just something about the facade Ocean puts on that makes her want to dig deeper and learn more about the girl.

And she does! Instead of just Ocean initiating their hangouts (which now that she joined the choir, was every once in a blue moon), Trishna would go out of her way to invite Ocean to study with her or just go out of her way to talk to her.

This sudden shift put Ocean on the defensive as she didn't expect Trishna to be so... forward, but she too caved like Trishna once had.

Their hangouts are, as I've said already, mainly study dates. Ocean likes it this way though, she finds that Trishna is on the same wavelength as her and one of the few people who can match her intellect.

They were a good match together and were quick to become good friends.

Ocean tries to get Trishna to back her up a lot during arguments, which works even if Trishna doesn't think Ocean's in the right.

Trishna also really admires Ocean... She would kill to have such a good work ethic as her and wishes she could have her motivation.

Eventually, the topic of entomology came up in their conversations and Ocean is quick to learn of Trishna's fondness of the subject.

Ocean personally cannot stand insects, but watching Trishna get all giddy and excited about them makes her not say anything about that. In fact, she finds the girl's excitement adorable and even if she hates bugs, she'll let her rant about them all she wants.

There are a few times where Ocean's facade starts to crack a little, like when she goes on a whole rant about the dangers of drugs when they aren't even on that subject or how she is constantly spraying bits of perfume on her person. These behaviors and several others really let Trishna see into the girl's personal life and her fears.

It lets her see that Ocean isn't as flawless as she presents herself to be.

Trishna subtly tries to tell Ocean to take a break but Ocean never picks up on it. It got so bad that one day when the two were studying together, Ocean was noticeably more stressed out than usual and she ended up breaking down mid-session. Trishna knows she's awful at comforting people, but she really does try her best for Ocean, she pats her back while the ginger sobs, and when she calms down they talk it out.

Ocean had so much built up inside of her that they talked for hours. Once they both realized how late it had gotten, Ocean couldn't help but feel so embarrassed... She rarely got embarrassed but in this moment she honestly felt terrible.

Ocean helped Trishna pack up the supplies and Ocean was about to walk out of her home, an apology on her tongue, but before she could say anything Trishna said, "...I'm really glad you opened up to me, you know."

Trishna could not have been prepared for how much Ocean's heart would melt at her words..., a red blush covering her cheeks as she brushed it off and quickly left before Trishna could ask what was wrong. The whole way home, those words repeated in Ocean's mind as she tried to not make any deep meaning to them, but god was it so hard when that was the moment she knew she was in love.

Trishna basically earned herself a koala, because Ocean is attached.

And with this newfound bond they both had, Trishna decided to push her luck and try to help Ocean learn how to take a break, while also trying to get her to stop being so harsh to those around her. The only reason Ocean is really doing those things is for her.

The tradeoff for Trishna though is that Ocean tries to push her out of her shell and get her to do various "girl activities" together. (All the activities being within reason of course. And yes, this was an idea suggested by Constance.)

They go shopping, watch musicals at the local theater, have sleepovers, etc. It's all pretty new to Trishna since she used to spend all her time studying, but she really likes it!

Ocean tries to be smooth and flirt with Trishna, but it backfires as Ocean is just awful at it... Trishna always ends up laughing and it makes Ocean's heartbeat faster.

If anyone even tries to bully Trishna, Ocean will for sure make them regret it, She will protect her baby with her life.

Trishna loves holding Ocean's hand since Ocean's hands are really cold and hers are warm, it makes for a nice balance.

When it comes to Hank, Ocean is lowkey infuriated with him. She wants to be the one Trishna likes, how could she like someone as simple-minded and unoriginal as him? He can't understand her like she can!

The moment Ocean figures out she likes Trishna, Ocean and Hank have a one-sided rivalry with Ocean trying to constantly prove she is better than Hank by any metric of society. Any time Hank would do something nice for Trishna, Ocean would do something 10x better. If he had a good report card, she would have a better one. If he got some kind of award, she would get 10 more, it was a constant competition for Ocean that confused Trishna a lot...

On the flip side, Trishna and Hank's relationship is what sends Ocean down her yandere spiral...

She will keep them apart at all times, mainly during choir since that's where she has the most control.

She has to stop herself from groaning and yelling out of frustration when Trishna gushes about Hank, like, her eye will be twitching the whole time.

Anytime Trishna confides in Ocean about her crush, Ocean will purposefully give her bad advice.

Ocean also will subtly bad-mouth Hank to Trishna, Trishna knows that Ocean doesn't like Hank and is purposefully trying to keep them apart but she doesn't know why and she also doesn't want to upset Ocean so she never brings it up.

Admittedly, Ocean's bad-mouthing also gets to her head.

Ocean has a habit of staring at Trishna during class, like, full-on obsessive staring, which even she finds concerning because she sometimes forgets to focus in class...

Noel Gruber:

Gonna be real, Noel was not at all interested in Trishna at first... He just thought of her as another shy girl, nothing special.

Trishna didn't think much of him as well, he seemed fine and she was curious about the papers he wrote on just to throw away.

The only thing that really connected them was their crush on Hank. Noel had a massive crush on him and Hank wasn't even aware of it.

Noel wasn't immediately jealous of Trishna, he didn't even know she had a crush on Hank until he started noticing the way she gushed at him. It was then that he started to feel a little jealous.

Scratch that, very jealous.

He's gone through this same song and dance so many times that he just finds it so frustrating. Every time there was a guy he was interested in, there had to be some girl there who he knew his crush would end up with.

So he was admittedly a little rude to Trishna.

Nothing big, but he'd exclude her a lot, be snappy with her, and a few other minor things here and there. These actions did hurt Trishna, but she didn't want to make a big deal out of it since she thought she was overreacting.

Trishna would also try to befriend Noel, she complimented him and would sometimes leave snacks on his choir seat, but Noel was generally unreceptive to her attempts.

One day though, Noel was walking through the halls to go to the restroom and just around the hallway he heard some guy talking badly about him. He was about to just sigh, roll his eyes, and keep on walking until she heard Trishna's voice...

She was defending him, albeit, in the least confrontational way possible, but she was still defending him. Why was she doing that after how cold he'd been to her? Was it staged? He knew that didn't make any sense considering there was no way she would have known he was going to go to the bathroom during class, but it was still such a weird thing for her to do.

But it was nice that someone was looking after him, no one's ever done that before.

He would say that his attitude towards her made a complete 180, but there was a noticeable shift even if he did sometimes fall back on old habits. He was generally nicer, would actually include her in conversations, and would also put little trinkets on her choir seat as a thank-you for the snacks.

They slowly but surely became friends after that.

If Trishna gets to ramble about bugs to Noel then she has to let Noel rant about The Blue Angel, that was the rule they made.

Seriously though, Noel may hate bugs with a passion, but he finds all her fun facts interesting.

He will be pulling her away from her school if he thinks she needs a break, whether she likes it or not. Noel knows her parents work her to death and he is not a fan.

Declares himself as her older brother and will be taking care of her as such. Trishna finds it funny though since she actually does see him as an older brother figure even if they are the same age.

Noel knows all the secret spots in their school to take her when Trishna just wants to calm down and not be near people.

He will also speak up for her if she is too shy to say anything herself.

On lucky days, Noel will be able to actually convince her to skip choir practice so they can go have some fun, it makes Trishna super nervous though-

Trishna is super interested in Noel's poems and practically begs Noel to let her keep them instead of him just destroying them, she thinks art should be appreciated and that includes his.

He would never tell her since he finds it so sappy but it warms his heart knowing someone actually thinks his art is worth something.

Trishna will never find out about Monique if Noel has something to say about it! ...She probably does find out though from snooping around Noel's room, but she doesn't say anything to save him from the embarrassment.

Trishna thinks Noel is super talented, like, Picasso or Mozart type talented.

Eventually, Noel gets over his crush on Hank, it did take a while but he has other things to worry about now... like Trishna's crush.

He has some thoughts.

He originally tried to be supportive of her and would push the two of them to be together. Like, he would set up dates for them and would help build her confidence so she could flirt more openly with Hank.

He wanted Trishna to be happy and if Hank was who made her happy, then so be it.

But eventually, he started feeling a little weird about it...

Every time he would watch them walk away together for a date or something else, he would just start getting the most heart-pounding anxiety out of nowhere.

Something about watching Trishna leave, even if he knew she'd come back eventually, just gave him a sinking feeling in his gut.

Turns out he really didn't want her to leave him behind.

And in the most left-field decision possible, Noel started to push them apart, which really confused both Trishna and Hank...

Trishna tried to confront him about his switch-up, but he just chalked it up to him not realizing that Hank wasn't good enough for her and that she deserved better than him. And like Ocean, he got to her head and made her stop seeing Hank as often...

Noel is so incredibly possessive of Trishna, he influences who she interacts with, where she can go, and the whole nine yards.

Trishna knows she should break away from him but she really does see him as family so she has a hard time doing so...

Noel is also aware of this and uses it to his advantage so they can spend more time together.

She's his little sister after all.

Mischa Bachinski:

Mischa had to be the most interesting person Trishna had met by far.

As soon as she joined the choir, he was the first person who really caught her eye. She really couldn't help but be curious when he had such a unique look to him, clearly he wasn't from around here.

But of course, due to his intimidating aura, Trishna vowed to just watch him from afar.

Hank tried to reason with her and tell her that Mischa, although he hadn't met him himself, would much rather her go up to him rather than just stare at him, but she wouldn't budge.

Throughout choir, anytime she thought he wasn't looking (which, let's be real, was most of the time) she would take sneak peeks at him. She would note his behavior, habits, and whatever she caught her attention during their seemingly endless hours of rehearsal.

Mischa would feel someone staring at him during practice and he tried ignoring it at first since everyone does that until they just get used to him, but after a while, he confronted her about it.

This led to Trishna trying to awkwardly explain how she found him interesting and just wanted to see how he acted, all the while trying not to sound creepy. Don't get him wrong, he was a little peeved at her actions, but it also interested him so he let her off the hook.

Once they were over that initial bump, Trishna started to go up to Mischa so they could talk during choir. It was a lot of Trishna asking questions about his home and whatnot, with Mischa sometimes asking questions back.

They also started to meet up in the mornings.

Trishna was somehow able to get Mischa to teach her Ukrainian and she is surprisingly good at it, even if she fumbles with the pronunciation sometimes. Anytime she messes up, she gets super embarrassed.

A big thing they bond over is their love lives, Trishna's crush on Hank, and Mischa's love for Talia. Mischa would share some of the "wisdom" he has learned from being with Talia which Trishna actually takes seriously.

They both share tips with one another which may or may not work.

With this being their main talking point, it really surprised Mischa whenever first saw Trishna rambling excitedly to Hank and a sharp pain hit his chest like something wasn't right.

It frustrated him to no end... What was so weird about Trishna finally being able to flirt with her crush, something that he helped her do? Every time, he gets this thought in the back of his head that tells him Hank isn't good enough for Trishna, but he keeps that to himself for fear of upsetting her.

His only solace was being able to text Talia, her words of praise and her love never failed to make him feel better about everything. This worked for a while and he managed to keep his mind off of Trishna and Hank.

But even that started to fail him, Talia's responses kept getting shorter and shorter with him and she didn't seem at all interested in his loving words.

He didn't think much of it, figuring she must have gotten busy with her job and whatnot, until one day he got a long text, at least two full messages long, from Talia explaining how she fell out of love with him and how she found someone better. The panic that shot through his spine was nothing like he had ever had before.

Despite the last line of her text asking him not to contact her anymore, he still sent text after text asking for her to forgive him and to please come back to him, that he could still give her the world.

His messages were left on delivered before the app told him that she had blocked his number. That day really sucked.

For a good 3 weeks, he would rot in his bed, only getting out if he absolutely needed to. His heart felt like it had broken into a million different pieces, all being withheld from him by the one he used to love so much...

His absence from school and the fact that no one had heard from him really got Trishna worried... On a whim, and hoping to some magical force that he would come back, she sent him a text, just saying how she hoped he would come back soon and that she was worried. He got the text immediately after she sent it as he was scrolling through their past messages, it made him feel a little better, and he was quick to scroll back down and read her message.

...

As much as he didn't want to, as much as he thought his heart couldn't take it, he knew he needed to get up, if only for her sake.

On his first day back, Trishna was the first to come up to him, clearly excited to see him even though she tried to hide to not upset him.

They just talked like everything was normal, like nothing happened and he didn't just break up with the love of his life.

And he was okay with that, in fact, he was more than okay with it. He liked being able to let his guard down around her and be able to just talk about whatever came to their minds. Trishna was so easy to be with and he loved that.

He loved her.

...

He sees now how people think he moves too fast in relationships... (He literally doesn't care though.)

Gaining a crush on Trishna was not what he was expecting, especially since he just got out of a relationship with the girl he wanted to marry only weeks prior, but he didn't mind.

How could he mind when she had just the cutest expression on her face when she talked about entomology or when the way her brows would furrow when she had questions about something.

He seriously doesn't understand how Hank could be so hopelessly oblivious to what was right in front of him.

Speaking of Hank...

Mischa and Hank were never close, like at all, and even the moments when Hank did talk to Mischa, it was a very one-sided conversation. But even if they had been the best of friends, Mischa would have still been less than impressed with Trishna's crush on him.

Sure, he may be known to be a kind guy, but actions speak louder than words and Trishna is way too good for him. Literally, how could Hank miss someone so incredible pining after him? That's reason enough for why he doesn't deserve her.

So, as any totally sane and rational person would do, Mischa would actively go after and try to intimidate Hank, really trying to hammer in that if he ever sees him around Trishna again, he's gonna get more than a few broken fingers next time. Hank, being the guy that he was, was really hesitant to just leave Trishna with him and wanted to warn her, but he had to prioritize his own safety this time...

Mischa's intimidation even made Hank quit the choir, much to the bafflement of everyone.

Mischa will get into entomology for Trishna, he doesn't care for bugs but if she likes them, he wants to be able to talk about it with her. Trishna also gets super excited when Mischa starts to actually be able to contribute to their conversations about entomology and her smile is what really made it all worth it for Mischa.

Mischa really likes being close to Trishna at all times, like he needs to have a hand on her whenever they are together. He always feels such an intense need to be really possessive of her, especially since he knows some people, like Hank, will try and keep her away from him.

Trishna likes hanging out in his basement with him, it's very calming and she gets to get away from people.

What about Trishna's parents? You may be asking, and the answer to that is that Mischa will somehow get Trishna those A's even if it's not the legal way. He is committed to taking up as much of her free time as possible.

Ricky Potts:

They met before Trishna joined the choir during an after-school dance where they would receive extra credit, Trishna was there because she genuinely wanted extra credit and Ricky was there because his parents thought it would be a good opportunity for him to "make new friends." He didn't have the heart to tell them that everyone avoids him at school...

They were both meant to just be another pair of eyes, supervisors in case anyone got a little too crazy. Ricky was standing by the punch bowl, just trying to wait the night out so he could get out of his stuffy tux and go home when Trishna approached him awkwardly. She said hello and introduced herself, asking if he was the other supervisor there as she didn't really want to be alone all night.

Ricky, not really thinking clearly as he was excited someone actually came up and talked to him, was quick to sign, "Yes, I am. My name's Ricky." As soon as his hands started signing, he made a mental facepalm as he remembered that she probably didn't know ASL... But just as soon as he was about to grab his pad and pen, she signed back with, "It's nice to meet you, I like your tie." Then points to his space-themed tie.

Her signing definitely wasn't perfect, but the way his heart leaped for joy when he watched her hands make those words was unimaginable.

They had a great night together as well, talking, laughing, and occasionally dancing in their little corner. They didn't even realize the dance was over until the room was almost empty, and even then they both just sheepishly giggled as they walked out. Ricky was thrilled to have finally met his person.

After that night, they were inseparable. Ricky finally found someone willing to talk and hang out with him and Trishna found someone who she was comfortable with, it's a win-win situation!

Now, Ricky had never intended to show Trishna anything related to Zolar, as, in his view, she was far too pure to not be absolutely mortified by it...

It might have been the one thing he was passionate about in the world, but he was acutely aware of how others saw his daydreams and he wasn't about to risk losing Trishna. Well, until he was literally pushed to by Trishna.

Trishna, being the ever-curious girl she was, had known for a while that Ricky was hiding something from her, it was just written all over his face when he would slam his notebook shut when she came up to him during lunch and when he would stop himself mid-sentence as if to stop himself from mentioning something. She just had no idea what that something could be!

So, for pretty much a month straight, Trishna did everything she could to coax this secret out of him. She poked and probed at every possible point she could think of, but it never worked...

Until during one lunch period when Ricky was rambling about some movie franchise (probably Star Trek, she can't remember), and he just so happened to start mentioning his own universe inspired by it with a planet called Zolar. Ricky was quick to shut his mouth, but it was too late...

And so, he told Trishna everything he could about Zolar. As much as he wanted to leave some of the more explicit details out, she wasn't having it.

Trishna wasn't too weirded out by the whole thing and even is the one who usually initiates their conversations about Zolar. It's a nice change of pace for her to see someone else nerding out about something they love. :)

Then came Trishna joining the choir... Ricky normally would've been in love with this idea as it meant he could spend some more time with his favorite person, but as soon as he saw her in the choir room during her first rehearsal, he saw something that shook him.

Right in front of him was his best friend talking to Hank, an interaction he would have thought was normal if not for the red blush that coated Trishna's cheeks as she animatedly talked to him. The view hit him like a truck..., seeing the girl he's grown to care for so much acting so giddy over some guy made his stomach churn in the most unpleasant of ways.

He didn't even know why. What could have him possibly feeling so riled up about this?

His dilemma lasted him about a good week and he had several ramblings about it to his cats before he came to a startling conclusion. The conclusion is that he likes Trishna, a lot more than he thought he did.

He's never been one to deny his feelings, finding that it only takes up time he doesn't have, but this was different... It's about the only person in Uranium (besides his own parents) who actually cares to get to know him and see him as an individual, not just his disability.

Letting something as silly as a crush get in the way of that..., he really doesn't think he can take it. But he knows he can't hide these feelings forever, after all, thinking of Trishna being with anyone else is a way worse feeling than just their relationship being awkward after he confesses.

The only solution in his eyes was that he wait. He waits until she sees that he is the only one who understands her, he waits until she sees that Hank, or anyone else for that matter, is just a fleeting relationship that won't be able to compare to the one he has with her, he will wait for her.

During class, Ricky and Trishna would pass notes to one another filled with random questions, conversations, and doodles. Trishna especially likes drawing butterflies around Ricky's Zolar OCs.

They would also totally cosplay together, mainly from cartoons such as Steven Universe, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, etc. (Ricky would convince her to dress up with him as one of the couples on the show-)

Any time Ricky sees an insect literally anywhere, he will send a picture to Trishna so she can tell him what it is.

Speaking of photos, he has so many photos of Trishna, it's unreal- A lot of them are taken from when she's asleep or just unaware of his presence too. He isn't even sure why he does it other than he likes taking note of how many times he sees her in a day.

Ricky won't exactly interfere with Hank and Trishna's relationship, over time his jealousy simmers down a bit and he can think more level-headedly about how to deal with their relationship, but he does often try to get Trishna to talk to him instead of Hank. He wants her to come to him on her own accord, not because he's making her do so.

He always makes their hangouts last longer than they need to, so he can ask her to spend the night at his place. He wants to make sure she's safe and he gets to spend more time with her that way!

Even if Ricky can't physically beat her bullies up, being one of the few disabled kids in Uranium means a lot of faculty take his side during conflicts and he will be using that to make sure they at the very least get suspended for a little while.

Penny Lamb:

Trishna was one of the first people Penny had met at St. Cassian High School. Penny was a new student and Trishna, with the company of Ocean, was her tour guide. They met in the principal's office about an hour before school started and the rest is history.

The first impression Penny got of Trishna was that she was a lot like herself..., they were both quiet, nerdy people who didn't have many friends. That's probably what drew Penny in so much as she at least there was one person here who could hopefully understand her struggles.

Which Trishna did, very well, as soon as Ocean left to go tend to her other club duties, they both got to talking and Trishna found herself really enjoying Penny's company. She didn't have to worry so much about having moments of silence since Penny too didn't feel the need to say anything. Penny's anxious attitude was also a nice breather from most other students' loud and boisterous personalities, Trishna actually got herself talking more and basically being the extrovert in their conversations as she wanted to make Penny more comfortable.

They were attached at the hip after this and Penny managed to even get all her classes switched so she could be in the same ones as Trishna's, it was honestly such a big help to her anxiety since she had someone she was comfortable with next to her at all times...

With Trishna and Penny being friends, it was bound to happen that one would start info-dumping about their passions to the other while the other intently listened. Very often, they both will just start info-dumping about completely different subjects while they work on homework or something else and they both somehow consider this to be the best part of doing their schoolwork-

Trishna will be ranting about entomology and her favorite insects while Penny will chime in every now and again with her own animal facts, they both work really well together in this regard.

And speaking of entomology, Penny will be getting into that from how often Trishna rants about it. Like, she is basically trying to collect the tri-force of nature facts with how much she knows about animals, insects, and actual nature. Although Penny is actually really interested in entomology, it also makes her happy to be able to rant about it with Trishna.

A big turning point in their friendship started when Trishna joined the choir, as per Ocean's influence. The news really shocked Penny since she didn't think Trishna would be into that at all (Even now, Penny is 90% sure Trishna only joined because Ocean wouldn't stop pestering her) but Trishna reassured her that it's fine and she actually thinks this will be good for her.

That last statement wasn't entirely believed by Trishna though..., sure, joining the choir would make her a more rounded person and would look good for colleges, but she also has never had to put herself in such a spotlight before... The more she thought about it, the more nervous she got.

So, what better way to sedate her nerves while also not backing out of the choir entirely than to get Penny to join her!

Only a few days after joining, Penny had come up to Penny and, through some very anxious ramblings, asked if she would join as well, even if just for as long as it takes for her nerves to subside.

Penny herself was not too keen on the idea, but pretty much immediately said yes to Trishna's offer since there was no way in hell she'd let her best friend just deal with all that anxiety on her own.

That was how a nervous Trishna and equally as nervous Penny went up to Father Marcus to ask if Penny could join the choir (Even if Father Marcus wanted to say no, he was kind of afraid they both might start having a panic attack if he did-)

Penny never really knew who Hank was, only having heard of him in passing through Trishna and other kids, but as soon as she walked into her first choir rehearsal, she was greeted by him with Trishna at his side...

She really had to hold back from making any less-than-polite facial expressions.

Hank was sweet..., he was a friendly guy who any person could only dream of having as a romantic partner. And yet the moment Penny saw him having any kind of positive interaction with Trishna, it just made her view of him spiral to the lowest of lows. Just the way Trishna smiles at him makes her blood boil.

Trishna is her best friend and she isn't going to let him take her away. And let me just say that Penny can be very stubborn and very petty when she wants to be.

The more y this kind of relationship went on between her and Hank, the more Penny would start to notice the way her feelings had changed around Trishna. It really did start out as her wanting to protect her friend and not lose her to some guy, but every time she looked at her... it made something flutter inside her chest.

Every touch, conversation, or look just made her melt and she was quick to understand what was happening, even if it made her understandably anxious. She was in love with Trishna, she was in love with her best friend.

It really was just like out of romance novel, huh? Still, she's learned by now that it's better to deal with these sudden changes than to live your life running away from them.

Penny has so many nicknames for Trishna, most of which are just variations of her name though since she can't think of something more creative- Trishna likes to call Penny love bug, she is seriously a sucker for cheesy pet names and it just fits perfectly.

They both go on lots of hangouts to parks, nature sites, and museums.

Penny loves to draw Trishna, she's her biggest inspiration and undoubtedly her muse, Trishna would get embarrassed if she heard that from Penny though.

Penny was unbelievably happy the first time Trishna came to her to vent about her parents, she was so glad Trishna could trust her and open up about something bad that was going on in her life, even if Penny couldn't necessarily relate. That being said, Penny has made it her mission to get Trishna's parents off her back, and every opportunity she gets, no one will make her (unofficial) girlfriend stressed!

Not even kidding, Penny legitimately has a doll that looks exactly like Trishna. She hides it from her of course, but whenever she can't see Trishna, she likes to have it with her so she doesn't get her usual feelings of overwhelming loneliness she gets without her.

Did someone say overwhelming loneliness? Because Penny gets so anxious and sad without Trishna, it's actually insane. Every single time, she can't stop her brain from spiraling out of control from the what-ifs.

One of Penny's favorite things to do is to steal one of Trishna's sweaters and see how long it takes for her to notice. She also wears the sweater every night while she sleeps, since it smells like her.

Constance Blackwood:

The way Constance and Trishna met was a pretty basic tale in Constance's opinion...

Constance and the other choir members were sat inside the choir room, waiting for Ocean to come back after saying she needed to "finish some important business" which she refused to elaborate on.

Everyone was kind of doing their own thing and not speaking to one another, Mischa was scrolling on his phone, Noel was writing in a notebook, Ricky was staring off into space, and Constance was completing some homework, all very normal activities.

Well, occasionally Constance would reach for her water bottle to drink from and eventually it ran out, so she quickly left the choir room to go refill it. The walk itself was fairly short, so she knew she could make it back before Ocean did, though it also wasn't all too to close the choir room itself. When she started walking back, right as she turned the corner to go back into the art hallway, she bumped into someone...

The collision made both her and the other student fall to the ground, Constance's water bottle making a harsh sound as it fell beside her. The whole accident was beyond embarrassing for Constance..., she could not believe she had been so negligent to let something like that happen... She made sure to quickly jump up to help the other person, wanting to apologize for bumping into them.

She helped the girl up and both of them started to apologize at the same time. Looking back, it kind of just made Constance want to laugh at how silly it was. The girl in front of Constance shot out another apology before Constance was able to and asked where the choir room was, which caught Constance's attention. Constance explained how it was just down the hall and how she was a member of the choir.

The other girl made an audible sigh of relief at her words, introducing herself as Trishna and explaining how Ocean had pushed her to join the choir.

Eventually, Constance offered to show Trishna where the choir room was and Trishna obliged. The first meeting and one that Constance, although thinking it is quite bland, looks back on fondly.

Afterwards, though, they both didn't really get a chance to talk to each other much with Trishna's attention either being taken by Ricky, Mischa, or their other new member Penny and Constance's attention being taken by Ocean. It kind of sucked since Constance thought that by being one of the first people to meet her out of the group she and her could have possibly become better friends...

It probably didn't help that Trishna was so busy all the time, considering how strict her parents could be, she didn't have much time that was dedicated to her studies.

There was one time though when Trishna didn't have her afternoon packed to the brim with her studies and that time was swiftly occupied when Ocean asked her if she wanted to have a sleepover at Constance's house for girl's night. Of course, Trishna said yes, although she isn't sure if she would've been allowed to say no..., and that's how she found herself sitting in Constance's bedroom while Constance did Ocean's hair.

They did the regular sleepover activities of watching movies, playing truth or dare, eating snacks, etc. At some point, Ocean left to go to the bathroom, leaving Trishna and Constance alone in awkward silence..., yay.

Constance, being the nice person she was and also just wanting to fill the silence, asked Trishna if this was a good sleepover, to which Trishna replied with a shrug and said that this was her first sleepover so she couldn't really rate it. Constance was a little taken aback by her answer, she knew that Trishna was a shy girl but she thought there at sure was some point where got to just let loose and have a fun night with friends...

Even though Constance herself didn't have many friends she still had sleepovers with Ocean every once in a while, she felt bad that Trishna had to miss this kind of childhood experience.

Constance wanted her to have a good time and do everything sleepovers are supposed to entail, so she grabbed some nail polish from her nightstand and soon offered to paint Trishna's nails.

The next day Trishna walked around the giddiest she had ever been with her purple-painted nails and a new friend by her side.

Trishna had admitted to Constance once that she had never really been a music person and now Constance has made it her lifelong mission to find at least one music artist that Trishna likes!

They both watched the movie A Dog's Purpose and sobbed the whole way through.

Constance let Trishna bake with her once. Never again. Trishna is actually awful in the kitchen, nothing they made that day could've been saved by Constance's godlike baking skills, it was that bad.

When it comes to Trishna's love for entomology, Constance was obviously supportive of her and her interests. But she also loves to debate about it, there will not be an opportunity where the two are not debating on whether bugs are adorable or an evil virus of Satan.

At the end of the day though, Constance is happy if she's happy.

Constance was never exactly sure when she fell in love with Trishna, there was never a day for her where she was like, "Oh, guess I'm in love with this person now," It took months for her to even think of the prospect. There was just one day where she thought, "I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with her."

And it really didn't occur until she was talking to her dad about it and he just gave her this look... When she asked what he was smirking and chuckling about, he just gave her the vague response of, "I thought the same way about your mother," leaving her alone to just think about what he had said...

When the pieces finally started clicking for her moments later, she had to run over to the nearest pillow and scream into it with all kinds of different emotions.

Constance listens to girl in red and Chappell Roan pretty much exclusively after she finds out about her attraction to Trishna.

Also, sleepovers now happen pretty much every day, Trishna lives at Constance's house now with how often she stays over there. Constance really wants to make sure that Trishna's parents don't disrupt her happiness and this was the best way she could think to do it.

When I say that Constance is just the sweetest thing to Trishna... Despite how well Constance can keep her crush under wraps, an obvious sign of it is just how well Constance treats Trishna, she literally treats her like they are a loving old married couple.

You'd think Hank would get in the way of their relationship, but you would be far wrong. Honestly, Constance rarely if ever notices he's even there half the time with how focused she is on Trishna. She did have to admit though, on the off chance he is brought up and Trishna starts gushing about him, Constance is always awfully quick to change the topic lest the bitter feeling in her stomach gets the best of her.

Constance's parents literally ship them together so much that every time Trishna is at their house, they always will "subtly" allude to Constance liking her and Constance has to really quickly drag Trishna away from them out of fear of her finding out.

Okay so..., she's not saying that she laced her sleepover snacks with melatonin so she could watch Trishna rest, but she is also not she didn't do that. She just wants Trishna to take care of herself, she swears! :'(

Constance doesn't get jealous super often but when she does it hits her like a Semi Truck- Watching all the choir members flock to Trishna like the bugs she loves so much makes her feel the need to just walk out of the room to calm down, it gets bad. Especially when it's Ocean since she's known the girl for so long and can easily tell how infatuated she is with Trishna.

The satisfaction she gets when making obvious romantic gestures to an oblivious Trishna and seeing how jealous Ocean gets back makes it all worth it though.

General/All together:

They are all basically an entomology club with how much the choir desperately tries to relate to Trishna's love of bugs.

Penny is somehow always not asked to come to girls' night so Trishna has to go out of her way to bring the girl herself.

Speaking of girls' night, the boys will be infiltrating that, there will be no peace.

Everyone in the choir might be in competition to win over Trishna, but the one thing they can all agree on is that they aren't fans of Trishna's crush on Hank at all. Hank will be having the worst few years of his life before graduation because they will make it miserable, no one is exempt from this.

Trishna will be getting almost all the choir solos from now on despite Ocean's protests.

The choir is also in a constant competition of either keeping Trishna shy or trying to get her out of her shell more. Ocean, Mischa, and Noel all want her to stay shy while Ricky, Constance, and Penny are the opposite.

Mall dates are a must for all of them, it's the one place you can really go to in Uranium, and it's public meaning none of them can act up.

A/N: I don't know if you wanted me to add Hank to this list, if you do just let me know and I can add him!

[thisaccountisagainstmywill]

I've begun an evil Honor mode playthrough with my Old Man Gaming Squad. And it's slightly less chaos this time around but by FAR more of a disaster. I'm playing Bazahl the Duergar Rogue this go around. We've been trying to do an evil game where we don't kill everyone, but instead do the actual evil plot line. (Hint: It's not going well.)

The beginning of Baz's real bad night. Night events keep triggering on me for some reason this session. This session I started with the Lae'zel "Oh we're transforming, I better slit your throat." I am not the face of this playthrough (or the last one), so I failed all the checks to convince her not to hurt me.

Someone asked "What happens if you just give in?" We do science in this house so of course I tried. Well, kids the news is: She kills you. Then after she kills you, she goes hostile and fights the rest of your camp. And for some reason Gale goes hostile too. (Boy's confused but he's got the spirit.) So because of the issue with killing Gale causing an end game state after three days, we're scrambling to fix it. Lae'zel we can handle being gone. She killed me and me is important we have no other rogue. We try bonking Gale. But bonking is bugged. We force restart the game, no good. We scramble around and eventually have to just kill Gale, we can't end combat we're in camp and we have no potions. His projection spawns and we go through all of that. Gale gets rezzed and we're Gucci. Sometimes a Wizard just needs his reset button pressed. In the mess of trying to get the other players back into the game I end up having to play through everyone's Dream Visitor Night 1 so they can get in. So I get to see everyone's Dream Visitors.

My dream visitor is real damn fine for someone I just hit random on a bunch of times. (✿◡‿◡)

The old men, however, were boring in their picks. Lae'zel is gone in the morning (we bonked her out, so she might be alive) and I'm alive again. We're good. We can go to the Grove, evil campaign back on schedule. WRONG We invade the Grove and everything goes fine. However, for some reason Minthara 'My Queen and Light of My Life' Baenre's sexual advances dialogue keeps triggering on my character despite never having spoken to her. Against my better wishes I turn her down. My Queen went immediately hostile at the party and now every Goblin is hostile. Its Honor Mode so we can't reload.

Moments before disaster.

Afterwards I'm getting yelled at going, "Why didn't you just sleep with her?!" Me: "Have you seen her scene?! " Old Man: "No!"

Me: "It's pretty explicit! It would be like watching porn with my uncles." Old Man: "Oh fair, I guess. But I would have done it."

Me: "I know you would've....that's so weird. Why did it trigger on me?"

Sleep well my bonked out Queen. I hope I see you at Moonrise. But I doubt it. Now every single Goblin back at the Goblin camp is aggressive. We've ruined our chances of having a nice and normal Evil Campaign. We're going full murder hobo. No one will survive. Zarys and the Underdark vendors are the only vendors we have left in Act 1. Everyone else is dead but we need to get to them still.

Conclusion: Honor Mode really isn't the place to be testing out new story paths. ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

[irkimatsu]

face sitting, incest play, cgl, and breeding

have fun~!

Facesitting:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Ohhhh the things I have written about Husk and facesitting. My man loves him some ass. Get that ass on his face this instant, the fatter the better. He'll feast for as long as you let him, rough tongue lapping over your cheeks and hole, claws digging into your thighs, a purr rumbling against your body... he's in bliss.

Doesn't mind being on the giving end of a good face sit, either, though it'll probably turn into 69 shortly enough. Not fair that you get to feast while leaving him to starve!

CGL:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

This is one Husk is supremely embarrassed about and would deny to his dying breath to anyone other than a receptive partner. He's not like that! He's not some creepy old man!

...but god damn it I love that creepy old man. I may not fit the most traditional definition of a little, but I still love being taken care of by him, both physically and emotionally, and he loves having someone to protect as well. Being called "daddy" gives him the world's most embarrassed boner. (Well, not so embarrassed when he was an Overlord regularly picking up younger partners in the casino, but he'd like to leave that chapter of his life well behind him, thanks.) Even just getting to cuddle and say sweet things to his babydoll is so fulfilling for him...

...just don't let someone like Angel ever walk in on a CGL cuddling session. We'll never hear the end of it. Talk about daddy issues.

Which leads into...

Incest:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Turn the shame up to 11. In reality, it's a fuck no. Do not even slightly imply that he ever would have done anything to his daughters, he will fucking kill you and never feel the slightest remorse.

...but as roleplay with someone who already likes being his baby...

I wonder how far he'd take it? Consent's important to him, so I doubt he'd ever even roleplay a noncon scenario. But being able to teach his baby how to feel good, and how to make him feel good in turn... hearing them put on a cute little voice that stops short of forced, maybe teasing him by wearing cutely revealing clothes and squirming in his lap... fuck fuck fuck this should not turn him on what the fuck. But no matter how they're behaving, this is still the fully-grown adult he loves, and they do want this, so... maybe it's okay to enjoy the power play. It's not about hurting them, it's about teaching them, doing something good for them.

He'll try to deny his interest in the seedier aspects of the roleplay, but-

"Mmm... daddy... are you sure it'll fit? It's so big..."

Oh fuck. Right to his ego, then right down to his dick.

"You're a good doll, I'm sure you can take it..."

(I wonder if he'd also enjoy the forbidden aspect of it? Part of me wants to say no but another part of me is horny.

"We shouldn't be doing this, daddy..."

"You think so? You want me to stop?"

"...no. Keep going..."

"That's it, that's a good doll. Letting me do all this to you even though you know it's wrong... you're learning how to be daddy's little slut so quickly...")

Breeding:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

This one's complicated to mark for Husk. When he's in his right mind, breeding doesn't do much for him. Sure, he loves to give a good creampie, but he knows he's infertile now, and even if he wasn't he has zero interest of bringing any kids into Literal Hell. It doesn't even appeal to him as a fantasy. Just take his cum and don't think too hard about what it'd do if you were both still human.

But every couple months or so, he goes into rut and his brain turns into thoughtless mush that can only think of mating and kits. When in this mental state, he loves when you beg him to fill you up with his kits. He loves nuzzling against your stomach after the act, delirious with heat, mumbling about how good you're gonna look, all swollen with his young. Loves sucking your chest, purring about how he can't wait to see that swell, too, maybe even get to taste your milk. (Whether or not you actually have breasts is irrelevant.) The thought will likely turn him on enough to go a few more rounds. Hope you didn't have plans today.

But after a few days he'll return to normal, and he'll remember exactly what his mental process was while in rut. He's glad you had fun but oh my god don't remind him that the rut shit keeps happening to him, what fucking jackass made him reincarnate as a fucking cat

[chacegraves]

The Legend Of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC Review

Depth, Detail, and a sense that the world you're exploring is lived in.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in The Sky First Chapter had a reputation that intrigued me. I've heard that it's an incredibly slow game that's packed with text. That the purpose of this game was to serve as a 50 hour prologue to it's sequel, Second Chapter. And that it apparently has a brutal cliffhanger that justifies all of that. It does. I'm literally only writing this review in an attempt to stop myself from burning through the next game too fast. The reputation it has for being slow is very earned but being in the mood for a slow burn experience made that a lot less jarring. I can't recommend this game to people who don't want to read a lot though. It will kill the game for you.

In First Chapter you play as Joshua and Estelle Bright. Two 16 year old kids being raised by a legendary bracer named Cassius Bright. Bracers are a guild of freelance mercenaries with a very specific moral compass. Namely to help people. They'll get rid of monsters, save a cat from a tree, escort people from town to town, etc. They just can't intervene with the military or politics of any nation. Joshua and Estelle want to become full fledged Bracers just like their father but in order to do that they need recommendations from guild branches all over their kingdom.

You'll go from town to town picking up odd jobs from the local guild branch in order to complete enough work to earn that branches recommendation. All the while getting a familiarity with each town you go to and the people who live in it. A Bracer has a duty to the people after all. It may sound like pretty standard JRPG fair but this game does something incredible when it comes to talking to the townsfolk.

Minor advancements in the story will give EVERY person in a town something new to say, and this happens several times per town. A lot of these people have little storylines during your stay and may even pop up in future towns. Some will talk about what's going on in the story but others are absorbed in their own dramas. You don't have to go out of your way to talk to everyone but you will miss out on lore and flavor if you don't. There's a lot of fun stories and characters to discover. I've had entire play sessions just being talking to townsfolk because the story advanced a little. I really hope the sequel remembers these background characters.

The towns are gorgeous and they know it too. Every time you get to a new one you'll get this nice sweeping shot of the streets and points of interest. Each town has their own personality to them that keeps the game fresh but it goes beyond the aesthetic of the town itself. Each building feels intricately designed in a way that actually baffles me. Someone put thought into these buildings making sense in a way they genuinely didn't have to for a JRPG. There'll be rooms that you'll never have to enter for any reason but they'll be filled with props and purpose because THAT BUILDING would need that room.

I remember being blown away that a weapons shop had an out of the way stock room that I never had to go into but was still decorated top to bottom. It makes the world feel so much more lived in. This game revels in detail on every level and it's easy to see the love that went into this world feeling like a real place with real people.

My biggest fear for future entries is that they stop this level of detail with the townspeople and their surroundings. I can understand them not doing some of this when we switch to a more traditional 3D view without the set camera angles but it would still be disappointing. Only time will tell if they can keep that up!

That said the main cast are so charming as well. Joshua and Estelle's bickering is hilarious and got several laughs out of me. Joshua being this calm and subdued rogue countered by Estelle being a rage tornado is so funny.

There's a solid party to build in this one and they all bounce off of each other in fun ways. They'll be swapped in and out as the story progresses and I liked that compared to just collecting them all. It makes it feel like they have things to do aside from hanging out with you. My favorite party member is easily Zin. He's this massive bear of a man who is also a monk. My favorite character is Nial though. He's basically just Spike Spiegel as a reporter and I adore him.

Despite this game having magic and ridiculous airships it all manages to feel VERY grounded because they explain the hell out of it. Orbments are the way you access magic and skills and you get a literal manual explaining how it all works. Depending on the combination of quartz you install you'll get certain abilities or stat increases. Every characters abilities can be customized to your liking but some have certain elemental preferences. I really like how customizable this system is.

The airships are these hulking technical marvels with all these cool moving parts and when you actually get inside and explore them you can see how thought out the vehicle is. There's so much technology world building like this in the game that kind of teeters on steampunk or something similar. They have these cute chunky designs that I like staring at.

I should probably mention the combat at some point! It's turn based with moves that can change the turn order of everyone taking part in the combat. Random effects like critical hits appear on the turn counter and if you delay someones attack someone else might get that random effect. It's pretty engaging because if you don't pay attention you could give that critical hit to an enemy. It's a solid system all around and I never got bored of it. There's some awesome special attacks too!

I loved this game and can't wait to play it's sequel. The world building is fantastic. The environments feel lived in and atmospheric. I love the people that inhabit them and all their quirks. The writing is genuinely funny and heartwarming at times. The politics and subterfuge were engaging. I love the party we've assembled so far and can't wait to see more of what they get up to. First Chapter felt like reading a REALLY good book or watching one of those anime that just suck you into their world. It's a fantastic experience that I recommend heartily to anyone that can stand a bit of reading and a slow start because this meticulous set up is clearly going somewhere incredible.