#too many good games coming out this year I can barely keep track as it is lol

[lemonsourcrisis]

Persona 3 Reload ペルソナ3 リロード (2024) dev. Atlus

[viric-dreams]

Jones Has a Coffee Date

The café is nearly packed, and the wall of noise hits Jones’ ears the moment he opens the door. It’s more than the usual lunch rush—students huddled at the large tables, gesticulating wildly at their notes and each other. In one corner, a trio of tomb colonists set out a game board and a pair of dice. A couple brush passed him, wandering out into the humid London air hand-in-hand. There’s too much going on for him to keep track of; too many faces to watch for suspicious behaviour. But there’s not much that he can do about it. 

He spots the man at a circular table against the back wall, near to the kitchens. The man wiggles his fingers at him in a silly approximation of a wave. At least the bastard had the sense to pick an unobtrusive spot in this chaotic café. With a deep breath, Jones puts on his best pleasant face and wades his way through the sea of patrons. 

A few feet from the table, his foot catches against the leg of a neighbouring chair and he stumbles, arms just barely reaching out to brace against a table in time. The couple occupying it startle at his landing, cups rattling, but drinks ultimately unspilt. From the corner table, the man chuckles at this, his laughter a dry and sour thing. 

“Jonesy, you made it!” He opens his arms wide to punctuate the greeting. He’s too loud, even in such a busy place. Jones slides into the seat across from him to try to close the distance. 

“I’m glad you came,” the man says. 

Jones nods in acknowledgement. “You asked.”

You gave me no choice. 

He grins at this, and Jones feels his stomach turn. 

He’s not saying anything more, just sat there holding that ridiculous, grating expression like he has nowhere else to be today. And perhaps he doesn’t. Perhaps London’s finest truly have nothing better to do than to schedule coffee dates. 

“I don’t mean to keep you from your work—”

“No, no, Jones. Don’t worry about me. Worry about you. Now, how do you take your coffee?” 

Dear Christ, he doesn't have time for this. The Kolomanian Delegation’s celebration dinner is two hours from now. They’re far too close to the hotel for comfort. Any of his “fellow countrymen” could see him here talking to a constable, and even in plainclothes, the stench of the man is potent enough to even the most dimwitted of spies.

“An espresso, please.” 

This seems to delight him.

“One of those fancy drinks? I like that about you, Jones.” 

Please be quiet. Please stop saying my name.

The constable waves over a waitress with a wild swing of his arm. 

“One coffee for me, bring sugar. And green tea for my friend here… And we’ll take something to eat too. Maybe those little cakes.” 

If he’s hoping to get a rise out of him, Jones refuses to grant him that satisfaction. His hand curls loosely around the mug, letting the warmth permeate into his palm, whilst The Smug Constable takes a too-large bite of a jellied mushroom cake. His own remains untouched on its plate. 

“These things are really good,” The Slovenly Constable says, his mouth half full of pastry. Crumbs spill out onto his jacket, “You’ve got to give them a try.”

“I’m sure they are.” His hand wraps tighter around the mug. 

The tea tastes of nothing, only heat. He’s not sure if this is the fault of the beverage or his abused taste buds, desensitised to worrying amounts of coffee and that bitter aromatic the doctor had given him. All so that he can do his job. A job he’s unsure the constable is aware of. 

For nearly two months they’ve had this back and forth—the man calls and he comes. This uncomfortable dance that’s taken place since the ominous moment he’d come into Jones’ life, claiming to know who he is, that he’d finally put two and two together after that fateful arrest on New Years Eve. But he’d be willing to look past his sin, let the cop killer be. The Forgiving Constable is a generous man, after all. Jones simply needs to do him one little favour and it’ll all be forgotten. 

And here they sit, finally in the same room. A proper meeting—no last minute being stood up this time—and getting nowhere, that favour left dangling, unspoken. Instead, he sits across from the bastard in his chair, an errant glob of jelly in his ugly beard that he won’t wipe away–why won’t he wipe his face–picking away at this cake, as if he has all the time in the world and—

“Are you enjoying the Games so far?” The way he makes it sound like such friendly small talk makes his blood boil. Like two friends having a casual chat. 

How much does he know? 

Does he suspect Jones has been acting as a double agent? Very few agents of Black are even aware, only adding to his feelings of unease in the field. Likely, the man’s just fishing. 

“I can’t say I’ve seen much of it. Been keeping to myself, mostly.”

Will he call out the blatant lie? If the man clocks it as one, he doesn’t seem to give any indication of it, polishing off the cake to take a deep swig of coffee, before picking up the one from Jones’ plate. The jam remains, stubbornly clinging to his facial hair. 

“Is that so? I’ll bet you’ve got all sorts of fun little hobbies with all of that time on your hands now. You enjoying your freedom, jailbird?”

The snarl becomes a smile before the constable has the chance to spot the expression. 

“Indeed.” Jones replies sweetly, bringing the cup to his lips. This time, he doesn’t even register the heat, outsmoked by his own slow-roiling anger. This is another dead end. The Jam-Covered Constable has no intention of making requests, it’s simply another one of his silly plays. Jones knows this game, and has had enough of it. The man’s had his fun today, let him call again if he’s serious about–

“I saw our mutual friend the other day.” The man swipes at his lip with the back of his hand, just missing that spot of jam, hanging precariously. “He asked about you, you know. ‘How’s ol’ Robert doing? You keeping an eye on him?’” He leans forward, his sour breath wafting across the table, “What do you think I should tell him?”

Tell him I’m going to claw his eyes out of his fucking skull. I’ll break his fucking fingers and push them down his throat.

“I’m doing well, thank you.”

The constable frowns at this and reaches across the table. His hand wraps around Jones’ wrist, prying it from the cup. “Are you sure about that? You look so frail. Nothing like the man I arrested on New Years. Have you been eating, Jonesy?”

He wants to leap across the table and grab him by his stupid collar, smash that smug face of his into the table until it’s nothing but pulp and mushroom jelly. Over and over again until they have to pry him off of what’s left of him. Dig his fingers into muscle and bone and–

“...should take better care of yourself. A man who lives alone can’t afford to be ill. Not when he has to keep working.”

Jones gently slides his arm free from the man’s grip. He makes no effort to hold on. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says, and when the constable makes no effort to continue the conversation Jones sets a few Echoes down onto the table. “I take it we’re done here, then?”

The man stares at him a moment, before leaning back in his seat. The derisive demeanour slides back onto his face.

“I’m looking forward to the next one, Jonesy. I might have a favour to ask of you then. Perhaps. But for now, be good.”

His hip clips the side of a table on his way out of the crowded café. He doesn’t even feel it.

[ramennoodlezzzao3]

Alternate reason as to why Ponyboy joined the party! If you guys want me to make this canon in my fic, it’s not entirely too late, I could add it into a different chapter if you want

My whole life I’ve been devalued, and I was fully aware of that.

Now, of course, nobody downright told me, nobody says that to a twelve year old, but I could tell it was true.

Mom was always too busy keeping Dally out of jail. She always criticized me, comparing me to my brothers if I did anything wrong. When I skipped a grade she barely said anything, she was tryin to figure out what to make for dinner because they had so many. 

They had three, two now considering the fact I wasn’t even a Curtis at this point. 

If the gang went somewhere without inviting me, and I asked about it, she would always go on a tangent along the lines of:

“Oh come on, Ponyboy! You arn’t apart of the gang, your brothers just let you hang around because it would rude not to invite you. Let them spend time with their friends without their little brother nagging them.”

I was ten when she first told me that. That’s when the insecurity started. 

One time, she was trying to bail him out of jail. I hadn’t known he was even jail at the time so I had asked her to come to my track meet. She had never yelled at me so loud and so angrily before.

I never asked her, or anyone for that matter, to go to a track meet again. I just dealt with the fact that I never had a family in the stands and when I won I wouldn’t have a family to celebrate with. I’d be the kid who won but was alone afterwards.

Dad was loved talking to Sodapop about cars and went to every single one of Darry’s football games. Dad was the one that taught Sodapop to fix cars. He was so happy to teach him but when I asked, he was always too busy.

He was always there when Two had a hangover, when Dal needed out of jail, when Johnny was beat up by his dad, when Steve was kicked out by his, when Darry got into a fight or Sodapop had a bad breakup.

But he couldn’t spare five minutes to talk to his youngest son. 

I guess that’s probably my fault. Who would want to talk to me anyways?

Darry never had time, similar to dad. He always had football practice he was hanging with friends. If I needed help on homework, I could always “Do it myself” since I had skipped a grade. If I was ever crying, I was a crybaby.

If Johnny was down, he’d take him to play football or get ice cream. He replaced one little brother for the one he actually wanted. That had stung.

A lot.

But Johnny didn’t have family, so I never said anything. I convinced myself the reason I never got any attention was because Johnny needed it more. So I let him have it. Even if that meant I lost my brother because of it.

Two-bit was always nice to me. I always thought he was the only one who liked me. But that was quickly thrown out the window when I overheard him complaining to dad about beating a babysitter.

I turned down every offer to go anywhere with him after that. I joined tons of free activities at school to keep myself there so h wouldn’t have to babysit. 

I joined the arts club and got really good at drawing and actually enjoyed it a lot. I joined the book club where we all pick a book and read it. We can talk about it when we join again. I joined the fight team, the basketball team, the soccer team, and I kept doing track.

The teachers praised me on how many clubs and teams I joined and always commented on how my family must be proud…they didn’t even know.

I also joined Drama and got any role I wanted, I just had to ask for it. I got Hamilton I the play “Hamilton” and I got Bert in the Mary Poppins musical. My class,ages insisted it was because I was a “Pretty Boy” but I didn’t believe that.

Which is a perfect segway into the next person; Steve. He’s always made fun of me and always told me I was a tag-a-long. Until my mother confirmed what he was saying, I’d always roll my eyes, now I look down and whisper “I know” only loud enough for me to hear.

He would mercilessly make fun of my height and weight. 

“You’re too fat for how short you are”

 “You eat too much, you’re gonna be all chubby when you grow up!”

And everyone laughs. They don’t even try to stop him. Not Darry, not Sodapop. Soda only tried stopping the rude comments after mom and dad died, and I don’t know why.

Dally is self explanatory. He hates me, similar to Steve, and it’s clear. He hates everyone in the world but the gang and I wasn’t apart of the gang. Johnny was the only one he genuinely loved.

He always looked disappointed when I’d go to the drive-ins with them, so I’d make excuses as to why I couldn’t go after I agreed. He’d have a grin on his face when he’d find out it’d only be him and Johnny, or only him and the gang, or only him and Two-bit.

And Sodapop? Sodapop was nicest to me, even more than Two-Bit. He’d invite me places with him and Steve, he’d drive me places after he had gotten his license, he slept in my bed when I’d gotten nightmares.

All it took was for one singular “Shut up! God, you’re so annoying!” To have my one person, my one wall come tumbling down and left in a pile of ash and bricks.

I should have known he didn’t mean it, I should have known he was just having a bad day. But I was thirteen, and growing up how I did, you never think rationally. I asked to stop sharing a room after that too, and Soda happily agreed.

At least Steve couldn’t bug me about that anymore.

Annoying. Brat. Tag-a-long. Stupid. Loud.

Those words rang in my head all the time and they are what kept me in my room almost everyday.

So, I really have no idea why, but I did something insane. I joined a different group. A different gang. The Party.

Sure, I’ve known everyone in the gang since I was still in diapers, we grew up together, but that’s the problem. I’ve known them my entire life they have only known me for, what? Eight years? Ten years?

Sure, that’s a lot, but when they don’t like you it becomes a lot shorter.

They wouldn’t care if I made my own friends. They wouldn’t care who they were. They wouldn’t care that I took off the dog-tag necklace mom got us all when the gang was complete. They wouldn’t care if I got new brothers and new brother figures. 

They wouldn’t care.

But to my shock, they did.

[the-fiction-witch]

The Wedding In White Habour P4

Media Game Of Thrones

Character Jojen Reed Age Up

Couple Jojen X Reader

Rating Smut af

Concept Consumating the Marriage

Smut sexual discussions / making out / breast play / fondling / nipple play / nipple sucking / bj's / biting / love bites / raw sex / full sex / riding / virgin x Non virgin / nudity / face sitting / eating out / fingering / screaming / jizz / cum on stomach / cum inside / slapping / spanking /

I had grown accustomed to my room in grey water, spending my days with my books and my harp as I rarely saw my husband. We had been married now for over six months and our wedding was not yet consummated. I rarely saw him at all and even rarer we exchanged words, it saddened me but what choice did I have? I suppose I should think myself lucky, many girls are sold off to men who view them as meer ovens for heirs never allowed to leave the bed merely sheth for their sword, others are merciless cruel and abusive drunks, I should count myself lucky to have a husband who just ignores me.

I finished my bath and wrapped my robe loosely around myself just to keep out the cold heading towards the bed but I stopped short as the bedroom door opened and closed quickly after revealing an annoyed Jojen. He walked in frustrated putting a hand through his hair but stopped dead in his tracks as he saw me eyes wide glancing from ankle to neck

"Ohh good evening Jojen" I smiled adjusting my robe to give me more coverage

"Let's just get this over with," he says undoing his shirt throwing it to the floor and sitting on my bed stroking up his bare arm

"What's going on Jojen?" I asked carefully approaching him

"My father's angry at me, he knows we haven't… yet."

"I see. Jojen, we don't have to do anything you don't want to" I reassured sitting beside him to take his hand gently

"We do though. I don't have a choice" he says moving his hand away from my own "he'll feed me to the lizard lions If I don't"

"I see. If I may ask, is there any reason you don't want to? Because I can perhaps do my best to accommodate things, perhaps you'd prefer just my back or my feet, or we could bring someone-"

"No. No y/n. It's nothing like that" he says "I'll be honest it was mostly stress and stubbornness that prevented it on our wedding night I was so angry at my father for forcing me to marry someone I didn't love, having to travel halfway up the north t get married"

"That's understandable, but then why have you waited all this time?"

"Fear." He says "I was just frustrated that night, the next morning when I saw you- I thought you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen and honestly… that morning I wanted nothing more than to throw you again the bed and make you my lady" he explained "but I feared I had pushed you away too far, that you already hated me, I feared that I'd be no good to you and I just…never got the courage to come and see you after that"

"Thats sweet Jojen but your my husband it's alright, whatever fears you have I'm sure we can quell them"

"You- you'd be willing to do that?"

"Of course," I smiled giving his cheek a small kiss

"I uhh I must ask what uhh what experience do you have?"

Immediately I forced down thoughts of my childhood, my past and my home forcing a smile "Well let's just say-"

"In plain words. Please. I need to know"

"My innocence was taken from me many years ago, I learnt many things and have a decent amount of experience, and you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? No handmaids? No girls in the marshes?"

"No. My father forbid it so I uhh I'm going to need to rely on you a little"

"That's all right, I'll lead just trust your instincts and if you want to stop just ask" I reassured and he nodded I smiled and pulled him gently into a soft kiss he slowly and shakily kissed back his hand coming to rest on my upper arm even if I was being gentle I couldn't help my hands stroking down his chest being as impressed as our wedding day when we pulled back I slipped off my robe leaving me completely naked he took in every inch of me much as he did the morning after our wedding but this time more intense allowing his face to show his true feelings

"You're beautiful my lady"

"Thank you Jojen, is there anything you'd like to touch?"

He didn't answer his hands merely instantly clamped onto my breasts making me giggle a little watching as he experimented squeezing groping fondling them in his hands as he tried to learn everything about them I happily allowed him his time and gently kissed his neck while he plaid his favourite seemed to be holding his hands under my breasts feeling the weight of them in his hands gently squeezing and rubbing on the skin

"You like them?"

"Very much, I uhh I think there- you're very beautiful"

"Thank you" I giggled "You know of you just' I guided his hands to slightly take a different grip so his thumbs which seemed to like rubbing on the soft skin could circle and rub my nipples which he seemed to quickly understand this instruction helping to harden them "then it feels very nice"

"It does? You uhh you like when I-" he asks rubbing on them a little harder and I bit my lip and nodded "uhh okay" he let a small moan slip "uhhhh I uhhh can I ask something?"

"Of course Jojen"

"I uhhh I uhh" he stuttered nervously his face turning red glancing to the door almost checking we weren't heard "Could I uhh could I suck - on them?"

I was taken back by his question unable to prevent a giggle which only made his face drop upset I laughed at his question

"Sorry I shouldn't have-"

"No no it's alright, I'm sorry Jojen you just surprised me is all. Of course, you can if you'd like to"

"I uh I can?"

"Of course" I nodded

He was nervous but came close kissing my lips then my chin and down my jaw, I smirked leaning my back against the post of my bed as he kissed down my neck making sure to suck a little on the crook of my neck before kissing down slightly tickling me as he kissed my chest and down between my breasts he picked the left clearly as his right hand was more than happy to continue he softly stroked my breasts before kissing my hard nipple causing my playful giggles he looked up unsure but I nodded and he took my nipple between his lips gently sucking while his other hand continued and it was very pleasurable feeling his sucking get more and more intense often flicking his tongue against my hard nipple or even gracing it with his teeth it was enough to force a moan from my lips which only seemed to fuel him making him intensify his hand and his mouth

"Uhhh Jojen" I gasped pushing him back even if he didn't much want to stop I pushed him completely off the bed to stand beside the bed I opened my legs and pulled his hips to stand between them I took his hand gently letting him pet my hair as I kissed his lower stomach gently untiring the laces of his trousers It didn't take long for him to get excited knotting his fingers into my hair as I worked with each inch I exposed as I unlaced I kissed further down exposing his rather prominent v and the small trail of blonde hair leading below, once completed unlaced they dropped to his ankles allowing me for the first time a good look at my husband and I was impressed. I was gentle not wanting to overwhelm him pressing little kisses to him and stroking his shaft but that seemed to only wind him up more he was nervous but I blew him a kiss before I took him into my mouth being so gentle as I began my sucking and gentle licking which made him utterly melt honestly of not for me holding his hips he may have collapsed on the floor or at least lost his knees out from under himself his face read of surprise and shock which worried me and made me move back "everything alright?'

"Yeah uhh yeah your uhh you're fine I uhh I didn't think it uhh"

"If was that intense?"

"Yeah" he nods

"I'll be slow" I smiled returning him to my mouth slowly but surely getting more intense now moving my head back and forth and the sounds that came out of him were enough to make me soaked listening to his gasps and groans of pleasure above me reacting to the tiniest of movements until he pushed me away so hard I fell onto the bed

"Oh sorry-"

"It's alright, enough?"

"For now anymore I uhh I don't think we'll get to do anything else" he says "How uhh how should I?"

"How should you what?"

"Well you’re more experienced than I am, I know I'm supposed to put you on your back but I heard about having you on your knees is easier I don't know"

"It's alright, it's alright how about we be gentle the first time?" I asked holding his hands as I moved to my knees he nods so I guided him into my bed giving him pillows to make sure he was comfortable

"What uhh what do I do?"

"You don't need to do anything' I smiled as I climbed onto his lap at first I merely settled on him moving my hips back and forth so I could know the sort of angles I could work with he seemed to meet with me unsure in his face but his body seemed to know what to do "there we are just like that okay," I told him giving him a soft kiss before I carefully lowered myself letting him slip inside of me having to stop a moment once I reached the base as I was a little overwhelmed "uuughhh…" I gasped rolling my head back a little "ummm you sure fill a girl up good Jojen" I giggled

"I uhh I'm inside you. I'm actually inside you"

"Fully inside me my sweet husband" I smiled giving his lips a kiss

"You look, incredibly gorgeous on top of me"

I giggled "I shall have to do it more then"

"You can do it whenever you like my lady" he Cooes his hands settling on my hips and ass "uuhhh… why did I wait so long?"

"I don't know" I smiled "I'll be slow okay," I asked and he nods so I settled a hand on his stomach and began to move my hips to ride him his hips worked into my own his mouth hung open often moans escaping his head thrown back against the pillows

"Uuuughhhhh! Uuuuuuuhhh y/n! Y/n! Uuuuuuuhhh"

"It feels nice my sweet husband?'

"Amazing my beautiful wife" he smirked his innocent blush seeming to disappear leaning up to bite at my neck wrapping his arms around my back fueled by his desires I giggled pushing him back down and changing my angle a little allowing myself to bounce and grind harder and faster against him so much so the bed began banging against the wall and I leaned down to kiss and leave a love bite on his neck "uuhh yes! Yes! Uuuughhhhh y/n!" He moans loudly his nails digging into my hips and forcing me down as deep as possible "Y/n… y/n" he whines before letting loose a loud and throaty moan releasing his grip on me immediately and releasing his seed deep inside me

"Ohhh Jojen, you could have warned me," I asked sitting up and making sure to let him rose it out and making sure his seed got as deep inside me as possible for a better chance of me getting pregnant then again if not I certainly wouldn't be opposed to a few more nights like this and I'm sure he wouldn't either

"Sorry y/n. I uhh I didn't have a lot of warning either" he chuckled between his breaths

"Did you enjoy it, my husband?"

"Very very much my beautiful wife" he Cooes holding my hand and peppering it with kisses "I shouldn't have waited so long, I'm sorry for making you feel like I didn't want to. But now it's over with my innocence is gone and were officially married and I couldn't be happier" he smiled sitting up to kiss me

"That's sweet Jojen I'm very happy too" I smiled nuzzling with him

"I uhh I got mine, did you get yours?"

"My what?"

"I got to release my seed. Did my wife get to reach the sky too?" He asks

"No, but that's okay our first time and all of takes practice ladies are very complicated Jojen"

"But I want to, it's not fair. Surely there are secrets you can show me?"

"Well I don't know any, spent my life learning to be a lady and how to please a man never the other way"

"Oh… uhh could I try something then?"

"Of course" I nodded

He smiled and cupped my breasts again kissing down my neck as he firmed them up in his hands rubbing on my nipples as they once again got hard for him "You like that?" He asks and I nodded he smirked and kissed up to my neck "You liked this?" He whispered between kisses and I nodded trying to hold back my giggles his hand moved down my stomach and then around my hip taking a firm grip on my ass and giving it a gentle slap

"Ohh" I giggled

"You like that sweetie?" He smirked and I couldn't help but nod biting my lip a little and burying my head in his neck in embarrassment "awww cute, you like what I'm doing or what I'm saying?"

"Both"

"Both? You like it when I call you… sweetie?" He smirked milking the word and I nodded

"Humm okay" he smirked biting his lip as he intentionally stared down at me "You've been a bad little thing, sweetie." He growled slapping my ass hard

"Ohh Jojen"

"Umm yeah, you like that?" He smirked moving my hips to slowly ride him again "You like that sweetie? You like it when your sexy husband comes and uses you?" He smirked and I nodded blushing hard "fuck-" he groaned pulling me into a kiss his hands moving to just my hips when he pulled away I was utterly shocked by his words "I want you to sit on my face"

"What - Jojen I uhh"

"Please, I've heard people talk about it. It sounds amazing, it's all I want right now" he groans

"I don't know Jojen I mean you were innocent an hour ago" I giggled

"Please I'd you don't like it I'll never ask again, but please it's all I can think about" he groans "I want your sweet pussy ridding my face sweetie"

"Well… okay but carefully I don't want to hurt you"

"If this is how I did believe me I will die happy" he says laying back with his head on the pillow eager and excited I was nervous having never done it before but I moved holding the wooden headboard my knees on either side of his head I was slow moving slowly until his lips met me he happily held my thighs to keep me still and at this level as he kissed and sucked as he had on my nipple

"Uuhhhh Jojen!" I gasped feeling the sharp pleasure he didn't speak merely working hard to pleasure my aching clit clearly enjoying himself he began to move my hips the same as when I was riding him which only intensified the pleasure letting him work into me better to send more accurate waves of pleasure as I rode I could barely contain my moans my hands leaving the headboard to play with my breasts as he worked, after a while I knew how close I was getting feeling so on edge but one hand left my thigh and he thrusted two fingers deep inside me moving them in and out as he merciless licked and sucked which caused me to scream his name loudly and slightly squirt

Immediately he pulled his fingers out and flipped us over so I laid on my back and he now sat over me looking as happy as I'd ever seen him my wetness soaked across the lower half of his face

"Like it?" I asked

"Everything I hoped it would be" he smirked "Did you like it?"

"Very much"

"But still no?"

"No." I blushed

"Say no more sweetie" he smirked kissing down my neck and then down between my breasts making a stop to suck on each nipple a moment before kissing down my stomach he opened my thighs as far as possible and buried his head there returning to his pace returning his fingers inside me as he became utterly merciless on me leaving me to scream in pleasure my only outlet gripping my sheets or attempting to pleasure my breasts which he noticed and batted my hand off using his other hand to play with my breast often rubbing and twisting my nipple as he worked until I hit a wall of pleasure squeezing my legs around his head screaming so much my throat slightly shredded

"Uuuuuuuhhh uuughhhh Jojen!"

He pulled back but only to wipe his mouth on the back of his hand looming over me excitedly "uuhhh sweetie" he gasps and it was then I noticed the hand that had been fingering me now wrapped around his hard shaft "fuck you made me hard just watching you like that," he groans his hand working hard as he jerked himself off over my naked body I blushed but batted his hand away

"That's a job for your wife Jojen" I smirked stroking my pussy which he only smirked at

"Ummm yes it is sweetie" he growled biting his lip before pushing as deep inside me as he could "fuck! More.."

"What?" I gasped feeling him once again fill me up with his shaft

"More" he growled wrapping my legs around his waist "I want you sweetie. Now" he demanded grabbing my hips and thrusting so mercilessly that it was almost as if he found a new angle leaning down to leave hikes across my neck pounding my pussy so mercilessly that all I could do was scream he held my hips so hard my hips were actually completely off the bed the whole bed shaking as it banged repeatedly against the wall "yeah you like that, you like your husband fucking railing you"

"Uhhh yes! Jojen please!"

"Uuhhhh just a little longer sweetie please, I'm so close too" he groans moving a hand to rub on my clit which was enough to tip me over the edge sending me almost off the earth itself for my second orgasm he melted against me feeling me around him "uuuuuuuhhh! Fucking hell" he moans as only a few more thrusts later he pulled out and send his seed across my stomach before collapsing among the covers with me "okay… I wanna be inside you every time you do that"

"Really?"

"God yes" he gasps "Holy fuck your amazing"

"Thank you, my wonderful husband did very very good too" I smiled nuzzling up to him as we cuddled up against the bed

"Yeah? I did a good job for my first time?"

"A perfect job" I Cooed

"Well we have time to learn all the little secrets about each other" he smiled "and… what we each like" he smirked wrapping my leg around his hips and stroking my ass and thigh

"I think I can guess what you like Jojen"

"Humm can you now? Well, I know what you like too, sweetie" he smirked almost growling that last word and I couldn't help but blush and slightly squeeze my legs together "hummm" he chuckled "Again sweetie?" He whispered in my ear

I couldn't help but giggle "Later Jojen when we have some energy"

"Your right, I really am sorry for being a dick"

"It's alright you had your reasons, so long as things will be different now?"

"Of course, I promise" he Cooes kissing my nose making me giggle "You are such a little giggler it's so cute," he smiled "Hey what would you say to maybe… a couple days together just you and me?"

"I'd like that"

"And maybe we could move our rooms in together?" He suggested

"That sounds lovely Jojen"

"Umm I love you y/n"

"Aww I love you too Jojen" I smiled nuzzling close to him as we tucked the covers up around us

"Can I stay tonight?"

"Of course as long as you'd like"

We got cosy and snug cuddled up together comfortably  

[beevean]

Nuke Sage. She brings nothing to the table lol

So far, she really hasn't.

I know that many people love her. Some love her arc, how she develops emotions and the need for a familial bond. Others love how efficient she allegedly is, how utterly loyal to Eggman she is even after she grows a heart. I know this, but there is nothing about her that appeals to me. She's bland, quirkless (she supposedly told Eggman one joke, offscreen), repetitive in her dialogue, the discount copy of Rei Ayanami and more blatant about it than the Death Egg, and her sacrifice for the sake of her "father" was literally nullified twice over.

Oh, you enjoy her because she develops emotions? Gamma is literally right there. And his sacrifice stuck. And I got to play as him and experience his change of heart. Frontiers' story is just a half-baked SA1, and that game already needed more time in the oven. no you cannot @ me.

And we talked multiple times how she's actually not as impressive as the game makes her out to be, and by all means, Eggman should have lost his patience the moment she kept insisting that he needed to team up with Sonic, like he did when Infinite disappointed him one too many times. mfw in the Japanese script, Eggman ends up saving himself from Cyberspace because Sage is that incompetent lmao

And the writing itself flipsflops between "Eggman is only proud of her because she's so impressive that it shows how great he is" (mostly in the missable memos) and "Eggman genuinely cares about his daughter and cries when she has to die and call her his daughter and adorable and holds her hand in the DLC and genuinely ponders whether she likes being called 'she'." It's... forgive me for the joke... wildly inconsistent :P

^ the thing is not that he assigned a gender to a creation of his, because he calls most of his robots "he", it's nothing new. The thing is that he actually stops in his tracks and questions if Sage would prefer "she" over "it". It's that he cares about her opinion, when by all means he shouldn't give a single shit about an AI's preference.

Then you add how fans, already juiced up over years of discourse on Mr. Tinker, took this undecisive writing and decided that this is proof that Eggman was Not So Bad After All, that he has a good heart deep down, that this sudden love for his "daughter" is what finally makes him human and tridimensional! They Fixed The Bad Character! Now yes I shouldn't base my opinions on the fandom, but as I said, if Flynn's intentions were to paint Eggman as a self-centered creator, he did a very poor job, because there is a reason the voice director ordered Pollock to sound like he was in tears when he said lines like "I understand. Go, fulfill your function".

And the kicker? Sage hasn't made a meaningful appearance yet. She cameo'd in MOSTH, looking sad and red/black instead of blue/white, and she's nowhere to be seen in Eggman's dreams in Dream Team, which lowkey implies that he actually doesn't love her as much as it seemed like in Frontiers.

but in the Takeover that everyone will take as gospel, Eggman says that she is the reason he keeps existing. Who wrote that. How can you put those words in that order in Eggman's mouth. And fans not only gush about how cute this is, but roll their eyes that Sonic is bored at this wildly OOC display of affection.

Sure, as a character she barely existed for one year, there's plenty of time for her to come back and finalize Eggman's direction. But yeah... so far she hasn't done anything to ingratiate me.

[bugslaststraw]

Overwatch: the art of writing bad stories on purpose

Clocking in at just over 4k words: a semi-coordinated rant on the topic of Blizzard's history of lawsuits, Overwatch'es history of canonical queerness, and the strange marketing techniques that tie the two topics together. Written by someone who got into the game less than a week ago and likes it in a hatewatch "I love garbage" sort of way, intended for those less familiar with the topic at hand. I tried to source claims but it didn't work so let it be known that I did actual research but I'll probably get stuff wrong anyway so I tried to be funny about it here we go:

Section 1: Frat Boy Snowstorm and it's attempts at being progressive.

Try to focus. This is the most boring part.

So as I hope you all know by now, Blizzard is a pretty shit company. I say shit, because controversial sounds too unbiased. Most of us are familiar with the lawsuits against the company relating to sexual assault charges, unsafe working conditions for female employees and a quote "frat boy environment," of which they've been under fire for since 2018, but recently (early April '23 to be precise) they've also faced a lawsuit for sneakily coming up with a way to underpay their eSports champions. (Both of these are easy to look up if you want more info.) However, the company is a giant, that along with Overwatch released Call of Duty and a bunch of other games I don't recognise (fuck me I'm not an FPS person,) and, aside from the money they easily paid out, they really haven't faced any major consequences for their scummy behaviour.

This is exactly what they want, of course: for the whole thing to blow over as quickly as possible. Keep this in mind as we move on. That's the whole reason Section 1 exists: to remind you that Blizzard, like Disney, is a Big Corporate Company that will go to ridiculous lengths to make sure that the actually relevant controversies are forgotten in favour of smaller stupider shit.

If there's one thing Blizzard loves to do more than make their female employees uncomfortable, it's to tote around their progressiveness. Of course, this usually doesn't extend to Call of Duty or any of their more "grounded" "gritty" and generally masculine domains, but Overwatch specifically is a testing ground for all kinds of bullshit and we can't go a season without one billion articles about "Overwatch first game to have character of xxx nationality on playable roster" etc etc etc. People absolutely shit their pants every time the game announces a new queer hero or whatever, because since it's a Big Corporate Company and it's just barely achieving the bare minimum of inclusivity, of course, that's got to be a big deal right? Except of course that like Disney, Blizzard will do literally fucking anything to make sure their games stay relevant and that more people buy and play them, and these attempts at inclusivity can be assumed to be preformed mainly out of a desire to make money and cover up their scandals, and not because the people who call shots actually care. It becomes incredibly clear how Blizzard sees inclusivity as an idea when you consider their viral invention from last year, the Diversity Space Method.

To some of you this may look like a good thing at first, and originally I think it was, as the idea was to keep track of how many of their characters weren't any of these things displayed above so that they could keep that number down, but as soon as someone came up with the idea to assign a certain number of points to each character, the whole concept crashes and burns. You see, according to this chart here, (and as another Tumblr user famously put it), Torbjörn (3) is older than Lucio (2) is black. And I'm pretty damn sure that's not how that works.

No doubt a percentage of the artists and writes for the game had some sort of passion. After all, there is genuine treasure to be found in the character designs, animations and even some of the voice acting. But you know how it is when it comes to inclusivity; the artists so often never get to do more than drop hints and leave people guessing. Which leads us neatly into the next section.

Section 2: This game's kinda shit!

And I don't mean the game itself. Idk about that, I never played it (and my friends who do all have wildly varying opinions.) I am talking about the stories. When I first started "researching" (hatewatching) the shorts and comics for this game, I was angrily wondering why they all felt so hollow. It was like looking at AI generated art, it was like looking into the eyes of what you thought was a person and seeing two camera lenses staring back, it felt empty, it felt bland despite all the good character designs and the lore and the concepts and the colors and the nice clean lines. Something was missing, and it was uncanny as hell! Eventually though, I managed to narrow it down to a few key issues:

A lot of comics and shorts feel like ads above eveyrthing else, they're made to sell the game rather than be good, and they therefore lack passion.

Possibly as a result of this, they operate almost entirely on "tell don't show" rules, thereby feeling even more empty.

These stories still manage to lack substance and they don't really canonise a lot about the world or characters, especially regarding relations between characters, and,

the really interesting storylines are usually left uncontinued or unexplored, possibly due to aformentioned lack of passion and an egotistical but sadly fulfilled hope that people will download the game or at least read the rest of the comics to find out more.

All this put together make for a very strange experience in which you can, if you squint, see the fuzzy outline of a good story, good worldbuilding and interesting characters, and imagine that the details make sense. Which, granted, is usually what people do. If you use your brain or have experience in writing, however, it all falls apart.

Section 3A: Overwatch is a knock-off

Well, not exactly. But it does have a strange habit of borrowing from other games. For example, did you know I'm a TF2 fan? Probably. Did you know each individual TF2 class has an Overwatch equivalent? Me neither, until now. Scout and Tracer, Medic and Mercy, Sniper and Widowmaker, Spy and Sombra, hmm I'm sensing a pattern here, Demo and Junkrat (we'll get back to him later,) and so on.

"That's a coincidence," you say. "They're similar games, of course there are equivalents," you say. To that I says: you may be right. We may all collectively be overthinking this. We may all also collectively be overthinking the Omnic crisis as a whole and why it's so damn similar to Fallout's synths, they've both got robot racism and violent groups who want to kill the robots one of which is in Australia, which is a plot point in TF2 as well oh look at that, but again I'm sure it's all a big fucking coincidence right and sorry sorry I'll stop now.

It is actually genuinely possible that those are coincidences, no sass intended, but considering how Blizzard operates on the whole, I doubt it. They've already proven to be rather lazy with their stories. There's nothing wrong with having similar ideas or being inspired, but when it's as noticeable as this, along with everything else, I just can't help but feel disappointed.

Section 3B: Overwatch is also a porn category

Oh yeah, speaking of never properly canonizing relationships between the characters (and aging their underage characters up to eighteen for hitherto mysterious reasons, and releasing all those horny fanservice skins,) here's an utterly ridiculous fact: when Overwatch dropped in 2016, quite a lot of people didn't know it was a game because there was so much (animated, drawn etc) porn of it that it flooded and quickly rose to the top of the "games" category on most popular sites (hard to source for obvious reasons, but I've had a friend check for me.) It still sits up there, by the way, surpassed only by funny space bean game (I'm not kidding.) Why? Two reasons. One: all the game's female characters are impossibly beautiful and (in every case but like two post-launch releases) skinny and generally conventional as well. No surprise there. Two: the game models are well rigged, high quality and incredibly easy to get at, making it so that people can tank them down and use them for whatever they like without issue. Rumour has it that this is on purpose.

My question is, what has this influx of smut done to the game? You see, if there's one thing Blizzard loves more than making their female employees uncomfortable, bragging about inclusivity, and copying other games, it's pandering. And they pander to everybody, or at least to as many people as possible, usually all at the same time if they can get away with it. This, I have to theorise, is why all the characters seem to be flirting with one another, but only one or two actual relationships are canon. They simply don't want to piss off any part of their demographic, which they force as wide open as possible because money money money money money. This means embracing the porn and making sly references to that part of the fanbase with skins, voice lines, and odd comments in interviews.

Anyway, back to the lawsuits, or rather the consequences of them. You see, canon queerness in Overwatch comes in threefold. This is the story of two thirds of it.

Section 4: Toy Soldier and Knock-off Scout Adventures

This is Soldier 76. And he's gay.

Everybody clap for Blizzard now. It's coyly canonised in a short story titled Bastet. 76 here was never a very popular Overwatch character, lore wise, so I guess this move makes sense. I can see why, too. He's very plain and simple design wise, almost grounded, but not enough that you notice it at a glance. He looks like a plastic toy. Anyway, his queerness wont piss off too many dudebros long-term, since fewer people play him, but it gives everybody else something to chew on, so everybody wins right?. When was Bastet released again? Oh, January of 2019? What else happened around that time? The settling and aftermath of the first lawsuit? Great. That totally wasn't a cover-up for anything. Definitely not.

It's not like 76 is the first character to be confirmed as queer though. Blizzard's favourite Overwatch character Tracer is too, being confirmed as having a girlfriend named Emily all the way back in 2016.

That's good right? I mean, that was before the controversy even started! Surely they did this for normal, innocent reasons and oh who the fuck am I kidding she's a conventionally attractive female character kissing another conventionally attractive female character in a game dominated by male players with male devs and a porn category more expansive than the Bible and we know damn well why that happened.

We can but pray that someone who was in on this gave a shit. Maybe the artist. The writer. Somebody. But this is a barren and cold world and I dare not hope even for that.

Not to mention, both of these things were distinctly one-off notes. It's mentioned once, and then never again, and after 2019 there was a four year radio silence on the whole subject of queer characters that didn't change until the release of OW2. And yet, Blizzard loved to brag about how inclusive they are at every turn even back then. "Look at us," they say, as the characters stare at you from the computer screen with their dead, hollow eyes, "look at how good we are! Please buy our game."

The status quo would change significantly in 2023, however, with the introduction of their latest addition to the roster; Lightweaver. Lifeweaver. Lightweaver? Wait hold on

Section 5: The most annoying twunk to ever grace the earth flings you into the stratosphere

This is Niran "Bua" Pruksamanee, also known as Lifweaver.

He debuted on the 11th of April, 2023, and he's The First at a lot of things, which, of course, made headlines. "First Thai character in a major FPS game" was probably the most common one. I'd feel better about that if I didn't know it's most likely the result of Blizzard trying to cash in inclusivity points. The second First he has is the more controversial one, however: First Overwatch character to be confirmed queer on launch. That's right, after four years of Jack Shit, they're back on it! And, well.

You see, to fully understand my emotions about this you need to know who Lifeweaver is. Despite Overwatch being a game with Mr black-hole-head toes-out "yet another poor-taste representation of DID" Sigma and a football-sized foul-mouthed hamster in a mechsuit in it, neither of them manage to be very funny. Lifeweaver, however, is objectively fucking hilarious, for these main reasons:

His amicable, light hearted healer-character personality clashes with his backstory, in a way that actually works. Lifweaver is a scientist who dropped out of a prestigious academy to stop people from trying to A: steal and B: jail him for his invention: biolight (which is exactly what it sounds: light that grows like plants, or vice versa.) Because of this biolight stuff, he is canonically wanted in seventeen countries and counting. And yet he's so glad to be here, you can hear the smile in his voice, he's kind, he's carefree. And he flirts.

With, like, everybody. Notably Mercy, and apparently he was roomates with Symmetra and speaks very fondly of her. On top of that he's (very) low-key implied to at least want to flirt with Roadhog of all people (can't say I blame him, anyway I'll get back to him,) and, uuh. Baptiste? Who's Baptiste? Nope, never heard of him. Ex-mercenary who regrets his actions and now plays support to make up for all the murder he did? Is what you may be asking yourself. Seriously, nobody talks about Bap. Maybe that's why he's being brought back into semi-relevance now, as Lifeweaver canonically (and smoothly) asks him on a date at a nice restaurant, to which he, unsurprisingly, says yes. He's always been very flirty himself. That should technically make it four canon queer characters in the game, but Baptiste still has some plausible deniability because of his personality, so arguments can still be argued, as they say.

Back to Lifeweaver. More specifically his playstyle. This bright pink healer wants nothing but to help people and further science! His players, however, will gladly ruin your day for shits and giggles. You see, it's become a bit of a gimmick of Overwatch as a whole to let you move your enemies around the battlefield. Junker Queen has her magnetic gauntlet thing, Roadhog has a hook, everybody and their mom have knockback, etc. Lifeweaver, however, can move his friends around. He has an ability to pull his teammates towards himself which he can also use to sling some of them across the map if they cooperate and/or move wrong. He can also raise a platform under any player that tosses them (or their lifeless corpse) into the air. This is incredibly useful in a coordinated team where everybody's using voice chat, eg. the way Overwatch is actually meant to be played. Overwatch is, however, never played how it's meant to be played. Hilarity ensues.

The circumstances of Lifeweaver's release. Here's the thing. On the 4th of April 2023, exactly one week before his release, Blizzard was sued again, this time for underpayment and mistreatment of their eSports champions. Although it's impossible to create a whole character in a week, it's fully possible that at least some parts of Lifeweaver's personality and some of the stuff he calls to canon (we'll get to The Thing later I promise, be patient,) were influenced by this. It's comically well timed that such a controversial character dropped so soon after that scandal, and while the model and animations were definitely finalized before that, any given set of voice lines could've been phoned in on the night of April 4th for all we know.

Put together, all of this is either infuriating or ridiculous. Some days it's one, some days the other, and some days, I'm just not sure. Originally I hated Lifeweaver. He felt predictable to me, a cheap coverup, a stereotype, and an annoying one at that. But eventually I sort of came around, because he got so annoying that I kind of had to respect him for it. From there, I eventually ended up here. And I think a lot of other people, notably the players themselves, felt the same. Go figure.

Section 6A: No scummy marketing tactic is complete without queerbait!

Valuable life lesson: it is very, very hard to tell wether or not something is queerbait by looking at the media itself. The possibilities that the perceived homoerotic tension is an accident, or a hint that's left vague for stylistic reasons, or simply a slow burn, are all present and impossible to rule out. The real way you find out if something is queerbait is by looking at the actual marketing. Listen to what devs say in interviews. Look at promotional material. Et cetera. Because I don't have the patience to watch those interviews, I can't actually say wether what I'm about to discuss is queerbait or a series of unfortunate accidents made as a result of Blizzard's bad habit of pandering, so I'll let you form your own conclusions and possibly go look it up on your own. (And then come back here and tell me about it because I'm so so curious.) I am probably going to go into excruciating detail on this next part. I am so sorry. I can't help but have favourites. So without further ado;

This is Jamison "Junkrat" Fawkes.

Or at least, it was back in OW1. (I promise the full body transparent background image is crucial.)

Anyway, this absolute bastard is a favorite of mine. (Having favourite OW characters? I am cringe but I am free.) He was in the game from launch, and remains one of the more interesting and, shall we say, least soulless characters in the game to this day. Not that there's that much to him. He never shuts up, he's clinically insane as a result of several concussions and a lot of radiation, and he really really likes blowing things up. Together with Roadhog, he's a freelance mercenary with little to no morals whatsoever, taking on whatever job gets them both cash, action, and buildings to explode.

Oh yeah, right. Mako "Roadhog" Rutledge, the quiet, stoic and occasionally terrifying two meter tall shit brickhouse with a stitched gas mask shaped like a pig snout and a massive hook on a chain. Sadly, although he's crucial to the segment, I can't really discuss him as much as I would like to because he has like five voice lines in total (an exaggeration) and half of them are just him telling Junkrat to shut the fuck up (not an exaggeration.) "Stoic, silent characters can be interesting without speaking," I hear you say. Yes, I reply, if they're well written. But this is Overwatch. Never ever get your hopes up about Overwatch.

Anyway, the trash rat and Mr Whole Hog here have an interesting history. Originally, they were simply friends, running around and doing Hilarious Antics™ (that were never very funny, other than in concept.) They feature in several comics together (none of which are very good,) they chat a lot in game and they have their own animated short called The Plan (which is the first Overwatch thing I ever consumed, also not very good, but hey, it landed me here.) And before I get into the queerbait part of this segment, let me just say that studying just this small part of Overwatch tells volumes about the writing all on its own. The tell-don't-show, the inconsistencies, the rampant ludonarrative dissonance... Stars, the comics want you to take Roadhog so seriously. They're leaning super hard into the edge with a brutal backstory and focus on making him as menacing as possible. Meanwhile, in game he, and I cannot stress this enough, walks around ass out the entire time. Google at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn you!

There is this one voice line, triggered when interacting with one another, where Junkrat says somthn' like "You'll hook 'em, I'll cook 'em!" and Roadhog just sighs in frustration, but then there's another line, triggered the same way, where HE begins the saying, "I'll hook 'em..." "And I'll cook 'em!" In short, fuck you consistency, and this contrast could be really interesting if it was well written. But of course Overwatch will Never Ever elaborate on this, as per usual.

As the years went by, however, things got... A bit weird. Junkrat has always been friendly. According to him, he and Hoggie (he calls him that, not me) are the bestest of friends. And although Roadhog acts as though he hates Junkrat a lot of the time, this is very obviously just tsundere behaviour used to mask the fact that he does really like him quite a lot. But in what way? "Gayass," said half the fandom. "No, fuck you," said the other half, "this is clearly a father-son dynamic." "You're all homophobic," said the first half. "Maybe we are," said the second, "what are you gonna do about it?"

And Blizzard... Did nothing. Well, they did canonise their ages at some point, and there is about two decades inbetween the two (Junkrat is allegedly 25 although I find that hard to believe, I mean look at him, and RH is in his late forties) which one would assume suggests their support of the father-son thing, right? Man, if only it were that easy. First of all, the writing is so nondescript and vague that their actual dynamic doesn't resemble a parental one even in the slightest, especially not on Junkrat's tounge, and seeing as he's both more affectionate and more talkative I'll lend that it's appropriate weight. Predictably, there is also one line that is inexplicable, unexplainable and clearly an innuendo, where if you run Junkrat and eliminate an enemy RH, he'll say something like "I guess we know who's on top now, don't we?" This doesn't appear to be a reference to anything, trust me, I've tried to check. Excuse me while I take a sledgehammer to Blizzard's servers. Again, we can't assume anything's ever on purpose, but c'mon. Who greenlit that?

So, unsurprisingly, Blizzard is being annoyingly non-commital again, so as not to piss off either half of their fanbase. Things went kinda quiet after that. Anything released was, again, purposely vague.

And then OW2 happened.

Section 6B: Subtlety, lack thereof, and the art of applying a metallic texture to a default Blender orb

This is Junkrat, as his current in game model. Sad, right? How they forced him to take a bath before letting him into OW2? How they regrew his hair and ripped off his cooler patches? It's a fucking travesty. People are calling him "Cluttermouse" as a joke now. Why would they do this? They massacred my boy.

Anyway, if you're observant you'll notice he's got an earring now. Yeah, on his right ear. Yeah. What's that? You were on Tumblr in 2016? You remember all the circling posts about "earring on the right ear means person wearing it is gay" posts? You grew up a bit and assumed that was made up or blown out of proportion? You asked your mom one day and she confirms it was a very widely known symbol until around the century change? Some fans must've noticed. Most of them didn't, though, because most of them are twelve. Anyway, I tell myself (and you) that it doesn't actually have to mean anything. If you look at the design again you'll see Rattie here is very asymmetrical, and leaned to his-right-your-left, both of his prosthetics being on that side. (He even walks unevenly, which I love.) It's likely that the modellers simply had no clue about the earring symbolism thing, and just wanted to play into that asymmetry. Right?

...and then Lifeweaver dropped.

And then everyone lost their fucking minds.

Ya see, dearest readers (thank you for making it this far,) Lifweaver, Pink Petal Supporthero McGoodguy, has not one, but two conversations with Junkrat in game. One of them feels fairly normal, with them discussing the price on Lifeweaver's "noggin" and laughing about it a bit. The other one, oh boy, the other one goes like this:

🌸"Are you and Roadhog together?"

🐀"Do~ you ever see us apart?

🌸"No. I meant: are you couple?"

🐀"Yes!! A couple of dashing rouges! Not sure... What you're missing here."

Yeah. I'd lose my shit too. I guess I kind of did, but not for the reason you think. You see, this right here, in terms of pure writing talent, is fucking genius, because it manages to be controversial without actually confirming anything. By that I mean, that because Fawkes said "yes" quite enthusiastically, the half of the fandom that said "gayass" think he meant yes, but because he noped out of that yes with the "couple of dashing rouges" bit, the other half of the fandom think he meant no! This is where I really start to wonder if they called Junkrat's voice actor at 2 in the morning and went "hey bud take a few extra grand and help us record another few lines will you? We just got sued again."

This shit is simultaneously funny as hell, sad, and absolutely infuriating. In reality, Junkrat has approximately two braincells rattling around in his skull, of which he is constantly frying, due to all the concussions. He probably doesn't even know what his relationship to Mako is. That might've been the case, and it would've been a good joke, had Overwatch been a well-written game. Sadly, it's all shitfuck at worst and boring at best, and this latest little oddity just makes me even more convinced that Junkrat and his partner have been banished to Queerbait Limbo for the foreseeable future.

Section 7: In conclusion,

Blizzard is shitfuck company, Overwatch is shitfuck game, I spent at least three hours writing this up and probably more editing it together and in less than a month, it's June and Overwatch'es first in-game pride event drops. Needless to say, I'm scared.

How much time did you waste reading? Did I state fake news? Do you have additional trivia? Do tell. I'm so curious. This has been four thousand words of nothing. Goodbye.

[vro0m]

How do you think George would fit into your “Lewis breaks his teammates” essay? Do you reckon he still has the same power or do you think it is more likely that it would be the opposite this time? I am asking because we have seen many times how the young guy wears out the older one (Vettel-Leclerc dynamic for comparison) but I cannot quite my finger on Lewis yet in this situation (not necessarily race performance but mentally)

Anon, you're kinda throwing me in a minefield!

It's extremely difficult to make predictions, so many things can happen. The short answer is : I don't know. The long answer is under the cut.

I'm biased as fuck, because I want Lewis to win his 8th, finish on a high, and be able to retire with at least some level of peace of mind but I tried to be fair.

I know you said 'not necessarily race performance but mentally', but these two things go hand in hand. They're both good, although at very different points of their career, and they're both hungry. That's basically what I said about them in the Lewis breaks his teammates essay. That and the fact that it had obvious potential for drama. Their results are weirdly on par, excluding the rare mishaps they've each had these two seasons. When you look at the graph of their respective results, the curves are so similar! And that's admittedly throwing me a bit because despite knowing George is a good driver, I honestly didn't expect him to be able to keep up with Lewis that well, especially from the get-go. I know some people claim it's proof Lewis is past his prime but I think that's bullshit and also a bit insulting for George, tbh.

Ultimately, I think if one of them has to come out on top, it's gonna be the one who manages to not get devoured by his own hunger.

George needs to learn what Lewis has learnt in his own time, what all young drivers need to learn when they get into cars that allow them to at least somewhat race : self-control. Don't rush, wait for the gap. Don't get too greedy, remember the big picture. Don't overdo it, know when to push and when to lift. Don't let it get to your head, think before you talk. Where he can struggle if it comes down to it, is making too many mistakes in a row and losing confidence, on or off track. Especially if they manage to fix the stupid car, and he finds himself sparring with Lewis on the regular for good positions, he's gonna need to be able to stay calm and stand his ground without getting into trouble because Lewis has been doing it for a while, and he's not gonna spare him. I know we like to paint him as very kind — and he might be, off track — but on track he's ruthless. He is a mostly clean racer nowadays, I truly believe so, but that's because he's received so many penalties over the years that he knows exactly where the limit of what's allowed, or can be argued as allowed, is and he will drive right on that edge without even having to think about it. George is gonna have to figure out the rules of this game on his own, like they all do. Lewis is not gonna teach George the ropes. He's not gonna give him the answers. He's not gonna foster him. He might help the team but he's not gonna help him. He's not a mentor. He's a racer. And while George is figuring himself out, Lewis is gonna race.

Lewis has a lot of shit to prove, again. People have been saying he's too old, people have been claiming he's about to retire, people have been saying nobody's ever won a race after their 300th start, people don't want Schumacher's record to be beaten and especially not by him, and let me not get into AD21. On top of that, the car is bad. However hard it is for George, it's still an upgrade for him. It's a definite downgrade for Lewis. He needs to be patient but he's running out of time. He needs to adjust his expectations but he's barely ever known anything but the top. He needs to be a leader for the whole team but George is becoming a threat. He needs to stay calm, composed, and confident but he's always been a paranoid control-freak with a justified chip on his shoulder. As much as George might trip over himself, I believe Lewis' weakness is Mercedes. Just like George's struggle is currently showing here and there in his racecraft, Lewis' struggle is currently showing here and there in his relationship to the team. He's struggled with having to rely on other people doing their thing for him to do his thing forever. As long as it worked it worked, but now it's not working. First of all he has to grapple with the reality that his teammate is not a throwaway anymore. But I believe (tentatively) that as long as it's a fair fight, he won't get destabilised on track. However, if he feels like they keep fucking up the strategy or that they're favouring or being too lenient with George... As soon as he gets it into his head that they don't have his back, it's over for him. It might become a real test of his maturing and growth.

As for how it's gonna end, time will tell.

[blackjackkent]

🥳🎁 your turn friend :D

(Fanfic Writer Ask Game)

🥳 Why did you start writing fanfic?

I've gone through a couple fanfic "phases" and it always kicks off when I get really hyperfixated on something and start thinking about the scenes we don't see and want to make them happen in some fashion. And then when I get comments/feedback, it just feeds the hyperfixation and I come up with more ideas and keep writing and it becomes a habit. XD

(Also shoutout to @springagainafter who is primarily responsible for my long-standing liveblogging habit which I guess also qualifies as fanfic and which I've been doing longer than any other systematic writing really. I started doing that all the way back in my Mass Effect fandom days and got very addicted to the feeling of tracking a character very closely all the way through a story and feeling out how they grow and develop. c: )

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share?

Spent some time today working on Chapter 4 of Open Your Eyes purely so that I could have a response for this question. XD Who says ask memes aren't productive?

(This has been edited very little so apologies for rough edges. XD )

"Where are we, exactly?" Jaheira asks, looking around with narrowed eyes. Of course, she can tell the general answer at a glance, though it doesn't fill her with particular joy. Rasaad has led them to the sewers.  The ladder has dropped them off in an enormous stone tunnel, a good thirty feet wide. Flickering torches are set into the wall at regular intervals, little dots of orange stretching in a long line into the darkness.  Down the center of the tunnel flows a thick river of dark brown sludge. She gasps deep lungfuls of the blessedly cool air as they all catch their breath from their panicked run through the alleys above, and in the process gets flooded with the all-too-familiar smell - a mixture of rotting meat, offal, and garbage, intense enough to make her eyes water. Caden grins crookedly. "Hitting all the old favorites today, aren't we?" he quips. "Fog cloud escapes, angry guards, sewer run. Next thing you know, we'll be sleeping in a shitty inn and having Minsc carry fifteen broken swords to trade for a healing potion." Imoen snorts. "Hey, it's already beating out the Gate sewers. Look - they adventurer-proofed the place. Walkways and everything." She indicates the long causeways that line the sewer tunnel on either side; they're nearly five feet wide and constructed of high-quality cobblestone. "Treating us right." Rasaad doesn't laugh; he barely seems to hear them. He squints down the long dim tunnel with a preoccupied air. "We are at the edge of the Shackles Ward," he answers Jaheira tersely. "One of the poorest districts of the city. It was the first place I could find an entrance not guarded by amlakkar. They have stepped up their attention to the Muzad since I lived here." Jaheira frowns, leaning against the wall. She feels the damp condensation soak through her shirt, mixing with the lingering sweat from the desert heat above. "You didn't know that the city had put out a watch for you?" she asks quietly. He shakes his head. "No," he mutters. "The Sun Soul has a history of handling its own affairs. You have seen this - they sent the Tears of Selune after me." He scowls bitterly. "But that was many years ago. It appears their concern regarding me has escalated." He is doing a creditable job hiding his agitation, but Jaheira knows him too well. There’s an anxious crease in his forehead at the place where his eyebrows come together, and his black eyes glitter in the flickering torchlight. He is standing very still as he always does, no fidgeting, no wasted movement - but there is a vibrating tension to the set of his shoulders that tells her his inward thoughts are a maelstrom.  Impulsively she reaches out, rests the tips of her fingers against his arm. He releases a sharp outward breath and for a moment she sees a flash of regret twist across his face. Then he jerks his arm away and his expression hoods over, unreadable again. “This changes nothing,” he says, suddenly brisk. “The Muzad - the Undercity - stretches to every corner of Calimport. We will find our way to the monastery by this route, and then I shall be able to speak to my brothers without the interference of the amlakkar.” “Of course,” Caden says, with the faintest flicker of dry humor. “Very simple.”

[eunchancorner]

yessss please, I would like to know more

Have I ever told yall it feels really good when y'all are hyped for something I wanna talk about?

Anygay

November 13th, 2:34 P.M.

Jack and John looked Bob over thoughtfully as they sat on the other side of the interrogation table. He seemed so… different like this. And no, it wasn’t the thin orange jumpsuit, nor the massive cuffs needed for his wrists. It wasn’t the change of scenery, the drab grays and loneliness sharply contrasting the bright, public environments he usually staged his massacres in.

It was his calm, downcast, almost sad expression. The complete opposite of his sinister smile and gaze that stares into your soul. The way he slouched in his chair. His former sadistic air had just about dissipated and he looked like little more than a pathetic old man. He was almost a different man.

“So…” John started with a sigh, sitting forward in his chair. “You’re a cannibal?”

Bob’s gaze flicked up for a moment, before settling back on the table in front of him, humming out a quiet agreement.

“And how many of your victims have you actually… eaten?” he pressed, keeping an eye on the biggest’s every movement, studying his body language.

Bob seemed to think for a moment, counting on his hand before looking up at them again.

“I believe a bit of each… so, technically, all of them…” he finally said, his gaze lowering once again as he spoke.

“And how did this whole cannibalism thing begin, Mr. Velseb?” Jack asked.

The oldest heaved a deep sigh, emotion beginning to show deep in his eyes.

“That’s an… old tale, officers. One that I’m sure would be too borin for ya…” he said carefully, his expression just barely displaying distress.

“I’m sure a tale that ends with you as a man-eating serial killer is far from boring,” John reasoned.

“Hm… I suppose you have a point, but it’s a tale I’m not too… fond of, let’s say.”

“And why is that?” Jack questioned.

“Have you… ever been betrayed, officers? Either of ya?”

“Not yet, no,” the other ravenette answered, his partner grunting in agreement.

“Hm. ‘Yet.’ Bein realistic, I see… how else can I put this, then?” he seemed deep in thought for a few minutes before he continued.

“Have you ever done somethin you regret, but knew, in that moment, that you had to?”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Jack answered again.

“As officers, we usually have to make that decision on the field,” John affirmed, silently hoping that being a bit more open with Bob would encourage the same.

“Well… my story starts with a decision like that… or, well, the crimes did…”

He took a deep breath, finally locking eyes with the two.

“My story begins with me… and a friend. My closest friend, and maybe most loyal customer, a man named Corey, twelve long years ago. He and he were inseparable. Game nights, huntin, watchin football, every cliche thing two men could do, we were doin. And we loved it.

“He’d come by Boys ‘N Grills damn near every day at lunch, and we’d chat about whatever came to mind. Somethin new that caught our eyes, different grillin techniques, an idea about what to do after work, everythin.

“In fact, one day, Corey suggested we’d go hikin. He insisted it’d be a fun little adventure, and dammit, he looked so excited, how could I say no? Heh, it was endearin, almost cute as one of y’all might put it.

“We packed our things, and, around October 15th-ish, I believe, we set out in the woods. I remember it was right smack-dab in the middle of Spooky Month, and he was so excited for our ‘Spooky hike’, as he put it. And, I’ll admit, I was excited, too. It was nice gettin to go out and do somethin new with him.

“But, despite everythin we packed, our first mistake was leavin behind our compass. When me and him realized this, Corey assured me that we didn’t need it, that if we kept track of how many turns we made, we’d be alright. But that was our second mistake, trustin either of us to remember anythin while occupied with all the sights. After a while, all the trees started to look the same, and when I finally got scared of losin our way, it was too late. Corey kept insistin that we weren’t lost and could get back home easy, but I wasn’t sure… he should’ve listened to me…”

Bob trailed off, clutching his bandaged right hand. The searing pain from the bullet wound, when his hand had been shot to disarm him, felt like a little bug bite in comparison to the pain growing in what used to be a hollow chest. He wanted to focus more on the wounds outside than inside. He didn’t want to tell this story. But he had to, he knew he did.

“Hours turned to days… days turned to weeks… weeks turned to half a damn month we were out there. We were growin desperate after runnin out of food within the first few damned days… We couldn’t tell poisonous berries apart from safe and didn’t dare run the risk. We hadn’t brought any guns or fishin rods, and no matter how hard we tried, spearfishin always ended with us empty handed. We were lucky we didn’t see any bears or wolves out there, or I don’t think I’d’ve survived, either…”

“Are you saying that Corey died in the woods?” Jack interjected.

“If you’d let me finish, you’d’ve found that out… but yes… one day, Halloween, I think it was, somethin… happened to him. He couldn’t take it anymore. And, with the only weapon we had, a single damn pocket knife, he attacked me… caught me off-guard and cut me up real bad. The whole time I tried to fight him off, tryin to get him to snap out of it, tellin him we’d be ok, that someone would find us. Tryin to have the positivity that he’d had at the beginnin, but he wasn’t havin none of it. He kept talkin about how out there, there was no friendship. There was no partnership. There was no ‘us’…” his gaze turned to the mirror at the side of the room, “Just me, him, and hunger, and that one of us had to go, so the other could go on. I just wanted to get him off of me… I just wanted to stay alive, I…” he began to choke on his words, feeling tears trying to push past his defenses. He couldn’t cry, not here, not now. Not with two officers staring him down, probably more behind the walls. But at the same time, telling his story was hard, and it made breaking down so easy, the very last things that he wanted to do, he had to do in this confession. He took a deep breath to try to compose himself and force the tears back, trying not to hear the whispers in his mind, what the police could possibly be saying about him, and press on with his story.

“When we were fightin, I… I threw him against a tree. I didn’t think it was that hard, but… I was wrong… he wasn’t movin… he wasn’t respondin… he wasn’t even breathin… I wanted him to be paralyzed, I really did, because even that was better than the truth… but… I knew what I’d done to him… I’d broken his back, and I’d killed him… I don’t remember how long I cried, just that we’d fought around noon, and when my eyes finally cleared, it was dark. I’d killed my best  friend, officers… And… I was so hungry… I know I should have just tried to look for something else, but at that moment… I… I don’t think I cared anymore…”

“Don’t say it…” Jack mumbled quietly.

“I ate him… I ate Corey… I felt like some kind of savage animal… it was the most bitter thing I’ve ever eaten… it tasted like pennies and raw pork and was every bit as bitter as straight, black coffee… And that’s not even the worst part…” he trailed off, losing his battle against his own tears despite how hard he tried to stay composed.

Seeing him in distress like this, even if he was a wanted criminal, it almost made the two officers feel bad for him.

“What was the worst part, then?” John prompted him to keep telling his story.

“The worst part… was that they found us the next day… or, I guess… they found me the next day… Corey was nothin more than a broken, dismembered corpse… and I’d buried him, so, they never found the body… My best friend, he deserved better than that… If I’d just held off one more day, if we’d held off just one more day I wouldn’t even be here right now!”

“That’s only one killing, what about the other several over the years?” Jack interjected, standing up.

“Officers… by now you must have noticed the pattern…”

“Yes, of course we have. One to three killings, every Halloween for the past eleven years, this year being the only exception besides the years you were in prison. We’d assumed it was to disguise it as a show.”

“That’s… not quite the truth. If you remember, I told you that me and Corey fought on Halloween… I ate him on Halloween night… well… somethin must have happened that night… or maybe there was somethin in his body but… Every Halloween, I get hungry… so, so uncontrollably hungry. I spend the day fightin it off, and the night… well, you can guess…”

“Hm… well, what changed this year? Like Jack said, this is the only year, besides your prison time, when you didn’t successfully kill someone. And we got to you pretty damn late, so what was keeping you from killing someone?” John asked, leaning forward in his chair as his partner sat back down. “Did it have something to do with this?”

The brunette produced a golden amulet tucked securely in an evidence bag. The amulet had a large, circular charm with a similarly round, baby-blue gem in the center, and two flowing, feather shaped decorations on the bottom. He set it down on the table and allowed the fugitive to examine it, although a single glance showed Bob knew exactly what it was.

“Where did you get that…?”

“One of our coworkers found it while we were going through your things, checking for evidence in case someone tried to plead a case for you. Interestingly enough, it looks just like the amulet worn by the assumed cultists running around, like this one,” Jack informed Bob, placing an image of a cultist on the table for proof.

“We’ll give you a moment to collect yourself, maybe some time to let it out,” John offered, noticing how the man was still having trouble from his near-breakdown earlier, “And then, maybe you can tell us what’s going on with you and the cult.”

A whisper near the door caught the attention of the two, whipping around to see the face of one of the aforementioned coworkers, none other than Shotty themself.

“Psst, guys, we got it,” they whispered, motioning to the two.

Jack nodded as he and John stood.

“Stay put and let it out, we’ll be right back. And don’t try anything,” he warned before the two headed out, meeting up with their colleagues.

“How much you get outta that guy?” Cap questioned, peering into the one-way window at Bob, who was finally crying, now that he was under the impression that he was alone.

“A lot, but it was all how he came to be a cannibal, and his urges. Did you two get what we asked?” John asked the two.

“Yep! And can I just add, this is a great thing you two are doing, especially you, Jack. I’ve never seen you give someone a second chance before,” Shotty said as they handed the stack of papers off.

“What are you talking about? I’ve given plenty of people a second chance!” Jack argued, a little offended.

“Name one.”

“Every cop in this town?”

“There’s four cops in this town, excluding you,” Cap pointed out, “And you never needed to give John a second chance because he’s basically our boss! Oh, also, not to divert or anything, but we figured the big guy would appreciate this stuff,” he handed the two a pack of tissues and a glass of water.

“Good, thanks. You two are being… really considerate towards a criminal. Something going on?” Jack asked, a bit suspicious of their behavior.

Shotty rolled their eyes a bit. “C’mon Jack, not everyone is as mean as you. I mean, yes, he has killed, like, a lot of people, but he still deserves tissues and water. Not to mention, from what we understand, he can’t actually help it, sooooo…”

“Fair. Now, we got one more job for you,” John finally spoke up again. “We need you to go talk to the mayor about our plan. He’ll listen to you more than he listens to us, for some god-forsaken reason, so if you talk to him about it, chances are he’ll listen.”

“You got it, boss,” Cap assured him.

“We’re on it! To Evermore’s houseeee!” Shotty cheered as they and Cap left.

“Hey, wait, don't go to his-! And they’re gone… oh those two are going to get fired one day…” the brunette grumbled.

Jack chuckled quietly, shifting the papers in his arms and looking into the one-way window at a now calming Bob.

“Looks like he’s stopping, should we head back in?”

“Mhm. Time to figure out what’s going on with that cult.”

The two stepped back into the interrogation room, Jack clutching the papers to his chest and holding the door as John carried over the tissues and water for Bob, sliding them over the table to the oldest. Wiping away his tears as the door slammed shut, the killer sighed heavily, having just let out twelve years of pent-up emotions in the span of a few minutes. He took a long sip of water as John continued from earlier.

“So, now that we’ve given you some time, what can you tell us about the cult?” the brunette got straight to the point.

“Nothin… I can’t tell ya nothin,” Velseb grumbled.

“And why is that?”

“I made a promise… and I always keep my promises. A good man always does, after all…”

“Barely a good man…” Jack grumbled, setting the paperwork in his lap.

“Well, I’m a man of my word, that’s for damn sure. And my word says I’ll keep quiet about that cult. All I can tell ya is they’re far more harmless than they seem.”

“Somehow, I have trouble believing that,” John argued. “But, is there anything we could do that could possibly convince you?”

“For that, officers, you’d have to do the impossible.”

“Which is?”

“Find out how to cure whatever the hell is wrong with me…”

The partners looked at each other before nodding, a knowing look in their eyes.

“Actually, Mr. Velseb, there might be a way,” Jack informed him, placing the stack of papers on the table, sliding them over to his fellow ravenette, who gave them a skeptical look.

“What’s this?”

“Paperwork. Paperwork to get you transferred from prison to a rehabilitation facility. This could be the key to your new life, Bob. With enough effort, we could help you completely get rid of your cannibalism… curse, in a sense. You’d never have to eat another person to satiate yourself again. In a few years time, you could be living a normal life, maybe even have a family,” John explained, gently pushing the papers more towards the unwilling cannibal.

“As nice as that’d be, officers… I’m afraid my reputation has been set in stone. No matter how many years of rehab I go through, I’ll always be Bob Velseb, feared and hated serial killer… no one will trust me to be in a store, no one will trust me to be alone. I’ll be monitored by everyone, no matter how many years go by. I’ll never have a normal life, nor a family. It’s too late to change that fact. However…” he began to think further about it, “your offer is temptin. Even if I can’t have a ‘normal life’, it would be nice to not have to deal with… whatever the hell happened to me. Do ya really think it’ll work…?”

“As long as you cooperate, then I think anything is possible, including helping you,” Jack reasoned, “but we need the information only you can give us.”

“You’re askin some pretty sensitive information… these people you’re investigatin, they’re not doin anythin wrong. I know they seem odd, maybe even creepy, but in all honesty, it’s more like a lil family thing. But that’s about all I can tell ya…”

“I know you can tell us a lot more, Mr. Velseb, and we can’t give you the papers until we have everything we need. It might seem a little unfair to you, but we can’t give you any sort of reward until we get what we asked for.”

Bob sighed a bit. He hated it, but understood. He’d either have to break his promise, or live out the rest of his life with an unbearable ‘curse’ in prison, most likely solitary confinement. Frankly, one option was far preferable to the other.

“Hm. Fine, I’ll tell ya what it seems like ya need to hear.”

The two cops glanced at each other before leaning forward a bit, signifying that they were listening.

“The cult isn’t quite what ya might be thinkin it is. The cult isn’t some high-and-mighty ‘our god is the only real god’, sacrificin, blood-thirsty, cliche cult from every doomsday movie. But, one thing’s for sure… that thing, whatever the hell it is… is real. I’ve looked into the depths of the hole it’s in, and I could almost feel it lookin back at me. They wanted me to meet it, but… they were kind when I refused. They seemed to understand, they let me in anyway. The leader, he told me that they didn’t like makin people uncomfortable. That they promoted comfort and happiness in the cult. As a matter of fact, they wanted me as a scout so they could help me overcome what I went through. I help them, they help me.

“They’re like a big family, the leader actin as a dad, in a way. Said somethin bout how he has a kid at home so it’s nothin new to him, I dunno. They meet every now and again, in that house on that hill. There’s a hole in the floor there that leads right to it. I’ve never seen it personally, but some of the members described it to me. Said it looks like a giant, pinkish, broccoli lookin thing, who’s head fades into darkness above, millions of baby-blue eyes formin the stars. A huge mouth that doesn’t even look like it’s connected with huge teeth that are on the outside, and long, kinda fluffy tentacles. They’ve told me what it’s like to look into it’s eyes, or, ‘the stars’, as they call it. They’ve said it makes ya almost numb, then their memories start blurrin together. I never get a straight answer of what happens after that, except that they ‘wake up’ feelin happy and calm, and that they’re already out of the hole when they come to. In fact, it can completely change someone’s attitude and everythin. I’m actually pretty close with someone who used to be bitter and spiteful, accordin to him, but after seein that thing, he was one of the calmest, kindest people I’d ever seen.

“Maybe that’s why I agreed to their deal… maybe I thought that thing could fix me. It seems like it changes people for the better. Bout everyone there either acted like that man, or was cheerful and sweet. I thought, if nothin else, it could make me happier. But, I got scared. I wussed out. I didn’t wanna see that thing, it sounded terrifyin. But, I guess in doin so, I kinda distanced myself from them, and the odd things that they liked…”

“What kind of things?” John asked, intrigued by his descriptions.

“Well, for the most part, affection. Especially ticklin. I don’t know why, but that seems like the thing everythin is centered around in that cult. I’ll run into people who can’t so much as say the word without lightin up in the face like a Christmas tree, or people who can say it so casually that they have full-blown conversations about it. I’ll walk past two or three tickle fights each meetin, ones that, half the time, end up bein very one-sided. Sometimes I’ll even let loose and join in. Though when that usually happens, I practically get dog piled and tickled until I can’t stop laughin for damn near an hour…” he chuckled a bit to himself, “It’s fun, though… I have to admit, they’ve got a damn good idea.”

“Tickling?” Jack asked in astonishment. Something so innocent from people who he’d thought just a few minutes ago were dangerous.

“Idea?” John echoed Bob’s words, more focused on the goal of this cult.

“Mhm. Spreadin happiness through a love of ticklin. It’s said that if you don’t already like it, seein the monster makes ya love it. I, personally, don’t mind it. But it’s not a strange, super-obsessive kinda love, it’s more like a sorta… what’s the word that he used…? Hyper… hyper… hyper-something-or-other… ah, hyperfixation, yeah. Basically, it’s almost always in the back of their minds, even when they don’t know it. Accordin to them, havin this shared love, bein able to confide in each other and be genuinely vulnerable with each other is actually really nice. And they wanna share this with the town. Simple as that.”

“That’s… really it? No hostile takeover bid? No ominous prophecy? No blood sacrifices?” Jack questioned, still in disbelief.

“Didn’t I tell ya at the start? No, none of that cliche doomsday shit. They just want to turn this small town into a happy family,” Bob reiterated, slightly annoyed.

[awritingcaitlin]

About me!

My name is Caitlin! I love cats, and they're my writing buddies often. When I'm not writing, I'm curating one of dozens of playlists, making aesthetics for my WIPs, or playing a video game. Currently it's still Tears of the Kingdom because there's just so much to do!

More under the cut!

I've been writing since sometime in elementary school. I completed my first manuscript in high school (a YA magic school novel) and tried to query it. It did not go over well, largely because I didn't actually edit it! (But also because I was floundering with no idea what I was doing with subgenres, similar titles, if my opening pages were the issue, if the query was the issue, if the agent I queried actually repped that category and genre... etc.) (Do not be me.) I may one day return to it, but for now I'm content to let that one stay on the shelf.

I ended up burning myself up over the project unfortunately. After that, I was in college where most of my writing was fanfiction for one of five different fandoms. (Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasies 7 and 8, Dragon Age, and Undertale.) I did NaNo a couple of stories, but never actually made it as far as querying again until much later.

Currently, my co-writer and I are revising an adult epic fantasy about marines on a mission, magical brainwashing, and a sorceress who walks the line between trying to stop the religious fanatics but also not painting a target on her back.

I had been trying to revise that alongside my fantasy heist novel, but there's too many different plotlines (not to mention characters that are in both but 5 years removed from each other) to keep track of for that to work. I can do edits and draft at the same time, but I can't draft two things at the same time unless they're a different genre. Or heavily revise two things at the same time.

I first dipped my toes into writing in elementary school. I would take composition notebooks lying around the house and fill them with stories. I vividly remember my first written story about two girls from a medieval time who got sent to the present day, but they kept trying to go back in time so they could save their mom. I've since lost that composition notebook, but if I ever wanted to rewrite that based on vibes alone I probably could.

My mom always supported me and wanted to read what I wrote. It was really easy to share stuff with her as a kid and a teenager who didn't feel particularly embarrassed about my work. Even as an adult, writing adult books with adult themes, I kind of just go "fuck it." She's an adult, who makes her own choices.

I've always been drawn to writing fantasy. I love the appeal of swords and magic (mostly magic.) I like writing epic motifs where the characters are up against seemingly impossible odds and are able to overcome. I like interweaving "real world" issues into fantasy too. Because queerness and disability is not something that only exists IRL.

I love writing characters who are bigger than themselves - people who find their magic spark; people who rise to the challenge; power so deep it's barely understandable but people try anyway; a pantheon of gods who doesn't know what they're doing and end up as characters in their own right. I love weaving in storylines, making connections, dropping in references. Etc.

I am really good at dialogue. I love writing it and it shows. Exploring how characters interact with each other is honestly one of my favorite things to do and dialogue is one of the biggest extensions of that.

To be honest, sometimes, all I have is dialogue that I throw up on a page and have to fill it out with actions and descriptions later. Sometimes, it all comes at once. A lot of it depends on where I am when the dialogue strikes me. If I'm on a bike ride or in the shower, I'll get a back-and-forth dialogue in a vacuum that I have to flesh out. This can also happen when I'm on the computer, but usually, if the dialogue is coming to me while I'm already at my computer, it's also coming with actions.

As far as outlining and researching goes, I usually start drafting and then come up with an outline of where I want it to go or plot points I want to include. At one point, I did an entire zero draft for a YA contemporary, which contributed to me writing 80k in five weeks. Still not 100% sure how I manged that in the end. But, for the most part, I have an outline that I'm drafting from, then I get a shiny idea and work to include it, so I adjust my outline and begin writing again... and then this process repeats near-on indefinitely until the end of the book. So my project folders start looking like this:

I'm one of those people though who, more often than not, will come up against a question I have while drafting, and be unable to continue until I've answered the question. I probably should get better about putting notes in brackets or footnotes and coming back to it, but at the same time, I don't think it's terribly detrimental to my process to take an evening off as a research evening. I've learned some pretty interesting stuff this way. (That said! I'm better about footnotes this current draft as me and my co-writer figure things out.)

One of the best things about writing is when I have readers telling me that they loved it. Or that they laughed. Or that they felt things. I might enjoy drinking readers' tears as they tell me I'm a terrible person for doing horrible things to their favorite character.

Writing scratches that creative itch. It makes me feel whole and complete. On the flip side, when I'm having trouble writing because of real life... I feel upset and anxious.

If I could manifest anything into the publishing world, it's a nine-book series out of this with spinoffs to expand the world indefinitely. (Why worldbuild more than once?) It might not be the most feasible thing ever, but I can dream.

If you've made it this far, have some writing advice. Which is basically... find what advice works for you and do that. Also, what works for you might not work in six months. Don't be afraid to change it up. If writing 2k words a day is super feasible because you cleared the whole month of November, great! But come December if you're feeling burnt out, it's okay to only write 100 words a day... or even take a break altogether and let your creative juices refill. If writing in the mornings works great in the summer but writing in the afternoons is better in the winter, do that! You, the writer, the creator, is more important than some arbitrary goal. (Unless you have a contracted deadline, in which case, may all the motivation be at your disposal!)

[unreadpoppy]

RPDR Season 15 ep 4 review

now that I found a way to watch the episodes, i wanna give my thoughts.

I think putting snatch game this early on was a BIG mistake. Huge. Not only are there too many queens, which makes it harder to keep track of stuff but because the episodes are so much shorter, we do not have time. In other seasons, Rupaul usually does 3 to 4 questions in SG, in this one, which was supposed to be the Supersized SG, we only got 2 questions in each group, the queens have barely any time to shine. Like seriously, I canno for the life of me remember what half of the queens were for SG. Also, the fact the cut out Rupaul talking to them on the werk room, which is one of the best parts of the episode, ugh, why MTV why???

Anyways onto the performances themselves. I think it was definetly an improvment from last year´s Snatch Game.

Loosey, Mistress and Marcia x3 had me in stiches! I think all three of them really knew their characters well and they knew when to interact with other queens and how to answer Ru. All three of them also nailed on the voice for the impersonations, I was really impressed and happy with them. I also want to give a shout out to Amethyst. I didn´t know who her character was but she made me laugh a lot, and it was definetly a redemption after the previous two episodes.

Sugar, Spice, Aura and Salina for me were the worst. Sugar and Spice were really cringey and annoying and if I laughed, it was out of confusion. Aura had no clue what to do and when she started singing.... Salina was not funny and her gag of being pregnant felt out of nowhere.

About the other queens, we got shown so little. Sasha was barely there, I though Jax´s accent was funny, and for the life of me, I cannot remember who Luxx was impersonating.

For the runway, I liked the prompt but I think most looks were a miss. I was expecting something that was a mix of spooky with glamour, but most were neither, or just something pretty with a different makeup. Also, so many spiders, and as someone with arachnophobia, I wanted to die.

The higlights for me were Sasha (who is ALWAYS mothering), Luxx (her look was exactly what I wanted and when she opened her mouth and it had some like black goo, I was gagged), Loosey (love that she brought a slasher character, it was kinda like Bride of Frankenstein but make it Jason), Amethyst (love the Gaga reference, and I was so happy she was able to include the blood).

Marcia x3 was basic but after her explanation that she had to come up with that in 24h cause her designer bailed her, I giver a pass. Salina was just bad, the makeup didn´t look good, and her outfit was a mess. Sugar and Spice´s looks felt basic as well and so did their makeup. Malaysia, although her look itself was stunning and she surely did reach the beautiful part of the prompt, the nightmare was lacking. Shout out to Aura, her look was good but I personally didn´t vibe with it (and also something about the facial expressions she does on the runway always kill it for me, it always comes off as way too goofy).

Loosey wins the challenge and I´m happy for her, it definetly made sense not only with her performance, but also with her storyline (being in the bottom 3 on the 1 episode, being high last week and finally snatching a well deserved win here). The bottom 2 end up being the twins.

Listen, ever since they were cast, I knew production would make the twins lip sync against each other, it´s just so obvious. However, I thought it was going to be later into the season, because this feels so early. I was not a fan of the lip sync song, and I think they did the best they could. Also, the fact that they choreographed a number, props to them.

I´m sad to see Sugar go, and I´m interested in how Spice will fare on her own.

Also, I wanna talk about untucked as well. I think it was the first time I ever teared up with untucked. Sugar and Spice being scared of being separated is something I can definetly vibe with. The connection you share with a sibling is something really unique, and it´s really hard to be separated from them, and for the girls it´s even harder considering they´ve been together since their literal womb. Also, Sugar opening up about how their family was not accepting of them so they had to rely on each other for support is something a lot of us queer people can relate to, and it makes me understand their drag and their connection even more.

The other queens also supporting them and saying that even if their separated, they´ll have the other queens for support was really special. Sasha talking to them and having this very motherly feeling really touched my heart, and when Loosey´s voice broke I cried a bit.

Overall, I think it was a good episode, but it would be even better if we had more fucking time. I feel like some queens are fading into the background and it´s because we are not being given enough time to get to know them.

[corpseaten]

i can honestly hardly comprehend my state myself.... although i dislike people, i want everyone to like me! it is some kind of horrible, compulsive need that has led me to far too many situations of bending over backwards for people i could care less about. and then i look back and go "why did i ever even do that"! and i see.... i tend to be quite the opposite, i can over-analyze things until i turn paranoid.

they really should.. oh my. the idea of a pretty 5 dress up game just hit me. well, technically you can already do that in enstars itself, but more in the style of those late 2010s ones.... have you ever played those? i was very fond of them when i was little. i see how it is, little izumi. but i shall make sure to send you some when they finally arrive! i ordered them about a month ago, but the shipping is untracked, so i have no clue when she will appear....

you have definitely mentioned it before. i definitely understand that! my involvement has always been more about the love for the artform itself than anything else. which definitely added to why people dislike me.. i got labeled as "too serious". sorry that i am dedicated and you are not! why are you here if you are simply going to goof oof? but ah well. and i have actually done lots of technical work.. i was the sole member of the props team for two years, after my mentor (? we had an interesting relationship) who was one of the only members left it to me my freshman year after he graduated. i also helped found our videography department and may actually have to come back and help out there for the upcoming musical.. plus i have made a puppet for competition, but it is so ugly that i would rather it never see the light of day again.

and honestly! i can understand the petty cast drama, but you people are adults. have a discussion and stop making teenagers pick sides. you are honestly too old to be doing this.. over high school theatre, of all things!

Ahh we are quite different, I see no point in everyone loving me, most cannot see the worth of an angel to begin with, so it is pointless . . i also do not care for the opinion of others if i do not love them. I do bend myself backwards when it comes to whom i love though, but only for them, everyone else could die and and i would so much as utter a word. Perhaps you should try to become more careless, it is freeing! I used to do that until the point i became naturally paranoid , now I am just in this state . . shivers.

I have played them before, that would be so fun , oh my my ! I can see it . . I would love to dress little mipa up . . They’d have such cute clothes, i hope they’d be all frilly and nicely coloured. Yeaaah shipping enstars merch is the worst as it always takes so long to arrive, that is why I barely have any! That is also scary. . . not knowing whether or not she’ll be here, I think all shipping should have to be tracked !

I forget . . . apologies if i keep repeating myself on things. I have fallen completely out of love with the art, that which used to bring me joy now brings nothing! i think it is because my heart has completely blocked love out for things that are not my soulmate.. as stupid as that may sound. It is good that you are serious, I hated in college when my classmates would sit om their phones instead of working on our piece , that was when I actually enjoyed it though. The sole one ? That is some dedication, you must be hardworking. You do so much, it puts me to shame, though its nice to hear you have such an eventful life, here i thought you hated all things outside. Most puppets are pretty unflattering from what i’ve seen, so, I’m sure yours cannot be that bad!

[veebs-hates-video-games]

And now several more things, most of which have been very brief as I just try stuff out to see what's worth sticking with and what my brain is amenable to at the moment.

I finally got around to trying Downwell. It seems fine? Like I don't have anything against it, but it's not doing enough for me that I'll probably play any more than the dozen minutes or so I have so far.

this morning I decided to die was alright. It only took like half an hour to go through the whole thing (one route that goes to the bad ending and then the good one). Definitely not one to pick up if you're not in a place where you can deal with stuff about serious mental health issues like psychosis and suicide. Also abuse. I get what it was going for, but I don't think it entirely worked for me and probably won't leave too much of a lasting impression. I'm glad the person who wrote it got to say something about it based on their own personal experiences though (from what I've heard about it anyway).

A less brief one is FF7R, which I think I'm about halfway through the story of and have mixed feelings on. I like that the writing and way the story is told is much better than in the original and makes a lot more sense, even if so far I'm still only moderately intrigued by the story and don't love it yet. What I do love though is how much better the characters are handled. In just the first few hours of the game I already knew more about and cared more about people like Jessie and Biggs and Wedge than I did some of the main party members in the original, and these are people who barely even got names the first time around. Music's great too. I'm indifferent to the graphics though, like it's technically impressive but not really my vibe a lot of the time, and I kind of wish it were actually less detailed so it would be easier to see stuff. And then the gameplay is meh. On the plus side it's better than the previous attempt at making FF an action game, FF15, which to me just felt downright bad, but they've only made it up to mediocre with this one. Maybe I'm biased coming off having played stuff like Astral Chain recently, but I just expect it to feel better than it does when they spend that many years and that much money on it, and it really doesn't. Please make the animations "worse" so they can feel more responsive.

On the other hand I have almost no complaints about Wylde Flowers a few hours into it. It's very much on track to be my second favorite farming game after Harvestella, and potentially the only more traditional farming/life sim I actually manage to stick with and finish if it keeps this up. My first impression was that it's the most basic bitch game I've played in a long time (which I don't mean in a bad way, just that's the vibe I was getting) and I wouldn't be surprised if one of the recipes I learned was pumpkin spice latte. As stuff started opening up it really won me over though. It's even lower pressure than stuff like SDV because you can slow down the clock and seasons don't advance until you choose for them to, which I appreciate. The characters are mostly likable and interesting too, and it's aggressively inclusive, which at first I was worried was it just trying to check off all the boxes for their own sake, but everyone has much more substance to them than just being representation. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

I'm glad I grabbed Zenzizenzic before it gets permanently delisted in like a week when Adult Swim Games stops existing. I'm not going to do or unlock everything in it because I'm just not good enough at bullet hell games, but for a couple bucks it's pretty fun, and the music is excellent.

And then I was looking at what other stuff people who worked on Harvestella have been involved with. I had no idea one of those things was Ender Lilies. A couple people I know had played it before and liked it, but I was kind of wary because of the soulslike elements, which usually aren't my jam. I gave it a chance because of the Harvestella connection though, and it might be the first thing I've ever played with very direct and obvious influences from Dark Souls that I actually mostly enjoy playing. The way it feels to play reminds me a lot of Dead Cells, except with the things that didn't work for me in that tweaked just enough that I'm either ok with them or they're enough less annoying that I don't mind. I think a large part of it is just animations generally being quicker, but overall the timings on things just fit my preferences better. I like it enough up through the first git gud boss that I can see myself finishing it, which would be a first for anything even vaguely soulslike.

And then those same people also apparently made a bullet heaven game when I wasn't looking, and some of the design decisions are informed by the bullet hell games they've been porting to the Switch over the past few years. It's 9th Sentinel Sisters, and it's actually pretty good too. Still in early access so I probably won't get too invested and burn through it all at once until there's more of it, but it feels promising so far.

Hardcore Cottagecore was a random extremely cheap impulse buy because the idea amused me. It's another bullet heaven game, except this time you're a mushroom fighting off Amazon's robots trying to build a warehouse in your forest. It's kinda cute. It only took an hour to finish the entire thing though, and it's very easy and/or unbalanced. Very student project/game jam game vibes, or the kind of thing you find clicking randomly on things on itch.io. It doesn't quite all come together in the end, but there's some potential there.

And finally Star Ocean: The Divine Force, which I fit in a couple hours of too to see if it's any good. I suspect that overall it's probably a bit of a mess, just like the earlier games, but one thing I can definitely say about it so far is that it knows how to let you have fun. Mechanically it feels like an actually successful version of what FF15 tried to do but didn't really succeed at. Like what if the warp ability from that had way fewer restrictions and didn't need a target and could be aimed in any arbitrary direction (including up) and basically let you fly? And everything just generally feels much tighter in general. I'm curious whether it'll hold up for an entire game, but at least so far I'm enjoying gotta go fasting.

[goore-ghoul]

CHAPTER 1!!!!!!!!!!!!! of my 2 part fic i am working on

"Weathered" part 1: "The End"

as always find on Ao3 under morbid_ways

here we go :)

The Ritual is over, just like his time is over. Nothing lasts forever.

Papa Emeritus IV has come to the end of his reign. The last Ritual was magical for him, and for the crowd. He’s hugged the Ghouls and Ghoulettes, said his goodbyes to the crowd, and exited the stage. Now that he’s alone in his dressing room, the emotions hit him full steam.

Papa finds his phone and pulls up the messages app, finds your name in the recent messages, and sends you a text.

He lays his head back against the chair he’s sitting in, and lets the tears come. He worked so hard to get to this position, and now, time has flown and it has come to an end. He doesn’t know what fate the ministry has laid out for him when he returns from tour. Will he end up like his brothers, or will he get to retire and spend the rest of his days with you? Neither one of you knows the answers yet, but he knows he’s tired and feels defeated. Being Papa was the best thing to ever happen to him, besides being yours. So he sits, and he waits on you to find him.

- - - - - - - - - - -

You’ve just made your way to the back of the venue when your phone dings. Pulling it out of your pocket, you see the text that Copia has sent.

“Bello, find me in the dressing room.”

You turn yourself around and go the other way, knowing exactly where that room lies. You were with him before Ritual began, so it’s no problem finding it again. You flash your pass to the security outside the hall to his room, they let you pass without a word.

You give a soft knock to the door and open it. As you enter, Copia is getting up from his chair and turning to greet you. You both smile at each other. You take a good look at him. You can see that he’s wiped his eyes, the makeup is smudged. You can also see the tear tracks he tried to hide as he wiped his face as well.

Copia gives you a small smile and a slight head nod. You quickly walk to him and you embrace each other. Shit, now you’re crying too. Copia rubs his gloved hands up and down your back while you do the same with your bare ones on him.

Pulling back from each other just slightly, you both look into each others eyes and sigh. This has been a wild road to go down. You didn’t think meeting a clumsy, goofy Cardinal a few years ago would have led to him being the love of your life, and you of his. You also never thought you’d be in a relationship with a Papa of the Emeritus bloodline, but here you are. Life has a funny way of doing what it wants.

Pushing all of that out of your thoughts, you focus on the man in front of you. The skull paint he has left sits deeper on his face now lined with more wrinkles than when this began. His hair has grayed significantly. His stamina, while still impressive, has gone down and you have been able to tell he’d been getting more worn out as the tours went on.

You lean into Papa once more, this time tilting your head down to kiss him. He meets you for the kiss, and you both keep it simple for a moment, lips locked, holding each other. Among other things during your relationship, Copia has taught you one specific thing – you’re irresistible to him. Soon you feel the telltale sign. Copia’s tongue finds your lips and begs for entry. You part yours and allow him in. No matter how many times you two do this, it’s as intoxicating as the first time. You give Copia free reign with his tongue for a short time, and then you bring yours into the game. The two of you remain standing in the middle of the dressing room kissing each other.

Copia slows the kisses down, and you can feel his emotions pouring out of him again before you feel his tears against your own face. He pulls away from you, hugging you still, and lays his forehead on your shoulder.

“Ciccino”, he sighs, “I need…”, he trails off, slightly shaking his head.

“I know, Papa, let-”

He looks up at you. “Not Papa, not anymore.” he all but sneers, more to himself than to you.

“Copia, then. Let me help.”

He gives you a small nod and turns away to go back to his chair, you follow close behind.

Once he’s seated and situated, you fall down to your knees in front of him. Taking him in again, this time from a different angle, you can see just how tired and worn he really is. You hear him sigh as he leans his head off over the back of the chair. Time to give Copia something else to think about for a while.

[vhygoxo]

Pale MoonLight

After your grandfather Atera passes you decide to move in with your grandmother. Since this is your gap year after graduating, you get to decide what you want next, assuming this is a great opportunity. Moving to one of your home reserves you're ready to start your new life. When you finally come back after being distanced for so long secrets and mysteries of the reserve start to unravel.

Paul Lahote x Reader

Chapter 4: Prey

Chapters

1. Homecoming

2. Emissary's

3. Connection

4. Prey

5. Awakening

6. Discovery

I stood paused in my tracks, inhaling fresh air into my lungs, staring up at the sky. I was on my way to Emily's house hiking through trails behind my house. I stood to take a break and take in the view around me.

It wasn't too far a distance from Emily's maybe 20-30 mins on foot. I didn't mind the exercise it takes to hike through this type of area.

In these fields is where I spent most of the time as a kid. Or climbing in the trees wanting to explore as much as I could. Me and Quill with the rest of the kids would play different games together here.

One of the reasons I'm hiking to Emily's, despite enjoying the exercise, is that no one was available to drive me today.

I knew Leah was going to be busy so I didn't bother. I messaged Quill but he wasn't answering. My grandmother had another meeting to attend early this morning so I didn't even get the chance to ask her.

I know Paul offered a ride, we even exchanged phone number's, but I felt hesitant to reach out. As much as I liked him and appreciated his kindness overall he's a stranger. I don't want to impose my self on him too quick.

I felt a bit weary on hiking since the wolf sighting. Last I heard there was a search party for them. Trusting that I'll be safe enough I got myself ready.

I continued on my path already over half way through the trail. I messaged Emily and Kim since they said to meet them there. They know I'm already on my way to them.

Suddenly I could hear branches moving. Not snapping but cracking and crushing sounds yet there was hardly any wind. I tensed up before picking up my pace.

The noise came from above in the trees as it echoed down to me. I didn't want to know or acknowledge anything. So I moved faster and with my eyes forward.

I was trying not to be panicked. Keeping a steady pace as I passed through. I knew where I was and where to go. Reaching a good distance away from the area reassuring my safety.

Suddenly there were voices afar from me loud but muffled. Stopping in my tracks to listen closely. I moved slowly closer but then stopping once I could hear the voices move closer near me.

“See I told you he isn't going to say it anytime soon. He's too stubborn you know how he can get”

“That asshole better say something soon before I or someone else does. She doesn't get to be involved at all which is shitty. We're all in agony for what? It doesn't make any sense—”

I gasped standing frozen as suddenly two figures came forward. It was Quill and Embry standing before me with very little clothing. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“Oh! Hey! Y/N… Long time no see”

“I… uh… Why are you guys out here half naked?”

Embry said to me which made me ask the question. They stood before me with no shirt and barely had shorts on. They shuffled around nervously once I asked.

“We were uh… tryna dive… off the cliff but got chicken!”

“But isn't the edge of the water like… a hike away from here?”

Quill answered nervously making me question them even more. The water is like 15 mins away from Emily's, but that area of water is dangerous to swim in, due to rocks under the water. I squinted at them to examine them further.

As I quickly glanced at their bodies I noticed scars on their chest and arms. Slight scars that looked healed, very faint, but there were many. On Quill alone I could count at least five just by seeing his stomach area. Why would he have scars such as those?

“I was tryna prank Quill by dropping some of his clothes over the edge but I dropped both of ours”

Embry answered as he sounded unsure of himself. I noticed the faint scars on his forearm, and a tattoo, which Quill also shares on the same arm.

They stood there trying to be confident in their state. I decided not to push further since it was so strange. But definitely keeping in mind of what I’ve seen, in my own head I questioned, what are they hiding?

“Okay… To be honest I don't really want to know the real reason…”

I say as I turned to walk past them. Focusing on heading to my destination. I could hear them shuffle behind me as they followed me.

“Where are you headed?”

Quill asked me as the two joined my side. I alone felt cold from the air outside as I shivered slightly. But from what I could see from these two they were perfectly fine. I couldn’t even see any goosebumps or raised hair's on their body.

“Emily's why where are you going”

I said quickly snapping my head away from looking at them. Keeping my head forward as I answered him.

“Us too we'll walk you back”

Quill offered in which I agreed. We continued on our way together, I felt a bit relieved, at least I had them to guide the way. As we talked they avoided bringing up their appearance.

“Why didn't you message me for a ride earlier?”

“Because you didn't even answer me. I called you once and messaged you”

I answered Quill as he glanced over to Embry. By the looks they gave I could tell they understood something I didn't.

“It must've died once I met up with Embry that's my bad”

He explained to me as I nodded my head understanding. I could tell he was lying but I didn’t care too hard. I know he can’t always drive me everywhere when he has his own life.

“Besides it's okay I wanted to come through here. But I was really surprised to come across you guys”

“We uh…usually walk around back here. I live not to far from here as well. Emily's basically the meet up base for all of us”

Embry answered me as we kept walking, I noticed we headed in a different direction than what I was following, I paused confused.

“Don't worry we're almost there”

Quill reassured me as we continued walking. I followed behind them as they took the lead. The path we were taking had a more clean path.

“We’re showing you the short cut for next time”

Embry said as he winked to me with a grin on his face. Smiling quickly at me before I turned my head away surprised. Together we continued to Emily’s keeping with up with small talk. Laughing and telling stories to pass the time.

We arrived at Emily's walking through her driveway to enter the slide screen doors. Noticing there were a few cars in the driveway. I was unsure of who was all here at the moment.

I stepped onto the porch hearing raised voices. A passionate discussion we could over hear making me hesitant to head inside. Before I could even reach the top of the porch everyone inside hushed.

Stepping outside to meet me was Emily, Sam, Paul, and Kim. Greeting me as Emily stepped forward to hug me.

“I’m so glad you could make it. I see you found Quill and Embry on the way”

She said as she looked over my shoulder. Remembering their attire, or should I say lack of, I didn't want to turn around to see it again. Having enough of the uncomfortableness from the long hike.

“Yeah… Guess you could say that”

I answered as we let go of each other. She guided me inside towards the dining area before joining Sam’s side. Walking together as a group to the house.

“Hey, you're pretty brave to just walk in the bush”

Kim greeted me as she came up to me. Joining my side to the door. I smiled sheepishly at her comment.

“Why are you scared of the bush? You were always the one to make us play back there”

“I dunno I guess because I haven't crawled around back there since. Just you and the boys are brave enough now”

I noticed Paul join beside me as he walked with me. This whole time I’ve been trying to ignore his intense stare. I felt my breath hitch slightly as he inched closer to me.

“How come you were walking over here I thought I told you I could pick you up?”

He asked me which made my chest flutter remembering his offer. My cheeks flushed warm as I struggled to answer him without sounding rude. I didn't want to tell him I felt shy about it.

“It's alright I uh… wanted to walk believe it or not”

“Is that right?”

I looked up at him to find him already glancing back down at me. He has such dark intense eyes with thick lashes. A slight smirk on his face that barely lifted the corners of his mouth. I nodded before whipping my head to turn away face flushed.

“Do you usually walk everywhere?”

“Just around where I live in the hills. Quill isn't far from where I live so I usually stick around that area”

I answered him as we reached the dining table. This time he nodded his head in acknowledgement. Before I could reach the chair Paul suddenly pulled it out welcoming me to sit in it. I hesitated but Paul motioned for me to sit again.

“Thanks…”

I replied as I went to sit down not refusing his offer this time. Kim and Emily joined me at the table to sit. Sam and Paul continued to stand near the door.

“Are you girls going to stay here and visit?”

Sam asked the three of us. We all nodded our heads in agreement.

“Enjoy yourselves excuse me and Paul we have to go take care of a few things. We'll join once we're done”

Sam smiled as he put a hand on Emily's shoulder. Giving her a look as they both nodded at each other. Sam stepped out onto the porch to leave. Paul turned away slightly before hesitating.

“Hey are you walking back?”

He asked me suddenly as I looked up at him. I was surprised at his sudden interest. I could see worry on his face while I answered.

“Yeah most likely”

“I can walk you back later. It's gonna get dark by the time you guy's are done and you won't be able to walk through safe”

I could tell by the shift in the room, not only was I surprised at his offer, but so was everyone else. The three of us looked at each other trying to hide the surprised looks on our faces. Again I didn’t want this offer to slip me by.

“OK that sounds good. I'll leave with you once you're ready so let me know”

I told him as he nodded his head in agreement. Satisfied he took off down the steps to join Sam. Kim and Emily looked at me surprised as I smiled bashfully at their reaction. Already busy trying to ignore the warm bubbly feeling in my body.

“What was that?”

Kim asked me as she giggled loudly teasing me. Emily joined in and gushed at me with Kim. I felt a bit embarrassed as they continued to teased me.

“My my Paul has a soft spot”

Emily said to me as she got up to head into the kitchen. I couldn’t help but cover my flushed face from them. Trying to ignore their comments as they feed my delusions of Paul.

“Don’t make it seem that way he’s just being nice”

“Oh please Paul isn’t nice to just anyone”

I tried to explain but Kim interrupted me. I paused to think of what she said, I mean I did hear Paul was mean, well I’m not sure about mean but I remember Quill and Leah warning me of his nature. Supposedly he has a bad temper and can be aggressive.

“She’s right Y\N”

I looked up at Emily as she passed me a drink then one to Kim. I wasn’t sure what to say or how to react. Even I couldn’t figure out why Paul was eager to help me. In my mind I just excuse it as Paul wanting to treat me as Quill’s cousin right.

“Well either way he’s nice to me and I don’t want to think too hard about it. I appreciate it and I’m sure he’s just being nice since I’m Quill’s younger cousin”

“Well shit I’m also Quill's younger cousin and he isn’t always nice to me”

Kim added as she looked at me with a smirk. I sighed defeated after failing to think of the right excuse. They must’ve noticed since they moved on from the subject quickly.

I myself can’t tell what Paul’s true intentions for me were, after all we were still sort of strangers, but I couldn’t help but hope he liked me in some way.

Finally me, Emily, and Kim get to connect better once we were finally alone. Moving on from Paul I got to tell Emily my plans I have now that I’m back home. She was interested in my art and what I plan to do here in La Push. Relaxing together as we waited for Sam and Paul to join us again.

The day turned into evening as the sun shone brightly through the trees. The sun still high in the sky despite it being late. We were still sitting at Emily’s together visiting and enjoying each other.

Suddenly we could hear raised voices once again. From the sound of it was Sam and Paul talking loudly before arguing. Too muffled to figure out what they were saying.

Hearing loud stomps on the porch before Paul opened the screen door. I gasped slightly surprised to see him, he stood before me a bit dishevelled, with his eyebrows furrowed as he panted tiredly.

“Hey just checking in, I’m almost ready to leave, are you ready?”

He asked me in a soft tone, I could tell he was a bit shaken up, but trying to keep his composure. I could only nod my head in agreement as I grabbed my things. Making sure I don’t stall or hold him back.

I looked at Emily and Kim expecting them to look shocked or scared. But they were smiling at me, Kim winked at me, taking me aback.

Paul stood at the door waiting for me. I got up and joined him as I said my goodbyes to the girls. So did Paul before we headed outside.

“Anyways I'll see you girls later”

“Come back tomorrow! You can get Paul to bring you this time”

Emily said suddenly offering Paul's hand. I wasn’t too sure if I was imposing on him. I looked up at him and he smiled with a nod.

“Yeah I can bring you tomorrow if you just message me this time”

He stared down at me waiting for my reaction. I smiled nervously before turning back towards Emily. His eyes were always so intense it was hard for me to handle him some moments.

“Okay well I'll be back tomorrow. Message me if anything changes”

“Night girls”

Me and Paul bid our good byes as we left her house. Walking onto the gravel into the parking lot. I sort of hung behind him instead of at his side.

He suddenly stopped and waited to walk by my side. Motioning for me to lead the way. I followed the clean path Quill and Embry showed me earlier when we came.

As we continued along together I wondered what Sam and Paul were arguing about. They didn't even join us to visit like Sam said they would. They were gone the whole time doing something.

Paul must be upset over something since he wanted to leave right away. I wondered if he was angry or upset right now. He didn't seem to be too upset when he asked me if I was ready…

“So Y/N… how are you liking La Push?”

Paul asked me as he kept his eyes on the ground. I glanced at him caught off guard. Pulling me out of my thoughts and putting my attention back to reality.

“It's… been good to me so far. I'm grateful you guys have been kind to me. Definitely helping me settle in”

“Well Quill said you used to stay here a lot so it isn't a big change is it?”

I shrugged my arms as I figured out what to say. A short pause between us as I struggled. Trying to describe how it feels for me.

“I used to visit all the time more often than I was home. But it changed as time passed. I'm just…glad this place didn't change too much”

“Yeah you're right about that. Not much changes around here”

He laughed slightly still keeping his eyes on the ground. I glanced at him and his features. Paul has such warm toned skin and his jawline prominent. I couldn't help but admire him. This setting felt pretty intimate considering we hardly know each other.

“So when are you going to show me some of your art?”

This time I was surprised he mentioned my art once again. When I looked at him taken a back I didn't realize he would find it amusing. Grinning wide before he focused on the ground again.

“I mean that depends… do you want to see some of my real pieces or just the pictures on my phone?”

I asked him as I grabbed my phone ready to dig up my art photos. He was quiet for a minute before answering.

“One day you'll have to show me in real life. But I think I'll settle for the pictures on your phone for now”

“OK… My art is based upon my identity and experience. Just saying so you understand where I'm coming from”

I explained to him as I searched on my phone. I had a few pictures of canvas paintings I did recently. Passing over my phone to him he glanced at them.

I waited patiently for his reaction. His eyes widened as he stared at the screen. Paul's eyes stayed until he almost tripped on a branch.

“Woah ok I'm gonna have to hold on till we get to your place to look at anymore. But from what I just seen you're really talented”

“Thank you I work hard for my craft”

Paul complimented me as we followed the trail together. I smiled as I put my phone away pleased with his response. Suddenly he pulled out his phone and scrolled.

“I’m not sure if you’re interested but I’m into welding. I make sculptures sometimes if you consider that art”

Turning his phone for me I held it in my hand staring at the picture. It was a welded sculpture made of iron and copper that was abstract but beautiful. Noticing the details I wondered how he even made it.

“This is really good you know? I would totally consider this art. I can’t believe you can weld something like this”

He smiled as I passed the phone back sheepishly. I was amazed that he was creative and artistic. I wasn’t sure what he did for a living but it’s cool to know he can weld. Wondering what else he is capable of.

“It’s not much but it’s something I enjoy”

“One of these days you’ll have to show me your art”

I said as he looked at me, I smiled at him, he did in return. That same warm feeling washed over me when I first met him. The comforting feeling of being basked in golden sunlight.

“After you show me yours”

He said with the same smile decorated on his face. It soon began to get dark outside and in the trees here it gets dark fast. We still had sunlight but it was getting dimmer by the minute. I would’ve felt scared if I came back alone.

The rest of the way we continued on with brief small talk. At this point Paul was leading the way. Again I didn’t mind I was just glad he was with me at the moment. Similar when I was with Quill and Embry Paul was leading me to an unfamiliar path.

Paul walked ahead of me confidently guiding the way. I slowed my stops as I took in my surroundings. Wondering how he knew this path but I somehow didn’t.

"Hey"

I called out to Paul as I stopped in my tracks, cutting off the conversation, he turned to look at me. Giving confused looks to each other.

“Where are we even headed?”

“Your place aren’t we?”

Paul said as he sort of laughed at me. I knew we were close but we were on a different trail. Which made me weary of where we were heading.

“Don’t worry Y\N this is still leading to your place. A short cut”

“How do you already know where I live?…”

“Huh?”

We both looked each other puzzled by one another. I stared at him for an answer but he stood waiting for me to clarify. Again I hesitated to ask him.

“It’s just… I never said where I lived or who I lived with. But you knew to come here before I said anything? Did Emily tell you where to go?”

Paul furrowed his eyebrows in thought standing in front of me. I felt confused as I stood waiting for an answer.

“Look, everyone here knows you and your family, especially your grandmother. I’m close with Quill too remember?…Everyone here knows where everyone lives…And yes Emily told me where to go so I wasn’t too lost”

After his explanation I felt relieved again. Understanding where he's coming from. After all since my grandmother is on council we do garner a lot of attention.

“Besides this way leads to Embry's… Did I freak you out?”

He asked me with concern in his face as we stood in the yard of my place. Shaking my head in disagreement his expression relaxed.

“No it’s not that it’s just I thought I would’ve had to give directions. My house in literally just in a field so…”

“All of our houses are in fields around here”

He said laughing, I joined in, although nervous as I took note of our closeness. We reached my house finally and I felt relieved. Paul continued with me walking me up to the door.

Standing in front of me he was tall and broad. The slight rain made his hair damp and his shirt cling to his skin. My heart beat rising as I couldn’t help but notice how close and personal we were.

“Tomorrow message me, we’ll go over to Emily’s together, okay?”

He said with his eyes gazing down on me through his thick lashes. His warm toned skin looked nice under the moonlight. I looked up at him to meet with his intense stare.

“Okay…”

I replied as I smiled up at him holding eye contact. As I went to open the door Paul backed up to the steps. Watching me enter inside safely.

“Let me know if you want to walk or to pick you up in my car. I’ll meet you here if you want to walk”

“Sounds good… Goodnight Paul thanks for walking me home”

“Anytime Y\N. Goodnight”

With that Paul stepped onto the gravel back into the treeline. As he headed home I couldn’t help but feel elated. Giddy and excited by Paul’s kindness and service towards me.

I couldn't help but think of when Emily and Kim said I might be his soft spot. Hoping they were right about it.

I spent the rest of the night with my mind filled with Paul. Reminiscing over our interactions together so far. From his kindness to the sincerity in his actions.

I laid in bed anxious and excited, wanting tomorrow to come faster, hoping to dream of him so I wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Getting ready in the morning for the afternoon I was excited. I made sure of what I was going to wear for clothes and on my face. Taking time and effort to perfect my look.

I didn’t want to be too perfect since I planned on walking over to Emily’s again. With the rain and wind it might mess with my look.

Nonetheless I wanted to look and feel good today. Especially if my day was going to be spent with Paul together.

Once I was ready I messaged Paul to let him know I’ll be walking over. He replied saying he was going to head over to my place to meet me.

I felt impatient today so I decided it would be best to meet half way. I told him where I wanted to meet, at the half way point between Emily's, where the open clearing is.

He understood and said he would meet me there. It was a short enough distance for me to go alone. I continued on my path elated to know Paul would be with me soon.

After yesterday and our walk together I felt more comfortable around him. I really enjoyed our time together and I wondered if he did as well.

The sun shone through the trees but at the floor there was enough shade. It was truly a nice day to walk. The air was cool as it breezed through. Filled with joy as I continued on my route.

Suddenly I could hear the trees shifting. Again they weren't breaking but I could hear them creak as they bent. It sounded so high in the trees. Surely it was just the wind, right?

Keeping my pace I noticed the creaking stopped. As it did an eerie silence fell over the forest.

The bird's melodic singing stopped. There was no bugs either yet they pestered me the whole way here. It was so silent and still I couldn’t help but tense up. I waited in utter silence trying to observe my surroundings.

“Well don't you smell nice?”

A woman said softly behind me scaring me to my core. I turned around, as fast as I did, she suddenly grabbed my neck holding me in the air.

“Even though you're one of those mutts you'll have to do for now…”

Choking for air I clasped at her cold hands. They were so icy cold it almost felt like it was burning me. When I hit her arms it sounded like delicate porcelain. All I could see was her red curly hair with how fast she moved.

In this very brief moment of panic I realized this wasn't a human attacking me. She was something more dark and fierce than I could ever imagine. Something unnatural as she tightened the grip on my throat.

Feeling the life slip out of me my eyesight darkened. Everything blurred around me as I felt myself throwing weaker and weaker punches. I kept staring into her eyes and they were so black no light could give them shine.

Quick as she grabbed me she twisted me closer. Craning my neck open I could feel her claw my shirt collar. Everything was moving so fast I knew even I was powerless against her.

I could hear the woman shriek loudly. The woman tossed me down to the floor where I stayed. I wanted to run and get up but my body was limp.

Looking up to see why she threw me I could see a huge gray wolf biting her shoulder. They were in a frenzy fighting and throwing each other. The woman was jumping unbelievable heights while smiling.

Was I about to die here? It certainly felt like it, I didn't feel no fear, I couldn't feel much actually as I felt my vision blacken.

Closing my eyes fully all I could think and feel was that warm golden sunlight. Shining down to warm me up from the cold floor. Serenity fills me as my consciousness slipped away.

I apologize for the delay on this chapter. I've been busy travelling so I uploaded this late. This is an extra long chapter until I can upload the next one. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! This is truly just the beginning of our story! So stay tuned for more content.

[kiyosamu]

back up.

---♡---

pairing: rintaro suna x female reader

genre: dark, angst, (slight) enemies to comfort, some comedy in the beginning. // one shot, 3.9k words

synopsis: being the younger sister of the miya twins definitely has its advantages and its... disadvantages. sure, it comes with all of the teasing from both them and their friends, but it gets more serious when people hold grudges on them and try to take out their anger on you.

content warnings: descriptions of assault, threats, sexual assault (no penetration), violence, injuries

---♡---

“Osamu!” You screeched, attempting to push your older brother off of you. “Get him off!”

Atsumu had tackled you to the ground and was sitting on your back, cackling with satisfaction as he pinned you down.

“I can’t help ya.” Osamu smirked as he walked by. He sat on the couch adjacent to you and Atsumu with an amused glimmer in his eyes. “Shouldn’t have eaten his pudding.”

“Why do you care if I eat his pudding?!” You growled, thrashing around under Atsumu to get some kind of leverage while he sat on you with all of his weight, rendering your limbs useless.

“If you eat his pudding, then he eats mine.” Osamu shrugged, “And I hate it when he does that.”

“Take it up with him! I just grabbed whatever was closest. You guys are so weird with your labeled food!” You tried to throw a punch at Atsumu and he caught your fist easily, snickering when you let out a loud whine. “Atsumu, get OFF!”

“No can do, kiddo.” He grinned, “Ya know what happens when you eat our food.”

“I’m gonna tell mom.” You mumbled.

“That’s dirty. Don’t bring mom into this.” Osamu interrupted and you shot a death glare at him.

“Stop involving yourself! I don’t need your commentary.”

“Don’t be such a tattle tale.” Atsumu teased, finally easing up on you and taking a bit of the weight off of your back. You gasped dramatically as you could finally take a full, deep breath.

“Thank you, god. You’re heavy.” You said quietly, deciding to fully submit and just lay down on the living room floor.

“Did you just call me fat?!” Atsumu gasped, crawling over to your face to look you in the eyes.

“Yes.” You nodded. Atsumu immediately turned to Osamu, who burst out laughing at his offended expression.

“Laugh it up, ‘Samu. If I’m fat then so are you.” Atsumu muttered as he finally stood up to take a seat next to Osamu on the couch.

“I can’t stand either of you.” You mumbled, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at them.

“Why’s baby Miya throwing a temper tantrum?” A familiar, monotone voice was coming from the entry way. You hadn’t even heard him come in.

“None of your business, Suna.” You glared at the tall boy. He responded with a crooked smirk while he walked in with his hands plunged deep in his pockets.

Suna was over at your house almost every day. He also teased you as much as your brothers did, if not more.

“Jeez, what’s with the attitude?” He snorted, “You sound like Atsumu. I swear you’re triplets.”

Suna jumped over the back of the couch and plopped down between the twins. You sat up, looking at the three of them for a second before getting up and retreating to your room.

“Aw, come on baby Miya. Where are you going?” Suna called after you while you walked down the hallway.

“I need to get ready. I’m going out tonight.”

You retreated to your bedroom and sat down at your vanity. Before you could even pull out a hair brush, Osamu had burst into your bedroom.

“Where ya going?” He asked, leaning against the doorway.

“Out?” You replied, getting up to sift through your closet for something to wear.

Your friend had set you up on a blind date tonight. Your mom had held your brothers back a year and since you were only 10 months apart, you were all in the same year. This meant you all had the same classmates, knew all of the same people, and they were constantly in your business.

When your friend had told you about this guy, he sounded too good to be true. He had gone to another school that was a bit further away, but since you had all graduated a few months prior you figured a bit of distance wasn’t that big of a deal. After all, you were all adults now.

“Out where?” Atsumu asked, pushing the door open all the way and standing against the other side of the frame.

“On a date…” you muttered. The moment you said that, your brothers came in and promptly sat on your bed.

“Where are you going?”

“With who?”

“Where did you meet him?”

“How old is he?”

“Is he picking you up?”

“How long have you known him for?”

“Oh my god.” You groaned, pointing at your door. “Can you guys get out? I need to get ready. Why are you asking so many questions?”

“Believe it or not, kiddo, we just want to make sure you’re safe.” Osamu said, standing up and walking over to pat you on your head.

“Ugh, ‘Samu, you guys don’t have to treat me like a kid still. I’m an adult now, you know.” You said, crossing your arms.

“But you’ll always be our little sister.” Atsumu smiled. “Mom can’t keep track of all of us all the time. So we need to do it for her.” His words were genuine. Even though the three of you bickered and teased each other, you were protective of each other. You knew your brothers would do anything for you.

You’d never tell them, but you’d do anything for them, too.

“If anyone needs keeping track of, it’s you two.” You smirked. Atsumu rolled his eyes and Osamu shrugged you off.

Your brothers tried to pry more information out of you, but you only told them the bare minimum. After all, you barely even knew anything. You didn’t even know his name.

“So? Where’s she going?” Suna asked as the twins came back into the living room. He was sprawled out on the couch and flicking through the tv channels.

“That restaurant downtown. The one a few bus stops before your house.” Atsumu said with crossed arms. “She won’t let us drive her.”

“I’ll take the bus with her.” Suna shrugged, “It’s on the way, so I’ll make sure she gets there safely.”

“Good. Then you can tell us who she’s meetin’ there.” Osamu smirked.

Whether or not Osamu had asked, Suna was planning on finding that out regardless.

“Call is if you need anythin’!” Atsumu called to you as you walked to the door.

“We’ll come! Just call us, okay?” Osamu added.

“I’ll be fine, but thanks. I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.” You said loud enough for them to hear you in the other room. “Love you.”

“Love ya!” They replied in unison.

—

“Are you sure you’re not just spying on me?” You mumbled just loud enough for Suna to hear you from the seat behind you.

“Just decided to go home, baby Miya.” He replied, leaning forward. “Why? Do you want me to spy on you?”

“No!” You turned around and squinted your eyes at him. He looked back at you with a playful smirk and then went back to paying attention to his phone.

You got off the bus and hesitated for a moment, half expecting Suna to get off after you.

Except he didn’t.

You sighed, feeling the nerves creeping up and realizing you really were all alone now. Meeting a man you didn’t know, and unsure of what to expect.

You looked around and pulled out your phone to check the message from your friend again to refresh yourself on the characteristics of your blind date.

Dark hair, about 5’10, dark green eyes, ah-

“Miya, is it?” A man fitting the exact description was standing in front of you, a rose in hand and suspicious smirk across his lips.

“Yes, sorry, what’s your name?” Your voice was trembling and you had no idea why. You chalked it up to nerves, but it might’ve been the uneasiness you’d felt when you made eye contact with him.

“Daishou Suguru.” He said melodically. He handed you the rose and lightly pressed his hand to your lower back. “Shall we go inside? I have a table for us.”

You nodded, walking inside with him.

——

“So, Miya, any relation to those twins?” He asked, leaning in with his chin on his palm. He stared at you intently as if he wanted to soak in every word you were about to say.

“Oh, yeah. They’re my brothers.” You smiled. Even though they irritated you, you always liked to talk about them. You were proud of your brothers and all of their accomplishments, and talking about them was easier than having to come up with things to say about yourself.

“Ah,” Daishou nodded, thanking the server as she passed your dishes to the two of you. “Those two are real shit talkers, huh?”

“Yeah,” you laughed, a bit too casually for the occasion and realized you’d never even heard this guy’s name prior to tonight. “Wait, why do you say that?”

You were familiar with pretty much all of the volleyball players that your brothers had faced off against. Inarizaki’s own team were like family, but the other teams were around so often you’d gotten to know quite a few of the players from other schools just by going to the games and tournaments.

“Played against them once.” Daishou mumbled, the previously warm expression in his eyes was gone. “I don’t know which one I hate more. The mouthy setter or the spiker with the ego.”

You got goosebumps when he spoke these words. These weren’t normal rivalry grudges. This sounded like pure, unprecedented hatred.

You started to feel uncomfortable.

You hummed in acknowledgement. You weren’t sure how to reply, but you wanted him to know you’d heard him and were listening.

“So, how are you going to make it up to me?” Daishou asked. You froze, looking up at him.

His previously cold expression was warm again, cheeks round with a big smile. “I’m kidding.”

“Oh,” you giggled nervously and decided to focus on eating your dinner.

The rest of the evening went by okay. Little comments like that would have you unsure if there were ulterior motives, but when you’d try to look into it you’d see a happy smile from your date. Maybe he really was just joking, and was nervously trying to make you laugh.

When it was time to go, Daishou paid for the both of you and you left the restaurant together.

It was dark outside and pouring rain. You sighed, looking down the street at the empty bus stop. The bus wouldn’t be coming for another 20 minutes.

“Let me wait with you for the bus.” He smiled, wrapping an arm around your waist again. “I wouldn’t want you out here all alone.”

You reluctantly accepted but tried to keep your distance. While his arm was around you, your arms were crossed and you were trying to stay as far from him as possible. Something was off, and you wanted to get as far away from him as quickly as possible.

You sent your brothers a quick text to let them know which bus you’d be on.

“Let’s wait over here. Out of the rain.”

Before you could reply, he grabbed your hand and yanked you down a small alley. It was covered by the overhead of the buildings roof, but was pitch black.

“I had a nice time tonight.” Daishou purred, pressing his body against you and trapping you against the cold brick wall.

“Yeah, me too…” You said quietly.

Only a few more minutes.

Daishou leaned down, trailing his hand up your chest and wrapping his long fingers around your throat. Your breath hitched and you felt tears well up in your eyes. You knew something was wrong. You knew something was going to happen. Your gut feeling was never wrong.

You tensed up, preparing to punch him the moment you felt pressure from his fingers. Instead of choking you, however, his hand rested gingerly on your skin and he leaned down to kiss you.

You kissed back, completely uninterested but not wanting him to know that.

“So, you are easy.” He smirked against your lips. He grabbed your hands and held them against the wall. His tongue started to force its way into your mouth and as you tried to break away, his body pressed into you harder, making you unable to move.

“Please stop,” you whimpered, “I don’t- I don’t want this.”

“Just relax.” He dug his fingers into your wrist, holding both of your hands together with just one of his, and using his free hand to move down your body and fondle your chest.

“Daishou- I-“ you gasped when he bit down on your neck. It didn’t feel good at all, and was just a swearing pain.

“You know, it really is a shame that you’re related to those two.” He muttered against your skin. “You’re a pretty girl. Probably would’ve liked you had your shitty brothers not have been such dicks.”

“Please, please just get off-“ You sniffled. You fought your brothers all the time, so why couldn’t you get him off? Why were you tensing up? Why were you crying? Just push him off, just push and run.

“Shut up.” He muttered. He slipped his hand into your pants and you let out a sob.

“No, no! Get off of me! Stop!” You were crying now, your voice getting louder as you attempted to break from his hold.

Unfortunately, he was just too strong for you. He smacked you across the face and pressed his palm to your mouth.

“I told you to shut up.” He growled. “Blame the twins for this.”

You were sobbing now. Completely terrified as this man assaulted your body in this dark alley and all you could think about was how badly you wanted to get out of there. How badly you wished your brothers had spied on you, how much you wanted them to protect you in that moment.

Daishou glared at you as your wails got louder, pulling back and slapping you across the face so hard you thought you were seeing stars.

“That’s what happens when stupid girls like you don’t listen. Now be quiet!”

Your vision was blurred and dark and you thought you were about to pass out when you felt the weight of his body completely lifted off of you.

You immediately felt relief, not in the form of safety by any means but you felt like you could somewhat breathe again. The blow he’d given you to the head had you feeling dizzy and you sunk to the ground against the wall.

“You fucking-“ *whack*

“piece-“ *whack*

“of shit!” *whack*

You squinted your eyes open at the familiar voice. The same voice that had annoyed you earlier that afternoon. The voice that immediately gave you a sense of safety in that dark alley.

“Suna..?” You barely managed to squeak out. You were sure he didn’t hear you considering you could barely hear your own voice.

“You’re going to regret this for the rest of your life.” Suna spat, landing another punch directly to his face. “If you have issues with someone, take it up with them like a fucking man.” He growled. “Instead of preying on their little sister. You’re pathetic.”

Suna stood up off the ground and all you could do was watch through squinted eyes and your knees pulled to your chest.

He pulled something out of his pocket, it shined under the street lamps and you weren’t sure what it was. He grabbed Daishou by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stand up before pressing the object against his throat.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t just kill you right here.”

You closed your eyes, covering your face in your arms when you heard Daishou start to sob. He sounded like you did a few minutes ago.

“I’d go to jail for her, no questions asked. Trust me when I tell you that I won’t hesitate.”

Suna was much bigger than him. Stronger. Taller.

“Hey,” Suna growled, pushing him against the brick wall. Daishou looked as light as a rag doll when Suna was throwing him around. “Answer me when I’m talking to you.”

“Please- I don’t- I’m sorry-“ Daishou choked out.

Suna laughed. A completely genuine laugh that made your skin crawl.

“Are you? Are you sorry?”

You looked back up at the two men, closer to you now and you could see that the object Suna had against his throat was a knife.

“Suna, wait-“ You tried to say to him, but your voice was still shaky and quiet.

Daishou was sobbing now, tears flowing from his eyes and wails ripping from his throat.

“Not so tough when you’re the one on the receiving end, huh?” Suna glared, putting his knife back in his pocket and throwing Daishou back onto the ground.

“Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.” Suna said in a dark, low tone you hadn’t heard from him before. “And if you ever come near her again, I really will kill you.”

Daishou scrambled to his feet, holding his head and trying to stop the bleeding on his face that was surely from one of the rings Suna was wearing on his fingers.

You trembled against the wall, staring at Suna’s back as he watched Daishou leave. As soon as he was out of eyesight, he quickly turned to you and crouched down.

“Hey, it’s okay.” His voice softened, his gaze was kind and he hesitated before touching you. “Can I help you up? Can you stand?”

You nodded weakly and he crouched down, putting his arms under yours and standing you up. You could feel your legs wobbling and held onto his arm for support.

“Ugh,” He sighed, the pain in his voice coming through when he saw the true damage that’d been done to you. His hands carefully put you back together as best he could. He buttoned your shirt and pants back up, and shrugged off his jacket to put it on you instead.

You grabbed onto the sleeves and pulled them over your hands. It was even bigger than your brothers’ jackets, and you sunk into the soft material trying to grasp onto any little piece of comfort you could get.

Suna picked you up and held you against his chest. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he supported you from under your legs.

“How did you know where to find me?” You asked, your voice still quiet and strained.

“They told me what bus you were taking home so I came to make sure you got on okay. When it came and left without you I got worried and looked around, and then I heard you crying.” Suna let out a stressed out breath, “You know, I really would’ve done it.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” You said, closing your eyes. You couldn’t even process what had just happened and didn’t know what you would’ve done if Suna wasn’t with you right now.

——

Suna’s house was only down the road, and you agreed to go there and get cleaned up before heading back home.

“Here,” Suna handed you a pair of comfortable pants and a t-shirt. “They’ll be way too long on you, but it’s better than your soaking wet clothes you’re wearing now.”

“Thanks…” you accepted the offer, stepping into the bathroom to change.

When you came out, Suna had changed too, but his eyes widened with shock when he saw the extent of your injuries.

He swore under his breath and approached you. When he reached out and touched your neck, his cool hand soothed the sting of the deep bite Daishou had embedded in your neck.

“Can’t believe he fucking bit you.” Suna’s voice was so quiet he was practically whispering, and you weren’t sure if he was talking to you or just thinking out loud. He trailed his hand around your throat and pressed his fingers on the deep bruises forming from when you’d been choked.

“That helps,” you sighed, leaning into his touch. Suna pulled his hand back as if he wasn’t even aware he’d been touching you.

“What do you want to do now? Should we call Osamu and Atsumu? Want me to take you home?” He placed his hands on your shoulders and continued looking you over. Suna brushed your hair out of the way, inspecting your face closely and grunting when he looked straight on at the black eye starting to appear.

You winced when his thumb grazed over the side of your head and he immediately pulled back.

“You were hit really hard. You should go to the hospital.”

You shook your head. “I don’t… I don’t want to go anywhere. Not right now, anyway.” You stepped over to his bed, sitting on the edge. “Can I just lie down?”

Suna nodded and pulled the blankets open, gesturing for you to crawl into his bed. He pulled the blankets on top of you and patted your arm.

“I’m just going to go into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I’ll shut the light off so you can rest a bit.”

The moment you couldn’t feel his presence in the room anymore, your mind travelled back to where you were earlier that night. Being attacked in a dark alley and suddenly you were feeling suffocated.

You sat up, gasping for air and Suna ran in, turning the light on and sitting next to you.

“Its okay, it’s okay,” He murmured, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you into him. He stroked your hair and let you cry out your fear as long as you needed to.

“I don’t…” You sniffled, “I don’t know what happened. When you left I just felt so scared all over again.”

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly, pressing his cheek against the top of your hair.

“Please don’t leave me alone.”

Suna nodded and stood up to go turn the light off again.

“Wait, where are you going?” You felt the panic start to take over again when the bed dipped down beside you.

“I’m right here.” His voice was kind. The Suna you’d known to always tease and annoy you had been replaced by something you could only describe as being your safety net.

Maybe this side of him was always here, and you just hadn’t ever noticed.

You laid back down beside him, moving close and nuzzling into his chest just like you had when he was carrying you. He wrapped his arms around you and softly trailed his hand up and down your back.

“I’ve got you, okay?” He whispered, “You’re safe with me. I promise. Just try and get some rest and we can worry about everything in the morning. You’ve been through enough tonight.”

You nodded and felt the relief wash over you. You knew you had a lot to deal with tomorrow, but having Suna by your side made it seem a little less scary.

Thinking back, he always was by your side. He would defend you when the twins would get too rough, and was definitely guilty of giving guys an intimidating glare when they’d try to hit on you.

You sighed, soaking in the feeling of his warmth.

You knew that from them on, you wanted nothing more than to be on his side.

And for him to stay on yours.