#wild. i need to play the other zero escape games. they are sitting in my steam library i got them for less than ten bucks

[crebbyhermit]

akane and nagito are friends in my tomodachi collection game rn so it felt fitting,

[just-some-guy-joust]

im stubborn and i like talking here's the reasons i put every character i did in side a into the tourney. I'll do side b later cause i gotta go to bed soon

important first note, quite a few of my decisions were because i was trying to get women in here and it was getting desperate because i had to cut out a lot of women for only being "just some guy" because they were written by a misogynist that made her sit on the sidelines and cheer for the male leads. The Woman Situation Is Always So Fucking Dire.

anyways on to the actual contestants im gonna start with the characters that have been causing the most people to start up shit about them not being just some guy

barry bluejeans (taz balance): 2 submissions, personal bias. i think a lot of people are misunderstanding what this tournament is tbh. this isnt about the "normal" characters, tho normalcy does play a factor in it. this is about dudes who are just some guy. there is a difference. barry is a dnd npc who wears blue jeans in a fantasy world and he loves his wife. yes he is a lich. yes he is involved in the main plot. he's also just chillin. like if the plot didn't happen the way it did barry would be playing sudoku or crosswords. he'd be an average man in a very fantasy world. he is so average and human its funny. he is just some guy

tommy (hlvrai): 1 submission, personal bias. his just some guy energy is so there. he gets a propeller hat that does nothing when all of his crew is getting cool guns and upgrades. his life goal is to go home and take his dog for a walk. he gets a chuck e cheese birthday party. he sounds like he's going to burst into tears at any moment. compared to the rest of the crew, tommy is comedically just some guy

ulala (persona 2): 1 submission, description swayed me. it described the list of characters in persona 2 and ulala was just "your roommate that wanted to go to a party". that's hilarious. also i was getting fucking desperate for women that didn't suck ass as i stated above

apollo (ace attorney): 2 submissions, personal bias, descriptions swayed me. yall the submissions for him were so fucking funny. he's just a lawyer. he just wants to do his job but he lives in the ace attorney universe so everything is fucked all the time. he would've been a normal lawyer if he hadn't met phoenix wright. he's just chillin.

ok now here's every other character

sasha james (tma): 1 submission, friend bias, good description. i asked r if i should put her in because they know tma and they said yes. submission described her as loving to organize and avoided many monsters by being just some guy.

reigen arataka (mp100): 2 submissions. i thought it'd be funny and i was right. he is also just a normal man pretending he's not and he refuses to give up the bit he 100% deserves to be here

joy (underworld office): 1 submission, friend bias. the mc is going through wild ghost related problems and she's just going . hey man. you good??? r's sister submitted her and im not letting her down dude she's awesome

junpei (zero escape): 3 submissions, personal bias. he is literally the only character who has no connection to the larger mystery he's just there because he loves 1 girl. he's PAINFULLY and VITALLY just a dude. i need him

horse (centaurworld): 1 submission. i thought it'd be really funny to include just a horse. her name is horse. thats fucking awesome dude

phone guy (fnaf): 2 submissions. he was the only character from fnaf that got more than 1 submission and there were like 9 fnaf submissions i kinda felt bad tbh. he was also the best example of just some guy out of all the fnaf submissions

gordon freeman (hlvrai): 1 submission. he is a guy playing a video game. he is the straight man to the rest of the crews antics and by god he plays his role well

joshua gillespie (tma): 4 submissions, friend bias, hilarious descriptions. he avoids getting killed because he's so good at following instructions despite him clearly supposed to be dying here. they said don't open the coffin so he didn't. simply don't tuesday

namari (dungeon meshi): 1 submission, personal bias. i like her c: she's pretty level headed compared to like. everyone else in laios's crew. she seems like somebody i could just be friends with and hang out with

shez (fire emblem): 3 submissions, hilarious descriptions. i might try getting into fire emblem because of this. ok so they got murdered in a previous game off screen and now they're the playable character of a new game in a new timeline and they're fucking everything up because they're just supposed to be some guy? thats so fucking funny holy shit i want to know more

henry stickmin (henry stickmin): 1 submission. henry stickmin. like idk i dont feel like i gotta explain this one he's a stickman

stanley (tsp): guaranteed entry

whole (chonny jash): 1 submission, friend bias. tbh i saw him and went oh fuck yeah thats the thing my friends like and then i put him in there. i dont actually know enough about chonny jash to say anything on this but i fully trust the submitter knew what they were doing

larry (pokemon): guaranteed entry

luke carder (inscryption): 1 submission, friend bias, good description. he is just a normal youtuber in the lore of the game. he fucking love card game. good for him man good for him

leorio (hxh): 3 submissions, friend bias, good descriptions. idk a lot about hxh but the descriptions of him compared to the other main characters was pretty convincing

barry the quokka (sonic): guaranteed entry

april o'neil (tmnt): 1 submission, friend bias. absolutely normal girl that just happens to be the one that found the turtles and become their friend

tsuzuru (a3!): 3 submissions, friend bias. descriptions definitely made him feel like a good fit. he's so good at being just some guy i actually thought he was a different character and was shocked when i went to grab images for the tourney and he wasnt the guy i thought he was. which is really funny. like who the fuck is he then. this didn't change my opinion or anything it was just so good

matt (woe.begone): 1 submission. woe.begone fans have ALWAYS been kind to me so they got some mod bias sprinkled in. i dont know what this guys deal is but in the dbtn tourney the guy who got in there had a giant fucking list of things that are happening to him all the time and apparently thats just what woe.begone is like so i believe it when told matt is normal in comparison. everything else is so batshit wild I Just Believe You

gilear (fantasy high): 2 submissions. he seems to be just a dad. wasn't going to get in at first tbh just for personal reasons but i was running out of characters that i felt actually fit the tournament well so ultimately he got in

emmet (lego movie): 4 submissions. honestly with the number of submissions we got, 4 submissions was basically a guaranteed entry. and emmet's whole story is about being just some guy

stahl (fire emblem): 1 submission, hilarious description. fire emblem fans are so funny. what do you mean he can only be perfectly average because everyone else improves/gets worse with him to keep him perfectly average. what the fuck. thats so good

doug (wolf359): 2 entries. i dont know jack shit about wolf359 and honestly the submissions didn't tell me a lot but it was enough to figure he qualifies and i was running out of characters that felt good for the tourney. i trust you wolf359 fans

jack townsend (tales from the gas station): 1 submission, good description. he works at an evil gas station and the description gave me no follow up on what an evil gas station is which is awesome. apparently the horrors are constantly happening and he's just kinda staring at them. he's not paid enough for this

frisk (undertale): guaranteed entry

brian pasternack (yuppie psycho): 1 submission. im gonna be super honest with you here. i dont remember. i know he qualifies but i have 0 thoughts about him. maybe thats a good thing in this tourney. he's an average office worker who has now been tasked with killing The Witch.

trevor (american arcadia): 4 submissions, personal bias, good descriptions. dude i fucking love american arcadia it's so fucking good what a nightmare. he's so normal they were going to kill him for not being entertaining enough

[oldbay-on-apples]

Dystopian Larry Fic Rec

Inspired by some of the lovely people and fic recers on here, I’ve decided to start making my own fic recs.  If you’d like, you can request recs in my inbox and I’ll see what I can do <3!

Please read the ratings and tags to these fics (because some of them are dark or have dark themes) and enjoy!

You Try To Be Everything (I Need) by lululawrence - @lululawrence​  (NR, 36k)

Wars, and rumours of wars, were nothing new for the world in the twenty-fourth century. The fighting had evolved over the years, and rarely did it involve traditional weapons. A group most widely known as the Southern Powers gained strength amongst portions of the western European continent and spread quickly. There was a fight the Southern Powers didn’t expect coming from the north of England, though. Resistance came in the form of an organised underground; a group comprised of people with the Touch that did the best they could to enforce a line that would not be crossed. Slowly, that line was moved from the Channel to boundaries further and further north. It seemed only a matter of time before the Southern Powers took over everywhere. Until that time, people did the best they could to live their lives in some semblance of normality. For Louis Tomlinson, that sense of normality was about to change when his best friend, Harry Styles, goes missing. Louis embarks on the journey of a lifetime where he uses his newly developed abilities to search for his friend, even when it takes him to places he never thought he would see while surmounting trials he never could have imagined. -

I loved the way the magic and technology in this fic intersected in such a unique way and the way the world was built was extraordinary!

red hands by reveries_passions - @dystopianharry​ (T, 132k)

I’ve never told anyone,” Harry murmurs, voice so soft no one else would be able to hear, if it wasn’t just the two of them. “But you’ve told someone,” Louis says firmly. “And that’s not gonna fucking happen around here. You don’t speak a word of it, or someone’s going to kill you, and we can’t let that happen.” * a dystopian au in which harry, an ex-soldier who’s escaped from his government run camp, accidentally stumbles across the biggest rebel movement in the country, and louis, one of the rebellion’s mysterious leaders who appears to hate him, seems to simultaneously have an obsession with keeping him alive. or: harry is wanted for treason, niall hasn’t changed in four years, liam is always smiling, and louis is angry. like, really angry.

- The plot of this is just *chef’s kiss* in so many ways!  I love the way the characters interact with each other and I’m weak for Niall and Harry’s friendship in this.

Love After the End of the World by writing_practice - @mercurial-madhouse​ (E 158k)

“Wait. Just so I’m clear in me fucking noggin,” Niall says. “An international worldwide takeover is well under way and the only thing standing between having hot showers and a second end of the world is us five fuckers?”    -----    Society shattered when all electricity suddenly cut off across the globe, plunging the world into darkness. Now, Prometheus Industries is the sole remaining supply of power, a saving grace to those who survived Lights Out. As fugitives in no-man’s land struggling to break into Prometheus HQ, death lurks around every corner for Louis and Zayn. Things get complicated when a routine recon falls apart and Louis collides with Harry and his mates Niall and Liam, survivors with their own agenda.    When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

-

This just came out in the most recent Big Bang (that’s still on going so you should definitely check that out) and this fic is so amazing!  I think it does a great job of just really immersing you in the world the characters exist in.  Love After the End of the World is also a Soulmate AU and I love the way those parts come together.  It also has an amazing prologue called PROMETHEUS RISING (M 5k) that I enjoyed immensely set in the same world!

at last, at last by suspendrs - @suspendrs​ (NR 41k) Locked

“Come with us,” Tommo says, stopping at the other end of the gymnasium, near the doors. “Don’t let them make you suffer any longer. Come with us, and be human.”

   Before Harry has even finished thinking it through, he’s on his feet, gaining the attention of every single person in the gymnasium. What has he got to lose, anyway?

   Or, Harry is born into a cult in a post-apocalyptic world, and Louis is the leader of the rebel group tasked with the mission of shutting them down. Together, they make a rather effective team.

-

This fic does a great job of making you feel like you’re experiencing with the characters, like I could practically smell what the characters were smelling!  The world it’s set in is so cool and the entire fic feels so well thought out and everything is so consistent!

my love will never leave you by we_are_the_same @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed​ (T 10k)

In a world where memories are used as currency, Louis will do anything it takes for Harry to get better.

-

I loved the idea behind this. Like the entire world is so brilliantly done! And it was all based on ONE word (because of the wordplay challenge).  Even though it’s set in a different world everything feels so grounded and realistic and I really really like that about it.

a prayer for which no words exist by Eliane (M 34k) Locked

"Louis is a few seconds away from blowing up a rather important section of the New York subway when he sees Harry for the first time."

-

In this fic the characters motivations are so clear (to the reader) and I love how it goes from Louis accidentally sort of, kind of, kidnapping Harry to them becoming friends then more.  I also love how no matter where they are the fic has a real sense of place. This is part 1 of landscapes of war.  The entire series is really good!

Who Painted the Moon Black by throughthedark (E 95k) Locked

   “People died,” Harry whispers so quietly Louis strains to hear. “People died, and I killed some of them. How does life just go on after something like that?”

   Louis shakes his head. “I don't know. It just does.”

   Hunger Games AU where Louis Tomlinson is district six's victor from the 69th Hunger Games and Harry Styles is district seven's victor from the 72nd Hunger Games.

-

This fic is a hunger games AU that both people who have and haven't read/watched the Hunger Games can enjoy. I like how it explores the world of the Hunger Games in a way that isn’t explored in the Hunger Games canon.  It’s really intense (like the E is for the darker themes and violence) and I enjoy it a lot.  There is a happy ending (as the author assures in the tags) and I really enjoy all the struggles that the characters go through.

Nobody Marks You by graceling_in_a_suit @graceling-in-a-suit​ (T 33k)

“The plan is: we’re gonna put on a play. Now, I see some doubtful faces–” Louis looked around and found zero doubtful faces. Liam looked intrigued, Zayn looked bored, and Harry looked scarily blank. “But this is what’s happening. We’re gonna do some fucking acting, we’re gonna perform our hearts out, and we’re not going to think about anything else. The past, the future; none of it. All we’re going to think about is... “ Niall trailed off, eyeing the bookshelf to his left. He closed his eyes and reached a hand out towards it, running his fingers over the covers before pulling a book out at random. “William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.”

AU: Five assholes stuck in a bunker put on a play.

-

This is one of my absolute favorite fics.  I just love the way the characters interact and they way the story is told.  It’s nonlinear so you jump around in time and it shows the way the character's relationships change throughout.  I’m a sucker for Much Ado About Nothing and though you don’t need to read it to fully appreciate the fic I think the use of the play throughout is genius. 

@1dfanfictionbookcovers​ has a really cool cover for the fic as well HERE

With a whimper by kitundercover  @kitundercover​​ (M 132k)

Dystopian AU. Louis has been alone for too long to remember how not to be, and Harry has too much to worry about to deal with a scrawny, wild, stranger.

---

The man grips his arm tightly. “You’re not going to say anything.” It’s not a question.

Louis shakes his head, his body twitching.

“Fine.” Large green eyes survey him before letting go. “It’s cold. Take this. Wear it.”

Louis can’t help another flinch as the man’s long scarf is wrapped around his tender neck, it’s still warm. He touches the soft material. “Thank you.”

The man bears his teeth. “Don’t thank me. Don’t ever thank me.”

-

The thing this fic does really does is showing emotional reactions.  Louis’ inner monologue is so well done and I really like the plot of the story.

these bountiful silences by tommoandbambi (T 123k)

they live in a world where they can only say four words per day. harry meets some people that don't want to live that way.

-

I really, really, really, like this plot and the story! The world that the characters exist in is so interesting and I just love the way in which it is a dystopia.

[bamsywrites]

Mistakes Like These

Summary: Kakyoin never paid much attention to the younger Kujo. Who knew stockings and short skirt were all it would take change that

Rating: 18+, nsfw

Words: 4877

Warnings: cannabis mention, alcohol use

Tags: afab, fem pronouns, modern!au , doesn’t follow the canon like at all, very au, brother!jotaro x sister!reader, kakyoin x reader, soft dom kak, lots of pet names, plus size reader

Notes: I haven’t written any fanfiction in over five years so this might be rusty. I’m sorry for any mistakes made or if its not how the characters would act. I’m still new to the Jojos fandom but had this idea pop in my head and decided to get it out. I want to turn this in to a multi part story and have several parts already planned out, I just want to have feedback to see if people actually like it.

“Have a happy Holidays. Make sure to check in with your financial advisor about the spring semester.”

A sigh escaped your lips as you read the most recent email in your student inbox. Patience may be a virtue, but it was sure one you didn’t possess. At least not right now anyway. Tsking your tongue against the roof of your mouth, you moved the mouse over to the refresh button and clicked. Your eyes followed the downloading icon in circles, fingers tapping anxiously over the desk.

“Have a happy Holidays. Make sure to check in with your financial advisor about the spring semester.”

You exhaled angrily through your nose and leaned back in your chair. Your eyes fixed on the ceiling for a few moments before you looked over to your bed where your cat, Miso, had woken up from his nap.

“I know I should be more patient. But this grade is what determines if I move on to the next course which I need if I want to graduate soon and get out of this apartment.” You spoke as if your cat had scolded you for your impatience.

Your apartment was nice. Super nice. Your friends often described it as “apartment goals.” You could have never afforded it on your own. Hell, you couldn’t afford it even when you graduated and got a job. Two large bedrooms with a spacious living room, modern kitchen, and a balcony that overlooked the cities skyline. There were only two major downsides: there was only one bathroom which had to be shared with your roommate and your roommate happened to be your older brother, Jotaro.

Now, you didn’t exactly hate your brother. He was like any older brother, he thought you were extremely annoying and wanted nothing to do with you most of the time, though there were times growing up where he’d come home with scrapes and bruises after dealing with someone who picked on you at school. As you were both older, you found each other more bearable than you did when you were younger. That didn’t mean, however, you wanted to live with him. Especially while you were in college, which was supposed to be your time to let loose and have fun while still receiving an education, of course. Your grandfather, however, had other plans.

Joseph Joestar was a real estate mogul and had some serious money to his name. He loved to dote on his two grandchildren and was upset that for the most part your parents chose to give you a “normal” life without the extravagance that he offered. Birthdays and christmas he would buy you each a present, until Jotaro turned 15 and started asking for money instead. He made your mother an offer that he knew she couldn’t deny: he would pay for the entirety of your schooling, from associates degree to PhD if thats what you wanted, in order for the two of you to focus on your studies he’d also give you a weekly allowance so that you wouldn’t have to work, and he’d buy you each your own apartment and pay to furnish it how you liked. Holly couldn’t turn down the offer, what kind of mother would deny her children an opportunity like that? However, she did ask that her father only buy a single apartment for her children to share. Her hopes were that it would strengthen your relationship and it also meant she could see both her darling children whenever she desired.

You didn’t want to seem ungrateful at all for what Jiji had done for you. You knew you were extremely privileged to have the opportunities that he provided you but, fuck, sometimes you wished you had your own place. You wanted the independence, to know you earned something but also because sharing a bathroom with Jojo was infuriating. He always moved your stuff, never cleaned the shower, and he never had patience for you to get ready in the mornings. A wishful sigh left your lips as you thought of your future, with just you, Miso, and the ability to use the bathroom whenever you wanted.

Your eyes moved back to the computer screen, clicking refresh, and rolling your eyes when you read the same email from the dean again. Like you expected anything different, you just turned the term paper in yesterday. You brought your cup of tea up to your lips but furrowed your eyebrows when you realized there was none left.

Pushing yourself up out of your chair you formulated a plan for the rest of your evening. You would refill your cup of tea, hop back on your computer to play Overwatch with your friends until the early hours of the morning, and then cuddle up with Miso and look at TikToks until you fell asleep. It was foolproof. No way that you would even think about your term paper grade.

And if you did, you could always refresh your email in between matches.

-----------

Your finger tapped your lip as you looked over all the snack foods in the pantry. While waiting for your tea, you realized that the only thing that could make your plan better was a good snack. You had just gone shopping so it meant that all the poky, ramen, and chips you desired were on the shelves and it made the decision extra hard.

In the middle of your contemplation, you heard the front door turn and the sound of your brother and his friends entering the apartment.

“You know it's true, Jotaro. Your apartments bigger. Its nicer. It has that view that drives the ladies wild. Our apartment is cramped and it smells like weed.” Polnareff’s voice was the first you heard as the trio entered the house.

“Don’t forget the upstairs neighbors who are always playing loud polish music.” Kakyoin added, plopping down to sit on one of the chairs in the living room.

You heard your brother sigh and could feel his annoyance. You never understood how the trio became friends, it was a mystery to everyone including them but they had been together since their days in primary school and the bond they shared was one that intrigued you.

“Yes, yes. The polish,” Polnareff nodded. “Known around the world for their ability to ruin the mood with a hurdy-gurdy.”

There was silence, and you could tell your brother was not budging a bit. A party was not Jotaros thing. Kakyoin wasn’t a partier either, from what you gathered he’d much rather stay at home playing video games and smoking weed. Sucking your bottom lip in your mouth, you made your decision, grabbing a bag of chips and a box of strawberry pocky. You did your best to hold those in one hand and your cup of tea in the other.

“Feel that Christmas spirit, Jo. Help Pol in his never ending crusade to get laid. The poorman is gonna end this year with, what, a batting average of zero. He’ll be a disgrace to French men everywhere.” The teasing tone Kakyoins voice almost made you laugh.

“Hey! Batting average of 3. You know this,” Polnareff shot back, causing his roommate to throw his hands up in mock surrender.

“Jotaro,” The french man turned his attention back to your brother, who simply turned on the TV in what seemed to be an attempt to drown out the sound of his friend's voice, “C’mon. I’ll buy your cigarettes for a month…..Two months?” His voice was getting more desperate, his head turned toward you. A smile stretched across his features as he jumped off the couch and threw his arms around your shoulder.

God, you just wanted to go to your room.

“New deal,” Polernaff declared, squeezing you to the side of his body as you tried not to splash your tea all over the floor. Kakyoin looked away from the TV, eyebrow raised, Jotaros attention never faltered from the knock-off Viagra commercial. “If you agree to a Christmas Eve party I will buy you cigarettes for three months, I will never ask anything of you ever again, and I will stop flirting with your sister.”

Kakyoin snorted, shaking his head and turning his attention to Jotaro. Since you had moved in with Jotaro, the frenchman hadn’t stopped making comments about how beautiful he thought you were or just giving you flirty winks whenever you walked through the room. You found it annoying at first, but you quickly got over it when you realized he did the same thing with every girl, and boy, that he saw.

“Good grief,” Jotaro sighed. “Its a deal.”

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

“I can’t believe you agreed to this.” Kakyoin mumbled as he and Jotaro watched their friend place the final touches on the decorations and food for the party. Y/N had already put up Christmas decorations earlier that month, there was some snowmen set out on the dining table and a cute tree with some presents neatly wrapped under it. However, Polnareff had decided that wasn’t enough. He had hung up snowflakes to come down from the ceiling, there was garland hung on every wall, and so much fucking mistletoe.

Polnareff had even requested that his friends dress festive. Jotaro, of course, didn’t listen and wore what he always wore. Kakyoin decided to humor his friend and wore a Santa hat along with a dark green v-neck and dark wash jeans.

“You don’t need the money, right? Grandpa Joestar’s allowance has to be enough for cigarettes.” He continued, watching his roommate place a bowl of peppermints by the door.

“I just wanted to get him to shut up,” Jotaro said with a roll of his eyes.

“You think he’ll actually follow through on leaving Y/N alone?”

Jotaro shook his head, “Out of all the people in this city, you’d think he’d leave the only one of limits alone.”

Kakyoin simply nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

-----------

You smoothed your hands over your outfit, turning to the side to get it from a different angle. You couldn’t decide if you liked it or not. The sweater was cute, it was red with a deep green christmas tree that had colorful little puff balls as the ornaments. Your make-up and hair looked nice, too.  That wasn’t what concerned you. It was the white pleated skirt and tight red stockings that caused you pause. You grabbed at your love handles that spilled over the top of the skirt a bit and your eyes traveled to how your thighs looked in the stockings.

Polnareff had told you you could invite some friends over. Which, of course you could, this was your apartment and you didn’t need his permission. You had told him as such and invited over your three closest friends.

You turned around to your bed and looked at Miso, who was comfortably curled up. “How do I look?” You waited a moment before turning back to the mirror and smacking your lips together. You were tempted to take off the skirt and tights and throw a pair of jeans on but something changed your mind last minute. Instead of heading to your closet to change, you instead grabbed the reindeer antler hand band and slipped it on top of your hair before heading out of the safety of your bedroom.

You were so distracted with the new decorations that you didn’t notice the pair of eyes that were glued to your form.

------

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime was playing for what seemed like the fifth time. Kakyoin had never hated Paul McCartney more than he did now. He was just now starting to feel the buzz of all the drinks he had had but it didn’t make the party any more bearable.

“She,” Kakyoin pointed to a blonde girl in a Santa dress, “is gonna hook up with him,” He pointed to a dark haired main that had for some reason felt the need to take his shirt off.

Jotaro simply grunted before eyeing more of the members of the party. This was a game they’d been playing for the past hour and a half, making bets on who was gonna hook up with who and who was gonna get the most shit faced.

“He’s gonna end up passed out in my bathtub,” The dark haired man stated, pointing to the only person dancing to the playlist Polnareff had created.

Kakyoin broke a smile as he watched the clearly wasted man's horrible dance moves. His attention was brought away from the scene by the sound of Y/N’s laugh. For what had to be the millionth time that night, the red haired man eyed her up and down. That outfit looked so fucking good on her but the smile streched out across her lips looked even better.

I wonder what the lipstick would look like smeared on my cock.

The thought slipped into his head and he couldn’t stop from staring at the red painted on your lips.

Does she feel as soft as she looks?

He took a sip from his cup. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking about his hands running over her thighs or his fingers digging into her hips. It was strange that he was having these thoughts. He’d never viewed Y/N as more than just Jotaro’s younger sister. He never thought she was ugly, in fact there were multiple times that he thought she was down right gorgeous but it had never turned sexual. Something about that outfit had sent him over that edge.

The sound of Last Christmas brought him out of his trance. Kakyoin almost immediately rolled his eyes. He almost missed the hurdy-gurdy.

“Good grief,” Jotaro mumbled and grabbed the pack of cigarettes off the coffee table. “I’m heading out for a smoke.”

Kakyoin watched as his best friend got up but instead of heading for the balcony, Jotaro went out the front door. The red haired man was tempted to follow but as soon as that thought popped into his mind he heard the drunk voice of his other best friend call to him.

“Kak, you gotta show these guys the cherry thing!”

---------

It was well past 3. The party had ended and most of the attendants took an Uber home. The only people in the apartment were you, Polnareff, and Kakyoin. Jotaro had still not returned from that smoke he said he was going to take hours ago. The buzz had long worn off and the reality sank in that you had to clean the disaster of an apartment that was left in the christmas party’s wake.

There were red solo cups strewn about various surfaces and all over the floor, glitter seemed to have gotten everywhere, there were plates of food left half eaten, and there was a candy cane just stuck to the wall. Looking at the destruction, you almost wondered if the fun you had had was worth it. With your parents coming over tomorrow...or, well, today…..for Christmas, you had really no other option than to clean it, with that thought in your head you grabbed a garbage bag and started cleaning.

After a few minutes, you heard the familiar rustle of plastic as someone was opening a trash bag and you turned to see Kakyoin helping you with your task.

“Thanks,” You told him as you threw a plate of half eaten cake into the bag.

“No problem. Pol is passed out in the hallway and I gotta make sure Jo makes it home safe, so I’m kinda stuck here.”

You simply nodded in response and kept about your task in silence. A silence which seemingly bothered Kakyoin because a few minutes later he cleared his throat and broke the silence.

“So I, uh, noticed your man wasn’t here tonight.” He almost smacked himself for asking the question. You thought he was just making small talk, the thought of him having more devious reasons behind asking if you were single hadn’t crossed your mind.

“My….My man?” You quirked an eyebrow, looking back over your shoulder at him.

“Yeah, your man. I saw you with some guy a while back,” Kakyoin had put down the now full trash bag and was leaning against the counter top with his arms crossed as he spoke.

“Oh,” You suddenly realized who exactly he was talking about, “Yeah, um, we broke up six months ago,” You said with a laugh.

“Oh...Six months?” He titled his head to the side, “Are you sure? Hmm… Well, sorry I didn’t notice...I uh guess I should be more observant.

You shook your head, placing down your own bag and heading past him to the pantry to grab another. “Its alright, I’m not offended. I’m sure you find me as annoying as I find Jotaros friends.”

Kakyoin raised his eyebrows at your statement, “You find me annoying? I mean, Pol, I get. Yeah. He’s one of my closest friends and even I can’t handle him sometimes. But me? I never talk to you.”

You had busied yourself with cleaning the rest of the cups off the counter, “ I don’t know. You’re just…” You looked up and noticed his eyes quickly flick down to your lips before making eye contact with you again. “I mean, you did one time give me oregano and told me it was weed.”

“First,” Kakyoin started, his body shifted so it was turned toward you, “Thats not annoying. I would call that immature, maybe. But annoying? Nah. Second,” he threw up two fingers to emphasize his point, “ In my defense, you were 15 and I was worried about you finding our stash under Jo’s bed and I thought it would lessen that chance if I gave you your own stash.”

You laughed, setting the bag down and turning to look at him. You couldn’t help but notice how good he looked in that dark green shirt but you quickly willed that thought away.  “Kakyoin, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Hey, at the time it did.”

You tilted your head to the side, you had plenty of stories that you could use as proof that he was annoying, “ What about that time you and Jojo left me stranded at school because the new playstation came out?”

“Thats not fair,” He noticed the playful hint your voice was taking and it caused a small smile to tug at his lips.

“How about the time that you threw up in my make up bag?”

“Hey, that was all Frenchie. Not me.”

“Or…..” You were silenced by Kakyoin pressing a finger to your lips. You hadn’t noticed that the two of you had just kept moving closer and closer as you were talking. You could get a better look at him now, his eyes looked tired but there was a mischievous glint to them, proof to you that he found this just as amusing as you did.

“What about you, huh? You saying that you’ve never been annoying?” He cocked an eyebrow, giving you a knowing look that let you know he had as many stories about you that you had about him.

“Look, I never once implied that I wasn’t annoying. I’ll own up to it,” You shrugged, “I was a total brat.”

Kakyoin snorted, “Don’t act like you’re not still a brat.”

“How?!” You looked almost taken aback, “How am I still a brat? You hardly see me!”

Kakyoin loved banter and teasing with his friends, it was kind of his thing. It was how he showed affection. If he didn’t gently bully you how was he supposed to show that he cared? But this, this teasing between the two of you was different. It made the room seem hotter and his pants feel tighter. That coupled with how fucking cute you looked in that damn outfit, even if your make up had worn off a bit and the lipstick was smugged. He couldn't deny it was doing things to him.

“I see you now,” His voice was deep, his tongue sticking out to wet his bottom lip as his eyes trailed you up and down.

Your cheeks immediately turned a blushy pink and your skin was hot under his gaze. Your lips parted but no words came out. This was Jotaros best friend, there was no way he was flirting with you.

Kakyoin took a few steps forward so he was as close to you as he could be without touching you. “I see you now,” He repeated in the same low voice, this time keeping eye contact with you, “And I see a brat.”

He pushes a few strands of hair out of your face and behind your ear, a gasp hitching in your throat as his heated skin touched your check briefly, “Unless you’re gonna show me otherwise.”

“I…” You swallowed the lump in your throat, suddenly weak at his gaze. “H-how?”

You look into his eyes and you can see it. You can see how much he wants you and how intense that want is. No one has ever looked at you that way before and it made your stomach erupt in butterflies. Quickly, you turn your head away not being able to handle the intensity of his stare. You feel his fingers on your chin guiding you to look back up at him, holding you there so he can take in all the features of your face. Its like he’s looking at you for the first time. His fingers move gently from your chin down to your neck, your breathing hitched in your throat when you felt the soft pad of his thumb move across your lips.

“If you want me to stop, tell me sweetheart,” He’s eyes had gotten a few shades darker and his voice seemed more strained than usual. Kakyoins free hand traveled under the sweater your were wearing, fingers lightly dancing along your side as his other hand stayed on you face, gently tracing the outline of your lips with his thumb. “Tell me right now and I’ll go back to pitching solo cups and scrubbing counters.”

In the pit of your stomach you knew you shouldn’t. You knew that if Jojo ever found out he’d flip, he’d always done his best to keep you and his friends separate. You always thought it was because you annoyed him and he didn’t want to have to be around you more than you already were, Kakyoin knew that it was because no matter how the man acted, he deeply cared for you and would do anything to protect you. These thoughts of Jotaro’s reaction filtered through your mind but your brother wasn’t here right now.

You acted on impulse, your tongue peaking out of your mouth to coax Kakyoins thumb between your lips. He watched with heavy lidded eyes as you gently sucked on the digit, swiping your tongue along the length of it. His breathing picked up for a moment before mumbling a quiet, “Fuck.”

Almost instantly you were hoisted on the counter with his lips against yours and wasting no time to swipe his tongue into your mouth. His hands quickly traveled up your thighs, pushing your skirt to pool at your hips and quickly ripping the stockings down the middle. Your legs hooked around his waist, pulling him as close to you as possible as your fingers worked at undoing his belt.

He pulls away from your lips for a moment to help you pull down his boxers and jeans. You licked your lips as you admired his cock, already hard and glistening with precum. You felt his fingers on your face again directing you to look at him.

“My cock needs to be inside you, sweetheart. Can I do that?” He was breathing heavy, he had never wanted someone so much in his life. All he wanted right now was to feel your pussy around his cock. Consequences be damned. “Can I fuck you, princess?”

You whine when you hear him speak, his voice is like nothing you ever heard before. Lust and want seemed to be dripping off every word. The whole situation leaves you speechless. At the nod of your head, Kakyoin pulls your panties to the side and slides inside you. His moan and your whimper are the only noises in the quiet apartment, his eyes watching your face intently for any sign of discomfort or desire to stop.

“Fuck me,” You breath out when your vocie finally comes to you. “Please, Kakyoin. Fuck me.”

He groans and happily obliges, rocking his cock in and out of you. Your small gasps and whimpers only egg him on more as he increases the speed of this thrust, your hands bracing yourself against the countertop. His eyes break from your face to watch his own cock slide in and out, the sight of his cock slick with your wetness makes him moan.

“Thats a perfect fucking pussy, sweetheart.” He breaths out so soft you almost can’t hear him over the slick sound of his skin on yours. His eyes find yours again, hand moving back to rest on your jawline and hold you in his gaze. He leans close and sucks your lip into his mouth, his teeth nipping at the soft flesh before soothing it with his tongue.

“You’re such a good girl,” Kakyoin tells you before pressing his lips against yours again. He picks up the pace because, goddammit, he wants to feel you cum on his cock. He pulls aways, resting his forehead against yours. Your moans are soft and the whimpers that follow cause him to smirk.

“Oh, fuck. That feels so good,” You whisper, looking into his eyes. He can see you getting closer and closer and its making it hard for him to keep composed.

“You take a cock so well, princess,” His lips brush against yours, he tilts your head to the side so that he can kiss down your neck, and then back up again. His lips find the lobe of your ear and gently suck on it. Your moans are getting more and more erratic, every now and then you’ll gasp out his name.

“You gonna be a good girl and cum on my cock,” Kakyoin whispers into your ear, his lips brushing against the shell of it. “Shit, sweetheart, I wanna feel that pretty fucking pusy come on my cock.”

It’s the sound of his voice whispering those dirty things in your ear that sends you over the edge.

“Thats it, princess. Fuck, sweetheart…I’m...shit. Can I….?” The red heads voice is ragged and incoherent but you knew what he was asking.

“Fuck, yes, please,” Its all you can do to get the words out. “Please, I wanna feel you come in me.”

You both come hard, his fingers digging roughly into the skin of your thighs and loud moans filling the space of the kitchen. The warmth of him spilling inside of you is enough to make you want a round two. After a few moments the two of you are left breathing heavy, his forehead resting on your shoulder as he tries to catch his breath.

You stay like that for a moment, trying to regain your composure and come to terms with everything that had just happened. This was a development in events that neither of you ever saw coming. Its you that make the move to separate, pushing against his chest and moving off the counter. You avoid eye contact with him, flating your skirt back down and picking up your, now ruined, stockings off the tiled floor. You could feel his cum drip out of you down to your thighs.

“That was….” Kakyoin broke the silence, buckling his belt and running a hand through his hair. You noticed he too was looking at anything but you.

“Yeah,” You nodded your head in response.

“You know we can’t uh…-”

“Yup.”

“Like, ever.”

“Trust me, I’m aware.”

“H-Happy...Happy Christmas.”

You just nod and quickly retreat to your room, throwing yourself on your bed and groaning into your pillows. After a moment, you crawled under the blankets and pulled your cat into your chest.

“Miso. I think I’m a slut….”

--------

Kakyoin watched as you retreated away down the hallway, his mind still wrapping around what had happened. The fact that he was the one that instigated it. He was the one that made all the moves and god, he shouldn’t have. But he had wanted to. He had wanted to get you in that position all night.

It was at that moment that Jotaro entered the apartment again, smelling of cigarettes and….perfume? Kakyoin was gonna have to ask him about that one later. “

“The prodigal son has returned,” The redhead teased his friend, doing his best to hide the guilt he had for what he had just done.

“Shut up,” Jotaro mumbled. He eyed his friend curiously, he was very observant and it was very naive of Kakyoin to think that he wouldn’t notice the change in his friend. “What’s wrong with you?”

I just busted a big one in your sister. And would probably do it again if the chance presented itself. No biggie.

“I’m, uh, I’m just tired.”

-----------

Thank you so much for reading this! I appreciate it very much. Let me know what you think of it and if I should continue the story. Merry Christmas!

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

pls scream about Leo a lil bit cause my love for that man is neverending and i live for you guys' blog,,, and ur comte love fuels me??? head empty except for those two pureblood clowns

HNGNGNG I hope that both you and everyone that reads my shenanigans knows how utterly understood I feel when I see anyone stan Comte, if not both of those idiot purebloods bc good lord...I live for two tired fossil men that just want DOMESTIC BLISS. Literally they have no brain cells beyond respect women and we love that for us, it’s spectacular!!

Under a cut bc I went off and is long:

That being said I’d be happy to yell abt Leo!! Where do I even begin, this man was the reason I got into Ikevamp in the first place, and I’ve read just about every single one of his events at this point. He just makes me so TENDER!!!!!! For whatever reason the first thing that came to mind was this one time he lies about being jealous and MC is lolol u a fool if you think I can’t tell when you lie to me. And he’s so fuckiNG SHOOK?????? It’s even funnier because she’s internally like [I’m not 100% sure but for a second there he almost looked mad...time to test this theory even if it’s just A GAME T H E O R Y] And he’s so fucking pikachu meme that shit sends me. I can’t handle the fact that he’s so used to people just assuming he’s fine, that he can handle himself. That he’s lived for so long without really anyone noticing at all. (Comte absolutely notices and will lightly roast him, but doesn’t really push him about it or wants to overstep). And so when MC just actively pays attention and is so gentle with him he’s just floored???

God I’m crying now, but I will just never forget the funeral scene in his fucking rt. This asshole, this absolute moron, straight up tries to come at us with “yOu GeT uSeD tO iT aFtEr HaLf A mIlLeNiUm, i’M nOt SaD”. Like are you serious. Come here and let me hold you before I throttle you. Absolute clown. He’s just always trying so hard to get by on his own and it breaks my heart. How long...how long has he lived just getting by, nursing his own wounds and dragging himself up all by himself. HE LEFT HOME AT LIKE 14 (whatever the fuCK SOME TOO YOUNG AGE) AND RAN STRAIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF PEOPLE THAT HATED HIM FOR HIS TALENT. HE REMEMBERS HIS MENTORS DESTROYING HIS UTENSILS WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE PARENTS THAT WHOLEHEARTEDLY REJECTED ANY EXPRESSION OF LOVE OR COMPASSION FOR HUMANITY THAT HE CHERISHED SO DEEPLY. I DON’T NEED SLEEP I NEED TO HUG HIM IMMEDIATELY FUCKING HELL.

Like.........there’s just........I don’t know how to explain it, but I once saw it explained so well in a post. It was basically talking about Castlevania, and how in that show Dracula sees humanity’s folly and develops so much hatred he just goes straight to murder rage. And while in some ways I understand that, I understand even more deeply Trevor’s response to humanity’s fear and violence. He says that he knows they’re short-sighted, that maybe we all just don’t deserve saving...but that he’s going to do it anyway. Leonardo just so much gives me that energy of knowing there’s so much pain in the world, but all we can do is keep walking--keep trying, even if we have to claw our way forward. Because if you only see the awfulness in front of you, you forget the way that strangers make silly faces at babies to make them laugh on the train, how a friend will put everything down to race over to someone and comfort them with some ice cream--do anything they can to distract them from the hurt. How the sight of a child crying will prompt careful cooing from a stranger as to their bravery, an offering of cool water, the gentle placement of a bandaid. How a pair of teenagers will spot a lost child in milliseconds and help them seek out their parents protectively. There is so much wretchedness, but also so much beauty in it all, and the older I get the more I see myself wanting to believe in the latter. I want to be hopeful, and easily impressed, and full of love. To be bitter and jaded accomplishes nothing, and only becomes a worsening self-fulfilling prophecy. The more you seek negativity, the more you will find it; and worse, create it.

I also scream a little bit bc like. I’ve gone on and on about how Comte is very obviously in love with MC all the time, and sure that may be true. But...I really don’t think Leo is exempt from that either if I’m honest lmfao. Only because what does Leonardo do when it isn’t his route? He almost never shows up. Once in a while he might appear for a split second in a scene, but he almost never converses with MC beyond those short moments. While Comte is the one to pine openly, I’d wager Leo is the opposite. He pines in absolute silence, because he knows that if he gets any closer--he’s going to fall. He’s going to enjoy it too much, going to keep seeking out more before he can stop himself. And losing another person he loves...he just can’t do it anymore. In his first meeting story he talks about seeing MC’s eyes and feeling like he’d known them all his life, and even in his MS he speaks to just being completely fascinated by and enamored of her. She doesn’t hesitate, always does her best, meets people head-on and without much hesitation. After a lifetime of people that are probably just immediately interested in him for his talents, or always seeking out his company for the novelty, this is someone that doesn’t give a single fuck if he’s Leonardo da Vinci. Sure she’s aware, and sure she’s impressed to some extent, but her respect--her attraction and admiration--is something that has to be earned. 

There’s something so refreshing about how their love was written. Sure it’s the whole fake marriage to a real relationship, but it’s also a kind of subtle enemies to lovers pulled off masterfully. MC is 100% minding her own business, just wants to do what she must in order to get home, tries to focus on her work to keep from thinking about how much she misses her old life. She doesn’t rely on anyone, doesn’t talk about how hard it is or how scary it is or how confusing. And even Leonardo forgets in his curiosity, is just chillin and also just trying to do the bare minimum to keep from getting too attached--figures he can admire her from a distance. And then he sees her staring at the hourglass. And suddenly, he can’t just watch her do that herself. Just wait for the hard times to pass, just sit with her own loneliness--that hollowing silence. There’s something so moving about it because he reaches out precisely because he knows that feeling to his fucking marrow, and literally just cannot watch somebody else do that to themselves. Sure he’s been dealing with it for three hundred years, BUT THIS GOOD BABIE CHILD DOES NOT DESERVE THIS. SHE WORKS HARD AND DESERVES NICE THINGS!!!!!!!! And so he drives her crazy as he races ahead of her, intercepting any attempt for her to preserve that silence and hide. She doesn’t see any pattern to it, and that’s just how he likes it--he doesn’t want her to worry about the how or why. 

Like I fully remembering playing in Japanese and being like oh my fucking god this is hilarious, this man is just a wild fucker and I love this. I was enjoying myself, mostly laughing and shaking my head. But then it just gets so, so serious. I was having so much fun that I, like a fool, forgot the anime effect. If you’re having fun, it’s going to come crashing down without mercy soon enough. And it does. He helps a little girl without any hope play her violin again, and maybe I’m just too English major but I was fucking FLOORED when I realized I didn’t see that that was straight foreshadowing. That little girl without hope? That was MC (and by extension depending on how you play, us). Though the metaphor isn’t quite so easily mapped without a physical space, the connection is clear when you think about it. With his careful social awareness, he makes a place for MC to exist in the mansion so naturally--as though she was meant to be there from the start, crafts a positive impression of her presence with each of the residents. And he does it with zero expectation of anything in return; he’s just happy to see her not stressing herself out anymore or trying to do everything alone. MC doesn’t fall in love with him despite their differences, she falls in love with him because they are the same in a singular and all-encompassing way that matters; they both care about other people so deeply, to the point where they will forego any personal needs in order to make that person’s life easier. Whether it be muting their own hardship, or working to involve another person in a new space (or opening up to the point of self-destruction to keep a person from feeling alone), they go above and beyond what anybody asks of them--perhaps strong to the point of their own detriment, in some cases. 

It’s why I always laugh when he says to Sebastian “That cara mia, she has a good heart.” Of course she does, Leonardo; it certainly takes one to know one. 

And because I literally have no brain cells beyond being in fucking love with Leonardo THE LAKE SCENE IS AN AFFRONT TO MY DIGNITY AND SELF-CONTROL. HOW DARE YOU, SIGNORE. HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO SIT THERE AND WATCH YOU OPEN YOUR HEART TO ME AND NOT BAWL MY EYES OUT AND TRY TO KISS YOU ALL AT THE SAME TIME. SIGNORE “hAhA yOu’Re So SmAlL yOu LoOk LiKe YoU’rE DrOwNiNg In My CoAt.” I WOULD DROWN AND DIE HAPPY--BITCH I TELL YOU THAT.

Like. I can’t think of another route I’ve ever done where I spent a good amount of time like “lmfao this guy is so wild im gonna punch him” to just be in a whirlpool of my own tears, regretting my entire fucking LIFE days later. Like Leonardo’s cultural impact???? Fucking immeasurable, I wish every white man disaster I ever met had a hidden heart of gold in all of his boyish dumbassery, an ICONIC himbo of our time. 

Also because I remembered it before posting and I am Dying^TM. The event where MC was a pureblood and he was human. That entire fucking event. I literally can’t think about it without screaming and crying. Her just so flustered at his reaction to her like “oh look, free real estate” as he plops her in his lap, absolutely no fear, treating her like a princess because of her noble title despite NO NECESSITY BEYOND PLAYFULNESS BUT ALSO STILL MEANING IT IN AN EARNEST WAY, being charming to no END just to see her laugh or look away shyly. 

WHEN HE SAID. WHEN HE SAID “...Can’t leave you alone, or you might go off someplace I can’t follow.” I. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU STRIPPED DEVOTION DOWN TO ITS BARE ESSENTIALS!!!!!! GAH HOW MC HERSELF SAYS “I would tell him the truth but...he’s much too generous for a human. I know he would offer his life without a moment’s hesitation.” How Leo describes the aftermath of her biting him: “Lucky for you, I’m a true gentleman, Unlike my principessa, who took me like a storm” HELLO??????? H E L  L O ???????????????????????? ARE WE JUST GOING TO SLEEP ON THE FACT THAT HE LOST HIS ENTIRE SOUL WHEN SHE BIT HIM???? I--

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

(Also as much as I love him the cigarillos have got to go at some point, boy do you have any idea the shit secondhand smoke does good lordt)

[be-the-creature-fan]

AIN'T NO TIME LIKE 1969 by: be-the-creatue-fan. (Its a long one)

Chapter 1

Its was a quiet day at the Tortuga, ever since self quarantine started things were very quiet in the creature world. The Wild Kratts team were trying to keep busy, Chris and Martin were trading creature power discs again, Koki was making sure there was no Villain activity, Jimmy was playing his video games and Aviva was working on her inventions.

"It's Done!" Aviva said with excitement.

"What is?" asked everyone else.

"The Time Trampoline! Its finally been restored to its former glory."

Chris's face lit up with a tear in his eye, finally after over a year of waiting, the time trampoline was finished.

"So, Chris are you ready to test it out?" Martin asked.

"You don't have to ask me twice! So, Aviva how far back can this time machine go?"

"Well lucky for you Bros, this baby can go all the way back to the Jurracic Time Period!"

"For real!?" The Brothers said.

"Do you know what this means Chris?!" "We can finally see your fossil collection come to life!!!"

Chris was so excited he couldn't speak.

"Well what are you guys waiting for? You guys can visit them right now!"

So the Kratt brothers got ready to go back in time to see the dinosaurs, but little did they know that trouble was lurking close by.

"Uug Finally she finished her time trampoline thingy" Zach said as he walked towards his invisibility cloak. "It's finally time to defeat those Wild Rats once and for all!

Chapter 2

"Are you guys all set" Koki asked

"Ha! I was born ready!" Chris said as he climbed on the trampoline.

Once both Brothers were on the trampoline the countdown started, not just for the Wild Kratts team but for Zach as well.

"5.....4.....3.....2.....1....ze-" just before the team could say zero, Zach came out of nowhere and pushed Martin off the trampoline and destroyed one part of it as Chris made it into the time connection. Martin could only watch in horror as the time connection started to close right behind Chris. As Chris saw the time connection close up, he knew that he had to travel to a time period more recent then what he originally planned or he would be toast. So without thinking Chris threw the other smaller time trampoline just right infront of him and narrowly avoided his ultimate doom.

June 20th 1969 (9:52pm) Warren NJ

Chris found himself in a tree with the trampoline just under him. As Chris jumped on to the trampoline he couldn't help but feel that where ever he was at felt familiar in a way but he still didn't know where or when he was at, so he just packed up the trampoline and started to wander the streets. After walking for about an hour Chris began to feel tried and hungry and the feeling of being lost and alone didn't help. Just then, as he was walking near an alley way he felt a large tug on his arm and with one swift move he found himself on the ground being beaten up by a small gang of thieves. He could feel them snatch the time trampoline away as they ran away. Chris continued to lie on the cement motionless until he found the courage to get up and keep walking. He was still in shock and didn't know how badly he was hurt, and couldn't tell if he was sweating or losing blood but as he kept walking, everything kept becoming more and more familiar. Chris finally found himself infront of his childhood home and because of the pain and exhaustion he had felt, he clasped in the front yard only hidden by a bush.

Chapter 3

"CHRIS!" Martin screamed as he gased up at the time connection which had just closed. "Zach! Look what you have done now!" Martin looked at Zach with a murderous intent in his eyes. In a split second Martin leaped towards Zach and proceeded to put him in a choke hold. The rest of the Wild Kratts gang had to pry Martin off of Zach. But before Zach could escape, Aviva used the robotic arms to keep a hold on Zach.

"So Zach, What in the Creature World was that all about?!?!" Martin angrily asked.

"I don't have to say if I don't want too." Zach responded with a smirk on his face.

"Listen here you little sh-"

"MARTIN, LANGUAGE!!!" Koki said to quickly interrupt Martin.

"Dang, Martin. Sombody please remind me never to mess with Chris." Jimmy said in a kind of joking manner.

"Jimmy?"

"Yes Martin?"

"Shut up."

After a moment of awkward silence.....

"Oh Martin I was able to pick up a signal coming from the other trampoline." said Koki.

"Really? Where at do you know if Chris made it?"

"Well there was activity after the trampoline made it so he was able to escape the closing of the time connection, however I cant pinpoint where he is at but I know when."

"Well when was it?"

(Back with Chris in 1969.....)

It was 8:00 on the 21st day of June and it was a beautiful first day of summer. Linda Kratt who was 8 months pregnant with her 4th kid decided to sit on the porch outside and relax in the summer breeze. That when she noticed something on her front yard. As she walked closer to it thinking that it was probably a possum or a raccoon, to her suprize it was a man who's face was very swollen. At first she thought about calling the authorities, but saw that he had probably had gone through enough and probably needed a proper place to heal back up. So using a little bit of ingenuity she used her eldest son's wagon to put the man in and she pulled the wagon inside and she put him on the couch to rest up.

Chapter 4

Chris finally started to come around and the first thing he noticed was the kid who was staring back at him.

"Martin?" Chris said in a quiet raspy voice.

"Martin! what did I tell you don't disturb the nice young man!" Linda sternly told Martin as she shooed him away. "I'm so sorry about that I hope he didn't wake you."

"Oh, no he didn't wake me Mom" Chris said still a little dazed.

"Mom?" Linda said confused.

"Oh! I meant Mamm sorry."

"Oh that's alright dear, say you look familiar, do I know you from somewhere?"

"Um no I don't think so" Chris stuttered as he tried to get up. "I would like to thank you for your hospitality but I need to be on my way" as Chris stood up he became very light headed and he stumbled as he tried to walk, almost falling again for the 2nd time.

"Oh no I insist you must stay here and rest" she brought Chris back to the couch and it didn't take long for him to fall back asleep.

Linda then tried calling her husband Bill Kratt at his work but there was no answer. A few hour later Chris woke up again and started walking towards the kitchen to get something to drink but he would struggle with trying to stay awake. His head was pounding and he would black out at times but eventually he made it into the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. As he was walking back to the couch, Bill came back from work.

"What the hell are you doing in my house!!!" Bill shouted as he ran towards Chris and tackled him.

Chris was to weak to respond and passed out in fear.

"Bill! Get off of him he's hurt!" Linda screamed.

"Linda you and the kids stay back!" I'll teach him a lesson not to enter the house of Bill Kratt!"

It wasn't easy but eventually Linda calmed Bill down and explained him the whole situation. Chris once again woke up on the couch but this time it late at night.

He could hear Bill and Linda taking in the room next to his.

"I don't trust him Linda, he seems like someone who goes out looking for trouble"

"Well, what makes you say that Bill?"

"You saw how badly beaten up he is, he was probably looking for it. I'm just glad that no son of mine will ever end up like him."

"Bill, what's the real reason why you don't like him?"

"I guess I'm just worried about you,the kids and the baby. when I saw him in our house I thought something terrible happened."

"Oh I'm so sorry Honey, I tried calling your work phone but there was no answer.

"Its ok Love, I'm just glad you're ok."

Chapter 5

(Back in Present day.....)

Martin couldn't sleep that night. All he could think about was how would Chris ever return home. Aviva and Koki spent the whole day trying to figure out a way to fix the time trampoline as quickly and efficiently as possible, Jimmy was keeping a guard on Zach, and Martin was mostly trying to figure out where Chris could be. It was very odd though, Martin started recalling a moment shortly before Chris was born when a man came and visited his house for some reason that he couldn't remember, he didn't know why he was recalling this memory or why it came to mind just then but he tried to not pay attention to it and continued on with his day.

"How's the Time Trampoline Aviva?"

"Well, its coming along, luckily Zach wasn't strong enough to break the main part of the trampoline but its gonna take a while to fix it well enough to get Chris back."

"How long would that be?"

"About 2 weeks"

"2 weeks?! How would we know if he's even still alive in 2 weeks?"

"Ha! Wow most of my plan worked better than expected" Zach yelled out loud.

Martin didn't take that very well and the team had to restrain him as well before there was any bloodshed.

For the next few days The whole Wild Kratts team did their part to fix the time trampoline.

(Back in 1969.....)

Chris continued to slowly get better and even helped Linda out with some of the chores when she was to tired to do them.

"So when is the baby due?" Chris asked even though he knew the answer

"In about another month or so. But sometimes, I wish it would come sooner then later. It's not easy having to be pregnant and also have 3 other little ones, but I love my children and wouldn't want it any other way."

Just then Martin ran up to his Mom.

"Mommy can I go outside?"

"Sure Honey" just make sure when you go outside where stay in the front yard where I can see you."

"Yes Mommy I will. Come on Heidi!" Then a Saint Bernard puppy ran out of Martin's room and went outside with him.

Chris really missed Heidi and was very happy to see her, but he had to contain his excitement in order to not act suspicious.

"Heh, Heidi that's a cute name for a dog"

(Back in present day)

"Martin are you alright?" asked Jimmy

"No"

"What's wrong?"

Martin glances at Jimmy with tears in his eyes.

"I let Chris down Jimmy, I'm a terrible brother, I was supposed to protect him, and I failed."

"Martin this is not your fault. We're going find him and get him back."

"Well, if he's not dead by then!" Zach blurted out.

(Dead silence)

Chapter 6

(Back in 1969.....)

Its been one week since Chris went back in time. Chris was still recovering from his injuries but has since gain the trust of Bill.

"So um Chris that your name, right?"

"Um yes sir."

"Where are you from Chris?"

"Oh um I travel a lot but I grew up here and I was supposed to um meet my brother at a um a bus station I waited for a while and so I thought he might of been talking about the other one that's not to far away from here but as I was walking over there I got mugged and the next thing I know it, I wake up on the couch."

Chris knew he couldn't tell the truth, he knew that every action he does could affect the outcome of the future, even his own. All of a sudden Chris had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Bill.....Bill!...BILL!"

"Linda what is it?!"

"Bill! We have to go to the hospital, it's the baby, something's wrong!"

Chris sinking feeling turned into a pain and then into agony. He felt like throwing up, he wanted to scream, the pain was starting to become unbearable, he didn't know what to do.

"Chris are you ok?"

"YEAH BILL I'LL BE FINE JUST HELP THE BABY!"

"Ok, Chris I'm going to take you both to the hospital."

"NO JUST TAKE YOUR WIFE! I'll be fine just take your wife and I'll be fine, ok?"

"Alright, let's go Linda"

A few hours pass the pain was still there.

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

Chris looked up to see Martin stareing back at him.

Chris didn't know what to say, he was in so much pain. He didn't know if he would survive. He looked back at Martin.

"Mom and Dad are at the hospital, But don't worry, they're going to be ok."

After saying those words, the pain started to go away.

"Martin, I need you to remember something."

"What is it?"

"When your older, you are going to feel like you have to protect your siblings from danger, and that's good, but sometimes when you can't, don't feel like it's your fault, ok?"

(Back in Present day....)

"Oh my gosh I know where Chis is!"

"Martin it's 4:00 in the morning, where do you possibly think he's at?"

"He's at my house, in 1969, I remember him, but I don't know how, but he possibly can be the same man."

"Unless he's currently changing the past and adding new memories, that would explain why you keep having these new memories from your past!"

After a lot of thought Aviva just released something.

"This isn't good"

"What is it Aviva?"

"If Chris keeps talking or interacts with your family, this could jeopardize our past and present day selves. The Wild Kratts team might not even exist."

"Well there isn't any time to waste!" Koki piped up.

"Koki is right let's get to work."

Chapter 7

(Back in 1969.....)

After a while Linda and Bill came back from the hospital

"How's the baby?" Chris asked

"The baby is fine, thankfully"

"That's good"

"Chris, I would like to thank you for watching the kids for us, I hope there wasn't any trouble."

"Oh no there was no trouble at all"

"Are you sure we don't know you from somewhere?"

"Ummmm not that I'm aware of? But you guys have been so kind to like if I was your own son *cough*"

"I just hope your brother isn't worried about you"

"Oh I'm sure he's not that worried about me."

(Present day)

"ARE YOU GUYS DONE YET?!?!?"

"Martin, CALM DOWN! We need about a few more days until we're done fixing it."

"A FEW DAYS? A FEW DAYS?! WE DON'T HAVE A FEW DAYS WE HAVE TO GET HIM BACK ASAP!"

"Look were trying to do the best we can, but time travel is complicated stuff"

"I know, I know, but I'm just worried about him. I just want to protect him, I want to know if he's safe."

"I think I've got it!"

"What is it Koki?"

"I fix the time trampoline just enough to get Chris back!"

"How?"

"I took a few short cuts and was able to allow the time trampoline to go back to the year 1969, which we know is the same time where Chris ended up in history. We just need to make sure we have a connection to the other trampoline for the time connection to open which might take about 6 or 7 hours to complete and 2 to 3 hours to locate the signal from the other trampoline."

(A few hours later)

"Alright I was able to track down the other time trampoline and it tells me that it was last used on June 20th 1969. However the time trampoline can only go back as far as July 4th 1969, Chris would most likely still be stuck in the past but it would still be a risky thing to do, considering that every action he make could affect our Present."

"If it's the best we can do so be it!" Martin said

"Ok let's go then"

So Martin went on the time trampoline as the rest of the team stayed behind to make sure absolutely nothing goes wrong. So Martin went through the time connection and went back to Warren NJ July 4th 1969 (9:00)

To Martin's surprise he landed in a junkyard.

"Hey Martin can you hear us?"

"Yea loud and clear, it's a good thing that my Creature Pod still works."

"Listen, you only have 1 hour to find Chris and get back here or else the time connection will close again and it might take a longer time to get you guys back to Present Day."

"Wait today is the 4th of July, right?"

"Yeah why?"

"Oh man I was afraid of that"

"Why?"

"For as long as I remember, my family would drive a half an hour to go watch the fireworks near the beach. If they had already left there's no way I can make it back in an hour."

Chapter 8

"Well, what if they didn't leave yet? Shouldn't it still be still light out?"

The sun was still out but was quickly setting.

"The sun is starting to set, I don't know where I am or how far away I am from where Chris is!"

"Martin, there's no time to lose! You only have one hour to find Chris before the time connection closes"

"I know, I know..... (sigh)"

So after a while of finding a way out of the junkyard he finally made his way onto the street. Martin looked at his watch. (9:05)

As Martin continued to roam the streets his surroundings became more and more familiar. A lot of memories began to flood his mind, some good and some bad. Martin eventually found himself infront of his old school that he, his sisters and Chris would walk to and from. Martin looked at his watch again (9:15). It was a 20 minute walk from his childhood home, if he was going to make it, he would have to make a run for it.

(With Chris 9:00)

Chris found himself looking out the window, something he did often as a kid. It has been just over 2 weeks since he got trapped in 1969, a lot have happened during those weeks. Chris figured that Martin would be here by now, the situation was probably worse than he thought. What if he never returns home.

"Chris?"

"Oh um... yes Linda?"

"Is everything alright?"

"(sigh) yea...I just. I've been waiting for my brother for over 2 weeks but I've heard nothing. What if he thinks I'm, um kidnapped or um dead? I'm just worried about him not being able to find me.

"Oh Chris you have been such a wonderful guest, and you can stay for as long as you need to until we can find your brother. What's his name, anyways?"

"Mar....vin, Marvin"

"Well I'm sure we'll find your brother Marvin soon"

"Thanks Mo....Mamm I really appreciate it"

"Linda are you and the kids about ready to go?"

"Almost Bill, I'll be ready in a bit. Chris are you sure you don't want to come with us to the fireworks show?"

"Actually yes I'll go with you guys ot might take a little bit of time to get ready"

"Great, just make sure you're ready by 9:30"

"Ok" Chris said as he looked at a nearby clock. (9:05) "that should be more than enough time to get ready"

(Back with Martin 9:20)

Martin's lungs started to burn after a minute and a half of running but he didn't stop him but after 5 minutes of running it was more than he could take, he was at the half way mark between the school and his house but his lungs felt like they were on fire. Martin slowed to a stop to catch his breath, but the words "Martin there is no time to lose" echoed in his head, he had to keep going. So after a quick break he trudge on.

Chapter 9

(9:27)

(With Chris)

"Ok I'm ready to go"

"Oh good, is everybody ready to go?"

"Um Mommy?" Little Martin said

"Yes Sweetie....Oh Good Heavens!"

While nobody was looking Martin decided to try to pour himself a glass of grape juice and accidentally spilled it all over the floor.

Linda rushed over to where the mess was grabbed a mop and started to clean the mess up as quickly as she could.

"Linda you are in no shape to clean this up" Bill said as he went to where Linda was. "Here, let me clean it up Dear."

"No Bill I got this! I can do this"

"But Linda you know what the doctor said, you need to take it easy during this last month."

After pausing for a while Linda gave the mop to Bill.

After Bill cleaned up the mess and was able to get situated once again, a faint knock was heard at the door.

"I'll get it!" Linda said as she speed walked towards the door.

(With Martin 1 minute before)

Martin could see the house in his sights, but was still very far away maybe even to far away.

"Come on Martin you have to get over there, but how?" Martin said to himself as he started to scan the area.

Alas, Martin finds what seems to be a scooter. "I hope who ever this belongs to won't mind me using it" he rode the scooter until he makes it infront of the house. As he walked up the steps to the door Martin felt a rush of relief as he made it just in time.

Linda opened the door and once Martin and her made eye contact she was utterly speechless.

Martin, also being very weirded out, barely able to collect his thoughts said "Good evening um Mamm, I've been looking for my brother have you se-

"MARTIN!" Chris yelled out as he ran and embraced him.

"Chris I'm so glad you're ok!"

Bill comes to see whose at the door and when he also saw Martin he too had become speechless. Little Martin confused by all of the silence from his parents goes up and introduces himself

"Hi my name is Martin,what's your name?"

"My name is Mar-"

"MARVIN!" Chris blurted out

"Yea Marvin..."

Martin looks at his clock, it was 9:33.

"Oh look at the time! Me and Chris have to go we were supposed to meet with a couple of friends two weeks ago but ever since Chris got lost we spent our time searching for him but we best be on our way."

"I would love to thank you for your hospitality Mr and Mrs. Kratt and I hope we can visit you in the future " Chris said as they headed out the door.

"Bye Chris! I hope you can visit us soon"

"Sooner than you think" Chris thought to himself.

As soon as they were out of sight Martin and Chris had the opportunity to tell there sides of what happened with them.

"Why didn't you tell them my name was something cooler?" Martin asked

"What name would be cooler?"

"Anything but Marvin"

They both laugh and after a while they were able to make it past the halfway point. Martin looked at his watch again and it was 9:45

"Come on Chris we need to pick up the pace if were going to make it to the time trampoline on time" when Martin looked up Chris was nowhere in sight "Chris?"

"Martin.....help me"

The same pain that Chris felt a week ago was back however it felt 10× worse he tried to breathe but it was like he was getting stabbed in the lungs. He became numb and weak, Chris looked up at Martin with terror in his eyes he knew what was going on.

"Martin I'm dying"

Chapter 10

"Chris......Chris........come one stay with me buddy..........Chris!"

Martin knew time was limited, so he lifted Chris and carried him on his back. He could feel Chris struggling to breathe, he didn't know how his brother who seemed healthy just a few minutes ago, to just trying to hang on to life.

"Come on Chris we're almost there just hang on"

They finally made it to the time trampoline. It was 9:55, Chris wasn't looking so well. Martin started to jump on the trampoline with Chris on he back, which made it a lot longer to get through the time connection.

"Martin, Chris, thank goodness your back" Aviva said with excitement.

"Aviva you have to help Chris! I don't know what wrong he was fine when earlier, but when we were on our way here he all of a sudden....."

Martin broke into tears

"Don't worry Martin, we will find out what's going on"

Chris was laying almost motionless barely able to comprehend what was going on around him. He couldn't feel anything as both Aviva and Koki hooked him up with tubes.

"His heart rate is very irregular, I don't know if he's going to make it"

A new memory popped into Martin's head.

"Wait, I think I know what's going on"

"What is it MK?"

"Both past and Present Chris are connected..." (to be continued...) tumblr won't let me finish.

[hungergames-fanfic]

41st Annual Hunger Games

Word Count: 2802

I raise my hand and wave it knowing for a fact Ms Weston, my fifth grade teacher sees me. With a loud sigh, she rolls her eyes and puts her hands on her hips. “What is it now, Isadora?”, she snaps.

“The other teachers never made us watch the games.. and I ain’t allowed to watch at home”, I inform. Ms Weston gives me a fake smile. “Well, I ain’t the other teachers and I ain’t gettin’ in trouble ‘cause the Wyetka’s think if they ignore some, it’ll go away. Now shut up or i’ll kick you out of my class”, she says and raises the volume. Just as she does, the classroom doorknob jiggles for a second until it opens and in walks a peacekeeper, only unlike most, this one seems to have more authority.

His uniform is just the same as every other except his armour is thicker over his chest, and has more coverage on his arms and thighs. His helmet looks different too. Usually if I look hard enough, I can see a peacekeeper’s eyes through the tinted section over the face, but not his, it’s shiny and pitch black with a couple of dings on it, like he’s been shot at before. This makes him look intimidating and even though I can’t see him, I feel his eyes on me.

His head faces my direction for a moment. Making a fist he looks up at the television screen, where Caesar Flickerman, Capitol citizen and Hunger Games host excitedly exclaims about the games starting in an hour. His body language.. he’s mad? He turns to look at Ms Watson. She sits at the edge of her table looking at him the way Jenae looks at daddy. Menacingly, he leaves the room. This makes Ms Watson suck her teeth, I’d laugh if I weren’t so sad.

This past week has been hard for me and I can’t imagine how Efrain and his family gotta feel. When we got to say our goodbyes everyone was crying, even Eddy. I hugged him so tight, begging him to not let go. “They can’t take you if i don’t let’em”, I cried. This made him chuckle through his tears, “don’t stop bein’ you, Dora”, he said right before our time was up.

Yesterday, momma Bilmin made a big meal to take to Efrain’s, when we got there, everyone was either crying or their eyes were red and puffy. Mrs Oxoro’s health has gotten real bad too. So much so she ain’t join us in the living room while we watched the interviews. No one really had much to say but when we all saw Eddy come out we were cheering and clapping. He looked so handsome with his new haircut, wearing a shiny tanned suit embroidered with cacti shaped patterns. There was this glow about him too. He was confident and ready to be part of the games. “I’m nervous ‘bout tomorrow, but don’t confuse my jitters for weakness”, he said to Caesar Flickerman, “don’t you worry momma, i’m comin’ home”, were his last works before he stepped offstage.

The Capitol sigil is shown along with a fading black screen. Flickerman excitedly presents this year’s arena. “This year Pompreek Gustav has created an arena specially made for his last year as Gamemaker, and I do say, he has outdone himself. You see, folks, unlike most arena’s this one is our very own Gamemaker’s project home in the middle of Gesler street. Yes, that big mansion you drove past this morning on your way to work is exactly where this years Hunger Games will take place. Isn’t that exciting!”

Flickerman wears his signature navy blue suit with flickering light bulbs. He sits behind a desk while a montage of this year’s tributes play behind him. A glimpse of Eddy standing on the stage, here in District 10, is shown. My heart skips a beat. The thought of having to watch him die makes my eyes watery, my nose ticklish and my throat tight. Last time he talked to me was when he told me it’s okay to like girls. That meant a lot cause momma had me believing I was different in a bad way.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the games will begin in one minute! Ha ha!”, Flickerman yelps showing off his unnaturally white teeth.

The sixty second countdown begins and everyone is elevated into the seventh floor. Boys wear tuxedos. Girls wear elegant red gowns, caked in makeup, their hair up and pretty. All tributes appear separated in small rooms big enough to just stand in. Most are motionless, some are wide eyed and hyperventilate. Ms Weston says they’re standing in the dark cause there’s a green tinge to the imagery and their pupils are big with a white glare in them. The whole class is quiet and when the countdown reaches zero, it feels like time has slowed down.

A door opens in front of them and they stand in separate rooms of their own. For the female career from District 2, she’s been placed in a small library. For the male career from District 1, he’s been placed in a bathroom. For the female tribute from District 12, she’s been placed in a large closet. Eddy has been placed in a study. A clock on the wall is shown giving them the time. It’s 10:01 A.M.

There’s a silence in the school, we all watch curiously, wondering what it is that they’re supposed to do but it’s not long until it turns obvious.

The walls of the small library close in causing books to fall off their shelves. Abruptly, they stop. Startled, the girl from 2 looks around, her eyes wide, her arms extended. I bet none of the careers expected to be treated so equally.

In a bathroom, the shower head, bath, sink, and toilet water start to flow. In a study, a fireplace turns on along with the panels on the walls which turn bright red. In a closet, from vents hidden within the clothes, gray gas leaks. The first to realize what’s going on is a girl from District 3. Water rises to her ankles, she looks all over the room until she notices something on the ceiling. It’s a hatch. Climbing on the sink counter, she grabs the handle only to realize its locked. By now, some of the other tributes are noticing the hatch as well. It seems that every room has one.

The first death happens at 10:08 A.M when the boy from District 5 is electrocuted touching a pipe connected to the wall. He twitches, his hand catches fire and within seconds he’s flung across the bedroom, landing motionless near a wardrobe. The camera zooms on top of a tall dresser near the pipe, there lies a small golden key.

Realizing the hatch needs to be unlocked, the girl from District 8 opens every drawer in the bedroom she’s in. Suddenly, she’s swept off her feet. The floor shifts violently, back and forth, once it stops, it slowly moves upwards and comes to a halt.

The time is 10:22 A.M when the second death occurs. The little boy from District 12 coughs blood, his eyes cry and no matter how hard he tries to cover his face, the gas still gets to him. One last cough and he drops, twitching and foaming at the mouth.

Sweating profusely, Eddy wipes the sweat off his forehead and watches his step on top of a desk. Having tied his bowtie to the latch, he sticks in the golden key being the first to escape. A cheer erupts in class and what sounds like the entire school as well. “Ladies and gentlemen, our first escapee!”, Caesar announces. “But not so fast, he’s been placed in yet another room, this one seems to be some sort of botanist heaven, ha ha!” he fake laughs. Confused and on high alert, Eddy breathes heavily looking all over his surroundings. There’s a smile on my face, but deep down I’m terrified for him.

Second to escape is the girl from District 3, she’s found the key and with her gown heavy from having gotten wet, she rips it up. Flickerman whistles. Ms Weston makes a sound of disgust, “she’s fourteen”, she says.

By 10:48 A.M, bathrooms have been filled almost entirely with water, tributes desperately swimming around. In studies, objects catch fire. In bedrooms, depending on each, emit lightning like surges of electricity creating fires, others have their furniture crushed by walls or floors. Gas fogs up closets. Seven tributes are now dead, the rest, if they haven’t escaped yet then their fate has already been sealed.

A body floats in the water filled bathroom. One is shown as their skin melts from the enferning heat, and another twitches their finger as they are squished between furniture. Eddy is shown again, he’s spitting a chewed up leaf on his burnt finger tips. The female career from District 1, bleeding from her nose, coughing profusely, stumbles out of the room she’s emerged from, into a hallway and is struck in the head by a swift, lethal blow with a pipe. The first to kill is the male tribute from District 7. He searches her, peeks into the room she came from and moves on to try and open other unopened doors.

The lunch bell startles me into a jump. It’s 11:00 A.M. Ms Weston tells us to make a single file line by the door, no one says anything and we silently do as we’re told.

“Now, word is, there are eight floors and no elevators”, Caesar makes a disgruntled sound. “I don’t know about you folks, but I just hate taking the stairs. Ha ha!”, his fake laugh is the last thing I hear when I leave the classroom.

Alone at a table, rubbing the tears out of my eyes, all I can see is the boy from 12 dropping dead and twitching. Any second, it can be Eddy dying like that or in an even more horrible way. The tears keep coming. I don’t like to cry in front of people, I refuse to be a wuss but it’s so hard to swallow. Somebody hugs me from behind. When I look up, my eyesight is too blurry to tell who it is, but the wild shade of red sitting next to me gives herself away. Ari rubs my shoulder.

“I know you ain’t wanna be friends no more”, I don’t let her finish that sentence. “Ari, I missed you so much,'' I say through tears a little too loud for my liking. I’m sure there’s a lot of looks on me right now. She giggles in my ear and hugs me back. Clearly she missed me too.

Lunch with her ain’t the same, but that’s cause of my predicament. According to Ari, Mr Bale actually has them doing school work, he put his sweater over the television. “That ain’t fair, everyone with eyes knows you knew Eddy”, she says with a frown on her face. “I told you Ms Weston don’t like me”, I mumble under my breath handing her an extra piece of honey walnut bread. Even though momma Bilmin heard momma tell me to never talk to Ari again, she still adds one extra. Ari smiles when she takes it, somehow this is enough to cheer me up. I smile back.

For some reason lunch feels like it’s been cut short. I’ve had so much fun talking to her about random things I learned from books. Unlike Efrain, Ari always looks interested and don’t cut me off unless she making a joke or asking questions. It’s like this whole week without her never happened. Back to class, we even hug goodbye.

I was away for thirty minutes, within that time, two more tributes died. Another was heavily injured by a career and Eddy is nowhere to be seen. “It seems that each floor has its own.. Sort of theme, wouldn’t you say?” Flickerman sits behind a desk talking to another man who looks like a founding father. “After his tumble earlier, the tribute from seven, Clarke Hale, has slowed down drastically! But so far, he’s the only one who’s made it to the sixth floor and this one seems to just be one big empty room?”, Flickerman questions. “It’s a tennis court”, the other man adds. Note to self, learn what tennis is.

Clarke is the center of attention. He’s everything the Capitol loves. Tall and visibly strong with pretty green eyes and dirty blonde hair. I think it’s silly how they shaped his mustache, the tips curl. Using the shower pipe, he limps his way into the vast room. A replay shows him running down the stairs. Just as he reaches the seventh floor the dimmed, flickering lights give in and he misses a step. Just as he stumbles down the steps turn smooth and he glides until he hits a wall coming to a full stop. The lights turn back on and he’s only a few feet away from the female tribute from District 4. Not backing down, she jumps on top of him and tries to strangle him with an extension cord. Being bigger than her, Clarke gets the upper hand by punching her square in the face. When she falls back, he pins her down and chokes her with his own hands. A warm sensation covers my whole body. It feels like I just woke up from a nightmare and don’t wanna look anymore but the sound of crackling fire calls my attention.

In the tennis court, he’s found a new weapon, it looks like a big fly swatter made of shiny metal. Without skipping a beat he swings it, hitting the ball of fire headed his way. It lands across the room. Knowing he has to get out of there, with the pole in one hand, fly swatter in other, he limps as fast as he can towards the exit. On his way he manages to swat two more before he makes it out.

My heart skips a beat, the cameras switch to Eddy hiding inside a big wardrobe. He’s sweating and rocking back and forth from exhaustion. His eyes are closed tight and he has a hand over his mouth while the other shakes holding the doors shut. Just outside roams a white figure with no real shape. It hovers from one corner of the room to the other. It’s shape looks like a person walking around with a white sheet over themselves but it’s see through. I’ve never seen a ghost before. Goosebumps form on the back of my neck and shoulders, my heart beats fast. The figure, although not really touching anything manages to open drawers and even hovers back and forth in front of the wardrobe until it disappears completely.

The setting changes and now we follow up on the male tribute from District 2, he’s found the female career from 2 and male from 1, they walk around the halls of the eighth floor looking for who knows what. Probably following up on their bloodlust. Not interesting enough, the camera switches to the female tribute from District 3. Wouldn’t know who any of these people are if it weren’t for the informational panel on the bottom right corner. Here the words that appear are the age, district and names of those shown. Her name is Ada and she’s fourteen years old. Slowly, holding herself back by her back, arms and knees, she crawls downwards inside a vent. This makes me nervous and I'm not the only one. Wendy shakes her hand nervously and whispers to Destiny. Something horrible is bound to happen to Ada here. She’s visibly vulnerable and if something were to happen she’d be forced to let herself fall. The true horror is the underlying question, how far down would she go?

Replays of all the deaths make my stomach churn. Curiosity had me watching the games attentively but now, I don’t wanna open my eyes. I cover my ears and put my head on the desk. I shut my eyes just like Eddy but that look on the choked girl’s face keeps forcing itself in my mind. By the time the school day ends I feel the urge to leave everything behind and run out of class, but I don’t. Calmy, I put on my backpack noticing how shaky I am and silently walk out of the classroom. I’ve forgotten all about Ari until she catches up at the end of the hall. I don’t say much but I do hug her goodbye again before we walk out the building. I ain’t tryna get in trouble for talking to her. It feels like if anyone were to raise their voice at me, I’d drop where I stood, dig a hole to the center of the earth and never resurface. At least Eddy is still alive. For now.

[doublenuzlocke]

Entry #3: Explosions in the Desert

((aka does this even count as an AU I just moved them to a different Pokemon game ;;;;;

but also I am a sucker for adding Colosseum onto everything can you tell that I really, REALLY want to rewrite the whole game ;;;; ))

  “We’ve been stranded here for days and it’s your fault!”

  “How is it my fault that you got bored and decided to gamble all our travel funds away and then get banned from the casino?”

  Gold rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. But you’re the one who wanted to visit Pyrite in the first place.”

  “We couldn’t go straight from Phenac to Agate, it’s too far!”

  Kotone huffed at him and he could see that he wasn’t about to win this argument. He let out an aggravated breath and stepped down. “Fine. I’m gonna go see if we can find some help.”

  “Don’t go out by yourself, this place is dangerous!”

  Kotone still looked angry, but her concern shone through. Gold pulled the two Poke Balls off his belt and held them up for her to see. For emphasis. “I’m not alone, Kotone.”

  She looked torn for a moment, debating whether or not to allow him to leave. In the end, she flipped open her ‘gear and turned away. “Don’t go too far, I’m calling up Norman so he can come get us.”

  “Not that asshole.” Gold shuddered at the thought of his dad arriving to scold him for his inconsiderate recklessness. Not to mention how angry his mom was gonna be when she found out. He cringed and left their hotel room. “Ugh, this really sucks.”

  Even if he pulled out Chocobo or Mom to complain to, they’d just agree with Kotone that he’d been the one being an ass here. Well, that Casino was the one who’d cheated him, first! He’d noticed their underhanded tactics and lying, telling him he’d lost when he’d clearly won, but they seemed to have the city’s police in the palm of their hands and had him thrown out for his troubles.

  Sulking, Gold wandered the dirty city’s battle square, ready for a fight to release some steam. He caught sight of a duo with a Whismur and a Lotad battling a Chaser girl with a Dustox and an Oddish. That didn’t seem entirely fair. Still, the Chaser managed to take out the duo’s Lotad and one of them sent out a Makuhita next.

  The moment the Makuhita came into sight, Gold froze. It seemed wrong somehow, surrounded by a dark aura and drained of colour. Without any issues, it beat both the opponent Pokemon, then turned on its partner.

  The duo quickly withdrew their Pokemon (the Whismur and the Makuhita), then collected their prize money. And Gold should’ve known better. He should’ve listened to Kotone and returned right back to her. But the warning bells in his head were going off too loudly for his common sense to kick in and he approached the duo, determination in his steps.

  “Hey, nice battle.” He grinned and waved, greeting them with his best faux friendliness act. The two warily turned their attention to him and he continued, going directly for the kill. “Must be easy to beat up some unsuspecting chumps with an illegal Pokemon like that.”

  The two of them hesitated before the one with the orange Mohawk spoke up. “What’re you talking about, ‘illegal Pokemon’? How could such a thing exist?”

  “I dunno.” Gold shrugged, keeping up his act of friendly innocence. “You tell me why your Makuhita there was weirdly dark and powerful enough to take down a Pokemon it should be ineffective against.”

  The two shared a look, then brandished their Poke Balls at him. “Those are fighting words if I ever heard any. Don’t you agree, Trudly?”

  “I’d say you’re right there, Folly.” The other sneered and they sent out their Pokemon, the Whismur and dark Makuhita. “Let’s demonstrate why you don’t come 'round here asking too many questions.”

  Gold smirked, confident that Chocobo and Mom could handle these losers. The Makuhita, though, charged right towards him. He didn’t get a chance to even send his team out. It punched him right in the gut and the shock, along with the impact, knocked him out immediately.

//

  Crys hated sand.

  She hated sand, the heat, and the general lawlessness of the land.

  But complaining about Orre wasn’t about to help her get a plane ticket outta there, so she had to keep fighting and living in spite of all that she hated.

  If she just continued playing along with Snagem, then she could make enough for the gas to get to Agate. As long as they believed she was a loyal scientist, then she could plan out her betrayal without any of them being the wiser.

  Maybe in another life she could’ve studied Shadow Pokemon more, researched into why Orre had no wild Pokemon when other regions’ deserts could support their wildlife, done something useful with her life. As it was, she could only bide her time until she could make her escape.

  Luckily, she wasn’t the only voice of discontent amongst the ranks. Another grunt, Silver, was also itching to blow the joint (though he was a fantastic actor, keeping his stony expression as he discussed a plan to bomb the place with her) and agreed to work with her to cause a ruckus in exchange for getting out. It’d taken zero convincing on her part, which was fine and dandy since he was a valuable addition to her plan with his knowledge on explosives.

  They blew the place up, stole the snag machine, and never looked back. If they hadn’t needed to stop for gas at the old train pit stop, they might’ve gone straight to Unova. Maybe further. Crys was just so glad to finally be out.

//

  While Crys handled filling up the bike, Silver decided to check out the small establishment. The news was all ready reporting on their coup of the blown Snagem base, but Silver ignored it in favour of ordering some waters for him and Crys. Two of the patrons, however, stood and rushed out after the report ended. Might’ve been two lowly grunts, who cared? Silver paid the nice bartender, then left to rejoin Crys.

  “That was Trudly and Folly.” She remarked as soon as he was within speaking distance. He grimaced, prompting her to continue and please explain why that should’ve mattered to him at all. “They had a sack in the back of their vehicle. I thought maybe they’d stolen some Pokemon, but it was too big to be just a stash of Poke Balls.”

  Again, Silver regarded her with his very unamused stare. “And why would that be our concern?”

  “Silver, they might’ve kidnapped someone.” She frowned at him. “We should really try to stop them.”

  She had such a lawful mentality. He often wondered how Snagem had managed to keep her for so long. He also wasn’t willing to try to talk her out of this. It was her bike, after all. With a heavy sigh, he hopped into the sidecar. “They’ll be heading to Phenac.”

  She relaxed in relief, then climbed onto the bike proper to start it up. “Right. Let’s see if we can stop them before they reach the 'mayor’.”

  The bike’s engine roared to life and they took off, out into the open desert. Silver pulled his goggles on as she flicked her visor down over her eyes. He’d heard from a terrified scientist that she’d been the one closest to the explosion when they’d been trying to create the first snagging device prototype, but it never seemed to stop her. Now she wore the fruits of that experiment, the smaller and portable model, on her arm.

  Learning about her had been useful at the time, but they’d soon go on their separate ways. Silver needn’t worry over any potential weaknesses her scar might cause her. He didn’t have to worry over her figuring out his own weaknesses, either.

  They arrived at Phenac after a couple of hours and found Trudly and Folly, the two inept idiots, attempting to carry the burlap sack that clearly held a human body inside through the main plaza. Silver almost didn’t want to intervene, curious as to how far they’d make it before they were captured by the authorities. However, Crys had all ready leapt up to confront them, so Silver begrudgingly followed suit.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Crys shouted at them.

  They jumped, fumbling and dropping their body in a sack as a consequence. A muffled groan of pain came from it and Silver was almost impressed. How two failures like them could’ve managed to actually kidnap a human being was a fortuitous amount of bullshit he couldn’t even begin to imagine. Trudly held up his hands, pleading. “What? Whaddaya want with us? We’re busy, that’s what.”

  “Yeah, we’re busy.” Folly added in, crouching to attempt to gather the sack back up. “We’ve got a real catch here and the Mayor asked us to–”

  “Shut up!”

  Trudly hissed and Folly did, in fact, shut up. Unfortunately for them, that’s when the sack started shouting. “Help! Get me outta here! Murderers!”

  Folly shook the sack roughly. “We ain’t murderers, we’re kidnappers! Get it right!”

  Trudly smacked the back of Folly’s head. “You idiot!” He glanced up at Crys and Silver, then around the plaza. The noise was drawing a crowd. Trudly growled and yanked Folly to his feet. “We gotta ditch, else Mirror B’s gonna make us sit through another punishment concert. He’ll be hearing about you from us, Crys!”

  After hurling a last (and laughably ineffective) threat, Trudly dragged Folly off, out of the city’s entrance. Crys went to give chase, then stopped herself. She let out a tired exhale and approached the sack, motioning for Silver to follow her. “You all right in there?”

  “Unless a bruised gut and some probably cracked ribs count as 'fine’, then nope, not at all, thanks.”

  Both Crys and Silver were taken aback by the response, having not expected one. Crys tugged at the knot keeping the sack tied shut and, reluctantly, Silver knelt down to help. She spoke with conviction, if a bit distracted by the task at hand. “Once we get you out of there, we’ll take you to the Centre here so you can get more help. That sound good?”

  “Sure, yeah, as long as it’s not here, I’m sure it’ll be great.”

  They got the knot untied and carefully removed the bag to reveal a guy, probably around their age, with black hair and dried blood around his mouth. Crys winced at the sight. “They got you good. Need some help or are you okay to stand on your own?”

  “I think I can do it myself.” The guy tested his legs, gritting his teeth with every movement. They really needed to get this guy to a Centre. He managed to stand, holding an arm to his stomach, and grinned half-heartedly at them. “Thanks, by the way. I’m Gold, nice to meet'cha.”

  Crys softened and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. “Crys. And this is Silver. Careful, now.”

  She directed Gold towards the PokeCentre, which was thankfully not too far away. It was also nice that she’d introduced Silver for him, as if she’d known he wasn’t about to do it himself. This seemed dangerous, but it wasn’t like they had much of a choice. If they’d simply left, they’d draw even more attention, after all. Silver rolled his eyes, but followed after them. It’d at least be interesting to hear this Gold’s explanation on how this even happened.

[narekashi]

An Uno Game with the Red and Black Army

Hey we all need some uno no matter where we are.

~~~~~~~~~~

At first, it was just a game trying to get the Black Army and Red Army higher ups to get along a little more.

Then it became chaos.

"How dare you +4 me you Black Army scum!" Jonah yelled furiously, glaring daggers at Seth who sat besides him (much to his displease) with a casual smile on his face.

"My apologies for you being the one to sit next to me, Cling of Hearts." Seth countered back showing absolutely no displeasure in making his enemy grab more cards. In fact, everyone around the table was looking more happy that he did +4 Jonah before he got down to his last card.

"H-How dare you insult me, the red army's Queen of Hearts!" Jonah slammed his cards on the table and jabbed a finger pointing at Seth. "Sir Lancelot, I demand we cut his head off at once!"

Lancelot on the other side of the table looked like he was ready to burst into laughter but Sirius was already laughing next to him with a small grin on his face. "Well King of the Red Army, would you like to commence war and cut off our dear 10 of Spade's head?" Sirius gave a teasing look to the male next to him.

"Jonah it is your duty to remember that you must take responsibility for what happens next and plan for your next move against the enemy when they attack. This proves that you were not well equipped and prepared for whatever could have come next. Take this as a lesson from our enemy instead." Lancelot replied formally yet the small smile on his face showed that his words were to be more or less a joke.

"I-I understand my king. I have failed to please you. I will do better next time." Jonah's shoulders slumped forwards as he sat back in his chair and drawing his inevitable four cards into his hand, turning his previous two cards into a modest six cards.

"Me next." Edgar said in a sing song tone with his usual poker smile on his face. He took out his left most card and placed it down onto the stack in front of him. A yellow card with a big number 4 was stacked on top now.

"...... Ed did you see my cards?" Luka turned to his right to stare at his former school mate's eyes with menace.

"I certainly did not Luka. That would considered cheating isn't it?" Edgar chuckled at the wild question that was thrown at him and tossed it away like it was nothing.

Luka's frown deepen as he took out two cards from his hand and placed them in front of him. "Green four and Blue four," he announced. Edgar's eyebrows twitched a bit at the sight of his plan to make his dear friend force to use his +2 card was thwarted. Looking at the purple haired male, he swore there was a little smirk on his face before he turned away.

"Yo Luka, did you have to put the blue before the green?" Fenrir groaned as he skimmed through his cards again with a dissatisfied look and a big frown. "MC can I change cards with Ray!"

"No you can't! That's against the rules!" MC shouted from the other side as she was desperately trying to get Jonah's hands off of Seth before a fight broke out between the two.

Fenrir groaned again and slumped into his chair. He was a goner, he had no blue cards and no cards with the number four. He was going to be the first black army officer in the game to have to draw cards that wasn't by a plus card. His dignity and ego was on the line here! How could he have been so foolish to use all his blue cards previously!

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his thighs. He looked down under the table to see a number 7 blue card resting on it. He looked up and saw Ray smiling a little to him, winking quickly to signal him saying it was their secret. Fenrir's eyes shone like the gods have blessed on him but instead of the gods, it was his best buddy with the card he could use to escape death.

"Hah! 7 blue baby how about that!" Fenrir smacked the card into the stack with a big smile of his face that resembled a 7 year old winning a game of Go Fish and every game previously before that game too. It was like the heavens have spoke about the fate of the game already.

"Wow good job for you bro." Ray chuckled and placed down a red number seven this time. "We're definitely going to win this aren't we?".

"We definitely will bro." Fenrir nodded with his winning smile.

Zero looked like he was ready to give up seeing everyone like this but just sighed instead. He was on his last two cards like Jonah was previously too so he has to put down the last power card he had. Inside in mind, he apologised to his king who was going up next.

"Red +2," Zero said, putting down said card onto the stack in front of him.

"Traitor! How could you plus our king, Zero! Are you trying to rebel against our king?!" Jonah yelled from the other side of the table again but was smacked on the head with a book by MC.

"Jonah quiet down and play the game properly and stop yelling every word you say! It's just a game for god sakes!" She hissed at the male below her who glared back in return. With that, an intense staring contest started with imaginary flames starting from behind them.

"Now now Alice, there's no need to talk to someone who has a defeated purpose already." Seth grinned and tried to seperate the two, succeeding in so but now with Jonah glaring at him instead but he didn't really mind it at all.

Meanwhile, Lancelot nodded his head and looked at Zero. "A good move Zero, seeing you make the best decisions on your own is a sign of good benefits. Very good job."

"Thank you sire," Zero thanked gratefully.

"Unfortunately, I will not lose this battle as well." Lancelot smirked and put down a +4 card. Everyone around the table gasped at the sight of a now +6 to Sirius who was next.

"And for that, I too will not." Sirius looked at Lancelot and gave an equally evil smirk, putting down another +2 cards to the stack.

"Hey it's go big or go home now!" Kyle who was previously yawning at the boring game was now smiling. He grabbed two +2 cards and placed it onto the stack.

Everyone gasped again. The stakes were high now with the next person having to draw 12 cards. Seth who was next looked unfazzed though as he was being continously glared at by the Queen of Hearts and casually picking out his cards.

"Mr Jonah Clemence, would you perhaps have any plus cards in your hand?" Seth said in a sing song tone again.

"And why should I tell that to you scum?" Jonah intensified his glare from evil to burning hot.

"Because too bad~"

Seth took out 3 of the cards in his hand and placed it down.

Two +2 cards and one +4 card.

With a grand total of 20 cards, Jonah looked like he was ready to kill everyone in the room.

"YOU DISGUSTING PIG FROM THE FARM--"

"MC NO DON'T SLAM THE TABLE ONTO JONAH'S HEAD!!"

[moistwithgender]

Monthly Media Roundup (April 2019)

April was a bit of a disaster month for me, and as such I didn’t get much of anything finished. Old wounds got reopened, I was sick all month, I had an unavoidably bad birthday, and a lifelong pet died. I didn’t engage with a lot of things, and mostly slept. I did play a lot of Breath of the Wild, but seeing as I didn’t finish that, I’m not including it yet. Here’s the things I did finish:

Games:

Blaster Master Zero (Switch): I actually first bought and finished this two years ago, and since the sequel has come out I decided to replay it with the Shovel Knight DLC character. While I genuinely like this game (I 100%’d it both times), I was not really in a good spot to enjoy this playthrough, and just kinda mindlessly pushed through it for nine consecutive hours, beating it in that single sitting. Playing as a DLC character removes the story, which is fine since they’re intended for replays, though I wonder if it added to my emotional disconnect. SK doesn’t receive fall damage, and so the precariousness of navigating the world outside of the highly-mobile tank doesn’t exist nearly as much, though the trade-off is that SK’s combat abilities in dungeons are hindered by an overall lack of range. The game is still rather easy, though, so I can’t say any particular level cadences or combat scenarios carved their way into my memory.

To the game’s credit, though, the things that are good about it are still good. If you have an attachment to the original NES game, or an interest in retro properties, or just want a nice, breezy platformer, it’s very good. It’s interesting in how it repurposes the altered plot of the US version of the original game (where it was its most popular), including even the plot of the little novelization that came out because Gotta Get Those Video Game Kids to Read Something. It has a fake out ending, and if you 100% the maps it unlocks a final map that is genuinely surreal enough to be the highlight of the game. Despite my sighing, it is a genuinely good time, and I’m very curious to play the new game, somewhat hilariously titled Blaster Master Zero 2.

Anime:

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: I chewed through the last four episodes of this so that I could say I finally finished the season. I didn’t watch the post-season recap episode. TenSura (the abbreviation of the Japanese title, which I will use to refer to it because satisfyingly abbreviating the english title is impossible) is not a very good show, but for about half the length of the 24-episode first season, it fascinates due to how it functions at all. TenSura is an isekai show, much like the other isekai shows, where a person dissatisfied with their life is brutally murdered (usually by a truck. USUALLY by a truck) and is reborn in a fantasy world that coincidentally gives them an absurd advantage over other people, allowing them to live out all the decadence they felt they deserved in the real world. If this sounds like the most boring kind of wish fulfillment possible to you, that’s because it is. It’s also extremely popular with consumers. Which is interesting! I think the isekai boom is indicative of how late-stage capitalism everyday people the world over, that we envision or escape to worlds where your efforts actually return appropriate reward. A bonkers concept, to be sure.

In TenSura, the formula doesn’t stray much. The main character is a man in his 30s (?) who has never fucked and gets knifed to death while HEROICALLY saving a coworker from a plot-irrelevant stabber dude who was running down the sidewalk with his knife out for no reason besides Main Character Needs an Inciting Incident Now. It’s actually pretty weirdly violent for the start to a show that is almost entirely light-hearted. Dude dies, his coworker dumps his hard drive in the bath out of respect (lol), and he wakes up in a fantasy world that works on videogame logic, including loot, skill trees, and class upgrades. He is reborn as an adorable slime a la Dragon Quest, but the personality traits he had in his previous life (and I guess his choice of dying words) scan to obscenely convenient passive abilities that ensure he’s not only invincible, but will never stop experiencing exponential power growth. Also he immediately makes friends with a final boss-level dragon and then eats him. That’s how he makes friends in this sometimes.

I’m being very cynical here, but the core narrative loop (and it IS a loop) of the series kept my interest for longer than I expected. Rimuru (the name of the reborn protagonist) goes somewhere he hasn’t been, astonishes the nearby (sometimes violent) inhabitants with his overpowered abilities, makes friends with them, and then improves their lives with community. Goblins, direwolves, orcs, demon lords. It stacks and builds upon itself to absurd degrees but it’s interesting that in a genre loaded with very problematic stories of disenchanted dudes finally getting the underage harem they’ve always wanted (aaaaAAAAAAAAA) that the main concept of this series is improving the lives of others and giving them closure for the ways life has hurt them. Even if. Sometimes that hurt was the main character’s doing? Like Rimuru absolutely decapitates a direwolf leader and then adopts the pack who from then on absolutely LOVE the dude. Also one of Rimuru’s abilities is that if he gives a monster a name, it class upgrades, which is generally and reasonably seen as a life improvement. Though, these class upgrades are almost always decidedly “less-tribal” or outright human, which smacks of some imperialist thinking. It’s also something I’m sure I never questioned in old videogames growing up. Meanwhile, there’s also a bit with a woman who came from Japan during that one really bad war, you know the one, and the closure she’s given as she’s dying is handled with actual delicacy. It’s a weird series! It’s only a shame to me that after most of the first season, there was less to talk about. Sometime after the halfway mark, you realize the show is never going to maintain tension for more than half an episode, that all problems are solvable (yes, even terminally ill children), and that the show isn’t going anywhere you can’t predict. It’s a checklist show, and the plot points are a list of achievements being checked off one episode at a time.

I don’t think I would actually recommend the show to most people, despite how popular it is. It’s not a great show, but it does weird enough things for a while that it generates conversations. Which is honestly pretty okay. It’s a pretty okay show. Also, Rimuru is effectively nonbinary (with he pronouns), and that’s… somethin’! (24 episodes, finished 4/17/19, Crunchyroll (Funimation also now has the dub I think? Clips I saw were pretty weird, Rimuru seemed to be characterized differently.))

Manga:

Nejimaki Kagyu Vol 1: You would think a manga that immediately starts with a reference to Phantom Blood would be, well, at least interesting.

Okay maybe invoking a beloved work doesn’t actually mean anything. I just wanted to share this blatant callback. Nejimaki Kagyu is a seinen manga about a highschool teacher whose tragically cursed to, uh, have all teenage girls fall in love with him. And the highschool-age childhood friend of his who has spent her whole life obsessed with him and learning super martial arts to defend his chastity. Her supers make her clothes explode.

…

I take no joy in this travesty.

Anyway, uh. The biggest tragedy here is that the art is actually really good, though the paneling is regularly squished around to hilarious degree. Let’s look at some pages and then forget this manga exists forever.

That horror face is how I feel the entire series should be portraying itself. The manga has a distinct lack of self-awareness.

The fan translation for this series appears to have dropped off halfway through and hasn’t been picked up for years, and based on reviews I saw on MAL talking about the directionlessness of the later volumes, I wonder if the translator got fed up with the series. Oh well!

Kyou no Asuka Show Vol 1: Oh god damn it I just got done with talking about a series about ogling the youth.

BLEASE STOP

Okay so. Kyou no Asuka Show, or “Today’s Asuka Show” is an older slice of life manga by the same author I mentioned previously who is doing an edutainment series about people working in a condom factory. Innocently-minded women in comedically lewdish situations appears to be his whole bag. I think Asuka is pretty charming, but I also know she’s designed to appeal to my monkey male gaze. Obliviously sexy is very much a mood, and in a more adult context I would be all for it. There have been a few chapters where I find myself at odds with the wisdom the author is attempting to impart, sometimes through Asuka’s father, who works as an adult photographer, and doesn’t want his daughter involved in anything that could cause her to be ogled. Like, that’s already something that requires a lot of unpacking in the modern day. Aforementioned wisdom sometimes takes the form of Asuka doing something stupid and innocent and ripe for objectifying, like wearing a school swimsuit in a rainstorm. Or she’ll work a job as a cute girl courier and inadvertently turn a shut-ins life around. Situations where, if it were in real life, I’d think “wow that’s weird and charming,” but by being a work of intentional authorship, it inherently loses some of that innocence, and becomes something well-meaning but problematic. Is that the second time I’ve used the word “problematic” in this post? Is this 2014?

I may continue reading this, but I really can’t recommend it to most people I know in 2019 without several disclaimers and also without probably getting some side eye. I think it’s worth a couple chapters to feel out what its doing before you decide whether you can siphon the charm from it, or would rather move on to something else.

Me enjoying myself when this manga tries to suddenly get up to some shit.

Blue Period Vol 1: This is the last thing on my list, because I don’t want to expand this list beyond the three mediums I’ve already assigned to it. Also, I actually finished this May 1st, but I wanted to talk about it now.

If I had the power to actually get people to engage with a specific work once per month, Blue Period would easily be the one I pick. That doesn’t mean as much when all the other things I finished this month were conflicted experiences, but I really think everyone would benefit from this series. Or at least anyone with even a passing interest in visual arts.

Blue Period (named for Picasso’s Blue Period) is about a highschool delinquent who has a knack for studying, a safe social life, and no interests in pretty much anything. He’s on the road to do fine in his life, and he doesn’t question it much, but that’s it, until he discovers art and realizes it’s the only way he’s ever been able to truly communicate his feelings. It changes everything about him, for more emotionally satisfying reasons, but also riskier ones. He only has one year of highschool to go to decide what he’s doing with his life, and Japan has a very strict education system. You’re not really allowed to just “get around” to things.

Apologies in advance if you’re tired of me spamming full pages but I really do wanna show this off. This is another series with an educational angle to it, though the emphasis is definitely more rooted in a personal narrative of growth. The explanations of art practice and the functionality of exercises and tools are both very informative and relevant to the characters, never feeling like the story is taking a backseat to explain. The characters are, hilariously, everyone I’ve ever met in an art class. There’s the kid who would rather exclusively draw the things they like, there’s the kid who likes art as a hobby but haaaates being given a project, etc etc. There are students who have an innate grasp on how to draw but haven’t internalized the Why of the exercises, and students who are receptive to the lessons but don’t have the ability to match. The narrative is extremely even-handed towards all of these different levels of skills, and places a lot more importance on why, emotionally, you should totally care about drawing apples and water pitchers for five hours at a time. It’s GREAT and I want to force it on every creative I’ve ever known.

Another thing I appreciate about this series so far is that while there has been something resembling sexual/romantic tension, it’s kind of not like that at all? In the first volume I haven’t been able to pinpoint where a potential relationship subplot would go, if at all. Two possibilities are this girl:

...who is a very likable character but surprisingly doesn’t fit into that box of “standard love interest”. The protag’s interactions with her have been exclusively respectful and admiring, which doesn’t even necessarily imply a romantic subplot, but would be pretty cool if it did? And the other girl:

...who is featured in decidedly more sexual tension-y contexts, is actually TRANS. The manga actually portrays them so uncompromisingly feminine that I didn’t realize they were crossdressing (the term used in the text) until the author’s notes at the end of the volume. I will partially blame this on me being out of it this month, since I just went back to their introduction and yep, they got misgendered and contested it. Given how the character is regularly framed (confident, attractive, skilled, nonstereotypical), I’m… pretty okay with this! If a romance blooms between a delinquent boy and a trans girl, that’s amazing.

I hope y’all understand where I’m coming from in expecting a shoehorned romantic subplot. I’m not hoping for one, I just know the product by now. And if it happens, the options are considerably more interesting than usual.

These are pretty good kids.

Manga licensing is a lot better nowadays than it ever was before, with lots of obscure series being picked up, old series getting re-localized, and translations being better than ever. I really really want this series to get licensed so someone can be compensated for it, and so more people might read it. Until then, I think you should look up the fan work.

---

So that’s all for April. If these posts included live-action movies, I’d have talked about Endgame, but I also don’t want to go spoiling anything for someone who still wants to go see that (it’s probably one of my favorite MCU movies, though). I read most of 1970-71 in Marvel comics, or at least most of the issues on my reading list, but I semi-liveblog about those, so you can just search my “curry reads comics” tag for that. Here’s hoping I have more interesting, more positive things to say about May in a month. I expect to finish Breath of the Wild by then, so I’ll finally talk about that. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far! Go check out Blue Period.

[a-heist-of-words]

Secret Septic!

So, yes, I am your Secret Septic. I'm also not an artist, so the sending you your present via DM wasn't going to happen. Have a short fic about the Egos instead! Happy New Year!

Marvin’s room was dark. Curtains shut, lights off, only a few candles on his desk gave any illumination. They barely reflected off the spines of his spell tomes or various pieces of equipment, but he didn’t need them for that.

Currently his hands were steepled over a map of a city, elbows resting on the table and head ducked down to look below his hands. From his fingers a pale pink crystal hung from a leather cord, swinging lazily. The crystal itself was long and thin, tapering into a sharp point.

It had taken him months to get to this moment, to have it narrowed down to a single city. He was so close to finding Schneep he almost couldn’t stand it.

That kind of thinking wouldn’t help him find the good doctor.

He took long deep breaths, ignoring how the candles flickered and cast shadows on his deep blue walls. His eyes zeroed in on the crystal, which was still spinning lazily, and he held Schneep’s face as best as he could in his head. Marvin hadn’t seen him in nearly nine months, but it wasn’t hard.

It shouldn’t be, the doctor’s face was similar enough to his own and his brothers, but there was this sharp professionalism to him that everyone else lacked. Everything about Schneep was crisp and neat and so done with everyone’s bullshit.

His eyes flicked to the picture on his desk, for when he felt sentimental or needed to remind himself. A group photo with them all, Schneep looking irritably amused (if that was possible) as Jackie and Chase pulled stupid faces, Jack was laughing his ass off and Marvin had given them all finger bunny ears.

Marvin felt a twinge of unease at Jack’s face, before focusing on Schneep’s and going back to the crystal. Jack was a problem to be solved after they got Schneep back.

Mental image crystal clear, the magician stared at the crystal as it continued to move, swinging back and forth.

Time blurred and extended into nothing as the crystal continued to swing. Back and forth, back and forth. Almost hypnotic.

The swinging slowly transitioned to circling. Large circles, covering the entire city, but slowly, agonisingly, getting smaller.

There was no clock on Marvin’s room, but hours must have passed by the time the circles were so small it had almost pinpointed an exact location.

Marvin’s breathe caught in his throat in anticipation. Almost there, almost there...

The crystal stopped moving, pointing to a point at the back of the map, to the north and on the outskirts of the city. Marvin gingerly stood up, not daring to move a single muscle in his hands. He read the address, then carefully he put his weight on one foot and lifted his other leg up, his socked toe pushing record on a nearby tape recorder. He read the address out loud to make sure he got it before stopping the tape recorder and finally relaxing.

He leaned back in his chair, cord still tangled around the fingers of one hand. An address, he had an address. Schneep was almost home free.

Almost.

Marvin breathed out hard through his nose and stood up in a fluid motion, pushing his chair away from the desk. His mask and cloak were already on so he pulled open the door and looked outside, blinking rapidly in the sudden bright light.

The hallway in front of him was lined with three doors, mirroring the three doors on his side of the hallway. Two of those rooms were currently empty and that fact now gnawed at Marvin like a wild animal.

Without waiting for his eyes to adjust properly he left his room and jogged downstairs, popping his head around the door of the living area. Chase was playing video games, sat on the floor while JJ read in his recliner, feet propped up on a foot stool and toes occasionally wiggling within his socks.

Sadly, neither of them was who he was looking for.

“Have either or you seen Jackie?” he asked.

“Nope,” Chase didn’t look away from the screen, his fingers a blur of button mashes as he reached a difficult section. JJ looked up from his book, and seeing that Chase wasn’t going to elaborate, put his book down and began to sign.

“Jackie went out on patrol about an hour ago. May I ask what you need him for?”

Marvin gritted his teeth, Jackie was the best person for a rescue mission, but this couldn’t wait!

“Wanted his opinion on something. I’ll ask him when he gets back.”

JJ furrowed his brow and scrunched up his moustache. “Are you sure? You seem aggravated my friend.”

“A little annoyed,” Marvin allowed. “Probably just need caffeine. Thanks JJ,” he left the room before he saw JJ’s reply, rushing back up the stairs.

No Jackieboyman. Not great, but Marvin was powerful, he could handle this. He just, couldn’t sit on this information. He knew where Schneep was! Finally! After months and months of nothing he knew where Henrik von Schneeplestien was, and he was not going to wait!

He flicked on the light properly in the room, revealing the organised chaos of his spell casting equipment. Paper runes, chalk, lumps of wood and their carving knives, and piles upon piles of books.

In a whirlwind of movement, cape billowing, but miraculously not knocking anything over, Marvin got his equipment ready. His wand, stereotypically black with white tips, was tucked into his belt within easy reach. A bag of rune stones was tucked into a pocket in his cloak, since magicians had to have a lot of pockets. In another pocket in his cloak went some defensive charms; shields, smoke bombs that sort of thing, for a quick escape. Finally he collected damn near every protective talisman he had, and there were a lot. He’d made a habit of carving new ones whenever he hit a dead end.

Some of them he hung around his neck, there was one in every pocket he had and make extra sure he found some ink and began to daub markings on his arms and under his mask.

This was Anti he was dealing with, you couldn’t be too careful.

Each marking glowed green and went dark when it was done, as they were all separate charms. He could make a big, complicated charm that would take hours to break, but trying to get through a hundred simpler ones would probably take longer. He hoped.

Adjusting his jumper he finally paused, and took a deep breath. This was it. He played the tape again to make sure he had the address right, adjusted his mask and sleeves to make sure the marks were suitably covered, and went downstairs.

He paused outside the living room, where the sound of Chase’s video game was blaring, was he playing Spyro again? Marvin cast that question from his mind and focused on a better one. Should he tell Chase and JJ what he was doing?

...No. No he shouldn’t. They would only worry, and get their hopes up. And JJ, JJ had never met Schneep, the man wouldn’t know what to expect. No, best they didn’t know.

He leaned his head around again, getting JJ’s attention.

“I’m heading out,” he informed, and JJ raised his eyebrows. “If Jackie comes back, tell him to look in my room.”

“Whatever for?” JJ asked.

“The thing I wanted his opinion on.”

“And, that is?”

“He’ll know when he sees it,” Marvin assured. “I’ll see you later!”

Once again, he left too quickly for JJ to respond. The gentleman actually got up and made to follow him, but Marvin had already left the house, slamming the front door behind him.

He held the address in his mind before thrusting his hand out in front of him and making a motion like turning a door handle. There was a click only he heard and a rush of warmth only he felt, and he pulled open the door into space and stepped through.

There was a few seconds where he felt weightless, like if he failed to concentrate he would float off into space, never to return. He kept the address clear in his mind, ignoring the whispers to let go, to leave.

Schneep needs me.

Another door opened, and Marvin stepped through.

  It was dark on the other side, late evening perhaps. Marvin stepped out into a street lit by the sunset and turned to face the lair of the beast.

A house.

That was it. A house, two stories, a garage, driveway and well tended to garden.

Marvin did a double take and doubted whether he’d remembered correctly. Or, maybe there was an issue with the divination; that discipline tended to fail if you weren’t completely focused.

Frowning and irritated about his wasted preparation Marvin placed his hand on the gate. Then snatched it back as if he had been burned.

That buzzing under his fingers, either a colony of bees lived in the wooden gate, or that was the buzz of static.

A second try to touch the gate gave him a static shock. Which shouldn’t have been possible on a wooden gate.

This was the right place, but when Marvin looked up at the building, he still felt a disconnect. This was not what he had been expecting. A decrepit house perhaps, abandoned warehouse, heck, even the added cruelty of an abandoned hospital or surgery was what Marvin was expecting. A normal house? That was, actually unnerving in its normality.

Wincing at the uncomfortable buzz under his fingers, Marvin pushed open the gate. Nothing happened.

Cautiously he stepped through and closed the gate behind him with a soft clunk. He padded up the path with the grace of a cat until he was at the front door. It was painted black, and Marvin tried to take a cursory look through the peep hole. Seeing nothing but darkness he crouched down and poked at the letter box. It didn’t move, so Marvin stood up, reflexively straightened his jumper, and gave the door a gentle push.

It opened without a sound, revealing solid darkness behind.

A voice in the back of Marvin’s head told to wait for Jackie. For any kind of backup. It was ignored, and Marvin pulled out his wand, holding it aloft as he stepped inside.

The door slammed shut behind him of its own accord and he could feel reality shift around him. The darkness flickered and split into lines of red blue and green, revealing a long hallway that would never have fit in the house.

There was a light burning sensation on his arm and Marvin gasped lightly, rolling up his sleeve to take a look. The ink on his left forearm was pulsing green and disintegrating.

Marvin shoved the sleeve back down and started to walk. The hallway was lined with doors, and when he came to first one he shoved it open.

Inside was a kitchen scene of people he didn’t recognise. A woman with dark hair pulled back into a bun, an equally dark haired child with Schneep’s piercing blue eyes, and a tall red haired man.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Marvin stepped inside the room.

The people didn’t move, eyes glassy and faces frozen in smiles. Marvin stepped in front of the man and his hand in front of his face. No reaction.

“What the hell?” he muttered, before shaking his head and leaving, going on to the next room.

This was a hospital scene, nurses and a doctor operating in fact. Marvin entered this one as well, but got the shock of his life when he saw who the frozen doctor was.

“Schneep!” he cried, leaning his head in front of the German’s, the doctor’s arms over the operating table and preventing Marvin from standing in front of him. “Schneep! It’s me!”

Schneep didn’t respond, still eyes fixed on the person on the table.

“C’mon!” Marvin tried shaking his shoulders, but Schneep barely moved. With a huff Marvin observed the rest of the scene. The nurses looked panicked, and the EKG was spiking badly. No one’s pulse was supposed to be that fast.

Realisation began to dawn on Marvin. This wasn’t the real Schneep, this was, a memory, a vision of sorts. Of one of the times where Schneep had failed to save someone. And the last one? His ex wife perhaps?

The things that would torture Schneep the most, which meant he had to be here!

The magician speed walked out of the room, wincing at the light burning moved to another of his protection marks. Pushing it to the back of his mind he power walked down the hall, pushing open doors to glance in them before moving on.

Now that he knew what they were he didn’t want to look too closely. If these were to specifically torture Schneep, then there was a severe personal element to them, which he didn’t feel comfortable looking into.

He only paused at the door where the interior was a replica of their kitchen.

He swallowed hard when he saw that it was a frozen happy scene of him, JJ, Chase and Jackie. All getting along fine without Schneep. Or at least, that’s what Schneep would probably think. Heck he didn’t know about JJ, he must have thought he’d been replaced!

Steeling himself, Marvin moved on.

The markings on his skin had disappeared and he could feel light heat from his pockets as his physical talismans began to crumble away. He still had time, but he didn’t want to think about what would happen if he ran out. However, he had reached the end of the hallway.

This had to be it. It was the only door that didn’t look like a normal door. It was metal, with a slit in the top for looking through.

Marvin quickly looked around him before looking through the slit in the door. He couldn’t see much; he seemed to be blocking out most of the light. As he looked he saw movement, what looked like a head looking up wearily before dropping down again.

Swallowing hard Marvin stepped back a little. Just in case he grabbed the handle and tried to open it, but as he expected, it was locked.

Taking another step back he pointed his wand at the lock and muttered the spell under his breath, wand tip moving back to move the latch back into the door. There was a soft click and Marvin rushed forward to open the door.

Schneep flinched as the door was flung open, and made an achingly pathetic attempt to crawl away in the cupboard sized room. He wasn’t restrained in anyway, but he looked so skinny and weak that it seemed like it would be pointless.

His clothes were ragged and torn, with his once white doctor’s coat grey and stained brown in places. His wrists were thin and bony, and his face, his face looked like a damn skull wearing cracked glasses.

“Schneep?” Marvin asked quietly, trying to keep his impatience at bay. “Schneep? It’s me.”

Schneep whimpered and put his hands over his ears, muttering in German.

“Du bist nicht echt,” he murmured, voice rough and husky. “Du bist nicht echt.”

“Scheep? C’mon, we have to go!”

“Nein, nein! Du bist nicht echt!”

“I have no idea what you’re saying man,” Marvin took a step forward, one hand holding the door open, and Schneep pressed himself against the wall, hands in front to ward off an attack.

“Es tut mir Leid, es tut mir Leid! Bitte!” he screamed, and Marvin had had enough.

“Schneep, Henrik! It’s me!”

The doctor looked at him and Marvin’s heart nearly broke. His eyes, behind his cracked lenses, his eyes looked broken, like shattered glass.

Getting an idea, Marvin grabbed a few of the charms from around his neck, which thankfully hadn’t started eroding yet, and pulled them off over his head.

“Hold still,” he told Schneep, who fearfully obeyed. The magician lowered them over Schneep’s head and let the wooden charms thud onto the doctor’s chest.

Schneep’s breathing instantly wasn’t so harsh, and he looked up at Marvin, then around him, seemingly surprised about where he was.

“...Marvin?”

“Yeah,” the magician smiled, relived that had worked. “I’m here man.”

Scheep stood up properly, wincing as he put weight on his left leg. “You’re real?”

“Pretty sure I am.”

Schneep cautiously shuffled over, and poked Marvin in the shoulder. He relaxed when he realised Marvin was solid.

“Mien Gott,” he breathed. “Oh mien Gott Marvin...”

“I know, I know,” Marvin wasn’t really sure how to deal with the fact Schneep looked like he was about to cry. “Let’s get out of here, okay?”

Schneep’s already pale face somehow got paler, but he nodded. “Okay, okay mein freund.”

He seemed to have trouble walking on his left leg, so Marvin draped Schneep’s arm over his shoulder, trying not to wince at how skinny his arm felt. He could feel the German’s bones.

They began to make their slow trek up the RBG corridor, Schneep pressing himself closer to Marvin at every door they passed. Schneep’s injured leg made it take three times as long, and the charms were still eroding.

Marvin had to replace Schneep’s halfway down, getting rid of all of the charms around his neck. He could still feel the charms in his pockets, over half of them were gone now.

“We need to go faster,” he muttered, looking around. So far no sign of Anti, and it didn’t seem like him. For all he knew, the glitch could be watching them, giggling to himself before yanking escape from them at the last second.

That really wasn’t helpful thinking.

“I know Marvin, I know, I’m sorry,” Schneep was oblivious to Marvin’s thoughts and tried to move faster, but only tired himself out.

“Nevermind,” Marvin quickly rectified, “I’ll be slower carrying you, I’m no Jackie.”

“There is not much to me now,” Schneep chuckled weakly, and Marvin felt some relief that he could tell a joke in this condition.

“True, but let’s not find out my physical strength now,” was it Marvin’s imagination, or was static creeping in on the red blue and green colouring?

Schneep didn’t seem to notice so Marvin kept walking. The door was getting closer.

“Is it true?” Schneep asked quietly, clearly not sure if he wanted Marvin to hear. Sadly, other than the sounds of their shoes and breathing, the hallway was dead silent.

“Is what true?” Marvin sighed, not too fond of the vague question.

“Have you replaced me?”

“What? No!” Marvin shook his head. “Of course not! JJ just kinda showed up, like we all did. You’ll like him, I promise.”

Schneep didn’t respond to that, and Marvin let it drop.

They continued to walk, and Marvin tried to ignore the buzzing of static on the edge of hearing. He still hand charms, he could make it. It would be tight, he would make it.

Mores charms eroded burned on their slow trek. Almost there, almost there.

Almost within touching distance of the door Marvin glanced at Schneep. He had one whole charm left. Meanwhile, Marvin could feel his last one crumbling. Turns out, he wasn’t going to make it.

He had to get Schneep out. That was the whole point. Jackie should be back by now, he’d know where to look.

“Hey, Schneep, reckon you can walk on your own for a bit?” he asked, smiling sheepishly. “My shoulders ache.”

Schneep slid his arm off Marvin’s shoulders wordlessly and hobbled towards the door, both of them were in reaching distance. Static buzzed and flared in between the red blue and green, and Marvin was certain he could hear high pitched giggling, but he kept his eyes on Schneep.

“Sorry about this,” Marvin said, and before Schneep could respond, Marvin shoved him hard, making the door fling open and Schneep flew through it, his mouth open in shock.

“Marvin!” he started to yell, a flash of red appearing behind him. Marvin’s last charm disappeared, the door slammed shut, and reality warped into a spaceless mess, static shrieking and colours blinding.

“MARVIN!”

[11jj11]

Far From Yesterday - Ch 18 - Marissonshipping

Here’s chapter eighteen.

Alex sighed as his claws dug at the dirt.

He still wasn’t quite sure how he had let Lucas convince him that trying to tunnel out was a good idea– because the Charmeleon knew quite well that you couldn’t dig your way out of a building. However here he was, claws pawing at the compacted soil as he tried to claw his way deeper.

He was currently about four feet deep, and the earth was only getting harder the farther he down he went. His tail flames were the only light in the shadowy corner of their enclosure, but on the bright side the shadows did hide their hole from the humans. Lucas was keeping watch for any sign of their keepers as he dug, and also spreading out the dirt Alex was digging up in an attempt to make things looked undisturbed as possible.

‘This is stupid,’ Alex declared after several more minutes of digging, peering out of the hole. ‘Even if we could dig out of here do you know how long it would take to make such a tunnel?’

Lucas was currently laying in the dirt, half asleep. The Electrike lifted his head as Alex spoke, before laying back down, stretching out.

‘I am the alpha for today,’ Lucas declared. ‘And today we work on the tunnel!’

The Electrike type had decided that they’d switch off every other day being the “alpha of the friendship”, and Alex wasn’t quite sure why he was playing along. He was stronger than the canine– and could win any fight for leadership with ease! In fact, he technically already had, with their first fight from when he first arrived here several days prior!

‘Well then, Alpha,’ Alex said, making no effort to keep the sarcasm out of his voice as he jumped out of the hole. ‘I’m going to take a break.’

‘W-wait– what?’ Lucas cried, sitting up in alarm. ‘No! You gotta keep digging!’

Alex grinned, slowly approaching the Electrike. He took up an aggressive position as if hoping to scare Alex back into digging, fur up and bristled as he growled, sparks coming from him. The little Pokemon looked more cute than intimidating however, and Alex simply lean down and grabbed him by his scruff, setting him aside before he could even release an electric type move.

The Charmeleon stretched out, sinking down onto the dirt ground, right where Lucas had been laying. Honestly, he didn’t care where he was, but it was definitely funnier to take his “alpha’s” spot. He let out a content sigh, flexing his claws in hopes of getting the dirt out from between them.

‘H-hey! I was there first!’ Lucas cried, slamming into his side with a Quick Attack. When that failed to make Alex move the Electrike switched over to a Thunder Fang, biting down onto Alex’s arm. The fire type flinched, opening his silver eyes to glare at the green canine.

‘...You know too many electric type moves,’ Alex said after a moment of thought, yawning. ‘If you ran into a ground type all you’d have is Quick Attack, which won’t win you a battle on its own,’ Alex laughed. ‘And if it was ghost type too, then you’d have nothing!’

‘...What?’ Lucas asked, pausing from his attacks. ‘Types what?’

The Charmeleon lifted up his head. ‘You do know about types, right? I’m fire, and you’re electric? Your moves reflect that?’

‘Well, yeah,’ The Electrike said, sparking his fur. ‘I use lightning like the rest of my pack. But what does ground Pokemon have to do with anything? I just zap my enemies until I fall! I mean– until they fall!’

Alex blinked, realizing that a wild Pokemon probably wouldn’t have a good idea of how all of the types matched up. They trained to survive, not for battles like human-raised Pokemon did. They probably didn’t need to know every little matchup there was– because why would a wild electric type care about something small, like poison resisting fighting type moves? It had nothing to do with them.

But shouldn’t he at least know the basics of his own type? Like that against a ground type his electric moves would be useless?

‘Ground type Pokemon are immune to electric moves,’ Alex explained. ‘And ghost are immune to normal. If those are the only types of moves you have then you can’t damage them.’

Lucas blinked at this, sitting down in thought. He tilted his head slightly. ‘Oh. That’d explain why I could never hurt the rock Pokemon in that cave back at home.’

‘Rock types aren’t immune to electric types,’ Alex said. ‘Ground types are.’

‘Then why couldn’t I hurt the Geodudes with lightning? They’re rock Pokemon,’ Lucas said.

‘Well, they’re ground types too!’

‘Too complicated,’ Lucas said after a moment of thought, flicking his tail in dismissal. ‘What does matter though, is the idea of other moves,’ His eyes gleamed, and he took a step towards Alex. ‘Can you teach me a move that can hurt the rock Pokemon?’

Alex glared at him. ‘Moves that can hurt ground types.’

‘...A move that can hurt a Pokemon made out of earth...’ Lucas said after a moment of thought– clearly not about to say anything that would suggest that he had been wrong, and Alex sighed. But teaching a move did sound much more fun than digging a hole, or even sleeping, since that was basically all he did at home.

He studied the Pokemon, wondering just what move he could teach him though. His claws were way to small to learn a scratching based move like Shadow Claw, and he knew that a non-dragon-like Pokemon would probably have no chance of learning Dragon Pulse.

But Lucas did have a strong looking jaw, and he already knew Thunder Fang.

Alex’s teeth lit up with flames, the Fire Fang forming as he launched himself towards Lucas. The electric type yelped, leaping back as Alex crunched down on where he had been moments before. Smoke curled up from the Charmeleon’s jaw as he rose to his feet, stretching out as the Electrike trembled in surprise.

‘I will teach you Fire Fang,’ Alex said. ‘You already should have the basics down, your Thunder Fang wasn’t half bad after all. I just need to teach you how to summon fire, and teaching you that could be useful for me as well since I’ve been trying to learn a new fire move for a while now.’

‘What move?’ Lucas asked, bouncing forward excitedly. ‘I wanna learn that one!’

Alex held his head up proudly. ‘It’s only a move certain fire types can learn,’ The Charmeleon said with an air of importance. ‘It requires vigorous training– it’s a man-made move, not natural. Mother always told me that if I could learn it then I could learn the even more powerful Blast Burn too.’

‘Show me the move!’ Lucas demanded.

Alex pulled back slightly. ‘I, um, haven’t fully mastered it yet.’

‘Show me!’

The Charmeleon sighed, before turning to face the wall. He closed his eyes, concentrating on heating up his body. He knew how to breath fire, but forming it outside of his body took a lot more effort. He focused on his tail flame, trying to will the embers to spread across his body. He could feel his scales heating up, and he curled his claws into a fist, trying to draw all of his fire energy to a single point.

A burst of fire surrounded his claws, the mass of fire surging up in size, before exploding as it formed. The force of the energy being released knocked him to the ground, a grunt of pain escaping him as the flames surged up around him. The flames only lasted for a moment, dying as quickly as the energy had flared out, smoke drifting up towards the ceiling.

Alex heard Lucas coughing on the smoke, but as a fire type Alex was fine with the smoke. He struggled to his feet, a sinking feeling in his chest knowing that he had failed again. As the smoke cleared he could see Lucas grinning at him, looking very pleased.

‘Awesome,’ He breathed. ‘What move was that?’

‘It was supposed to be Fire Pledge,’ Alex muttered, looking away. ‘I’m supposed to form a bunch of fire, and then you strike the ground. Then a huge column of flames rushing towards your target, and engulfs them in a pillar of fire,’ He sighed. ‘But I can never get it to work.’

‘Who cares– that was awesome!’ Lucas cried. ‘I want to learn it!’

Alex scowled. ‘I already told you, only certain Pokemon can learn it– and you’re not one of them,’ He huffed. ‘Besides, if I don’t have it mastered then how can I teach it to you? I’ll show you how to use Fire Fang, but nothing else.’

Lucas let out a frustrated growl, but Alex simply glared at him. The Electrike pulled back slightly, before looking away.

‘...Fine,’ He muttered. ‘Teach me Fire Fang...’

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

He let out a sigh, before glancing at the bars. He was surprised that no humans had come by to see what the explosion was. He stared for a moment longer, before shrugging and returning his attention down to the small canine at his feet.

“Mairin jump– Mairin you gotta have him jump–!”

Mairin swore she was smashing the jump button, but yet the little character on screen stayed in place as it was blasted with an attack– her health bar falling to zero.

“I was jumping!” Mairin protested, letting the controls fall into her lap. “I was pressing the jump button– I shouldn’t have died!”

Max grinned at her, the screen fading to black as the video game took them to their last spawn point. “You were pressing the A button– B is the jump button.”

She glanced down at her controls, before realizing her mistake. “Oh... sorry. I really haven’t played this game before, at least, I don’t think I have.”

“You haven’t,” Max confirmed, his focus returning to the TV. Mairin picked up her controls, guiding her character after Max’s. “But you have watched me play this game many times before. Okay, remember to keep your aura bar high– we’re going to need it for the next boss battle– Registeel.”

“Easy enough,” Mairin replied, pressing the jump button a few times to make sure she was pressing the right key, the digital Lucario on screen jumping in response. “We have the type advantage.”

Max’s ‘Sir Aaron’ character swung his staff at an attacking glob of energy. “We actually do for all of the bosses– all of the Regis are weak to fighting types. Something you think the Tree of Beginning would have figured out.”

Mairin grinned, charging an Aura Sphere before releasing it. “It’s just a story Max, I mean, this whole game is based off of that movie that Ash and Serena were in– which I still want to see, by the way– if you have a problem with the characters you should complain to the director.”

“...The Tree of Beginning is a real place,” Max said quietly. “I’ve been there– and there really are golems guarding it.”

“Cool,” Mairin said, gritting her teeth as her shoulder flared up in pain, but she simply focused on attacking an Aerodactyl-shaped glob with another Aura Sphere. “What was it like– woah!”

Lucario sudden sped across the screen, so quickly that it looked like his character had teleported.

“Nice, you’ve unlocked Extreme Speed,” Max said. “Definitely one of the better moves– I usually play as Lucario and I use it all the time. If you’re on low health you can use it to get away, and it can deliver decent damage as well. Press the R and L keys at the same time to use it.”

“Um, okay,” Mairin said, looking down at the controls to find the buttons Max was talking about. As she did so one of the enemy globs attacked her. She yelped as she heard her health going down, but fortunately Max had Sir Aaron move in to cover Lucario, an aura shield covering them. “Sorry...”

“You’re good,” Max said with a grin. “It’s fun to have someone to play with. Bonnie will play with me, but she’s not over here that often,” He glanced off to his left. “And then Alain will never play with me.”

Their gazes turned towards the dark haired man in the corner, who was taking a sip of his coffee. Alain glanced up as they looked at him, sighed, then returned to reading the book he had in his hands. Mairin chuckled at this, her gaze swiftly returning to the screen to make sure she wasn’t attacked again.

“You should play, Alain,” Mairin said. “It’s a pretty fun game.”

“Queen Rin’s character is still available,” Max said with a grin. “I think she’d suit you perfectly~ She even has a fire type like you, a beautiful shiny Ninetales, and–”

“Max, shut up,” Alain said, not looking up from his book. Ruby was curled up at his feet, the Absol fast asleep.

“Be nice,” Mairin chided, eyes still on the TV. “And he’s right, you should lighten up a bit, and have some fun.”

“This is fun,” Alain replied, turning a page in his book. “And if anything, you should be resting. You just got out of the hospital a few days ago, you don’t want to stress your body more than it has been.”

She grinned. “I’m playing a video game, I am resting.”

“Aura crystal up ahead,” Max said, drawing her attention back to the game. “That means a checkpoint! I think Registeel should be right after this, if I’m remembering right.”

Their characters touched the giant blue crystal, their health bar and aura energy bar rising to full. Mairin leaned back against the couch as Max saved their game, flexing her fingers. She wasn’t use to holding the controller, so her hands felt a bit stiff. But the game was fun, and it helped take her focus away from the pain of her wounds.

“We good to go?” Mairin asked as they saved at the checkpoint.

“Yep,” Max said, having Sir Aaron move across the screen. “You’ll want to stick with Aura Sphere and Bone Rush for this fight– Bullet Punch will be useless. Extreme Speed won’t do much either, but it will be useful for dodging attacks,” He sat up a bit. “This Registeel knows Shockwave, so the only way to avoid being hit by that is to be behind Aaron’s aura shields, so if Registeel starts to spark get behind my character.”

Mairin tried to listen, but she was still new to the concepts of the game. She did understand Pokemon battling, but having that format in a video game was different than a real battle. She tried to have Lucario follow after Aaron, but she discovered she had no control over the character– it was a cutscene.

The camera dramatically panned over Registeel, and Mairin blinked, the graphics looking much more realistic than the video game so far. As the screen panned over Sir Aaron though, and she saw the familiar gaze of Ash. That’s when she realized that this wasn’t video game graphics– it must be a clip from the movie.

She knew that most movies used Zoroark illusions when it came to legendaries– but man did that Registeel look real!

“It always goes straight for an Iron Head,” Max advised. “Be ready.”

As Max promised, the Registeel’s form began to gleam silver– rushing straight at Sir Aaron. Max’s face was calm, fingers flying across the controls as he had his character form an aura shield. The steel type legendary slammed into the shield, and Max followed up with an Aura Sphere. He glanced briefly at Mairin, and then she remembered she should be fighting as well.

A loud ringing filled the room as she had Lucario slam a Bone Rush into the Registeel. Alain pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, glancing at the number. He blinked, closing his book and setting it aside. He pushed himself to his feet, heading towards the door, careful not to disturb Ruby as he did so.

“I need to take this,” He said, sliding off his reading glasses as he answered the phone. “Hello? Yes, this is Alain...”

Mairin glanced over her shoulder as he left, before returning her gaze to the TV. Max’s gaze was locked on the TV as well, brown eyes narrowed behind his glasses, his whole focus on the game. He was definitely experienced at the game, guiding his character through the boss fight with ease.

“Mairin, cover me,” He said, throwing up an aura shield as the battle continued. Mairin nodded, though he couldn’t see this, moving her Lucario in closer to strike with a Bone Rush. She grinned as Lucario landed all five hits, before she swiftly had him retreat from a Hammer Arm with an Extreme Speed.

“It has a lot of hit points, doesn’t it?” Mairin commented, used to having their foes fall by now, but the Registeel was still standing.

“Wouldn’t be a boss fight if it was easy,” Max said, a small grin on his face as he blocked another attack. “I should be Sir Aaron more often, having a force shield is nice.”

“Um,” Mairin began, trying to both talk and battle at the same time. “Who do you usually play?”

“Lucario,” Max replied, slamming Aaron’s staff against the Registeel. “He’s my favorite character... I guess you can say I have a personal history.”

“Oh,” Mairin said. “Sorry I took your favorite.”

Max laughed. “It’s just a game, I’ll survive. Besides, playing as Aaron is pretty fun,” He paused. “Here comes the Shock Wave– get behind me.”

She had Lucario jump over towards Aaron, and Max formed an aura shield just as a burst of electricity was released from the iron golem. Mairin charged an Aura Sphere, releasing the burst of energy out at the titan. It staggered back, health approaching half. Her fingers were feeling a bit stiff, her burns from Alex hurting as well, but she stayed silent.

“Let’s combo an attack,” Max said.

“How?”

“Charge an Aura Sphere and press the C button,” Max replied, forming an Aura Sphere of his own on screen. Mairin mimicked him, a glow surrounding the two characters as soon as she pressed ‘C’. The twin Aura Spheres began to grow, the glow becoming brighter.

“Focus Blast,” A deep voice echoed from the TV speakers, and Mairin had to stiffen a laugh at the voice. The two Aura Spheres merged, surging into a giant blue pulsing orb, the Focus Blast being launched at the Registeel– sending the titan flying across the screen. The attack took a fourth of its health, causing Max to let out a cheer.

“Come on, let’s finish it off before it can heal,” Max said, leaning forward eagerly.

“It can heal?!” Mairin cried.

“If you don’t defeat him quickly enough,” Max replied, having Sir Aaron charge forward with his staff raised.

Mairin quickly flexed her fingers, before swiftly rejoining the fight. She wasn’t as engrossed with the game as Max was, but she still had a smile on her face as they played on. While she didn’t remember how she met Max, she just found she was always so much happier around him. He was just so genuine, and she simply knew that he was her friend.

“Come on...” Max whispered, leaning forward eagerly as they brought the Registeel’s health down into the red. Mairin couldn’t do the same, it was easier to just stay still because of her injuries. “We don’t have enough aura to combo again... um– use the rest of your aura to use Heal Pulse on Aaron– if I faint there’s no way we’re going to win this.”

“I won’t be able to use Aura Sphere again if I do,” Mairin said, hesitating to lose her only ranged move. She wasn’t the best at fighting in close combat, since she wasn’t that great at dodging.

“I know, but Bone Rush should be enough for this fight,” Max replied, blocking a Hammer Arm with an aura shield. “Just do it– Heal Pulse is the L and A keys.”

She glanced down at her controller, doing as Max asked. Her aura bar fell to zero as the Heal Pulse was released, but his health bar began to rise. Max grinned, clearly more confident to get closer to the Registeel now that he could take some hits. He had Aaron swing his staff as he charged, starting to chip away at the last of the steel type’s health. Mairin had her Lucario character form a Bone Rush, but she lingered back, not wanting to get in Max’s way.

As an Iron Head hit Max she decided now was her time to charge in, the Bone Rush striking three types as she attacked. Registeel turned to face her, a Hyper Beam surging to life in front of him. Mairin yelped, barely managing to remember the buttons for Extreme Speed– rushing away moments before the move would have hit her.

“Perfect,” Max said. “It has to recharge now– come on– attack!”

She guided the Lucario in for another Bone Rush, while Max used his remaining amount of aura to launch two Aura Spheres. There was only a sliver of its health left as Mairin struck with the Bone Rush, the glowing rod striking four times. On the final blow the Registeel’s health fell to zero, the mighty golem staggering to the ground.

“Nice Mairin!” Max cried. “You defeated the first boss!”

She let the controller fall into her lap. “Heh... you did most of the work...”

“But I’ve been playing this game for ages, and this is your first time playing,” Max said, grinning. “It took me three tries to defeat Registeel the first time I played– you were awesome!”

“Thanks,” Mairin said, knowing that she would have lost if Max hadn’t been playing as well. “Um, is it okay if we stop here? I’m pretty tired...”

“Of course,” Max said, saving the game. “We’ve been going for a while anyways– I’m sure Sycamore is going to drag me off to help with dinner soon anyways. Are you going to eat with us again tonight?”

“Yeah, my morning sickness hasn't acted out since I’ve gotten home from the hospital,” Mairin said, leaning back against the couch. “You don’t know how nice it is to just be able to eat now, you know?”

Max was about to reply– but a loud thump from upstairs cut him off. Silence settled in the lab for a moment, everyone looking up. Even Ruby raised her head from her nap, a look of concern in her eyes. No sound followed the thump, and Max gave an uncertain smile.

“Alain must have knocked something over,” Max said, standing up to turn off the TV.

Mairin didn’t reply, her gaze on Ruby. The Absol was completely tense, her expression unreadable as she dug her claws into the carpet. Her namesake eyes were wide, a nervous look slowly crossing her face. Mairin sat up a bit, gaze still locked on the dark type as she did so.

“Ruby?” She asked quietly. “Is everything okay?”

The Absol looked at her, giving a low whimper.

The door opened to the TV room, and Mairin looked up expecting to see Alain, but instead Professor Sycamore entered. The man had a gentle smile on his face, nodding at Mairin once, before turning his attention to Max. “Can you come help the girls with dinner?”

Max flashed Mairin a smile, before looking at the professor. “Of course, sir, what are we having tonight?”

“Pulled pork sandwiches,” He replied. “They have most of it done, but the more hands we have the sooner we can eat. Are you going to join us tonight?”

“Um–” It took her a moment to realize the question was for her. “Uh, yeah, I am. Just count me in from now on, Professor. Is there anything I can do to help.”

“You can stay in here and rest,” Sycamore said, crossing his arms. “And don’t say it doesn’t hurt as much, no matter how true that is your body still needs plenty of rest.”

“And I can rest and help,” Mairin said, pushing herself to her feet. This caused the boys to flinch, Max stepping towards her nervously. While her body did flare up in pain, it faded just as quickly. “It doesn’t have to be something big– just let me help! You guys have been doing everything for me!”

Before any reply could be formed the door swung open once more, and Professor Sycamore glanced over his shoulder. “Ah, Alain, my boy– could you please explain to your wife that she needs to rest–” He suddenly paused, concern washing over the professor’s face. “Is everything alright?”

Alain stood in the doorway, gaze slightly distant. He didn’t reply right off, skin pale, eyes sweeping across the room. Mairin frowned as she watched him, his head hung low as he looked at them. His piercing blue eyes settled on her, and her stomach twisted when she saw the look on his face. Alain looked away, mouth opening, but it took several moments for any words to form.

“I... I need to talk to Mairin,” Alain whispered, voice shaking, gaze slipping down to the ground.

“Is everything okay?” Professor Sycamore asked again, taking a step towards Alain, who looked away.

“I just need to talk to her,” He muttered. “Alone,” Mairin took a few heistent steps towards him. He glanced at her, before turning and heading towards the door. She stood there for a moment, before realizing he probably meant for her to follow him, and she stumbled after him. She could feel Max and the professor watching them as they left, but she didn’t glance back.

Alain was silent as he headed through the lab, and Mairin wasn’t quite sure how to break that silence. He paused at the end of the hallway, waiting for her to catch up, before once again heading down the hall. He refused to look at her, which only made her insides twist.

“...Alain?”

“I’d rather talk about this when we’re alone,” He whispered, turning to climb up the stairs.

She placed her hand on the rail, going upstairs being the last thing she wanted to do. Going up the steps only made her wounds hurt, and she was sure that he’d take her elsewhere if she mentioned this, but she didn’t want to press him when he was like this. She took in a deep breath, before following after him. Silence lingered around them as they went through the lab, Alain not saying a word until they came to a stop outside of his room. He paused, hesitating, before glancing at her.

“Is it okay if we talk in here?” He asked.

“...Yes?” Mairin said uncertainly, and he pushed the door open.

Not much had changed since she had last been in his room– all of her stuff had been officially moved to her current room a while ago now, the only sign that the two of them had once shared this room was her empty half of the closet. He closed the door behind them as they entered, pressing up against the wood, a slight tremble in his body.

“Alain, is everything okay?” She asked in a hushed voice, and he turned to face her.

There were tears in his eyes.

“Alain...?”

“Mairin, that phone call I got, it was from the d-doctors,” He said quietly, taking a few steps towards her, and she frowned.

“The hospital said I was fine,” Mairin said uncertainly, but her words did nothing to lessen the tension in the room. He took in a ragged breath, clearly trying to keep himself composed as he spoke.

“It wasn’t about you...” He began uncertainly, his eyes locked on hers. “...Do you remember h-how I told you that they ran some tests on the b-baby...?”

A wave of cold washed over Mairin.

“Y-yes?” She whispered, a sense of dread running through her. She told herself that everything was okay. None of her injuries had been near the baby, everything was just fine...

“Th-they got the results back,” He whispered, and he swallowed. “M-mairin, it... it isn’t g-good...”

Her heart was hammering in her chest, Alain’s words echoing in her mind. She shook her head, taking a step back. “Alex’s attacks didn’t land near her,” Mairin whispered. “Th-that’s what you said! She sh-should be fine–!”

“It wasn’t the attack,” Alain whispered, reaching for her. “Mairin, the baby isn’t developing right... they said its a genetic defect, she’s–”

She stumbled back as he spoke, swiftly turning away from him as she took in these words. Alain fell silent, and Mairin’s arms wrapped around herself, staring at the floor, heart thumping loudly in her chest. A genetic defect... a birth defect of some kind...

“I... I don’t care...” Mairin whispered, hands going to her stomach. “It’s my b-baby, that doesn’t matter, she’s still my baby... I don’t care if something’s ‘wrong’ with her– she’s still just a baby!”

Alain’s hands grabbed her shoulders, and she could feel his trembling fingers. “Mairin, she’s not growing enough...” Alain whispered. “Th-they said her body won’t be strong enough to support itself and... a-and...” His voice cracked, and she knew he was crying. “And she probably won’t live past f-four months in the w-womb and... and...” A sob escaped him. “I’m s-sorry, I–”

Tears were running down Mairin’s face, but she was barely even aware of them, her vision blurring. They pooled in her eyes, no words able to escape her as she stood there. Her body was slowly starting to shake, fear thundering through her as she tried to take in what Alain had just told her. Her baby...

Her baby...

After everything she had lost, she was going to lose her baby as well.

“N-no...” Mairin whispered, chest aching. “N-no, they must be mistaken? Th-this isn’t happening, this isn’t...”

She didn’t say anything else, sobs escaping her. She hunched over, shaking harder as the tears came faster. Alain pulled her into a hug, trying to offer some comfort as she broke down. She grabbed Alain’s hands, trembling and twisting in his grasp. She spun around to face him, burying her head into his chest, hands grabbing his shirt. The sorrow was burning, making her chest ache, and everything in her screamed.

Alain was safe, Alain was warm, Alain was there. She had to get closer, but yet the pain wasn’t going away. He was crying too, she felt his tears as he buried his head into her hair, arms pressed against her in a desperation. Her baby... this wasn’t supposed to be happening... not to her baby, not to the innocent child inside of her...

Somehow her sobs became louder, even more painful as they were forced from her. Her body was crying with a sorrow she had never knew before– but yet it felt so familiar. Her muscles were making no effort to support her, simply going weak in Alain’s arms, and he gently set her on the bed, his grasp never loosening. It was terrifying how familiar all this was, how her mind whispered that she had been like this before.

The pain hurt, it hurt far more than the wounds Alex had left.

A child– her child– was dying.

And there wasn’t a thing she could do.

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

Mairin woke up feeling heavy.

Each breath was painful as she laid there, chest aching as she was slowly drawn out of her sleep, eyes remaining closed. A pair of warm arms were wrapped tightly around her, holding her close in almost a desperation. Her head was pressed up against a chest, where she could hear a familiar heartbeat thumping.

Perhaps a part of her should have been panicked, wondering how she had gotten into such an embrace, but there was only an empty look in her eyes as they fluttered open. She stared at Alain’s shirt, one of her hands grasping the material so tightly that her knuckles were white. She blinked slowly, turning away as she took in her surroundings. The sun was coming in through the window, lighting up Alain’s room. The sight was a gentle one, a peaceful one, one that should have been happy.

But there was simply an ache in her chest.

She blinked once, slowly remembering Alain holding her yesterday, cradling her long after her tears had run dry. They must have been up here for hours, but neither of them had wanted to go downstairs, neither of them had the will to move from the safety of the other’s arms...

The baby.

The single thought was like a knife– piercing straight into her aching chest with deadly accuracy. Despite the dryness of her eyes, the way they stung as she blinked, she could feel more tears entering them as yesterday began to flood her mind. Her eyes pressed shut, Mairin leaning into Alain as a sob began to build up.

Alain was awoken by her shaking, the silent sobs forcing themselves from her. His hands dug into her hair, bringing her head even closer than it already was. His warm fingers were ran through her hair, running down her back, searching for anyway to ease the pain rushing through her. But both of them knew there was nothing that could be done, that this pain they were feeling was there to stay.

“P-please...” Mairin rasped between her sobs. “A-alain, please,” She didn’t know how to face what life had placed before her– let alone know what to do next. “P-please don’t leave.”

He pressed his head against hers, his chest rising and falling as he breathed. It was strange to be this close to someone, to feel their every movement as he held her– but yet it was the closest thing to comfort she was feeling. The pain wasn’t lessened– but with him near it wasn’t pressing down onto her alone.

“I’m not going anywhere,” He promised, voice even quieter than a whisper.

Mairin quivered, another sob being forced from her.

[buckysdamnplums]

First Date (Part 1)

Author’s Note: Don’t be fooled, this is not a fluffy pic. It’s angsty. I got really into this request, so now it’s a two parter. Also, I tried to keep it from getting too descriptive at some points to spare those with sensitive stomachs. But also please adhere to the warnings, they’re stated for a reason. And as always, please feel free to leave feedback or reviews because it makes me feel validated which is always nice :)

Request: Can I get an extra angsty one where Peter is tied up and the reader is tortured? He's crying as he can't do anything and the reader is screaming and crying out in pain in front of him?

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark!Reader

Word Count: 2292 (part one)

Warnings: it’s a biggie: fluff turned angst. blood, torture, agony, violence, kidnapping, some death, cussing

“Morning Mr. Stark!” Peter called out as he walked into the lab. “And goodmorning y/n.”

“Morning Peter.” You both replied.

Tony looks up from his computer, eyes squinting in Peter’s direction, “So Peter, where are you taking my daughter today?”

“Well I was thinking maybe we could head to the park. Maybe swing by Coney Island.” He looks over at you, flashing a smile.

“Have her home by 9. And I hope by swing you don’t mean, swing.” Your father raises his brow at Peter.

“Of course not, sir.”

Tony walked over to you, pulling you into a hug and kissing the crown of your head, “Good. Then off you two, have fun you.”

“See ya, dad. Peter, I’ll meet you at the elevator. I’m gonna grab my jacket real quick.”

Peter was about to send your dad a wave goodbye when he noticed the worried look on his face.

“Mr. Stark, really. I won’t go Spider. I know it can be dangerous.” Peter pleaded with your father.

Sighing he replied, “I know Peter. It’s just.. She’s grown up in this environment and she’s already has a target on her back from being my daughter. I don’t need the target to grow just because she goes on one date with Spiderman.” He rubs his stands over his face, trying to relieve his stress. But Peter got it, you were Iron Man’s perfect weakness. And whether you knew it or not, you were also his.

“I got it, sir. And I hope you didn’t mean that whole one date thing,” he started making his way to the elevator at the sound of your door shutting, “I plan on there being many more dates!”

So far the date was going unbelievably well. You grabbed pizza at the park and sat on the rocks, watching a group of people playing a soccer game. You walked around a talked about colleges that interested you. Nothing too serious though, college was still a bit away. Around four, Peter called Happy to have him drive you both to Coney Island. You wanted to take the subway, not wanting to have supervision by one of your dad’s workers, but Peter insisted.

The lights and the laughter of Coney Island always settled well with you, reminding you of when your mom brought you. But that was years ago, before you even knew Tony was your father. Hell, you only found out because after your mom died records showed you were in fact a Stark. Child Services showed up at Stark Tower one day and the rest is history.

“Hey spidey, wanna head to the games?” you broke out you irresistible smile.

Sighing he agreed, “Sure. But don’t call me Spidey, y/n. It’s not uhh, good.” He took a look around your surroundings, paranoid after his conversation with your father.

“Chill out, it’s just a cute name,” you shake your head, leading Peter towards the ring bottle game.

“$5 for 3 rings. $10 for 8.” The unenthusiastic worked said.

“I got it. 8 rings please.” Peter handed the guy a ten.

He divided the rings between the two of you, letting you toss first. Y/N zero, Peter four.

“Dammit, Peter. You cheated.” you say as he hands you the giant stuffed bear.

“Oh, I could take the bear back if you want? Ya know, since I’m a ‘cheater.’”

You roll your eyes, pulling the bear closer to your chest. As you neared the restrooms you told Peter you’d be right back. He replied that he would be out here when you get out.

After no less than two minutes, Peter’s bladder decided it had to unload (if you know what I’m saying). Figuring you wouldn’t be out for another four minutes, he ran into the men’s room.

Shutting the door to the women’s room, you looked around for Peter but didn’t see him. Thinking he was in the restroom, you sat on a bench, placing the bear next to you.

“Y/N?” Peter called as he stepped out of the bathroom. “Y/N?”

He noticed a bear similar to your’s sitting on a bench and made it way towards it, heart pounding in his chest. As he got closer he noticed a strip of your photo booth pictures on the ground. Panic coursed through his veins.

Peter reached for the photos when everything went dark.

“Peter? Peter, oh god.” Your voice sounded distant and fuzzy as Peter’s eyes fluttered to open.

His eyes started adjusting to the lack of light in the room, the only other light source in the room was shining on the person in a chair in front of him. As his vision focused, he noticed the blue jacket and brown boots you were wearing.

“Y/N?” his voice sounded strained and horse.

“Peter, it’s me.” your breath was rapid and choked up.

He took in your appearance better, tears streaked your cheeks, nose bright red from crying, your hair was wild and flattened against your forehead from sweat. Your arms were behind your back, most likely tied up and your feet were strapped to the legs of the chair. The chair itself appeared welded to the ground. He tore his eyes away to check his own chair. He was bound to a similar chair.

Processing what to do in this situation, Peter whispered across the 6 feet to the terrified girl in front of him, “Y/N, has anyone come in. Are- Do you know if- How long have we been here?”

You shut your eyes, taking a deep breath before replying, “I think an hour. But I don’t know where we are or how long I was out. I woke up when they were tying my hands but I think they knocked me out again.. I woke up and you were here.”

Peter’s eyes were darting around the dark room, attempting to come up with an escape plan. This would be much easier if he had his suit.

“Y/N, I can get us out of here. We’re gonna get out of here okay?”

“Don’t waste your time trying, Mr. Parker. Or shall I call you Spidey.” An old man in a lab coat walked into the room with two armed guards. “We didn’t plan on taking you too. Hell, we just wanted her.” He looked over at you, a slimey grin on his face. “But when you called you spidey? Oh, then we knew we really hit the jackpot.”

He walked over to you, the guards on either side of him. You stood right before you, blocking Peter from your view. Keeping a stone cold stare, you looked straight at his chest, not letting your fear seep through. It got harder as the man’s calloused fingers stroked your hair, resting on your cheek.

“Stop. Stop. Don’t touch her!” Peter shouted pulling against his restraints. The man just laughed in response.

He strutted over towards Peter, “Oh, Mr. Parker. I don’t think you’re in any position to be making commands.”

His hand flew back forming a fist before thrusting it forward into Peter’s stomach. You screamed as Peter bent in half, coughing. The man turned his attention back to you, another smile pulling at his face.

“Oh dear, daddy won’t be able to find you here.” He turned towards a corner of the room, looking up, “Let’s start the questioning process. Send them in.”

Some people say that after a certain point, you can become numb to pain. You just wished that point would hurry up and arrive. Different men in lab coats would come in, questioning you about where your dad was keeping this or planning that. Being a Stark, you knew you had to hold your ground and refuse to comply. After the third time you said no, they brought in the ‘tools.’ Each time you refused to answer, a different tool would be used. Your screams tore straight to Peter’s core as he begged you to just tell them what they wanted to hear. But even he knew, you weren’t one to betray the team, let alone your father.

“Morning Kiddo.” It was Dr. Graines, he was the fourth one you met, “You know how this is going to go down, so why not just go easy on yourself today, huh?”

He walked over to the stainless steel table with the tools and charts, picking up a stack of questions. The usual two men dressed in black and green followed him to the table, one grabbing a knife, the other a taser.

“Oh I almost forgot, how rude of me. Morning, Mr. Parker. Sleep well?” his innocent act made this situation much worse, “Probably not. I mean what with all the screaming she was doing, I’d be surprised if you got any sleep last night.”

Peter just stared daggers through his tear filled eyes into the man’s back, knowing better than to speak up. Each time he makes some remark, they’d just use another tool on you.

“Okay well, let’s get on with it. Y/N Stark, please tell me where your dad is keeping his suit prototypes in the East. We know it’s somewhere out there, but please help us find the actual location.”

“Go. To. Hell.” your voice barely above a whisper.

With a wave of his hand, the toolmen got to work.

You screamed out in agony as the blade took a deep swipe across your stomach, your shirt being ripped a long time ago. You had gotten used to the chill in the room, being left in just a bra and your (now) ripped jeans. The warmth of your blood gliding down your stomach was the only warmth you’d felt in day. Days. Where the hell were the team and why haven’t they gotten here yet.

The next cut being made to your face pulled you from your thoughts. The face cuts were the worst, they stung more and would likely leave scars you’ll see each time you look in the mirror. You stifled your scream this time, letting tears fall instead. Knife guy moved to the side and your eyes locked with Peter’s. His bottom lip was bleeding from the tight hold his teeth had on it. His eyes burned red and he was covered in a layer of sweat. It was tough to tell who this was hurting more, you or Peter?

Taser Man took his spot in front of you, blocking Petr from view. You looked up at him, his yellow teeth on display in a grin.

“Fuck y-”

Your body jolted as electricity shot through you. The taser was the worst. You couldn’t hold back your scream for Peter’s sake. All screams and tears would let loose, echoing in the small room.

“Great going, she passed out again. Now we’ll have to wait for her to wake up.” One man said to the other as they made their way to the door, slamming it shut.

Peter just stared at your motionless body, hating himself for not being able to do a damned thing to keep you safe.

As you came to, you heard shouting and gunshots.

“Y/N? Y/N? Hey, hey, come on open your eyes.” You opened your eyes to Peter sitting across from you. You could feel the drying blood on your cheek from the previous cut.

“Pete-?”

“Shh, don’t speak. They’re here. We’re gonna get out of here. Oh god, Tony’s gonna kill me. Shit y/n don’t move.”

You were about to reply when the door slammed open revealing the first doctor you met when you arrived. This time with a gun in hand.

He took long strides before stopping right in front of your face, “Now I know you don’t like answering our questions but this is your last chance okay? Where is Stark keeping the S.H.I.E.L.D. files?”

This question surprised you. Never once was S.H.I.E.L.D. mentioned. And it was definitely not something your dad ever told you about. Steve was more so the guy to ask.

“I- I don’t know..” You replied, staring at the gun resting near your thigh.

A sickening laugh filled the room,“You don’t know? Huh. I’m betting you do.”

“I don’t! I swear this time I don’t. Ask me anything else just please, don’t kill me.” You breathed out your last words, eyes still on the gun.

“Kill you?” you meet the man’s cold eyes as he walked backwards. “I figured since you don’t really care about getting stabbed or cut or tased or hit, you probably would die protecting your dad’s precious secrets. But him?” He pointed the gun at Peter, making your stomach drop. “You wouldn’t want poor little Spidey to die. You know since he’s the one who kept his mouth shut to prevent you from the tools. Or he’s the only one you’ve agreed to go on a date with. And since he’s the one your heart rate kept speeding for.”

“How’d y-”

“Honey, we’ve been watching you for years! Ever since news got out Stark had a daughter, we waited for the perfect moment,” his eyes focused on yours as he took a small step towards you again. “We knew you’d put up a resistance, but you really surprised us all. And now you’re going to tell me where the files are or god so help me, I will blow out the brains of your little boyfriend.”

His face was right in yours, spit landing on your blood and tear streaked face. You caught a metallic glimpse of a reflection out the door, choosing your next words carefully.

“I don’t think you would.”

Just then, a shot went off as you screwed your eyes shut.

[cosmicrecluse]

Heres the full memoir minus the boring academic part at the end

A Stand Taken by People No Taller Than 5 Feet

The trees were tall back then, much taller than they are now. Everything was bigger when I was that age. The year of Adventure Camp, the first advanced camp I’d been able to attend since I’d turned ten, was to be my best yet. I had grown to the age where I no longer experienced the homesickness that would strike younger children midweek. Camp had finally become the ultimate escapism from all the hardships of home.

This particular camp appeared as a traditional one, one that allowed children to hike and explore nature while also learning from it. Unfortunately, this was not what we got. The program had no hiking aside from following the path to and from the mess hall, no exploring aside from the occasional kid who would wander off path only to be dragged back, no “adventure” of any kind really.

The closest we ever got to nature were the few nights we built a fire and cooked a meal over it, a time when campers were finally set loose into the woods with minimal supervision to bring back fuel for our makeshift stove. The meal was never good, in all honesty, but watching the flames lick at the meats and vegetables as the sun slowly set made something in me need- no, require- to be freer.

One of the days, after the food was gone and our fire cooled, my need for real adventure had grown into a roaring hunger. Daylight had not yet fully disappeared but twilight made the sun appear red, the forest past our cabins somehow more wild. It was everything I’d wanted from the forest.

“Can I draw with that?” I asked one of our counselors, Scout, as I pointed to the blackened wood left in our firepit. Scout believed it to be an innocent request, but if she’d been able to see no more than half an hour into the future she most certainly would not have let me touch the scorched tinder.

“Of course, just don’t eat it, kiddo,” She allows with a joke, unaware of what she’d set into motion. With charcoal in hand, I quickly ran off to set to work.

Intricate and stylized, the markings I’d drawn onto my skin created a look similar to the ones I’d seen my own mother smear onto my brother and me during Halloween. They coated my arms and face, lines running to a central point at my eyes. I’d planned on running into the woods with what I thought was camouflage, I would hide within the thickening shadows and go on a real adventure.

More children gathered around me, gawking at the decorations I’d drawn. They wanted some of their own, wanted to join me. And so, more charcoal was harvested and more campers gained painted faces.

Once done, we believed we needed weapons in order to defend ourselves from the oh so dangerous Ohio wildlife. Sticks from our surroundings kindly offered themselves to us and were easily sharpened against concrete pathways and rocks. These, too, were covered with markings from our charcoal.

Our plot had gone unnoticed to the counselors, who must have thought it’d been nothing more than a game, something we were doing to pass the time before bed. Though, they had a surprise of their own for us.

“Come on adventurers, we’ve got something to tell you all!” Another counselor gathers us together, her voice chipper. This one was named Ghost, as she was our resident spook and monster expert.

The 20 or so of us form a circle, our bright, big eyes looking up at the people we’d known as adults at the time. Looking back, they were barely older than I am today. They towered over many of us, and we were to follow their commands to the T.

But now we’d grown restless of being followers, we were meant to be explorers and trailblazers, not sit like ladies. The group already began to shift where they stood, the tension thick enough to cut for us but seemingly invisible to our counselors.

“The popstar camp is coming for a dance party in a few minutes! So you guys should all wash your faces off and get ready!” Ghost smiled at all of us and we simply stared back. No one moves. The counselor’s glance at each other uncomfortably.

“Kids, Ghost gave you something to do,” The head counselor, Tiger, prompts. We stay in our places.

We were adventurers, not dancers, and after three days of being subjected to dull lectures and zero fun, we’d had enough. The campers would no longer follow orders from them.

“Put them in the cabin,” I said, having become a sort of leader to the band of girls. It was a simple request that the campers eagerly fulfilled. Three college-age adults stood no chance against over a dozen preteens who were hungry as rabid wolves for a taste of freedom.

The door is slammed shut after the three adults were stuffed into their shared cabin. Erin, a friend I’d made at the start of the week, forms a small team of campers who begin stacking the rocks we’d used to contain our fire to create a barricade.

No longer did we want to escape into the woods, our plans had changed with only a few words. Now was the time to liberate ourselves, at least in my head. A ten-year-old cannot be trusted to understand the world, but I knew that I wanted to own our campsite one way or another.

I take my place atop a small rock, lifting my barely sharpened stick above my head and shouting to my campers. Those not keeping our would-be counselor’s trapped hurry around me. They shout and call, beating their own play spears against the dirt in a chaotic sign of unity.

“What now?” a voice calls over the crowd, silencing the uproar. The voice belonged to Emily, the oldest of our campers. She was not one I’d befriended, but she was highly respected for her age of twelve, compared to our tens and elevens. The campers turned to me once again for orders.

“We’re gonna get the popstar girls and make sure they never come back here again,” I reply, a proud smile upon my face and my dinky spear pointed at the path the other camp would have to take. The suggestion is met with more animalistic howls and bellows, followed by pounding feet as the girls rush to the underbrush. I take a seat on my rock, soaking in the summer air thick violent anticipation.

Only a few minutes later, the path erupted in screaming and pounding feet. The popstar camp arrived, the ambush had begun. I take up my stick and join my campers in their chase. The other two counselors that’d arrived with this new group were promptly shoved into a cabin of their own, a new barricade beginning to be constructed to trap them as well.

As the sounds of screaming children, pounding fists against securely sealed doors, and the howling laughter of my newly feral campers filled the humid air, a thought entered my head. A simple thought, one that I, in my juvenile and power-mad state, believed to be just. In order to prevent another forced dance party, the droll days that had filled what was meant to be an adventurous week, the iron control of our counselors, a sacrifice had to be made.

I, being a child with an odd set of parents, had grown up learning of my Aztec ancestors. I had become used to the idea of killing a member of society to a bloodthirsty god in order to bring about peace.

With this knowledge, misinterpreted as it was, I called my campers to me once more. I reminded them of the tale of the Wumpus, a made of creature Ghost had sung a song about. It was a horrible beast that would snatch any child that wandered off path and steal their hair to replace the tail that it had lost.

Given that we were all young, stupid, and likely on the biggest adrenaline rushes of our short lives, multiple girls leaped at the chance to be made a sacrifice. Brianna, a girl who’d always been eager to be the first to any activity was quickly chosen.

A scarf was taken from a tent, rocks were gathered, and the girl tied to a small tree. While the pop star campers huddled together inside the community cabin that was meant to be a dance hall, we began singing the Wumpus Song Ghost had taught us in broken and ugly tones. As we did this, we struck the rocks together in an attempt to cause sparks as we’d seen our counselors do to light our cooking fire.

However, again, we were stupid and overly excited children, we did not know that the adults had used flint and steel, nor did we realize that the Wumpus was not real. But we continued on regardless; until a storm of adults from every camp arrived. Our rebellion, as I’ve come to call it, was squashed by threats of calling our parents.

[buriednurbckyrd]

Pay Back

Part 3 of my ongoing dominant!reader series, also available on AO3

Clint Barton was a tease.  Not many people knew this first hand, but his girlfriend of a few months had quickly learned this.  Normally Y/N had no problem with his mischievous personality, it was one of the things that had attracted her in the first place, but he was currently pushing all of her buttons.  If they weren’t sitting in a nice upscale restaurant with the rest of their teammates she would have been a more than willing participant.

Tony had insisted they all go out for dinner to celebrate the end of a mission, and had booked out a private room in an exclusive steak house.  The food was incredible, and the accompanying drinks were going down very easily. Clint was by no means drunk, but there was a pleasant buzz in his system.  Unfortunately for Y/N, his inhibitions were lowered and his hands kept wandering up her dress.  

“Clint.” She hissed at him from behind her glass.  He side eyed her with a smirk and continued to finger the satin between her thighs.  

“Are you all right, Y/N?”  Steve asked her, noticing the way she was fidgeting in her chair.  She cleared her throat and flashed him a winning smile.

“Absolutely. It’s so nice to have a night out with everyone.”  Clint laughed to himself and rubbed circles over her center.  She gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep up with the conversation.  She refused to let Clint win.  He almost broke her when he took advantage of the few moments when everyone’s attention was back on the menus debating on ordering dessert.  He leaned in closer as if he was going to whisper something to her and nipped her earlobe.  It took all of her self control to curb her reaction.  When she glared at him he only raised his eyebrows in challenge.  Cocky bastard.  

“The crème brulee looks amazing,”  Natasha said.  “Y/N, you want to split it with me?  There’s no way I can eat it all myself after that dinner.”  

“That sounds perfect, Nat.  Love to.”  She replied.  “I just need to excuse myself for a minute, but go ahead and order.”  She pushed Clint’s hand away and stood up, adjusting her dress as subtly as she could manage and escaped to the ladies room.  She was thankful it was deserted.  She leaned against the marble counter and tried to will her heart to stop racing.  She jumped when her phone blinged in her clutch.  Pulling it out she looked down at the screen and her lips curved as she read.

Clint: Shit, are you mad?  Please don’t be mad :(

Y/N chuckled to herself and shook her head.  She was frustrated and more turned on that she cared to admit, but she couldn’t find it in her to actually be angry.  She knew that if she had told him to stop, he would have with zero hesitation.  Not that she wanted to let him off the hook just yet.

Y/N: Tell you what, keep your hands to yourself through dessert and your punishment won’t be too harsh when we get home ;)

Clint bit down on his lip to keep from moaning out loud as he read her reply.  The words on the screen went straight to his dick.  He looked up as Y/N came back from the restrooms.  She slid back into her seat and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  

“Maybe you should try thinking about baseball.” She murmured in his ear. He blushed and tried to adjust himself in his pants.  His imagination was running wild and he couldn’t wait to get her alone.  When the waiter brought Natasha and Y/N’s dessert he was relieved, knowing that they were that much closer to the end of the evening.  When she took her first bite of decadent custard, she moaned low in her throat and he was sure she knew exactly what she was doing to him.  With a seductive grin she scooped up a portion and offered her spoon to him.  “Want a taste?”  Clint wasn’t sure he trusted his voice.  He licked his lips and nodded.  The creamy sweetness hit his tongue but he knew it was nothing compared to her.  

“S'good.” He said.  

“Sinful.” Y/N took another bite and closed her eyes in bliss.  “Mmm… Thanks for sharing, Nat.”  Her eyes opened again and locked with his.  Clint saw a number of dark promises within their depths.  

…

Forty minutes later and he finally had her all to himself.  Y/N had lingered in a final conversation with Natasha before bidding their friend a good night.  As soon as the door clicked shut he had his hands on her.  Y/N laughed and batted him away.  

“You’ve been naughty tonight!  You think I’m just going to let you paw at me all you want now?”  Clint pulled her roughly against him and she felt how hard he already was.  

“You could have told me to stop, I would have.”  He lifted her chin so she could see he was serious.  “I promise.”  Her face softened and she gave him a tender kiss.  

“I know,” she told him.  “Maybe I liked it more than I let on.” He grinned.  

“Yeah? Now who’s the naughty one?”  Y/N seized the hair at the back of his head and pulled back and licked a stripe up the exposed column of his neck.  

“Oh, baby.  You have no idea.”  Clint let out a sound he refused to admit was a whimper.  “You started this, but I’m going to end it.” She breathed in his ear. Before he had a chance to gather his wits she was tugging him towards her bedroom.  He was no stranger to her bed, they had been intimate many times before.  They were well matched in their carnal appetites, but he had never seen this side of her.  It excited him beyond belief.  She gave him a gentle shove and he was sitting at the end of her bed.  “You think you’re ready to take your punishment?” Clint gulped and nodded.  She stepped between his thighs and stroked his hair.  “You don’t like something, you get overwhelmed, you say ‘Robin Hood’, got it?”  

“Shit, babe!  You gonna spank me or something?”  She laughed and peppered his face with kisses.  

“I wasn’t planning on it, but the night is young.”  She tipped his head back.  “Nothing will hurt, but I am going to give you a taste of your own medicine.”  She began to unbutton his shirt.  “Teasing me like that when you knew I couldn’t do anything about it?  Touching me like that, arousing me not only in a public place, but in front of our friends and coworkers?  Oh, Clint.  Don’t you know that pay back is a bitch?”  She pushed the fabric off of his body and ran her hands over his toned arms.  “I want you to lay back and get comfortable.  We’re going to be here for a while.”  He scrambled to follow her directions.  She took a few moments to appreciate the view, and went to her closet. “What are your thoughts on light bondage?”  She asked casually.  

“Like handcuffs?”  Y/N produced a pair of black silk scarves.  

“Too clunky for my tastes.”  She approached the bed and dragged the silk over his bare skin.  

“Having pretty good thoughts about it.” He answered.  With a tiny smirk she took each of his hands and pulled his arms over his head.  He watched as she secured his wrists and hands to her headboard.  When she finished she kissed down his left arm.  

“Anything too tight?”  She asked.  Clint tested the bonds.  It felt snug, but he could tell nothing was cutting off his circulation.

“Nope.”

“Perfect.” He was surprised when she slipped a mask over his eyes.  

“Whoa!”

“You depend so much on your eyes,” she purred in his ear.  “When’s the last time you let go of what you could see?”  Clint’s heart rate picked up.  She was touching him nearly everywhere, and without his vision the anticipation built exponentially.  

“You’re full of surprises tonight, aren’t you?”  He groaned when he felt her undoing his pants.  

“All pleasant, I hope.”  She pulled down his pants and boxer briefs in one smooth motion.

“Very.” He managed to reply.  The cool air of the room hit his overly heated skin.  She pressed a quick kiss to his hip.  

“I’ll be right back.”  

“Wait, what?  You’re just going to leave me here like this?”  

“Of course not,”  She ran a reassuring hand over his stomach.  “I just need to get a few things.  Don’t worry, I’m not done playing yet.”  He felt her get off the bed and heard her leave the room. Left in the dark, naked and vulnerable was strangely arousing.  Clint found himself lost in the luxurious feel of Y/N’s bedding, the way it rubbed against his skin.  The silk bonds around his wrists served to keep him present in her game, but he was still caught off guard when her weight returned next to him.  

She didn’t touch him or say a word and he began to shift nervously.  When he started to believe that she was truly only messing with him he felt something impossibly soft run down his neck, the center of his chest, and circle around his navel.  It was too dense to be a feather, and in any case it definitely didn’t tickle.  Y/N continued running it over his body, leaving his skin tingling in its wake.  She concentrated on one of his nipples, swirling it over the nub until it was almost unbearably sensitive.  When he thought he couldn’t take any more she moved to the other side.  His lips parted in a gasp when he felt her teeth graze the one she had just abandoned.  

“What is that?”  He finally asked.  Clint was hard and aching between his legs from her ministrations.  The soft device left his chest and she swiped it over his cheek.  

“Just a makeup brush.  Don’t worry, I haven’t been painting you.”  She replied.  Her hands replaced the brush, stroking over his ribs.  “I just wanted to get you nice and sensitized.”

“Oh believe me, I am.”  He heard her laugh and moaned when her tongue traced a similar path down his body.  When she reached his belly button she blew a gentle breath over his damp skin.  There was no part of his body that wasn’t aroused, and she still had yet to touch him when he desperately wanted her to.  

“You should see yourself right now, Clint.”  Her nails scratched over his inner thighs.  “I should have done this weeks ago.  It looks like you’re enjoying yourself.”  

“I can think of a few things that would make this bett-ohh..”  He broke off when she licked the head of his cock.  

“I did tell you I was going to tease you.”  She reminded him, wrapping her hand around him and twisting her hand up and down his shaft.  The pleasure spread out from his groin, sending little shock waves through his limbs.  Without his sight everything felt even more intense and she kept all of her movements tortuously slow.  It felt amazing but there was no where near the amount of friction he needed to come.  

“I need more, please.”  He groaned.  “At least let me see you?”  

“Keep your eyes closed,” she warned and pulled the mask off of his face. “Open them slowly.”  Clint blinked and the room came into focus.

“Oh my god, you’re killing me.” He said when he got a good look at her. She had ditched her dress and bra and was kneeling on the mattress between his legs in her panties and his shirt.  She had left it open so it framed her body, calling attention to her breasts while leaving them covered.  “You look so fuckin’ sexy in my clothes.”  

“I had a feeling you might like it.  Now, what are we going to do about this?”  She rubbed her thumb over the tip of his cock, smearing the precum that gathered there.  

“A few ideas come to mind.”  

“Completely at my mercy and still a cheeky little shit,” she giggled.  “If you want me to suck it, you could ask me nicely.”  Clint licked his lips.  

“Y/N? Would you be a dear and suck my dick, please?”  Y/N laughed again and leaned down, her tongue darting out teasingly.  

“You’re lucky you’re adorable.”  She took him into her mouth and he dropped his head back with a moan.  Her tongue hit all the right spots but she kept pulling away before he got too worked up.  “You’re hard as a rock, babe.  I bet you’re dying to come.”  She smirked at him, and rolled his balls gently in her hand.  “It wouldn’t take much to set you off right now, would it?”  

“You have no idea…”  He groaned.  Y/N stood up and started to slid her panties down her legs.  Clint’s eyes followed her every move.  

“Don’t you dare come until I say you can.”  She growled as she climbed back onto the bed.  Taking him into her hand she guided him to her dripping entrance.  “Can you feel how wet I am for you?  Oh, Clint…”  She sighed and sunk down on his length.  He had to bite down on the inside of his cheek when she started to move her hips, she was so hot and tight around him.  

“You feel amazing Y/N.”  He gasped.  His arms pulled at the restraints, desperate to touch her.  She set an agonizing pace, slowly rising until he was just barely inside before sinking down again with an incredible amount of control.  Her back arched and his shirt slipped down her shoulders, her breasts proudly on display.  She rolled her body in a sinuous motion, feeling every drag of his cock against her walls.  It was becoming too much for him, with every moment she was picking up speed.  The image of her riding him, the frustration of the bonds, and the feel of her squeezing around him like a vice brought him closer and closer to the edge.  “I’m close!”  He cried out.  She pulled off of him he thrust up, chasing his climax.  “Please…”  He begged.  She soothed him with a kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth.  It distracted him enough so he didn’t realize she was undoing the scarves holding him in place until his arms went slack.  

“You’ve been so good for me,” she purred.  “Now I want you to fuck me like you mean it.”  Y/N posed for him on her hands and knees.  With a feral sound Clint lined up behind her.  He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his chest.  With one rough thrust he was inside her fully.  

“Yes!” She shouted.  “Oh, fuck me!”  He drove into her with a punishing speed, rolling her nipples in his fingers.  She reached behind and grabbed at his hair, pulling at the short strands.  He almost beyond words, but when he felt the hot coil of pleasure build in his stomach he called out a warning.  

“I-I’m close again…”  He stuttered.  Y/N took his other hand and placed it at her throbbing clit.  

“Touch me, Clint.”  She panted.  He slipped his fingers into her folds and circled her sweet spot, mirroring the touches he had teased her with back at the restaurant.  “Oh oh ohhh, come with me, Clint!” She moaned and went rigid in his arms, he gave one more thrust as she spasmed around him, his orgasm ripping through him.  They stayed upright, chests heaving as they panted through the fog of pleasure.  Clint slipped out of her and kissed the side of her neck, running his hands over her pliant body.  She hummed contentedly, tilting her head to the side to expose more of her neck.  

When he couldn’t keep himself vertical anymore he laid down, pulling her with him.  Y/N nestled into his arms.

“That was…  Wow.”  He murmured and she laughed.  “Have you always been this kinky?  Just holding out on me?”  Y/N rolled over so she was facing him.  

“Oh, honey.  That was just me getting started.  We haven’t even touched the good stuff yet.”  She pushed his mouth closed when it fell open in shock and kissed him.  “But there’s always round two…”  

[1wngdngl]

Game Review - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back

I finally beat Crash Bandicoot 2 100%. For the first time ever! Okay, I had to look a couple things up, but I did give it my best effort first, and I’m satisfied with my experience.

So now, that there’s nothing left to uncover, here’s the review I promised.

(Cut for Spoilers)

First off, this is the only Crash Bandicoot game I remember owning as a kid. (I do think I remember playing Crash 1, but I think that must have been a rental or at a relative’s house.) While Crash 2 wasn’t a game I played all that many times – even with the bonus content it’s still a pretty short game, and I had loads of other games to keep me occupied – I do remember liking it. What did I like about it, back then? Well, it had good music, and some interesting level design, Crash was pretty endearing with his funny facial expressions, and it was just an easy game to pick up and play for a bit – at least until you were down to the really frustrating stuff at the end. The last few levels are tough, and I remember as a kid it took me forever to figure out what I was supposed to do during the Cortex boss fight, but I did beat the game once or twice.

Never got 100% though, at least not that I can recall. But now I have! thanks to patience and the power of looking things up ;) If you’re curious, the two things I had to look up at the end were the location of the last two secret warp exits. (Turns out, they were in the levels Diggin’ It and Unbearable.) As a result, this was the first time I’ve ever played the secret level Totally Bear, and as it turns out, a bear ride in the dark is quite a tricky combination.

So now that I’ve officially seen all there is to this game (keep in mind I’m talking about the original, not the N-Sane Trilogy version), here’s a few more general thoughts:

There’s something about the way Crash 2’s progression works that gives it a lonely, almost claustrophobic feeling. Think about it – at the start of the game, Crash is going about his daily life, hanging out with his sister and doing errands for her, then BOOM! He’s kidnapped by his old enemy, and trapped in a small tower and asked to do his bidding. Like, Crash might think he’s saving the world, but the player knows from the start he’s being duped. But even if Crash wanted to leave, he can’t. There’s no way he can escape the tower, from these small hub rooms with barely enough space to walk around. He can go into the levels, sure, and they can be pretty big, but at the end of the day they’re still corridors funneling him to the end. And while some of them are pretty, they’re filled with traps, pits, and enemies out for Crash’s blood. There’s no friendly faces for Crash here, no NPCs, Aku Aku isn’t really even a character yet. It’s just Crash versus these dangerous, sometimes mazelike death-routes. Then, when he gets to the end, he steps into the portal and he’s back at the hub room again. There’s no way out of this, and no choice but to do what Cortex wants. And considering how hard the game is, it could potentially take the player weeks to finish, months even, if they don’t play often. Imagine Crash just sitting on the floor in the warp room, waiting for the player to come back, hoping that Coco might find a way to contact him again soon…

Anyway, enough of that brooding stuff! Here’s some more thoughts I had while playing this:

One awesome thing about this game is that, for as short as it is, it still incorporates quite a variety of different level types. You’ve got the jungle/forest areas, the jungle rivers, a few snow levels, sewers, ancient ruins, etc. Near the end you also get some futuristic levels inside a factory/space station. Each level type has a distinct aesthetic, music, and enemies.

Layered on top of the level types are different playstyles, for when normal platforming might be getting dull. The jet ski bits, for example, while making it a bit hard to control yourself, are quite fun, especially when you’re racing against the clock for the hidden gem. There’s the parts where you ride a baby polar bear, and those play out like a fast autoscroller or racing game – the speed means you die a lot, but then you’re right back at it and ready to do better. The levels where you’re being chased by something are also intense – as a kid, I remember my anxiety spiking whenever I entered a level and realized it was a chase scene. The big polar bear with its huge teeth was super scary, especially with how it runs straight at the camera! Trying to run with Crash when you can barely see where you’re going can be a little annoying, but the paths of crates and wumpa fruit do help if you pay attention. The night levels are another type of auto-scrolling level where you can barely see where you’re going, and they make backtracking fun when you’re trying to collect all the crates. Probably the one mechanic that gave me the most hang-ups was figuring out the jetpack – the controls just aren’t very intuitive, and it takes a while to build up the muscle memory to fly around with any kind of grace. (That’s part of why the final boss is so frustrating to me >.> )

Another thing I guess I should talk about is the enemy design. The basic enemies are…okay, I guess. Not as distinctive as the ones in a Mario or Zelda game, but they work. Actually, that’s something that used to confuse me as a kid – so as Crash goes through the levels trying to find crystals for Cortex, all these things are attacking him, right? And some of them seem like they’re just wild animals that happen to live in those environments, so they don’t need any further explanation. But what about the enemies that have like, metal spikes and buzzsaws added to them? And what about the lab assistant characters you encounter near the end? In retrospect, the cyborg animals were probably created by N. Gin, but then why would they be attacking Crash? Does Cortex want to kill Crash, or does he want Crash to gather crystals? Or are we to believe that all the artificial enemies in the levels are actually sent by N. Brio instead?

The bosses are pretty good. I wish that the boss characters had more build-up so you would know more about who you’re up against (like, why is this blue kangaroo fighting me in his library?), but the fights with them are pretty fun and a nice change of pace. They take place in unique environments with some good music, and I remember the Tiny fight in particular always scared me as a kid. It’s this wolf-looking creature that comes leaping at you, on platforms floating over an abyss, and then the platforms start falling as sirens blare…o.o Again, the Cortex final boss is probably my least favourite just due to how it controls.

Like I mentioned before, the music in this game is pretty good, and there’s a surprising amount of it. Not only does each level theme get its own music, but there are different variations of it depending on where you are in the level. If you enter a bonus area the music becomes slower and more playful, while in the Death route it becomes more frantic. Each boss gets their own theme music too. I think my favorite music is the ones for the more industrial environments, like the sewers, factory, and zero-gravity levels. (The primary composer seems to be Josh Mancell, but the credits also list Mark Mothersbaugh, who did the soundtrack for the Sims 2, The Lego Movie, and Thor: Ragnarok; so maybe he helped with the more futuristic/electronic sounds?)

There’s a big difference between getting to the end of a level, and finishing a level. Each of the main levels has a crystal as well as a crate gem, but there’s often way more to them than that. Death routes, bonus routes, split paths, routes you can only access by finding a hidden gem in another unrelated level, secret spots that will bring you to the hidden warp room, where you can find alternate entrances into several levels, and even access a few totally separate bonus levels…It all means that you’ll be visiting each level several times. For some levels, getting everything requires a lot of backtracking – Piston It Away and Cold Hard Crash are the worst for this.

Okay, that about wraps it up. I’m planning to start a playthrough of Crash 3: Warped soon, so there’ll probably be a review of that…eventually ;D