#wow this post ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated

[forthoseinterested]

Anime reviews

I’m not that into anime, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense for me to rate and review every anime series that I’ve ever seen, but I’m going to do it anyway. There were a few on TV when I was young that I got into watching (Inuyasha, Sailor Moon); the rest I didn’t see til my mid 20s. In total, I’d say I’ve seen 11.

If you’re not into anime, the brief glimpses you get into the anime world can make it seem strange and off-putting. The characters all talk weird, they yell certain lines at random, everybody is an exaggerated stereotype, that girl’s breasts are weirdly big and everyone’s skirts are weirdly high and those camera angles are really unnecessary. Then somehow the writing and dialogue feels like it was made for kids. It’s like a whole made by and for horny teenagers.

But as with anything, you have to find the good stuff. Most of any category of thing is going to be bad. Like, most books are bad, most movies are bad, most music sucks. Our idea of what’s good is relative, and we only ever really like the best of a given category that we find. I say that I like metal music for example, but out of all metal music out there, how much have I heard? I’m probably just listening to the top 5% of it I’ve come across or something.

I’ve been pretty careful about what anime series I waste my time with. I try watching one episode, and if it’s bad then I just quit. These are all series that were at least tolerable enough for me to keep watching. And then some of them ended up being really good.

Little Witch Academia (2017)

rating: 3/5 — length: 25 episodes

It has the vibe of the early Harry Potter movies, but if Hogwarts was an all-girls school. Then it goes off in a totally different direction, in terms of characters, theme, and story. The show is often super cheesy, but it’s also just one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever seen, and fortunately it has none of the pervy weirdness featured in a lot of the other anime with teenage girl characters (don’t lewd my akko!).

The protagonist is Atsuko (pronounced ‘ought-sko’) Kagari, known by her nickname Akko (‘aw-koh’). I first watched Little Witch Academia shortly after it came out during a fairly bad time in my life and this character warmed my stupid heart. She’s adorable, guileless, and kind, somebody with a childlike wonder and innocence and curiosity about the world. It’s a personality-archetype that many other shows try to pull off, but none as well as this one.

Akko’s dream was to attend magic school, and she gets in, which makes her very happy—but then it turns out she’s not good at school. She falls behind in her classes and she struggles at things that seem to come more naturally to her peers. But she remains positive and perseverant and just keeps trying. I loved her blossoming friends-turned-enemies dynamic with Diana, the uncovering of mysteries about their intertwined past, learning about her hero Shiny Chariot, and the great introduction of a central villain half-way through the series.

For me, a great protagonist is often enough to carry everything else, and I did just love Akko as a protagonist. She makes this show. Diana and Croix are great characters too, and the general world that LWA creates is also enjoyable—but overall, I suspect that if you don’t appreciate Akko the way that I do, LWA wouldn’t be that great critically speaking. Just solid.

Death Note (2006)

rating: 5/5 — length: 37 episodes

This series is so ubiquitously praised that I wonder if there’s anything more I need to say about it. I feel like everybody who’s aware of it probably already understands it’s good.

Death Note is a well-constructed drama with a fascinating premise, and it doesn’t fail on the execution. It starts strong, it ends strong, it’s strong all the way through. I was truly impressed the first time I saw it, and that’s still how I feel now. There’s so much back-and-forth intrigue and things change up frequently enough that it never feels stupid or stale. The character’s motivations make sense, they do a good enough job answering or covering potential plot-holes for suspension of disbelief, the rules of the world are consistent. It’s just incredible.

I’ve heard some people didn’t like the character of Misa Amane because she just felt too unreal, too crazy, too hard to believe and take seriously—but girls like that exist. Hell, I bet a lot of girls who watched Death Note would’ve done what Misa did. Some people are crazy.

The low point of the series is probably that brief window right after that one character’s death, and some people say they stop watching at that point. In my opinion, it picks up and ends up being interesting again soon afterwards, and the entire series is worth watching. I think this was the only time I was so hooked by an anime that I binge watched like a dozen episodes at a time on first viewing.

Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)

rating: 4/5 — length: 51 episodes

This was an interesting series. It felt expansive, so many characters and stories and places. What genre do people consider this? It’s like those video games that are just called ‘action-adventure’ for lack of better term. It’s ‘kid-friendly’, but apparently all that means is there’s no sex or swearing. It explores some pretty dark and disturbing themes, and I know adults who quit after the chimera dog-girl plot over on. They also really tried to hit us in the gut when Hughes died and we had to listen to his daughter crying at the funeral. Like, the fuck?

Edward and Alphonse are well-conceived protagonists, the world felt so varied, and the rules and structure of the fictional world were clearly thought out. There’s lots of great twists (like their dead mother’s body still being around as a villain because failed attempts at human transmutation are what create homunculi), great characters (Roy, mon cœur), but centre stage in what made Fullmetal Alchemist excellent was its excellent overarching story, as their search for the Philosopher’s Stone leads them to delve into the history of conflict between their country of Armestris and the neighbouring region of Ishval.

The manga the TV series is based on hadn’t finished yet by the time the anime was wrapping up, so the people making the show just had to wing it and make up an ending. And what they came up with was actually pretty good. They added a character named Dante to serve as the final-boss villain, and the plan and motivation that gets revealed is satisfying. Then it gets wild and they leave the anime world and go interact with real-life historical Nazis for some reason, which was surprisingly well-done for how stupid that sounds on paper.

They ended up completely remaking this series in 2009–2010, which was called Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, incorporating the ‘real ending’ instead of that Nazi arc, and generally following the manga more closely. That went on to become one of the most highly rated anime series of all time. Maybe I’ll watch it someday.

Inuyasha (2002)

rating: 3/5 — length: 167 episodes, then 26 more, and 4 movies

First of all, Inuyasha has some of the most painfully cringe-inducing dialogue ever. Nearly every time the main cast is talking to each other, I’m dying of second-hand embarrassment. There’s always an awkward, pseudo-romantic tension that you’re waiting to break, and it just never does. They’re always saying the wrong thing, falling on their face socially. It’s just all fucking awkward. That may be partly the localization team’s fault, but part of it also feels intentional, because it’s part of how we get more invested in the Inuyasha–Kagome ship that always feels just over the horizon. They must like each other, but neither of them will say! They’re both embarrassed! How long can it go on? Fucking hell.

This is also one of those shows that probably accidentally gave a bunch of the audience fetishes without them realizing it. Inuyasha sort of has a female-dominant pet-play dynamic going on with Kagome, with the brilliant excuse that neither of them signed up for it. In the pilot, Inuyasha is a powerful hanyō (a Japanese word basically a spirit or demon?), but wears a special artefact called the beads of subjugation, allowing Kagome—and only Kagome—to topple him over just by saying ‘sit’ (get it? because he’s a dog). So Kagome, an ordinary and by extension physically weak human with no magical powers or whatever, is the only one who can dominate the otherwise powerful and dominant Inuyasha, and it’s important for plot reasons that Inuyasha do anything he can to protect her. Also, they lowkey have feelings for each other, but the writers are just going to go ahead and tease you with that for another 160 episodes.

The world of Inuyasha is awesome. It goes through so many different acts and locations (the Gang of Seven, Mount Hakurei, the whole story about Ninmenka—the demon-tree that turned people into fruit). They did a great job not only capturing the aesthetic and feel of ‘feudal Japan’, but making the world these characters inhabit feel enormous. I don’t think it’s an easy feat for shows to make their worlds feel big. (For an example of a series that fails at this, look at Star Wars. In universe, the world is way bigger than almost any other media, but the stories they tell within the Star Wars franchise makes the universe feel very small, because you don’t see that many different settings, the same small group of characters all just keep bumping into each other, and travel happens off-screen or in an instant.)

I thought about this for a while before committing to this: I really do think Naraku (left, with black hair) is the best villain that I’ve ever seen, ever, in anything. His aesthetic is perfect. He’s ominous, manipulative, mysterious, you don’t even know who he is at first. And whenever he was around, there was an amazingly iconic and sinister track that would play, which has been etched into my memory ever since.

Here, listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSzVNoX57mA

Inuyasha’s older brother, Sesshōmaru (right, with white hair), is the coolest wandering anti-hero ever. He’s extremely stoic and arrogant; he reminds me of a vampire. But he’s a peak example of ‘anti-hero’ as a concept. He’s not evil, he’s not really good, but he has conflict with Inuyasha, and he spends almost the entire anime basically just wandering around doing his own thing. He has his own personal journey of self-reflection, pondering the purpose of his existence and his place in the world, after his father died and left him an object of healing instead of killing (which he left to Inuyasha—why, father?). He ends up sort of ‘adopting’ this little girl he saves named Rin, in his own confusion, and they develop a funny relationship where she follows him because she has nowhere else to go and she thinks he must be a great guy because he saved her, and he doesn’t even really understand why he’s taking care of her, he just does.

There’s also too many characters for me to go over them all. Kikyo, Sango and Miroku, Shippo. My god, Shippo is great! I love Shippo!

At the end of the day, I don’t recommend Inuyasha. Like I said at the start, it’s a really awkward show, the dialogue is painful, albeit in sort of a fun way. The story is very expansive, but could also feel drawn out. It’s by far the longest anime I’ve ever sat through. It’s a show that I remember positively and its fantasy world and characters have meaningfully stuck with me ever since I first encountered it, but I predict that most people would rate it as ‘just okay’ and not really worth the time investment given how long it is.

Cowboy Bebop (1998)

rating: 5/5 — length: 26 episodes and done (though there’s also a movie I didn’t see).

This is another series that receives what feels like universal praise. I went in with high expectations and—after a few rocky episodes near the beginning (that weird enviro-terrorist episode? and the child who never ages??)—by the ending I wasn’t disappointed at all. The pieces came together, and overall they managed to pull off something fantastic.

The world of Cowboy Bebop is often described as a ‘space Western’. The space part is because it takes place in a pseudo-futuristic world of 2071, where any normal person can buy a small starship and fly to Mars if they feel like it, but our television sets are still bulky and full of vacuum tubes. It’s like the Star Wars approach to tech, except there’s no such thing as ‘warp’ or faster-than-light travel, meaning nobody is ever getting out of our solar system. The world is realistically gritty and dirty—not dark and dystopian, but balanced, like if there’s been relatively little social change from the 1990s (when the series was made).

This type of world has similarities to the early American westward expansion. The structures of our society are spread thin because we’re suddenly exploring all this new space and we haven’t got a great handle on the available technology yet, so we’re suddenly awash in opportunity and resources but also crime and chaos. To compensate for their limited resources while trying to get a handle on organized crime, the police issue bounties for known criminals—and the starting main characters, Spike and Jet, are bounty hunters. They ride around in their small spaceship, which they call the Bebop (‘bee-bop’). That’s the episode-one premise.

The music and animation of Cowboy Bebop contribute to its unique aesthetic. It has a distinctly artsy, jazzy feel with a wide range of pace, from slower, more solemn moments to action-oriented fights or chases with fast energy. So much effort went into the landscapes and environments, the city streets, and score that Cowboy Bebop ends up being impressive purely as a work of art, like the 1988 anime film Akira.

As with many shows, Cowboy Bebop starts off more episodic, but then after getting comfortable it introduces more overarching elements. Its major theme is one that fits well with the cowboy analogy: the misfit, the wanderer, the person who has nowhere to go, nowhere to go back to. They’re lost in the world. That’s what the main cast all have in common. And after their paths cross, all they have is each other. For a time, the Bebop becomes home.

Eventually, we learn Spike was once a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, but after getting into a conflict with other members, he ran away and can never go back—their policy is that anybody who leaves the Syndicate must be killed, and he’s therefore (to them) a wanted man, indefinitely. Jet, meanwhile, is a former cop who became disillusioned by corruption on the force, leading to other police members betraying and attempting to murder him (he survived, but lost his entire left arm, now replaced with a mechanical one).

A few episodes in they encounter Faye, a woman on the run with no memory of who she is or where she came from. She has nothing to go back to. Then they meet Edward—who’s less of a main character than the other three—a strange teenage girl (who’s often mistaken for a boy) who was abandoned by her family and then ran away from the orphanage, with no clear plan for the future and, like the others, nothing secure she could fall back on.

Something else Cowboy Bebop does excellently is the characterization of its two male protagonists, Jet and Spike. They’re both strong, competent guys with their own ups and downs. I loved their personalities and their enduring friendship.The world Cowboy Bebop depicts is rather diverse. I think in the 90s, everybody assumed there would be less racial division in the future, because humanity would all move around and intermingle more. There’s a lot of random black and other racial minority characters, and they’re all different from each other and overall portrayed reasonably.

A brief part that some people would say hasn’t aged as well is in the two-parter Jupiter Jazz, when Spike encounters a gay male drag queen or crossdresser named Julius. Faye also meets somebody named Gren, who reveals he’s gay, and then later it’s revealed he has female breasts due to having been forcibly subject to experiment in the past.

If a Western animation studio were given a script like this today, they would likely have played it more sensitively or delicately—but there was nothing really negative about this episode, and I like how it ended up. It wasn’t sugarcoated or walking on eggshells. Neither Gren, Julius, nor the couple other crossdressers you briefly see are intended to be transgender, at least there’s no clear sign of that. It’s a guy who was given female hormones against his will, and some gay guys who are crossdressing in a gritty industrial setting. The show doesn’t encourage the audience to have a problem with these people. They’re simply portrayed.

In the late 90s, the concept of a trans person didn’t really exist yet in popular culture, and especially not in Japan, which is why in some cases there’s a lot of discourse and articles about whether a character from some old anime should be understood as trans or not. Let’s just appreciate things for being good in their time.

That said, this isn’t a big part of the show. What makes Cowboy Bebop great is the exploration into the depth of its characters. Spike’s, Jet’s, and Faye’s past lives all come back to haunt them, and they all have to reconcile and decide what’s really important to them.

It’s beautiful.

The Promised Neverland (2019)

rating: 4/5 — length: 12 episodes (first season)

I personally found it a little difficult to suspend disbelief about how young these characters were—but if you’re willing to tell yourself going in that what you’re about to see are the a bunch of genetically engineered super-kids with the intellect, ingenuity, and personalities of gifted university students, The Promised Neverland presents an interesting hypothetical scenario with a compelling story therewithin.

Don, Ray, and Emma live in an orphanage, which is in a pastoral setting, out in what seems like basically the middle of nowhere. They don’t remember life before the orphanage, and they’ve never left, so this is the only thing they know. Then, in the first episode, they stumble upon a secret: the orphanage is actually a human-breeding compound, which some kind of demons are using to farm them for consumption. The whole show is about how to escape.

I’m not the only one whom it reminded of Death Note. I also noticed the person who voices Emma in the English dub is the same voice actor who plays Akko in Little Witch Academia, and she just talks the same way in both roles, so it’s like, oh, hi Akko. (I only ever watch English dubs. I can’t stand listening to Japanese. No, I don’t want to argue about it.)

I really appreciate shows that just tell a single, self-contained story and end. It only takes 12 episodes for the kids to escape, and that’s it. But then actually they ended up making sequel seasons, which I never watched, so I have no idea how good those are.

Sailor Moon (1992)

rating: 2/5 — length: 45 episodes for the main series everybody knows, plus god knows how many more

I don’t know the whole Sailor Moon expanded media franchise, only the series that originally broadcast in the West. There were like 45 episodes that introduced the main Sailor Scouts everybody knows (Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter).

The themes and aesthetics of Sailor Moon have been crazy influential; she’s the quintessential girl-boss girl-power nonsense that predates most other examples you can think of, and it embraces all its own silliness and immaturity. Usagi (renamed ‘Serena’ for the English version) dresses up and becomes a super-hero thingy that fights evil because a magical cat showed up one day and told her “hey, you have powers” and she kind of just goes “ok, cool” with not nearly as many questions and concerns as I’d have had. Then at the beginning of encounters with baddies she shouts a bunch of lines that don’t sound off-the-cuff, and it’s like, girly, who taught you any of this? Was it all in the back of your head, like a sleeper agent waiting to be activated? Spoilers: yes, basically. She’s the reincarnation of the Moon Princess, so it’s like on some deep, subconscious level she already knows all of this from a past life; it all just clicks for her.

But Usagi is also just a teenage girl, so she’s lazy, whiny, irresponsible, and more like she’s playing at being a superhero (even though she literally is one and it’s not just in her imagination). It’s all dumb and cheesy but also a lot of fun, but then for a lot of us it’s just 90s nostalgia, and one of the first tastes of ‘anime’ that many people are ever exposed to.

The first English dub was done by DiC Entertainment (‘deek’), who made all their own music (and got voice actors who sometimes just shamelessly phoned it in). The result is that when the show was re-dubbed in 2014 by Viz Media (‘vizz’), they couldn’t use the music from the version that most of us saw on TV growing up. Which is terrible! It actually changes the feeling and energy of the show so much if you just put in a score with a different mood. The only other bad changes were:

Naru (‘Molly’), Usagi’s best friend at school, the one with red hair, was given a totally random Brooklyn accent in the DiC dub, even though it’s set in Japan and none of her friends or family or anyone else sound remotely like that. It was such a dumb quirk, but it was one we all got to know, and in the Viz dub, they just made her sound like any other random Japanese girl. It felt so wrong to take it away from her.

Luna, the cat, also had a unique voice in the DiC dub, which gave her a distinct, unique sound, sort of like an old sorcerer or something. In the Viz redub, she, like Molly, just ended up sounding like any other random Japanese girl. This is probably even worse, because at least Molly just sounding like some random Japanese girl made sense, because she is literally a random Japanese girl. Luna is a magical talking cat.

The other loss I hated was the loss of the iconic Crown Arcade Theme, which is reused in many episodes of the DiC version. It was amazing—it screamed trouble and hijinx, let’s go hit the town and start some mischief or something. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Cnu9nIzzo

In addition to being girl-boss girl-power female friendship representation, Sailor Moon pushed the envelope on queer representation way before it was cool. There was a lesbian couple and a gay male couple and they both got censored in the Western version. The lesbians came a lot later in the show, Sailor Neptune and Uranus, who were clumsily changed to instead be cousins instead of female lovers, which just resulted in these scenes with obvious romantic tension that made no sense in context and just ended up making it seem like they were cousins and lovers.

Earlier in the series, two of the male villains, Kunzite and Zoisite (pictured below), were very obviously gay for each other, which American broadcasters didn’t like. But Zoisite had long hair that was often styled in really feminine ways, so somebody came up with the clever solution of just cast a woman to do his voice, effectively gender-swapping him and making their romance heterosexual. The character looked so effeminate that it worked and many Western viewers didn’t realize this tall, flat-chested villainess was a guy.

A minor gripe is that Lita (Sailor Jupiter) was supposed to be noticeably taller than the others (it’s explicitly talked about), but Zoisite towers over her and nobody says anything. They should’ve added a long where one of the girls says “who was that really tall lady” or something.

It also sort of breaks the backstory of the show. Princess Serenity, the Moon Princess, was guarded by the (all-female) Four Guardian Deities and Prince Endymion, of the Earth Kingdom, was guarded by the all-male Shitennou (Four Heavenly Kings). Usagi and Mamoru (‘Darien’ in the English version) were the reincarnations of Serenity and Endymion, and after the moon cats discover them, they became Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. The Sailor Scouts (changed to ‘Sailor Guardians’ in the English version) are the reincarnations of the guardian deities, while Queen Beryl’s generals are the reincarnations of the heavenly kings.

If you didn’t know any of that, I guess maybe you wouldn’t think about it while watching, but it’s so wrong they ruined the five-versus-five male-versus-female dynamic that was set up, turning one of the four kings into a woman just because they didn’t like how flirty Zoisite was.

I loved Lita. My favourite girl.

Anyway, Sailor Moon is goofy and fun and there’s a reason it was so goddamn influential and still has so many people who remember it and are actively fans of it today. But if you’re a dude and you’re not generally into anime, then you’ll probably just find it dumb? Unless you find it funny. Because it is dumb, and it is funny, and I love it. But critically speaking it’s a show with a lot of problems—shallow plots, stupid writing, bad dialogue, bad voice acting, etc.

Blue Exorcist (2011)

rating: 2/5 — length: 25 episodes (first season)

I only realized recently they ended up making more seasons of this. It was originally only one season, but then in 2017 they went back and made more. I only know the one.

In some ways, the soul of this show is very typical. It’s like somebody made a mash-up by putting all the other anime in a blender. The writing, pacing, animation—like if you coded a game and you just used all the default engine assets.

The main character is a hothead teenage guy named Rin (like the little girl who travelled with Sesshōmaru in Inuyasha). Rin discovers that he’s literally the son of the devil. No, like, literally. But he wants to fight against that and become an exorcist, so he has to go to exorcist school. It’s called True Cross Academy. He gets there and it turns out his better-behaved twin brother, Yukio, is already ahead of him and literally a teacher at the school, even though he’s also just a teenage guy.

The head of the school is also a demon, but who chooses to side with the church despite being a demon, so I guess demons are usually bad, but not always? And yeah, the side of good in this show is literally the church, like, the Vatican. There’s a handful of personality-archetype side characters. I liked Izumo Kamiki, whom the other characters called polkabrows, because of her weird eyebrows that are like dots.For the most part, this show was alright. Nothing about it was really bad. It just felt unremarkable, so I don’t know why you’d watch this when there’s so many other better series to watch.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

rating: 3/5 — length: 12 episodes

This looks like it’s going to be a typical girl-power show, but then it turns around and puts an actually-dark spin on the whole genre. A little creature approaches Madoka, the titular protagonist, with her meek voice and pink hair, to ask if she wants magical powers—reminiscent of Luna approaching Usagi to give her the magical locket that turns her into Sailor Moon.

This has the aesthetic of a dumb girl-fantasy with an annoying meek protagonist, but then turns out to be a dark spin on the whole genre. There’s a magical little creature that approaches a schoolgirl in Japan and asks her if she wants magical powers, reminiscent of Luna approaching Sailor Moon, but then it goes in a whole other direction. It’s unique and ominous, the twists are great, and the story has very little fat—finishing up in only 12 episodes, after doing everything it set out to do. I don’t even think I should say anything more!

Fate/Zero (2011)

rating: 2/5 — length: 25 episodes

This is one part of the broader Fate series, and the only part I’ve seen. The background is laughably contrived and strange, so there’s some set-up in that first episode, but once you get what the hell is going on, it tells a decent story. There’s a magical object called the holy grail, and in addition to it being a wish-granting artefact it seemingly has a soul and will of its own, and it creates this weird rules-based competition between a bunch of noble houses, who fight amongst theirselves and the winner is granted a wish, and this only happens once every couple generations. The way they have to fight is by choosing an historical figure of some kind and summoning them to command, so it’s like a weird large-scale Pokémon battle, except you’re bossing around Genghis Khan or something.

The thing this show does really well is juggling around a large case of characters who are all interesting and distinct and have to be ‘balanced’ in some way, since it’s an ongoing contest. There’s a kid who’s basically a deranged serial killer who enjoys gore but somehow they make him likable. The main plot is then all about how this fight plays out. The people who end up standing out most are Kirei Kotomine (a corrupt priest) and Kiritsugu Emiya (who’s not even a direct participant, but an assassin hired to help Irisveil—the master of ‘Saber’, the spirit of King Arthur—who’s a woman, for some reason?). I can’t be fucked remembering so many different Japanese names, so I just called Emiya ‘smokes’ and Kotomine ‘priest guy’. The longer the show goes on, the more it seems like the central conflict is about those two. They’re both fucked up and you gradually learn they have more backstory than the other characters.

I really liked the side character called Ryūnosuke Uryū, this younger guy, like a teenager I think, who’s a literal serial killer and loves blood, guts, gore, killing, and cruelty. It gets him excited and gleeful like a normal kid seeing candy. There was also Waver Velvet, a nerdy kid who gets dealt the most caveman-like of all manly heroes, called ‘Rider’, the spirit of Alexander the Great. There’s a bunch of other things I’m just not going to bother mentioning.

Oh, and then it turns out that Irisveil literally is the holy grail, whatever that even means. Fate/Zero is ambitious—but overall, its story, characters, and dialogue end up being just okay. I liked some aspects of it, but when all is said and done, it wasn’t that entertaining, and your time isn’t unlimited, so it’s not one of the ones that I’d recommend.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (2023)

rating: 5/5 — length: 28 episodes

This show exceeded my expectations by a lot. I don’t even know what I was expecting—I guess something average, and it was far beyond that.

The world of Frieren isn’t super-exciting or action-packed. It’s more existential, contemplative. It reminds me of Cowboy Bebop in that way, but happening in a more open fantasy setting, like if that kind of story was told in Inuyasha. I actually sort of like how these days we all understand the concept of a fantasy setting with goblins, elves, dwarves, dragons, and dungeons with chests in them, so now shows are just taking that for granted as their starting point and moving right along. Why reinvent the wheel?

Frieren (‘free-ren’) is an elf mage, and her life far exceeds that of humans—as in we know they can live for thousands of years, at least. This results in a problem, which is outliving almost everybody you get to know. Once upon a time, Frieren went on a typical adventure-quest: a party of a monk, a mage, a warrior, and a dwarf travelled north to beat up the demon king in his ice palace or something. Victory and glory all around. Now it’s 80 years later and almost all the humans alive back then have died, and within the first couple episodes, Frieren’s human friends die of old age as well. So it’s like, okay, now what?

Frieren wanders around in a world of people who all know of the band of heroes who saved the world a couple generations ago, but none of them recognize that one of those heroes is standing right in front of them—and though she’s not in hiding, Frieren doesn’t chase that glory by going around proudly announcing who she is.

After Himmel, the warrior guy from Frieren’s adventuring party, dies, Frieren cries, overcome with the realization that for as much as he meant to her, she never adequately got to know him, due to not valuing her time like the short-lived humans do. She vows that she wants to learn as much about humans as she can, and in the process she comes to realize just how much the humans she’s encountered mean to her—especially Himmel.

She then befriends Fern, a young human mage, whom she brings along with her as a travelling companion. This time she does it differently, and her mentorship and friendship with Fern ends up feeling more like two sisters. It’s all very endearing.

There’s a fair amount more I’m not getting into. The point is Frieren captures something very special and that I enjoyed very much. This is the first time in my life that I’m looking forward to a new season of an anime coming out.

Some noteworthy series I watched for one episode and then quit:

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.

Himouto! Umaru-chan.

Attack on Titan.

I watched the whole first season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with a couple friends and just didn’t find it interesting enough to continue.

I remember watching episodes of the original Dragon Ball, when Goku is a kid, that seemed charming, though I’ve never gone back and watched all of it (and if memory serves, it’s long).

I also watched the pilot of that delicious dungeon anime that everyone is crazy about right now. I might end up watching more, but it has that contrived anime awkwardness I normally don’t like, so I don’t know.

[silver-studios]

Okay I keep writing comments for gravity of tempered grace in my head and then getting distracted before I can actually post them so I'm just. going to comment here instead because it's in front of me now

First: WOW you write so fast. This isn't actually like, important, but still. I am in awe

I love Izuna's cousin. "Suffer with me" he is exactly the kind of cousin Izuna (and really all of these characters) deserves. Also can't WAIT to see if Tobirama ends up finding that copy of his paper and assuming that if Izuna has it, that must mean he understands it and Tobirama can talk theoretical physics with him. I'm sure Izuna would have the FUNNIEST things to say to his cousin for causing that.

I also enjoy the chapter titles and how they tie in to each chapter. And the explanations for each of them, because I would NOT know what most of them are on my own at all.

I also like the butterfly effect/plot in general, how Tobirama got surprised by things changing in response to his changes, and now he doesn't really know what's coming even though the extra knowledge is still really useful. Can't wait to see what happens with that Nara he saved, and whether there's more fallout from the Uchiha invading.

I don't have a lot specific to say about the Hatake scenes, but I enjoyed them a lot! All the worldbuilding is fun, and very interesting.

Tobirama's characteization is also great and I love... all of it, honestly, but in particular deciding to just get a few graduate degrees on the side while he's with the Uzumaki, and his solution to people possibly not being loyal to Hashirama (even if I would also like to shake sense, or maybe just an iota of self preservation, into him for that last one).

Also while I am not the anon that asked about inspiration originally it was that ask that reminded me that oh yeah I had stuff to say, and actually I HAD heard Non-Stop... a few months ago probably? and went "this is Tobirama and Izuna exactly." So you are not alone!

Yeah I try to maintain a personal deadline so I never hit that point of losing interest because it's happened in the past. It really helps to develop a detailed outline beforehand for the whole story. Recently I've been trying to outline chapters before I write them too to see how that works for me.

I love the vision of reticent and usually quiet Tobirama just rambling about his interests. I think it'd catch Izuna off guard a little but he'd probably find it cute once he can admit that to himself. I also headcanon the Uchiha as being attracted to competency so I'm sure that'll kick in sooner or later.

I'm glad you like the chapter titles and explanations! I thought it'd be a fun way to tie everything together especially with a scientist protagonist. It's been really fun but as the story gets longer than anticipated I'm nervous about running out of relevant topics to reference lol.

The Nara will definitely be back once his clan stops mourning the death of his father. It's great that people still remember him.

It's been such a blast to dive into the worldbuilding with this fic a little bit because Naruto has such fascinating lore that wasn't explored. My biggest struggle is making sense of just how modern the time period is because it seems like the Edo period but then 60 years later Naruto has a fridge and television so who knows really. I'm making it up as I go.

Sorry for rambling a little bit but I get really excited whenever I receive a long message and it's always a delight for me to respond. Thank you so much for the ask and for reading my story!

[muppetsfan243]

My Two Cents on this whole Thomas Sanders/Sander Sides Situation as an Old Viewer

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Wow, this post turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, so here's the TL;DR if you don't want to read the whole thing. I'd still recommend to do so, but yeah. TL;DR - I think Thomas Sanders and his team are valid for taking a long time to work on stuff like the Sander Sides finale, but I think some criticisms the community has are valid too, and it's nice to see people in the Thomas Sanders community speak up about their criticisms. Alright, as I said in my previous post, I dipped out of Sander Sides about two-ish years ago, mainly because I myself was growing out of the series. With all due respect to everyone who works on the show past and present, I didn't like that episodes were starting to become more story-driven with heavy morals and deep meanings, to me, it was no longer a short light-hearted series about random everyday subject matters with comedy and skits to pace it out. But of course, that's just a me thing, it's clear that the direction Sander Sides went ended up making the series a huge success and I don't fault people for liking the series where it's at or what it's become. If you enjoy Sander Sides, that's great, more power to ya! Anywho, I don't know how or why, but on my "For You" feed, I stumbled upon a post criticizing Thomas for a recent update video he made regarding his content overall, saying he was making false promises and that they are tired of being given these false hopes every year when they never come to be. That post led me down a whole rabbit hole on Tumblr of many users criticizing Thomas on a lot of things, mainly the communication with his fans.

Admittedly, a lot of the posts I've found I have mixed feelings on; I said this in a reblog/repost (whatever it's called on this app, I'm still learning), but a lot of them feel as if they don't understand what goes into making a big project of any kind. You can check out my reblog of Rixitup's post if you want my full thoughts on that matter, but in short, speaking as someone who is a small creator who has big visions for things I want to make in the future, it can take a lot, and I mean a LOT, of time to create something to be the way you envision it. Sometimes it may take a few months, other times it can take a couple of years. I don't know Thomas himself, nor do I know what his thought process for this finale and the series as a whole is, but if he wants the finale to look a specific way, then I can understand why he and the team have been taking so much time to get this finale going. Remember, the world is still opening back up from a pandemic we went through for about three years, and especially given where Thomas and his team are located, I wouldn't be surprised if that has played a big role in halting most of the production on the finale until now.

With all of that said, however, I will say, for those who have, it's really nice to finally see some people in this community give constructive criticism regarding Thomas Sanders as a creator. When I was part of the community, I remember having all these feelings regarding Thomas' work and especially Sander Sides, including how I felt the show has become a bit too serious for my liking and how the show has become less light-hearted. But often, I'd keep my mouth shut because no one else within the community that I saw would ever give out any sort of criticisms regarding them. The only times I would do so was with friends who were into Thomas Sanders' stuff, and even then, I was often frown upon, some saying my opinion was invalid because Thomas works so hard to get this stuff out. And don't get me wrong, I genuinely believe he does! The enthusiasm he puts into his non-series videos seems legit. But it felt like in this community, you weren't allowed to criticize Thomas, Sander Sides, or anything Thomas Sanders related, like Thomas was a god who could do no wrong. That was another reason why I left the fandom, to have your voice not only be unheard but also invalidated, that hurts a lot, especially in a community that's meant to be respectful to one another.

Now in early 2023, to see a slew of people constructively criticize Thomas, Sander Sides, and other things, it feels so....nice. It feels great to know that I'm not alone in thinking or feeling certain things for many years, namely...

The Lack of Light-Hearted Comedic Episodes - Again, I think with where Sander Sides is now, this isn't an issue, but it is something older viewers like me miss a lot. Remember, Sander Sides didn't start out as this story-heavy/driven series with many plots and lore, it was originally just a fun side series Thomas did to discuss different topics or moral thoughts he had in his mind, expressing them with some comedic banter with his Vine characters, plus one original character. That was what drew me into the series and I wish we had more smaller videos like that inbetween the more story-driven ones (and also ones that weren't just simply ads), they're just a good breather from those episodes.

The Need of Communication with Fans - Now I personally believe that Thomas doesn't owe the fans anything in terms of the actual content in question, as at the end of the day, it's up to him of whether or not he feels comfortable with doing whatever he's creating/making. The only thing I would say he does owe to his viewers, though, is just updates and explanations as to what's going on. He doesn't have to say when episodes or stuff are coming out, it can just be simple stuff like "Hey, we're about to work on X and Y regarding this project!" or "Gonna be taking a break from this for a bit." I know the big topic right now is the season finale, but I'd like to point out "A Recipe for Me" and how long that took to get out there. Now I'm not gonna blame Thomas for how long it took to publish the song, I'm sure there's a lot that goes into creating a song from getting musicians, a composer, a company to distribute and handle the copyrights for the song, and much more. My issue is that the music video specifically features a ton of fans who paid a certain amount of money to be featured in a future video. This was at a New York event in August of 2017, and the music video didn't come out until late 2019; Thomas never gave out any updates between then as to what this video was or when it would come out. I don't know, to me, that feels a little bit rubbish; if I paid a certain tier to get featured on something, especially if it's hyped up in an advertising campaign, I'd like to know any updates on how that video is going along. I know there's also some controversy with the Patreon stuff, but I can't really speak on that matter, as I never participated in his Patreon page, mainly because I'm not interested in it.

Character Derailing - This one's a little bit more simpler than the previous two and is definitely an opinion thing, but yeah, really didn't like how some of the characters have been derailed once the show switched permanently to a story-driven format starting with "Accepting Anxiety." Whether or not it's because of the whole "orange side" plot, I personally don't know, but I miss it when characters like Roman and Patton were a lot caring of the other Sides or how Logan had a soft spot for the others but rarely feels comfortable to admit it. I don't really know how to describe this one right now, I've been writing this post for too long. XD

Of course, not all of the criticisms I agree with and some of the posts under the hashtag #tscritism do feel a bit more mean-spirited than genuine criticism, but overall, it does feel nice to know I'm not alone in thinking these things for so long. Especially after being shamed upon for having some personal criticisms with Thomas' content, reading some of these posts made me feel a bit better.

All that said, I'll leave you all with this note. It's okay to criticize someone you look up to, someone you like, no one's perfect, no one's gonna be this god of a person, an almighty being and such. It's important to acknowledge these criticisms as they can be used to further improve someone or something. However, don't go sending hate to Thomas and his team or push them to get stuff like the finale out. To me at least, it's clear that they have a specific vision for how they want this finale to go. Do they have to do it this way? No, they could just do a simple video inside Thomas' living room and call it a day. But that's not what they want the finale to be and that's okay. If they want this to have multiple sets, musical numbers, be four parts, then they do them. At the end of the day, it is Thomas' creation and he deserves to end the season (or series, I can see this being the series finale too) however way he wants to.

That's my two cents, definitely a lot longer than I anticipated. But hey, that's me for ya, I have a lot of thoughts to share on certain things, and I guess this is the first time I let a few of them out here on Tumblr.

[golden--doodler]

Boblinweek Day 3 - Worry/Morning

Guess who's posting a section of an already pre-made fic?

Yup!

For context, Ginger comes home early one evening when Bob and Linda are being cute and gets upset because Linda blew her off again for a guy. This section does devolve into fluff at the end, but I think the beginning follows the prompt pretty well:

The chill of four in the morning filled the room, bringing Bob to the realization that sleep was no longer an option as a wave of exhaustion hit him. Linda and Ginger had been talking for an hour and a half, which was quite impressive. He turned, his restlessness continuing, then heard the familiar sound of the door opening along with Linda’s footsteps. She soon joined him in the guest bedroom bed, the mattress dipping beneath her weight as she sighed, snuggling close to him.

“Is everything...?” He asked, his voice uncertain, and then he fell silent, the words stuck in his throat. He also knew better. After seeing that display, the air felt thick and oppressive, and he knew they were anything but fine.

“No. Well, sort of. We are in a much better place than before. I… well, I don’t know if I should mention this, but I’ve dated a lot of guys. Ginger’s seen all of them come and go, and I didn’t realize how much I was neglecting her. It took everything I had to apologize and convince her you’re different. And when I say that, I need you to understand. I mean it.” She interlaced her fingers with his and held his gaze with a burning intensity. “I messed up with Ginger tonight, no question, but I would miss a lot of events for you. Bobby, I’m serious. I…”

She looked away as she bit her lip, and he could sense her struggle to find the words, while a feeling of anticipation rose inside of his chest. A feeling he couldn’t withhold anymore, and needed to get into the open before she could finish her thought, “Lin, I can’t believe I’m saying this on just our third date, but I think I love you.”

As the nickname rolled off his tongue, Linda met him with a temporary stunned silence. When she spoke again, her cheeks flushed with joy and her mouth widened into a delighted smile. “I was almost ready to say the same thing, but you got there first.”

“I—oh, wow.” He glanced at his hands, not daring to believe this woman, this astonishing, caring woman, had the same feelings as him. He knew he needed to leave for a moment, to collect his thoughts and come to terms with this new reality. Linda. Linda loving him. Perhaps this was a reality he could get used to faster than expected. “This is going to sound strange, but would you mind if I talked to Ginger, too?”

“Oh, you want to talk to her?” She blinked, and he could tell she was processing this request in her mind. “I’m sorry if I—”

“You didn’t scare me away, trust me. But now that I have confirmation you love me,” he gave a bashful grin, “I’d like to talk to her, let her know she shouldn’t be upset anymore. You’re friends. You shouldn’t be arguing like this.”

“I’m not sure how receptive she’ll be, but you can try.”

[roadkiii]

Entry 1.1-1 - Zombie-Proofing

Welcome to my blog. I’m not tagging anything but entry #, so sorry if my unrelated mess somehow ends up in your search.

-Note: The portion of time I spent during this update only takes enough content for one post. For consistency I will still refer to it as "pt 1" so that tags are consistent

Welcome to version 1.1! There were no bug fix updates for this version, but in the future I will default to the latest version (ex: version 1.2 up next will begin in 1.2.5)

This update didn't add anything that will really affect my world, mostly just changes to creative mode and superflat. There were some terrain/biome changes, but again, I'm not trying to wander very far, especially with Caves&Cliffs such a long way off.

Since there are no new achievements, my only goals are to obtain all wool colors and to complete a wall around my village in preparation for zombie sieges being added in the next update. I may also try to build a creeper trap to try to get all of the records, but I'm not sure yet.

I also took advantage of the nether portal/crafting table duplication exploit a bit before the update, and I know that glitch returns in 1.8 so ;) Remember kids, it isn't cheating if it's baked into the game.

...right. they didn't add the ability to place slabs just on the top until [checks notes] oh 1.2.1 cool. I have to look at my weird window/arrow holes for just one version. That's not terrible.

I thought I had all of the colors but I think I'm missing magenta, that'll be a quick fix. Also, can we talk about how pastel the light blue and light pink sheep are compared to the wool? Wow.

I've got the basic body of the wall down and I've been putting torches in the ground (covered with leaves for camo) to try to prevent anything spawning inside. It'll be a long time until they update the lighting requirements for hostile mob spawns to be super dark, so this might take some fidgeting to perfect.

Right now I've got gates in the 4 directional openings (until 1.5 when I can set up some redstone with daylight sensors anyway) and all of the wall is at least 3 blocks high, so I could call this part done... but I do want to at least have all of the gates outlined.

I'm also only at about halfway through my picture requirement on this post, so I guess I will go ahead and try to get all of the discs. 1.1 is about to be a single post long lol

lfg all wool done B)

On second thought, fuck the music discs. Creeper traps did Not work, the skeletons got too close and they exploded ._.

Okay, I've gotten all of my walls to at least go over their respective opening/gate and I've started spider-proofing the outside, that's honestly good enough for me.

YES! Turns out, there was a bug fix in 1.1 to make Sniper Duel function properly, so I can now officially say we're done with both 1.0 and 1.1

Up next, dog breeding, cats, and iron golems. I anticipate this one taking a lot longer than 1.1 since my goals are to collect all of the cat types and set up an iron golem farm

next (1.2.5-1)

[writer-loogi2]

♡︎𝙹𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜!𝙼𝚘𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚢!𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚙.. ( 𝙶𝙽 )♡︎

A/N: Okay so.. Normally I don't write with characters that are from FNAF, but I've been having this self indulgent Sun/Moon brainrot-. Since I couldn't help myself I wrote this dumb post. This was supposed to be a drabble but it ended up much longer than anticipated ( I'm so sorry! )

♡︎𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎: I'm really sorry if this is ooc! I've never really done written works with Sun/Moon, but I did try my best! I hope you enjoy!

( ♡︎𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚝!♡︎ )

♡︎Okay, so I've been thinking about this concept where Sun and Moon are separate animatronics instead of being one of the same 'being'. And that the reader is an animatronic as well!

♡︎So basically imagine the reader being this new animatronic brought into the daycare and introduced to Sun and Moon! They both accepted you into what they call their home ( although Moon was a bit hesitant, but warmed up to you eventually! ). Not only did they like you a lot, but the kids did too!

♡︎You were progammed to entertain kids sort of like the Glamrocks do, except you were directed towards a younger audience. So in a way you were like, another daycare attendant!

♡︎Sun immediately fell for you, and he fell HARD. Moon took his time, but he also felt the same way a Sun. Eventually they both agreed to share you! ( despite being programmed not to fall in love, they somehow concluded that sharing you was an okay thing to do- )

♡︎( before you arrived ) During the daytime, Sun would take care of the kids, while Moon stayed hidden away, ( 'asleep' ) resting until it was his turn to take over. During the night ( or in this case ) nap-time, Sun would hide away where Moon does and rest, while Moon makes sure the kids were asleep.

♡︎But things changed once you officially became a daycare attendant.

✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨

"Wow! Would'ya look at the time!" Sun exclaimed. "Alright kids! It's nap-time! Clean up, clean up everyone! Mr. Moon will be here any minute now!" Sun's loud voice echoed through the daycare, as the children scattered all over the area, tidying up as much as they could.

You were carefully picking up some toys that the kids had left on the play mats, and placing them back in their rightful spot.

"Come now children, it's nap-time, it's nap-time..~" you hummed. "Gather around, get nice and comfy, snuggle up with a furry friend, it's time for a nap..~ Time to go to dream land..~"

All the kids layed down and snuggled up with their blankets and pillows, while you and Sun picked up the rest of the remaining toys and tidied the area a bit more before the lights turned off.

"C'mon Sunshine, we have to go now, before Moony comes and gets mad at us!" Sun whispered, but was loud enough for you to hear.

"Alright! I'll be right there!" You said as you followed suit. Sun led you to his and Moon's room, it was divided into two parts for both of them to share. You have been here only a few times, but you don't exactly remember much since it was always for a quick moment.

Sun's part of the room had the walls painted yellow, hanging on said walls were some cute little star-shaped fairy lights. The walls had many drawings of him made by the kids and lots of stickers. There were pillows, blankets and many stuffed animals scattered on the floor. You could say Sunny's room is somewhat.. messy.

While as Moon's room had the walls painted a dark blue with stars on it. He had a couple of pillows and blankets as well, but of course he kept them organized. Moon's room was more simple, yet it lacked design. ( Nonetheless, it was their room, so they decorate it as they please. )

While you arrived to their room, Sun had been holding your hand the entire time. He didn't seem to notice it, not that you really mind. However when you went inside, Moon was just getting up from his rest. He turns around and softly glares at you both; it seems he did notice the two of you holding hands. ( yet he won't comment on it- )

"Hello Moony! Did'ya sleep well?" Sun asked, a smile evident on his face. You could tell, he was practically bouncing with excitement.

Moon could only groan in response as he stretched his limbs.

"..Not as well as I would've wanted but I can manage.." He said in a low tone.

Sun frowned at his response, yet he moved closer to hug Moon, still holding your hand.

"Aww Moony! I'm so sorry! I hope I wasn't being to loud again!" He whined.

"..Don't worry Sunny, it's not your fault.. Now you should get some rest while I deal with our little friends.. You should rest too Starlight.." He smiles softly.

"Okie dokie! I'll be right here if you need me, okay Moony? Now go have fun!"

"Yes, you have fun now Moon..~"

( if Moon was able to blush, you would've seen it by now.. How cute.. )

After Moon was gone, you were left alone with Sun in their room. He drags you over to his side of the room and shows it off.

"Ta-dah!!! This is my room! Do you like it?" He says while doing jazz hands.

"Of course Sunny, it's very nice" you chuckle.

"So what'dya wanna do now Sunshine? We can paint and color, or maybe.. play hide-and-seek! Though there's not much place for us to hide.." He continues to ramble on and on about activities you could do together, but it seems he had completely forgotten what Moon had just told him.

"Um.. Sunny?" You spoke, while waving your hand at his face trying to get his attention.

"Yes, Sunshine?" He looks at you, tilting his head to the side.

"Shouldn't you be resting? Like Moon said?"

"Oh right! I just can't.. I don't want to rest!"

"Why not?"

"I can't seem to fall asleep when you're around! I just get so happy when you're with me y'know!" He smiles, taking both of your hands in his. "When I'm you, I never want the fun to end! I wish I could spend all the time in the world with you!

"Sunny.."

"I know, I know! I should just listen to Moony.."

"Wait-.. Why don't we just stay up a little longer, hm? Will that make you feel better?"

"Yes! It will!" He exclaimed. "So what can we do then? I have lots of ideas but why don't we do somethin' you wanna do!"

You close your eyes for a moment and think. All of Sun's activities are quite fun, but right now it's time to rest! If only there was a way to keep him still.. Oh!

"Why don't we cuddle?" You suggested.

"Cuddling you say? Hmm.. That does sound fun! I've just never done it before!"

"Really now?" You tilt your head with curiousity.

He nods eargerly. "Nope! Moony and I, we just hug sometimes, and that's all!"

"Well that's a start Sunny! Here let me show you..~"

You sit him onto the pillows and blankets, he squirms a bit as he tries to get comfortable.

"Now.. Can you lay down for me, please?"

He nods and lays down. You lay down next to him, and slowly you wrap your arms around him. He sort of freezes, and doesn't really now what to do with his arms.

Gently, you take his arms and wrap them around your body.

"I-Is this okay? Am I d-doing okay?" He stutters.

"Mmhm.. You're good.." You hum.

"Oh goody!" He exclaims. "This really is fun!" He giggles.

✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨🌘✨

Moon was surprised to see that the kids were actually behaving this time. Normally he'd deal with a trouble-maker or two during nap-time but tonight, everything seemed calm. Just as he was about to relax for a moment, he heard soft giggling.

Giggling? Where was it coming from?

None of the kids were doing it, they were all asleep! Then who..?

"Sundrop..!" Moon angrily whispered.

He made his way back to their room, the giggling only getting louder.

"..What is he doing! He should be resting!" He grumbled. "..Naughty, naughty.."

When he arrived he was met with you and Sun cuddling, the two of you were talking about stuff that happened in the daycare, making you giggle at Sun's remarks.

"..What on Earth are you two doing?!"

"Moony! Oh, you're back so soon? Is everything alright?" Sun smiled innocently.

"..Don't play coy with me.. Everything is not alright! You... You are supposed to be resting! Not doing this..!" He signals at the two of you cuddling.

"Oh! Well.. I just couldn't rest! I was just having a nice time here with our Starlight!

"Yes Moon.. We weren't doing anything wrong.. Besides Sun wanted to stay up a little longer..~"

"..Naughty, naughty... You shouldn't be up so late.."

"Why don't you join us then Moon? You seem jealous after all..~" you teased.

Your question had caught him completely off guard. Sun nodded in response.

"Yeah! What our Starlight said!" He huffed.

"..I-.. First of all.. I am not jealous..! And as much as I'd love to.. Stay with you two, I can't.. I must attend to the kids.."

"Aww c'mon Moony! Pleaseeeee! Just for a little bit? Pretty please?" Sun pleaded, looking at Moon with big puppy dog eyes.

Teasingly, you decided to join in. "Pretty please Moon..~"

"..Alright, alright fine! Just for a few minutes.." He grumbles.

"Yay!" Sun exclaims, lifting his hands in the air.

"..Oh hush up!"

Moon layed down beside you, wrapping his arms around your body, holding you tightly as if he doesn't want to let go.

"See? That wasn't so bad right Moony? Now we're all together! Isn't that fun?"

"..yeah.. I guess.."

"Good night you two!"

"Good night..~"

"..'Night.."

A/N: Oml this is so badd- it's crappy- it was a lot cuter in my head. Oh well, enjoy this garbage I wrote- ( I promise you I won't write anything else like this for a while anyway sjsjjs )

°.♡┈┈∘*┈୨୧┈*∘┈┈♡.°

♡︎𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝♡︎

[donald4spiderman]

The City

masterlist

-

Summary: Reader is thinking about moving to California. Spencer’s determined to get her to stay.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x BAU!Fem!Reader

Warnings: none

Category: Fluff (angst if you squint)

**Inspired by Ben’s poetic confession in Parks and Recreations, S3E14**

Here’s a draft i forgot to post

-

**not edited yet**

Spencer’s POV

As a profiler, I’ve mastered the observation and analysis of behavior— we all have.

Picking the minds of serial killers is second nature— so why is it so hard for me to figure out why (Y/N) is behaving so strangely?

In the recent months, her witty and charming energy has dwindled into a lethargic imitation. Whether she’d admit it or not— (Y/N) can be extremely enthusiastic about certain things— especially our job.

So, when I watch her drag her feet, inch by inch, into the BAU each morning, It’s hard to contain my concern.

I know Morgan has noticed, and I’m sure everyone else has too. They’re probably just too scared to say anything. (Y/N) doesn’t enjoy people prying into her private life, so we all stay a comfortable distance away.

I watch her a lot... more than I’d like to admit. It’s hard to be unaware of her nervous behaviors— the nail biting, hair twisting, skin picking— I practically have enough data to make a correlation graph. I can tell when she’s upset, and it’s happening more than usual.

(Y/N) has always been kind to me. Even when I was at the peak of my stammering, slicked-back hair phase, she treated me with more respect than I deserved. I can only imagine how awkward I must’ve been (or, still am), and I thank her for not belittling me.

I guess I’m validating the Benjamin Franklin Effect when I say this— but I feel like I owe it to her to ask what’s wrong. Over the years I’ve built up (arguably) the closest friendship with her, so it only makes sense for me to bite the bullet for the team.

It’s partially due to the fact that I’ve developed a slight (if not major) crush over time, but who wouldn’t? A gorgeous, intelligent, quick-witted women is kryptonite for any person. Our conversations are always stimulating, she gives the best advice, and she’s always there to comfort a team member.

So, it pains me to see her struggle through a paperwork day. I wish she would reach out to anyone for help, but it’s not in her nature.

“H-Hi.” I smile as I approach her desk. Her tired eyes look up at me, and she smiles back.

“Hey, Reid. What’s up?

I rub the back of my neck nervously. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Morgan and Emily watching me struggle to form a sentence. They giggle as they watch.

“I-I was... um. D-do you want to get coffee with m-me? Not now! I mean— after work!” Morgan stumbles out of the bullpen, barely containing his laugh. I must sound pathetic.

(Y/N) nods hesitantly, “S-sure. I don’t know why you want to get coffee with me, but I’m free.”

“Really?” My surprise shocks her. “T-that’s gr-great! I can drive you!”

She chuckled, “I think I’d rather drive us. I’m pretty sure you can’t drive a mile without hitting a curb.”

I nod fervently. “Sounds good.”

As I make my way back to my desk, I send a glare in Emily’s direction as she continues to smirk at me.

-

(Y/N) grabs an empty table in the café, and we sit down, huddling close to our warm drinks. She orders a cinnamon latte, I order a black coffee with an unhealthy amount of sugar.

I place the drinks down. “Did you know that cinnamon is shown to reduce systolic blood pressure. It’s commonly used in South Asia and works by dilating blood vessel.”

She nods, “Surprisingly, I did know that. You’re gonna have to teach me something else, Doc.” I laugh in response, enjoying the relaxation that radiates off of her.

“I feel like we don’t get to, um, t-talk as much as I would like to.” My words get caught in my throat and she gives me a lopsided smile.

“Well, we don’t exactly have the most leisurely job.” She states, sipping her drink.

I bite my lip, she looks down. I convince myself that my mind is playing tricks on me, because there’s no way (Y/N) would glance down to watch me pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

“I know... but you used to talk more.”

“I’ve been busy lately. Tired too.” She mumbles.

I mean forward slightly, my voice is a hushed whisper. “A-are you... okay?” I’m anticipating an defensive response, but all she does is sigh.

“I’m alright. I just... I’m getting tired of being here— in D.C.”

My eyes widen and my brows knit together. “W-What! Why?”

(Y/N) shrugs, “I don’t know. I just expected to feel... really, really attached to D.C when I first moved here. I love my job, and I love you guys— but nothing’s keeping me here.”

My face drops. My disappointment is adamant because she scrambles to reassure me.

“It’s not that I don’t absolutely love working with you guys. You’re my best friend, Spencer. But... I came to D.C to... I don’t know... settle down.” It comes out as more of a question rather a statement. “It’s sounds weird, right? Me, settling down?” She laughs. “I-I don’t mean a husband and a family necessarily. I moved here because I wanted to belong somewhere.”

“You don’t feel like you belong?”

“I feel... I feel like everything I have right now is temporary. It’s not the feeling I expected to have. I just want to have something permanent in my life for once.”

I remain silent, lacking the proper response.

“Please don’t tell anyone!” She pleaded.

I smile solemnly, “I won’t. I promise.”

In that moment, I make another promise. Not just to (Y/N), but to myself. I’m going to show her how many things she has here for her in D.C.

I’m going to prove how much I believe she belongs.

-

I started by bringing her coffee each morning— a cinnamon latte from the same café we went to.

The first time she seemed pleasantly surprised. I sped through the doors of the bullpen, my coat and slacks absolutely soaked due to the rainy D.C weather. She giggled at the sight of my hair plastered to my forehead. I was certain that I looked like a wet dog.

“Morning!” I greeted, placing down both cups of coffee on her desk so I could fix my hair. “I-uh-I got you coffee. A cinnamon latte, of course.”

(Y/N) smiles brightly, “You’re the best. Thanks, Reid. I definitely needed this.”

Hotch and Rossi are watching me curiously, pretending not to look up from their files. At this moment, I could care less.

“It’s n-nothing.” Suddenly I’m blushing furiously under the weight of her stare.

“Thanks, again.” She clears her throat, “Y-you’re a really good friend.”

She smiles. And I smile.

-

In the next three weeks, (Y/N) and I grow closer at a rate faster then ever. I try to do something small for her everyday. Finishing up a file for her; Bringing her coffee or water; Sitting next to her on the jet. It appears to be working— she looks much more relaxed and happy. Her sarcastic humor is back and she engages more with the team.

We’ve decided to hang out after today. I find myself enjoying every minute with her, even if all we do is talk, eat, and walk around aimlessly. I’m sure she’s tired of me, but my infatuation with her only grows.

Tonight, we’re sitting at the park, watching people on their late night jogs, dog walkers, babysitters. We finished eating Indian food at a local restaurant. Turns out we’re both regulars at the same place, it’s a shame we haven’t run into each other.

She’s sitting criss-cross on the bench, her elbow rested on top of her knee. “You know,” She starts, “D.C is pretty great. I don’t think I’ve felt this... content in a while.”

I smile, even if it’s too dark for her to see. “Th-thanks. D.C is a great place, despite averaging 39 inches of rain annually.”

She means her head back against the bench. “I still don’t know. I feel like I’m just waiting for something. I don’t even know what that something is... a sign maybe?”

“A sign?” I laugh.

“Y-yeah... a sign. I’d usually make a pros and cons list and research the differences between the two places but... this decision feels too personal to look at it as just statistics.”

In this very moment, I decide to toss all my concerns, questions, what if’s, into the wind. This is my final move; my last resort; my Hail Mary.

My hands are trembling, and it takes me seconds to force the words out of my throat.

“W-well, besides the higher cost of living and considerably gloomy weather, D.C can be a p-pretty great place to reside. It has a busy political culture and is one of the most diverse states in the country.” I pause for a little longer than necessary.

“But, besides statistics and facts, if w-we look past objectivity, to me: D.C is where my friends are, and my friends are my family. Um... I like The City because it’s home to so many great people. A-and I know it’s hard to see the good in things considering how much violence we see on a daily basis, but certain people make me believe that things aren’t all that bad.”

(Y/N)‘a listening attentively, making me even more nervous than I thought possible. “D.C— The City— is beautiful. It’s charming. It’s a warm, cinnamon latte on a rainy day, o-or a late night walk in the park. To me, it’s home.” I catch her smirking a little bit, and I can only hope that she understands what I’m trying to say.

“Plus, The City is really good at her job. The City’s an excellent profiler. But, the city’s an even better friend, and an even better person. It doesn’t hurt that The City has great hair, and gorgeous eyes, and a perfect smile. And, she does this cute thing where she twists the ends of her hair, even if I keep telling her to stop. The City’s beautiful and definitely out of my league. She probably wants nothing to with me now, but I don’t care. I really like The City. And, even if she doesn’t like me back, she should stay, because there are so many people that like and love The City. ‘Cause who wouldn’t.”

(Y/N) is full on grinning right now, and it’s hard to stay patient when so much is on the line.

“Wow.” She giggles. “You really like The City.”

I chuckled awkwardly, “Y-yeah. I really do.”

“I mean, if you think The City’s so great, maybe I should stay. Plus, I’m sure The City likes you too.”

I feign confusion, “Really? I don’t know... The City can be kind of closed off sometimes.”

“Trust me— The City definitely likes you back. And I don’t think The City appreciates you saying that about her”

“Oh really?” I gasp. “Let’s ask her.”

I turn my head around, then proceed to look back at (Y/N) in the most dramatic fashion.

“Hey.” I laugh.

“Oh, Hi Dr. Reid!” She feigns surprise to match my frivolousness.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, b-but I really like you. And, a little birdy told me that you like me back.”

She laughs heartily, “Well, that little birdy is a pretty reliable source.”

Soon, her head is resting on my shoulder. My body’s stiff and the air is caught in my lungs, but I feel more content than I have in years. Somehow the weather is warmer, and the sun is brighter, and things just seem... better.

“This is a great city.” She mumbles, peering up at me in the most adorable fashion.

“Yeah,” I smile, “It really is.”

-

“Pawnee’s a really special town, I love living there. And, I look forward to the moments in my day where I get to hang out with the town, and talk to the town about stuff. The town has really nice blonde hair too. And, it’s read a shocking number of political biographies for a town, which I like.” - Ben Wyatt

[miss-smutty]

hii i just discovered ur blog and whew wow- tumblr is severely lacking some daddy hemsworth fics so tyyy

idk if your taking requests rn but could i please request something with thor or chris where he’s had a rough day at work or something and is very angry so he’s really rough in bed with you that evening and you love it! also could it include lots of dom!thor/chris and dirty talk bc that’s my weakness

tyyy if u do this sorry if it was too detailed idk ive never sent a request lol but ty hunny <3

So first of all thank you @mysticbonkoperavoid , I'm so glad you like my fics ❤️

And secondly thank you so much for your amazing request, I literally got lost in this filth 🥵🥵 I hope you like it 😘

A/N- This is just pure filth, so consider yourself warned 😂🥵🥵 strictly 18+ only. Dom!Thor literally had me ✨ clenching ✨

Summary- Thor's had a tough day and nothing you do is helping until you let him take out his frustration on you and become his little slut.

Word count- 3,243 of pure filth

Pairing- Thor x reader

Warnings- Smut, filth, dirty talk, rough sex, swearing

18+ only!!!

Taglist-: @innerpaperexpertcloud

Posted: 22nd Feb 2021

⚡A Push Too Far ⚡

Thor had come home from a mission in a foul mood, you'd tried everything to cheer him up. You'd made him his favourite snack, put on his favourite show and even massaged his big, worn out feet. Nothing was working and you were exhausted with the effort. You selfishly couldn't stand the negative atmosphere and just wanted to know how to make him feel better. If he wouldn't tell you what was wrong how could you help? You were so used to him being overly enthusiastic about everything and hated when he was in one of these moods. Something pretty bad must've happened to dampen his mood this much.

"Just tell me what's wrong and I can help" You huff.

"Will you please just forget it? I don't want to talk about it" Thor said, pushing you off gently when you try to touch him. 

"I want to know what's happened to put you in such a sulky mood." You said teasing him, trying to get his attention. If you couldn't get him to talk to you then you would just have to help him take his frustration out in the best way he knows how.

"Please Y/N, stop talking about it" He says exasperated, you're pushing the last of his nerves and you know it. It's exactly what you want, you know what he's capable of when he's angry.

"Make me." You say, seeing the switch in his eyes as his jaw clenched tightly, the muscles in his neck straining against the skin. You backed away from him slowly, knowing all too well what was coming.

The ground shook around you as bolts of lightning flew from Thor and his eyes glowed brightly making you shield your own eyes from the sudden glare. Immediately knowing you'd pushed him too far. You were frightened but more than that you were massively turned on, your pussy clenching with ferocity. You knew he'd never hurt you, well never more than you could handle but still, angry Thor was a feast for the eyes. Delicious.

"You better shut that pretty little mouth of yours before I put it to work" He bellowed, his eyes still glowing and his jaw clenched together tightly.

"Is that a promise?" You say under your breath, watching Thor through your eyelashes as he towered over you.

"On your knees" He commanded, with the power of a God, making you weak as his voice rebounded from the walls of the large, almost empty room with a dramatically high ceiling. 

"But..." You start before he cuts you off.

"Did I stutter? do as you're told" He urged, looking down at your petite frame before him. His powerful demeanor making you do exactly as you were told. Looking up at him with innocent eyes as you knelt on the hard, wooden floor.

He circled around you, like a wolf and his prey, taking in the sight of you kneeling like a victim. Purposefully not touching you, the anticipation of when he would strike making you hold your breath. Your panties are already soaking wet and the buldge in his pants is straining against his trousers.

Thor moves to stand in front of you, his legs planted a foot width apart while he gazes down at you, a slow, wicked smile appearing on his lips. Tortuously, slowly unzipping his trousers and pulling out his lofty length, gripping it firmly with his two hands.

"I think that pretty little face deserves to be fucked" oh fuck, Thor, now you're talking. Now was your turn to smile devishly at Thor, ready and waiting for him to feed your slutty little mouth with his fat cock.

He disappears behind you, you try to turn around to follow him with your eyes but he grabs your hair, pulling you back. It made you ache but not your head, it made your pussy ache. 

"Don't move" He whispers into your ear, still pulling your hair back so you're looking up at him. Pulling a hair tie from his wrist and wrapping it around your hair at the nape of your neck. Wait a minute, where did he get that from? It dawns on you that he's had this planned since the minute he'd got home, the only way he knows how to take his frustration out. Probably knowing you wouldn't be able to take his silent treatment and push him too far in the end anyway. Oh you sneaky man, Thor. 

It feels like a painstakingly long time before he's finally back in front of you, his trousers and boxers now discarded on the floor behind you. Taking in the sight of his thick, muscly thighs and his long, thick cock have you licking your pouty lips. You want to reach up and pull his t-shirt off too but he grabs hold of your wrists as they snake their way up his torso. 

"Ah ah ah, are you going to be good? or am I going to have to tie you up?” He asks in a gruff tone making you put out your bottom lip as you sit back on to your ankles. Your knees beginning to ache from the hard floorboards.

"Does it hurt?" He asks, watching you whince with a satisfied look on his face "Do you want a cushion?" He says in a teasing voice while you nod your head with pleading eyes.

"What do you say?" Bending to pick up the cushion from the couch and holding it out of arms reach, smiling sinfully.

"Please" You say sweetly, more than happy to play his game. Your whole body aching with need. At last he pulls his t-shirt over his head, his biceps flexing as he does, your heart racing at the sight of his ravishing nakedness. That perfect body is all yours.

"Strip" he says seductively looking you up and down, throwing the cushion on the floor by your knees and pulling you up and against his rock hard cock. A squeel emits from your mouth, his hands gripping your cheeks firmly.

You look at him for a second, dumbfounded. You're used to him taking the lead and ripping your clothes off in a heated frenzy, this is new.

Elated with the fact he's allowing you to give him a show for once, you drape the straps of your dress over your shoulder, pushing him down on the couch with a hard shove to the chest. Watching that slow smile spread on his lips and his cock bounce, satisfyingly, with the impact.

Pulling the dress down to your feet and stepping out of it, standing proudly in your lacey underwear. Cocking your eyebrow at him as you hook your thumbs into the side of your panties, pulling them down a fraction. You stop to move closer to him, reaching your hands out to touch his bare skin.

"No touching or I swear I'll tie your hands" He says nonchalantly, his eyes hungry with lust, you pout at him, disappointed you can't touch him.

He watches you intensely as you finish taking off your panties and bra, holding in a giggle when you throw them at him and they hit him square in the face.

"You smell, delicious" He surprises you when he licks his lips, no hint of a smile on his face just that deep intense glare of a predator. The word 'delicious' rolls of his tongue, delectably. The way he stares into your soul, taking in every inch of your nude body, makes your stomach clench, your pussy dripping with arousal.

"Now back on your knees" He says, standing back Infront of you, his cock eye level.

Grabbing your ponytail with one hand and guiding his cock to your mouth with his other. You open your mouth instinctively, widely, like the good little slut you are.

Thor takes no prisoners and rams his cock deep into your mouth, making you gag instantly. Your lips wrap around his cock, the length and thickness filling you up. He yanks your hair backwards so your looking into his eyes while he slams his cock in and out of your mouth.

"Look me in the eyes while you take my cock" oh for the love of God... and Thunder. your pussy is dripping, aching for it. "Good girl" 

He pushes your head down on his cock, as far as you can go. You can feel the tip hitting your tonsils and the shaft throbbing in your mouth. You're gagging, spit dribbling down your chin in a disgusting manner. Your eyes brimming with tears as he rams his cock to the back of your throat. 

"Choke on it" he groans, his head hanging back. You feel the confidence to reach out and cup his balls, knowing he wouldn't chastise you when he's too consumed in the ecstasy of your lips and tongue wrapping around his cock.

"Is that better? Are you satisfied now you've got my full attention?" He looks down at you, a deep hunger in his eyes. You were nowhere near satisfied yet, not until you felt his cock stretching your walls but you couldn't tell him that, he'd just tease you for even longer.

"Mmm" you mumble around the length of his dick.

"Don't talk with your mouth full" he scolds huskily, his voice filled with lust.

You hold onto his firm cheeks while you suck his dick, letting your tongue do the work, running over the full length and teasing the tip. Sucking on the tip, hard, while you grip the base with your hand. You can feel his cock throbbing in your mouth, amazed with how hard he is. You know he's struggling with restraining himself, just as much as you, he'll just never admit it. 

Thor lets out a deep growl, thrusting his dick into your mouth one last time before sharply pulling out with a pop. You were actually upset he'd stopped you, you were enjoying sucking his fat dick. He pulls you up to stand before grabbing your cheeks in his hands and lifting you up, wrapping your legs around him.

You want to kiss him so bad. You hang on to him as he pushes you back against the wall, hard enough to leave a bruise. The feel of his cock thrusting against you has you mewling as he bites hard on your neck. Shivers travel through your entire body, finally feeling his lips against your skin and the thrill of his teeth biting against your neck. The fine line between pain and pleasure being well and truly explored.

You're lost in the feel of his teeth against your skin and muscle, moaning loudly, you barely notice when he sets your feet back onto the ground. Sucking loudly on your neck, your head hanging to the side giving yourself to him freely.

"Im gunna leave marks all over your skin so everybody knows you're mine." He says breathlessly against your skin, his breathe tickling your neck making your hair stand on end, your pussy clenching, agonisingly.

Thor pushes his forearm against your throat so you're locked in between him and the wall, no where to go. Staring into your eyes, making you blush as he pushes two fingers into your mouth without warning.

"Suck" he commands, his voice gruff and deep, oozing authority. You know his fingers are going to delve into you and you can't wait, sucking eagerly on his legthy, stocky fingers.

Before you have time to draw breath, he thrusts his fingers into your opening. Immediately curling them around to find your G-spot. Satisfaction plastered on his face when he hears your moaning, knowing he's got you right where he wants you. 

"You love this, don’t you? Let me hear how much you love it.” He whispers into your ear, his arm still pushing against your throat. You can barely take anymore, his sultry words and his thick fingers making your head spin. Nothing else in the world matters right at this moment, he fills you with narcotic desire. Like a drug to you, you can't get enough, always wondering when you'll get your next fix. If you could get away with making him lose his temper on a daily basis, just so could feel this amount of pleasure, you would.

You moan for him obscenely, you're eyes pooling with desire and hunger. His fingers repeatedly hitting your spot, harshly, bringing you over the edge. Your mouth hangs open, your eyes rolling to the back of your head as your pussy clenches around his fingers.

"Does that feel good" he asks captivatingly, holding is arm against your throat and fucking you with his fingers.

"Amazing" You say breathless, the huskiness of your voice surprising you. His face is so close to yours and your senses so hightened that his masculine scent hits your nostrils. His otherworldly fragrance. The smell you long for on those long nights he's away. It hits you and you're consumed by it, your legs starting to shake as your mind loses control. The orgasm rushing from your core.

Then it's gone, just like that. You open your eyes, noticing they're about to burst with tears. You were so close!

"I don't care how good it feels, don't you dare come yet" he says venomously, you honestly feel like your about to start crying. The build up was so intense and then it was just gone and you still feel that deep need. Thor is looking pleased with himself and if you weren't so turned on by the look on his face, you would've slapped him straight across it. Cocky shit! 

You were about to protest, but he saved you from the punishment when he stuck his fingers into your mouth again. Your slickness coated all over them.

"Now see how good you taste, how wet I make you" you looked him in the eyes resentfully and for just a moment you saw his eyes soften. Only a moment before they're filled with fire once more and he's pulling you to the bedroom across the room. Still fighting the urge to finally have his way with you, taking his precious time to tease you beyond your limits. To show you who's the boss around here. As if you ever had any doubts.

Throwing you onto the bed and pushing your knees open with force. You can feel your pussy throbbing with anticipation knowing it's not long until he finally gives you what you've been craving from the start.

Thor effortlessly clamps both of your wrists above your head in a vice like grip with his big, manly hands, leaving you writhing, like his prey, on the bed below him. You breathe a sigh of relief when he finally reaches down to kiss your lips, biting on your bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

"Keep your hands here" Emphasising 'here' with a squeeze of your wrists. You try to stay perfectly still while he moves down your body, straining your neck to watch what he does next.

“What a perfect sight, you, all spread out for me to do whatever I want to” he says, positioning himself in-between your legs. Seeing you in all your glory, your pussy dripping wet making him lick his lips.

You gasp when his lips latch on to your inner thigh, so sensitive to his touch. Biting and sucking all the way down each thigh, your going to be covered in hickies come tomorrow morning. You know that's his plan, he loves to see the remnants of the night befores dirty sessions. Even if no one else can see them, he knows they're there, a reminder that you're his.

"Just marking my territory" he reminds you, confirming your suspicions.

"I know exactly what you're doing" you say through gritted teeth, the pain and pleasure unbearable.

"Let’s find out how much you can take before you're begging me for my cock.”

All you can do is nod your head while you bite down on your bottom lip, afraid how shaky your voice will be if you try to speak. 

The sudden slap to your pussy makes you shout out, completely unexpected but hot as fuck all the same, sending shockwaves throughout your whole body.

"You like that?" He slaps you again, hitting your clit with his fingertips and making you convulse uncontrollably. You can see the restraint on Thor's face, the vein protruding from his neck and the tightness in his jaw are the tell tale signs. You know he's about to burst.

"I love to see you squirm now I want to hear you moan" he grabs onto your hips and turns you over, pulling you on to your knees. His movements getting sloppy and desperate now, the lust taking over him.

You inhale as Thor presses the tip of his cock to your opening, brushing it up and down and gathering your wetness. Your legs threaten to give way as he teases you with his cock, you can't stop yourself from pushing yourself back onto him.

"Do you think you deserve my cock?" his voice was heavy with desire. 

"Yes, Thor... Please" you plead, more than worthy after the torture he's put you through.

Thor eases himself in gradually, while you push yourself backwards, no more patience left in you. Holding on to your hips and exhaling, the satisfaction of finally feeling your walls clamping around him. You whince as he slams himself into you with full force, his balls slapping against you. The sounds of sex filling your ears in a glorious way.

"You won't... be able... to walk... after I'm done... with you" he says between every thrust, knocking you forward with every slam. Your orgasm is building already, you can feel your walls tightening, trying to push him out as he holds on to your hips relentlessly.

He grips hold of your ponytail, yanking it backwards, so your head is as far back as it can go, your neck straining. He squats above you, dipping his dick into you, so deep you can feel it in your stomach. This position is fucking everything, he knows you're about to come and sends a slight electrical charge straight through your core just as you release around him. It feels fucking amazing! 

Thor reaches forward and hooks his finger into your mouth, pulling your cheek back as he continually pounds into you. Orgasm after orgasm gushing all over his cock, dribbling out of your aching pussy until you're kneeling in a puddle of your arousal. Your screaming his name, your pussy throbbing, squeezing against his cock. You know he's struggling to restrain when he inhales sharply.

"Dirty fucking slut" he says venomously.

"You fucking love it don't you?" His voice is breathless and deep, you can't take much more. The power of your come is pushing him out, making you ridiculously tight. You can feel his cock twinging as his powerful come shoots into you, he roars so loudly the bed shakes around you. You finally collapse into the bed head first, your knees giving way as he rests against you with his cock still inside of you, twitching and convulsing.

"Are you ok, baby?" Thor asks sweetly, his frustration finally dissipated, rubbing your ass cheeks tenderly.

"More than ok" you say breathless and tired, rolling over onto your back underneath him and pulling him down on to you.

Finally his lips are on yours, passionately, forcing your mouth open and stroking your tongue with his. Kissing you like his life depended on it, making up for the hours spent without the feel of your lips on his. A deep feeling of satisfaction washed over you, he's yours and you're his and you can fuck like animals but still collapse into each other arms lovingly afterwards.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?" You tease, making him laugh a great big belly laugh as he pulls you over on top of him.

[rainbow-arrow]

Plz talk about Luka for bingo sheet

(I'll as k Adrien next)

Luka Couffaine my Beloved

okay time to ~elaborate~ on some 'x's'

i am Very mentally ill about him that's not a fucking understatement. that square was made For Me. Luka Couffaine is My blorbo. i don't think i post about him that much in comparison, but i write, and therefore, think a Lot about him. he is SO MUCH deeper than definitely the fandom likes to view him as-- now. my absolute Favorite moment in All of season four, is in wishmaker:

((SORRY THIS GOT SO MUCH LONGER THAN ANTICIPATED))

"Not even you, right?"

THIS BOY'S like the ONLY ONE who got REAL development in season four and it's ACCEPTING LIES. he's literally gotten two full episodes previously about how much he values the Truth and how The Truth is what's important and from there he realized that sometimes the full truth is not the most important.

I hate how they did him so dirty and making Him be the first person to see the lovesquare, i have written an essay on this, but i really which he Just found out Adrien's so he a. doesn't have to Suffer watching this terrible trap and b. feel more okay telling adrien he knows. i mean, I want adrien to tell him, but that's such a far off wish they don't even get screen time together anymore.

also i wrote Most of untitled Prior to season four coming out (i have skeletons up to 76 rn that were all vague-idea-ed Over a Year ago, and lemme tell you???? i got a Lot of things right regarding luka's characterization that were later revealed in season four??? i know him a lot and i love him a lot????

the 'x's' are obvious, but the 'o's' are Yes but or Yes and-- wow...they are literally me! = in a very normal sense, I want to be more like him in the sense of like. chill. i could write an essay about this but i won't. nothing i like about them is technically canon = everything i like about him is implied canon. he does Not have a lot of screen time and from that i have spent Hours analyzing and making decisions in fics for him based on said observations. everyone but me is wrong about them <3 = i wish i could be more normal, but i cannot consume Most media regarding him bc in general the miraculous fandom they work better as part of a dynamic: no right hiding my lukadrien preference on a post about luka couffaine. but also in general, he fits so well with everyone he works with. there's Good reason he's so successful as the snake miraculous holder, requiring observation and creativity and patience. Adrien was so right that he was perfect for it. desperada was so good for lukadrien i can't get over it. Luka's Great alone. i love him regardless, but even being the cheerful older brother,

!! important notes !! yes. both 'they are so cool looking' and 'why do they look like that' if they spent like. half the effort they did on luka animation that they did on like. any lovesquare moment, he would simply be too powerful. also in my head he's

i did Not select 'wasted potential' bc i Do have hope for season five. i stupidly, oh so incredibly foolishly stupid of me, but i have a hope that he's going to get what he rightfully deserves (on-screen friendship with adrien) in season five.

honestly marinette was stupid for breaking up with luka couffaine but that's not fit for a luka appreciation post. i think that luka and marinette being together for any Real amount of time would have been. So. Good. for marinette. because he's patient. and kind. and understanding. and she really needs to slow her tempo a bit. my absolute Least favorite thing in the whole series is the fucking WHIPLASH from the end of season three to the beginning of season four where there was a buildup for lukanette and adrigami that was just. entirely unraveled in literally the first episode. they're Honestly different characters.

i will not elaborate bc i've made ninety three posts regarding it, but the couffaine's being twins, and Jagged Stone being their dad (at least how they chose to handle it) will Never be canon in my eyes. a dumb attempt at a 'fix-it' i will Never get over.

as far as fandom approach goes, in general it's p good at giving luka his Aesthetic:tm: that the show was clearly going for, but just so much better. Anyone who does an aged-up and includes various tattoos and piercings and continuously colored hair is doing So. Good. that's the Luka we'll never get to see, even in an aged-up ep (which i hope we never get sorry lol). but the part that just irks me is where a Lot of the time they make him out to be like a smooth talking flirt, and while he has Moments we cannot forget how short-lived they are

never forget the fact that he willingly chooses to have lipgloss when transformed name a more iconic hero i'll wait really.

oh while i'm at it, i have this really Big pet peeve where they just don't change his hair during his transformation. bc when he's viperion he's got the greener hair, and luka's rocking the blue and it drives me INSANE when they leave it blue.

look at him. what a dork. he deserves so much and he's getting literally nothing**

oh yes. his entire contribution to season four finale. we all know he wasn't included bc if he was the finale just. would Not have happened. honest. if he was there for like. Any Part of it, it wouldn't have played out. kinda cringe on the show writers part but that's a post for another day.

in conclusion, i love him, your honor.

[the-marron]

Tag Game

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!  

Thanks @verochkasnightmarecorner for tagging me! :D

I decided to include my works solo, not counting works I created with @dobranocka because a lot of these opening lines are not mine, even though I love them a lot. So, from the newest to the oldest:

1. The party is in the full swing, the mansion filled with laughter and not-so-secret business deals conducted on the expensive sofas and in the darkened hallways. (WIP, Weilan Derrivatives, LNS/LF mob au)

2. It started with a joke. (There Can Be Only One, Guardian, Weilan, crack)

3. Guo Changcheng is very confused about how he ended up here. (Come my love, be one with the sea, Guardian, Weilan + ChuGuo, POTC au)

4. When Shen Wei looks out of his window, the familiar black car is already there.  (Constant Vigilance, Guardian, Weilan, 1930s spy au crack)

5. Shen Wei had always assumed that he was used to pain. (The Once And Future Hei Pao Shi, Guardian, Weilan, post-canon crack )

6. Click. Click.

The eyes move, their brown irises catching light. (Deceive me kindly (while I'm still here), Guardian, Weilan, steampunk!au )

7. Everyone had their limits. (One Prize I'd Cheat to Win, Guardian, Weilan, no powers!au )

8. Shen Wei is not sure where they are heading. (When I walk past the mountain peak, it doesn’t speak, Guardian, Weilan, post-finale fix-it)

9. “No,” Lao Chu says and glares at them for good measure. (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Dragon City, Guardian, Weilan, crack )

10. It’s the beginning of their second week under when they finally have a breakthrough. (Jia Jia and The Guardian Lantern, Guardian, Weilan, canon compliant post-finale fix-it)

11. “Get him!” Those are the last words that leave Zhao Yunlan’s mouth as he disappears in the wormhole, and Shen Wei doesn’t have the time to wonder, to think, because if he doesn’t act now Zhao Yunlan might disappear forever. (Changed Course, Guardian, Weilan, fix-it )

12. "Let’s make a bet,” Shen Wei says, and his voice has this raw honesty to it that stops Zhao Yunlan from whatever goodbye he tried to formulate. (When I Make an Oath to the Flames, Guardian, Weilan, post-canon break-it and make it worse)

13. Zhang Chengling was aware that he wasn’t exactly an average kid. (There's Nothing in This World I Wouldn't Do, Word of Honor, Wenzhou, modern au crack)

14. “I would really like it if you came,” said Chengling, his voice gradually getting quieter with each word. (Journey's Homeward Bound, WoH, Wenzhou, modern au crack)

15. This is the last one for tonight. (We Watch and Burn and Reign , DC Comics, TimJay, Talon au )

16. It started as a joke. Or rather, it started as a genuine need for information that got turned into a joke because, well, Jason. (Red Robin and Red Hood’s Comprehensive Guide To Bat Romance, DC Comics, TimJay + others, crack. Longer quote because wtf, I started two separate fics the same way???)

17. When Jason wakes up, he wishes he hadn’t. (Stones of Fear, Stones of Doubt, DC Comics, TimJay, canon-compliant? )

18. “We need Grindelwald,” Albus Dumbledore, the Marshall of the last base ready to fight the Kaiju had never anticipated having to say this out loud. (To Fight Monsters, We Created Monsters, Fantastic Beasts franchise, Grindeldore, Pacific Rim au)

19. Being a hero is easy. You beat up the bad guys, save innocent citizens, earn the love of a beautiful lady, preferably a journalist, and become a beacon of hope to everyone. (Face to Face, My Lovely Foe, Haikyuu!!, Bokuaka, superhero au, once again a longer quote because wow, are they brief)

20. Hinata had heard stories about strange creatures living in the forest. (Sword in the Stone, Haikyuu!!, Bokuaka + Kagehina, Arthuriana au)

Soooo... I apparently have the unfortunate tendency to start out with short setences that tell the reader absolutely nothing at all. This, or dialogues. And I managed to repeat the exact same sentence in two separate fics, wow.

I think my favourite opening line so far is from the steampunk au, mostly because I actually like the whole beginning of this fic and I enjoy the fragment that follows the opening line, aside from that, the WIP one is the most enjoyable for me, I think.

Interesting experience, really, I like this tag game, it changed my perspective a bit, and I remember doing this a few years ago and the openings looked completely different and I had different observations, so yay progress?

Tagging @flamboyantlycriminal, @dobranocka, @the-cookie-of-doom, @wyfto2812, @flsongbird722, if you feel up to it, it’s fun :)

[hotchnisslovechild]

On the Sidelines

Chapter One

Holly and Marvyn meet and have a few beers.

A/N: i've recently fallen in love with the show big shot and grown quite attached to the relationship between holly and marvyn. i'll be needing something to hold me over as i wait for season 2 to be announced and released *fingers crossed*, so i thought i'd write a little something about these two. i’m not sure if any of you on here watch the show at all, but i feel like posting this here anyway. i recommend binging the first season of the show on disney+ :)

Pairing: Marvyn Korn/Holly Barrett (Big Shot) Rating: T Word Count: 2,302 AO3 Link

Today is the day. The day Holly gets to meet her new coaching partner and the team meets their new head coach. Changing into her practice clothes, something resembling both anxiety and excitement burrows itself in Holly’s nerves. Her thoughts run wild as she anticipates meeting the great Coach Marvyn Korn for the first time.

Holly would be lying if she said she didn’t have a little crush on Coach Korn. Of course, she admired his great looks, but she found his coaching to be just as fascinating, if not more. Watching him coach was electrifying. He’s animated, excited, always moving around, unable to sit still for a single play. He saw the court and everything happening all at once, managing his players like a brilliant conductor of an orchestra. She learned a lot from him by studying his coaching methods at Wisconsin from the comfort of her living room couch. He unknowingly taught her about defensive schemes and rotations, end-of-game scenarios, the importance of teaching your players every detail of the game and correcting their mistakes so they can improve. He undoubtedly loved the game and coaching it. His enthusiasm for the sport was infectious to his team in every game, and it paid off. That was until he threw it all away. And ended up here, at an all-girls private high school in California.

Taking a deep breath, the assistant coach walks into her office, her excited nerves to make a good impression mingling with her eagerness to get the season started with a new coach.  After tapping Shave and a Haircut on the window separating her office from Marvyn’s, she lets herself in, extending a hand to greet him.

“Holly Barrett, Assistant Coach,” she greets with an enthusiastic smile, borderline out of breath from the anticipation of finally meeting him. She studies him. His looks. His demeanor. He looks better than he did on TV — if that’s even possible. She finds his dark features beguiling. And those eyes. She could get lost in those light-colored eyes. There’s a lack of actual light in them, however. He seems unenthused, maybe a bit on edge. But she shrugs it off, attributing the lack of energy to nervousness.

“Marvyn Korn,” he says, shaking her outstretched hand, holding on to it a bit longer than necessary, caught off guard by the bright energy of the woman standing before him. She’s the first person at this school to greet him in a way that resembles any sort of kindness. No one at Westbrook wants him there. Hell, he doesn’t even want to be there. This is just one step towards getting back to college ball.

“It’s a great honor, Coach,” she says, letting go of his hand and walking towards the front of his desk, “I’m a big fan. You have no idea,” she admits, trying her hardest not to come across as creepy or weird. They are going to be working together pretty closely for the next few months, so she wants to start things off right with him, not scare him away or freak him out. She’s sure he’s already a bit freaked out being transplanted into an all-girls high school after coaching college men for so many years, and she’s not caught off guard when he then asks her for advice on coaching girls.

“Well, I'm tempted to say just treat 'em like the boys,” she starts, debating whether or not she wants to continue that thought. It’s probably not the best idea to offend the head coach on his first day on the job.

“But?” he pushes.

“You didn't treat the boys so well,” she answers matter-of-factly.

“Do you have any advice that might actually be helpful?”

She tells him that the girls on this Westbrook team are future leaders who are anxious to get started and can be a bit much. “Don’t pretend, they’ll see right through it,” she adds finally. And I’ll see right through it she thinks. “Other than that… let’s go coach some basketball,” she says brightly.

Marvyn tries his best not to roll his eyes as he gets up from his chair and heads onto the court to meet the girls. He doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to coach a bunch of rich high school girls. Everything about this gig is a demotion for him. From college to high school. From men to girls. His disregard for this job is anything but hidden as he walks out of his office, dreading the official start of his role as Head Basketball Coach at Westbrook.

Holly follows closely behind him, excited and ready for a fresh start with a new coach to work with. Their previous coach had been nothing short of insufferable, constantly telling Holly she had no say in the team, diminishing her role as a coach, making it clear she was not in charge. Despite his harshness towards Holly, he coddled the girls on the team, always telling them what they wanted to hear. The lack of discipline never got the team anywhere, but Holly bit her tongue, knowing that whatever she had to say didn’t matter to her then-colleague. Marvyn gives her a sliver of hope for the team’s future and hers. She knows Marvyn will run things differently, and she hopes that this change will be a good change.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After one practice and not even one drink into their casual rendezvous at a sports bar, Holly concludes that Marvyn certainly is different from their previous coach, but she’s hesitant to consider the change a positive one. He takes the game too seriously, prioritizes the end goal of winning and success over the feelings of the girls on the team. To him, they are just pawns in his own lifelong game of basketball. They are X’s and O’s, not individuals worthy of being treated with respect. He practically committed every sin of working with teens in the book. He demeaned them, embarrassed them, and disrespected them all in the span of one practice.

“My life is basketball,” he begins, “Everyone in my life are basketball players. A good coach can't be successful if he becomes friends with his players.”

“What about after work?”

“There is no after work. Not if you wanna win. There's diagramming plays, there's watching tapes, the recruiting, but there's no after work.”

Holly lets out a breath. His version of reality is nearly incomprehensible to her. Never in her life has she met someone more polarizing and stuck in his way than this man in a tracksuit sitting in the booth with her. She almost feels sorry for him. He doesn’t have any friends, and he spends all of his time thinking about basketball and how to make his team better.

“I guess I don't have to ask what happened to your marriage,” Holly says boldly, venturing into the untouched territory of his personal life as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Nope. What happened to yours?” he returns. He checked her out in the teacher portal the day before. He’s all about preparation, and that does not exclude doing some research on his assistant coach.

Her eyes grow wide. How the hell did he know I was previously married? She thinks to herself. “None of your business,” she retorts, sidestepping his question as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, not wanting to air out her dirty laundry in front of her colleague, especially considering they just met some few hours ago.

“It is my business. Add to that, you opened the door because you asked about my marriage.” She scoffs in response, now regretting bringing up the topic of failed marriages.

Marvyn opens up about his divorce first, telling her that his wife left him, which Holly deduces was because Marvyn is such a workaholic. “She figured that she deserved more, that she could do better. So she did,” Marvyn explains. “Your turn.”

“Same,” she utters, wanting nothing to do with this conversation any longer, “He realized he could do better.”

“Why?” He pushes once more, his stubbornness starting to set Holly’s nerves on fire.

“None of your business,” she says, her voice laced with more attitude than she intended.

“If it speaks to your character, it is my business.”

Looking down at her lap, Holly lets out a quick breath. She has her back up again the door of the closet, refusing to expose the skeletons locked in there. Her marital past is not something she’s particularly proud of or that she looks back on with much joy. It’s hard to talk about without feeling embarrassed, feeling ashamed that she had an affair with a man named Matt, who happened to be her husband’s best friend.

The neglect from her husband eventually pushed her over the edge to do what she would never forgive herself for. The person who was supposed to love her the most in this world stopping caring. She was left unfulfilled and disconnected from the man she once loved. He was absent. Even when he was there, he wasn’t actually there. They didn’t even bother to fight anymore. They simply coexisted in a house that no longer felt like home.

She really wasn’t thinking at all when it happened the first time. She had an itch to scratch, and Matt was there.

“I cheated on him,” Holly discloses finally, “I had an affair. Worst thing a spouse can do, I suppose. Short of neglect, maybe,” she explains, purposefully vague, hoping he doesn’t interrogate her further.

“Are you saying my betrayal was worse?” he asks, suddenly feeling defensive.

“I’m saying his was worse. But yeah, yours too, I guess, if that's what you're guilty of.” The weight of her words hangs in the air between them. He watches as she shifts once more in her seat, visibly uncomfortable with the level of openness of the conversation.

Holly sighs. “Wow. This is a really nice ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’,” she says with a subtle bite of sarcasm, avoiding his gaze and reaching for her beer.

“This isn't a ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’. You have an agenda.” She rolls her eyes at his accusation, although there is some truth to it. She does have something she wants to talk to him about. “You clearly have an agenda, so get to it.”

“You are profoundly unlikable. You know that, right?” She doesn’t even try to hide the sourness of her tone.

“You're just scratching the surface. If you have something to say to me, please say it. 'Cause I'd like to get back and work on the Laguna game.”

God, he’s so fucking persistent. “Okay.” She set aside her beer, leaning in towards him. “Marvyn, these are high school girls we are working with. I know your tried-and-tested ways of coaching got you far at the collegiate level, but these girls can’t be treated like they are men in college.”

“And why not?” Her point evidently went right over his head.

“Because they are different. They don’t handle criticism like those men do. They take things personal. They won’t be responsive to your derogatory, hotheaded way of giving feedback or your ‘my way or the highway’ mentality. These girls need to be inspired and supported, not embarrassed and disrespected. These girls don’t just kiss the ring. If they aren’t respected, they are going to try to get the upper hand. And they are quite good at it.”

“They’re not gonna get the upper hand with me,” he counters.

“Look at how scared of this you are.” She can’t understand how it’s so hard to just receive these girls as the complex people they are. This team won’t get anywhere if he doesn’t let go of all his unreasonable preconceptions and connect with these girls. He’s so stuck in this mindset that the team is beneath his abilities that he doesn’t realize he could actually learn something from these girls. And he shouldn’t be afraid of that. Holly is always learning new things from her students and players. When is Marvyn going to get it through his head that he can learn from these girls just as much as they can learn from him? It’s a two-way street.

“This is another thing. You don’t know me,” he snaps defensively, “so don’t pretend that you know me.”

“I don’t want to know you,” she says coolly, “I just want what’s best for the team,” she assures him, feigning sincerity, telling him exactly what he wants to hear whether it’s what she wants to say or not.

“Yeah.” He nods his head, thinking she’s finally seeing things from his point of view.

“Is that a good answer?” she asks as she raises her eyebrows, revealing the insincerity of her previous words. His face drops, catching on to her little game. She’s irritatingly clever.

The conversation comes to a quick end, interrupted by the other patrons of the bar cheering and applauding, celebrating a touchdown in the football game playing on all of the TVs.

They find themselves back in that same booth at the same sports bar the next night. As they sip on their beers, Marvyn expresses his doubts about coaching this team, telling Holly that he just doesn’t think he can do it.

“What else?” he asks after bringing up everything that’s happened with the girls in just his two first days, speaking so frantically Holly could hardly keep up. “What the hell else?” His apparent distress over coaching a bunch of high school girls makes her laugh. You would think the world was coming to an end based on how he was acting.

“I know. You're not prepared. Welcome to high school,” she quips.

“I- I had no idea what I was in for.”

Clearly.

[writingonjorvik]

Can We Discuss Game Hiatuses?

I want to preface this enter post with the comment that I am absolutely not saying "Oh, if you're not enjoying SSO, you should just leave the community." That's a bad argument used against criticism that I do not promote. However, I am going to talk about how if you're not enjoying SSO, why you should take a pause from playing.

I'm going to generally credit @centeris2 on this topic, because while I'm not using direct quotes (because private convos aren't exactly the style I want to use for Can We Discuss), we had a long conversation about this topic and she made a lot of good points for this that I wanted to discuss. Some of these points are based on her opinions, a lot of out thoughts blurred together so it's hard to directly credit, and she gave me the ok to talk about it and use her thoughts.

In any case, let's start with the fact that it is perfectly normally to like something and still drop it for years at a time, or to not directly engage with it. For instance, I adore the Legend of Zelda franchise (were it not obvious from my recent to be rescheduled event), but I haven't personally picked up a LOZ game for a year-ish now when I replayed Minish Cap. That doesn't revoke my LOZ fan card, that's a perfectly normal thing to do. Most of you will have done this throughout your life, more and more recognizably as you get older.

This however can get blurred by fandom. It is very often that folks with hyperfixations on a thing, who may or may not engage with something more regularly than other media, will get involved in fandom and make a lot of content for that fandom. These people can produce loads of content on a piece of media and this can fuel a community, even if the rest of the community isn't actively engaging with that media. It also doesn't specifically mean that people with hyperfixations are constantly engaging with that media. Going back to that LOZ example, I wrote LOZ fanfic for years without actively playing more than one LOZ game maybe a year or two. Content can be queued, be entirely original outside of the media, and still last a long time and engage with the fandom at large.

The point is to say, even if you make content and enjoy a piece of media, you don't have to actually be playing/reading/listening/watching it constantly. In fact, normally modern fandom culture makes that pretty easy to do, though it can sometimes make us feel like we're still engaging directly with the media even if we're technically not. But it's good to take a step back and acknowledge that. A lot of younger fans in fandom have a hard time with this, which is why I'm taking the time to point it out. A lot of young fans will hyperengage in a fandom because they want to be involved in this fandom they love, only to burn themselves out and be turned away by their frustration. It's important then to acknowledge this scenario to encourage better, healthier involvement with fandom. Still, in this situation, you can easily bow out of a fandom if you need to take a break and then come back when something new happens in it, like a new release or update. This may feel like a fandom "dies" when a piece of media ends, but for active media, it's a normal and healthy thing to do.

SSO on the other hand does not encourage the ability for people to take a break, or at least it does it at the detriment of the player. Because of the weekly updates, players are constantly checking for the chance that there is something interesting coming out. This is somewhat addressed by the monthly roadmaps the team has been putting out, but that also just extends the period of time people are waiting for news and they're still staying in the release cycle for more clarification. For instance, we know Silverglade Village is getting an update at the end of the month, but knowing SSO's release cycle, are they going to tease some more of the changes? Are they going to reveal how wide the area of update is going to be? Will any NPCs get updates with it? This is still in the weekly cycle and it keeps players from building up actual suspense for updates if we know when content is coming out. It also takes away a lot of suspense when the content isn't main content, like new areas or story. While the suspense for the Fripp quests I would say were quite large, I wouldn't say that any of the other updates have shared the same attention. This is why most companies will release roadmaps for quarters or for a year.

And this isn't to say that SSE as a company shouldn't be releasing media content weekly, they should. That's good social media. But there are ways to engage with fans that don't drag out a reliance to engage weekly, things like community contests, highlighting fans, or promoting fanmade content. But when every update is super in the eyes of social media, fatigue and apathy are going to start to kill actual excitement unless it's something major.

I don't think it's a secret that I think the weekly updates aren't good for the game on the development side. I think it creates a pseudo-crunch culture on the developers so that they can't work on larger projects that players are asking for, like an engine overhaul (it took FFXIV two years to do theirs, when are the devs supposed to have time on SSO to switch now). But, I also don't think it's good for the players. Yes, there's something every week, but how are players actually engaging each week and how much time can we build up anticipation or get excited when each week that gets diffused by something that's not super exciting the majority of other weeks? Which doesn't mean that that content is bad, but it clearly builds frustration in the community to have "filler" content. When's the next story quests, when's the next map expansion, when's the next major mechanic being added, etc. We're constantly discussing the next big thing and then finding reasons to be excited in the meantime. This does not spark joy.

But in order to take a break, either you need to be on top of your Stable Care (likely to pull you back in), or just stop caring about your horses while you're away (unlikely considering the horse girl is strong in this community). The first requires Star Coins, which is arguably saying "You have to pay real money to take a break," and the second is actively punishing you mechanically for not being committed to playing. Neither of those allow the player to take healthy, normal breaks from the community to engage in other things. And that's an issue.

Yes, MMOs need regular engagement. Active servers and participation are a part of what makes them more marketable. But there are ways to do that without penalizing players. And I'm not suggesting that the care system needs to be entirely removed, but it does need to be entirely reworked so players can leave the game without coming back penalized. Things like the care system not affecting stats, but increasing your RNG for finding doubles of crafting items, or doubling your shilling rewards from dailies. WoW's inn system rewards players for taking breaks by double your exp gain longer depending on how long you were away. Others like Guild Wars 2 will give you log in rewards that build up to bigger prizes over time. There are ways to do this.

And I understand that a lot of folks like the current care system because it's realistic. But there has to be a line in game development where enjoyment in a game is prioritized over the realism of the game, not to mention the health of the player. Yes, the daily care system is more realistic, but if it is developing an obsessive habit of play to enjoy content that is, realistically, months to years down the line, that's not good for the player and should be changed so players can break from the game without coming back to punished controls. There are better systems that can still be realistic, things like crafting feed schedules to recover health boosts faster instead of having to see the vet, increasing how often the mood goes up so it doesn't take a whole week, changing it so when taking a horse for a ride the mood will increase every 10 or so minutes by engaging with a horse you like. Rewarding players for getting on and playing the game instead of making them dread missing when they should be coming back with excitement for the game.

All of that said, I want to encourage all of you to play more games where you can. I know there are system limitations, restricted budgets, and sometimes regional limits because of limited languages or just straight regionlocks. But in the same way reading makes you a better reader and writer, gaming makes you a better gamer (and developer/designer if you go that route). It helps you identify what you like in games and in the same way that reading other things makes coming back to your favorite all that much better, so does playing other games. I'm going to reblog this in a bit with some games I'd recommend with links to Steam and Epic and I'd encourage you all to do the same.

The takeaway I hope to give is that it's normal and healthy to take a break from games. You can still engage with media without directly engaging with it through fandom. SSE can do more to not penalize players for wanting to take a break, and should. And where you can, you should play more games and break for the health of your relationship with a piece of media you like.

[justthehiddleswrites]

Follow My Lead | Tom Hiddleston x OFC | Chapter 4 | I don’t think you are supposed to giggle at Tolstoy.

A/N: This will update every Thursday.  There are 13 chapters.  There are all sorts of kinds of D/s relationships.  This is the one I choose to write this time.  

MASTERLIST HERE

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x OFC (Vivian Swann)

Summary: Tom and Vivian have both been unlucky in love, searching for something outside of the bounds of a typical relationship.  When the two of them connect via a dating app, Tom is introduced to the idea of being submissive to Vivian.  Which is the one thing he never knew he needed.  Under the firm hand of Vivian, Tom learns what it means to submit and Vivian learns what it means to be in a loving dominant relationship.  But not everyone seems to understand what they have and the best intentions can destroy the strongest relationship.

Warnings for story: Dominant/submissive relationship (sub!Tom), lots of smut including but not limited to: vaginal sex, oral sex (male and female receiving), edging, denial, teasing, use of restraints, spanking, multiple orgasm, anal play, use of toys.

Tag Lists Are Open!  Let me know if you want to be added.  Thank you for reading!

-

Tom slept like a rock that night. The best night’s sleep in a long time. He dreamed of Vivian, kneeling on his chest, kissing him, teasing him, biting him. And he woke that morning with his cock hard and leaking. He stroked himself as he thought about Vivian. But not in the way he usually did. Instead of fantasizing of her touching him, sucking his cock, jerking him off, Tom closed his eyes and imagined his lips on Vivian’s folds and clit. Her hands in his hair tugging his head where she wants it. Vivian moaning in response to his touch, his tongue. As her pleasure increases, Tom’s motions in real life increased. Tom came with a soft gasp, spurting along his torso. He panted, trying to catch his breath. Once he regained his composure, he headed to the shower to clean himself up and go for a jog.

-

Vivian rapped her nails on the desk in her flat. Her email open on the screen. She was drafting the proposed protocols for Saturday to Tom, and she contemplated on how far to push him. So far, Tom exceeded all Vivian’s expectations. Which worried her. In the past, all men have been eager to please, at first. But once the shiny new wore off, and the men realized the relationship wasn’t about her fulfilling their fantasies of kinky sex and it was about surrendering to her authority, they ran. Sometimes without further word. It wasn’t the incompatibility that bothered Vivian, but the coldness in which they communicated it. As though she was without feeling or emotion. This caused her to assign the reading at the beginning, to move more cautiously. And she wasn’t sure if her heart could handle a rejection from Tom.

With a sigh, she typed out to Tom:

This is a date for the sole purpose of kissing. No food, no drink, no chitchat, no reading, no hanging out.

In short: Kissing, petting, stroking and all the things come along with that- yes. Talking, sex, orgasms- no.

Here is a list of what may happen, not what will happen. If anything bothers you or off limits, let me know.

- Kissing, obviously. Let me know of any spots that are off limits.

- Shirt off

- Pants off (underwear on)

-Nudity (you, not me)

- Kneeling

- Blindfold

- Light bondage (cuffs- both wrists and ankles, tied to the bed)

- Biting

-Bruises on your body (both in places normally covered by clothing and places it would be visible such as the neck)

- All over body touching (let me know of body parts off limits)

- All over body licking (same as above)

- Roles reversed (you touching/licking me)

- Hands around your throat (gentle not choking)

- Hair pulling

- Fingers in your mouth (not gagging)

- Body-slapping

- Pinching

And I think I covered everything. Wear a button-down (I like when you undo the top few buttons) and jeans or slacks. Send me a photo of what your current underwear options are. I will send you your address that morning. I expect you at 7.

Vivian

She smiled as she re-read the email. She buzzed with anticipation at the possibilities of Saturday night. Vivian was certain she would cuff and restrain Tom, and not just because he had the tendency to squirm underneath her. She suspected it would push a button and was eager to test her theory. She hit click and headed off to work.

-

Tom was eating breakfast, having finished his morning run when his phone dinged with a new email from Vivian. He read through her email and swallowed hard. The list was extensive. He re-read before finishing up breakfast and heading upstairs and digging through his underwear drawer. Tom had three options laid out on the bed. He snapped a photo of them laid out on the bed. He examined the photo, unhappy.

“Might as well.” he commented to himself as he stripped down and pulled on the first pair, navy boxers.

Tom stood in front of the full-length mirror in the closet and snapped a photo. He hated to admit he may have flexed a bit in the photo. He repeated the process with the white underwear briefs, and the black Calvin Klein boxer briefs. Pleased with the photos, Tom typed back to Vivian.

Wow, that is quite the comprehensive list. I appreciate the thoroughness and the bullet points. I am not scheduled for any meetings until Wednesday, so any marks will have faded by then. My feet are ticklish. Probably shouldn’t tell you that. ;) And I would rather not have my armpits or the inside of my ears licked. Otherwise, I am game for whatever you want.

I have attached photos of the underwear, per your request. And if there is anything else I can do to be of service, please let me know, ma’am.

Your sunshine boy,

Tom

He attached the photos and sent the email and then returned to dressing for the day, flopping on the bed to return the last two books on his list before starting his essay.

-

Vivian was pleased Tom modeled the underwear rather than just lay them out of the bed. She probably would have directed him to model them. She wrinkled her nose at the first pic and flicking through the rest.

Black boxer briefs. Burn or throw away the tighty whities. If I find a pair in your home, I will punish you. Let’s change our night time call to 9:00 p.m. from now on. I hate keeping you up so late.

She placed the phone down on her desk. It buzzed almost immediately.

Consider them burned. 9 p.m. works for me, although I don’t mind waiting up if it means I get to hear your voice. :) I shall wait with bated breath until Saturday.

-

The rest of the day seemed to fly by for both of them and before long, Tom was settled into bed with both his books of collected poetry and Anna Karenina. He called on time and Vivian asked for him to read more of Tolstoy. He started doing voices of the characters, in particular an exaggerated Russian accent for Levin and Vronsky.

“I don’t think you are supposed to giggle at Tolstoy.” Vivian commented after one particularly dramatic passage.

“I’m a full service entertainer. Comedy, drama, action, romance.” Tom teased back.

“What about erotica?” she teased right back, her voice low.

Tom paused. “For you? Without question.” She could hear the hesitation, fear, and excitement in his voice. She hoped it would remain.

Vivian sighed. “I think it is enough reading for tonight. I want you to get a good night’s rest for tomorrow.”

“Yes ma’am.” he responded.

“Goodnight, Tom, my sunshine.”

“Goodnight, Vivian.”

They ended the call, and both drifted off to sleep.

-

Vivian attended her weekly blowout appointment, not realizing Tom spent the day as a bundle of nerves. He ran ten miles hoping to burn off excess energy. It didn’t work. The only thing he did was finish the last of the books from Vivian’s list. The fastest ever read through anything in some time. He was too distracted to write his essay, thought swirling in his brain. Tom wants it to be perfect. He wants everything to be perfect for Vivian.

Tom must have tried on at least six different shirts, each discarded on the bed as unsuitable. He settles on a soft, well worn light blue shirt. One of his favorites. The collar is fraying at the corners, which is why he doesn’t wear out as much anymore, favoring instead newer but less comfortable shirts. He grabbed a pair of jeans only to notice a hole on the inside of the thigh and discarded them also on the bed, grabbing a different pair. Tom left the top two buttons undone, a calculated air of casual. A quick dab of cologne and then he waited, not wanting to arrive too early.

-

After her morning errands, Vivian ate a light lunch and set about preparing her flat for Tom. She made up the bed with fresh linens and double checked the restraint points on the posts. She hadn’t decided on a leg position, so Vivian placed straps on all the corners as well as the point in the middle. Vivian opened the nightstand and retrieved the cuffs, adjusting them and placing them prominently in the foyer on a table. Cuffing Tom would be among the first things she did that night. In addition, she laid out a blindfold on the nightstand and put a bottle of water there too. After bathing, she slipped into a simple silk tank and striped shorts. She wore the same wedges as before. Vivian enjoyed looking Tom in the eye while standing and kissing. A quick dab of perfume behind the ears and settled on the couch, watching some TV waiting for Tom.

He knocked on her door, ten minutes early. Acceptably early without fear of being so early that he disturbed preparations.

“I couldn’t wait any longer.” Tom commented.

Vivian giggled. His eagerness was endearing. “I’ll allow it. Come in.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He stepped into her flat, looking around in wonder. Vivian grabbed him by the chin and kissed him hard.

“Do you still remember your word, sunshine?”

“Yes.” Tom is already breathing hard. “Sushi.”

She smiled and slid her hand down around Tom’s neck. His Adam’s apple moving underneath her palm. His eyes widened in fear. Vivian kissed him again. He leaned forward when she stepped back. She walked around him, fingers tracing the planes of his body, his broad shoulders, defined pecs and abs. Vivian gave his ass a playful swat. Tom yelped and staggered forward.

“Such a nice ass, sunshine.” She growled in his ear, grabbing it with her nails.

“Thank you, ma’am.” his voice shook. He wasn’t used to being manhandled, and his cock appreciated the rough touch.

“Shirt and pants off.” She stepped back to watch him undressed.

Tom’s cheeks blushed. He had been nearly nude in a room of strangers before, but under Vivian’s glare, he never felt so exposed. Tom tugged his shirt over his head, not bothering to undo the buttons this time. He folded the shirt, placing it on the nearby table while he slipped his shoes and socks off, and slipping his jeans down his lean legs. Vivian licked her lips at Tom in his underwear. While the man appeared fit clothed, he was something carved from marble without the clothes. He flashed a lopsided smile as he placed his jeans on top of his shirt and folding his hands in front of him, obscuring his crotch.

“God, you are beautiful.” Vivian hissed as she stepped forward to kiss him again. Tom hummed back at the praise, his body growing warm. She nipped at his lower lip, nibbling rather than biting, sending shocks through his body. “Wrists, please.”

Vivian moved to the table. Tom’s arms shot out. She grabbed the leather cuffs and put them on. Tom jerked back his arms.

“What are those?” His brows furrowed.

“Cuffs. Wrists.” Her tone sharp. Tom hesitated, his mouth opening to protest. “Sunshine, wrists.” she snapped.

“Yes, ma’am.” He reluctantly held out his wrists. She tightened the cuffs, making sure they wouldn’t chafe.

Tom twisted his wrists back and forth, testing out the weight and listening to the rings thudding against the thick leather. Vivian kissed him again, hands sliding down his torso. His cock jumped. She grabbed the back of his neck and led him towards the bedroom. Tom gulped at the blindfold and straps.

“Ah…” he started before being cut off by Vivian’s lips on his neck. “Oh!” he moaned. She laved and sucked hard, removing her lips with a pop, satisfied at the dark mark already formed.

“On the bed, sunshine. On your back.” Tom scrambled onto the bed, lying flat on his back. As Vivian slipped the cuffs on Tom’s ankles, he jerked back. She raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Good boy.”

She slipped her shoes off and then hooked his ankle cuffs to the straps in the middle of the bed. As Vivian strolled to the head of the bed, she ran a nail up Tom’s leg. He jerked against the restraints. She grabbed his arm and clipped it onto the strap before crawling onto the bed, reaching over to clip in the other side, her breasts grazing Tom’s body. His hips bucked.

“So squirmy, sunshine. Best I did tie you up.” Vivian straddled his chest, pushing him into the mattress. “I can’t let you get away just yet.” She pressed against his lips softly, earning a sigh. Her teeth worried his lower lip.

“Ow.” he mock protested.

Nevertheless, Vivian let go of his lip and trailed down his neck. She licked the bruise from earlier before moving down to his collarbone. Vivian sucked and nipped, leaving the twin to the neck’s bruise there. She smiled at her handiwork. Tom struggled against the restraints.

“They have held stronger men than you, sunshine.” Vivian dragged her nails down his sides, leaving faint lines. As she settled by his hips, Tom’s cock pressed against her. Tom huffed and puffed as she kissed his Adonis belt, scraping her teeth along his skin from time to time. Her hands stroked along his thighs and he flexed under her touch.

She slid off of Tom’s body, and he whined at the lack of contact. Vivian rolled back on top of Tom, lying along his full body like a blanket. Tom sighed at the weight and contact. She pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his heart race. She snaked a hand to the back of his head and jerked his head sideways before kissing him. Tom met her lips with hunger and he whimpered each time she pulled away, only to tug him towards her again. He strained against the restraints, desperate to touch her, to pull her tight against him and rut against her. His tongue slipped into her mouth, needy, exploring every inch. He moaned as Vivian’s grip tightened on his hair, hurting, but he wanted more.

Vivian could sense Tom coming close to overheating, making a mess and complicating the hell out of this. His cock strained, hard and weeping. She pulled away, holding his lower lip between her teeth as long as possible, stretching it.

“Ow.” Tom muttered.

Vivian slid down to press against Tom’s side. She cupped her cheek before gently kissing behind Tom’s ear. Tom moaned softly from the back of his throat. Her fingers twisted into his hair and she massaged his scalp. Tom’s shoulders relaxed and his hands loosened from the fists. As she scratched and petted him, he leaned into her touch, his breath slowing to a deep and even pace. He closed his eyes, enjoying the soft touch.

“You are so beautiful, my sunshine.” She cooed at him. Her other finger tracing his jaw and cheekbone. “So pretty.” She kissed his cheek and stroked his chest.

“Thank you, ma’am.” His voice breathy and floaty.

Vivian reached over and unhooked Tom’s wrist. She turned and unhooked his other wrist. Tom didn’t move. She stood to unhook his ankles.

“Legs up, please.” Tom lifted his legs into the air. Vivian undid the cuffs, rubbing the skin and massaging it. She kissed the top of his feet and Tom giggled and squirmed. “You weren’t joking about being ticklish.”

“No, ma’am.” He slowly floated back to reality.

“Sit up, please.” Tom rocked up, his hair a rumpled mess, and held out his wrists. Vivian smoothed out his hair and held the back of his neck while she kissed his cheek and lips a few more times. She released him and unbuckled the wrist cuffs, rubbing his wrists and kissing each one and placed them on the nightstand and grabbed the water bottle, handing it to Tom.

“Thank you.” He opened the bottle and took a large swig. Vivian smoothed his hair back one more time.

“Let’s go get dressed, sunshine.” He sighed, taking another swig of water before standing. Vivian slipped her wedges back on and walked beside Tom, rubbing his neck the entire time. “I was a bit rough on you. Are you okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” His voice quiet while he grabbed his jeans and tugged them on before pulling on his shirt, tucking it and zipping up.

“How did it feel? I imagine you are used to being treated with kid gloves.”

Tom pulled on his socks and shoes, working on finding the right words.

“I don’t quite know how it felt.” Tom replied, a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. “But I know I didn’t want it to stop. I didn’t mind the pain. I wanted to touch you and make you feel as good as you made me feel.”

Vivian smiled and pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight. “Sunshine, I feel good. I received great pleasure at teasing you.” She kissed him. “With my mouth. And watching you squirm and hearing you purr.” She petted the back of his head. “But I appreciate your desire to please me physically. And you will when the time comes.”

Tom stared at her with his endless blue eyes. “When will that be, ma’am?”

“When you’re ready, Sunshine.” She kissed his cheek. “You still haven’t finished your homework first.”

Tom’s hands fidgeted, twisting in front of him. “I finished all the books. I plan on starting the essay tomorrow.” He stared at the floor. “I want it to be perfect.”

“As long as it is from your heart it will be, my sunshine boy.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. “I don’t ask for perfection, just effort.”

Tom nodded and squeezed her hand back. “Yes, ma’am.”

She walked him to the door, kissing him one more time. “Call me in the morning when you wake up.”

Tom nodded. “Thank you for tonight.”

“You are welcome. The pleasure was mine.”

Tom smiled and kissed Vivian’s cheek and headed out. She clicked the door shut and set about cleaning up the place. Tom came home and ate a sandwich before turning in early that evening, his brain still fuzzy.

-

As requested, Tom called in the morning, still in bed, to check in with Vivian. It pleased her that outside of the marks on his neck and collarbone, Tom was no worse for wear. Tom left out the part of the dreams he had or the fact he woke up with a raging hard on which Tom took care of in the shower, skipping his run for thirty minutes on his long neglected rowing machine.

Tom lazed about for most of the morning, having something akin to a hangover without the benefit of being drunk beforehand. As he sat down at this computer to start his essay for Vivian, there was a knock on the door. He groaned as he trudged to see who would dare disturb his lazy Sunday.

A smiling Benedict greeted him at the door. When he saw Tom in workout gear, he frowned.

“You’re not dressed!” he complained.

“For what?” Tom blinked back at him. He didn’t recall making plans.

“Lunch!” Benedict stepped in the foyer. “We made plans weeks ago. I’ll wait for you to change.”

Tom was ready to protest, but Ben crossed his arms and it was clear he wasn’t leaving without Tom. With a huff, Tom discarded his clothes into the bedroom which now had a small pile of discarded and dirty clothes, and grabbed an old gray v neck t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Shoving his feet into a pair of boots, Tom stomped back to Ben, pushing past him.

“Let’s go.” Tom grumbled.

Tom’s mood improved once he ordered some food and got half a pint into his system. Benedict stared at him, squinting.

“What?” Tom asked, still irritated.

“What is that on your neck?” He pointed at Tom’s neck. Tom twisted it, and then Ben spied the second mark on his collarbone. “And your chest? Were you attacked?”

Tom touched his collarbone and remembered. He blushed. “It’s nothing. Forget it.” He gulped down the other half of his pint and stood. “Let me go get another round.”

Benedict held out his arm to stop Tom. “It’s like you were bitten by someth… Oh… OH!” The lightbulb went off. “Things going well with Vivian?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Yes.” He sidestepped Ben’s arm and grabbed another pint before returning to the table.

“Care to share?” He prodded.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Moving on.” Tom grew more homicidal by the second.

Benedict clapped his hands together. “Remember how Sophie wrangled me into serving on the children’s hospital charity board?”

“Yes.” Tom saw the Cheshire Cat grin on Ben’s face. “No. No! I went last year and got cornered by that old lady who kept calling me ‘Henry’.”

“It was endearing.”

“It was ridiculous.”

“There’s an open bar.”

“Hard pass.”

“I have two tickets. You can bring Vivian.”

Tom stared at his friend. “I am not introducing you to Vivian.”

“Why not?”

“Because I like her and I’m afraid you will scare her off.”

Benedict scoffed. “I have never…” He clutched his chest in dramatic fashion. “�� never scared anyone off.”

“Alice, Catherine, Eva…” Tom counted off on his fingers. “… I can go on.”

“None of them met my high standards. Please come.” he begged. “Sophie will kill me if you don’t come.”

“The thought of your death is tempting.”

The waiter set the food down.

“Tom…” Benedict dropped all pretense. “… please come. I promise I will be on my best behavior.”

Tom’s head dropped. “Give me the details. I will check with Vivian tonight when I call her.”

Benedict’s lips pursed. “Really? I can’t wait to meet her. Especially someone who leaves marks like that on you. Sounds like she is yours for the taking.”

“Yeah.” Tom mumbled as he took a bite of his food.

-

Tom called her at 9 p.m. like always.

“Sunshine, how was your Sunday?” she asked.

“Speaking of that…” Tom started, and she noticed the nerves in his voice. “What are you doing next Friday evening?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I believe I’m free. Do you have any ideas?”

Tom exhaled sharply. “I’ve been invited to a charity event by Benedict and I have two tickets, and I was wondering if you would like to come with me.” He blurted it all out in one big run-on sentence.

Vivian paused before laughing. “Wow, you were really nervous about that, weren’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am. Everything is still so new and I don’t… I don’t want to mess this up.”

“You are just the sweetest, sunshine. You know that right? Beautiful and sweet. Yes, I will go with you.”

Tom beamed. “How would everything work?”

“Like any date would. We go, we drink, we dance and mingle.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know, darling. We can set some rules that work for both of us. okay?”

“Okay.”

“Now, read to me please.”

Tom grabbed the book.

-

Tom and Vivian agreed he would pick out three outfit options, but Vivian would come over ahead of time and make the final choice. They would not use pet names and instead would do what is natural. Tom asked that she still rub the back of his neck.

“It calms me down.” he commented.

“Of course, sunshine. I like when you are calm. You are more attentive that way.”

It was now the day of the event and Vivian sat on Tom’s bed, noticing the clutter. Tom was modeling the second outfit.

“I don’t like the tie. Let’s see the last one.”

Tom undid the tie and shirt and grabbed the last option. It was a double-breasted blue pinstripe suit with a blue shirt and navy tie. He did a little spin.

“That one.” Vivian stood and straightened his tie and petted his neck before squeezing his ass. “Your ass looks amazing in those trousers.”

Tom blushed again. “Thank you, ma’am.”

She kissed his cheek, wiping away her gloss. “Remember, no names, now let’s go.”

-

Tom was more at ease with Vivian by his side. Her reassuring touch at the back of his neck or even his shoulder grounded him. Not to mention, she dazzled everyone she met. Now for the big test.

“Benedict, Sophie, meet Vivian Swann. Vivian meet Benedict Cumberbatch, notorious troublemaker, and his queen of a wife, Sophie Hunter.”

Vivian shook each of their hands, holding tight to Tom’s but leaning in for a kiss on the cheek by Ben. Tom tightened his grip. She suppressed a giggle.

“Charmed. Thank you so much for inviting me. I have been looking into getting the firm involved in more charity work and the children’s ward is an enticing option.”

“Firm?” Sophie questioned.

“Watkins, Price, and Forbes. I work in their corporate law division.”

Benedict let loose a low whistle.

“Tom, you didn’t tell me you were dating a pit bull.” Sophie commented. “Impressive.”

Vivian smiled. “I prefer the term ‘velvet hammer’ but pit bull works. “

“How did you and Tom meet?” Ben interjected.

Tom paled, but Vivian didn’t miss a beat.

“The Bloomsbury Club. We bonded over a shared loved for Macallan 18-year-old aged whisky.”

Tom cleared his throat. “Right. Why don’t we take a seat?” He gestured at their reserved table.

“Your feet must be killing you in those shoes, Vivian. After having kids, I just can’t stand wearing them, but if I want to see eye to eye with this one.” She gestured at Benedict.

“Guilty.” He shrugged. “Although not as tall as the Frost Giant over there.”

Tom paused as he pulled out Vivian’s chair for her.

“I don’t mind the heels.” Vivian responded. “It is all what you get used to. Besides, I enjoy towering over people.” she giggled.

“Champagne?” the waiter offered.

“No, it makes her sneeze.” Tom commented.

“Get me a glass of white wine, please?” Vivian gazed up at him.

Tom smiled down and kissed her cheek. “Yes, of course, darling.”

“Sophie?”

Benedict and Sophie blinked at the two of them.

“Uh… yes a white wine sounds fantastic. Thank you, Tom.”

Tom nodded and headed off to the bar. Sophie elbowed Benedict in the ribs. He shuffled to his feet.

“Tom, let me help you with that!” He called after his friend.

Sophie waited until both men were out of earshot.

“How did you… I don’t want to know. You’re not like Tom’s other girlfriends, Miss Vivian Swann.”

She smiled. “I’m not sure if that is a compliment or an insult. So I will say thank you.”

“Definitely a compliment. There is something different about Tom when he is around you. He seems…”

“… happy?”

“Yes, but the word is content.” Sophie added. “Content, at peace. After that last nasty breakup, the man could use a little peace and quiet.”

“Hopefully not too quiet.” Vivian smirked.

“Are you two gossiping about us?” Benedict teased.

“I was just telling Vivian how happy and content our dear Thomas looks with her.” Sophie quipped.

Tom blushed as Vivian smiled and reached out to rub his neck. “I am. Thank you for noticing Sophie.”

-

The evening wound down. Tom for once enjoyed the event. Vivian won over Benedict and Sophie, so much so that Sophie invited her to go shopping tomorrow afternoon while she wrangled Benedict and Tom in tearing down a shed in Ben’s yard.

“Leave them to grunt work while we shop.”

“I would love to.” Vivian sipped at her wine.

The two couples said goodbye while waiting for the valet. Benedict hugged Vivian tight and kissed her cheek. While Sophie and her exchanged numbers. Benedict pulled Tom to the side.

“There’s something different about you, man.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m still me.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“No,” Ben folded his hands in front of his face. “there is definitely a change. And I think it has something to do with that enchanting woman over there, who I am sure is being tortured with baby pictures by my wife.”

“Perhaps.” Tom replied cryptically.

“Don’t fuck it up man. You will never find another girl…”

“Woman.” he corrected his friend.

“… Woman like her. You deserved a little happiness.”

“Tom?” Vivian placed her hand on his back. “The car’s here.”

“Of course. Ben.” He shook his friend’s hand and then hugged Sophie before opening the door for Vivian and then getting in and driving off.

-

“I’m going to head home.” Vivian stated when they got back to Tom’s home.

“Okay. I had a lot of fun tonight. It wasn’t nearly as dreadful with you there.”

“Your friends are a delight. They really do want the best for you, sunshine.”

Tom smiled at the name. “Yes, ma’am.” He fell back into the old pattern.

She grabbed the back of his head and tugged him into a kiss. Tom wrapped his arms around her and did his best to hold her tight. She pulled away, and he whined.

“I’m ready to take this to the next step, Vivian. I want to please you.” His hands ghosted over his shoulders. “In all ways.”

She smiled. “Send me the essay and we will talk. How about lunch tomorrow?”

“I will send it as soon as I step inside. I could cook you lunch here.”

“I would like that, sunshine.” She kissed him one more time. “Sleep well.”

“Yes, ma’am. You too.”

She smiled and walked to her car to head home. Tom stepped inside and rushed to his computer. He did a quick spell check on the essay he had been tweaking over the last week and clicked send.

“There.”

Vivian laughed as her phone beeped before she even left Tom’s driveway, knowing it was Tom’s homework.

“So eager. I like that.”

[itjazzbicch]

The Last Laugh PT. 3

Pairing:  Kenny Omega x Fem Reader

Summary: Continuing from my Last Laugh Series (In my wattpad which is in bio):

The reader and Kenny are now realizing their true feelings for one another, but the Young Bucks still have their questions due to previous events, trying to crack the reader but when they fail, they test Kenny...

Warnings:  N/A

Requested by: No one (But I hope you all enjoy!) 

Word Count:  2784

Tag List: @demonqueen29 @jessiebean00 @new-zealand-chic @crowleysqueenofhell @justamess44 @thatpanpal @hungmanhorsecarriage @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch  @linziland13 @yungbludjazz360​  

I DO NOT OWN THIS GIF

[You coming over not? I have a big match tonight you know] I sent to Kenny.

I thought I’d never see the day, but Kenny and I were getting along, getting very close and having true feelings for each other rather than just going at it.

[Just give me a few minutes. I’ll be over] Kenny sent back.

I had a championship match tonight and Kenny said he wanted to see me before since he couldn’t escort me out himself.

Since he had to take his time, I patiently waited for him. There were still some things for me to do. I just got out of hair and make-up, my gear still needed to be adjusted, so I just sat in my locker room waiting.

Kenny didn’t take as long as I thought he was going to, quickly turning to my phone when I heard it vibrating consistently.

“You finally coming over?” I asked, holding my phone up to my ear as I was still fixing my boots.

“Sure am!” Kenny said cheerfully, “You ready for the night?”

“Always ready,” I smirked, sitting up straight.

“You always have been,” Kenny cooed, but then there was silence. After a moment, Kenny whispered into the phone, “Hey, give me a second.”

Kenny didn’t hang up, but it sounded as if he put his phone in his pocket, it was muffled, but I heard Matt.

“Kenny, we have an interview and some other stuff to take care of. Where are you going?” Matt questioned.

From the sound of Kenny’s voice, he was remaining calm when he sighed, “You guys realize that I am a champion across three different companies, right? The champion is a very busy man.”

“Yeah, but we already had this planned dude,” Nick groaned, but Kenny didn’t budge, explaining:

“A few minutes delay isn’t going to ruin anything, okay? A few minutes is all I need. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

“You know,” Matt said, sounding like a stand-off was ready to happen, “I have heard that phrase before and I’m convinced that it’s a code word of some sorts.”

Kenny scoffed at his comment, groaning, “Where else have you heard that from?”

“Remember when Y/N tried being a bitch again out in the parking lot? Well later that night, we coincidentally ran into her again. She told us that she had business to attend to. Said it just like you did,” Matt pointed out, Nick adding:

“And how strange it was that your phone kept going straight to voicemail that night and she also went up to the floor of your hotel room.”

Kenny was always good at getting around sticky situations, laughing at them at first, “Aren’t the two of you observant!” But then, his voice grew serious when he continued, “Look, you two are just letting mind games get to you. Now, I have business to do. I’m not going to stand here and play into your conspiracies.”

After that, the phone hung up. I was on the same page as Kenny. They sure were nosey and it angered him. I could tell by the tone of his voice.

This week, I got myself a private locker room and no one knew where it was except for Kenny, so I left the door unlocked.

When Kenny entered, he was stressed and I addressed it.

“I heard everything, Kenny,” I informed him.

Kenny had both hands on his hips, still frustrated, groaning, “They are like brothers to me but damn, they need to mind their business!”

Quickly, I went to Kenny, pulling his face towards me so I could look in his eyes, saying, “What they don’t know won’t kill them. They are kind of catching on and hell, even if they figure it out!

They will prove their loyalty and accept your decisions.”

“They just don’t realize how things have changed,” Kenny whispered, “I know they can tell. They just won’t face it.”

“I agree, but right now, we have bigger things to worry about,” I sighed, smiling, “I do appreciate you coming back here to support me.”

“Believe me, I wish I could escort you out there,” Kenny smiled back, looking down at me, “And then bring you back here and get you out of that gear.”

“Hey, my shower is big enough for the two of us,” I chuckled, laughing more when Kenny said:

“First handcuffs, now shower sex? You sure are creative.”

“That’s only the beginning baby,” I cooed, raising up a bit to kiss him, Kenny returning my kiss, putting an even bigger smile on my face.

“But in all seriousness,” Kenny whispered against my lips, “I am proud that you are a fighting champion. I know you’ll kick ass out there.”

“Don’t I always?” I snickered, “Tonight, I’ll even step it up, just for you.”

“I’ll be watching so you better live up to that,” Kenny warned me playfully.

“I always live up to the hype,” I sighed, kissing him one more time.

Kenny stayed in the locker room with me for a bit longer, we even went over some exercises to get me in the zone and I was ready.

I had about seven minutes to get to the guerrilla and Kenny already took off, so I made my way there with my title on my shoulder.

I was laser-focused, confident like always, but on my way to the guerrilla, someone was there to give me “support”.

“Y/N!” Matt smiled, approaching me with Nick right behind him, “There’s our reigning, defending, women’s champion!”

“For once, I agree with you,” I smiled in his face and I could see how it angered them.

“Unlike Matt, I’m not going to play these games anymore,” Nick said sternly, “We know what you’re trying to do to Kenny.”

“Thank you, Nick,” Matt smiled at me, “We know you’re just trying to hurt him. It’s Japan all over again. Not to mention that little fight you keep mentioning .”

Even I couldn’t deny it, My rivalry with Kenny in Japan was intense, but as Kenny said earlier, things were different and I wasn’t going to let Nick and Matt get the better of me.

At first, I just laughed but getting serious when I said, “You two are just delusional. I have no intentions with Kenny. So what I poke some fun at him every now and then. Rivalries just don’t end you know. And that fight? Again, Kenny is the one who needs to tell you. Not me.”

“We know what’s happening,” Matt growled, stepping up to me, “I’ve seen all the signs and you might think we’re stupid, but you are rudely mistaken.”

“Whatever you say, boys,” I sighed, rolling my eyes.

I didn’t have time for their interrogations and bullshit. My title was on the line and I was facing Tay Conti, a very good female wrestler who I could not underestimate.

My match went exactly like how I imagined it would. It was all straight-up wrestling. We showed that it was main event worthy and we tore the house down.

The only thing that kept slowing me down is her constant attacks on my left arm. It all began whenever she rammed me into the steel ring post.

I was truly afraid that I separated my shoulder or something, the moment I fell to the ground, holding my arm, the referee and some medical staff tried tending to me.

Like always, my stubbornness took over. I refused to quit this match, crying through the pain when I got back up and into the ring.

Everyone thought I was crazy, but I still kept going, using my striking and my legs to the best of my abilities.

Towards the end of our match, Tay had me in an armbar on my injured arm and everyone watched in shock whenever I yelled through the pain, picking up her entire body with my bad arm, power slamming her on the mat.

My arm needed a moment. I didn’t even bother to go to cover her for the pin. The ropes assisted me to my feet, Tay getting up at the same time.

We met in the center of the ring and she went to hit me with a kick but I ducked it, running to the ropes, coming back and dodging again but the next time I came back, I hit her with a devastating, jumping knee strike, similar to Kenny’s V-Trigger and I pinned Tay, retaining my title.

The entire crowd were on their feet and cheering me while I sat on the mat, taking my title and holding it close, sitting still while the referee was checking out my arm again, but then we were all confused, looking to the stage when we heard:

“SUPER-KICK PARTYYYYY!”

I literally couldn’t believe it when I stood up, turning around to see Nick and Matt on stage.

“Wow! So impressive! That is one of the best women’s matches I’ve seen!” Matt smiled, Nick following with:

“So much technical wrestling. I loved it!”

“Y/N, you have beaten just about every female on the roster. I appreciate you wanting to be all about the women’s division,” Matt began, “But remember back in Japan when you wrestled in the men’s division?”

“That was crazy times,” Nick smirked devilishly, “And unfortunately for you, Y/N, you left some unfinished business in Japan and now it followed you to AEW.”

I was just in shock. My arm was killing me, I just wrestled my ass off and now they were doing this, live on television!

“You said it yourself, rivalries never really end and ours sure as hell hasn’t ended yet,” Matt growled at me and after that, I had enough, requesting a microphone.

“Are you kidding me? I just wrestled my ass off and you want to come out here, trying to pull up dirty laundry that happened forever ago!” I yelled at them, my anger controlling me when I said,

“I can tell you’re in a fighting mood and I am pretty pissed off! You wanna fight? Get your asses in this ring! I dare you! I’ll kick both of your asses just like I did in Japan!”

Slowly, Nick and Matt walked to the ring and I got into a fighting position, but I knew something was off. They were anticipating something, but after a moment, they rushed into the ring and I didn’t back down whatsoever.

Right, when they got to me, I was ready to swing, but then we all got knocked over. For a moment, the adrenaline in me died and all of the pain from my shoulder hit me hard.

Quickly, I rolled over into the corner, not caring that I was crying, but watching whenever I saw that it was Kenny. He didn’t intend to knock me over, he was protecting me and that’s when I realized what Matt and Nick were doing. They were testing Kenny.

“What the hell are you doing?” Matt yelled at Kenny, standing up and getting in his face.

Kenny delivered that fire right back, forehead to forehead with Matt, yelling back:“What the hell are YOU doing?!”

Everything was just a mess, everyone so confused as to what was happening, Nick yelling to Kenny:

“Tell us the truth, Kenny!”

Quickly, Matt pushed Kenny away, yelling at him, “Tell us now!”

“You want to know the truth?” Kenny yelled, looking back at both of them, his face so red from anger, taking everyone by surprise, which included me when he yelled at the top of his lungs, it echoing through the arena, “I LOVE HER! I ALWAYS HAVE GOT DAMN IT!”

We all just froze my heart about burst through my chest.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, still crying especially when Kenny turned back and saw the condition I was in.

At that moment, Kenny just forgot about Matt and Nick, tending to me instead. I had previous shoulder injures so I was truly concerned about my condition.

“It’s your bad shoulder isn’t it?” Kenny asked quickly and I just nodded my head, crying:

“It hurts so bad.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to get you taken care of,” Kenny assured, taking my other arm, “You have to get up though.”

Again, I was fighting through the pain, standing up and grabbing my title, still across the ring from Nick and Matt. I still wanted to fight them for the scene they just caused, but Kenny killed that whenever he pointed at them, saying:

“I’ll handle the both of you later.”

Finally, Kenny and I left the ring, taking me back to get the medical attention that I needed. They were checking out my shoulder, multiple tests needed to be done and that scared me.

I was grateful that Kenny didn’t leave my side, but there was a moment that he needed to have whenever we heard outside the door.

“Can someone please tell Kenny to come to talk to us?”

It was Matt.

Kenny rolled his eyes, turning red again because he was still super upset with them but he stood up, giving me a quick kiss, “I’ll be right back.”

He left the door crack and even though they kept their voices low, I could still hear everything.

“So, you love her, huh?” Nick asked, truly curious rather than being a smart ass.

“Have you two ever noticed how in Japan, I’m the one who started the beef with her? All the sly little comments we’d make? How we never took our fights seriously?” Kenny sighed, “Since the day I met her, I’ve wanted her. I just didn’t know how to do it.”

“Kenny, I’ll be the first to say, we’re sorry,” Matt explained, “We just thought that you two legitimately hated each other and when you two got close all of a sudden, we just wanted to have your back. I didn’t want to have to do that, but you just weren’t telling us!”

“Well maybe you should have taken the fact that we were taking things slowly into consideration,” Kenny scoffed, still upset with them.

“You’re right, Kenny,” Nick sighed, “Again, we’re sorry, and just know that we love you, man. If you want to be with Y/N, I’m all for it.”

“Me too,” Matt agreed, nodding his head.

I could see them hugging and it made me feel good. They had brotherhood and I never intended to break that. I just wanted to be with Kenny and it was good to know that he wanted the same with me.

“How’s her shoulder?” Nick asked and Kenny just sighed, his hand covering his face for a moment.

“Not going to lie, I’m worried for her. She had to have surgery on that shoulder before,” Kenny huffed, “They’re making her do a bunch of testing for it.”

“God I feel like shit,” Matt whined, then he just came through the door and he hugged me.

“Dude, my shoulder,” I said quickly, but also laughing as he backed away, mumbling;

“Right, I’m sorry about that.”

“Y/N, we owe you a long overdue apology. What we did tonight was wrong and irresponsible,” Nick admitted to me, “We shouldn’t have tried to invade your privacy.”

“I understand why you did,” I sighed, poking some fun at them when I added, “Besides, fucking with you guys is always a fun time.”

We all shared a good laugh, Nick giving me a soft hug too.

“Also, just know, that match was fucking awesome,” Matt smirked at me, “I wasn’t lying about that. You’re an amazing champion Y/N.”

“Thanks. Hopefully, I don’t have to give it up,” I sighed, looking down at my shoulder.

“Everything will be just fine,” Kenny smiled at me, trying to raise my spirits, and then finally, we had a true, one on one session whenever Matt said:

“I hope you feel better, Y/N. Nick, let’s go. They need alone time.”

Nick and Matt finally went off and closed the door behind them and once we were alone, Kenny was still standing in front of me while I was sitting.

Slowly I looked up into his eyes, getting emotional whenever I asked shyly, “You’ve always loved me, Kenny?”

With a bright smile, Kenny nodded his head and just to brighten our moods when I said:

“I fucking knew it!”

We both laughed together, Kenny hugging me and being gentle and when his head came close to me, I whispered, “I’ve always loved you too, Kenny.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. I love you. I just never knew how to express it. Then next thing I knew, we were the biggest rivals in Japan,” Kenny exhaled.

“That doesn’t matter anymore. We have each other now and I’m serious when I tell you, I love you,” I whispered, my arm wrapping around his neck.

Kenny gave a little bit of a squeeze and when he looked back up at me, his eyes looked teary but a gorgeous smile was on his face, his head falling to kiss me softly, whispering against my lips,

“No more hiding it. You’re mine and that’s never going to change.”

I quickly smiled against our kiss, kissing a bit harder, whispering back, “Just how I want it to be.”

[amysteriousmessenger]

‘Arcade Antics’ - Saeyoung Choi x Reader Drabble

My part of a trade with @dis-gorl who was kind enough to let me post it here!! I hope you guys like it! <3 <3 It’s an arcade date with Seven!  Implied female reader but it doesn’t play a huge part in the story, it’s just fluffy and fun <3

Word Count: 3.5k Rating: SFW

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

To say you were nervous would be an understatement. You’d never been on a date before. Of course, you were very excited to be there, but the butterflies in your stomach where threatening to fly up into your throat and suffocate you at any given moment. You’d gotten there early just to give yourself a chance to calm down, but it seemed to be having the opposite effect as it had just provided extra time for your mind to race. Why had Seven asked you out anyway? Could he see the private messages between you and Jaehee where you had subtly mentioned liking him? No, he couldn’t have. Actually, he probably could if he wanted to but Seven wouldn’t invade your privacy like that unless he absolutely had to. And yet, what if he did know? Is that why he had asked you out? Well, he hadn’t asked you Out out, the word ‘date’ had never been said explicitly, but he hadn’t denied it when Zen asked what his ‘intentions’ were. He didn’t say it was a date, but he also didn’t say it wasn’t a date, so what were you supposed to believe? As always, Seven loved to confuse people with his antics, almost to the point of difficulty, it seemed to thrill him somewhat. Regardless, it was your first time alone with the redhead and you were both excited and nervous about it.

You sipped at the little waterbottle in your hands, trying to look casual as you turned your head from side to side, anything to keep yourself distracted. You kept looking to see which direction he’d be coming from, since he really hadn’t given you any details aside from the general ‘You wanna meet me at 2pm to hang out?’ so you weren’t even sure if you were dressed for the right occasion. After a lot of deliberation, you’d chosen nice but comfy clothes, since you didn’t want to be overdressed.

You anxiously checked your phone, it was a few minutes past 2pm, but maybe he had just been caught up in traffic. There were several chatroom notifications popping up on your phone and it was rather apparent that Jumin and Zen had gotten into some sort of disagreement. Right as you were about to open the chatroom to see what the drama had been, a cherry red Ferrari pulled up beside you. Wow. You weren’t a car person, but you could tell that it looked expensive, far too expensive. Nothing you’d be able to afford, even if your wildest dreams. You were sure that the person who owned it must be an asshole or overcompensating for something to be driving around in such a flashy car. That’s why you were so surprised when an equally cherry-red sprout of hair popped out from the drivers seat and ushered you over with a goofy grin. Your heart raced at the sight of him.

‘Seven! Wait- this is your car?’ You knew he was a fan of cars, and pricey ones at that, but God. This was something else, especially given that it was Seven and he lived in the same clothes day in day out because he didn’t know how to use the washing machine.

‘Yep!’ He replied, stroking the roof and whistling slightly in awe at the car, ‘One of my babies, ain’t she a beauty?’

‘I mean, yeah, sure. It’s very nice but isn’t it expensive?’

Without even missing a beat, he replied ‘My babies are investments; you look after them! Not that I could ever part with them, anyway. Fancy a spin? It’ll be much quicker than walking.’ Seven asked, moving around the hood of the car to open the door for you, dramatically bowing and calling you ‘My Lady’. You laughed, tentatively climbing into the pristine car. It was much lower down that you were expecting, and you were terrified of getting even the slightest speck of dirt of the floor. Just for good measure, you tightened the lid on your waterbottle.

‘Where are we going?’ You asked, but he only grinned back at you before pulling his own seatbelt on and waiting for you to do the same.

‘Shhh, it’s a surprise. A true magician never reveals his tricks.’ Seven said proudly as he turned the car radio on and began pulling out of the parking space. You were impressed, he was a much safer driver than you had anticipated him to be, given his personality and general procrastinatory nature.

‘Oh, so you’re a magician now?’ You joked back.

‘Basically. I know how to make balloon animals.’ He said with all the confidence in the world, as though that was the only specification required to become a magician.

‘And where did you learn how to do that?’

‘That’s classified information! Although, since I am a kind and merciful God Seven, I’ll make you a balloon poodle.’

‘How kind.’ You said, half-heartedly rolling your eyes at him and looking out of the window, trying to figure out where he was taking you.

‘I’m always kind!’ He joked as he continued to drive. He wasn’t wrong. Seven was always kind to you, even when he wasn’t in the greatest of moods, he’d always tried to shoulder your own pain too and cheer you up. He had a good heart, anyone could see that, even if he couldn’t.

The car ride wasn’t particularly long, only around twenty or thirty minutes. You watched people as they stared at Seven’s car in shock and awe, and most definitely some jealously. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel like a bit of a celebrity sitting in such a fancy car, but it was something you didn’t feel like you could get used to. Being in Seven’s company, on the other hand, was something you could quickly melt in to. That anxiety you had felt before he’d arrived had quickly dissipated with his stupid jokes and cheesy grin, however the butterflies were most definitely there to stay.

He told you to close your eyes as you started to get closer and closer to the destination and insisted that you kept them closed even when the car stopped. Seven got out, walked around to the passenger side of the car and offered you his hand to help you up, since the car was very low down and you were unable to see. Perhaps it was the fact you couldn’t see that heightened your senses, but Seven’s hand was so warm and strong in your own that you almost gasped at his touch. He squeezed your hand slightly as he helped you out of his car, repeating once again that you were not allowed to open your eyes. There was something about his grip that felt so safe and secure that you missed his touch as soon as he released you.

‘Noooo peeking~’ He sang, turning you around as he did so. ‘I’m not looking!’ You replied, gesturing that your eyes were squeezed shut. ‘Okay, okay!! Just a few more steps and… We’re here! On the count of three, open your eyes. One!’ ‘Two…’ You added, someone tentatively. ‘Three!’ He piped up again, clearly overcome with his own excitement and being unable to wait any longer.

You opened your eyes, finding yourself standing before a huge arcade. He’d parked far away enough that you weren’t able to hear the sounds of the machines as they would have spoiled the surprise, but close enough that you could catch a glimpse of the colourful lights and flashing games. How on Earth had you lived this close to such a big arcade and never knew it was there, you couldn’t believe. You were so excited! You looked at Seven, who was matching your excitement. Of course he would have chosen a place like this, it was so fun and excitable, so him. So very, very Seven. Plus, he probably knew all of the cheats for different games, or at the very least, the skill to win at them effortlessly.

‘You like it?’ He asked, hoping that he had chosen the right location.

‘Yes! How did you find this place? I never knew something like this was so close!’

‘Let’s just say I have some connections~ Let’s go!’ He grabbed your hand tightly, pulling you alongside him in a childish glee. You were trying, desperately, to not let the blush rise to your face at the fact he grabbed your hand once again. The thoughts ran through your head at top speed, surely, he didn’t need to hold your hand again, so maybe it was a date? Maybe he did just want to hold your hand? Your heart was fluttering throughout your chest, almost to the point of light-headedness. No, no, you couldn’t think about that right now. You just wanted to enjoy the time with Seven regardless of whether he considered it a date or not.

‘After you, my lady~’ He opened the door for you, bowing slightly as he had done when he opened the cardoor. Laughing, you curtsied as you walked into the arcade before stopping almost dead in your tracks only a few steps in. You gasped and heard Seven chuckle in response. It was alive. So many colours and sounds and excitement all in one place. There were kids running around with coins and candy in hand, high off of whatever sugary snack they had won with their tickets. The sound of coin pushers and claw-machines whirred heavy in the air, making you feel just like a kid in a candy shop once again. Well, a kid in an arcade to be more precise. You weren’t sure what you wanted to go on first, but the choice was vast. You could understand why Seven chose it and you were grateful that he had.

‘Oh, wow. It’s wonderful. This is kind of what I imagine the inside of your head is like.’ You looked on in whimsy.

‘The mind of God Seven is a weird and wonderful place, you wouldn’t want to venture in too deep, who knows what you’ll find? Maybe something like this-‘ He started, before immediately running down one specific section of the arcade. Oh no, you could see where he was headed.

‘Seven! Come back!’ You called as the redhead ran down the Nerf gun aisle. This could only end so well, and by that, you meant not well at all. Not for you, at least. He was a much faster runner than you had anticipated, so by the time you caught up with him, Seven was already putting some coins into giant arcade game where you shot nerf bullets into clown faces, with the goal of knocking them down. While you initially tried to insist that you had no aim at all, Seven was already handing you the matching Nerf gun and assuring you that having no aim was part of the fun!

You picked up the gun, waiting for the countdown to end before a spray of foam bullets erupted from Seven’s Nerf gun, taking down the top row of clowns in quick succession. You barely even had time to comment on it before he was trying to shout over the game’s booming music to encourage you to keep trying to hit the clowns and that the goal wasn’t to aim perfectly, it was just to knock them down! You held down the trigger, trying to mimic the hacker’s actions and managed to, surprisingly, knock down a clown head or two yourself. Still, it was very obvious that Seven was doing far better as the tickets that spouted from his machine just kept pooling on the floor beside him. It was over in about a minute or two, and you were ever so slightly winded from the excitement, but you were too happy to really care. Seven walked to fetch a bucket that the two of you combined your arcade tickets in and carried it on his arm like a little picnic basket.

‘Okay! Where to next?’

‘Can we go on the claw-machines?’ You asked, rooting around in your pockets for some change.

‘Don’t worry, I can cover it. I didn’t tell you where we were going in the first place so I’m not expecting you to have much cash on you anyway. Besides, my last job paid me entirely in coins so I have plenty to spare.’

‘Are they allowed to do that?’ You threw a tentative side eye at him. You knew they didn’t particularly treat Seven very well, but you would have thought that they would at the very least pay him properly for all of the work that he did for them.

‘I mean… They’re allowed to do whatever they like, I guess. But let’s not get into that!’ He started and then shrugged, quickly finding means to change the conversation, ‘That one has a Shrek plushie!’

You raised your eyebrow, partially in disbelief, but turned to see where Seven was pointing ‘In the year 2021?’

‘Shrek is Love, Shrek is life, and most importantly, Shrek is timeless.’ He said, grabbing a handful of coins from his pocket and putting a few of them into the machine. The claw-grabber burst to life,

‘You can do it! Do it for Shrek!’ You yelled behind him.

‘I have to! Gah! This machine is such a cheat!’ He cried as the weak claw dropped Shrek onto his head. Immediately, Seven pushed several more coins into the slot, moving the claw once again and picking Shrek up by the ass. You waited with excited, but bated breath as you watched the plushie rise from the bed of his brethren into the air, slowly dangling over them as he moved closer and closer to the drop box. It fell, causing the winning buzzer to explode out of the machine.

‘Yes! You got him!’ You gave a little jump and a clap, congratulating Seven for his prize.

‘Shrek!’ Seven yelled as he bent down to reach into the drop-box. It was by no means an expensive looking plushie, he was definitely poorly made and a bit ugly in the face, but it was a handsome prize nonetheless. Seven certainly seemed happy with it. He grinned at it, before pulling out his phone and telling you to get into the selfie with him and Shrek to send to the RFA Chatroom. You smiled, putting up a peace sign so your hands didn’t look awkward as Seven took the picture. He clicked his phone a couple of times before proudly presenting you with the Shrek plushie, ‘as an offering.’

Oh god, were you blushing? Was it obvious? At first, you tried to tell Seven that he should keep his prize, since he was the one that won it in the first place, but he insisted that he won it for you. He handed you the stuffed toy, and you gave it a little squeeze.

‘Thank you…’ You said, looking up at him with a smile. His golden eyes widened slightly before he looked away, unusually embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and laughed a little.

‘Ah-! What next? You wanna go on the coin pusher?’ He rushed out, ‘You can lead the way!’

Trying to focus your eyes between all the bright electric colours, what you couldn’t see was Seven glancing between you and the pictures he had taken on his phone, softly smiling to himself. He had constantly stolen glances at you all day, he’d trembled slightly when he had taken your hand outside, and then couldn’t stop himself from wanting to hold it a second time too. He’d chosen the arcade because you had mentioned wanting to feel like a kid again, just having a fun time with no worries. He’d wanted to tell you how cute you looked, but it was so different trying to compliment someone in person. He wanted to be the 707 that you spoke to so frequently over the phone and in the chatrooms, but he suddenly found himself a little bit shy. Saeyoung was much shyer than Seven, but that was just one thing out of the list of stuff he wanted to tell you but couldn’t.

Ahead, you found yourself at the coin pushers and selected one that had a little plastic car keychain right on the edge, so you wanted to win it for Seven as a thank you for the plushie than you had under your arm.

Seven disappeared for a few moments before promptly returning with some cotton candy on a stick that one of the food vendors had been selling. He wiped his hands with some antibacterial spray before pulling small tufts of pink cotton candy away from the stink and feeding them to you. You both laughed as he missed your lips completely, causing the pale strands to stick to your cheek before he finally managed to aim the treat properly. He fed some to himself, since your hands were preoccupied with the coin machine, and thought it was both intriguing and endearing that you were desperately attempting to cover his view with your jacket so that he could not see what you were trying to win for him.

Eventually, the car dropped. You told him he had to close his eyes and place one of his hands out in anticipation. It was only when Seven closed his eyes, that you realised how tired he looked. Sigh. You didn’t know much about his job, but they really did work Seven to the bone and then even more. Had he stayed up all night to finish his work just for this? You shook your head, not wanting to make yourself upset and worry him and end up ruining the day. You looked at him again. He was practically vibrating with excitement, you supposed that he probably did not receive gifts often. Or at all. You placed the little keychain in the palm of his hand.

‘Tada!~’ You sang.

‘OOOOOOO! I love it, this will make a fine addition to my car keys, 606!’ Seven played with the little car, thoroughly inspecting it with sparkles in his eyes. Yeah, he definitely didn’t receive gifts very often.

‘606?’

‘That’s my codename for you.’ He replied with the same cheesy grin you had seen earlier.

‘Okay! I’m 606 now.’ You joked, watching him hook the little car onto his keys. If it weren’t for the loud music, you would almost be certain that he would be able to hear your heart thudding against your ribcage. And yet, what you didn’t know was that he felt the exact same way.

‘Where do you wanna go nex- Ah!’ He had begun to ask, but suddenly something bumped into him. Someone. Well, two little ‘someones’ actually. Two brunette boys, twins probably, bounced off the side of Seven’s leg. Neither one was hurt, but they were worried that Seven would be angry with them. One started to cry a little bit, and the other stood in front of him to talk to Seven.

‘Wah! Sorry, mister!’ The bolder twin said, before helping the other one up.

‘It’s okay~ Watch where you’re going, you don’t want to bump into a meanie!’ Seven melted at the sight of the two boys, only around seven or eight in age. It made sense to you that Seven liked kids, since he was such a big kid himself, and you adored the warm smile he had for them. There was an emotion in his eyes that you weren’t quite sure you could explain, but it was definitely a sentimental one. ‘Actually, would the two of you like these? You could probably make better use for them than I would.’

The two boys looked into the bucket of machine tickets that Seven presented them with, crouching down slightly to talk to them. The shyer boy, who was now as equally excited as his brother shouted, ‘Woah! There are so many!

‘Are you sure, Mister?’ The first twin asked.

‘Yep! Here you go! Have fun, don’t stray too far from your parents!’ He ruffled his hands into their heads as he sent them on their way.

‘Thank you!’ The boys said in sync, holding the bucket between them as they waved goodbye to you and Seven. He stood back up, sheepishly apologising for giving away your ticket tokens.

‘You did a nice thing for them.’ You smiled, placing your hand on his arm. A blush erupted over his cheeks, to the point where they were almost the same colour as his hair.

‘A-ah! I should drop you back home before Zen threatens to break down my door or something, he’s been calling non-stop to make sure I haven’t kidnapped you.’ Seven rushed out each word in quick succession in a frantic tone, clearly flustered.

‘Thank you for arcade trip, Seven.’ You replied, a rush of affection falling over you. It was now or never. You had to do it.  In a moment of uncharacteristic courage, you pressed a kiss against his warm cheek.

[evanescentdawn]

WOW this got much longer than expected, and basically a full-blown fic idea that I desperately want now

(might add more to this since it doesn’t hold all of my thoughts yet and I’m nowhere finished it)

the idea is: ritsu accidentally confesses to teru when he didn’t even want to confess. he doesn’t like teru at all. but of course, teru hears nothing of that. he completely misunderstands, and thinks that ritsu is in love with him.

things escalate.

they do end up falling in love, in the end, though. <3

ft. one-sided terumob and Other Ideas

this manhwa summary/plot hit me out of nowhere, like I just recalled and went, oh my god, this would be the perfect idea for riteru

imagining Ritsu that accidentally confesses to teru. it’s completely by accident, and because a series of events that too complicated to explain. the problem is that now teru is convinced that Ritsu likes him, and nothing that Ritsu says will see as anything but that

“oh, brother-kun. I never knew.” teru says, with a bright smile. “is that how you act with your crushes? where you just shy all the time.... I almost got the wrong time”

this is all going to fast for ritsu to swallow. too fast for to ritsu to deal with. he’s still stuck in the moment where his own mouth betrayed him. “no...” he manages to get out, but it’s all already to late.

every time that ritsu tries to object, teru is going to think that he’s been shy and embarassed which is horribly not true. he hates that teru thinks is, doesn’t want teru to ever think that. the idea of him in — in —

just thinking of it, repulses him.

he tries his everything to correct this misunderstanding. (he fails)

omg, I just remembered! I was thinking about my other wip, where teru does misunderstand about Ritsu asking him out on a date or smth and then, while I was thinking about I was like... what if it was a confession? and then I recalled that manhwa

anyways! oh my god this would definitely get to mob at one point. but first all, thinking about Teru’s thoughts regarding all of this

he’s like of course, little brother-kun likes me. I’m me. but unfortunately for him, teru is already in love with someone else. mob. well. I was thinking that teru doesn’t like ritsu back, but teru being in love with his mob instead also sounds fun

teru looking at him with a pitying look, teru agreeing to week-date and giving Ritsu some of his time to deal with all this. Ritsu being baffled at all. like who the hell...

and just dislikes teru more, because the ego and the audacity he has... just what. the fuck.

Ritsu has never said anything, teru is just running with this and Ritsu is aware of how he likes his brother, so he tries to use that to get out of this whole mess. “but what about—”

teru hasn’t realised that his love for mob was that obvious and goes, oh, and acts all more pitying towards ritsu and is like Ritsu is all heartbroken about his. and going this is all makes sense now. ritsu likes him, and that’s why he tried to intervene with his precious time with mob. it’s all very understandable now.

it’s not understandable.

ritsu does not like him

ritsu is not heartbroken

teru is missing all the points. he just hated teru presence there, and wanted to be the one to spend with his brother then. and he hated how disgustingly shameless teru was around shigeo.

but of course, ritsu doesn’t get time to explain. he doesn’t get time to do anything. he has to go home, wondering, how did fuck this happen, why teru. blames on the elder woman who was there and had to speak then, and interrupt him him at that time, and blames reigen because actually this was all his fault. he wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for him. teru wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for him. the elder woman wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t him. clearly, the fault of mis-timing and him tripping of his words all falls on reigen.

he goes home, dark-faced and clutching the handle of his school bag, with a more deep distaste of reigen

oblivious to all that was occurring, and because of his simple act of telling mob something, reigen feels a ice-cold shudder at the back of his neck.

(perhaps, he just got cursed)

ritsu goes home, exhausted by everything, and sees mob there. sitting and looking happy, and expectant when he sees mob.

after a moment, ritsu asks his usual question of, how did your day go?

mob excitedly tells him how he managed to do this thing in the body improvement club which would seem like a trival thing to any person. but ritsu knows about his brother and his struggles and how this is a improvement. also yeah, I did say that mob says it excitedly but felt like I need to express how it sounds monotone and like it’s anything but exciteding and you weren’t someone that knew him you wouldn’t see how obviously exciting he is

at least one of them had a good day. “that’s good. that’s an amazing achievement, brother.”

mob beams.

ritsu feels worse at the fact that he can’t put more enthusiasm at that and hates teru even more, and reigen, and this whole situation

he goes to sleep.

he has a undisturbed sleep to the degree that when he wakes the next time, he can ALMOST delude himself that nothing. absolutely nothing happened.

teru appearing that morning disturbs it. he had forgotten about teru uninvited morning drop-ins despite how he doesn’t live in the same school as them and his house isn’t close to them

(oh my god, this just reminded me of haru. and now I’m thinking about a mp100 khr au which AAAAA would be so good.)

teru is the same as every morning. he’s dressed and dazzling with his bright yellow aura, way to early in the morning, and up in shigeo’s presence as his brother tries to go about his morning routine of getting ready for school.

just got struck by the image of: mob, sleepy, and brushing his teeth in the bathroom while teru stands in there with him and talks about stuff and admires himself in the mirror. it would be so perfect

ritsu is annoyed by his whole existence. he busies himself with getting though, and spends him lowkey (highkey this is ritsu after all) in awful anticipation of whatever teru is going to say about the confession

no, no, no, Hold on wait. ritsu WOULDNT busing himself with getting ready. he would be doing anything but that. he wouldn’t be able to relax and get ready in the house, when teru is here and everything unknown. and especially when teru is here and he talks a lot.... and might say something to his brother...

yeah, no, ritsu is taking no chances. he’s up in teru’s presence and trying to take him from his brother, and just making sure that he doesn’t say something.

.........which of course oh my god horribly makes this misunderstanding even worse

(will teru even learn that it’s misunderstanding? is it more better for him to never know. so what if it was based on a lie? ritsu will fall for him anyways.)

before this, I was thinking that teru doesn’t say anything and ritsu is almost able to relax when he gets a call, and then, a date dropped on him. because of course, having the tense/anticipation built up while teru is the same as always and acting like he doesn’t know anything, until the moment that they are saying goodbye and mob is out of the frame —

doesn’t even GIVE time for ritsu to be aware of anything, or be prepared, when he turns to him after saying goodbye to mob, and with a smile, “

did I say a call before? well. not a call anymore. it’s said in person, with a wink, and a smile. “gonna collect you after school”

ritsu is left........ idk actually. how would he act after that?? how does ONE act after that??? after the

wait, oh my god. yes, teru would definitely also drop in the fact that ritsu focusing on him all that time, and how did he never knew.... telling ritsu how his actions helped to grow this misunderstandings

it would be PERFECT

jeez. this is getting really long and totally a full blown fic idea. do I stop here and do little time stamps? or do I continue.

im continuing.

ritsu wishing that teru doesn’t appear. ritsu technically having no school, shit I forgot. what club is in again? whatever that school thing is. yeah, that. having no meeting or anything to do there there, but ritsu trying to find something to do. only to delay the time.

but, undisturbed by ever, standing in all his dazzlingly glory, teru is waiting for him there while he’s in conversation with others

in contract, ritsu looks weary and time and wishing to be nowhere but here. and wishing that he didn’t take those extra duties, because it was tedious and trying and the fact that teru is here and is still waiting after that....

teru directs a bright smile to ritsu when he notices him, that ritsu has to slightly squint at,

oh my god. that just remembered me of that tumblr post that goes on about “zy was like the sun” descriptions and how they would be squinting or smth. and that’s definitely teru and Ritsu. oh my god, I need to write that scrne

anyways, back to the story. I don’t think that they would go on a date this time around. maybe, something had happen. I was thinking along the lines that teru wasn’t here because of ritsu, but because of mob and plans they had but that went to poof that morning because of reigen or smth. after all, ritsu is the one who likes teru and teru isnt.

actually. maybe that doesn’t happen this scene but I WOULD LOVE a moment where ritsu misunderstands and teru immediately corrects about that, like how he wasn’t here for him or that he wasn’t waiting for him or smth. and that his life/thoughts doesn’t resolve him (implying that Ritsu’s does resolve teru) and honestly, he should know, that this whole setup is because ritsu is the one with the feelings and teru is here and being a good person and indulging him out of pityness

ritsu seethes. none of that is right. and he hates teru’s condescending attitude. like the AUDACITY of this man. (he’s also very, very embarrassed about his mistake which I imagine would him make go the mile in never mistaking teru’s actions; which wouldn’t in favour for teru when he does fall for ritsu and his actions become more genuine in the nature that it’s for love but ritsu has that iron wall up)

so like, going back, where was I? yes, them walking home because there’s enough time for date. that works better for this situation. mmh, but I was thinking about whether teru would be waiting that long for him. or maybe, because he said so and so he did wait. or maybe, that teru has some other plan now and doesn’t have time for that date or smth

either way, ritsu is glad. ritsu is happy. ritsu is very relieved that

(oh no, another fic idea. from that meme(TM) where teru falls the downstairs, and reigen asks why ritsu is happy, because he never is in reigen’s presence and shou goes; teru fell the downstairs. and now I’m thinking about how the fuck did teru fall the downstairs. properly because of mob. definitely because of mob. and ritsu love for his brother and resolve that his brother is the best person grow because of this)

anyways back to what I was saying. ritsu is relived that he did that club activity thing.

what he isn’t happy about that teru is here, and still walking him home. doesn’t he have better stuff to...? and then, at time, teru asks him when he fell for him and

things click in place.

teru is here because he wants to get off more on the non-love that Ritsu has for love because he has that much of an ego

“I don’t.” ritsu says. which, of course, teru replies with amusement and saying that he doesn’t have to hide now. he knows. which makes ritsu go, urghhh in frustration and digust.

just looked at the time and I swear I started writing this somewhere in 9pm and now it’s 10pm. whoops.

anyways, teru asking ritsu questions about his love for him and ritsu saying, “no, I don’t love you” and

“no I don’t — what the hell? what [specific-thing-about-teru-that-teru-expects-ritsu-to-notice] no I haven’t. why would I??????”

and teru going, hmm, “guess your love isn’t that strong” and Ritsu bafflement,

and teru definitely asking him about what about he loves about him, and Ritsu going “nothing” and teru laughing, “you got humour” but ritsu is not joking

(now whether the teru knows ritsu actually doesn’t love him or he doesn’t is never addressed. I love it being ambiguous more)

they eventually reach ritsu’s home, and teru has a good satisfied ego-stroke from that conversation while ritsu just looks Tired

skipping over to fun date shenanigans! what types dates would they go on?

of course we gotta have cinema date!!! I have been thinking of ritsu having “likes human drama” in his character profile a lot and while I don’t remember what it said for teru, he does...like gossip right?? I’m actually unsure about that as we’ll BUT ANYWAYS teru loves to give his ideas on stuff

and anyways thinking about how ritsu expected to having the worst time, and it starts off as awful. like about how he doesn’t want to be here, and the movie that teru chooses doesn’t look good, and teru picked up the love seats for them

and anyways thinking about, how ritsu is not optimistic about anything and is not here to enjoy himself but as the movie starts....as the movie continues in.....

he gets INVOLVED. he finds that this is straight up his genre

and teru asking him how the movie was afterwards and talking about it, and immediately refuting whatever he says and offering an alternative that teru refutes and that one part in the convo where they

oh my god STRAWS. DRINKS STRAWS. Ritsu getting a specific drink that he likes and that teru side eying it, and going, huh, I haven’t that before, it good? and Ritsu nodding and teru just going for it and drinking it as well from the other side

...because it’s a couple drink or smth and Ritsu PAUSE

and teru acting like it’s totally a normal thing.

(oh my god, new idea: fake dating!!! them having to act like a couple to get into something because of something and getting all-couple things!!!!)

(this reminds me of my other fake dating idea that I want to write, which oh my god would fit with this one I just got)

(riteru fake dating is just So Good. So Perfect heart starry eyes)

gonna stop here, because stuff. so much ideas though!!! still buzzing!!! god, I love them so much and this is gonna be FANTASTIC

but ending off on, teru doing the arm around shoulder thing for ritsu like all the girls he had dated. oh my god, yes.

also...thinking about....mob and him learning through teru but ritsu doesn’t know yet and mob just Dropping on ritsu on time and Ritsu having a flashback through all the times that he had gotten back from date with teru and filling the blanks of

wait. would teru tell mob? would teru want mob to know this.