#yeah it sucks for everyone a whole bunch
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a-lonely-dunedain · 2 months ago
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I've always speculated that Tadan actually really likes carrot cake but he just tells you he doesn't care for it so that you would have extra.
Maybe he noticed how unwell the PC seems (giving no thought to himself, in an arguably worse state, of course), and wanted to help in some small way. Maybe he noticed the pc hasn't been eating much as Mordrombor's influence is making them unwell. Maybe Tadan himself has lost his apatite but won't say as much because he doesn't want to worry you, so he simply gives you his food and plays it off like he's just picky
am I reading too far into this? yes. does it still seem totally in-line for a Ranger to act like this? also yes. and I love reading into Rangers too much, it makes me sad <3
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exopelagic · 7 months ago
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this election feels so hollow even though it’s likely ostensibly gonna be a good outcome. labour really just sucks fucking ass rn huh
#if the tories lose bad enough to make lib dems the opposition though… a guy can hope#I think it’s the fact that this is the first general election I can vote in that’s making me lose my mind a little here#I have done basically nothing but read today. I DO know a whole bunch more abt voting systems and the nightmare the tories have been now tho#I’m just kinda like. okay so what happens next? bc labour WILL do some decent shit but they also. fucking suck.#planning to look into the local green party once I’m back at uni bc I could actually do stuff there#I think I’m just dealing with a little bit of whiplash going from doing a biology degree where Everything is about climate change#like unambiguously it gets brought up in every topic (I DO focus on ecology and agricultural stuff and not like genetics but still)#clear consensus from literally everyone you talk to that shit has to happen right the fuck now.#it’s not even like I’m unaware of the state of policy rn I KNOW it’s a nightmare to do anything but we at least TALK about it#and then this election where it’s barely a footnote. biggest thing is the sewage dumping everyone’s talking about and yeah fucking finally#but is that all you’ve got?? the labour manifesto is bleak. it has a section and the stuff they’re proposing isn’t bad but it’s so little#and yeah no they’ve changed the official line on the manifesto to ‘make Britain a clean energy superpower’#I SWEAR it was different a few days ago#maybe I’m being pessimistic bc their plans for clean energy if they actually do them could be huge especially if they manage it by 2030.#it’s just that I know what the targets are and they’re already pulling back on shit like EVs bc of the shift right and I am So Tired#two party politics is a curse. as much as reform is an actual nightmare them getting a decent vote share might actually be the thing that#gets people talking abt proportional representation again bc they are nothing if not good at being loud#did you know we had a fucking referendum in 2011 bc what the fuck. and it went SO BADLY even though people generally supported it#god idk I think I’m once again being naively optimistic about people and election coverage has been very good at knocking me down a bit#people generally are good. I have to believe this. but man the british public is making that really fucking hard#genuinely I think a good chunk of that is down to first past the post driving politics to be divisive and aggressive#like is it the only problem? fuck no. but it’s definitely poisoning the way this shit goes bc when all the parties do is jab at each other#what are we actually doing here#idk I’m gonna stop now but this is taking up a ridiculous amount of bandwidth rn I can’t wait for it to be over#already dreading what the next election could look like in 4 years if starmer continues to suck ass bc I don’t trust him to not like at all#luke.txt#I said i was done but I just looked at the lib dem manifesto and oh my god it’s actually pretty good on this? holy fucking shit
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opens-up-4-nobody · 2 years ago
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Naruto shippuden things that made me lose my mind (ep 424-season 20 ep 30):
Madara just shot a laser out of his mouth?
Madara: he can see my limbo???
Madara sailing thru the air: I'll be taking that *rips Kakashi's eye out of his skull*
Madara, casually: sasuke sure is quick *gets sliced in half by sasuke*
Kakashi, thinking abt young team 7: I misunderstood you all then, in some ways I probably still do (Kakashi, u just said it was sakura's job to pull sasuke from the darkness, that is the most fundamental misunderstanding of team 7 u could have)
*apocalyptic things happening* shikamru: I think something bad's happening over there (thanks, dumbass)
Tenzo's dream is for team 7 to accept him as their captain 😭
Sasuke getting purple snake goo spit in his face made me laugh aloud
Madara, talking abt chakra: I will get rid of this curse upon humanity (do it, king!)
This is from a filler english dub episode but: Christmas exists in naruto -> ninja Jesus confirmed
It's so unbelievable in tenten's mind that she could protect and be valuable to her friends and village that the infinite tsukuyomi put her into the Menma AU. That's fucked up.
Jesus. Karin's backstory. Pretty fucked up that she's gonna end up working for orochimaru forever.
Tsunade's infinite tsukuyomi dream: I would like to join the audience in watching the TV show Naruto
I feel like it says a lot that senju tsunade set a huyga at the center of the Akatsuki plan instead of a uchiha
Everytime they talk about neji, the more you can feel how hard they fucked up by killing him
Fuck sasuke being a cop. I hate it. But also sasuke is the type of person who would become batman. He ran around calling himself an avenger. I hate it but it doesn't feel wrong. It is funny tho that instead of joining orochimaru, sasuke's evil arc is becoming a cop.
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featherymainffins · 2 months ago
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People be wilding, I hate when I ask for some dirty tricks to swindle my brain because therapeutic methods are slow and I would kinda like to do things even before they work, and people just recommend me what is essentially CBT coupled with exposure therapy.
#girl if that worked right here right now i wouldn't be asking you for dirty tricks would i?#like#me: Hello fellow STPD people if i don't follow these very specific steps to ensure that my writing is perfect and 100% accurate#and if i don't redraw every line i draw until it's Right™ and Perfect™ and don't make a bunch of angle guides before that I cannot#write and i cannot draw because if it isn't perfect God will not let me into heaven and also he'll tell everyone that i am a fraud#and a piece of subhuman trash and everyone will mock me forever and see me as weak and wrong and bad and it will be so over#this is not ideal. because sometimes I do not have the time to do the necessary steps but it's either doing them or not doing the activity#at all. I don't like having to do all that shit and frankly it's annoying and irritating and nonsensical but it calms me down and i HAVE#to do it. since this is not ideal i tricked everything by just buying a sketchbook and going 'God cannot see inside this one'#so now i have one specific sketchbook that i can use however and make as many imperfect lines as i want because God can't see it#and if i make a mistake he won't know. and won't tell anyone. this is a bit better but it sucks because everything has to#be contained in that sketchbook and i prefer working digitally. what do?#fellow people with STPD for some fucking reason: You should try drawing without doing any of that : )#like ah yes thanks. yeah totally. i haven't thought of that at all thank you for your wisdom#like listen to me right here right now i am having trouble going outside because i performed the stept i take before writing to#about 60-70 %. Enough to actually guarantee a good result if i were normal but you see i am not and I didn't perform#the steps too 100 % and ever since then I can't shake the feeling that it's all wrong because i fumbled and it's my fault#and now everyone hates me and wants to hurt me and knows that I'm a fraud and I'll never be anything else all because I didn't do it right#all because I didn't do the steps to their full completion. it tormented me until i deleted the whole goddamn thing#and even now it torments me but slightly less. like oooooh I'm sure everyone i know knows and is judging me#and tries to interact with me because they want me to let my guard down so they can hurt me. because I'm insufficient and wrong#but perhaps God has not told strangers so actually i can go outside. because uuuuh I deleted it in time. this makes sense.
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floral-hex · 8 months ago
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January 2024: well, I can’t get my antidepressants anymore and this withdrawal makes me want to kill myself. From now on I’ll just raw dog these feelings so I never have to deal with these side effects again.
June 2024: I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. The world is ending. We’re all walking through the end times and whether I die soon or the world collapses in on itself, I can feel the simultaneous emptiness and crushing weight of the end. There is nothing.
#this isn’t really funny is it?#anyway so yeah going back to the dr tomorrow to ask for antidepressants#which ones I don’t know. I’ve been on so many that I don’t know if anything really works#THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION FOR EVERYONE. THIS IS JUST ME. I NEED TO BE MEDICATED. I LOVE YOU. DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.#a whole nothingburger of a roadblock hit me earlier and I ended up having to sit outside for an hour#basically ‘hey can you maybe go to your appt a bit earler just in case they can see you sooner’ and I was like… why bother w/ ANYTHING!#one of those stupid things that’s so easy to work with in retrospect but at the time I honestly felt so hopeless and pushed around#what a fucking baby#anxiety and depression can just turn you into a fucking baby#I SAY THIS SO EMPATHETICLY! You are NOT a baby! your brain just doesn’t work right! I’m so sorry we gotta deal with this.#some people don’t need meds. some do. this post is about me. my chemicals have been caustic for years. I gotta balance the humors my liege#so basically I’ve been antidepressant free since mid jan. it’s sucked. it’s getting WOOOOORSE.#so as much as I hate adjusting to new meds. as much as I say ‘I don’t notice a difference’#about that. THIS is the difference you dumb bitch (me)!#I’ll be on meds and kinda mehhhh. but this. without meds. I’ll take meh and functional over months of meh and then suddenly DEATH!#I’m not in a position where I can just go out and get a bunch of healthy food and go work out and change my environment and blah blah blah#I’m poor and disabled boy!#but god… I know there’s more I could reasonably do. I know. I don’t need suggestions. I’m sorry. to myself and everyone I’m annoying.#just… for right now. for this week. let me try to rebalance.#I got some antianxieties to last a week maybe but they’re not cure-alls.#I wish I could say oh I popped an Ativan and I felt so good but NO! it makes me sleepy and a bit calmer and it’s NOT sustainable!#I can’t be drowsy all day long. I definitely CAN’T handle a benzo problem. fuck I am always worried about withdrawals with this stuff.#oh dang. I’ve just been sitting here rambling for maybe half an hour now in my little chair. doofus.#okay sorry to bother you#I love you and I love you and also I love you#you can ignore this#text
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pears-trinkets · 1 year ago
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#idk what it was but last year there was this weird wave of ONLY COLONIZER RACISTS COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR NEIGHBORS NOISE tl#it almost made me leave tumblr for good i think some people saw my complete breakdown over it#because yeah complaining about loud foot steps at night might sound dumb to you but im literally losing my mind in this house#but everyone on here was so quick to jump on the THATS PSYCHOPATH BEHAVIOR WHEN YOU LISTEN TO YOUR NEIGHBORS FOOTSTEPS#like autistic people reblogged this without any nuance#like taking sensory and auditory issues aside ?? it fucking sucks!!!!!!!! i dont want to be able to listen to the whole life of my neighbors#and its not their fault our house is made out of fucking cardboard & we all got scamed bc they put fancy expensive floors in w/o insulation#but like my neighbors are out here SCREAMING at 11 pm and not even thinking about trying to be mindful and respectful of others#i literally just stood frozen in like a trauma response in front of my neighbors door because they invited a bunch of people over#and screamed karaoke like theyre about to die#like SCREAMED screamed on a thursday night#and i talked to them before several times and they are sooo sorry every time but still do it regularly#and i dont even share a wall with them and i can hear them screaming and can make out every song theyre singing#like i love karaoke i get it but dont act surprised when i tell you for the 3rd time that its loud when you FUCKING SCREAM AT NIGHT???#i literally begged the apartment company to hang up an info sheet about noise bc the house rules and the law say no loud noise after 10pm#and they put it up yesterday and now people are screaming#i was unable to ring their door bell for a couple of minutes bc i just could not understand how they were screaming asif theyre in a stadium#i havent slept all week because every night someone on the complete oposite of the house under me was playing drums every night#i know life sucks i know the only time we get to ourselves sometimes is at night but????? you cant just whip out drums at night???#just because you want to or dont get to otherwise???#and its not even a cultural thing?? because many countries have the same night time noise rules as germany?#i know its funny to poke fun at germans for being rule loving stoic and how they have smth up their ass and haha but like china has them too#i would love for life to be a big big party but my life is having to get up for work in a couple of hours and i have to work the front desk#which on its own shoves me into a meltdown of having to talk to people and get the phone like every 2 minutes#but i havent slept all week#i havent slept properly the last 5 years#and i have been trying sleeping pills and everything#now im just too groggy to form proper sentences when i have to talk to neighbors when theyre loud and they think im high#people think im crazy either way because to make sure where the noise is coming from i have to walk through all the corridors of 7 floors#and people always see me and to make it less weird i talk to them but that only makes it more weird
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starskq · 6 months ago
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I STILL HATE YOU / J.W
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Pairing ◊ bratty!fem!reader x brattamer!wooyoung (ft. '99 line)
Genre ◊ SMUT, angst, ennemies to ???
Warnings ◊ SMUT (MINORS DNI), reader is a brat, harddom!wooyoung, they hate each other, fingering, rough, degradation, petnames (good girl, sweetheart...), oral (fem receiving), lots of angst
Word count ◊ 4,6k
Summary ◊ : You and Wooyoung hated each other, but your friends thought it would be a good idea to lock wooyoung's room to "sort things out"
a/n: just a sucker for dom Wooyoung 😵‍💫 enjoy! (not proofread)
You were part of this tight-knit friend group with Wooyoung, Yunho, San, Mingi, and Yeosang. Usually, you would have considered yourself lucky to be surrounded by such a cool bunch of people, but there was one glaring exception: Wooyoung. From the moment you met, you and Wooyoung clashed like fire and ice. You were both cocky, always trying to outdo each other with snarky comments and sarcastic remarks.
It wasn’t even like you had any reason to hate each other; it just happened. Maybe it was how Wooyoung always seemed so smug, with that infuriating smirk plastered on his face. Or maybe it was how he would always find some way to one-up you, no matter what. Either way, the tension between you two was almost palpable, and it was clear to everyone around.
The others in the group seemed to take it in stride. Yunho and San would roll their eyes and laugh it off, while Mingi would try to play peacemaker, often unsuccessfully. Yeosang, on the other hand, seemed to find your constant bickering somewhat amusing, though he rarely got involved. Despite the tension, the group managed to stick together, probably because your mutual animosity oddly balanced the dynamic.
One Friday night, you were all hanging out at their place, lounging on his beat-up couch, debating over what movie to watch. Wooyoung, as usual, had a different opinion from you. He wanted to watch some action flick while you were in the mood for a horror movie. The debate quickly turned into a full-blown argument, with you and Wooyoung standing face-to-face, jabbing at each other with pointed insults, as usual.
“Why don’t you just admit your taste in movies sucks?” Wooyoung sneered, crossing his arms.
“Oh please, like you even understand what makes a good movie,” you shot back, your tone dripping with sarcasm.
Yunho sighed loudly, standing between you two. “Alright, can we just decide already? It’s just a movie.”
San laughed, shaking his head. “You two are hopeless. Can’t even pick a movie without turning it into World War Three.”
The argument over which movie to watch was reaching a boiling point, and everyone in the room could sense it. You and Wooyoung were standing toe-to-toe, practically shouting over each other.
“I’m telling you, action movies are way more entertaining,” Wooyoung argued, his voice filled with exasperation.
“And I’m telling you, horror movies have way better plots,” you shot back, not willing to back down.
Yunho exchanged a knowing glance with San and Mingi. They’d had enough of the constant bickering and had been joking for weeks about taking drastic measures to put an end to it.
“Alright, that’s it,” Yunho said suddenly, standing up. “I can’t take this anymore. We need a break from your constant fighting.”
Before you could react, Yunho grabbed you by the arm while San and Mingi grabbed Wooyoung. You struggled, demanding to be let go, but they were determined.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” you yelled, trying to shake off Yunho’s grip.
“Let go of me! I’m not done here!” Wooyoung protested, struggling against San and Mingi.
Yeosang, who had been quietly watching the whole scene unfold, opened Wooyoung’s bedroom door. “In you go,” he said calmly, stepping aside.
Yunho and San practically shoved you both into the room and quickly shut the door behind you. You heard the click of the lock, and the realization set in.
“Are you guys serious?” you shouted, pounding on the door. “This is so immature!”
“Yeah, open the door! We don’t need this!” Wooyoung added, equally furious.
From the other side of the door, Yunho’s voice came through, sounding uncharacteristically stern. “You two need to sort this out. We’re not letting you out until you do.”
“You can’t be serious,” you groaned, leaning against the door in frustration.
“Oh, we’re very serious,” San replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. “You’re both our friends, and we’re tired of the constant fighting. So figure it out.”
Inside the room, you turned to face Wooyoung, who was glaring at you with just as much annoyance as you felt. You crossed your arms, refusing to be the first to speak.
“This is ridiculous,” Wooyoung muttered, pacing back and forth. “Like locking us in here is going to make us get along.”
“Well, maybe if you weren’t such a jerk all the time, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” you retorted, not missing a beat.
Wooyoung stopped pacing and turned to face you, his eyes flashing with irritation. “Me? A jerk? You’re the one who’s always acting like you’re better than everyone else!”
“Oh, please,” you scoffed, rolling your eyes. “I only act like that because you always have to be the center of attention!”
Outside, you could hear your friends laughing and chatting, clearly unconcerned about the drama unfolding inside the room.
“Can’t believe they did this,” you muttered under your breath.
“Same,” he replied, sitting down on his bed with a huff. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault? How is this my fault?” you demanded, sitting down on the floor opposite him.
“You’re the one who always has to argue with me,” he said, gripping his hair in frustration. “You just can’t let anything go.”
“Because you’re always wrong!” you shot back, the argument feeling strangely familiar, yet different with no audience to play to.
You exchanged a heated glance with Wooyoung, who looked ready to explode. “This is all your fault,” he said, his voice low and accusing.
“My fault? You’ve got to be kidding me,” you shot back, crossing your arms. “If you weren’t such a pain in the ass, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, please,” Wooyoung sneered, getting up from the bed and stepping closer. “You’re the one who’s always picking fights.”
“Because you’re always so damn infuriating!” you retorted, matching his step forward until you were face to face.
The tension between you was palpable, and for a moment, it felt like something would snap. Instead, you both turned away with a huff, deciding that silence might be the best strategy. Maybe if you stopped engaging, your friends would see how pointless this was and let you out.
The silence stretched on, heavy and uncomfortable. You sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, while Wooyoung sat on the edge of it, staring at the wall. The minutes ticked by slowly, each second filled with unspoken words and unresolved tension. You could feel his presence, every movement and breath, making it impossible to fully relax.
After what felt like an eternity, the silence became too much to bear. You shifted, the slight noise breaking the uneasy peace. Wooyoung glanced at you, his expression unreadable.
“What?” you snapped, unable to hold back.
“Nothing,” he muttered, looking away again.
The frustration boiled over. “You always do this,” you said, your voice rising. “Acting like you’re so much better than everyone else.”
Wooyoung’s head whipped around, his eyes flashing with anger. “Better than everyone else? You’re the one who’s always acting like you have something to prove!”
“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t constantly try to undermine me!” you shouted, standing up.
“You’re unbelievable,” he said, standing up to face you. “You think you’re the only one who’s frustrated? You make everything so damn difficult!”
“Me? You’re the one who—”
The argument escalated quickly, voices rising, insults flying. The room seemed to shrink around you as the anger and frustration spilled over. You were both shouting now, words tumbling out without thought.
“You’re so arrogant!” you yelled, stepping closer to him.
“And you’re so damn stubborn!” Wooyoung shot back, closing the distance between you even more.
The space between you was electric, charged with anger and something else you couldn’t quite identify. The fight became more heated, the words more cutting.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” you said, your voice shaking with anger. “But you’re just a coward, hiding behind that smug attitude!”
Wooyoung’s eyes blazed with fury. “You don’t know anything about me!”
“Maybe because you never let anyone in!” you screamed, pushing him back. He stumbled slightly, then came back, his face inches from yours.
“Maybe because you never tried to understand!” he shouted, his breath hot on your face.
You felt a surge of anger and recklessness take over. “Why would I want to understand someone as pathetic as you?” you shot back, your words sharp and cutting.
Wooyoung’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Shut up,” he said, his voice low and filled with warning.
You met his gaze with a challenging look, the anger and adrenaline making you bold. “Make me,” you replied, your voice steady despite the wild beating of your heart.
For a moment, everything seemed to freeze. Then, before you could react, Wooyoung grabbed your shoulders and pulled you toward him, crashing his lips against yours in a rough, almost desperate kiss. The suddenness of it stole your breath, and for a split second, you were too stunned to respond.
But then you felt a surge of heat, a mix of anger and something much deeper. You kissed him back just as fiercely, your hands moving to tangle in his hair as you tried to pull him even closer. It was a battle, not a kiss—each of you trying to dominate, to claim the upper hand.
Wooyoung’s hands tightened on your shoulders, his grip almost bruising as he pushed you back against the wall. You gasped, but it only made the kiss more intense. Your hands slipped from his hair to his back, clutching at his shirt as if it was the only thing keeping you grounded.
The kiss was messy, all teeth and tongues and raw need. You could feel the anger in it, the frustration and the years of unspoken tension. But there was something else, too—a desperate desire, a need to finally break through the barriers you’d both put up.
You fought back, your hands tangling in his hair, pulling hard enough to make him grunt. He responded by pressing you harder against the wall, his grip on your shoulders almost bruising. His lips moved against yours with a fierce intensity, his teeth nipping at your lower lip, demanding submission.
“Is that all you’ve got?” you taunted, your voice breathless but defiant.
Wooyoung growled, one hand moving to grip your jaw, tilting your head back forcefully. “You really don’t know when to shut up, do you?” he muttered against your lips before biting down harshly on your lower lip, drawing a gasp from you, almost drawing blood.
You retaliated by digging your nails into his back through his shirt, trying to assert some control. But Wooyoung was relentless. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head with one hand, his body pressing against yours, leaving you no room to move.
“Pathetic,” he whispered, his breath hot against your ear. “You’re always so desperate to prove yourself.”
“Better than being a smug asshole,” you shot back, twisting in his grip but finding no escape.
Wooyoung’s laugh was dark and mocking. “You like this, don’t you? Being put in your place.” His free hand trailed down your side, gripping your hip hard enough to leave marks.
“Shut up,” you spat, trying to ignore the heat pooling in your stomach.
“Make me,” he countered, echoing your earlier challenge. His lips found yours again, even rougher this time, his tongue forcing its way into your mouth, dominating every movement.
You bit down on his tongue, earning a growl from him as he pulled back slightly, only to return with even more force. His kiss was punishing, each movement designed to remind you who was in control. You couldn’t help but respond, your body betraying you as you arched against him.
“You’re such a brat,” he hissed, his lips moving down to your neck, biting and sucking hard enough to leave marks. “Always trying to fight me, but you’re just as desperate for this as I am.”
‘’Fuck you,” you repeated, though the words lacked conviction as a moan escaped your lips.
“Admit it,” he demanded, his hand slipping under your shirt, fingers digging into your skin. “Admit that you want this.”
“Never,” you gasped, tugging against his hold on your wrists.
He yanked your hands down, pinning them behind your back with one hand while his other hand slipped under your shirt, trailing down your stomach with rough, possessive movements.
“Let go of me,” you demanded, but your voice wavered, betraying your conflicting emotions.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” he said, a cruel smile playing on his lips. “Not until you learn to keep that mouth of yours shut.” His fingers found the waistband of your pants, slipping inside with a determined, almost punishing force.
You gasped as his fingers brushed against your core, the sensation both shocking and electrifying. “You’re such an ass,” you hissed, trying to ignore the heat pooling in your stomach.
“Such a dirty little mouth,” he taunted, his fingers moving with a rough precision that made it impossible to think clearly. He found your clit quickly, starting to circle it roughly. “Maybe I should teach you a lesson.’’
Before you could respond, his fingers pushed inside you, the intrusion rough and unyielding. You bit back a moan, refusing to give him the satisfaction, but it was impossible to ignore the intensity of his touch.
“You like that, don’t you?” he whispered in your ear, his breath hot and taunting. “You act all tough, but deep down, you’re just a needy little slut.”
“Shut up,” you managed to gasp, your body betraying you as you arched against his hand.
His fingers moved faster, rougher, each movement designed to break down your resistance. “Fuck. You’re so wet for me. Just admit it.”
You clenched your jaw, refusing to give in. “I hate you,” you spat, though the words lacked conviction.
“Oh, I know you do,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “But your body says otherwise.” He added another finger, stretching you, making you gasp. “Look at you, so desperate and needy. It’s pathetic.”
You wanted to retort, to throw another insult his way, but the sensation was overwhelming. His fingers moved with a brutal efficiency, hitting just the right spots to make you squirm. The anger and hatred mixed with the undeniable physical attraction, creating a storm of conflicting emotions.
“Say it,” he demanded, his voice rough and commanding. “Admit that you want this.”
“Never,” you gasped, though the word came out more like a moan.
Wooyoung’s eyes narrowed, and he thrust his fingers harder, making you cry out despite yourself. “Say it,” he repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
“I… I want it,” you finally admitted, the words torn from you unwillingly.
“Good girl,” he murmured, a mocking smile on his lips. “Was that so hard?” He continued his rough ministrations, his fingers moving in a relentless rhythm that left you trembling.
The words were degrading, but they pushed you over the edge. Your body convulsed around his fingers, pleasure crashing through you in waves. You cried out, unable to hold back, your hands gripping his arms for support.
Wooyoung watched you with a satisfied smirk, his fingers continuing to move inside you, drawing out every last bit of your orgasm. "That's it, sweetheart,’’ he murmured, his voice softening just a fraction.
You tried to catch your breath to regain some semblance of control, but Wooyoung was already kneeling in front of you, his hands roughly pushing your pants and underwear down to your ankles.
“Wh-what are you doing?” you stammered, though your body betrayed you with a shiver of anticipation.
“You think I’m done with you?” he growled, his hands gripping your thighs hard enough to leave marks. “I’m going to show you what happens when you push me too far.”
Before you could respond, he leaned in, his tongue flicking against your clit with a precision that made your knees buckle. You gasped, one hand flying to his hair, the other bracing against the wall for support.
“Wooyoung, stop—” you started, but your words dissolved into a moan as he sucked hard on your clit, his tongue working you over with relentless, rough strokes.
“You’re going to scream for me,” he muttered against you, his voice vibrating through your core. “Let your friends hear how much you need this.”
“Fuck—no,” you managed to gasp, though your voice wavered.
Wooyoung laughed, the sound dark and cruel. “We’ll see about that.” He intensified his movements, his tongue moving in ruthless circles while his fingers dug into your thighs, holding you in place.
You bit your lip, trying to stifle the sounds threatening to escape, but it was no use. The combination of his rough touch and skilled tongue was too much. Your hips bucked against his mouth, and a cry slipped out before you could stop it.
“Louder,” he demanded, pulling back just enough to speak, his breath hot against your sensitive skin. “I want them to hear how much you love this.”
“Fuck you,” you spat, but the defiance was slipping away with every flick of his tongue.
He chuckled, the sound sending shivers down your spine. “Maybe later,” he said, diving back in with renewed intensity. His tongue moved faster, harder, and you could feel the pressure building again, even more overwhelming than before.
Your resolve crumbled, and you let out a loud moan, unable to hold back. Wooyoung smirked against you, his satisfaction evident as he continued to push you closer to the edge.
“That’s it,” he murmured between strokes. “Scream for me like the needy little slut you are.”
You tried to resist, to stay bratty and defiant, but it was impossible. The pleasure was too intense, his dominance too overwhelming. With a final, desperate cry, you came, your body trembling as the orgasm crashed over you.
He didn’t let up, his tongue working you through the aftershocks, drawing out every last bit of pleasure until you were a shaking, gasping mess. Only then did he pull back, his lips glistening with your arousal, a satisfied smirk on his face.
He stood up from his knees, his eyes dark with a mix of triumph and raw lust. You barely had time to catch your breath before he was on you again, his hands rough as they grabbed your wrists and pulled you toward the desk beside you.
“You think we’re done?” he growled, his voice filled with cruel amusement. “Not even close.”
You tried to muster some defiance, but the intensity of the situation left you breathless. “You’re such an asshole,” you managed to say, though your voice was shaky.
“And you’re about to learn just how much of an asshole I can be,” he replied, pushing you forward so that your upper body was bent over the desk. His hands were on your hips.
Wooyoung didn’t waste any time. You heard the rustle of his clothes as he freed himself, and then you felt the blunt pressure of his cock against your entrance. He didn’t bother with gentleness; he thrust into you in one brutal motion, making you cry out.
“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he groaned, his grip on your hips bruising as he started to move, setting a punishing pace. “Bet you love being fucked like this, don’t you?”
You tried to hold onto some semblance of control, to maintain your defiance. “Go to hell,” you spat, though the words were weak, almost drowned out by the sounds of his relentless thrusts.
Wooyoung laughed, a dark, mocking sound. “Already there, sweetheart,” he replied, his hips snapping against yours with a brutal rhythm. “And you’re fucking coming with me.”
Each thrust was rough and demanding, pushing you closer to the edge with a ruthless efficiency. You could feel the desk digging into your skin, but the pleasure was overwhelming, making it hard to focus on anything else.
“Such a dirty little slut,” he murmured, leaning over you so that his breath was hot against your ear. “Can’t even form a proper sentence, can you?”
You tried to respond, but all that came out was a broken moan. Wooyoung’s pace quickened, his thrusts growing even more forceful, and you felt the pressure building again, a coil tightening inside you. Wooyoung felt your tight walls pulsing around his cock. 
“You’re going to come for me again, aren’t you?” he taunted, his voice low and rough. “Say it.”
“I—” you gasped, trying to fight the pleasure, but it was useless. “I’m going to—”
“That’s right,” he cut you off, his tone filled with dark satisfaction. “Come for me, you filthy brat.”
The words pushed you over the edge, and you came with a loud cry, your body trembling as the orgasm ripped through you. Wooyoung didn’t let up, his thrusts relentless as he chased his own release.
“Look at you,” he said, his voice filled with contempt and desire. “So desperate and needy. Pathetic.”
He pulled out suddenly, leaving you empty and aching. Before you could process the loss, he was moving you again, his hands rough as he pushed you toward the bed. You stumbled, falling onto the mattress, and he was on you in an instant, flipping you onto your back.
“Think you can handle more?” he asked, his eyes dark and challenging.
You nodded, too breathless to speak, your body already craving the next wave of pleasure.
“Good,” he said, positioning himself between your legs. 
He entered you again, the angle different but no less brutal. Your hands clutched at the sheets, trying to anchor yourself as he pounded into you, each thrust pushing you closer to the edge once more. He took your thigh and pressed it against your chest, thrusting deeper. 
“Fuck, you feel so good,” he groaned, his grip on your thigh hard enough to leave marks. “Such a perfect little slut for me.”
The pleasure was overwhelming, turning your mind into a hazy blur. You could barely form coherent thoughts, let alone words, as he fucked you with a relentless intensity, pouring all the rage from earlier into it. 
“Can’t even talk, can you?” he mocked, his voice filled with cruel amusement. “Too dumb from getting fucked by my cock.”
You tried to respond, but all that came out was a series of incoherent moans. Wooyoung’s thrusts grew even more forceful, and you felt the pressure building again, another orgasm threatening to crash over you.
“You’re going to come again,” he said, his tone commanding. “And you’re going to scream my name when you do.”
You shook your head, trying to hold onto some shred of defiance, but it was useless. The pleasure was too much, too overwhelming. With a final, brutal thrust, you came, your body arching off the bed as the orgasm tore through you, as you screamed his name. 
“Good girl,” he murmured, his voice rough with satisfaction. He continued to move, his pace never faltering, pushing you through the aftershocks and into another wave of pleasure.
By the time he finally came, his release hot and overwhelming inside you, you were a trembling, incoherent mess. He pulled out slowly, leaving you breathless and spent on the bed.
“See?” he said, his voice filled with mocking satisfaction. “All you needed was to be put in your place.”
You glared at him weakly, the fire of your anger not completely extinguished despite the overwhelming pleasure. “I still hate you,” you managed to say, though your voice was weak, more breathless.
“And I still hate you too,” he replied, his expression hard. “But at least now you know what happens when you push me too far.”
The room was filled with the tension of your unresolved hatred, the physical release doing nothing to ease the animosity between you. As you lay there, trying to catch your breath and regain some sense of composure, one thing was clear: the war between you and Wooyoung was far from over, but for now, you had been thoroughly defeated.
————————
Outside Wooyoung’s room, Yunho, San, Mingi, and Yeosang were still gathered, exchanging knowing glances and quiet laughter as they waited for the inevitable explosion of another argument. However, when the first loud moan echoed through the door, their expressions changed from amusement to shock.
“Did you just hear that?” San asked, eyes wide, looking at the others for confirmation.
“Yeah, I definitely heard something,” Yunho replied, raising an eyebrow. “That didn’t sound like an argument.”
Mingi covered his mouth, trying to stifle a laugh. “I think they’re… uh… working things out in a different way.”
Yeosang’s eyes widened as another, louder moan filtered through the door, followed by a string of incoherent words. “Oh my god, they’re really going at it,” he said, looking both amused and slightly horrified.
Yunho shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “Well, this is unexpected.”
San smirked, nudging Yunho. “Guess our plan worked a little too well.”
Mingi couldn’t contain his laughter anymore. “Should we just… leave them to it?”
Yeosang nodded vigorously. “Yeah, I don’t think they need an audience for this.”
Yunho stood up, clapping his hands together. “Alright, everyone. Let’s give them some privacy. I think they’ve got enough to handle without us hanging around.”
San stretched, yawning dramatically. “Yeah, I could use a break from all the drama anyway.”
As they gathered their things, another particularly loud moan resonated through the door, making them all wince and then burst into laughter.
“Okay, that’s our cue to leave,” Mingi said, heading towards the front door.
“Maybe we should go get some ice cream or something,” Yeosang suggested. “Give them plenty of time to… sort things out.”
Yunho nodded, opening the door. “Good idea. I think we all need a break from this craziness.”
As they left the house, the moans and muffled sounds of pleasure faded into the background, replaced by the summer evening's quiet hum.
“You know, I always thought they’d kill each other before anything like this happened,” San said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Guess there’s a fine line between love and hate,” Yunho chuckled.
“Or in their case, a very loud, very thin line,” Mingi added, laughing.
As they headed down the street, leaving Wooyoung and you to your privacy, the group couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. It seemed that locking you two up together had definitely brought some unexpected results.
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thankskenpenders · 1 month ago
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Thoughts on Sonic 3!
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On December 10th, 2018, I was on the last day of a trip to Milwaukee. The night before, I'd attended the wedding of one of my best friends, Jake, who I've known since high school. Even though half of us were sick the whole trip, it was a great time. Derek had asked the wedding DJ to play "One Week" as the first request of the night, and proceeded to lip sync the entire song on the dance floor. On that cold winter morning in a hotel room hundreds of miles from home, Derek and I groggily checked Twitter on our phones and saw the shocking news: Paramount had teased the design for Sonic from their upcoming live action film. Even in silhouette, the shape of his face and the realistic curvature of his limbs made him look like a grotesque little homunculus. This movie was going to suck.
Six years later, I've now seen the third entry in what's become a hugely successful Sonic film franchise. It features Keanu Reeves as the voice of Shadow the Hedgehog in a fairly faithful adaptation of his story from Sonic Adventure 2. At the time of writing, it currently sits at a whopping 86% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, vying for the title of the best-reviewed theatrically released video game movie of all time. Critics are saying nice things about the emotional journey of Shadow the Hedgehog. Never in a million years did I think I'd see this day.
I, too, have now seen this movie, and... yeah, it's pretty good.
I'm gonna get deep into spoilers here, so I'll just say up front that I liked the movie. It feels like just about the best possible execution of this version of Sonic. But that's also damning it with faint praise, depending on who you ask.
If you're a fan of the games who didn't like the second movie, you probably won't get much out of this one, either, unless you just really love Shadow so much that nothing else in the movie matters to you. It doesn't reinvent the wheel for this film series. It's still got a heaping helping of broad comedy, cheap pop culture references, bad one-liners, and characterization that diverges greatly from the source material. This is not high art, nor is it a direct adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. If you're the kind of person who hates this portrayal of Sonic and Eggman, or a lore nerd who'll hate that they let Shadow do Chaos Control without an Emerald, then just don't bother with this.
On the other hand, if you did enjoy the last movie, then you'll probably have a fun time here, too. Shadow is very cool. The action is the best it's ever been. There's a bit more focus on characters from the games, and less on human characters invented for the movies—with the exception of Agent Stone, who's in this a lot because everyone likes him. There's a lot of SA2 fanservice. They even play "Live and Learn." It's a fun time! Be sure to stick around through the end credits.
And now, to dig deeper, let's get into the spoilers! I'm gonna jump around a lot and talk about different aspects of the movie, spoiling everything along the way.
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Shadow and his reams of lore
Here's the main thing you came for: Shadow is great in this! They really did him justice. Keanu Reeves is extremely solid in the role. He can be a bit flat as an actor sometimes, but I think he did well here. He can be tough and menacing, but he can also be earnest and emotionally vulnerable. Good casting call. Excited at the prospect of seeing more of him in the future.
Really, as a Sonic Lore Nerd I'm most interested in discussing the changes they made to Shadow's backstory. I'm sure there will be many fans upset with the changes, but for the sake of streamlining a complicated backstory that was subject to a bunch of retcons and multiple layers of amnesia and fitting it into a 110-minute movie, I think they generally made smart choices.
For one, Gerald didn't create Shadow using Black Arms DNA, because Gerald didn't create Shadow at all! Instead, Shadow arrived on Earth inside a meteor, and Gerald was merely the prominent GUN scientist who studied him after he was captured. (That meteor does have very strong Black Arms vibes, though, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them exploring that stuff in the future.) This simplifies things a lot and allows Shadow to be a direct foil for Sonic, kind of a version of our hero who was treated as a lab rat and lost the only human he considered family instead of finding happiness like Sonic has. Then later Shadow hurts Tom and Sonic wants revenge, and it mirrors Shadow's feelings about Maria, and after they fight they can empathize with each other over this, Shadow sees the error of his ways and helps save the world, yada yada yada. You get it. People predicted 95% of this movie's plot from the trailers, but it's effective.
Likewise, all of the stuff about creating Shadow as the ultimate life form who's immune to all disease to cure Maria's illness is completely cut out. Shadow's still called the ultimate life form, but he's treated as more of an energy source than a genetic research project here, playing off of the stuff about Eggman wanting to harness Sonic's natural Chaos Energy in the movies. The original intent behind the ultimate life form project was always hard to explain in the games and doesn't even come up that much, so I don't blame them for cutting it.
Because Gerald isn't doing genetic experiments and creating artificial life, the Biolizard also doesn't exist. It does, however, appear in an old monster movie Shadow and Maria watch in a montage, with Shadow later commenting that he worries he's a monster like the one he saw in the movie. That's a clever way to include it, I think.
The ARK sort of exists. There was no space colony back in the '70s, all of the events of Shadow's flashbacks just took place at a secret GUN base on Earth. Fair enough for a version of the story ostensibly set in the real world. The big space laser in the third act of the film is obviously supposed to evoke the ARK, but it's referred to as simply the Eclipse Cannon. It's still not a full-blown space colony, just a weapon of mass destruction Gerald designed for GUN in exchange for his release (while also secretly planning to use it to blow up the planet in an act of revenge). I am, however, pleased to report that the Eclipse Cannon still has a giant Eggman face on it.
And as for Maria: I like her in this! She's obviously not going to get a ton of screentime, and she's always going to be a very straightforward character, but she's more playful and lively here. She teases Shadow for being grumpy and plays with him a lot. She feels less like this perfect embodiment of everything good and pure in the world and more like an actual kid. She's still not a complex character, but it works.
And the most important question: do they show a child getting shot and killed by the military? The answer is almost. In the flashback, GUN soldiers chase Maria, Shadow, and Gerald and ready their guns, but the young Commander Walters (who's in his 20s rather than being a kid) grabs them and tries to stop them from firing on a child. In the chaos, a soldier fires, missing Maria but hitting a generator that then blows up and kills Maria. So, y'know, close enough I suppose.
So, yes, many of the details change here, but they captured the gist of Shadow's story from SA2. The emotional core is there. I will say, though, I almost feel like Shadow isn't in this movie as much as I thought he'd be? I think he's used effectively in all of his scenes, and they make room for his backstory, and BOY does he get to kick ass in his fights, but for much of the middle part of the movie he's overshadowed by Ivo and Gerald. Though this might be a compromise to leave more screentime for...
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Tails and Knuckles
I'm relieved to report that Tails and Knuckles both get a good amount of cool stuff to do in this! They don't feel like an afterthought.
I was worried that Tails in particular would completely fall by the wayside, since even his debut movie didn't entirely know what to do with him. But he's good here. He pretty much just feels like the Tails from the games at this point, especially since they dropped that fawning admiration he had for Sonic with that running gag of him going "Only Sonic the Hedgehog could do that!" He often chimes in as the one who wants Team Sonic to stick together when Sonic and Knuckles bicker. He particularly gets to shine in the Mission Impossible-inspired heist sequence at the GUN headquarters in London that serves as the climax of the second act, which feels like it was tailor made to let him shine as the tech guy of the team. He also gets several opportunities to swoop in and catch someone for a save in an action scene. He's good in this!
Knuckles is... fine. He's definitely fallen into the role of the comic relief dumb bruiser since joining the good guys, but he's at least a little better than he was in his own streaming show. The jokes lean more into him just being really brash about his strength and skill, rather than him being this archaic warrior who doesn't understand anything about the modern world. He also gets a few more serious bits in the back third of the movie where he gets to shine a little more, so overall it evens out to him being fine. They could've done way worse.
As for the relevance of the Knuckles show: Knuckles is now said to be the guardian of the Master Emerald, like in the games, though with no Angel Island this amounts to him hiding it somewhere for safekeeping. It's eventually revealed that he just gave it to Wade, who gets exactly one scene (sorry, Wade-heads) for a joke about him using the Master Emerald as a hockey puck. So, the miniseries explained why Knuckles has a connection with Wade. That's it! Also I think Knuckles might use the Flames of Disaster a bit in fights, but they never called the technique out by name, so I never really thought about it. So, yeah, the six-episode streaming miniseries about Wade bowling has zero meaningful relevance to the Shadow movie. Who could have seen this coming?
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Miscellaneous humans
For that matter, the human supporting cast is MASSIVELY downplayed in this one. Tom and Maddie are there for two key sequences (the beginning of the movie and the GUN HQ heist), but otherwise they disappear for long stretches of the movie. They don't go to Japan in act I, nor do they go to space in act III, and there's no subplot for them during those periods, either. There's nothing like the wedding subplot in Sonic 2 where they'd constantly cut back to Hawaii for comic relief with the humans and only reveal why this was relevant to the plot near the end. (There's also no random dance battle in Siberia.) If a human character is here, it's because they have something to contribute to the plot right away. Most people will probably consider this an improvement, and I'd certainly say it makes for a much tighter script, though I have to remind everyone that I thought the wedding being a GUN sting operation was such a funny twist that I'm a defender of the Hawaii subplot.
On the subject of Tom, something funny I've noticed is that they've just completely downplayed the fact that Tom and Wade are cops. Tom being a cop never comes up once. Wade being a cop only gets referenced via the fact that he's practicing hockey on the roof of the police station in his one scene, but he's not in uniform or anything. They clearly got the memo that we don't want Sonic to hang out with cops.
Here's something else funny: Rachel and Randall got character posters, but they're actually not in the movie! Not technically, anyway. During the heist sequence at GUN HQ, Tom and Maddie use some gadgets Tails invented to holographically disguise themselves as those other characters. But the real Rachel and Randall never show up in the flesh. It's a very odd way to shoehorn the actors into the movie. (Jojo is also absent. They did not give her Amy's role of being the girl who reminds Shadow of Maria. Instead they just let Sonic have the big heart to heart with Shadow that makes him switch sides.)
You know who IS in this movie? Krysten Ritter. Not as the voice of Rouge, as the fandom once hoped, but as a director for GUN. She gets like three scenes and she feels completely checked out the whole time. Can't say I blame her! She's not really a character, just a plot necessity. Commander Walters dies in Japan but gives Sonic one of two keycards needed to activate the Eclipse Cannon, and then Ritter's character assumes Sonic stole it and labels him a bad guy. So that's why they have to break into GUN HQ in the second act instead of just talking things out with them. Still, I am at least relieved that Sonic doesn't work with GUN for most of the movie.
I gotta be honest: when Walters pulled a credit card-shaped object out of his pocket, I thought he was about to give Sonic another Olive Garden gift card as his final act before dying. Part of me wishes that happened.
The supporting human character in this who really gets to shine is Agent Stone, which I'm sure most fans will agree was the correct choice. There's a LOT of Agent Stone in this. He's good. I don't have much to say about him, but he's fun as usual.
But, of course, the ones who steal the show are Jim Carrey, and his costar Jim Carrey.
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The Robotniks
I've gone back and forth on whether or not I can actually see movie Robotnik as Robotnik. I think with this third and final entry in the Jim Carrey Robotnik Trilogy, I've landed on... yeah, that's just Jim Carrey playing a Jim Carrey character. He's absolutely having fun with the role, and I enjoyed watching him, but I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that I'm a millennial who grew up watching Jim Carrey movies. If you didn't like him before, this movie will probably be nails on a chalkboard to you, because now there are two of him.
Ivo's arc here leans very heavily into the fact that he grew up as an orphan and never knew his family, a thing offhandedly mentioned in the first movie that's never been a thing for any other version of the character. Here, he learns that he has a living grandfather who's also a mad scientist, and it feels like a hole in his heart has been filled. It certainly makes sense for a place to take this version of the character, and it fits with the movie's themes of finding and losing family, but the cartoonish, childlike affection Ivo feels towards Gerald and all the scenes of them frolicking and dancing together have basically nothing to do with the characters from the games. He's a fun villain for this movie, but he's overwhelmingly used as comic relief this time rather than as a serious threat. He doesn't particularly feel like Sega's Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the arch nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog who'd take over the world with an army of robots and a fleet of airships in the span of a day if Sonic wasn't around to stop him. He's a guy who lives in a big crab robot and has some drones. He has more in common with Carrey's depictions of the Grinch or the Riddler or Count Olaf than Dr. Eggman. Though he does, at least, finally get his outfit from the games by the end of the movie. So that's something. And also he's in a fat suit now. They only make jokes at the expense of his weight a little. Hooray...?
Gerald, meanwhile, is... largely the same character as movie Eggman, but older, so they can make jokes about him having saggy flesh and smelling funny and needing dentures. (Also, his voice kind of sounds like Homer Simpson sometimes?) To his credit, Carrey absolutely nails the handful of more serious scenes Gerald gets, whether it's Maria's death or his sinister turn when he reveals that he actually wants to destroy the Earth. But then it's right back to goofs about there being two of the same guy. Even the final battle features a lot of slapstick shenanigans with the two Robotniks fighting each other. I was able to enjoy the absurdity of it all, but if the humor doesn't land for you the dual Jim Carrey schtick is a hell of a lot of the movie. I wouldn't be surprised if there was more Gerald than Shadow in the movie, when you go and tally up their screentime. I was able to enjoy the sheer absurdity of it, but your mileage will vary.
I will, however, say that the split screen stuff they do with the two Carreys is EXTREMELY impressive, from a filmmaking perspective. They were absolutely flexing with their ability to pull the effect off. They don't rely on cheap tricks like cutting a lot, or having shot/reverse shot scenes where you're looking at the back of a body double's head. Instead they have a lot of long takes where the two Robotniks are talking to each other, you can see both of their faces, and they'll even hug and touch each other a lot, and the whole time the conversation maintains a natural pace like it really is two actors playing off of each other. It's really well done. It's an incredibly silly idea, but boy did they commit to it.
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Sonic
I've hardly said anything about Sonic himself in all of this. It's his movie, isn't it! Well... I don't know, he's fine.
I feel like movie Sonic is a known quantity at this point, and either you like this take on the character or you don't. There was some speculation early on that this was supposed to be a younger Sonic who would grow into being the character we know from the games and comics, the one who's still got lots of quips but is also kind of aloof and cool, a free spirit who goes where the wind takes him, a figure the other characters look up to. And... no, that didn't happen. Once again he gets more serious as the stakes are raised, and he's totally badass when he goes Super, but the rest of the time he's still a little goober with tons of generic one-liners who learns schmaltzy lessons about the importance of family. He's still constantly going to undercut the tension of most scenes by cracking a pop culture reference that will make the average American parent go "haha I've heard of that." I don't think they're ever gonna change that. I think this just what the writers think Sonic is like.
And, again, for what it is, it's fine. He's a little annoying. You already know how you feel about movie Sonic. This third entry won't change that. But they do, at least, have him say "Talk about low budget flights, no food or movies... I'm outta here!" before jumping out of a helicopter. As my thoughts on the climax will show, I am not immune to fanservice.
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The climax
God, the climax is SOOOOO fucking good. It's fantastic. Easily the best action these movies have ever done.
Rather than saving Super Shadow for the team-up with Sonic at the end, they have both of them go Super to fight each other first, and they just go full DBZ with it, fighting across the entire planet. It absolutely rules. I think this is the new coolest fight the two of them have had in anything ever. And then they have to stop the Eclipse Cannon together, and sure, there's no Biolizard. But Gerald DOES release a swarm of GUN Hunter robots, and the ensuing space battle turns into some Gundam shit. It's good! It's so good!!! The movie's flaws kind of melt away for me here when I'm watching Super Shadow take out an army of robots with Chaos Spears on the big screen. What a timeline we're living in.
And yes, they play "Live and Learn." They had to. They knew the assignment. They actually play a slight remix, but it's still got the original vocals, so it's perfectly recognizable. Actually, the tune of the song is used as a leitmotif for Shadow throughout the movie, first introduced via an acoustic guitar version played by Maria, and I really love that. I've been begging these movies to use more music from the games the whole time, and I'm glad they finally did so here. (They also use the traditional level clear jingle early in the film, and Eggman's theme from SA2 is very briefly used as a ringtone.)
... Anyway, uh, meanwhile Eggman, Tails, and Knuckles straight up just kill Gerald to save the world? They unceremoniously knock him into an energy field at the end of their slapstick fight aboard the Eclipse Cannon and he disintegrates like he hit a bugzapper. It's over in an instant. It's not graphic or anything, but it's, like... I didn't expect them to show it, or for it to be such a casual murder! Eggman has one quip about it and then immediately moves on.
Shortly after this, Eggman and Shadow sacrifice themselves to stop the Eclipse Cannon. Shadow's sacrifice doesn't stick, obviously (he's revealed to be alive by the end of the second stinger—pretend to be shocked), but Eggman's probably dead dead. I seriously doubt Jim Carrey's gonna come out of retirement for these movies again. His final moments before the big explosion are also SO dragged out and belabored. He has a dramatic final line like ten times in a row. It really just feels like the series saying goodbye to Carrey. And, again, it feels like a fitting enough end for this Eggman's arc, but it's an odd adaptation of the character from the games.
And so, that's what we're left with. This is far from Sonic Adventure 2: The Movie. It's not that, though there are many, many references made to that game in particular. It's a sequel to the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that has a similar tone and style, but Shadow and Gerald are in it, and Shadow gets some really cool fights, and there's a liiiiiittle more focus on stuff from the games than last time, and the script's a little tighter. If that sounds fun to you, you will have fun with this. I know I did. If it doesn't, you're probably better off waiting for them to inevitably do an animated reboot whenever this live action series runs out of steam.
It hasn't quite run out of steam yet, though...
The post-credits scenes, and the future
One of the big questions going into this was: what's next? How do they top a Shadow movie with heavy Sonic Adventure 2 overtones, in terms of hype for the fans? How do you fill Eggman's shoes after Carrey retires, for real this time? There are still more fan favorite rival characters to get through, but how many movies in a row can they introduce a furry foe for Sonic who inevitably turns good and helps him stop a larger threat by the end? And when the hell are we gonna see the girls?
Well, we now have our answer, and it's one I'm cautiously excited for: a whole army of Metal Sonics, and Amy!
Yes, Amy! Finally!! It's an absolute crime that we've gone three whole movies and a streaming miniseries without including the female lead of the series. I've complained about this ad nauseum (and also the fact that they cut Rouge from the story). But at least now they're finally doing something about it.
But now the question is, how will they characterize Amy? Sega's struggled with her for years, and there's a million different directions you can take her. Her one scene here has her smashing a bunch of Metal Sonics and wearing a cloak for the sake of a dramatic reveal, which gives her the vibes of a mysterious, badass action girl. This is, of course, completely different from how Sonic and Amy met in the games. What will her personality be like? She doesn't speak here, so who will they get to play her? Where did she come from? Will she even have a crush on Sonic? All of these have yet to be determined. So, like, I'm hyped to finally see Amy, a character who should've been in the movies from the start, but they could so easily end up playing it safe with an incredibly boring girlboss version of Amy who's no fun at all. We'll have to wait and see.
(My prediction: they're going to try to cast either Zendaya or Ariana as Amy.)
Metal Sonic, likewise, is very exciting, and he looks perfect. He looks just like the design from the games. But the question is: what will they do with this army of Metals? Will they be lead by one main Metal Sonic, perhaps Neo Metal Sonic, who gets to be a proper bad guy? Will they take some cues from Sonic CD, Heroes, and the OVA, or do something completely original? Where did they come from? Were they activated as a failsafe after Eggman died? Did they and Amy come from some sort of bad future, riffing on Sonic CD's time travel? Will they explore the fact that Metal wants to be the one and only Sonic? Or will they just be an army of disposable robot grunts for Sonic and friends to mow down like it's a Dynasty Warriors game, while some other villain takes center stage?
It could go so many different ways, and some prospects are more exciting than others. I mean, the Knuckles show had endless possibilities for what it could do with him, and none of the options on my bingo card were "Pachacamac's ghost tells him to help Wade win a bowling tournament." And while I'm a sicko who thinks it's funny that the Knuckles show is what it is, forgive me for keeping my hype about Amy and Metal Sonic in check here until we learn more.
Regardless of what they do, it'll still be hard to top the hype of Shadow, and it'll be hard to fill Jim Carrey's shoes for general audiences. So despite this clear statement of intent, I have no idea what the future of this film franchise holds. But regardless of what they do, I can say one thing for certain: the kids in my theater were hyped as hell for it. They popped off over Metal Sonic, and they were screaming their heads off with excitement over Amy. I heard a teenage girl on the opposite end of my row of seats say "finally!" over Amy's reveal, verbalizing my exact thoughts. She also said that this movie was "peak," though it diverged from the games, and she hoped they'd do a movie with Silver and Blaze someday.
The kids are gonna be okay.
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la2yn0va · 8 months ago
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Self-aware Honkai Star rail characters opinion on you being a streamer.
Characters: Acheron, Jingliu, Aventurine, Dr. Ratio
————
Acheron
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“How… irritating” she said her annoyance overtaking her entire mood and body language. Being forced to be on stage for people SHE didn’t nor about NOR care about.
Why must you make her suffer like this? She loves you, with all her being. But why are you airing her out to the world.. those ‘viewers’ of yours.
And that’s another thing. How do they get to watch you? You shouldn’t make yourself a fool for such unworthy humans. Have they even offered you a thing?
“Ayyy~ thanks for the bits and 20”
….you’d allow them your gaze for a mere 20 credits? (Money) either your benevolence shines brighter, or it’s blinding you.
“Chat what do we think of Acheron? I fuckin’ love this woman, she’s SOOO fuckin’ helpful for grinding and destroying the enemies… white bar health… yeah cause that’s what it’s called…please don’t clip that…”
Acheron could feel herself blushing, so she quickly performs her idle animation, leaning against her sword trying to hide the blush and smile slowly forming on her face.
Chatter—“She’s good, but she keeps taking your attention from us :,(”
Instantly her giddiness is sucked away and locked in a coffin as utter annoyance and disdain grips her with an iron fist “Storm's on the horizon, heading towards you”
“That was perfectly fucking timed… did that sound different to anyone else?” Despite acherons slip up, that hatefulness holds her tighter, refusing to let go.
In short, She loves you-she’s OBSESSED with you. But she WILL kill these ‘viewers’ if they stary your attention away from her one more time.
Jingliu
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“What makes THEM so deserving of your gaze?”
Jingliu is similar to Acheron, but tripled. Unlike Acheron, she doesn’t bother to hide her hatred for those viewers.
Chat: Yo (Streamer Name) you should-
Jingliu: Your Ready for death.
She says it like a statement and not a question. She hates these creatures who take your gaze off of her, she hates how a measly 5 credits is enough to get your attention.
Your benevolence is your best quality, but also the one that’s easily manipulated, which simply makes her despise the fact that you’re TOO kind.
Jingliu hates the fact that your a streamer more then her not being able to ‘cut the stars’ with her sword. Why must you test her loyalty like this?
Is this even a test or a punishment for her crimes? Either way, this is too cruel. Being forced in the sidelines for a bunch of people who don’t offer you anything of value.
Is her crit damage/rate not good enough for you? Are her stellar jades not of the highest quality? Perhaps her blade needs more… BLOODSHED.
Unlike Acheron, jingliu would VERY MUCH commit crimes to gain your attention. Like breaking the fourth wall, taking an enemies or allies turn to attack, KILLING her allies so that your attention would be on her completely.
In short, she’s a much more blunt and unrestrained Acheron.
Aventurine
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“Such Troublesome detractors…”
Out of everyone in the game, he’s definitely the most laid back about your occupation. Mostly due to his luck.
Course he’s annoyed that some no-named randoms are taking the attention from his god off of him for seconds, but it’s really nothing.
It’s extremely lucky that the characters haven’t killed him out of jealousy (see what I did there?) This fuckin’ Avgin gets the most attention thanks to his kit and luck.
Y/n: Thanks for the Dono-
Aventurine: Eyes on me~
Y/n: Ooo~ yes sir~
Aventurine has a UNIVERSAL shit-eating grin while others are glaring death incarcerated soul-sucking daggers into him.
Aventurine would probably join in on the thanks if a viewer sends you money/bits/cheers n’ shit.
Not much to really say here, he’s just laid back to the whole thing.
Dr. Veritas Ratio
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“Stop this nonsense. Immediately”
Dr. Raito fuckin growls anytime everytime you boot up the game, cause he knows 99.9% of the time your going to be joined by those brainless viewers.
He’s completely baffled as to why a being such as yourself would degraded yourself to such… idiocy.
There’s only two possible reasons as to why you’d commit such acts. 1. Your benevolence blinds your logical reasoning, 2. You… enjoy it.
Dr. Ratio’s opinion on the viewers is that their brainless insects, he doesn’t even care enough to be annoyed by them, they’re just THAT low level of importance to him.
Y/n: Hey “Streamer Name” who’s your favorite character?
Dr. Ratio: Do you have answers?
Y/n: I- that was perfectly timed.. DO infact have answers. It’s (anyone that isn’t him)
Dr. Ratio: Fail… Get Out!
(If it is him)
Dr. Ratio: Perfect… Twenty Points.
————
What we thinking about this one chat?
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flawseer · 2 months ago
Note
Became curious based on a Smaugust piece: What are your thoughts on everyone's favorite royal suck-up, Pike? (also ofc compliments to your writing and art)
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Surprise, I am still kicking. And thus my Sisyphean quest to answer all the questions in my inbox continues.
I like Pike. I used to think moderately favorably of him, but pondering this question and then drawing a bunch of pictures of and about him made me realize that, yeah, I am rather fond of him. He is funny and cute in the same way a small, yappy dog is.
I remember once talking to my partner about Pike and I asked: "Do you think the JMA staff has to deal with Pike constantly trying to sleep in the hallway in front of Anemone's room?" Only to then realize, upon re-reading the books, that this actually happens in canon. I was thrilled.
Most of the time when people ask me what I think of a character, they want to hear what my take on them is, so I'll get into that.
Background
I don't think a lot is known about Pike's life, outside him having been assigned as Anemone's (questionably) covert bodyguard. He is one of those background characters that fill out the student roster at JMA but don't get a lot of development, though he is one of the more lucky ones as he gets comparatively more lines and scenes than, say, Barracuda, or Garnet.
We don't ever hear about his home life or familial situation, but I think he comes from a common military family. Not a particularly prestigious one, but rather one of middling significance. I imagine one of his ancestors--like his great grandmother--once made it to captain and ever since the whole family has prided themselves on their military legacy and loyalty to the Seawing throne, even though nobody else really knows who they are.
Pike's parents are both bottom rung palace guards; trusted enough to be stationed vaguely near the seat of government over a remote outpost, but nothing more. As is tradition in their family, they signed up as soon as they were old enough to hold a trident. Pike was expected to follow in their footsteps, and so did the same. He is naturally eager to please, doesn't ask many questions, and knows how to follow orders, so he took to this life relatively well.
One thing immediately apparent when observing Pike is that he is very blunt, headstrong, and reckless. He is prone to self-injury and mishaps, routinely making a tail end of himself during exercises. One day, I imagine, he was out in the courtyard, practicing his combat maneuvers, when he somehow managed to trap himself underneath a training dummy in a humiliating way. Unbeknownst to him, the Queen and Princess were walking past a window overlooking this scene, and the latter happened to spot him.
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Princess Anemone, starved for normal social contact due to being permanently leashed to her overbearing mother, immediately took a liking to the clumsy guard and wished to take Pike into her service. The Queen though, hated the idea. Anything she couldn't control with 100% certainty was not to be let near her only living daughter. She didn't even let her own sons approach the Princess for this very reason. So she refused.
But Anemone, sensing an opportunity to finally snatch a tiny mote of control over her own life, didn't relent. She would never overtly defy her mother, but pushed back against her in the most passively aggressive way she could muster. She WOULD have this one thing that was hers, no matter how many times she had to sigh wistfully or forget to eat.
Coral meanwhile still disliked the idea, but after some pondering figured this could work to her advantage. Granting her daughter this favor would make her grateful, and thus easier to keep in check. It was not like the boy would be able to do anything undesirable since she would always be there to watch anyway. And if he ever displeased her, a random guard was easier to dispose of without turning heads, than if she let Anemone play with one of her brothers.
So eventually, she acquiesced, and extracted Pike from the palace guard to assign him to her daughter's protection.
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The news hit Pike's family like lightning. Suddenly, after decades of being nobodies with delusions of grandeur, the whole palace was paying genuine attention to them, and the new recruit who, overnight, got assigned to be the Princess' personal retainer. Pike's parents took him aside and impressed on him how important of a task this was. If he did his job well and kept the Princess content and safe, not only would the current Queen think favorably of all of them, but Anemone would remember his service and reward him once she took the throne herself. For his sake and theirs, this was an opportunity not to be squandered.
And thus, Pike shouldered this great responsibility suddenly thrust onto his wings and embraced being Anemone's personal servant and protector. Pushed forward by his sense of honor and loyalty, a desire not to disappoint his family, and the knowledge that, if he were to fail and lose the only heir, Queen Coral would surely kill him.
Day-to-day life
Pike takes his duty very seriously, both out of loyalty to his liege, and because of how much is at stake for him personally. I picture him getting up during the small hours each morning and beginning his daily exercise routine, to stay in shape for his job. His roommate Flame often wakes up to him noisily doing squats in the middle of the sleeping cave and yells at him. "Am I cursed to be tormented by a diminutive idiot Seawing wherever I go!??!" Pike is lucky that his other roommate, Bigtail, is a heavy sleeper. Otherwise the training session would likely be cut short, with Pike tied to the ceiling lamp.
After wrecking Flame's sleep, Pike usually seeks out Anemone and attempts to stay near her at all times. Initially this caused friction between him and the teachers, as he would often skip his own classes to attend Anemone's. He only stopped doing this when Tsunami made it clear skipping classes would get him sent home, and thus away from Anemone permanently.
As they spent time at the Academy, the Princess began to get better and better at giving Pike the slip whenever she got fed up with his overprotectiveness. He freaks out whenever she vanishes, which is often. To help manage his stress, the JMA staff make him attend regular seminars on inner peace and meditation hosted by Fatespeaker. He is not very good at it, but enjoys the exercises that involve listening to running water.
He began to mellow out for a bit after initial growing pains, until the History cave incident occurred. The bombing shook him back into the bodyguard mindset and he began sleeping in the hallway outside of Anemone's sleeping cave. It weirds out Ostrich whenever she has to climb over him. Attempts to get him to stop this have been unfruitful. The current policy seems to be to let him do this until things calm down and he stops on his own.
Anything else
I believe Pike may have a thing for Rainwings. He is generally hyper-aggressive and rude towards everyone he talks to, with two notable exceptions. One of them is Anemone, whom he is sworn to serve and keep safe. The other is Tamarin, whom he is uncharacteristically kind to. My personal impression is that he may have a bit of a crush on her, but keeps himself from pursuing it as to not upset Anemone.
To my knowledge, Pike never really interacts with Turtle. That is a shame, because I would like to know how they would get along. Pike may be greatly disappointed at Turtle's general un-regal-ness, but still begrudgingly respect him out of obligation. I can picture a scene where he berates Turtle for his demeanor, only for someone else to chime in with an affirmative "Yeah Turtle, you suck", upon which Pike turns around and starts ripping into them about disrespecting Seawing royalty.
Concerningly, Pike's future is very uncertain. He is actually in grave danger right now. If Queen Coral ever finds out that he allowed a murderous, seawing-hating ancient wizard to abduct Anemone, she will have some opinions on that. If Coral has one consistent character trait, it is homicidal vengefulness against anyone who fails to protect her children, regardless of circumstance, regardless even if the perpetrator IS one of her children. That means there is a very real chance she will recall Pike from Jade Mountain and try to tear him apart.
I don't think Anemone would allow this to happen, mind you. She has been privy to her mother dragging poor sods out to the plaza to rip their teeth out, enough to recognize the signs of it coming. If she suspected Pike's life was in danger, I believe she would prevent him from leaving.
For now though, he remains at Jade Mountain, doing the best he can with the responsibility he was dealt, acting as Princess Anemone's retainer. It is a difficult, stressful, at times thankless job, but he would not have it any other way.
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"Honor, and duty."
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itsthecline · 2 months ago
Text
the greatest chapter four
it girl!reader x drew starkey smau
summary what are the odds?
previous chapter
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DREW STARKEY SENT YOU A MESSAGE
block delete accept
sorry about everyone ‘spawning’ in your comments
ahhhhhhahaha no it’s fine! ahaha
but it is because we’re all fans of you. if that helps!
ahh that’s so insane! thank you so much<3 me and
my friends LOVE outer banks:)
that means a lot. we love knowing people love
it as much as we do!
i swear me and kaylor talked about it all
the time if we could😭
maddie was the same way with love island😂
she got a bunch of us to watch it with her
good thing she did
hahaha! i luvvv her
how’s it being home now? you were there awhile
i missed my bed!
but i’m really surprised at how much support i have rn
yeah it definitely seemed like you felt alone in there
despite having leah, ree, and jana? yeah. i did lol
well you’re home now… what are you planning to do?
i have to be in nyc in two days to film😖
so that first, and then focus on my content
the reunion?
yeah we’re filming on the 14th soooo excited
jana has reciepts we been saving JUST for this
hmmmm the 14th in nyc
who are you ladies coming for?
haha yes i’ll be there for the whole week
jana got me and i got leah
so i’m coming for ethan’s funk ass
jana is going to call out andrea
pretty sure liv said she’s got my back on that too
yeah… that ethan guy sucks
i’ll be watching to see how you go about that one
oh! well let it be known i’m usually much more
graceful than i’m going to seem during the reunion
i’m sure you’ll handle yourself just fine
clocking ethan will actually possess my body…
u should be worried just a little bit
haha if somebody has to it should be you
maddie always loved when you got into it with him
he did my girl SO wrong how could i not😭
so did you watch it all back?
nay and i did whenever we got back!
we stayed at my house for the weekend and
binged it all, writing down the important
shit to bring up at the reunion
how was that process?
i can’t even watch myself act, so i can’t
imagine watching me go through what you did.
uhhhh ahaha yeah… it was rough
that’s why it took the whole weekend tbh
i bet it was difficult reliving everything
that on top of seeing my best friend’s from
a different pov definitely sucked ass
at least you’re home now! you can move on
that’s the plan. the show didn’t work for me, but it
turns out friendship island is much much better
yeah you seem to have found a good group
the best haha!
now it’s on to bigger n better
that’s the only way to go about it i think
read Sunday
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yourusername posted a photo!
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liked by korde1ll , madelyncline , drewstarkey and others
yourusername back in nyc with my best friend<3
tagged yourbestfriend
view all comments
username ahhhhh im so excited for the reunion!
↳ username PLEASEEEEE I NEED IT NOW
username so glad y/b/f was in charge of ur ig when you were in the villa she kept us feddddd
username my favorite og villa girlie
yourbestfriend and ur never leaving me again
↳ yourusername maybe if u came to boston more u wouldn’t hate it as much
username hate knowing that u n leah live on opposite sides of the country
drewstarkey hmmm
username city girl winninggg
username i can’t remember a time i wasn’t thinking about you 24/7 if i’m being honest
madelyncline 😍 prettiest girl ever
↳ yourusername actually crazy coming from u
username okay when did obx get here?
username i just knowwwwww u and jana are coming to the reunion with AMMO
↳ yourusername baby, we’re coming in correct i promiseee
username ok so r u like going to post a yt video now that ur home? been missing ur vlogs like crazy
↳ yourusername LMAO u clocked me🙂‍↕️ yes videos are coming soon i swear
username just a girl wishing to meet y/n
leahkateb c u tmrw bb
↳ yourusername crying from excitement tbh
oliviaa_walker okay so we’re getting dinner tn
↳ yourusername yes pls n thx
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hmmmm the 14th in nyc
↳ this is actually so sus after ur lil comment
hello again
haha! that was my way of saying i’m
also going to be in new york i get there
tomorrow actually!
oh! ahahaha what are the odds lol
seems like i would have some free time too
haha i will too since i’m making a whole
weekend out of it with my best friend
let me know what you’re up to?
yeah for sure ha!
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ISLAND GIRLS🥥🌴
kaylor baby🍰
okay but what r u guys wearing?
liv🖤
real question is:
is y/n bringing a date
y/n🪩
idt it’s that kind of event babe
oh nvm gtg
naynay🤍
LMAO pls tell me y’all kept talking w eo
kaylor🍰
ohhhhhh so you guys have been talking
leah boo🐴
and she left him on read!
naynay🤍
y/n no u didn’t
ree💓
be so fr bitch
liv🖤
WHAT
y/n🪩
😶😶😶😶 hehe no…
leah boo🐴
lyin ass
kaylor🍰
wait what! noooo why would u do that??
y/n🪩
anyways i’m wear a black floor length
dress and evening gloves gtg!
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an my giggly girl just geeked drew dms her
taglist @sabrina-carpenter-stan-account @willowpains @percysley @rrosiitas @nellyboosworld @ethanthequeefqueen
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eff-plays · 26 days ago
Text
Ok fine you guys twisted my arm (I say to a completely empty room) here's why I think Mass Effect 2 worked and Veilguard tried to copy it and failed.
First up is the complexity of the goal/plot. In ME2, the end goal was simple: Stop the Collectors from harvesting humans. Blast off through the Omega 4 Relay and probably die. Take down as many Collectors as possible before you die. Basically, shoot stuff until it explodes. It made sense that half of the squadmates were just "legendary badass", "legendary badass (green skin version)" and "legendary badass (huge tits version)." You need to kill dudes, so you pick people who are good at killing. There are a few who are better at tech or science, but they use tech and science to, you guessed it, kill dudes. Then you have a few who join due to aligning goals (Legion) or loyalty to Shepard (Tali, Garrus) or humanity/Cerberus (Jacob, Miranda), or they're literally getting paid to be there (Kasumi and Zaeed). But all of them have reasons to stick around, of various importance.
The specificity of the main plot is also relevant here, because everybody in the galaxy is like "oh humans are getting kidnapped? sucks to suck dude rip in piss ://" so it makes sense to recruit whoever you can get. You need help for an issue that (according to everyone who would otherwise help) only concerns you. So you're like "hey are you good at killing? and do you mind dying?" and most of those freaks go "yeah lmao whatever." They're self-selecting, because the cause is so specific and explicitly suicidal.
The suicidal thing also helps explain the loyalty missions, btw. They're not presented as "hey can you umm help? or I'm gonna be distwacted 👉👈" but as "hey man, these people are willing to die on your command, you should probably help them with their unfinished business at the very least." And yeah, the mechanic of "if you don't help they'll fucking perish" remains the same, but the framing is different. In ME2, you're basically helping a bunch of professionals to do this final thing before they die for your cause. It's both a sign of respect and of consideration for them as people, and strengthens your bond with them and their loyalty to you. The way it's framed means that you don't have to do this in order for them to do their job, but doing it helps strengthen their belief in you.
And because the stakes are relatively low (as far as everyone knows), of course the squadmates will respect and appreciate a Shepard who takes care of them more. Of course it builds loyalty. This person isn't just using you as a meat shield for their pet crusade, they're genuinely trying to do what's right and don't want you to die for nothing.
In Veilguard, you're literally told multiple times that you have to do their dumbfuck busywork or else they're gonna throw in the towel. Hey man can you do this thing? Or else I'm not saving the world :3c The stakes being SO HIGH while their issues are SO NOTHING makes most of them look really immature and incompetent, which clashes against the whole "gang of experts" thing. You're telling me this couldn't wait? I have to go into Lucanis' mind and figure out his traumas or else he won't ... hold a knife good? And that will doom the world because he's the only guy who can hold a knife? Okay???
ME2 presents everybody as professionals and experts in their field, but at the end of the day, they're just there to kill stuff. Remove one, and another will be found. The mission is (as far as everyone in power knows) not galaxy-threatening yet, so finding new guys to help would be easy. That's why Shep taking the time to solve their final issues means something and why it earns their loyalty. It shows that Shep cares about them as people.
Veilguard presents these people as experts in their fields, too. They're considered irreplacable in this conflict. And the conflict is saving the whole entire fucking world. And YET, that has to take a backseat to them figuring out what happened to a work colleague or Lucanis' grandma, because none of these experts can take a fucking chill pill to SAVE THE WORLD.
ME2 offers "low" stakes for the conflict and high stakes for the characters, so when it focuses on the characters' stories, it makes sense. You get the impression that it's character drama with a common goal that brings them all together. Veilguard offers high stakes for the plot and low stakes for the characters, but still focuses on the characters, so you get the sense that we're fucking around playing therapist while the world is on fire in the background, and it's presented as totally logical, because these guys can't save the world without a clear mind!! Despite being ... experts in their fields.
That's why, to me, Rook feels like a therapist while Shep feels like a leader.
Anyway, this is the formal end of the post but I wrote more on the specific character motivations of the Veilguard and why they don't work/feel trite to me and how that adds to Rook feeling like they're a therapist but it didn't fit with the rest of the post so under cut.
Another thing is that, while sometimes the problems of the Veilguard are technically higher stakes than the problems of the ME2 squad, there is a sense of "Hey do you actually need me for this?" And that I think is in part to the lacking motivations of the Veilguard. It's so unclear why some of them stick around that it becomes difficult to justify why they wouldn't just leave to fix their own issues.
(For example, Garrus asks us to help kill a guy. The guy isn't dangerous, he's not out there killing people or in possession of a superweapon ready to destroy a city. He's just an asshole and Garrus wants revenge. He could, technically, leave and just kill the guy himself. He knows where the guy is, so what's holding him back? Well, the job is. And Shepard is. Garrus wants Shep's help, because he doesn't trust himself to finish it on his own. He needs somebody to rely on, but he also knows that he can't just leave without Shep's permission, and that Shep needs him, too. Everything is on Shep's schedule, and there's no real time limit. His revenge can wait until Shep is ready to offer their help.
Neve is hunting an old rival who is a blood mage threatening to enslave her favorite city in all da world. It's pretty damn high stakes. But in my playthrough, Neve wasn't counting on Rook's help at all. In fact, she explicitly mentioned several times that she didn't. Yet, she still sat around and waited for their help. She didn't leave to deal with this on her own, didn't even consider it. But why not? What about Rook or this cause is keeping her there, especially since there's canonically time before the next big move and the issue is so high-stakes and pressing? People will die if she doesn't do something, yet she's sitting on her ass waiting for Rook, whose help she isn't counting on, to step up? What???)
Neve is introduced as being hired by Varric to find Solas, which she does. In the tutorial mission. She sticks around after Varric dies because ... she's in too deep now, I guess. She has to help save the world, you see. Even though all she wants is to go back to Minrathous and protect the people there. She wants your help to. Figure out some stuff. The famous big city detective needs the help of a person who's introduced as somebody who "thinks in straight lines" and whose nickname is probably a play on "rookie." She is not getting paid for this. She's doing this out of the kindness of her heart, even though most of her time on screen is spent dreaming of her favorite city in da world. She's not an expert in anything that has to do with the current plot, so she's in-fiction not really vital to keep around. Her role as a mage is made entirely pointless by the existence of Bellara and Emmrich. Supposedly her area of expertise is in blood magic ... despite hating it and not actually practicing it, on account of it being bad and evil. So she's an expert in killing blood mages, then?
Well, no. That's Lucanis. He's the resident mage killer ... who we find in an underwater prison, guarded by blood mages. I get there is a reason for why he was defeated, but the optics aren't great, ya know? We don't really free him as much as we lightly distract his guards, so he can bust out of the prison fully clothed and armored. He's suuper eager for revenge, but he's also been forcefully possessed. But that's okay, because we need his expertise for um. Killing mages. Which is what the Evanuris are. So this random possessed human guy will know better than anybody else how to kill the Evanuris. Sure. He decides to stick around on account of ... the Crows always finishing a contract. Who is paying him? Who is paying the Crows? His gam-gam ordered him to stay, she's basically offering us his services for freeing him. Guy is an indentured servant but acts like it's his choice, like it's an honor thing and not his grandma putting him in the toilet. And when it's time for him to show/offer his expertise in the field, he says "How am I supposed to fight a cloud?" which is fair enough, sure. But have you not fought mages before? Do you not have any reference for them doing weird shit at all? Do you not know how to disrupt rituals, break barriers? In the end, all he can practically do is hold the special knife and attempt to stick the pointy end into his target. Which my rogue Rook or Davrin or Taash chould've done. But gam-gam says to sit so he sits! It's not a very compelling motivation for this epic expert mage killer to just kinda. Stick around out of obligation. It could've been interesting, if he chafed against it or had to be won over, but he's just fine with it. It's treated as natural that this dude, who isn't even slightly an actual expert and is just a glorified knife holder and who isn't practically useful in any sense of the word, is still in the group. It's treated as natural that Rook has to go out of their way to help him clear his mind so he can hold the knife better next time, instead of just finding another guy to hold the knife. Maybe the spirit in him makes him stronger and more capable of fighting mages? No, the spirit is what made him miss in the first place, actually! So you have to help him figure it out or he'll miss again. DON'T ask somebody else to hold the knife though. It HAS TO BE Lucanis. Because he's the mage killer expert. Who missed. And can't handle mages.
Then we have Taash, who we need to kill the blighted dragons. They're the only dragon hunter around and have an encyclopedic knowledge of said dragons. Unfortunately the blighted state of the dragons that are actually necessary to kill are behaving in unexpected and different ways from normal dragons. They're literally manipulated by the Evanuris to be harder to kill. Making Taash's expertise moot. I didn't even have them in my party when I took on two dragons at once, and in fact the only dragons that Taash is presented as capable of killing are ones that they want us to kill. So this expert we recruit mostly introduces more dragons for us to kill that aren't actually threatening us in any way. The main time Taash has to show off their knowledge is when we use the dragon trap ... which was fashioned by Wardens. Who are all trained specifically to fight Archdemons. Who are dragons. That are blighted. Do you uh. Do you see my problem here. Taash also sticks around the Veilguard for inexplicable reasons. Mostly it seems they don't want to go home to their mother, which is fine, but this is a whole-ass adult, supposedly. They could go back to hunting dragons for the Lords, because they're written as too self-absorbed to really care about stepping up to the fight just for the sake of it. So despite them not really being useful in any way to the overall plot, we still have to help them figure out their gender identity, or else they won't be able to ... fight the blighted dragons. Which they couldn't fight. On account of the blight. Cool cool cool.
Then we have Emmrich, who is a professor and has shit to do. He is also presented as a Fade expert, while Bellara is somehow not, despite doing most of the Fade-related and artifact-related magic on-screen. Emmrich joins the Veilguard on account of um. Well we asked nicely, and he's a good guy, so he has to help save the world. Despite the fact that he's terrified of dying. Which he's far more likely to do after leaving his job. And the thing is, yeah, "the world might end so we need to stop that!" is a valid motivation, but if we accept it as the motivation of a central character whose plot we must find compelling, then why is it that it's only a few guys trying to save the world? This conflict is prestented as bigger than all the previous games combined, bigger than (the) Inquisition, which had literally entire armies and different branches and infrastructure for it's "smaller" conflict, and people were still volunteering and joining in droves, but here we're 8 guys? Are we meant to believe Emmrich's willingness to join the Veilguard is somehow unique to him, and that nobody else in the world would volunteer to join? When Harding exists, on the same team?
Speaking of, Harding is a character who can really get away with "I wanna save the world", because her joining the Inquisition is literally how she got into the plot in the first place. She's a joiner. She joins heroic causes. So her having this sort of bare-bones but noble motivation works. Same with Davrin. Bellara seems to join out of both curiosity and guilt, which are interesting enough reasons and come through visibly in her subplot and characterization, but more importantly, she doesn't have anything holding her back that might take priority until she finds out her brother is alive. Her sticking around also makes some sense because she's ya know. An elf mage Fade expert. Or sorry an elf artifacts expert.
I'm not saying "somebody's gotta do it!" or "it's the right thing to do!" aren't valid motivations, they clearly are, but there's gotta be more to it, especially when it comes to characters who have something to lose like Emmrich. My guy is terrified of death but he's such a good dude that he jumps into this life-threatening conflict without a second thought? But then gets so "distracted" by his wacky scientist former colleague that he needs our help figuring it out? Huh???
Um. I didn't have a conclussy for this part of the post so. bye
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starboye · 5 months ago
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pairing: prince ben x male reader x harry hook
request: hey can you do a ben x harry hook x male reader where they Both fuck you but harry is really rough while ben is gentle. and harry is very kinky with pet names and stuff
warnings: smut, rough sex, slight degradation, soft sex, lil praise, pet names, cursing, oral sex
harry hook and prince ben, known for being sworn enemies but they had to put that hate aside when you arrived to school, the hottest guy they had ever layed eyes on and they both wanted you, but you... well you had an ego to say the least, very snappy and rude, harry didn't like that much so he decided to fuck you and ben couldn't possibly miss the chance to fuck you.
"yeah such a good slut for a us right" harry grins watching you go dumb over his dick, your face shoved into a pillow as you let out a bunch of moans and whimpers "c'mon harry you dont have to call him a slut" ben says caressing your back to soothe the pain you feel lower "shut up ben we both know he loves this" harry grunts pulling your hair to lift your face up from the pillows.
you let out a loud whine as harry does so, trying to hide your face from the embarrassment you feel "hey you okay" ben coos wiping the tears from your face, you nod slowly at his question before trying to cover your face again, not wanting to be any more embarrassed than you already are "harry dont you think you could go a little slower" ben asks.
"no the whore deserves it, walking around here like he's better than everyone else" harry says moving his hands to grip your waist as hi thrusts become rougher and harder "don't worry it'll be over soon" ben softly say as you continue to moan "can you shut him the fuck up, if you don't i will" harry says, and you know he will i mean he's done it before (which resulted in you not being able to take for a week).
"can you suck it just for me" ben asks stroking his dick lightly, you nod and lower your head onto bens dick, sucking is slowly as ben grips onto the bed sheets "his mouth feels so good right, i trained it myself" harry chuckles thrusting forward hardly to push you down on bens dick quicker.
you gag at the feeling of his dick rushing down your throat "harry!" ben yells "will you shut up and just enjoy this" harry rolls his eyes, his thrusts into slowing down for just a second before pick up pace again, you pull away from his dick out of pure instinct because of the hours of fucking he's put you through "don't run from it baby" harry says says quickly grabbing your hips to plant his dick back in your sloppy hole.
you let out a gargled moan at the feeling of his dick back in your sensitive hole but ben soothes you with his gentle words "it's okay you got this darling" ben says lightly guiding your head up and down "mhm just like that up and down" he coos resting his back on the head board, letting out satisfied groans as you pleasure him.
"fuck m'gonna cum" harry groans "then please cum and let y/n rest" ben pleas, his eyes still glued to the sight of you swallowing his dick whole"you want him to cum in you" ben asks you, you nod slowly, feeling your second climax coming on "yeah i bet you would, such a good boy for us" harry says slapping your ass and wrapping his hand around your dick.
he jerks you off at the same pace of his thrusts; rough and quick wanting you to cum at the same time, you moan around bens dick as harry does so, his hands digging into the mattress to keep them from grabbing your head and fucking his cock into your throat "fuckkk" you hear harry groan before his cum floods your hole.
his cum painting your walls white is just enough tip you over the edge and cum in harrys hand "it's your turn now big boy" harry huffs looking at ben, your eyes stared up at ben as you continue to suck him off, i mean ben wanted to hold out for a little longer but the way your teary eyes and needy face look at him has him thinking he wants to start a family with you.
"f- fine" ben stammer as just with the first utter from his mouth you were rolling your tongue around his tip and getting his dick all the way down your throat, he let out a long groan as he came in your mouth, some of it dripping off to the side "be a good boy for the nice man and swallow" harry whispers in your ear.
you swallow all the cum with a gulp as you and ben hold deep eye contact for a couple seconds before you let out a wince of pain as harry pulls out of your sloppy hole "hey break it up you love birds" harry says snapping you both from looking at each other "yeah i gotta get going anyways, princely duties and all" ben stammers getting up to stop himself from getting another hard on.
"yeah me too, gotta go do some things for my parents" you say getting out of the bed and putting on your clothes and walking out the room, the way ben watched you go with admiration in his eyes made you think this isn't the last time you were gonna be filled by the two.
taglist: @mailmango @spermeboy @ghostking4m @gayaristocrat
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pedge-page · 5 months ago
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Daddies, Daddies, Daddies
Joel Miller x F!Reader
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Summary: you're marrying your fiance, but your mind is already on banging his father
Warnings: infidelity, unprotected sex, step dad, father in law, Daddy kink and I'm choosing not to specify more tags as they are spoilers. Read at your own discretion
18+ ONLY
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Even as you say your vows to your soon to be husband, his and your smiles beaming of future endeavors, you can't help but glance towards his impeccably handsome dad, and you're soon to be father in law. You had a thing for broad chested, soft tummied, grey speckled dilfs, and this hunk was no exception.
Yes, you love your man to be, but getting to know his family...intimately was part of the whole marriage package too. Can you blame a woman? And the way his bulge practically waved at you through those tight slacks so prettily, begging you to take a seat on your new papa in laws lap had you swaying with excitement. Heat filled your core as you grinned and held hands with your fiance. He's rambling about his promises and devotion, but your brain is too focused on what his dad's plump lips will feel lie devouring your little cunt while everyone else will be too busy getting food at the reception.
He had been eying you the entire engagement. From the moment you were introduced, his gaze traveled to your cleavage and ass before settling on your lips and shaking his hand.
It beyond amazes you he hasn't taken the next step, so far going no further than his hand grazing your lower back and prolonged hugs where youe tits pressed against his chest. He teased you for months without saying anything, but maybe he's even sluttier than you are: waiting for you to be taken before he can make a new claim. You sucking on your tongue at the image of getting railed in his powder room during Sunday lunches at your in laws house, or giving him a "tour" of your bedroom with his thick member pulsing in your mouth when they come over for Thanksgiving.
You couldn't wait to add that old man's cock to your pussy list.
"I do!" You say right on cue, and the two of you seal your kiss of matrimony with a racous applause.
After the ride to the reception hall, a bunch of hugs and warm welcomes, you're so close to getting your hands on your new daddy, so close to introducing him to his new sweet little cunt he's gonna make a happy future in, when your step dad yanks you right out of the hall and into the restroom.
"Daddy!" You shout, surprised by his grip.
"What? Thought you were gonna give everyone else some attention but your old man?" Joel tuts, tracing his rough lips across the smooth expanse od your exposed shoulders. "Or did you think you were gonna give some of my pussy away to your new daddy?"
"You're not my old man," you clarify, but you don't stop his familiar touch over your body.
He chuckles. His hands settle along your waist protectively. "You're my little girl as far as everyone else is concerned today. I'm the only daddy who showed up to give ya away didn't i? S'okay. Just like you, I didn't mean shit up there either."
You sigh, melting a bit as he presses a wet kiss to your pulse point.
"Thought you were gonna be done with me even after you got married? Gonna get a new daddy cock to ride every morning to work? Eric, that's his dad's name right? Saw ya eyin him all durinf the ceremony. Little slut, cant even say i do to a man ya marrying before drooling about his daddys dick? Yeah. Honey, he couldn't handle you like I do. Neither of em."
He smirks in the mirror as he licks your cheek with a fat strip, side eying the way your eyes get hazy in the mirror. His hands slope down your chest to cup your breasts in that gorgeous wedding dress he helped you decide on. The one that gives just the right amount of appropriate yet subtle sexiness. He squeezes the plumpness of your tits before pulling the corset line down, your titties falling free for his large palms to knead while you gasp.
"Stop thinking about getting another daddy cock in this pussy. You got one right here--" he pushes his bulge further into your ass, forcing you to grip the sink and hold yourseld from falling forward-- "right here, baby doll, to give ya everything you need. Never had a complaint not wantin my cock, did ya?"
You smirk drunkly, shaking your head. "No daddy. I love this cock."
Joel kisses the shell of your ear before unbuckling his belt and hoisting the skirt of your dress up.
You gasp when he slides his hardened length along your already soaked folds.
"How about we start working on that baby you were always wanting, huh? You been beggin me for it, told ya gotta wait till you're married. Even your In law daddy Eric mentioned he couldn't wait for ya to get round with grand babies. How bout that? He n i got somethin in common already."
He slides in, forcing your walls to part to accommodate his intrusion.
Joel sets a low pace, gripping your hip tightly as he ruts into your ass with fat slaps, his cock getting sucked right in with each thrust "Except this pussy. He ain't touching this sweet little precious cunt. Shit doll, youre soaking wet just thinking bout old man cock today, huh? Yeah, don't you worry baby. Your step daddy gonna get that baby in ya sooner than you know it. Gonna provide everything ya need. Won't need to go to your new family's side for nothin. We can keep everything exactly how it is."
- - - -
Taglist
@harriedandharassed @lola8888673 @its-nebuleuse @zliteraturehoe @merz-8 @joeldjarin @pascalscoffin @pedroshotwifey @ghostslillady @innerpersonunknown @missladym1981 @mrsoharaxx @survivingandenduring @milla-frenchy @cockykookiee @fairytale07 @daddy-din @pedropascalsbbg @spookyxsam @somehopeatlast @millercontracting @pedrostories @mishala005 @theoraekenslover @animez96 @not-a-unique-snowflake-blog @puduvallee @cassiecasluciluce @loohoop @himboelover @callsignwidow @wintersquirrel @fluffygoffpanda
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madebycloud · 10 days ago
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pt 3 | Not Even at All
jinx/powder x female reader — 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭
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summary: vi is off limits until her sister gets a date that doesn't end within the first ten minutes. eager to date vi, a certain girl approaches you with a proposal. date jinx. win her over. and for your efforts, she's willing to be generous. (10 Things I Hate About You AU) warnings/themes: fluff and slight angst, kinda enemies to what, one sided fake dating, highschool, modern au, kat!jinx, patrick!reader words: 7.5k notes: took this long enough bcz uni sucks — ✩ part one, part two, part three, part four, part five
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Jinx storms into her classroom, slamming the door shut behind her.
She's only been inside for a few seconds when one shithead student leans back, sneering. “Jinx, me lady, you sway to the rhythm of me heart,” he mocks, his friends laughing along.
Another adds, “Yeah, give us a private performance, babe!”
Another one shouts from across the row, “How much for a personal dance, cowgirl?”
Some asshole from the party filmed her drunken dance and uploaded it, and now she's the hot topic around school.
“Piss off, dipshits,” she mutters, dropping her backpack on her desk and throwing herself into her chair.
Mr. Salo walks into the class, a stack of papers in his hand. “How was everyone's weekend?” He set the papers down on his desk.
One of the boys pipes up, his friends snickering as they elbow him in the ribs. “Maybe we should ask Jinx.”
Before Jinx can respond, Mr. Salo cuts in, “Unless she kicked the crap out of your butt, I don't want to hear about it.”
You shuffle into the classroom late as usual, trying to ignore the way Mr. Salo's eye twitches as you drop into your desk. Immediately you glance over to where Jinx usually sits.
Jinx lifts her head, her eyes shifting across the room. At the whiteboard. At the ceiling. At her textbook. Anywhere but you.
“We're continuing our lesson today,” Mr. Salo announces, grabbing your attention. “Open your books to page seventy-three, and we'll get started.”
You rummage through your backpack, shoving your textbooks and notes and empty crisp packets out of the way. You manage to wrangle out the battered copy of the textbook. 
Mr. Salo clears his throat, addressing the class. “We'll be doing something a little different today. I want you all to write your own version of Shakespeare's Sonnet 141.”
Groans echo across the classroom.
You don't really blame them—doing it like this on Monday? not only that, it's english class. Nobody in this room can be bothered to do any work right now, least of all thinking of a way to make an assignment interesting.
“As you work on your assignments,” Mr. Salo continues, “remember this is meant to be a creative, expressive project. I expect everyone to think outside the box for this one.”
Creative and expressive? What could be so creative and expressive about an old ass Shakespeare sonnet.
While the rest of the class starts writing, you open the assigned page and squint at the poem, silently reading it to yourself.
In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes. For they in thee a thousand errors note.
How in the hell are you supposed to come up with anything creative for something like this?
But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise.
You read out the next line, drumming your fingers against the edge of your desk.
Who, in despite of view, are pleas'd to dote.
This whole assignment seems like a bunch of pretentious bullshit.
“You actually went to the party?” Lux asks, eyeing the menu on the counter. “I thought we were officially opposed to suburban social activity.”
Jinx gives a half-shrug. “I didn't have much of a choice.”
“You didn't have a choice,” Lux repeats mockingly. “What'd they hold you at gunpoint or what?”
Jinx cringes, avoiding Lux's gaze. “I did Vi a favor, and it backfired.”
Lux's eyes widen. “You didn’t…”
“I got drunk. I puked. I got rejected. It was big fun.”
You enter the diner, making your way towards the counter to order.
Wait a damn minute.
Is that Jinx?
You smirk, approaching Jinx. “Hey,” you greet, lifting a hand.
Jinx doesn't reply. She shoves a handful of items into her backpack, not even sparing you a glance before she takes off out the door. 
You furrow your brow, turning back to look at her friend (Lux, you think her name is?), who just shrugs apologetically before following Jinx out the door.
You stand in the diner for a solid ten seconds.
What the hell?
Did she just... ignore you like that?
You blink a couple times, staring at the door Jinx just walked out of.
Just what the hell?
You sit on the bleachers watching the girls soccer team practice. You spot Jinx kicking the ball around with a few of her teammates.
“What'd you do to her?” Cait asks on the other end.
“I don't know,” is your honest answer. A pause. “I decided not to take advantage of her.”
“You realize that pretty much ruins our deal, right?”
“Yeah, no kidding," you reply. “She won't even look at me.”
“Why can't you just tell her you're sorry?"
“Because she's been doing nothing but avoiding me,” you explain. “I'm not sure she even knows I exist anymore.”
“Of course she knows. It's not like she doesn't remember who you are,” Caitlyn points out. “Did you at least apologize?”
“No.”
“And why not?”
“Because she'd probably break my nose if I was within a 10-foot radius of her right now,” you retort.
Caitlyn sighs. “You're an idiot.”
“I'm aware.” 
“You need to apologize,” she says. “Soon. Otherwise this entire thing is going to blow up in our faces, and neither of us is going to get anything out of it.”
“She just needs time to cool off,” you say, nodding. “I'll give it a day.”
And suddenly—
THWAP!
A soccer ball goes flying past your head. You flinch so hard you nearly fall off the bleachers. You twist around to see who threw the damn thing.
Jinx.
“...maybe two,” you correct yourself, watching her get back to practice.
You rub your forehead where the ball almost hit you, frowning as you watch her play. You knew she could aim, but holy moly. If that had hit you, it would have probably left a bruise.
Well, at least you know she hasn't completely forgotten who you are. So… progress?
Jinx and Lux walk through the courtyard when Jinx sees a flyer for prom taped to the nearby wall. She rips the flyer off the wall, crumpling it in her hands before tossing it to the ground.
A girl next to the wall, who was holding a stack of flyers, let out a gasp. “Hey!” 
Jinx doesn't even glance in her direction as she keeps walking, shaking her head. She turns to Lux. “Can you imagine who would even go to that antiquated mating ritual?”
Lux raises her hand. “I guess I would. But I don't have a date,” she admits.
“Why would you want to go to prom?”
Lux shrugs. “It's the last time we'll all be together as seniors-”
“You really want to get all dolled up so some guy with a cheap Walmart suit and a boner shoved down his pants can grab your ass all night while you're forced to listen to a band that, by definition, sucks?”
“Okay, okay, I guess we won't go. It's not like I have a dress or anything.”
Jinx smirks. “You're looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective. We're not just skipping prom. We're making a statement.”
“Oh, goody. Something new and different for us.”
“We're not some mindless sheep, going through the motions of senior year just because we're expected to-”
“Apart from studying for exams and turning in assignments,” Lux comments.
Jinx shoots her a scowl. “You're ruining my monologue.”
“Sorry,” Lux says, still smiling.
“As I was saying,” Jinx continues. “We're not just skipping prom to sit at home all night... we're making a statement. We're rebels. We're refusing to go through the boring, pointless motions of senior year like the other sheep, like every other senior year before us.”
You meet up with Caitlyn, who looks like she's getting just as frustrated and restless as you are with this entire situation. 
Jinx has been refusing to even acknowledge your existence, and it's been a week since she last spoke to you—if you even count a soccer ball being whipped at your head as a form of communication.
And you're not sure you even want to bother anymore. This is stupid.
But Caitlyn is just as persistent and desperate as ever.
“Your school's having prom soon, right?”
“Yeah, why?”
Caitlyn hands you a stack of 200 dollar bills, pushing it into your chest. “Take her to prom.”
”No,” you reply, shoving her hand away. “I don't care, Cait. Can't do this anymore. Its sick-”
“Come on, 300 bucks.”
You push her hand away for the second time. “I thought you wanted out.”
“Yeah, well, things have changed. Vi kissed me,” she says. “We're not together yet.. but I think we're close. The only thing holding Vi back right now is her sister.” Caitlyn pushes the three-hundred dollar bill into your palm and closes your fingers over the money. “That's why I need you to do this now. Come on… help a friend out?”
You look at the money in your palm, then at Caitlyn.
“Fine.”
You figure you can't make things much worse than they already are and decide to find Jinx at the record store.
After some searching, you eventually find her standing in the guitar section, admiring an electric guitar. Complete with strap, of course. She fits the headphones over her ears, then sits on one of the stools nearby.
You slip your hands into your pockets, quietly approaching her from behind to talk and—
Wait.
You pause a few feet away, watching her.
Jinx looks… content. Comfortable, at least. Her eyes are closed, and she's slowly bobbing her head to whatever music is playing through the headphones.
You open your mouth to speak, to say sorry and get all this done and over with. But…
No. No. You can't—won't—disturb her when she's comfortable and, dare you even think it... too peaceful. Too calm. You're not going to take that from her.
So you quietly back away, deciding to leave her alone.
You wander down the section of vinyl and CDs, scanning the titles on display. You spot Jinx across the way and decide to follow her, ducking your head to watch her walk across the shelf.
Once she turns the corner, you end up right in front of her.
“Excuse me. Have you seen Collide with the Sky? I'm looking for the vinyl.”
She raises an eyebrow. “And what are you doing here?”
“I heard there's a sale going on,” you lie.
“You're so…” she starts, her eyes narrowing.
“Charming?” You cut her off with a grin, only for Jinx to roll her eyes—not amused at all, and walk away. “Wholesome?“
She stops in her tracks, turning to look at you. “Unwelcome.”
You step closer. “You're not as mean as you think you are.”
She looks at you head to toe and scowls. “And you're not as badass as you think you are.”
“OOO,” you drawl. “Someone's still got their panties in a twist.”
“Don't for one minute think you had any effect on my anything, let alone my panties. Moron.”
“Then what did I have an effect on?”
She turns away from you, rifling through the vinyl. “Other than making me want to puke? Nothing.” She shoves one into your hands and pushes past you, knocking you back a step as she storms out of the record store.
You glance down at the vinyl she shoved into your hands. Collide with the Sky.
You sit at a table in the cafeteria, typing out a message on your phone and sending it to Caitlyn. “she's still pissed.” You hit send before taking a bite of your lunch.
Almost instantly, you get a notification. Caitlyn reacted to your message with a haha. A message bubble appears, then disappears.
You type out another message. “i can hardly ask her to prom if she's still pissed at me.”
She responds in mere seconds. “I have an idea.”
“what is it?” you type back.
“Sing a romantic song for her.”
“you want me to die that badly?” you reply. “do you really think that will work?”
“Yes.”
You toss your phone to the side, picking at your food again. Singing a romantic song to Jinx? that's ridiculous.
Your phone buzzes again. “Come on. Do it. You've got nothing to lose.”
You pick up your phone and type out a response. “besides my pride, self-respect, and maybe even my life?”
“Stop being a pussy. Just do it. I double dog dare you.”
You approach Ekko's locker as he closes it with a slam. You clear your throat and give him a smirk. 
“You again?” he says before turning to look at you. “What do you want now?”
You pause, glancing around the hallway to make sure no other students are within earshot. The coast looks clear, so you turn to face Ekko again. “You lead the marching band, right?” 
“So?”
You hold up a one hundred dollar bill. “Play a song.” You notice his gaze flick back and forth between the stack of cash and your face.
He clenches his jaw but takes the bill nonetheless. “What song?”
You look out over the school field as the girls' soccer team and marching band members practice below.
You scan the controls for the school's stadium audio before plucking the cordless microphone off its stand. You find the switch labeled FIELD MIC ANNOUNCE and turn it up.
The mic is on. You hear some feedback when you bring it to your lips. Here goes nothing. 
“You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you,” you begin to sing, stepping out through the stadium's audio control room and into the open air. Your voice echoes from the speakers all over the open field. “You'd be like Heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived…”
The soccer team and the marching band members look up at the sound of your voice. Some of them stop to see where the singing was coming from.
“And I thank God, I'm alive. You're just too good to be true.” You step into view, scanning across the open field and finally spotting Jinx in the crowd.
She's standing in the field with the rest of the soccer team, and she's already looking at you.
“Can't take my eyes off youuuu,” you point directly at her, a huge grin stretching across your face.
With a whistle from Ekko, the marching band takes their cue and starts playing.
The noise catches Jinx's attention, and she turns away from you to look at the band playing. Realizing that something is going on, she glances back and forth between the band and then to you before breaking out into a chuckle.
“I love you, baby, and if it's quite alright. I need you, baby, to warm the lonely night,” you sing, making your way over towards the home bleachers and sitting down on one of the steps. “I love you, baby, trust in me when I sayyy.”
You keep going with your performance, dancing around the bleachers while singing.
The two guards arrive to grab you, but not before the crowd claps to your performance.
You finally break out of their grip and continue singing. You even sneak in a pat on one guard's ass on your way past them, then run away with a huge grin on your face.
And, as expected, you end up in detention after that.
The room is quiet, and you rest your head against the surface of the table, closing your eyes.
Mrs. Medarda walks around the room, occasionally glancing around to make sure they're behaving. She stops at the desk next to yours. “You look pretty nervous.”
“Yes, ma'am.” He nods anxiously.
“You're sweating like a pig,” she notes, eyeing the boy.
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Your eyes are all... bloodshot.”
“Yes, m-ma'am,” he stutters.
“You've got pot, don't you?”
The boy pales but reluctantly holds out his hand and places the weed into her open palm.
“I'm confiscating this,” she says, turning around and placing the weed on the front desk.
You hear the creaking sound of the classroom door opening, followed by Jinx's voice. “Coach Medarda…” She clears her throat. “I have some ideas on how we can improve the girls' soccer team.”
Mrs. Medarda turns her head towards Jinx. “Let's talk about it later,” she replies before turning away once again.
Jinx turns to you and whispers loudly, “Window! Now!”
“Window?!” you whisper shout back. The hell does she mean, window?
Mrs. Medarda turns back to Jinx, who gives a nervous laugh. “As you know, we have a huge game against the Noxus High Scorpions upcoming.”
You quickly grab your bag and move to the side of the room without Mrs. Medarda noticing.
Mrs. Medarda begins to turn in your direction, but Jinx grabs her arm to keep her from turning around completely.
“Your bicep is huge! Holy crap!” Jinx exclaims, grabbing Mrs. Medarda's other arm. “The other one's even bigger. Do you take steroids or something? I've heard steroids can really mess you up, like make your-”
“Jinx.” Mrs. Medarda interrupts her.
“Uh, that's not the point.”
“Let's hope not.”
When you make a loud creak, Mrs. Medarda cranes her neck to look at you, but Jinx grabs Mrs. Medarda's arm again to stop her from turning around. 
“So, the point is,” Jinx chimes in, “they beat us every single time. And this year, I think I have a plan to actually win. You see…”
“And what might this plan be?” Mrs. Medarda asks.
You take a glance out the window. It's open, but it's a fair distance down from the second floor. Definitely would not be a pleasant drop. You spot a large tree in front of the window with its branches extended across it. That might work.
“You remember that drill you taught us?” Jinx continues.
“What drill?”
“Misdirection.”
Mrs. Medarda stops and thinks for a minute. “I taught you that?”
“Yep… anyway... that's not what's important right now.” 
Mrs. Medarda tries to turn away once more, but Jinx grabs her chin and spins her head right back.
“Think about it!” Jinx exclaims. “They're looking left, but we're running to the right and scoring points. Boom, we win!”
“Okay, but how do we get them to look left?”
You don't hear the rest of the conversation as you leap forward onto the large tree. You let out a yelp as you land. Just as you settle on one of the branches, a loud BOOM is heard from inside. A few seconds later, the window to the detention room lights up with a shower of multicolored sparks.
You watch as Jinx looks around, catching her breath. “She just left!” she pants. “I did all the hard work, and the dickhead left me.”
“Hey, sunshine,” you call down from the tree. “Look up.”
She cranes her head towards the tree, her eyes locking onto you.
“I have to admit, I'm afraid of heights,” you add.
“Oh,” Jinx looks up at the tree, shielding her eyes from the sun. “It's not that bad.”
“How would you know?” you ask, swinging your legs from the high branch you're perched on. “Try looking at it from my angle.”
She scans the branches and points to the one right below. “Put your right foot here-”
“Forget it,” you refuse. “I'm staying right here.”
She scoffs, then glances up at you again. “You want me to climb up there and show you how to get down myself?”
“Maybe.”
She sighs and climbs up the tree until she's right next to you on the branch.
You grin at her, then swing your legs down and hop to the ground, leaving her stuck on the high branch alone. “Catch ya later, sunshine,” you call up.
“You little...! Get back here, you shithead!” She jumps down from the tree and sprints after you.
The small, rented pedal boat rocks under your weight as it glides through the water. Jinx is sitting right next to you, both of you laughing as you try to make the boat go faster.
“Frankie Valli?” she asks between giggles.
“I figured it had to be something ridiculously cheesy to win your respect and piss you off.”
She snickers and continues pedaling. “Good call.”
“You are a terrible co-paddler, you know that?” you tease.
“You're the one pushing all the water around.”
“It would go faster if you helped out.”
“I am helping out!” Jinx protests. “I'm keeping the boat from tipping over.”
“More like you're making it tip over,” you counter.
“Hey!” She smacks your leg. “We'd be moving a lot faster if you pedaled, too.”
“You can't hit the coxswain like that!”
“Stop whining and pedal!”
Both of you laugh. “So I gotta ask,” you begin. “How'd you get Medarda to look the other way?”
“I blew up the whole detention room,” Jinx says nonchalantly.
You blink. “You blew it up? with what?”
Jinx shrugs, turning to look at you. “Fireworks.”
“Fireworks. Seriously.”
“Yeah... but they're never gonna find out who did it.”
You're not sure if you should be impressed or terrified. 
You continue to paddle around the sea together. You pause, looking around the sea before looking back at Jinx. “So what's your excuse?”
“Excuse for what?” Jinx asks, eyebrows raised.
“For acting the way you do,” you clarify.
She purses her lips in thought. “I just dislike meeting people's expectations.” She looks off to the side, out to the sea. “Why live up to other people's expectations when I can live the way I want to?”
You ponder her words, thinking over the way her mind works. “So you disappoint them from the start, and then you're covered, right?”
She nods. “Pretty much.”
“Then you screwed up.”
She frowns, her brow wrinkling. “How so?”
“You never disappointed me.”
Jinx turns and meets your gaze. After several seconds, a smile slowly forms on her lips, and soon a chuckle escapes her.
You look away, suddenly finding your shoes much more interesting. You try to fight back a smile of your own.
Your eyes flicker across the coast, spotting a paintball field in the distance. “You up for it?” you ask, nodding towards the field’s direction.
She follows your gaze. “Hell yeah.” 
SPLOP
The paintball bursts against your chest, splattering paint all over you. With a smirk, she sticks her tongue out at you.
You tilt your head and take aim. And then, FWUMP. The paintball hits her square in the stomach.
She gasps and grabs her stomach, looking at you in shock. “You asshole!” she yells, giggling. She runs toward one of the obstacles and ducks behind it. She then pops her head out from the obstacle and takes aim at you.
The paintball hits you on the shoulder, adding yet another blue splotch to the paint already decorating your protective clothing.
“Hey!” You quickly chase after her, the two of you running between the obstacles. She turns a corner, and you quickly round the corner after her, only to find… ah hah. There she is, cornered like a rat.
She holds up her hands in surrender, grinning at you. “Caught me.” 
“Yeah,” you reply, stepping closer. “You bet I did.” You sling your arm around her shoulders.
And then, without a second thought…
You smash a paintball against her head, leaving behind a bright blue splatter of paint on her hair.
She squeals and hides behind a nearby obstacle. “No fair!“
But you follow, throwing paintball after paintball, not letting her get away.
She pokes her head out to throw a paintball back at you. It hits you on the chest.
You both laugh as you run around the field, throwing paintball after paintball. You chase her around, she tries to run away, but you're faster. You lunge at her, taking her by surprise. The two of you fall onto a nearby bale of hay, you landing on top of her.
You both throw your protective goggles aside, laughing breathlessly while you both catch your breath.
You look down at Jinx, and…
Her face is flushed and streaked with paint. Her hair is tousled, some strands have fallen out of her braids.
You slowly reach out and cradle her face in your hand, running your thumb across her cheek. “Can I…”
She nods in response. Her eyes flutter shut as you lean in. Your lips meet Jinx's, and it’s…
It's like fireworks. Why does it feel so right?
Her lips are soft, and they taste like cherry lip balm. The fingers on her left hand slowly trail up your arm, making their way up to the back of your neck. The other hand clutches at the fabric of your paint-splattered clothes as she kisses you back, her tongue slipping into your mouth.
Her bangs swing forward, getting in the way of your kiss, causing her to pull away with a groan. You watch her brush her hair to the side and fix it back into place. “Here,” she huffs, pulling you back in with a tug around your neck, “let me try that again.”
You barely manage to get the word “sure” out before her lips are back on yours. Your hand slides up to the back of her head, your fingers slipping between her braids, grabbing a handful of hair, and tilting her head back to deepen the kiss.
It… it feels good. Really good. 
She smiles against your lips, then pulls back, her eyes hooded as she stares up at you.
You lean in to kiss her again when BAM! A paintball suddenly smashes against the side of your head.
What the fuuuck?! “Wha—Hey!” you shout. “You!”
Jinx laughs as she scrambles to her feet and runs off.
“I swear to god I am going to get you back for this,” you curse as you get to your feet.
Jinx walks out onto the paintball field, her forehead smeared in bright blue paint. “I think I should cut my hair,” she says, tossing her braided hair over her shoulder.
“Why's that?” You wipe a sweat off your forehead.
Jinx scratches her cheek. “Just kinda thinking about it,” she replies. 
You walk beside Jinx, the paintball field disappearing out of sight behind you. “Why have you got it so long?” You gesture to her braided hair.
“I've had it since I was a kid.” She reaches behind, grabbing one of her braids and resting it under her chin. “Never cut it after I…” Jinx pauses, then shakes her head. “Doesn't matter.”
“After what,” you ask, bumping your shoulder into Jinx's.
She glances back at you and lets go of her braid, letting it fall into place at her back. “Nothing, nothing,” she says, waving her hand.
“Your hair looks fine now. Why do you want to cut it?”
“I dunno... it's getting kinda long, I feel like it's holding me back.”
You raise an eyebrow. “Holding you back from..?”
“From changing.”
“Changing?”
Jinx nods. “Changing,” she repeats. “It's just… a fresh start, I guess.”
You hum, kicking a small rock with your foot as you follow Jinx's lead. “Anything specific you're thinking of?”
You stand outside the local hair salon, waiting impatiently for Jinx to come out. Jinx had shooed you out of the salon to wait while she freshened up her “look” as a surprise, or so she said.
Just when you're about to reach for your phone, you suddenly hear a voice behind you. “What do you think?”
You turn around and-
You blink. And blink again.
Wow.
Her long blue braids are now cut to her chin. She wasn't kidding when she said it was a surprise.
Goddamn. She's beautiful.
“Well?” Jinx asks, hands on her hips. “What do you think?”
You gawk at her for a moment too long, completely speechless. How can you even put your thoughts into words?
“It's-” your mouth feels dry. She looks... different. But the same. “Wow. That's-” Wow. “That's... Wow.” Your eyes scan over her shorter hair, down her face, her arms... everywhere. Everything about her looks just so… damn perfect.
Jinx grins. “You like it?”
Like it? Hell yes, you like it. You nod mutely, still at a loss for words.
“You look like you've been struck dumb,” Jinx jokes. She lightly punches your shoulder, making you stumble backwards a couple of steps. “Seriously, no comments?”
You try to form a sentence, but the only two words that come to mind are “holy” and “shit”.
Jinx laughs at you—either her laughter is adorable as hell, or you're completely losing your mind. Might be both, to be honest.
You quickly regain your wits and manage to regain control of your mouth. “Sorry,” you reply, sheepish. “You just... look really good. And the haircut… it's really-” You pause to gesture vaguely at her hair before continuing. “You look... different.”
“In a good way?”
Your ears grow hot. “In a good way.”
“I thought so.” Jinx slings her arm through yours. “Soooo,” she drawls, looking at you sideways, “about this massive collection of 2,000 CDs you have…”
Fuck. You forgot about that.
“I wanna see em,” she continues.
“Yeah… about that.” You laugh nervously, rubbing the back of your neck. “I uhh… I mayyyyy have exaggerated a bit?”
“What is thiiiisss?”
“It's…” you start, before faltering mid-sentence. “My… grandmother’s birthday present.”
She looks at the CD and smiles widely. “No way.” She turns the case to show you the cover. “Madonna? Really?” Jinx looks at the cover in her hands—Celebration. Then she looks back up at you. “Aww,” she coos mockingly. Ugh.
You think back to the many times you’ve been forced to listen to Madonna songs when visiting your grandmother. Even now you can almost hear Material Girl playing in your mind.
“Ehhh, well, you know how it is,” you say awkwardly. “My grandma loves Madonna, so...” you finish lamely, shoulders lifting in a shrug.
She slowly walks as she looks at a few other items around your room. “You know,” she begins, “when you said you had a massive collection of CDs, I kinda got excited. I was like, maybe she's got a band I don't know. Or some really underground artist only people with good music taste know about. But…” she holds up the CD again. “Madonna? really?”
“It's not like I actually ever listen to this…” you complain, gesturing to the CD.
Jinx smiles and lifts an eyebrow at you.
“Okay, fine. When I'm cleaning my room, I always listen to that CD, but—listen—only to remind me of my grandmother. Not because I actually like it,” you continue.
She snickers, opening the jewel case with a click and removing the CD. When she walks to your stereo, you suddenly realize what she’s doing.
“Whoa, hey-!” you start, but Jinx is already inserting the CD into your stereo. You quickly rise to your feet, trying to stop her. “Maybe we should watch a movie or-”
A click echoes as Jinx closes the top of the stereo. A moment later, Madonna's Crazy for You begins playing, and you can feel yourself die inside.
You can imagine your grandparents dancing along to the music, singing along to the lyrics.
“God, no,” you say faintly, watching as Jinx moves to the center of the room and starts to swing her hips.
“Shh, come on!” she calls over her shoulder as she begins dancing. “Live a little!”
Is she drunk? no, she doesn't smell like alcohol, and you didn't see her drink anything. She's not exactly unsteady on her feet, either, her moves are too perfectly timed to the beat.
No, she's a hundred percent sober.
This was simply her.
‘Live a little,’ she says. Live a little.
Jinx is facing away from you, still dancing and moving her hips to the beat, but her head is turned to the side.
She looks… cute like that. Her eyes are closed, her face is upturned toward the ceiling, and she giggles as she dances.
She spins around, facing you at once. “Come on,” she says, a huge grin gracing her lips. She slowly extends her hand, reaching out to take yours in hers. “Dance with me.”
You know what? Screw it. You've come this far.
You may as well embrace the insanity.
She sees the moment you give in, and she takes full advantage of it, using her hand to pull you into the center of the room, where the light from outside is stronger.
She turns the volume up more. Her hands are still around yours, and she keeps them there for a moment before she lets go, leaving you to stand and dance awkwardly.
You have no idea what you're doing.
You're fairly sure your dancing is on par with drunken uncle at a wedding who hasn't been able to find the rhythm since the 80s, and if Jinx has noticed how terrible you are at dancing, she hasn't made any comment.
She just grins.
Despite your dance skill, or lack thereof, you're still dancing with Jinx.
Dancing with Jinx.
With Jinx.
This didn't even seem real.
Your mind starts to drift. You can picture yourself and Jinx, thirty years from now, old and grey, dancing around a family room in your future home.
You think about dancing with her, years from now. You think about growing old with her, dancing together around the room. Holding her hand, even as she's old and wrinkled and grey.
You wonder if your kids or pets or grandkids or whatever-the-fuck-you-have would be watching you two dance like crazy people like you are now. 
You wonder what she'd look like decades from now, and you find yourself surprised at the fact that she'd be just as beautiful. Just as attractive. Maybe even more.
You think about how to make her smile like she's smiling now.
Because that smile is worth a hell of a lot.
You wish you could see that smile more. Every single day, every single night, all you want to do is see her smile.
No, not 'want'
Need.
Wait.
What are you thinking?
You're getting ahead of yourself. Way, way ahead of yourself.
Jinx is still dancing, completely oblivious to the strange direction your thoughts are taking.
But even as you try to focus on the present—on what's happening now—your mind is refusing to cooperate.
Your eyes move on their own, traveling over her.
On her hair. On her face. On her hands. On her hips. On her legs. Her body, silhouetted in the bright light from the outside world.
She grins at you as she does a turn and swings her hips, and you try your best to keep up. She's so… so… herself.
She's not scared. She's not angry. She's not hiding herself behind layers upon layers of sarcasm and anger and hostility.
She's happy.
Jinx is happy. Not just “kind of” happy—fully, completely, unequivocally, truly, honestly happy.
That smile. That laugh. How she's so damn effortlessly herself and how goddamn carefree she is.
And she's so… beautiful.
You've dated girls before. You've had girlfriends before. You know what it's like to get close to someone, to be intimate, to kiss and hold each other in private.
But was it like this?
You've never felt like this before.
Never.
Nothing all-consuming, or overpowering, or soul-destroying, or devastating. There was never an intensity to them. A rush. A drive. There was never a connection, never a feeling of need.
But with Jinx...
This felt completely different. This felt so much more.
Like you were standing in a room with destiny.
Like you'd just seen the face of God.
Like your stomach turned into an entire gymnastics team.
Like your chest started feeling like a furnace.
Like your heart was suddenly playing a beat with a hundred times more BPMs than before.
Is this...
This.
Is this what love feels like?
...
If it's not love, then it's definitely an early sign of a heart attack.
You drive to her house. Jinx rolls down the car window, letting the wind blow through her short hair.
The song ‘Chasing Cars’ plays from the car radio.
And of course, Jinx wore one of your jackets. She must've snatched it right out of your closet when you weren't looking.
Not that you mind.
She happily chows down on some cotton candy you'd bought her from the gas station earlier and glances over at you. “I kinda like this,” she says between bites.
“You really like everything, don't you?”
“Who doesn't like sweet, sugary treats?” She holds the cotton candy out towards you. “Want a bite?”
You keep your hands on the wheel as you drive. “I'm good.”
Jinx shrugs and returns to munching on her cotton candy.
The wind is still blowing through her hair, occasionally blowing a few strands into her face, and Jinx keeps pushing them back. She groans, gives up and just lets the wind blow her hair around.
She finishes her cotton candy and crumples the empty paper and tosses it into the cup holder between you two. She leans back in her seat, her head tipped back as she looks at the clouds through the open window. “One day, I'm getting away from here.”
Did she mean away from the city? or away from her life?
“I wanna see the world,” she continues. “See everything.”
“What's stopping you?”
“My sister.” Jinx turns to look at you. “She... she hasn't quite found her place yet. I don't want to leave her on her own.”
“That's kind of you.”
She looks back out the open window. “I guess. When you don't have a lot, you don't want to leave people.”
You turn onto a side street, the car bumping along the bumpy road. “So where do you wanna go, if you could go anywhere?”
“Anywhere.” Jinx's hand sticks out the window, her fingers spread like she's catching the passing clouds. “I have a list of places I want to see.”
The car turns onto another street, and you look away to watch where you're driving. “And what's at the top of that list?"
Jinx's hand slips back in through the window, and she holds up a single finger. “Northern lights.”
“Northern lights,” you repeat.
“Northern lights,” Jinx affirms. “Have you ever seen them?”
You haven't. “Just in movies.”
“They're beautiful, and... I guess I want to see something breathtaking. I want to see something that'll take my breath away, because…”
“Because?”
“I've been feeling kinda... suffocated,” she says finally. “Like... Like there's this... pressure in my chest, a weight on my shoulders.”
You glance at her out of the corner of your eye. She's hunched over in her seat, her hair hiding her face. She's looking down at her hands.
“I just wanna see something that feels... I dunno. Freeing, I guess,” she says slowly. “Something that makes me feel light, like I can breathe without struggling or drowning.” Jinx glances up at the sky again. “Something that makes me feel like I can fly.”
You don't want to pry, so you keep your eyes on the road ahead of you. The car drives out of the city and onto the highway, the road much smoother under the wheels.
Suddenly, Jinx jerks forward and sticks her head out the open window. She holds herself up by grasping onto the edges of the windows, the wind ripping through her hair and clothes as the car gains speed. “YEEEEESSSSSSSS-”
“Wha—what the hell are you doing!?”
“I'M FLYING!” Even though you can't see her face, you can hear the grin in her voice.
“Get back in the car!” 
“NOPE!”
You grip the wheel harder, trying to keep the car steady as Jinx lets one arm out the window. “You think I want to see you get decapitated by a passing semi-truck in the mirror?”
“Do you always think about me getting decapitated on the freeway?”
“It's what you'll end up like if you don't buckle up in the next three seconds!”
“YOLOOOOOOOO-”
“One-”
She leans out the window even further, now her stomach resting on the edge of the window rather than her head and shoulders.
“Two-”
She closes her eyes, a huge grin across her face.
“THREE-”
“OKAY OKAY! I'M DONE, I'M DONE!” She falls back into her seat, laughing as she throws her head back against the headrest. “That was fun!”
You glare at her through the mirror. “You're crazy.”
She scoffs. “I just want to live life to the fullest. Live fast, die young, and leave a pretty corpse.”
“The fuck? That's a bit morbid.”
“That's a lyric from a Social Distortion song, idiot.”
The two of you keep yourselves occupied by talking.
You've talked a lot. She has a lot of random and interesting information about a lot of topics that she seems to remember effortlessly. She's like a walking encyclopedia. 
Eventually, the conversation turns to rumors about you two.
You twist the key, turning off the engine, and watch as Jinx steps out of the car and heads up to the front of her house. “None of that is true.” You follow her, shoving your keys into your back pocket.
She chuckles. “I've heard that you've broken several of a teacher's fingers.”
“Rubbish,” you respond, shaking your head. “Kicked out of your last school for setting the chemistry lab on fire?”
“Maybeee.” She grins. “Got it on with a teacher's daughter.”
“Rumor!”
“Mhmmm.”
“That was a rumor!” You throw your hands up in the air.
“Uh-huh.”
“Totally fake.” You groan. “I heard you beat up an entire football team by yourself at your last school.”
“Not entire,” she clarifies, smirking. “Just the quarterback. He started it.”
“Alright,” you say, climbing the steps and stepping onto the porch alongside her.
“I heard you've gotten an entire class to drop out.”
“True.”
“Oh yeah?”
You sigh. “Two years ago,” you clarify. “A couple of assholes decided they were going to prank me every chance they got. I got fed up and paid them a visit in the middle of a math class.”
“How many people?”
“Half the class.”
“God, you're terrible,” she says, “I like you.”
You both settle down on the porch steps, sitting side by side and facing one another. Your knees are touching.
“Tell me something true.”
“Hmm… something true?” you murmur, rubbing your chin. “I hate peas,” you state, glancing over to her with a smirk.
She chuckles. “No, not that. Something real. Like something nobody else knows.”
You nod, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Your hand trails down to her neck, fingertips brushing against her bare skin.
You press your lips to her neck, just below her jawline. “You're sweet,” you continue, moving to the other side of her neck. “And sexy.” Pulling back, your eyes meet hers. “And completely hot for me.”
Jinx scoffs. “You're wonderfully presumptuous,” she remarks. “Anyone ever told you that?”
“Every day,” you quip. “By myself in the mirror.”
You lean in, pressing your lips against hers. You pull back, foreheads touching, leaving just enough space between you to speak. “Go to the prom with me,” you whisper.
“Is that a request or a command?” she murmurs, bumping your nose with her own.
You rest a hand on her knee. “Come on,” you urge. “Just go with me.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It's just stupid. Prom is stupid.”
You sigh. “It's not stupid.”
“It really is,” she insists.
You press your lips together, trying to think of something to get her to change her mind. “People won't expect you to go,” you counter, scooting closer to her and bumping your shoulder against hers. “No one will bat an eye.”
She glares at you, leaning away from your touch. “Why are you so hellbent on this?”
“What? I'm not,” you protest with a chuckle, shifting awkwardly. “Come on,” you try, “it's not that big of a deal.”
“But it is to me,” she says. “What's in it for you?”
You scoff in response to her accusation. “So you think I need something to want to be with you?”
“You tell me.”
You turn away, avoiding her gaze. “You need therapy. Did anyone ever suggest therapy for you? Because if not, they should,” you blurt, struggling to maintain composure as your heart thrums in your chest.
“Answer the question,” she snaps, eyes narrowing.
“Nothing!” you exclaim in frustration, turning to face her again. “There's absolutely nothing in it for me, if that's what you want to know. I just-” you pause, catching your breath. “I just want to spend time with you, okay?”
You pull a cigarette from your pocket and raise it to your lips, fumbling with the lighter. Just as you're about to light it, Jinx snatches the cigarette out of your mouth and flicks it to the ground.
She heads towards the front door, and without looking back, slams it shut.
You rub your temples, seething at your own stupidity. You didn't mean to say those things to her—your frustrations were bubbling over, that's all.
You pull yourself up from the porch and kick the abandoned cigarette.
You really shouldn't have agreed to Caitlyn's deal. 
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taglist: @axolotl-arsonist, @crvcified-kinx, @axoluxy, @dyslexic-dreamer, @urdeadpoet, @iluvshifting, @shootingc, @freementallyillkid, @tr3nzit444s, @powderbomb-jinxed, @chickennuggetsaresootasty, @multiliker, @rick-grimes-girl, @angelsglitch
301 notes · View notes
dadsbongos · 9 months ago
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megumi x airhead fluff please don’t let gege get u again 😔
iehjejeueueh
GASP this has been in my drafts so long and i totally forgot about it, i am sooo sorry nonny :')
761 words no big warnings just fluff n idiots pining, not super proofread
the ghost of gege has been cleansed from my soul!!! ~~~
“Do you really think that?”
Megumi stiffly avoids your gaze, soon after shrugging, “Yeah. What of it?”
You frown, and it could be how attuned he is to your mood but Megumi swears the sudden shift actually overhauls the entire room’s energy. Something morose and slithering around the darkness, somehow the gloominess only thickens in the areas sparsely lit by Megumi’s lamp.
“That’s sad,” you lean up from your sit and onto your knees, fingertips just barely pressing into the springs below, “You’re not a bad person, ‘gumi.”
“I don’t think I’m the devil,” he turns his whole head to avoid your piercing stare, “Just not a good person.”
“That’s sad!” now you’ve flung your hands up on his shoulders, squeezing down his arms as if a heartbroken widow clutching her poor, dead husband, “‘gumi you’re the best guy I know!”
Scrunching away from you, Megumi presses his back into the headboard of his bed, swallowing harshly and continuously dodging your stare, “Yeah, sure.”
“Hey,” you whine, now squishing his hands between yours, “You are! You’re super nice all the time, and you’re way smart.”
The accusation of kindness pulls a little chuckle from Megumi, especially considering how often Yuuji and Nobara curse his nasty attitude. He cannot comprehend why you’d marvel over him this way, or in any other way for that fact. Megumi’s eyes flutter shut, he soaks up the warmth of your hands on his, and your face by his cheek. If he dared lean up, he’d easily be able to kiss you (he’s not so bold, he thinks he’d rather die actually).
“And you’re so pretty,” you tack on, as if you can sense the worst possible thing to say right now.
Though, Megumi knows better -- you’re soft and mellow, his opposite if anything. The knowledge of your earnesty in the compliment does nothing to calm his racing heart, or the raging red slathering his face.
“Whatever…” Megumi sinks down until he’s laid back on his mattress. He sucks in air slowly, boring holes into the ceiling rather than your face, “You’re pretty, too. And you’re nicer than me,” he cringes, “If you’re still sure I’m nice.”
“You are,” you lay beside him, petting a hand over the bunches and wrinkles in his sleep shirt, “You’re being nice now! You let me come over after my nightmare.”
“You sounded scared,” he tries to shrug off the praise, but your words are clinging to his brain stubbornly, “Why would I make you sleep alone after that?”
“Exactly,” you’re bolder than Megumi, bold enough to spike your chin onto his chest, “You’d be a great boyfriend.”
“You don’t say,” he chokes out, heat clogging his cheeks and red burning into a deep crimson. He prays the dim light emitting from his nightstand doesn’t expose the sight to you. 
A melodic knock on Megumi’s door makes the duo flinch, and despite logic telling him nothing is wrong Megumi lets his arm come around your waist protectively. When its Satoru that pokes his head in, the boy grumbles.
“Hey, problem children,” Satoru coos, “if you’re gonna break rules, at least move apart when your teacher comes to scold you.”
“They had a nightmare,” Megumi’s hold on you tightens, “they didn’t wanna be alone.”
“Is that right?” Satoru’s blindfold is still snug around his face, but Megumi can feel his teacher’s stare pointed at where your head lays on his chest.
You nod viciously, “It was so scary! I thought I died for real, so ‘gumi let me stay with him so I don’t have another one.”
“Well how sweet,” Satoru taps the doorframe, “But c’mon, time for everyone to go to their own rooms.”
“Huh, no way!” you cry in protest, rocketing up straight.
“No way,” Megumi parrots.
Raising a brow, Satoru grins at his student’s sudden audacity, “You want me to stay in here with you both, then?”
“You want me to tell Yaga about the secret number in your phone?” Megumi glares, “The one you know by heart.”
Satoru grimaces down at the boy, then sighing and back out of the room, “Don’t do anything to make Yaga yell at me.”
“Wow, ‘gumi, you really got him.”
“He’s easy to wrangle, like training a big, stupid dog,” Megumi feels his heart thundering in his chest the longer you go without saying anything, simply sitting there and grinning at him, “What?”
“You stood up for me.”
“Duh.”
“That was really nice of you.”
He rolls his eyes, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you back onto him, “Yeah, whatever.”
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