#also the game is reaching Switch 2 next for sure

[cheriafreya]

Zenless team is addicted to cooking my god they just won't stop

[0bticeo]

air sex with mark. reader has begged him to take her flying before, but bouncing on his dick in the sky is new for him. i feel like at first he would be hesitant, but then would enjoy the thrill of showing off his strength. and maybe he also likes the idea of someone looking up and seeing, as a treat

WHAT'S NEXT, ALIEN SEX?

summary:

what happens next can probably be explained by a mix of sleep deprivation, adrenaline, and not having seen your boyfriend for two months. fuck martians. fuck the nasa. fuck cecil.

“mark?”

“mm?”

he keeps pressing soft kisses to the side of your neck, hands already reaching for the small, silver zipper of your catsuit.

“fuck me while you fly us home.”

tw: air sex, piv sex, fingering, slightly ooc!mark but it'll make sense in part 3 i prommy, switch!mark, cunnilingus, mark being whipped, fluff, couples fighting together against a common enemy à la will turner/elizabeth swann minus the swords, if u know who the art belongs to pls lmk so i can give credit pls, the author being a vv slow writer and apologising, pls show my bby some love and leave a comment, mwah

part 2 to boyfriend material

having a superhero boyfriend has its perks. 

sure, you may get interrupted mid-date by a world-ending emergency or a bank robbery - because invincible has range like that. sure, cecil stedman has you on watch because anybody that gets close to mark gets the GDA premium treatment of you-could-potentially-be-useful-so-we-keep-a-close-eye-on- you-in-case-something-happens. and sure, nolan grayson's ice cold gaze - assessing, cutting, predatory - sets you on edge.

but at the end of the day, you're in love with mark grayson. mark grayson is invincible. so you love invincible. perfect syllogism. however, you could really do without the flaxans invading downtown chicago in the middle of your coffee date. 

“seriously? it’s the third time this month!”

he sends you an apologetic look over his sugary monstrosity of a beverage. something with so much caramel and whipped cream you’re getting vertigo just by looking at the damn thing. viltrumite biology-induced cravings, maybe?

you’re cut in your musings by panicked passer-bys running for their lives.

he takes a sip through his straw, brown eyes darkening, split earth after a thunderstorm. a little pout has his lips curling downwards. you kiss it away, a short, sweet peck that has him smiling against your mouth.

“karma’s a bitch,” you grumble, downing your coffee - black, no sugar because you’re no heathen.

mark lets out a huff of laughter, something awfully soft in his eyes. his fingers lace with yours, bringing your hand to his lips.

“c’mon, baby. duty calls.”

duty is a damn bitch is what she is. one flick of your wrist has your civilian outfit - pretty, casual, a nice little sundress that had mark do a double take because you don’t wear these that often - melting away in the shadows, replaced by your trademark coat and catsuit. 

shadow’s back in the game and she’s pissed.

(her boyfriend’s struggling in the men’s room with his invincible suit, because clark kent makes wearing his super suit under his everyday clothes seem easy, but it really isn’t.)

it’s a bloodbath. 

downtown chicago has been turned into a one-sided battlefield, the harsh, viscous green of alien skin burnt into your retina. your jaw ticks. they’re aiming at civilians, laser beams turning innocents into fine, bloody paste.you witness a little girl, no older than five, face half melted in the concrete, whimpering as she takes her last breath. a twenty something college student cradling his abdomen, innards spilling out. christ’s sake, a dog, half eviscerated, crawling towards its dying master, man’s most loyal companion.

you step forward, cracking your knuckles. 

“sorry lads. the earth is closed today.”

the sun is still high above, a witness to dull afternoon hours turned into a horror scene. your shadow spreads and spreads, encompassing the army standing before you. you tilt your head, eyes rolling back behind your domino mask as you call in the darkness. the shadows twist. you raise your hand, pointing at the first few ranks aiming at you, barking in their language. 

further back, near the portal, on what appears to be their equivalent of a tank, their leader, face marred by a long, jagged scar running from his brow to his lips. they twist in a snarl upon glimpsing your silhouette. he raises an arm, finger vengefully pointed at you. ah, so they do recognise you.

looks like somebody didn’t appreciate being on the receiving end of your tridagger. pity.

you clench your hand into a fist. it doesn’t deter them, the way the ground shifts under their boots. the slow corruption of the concrete below, as it is rendered one with the dark. your shadow’s stretched out enough to encompass all of them and give them a nice, cosy one way trip to the shadow dimension. its many beasts are hungry for fresh meat. maybe then they’ll stop ruining your dates.

something shifts when the first bullet manages to hit you, the laser burning away both leather and kevlar. blood drips from your shoulder.

“oooh, so you want it close and personal, huh?”

 you grin and throw yourself in the fray, black cloying the edges of your vision.

adrenaline courses through your veins. your shadows move along with you, sliding and shifting, the ground caving in treacherously under the aliens’ feet. concrete splits open. the one on your left shouts, beady eyes wide and panicked, and shoots. bang. dodge, duck, slam your foot at the back of its knee and watch the fucker fall into the abyss. kick up its rifle and shoot. slam it in an alien’s skull before it gets to you.

the scent of charred flesh fills your nostrils. ah. you’ve been hit again. spots dance in front of your vision. you take a hit. another. another - your lips split, grin flashing wide as your hand pierces feeble tactical gear. blood drips on the ground. the alien looks at the gaping hole in its sternum.

(shadows bend to your will, you’ve explained to mark when you first met, on the edge of midnight city where you hail from. your legs were dangling carelessly at the edge of a skyscrape under his watchful gaze. even then, even before the both of you became something too much to be put into words, he wanted you safe.

you’ve demonstrated it for him. harmless things, your fingers molding together, shapes taking form on the wall, shadows rippling as they came to life, dripping down like ink as small rabbits hopped out of the dark and around mark’s legs. 

you’ve shown the lethality of it. 

your gloved hands shifted, middle and index fingers pointing towards an approaching thug, other hand cradling your curled fingers.

bang.)

you’re laughing, cradling the poor thing’s heart, darkness like ink coating your fingers like a glove. you  make it sharper, deadlier. 

a shift behind you. the burning energy of a laser bullet aimed your way, straight for the head. too fast for you to dodge. 

a fist closes on it. 

you smile, lazily.

“mm. you’re late, invisible.”

invincible grins, a little sharp, wiping away flaxan blood on his suit, red a stark contrast against the bright yellow of it. lasers ricochet off him, rippling across his broad back as he turns to face you, shielding you with that cocky little grin you love. he rolls his shoulders, barely affected by it. you bite your lip at the sight.

“sorry, shade. you wouldn’t believe the traffic.” 

he moves, liquid smooth, hands on your hips as he shifts you away from an opponent. you use the momentum to head kick the fucker, its jaw giving away with a sickening crack under your soles. a sharp, screeching sound as it crumbles to the ground. you kick up its rifle, leaning on it with a sigh.

a tilt of your fingers and a shield rises before you, lasers sizzling against the surface.

invincible’s lips brush your jaw, gaze lazily surveying the progression of the flaxan troops.

“can i make up for it?” he breathes. “being late?”

even with his goggles hiding his eyes, you feel the weight of his gaze, something that has heat settling low in your core. his grin sharpens at that, nose brushing against the sliver of skin left bare by your suit. his thumbs rub small circles on your hip bones, and you’re intimately aware of how close he is, the firm line of his body pressing against yours, all hard edges, battle-honed. you lean back into him.

“maybe later. y’know, when earth isn’t invaded by murderous aliens.”

he chuckles, pressing a soft little kiss to your cheek. you gasp when he squeezes your ass. cheeky bastard.

“lemme deal with that.”

and fuck, the way he tears into them and slams their leader into the nearest building, fingers digging in the soft, breakable flesh of its throat, concrete shattering upon impact… you watch, eyes wide behind the lenses of your domino mask, as he crushes its skull between his hands, the bone brittle under his palms.

he turns back to look at you, floating above the battlefield, sun setting low behind his frame, his shadow stretching and stretching. blood drips down his clenched fist. you think of the deadly edge of a sword, perfectly poised, teetering on the edge of carnage. 

the flaxans look up, panicked, and aim at him. 

“sorry guys.” he cracks his knuckles, his grin sharp. “can’t keep my girl waiting.”

and fucking hell, you think as you leap towards the now empty tank, taking advantage of them being distracted. you should be focused on smashing the device creating their portals. it’d be easy enough, to use the shadows as an exoskeleton to enhance your strength. 

it would be, if mark wasn’t so bloody gorgeous while smashing his enemies to pieces. you think you hear him laugh as he does, something almost boyish. sunlight hits him, all goldens and reds - so much red, dripping down his chin, staining his goggles. you watch the lean muscles ripple under his suit, the way his fingers flex as he curls them into fists, the way his shoulders tense. the way he toys with them, faster than they can perceive, dodging their shots at the very last second. he’s making them harm their own kin.

snap out of it.

you smash your rifle against the complex machinery beeping before you. utterly unrefined, but you’re not exactly well-versed in alien mechanics, so it’ll have to do. the green light of the portal fizzles out. it’s closed.

mark flies above, lazily cracking his wrist.

a low, mournful cry rises from the troops.

//

you’re standing in a secluded alleyway, having bravely fled from the crowd of journalists creeping closer to the scene of carnage. 

“wasn’t that meg?” you muse, taking off your domino mask with a relieved sigh.

mark’s thumbs find the underside of your eyes, gently massaging the skin where your mask has been pressing.

“oh, her?” 

he pouts. you giggle at that, leaning into his touch. gently, you pry off his mask, revealing what has to be humanity’s most devastating puppy eyes.

“what? she’s pretty.” a conspiratorial smirk. “i need to know where she bought that skirt.”

his hands drop from your face, lightly resting on your waist in a way that makes something primal in you purr. he’s soft with you, mindful of the cuts on your shoulder, on your forearm. from this close, you can smell him, sharp ozone, and something distinctly mark that has you almost nuzzling him, burying your nose in the crook of his neck. 

“actually that’s not a bad idea.” he grins. “it would look good on my bedroom floor.”

“mark, you little-”

“what? would you prefer your bedroom floor?”

you slap his chest.

he cackles at that, looking down at you like you’re something precious.

you inch closer, hands pressed up against his chest. you watch as his pupils dilate, a never-ending void consuming the soft brown of his eyes. his gaze darts down to your lips and he frowns. his thumb brushes away a small drop of blood oozing from the thin line where your lower lip has been split.

his thumb meets the tender skin of your mouth and you press a soft kiss to the tip of it. 

mark finds his heart stuttering in his chest. you’d think he’d be used to have you by now. three months in, tangled up in each other in both hero work and school work and yet there he is, back pressed up against the washed up wall of a dingy alleyway come dusk, flushing under your adoring gaze. 

you’re devouring him, hunger practically oozing off of you as you take him in, all firm lines and soft gazes. god, you think michelangelo might weep in despair for having died in an era without him to immortalize. his hand clenches, long, slender fingers left bare by his suit flexing smoothly in a motion that has you pressing your thighs together with a soft sigh. 

dusk settles over chicago, golden sunbeams brushing the sharp edge of his jaw and you raise your hand to trace it, absently. a smile curls up your lips when he leans into your touch, as your gloved fingers brush past his jaw to go up, up, up, carding through the soft mess of his hair. blood and viscera got stuck in it. he does get violent when he fights, you muse, absently.

there’s still blood splattered on his suit.

maybe you love him a little too much. maybe you should be worried your boyfriend once tore out one of the mauler twins’ head for having made fun of your hair, laying it before your feet like an offering. doesn’t matter when you feel him against you, hard and wanting. doesn’t matter when he’s burying his face in your neck, teeth nipping at the soft skin, marking you. 

what happens next can probably be explained by a mix of sleep deprivation, adrenaline, and not having seen your boyfriend for two months. fuck martians. fuck the nasa. fuck cecil. 

“mark?”

“mm?”

he keeps pressing soft kisses to the side of your neck, hands already reaching for the small, silver zipper of your catsuit. 

“fuck me while you fly us home.”

he freezes, parting from you. you nearly whine at the loss.

“wha- baby are you…?”

a soft flush blooms on his cheek and you coo, peppering soft kisses to his sweet face.

“c’mon… it’d be fun…”

you send him that look. the look that had him reeling at teen team’s base after a group mission. the look that had him fucking you in their showers, one hand firmly clasped on your mouth to muffle your moans as you heard rex and eve arguing outside. the look that had him fighting for his life under cecil’s no-nonsense gaze during briefings. the look that kept him company during his two months trip to space, palming himself through his suit to the thought of you.

fuck martians and their unchecked sequids invasion, he wanted you by his side. 

he has you now, so he puts his mask back on and pulls you close, breathing you in. coffee. that one vanilla and caramel perfume you love. blood. his thumb grazes the cut on your shoulder. you squirm in his grip.

“let’s get you home, mm? i’ll patch you up there.”

he scoops you up in his arms, fingers digging in the fat of your thighs as your legs wrap around his - sinfully small - waist. you’re in the air before you know it, arms wound tight around his neck, gloved fingers playing with what little baby hair is left uncovered by his mask. he shudders at the contact, a small whimper leaving his lips, barely audible with the roaring of the wind whipping past you.

you glance down. chicago stretches out, glimmering gold. at the edge of the horizon, you watch the sun set, all-consuming gold bleeding into creeping night blue. mark keeps flying you higher, careful not to go too high, where the air would be too rare for you to breathe.

your fingers dig in his shoulders, pulling you closer to him. he wouldn’t let you fall, you know.

(you’re in his bed, still panting, flushed and full in a way you’ve never felt before. mark has gathered you in his arms, and you’re curled up against him, head on his chest as he strokes your hair. he hasn’t been this relaxed in a long time, and you’re putty in his hands. 

you inch closer, fingers lacing with his, lips pressed to his knuckles. the bruises from his last fight are fading.

“mark?”

“yeah?”

“i meant it, y’know. i’m falling for you.”

he stills, a split-second of terrifying second-guessing. too much? too soon? you open your mouth, mortification creeping in. you close it when you meet his eyes, impossibly fond, the softest you’ve seen them yet.

“don’t worry. i’ll catch you. always. can’t have my baby falling.”

you boop his nose.

“sap.”

there’s a wide grin on your face. your heart feels light.)

his grip on you tightens. his lips brush against your ear, his voice low.

“i need you, baby.”

you feel his breath, harsh and heavy on your nape, the way his shoulders tense, adrenaline still coursing through him. your fingers palm his bulge, and you grin against his collarbone when you find him hard and wanting. you can feel the outline of his cock, even through the damn kevlar. you think you might feel the way he’s leaking through his boxers, too, tip flushed the same pretty shade of pink spreading across his cheeks. palm pressing in, grinding against the kevlar of his suit, you look up at him.

his breath catches. his hips stutter, his flight grows haphazard. his lips part in a soft, ragged little exhale of your name. you don’t think you’ve seen him this needy, with the way he presses you close - not just for safety - his hands somehow managing to knead your breasts, your ass, your thighs. 

it has you clenching your thighs, desperate for any kind of friction.

you lean closer, a soft whisper in his ear, lost to the icy wind nipping at your cheeks.

“is it the suit that turns you on?”

“it’s just…” he lets out something suspiciously close to a whimper. frustrated. needy. “i’m not sure how we should do this, y’know? logistically, i mean. i won’t let you fall, you know that, but what if-”

you press your lips to his, sweetly, softly. he melts against you. it feels like the roaring of the world has finally stopped, his mind a delicious, blissful blank. he’s stopped flying, he realises absently, pulling you close to him by the waist. you shiver, nestling against him, eager for warmth - viltrumites run hot. a side effect of having to fly in cosmic depths. 

he shudders deliciously when your nose brushes the sharp edge of his jaw, your mouth hot against his pulse, rabbit-fast under your ministrations. 

“baby…”

“you think too much,” you breathe.

he lets out something like a strangled gasp when you bring your hips closer to his, thigh brushing his aching cock. you stroke his cheek over his mask and he’s burning, inches away from ripping his suit off and fucking you senseless. 

he leans into your touch with a sigh, nuzzling your palm. 

“hey.” you give him a tiny eskimo kiss. “we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“no, i want to.” 

his grip on your hips tightens, fingers digging in the fat of them hard enough to leave bruises. he wonders how long it will take him to lose control, with the way you look at him like that, flushed and needy, practically gasping for air, like you can only breathe when his mouth is on yours. 

still he hesitates, because there’s something about the way you press yourself against him, catsuit drenched in blood, about the soft ripples of darkness fluttering along the edges of your coat, about how fucking out of it he makes you -

he couldn’t stay away from you if he tried, even if he should, for your sake.

he all but pins you against him, relishing in the feeling of your smaller frame pressed tight against the broad expanse of him, his hand finding its way to your chest, to that small, tantalising zipper between your collarbones. his thumb brushes the sliver of skin you’ve left exposed. for comfort, you said. 

he flashes you a grin, thumb soft on your pulse. persistent. deadly.

“comfortable?”

you splutter.

“mark!”

“that’s invincible to you, shadow.”

your jaw snaps shut. you swallow. right. no names while wearing the suit, but fuck. it’s getting hard to breathe, and the lack of oxygen isn’t at fault. mar- invincible cups your chest, hand gently squeezing the soft mound under your suit. you feel your heart hammer violently under his touch and know he feels it too. he hums, finger circling your nipple, the kevlar brittle under his touch. the motion, the rush of air as he slowly makes his way through the skies, the only thing stopping you from plummeting to your death being him-

it has you wet beyond reason.

“invincible,” you whine, desperate. 

it gets to him, the way your voice softens, the way your hips grind against his thigh mindlessly. he can’t see your face, with the way you’ve been trying to bury it in his chest, with a flustered noise.

fuck, you’re cute.

he pins you to him, your back to his chest, one strong arm locking you in place, a vice grip around your middle. you bite back a soft cry, his erection firmly pressed against your ass. his mouth presses against your neck, a hint of teeth against your carotid that has you gasping his name.

his fingers grasp the zipper, the motion a delicate little thing. cold air hits your skin and you whimper softly, invincible’s cheek nuzzling yours as he pulls it down, down, down, until your breasts spill out of your suit, nipples pebbled and aching, until his fingers reach your cunt.

“shit…” 

you see him bite his lip from the corner of your eye. his fingers dip between your lips, teasingly, barely brushing against your clit, enough for him to find you soaked and eager.

“all for me?”

you smile at his eagerness, at the (almost) innocent surprise in his voice. 

“you see anyone else here?”

he nips your earlobe, grinning wide against your ear.

“cheeky.”

you and invincible- fuck it, you and mark had sex before. hell, you lost your virginity to him in what has to be one of the most intimate moments in your life. but this? this is close second. this, you and mark, suspended hundreds of feet above the ground, head in the clouds, watching as the sun sets. mark’s lips slot against yours, your head tilting back to meet him halfway, his fingers curling in you in a way that has you seeing stars.

he sweeps your coat away with a soft growl.

“careful! it’s a gift!”

“yeah, a very inconvenient one.”

“you gifted it to me you- ah!”

somewhere along the way, he managed to free his cock, the bite of the cold air harsh against his leaking tip. you let out a soft whine of protest when he drags it along your folds, robbed of the sinful vision of his leaking tip. 

“m’gonna put it in, okay?” he babbles against your ear, hips grinding against your ass. “oh, baby-”

he lets out a low, soothing sound, nuzzling your neck as he drives himself deeper in you, until you’re clawing at his bicep with a keen.

“m-mark-”

it’s one thing to have him take you from behind, his hand warm and steady on your hip, pulling you impossibly closer to him. it’s another to do it in the air, where you have little to no leverage to make him feel good, too. 

“fuck- do you like it?” he rasps, hips snapping forward.

“mm-”

you’re caught in the in-between, the cold air nipping at your skin, mark hot and heavy behind you, fucking up into you like he’d die if he didn’t. your vision blurs at the edges. it’s too much, the delicious drag of his fingers as he teases your clit, the way his cock fills you to the brim. so fucking warm you feel like you’re about to melt into a puddle of heat. 

looking down would mean a casual reminder of your situation, hundreds of feet above ground, but you do. the sight has you moaning, wanton and debauched, with the way mark’s cock has your lower abdomen bulging out ever so slightly with each thrusts. 

you don’t even realise he’s leaning back until you’re faced with a flurry of emerging stars, watching you from lightyears away. he’s practically lying down in the clouds, the humidity of it raising goosebumps on your heated skin, like he’s baring you to the world.

slowly, he pulls out and has you straddle him, facing him.

he grins up at you, hands resting on your hips, thumbs drawing soothing circles on your hips as you sink down on him with a soft little moan of his name.

“talk about being on cloud nine.”

you snort.

“and i’m the cheeky one?”

“absolutely. my cheeky, adorably fucked-out girlfriend.”

you open your mouth to bite back when his cock hits that sweet, sweet little spot inside of you and your words die in a low, needy little moan. he’s taken off his mask, you realise, absently, discarding it god knows where. he’s taken off his mask, and he’s looking up at you like you’re his sun.

and you’re beautiful, he thinks, running his hand along the slope of your neck, relishing in the contact, in the way you melt against him. absolutely breathtaking, the setting sun cradling you in gold until, shadows framing the dips and planes of you as you ride him until you come apart. he groans, watching your slick coat the base of his shaft, your cunt milking him for all he’s worth until he’s bursting at the seams, your name the only constant on his lips as his hips buck up into you. 

“mmm fuck- i wanna try something-”

“mmn?”

he grins, something a little sweet, a little sharp. there’s a glint in his eyes that tells you he’s up to no good.

“sit on my face.”

“you- mark!”

“what? i won’t let you fall. besides… i did say i’d eat you out, didn’t i?”

you’re trembling, when he slides out of you and pulls you to him, eager, arms wrapped around your parted thighs as he settles you over his mouth. you keen at the first contact of his tongue against your cunt, hips bucking up instinctively. he groans against you, the vibration sending shivers up your spine. 

“taste so good, baby…”

he’s looking straight at you, feeling his cock harden as you grind yourself on his face, the lapels of your coat spread out on his abdomen like he’s about to spread you out, thumbs parting your nether lips to sink deeper in you, to taste you better. 

next thing you know, he’s sinking his fingers in you and sucking at your clit, the sharp press of his teeth against the sensitive bundle of nerves a shock to your system. you fist his hair and feel him tense beneath you, his eyes hooded as they take you in.

“mark- mark i can’t-”

he presses a soft kiss to your clit. sweet. reverent. you don’t know if you find it cute or unfairly hot, not with the way you’re dizzy with him, begging for something, anything. something in you builds, coils low in your underbelly and snaps, leaving mark’s lips drenched and his eyes rolling back in his sockets with a strangled moan. you make out more than you feel his hips stuttering, coming to a stop as he cums.

there’s a ringing in your head. nagging. persistent. it won’t go away, no matter how badly you want to shake it off. the world is narrowed down to you, mark, and the way his tongue gently lap at your oversensitive cunt, cleaning you up with tiny kitten licks that have your heart hammering in your chest.

then, slowly, he peels back from you, his face ruined by your slick. he presses a kiss to your inner thigh as he pulls back, a teasing little bite, and zip up your suit.

“can’t have you catching a cold on me, can i?”

the sun sets. mark grayson tucks you in his arms and flies you to midnight city as you doze off, his heartbeat strong and steady against your ear. he looks at you, all pressed up against his chest, head leaning against his shoulder, and smiles, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

when he gets to your home - a small little flat tucked away in sixth avenue, midnight city, seventh floor, third window to the left - he lays you down on the couch and fetches the med kit. you curl up into yourself, half-asleep, reaching for the soft blanket draped on the armrest. a little meow interrupts you, nero looking up at you blearily. you scratch him behind his ears and watch at your cat falls back asleep on the blanket, his little paws curling. 

mark takes in the sight of you, sleepily petting your grumpy furball of a cat, the two of you curled up on the couch, and feels something tug at his heart. affection. boundless love, the kind that would raze cities and bring civilisations to ashes if needed be. he settles next to you, med kit on the coffee table, helping you shrug off your coat and catsuit.

“it’s not too deep.”

his hand brushes your shoulder, relishing the contact with your soft skin. you hum, drowsy, exhaustion catching up with you.

he patches you up, quietly, pulling you close once he’s done. he breathes you in, burying himself in your hair, taking in your flat. a little messy, books everywhere, little plants soaking up sunlight because you like your tomatoes and basil fresh. your cat, snoring lightly on the armrest. you, breathing slowing down, curling up against him with a soft little: “thanks.”

he leans back on the couch, pulling you closer, and thinks, stroking your hair.

he’s been deep in the abysses of earth and felt the tides struggle against him, trying to push back. he’s been close to its core, and felt gravity weigh him down, a feeble attempt at bringing him to his knees. he’s been in space. he’s seen supernovas burn before his eyes, stood before a black hole and watched the event horizon as it tried to pull him into its orbit, a gaping, hungry maw.

but, at the end of the day, it’s you he orbits around, the earth to your sun. 

taking the liberty to tag the the amazing ppl that left comments on my mark os: @gaiasmight @vinnyvamppp @odessa-is-my-queen @shadylilac @linkwho1 @tokoyamisstuff @sp4ceboo

[hischierhoney]

OFF LIMITS

nico hischier x hughes sister!reader

part 2: I Know available now!

It’s not the first time they’ve run into you on a night out, and Nico’s pretty sure it won’t be the last. You live in New York, close enough that your paths overlap quite often. It is, however, the first time he’s seen you this drunk. On top of that, it’s the first time Nico’s run into you without your brothers with him.

Jack may be younger than you, but what he lacks in age he makes up for in overprotectiveness. When they run into you at a bar, Nico rarely gets a chance to even say a word to you before Jack is questioning how much you’ve had to drink or why you’re even out in the first place.

But Jack is in Toronto, for the All Stars game, and Luke’s still too young to be out at a bar and is also out of town, and you’re there, standing under a neon sign, leaning up against the wall. You look hazy. Out of it. There’s a guy standing nearly over you, arm next to your head on the wall. Nico’s stomach twists.

“Isn’t that Hughes’ sister?” Someone asks.

Nico nods, juts his chin at the scene unfolding. “Does she look uncomfortable to you?”

His teammate lets out a snort. “Was wondering the same thing.”

Nico keeps a watchful eye on the situation for just a moment. He doesn’t want to overstep, but something feels off. When you put your hand on the guy’s shoulder and try to push him away, and he stays put, caging you in farther, the switch flips. He’s gone from concerned friend to overprotective captain within a second. He passes his beer off to someone and makes his way across the bar in a few short steps.

“Hey man. Back off.” He snaps.

The guy turns with a glare. Nico stands his ground. Your eyes meet his, and he watches relief wash over your face. He knows then that he’s made the right choice.

“I saw her first,” the guy sneers.

Nico really didn’t want to get in a fight tonight. He was supposed to have a chill night out with the guys, maybe talk to a couple girls, get his mind off of… things. But now he’s here.

“Nico,” you say, softly, and he watches the guy’s face drop as he realizes you know Nico.

“Hi,” he says, kindly and quietly to you. He juts his chin at the guy and shoves his shoulder firmly. “Get lost.”

The man melts away into the crowd. Nico watches him go. Then he turns back to you, to where you’re leaning against the wall, doe eyed and drunk as hell as you stare up at him. His breath gets caught in his throat for just a moment- if your brothers knew the things he thought about when you looked at him like that, they’d have his head. Jack and Luke are a bit oblivious, he thinks. He’s lucky he’s not around you and Quinn at the same time very often. There was that game last year, in Vancouver- you in your Devils jersey, elbowing him lightly, and Quinn’s glare trained on him, one raised brow, like he was just waiting for Nico to take a wrong step.

“My hero,” you say, reaching out to tug on his wrist.

Your words are extremely slurred, and when he gets a closer look he realizes you’re probably close to blacking out. The light is gone from your eyes. He winces.

“Okay, schatz,” he says. He ruffles your hair just to get you to stop staring up at him through your eyelashes, afraid of the way it makes his heart jump. “Can I call someone to come get you?”

You shrug. “Where’s Jacky? Or Lukey?”

Nico groans. “Toronto, and who knows. Not here, though.”

You purse your lips. “Right.” You dig in your pocket for your phone, find it, and Nico watches you try and turn the screen on with no luck- it’s dead. “Huh. That’s not good.”

And… Nico could call one of your brothers. Could ask for some sort of phone number- a roommate or a friend or anyone. But as you stare up at him, you lean away from the wall and fall into his chest, and he knows he needs to act quickly. Preferably before you pass out at the bar.

…..

You don’t remember the walk out of the bar, or the car ride, or the elevator up to the apartment that you’re sure you must’ve taken. Your world zaps back into focus on the entryway of Nico’s apartment. You’ve been here twice- both for parties. It’s different when it’s not full of people. Feels more like Nico.

You toe your shoes off in the doorway. Nico swipes them to the side with his foot and then reaches out to catch you when you stumble. You lean into his shoulder and laugh- he smells good, like honey and whiskey. You want to breathe him in. He laughs, too- you can tell by the way his broad shoulders shake.

He leads you out of the entryway and into the kitchen. He grabs you by your hips to maneuver you, and you nearly squeal at the feeling of his fingers splayed against your body. Instead, when he moves you to lean against the counter, you sigh. You brace yourself, elbows on the granite, and stare up at him as he moves through the room.

“Stop staring at me like that,” he says in a warning tone.

“Like what?” You ask, innocently.

If he’d look at you, you’d bat your eyelashes at him. But he’s not looking, and you’re not going to waste your energy. He has his head in the fridge, an empty glass in his hand. He returns with a pitcher of water and pours it into the glass before sliding it over to you.

He never clarifies what he means by staring like that. You want to circle back to it, but you’re getting really tired, and the water is cool and refreshing. You laugh when you spill a little bit, the water running down your chin and neck. Nico just groans and rolls his eyes.

“You’re drunk,” he states, like you both didn’t already know it.

You nod. “I had a lotta tequila.”

He gives you a look of exasperation mixed with affection. “Trying to forget?”

You shrug. “Something like that.”

Once you’ve finished the glass, he starts maneuvering you again, hands on your shoulders this time as he walks you down the hallway. You wonder what it would be like to have him do this all the time- maybe when you’re not drunk. Does he manhandle his girlfriends, his dates, like this? Maybe manhandle isn’t the right word. You don’t feel handled, you feel… taken care of. Like he’s making sure you’re exactly where you should be. It’s sweet. It makes you shiver just a little bit.

He mistakes the movement for a chill, and he rubs his hands up and down your shoulders. You sigh. The two of you step into the bathroom, and he digs through the drawer until he finds a new toothbrush and toothpaste, and he hands them both to you.

You stumble your way towards the bedroom five minutes later, his hands on your hips again. He pushes open the door to his bedroom and leads you to the bed, having you sit down on the edge while he heads for the dresser. You look around. You’ve been to his place, but never here. It’s… calm. Quiet. The sheets and duvet beneath you are soft, and the lamp next to the bed casts a warm glow over everything. He has trophies taking up space on his desk. The bed is unmade, blankets rumpled and messy.

“Always wondered what your room looked like,” you say.

His shoulders tense, though he shakes it out a few moments after. “Yeah?”

You nod, forgetting he isn’t looking at you, and then supplement with words. “Can learn a lot about a person from their bedroom.”

He laughs and looks over his shoulder at you. “What have you learned, then?”

You shrug and cast your eyes to the ceiling. He goes back to rifling through the drawers. You flop backwards onto the end, laughing lightly at the way it bounces beneath you.

Something lands on your stomach- a large t-shirt and a pair of shorts. You pick them up and hold them above your head.

“Get changed,” he says. When you lean up to look at him, the whole room spins. He sighs, like he can tell. “I’ll be back in a second, okay?”

…..

Nico nearly panics five minutes later, because he knocks on the door to ask if you’re decent and you don’t answer. He’s torn between worry about seeing something he shouldn’t, and worry about you dying- one of them trumps the other, so he shoves his way into the room frantically.

You’re laid out on the bed, swallowed up by his t-shirt, the drawstring of the shorts pulled tight around your waist. Your lips are just barely parted, soft sighs escaping with each rise and fall of your chest. You’re asleep. He could leave you, but right now you’re asleep on your back, and very drunk, and he’s worried you’re going to throw up and- they warned him about that, years ago, when he first started going to parties. Friends don’t let friends sleep on their backs.

He crawls up onto the bed and tucks you into the blankets. Then he rolls you onto your side, and sighs when you immediately try to roll back onto your back. He repeats the process, and this time you groan loudly in response. Without really thinking about it, he sits down on the bed behind you and props his leg against your back. That seems to keep you in place- you lean into the warmth but you don’t try to roll over again.

So. That’s great, except, now he’s stuck. Realistically, he was going to stay anyways. If he was the last person to see you and something awful happened, he’d never forgive himself, and neither would your brothers. So it’s fine, really, that you’re leaning against him, but… you’re warm, and breathing softly, and your hair is strewn all over the pillowcase, and god, he hates the way it all makes him blush.

He can’t do anything about it, especially not now, with the state you’re in. So he just sits and watches you sleep, the way he’s sort of always dreamed about.

Hours later, Nico’s woken from a half asleep state by a loud noise- it’s his cell phone, ringing on the nightstand. He scrambles to pick up, blinking blearily at the screen. 4:53 am, and Jack is calling him. He wouldn’t normally answer, but it’s Jack, and by now he’s probably heard about you, so he swipes to take the call.

“It’s not even 5am, Jack,” he says softly.

“Hischier.” A voice returns- it’s not Jack.

“Quinn.” He replies, carefully.

He keeps his voice low. His gaze flickers down to you. You’re asleep -on your side, thank god- one arm wrapped around his leg. He swallows tightly and carefully brushes a stray piece of hair from your face. You don’t stir.

“It’s not even 5am,” he repeats.

Quinn scoffs. “I know. Woke up to go do some early morning training, and imagine my surprise when I see about ten texts from various people telling me you took my baby sister home with you last night.”

Right. Everybody knows everybody in the NHL. Nico rolls his eyes. You’re older than both Jack and Luke- you’re not a baby. He refrains from saying that, though- knowing it’ll only upset Quinn more. He may sound relatively calm now, but Nico can sense the undercurrent of tension.

“It’s not like that,” Nico says.

“Right. And you’re just whispering for the fun of it, then? Not because you’re afraid to wake her?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “She was wasted. I brought her back here to keep an eye on her. Did they tell you about how I nearly punched a guy to get him to leave her alone?”

He hears Quinn falter whatever he was going to say next. Then he speaks up again. “Doesn’t explain why you’re close enough to her right now that you’d need to be whispering.”

“I was worried she was going to choke on her own vomit,” Nico says curtly. “So I stayed up most of the night making sure she stayed on her side.”

“Right, sure, by what- curling up with her?” Quinn sneers.

Nico slumps down against the headboard. “Jesus, Hughes. You trusted me to take care of your brothers. You said that yourself. You can’t trust me with this?”

“It’s a bit different and we both know it,” Quinn says.

Nico figures that’s fair. If it was his sister… he understands. He just wishes Quinn would give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Look, man. Nothing happened. I swear to you, I wouldn’t ever do anything to harm her, alright? We ran into her at a bar, she was wasted and by herself and trying to push some guy away and he wasn’t letting up. So I put a stop to it, and we couldn’t call any of her friends because her phone was dead. And not sure if you’ve noticed, but your brothers are out of town. I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

He hears Quinn sigh. “You just happened to be there to save the day?”

Nico groans, this time a bit too loudly. You shift next to him, and suddenly you’re awake, blinking up at him with soft eyes. His heart catches in his chest. You wrinkle your nose, likely in confusion at the sight of him on the phone at 5am. He mouths your brother’s name, and your confusion only grows. You gesture for the phone.

“Quinn,” you say, sleepily. “It’s 5am. Why the fuck are you calling?”

Nico can’t hear what your brother is saying anymore- a welcome reprieve, really. You roll your eyes and he holds back a laugh. When he meets your gaze, you’re fighting a laugh, too, he thinks.

“So you called because you were checking on me, right?” You ask, blinking up at Nico. “Not to harass my friend, right? Because that would be a rude thing to do at 5am, you know.”

You’re quiet for a few more moments. Then you yawn and roll your eyes again. “Okay. Well. I’m fine. I’m going back to bed. Goodnight.”

You hang up on him. Nico’s torn between laughter and panic, wondering if Quinn’s going to call again. The phone stays silent in your hand, though. He takes it from you, sets it down on the nightstand carefully. Your arm wraps back around his leg, and he tries not to let it make him sigh in relief.

“Sorry about him,” you say, quietly. “He’s like a guard dog. But one of those little yappy ones.”

Nico laughs. “Ankle biter.”

You nod and laugh, too. “Why’d you even answer?”

Nico drags a hand down his face. “He called from Jack’s phone.”

“Sneaky little bitch,” you scoff.

He shrugs. “To be fair, I probably should’ve at least let someone know where you were. If I’d woken up to a message about my sister like the one Quinn probably got…” he scrubs at the hair on his jaw. “Not sure I’d have reacted differently.”

You huff- your warm breath washes over his leg. “You hockey players are a bunch of gossips, you know that?”

He grumbles at that, not even giving it a real response. He slumps down further against the headboard, eyes feeling heavy, head feeling even heavier. You pat your hand against his knee and sigh.

“You should lay down,” you mumble.

He sighs. “Yeah. If you’re feeling okay I can go to the couch. Didn’t want to leave you alone, I was scared you’d throw up.”

You stare up at him. He stares right back. Pretty eyes. God, your brothers would kill him.

“No, like, just- lay down,” you tell him, patting the bed next to you. “It’s your bed.”

His heart does a somersault. His stomach follows suit. He shouldn’t. Jack will punch him, Luke will deliver the final blow, and then Quinn will fly down from Canada to stomp on his grave. But he’s exhausted, and the bed is comfy, and you… you’re there, like he’s always dreamed. He won’t touch you. He’ll just lay down right next to you, barely under the blankets, plenty of space between the two of you in his big bed. It’ll be fine.

…..

You wake up hours later with a raging headache and your head against Nico’s chest. You nearly panic until you remember who he is. Then you worry he’ll think it’s weird, having you pressed against him like this, but you realize his arm is wrapped tightly around your waist. He’s strong. You know that, but it’s different to feel it for yourself, the way the thick muscle presses against your back. His cheek is resting on top of your head, too, and he’s just barely snoring, soft sounds through his lips.

You’d stay right there forever if your head didn’t hurt so bad.

When you try to wiggle free, he holds on tighter, groaning softly. You try to pry his arm off your waist and he grunts this time. When he finally wakes up enough to be somewhat coherent, he doesn’t let go.

“Whatimesit?” He asks groggily, lips brushing against your forehead.

“Dunno,” you admit. “Head hurts. S’there ibuprofen in your cupboard?”

He groans softly and then peels his arm away. Before you can make a move, he rolls out of bed and stumbles towards the bathroom. You watch him go and try to pretend you don’t shiver at the roll of his back muscles beneath his t-shirt. He comes back with a glass of water and pills in his hands.

You fight a laugh at the sight of him, sleep rumpled and groggy, brows furrowed tightly. You push yourself up to sit up, leaning on your left hand and rubbing your eyes sleepily with your right. He hands over the water and the pills. You take them eagerly.

You blink up at him after you down the whole glass and cock your head. “Did I dream that Quinn called?”

Nico snorts and sits down on the edge of the bed. “Nope. That was real life.”

You roll your eyes. “Overprotective asshole.”

Nico laughs at that, eyes slipping closed. “Like I said. If I were him, I’d have had the same reaction.”

You let yourself fall back down to the bed. “Right, like you’d ever…” you cut yourself off with a laugh. “I mean, he and Jack and Luke are always so worried about teammates being into me or something. It’s ridiculous.”

Nico laughs, but it sounds hollow. You lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling. You’re already planning how you’re going to chew Quinn out for this one.

“I don’t blame him,” Nico says, quieter this time. “Just wish he wouldn’t have called so early.”

You close your eyes. “He’s annoying. Why’s he worried? Like… none of you guys have ever shown any interest in me, so. ”

Your lack of dating hockey players is not for lack of trying. There’d been Quinn’s teammates in college, and Jack’s from the other teams, too. You’ve had crushes that you’ve eventually let fizzle out after getting nothing in return. Nico’s the only crush that’s stuck around this long. Because despite the fact that you can barely even call him your friend, sometimes he pulls shit like this- taking you back to his place and staying up late to take care of you, fielding phone calls from your protective older brother. Nico’s a giant human teddy bear. You think at this point it’s gone beyond a crush.

“Why d’you think that is?” Nico asks, breaking you from your train of thought.

“Why do I think what is?” You reply.

You swear you feel his hand brush against your wrist.

“That none of us ever show any interest?” He says.

He’s quiet. Quieter, at least. More tentative. Softer. You pry one eye open and look up at him, and you swear he’s blushing. Hm.

“Because…you’re not- nobody’s interested?” You say, softer than even him.

He tilts his head. Your mouth feels dry.

“You remember the first Devils game you came to?” He asks. You nod, and he continues. “Before the game, in the locker room, Jack mentioned his sister was going to be there, and, well, you know how hockey players are. Couple people made comments about wanting to meet you, asked if you’d be at the afterparty. Jack made it pretty clear you were off limits. And, you know. Guys do that shit all the time, get overprotective over their sisters, and it’s never been, you know, an issue. Half the time I don’t even meet the guys’ family, you know?”

He trails off and scrubs his hand through his hair. You watch him closely.

“But that night, after the game, I was leaving and I saw… this girl. This beautiful girl. And she was wearing a Hughes jersey, and I was…” he laughs and closes his eyes. “I was coming up with all these stupid pick up lines, about how I was better than him, and I was walking towards her, and I swear I looked away for a second and then Jack was there. Hugging you, and glaring at me over your shoulder. I got the message.”

You reach up and pinch the bridge of your nose. “I hate my brothers.”

Nico laughs. “In Luke’s defense…”

“Don’t defend any of them, Luke’s the worst of them, he’s just quiet about it,” you scoff. “He chased my college boyfriend out of my dorm with a hockey stick.”

Nico laughs. You laugh, too, but you shake your head. He nudges his knee against yours. When his thumb brushes against your wrist this time, you open your eyes. That blush is there, soft and rosy on his cheeks.

“So you get it, then,” he says, head tilted as he blinks down at you. His hair is falling over his forehead messily. “Why I’ve never made a move.”

You’re so busy trying to process all the information of the day that you almost miss it. Why I’ve never made a move. It could’ve been a fleeting moment, just a quick crush when he saw you the first time, but something about this tells you it’s not. He presses his thumb to your pulse point on your wrist, and the warmth of his hand on your skin makes you shiver slightly. You stare up at him and chew on your lower lip.

“I think you should ask me about my limits,” you say, quietly. “They’re a lot different than my brothers’, you know.”

The grin on Nico’s face grows wider. “S’that so?”

You nod eagerly. He lets out a low, slow breath, like he’s bracing for impact. Something in your chest aches. He plants a hand next to your head and leans towards you, and your heart leaps in your throat.

“What’re your limits on kissing hockey players?” He asks. His other hand comes up and cups the side of your face. He brushes his thumb against your Cupid’s bow. “Y’know. If the opportunity were to come up.”

You shrug. “Would depend on the player, I suppose.”

He nods in understanding, pursing his lips. “How about… hm. 6’1”, brown hair, brown eyes. Team captain. Nice guy, I guess. Would definitely make sure you got home safe from the bar.”

You reach up and draw a hesitant line on his jaw with your fingertip. “Team captain, huh? I do like a man in charge.”

He nods. You nod back. For a moment, the two of you sit in limbo.

In the end, you’re the one to wrap your arms around his neck and pull yourself up to kiss him. When you do, though, he responds eagerly. He cages you in with both arms, and as you melt for him, he does the same for you. It’s a sweet kiss, one full of hope and excitement. You’re surrounded by him, by his arms and his touch and the smell of him on the sheets. You’ve never been more happy you ran into him at a bar than in that very moment.

…..

You’re back in that same bar from weeks ago, standing under the very same neon light. Except this time, there’s no guy hovering over you, and this time, you and Nico both know the other is going to be there. He’s at the bar, pretending he’s just noticed you, smiling and waving as he orders. You shake your empty cup at him, and he nods.

He wanders over a few minutes later, drinks in hand. He leans against the wall next to you and hands you the cup. The neon light glows bright on his dark hair. You sip your drink and smile up at him. Politely. Friendly. Nothing more. He’s a polite, friendly distance away. There’s space between the two of you.

“If we’re gonna make this believable, you’re going to have to come say hello to the rest of the team,” he says.

You nod. “In a minute.”

Across the bar, one of his teammates is yelling about a game on the screen. For now, you want just a minute with Nico. A moment for just the two of you. One where he’s not your brothers’ team captain, but your boyfriend instead.

The word feels new in your brain, would feel even newer on your lips if you said it. So far, you’ve only tried it out a couple times- when he asked the question, and then after that in the bathroom mirror, a wide grin on your face. You haven’t told anyone else. Nico’s worried about Jack and Luke’s reactions, and the season’s almost done- he wants to wait to tell them afterwards, when the results of a game won’t rest so heavily on how they take the news. It’s been a lot of staying in dates, movie nights at home on his couch, which both of you are partial to anyways. And lots of this, too- seemingly chance meetings at local bars, quick texts from him telling you where he’s headed with his friends and you showing up, purely coincidental to anyone other than him.

Eventually, you follow him through the crowd of people to a secluded corner full of hockey players. You spot your brothers, blissfully unaware, nursing matching beers. Just before everyone catches sight of the two of you, Nico sneaks a hand back and squeezes yours. You smile brightly.

“Look who I found!” Nico calls out.

He moves his grip on your hand to your wrist, raises your arm like you’ve won a fight. You laugh and shake your arm free of his hold. You’re met with cheers from the team, loudest of all from your brothers. You can wait to tell them. For now, the way he smiles at you is more than enough.

…..

“Should we just tell them we know they’re… a thing?” Luke asks.

Jack shakes his head, watching you and Nico. “Nah. Let ‘em sweat. She’ll slip up eventually, or he’ll start to freak out.” He sees Nico reach to grab your hip, then pull back at the last second like he’s been burned. A mix of disgust and amusement passes through him- you’re his sister, after all. “Jesus, dunno why they think they’re fooling anyone.”

Jack’s known since the day he got back and saw you at lunch. You’d been overly happy but basically refused to talk about your impromptu stay at Nico’s. Then, he’d seen Nico at practice, and he’d been much the same. By the time the team had gone out to a bar and you mysteriously happened to show up, he’d had his suspicions and had relayed them to Luke. They’d watched you and Nico leave the bar together one night when you thought nobody was looking.

Luke laughs. “Okay, but, when do we tell Quinn?”

Jack turns to him with wide eyes. “We don’t! D’you want our captain to die?”

Luke directs his gaze back towards you and the aforementioned captain. Jack follows suit and tries not to roll his eyes. The two of you aren’t touching, but the smiles on your faces say it all.

“I mean,” Luke starts quietly. “They’re kind of cute. And we want them to be happy, right?”

“Don’t even start,” Jack says firmly.

He’ll let it go for now, in the interest of finishing out the season on a good note. But after that, all bets are off. Definitely. Probably. Jack’s the one who set the rules, who declared you off limits, and he’ll stick to his word.

No matter how much the two of you together are starting to grow on him.

Part 2: I Know

if you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading! i hope you’ve enjoyed

[ohraicodoll]

I know we don’t need the trauma but I kind of want it. What if Elle was with Joel? What if Abby had found out she had found Joel? What if Red got there in time?

Oh boy Joel Miller x Feral Reader 2.3k Words Warning: graphic violence. Gore! Animal attack. No Y/N. No name or description for reader. A/N Also a heads up that I do like Abby in the game and I love the story of Part 2 but if you like her then sorry! This is like not edited really but hopefully it's decent enough and you don't have to read any other of my stories for this. It's technically alternate timeline anyways.

Years in Jackson didn't make her paranoia lessen. If anything, it got worse every time they were outside the walls as Ellie got more and more independent and Joel got older. And it shot up like crazy when they weren't next to her.

The storm had hit hard and she had to pull into Eugene's old weed hut with Jesse to wait it out with Brownie the dog. Ellie had gone with Joel and she'd been so elated at the slow repair of her family that she had readily switched to give them space, taking Ellie's dog Brownie to give him more training outside of wall patrols.

But then the radios had gone staticky and then the call that they couldn't reach Joel.

The panic that had flared was brutal, choking. Flashes to Colorado and blood and fire. A different snowstorm.

She hadn't even waited for Jesse to decide what to do. Hadn't wanted to go slow or think logically and reason with a kid half her age, or else the panic would choke her out completely. Poor Brownie, she'd make it up to him later for roughly grabbing him and throwing him across her lap and making him have to balance on a full galloping horse.

But both of them were made for worse and this was for their people.

The duo were scheduled for the Mine route and when she passed the wreckage of that building, she followed the hoof prints up and up. The lodge. They probably went upward and she didn't even want to think about what had hit them to destroy the mine and the trail of infected bodies in the snow.

Jackson was on fire behind her.

The feeling in her chest was a living thing, clawing at the inside of her skin, gripping her heart and snapping around her throat. Fear. She hadn't felt it so sharply in years. Their home burning behind them and uncertainty in front of her. Fear that everything would be gone and she would be back out there in the world alone after having almost six years of love and comfort and family.

The echoing of another voice, "love will always bring pain." And she had known that and said the pain was worth it. But now that was being put to the test and she was being called out.

That tightening feeling rippled in her, whispering promises of blood and rage and making her grip her hand on the reins and ignore the cold that threatened to steal what little breathe she had.

It was the sight of Shimmer, Ellie's horse with Joel's stallion next to it inside the overhang of the lodge that allowed the tiniest bit of relief to pass through her. But the multiple set of foot prints, too many, stole it away.

And then the sound of Joel's pained yells and Ellie screaming ripped away the last of it.

White noise filled her as she pressed against the wall in the main hallway, ears ringing and hand sinking into Brownie's fur for any sort of grounding. Snow dusted footprints covered the ground around her. Grunts and the sound of smacking flesh and Ellie cursing everyone slipped under the crack of the door, growing louder as she slowly cracked the door open.

Blood rushed through her, cool and hot, vision tunneling.

The pain that speared through her was greater than she had ever known. The universe asking, "are you sure it was worth it?"

Her body wasn't cold anymore, bones no longer aching. Her kid was screaming and her person was in pain. Her Ellie. Her Joel. Her girl and her husband. Hers, hers, hers, the words ricocheted through her mind and that part of her that slept more often than not these days woke up.

It stretched under her skin, claws flexing, teeth snapping, blinking from the darkness.

She was never docile. She would always be a monster.

Six of them. She could spot six. Two on Ellie, one on Joel (she couldn't focus on his body on the ground, only the fact that he was alive and groaning and moving) and three standing watching. Only one actively held a rifle, the rest almost watching in mute horror.

Turning from where she was crouched, her eyes met Brownie's. She had spent five years with the kennel dogs every day, training them, rearing them, making them ready for the world. Teaching them to alert and snarl and rip at her command. That had been her one job she put everything into outside of her family.

And damn if she wasn't good at it, if she didn't make sure that they were weapons in themselves.

One silent command, a single hand motion, and the happy, tired dog was gone.

Hunt.

And he did.

Teeth launched onto those holding Ellie down, digging and ripping, shouts raising as blood sprayed and growls tore through the air so loud it broke through the static. The one holding the rifle swung and she was there, firing once and twice for good measure.

The man's finger twitched but didn't reach the trigger as he jerked and hit the ground hard like a pile of bricks. Eyes swung to where she was, some rushing towards the dog. Another shot in that breath of chaos and the girl with the bloody fist smashed into the ground hard as her knee exploded.

Ellie, her beautiful vicious Ellie, didn't waste any time and flew from the ground. Not hurt, not hurt. She rushed not at Joel because she knew better, bless her, but went for the pistol on the ground, hands wrapping around it and aiming at one of the three that were running to do something.

They hadn't expected someone else.

Brownie left a body and focused on the other, muzzle dripping red where he had tore into the throat of one of the girls and moved on.

It was quick. Gunfights always were in reality. They lasted a breath, the span of time it took to pull a trigger. The two remaining hadn't had time to get to their weapons and aim before she and Ellie had sent bullets into them.

The sounds of the girl with the braid groaning and screaming, her hands slapping the ground as she attempted to crawl were almost drowned by the grunts of the man fighting off Brownie with his snarls. Ellie quickly shot him in the head, his arm in the dog's mouth trying to keep him off of him. The dog finished him off for good measure, flesh ripping and the sound of blood bubbling from the open wound.

The girl wrapped her hand around a blade and tried to swing at her from the ground but she put a bullet through her arm at close range. It barely hung on, attached by shreds of flesh and tendon. In the back of her mind, she was aware of Ellie running over to Joel's body and him crying out in pain as she flipped him onto his back, but her eyes never left her target.

Those sounds filled her, seeping in and settling there as she stepped closer and stepped on the girl's free arm.

"Ellie?"

"He's alive! Just really banged up! She shot his leg!"

Another shot sounded and the girl screamed as she shot the other kneecap out. Tit for tat. Not really, but she felt a sense of poetic thrill at doubling what she had done to Joel. The panic was subsiding, claw easing from her throat, but it didn't settle back into place. It stayed there, peaking out from behind her eyes. Head quirked, rage so quiet and sharp it could cut.

"Fuck you!" the girl screamed, bloody teeth gnashing. That same beast stared back at her. Like called to like and she could recognize that rage easily. But hers had been burning longer, burning for years and years, decades, then shoved down and itching to come out.

Hers was a wildfire compared to this girl's.

"They're fucking Fireflies. From Salt Lake. They came for Joel," Ellie grunted, working on tightening Joel's tourniquet and pulling out a first aid kit from her pack. Once upon a time, she would have said that hopefully. The Fireflies, their end goal, her purpose. But it implied something else now.

Hatred.

She looked down, silently, and pressed more weight on the girls arm even as she bucked.

"You should have stayed there," she whispered, violence coating the words.

"He killed everyone. He deserves to fucking rot for what he did," the girl still bucked and snarled, spitting at her and at Joel, eyes black with hatred.

She only quirked her head and kneeled on the trapped arm to look at her closer, meeting her eye to eye, "So this is revenge?"

The girl snapped, "It's justice."

Justice. It felt like a joke.

She was back in the hospital, tied to a radiator, Joel telling her the doctors who were gonna make a cure were instead going to cut open their kid. She was coughing up smoke from a flash grenade and being dragged without so much as a single question. She was in a surgical room as her kid was knocked out on the table and a doctor was holding a scalpel to keep them from saving her.

They had tore through that hospital, floor after floor. No mercy, no survivors. Colorado had been enough of a lesson on leaving witnesses and she wasn't going to make that mistake again. But "justice" had found them anyways...

...If only so she could teach it that there was no place for it in their world anymore.

She took the knife from the girl's destroyed hand and slowly pushed it into the arm under her boot. It sunk and sunk, tearing through flesh and muscle and bone, and hit wood but she kept pressing until it was stuck there.

"The funny thing is," she started and the words were cold, monotone, but dripping with the promise of what was to come, "you came all this way to kill him. Because he killed your little friends-"

"He killed my father!"

The boot pressed harder. Fangs curled into a grin inside of her and she remembered what it was like before Jackson. The blood and the fury. She let that fully unfurl inside of her and almost smiled down at her, "You would have came all this way and killed him and still not gotten justice...because he didn't do it alone. You had two targets, not one. No matter what, this would have ended in failure."

The girl's eyes sharpened into razors, angry tears trickling down her cheeks. Hatred, pure and unrelenting, knowing she was staring into the eyes of that second target. The other murderer they didn't know about, maybe even the one that had pulled the trigger to kill her dad.

She did smile then, seeing that hatred, "I want you to know you failed and it was all for nothing. Your people tried to hurt mine. And that was the moment they all died. There is no such thing as justice, there is only who survives."

Then she stood and went over to Ellie's side beside Joel while letting out a sharp whistle. The sound of Brownie's feet echoed as he launched himself onto the girl and sunk his teeth into her throat, choking off her screams.

Ellie didn't flinch, didn't look at her like she was a monster or look at the girl in remorse or horror. Because she didn't care.

She only worked on cleaning Joel's wounds to get a closer look at the wounds while whispering that he needed to fucking pull through. A part of her mourned that on their path, they had dragged her along with them. But it would have been a lie.

Ellie had always been right there along with them, hands covered in blood and ready to tear apart the world at their side.

She was as much their daughter, if not through the blood in her veins as the blood on her hands.

Neither of them cared when Brownie sat next to the kid, tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted, gore smeared all over his fur. He simply curled up with a whine and pressed his whole body in the small nook between Ellie and Joel.

Joel had always grumbled about the dog when it was outside the kennels, but family knew family.

The snowstorm was slowing but they only focused on him, going through bandage after bandage and whatever pain meds they had. He'd live. She knew he would. He was beat to hell and whether he would keep his leg was up in the air, but he was breathing and cursing and holding onto each of them tightly. That was enough.

"You don't get to leave me, Tex," she whispered to him, brushing his hair back away from his swollen face. His fingers, bloody and trembling, dove into her hair and pulled her down until they were forehead to forehead.

"Not today, Starshine," he whispered back brokenly and they both ignored the tears leaving a path down his cheek.

She wanted to argue not ever. Not if she could help it, not if she was breathing. No one was allowed to take him or Ellie from her and she would tear apart the grim reaper itself if necessary.

Ellie leaned her head against her arm, one hand weaving through her fingers while she gripped Joel's other. The adrenaline was draining from them, the rage a quiet simmer in the aftermath of the destruction. The beast curled up inside her, sated with it's work for now.

If Jesse had anything to say when he arrived, seeing them all kneeling on the ground surrounded by blood and flesh and the smell of copper and gunpowder in the air, he kept his mouth shut.

Everyone knew monsters lived in Jackson.

Everyone knew not to draw their ire. __________________________

Taglist: @alouise20@faceache111​@hawsx3 @taxidriversainz @iluvbunnyhops @mrfitzdarcyslover @emlovesya  @agent007knight @spaacerabbit@namgification @wonwoosthetic  @wxnderingthoughts @sagggy @escaping-reality8 @badwolf00593​ @themothersmercy@badwolf00593@mxtokko@happinessinthebeing​ @taranicristeard  @aroacefanenby @barbellpedro  @maviee​ @sgt-morgan @peppesgirl​ @spideysimpossiblegirl​ @hreader7​ @jackierose902109

[cravinganotherworld]

Amorous Chapter 4 - Frontman x Fem! Reader (Squid Games)

WARNINGS: Mentions of death, very very slight smut implications, anxiety, mention of guns.

Wordcount: 1.1k

Notes: If anybody would like any In-Ho/Frontman requests doing please drop me a message, i would love to write more for him!

See other chapters below:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2, Part 1

Chapter 2, Part 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

After the game naturally everyone was exhausted, the lack of food and the inability to sleep had gotten to you all. You sat on the steps with the ‘X’ group with Young Il at your side, your bodies so close you could feel his heat and listened to them talk about the events to come.

“They have 12 more on their side” Dae-Ho speaks out loud “It’s going to be hard for us to win the next vote” Young Il Stands and replies,

“That may sound like a lot…but if 6 of them change their minds it’ll be 50/50, and if somehow we can get seven…we might even win”

“But a few of the ‘X’s could also change their minds and switch now” Dae-ho responds, fear settling in.

“If they voted ‘X’ last time I’m sure they won’t change their minds”

“Why’s that?” you question, Young Il turns to look at you.

“Before when they voted to leave they were happy to do so with less money, it wouldn’t make sense for them to put their lives at risk by playing another game” you nod in understanding and he turns back towards the rest of the group.

“Maybe we should try speaking to the ‘O’s and get them to change their minds?” you suggest

“No!” Young Il quickly turns back towards you with worry in his voice “Most of those guys are going to want to keep going until the last game…no matter the cost…if we try something they won’t just sit by and let it happen”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Gi-Hun questions, his voice raising slightly as anger takes over. Young Il walks closer to him, now speaking in hushed tones.

“If we do something now things could get violent! Do you really want that to happen?” You hear Young Il speak.

“I think he’s right Gi-Hun, I’m scared…and if anyone else feels that way then surely they’ll vote to leave…I’ve calculated the total to be over 300 Million, that’s enough to help people” Dae-Ho interjects. Before Gi-Hun could response a loud buzz echoes through the dormitory causing you to jump slightly. Through the doors the pink guards came holding their guns close to their bodies, a shiver runs down your spine as you recall the sound of people getting shot a few hours ago.

“Congratulations, you have made it through yet another game in the series, now if I may have your attention I will now announce the results of the third game” The room darkens and money begins to fall into the piggy bank hanging from the ceiling. You take a deep breath and stand looking as it all fell in. “We will once again conduct a vote in reverse order from highest to lowest, player 456 please cast your vote” Gi-Hun takes a deep breath and walks towards the podium, of course pressing ‘X’. The more people that vote the more you find your heart sinking. As your turn arrived and you walk down the centre you find yourself playing with your jacket sleeve, anxiety overcoming you. Arriving at the podium you press ‘X’ and walk over to stand by Gi-Hun. Quick enough the players went down, and small cheers of victory could be heard through the ‘X’s.

“Holy shit, 3 more to go we only need 3 more!” Dae-Ho whispered in celebration towards Gi-Hun causing a smile to grace his face. Looking up at the scoreboard you see that the ‘O’s were now in the lead but only by 1…

“And finally player 001, please cast your vote” You watch as Young Il makes his way down the centre towards the podium and press ‘X’. Shit…a draw. He walks over to you smiling.

“Voting has now concluded”

“Okay so we’ve reached a tie, now what?” Player 100 shouts out, clearly annoyed.

“Clause 3 of the consent form: Should the initial vote result in a tie, the players will vote again”

“How long do we get before the next vote?” “To ensure you have time to carefully consider your options, the second vote will be conducted tomorrow, until then please take this this time to carefully think about your future” The guards confirmed. They began to wheel the podium away and all players around you returned to their groups, yet you couldn’t find it in yourself to move, you stand there looking up at the scoreboard with fear running through every vein in your body.

“Hey you okay?” You jump as you hear Young Ils voice behind you. You turn your head to the side to look at him and offer him a small smile.

“Yeah I just…I guess I expected more people to want to leave” you whisper sadly.

“We get a second chance tomorrow remember…maybe some will change their minds after thinking about it overnight” he comforts you by placing his hand on your shoulder.

“Yeah I guess…I just hope no one else dies before then” You turn to face him and catch a small smile on his face.

“C’mon its nearly time for lights out” He wraps his arm around your shoulder and you both walk across to the steps, taking your seat awaiting both food and lights out.

“You want some of mine?” Dae-Ho asks, his mouth full as you sit and play with your food. You laugh lightly and shake your head.

“No Thank you”

“It’s good right?” Jun-Hee says giggling at Dae-Ho as he scoffs his food down quickly.

“Mhm” You laugh lightly again as you feel a small nudge on your shoulder. Turning your head you see Young Il looking at you concerned.

“Are you okay? Why aren’t you eating?”

“I’m just not hungry I guess…seeing so many people die today has put me off my food” you confess looking into his eyes. He exhales lightly before nodding his head.

“I understand…but you need to keep your strength up. Can’t win if you’re weak now can you?” he offers a small smile to show he is joking with you and you roll your eyes at him. You turn back to your food trying to force yourself to eat something when you feel his breath on your ear.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me sweetheart” Your breath hitches in your throat and butterflies erupt in your stomach. Instinctively you press your thighs together, his strict tone sent shivers through your body…a feeling you had recently grown to like. Young Il noticed the way you clenched your thighs together and smirked, he was slowly learning things about you that would be very useful in future. The only thing he didn’t know was how hard you’d fallen for him and how hard he had fallen for you. These games weren’t supposed to be like this, he was supposed to come in and get close to player 456…not fall for you. You who had ruined all of his plans…you who had taken his heart without realising…you who he knew he would have to choose between.

[midnightdraftsblog]

.・。.・゜✭・ᴋɪʟʟ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀ ꜱᴘᴀʀᴋʟᴇ・✫・゜・。.

summary: what if it was flipped?

pairing: cato x f! reader

warnings: it’s the hunger games

words: 2.6k

╚═*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═╝

You weren't sure what was happening, the world around you felt distant and fuzzy. You were only 18, barely even an adult.

You were probably one of the few from District 2 who didn't care for the Games, you saw it as pointless slaughter, but of course nothing was ever said.

The other tribute with you was Cato Hadley, now here was a guy who could win it. On the downside he was kind of annoying and honestly a dick, but his looks definitely made up for that.

Before you knew it you were sitting on a train heading towards the capitol, any words from your mentors, Enobaria and Brutus, went through one ear and out the other.

“Will you stop that?”, you hear a voice say, one that was strangely close and rather too loud.

You let out a mumble of incoherent words, because honestly anyone put into your position wouldn't be too happy- even if they lied about it.

“You’re so weird, just be happy you aren't dead yet”, Cato says. Oh, that was the voice.

You cough awkwardly, shifting yourself just a bit away from him, “Right yeah sorry…”, you mumble out, eyes averting from his very harsh ones.

“Whats your name again? Y/n L/n? You're the…quiet one, right?”, he asks- almost nonchalantly, moving to cross his arms behind his head.

“Yeah, I’m surprised you even remembered”, you say with a light laugh and smile, deciding that even stuck in a shitty situation, might as well not be depressed about it- because Cato might kill you before even getting to the Games.

He stares at you silently after your reply, just looking at you- almost analyzing you? God, he was crazy.

“Okay…well I hope you’re that warm with Caesar..”, you mumble out, side eyeing him.

You could see him tense, “What did you say, you brat?”

Wow okay, definitely had a temper- you internally slapped yourself, he was actually going to kill you and you had only spoken to him a hand full of times.

“Aren’t you two cute?”, Enobaria says with a very fake smile, Brutus behind her as they finally entered back into the longue section of the train.

“Super!”, you say with a smile, glaring at Cato. In less than an hour you already fucked up.

“Shut up”, he replies, glaring back at you. Okay well, at least he looked good while doing that.

“You both realize we need you two to work together, right?”, Brutus says, making you and Cato sit straight. You hesitantly nod your head, while Cato just looks ahead at Brutus, his jaw set.

“We can work together”, Cato replies harshly, okay switch up was kind of crazy but whatever. You nod your head at what he says, “We can..”

“Okay good..”, Enobaria says, “Once we get to the capitol we can talk more about strengths and weaknesses, we’ll also talk about some basic etiquette…because cleary the two of you need it”, she finishes off, getting up from her seat, Brutus following behind her as the exit into a different part of the train.

“We’ll work together, okay? Just listen to me and don't ask questions”, Cato says, getting up from next to you and walking towards the table that was stacked with food.

“Okay then...”, you say, rolling your eyes as you get up from your spot.

There was at least five more hours until you would reach the Capitol, exiting the dining car you get into your private bedroom. It was a little nicer than what was at District 2, spotting the bed you collapse into- content on passing the time by with sleep.

“Wake up”, you hear a voice say, the same one from earlier, but much MUCH closer this time.

“Five more minutes..”, you mumble out, wanting anything more to not have to wake up and face your reality.

You feels hands on the blanket covering you, and in an instant the blanket was ripped from you and your body was toppling onto the floor.

“Oh my god! You are such a dick! Do you always need to be in charge or something?”, you grumble out, slowly getting up from the ground.

Your eyes connect with Catos, an unreadable expression on his face- his eyes had gone dark. It was weird, very weird. Almost like you had brought up his deepest fear.

“I didn't want you to make us late..”, he finally says, walking out of your bedroom and back into the dining car.

You clean yourself up, going into the dining car where you met the faces of your two mentors, Cato, and escort.

“We’ll be arriving at the Capitol in just a few moments! My name is Lucan Pex- but of course you already know that!”, your escort says.

Oh, yeah..you know him.

Lucan was known for his sharp, tailored Capitol fashion and military-themed accessories. Believes deeply in “strength above all” and treats his tributes like his rising gladiators. Fiercely loyal to the Capitol—at least in public.

His was tall- lean, almost like a solider. His dark hair was slicked back into a bun, a neat subtle adorned his chiseled face. The suit he wore was clean- military cuts, small embellishments of swords and shields lined the dark grey fabric. The coat he wore on top matched perfectly, despite the gold trim.

He looked weird- almost perfect yet imperfect? He had an odd glimmer to him…like he had multiple procedures done to fit into the Capitols ideal standard.

You could barely make out a silver tattoo crawling up his neck, although he kept it well hidden.

The steel-gray eyes meet your own tired yet aware ones, “Are you alright, Ms. Y/N?”, Pex asks.

“Oh- yes I’m fine..”, you mumble out, taking a seat next to Cato.

“Ignore her, shes been like this all day…annoying”, Cato says, you could feel his eyes burning into the side of your head.

“Its a hard adjustment, but that is why we prepare you so well for this moment”, Pex says, not a single waver in his voice as he gives you a smile. “You will turn into a fine soldier in no time, Ms. Y/n”

“Oh wow..this is lovely..”, you say, your hair thrown up into a slicked back bun- the blades from daggers sticking from your hair, almost like a makeshift crown. A black velvet dress hung on your body dripping with ruby-like gems, daggers and smaller weapons worked into the fabric, sparkling off of the lights.

“Isn’t it darling! I needed you to absolutely shine! After all..you and Cato both need to kill with a sparkle!”, your stylist, Seraphine Glint says.

She was slightly crazy, obsessed with turning violence into pageantry. You gave her credit, she was good at it.

Her hair was silver, shining almost- slicked back into a bun. Her skin was dark and rich, diamond dusted lipstick and eyeshadow on her face. Her nails, sharp as daggers were glittering with diamonds.

You thought to yourself that her and Pex would make an outstanding couple.

She had a dagger hung around her neck like a necklace, clearly representing your District with pride.

“You and Cato will look like a dream together!”, she says happily, ushering you out of the dressing room and out to the walkway for the parade- where you lock eyes with a similarly dressed Cato.

His hair looked neater, gel clearly used in it- minus a dress, he wore the same fabric but it was designed to take a similar look to the Peacekeepers armor, without the helmet of course.

He looked good.

You gave him a small smile, walking with Seraphine you get to the chariot, letting her do some final touches to you and Cato.

Cato looked at you silently, it was like he wanted to say something but words were caught in his throat. He looks better than usual, still intimidating as hell.

His blue eyes stayed focused on you, taking you in- almost admiring…no, just admiring.

The carriage moved, forcing him to shift closer to you. This was only the first part of your “show” before the interviews.

Cato seemed uncomfortable- not because he was dressed oddly but because he was so close to you.

“Take my hand”, he finally mutters out.

“What?”

“Take my hand”, he repeats. You grab his hand, lacing your fingers together. As the chariot exits the tunnel he raises your conjoined hands, his other arm extended to wave at the Capitol.

Next to him, you don’t raise your hand. Keeping your freed one down at your side.

“There they are!”, Caesar says on screen, him and the other host talking about the tributes.

“Would you look at District 2! Don’t they look lovely! Oh and they’re holding hands!”, he says excitedly.

“This could mean a possible romance! President Snow will most definitely have his eyes on that!”

He did, and you could feel those eyes burning into you.

You let out a breath as you finally reach the Tribute Suites, collapsing onto the couch.

“Already sleeping again?”, Cato says, eyes judging you.

You let out a huff of air, “Shut it, I still have a few more hours of sleep to catch up on”.

Cato stands in the middle of the room, arms crossed as he looks at you.

“You’re going to have to stop that if you want to survive”, he says, his tone somewhat authoritative.

“Sleep?”, you sarcastically ask, sitting upright on the couch.

“That doesn’t make any sense..”, you add on, sitting up on the couch as you get comfortable.

Pex, Brutus and Enobaria were sat at the dining table, all talking amongst each other.

Cato rolls his eyes at you, “Shut up, you know what I mean..”, he growls out. He looks at the mentors over at the table, before walking closer to you.

The air felt tense as he stood over you, you could smell him…god, he smelled good.

“You need to start taking things serious”, he says, his gaze shifting to your own. You tilt your chin up to match his intense gaze.

“Cato between the two of us, I won’t be winning..”, you say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I have enough survival instincts to last me well into the games..but not to win”

“Then why haven’t you just killed yourself yet?”, he asks, his voice hardening in anger. He takes another step closer to you until he’s standing right in front of you- forcing you to fully tilt your head up to look at him.

His eyes bore into your own, you were sure there was steam coming out of his ears- he was mad.

“We got our names picked Cato..do you really think I wanted to do this?”, you ask, giving him a look.

“Obviously not, but why are you just laying here acting like you’ve already lost?”, he says, his voice dropping. You see his eyes drift from yours to your lips, before going right back up.

It was odd.

The room was quiet, you could hear the others talking, but the focus was on you and Cato for now.

You hear Enobaria say something about strategy, and in an instant, you’re up from the couch, away from Cato, and sat alongside the others at the dining table.

You could feel Cato’s eyes fixed on you, even as you sat next to Brutus and Enobaria. Enobaria raised an eyebrow, “You okay?”, she asks. Her question caught the attention of Brutus and Pex.

You could still feel Cato’s intense gaze, but it felt different now. There were things- unspoken things left in the air. Brutus speaks up, “What were you two arguing about now..”.

“It’s nothing”, you mumble out- Cato at the same time muttering out a “nothing”.

The two mentors looked at each other, unconvinced, before looking back to you and Cato.

Pex’s gaze lingered on you just a moment too long, there was curiosity in his eyes.

“You two need to work together”, Brutus says, crossing his arms over his chest. He was always to the point.

“I’m trying to..”, Cato replies through clenched teeth, the grip on his arms getting tighter.

“Listen Cato…I don’t want to learn any of this..”, you say with a sigh, handing the sword back into his hands.

You guys finally got to the training center, other tributes focusing on their skills, learning other ones or just observing others.

Cato takes the sword, a look of annoyance on his face. You had been here for a few hours, other tributes were training in nearby areas- watching and learning from each other.

“Why not? You need to actually put in some effort if you want to survive..”, he says, his voice cold.

You simply just roll your eyes, walking away from him and going towards the girl from District 12.

What was her name? Oh right- Katniss Everdeen.

You make your way over to Katniss who was fiddling with a throwing knife. She looks slightly awkward and uncomfortable, but focused.

Her gaze drifts towards you, “Can I help you?”, she asks bluntly, but not in a rude way.

“Can we work together?”, you ask quickly, eyes almost pleading with her. You liked her, she seemed quiet- equally displeased to be here.

“Work together?”, she says back, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looks at you skeptically. She seemed to be taking in your appearance, deciding whether she could trust you.

Katniss considers your proposition for a moment, “and why would I work with you..”.

“I don’t want to be here either..the other careers are kind of crazy..”, you say, grabbing one of those throwing knifes- without paying much attention you quickly throw it at the human cutout, hitting it perfectly in the middle.

Katniss’ skeptical expression softens just a bit, clearly impressed by your accuracy. She looks at you for a moment longer before finally replying.

“Fine”, she says, setting down the throwing knife in her hand, “we can work together”.

“Thank you…would you teach me how to use a bow and arrow?”

She looked at you surprised, she never mentioned that she knew how to use a bow and arrow.

“Why would you talk to her?”, Cato says.

You jumped up in surprise, haven’t heard him come down from his room.

You look over your shoulder at him, sitting by one of the viewing windows in the suite.

“I don’t know..she seemed nice”, you say, eyes wandering back to the outside view- the night time view somewhat calming.

Cato makes his way down to you, joining you by the viewing windows. He glances outside at the city lights of the capitol before shifting his gaze to you.

“She’s from District 12, the underdog”, he says, leaning against the windowsill. His eyes fix on your own for a moment before glancing back outside.

In the soft glow of the city lights, you could see the outline of his sharp jaw, the tension still evident in his shoulders.

“Why are you so fixated on that?”, you say, glancing back over at him.

You never quite understood the hierarchy with the districts- although you had a reason for that.

“Just because your Mother is a disgrace and got with someone from District 12 doesn’t mean you can just lose honor and respect for our District..”, Cato spits out harshly.

You were wondering how long it would take him to say it.

You sit there on the windowsill, silently staring and watching the outside world.

There was a heavy silence for a moment, each of you lost in your own thoughts.

The city lights danced outside, almost mockingly, as you sat there. You could feel his gaze on you, the tension in the air thick.

“I’m..I’m sorry”, he finally says, his voice almost a whisper.

“It’s okay”, you say sharply, eyes not wavering from the view.

There were a few minutes of silence, neither one of you said anything or moved.

Finally you heard him walk away, looking back you see him disappear up the stairs, then you hear an opening and shutting to his bedroom door.

╚═*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*═╝

notes✨: I had to make up some characters myself so I hope they fit in! any feedback, recommendations or requests are welcomed!!

part two

[rafeysvenicebitch]

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼ Meet-Cute ✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

✼Joe Burrow x Ambitious!reader✼

✼pt.2✼

Joe showed up at the gym the next morning, earlier than usual. It wasn’t like he was desperate or anything—he just happened to feel like switching up his routine.

Right. Sure.

He scanned the room as he walked in, towel slung over his shoulder, trying to be casual. And there she was, back on the treadmill, jogging at that same determined pace. You were focused, earbuds in, and entirely in your own world.

Joe wandered over to the free weights, pretending to stretch while sneaking glances at her. You had no idea he was there—again. It was kind of infuriating but also weirdly endearing.

He waited until you slowed to a walk, then grabbed a bottle of water and made his way over, trying to act like he wasn’t counting every step.

“Hey,” he said casually, hopping onto the treadmill next to hers.

You glanced over, eyebrows raising in recognition. “Oh. Football guy.”

He laughed, shaking his head. “That’s one way to remember me.”

“Joe, right?” You said, wiping your forehead with her sleeve.

He grinned, absurdly pleased you remembered. “Yeah. And you are…?”

Your face lit up with a sheepish smile. “Oh. I never told you, did I? It’s Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he repeated, testing it out. “Nice to officially meet you.”

You slowed her treadmill to a stop and hopped off, grabbing your water bottle. “So, Joe, you always this friendly, or do you just make it a habit to harass strangers on treadmills?”

“Only the ones who look like they’re having a terrible time,” he shot back, smiling.

You laughed, “Fair enough. And what about you? Back for round two of your usual routine?”

“Something like that,” he said. “Thought I’d see if you got the job.”

Your smile faltered, and you shook your head. “Not this time. But there’s always next week.”

“Sorry to hear that,” he said, genuinely meaning it. “What are they, blind? They don’t know what they’re missing.”

You gave him a look, like you couldn’t tell if he was serious or just being nice. “I don’t know about that, but thanks. What about you? Big game coming up?”

He hesitated, realizing she had no idea who he really was. She didn’t know about the upcoming season, the pressure, or the fact that half the city expected him to carry the Bengals back to the playoffs.

“Yeah, something like that,” he said, keeping it vague. “But, uh, I wouldn’t want to bore you with football stuff.”

“Good call,” you said with a grin.

He laughed again, unable to help himself. God, she was something else.

As you grabbed her stuff to leave, he blurted out, “Hey, can I get your number?”

You froze, glancing back at him with a mix of surprise and amusement. “You want my number?”

He nodded, trying to keep his cool. “You know, so I can check in on how the job hunt’s going. Strictly motivational purposes.”

“Right,” you said, biting back a smile. “Motivational.”

Joe shrugged, his grin widening. “You seem like you could use a good cheerleader.”

You paused, then reached into your bag and pulled out a scrap of paper. Scribbling something down, you handed it to him.

“Don’t make me regret this, Football Guy.”

He took the paper, feeling a rush of victory. “I won’t. Promise.”

As you walked away, he glanced down at the number, your name written neatly underneath.

This time, he knew exactly who you were. And there was no way he was letting yiu slip away again.

Taglist: @heavyhitterheaux @inmyfeelingsgnocchi @joeybsboo @funnyjb @crispppykreme @nami-swannn @tylerjeauxburreaux9 @platinumsim

@joeyfranchise @blackynsupremacy

[btpolistes]

DELTARUNE CHAPTERS 1-4 All Puppies

Kris gets compared to dogs a lot. I'm definitely not the only person to notice this, but I wasn't sure exactly where and when all these examples are, so I wanted to make a little list.

If you think I've missed something, let me know and I'll add it. I want to know every instance there is!

Chapter 2

1: After Ralsei and Susie leave but before Noelle joins the team, you can examine the Lancer item to get some dialogue, where he references Scooby-Doo and says Kris can be the "un-talking dog".

2: During the first switch puzzle with Noelle, if you leave the button before she reaches the forcefield, she jokes about giving them a dog treat to stay on the button. If you say no they howl, but if you say yes she notes how genuine they seem.

3: During the Tasque Manager fight, Kris will display a unique sprite when using the OrderX command, featuring them in dog ears. Worth noting is that Susie and Ralsei also have similar sprites, but are only visible during their S- and R-actions.

Chapter 3

1: After round 2, you can examine the door to the next game after talking with Tenna. The first time, Susie will comment about not going in until they know what's going on, but after that Kris will start "scratching at the door like a dog" according to Susie, while Ralsei thinks they want walkies.

2: When leaving the Green Room, you can choose to talk to Susie. When discussing the fact that Ralsei can't leave the Dark World, Susie jokes about Kris wearing doggy ears and doing her homework, to which Kris "howls" in response.

3: At the end of the Tenna fight, when he’s rapidly flipping through minigames, you can briefly see the team in monster costumes based on the Susiezilla game, and Kris is a dog.

Chapter 4

1: At the start, Toriel mentions Kris "sleeping like a puppy" during breakfast.

2: From the Holiday House Search, Susie tells Kris to "make like a dog and find some clues!" after Noelle loses her phone.

3: At the end of chapter 4, you can wait by the lake for a while. Eventually, Susie will encourage you to leave and Kris will apparently howl in response.

[mr-cha-n]

The Pen Pal Project

Pairing: Choi Seungcheol x reader

Genres: Fluff, fluff, and more fluff

Warnings: Profanities, sappiness, cheating (third party), a tinsy hint of angst

Word Count: 10.2k

Summary: Over a decade of handwritten letters later, you can happily say that the Pen Pal Project was your greatest success.

Reaching up into the top shelf of the wardrobe, toppling onto your tiptoes in order to do so, your fingertips brush against a satin, bowed box. Pulling the box down to your chest, you perch at the edge of your large, periwinkle-sheeted bed, gingerly untangling the pretty blue ribbon and lifting the lid off of the top. Leafing your fingers through the stacks of paper inside, you feel a wave of nostalgia enrapturing your body. Your head rolls back, eyes falling shut as your mind is overtaken by memory.

"Honey, the guests will be here soon!" Your husband yells out from down the stairs.

"I'll just be a few minutes! Can you take the cake out, my love?" You call back, praying you have the time to reminisce before everyone arrives.

You gently pull out the first letter from the top of the stack.

April 5th 2007

Dear pen pal,

I am writing to you because my class has signed up for the Pen Pal Project this year. Because I don't know who you are or anything about you, I am going to answer some of the questions my teacher has given us, and hopefully you can answer them too in your reply!

1. What is your name?

My mom said that I shouldn't give out any personal information, so I can't actually answer this question. My friends all call me Dusty, so you can call me that too.

2. What hobbies do you enjoy?

I am really into skating, starcraft, hockey and rocks. Yesterday, me and my friends went out to the outskirts of the city to see if we could climb the big oak trees, and I found a piece of dolomite next to the river! I really want to find a meteorite but they're very rare so I think it'll take a lot of searching. I also play in my school's field hockey team - my mom wants me to stop playing because last week I cracked one of my teeth, but I think she's going to come around when she sees our tournament next weekend.

3. What do you want to do when you grow up?

My dad is a teacher and my mom is a nurse, so my parents want me to go to university and become a doctor or a professor, but I'd quite like to be an astronaut or Indiana Jones, whichever pays better.

4. What's one thing you want to know about your pen pal?

I want to know everything about you (more than one, sorry)! What's your school like? What year were you born in (mine is 1995)? What do you do for fun? Do you like dogs? Do you have a phone?

I'm not sure if I'll get a response to this letter, but if you do want to, I hope we can keep in touch for a long time :)

Yours truly, 

Dusty

May 21st 2007

Dear Dusty,

I'm really glad I got your letter. Some of my friends got letters that didn't even have a return address, but thankfully I get to write back to you and answer some of your questions. I was also born in 1995 so we are same-age friends. I'm finding this year in school a bit harder because of all the tests we are doing, but we just started doing football again in Physical Education so it's not too bad. Sports are my biggest hobby - I do football and basketball and I want to start wrestling this year. I mostly like to go and play with my friends at the park. I'm on some of the school teams, but my friends tell me I'm too competitive to play professionally.

I also really like gaming and reading. I finished the Protoss campaign over the winter break, but I've had to stop now that school has started again. My friends are all really excited about the announcement of Starcraft II, are you too? Will you keep going with the original or switch to the new one?

When I grow up, I either want to do sports or I'll study to work a good job in business or finance. Being an astronaut would be so cool! You'd definitely be able to find a meteorite then.

About your other questions, I don't have a phone yet but I do love dogs. When I'm older I want at least one dog, if not more. Do you have any pets?

I hope that we can keep writing to each other too - it's fun to have a secret friend.

From,

Cherry

January 4th 2011

Dear Cherry,

Sorry it's been a while - I've been really busy over the winter break, but I just had my tonsils removed so I have a bit of free time in recovery to write this letter. Before you ask, no - I didn't wake up during the surgery which I was a bit disappointed about, but I did manage to swallow enough blood to make me throw up after waking up so that was kinda crazy.

I can't believe that your friend did that! One time my friend Jiwoo got suspended for unscrewing all of the lightbulbs in the science classrooms, but that was because of a dare, not her own free will! I've never been suspended before, but I came close for tardiness last year. Have you ever been suspended?

I also appreciated your inquiry into the Heiran - Hyunki situation. I can't believe I forgot to update you in my last letter, and you'll be glad to receive it! Unbelievably, they got back together. I know it's what we feared would happen, but apparently Heiran has made some of her own mistakes in the relationship, so she's willing to overlook the whole thing. Absolutely crazy - I think that she's just scared to break up with him, which I suppose is a fair concern - just not for a 16-year-old. The whole situation really made me think about the purpose of relationships and love. All of my friends keep rushing into relationships this year, and I feel like I'm being left behind. I just don't care as much as they do, but they act like I'm some alien creature for not wanting to make out with someone in the school locker rooms. Perhaps this isn't something you can relate to, but it would be nice to know if you think I'm justified in my opinion or if there really is something wrong with me.

The thought of starting school again after the break is actually making me want to run away to the mountains. My sister is leaving for university and I don't want to go to school without her. Of course, I can't tell her that, but it's going to be really lonely walking in on my own. Plus, my parents' attention is firmly on me now, so I can't mess up in exams this year. The amount of pressure is going to make my head explode. How are you feeling about the year? I guess because you have the football season to look forward to your mind is probably focused on that?

I'm thinking about rejoining hockey this year. Even though it was too much last year, I did really miss it and I think I can better manage my time now that I don't have to be in the choir anymore. I think my mom might have a fit when I tell her, but the way you talked about sports really made me miss playing. Plus, apparently, I need an outlet for all these teenage hormonal emotions seeing as I'm not getting it on in the McDonald's parking lot.

Anyways, I need to get going now so I have time to blend some fruit up before lunchtime.

Yours truly,

Dusty

A chuckle leaves your lips as you read back over your letter. You'd been so worried about who was dating who and, more importantly, who you weren't dating. You were always so grateful for someone to discuss your fears with - your friends at the time certainly didn't understand. You'd had your first kiss a few weeks after you'd sent the letter. A party at a friend of a friend's house had devolved into typical teenage party games and you'd been pressured into kissing a boy whose name you couldn't remember. In fairness, you remembered that he was cute - curly dark hair and sharp cheekbones - but you'd made a joke about not being able to engage in tonsil tennis and he hadn't laughed so you'd known he wasn't the one.

June 27th 2011

Dear Dusty,

I finally asked out Myunghee and she said yes -

Nuh uh, skip that one.

October 23rd 2013

Dear Dusty,

All the kids in the year have planned a big Halloween party to celebrate our last your of high school. It's pretty exciting - apparently, they've bought some major decorations and they're going to set out the host's house to have scary surprises in all the rooms. I wouldn't be surprised if someone dresses up and decides to chase drunk kids around all night. It's a bittersweet feeling - our last Halloween party, but perhaps our best? Do you have any plans for Halloween and the holidays? I'm thinking of doing a Superman costume, but I'm wondering if that's a bit too obvious?

I put off writing about it first because I didn't want to open the letter with bad news, but I wanted to let you know that me and Myunghee broke up. Even though it's pretty sad, I've known it was coming for a while. If you remember my last letter, I told you about the fight that we had about next year, and I think that was really the beginning of the end. I was hoping that we could make it work a bit longer, but she said that we'd just be dragging out the inevitable and I guess she's right. I think I'm still a bit annoyed about the rollercoaster of the last month seeing if she's known the whole time that we should break up but I'll get over it. It's mostly just weird not having her around all the time. Everywhere feels a lot emptier now. I'm glad I can write to you about this - it's a bit awkward talking about it with my friends because they are also friends with her, but I can actually be honest with you. 

Anyway, I hope you are doing a bit better than me. Your date sounded pretty cool - I've always wanted to go on an ice-skating date but I'd be a bit scared of falling over and making a fool of myself so I admire your confidence. If you are still seeing him, I hope he's treating you well. Chocolates and flowers at least once a month - and you can tell him I said so if he asks. If you're not seeing him, I (pre-emptively) can't believe he did that to you! What a jerk...

Are you watching the AFC Champions League final? A few friends and I are going to go down to the bar to watch it together and pray for a good result - either way, it should be fun. I suppose your dad will have it on in the house, but I'll be shocked if you tell me you're going to watch it with him after last time. Best to avoid the flying wrath of a TV remote. There's something about dads and sports, isn't there? I wonder if I'll be like that when I'm an adult. I hope not, but I already get too into it so maybe it's inevitable.

Yours,

Cherry

That date had been a good one as far as you remember, but the memory has become blurry after all the times your husband has taken you ice-skating since. You'd dated that guy for a few more weeks after this, but he made a weird comment to one of his friends when he didn't think you could hear it so you knew he wasn't the one.

Finishing high school and moving on to university had been a formative time for you. You gained a sense of identity that you'd lost as a teenager, and reconnected with your younger self. A smile crinkles your lips as you think about that time. The stupid escapades of adults let loose on their own for the first time, the lifelong friends you'd made, and the wealth of knowledge you'd gained about yourself and about the world. Your husband never attended university so he never experienced any of that, but you suppose he did have his own life-changing revelations during this time.

February 8th 2015

Dear Cherry,

I'm in crisis and I need your advice! I haven't spoken to anyone else about this yet, but I have a feeling building in me that needs to be released and you always give me the best advice. I'm thinking about dropping out of my program. 

I know this sounds super rash and stupid, but I really hate it. I find it so dull and confusing, and everyone else is much better at it than I am. And, if I'm really being honest, I only chose medicine because my mother wanted me to. I would feel so stupid revealing that to anyone else, but I think you already knew that was the case. I'm struggling to keep going with it without the passion that other students seem to have, and when I hear about my friends' courses they sound so much more interesting.

If I actually go through with it, this may be the last letter I write to you. But, given that I survived my mother's wrath, a life studying literature or archaeology sounds so much more fulfilling to my brain even if not my pockets. What do you think about all of this? Is it worth following a passion that may lead to nothing or sticking it out with a stable, reliable path to future success without enjoyment?

As you know, I make very impulsive decisions, so I need your help in deciding whether or not this would be one of those.

Yours truly,

Dusty

P.S. I got asked to the dance by this really attractive guy who works at the coffee shop on campus so not everything is going wrong.

P.S.S. I found a rock which I thought was a meteorite but it was actually a magnetite - better luck next time!

You'd dropped out of your medicine major the moment you'd received the reply. Of course, your pen pal was a lot more supportive of your decision than your parents were but they got over it in time. Your fate had been decided the moment you'd stepped out of your first archaeology class - heart beaming and mind brimming with all of your plans for the future. Despite your parents' apprehensions, it had been the right decision. It didn't take long for your burning enthusiasm and insatiable appetite for learning to be picked up by your professors, and by your second year in the major you'd been invited on an exclusive trip one of your professors was going on with a handful of other students. 

It was around this time that you'd started wondering more about your pen pal. The flutters of your heart each time the small envelope appeared in your dorm pigeonhole had been drowned out by the rush of university life. Reflecting back, your obliviousness to your own emotions makes you shake your head in disbelief. But then, you'd met Daejung. He'd taken you out dancing, brought you flowers and laughed at your jokes, and you began to wonder if he was the one.

May 16th 2017

Dear Dusty,

Officially, you may know me better than anyone else. I know I already sent you a letter this month that you probably haven't even received, but I realised that it is the tenth anniversary since I received your first letter. Not to be soppy, but it truly means the world to me that we've been able to keep up this correspondence this whole time. 

As far as I'm aware, we won the Pen Pal Project. No one else I know stayed in touch with their childhood pen pal for nearly as long as we have, and I think that we deserve some kind of reward for it.

But, beyond any records we must have broken, I'm most grateful for the friendship we have developed. In any other circumstances, I would have said that it was impossible for people who have never met to be each other's closest confidants, but I can confidently say that there is nothing I wouldn't tell you. If it turns out you've been some 60-year-old man this whole time, consider me logged off from this life. 

My wish is that we can keep doing this for as long as we are able to hold pens in our hands, and even then I'd consider getting a scribe to write the letters for me.

As a gift, I feel that it's about time that I tell you my name - my real name. If you (and your mom) still don't feel comfortable sharing yours then Dusty is still perfectly fine for me, but the fundamental disconnect between telling a person your deepest secrets and not telling them your name has gotten too overwhelming for me, so it's time to rectify that.

Yours, 

Seungcheol

P.S. If you still want to call me Cherry that's also a-okay!

The first time Seungcheol revealed his name to you, you remember you'd dropped the letter in shock. As if knowing his name changed things, as if he didn't live a completely separate life from you already. It wasn't like knowing who he was would change anything about your life - you had no connection to him other than your letters - but the intimacy of his name had you staggering a few steps backwards, eye bulging from your head at the fallen letter. It seems rather overdramatic now, but in hindsight it always does.

This letter had been a bit of a turning point in your relationship, beyond the end of the nicknames you'd used for ten years. You'd always felt close enough to Seungcheol to pour your heart out to him in writing, but the closeness you felt was compounded in this letter. You wipe a few rogue tears from your eyes as you read back over it, moved by the raw declarations Seungcheol had been brave enough to express. If you really think about it, this letter was the first time you'd truly tried to picture what your pen pal looked like. Up until this point, you'd been enflamed by his words and unloaded all of your deepest thoughts to him in return, but this was the first time that you'd realised that your pen pal was a real man your age that you were already deeply connected to. The thought had been scandalous in your mind, and the shame that overwhelmed you when you'd met up with Daejung later that day made it hard to look him in the eye. Fantasising about a man you had never seen before had felt as bad as cheating, and the various forms of him that had appeared in your dreams for the rest of the week only compounded your guilt.

August 4th 2018

Dear Seungcheol,

Happy 24th Birthday! It's actually shocking to me to think that we're this old already, but I think mid-20s is a label that suits you well these days. Jokes aside, I hope you have a really lovely day doing whatever it is you have planned. I'll assume you're off bungee jumping with Jeonghan or on an all-inclusive golfing retreat until you tell me otherwise. In all cases, I hope that you are surrounded by friends and family to remind you how special you are.

Also, congratulations on your new job! I can't believe you didn't tell me that you were interviewing for it, but I suppose you didn't want to jinx anything by putting it into writing. I always thought that coaching would suit you - you could scare me into coming to practice any day! You should be really proud of yourself; I know that I am.

You'll never guess who got in contact with me this week! All out of nowhere, I got a message from Heiran of all people inviting me to her and Hyunki's wedding! I guess I was really wrong about that one... For their sake, I hope that their relationship is a bit better than it was in school. I was very surprised to be invited seeing as we haven't spoken in years, but I suppose it'll be nice to see everyone from school again. Perhaps I should tell Daejung that he can't come and you can be my plus one instead - I think you know the couple better than he does!

Another one of my friends just gave birth to a baby boy. All of this marrying and birth-giving is really screwing with my head. As far as I was aware, that's a thing that proper adults do and we're nowhere close to that yet. Even if I know that 24 is a very common age to be doing that stuff, it's still more than my brain can process. Once again, I am left behind as everyone else moves on to the next stage of life. I'm grateful, at least, that Daejung is pretty relaxed about all of that stuff. Hoping we can have a few more years before we start thinking about any of it - I still have so much travelling to do, things to see, and meals to eat before I flush all of my money down the toilet.

Jiwoo got really excited this week because she thought she saw Lee Byunghun walking past her work, so that made me feel a bit better about my life priorities.

Yours truly,

(Y/n)

P.S. I'm spending extra money to make sure this gets to you on time, so if it doesn't you cannot blame me.

P.P.S. My new address is - XXX

That year you and Daejung had finally moved in together. The apartment was small and in a less-than-nice area, but you'd been ecstatic at the chance to live with the man you loved. It had been a rough year before that - Daejung had missed out on a job offer for his dream role and you weren't able to go abroad on an excavation because he didn't want you to leave for months just as you were moving in together - but you'd seen the new apartment as symbolic of the new beginning you two would get together.

You'd also thought a lot about meeting up with Seungcheol that year. Looking back, it was crazy that you never did. Both of you expressed a will to do so, but something had always prevented you from actually doing it. You were completing your postgraduate degree part-time and working a service job that was supporting both you and Daejung at the start of the year, moving in together in the middle of the year, and Seungcheol had gotten busy with his new job in the latter half of the year. Even though you had never met up before, that you weren't able to that year was the first time it felt like a loss.

December 12th 2019

Dear (Y/n),

I've been thinking about you a lot recently. Writing to you has been the highlight of my month for a while now, and I'm so proud of you for everything you've achieved. It's amazing that you're already being asked to go on your first excursion as a proper expert, and I hope that Daejung comes around to the idea of you being away for so long. I'm sure that I'll miss your letters so I can imagine he's feeling much worse about it - but that shouldn't stop you from going. You might find an ancient vase and accidently release a curse upon the world, or discover a new dinosaur! Even if you go and are just digging up dirt with no results, I'll still be impressed.

One of the kids I mentor asked me if I knew what Starcraft was yesterday, and at that moment I really felt my age. I think it's led to some level of introspection I usually avoid, but one thing that has become clear to me is that I'm very grateful for this friendship. I hope that one day soon you can perhaps travel to Daegu and visit, or I can come see you in Seoul. Or perhaps it will take away the great fun of having a pen pal if we meet - you may be expecting someone completely opposite from me and seeing me may ruin the magic?

But the main reason I've been thinking about you is because I finally finished Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982. You were very correct in your recommendation - I can't believe it took me so long to read it! Summary of thoughts: I'm raging and also apologising to my mother and grandmother every time I see them. You have to send me another recommendation now that I'm finished - maybe some sort of mystery or thriller if you know any?

Yours,

Seungcheol

P.S. I suppose I should send you a whip and brown fedora and then you can officially say you're Indiana Jones. 

January 7th 2021

Dear Seungcheol,

I'm glad you had fun on your trip! The picture you sent of the mountains was absolutely gorgeous and was a hilarious reminder that I have no idea what you look like. I keep saying I want to go to Japan but can hardly find the time, but after seeing the picture I really must go now.

I have some big news.

Daejung proposed and we're getting married!! 

I know it's a bit out of the blue - I was surprised too. He's been putting off any mention of marriage for the last few months so I assumed he just wasn't interested but I guess that was all a cover to stop me from suspecting the proposal. It happened a few days after I got back from Vienna. It was really sweet - he threw this big party with all of our close friends and family to celebrate the end of my project and proposed at the end of the night. I was pretty shocked which I suppose was the point, but I'm really just excited that we're taking that step together.

My main purpose for writing is that I wanted to invite you to the wedding. It's a big step, but it wouldn't feel right to get married without one of my oldest friends there. If you decide you don't want to and you want to keep our friendship strictly on paper then I'd totally understand. But if you do want to come, we'd love to have you with us. I'll cover any travel and hotel fees if it means I can have you here.

Your continued support via letter means the world to me. 

Yours truly, 

(Y/n)

The wedding. Oh, the wedding.

A few nights before your wedding Daejung had come to the hotel you'd been staying in that week to finalise all of the preparations and observe some old-fashioned pre-wedding rituals your mother insisted on as if you and Daejung hadn't lived together for years before that. He'd given you a marriage gift a bit early because you were supposed to go straight to your honeymoon in Japan on the day of the wedding. Your heart fluttered in excitement as you opened the box, electrified at the surprise of what your future-husband could have gotten you to symbolise your union together. The reality had been, you could now admit, disappointing. The necklace had been pretty, and certainly not cheap. A silver heart set with a gleaming diamond to match the ring that Daejung had picked out for you. You'd smiled, thanking him for the gift and tried to ignore the discontent brewing in your own heart.

The first time you saw Seungcheol was at your wedding reception. Because of his job and the distance, he hadn't been able to make your morning ceremony, but the fact that he even chose to come all that way meant a lot to you.

"Who's the hunk with the green scarf?" One of your bridesmaids, Jiwoo had asked, pointing out a man standing alone by one of the drinks tables. 

For a moment you didn't want to believe that it was him, but who else would be at your wedding that you didn't recognise? Tall and broad with fluffy hair and a handsome-beyond-belief face, Seungcheol had been a picture to witness. All dressed up in a suit, you thought he looked rather like a super spy or a CEO from one of those corny romance books. In any case, you were shocked to your core that that was the man you'd spilt your darkest secrets to for over a decade now.

"Oh, I think that might be Seungcheol," You breathed, voice wavering with uncertainty even though you were now certain it was him.

"Seungcheol - hmm, why does that name sound so familiar?" Your other bridesmaid, Mirae, pondered, her brow crinkled as she tried to identify the name in her memory.

"Oh my god, you invited your pen pal to your wedding?!" Jiwoo exclaimed, spinning on her heel to give you an incredulous look. 

"Of course I did, I've known him for almost as long as I've known you!" You stuttered, your head still trying to play catch-up after the dizzying appearance of said topic of conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me that your pen pal was so hot?" Mirae scoffed, mock fanning her face in a way that made you feel shamefully irritated.

"Surprisingly, he didn't mention it in his letters." You responded, offering her a deadpan look and an eyebrow raise. She shrugged, but you'd known that wouldn't be the end of that conversation.

About 15 minutes later, you'd finally managed to make your way over to Seungcheol's perch. It was hard to decipher if your delay was because of all of the people trying to talk to you at the same time (perks of it being your wedding) or because of the unexplained fear and anxiety that was bubbling inside you at the prospect of finally meeting him face-to-face. As you finally made eye-contact, and he'd flashed his teeth at you in an infectious grin, you'd felt all of that melt away from you.

"Hi," You greeted, not able to wipe your own smile from your face.

"Hi," He responded, a peace settling between the two of you. "You look really beautiful."

Your face was all ablush and you felt a sense of dread at what would happen if you started like this. Starting down at your dress, you were unable to look back up at him.

"Thank you, I had it specially made," You smiled, your eyes gleaming as he chuckled at your joke. "I really appreciate you coming all this way, it means so much to me that you're here. Please let me know if there's anything you need - have you eaten yet? I can get you some-"

"It's okay, I'm feeling great." His hand reached out to still your own, which you hadn't realised was nervously picking at at skin around your nails.

"I can't believe that this is how we're first meeting," You breathed, a sense of shyness overwhelming you at the feeling of his skin against yours.

"If you ask me, we've definitely met before. Just not physically." His words had your head spinning so much that you were struggling to remember that you were both at your wedding.

"Poetic," You agreed, trying to present at least outwardly calmer than you felt inside. 

"Oh! Before I forget, I got you this." Seungcheol extended a hand out with a small, wrapped box in his palm. "It wasn't on the registry, and really it's only for you so I thought I should give it to you personally instead of putting it on the gifts table."

"That's really generous of you, you didn't have to." You offered him a shy smile, taking the gift from him. The neatly wrapped box had been laced shut with a pretty blue ribbon, and you remember the thumping of your heart in your chest as you undid it. A small gasp involuntarily left your mouth, your hand moving to cover it in shock. 

"Important backstory - I found it a few years after you told me you were looking for it. I wanted to just send it to you then, but I thought that I should keep it for when we met. I never thought that it would take so long to do so, but I hung on to it just in case."

A small chunk of dark meteorite sat in the box in your hand. Looking up and down between Seungcheol and the rock, you felt your eyes well up with tears that you had to force back down to not ruin your wedding makeup.

"Oh wow," Your voice cracked, "Seungcheol, this is seriously so sweet. I'm shocked that you kept this for me."

You felt unable to tell him all of your emotions, hoping that the gratitude in your eyes was enough to express them all to him. The sweet, adoring expression on his face told you that he understood without you needing to say any more.

That, unfortunately, had been the highlight of your wedding.

Not an hour later, it had all gone to shit, starting with a well-intentioned comment from your best friend.

"The wedding is so gorgeous (Y/n), I'll have to take notes for my own." Jiwoo gushed, pointing at all the flowers that had now been revealed as people moved into the outside area of the venue.

"I know, Daejung did a really good job picking out this place." 

"I'm so happy for you two, especially after the whole Vienna situation."

A bolt of alarm rang through your bones as you a struck still by the comment. You didn't miss the panicked look Mirae sent Jiwoo, who looked equally as confused as you felt.

"What-" You tried to compose yourself amongst the rushes of fear that were threatening to render you completely useful. "What do you mean the Vienna situation?"

Jiwoo was now floundering, looking between you and Mirae with a gaping mouth.

"I just meant - I mean, nevermind - I thought... I thought you knew?" The last whispered part had your heart sinking to the bottom of your chest. Mirae was refusing to meet your gaze, and that was telling you all you needed to know.

"Did something happen when I was away?" You demanded, your voice slick with emotion.

"(Y/n)..." Mirae started, but the withering look you gave her immediately stopped her placating.

Four words later and your entire life had exploded. He cheated on you. Whilst you were away, no less. And then, as if it would magically make everything better, proposed instead of telling you.

The look on your then-husband's face when you stormed up to him demanding to know the truth was enough to convince you of the reality of your friend's words. You could now admit, amidst all of the hurt, anger and disgust you felt towards Daejung at that moment, your overriding emotion was utter panic at the thought of having to tell all of your guests that the wedding was to be stopped and annulled. A trivial emotion amongst the personal grief you were experiencing, but undoubtedly the cause of your greatest distress at the moment.

You didn't see Seungcheol as or after it all happened. Any pretence of calm instantly slipped the moment you began speaking to your family and friends - a speech which ended with you in floods of tears being escorted away from the hosts of shocked guests. It was only hours later that you realised that you hadn't said goodbye and, worse, that you'd invited him all of this way just to witness the shitshow that was your failed marriage. Too ashamed to burden him further, you chose not to write to him for months afterwards He gave you space too, and you weren't sure if you felt grateful for it or utterly alarmed that he may just never want to speak to you again.

May 6th 2021

Dear Seungcheol,

I'm deeply sorry for my complete silence, although I suppose I do not need to explain to you the reason for it. My hand has been itching to pick up my pen and write to you every month that goes by, but only now have I overcome my own shame and disgrace to do so. First of all, I have to sincerely apologise for making you waste your time coming to such an awful event. I can only hope that you managed to get a slice of cake before it all fell apart so that I could at least offer you the condolence of a delicious snack. I also must apologise for completely abandoning you during your trip to the city. I was really looking forward to showing you my favourite spots, and I let my own misery get in the way of being a good host.

I hope you are well. As I haven't heard from you in a little while, I don't know what's going on with you so I have little to comment on. But, at the very least, I wish for your good health and general happiness. If you are worried about me, you don't need to be. I have taken the last few months to put my life back together, and I feel like I'm making better progress these days - hence the letter writing. I'm thinking of getting a dog for companionship since I have vehemently sworn off men for the foreseeable future.

I also wanted you to know that I treasure your gift. As it turns out, meeting you and getting a meteorite was the best part of that night, if you'll believe it. I have it kept in a special box on my desk just to make sure that it's safe and that I'll never lose it. I wish I could have given you something in return. If we end up meeting again I'll have to start planning now to make sure my gift is just as good as yours was. Speaking of, you are welcome to come and stay with me any time you want, and we can rain-check that city tour. Alternatively, if you want to ignore this letter and never speak to me again, I'd also understand.

Yours truly,

(Y/n)

May 19th 2021

Dear (Y/n),

I'm so glad to have heard from you, and that you are doing okay. As much as I appreciate all of your apologies, none of them are necessary. If anything, I feel that I should be apologising to you for leaving you in the dark for just as long as you left me - you had a much better excuse too. Although I didn't want to overwhelm you with letters after such awful news, I realise now that leaving it so long was not the right course of action.

I think getting a dog is a fantastic idea. Company is something you'll never lack with a dog around, and I can agree that dogs are much better companions than men.

As for me, I am doing well too. It's mostly just been a cycle of work and sleep, so I haven't got much to report, but I'm hoping for a more eventful summer. Visiting the city would be a wonderful way to achieve this, so perhaps closer to the time I'll write again to arrange coming to stay with you. I would love to see you again soon. My only other news that I know you'd be interested in is that Jeonghan has seemingly met someone. He's keeping all of the details close to the chest, so I'll have to update you in the next letter when I know more, but it's an exciting revelation. He seems very happy, which is all I can hope for.

When I told you that I wouldn't stop writing to you until I could no longer hold a pen in my hand, I meant it. I hope that you will never again think that I wouldn't want to speak to you -it's the highlight of my day.

Yours,

Seungcheol

P.S. I'm sure you don't want to talk about the wedding, but just so you know - he was a fucking fool to let you go.

You remember the relief you'd felt at getting that letter. The uncertainty of whether or not Seungcheol still wanted to talk to you was enough to keep you on edge for the entire 13 days that it took for you to get his response. But, as always, your friend was reliably there for you.

The time you'd taken over those last new months, and the few months afterwards had been tumultuous, but cleansing. In your post-marriage clarity, you'd realised all of the opportunities you'd missed because of Daejung. Deciding that you wouldn't let him take anything else from you, you'd arranged to go on a long excursion you'd waved off for wedding planning when you'd first heard about it. Learning about the project from one of your old professors who'd transferred to Cairo University, you were offered a position on the ongoing expedition in Saqqara. Although Egyptology was not your speciality, your master's dissertation on the mummified scarab beetles found at Saqqara in 2018 and your tutor's reference got you onto a low-level position on the expedition.

Six months in Egypt had been exactly what you needed to move on from Daejung. At that time, your relationship with your closest friends was also on the rocks, and it was really only Seungcheol and your family that you missed during your time abroad.

December 23rd 2021

Dear Seungcheol,

I've finally got some time off over the holiday break, and I'm ready to give you the download of everything that's happening here in Saqqara! But, first, I'm going to have to beg you for the details of your double date with Jeonghan and Jooyeon. How was it!? Was Jooyeon's friend nice? Were there sparks? How many times did Jeonghan bring up embarrassing stories about you as a kid?

I hope it went well - you deserve all of the happiness in the world.

Now, onto the important stuff!

I'm not sure if you saw on the news, but we've made some pretty huge finds since I got here, Obviously, I can't give myself all the credit, but just being part of the team that made it happen is pretty incredible. We've found multiple tombs of dignitaries from the reign of Ramses II. I'm doing a bit of research on one of the tombs, belonging to a military leader called Hor Mohib, but I have to keep taking breaks every 20 minutes to pinch my arm and remind myself that this is reality.

My Arabic has gotten significantly better now - I was rather rusty when I first got here. I'm able to have reasonably complex conversations with the Egyptian members of the team and the locals helping out, and it's pretty cool for my nerd brain to be surrounded by a group of people equally as excited to be digging up ornamental graves as I am.

I'm really glad I came. It's hard to admit, even to you, but my life really fell apart after the wedding. Honestly, I didn't even know if I wanted to keep working in archaeology or if I wanted to jet off to Iceland and buy a farm. And the worst bit is that it's been so lonely since. Losing Daejung was one thing, but I haven't spoken to Jiwoo or Mirae since. I can't bear to look at them knowing that they hid that secret from me for so long. Maybe one day I'll be able to forgive them, but it certainly won't be now. Your letters have been my only sanctuary of human connection in these past few months, and that's something I'll have to add to my list of neverending gratitude I hold for you.

I realize now that I haven’t been very good at expressing how much your friendship means to me, how it's been my lifeline in this mess. Your letters are the only constant, the only thing that feels like home even when I am surrounded by ancient wonders and new colleagues.

And so, I have a confession. I want to see you again. I want to tell you all of this in person. I can't say what will come of it, but I know that after all of these years, after all the letters and confessions and secrets shared, we owe it to ourselves to meet in a way that isn't rushed or overshadowed by anything else.

Maybe we could meet halfway between Seoul and Daegu, or I could take the train down to visit you? I need to see you again, not as a guest at my ruined wedding, but as Seungcheol, the one person who’s known me at my best and worst, and still chooses to write back.

Let me know what you think.

Yours truly, 

(Y/n)

P.S. I've included a small rock I found on the dig - nothing special but it reminded me of our old conversations. I hope it makes you smile.

P.P.S. Please don't feel pressured to say yes, but know that I would really like to see you again.

You can't quite recall what possessed you to write such a bold letter. Perhaps it had been the desert sun, the thrill of discovering something new in something old at Saqqara, or simply your immense loneliness.

Days had turned into weeks as you anxiously waited for a response, checking your makeshift mailbox daily. Then one morning, there it was—a simple white envelope with Seungcheol’s familiar sloping handwriting.

January 17th 2022

My Dear (Y/n),

I've thought about meeting you countless times since our first encounter. After reading your words, I realise that I've been waiting for this just as much as you have. How's this - I'll take the first train up to Seoul when you're back and we can spend the day together. No distractions, no interruptions - just you and me, finally getting to know each other beyond the pages of our letters.

I'm looking forward to me, more than I can express. Until I see you again, take care, and know that I'm counting down the days.

All yours,

Seungcheol

P.S. the best bit about the date was spending time with Jeonghan. No more needs to be said.

You stare down at the letter, your heart pacing as fast as it had the first time you'd received it. Beautiful words from a beautiful man with a beautiful soul.

You'd gotten back to Seoul by the end of March 2022, and, as promised, Seungcheol came to visit you that first weekend in April. When he'd stepped off the train in the bustling station at the heart of the city, you were there to greet him. You'd spotted him standing there, taller even than you'd remembered, with that same easy smile that had always leapt off of the page.

The world around you had seemed to blur as you walked toward each other, nerves fluttering in your stomach but quickly dissolving as he pulled you into a gentle, lingering hug. The connection between you, once confined to words on paper, felt more real than ever.

You spent the day wandering through the city, visiting old bookstores, sipping coffee in quiet cafes, and talking as if no time had passed since that fateful wedding reception. Every shared laugh, every story swapped, deepened the bond you'd forged in ink.

June 14th 2022

Seungcheol,

It feels like only yesterday that we were wandering through Seoul together, but at the same time, it feels like a lifetime ago. I keep finding myself replaying that day in my mind - how easy it was to talk to you in person, as if we'd done it a hundred times before. It's strange, isn't it? How someone can feel so familiar, even when they're a whole new experience at the same time.

I've been thinking about our conversation in the bookstore. You said something about how some stories are better left unfinished, that sometimes the best part of a tale is imagining what could be. I can't stop thinking about that - about how some stories do need an ending, and how others are meant to keep going, even if we don’t know where they’ll lead.

There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I haven't found the right words yet. I guess I'm still figuring it out myself. It's just that being around you feels different to how I expected. There's a comfort, yes, but also something more, something I can't quite define. It's like we're on the edge of something new, and it's exciting and a little terrifying at the same time. I'm not sure if you feel it too, but I hope you do.

Anyway, I don't want to get too ahead of myself as usual. I'm just really glad we've reconnected, and that we've managed to keep in touch after all these years. 

It means more to me than I can say. Let’s make sure our next meeting isn’t too far off—I’m already looking forward to it.

Until then, take care of yourself, and don’t work too hard. I’ll be watching the clock until I see you again.

Yours, 

(Y/n)

That day in April 2022 hadn't been the last time you saw Seungcheol. You'd made that mistake once in the past, and neither of you was willing to do so again. He continued to come to Seoul to see you, and you travelled down to Daegu to meet him and his friends. Your letters ceased for a while over this time due to the frequency you were seeing each other, but for the first time that didn't bother you.

You remember, with teary eyes, the day that you finally confessed your feelings.

It was 25th September 2022, after a whole summer spent together, and the air was tinged with the first hint of autumn's chill. THe leaves were just beginning to turn, painting the streets in warm hues of amber and crimson as you walked side by side in a quiet part in Seoul. The easy laughter and conversation that had marked your friendship over the years felt heavier that day, as it something unspoken was lingering in the crisp air between you.

You had spent countless days together that summer - visiting museums, trying new restaurants, even embarking on a spontaneous week trip to the coast. Each moment with Seunngchaeol had felt like a dream, a slow realisation that your heart was no longer just content with friendship. But with that realization came a fear you hadn't expected. What if this was enough for him? What if risking everything by confessing how you truly felt would unravel the beautiful bond you had spent so many years cultivating?

That evening, as the sun dipped low on the horizon, casting long shadows across the park, you found yourselves sitting on a bench overlooking a small pond. The water was still, reflecting the fiery colours of the sky, and for a long moment, neither of you spoke. Seungcheol had been quieter than usual that day, his expression pensive as if he, too, was wrestling with unspoken thoughts.

You felt your heart pound in your chest, each beat louder than the last as you tried to summon the courage to speak. The words were caught in your throat, but the fear of losing him if you didn’t say them was stronger. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, you turned to him, your voice trembling as you broke the silence.

"Seungcheol," you began, your hands nervously fidgeting in your lap. He turned to look at you, his eyes soft and attentive, encouraging you to continue. "There’s something I need to tell you… something I’ve been feeling for a while now."

His gaze didn’t waver, but you noticed the slight hitch in his breath, the way his fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the bench. The world seemed to shrink to just the two of you, everything else fading away as you gathered your thoughts.

"I��" You paused, trying to find the right words, but there were none that seemed adequate to express the depth of your feelings. "I think I’ve fallen in love with you."

The admission hung in the air between you, a fragile confession that you could no longer take back. For a moment, time seemed to stop, the world holding its breath as you waited for his response. You searched his face for any sign of what he might be thinking, every second feeling like an eternity.

Then, without a word, Seungcheol reached out, his hand gently cupping your cheek, his thumb brushing away the tear that had escaped down your cheek. There was a tenderness in his touch, a warmth that radiated through you, calming your racing heart.

"I’ve been waiting to hear those words," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "Because I’ve been feeling the same way for a long time too."

His words washed over you, a wave of relief and joy so overwhelming that you felt your breath hitch. You had been so afraid, so uncertain, and now, with his quiet confession, all those fears melted away. He leaned in slowly, giving you time to pull back if you needed to, but you didn’t. You closed the distance between you, your lips meeting his in a gentle, tender kiss that felt like a promise—one of many yet to come.

Hearing the doorbell ring down below you, and the sound of your husband's voice calling out to say he'll get it, you rush forward to reach your favourite letter - just one more before you return to reality.

November 3rd 2023

My dearest (Y/n),

I'm so glad you're having such a good time in Rome - I'm rather jealous of all of your sightseeing and pasta-eating. Kkuma and I are holding the fort down at home, although I had to be scolded yesterday for breaking the toaster when I tried to make Kkuma some breakfast. I sent some more suncream over in the mail because I know you've already run out and forgotten to get some more - I'm not sure if this letter will reach you first, but if it does look out for the parcel.

Now, I'll admit, the main purpose of my letter is something a little different than simply catching up, as much as I love those letters too. I thought about doing this once you returned home, but you've already had one man declare his everlasting intentions to you after you returned from an excursion, so I thought it better to avoid rehashing those memories (we'll do this again when you're home, but I thought it might be fun to do it this way).

If you have the suncream box already, then you may have a sneaking suspicion of what I'm about to say.

I've loved you for as long as I've known you. As a twelve-year-old kid, I didn't know that was what it was, but the level of obsession I had with writing to you and receiving your replies was beyond any normal friendship. You were always so fascinatingly cool, out of reach, and genuinely yourself. Being in love with your pen pal isn't always an easy thing - the cold sweats I would wake up to after dreaming about meeting for the first time, the constant updates about a life that I wasn't a part of, the announcement of your engagement to another person. I tried to pretend it wasn't real for a long time, see other people, because of how silly I felt about being in love with someone I'd never met.

And then I saw you standing there, in that beautiful white gown with your hair up and that gorgeous smile on your face. Did you know that my hands were sweating when I gave you that gift? I don't think I've ever told you that before. I became certain then that I was completely screwed. Entirely head over heels.

I'll never be happy that that marriage didn't work out for you - all I've ever wanted is your happiness, be that with me or someone else. But I won't lie and say that nothing has made me happier than the consequences of it.

This past year has been the happiest time I've ever known. Every moment with you is filled with such joy, and every moment without I'm left with a record of memories to remind me of the time we've had together. When I look at you, I don't just see my past, but also my future. I see a lifetime of shared experiences, of laughter, or quiet moments that mean more than words ever could. I see us growing old together, supporting each other, and playing trash hockey on the wooden floor of our kitchen.

You are my best friend, my partner, the love of my life. And I want to spent every day making sure you know just how much you mean to me.

So, that being said, will you (Y/n) (Y/l/n), do me the honour of marrying me?

All yours,

Seungcheol

P.S. Please don't feel pressured to say yes, but know that I would really like it if you did.

You fiddle with the precious ring on your left hand, your fingers lingering over the smooth chunk of dark stone in the centre.

A gentle brush of a hand on your shoulders brings you back to the real world, tears now flaking on your cheeks as you sniffle at the words on the page.

"Are you okay, darling?" Seungcheol asks gently.

"Yes, sorry, I know the guests are here now - I just wanted to look at these," You reply, holding up the letters for your husband to see.

You watch his expression soften, a suggestion of moisture in the corner of his eyes as he looks over the written words.

Swooping down, he places a long, loving kiss on your forehead, letting your bodies rest together in harmony for a moment.

"I can't believe they still make me cry," You huff, letting out a soft laugh. "And I don't even think I can brush it off as hormones."

"Seeing that just looking at them has me tearing up, I don't think I can either." Seungcheol smiles, stroking the back of your hair affectionately.

"They're probably getting antsy downstairs, right?" You say, beginning to pile the letters back up into the box.

Standing up, you lean forward to press all of your passion and adoration onto your husband's lips. You can feel his intensity matching yours, his hands finding the side of your hips to keep you stable.

"They can wait," Seungcheol replies, his forehead leaning softly against your own. "They're not the ones who are pregnant after all."

You laugh, a sound filled with both joy and contentment, feeling the warmth of his love surrounding you. "I suppose you're right," you say, a smile spreading across your face. You take one last glance at the box of letters, a testament to the incredible journey you've both shared—one that began with innocent childhood exchanges and blossomed into a love story more profound than you could have ever imagined.

Hand in hand, you and Seungcheol make your way downstairs to greet your guests, the letters safely tucked away in their satin box. As you step into the room, you know that no matter what the future holds, you'll always have those words, those memories, and most importantly, each other.

[weirdmarioenemies]

MARIO KART 9 RETRO PREDICTIONS!

That's right! Ever since like, a month ago, we've received official confirmation that we're getting a new Mario Kart game that isn't Mario Kart Tour! Rejoice!

Yes, it's an exciting time to be a Mario Kart fan. After all, a new game means new courses, new drivers, new items, new gameplay mechanics, and all that jazz! I mean, 24-player races in the fantastical world of Utah? That's some exciting stuff!

But almost just as exciting as the new courses are the new old courses, especially when considering how much Mario Kart 8 spruced them up! Also, it's just way easier to to predict returning courses than new courses. Look: I don't have a time machine shaped like a crystal ball. I could say "Oh yeah, Mario Kart 9 will definitely have a new course called Toad's Wastewater Treatment Plant," but I'd just be making that up. I don't have a source! I can't show you the bibliography! I'm sorry.

Not that I can completely accurately predict retro courses either. Look, I can be as methodical as I please, but I don't work at Nintemdo. We know next to nothing about this game, so all my predictions are really just shots in the dark here! But it's fun to load a gun and haphazardly shoot bullets in a cave! Who knows! Maybe we'll end up shooting some of the retro courses that will be in Mario Kart 9!

My dearest condolences to Toad's Factory.

Retro predictions begin under the cut!

Oh wow, you thought we were gonna get straight into the retro predicting? How does it feel to be The Fool right now, The Fool?

Really though, I just want to get all methodologologilical[sic] first. Just get out some of the key assumptions I'm making so you can better understand why I've made the choices I've made. Alright? Cool. Cool.

I'm assuming there will be 48 courses in the base game, and by extension, 24 retro courses split across six cups. Given the goal of this game is to move people to the Nintendo Switch 2, and every Nintendo Switch 1 owner and their mother and their mother's dog owns a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, going from 96 courses to a mere 32 courses feels like a considerable downgrade. Given that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has 48 courses without the DLC, this feels like a good baseline going forwards.

I'm not sure what to make of the mainline status of Mario Kart Tour. I'm leaning towards it being technically mainline, due to its content being ported to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but it's definitely not a traditional Mario Kart game. So I will be including courses from it in my predictions, but courses that have only returned in Tour are basically on the same level of priority as courses that have never returned at all to me. Speaking of which...

I plan on prioritizing courses that have never returned, but I'm not going to exclusively limit myself to courses that have never returned. We're reaching a point where some games are really slim pickings for retro course options if we're only considering ones that have never returned, and given Nintendo has shown they're comfortable with double-dipping in places like Mario Kart 8's DLC and Mario Kart Tour, I think it's safe to say Mario Kart 64 won't be dragged out back and shot after they bring back Wario Stadium.

HOWEVER, I will NOT include any courses that have returned in Mario Kart 8!* This does include the Booster Course Pass for reference, so I apologize to any courses that were given underwhelming remakes there. Someday you'll get the remake you deserve, Sky Garden. Courses that originated in Mario Kart 8 are still fair game, but given that again, the goal is to move people to the new console, you probably don't want too many courses they can already play on the game they most certainly already have. Don't worry about the asterisk yet. We'll get there when we get there.

And as for more general goals, I'm looking for solid aesthetic diversity, a respectable difficulty curve, and a decent balance between games. None of these are really hard rules, since everybody will define them differently, and the exact amount they matter is hard to judge. I mean, I would like to keep the games relatively balanced, but it makes sense why the Booster Course Pass has eight Wii courses and two SNES courses. This is because Wii courses tend to be "pretty damn fun", as opposed to SNES courses which tend to be "utter dogwater".

Fun factor is also an important thing to keep in mind here. Why waste precious development time on bringing back courses nobody wants? I'm sorry, but no amount of spit-shine will ever save Figure-8 Circuit.

Okay, I think that's about everything. Now we can get into the part of the post you probably actually care about: predicting the retro courses!

SHELL CUP

Wii Luigi Circuit

Ah, the classic "boring starting course". Boring starter courses are interesting, because they brought back like 50 of these in Mario Kart DS, but ever since Nintendo has kinda been avoiding these like the plague. Unfortunately, now we've kinda reached a point where for games with slim pickings, "boring starter courses" are some of the only courses they have left. I feel like we're gonna have to bite the bullet at some point and bring one of these back, so it may as well be Wii Luigi Circuit.

Also motivating this pick is the return of the Luigi Tires sponsor, which was featured on this track back in Mario Kart Wii! Obviously this is a pretty minor connection, but I kinda get the feeling the reason they'd bring a sponsor like this back is if they're also bringing back a course that featured it. Ultimately this is what gave it the edge to me over Figure-8 Circuit. Well that, and the fact that there's no reason to spend development time on Figure-8 Circuit over literally any course that isn't Figure-8 Circuit.

3DS Daisy Hills

Daisy Hills! I don't really have a ton to say on this one. Its "alpine village where a young witch would look for a lost cat" setting is fairly unique by the standards of early-game courses, and given the list of courses that have never returned consist largely of mid-to-late game courses and "boring circuit tracks", having a course like this feels like a good pick.

SNES Koopa Beach 1

I would like to take a moment to curse Super Mario Kart for not having interesting course themes. It becomes a pain to pick specific courses from a game where literally every course theme has better alternatives from other games. Because when I'm prioritizing aesthetic diversity, picking a boring Super Mario Kart track is kind of by extension shutting out the better options from other games, right?

So figuring out what courses from this game to pick was basically a game of figuring out which theme had the most acceptable losses, and I concluded it was probably the beach courses. Apologies to Cheep Cheep Lagoon and Cheep-Cheep Island, but neither of you is interesting enough to warrant not picking an SNES course over you. And actual sincere apologies to Dolphin Shoals!

MK8 Sweet Sweet Canyon

Rounding out our Shell Cup, we have our first returning course from Mario Kart 8! Given Mario Kart 8 is ripe for the picking, it's likely we'll see a solid handful of courses from it, and since Nintendo tends to avoid putting multiple courses from the same game in a single cup, my choices are gonna have to be spread out across the difficulty curve.

Sweet Sweet Canyon isn't really one of my favorite of Mario Kart 8's original courses, but as an early game course with very unique theming, it feels like a pretty safe pick for a Priority Retro course to me. There's not really any thematic competition for "courses made of candy"! My only hope is that if my predictions are accurate and they do bring back this specific course, that they brighten up the color palette a bit. The amount of detail here is gorgeous, but the colors have always felt slightly too drab for the theming to me.

Also yes, I'm using "MK8" as the abbreviation for returning Mario Kart 8 courses and not "Wii U". I know that typically the abbreviation is based on the console and not the name of the game, but given the existence of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the fact it has battle courses unique to it that should probably be put under the same label, and the fact Nintendo probably wants to acknowledge the Wii U as little as possible, I think using "MK8" as the abbreviation feels like the right call.

BANANA CUP

DS Delfino Square

Given Mario Kart DS's options for courses that have never returned are "starting circuit", "Bowser's Castle", and "Rainbow Road", and all of those are competitive slots, I think it's likely we'll see a bit of double-dipping for this game. That's probably a good thing, because DS has some awesome courses that aren't in Mario Kart 8!

Case in point: Delfino Square, which feels like one of the most-requested courses I saw for the Booster Course Pass that never got added. But maybe we should be grateful, because now it can be saved for a remake with good graphics! I've been a big fan of this course ever since I was a kid, mostly because of the music (which I'd love to hear a live arrangement of!), but the course itself is pretty cool too I guess. Glider ramp on the drawbridge whenever it's up? Would that work?

N64 Frappe Snowland

Mario Kart 64 is another game that's slim pickings in terms of "courses that have never returned at all". Given I'm trying to include at least two courses from every game here, picking another N64 course was kind of a challenge. Most of the picks I would've gone for are in Mario Kart 8 already, because if not for the Booster Course Pass, Choco Mountain and Kalimari Desert would've definitely been in the running. And lots of the other choices that felt decent, like DK's Jungle Parkway or Banshee Boardwalk, have alternatives in other games that felt higher priority.

So I'm going with Frappe Snowland. This course hasn't really been in a traditional Mario Kart game since Mario Kart DS, so I think it feels like a solid candidate to get another remake. I mean, it's a pretty generic snow course as-is, so it might be due to get a modern reimagining. I'm imagining a cozy little winter town near the starting line, maybe having some similar vibes to the winter variant of Animal Crossing.

Do you pronounce it "frap" or "fra-pay"? I'm in the fra-pay camp but I'm pretty sure the other one might technically be correct due to the lack of accent over the e, but I'm also not sure if that's so much a hint of the pronunciation so much as "leaving off the accent for convenience sake". Both are technically valid I'm pretty sure, so I won't fight you if you're in frap camp. I promise.

Wii Toad's Factory

Look. If there's one course I would put actual real money on being in the next game, I think it's Toad's Factory. Yes! Even over the courses from games that literally have only one course that has never returned! Wario Stadium is boring and faces competition from Wario Colosseum, and I'm not sure to what extent Tour counts as mainline as far as Piranha Plant Pipeline is concerned, but Toad's Factory? I can't think of a reason you wouldn't bring this one back.

It's one of the only courses from Mario Kart Wii that has never returned, it's a fan-favorite course, it's an early-game course with unique theming when "courses that have never returned" tend to skew late-game, not to mention that Mario Kart Wii is a favorite game for fans and Nintendo alike. Literally the only reason I can imagine Mario Kart 9 not having Toad's Factory is if Mario Kart 9 doesn't have retro courses at all. That, or if my methodology is way, way off. But like, Nintendo knows what courses fans like! They have to see the demand for Toad's Factory, right?

3DS Shy Guy Bazaar

Look. I'm gonna come forwards and say it: I'm pretty sure this course is what we in the industry would call "orientalist as hell". I'm definitely not the most qualified person to speak on this subject, but given what I have heard from people who are, it's very much giving me the vibes of "mystical, vaguely Arabic desert kingdom" that all of us should frankly be tired of seeing at this point. This isn't really a course I think I want to see brought back.

But this isn't a wishlist. This is Predictions, and unfortunately I do not have the faith in Nintendo to Not Be Orientalist, considering how much this sort of thing has continued into even their most recent output. And like, as far as the things I am prioritizing when I make my list go, I'm pretty sure Shy Guy Bazaar checks all the boxes. It has unique theming, and datamining suggests it was very nearly put in Mario Kart 8. I think this one feels like a shoo-in, even if I don't really want it to be.

FEATHER CUP

That's right! More retro courses means I have to predict new retro cups as well! I think the Feather Cup feels like a good retro cup choice, since its presence as an item in Super Mario Kart and its absence from most later Mario Kart games gives it a distinctly "retro" feel.

Oh, and speaking of Super Mario Kart...

SNES Mario Circuit 4

For a long time, I saw people question why Nintendo would bring back the Mario Circuits so much compared to other SNES courses with more distinct theming. After all, if you're going to have to dedicate a slot or two to SNES courses, you might want to pick the less boring themes, right...? But while this sounds like a logical train of thought, I think I have since seen the light of day. The reason they bring back the Mario Circuits is because they can get away with being boring.

Because the Mario Circuits can pass off their "being boring" as being like, a retro thing, right? Like, you can try to make an interesting rendition of Donut Plains or whatever, but ultimately you're just putting lipstick on a pig. Donut Plains 3 is always gonna be one of the most boring courses in Mario Kart 8, even with a gorgeous graphical overhaul! The Mario Circuits, by virtue of being thematically boring, don't have to pretend they are anything more than what they are: boring SNES courses.

...I'd still like them to do something interesting with Mario Circuit 4 though. I mean, GBA Mario Circuit got an anti-gravity U-turn. It's worth a shot.

MK8 Sunshine Airport

Something you need to know about me is that "me making retro course predictions for Mario Kart 9" is NOT a new thing. I've been doing this basically ever since Mario Kart 8 came out over a decade ago, and ever since then I have felt reasonably confident in one thing: I think Sunshine Airport is gonna be one of the first Mario Kart 8 courses they bring back.

Literally everything about Sunshine Airport feels like a "priority retro course" to me, in the same vein as Coconut Mall or Music Park. Unique theming? Check. A level of complexity that gives it flexible positioning on a difficulty curve? Check. Approval from the fans? Check. Hell, even if Nintendo decides not to bring back anti-gravity, this course doesn't need it! All it amounts to here is one singular turn where the anti-gravity feels shoehorned in to begin with!

It feels weird to be so, so confident in a Mario Kart 8 pick when literally every original course from that game is an option, like I can't say I'm confident in Sunshine Airport to the same degree I'm confident in like, Toad's Factory or Wario Stadium or anything like that, but I dunno. Sunshine Airport almost feels like it was made to be a retro course.

Or maybe I've just been so weirdly confident in this specific idea for so long that it's just drilled itself into my head, I dunno.

Tour Piranha Plant Pipeline

Say hello to literally the only Mario Kart Tour course that didn't make its way into the Booster Course Pass! Yes, that's literally my only reasoning for including it. But if Tour courses are in fact in the running, then that's basically the only reason you need. This course wasn't in Mario Kart 8 and the only other place you can play it is a mobile game where it's only in rotation for like, two weeks of the year.

I don't think this is one of Tour's best original courses, it's decidedly mid-tier compared to the likes of Squeaky Clean Sprint, Yoshi's Island, and Ninja Hideaway, but it'd be nice to have it in a more accessible place. In Mario Kart 8 it'd feel redundant with Piranha Plant Slide, but here it probably won't have that issue.

Funniest outcome for this course however, is if they treat it like the other non-city Tour originals in the Booster Course Pass and try to pass it off as a new course for some reason.

GBA Broken Pier

I think it's funny how much Nintendo has fallen in love with Mario Kart: Super Circuit lately. For the longest time, GBA courses were given the short end of the stick with only one or two returning courses per game. However, when they started giving retro courses more dramatic overhauls in Mario Kart 8, they realized that GBA courses, unlike SNES courses, actually have interesting themes that are conducive to cool remakes, and now there are barely any GBA courses they haven't brought back! Which is to say there's two, and one of them is Broken Pier. Hi, Broken Pier!

Look, this is not a fan-favorite GBA course by any stretch of the imagination. I often see this considered one of the worst courses in the game. But how much does that actually really matter? When it comes to creative liberties taken with retro courses, GBA courses tend to get the most dramatic overhauls. As long as you keep the theming in tact and a vague facsimile of the layout, you can basically do whatever you want with these courses when you bring them back.

Given I think the atmosphere of this course is "pretty dang cool", that's all that really matters. Nintendo has free reign to do whatever they want with this course, because who's gonna complain about an unfaithful remake of Broken Pier?

LEAF CUP

MK8 Wild Woods

To be honest, there's a ton of courses from Mario Kart 8 I've considered putting at the start of the Leaf Cup. Shy Guy Falls, Dragon Driftway, and Super Bell Subway also feel like solid choices to me, but I'm going with Wild Woods for the silly reason of "cup-appropriate theming". This isn't something Nintendo does a ton of, but given in the past we've seen Maple Treeway in the Leaf Cup, DK Jungle in the Banana Cup, Rock Rock Mountain in the Rock Cup, and 3DS Rainbow Road in the Moon Cup, it's definitely something that does happen. It's enough to sway my opinion on this subject ever so slightly.

Either way, this is definitely the part where "literally every Mario Kart 8 course is in contention" is coming to bite me.

GBA Lakeside Park

Lakeside Park is another of those courses I really don't have to say much about my inclusion of. There's a bit of competition for a "jungle course spot" from Dino Dino Jungle and DK's Jungle Parkway I think, but given this one has yet to return in a traditional Mario Kart game, it feels like a more likely option to me. I just hope they reintroduce a little bit of the complexity in the layout that was lost in the Mario Kart Tour version of this course. I dunno what's up with Mario Kart Tour and oversimplifying the layouts of GBA courses in particular.

Wii Dry Dry Ruins

So many Mario Kart Wii courses are in Mario Kart 8, that based on my somewhat arbitrary "no repeat retros from Mario Kart 8" rule, narrowing down potential Wii courses is not really a challenge at all. Like, we're probably getting Toad's Factory, we're probably getting Dry Dry Ruins, and then pick one of the other three courses off a wheel and throw that one in, too.

I see a lot of people say they don't care for desert courses, but I'm kind of under the impression that they really just mean Dry Dry Desert and Bone-Dry Dunes. And maybe Yoshi Desert, but I don't know how many people even remember that course exists. But like, every other desert course in the series seems to have a solid reception with fans, right? I've seen lots of people clamoring for Dry Dry Ruins, but that might just be because "Mario Kart Wii fans" are a very vocal crowd, and they just think the shortcuts here are really cool. I can't blame 'em.

3DS Wario Shipyard

Something I've realized from my various attempts at Mario Kart 9 retro predictions from over the years is that lots of the courses that seem like viable options for retro picks are Wario courses. N64 Wario Stadium is basically a given, but Wario Shipyard is probably one of the most distinctive 3DS tracks, and Wario Colosseum and Mount Wario are both big fan-favorites too. Dang Wario, you need to cut it out with all your "courses that kick ass"! You're stealing valuable real estate from all the other characters!

I don't think Wario can hear me, and even if he does, he probably doesn't care. We know he's a greedy man. He probably feels so smug about "stealing precious real estate". I bet he's gonna get a new course of this caliber too, because that's just the kind of course Wario makes at this point.

MOON CUP

That's right! Second new retro cup! I went with the Moon Cup, and put it between the Leaf and Lightning Cup to act as the new retro parallel to the Star Cup, because that just feels right to me.

MK8 Electrodrome

This is the last of my picks for returning Mario Kart 8 courses, and feels like another relatively safe pick. Not as safe as Sunshine Airport, since it'd be considerably worse-off without anti-gravity, but there's this one butte in the background of the trailer which looks like it could be an anti-gravity section so we're probably fine on that front.

Anyway, all the stuff I've been saying across this post applies here also. Unique theming, well-liked by fans, you know the drill. Really, how much do I have to keep repeating these things? You know what my lines of reasoning are, do I have to keep saying them? Is this interesting to you? Are you interested right now?

Uhhhh this course was given a spotlight in a trailer for the original Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U. So I think Nintendo likes it also. That's a little more in its favor specifically.

GCN Mushroom City

Forget about every other course I've talked about on this post. If I have to single out the course I want to see return the most, it's this one. Frappe Snowland? More like CRAPPE Snowland! Mario Circuit 4? More like Mario Circuit BORE! Mushroom City? More like Mushroom Sh... no wait this is the one i like

Anyway, Mushroom City is cool as hell and it's criminal they've never brought this one back. Definitely probably maybe a top 10 Mario Kart course for me. I dunno. I haven't played Double Dash that much. But I've played it enough to know that I like Mushroom City, okay? I don't know if any other traffic course really sells the feeling of driving through a big city as much as this one, what with all its branching paths.

I really appreciate how they handled the branching paths here. On a course like Yoshi Valley, there's only one route that's actually good, making the whole gimmick feel kinda meaningless, but here everything feels even enough that no path feels unviable, especially with how the traffic patterns can influence your decision-making! And also the music is great and begging for a live band rendition. Make it happen, Nintendo! Mushroom City has spent too much time not returning, and not enough time... returning.

I mean, it feels like a pretty likely inclusion to me. I feel people have reappraised this course as being "really really good" lately (rightfully so!) and it's also one of only four Double Dash courses that have never been brought back. The other three include the coveted Bowser's Castle and Rainbow Road slots, as well as Wario Colosseum, which WOULD feel like a good candidate if not for...

N64 Wario Stadium

Man, I'm glad I put these courses back-to-back in my retro predictions. It wasn't specifically for that segue, but it makes for a damn good segue.

Poor, poor Wario Stadium. Literally the only course from Mario Kart 64 which has never been brought back, which I think kind of makes it an auto-include for these retro predictions, even if we don't want it to be. Something funny is that, having looked Mario Kart course ranking lists for over a decade now, I've seen the public opinion on this course shift dramatically in real time.

Like, ten years ago I saw this course frequently ending up on "Top 10 Mario Kart courses of all time" lists, with people talking about how cool it is that it's like a real dirt bike stadium, and how funny it was when you hit an opponent during the big jump and they had to repeat half the race.

But nowadays it feels like the popular opinion is "there's a good reason this is the only N64 course they've never brought back". Like, now everyone thinks this course is just really long and boring, and the opinion on Big Jump Snipes have shifted from "funny and cruel" to "just making the course even more of a slog to get through." Time has not been kind to N64 Wario Stadium.

But if anything, I think that's why this course needs to be brought back, right? To get the makeover it deserves and get some time being a less terrible course. I'm pretty sure the addition of tricks as a gameplay mechanic alone would improve it significantly, let alone more dramatic changes you could make to the layout. Worst case scenario, you give it the Wario Colosseum treatment and make it a two-lap course. (Or give it the N64 Rainbow Road treatment and make it only one lap, but I don't think that'd work out here.)

I have to clarify: the fact there's a long Wario course set in a stadium that's basically an auto-include is the sole reason I'm not putting Wario Colosseum on my retro predictions. Sorry, guys.

DS Airship Fortress

You wanna know why DS Airship Fortress is on my Mario Kart 9 retro predictions? Because it wasn't in the Booster Course Pass. That's it. Like, this course is a big hit with fans, it was in Mario Kart Tour already, and basically everyone agrees it was a baffling exclusion. So at this point the most logical conclusion I can think of is "it wasn't in Mario Kart 8 because they were saving it for Mario Kart 9".

That's really all I have to say on this one.

LIGHTNING CUP

3DS Maka Wuhu

Did you know? The two Wuhu Island courses are literally the only Mario Kart 7 courses which have never returned! Granted, lots of the others have only returned in Tour, which feels like the world's biggest edge case, but like, it's weird we haven't seen the Wuhu Island courses at all, right? I feel like people like these courses quite a bit. I mean, they brought back Wuhu Town as a battle arena in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so I don't think they're off the table.

Really, I've kinda been skirting around the crossover courses, because I'm not sure what to make of them. I'm definitely under the impression Mario Kart 9's not gonna be the "Super Smash Kart" or whatever some people have suggested, given the trailer exclusively shows Mario characters driving through an area not based on any Mario game in particular. I don't think Super Smash Kart would include Baby Rosalina on its roster.

But like, I don't wanna dismiss the idea of Mario Kart 9 having crossover content completely, because I could totally imagine it sticking around on a smaller scale, akin to... well, Mario Kart 8! And even putting that all aside, I kind of feel like the Wuhu courses are almost a weird exception to being "crossover courses" since they were in the main game of Mario Kart 7? I dunno. At this point I'm making weird and arbitrary rules for myself for the sake of making weird and arbitrary rules. I don't think I can explain my logic in a way that makes as much sense as it does in my head.

Tour Ninja Hideaway

Hey, so remember way, way earlier in the post when there was an asterisk when I mentioned my rule about no repeat retros from Mario Kart 8? Well here it is! It's Asterisk! You see, I wanted to include at least two courses from every game, but this proved to be an issue for Mario Kart Tour in particular, since all but one of its courses were included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. So I broke my rules, right? Well, not exactly...

Because Ninja Hideaway didn't return in Mario Kart 8.

See how this course was labelled in Mario Kart 8? It wasn't Tour Ninja Hideaway, just "Ninja Hideaway". Legally speaking, Ninja Hideaway did not return in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, because it was a new course in that game too, for some reason! So none of my rules have been broken. This is, legally, the first time Ninja Hideaway will be a retro course.

Obviously, this sort of logic is incredibly silly, and barely makes any sense at all, but knowing Nintendo, I'm kind of under the impression this is the exact sort of logic they operate under. So I'm sticking by it! I think this would be a cool Lightning Cup pick. I like it for a lot of the same reasons I like Mushroom City (thank you well-balanced branching paths!), and I feel like some of the sharp turns here would make it well-suited for the late game.

DS Bowser('s?) Castle

Did you know? This course is just called "Bowser Castle". Not Bowser's Castle, with the apostrophe s. I don't really know why. I kind of expect them to change it, since they did with all the GBA Bowser's Castles in Mario Kart Tour, but they didn't with SNES Bowser Castle 3, so I really don't know. Either way, you too are now cursed with this information!

Anyway, given my two other picks from Mario Kart DS are both double-dips, I figured I should include one course which hasn't returned yet, and I'm going with this one. Figure-8 Circuit is probably the worst course of all time, and I think there's better candidates for a retro Rainbow Road, but Bowser('s) Castle? I mean, I've seen a fair share of fans who really like this one. I figure it's about time to bring it back.

For some reason, Nintendo hardly ever brings back the endgame Bowser's Castles, but I figure they gotta start chipping away at that list at some point, and having it as the penultimate retro course before a Rainbow Road just feels right. Speaking of which...!

GCN Rainbow Road

This was a pretty big toss-up between GBA Rainbow Road and GCN Rainbow Road for me, but I'm going with this one. I know GBA feels like the logical pick, since we got SNES in Mario Kart 7 and N64 in Mario Kart 8, but now that Mario Kart 8 also has SNES, 3DS, and Wii's Rainbow Roads, I'm not sure how much that order really matters anymore. And besides that... GCN just feels more iconic. It's the road that you go when you die!

Don't get me wrong, I don't wanna discount GBA completely, partially because of The Cycle, partially because it's one of the only GBA courses left, and partially because I think you could do a lot with a cool remake, but at the same time, let's be real with ourselves: if any Mario Kart game is the least iconic one, it's Super Circuit. I love its Rainbow Road a whole lot, but I don't think that's the one you show off in a big trailer to get fans excited for the first big Mario Kart game in over a decade, right?

Also, GCN Mushroom City feels like a very likely retro course, and you can see it in the background of GCN Rainbow Road, so uhhhh yeah. Checkmate, atheists! GCN Rainbow Road is real and there is nothing you can do about it!

Okay, so maybe my logic is a little flimsy, but as I said at the start of the post, I can't predict the future! Ultimately, I don't know why or how Nintendo decides which courses they want to bring back, and all I can really do is try to infer patterns based on what they've done in the past. But you know how it is with apophenia. We're all the time seeing patterns we want to see that aren't really there!

Ultimately, this is a game we know very little about, and it would be foolish of me to pretend that I've boiled any of this down to a science. Really, the reason I'm doing this is because it's fun! It's fun to think about hypothetical returning courses in future Mario Kart games using bogus patterns that don't really exist!

Also a big waste of time. Thanks for indulging in this big waste of time with me, everyone!

(if your favorite course wasn't included on this list, please imagine it as post-launch DLC. thank you.)

[milkoomi]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ hygiene tips ᝰ.ᐟ

*feminine* hygiene tips that have changed the game for me !!

let’s begin !!

disclaimer: these are tips that work for me! they may not necessarily work for you or be your kind of thing, and that’s okay! we all do things differently, and this is just what i do!

ᝰ.ᐟ shower

hair wash then body wash !!

when you rinse your hair products that you use in the shower and they wash down your body (especially your back or face) they have the potential to clog the pores in your skin which could lead to acne breakouts! washing and getting your hair clean first AND THEN washing your body will help prevent your pores from clogging and getting that annoying back acne!

double shampoo !!

so i have asian hair (i’m filipino!) & i’ve learned that with my hair type i need to wash my hair everyday! but!! i only used shampoo once & then would follow up with the rest of my shower routine. i noticed with just doing a single wash, my scalp didn’t feel as clean and i also have a pretty oily scalp & i would notice that the following day my hair would start to feel greasy and dirty pretty quickly.

i’ve learned that with double shampooing, the first wash gets that dirt, oil, and grime out of your scalp and the second wash is more so to clarify that initial cleanse! that first wash isn’t always going to get everything out, so that second wash will just make sure you get a real good clean!

let your conditioner sit in your hair !!

before you say “but didn’t you just say to wash & condition your hair before washing your body??” just hear me out!!

i’ve tried rinsing my conditioner out right away before washing my body & i’ve tried just letting it sit while i do the rest of my shower routine. i noticed, again this is for myself, that my hair is much softer and silkier when i let the conditioner sit in my hair! i’ll go into the body washing tips next & elaborate further!

i’m sure a lot of people already know this tip, but!! if you want softer, silkier hair i’d definitely recommend letting that conditioner just chill in your hair for a bit!

double cleanse your body !!

i highly, HIGHLY recommend getting an antibacterial body wash/soap and another body that’ll help you smell good! idk about you guys, but i’m genuinely a germaphobe & after a long day at work i feel absolutely disgusting and can’t help but think about all the dirt and germs just lingering on my skin (cue me shivering at the thought)

i LOVE the dove shower products so so much so i use their antibacterial body wash and their “pampering” body wash (which is like the vanilla smelling one!) i’ve seen lots of people say they use bar soaps like the dial one or even dove beauty bars! but i really do recommend making sure one of your body washes (or the body wash you do use) is an antibacterial one just to make sure you’re extra squeaky clean!

alright, let me trail back to the previous tip!! so right after i put my conditioner in, i start washing my body with an antibacterial body wash then once i finish the first cleanse of my body i rinse the conditioner out and then go back with my other body wash and cleanse my body again!

ditch the loofa !!

i, unfortunately, learned this year that loofas are,,,, NOT IT!! they harbor so much bacteria & you have to replace them very frequently (which requires spending more money ugh)

i have recently switched to using an African net sponge!! they can last 2-5 YEARS and they don’t harbor any bacteria! they also are a stretchy material which makes it a whole lot easier to wash your back and other hard to reach areas! African net sponges also are made to help gently exfoliate your skin which is another huge plus to help get those gross, dead skin cells off, make your skin nice and soft, and since it’s a gentle exfoliator it’s good for everyday use!

use a feminine wash !!

to my friends & dear readers with a coochie: you don’t have to use a feminine wash! rinsing down there with warm water is enough! but, again, for me personally i just feel cleaner using a feminine wash! there’s lots of brands out there to use, but be sure to do your research! i was still unsure even after doing my own research, so i eventually ended up contacting my gynecologist and asking her what her professional opinion would be! she told me that it was perfectly safe for me to use a feminine wash SO LONG AS - and this is extremely important - you DO NOT put the soap/wash INSIDE YOUR COOCHIE. feminine washes are used for the OUTERMOST parts!! the vagina is designed to clean itself, so there is absolutely no need to go inside and start washing with soap! also!! make sure the feminine wash you get, or the soap you decide to use, is unscented! that is a very sensitive part of your body and any fragrances can really mess with her!!

ᝰ.ᐟ after shower

dry off COMPLETELY !!

make sure your armpits, coochie, and any crevices are BONE DRY. those parts are breeding grounds for those stinky odors to start pushing through and any remaining moisture can help those odors come through faster!

put on deodorant !!

before doing anything else post-shower, put on deodorant! idk about you guys, but i tend to sweat a little during my post-shower process ;-; so to prevent me from getting any b.o. i immediately put on deodorant. i also saw some people say that, during your sleep, you don’t sweat as much so it’ll help the deodorant last longer! of course, you can always reapply deodorant in the morning (i do that especially if i have work the next day or am going out)

moisturize, moisturize, moisturize !!

preferably on damp skin, put on lotion!! i always go for a scented lotion & body oil to really lock in those good smells! i put lotion on first and then the body oil!

body oil isn’t necessary, but if you really want smooth and glowing skin, i highly recommend!

i use the eos vanilla cashmere lotion & the vaseline cocoa radiant body oil!

ᝰ.ᐟ dental hygiene

brush your teeth BEFORE skincare !!

you know how i said wash your hair before your body? that pretty much applies to this as well! plus, if you do your skincare and then brush your teeth, any of the skincare products you used will just get rinsed off when you brush your teeth!

please don’t forget to floss !!

i have to remind myself to floss like every other day, so don’t go beating yourself up for not flossing!! also, if you’re anything like me, i’m not the biggest fan of flossing because i’m always worried about my gums bleeding AH!

but it’s so so so important to floss you guys!! and i promise that you and your gums will get used to it! flossing helps prevent gum disease, a receding gum line, and cavities!!

if you’re not a fan of the traditional string of floss like me, go ahead and use those floss picks! so long as you make sure to floss, you’ll be good to go!

use mouthwash !!

i was finally influenced to get that therabreath mouthwash that was all over tiktok AND my dental hygienist even recommended it to me!! the therabreath mouthwash doesn’t burn when you use it, but it still leaves your mouth minty fresh!

scrape your tongue !!

you know that white stuff on your tongue? yeah, babe i’m gonna hold your hand when i say this: that’s what’s causing the stinky breath. either brush the fuck out of your tongue after you brush your teeth or get a tongue scraper!! i promise you, your breath will be smelling 10x better!

keep yourself hydrated !!

you ever notice when your mouth is dry that you tend to have that weird taste too? a dry mouth could be a reason why your breath smells! so make sure to keep drinking water! there’s also even mouth sprays to hydrate your mouth too!

𝜗𝜚 final notes 𝜗𝜚

again, these tips were things that have worked for me & what i do! you don’t have to follow these tips! if you have any other tips that i haven’t touched on or wanna add anything, feel free to comment them!

live and love, babe.

sincerely, juno ⭑.ᐟ

[min-mrv]

GIGGLY BUG -(part 1)

pt.2 | pt.3 | pt.4

ler: gi-hun lee: in-ho

A/N: help this is my first fanifiction aaargghh this took sm but yh hope you like it!! a feedback would help alot 😋 i sadly cant remember much of s2 what they exactly talked abt and stuff, so sorry abt that but,i tried my best!!

Summary: in-ho has been feeling a little odd after the talk abt his wife with Gi-hun, the man that played these games before. suddenly, player 456 got an wonderful idea how to turn his frown upside down!

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

Everyone had fallen asleep and another game was defeated. most of those people there decided to stay, typing the O in the first round.

Gi-hun sat on the edge of his bed, staring blankly into the wall, thinking. the silence of the room echoed his thoughts, amplifying the emptiness he couldnt shake off. "will i ever be able to end this game? "what if i end up like last time and all of the new people i met would die infront of my eyes again.? "what if i would die? could they keep it out without me??" The weight of everything that happened pressed down on his chest. he was lost in his thoughts when suddenly, in-ho sat next to him. "excuse me" he said. Gi-hun came back to reality. "sorry if i came so unexpected. i found it difficult to fall asleep, and i saw that you had the same issue..i wanted to apologize, about what happened after the decide to stay or not." he told extra. "...no..its fine, i apologize also. i was out of line." gi-hun spoke, looking at in-ho's eyes. "my wife is very sick.."

Gi-hun attentively listened as In-ho shared his concerns about his ill and pregnant wife, comprehending every word he expressed. He regonized that number 001 teared up a little and felt down after ending the topic..oh boy, what's he gonna do now? "...it had been a while since i cheered up people.." he thought, feeling a little awkward.

In a moment of inspiration, Gi-hun conceived a brilliant idea, but wasnt sure if he should ACTUALLY do this. A little bit of cheer up tickles wouldnt hurt this sorrowful man right now, would it..?

While in-ho was looking down, entering more into darkness, gi-hun slowly reached his hands..aiming in-ho's sides. "please work, please work, please work..!" after a moment of silence, the quite room suddenly earned a sound of a squeal. There we go!

"...whahat are you..?"

"dont make any loud noises, alright?"

"whahaAHA-?! wahihit hohOLd on!!"

Gi-hun was also unsure what he brang himself into. He thought cheering up other ones, would maybe cheer up him too. he digged his fingers more into his new friends sides. In In-ho's mind, he didnt know what to feel either. Since when he has been this ticklish?? so many unanswered questions, but sadly no right answer. He could kick Gi-hun's face right now, but seems like the tickling made him weak.

"whahat is thihis fohohor?! people are sleheheping!!!"

"..you seemed sad. and instead of just staring at you, i thought i would help a little." gi-hun explained.

"we couhuhu- EHAHAHA wahihit wAIhihit CMOHOHON-! thihis is nohohot helpihing!!"

oh god. when was this going to end? and why..did his body suddenly unlock parts which wasnt even ticklish at all?? gi-hun's hands weren't making the situation any better!! slow-tickles were hell for this man. he hided his face with his hands, trying not to let out any weird noises, laying on gi-huns bed, in a giggly mess. Number 456 hands switched the spots and went up on his ribs, scribbling slowly up and down.

"you know, you remind me of my little daughter.. she was a squirmer like you" gi-hun added. now it was getting awkward. "did he just compare me to a little girl??" Gi-hun noticed his emberassment, he couldnt help but let out a little chuckle. "i thought you were a serios man huh..?" "QUIHIHIT IHIHIT!! ehehe- ihihim cheered uhup, sEehehehe?" his giggles turned into silent laughter, but sadly not for a long time. Gi-hun decided to go for his armpits now, finding this situation kinda adorable. "khahahaha! OHOHOKAY everhyhything but nohohot nOhohow! THIHIS is chihildish..ihihi cAhant!!"

"..." gi-hun chuckled even more. humans do have 2 sides. "not now, eh? you want to have more?" "shihihihit!!" in-ho was about to scream and shoot this man without any guilt, cursing the day he invinted him to this game.

Now, In-ho grabbed Gi-huns pillow and positioned it infront of his face, just letting the laughter go. Laughing like this..was a pleasant. he kinda enjoyed this moment, being clingy and everything without any intruptions. Gi-hun didnt mind this at all. He just thought that in-ho seemed to look like a little puddle, asking for tummy pats. laughing a little with him.

oh, humans do really have 2 sides.

aaaa my first fanific oh my oh myyyyyyy EEEEEE i think im abt to explode i aint THAT proud of this but like mwah im happy abt it ehe!!.

[maddieplum]

Floral Legacy Challenge

So a while back my computer died and I lost all of my saves and screenshots and because of that I haven't wanted to play in a while. However, recently to get myself back into the game I wrote a legacy challenge for myself based upon flower meanings. I have started playing it and really been enjoying it, so wanted to share with anyone who might be interested as well!

This is more of a story based legacy than a challenge one, with goals written more as guidelines for what story to tell in a given generation than objectives or challenges to complete. Each generation I have chosen 1-3 aspects of a flower's meaning to focus this story around and I've compiled them in a way where I think it makes sense how one generation leads to the next.

If you are interested, more is under the cut!

Sims 4 Floral Legacy Challenge:

Some housekeeping: As far as general rules go, make this your own! Traditional legacy rules need not apply unless you want them to. This is for my personal gameplay and if you want to do it, choose what rules you want to hold yourself to that will make the gameplay fun for you. I tend to use cheats in ways that make sense from a storytelling perspective (e.g. for the iris gen I will likely cheat to give a coworker the genius trait). You can also opt not to follow any of my generation guidelines if you don't want - just take what interests you!

The only required packs are Horse Ranch, Spa Day, and City Living, but I added optional and recommended goals incorporating packs I either already have or hope to buy. If you don't have the required packs you can still definitely play this by either skipping those gens or modifying them to fit what you can do. I would recommend using the generation theme written under the flower name to help guide you in your choices as well (these are the aspects of the flower meanings that I have chosen to focus on for each given generation).

And without further ado:

Gen 1: Bluebell -humble beginnings and everlasting love- Choose one of more of these traits: generous, good, loyal Career: something that means humility to you - ideas: education, gardener, barista/babysitter/other part time careers, self employed by selling collectibles Aspiration: Soulmate Style: any, but live whole life in a small home (not necessarily by the game's standard but no more than 3 bedrooms), blue should be a main color, stay away from pricey furniture as well

You are a simple sort of sim. All you ever wanted is a place to call home and someone to love. Moving to a new place was scary, but you think you are starting to figure it out. However, things get a little more complicated when a choice you make on a lonely night results in a surprise pregnancy. Even though you aren't sure you're ready for single parenthood, you are going to give it your best shot, you already love the kid to bits after all. Luckily, your kind neighbor is there to help out. Wait, they're kind of cute…

-Start on an empty lot or in an unfurnished house with 0 simoleons -Recommended: live in willow creek -Make money to build/furnish your house through your career -Have a child from a one night stand with someone you meet at a public lot before your house is fully finished (this is the next gen heir). -Never date your child's other parent but optionally remain good friends. -Err on the side of leniency as a parent (e.g. if you have parenthood, hug it out to discipline your kid, use the permissive family dynamic from growing together). -Fall and love and get married to one of your neighbors, completing the soulmate aspiration. Stay together in a happy marriage until death. -Optional: have 1-2 more kids with your spouse -Until you switch to the next gen, go on at least one date every week with your spouse.

Gen 2: Crocus -playful childishness- Recommended Traits: lazy, goofball, outgoing, family oriented, childish, cheerful Career: any except entertainer - do not reach level 10 in your career, continually neglect work tasks and goof off/socialize at work to lower work performance if need be - optional (or if laid off): switch careers several times Aspiration: Big happy family - optional: if you have high school years you can complete the live fast aspiration as a teen Style: any as long as its casual, shouldn't look too put together, t-shirts would be good

As a kid you were loved and admittedly somewhat spoiled by your doting parent. At times you neglected your responsibilities and your homework preferring to goof off with your many friends. Growing up… well, you never really did that did you? You did eventually get a job (even though you aren't the best employee) and you gave dating the old college try as well. Unfortunately, just like working, being in a relationship doesn't seem to come easily to you… Luckily though there is something you're good at: parenting. Being part kid yourself, you find it easy to connect to your many kids and you're always ready to cheer them up with a laugh when they are feeling down. That, at least, is something worth devoting your time too.

-Neglect homework as a child (optional: age up with the irresponsible trait if you have parenthood) but have several friends at school -Perform poorly in a career of your choice (NOT entertainer) - do not reach level 10 in any career (if you get close, lower job performance or quit and start a new job) -Live in childhood home until parents die or until you have too many kids for everyone to fit -Get divorced from / break up with every partner you have (your choice how many people to date, but must die single) -Have 3-6 kids - at least one should be adopted and one should be biologically yours but the exact ratio is up to you -Be best friends level with all kids -max out comedy skill -Complete happy family aspiration (may require temporarily returning to this gen after some kids are adults) -Optional: whenever someone leaves the household, get a pet so the household is continually at 8 members (the idea of this gen is cheerful chaos after all)

Gen 3: Dahlia -creativity and true love- Required traits: non commital, Recommended: creative, maker, art lover, green fiend Career: Something creative - recommended: making money through painting or fabrication or photography Aspiration: Any in the creativity category (or the jewelry one, which is IMO creative but not in that category) Style: Colorful and eclectic, feature warm colors and travel Knick knacks, bohemian

You grew up in a chaotic but joyful home surrounded by your siblings and raised by a parent who loved and accepted you as you were. Your creativity was able to bloom and flourish in this environment and you learned the value and power of familial love. However, you never quite understood romance in the same way as you watched your parent struggle to maintain a loving relationship. In high school you found someone special, but your relationship was too important to put through the trials of romance. You maintained your friendship into adulthood as you followed your passions into a career and your heart into several (failed) relationships, all the while standing by each other. Then one day you realized, what if this elusive goal of romantic love had been right besides you all along?

-Complete the creatively gifted aspiration as a kid -Briefly (briefly) date your best friend in high school, then decide to be just friends (option in social menu). Maintain friendship (remaining just friends) into your young adulthood and adulthood, spending lots of time together. -Have a creative job and max out your career / chosen creative skill -Get married and divorced at least once and date and break up with at least 3 people total -Have at least one kid -After a midlife crisis start a relationship with your best friend and get married - this time stay together until death do us part (optional: at this point swap out the non committal trait with the loyal trait via cheats or self discovery moment) -Go on vacation at least twice with your family and your best friend/best friend's family

Gen 4: (white) Lily -beauty, mourning, and rebirth- Recommended traits: gloomy, romantic Career: something you associate with beauty - ideas: actor/actress, style influencer, social media Aspiration: any - ideas: soulmate, world famous celebrity, master actor/actress Style: classic, somewhat minimalistic, elegant (think Kennedys)

Growing up in an artistic household, you quickly developed a keen eye and a strong aesthetic and sense of style. Unlike your parent however, you were very interested in what was popular. You built your knowledge of trends and used it to cultivate your own look until it became your passion, and ultimately your career. You were becoming quite successful, loving your job more and more every day, when you met… them. The love of your life. You remembered watching your parent dance around their love all their life, and had seen how much time they wasted because of it. You weren't going to make the same mistake. You had a whirlwind romance, engagement, and marriage that grew into a stable, enduring love. You had everything, a great career, a wonderful relationship, and you and your spouse had just welcomed a child when tragedy struck. And now, without your love, you don't know what to do. How will you go on?

-Enter and max out a career that is associated with beauty -Optional: if you have get famous, become a celebrity with a good reputation -Meet your spouse through your career -Date, get engaged to, and marry your spouse quickly (within 1-2 sim weeks) -Have a relationship with your spouse at the soulmate level -Have exactly one kid with your spouse -Before your kid is a teen, your spouse dies -Mourn your spouse for the rest of your life (at least 3 times weekly visit grave/urn) and never get into another romantic relationship -Optional: after spouse's death, change outfits to be all black for mourning colors (or what ever mourning colors are in your culture) -Neglect child emotionally because of your sadness (less than good friends level friendship) -Repair relationship with child after they move out and your grandchildren are born (they return the spark to your life)

Gen 5: Dandelion -resilience and recovery- Required trait: horse lover Optional: active, loves the outdoors, adventurous Career: Rancher/self employed Required aspiration: championship rider Style: western, rustic farmhouse decor, country

You grew up in the midst of a tragedy. All you remember is the dark cloud that seemed to surround your parent everywhere they went and the loneliness that came from all but raising yourself. As soon as you could, you got away, following your heart to the countryside. In the picturesque small town of chestnut ridge you built your own life, learning to ride the horses you had grown up loving, and making a living by building a ranch. The solitude of nature was like a balm to your wounded soul. Eventually, you fell for one of the locals and got hitched. They moved in to help grow your ranch and before long you were building a family as well. As you discovered the joys of parenthood, it brought your mind back to your own parent, and you started to wonder if those bonds could be reformed…

-move out to Chestnut Ridge as soon as you become a young adult -Complete the championship rider aspiration and max out the riding skill -Fall in love with an marry a sim you meet in Chestnut ridge with the rancher trait -Have 2-4 kids with your spouse -Optional: name one of your kids after your deceased parent -After your first kid is a toddler, start to reconcile with your parent (inviting them over to meet grandkids) -build back your friendship with your parent before they pass (good friends level or higher) -run a thriving ranch

Gen 6: (red) Carnation -justice- Recommended traits: good, hot headed, self assured Career: Politics, charity organizer branch Aspiration: any - ideas: neighborhood confident, city native Style: any - alt fashion would work well, esp. punk, dark colors with red accents also good

Life as a child in the countryside was idyllic, but you always had bigger dreams. Bright eyed and with a zest for life you moved to the city as soon as you could. But once there, your idealistic nature quickly shattered. The world wasn't as nice outside of your small town bubble. Rather than fall into despair over it however, you decided to rise to the occasion. You would dedicate your life to fighting for change and making the world a better place. Even if it was just a drop in the bucket, you would do everything you could to make a difference. After all, what better way to spend your time than speaking truth to power?

-move to San Myshuno as a young adult -Join and max out the charity organizer career -meet your spouse at a protest -fall in love and move in together, but don't get married -have at least one kid -join or start a protest at least once a week -have at least one wealthy enemy (bonus points if they are in the politician career or a landlord) -Optionally: have a midlife crisis / burnout (via growing together mechanics or imaginative storytelling) during adulthood and change your life around (stay in same career, but protest less and pick up a hobby, spend more time with family)

Gen 7: Iris -intelligence and prestige- Required trait: genius Optional traits: perfectionist, ambitious, neat, overachiever, loner, hates children, bookworm Career: something you associate with intelligence - ideas: doctor, scientist, law, engineer, astronaut Recommended aspiration: any in the knowledge group or bestselling author Optional: complete the goal oriented aspiration as a teen and the academic aspiration as a young adult Style: academia (dark or light), traditional, have at least one library / study in the home

Your parents were smart people, you'll give them that, but they didn't care enough to do anything with it! They could have been something great, but instead they decided to waste their time fighting for 'justice' without making any real change. You wouldn't be making that mistake. From an early age you dedicated yourself to your studies, determined to learn everything you possibly could and become someone important. Learning fascinated you, and you loved using your intelligence to figure out solutions to hard problems. This was what was important, not love, or family, or doing good, or whatever other nonsense your parents and grandparents believed. This was how you really changed the world, intelligently. Now just to get that one coworker of yours to stop pestering you at work and challenging your ideas. Wait, why do they want to meet you for coffee?

-Complete the mental aspiration as a child -Enter and max out a career related to intelligence - optionally: then switch careers and max out a second -max out at least four skills of your choice, writing and publishing skill books related to them as you do so (this may require you to max out the writing skill, if so this counts towards your four skills) -Date and marry one of your coworkers who also has the genius trait (bonus points if this is a former workplace rival) -Have exactly one child with your spouse via the science baby option -Be a strict parent (maintain this family dynamic if you have growing together) and be emotionally distant from your kid (less than good friends friendship level ideally) -If you have discover university, attend university and complete the academic aspiration before beginning a career

Gen 8: Lotus -rebirth and self-love- Required trait: high maintenance Recommended: perfectionist Career: start in something you see as a high stress job - ideas: salary person, business, anything that uses the logic skill - then switch to making money via spa day activities Aspiration: any or all in the wellness category Style: minimalist, biophilic (plant parent), 'zen'

To say your parents had high expectations growing up would be putting it lightly. Nothing you ever did seemed good enough for them. Even so, you continued to try, pushing yourself towards excellent grades and into a career (and relationship) they would approve of. It was hard but you were managing it, and you kept pushing and pushing until… One day you just couldn't do it anymore! You quit your job, ended your relationship and changed trajectories. Now you are focused on healing and self-love, and on helping others on their self love journey as well. It might take some time, but you are learning to be happy with yourself. Next, to start building a new family, one you'll be happy to be a part of.

-maintain an "A" level grade throughout your education -Enter a high stress career as a young adult -Start a relationship with someone in a 'respectable' career as a young adult (you decide what counts as 'respectable') - if you have growing together you should have bad compatibility with this person -sometime during young adulthood (bonus if after in game burnout) while your sim is feeling badly (tense, angry, uncomfortable, or sad), quit your job and end your relationship -Optional: before this switch dress and decorate in your parents style, afterwards, change to your own style -Switch to a wellness career - continue this until retirement -max out wellness skill -complete at least one of the wellness aspirations -marry someone you meet at the spa -have 1-3 children with them

Gen 9: Lavender -family and home- Required trait - at least one of three: loner, paranoid, socially awkward Recommended traits: family oriented, foodie, loves the outdoors, animal enthusiast Career: make money through cooking and/or baking - this can involve running a bakery, the culinary career, or using the food stall from home chef hustle OR be a stay at home parent and partner makes money Choose one or more of the following aspirations: Appliance whiz, master chef, country caretaker, super parent Style: French country, cottage core, pastels

You grew up in a peaceful and tranquil home with caring and kind parents. Lucky for you because as it turns out - the rest of the world? Not so peaceful. Being outside your home and surrounded by strangers was always stressful for you, and as you grew up you learned to retreat towards the things you knew: your family, your pets, and the delicious things you loved to cook. Another support for you was always your best friend turned love; you've promised to stay by each other's side through thick and thin and you can’t wait to build a home together. Will these supports help you get through the stresses of adulthood? Will be able to find and build a home that's peaceful and safe for your new family? Only time will tell…

-From teenagehood to death have at least one pet at all times (including non household animals like cows) -Marry your childhood best friend / high school sweetheart and stay together until death do us part -max out the cooking skill (and baking if you have get to work) -have 3-5 kids with your spouse -maintain best friends level friendship with all kids, spouse, and any cats or dogs you have -don't maintain friendships with anyone outside the household (this can change when you switch to playing sunflower gen if need be) -make sacked lunches for all family members at least twice a week -Make money through food (chef career, bakery, or food stall) OR be a stay at home parent -Recommended: live in Henford-on-Bagley -Max out one or more of the following aspirations: Appliance whiz, master chef, country caretaker, super parent

Gen 10: Sunflower -friendship and loyalty- Required trait: loyal and choose at least one of: cheerful, outgoing, generous Career: any Aspiration: one or more in the social category Optional: Additionally complete successful lineage or big happy family and continue gameplay Style: any - home with lots of space for hosting gatherings, yellow as a focus color would be a good choice

You had a pretty perfect childhood - supportive parents, siblings to play with, space to roam, the whole nine yards. Only… it was still a little lonely. There's a whole world out there, and as much as you love your parents, they didn't really expose you to it, preferring to stay home. Well, you're grown up now, and you are going to bring the world to your family and your family out into the world. There's so many cool people out there and you are going to be friends with them all.

-Complete the social aspiration as a child -Maintain a group of friends (use club system if you have get together) your whole life, adding members as you age and make more friends -maintain good friends level friendship with all club members -Fall in love with and marry someone with the family oriented trait -have at least two kids -take at least one family vacation -maintain friendship levels with all family members (siblings, parents, spouse, kids) at at least the good friend level -host family and friend gatherings frequently - if you have growing together: have a family reunion at least every 4 sim weeks - if you have seasons: host gatherings for every relevant holiday (e.g. no gathering needed for lottery day or love day, but harvestfest yes) -Optional: have one parent die as an elder and move the other in to live with you and your family, take care of them until they die -Optional: have a pet dog all your adulthood -Recommended: complete an aspiration in the family category as well (successful lineage or big happy family) - this will require continuing to play a bit beyond the 10th generation

[heartfike]

light switch // d.f

summary: y/n and dom have been on and off for as long as they've been together. they've been ride or die for each other for almost 2 years now, but their flame seems to be dying. is it time to turn the lights off for good?

pairing: fem!latina!reader x cheating!dominic fike

a/n: first fic lol. i'm a girl wit an intense personality, this how i would react if dominic ever try me like this lmfaooo. y/n and dom be so toxic in this fic, i hope yall enjoy >_<

it was a friday night, y/n had just gotten off her shift at this shitty clothing store at the mall. she was grossly underpaid, but secretly she liked it. she always had an eye for fashion and designing, so she enjoyed helping others with their fits.

dom, he was usually between jobs, but he had been working at this smoke shop, the one known to not id minors. he works near the beach, so a lot of high schoolers that were ditching were his usual customers.

they were at his small studio in naples, he was busy playing video games with his brother, alex, and his best friend, reed. he was sat at the edge of the bed, y/n was scrolling on her phone, laying comfortably under his covers. she heard a buzz coming from his phone, y/n was curious!

she sits up and finds his phone right next to his body, she reaches over and asks "who's texting you?" it was like his body went into fight or flight, before she could even check, he was already standing up with his phone in hand.

you see, y/n was understanding but boy was she a jealous one. not like he wasn't either, but she could handle the jealousy. in fact, she actually liked the jealousy. she liked that he cared enough to be jealous, she felt wanted.

dom was the opposite, he hated when y/n was jealous. he also hated getting his privacy invaded, it was one of the main reasons they're so on and off. y/n checks phones, she doesn't like feeling like he's hiding something. i mean she allowed him to check her phone, so what's the problem?

"nobody, it was my mom." he responds instantly, pocketing his phone and sitting down to get back on his game.

"then let me see, why are you acting like that?" she reaches for his pocket, his hand catching hers. he hangs up on the boys, he kisses her, she's on her back before she could even blink. it's a distraction, he always used sex as a distraction.

she pushes him off slightly, out of breath, she's not one to forget easily.

"let me see your phone, why are you hiding what your mom is saying?" she asks again, reaching for it again.

at this point they're playing tug of war for the phone.

"yo, chill out. give me my phone bruh." he's losing patience and he's usually very patient.

"let me see! why are you being like this?" she finally grabs it and has time to see the notification he got. ashley texted him a 'hi dom :)'

"who the fuck is ashley?" she scrolls, feeling a pit in her stomach. it's a feeling a girl never wants to feel.

"she's a coworker from work." he says, straight faced, with a bit of irritation. he was over this, he should have just kicked this bitch to the curb when i had the chance, he thought. though, he was the one always begging for her to come back and that he misses her. he couldn't ever let go, she's his comfort.

y/n wasn't an idiot, the fact that he thought he could lie in her face made her think dominic thought she was a fool.

"a coworker? really dominic? just like desiree was a classmate. you must think i'm stupid." she gets off the bed and she's putting on her sandals.

desiree was a past mistake, one he deeply regretted. it had put a huge strain on their relationship, but that's only because she found out. she was sure there were many more. i mean he is a guy from florida.

she's grabbing her bag, one that dominic got her on their anniversary. it was a coach shoulder bag, she had a polaroid of them in it. even when they go on their breaks, she never takes out that polaroid. she carries a piece of him everywhere she goes, that's how much she loves him.

he's already pleading with her to calm down and not to make a scene. wrong move.

"calm down, don't make a scene. let me explain, baby. i promise it's not what you think it is." he pleads, still having a composed demeanor. inside, he's shitting bricks.

"no dominic, i'm not going to calm down. we can't keep living like this, we break up and make up and go through the same cycle almost every week." she's walking out of his small studio, walking down the stairs to go to her car.

he's following her, still talking.

"here, here's my phone. go through it. i promise i'm not talking to other girls. just listen to me." he's trying to get her to at least hold his phone, but she's not having any of it. it's embarrassing for her.

he's blocking the drivers door and pleading with you, he bets he looks as pathetic as he feels. he doesn't like having to beg someone to hear them out.

truth is, ashley is a friend from high school. he doesn't find her attractive, nor wants her in the way y/n thinks he does. he was catching up with her because she's was dating his now deceased high school friend.

it was innocent, but the way he acted made it seem like it was the opposite. y/n was not hearing it, it was like he was a little boy being scolded by his mother, it was embarrassing for him as well.

he was sure his nosy neighbors were looking through their windows, he wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying, he's caught up on other things right now. fuck this, he thought.

"fine, don't hear me out, i'm done. fuck you." he's walking off back to his studio.

"no, fuck you!" she yells out after him and she's going into her car and slams the door. she speeds off, her tires screeching off the hot pavement. she was done.

later as they thought with their thoughts at night, they thought about each other. is it time to let go?

[majestic0pheonix]

MOONVALE HEAVY SPOILERS AND THEORIES

Okay! I have been stuck at home so I thought I would write down my theories here for a change.

Here are some of the things I am most curious about and that I think will lead somewhere. Basically ADHD rambles, enjoy!

1. BRIAN

Everyone is suspecting this guy for a reason. Ash couldn't reach him in episode 1 and Eric said he called him but he had really bad reception and the call cut off in the middle, and who else has terrible reception? Adam. Eric never once faced reception issues in the forest. Only in the cave which I still think is odd, because there was the sound of water, wasn't there? And he did say the cave was flooded?

Anyways, Brian is hidden so far for a dang reason and I suspect he is close to where Adam is.

2. TAROT CARDS.

The meeting might not be between just Adam and MC. There is a whole deck of Tarot cards, people. I bet even Adam had his own tarot card.

The problem is, why on earth did Adam believe MC was coming for him when no one contacted us? No one gave us the card yet? Was there someone else who was supposed to contact us? Did someone tell Adam to come meet MC in Greenside? And did they fail to reach us for some reason? Also Unknown believed we would go into the forest as well, he had gotten the same info as Adam, that we were going to meet him in greenside.

Is the reason they failed to reach us because someone has been messing with our phone? Yeah I didn't forget the dang video that was ruined. Our phone had been compromised from Episode 1, we as fans just adore that cus it reminds us of Jake.

Back to the main point, there are more tarot cards. Is there a meeting in that room that we will find out about next episode?

3. UNKNOWN

As I mentioned before, I think Unknown has his own tarot card. The Magician, I suspect. I did some lil research into Tarot cards so take this with a grain of salt, but I believe that Adam might have been The Fool. Purely because he was always talked about as this spontaneous fun person and he got taken out so early in the game so I believe he might have been more than a little naive.

Also, are we forgetting that Whitmore might have shot Unknown? Did he get shot and ran away and ended up in the motel to recuperate? In room 031, to be precise?

(But tbh, I have the strongest feeling it will turn out to be Charlie. Purely because he was so suspicious of the motel in the conversation with his friend who i believe doesn't have a name yet and then suddenly switched to No, I have to go to my super important job. I bet he is still there and managed to break into the room and scare the heck out of Ash and MC, who had switched from talking on the group to talking privately. But. The music box? Did charlie find a music box that has the same melody as the one we heard being whispered while Adam was being taken?)

Hope that poor baby unknown is okay next episode. And, no. I don't suspect him of being Jake at all. Duskwood characters will not come back as main characters cus it doesn't make sense. If anything, he could even be Brian.

4. Whitmore

Whitmore is the liar, supposedly. We haven't seen his name on the envelope so we can't be 100% sure. He could have found that envelope in the forest and destroyed it cus it meant nothing to him.

I am very confused about this man tbh, probably because his actions didn't make any sense to us and kept changing rapidly.

Why does he have alarms in the forest? Why is he roaming around after midnight? Why did Unknown warn us of him? Did he actually mean to hurt Eric? Perhaps trade him into the game that he is stuck in? Give his tarot to him so he takes his role?

If he wanted to use Eric for whatever reason, why on earth did he throw him away so suddenly? He had probably seen Unknown, right? Did he perhaps know Unknown? The same way Unknown knows of him? Is that why he threw Eric out, because he knew they were probably affliated or that there was something related to the dang game going on? That he had essentially played himself?

Too many theories that are pointing absolutely no where. Excited to see where this man will show up again (probably when Bucket gets his stuff together and decides to check what Eric says and goes to ask him questions?)

5. Adam and Co.

The man of the hour. Or the game, you could say.

I am about 90% sure we are going to go into his apartment next now that his keys have been mentioned and that we will find a tarot card as well as some other clue.

Also, the reception issue. So far the places that have bad reception are the cave and, according to the comments on Maps, Greenside motel.

I suspect Adam did reach his destination after all and there is perhaps a secret room in greenside motel.

The video calls of his are also very vague. The first two video calls, it seems like he is running from someone and he calls us to tell us who he saw, like he is giving us some kind of hint, and then we have the video call where the phone is hidden in a bag or something? What was up with all these holes that the camera barely saw through? And Adam looked like he was trying to show us something or ah, the whistling? He was trying to let us hear the whistling? He didn't try to say a singly word in that video call, and the whistling is the same as the melody at the end of episode 2. It is probably a hint towards the person who took him, isn't it? I doubt it is any of the characters we know right now, though.

Also, I don't think Violet and Adam are a thing, perhaps they have history or a one-sided crush, but Violet is way too calm. It feels like she knows something.

Oh, and what could Charlie help us with? Is it related to his job as a journalist? Or will he become our hacker friend? He doesn't strike me as a hacking type of guy. I feel like MC is gonna handle the hacking on their own this game.

So yeah. That is all for now, my brain is coming up blank.

Thank you for reading this mess till the end!

[scriptsheep]

camp crew: jschlatt 𝟎𝟏 (revamped)

a/n: where are my og camp crew members at?? I miss this a.u….had to run it back… but better and longer! the original was actually 2 parts and this one will also possibly 2 parts, if it ever reached peak interest I’d write a full fic..maybe. I loosely based this off a summer camp I used to go to just because it made the writing process easier!

campcounselor!schlatt x campcounselor!gnreader.

warnings: semi-swearing.

lower case intended, not fully proofread.

ᯓ★ schlatt as a campcounselor would be very interesting. he definitely didn’t do it on his free will and was absolutely dragged into it by his friends. He was not thrilled by having to stay in a cabin over night for the next 2 and a half months surrounded by a bunch of random peoples kids and their shenanigans!

ᯓ★ he’s a counselor for the teen unit just like you are so the two of you meet during group trainings to prepare you for camp. both of your friend groups got along instantly which made training a lot less stressful.

ᯓ★ the whole time during camp training he was definitely sitting around with his arms crossed not paying attention whatsoever.

ᯓ★ schlatt was infact grumpy about having to be up at 7 in the morning in the middle of the woods just to be surrounded by a bunch of rowdy teens who definitely have no concept of personal space and inside voices.

ᯓ★ throughout the summer he slowly started to get his group of campers to start pulling pranks on your group of campers and your cabin. who doesn’t love waking up to a cabin full of toilet paper hanging around?

ᯓ★ schlatt for sure gets clowned on by the campers and he tries his hardest to be mature but they bring out the worst in him he can’t hold back. it really makes him regret agreeing to do this.

ᯓ★ he’s the kind of campcounselor who’s really intimidating and kinda mean but after a while of warming up he’s actually pretty chill and fun. he cant ever take anything serious and he’s definitely nosey when there’s drama with campers or counselors.

ᯓ★ this lasted all summer between you and schlatt, you once mixed blue mouth wash into his gatorade which made him spit it out directly onto one of the camp officials by accident.

ᯓ★ schlatt would make his campers run to the dining hall to make sure that they fit the table that was directly next to you group everyday while he casual walked behind.

ᯓ★ one particular day everyone in the camp had to swap camper groups and your twos got switched. you were a bit nervous having to watch schlatts group because his group was completely all boys and they were extremely hyper and all over the place.

ᯓ★ however when they were in your care they were well behaved and actually calm. you spent most of your day in the computer lab playing games and visiting the cafeteria to get different snacks. you ended up learning from a few of the campers how to ride a skateboard in the skate rink.

ᯓ★ his campers start absolutely cheesing you, no matter how many times you denied it they absolutely clowned on you saying that you had a crush on schlatt. at some point they gave you an hour long ‘rizz master crash course’.

ᯓ★ you teach the boys how to make lanyard keychains while in the craft room, you make one for you and schlatt that match with little cat charms that dangle on the end

ᯓ★ towards the end of the day one of campers had the idea to go spy on Schlatt and your group of campers, most of your original campers were girls so you could only imagine what they could be doing.

ᯓ★ to your discovery you found them in one of the dance studio spaces having a spa day. the girls had been playing music and doing makeup and skincare on each other.

ᯓ★ schlatt was completely laid out on the floor hair held back in a pink plush headband face, cucumbers on his eyes, soothing face mask on, little plastic star clips in his curls, and a fresh coat of blue sparkly nail polish on his nails.

ᯓ★ he had been gossiping with your campers about other campers or people they went to school with. one of the girls had expressed how she had been getting picked on by another female camper and he was not having it.

ᯓ★ let out a classic “fuck that bitch” .

ᯓ★ he’s been the upmost kindest to your campers. most of them look up to him like a big brother and he’s not particularly mad about it. they start to ask him about how to know if you have a crush on someone.

ᯓ★ in vague details has given examples of things he’s done to you through out camp and it makes you question everything. few of the campers catch on and start slyly asking particular questions about you to see if he will slip up. (which he does)

ᯓ★ you did infact snap pictures of him to later tease him about. however you group was caught and then chased around the camp in hopes to get them deleted. (they did not get deleted)

ᯓ★ through out the summer you have been using your polaroid camera to take pictures of everything to have memories for later on, there’s a hand full of you and your friends with schlatt slowly starting to get into the mix.

ᯓ★ your favorite polariod is one that a camper took of you guys sitting together at the fire pit making s’mores togther.

ᯓ★ schlatt would use his little hand held cam to capture little moments here and there and he definitely made sure to get a few of you to have after the summer was over.

ᯓ★ remember those matching keychains you made? well now they are clipped to your guys Fanny packs! (this sparks a dating rumor amongst the campers)

ᯓ★ during one of the night where campers could star gaze one of the other male counselors had been a bit too kind while chatting with you and it definitely made schlatt a bit jealous. it didn’t help that his campers were saying how the other male counselor had a huge crush on you and planed to ask you out.

ᯓ★ is he a counselor? yes! is he supposed to be mature and professional? yes! did he over toast a few marshmallow and happen to fake trip causing the over toasted marshmallows to dropped into the other counselors hair? yes! was he ever going to man up and ask you out? no!

ᯓ★ he’s got all summer for that though!

part ll