#it is insulting to both characters and player

[kara-knuckles]

I'm honestly baffled by how many people seem to get "Manfred is freethinker, Ascalon is sheeple" from Babel and "Manfred outsmarted Hoederer" from 14. I can at least begrudgingly understand the former, because the narrative goes out of its way to invalidate Ascalon's every decision so you need to be invested enough to take a step back and see it's actually bullshit, but with the latter W outright mocks Manfred for acting exactly like Hoederer predicted, and this is despite Ulsulah's advanced warnings about the situation on Lifebone. Hell, the fact that Hoederer doesn't even try to fight (presumably because he is acting as a bait and this minimizes his potential injuries) and complete lack of reaction from everyone else suggest that everything was still proceeding according to plan B (separate Manfred from his men so you don't fight them at the same time), even if plan A (intercept him) got Damazti'd.

[awesomebutunpractical]

The logic gap my made-up guy has to have to get to "Well, I can't seem to use my usual Manipulative Nudges to persuade the Straw Hats' captain, maybe I can appeal to the First Mate to keep him in check."

[dammit-sammit]

instructions unclear about whether we’re judging their ability to serve cunt or be a cunt here. I love them both very much but they are both pretty insecure and use picking apart other people’s insecurities as a first defence mechanism so I think if you put them in a room together, previously undiscovered heights of MLM hostility would be reached. And then they would both be sad and need a hug.

If we’re talking about *serving* cunt then I’m sorry I think this is a draw.

They are both very loveable little jerks though. OP’s decision to pit two bad bitches against each other was very cruel but very shrewd.

People who only vote for characters they recognize I rebuke thee

[ghost-recs]

Sakusa Timeskip Recs

this is for you lovely @dontmindtheevie. thank you for your support and patience pookie!

the video call incident by @reverie-starlight

synopsis: you and sakusa enjoyed the secrecy of your relationship. after all, you both didn't want to imagine what would happen if the terrible three ever found out.

oneshot filled with humor, insults, and fluff. it made me unattractively cackle a couple times.

no secretes here by bunnytime [ao3]

synopsis: sakusa's teammates like to think they all know each other pretty well. how could they not know that sakusa was in a relationship? let alone married??

this mini series is so cute! pure fluff and msby chaos!

mine by @taeyamayang

synopsis: you always loved watching sakusa's games and supporting him. however, you didn't love what sakusa had set up for you.

oneshot, maybe a little ooc? but so adorable.

untitled oneshot by @chosobaby

synopsis: there's just one aspect of volleyball that sakusa does not enjoy...

lil "what if" scenario that i just love to think about!

specially made by @luvring

synopsis: you swear sakusa does not understand the point of a surprise. but you're not complaining.

dating pro-player sakusa scenario. just pure fluff

another untitled oneshot by @omi-boshi

synopsis: sakusa does not like answering his phone when he's on break. however, when it's you calling, curiosity gets the better of him.

reader just being a thorn in sakusa's side, but he's too down bad for you to complain.

Fresh Linens by emilyisfictional [ao3]

synopsis: your boyfriend is gone way too often, the only option is to steal his hoodies and sweaters. you hate that he washes them so often.

agh just more fluff and sakusa boyfriend scenarios that leave me melting

Drawing Our Moments by EdenxWrites [ao3]

synopsis: sakusa recalls the days he fell in love with you.

not entirely post-timeskip. has some flashbacks to high school but present day is set after high school. this oneshot caught me off guard.

hello, neighbor by @demxnscous

synopsis: you gain a new neighbor and he seems...interesting enough. well, his friend is definitely a character.

a meet-ugly oneshot that i wish had more parts...but ig that's what my imagination is for.

i also want to bring some attention to this fic: change of heart by heartcondemned [ao3]

i haven't finished reading it yet, but i'm really enjoying it. i also hesitate to rec it because it is unfinished and doesn't look like it will be... but give it a try if you're cool with that!

[utahimeow]

“kenma?”

“hmm?”

he doesn’t take his eyes off the tv screen where he shoots at enemies left and right, but his ears are all yours.

“who was your first kiss?”

it’s become a habit of yours to watch his fingers move on the controller, long and thin and dexterous, wondering how he manages to move them in such a swift manner that to you seems impossible.

“didn’t have one,” he says, blunt.

“ever?”

“ever.”

“how?” you ask, both surprised and not—though now that you think about it, through all the years you’ve known him, he probably would have told you if he had.

“all i did in middle and high school was play volleyball and game. didn’t have time to kiss anyone. also didn’t care about it,” he admits.

you suppose if he wasn’t with you or kuroo, he was at home, playing video games. but there was that little obsession of his with shoyo hinata… so you guess it wasn’t a crush after all.

there’s only an ounce of hesitation behind what you say next, because yes, kenma’s your best friend and this could change the trajectory of your entire relationship with him, but also it’s kenma. kenma who you’ve shared a bed and clothes with, kenma who’s seen you at rock bottom and who’s wiped your snot and tears away when you were at your lowest, kenma who you’re attached at the hip with.

“what if i was your first kiss?”

kenma doesn’t falter at your words, not even for a second as he plays on expertly, nonchalant as always.

“uhh, why?” he asks, and you’re triumphant. if it was a ‘ew, no, what the fuck?’ then that’s how you’d know you fucked up. but it’s not.

“it kinda makes sense for me to be your first. also, i just wanna know what it’s like to kiss you,” you admit, shrugging your shoulders.

the next few moments are full of nothing but controller sounds and the music from the video game on the tv. in the faint glow that radiates from the screen, you make out a tiny dusting of pink on kenma’s pale cheeks.

eventually he gulps. then, “can we drink first?”

your mouth falls open with an insulted gasp and you have half a mind to smack him over the head.

“if you think i’m ugly you can say that, kozume,” you pout, crossing your arms.

“it’s not because i think you’re ugly, dumbass.”

“then why do you need to be drunk to kiss me?!”

kenma is silent again. he doesn’t have to look at you to know you’re staring at him utterly indignantly.

“because i’m too scared to look you in the eyes right now.”

oh.

now you get it.

kenma kozume is such a virgin. and you want him so incredibly badly. in fact you have to restrain yourself from jumping into his lap and kissing him until he can’t think straight.

instead you slide off the couch and head towards his fridge, grab two bottles of asahi and the bottle opener from the utensil drawer before padding back over to the couch, sitting an inch or two closer to kenma than you were before.

you click one bottle open for him, then one for yourself, then without a hint of hesitation you take a confident swig until you’re near chugging the drink.

“chill,” kenma says, side-eyeing you after taking a swig from his own bottle. “don’t want you pulling a himeno on me.”

you let out a noise that’s half-scoff and half-laugh, smacking at his arm. “don’t joke about that. that scene was traumatic.”

two bottles of beer later, kenma’s in-game reflexes start to waver. he’s no longer as sharp as usual, though his tipsy state still trumps the skills of an average player. meanwhile, your head floats with the buzz of alcohol—well, it hovers.

“kenmaaa,” you whine, shaking his arm, when all of a sudden his character is shot to death and the screen pauses as if to deliberately rub his defeat in his face. you stifle a giggle while he runs his hands over his face, though you’re pretty sure it’s not because he lost.

“what?” he asks, but he fails at conveying any real irritation towards you. his voice is small, frail almost.

“i wanna kiss you,” you say. your fingers still cling to the fabric of his hoodie sleeve. kenma’s entire body burns from it. he’s so fucked.

“okay, fine,” he says, turning his body to finally face you and criss-crossing his legs on the couch. “this feels awkward though, how are we-”

and you’ve waited long enough for this, and the alcohol that buzzes through your system makes you throw all your morals out the window, and you’re grabbing him by fistfuls of his hoodie and dragging him towards you until your lips smash—literally—together, and finally he shuts up.

you’re not sure what overcomes you, but you’re kissing him like you’re hungry, not quite ravaging him, but years of yearning deep inside of you bubbles to the surface and fills you with desperation.

also, you’re tipsy.

it’s not long before you come back to your senses a little and remind yourself that this is just his first kiss. go easy on him, maybe?

you move away, slowly, as though trying not to startle him, to find a pair of golden feline eyes blinking back at you. they’re swimming with something unintelligible, something akin to… need? you think you must be seeing things. you’re tipsy, after all.

the silence that hangs over the pair of you is heavy—too heavy. it hurts your shoulders. you laugh so that it goes away, covering your face as though kenma’s timidness was contagious and has now spread to you.

eventually, when you peer back up at him, he’s grinning almost… triumphantly. despite the blush that covers his entire face, he looks victorious. his face replaces any words he could say, and he turns back to his game without a word.

you, however, struggle to keep your thoughts to yourself.

“can we do that more often?” you ask, leaning your frame against his, nuzzling your face into his warmth.

“yeah, we can.”

[omnitrash]

Self Aware Dmc!! - Reaching their little darling! Pt. 2!!

Yeah, this definitely turned out longer than I thought. bUT- that means more brainstorming!! And more Nero- I mean what? Who said that?

Also I just realized that like three characters share the same color so hopefully yall can tell them apart by the nicknames they use for the player (based of one my previous drabbles-) and their behavior. Otherwise I’ll be using their names when they speak just in case.

Another thing! Even though I’ve made a one shot with the reader being in the dmc universe now, I’ll still make other drabbles from when they were still in their og universe. O sea, the real world yk? If anything those would be like prequels, if that makes sense.

ANYWAY! HOPE YALL ENJOY!! MWAH-

“-“ dialogue

‘-‘ thoughts

Multiple colors in dialogue- more than two characters speaking back and forth in a conversation

Pink dialogue- characters speaking at the same time or sharing the same thought, the players thoughts or representative color

Can you tell I like writing with colors???? 🫠🫠🫠

“I guess you were young once too! But as much as I’d like to hear that story, I think it’s about time we-“

“Ended this?”

The two brothers were ready to risk it all, activating their strongest demonic forms before getting ready to launch at the other. This fight would decide it all…

Without a second thought, they rushed towards the other, weapons raised and ready to strike!…before they heard a familiar voice…no. It couldn’t be-

“NERO WAIIIIT-“ You practically squealed, eyes squeezed shut as he landed and promptly blew the twins away with his wings. Keeping you tucked safely in his arms.

The twins couldn’t believe it..! It was you!! But when did you?-

“Sweetheart?!”

“Angel?!”

Dante and Vergil called out respectively once they sat up and got to their senses, watching as Nero detransformed and carefully set you down on the ground. Keeping a hand on your waist for support. You seemed so shaky… Guess you were more taken a back than they thought you’d be.

“Dante..? Vergil..?” You uttered in disbelief. They were right there…-holy fuck they’re hot, aHEM NOT THE TIME- But before you could say anything else, Nero quickly started grilling them off.

“You guys are so stupid!! How the fuck did you two get roped into another fight with each other?! Weren’t you supposed to help us find them before anything happened to them?! Look at them, they got injured! You idiots should be glad that I found them before anything else happened!!”

“N-now now-“ You tried to deescalate the situation, growing more nervous at his angry tone.

“They got hurt?!” Both twins exclaimed, completely ignoring all the other insults thrown at them as they made their way to you. Dante cupping your face and gently turning it to check for injuries. Causing your face to redden significantly.

“Sweetheart, what happened?! Why are you crying?! Where did you get injured?! Did Nero do this?! Oh wow you’re prettier up close-“ Dante fussed over you before getting cut off by his brother, promptly pushing him away since he noticed you were getting overwhelmed again.

“FOOL! Of course it wasn’t Nero! Think, Dante, they probably ran into some demons on the way before Nero found them! Don’t be so foolish!!” He sneered before turning to you, his expression softening significantly as he finally took in your full appearance…at least his son did a proper job at dressing the gash on your back. But you barely had proper clothing. Just an oversized hoodie - which was now ruined- and some shorts…the hoodie barely reached your knees.

He started taking his coat off, holding back a smirk as you looked away and choked on your breath slightly at that. You were always so shameless in checking them out so why the sudden shyness now, hm? He could only assume it’s because they were actually in front of you now. How convenient.

‘HIS ARMS??? HIS TITS???? FOR FREE????? LORD HAVE MERCY I’M BOUTTA BUST-‘ You thought, doing your best to keep your gaze averted as to not look a total pervert…even if you sneaked in a few glances. Just..just a few-

“Here.”

“Huh?” You blinked back as the coat was almost shoved in your face, fully turning to look at him before taking a breath and holding yourself back from saying anything inappropriate.

“Put it on. Even with that hoodie of yours, you should still cover up. My coat should do the trick.” Vergil raised a brow, eventually guiding you out of his son’s grip -much to his protest- to help you put the coat on you since you were too stunned to react…definitely not to make you more flustered. No, of course not. He just wanted to take care of his dearest angel, that’s all.

Meanwhile you were just about to pass out, feeling like your head was spiraling. You really were in the Devil May Cry universe. But then- how?? And by the looks of it, they know you. So then…were they self aware?! Since when?! Does that mean they heard you say all those freaky things?! They must think you’re a pervert already!!! fUCK-

“Hey hey hey, relax sweetheart! Take a breath okay? You look like you’re gonna pass out..” Dante’s voice snapped you out of internal panic, gently guiding you to sit down on the ground with him and seeing how Nero and Vergil followed suit.

“Ah- r-right right…” You nodded with a stammer, feeling yourself trembling still as you continued to process everything…wait didn’t Nero say he’d explain later?? Could this be later? Please, you need answers-

“Um…can I get some context as to how I got here now..?? Please????” You finally managed to ask, glancing between the three Sparda relatives, wanting to know what’s going on for once.

Dante couldn’t help but chuckle, Nero only smiling gently and ruffling your hair as Vergil let out an amused huff.

“Aww, c’mon sweetheart! Don’t you wanna spend more time with us first? We can tell you all that boring stuff when we meet up with the others!” Dante drawled out, pulling you closer to him and resting your back on his chest. You were still trembling so much. Don’t worry little sweetheart, he’s got you.

“I-I mean…yeah but…” Your voice trailed off. While yeah sure, an opportunity to spend time with them like this wouldn’t come around this easy…didn’t they have to get rid of the tree??

“Don’t you have to get rid of this?? Y’know…the giant demon tree we’re sitting on. Won’t you have to go the underworld…?” ‘I just met them and they have to leave already…? I wanted to spend more time with them though..’ You thought, not being able to help yourself from tearing up from the thought of saying goodbye for who knows how long to the twins.

They almost cooed at your reaction -never mind, Dante and Nero just did, one being more obvious than the other- you were just too cute. You look so sad at the thought of seeing them go! Like a little puppy not wanting their owner to leave yet. They’re so glad you’re here with them now.

“Weeeeell, technically yes, we do. Buuut! Since you already cleared this game before, we can stay! Just gotta adjust the code and- hold on tight sweetheart-“ Dante drawled out, adjusting his hold on you and ignoring the protests from you and his relatives.

“Wait what?”

“Dante, hold on a second-“

“Don’t be so foolish, you dolt-!”

And before you all knew it, you were in the Devil May Cry office with everyone. Sitting in Dante’s lap while he sat at his desk with Vergil and Nero surrounding him as you heard faint trembling in the background. Probably the Qlipoth tree crumbling to the ground. Meanwhile a loud crash, a honk and some rushed steps were heard outside before four women rushed in. Them being Lady, Trish, Kyrie and Nico.

“YOU FOUND THEM?! WAIT WHY THE HELL ARE THEY IN YOUR LAP DANTE?! JUST BECAUSE I CALL THEM A LITTLE DOLL DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN TREAT ‘EM LIKE ONE!”

“Little spark?! Are you alright?!”

“Snow drop!! You’re here!!”

“Well I’ll be! If it ain’t the little Tinker Bell!!”

‘Oh my gosh, what the fuck is going on-‘ You thought, feeling like your head was spiraling once more.

“Easy there ladies, can’t you see the little sweetheart looks like they’re about to pass out?” Dante smirked, though he was pretty concerned. You were still trembling, but definitely not as much as before.

“And we still have to explain everything, so calm down you four. They’re overwhelmed as it is” Vergil added, glaring at the women sternly as he kept a track of your current state. You looked so small in his coat, however…how endearing.

“Ah, wait that’s right! Kyrie! Can you grab some medical supplies? Angel got attacked by some demons earlier” Nero urged, dragging Kyrie along to find a first aid kit.

“Oh dear, we better get them some new clothes too! We should have something that’ll fit them right?! C’mon Nero!” Kyrie followed suit, glancing at you one more time before disappearing with Nero.

“You let them get hurt?! Weren’t you all supposed to be finding them?! Or can you idiots not fight each for two seconds?!” Lady glared back even fiercely, getting you out of Dante’s lap and moving you over to the couch. You really did fit in her arms like a doll.

‘Why am I getting manhandled so many times??…or womanhandled in this case, I guess..????’ I thought, already over my injury to some extent and deciding I should try to speak up.

“Look, I don’t care about my injury right now!! Can I please just get some answers as to how I even got here?! And how do you know me too?!” You pleaded, sniffling before rubbing your eyes. You just wanted some answers…was that really too much to ask?

Oh but you looked so cute when you pleaded like this. All teary eyed and trembling. They wished they could see it in a different situation, though.

Nero and Kyrie came down just in time, carefully taking Vergil’s coat off of you and offering something new to change into after they cleaned your wound properly this time.

“Hey hey, don’t cry snow drop…we’ll explain everything now that we’re here okay? Just take a deep breath…in…and out…” Kyrie cupped your face, smiling gently as you followed her advice.

“That’s it…that’s a good angel..” Nero praised softly beside you, both lovers enjoying how flustered you grew despite your tears before Nero turned to his father.

“Could you take it from here? Anyone’s fine, as long as you let them know. Me and Kyrie wanna focus on taking care of them properly” He asked, not waiting for answer regardless as he lifted the back of your teared hoodie to undo the makeshift bandages. Kyrie helping out so they could both clean the gash on your back.

‘Brat’ Vergil thought, deadpanning at his son ‘I do what I want, fuck you’ attitude before sighing and turning to you.

“Ahem…you said you wanted to know how we knew you, yes? We’ve been…aware of your existence since you played the first game…though admittedly, the messy timeline made it a bit confusing for us, we still recognized you nonetheless. It was you who guided my idiot brother-“ “HEY!-“ “-through his adventures was it not? Or the one who recognized me when I was Nelo Angelo and helped me break control? The one who saved my son and his lover and saw my journey through Fortuna…and the one who helped our family reunite?” Vergil spoke, raising a brow as he observed your reaction, paying no mind to his brother’s little tantrum.

“I…I guess…? I-if you put it that way…” You stammered faintly, still trying to process everything before finally realizing that- “wait so then…d-did you hear-“

“Everything you said or did? Yup. Glad to know you like us just as much as we do, sweetheart. Didn’t think you wanted us that bad~” Dante cut you off with a teasing smirk, winking in your direction and letting out a chuckle as you lowered your gaze towards your lap with a red face. Trying to shrink back against the couch before being scolded gently by the couple working on your wound.

“Careful snow drop, we’re not done yet.” “Kyrie’s right y’know, angel? Just be good for us and stay still for a little longer, okay?” “Can you do that for us?” They murmured, almost talking in your ears and making your embarrassment worse.

“Y-yeah! Sorry-“ You squeaked, straightening up and only growing more embarrassed at the soft laughter you heard from everyone at your reaction.

You really were too cute. So easily flustered and even more easy to melt. They were going to love having you here.

“W-what about me getting here though…how did you guys do that?” You asked, tilting your head to the side slightly and being more mindful of the couple working on your injury.

“Ah…in that case, it’s rather complicated…we had to work around this world’s code to get you to us. How we did it ourselves, we’re not entirely sure. We were just…” Vergil trailed off, not knowing how to find the words to describe how they felt. Luckily, Trish filled in the blanks for him.

“Desperate, little spark. We’ve been wanting to meet you in person for so long now…we were willing to do anything do so…” She knelt down in front of you, wiping a stray tear from your face and smiling softly as she felt you lean into her palm subconsciously.

Lady knelt down close to you too, ruffling your hair to try and cheer you up. “Lighting McQueen over here’s right, little doll” “What was that-“ “We were tired of having that screen separate you from us. And now you’re here…didn’t you want to see us too?”

“M-…mhm…” You hummed faintly, glad that despite being in a different world altogether, it was one filled with familiar faces.

“Woah woah woah! Aren’t y’all forgetting something? It was thanks to me y’all managed to alter the code enough to bring little Tinker Bell over here! Where’s my credit and thank you’s huh?!” Nico cut in with a bewildered expression, causing a few in the room to sigh in exasperation.

“Yeah yeah, thank you Nico. You’re too smart to be gracing us with your presence, yada yada yada” Nero grumbled, not bothering to look up from the bandages he was fixing for you as he retorted while Kyrie giggled quietly at the interaction between the two.

“Hey! Show me some respect you little brat!” “Are we seriously doing this right now, Nico? Can’t you see I’m busy? Go bark up some other tree” “Why you little-“ Nico and Nero started to argue, with you accidentally deescalating the incoming argument.

“Wait so you’re the one who like- decoded the world or something to bring me here? I mean I guess I can’t be too surprised since you already made a few things already-“ Nico couldn’t help but straighten up with a proud smile at that. Knowing that you were impressed by her Devil Breakers and weapons. Much to Nero’s exasperation.

Decoding the world you say, how cute. It’s adorable how you didn’t know how to explain things. You tended to mix your words and stumbled over them a lot. They didn’t mind though, how could they? It was too cute. They wondered if they could make you stumble and babble over your words under them-

“But…then does that mean you could find a way to bring me home…? N-not that I don’t like you guys but…I can’t just…stay here forever…” Your voice brought them back to the conversation, the Devil May Cry office growing so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

You didn’t fail to notice the silence, immediately noticing how tense it was. Subconsciously leaning towards Kyrie and Nero for comfort. “Um…guys..?”

“You won’t” Vergil’s voice broke the silence, his stare now stern but not unkind. Just…obsessive..?

“What?” You uttered as you blinked back, looking around to see the rest of the cast’s expressions. They had the same obsessive look in their eyes, despite their expressions being so different…it was almost love sick…? “W-…what d’you mean I won’t…” You murmured carefully, growing cautiously -if not a bit scared- of the sudden tenseness and glint in their eyes.

“What the deadbeat said, little sweetheart” “You foolish cu-“ “We could find a way to get you back ‘home’ but…we don’t want to. You’re stuck here” Dante said, his tone too casual for the weight of his words.

You couldn’t help but feel dread at his explanation, or rather lack thereof. You’re stuck here…? They didn’t want to send you back?? You didn’t understand-

“Why? W-what d’you mean I’m stuck here? You can’t just-“ Nero cut you off, promptly grabbing your chin and turning your head to look up at him.

“But we can angel…besides, you said you loved us didn’t you? That you’d do anything for us? So that means you’re staying and letting us take care of you. You don’t have choice” He cooed with a lovesick smile, letting Kyrie cup your cheek and guide your gaze to her gently.

“He’s right, snow drop. We promise we’ll take care of you. You won’t be needing anything with us…” She smiled lovingly despite the lovesick look in her eyes, causing your head to spin.

You look around, down to see Lady and Trish at your knees, to Vergil and Dante at the desk or even Nico who was standing by the stairs…but their eyes held the same intensity. The same message.

You’re not leaving us, little darling. Not a chance in Hell.

[quietplace26]

What say you to a Chubby!MC?

Once again, this idea spawned during a chat with @arn9tails about exposing what chubby actually looks like to Genshin, and I thought, you know what? Screw it, let's do this.

Also, once again using @arn9tails lovely size difference Genshin au. Also using my bias, Zhongli once again. I love this old dragon man so much. ❤️

Warnings: OCness, cringe, some fat shaming and slurs. Zhongli being a little horny for Chubby!MC. A little Dark!Zhongli. Yandere!Zhongli?

Zhongli

Like many others who were avid gamers, Chubby!MC knew of Genshin Impact. How could she not? It was her comfort game.

From dealing with snide comments about her weight from both family and coworkers alike. To failing to find a boyfriend who tolerated her larger form, much less love her for herself.

Fat. Lardass. Whale. Pig. "Why can't you just lose weight like a normal woman?" or "What? Hungry again, piggy?", And so many cruel words flow through her head

At the very least, she had Genshin Impact. She could always fall back on this game and its characters to bring up her mood after a long day.

One certain character ALWAYS brought up her mood, no matter what.

Zhongli. The retired Geo Archon. Geo daddy, as many of his simps calls him. Chubby!MC, like many other Zhongli simps, adored this man.

She thought he was handsome, wise, strong, mysterious, and all around, a down-to-earth man.

He was her dream man... But alas, he was nothing but that. A dream. Something NOT real.

Besides, even IF he was real, why would he ever pay attention to someone of Chubby!MC's size? If anything, someone like Ningguang had better chance with a gorgeous body like hers...

Chubby!MC's mood goes down the drain then and she shuts off her computer, making a mental thought about going to the gym... again.

Maybe this time she wouldn't be scared off by the giggles or whispered insults from other gym goers...

But then something more important than going to the gym to lose weight happens.

7 very large land masses appeared all around the world. 7 very large and familiar land masses at that.

Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, Sumeru, Fontaine, Natlan, and Snezhnaya. The 7 nations of Teyvat. Of Genshin Impact. They... They were real!

...And also apparently very, VERY big! From reports, the people- the Teyvatians as Genshin players had been calling them, were massive compared to an Earthling human!

Truthfully Chubby!MC didn't know how to react to the news. Genshin Impact was real now? The characters that brought her comfort were real. Zhongli... he was real?

That last thought made her heart skip a beat. Oh... He was real.

But that excitement fades as the reality hits that it didn't matter if he was real. He was still out of her reach, no matter what.

...Or at least that's what she originally thought.

Cut to a few months later, and news about a event in Chubby!MC's city was circling about.

Apparently it was a raffle, and winners could have the honor of going a grand party that would have the Archon's themselves attending.

And as for why they were even in Chubby!MC's nation, it was because of a political meeting between a large group of Earthling political powers

The party is supposed to be something of a moral boost thing. To bring the two races, the Teyvatians and Earthlings, closer together.

Chubby!MC honestly considered entering, but thought against it. She wouldn't be able to handle finding out she lost.

Soon enough, she hears there's only one invitation left. And she thinks, that's that. She lost her chance due to her second guessing herself.

However...

Chubby!MC sits in one of her workplace bathroom stalls, her hands shakily held a piece of paper as she stared down at it in shock.

The words said it all. Winner.

Rewinding to a bit earlier today, Chubby!MC was doing some work when an envelope was tossed on her desk and some obnoxious giggles come from the cubicles near her.

For context, some of the girls from her job won a spot at the party, and they were trying to rub it in her face by throwing what they thought was a dud raffle ticket at her.

Key word. Thought. Because the words on the paper clearly said Winner. Chubby!MC could go to the party!

She could see and maybe, just maybe, even meet Zhongli...

Cut to the day of the party, and Chubby!MC finds herself within a large sports stadium along with the other party goers.

Apparently it was being held here because of the Teyvatians, which makes sense considering their size.

"....Ugh, gross. Look at her..."

"Yeah. Who let a whale in here?"

"And in a dress like that?"

Chubby!MC flinches at the snide comments whispered behind her as she found herself alone on the field as the other Earthling party goers paired up with one another. More than one of them were throwing her rude looks or sneers.

Biting her lip, Chubby!MC glances down at her dress. It was rather modest in her eyes. A simple yellow (Geo yellow) dress that she thought was pretty and the kind store clerk that helped her picked it out said it show off her- not chubby, but curvy body nicely.

But of course, people had to be cruel...

She barely holds down the urge to sniffle as she slowly takes a sip of wine, noticing the people leering at her had suddenly gone pale and scurried away.

Of course, she does notice once a large shadow covers her form.

Blinking, she slowly glances up, and squeaks when she sees the familiar impish grin of the Ameno Archon, Venti.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? A lone Crystalfly among some noisy flies? And a yellow one at that..."

He squints at Chubby!MC, and his smile grows more playful as he lowers his hand to her, urging her to climb on.

"Why don't you come with me? I know someone who'd be very interest in meeting you, little Geo Crystalfly."

Chubby!MC barely has time to even breath before the Ameno Archon gently scoops her up and begins walking towards the other Archons who were just arriving as well.

"Hey, Blockhead! Look at what I found~"

Zhongli, who was talking to Ei, turned to Venti, and Chubby!MC's feels her heart skipped a beat as those intense but mysterious yellow golden eyes zeroed in on her.

He was just as inhumanely handsome as she imagined him being in real life...

Venti comes to a stop before the now still Geo Archon, the man still staring down at Chubby!MC. In an almost animal like fashion, he tilts his head slowly, and for a sec Chubby!MC thinks she saw draconic slits in his eyes before they disappeared.

"...And who is this, Barbatos?"

Venti does his signature 'eheh' before awkwardly saying he never got Chubby!MC's name.

"But isn't she pretty? A pretty little Geo Crystalfly!

Chubby!MC was pretty sure her round cheeks were glowing red from how embarrassed she was. She wasn't pretty! Ei is pretty! Mauvika is pretty! They were skinny and she wasn't-

"...Hm, I never thought I would agree with you on something like this, but yes, she is very pretty."

Zhongli's voice cuts Chubby!MC's negative thoughts, causing her to whip her head towards the Geo Archon in confusion. And her soul nearly leaves her body as he sees him smile at her.

Oh God this man-

And that's how Chubby!MC found herself suddenly surrounded by all seven Archon not even a few minutes later.

It was a surreal experience. Meeting characters she only knew from through her computer screen.

But meeting and having the chance to talk to them all, a magical experience.

But what beat all of that was the fact she was now being held by Zhongli after she was confiscated from the bard's hold.

His fingers were wrapped loosely around her plump form as he held her, gently squeezing.

The soft pudge of her smaller form squishing between his fingers, making her embarrassment spike along with something else...

Chubby!MC shivers, recalling how dangerous the fingers that were holding her so gently could be.

They were fingers of a being that was over 6000 years old. Fingers that held and built weapons, hurled spears at gods, shattered mountains, and built a whole nation.

And yet... They held her with such gentleness...

She tries to focus on the conversation between the Archons, ignoring the gawking Earthlings on the ground and the sounds of pictures being taken.

She could already see tomorrow's headlines. 'Overweight woman held by a real God' or something along the line...

Now a little afraid that her... her disgusting, fat presence could cause some backlash on the Archons, she quietly asks to be put down as she fights the urge to cry....

Zhongli refused to put her down, however.

Zhongli's fingers flex around her plump form, making her squeak at the unexpected gesture, and one large finger gently hooks under her chin, forcing Chubby!MC to look up at the Geo Archon.

Zhongli: "Why? Is something wrong, little Crystalfly?"

Ah, there he goes using that nickname Venti gave her! Why were they calling her that?! She wasn't pretty or dainty like a Crystalfly!

But after some more probing, this time some of the other Archons asking as well, Chubby!MC's fingers dig into her dress anxiously as she quietly tells the truth...

Telling that her 'fat' presence might cause issues, about the pictures being taken and the gossip.

Chubby!MC: "W-what was I thinking, coming to this event with a body like mine-"

She's cut off by Zhongli's large, gloved thumb covering her mouth, his face stern as he glanced over at the ever-curious Earthlings, most of which had begun to foolishly lose their fear.

And she caught some of their words... And tears immediately build up in her eyes.

"Wow, look at her. She looks like a fucking beach ball in his hands."

"Think she'd bounce if he tossed her?"

"Nah, fat bitch like her would definitely pop like a balloon!"

Oh, she was definitely crying now...

She also doesn't notice how Zhongli and the other Archons had stiffened at the cruel words thrown at her so callously.

Whimpering, Chubby!MC squirms more, pleading to be put down so she could run away from this mess.

But again. Zhongli would NOT put her down. Instead, to her horror, he turns and walks over to where those cruel words came from, his footsteps shaking the earth more than before.

Chubby!MC quietly mutters his name in confusion, but the massive God ignores her as his expression darkens.

The once snickering group of Earthlings immediately goes silent as Zhongli's silent form leers over them, expression still dark, and quite frankly, terrifying.

Zhongli: "...Apologize to her. Now."

Chubby!MC of course tries to defuse the situation by saying it was fine; she was more than used to comments like that.

That, as it would turn out, would be the wrong thing to say.

In front of all the earthlings in stadium, and even on national television itself, Zhongli declares to her he was going to take her back to Liyue.

...Was she seriously about to be kidnapped by her favorite character?

And the answer was yes, yes, she was as Chubby!MC finds herself being carried off by Zhongli, who goes to join the other Archons, and they leave for the set-up wave point nearby.

But she couldn't just let herself be taken! She had a life, a job-

Her panicked thoughts are cut off when Zhongli presses her closer to his chest, smushing her chubby cheek against his suit jacket.

He murmurs quiet promises of her being safe in Liyue. That she would never hear such disgusting things said about her body ever again. She would be treated well and with respect she deserved.

Zhongli: "From now on, you will be under my care, little Crystalfly."

And that... sounded awfully like a threat. A threat Chubby!MC should clearly be afraid of if she had any braincells...

However... was it selfish of her to want to be taken care of? To have someone not mock her for weight or force on diets that never work.

Was it selfish that she wanted genuine affection? Love?

And honestly... did she even have anything worth staying around here for?

Chubby!MC's job was awful. Her coworkers and boss even more so. Her family only probes her about losing weight and being pretty like her sisters so she could get married, and her love life was nonexistent.

So... Was anything truly her holding back from being taken to Liyue?

Realizing this, Chubby!MC stops struggling. She goes quiet as the Archons walked up to the wave point where, one by one, each Archon teleported back to their respected nations.

Venti was the last to go before them, and he cheekily asks for Chubby!MC to come and visit his nation once she settles in, even saying he'd loved to share some dandelion wine with her, before teleporting off with a laugh as Zhongli growls at him.

Chubby!MC hears Zhongli take a deep breath, calming himself before he too activates the wave point, and smiles down at her.

Zhongli: "Come along now, little Crystalfly. Liyue awaits us."

Zhongli's POV

Zhongli hadn't expected much from this 'party' the earthlings scrounged up. Especially since they made it a bigger fiasco than need be.

The other Archons agreed with him. So, together they agreed to go to the party.... But leave immediately afterwards and return to their nations after a couple of minutes.

Well, that was the plan. At least, until he hears Barbatos call out to him. "Hey Blockhead! Look at what I found~"

And in the bard's hands was probably the most endearing looking Earthling he's ever seen, looking up at him with wide, pretty eyes.

Her body was built differently than other Earthling women he's met so far, and that even included other Teyvatian women.

He was so used to slim built females, he never really considered ones with more meat on their bones... and honestly, it was lovely sight to behold.

A body that reminded him of a plump, juicy Sunsettia fruit. Thick in all the right places, and no doubt very, very soft and squishy.

And to wrap it all up in a pretty bow was the fact she was wearing HIS colors. A bright Geo Yellow dress...

So, it came to no surprise that he confiscated the soft earthling from the now smug looking Ameno Archon.

Zhongli honestly wanted to growl and swat that look off that face, but he had an image to hold up, so-

Oh... And it turns out the soft looking Earthling really was as soft and squishy as she looked.

He could barely hold down the urge to purr as carefully held the fragile being in his hands. She really was all pillowy softness in all the right places.

Truly a treasure he had been gifted with. Hm... he makes a mental note to remember to send some fresh Liyue wine to Barbatos for finding such a darling creature...

Because of this unexpected situation, Zhongli decided to stay longer at the party, if only to hold and be close to soft little Earthling in his hands...

To his displeasure, however, the other Archons seems to follow his lead, finding the soft, chubby earthling to be precious, and gently probe her with questions, flustering the poor dear.

And the urge to swat at Venti grows even stronger-

But then his attention is drawn back to his little Crystalfly. She was squirming in his hands, gently tapping his fingers to get his attention.

But truthfully, his eyes were glued in on her thick but soft looking thighs that flashes into view as the Earthling's dress hikes up unintentionally in her squirming.

His mouth suddenly feels dry and his fingers flex unintentionally, causing the plump Earthling to let out an adorable squeak.

Feeling her flesh, soft and full, spill over his fingers...

...He wondered how it would feel to have her sit on his fac-

A boney elbow quickly jams into his side. The culprit? Venti. The Ameno Archon hisses for him to "get his mind out of the gutter". A strange Earthling term but message received.

So, he politely asks what's wrong... and his opinion of Earthlings (baring, of course, Chubby!MC.) somehow, if possible, went even further down.

His little Crystalfly was ashamed of her weight, when in honesty, she should be praised for it.

Yet, from her words and body language alone, it was clear other Earthlings didn't share his view on beauty.

This made more apparent when Zhongli hears the quiet whispers and sneers of other Earthlings around him. All of whom was insulting his now crying Crystalfly.

All because of her weight.

And despite wanting to smite the disgusting Earthlings dust, his little Crystalfly showed kindness towards her harassers. Saying it was fine when it was obviously wasn't. And... And that she was used to it.

Used. To. It? She was used to this nonsense?!

No. No, this would not continue. If the Earthlings couldn't see this precious little thing's beauty... then he'll just take her back to Liyue with him.

And if the Earthlings decide to make a ruckus about it? Well... One does not poke a dragon or God and walk away in one piece...

[hxney-lemcn]

Not so Long Distance — Idia Shroud x gn! reader

summery: with the seconds ticking down, everyone has a certain amount of time before they meet their soulmate, you just hope yours is your online crush.

tw: awkward encounters, reader isn't Yuu.

a/n: I'm in my Idia phase, help. Also, my first soulmate fic I'm proud of.

wc: 2.6k

Master List

The countdown on your wrist that had once been a beacon of hope and excitement slowly turned into one of doom. The idea of meeting your soulmate was terrifying yet exciting. Meeting someone that you fit perfectly with was mystifying, and the underlying fear of rejection scared you, but overall you would accept your soulmates wishes. But now? Something you never even thought of happened. 

You’re falling for someone you met online, but your timer is still ticking. 

With the internet still being new, and research into how it could affect the soulmate mark is still going on, you’re not sure if you should lose hope yet. For all you knew, the mark didn’t register when two people meet from separate distances…but you felt like you were coping with that explanation. You had met him online months ago, and every bad joke or insult towards a shitty player made you laugh, everytime he laughed at your bad jokes your stomach fluttered. It was embarrassing in a sense, you were falling for someone you hadn’t even seen yet. What if he was tricking you and he was some old man? But you doubted it, he sounded young and the way he talked was even outdoing modern slang. In fact, you even brought up this train of thought one day while you were on a call playing separate games. 

“Y’know, for all I know you’re some fifty year old guy,” You said in a joking tone, farming your crops in game.

“Hah?” Gloomuri, or Gloom as you’ve dubbed him, let out a noise of confusion. “Are you really that dumb?” 

“What’s that supposed to mean!” You huffed, accidentally hitting a plant that still needed to grow mature causing you a slight profit loss on your farm. “I just mean that I’ve never seen your face. Even though I know you, if I saw you on the street I’d never realize.”

The call fell silent for a few seconds, but to you it felt like minutes. You were propositioning something that felt like crossing a small boundary that was set. A video call. Something you were nervous about as well since that meant showing your own face. But IGloom had snuck his way into becoming one of your top, if not closest friend over the past few months. He’d drone on about some game drama you had almost no idea about, while he’d listen to your ‘normie’ drama (as he dubbed it) about school or friends. Although you’d say the best moments were when you’d both geek out over games or anime together, fighting on who the best character is and what your favorite part was. 

“Y-you wanna do a…video call?” Gloom hesitantly asked, you could hear the nerves in his tone which caused you to backtrack.

“We don’t have to if you don’t wanna, I’m not trying to pressure you,” You assured. “I’m just a bit curious. 

A few more seconds passed before he spoke up, voice even shakier than before, “Y-you’d show your f-face too…right?”

You fidgeted with your computer mouse, his nerves starting to get to you, “It’s only fair I suppose…” When you clicked on the call, unsure where this was going, you were surprised to see his camera on, but covered. “Wait, you mean right now?” You asked. 

“D-did you not mean right now?” He replied back, his voice an octave higher. 

“I-I just don’t…I’m not the most presentable,” You muttered back, looking at your reflection in the black of your phone screen. You pushed some of your hair back into place, fixing the collar of your sweater. Oh gosh, you were going to finally see what your crush looks like! 

“I don’t either,” Gloom mumbled, continuing to mumble something under his breath that you couldn’t make out. “N-never mind, never doing this-”

“W-wait!” You called out, turning your camera on as soon as you were out of sight. “I’ll do it, just don’t judge me too hard, okay?” Another few seconds before he meekly replied a small ‘ok’. “On the count of three. One…two…three.” 

Just like that, your breath got taken away. On the other side of the camera was a pale guy with blue flaming hair and…wait a minute…didn’t someone exactly like him go to your campus? You blinked at him with wide eyes, snapping out of your daze when he shied away from your gaze.

“Do I know you?” You asked dumbly, snapping Gloom out of his own daze. It was his turn to blink at you before he tilted his head. 

If he moved his hand away from the bottom of his face you’d notice a sharp smirk overtake his handsome features, “I’d hope so, we’ve been talking for how long?”

“That’s not what I meant,” You huffed once more that night. “You look like a guy that goes to my campus.”

“Really?” Gloom asked, unbelievably skeptical. “‘Cus not many people have blue flaming hair.”

You rolled your eyes, glad that convo was back to your playful banter, “I’ve never actually seen him. Only heard about him once from my irl friends. And yes, he was described as having fiery hair.”

“...Where do you go to school?” He asked, suddenly serious.

You gave him a skeptical look, “And why should I give you my current location? So you can stalk me?”

“I could find out in one click if I wanted,” He shrugged, amber eyes showing he was completely serious. 

“Thanks for not doxxing me I guess…” You grumbled, a bit put off. “I go to Night Raven College.” The silence was loud after that revolution before he broke it.

“I guess you do know me irl.”

That call had changed something in your friendship. The space between y’all had seemed to get smaller as you both grew more comfortable with one another, nearly having calls everyday. Now that you knew what eachother looked like, you’d have some video calls sprinkled in, and your raging crush seemed to only grow stronger. Now you had a pretty face to put to his lovely deep voice, and you wanted to strangle him for how attractive he was.

You now found yourself counting down the days till school started, and as you looked down at that damned timer on your wrist you found yourself hopeful again. You had fifteen days till school, and your soulmate timer was down to twenty days. You had been barely getting any sleep due to that, hoping that once you met Gloomuri, who you’ve come to know as Idia, the timer would hit zero. You both just clicked so well in a way you’ve never felt before, you just hoped he had the same numbers lining his own wrist. 

…

With how excited you were with meeting Idia, you found yourself getting quickly overwhelmed with school work. The professors didn’t hold back when it came to work, and contact between you and Idia had devolved from video calls into texts. It wasn’t until you woke up the first Saturday of the school year, looked down at your wrist and noticing the time had changed from days to hours. You nearly had a heart attack seeing it, all your anxiety mashing together at one moment. What if you just stayed in your dorm all day? But then that would mean your soulmate was someone in your dorm. But if you went out there was a high chance it wasn’t Idia. 

Before the dilemma could get to your head too much, your roommate asked if you wanted to tag along with them to Sam’s shop. Wanting to clear your mind a bit, you agreed, hoping to just ignore your problem instead of overthinking. You both ended up talking about classes, what you predicted you’d struggle in and do okay, who was in your classes and such. 

You had to hold yourself back from buying something, though you do have to give Sam props for having almost everything you could think of. All was good once more…until someone with a head of fiery blue hair walked in. It wasn’t Idia though, no, but someone who looked eerily similar if not quite a bit younger. Your friend noticed your attention left them, falling onto the young technomatic humanoid and decided to speak up.

“Hey Ortho,” They greeted him with a smile. “How’s it going?”

“Hello!” He replied back quickly, “My morning is going well. How about you?”

“It’s been good,” They smiled. “This is my friend.” They introduced you, saying your name. To your surprise Ortho lit up, seemingly recognizing your name. 

“Really?” He asked. You hummed while nodding in agreement, heart skipping a beat. Peaking at your wrist you noticed the time was cut down to minutes. Was this it? Was Idia actually your soulmate? Your hope was reignited tenfold.

“My brother talks about you all the time!” Ortho exclaimed excitedly.

“Wait, you know Idia?” Your friend asks, astonished. “The shut-in who uses a tablet to attend class?”

“M-maybe,” You murmured bashfully, crossing your arms as a nervous habit.

“Are you free after this?” Ortho asked, nearly jumping up and down.

“Yeah,” Your friend spoke up before you could. “We just finished actually.”

“That’s great!” Ortho exclaimed, his eyes shining. You were sure if he didn’t have the bottom half of his face covered he’d be smiling widely. “You should come over to Ignihyde, I’m sure Idia would love it if you came to visit.”

“Okay.” 

It was out before you knew it, and like a whirlwind, you were suddenly swept to the front door of Idia’s dorm room, his little brother by your side. Before you could lift your hand up to knock, the door automatically slid open after Ortho’s face was scanned. You knew Ignihyde was known for its technical prowess…but this seemed like overkill. You stood outside awkwardly, unsure if you were allowed to step in yet, but you weren’t left to flounder for long as Ortho pulled you in by your hand. You glanced once more at your wrist and you nearly burst into tears. Only a few seconds left. A few seconds left until Idia was your confirmed soulmate and you suddenly didn’t feel as excited. Fear grasped your heart, unsure if he would be willing to be tied to you for the rest of your lives. You didn’t have much time to think of every terrible scenario as you faced the guy you had been fawning over. 

As Idia turned to greet Ortho (and grab some snacks), he found himself having a heart attack when he saw your face. He knew you both went to the same school, but he wasn’t prepared to see you face to face…not irl at least. He barely comprehended Ortho’s rambling, too busy trying to hide his visage from your sight. He wasn’t prepared for someone to visit, not to mention you. Everywhere he looked he saw a different mess that would surely disappoint you, dirty clothes that scattered the floor, empty ramen cups that lined his desk, and empty cans of energy drinks that filled his trash can…yeah not the best first impression. 

You, on the other hand, anxiously straighten your shirt while trying to not seem like you cared about your appearance too much. You were the first one to speak up after Ortho took his leave (seemingly ignorant of the tense atmosphere). 

“Hey,” You greeted, an awkward smile on your lips. Instead of replying, Idia merely gave a weak whimper as he pulled his hood as far as it would go over his head. “I-I’m sorry, Ortho invited me, and I have been wanting to meet you in person, I hope I’m not overstepping too much…” Then, he let out a sudden shriek, causing you to nearly fall over from how loud it was.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, scared he might’ve hurt himself somehow. 

“Th-the…y-your…I’m in a dream, this has to be. There’s no way this is real,” He muttered, holding his face in some sort of desperation. 

“Not a bad dream I hope…” You chuckled awkwardly, not sure what was going on. Not the cute meeting with your soulmate like you wished, you just hoped this wasn’t him violently rejecting you. Instead of replying, he let out another whimper, and you felt like you’re intruding in something you shouldn’t be. Your awkwardness meter being at its max, you decided you should take your exit and hope he calms down soon so you both can talk the situation out. 

“I’ll just…it was nice seeing you,” You stumbled over your words a bit. “I’ll let you uh…I’ll leave you to it…”

“W-wait!” Idia jolts up, eyes erratic. “You…w-we’re…” “Soulmates?” You supplemented. 

“Y-yeah…how are you so calm about it?”

“Would…would it be weird if I said I was hoping for you to be my soulmate?” You asked in a whisper, eyes darting around his room instead of meeting his own. Not like he’d be able to make eye contact with you either. 

Idia let out a squeak at your reply, his heart beating erratically. He found you too good to be true. You both liked similar games and anime, and when you didn’t play the same game you’d both play your own game while being on call. He found himself looking forward to your calls, something he would have never thought possible (he avoids calls like the plague). He found himself looking forward to something for once, finding solace in something that wasn’t fictional for once, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It was scary, but manageable when you were just pixels like everything else he loved (Ortho wasn’t technically pixels, but he wasn’t human (anymore) either). But now you were face to face in person, and you were so much more attractive when he could see you fully, and gosh he’s not sure how much more he could handle this. Especially not with such bold remarks like that. 

Idia never really cared about soulmates. If anything, he loathed the ink that marked his skin. Wished for the digits to just go away. His entire life was a curse, so cursed that he was forced to drag someone down with him. He didn’t deserve it, and no one else deserved his fate. And now, seeing you, a person outside of his family that he managed to grow close to…he felt conflicted. He too was happy you were his soulmate. You were so sweet, but not overly so. Not afraid to snap back at him with your quick wit. His heart would skip a beat when he heard the smile in your voice, or when you’d laugh at his lame joke. He would dream of a future with you when he closed his eyes, allowing him to envision a life with you and Ortho, living happily somewhere like normal people would. He was also guilty, you didn’t deserve a secluded life away from others.

“Yes,” He ended up answering. “That’s like…super weird.”

“Oh,” You felt disheartened. This was totally a rejection. 

“You shouldn’t like me,” Idia continued. “Someone like me doesn’t get that ending…”

“Hmm,” You hummed, an idea forming in your mind. Perhaps you just needed to speak his language. “I guess you got the secret good ending then.”

“B-but-”

“No buts,” You tutted. “Now, last time we talked you mentioned that game, why don’t we play it?”

It’ll take a lot of time for Idia to fully warm up to the idea of having a soulmate, truly. Not just some numbers, but an actual person who smiled at him so warmly, like he was worth something. It’ll take even more time for him to warm up to you, your love, your affection…but he found something small burning within him. Like a small spark being lit deep in his heart…hope. Hope for the future, something he’s never felt before.

[cryinggirlnamedhelen]

like hollywood and me; that diamond on your ring

synopsis ; diamond rings? pretty common. but diamond rings on your left ring finger while dating the world’s most famous soccer player? definitely not common.

cw ; isagi x fem!reader, characters are aged up (isagi is 24)

now playing ; margaret by lana del rey

isagi yoichi was always among the most trending searches on any platform. usually, it was to search up some sort of incredible goal that he scored or some sort of insult he had thrown at a teammate. occasionally it would be about his relationship with you, perhaps after a cute and romantic social media post or something lovesick that he did with you after a match, such as immediately running over to you and kissing you.

but this time, the most trending search for isagi was isagi marriage.

paparazzi and journalists went crazy, fans went crazy, everyone went crazy. all because of a instagram post made by you, isagi’s girlfriend, of all people. it was a picture of your left hand, except there was something more to it. a gleaming blue diamond sat atop an intricately designed golden band on your ring finger.after zooming in and a few hours of analysis later, a fan even deduced that your name was on the band of the ring. the caption for your post? well, it certainly didn’t help anyone calm down.

guess who just got engaged? @realisagiyoichi, love you🫶

fans and other celebrities bombarded the comment section with both disbelief and congratulatory responses, although some bitter fans left some pretty nasty hate comments, but opposed to what you expected, the responses were overwhelmingly positive.

bachibeemegs : WHATWHATWHAT YOU AND ISAGI ARE GETTING MARRIED CONGRATS!!!🎉🥳👏🎊

reomikageofficial : Congratulations, Isagi and (Y/n). I’m happy for you guys and I wish you guys a happy marriage.

nagisei : congrats :x

shidoufreakyusei : guys im the flower girl trust😈

chigiri.hyoma : you bagged a baddie. im surprised. but congrats anyways, isagi and (y/n).

otoyaeitabrrrr : dont fumble the baddie isagi

karasutabitoe : Congratulations. Try not to get her to divorce you.

hioriyonoquierodinero : Congratulations!😊

charleschevalirizzler : skibidi sigma ohio isagi, you have so much rizz

michaelkaiser_official : ew

isagi took a deep breath, standing right outside the exit of the bastard münchen hq, getting ready for any questions that the media could bombard him with. he had left extra early today just so he could avoid intrusive questions at 8 in the morning, but now that it was 4 in the afternoon, he can’t avoid those questions any longer.

he stepped outside, and just as expected, paparazzi cameras instantly flashed into his eyes as the media crowded him. “isagi, isagi! can you please tell us about your marriage?”

“will you be taking a break from soccer?”

“will you be retiring?”

“do you want any kids?”

“when’s the wedding?”

“does this deny the rumors that you and bachira are gay?”

“uh, one at a time, please.” isagi stated, standing stiff as a board. he should be used to the media already, but he was still just a bit shy with them. “i’ll be taking a break. maybe for seven or eight months; honestly, as long as i can get. i won’t be retiring. kids…yeah, definitely want some, but that’s (y/n)’s choice, not mine. the wedding will probably be sometime in the summer. we’re still planning.” he ignored the last question.

poor isagi was stuck there in the media’s grasp for almost an entire hour before he finally mustered up enough courage to stop the interviews and drive home, his social battery completely drained at this point. stepping into your shared apartment, isagi practically collapsed onto the couch.

“you good? you look dead.” you remarked, stabbing him with a spatula.

“nooooo, leave me alone, im dead.” isagi muttered, turning around to lay on his side. “i really hate paparazzi.” your cat came over, jumping onto the couch and laying on isagi’s body. “why is she so heavy…?”

“you fatten her up all the time, maybe that’s why.” you replied. “get up, fatass. i made dinner.” you poked him with a spatula once more. “i made katsudon.”

isagi nearly jumped up, your cat practically slipping off of his body. “really?! thanks, i really love you!” isagi exclaimed, practically sprinting over to the kitchen. you sat on the couch, holding your fluffy cat in your hands.

“god, your dad’s such a big back. you get your genes from him.” you murmured, stroking your cat’s fur as she purred. “imagine he gets a beer belly when he’s in his forties. now that’ll be hilarious.”

“hey! i heard that!”

you ignored him, continuing to talk to and stroke your cat. but isagi stood leaning against the kitchen’s doorway, arms crossed, his eyes soft as he stared at you. at the end of the day, it didn’t really matter if you were engaged or married or dating. he loved you, no matter what label anyone puts on it.

domesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagidomesticisagi

[alastor-simp]

Get Radio-Jinxed!- Alastor Reacts To Jinx Reader

❥Summary- A new addition has arrived to the hotel, catching Alastor's attention. He finds them highly entertaining despite the "explosive" tendencies that they have.

❥Tags- Alastor x Jinx Reader, Jinx, Arcane, Alastor x Jinx, Some spoilers of Arcane S1 and S2.

❥Notes- I have finally finished the Arcane series and OMG I LOVE JINX SO MUCH. I decided to do an Alastor x Jinx Reader because I wanted to experience how would Alastor interact or respond to a character like Jinx so here we go! Enjoy!

❥Credit- Divider by @the-voice-beckons-below

💙Alastor didn't know what to make of you when you entered through the doors of the hotel. Your form was shrouded by a black cloak, but he was able to make out your sky blue hair and shimmering violet eyes. "Hmm what have we here? A sweet little blue bird has decided to join our establishment?" Bending down, Alastor comes close to your face, hoping to get some sort of reaction from you.

🩷The stone cold gaze you threw back at him manage to stun him a bit, before the frown plastered on your face turned into a smirk. "Huh, so your the radio bozo that everyone yaps about in the streets. I expected you to be a tad more intimidating, but ya look like an overdressed Bambi." The smile etched onto Al's face twitched, clearly realizing that this little bluebird had a feisty side to them. "I can assure you this "bozo" in front of you could rip you apart, limb from limb," His fangs sharpened, as a eerie glow began to emanate from his body, powers leaking out.

💙A brunt object had pressed against Alastor's stomach, forcing him to look down, seeing an odd-looking gun pointed directly at his abdomen. "Well, this little "bluebird" can blast so many holes into ya that you'll look like swiss cheese. Wanna test it out?" The both of you continued the stare off until Charlie grabbed you, slowly pushing you away to avoid a brawl. Well it was clear that the two of you disliked each other after that incident, resulting in a few clapback fights between the both of you. Alastor detested how direct to the point your insults were towards him, making it very difficult for him to control his temper, but he promised dear Charlie that he wouldn't harm any of the guests at the hotel.

🩷The relationship did take a turn one day. Alastor was performing his usual walk around the hallways when he hear the sound of a loud smash coming from one of the rooms. Teleporting to the sound, he discovered that sound was caused by you, having smashed the mirror. He found you curled on the ground, hands placed against your ears, appearing so small that it soften his heart a bit. "Having another one of your temper tantrums again, little bluebird?" He snarked out, preparing for you to fire back at him. "St-stop." That wasn't the response he was expecting resulting in him to tilt his head at you. "Stop what?" Alastor questioned, crimson eyes filled with concern once he noticed the tears on your face. "The voices....make them go away. Th..they never stop...always whispering in my ear. Please..make them stop."

💙Al was still unclear what you meant by voices, were you cursed by someone perhaps? Either way, he couldn't bear to leave you in this sorry state. Snapping his fingers, the both of you were transported into his bayou dimension room. He figured the tranquility here would be enough to drown out whatever voices that were pestering you. His shadow also turned on the record player, soft jazz music flowing throughout the room.

🩷Getting on his knees, he placed his hands on top of yours, as they were still covering your ears. "My dear, there is no need to worry now. No voices will be able to enter my domain." Slowly but surely, the hands that clawed at your ears were pulled away, the whispering voices finally disappearing. Pink eyes gazed around the room, taking in all of the nature and peaceful ambiance, leaving you speechless. Al opened his mouth to say something, but closed it upon seeing the shine in your eyes.

💙You avoided him, sparking some annoyance from him. He went out of his way to help you with your voice problem and this is what he gets? It irked him, claws digging into the chair he was sitting on, causing some of the cushioning to rip. His irritated behavior was very easy to spot from the other residents, hinting that it be best to avoid him for the time being. "Hey." A soft voice spoke next to Al, snapping him out of his thoughts, head turning to see you standing, hands behind your back. "Come out of hiding, have we?" Alastor's smile had grew, showing off his large teeth, as he noticed your shy nature.

🩷 Normally you would insult him, but this time you presented him with a radio? Removing the object from behind your back, you revealed a small radio to him, resembling the one that got destroyed from the last extermination. Handing it to him, you looked away, fingers twirling your blue braids. "Never tinkered with something this ancient before, so it took a while to get all the parts working. Figured it was a way to thank ya for.....ya know." Alastor continued to look at you, eyes widen in awe. You did this for him? It made his black heart soften.

💙 "Why thank you, little bluebird! I must say, you have a real knack for this." Lips drew into a soft smile, as the radio in his hand had vanished, having been teleported into his room. "Jinx," you muttered out, earning a head tilt from the red man in front of you. "Jinx?" Alastor repeated, confused at what you said. "Yup that's me. That's my name. Don't wear it out, deer man." You said, rolling your eyes at him, as you walked away, going back to hide in your room. Well well, the little bluebird has a name, Al thought to himself, smiling even wider.

🩷It was nice to see that the two of you weren't butting heads anymore, the both of you could actually manage to stay in a room together without causing Charlie to worry. Alastor greatly admired your talent at inventing, especially weapons. He never heard of "Hextech" before, but he preferred it more to the so-called Vox tech that his rival created. You even offered to fiddle with his microphone, which he refused, "Come on! I ain't gonna break the thing. Just wanna add some things here and there to it." Grabby hands aimed for his staff, which he held out of your reach. "No thank you, my dear. I like my staff the way it is, thank you." Groaning, you placed your hands on your hips, "Jeez! You're such an old man." Scoffing at you, Alastor twirled his microphone staff, while giving you a playful glare. "I may be from the 1900s, but I'm not an old man, little blue bird." Chuckling, the violet eyes of yours did a roll, "Fine, then you're an old deer." Only response you got from Al was a small chuckle, giving your forehead a small flick, before he disappeared.

💙This was the Jinx that Al had gotten to know better, he hadn't seen the Jinx that roamed the streets of hell, and boy were you a spectacle to watch. The quickness of your moves outmatched your opponents, and not only that, you were a very good shot. The weapons you yielded either left your victims with holes through their heads or parts of themselves being blown up from your chomper bombs. Quite impressive. He wouldn't mind you joining him during one of his hunts, as your fighting skills would be greatly appreciated.

🩷 His radio tower was your safe haven during one of your "episodes." The past always came back to haunt you, visions of your trauma taunting you wherever you looked. Al was always present in his tower when they occurred, his presence being enough to get you through them. He knew that you had a bit of an aversion to physical touch like him, so he chose just to sit next to you, then wrapping his arms around you or holding your hand. He heard you mention some names like "Vi" and "Vander," but he never questioned you.

💙The episode finally ended, making you extremely tired, resulting in your head falling on to Al's lap, causing a radio screech to sound out. Alastor raised his hands up in the air, not expecting you to drift off so quickly, and on his lap as well. The feelings of unease he felt was prickling at his back, yet they quickly went away as he calmed down, trying to get use to the sensation of you touching him. His crimson eyes caused at you, laughing a bit at the little snore that came out of your mouth. His gaze started to focus on your long blue braids, grasping on of them in his hands, wrapping the softness in his fingers. He never was a fan of blue, but he slowly came to admire it a bit when he was with you. His shadow had emerged from the ground, teasing him by making heart shapes in his eyes, which Alastor ignored, shooing the entity away. His shadow left, leaving just you and Alastor alone, as Alastor continued to play with your hair as you continued to doze off.

-END-

Sinners:

@alastorsgoldie @91062854-ka , @delectableworm , @iiotic

@cookiekyo , @demoarah , @danveration , @beebsbea ,

@veethewriter , @forbidden-sunlight , @pinkcrystal44 , @luujjvi ,

@unholycheesesnack , @saturnhas82moons , @jyoongim ,

@aceofcards0-0 , @ghostdoodlen , @yourdoorisunlocked ,

@starshipcookie , @ainsliemac , @aria-tempest , @nobuharashinyao

, @sweet06tart , @blakedbeanss , @ihyperfixatedagain , @ktssstuff ,

@yakultt-art , @mooniee123 , @nightmarenaya , @darischerry ,

@sadnessiscoldtea , @alastorssimp , @imacollasaltitan ,

@dilucragnvindr-my-beloved , @batmanmonstarr , @felice-jaganshi ,

@justchillaine , @crazed-flower , @ohmylovewhereartthou-blog ,

@akiooshizuka , @lokis-imaginary-friend ,

@themysteriousslenderman , @huntlowfan , @futureittomainn ,

@christinaatyourservice92 , , @just-trash-yeah-thats-it ,

@angelinevalentine89 , @yunimimii , @staryosh1 ,

@mihawksdemoness , @crystalreads , @blahblahbruhmeow ,

@madam-strawberryrose , @inkslayer , @azazel-nyx , @lixanjewel ,

@artemisandhunters , @thereeallink , @ask-theradio-demon ,

@lousypotatoes @l4zyb0n35 , @midorichoco

@lillyisfreakyy , @alastorthirsty , @yukiinee ,

, @aconstructofamind @angiiiiiiiiie

@pumppkinlynn @erikaafernns , @silverpaw2 ,

@cosmiccandydreamer , @killer-nightmare0 , @visara-valentina

@thereallsaturnstar , @coffee-or-hot-cocoa ,

@fckedupandbeautiful , @fries11 ,

@toneystank-3000. , @doll-babe-a-tron-queenthousand

, @alastor-the-radio-demons-blog , @twistedvanillacoffee

@morganodaidiot , @boldlyenchantingfox22 , @verona2314 ,

@angelmoonlight , @thatbadassauthor , @wantondoe ,

@doorknobhater , @the-stereo-demoness

[goldenstring6123]

Hi !!! How r u pooks :3

Ignore this if u haven't played dti but what do you think the L&DS boys' reactions would be to their s/o playing dress to impress and actually raging at it like verbally LMFAO this game seriously has me TWEAKING bro but I can't stop playing it gigi please free my family 💔 (hcs plz)

Thanks for reading O_o

Lnds: Dress to impress chaos

Warning: no warning! GN!READER, crack-fic (?)

Author's notes: DTI has me on a chokehold as well pookie.

Zayne:

Surprisingly, Zayne knows about this because of the children in the pediatric ward. A good number of kids have their tablets with them and play the game; to him, it looked like some regular dress-up game. He didn't think much of it and just warned the children to lessen their screen time.

When he arrived home and was taking his shoes off in the foyer, he could hear you complaining about something. The only coherent sentence he heard was, "The theme is Y-THREE-K, NOT Y-TWO-K!" He wondered what you were talking about and who you were mad at, but when he saw you huddled around the coffee table, fashion magazines sprawled all over, and another gadget displaying fashion catalogs, he knew what was up.

"What are you getting so worked up about?" he asked, sitting next to you and placing down a cup of tea after changing into his clothes. He could see that there were figures walking down the runway.

"I don't get how those ugly layering players win first place!"

He was confused by what you meant. The outfits were suitable, donning the familiar attire of the staff at the hospital, particularly scrubs and white skirts that were too short for the protocol. "What's the theme?"

"A doctor or a nurse," you replied. As the screen turned briefly black, Zayne waited in anticipation. The scene changed, and on the podium was a mermaid with neon green wings and a god-awful dress.

You threw your hands up in frustration and wept on his knees. Zayne was dumbfounded. "I hate this game!" he heard your muffled cries on his knees. He patted your head.

He got used to seeing you so engrossed in the game, but he would never get used to your mood swings: one moment, you're insulting children, and the next moment, you're giggling because you won 1st place.

Zayne bought you a VIP pass because he loved seeing your reaction every time, although he isn't really a fan of spending money on in-game currency. But he loves you too much, so he just keeps that thought to himself.

After seeing you play, he watches the kids play as well, occasionally commenting on their choice of clothing. The nurses were pretty confused by his comments because Zayne never really commented on any outfits, much less in a game.

Xavier:

Xavier knows about the game and has tried it once, not getting the premise of it at first. He didn't know how to change patterns or delete the clothes he was wearing, so his first catwalk was a bit of a mess. But here's the thing: Xavier won first place, which made him more confused. He screenshot himself on the podium and sent it to you.

When you got home from work, excited to play with him, he was pouting while looking at his phone. You wondered why and saw that another player was walking around in the same exact fit as your partner's character. Xavier said that he kept on trying to change his outfit, but that one person kept doing the same thing. You decided to give that player a piece of your mind on behalf of your boyfriend.

When you're at work, Xavier will send you links to fashion hacks he sees on social media. "This looks cute; let's try it later," and he's more updated when Gigi is working on something. The codes—Xavier knows the codes by heart. He knows them more than he knows the date of your birth.

It was thanks to this game that he likes to go shopping with you to get some inspiration. Surprisingly, he can make a coherent outfit with the ones he sees in the malls.

When you both play together, he likes playing duo, and even if your outfits are unfinished or bad, he gives you 5 stars. But for the rest of the players, he forgets to vote more than half of the time—you don't know if it's on purpose or really by accident.

He would occasionally laugh when players fight against one another, especially if you were involved.

He once bought himself the VIP pass, but his outfits still looked too generic for your liking, but you didn't have the heart to complain. Xavier once lost a bet, and now he has to buy you the pass as well.

He once used his work account to comment on some suggestions on Gigi's Twitter, and kids were confused as to why a hunter was commenting on a kids' game. He deleted it soon after, but he amassed a few hundred followers.

Sylus:

He felt nothing about the game at first and thought of it as nothing more than your form of entertainment. It keeps you busy and out of harm's way, but he never once thought that it would cause a rift in your relationship (he's exaggerating).

Sylus would grow annoyed at how you weren't picking up his calls when you were clearly at home, so he sent Mephisto. The little snitch took a picture of you being so engrossed in your game and sent it back to his boss. Sylus was half disgruntled and 100% dumbfounded when he found out—he was laughing, but he was annoyed. Luke and Kieran were utterly confused.

At midnight, while you worked your way to being a fashion maven, you didn't notice your man sneaking in through the window. Just as you were about to hit pose 11, Sylus yanked your feet and stole your tablet from you.

"No! Give that back!"

"You're not answering my calls because of…this?" He turned to the tablet, which displayed another player's half-decent outfit for the theme "star."

"What calls?" you turned to your phone. '18 missed calls' and your heart sunk to the floor. Shyly, you turned to him, scratching your head. "Oops?"

He sat down on the edge of your bed. "Why are you so engrossed in a dressing game? Why not dress yourself with all the clothes I gave you?" He nudged to the mountain of paper bags in the corner of your room—branded ones, too.

"Because it's fun?" You took the tablet from him and showed him on screen how your outfit won first place. "See? I like winning—one more round, and let's go on a night ride."

He paused, patiently waiting for a minute while you scrolled around the game lobby. He came to a decision. "No. Screen time is over. You've neglected me for far too long." He yanked the tablet away from you using his evol, then pinned you down to the bed, burying his nose in between your breasts.

Although Sylus claims he's not interested in playing the game with you, he did, in fact, join the game secretly to spy on you. He was mildly infuriated with the little amount of selection of menswear and the ridiculous look on the men's faces, so he still really doesn't understand the hype, but he'll be generous enough to give you a three or four-star once in a while.

Once, he joined your server, and the theme was the bad guy. You dressed up as a white-haired, red-eyed man with over-chiseled cheekbones. A moment later, Sylus bombarded you with a screenshot of the game. "I do not look like that. Delete it."

As much as he says he doesn't like the game, Gigi made an update and added some dark reddish aura in-game, as well as a crow perched on the hand of the model. The bird looked awfully close to Mephisto. You confronted Sylus about this, and he denied having any involvement in it.

Whenever you sleep in Sylus' home, he would wake up to the goddamn beat of the game at 3 am, and out of frustration, he would use his EVOL to get the device away from you and place it on the highest shelf in the room. Then he'd hold you down.

Rafayel:

Rafayel introduced you to the game, but after a few times of playing it, it didn't take long for him to get banned for cyberbullying—he wasn't bullying, actually; he was just stating facts, and the other players couldn't take it, and so they reported him. He fights anyone, and he comments a lot in the game, earning him the title of a "yapper."

"You guys don't have taste. How did that thing win first place?" That thing refers to a pretty decent outfit but doesn't match the theme.

"You don't look good either, hun," said the person in first place.

"You don't get to say that when your hair looks like puke, darling." He rage-chattered, saying everything he was typing out loud.

You were cackling beside your boyfriend, witnessing him rage while you were just perched on top of the 3rd place, happy you even got to go up there against all the fashionistas.

"Kids really have the gall to compete and insult adults with taste."

"Raf, you do understand that they're adults as well, right?"

"No, they're not. They're children. This is a kids' game."

You stared at him intently. He stared back, thinking.

"Then I don't need to hold back from insulting them." he placed his hand on the keyboard.

Rafayel's fits are absolutely top-tier. He always wins first place. The layering, the color combination, the form, and the aesthetic are all on point and top-tier. He doesn't reference, and the only time he does is when the theme requires it.

This man doesn't do duos with you because he wants the podium to himself. He once did a duo with you, and it broke his winning streak. You had a small argument about it, but you just gave in, eager to make him lose. Newsflash: You failed miserably.

He secretly joins a farming server every once in a while. Rafayel unknowingly joined the same server as you, and when you asked about it, he denied it, saying only people with bad tastes need to farm for stars. You sent him a screenshot. He didn't talk to you for a day.

He files a lot of complaints and goes on Twitter about how buggy the game is and how bad the texture is. He didn't know that his graphics were on low.

Rafayel is very active in the community and contributes to it during his free time. He uses an alternate account to post suggestions when Gigi opens a post about it. A lot of people actually agree with Rafayel's complaints and suggestions.

Rafayel once freaked out when he accidentally went inside the meat room and told you about it, but when he showed you, it was already catwalk time. You pretended you didn't believe him and tried to pretend to listen when he was searching for that passable wall. You laughed at him and brushed him off, pretending that you didn't believe him.

This began the downward spiral to Lana's lore. He kept on sending you reels about it—and speculations and theories. He even once invited you to that scary horror game, but he quit because it was too creepy and full of 'negative energy.'

Author footnotes: If I'm taking a break while writing, I would be playing dress to impress and I would be fighting children (i'm not joking, I once made a player and her friends leave the server)

Layout by me, using Canva premium | Do not repost |

[cosmic-walkers]

I spoke about this on twitter, so I will speak about it here as well. I've had issues with making Rhaena and Baela (and Laena) black because I felt that the show very much underutilized them as characters and essentially made the plot devices for Daemon and Rhaenyra without giving them agency outside of those two. In general, their presences are heavily reduced to make them building blocks for the whit characters.

So this issue with Nettles’s arc being given to Rhaena is even more unsettling because these two are both Black women, who deserve their own separate narratives. This thing where they make characters Black only to reduce their plot importance is already insulting enough, but ruining storylines for two Black women is just lazy and disrespectful.

Rhaena deserves her own narrative. She deserves to be the last Targ woman who was able to hatch a dragon egg before Daenerys, her connection to Daenerys is supposed to be prophetical, so let it be. Let her have her own character and her own arc. They are both the mother of dragons, so let's not suddenly forget that. And having a Black woman as the predecessor to that title is important.

Nettles deserves to exist. Don’t erase a Black woman’s whole existence just to lazily slap it on another one who has an established arc. It's important to showcase a non-targ able to actually ride a dragon and tame one and to also show her importance to the Dance. She is a player even if she doesn't have Valaryian blood in her. And she is Black! That is important too.

Black characters shouldn’t be interchangeable, and making a character Black shouldn’t come at the expense of completely ruining the plot or taking away their agency in a narrative sense. 

[littlexdeaths]

scotty doesn’t know - e.m.

eddie munson x fem reader

18+ ONLY MDNI

warnings: no use of y/n, cheating, protected piv sex, light degradation kink, spanking, phone sex kinda?, shitty boyfriend behavior, mentions of alcohol/partying, some angst, all characters are 18+!

series masterlist

based on scotty doesn’t know by lustra

a/n: i’ve worked so hard to spruce up this series and i’m so excited to be reposting it for you all. be on the lookout for the next two parts. this fic is my actual baby, and it means so much to me. i hope you all enjoy xx.

word count: 4.3k

It had started out as mostly a joke, a proposition that he never imagined you’d actually take him up on.

You always thought Eddie Munson, the town ‘freak’ was incredibly attractive, not that you’d ever voice that opinion to anyone. Mostly due to the fact that you had a boyfriend, who in the eyes of everyone in Hawkins— was the definition of perfect.

Scott McGuire was a great boyfriend… on the surface.

He was a star basketball player, friends with the most popular people in school. His family was loaded, despite being from a small town like Hawkins. He drove a Mercedes, and made you feel so special. When he had asked you out halfway through your junior year, you were over the moon.

And in the beginning of your relationship, you were beyond smitten with him. But after a year of dating him, you’d come to realize he was nothing you had wanted.

Scott was arrogant, vain and downright cruel. His biggest flaw being that he took absolute pleasure in causing pain to others. The main target of his rage was Eddie and his band of ‘freaks’. His best friend Jason was right by his side, constantly tormenting the group. But always Eddie more so than anyone else. You never enjoyed it, always finding a way to escape the moment an insult (or a punch) was thrown his way.

Despite all of this, you felt pressured to stay with him.

Your parents absolutely adored him and so did your friends. Most of which were the girlfriends of his friends. Your lives had become so interwoven you felt trapped. So to appease everyone else in your life, you continued the relationship. Even though you knew you didn’t love him.

In your eyes he was, all around, the worst boyfriend you could have landed… especially when it came to sex.

Scott was terrible in bed.

He only wanted you on his terms, only caring about his wants and needs. And in the year you’d been with him, he’d never made you come. Not once. At first you thought something was wrong with you, that you were broken.

But the more you talked with your friends on the cheer squad, the quicker you began to realize it was a Scott problem. Not a you problem. So you started faking it, your little act becoming so good that you even deluded yourself into believing it sometimes.

But that was how you got yourself into this predicament in the first place.

You were at a party at Chrissy’s, a celebration for the basketball team making it to the state championship. Initially you wanted to stay home, as parties were never something you enjoyed. But you knew how bad it would look if you didn’t show. So you went, swallowing your pride with a fake smile plastered across your face.

You let yourself fall into the role of the proud, doting girlfriend. You knew how to play it well, as it was second nature to you at this point.

At some point during the night Scott had pulled you into a random bedroom, with the promises of rocking your world. Those promises fell short, as they always did. Scott had you propped up on the unmade bed, gripping your hips as he pounded sloppily into you. The fake moans that left your lips somehow had convinced you both that you were enjoying yourself.

That is until the door swung open and a semi-tipsy Eddie Munson stumbled upon the scene. He was originally looking for the bathroom, much to the embarrassment of you both. You couldn’t hide the shame that flitted across your features, or stop your moans from faltering slightly.

Scott miraculously didn’t notice the intrusion as he continued to thrust into you, your fake moans continuing to fill the small bedroom. Your eyes were locked with Eddie’s as he stood frozen in the doorway. The two of you just stared at each other for a few moments, before he snapped out of whatever stupor he was in and quickly left the room.

You figured nothing would come from it, except for a new found embarrassment every time you saw him in class. But what you didn’t expect was for him to seek you out in study hall that following Monday.

You were in the library, searching for a new book to read when he cornered you. His curls were wild, that faded Hellfire shirt hugged his broad shoulders nicely. A playful smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as you tried not to stare. But those brown eyes seemed to look right through you.

“You know, I’ve seen better acting in pornos.” He spoke softly, as not to embarrass either of you.

Or to alert Ms. Hall, the school librarian.

She was such a hard ass, especially when it came to talking in the library. You had hoped that maybe Eddie would’ve been too drunk to remember what happened at the party. Or both of you would ignore the situation.

But that clearly wasn’t the case. You can feel the embarrassment coursing through you as you actively avoided his curious gaze.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Munson,” you sneer before turning on your heel, grabbing a random book off the shelf in the process.

You clutch the paperback closer to your chest as you quickly try to escape the conversation.

He doesn’t let you get very far though, trailing behind you before taking a seat next to you at one of the study tables.

“I mean it must be frustrating, faking it all the time,” he continues nonchalantly, resting a ringed hand next to yours on the table.

His fingertips drum against the faux wood, as you struggle to think of a reply. But your continued silence and flustered appearance spoke volumes as you began to fiddle with the frayed hem of your dress.

Eddie leans in closer, letting his breath fan across your face. The smell of his spicy cologne and a hint of smoke engulfs your senses, making your head spin.

He hums softly, keeping his voice low, “Just doesn’t seem fair. Any decent guy would make sure you were being treated well.”

You could feel his body heat due to the close proximity, biting your lip as you stopped yourself from leaning against him.

“He does treat me well,” you whisper back, glancing down at the book as you begin flipping through the pages.

Eddie scoffs at the notion as his hand reaches out to close the cover again. His fingertips brush against yours in the process, the small touch sending tingles down your spine.

The male glances around the mostly empty library before he leans in closer. His lips nearly graze the shell of your ear as you hold your breath in anticipation. Eddie chuckles deeply, enjoying just how flustered he’s made you.

“Well, if you want to know what it’s like to be properly taken care of…” he trails off, as you let out a shaky breath. “You know where to find me, sweetheart.”

The promise behind his words instantly makes your thighs clench together. Watching in stunned silence as he quickly gets up and strolls out of the library.

Those words sat with you for days, taunting you.

Finding yourself utterly frustrated, in more ways than one. You just couldn’t shake how badly you wanted to take him up on that offer. Morally, you knew it was wrong— you had a boyfriend.

But there was something that felt so right about it.

Despite your initial reservations, you very quickly found yourself in the back of Eddie’s van. Your legs were flung over his shoulders, your fingers tangled in his curls as his tongue had you seeing stars. It became blatantly obvious from your first time together that there was no way this could be a one time thing.

So you compromised, agreeing to meet up once a week. But only on Sundays, when you could give Scott the excuse of going to church with your parents. Ironically your family was not the church going type, but your boyfriend never questioned it.

However the longer you snuck around with Eddie, the more insatiable you became. Until it was almost a daily occurrence that you were under him, begging him to show you everything you were missing out on. It had surprised the both of you, but Eddie was more than happy to oblige.

But the constant sneaking around meant you couldn’t exclusively fuck in the back of his van anymore. Causing the both of you to become more creative in the process.

More than once you’d pull him under the bleachers in the gym once basketball practice ended. His ringed fingers tangled in your hair as you dropped to your knees. Or he’d bend you over the table in the drama room after a Hellfire campaign, dice and crushed cans of Mountain Dew falling off the table with each thrust of his hips.

But it still wasn’t enough, which led you to take more drastic measures.

You were on all fours, fingers clutching your floral bed sheets as Eddie pounded into you from behind.

Your parents were gone for the weekend to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Which left you with the house all to yourself, something that didn’t happen often. So this was an opportunity you didn’t want to pass up. Dialing his number before you even got out of bed that morning.

Regardless of his not so stellar reputation, it didn’t seem to sway a lot of women in Hawkins. And despite what Scott might have told you, Eddie has had plenty of sexual partners before. As many jumped at the chance to see if the rumors about the local freak were true. Which only seemed to fuel more rumors about the metalhead.

But out of everyone he had ever slept with— you were by far the neediest of them all.

Eddie couldn’t deny that he loved it. Knowing he was the only one who could turn you into a crying, blubbering mess. Not even seemingly perfect Scotty McGuire could make you feel this way. He would pay to see the look on his face if he could see just how wrecked you were.

Tears of pleasure streaming down your cheeks as you begged the town freak to fuck you harder.

“Look at you, such a needy little slut,” he chuckles, condensation lacing his tone. “Couldn’t even wait a whole day for my cock, huh?”

Eddie was by far the biggest guy you’ve ever had, and he certainly knew how to use it. His cock reached places inside you that you didn’t know existed until now. So it was no surprise that you didn’t want to wait another day to see him again.

But deep down you knew that wasn’t the only reason you had called him over. However, you weren’t entirely ready to have that conversation with yourself yet.

“I… shit,” you mewl, finding yourself at a loss for words as he increased his pace.

Pathetic whines spill past your lips with each thrust of his hips, your walls gripping him tightly. Pleasure coursed through you as he brought you closer and closer to the edge. A mixture of your arousal and his spit was smeared across your thighs. A reminder of where he’d been slotted between them earlier.

“Aww, come on, sweetheart,” he teases, nipping at your ear as he slows to a more gradual pace. “Be a good girl and tell me who’s making you feel so good.”

The orgasm that had been building in your abdomen suddenly fizzles out as he stills his hips at your deepest point. You nearly cry out in defeat as he lands a harsh slap on your ass.

You knew the rules by now, he needed to hear you.

“Y-You… fuck you are, Eddie.” He hummed in response, guiding your hips forward.

“That’a girl.”

The drag of his cock has you whining, the sound quickly being drowned out by the phone on your bedside table. You fully intended to ignore the shrill ringing as you began grinding your ass back against him. But he grips your hips to stop any further movement.

“Answer it.”

Your eyes widen as you glance over your shoulder at him, bewilderment crossing your features. There’s a smirk playing on his lips as he lands another slap on your ass, “That wasn’t a suggestion, sweetheart.”

You quickly fumble for the phone, not wanting this to end so soon. You’d come to realize just how much Eddie enjoyed teasing you the more you slept together. But you’d had enough teasing for one day.

So you place the receiver against your ear, trying to calm your erratic breathing, “H-Hello?”

You mentally curse yourself for the way your voice shakes, feeling your stomach drop at the voice on the other end of the line.

“You alright, babe? You sound winded,” you can hear the slightest bit of suggestiveness in his tone, having to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

This was something you’d come to expect from Scott, the male always finding a way to bring sex into every conversation. Despite knowing he was actually spot on this time, only it wasn’t your fingers that were buried inside you.

But what you didn’t anticipate was for Eddie to start thrusting back into you at a leisurely pace. You bite down onto your lower lip for a moment before you laugh, the sound not at all genuine. But Scott couldn’t tell the difference, he never paid enough attention.

“I’m great, Scott.” Your breath hitches in your throat as Eddie’s lips graze over your shoulder, “J-Just in the middle of a… workout.”

You hear Eddie laugh softly behind you, the male on the other end blissfully unaware of the kind of workout you were currently engaged in. Despite your initial reservations about answering the phone, you couldn’t deny the rush it gave you. Almost wanting to be caught like this.

“You still swinging by the party tonight?” Scott asks, as you continue to pulse around Eddie’s thick shaft.

His thrusts deepen, slipping a hand between your thighs to rub your sensitive clit. Your thoughts are completely jumbled as you try to stay engaged with the conversation. But it’s proving to be difficult.

“P-Party?” You breathe out, gripping the receiver tighter in your palm.

You can hear your boyfriend’s annoyed sigh, knowing he was rolling his eyes as your own rolled into the back of your head. Eddie grunts softly in your other ear as he rams into your sweet spot. It took every bit of your remaining self restraint to not moan directly into the phone.

“It’s Tommy’s birthday. I told you about it last week,” he huffs, clearly no longer amused.

You vaguely recall the conversation, but lately you’d found yourself tuning him out more and more. Having much more important things to occupy your attention.

“Right! No, I remember now.” Your words come out whinier than you intended, but Scott doesn’t seem to notice.

You were getting close, and Eddie knew it too.

“So? Are you coming?”

Eddie stifles another laugh at the unintended joke.

He quickly wraps his ringed fingers around the base of your throat and lifts you, so your back is now flush against his sweaty chest. The new angle allows him to slip even deeper inside, causing a gasp to escape you. You quickly disguise it as a cough, before answering your boyfriend.

“Yeah, I’ll be there. Listen, I-I gotta go. See you tonight.”

You hang up the phone before he even has a chance to respond. The loud moan that was trapped in your throat is finally set free, earning a groan from the male behind you.

Eddie’s disheveled curls began tickling your face as he leaned toward your ear again, “Bet he didn’t suspect a damn thing, huh?”

You can hear the smugness in his tone, whimpering as he puts more pressure on your clit.

“Cause he can’t make you feel the way I do. Can he, sweetheart?” You frantically nod your head before letting it fall back onto his shoulder.

You know you can’t hold out for much longer, and judging by the way his cock twitches inside you— Eddie won’t either.

His lips attach themselves to the curve of your neck, sucking harshly as you tremble in his arms.

“Ed… f-fuck I’m gonna—” you are unable to finish your thought as that familiar wave of euphoria crashes over you.

He nearly growls as you cry out his name again and again, the sound being his undoing. He spills into the condom with a grunt of your name, his chest heaving as he buries himself at your deepest point. The sounds of his erratic breathing mixes with yours, filling the now quiet space of your bedroom. Feeling utterly weak in the best way possible.

And if his arms weren’t securely wrapped around your waist, you would’ve collapsed face first into the mattress.

You stay entangled like that for a few moments while you both come down from your highs. Enjoying the way his lips press against the curve of your shoulder.

Eddie’s actions are gentle now, carefully guiding your hips up to slip out of you. He coaxes you to lay on your back, a lazy smile playing on your lips as you gazed up at him. As amazing as the sex was, what came after was just as enjoyable.

Emotionally, your boyfriend was always unavailable.

Especially after a round in the sheets, he was particularly cold. In the year you’d been together Scott had never once held you or comforted you. It always left you with an overwhelming sense of shame— of feeling used.

So naturally you had expected the same kind of treatment from Eddie, as you had never experienced aftercare before. After that first time together you had begun to put your clothes back on, attempting to leave right away.

But he stopped you with a soft, “Don’t go.”

It didn’t take much convincing as you laid your head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart. He kept you tucked in his embrace for hours, fingertips dancing along your hip. From that moment on it was the same treatment. His affection only increased the more you fooled around.

Your eyes follow him as he rises from the bed to toss the condom in your trash bin. Giving Eddie the opportunity to finally take a look around your room.

You suddenly felt nervous as he made his way over to your record collection, flicking through the vinyls with the utmost care. While your popularity status had recently changed due to dating Scott, you always felt out of place amongst them. You could never be your full authentic self, in fear of rejection from your peers.

Eddie seemed to find a record that he liked, sliding it out of its sleeve and placing it on the turntable. It is quiet for a moment, the crackle of the record is almost comforting. Soon the beginning notes of the Labyrinth soundtrack fill that silence. You instantly feel shy, not expecting him to choose that album in particular.

Your boyfriend had teased you relentlessly for your love of David Bowie, always complaining about how weird he was. It made you feel ashamed to talk about any of your interests, most of which you’d hidden away in fear of being mocked.

But with that small act Eddie had proved, once again, that he was superior to Scott in every way imaginable.

He begins to hum along to the opening track, grabbing his boxers from the pile of your discarded clothes on the floor. Sliding the checkered material back over his legs, the fabric hanging low on his hips. You bite your lip as your eyes drift over his pale skin, zeroing in on the patch of hair that descended into his waistband.

“Keep giving me those eyes and we’re gonna have a problem, princess.” He teases, his smirk widening as he catches you ogling him.

You feel your body flush as he shoots you a playful wink before slipping into your adjoined bathroom. You hear the tap turn on, the rush of water mingling with the sultry baritone of Bowie’s vocals. You allow your body to relax against the mattress, a sense of calm washing over you.

Eddie wasn’t gone for long, emerging from the bathroom with a glass of water and a damp washcloth. He sets the glass on your nightstand, taking a seat on the edge of your bed. The male carefully parts your legs, pressing a kiss to your knee as he cleans up the mess of salvia and slick that has dried onto your thighs.

You let your eyes linger on his face, watching him in complete admiration. His cheeks are tinged pink, no doubt from the weight of your gaze. He’s also not used to being regarded with such gentleness.

Eddie sheepishly avoids your eyes as he stands, tossing the used cloth into your hamper. You scoot into a sitting position to take a few sips of water from the glass. Blatantly checking him out as he bends over to grab another piece of clothing from your carpeted floor.

“Arms up,” he instructs, allowing him to pull your oversized shirt over your head.

He quickly joins you again, causing a small giggle to escape you as he squeezes himself onto your twin sized mattress. The male grins, allowing you to drape your body over his. You tangle your limbs together, instinctively resting your head on his chest.

Your eyes flutter shut as you listen to the steady beat of his heart in your ear. A soft smile tugs at the corners of your mouth, feeling him press a kiss to the top of your head.

In moments like this, it was easy for you to pretend that Eddie Munson was all yours.

There were no worries about being caught, or what anyone in this god forsaken town had to say about it. But the more time you spent with him, the more you began to realize that you wanted him all to yourself.

You knew it was incredibly selfish, he didn’t deserve to be someone’s secret side piece. So you kept these newly emerging feelings to yourself.

“You feeling okay?” His voice cuts through your thoughts, lifting your head to meet his gaze. “I wasn’t too rough or anything, was I?”

Eddie’s tone was vastly different from how he’d spoken to you earlier, and yet it only made your adoration for him grow. Knowing he truly cared about your feelings, it wasn’t just a courtesy.

His hand gently caresses your sore ass, his fingertips continuing to ghost over the curve of your spine. The tenderness of his actions made you shiver as you nuzzled your face back into his chest.

“It was perfect.” You hum, voice echoing your contentment, “You were perfect.”

Gentle, rough or anything in between— you’d be grateful as long as it was with him.

You were sure he could feel the warmth that had begun to seep into your cheeks at your admission. Reaching out his hand to delicately grasp your chin, tilting your head up to meet his curious gaze.

But it wasn’t just curiosity that shone through his eyes.

There was something else. Something deeper simmering beneath the surface of his irises.

This was uncharted territory for you, as no one, not even your boyfriend had regarded you in such a way before. But that single look alone made your heart flutter rapidly against your ribs.

You both begin to lean in without realizing, lips brushing together as you cradle his jaw. This was something completely new for both of you. While you’d kissed plenty of times, it never happened after the sex ended.

This was quickly becoming a dangerous game, one neither of you had any intention of losing.

And as hard as you tried to avoid your feelings, you knew you were starting to fall for him. Which was the most dangerous game of them all.

Your lips continued to move against each other for what felt like forever, only breaking apart to catch your breath every so often. Kissing Eddie was just as addicting as every other part of him, and you never wanted it to end.

So you stayed like that for hours, stealing kisses in between gentle words. He told you about his home life with Wayne, how he’d listened and memorized every single chord of Master of Puppets until he got it right. Little things that made you understand exactly who Eddie Munson really was.

But time seemed to pass by in an instant, the evening sky bathing the walls of your room in a golden hue. A signal that it was time for him to leave.

You felt a tug on your heartstrings as you watched him slide open your bedroom window, desperately wishing the circumstances were different.

“Wait!” you call as he was already halfway through the window, flashing you a grin as you bounded over to him.

You press a searing kiss to his mouth as he cups your cheek, neither of you quite willing to be the first to pull away.

“I gotta go,” he tries to mask the disappointment in his tone, pressing one last kiss to your lips before slipping out of your window completely.

You watch as the male clumsily jumps down from the second story, his wallet chain jingling upon impact. Eddie takes a moment to steady himself before he turns back to glance up at you. Giving you a little bow before he’s off, cutting through your neighbors yard to get back to his van.

You can hear the blaring guitar of Quiet Riot as he starts up the engine, the rumble echoing in your ears as he takes off down the empty street.

Taking a little piece of your heart with him.

— next chapter.

tagging some peeps who seemed interested 💕

@xxbimbobunnyxx @vamp-bunny @munsonhoneybaby @mugloversonly @lokis-army-77

and a special shoutout to my bby @undead-supernova for always being my lil cheerleader ily 🫶🏻

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

quick question- I was a bit confused in some dialogue during book 1 lol 😭😭 It’s during the later chapters when riddle has collared both ace and deuce after they’ve challenged him for his seat. More specifically, the part where yuu calls riddle out for his behavior (rightfully so) and he responds by insulting them and their parents I believe?

The confusion stems from aceyuu shippers (just wanted to clarify I’m not self shipping lmao) where they say ace ends up punching riddle because he’s explicitly defending yuu’s honor or whatever but i also see other people (non-shippers) who say ace punched riddle because he insulted ace and/or deuce’s parents? Im not quite sure which one it is and went back in the actual game to check but i feel like the wording of riddle’s insults is a bit vague? Idk, maybe im just being a bit of a dum dum and can’t properly comprehend the scene even though it’s quite simple. I feel like it’s also just because i see a lot of people saying different stuff and just wanted to hear your thoughts on it if that’s okay?

I just feel like you really understand both the story and characters in that regard haha

P.S. your posts r genuinely very informative and helpful especially for people like me who kinda have no media literacy (not in a negative way!!) pls keep up the good work you’re rlly great at it <333

Hmmm, I see 🤔

Before I get to responding to this question, I want to preface this with a few disclaimers! Firstly, I do not mean to invalidate or detract from Ace x Yuu shippers or anyone who may interpret their relationship as romantic. You should ship what you like and have fun doing it. My reply aims to be more objective, but that should NOT impede on your enjoyment or whatever it is you choose to ship. Secondly, for those who don’t ship Ace x Yuu, I will be discussing the pairing later on in this post, so please keep this in mind.

Let's first look at how the game and how it depicts the scene. This occurs in 1-22, shortly after Riddle collars Ace and Deuce in their duel for the dorm leader seat. With his victory secured, Riddle begins to gloat about how this is proof that he is "the most correct". At this point, Yuu/the player character is granted two dialogue options:

If you choose "But that's not right!", Riddle replies with, "I am the one who decides what is wrong and right! What sort of pitiful education have you received, that you cannot follow such simple rules?"

If you choose "You can't just use rules to do whatever you please!", then Riddle replies with, "If there were no penalties, no one would follow the rules. I have to wonder what sort of pitiful education left you unable to comprehend so simple a concept."

However, no matter which dialogue option you choose, Riddle continues on to say, "Clearly, you were born to parents with no great magical capability. And as a result... You lack even the basic education necessary to attend a school such as this. It's quite sad."

Deuce becomes upset after hearing this--but before he is able to act, Ace is already on his feet and manages to deck his dorm leader in the face.

Based on the fact that Riddle seems to react to something that Yuu says, the framing here implies that the "you" Riddle is using refers to them specifically. As you can see above, both Ace and Deuce take offense to what Riddle says, but it is Ace that acts preemptively and attacks Riddle for his rudeness. This is what Ace x Yuu shippers will point to as a defining moment in their relationship (though, to be clear, this scene can definitely also be interpreted as platonic!!).

… Buuut it’s not completely clear that Riddle is explicitly directing any and all insults towards Yuu and Yuu alone, even if Yuu was the one to prompt his tirade. Due to the visual novel style format of the game, we have limited assets to base our interpretations off of, so going by the game alone may not be entirely accurate to what is happening in this scene. For example, we don't know how the characters are oriented relative to one another. It's possible that Riddle responds to Yuu's dialogue and then turns away to berate Yuu, Ace, and Deuce for their stupidity, since all three of them are, in his eyes, rule-breakers. We simply cannot tell due to the constraints of a visual novel. Let’s consult the manga adaptation and see how that presents 1-22.

In the Episode of Heartslabyul, the framing of the panels centers Riddle and Adeuce; Yuuken is not involved whatsoever. (On a prior page, all Yuuken remarks on is how fast Riddle is able to cast his spell; Yuuken has no lines similar to game!Yuu’s earlierdialogue options.) Riddle stands imposing over his opponents and rants at Ace and Deuce about their lack of an education. You can see that it really strikes a nerve with Deuce (whom we learned used to be a delinquent prior to NRC). This still results in Yuu punching Riddle.

The manga seems to imply that Riddle is not insulting Yuu, but rather Adeuce. This makes sense to me, given that though all of them are rebels to Heartslabyul’s strict rules, Adeuce are the two who most directly challenge his authority.

You can see in a close-up panel that Deuce is gritting his teeth and trying to hold himself back from going at Riddle. The text in that panel involves the mention of parents who cannot use magic—which just so happens to be true of Deuce’s mother. The same mother that he worked so hard to make proud of, the mother he turned over a new leaf for. But again, it’s Ace that gets the hit in. Why is that?

Let’s check out our final source, the first volume of the light novel. On pages 319 and 320:

Riddle very clearly states “And as for you two.” This clearly refers to the fallen Ace and Deuce. He then unleashes his barrage of insults at them. Again, not at Yuu, but at Ace and Deuce. The text even goes on to remind us that Deuce would be especially rattled by Riddle’s words because of how he had come to NRC for the sake of his mom. In this version, we see our Yuu (Yuuya) being more involved by trying to keep Deuce from lashing out. Like in the game, however, Ace still gets in that punch on his dorm leader.

Okay, so… The game, manga, and light novels are different iterations of the same base story. Based on which you consume, you could walk away with an entirely different understanding of the scene in question. The game, being the most interactive medium with a self-insert main character, a gacha game which makes $$$ from endearing the characters to us, has the set-up which is most conducive for yumeshipping and thus making the player feel beloved and important in 1-22. This is obvious if you also consider that many fanservicey lines from other parts of the game (such as Ace wanting to sleep in Yuu’s room) being left out of the manga. It's also entirely possible that Riddle first reacts to what Yuu says, and THEN shifts his attention to address the group rather than just Yuu. The manga, with a more standoffish and level-headed Yuu, doesn’t speak up like game!Yuu does, so Riddle instead directly insults Ace and Deuce. The light novel, which features a timid and non-confrontational Yuu, is focused on deescalating the situation. And, like the manga, the light novel is NOT interactive and so it doesn’t need to concern itself with making the player feel special. Riddle isn’t mandated to acknowledge Yuu; he can instead be mad at Ace and Deuce all he likes.

If we were to combine information from across the game, manga, and light novel to decipher what is “truly” happening, here’s how I see it!

The light novel contains a scene exclusive to it on pages 176 and 177. As Ace is making himself comfortable at Ramshackle, he formally apologizes to Yuuya for being mean to him in the prologue. Ace explains that his meanness was because he thought that Yuuya had bullied his way to be admitted to NRC under special circumstances. “[…] the rest of us had to work our butts off to get in, and you just sorta walked in.” He proclaims that this was unfair, so it annoyed him.

This makes a lot of sense for Ace’s character. In book 7 of the main story, he expresses that he is insecure about being an ordinary mage and that he hadn’t even developed his UM yet. (Coincidentally, he has a Chat where he praises the Queen of Hearts for having no special magic but still being able to make it big—perhaps because her circumstances remind Ace of himself?) He calls himself lame and pathetic, someone who is always looking for an excuse to take the easy way out. This is in spite of the bravado he puts on and how he often brags about being better or smarter than Deuce (most notably in book 5). If we believe the light novel dialogue, Ace worked hard to get invited to NRC. He has pride in earning this, and he has something to prove while he is there. Recall that his older brother is an alumnus of the school, and that his own father is a magicless human. Ace canonically has a good relationship with both of these family members and often bonds with them through little things like card trick competitions. When Riddle insults Ace's background... he is also insulting Ace's brother and father. He is also insulting all the effort Ace put forth to get into NRC in the first place. Ace would of course lose it--especially when he has been the primary victim of Riddle's rage for most of book 1. He's the first to be collared, the one who had to apologize and attempted to make an apology tart (which got rejected). Bro's fed UP having to bend the knee to a tyrant and sick of watching everyone else do the same. The punch that comes out of it seems to me like the result of all Ace's pent-up frustrations, as well as his own fury at Riddle speaking ill of him and his family.

While Ace is unquestionably willing to ride or die for Yuu in books 4 (he takes a long public transit route from the Queendom to Sage's Island after receiving a SOS text from them) and 6 (he tries to protect his friends from Ferrymen)... I think book 1's a bit too early for him to be SO loyal to Yuu that he'd get this angry on their behalf and sock Riddle. (Book 1 takes place during the first week of school; Ace seems to have only known Yuu for a few days at this point + hasn't really hung out with them besides sleeping over at Ramshackle since he's not allowed back at Heartslabyul.) His punch definitely feels fueled by a bunch of other things rather than being extremely motivated to defend Yuu's honor. I think maybe a case could be made for the game specifically, since that's the only version where Yuu is potentially addressed rather than Ace and Deuce being addressed. However, this does take some extrapolation. You'd have to assume that Ace is actually very attached to Yuu this early on or pair it with the idea that Ace is sensitive about magicless humans in general being discriminated against because of his own father being magicless (ie Ace was insulted by proxy, even if Riddle might have aimed the comments at Yuu). Not sure if the latter argument holds up very well though, considering that Ace himself did discriminate against Yuu in the prologue because they lacked magic. Likewise, he doesn't get mad for Fellow and Gidel in Playful Land when they share about being looked down on for not being magically inclined. But hey, maybe that was just Ace being in denial and acting contrary in order to cope with his own complicated feelings on the topic. He’s been known to behave like this anyway, acting cocky despite having no UM and denying that Yuu would go home (even though we later find out he deeply does not wish for this to happen).

I definitely think that many of the game-exclusive lines and content are there as fanservice for the players, who are encouraged to project or to self-insert as Yuu. Ace in particular is one of the characters who gets a ton of this kind of yumejoshi bait-y stuff. Everyone has it to some extent, but Ace is one of the rare few who has several pretty overt instances in the main story (whereas most other characters have their fanservice content relegated to voice lines and maybe some events). On top of this scene (which could potentially read as "Ace defending Yuu's honor"), we have: multiple instances of Ace offering to share a room/bed with Yuu (once in book 1, again in book 3), he has shared his number with Yuu and invites them to call him if they "miss him", Ace's entire book 7 dream revolving around a reality in which Yuu is able to freely traverse between Twisted Wonderland and their original world (furthermore, he is the ONLY dreamer we have seen in which Yuu is involved in the dream), etc. Ace is also known to frequently tease Yuu, and, on top of having several voice lines inviting them to hang out, is actually shown hanging out with them and caring about them in various vignettes and events. For example, he has movie nights with Yuu (Idia's Labwear vignettes), asks for their opinion on whether or not he looks the part to woo the Ghost Bride, rides roller coasters with them in Playful Land while previously complaining that his ex-girlfriend wouldn’t, and worries for where Yuu might be (Endless Halloween Night). With this abundance of Ace and Yuu content, I can see why people that have the shipping goggles on--and even those who don't--might interpret early scenes as Ace acting out for Yuu's sake, be it romantically or platonically. More objectively speaking and when considering the manga + light novel though, I don't think I personally read 1-22 that way. I enjoy Ace as a character and I support Ace x Yuu shippers, but the evidence and context suggests that he's venting other frustrations to me.

Again though, this is just my interpretation. Feel free to use this information however you’d like and come to your own conclusion.

[cher111s]

Attention 

kuroo x reader

cw: f!reader,insults,suggestive? 

wc:1,5k

Kuroo Tetsurou. Oh, how you hate that name. He always had to be better than you. What started as innocent banter is now a full-blown rivalry. You were also selected as volleyball captain? Well, his team is better and more popular than your team. You got a 10 in your exam? He got an 11 because he did some extra activity. And it was ALWAYS like that, and it was infuriating. You just wanted to do your thing, but at the same time, there was something really exciting about rubbing in that you did better than him. Seeing his frustrated face gives you a feeling of joy no other thing could—well, maybe volleyball, but that's beside the point.

  

It's Monday again, so back to the routine it is. You got ready, uniform in check, picked up your bags, and started walking towards the school, scanning the streets for your best friend when you spotted her.

“Hey, good morning,” you smiled at your friend, waving as you approached her.

“Heyyy,” she said, looking at you as she shoved her phone into her pocket. “Looking fine today. Is this for your boyfriend?”

You looked at her like she was crazy. “What boyfriend?”

“You know who,” your friend replied as she laughed.

You furrowed your brows as you realized who she was talking about. “Haha, really funny,” you hissed as you pushed your friend.

 

Walking into class, you sat in your seat and got ready for class. You were hoping for a peaceful day, but no. The moment the teacher asked a question to the class, you felt confident to answer. As you were finishing your first word, that awful waste of a human interrupted you.

“Are you slow?” you snapped, looking at him slowly.

“No, but you are,” he said, mocking you as he gave that slick smile.

You looked at him in disbelief. Before you could even process what was going on, anger had already clouded your mind, because who in their right mind would get up and grab Kuroo by the shirt?

“Say that again, you dickhead. I dare you,” you shouted at him.

He was just as amused as everyone else in the class. What was wrong with you today? As he went back to reality, he yelled back at you,

“Get off me, you crazy psycho. You just want my attention, you whore!”

The teacher was screaming at you both to stop as your friends held you back from each other’s throats. The principal was called, and because Kuroo couldn't miss his volleyball practices, it was decided that you both had to do a month of extra cleaning as detention so, hopefully, you two start to get along.

The first week was horrible. You blamed each other for having to be there.

“This is all you. You could’ve just shut up, but no, you needed that attention moment. Main character vibes,” you said, mocking him as you cleaned a window.

“I can say the same to you, tough guy. All you want is to get noticed,” he replied spitefully.

You didn’t respond. You were too focused on trying to clean up a spot that was obviously too high for you. You looked at Kuroo from the side of your eye as he sighed and stretched his arm to clean the spot. You noticed just how toned they were, and you caught yourself looking too long.

The next two weeks were almost the same, but this time you just cleaned in silence most of the time instead of fighting or insulting each other. Small talk was added at the end of the third week—things like how the volleyball teams were doing or your favorite players.

The punishment ended just in time for the inter-school tournaments, and you two went back to normal. But you noticed how you saw him more often than before—how the teams had more meetups than usual, how you two took the same way back home for a short time, how almost every time you went out, he was there: running, with Kenma, or just doing anything. So you started paying more attention to him—the way he laughs, how he rests his hands against his hips when he seems proud of something, the way he cheers for others…

Ew. What was going on?

Nekoma’s boys team matches had ended for the day, so they decided to go see the girls play. Kenma and Kuroo sat together. As Kenma was playing, Kuroo observed the players. He usually focused more on the middle blockers, but his eyes drifted somewhere else—well, to someone else. He usually didn’t look at you much, only doing so to comment on the things you weren’t doing right, like how you did not set to the middle enough or how you weren’t too good at—

“You are really focused on her today,” Kenma commented without looking up from his game.

“You’re always so observant,” Kuroo laughed. “I guess you are right. I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

Kenma gave Kuroo the nastiest side-eye ever. “Is he stupid?” he thought.

Back at school, he couldn’t help but notice how you played with your hair when you were focused, or how you seemed to be everywhere now—everywhere he enjoyed going. One day he found himself looking at his report. Something didn’t seem right. He looked your way. He didn’t feel like making fun of you. He wanted to talk?

That was so out of character for him. But he didn’t have the balls—at least not in class.

You were getting ready to go to bed when your phone rang.

**/@tetsuku1_ wants to send you a message/**

You looked incredulously at the screen. “What??...”

You were confused to say the least. A few months ago you would have been annoyed and probably wouldn’t have responded. But now, it was different, and you didn’t know why. What changed in that month?

@tetsuku1_:hey it’s kuroo, nekomata told me to tell you that we have a captain meeting tomorrow

@sugarcane:sure, what time?

@tetsuku1_: at 21:30, after training basically

@sugarcane:okayy, see you there

@tetsuku1_:byee

Why did you respond that way? WHAT? You used to be so disgusted by him and now you feel butterflies just from the thought of being alone with him.

He felt almost the same way. He ran his fingers through his hair. It’s only been 2 months since that fight and he can’t figure out what changed. Being alone for some hours one month straight? Or was it the volleyball talks? Maybe being able to see you past the rivalry was not the best idea.

The next day in the meeting, the two of you were discussing team statistics as asked by Nekomata, who had to step out for a moment to take a call. You could cut the tension with a knife, but it wasn’t that hateful atmosphere of before. This was weird—the kind that made you look at him and feel your stomach do weird things. You were too focused on looking at the reflection of the court in his brown eyes when suddenly—

“Yeah, but I know you are not that bright,” he commented like it was nothing.

Your face fell. You tightened your fists as you looked incredulously at him. He just fucked up everything that happened in those 2 months.

“FUCKFUCKFUCK,”Kuroo thought.

 “I’m not what,” you said with a monotone tone.

 “I–I didn’t mean it that way,” Kuroo said in a panic.

But there was no use. You were already walking away. Kuroo looked at Nekomata, who was just walking in. He nodded for Kuroo to follow you.

“Wait! Come on, wait!” he yelled, catching up to you.

Finally, he reached you. He gripped your wrist, cornering you against a wall near the gym.

“Stop. Let me talk,” he said, looking down at you.

You were too in shock to answer, so you looked straight into his eyes and waited.

“It slipped. I didn’t mean it in a bad way—not this time. I just… sorry.”

You were looking straight into each other's eyes, completely out of the real world around.

“It’s okay, I guess. It’s just been so weird lately,” you said without breaking eye contact.

“What’s been weird?” he said, coming closer to you.

“You, me, us. I used to gag every time you were around, and since then I—”

You were interrupted by a firm hand caressing your face and stopping at your chin to make you look up at him.

“You can’t get enough of me,” he chuckled. “I know, because it’s the same for me. Need you, and I don’t know why,” he said as he closed the distance between the both of you.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

MOST DATABLE DATABLE CHARACTER 2 THIRD PLACE

Claude propaganda:

"To say Claude has trust issues is an understatement—you have to spend half the game earning his. (Claude isn't even his real name!) Once you have it, though, he's absolutely ride or die for you until the stars go out. He is so full of heart and ambition: He wants both sides of his heritage to get along, he wants to open borders and eliminate xenophobia and promote equality between commonfolk, and deep down, I think he craves a partner to stand with him at that new dawn, or an equal who sees his vision for the future and will fight for it just as hard. Nobody believed in him when he was a kid, but if you put your faith in him, he'll return it tenfold. Some people don't like that he's calculating, or has to leave the player character at the end of the game to go back to his homeland, but both are necessary elements for his goals to change things. He will always come back, and everyone who bets against him and his love for his companions is wrong with a big fat W. #KhalidForMostDatablePrez"

"Claude is a fun little onion of facades. He calls himself the embodiment of distrust, he acts like he's carefree and without worries, an unscrupulous schemer--and so many in universe buy into that hook line and sinker. He's used to others viewing him with suspicion and uses it as armor to obscure his not-so-dark truth: that he cares immensely, that he values minimizing the loss of life, and that above all he has so much hope that people will fundamentally choose to do better given the choice.

His front guards a center that his conflict filled world would be happy to tear apart. As the child of people from two nations in constant conflict--one of which is explicitly isolationist and dehumanizes those outside its church's reach--he hasn't really had a place where he can be without his facade. As a child he thought he could run, but when confronted with the fact that this hatred existed no matter where he ran, he chose to instead try to create a more just and kind world.

His inability to let others in beyond his facade at first may lead to a sense of distance, but isn't it then all the more satisfying when you're allowed in? All he wants is a little trust, a little faith, and--like what he wants to give everyone--a chance to be better.

And like that you got a charming young lad with a fun personality that your grandma would be thrilled to have stay forever."

Elliott propaganda:

“Just look at him. Pure hunk energy.”

“I will punch anyone who dislikes him. He’s like a fire emblem character in the modern day. He’s so flamboyant and handsome, he can play the piano and he’s best friends with the old fishing man!”

“dramatic writer man with sexy hair”

"Since I like elliott. I will state some reasons why I like him

Imagine if Mr. Darcy didn’t insult your family first time you met him, that’s Elliott. The man who’s basically the hallmark romance love interest. He’s a writer who moves to the small town in the country side to find inspiration for his writing. Then he finds the farmer.

He has a crab living in his pocket

He can play the piano (hopefully it isn’t the river flows in you however)

His fans sometimes hc him as a merman and that’s just a major plus IMO

He genre of the book he writes is dependent on what genre you say you like.

He also sends letters to you if you marry him

Okay and also some things I dislike

His liked gifts, the easiest one is pomegranates, which cost like 6000g to grow a tree if you don’t pick the fruit cave. I AM NOT GETTING SQUID INK IN YEAR ONE FOR YOU.

he might be British /j

The fact he has no kitchen but still likes food like lobster, like he is just a mystery. Lives in a cabin, with no kitchen, no washroom (okay no character has a washroom), but still likes the most fancy food out there and has luscious hair worthy of a L’Oréal ad.

Gifting him on rainy days when you don’t have two hearts"