#Gonna think of a snappy title for it

[brain-bumbler]

hey. hey. you know that one au you did? where dion got a job in the mailroom? think about it again. think about its wonder and greatness. and gimme deets 🤲

oh that is my greatest work ever. i will forever have so much to say about it.

Dion starts out not enjoying the job or looking forward to it, just doing it since his mom won't stop talking about how proud she is of Raz and Frazie, and he needs something to do to fill the hours. Plus a paycheck is nice.

But despite his reservations, the minute Raz walks into the mailroom Dion has his feet up on the table smirking like his swivel chair is a throne. Big brother instinct to show no weakness.

Raz is torn because this is sort of his brother making an effort to ger more involved in psychic stuff. He genuinely wants Dion to do better and learn to cope with the changes in their family.

But also, he's ten. The Psychonauts is HIS thing in his head. He wants Frazie to join him because she was his secret psychic buddy that he probably trauma bonded with and he wants to heal the divide between them. I think it'd be normal for him to not be 100% stoked about it. Like oh great, maybe the mailroom is where evil villains are made and Dion's gonna decide to turn to the dark side.

At first Dion is jumpy and standoffish with people. But luckily he unlocks the pure dopamine of sorting objects for his repressed adhd-autism brain. He completely zones out during his shift and then snaps back an hour after closing time when the packages stop coming. Holy shit stacking boxes of different sizes into cubes like tetris and then sorting them based on color, he's not showing it but his brain is just enjoying it So Damn Much.

He gets so hyperfocused that he forgets to slack off and act superior and grumpy. He clears out the blacklog in 3 days and then designs a new sorting system. It needs revisions but that just means more stacking and sorting fuck yeah!

Gisu was expecting him to skip work to come see her but he's in the ZONE and its hard to break him away from it. But after awhile it is easier to leave because he needs variety in his day, which makes flipping across the Motherlobe and finding new ways to deliver mail great.

He makes up challenges for himself. Can he sneak packages to people from the vents like a spy, something he'd never admit to thinking was cool? Can he do deliveries while playing "the ground is lava" in his head?

Also he keeps writing letters to Gisu that have to be "hand delivered" so they can meet up. Hollis lets it slip since he solved their budget crisis by discovering Nick was stealing money, and Dion is insanely effective at his work. If only she could get him to wear anything business casual.

Dion's biggest bad habit is skipping meals. He doesn't like eating in the Noodle Bowl without someone he knows, it makes him nervous. So if he doesn't bring lunch he ends up skipping it, or even if he dues he just throws it away without telling anyone.

He makes the mailroom the most popular part of the Motherlobe tour by putting on an acrobatics performance that enthralls all the visitors. Maybe he slips out some pamphlets for the Aquato circus, it never hurts to advertise!

Having the alone time and investing in something not related to his family is really good for his personal mental health and boundaries.

[itz-mfkn-de]

\\ALWAYS YOU//. M.R

warnings— OOC MATTHEO, Im a sucker for toxic boys but I made him extra sweet in his one idk why, uhhh not many tbh, cussing, kissing, smoking, that’s all I think.

summary— Mattheo was your best friend, always had been, but was the title of ‘friend’ enough?

-my first work for Mattheo! I will eventually get a master list going once I get more comfertable posting on here. This is a repost of one of my works on wattpad, just with some tweaks bc that work was olldddd-

You sat against mattheos 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 out of his dorm window.

"You know, some times, I'm worried for you. You just stare at things, it's weird." He snickered  as he took a drag from his cigarette.

You looked at him and scoffed, "Sometimes I'm worried about your lungs, you're bound to get some type of problem with all that's smoking you do." You half-joked, glancing at him.

He rolled his eyes, tilting his head up and blew the smoke out of his mouth.

"Seriously Mattheo, that stuff is absolute horse-shit for your body." You stated, accompanying your words with a sharp glare.

"I don't do it that often, just when I'm stressed." He muttered, taking his feet off of his desk and turning his body to face you.

"What happened to the whole 'I don't give a fuck about anything or anybody but myself' thing?" You said, mocking him to the best of your abilities.

"First of all I don't fucking sound like that," he laughed and squinted at you "second, just stressed about life, nothing in particular." 

You softly chuckled at his reaction. His eyes broke from yours, looking at some papers on his desk. Your eyes, however, never left his frame. You could stare at him for eternity, everything about his face seemed so perfect, almost as if it were meant to be admired.

You soon realized your staring and quickly averted your gaze towards the window again.

"You gonna go to the Yule ball this year?" You broke the silence, you knew Mattheo hated those things, he hated having to be around a shit ton of people and act like he enjoyed their company.

"Probably not." His demeanor changed, his tone became short, almost snappy.

"Oh, I'm probably just gonna go with Becca." You mumbled, knowing that if no guy was to ask you, Becca had your back.

"Hm." He nearly laughed at your remark.

"What? What's so funny?" You asked, looking back at him, his back still facing you.

"Just surprised you aren't going with a random slytherin guy or something." He answered, but the way he had said it has a strange undertone that you weren't sure how to feel about.

"Well I mean I don't know, I haven't been asked yet." You stated truthfully.

"Ah, I see." He murmured, soon after taking another drag of his cigarette.

You felt tension building in the room, suffocating tension. You weighed your options out, but you decided it would be better to give Mattheo some space, for what you were unsure of.

"Well, Becca and Emma told me they wanted to go dress shopping earlier so I think I'm gonna head over there so we can solidify our plans." You announced while picking up your books and putting them in your bag. 

"Bye Mattheo." You said while walking out of his dorm, expecting a response.

You shut the door when you got nothing, you mind raced with the possibilities on what could've caused mattheos strange behavior.

Maybe he'd just had an off day? No that couldnt have been it, he was fine moments before his attitude took a turn. 

Perhaps he was just having mood swings, you wouldn't be surprised with all the trash he puts in his body.

You stuck with that story and walked back to your dorm, which was on the other side of the slytherin tower. 

You reached it, setting your things down, then quickly turned around and nearly raced to your friends dorm.

The second you reached it, You waisted no time to jump on her bed, causing her to jump. 

"Yes, of course you can come into my room unannounced and lay on my bed." Becca said sarcastically. She had been digging through her closet in an attempt to find a dress. 

"Sorry, I just need to vent." You said while propping yourself up on your elbows.

"Go ahead." She sighed and laid her body weight 

"Okay so, there's this guy. He's like my best friend, but.."

She raised her eyes brows, signaling you to continue.

"But I want us to be more, or atleast I see him as more than a friend. I just feel like no matter how hard I try I can't get him to open up, he just.. won't."  You groaned.

"And everytime I get this sliver of hope that I've made progress, he just completely shuts down, leaving me in the dark confused and a little bit heartbroken!" You borderline screamed, your face shoved into her mattress.

"Okay, uh, let's calm down. If he's not showing any signs of being interested maybe you should just, move on- well attempt to at least." Becca stated ,rubbing your back.

You shut your eyes, truly taking in your friends words.  “hey Yknow what will make you feel better?” She nearly jumped with excitement. “Going to look for a dress in town.”

You knew she only had good intentions but the words kept echoing through your head. The thought of keeping Mattheo as a friend hurt, but it seemed to be all you could do at this point without ruining your friendship.

Maybe she was right.

Maybe you needed to accept Mattheo 

was just a friend.

-

All you could think about was the Yule ball. Over the next few weeks the days flew by, the anticipation growing larger with each one passing.

Of course you had been asked by some sweet guy from the Ravenclaw house, and, taking Becca's advice, you said yes.

There was nothing wrong with him, he just..he wasn't him.

You had decided to get ready alone, slipping into a beautiful green dress you and Becca had picked out. You finished your hair and makeup, looking into your vanity mirror.

You felt beautiful.

You smiled softly at how well you had dolled yourself up.

Glancing up at the clock, you rushed out of your dorm room, realizing it was the time you and your date had agreed to meet at the entrance by. 

You walked gracefully through the halls, a large smile adorning your face. Your heels tapped softly against the ground. You neared the entrance, your breath becoming shallow from the nerves. 

Then you saw Becca, she was wearing a beautiful Maroon dress. She looked absolutely breath taking.

"Hey!— oh my gosh." Becca looked at you, her jaw dropping. 

"You look stunning! Like some type of goddess...." She said barely above a whisper.

"Becca! Stop, you can't be talking, I forgot how to breathe the moment I saw you." You hugged her.

You were about to continue praising her and her beauty, but before you could comment you heard someone call your name.

"Y/n..wow.." he said, just loud enough for you to hear.

You turned around to see your date, who was wearing a very clean red and black suit. 

"Oh my gosh hi! Sorry for being a tad late, I lost track of time while getting ready!" You made your way next to your date, not before Becca gave you a sly smile and a push, leaving to go with her specimen she had chose for the night 

"It's okay.., you look amazing." He had said, taking your arm into his. He began to lead you into the ballroom.

"Thank you, I must say, you cleaned up nice." You smiled sweetly at him.

You and him entered the large room full of people, everything was elegant and royal, not a single speck of dust on anything.

You looked around the large room as your date led you down the stairs, you couldn't lie, you felt like a princess. The beautiful architecture of the room, complimented by your stunning dress, felt like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Once you had made it to the bottom of the staircase, you excused yourself away from your date in an attempt to go find Becca again. 

You stumbled past groups of people, many of them were couples having a romantic moment. 

You tried your best not to run into anybody, you dodged dancing bodies and nearly jogged across the dance floor.

You almost missed him.

You almost walked right by him.

You almost could've saved yourself the heartbreak.

But no you saw it—him with some random Hufflepuff girl. 

The way he whispered in her ear, the way she giggled a little too sweetly, everything. 

It all made you wanna cry—or throw up, which one that would be you weren't quite sure about yet. 

"Y/n?" Theodore came beside you and patted your back.

"Theo-Theodore, I thought Mattheo wasn't coming to the dance?" You struggled to get your words out as your eyes darted between the scene before you and Theodore. 

"Oh—uh yeah, he wasn't gonna originally, but some girl asked him and I guess he took a liking to her because usually he just brushes everyone off." Theo answered.

"Oh, I see, I just came to say hello. I'll be on my way now." Before Theodore could argue with your strange behavior you turned your back and walked as quickly as you could back to were your date was. 

You abandoned the idea of going to find Becca, you couldn't accidentally run into Mattheo and his.. friend again.

Instead you decided that distracting yourself with your date would be the best thing for your heart at the moment.

"Hey, sorry , I just saw a friend and got distracted." You said, out of breath.

"Oh. Don't even sweat it, I'm just glad you didn't run away and not come back." He joked, dragging you towards the dance floor. You couldn't help but laugh at his bubbly personality. It was a nice change of speed.

"I hope you like to dance." His hands fell onto your hips, yours made their way to his shoulders.

"I actually hate it." You smiled at him. 

"How unfortunate." Your smile grew when he matched your energy. You nearly forgot what you had seen a couple moments ago.

But alas, you didn't.

You could feel your chest tightening up, the tears bordering you waterline. Just thinking about him touching that girl in any way made you want to breakdown.

"Ex.—excuse me." You tried to excuse yourself as politely as you could. 

You didn't want your date too see you like this, vulnerable, heartbroken.

You urgently walked towards any door in your line of sight. When you finally found one, you ran through it. 

You just couldn't escape him, no matter how hard you tried. He was at every single corner you turned.

You nearly groaned when you saw him propped up over the balcony, smoking of course. 

He hasn't seemed to notice you, still looking out at the stars. 

You couldn't do it anymore, you couldn't spend one more fucking second acting like you weren't in love with him. 

The sad part was you'd rather be his friend than him hate you and be nothing at all. As long as he thought about you, you'd be okay. 

That's what you had been telling yourself, but you couldn't hold onto that lie anymore. 

"Mattheo." You croaked out behind him.

His head shot to the side, looking you dead in the eyes. 

"Angel… what're you doing out here."  He looked back out to the stars, unable to make eye contact. 

"I can't do it anymore."  You said shakily.

He turned his full body around this time, his eyes a dark brown. He blew the smoke out of his mouth, the wind pushing it in the opposite direction.

"I can't keep pretending I don't feel this way.., do you know how hard it was to watch you talk to that girl?" You nearly cried out.

"All the girls you fuck with and then bring them to shit like this, I cant keep lying to myself —wishing that it was me instead of her."

You were on the brink of gasping for air, your head pounded. You couldn't believe you had suppressed these emotions for so long. Every single time you went to Mattheo's dorm, you could barely restrain yourself from kissing him. 

Before you could continue on with your speech 

Mattheo had forced you against the wall. 

His lips met yours in a harsh collision. In an almost immediate reaction, your body responded to his actions, kissing him back with just as much need and hurry.

"You don't get to fucking do that."  He pulled back from your lips, still making sure to keep his face mere inches from yours.

"Every single day, I'd sit there and watch you talk to this new guy, I couldn't do shit about it— I wouldn't let myself do shit about it."

“I knew you deserved so much better than some lousy asshole like me, angel.” His hand held a firm grip on your hips, his other still had its place on the stone wall. 

"It took everything in me not to punch that fucker in the face when I saw him look at you, but I knew you wouldn't want that." You melted beneath his gaze.

His kisses trailed down your jawline.

"During second year, when I went to the dance, I saw you there with Draco, I nearly killed him right after. I couldn't bear to see you with anyone other than myself.. so I wouldn't go, I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it so I never went to another ball again." He gently caressed your cheek with his thumb.

"Until this year." He mumbled softly in between the kisses he was leaving on your neck.

He brought his face back up to yours, his eyes stormy and clouded with something darker than just simple need.

"What'd he say to you? What did he call you?" Mattheo asked with a dark shimmer in his eyes, one you were hoping was just from the moon.

You swallowed harshly, you hadn't realized how dry your mouth truly was. 

"He just said I looked nice—" 

"Nice? You look fucking ravishing. I've never met a girl as beautiful as you, never once in my life seen a girl who could compare anywhere near you...That's why I call you angel you know...,because even if an angel walked by, my eyes would still be glued on you."

His gentle voice tickled your ears, and your cheeks warmed up beneath him.

"You are my angel."

He kissed you again, only this time it was more gentle. His lips held no rush, they were soft and comforting. 

You were the one to pull back this time, smiling sweetly up at him. He pulled you from against the wall, leaving the two of you in the center of the balcony, under the sparkling stars.

"I can't believe we've been friends all these years, and neither of us made a move."

He spun you around under the moon light, the beautiful sky knocking the breath out of you.

"Hey matty..?”You whispered once he had began to hold you in his arms gently.

"Yes angel?" He matched your tone, the sweet nickname you gave him made his chest tighten up.

"I love you." You closed your eyes, shutting them slowly.

"I love you... I always thought I'd never be the type to say that so freely, guess I just needed to meet the right person." He swayed the two of you lightly, finding a rhythm in the midnight winds. 

"Of course it's you... 

It's always been you."

[shuttershocky]

Shutters I vaguely remember you talking in a post about the topic of good humorous writing or something along those lines, and I think among the examples cited was Gunpoint and/or Heat Signature? Did I dream this up, 'cause it's the whole reason I was gonna check those games

Oh yeah! Gunpoint and Heat Signature are part of the Defenestration Trilogy, a series of indie games about kicking people through windows. The third game, Tactical Breach Wizards, is coming out in August (and has a demo up!)

Gunpoint is the indie game that made me decide to be a gamedev. It was made by a first-time dev that was a fan of Deus Ex, but the thing about immersive sims is that their scale is way too large for a solo project, so instead the developer Tom Francis made a 2D sidescroller about rewiring the electricity in a house to link different appliances together to form reactions, and in a worst case scenario, you can push your enemies through windows.

But what really stuck with me in Gunpoint (and which returns in Tactical Breach Wizards), is that its quippy humor isn't written like it's trying to impress you with snappy responses nor is it trying to lampshade how absurd it is. The sense of humor in these games is written like a Valve title from the 2000s, it's absurd because it's really trying to make you laugh, but in the universe of Tactical Breach Wizards for example, the doctor's wizardry is necromancy because simply shooting your patient in the head and resurrecting them into a fresh body really is a clever way of doing instant surgery for literally anything.

[aizenat]

I’m going to say this and it sounds like it’s gonna be an unpopular opinion but whatever, but I’d love to meet these supposed evil feminists who are putting down and berating stay at home moms/wives/gfs. Outside of the context of criticism towards the tradwife idiots, who aren’t just sharing their cute little stay at home lives but are specifically looking to use their platforms to encourage young impressionable girls to put themselves in danger by not pursuing education and/or a career (specifically looking to reach out to girls who would have grown up to value those things: NOT isolated and/or conservative women raised to value being a stay at home wife/mom), who are there ppl chomping at the bit to shit on women who decide to be stay at home wives/moms?

Specifically, what FEMINISTS are doing that? At most, feminists will push for women who do choose that to make sure they’re protected (be married to the man so you have a claim on his money, make sure your name is on all bank accounts, property titles, businesses, etc, maybe even set up a prenup so you’re not sol if and when he decides to leave you, still pursue schooling and/or some sort of job even part time so you can have work experience/an education if things don’t work out, etc), but I have never ever EVER seen a feminist, an actual feminist, from any wave or type, not libfems nor radfems nor 2nd wave or 3rd wave nor “intersexuality” feminists nor womanists nor black feminists nor global south feminists, literally ZERO feminists are out here shouting at any woman who is a stay at home wife/mom and throwing visceral hatred towards them. If you cannot discern the difference between feminists being concerned by women encouraging other women to literally put their entire lives and livelihoods in men’s hands and some foaming at the mouth hate for a woman DARING to not work (when we’re all living in an capitalist hellscape that has us all making jokes about how working sucks and we wish we could just sit by the ocean or run to a secluded cabin in the woods), the problem isn’t with feminists.

I literally have never seen this shit, and can only conclude that everyone reblogging that one post thinks women getting snappy with these trafwife idiots is somehow a hatred for any and all stay at home moms/wives. Do you think any Black person who shit talks Candace Owens just hates Black ppl in general? Is that how that works now? Fascinating.

Stop creating strawmen to argue against and virtue signal about. Stay at home wives/moms are always supported by feminists. If anything, men are the ones who hate them the most because they resent the expectation of having to provide for her, and they feel like she didn’t do anything to “earn” the lifestyle she’s living. The passport bros who go oversees looking for a “submissive” wife only to be pikachu faced when those women expect him to support her comfortably. The Tate-heads obsessed with a woman’s “body count” and think spending $1000 on an engagement ring is asking for too much. The red pilled idiots who hate independent women for being able to live and survive without them all while hating the women who want to stay at home because they’re “lazy” or gold diggers. That’s MEN doing that. Not women. Not feminists.

There are more men hating on stay at home women than women, especially feminists, every day. But please, do make and reblog a post that felt the need to call out the evil and mean feminists for doing what men actual do without criticism all the time. I mean, when aren’t women blamed for shit men do all the time?

[gcantread]

July 2024 reads

[loved liked ok nope dnf bookclub*]

^borrowing this format from @ofliterarynature—hope that's ok!

The Blue Castle • The Metamorphosis • A Reaper at the Gates • And Then There Were None • I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons • To Be Taught, If Fortunate • The Mysterious Affair at Styles • Till We Have Faces • This Ravenous Fate • Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch • Dragonhaven • [title withheld; SMP] • The Name of the Wind • Better Left Buried • The Body in the Library • Rose Daughter

My biggest reading month so far in terms of quantity, though only third-biggest in terms of "pages" (which I think is a bad metric anyhow—you can typeset them so differently! I wish every book told me its word count.) I read a lot of books in order to see if they're worth reading in @bellasbookclub for the 2024-2025 season, plus I was doing the BBC summer reading challenge! I also devoured my way through several ARCs coming out in August.

The Blue Castle ★★★★★ - I reread this once or twice per year at this point. This time around I read it to @flowerslut and we had a blast! Still the ultimate comfort read.

The Metamorphosis ★★★☆☆ - Also with Shannon (we listened to the audiobook on the way to and from San Diego!) Figured it was high time I actually read this if I was gonna go around calling things "kafkaesque." Somehow exactly what I expected.

And Then There Were None ★★★★☆ - Pre-screened for book club! So I don't wanna say too much other than "I liked it."

I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons ★★★☆☆ - Disappointing. Plot was a bit all over the place and it was difficult to sympathize with the main characters. A shame, because I like the premise!

To Be Taught, If Fortunate ★★★★☆ - Read for the BBC 2024 Summer Reading Challenge. Fun and reflective! This was my first time reading Becky Chambers, and I liked the writing style and themes.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles ★★★1/2☆ - Another book club pre-screen. A solid mystery.

Till We Have Faces ★★★★☆ - Yet another book club pre-screen. My best friend's favorite book and now I can totally see why.

This Ravenous Fate ★★★☆☆ - An ARC I got signed by the author after seeing her speak on a panel about YA and romance. Unfortunately a huge letdown, possibly because I had such high hopes for the premise of "queer Black 1920s vampire x human." Alas, it had some cool vampire lore but was overall a convoluted mess and not nearly 1920s-enough!

Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch ★★★★☆ - Another ARC I got from the same event and liked much better. Cool Jennifer's Body-esque premise, snappy voice, and a fun protagonist in the murdered and vengeful Annie. Perfect Halloween vibes!

Dragonhaven ★★★★☆ - Also pre-screened for book club so I shouldn't talk too much about it but I can't help myself (@ book club LOOK AWAY) I wasn't expecting much from this book because I've heard Robin McKinley fans voice their disappointment in it, but it turns out I'm the exact niche target audience for this. National Park politics and conservation science struggles and zookeeping?? I'm seated. I can see why others didn't like the pacing, but I was nodding along like "Yes, the difficulty of procuring grad students to come study dragons, of course. Do go on"

[title withheld; SMP] - I didn't realize this was an SMP book until I was halfway through it. Oops. A shame they still don't have their act together, because I'd love to talk about this one.

The Name of the Wind ★★★★★ - A title I've heard raved about a million times by a zillion people, so naturally I picked it as one of my BBC 2024 summer reading challenge books to see if it lived up to the hype. IMO it does! Fun, poetic writing style, cool framing device, and interesting worldbuilding and magic system. Curious to read the sequel.

Better Left Buried ★★★☆☆ - Another ARC. Cute queer YA murder mystery that I honestly don't have much to say about other than "it was cute."

The Body in the Library ★★★1/2☆ - And another book club pre-screen book. My first Miss Marple! Mostly elevated by having an interesting ending twist and class themes.

Rose Daughter ★★★☆☆ - And to no one's surprise, my final book of the month was also pre-screening for Bella's Book Club. Very pretty writing and it was fun to read while wearing a bit of rose oil (smell-o-vision!) but I didn't loooove the pacing and overall prefer Robin McKinley's other Beauty and the Beast retelling, Beauty.

DNF

A Reaper at the Gates (50%) - I sprinted through book 1 and walked sedately through book 2 of the Ember in the Ashes series, but this one (book 3) was taking me forever to read (and is almost 700 pages), and I was impatient to move on and read other stuff. Reaper at the Gates was decently interesting and I still care about the characters, but the timing just wasn't right. Will probably pick this series back up later.

July superlatives

[lightdusty]

Hard doming Katsuki.... trying to fucking that attitude out of him

Attitude

Dom! Male reader x katsuki

sadist shit katsuki likes it though enjoy loves 💗

Totally didn't write half of this in the hospital 🤞

Bakugou seemed to be in a foul mood today he yelled and screamed at everyone. His tone was more snappy than usual and he of course had his normal attitude but it was worse today. Especially when you went to talk to him and all he did was glare at you, that was not how he normally acted and you didn't like it.

"I don't like this attitude of yours." You said eyes narrowing as katsuki laid on his bed not even looking up to look at you as you leaned against his wall. "And? Is that supposed to be my problem?" He replied back, his focus now on his phone as he swiped through something. You walked up to him and grabbed his phone throwing it across the room. "He-" he didn't even finish as you laid your palm on his chest shoving him back. Getting on top of him you grabbed his hips roughly fingers practically digging into his side.

Katsuki looked highly confused most of the anger that had been stuck on his face melted as he raised his eyebrow at you in confusion titling his head to the side. Grabbing his chin you leaned down and kissed him, he seemed hesitant before kissing you back parting his lips to allow your tongue into his mouth as he lifted his head higher to get closer deepening the kiss. You pulled away quickly flipping him over and already stripping him down along with yourself his body jerked in shock as you quickly undressed him but he didn't do anything he let you remove his clothes with ease.

He expected your fingers to prepare him first. What he did not expect was for lubed to be poured onto his hole before you shoved your cock in him fully. His back arched and his fingers dug into the sheets. It felt painful he didn't think it could hurt this bad but he felt so aroused at the same time. You started thrusting in and out of him hard and fast, katsuki swore under his breath eyeliner that he had worn now running down his face. Katsuki's eyes rolled to the back of his head as his climax was quickly reached. But you didn't stop and all katsuki could do was moan and scream your name out in pleasure of overstimulation. "I take it you won't act like this again?" You said as you continued your voice heavy and bakugou nodded into his pillow where his mouth was biting back moans. "Answer me!" You snapped dangerously your pace picking up and katsuki moaned loudly as he answered breathing heavily. "Y-yes I won't god.. I promi-" he didn't finish his sentence as another moan came out of his mouth when you eventually reached your climax you finally pulled out katsukis worn out and overused body sagging into the sheets as he curled against your side.

He was definitely gonna have to have an attitude with you more often.

[wisteria-cherry]

forty days and forty nights (day ten!)

(short one today my lil cherry blossoms :) i’ll make it for it i promise!!)

(read them all here!)

you thought a lot about how bakugo came at the exact same time every day. you had mixed reactions about it, ranging between anywhere from concerned or amused depending on the day. you decided to ask about it next time he came in.

“hey, loser.” bakugo greeted. you’d accepted that he wouldn’t get polite the longer you knew him. he’d just get more casual.

“medium black coffee for bakugo, coming up.” you hummed, tapping the computer as he swiped his card. save for yesterday, it was the only thing that really varied— the way he paid. not that it mattered to you, anyway.

“so, you come at the same time every day.” you begin as you slide him his coffee across the counter.

“so what?” was his snappy response.

“i was just curious is all. kirishima seemed to imply that his patrols vary.” you shrug. “don’t yours?”

“yeah. but i’m always done at 4. then i do the reports and shit til 4:50ish.”

“ish?” you raise an eyebrow. “you get here at 4:56 exactly every day, without fail.”

“obviously. i don’t fail.” bakugo replied bluntly.

“so where are your patrols anyway?” bakugo begins to list road names, but you interrupt him.

“i don’t know road names.” you state. perhaps bakugo’s blunt nature was rubbing off on you. bakugo rolled his eyes.

“god, can you get any more damn clueless?” bakugo rolled his eyes, scoffing. you sheepishly pull out your phone and slide it over, the map app open. bakugo groaned and reluctantly began marking points of interest on it.

“i start here, see?” he taps the screen impatiently and you nod.

“at your agency. makes sense.”

“and it’s a big loop.”

“also makes sense.”

bakugo slowly begins to point out each corner and turn on the map, and you chime in with the landmarks that you always refer to when on said corners. you work through it like that for about half an hour.

“i think i’ve got it memorized.” you laugh.

“weirdo.” bakugo tched. you grin, embracing the title.

“maybe one day i’ll find you on your patrol and just bring your coffee to you.” you joke. bakugo looked at you with disdain.

“you think a villain’s gonna listen if i go, ‘hold on a sec, i gotta have a sip of my coffee first’?” bakugo drawled. “like hell.”

“i’d listen.” you smile smugly.

“oh, fuck off. like you’d ever have it in you to be a villain, much less go up against me.” bakugo snorted.

“yeah, you’re right,” you agree. “i’m not made for the hero business.”

“you made that clear when you didn’t know who i was.” bakugo glared, albeit without much malice.

“are you ever gonna let that go?”

“no.”

“god, can you get any more damn clueless?”

<- previous next->

(feel free to comment + leave ur thoughts :)

tags: @k0z3me @cherryblossomclarity

[mageofseven]

Mephisto x MC Relationship Headcannons

Since I'm exploring Mephisto's character and gonna be practicing with him in different posts, I wanted to make this one to help organize some on my thoughts on how his and MC's relationship would go.

This type of post is very useful for me when I am tackling a character or ship that I lack organized thoughts for.

I hope you enjoy it nonetheless~

•▪︎▪︎◇°●♡●°◇▪︎▪︎•

How they got together:

Honestly, this tsundere was giving poor MC whiplash in the beginning.

Though he spoke as if he couldn't care less about them, it was his actions that always confused the human.

It often seemed like he couldn't go a day without talking to them and seemingly would always pop up after after they parted ways from one of the Brothers.

Weirdly enough, the only two brothers he would talk to them in front of was Satan and Lucifer

And around Lucifer, he would be strangely nice to them as he and the Avatar of Pride stared each other down

Only for the other man to depart and any word from MC aims at the nobleman would cause Mephisto to blush and rush away after calling them an insult, usually 'annoying' or 'naïve'.

The demon always seemed frustrated with the human, but MC could also see he was lonely.

The nobleman didn't seem to really have any friends; technically, he saw Diavolo as one, but the prince had faded from him long ago and the man didn't really have anyone else.

And so MC began their arc of being Mephisto's annoying little human, a title that didn't truly take long to go from insulting to strangely endearing.

Feelings were there--they both knew it.

However, it wasn't easy to do anything about them.

Mephisto grew up in an old blood sort of noble family, one deeply rooted in the oldest, most traditional beliefs of their realm.

He grew up being told, worse even, believing that humans were beneath them.

Humans were this fragile young race that demons and angels abandoned long ago. Disappoints with short lives that can't do anything of significance.

And Mephisto believed that wholeheartedly his whole life

But it was hard to keep such views the longer he was around MC.

The human could manage feats that could surprise Lord Diavolo himself after all.

Eventually, he did come to terms inside himself that he no longer believed in such views; that humans could be powerful beings and had so much potential to surprise them all.

After that, the nobleman had an even worse internal struggle: his family.

He knew his parents would be angry with him at best if they were to discover his feelings for a human; even worse...they could be disappointed.

Mephisto tried his whole life to embody his family's beliefs and be the son his parents needed him to be

And so loving MC...made him hate himself.

This was a bad period for the two.

Somedays...MC truly thought he had softened, thought that maybe they could have a future together.

Others, Mephisto was snappy and a bit harsh, though his words always sounded less like insults meant to hurt them and more like words to convince himself to let them go.

Back and forth, hot and cold; Mephisto was king of giving this poor human whiplash.

Fortunately for him, MC was patient and understanding so when he came out a victor from his internal war and Mephisto finally asked them out, the human said yes.

Dynamics:

Okay so I don't really see them as the healthiest of couples.

I definitely think they have the potential to be, but only if Mephisto works on his jealousy and abandonment issues.

After all, Diavolo did abandon and replace him.

Of course, it wasn't a romantic relationship with those two, but still an important one to Mephisto.

He was raised solely to be Diavolo's friend; as a kid, that was his one job and he really didn't have anyone else

So when Dia outgrew him and replaced him with Lucifer, it really left a hole in this man's heart.

He tried to be the perfect friend, but still discovered after years of friendship that he was replaceable.

In all honesty, Mephisto worries the same will happen with MC.

The human is obviously not royalty, but they were beautiful and kind and everyone seemed to love them...

They were an important figure in the Devildom now.

What happens if the day comes when they are no longer interested in him either? Then he'll be thrown away again by someone else he cares about.

This fear is what drives his jealousy which in turn leads him to make mistakes.

At first, he tries to contain himself.

Things like him trying to set a date up with MC just to find out they already have plans with one of the brothers.

He'd pretend to be okay with that, but obsess in his head the rest of the day about how whatever his partner has planned with them is apparently more important than him.

Then he'd hear conversations between them and the brothers, even the other exchange students they see as their friends, leading his mind to worry and twist meanings.

This would slowly escalate to passive-aggressive comments

And eventually top off with accusations of MC cheating on him with the brothers.

He only made this mistake once though because the human expressed clearly to him that they were not go to take their loyalty being slandered, not even by the man they loved

And so they broke up with him.

The scare really helped screw this poor bastard's head on right and he does his best to work for MC's forgiveness, resulting in them getting back together.

His jealousy stays until he works out his issues, but he at least has a better idea of what lines not to cross.

When his issues are worked out, he's a lot calmer in the relationship.

He's still not necessarily a fan of the brothers, but is working through his own prejudices while also having secure trust in his partner to be around whoever they'd like.

At his best, Mephisto is a man who is incredibly respectful of MC, but also affectionate.

You know that story about the hero taking the thorn out of the beast's paws? Mephisto feels like he had a lot of thorns that MC managed to free him of.

He also shows his love best to them through gifts and taking care of them.

Even once Mephisto has worked through his issues, some soft words from MC will do wonders to make him feel loved.

'I love you', 'you're important to me', 'I am proud of you'; all are things he cherishes to hear from them.

Their relationship isn't an easy one in the beginning, but has the potential to be a happy one.

[mariathechosen1]

Ok, I’m actually not done ranting about Lockwood and Co and how pissed I am about it being cancelled, because here’s the thing: I came into this show with absolutely no background information. I hadn’t read any of the books and I had barely watched the trailer. And so, I was very much expecting the story of a traumatized cis boy fighting ghosts (ft. Sidekicks), you know? Lockwood is on the cover and it’s his name in the title, but then I turn on the first episode and instead I’m introduced to Lucy.

Because here’s the thing: In YA fiction we’re so used to the classic trio dynamic (One male protagonist, one female love interest, and one male comic relief) that I genuinely just though Lucy was gonna be completely sidelined for Lockwood.

But she’s not.

Because Lucy is the main fucking character

And not just a blank slate for the audience to project their own personalities onto either, no, she’s a fully fleshed out protagonist with actual depth. With motivation. With a proper backstory. With her own goals.

She has flaws! She has strengths!

Lucy is snappy, she’s sarcastic, she’s judgmental and, quite frankly, she’s sorta shit with people.

But she’s competent as fuck!

And not only is she competent as fuck, but her Talent is Listening. Listening!! A power that’s all about empathy and connecting with others, and the fact that she has a talent that’s centered around emotions is never looked upon as something that makes her weaker. Her ability to empathize is literally her greatest strength.

And I think that’s also why I’m so obsessed with this scene from episode 4

Because, ignoring the incredible amounts of tension, this is Lockwood, a man so obsessed with the spotlight and his public perception to the point where it’s self-sabotaging, openly admitting that Lucy is special, more so than himself.

“When you love the spotlight as much as I do, it’s quite an adjustment to realize that the real reason you might be here is to shine it on somebody else”

I AM OBSESSED

Lucy is the protagonist! If anything Lockwood is the love interest!

And I just absolutely love how the show turns the classic trio dynamic on its head by not only forcing Lockwood to admit Lucy’s worth, but by also forcing the audience to realize: ‘Oh. This is Lucy’s story’.

Anyways, TLDR: This is Lucy Carlyle’s world and we’re all just living in it.

[yipyipmf]

i wrote this not too long ago and kinda forgot ab it after sending it to a friend LOL. daddy issues are on high

tw: smut, p in v, some harshness, price being the father😉 figure we all need (lmk if i forgot anything)

price x reader (dunno a title)

—————

the day only started 4 hours ago, and i’m already ready to light the whole base on fire.

i woke up with a pounding headache, couldn’t find any matching socks, and everyone had already used all of the hot water. morning training went by slow as shit, and ghost barking orders wasn’t helping the still-existing headache.

although the lunches are never appealing, i was looking forward to it all day. we were finally able to set up an actual kitchen on base, and soap promised he’d make his “very genuine scottish soup”. (whatever that means). my mediocre (sorry soap) lunch was cut very short when price walked in.

john price; captain of taskforce 141, the most experienced of us all, as well as the oldest. at 37 years old, he is a little over a decade older than me, but still kicks ass better than some of these teenage recruits we gained this year.

he’s also my boyfriend.

nobody knows, but i’m sure they all have their suspicions. his nicknames, our not-so-sly longing stares; not to mention how often he calls me into his office for “help with emails”. today was no different.

“sergeant y/l/n, i hate to cut your lunch short. but laswell just found some information about makarov and we need your help decrypting some of the wording.”

he spoke, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed along his broad chest.

i sigh, not knowing if he truly needs help at the mention of laswell, or if i’m going to have to tell him about my day. i give soap a small ‘thank you’ and put my dishes in the sink on my way out. once out of eye line, price lays a gentle hand on the small of my back,

“your headache okay?”

i shoot him a confused stare, “how’d you know about my headache?”

“simon told me you had taken about 4 tylenols before stretching. i know you all too well little girl.”

i blush at the nickname. whenever we first got together, i wasn’t really sure of johns intentions. however, i slowly learned to realize that he’s not some creepo who wants a younger girl; he truly just wants me.

i smile at the thought as we step into his office, and smile a hair more after realizing his laswell story was total shit. i move a couple of files off his desk and sit on top, swinging my legs as i turn my attention back to him, confusion taking over as i take in his stance; stoic, serious, stern.

“simon also told me that you had been a little snappy with some recruits this morning”, he says, taking a step towards me, “the hell makes you think you can start barking orders around, sergeant?”

my jaw drops at the rank calling, “i wasn’t barking orders! they were just going too slow. they needed to move the hell along.”

he cocks a brow, “oh? so are we just feeling bratty today?” he smirks as he finally settled his body between my thighs, hands on either side of my body, caging me in.

i gulp, “no. i wasn’t bratty. i was just..” i pause, “helping them.”

“helping them? huh.” he tsks, shaking his head, “i’m still calling it bratty. but i think i know what’ll fix all that.”

“and what’s that, captain?” i ponder, throwing his rank around like he did mine.

“get on your knees and you’ll find out.”

my body gets hot, my cheeks flush, but i keep my head up high, “no.”

“no?”

“no.” i shrug, sighing and rolling my head to the side, “don’t feel like it.”

john cocks another brow before i feel a harsh tug to my hair, gasping as my head is yanked back and his face appears above mine.

“you’re gonna fucking feel like it, brat. get. on. your. knees.”

i suck in a breath as he yanks my head back forward and pulls my body down to the floor in front of him. he unbuckles just belt and doesn’t bother taking any clothes off; just pulls his cock through his boxers and zipper hole. i don’t move, just stare. i know it’ll rile him up more.

he lets out a low groan before grabbing his hard on and slaps it against my cheek. he continues to do so around my face, getting angrier and angrier with each one.

“princess you better open your mouth right now or so help me god, i will fuck you until you can’t walk anymore.”

i smirk, “i like a challenge.”

before he can say anything else, i cave in and open my mouth, instantly gagging as he slams in. he keeps a rough pace as he sets a fast pace, gripping onto my hair to keep me steady, spit going all over his pelvic area and my cheeks. he’s groaning above me, keeping eye contact while mine roll to the back of my head.

“yeah? a challenge huh? god you can’t shut up sometimes. maybe i should get a ball gag just so you can’t fucking talk.”

i moan around his cock at his words, feeling him shudder. he gives a few more harsh thrusts before he slams back into my throat, holding steady and groaning quietly as i feel his cum shooting down. he slowly pulls out, and i make sure he sees me swallow.

“good girl. see what you get when you listen?” i nod, trying to catch my breath.

“good. lean on the desk, ass facing me.”

i stand back up, choosing to ignore the pain in my knees and follow his orders. i settle my hips against the edge of his desk, hold onto the other side, and spread my legs. i’m still in my PT gear, which means easy access to him. i gasp as he pulls my shorts and underwear down in one pull, the cold air of his office rushing quickly to my soaked cunt.

he chucked at my reaction, slowly working a finger along my folds and to my clit, giving it small slow rubs.

“are you going to listen? quit barking around orders and being a brat?”

i stay silent.

“i said,” he leans in close, instantly sliding 2 fingers into my hole. i moan out, “are you going to quit being a brat?”

“yes, fuck john yes, please.” i whimper as he speeds up his fingers. he keeps up with this for a short few seconds before taking them out. i start to whine before feeling the tip

of his cock right against my hole.

“that’s what i like to hear sweetheart.” he gives me to time to respond before slamming in, much like he did my throat only a few moments ago. i bite my lip as he sets a rough and fast pace, his hands on my hips to keep me grounded. i move to cross my arms, laying my head down and moaning out.

after a moment, his fingers land back on my clit, rubbing fast circles in time with his thrusts. i bite my arm to keep my noises down, feeling the tight coil in my stomach beginning to unravel. i feel a hand weave through the hair at the nape of my neck, whimpering as my head is yanked up once again.

“j-john, please, fuck. please im gonna come. please please please.” i beg, trying to keep my voice down as to not alert anybody in the hallway. not that it matters anyways, john is slamming in so hard i swear i hear his desk moving against the floor.

“you promise me you’re gonna quit? gonna let us higher ranks handle the recruits, huh? gonna be a good girl for me princess?”

“yes! john yes! please!”

he lets go of my head and it falls back to my arms, “come.”

that’s all i needed before i was biting my arm again, finally letting the coil in my stomach burst. i can feel myself squeezing his cock, but i don’t care. he keeps his pace as i’m coming down, soon feeling his second load shoot into me.

we both take a moment to catch our breathes before he pulls out, helping me settle into his chair. i don’t speak as i watch him grab a water bottle from his cabinet, handing it over; i gulp down half the bottle.

“i’m sorry if i was too rough on you.” he mumbles, taking the bottle back and putting the cap back on before setting it on his desk. i smile as he hands me my clothes, zipping and buckling up his down.

“you weren’t, i promise. i’m sorry about everything this morning, just been a bad day.“

he lifts me from his chair, settling me back into his lap and grabbing a piece of hair to twirl around, “it’s okay love. just tell someone next time, okay?”

i nod my head and smile.

—dinner—

i give john a small smile as i sit next to him in the kitchen, thanking him for making me a grilled cheese instead of soaps ‘other genuine scottish recipe.‘

we all laugh and joke for a while before i catch ghost handing gaz a $20 bill across the table.

“wait, i was right? I WAS RIGHT?” he exclaimed, slowly turning to john and i. we shoot each other a confused glance, before realizing what had just happened.

“YOU ALL MADE A BET?”

lord. these boys are going to be the death of me.

[jamminvroomvroom]

osc - 4 :)

vampire - olivia rodrigo

op81 x reader

girl this is gonna be angsty i-

i’m so sorry girlie this is so bad i speedran it and don’t think there is an actual plot lmao

oscar knew you were no good for him.

he knew it from the get go, the way you picked him up and put him down when you felt like it, the way your eyes sparkled one second, and glimmered with mischief the next.

2022 had been a relatively boring year for oscar, well, aside from nearly being sued and starting the great australian civil war. there’d been no racing, no jeopardy, no title to fight for. it had gotten too quiet, too… nothing. and then, just like that, there you were.

oscar usually played it safe. he liked his girls wholesome, monogamous. it didn’t seem like too much to ask for, and he wasn’t particularly fussy, he was a racing driver, after all. you were anything but safe. you were terrifying, a loose cannon, a wild child with no rules and zero regard for responsibility. you didn’t care about his image, you didn’t care about being a linen wearing, hermés sandal wearing wag, and you definitely didn’t care about formula 1. fuck, he wondered most of the time whether you cared about him.

it started off… nice. it felt good, you made everything feel good. reckless. he didn’t know how to be reckless before you. it was like a breath of fresh air, until it wasn’t. he got attached, and you absolutely did not, days passing without so much as a word to him, calls ignored, drunk texts unanswered. and yet, every time he mustered the strength to blank you as hard as you blanked him, you reappeared. it was torture, cat and mouse. it went on and on, on and on.

eventually, your delicious poison seeped into his career. he’d started showing up at the track exhausted, the bags under his eyes heavier than the ones in his hands, late nights spent trying to console you or find you or, god, just fucking talk to you. he was snappy, sunken into himself, and it showed. he couldn’t let it go on.

“oscar, i think i love you.” toxic. delusion.

you’d showed up in italy, right before monza, crying in his hotel room about quite literally nothing.

“i don’t think you love anyone.” he scoffed. it was harsh coming out of his mouth, his usual monotonous tone warped with fury. “i don’t even think you have a fucking heart.”

it was a pretty fucking solid point. your manipulation had gone too far, your hold on him too unbearable.

you only showed up in the shadows, never caring about him in the daylight when you couldn’t take what you wanted. typical bloodsucker, classic example. oscar had been smart up until now, managing his every emotion but he was done with you bleeding him dry.

[infernaltenor]

a second niki shiina analysis

i dont have a snappy title for this just know its on rinne and niki

ok so! im actually gonna start with a disclaimer that this post is meant to be taken platonically if only because i interpret their relationship as platonic and will use this lens for the whole analysis. for a quick run down as to why, mostly i think its ooc for both rinne and niki; rinne since his go to with any character younger than him by a few years (hinata, yuta, kohaku, just to name a few off the top of my head lol) seems to be to go into "older brother mode", and niki largely since he doesnt rise to any of rinne's flirty bait/joke with anything other than annoyance.

that out of the way. i think theyre silly.

realistically, i think their relationship chart sets it up perfectly; niki and rinne have known each other for five years and probably lived together for most of it, meaning the most important thing is that niki absolutely knows all/most of rinnes tricks. thinking back to the honeybee story with kohaku, while both himeru and kohaku wrote niki's knowledge of the situation off, he brings it up with rinne right at the end. more than likely, this is the sort of thing niki's sort of.... used to with rinne.

also a major portion of their relationship is rinne's weird flirty/jealous moments. i think what drives a portion of the friendship is that niki is rinne's first actual friend. he's weirdly jealous (fs1 niki scout story, for instance. also funnily enough, niki calls him an overprotective father) because of that importance in the relationship; im not sure how to explain it without knowing someone for a long time and not having that experience of not having many friends before, but let's just say. i get it. i get rinne. i get the overprotectiveness/jealousy. but rinne does by and large flirt jokingly imo! it's not just niki who gets hit with it, as iirc himeru does occasionally too, meaning that its likely meant to be taken as a quirk of his personality. personally, i think niki gets hit with it the most because of their familiarity, at one point or another in a relationship interactions tend to boil down to poking fun at one another, and what is rinne and niki if not that?

niki's a bit harder to nail down, if only because i think his character is meant to be written as someone who intentionally puts himself down and tries to lower peoples expectations of him (for instance, the idiotification, intention to only think about cooking, etc. he has layers. i need to see him have a breakdown); with rinne he's both at his softest and most brash, given that most of rinne and niki's outward relationship is like watching two cats hit each other over the head. in the main story he is uncharacteristically nice (at that point) when rinne's distressed over the situations, offering to go back to rinne's hometown with him, and well. i cant blame him! five year friendship, probably living together, they're genuinely attached at the hip, especially considering that niki was both 14 when they met, and his parents had left him alone following the controversy that hit his father. i can't help but think that niki especially doesn't think rinne would survive on his own, hence the offer that he extended.

i also just think this level of depth in a relationship, especially when taken platonically, irregardless of gender is vastly under represented in media. rinne and niki read to me as incredibly close friends who have been stuck with each other for years and cant imagine the other one without them, which is something that usually gets pushed romantically; but i think in many ways that its a detriment, especially with these two. yes, that's partially because in general it feels occ, but also since the depth in it, imo, lessens with a romantic context, and it erases a large part of both of their personalities.

[alvfr]

Oh hello 10 for wolverine/logan 👀

“Yeah.”

“He’s a world-renowned telepath.”

“Yeah?”

“If you don’t say something else than ‘yeah’,” you mocked his gruff tone and folded your arms to distract from the way your fingers itched again when the man — Logan? — pulled on a pair of snug jeans that had laid in a heap on the floor by the bed, “we’re gonna have a problem, my man.” You winced at yourself and the poor word choice. “I meant that in a threatening non-friendly way, not as a term of endearment.”

The man — Logan? — paused and his brows pulled down to his eyes again as he stared at you. His expressions did not really vary all that much from the slightly annoyed, slightly confused one he had one right now, but you got the feeling he was thinking hard. “Right. Wait here.”

“What? No!”

-----

Thank you! This is a continuation of the drabble I posted the other day with the short snappy title of "The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" which I'm now gonna tag with "The First Time" because that is sooo long and I had no plans to write a real follow-up at first and now I regret everything.

Send me a number between 1-10 and I’ll write that many sentences on my wip and post them in the reply (Specify wip/fandom if you want)

[asskickedbygirl]

omg sorry another jess request, very content starved for him at this point

but maybe a best friends to lovers type imagine with him please?

maybe an element of opposites attract too???

Liar

(part one)

[Jess Margera x F!Reader]

Desc: You and Jess have been best friends for almost a decade but have never dated despite what everyone says, though your s.os are not huge fans of your friendship.

A/n: so sorry this took so long decided to split it into two parts cos i knew it was gonna take forever so here you go! listened to a lot of paramore when i started this hence the title of the fic

Warnings: angst, swearing, arguing, toxic relationship

3.1k words

⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ 

Ever since Bam essentially 'brought you home' from the skate park at 14, Jess was not impressed. He passed you off as Bam's annoying friend and would roll his eyes and groan whenever you were at the house. At the time, you thought he was an asshole kid as he was only a year older but acted as if he was above it all but it also could've been a shitty attempt at flirting. One day, Jess was particularly rude and it just so happened you were particularly snappy that day too.

"Bam, when are you gonna stop bringing this girl around if she's not your girlfriend?"

"Oh I'm sorry Jess, am I disturbing your peace?" You spat, Jess visibly taken aback by your sudden snark.

"Yeah you are actually, I can hear your annoying voice from my room." He scoffed, turning himself to go upstairs.

"You know what, let me join you so you can hear my 'annoying voice' even clearer." You happily jumped up off the couch, a smug grin plastered on your face.

"That's not happening."

"Oh come on Jess, stop being an asshole and let her go with you. Then maybe you'll start to like each other." Bam called out, too focused on the video game him and Dico were playing to reprimand you.

Jess glared at you, huffing as he climbed the stairs, you skipping along behind him. As you got to Jess' room you wasted no time in snooping, admiring all the band posters plastered on the walls and kicking the dirty laundry that littered the floor. You got to his chest of drawers and went to open the first when a hand grabbed your wrist.

"Do you mind not snooping?"

"Why? Porn mags in here or something?" You smirked as Jess' stink eye remained, moving to sit on his chair as you continued your prowl.

"You know I listen to like, all of these bands right?" You spoke, pointing to the posters that littered Jess’ walls.

"Sure you do." He sighed.

You flipped your head around annoyedly.

"Oh come on. You don't think I listen to fucking-" You began pointing to various prints.

"Black Sabbath? Slayer? They're classics."

Jess cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head.

"You really listen to metal?"

You smiled, turning to face Jess and folding your arms.

"What? Just cause' I'm a girl I can't listen to heavy metal? That's not very progressive of you."

Jess looked a little embarrassed, staring at the wall instead of at your smug face.

"Maybe you should give me a chance instead of dismissing me as one of Bam's dumb skater friends huh?"

Jess met your eyes then as you widened them, smug grin still remaining.

"Maybe I should."

***

After that fateful afternoon you and Jess became the best of friends, even closer than you and Bam ever were. Although you spent a whole lot of time together, you at cKy shows and rehearsals while he came to watch you skate, you never did end up together, despite the relentless comments you'd receive from everyone around you.

"Oh come on, you guys are practically dating without the sex and that's like the best part!"

"Shut up Bam we are not."

Many nights of drinking with Bam and his friends ended up like this one way or another.

"Dude you have to admit, you and Jess are way closer than any other guy and girl I know, I'm surprised your guys' boyfriend and girlfriend don't get pissy about it." Ryan spoke up, taking a sip of his beer.

"Daniel and Jess are friends." You rolled your eyes.

"Oh and are you and Julie the best of pals too?"

"Shut up Bam, I like Julie she's sweet."

It was true, Jess' girlfriend was a perfect angel of a human and you got along perfectly fine though really you'd be lying if you said there was rarely any tension between you both. As you got older it became less normal for you and Jess to sleep over at each other's places or spend an excessive amount of time with each other as just friends, especially with the addition of boyfriends and girlfriends.

Relationships never seemed to last with either of you, not that you were ever really in love or invested in the person as much as you ought to be. And maybe a couple exes here and there weren't too fond of yours and Jess' friendship but despite everything, neither of you were ever romantically involved. Seriously. Never.

"You going to the bar later?" Jess asked from his drum kit as you sat on the basement couch, invested in the book you were reading.

"Huh? Oh yeah, but I'm not drinking."

"Why? You don't have work tomorrow, do you?"

You shook your head and bit your lip, still attempting to read although you had been struggling for the last twenty minutes as Jess played his drums loudly.

"Dan's drinking so I'm driving us home."

Jess narrowed his brows, scoffing.

"And? Get a cab or something, why should you sacrifice your night for him?"

"We don't all need alcohol to have fun, Jess."

"Yeah but you do."

You dropped the book in your lap, glaring at the man in front of you.

"Well I don't mind, he asked me to so I will. I'm a nice girlfriend actually."

"And is he a nice boyfriend?"

You rolled your eyes, flipping the corner of the page down and closing your book, there was no way Jess was letting you read anymore.

"Yes Jess, he is. I swear you've hated every ex of mine. Dan is literally your friend."

You sat up on the sofa and began gathering your things.

"Doesn't mean he's a good boyfriend either. Plus you've hated most of my ex girlfriends too."

"Well half of them did call me a bitch so."

Jess laughed as you pulled your jacket on, ready to head out. Although the conversation seemed light-hearted, there was an underlying layer neither of you wished to bring up. A common factor which influenced both of your past relationships.

"I'll see you later." You muttered, walking up the stairs with no further comments.

***

"I fucking love Boba Felt dude." Dico declared, taking a sip of his beer.

"You're such a dude." You laughed, enjoying your nerdy chat with your nerdy friend.

"The fucks that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno, every guy loves Boba Fett, he barely even speaks!"

"So?! Boba Fett doesn't need to speak, he's already badass."

As you laughed along, four words you never wished to hear were spoken from behind you.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

You almost shuddered as you heard them, turning yourself around to see what Raab was referring to. And in all his glory, Dan was facing the corner, zipping down his pants, ready to piss on the wall. It wasn't even midnight yet and your boyfriend was already loaded and set to make a fool of himself as he so often did when alcohol was involved.

"Shit." You spat under your breath, pushing yourself off your seat and rushing over to prevent the public urination.

"Dan, what the hell are you doing?! Stop it!" You whisper-shouted, pulling your boyfriends hands away from his crotch and attempting to zip up his pants.

"Hey, he needs to get out of here!" The bartender yelled once he spotted what everyone was staring at, already heading to get the bouncer.

"For fuck's sake Dan. How many bars are you gonna get thrown out of? You tryna set a record or something?!" You scolded, successfully buckling up your boyfriend's belt and pushing him towards the exit, knowing it was certainly time to call it a night.

"Nooo, I don't wanna go home. I'm taking more shots with Bam!" Dan slurred though he made no attempt to stop you from shoving him outside.

"You're done Dan. I'm taking you home." You tried grabbing his hand to pull him towards your car but Dan pulled his hand away forcefully.

"You're not my fucking mother bitch."

He probably had whiskey. That always made him angry.

"You're not gonna be let back inside, so I dunno what your plan is." You folded your arms. It was like dealing with a child.

Suddenly Dan got up in your face, enough so that the strong smell of liquor invaded your senses.

"Why are you such a controlling cunt?"

"Is there a problem?"

You and Dan both flicked your heads to the source of the noise as your face got hot, tears almost welling stupidly.

"Of course, here's Jess to the rescue!" Dan scoffed, backing away from you and throwing his arms up in the air.

"You gonna take her away from me and go fuck her Margera?"

"Daniel." Your face turned almost redder at your boyfriends crude comments as Jess walked towards the two of you.

"Hey man, you need to calm down." Jess extended his arm out to hold Dan away from the two of you, a stern look on his face.

"Oh fuck off Jess. Not my fault she doesn't wanna fuck you!"

"Dan we're going home." You couldn't listen to his words any longer as you walked towards Dan and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards your car once again but Jess called out your name, pulling your head towards him.

"It's fine. He's just drunk."

Jess looked almost scared, he didn't want you to go with Dan but he wasn't sure if he could stop you without a full on fist fight breaking out in the parking lot.

"Just call me when you get home, I'm leaving now too" Jess responded, feeling utterly helpless.

"Oh sure she'll call you. I'll call you instead handsome! How bout that?" Dan sneered after Jess as he stood watching you shove your intoxicated boyfriend in the car, then pulling out of the bar and down the street.

"Why'd you gotta be such an asshole Dan?" You muttered, face as red as a tomato from embarrassment.

"Oh sorry, want me to be nice to your little boyfriend? You know when I started being friends with Jess, I never went near you cause'- cause' you know I always thought you guys were together. Well you may as well fucking be!" Dan was almost yelling, slurring several words and throwing his arms around in the air dramatically.

"Dan you're just drunk, stop talking." Your grip on the wheel tightened as your fists turned a pale white, swallowing back your emotions.

"Stop talking? Where were you today, hmm?"

You bit your lip, trying to concentrate on the road rather than the drunk man berating you in your car.

"I told you already, Jess'. I don't know why this is a problem all of a sudden." Your voice was beginning to break as you spoke, Dan paying no mind to this.

"What so it was just you and Jess 'hanging out' alone? He didn't nail you did he?"

Tears began to roll down your cheeks as the language got crude and mean, like sharp knives cutting into you.

"He's my friend, Dan. He always has been." You mumbled through tears, eyes not tearing away from what was in front of you.

Thats when Dan grabbed your arm, tearing your eyes towards him for a brief moment.

"I don't buy it. He wants to fuck you and you know it. And you wanna fuck him too, don't you?"

You brought your eyes right back to the road to steer your car right to the side, foot slamming on the brake, jolting Dan forward.

"Get the fuck out." You swallowed, refusing to look at your boyfriend.

"So fucking defensive now aren't you?"

"Touch me again and I call the cops, I'm serious."

Dan scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Are you fucking kidding me? C'mon babe."

"Get out of my car."

"We're on the side of the-"

"I said, get out." Your voice was stern and pointed, eyes never leaving to look at him.

"Fuck you." Dan swung the car door open and stepped out, slamming it and yelling obscenities at you as you pulled back on the almost desolate road, set on your course for a certain house.

Tears were falling rapidly as you drove, your hands wiping them away while you tried your best not to start sobbing, your eyes would be too blurry to drive then. It wasn't long before you pulled up to the house, Jess' car already in the front. You contemplated how you were going to get in, definitely not wanting to wake up Ape or Phil or even Bam for that matter if he made it home too. You sat in your car looking up at Jess' window, the thought of throwing stones at it crossing your mind for a brief moment before it dawned on you how easy it would be to scale the wall. You had done it a couple times as a teenager but now it seemed like your only option, almost like a cheesy 80s rom com.

You silently shut your car door and went about hoisting yourself up the rungs of a plant fixture April had set up years prior. Your boots weren't exactly the ideal equipment to wear when climbing up a house but your head was too foggy to care. Eventually you got to Jess' window and thankfully it was a crack open, allowing you to push your fingers underneath it and force it open enough to crawl through it quietly.

You looked over to Jess' bed, his bare back facing you as he slept soundly. He must've only gotten back a few minutes before yet when he drank he was always out like a light. You stood still for a moment, assessing the fact you had essentially broken into your best friend's house and was now about to wake him up with a tear-stained face. Your legs worked before your mind did, bringing yourself forward to sit at the edge of the double, hands shoving him lightly.

"Jess, Jess wake up." You whispered, ignoring the fact your voice was already breaking.

Jess stirred awake, running his hand over his face before turning himself towards you in a daze, calling out your name in confusion.

"What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Your lack of response alarmed Jess as he sat up, turning his lamp on and raising his hand to rest against your arm.

"Did he hurt you?"

You had never heard Jess sound like that before. His voice was laced with all sorts of things, fear, guilt but most of all, anger.

You just shook your head, tears beginning to fall once again. Jess pulled you in to embrace you, your face buried into his neck as you let go, his hand moving up and down your back for comfort.

“What happened?”

You didn’t respond, your tears wetting Jess’ skin. The silence remained for a moment.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it right now.”

You nodded, pulling away and wiping your face.

“Is it okay if I stay here for tonight?” Your voice wavered.

“Of course. Here let me get you something to wear.”

Jess stood up and walked over to his closet, pulling out an old cKy shirt and sweatpants before handing them over to you, standing awkwardly in just his boxers.

“I’ll just-“ He turned his back to you, waiting while you changed.

“How did you get in?”

You bit your lip as you pulled the sweatpants up.

“I uh- I scaled your wall.” You tapped Jess on the back, letting him know he could turn around now.

“You scaled my wall? What like broke in?!” Jess couldn’t help but grin, pulling a laugh from you as he got back into his bed, switching off his lamp.

“I used to do it all the time.” You pulled the sheets back too, settling into Jess and resting your head against his shoulder.

“Yeah you’re not 14 anymore though.”

You smiled, wiping away the last of your tears.

“Sometimes I wish I still was.”

The room was silent again, Jess’ arm pulling you in closer. You thought of being teenagers again, when you had to steal beer and cigarettes from your parents to get drunk in your bedrooms and when passing algebra was the height of your concerns. When did everything get so complicated?

“If he ever hurts you I’ll beat his ass, okay?” Jess whispered, making you smile.

He held you until you fell asleep, and stayed holding you when the sun came up and creeped over your eyes, waking you. You felt content for a moment, feeling Jess' chest rise and fall, his breathing low as his eyes remained closed. You thought you could stay there for eternity, away from your problems and away from Dan. Dan.

"Shit." You pulled the sheets off your body and jumped up, searching around the room for your clothes from the night before.

As you kicked around the laundry on the floor in search, Jess stirred awake, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself to sit up.

"What are you doing it's only 9? You can stay longer can't you?" His voice was low and husky.

"I have to go, he's gonna wonder where I was." You swallowed thickly as you picked up your pants, about to strip off when Jess' voice called out to you with concern.

"Look I don't know what happened last night, but you were really shaken up. Do you think you should see him?"

Your eyes were brought up to Jess', his own filled with worry. You looked at the floor, biting your lip.

"You're right, I'm just gonna go back to mine."

Jess nodded, his shoulders relaxing.

"You can keep the clothes, I don't mind."

You smiled as sweetly as you could, still feeling a lump in your throat but choosing to ignore it as you grabbed whatever you brought and opened Jess' window again.

"Jesus Christ, go out the front door, idiot." Jess fumbled with his sheets, getting out of bed and opening his door.

"Everyone's in work or asleep."

You laughed at his attitude as you headed downstairs.

"They probably saw my car too."

"You think they care if you slept over? You're part of the family already Y/n."

Once you made it to the front door you turned around, smiling at those words. It was true, you had been an honorary Margera long enough.

"That doesn't make us siblings does it?"

Jess laughed, shaking his head.

"Go home."

You smiled as he opened the door for you, walking out and looking back for a moment to see him smiling right back.

Part Two soon...

@gnarkillknoxville @jackussy420 @steve-osahottie osahottie @izzaaaaaa @lovexjoe @stratossphere

[demonfox38]

Completed - Wild Guns Reloaded

What do you mean, you can't use a single screenshot from a video game as both your feminist philosophy and gender identity?

How about two? Would two work?

Man, so many things confuse me about Natsume as a company. Like, its history, for one. Splitting to form two different companies, both of which use Natsume in the name (Natsume Co. vs. Natsumi Atari, which no, is also not the Atari you are thinking of.) Then, of all products for Natsume-associated games to become popular, it's "Harvest Moon." Like. What? Why? I'm not saying the library of Natsume works is the most creative set, but they're all excellent zeitgeist encapsulations. Like, you want hard platforms with ninjas and bullet hell adjacent shooters with snappy music? Man, Natsume has you covered. But apparently, it's the dating/farming sims that the masses are all about. I just don't get it.

Look, man. I live in Iowa. If I wanted to do "Harvest Moon" shit, I would have done it in real life. Ya know. Joined 4-H. Picked rocks on my grandparents' farm. Showed animals at a county fair or two. Get knocked up in high school. Worked in an industrial slaughterhouse for Tyson. The kind of stuff that I have deliberately avoided.

Shooting robots in petticoats ain't something I can get in real life, so that's the game from the Natsume library I'm playin'. Living that sweet South Dakota lifestyle, I guess!

"Wild Guns Reloaded" (not to be confused with "Wild Arms," despite me doing that multiple times) is a 2016 remaster of Natsume’s SNES title "Wild Guns." Set in a vague futuristic depiction of the American West, you are charged with blasting the notorious Kid gang's faces cranially inward through a series of bullet-riddled levels. Do you have the structural integrity of a paper plate? Yes. But you also have access to several gun styles, bombs, electric lassos, grenades, and a drone being led around by a little long-haired dachshund. You'd be surprised what you can do with such an arsenal.

Look man, you're not playing this game for plot. You're doing it for the challenge and the sweet, sweet aesthetics.

Like, God. The original "Wild Guns" was already a stunner with its large, detailed sprite work and bombastic music. "Wild Guns Reloaded" has doubled-down on that, smoothing out its animations while keeping its bright sprites, broadening the play field, remixing its score with higher-fidelity instruments, adding two new stages, and throwing in two new characters with unique playstyles into the mix. And man, what a choice they made there, too! Getting a cute little doggie? Adorable. Getting a gigantic gal with legs like a Ninja Turtle action figure and the ability to pitch grenades in heaps at will? Outstanding!

Could there have been more logical character archetypes to pull? Sure. An Indigenous American, Latino, or Chinese immigrant character could have made sense, if care was taken into their implementation. But, man! I appreciate the stones of a game to toss a second Big Bertha into the mix. I'm not gonna be the bitch to argue against a dog, either. Excellent choices! Very creative! Bark bark bark!

As cool as it is, "Wild Guns Reloaded" is an unyielding steel wall in terms of difficulty. Like, yeah. I'm used to getting my teeth kicked in with certain games, so I wasn't surprised when even the first screen of the first stage was enough to push me back on my first try. What did surprise me is how few people on Steam have been able to drive through that first barrier. We're talking a 46.7% achievement rate for people able to beat the first boss. Next boss? 22.1%. Like, holy crap. Are we as a community that weak willed in spirit?

Having said that, I don't think it's actually very well communicated how to even play this game. Like, yeah, there's a manual. A whole whopping three pages long! But, that doesn't even remotely get into the logic behind the game. Or, hell. Even how to properly shoot.

So, I want to take a good chunk of this evaluation to do just that! Because damn it, this game is too fucking cool to not help other people get into it.

At heart, "Wild Guns Reloaded" is an arcade-style shooting gallery. In some sense, it could even be seen as an extreme variant of Treasure's "Sin and Punishment" series, or perhaps a game akin to "Galaga" or "Gradius." To survive, you need to not only dodge shots, but turn the tables on your enemies, using reflexes and memorization to hold waves back and smack bosses around for daring to try the same trick twice on you.

You have two planes of action to monitor:

The red space is your general field of play (where you are expected to shoot down.) The green space is the area that you occupy. Aiming and walking are tied to the same controls, so you will move around a little bit when you are drawing a shot.

If you are in danger of getting hit, the game will let you know with a little "Look Out!" message.

You can also watch the trajectory of an enemy's fire through this flashing cursor on screen:

Missiles will have a subtle shadow effect on your territory as well, so keep an eye out for them:

Your evasion options are either:

Walk with the control stick/directional keys (not generally advised unless you are playing the dog)

Jump using a dedicated Jump button (gets above obstacles)

Dodge by hitting the Jump button and your directional controls left or right while keeping the Fire button held (keeps your character on the ground; allows for faster recovery)

If the enemy lobs a stick of dynamite at you, you don't necessarily have to run. Stop firing, pick the dynamite up using the Fire button, and toss it back at your foes for a little extra damage! Whatever you decide to do, commit to it ASAP. You do not want to be around with that goes off.

Generally speaking, it's to your benefit to plant your heels in the center of the screen and only move out of it when you are about to take a hit. (If you had a buddy, perhaps you could split the screen. But, good luck with that…) The game tends to punish you for hanging out in the corners of the screen, often deliberately planting sentries at the edges to rebuff you. Camping in the corners also reduces your space to evade, so it's better to keep your options open for evasion by owning the center.

Your offensive options differ depending on the character you play. For the original characters (Clint and Annie), the standard style is:

Hold the Fire button to shoot an uninterrupted stream of bullets

Tap the Fire button repeatedly and release to shoot out an electric lasso that stuns your target (allowing you to return to regular file and blast the crap out of them for a few seconds)

Whack the Fire button when an enemy is in your territory (sending them flying back)

FYI—you should notice a brief change in your character's stance when you can whack an enemy.

Normal:

Whacking:

Doris' play style is based on building up power to unleash barrages of grenades at a target. Unlike Clint and Annie, she's waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike once and as hard as possible. Hold the Fire button to charge up her attack, then release it for her to unleash it. You can charge Doris' grenades up to an x7 multiplier, but most situations can be handled with at least a x3. Also, you can preserve her multiplier through dodges, so prioritize dodging on the ground to jumps where possible.

Bullet's style separates his hit box into two separate entities (the drone and the doggie.) The drone can be activated by pressing the Fire button. It will continuously attack anything that comes into its aiming reticle, but it will have to be released and reset for new targets outside of its range. Bullet can't defend himself, but he can wiggle around much quicker than other characters, so it makes it easy for him to avoid getting hit while his robot buddy provides a steady stream of damage.

You will have to disengage the robot to whack people back on the playing field, so make sure to keep Bullet by his buddy when someone comes creeping along the bottom of the stage. It is important to note that the robot can also be stunned, so you should try to keep it out of enemy fire when possible. It's just not a run ender necessarily if it takes a hit.

All characters have a bomb ability to clear the room when necessary to keep the screen from getting too busy. These are limited, so use them with discretion.

Be sure to pick them up any time you see them on screen! You can usually find them either by killing specific enemies or blowing up chunks of the terrain.

Clint, Annie, and Bullet can get limited-time modifiers for their weaponry. This can include a machine gun for faster damage, a shotgun for a broader range of damage, a grenade launcher for big and heavy damage, a laser gun for some precise spicy damage, and a harmless pop gun designed just to screw with you. All have a limited ammo account (around 50 for everything), so use (or deplete) wisely!

The machine gun, shotgun, grenade launcher, and laser gun will all appear on screen as an icon with a single letter for their ammo type (M, S, G, and L, respectively.) A randomized weapon (including potentially the pop gun!) comes out of these:

Everyone has a green meter on their HUD.

This builds up as they hit and kill enemies. When it maxes out, this triggers the Vulcan Cannon. This weapon not only deals massive damage on hit, but it also makes your character invulnerable. It will run out of steam within a few seconds, so don't be too reliant on that status. But, it can help in a pinch.

Everything past that? It's standard video game stuff, ya know? Memorize waves. Endure a minute or so of gunplay to get to the next boss. Learn their special moves. Find the glowing weak point. Crack it open. Regular Peppy Hare behavior.

Honestly, getting a handle on your offense style and movement capabilities is most of the challenge. The weird little movement ticks were what caught me off guard. I would be studying what few YouTube videos I could pull up for this game, stop, then go "Wait, what? I can do that?" before booting the game up and doing exactly what I saw. Like, I didn't even know how to fire my goddamn gun right. I didn't even think about holding my Fire button! I just went into rapid tapping! That's how far behind I was in all of this!

Having said that, you may want to remap your controller to something like this:

(Buttons pictured correspond to an Xbox 360 controller.)

It'll allow you to keep spraying bullets with the back of your thumb joint, then kick in jumps or dodges as needed with the front of thumb.

As far as other issues go? I would have liked having some kind of screen select or boss rush for practicing. (I suppose just playing the game is practice enough. Still, I would have liked to focus on a few trouble spots at my leisure.) I know some people in the forums for this game on Steam were disappointed that the multiplayer function was local co-op only, but man, I can't imagine what a mess the net code and rollback situation for this kind of game would have been like. Especially, when you live in the middle of Fuckoff, Iowa and the really cool players are out in South Korea. I guess people out here do okay with whatever flavor of "Call of Duty" is available, but those games are also far more forgiving when it comes to injury and death. It's hard to get people recruited for this kind of abuse.

Although, I could see my dad playing this. Maybe just once!

Look, this game isn't for everybody. I get it. It’s a tough cookie. But, I think "Wild Guns Reloaded" deserves more than for half of its players to give up on it within 0.3 seconds of their first death. It's a wonderfully constructed game, and there's a lot of logic underpinning its challenges. It does require some gumption, analytical skills, and reflexes to push past the worst the game throws at you, but it's not insurmountable! Hell, the game gives you infinite continues! You just gotta grit your teeth and get in there!

Hell, I got my first game clear in under four hours of playing! It can be done, and maybe even in a reasonable amount of time! (Though, maybe keep your playing sessions under an hour and a half to give your hands a break.)

If you feel like you could use a waltz with a Winchester, "Wild Guns Reloaded" is currently available on Steam for $14.99. You may want to wait for a sale, if you're feeling iffy on it. Fine. Reasonable. Definitely more so than the average going price of ~$250.00 for the original SNES game. I might be a sucker for the retro market, but damn it. Even I've got to put my foot down every once in a while. Especially, when an affordable upgrade is available!

Life is hard. Sometimes, people just want to work on their cutesy little gardens and snuggle with their video game spouses. Get through the sadness softly. There's room for that in this world. Hell, there should be more room for it, if we're being honest.

But, uh…I prefer having a hearty digital ass-kicking instead. Even when neither the computer nor I know whose ass is going to get kicked.

[boqvistsbabe]

Different Skates: Cale AU - Pt 1

A/N: Hey guys!! Here’s a series I’m starting. I haven’t done an actual series before so hopefully y’all like it. Also as of now I don’t have a title so if you have any ideas lmk!! Also this is going to be set in December/ around Christmas!!

Thanks to my irl friend that peer pressured me I to actually writing and @savoies for helping me figure stuff out 💜💜

Thanks to @typical-simplelove for the name idea!!

Warnings: Some swear words, also uses she/her pronouns. I don’t think there is any in this chapter but it will in the future.

Word Count: 1,627

Also note this is unedited 💀

Next part

////////////////

You hated hockey players. Okay maybe not hate, but strongly disliked them. Except for your brother Charlie, he’s okay. No one else. Actually you take that back, girl hockey players are fine but not the guys. Nope, not gonna happen. Well not gonna happen again. Yeah, bad idea. It’s the same story everyone hears about hockey boys: you knew they were bad news but you could hang with your brother’s teammates because not a chance they’d ever want to date you and vice versa. Until Gabe came along. He was different and nice and not a jerk like the other guys on the team. So you gave him a chance. It was a great few months of cheering for him at games and rituals before said games and date nights that felt like a dream. Then you found out about Sarah. Sarah was his other girlfriend. You met her at an away game that you surprised him at. Almost the whole team knew. Charlie and two of his buddies were the only ones who didn’t. So yeah hockey boys suck.

Flashforward to the present. Cale -the new guy- is next to Charlie, hand out to shake yours. Practice had just gotten over. You were a figure skater so between that and Charlie being on the team, you practically lived at the rink. It also helped that you worked there too. There was a local restaurant inside the rink that you worked at along with being a social media person for the hockey teams that practiced there. Yeah disliking hockey players and being a videographer for them at the same time didn’t make sense, but it paid well. Anyways Cale was essentially the replacement for Gabe. Cause he moved to the team that was located closer to Sarah. Which totally didn’t bother you at all, no matter what your mom may think. Supposedly Cale was a stand up guy and an amazing defenseman. You couldn’t care less, so why Charlie decided to have you both meet didn’t make sense.

“Hellooo? Earth to Y/N?” Charlie was getting impatient, “this is Cale, he’s new to the team.”

“Yeah, heard that the first time when he said it and I remember it from when you were gushing about “the new awesome defenseman that the team is getting” it is legit seven in the morning so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a little unresponsive.” You snarked back.

“Don’t get snappy with me you nerd. Coach wanted you to meet him cause when you media things and whatnot however that stuff works. Also he introduced himself so the proper response is?”

“Yeah yeah whatever. Hi Cale I’m Y/N, I work here at the rink restaurant, I do videography, and I’m a figure skater here. Before you complain like all the others, no I don’t make holes in the ice just to annoy you guys. If I do make a hole in the ice I fill them and if I happen to miss one it’s an accident so don't go complaining to my coach so I get in trouble. It doesn’t work like that here. I’m sure you’re probably a perfectly nice guy and whatever, but I’m not here to be your friend. Sometimes I’ll hang out with you guys, but mostly I’m only around here to do my job. Speaking of my job, if I ask you to do something for content or anything, don't complain. I’m not gonna ask you to do anything crazy so you’ll be fine. Just remember I’m doing my job, not trying to make you miserable. Sorry if that’s a lot for your probably mouse sized brain to comprehend but get used to it. I’ve got to go work, but it was nice to meet you I guess.” You said the last part while putting on your blade guards before walking in the direction of the locker room.

~~~~~||

Cale POV

“Uh she’s intense.” There was no other way he could describe you. Except maybe aggressive, but that seemed a little much.

“Yeah she doesn’t really like hockey players. Don’t take it or anything she says personally, she’s had a bad experience with one guy. The guy you replaced actually.” Gabe responded.

“What do you mean by that? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“He was new and different, pretended to be someone he wasn’t. Cheated on her and the whole team except John, Tyson, and I knew. So yeah she’s not super close with the team anymore. Also as a figure skater getting harassed by hockey players her whole life she wasn’t too fond of us in the first place.”

“Ahh okay. That sucks a lot.”

“Yeah, she’s over the whole cheater thing but she definitely agrees with the douchebag stereotype for us. Anyways we gotta get to practice.

“Yeah.” Cale’s mind was on anything but practice. He wanted to be your friend. He agrees with the stereotype most of the time. There’s only a few exceptions obviously. But he thinks you and him could be great friends if you give him a chance.

~~~~~~~~~

Your POV

It had been a week since you first met Cale. There have been a few interactions since then because of introductions on the socials for him, but other than that no more conversations. You were glad he seemed to have respected your boundaries, that was much appreciated.

You had just gotten done with your shift at the restaurant and it was nine o’clock. The day started with a six o’clock practice then some editing while eating breakfast, then some practice pictures of the guys and a few TikToks of the guys, ending with a seven hour shift at the restaurant. Walking out of the break room, you grabbed your duffel and fished your car keys out of the outside pocket.

The stars were really out tonight. That was one of the perks of where the rink was located. On the edge of town and away from all the bright, crazy lights. Perfect for stargazing. Unlocking your car, you threw your bag in the seat next to you before putting the key in the ignition and turning it. And nothing. Not even a little sputter. Of fucking course. You dropped your head to the steering wheel. Charlie was in the next town over with your parents helping your grandparents pack to move. None of them could come get you. Shit shit shit. Today of all days. Of course on the day you had been running all day and just wanted to relax before having to study and edit all of the next day. You popped the hood and got out of the car. After checking the oil and transmission fluid and finding nothing wrong there you were racking your brain for what it was this time. This car was a hand me down and had issues in the past, but you had just got it back from the shop. You were pissed. The shop you went to was a new one because the one you usually went to moved. The new shop was definitely getting a call in the morning. Closing the hood and wiping your hands on your leggings you turned to get back in your car when you saw Cale.

“Hey, uh I don’t mean to bother you but it looks like you’re having some car trouble, do you have anyone you can call? I can wait with you while you do. It’s late and it would feel wrong to leave you here without knowing you can make it home.” He said.

“Yeah I don’t have anyone to call, my family is in the next town over and all my friends don’t have cars so I don’t really have anyone to call. I figured I would walk home and get it towed in the morning, I don’t live that far.” You shrugged, not like you haven’t walked home by yourself before. Not the safest thing but you gotta do what you gotta do.

“I could give you a ride. Home I mean,” you could’ve sworn you saw the redness on his face, “I haven’t lived here long but I assume it’s like everywhere else in the world, not the safest place for anyone, especially a girl to walk alone, especially at night. Also that came out super high handed so I apologize. But please let me take you home.”

You thought about it. The pros outweigh the cons here. It had been a long day and you were tired, plus he wasn’t wrong about the fact that it wasn’t safe, “Yeah that would be great thanks. Let me just grab my stuff.”

He nodded and you got your stuff before locking the car. While following him to his car you texted Charlie, he’d answer before your parents, and let him know what was going on.

“Uh this is my truck.” Cale stood there awkwardly while he waited for you to look up.

“Okay, I was just letting Charlie know what happened. Thanks again.”

“Yeah of course not an issue.” He nodded before opening your door before walking over to his side and hopping in.

The ride was in silence except for the radio playing softly in the background and you occasionally giving home directions.

“Sooo why were you at the rink so late?” You were over the silence, plus the less noise the more likely of you falling asleep which is the last thing you want.

“I was working on some drills. They do stuff a little differently from my last team so I’m just trying to get comfortable with it.”

“Fair enough. Are you liking it here? Also turn right at Walnut.”

He turned before he responded, “Yeah, I like the way stuff is run here. A lot more strict than my old team, but more efficient and with better results. The guys aren’t too bad, but I mostly hang with your brother and John and Tyson. Everyone else is kind of douchey. That was rude of me to say, please ignore that.”

“It’s the house all the way at the end on the left. And no you’re totally right. They’re assholes. What team did you come from?”

“I came from the Bulldogs a few towns over.” He responded as he pulled into the driveway.

“Ahh cool. Alright this is me. Thanks again for the ride. You’re not half bad. Don’t make me regret saying that and don’t let it get to your head. See you at Monday practice.”

“Night Y/N.” He called out his window as you walked away.

He didn’t leave until you shut the door behind you. What you said wasn’t a lie, he wasn’t like the other guys. Though you’ve been there before. He’d be a great friend though. Heading upstairs to get ready for bed you texted Charlie and asked him for Cale’s number to thank him before you passed out.

Thanks for the millionth time lol - Y/N

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Pt 2

Thanks for reading this! I hope you liked it, I haven’t ever done a series so hopefully this goes okay.

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