#IMAGINE NOT BEING ABLE TO DO ANYTHING I WOULD'VE DIED

[beanghostprincess]

The emotional turmoil and torture Sanji and Luffy made Nami go through in WCI is something so fucked up. She's better than me because I would've punched these two idiots so damn hard they wouldn't have been able to go to any fucking wedding.

[u3pxx]

my comic for @aabadendingzine which is out for free over here.

extra stuff/commentary under the cut | like what i do? support me on ko-fi 💙

helloooo how's it going? i really hope you enjoyed the comic <3 it's rare for me to draw such wholesome things, i know [bats eyelashes]

DFGHDJKF ok i know, it's evil, the entire zine is evil you should go read it!!!!!!! but also, i remember coming up with this prompt and the image of mikeko trying to wake a dead apollo up evoked such a visceral reaction in me that i audibly went "NOOOOOO" when i thought it up LOL

the fourth page is the first page i ever thumbnailed bc i knew EXACTLY how i wanted this thing to end!

i think my favorite page of this comic is the 2nd page (the 4th page being my second favorite bc what can i say, i'm evil wheezes) i just really enjoyed drawing the montage of apollo going about his life and kristoph just. being there. always watching him.

i keep thinking about how spark brushel mentioned feeling like he was being watched those past 7 years. i imagined apollo would get a taste of that once he starts trying to find out the truth behind what happened in his first case.

and as for my favorite panel, I REALLY LIKE THIS ONE!! it's just fun shoving every important element alluding to the case 7 years ago to the moment when zak died!

and it's not very obvious but an element i really like about this one is zak still on the chair he died on. it's just his torso visible and i would've loved to make it more obvious that he's there but oh well.

i can't think of anything else to add about drawing this so i'll end it by saying: PLEASE GO READ THE ZINE, IT'S SO SOS SOSOSOS FULL OF LOVE FOR HURT AND TRAGEDY AND THE WAY MY FELLOW ZINEMATES EXPLORED THAT IS SUCH!!! GOOD AND HEARTWRENCHING STUFF!!!!!!!!!

i had to take a break from reading the zine when i went out to finish it bc my chest started to physically hurt bc ohhhhh lordy, it just hurt. it just hurt a lot! (please do read the trigger warnings before reading the thing bc this zine deals with a lot of heavy stuff!)

i like to joke about how i'm evil and enjoy evil things such as angst no comfort which. well, it's kind of true LMAO so i'm thrilled that i was able to be a part of this zine and cook up something completely terrible <3

here's the link for it again, go read it!

[evilkitten3]

ok so like i know the reason is just. sexism but one thing that really irks me about how the post-timeskip naruto manga handled which characters became medic nin bc it makes absolutely no sense to me

sakura's decision to train under tsunade makes sense, and i love that she got a super strength power up, so no notes there, but the other teams.... yeesh

so first off, team ten. we're told that ino decided to follow sakura into mednin land to keep being rivals with her... despite that at no point factoring into their rivalry at all beforehand. ino never showed any interest in that, nor was the yamanaka clan ever mentioned to have anything to do with healing as far as i can remember. it's like going to art school to stay with your bestie when your goal is to become a dentist. why are you there. find other ways to spend time together. it also kinda goes against her family's whole thing as. the guys who do the torture stuff. and it's barely ever relevant anyway

for team ten, i think the team medic should've been shikamaru, and i think this not just bc i think it makes more sense skill-wise (something about the way the nara clan's various shadow jutsu work just screams "you need good chakra control for this" to me), but also bc i think it would make asuma's death a thousand times more painful. bc shikamaru is a slacker. he's not learning medical ninjutsu bc he wants to, he's learning it bc someone on the team has to in order to stick together. they're all chuunin now; one of them has to be a medic. them's the rules. but he doesn't really care that much, even when he is trying to learn, and he's so used to being smart enough to not have to pay attention in lessons anyway that he's not prepared for classes that require his full focus. and then asuma dies and shikamaru is doomed to spend the rest of his fucking life wondering if he could've saved him by paying just a little more attention to those medical ninjutsu lessons (he could not have (but he'll never know for sure))

team eight makes some sense, since giving the girl who struggles with fighting the healing job isn't exactly out of nowhere, but i do feel it was the lazy choice. kiba already had a sister involved in the medical business, even if she deals more with animals, so he could've started learning from her and found that he liked it. plus kiba's goal is to be hokage, and the current hokage is a mednin, so it's not like it wouldn't support his goal. or shino could do it; would add another layer to his character. hinata works fine but. it's just not a very interesting development imo

but what really gets me is team gai. good freaking grief. out of every single team, team gai was the one with the most obvious choice. bc there was only one choice. lee can't do any kind of ninjutsu, and tenten's only real backstory is that her chakra control isn't good enough for her to be a medic nin. so it had to be neji. canon establishes that every team has to have a medic; this is a policy tsunade got passed even before she became hokage, so no way in hell is she going back on it now.

moreover, neji becoming a medical ninja - especially if hiashi encouraged it - would show some development for the hyuuga clan maybe starting to suck a bit less. bc as a medic, neji would be bound by oath to stay alive for as long as possible. imagine a world in which hizashi came back and hiashi was able to tell his brother that not only was their family starting to change, but his son had chosen a path that would prevent him from ever following in his father's footsteps. it would be the first step (of many) to show that the hyuuga clan was freeing itself from its own bullshit.

also it would've made sakura catching the zetsu pretending to be neji a thousand times funnier. like that's her coworker. they've shared shifts at the hospital together. she's seen neji drink vodka straight from a bottle and then crash on her couch after they got out of a twelve-hour surgery on the fucking dumbass chuunin who managed to step on his own boobytrap. she knows him.

[zeondraws]

Ok, Fellas, so today was wild

I'm at Gamescom atm and a week before this I tried to make a small plan for myself. Mostly because I had gotten such a big interest for the game, I wanted to see if I can meet anyone at the event.

After having had a big hurdle while trying to reenter the business area, I was able to go back and meet someone from the Chinese Room (I met two today). Which was wild for me, didn't think with this sudden interest in the game that I was able to meet someone from the team who worked on the game so soon.

I told them how I struggle to find interests in most games since those usually don't speak to me, but Still Wakes The Deep suddenly caught my attention. Where I ended up researching a bunch to find hidden details or eastereggs, looking through the game files and replaying the game to further understand the story.

I only had a small window to ask a bunch of questions, I sadly couldn't ask silly questions like "Does Muir look like a Bagpipe?" or ask some Questions about Caz.

Before the meeting I asked people on the discord server if they wanted to know anything. So I tried to take the questions I had for the moment and get through them XD

I did tell them how there is a small community on tumblr/discord where we gather. And that I asked some folk for questions I should ask.

Ok these are big spoilers, at least some suprised me, quite a bunch if them are of course about Muir and Innes.

I hope I remember everything properly that he told me, I immediately wrote everything down on discord for the others to read, but figured making a tumblr post will be good as well.

Innes:

Quite a lot of people asked about the VA of Innes, apparently they forgot to include him in the credits which made them feel extremely bad, even apologising to them. I can definitely understand how that must feel, I think I'd melt away. They'd fix it in the next patch, I can't check if it's already fixed atm.

At the very end of our chat, while shaking hands, I asked if Innes is bald. And the answer was "*laughs* yes".

Now I clearly asked this one as a joke, because I found it funny to tell the others on discord, however I very much support luscious hair Innes that many are drawing.

Muir:

I explained to them how I've been researching some stuff in the game. And figured out, that Muir must've died around the time when Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon in Marine Control. So I asked if that's possible to be the time when it actually happend- and they did confirm this! I was surprised that I got that on point.

But I got some further details about this, apparently they wanted to showcase how Muir would've died there.

Basically, once Caz flooded the Forward Pontoon, you would've seen Muir outside loosing his grip out in the deck and getting crushed under debris.

Which was so painful for me to imagine, to see Muir outside, walking on his tendrils and suddenly not being able to keep his balance.

I tried illustrating how I roughly imagine this scene, it ain't perfect, but maybe it helps everyone to visualise it.

The Flooding shifted the entire rig and debris fell onto him.

To have some sense where everything is, Accommodation Roof (where you find Roy) is on the left side, if you look at the rig from the Derrick entrance. And Marine Control should be on the right side.

The thing is Marine Control is facing the ocean (if I remember correctly, I hope I do, I'm currently not home to check), so you couldn't take a look at the derick while Caz does the thing. Which basically made them remove this and hid Muir nearby the Derrick for players to find. And I told him how I replayed the game and saw Muir lay there with Innes, it was 6AM and I just sat there like O-O

Muir & Innes:

A burning question for many was, what their relationship is. And they told me it's more like a father son relationship, saying how Innes is very strict to Muir.

Muir is the younger one of the two and also likes to tease Innes a bunch (so the pipe thing is one of his many shenanigans he'd do)

Here we see a wild Muir in his natural habitat about to prank his friend (caught in 4k) (I almost died) (look at him plotting).

Now, I could not forget to mention that the fandom decided to ship Muir and Innes and wanted to see their reaction. They took it with a smile and just talked about their complex relationship again. Which I found cool to hear.

I sadly don't remember every small detail of the convo, since I wanted to make sure that I was able to ask all the questions people wrote on discord.

Brodie & Raffs:

This was a surprise to hear, which also made me very sad. Brodie was also like a father for Raffs, he knew his mother too.

And apparently Brodie was supposed to tell Raffs mother incase anything happened to him. So that she can feel better knowing Raffs died quickly and without much pain. Which is just... I'm in shambles. sobbing

Gibbo:

Some folk wanted to know if he had an actual model, to which the person answered with yes. They planned to show him at some point, but decided that the player should see Trots firstly.

I also randomly asked if the Gibbo model ingame was a part of Addairs model (judging by the game files), if I remember correctly he nodded.

I hope we get to see it in the artbook, I preordered it but forgor to tell him that. But it's okay.

I sadly don't remember everything here, I had to check discord for the questions (I hope I don't say anything wrong), but with Gibbo they focused more on the sound design and the mystery. And I think in the end it worked out perfectly.

Other:

They implanted a bunch of eastern eggs into the game, the art director even said he's still finding new ones to this day.

He mentioned the pictures shown in various areas and mentioned that he inserted pictures of his family and cousins etc.

Also the Kid inside the TV in the Crew Lounge? That's the Art Director as a kid! Whaaaaaaaa- Didn't know this one for sure.

And another random thing, I showed him the meme that @cazrig made. Because I inserted it inside my piece of fanart. I sadly couldn't show him more memes of the community because I forgor/no time. The memes Robin made are also comedy gold.

It was this one (I keep dying of laughter)

He found it very funny, so did the other person I showed it to.

But he also talked about how worried he was how the game would be perceived in the end. Since it came out extremely close to the release date of the new Elden Ring DLC. And having worked on it for so long they didn't know how the reactions would be.

But were positively surprised how well it was perceived, people playing the game, tears being shed and so on.

Okay that took me ages to write, I just wanted to have it all inside a tumblr post. Otherwise I may forget stuff if it's scattered on discord.

The event day turned out well for me today. I was so worried, that my tiny plan wouldn't work yesterday. But somehow I had some luck on my side.

After I got home I added his signature to my physical copy. I also made myself a small card with my artwork for it. I also gave them a small card and a big printed version of the fanart as well.

Thank you John!

I go sleep now, tomorrow is another gamescom day

[imsatu]

my fav hc about the ghouls is that they were alive and then died, to then get summoned as ghouls, so here's what i imagine they were like as humans

im just going to quickly go over some of them, but i can do the others, and i'll probably go deeper in each story later too.

CW for death mentions, also the way i imagine them is not tied to the unmasked musicians in any way. these are not definitive or anything, just based on vibes

first, i think all ghouls did something related to music when they were alive, especially something related to their instruments, and that's why they got chosen also, they forget who they were when they were alive, but they can remember, like recovering from amnesia and getting your memories back

I'll start with phantom and aurora

phantom: he is the youngest ghoul in every sense, he is the last that was summoned, the youngest at his human death, and the one that spent the least time in the pit

he was a twenty something year old guy that lived in the 80's and was born somewhere in the middle of the usa in a conservative and strictly christian home. he lived his teen years feeling like an outcast, but, after learning about the rising of rock and metal music and the alternative communities in the big cities, he ran away from home to live his dream, which was of course to become a rockstar. he didn't last too long, as he died shortly after meeting a group of sketchy people and disappearing, his cause of death is still unknown

one day, searching youtube for something to fall asleep to, he stumbled on a video of his own cold case that is still open to this day

aurora: she lived during the last quarter of the 1700s in france, (the french revolution). she was born a duchess in the middle of luxury and refined fashion and arts, her favorite of course being the big, fluffy dresses and the music.

she was an extremely gifted singer and loved to perform, but due to her social status, she never got to properly enjoy as she would've wanted. she admired the entertainers at the balls, who were able to express their arts and talent, and when she started planning her escape to go and live free, her family fell prisoner during the revolution, and the rest is history

her room is decorated in a very ornate way, with hundreds of bows and ruffles, golden pillars and a small chandelier she diy'ed, and mountain gifts her fresh flowers often so she can keep them in there, even though she has no idea about her previous life, and is not interested in it

[roseworth]

Any thoughts on Bart and Rose?

MANY

they make me so goddamn emotional. first of all bart being genuinely interested in being friends with her in a period of her life where she felt like no one really wanted her around.. like the titans kinda had to look after her and the older titans saw her as an unstable child that had to be taken care of (which is correct. but she didnt like that). but BART just looked at her and thought she was cool and wanted to hang out with her <3

and him saying "its not like that" is sooo sweet bc he really just wanted to be friends with her 😭 ge*ff made their relationship sorta romantic but its so sweet that he saw her and said "idk how i feel about her but i just know i want to hang out with her <3"

also my fav thing ever is that he sees her screaming at donna and crying and goes "this is the perfect time to make my move 😎" its so fucking funny because then the NEXT time he sees her he does the exact same thing. she watched her foster parents get murdered in front of her and bart goes "hey rose! its me your friend!" ily bart. but he just keeps running into her at the absolute lowest points in her life and trying to be friends. like baby shes about to kill herself this is not the time to hang out...

and then. GOD. HELLO. tt03 #12 makes me lose my fucking mind btw

sobbing because hes the ONLY PERSON that ever reached out to her during this era. hes the only person that recognized there was something wrong and tried to help her. he knew her!!! he thought she was lying to slade because he couldnt believe she would do that. GOD.

it drives me insane that so many people who shouldve done something to help her just. didnt. but i understand that sometimes the story has to happen and they couldnt do it. thats FINE its FINE

ooouuuuggaaagahguhhohuguhhoyhuguhhughggaghahhguhhuogouhghhggagghhguhuahgguhhohooouuauauhghggaagahhuhguhooouguhaggahghgh. im fine.

"rose was there. trying not to be like her dad. trying to be something else." ACK. OUCH. ok im fine.

then. titans of tomorrow 🤮

scraps of what could've been....... i assume geoff had an arc in mind where the titans take rose back (they were at least kinda hinting at it in some of the stories) and i so badly want to know what would've happened. i like the renegade arc but i wish we got a story with the titans taking her back :((( i dont trust jeff geohns with anything but... in my imagination it would've been a great story with bart coming to get her and convincing her to leave her dad

and im still refusing to acknowledge the rest of the titans of tomorrow arc because that story is so goddamn stupid and boring. but theyre married or something in it idk

BUT. BUT BUT BUT. heres where i get insane

because ouuughhhh they could be besties but they just. keep missing each other. right person wrong time but platonically because oughhhh they first met when rose's life was just completely destroyed. then they meet again when rose's life was destroyed AGAIN. then!!!!!!!! when rose meets the team its right after bart leaves and later dies

throwing up and crying bc after rose dies we get so much of rose's favorite trauma response of suppressing it and pretending she doesnt care then trying to fuck someone

someone that she considered a friend but hadnt been able to talk to in years dies and she says "LOL that funeral is so boring! haha bart meant nothing to me. im fine. stop talking about feelings and lets skinny dip right now. bart who" go off queen <3 she does not want to let herself feel any emotion so she represses it as hard as she can forever

(btw. i have complicated feelings about this bc as much as its in character for her to repress all her feelings with sexualizing herself,,,, ew. idk if this is johns or mckeever but its one of their faults and i know it because despite defining all the important aspects of her character theyre both so gross about her sometimes. men 👎 but thats a completely different rant)

ARRHCHHGGHFAHN.... THEN. titans of tomorrow (🤮) again

bart spent this entire story saying she was awful and trying to murder her (they divorced i guess. stupid ass storyline i dont care) shes still sad to lose him again. this is literally the only time she lets herself mourn him and its right after hes been trying to kill her. there is so much wrong with her <3 <3 <3

also as i was looking for that panel i saw this one and i think its so silly:

thats my girl!!! take no responsibility for anything ever and always find someone else to blame for your actions 💞 and bonus points for hating men !

anyways. then later the krul run happens and theyre both vaguely out of character but they FINALLY get to be friends again!!!!!! theyre buddies!!!!!!!!!!!! theyre hanging out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

besties bullying a 12 year old together <3

also one of my favs because i know its supposed to be "haha barts being creepy to her XD isnt that so funny" but inside my head this moment is just bart getting so excited about being on a team with rose again that he refuses to let her miss any of the action. he grabs her hand and gets her into her costume and doesnt think anything of it because hes just so happy that he gets to hang out with his buddy <3 that wasnt the writers intention. but it is to me

if youre willing to exaggerate. they r so besties here. they are taking every opportunity to hang out because they finally get to be buddies :') we still get to see bart just genuinely liking her and once again he just thinks shes cool and wants to hang out with her <3333 theyre so much fun

and i cant keep looking for screenshots because reading the end of this book bums me out since the new52 happened and they couldnt finish any of the arcs they had planned. lili worth i miss you every day

anyways yeah to answer your question. i love bart & rose 👍 the way hes one of the only people that just. likes her. hes the first person (ish) that reaches out to her after her mom died when she was at a very low point in her life and he continues to just enjoy her company and like her as a person which doesnt happen a lot <///3 there are so few people that like her and want to spend time with her and just genuinely think shes a good person but bart always does!!!!! barring t*tans *f t*morrow bart always likes her and always thinks highly of her when no ones else does 💞💞💞 theyre so sweet and i want them to interact again

[intimacyequalsdeath]

Bubz's Slasher Fictober Day 6: Nubbins Sawyer x Reader (Or the hitchhiker for all you TCM players) (Apple Cider)

Day 6 is here! and the first week is coming to a close for Fictober. I hope you've all been enjoying this event so far and thank you for all the support for my first tumblr fic event! <3

Notes: Minors Dni, No use of pronouns, No smut in Fictober (yet wink wink). Gender Neutral reader with nothing described in detail.

"Nubbins boy goddamn you!" Drayton's yell echoed through the house, you winced and buried yourself further into the blankets on the bed you shared with the middle sawyer brother. He had sent you up hear when Drayton and Bubba had returned home so you wouldn't be subjected to the venom that was about to spew from Drayton's mouth.

A hitchhiker pick up, something that Nubbins had been doing for years even before you came into the picture, had went completely wrong. The group of 3 college kids were much smarter then they looked and it ended with Nubbins nearly getting shot had Drayton not noticed how late the two of you were and sent Bubba out to check.

By the time Bubba reached you guys the man driving was angrily waving his weapon at you and Nubbins and yelling about what freaks the two of you were. The man had almost turned the gun on Bubba when Nubbins took him out.

The other two kids ran into the neighboring field but Drayton was already on his way to go chase them down with Bubba while you and Nubbins were sent an angry glare and told to get on home.

Nubbins sent you and apologetic glance before the two of you began to walk.

"D-do you think H-He's gonna be mad?" Nubbins asked you after a minute, You grimaced but answered truthfully.

"I'd reckon Drayton's already mad nubs"

Truthfully the two of you had fucked up big time, You couldn't imagine what would've happened if that guy had shot Nubbins. Drayton however had a way with words and could be particularly nasty when it came to his chili "Ingredients" being messed with, never mind his little brother almost dying to get them for him.

"What the hell were you thinkin'? You coulda died! Not to mention what would've happened had those kids got away and got help" You didn't like how Drayton would dress Nubbins down but if you wanted to keep your place in the family you'd stay out of the eldest Sawyer brothers way. Plus god forbid you did and Drayton said something particularly out of line to you it would cause an even bigger issue with Nubbins.

Nubbins must've made the smart choice to stay quiet and let Drayton's verbal lashings wash over him. One of the unspoken rules of the sawyer household was that you didn't argue with Drayton. Not that anything bad would happen per say but the eldest Sawyer could be so stubborn and set in his ways.

You hadn't noticed Nubbins enter your shared room till you heard the door close behind him. You sat up in bed against the headboard and looked at your boyfriend, your heart broke when you made eye contact.

Sadness etched across his face, the worst part was no matter how mean Drayton got Nubbins hated disappointing his older brother, he would never admit it out loud but he looked up to Drayton and one day hoped he would be the head of the family and match his brother is being able to take care of them. Even though that title would most likely fall to his only a few minutes older twin brother Bobby if he ever returned from Vietnam that was.

"Nubs" You said softly holding out your arms for any comfort you could offer him. He fell into your arms as soon as they opened and buried his face into your chest. You pulled the blanket around the two of you and you rubbed a hand down his back and felt him slightly untense himself.

"D-Drayton c-c-can be so mean sometimes!" He choked out trying to hold himself together, you smoothed his hair out of his face and nodded.

"I know he can baby" Nubbins then pulled a face you hadn't really seen before, it was as if he was fighting some internal battle at that moment so you decided to poke a little.

"You wanna be mad at him, but he's your brother and you love him? is that what it is?" You asked softly, He pondered a moment before nodding.

"Y-yeah, But h-he's so stubborn sometimes! I-i wish he was nicer" You nodded in agreement.

"I understand that nubs, and even though I do think Dray could be nicer you have to understand ever since Bobby got drafted his life hasn't been the best either"

Everyone in the Sawyer household took a hit when Robert had gotten drafted, especially Nubbins. With his twin brother he had never been separated from across the world fighting in a war Nubbins didn't have a clue what to do with himself.

He tried to throw himself into small projects and hitchhiking to bring in people, but you could still tell something was off.

"B-but w-we all m-miss Bobby" Nubbins said "N-not just him" You decided to use this to try and get some peace restored.

"What would Bobby say if he knew the two of you were at each others throats?" You felt Nubbins slightly tense at this.

"Bobby would be so disappointed if he knew you guys were fighting nearly every day since he left. I'm not asking every day to be perfect but I want you to try and get along with Drayton, If not for me do it for Bobby" You concluded, using your hand to bring him to make eye contact with you.

Nubbins smiled a bit before nodding eagerly.

"D-do it for Bobby" He said with a victorious smile before pressing his lips to yours.

As long as the Sawyer men were able to survive each other till Bobby returned, Then you'd consider it a win.

[misc-obeyme]

Where do you think Mc is going to go if they died..? Heaven? or Hell?

Personally, i think Mc is going to roam Earth for all for eternity as a wandering Ghost/Soul, neither going to Heaven nor Hell. Basically, it's just like Jack O’Lantern.

This is a really interesting question, anon.

The game implies that heaven and hell are separate from the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, so if we assume that's the case then in the end MC would be alone no matter where they went.

Since the demons and others can't follow them. However, if it's like you suggest and they wander earth for all eternity, then that's almost less lonely. Because now I'm having visions of Solomon, returned to the human world after MC has died, and randomly finding their wandering ghost just to talk to them. It's both heartbreaking and special - he's probably the only one who can find them.

I personally don't think MC will ever die. And not just because they don't even bother to bring that up in the game. But because if you think about all the power and magic that MC has now, it seems unlikely that they wouldn't be fundamentally altered (though still human).

I wouldn't attribute that to the pacts, since that would've been more than enough to make Solomon immortal. But I think it's more about the whole "ring" situation from season two of OG. It's like by connecting the three worlds the way MC does, they manifest the power of all three worlds within them and connect them. It's so powerful that things start to go haywire. I can't imagine that MC would be able to hold all that magic without it changing them.

It's just a personal headcanon, of course. There's no reason to believe that anything has happened to MC on a physical level. It just makes the most sense to me.

That being said, I also really like the idea that MC could potentially become an angel or a demon in their afterlife. If MC died and went to hell and became a demon, then they'd be with the demons forever, right? Similarly, MC could die and become an angel, then either choose to stay in the CR or fall on purpose just to return to the Devildom. That feels like such an angsty scenario. Imagine the brothers reacting to either of those situations... oof!

But I like your lonely MC wandering earth as a ghost theory, too.

[likedovesinthewindd]

fulfillment; part thirteen of sore loser ⋆ masterlist

summary: you meet an old friend | content/warning: alcohol consumption, language, mentions of surgery and scarring, both patrick and reader being mean.

⊹ ˚. August 2016

You didn't like going out alone, but you also didn't want to drag your friends along with you just to spoil the mood the entire night. You also weren't keen on staying at home and moping around, so you met somewhere in the middel, which was why you where now moping around in a bar, alone, and regretting ever coming out. Your drink had warmed to room temperature, leaving a ring of water on the wooden bartop from the condensation, fairly untouched as you played with the straw every now and then.

You looked around the busy bar, much more crowded than usual and buzzing with activity. Everyone was in pairs or groups; a group of thirty-somethings hogging the pool table, a group of college girls celebrating a birthday, a couple enjoying a nightcap nestled in a corner booth. No one was alone, which just intensified the feeling of loneliness.

Besides, it was getting cold, the bar was getting too loud, the bartenders pitiful looks were more embarrassing than comforting and the idea of your bed was suddenly much more inviting, so you quietly started to gather your things, ready to call it a night. You had just left a generous tip next to your watered-down drink and had one arm slung into your jacket when you saw him.

You had to do a double take to make sure you weren't seeing things, and judging by the way his mouth hung slightly ajar when he spotted you told you that he had the same thoughts as you. You quickly shoved your other arm into it's sleeve as he made his way over to you. When he was infront of you, the two of you didn't say anything for a few moments, just taking each other in as you watched that all too familiar smirk appear on his face.

"Patrick Zweig," you said, a statement more than a question as you watched the way that stupid smirk widened, cheeks balling up. "In the flesh," he joked, now giving you a full smile that you couldn't help but return.

Despite priorlry being on your way to leave, the two of you were now sitting in the busy bar, deep in conversation, him unhurriedly sipping at his beer as you indulged in another drink.

"So, what are you up to these days?" he asked as he raised the bottle to his mouth. "I'm a teacher," you said, once again playing around with your drink's straw. "What?" he asked with a light laugh and you smiled at his shocked expression. "What?" you asked. He shrugged. "I would've never guessed you'd become a teacher," he said. "Why not?" you asked and he gave you another shrug. "I dunno, you don't seem nice enough." That had you actually laughing. "I'm actually very nice. I'm sorry if you didn't get to experience that often," you said, and he hummed, taking another sip of his beer.

"What about you?" you asked, "you still playing?" He nodded from behind the bottle before placing it back onto the bartop. "Yeah, I am," he said softly, and you hummed. "How come I never see you on TV then?" you asked. His mouth pursed slightly, a breathy laugh escaping his mouth before he answered. "I'm getting there," was all he said, and you nodded in understanding.

"Do you still play?" he asked after a moment. "No, I never really went back after my surgery and stuff," you said, watching as his eyes quickly shifted to your righthand that was still playing with your straw. If you flipped your hand over, he would've been able to see the small scar left behind. "But, uh, I do give tennis lessons to the little kids. If that counts for anything," you added with a small laugh. Patrick laughed too, still slightly unable of imagining you of all people in an environment like that.

There was a very short pause between you after your laughter died down before Patrick was speaking up again.

"Are you happy?" he asked softly. "What?" you asked. "Are you happy?" he repeated, "with the way your life has turned out?" Just like that, he had managed to rub you the wrong way, and you crossed your arms defensively, already trying to create a barrier between the two of you. "Yes, I am happy. I have everything I'd want," you quipped. "Except one thing," he countered swiftly, and you frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

He bit the inside of his cheek in thought before he answered. "Lemme ask you this," he started, "Do you feel fulfilled with your life right now?"

"Where are you going with this?" you asked as you uncrossed your arms and placed your hands on your upper thighs. "Tennis was your everything back then. Your whole life revolved around it, and then you lost it all just like that," he snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. "I know there's a part of that misses it."

"Again, I ask, where are you going with this?" you asked in genuine confusion as you ignored his statement. "I want you to help me," he says. "Help? With what?"

"I want you to help me play better," he said softly, moving closer to gawk your reactions. The confused look didn't leave your face as you tried to make sense of his request. "Patrick, I haven't played professionally in over ten years," you said and he shrugged. "That doesn't matter," he reasoned, "I don't want you to play. I just want you to help me."

"I still don't understand," you said, "Your family's swimming in money. Surely you could've gotten a coach or personal trainer or whatever by now." He pursed his lips with a slight frown at the mention of his family. "But I don't want that," he said, "I want you. You're the only person I know who could get me where I want to be."

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise at his words. You would never admit it, but it felt nice knowing someone still held you in such high regard. "Cmon," Patrick interrupted your train of thought as he spoke your name softly. "I know you," he continued, "I know you don't wanna spend your time running after a bunch of snot nosed kids. Tennis was always going to be it for you."

"You don't know me actually," you said sternly, "I'm definitely not the same person I was in college." "Clearly not," Patrick said under his breath as you continued. "And at least I'm not spending my days as some washout reminiscing on the good old days."

You watched the way Patrick's face faltered, for a moment thinking you might have taken it too far before a smile once again broke out on his face, followed by a dry laugh. He nodded as he took another sip of his beer. "I missed you, y'know," he said as he placed his bottle back down. You were just about to give him another piece of your mind before you were interrupted by the loud bellowing coming from the overhead television, turned louder by one of the people apparently very interested in whatever was playing.

...today as he defended his title as the men's singles champion and once again walked away notorious. Of course, nothing less could be expected from Art Donaldson...

You watched as Art held the shiny gold medal in his hand as it hung around his neck, a ocean of flashes capturing the moment he stood up on the pedestal before the volume was once again lowered after some of the patrons started complaining.

You looked over at Patrick, his eyes still glued to the TV before they met yours. "Yknow, he was really sad when you left," he said as his eyes once again returned to the screen. You only hummed softly. "Do you still want me to help you?" you asked. This made his gaze return to yours, before that same smirk was stretching across his face once again.

[peaterookie]

More Info abt Merman Lupin AU

I'm not posting anything for day 5 of lupin week (prepping for next drawings + i have no idea what to draw for it) so i'll post some extra stuff about my au!

Character Sheet:

before, i didn't really have a specific species of shark to model him off of, so i did like a 3 minute research on google and landed on the carribean reef shark! it's mainly cuz they're one of the friendliest sharks.

yeah, merman lupin's a bit of a cutie in this au. mostly cuz he does not know any life of crime. he doesn't have a reason to hurt anybody. don't imagine him as some sort of 'innocent cinnamon roll' though. he's still lupin after all.

the gun shot wound is there because of his interaction with zenigata as mentioned before in my prev thread.

like the og lupin, he really doesn't understand when to stop getting into dangerous situations. he only sees humans as funny creatures to watch. sometimes, he even tries to scare people by putting on makeup and covering himself up with bones and kelp. he's built up a reputation for himself as some sort of sea monster around the east coast of japan because of his tomfoolery.

other than messing with humans, his other hobby is collecting cool shiny stuff and racking up a huge collection that he keeps all in a cave somewhere in the pacific. he doesn't just collect jewels, but other human nitnacks from machines to forks. he even knows how to use them! he's a smart fella

---

that's most of what i have for his personality. now for a little history lesson.

i made this au back in june 2022, you can tell cuz my art style looks a bit strange. fujiko was intended to be the second person he meets instead of goemon.

i decided against fujiko because they might not get along sometimes given their complicated dynamic in the manga, plus goemon makes sense to be one doing shit in the middle of the ocean.

lupin was able to go in land without any consequences, now he dies if he stays for too long. (it's due to the crystal's power not being powerful enough to keep him alive if he strays too far from where he died

old merman lupin also had gills! i realized after that it's too complicated of a choice given how sharks have to move all the time to keep breathing, so now he functions like a sea mammal.

and yeah that's all thanks for reading up to this point, im really grateful for the praise i got for this au. it genuinely made me so happy!! i would've never expect this much people to like my au...

maybe ill do more of this in the future.

[buckybarnesss]

Even the framing of that shot fucking kills me: the nogitsune confidently staring at Chris, almost amused, and then Derek comes into frame and he's visibly frightened

And he's not looking at Stiles. He's scared of what Chris is going to do TO Stiles. This is really his biggest fear, what he's been worried about this entire time. And what can he do??

the whole thing is just a masterful stroke on the nogitstune's part. it's torturing everyone in that scene including stiles.

like, of course it's obvious how these events hurt the sheriff. that's his child being tortured by an ancient creature and forced to do terrible, terrible things and also who is clearly becoming more like a walking corpse every minute. it used claudia's illness against both him and stiles to make them lose hope. how he maintained any composure i don't know. i'd be a fucking wreck of a human seeing my loved one worn like an ill fitting suit to prom.

for chris? this is a guy who we've seen intimidate teenagers for no real reason other than because he can. he's held scott at gunpoint for daring to be with allison and nothing else but he hesitates here. he hesitates despite hedging with derek earlier about what he would do.

this moment such an inverse to season 1 going all the way back to that confrontation in code breaker between chris and stiles.

i can guarantee chris was recalling it.

argent: let me ask you a question, stiles... have you ever seen a rabid dog? stiles: no. i could put it on my to-do list, if you just let me go. argent: well, i have. and the only thing i've ever been able to compare it to is seeing a friend of mine turn on a full moon. do you wanna know what happened? stiles: not really... no offense to your storytelling skills... argent: he tried to kill me, and i was forced to put a bullet in his head. the whole while that he lay there dying, he was still trying to claw his way toward me, still trying to kill me, like it was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. can you imagine that?

and allison? allison's already made the horrible decision of harming boyd and erica that started the dominos that led to erica and boyd being taken by the alphas and erica being killed.

now she's confronted with this monster wearing her friend's face toying with their emotions. she tries to subdue it but all that does is piss the nogitsune off and annoy him.

she's been manipulated by both kate and gerard to see her friends as being enemies when they weren't only to be faced with the reality of it here.

allison wants to save her friends so badly to make up for her mistakes but with this she might not be able to.

derek's position is just heartbreaking. this is really his greatest fear and failures playing out again.

we don't often see derek express fear. he usually expresses anger rather than let anyone know he's afraid but here? here derek is afraid.

3A set up that derek and stiles had become friends, that stiles had been working with him over the summer to look for eric and boyd, that derek trusted stiles so much it broke jennifer's magic over him ---

and the nogitsune brings itself to derek's loft for protection because it knows derek will do anything to protect stiles.

he's already lost so many people. he's had to mercy kill people he cared about before. again stiles is one of the few who know about paige, stiles witnessed what happened with boyd and peter and jackson. he knows all of this about derek which means the nogitsune does too.

i'm not really sure what kind of derek we would've seen if stiles had died due to the nogitsune.

of course the person often lost in the psychological warfare of the nogitune is stiles.

stiles had to watch all this. had to see his knowledge used against the people he cared about over and over. his hands and body used for terrible things. the nogitsune fed off that more than anything. stiles's fear and confusion and pain. stiles was dying.

it's why the nogitsune was the best villain lol

[deadpool15]

Ch.3 You and Me

It all happened so fast that I had never experienced sex. Well, good sex, they say uts better with someone you love. My first time happened right after graduation. To be honest, it wasn't even a good enough first time. If coming fast was a sport, that guy would've had an award. Then, again, he also didn't make me come at all. When I asked, he made it seem like it was me. "Oo, you're so beautiful it's too bad something is wrong with you, you know." Imagine someone being so bad at sex they have the audacity to blame you. Shi-oh was absolutely mortified by the story, claiming the guy deserved to die for being such a sad lover. I just thought after all these years I wasn't able to. I never tried to masturbate. To be honest, I found the whole thing kind of weird. I wasn't worthy of much, so why would pleasure be any different.

I'm sitting there on Shi-oh lap as we told each other stories of our happiest moments together. Then he leaned in, catching me off guard. My breath started to escape me, and everything seemed to speed up. "Are you nervous, baby? I haven't done anything yet." It was hard to concentrate when he was so close, and I was leaning in even more due to his hand being my only source of balance. "You know how this turned out before, don't you?" Of course we had tried before or more, so I had. He told me that he didn't want it to simply happen in a place of inconvenience. "Yes, I quite remember. In my office you tried to slut yourself out because of your sister correct." Hearing him bring up such a jealous moment for me, made me hit him in the face. I get up trying to get away from him. "You know how I feel about her." He laughs blindly, staring at me while pulling me back under him and slowly taking off the only piece of clothing I had on. "You are right. You could never compare to Nam-soon. Because you're so much better, in completely different universes, baby. And only one of you has my heart. Can you guess who?"

I stared at him, yet before I could answer, my words got caught in my throat, finally staring at his chest. I hadn't realized he had unbuttoned my, well, his shirt. I wasn't wearing a bra, so my breasts were being guarded by nothing but the shirt, so he could easily move out the way. "I seem to know, yet it's almost like you forget." He pushed the shirt out of the way, and I shivered when the cold air hit my nipples. Before I could complain about the cold, Shi-oh had taken one of my breasts directly into his warm mouth. My back arched, head hitting the pillow while he held my back up to bring him closer. "W-wait..baby..fuck." He let go of my breast and proceeded to blow a gust of his breath onto it. I moaned at the feeling. This wasn't like my first time at all. "My little baby was so in a rush to go feel good, and now she wants to wait. Just don't know what you want, do you?" The words died right on my tongue when I felt his bulge right rubbing against my pussy.

"Pretty girl is so confused, isn't she? It's ok, baby. I'll make it better." He had pushed the shirt further, and as I finally came back to my senses, I tried to remove it before he stopped me. "No, don't take it off. I wanna be all over you. Fucking you with a piece of my clothing on you will be the best option don't you think?" I couldn't even begin to respond to him when he grabbed my waist and moved his fingers down to push my panties to the side. His eyes landed right on my wet soppy cunt, he wouldn't remove his eyes. Almost as I'd he was in a trance. Feeling shy, I tried to close my legs. "You close those legs, and I will stop right here right now. Open uo baby, I wanna take a nice long look." Hearing those words, I blushed, slowly opening up my legs. "Yes all fucking mine." I moaned hearing his words, feeling his breath moving closer to my cunt. He kissed my thighs, ignoring the very place I needed him most. I knew exactly what that meant. He expected me to beg. My pride wouldn't let me, but my desperation seemed to be winning this war.

He knew I would crumble soon. Sucking and leaving marks all over my thighs. Watching my cunt grow wetter and wetter by the second. "Baby...please...I'll be so good for you. You know this." He moved his head upward, kissing my knee. "You will. My little baby is so desperate and wet, isn't she? Fine, I'll play nice." And just like that my suffering ended, when he pushed his head directly into my cunt. Licking, sucking and eating me like I was his last meal. He pushed two fingers into me, and God did it feel amazing. "Fuck..y-yes..soo...goood." He simply made eye contact with me casuing me to be flustered, but as I go to look away he grabbed my breast firmly and squeezed it in his large palm. Letting me know he wanted me to watch. He started to play with my nippple while pushing his fingers in and out faster. Sucking down on my clit hard. It slowly became too much for me. I started to thrash away from him. He noticed and pulled my thighs to wrap around his head, pushing me even closer to him. I became even more overwhelmed by the second. Before I knew it, I had squirted. I was so taken aback by everything that I immediately started to apologize.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't even know I could do that. I've never come before, so that was like completely different. I'll clean." He cut me off my slamming his lips onto mine. Completely stopping my thoughts. "You just squirted all over my face." He looked at me in shock. "I know, Shi-oh, I've seen, and I'm already embarrassed enough." I said shyly while he grabbed my closed thighs, pulling them apart again. "W-wait, what are you doing?" He looked at my cunt in amazement. Like, I'd just given him some price. "Your going to do that again, but this time on my cock. You can do that for me, right baby?" I was shocked by his words. Finally taking a moment to stare at his appearance, I noticed his face was still caring for my juices. He was practically covered in it. I try to wipe his face clear. "No, I wanna fuck you with it all over us. All dirty for you." I had never seen this side of him before. He was always so collected and to himself.

He looked like a man possessed. Yanking my panties down completely while placing his thumb on my clit. "Shit...baby..I'm still s-senstive." He smiled down at my figure before pushed down his pants, making the bulge that I had seen before more noticeable. "I know that's the best part." He started to take off his boxers, I couldn't imagine how hard he was right now. Finally, there was nothing stopping us. No clothing in between us. Looking down, I took in the sight of how large he truly was. Thinking about it now, I was scared. "B-baby, that's not going to f-fit." He pushed my thighs open further, taking as much room as he needed. "Don't worry. I'll make it fit." He started kissing my face, while my cum was still dripping on his face. Basically, it's soaking me in it as well. And then he pushed inside. "F-fuck." I was losing all my sense as he pushed further inside. "Almost....there." and finally, he bottomed out. Everything was different, it's felt as if my mind was gone to another place and my body was floating on clouds.

One thing was for sure, I had never felt so full in my life. Shi-oh stared at my pussy as it gripped his cock. Practically choking him. He hunched forward, and I opened my arms to hold him. I just wanted to feel all of him. Being full of him was a new feeling, though. "F-fuck..your so tight." He was praising me while kissing my jaw and neck. Then he started moving, I had never felt so good in my entire fucking life. I never wanted it to end. "Said it wouldn't fit, it's almost like your cunt was carved just for me baby. Just to take me." He leaned near my ear and whispered. My legs wrapped own his waist. Needing him closer than he already was, it just wasn't never enough. "Taking me so fucking well. Bet you're loving this, aren't you? That little boy couldn't give you this." I whined hearing his words, "n-no..one..but..y-you." Before I know it, he was slamming into me at the speed of light. Panting in my eye before flipping us over, leaving me on top. He felt deeper at this angle. I still held him close, wrapping my body around him. Never wanting to let go. He bounced me up and down. "S-so..b-big." My brain could only mutter out his size over and over again. He pushed our lips together again covering us in my cum.

Dipping his finger down to rub my clit and then moving it back up to place on his tongue. I leaned forward sucking onto his tongue. It was filthy, and dirty. But it loved every second of it. "My nasty little baby, who knew you would be such a whore?" I moves back from him placing my hands on his thighs to gain leverage, "wanna be your whore, only for you." He was shocked and while in that state of shock I reached up, on the tip was inside of me before I moaned and slammed myself down on he length. I'm doing it again and again, leaving him a whimpering mess. This is what I wanted, to leave him so vulnerable in front of me. "Gonna cum baby f-fuck." I pushed myself down further while moving to wrap my arms around his shoulders, yanking his hair to place kisses on his neck. I whispered in his ear, causing him to fall apart and rut inside of me. "Come inside, wanna feel you for days. Want it inside, Shi-oh." Hearing this, he finally came shooting his load directly into me, and I came right with him. As I make way to move, he stops me. "Gotta make sure it takes. Your nice and warm baby. Need to stay inside."

Shoutout all the beautiful souls who waited for me to get out of my rut. The writing block is over. Hit me up, yall.

Chapter 4 is coming soon.

[emlan]

Finished DLC!

Here's some Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree ramblings, spoilers under cut.

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. DLC catered to me a lot since I'm a Zanzibart cutscene enjoyer who loves map exploration and Vista money shots but I'm kinda HUH-cat.clip when it comes to some new lore bits and in general the world feels divorced from main game even though main game characters and topics are around?

I don't remember how much souls DLC tied into the other story, but I'm using The Old Hunters from BB as base and it really added extra value to its world and characters and there's just nothing new of real interest in SotE from what I can see…

In a vacuum I can only appreciate even more (literal) brother on brother action but Miquella seemingly being deeply obsessed with Radahan is so out of left field??? Granted I'm not an lorester but what I remember as Miq's key things from flavor text when it comes to ties to other people is him being sad about being unable to cure Malenia of her rot and also sad about not being able to grant Godwyn his true death. The only ties to Radahan is by proxy of his sister fighting him? (Was she even fighting him just to bring bro his crush to him? This makes Caelid getting nuked by her even more of a waste.)

It's so out of nowhere that the Epic Prime Version of him comes off as a cheap soyjak pointing bit pandering to Radahan fanboys (pretty sure he's like no1 fav guy for players right), but fanboys will obviously not be happy about him just being a hollow shell again (?) that might not have wanted anything to do with Miquella (?) so I just can't see this as satisfying for ANY kind of player even on a full Gamer Dude to Deranged Fujoshi spectrum? I imagine deep lore enthusiasts also feels a bit… Ambushed.

I'm not against Miquella doing dark unpleasant or just stupid desperate acts since it was already a popular theory that he was a brainwasher type, but the issue for me is that I'm not sure if this Miq/Rad union is "intended" to be read in such a twisted way even when it's the only way I can read it.

Though I guess the fact general consensus going from "wow Mohg is so messed up claiming Miq no matter Miq's consent" to "wow Miq is so messed up claiming Radahan no matter Radahan's* consent" is poetic….?

*I'm writing Radahan here but really it's also a synonym for 'Mohg' considering he's the one getting desecrated the most.

I'm sure I'll end up watching some vid or writeup making pieces fall into place later but I can't believe Miyazaki is handing me visual age gap brother incest and all I can do is force a strained smile in response!!!

Anyway general whining time:

As much as I love filling out up the map I feel there was too much big "empty" areas. Climbing the dragon mountain was the worst presentation of anything I've seen in a FS title, extremely cheap unfinished filler feeling with the spirit jumps instead of at least adding some kinda atmosphere like the open flower/gravestone fields. The Abyss gimmick overstayed it's welcome since it's too miserable checking if you missed a shiny somewhere without your horse, but at least the stealth parts was such a non-issue it might as well not be there.

While I like that you can see several inaccessible areas from where you stand, and I do think it leads to some fun moments when you're taking a random path halfway across the map and ends up on the other side as an a-ha moment, it was a bit frustrating not being able to tell more clearly how to reach sections. Plus I would've died 10000 times from drops if it wasn't the fact Rainbow Stones protected me from making bad choices.

What mindbroke me most was trying to get into the flower field area north east, having an "oh boy, beating this guy will let me reach it for sure!" moment for both Gaius and Sunflower was such [record scratch SFX]. I did figure posing in front of the statue was most likely the entry afterwards but somehow I had missed the gesture needed (most embarrassing DLC moment considering I tend to fine comb pretty well and the gesture pickup is just sitting there out in the open………. why am I even admitting this shameful thing). Watching trees get knocked over from something moving under the water in the church district was really cool and unnerving and then you realize it's just branch dragon number 800……………..

The wicker men has a great design but fighting them was either a boring slog or a frustrating jankfest trying to toss the bombs right. Peeved that you HAVE to use a furnace pot for the sleeping one blocking the ruin puzzle, hefty should've been fine too.

Bosses are too hectic/aggressive for my taste but that's just business as usual for ER so whatever, last boss really is way too punishing compared to other Hard bosses tho, in fact I just watched ending on YT since I'm stuck still on them :V Camera also makes a glorious return as the toughest challenge of them all.

Think my biggest highlights was seeing the bizarre finger/tongue path under the church and the finger mom boss visual itself and the black humor of the miserable living jars stumbling around with the pot on their head. Ansbach is a hot new waifu and it's very precious how such an upstanding man stays all-in loyal to a Deranged Satan (said lovingly) soooo cute you actually get a "Um, so about how Mohg died…👉👈" prompt with him. There was more NPC voice lines than I expected which was fun. St Trina's design was very neat and shoujo manga. Having to sip syrup 4-5 times instead of the classic Third Time's The Charm is a crime however and I missed making the Trina fanboy jealous until it was too late :/

The open world for all of Elden Ring is such an incredible experience that I'm happy I got to play and I had such a good time and I can't imagine any other studios will be able to reach these map heights but I also hope they never make an OW game again because it's too much when you "need" to replay it.

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - A House Is Not A Home Part 4/8

This chapter = A forbidden kiss 💋 🤭

Ruben's wife dies during childbirth along with their son. Ruben hasn't been in a relationship since. Y/N is a single mother to a four year old boy. She buys a house in the small town that Ruben lives in. The house needs alot of fixing which Ruben helps with, resulting in him slowly falling in love with Y/N. However, falling in love with Y/N makes Ruben feel like he is betraying his dead wife.

Enjoy!

You and Ruben rode in his truck on the way to the house.

"No, turn it up."

"What, the radio?"

"Yes, I love this song." You leand forward, stretching your hand to turn up the volume yourself. Ruben looked at you with a crooked smile.

"What, you don't have a favorite song?"

He snorted. "No."

"Don't lie."

He frowned. "Why would I lie about that?"

"I dunno, because you're trying to hide the fact that you're a swiftie like me."

"A what?"

"A swiftie. A fan of singer/songwriter Taylor Swift."

"Who?"

You rolled your eyes, turning up the music a little more. "Johnny would've loved this song." The sounds of Wildest Dreams burst through the radio, the base of the song felt throughout the car. Ruben kept his eyes on the road, failing to hide his grin. He reached out to turn down the volume once the song faded, the radio station moving on to play the next greatest hit.

"So when is he coming?" He asked.

"Pardon?"

"Your husband. He's eventually coming down to live with you in the house, right?"

"Um...right."

Nothing really prevented you from telling Ruben about Johnny. You had to lie initially, but now that the deal was done, the house being yours, there was really no need to keep it up.

"Is it hard, being away from each other?"

There was a longing in Ruben's voice when he asked you this question, a longing you knew that you couldn't ignore.

Ruben nodded understandingly. You couldn't imagine how much he must miss his wife. And his son, who he never got to meet.

"Yes. I miss him alot." It wasn't a lie, you really missed Johnny, your son, more than anything in the world. "I try to tell him to be patient, but he gets so anxious, you know."

"So...what are we doing today?" You asked, an attempt to lift the fallen mood.

Ruben perked up. "Um...I have a guy coming to check the powerline. It must have snapped during the storm for there to have been a power outage."

"Okay. Will he be able to fix it today?" As much as you loved staying with David and Katarina, their hospitality towards you was well overdue.

"I hope so."

You arrived at the house before the powerline guy, meaning you and Ruben had to wait for him. But waiting made you restless so you naturally began exploring your new home. You walked up and down the hallway downstairs, amongst the furniture covered in sheets. Now that you knew the story of Ruben and his wife you weren't sure weather you should get rid of some of the stuff that had been left behind in the house.

"Do you think it's possible to get rid of the wall?" You returned outside, having pondered the question.

"What wall?" Ruben frowned.

"The one in he living room?"

"Y/N," He chuckled. "There is more than one wall in the living room."

"Ruben, you okay?"

"Then come and see it for yourself."

You turned around, ready to march back into the house.

"Ruben?"

Realizing that he wasn't right behind you, you turned backaround. Ruben stood frozen outside his old house, staring up at it, looking lost and afraid.

You approach him.

He shook his head. "No."

"No?"

"No."

The words slipped out of him with caution, but Ruben explained that he was simply terrified of stepping inside his old home, which had been left untouched for years after his wife passed away. He felt like the memories were too much to bear, and he couldn't bring himself to renovate or even clean the place out of fear of losing the last remaining bits of his beloved partner.

You listened patiently as Ruben shared his story, and then you offered him your hand.

"Everyone has to face their fear someday, even you."

There was somthing childlike with Ruben taking a hold of your hand. Like a toddler, trusting its parents to guide them through life.  Nevertheless, that's exactly what you did. With your back turned to the house, you guided Ruben into it, one step of the time. Once you were inside it came naturally to you to grab a hold of his other hand, guiding him deeper through a house that probably held so many of his memories, happy and sad.

"It's this wall." You stopped once you reached the living room. Ruben held your gaze for a bit longer, having never let his eyes wander freely as the two of you had entered the house.

"I want to take down this wall and separate the living room from the dining room. This could make the space feel more open." And less intimidating, you thought.

Ruben observed the wall, nodding his head understandingly. He seemed to have found himself again. "Alright, just let me get my sledgehammer."

"That was fun." You collapsed on the floor, surrounded by the rubble of the old walls.

Together, you donned your gloves, ready to tackle the task at hand. You and Ruben took turns with the hammer, tearing down the walls of the house. With every blow, he looked to find a newfound sense within himself, a new found strength. You chatted with Ruben, sharing stories and jokes to distract him from the emotional weight of the moment. At first, Ruben was hesitant and nervous, but as the afternoon wore on, he began to relax and enjoy the process. You laughed together as you knocked down the walls, creating a new, open layout for the house. By the time you finished, Ruben looked transformed - no longer haunted by the ghosts of his past, but instead filled with hope and gratitude for the present.

"I'm worried for you." Ruben chuckled, stretching you a hand to help you back onto your feet. He didn't like you laying amongst the debris.

"Worried, why?" You frowned, letting his strong arms pull you to a stand.

"If this is what you call having fun." He said. "Then I'm worried for you."

"Stop it." You hit him in the arm. "You know what I mean. It was kinda fun bringing down a giant wall with a sledgehammer. I feel like I got all my rage out."

"It was something alright."

You stood close enough to see the sweat dripping down Ruben's forhead. You could imagine the shower you would need after this. It had been a workout of its own kind. A DIY workout.

"Y/N I..."

You were suddenly aware of how close Ruben's face was to yours, his breath warming your cheek. If you had payed less attention to the sweat dripping down his forhead you might have noticed how he was looking at you, how Ruben's eyes had been shifting from your face to your lips with a lustful glare. And so when he kissed you it came as a surprise, making you stumble backwards. Ruben caught you, his arm wrapping gently around your waist, railing you in to have you pressed against his chest.

"Ruben." You moaned against his mouth.

The kiss had deepened, with Ruben grunting in response, his eager front pressing against your pelvis. It felt good. Too good.

"Ruben please." Your palms to his chest slightly pushed off of him, the rest Ruben did himself.

"Fuck, I'm sorry."

He took a step back with wide eyes, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"It's okay Ruben, I didn't..."

He shook his head. "No it's not. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have kissed you."

You frowned, having just been caught by surprise. Had the kiss been that bad for him?

"You have a husband Y/N." He said, reminding you of your lies.

"Oh." You chuckled. "No Ruben, it's okay I...."

"It's really not...okay."

"What? No. I'm not married Ruben, you don't have to...."

The sound of a honking horn interrupted. A truck had pulled up outside.

"I'm sorry, I have to..." Ruben was glad to escape, leaving you behind.

[torahoes]

(IDOLiSH7) Touma Inumaru - VD Winter Date Rabbit Chat: Part 1 - Extreme and Deadly!?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Please note that I am not a professional translator. If you come across any mistakes, feel free to let me know and I will make the necessary corrections.

Touma Inumaru: Takanashi-san, good work today. I'm sorry I had to borrow your phone earlier!

Touma Inumaru: Thanks to you, I was able to safely meet up with my manager after that!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Good work today! I received a message from Utsugi-san a little while ago as well!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm relieved you were able to meet up with him on time!

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Touma Inumaru: If I hadn't run into you, it would've been a disaster. Despite being tight on time until our next location, my phone's battery died, and I was seriously freaking out.

Touma Inumaru: There were some staff I knew, but none of them knew my manager's contact information.

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm glad I could help!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Looks like your phone's battery is recharged now, too!

Touma Inumaru: Haru had a portable charger, so I borrowed it!

Touma Inumaru: He was like, "Why didn't you charge your phone?" and was annoyed with me LOL

Touma Inumaru: I thought I had plugged it in properly before going to bed last night but maybe it was loose.

Tsumugi Takanashi: It happens sometimes…! > <

Tsumugi Takanashi: I remember once during my student days, my alarm didn't go off and I almost overslept…

Touma Inumaru: Oh, I totally get that!

Touma Inumaru: It's really scary when that happens!

Touma Inumaru: The moment you wake up, it's like all the blood drains from your face and you turn pale…

Tsumugi Takanashi: I hurried and managed to make it on time, but I realized I was wearing different socks on each foot. It was so embarrassing…

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Touma Inumaru: That's not too bad; it's cute!

Touma Inumaru: I, on the other hand, got ready in a hurry this one time and ended up wearing my T-shirt inside out.

Touma Inumaru: What's more, my members noticed but didn't say anything because they thought it was a fashion statement, so I spent the whole day like that until I changed into my costume LOL

Tsumugi Takanashi: Was everything alright today?

Touma Inumaru:

Touma Inumaru: I double-checked everything carefully before I left since we had a meeting with Re:vale!

Tsumugi Takanashi: Was it perhaps for "NEXT Re:vale"?

Touma Inumaru: Yeah, that's right! We're appearing in the Valentine's Date project thing.

Touma Inumaru: The one where viewers send in date ideas they'd like to experience with us, and then we act them out on the show.

Tsumugi Takanashi: I saw the preview and thought it might be that...!

Tsumugi Takanashi: I'm curious about what kind of ideas will be sent in. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what kind of date plans you all come up with!

Tsumugi Takanashi:

Touma Inumaru: So you watched the preview. Thank you! I'm also super excited to see what ideas the viewers come up with.

Touma Inumaru: Honestly, I'm clueless about what they're even expecting from me.

Touma Inumaru: Momo-san and Yuki-san said they were probably expecting an "extreme and deadly" date.

Tsumugi Takanashi: Extreme and deadly...!

Tsumugi Takanashi: If we're talking about ŹOOĻ, I suppose you do have that image because of your music style, dance routines packed with acrobatic moves, and such...

Touma Inumaru: It's hard to imagine what that would look like specifically.

Touma Inumaru: If we're looking for something extreme... Maybe eating super spicy food or going on intense thrilling rides?

Tsumugi Takanashi: Something like bungee jumping from a skyscraper or trying VR horror experiences could also be considered.

Touma Inumaru: Now that you mention it, Haru did bungee jump before...

Touma Inumaru: A- Are they expecting me to do something like that too?

Touma Inumaru: But is bungee jumping even a popular choice for dates!?

Tsumugi Takanashi: I've seen couples bungee jumping together off bridges on TV... Some even do it at their weddings to create special memories!

Touma Inumaru: Seriously!? That's awesome. Maybe it's not so rare these days.

Touma Inumaru: I should probably look into what other kinds of dates there are. I need to mentally prepare myself.

Tsumugi Takanashi:

(T/N: The sticker says "Do your best!")

End of Part 1.

[fabaceous]

do you think jackieshauna could've gotten together eventually if the plane didn't crash/if jackie hadn't died or were they doomed from the start?

hi anon i know this took a while (sorry) but it's because this is one of my favorite cans of worms to open and i had a lot to say. so thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about it ;)

my answer, depending on the day and my mood, ranges from NO to YES, BUT to NO, BUT.

NO, because i think that even on a pure friendship level they are doomed. their flaws were like, designed in a lab (or a writer's room lol) to tear them apart. jackie is insecure and holds on too tightly to shauna. shauna quietly resents jackie for it and fucks around behind her back. as long as they have these traits, their relationship is a ticking time bomb. they will never make it within ten miles of a romantic relationship because even their friendship is doomed.

NO, because even if their friendship doesn't implode, they are both simply too damn repressed to ever make a move. im not even saying this as a cop-out, like, i truly believe in my heart and soul that they both have latent romantic feelings for each other but they tie themselves in all sorts of pretzels to avoid it and i'll go even further and say they are both REALLY FUCKING GOOD AT IT. like more so than most people. given my own experiences denying my (in hindsight incredibly obvious) feelings for girls (and i SUCK at repressing things) i have no doubt at all that they could go the rest of their lives convincing themselves that some girlfriendships are Just Like That. the human mind is a very powerful thing and the human mind on comphet and repression? nearly unstoppable. and even if they dont have some world-shattering blowout, and their friendship just sort of fizzles out for some nebulous and ambiguous (read: gay yearning related) reason, years later they'll still be looking back at their relationship saying Huh. Wasnt That Weird...Well...Nevertheless...I'm Sure It Was Nothing To Worry About...

like, okay, im gonna spend a little more time with this one because i think their repression is so key to their dynamic. jackie is obviously unable to face any aspect of herself that is even remotely imperfect. gay feelings for shauna would definitely fall into that category given what i assume she has internalized from her parents and her peers and it being the 1990s. shauna, while more willing to accept her dark side, cant bear the thought of wanting jackie like that. its the one bridge she cant cross. she'll literally fuck jeff. fucking JEFF!!! before she lets herself act on desire for jackie (at least not in a straightforward/normal way lol)

i think both of them on some level must feel that they have a desire for each other, or else they wouldn't be so desperate to avoid it. but they are SO desperate to avoid it, and i don't really have anything to back this up other than my gut feeling but i just can't imagine them ever overcoming their respective hurdles of repression, and definitely not under normal high-school circumstances. MAYBE in the wilderness they would've had a chance IF THINGS HAD GONE VERY DIFFERENTLY because they would be free from societal expectations or whatever, and maybe a life or death situation could've given them enough of a shock that they'd finally own up to their feelings. but EVEN THEN, personally, i think it's still questionable. i think this is just so deeply rooted that it would be anywhere from incredibly difficult to impossible for both of them to get past it. (it's no good if only one of them overcomes the repression, btw. then you just have unrequited pining (but secretly actually requited but the other person won't admit that they're requiting it so it's effectively unrequited which would be perhaps even worse and more painful. btw. if you even care))

now on to the other options...

YES, BUT, even if by some miracle they were able to get past their repression and date each other, i guarantee you all their toxic habits would be not only repeated but MAGNIFIED by being in a romantic relationship. like, ok, the good news is, they would finally be free to be openly obsessed with each other lol. but... imagine jackie gets EVEN MORE insecure about shauna leaving her because now she actually feels like she has a legit claim on shauna being "hers". before, her possessiveness (for lack of a more nuanced term) was tempered by the fact that they are just friends, and shauna should theoretically be allowed to have other friends, even if jackie doesn't like it. but shauna should NOT be having other girlfriends. so jackie would likely be reaching new levels of terrified of shauna leaving her. shauna would still be unable to address conflict directly. rinse and repeat this whooooole vicious cycle until it blows up in their faces like laura le--[gunshot]

finally, NO, BUT, and this one may be controversial & a bit more far fetched than the others, but i do think that under the right circumstances they could kiss or even fuck without it compromising their repression. i actually even think they could have a sort of sneaky situationship while still repressing their bigscaryfeelings for each other. HEAR ME OUT. they are both very careful about compartmentalizing their desire for each other and keeping it hidden FROM THEMSELVES. they often fail and it boils over despite their best efforts, but the more important thing is that they think they're succeeding at keeping their desire from breaching containment. and as long as they have that plausible deniability where they are hiding it from themselves, even if they don't manage to hide it from the rest of us (or even each other), i dont think its impossible for them to act on the desire, like, on pure instinct, but without actually intellectually or emotionally acknowledging the larger implications that that brings. and even if the desire breaches containment, they could still find a way to write it off as just desire in general and not desire for each other specifically. especially when they also still have the excuse of being horny teenagers with no impulse control, they could easily brush it off as, oh, we were just drunk, we were just experimenting. or even, oh, it was just shauna, it's not like i actually LIKE-like her, i just made out with her, but its shauna, so it obviously doesnt mean anything.

and i think they could even do this consistently for weeks months MAYBE up to a year or so, while deluding themselves into thinking this is somehow normal or not a big deal. because they have already proven they are masters of doublethink and repression, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten this far lol. but it would 100% also blow up in their faces. the question is, who would crack first? who would want something real? or who would walk away because it got too real? theres sooo much to ponder with this particular scenario and it's all very juicy and compelling (and GOD would i love to see it unfold with my own two eyeballs, can bart and ashley please write and film an AU of their own tv show?!) but i dont think it would ever lead them anywhere good or healthy.

so long story short (lol. conciseness has never been my strong suit as is probably abundantly clear by now) i personally do not think there is any possibility of a satisfying happy-ending scenario for these two. and i personally am perfectly okay with that because so much about them would have to change in order for them to get a happy ending that at that point, they would no longer be the jackie and shauna that i know and love.