#having a bad reputation. will dig it up & dump my thoughts on a new post after :3

[slipping-through-my-fingertips]

If Glee did a Taylor Swift Tribute Episode...

Just my opinions, feel free to add on to them. I know I have some fellow gleek swifties following me. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Obviously they have to do some of the hits but I think some people would have some out of the box picks.

*This post assumes all Taylor songs are available to choose from as of May 14th 2021 but focuses on Taylor’s first 6 albums (if you want more glee and Taylor I have fics with that; LOVER and FOLKLORE) and takes liberties with where this episode’s placement is in terms of canon. But since it’s all made up anyway who cares (but Blaine’s involved so I guess season 3 idk).*

Okay, trying to do a full plot here (completely inspired by @kurtdeservesbetter head canon posts. I hope this lives up to her fabulous posts). This will be my version of glee so everyone gets solos and Rachel can’t hog the spotlight. Also, this is about to be super long (both post wise and episode wise).

Let’s open the first episode with

...Ready For It because the New Directions are in their reputation era. Santana does the opening cough centerstage. Everyone in black and/or camo green outfits (can you just see Kurt in a dark green bedazzled snake jacket, Santana in a black leather dress, and Tina digging out some goth clothes for people to borrow?), snakes everywhere, but probably no Karyn (she just wouldn’t fit on the auditorium stage). Santana takes the first verse but we have Blaine step up for verse 2. (I just love their friendship in the Michael tribute, cute little badasses are BACK. Also him singing “Burton to this Taylor” is such a Klaine thing to do).

Everyone is still dressed in their rep outfits but we’re in the choir room now. Mr. Schue is talking about why Taylor had to disappear and clap back with rep, how rough the industry is for women and tries to uplift the ladies in the room and encourage them to not silence their voices (cue snarky comment from Santana about Rachel needing to be silent).

Then, Mr. Schue goes on about how you can only understand how Taylor got to her rep era by studying her earlier music. So we have a performance of Tim McGraw. Simple, front of the choir room performance, maybe Puck does guitar, and sitting on stools.

Everyone is surprised to find out how pumped Sam is for this assignment but he is all over it. “It's about time we did some country in this room.” Cue Sam and Quinn at her locker talking about their ‘date’ last night, Sam’s all cute and teasing and Quinn is not into it. She tells him it was fun but she was wrong, they shouldn’t do this again. In turn, he does a wonderful performance of Bye Bye Baby. He thought it was more but clearly he’s “a part of her past.”

Then, we’re in the empty choir room. Tina and Mike are there. (I love their cutesy duets) They sing Everything Has Changed and it’s utterly adorable. Can’t you hear Mike asking Tina if she’s “good to go” like Ed does? And while we’re on the subject of cute duets and RED, we flash to the courtyard to see Santana and Brittany. They turn Stay Stay Stay into a duet. “I’ve been loving you for quite some time,” “before you I only dated self-indulgent takers who took all their problems out on me,” “no one else is gonna love me when I’m mad, mad, mad,” and “it’s occurring to me that I’d like to hang out with you for my whole life” it’s perfect for them. Adorable ladies kisses are had.

Let’s toss in some boy drama for fun. Idk shit about football but somehow Puck is praised by their coach over Finn, which gets him all pissy, and Puck’s upset and jealous because Finn is back with Quinn now (this is why Quinn shut Sam now earlier, she changed her mind). Can we say duet of Bad Blood? “So if you’re coming my way...just don’t.”

After their dramatics, we have a Brittany solo in the choir room. It’s after school at this point (or whenever glee club is). Brittany does You’ll Always Find You Way Back Home.

When she finishes Mr. Schue tries to explain that it’s a Hannah Montana song. Britt injects that it’s confusing how she’s really Miley Cryus “like how can you be two people at once?”. Before Mr. Schue can continue, Kurt pipes up “you never specified that the songs had to be sung by Taylor Swift, just that they were her songs.” Mercedes adds, “yeah, Mr. Schue, Taylor wrote that song.” Mr. Schue concedes that he has once again been outwitted by Kurtcedes. The friends do their little hand shake thing.

With a sigh, Mr. Schue asks Mike if he’s ready to go and Mike asks to take things to the auditorium for some dancing room. Everyone’s on stage with him and it’s kind of a group number but Mike is the focus. It’s Shake It Off. All inspired by the music video. He’s tried to fit in elsewhere (i.e. football, with the smart kids, etc..) but he’s really himself in glee when he’s dancing.

Part 2 of Taylor Tribute Episodes

We begin with an ALL GIRL NUMBER of A Place In This World. Just because.

Glee is dismissed and we zoom in on Artie. He’s watching Tina with Mike and Brittany with Santana. Both Tina and Britt have broken his heart by this point. So, he’s rolling down the halls singing A Perfectly Good Heart. While Artie’s soloing, we cut to Rachel watching Finn and Quinn chatting. Artie’s song playing over this scene. Rachel is feeling similar to him at the moment.

She’s pretty sure Finn dumped her to be with Quinn again even though Kurt and Blaine told her they saw Quinn and Sam at the movies last night together making out in the back row. Fine, if that’s how he’s going to be, she doesn’t need him anyway. Cue Mr. Perfectly Fine. Uber dramatic solo performance walking around McKinley’s halls watching Finn and Quinn together ending in the auditorium alone. (see what I did there, both broken hearted peeps singing a song with Perfectly in it (this was not at all planned, actually, happy accident))

After some good old heartbreak, we have Kurt and Blaine on screen. Blaine walks into the auditorium to see Kurt sitting on the edge of the stage. “What’s all the fuss?” he asks from the door. Kurt had texted him “EMERGENCY.” The band starts to play and Kurt just starts singing, Enchanted. It’s time to profess their love for each other, just like they sing Perfect together in the car, this duet needs no audience. Blaine catches up and sings while walking towards his boyfriend. It’s very reminiscent of past New Directions competitions where they come in from the back and make their way to the stage. “Wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you?” Kurt and Blaine both know the answer to that question now but just a few months ago they were both wondering that exact thing.

They kiss before we cut to Kurt and Blaine walking hand in hand into the choir room where everyone else is already. Mr. Schue is praising the performances thus far and of course asks Rachel if she’s ready to solo (some practice for her completion solo). This causes an uproar from Mercedes and Santana. Another classic argument of how she gets too many solos. Mr. Schue tries to shut them both down but Santana tells Rachel to watch her back, and we get three very different reactions to this. 

All three girls storm out.

First, we visit Mercedes alone in the courtyard. This solo is all about being hurt over this great thing in her life (glee) and her being denied happiness within that club. Thus, Cold As You. (mostly to indulge myself because she’d blow us away with this song).

Next, Rachel in the auditorium. A huge bridge on stage (very Speak Now Tour of her), belting out Better Than Revenge. Santana’s dropped the last straw (the humiliation, name calling, Finn at one point and now solos,) it’s too much this time.

And finally, Santana walking around McKinley, showing us flashes of Rachel ‘outshining’ her and the rest of glee and Mr. Schue being unfair, while singing Look What You Made Me Do.

Tina walks out at the same time as Rachel, Mercedes, and Santana but no one seems to put two and two together. She feels just as underutilized as the latter two do. She ends up in an empty classroom and sings The Outside. “Nobody ever lets me in” and “on the outside looking in.”

Once the 3, err 4, divas have left the room, Finn sticks up for Rachel. Quinn, of course, has something to say about this along the lines of “you always defend her.” Finn, intimated by her ‘scary Quinn’ fumbles and blurts “because she’s my girlfriend” WHICH IS NOT TRUE AT THIS POINT. Quinn dumps him on the spot, cuts quickly to Blaine and Kurt sharing some ‘oh my god, can you believe this’ expressions, and vanishes from the room.

By this point, Rachel is long gone from the auditorium but the bridge is still there.

Here’s where we go way off script but imagine, Quinn has decided to just quit boys. They’ve all failed her anyway, she’s better off being alone. She walks up the bridge and thinks to herself “god Rachel’s so dramatic, where did this thing even come from” before it hits her “fuck, I’m as bad as Finn. I want her.” Then, she starts singing Clean to herself in the auditorium, likely tearing up throughout and ending with a good cry. (Because Dianna would DELIVER with Clean.)

While Quinn is having a sexuality crisis, the rest of glee is still happening. They’re discussing upcoming competition and debating solos and songs.

Kurt’s all: “Mr. Schue, if I may” and performs a lovely rendition of Call It What You Want. Those opening lines are too good. “My castle (ie McKinley) crumbled overnight, brought a knife to a gun fight (ie couldn’t fight off Dave Karofsky), “I’m doing better than I ever was ‘cause my baby’s fit like a daydream,” and “at least I did one thing right.” When he’s done, Blaine’s a mess in the back of the choir room, and Mr. Schue says: “not really what we’re looking for but very nice, Kurt” however, Kurt’s too busy sitting beside Blaine teasing him about blushing.  

Then, the missing girls return to the room having sung out their emotions. Quinn, having realized her feelings for Rachel, ends up soloing You Belong With Me to the New Directions in the choir room. Odd looks all around, no one knows what’s up with her and why does she keep glancing at Rachel? (Faberry just fit so well I had to add it, don’t know if I’m a shipper or not but it’s here now) (also thanks to @spicygemini for pointing out the obvious “Quinn would have ate YBWY”).

Mr. Schue wants to move the group to the audition to perform their final number of the Taylor Swift tribute well but Tina asks to sing first. He’s surprised but allows it, taking a seat with the rest of the New Directions.

Tina sings Beautiful Ghosts. “Watch from the dark, wait for my life to start” because New Directions is refusing to use her talents AGAIN. She’s singing this to Rachel and the girls who were in the Treble Tones. Because she absolutely SMASHES this number, the glee kids agree she gets solo for their next competition (and they deliver on that promise).

To conclude Part 2 of the Taylor tribute episode, we have a group performance of Long Live. “One day we will be remembered”, “all the years we stood there on the sidelines wishing for right now”, “for a moment a band of thrives in ripped up jeans got to rule the world” ie wining completions, “when they look at the pictures please tell them my name...”

[kingjasnah]

Is there the full list of brandersons favourite games reposted somewhere?

i dont think so? or not that ive seen. u can literally just sign up for the newsletter on his website but screw it ill just post them for u. it sure was a TRIP scrolling past these to get to the interlude though. undertale is on this list.....im shakign at the thought that adolin was based off ff10 tidus but i cant get it out of my head now

#10: Katamari Damaci

I love things that make me look at the world in a new way. Katamari did this in spades. It is an imaginative, bizarre vision with unique gameplay. It is like nothing else in the world and I love it for all its strangeness and occasional lack of gameplay polish.

I was transfixed the first time I played it, and have looked forward to it being remade and rereleased on multiple different consoles. I love the cute—and somehow creepy at the same time—storyline. It feels like a fever dream more than a game sometimes, and is probably the closest I’ll ever get to understanding what it’s like to do drugs.

#9: Undertale

This is an oddball on this list because I think it’s the only game that is not a franchise from a major studio—but is instead an indie game, which I believe was originally funded on Kickstarter.I loved how this felt like a novel as much as a game. It was one person’s vision; a single story told really well, with a huge amount of personality. The humor was just my kind of wonderful/terrible, and I was instantly enamored with the characters.That probably would have been enough, but it is a nice deconstruction of video games as a medium—and has not one, but multiple innovative gameplay mechanics. Together, the package left me enamored. This is a work of genius that I feel everyone should at least try, even if it ends up not being for them.

#8: Fallout: New Vegas

I have played all of the core Fallout games, and I was one of the (it seems few) who was really excited when it moved from turn-based tactics to first-person shooter. While Fallout 3 was good, it didn’t have the charm of the first two.New Vegas delivered on everything I was hoping to see. The charm was back, the writing sharp, the quests imaginative. The gameplay was engaging and branched in a variety of directions, the gunplay was solid, and the atmosphere immersive. I of course love the first two games in the series—but New Vegas combines everything I like in gaming into one package. (As a note, I own the Outer Worlds, and am looking forward to digging into it. Consider this item on the list a recommendation of other Obsidian games—like Knights of the Old Republic Two—regardless of genre, as I’ve found them universally to be superior to their contemporaries.)

#7 Super Mario World

When I was eleven, I flew (alone, which was very exciting to me) from Nebraska to visit my uncle Devon in Salt Lake City. Before I left, my father gave me $200 and told me to pay for my own meals while on the trip—but of course, my uncle didn’t allow this. At the end of the trip, I tried to give him the money, which he wouldn’t take.I mentioned my dad would take the money back when I got home, but that was okay. Well, my uncle would have none of that, and drove me to the local mall and made me spend it on a Nintendo Entertainment System. (This uncle, you might guess, is an awesome human being.)Since that day of first plugging it in and experiencing Mario for the first time, I was hooked. This is the only platformer on the list, as I don’t love those. But one makes an exception for Mario. There’s just so much polish, so much elegance to the control schemes, that even a guy who prefers an FPS or an RPG like me has to admit these are great games. I picked World as my favorite as it’s the one I’ve gone back to and played the most.

#7: The Curse of Monkey Island (Monkey Island 3)

I kind of miss the golden age of adventure gaming, and I don’t know that anyone ever got it as right as they did with this game. It is the pinnacle of the genre, in my opinion—no offense to Grim Fandango fans.This game came out right before gaming’s awkward teenage phase where everything moved to 3-d polygons. For a while after, games looked pretty bad, though they could do more because of the swap. But if you want to go see what life was like before that change, play Monkey Island 3. Composed of beautiful art pieces that look like cells from Disney movies, with streamlined controls (the genre had come a long way from “Get yon torch”) and fantastic voice acting, this game still plays really well.This is one of the few games I’ve been able to get my non-gamer wife to play through with me, and it worked really well as a co-op game with the two of us trying to talk through problems. It’s a lovingly crafted time capsule of a previous era of gaming, and if you missed it, it’s really worth trying all these years later. (The first and second games hold up surprisingly well too, as a note, particularly with the redone art that came out a decade or so ago.)Also, again, this one has my kind of humor.

#6: Breath of the Wild

I never thought a Zelda game would unseat A Link to the Past as my favorite Zelda, but Breath of the Wild managed it. It combined the magic of classic gameplay with modern design aesthetic, and I loved this game.There’s not a lot to say about it that others haven’t said before, but I particularly liked how it took the elements of the previous games in the series (giving you specific tools to beat specific challenges) and let you have them all at once. I like how the dungeons became little mini puzzles to beat, instead of (sometimes seemingly endless) slogs to get through. I liked the exploration, the fluidity of the controls, and the use of a non-linear narrative in flashbacks. It’s worth buying a Switch just to play this one and Mario—but in case you want, you can also play Dark Souls on Switch... (That’s foreshadowing.)

#5: Halo 2

Telling stories about Halo Two on stream is what made me think of writing this list.I’m sometimes surprised that this game isn’t talked about as much as I think it should be. Granted, the franchise is very popular—but people tend to love either Reach or games 1 or 3 more than two. Two, however, is the only one I ever wanted to replay—and I’ve done so three or four times at this point. (It’s also the only one I ever beat on Legendary.)It’s made me think on why I love this one, while so many others seem to just consider it one of many in a strong—but in many ways unexceptional—series of games. I think part of this is because I focus primarily on the single-player aspects of a game (which is why there aren’t any MMOs on this list.) Others prefer Halo games with more balanced/polished multiplayer. But I like to game by myself, and don’t really look for a multiplayer experience. (Though this is changing as I game with my sons more and more.)I really like good writing—which I suppose you’d expect. But in games, I specifically prefer writing that enhances the style of game I’m playing. Just dumping a bunch of story on me isn’t enough; it has to be suited to the gameplay and the feel of the game. In that context, I’ve rarely encountered writing as good as Halo 2. From the opening—with the intercutting and juxtaposition of the two narratives—to the quotes barked out by the marines, the writing in this game is great. It stands out starkly against other Halo games, to the point that I wonder what the difference is.Yes, Halo Two is a bombastic hero fantasy about a super soldier stomping aliens. But it has subtle, yet powerful worldbuilding sprinkled all through it—and the music...it does things with the story that I envy. It’s kind of cheating that games and films get to have powerful scores to help with mood.The guns in Two feel so much better than Halo One, and the vehicles drive far better. The only complaint I have is that it’s only half a story—as in, Halo 2 and 3 seem like they were one game broken in two pieces. And while 3 is good (and Reach does something different, which I approve of in general) neither did it for me the way Two did, and continues to do.

#3: Final Fantasy X

You probably knew Final Fantasy was coming. People often ask if the way these games handle magic was an influence upon me. All I can say is that I’ve played them since the first one, and so they’re bound to have had an influence.On one hand, these games are really strange. I mean, I don’t think we gamers stop quite often enough to note how downright bizarre this series gets. Final Fantasy doesn’t always make the most sense—but the games are always ambitious.Ten is my favorite for a couple of reasons. I felt like the worldbuilding was among the strongest, and I really connected with the characters. That’s strange, because this is one of the FF games without an angst-filled teen as the protagonist. Instead, it has a kind of stable happy-go-lucky jock as the protagonist.But that’s what I needed, right then. A game that didn’t give me the same old protagonist, but instead gave me someone new and showed me I could bond to them just as well. Ten was the first with full voice acting, and that jump added a lot for me. It has my favorite music of the series, and all together is what I consider the perfect final fantasy game. (Though admittedly, I find it more and more difficult to get into turn-based battle mechanics as I grow older.)

#2: Bloodborne

Those who follow my streams, or who read other interviews I’ve done, probably expected this series to be at or near the top. The question wasn’t whether Souls would be here, but which one to pick as my favorite.I went with Bloodborne, though it could have been any of them. (Even Dark Souls 2—which I really like, despite its reputation in the fandom.) I’ve been following FromSoftware’s games since the King’s Field games, and Demon’s Souls was a huge triumph—with the director Hidetaka Miyazaki deserving much of the praise for its design, and Dark Souls (which is really just a more polished version of Demon’s Souls).As I am a fan of cosmic horror, Bloodborne is probably my favorite overall. It really hit the mix of cosmic and gothic horror perfectly. It forced me to change up my gameplay from the other Souls games, and I loved the beautiful visuals.I am a fan of hard games—but I like hard games that are what I consider “fair.” (For example, I don’t love those impossible fan-made Mario levels, or many of the super-crazy “bullet hell”-style games.) Dark Souls is a different kind of hard. Difficult like a stern instructor, expecting you to learn—but giving you the tools to do so. It presents a challenge, rather than being hard just to be hard.If I have a problem with Final Fantasy, it’s that the games sometimes feel like the gameplay is an afterthought to telling the story. But in the Souls games, story and gameplay are intermixed in a way I’d never seen done before. You have to construct the story like an archeologist, using dialogue and lore from descriptions of in-game objects. I find this fascinating; the series tells stories in a way a book never could. I’m always glad when a game series can show off the specific strengths of the medium.In fact, this series would be #1 except for the little fact that I have way too much time on Steam logged playing...

#1: Civilization VI

This series had to take #1 by sheer weight of gameplay time. I discovered the first on a friend’s computer in the dorms my freshman year—and I can still remember the feeling of the birds chirping outside, realizing I’d been playing all night and really should get back to my own dorm room.That still happens, and has happened, with every game in the series. I have a lot of thoughts on this series, many of them granular and too specific for this list. (Like, it’s obvious AI technology isn’t up to the task of playing a game this complex—so could we instead get a roguelike set of modifiers, game modes, etc. to liven up the games, rather than just having a difficulty slider that changes a few simple aspects of the game?)I’ll try not to rant, because I really do love this game series. A lot of people consider IV to be the pinnacle of the series, but after V unstacked units—and VI unstacked cities—there was no way I could ever go back. If for some reason, you’ve never played this grand patriarch of the 4X game genre, it’s about starting with a single stone-age settler who can found a city—then playing through eras of a civilization, growing your empire, to try to eventually get offworld with a space program. (Or, if you prefer, conquering the world.)It’s a load of fun in the way I like to have fun, and I feel like the series has only gotten better over the years. My hat is off to the developers, who keep reinventing the series, rather than making the exact same game over and over.Now, about that request for difficulty modes...

there are runner ups but for the sake of anyone whos on mobile and cant get past a read more (first of all omg im SO sorry) ill refrain. anyway he thought WHAT loz game was the best before botw?

[bltngames]

SAGE 2020: Fan Games

I’d hoped to have this article out a little bit sooner, but I overestimated how long it would take to write about some of these games. Whoops! Like I said when I outlined the posting “schedule” on the first day, we’re playing it fast and loose, so this is just what you get.

Today is the day I talk about fan games! And even though SAGE has “Sonic” right there in the acronym, it’s always hosted fan games from all types, so today we’ve got Mega Man, Mario, Rayman, and even fan games of fan games, if you can believe it.

Sonic Pinball Panic!

Pinball is one of those things where I’ve always been obsessed with it, but never very good at it. And now, with access to digital pinball collections like Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX, I don’t actually find myself playing as much pinball as I thought I would when I was 14 years old. Still, I find myself fascinated by a good pinball table, and this honestly caught me off guard. This could very easily be an official DLC release for one of those aforementioned pinball collections and I wouldn’t even bat an eyelash (in fact, if you ask me, this is better than Pinball FX, which has always had weird ball physics). This looks, sounds, and functions exactly like a real pinball table should. My complaints are minor: for starters, the table feels kind of easy. I’ve never been a pinball wizard, but I was losing balls left and right here and it still took a good 15 minutes before I finally got a game over. Score accumulation is also pretty slow; most pinball tables will dump millions and millions of points on you, but here, it felt like a struggle just to reach the 379k I finished with. Both contribute to the fact that the table feels a little flat, like it’s missing a spark to really put it over the top. And, third, it would be nice if it had controller support. The keyboard works just fine, here (it’s just pinball, after all) but I find that the triggers on a controller feel really good with pinball flippers, and mapping the plunger to the right stick is great, too. This is a Unity game, so I wouldn’t think it’d be that hard to hook it up to the controller mapper. Still, I came away impressed.

Mega Man: Perfect Blue

There are two things out there that always give me pause: fan-made Doom level packs, and Mega Man fan games. Fan made gaming content generally has problems when it comes to difficulty balancing anyway, but these games have earned a certain reputation for their difficulty, which creates a problem when you have content made by fans, for fans. This insularity means these things are usually way too hard for what I would consider “normal” people (read: casual fans and outsiders). Add on to the fact that I’d even say that there are official Mega Man games with bad difficulty balancing, and you have a recipe for frustration. Sadly, this is how I’d characterize Perfect Blue: though this introductory level isn’t impossibly hard, it’s definitely pushing that edge where it’s not very accommodating to someone who hasn’t played and finished every Classic Mega Man game ever made. It almost immediately throws you into scenarios where you have jumps you can barely reach, insta-kill spikes, and enemies that not only actively dodge your shots, but invincible enemies that launch counter attack homing missiles. And then it starts making you juggle all of this stuff, together, at the same time. None of this is insurmountable as long as you’re paying attention, but as a very casual Mega Man fan, it’s an unfriendly first impression and makes me worried about what the rest of the game is going to be like as the challenge naturally ramps up. For those hardcore Mega Man fans among you, the rest of this is solid, at least. The presentation and controls are excellent, and the new sprites are beautiful. It’s a game I’d love to enjoy when it’s done… but I’m assuming I’ll be left out in the cold. A shame, really, because there’s so much promise here.

Sonic and the Mayhem Master

There’s a lot to like about this game, but there’s a part of me that really wonders if this should even be considered a Sonic fan game. Mayhem Master’s depictions of Sonic and Amy Rose are atypical to put it mildly. Here, Sonic seems to be a bookish nerd of sorts, a sidekick to Amy Rose, who has been turned into a burnt out, cigar-smoking detective. Most of the game plays out as half an adventure game, half an RPG, where you roam around the world talking to NPCs and gather clues while being assaulted by random battles. The battle system is super off-the-wall, too, perhaps taking inspirations from games like Mario & Luigi and Undertale. This means that battles aren’t passive -- you spend most of each fight dodging or nullifying incoming attacks with simplistic action-based commands. It’s weird, and different, and occasionally even a little bit overwhelming. That’s kind of the whole game, really. It’s the sort of thing that really doesn’t feel like a Sonic game at all, but it also doesn’t feel bad. The artwork is very charming, I’m interested in seeing the characters develop, and there’s plenty of worldbuilding and mystery. Would this still be as intriguing if you removed the Sonic connection, even if it’s so threadbare? That’s a hard question to answer. I know that some of my interest in this game is seeing how it spins more familiar Sonic elements into something that’s completely different. Worth checking out, for curiosity’s sake if nothing else.

Sonic and the Dreamcatcher

This is a fairly brilliant little game with two unfortunate quirks. If you didn’t know, the special stages in the original Sonic the Hedgehog were inspired by an arcade game of the era called Cameltry, published by Taito in 1989. Now, Sonic’s special stages were different enough from Cameltry that it wasn’t a case of Sega outright stealing the gameplay, but there’s a clear lineage there, and it only becomes clearer when you compare the special stages in Sonic 4 Episode 1 to Cameltry (spoilers: in that game, they’re nearly identical). Dreamcatcher is also from this lineage, but is infinitely more charming than either Sonic 4 and maybe even Cameltry itself. The idea is that you must collect a specific number of blue spheres in order to reveal the Chaos Emerald, after which you have a limited amount of time to find and collect it. It’s very simple, but the presentation really sells the game’s charm. It’s just a game that looks good and sounds good, with an interesting premise executed very well. Also, you get a dedicated “& Knuckles” button to spawn infinite Knuckles to help you collect blue spheres and bash enemies. Being able to have unlimited numbers of these guys sounds like it would break the game, but once that countdown clock begins, the last thing you need is 20+ echidnas clogging up the route back to the emerald. The first quirk this game suffers from is that there’s only two levels. Parts of this have a very “game jam made in a weekend” vibe to it despite the rock-solid music, sound, and gameplay, and only having two levels contributes to that. Hopefully more are coming in the future. The other quirk? You can’t actually download this game -- it’s embedded in a webpage. I’m sure this is to make it easy to play on any platform with a web browser (phones, PCs, etc.) but I find myself greatly desiring a hard copy of this game that can live on my computer forever.

Sonic Galactic

Now here’s just a good old fashioned Sonic fan game. Though it clearly takes inspiration from Sonic Mania’s aesthetics in some places, it’s clearly doing its own thing, featuring not just the core cast of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, but also Fang the Sniper, and even a brand new character named Tunnel the Mole. Unlike a lot of Sonic fan games at SAGE, this appears to be using something besides Clickteam Fusion, Game Maker, or Unity. Here, it’s the “Hatch Game Engine,” whatever that is. Whatever the case may be, the game runs very well and is basically indistinguishable from just playing Sonic Mania. Visuals are sharp, music’s good, the two included boss fights are surprisingly fun to fight -- everything seems to be in order. As a result, there’s not really a lot to say. This is just a good, fun game. Anything else I’d say would come off sounding like nitpicks. For example, there’s no way to set graphics options yet, so the game is stuck in 2x Windowed mode. Fang and Tunnel are cute additions, but I wonder how much utility they have as characters. Unless I missed something, Fang’s pop gun is mainly for a weak double-jump ability, and Tunnel’s ability to dig and ricochet off floors, walls and ceilings is cool, but it doesn’t have quite the universal utility of Tails’ flight or Knuckles climbing and gliding. It’ll be interesting to see how or maybe even if their abilities have a chance to grow into something special. Anyway, like I said, those are nitpicks, so try to give this a shot if you can.

Sonic Robo-Blast!

Remasters seem to be a bit of a theme this SAGE, between Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit, Sonic 2 SMS, Sonic 1 Revisited, but this is perhaps the most surprising of them all: a loving remaster of the original Sonic Robo-Blast. SRB1 was perhaps one of the first true “landmark” fan games, given that it was basically a whole entire game that people could play. It's not a stretch to say that SRB1 probably helped kickstart the fan gaming community that still survives to this day -- I certainly owe my involvement in the community to seeing SRB1 for the first time. The problem is, as historically significant as the game might be, it’s nearly impossible to go back to nowadays -- it’s much, much too dated to be any fun. This remaster completely re-envisions SRB1 as a regular Sonic game, while also pulling in gameplay elements from Sonic Robo-Blast 2. It’s a bit of a time paradox mindwarp, but it helps give it a bit more personality than just making a bog-standard 2D Sonic. It works, aided by the fact the sprites, music and overall presentation are fantastic. The only downside is the Act 2 boss, which commits the cardinal sin of taking away player agency and making you wait around far too much. Here’s hoping this gets finished, because it’s definitely on my radar now.

Super Mario Flashback

This has been floating around for a few years now and I’m glad to see it’s finally starting to get some more substantial content as it moves towards becoming an actual game. That being said, this is also one of those games that’s kind of hard to talk about because it’s just… really polished. The art is incredible, it controls exactly like a Mario game, and there’s already a decent mixture of ideas at play in the demo. Anything else I’d say would sound like nitpicking -- like, for example, the backseat game designer in me wonders if maybe the game is prioritizing aesthetics a little too much. This is a wonderfully animated game, absolutely gorgeous, but some actions, like the butt-stomp and the wall kick, feel a bit sluggish, and I think it’s because they show off fancy animations. Even if it’s a split second, waiting for Mario to attach to a wall to kick off of it feels slow. Really, though, that’s an insignificant complaint. This demo is still well worth checking out.

Sonic Advance 4 Advanced

This game seems like a greatest-hits of Dimps best ideas, spanning the first Sonic Advance all the way to Sonic Rush. There’s just one problem: the game seems broken. Now, my desktop PC is starting to show its age. I built it four and a half years ago, and though it can handle game like Gears of War 5 on high settings at 60fps, slowly, newer games seem to be leaving it behind. That being said, I don’t think a game like Sonic Advance 4 here should be running at what appears to be half its intended speed. It also originally launched in a teeny-tiny window (we’re talking, like, smaller than a postage stamp) and even though the options menu has a toggle for full screen mode, it doesn’t want to work. Something about this game under the hood seems to be struggling very, very, VERY hard. It’s a shame, because if this actually played at the proper speed, it seems like it might actually be an alright game, if a bit complex and busy.

Sonic 2 SMS Remake

Here’s a game I was all buckled in expecting to enjoy. Like it says on the tin, this is a remake of Sonic 2 for the Master System (and Game Gear), but with wide screen visuals and huge expansions to the mechanics, roster of playable characters, and levels. On the outside it seems really impressive, and to a certain degree it is, but something about the controls feel a little off. Sonic’s heavier here than he is on the Master System, perhaps to simulate “real” Sonic physics a little more accurately, but you can also pretty much stop on a dime, and the combination of the two feels awkward. The camera also needs a lot of work, as it’s basic at best and does a poor job of letting you see what’s below (to the dev if you’re reading this: there’s actually video tutorials out there on how 2D scrolling cameras work, it might be worth looking a couple of them up). It also leans into some of the tech limitations of the Master System, like how you aren’t given any rings for boss fights (and even hiding the HUD, a move done to save on resources for the large enemy sprites). I could be picky on a bunch of other little stuff, too, like how the flight mechanics feel, but there are other games to play at SAGE and I’ve got at least two more articles to write. Needless to say, this is a solid (impressive, even) foundation but it’s missing a lot of late-stage polish to clean up the tiny little rough edges.

Rayman Redemption

I tell this story every so often, but it was about three quarters of the way through Rayman 2 on the Sega Dreamcast when it struck me, suddenly: I love this game. I was being chased by a pirate ship through some rickety bridges and even though I was dying over and over and over again, I realized I had been enjoying Rayman 2 enough that I might put it in my top ten Dreamcast games. But that was 2002, and the years haven’t been so kind to ol’ Rayman. From the strangely celebrity-infused Rayman 3, to the tragedy of Rayman 4 (eventually becoming Raving Rabbids) to the endless, careless ports of Rayman 2 to every platform under the sun, one gets the impression Ubisoft maybe didn’t know what to do with Rayman. Especially now, when most of Ubisoft’s games are some form of online live service or cookie cutter open world experience (or increasingly both). But the fans know what they want. Rayman Redemption takes the original 1995 Rayman game and lovingly gives it a fresh coat of paint. The results are akin to what Taxman and Stealth did for Sonic CD in 2011, with wide screen visuals, improved controls, touched up level design, but gameplay that still feels faithful and accurate to the original experience. Except that Sega charged money for that, and here, fans have released this for free. Ubisoft’s loss, I guess. I didn’t play Rayman 1 until well after I’d finished Rayman 2, and I’ll admit, I kind of bounced off of it back then. It felt slow, and awkward, and when the difficulty ramped up, it got very hard, very quickly. Now, admittedly, I’ve only put about 30 minutes into Redemption here, but just the addition of a run button is incredibly welcome, and the retooled level design and powerup mechanics helps the game feel way less obtuse overall. It’s just a cleaner, tighter, more accessible and more polished version of Rayman.

Stay tuned for the next article: Indie games.

[onlyinmyimagination]

Love is Blind

Jason Todd X Reader

This did not turn out how I wanted at all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe I’ll attempt a rewrite in the future but right now I am so tired of this story. I sincerely hope you guys like it more than I do. I’m so done.

Very loosely based on this prompt: “As a dating company professional, I never thought that I’d be able to match you with anyone because honestly, you’re such a terrible human being. But, in our search we found someone who fits your profile, and since you paid us to help you find a match, here is their information. God Help us.“

Also inspired by those social media au posts that float around the fandom. those are bomb af.

Genre: Romance, fluff I guess idk

Sorta social media au/celebrity au??? idk (someone tell me what kind of AU you think this is)

Warnings: Some foul language.

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It started when Jason needed to quickly get a date to a launch party of some clothing brand by Wayne Enterprises (he never really cares for whatever new business venture Bruce Wayne busies himself with). He was supposed to glam it up with a partner at his side but he had put it off until the very last minute. His solution was to call up a reputable dating company because he simply didn’t have the time to screen the potential candidates on Tinder. And just like that, you were the dating professional assigned to him and he became your client.  

He hadn’t been the politest over the phone. He had been curt, a little aggressive, and much too particular about his preferences. Right away you knew he was trouble. But you resolved to do your best and stay professional. You had to compile his profile quickly and it was then that you found out that your newest client is a local celebrity. Hearing the name Jason Todd over the phone didn’t ring any bells at the time, but upon further research on your client you knew he’d be a challenge.

He had said he needed a date in less than a week and to his relief, you were able to meet him the next day with a potential match. Upon seeing your client in person you realized why his demands were so high. Not only is he the son of a billionaire, he’s also ridiculously good-looking and oddly intimidating. It must’ve been hard to find a suitable partner all by himself.

He had introduced himself, even though you knew very well who he was. He didn’t have as much attitude as he did over the phone, and he didn’t act as haughty as you expected him to be. With a practiced script and a customer service smile plastered on your lips, you invited him to sit at a nearby café while you reviewed the file of his potential partner with him.

He took the information with satisfaction and thanked you for your time. Unfortunately he didn’t last long with the match you found him, and you got another call from him a few weeks later. He needed another partner for an upcoming gala. And thus, the cycle continued to repeat itself, with your patience wearing thin and professionalism quickly dissipating with a few months. Before you met Jason Todd Wayne you’ve had a near perfect reputation, with an almost one hundred percent success rate with your clients. But he was ruining your reputation and it upset you tremendously.

“Jason, did you seriously ditch her last night?”

“It’s not what you think!”

“What do you...” you pause to take a deep breath and calm yourself.  You continue, “You literally ditched her at a party you brought her to.”

“Yeah, but for a good reason!”

“And what reason would that be?”

“Uhhh...I can’t say. But it really was a good reason!”

You give a skeptical look. “Did you even call her afterwards? Did you even think to apologize for leaving her alone?”

“...No. I got a little sidetracked, but I’ll do it right now!”

“She doesn’t want to see you again. I doubt she’ll want to talk to you.”

“Well that’s her loss.”

“Is it really, though,” you mutter to yourself.

“She seemed more than happy with me last night.” Then he adds, “Before I left her anyway.”

“What a coincidence—she said the same thing to me. I painstakingly searched through hundreds of files for her, and this is what you do? After you messed up all those other dates, it’s been near impossible digging up more matches for you.”

“I know, I know. I’m an asshole. But I also know you’ll find me another date in time for Bruce Wayne’s next big gala.”

“Can you at least try to be nice,” you say while shaking your head and rummaging through your files. “Nicer, I mean. I’m trying to find a potential lifelong partner for you here.”

“No guarantees, cupid.”

You eye him as you press your lips into a thin line. “I found a realtor who lives less than an hour away. Her profile is similar to your past matches and she seemed like she’d be able to put up with you. Realtors tend to have a lot of patience. Very admirable.”

“That’s pretty cold of you to say.”

“At this point, the one I feel sorry for is her.”

“Brrr...chilly.”

“From all the complaints I’ve been getting, you’re not exactly the easiest to be around.”

“You’re holding up just fine.”

“It’s part of my job.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that we’ve hung out longer than I’ve dated any of the partners you’ve set me up with. Technically you could say,” he says slowly, suggestively, “I’ve been on more dates with you than any of those matches of yours.”

“Like any of that is my fault. You get dumped after one date almost every time and I’ve got to set up a new match for you in time for your next big party.”

“Why don’t you just be my date from now on?”

“Not gonna happen. I don’t get involved with my clients.”

“A little uptight, aren’t you?”

“If you’re just going to pester me about how I do my job, then this meeting is over. I’ll see you in a week after this next one dumps you.”

“That’s ice cold.”

“We’ll see what happens in a week.” You plaster a professional smile on your face as you bid him goodbye but once you turn around you bite your lip anxiously. You didn’t want to admit his nonchalant invitation to be his date made your chest squeeze. Just the slightest interest toward you has you feeling a little too giddy even when you keep reminding yourself how much of a jerk he is. The more he flirts with you, the harder it is to stay professional. You feel awful and guilty about it, but you don’t get many chances to feel this way.  

Being a professional matchmaker left you on the sidelines as you constantly watch couples meet and fall in love. Finding love for yourself just seemed to be out of reach for you when you’re busy finding love for other people. And pursuing romance with Jason Todd is entirely out of the question. It became impossible the moment he became your client. So, you vow to keep him at a distance.

Just as you had predicted, a week passes and Jason Todd Wayne contacts you again for another meeting to discuss another partner.

You glance at the time and see that he’s twenty minutes late. You roll your eyes at this. It’s nothing new. His lack of punctuality is part of the reason his dates got so fed up with him. Bored, you scan your surroundings and see an ice cream shop next to the café. Seeing no harm in getting yourself a treat, you buy a scoop of your favorite flavor. You choose the cone over the cup to savor your treat. The purchase takes only a few minutes and you’re soon back at your meeting spot, with still no sign of Jason, of course. It’s a few more minutes later when you hear your name being called.

Pausing mid-bite, you turn to see Jason and don’t bother with a greeting. “See? What’d I tell you? It’s been a week.”

He chooses to ignore your jab and says, “Is that ice cream? You bought ice cream without me?” You’re caught off guard for a moment and you open your mouth to answer but he continues childishly, “Let me have some.” His hand is suddenly around your hand that’s holding the ice cream cone, and he’s guiding it to his mouth.

You’re fumbling over your words as he takes a bite and you finally say, “Go get your own!” You snatch your hand out of his grasp and gesture to the ice cream shop. He licks the ice cream from his lips as he looks over to the shop. That’s when you see the side of his face where a greenish-yellow bruise adorns the outer corner of his eye, just below his eyebrow.  

“What the hell? That was not there last week” you say, lifting a hand as if to touch his face. Then you realize what you’re doing and drop your hand again. “That looks bad. Did you ice it?”

“I did. But you should’ve seen it last night, it was so much worse,” he says good-humoredly but then clamps his mouth shut as if he had just revealed a secret.

“I don’t even want to know,” you remark with a shake of your head. You had heard about Jason’s mysterious bruises and wounds, but you never saw them on the visible parts of his body. Your clients on the other hand had often complained about him showing up with mysterious injuries, suspecting him of getting into brawls, fooling around with other lovers, and God knows what. You understand now why they chose to break up with him. Showing up with serious injuries and refusing to offer an explanation as to how he got them (or making some outlandish lie) would make anyone in his company uncomfortable. It’s disconcerting. But the longer you stare at his bruised face, the more you pity him. “Let’s just get you some ice cream.”

“For my face?” His fingers lightly brush over his bruise.

“I was thinking for your mouth or your stomach.”

He laughs and makes his way into the ice cream store. “What flavor should I get?” he asks as you follow him inside.

“Just get your favorite flavor,” you suggest curtly.

“But that’s boring. Predictable.”

You roll your eyes. “Then try a new flavor.”

“What if I don’t like it?”

You act annoyed to keep up a withdrawn attitude toward him. But if you didn’t know better, he seems like he’s biding his time on purpose and you can’t help but wonder why. “Please just choose something, Jason.”

He’s not fazed by your snippy attitude and asks, “You don’t want to share with me?��� He stuffs his hands into his pockets as he examines the choices beneath the glass.

“You can share with your next date partner,” you suggest as you continue consuming your treat. He narrows his eyes at you and you hide your smile behind your ice cream.

“You’re no fun,” he mumbles.

It takes an agonizingly long time with a lot of back and forth between you before he could successfully pick a flavor. Then, in an unexpected turn of events, you both end up walking around while finishing your cold treats. You discuss the next profile with him as you both stroll leisurely through a shopping center. During this time, you find Jason isn’t all that bad. The complaints about him have been mostly regarding his carelessness after all, rather than his attitude. But you hate that you find him so charming. As if his good looks didn’t make you curse him enough already.  

The next time you see Jason is after a few weeks and you’ve agreed to meet at a local bookstore. You’re not surprised to find that once again, Jason is late and nowhere to be seen. While skimming the shelves, a book catches your eye and you flip through it curiously.  

“That book isn’t very interesting.”  

You turn to the familiar voice and shut the book. “Then what do you recommend?” you ask lightly, remembering that reading is listed as one of his hobbies.

“Well, you can’t go wrong with the classics.”

“Classics? As in?” you prod with a raised brow.

“Well there’s Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters,” he says. “What kind of stories do you like? Or do you like poetry? Plays?”

You hadn’t expected him to ask so much about your interests. But you remind yourself to stay professional, so you steer the conversation to the purpose of the meeting. “We can discuss books next time. I have another client’s profile for you.”

“Still as uptight as ever. Thought you eased up a little since we last met.”

“It was...a unique occasion. I won’t let it happen again,” you say while turning away in case your face gives anything away.

“So I have to get knocked around a little for you to be nice to me?”

“I am nice to you,” you say indignantly. “I’m just trying to do my job and find suitable partners for you.”

“Alright, cupid. Then who do you have for me today?” he asks with annoyance, holding out his hand for the file. He acts almost... sulky.

You hand him a folder and he flips through it quickly. You explain, “They live almost two hours away but—”  

“Too far,” he states as he closes the folder and gives it back to you. His dismissive attitude stuns you and you look back at him with a bewildered expression. Jason had never declined the potential partners you’ve presented to him before. Then he says, “Can’t you just be my date from now on, cupid?”

You blink and take a moment to gather yourself. “I told you, I don’t get involved with my clients.”

"What do I have to do to get a date with you? Am I supposed to fire you? Even for me, that’s kind of a douche-y thing to do.”

Your breath still at this. The thought of being fired distresses you, but at the same time, Jason’s intention behind his words has your heart racing.

“Are you serious?” you ask.

“Yeah. You gotta admit we have fun together, right? And don’t say it’s because it’s your job.” He is interrupted when his phone suddenly goes off and he takes out the device as if he had just gotten an important notification. You cross your arms while waiting for his attention to return to the conversation. As he scrolls through his phone, you wonder fleetingly if he’s simply just tired of all his failed partners you’ve matched him with. “Listen, I gotta run,” he says while stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “But how about we meet again tomorrow? Are you free?” Realizing he’s ready to speed off, you stop him with a pointed finger.

“Hold it right there! You can’t just ditch our meeting today!”

“But—but it’s an emergency!” he insists.

“Then come back after!” you reply. “If you really need to talk to me then meet me in front of the library at eight tonight. That’s where I’m meeting my last client today and I should be done by then. Will you be able to come?”

“Uh, I guess I could do that.” He looks unsure as he glances at the time.

“Try, Jason. I have meetings with other clients tomorrow so unless you can wait a few more days, that’s the best I can do.”

“Okay, okay. Tonight in front of the library, got it.”

You don’t manage to get another word in as he takes his leave. This must be the infamous disappearance act where he just ups and leaves, ditching his partners. Despite being annoyed with his flaky attitude, you’re more bothered by the conversation that just transpired. Did he really want to fire you?  

Regardless of whether he fires you or you resign as his matchmaker, you aren’t even sure it would work out with Jason if you agree to a date him. You didn’t exactly approve of his attitude after all, and who’s to say the relationship would last? You wouldn’t even be able to go back to being matchmaker and client if you ended up breaking it off, and then you would have no reason to contact him again. The thought leaves you feeling strangely forlorn, so you push the thoughts away and continue your day.

Later that night you bid your last client goodbye and you loiter around the supposed meeting spot. As expected, Jason is nowhere to be seen, and you lazily sit on the cement planters in front of the library to wait for him. After thirty minutes, you toy with the idea of calling him. But you conclude that he’s just being his usual self.  

While waiting, you pass the time on your phone. You visit Jason’s Instagram profile, telling yourself the action is strictly professional and for the sake of research. You notice a post from yesterday. It’s a picture of a playbill for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He must’ve gone to see the play locally. You scroll down a bit to read the accompanying caption he wrote:  

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

“Cupid, huh,” you mutter under your breath. The post has half a million likes and hundreds of comments, most of which are heart emojis. Did Gotham even have that many people in it? You don’t dwell on it too long and proceed to add the activity to his dating profile.

It’s another thirty minutes later when a noise behind you draws your attention and makes you flinch. It sounded like a thud, like something had fallen.  

“Why are you still here?” a voice asks, and you turn to face the infamous vigilante in the red helmet. “It’s late. You should be home.”

Red Hood is addressing you and it stuns you. But you’re distracted by the way he slowly staggers forward while leaning on the side of the building for support. This guy is not in the best shape.

“I’m supposed to be meeting someone,” you say unsurely as you stand. Not many people have had the opportunity to converse with Gotham’s vigilantes. Not as common an occurrence as one would think. “Am I not supposed to be here? Um, should I go?” You can’t help but dwell on his wording, the way he had phrased his words. A sudden thought creeps into the back of your mind that you didn’t want to surface, that you didn’t want to acknowledge.

“Heh. I’ve always thought that seriousness of yours is pretty cute.” Then he loses balance and falls forward.  

“Are you okay?!” you exclaim. Instinctively, you move forward to catch him and the next thing you know, you’re holding up half his body weight. As you help lower him to a more comfortable position on the floor you slowly register his words, and when you do, your breath stills. You had tried to push it down, keeping it at the back of your mind, but the implication is impossible to ignore. The timing is too perfect to simply be a coincidence. You nervously scan Red Hood’s appearance as you sit next to him. “Jason?” you try, not sure what answer you are hoping to hear.

He hums in response then he vaguely says, “You know me pretty well, cupid. Looks like you don’t need your eyes to see me at all.”

His words throw you off but then you’re reminded of Jason’s most recent post on his social media. If you hadn’t seen it, you probably wouldn’t have understood what he just said to you. “Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind,” you say softly and slowly, trying to recall the quote. “And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

“Didn’t know you were a fan of Shakespeare. Or have you been stalking me?”

“I have to keep up to date with my clients’ interests, okay?” you say to defend yourself. “I needed to update your profile.”

“Oh. Right, right.” A short chuckle escapes him but he groans right after and he clutches his side in pain. He leans his head back against the wall behind him.

“Are you okay?” you ask in panic, completely forgetting he came to you barely standing. Your hands hover just over his wounded body, wanting to help but unsure how to. You don’t care that you’re losing your cool in front of him. Professionalism be damned. It’s impossible to control the turmoil of emotions flowing through you, especially the guilt. All this time, you had criticized his awful habits and nonchalant behavior. Now everything about him is suddenly clicking into place.  

“You should be going to the hospital or something with these injuries,” you say while eyeing the blood seeping from his side. You notice cuts all over his body and even the helmet is cracked. “Why did you come here when you’re this hurt?”

“Well I said I’d come, so here I am.” His tone is light-hearted despite the heaves of his chest as he struggles to intake air.

“You’re already super late anyway, idiot,” you snap back, though you can feel tears pricking your eyes. “You shouldn’t have bothered. I was about to leave.”

“Kinda relieved you didn’t.”

“What was so important that it couldn’t wait until our next meeting?” you demand. You figure the sooner you get the reason out of him, the sooner you can get him some help.

“Come on, don’t be mad. It makes it harder to say if you’re mad at me.”

You bite the inside of your cheek and say in a controlled tone, “I’m not mad.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” he says before taking a deep breath. “I just didn’t want you to find me another date. I needed to tell you...God, this is going to sound so sappy but to hell with it. I don’t want any more matches, or profiles, or whatever. I’m in love with you. I don’t want to see anyone else. Look, I know you’re wary of me but give me a chance. Even Cupid was able to fall in love, right?”

For a moment you’re speechless but you organize your thoughts and say, “I consider Cupid’s love story more tragic than romantic. He really shouldn’t be a source of inspiration... or object of affection.”

“You’re totally missing the point of my speech.”

“You’re the one who likened me to Cupid,” you reply, trying to keep your emotions under control.

“Oh, so we’re just going to ignore my heartfelt confession, then.” He moves to sit up straighter and groans while doing so. You reach out to help support him but he grabs your hand instead. “I’m serious about you, really. Give me a chance. I promise I’ll be more honest. I’ll try harder to be on time. I’ll keep our dates. I’ll be better, I promise.”

“Okay, okay!” you hastily answer out of nervousness. “But how am I supposed to date you if you’re dying right in front of me?!”

“This is nothing. I just need to make a call, and everything will be fine. Easy-peasy.” He groans again as he leans back. He continues to grip your hand, clutching it to his chest. “But more importantly, now that we’re officially dating, can I publicly announce it?”

“You should be making this call of yours the priority right now,” you say while desperately trying to ignore the heat creeping across your face.

He sighs dramatically. “Can’t you let me savor this moment a little while longer?”

“Well excuse me for worrying! If you weren’t bleeding out, I would let you savor this moment however long you wanted.”

“I can’t help it if I want to celebrate. I’ve finally caught Cupid, after all.”

You study his expressionless helmet. "What would you have done if I still said no?” you ask curiously.

“Remember how I said I didn’t want to be an ass and fire you? Well I would probably try to get you to quit instead. Then ask you out.”

An incredulous expression crosses your face and you ask, “Get me to quit? How?”

“Oh, probably a little bullying here and there. Just me being more of a jerk than I already am,” he says while using one hand to slide his helmet off. You’re glad to see his familiar face after staring at his mask for so long.

“Wow, that is just as bad,” you remark, your voice laced with humor. “That’s an equally terrible thing to do.”  

“Doesn’t matter now, cupid. I don’t have to do any of that stuff anymore.” He grips your hand again and tugs you closer, making you lean over him slightly as a result.

“Yeah, because you made me a promise,” you quip, attempting to maintain your composure despite how close you are to him.

"Indeed, I did,” he says in agreement, his voice dropping lower and making your legs weak. He tilts his head and his lips ghost just over yours. “So now I can be cupid’s match.”

Your lips stretch into a smile. “Then, as of now, I officially resign as your matchmaker.”

.

.

.

[artificialqueens]

No School (Biadore) Part 1/Prologue- 4amdirtykisses

Trigger warning for brief mentions of homophobia, alcohol abuse and possible drug abuse, as well as brief mentions of past non-physical (verbal) child abuse.

Hey! This is my first fic I’m posting, so I hope you enjoy it and I’d love any feedback on it! This is a cis!woman AU, where Adore is a runaway and drifting between towns and cities, before landing in Bianca’s city and deciding to stick around. Bianca is intrigued by the new, young girl that hides her uncertainty under a careless façade and makes her money singing and performing in little bars. Also, the title is from Adore’s song, No School. I thought it was fitting. This first part is more of a prologue I guess. I was tempted to write a part for Bianca in the prologue, just to bring her in, but I decided this was enough to start off.

It had taken Adore hours to finish this project for her history class, and now it had all gone to waste. Staring at the ripped up remains of her project scattered in the floor by her feet, Adore wondered how her teacher, who already didn’t like her that much, would react. Balling her fists and breathing slowly through her nose, forcing down an overflow of emotions, she knelt down and began to scrape her hands around the floor to try and gather the paper.

She could still hear the laughter from the group of guys who had did this as they ran down the hall away from her, their own laughter encouraging each other on to yell and shove a few other innocent students who were unluckily in their way. Their laughter made Adore feel tense and aggravated, filled with a dread and negative energy that made her want to lash out- punch a locker or yell outrageous things at them. She was surprised that she didn’t, actually- she normally left them with a blunt insult, at the very least, but today had decided it wasn’t worth it.

She held the ripped paper in her hands as she slowly made her way to history class, shoulders tense and legs stiff. It had been a long few weeks, a long many months, if she was more honest. Things had been building up for her for a while, and she was surprised that she hadn’t shaved her head or beat a locker with a bat, but instead just bottled everything tightly.

Usually, she would have turned to her friend for help and confided in her, but since she’d been violently outed to her school- no thanks to the same people who had already gone out of their way to torment her by first period today- they’d drifted apart, her friend not wanting any more rumours involving her being gay, too. That had been a sucker punch for Adore, and she’d never felt more isolated and utterly alone before. Occasionally, in the hallways, she’d give Adore a sad smile, but never anything more, and Adore wished she’d just stop completely.

Adore entered history class late, as normal, and received the expected scolding from Mr. Thompson. She had hardly a second to sit down and throw her bag off her shoulders until Mr. Thompson was leisurely striding towards her desk and resting his hands on it. “So, Adore, since you have the audacity to be late to class, yet again, I’m assuming you’ve done the project I asked, and done it perfectly?” He asked smugly, and Adore gave a tight lipped grin in return, lifting her hands and dumping the remnants of her project on the table between his hands.

“I have. You can thank Eric from your other class for the state it’s in now, though,” she shrugged carelessly, leaning back in her chair and watching the smug smile fall from Mr. Thompsons face, eyes trained on the shredded paper.

With a sigh, he stood up, gather the paper and shaking his head. “Detention after school, Adore. You can remake it then.” He left then, dumping the paper into the paper waste can.

Adore snorted, shaking her head to herself and running her hand through her dark hair, moving it out of her face. As if she had plans to go to that.

The class went relatively fast for Adore, who zoned out for the entirety of it except when Mr. Thompson called her out for not paying attention and proceeded to lecture and embarrass her in front of the class (now he was kidding himself if he thought she was coming to his detention).

She had, once upon a time, loved taking history- back before she had made a bad reputation among the teachers, who just thought of her as lazy, reckless, and careless, being late and not finishing her homework on time all the time, all because they didn’t know her home situation, and the fact almost every student in her year hated her and went out of their way to ruin her day. Before all that, history had been one of her best subjects, surprisingly, and her teacher from her first year when she had been great at history had taken her aside once, expressing how sad she was to see Adore’s plummeting grades and seemingly plummeting interest and motivation in school. While Adore felt bad for disappointing her, she also, not surprisingly, didn’t care too much. There were very few things that Adore actually did care about.

School was uneventful until lunch- her classes were boring and she only payed attention in music, actually trying to keep up with the class and putting in effort. Music was her favourite, and the only class she felt she actually had some talent in, and she hoped to be able to take music further in her life in the future. Her teacher did tell her she had a good voice and a skill for the guitar.

She was greeted by sighs in her other classes, either for being late or just being there at all, and during third period, she had to put up with Eric sitting behind her and alternating by kicking her chair, flicking her, tugging her hair and throwing scrunched up balls of paper at her, some with vulgar messages and insults on them, which she simply threw back with a dirty glare.

Throughout the entire day, though, each whisper thrown in her direction, or ‘accidental’ shove or trip, kept getting on her nerves, building onto the already dangerous amount of ignored emotions and stress, and she was practically shaking when she walked into the cafeteria, coming to an abrupt halt when she saw three people standing by her usual table- the smallest one, shoved right in the back corner, by the trash cans.

The people stopped chatting quietly amongst themselves when they saw Adore approaching, exchanging mischievous grins, and the three of them- two girls who she knew as Mary and Holly, and one guy who she knew as Eric’s henchman who was way too full of himself, Luke- were quick to climb onto the table, and Luke’s yelling had the attention of every pupil in the cafeteria drawn to them and Adore, who, in response, folded her arms across her chest defensively and bite the inside of her cheek.

“Hey lesbo, do you like that? Is that the kind of shit you’re into? I bet that’s what you and your non-existent faggot girlfriend would be like, if you could ever get one,” Luke scoffed, while the two girls behind him on the table sloppily pretended to make out, keeping their faces inches apart though, and one of them loudly ‘moaned’ “Adore!” repeatedly.

Adore’s cheeks heated up fiercely, and she threw an icy glare at Luke, her black pointed nails digging into the palms of her hands. “Go fuck yourselves, since no one else will, assholes,” she spat, turning on heel and storming out of the cafeteria, narrowed eyes blinking furiously, the heavy cafeteria doors slamming closed behind her.

She wasn’t sure where she was going, but let her feet blindly guide her as she stormed away, digging her nails into her palms until they stung. She hardly noticed she’d stormed right out of the school through one of its side exits until she ran into someone, but hardly muttered an apology and kept going, heels violently hitting the pavement with each forced, heavy step.

She didn’t care about any phone calls that went home for her absence in the afternoon, or the books she still had in her locker at school- they could stay there forever, for all she cared. She ignored the one call her father made, turning her phone off after that, and ignored how the sun eventually began to dip down and light faded. She just sat where her feet eventually stopped- in a small children’s park only a few streets away from her house- and watched numbly as kids and their parents ran around their park, screeching in laughter, until it got so late that she was the only one there, and she had hardly moved an inch.

Slowly, when the chill that settled in her bones got too much and her fishnet-clad thighs were shaking slightly from the cold rather than stress, she stood up stiffly, gently swiping her fingers under her eyes and drying them on the sleeve of her coat. She sniffled loudly, cleared her throat, and left the park alone, as if she hadn’t been sitting there for hours.

Her throat was dry and she was desperate for a glass of water, and her stumble growling reminded her of why she hadn’t had lunch. As she approached her house, taking her time to walk back slowly, she nervously fidgeted with her hands. She really hoped her parents weren’t home- she didn’t think she could simply stand another person trying to interact with her at all in that moment.

She tried to be as quiet as possible when entering her house and closing the door behind her, cursing the unavoidable clicking her heels made on the wooden floor, but attempted to act casual as she walked into her kitchen. She felt oddly numb from everything- her thoughts no longer racing or overwhelming, but guiding. Get a drink first, take a breath, and find something to eat quickly, which she did. She downed three glasses of water in no time, and went through two cereal bars, a small orange, and almost half of the leftover chicken in a tub in the fridge. She had only just finished those, and was turning to go upstairs to her bedroom, when she heard footsteps in the living room coming to the kitchen.

When her father entered, looking worn out, frustrated, and disappointed, she hardly reacted. He tried to play the worry card, worried because the school had said she’d stormed out after an altercation with other pupils, and worried when she didn’t answer any of the one single call he made to her- there had been no new ones when she turned her phone back on- and when the worry card didn’t get Adore to co operate with him, he turned to his frustration and irritation with her, which soon enough turned to anger and hurting words.

She didn’t care, though. He could tell her she had once been such a good child, she could stay quiet when he asked her what happened, she could ignore when he called her weird, or say she was embarrassing the family, and even when she was a disappointment. She could stay wilfully silent and still as he didn’t quite yell, but almost did, straining his voice between speaking loudly and shouting. It hurt when he begged for the daughter he once had, as if she had suddenly became a new, bad person, and it hurt when he shook his head and refused to accept what she’d told him wasn’t a choice a thousand times, and told her she’d get over it, and even sometimes she’d get over it, or else, although he never elaborated on the ‘or else.’

In the end, when she hadn’t said a word, and he had tired himself out using every word and way he knew to try and get her to be someone he wanted and someone she couldn’t be, he stepped aside and looked away. “You are my daughter, Adore, and I love you. But I can’t love the person you’ve become, and I can’t accept what freak you think you are,” he said, almost mournfully, as if the daughter he spoke of had died and left him with… Her.

Adore looked at him, then, something so deep and final in his tone that chilled her. “I don’t know how to help you, Adore, when you won’t accept our help,” he said, and opened his mouth to continue, but promptly closed it. When he still didn’t say anything for several long moments, Adore turned her eyes to the floor and pulled her leather jacket tighter around herself.

“Goodnight, dad,” she whispered, hardly able to get the words out, before she was walking swiftly to her room, and falling to her knees in front of her wardrobe. Her schoolbag was probably the biggest one she owned, and she tipped the contents out of it, text books and pens and scrunched up paper falling out and spilling across her floor, and then she was digging in her wardrobe, pulling out shirts and sweaters and underwear and socks and tights and jeans, folding them all into the smallest they could get, and stuffing them into her bag, and stuffing in a pair of converse. A phone charger followed, as well as her purse and other notes and change she scavenged, getting lost amongst the clothes. Her still-full water bottle from school stayed in there, and she stole her toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste from the bathroom, and stuffed them into her bag. Then, she zipped it up, heaved it onto her shoulders, changed her heels for Doc Martins, and ignored the sad look her father gave her when she left the house for the last time.

[zeltricstudio]

'LUNCH TIME SPECIAL'

HAPPYVILE

MARCH 2014

Happyvile High has been without a chef for an awfully long time but finally managed to hire someone. Abraham Cook, despite his family’s reputation he was a competent cook and could actually make some decent meals for the students. It was around this time that students started to go missing. At first it was 1 student a month, then a couple before eventually the school looked into it. Of course, the teachers and police did nothing to investigate the matter, instead just saying “they ran away” or “ditched school”. Sarah, however was not happy with how poorly this was being dealt with. Many students would simply shrug their shoulders, but not her. “The special for today is lasagna” Sarah scoffs. “How can they just go on and not give a damn that students are disappearing almost on a weekly basis?” Sarah asked, feeling angry.

“I’m sure the police are doing everything they can�� Sarah’s best friend, Jessica, replied, not paying much attention except for the food in front of her.

“You should eat, all this pointless wondering is going to make you hungry” Jessica moved her food towards Sarah

“Hell no. For all I know, they probably put their disgusting, unwashed hand in that food before they served it” Sarah replied, pushing the food back to Jessica.

“As long as it tastes good, I don’t mind”

“Your standards are very low”

“Eh” Jessica said and continued digging into her food.

“Fuck it. If the teachers and police are not going to do anything, then I will” Sarah said with extreme confidence

“What are you going to do?” Jessica asked, not seriously

“I… I don’t know” Sarah replied, slinking back into her seat.

“Again, just let it go. I’m sure they will all turn up eventually, probably” Jessica replied with a mouthful.

That night, Sarah couldn’t stop thinking about the missing people. Sarah had read all papers and news reports about the disappearances, but they were all the same, ‘this student was staying late and never returned home. Parents didn’t find out till the next morning and no one saw a thing’. Personally, Sarah didn’t much care for the students as all of them were the absolute worst but the latest victim Kate was a close classmate she really liked and was baffled at how little her own teachers cared about a Grade-A kid. Sarah began documenting all the missing kids, but she couldn’t find a pattern due to how little the police cared. Some kids were not even reported missing until weeks later. Feeling defeated for the night, Sarah went to bed.

The next morning, during their lunch break, Sarah decided to buy a drink. It wasn’t until now that Sarah got an up-close look at Abraham. Like most of the males, he was very tall and noticeably huge. Not fat, but very built. He had an untrimmed beard that had little strands sticking upright, his eyes had bags underneath bags underneath bags and his skin was covered in bruises and scars all around. Despite his bodily appearance, he was surprisingly clean. His apron, clothes and even body odor were insanely neat and smelt like he dumped a load of perfume onto himself. After Sarah bought her drink, she went and sat down next to Jessica.

“I’ve noticed something” Sarah immediately said as he sat down.

“Aaaaaaand her comes the conspiracy theories” Jessica said, not even phased.

“Abraham is insanely clean”

“Well yeah. I know Happyvile isn’t the cleanest place, but we gotta have SOME standards”

“No, I mean like he is overly clean. Like not even a dirt or smudge anywhere, his clothes are pure white”

“Maybe he is a clean freak? Oddly, the dirtiest people are the cleanest”

“Perhaps. I just have an off feeling about him”

“You have an off feeling about everyone”

“That’s not true” Sarah points to Jessica

“Fair point. How’s your investigation coming along?” Jessica pondered, not really caring

“I got nowhere. This town’s not-giving-a-shit makes it almost impossible to even find out when they went missing”

“Uh-huh”

“What are you eating?”

“Spaghetti. It’s the new Lunch special” Jessica said, with added fake enthusiasm

“I still don’t know how you can eat that. It doesn’t even look like spaghetti”

“Maybe it’s a family recipe. Do I care? Nope” Jessica said and continued eating.

As the two continued chatting, they were approached by a classmate of theirs

“Have any of you two seen Adrian?” Sally asked

“Uh no, he was absent from first and second period” Sarah replied

“I haven’t heard from him since yesterday. If you do see him, please let me know” Sally said and walked off to a nearby table and asking them.

“Here we go” Jessica said, knowing what was about to come

“Another person to the list” Sarah replied, sounding smug.

Later that night, Sarah did a lot more studying and came across a status post a student had made. “It has been 2 months and my friend Alice is still missing! The police aren’t doing shit! Please if anyone knows anything, message me!”. Sarah finally had something to go on. Even though Sarah wasn’t close with most people, she at least knew of Alice who was one of the very first people to go missing. Sarah was able to begin a timeline. As Sarah began writing names, she had a curious thought.

The next day, early in the morning Sarah caught up to Principal Hayford.

“Principal Hayford” Sarah said, to get his attention

“Oh, hello Sarah” Hayford replied, looking slightly annoyed

“May I ask you a question?”

“That depends, is it about the missing kids?” Hayford said with a slight irritation in his voice

“No. I was wondering when you hired Abraham, the new cook?”

“Oh, about a couple months back” Hayford’s tone immediately changed

“Do you know the exact date?”

“Not right now, but I can look it up and e-mail you it. Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. So far he is already the best cook we’ve gotten for this school”

“I agree. And he was cheap too. I feel like I got a good deal” Hayford chuckled

“Well thanks, I got to go now” and Sarah ran off before Hayford could trap her in a conversation.

“The day Abraham was hired, Alice went missing the same week!” Sarah said as she said down next to Jessica

“Good morning to you too” Jessica replied, preparing herself for another one of Sarah’s rants.

“Think about it. We’ve had cooks come and go with no problems and then when we got Abraham BOOM 16 students and counting have gone missing”

“That is pretty damning evidence, but you ever consider it could be the Happyvile Slasher behind this?”

“No, The Happyvile Slasher has been gone for a year now. And if it was him, we would definitely know”

“Yeah, I guess”

“How can you just sit there, eating and not give a single fuck?” “What can I do? I’m not the police. I don’t have any skills to do anything. I mean it sucks, but what can you do?”

“I guess” Sarah replied, feeling tired she wasn’t getting anywhere. “What is the lunch special for today?”

“Homemade pizza, with cheese, pepperoni and shredded meat” Jessica said as she took a huge bite

“Looks appetizing” Sarah said, with extreme sarcasm.

Throughout the day, her suspicions of Abraham continued to pursue her, and Sarah knew if she wanted to do something, she was going to have to act. She pretended to stay back at the library, studying and as everyone began leaving except the librarian, Sarah put her plan into motion. Because the school was empty, Sarah could easily slip into the cafeteria and hop the counter. Much like Abraham’s appearance, the kitchen too was spotless. Everything was neatly put away, no dishes in the rack and the floor was clean. Sarah continued looking but aside from basic kitchen items, nothing stood out, until she saw a cardboard box in underneath a table. Inside the box were a few random items and trinkets. Keyrings, badges, pins, hair ties, just a random assortment of items and then Sarah saw it, Kate’s bracelet. She knew it was Kate’s because it had pink nail polish striped onto it, which Sarah had done as a joke. Sarah then heard some heavy footsteps and she immediately put the box back and hopped the counter, pretending to look around. Abraham entered the café and noticed Sarah.

“What are you doing here, child?” Abraham asked, extremely suspiciously.

His voice was a lot deeper when he was angry.

“Oh, I uh dropped something and came back to look for it, but I… uh” Sarah tried to make excuses, but she was bad at it.

“Hold on, I got a box around here”

“A box?”

“Whenever I find stuff students have left, I collect them and hand it to the office’s lost-and-found”

Abraham entered the kitchen area and immediately noticed dirt prints on the floor. He kept this discovery to himself and got the box, all the while eyeing Sarah suspiciously.

“Are any of these yours?”

“Oh there it is, the bracelet. Where did you find this?”

“Over by the back table”

Sarah knew he was lying, Kate would never take off her bracelet unless she had to.

“Thank you” Sarah said and walked off, with fear consuming her.

Abraham watched her walk away and cleaned the kitchen, before closing and heading home. Sarah couldn’t shake the gut feeling she had of Abraham, but she knew he was responsible for this.

“I found Kate’s bracelet in the kitchen! He claims he found it on a table” Sarah exclaimed over the phone to Jessica

“So you broke into a kitchen and found a bracelet in a box”

“I didn’t break in, it was open”

“Sarah, that is a lazy connection and you know it”

“I’m telling you, he is responsible for Kate and maybe the others. I know it!”

“I’m hanging up, call me back when you’ve calmed down”

“Fucking asshole” Sarah muttered and dropped her phone onto her bed. Sarah knew Jessica was right, this evidence was barely anything, and even if it was enough, the cops wouldn’t give enough of a shit to do anything. Sarah knew if she wanted to make a change, she would have to get picture proof.

The next day seemed to drag on as Sarah waited for the end of the day. Knowing Jessica didn’t care, Sarah dropped the conversation and didn’t let Jessica in on her plan. She didn’t need the negativity to pull her down she reasoned. Finally the glorious day came and it was the end of the day. Sarah pretended to be studying and once Abraham was ready to leave, Sarah began tailing him on her bike. The drive lead them out of Happyvile and deep into the country side of things, before eventually into the forest. Abraham stopped his car at an incredibly old looking farmhouse, before getting out and entering a small house near the main house. Sarah noticed she had no signal and planned on a quick in-and-out job. She took pictures of the house and waited. After roughly 20 minutes, Abraham exited the house and drove off, leaving the door unlocked. Sarah took this opportunity and entered.

In a stark contrast to the kitchen, this house was messy. The walls were peeling, the carpet was covered in fur and junk, clothes and items strewn about and an awful stench immediately hit her. As Sarah began probing and poking around, she noticed a downstairs area. Sarah took a quick look outside to make sure he wasn’t back and entered. Any normal person would have immediately left by now, but Sarah was far too invested to give up. The closer she got to the basement, the stronger the smell became. It was very putrid and nearly made her gag. Sarah used her pocket flashlight to illuminate the area and she got a good look at her surroundings. The floors, walls and ceilings were covered in ceramic tiles, with drain holes every 5 feet. Trails of blood were flowing into them. Sarah also noticed there were lots of white, rolled up bags with blood splotches on them. As Sarah continued moving, she heard a light grunt and noticed a person on a table. Sarah rushed over and saw Adrian, except her was naked and had a hook impaled in him.

“Oh fuck” Sarah said, in surprise.

“H-help me” Adrian begged as he raised his hand, which had the index and thumb missing and a giant hole in the palm. Sarah stumbles backwards away from his hand as it drops to the side and hits the tables legs, making a heavy ding sound before passing out. Sarah was too stunned to move, her legs locked in place. After what feels like an eternity, Sarah was able to compose herself and began walking away, planning on calling the cops as soon as she leaves. Before she can reach the stairs, she hears the door lock and footsteps retreating down. Sarah immediately begins running further into the basement as the foot steps get louder. Sarah hides in a side room, surrounded by rolled-up bags. Sarah notices the figure to be Abraham as he makes his way to Adrian. Abraham picks up a hatchet and drives it into Adrian’s face. The impact makes a fleshy noise, as Adrian’s gasps are quickly stifled. Sarah has to bite her hand to stifle her screams, as she watches Abraham continue hacking the body, before putting the hatchet down and wheeling the table to another room. With Abraham gone, Sarah rushes to the stairs, but when she turns the knob, she is terrified to find it is locked.

“I was concerned” Abraham says, his voice echoing around the room. “How was I going to take care of you. Getting the others wasn’t easy, you know. They struggled, they screamed, they put up a fight, but you, you came here”

Sarah immediately ran away from the door, hugging the walls and moving around in the dark as Abraham’s voice came from multiple directions

“I promise you, if you give up I will make it quick” Abraham said, as calm as possible.

“Fuck you!” Sarah screamed in fear. Sarah made her way to the area Adrian was in and picked up the hatchet, arming herself.

“I am warning you” Abraham said, this time more sternly.

Sarah was beyond terrified now. Not only was she locked in a basement with a serial killer, but no one knew where she was.

“You’re not the first person, you know. There were others who came looking, but couldn’t leave well enough alone. I will do whatever it takes to protect my family” Abraham said, this time it sounded much closer.

Sarah jumped backwards and swung, but hit nothing. “Let me go, you fucker!” Sarah screamed, now absolutely petrified and shaking.

“Sorry, but I can’t. You know too much. This is your last warning” Abraham said, now getting angry.

As Sarah began looking around, hatchet ready to swing, she suddenly heard silence. As she began walking, looking for Abraham she felt a sudden pain in her shoulder. Abraham drove a meat hook into her right shoulder, causing her to drop the hatchet. Sarah tried running away, but Abraham drove another hook into her leg, causing her to trip. Sarah fell to the floor, her shoulder and leg in pain, with blood rushing down her back. Sarah continued crawling, before Abraham drove a final hook into the back of her neck, paralyzing her. Sarah wasn’t able to move anymore as Abraham grabbed her foot and dragged her further into the basement, past several rooms until she was in a smaller room. Abraham turned on the light and she noticed it was a make-shift bathroom, with only a tub and several hooks hanging above it.

“I’m sorry it has come to this, but don’t worry, your meat won’t be wasted” Abraham said, trying to calm her.

“Fuck, you!” Sarah screamed, in painful breaths as she couldn’t lift her head. It wasn’t until Abraham began putting on his apron and sharpening his knives, did his words kick in. “What, what are you doing?” Her anger suddenly turned to fear as she looked at Abraham out the corner of her eye.

“My family, my son to be exact, is very particular in he eats. He loves humans, craves it and I love my son, so I get him what he likes. But doesn’t like all parts of them. And I am not a wasteful man” Abraham says, grinding his knives as they make scratching noises.

“Before I begin, any final words?”

“Please, don’t” Sarah begged.

Abraham effortlessly picked up Sarah, before impaling her on a hook. Sarah began screaming, but it was gurgled by the hook. After a grueling 5 seconds, she was finally dead and Abraham got to work.

The next day, Jessica was sitting down, waiting for Sarah to join her like they always do, but she never showed. Jessica texted her and as she waited, she noticed the new Lunch special: this time it was a beef sandwich.

[ricardotomasz]

Such is life! Behold, a new Post published on Greater And Grander about The Night Before by archie nicholson

See into my soul, as a new Post has been published on http://greaterandgrander.com/2021/03/the-night-before-by-archie-nicholson/

The Night Before by archie nicholson

Once upon a time, it had all been so simple. 

Donni could remember clearly how it had felt to be blissfully unaware of everything, not ever  doubting what they thought they knew. While it hadn’t made life easier, it certainly made living simpler. There wasn’t ever a reason to look deeper into events or to consider how things might  be done differently. Nor was there a need to speculate over how Donni themselves were responsible for upholding the lie. 

On occasion, that naivet�� was cause for shame and regrets, wishing they knew then what they  know now. And yet, maybe, they might not have been ready to accept the truth of things. Surely,  that was how much of this small Arctic town seemed to react to the news: outright denial. And it was no surprise how so many refused to believe the truth – it was an outrageous idea, after  all, despite all the evidence to support it. Even Donni, having come to terms with so much of it,  still entertained wishes to return to their former state of ignorance, before the world became so  cruel. The possibility of living life as it once was held a certain appeal, with clear benefits like  safety and superficial pleasures. 

But it wasn’t enough for Donni – not anymore. 

Neither was it enough for any of the others there tonight, all two dozen of them working on  hands and knees, digging away at the snow with spoons.  

There wasn’t much time now, so the conversation dwindled to mostly grunts and short whispers.  “Not much longer everyone – we’re almost there.” 

Donni sat back on their heels, puffing and sweating, to watch as Vix continued offering  encouragement to the rest. Though half their age, Donni thought of her more as a mentor in this struggle tonight. Vix carried a quiet quality of righteousness about her, seeming so secure in the  knowledge that what they were doing was justified. Why didn’t Donni have that self-confidence? Yet Donni knew they weren’t envious but just embittered, reminded how it took a lifetime of  compromises and disappointments to slowly wear away at their idealism. When their drinking  water was contaminated because of the decision to dump the surplus electronic waste, Donni believed that it was an honest mistake. Or when their partner, Olly, had lost both arms in a  workshop ‘accident’, Donni accepted the excuses and promises to improve work conditions.  Even when the entirety of Block E was killed in a coal mining collapse last year, Donni rationalized it all as unfortunate but unavoidable. 

Donni returned to the task at hand with renewed fervour, channelling all those memories into  their labour. Taking up a hammer, they began to attack the wall of ice blocking the way. “Easy, Donni…” 

Looking over their shoulder, Donni observed how another elder Blit worked with more  precision, carefully chipping away at the ice, carving the tunnel deeper and deeper. “I’m just impatient,” Donni confessed, mouthing the words slowly for Blit to lipread. Blit nodded and signed with mitted hands, I get it, we’re all eager to finish Donni. On cue, the sound of an arctic wolf howl alerted the group to evacuate the tunnel in a quick but  orderly line, all well-rehearsed by this point in the operation. Within less than a minute, the  entire team had resurfaced and dispersed back to their respective Blocks throughout the town. “Almost,” said Olly, appearing at Donni’s side as the pair helped one another dust snow off their  uniforms of cheap green nylon. “One more dig like that and we’re home free.” Donni had to stop themselves from pointing out that this was their home, even if it was a prison.  Instead, they just smiled and brushed ice shavings off their shoulders.

Like many times before, they staggered the timing of return to their worksite, filtering back  inside the enormous gymnasium full of workstations complete with power tools and loud  machines. All the others, however, seemed perfectly unassuming to their secret, most too  absorbed in the creation of beautiful things. Donni revelled the same as the rest in this craftwork,  whether it was in building something from scratch or in painting the finished product. Sometimes  they exceeded their expectations, creating something so unique that Donni hesitated to relinquish  it, resenting the need to meet the daily quota.  

But today especially was a bad day to hold anything back. Supervisors were volatile, sometimes  outright belligerent, because the Boss would not accept anything but what was requested. The  customer orders were non-negotiable, and the Boss had a reputation to uphold which required  exceeding expectations whenever possible. 

For Donni, despite having endured year after year of this build-up to today, it was always misery.  The work was so constant that most ate and slept at their workstations, compelled to finish or  risk the unpredictable consequences of failing to meet the Block’s output goal. And for all the pressure that this job entailed, worsening every day until climaxing tonight, it was  unequivocally better than the other work assignments. Donni was not even curious to see the coal  mines, where its workers would gradually become permanently stained by byproducts of ash  residue. Nor were they interested to try the salvaging operations in the dumps, where broken and  outdated crafts of previous years were trashed without a second thought. 

Which was why Donni was forced to again question the logic of their decision to leave. After all,  everyone they knew, across generations in this small community, had lived and died here without  ever leaving, seemingly content with the simplicity of it all. Technically, every single member  had the freedom to leave – but who would ever do so? 

The Red Wizard kept them warm and safe, provided sweet sugary nourishment for them all, and only asked in return that they help maintain this isolated enterprise tucked away in the Arctic  forest. Even more, the risk of being listed as a deviant was an unspeakable taboo for Donni, as it  was for everyone. 

It was with all this trepidation and uncertainty that Donni finished their shift to quietly return to  the bunk hall, curling up on the mattress in the dark hall. Ignoring the anxiety burning in their  chest, Donni tried to force themselves to focus on the good right now. 

And there was some good – it was happening. 

After endless planning and careful preparations, it was finally happening. Tonight, if the Fates allowed, was to be their night before freedom. 

The Boss would be away all night and so it was the only opportunity. 

“We risk losing more if we stay and never try, than if we try and fail.” 

Donni had said that to Olly the previous night as they cuddled in bed, but now the words  sounded hollow and meaningless.  

And it seemed even more ridiculous to consider the plan of action tonight, a covert exodus right  under the nose of the Boss. 

At least it was so brazen that it wouldn’t be ever be expected. 

Not that it was so simple as that – the entire proposition had come only after Kriz had exposed  the truth of things to the town, how the world outside was not at all like they had been told it was  and that this isolated town was essentially a slave camp. None in town were financially  compensated for all their work, but the notion of money and payment had never been introduced as a serious possibility for any of them. Instead, everyone accepted the unpaid daily labour, in  dangerous working conditions, as a normal custom.

Which was why so many had baulked at Kriz’s discovery in the phone memory of reality outside  their small world where things could be better. 

If most of the town were so sceptical about that, Donni tried to imagine how they would react to  plans of a great escape tunnelling through miles of ice and snow to arrive in a strange new world. Donni reminded themselves that all the necessary arrangements had been confirmed: months  before, their group had managed to intercept outside communications addressed to the Boss and  soon after connected with outsiders sympathetic to their cause. With the promise of sanctuary,  strangers offering to harbour them as refugees, the runaways only had to escape beyond the  borders of the Red Wizard. 

Theoretically, it was a straightforward plan. 

The next few short hours, as night fully descended, would determine what would happen. In that time, their Boss would leave, and the town was afforded its annual celebrations, a modest break from the constant toil that otherwise defined their lives. Some would enjoy contraband  items, staying up through the night to sing and dance, play games and tell stories. Many nowadays were too exhausted and just slept, trying to savour the reprieve from work to  rest and heal their minds and bodies. This option had become increasingly common given the  extreme fatigue felt as output demands rose, increasing quotas to outrageous levels. Generations  before had performed simple crafts, where now most of the work was better defined as industrial factory jobs, manufacturing products of higher complexity and quantities. Worse yet, since becoming a widow, the Red Wizard had shown no compassion to his workers.  He drove them to exhaustion, making them too tired to do anything besides sleep. Donni contemplated doing just that, as slumber tugged at the edges of their consciousness until  Vix was suddenly there before them.

“What?” Donni blurted, mind reeling with terrible possibilities. 

“No, it’s not that,” Vix said, looking around for any eavesdroppers.  

Donni sat up in bed, “Well? What then?” 

In the darkness, for a moment, Donni saw past Vix’s confident demeanour to something deeper. Vix scratched at their eyes and Donni noticed only then how tired she looked. Redness rimmed  her gaze as she stared at the floor, stuttering for words more than once. 

“I… We… This might be a mistake.” 

Donni rocked back at the confession, surprise raising their eyebrows and opening their mouth.  “What do you mean? This is not a mistake… Okay, it might be a mistake, but it’s too late for that  now. We can’t stop this from happening tonight.” 

The words seemed to encourage Donni as well as Vix, both beginning to share a smile. “But… the others?” Vix asked, voice sounding small. 

Donni held back the grief that rippled inside their chest, already mourning the loss of so many friends and family, coworkers and neighbours. 

“We can’t save everyone,” they answered with a cracking voice. “We can only save ourselves.” Vix nodded silently, tears sliding down her round cheekbones. 

Pulling Vix to sit next to them on the bed, Donni took her cold hand and squeezed. “You deserve this,” they whispered to Vix. 

Donni closed their eyes, desperate to believe it themselves. 

* * * 

Guiding Olly across the snowy grounds, now bathed in moonlight, Donni could not help but take  a moment to study their partner’s face. His childish features and uneven facial hair they had  come to know better than their own.

Dressed in all white, Olly wore nearly a dozen layers of clothing, enough so that both their  prosthetic arms could not rest at his sides but hung out to either side. Donni found the image  comical despite the tense circumstances, having dressed in white as well but with fewer layers. “You look like a snowball,” Donni said with a restrained laugh. 

“Better that than a slave,” said Vix, emerging from the snowy landscape in similar attire, a white hat and scarf wrapped tightly around her head. 

Donni conceded the point with a nod, smiling inwardly at seeing her confidence returned. Vix  was harsh sometimes, but she spoke honestly, Donni knew – she always did. At the tunnel’s hidden entrance, they waited as more members arrived in pairs. Some were  crying quietly, tears already beginning to freeze to cheeks. 

The weather tonight was frigid, as usual, because the Red Wizard enjoyed dabbling in weather  magic, calling up terrible blizzards with relative ease. 

Blit blew his nose and signed, I still can’t believe it – a land untouched by snow? Donni shivered in the cold, but this climate had long ago become a kind of familiar pain. Then they were all rolling the snow boulder aside, exposing the small winding tunnel that had  been painstakingly carved through the frozen ground. 

Donni offered to be the last one, insisting so because of seniority in age. 

They watched for any signs of trouble as all the runaways disappeared beneath the surface. Donni took one last glance at their home before turning to descend into the tunnel. Then they saw it. 

Flashing red lights, reflecting across all the white boulder of snow, coming from the red airship high up in the sky.  

The Boss had returned early.

Donni felt their body instantly go numb in a way altogether different from the cold winter winds. He was early – too early for the others to be safely far enough ahead already. No, this had gone suddenly terribly wrong. 

The Red Wizard’s airship gracefully manoeuvred through the howling winds and thick falling  snow, coming to a gentle landing on the runway. 

Donni fell flat onto their stomach to hide and watch, unable to move. 

The airship’s carriage door handle turned as a gust of wind swung it wide open with a bang. Donni watched the wizard’s enormous figure emerge from inside, moving nimbly despite their  appearance as one so unnaturally old. His giant frame was accentuated by the monochrome red  robes, wrapped about his hunched shoulders, a lit pipe in his mouth. 

The Boss stood with his back to Donni only a hundred feet away, seeming oblivious to them and  the exposed tunnel entrance. He seemed to be thinking, stroking his long white beard as smoke rings began puffing over his head. 

The Boss turned suddenly in Donni’s direction and time seemed to stand still. A booming cry erupted over the silent night, Donni burying their face into the snow as the  reverberations echoed on the Arctic winds. 

After a moment passed, and then another, Donni gingerly raised their head. They saw the black clouds instantly, rolling overhead, and then they smelt the smoke. Turning  their head slowly, they saw flames presently devouring the Red Wizard’s headquarters. The runaways had burned the Lists before leaving, of course. 

Those documents, countless files, listed the names of customers with specific confidential  information, including home addresses and various incriminating personal details. The Boss threatened his clients with that evidence, extorting loyalty, just as one of many mind-games that  he used to uphold his rules. 

Without it, the Boss’s whole enterprise would come to a standstill. 

The giant tore across the snow to his snowy fortress, cursing the blazing fires, inciting snow  spells to stop the disaster in progress. 

Before they fully knew what was happening, Donni was standing and rushing to the carriage. Then they were climbing inside it and pulling its door closed behind. 

It was cramped, the cockpit littered with garbage and crumbs of food. Only wizard magic could  make it so that a giant the size of the Boss could fit inside this compartment not much bigger  than Donni. 

Smiling through chattering teeth, they took up the reins used for the electronic steeds, gripping  the bridle in both mitted hands. 

Shaking and pulling desperately, Donni tried to spur the airship into motion. The airship, however, only whined and stalled on the runway. 

Heart racing, Donni panicked, desperate for the solution to shift the vehicle into drive. There was a spell used by the Boss, words to trigger the ship to move. 

The word had a specific pronunciation in a language they did not recognize, but still, Donni tried  to mimic it and began shouting words aloud. 

Each attempt was as awkward as the one previous, all without any results. Donni opened the carriage door, seeing the fires extinguished but the Red Wizard was nowhere  in sight. Set to abandon the ship, they had one boot in the snow when they heard the words being  sung from across the snowy grounds.

Turning about, Donni stared in disbelief to see some of the town people, some of those who had  chosen not to escape, were at open windows watching.  

Watching and singing, the words unclear to Donni until they felt the ship begin to move. Snow crunched beneath as the vehicle slid forward, forcing Donni to climb back into the carriage, blinking through tears as they watched the faces at the windows pass from view. Then, laughing with victory through tears, Donni repeated the spell-word that the crowd left  behind had been singing, risking so much to save Donni’s life. 

Donni screamed it louder, again and again, “Ho-Ho-Ho!” 

Then the sleigh took flight and the Elf was away. 

END

archie nicholson is a writer of words and sometimes sentences. As someone comfortably asocial, preferring the company of animals and books, archie enjoys residing in a small town in the Arctic. Living with chronic illness, addictions, queer, and subversive inclinations, archie uses empathy and doubt to weave together stories that are worth reading.

Website: https://archiewrites.com/ 

Twitter: @archieBwriting

This short story was part of the compilation, "6 Good Things About 2020" a collection of short stories of the 2020 Collective Folk Fiction writing competition.

Download the book of short stories in EPUB (most tablets) format.

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[aesjae]

Words Only To You | Jaehyun

A/N: Sorry but I don’t do smuts! Please do read the guidelines before requesting :-) Nonetheless, thank you for the scenario! I wrote it without the smut content. 

1st person POV

Summary: You are the ‘bad girl’ of your school, a title you intentionally earned. However, everything comes with a reason, and your reputation came with a story. A story that you didn’t intend to write, but when a boy came tumbling into your life one day, the words came naturally and magically. Yet, not every story has a happy ending, and sometimes, things may always not change.

Word Count: 4,164

Style/ Genre: Scenario/ Angst, slight fluff 

Date posted: 5/08/17

*Warning: Some vulgarities*

I am (Y/N). I'm known as the notorious female student in the school, the girl gangster.

Okay, maybe that was over-exaggerating. Indeed, I may have a stoic expression on my face almost 24/7, and I seldom talk to other people, so what more about interacting with them. I hate obedience and I love truancy, causing my name to be on almost every teacher's blacklist. Because of this, I come off as 'unfriendly', 'scary', 'unapproachable' and whatever negative adjectives you can think of to label a 'WARNING. BACK OFF.' flashing neon sign above my head. However, I had not always been like that. Once, I had been, but somebody had changed me, changed me into somebody unrecognisable and completely opposite from what I had originally been. But nothing lasts forever -- and I'm not only talking about my change -- and soon I had reclaimed my reputation as the school's 'Bad Bitch'.

2 years ago

"Seriously, (Y/N) is such a burden to our student body, like why hasn't the school expelled such a delinqu-"

"Shush! She's coming!"

The hall fell silent.

I strut down the hall, chin up, chest out, looking straight ahead, but I knew that if I just titled my head slightly and made the slightest eye contact with any of the students, their eyes would quiver within a split second and they would cowardly shun away from my line of sight, not daring to be seen in front of me ever again.

Reaching the door of my next class, I walked in, yet again causing the whole room to fall dead silent. I sighed internally, not letting my hardened expression change the slightest bit as I made my way to my seat at the back of the class.

Soon, more students flooded the classroom and the classroom atmosphere became lively and chatty again. I was merely a chess piece seated in the corner of the room, but it was evident by the occasional glances towards my direction that everybody was fully aware of my presence, anxious and high-strung in fear of my next moves.

Mrs. Lee, our homeroom teacher, walked into the room, slamming her book onto the teacher's table.

"Quiet, everybody!" She shouted.

I scoffed loudly, attracting everybody’s attention. Some heads turned, while others had their ears perked, not having enough courage to look at me straight in the face.

"And who are you to command that from us, old hag?" I remarked.

Instantly, there were gasps and murmurs arising among the students.

Mrs. Lee's face turned apple red, her nails digging into the surface of the teacher's table. However, to my amusement, she took deep breaths and cooled herself down quickly, putting a forced smile on her face to mask the anger.

By now, the whole class had already descended into silence.

"Well, now, let me start. It's my pleasure to introduce you our new student from Korea, Jung Jaehyun. Please come in Jaehyun."

A casually clad guy walked into the room, stopping beside the teacher's table.

Plain white cuffed sleeve tee, ripped denim jeans and sneakers.

Simple, but he definitely gave a chic vibe.

"Hi, I'm Jaehyun. You guys can call me Jae for simplicity sake though. Hope I'll be able to get along with all of you." He gave a charming smile, which caught my eye.

"Okay Jaehyun, you may choose any empty seat that you like," Mrs. Lee said.

Jaehyun scanned around the room, before locking eyes with me, a smile forming on his pale face. I stared at him as he paced towards the table beside mine, eventually placing his things on the table.

"Hey, nice to meet you, new table mate."

Hell, this was going to be a long year.

The news that Jaehyun chose to sit beside me spread like wild fire among the student body. I too could not understand the reasoning behind his choice. Heck, there were at least 3 other empty tables in the class?

However, Jaehyun was a very friendly and good-natured guy, easily getting along with everybody, and he quickly gained the liking of other students. Considering his rising popularity in his new school, despite the difference in cultural background, he made a lot of friends, and you would always find him in the hallways chatting with numerous different girls and guys alike.

Yet, he would always come back to class, seated beside me. Over the past 4 days, I had constantly ignored Jaehyun, despite his incessant attempts to spark a conversation with me and 'make friends' with me.

"Pft (Y/N)," Jaehyun whispered.

"(Y/N)!"

"(Y/N), (Y/N)~"

"(Y/N), why aren't you talking to me? All I hope for is for you to reply me~ (Y/N)~" His voice rang in my head like an annoying alarm.

"Can you stop it? Can't you see that I do not want to talk to you?"

"Oh my gosh, you talked to me!" Jaehyun squealed, instead of getting the message and shutting up, much to my surprise and annoyance.

“Seriously, dude, get the god damn hint. Just shut up already.”

“No.” Jaehyun pouted.

Freaking hell, how persistent can this boy get?

“Argh, fine. You know what, meet me after school. And now, you better keep your mouth shut or you’ll never see your teeth again.” I threatened.

True to my threat, Jaehyun clasped a hand over his mouth, not speaking for the rest of the lesson. But it was not before I caught his wide smile and blushing cheeks.

After school, I waited for a particular brown-haired boy. Jaehyun came out of his last class, instantly glancing around the hallway like a lost kid. Once he saw me standing by the main doors, a radiant smile formed on his face. He walked to me, his body frame slightly towering over me as the smile on his face never wavered.

“So, what are we doing now?” Jaehyun asked.

“I don’t know, it was you who wanted to talk to me.” I deadpanned.

There were people looking at the both of us, as curious glances were thrown in our direction. Talks, about Jaehyun and I, again. Why am I not surprised?

“Hmm,” Jaehyun thought for a while, “I know! Come, follow me.”

Jaehyun grabbed me by my wrist, dragging me out of the school doors and out of the school compound. That action surprised me and I looked at Jaehyun’s hand wrapped around my wrist as he took me to somewhere unknown. Somehow, that sensation of being held was new and weird, yet it was warm and reassuring. I never had skin-to-skin contact with anybody, but surprisingly, it did not feel uncomfortable.

Soon, Jaehyun and I entered an ice cream shop down the street from the school. I had only heard of it serving good ice cream, but never really step foot into it before. Not like I had anybody to come here with. 

The atmosphere of the shop was very nice. There were several customers in the cozy sized shop, but there was a calming and comforting silence in the air. Jaehyun and I ordered ice creams flavours of our choice, before sitting down at a small rounded table together. Jaehyun paid for both of our bills.

Savouring the refreshing and clean taste of my ice cream, Jaehyun looked at me, gentleness in his eyes. 

“So, (Y/N), tell me about yourself. I’m all ears.”

“Erm, what do you want to know?” I said awkwardly. With my reputation, I did not have any friends, and to be honest, I never had a legitimate and proper conversation with anybody. Self-introduction was never a thing for me, for I found it pointless and nobody dared to ask.

“Your family, your goals, your aspirations, dreams. And... Why do you keep avoiding other people? Why do you maintain such a, you know, reputation? I know you’re not what others make seem of you to be...” Jaehyun started.

I was taken aback. I actually felt for once that somebody was interested in me. And Jaehyun seemed to be able to look through my facade.  ‘You’re not what others make seem of you to be’. How could he tell? What allowed him to be able to differentiate my outer shell from who I really was inside? What made him be able to do so when others couldn’t?

Words felt bitter in my mouth.

“I... I’m an orphan.”

Jaehyun’s eyes widened slightly, but he continued looking at me softly and listened intently. 

“My parents divorced when I was 2, and they just unanimously decided to leave me stranded one day. I’ve been all by myself ever since. And I guess my aspiration is to be somebody that I can love myself for, since I’m forever alone and all.”

I looked up at Jaehyun again, but his expression stayed neutral, ears still perked as he silently absorbed my words.

“My reputation... I don’t trust other people. I don’t believe in people’s intentions and words. They are all lies. Just like my parents, everybody is a liar, a faker. They come, they pretend, and once everything else goes wrong and you become a burden or an extra load, you get dumped. People are absolutely selfish. I do not want to be associated with others. The world is cruel, and people are bitches. The society taught me one thing: there is no such thing as truth, there is no such thing as love. Society is screwed up. Love is just a deceit. People act to be in love, they use you, and they throw you aside. The three words ‘I Love You’ are such utter bullshit.” 

I sputtered everything that had always been hidden deep inside of my heart to Jaehyun. Even I surprised myself. Why was I exposing myself so easily to somebody I barely knew? Why did I trust in somebody with these thoughts? I felt bare and exposed. But why did it feel so natural? Why did I not feel vulnerable in front of Jaehyun? My horrible attitude was a mask, but how did he rip it apart so effortlessly? 

All of a sudden, I felt scared. My heart was beating in my chest in rapid pulses, blood pumping with adrenaline. For a moment, I was confused -- what was I scared of? It didn’t take me long to realise that I was afraid of Jaehyun’s reaction, his response. 

Why? Did it matter to me?

However, Jaehyun only said one thing, and it was something that made my heart clench in excitement. 

“Let me prove to you that there is truth in love.”

Over the next few months, Jaehyun and I bonded really well, and we stuck to each other like glue. It was definitely popular gossip in our school -- I could actually have a friend -- and that it was Jaehyun, out of all people. 

Many people felt that Jaehyun and I were complete opposites -- Jaehyun being the open, sociable and carefree boy, while I was the reserved, anti-social and temperamental girl. But Jaehyun’s words to me one day really warmed my heart.

“(Y/N), I know what other people are saying about you, and I know a lot of people are being really judgemental about our relationship. But I just want to tell you, you are actually not much different from all of us. You are just as sensitive to and just as scared about people’s opinions about you, but you decide to cover that apprehension of yours with indifference. However, I understand your fears, and I will thus accept and embrace the way you deal with them. Whatever other people don’t understand, just ignore whatever they say. What matters is that you are truest to yourself.”

Jaehyun really grew on me. I never expected myself to ever be that attached to someone. With my family background, receiving the care, concern, and attention from someone was something really foreign, and I couldn’t ask for more from the amount that Jaehyun was giving me.

With Jaehyun, I actually managed to experience more of life. He had persuaded me to step out of my comfort zone, even just the slightest bit, and try out things that I never thought I would do -- bungee jumping, go-karting, karaoke, watching sunrises and sunsets, having heart-to-heart talks with someone, just enjoying life in general. 

Jaehyun taught me so much. He was something that I didn’t want to let go, ever since the day I got to actually know him. He was the only one that was always there for me. He was the only one who understood how I felt. He was the only one who cared. 

I couldn’t be more than blessed to have met him.

So why did he have to be taken away?

6 months after I had opened up to Jaehyun, he asked me, “So, do you feel there is truth in love now?”

I laughed. “What truth in love? No offense Jae, the past 6 months with you had been great, but what love? I honestly felt no such love, it’s not like you love me. You’ve yet to prove to me what love actually is, and what kind of truth could be in it.”

Jaehyun remained silent upon hearing my honest reply. Those past 6 months, I got to appreciate life better, and I had never been happier than ever before in my life. However, love was something so abstract, I probably wouldn’t even be able to feel it. To me, love was still fake, it was still a lie.

Ever since I met Jaehyun, my mask was slowly wearing off without my realisation. I stopped rebutting teachers, I stopped giving people cold glares in school. I even started to say ‘thank you’ to others, giving them a surprise. My fashion taste changed slightly too. Before, I had only worn dark coloured clothes, black from head to toe. However, after meeting Jaehyun who loved to mix and match different outfits, I started to put on lighter coloured outfits with slight feminine taste in them. With Jaehyun by my side, I really got to appreciate and accept myself for who I was better.

But at the same time, I was gradually growing softer and tamer.

Soon, I had increasingly lost my reputation of being the bad kid who played truant in school, and in fact started to blend in with the rest of the student population. This made people think that I became somebody weak, having lost my strong front.

Once, a group of jocks approached me in the quiet hallway. There were about 4 of them, all bigger sized with good builds. They forced me into a dead end of the hallway, and I hugged my books in my arms against my chest, retreating away from them hesitantly. It was weird that nobody was in the hallway at that time, but it didn’t matter to me then. I was surrounded.

“Hey, little miss. Heard that you have changed huh? From the feisty fighter to a demure weakling?” One of the guys snickered.

“Whatever that you want, just stay away from me,” I said firmly.

“Ohhh, I guess not mate. Seems like her feisty attitude is still lingering~” Another guy said. They all laughed.

“It’s okay, I like it. Tune up the heat of things a bit y’know?” The first guy smirked, taking another step forward towards me. He held my chin strongly between his fingers, pushing my head upwards to look straight into his face. I had seriously wanted to spit into his face right then.

“Well, let’s see what this little girl could do ya?” 

I squeezed my eyes shut tight, dreading whatever that was going to come. But instead, I felt the jock’s fingers suddenly released from its grasp on my chin. I opened my eyes.

There was a familiar back in front of me. A familiar whiff of shampoo. I looked up, and as expected, it was Jaehyun.

The group of jocks was now further away from me, in front of Jaehyun, with expressions of surprise on their faces. The jocks and Jaehyun were friends.

“Hey, dude, what’s up?” The first jock said to Jaehyun.

“Stay away from (Y/N).” 

“Woah, what has gotten into you Jae? We’re just messing around with her.” The other jock said.

“Just stay away from her,” Jaehyun said with a forced firmness in his voice, “She’s my girl. You do not go near her.”

She’s my girl.

“Okay man, didn’t know that you had a thing for girls like her. We’ll back away, chill man.” This time, the jocks retreated and walked into the opposite direction, leaving Jaehyun and me alone at the end of the quiet hallway.

Once they were gone, Jaehyun turned towards me with a worried expression.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” He held onto my arms, checking them for any injuries.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine...” I replied stutteringly. 

I could feel my strong heartbeat. 

“I thought something happened to you. I couldn’t reach you on your phone, and you weren’t at your locker. I was so worried.” Jaehyun engulfed me in a tight embrace.

My cheeks flared unconsciously, as blood rushed to the surface of my skin. It wasn’t the first time that Jaehyun hugged me, but the only thing on my mind was that if Jaehyun could feel my heart beating strongly in my chest.

It was only later that I realised to my horror: I was in love.

After that day, I became really awkward around Jaehyun. I was horrified with myself. I had fallen in love. I was in love. I did not believe in love, I was not supposed to be in love. Love was all deceit and bullshit. ‘I Love Yous’ were lies that were recklessly said. How could I be in love?! But being with Jaehyun was unavoidable, especially when he was my only friend. Jaehyun was too nice for his own good, and every day I felt myself falling even harder than previously no matter how hard I tried to stop myself. For a period of time, I thought I had finally started to accept the concept of love. But I was wrong because Jaehyun didn’t love me back. Jaehyun was nice to everybody he knew, and he was sweet to every girl he met on the streets and in school. So why would I be so special that Jaehyun could actually love me?

It was one day that everything collapsed right where they were. The day I did not appreciate Jaehyun for his presence, was the day everything went haywire. 

“(Y/N), I’m having project work with my classmate after school till quite late, so I can’t go back with you today.” 

“Yeah, that’s fine Jae, I can go back home myself.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Jaehyun exclaimed a bit too happily for my liking.

I was naive I guess. That day, I did go home by myself. I felt lonely as the right side of me where Jaehyun would always be was bare. My heart was yearning for him way too much those few days.

In the evening, I had completed my work. I then decided to take a walk to clear my mind. I looked down at my phone. 7 p.m. Why hasn’t Jaehyun texted me yet?

I passed by the ice cream shop that Jaehyun first took me to, memories rushing into my mind. A smile formed on my lips. However, the smile broke instantly.

Jaehyun was inside the shop, with a girl. They were sitting at the same table we used to sit, eating ice cream together and laughing cheerfully among themselves as if there wasn’t a world outside to care about. 

Oh.

Oh.

Jaehyun lied. 

Jaehyun lied to me to go out with a girl.

Oh.

I understood now.

Feeling my heart shatter to pieces, I sped walked away from the shop, away from the scene.

With tears welling up in the corner of my eyes, I texted Jaehyun.

‘Enjoy your date.’

Within a few seconds, I heard the doorbells of the ice cream shop jingle. 

“(Y/N)! Wait!” 

I ran.

“(Y/N), wait, I can explain! I didn’t mean to lie!” I heard Jaehyun’s rapid footsteps behind me, him shouting in haggard breaths. 

Jaehyun caught up with me easily, turning me around forcefully by pulling onto my arm. Jaehyun’s eyes frantically searched for mine, as tears streamed down my face like a cascading waterfall.

“(Y/N)...” He muttered.

“What is it, Jae? You had to lie to me about a date? Why? Because you thought I would mind? Really, Jae? Why lie? WHY?” I shouted into his face, causing him to flinch. Jaehyun had well known that I hated lies, so why did he have to lie?

“I, I...” 

It was obvious, Jaehyun had no valid reason. He lied because he was a liar. Was everything from start to end a lie then? Was it all a joke to him? 

“I see how this is going, Jae. Jaehyun. I bet you didn’t even care in the first place, did you? Pft, thanks for making me a fool out of me, Jaehyun. I appreciate it so much.” I snapped my wrist out of Jaehyun’s grasp, running onto the street, away from Jaehyun.

But I didn’t know the consequences of my actions. 

Horns, bright lights. That was what I saw before I felt a pair of arms coming round from behind me and almost immediately, a strong impact on my back.

I opened my eyes, groaning in pain, reaching my hands out onto the asphalt floor. The heavy smell of burnt asphalt hung in the air. Propping myself onto my bleeding elbow, I looked around. There was a dented car which had exhaust fumes billowing out from its engine on the grass of the pedestrian pathway. There were long round traces of burnt black asphalt on the road from the skidding tires of the car. Then I turned to my back.

Jae.

He was bleeding profusely, his entire forehead covered with blood. His breaths were weak, his chest barely expanding. It was obvious that he was on the brink of death.

I rushed up towards his side, taking his upper body into my arms.

“Jae, what did you do? Why did you do that?”

He had cushioned me from the impact of the oncoming car.

Jaehyun’s eyes were barely opened, but at the sound of my voice, he shot a weak smile at me, displaying his bloodied teeth.

“(Y/N)... I-I’m sorry. I’m not lying, p-please believe me... I l-love yo-” Jaehyun’s sentence was cut short just like his string of life. His lifeless body slumped onto my thighs, the warmth that once radiated from him dissipating into the surroundings, only leaving behind a cold, soulless body.

I bawled, breaths getting stuck in my throat. 

Spouting words only to Jaehyun, I muttered to the body left of whatever was of him, “I-I... love you too Jae.” 

One and a half years later, Jaehyun still stays fresh in my mind. He was like the wind -- he came into my life just as quickly as he left. But I ended his life. It was because of my actions of me running onto the road recklessly, and him trying to save me from the impact of the hit. He was my savior, he was my friend, he was my love. 

And in the end, God decided to take him away from me. 

I had never loved anyone, but Jaehyun was an exception. I did not believe in love, but Jaehyun proved to me that love was true. 

I believed in Jaehyun’s last words, because if he did not, he would never have cared about that text I sent him when I saw him in the ice cream shop with another girl and he would never have done what he did to save me, he would never have tried to carefully tumble into my life. 

But I was foolish enough to not have noticed or realised earlier. I really was a fool. 

But eventually, it all still leads to something proven to me -- nothing lasts forever. Even if love was true, it wouldn’t last. 

I was scarred. I felt so vulnerable and weak without Jaehyun, just like how I felt even before I had met him. The wound of loving and losing Jaehyun was deeper than any wound I had ever been inflicted with, and the pain engulfed me every day over the past one and a half years. The pain was a constant reminder of how life worked -- things come to you, and they get taken away all of a sudden without your consent.

Even though Jae probably would have disapproved of it, I once again built up my strong front of indifference. It was my only source of security and protection against the atrocity of life and the world. 

Everything in life was a lie, everything in life was a deceit, everything in life was bullshit. 

The only thing that wasn’t a lie, was my love for Jaehyun. But he too left eventually. 

[id-rather-be-an-outsider]

Hacking Into the Fog

Feng Min x Sombra (OW)

word count: 854

summary: Sombra was tasked with gathering intel for blackmail on the Shining Lion. to do that, she had to search.

a/n: originally posted on the DBD Amino for my 1k follower celebration! probably my first cross-fandom fic but I do genuinely ship them as well just bc I like the hacker x gamer dynamic, plus it was pride month and I love women loving women so it’s kinda perfect to repost on here. hope you like and happy pride!

masterlist

I’d been trying to hack into Feng Min’s PC for weeks. Well, getting in was easy. Getting information? That has a different and much less satisfactory answer. The Shining Lion, as the world knew her, yet the one bit of private information I had, her real name, lead to nowhere.

I was tasked with trying to figure out her secret, why she was so good, and blackmailing her for a massive payout to Talon, but it was impossible! Crazy, right? The best hacker in the world couldn’t dig up any dirt on the best gamer in the world. It’s only a little suspicious.

Then I caught news in the online world that the gamer had virtually disappeared - silence on all social media platforms, missing from her esports dorm and her parents’ home, just vanished into thin air. I just KNEW this would lead me somewhere. I definitely wasn’t at all excited that I would finally be seeing face-to-face the person who I’d spent so much time investigating to point of near-obsession for so long, the bubbly feeling in my stomach was just me being glad that my assignment was almost over. For sure.

I took to hacking into the technology of everyone around where she lived, and discovered that the famous gamer was also gaining a reputation for drinking at bars - she thought she was unrecognizable, but she thought wrong, because private videos taken by stans at the bars and sent between their friends showed her falling asleep in random places while in a drunken stupor.

Then one video showed Feng shuffling around a corner of an alleyway - drunk, of course, and kind of cute, not gonna lie - but when the camera holder tried to follow her, it was like she vanished. After that, there were no more videos, and that’s when the posts asking about where the Shining Lion went started popping up. I knew that was my best lead.

As I trudged through the dim and dreary streets, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Feng - she spent her last days visiting a dump. Litter strewn everywhere, broken bottles, men catcalling on every corner, it was enough to sink anyone into a depression if they stayed there forever, I thought.

I turned the corner to walk down the same alley she disappeared on, and investigated the area for clues, but... nothing. Shoulders slumped in disappointment, I turned to leave the alleyway, but then-

“Help!” I whirled around. I saw a girl hobble across the end of the alleyway, holding her arm, and a freakishly tall man chasing after her. I don’t know what it was that told me to chase after them - maybe it was my conscience telling me to at least do one good act in my lifetime to make up for all the bad - but I did. I ran. And ran, and ran, and ran, until I got to the end of the alleyway and came across a huge pole with a giant hook attached to it, blood dripping from the razor sharp tip. I stumbled back in horror. I may not be a hero, but even I’m not so sick and twisted as to think that’s okay.

Deciding that I wanted no part of this, I turned around to leave, only to be greeted by fog and forest. My heart palpitated, and I tried to call up Doomfist, but whatever place I just entered wasn’t letting a signal through. In fact, all of my systems were down.

Rushing footsteps caused my head to jerk in one direction - looking towards Feng Min. She stopped right in front of me.

“YOU’RE the one who’s been trying to hack into my computer!” She pointed a finger at me.

“Not like it was hard, just absent of information,” I muttered, “And YOU’RE the one who went missing! Do you have any idea how worried the world has been, Feng?”

She smirked. “Oh, so we’re on a first name basis now, are we? Are you sure it isn’t YOU that was worried?”

“You don’t even know me.” I snapped.

“But you know me.”

The silence that rose was filled with electricity. I didn’t have time to ponder whether or not I fell in love with my target, all I knew was that I needed to leave the place, WITH said target. “How do we get out of here?” I asked her. “Call me Sombra, by the way.”

She did a quick look around. “Hate to break it to you, Sombra, but you can’t hack your way out of this one. You have to play the game by the RULES here.”

“What do you mean?” I raised a brow in confusion.

Her eyes widened suddenly. She grabbed my wrist. “We have to run. Do you trust me?”

Looking her in the eye, I nodded. I couldn’t afford NOT to trust her. She took off running, dragging me along with her as I heard a chainsaw in the distance. Crows cawed nearby, startled at our speed.

As we ran, I asked, “Feng, where are we?”

Between breaths, she said, “You- just hacked- yourself- into The Fog.”

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