#hell's library trilogy

[bi4bihankking]

Giovanni's Room Summary:

David, a young American in 1950s Paris, is waiting for his fiancée to return from vacation in Spain. But when he meets Giovanni, a handsome Italian barman, the two men are drawn into an intense affair. After three months David's fiancée returns and, denying his true nature, he rejects Giovanni for a 'safe' future as a married man. His decision eventually brings tragedy.

Hell's Library Trilogy Summary:

After someone dies their soul sorts themselves into the afterlife they think they deserve, and each afterlife has a library that needs looking after. That includes Hell, where the books that never got finished are forced to reside. And sometimes the characters in those books don’t like to stay there. After all who wants to die before they’ve had the chance to live?

[andromedasummer]

having a bit of a shit day. going to read dnd books abt it.

[jessaerys]

unsure how im feeling about the library at mount char - i think the first act of the novel made a promise that the second act did not deliver - im kind of annoyed that what was seemingly going to be an ensamble cast of interesting weird characters was a bait and switch for quirky magic girl x some guy. i don't even dislike either of them and the story still has me intrigued to see where it's going or if it's going to deliver anything unexpected in the third act but im getting a bit tired of the "(explains something supernatural)" "what the fuckedity fuck are you saying? that can't be true" routine. skill issue steve

[ker0senebunny]

you've always had me✫*ﾟ･ﾟ(walking on a string ii)

steve harrington x fem!cheerleader!reader

part one

summary: steve misses reader a whole lot (dustin smacked some sense into him). now, how does he win her back? (angst, fluff, smut)

warnings: afab!fem!reader, language, angst, fluff, smut (18+), UNPROTECTED SEX (pls remember to practice safe sex!!), kinda soft!dom steve? but no use of sir or daddy etc, apology sex, loss of virginity, PRAISE so much praise, oral (f!recieving), fingering, p in v sex, use of pet names, size kink (for like one second), dirty talk, no use of y/n, a little bit of roughness at the end (but not degredation or anything like that!! cheerleader!reader likes to be called pretty and good while she's getting railed), all characters are 18+, discussion of insecurities, soft tummy steve rights, NOT BETA'D (seriously if anybody wants to, pls shoot me a private message!)

word count: 6,187 (wowza! was not expecting that)

notes: THANK YOU FOR 200 FOLLOWERS WTF!! when i published walking on a string, i had about 30 followers so thank you so so much for keeping up with my silly little writings. i'll do a little celebration party later - i’m thinking something along the lines of blurbs from a prompt list, so send in asks! without further ado, here's the second part! seriously, thank you all for all the love you've been giving me. it really keeps me motivated to write! i hope you all enjoy this part before i start my taylor swift trilogy and ballerina!reader oneshot!

p.s. i also got a couple of asks that have perhaps inspired a part three (!!!) in the adventures of steve and his cheerleader, so thank you to the anons who sent those in! lmk if you guys would be interested in that xoxo

the things you said are hanging in the middle of my mind, tonight.

i can’t turn them off.

you hadn’t been to family video in three weeks and steve desperately missed you.

winter had arrived in hawkins, bringing with it shorter days and longer restless nights. a tangy cold ran through the air, slipping under the door of the video store and creating a stupid fucking draft. steve watched the door anxiously as the stale air burned his nose. robin snorted. “dude, she’s not coming in,” she said. he huffed out a quiet “shut it, buckley” in response, keeping his eyes trained on the door. she rolled her eyes. “it’s your funeral, dingus.”

now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen you around town either. he never saw your sweet face at the grocery store. or in the park where sometimes, he'd catch you lying on a blanket, enjoying the pre-winter breeze and blasting duran duran on your walkman's tinny headphones. hell, he even went to the library to seek you out. but it seemed that you had just plain disappeared from his life.

only his life.

steve asked anybody who came into family video if they knew where you were; they always made some offhanded comment about seeing you at a party or at your favorite boutique. the one you always got your little low cut blouses from, where trina denman had made you cry once and so he chewed her out the next time she came in to rent a movie -- pretty in pink. your movie.

"steve, you are a dipshit."

steve rolled his eyes and turned his gaze away from the door to see dustin standing in front of the family video counter.

"tell me something i don't know, henderson."

dustin rolled his eyes right back before hopping over the counter to get into steve's personal space.

"hey! man, what the hell are you-"

"apologize to her."

steve was startled at dustin's sudden seriousness. he'd only ever seen the kid get serious about upside down stuff or d&d. or, when he talked about you. he knew that you two really got along when he introduced you to all of the kids, but your bond with dustin ran deeper. you both often met at the old creek to go look at the wildlife there. you taught him about the flowers and the moss that surrounded you both, palming crisp bark and teaching him to appreciate the world around him, inadvertently worming your way into steve's heart even more as dustin regaled him of these tales.

"dustin, she doesn't want anything to do with me."

"because you haven't apologized yet. jesus christ, steve. it's like talking to a toddler. i swear." robin let out a sharp cackle from where she was eavesdropping. steve flipped her off.

dustin sighed. he just wanted to see you and steve happy. he snapped his fingers in front of steve's face to get his attention.

"i'm not a fucking dog."

"i'd argue against that." dustin chose his next words carefully: "whatever you do next has to matter more to her than anything you’ve ever done before."

i'm in a twisted web,

and i can't pull my head from it.

that first day when you came in was one of the best days of steve's life. he couldn’t believe that you, the golden girl, were speaking to him with such softness. but then, the thoughts he tried to cram away constantly invaded his mind, clouding whatever emerging feelings he felt for you. steve decided for himself that you were playing a game - making him the fool. and so he decided on revenge - playing you right back. poking out his tongue whenever he looked you up and down (which was quite a common occurrence). letting you cuddle into him whenever the two of you were seated even remotely close to one another (this was definitely not for his benefit as well). posing for pictures that you’d take with your polaroid camera that was “so annoying” to him (he’d never tell you that the picture robin took of the two of you, your back to his chest as he wrapped his arms around your waist, lives in his wallet - next to the first of your little notes).

steve liked to take his time with things and he knew you needed space, but three weeks was a long time, right? it was too long of a time for you to have not pranced into family video, excited to show steve your newest purchase. too long of a time for him to go without smelling your peach shampoo on his sweater after you’ve fallen asleep during one of your many viewings of pretty in pink. he missed the sting of your manicured nails on his forearm when you were so excited to tell him about a new trick that you landed, that you physically glimmered. he realized with a start that he missed your silly notes and the mirth in your eyes as you laughed at a dumb pun he made. he missed how you would light up even more than usual whenever one of the kids said hi to you outside of one of their hangouts that they'd taken to inviting you to. he missed you.

and he fucking hated himself for it. he felt stupid, used, and above all -- guilty. why would he feel guilty if he saved himself from whatever heartache you could bring him? your teary face flashed in his mind.

oh.

oh.

because you hadn't been trying to use him -- you actually liked him. a lot.

and he definitely was a little bit (a lot) in love with you.

and he only just figured it out.

robin watched her best friend as his face changed. she snapped her gum in her mouth before plunking down on the stool next to him. "i smell wood burning," she said, "what are you thinking about?"

steve turned to her.

"i fucked up."

i hang my head

and feel the oxygen drain.

agonizing hours passed as he thought about what to say to you. he almost missed the tinkle of the bell above the door, letting him know that there was a new customer in the store. from where he sat, all he could see where white sneakers. his eyes snapped to the top of the doorway, and he shrank in disappointment. walking through the door was chrissy cunningham, not you. she was holding pretty in pink, no doubt to bring it to you to cheer you up.

so, it seemed that you were just hellbent on avoiding him.

chrissy gave him a polite smile as she brought it to the counter. steve cleared his throat. she nodded at him in greeting. robin stood a little further back, entranced by everything in front of her (did she sort of want her best friend to get punched by chrissy cunningham? …yes).

steve handed chrissy her change and just as she left, he jolted to his feet.

“wait!” he said, as if the words couldn’t wait inside his mouth any longer. she hesitated, already knowing what he was going to ask.

“how is she?” he said, eyes honest as he searched chrissy for an answer.

she set her mouth in a grim line as she shook her head at him.

“steve, i’m not going to lie to you. she’s really hurt.” steve felt his mouth dry up instantly.

“would she even want to see me?”

chrissy sighed exasperatedly and gave him a shrug before looking at his wounded face. for however much he was hurting, she knew you were hurting way worse. she slammed her hands on the family video countertop, mustering up as much of a threatening tone as she could, pushing herself to the tips of her toes to look steve directly in the eye.

“i have never known someone as kind or genuine as her,” the tiny girl said very seriously, “so you better fucking fix this harrington, because even though you’re a dickhead for what you did, i know you care about her. and for some reason, she cares about you too. probably too much.” steve opened his mouth to reply but chrissy jammed her pointer finger into his chest. “fucking. fix. it,” she said through gritted teeth before waving to robin and swaying out the door.

you're never running out of ways

to worm your way back in.

the past few weeks have been hellish for you, to say the least. getting not only rejected but belittled by steve harrington, the boy you…love? yeah, love would be the best way to put it. you'd pined after that idiot since freshman year, your feelings only intensifying with time and your prolonged visits to family video. those same visits evolved into impromptu sleepovers due to your absent parents, nights out when the local carnival was in town, watching out for the kids on halloween.

you pretended to be fine in front of your friends, a group made up of jocks and the cheer team. you knew that lucas sinclair, one of the new basketball players, was friends with steve. so you avoided him as much as possible, but that didn’t help. everywhere you went, you felt like steve was following you. seeing the people he loved (because he obviously didn’t love you) caused the rift within you, one searing with pain and self-loathing, to deepen.

there was less of a pep in your step. your gentle attitude remained, but you were more melancholic than anyone had ever seen you. sure, you were always willing to lend a hand or a listening ear, but as soon as you were left with your own thoughts, it seemed like a shade had passed over your demeanor.

you hadn’t let anybody into your room since the pep rally, sinking into a cocoon made of your duvet and throw pillows for hours on end. your walkman was always pumped up on full volume. crumpled tissues blanketed virtually every surface - a palpable reminder of his words to you that continued to hang in your mind. you tried to block them out - to block him out - but steve had become so engrained within your daily routine without you even noticing.

his yellow sweatshirt lay on your desk chair, directly in your line of sight, which didn’t help with your attempts to wallow and just get it over with.

you didn’t even let chrissy in to talk to you - she had to resort to seeing you in public or talking over the phone. your room was your safe space: your zone away from anything (or anyone) else but you.

which made steve’s raucous entrance at 2 am all the more unwelcome.

anyone who knows what love is will understand;

you’ve always had me,

walking on a string.

you’d finally been pulled under into what could almost be described as sleep when you heard a thump and a quiet “fuck me!” you were alone in your parents’ large house (something about visiting your dad’s old boss — you couldn’t care less), which made the nighttime extra unnerving to you as a young woman, alone in the middle of fucking nowhere. that was something steve had known about, before he broke your heart.

you shot up immediately, rolling out of your bed and grabbing one of your sneakers to hold up as a makeshift weapon. your eyes were wide with fear and your voice shook as you spoke, “don’t come near me, perv!” you launched the shoe at the tall, dark figure, striking them in the shoulder. whoever it was taken aback and made a noise of pain. you were reaching for your other shoe when you heard your name. “it’s just me, sweetheart.” you lowered your arm as you took in his outline in the dark. you didn’t need light to know what he looked like; you’d spent long enough memorizing every freckle on his face. the slight gap in his left eyebrow from when he got cut in a fight and it scarred. how the right corner of his mouth used to be permanently curled in a smirk around you.

you squinted still.

“stevie? did you sneak through my fucking window?”

you couldn’t help but use his nickname. three weeks of the cold shoulder doesn’t exactly undo months (nay, years) of pining.

“you could’ve used the front door, you know. my parents aren’t home.”

he hadn’t said anything to you yet, allowing you to fill the silence with your half-awake rambling. he gave you a sheepish smile as you moved to stand in front of him, looking up at him with your arms crossed over your chest in worry.

“why are you here?”

you hated how your voice cracked.

he looked down at the floor and then back at you, meeting your eyes. you hated how you immediately got sucked back into the warm umber of his gaze. he sucked in a breath through his teeth, shaking hands in his pockets.

“i need to tell you something,” he said with as much sincerity as he could pour into his words. you rolled your eyes, turning to get back into bed. “i think i’ve heard everything i need to hear, harrington.” he said your name pleadingly, reaching out to envelop your fingers in his.

you hated how you let steve's warm fingerpads trace the inside of your wrist.

you especially hated that it made you feel better.

“please let me say this and then i’ll be out of your life forever.”

you nodded.

“i didn’t think that you’d want anything to do with me.”

your heart ruptured.

he continued: “you’re this stunning, whip-smart, sweet girl who everyone loves. and i’m just this washed-up guy who chauffeurs for six children and works in a video store.”

steve paused to look at you, not quite understanding the emotion pressed into the creases of your face.

“i thought that your friends put you up to this - to me. i thought you were just using me to get a laugh, so i thought i would use you right back.”

tears bubbled up along your lower lashline. your lower lip wobbled as he poured out the deepest, darkest crevices of his mind to you in your moonlight bedroom. your eyes adjusted to see him

“but then i got to know you. like really know you. and i realized that you were one of my favorite people ever. and then i felt like i’d fallen into your trap. and so i lashed out and i was a fucking dumbass and ruined whatever i could’ve had with the girl i love. what i’m trying to say is - i was an idiot and i really don’t want this to end before we even had the chance to start it, sweetheart.”

you let the tears fall unknowingly, but unlike the gym, steve cradled your face gently in his hands, swiping away the beads of saline that ran down the apples of your cheeks. you sucked in a breath, but it felt like the oxygen cascaded out of you instead; you brought your face closer to his.

“you’re so fucking stupid, harrington.”

and then you were kissing him.

it felt completely natural to you both - no hesitating, no waiting. he moved his mouth over yours, pressing your scantily-clad pajama-covered body into him. you felt the softness of his stomach and the hardness of his chest against you as you tried to get yourself impossibly closer. from where his shirt was slightly unbuttoned, you saw some of his chest hair. a path of warmth made its way down to the root of your core. he pulled away and you whined, chasing his mouth with yours.

he breathed out your name like it was a poem.

your smile was just as bright as it usually was, even through all of the salty wetness sliding down your face.

“i love you, stevie."

he looked at you like he wanted to bring the stars closer, just so you could get a better look.

"say it again," he teased gently as he nosed at your throat, prompting you to lift your chin and expose your neck. he started to pepper open mouthed kisses on your neck.

"i-i love you."

he sucked harshly on one spot, making you softly cry out. you pulled back and watched his pretty face form a pout.

"but you’re gonna have to make it up to me.”

he looked down at you with a boyish smirk, before dipping down to meet your lips with his once again.

“i can think of at least one thing that might help.”

he kissed you with a ferocity, a deep-seeded wanting. you sighed into the kiss and whimpered when you felt his tongue nudge against the seam of your mouth. you opened your lips in a surprised moan and he slipped his warm tongue in, licking the roof of your mouth. you let out another whimper, and he groaned. “those sweet little noises are gonna fucking kill me, baby.” his words were strained, his voice raspy, lips slick with a mixture of yours and his spit. you felt your face warm to match the heat emanating from your sex. he dove in to kiss you again, gently leading you toward your bed.

your back hit your cornflower-dotted duvet as steve caged you within his arms. your hands had made their way into his hair, mussing it far past anything that a few puffs of farrah fawcett hair spray could ever remedy. you felt the ache between your thighs grow and in your steve-induced haze, your hips jolted up to meet his. you were surrounded by him: the feel of his warm, wet mouth on yours. his smell -- lemongrass shampoo and pine cologne and something that just made him steve. steve tasted like promises and the cherry slushee he'd gotten with robin after work. his rough fingertips soothed over the spot at your waist where your flimsy tank top had risen. you maneuvered your hips over his groin again. the tiny bit of friction that his rough, tented jeans provided against your throbbing clit made you whine out his name.

“stevie,” you pleaded.

he moved his lips down your neck, lapping at your pulse and leaving a trail of bruises in his wake. the stimulation only made you move your hips more in desperation. you were already surprisingly close — not even nights alone in your room with your hands shoved down your cotton panties, imagining this very moment, were you ever close this quickly. one of his hands came down to squeeze your hip — not harshly, but as a reminder that he was in charge. he pulled away when he felt you move your hips again. he sighed. “pretty girl, i want to take my time with you. be patient.”

you looked at him through your heavy lashes, pouting a little as you grabbed for him to come back closer to you. “but i wanna feel you!” you exclaimed, pulling him down toward you to latch on to his neck and grind up toward his bulge. he hissed as you found his sweet spot, right between where his collarbone meets his neck. he panted out your name as the hand gripping your hip got tighter; you could see the hand near your face clench into a fist and he breathed shakily. “i want to feel you too, but i have to get you ready first, sweetheart. is that okay?”

your heart swelled so much you thought it might beat its way through your chest. you nodded bashfully as his hands finally slipped under your tiny pajama tank top. steve kissed you as his fingers danced over your ribcage. you shivered at their warmth and giggled when he intentionally tickled you. you felt him smile into the kiss (which did almost make your heart explode). but all thoughts of just how much you loved him went out the window when you felt his hand rub over one of the stiff peaks of your covered breasts. you arched upwards, pushing your chest into his hand. he chuckled at your eagerness and detached himself from your wanton mouth to remove your tiny top. your breasts met the air and steve looked at you in wonder, as if you deserved to be immortalized in the louvre. “god, you’re so fucking beautiful,” he murmured.

you suddenly felt shy, his words bringing you back into the present. here you were, topless with steve harrington giving you hickies. you grabbed his bicep gently with nerves puddling in your still lust-blown eyes.

“stevie, wait.”

he immediately gave you space, asking you oh so kindly, “is everything okay, baby?” you nodded. “more than okay. i just…” your voice faltered and you looked at your hands. he put his hands on the sides of your face, letting you sink into their warmth and weight. “it’s okay, pretty girl. you can tell me anything.” you bit your already kiss-bruised bottom lip.

“it’s just that i’ve never…this is the furthest i’ve ever been with anyone,” you rushed out. you desperately hoped that you hadn’t ruined things with him again. he sponged a kiss to the tip of your nose before saying, “i won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.” your eyes widened and you placed your hands over his on your face. “no no! i just wanted to let you know before we did anything else. i want it to be you, stevie. i love you.”

he smiled at that. “i love you too, sweetheart. god, i can't stop saying it.”

it was a miracle that your heart had still remained lodged in your chest at this point.

“kiss me, please,” you cooed, and he happily obliged, removing your thin pajama shorts in the process.

he left soft, wet kisses along the column of your throat, biting down gently on the top of your left nipple when he arrived at your tits. “perfect tits” as he called them. you squeaked and he laughed, the vibrations around your puckered bud heading straight to your pussy. you half-believed that your panties would be sheer from how wet you were.

he kneaded and pinched at your right nipple as he laved his tongue all over your left, giving you little nips that made you squeal and kisses that made you melt under him. he alternated between breasts and when your tits were sufficiently marked with imprints of his teeth, he placed his hand over your searing cunt. he watched your face change, your eyes rolling back, from the lightest of touches. you were equally as whipped for him as he was for you. steve groaned as he felt your thighs trap his hand, pushing the wet part of your panties into him. his eyes rolled back at the sight before him, your tits marked with his teeth, your eyes darkened for him, your pussy rutting into his hand, all covered in white cotton panties with a little pink bow. you whimpered when he took his hand away, searching for relief as your clit pulsed.

“what did i say, pretty girl?”

“that i have to be patient,” you answered shyly. he hummed.

“good girl.”

you burned from head to toe at his words.

he peeled your panties off of you, inhaling sharply as a string of your arousal connected you to the sopping cotton, only snapping once he had your panties partway down your thighs. “all for me, sweetheart?” you nodded shyly and pressed your thighs together, but he caught you and spread them again. “i wanna see you, baby,” he said before lowering himself to face your drooling cunt.

he licked a fat stripe up your slit, making you jump a little and let out a breathy gasp. steve grinned before spreading your folds with his hands and prodding at your quivering hole with his tongue. he moaned at your taste — tart and heady and you. you moaned as he sponged wet kisses to your folds, before moving up your thigh toward your needy clit. he looked you in the eye as he devilishly licked around the bud before latching his mouth onto you. steve sucked your clit into his mouth, gently brushing his teeth across your sensitive bud. you rushed your hips to meet his face and your hands flew to his head again. he gave a little laugh at your want. he kept his mouth attached to your clit as he gathered dipped his index finger into your folds, gathering your slick before pushing into your poor little hole. he muttered a curse under his breath.

“shit, sweet girl. you’re so fucking tight.” you contracted around his fingers at his voice, about to reply before he put his mouth back on your clit, sucking harsher than he had before. you felt yourself get impossibly wetter as steve began to pump his finger in and out of your entrance. you tried to move yourself on his hand, pleading for “more, stevie, more!” his middle finger slid in to join his index and you hissed at the stretch. he stopped to let you adjust and you marveled at how full you felt just because of two thick fingers. he eased the two of them in and out of you slowly, spreading you open for him. you were so lost in the pleasure that he was doling out that you almost missed his calls of your name.

“baby, can you take another one? d’you think you can?” his face had moved to hover over yours now; you could see your juices on his chin. you nodded frantically, shifting back and forth on his already dripping fingers. “please stevie — need it. need you.” he kissed you heatedly as he inserted his ring finger, swallowing your gasp with fervid swirls of his tongue. you keened as you felt the girth of three fingers inside of you; your fingers and imagination couldn’t do steve’s hands justice. he gave an experimental thrust, keeping up with his assault on your clit, with the heel of his hand. he kept kissing you, switching between gentle presses of his mouth to yours and hot, frantic swipes of his tongue. he noticed your cunt start to pulse, steadily getting tighter as you mewled. his fingers squelched as he slid them in and out of your sopping cunt. “steve, stevie, m’gonna-” you could barely get the words out before you let another loud moan. “gonna cum for me, sweetheart?” he teased, speeding up his ministrations. your voice was but a shred in the back of your throat at this point; the only response you were able to give him was a high-pitched sob. your mouth fell open and your head tilted back, renewing him access to your neck and chest. you felt yourself tighten even more as his lips brushed across the tender bruises he’d already made. the combination of his lips on yours, on your skin — his hand between your thighs — you were completely surrounded by him. he was knuckle deep by now, allowing your gummy walls to suck him in. your nails cut into his biceps as you breathed rapidly. “cum for me, baby,” he said through gritted teeth. at his permission, you let the taught string in your body snap. your walls tightened like a vice around his fingers, so tight that steve swore it could’ve cut off his circulation. your cunt fluttered around the fingers seated deep inside of you. your back arched off the bed and your gut tightened as the intensity of your orgasm washed over you in waves. your vision blurred as your body went limp, twitching with aftershocks. you said his name like a prayer through it all, finally blinking to clear your vision. you were met with his smug face as he gave you one last push with his fingers. you squeaked at the contact and he smiled at you, giving you a doting kiss on your swollen, bitten lips.

“all good, baby? you were so good for me. my good girl.”

you nodded, thoroughly exhausted, but also craving him. “stevie, i wanna feel you inside of me,” you said, giving him your best puppydog eyes. he gave you an easy smile, before searching the pockets of his jeans for a condom. “oh shit,” he said, exasperatedly. you sat up with a frown as he rooted through his belongings. “stevie, honey, what’s the matter?” he looked at you apologetically. “i don’t have a condom,” he said dejectedly. you reached out to kiss the corner of his mouth, to push the frown off of his face. you gave him a small smile and said, “s’okay! ‘m on the pill.” his pupils dilated, darkening his eyes so that only a sliver of hazel showed. “and i’m clean, because, yanno…”

“fuck,” he rasped out, “you can’t say shit like that to me, baby. i’ll cum in my pants like a fuckin’ dope.” you laughed your real laugh, his favorite laugh, and in that moment, he felt overwhelmed with love for you. so overwhelmed that as he pulled his cock out, he told you again. he called your name softly to get your attention.

“i love you so goddamn much,” he said, pouring every drop of earnestness he could into his words. now that he knew that his words actually did matter to you.

“i love you too, steve harrington,” you said as you leaned up to plant a sweet kiss on his cheek. he chased your mouth with his to lay a series of quick kisses to your lips, muffling the giggles that tumbled from your throat. he rose to his knees above you and shucked off his jeans and his boxers.

now, you’d never seen a cock before in your life, but fuck, were they all as pretty as steve’s? his cock was just, so pretty: a red tip that gave way to a flesh-toned shaft, thick with a vein on the underside of his length. his head was leaking in frustration. your eyes widened as you took him in, wondering if his massive shaft would be able to fit inside of you.

he teased his ruddy tip through the wet mess between your thighs, stroking himself with your cum from earlier. he placed one of his hands on your hip, interlacing the fingers of his other hand with yours, letting your entwined hands rest by your head.

“are you ready, sweetheart?”

you gave a soft “yes” in reply and gulped down a breath. he noticed how you tensed up and squeezed your hip gently. “we don’t have to if-” “no!” you exclaimed, “i want to it’s just…what if i’m not good?” his heart almost shattered as he looked at the worry written across your sweet face. he brought his lips to the crease between your brows, pecking you there to tell you to relax your face. “you’re perfect to me already, baby,” he said, oh so honestly. and you believed him, because it was your stevie looking at you like you were the only real thing in his life. “okay, i’m ready,” you said, relaxing into your bed a little more.

steve guided his tip to your quivering entrance and kissed you as he slid the fat head of his cock in. you gasped as he breached your walls, arms winding around his neck. your jaw fell open, slack against where your chin rested on his shoulder, almost impossibly close to him. the fullness of his fingers was one thing, but this was totally different. the stretch was addictive as he slid into you inch by inch. he worked you open gently, and you wanted him to stay inside you forever. he noticed that you’d gone quiet and brought a hand up to comb through his hair in order to see you better. “everything okay?” you nodded fervently, wriggling your hips and mewling out, “stevie more, more.” at your words, he bottomed out, heavy balls slapping against your ass and you made a strangled noise into the air as he moaned into your neck. “fucking- holy shit, you feel so good.” your walls contracted around him and steve had an idea. he started slowly thrusting into you, allowing you to get adjusted to the feeling of his heavy cock inside of you. all the while, dripping praise into your waiting ears.

"you're doing so well f'me," he said, still thrusting into you slowly -- wanting to make this about you, not him.

but something inside him snapped when you said, “stevie, fuck me.” he started pounding into you, jackhammering his hips against yours, making your eyes roll back so far in your head that all you could see was black. his chest hair brushed against your nipples, meaty thighs brushing against you with coarse hair during every thrust. you choked out a loud moan at the sensation, clapping a hand over your mouth at the volume. he noticed that your sounds had become muffled and whispered into the air between you two: “c’mon pretty girl. i wanna hear those sweet sounds you make.” his balls slapped against your ass as he rolled his hips into yours; the sounds of flesh against flesh ricocheted off the toile wallpaper in your bedroom. the wetness between your thighs kept spreading, creating a lewd slap as he plunged into you over and over again.

his spongy tip pushed against your g-spot and you clenched around him desperately. he moaned at the sensation, muttering a curse under his breath and something about how tight you were. you bit his shoulder after a particularly hard thrust, causing him to hiss and shudder. your walls started to spasm around his cock as that big vein of his pummeled into your sticky cunt. your whimpers became faster and higher as you chased your orgasm, steve right there with you. “stevie!” you yelped as he continued his brutal pace. “’m right there with you, baby. let go,” he whispered, his lips covering yours. you did just as he asked, a borderline pornographic whine slipping its way out of your throat and plastering itself across his mouth. you clenched impossibly tightly around him, stuttering out, “want it inside, please stevie,” as you were pushed over the edge. your pussy pulsed and your body shook, muscles tense as he milked your puffy cunt for all of your juices. you sobbed while you came; it was the hardest you’ve ever cum, your intense love for steve amplifying every shockwave. your legs were wrapped around him, heels digging into his back as he gave you one lasting thrust, his hips stuttering. you felt a warmth extend through your weeping cunt as he painted your sweet walls. the feeling of his hot ropes of cum filling you caused you to tighten around him once again, riding out the last waves of your orgasm.

neither of you moved for a while as steve remained inside of you, both of you at a loss for words. he raked a hand through his sweaty brunette mop and gave you a kiss, pushing all of his feeling into it as he eased out of you. you whimpered at the resulting emptiness, reaching your arms out to keep him in bed with you. he smiled, dropping a smattering of kisses to your face. you giggled and held his head in your hands to catch his lips. he pulled away with one final peck to your lips, pulling on his boxers. you sat up with a melancholy look in your eyes, but he squeezed your ankle in reassurance, telling you that he was “just gonna go ‘n get a washcloth for you, sweetheart.”

he returned moments later from your ensuite with a damp cloth, kissing up your leg as he wiped down the apex of your thighs. he wiped himself off and grabbed his shirt for you, gently telling you to raise your arms as he slipped it over your head. he lay down and opened his arms for you, as you giddily landed on his chest. you reached over him to turn on your bedside lamp and he quirked an eyebrow up at you.

“just wanna look at you s’all,” you said delicately, as you let your fingers play with the curls at the nape of his neck. his heart stumbled at your words and he squeezed you tighter.

“i’m sorry,” steve said again, “i love you so, so much.”

you yawned and snuggled into him, throwing your other arm across his body, murmuring into the air shared between you two: “you’re the only one for me ever, stevie.”

he looked at you in the buttery light of your bedside lamp, half-asleep on him, drowsily babbling about everything you loved about him (his jokes, his freckles, his loyalty), nose squished into his neck as far as possible.

and he realized, in that moment, that he’d always walk on whatever string you led him on.

© ker0senebunny. all rights reserved. all original posts of writing are my own words, with the exceptions of quotations from songs, movies, and other media. my work is NOT to be crossposted to another platform, copied by anyone, or translated without my express and explicit permission.

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[tanadrin]

For such a simple story, I found Piranesi astonishingly affecting. I really cannot overstate how much I like Susanna Clarke is as a writer.

(Also in my head it is now part of the Fucked Up Architecture Trilogy, along with “The Library of Babel” and House of Leaves. Babel is “what if the world was Inside, and a library?” House of Leaves is “what if you could access a world that was Inside, and also fucked up as hell?” Piranesi is “what if the world was Inside, and beautiful, and kind?”)

[nobleriver]

When I say I enjoy content focusing on a specific doctorriver dynamic, I’m not saying I like one dynamic over the next. Because I don’t. 10, 11, 12, they’re all the same person at different stages of their life. Consequently, shipping the Doctor and River is like reading the most beautiful, devastating trilogy. Each book holds a different arc of their story.

When I say I want more 10River, I mean I want to see when the sparks began to fly. I want to place under a microscope the moment that burning ember of curiosity morphed into genuine friendship and intellectual and (begrudging) physical attraction. I want to listen and read of their adventures and watch how the Doctor begins to see River as a person in her own light. Not as the dead companion of future him, but the radiant, funny archaeologist he now dares call friend.

And when I say give me 11River, I mean I want to immerse myself in the early and middle stages of their marriage, the good, the bad, the rough, the smooth, as they, like many newly wedded couples, wrestle in their early years to learn how to make this marriage w o r k. I want jealous Doctor, I want the Doctor who caves to his desires and kisses River back as if she’s the only oxygen left on the moon. I want to cackle with glee as the Doctor abandons the idea of ever running away from her because it’s already too late to run. He started falling a long time ago.

And when I say pile on the 12River, I mean I want to see the latter years of their marriage, when they act like that couple that’s been married for 50+ years who says they’ve finally figured out the key to marriage because THEY HAVE. They went through hell, through darkest pits of marriage, through the miscommunications and misaligned expectations, and made it through to the other side. Instead of trying to paper the cracks, they smoothed out the rough t o g e t h e r. They relinquished every survival instinct and exposed their jugulars, their deepest fears and pains, and let themselves be completely naked and vulnerable with the other. They finally did what 10 asked River to do all those centuries ago in the library… they stayed with each other.

[literallyrousseau]

(would take wayy too long to comment thread this, so;)

The entire Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry: a post apocalyptic zombie series that follows a teenage boy and his buds as they learn the horrid reality of the world they live in (horror/sci-fi)

The Simon Snow trilogy by Rainbow Rowell; orphaned kid goes to magic school bc he's supposedly a chosen one, aka gay mages & vamp/human subplot romance, enemies to lovers (urban fantasy)

The Boneless Mercies by April G. Tucholke; an unfinished series abt a group of female mercenaries in the death trade who travel to kill whoever they are assigned, gone off path to fight a beast in hopes they'll earn enough that they won't have to be mercies anymore. (Fantasy/action)

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz; girl stuck in a time loop, whole lotta violence and decent world building, barely there subplot romance (fantasy)

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew J. White; another post apocalyptic, but this time with religious imagery, whole bunch of body horror and a subplot gay romance, trans main character (horror/fantasy)

How to Bite Your Neighbor & Win a Wager by D.N Bryn; a deal between a dude desperately trying to figure out what the hell happened to his mother and a vampire who's starving. Gayness and angst ensue aka the inherent homoeroticism of letting ur vamp bro feed off you (fantasy)

Ethan & Jag Destroy the World by Maz Maddox; monsterfucking w a splash of saving the world that you broke by accidentally binding a demon to u bc you wanted a fake bf to piss off your ex. Gay. So gay. (Fantasy)

Angels Before Man by Rafael Nicolás; a retelling of Lucifer's fall from heaven but make it angsty gay shit. Oh, and a terrifying amount of gore and violence at the end. It actually made me super uneasy, something not many things I've read have done. (Dark fantasy)

Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon; if you really like world building, high fantasy. DRAGONS so many dif pov's and lovable characters. Takes a bit to get into it, then it's addicting (high fantasy)

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall; fake dating, good character development, dudes bein gay . Pretty sure there's a second one? Haven't read it yet tho (romance)

These are just a few of my favs, I've got a bunch in my mini library.

I've prolly got more if you're lookin for something different

MY FRIEND I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO REACT

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS MATE

the synopsis and everything⁉️🔥 dude this convinced me to buy a kindle just to read foreign books without paying for the [very expensive] freightage

Aside from the ones with heavy gore and body horror [my bad bro, weak-ass stomach😔], I gotta read them all

Thank you for the recommendations man🫶🏻🫶🏻 fr thank you🫂

And you got a whole mini library⁉️⁉️ Man thats so cool, genuinely

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

JOMP BPC - September 17th - Can't Wait to Start

I can't wait to start the Hell's Library trilogy by AJ Hackwith. isn't it always the way with series that you can borrow books 1 and 3 but book 2's gonna be on hold for a while 😅

[violet-prism-creatively]

I finally read the 3rd book in the Hell's Library series by AJ Hackwith and immediately went to scroll through the tumblr tag. It's tragic that this trilogy's fandom is like 3 people because it should be so popular! Heaven and Hell and other afterlife realms! Almost all the main characters are queer POC! Is it found family or a polycule? There's angst! humor! softness! trauma! It's literally about the importance of stories!!

Anyway go read The Library of the Unwritten (1st book) and scream with me.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/23/2024

listen i got my last job through one of youse on here so weirder things have happened: i got fired bc the nonprofit wasn’t doing so hot. let me know if you have a weird data/database or market/tech research job. i promise my worksona is so so so nice and pleasant to work with. remote only, looking more in the $75k range but can be a bit flexible if it’s a cool enough job, i am in the central time zone of the USA and will not need sponsorship anywhere but DO need the cadillac of healthcare and dental plans. portfolio, publication list, and linkedin with my government name available on request!

listening

both of these are from my sister! this is another FULL ALBUM rec (good lord). The Offline’s album La couleur de la mer is a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist, inspired by his long walks in the fog on the French Atlantic coast. a little spacey, a little soul, very sixties/seventies neonoir. i am quite fond of the very first track, Thème de la couleur de la mer.

she’s also sent me a bunch of tiktoks with Perfect (Exceeder) by Mason and Princess Superstar. hell of a goddamn music video for this thing. mid-aughts clubbing music at its finest. stopped me from dissolving into a puddle of emotions on the way to and from the vet today bc it’s too goddamn bouncy to be sad around

reading

im reading a trilogy i want to discuss as a whole whenever the third one comes through as a library hold, and a book by a friend. i do not typically talk about books or fics by friends here bc none of them have ever asked for critique, and i dont want to play favorites or inadvertently miss someone’s work. so here’s a story about porn on Wikimedia, which is the kind of database drama and technical arguments that fascinate me.

given the number of articles from 404 Media i shout about here and elsewhere i really should sign up for their $5/mo subscription tier when i have a steady income again

watching

somehow missed Star Wars Visions 2, their second anthology of weird little shorts. i was not super impressed by the overall storytelling this time around, but it was fun to see them reach out to more global studios and see a wider range of styles. there’s some goddamn incredible stop motion in here.

i particularly enjoyed Journey to the Dark Head, which not only has some interesting fringe Force believers and beliefs but has one of the sickest anime bullshit lightsaber fights in this season. this one is by Studio Mir, most known for the Legend of Korra.

also really liked The Spy Dancer by Studio La Cachette, partly bc it’s incredibly beautiful and i like when Star Wars leans into art nouveau, and partly bc it felt the most like a complete short story. emotional arc and everything! strong beginning middle and end! this IS a really low bar, but a lot of the shorts this season did not have a coherent little story to tell or a strong emotional arc, or fumbled their arc partway through, and were just kind of vibes and animation showcases? nothing necessarily wrong with that, also how i felt about most of the last collection. my expectations are underground for any Star Wars media.

playing

as is tradition i dithered about this section the most. this is more of a What’s Next? planning ramble.

the laptop gets shipped back to my old job today so i will no longer have a working modern computer. i have to dig the switch out and see what’s up. maybe start a whole new run in breath of the wild or whatever the last pokemon game was. i think i also have the sword boyfriend game everyone was up in arms about two years ago? and i think i am somehow part of a switch family plan that lets me have some older games?

this section may look very different in the next ??? amount of time until i get a company laptop again. or finally replace the motherboard on my personal desktop but that sat in my car for several weeks during the heat wave this summer while i did not have an apartment and i am really REALLY afraid to open that box.

oh the free epic game this week is a platformer, a genre i have historically not cared about. godspeed to those of you who do

making

soup bc aldi had alphabet pasta and that jolted me out of myself for long enough i was briefly convinced making alphabet pasta soup would fix me. so i found this recipe while in aldi. despite this not being a very good soup or a very good recipe, i feel a little triumphant bc i now know enough to brown the tomato paste before putting it in the soup. unfortunately i overcooked the pasta. there’s kind of a lot of texture happening here, and i wish i had chopped things finer, but i will probably steal my best friend’s blender tomorrow and blitz some of it down.

it’s edible. im going to eat it all. it will not be going in the rotation

[fictional-library-tournament]

Prelims round 1, poll 8:

Propaganda

The Library, The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni:

Sentient building! Is literally a place of learning, both through read knowledge and real life experiences; has various doors to different locations and worlds, as well as specific areas inside the library for physical learning. The Library can manipulate space-time within itself, and paintings can easily become doorways to pocket dimensions.

Badalom, The Mysterious Cities of Gold:

Badalom is the second City of Gold of the series. It has an archive of blueprints of different machines made by the ancient Kingdom of Mu/Hiva. It also has a factory that builds flying golden condors.

The Library of the Unwritten, Hell's Library series by AJ Hackwith:

None

The Palanaeum, The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson:

None

The Stormlight Archive, The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson:

Super cool archive! The information is stored in carved crystals that vibrate in specific patterns when infused with magic to reveal messages. It was meant to preserve information stored for thousands of years after books in the main archive has turned to dust. (The art is by @lamaery on Tumblr who gave permission for me to upload this as long as they get credit.)

Sazed's Copperminds, Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson:

Copper bracers called copperminds that contain many, many forbidden books. They are accessible only to Sazed, a scholar specialising in religion and also a member of the Skaa rebellion.

‼️MAJOR SPOILERS‼️

At the end of the trilogy, the world is literally about the end, and Sazed becomes a god and uses the knowledge in his copperminds to fix/remake the world.

[uneducated-author]

I got a present from a student of mine, a beautiful hardcover copy of 'Howl's Moving Caste' and I'm so happy, but it does remind me of what 10 (AND A HALF) year old me did when she found out that it wasn't in my local WHSmith.

Full of rage and vitriol I knocked on the door of every classroom in my school (I was a renowned introvert, so this was EXTREMELY out of character) and politely asked if anyone had a copy. I received Many Many Many rejections. Inconsolable I lay in the library and wept. Then, like a beacon from the dark, the librarian miraculously told me that when I'd asked earlier she was mistaken and 'oh, I think we have it actually! It's just in loan'

I've looked back in this moment with the benefit of hindsight and realised that the librarian, who knew me as the girl who'd hide from bullies in the reading room and spent lunch hours organising books, must have elected to specially order the book for me, and it makes an already sweet moment even sweeter.

But a week later, I was distraught again. The winter holidays were coming up. I would loose access to the only library that had this treasure. I was holding Diana Wynne Jones masterpieces in my hands, despairing against my upcoming tragedy, until it came to me. The perfect solution.

I just had to write the whole book.

'Oh you fool, you could not write three books in a week'

I could sure as hell try.

I was in a frenzy. I would shovel breadsticks into my mouths and fervently write at lunch. I stayed up late and wrote by torchlight.

(Honestly, I probably could have written by lamp, but torchlight felt more dramatic and I lived for the feeling it evoked.)

I wrote in my reading class, permitted because I'd finished the list of books and the assorted quizzes. I wrote in friday PE because the friday teacher never took attendance and nobody cared if a young girl had locked herself in the bathroom for an hour, scribbling away.

I learned how to write with my left hand, but I was too slow if I wanted it to be legible, so I worked through the pain.

So? Did I finish? Was my fervent effort rewarded? Books had to be returned to the library on Thursday so I didn't even have Thurday night. Would the fortnight be enough?

Sort of. I finished my transcription of 'Howl's Moving Castle' and 'Castle in the Air' but couldn't move on to the final book in the trilogy. Hence started my winter vacation. I poured through the story, luxuriating in the rereading. I impressed my mother with my skill in making whipped cream, turns out mixing is much less intensive than furtive writing.

And on Christmas, I opened a beautiful collection of three paperbacks. I reread those books until I could recite swathes from each, and memorised the whole first chapter, which I'd murmur to my younger cousins.

I passed those books down to a younger girl in the neighbourhood, who passed them down to her sister, who gave them to a friend who lost them on a holiday. I have no idea where they are now.

But I have a book, from a student who loves reading where she used to hate it, and revels in a story with happy ending and good characters.

I don't know if there's some greater meaning to this. But I love the story, and it's come back to me. And my wrist almost hurts remembering almost 100,000 words for this story, but I can't help remember how much I wanted it.

Sometimes I think 'do I have that passion now? Is there anything I'd care about to that extent, until it hurts, until I hate it?'

I was so foolish, but so so alive and that week feels impossible. I talked to strangers! I transcribed a book! I didn't give up, not for a second!

(In fact two years later I did the same thing for Good Omens, transcribing the copy at my library over the period of a whole Summer. I purchased a copy a year after that, and gave it to a friend last year.)

I'm proud, of what ten and a half year old me did. Not because it was specifically moral, or impressive. Because of how much she loved something that she resolved to do anything to keep it with her.

The frantic handwriting is unfamiliar to me. It's spidery and smudged. The paper seems unbelievably thin, and the script uneven and unlevelled. A whole chapter has been lost to water damage. I barely have any of the book memorised. I keep it all the same because ten (and a half) year old me would weep if I lost it.

A heart is a heavy burden. But I poured mine into a strangers words, and then into those pages. I can't give them away.

[doorplays]

Door Reviews: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2001)

So! The Ace Attorney series. Iconic games, known by many. So many people have recommended this game series to me already. SO MANY PEOPLE. I got the first trilogy on the PC years ago, but it sat in my library unplayed for so long. And I have finally found the time to start it. And now, reader, I am so excited to tell you all about the first game!!! Let’s go!

What’s it about?

It’s about new lawyer, Phoenix Wright, and his foray into the world of Japanese courtrooms. We meet clients and assist them in getting a Not Guilty verdict. We see him learn the ropes, investigate crime scenes, endure his own trials, and persevere against all odds.

Disclaimer: In this review, I will mostly be talking about the first four cases. The fifth case will have its own section and its own rating at the end of this review.

STYLE (Gameplay, Graphics, Music)

Gameplay feels like a visual novel with investigative elements. You navigate areas, talk to people, and take note of evidence to present to people and at trials. The gameplay isn’t really anything to write home about, but the cases themselves are interesting to unravel.

To present evidence during, you have to select the right dialogue that the witness said, then present said evidence using the assigned hotkey (E for keyboard). It becomes a game of carefully reading what the witness said and cross-referencing it with the facts of the case, catching the lie using the evidence at your disposal.

It can get grating trying to find the exact dialogue to present evidence against. The cases can get roundabout at times, so you really have to make sure you understand what the witness said. I found that I have to double, even triple-check what the witness was saying, and check the whole transcript against my stack of evidence one by one.

Outside of the trials, it’s a visual novel-esque game where you go places and interact with items, making sure to talk to NPCs as well.

The gameplay itself is simple, but the game itself uses this simplicity to good effect in terms of storytelling, which I’ll discuss more on in the next section. All in all, I think the gameplay itself passes muster for me: good enough to play with, but not bad enough that I’d get too distracted by it.

The art looks sleek and expressive. The sprites look very anime. I like their exaggerated movements at times. Makes it feel like a wacky courtroom drama. The backgrounds are nice, too.

In terms of art, I think the best part are the character designs. The characters can be so zany and distinctive! And their animations reflect this, too.

The music, I think, stands out among all of these. They set the tone for various stages of the game, giving it whimsy, an air of caution, and an intensity too. I love the Turnabout music a lot! It is very iconic.

All in all, the style of this game is something I find charming. It’s simple, but because of that simplicity the game can use it to tell better stories.

SUBSTANCE (Story, Characters, Impact)

This game’s story is fun. It has a lot of wacky hijinks in it! Even the names of characters are so wacky: Lotta Hart. Sal Manella. April May. Redd White, CEO of Bluecorp. It’s such a silly game!

It has a lot of sassiness too. The banter between Phoenix Wright and a bunch of the other characters can be so funny. He can become the butt of the joke a lot but in the courtroom he WILL sass you to hell and back if he can press the advantage!

The dialogue of this game is soooooo silly. It feels like a Saturday morning cartoon in a way! It feels cheesy at times, yet I can’t help but crack a smile.

What I like most, though, is that this game’s story has a lot of heart (heh) and earnestness! It does character relationships so well, having a good balance between lightheartedness and seriousness. It presents character struggles seriously. And most of all, it emphasizes how difficult it is to be a defense attorney in one of the countries with the highest conviction rate.

We root for Phoenix Wright not just because he’s a silly defense attorney, you root for him because he tries despite insurmountable obstacles. He tries despite a legal system that can be cartoonish but is nonetheless still based on reality, where an accusation is practically a prison sentence. He tries because it’s the right thing to do.

That’s why I like this game’s story so much. At its heart, it’s a story about doing the right thing against all odds. It tells its story with such whimsy and silliness, yet is just so earnest when it comes to things that matter.

VERDICT

Ace Attorney is a gem of a game. I enjoyed playing it after work. It became something to look forward to after my day-to-day. I was rather bemused with the story, and slowly ended up loving it. I absolutely LOVE Edgeworth as a character and he is now one of my top 5 faves of all time (maybe even top 1…… he is my blorbo of the month). With such a strong first game, I am very much excited to play the rest of the trilogy. Play this game!!!

Door Rates Game: 5/5!

REVIEW: RISE FROM THE ASHES

SO! Rise from the Ashes is the 5th case in this game. This case here is an addition to the game after it got a Nintendo DS remaster. And it makes full use of the DS capabilities, with more expressive sprites, 3D evidence, and other gameplay quirks. Too bad we’re experiencing this on the PC!! Nonetheless, we push on with this review.

Case 5 is a fresh new case with a LOT of content. It’s like… maybe two, 2.5 cases in one? There are a lot of twists and turns to the story, and the devs introduced new gameplay, chief among which is the way you can now inspect each evidence you get. You go to the court record, press Enter, and you can look at it in 3D!!! You can get to inspect engravings, blood, and most importantly, you can now look at the back of receipts! Technology…

There are other new gameplay things they introduced, but they’re mostly just small things that try to tie you better into the game and also showcase the capabilities of the DS. Well, less that and more taking advantage of the new things the DS could do. With new technology means new ways you can make your game, and new ways to tell your story.

In my opinion though, these new things introduced in gameplay feel like they were thrown in for the sake of it, as if telling the player “oh, look at me! I can do this now!” Too experimental in a way… which makes sense, since this is in a way the first AA case on the DS. I haven’t played the other DS games, but I would hope that they found a way to integrate the capabilities of the DS better and in a way that makes sense for the story.

I found the story of case 5 to be amazing!! It had a bit of a slow start for me, but when it got going I was on the edge of my seat. It was thrilling, funny, and had heart, which is what I feel is classic Ace Attorney.

I liked it!! I would give this additional content a 4/5, if only because the new gameplay stuff hassled me a bit. They tried some new things, and some of them annoyed me, but I’m sure these new things would play out better in future installments. So far, I very much enjoy the series, and I’m excited to play more of its games!

[goblinchivalry]

with The Lines Between in the newest episode of Neverafter it reminded me of a favourite book series of mine!

If you are craving more stories about the power of storytelling, perhaps even one set in an extraplanar library, or a setting where characters in stories live and can even escape their pages... then you should absolutely read THE LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN by A. J. Hackwith (and the rest of the Hell's Library series!)

I can't speak its praises enough! Look at a review, read the blurb, find a copy!

In short: the worldbuilding is incredible; the writing is glorious, heartwrenching and funny; the characters are sensationally nuanced: the vibes are imacculate! The main lead is a badass WOC librarian!

If you're loving Neverafter (or other d20 seasons) you'll love it. It's a trilogy, so start with Library of the Unwritten!

[elie-draloup]

Aaaalright, Aslante Legacy, final game (until the new one comes out) of the serie, thoughts and theories ! Once again, spoilers for the entirety of the two trilogies and the movie. Probably some swearing too, here and there.

-Gotta love how every game starts with the Professor receiving some letter and immediately deciding without further thoughts or plan or questions : OK let's go, screw my job, screw Luke's parents (screw Flora), we're going on a new possibly deadly dangerous adventure !

-... Sycamore is actually Descole, isn't he ? I mean... Look at the hair.

-Excuse me, a million years old ?!

- Luke, meet your new big sister, she can make magic with her brain.

- OK but how are they going to explain this *opens door with incantation* thing.

-Oh wait it's easy : Vocal password. Aslante civilisation wasn't more advanced than us, they were just super overdramatic about it. Mystery solved.

- And Aurora can make a ship crash because she has a super magnet transplanted in her head.

-Kidding. This is a Layton game. Maybe the girl isn't even real and is an induced hallucination given by an old toxic gas freed from the ice and Targent is just a cellphones company harassing us to sell things.

-This or there was a big misunderstanding about a ridiculously ambitious escape game that went really wrong.

-Last option is that Aslantes indeed used to be technologically advanced and Aurora is indeed 1 million years old, but there has to be something else because I need the final dramatic reveal where Layton points.

-random person ; Oh so you're a little family on vacation! What a beautiful couple you make with beautiful children !

Luke : Actually, we're not related.

Layton : I don't have kids.

Emmy : And I'm single.

Aurora : What's a family again ?

-That scene were Grosky almost got killed by a bunch of mafia guys was brutal.

-Corruption, violence, attempted murder, terrorism, intimidation, mafia-like organisation, kidnapping, art theft, spying... And then there's Descole. I just love how you have so many "action-movie" kind of threats, and then you have that one middle-aged theater kid in a carnival suit.

-Well, now I can add human sacrifices.

-Mushroom people

-Egg people

-What's next, cactus people ?

-Oh no, the actual Far West.

-BIG DOGGO

-is that were the "Layton and the very large dog" thing comes from or...?

-Forgot to write things, but basically people poisened themselves with drugs AGAIN but with the help of a kid, a bird and a library they're okay. So now we have a bunch of eggs but I'll make a tour to do all the puzzles I might have missed. Sorry guys, archeology can wait, I've got some puzzles to do.

-Aurora is still politely waiting for me to talk to her in order to move the plot. The answer is still no.

-Since Sycamore is Descole (I dunno, the hair. Only Descole would have that kind of haircut.), I'm starting to wonder if maybe... Emmy works for him ? Because.. I dunno, some PNJ just told Sycamore how he seemed to care a lot about Emmy, and Sycamore never striked me as the kind of person to look (or even be) caring so yeah I just... Am I reading too much into that ? Emmy does know martial arts and kinda came out of nowhere. But also... She's Emmy. Or maybe it's just a way to say "Sycamore may be Descole, who did tried to kill the protagonists on several occasions, but hey, he can be a nice guy too when he's not maniacally laughing out of madness !". Or just a dumb pnj saying nonsense.

-A fake egg huh. Who did it. It HAS to be someone travelling with us. Sycamore could be an obvious suspect but...Targent has the egg and Descole hate them. Hm.

-Yes, bring the kids to the evil mafia's lair surrounded by people with guns. Then don't let Flora take the train for her safety.

-Ah well one dude got shoot off screen apparently. Probably bleeding as hell. Wonderful sight for Luke's nightmares, a guy covered in blood, barely managing to escape from the people still running after him to end his life. Let's follow him.

-Yes quit your mafia job, take some vaccations, get married or whatever, wish you luck guys. We really hope that you're genuine otherwise that guy we left behind will be very dead huh.

-Sycamore looks way too familiar with Targent's methods. So that what happened to your wife and daughter, huh ? But Kornev seems disinterested in him now, despite his Aslante knowledge. Is the "Legacy" just a method to bring people to life ? That would explain why Descole is so eager to find it. Also can't wait to see Layton's reaction to the reveal of him being Descole. I mean, yes it's just a theory but.... Common it's just so obvious.

-I'm sorry but this girl attempted suicide, we should listen to her and IMMEDIATELY stop this whole thing like she said. I don't know what the azran legacy do but it seems like it's a bad idea to find out, after all.

-Eh, told ya. He had to reveal himself with his signature laugh, didn't he. Also... Yes ! Swordfight! (I feel like Layton will never respect him enough to fight him with an actual sword. This feels like a "You're the loser yet I'm the one with a broken pipe, you pathetic fake swordsman." vibe.

-Can we talk about how heartbroken Aurora must be right now ?

Aurora : You're my friend ? You mean it ?

Desmound: Of course !

Also Desmound : I'm stealing this from y'a, I used you all as a bunch of tools mouwhaha bye !

Aurora : =(

-PROFESSOR YOU CAN'T BRING FOUR PEOPLE TO FLY ON ONE SINGLE DEAD DINOSAUR was what I thought during the cutscene. Until I saw it was just Layton to catch up Descole. It's just... Layton has a HISTORY with hand-made flying devices.

-Also Kornev didn't seem to care that much about losing so they'll just follow them on the finale temple with a bunch of guns I guess. I got spoiled that Luke is going to die and I'm starting to worry a little. Hence why I think they're going to unlock the power of bringing people back to life. But I also guess such power comes with disastrous consequences. Though by the look of Aurora behaviour, it seems like the whole world is doomed.

-Oh hey Descole. Need a hand opening that door ?

-And here they are with the guns.

-Hehe, gun proof ceiling.

-EMMY. YOU. HOW COULD YOU. LUKE HE TRUSTED YOU. THE FUCK. EMMY WHY. AND FOR THIS BASTARD ?! YOU KNOW HE'S A BASTARD RIGHT ? YOU THREATENED LUKE. YOUR LITTLE PAL. WITH A FREAKIN STALACTITE TO HIS NECK. THAT'S A KILLING MOVE EMMY. WOULD YOU HAVE THE GUTS FOR IT. WOULD YOU.

-OK I'm fine, it's ok, alright, good, let's keep going. It's not like I wasn't used to betrayals in video games. But still. What the heck.

-Heeeey, Descole, pal. Guess we're a team now, if you're not in the mood of trying to kill me today ! And you know I would destroy the entire world and then myself if anything had to happen to Luke, riiiight?

-The guy asked for a team up himself, I don't even get to laugh at him.

-Oh thank stars Luke is okay. But for how long.

-I'm sorry Emmy, but you still lied and spied on us. Also threatened Luke. It sucks because you're awesome but still a traitor. I suppose that explains why she won't be around for the next games.

-Luke and Descole being salty at eachother is SO fun to watch.

-what the heck.

-Descole took a bullet for Luke. First of all : Can you PLEASE stop giving this kid near-death experiences, I heard he's supposed to die at some point and it makes these situations even more intense. Even if I know he'll come back thanks to the other games but still. Also... What the actual heck ?

-.... Brothers ?!

-.... Father ?!!

-Wat

-Well, that was... a lot. Guess I'll let you die there, I have to save the world so uh, not the greatest time for a family reunion.

-Everything has gotten 1000 times more awkward between these two. I mean imagine if Descole make it alive:

Des : uh...Little brother.

Layton: Let's not.

Des : Yeah, sounded wrong when I said it too.

-You....You're telling me that all the grunts died on the way here ? Well good thing we haven't met with any of the corpses I guess.

- See Emmy ? This guy would rather see you die on a puzzle than try it himself. I hate him so much. Now I get why Emmy seemed so taken aback after her first meeting with the Professor. That's why she was surprised to be shown some consideration, after years spent with this guy.

-He just... ran the sword through her heart with NO second thought.

-Wait, EVERYONE dies ?!

-And in a very painful and disturbing way ?!!

-They were on the ground. They were dead dead.

-End of the world : Successfully avoided! At the price of ☆trauma☆

-Luke watching his adopted sister disintegrate. Ouch.

-Descole being like : SEE YA ASSHOLES. If he stayed he was sooooo going to jail.

-Fffffffriend ? With him ? Hershel.... I get that it's your biological father, but he also proved himself to be some crazy heartless jerk. On the behalf of "good intentions", but the end doesn't justify the ways. Loved how he made it clear that his parents are his ACTUAL parents and nothing, not even a biological father will ever changr that though. And that HE IS Hershel Layton.

- So let me get this straight. Layton lost his family at 6 because of the mafia of science(was this close to my random "seven curse" theory.). Then lost his best friend at 17 and grieved him for 18 years while blaming himself before he got back from the dead. Then lost his fiancee at 27 and almost got killed by trying to discover the circumstances of her death. Then lost a kid he had to take care of when he was 35 right after being revived by said kid. And witnessed the death of his fiancee AGAIN at 37. And all this with no therapy. I think I get why he has such a harsh time expressing his emotions.

-At least Emmy got to live a REAL independent life. I think she couldn't stay after all that since the trust has been broken, but she still get to have the opportunity to grow on her own to choose who SHE wants to be, not some fake uncle. Wonder if we'll have some news from her in the next game, since now they can acknowledge both of the trilogies.

-Luke and Layton after getting home:

Layton : Not a word to your parents about the whole... dying and stuff ?

Luke : Nope. Definitely not.

-I wonder if one of the reasons Hershel is more protective of Flora is because he's projecting Aurora on her. I mean it's hinted that she got reincarnated, but to him she's still very dead.

-I hope we'll have at least some cameos or references to all those characters in the new game. And a hint that they all went to therapy because heck do they need it. Do something of these coins, professor.

-Wait a second, something's wrong.

LAYTON HASN'T DONE THE DRAMATIC FINGER REVEAL THING

- Probably because he was as confused by everything for this one.

-Besides it's hard to be more overdramatic than Descole. Desmound? Descole?

-Des.

-Wait wait wait... It's implied that Desmound's wife and daughter got killed by Targent, right ? Did it happened under the command of his joke of a father? Did that happened or did I forgot something ?! Like what.

- Hershel please don't call this shithead a friend. He's not. Why am I more angry at Bronev than you are.

-Silly idea of Layton and Descole attempting a talk like normal brothers :

Des : So remember that time we died ?

Layton: Oh yes. Yes. And, uh, saved the world.

Des : And that one kid really died.

Layton : I can still kill you in a swordfight you know, that's gentleman's approved.

Des : *sips tea*

And this was the final one. I would have done Mysterious Village and Pandora's Box too but I already played those before I began to write my thoughts while playing so there would be no point now that I know the plots. Anyway, I absolutely loved these games and can't wait to play the new one on Switch, after going through both trilogies, I'm ready for the new wave of angst !

[triviareads]

Could you please recommend a smutty book with a good "almost caught fucking" scene?

Sure! We love a good exhibitionist (purposeful or not) moment so here are some of my favorites:

Glory and the Master of Shadows by Grace Callaway: Wei goes down on Glory in her house and they hear creaking in the hallway and it turns out the next morning it was Glory's mom (to be fair, Maggie has zero legs to stand based on what she and Ransom get up to in their own book).

The Duke Who Knew Too Much by Grace Callaway: Fabulous blowjob scene where (I mean idk how close they are to getting caught but they definitely catch other people) they hear another man through the curtain giving instructions to a woman on how to blow him and Emma enthusiastically follows these instructions on Alaric.

The Earl I Ruined by Scarlett Peckham: Another curtain blowjob scene! This time at their own engagement party and the curtain drops juuuuust as Constances is finishing Apthorp off. Icons.

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean: Cross is soooo jealous someone kissed Pippa before him that he eats her out in the corner of his gaming hell.

Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt: Isabel is sneaking around a private residence and is nearly caught but is saved by Winter who drags her in a corner and then she proceeds to blow him with such feeling that they're both crying by the end.

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas: In which Derek Craven is thoroughly horrified (and turned on) that the hot woman he's about to have sex with is, in fact, Sara Fielding, so he tells her to go back to where she came from but then starts fingering her anyway, and is then interrupted by an employee while they frantically try to put themselves to rights.

The Education of Ivy Leavold by Sierra Simone: Julian and Silas finger Ivy under the table in a hotel dining room and I think Silas is basically like "listen.... if the other diners have ever had an orgasm, they knew what was going on here" while they carry her out.

Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas: Tom fingers Cassandra through an orgasm while yelling at her cousin to stay out of the library when he wants to check in.

Contemporary:

lmao my first instinct was to say Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez but they were caught by the paparazzi who all got excellent shots of Mateo eating Roxanne out from under her skirt in a car. But it's the thought that counts.

Heartless by Elsie Silver actually really surprised me because in a small town rancher romance, you generally don't expect him to gag the heroine with her panties and bend her over while a birthday party is taking place a few hundred feet away. What a winner.

Asking for Trouble by Tessa Bailey: Brent fingers Hayden in her kitchen during a dinner party and juuuuust as she climaxes a little old lady wanders in and is like "were you stealing a kiss, mister?"

The Rebel King by Kennedy Ryan: Max is fully sucking on Lennix's nipples through her sweatshirt (and then under her sweatshirt) while there's an apartment full of other people getting very turned on listening to them from the next room. So I guess technically they were caught? Or they weren't? idk but it's a fun one.

The Evolution of SIn trilogy by Giana Darling has a few nearly-caught moments, including a scene where he's fingering her in a beach in Mexico, and another where he's juuuust finished having sex with her and there's someone at the door of their hotel suite and surprise! It's her sister who's his fiancée.