#i know i’d play a six game long series based on that

[kitamars]

wild tiger anything agency is canon everyone

[brighter-by-the-daly]

Rachel Daly x Reader

Part Six: Dashed Hopes

AN: I know it’s been forever since I added to this series, tbh I thought part 5 would be the end but I kept writing for it and it’s been sitting in my drafts for ages. There’s another part after this but I just gotta figure out how to end it so idk when that will be coming (do we want them to get back together?), just wanted to get something out so I didn’t feel like I’d completely abandoned writing.

In America, off season starts a lot later than in Europe meaning all your friends from back home go off on holiday while you’re still playing competitive football. By the time it was your off season, your friends would be back to work and trying to squeeze in a vacation with them was pretty impossible. You loved visiting your parents and extended family but sometimes you wish you played in the WSL with them so you could have more time together other than international breaks. You weren’t even sure if you’d get called up again but knowing England are competing in America this break gave you a better shot seeing as you’re already here.

Since returning home to The Dash, Rachel had been hard at work trying to win you over again - staying up until the early hours in the morning to be able to call you, often paired with FaceTime. You rarely gave her the same luxury, you didn’t stay up at all hours of the night so you could speak to her and everything was on your terms; every Monday she asks when you’re available and makes sure she calls you in the allotted time frame you give her. It was obvious that she was doing everything within her power to get back with you, whether that meant long distance or you eventually going back home to England.

You looked forward to seeing your national teammates in a few weeks time when England compete in the She Believe’s Cup, it meant that for once, you wouldn’t be doing the 8 hour flight to base camp and they’d all be coming to you! Rachel had been talking about the camp nonstop and didn’t hide her excitement of being able to see you again. She was happy to take what she could get, be that as a friend or even if it just meant acquaintances, at least your were speaking again and that was enough for her. You couldn’t lie that you didn’t look forward to her evening phone calls and the attention she gave you made you feel good but you weren’t allowing her to consume your every thought like before. Propping the phone up on the kitchen counter as you cooked dinner her voice floated through the speaker from another continent, “I saw you got the call up!” she beamed, knowing your fears of Sarina forgetting you existed, “I told you after your World Cup performance, nobody could forget you!” You smiled into your saucepan of steaming pasta, pleased for yourself before sitting on the sofa to eat and stream Love Island. In America the series was being aired 2 weeks behind England and Rachel had avoided all spoilers to watch it with you, she’d often fall asleep half way through and you’d be lying if you didn’t think she looked adorable. Still, you were determined not to get sucked into the facade she played and as soon as her eyes closed you hit the red button. You hadn’t forgotten what she had done the year previous but your feelings towards her had certainly softened. 

Reaching the last few games of the season you were mostly packed and ready to fly to South Carolina for the tournament next month. Tying up your boots and trotting out for warm ups ready for your game against the Red Stars you noticed louder than usual cheering when shooting practice began. “Is today something special?” you asked Ebony as you lined up to take shots at goal, she didn’t say anything but subtly nodded upwards towards the East Stand. Looking towards the source of the noise you spotted a familiar face you’d been getting used to seeing through a 6inch screen. ‘What the fuck is she doing here?’ you thought, rolling your eyes at the sight of her hyping up the crowd from her seat. Standing in the middle of the pitch in your bright orange jersey with your hands placed on your hips and an unamused pout, you waited for her to notice you and when she did you pulled a gesture that can only be explained as “what the actual fuck?!” Rushing down the stairs in excitement you’d be cancelled in a second if anyone knew you hoped she’d trip and roll down to the bottom, chuckling to yourself at the thought. “If you wouldn’t come to me, I had to come to you didn’t I!” she shouted, her grin expanding as she neared closer to you. ‘That’s rich’, you thought! “Or an even better idea would have been to not leave in the first place” you said sarcastically, one of your eyebrows raising to display an unamused look that your ex knows all too well. “Hey, be nice. I thought you’d be pleased to see me!” she jeered, acting like she thought her appearance would be like something out of a rom-com. “Shocked more like! You’re wearing my shirt” you said, arms still folded as you spotted your number under the club badge. “Yeah! Bought it at the gift shop, they’re flying off the shelves!” bouncing around to do your signature celebration by pointing at your name on her back, you couldn’t remember the last time you’ve seen her with so much energy! Shaking your head in amusement it was time to go and get changed and as you jogged away she shouted out to you “good luck captain!” smiling and waving like a fan girl which was seriously giving you the ick. You turned and stared at her smugly while walking backwards towards the tunnel, “have you seen the league table lately? Don’t need your luck mate, we got this!” Running back up the stairs to her seat she placed herself next to your parents who had agreed to also be bought along for the journey. With everything going on you hadn’t spotted them - it was either that or the fact they were hiding behind their programs! 

If you had known your parents were in the crowd you would have celebrated your goal with them but instead you celebrated with the opposite stand, desperate not to give Rachel any more airtime than she probably already had. You tried not to pay any attention to where your ex was sitting the entire game but according to other players (particularly ones that were unfamiliar with what happened between you) she was your biggest cheerleader, barely in her seat the entire game, shouting and cheering at every possibility. You pretended after the match that you hadn’t heard her but her strong northern accent boomed around the stadium; however distracting, you can’t deny that having someone from home in the stands pushed you on. 

Shaking hands and making your way around the field to thank both teams you finally looked up to see not only the blonde but... “Mum? Dad?” you screamed, shielding the sun out of your eyes long enough to see it was undeniably your parents. Launching yourself over the barrier faster than Usain Bolt you sprinted up the steps towards the back of the stands as your dad came bounding down towards you, scooping you into one of his giant bear hugs as you met in the middle. Your mum quickly wrapped her arms around you both to stop your dad from falling over from the shear force you threw yourself at him. Rachel watched everything unfold from afar, a tear rolling down her cheek knowing bringing them along had made you so happy. Surely you’d have to forgive her now, right?!

Rachel stayed until the end of the season, spending time getting to know each other again like it was the beginning. She came to every single one of your games and this time, it was her wearing your name on her back. For so many years it was the other way around when you didn’t play on the same team; you’d go to watch her but Rachel being in a higher league barely had time to show up to your games. Your walls may have been broken down easily but the team certainly hadn’t forgotten what she did to you and how they had to rebuild you after she left. It was extremely messy, it wasn’t a secret that you two were dating and the fans very quickly realised the 6 year relationship was over when Rach abruptly announced her departure from The Dash. Conspiracies and rumours flew around the internet for months trying to guess what had happened and who was the victim - Rach being the bigger name tended to get the most sympathy. You know you shouldn’t have read the comments online but you couldn’t help yourself and it nearly drowned you, if it wasn’t for your teammates you never would have made it out the other side. Now club captain, you had made your own name for yourself, no longer riding off the back of Rachel’s multi continental fame. You are (y/f/n) - striker, captain and leader. You are so much more than Rachel Daly’s ex girlfriend. 

Since her return, the rumours had started spiralling again – ‘had they broken up?’, ‘are they back together?’, ‘is Rachel trying to take her back to England?’ – it was relentless! On the last game of the season, Rachel was invited to make a speech at half time, stating how proud of the team she was and how Houston still feels like home to her. She donned a specially made jersey and given a commemorative photo album to take home with her. You couldn’t stand it and waited in the changing room until she’d dispersed back to the stand. She did do a lot for the team when she was here but it’s your turn now, you’re sick of still being in her shadow even when she doesn’t play here anymore! The back stabby feeling stuck around for a while, bitter that the fans and club still loved her, she even handed out the medals for winning the league! Having to stand there and shake her hand, accepting the trophy from her to take to the rest of the team made you want to drop it onto her foot but you saved face and smiled politely when inside you were dying. Just when you think she’s doing everything right lately, she does everything wrong… again!

Celebrating in the changing room you’d had a little too much to drink when she burst in, keen to join in the party. ‘Oh no fucking way’ you muttered under your breath, slamming your bottle down on the table a little to hard and pushing her right back out of the door she’d just entered from. “This isn’t your party, why are you here?” you slurred, becoming a little braver with your words now your body was filled with alcohol. “I just thought-” she started before you cut her off, “no, you didn’t think! This is my first win as captain and you’re here to take over!” your voice becoming louder and louder, earning you a few stares from passing staff. Even after everything that happened, you couldn’t believe that the club had asked her to be such a huge part of todays celebrations, everyone knows what she did and half of them helped her do it. They watched you for months trying to become yourself again after the worst heartbreak you had ever endured and still thought making it all about her was a good idea! “Just leave, I want to celebrate with my friends” you ended your rant, exhausted with still having to fight with her. “Okay” she nodded solemnly, “have a good night” her head bowed as her feet swivelled and she walked off. “Right!” bursting back into the changing room, “let’s get this party started!!!” 

[akkrosu]

Get to know me (ask game)

So, ummm, I’m finally getting back to this after @recentadultburnout tagged me all the way back in August, which I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t answered to in all this time. I never forgot though, so here I finally am, six months later, doing it after all. Hope it still counts!

Rules: bold the ones that are true and tag 10 people to do it.

APPEARANCE

blonde hair // I prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // I have one or more piercings // I have at least one tattoo // I have dyed or highlighted my hair // I have gotten plastic surgery // I have or had braces // I sunburn easily // I have freckles // I paint my nails // I typically wear makeup // I don’t often smile // I am pleased with how I look // I prefer Nike to Adidas // I wear baseball hats backwards

For a brief period around 7th grade, I liked to wear makeup and nail polish before I realized they’re really not for me. In general I’d say I don’t really give much of an effort to my appearance, which is why almost nothing is bold in this section.

HOBBIES & TALENTS

I play a sport // I can play an instrument // I am artistic // I know more than one language // I have won a trophy in some sort of competition // I can cook or bake without a recipe // I know how to swim // I enjoy writing // I can do origami // I prefer movies to tv shows // I can execute a perfect somersault // I enjoy singing // I could survive in the wild on my own // I have read a new book series this year // I enjoy spending time with friends // I travel during work or school breaks // I can do a handstand

I play the piano and the guitar, and many years ago I used to play the violin, but I was never good at it.

I speak English, German and Spanish fluently, and I’ve been learning Chinese for just over two years. I’m also currently trying to learn Portuguese, Russian, and Thai, but I haven’t gotten very far with those yet.

The number of new book series I’ve read this year depends on your definition. I’ve read the new volumes of 2ha and Heaven Official’s Blessing that have come out, if that counts. Other than that, I read Judy I. Lin’s A Magic Steeped in Poison and A Venom Dark and Sweet (if a duology counts as a series), two amazing fantasy books set in China and based on Chinese traditions like tea-brewing. And then there was a German fantasy trilogy by Marah Woolf called Wicca Creed.

I travel sometimes, but it really depends on the circumstances. I still travel with my parents sometimes, but I very rarely enjoy vacation with friends for some reason.

RELATIONSHIP

I am in a relationship // I have been single for over a year // I have a crush // I have a best friend who I’ve known for ten years // my parents are together// I have dated my best friend // I am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // I have a long distance relationship // I am an only child // I give advice to my friends // I have made an online friend // I met up with someone I have met online

I loved @recentadultburnout’s comment on this, and because I relate so much, I will put their quote here: I have been single all my life, actually. Not even a single crush. Probably an aro.

I’m still friends with my neighbor, who I’ve known all my life. Also some friends from school I’ve known for that long.

AESTHETICS

I have heard the ocean in a conch shell // I have watched the sun rise // I enjoy rainy days // I have slept under the stars // I meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // I enjoy the smell of the beach // I know what snow tastes like // I listen to music to fall asleep // I enjoy thunderstorms // I enjoy cloud watching // I have attended a bonfire // I pay close attention to colors // I find mystery in the ocean // I enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favorite season

I’ve probably watched the sun rise more than once in my life and just can’t remember because I was a child or something, but the only time I consciously remember was this August when I went to China for a summer program and our group went to climb Lao Shan, a mountain near Qingdao.

I love rainy days and thunderstorms, but mostly when I don’t have to leave the house and can watch from a warm, dry place.

I often have trouble falling asleep, so I usually listen to my Sleepy Songs playlist or watch Bob Ross.

In real life, I don’t really pay attention to colors, but @respectthepetty has taught me to at least do it in BLs.

I think the ocean is hiding more things than we can imagine, considering we’ve only explored about 5% of it.

I don’t enjoy sports, but I like hiking (even though I don’t do it a lot) because it’s very calming and you can just let your mind drift.

MISCELLANEOUS

I can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // I am the mom friend // I live by a certain quote // I like the smell of sharpies // I am involved in extracurricular activities // I enjoy Mexican food // I can drive a stick shift // I believe in true love // I make up scenarios to fall asleep // I sing in the shower // I wish I lived in a video game // I have a canopy above my bed // I am multiracial // I am a redhead // I own at least 3 dogs

I think it’s different in the US (and this particular point feels very American to me), but I live in Germany and here you usually have to be able to use a stick shift to get your license.

I sing in the shower, but only when no one else is home.

This was fun! I don’t know enough people to tag 10 of them, so I’ll just throw some tags into the wild and see who feels like doing it (no pressure, of course): @ellaspore (who I haven't talked to in way too long), @biochemjess, @majestictortoise, @respectthepetty, @firstkanaphans

[alienisticxo]

Before the Fever - Chapter Seven

{Master Chief x Reader series - TV based}

{A╱N} okay, so, the big one here is that i don’t know the semantics of how to get out of the undersuit the Spartans wear… i assume it’s not as easy as removing a shirt, but definitely not like being built into the mjolnir.. either way, it’s just a fanfic, and try as i might, i couldn’t find anything about it lol.

also, i will die on the sword that it is New Alexandria and not Reach City. (what is this, cyberpunk?! joking aside though, i love that game too lol.)  

anyway……

enjoy ♡

“Hey, Chief,” Kai smiled at me from behind a chess set on a table, but I could only storm past her.

“You should be asleep, Kai,” I mumbled on my way, not stopping to engage in any kind of conversation.

The showers were empty, ‘Per Mare, Per Terras, Per Constellatum’ emblazoned on the wall reminding me of my training days. One of the first things we did was learn the motto by heart. We held onto it, we died for it, killed for it. Through land, sea and stars, just as it suggested.

Yet here I was, my usual secure and level-head a cyclone of uncertainties about the very purpose we all served. The brief exchange {Y/N} and I held stuck more than I’d have liked it to, and to discover that she lied about The Covenant overtaking Reach hadn’t upset me the way it probably should’ve. After hearing her point of view, I wasn’t really surprised at her actions– and we were always ready for anything, just taking extra precautions.

It was my encounter with Halsey that created an endless loop in my mind.

‘She’s a distraction, John,’ I heard over and over. ‘She lied.’

I was frustrated, irritated, angry.

All things that never affected me before.

Had Halsey never taken into consideration that the same could’ve been said about herself? All she seemed to do was lie and work around obstacles to pull the strings in her direction. It was distracting, once you opened your eyes to it all.

I stripped out of my undersuit, not paying much attention to anything else as I stepped into the stall, the hot water beating against my skin. Though I could withstand plenty, I was sore from the earlier battle. It left me no escape from any of my senses.

Leaning a hand against the wall, an attempt at regaining clarity, I let the water run, every muscle in my body still tense. But my head wouldn’t clear– only focusing on Halsey, the Keystone, {Y/N}, all flooding me out. I threw a fist against the cement, a crack appearing immediately. The disappointment in myself was overwhelming. I had never known weakness first hand, and I was beginning to feel like that was exactly what this was.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood there before I heard Kai’s voice again, ripping me out of my endless train of thought.

“It’s complicated sometimes, isn’t it?” Her voice echoed just loud enough for me to hear from what I assumed was the sink. “Feeling things?”

I didn’t respond.

“It’s like a whole new world has opened up to me, but I can’t find the map. And you know that’s not how we usually operate.”

“Kai..” I began, about to dismiss her.

This was too much. She had no idea the pressure I was under. I needed to recollect myself, bring myself back into play the way I had been before. I wasn’t here for a heart to heart.

“I know something’s up with Halsey,” she continued anyway, her voice closer, and I pictured her leaning against the other side of the stall’s partition. “I don’t need a removed pellet to see that. You don’t even have to tell me what it is, but, John, promise me something.”

Shutting my eyes, I listened to her— really listened to her. Dipping my head, droplets of water ran down my nose and off of my chin. My hand remained pressed against the wall, and I tried not to tear the showerhead from its place in an uncharacteristic fit of frustration.

“What’s that?” I asked, keeping my tone as even as possible, not wanting to take my new set of issues out on her.

“Talk to me, if you need to. The others have no idea. They’re still.. In the dark, for now. But I’ve got your six, Chief. In any battle. I hope you know that still hasn’t changed.”

Her sentiment did offer some kind of solace, no matter how unusually saccharine it was. I was still getting used to her own awakening to the world of emotion. It soothed the irritation I was running through nonetheless, an odd sensation of comfort I’d yet to feel.

With my own eyes open, I could see how everyone I knew to be with me had actually been against me the entire time. If they weren’t against me, they only saw me for what I had been turned into, what I could do in their favor. That was par for the course previously, something that didn’t matter to any of us. As Spartans, we’re built for duty and nothing more.

War machines. Guardians.

After discovering the things I had, I couldn’t settle with it anymore. We were just as much humans as we were anything or anyone else, augmentations, treatments, whatever, aside.

But if there was one person who would be true on the same level as myself, it was Kai-125. She always seemed to have a mind of her own, even when our minds weren’t ours.

As much as I wanted to shed some light on what was going on, I needed Kai loyal to the mission, to the war we were still in the middle of. I’d tell her about Halsey’s lies; how we were kidnapped from our childhood homes and forced into the Spartan program. How our parents grieved some kind of mutant children in the belief that they were us. How any documentation of Silver Team’s pasts had been wiped from all databases Cortana could access, right down to our names.. She was owed that much.

But in due time.

It left a bad taste in my mouth. Reminded me too much of Halsey keeping us loyal to her own mission.

I decided I’d tell her sooner than later.

“Understood,” I nodded, though she couldn’t see. After a beat or two, the muscles in my back relaxed on their own, and I continued. “You too.”

“Copy,” she responded, a smile in her voice.

The sound of her footsteps grew further and further away until I was sure I was alone again.

———— ⁂

My feet dragged as the MP’s who stood guard outside of my door at all hours escorted me down a hall. I kept my gaze on the floor, my hands restrained in front of me just as they had been when they’d taken me in to begin with. For everyone being so robust with a tough-guy edge, they sure seemed to see me, a very unmenacing, unalarming girl, as a threat.

Who cared that I took the Keystone? It wasn’t like I murdered anyone important. I was exhausted, not having slept much through the night, and it was all very showy. My attitude seemed to exude my thoughts when they let me into a very small room, my eyes rolling automatically.

Though last night I’d gathered some new-found hope, a yearning to speak with The Master Chief once more, I still wondered if they’d let me free once I’d completed their little test.

How many times would they need me to do it, anyway?

When I finally raised my head in an attempt to shift my outlook on things, my line of sight followed, falling on the item that sat on a column in the middle of the space. It was peculiar looking, not how I pictured it at all. I quickly realized that I hadn’t really tried to picture it before. The enormous size of the briefcase immediately made all the sense in the world to me.

Though the sensation it offered was tranquil and the place it sent me was striking, I sized it up, my entire frame reeling back just slightly as though it might jump out and grab me. The entire situation was unsettling. I wasn’t sure what was to become of me once I’d done all Doctor Halsey needed me to do, and that alone made me nervous.

But what if it didn’t work anymore? What if I couldn’t bring it to life the way they wanted me to? What if that upset them? I had no idea how the test was supposed to turn out, and despite all the information they gathered on me and from me, I had no idea what they were truly looking for. Everyone else seemed pretty sure of themselves, though— or so it seemed.

A door to an adjacent room viewable only by a long, horizontal window slid open. Out came Doctor Halsey, a polite smile on her lips and a few small discs in her hands. My escorts released me of my restraints and stepped out of the room completely. They obviously trusted that they had a hold on me should I try to escape again. As weak and, while I hated to admit it, as scared as I was, they were probably correct.

“I must admit, you had all of us worried for a moment,” she told me, her voice holding a hint of faux sympathy. “We were expecting quite the war here in New Alexandria against The Covenant.”

I figured they’d find out eventually, but that didn’t seem to last very long at all. I was almost disappointed as I chewed on the inside of my cheek just before speaking up in turn.

“My mistake. I must’ve gotten my Sangheili wrong.”

But the faintest hint of pride in my voice coupled with the vaguest of smirks would’ve been evident to anyone who was listening. The lie didn’t buy me any way out like I hoped it would, but if my visitor’s reason for seeing me last night was true, I had apparently made some kind of impact. That was all I wanted.

All she did was smile, a soft, brief tilt of her head to one side following as she drew nearer to me.

“I’m going to place these on your person,” she began off the subject, pressing the tiny circles against my temples. “They’ll monitor your vitals; show us exactly what’s going on biologically when you touch the Keystone.”

She pressed more against the inside of my wrists, my arms and either side of my neck. I felt like a science experiment gone wrong. It occurred to me then that I’d sort of become one as my eyes drifted around the room.

Once the last device was settled in its place against my skin, I glanced through the window. I hadn’t noticed The Master Chief staring right back at me before. He was in the heavy armor once more, green and gold helmet tucked under his arm, and I wondered where he was headed next that he might need to wear it. On second glance, I saw he was donned with the same small devices on his temples and either side of his neck just behind his ears. A twinge of worry for him that I didn’t quite understand overcame me.

“You’re testing him, too?” I questioned, gaze falling back on Dr. Halsey.

“I am,” was all she said before slipping back through the door and leaving me on my own.

But I continued to watch her through the window as she walked into the other room, that strange nagging feeling of familiarity rearing its head once more. I tried my best to think about it, to come up with the face or the name that struck the idea— if only to keep myself from fixating on it too much longer. It couldn’t have been that important, but it bothered me all the same.

So my concentration remained on nothing other than trying to pinpoint the notion. My eyes were glued to her features, studying them while she spoke to The Master Chief behind the glass. I couldn’t hear anything, only assume they were discussing what was to come next. John parted ways with Doctor Halsey then, making his way toward the door to enter the room alongside me.

And then she smiled, wide and bright as she turned toward me again. Before I could comprehend it, my memories came rushing back in a heap of emotion. My body went rigid, an odd mixture of confusion and distrust pulsing through me. Nothing about what I remembered made sense, but I was ready to get to the bottom of it the best that I could.

“Alright Miss {Y/L/N},” she began through a microphone that now allowed me to hear everything going on.

But I cut her off, my epiphany suddenly more important.

“I remember you,” I breathed, becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with each passing second.

She stood still as a statue, and John’s eyes shifted toward me through the viewing window, his own footfall ceasing. The tone of my voice had been enough to catch their attention.

“You came to my home.. Just after we left Niacadus.. You spoke with my parents.”

I could sense Doctor Halsey’s entire demeanor shift into a subtle tension, though on the surface she remained calm.

“You must be mistaken,” was all she said.

“No..” I assured darkly. “No.. You spoke with me, too. I was so young.. But I remember. We lived here— on Reach, in New Alexandria. It was right before….”

I trailed off, missing pieces of my own history trying to latch together in my mind. The words leaving my lips felt like an ugly confession, some kind of secret I’d kept from admitting my entire life. But here I was, offering up the information freely, no less in front of The Master Chief. New Alexandria was a predominantly military city, it was rare to find anyone who wasn’t affiliated in some way or another living so close to their base.

And after all I’d said about the UNSC to him..

John turned toward Dr. Halsey, unspoken words seeming to fill him from top to bottom. While he remained quiet, there was something about what I’d said that seemed to have struck a nerve. His broad shoulders looked as though they’d been locked in place, and my blood ran a bit colder. I hoped my reaction wasn’t showing up on any kind of screen they could see.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” she dismissed me airily. “I don’t know your parents, though I’m sure they were lovely people. Now, if we can get back to the task…” she trailed off, fidgeting with something just out of view.

“Her father was a Marine,” John voiced, his tone harsh, unforgiving; sounding gravelly even through the microphone. “Her mother was captured by the Banished.”

There was a long pause, and it was evident that Doctor Halsey was unaware of his knowledge about me.

I certainly knew I was.

My brows knit together as I glanced over at him again, completely puzzled as to how he knew— even more curious as to why he didn’t say anything about it to me the night before. He had more ammunition against me than I realized, and yet he let me ramble on; complain about the entire force without calling me out on my own standing with them.

But I couldn’t focus on that just yet. I could only process the key point. My mother went missing years ago.. I had no idea she was…

“Or was she? Was he even AWOL, I wonder?” He spoke again after she didn’t respond, his tone thick with condescension. “You seem to know everyone who happens to go missing.”

Doctor Halsey’s eyes slowly trailed upward from what she’d been staring at prior, catching my own through the window. My heart felt as though someone had driven a stake right through it, and maybe they had, figuratively. There was so much to absorb in just a moment's time.

“You’re really batting a thousand here, Halsey,” he said, stepping up to her as though he was coming to some kind of conclusion. “How are you still here? Who else knows about all of this?”

Finally, she turned around to face him, too, throwing a hand against whatever table she’d been standing in front of.

“I did know her father, yes— her mother, too,” she began curtly, her jaw tight. “He was well respected here. But they were no different than she is now, always going against what was required of them. Unseeing of the future we could achieve as a species.. Unwilling to contribute to the process of furthering ourselves to limitless capabilities.”

John breathed a humor-less laugh, slightly tipping his chin toward the ceiling in exasperation. I began to melt down with each word she spoke. The world suddenly felt off kilter, spinning too quickly for me to hold my footing.

“Contribute?” He asked again.

“What do you know about my parents?” I asked, my voice empty, stepping closer toward the window.

But no one heard me, and if they did, they paid me no attention.

“It was during a period of time where we were considering a new Spartan program, completely unaffiliated with your own,” Halsey explained, but it sounded more like a confession.

His eyes met hers in a flash, an intensity burning within them that I hadn’t yet seen despite our less than desirable rendezvous’ up until this point. He obviously knew what this meant. As always, I remained in the dark.

“Another—“ he cut himself off as though he couldn’t believe the things she was saying, disappointment written all over his features. “There’s more at stake here than just furthering humanity. You’re toying with people’s lives, destroying them, stepping on them for your own gain into this idea you’ve created. Just ask Miranda,” he nearly spat.

Catherine seemed completely unbothered by his statement, her stare holding his, her confidence visibly returning by the second. She held her own despite the tension being thick enough to cut with a knife. But I briefly deliberated what Dr. Miranda Keyes had to do with anything.

“May I suggest replacing your hormonal suppressor pellet, John? You weren’t affected by trivial things such as ‘who gets hurt along the way’ when it was in its rightful place. That was the treatment, after all.”

He remained silent, but there was no mistaking the way his jaw clenched. The corner of lip lifted in a flash reaction to her words.

“I’ve obviously let this go on long enough,” she continued. “I’ve been defending you and your actions to the entire board for the sake of seeing where you lead us with The Artifact. Putting myself and my life’s work on the line for you— because I believe in you. Because I’ve always known you’ve had a greater purpose in this galaxy— for the galaxy. But it seems you’ve only become too distracted by figuring out your own delusions. By your desperation to... connect.”

She threw a glance at me, and I looked everywhere else but in their direction, my breathing shallow. What did she mean by that?

“For caring so much about humanity, you don’t really care at all,” was all he said.

“I love humanity, but humanity is the problem.”

My stomach churned and my limbs felt weak. I was suddenly desperate for something, anything, to take me out of the storm I was standing in.

A thought flitted across my mind to touch the Keystone; to bring myself back to the beautiful field and warm sunshine, and out of the pain I seemed to be drowning in. Nerves got the better of me as I hesitated, my mind not only on Doctor Halsey’s confession, but in contemplation the best I could manage through the news I’d received.

Though I’d reached The Halo previously, it was entirely by accident, a spur of the moment revelation. I had no time beforehand to know what was coming, what was actually happening. What was once an addiction to return to the mystic place, now seemed to be something I nearly dreaded. I began to feel like doing so would only allow Dr. Halsey information that she clearly didn’t deserve.

But just before I could come to a decision, I was being swept away from the object and out of the room altogether. My {E/C} eyes were glossed over, and all I could feel was the strong, familiar hand now latched around my upper arm.

My concentration was hazy as I tried to come to terms with the idea that my parents were more than likely dead over everything else. I thought about how I’d gazed out of that large window on Rubble, just before the mess I found myself in. The countless nights I wondered where they might’ve been all this time; fighting their own cause, winning their own battles. Believing for much longer than just that moment that maybe, just maybe, they hoped they’d see me again one day, too.

It all came crashing down around me as quickly as the details had been spilled. And while I loved Astra like my own sister, that glimmer of hope was the only thing I had left to hold onto– the only thing that kept me optimistic through all of the years I’d spent without them. Being away from her now as well, it set in a little deeper that I truly had nothing left to keep me moving forward. There was no telling where I’d end up as I found myself sprinting down a hallway, the beginnings of tears in my waterline, and debilitating despair in my heart.

“John!” I heard Dr. Halsey calling from what sounded like a million miles away.

“Hey! Stop!” I heard other alarmed voices shouting around us.

“Take those things off, let’s go,” The Master Chief ordered me as we rounded a corner, my feet carrying me with nothing other than their own strength.

After a few more seconds, I began to pick up on what was actually happening. We were on the run— being chased, wanted. I ripped the devices from my body, tossing them onto the floor as we continued through what felt like endless corridors. I caught various phrases in Latin written over the walls, and it all sparked memories I’d spent a lifetime trying to push away. But my mind was still ten steps behind, withdrawn and lost, only clear enough to understand the gravity of the situation.

Anything rattling through my mind was quickly replaced with the fact that The Master Chief himself was executing a getaway from the UNSC.. with me.

Oh, how the tables had turned.

“Cortana,” he rasped, his voice sounding strained, as if he wasn’t sure if she’d respond. “Cortana, are you there?”

———-

“How can I help you, Chief?” She returned after a few long seconds.

She sounded pleasant as ever in my auditory cortex, and at this particular moment, it was a sound for tired ears. I’d get to my apologies for kicking her out of my head later.

I exhaled in relief despite our still dodging friendlies who were now on call to target us, to take us down at any cost possible. It seemed more and more like I was the enemy these days, knowing it wouldn’t be too long before the rest of Silver Team received the order– if they hadn’t already. It crossed my mind to replace my helmet, but if {Y/N} wasn’t as protected, I wouldn’t be either, no matter the Mjolnir I already wore.

“Did you decide whose side you’re on?” I asked, pulling {Y/N} into a nook in a hall less traveled while I contemplated our next move.  

“Doctor Halsey may have created me. But I live in your head.”

The sound of her smile was evident. It was all I needed, her brevity ensuring enough.

“I need you to make contact with 125. Tell her to locate the Keystone and get it out of here. I can’t do it myself.”

“Sending her the coordinates and order through her private COM system now.”

I looked down at {Y/N} for just a moment, noticing she was still far away no matter how present she tried to be. She was already out of breath, her back up against the wall beside me. She didn’t speak a word, just followed me blindly, and something about that worried me.

“I know her heart’s in the right place, but are you sure you can trust Kai? Just because her pellet—“ Cortana began.

“Positive.”

“Noted,” she affirmed, ending her inquiry on the subject. “Where do I send her once it’s been retrieved?”

“Rubble.”

“Twelve o’clock,” was all she warned me with before she fell silent again.

I grabbed {Y/N}’s shoulder and turned her around, pushing her toward the entry point to the Condor’s hangar.

“Go,” I commanded. “I’ll handle it.”

She was hesitant, but after a glance at the incoming marines and then up at me, she darted down the long strip of hallway toward the exit.

It seemed like the girl was running on fumes of what was left of herself after all she’d been through. It was blatantly clear that she was rattled to some degree. But the sooner I could get us out of here unscathed, the sooner she could finally rest. I assumed that was all she needed. Rest. She’d be back on Rubble by 1400, right there with Kwan Ha.

I briefly wondered if Soren would mind looking after two people too much.

Probably.

-x-x-x-

{A╱N} thank you so much again for reading! this is the slowest slow burn i've ever written and i didn't expect to become to attached to the narrative of the story, but here we are lol. we're finally kicking up your relationship with the master chief in the next chapter, i deeply appreciate everyone who has hung in there and enjoyed the ride! <3

feel free to find this on AO3, and to find the link to the ‘master chief babes’ discord server on my page ♡ 

Tags: @grimistangel​

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Games in 2023: Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (2/2)

I, uh, ended up with a lot to say, and rather than practice restraint and edit it down I decided to just split this in two.  The first part goes over collection features and the three games in Vol. 1.  This one covers the three games in Vol. 2 (and it’s still pretty long).

I’ll also repeat my spoiler-free tl;dr: While these games do show their age, the collection provides excellent ways to mitigate the negatives, plus there are two decades worth of in-depth guides across the internet to help you along.  What holds up is a bundle of very unique and fun mechanics set in a world overflowing with both charm and heart.  I absolutely recommend it.  The collection has two volumes (that line up exactly with a major pivot in the series)—if you only get Vol. 1, I would recommend starting with either BN2 or 3 (BN1 is largely foundational and understandably rough around the edges), and if you only get Vol. 2 I would recommend starting with BN6 (it’s remarkably well-refined and far less divisive than BN4 and 5).

Resuming execution…

So now we come to…BN4.  Right.  Well, first things first: as I’ve said previously, I find it really unfortunate that this game has the reputation that it does considering the vast quantity of work that must have gone into it.  BN4 takes the series in a completely new direction, with a completely overhauled art style, and…how many new systems?  Emotion Window/Full Synchro, Dark Chips/karma, Soul Unison, Operation Battle, Free Tournament, e-Reader functionality…plus they made an entirely new villain who wasn’t even being manipulated by Wily (but still tied back to him through being his son).  Not to mention that Red Sun and Blue Moon feel like equal counterparts, which is one advantage it has over BN3.  They put in WORK, and BN5, BN6, and all of SF exists because of all that work and experimentation.  I’d like to remember BN4 as an ambitious game.  However, that…proves difficult.  Let’s see, what’s a good positive starting point…how about the Emotion Window?  It’s a neat way to add a new layer to the combat, and provides a comeback mechanic as well as rewarding you for skillful play.  While I do miss easy BugFrag grinding, Full Synchro as a reward for countering provides an immediate in-battle reward, letting you push your advantage and inflict some huge damage.  If you do poorly, however, you gain access to Dark Chips, which…are a really interesting concept, if you ask me.  Unfortunately, I think they really erred on the side of caution with balancing them out, and the downsides just don’t seem worth it: get a major bug, lose access to Soul Unison, and PERMANENTLY lose HP??  No single fight justifies all that, let alone a single attack.  Still, I do want to try a Dark run someday just to get firsthand experience with the mechanic…though it’ll probably be in BN5.  Anyway, Soul Unison!  Or Double Soul.  Whichever.  Love it!  Short-lived but big impact transformations based on familiar Navis, really hearkens back to MegaMan’s “Now I’VE got your power!” roots in a unique way!  Where did it come from?  Who knows! (Nobody.  Nobody knows.) Yeah, much as I love Soul Unison, I wish there was some kind of attempt at explaining where it came from, especially for so radical a shift from Style Change, which was already fleshed out and well-liked.  They vary a bit, but some of them are really cool and fun to use, and six is a generous amount of forms to have easy access to…when you eventually get there.  But, uh…let’s see, I talked about Patch Cards earlier, I haven’t tried Operation Battle or Free Tournament…eh, alright.  Let’s really get into it.

Now I love tournaments.  The N1 Grand Prix was great!  But a game structured around 3 tournaments…is a bit much.  It can get very tiring, not helped by the fact that it feels weirdly difficult to get your hands on decent chips.  Maybe to encourage use of your Souls’ chip-charging abilities?  And it tends to feel very disconnected from the “overarching” plot where you fight ShadeMan twice and then have to stop a meteor.  Still, it’s not too big of a chore to fight your way to Duo (who looks WAY cooler than his Classic counterpart, don’t @ me).  But apparently I’m not the only one who really struggled with Duo.  Well, I rarely even made it past Dark Soul tbh.  The point is, things take a turn, you realize you only have half your Soul Unisons, and you see “Start game 2”, and BAM: mandatory new game+!  Where everything has more HP and you realize the tournaments are completely randomized.  Then you get the rug pulled out from under you again when you realize you have to do new game++ just to get that last damn Soul…I’m so glad I knew about this ahead of time.  There’s enough despair in remembering that there are separate achievements for getting all Souls in each version.  Like…why?  Why, when they were making the collection, did they decide this was the game they wanted to require you to play so much more of?  Meh, I shouldn’t complain so much, I already wanted to try out all the Souls, it’s just that feeling like I HAVE to do it kinda…oh, nevermind.  The real problem isn’t even that, it’s that so many of the random scenarios are samey and/or some variety of frustrating.  You have to run through ACDC Area and usually also Town Area for every scenario in the first tournament, and then you have to run through Park Area for every scenario in the second tournament.  There’s a bit more variety in the third since they open the world map, and I do like that they tried again to fill out the world, but there are high odds of the player being checked out by that point.  And the mini-games, my gosh, the mini-games…some aren’t so bad.  But a lot of them are.  Everyone has their own most hated tournament scenario (mine is KendoMan) and it’s in large part due to awful, awful minigames (stop eating mY INPUTS).  It just…the frustration compounds upon itself the more you play, and so very few of the stories you get feel at all worth it.  I don’t want to feel this way about BN4.  I’m honestly trying to be fair.  Everyone always just dunks on BN4 and the last thing I want is to be a part of that.  But it’s such a frustrating experience, man.  Somehow I just keep ending up venting.  Oi.

Ah, what else…Regal is kinda nothing in this game, but I like him in BN5 and having the new villain be Wily’s son is interesting.  Also I appreciate the effort to change up the names of the evil organizations: WWW is…whatever that is, Gospel is a NetMafia, and Nebula is the Dark Chip Syndicate.  That’s a neat little detail I like.  I’m also really into the concept of Dark Souls, I think doppelgangers are the shit, the Sonic OC comic I made in my teens had Dark Souls as a recurring plot device because I like it so much.  Uh, having a new method of traversal in the C-Slider is an interesting idea to try out, and it is kinda fun to ride.  I wouldn’t even mind the hunt to put it together if it didn’t reset every cycle.  Oh, and this is where the Boktai crossovers start!  My experience with Boktai is still virtually entirely second-hand through BN and SF, but I dunno, I’ve always really liked the crossovers, I just think it’s cool that they happened.  BN4 starts a bit light with just the Gun del Sol chips and Django and Otenko giving you a fetch quest that ultimately nets you the Nebula Code, plus the attraction in Castillo, but it’s still really cool.  And it leads to even cooler things later!  BN4 really is the BN1 of a new trilogy: it’s foundational, and rough around the edges, but there is still value in seeing it for yourself.  Just, y’know…settle in.  Pace yourself.  I’m gonna move on now.

Okay, BN5!  This is another one I have a lot of nostalgia for, I should probably clarify that right up front.  It’s a divisive game, and I understand why, and I would NOT recommend this as someone’s first Battle Network.  But no matter what, it’s special to me.  Not to say I don’t think it has genuine merit, of course.  Let’s just start with the elephant in the room: Liberation Missions.  Boy can they be tough.  Making an alternate game mode required to progress is always going to rub players the wrong way, I get it.  But it’s kinda difficult to actually outright lose one, really.  Also I like being able to control so many different Navis, and having the structure of recruit, liberate, repeat allows for version exclusive content to be front and center without compromising the entire game’s structure (like BN4’s tournaments do).  It’s a very unique way to try something new with the battle system, and honestly, I think in part it seeks the same thing BN3’s Time Trials did. (I didn’t talk about them before because I still haven’t done them shut up) Battle Network has always considered quick and efficient deletion a key component of mastery—that’s why how long a battle takes is such a big part of your busting level.  Time Trials dial that up a bit with further restrictions: a (soft) time limit and a pre-constructed folder.  Similarly, Liberation Missions encourage quick and efficient deletions with a (hard) time limit, clearing multiple panels if you can win in a single turn, and requiring you to be familiar with several Navis in combat as well as keeping them all well-positioned on the overworld.  Considering this is the fifth game in the series, it makes sense to aim more for experienced players who know their way around a NetBattle and are looking for fresh challenges.  It’s for this same reason I don’t recommend it for newcomers, and for this same reason that kids playing this game would find Liberation Missions particularly vexing.  Of course, in the Legacy Collection, Buster MAX does work with every Navi you control…

Well anyway.  BN5 builds upon BN4’s foundation much the same way BN2 builds upon BN1’s.  Dr. Regal and Nebula are brought back, now as a far more present and serious threat that actually manages to occupy the entire internet within the first hour of gameplay.  Dark Chips are overhauled, now collectible as any other chip and needing to be deliberately put in your folder.  Soul Unison undergoes some minor tweaks, the most significant being that their charge shots now scale with MegaMan’s attack level.  Chaos Unison is also introduced, a way to both get one more turn of access to a Soul’s abilities AND use Dark Chips with relative safety!  While you are still locked into first-tier viruses and chips throughout the main game, you don’t feel nearly as underpowered as in BN4, and higher tiers are unlocked during the post-game (and can be toggled!) rather than needing to replay the whole game.  Even Patch Cards are overhauled.  The Boktai crossover is also expanded, introducing the Otenko chip and giving Django a full series of Navi Chips, as well as introducing Crossover Battle…though, that’s not in the Legacy Collection, unfortunately.  You do get Crossover Points from ranked battles, though, so you can still use the Boktai Trader.  Also…well, first of all.  BN5 actually has another secret transformation system…Cross MegaMan!  Not to be confused with the Cross System from BN6. (You will confuse them.  It is confusing.) There’s a Patch Card that you can use to overwrite MegaMan’s standard form, not unlike Style Change…except this one imbues him with the power of another Navi we know far too well.  That’s right…Bass Cross MegaMan!!  There are actually two slightly different versions of Bass Cross depending on which version of BN5 you’re playing, but they’re both exceptionally powerful and permanent unless you deliberately turn them off. (You can still use Soul Unison, though.) Of course, Patch Cards didn’t make it overseas, so this legendary form was Japan-exclusive…at first.  But that changed when BN5 got an enhanced port on the DS!  If, while playing BN5DS, you had in the DS’s GBA slot a copy of BN5 in which you had earned the Bass icon on the title screen, you unlocked the ability to play as Bass Cross MegaMan!  But the DS version didn’t stop there…it added one more Cross MegaMan form.  A form unlocked by inserting a Boktai game into the GBA slot…a form imbued with the power of the sun!  Sol Cross MegaMan!!  Yes, it was truly an astounding form…but it’s not in the Legacy Collection.  So.  That sucks. (On a related note BN5 also featured a crossover with Duel Masters in the form of a Giga Chip featuring a monster from that series.  Y’know, for completion’s sake.)

It really is too bad that the features from BN5DS didn’t make it into the collection, though I can understand the desire to preserve the original experience of the GBA games.  Come to think of it, the collection also doesn’t include the various things related to the Battle Chip Gates released alongside the second trilogy…that might be more difficult, though Star Force DX found a way to incorporate the Wave Scanner functionality…eh, not a big deal.  Point is, the GBA games are still plenty complete. (Though this is the only entry to not include Mr. Match, and that is unforgivable.) BN5 stands out as a very unique entry in the series, and I hope to see opinions on it improve over time.  Just, be sure to get some experience with one or two other games in the series before giving this one a try.

Finally, we have Battle Network 6.  As BN4 was foundational like BN1, and as BN5 built upward like BN2, BN6 is the culmination of all the work that came before just like BN3.  Even before the collection came around, there was already a dedicated community of players who found a way to battle online using this game, because the BN formula is so well-refined in this entry that they refused to give it up.  Chip restrictions are reworked to a more case-by-case basis, facilitating the demotion of all non-Navi Mega Chips to Standard class—Megas are exclusively summons, and this persists all the way through Star Force.  The game has two separate but compatible transformation systems: Beast Out and the Cross System (not to be confused with Cross MegaMan).  Crosses are the evolution of Souls, giving MegaMan access to another Navi’s powers, but are far more accessible this time around.  Souls required the sacrifice of a compatible chip and lasted only 3 turns, but Crosses can be activated at any time from the Custom Screen, and last indefinitely unless you pick another or are hit by your elemental weakness and knocked out of the form.  These are kinda busted!  I love them!  Beast Out, meanwhile, lets MegaMan control the tremendous power of the Cybeasts the game’s plot centers around, powering him up quite a bit but only lasting 3 turns.  After the form expires, you can try to activate it again if you really want to, but doing so will trigger Beast Over, rendering MegaMan invincible but sending him out of control until the custom gauge fills and the form fades away; if your enemy survived, MegaMan is left crippled, leaving you in an even worse situation than where you began.  The Beast Outs are a lot of fun to use, though the way they move to auto-aim chip attacks can at times put them right in the line of fire.  Personally I’m a huge fan of Beast Over, too, though it’s quite rare I find myself in conditions where it seems worth the risks.  But I have used it, unlike Dark Chips (which are no longer a thing), so I’m inclined to say it’s better balanced.  There’s also one more variation: Beast Cross, performed by either being in Beast Out and activating a Cross, or being in a Cross and Beasting Out.  Each Beast Cross mixes the Cross’s aesthetics with those of your version’s Cybeast, resulting in a variety of really cool designs, and you have access to the abilities of both forms plus a unique attack that replaces Beast Out’s chip-charge claw slash.  If you’re hit by the Cross’s weakness, you revert to normal Beast Out, and if Beast Out’s turn limit runs out, you lose both forms, so you need to be careful not to use up all your options too quickly.  Being able to combine forms like this is really cool, and only serves to deepen this game’s already robust form system; I’m fairly confident in saying that I like it even more than Double Soul, though it’s difficult to compare to Style Change so I can’t yet name an overall favorite.

Something interesting about Crosses is that, after you get your first Cross and the associated tutorial, the other four are completely optional.  In BN6, you gain access to version-exclusive content as you progress through the plot, but that content is entirely removed from the plot (save which Cybeast MegaMan obtains, but that’s a minor enough change that the cutscenes always play out the same).  This gives the plot room to breathe, and allows for the version-exclusive Navis to each have their own unique scenarios tailored to their own theming as opposed to sharing “one-size fits all” scenarios in BN5.  After doing these scenarios, you not only get a new Cross, but you gain that Navi as a Link Navi, meaning you can operate them while exploring the net any time you want!  Having the world open up to your other playable Navis is very freeing, and you’re encouraged to use them through various overworld obstacles that can be cleared with certain Navis’ abilities, though you’re only required to use them during a few parts in the plot where Lan temporarily loses MegaMan.  This is all described as a function of BN6’s new PET model, and I appreciate that there’s something to go off of instead of leaving us scratching our heads like Soul Unison did.  I really appreciate the benefits of this approach, though there is a part of me that wants to give BN5 credit for incorporating version-exclusive Navis into the plot more.

There’s a handful of other mechanical changes.  Side-quests from BN2 and 3 were brought back, though I find their implementation here to be a notable step back (the short version is that Request Points are superfluously restrictive).  The Navi Customizer here is another contender for its best iteration, now giving you a little extra space off the visible grid to better cram more programs into it.  Doing so does cause bugs, but BugStop is very easy to get if you know how, rendering it a moot point and letting focus be on the enhanced freedom of customization.  I also think it’s neat how the internet is designed so that you can access (nearly) every region of it from Central Area 3.  It’s easy to overlook given that Lan can just go to different towns and jack-in from there, but this makes getting around with Link Navis far easier.  Combined with the unlockable links on Lan’s homepage all leading to different regions, the net has never been easier to navigate.  The Boktai crossover is also back, now adding a series of Navi Chips for the Count of Groundsoaking Blood—obtained through a boss battle with the guy!  Of course, the original English release of BN6 cut virtually all of this, even the post-game area and sidequest, which always stung.  Many have said this was due to Boktai’s poor sales overseas, though more recently the developers have laid the blame on limited cartridge space; I do believe the devs, but it also makes sense that when choosing what content to cut during localization, the Boktai content was first in line.  Thankfully, the Legacy Collection is based on the Japanese builds of the games, so all Boktai content is retained and officially translated into English for the first time! (Except for Crossover Battle, of course…also there’s a weird bug regarding Django3, check some guides if you want to complete your Mega Chip library.) I suppose this would also be the time to talk about the successor to the Virus Breeder, the Virus Battler.  After buying a certain item, “rare” variants of viruses will begin to appear, and after defeating them, their data is stored for use in Virus Battles.  Virus Battles are a gauntlet of fights where you select and place the viruses you’ve gathered onto a battlefield in place of MegaMan, and then let them fight the enemy viruses to see who comes out on top.  Again, the inspiration from the Virus Breeder is clear, but the execution is very distinct.  It’s certainly a novel concept, but when I tried to complete them, that novelty quickly wore thin.  You don’t actually control the viruses, they operate on the same AI they use as enemies, which involves a degree of randomness.  What’s worse, these battles are timed.  I found these incredibly frustrating, and for a good while they were the only thing keeping me from finishing the post-game.  At this point the only thing I still like about the Virus Battler is that the final one ends with a fight against BlastMan, proving that he’s so weak that even generic viruses can kick his ass.  I like that.

From what I’ve seen, BN6’s story isn’t regarded quite as highly as BN3’s, but is still generally well-liked.  I enjoy it a good deal, but I think the fact that the whole second trilogy is so cut off from the first unfairly handicaps it.  BN6 is very self-contained, which on the positive side means that you can readily recommend this as someone’s starting point despite it being the final game in the series.  Unfortunately this has a negative impact on its ability to function as a finale, though I will say it does a surprisingly good job of that regardless.  The game starts with Lan and his family leaving ACDC Town, which they’ve lived in since the very beginning, and moving to Central Town in Cyber City.  As a direct result, there are virtually 0 returning characters on-screen for 90% of the game, which is a hard pill to swallow and puts a lot of extra pressure on the new characters and locations.  And it’s not all bad: I really like the way Cyber City and its various towns are structured, each focusing on a different aspect of “next-gen net society” to create a varied yet cohesive whole.  I also appreciate that the villainous operators, annoying as they may be, interact with each other FAR more than in any previous game, having their own group dynamic which actually informs some plot developments later on.  However, the main sticking point for most people comes in the new friend group that forms around Lan at his new school.  The game itself on more than one occasion refers to Mick as the new Dex, and while I can somewhat see the influence, the comparison does feel a bit forced.  Mick certainly has some potential as a character and has a couple of really good moments, but he has to shoulder an unfair amount of emotional weight due to the reduced cast and I just don’t find him up to the task.  Hell, they never even gave his Navi a name.  I’ve never seen a “major character” with bigger NPC vibes.  There’s also Tab, who runs this game’s chip shop.  I literally cannot think of another thing to say about him, because he gets so little focus.  I guess Iris counts, but she only interacts with anyone other than Lan right near the end of the game, and is tied into the game’s plot in a way that sets her apart.  In any event, I like Iris well enough.  She’s sufficiently mysterious to hold the player’s attention, and she gets a bit of character development before the game’s over.  She certainly feels more important than her X series counterpart!  Dex, Maylu, and Yai do all make a return at the end of the game, and that is nice, but man, the entire second trilogy spends so much time putting these characters off-screen or just acting like they don’t exist.  At least BN4 gave battles and Souls to two of their three Navis!  This may be the biggest contributor to making the two trilogies feel disconnected, and it’s a real bummer.

There are some connections, though, and some very interesting ones.  Probably the oddest-looking choice is that the Cybeasts are multibug organisms just like Gospel from BN2—it’s not a problem by any means, it’s just surprising to see the concept suddenly come back, especially since bugs were more or less supplanted by Dark Power during the Nebula duology.  It is kind of nice, though, and others have pointed out that it helps explain why SciLab had some knowledge of multibug organisms in BN2.  One connection I really like is how BN6 ties back into MegaMan’s origin, with the program that allowed Hub’s DNA to be encoded being not only part of why Dr. Hikari was tapped to help out in Central Town, but also the reason MegaMan is able to contain the Cybeast.  And of course, Baryl and Colonel’s involvement is a major plot point, as is the return of Dr. Wily.  Surprisingly, all three of them are fleshed out rather well!  Like I said with Iris, this Colonel is far more interesting than the one in X, and even with BN5 setting up for it I was shocked to see what they were able to do with Wily.  The decision to give him a redemption of some kind is…something to think about, for sure.  But again, the way he’s presented specifically in this game really lends itself to that.  At first glance it can seem like Lan is stupid to offer Wily a chance to reform, but when I got to it in this playthrough, it struck me that Lan was not at all eager in making this offer.  I don’t have the script in front of me right now, but I remember him sounding a bit hesitant, like he was forcing himself to do it out of a sense of principle and not just shrugging off everything the mad doctor’s done over the past six games.  Maybe I’m reading something that isn’t there, I don’t know.  But if it is there, then honestly, it’s enough for me to get behind this development.  I’ve said this before, but one of BN’s most recurring controversial writing choices being how easily some villains are forgiven is almost certainly a facet of the series’ theme of connecting with other people; even if it is a flaw, I think it’s a necessary one.  Morality and redemption are complicated topics, ones I’m not even entirely sure about myself.  If nothing else, these games commit to their stance.

BN3 is peak Battle Network, but so is BN6—for different reasons.  Even with so much working against it, the game still provides a satisfying end to the series, especially with that epilogue.  It’s nice to have a Mega Man series that ends on an ending rather than a cliffhanger!  I’ve always been against the idea of a Battle Network 7, but y’know…after reconnecting with the series like this, after seeing how well the collection is doing and how much passion went into it, after hearing someone propose the next game being more of a spin-off starring Patch…I’ve changed my mind.  I do think the Patch spin-off would be the best way to approach it (and I really, really hope they rename MegaMan Jr, I don’t know what it is but I hate that), but even if we do get a BN7 that adds a new chapter to Lan and MegaMan’s story, I’ll be super-excited about it.  BN7 or not, though, I’m glad we got this series and this collection.  It doesn’t matter if I never try the online features, or if Battle Network remains a closed book, because I got to experience it, and this new outpouring of love for it proves that it’s an experience so many others have shared.  What happens or doesn’t happen next can’t change any of that.  No matter what…we’re always connected.

[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.23 thoughts

[Your CLP is GNC AF]

So it’s confirmed that Class M isn’t literally the equivalent of Class 13, but rather a virtual classroom that qualifying students are able to meet in

In other words, it’s still basically the same concept as Class 13 in Medaka Box, just specifically for the Glasses Holders of this world rather than the Abnormals of that world

I suppose that would make the CLPs the equivalent of the Thirteen Party, or more specifically the Front Six, considering that these are the six students who have proven themselves to be the most capable

Also, looking back at the CLPs introduced last week, I thought there was a seventh CLP who was lying down, but I see now that Hakanage was just sitting in a weird way. That makes a lot more sense, I apologize for any confusion

In case anyone is confused by Iroha’s confusion over Kubinashi’s gender, it’s actually the same situation as last week: Kubinashi’s buttons are reversed! In fact, eagle eyed viewers may have noticed this detail last week! I tried to, but the way I was looking was based on the fold of the uniform rather than the buttons themselves, so I kind of missed it. Once again if I’d put in just a little more effort, I could have actually done it, like every other god damn puzzle in this story. I’m getting real sick of this guy, not going far enough to figure things out on his own!!!

In fact, it happened with this week’s puzzle too! I figured out that the clocks were letters, I just got impatient and stopped trying to figure out what each clock actually represented before I even finished the first one. I probably wouldn’t have figured out that it was Greek letters, though, so I won’t claim that I would have actually solved this one successfully. I’ll just take pride in knowing that I had the right first step

I’m really glad to see that Kubinashi is somehow related to Omomuro’s past, I feel like having that point of connection will be a good way to continue to develop the cast. In fact, it demonstrates once again that Nisio doesn’t plan to simply cut and run and is doing his damnedest to carry this series as long as his legs will let him. I hope that every CLP will be able to help us get a deeper look into the cast too, though I doubt every classmate is related to one of the CLPs. If I get more insight into Anonymity at least, then I’m happy

This is mostly a set-up chapter, so I don’t have too much else to say. I will say that I have somewhat mixed feelings on the revelation that Q.??? is actually a password and not a puzzle in and of itself, as I’m sad that it literally can’t be solved. However, it being a password for Class M makes perfect sense, and I’m glad that Nisio was playing the long game with that concept since the Morg was only ever really mentioned in passing from that point on

I’m not sure how the hunt for the Morg is going to play out going forward, I doubt it’ll be a series of traditional one-on-ones, but this should be the point where we really start to see CA’s feedback loop stands out from the crowd. We’ve still got a couple months before it’s in danger again, so hopefully that’s enough time for people to really start to appreciate this wonderful series. Fingers crossed that next week capitalizes on that. See y’all then!

[spectaclespencer]

P.H. // Part 3; Need To Know

Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

A/N; Chapter 3!! Yay! I will not lie I got kind of lazy and burnt out when I finally got to the smut scene, and for that I am sorry. I’ll make it up to you guys with a future chapter.

Summary; Reader can’t get her mind off of Spencer, which causes distractions at work. Until one day when he catches on.

Category; Smut (Minors DNI!!!)

Content Warnings; Swearing, Kissing, Mentions of masturbation, Unprotected sex, Fingering, Oral (Male receiving), Drinking, Mentions of being shot, Kinda Sub!Spencer, Virgin!Spencer (but not by the end of it)

Word Count; 7.2k

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‘Wanna know what it's like (like)

Baby, show me what it's like (like)

I don't really got no type (type)

I just wanna fuck all night’

Spencer Reid. The object of my attraction, the man I fell harder for with every stolen glance I could manage to throw his way. I was obsessed, and that infatuation only grew stronger every day that I saw him at work.

When we went out to bars after cases we ended up in an inevitable game of Never Have I Ever like a bunch of high school kids. With Emily and Derek in the group it almost always turned sexual. It started with innocent things such as; Never have I ever kicked down a door -- to which Derek drinks. There were some targeted jabs, I got Spencer a few times when I brought up an activity I was certain he had done -- just to keep him involved.

However he never drank past that. He never took a sip when Emily made a sexual innuendo, or when she brought up one night stands, number of partners, most bizarre location to engage in intercourse. Nothing of the sort got him to break. I figured he was a private guy, never one to boast about his sexual experiences.

It was frustrating, to say the least. It got to the point where I couldn’t think about anyone but him. I couldn’t engage in any sexual activity without my mind shifting to him, the way he might slip his fingers in and out of me, or how skilled he was with his mouth instead of the person I dragged home. No other person could even begin to compare to the remedy I concocted in my mind. I didn’t have any information to base my fantasies on, either.

I had it bad. So bad, that at one point I spilled hot coffee all over myself in the breakroom over the littlest interaction.

Spencer came in just after me, mumbling a small hello before reaching to grab a mug for himself. In the process of doing so his shirt rode up, exposing a small expanse of his lower stomach that had me sputtering as I clumsily missed my cup and instead poured the coffee all over the counter. It ran down and soaked through my pants; yet it wasn’t nearly as hot as the way I felt on the inside.

I couldn’t help but wonder the noises he’d make if I were to suck dark purple marks across that plain of skin...or if anyone ever had before.

The small burn was a fine price to pay for my inappropriate thoughts.

Him being the sweet guy that he is, offered to help me clean up. This proposal ended up with him taking paper towels and patting down my thighs -- not realizing just how suggestive the action looked to me.

“Sorry,” He whispered, looking up at my face from his position below me. He was kneeling on one knee, with a hand planted firmly on the outside of my thigh. His voice was soft yet raspy, and oh how I let my mind wander.

“Not your fault,” I said quickly, and borderline ran out the door before he could protest or add anything on.

I headed straight to the bathroom to wash my face, try and stop the effect he had on me from becoming too physical.

If I got that worked up over a small piece of skin showing, nothing could have prepared me for the first night we shared a hotel room.

I was in shambles all night, ever since the moment Hotch handed me a room card and explained we needed to double up.

Emily usually roomed with JJ, Hotch and Rossi got their own, and Derek refuses to bunk with Spencer -- if he could avoid it. Much to my luck, this time he did because Garcia was needed for this case, meaning she and Derek would be sharing.

Leaving me with Spencer.

I stood there helpless, eyes burning a hole into the place that Hotch was previously standing. I was panicking on the inside, my body going into fight or flight mode as I went through scenarios in my head.

I was 99% sure I would be embarrassing myself tonight.

“Hey,” Spencer said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I jumped and shrieked a little bit, and slapped a hand over my heart. “Oh my god, Reid. You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “Sorry I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay.”

He nodded, eventually realizing that he was still indeed touching my shoulder. He dropped his arm, only to bring his hand back up to rub over his chin.

My eyes darted down to it, watching at the way his veins stood out. It wasn’t the first time I admired them, there were moments when he was going over maps with two fingers where I wondered what they would feel like on my-

“____?”

“What?” I asked, a little too loud for the setting.

“Did you hear me?”

“No, sorry.”

“I said we should go inside,” he laughed softly, trying to sooth the tension.

I agreed, stepping past him to start walking to our room. I opened the door with trembling hands, wondering just how hard the following nights at the hotel would be.

“I’m gonna go see Emily and JJ. Ask if they wanna go to the bar,” I said quickly, throwing my bag down just inside the door.

“Oh. Okay. Have fun! Don’t stay out too late. You should get a full night’s sleep.”

“I won’t be long. Don’t wait up!” I called, not looking back to see him before half jogging out of the room.

-----

“I cannot go back in there.”

“Oh, because of your little crush,” Emily laughed, much too loud for the early hours of the morning.

Clearly Spencer’s advice about coming back early didn’t plant itself in my head.

“Yes, because of that,” I confirmed. I was staring down at my drink, wallowing in self pity. It was too awkward to even step foot in there, I’m sure just by the sight of him I’d explode.

“What is it about him that gets you hot and heavy?” JJ teased. “No shame, just curious.”

I fake laughed, ignoring her question.

Everything he did was so intoxicating. Even the most mundane things got my blood pumping hard. Each time he let a small gasp through his lips or when he would whisper to himself, a shockwave went through me, igniting a fire deep inside that was near impossible to put out.

But he was so oblivious. He hadn’t a single idea of the effect he had on me. And that was the most frustrating part.

The first time I noticed my extreme attraction to him was shortly after I joined the team, it was only the third or fourth case I’d had with them. Spencer and I walked to a coffee shop to grab some for everyone, and on the way back he was infodumping.

About what, I can’t remember, for I was too fixated on the way his hands wrapped around his cup as he talked. He’d wave it around, and in doing so his fingers would trace little patterns onto the outside of it. I didn't mean to stare, I just got distracted.

I started noticing more little things after that.

Like the way he licked his lips while deep in thought, his mind consuming him to the point where he looked so concentrated and determined. It was hot, to put it simply. I wanted nothing more for him to be licking my lips, to feel him take such care with my body.

He had always been attractive in my eyes, the young boy was nothing but pretty. Even when his hair was shorter and he gelled it back, pairing the look with his glasses -- that he unfortunately wore less often nowadays.

It was nearly painful to be around him all day every day. My head would constantly be spinning with anxiety, only causing more and more headaches to present themselves. It was like a punishment, one I certainly deserved for the tasteful thoughts I had during work hours.

My crush went from an innocent little thing, to full fledged fascination.

‘I just been fantasizin' (size)

And we got a lotta time (time)

Baby, come throw the pipe (pipe)’

Avoiding him as much as I could seemed like a decent plan at the time. If I kept my interactions low, I could distract myself with other things, and not focus on the way his lips pursed as I conversed with him. I raced up more time staring at his mouth rather than completing actual work by my six month stay at the BAU.

“I’m so fucked,” I nodded, coming to a bit of peace with my downfall.

“Well, you could be. If you told him how you feel,” JJ encouraged.

“No way in hell,” I protested, shooting my head up to make eye contact with her.

“____, there is a very, very high chance he feels the same. And if he doesn’t -- which he does -- he’s too sweet to let that impact your friendship.”

“We hardly even have a friendship. Whenever he tries to talk to me I end up running away. He probably thinks I hate him or something. He probably wants nothing to do with me.”

No objection from Emily or JJ there.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Emily asked, changing the pace of the conversation.

“He never speaks to me again. I die of embarrassment.”

“You’re both adults, ____.”

“We are 27!” I shook my head, exasperated. “I hardly even feel like one sometimes.”

“27, exactly. I’m sure by now Reid has gained some experience with talking to women. You’ll be fine.”

“I have absolutely no way of knowing how things will go.”

“Just give him little tests,” JJ suggested. “Like touch him. On the shoulders, compliment him more, really go up to him and make a move. That way if he doesn’t feel the same you can play it off as being platonic.”

I groaned and rested my head on the table dramatically. “You both kinda suck at advice. What am I supposed to do? Waltz into our shared room and confess my love for him? Ask him desperately to dick me down?”

Even though I definitely wanted to.

They laughed at that, saying they were going to bed and wished me luck. Emily advised I should try and ‘get some’ from somebody else, and maybe that would take my mind off of things.

After stalling some more I eventually made my way back to the hotel room, hoping that Spencer was already asleep so I wouldn’t have to face him. But once again, luck wasn’t in my favour.

“Hi,” he spoke softly from his bed.

“Why are you still awake?” I asked, trying my best to stifle a yawn. I threw my sweater down on my bed, before grabbing my go-bag and retrieving my pyjamas from it. “It’s almost one in the morning.”

“I wanted to make sure you got back okay.”

“I told you not to wait up. Naughty boy,” I joked, finally turning my attention fully over to him.

Which could've been a mistake, based on the way you saw it.

He was dressed in flannel pants and a black t-shirt, along with his hair tied up that I’d failed to notice earlier. I froze at the sight, seeing the way his cheeks were dusted a slight red, and lips pink as ever.

His hair was tied up, and I almost dropped dead at the sight. I’d never seen it before. Sure, he sometimes wore an elastic band on his wrist during the work days but never have I seen him actually use one.

“I’m gonna shower and then head to bed,” I said in an effort to keep my voice steady.

He didn’t respond, only turning his head back to the book that was in his hand.

Thankfully when I returned he was asleep, meaning I didn’t have to see him before bed.

The next day was torturous. I couldn’t get the image of him out of my head. The view of him so relaxed on his bed was ethereal, the soft glow of the lamp hand illuminated his skin in all the right places. Did he pull his hair back often? Did he casually sit at home with it up? How did he look in different angles or positions? Are there other things he wears or does that I haven’t seen?

The image was just so domestic that I couldn't stop thinking about it even if I wanted to.

I was afraid to fall asleep, in fear that my dream may turn adventurous. Quitting my job and moving to a new city seems more preferable than having a sex dream about your coworker while they were in the room.

I was hyper aware of every move he made, always keeping tabs on him in the back of my mind so we wouldn’t accidentally run into each other.

Apparently when I was paying attention on how not to see him, I failed to notice how he had filled out recently. He wore looser pants in the past, ones that didn’t allow much shape to show through.

The next day at the precinct I was in for a surprise though, one that was sure to make me fall to my knees.

And I would have, if it wasn’t for the fact I was already seated in a chair.

Spencer walked in clad in pants that were far too tight to be appropriate for work. Or maybe I was overreacting.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered under my breath, soaking in his appearance of the day.

It was hot outside, so he decided not to wear his usual vest and tie combo, choosing instead just a white pattern button up and grey tie.

I heard Emily snicker beside me, which earned her a light kick in the calf to shut her up. She got up then, winking at me dramatically before leaving the room to presumably go check in with Derek.

“Hey ____, can you come here for a sec?”

I got up without a word, and walked over to the other side of the room where he was standing at the map hung up.

He went off about the unsub’s possible comfort zone -- things that I’d need him to repeat later because I wasn’t fully listening,

I stayed leaning against the table, just two feet behind him which gave me a perfect view of just how tight those pants really were. They hugged his hips deliciously, I wanted nothing more than to rip them off in that moment. I nodded along dumbly, changing my sight from his ass to his back, to his toned arms that were shown off from him rolling up his sleeves.

It was a fair sight, I don’t really think I could be blamed for staring.

A few weeks after that he got a haircut. His longer curls were gone -- yet not forgotten -- and were replaced with a mop of messy waves that framed his face perfectly.

It was like a new blow to my stomach every time I got used to the change.

“New haircut?” I asked the obvious on the first day back from a long weekend.

“Yeah...thought I should change it up,” Spencer replied, picking up his coffee mug to make himself a cup.

I nodded, the room settling in a short silence.

“Do you not like it?”

“No!” I exclaimed, Spencer furrowing his brows in response. “I mean, yes. I do like it. Sorry.”

“Oh, okay,” he laughed. “Thank you.”

“You could pull off any hairstyle, trust me,” I said, before walking back to my desk.

People that we met seemed to feel the same, because he got stopped more often at bars and at shops that were needed to visit. People would give him their numbers, leaving him a blushing mess. It got obnoxious, to the point where I was at my breaking point. My shoulders were always slumped, and my forehead creased with jealousy.

I stayed closer to him when the team went out, in an effort to get other girls to stop making moves on him.

They hadn’t noticed his beauty before, why should they get the privilege to advance on him now?

It was selfish, really. It may have been good for his self-confidence, but not so good for my own feelings.

I made sure to compliment him more often, telling him I liked his sweater vests, and ‘oh my Doctor Reid, is that a new tie?’ It was a win-win really, for both of us. I was building up my comfort level with him, and he knew that I did not, in fact, despise him.

When Spencer got shot on a case a few weeks later, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to show him that I care about him.

It was an easy job, since the bullet only semi-grazed his shoulder blade. Only needed deep cleaning once a night, for a few weeks so it wouldn’t get infected.

“Fuck,” he breathed with a groan, one that sent shivers throughout my veins.

“Sorry,” I answered quickly, keeping my gaze on the task at hand and not on his face that was just so close to mine.

Here I was in Spencer’s apartment, in his bathroom, helping him clean off his wound.

“I’m sorry but you need to stop moving, it’s just making things worse,” I explained.

“It hurts!”

“I’m sure it does! But I can’t do an effective job in cleaning it if you keep thrashing around like that.”

I saw him pout, and lower his head. The gears in his brain were turning, trying to come up with a possible solution.

“You’re going to need to hold me down.”

“What?!”

“I’m not gonna be able to stop moving,” he said, looking over his shoulder to where I was sitting behind him on the floor. “Come on.”

He stood up and left the room, gesturing for me to follow. And I did, collecting the supplies I’d need as he led me over to his living room.

Before I could protest he removed his shirt fully -- not like how it was bunched up by his neck previously.

I stopped in my tracks, eyes taking in every inch of skin that he freed. He was lean, as I predicted, but still toned in areas.

Spencer laid on his stomach down on the couch, motioning for me to come beside him.

“Get on my back.”

“Are you insane?”

“____,” he pleaded, looking up at me. His arms were crossed by his head, he was using them as a makeshift pillow. “I just want this to be over as fast as it can be.”

Right.

“Okay,” I agreed, and began to place my materials down on the coffee table to my right. I then swung a leg over his lower back, straddling him just how I’d imagine doing so before -- only the other way around. “Is this okay?”

He hummed, digging his face as far into the fabric of the couch as he could.

‘I got a lotta new tricks for you, baby

Just sayin' I'm flexible (I will)’

I took that as a yes, and poured some of the disinfectant onto a swab. Bracing myself with a hand on his other shoulder to pin him down firmly he shivered, breath shaking ever so slightly. I tried to catch him off guard with the swab, choosing a random time to press it into his wound.

He was definitely surprised, because he whined loudly into his hands and clenched all of the muscles in his back.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he made similar noises during other activities…

“Just a minute more,” I soothed him, running my free hand over the smooth skin of his back, doing my best to calm him down.

His breathing only became heavier, and was nearly shaking from the burn. I felt bad, having to see him go through this but I’d be lying if it wasn’t doing things to me. I couldn’t help but get a little bit excited when I got the chance to be near him, to be closer than we had ever been before.

It was intense, I was almost sure he could feel my arousal through the fabric of my pants and underwear.

I was an awful person.

Going home that night to sleep was a struggle. I felt guilty, for using his pain for my perverse temptations. Yet as soon as my fingers were buried inside myself I couldn’t stop myself from imagining him above me. The way he might sound, spewing out similar noises that I’d experienced earlier that were still fresh in my brain.

I wasn’t proud of it, and I thought every one of our interactions after that would be even harder.

Going back to work seemed fully impossible, I didn’t have any hope in myself to stay useful while he was parading around, completely oblivious to the effect he had on me. I became more sexually frustrated every day. It was nearly infuriating to see a look of innocence plastered on his face, meanwhile he would do things that made me go crazy.

‘Wanna know what it's like (like)

Baby, show me what it's like (like)

I don't really got no type (type)

I just wanna fuck all night’

“Penelope, I think I might die soon if I don’t get laid,” I said, rapidly opening the door to her cave.

“____-”

“No, I’m serious. I can’t get my mind off of-”

I stopped in my tracks, finally noticing the presence I hadn’t already accounted for.

Spencer sat in a chair to my left, just out of view that you couldn’t see him if you didn’t turn your head. He was in the middle of bringing a chip up to his mouth, but was stopped mid-air with his mouth hanging open.

“Sorry,” he said, scrambling up fast, bumping into things as he collected his satchel with shaky hands. “Sorry I’ll go.”

The door shut with a slam, and left Penelope and I in silence.

“Well, fuck,” I whispered, earning a booming laugh from her. “It’s not funny.”

“It is funny. It’s hilarious,” she giggled, doing a little spin on her chair.

I groaned, and sat down beside her on the edge of her desk.

“Maybe now he’ll make a move on you.”

“Oh shut up,” I slapped her arm, beginning to laugh along with her. “If he was avoiding me before, I’m sure he’ll never speak to me again.”

Ever since I helped Spencer with his injury the first time he’d been semi ignoring me, not trying to actively partake in conversation. We only talked when necessary, but didn’t exchange any extra words when I came over for an hour to help him with his wound.

I was almost happy about that, it meant I didn’t have to embarrassingly throw myself at him all day long.

I was perfectly fine admiring him from a distance, just how I’d done so for years.

However, there was a part of me that was rightfully sad. Did I cross a line, or make him feel uncomfortable? Maybe from spending so much time together recently he gathered I really wasn’t that interesting.

“Don’t say that,” Penelope frowned.

“Why not? It’s the truth,” I shrugged.

“Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?”

“How I feel?”

“Don’t even try and wedge your way out of it. Emily told me, don’t be mad,” she said, with the sweetest look on her face that I couldn’t be upset.

“Bitch,” I playfully mumbled.

“Besides you literally were about to say that you can’t get your mind off of him.”

“Uh, no, I was not. I was going to say someone. A general someone. Not Reid.”

She hummed, turning back to her screen to finish up some work Hotch had sent her to do.

“Okay fine. Pen, I’m gonna die. It’s insufferable. I can’t handle it anymore.”

“That’s exactly why you should tell him!” She encouraged excitedly, always a swooner for young love.

“I would scare him. He’s probably scared of me, actually.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure his little virgin heart can take it.”

“What?” I asked, suddenly giving her all my attention. “Virgin? Is he seriously a virgin?”

“I don’t know, truly. I just kinda figured. He doesn’t talk about anyone or anything to do with sex.”

I nodded. That makes sense. With him radiating pure sex appeal in my eyes, the thought never even crossed my mind that he might be a virgin.

But that just made it all the more exciting.

“But hey, if he’s really a 27 year old virgin I’m sure he’s extremely horny,” she laughed.

“We are at work. Let’s calm it down before I actually combust,” I shook my head.

My palms were sweating at the very thought of him doing anything remotely sexual -- which I thought about a lot. Surely he’s had to at least...taken care of himself. I’m sure it was a gorgeous sight, his hand wrapped firmly around his dick and face contorted in nothing but pleasure.

My thoughts were interrupted by none other than the man himself, who barged into the room to say we were taking off for a case in 30.

The flight there was quiet and boring, we left at night so there wasn’t so much we could do when we got there besides head up to our hotel.

“We’re sharing a room,” Spencer said, walking over to me from where he was previously with Derek.

I was standing in front of the vending machine, doing my very best to not eavesdrop on the mens’ conversation, which was only taking place about 20 feet away. Spencer was speaking in a hushed yet agitated tone, and Derek was matching his energy. It seemed they were bickering, but about what I didn’t know.

“Says who?” I panicked.

“Uhh...Hotch did.”

Great.

“Oh. Alright,” I followed him down the hallway, our room was the last one at the end.

I waited for him to open the door, and when he stepped out of the way to let me inside I brushed past him.

When I turned around Spencer was standing there blocking my path, causing me to bump into his chest.

“Hello...” I said confused, taking a step back.

“I…”

“What?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. “Spencer what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer with words, instead reaching up to push a piece of hair out of my face. My breath hitched at the contact, sending me into a short frenzy on the inside. He was inching closer, now his body was getting just close enough so that I could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was glancing back and forth between my eyes, searching my face for an expression of discomfort.

He didn’t find any.

“I was talking with Derek. About you,” he whispered. “He said you’ve been coming on to me.”

My heart nearly missed a beat at his words.

“I've noticed your odd behaviour, you don’t act the way you do with anyone else on the team. You run away from me, and at first I thought you just didn’t like me, but now...I think it’s the opposite. I see the way you look at me, you know.”

“And how do I look at you?” I questioned nervously.

“Like you want me. Tell me. Who were you talking about earlier today? Who exactly can’t get your mind off of?”

I paused, eyes almost bulging out of my head at the implication.

“If I'm reading this wrong, let me know. We can pretend this never happened.”

“Get on the bed and take your clothes off.”

He did just that, moving beside me to shove his pants down his legs, followed by ripping off his shirt, as I did the same. We couldn’t take our eyes off of each other, too busy drinking in our appearances to think straight. He sat down on the edge of the bed in just his underwear, and spread his legs just wide enough to give me space to stand between them.

“Tell me what you want.” he breathed, watching me as I walked towards him.

“You,” I answered simply, climbing into his lap and connecting my mouth was his. “All of you.”

He didn’t protest, only doing quite the opposite. He moaned greedily into my mouth, sucking every last bit of life out of me. He was hungry in his movements, not allowing for a single beat of fresh air for either of us. I was more than happy to return the energy, for I’ve dreamt for too long about what he might taste like. And it wasn’t disappointing, the sensation was far better than I could have ever cooked up in my head.

After a minute he became impatient, and started bucking his hips up to meet mine. I did the same, grinding down on his hardening dick that felt...impressive to say the least.

“I’ve thought about you for so long,” I spoke against his lips, taking a break between kisses.

He groaned back at me, moving his hands from my cheeks down to my hips to hold me flush against himself. He whimpered when I was fully against him, he had to break away to keep his breathing somewhat managed.

“Please, I need you so bad. I’ve thought about you too.”

“What exactly did you think about?” I asked quietly, trailing kisses all across his face, and then started heading down his jaw and neck.

“L-lots of stuff.”

“Tell me,” I demanded, looking up at him from my new position kneeling on the floor. “Please, tell me.”

I brought a hand up to his boxers, ghosting just over his bulge while remaining eye contact.

“Everything. All of you. ____, Please.”

‘You're exciting, boy, come find me

Your eyes told me, "Girl, come ride me"’

“Let me do something first,” I said, pushing against his stomach to encourage him to lie back on the bed. He did so, propping himself up on his forearms to look down at me.

He watched my every move, not a second was missed by his eyes that stayed locked onto my form. I dropped my head down to kiss across his left thigh, and toyed with the waistband of his underwear with my right hand.

He was so vocal, and I hadn’t even done anything yet. I knew we had all night, but I’d waited too long for this to take my time.

‘And we got a lotta time (time)

Baby, come throw the pipe (pipe)’

I pulled his underwear down just enough to reveal his dick hard and red as it stood up against his stomach.

“You don’t...have to,” Spencer stopped me before I could carry on.

“Do you not want me to?”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s just…” He stopped, and bit his lip while staring off to one of the walls.

“Has anyone ever done this with you before?” I asked, almost unsure of whether or not I wanted the answer.

“Done what...exactly?” he asked, refusing to look back at me. His cheeks were red in embarrassment, and he was too focused on the distance to see the wave of excitement that flashed over my face.

“Spencer,” I said sharply, prompting him to turn his attention back to me. “Are you a virgin?”

His lack of answer told me enough. He blushed impossibly deeper, and started squirming in place. Just as he was about to speak up for himself I stopped him with, “That’s so fucking hot.”

“What?”

I climbed back up his body, just far enough so that I could grab his jaw in my hand and pull him down to meet my lips. It was even more hungry and passionate than the previous ones we shared, full of such fire I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to kiss anyone else ever again.

“You’re so sexy,” I moaned, hot and needy into his mouth.

He was good, which wasn’t unexpected from my end. His lips were always so plump and pink, they just had to be semi skilled.

“Thank you,” he replied, in a typical Spencer Reid fashion.

“Do you want to stop? Or keep going? Take a minute and think about it. I don’t want to pressure you,” I reassured him, but on the inside I was begging for him to want to continue.

He pulled back for a second, running a hand over the back of my head to keep me from going too far. His eyes were closed, focusing only on his breathing as he thought about his answer.

“I want to keep going. Please,” he decided on, nodding his head. “I just, I dunno, didn’t expect to get this far tonight.”

“Believe me, neither did I,” I smirked, smashing my lips back against his and returning to my spot kneeling between his legs. I pushed him back harder than before, sending a small oof sound from his chest as his back hit the mattress.

“Has anyone ever touched you here?” I asked, finally wrapping my hand around his dick,

It only made sense that a pretty boy like him would have a pretty cock, too.

“O-only once,” he breathed, with his head thrown back. He was staring at the ceiling, staring at the dots to distract himself from the feeling and to not come too soon. “Long time ago.”

“If you need me to stop, tell me,” I said, before licking a broad strip up the underside of his dick.

I paused at the head, swirling my tongue around before continuing my mission back down around the other side. I kissed his base, leaving more near his hips. He whined positively -- probably feeling a little ticklish -- and I took that as a good sign to suck a deep purple mark there.

Just like I’d thought about doing months ago.

I left a few more just up to his belly button, marking him up with the intent to claim him as my own. He’d see those marks for the next few days, and every time he would think of me on my knees for him. I kept pumping him in my hand as I did so, and every time I groaned into his skin his dick twitched with appreciation.

“Oh god,” Spencer moaned as I took him into my mouth unexpectedly, bunching up the sheets in his hands beside his hips.

I looked up to see him now staring down at me, jaw slacked and panting heavily. The sight was enough to elicit a moan from my own mouth, which led to him fluttering his eyes shut at the vibrations that shot through his body.

“Stop, stop!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly, immediately pulling up.

“Nothing, I just really want to feel you and I don’t think I can last much longer.”

Understandable.

I wasn’t expecting him to last long anyways, I just simply wanted him inside me.

“Do you happen to have a condom?” He shook his head. “I’m clean and on the pill. We should be fine. Is that okay?”

He mumbled an ‘uh huh’ as he watched me stand up, as I pushed my underwear down my legs. He immediately reached out to me, bringing me back in and starting placing kisses across my stomach and hips, mirroring what I was doing to him earlier.

“Good, because if you don’t fuck me right now I think I might die.”

‘Yeah-yeah, oh-whoa-whoa (oh, ooh, mmm)

Baby, I need to know, mmm (yeah, need to know)’

He laughed lightheartedly, fixing himself to be sitting up near the headboard. In the process he kicked off his boxers fully, along with his socks.

I followed after him, not letting him stray too far from my reach.

“I heard that women take longer to, erm, get ready,” he muttered into my skin, hiding his face in my neck. “Let me help you?”

“Please,” I whimpered, though I knew I was far from unprepared. I reached behind myself to unclasp my bra, and as soon as it fell down my shoulders Spencer attached his mouth to my left nipple. “Please touch me.”

He moaned into me, bringing his hand down to my core to run his fingers through my folds. He let his middle breach me, moving so agonizingly slow before curling his finger up. I moaned loudly, letting my eyes shut and body fall slack against him. His free arm wrapped around my waist, giving me the support I needed to stay upright.

“So that’s your g-spot?” He grinned against my skin, and I’d be damned to admit it affected me way more than it should have. He sounded so innocent, so eager to learn.

“Uh-huh.”

He explored my skin greedily, brushing over every inch of my chest he could reach. His thrusts became faster every time he re-entered me, encouraged by the grunt that fell from my lips with each one.

“Have you ever done this with a girl before?”

“No,” he replied, moving from my breasts to my collarbone, leaving a dark purple mark in his path.

“Could've fooled me,” I felt him smile against my neck at the praise -- duly noted.

He flipped us over swiftly -- much to my surprise -- and continued with his actions on both my clit and entrance. I did my best to stay quiet, biting down on his shoulder to prevent any noises from leaking out to stop him from getting too cocky.

“Spencer,” I moaned, raking my fingernails up and down his back. “Stop. Please fuck me now, I’m ready.”

“Are you sure you want to? We can stop,” he reassured me in a voice that seemed far too innocent for the activities taking place.

“Spencer, I’m sure. I’m so fucking sure you have no idea.”

I was so turned on I could cry, the pure want running through my veins was starting to send panic signals throughout my whole body. Before I could beg him any further he replaced his fingers with his dick, catching me off guard. He ran the tip over me for a few seconds before gliding in easily, with little to no restriction at all.

“Ah!” I called, gripping onto his shoulder for dear life.

“I’m so sorry, oh my god did I hurt you?” Spencer asked frantically, removing his weight from me and tried sitting up.

“No. God please move, I need you so bad,” I pleaded, pulling him back down before he could get too far away.

He nodded. He started slow. So slowly that I wanted to scream and beg at the top of my lungs for more. However I was above giving him the satisfaction of that -- at least for now.

“You feel so good,” Spencer panted, hips shaking as he slid in and out at a torturous pace.

I pulled his lips back to mine for another kiss, drinking in everything he was willing to offer. I whined every time his body rubbed against my clit in a way that had my toes curling and eyes rolling back.

“This is so much better than I’ve imagined,” I moaned, breaking free from his mouth to lay back against the pillows. I wrapped my legs around his waist, aiding him with the speed of his thrusts. “Please, Spence, oh my god go harder.”

He moaned loudly, and lowered his head to my collarbone in an effort to muffle some of the noises he was letting out.

He followed my directions well -- and I took notes for the future.

The sounds of him bouncing off the walls was amplifying my pleasure to a new degree, it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. His hips snapped forward impossibly faster, leaving him a whimpering mess above me. Our chests were pressed together, the sound of skin slapping and gliding over each other filled the dimly lit room.

“You’re doing so good for me,” I whispered into his neck, leaving open mouthed kisses here and there.

He moaned freely at all of the praise, and every time I urged him on he’d pick up his speed a little bit. He was now moving faster than I thought I could handle, slamming into me at the perfect angle.

I felt him everywhere. In my stomach, insides of my thighs, chest -- where he was now palming at one of my breasts -- and the crook of my neck. I hugged my arms around his middle to keep him locked against me, preventing his hips from heavily backing out.

“I’m really close,” He groaned, lifting his head to meet my eyes. “S-should I pull out now?”

“No,” I demanded, tightening my legs to keep him trapped. “Come inside me.”

He nodded with a particularly loud moan, and snaked one hand down my body to meet my clit. When I gave a sound of approval he quickened his wrist, rubbing me with just the right amount of pressure to send me closer to the edge.

He came with a final shout in my name, resting his full body weight against me as I rocked my him against him to help him through it. I finished soon after, at the feeling of him releasing himself in me. It was so warm, like a comforting blanket that overtook all of my senses.

It was possibly the best orgasm I’d ever had, it was so profound that I couldn’t see, or focus on anything else.

We laid there for a few minutes, my hand running through his hair and his ghosting up the side of my hip. It took a while for us both to catch our breaths, we were too immersed in the moment to break apart from one another.

“That was literally the best sex I’ve had in my life,” I breathed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Same, but I don’t have anything to compare it to,” Spencer replied, and we both laughed weakly.

“That was okay for you? Your first time? Not really the traditional approach.”

“It was perfect. I wouldn’t have asked for anything different,” he pulled himself up with a smile, before pulling out and flopping down beside me.

“But seriously,” I sat up, resting my head on my palm to get a better view of him. “I’ve never been so attracted to someone as I am with you.”

“____,” he blushed. “I-”

“No! No, let me finish. Please.”

He nodded for me to go ahead.

“Not only are you just insanely sweet and so charming, you’re so handsome. Like I can hardly even look at you half the time. You drive me insane, Spencer you have no idea. Holy fuck I’ve never wanted someone so bad before I met you. You’re intoxicating. I can’t get enough. I’ll cringe about this later but I just need you to know.”

“This may not be the most common way...but do you want to go out with me? L-like on a date?” Spencer asked. He was blushing so heavily, his chest was painted pink and ears were turned red.

“You just came inside of me and you’re nervous about asking me on a date.”

“____!” Spencer exclaimed, facepalming himself.

“Yes,” I grinned. “I’d love to go out with you.”

-----

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[cloverthirteen]

Was Ace Attorney made as a satire on Japan’s legal system? -- An analysis

I wouldn’t really call myself an Ace Attorney fan--I’ve never played any of the games, the closest I’ve come being watching other people’s let’s plays. I do like reading about the series on wikis and interacting with fan content for it, though, so I do know a fair amount about it.

One thing I see being said pretty often by fans is that the series was intended as a satire/parody of the Japanese legal system, which is why the courts are ridiculously biased towards the prosecution, prosecutors often care more about perfect win records more than putting actual guilty people behind bars, etc. If you’re familiar with this, you’ve probably heard of Japan’s 99% conviction rate. This interpretation of the games and the way they work definitely makes sense.

But after hearing this many times I eventually noticed something. There isn’t a single actual source (creator statement, interview, etc.) that backs up this claim. Every time I see someone online say “the series creator made Ace Attorney to parody Japan’s actual legal system” there is never a link to an interview or anything that proves their statement correct. If someone has an actual, verified source from Shu Takumi or someone else who had significant involvement with the series, please prove me wrong and show it to me. But according to all of the creator’s statement’s I’ve read, there’s no evidence of the series being an intentional parody.

So, what do we know about the creation of the Ace Attorney series? Well, it was created by Shu Takumi, who wrote and directed the first three games. After working on the dinosaur survival horror game Dino Crisis for Capcom, he was given the opportunity to make any kind of game he wanted. He really wanted to make mystery and adventure games, and from that came Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

MC: Before developing Ace Attorney you worked on Dino Crisis. How does one go from dinosaur survival horror to virtual courtrooms?

ST: Dino Crisis was the brainchild of my then boss, Resident Evil creator, Shinji Mikami. Working on his projects taught me not only how to make games, but also how to think about them. After Dino Crisis 2 wrapped, Mr Mikami gave me six months in which to create any kind of game I wanted.

I was still pretty wet behind the ears, but as I'd originally joined Capcom with a desire to create mystery and adventure games, this was a huge chance for me to make my mark as a creator. In the end it took a team of seven 10 months to produce the first GBA Ace Attorney title. Having the freedom to create exactly the kind of game I wanted was amazing and it was a real pleasure to work on that project.

MC: Can you remember when the idea of Ace Attorney first came to you? How did your bosses respond to the idea of a lawyer-based adventure game when you first described it to them?

ST: It was in 2000 when Mr Mikami said I could make my own game and my original idea was a fairly typical adventure with a detective as the main character. Most mystery adventures have the player choose from a number of different dialogue options for their character in order to progress the story, but I wanted a new gameplay style that enabled players to deduce for themselves what was happening, rather than just selecting canned responses. I developed this into the concept of facing off against the suspect in a crime and exposing the contradictions in their statements.

I was sure my new idea would be a fun and original take on the genre, so I started to revise the main character, since a detective would be too traditional for such an original concept. I asked myself, "What kind of professional would face off against a suspect and expose their contradictory statements?" The answer, of course, was a lawyer and so the Ace Attorney concept was born.

(source, from an interview on the making of the series)

Takumi’s original concept for the game involved Phoenix as not a defense lawyer, but as a detective. The gameplay was to consist of “facing off against the suspect of a crime and finding the contradictions in their statements.” However, Takumi eventually realized that taking apart contradictions wasn’t really a detective’s job, and decided to change the protagonist to a lawyer and the setting to a courtroom instead. And thus, the game’s concept was finalized.

Janet: As you know, “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy” is coming out world-wide this winter, and as I was brainstorming what to write about for this week’s blog, I remembered your tweets from 2010.

Takumi: Tweets from 2010?

Janet: …Well, it was a long time ago…

Takumi: ???

Janet: I-It’s OK if you don’t remember…

Takumi: …Oh, THOSE! Yes!

Janet: I remember reading them and being shocked by how different the original draft of the game’s story was – how Phoenix wasn’t even a lawyer, but a private eye!

Takumi: Yes, AA was originally supposed to be a detective game, so naturally, Phoenix was to be a private eye. But then, one day, I made a startling realization: the gameplay concept I was going for was for players to enjoy finding and taking contradictions apart, but that was hardly related to investigating or detective work at all. In that moment, I had it – I realized that the main setting for the game should be the courtroom.

Janet: That’s quite the jump, but you know, I can’t imagine this series being anything else at this point. 

(source, from an interview by Janet Hsu about the game’s early development)

During the development for the game, Takumi actually knew very little about the intricacies of the legal system--and in fact, he’s been very transparent about that fact in interviews. There’s even a story he talks about in a blog post where he was asked “shouldn’t we do some research on law before we make this game?” and agonized over it for a bit before deciding that being accurate about courtroom processes wasn’t important--what was important was that the game made the trials exciting and fun.

November, 2000. The characters were coming together, and I was working desperately on my first scenario (the current Turnabout Sisters). One day, I was asked about the one thing I didn’t want to be asked about.

“Mr. Takumi. Don’t we need to do some research on law?”

The knowledge I have about the law, pretty amounts to the one fact that in Japan we have the Roppō Zensho ('Complete Book of The Six Major Legal Codes').

“Don’t bother with that. This is a detective game. “

It should have been over with this one line, but…

“But this isn’t a detective game, it’s a lawyer game!”

“If it’s not going to be realistic, I don’t see why this should be about trials.”

“People who play this might get wrong knowledge from the game!”

“We might get sued by the Bar Association!”

“They’ll start complaining!”

…Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA) is simply a “mystery game.”　“Being realistic” is not what is important. What’s important is emphasizing, and recreating the unique “atmosphere” and “tension” of the courtroom. That is why the judge uses a gavel, even though no judge uses that, and why Naruhodō shouts "Objection!" even though nobody does that either.　This game does not need a “realistic courtroom”!

Chasing the true murderer down to the end, and then getting applauded for that in the courtroom. That feeling of thrill and excitement. It was only by February of the following year when we finally manage to recreate that in the game. The couple of months after this had happened, we looked around, got lost and troubled our minds in search for the answer of the big question of “How do we make a trial into a game?”.  Fall was passing by, and the cold winter was close upon us.

(source, from an archived blog post by Takumi)

So, realism and knowledge of law wasn’t important to Takumi during the development of the series. But there’s also the fact that Takumi has actually personally denied that the Ace Attorney series was an intentional satire or criticism of the court system at any point. In fact, according to a blog post (done as if Phoenix and Maya were reading the column and commenting on it), he actually dislikes people seeing his work this way, as he never intended the games to have any big political statements.

A major prerequisite for Gyakuten Saiban is it’s so simple “even my mother could play it”.  So there is only one point at the core of the game: “Seeing through lies”.

Naruhodō: It wasn’t even supposed to be a game about the trials at first. Mayoi: Eh! Really?! Naruhodō: “Simple” is basically all this game is about, according to TakuShū. Mayoi: What do you mean? Naruhodō: He didn’t want to add all kinds of elements for the player to think about, like alibis, tricks or about the culprit. It’d just confuse them. Mayoi: Really. Naruhodō: Basically, you can proceed in the game if you just think about where the contradiction is. He figured that with that, the controls of the game could also stay simple. Mayoi: But, but, why the trials then? Naruhodō: “A story about a detective seeing through lies” wouldn’t be any different from the other games out there. So that’s why he decided to have someone whose job is seeing through lies as the protagonist. Mayoi: So a defense attorney. Naruhodō: Occasionally  TakuShū sees magazines introducing the game as “a work that dared to take on the theme of trials”, and that actually hurts him. Mayoi: He never meant to be something as big as that…. 

(source, from the mentioned blog post)

Ultimately I see how easy it is, if you know a good amount about both Ace Attorney and Japan’s legal system, to come to the conclusion that the games were made as a dig against the latter. However, somewhere along the line, people apparently stopped seeing this as merely a theory and instead as a definite fact. Now, that doesn’t mean that the theory is entirely unfounded--given that Takumi focused only on making trials interesting and fun in the games, you could say that the games work as an light, comedic parody, not meant to make any political statements. And hey, maybe there’s something I missed--maybe there were other people working on the series who did have significant knowledge of law and wrote some parts of the games as intentional satire of the system. Again, if anyone has evidence of this, don’t hesitate to provide it. But with what I know, I don’t think going “well actually” to people who point out the ridiculousness and unfairness of Ace Attorney’s court system is necessary. It’s simply that way to make the games more fun.

[iam93percentstardust]

Haii so i have a promot for you, it’s stuckony and it’s based around a carrie Underwood song called “ Renegade Runaway “

So basically Steve and Bucky are outlaw, who rob trains, banks, and gamble

Tony is a sharffes and teacher kid, who is also one hell of a gunslinger (like Doc holiday,bat masterson, and Wyatt earp), he’s also a blacksmith

Also happy early birthday! 💙

Thank you for the birthday wishes! This ended up being a lot sadder than I originally intended and I wasn't able to include everything, but I hope it still lives up to expectations!

As always, this fic is also on ao3

~

Tony has his pistol out almost before the door closes behind him. He peers into the darkness of the yard behind the smithy, silently complaining about his eyes taking too long to adjust from the bright fires to the gathering twilight. It puts him at a disadvantage for whoever is waiting out there for him.

“Aw darlin’, is that any way to greet your two favorite outlaws?” someone drawls.

Tony snorts and holsters the pistol again. “Two outlaws, you might be, but my favorites? Far from it,” he snarks.

Bucky Barnes steps into the light spilling out from the window, hand dramatically placed over his heart. “Tony, that cuts me to the quick. Really, the cruelty of your words, they break my heart.”

“Uh-huh,” Tony says, unimpressed. He turns his back on Bucky and locks the smithy door. Peter will leave through the front when he’s finished sweeping and extinguished the lights. Everything else is already stored in the backroom for the night, so there’s no reason he needs to worry about leaving the door unlocked, though he certainly could. Timely isn’t the sort of town that invites trouble, not like some of the lawless towns further west.

When he turns back around, Bucky has moved closer, nearly looming over him. Tony leans back against the door, letting Bucky press against him. Bucky will do it anyway, it’s easier to just give in to him now instead of putting up a fight they both know he doesn’t want.

“You gonna apologize for bein’ so mean?” Bucky breathes into his ear.

“No,” Tony says flatly, crossing his arms. “It’s the honest truth.”

It’s not. Nearly everyone in Timely knows Tony’s sweet on Bucky and his partner, who must be around here somewhere since Bucky mentioned both of them. But it wouldn’t do to be too easy for them. He’s not one of Natasha’s girls after all, giggly and flirtatious and willing to turn their skirts up for a little bit of coin. He likes to make his boys work to get him soft and smiling.

“Now that’s just an outright lie,” someone else says. Tony turns his head to see Steve’s bright blue eyes much closer than he’d expected given that he’d only sensed one of them in the yard earlier. “You love us.”

“Don’t,” Tony denies, turning his head in the other direction so he doesn’t have to see either of them. Steve may be right, Tony isn’t nearly as annoyed by them as he pretends, but loving the two of them makes his life so very hard that it’s easier to pretend he doesn’t have any feelings for them.

“Tony,” Steve murmurs.

Tony stubbornly refuses to look at them. These two outlaws waltz into town all too rarely, typically on the heels of some mess that’ll raise the rewards on their heads yet again, and turn Tony’s life upside down for the brief time they’re in Timely, only to break his heart when they inevitably leave. Sometimes, he wishes he’d never met them.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he whispers eventually, keeping his eyes fixed on the side of the saloon down the street. “The sheriff’s in town tonight. If he catches wind of you—you know Howard wants to be the one to bring you in.”

“Your father’s on a wild goose chase, honey,” Bucky says. “He got word we were hiding out in Howling Canyon.”

“Are you?”

“Do we look like we’re in Howling Canyon?” Steve asks amusedly.

“No. I meant when you’re not—” He stops, biting back the last few words. When they’re not in his bed, he means, but he can’t bring himself to say that. After an awkward pause, he finishes, “When you’re not in town.”

“No,” Steve assures him. “We’re staying—”

“Don’t tell me where,” Tony interrupts, finally turning back to look at them. They both look worried, and he wonders if they know how tired he is of this game they’ve been playing for five years. “You know I’ll have to tell Howard if he asks.”

Not that Howard would. The sheriff is one of the few people who doesn’t know that his son houses the two outlaws when they’re in Timely. He couldn’t even imagine that his son would dare defy him under his nose like that. But both Steve and Bucky know what happens when Tony doesn’t jump to Howard’s every order. They were the ones who took him to Dr. Banner’s after all, after Howard broke his arm for taking too long to finish the horseshoes for Jericho.

Steve’s eyes are stormy at the reminder of Howard’s wrath. Bucky’s mouth is set in a tight line. Neither of them approve of Howard. They’ve told Tony once before that they would take him away from here if only he would let them. But he won’t. There’s too much keeping him in Timely: his mother and Rhodey, even young Peter, who’s only been apprenticed to him for a few months. He can’t just go gallivanting off into the sunset, no matter how badly he wants to. And besides, he knows that the only reason they ask is so that he can get away from Howard. He doesn’t delude himself there. They’d let him go with them just out of range of Howard’s reach and then they’d cut him loose. It’s pity that makes them ask, not—not anything else.

“Just—” He sighs and ducks out from under Bucky’s arm. “Come on. Howard isn’t stupid. He’ll figure out you’re not in Howling Canyon eventually, and I’d like both your cocks at least once before he does.”

~

Tony once had aspirations of being one of the best gunslingers in the west. He had the best aim this side of the Mississippi and he was quick. He’d been planning on making a name for himself, same as his father had.

Bucky’s bullet through his left thigh had put an end to that dream real quick.

He’d been young—hardly even an adult—foolhardy, and unwilling to listen to Jarvis’ warnings that he wasn’t ready to take on Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, who’d been terrorizing the towns in their small territory for the last three years. He’d been so convinced that he would be the one to bring them in and collect on the bounty. He’d studied their movements, known how they thought, and when Timely had gotten word that the two outlaws had robbed a bank in Faircreek, he’d ridden off on his own toward Harshaw instead of Tombstone like all the evidence pointed to.

He’d been right; the trail to Tombstone had been a false one. But he hadn’t had long to rest on his laurels because he’d been noticed. Steve and Bucky hadn’t been as lax in their vigilance as he’d assumed and they’d lain in wait for him, ambushed him, and ultimately shot him.

To this day, he doesn’t know what drove the two outlaws to take him in instead of leaving him out there to die in the desert, but they had. They’d carefully nursed him back to health, taken care of him when his injury had led to fever, and eventually, after nearly two months together, brought him to their bed with sweet words and sweeter kisses. He’d thought he would have done anything for them after that night, but the next morning, they’d sent him back on his way to Timely with nothing more than a promise that they’d be dropping in to check on him. It had been kind, though the damage had already been done. Tony’s injury ensured he’d never be the gunslinger he’d once dreamt of and his heart had been shattered. He’d apprenticed with Happy, taken up blacksmithing as a trade, and moved out of his parents’ home and into a small house not far from the smithy as his bad leg kept him from walking any great distances.

And when Bucky and Steve had kept their promise and stopped by his house to see him, well, his resolve to send them packing had withered. He’d made sure no one had noticed them and welcomed them inside, his poor heart still beating against his ribs in the pattern of their names.

~

They love him, he thinks, or at least they love him as best as they can, which is to say they don’t love him as much as he loves them. They certainly don’t love him enough to take him with them. And he understands—he does, despite what Rhodey thinks. His bad leg is a hindrance to outlaws such as themselves, particularly when it isn’t like they have a home base they could leave him out while they go out to commit whatever crime has struck their fancy. No, they’ve been nomads for as long as Tony has known them, never tied down to any one place, and he’s grateful that they at least love him enough to stay in this area instead of moving on to greener pastures.

He checks that the street is clear and then hurries them into his home. It’s changed slightly since the last time Steve and Bucky were in Timely. Pepper gifted him with a rug to go in front of the fireplace six months ago and Peter’s aunt made him a series of sketches of the view from the top of Howling Canyon that he hung in the kitchen. But other than that, the house is much the same as it’s always been, and he isn’t surprised when neither Steve nor Bucky pay any attention to the changes in favor of following him to the bedroom.

They strip him in silence, hands so gentle he’d call them reverent if he didn’t know any better. But he does know better. They don’t love him enough to be reverent. Reverence is saved for each other, for how Steve looks at Bucky in the early dawn when he thinks they’re both still sleeping, for Bucky saving Steve an extra cup of coffee, for the way they know how to tack each other’s horses just as well as they know their own. Reverence isn’t saved for him.

But he treats themreverently. He’s always treated them that way, since the night they took him to their bed. He’s never known any other way to love. They had been his first, the ones to ruin him for all others, and a small part of him hates them for that even as he kisses them hungrily, savoring these few moments he gets to spend with them.

He goes to his knees for them, worships Bucky’s cock with his mouth while Steve undresses, then lays down for Steve to open him up. He lets them fuck him, moans their names while they whisper praises in his ear, and pretends that this is enough, that he doesn’t want more. He imagines it though, imagines Steve lifting him onto Nomad and following Bucky out of town, never to return.

Bucky falls asleep when they’re done—he always does—so Steve is the one who stands and finds a washcloth from somewhere in the house. He wipes the three of them off and then lays down on his side, facing Tony.

“You’re sad tonight,” he says quietly.

“No,” Tony denies. He doesn’t want them to know that he wants more, that he’d do just about anything to get it. They’ll only feel bad that they can’t give him what he wants, like it’s any fault of theirs.

“You are,” Steve insists. “You try to hide it, but you are.”

“Steve…”

“I won’t ask you.” Steve’s own eyes are sad as he reaches out to run delicate fingers over Tony’s face. “I know you wouldn’t tell me anyway. That’s okay; you’re entitled to your secrets, sweetheart.”

There’s something terribly earnest in Steve’s expression, something that Tony doesn’t think he’s seen before. And he’s so close to blurting it out, begging Steve for something he can’t have. He swallows the words back with difficulty and asks instead, “What did you two do this time?”

Steve shrugs as best as he can. “A train.”

“A—” Tony stills. “You didn’t. Steve, you couldn’t. You’ll bring the Marshals down on your heads.”

“Had to,” Steve says casually. “Was the only way to get enough.”

“Enough what?”

“Gold,” Bucky says from behind him, startling him.

It takes a moment for the word to sink in, but his breath comes faster as he realizes just what they’ve done. “You didn’t,” he repeats, sitting up. He scrambles to the end of the bed, as far away from Steve and Bucky as he can get. The outlaws sit up as well, leaning against the headboard as they watch him warily. “What were the two of you thinking? No, don’t answer that. I know exactly what you were thinking: you weren’t. Because if you were, you would have known better. Forget the Marshals, you’ll bring the whole damn army down on your heads. How could you have been so stupid?”

“We were thinking we’d like to get a house,” Steve says, cutting him off.

“A—a house?”

“Mmhmm,” Bucky agrees. “We found ourselves a little patch of land in California we’d like to settle down in. Needed one last robbery to get us enough money to buy it.”

Tony’s heart stops beating, he swears it does. “California,” he repeats faintly.

“Sure, they’ll never think to look for us in California.”

Bucky sounds so calm, as though he can’t see that Tony’s heart is breaking in front of them. How can he be so cruel? How can he just causally mention that they’re leaving him forever, as though the last five years mean nothing to them?

“When are you leaving?” he manages, and it shocks him how calm he sounds when he feels as though his grief is visible from the stars.

“Tomorrow,” Steve says. There’s something careful in the way he looks at Tony, like he at least might have some idea of what’s going through Tony’s head.

Tony repeats, “Tomorrow.” He nods, blinking furiously to try to clear his eyes of the treacherous tears he can feel welling up. He can’t let them know. They’re leaving tomorrow and he doesn’t want them to go. He knows it would have happened eventually. The lawless west is shrinking more and more each day. It’s only a matter of time before the law catches up to them. Their only option is to leave and go somewhere no one knows them. But does it have to be so soon? He’d thought they would have more time.

“So this is goodbye, then,” he says, twisting the bedcovers in his hands. He can’t look at them, too afraid they’ll know what’s racing through his head if he does.

“…Goodbye?” Steve asks. He sounds puzzled. Tony hates that. What right does he have to be confused? That’s for Tony, seeing as how he’s the one who’s been left out of the loop during all this. God above, how long have they been planning this? It must have been at least a year in the making.

“Yes, goodbye,” he says. “One last fuck to see you off, right?”

“One last… Tony,” Bucky says sharply, “do you think we’re plannin’ on leavin’ you here?”

Tony’s heart stops for the second time in as many minutes. “You’re not?” he asks, daring to peek at them. Steve looks horrified, Bucky thunderous as he leans forward to tug Tony into his arms. Tony doesn’t resist, too tired of pretending, too confused by the twists this conversation has taken to argue. Steve curls up against Bucky’s side, carding gentle fingers through Tony’s hair.

“Sweetheart, did you think we weren’t gone on you?” Steve asks, kissing his forehead. “We’ve been fallin’ for you since you figured out where we were goin’ and chased us down.”

“But you never asked me to come with you.”

“S’pose that’s my fault,” Bucky says gruffly. He gingerly touches the scar on Tony’s leg where Bucky’s bullet had ripped through him. “We saw how much pain you were in an’ we couldn’t bear to make it any worse. An’ that’s just what would have happened if you’d spent every night out there with us. We wanted to keep you safe, thought you’d be happier if you weren’t always in pain.”

“I wanted you,” Tony says, pressing a kiss to the underside of Bucky’s jaw. “I didn’t want to be left behind.”

“Yeah, we, uh, we get that now,” Steve mutters sheepishly. “Tony, say you’ll come with us this time. Don’t make us go off on our own this time. We want you to come, can’t imagine a future that doesn’t have you in it.”

He should argue. He should remind them that in the five years they’ve been riding off and leaving him at home, he’s built a life. He has a business and an apprentice and a little house that he likes. He’s not the wide-eyed child he once was, dreaming of adventure. But then, neither are Steve and Bucky, if they really do mean that they’re going to get to California and settle down.

“Darlin’?”

~

The next morning, Peter arrives at the smithy to find the backdoor locked and the fire cold. He frowns; it’s not like Tony to still be home at this hour. He turns on his heel and heads to Tony’s house. It’s as dark as the smithy is though it doesn’t look like anything is out of place.

Tony is nowhere to be seen. He wonders for an instant if Tony spent the night at Rhodey’s, as he sometimes does when it’s been too long between Steve and Bucky’s visits (though Peter isn’t supposed to know anything about the outlaws). He turns to leave, planning on heading over to Rhodey’s to ask if he’s seen Tony this morning, only to catch a glimpse of something on the kitchen table, glinting in the early morning sunlight pouring in from the door.

Curious, he wanders over to find a single gold coin—and a letter addressed to him. Peter immediately pockets the coin and then opens the letter. It’s written in Tony’s messy scrawl and he reads it eagerly, hoping it’ll tell him where Tony’s gone.

Peter,

I hope you’ve spotted this. The coin is for you. Under the bed, there’s a pouch full of more coins, but those are for Happy. They should be enough to drag Happy out of the quiet life to finish your apprenticeship. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay, but it was time to move on.

If anyone asks where I’ve gone, tell them I’ve run away to California.

Tony

[talesofphantombandits]

Zero to Six ~ The Death of Six - Edited version.

Greetings and salutations! So I know this isn’t what everyone wanted but people are still reading Zero to Six and I’m honestly so grateful that a year on, people are still loving this series.  But I never felt like I wrote it properly, the chapters where always too short and I felt like they were never detailed enough so I wanted to bring to you an edited version (that probably still won’t be perfect.) one that I’m more satisfied with.  I will be keeping the original version up just in case people prefer that one, maybe one day I’ll take it down? who knows but yeah so enjoy! <3 P.s I’ve missed you all so much and I’ve really missed this series. Hopefully sometime soon the Prequel will be out which I have started and named ‘Before there was Six, there was Zero.’

Characters: Four X Zero (OC) Summary: Zero was the first person to be ‘saved’ by One, she was his first honorary Ghost.  Her knowledge in tech meant she got the role of ‘Hacker’ she recruited new team members, looked for missions and locations and made sure every security measure was looked at. You know normal hacker spy stuff.  But her tough up bringing meant that if needs be she could fight, she was maybe even better than some people on the team knew. But due to One’s protectiveness over her she had to stay hidden, she was more of an actual ghost than the rest of the team was. This didn’t mean she couldn’t have her fun though, over the months of being with the full team she had formed quite a passionate love/ hate relationship with the handsome Four.  Who knows what sparks would fly if they were ever to meet.  Warnings: Slight swearing, some suggestive flirting in later chapters. 

Tagg list: (I know this is a edit of my original story but if anyone wants to be tagged let me know.) @raylan-c​

Zero to Six ~ Part 2. Edited Version.​ Masterlist.

“You’re stalling.” 

“I’m not stalling.” Zero could practically hear the smirk in Fours voice over the coms. “I’m simply just working myself up to it.” 

She laughed. “You always say that, and you’re always stalling.” She was playing on his last nerve, she knew it but this would be good for Four and entertainment for her. He always worked better when he was frustrated and no one stressed him out quite like Zero.

Four had been doing parkour for most of his life, or that’s what he told them. Yet he was still fearful every single time, still I guess that’s what made him great at it the fear of always falling gave him the adrenaline he needed to make the jumps. 

Another breathless laugh fluttered through Zeros left ear. “Don’t test me darling.” Now it was his turn to make Zero sweat, this always happened. Zero would insult and tease and Four would flirt right back, although most of the team were used to it by now they still broke them up from time to time. 

“Whatever monkey boy, just be ready for when Six gets his ass in gear!” She clicked her tongue. “I can hear you mocking me asshole, remember I hold the key here I can make your life a living hell with just one click of a button.” 

“You already make my life hell darling, But I live for it everyday.” 

“Swear to god Four, you’re a pain in my ass.” She mumbled as she typed away at the computer trying to figure out their next move so she could be ready with any instruction they needed. 

“I’m sure your ass is pretty fine, I can’t wait to see it someday.” She could practically feel the smirk.

“Yeah? And I can't wait to punch the smirk off that pretty face one day, only you could be in a life or death situation and be thinking about my virtual ass.”

“Wait, did you just admit to fancying me Zero? Guys she called me handsome, I think I’m getting somewhere.” 

“Go for Four!” Saved by the bell it seems, One’s voice rang through coms. Zero silently thanked god for she did fancy Four, who wouldn’t fancy that absolute Greek god of a man? With that honey voice and the moves he had! moves he could use on her, she shook her head hoping the images of him forming in her head would magically fall out of her brain never to return, but she wouldn’t be so lucky.

“Shut the hell up, stop thinking about ways to seduce Zero and get your ass down here we need you!” And just like that, it was go time. “NOW!”

Zero had been working with this team for a while now, but she was more on the surveillance side of the missions, which meant that she had never officially met the team face to face. The only person she had actually met was One, who had recruited her. He would visit from time to time, she liked to think they had a special bond. She was in fact the first person in need that One had found and ever since then he had become a sort of father figure to her. 

Two was next who was sort of cold at times, Zero put this down to her CIA training but she had never been anything but caring towards Zero. Then she found Three, a hitman who she was reluctant to look into at first but she knew now it was the best thing for her and the team. Despite his past he was one of the most sweet and caring men she’d ever met, and he never failed to make her smile on a bad day.  Ever since recruiting Four, she felt the atmosphere in the group shift slightly, there was nothing bad about him but they both couldn’t ignore the growing attraction between them, and this was just over cyber space.  She then found her best friend in Five, she was different from the rest. Not as violent and rash but still amazing at what she did and protecting herself and others, Zero knew if she ever needed someone the first person she’d go to was Five. 

Six was her latest recruit, one that she knew was extremely talented in not only driving but in all things mechanical too, they had chatting a few times about servers and bots and he’d promised her a round in their shared favourite video game once this mission was complete. 

She’d be lying to herself and everyone else if she said she didn’t want to meet them all in person, they were the closest thing she had, had to family. However she knew that if she was to meet them nothing could ever come of her and Four. One would definitely not allow it, and most likely lock her straight back up.

Still they were sort of this dysfunctional family, and she was definitely the odd one out. She couldn’t remember the last time she had, had a normal conversation with someone who wasn’t ‘dead’ the only time she was allowed to leave the flat was when One said it was moving day. He didn’t like her staying in one flat too long, she must have moved at least four times this year already. While she was alone in her flat eating ready meals they were all back at base eating together, she sometimes pretended she was there eating with them. Three telling her some stupid story that no one else is listening to because they have heard it at least a thousand times, but she would just be so happy to hear his beautiful accent in person that she would listen to anything he was telling her.  How she wished she could hug three in real life. The closest she had gotten to eating with them was over coms, sometimes they would leave the line open for debriefing but it still made her feel like an outcast. 

“I’m coming down!” Everything was going wrong, Six had gone the wrong way. Which Zero wasn’t surprised to see as everyone in the car was shouting at each other, she sat there in her gaming chair drinking Dr Pepper and enjoying her fried chicken meal while everyone was losing their minds in the field. Maybe getting to stay in the comfort of her flat wasn’t so bad after all? 

“Good boy.” She praised Four. “Finally putting those parkour skills to use, other than robbing some innocent person.” 

Even before he started to speak she could tell he’d started to run because his speech came out in huffs. “Shut up, at least I can do parkour which makes me cooler than a girl who sits at her computer all day.”

She had to laugh. “What are you? Five years old? Try again when you can think up better come backs, I can’t take you seriously right now.”  

Wherever One moved Zero was never too far away from where the team worked, the first time the rest of the team worked this out was when Zero first used the drone to help navigate them someplace safe. That was also the first time she finally got to see Four in action, the image of him running along the rooftops like a monkey in the jungle both amused her and impressed her. Hence the nickname she had given him. But there were also times when he would have close calls, where he had nearly fallen to his death that’s when the breath would get knocked out of her and she would only calm when she knew he was safe on the ground again. 

“Right over you guys.” He said in a strained voice while leaping onto another roof.  

“So guys, just look out for the flying monkey above you. That will be Four.” Most of the teasing with Four was just to pass the time while they were out in the field having fun and mainly it was just way too fun to hear him get so frustrated.  

“Zero, that’s not helping us.” One said in a sing-song voice. 

“Maybe it’s not helping you, but it is definitely helping me pass the time.” All she could hear was a disappointed grunt from One which just made her chuckle,it was also very fun to piss One off.

“Six! SIX! Wrong way god damn it!” 

She cringed at how loud Four had screamed down the coms. “Come back! I’ve got an idea.”

“Ladies and gentleman, for the first time in his life Four has an idea!” She said mindlessly typing away trying to find the best route for them to escape by.

“You know what Zero, when we finally meet I’m going to run that fine ass of yours into the ground.” He all but growled.

“You can try monkey boy, but you’ll have to catch me first.” She smirked to herself, she secretly hoped that, that was more of a promise than a mere threat. “Oh, challenge accepted sweetheart. I’d love to have a game of cat and mouse with you.” 

“You two do remember that we are on a mission right now, right?” Six moaned. “What with you two flirting, and these absolute idiots fighting beside me in the car. I’m finding it very hard to concentrate on driving!” With every word Six’s voice got more agitated and louder.

“We are not flirting!” Both Four and Zero exclaimed together. 

“Aww they even said it at the same time!” Zero just rolled her eyes at One’s teasing. “No one cares, now both of you shut up so we can all get out of here.” 

“That’s it Six, keep coming towards me!” The drone was filming just above the action, once she’d wiped her hands and they were free from the grease on her chicken. She finally realised what Four was about to do. 

Suddenly the car that was tailing Six was being impaled by five metal tubes. “God, okay I’m definitely done eating now. That was so gross.” 

Then the screaming started to fill the coms. “Guy’s, what the hell are you doing?” All Zero could make out was something about an eyeball. 

“This is so stressful! Can everyone stop arguing and speaking over each other?!” Zero was getting agitated now. 

“YOU THINK YOU’RE STRESSED?! I’M TRYING TO DRIVE WHILST ALSO TRYING NOT TO KILL ANYONE, DID I MENTION I ALSO HAVE AN EYEBALL ON MY LEG?!” Six all but screamed down the coms, loud enough that Zero had to remove her earpiece until she was sure he was done with his rant. 

“Six sweetie,” she said as calmly as she could, trying not to laugh. “Are you okay?” 

“DO I SOUND LIKE I’M OKAY ZERO?!” She knew he would say that, she finally let out the chuckle she was trying to hold as to not irritate him further.

“Sorry I was just asking. I swear I‘m not using your painful situation to make myself feel better.” She held her hands up in defence even though he couldn’t see her.

He just let out a huff. “I’m going to ignore you now Zero, you’re pissing me off more than these guys are.” 

After the commotion things went quiet for a while, there was now a helicopter tailing them so all effort and concentration went on losing it. While there was little chatter over the coms the main sound that dominated the air was the gunfire, Zero silently prayed to herself while she watched the drone that everyone would make it out of their first real mission alive. One finally found a route for them, conveniently inside of a building that would shelter them enough to lose the aerial surveillance they were under. 

“The drone will meet you on the other side, good luck and please try not to make too much of a mess in there Six. There are some priceless statues in there we would all like preserving.” Just as Zero finished her sentence she heard a loud crash.

“You were saying?” Six chuckled nervously. 

“You didn’t.” Zero stared shocked at her screen, mouth wide open. 

One was the one to respond to her though. “Unfortunately he did, don’t worry we’re all just as disappointed in him.” 

“Okay we finally lost the chopper, Zero do you have a visual?” One asked surprisingly calmly.

“You mean the bright green car, kind of hard to miss. Good choice Six you really blend in.” Zero laughed. “I see you, there are two black vans heading your way. Shake them off then head to the arranged rendezvous spot where Three will be waiting for you.” 

Six’s voice was strained when he spoke. “Listen, fast and convenient was what I was told to get. So that’s what I got.” 

Zero would have responded but she was more distracted by the sight of Four on a skateboard holding a launcher. He jumped off the board and leaped up onto the stone wall just as one of the black vans passed, he aimed and shot, never missing the mark. She was impressed for a moment but then saw the smug smile on his face, he looked directly into the drone and winked at Zero. She just scoffed, what an absolute show off.

“Seems like we have a superhero on our team.” Six laughed impressed. 

Zero scoffed again, but this time loud enough so everyone could hear it over the coms. “I wouldn’t exactly call him a superhero.” 

“Then what would you call me darling? A Greek god?” This is the thing about Four, he’d never met Zero in person but he knew exactly how to push her buttons. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the banter from time to time. 

“Hurm more like a vein asshole that thinks far too highly of himself.” She snapped back.

But he just laughed, the complete opposite of what she was expecting. “I mean everyone else loves me, might as well love myself too.” She rolled her eyes, She really couldn’t blame him though he was a very handsome man but no way in hell was she ever going to tell him that. “One day you’ll fall for the charm that everyone else falls for. I know you’re already obsessed with me.” 

“In your dreams Four.” 

“It already happens in my dreams, every night darling. I’d be happy to elaborate later on in a private chat.” Zero audibly gagged. 

“Guy’s can we please cut out the flirting until after the mission? We’re nearly there and I don’t think any of us want to hear whatever this is.” One sounded tired and Zero just laughed at how much their fighting annoyed the other members. 

“Yes boss!” She added in a salute even though One couldn’t see her, he could feel she was mocking him. 

Just then the drone cut out. “Shit! Someone shot down the drone. You’re on your own from here guys.” 

There was a commotion through the coms, one that didn’t sound at all good. Car tyres screeched, bullets rain down on the metal of the car Zero held her breath as she waited for anything. Even just a breath so she knew at least someone was still alive, her heart stopped when the line had been silent for too long she had to know what happened. 

“Guys, come on talk to me. What’s going on? Why are you all being so silent? What happened?” There was another breath of silence and her mind went straight to Four, she shook her head. No! She wasn’t going to let herself think about that, she scolded herself for getting too attached to the little shit.  

The was a crackle over the line, Five cleared her throat. “Six is dead, we’re in the van, the space is clear.”  

Zero sucked in a breath, she felt like her lungs were burning. “What?” 

“Zero listen to me, you need to turn off coms now.” One must have turned from the group, he was using his quiet, serious voice. “I’ll handle this okay, I’ll check back in with you later.” 

Just like that he was gone, she clicked the switch to turn off almost absentmindedly. She sat back in her chair, only snapping back to reality when she felt something wet fall on her hand. She softly touched her face to find her cheeks were wet, when had she started to cry? Six wasn’t someone she knew in person, he had been the last member of the team but still a very important piece of their puzzle. She thought about the game he had promised to play with her after the mission, this would never come to pass now. Now he was really dead, and it was all her fault.

For the first time Zero started to think about the whole team and if One’s master plan of being ghosts to take down the world’s evil was such a good idea after all, why had it taken a real death in the team for her to even think about this. What if it had been Four, she didn’t think she could live with herself if anything ever happened to Four, maybe it was a good thing they had never met. Seeing him in person, hearing his deep honey voice, feeling his warmth would definitely make her fall deeper then she already was. He was just a voice over the coms but behind that was a real person, one that probably wouldn’t even share the same feelings towards her. So she thought ‘Yes, It’s a good thing I’m behind this computer screen and not with them in person.’ She had to try to distance herself from now on.  

 ......

Just wanted to say one last Thank You! for the continued support for this story <3 

[lover-of-queens]

Farah Dowling is Alive Part 3

Or, as I like to call it, I think I’m running out of funny subtitles. 

If you haven’t yet, I recommend checking out Part 1 & Part 2

Under the cut, as usual!

Parts 1 and 2 of this analysis were focused on a deep dive into the first season to to look for clues and any evidence that suggests getting our lovely Eve Best back for season 2 of Fate. This part will be slightly different. While I’m honestly surprised at the seeming fandom consensus that Farah is alive, there are some counterarguments I’ve seen/heard that I’d like to address. These counterarguments may either be the ones most convincing to me that Farah isn’t coming back (and then I’ll give reasons why I think they’re wrong) or fears about Eve’s filming schedule (I’ll also try and offer some hope there). 

The first counterargument is that the writers may choose to not bring Farah back in order to play into the dead mentor trope. Also known as the Mentor Occupational Hazard trope. Pretty self explanatory, but the essential idea is that at some point the protagonists of the story have to learn how to make it on their own without that guiding figure; they have to grow up. Frodo has to make it without Gandalf, etc. You only have to google examples of this trope to see how much it shows up in the media we consume. And it could easily apply to Fate. Farah provided that mentoring role in the first season but now, without her, the girls have to figure out how to hold their own against the villains infiltrating their school. The end of season 1 is, essentially, setting this trope up. 

I just don’t think that Farah has to be dead for them to do it. While I don’t know where the writers are planning to take season 2, I would imagine even if we do get Farah back, she won’t play as big a role as she did in the first season. What this means is that likely the winx girls will still have to figure out a way to hold their own despite losing that mentor figure (hopefully, she’ll just be in hiding and not dead *cough cough* fate writers). 

Also, the thing with setting a show at a school is that the mentor role is somewhat inherent to the structure. And as I’ve mentioned in the previous two parts (extremely unlikely redemption arc pending) I just cannot see Rosalind holding onto that “mentor role” for more than a season (or two, depending on where season 2 ends & if there’s a renewal for a third). Seems to me like they’ll have to bring that “dead mentor” back to resume her rightful place. So, I think it’ll be more likely we’ll get a subversion of the dead mentor trope. 

The second argument & the argument that concerns me the most can be summed up in one character: Andreas. Now, I know what you’re thinking, what the hell does he have to do with this? It’s less to do with him and more to do with the fact that he came back from the dead (or allegedly dead, it’s complicated!). This concerns me because writers generally want the idea of death to be taken seriously on the show or whatever form of media they’re writing. Especially since Fate has taken a darker route, I’m not certain it wants viewers under the impression that anybody they kill off can just come back; it somewhat defeats the purpose. 

So will Fate writers want to bring Farah back despite knowing this? Maybe. 

The whole ‘Farah’s eyes glowed before she died’ plot is interesting because of precisely how vague it is, how many directions it can be taken in that could either lead to her coming back or not. It may be intentionally vague because they want us theorizing and talking about the season/show after it’s ended, it may be vague because they themselves are trying to figure out what direction to take. But let’s be clear, they are heavily pushing the theorizing angle. These are all taken from three separate posts on Fate’s IG page: 

In the last one, Hannah, Precious and Sadie all agree that Farah needs to be in season 2. As Sadie says “We can’t have a season 2 without her.” Precious points out how the death scene was “too easy”. Similar sentiments are echoed on Netflix’s Afterparty for Fate when the host asks: 

David Spade: “Do you think Professor Dowling . . . faked her own death and then she can come back on season two? . . . sometimes it’s such a big hit like this, then they say ‘People like that character, let’s try to find a way to come back’”. 

To which Abbey says: “It’s a magical show, anything can happen!” 

I mean one only needs to take a look at AO3 to see that over half of the stories on there feature Farah - but admittedly that is a more niche section of a fandom. Something broader would be looking at the IG comments where Farah’s name generally pops up in the top comments with a message hoping she’s going to be brought back. Also the Farah/Eve fandom on IG is LARGE and growing.

Additionally, I think the amount of Farah/Golden Trio bloopers we got is also a good sign (especially because Eve got single shots) that Netflix/Whoever is in charge sees her as a popular character. And I don’t think there would be a push for discussion of Farah theories just for it to end with her remaining dead. So even though Andreas has come back, I think Farah can too. The next person that dies on the show though . . . well . . . that’ll likely be more permanent. 

Now that we’ve established from a story and fandom perspective why Farah is likely coming back. Let’s talk about what most people are actually worried about. Eve’s filming schedule. I’m going to preface this argument with a mention that I’m not an industry professional or anything, so these are just my best guesses based on the facts available to us. 

House of the Dragon is due to start shooting in April (source). Since it’s the first season we don’t really have an idea of how long it’ll take to film, but since it is the GOT prequel, I would say its a fair assumption to base a rough production schedule around the earlier seasons of that show. The reason why I say earlier is that the later seasons did come with longer filming schedules, but GOT was the epitome of pop culture at that point. I don’t think House of the Dragon will be getting that treatment until it proves itself. 

Game of Thrones took roughly six months to film a season (source). If we’re assuming that HOTD will take a similar timeline then we’re probably looking at an April to September filming schedule, possibly longer because Covid is causing production delays everywhere. 

We don’t have news about when Fate is planning to start filming their second season. From Abbey’s IG, we know that the first season filmed from September to December 2019, so I think it’s also fair to assume that we’re probably looking at a similar schedule for season 2. Also, considering they got an additional two episodes then I’m guessing their filming time will increase. 

Put these two schedules together and there’s not that much overlap and even should HOTD take longer, or Fate start shooting earlier, there’s still should be enough time for Eve to film both - if she’s willing! Also, realistically, I don’t see any way that Farah’s screen time doesn’t drop in season 2 (for a variety of reasons) but that drop should hopefully mean that they can get Eve. 

Alright y’all, I think that’s the last part of this series, at least for now. It has been so so fun to theorize with all of you and to write almost four thousand words on this topic (that’s crazy!). I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t fun for me, but at the same time, seeing everyone’s reactions to these posts really just makes my heart warm and it all worth it. So, thank you all for coming on this journey with me <3 

[phoenotopia]

The Last Phoenotopia Blog Update

(Date 2021 MAR 01)

I debated how to open this blog post, but perhaps the main crux of this blog post is the best place to start. The blog is being retired.

The purpose of this blog was to be a "development" blog for Phoenotopia, and well, Phoenotopia's development is done. I'll still be doing bug fixes and maintenance on the PC and Switch versions, and playstation and xbox ports are underway (by a publisher). But I'm not going to be making any more major changes to the game. At some point, you put the paintbrush down and say it's done. Blemishes and all.

Recent Events

The game launched on Steam last month, and like any launch, it was hectic. Bugs Galore. This is our first commercial PC launch, so it was a real baptism by fire. Unlike Switch's one configuration, the PC has multiple configurations and factors to account for. The game needed to be able to handle multiple control schemes, screen resolutions, refresh rates, and more! I had a 60Hz monitor going into launch and didn't know anything about Hz (I do now). There was a troublesome stutter that some players were sensitive to that my whole team didn't notice since our eyes compensated it away. There were a few times where in fixing something at one party's behest, it introduced problems for another party. A few times, due to disorganization, I unwittingly rolled back a fix that was meant to be applied. For some, the game couldn't play at all (really glad Steam allows refunds).

It was messy. It was tiring. I.AM.BEAT.

I think the worst of it is over... I'll still be around to do the last updates and bug fixes, but I'm ultimately ready for what's next.

SO what is next?

What isn't next... is Phoenotopia 2. As you may have heard down the grapevine, the game couldn't be what you call successful. No one's earned even minimum wage on it.

Maybe there's hope in the game's long tail. A year or two down the line... maybe. I won't hold my breath though. At some point in the past few months, I finished processing (or grieving) and it's time to move on.

The game has at least earned enough for us to continue our modest operations. As long as we don't expand the team, and we don't take another monster six-year dev cycle like what Phoenotopia took, we can continue. We'll have to be smarter and faster. Perhaps the most valuable thing we gained from all this is experience.

The Experience

It is a dev blog. Here are some of the lessons I've accumulated from this game's development.

- Have a good menu design. Menus aren't just that in-between fluff before you get to the good stuff. Menus are KEY. Your menus need to be robust, expandable, and *understandable* (to you, the developer). Because once the game's out, you will invariably be asked to add more options. And if your menu design is bad, every time you have to add a new menu option, it becomes a whole new pain all over again. Support mouse from the get-go, etc.

- Focus on features that people will actually care about. For instance, I've never seen anyone praise the camera's zoom feature. In practice, people try that feature a few times and then never use it again. But that feature was a constant consideration factor for every level. Run through it multiple times to make sure the level didn't break, think about which zoom levels made sense, resize rooms because they worked at one zoom level but not the other, and so on.

- Don't do boxes that you can move around. Other 2D platformers avoid movable boxes because they're a huge headache to program and they really complicate the game space. Enemies need to respond to boxes you throw in their path and either navigate around or attack it. When you're moving the box, you have to worry about constantly changing your collision size and reconciling when the box gets snagged on the environment. The boxes were also a constant source of bugs because people can manipulate them to soft-lock themselves and more.

- More focused script. Phoenotopia's 100,000+ word script was panned more for being bloated than it was praised for being lengthy. Long scripts take a long time to write and make the game more unwieldy, increasing the costs of translation and upkeep. Every update we're addressing some textual error or mistranslation. There are some highly renowned games (e.g. Hyper Light Drifter) that do without a script at all!

- Be flashy! A bat and a lightsaber take the same amount of work to program, but the lightsaber will draw a lot more attention and interest.

- Slopes, surprisingly! Six years ago when I started, Unity was ill-equipped for 2D games. If you used the physics that Unity provided you'd have a really floaty character that wouldn't adhere to the slope when going downhill. There were a hundred different tutorials saying different things (use forces, use move position, use translation, etc). You can get rectangular collisions done in a day, but to do slopes took weeks. Meanwhile, games can actually get by fine without slopes. Most people won't even notice. Did you know the Phoenotopia flash game didn't have slopes? Neither does Hollow Knight or Rogue Legacy. You can save yourself a lot of work by avoiding slopes.

(big entities look weird on slopes. Bad slope!)

I could write enough little knowledge nuggets like this to fill a book! But I'd rather just make the next game. 

So… what IS next?

As mentioned previously, it's not Phoenotopia 2. Pirate and I are mostly just tossing some ideas back and forth right now. We'll go silent for a year (or two). Our next game's scope will be more modest in some ways, more ambitious in others. It will definitely be more smartly designed. (There will be a map!)

We'll announce it when it's ready for the public. It might be necessary for us to do a kickstarter. I've tried to avoid kickstarters having been burnt on quite a few myself and also because I worry that mismanaging a kickstarter would earn the ire of backers.

But I did keep this blog regularly updated for six years. So I've gained some confidence in my abilities to at least manage a kickstarter well.

Is it really the last Phoenotopia Blog update though?

Okay, not really. There is some news that I'll need to announce, and this blog is one of the game's main outreach channels. Here are the events that will cause me to update the blog:

Announcing the launch of the xbox/playstation ports when they're ready

If a physical edition of the game happens

If a new language is getting introduced into the game (Korean is a high possibility)

When we're ready to talk about our next game

If (BIG IF) we begin development on a Phoenotopia sequel. I do want to do a sequel one day if we have the means and the demand is there. 

Those updates will be more on a "when they happen" basis, rather than me reporting in every couple months.

Fan Art

As always, I'm very happy to see fanart of Phoenotopia. Major thanks again to Pimez for collecting all the artwork from the corners of the internet! Since this is the "last" blogpost, Sir Pimez can finally take a rest from collecting the fanart :P

ÆV made a series of pictures that tell a story. A Pooki is humanely sheared of its wool to create a hat. The Pooki is unharmed. Nice! Gotta love Gail’s expressions.

Amagoo Mazeru makes a stunning landscape shot of a full moon and shooting stars. It’s a sharp and clear vector art. I like the faint glow of the moon and the fire and the subtle gradient in the night sky. Very skillfully done!

Hah hah. I got a chuckle out of this one. I imagine this is how Gail's enemies see her by the end of the game. CaESar made this image based on TerminalMontage's famous youtube videos. Nailed it!

CrownStar drew two pictures of Gail. I'm a big player of JRPGs, so the first shot instantly reminded me of Persona 4's art style. (Hmmm... Phoeonotopia as a JRPG... there’s potential there...) Next, Birdy is shown carried off after her defeat. I really like Birdy's expression here - she just seems mildly uncomfortable.

There's a bit of a story behind the first image. As Firanka shares it, she wasn't able to defeat the Big Eye monster at the end of the flash game, so she believed a tall tale that what awaited after was a 6 armed Kobold boss. Hilarious! The second is a rendition of the lonely Anuri elder. A rare subject. The loneliness is portrayed well here. I feel lonely just looking at it!

Koo_chop draws the clash between Gail and Katash at the top of the towers. I really like this interpretation of the game's art style. It’s faithful to the in-game graphics. And the lighting, from the glow of Gail's bat, to Katash's sword, and the lightning in the background... Amazing!

Lime Hazard shows Gail with a salute pose. Very appropriate for this occasion. I also like how there's a slight tilt in the angle that Gail is portrayed. Those dynamic angles are always hard to get right, and Lime Hazard pulled it off very skillfully. See you next mission!

Lyoung0J with a digital painting of Gail posed sitting on a rock. I like how it almost seems like she was caught in a candid moment - she’s smiling, but also feeling self-conscious. Cute! The art style really pops, and I like how Gail is sporting what I call the old anime style nose. 

MyUesrNameIsSh*t with a sketch of Gail performing a skillful slingshot. I like how Gail is depicted with her tongue out in a mischievous manner, the way all mischievous people with slingshots do.

Niitsu Kentaro returns with a 2021 Happy New Year picture. That happened didn't it? A New Year... Gail's pose gave me a chuckle with how she seems to be waving the bat around as casually as one would wave hello. And "Phoenotopiyear"... Well said! One day we'll have our Phoenotopiyear...

Ochan Nu breaks all records with a stunning NINE pictures in one session :O

There's so many goodies here. My favorite would be the one with Gail staring intently at the screen - it's like she's looking directly at you. You almost feel uncomfortable.

Next, there's an Animal Crossing villager dressed as Gail and sporting her pink hair. It even looks like a house Gail would live in. Gail is a connoisseur of the arts and likes Mona Lisa. Yes :)

There are various comics of Gail pointing out Gail's weird food habits. A picture of Fran looking really cool, and even Gail rocking a bathing suit. (bathing suit image linked here in case NSFW). Wow!

Pimez didn't just collect the arts, he creates them as well! This one, which he aptly named 'The Year 175' is a depiction of when the dragons invaded the towers as told by an elderly Daean woman. Great pixeling skills! I got a good chuckle from the ice dragon leaving with its stuff slung over its shoulder.

Quo made a stunning picture of Gail playing the flute surrounded by the 5 musical notes and the Phoenix logo behind her. The theme seems to be "fire" and it works really well. Gail herself looks awesome depicted in her red suit - it's like she's leading a marching band!

Rai Asuha depicts Gail in the late game with her red suit, and night star bat, and holding a lamp. She looks ready for adventure! I really like the white outline here and Gail's poofy shoulders here - the art style feels reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Seri also draws Gail bearing her late game equipment. Unique to Seri's drawing is how all of Gail's equipment is accessible from a pocket on her shirt. I also like how Gail is depicted with her lucky earrings - that accessory is often forgotten.

Treedude depicts Gail with a bat and wearing a funny smirk. She looks like she's ready to hurt someone!

Warotar returns with everyone's favorite Great Drake, Bubbles! It seems so happy to be featured!

I'm really grateful for all the fanart this game has received. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Closing Notes

Pirate drew a picture to mark the occasion. It shows Gail enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows and a pumpkin muffin. A rest well-earned...

Goodbye! Until next time!

[casuallyimagining]

Mutual Feelings

Jeon Jungkook x Reader

Summary: Jungkook is nervous because you haven’t told him you love him; you have an important question for him. Genre: fluff Notes: Part of the Long Term Couples series.  Read more here

If, last year, someone had asked Jungkook if he was cool with being in a relationship with someone who seemed physically resistant to saying the words ‘I love you’ in a meaningful way, he would have said absolutely not. Jungkook’s a patient man, but even he has limits. He likes to feel solid in his relationships, likes to not have any questions left on the table. He thinks he’s an open book, and he likes his partners to be the same way.

When he let those three words slip out not even a month into your relationship, he had mentally kicked himself. He had thought it was too soon, but he was trying to reassure you and they had tumbled out of his fat mouth before he could stop them. As it turned out, he hadn’t stopped saying them since.

You, on the other hand, had somehow gone from the cheerful ‘I love you’s whispered between friends to not saying it at all, not even after he had said it, and not ever since. He had grown so used to them during your six years of friendship that going six months without felt a little empty.

You weren’t ready. It was a big step for you, and he understood. He just wished he knew if there was any way for him to help you want to take that step. That, coupled with the fact that intimacy beyond kissing was off the table meant that Jungkook was more unsure in this relationship than he had ever been before.

This was all so new. He’d had girlfriends in the past, but in the years of knowing you, he’d never heard you talk about anyone significant in your life. He wasn’t sure if you’d never dated anyone, or if you’d never dated anyone that mattered, but at this point, he wasn’t sure that was important. Your friendship meant the world to him–you meant the world to him–and he was just so worried about losing that.

So he was second guessing himself constantly. Was he wrong to tell you he loved you so soon? Did he make a mistake in assuming you would want to see him both at work and at home every day? Had he been too forward when he drunkenly asked you out? Not forward enough the next day when you confronted him about it? Did he make enough time for you? Was he letting you know how he felt often enough, or was he smothering you?

Jungkook had thought that he had known you so well back when you were still just friends, but now… he had trouble reading you. He supposed that it was because you wouldn’t outright tell him how you felt.

Although, it wasn’t like you didn’t love him. Hearing the words would be nice, but the fact that you didn’t say them didn’t mean you didn’t feel them. And Jungkook definitely felt loved.

He felt it when he pushed himself too hard at rehearsals and performances. Not only were you there to take care of him, you scolded him for not taking care of himself. He knew you appreciated his work ethic and dedication, but the fact that you could hold an ice pack to his neck, pet his hair, and yell at him all at the same time honestly made his heart swell.

And he felt it when he screwed up his heel in London. You were there, distracting him from the pain before the concert, and helping pick him up when it was over. He had been devastated to not be able to perform, to be confined to a chair on stage, but having you dote on him afterwards almost made it better. And while you weren’t dating at the time, Jungkook knew that you wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again, since every time there was even the threat of an injury, you were at his side.

It was there when he had showed up on your doorstep with a dog and you had just gone with it. He had rightfully expected some pushback, but he hadn’t quite expected just how quickly you had agreed. He prepared a speech! He had rehearsed that speech the whole way from the pet store to your apartment! But he loved that you trusted him enough to take in his dog, he loved that you were comfortable enough around him to be spontaneous like that, and he loved that, even in just the couple weeks that you had Kimchi, you had fallen in love with the puppy. He may have paid the adoption fees, but you both knew that Kimchi had quickly become your dog.

He felt it when you jumped to defend him, like his own personal knight in shining armor, fighting for his honor. It didn’t matter if it was something you saw on Twitter, one of the other guys, or even himself–you got heated about it all the same. You had a secret account on almost every social platform just to yell at people on his behalf. You would playfully scold the guys when their teasing got a little too intense. And you always stopped him when he got too down on himself. In fact, you had been the one to first introduce him to the “you shouldn’t be mean to my best friend” rebuke.

He even felt it in how fiercely competitive you could be. Jungkook loved that you could go from defending him in one breath to threatening to smother him in his sleep in the next. He had gotten you into Overwatch, and he had expanded his gaming repertoire based on your tastes, and honestly he was never happier than he was curled up in bed playing video games with you, and at this point, he was convinced that you felt the same.

It was there in the late night texts you sent him when the two of you spent the night apart, and in the early morning phone calls he received the following morning. It didn’t matter if the two of you were in different timezones, you always texted him goodnight. And while he might not always be awake enough to respond, he had started looking forward to those short messages. And then the next morning, he was always happy to answer the phone when you called, even if you woke him up with the call. There was something about your cheerful ‘good morning!,’ especially if he knew it was three in the afternoon for you.

So while he definitely would prefer to hear you say it, Jungkook supposed that he could wait a little longer, because your actions spoke louder than any words.

He thought about this as he worked, the task of washing that night’s dinner dishes mindless enough that he could safely let his mind wander without risking too much. You, too, were in your own little world, drying the dishes and bopping around to the music blasting out of the little bluetooth speaker you kept in your kitchen.

Dinner had been tense that night. Not because anything was particularly wrong–or, at least, Jungkook didn’t know of anything that was wrong–just because you seemed incredibly nervous, and he wasn’t sure why. But the entire time you helped him cook and while the two of you were sitting in front of the tv watching YouTube videos and eating, he could feel the nervous energy rolling off you. He wanted to ask, but every time it crossed his mind, it didn’t seem like a good time.

The song changed, Jungkook smiled at the opening notes to “My Time” wafting out of the speaker. He loved that you loved his music. You grabbed the wet skillet off the counter as you started to hum along, and he watched you out of the corner of his eye. Once it was dry, you placed the skillet on your stove–you used it for everything, so he supposed you never saw the need to properly put it away.

You continued to hum as he let the water out of the sink, the dishes finally complete. With a sigh, you tossed your towel down on the counter and leaned against the cabinets below, watching him rinse the last of the bubbles down the drain.

“So I’ve been thinking.” Jungkook noted the hint of nerves in your voice. “And, I mean, you’re totally allowed to say no to this, I just figured I’d ask-”

“Babe. Breathe,” he joked, flicking some water off his hands in your direction. You giggled, leaning away slightly from his attack. He placed a hand on your hip, tugging slightly and pulling you closer. His other arm snaked around your waist as soon as you were close enough, holding you loosely against his body.

“I was wondering,” you started again, placing your hands on his chest and playing with the soft fabric of his t-shirt. “If maybe you wanted to move in?”

Jungkook could feel his heart start to pound in his chest. He was sure that you could feel it, being as close as you were. Was this what you were nervous about earlier?

“I mean, you’re over here most of the time, anyway. And Kimchi’s here.” You glanced at the brown and tan dog napping under your breakfast nook. “I know the dorm’s convenient, so if you want to leave some stuff there, that’s fine. But I wanted to offer.”

He couldn’t help the goofy smile spreading across his face. Honestly, Jungkook hadn’t expected your relationship to move this far this quickly. But he wasn’t complaining. At this point, a good majority of his clothes were at your apartment–he still had the bag tucked into your closet, but he had also lost count of the number of hoodies and sweatpants and t-shirts he had left here that he just hadn’t bothered to take back to the dorm. His laptop was here, his PS4 was here, his dog was here, you were here, and really, that’s all he needed.

“Sure.” He nodded, his eyes meeting yours. You looked happy, which only made his smile grow. He could feel his face start to heat up, and for a second, he felt like a teenager again, confronted by his noona crush. It was weird–and a little fitting considering the song that was still playing–for him to realize that he had never had that experience in school. “I would like that a lot.”

“Yeah?” Jungkook nodded, his hand covering yours on his chest. “We’re going to need new furniture.” Your eyes sparkled as you said it, and he couldn’t tell if you were joking.

“Please tell me you didn’t just ask me to move in so you had an excuse to get a new couch.”

You hummed, one of your hands tangling in the long hair at the back of his neck. You smiled at him–it was innocent enough, but he could see mischief in it, too. “Not at all.” Your lips brushed against his softly. “But if we could celebrate the occasion with a new couch, who am I to argue?”

Jungkook laughed and buried his face in the crook of your neck. He felt it then, too, standing there in your kitchen, your arms wrapped tightly around him. You didn’t need to say it, not yet at least. He knew.

You loved him. And the feeling was absolutely mutual.

Read more of the series here

[thetrashsean]

“Why wasn’t Life is Strange 2 as popular as the first game?”

A lot of people like myself have wondered what exactly made Life is Strange 2 go so relatively unnoticed compared its predecessor, Life is Strange 1. And when you think about it, you may come up with the few obvious generic answers, such as the lack of Max and Chloe and just the original cast in general. However, I think there was a lot more at play here that prevented Life is Strange 2 from reaching the amount of success/popularity the first game had. So I want to take the time and break down what exactly happened to Life is Strange 2 and the things that hurt the game’s ability to really connect with the audience of LiS1.

Disclaimer: We do NOT know how well Life is Strange 2 was for Dontnod and if it was a success or not. No sales numbers have been given out to the public so there’s no way of knowing for sure how well the game did. What we do know is that LiS2 did not receive the same amount of attention/popularity as the first game. That can’t be denied, it simply didn’t. However, based on the fact that Dontnod have recently announced they are working on six new games at the moment and are now expanding their studio, even if LiS2 was a “flop” it doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on them (most likely due to the success of Vampyr). Dontnod is going to be fine either way. Another thing I want to mention is that this is not a anti-LiS2 post and that I am a fan of the game. I’d consider myself a pretty big fan actually. I have my problems with the game of course and don’t agree with a lot of the writing decisions but I enjoyed the game very much overall. But for the sake of this post I will try to be as unbiased as possible, giving out only what I’ve observed when it comes to reactions from the fandom on different websites and forums. So with that all being said, let’s dive in to this.

Here I will be listing the many different reasons as to why Life is Strange 2 failed to reach the same amount of popularity as LiS1 or even BtS managed to achieve. This list isn’t in any particular order but some reasons are bigger/more important than others.

For some background, there was a lot of hype going into Life is Strange 2. The teaser trailer for it with the cop car trended at #2 on YouTube, a huge feat for the series. It generated immense amount of views and comments in a short period in time, completely surpassing Before the Storm’s announcement trailer in just a few weeks. So what exactly happened to all that hype? Where did everybody go? Well, let’s break everything down.

1. The lack of Max and Chloe: Yes I said that this list wouldn’t be in any particular order in terms of importance but I think it’s obvious this one is one of, if not the biggest reason as to why LiS2 failed to match LiS1’s popularity. When the protagonists Sean and Daniel were first revealed, the reception was pretty divisive. Specifically, a very vocal part of the community were baffled and disappointed at the lack of Max and Chloe present within the trailer and subsequently the game itself. This instantly turned off a lot of people from the game, as they couldn’t connect with the new characters or simply didn’t want to. At that point in the franchise Max and Chloe as well as the original cast from the first game had been the face of the series for almost three years. It’s understandable why it was hard for people to just…move on. To this day people are still asking for Max and Chloe to return. The Life is Strange subreddit is still dominated with Max and Chloe fanart. Whenever the social media accounts for Life is Strange post anything Max and Chloe related it gets way more attention compared to a post about Sean and Daniel. Whenever a post online goes viral about Life is Strange you can bet it’s most likely about Max and Chloe. Hell the only reason why episode 5 of Life is Strange 2 trended on Tumblr was because of the fucking picture of Max and Chloe. On the releas day of episode 5 of LiS2 the top post on the subreddit was the Max and Chloe picture. It was almost as if that one photo of them completely overshadowed the entire episode. Point is, Life is Strange 2 lost a lot of momentum the moment it was revealed Max and Chloe would not be present. Case closed, let’s move on.

2. The release schedule: Words cannot describe how frustrating the release schedule was for LiS2 when it came to it’s episodes. For those reading this who didn’t follow LiS2 until the game was finished, each episode took around 3-4 months to be released. This was because Dontnod bit off a bit more than they could chew with the road trip story in having to create new locations and character models from scratch. The reason why this wasn’t a problem for LiS1 was because Max was for the most part always in the same locations around the same characters (I’m pretty sure you roam around Chloe’s house like 4 times throughout the season), which made development a lot easier since the devs could just reuse a lot of the assets. Unfortunately, this wasn’t possible for LiS2 due to the nature of it’s story. The wait times between each episode made a lot of people leave the fandom due to loosing interest or simply forgetting about the game altogether. This also impacted youtubers/streamers as many of them either stopped coming back to play the new episodes or they’d not be as connected as they were in the previous episode due to the amount of time that had passed. One of the reasons why LiS1 gained so much popularity was because of youtubers/streamers and how they would bring in their audience and would pretty much make them fans of the series. With quite a handful of youtubers/streamers quitting LiS2, the game was not able to draw in as much of an audience as previous games did. This is how detreminetal the release schedule was for LiS2.

3. The marketing (or lack thereof): Square Enix really fucked up on this aspect. Due to the ridiculous wait times you would think Square Enix would try and advertise the game heavily when a new episode was about to be released, right? Well they didn’t. Not at all actually. Throughout the games release schedule from September 2018 up to December 2019, I had not seen a single ad for the game. Nothing on YouTube, nothing on reddit or any other websites, it was like Square Enix had completely forgotten about the game’s existence. Now don’t get me wrong, SE did do a few things with LiS2 like starting up the community series on their YouTube channel and also the dev updates that came after episode 1 (that stopped after episode 2 for some reason) but these went relatively unnoticed to people outside of the fandom and did pretty much nothing. I believe SE was trying to wait until the game was fully complete with all of it’s episodes released before actually marketing the game (and they DID start advertising the game after episode 5 came out) but that’s just WAAAY too long to go without any type of advertisement. I understand marketing teams have budgets and what not, but you’re telling me there was no way for SE to market each episode in anyway as they were about to be released? Seems a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?

4. The road trip story: I completely understand why Dontnod wanted to branch out and do something different with the story of Life is Strange 2 and I respect them for stepping out of their comfort zones. However, it can’t be denied that the road trip story where characters are cycled in and out as Sean and Daniel make their way to Mexico was a very…questionable decision. Seeing as how LiS1 was loved for it’s world filled with a reoccurring cast of characters that developed as the story went on, it’s really easy to understand why LiS2 was so off-putting for a lot of fans. It was off-putting for me, even. It just…wasn’t fun having to leave these truly interesting characters behind because the plot demanded it. This left a lot of characters feeling underdeveloped to many people and by the time you meet new characters you already know they’re most likely gonna be gone soon anyways, so it made it even harder to connect with them. Couple this with the fact that LiS2 lacked any type of mystery unlike LiS1, speculation and discussion fizzled out a few weeks after each episode was released. LiS1 kept people speculating and wondering about what would happen next, while LiS2 left a lot of people struggling to care.

5. Politics: Yeeeeaaaaah I think I had to put this somewhere on the list. While many of the people who tease and mock how LiS2 handled its political topics were most likely not fans of the series anyway (the type of people who called LiS1 “Life is Tumblr” and hate Chloe), I do think it’s important to realize that some people just don’t want politics in their games, period. I’ve seen people online come out and say that while they agreed with what the writers were saying when it came to the political topics, it overall still came off very forced and one-sided to them, lacking any type of nuance or subtlety. I could write an entire essay discussing if the politics in LiS2 were handled well and whatnot but this is not that post so I’ll just leave it at that.

6: Lack of a prominent female cast/wlw: This is a bit more tricky to talk about (for the record the person writing this is a black gay guy) but I will try and write about this the best way I can. For many women, specifically queer women, Life is Strange was a series they could expect representation from. Max, Chloe, Rachel, and Steph are all popular characters amongst the fandom and even other wlw ships such as Marshfield, Chasefield, Chaseprice, etc are popular. So when LiS2 was revealed to be about two (hispanic) males, the queer women within the community were understandably upset. It felt like DN were simply throwing away the community that for the most part made up the entire fandom. At the time I simply found the situation ridiculous and overblown as many people were dismissing Sean and Daniel as “generic straight males” (even though it turned out Sean was bisexual in the end) before really getting to know them. However, looking back I totally get why people were upset. A lot of the fanart/fanfiction that was made for the LiS series was mostly created by queer women, so when the franchise pretty much stopped giving them representation, they left in search of other media (like She-Ra, which honestly has better wlw rep anyway). LiS2 is also mostly male dominated in terms of its cast, and features no queer women as well, which is really disappointing in my opinion.

7. Price: This one is pretty simple. When Life is Strange 2 was first released the full season costed $40. This was a pretty big jump in comparison to LiS1’s $20 price tag (original price was $25 however) and BtS’s $16. Obviously people would be more skeptical about buying a sequel that is pretty much double the price of its predecessor and has completely new characters. With the pretty mixed reception from gaming communities I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people saw the price and decided to either watch a playthrough or simply not check out the game at all. With the first episode now free the base price has been lowered to around $30-32 I believe so yeah.

8. Daniel Diaz: Some people just don’t like kids, and I wouldn’t be surprised if people grew easily frustrated with Daniel early on and once he got more irrational and bratty as the story progressed they just stopped playing altogether. Even if you do like kids, or at least don’t mind them like myself, Daniel can still be quite a pain.

9. Not having control of the powers: This one is honestly really disappointing and I know it was to a lot of other people as well. In LiS1 Max had the ability to rewind time and do certain scenarios and conversations over and that basically acted as the more interesting gameplay segments. In LiS2 Sean doesn’t have the power, his brother Daniel does. This leads to the gameplay feeling much more boring and mundane. There are also no interesting puzzles this time around, most likely because Dontnod didn’t know how to implement them without the rewind power so they just…didn’t even attempt to add any. The power itself, telekinesis, is also much less interesting compared to rewinding time, according to a lot of people.

SO YEAH that’s basically it for me. I know this probably came off a bit rambly/incoherent but I tried my best to be as clear as I possibly could. I don’t doubt there are other reasons at play as to why LiS2 failed to meet LiS1’s success (such as liscensed music not being quite as good as LiS1) but I think I hit the main points I believe were key reasons. And the thing is, there isn’t just one main reason why LiS2 didn’t do as well as LiS1. It’s overall very unfortunate so many things went wrong with it that ended up making people lose interest in it. I think the lack of Max and Chloe hurt the game the most right off the bat, but the other reasons just led it to do even worse. Oh well.

I hope any of the people who read this enjoyed it (it was a BITCH to write). I’ve been wanting to get my thoughts down about this for SO long but just never had the motivation/time but I finally did it!

Again, thanks for reading! If you have any disagreements or just thoughts in general don’t be afraid to reply or dm me about it and I’ll be sure to reply! Now back to reblogging Marco posts….

[sociallyawkward--fics]

I Lost My Number, Can I Get Yours?

As usual, I have "first work in a fandom" jitters lol. Constructive criticism is fully welcome, if you think this is OOC or anything of the sort, since this is my first time writing for these characters lol. I hope you all enjoy this, and I blame everything on my friend who convinced me to watch the show (you know who you are).

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Summary: Clubs weren't Alec's scene, so he wasn't really sure how his siblings had convinced him to go out to one that night. He'd much rather be home alone, curled up with a good book, not watching his siblings compete over who could get the hottest person's number. That is, until he runs into a rather handsome stranger at the bar.

Word Count: 2148 words

[ao3 link]

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This wasn’t Alec’s scene.

The music was far too loud, the club was far too packed, and Alec wasn’t really one to drink. Even at the small standing table Alec and his siblings managed to claim, sweaty bodies pushed in against them from all sides. Alec didn’t want to be there, and he still didn’t understand how Jace and Izzy managed to drag him out. He really wished he was back home, right about then, curled up on his sofa with a good book and a beverage that was decidedly non-alcoholic.

“What about that brunette over there,” Jace said, directing Izzy’s gaze off into the crowd. “I bet I could get her number.”

Alec hated this game almost as much as he hated the clubs. Jace and Izzy pointed out attractive people, challenging themselves and each other to score their numbers before they left for the night. They tried to talk Alec into it numerous times, even just for hypotheticals, but Alec really wasn’t interested in the meaningless sex that usually came along with the game. It was fun for his siblings, and he respected that (though he could really do without them talking about it over dinner the next day), but Alec wanted something more serious, something real.

“Wait,” Izzy murmured, barely audible over the crowd, squinting in the direction Jace was pointing. “The one with the tattoos on her face?”

Jace leaned over their table with a grin. “That’s the one.”

Izzy snorted in laughter. “You took her home two weeks ago, her name was Kaelie.”

Jace’s face went slack and he whipped around to look at whatever girl it was again. “What?! No way. I swear I would remember a girl with face tattoos.”

Izzy shook her head with a grin, her eyes scanning the crowd near the bar. She hummed appreciatively as she scanned the crowd. “Lots of cute boys over there, Alec,” she goaded.

Alec rolled his eyes, sipping at the beer he hadn’t even wanted. “Not interested, Izzy.”

Jace’s eyes lit up as he found his next target. “The redhead, six o’ clock.” 

Izzy turned her head, and Alec did as well more out of habit than anything. Sure enough, there was a little redhead leaning against another standing table halfway across the room. There was some nerdy looking guy next to her talking animatedly with his hands, and Alec just barely managed to catch the tail-end of someone leaving their table in the direction of the bar.

“Ooh,” Izzy purred, a mischievous smile curling at the edges of her lips. “Her friend is kinda nerd-hot, don’t you think?”

Jace turned back toward them, a bright grin on his lips. “I bet you I can get the girl’s number before you get his.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “That’s a bet I can easily win, Jace. Are you sure you want to risk your money?”

Jace scoffed and looked toward Alec. “Who’s your money on? Come on, you gotta bet--”

“What I need,” Alec grumbled, rubbing his forehead to fight off an oncoming headache, “is another drink.”

Izzy pursed her lips. “We’ll wait to pounce until you get back. I know how funny you think it is to watch Jace crash and burn.”

Alec smirked and shook his head, shoving his way into the crowd to make his way to the bar. It took far too long and far too much shoving before he finally got there, practically tripping over his own feet and barely catching himself on the edge of the bar. He huffed out a breath to compose himself and flagged down the bartender.

“And who are you,” he heard someone mutter to themselves next to him, barely audible over the music.

Alec glanced over and he swore his brain shut down for several seconds. He was standing next to the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his life, all dark eyes and golden skin. His shirt was unbuttoned unfairly low, and Alec had to snap himself out of letting his eyes trail down the exposed skin. He was more respectful than that.

He felt less guilty about it once his brain rebooted and he realized that the man was looking him up and down just as, if not more, hungrily as Alec had almost been doing to him. The man finally met Alec’s eyes and smirked, leaning one side against the bar and tilting his head up toward Alec.

“And what’s your name then, handsome?”

Alec’s mouth went dry and he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He stammered for a moment before finally managing what was probably an awkward smile and a far-too-quiet, “Alec.”

The man’s smirk widened, and he offered up a hand. “Magnus Bane.”

Alec wiped his hand on his jeans again before reaching out to shake Magnus’s hand. He swallowed and cleared his throat. He didn’t know how to proceed from here.

“Who’d you come with tonight?” Magnus asked.

“Uh, my--my siblings,” Alec said. “And yourself?”

Magnus shifted closer and Alec did his best to stand his ground instead of shying away. “Family friends.”

Alec nodded, giving into his nervous habits and rubbing his thumb into his opposite palm. He knew Jace and Izzy were probably wondering what was taking him so long, Jace would probably get bored and go after that redhead without Alec there to watch and laugh, but he couldn’t bring himself to step away from Magnus. He couldn’t even take his eyes off him.

Magnus glanced down before looking back up at Alec through his eyelashes. “So,” he all but purred, and Alec’s breath caught in his throat. “It seems like I’ve lost my number. Do you think I could get yours?”

Alec blinked, the words registering in his mind, and just like that, the tension was finally broken. Alec snorted out a laugh, bending over slightly and clapping a hand over his mouth, his free arm wrapping around his stomach. Alec wasn’t normally one to giggle, but at the moment it seemed like he couldn’t stop. When he managed to look back up at Magnus through teary eyes, he was grinning victoriously and Alec’s heart jumped traitorously in his chest.

“You know,” Alec managed to say eventually, his nerves far more settled, “I think I’ve heard my brother use that line at least ten times, and I’ve never seen it go this well before.”

Magnus raised an eyebrow and stepped directly into Alec’s space, so they were practically chest-to-chest. “It’s going well, then?”

Alec bit his lip to try and keep himself from grinning any wider. “I’d say you’re already doing pretty well for yourself.”

“Is that so?”

Alec hummed, feeling far braver than usual and bringing his hand up to hover just above Magnus’s waist. Magnus raised his other eyebrow and leaned his body into Alec’s hand without even looking down.

“Before I do get that number, however,” Magnus said, trailing off slightly and looking nervous for the first time since Alec had spotted him, fidgeting with the multitude of rings on his fingers, “you should know, I don’t do one-night stands.”

Alec released a tension in his shoulders that he hadn’t even realized he was holding. His smile came much easier and he didn’t even hesitate before reaching into his pocket and offering Magnus his unlocked phone.

“Neither do I.”

Magnus laughed lightly and took the phone from Alec’s hands. Alec leaned forward and watched upside-down as Magnus put in his contact information (and Alec had to smother another laugh when Magnus put a ridiculous series of hearts in his contact name) and then texted himself from Alec’s phone.

“So, is ‘Alec’ short for something?” Magnus asked as he handed Alec back his phone and pulled out his own.

Alec shrugged. “Alexander, but no one calls me that.”

Magnus let out a teasing hum and Alec narrowed his eyes, leaning forward to read upside down once again and snorting when he saw that Magnus had set it as his contact name (along with another absurd series of emojis).

“Hopefully I haven’t pulled you away from your family for too long,” Magnus said after his phone was slipped away once again.

Alec shook his head and looked away, scanning the club for Izzy and Jace. “No, I--” 

His brow furrowed when he saw their previous table was empty. His eyes darted around for a moment before shooting over to where he remembered the redhead and her nerdy friend standing. Sure enough, there Jace and Isabelle were. Alec snorted.

“Seems like my brother finally went after that redhead he was eyeing.”

Magnus’s eyes lit up. “Redhead, you say?” He glanced back at the table Alec had been looking at. “It looks like we don’t have to part so soon, my dear Alexander. That just so happens to be my party.”

Alec smiled. “Before we head back, I should warn you…”

Magnus raised his eyebrows again and leaned back into Alec’s space. Alec chuckled nervously.

“Jace and Izzy play this game, who can get the number of the hottest person in the club or something like that. Before I left, they were better on who would get one of your friends’ numbers first.”

Magnus snorted a laugh. “Well, I wish much luck to whoever tries to go after Clary.” Then he got a sly look on his face. “And? Who’s winning?”

Alec cocked a playful eyebrow. “The bet, or the game?”

“Either.”

Alec grinned and pulled Magnus in even closer by his hips. “Tonight? Pretty certain it’s me.”

Magnus hummed and gave him a once-over. “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I’m in the running for first place, too.”

Alec hoped the odd lighting of the club helped to hide his blush, but based off Magnus’s triumphant smile, it didn’t do much. They didn’t linger by the bar much longer, grabbing themselves some drinks and fighting their way through the crowd back to Magnus’s table. Izzy smiled wide when she saw him.

“Alec! We were starting to worry that you got lost!”

And then her eyes drifted over to Magnus, and the fact that there was very little space between the two of them, and they widened. Alec glared at her, but Izzy just smirked. Thankfully, she didn’t say anything right away, turning back to the nerdy boy, who looked incredibly flustered to be in her presence and seemed to be very carefully keeping his gaze solely on her face.

Jace, on the other hand, hadn’t even noticed their approach. He was too busy striking out with the redhead, who didn’t seem to be taking any of his shit. Good, Jace needed someone to knock some sense into him every once in a while, and it couldn’t always be him or Izzy.

“Clary, Simon,” Magnus announced his presence, sweeping into the circle around the table with a grand gesture. “This is Alexander.”

Izzy and Jace both turned to him with raised eyebrows, but Alec just rolled his eyes. He joined the table with a lot less flourish and gave an awkward wave to Magnus’s companions. Clary gave him a smile, while Simon still looked panicked to have Izzy standing so close.

“Don’t mind my siblings,” Alec said to them, gesturing to Izzy and Jace. “They’re idiots.”

Izzy and Jace made affronted noises, and Alec hid his grin against the lip of his drink. Magnus, however, was a lot less subtle, throwing back his head in laughter. Alec couldn’t help but stare at the long expanse of his neck, the necklaces that trailed down from it, bouncing against his collarbone and dancing down the exposed skin of his chest…

Alec shook himself and cleared his throat, managing to drag his eyes away from Magnus. Jace and Izzy were shooting him knowing looks, but Alec quickly looked away to try and deter their teasing, at least a little while longer, hopefully when they were no longer in Magnus’s earshot.

Instead, Alec tossed his arm over Magnus’s shoulders as casually as he could, burying a smile when Magnus immediately leaned into his side and rested his head on Alec’s shoulder. Then, when he looked down at Magnus, Magnus wiggled his eyebrows and nodded very deliberately in Jace’s direction. Alec grinned.

He leaned forward, careful not to jostle Magnus too much, and pulled out his phone, waving it tauntingly in front of Izzy and Jace.

“By the way? I won.”

Jace’s jaw dropped and Izzy clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes torn between pride and mirth. He knew he was going to get even more teasing for it later, but that didn’t matter, not when Magnus was tossing his head back into another one of those full-bodied laughs and gripping Alec’s bicep to help keep his balance.

So long as Alec got to hear that laugh for a long time coming, he would put up with all the teasing in the world.

[lightns881]

DTeam Tumblr Demographics Survey Results (Part 2):

What does DTeamblr look like, what does it have to do with MCYT history, and why does it look like a rainbow?

I’ll make an educated guess here and say y'all enjoyed my last post (totally unrelated to the way I gained almost 50 followers overnight). Anyhow, thank you so much for the overwhelming support! I’m so glad a lot of you felt you could relate to my deep-dive into the leading personality type on DTeam Tumblr. It took me so many hours to write and research, and as a math major and honors student, it’s no easy feat, so I’m so grateful for the attention it got!

Today we’re discussing the general demographics of DTeam Tumblr and why they might look the way they do. Number 8 will blow your mind! So make sure to keep reading and hit that little grey heart and arrow at the bottom if you like it, so more people get to see it! Thanks for your support! Now, let’s jump straight into the post!

Your Daily Dose of Data

From the 449 responses we received, these are some pie charts displaying the gender, age, and sexuality of all respondents.

Image Description: Female (52.8%), Non-Binary (37.4%), Male (9.8%)

Image Description: 16-17 (37%), 13-15 (31.4%), 18 and over (29.4%), 12 and under (2.2%)

Image Description: Bisexual/Pansexual (54.1%), Homosexual (16%), Asexual (14.7%), Other (7.8%), Heterosexual (7.3%)

Mmhm, delicious! Y'all ready to dig into these stats? Because I don’t know about you, but they certainly don’t strike me as what the general population looks like!

Welcome to Tumblr, the Only Community Where Straight Men are the Minority

So these statistics certainly didn’t take me by surprise. Mostly because the DNF Shipper Survey I took some time ago revealed a similar trend. Not to mention, Tumblr is probably the QUEEREST internet community on the planet. 

Funny enough, the survey revealed a shocking number of ZERO heterosexual males respondents. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back. ZERO straight males were recorded out of 449 respondents for this survey!

Now, this isn’t surprising for the Tumblr community by itself, but I can say I’m somewhat surprised in terms of the MCYT Tumblr community. (Obviously, the survey specified DTeam Tumblr, but there is a big overlap between both communities, so I will be using them interchengably when it seems relevant.)

Let’s break this down. The survey reveals the largest age population is 16-17, though it’s not by a great margin in comparison to 13-15 and 18 and older, which doesn’t surprise me either. Some of the major critics of the DTeam Fandom and other MCYT Fandoms love to claim the fanbase’s majority age range lies with children and pre-teens. While it’s an undeniable fact children are drawn to Minecraft, it’s also a misconception to paint it as solely a community for younger viewers.

In the MCYT Tumblr and DTeam Tumblr communities, specifically, we see this is not the case. Only 1/3 of the respondents of this survey are under the age of 16 (you could attribute part of it to the fact younger people might be less inclined to participate in this survey, but it is still a notable difference). I can’t say these age ranges are similar in other parts of the community like DTeam Twitter, Tik Tok, or Reddit, but if I had to make a guess, I’d say Tumblr lies toward the older of the bunch, with Reddit being the oldest and Tik Tok being the youngest (I do hope to perform this survey on some of the other communities, so please stay until the end if you want to help with that).

One of the likely explanations to why the ages for DTeam Tumblr look this way is the fact a big chunk of the community has likely been watching MCYT for a long time (even with breaks in between). I, myself, used to watch channels like PopularMMOs, Aphmau, and PrestonPlayz as a kid, and I presume many of you are familiar with them as well. With the resurgence of MCYT in the past year, it likely drew a lot of the older viewers in addition to the new ones.

But enough about age. What I really want to highlight on this post is the attraction of queer individuals to DTeam Tumblr and MCYT as a whole.

Why is the current MCYT Fandom so queer in comparison to the previous generations?

This is a huge open-ended question and considering I can only capture so much of the DTeam and MCYT community, the rest of this post should be taken solely as a theoretical analysis as opposed to fact.

With that out of the way, let’s start by discussing the shift MCYT has undergone over the years (I promise this will circle back to the question of queerness in the MCYT fandom, but we need some background before we can come up with a decent theory).

When Minecraft was first released, it proved to be a monumental change in the gaming industry. This simple little indie game took the world by storm. It was so vastly different from what the general population generally viewed gaming as (first-person shooters, story-driven games, action games, etc.) Not to mention, it didn’t exactly solely appeal to only a small margin of gamers, those being white cis males.

The gaming industry has notoriously been known in the past for its heteronormative community and general prejudice toward minorities. Though it has gone through a significant change over the decades, we certainly can’t say it’s fully gone.

Yet for whatever reason, the recent MCYT has taken the interest of so many queer people in comparison to other gaming YouTube communities. Why? Why are queer people so drawn to this community? And, more precisely, why does it feel so different than the old MCYT? Lastly, how does this relate to the conclusion about the leading personalities of this fandom we made in the last post?

The Niche Communities of MCYT Over the Years

MCYT has always been a huge, over-saturated genre of YouTube with content appealing to a variety of audiences. It’s dominated gaming content for years, and I think we can all safely say it’s never been bigger than it is today.

So why is it that just now it feels like the queerness of the fandom is popping off? Why now as opposed to say five years ago when MCYT was at another one of it’s strongest stages?

It seems like the community has made a tremendous shift in relation to breaking gender norms and LGBTQ+ subjects, not only in the fans but within the creators themselves. Was flirting and calling a pretty-boy streamer pet names as normal in the past as it is today? Were straight gamer guys putting on dresses and a full-face of make-up as supported back then? Were “marriages” and “pregnancies” within Minecraft boys an everyday occurrence like they are now? How is it that MCYT has dominated a Twitch dating show where flirting with the gay host and among straight contestants themselves is just another bit of entertainment? Where is this all coming from?

Recently, I watched a 2 hour documentary depicting all of the stages of Minecraft YouTube and how it has changed over the years. If you haven’t seen it and you have some time to spare, I HIGHLY recommend it! It’s very informative, and it honestly gave me such a strong sense of nostalgia that makes me choke up every time I think about it. I’ll link it below.

The documentary does a great job at exploring the different niche communities that dominated MCYT since it first took off. Some of such communities include the basic Let’s Players, the team-based Let’s Play channels like How2Minecraft, the roleplay story-centric ones like Aphmau and Samgladiator, the tutorial, building and technical side like Mumbo and Grian, the PVP-centric Bedwars or Hypixel channels, the Machinima community, the comedy side like ExplosiveTNT, the parody music videos, and so many more. All of the mentioned communities have dominated Minecraft at one point or another, many of them still having a rippling effect and/or a loyal community today. All of these communities have certain aspects that define them, some of which parallel the current overtaking content in the present.

How can we compare MyStreet to the Dream SMP?

Taking Aphmau as an example, her MyStreet series had a TREMENDOUS success a few years ago, racking in millions of views and bringing in a lot of money that eventually allowed her to hire voice actors and increase the production of mentioned episodes. The roleplay series was so successful it ran for six seasons!

Now, let’s compare that to the Dream SMP. It seems like a big comparison to be making considering they appear so different at first glance. For once, Aphmau is just one channel whose audience caters toward girls and younger people who enjoy romance. The series is set-up in an episodic-format that resembles more of a TV series than actual Minecraft videos.

Meanwhile, the Dream SMP is a collection of content creators with a mix of improvised storylines and the occasional regular video that resembles more of a Let’s Play series than a RP series.

You could say the only true comparisons to draw out of these two are the popularity they had/have and the profit they brought to their respective creators. 

However, there’s two other key similarities that you’ll find not only within these two specific examples, but many other channels and communities as well. Story and characters.

MyStreet’s story aspect is fairly obvious seeing as it’s a episodic series that focuses on a fictional story. The Dream SMP’s story aspect isn’t as clear, but it’s evident there is a story playing out in the foreground and background, whether intentional or unintentional, or improvised or not.

Character is where some of you might start to question me. It’s obvious MyStreet has characters. I mean, it is a fictional story, after all. But the Dream SMP? Light, they’re obviously people!

Well, my answer to that is yes and no--sort of. The Dream SMP’s story heavily relies on roleplay, bits as you might call them. Events that aren’t necessarily planned out as a fictional plot like the typical MyStreet episode is, but they aren’t exactly real. Schlatt is obviously not a villain in real life, he just likes to impersonate as one for the narrative. Wilbur isn’t crazy, but it’s a way to spice up the heroic story surrounding Tommy and him.

It’s video-game improv. Except the actors behind the content just so happen to be real people playing off the personalities and “brands” they have obtained. 

Brands. It all boils down to this. In the entertainment business, without a clear vision of your project and a clear way to brand what your consumer intakes, your project will likely not find a lot of success.

There’s a reason why Tommy plays off his loudness, using an overexaggerated laugh that although may not be completely fake, it is likely not the laugh he uses everyday. Or why BadBoyHalo is this supposed innocent muffin who doesn’t understand the crafting table meme and other references that are fairly easy to google and find the meaning of. Or why Sapnap is this chaotic being who loves starting pet wars and we love to paint as an arsonist in the Dream SMP. While all of these personality traits may be a part of their true selves, they’re played up for the camera--for the story. They act as the personas that define their characters in the narrative.

They have a clear brand and vision that appeals to the audience and makes them tune in on the daily to see how they all come together. It’s like roleplaying a more extreme version of yourself, one that brings home the money.

Story and characters run across every entertainment outlet. They define their brand. Aphmau has her characters and series. Hermitcraft has a set of memorable personalities and episodic videos that formulate its own story that is less like a narrative and more of a history of the server. ExplodingTNT has his recurring cast and comedic sketches. Most of these niche communities have a form of story and character defining them. It’s how they achieve a clear sense of branding and cater to a specific audience.

Queer Theory in MCYT

Having said all that, why does the MCYT of today draw in so many queer viewers?

Let’s think about this. In my last post, I ended by mentioning DTeam Tumblr is a sort of safe haven for INFP and INxx types who might be placed in the “other” category by society. INFPs, specially, are predisposed for escapism--one common form of it being fiction and entertainment. Not to mention, INFPs are feeling types who, as introverts, seek a personable connection. It’s why it’s so easy for them to obsess over book characters or fall in love with content creators.

Now, let’s imagine a whole community of LGBTQ+ INFP and INxx types. Actually, scratch that, we don’t even have to imagine it.

It’s what our community looks like today.

And why are so many so drawn to the DTeam and Dream SMP of all things? It’s a personable storyline that essentially forms a direct tie to the viewer. Unlike pre-recorded fictional TV series you tune into on your device, the Dream SMP is a whole load of chaos that blurs the lines between reality and fiction where fans can directly connect to creators and get to know them as people through a storyline that features sub-textual queer themes and non-conforming behaviors.

The MCYT content creator community of today is more non-conforming than ever before, and knowing this whole fact, knowing that many of them might place themselves in the “other” category or at the very least aren’t afraid to break the norms and be seen in that light, is a comfort in itself for LGBTQ+ INFP types. Once again, it’s a safe space that helps you escape from the troubles of real life, one you relate to.

Okay. So although this does answer why the fans look like they do, what about the creators themselves? Are we really supposed to believe this all came through naturally? That a bunch of straight guys suddenly decided wearing dresses was something they wanted to do?

I don’t mean to sound cynical here, and I’m in no way trying to insinuate creators have solely some sort of corrupt ulterior motive. Things are never as simple as they look. However, the truth is, a part of it lies on the attention it’s gotten.

I’ve talked a lot about DreamNotFound and the way Dream uses it as a marketing ploy. I stand by my point. However, he’s not the only one who does this in the MCYT community. Why did Finn suddenly go from wearing a dress to cross-dressing as a girl for a whole week? Why are so many creators suddenly deciding wearing dresses is fun? Why does every freaking straight MCYT actively want to flirt with George nowadays?

Let’s just let Techno’s favorite word answer this for us: clout.

It gets attention from one of the largest historically underserved minority community in the entertainment business. We might not be able to see gay flirting in every Netflix TV show or guys not minding dresses and getting fake marriages, but you are certainly going to get at least one of those in every Dream SMP stream and video you tune into. It gets attention. It brings home the money. And do I blame them? Not really.

Interestingly enough, there’s a lot of analytical posts on the MCYT Tumblr community that discuss the dangers of these tactics and why gay jokes and the way queer subtext is treated by MCYT creators is harmful. Despite this, it still attracts such a huge community of queers. So why exactly would queer people actively watch something that’s offensive or harmful to us?

I have a lot more to say about this topic and the morality behind Dream’s tactics, but I’m out of breath for today, so I’ll talk about it in my next post. What better way to start the conversation about the DNF and Karlnap questions of the survey than a good ol’ discussion on the morality of queerbaiting and the likes?

If you got this far, I’d appreciate it if you liked and reblogged this post if you enjoyed it and/or learned something new! Also, important news, I would really like to perform a similar study on the DTeam Twitter Community to measure the differences in demographics across platforms. I would REALLY appreciate it if you guys could go like, retweet and share the link I posted on my Twitter about it (tweet will be linked in the reblog below) so it reaches more of the DTeam Twitter community!

However, if you filled out the survey yourself here or you associate more with DTeam Tumblr than DTeam Twitter please DO NOT fill out the survey again! I’m trying to make sure it reaches the audience that mains on Twitter, but I need a little help with that since I don’t have as big of an influence on Twitter than on here for obvious reasons.

Anyhow, thank you so much for all your support! I really appreciate y’all and make sure to hit the follow if you want to lookout for the next demographics post! <3

(Pssst, I’m releasing a MCYT DNF superpower AU longfic next month... You should totally go check out the post on that if you’re interested in it...)