#i saw so many videos in my recommended around when that came out trying to like Solve The Story

[reyggtv]

There's only so much I can say on Twitter to truly express my feelings about the show Hilda, and how much of an impact it has left on me to make me the kind of person I am today, so I'm taking to Tumblr to write all about it.

If you don't know who I am already, hi, I am ReyGGTV, though you can just call me Rey. I like to make YouTube videos, memes, talk with other Hilda fans, and make occasionally make art. You may already know me from the Hilda Crack videos I made since several years ago, as well as some more recent big videos of mine like my comparison video between Aster and Hilda. I am 20 years old, and have been a diehard fan of the franchise ever since I was just 14.

Firstly, let's discuss how I actually managed to discover Hilda in the first place. It was 2018, freshman year of high school had just started, during this time, I was still big fan of another animated TV show at the time called Star vs. The Forces of Evil. I was a fan of that show ever since its premiere in January of 2015 when I was only 11 years old. Honestly even if I don't look at it nearly as fondly as I do now, to its credit, the show did most certainly help me get interested into animation as a whole more than any other show I saw at the time.

Not even like 2 months after I got in though, I was kicked out. Not because I did anything wrong, but because for a while, my parents had me enrolled in a school district that I didn't even live anywhere near in at the time, so once they found out that I actually lived much farther from them, that's when they decided to let me go. This was devastating to me, all the friends I made in middle school, were suddenly going to go away, and it was only at the very last minute, at the principal's office that I received this news. I was upset, literally everything was going great and they just wanted to throw everything away for me, in favor for me going to a school that was so bad, it caused my family to move to an entirely new city with a better school by the time Sophomore year came around.

But anyways, about 2 weeks before all this happened, I was in a cartoon Discord server, where someone recommended me to watch this show called... you guessed it, Hilda. I took a lot at the promotional material for a while, and put it at the back of my head, not knowing that I would soon revisit it not long later. Fast forward to when I was out of school, I had like 2 weeks in the beginning of October to just cope with everything. It wasn't long that I just became bored, and wanted to do something better, so I pulled up Netflix wanting to find something new to watch. The suggestion from someone about Hilda just so happened to come up on my mind, so I was like "Eh, sure, why not?". I put it on, and the rest was history. I knew from the very moment I finished watching the intro for the very first time, that this was about to be the show of a lifetime for me.

Despite that however, I did not anticipate just how much impact Hilda would leave on the work that I am now doing nearly 6 years after that very faithful day.

I guess the biggest reason why the show left such a massive impact on me right from the beginning is because of its main title character, Hilda. Look, I may be no blue-haired adventurer from the wilderness that likes to munch on cucumber sandwiches all the time, but Hilda at the time for me, was the most relatable character and the character I found the most comfort in when watching it for the first time. Just like me, Hilda too, was also forced to move away from the place and friends she was always happy to be with, despite all her efforts, all it took was one giant, to come and crush it all, leaving her forced to live a new life in a new environment she was not familiar with at all. But, she moved on. She knew that while this was not the ideal way for things go out, life always comes with surprises. But maybe, just maybe, this could be something that could work out in her favor. This whole becoming friends with other humans and living in the big dirty ol' city, could be the best decision she has ever made. And I think it goes without saying that as the series continued, it was.

This was a message that I desperately needed to hear as I was going through overwhelming times at such a young age, and one that I was so happy to hear and watch once I finally finished the first two episodes of this amazing damn show. It showed me that if an 11-year-old girl from the wilderness can be brave enough to move into the big city, be okay and make the best out of it, maybe I too, will be okay with belonging to a new school, finding new friends, and creating new passions for me to follow for years to come. Hilda inspired me to look towards a bigger and brighter future, rather than doubt the bad that comes with the present. For that, I am forever grateful for the creative and writing team of this show, for helping me go through such a difficult time in my life, and convincing me that even despite all that has happened, there will always be something better to look forward to.

I would be lying if I said that this was the only reason as to why I ended up becoming such a huge fan of the show for the next 5 years. Asides from the writing being so good it literally cured my depression. The animation, worldbuilding, and characters were just unlike anything I have ever seen with my own two eyes. It was simple, yet jaw dropping at the same time. Just a silly kid either helping a Raven jog back his memory, try and fight nightmare spirits or ghosts, or help Jellybean out of a scary situation in which everyone wrongfully accuses him of being a big scary black hound. Even if certain episodes of season 1 didn't always turn out perfect, I would always rewatch every single one of them all day for several hours and for several weeks. I had even skipped multiple days of school especially when it was raining, just so I can head to the living room, cuddle up in some warm blankets, with the heater on during the winter season, and just binge the crap out of it for multiple hours a day. This was just the show that I can always count on to bring back the happiness inside of me. Even when I wasn't necessarily having a bad day, I would still continue to watch it for hours because it just kept on getting better and better with every watch I could get possible, it was almost like an addiction almost, haha.

Hilda was the show for me, and I had no intention of trying to watch anything else.

It was also around this time that I started to also get myself more involved with the show's fandom as well, back when it was a lot more populated and not as niche as it is now. While I'm not gonna say that my reputation in it has always been 100% perfect, at the end of the day, I'm just forever grateful I was able to meet some of the most wonderful people and hundreds of fans like myself because of it like @hkthatgffan, @helgafolk618, and many more I can't list here 'cause most of them are not on Tumblr. So much so that I now have the pleasure of creating hundreds, if not thousands of people who are fans/supporters of ME all across all my social media pages. All because I like to talk about Hilda, literally all the time. And to those reading this who has ever left a nice comment on one of my posts, said hi to me on my Discord server, worked with me on a commission, even went as far as to make fan-art of me or just tuned into any of my content whatsoever, thank you. Your support has left a massive impact on me and what I'm continuing to do now. Because at the end of the day, it's not about any popularity points you get from just talking about a TV show consistently for 6 years, for me at least, it has always been about making thousands, sometimes, even millions, happy with my love for it that is the reason that I'm doing any of this in the first place. I love Hilda, always have, and I want to make people happy the same way Hilda did for me, all those years ago.

Surprisingly enough, even though I was already as big of a fan as I could possibly be by the time November of 2018 rolled around, I still wasn't really a guy interested in getting my hands on Hilda merchandise. I knew that the graphic novels by Luke existed, but the only thing I even managed to get for myself at the time was this old T-shirt I bought from the now defunct official Zazzle store they had up for like a few months lol

I guess that all changed when I got my first ever Hilda plush though when I was 15. While it has now certainly showed its age after nearly 5 years, I loved this thing so much lol. It wasn't official because official Hilda plushies didn't exist at the time. I bought it off an Etsy store from AngelinaLily, and I would literally take this thing out with me everyday to everywhere I went to and take photos of it, especially in the wilderness. It was my favorite pastime. My little Hilda, in the palm of my hand 😆. Hey, when you have to wait more than 2 whole years for a brand-new season, what else are you gonna do to entertain yourself during the hiatus?

I had gotten this in the mail right when I had just exited out the mental hospital because I was actively wanting to h*rt myself and potentially putting myself in danger of committing s*icide. Because while Hilda did definitely help me cope with a lot that I was going through at the time, there was still a lot of overwhelming issues I was experiencing, and my mental health was the lowest that it had ever been. This plush effectively, was a way to help me cope with those thoughts I had, which turned out to be a great thing because I literally couldn't be happier with it.

After that, I just decided that "You know what? What if I just got... ALL of the Hilda merchandise?" Thus... that now leading to my massive hoard of Hilda stuff, that I now have everywhere in my room lol

These photos aren't even all the ones I have!

At 16, I decided to write Luke Pearson an e-mail, thanking him for his work and how much it has inspired me to become the person I am now, explaining everything that I just mentioned in this Tumblr post, and at the end of the day, just wanting him to know, that his creations mean a grave big deal to me, and that I will always appreciate just how much of a positive impact it has left me. I didn't really expect anything to come out of it, but about several weeks later, he said this to me lol

"I just wanted to say thank you for writing and relaying your experience to me. I'm sorry to hear that you've been through such difficult times, but I'm glad that you're able to look back on those times and find yourself in a better place. And if Hilda has played any small part in that, which it seems like it has, then I'm extremely pleased about that and it warms me to hear it. It can be hard to know exactly what good a cartoon can actually do for the world (beyond being a few hours of amusement) which is strange when so many people devote so much of their time and creative energy into making it happen. But hearing something like this goes a long way to making it feel like something genuinely worthwhile. I hope things continue to look up for you and hope you're taking care in these trying times." - All the best, Luke

When I tell you I cried like a baby when I first received this e-mail from him, I really did, lol. Hearing this, from the man who made it all possible, was truly the most inspirational thing I could have ever heard. And I was happy, that he was happy, that I was truly able to tell him for the first time, just how much his creation has meant to not just me, but to soooo many fans just like myself. It was truly something to never forget.

Now I'm 20 years old, still talking about the same ol' dang kids show I fell in love with all those years ago. What's happening now? Well now, I am an aspiring film director and video editor who has been taking film classes in community college for the past like 2 years now, I should've graduated already by now but turns out, college is pretty fricking expensive, and I don't even know if I have the funds to try and even graduate by next year. Asides from that though, I am actually in the works of creating my first ever feature-length Hilda fan-film called The Ultimate Hilda Iceberg. It will basically be one of those iceberg explanation videos you see on YouTube, but with the original source of the iceberg being about Hilda, specifically a version someone made on the r/HildaTheSeries subreddit. I've had the idea for this Iceberg video/fan-film as far back as January 2021, with the current script having started work as far back as nearly 9 months ago. And it's still not even finished! Me, as well as tens of dozens of other Hilda fans like myself, are actively working on it to have it be ready by the time fall of this year comes around, right now as we speak! If you want to support and/or follow this massive project as more updates come around you can either follow the official accounts on Twitter/X (@/HildaIceberg) or on Instagram (@/theultimatehildaiceberg).

Asides from that, the biggest passion project I have for my career moving forward, is directing my own big-budget Hilda movie. Specifically, a live-action Hilda movie. Now now, BEFORE you try and cancel me and tell me that this is the stupidest idea of all time and could taint Hilda's image forever. Let me cook. I am a huge movie bluff, I know which live action remakes are genuinely amazing, and which ones just really suck. My vision for a live-action Hilda movie is to make it sorta like how Who Framed Roger Rabbit was. All of the human characters and outside settings are done with real people and practical assets, whilst creatures like Trolls, Elves, or stuff that would normally be done with CGI, be actually turned into 2D-animation, ideally in the same style as that of the Netflix show. Ideally, I also want it to remain as faithful to at least how the show was as possible in terms of story. Look, if there's gonna be anyone else who knows their Hilda best asides from people like Luke or Andy Coyle, it's gonna be me, just sayin.

In conclusion, I just want to wrap this up by giving a huge shout out to people like @littledigits and literally ANYONE who has ever done any time making this fantastic and wonderful show (I couldn't think of anyone else to tag so I only tagged you Meg so sorry if that bothers you 😅). As this post has indicated several times, this show, has really made the best kind of impact in my life and I'm forever grateful to the creator Luke, the directors Andy Coyle, Megan, etc, the voice actors, artists, editors, composers, everyone who has ever had a part in making this amazing show just, please let me hug you. While I may not have been as enthusiastic with the show's third season overall as I wanted to in my opinion, Hilda will always have a soft spot in my heart, for years and years to come, for just how much it truly inspired me, to not just not only being able to have the luxury to do the things I love to do now, but do so in a way that has made, and hopefully will continue to make thousands, hundreds of thousands if not millions of people happy, because of the love that I will continue to have for this very show. Just because a show is small, doesn't mean it can't leave big enough impacts on people for the better ❤️

[roo-bastmoon]

Quickie (but important) thingies

I've got like 15 minutes in between CT scans so of course I'm on my phone checking on Jikook because the crazy obsession is baked into my DNA by now. Y'all caught me.

Good news: Jimin is linked back up on Spotify. Well done, ARMY, for raising the red flag high and helping get this fixed today!! Let's always have Jimin's and BTS' backs!

Interesting news: It seems that folks Shazamed JK's behind the scenes video and the song that came up is called H-Thirteen (I can't check because the hospital won't let me access YouTube links). Can anyone confirm?

Request: I'm totally not trying to gaslight, minimize, or police anyone's fandom experience. But it feels like folks are on a hair's trigger out here these days. I get it, especially when it comes to Jimin. He has suffered so many insults over the years.

But before we assume Jungkook is a thief or plagiarist, before we assume his music video will be raunchy, before we assume the worst of any member, could we just hold out a bit for more information? It is possible all these concept choices for Seven are an homage to Jimin and Face. (I'm going to especially think this is so, if the song in the background is number-coded to Jimin and Jikook.)

It seems to me that Jimin has always been Jungkook's inspiration--perhaps even his muse.

And I'm not saying we have to blindly trust or believe the best in everyone. (I mean, I do, but that's me.)

Honestly? I have no great love of Hybe at the moment. I have too many suspicions around all the things that happened after Jimin's Hot 100 #1. But the people who work there are just people; I'm sure most are good and some are jerks, just like anywhere.

The members are also human beings. And human beings are always works in progress.

So I just would like to ask that if something a tannie is doing seems alarming, we say "Hm, that seems alarming!" rather than scream with our whole chests that a member is actively trying to hurt or sabotage another member. Especially when we've had years and years of evidence that BTS really love and trust each other.

Look, every member has flaws; they will make mistakes--sometimes big ones, as they grow. And we have a right to criticize behaviors we don't like. But I guess because of my past family life, I am personally triggered whenever someone automatically assumes mal-intent without asking any questions or waiting for more info to come to light.

Not saying we have to love everyone, or we can't call a spade a spade. I guess I'm just recommending we give a little grace until we get the whole story. I see folks on the timeline who just love Jimin so much, who fear the worst because of the lack of transparency or explanations. My heart beats with you, but I encourage you to hold on a bit longer. Let's see what Jimin has to say about all this.

It's entirely possible that Jungkook saw the way Jimin's hard work and sexy style was amazing but unappreciated by the company and he decided to pay respect to that with his single because he knows he's got the social capital to insist on it.

It's possible that stylists and marketing teams think these looks are the hot, sexy, edgy trends for this year and went with it.

I suppose it's also technically possible that Jungkook decided to "rip off" Jimin's style... and go all-in on payola for radio (which isn't confirmed yet)... and also lean heavily into a straight-acting macho-man raunchy music video (again, not out yet) -- but until we are very sure of any of that, may I ask that we speculate instead of accuse?

If it turns out anyone did Jimin dirty, I promise you I will grab my torch and pitchfork and be second in line (behind Hobi) to rage. But for our own health as a community, and as individuals combatting our own stressors, could we... could we just hang in there and give ourselves some time to do our due diligence before we assume evil or selfish intentions? That's my request.

(Caveat: of course--your blogs, your rules. You get to say anything you want in your space and I will never police you. If I'm really worried about something you're saying or doing, I'll just ask you about it directly. But I won't shade you, I promise. I'm just gently asking us to withhold judgement until we figure out what actually is going on. I hope that sounds reasonable and not condescending. I truly do value different perspectives and would absolutely love to count every person in the Jikook tag as a friend, even if we wildly disagree on things. So please don't read this post as me trying to be harsh or holier than thou. I'm simply trying to say: let's judge based on what is, not on what appears to be true.)

Ah, time to put more dye in my veins. Got to go. Love to you all!

P.S. Jimin smiling so happily while killing it in TikTok challenges is panacea.

[panelshowsource]

i agree that the podcast really is so interesting — and imo it's a lot of plain gossip and tv criticism masked as "professional insight", which i live for lmao — but there are times she is really too much... she often mocks or eye-rolls things in a way that, again, doesn't feel constructive and comes off as very rude. mean girl energy. it also bothers me how she will talk at richard instead of engaging in a back and forth, and sometimes that turns into an episode in which she speaks 80% of the time. then again, as content cycles throughout the year, sometimes what's on/hot atm is just more in her wheelhouse than his, so we just have to wait for new taskmaster, new bbc comedies, new doctor who, whatever interests him, and then hopefully he'll have even more opportunities to shine... i do cherish when he gets a chance to speak lmao

but fr take a shot every time she says "a friend of mine who works at _______ told me blah blah"

i'll work on tracking that down!! it would be fun to watch more of them 😋

aren't they too much? i was just thinking how amazing would it be if they were a pair on pointless celebs ...........

you know how once you notice an actor then suddenly you start to see them everywhere? (especially on uk tv which is not as big a pool as you'd think it would be...) that was me and charlotte ritchie! it was like wow this girl is everywhere!

anyways, i'm not sure what her aims are atm... she's done quite a bit of comedy but am i the only one who thinks she would body a crime series? or something like broadchurch?

glad you got a chance to catch my response and watch some fun things! i was thinking a little more about what else to recommend, and i think if you enjoy the quirky nature of repertoire then you should check out huge davies, and if you enjoy the storytelling format like greg davies typically does then you should try out dara ó briain and russell howard (maybe the 2021 lubricant special to start) :) enjoy!!

hahaha this is funny... it's a good question 😅 there are a few reasons... he's good bantz! he doesn't take himself too seriously, laughs at himself, can be teased, isn't mean spirited. people really appreciate that. plus, he represents a lot of people who aren't otherwise on tv — not primetime bbc, at least. there starts to be an issue when he just...doesn't try, doesn't contribute. he's fallen asleep on like three different shows? didn't he just...not show up to the second-half of his bakeoff special? often he's got nothing to say? mo really carried the convos on his talk show, his teammates carried him on bfq, and so on. he just doesn't seem to have the interest or perhaps the stamina (orrr perhaps the respect) for long records 😅

anyways, he was being pushed for a little while, but that appears to have stopped. he's hasn't been around too much lately 🤔 (tho ngl idk what he's up to!)

yesss this is a great video and i'll link it here in case anyone wants to check it out! it reminded me that i really need to seek out his celeb hunted episodes hahaha

when the news came out he would be playing an 'egon spengler type' i was like yep lmao

he and ed mention quite often how many auditions they go to, especially james, for big movies like wonka and ghostbusters — no surprise to me imo! especially since it seems he's focused on films over tv 🤔

can't say i saw ghostbusters tho i'm sorry 😭

WELLLL now that it's out how have you been enjoying it? 😊🥰 where is your review, anon !!

susie dent gifs are high on my list, working on those for this week for sure!!! it's just...how to choose...she's just too pretty....

but i love ALL of your suggestions, duly noted 😍

—

PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS / NON-PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS FAQ / TAGS / ASK

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I listened to a few episodes of the Trusty Hogs podcast, as per a recommendation I got here. Heard both Nish Kumar ones and thought they were both extremely funny. Nish Kumar is great in an environment like that, isn't he? And by "an environment like that", I suppose I mean among very outspoken women. Although probably the funniest thing in both episodes was Catherine Bohart trying to argue everyone to her side about everything.

I listened to the David O'Doherty one too, which was great for a number of reasons, the main one being Catherine Bohart being very sweetly star struck at the Irish star. I've got to admit I'm not such a big fan of Helen Bauer (not for any particular reason, just not my favourite style), but I could have happily listened to Catherine Bohart and David O'Doherty chat about jazz music and Ireland all day.

And of course we got this from that episode, because it's not a podcast episode ft. David O'Doherty without him launching into Chocolate Milk Gang-era stories. He really is the best for being the CMG member most likely to bring those stories out, and I think his favourite is the summer that he and Josie Long traded victories in new act comedy competitions.

I've heard both sides tell this story so many times, and I do not get tired of hearing it. David O'Doherty is being slightly disingenuous by saying that "to this day, Josie brings up that she beat me in the BBC New Comedy Awards", as though he doesn't also tell that story every chance he gets. It's a good story. And I'd heard it quite a few times already, when last year, my friend dug up a video of that BBC award final, which, as DO'D said, was televised:

Absolutely adorable, all three of those videos. Look at those tiny adorable children. Look at that weird eclectic mix of judges. The 90s. What a time.

I so wish that So You Think You're Funny Final were also on video, I'm pretty sure it was never recorded. That is a quite star-studded final. If you go to the Wikipedia entry for it, I recognize more names from 1999 than I do from the years around it. From 2000, it's Mark Dolan, Francesca Martinez, Jason Manford, and some people I don't know.

Now, here's something interesting about that Wikipedia page. They mentioned on the podcast episode that Jimmy Carr was in the final, but isn't on Wikipedia. And I thought that might make sense, because I did notice, a couple of months ago, that he was left out of the Chortle article. When Chortle announced the Taskmaster season 18 contestants, they said that Andy Zaltzman had been a 1999 finalist in So You Think You're Funny, along with Russell Howard, David O'Doherty, and Josie Long. I mentioned in a Tumblr post at the time that it was weird that Jimmy Carr was left off that list, I joked that this may be Steve Bennett getting a subtle dig at him that he's not important enough to be on the list of famous finalists.

But after I heard this podcast episode, I thought that maybe he was left off the list because Steve Bennett got his information off the Wikipedia page, and Jimmy Carr's not there. However, when I went to that page to check, I saw:

The people of that podcast were right, though, when they said you can go back through the Wikipedia edit history to check on that. The above screenshot is from today. Here's a screenshot from August 10, 2022:

And here's a screenshot of the edit history:

On September 1st, 2022, someone edited the "1999" section. That podcast episode came out on September 1st, 2022. I really enjoy how little time that took. Someone listened to that podcast and fixed the Wikipedia error that same day. No one can pretend that Jimmy Carr was never young/human.

Having said that, I don't think it was, as DO'D implied, a conspiracy to pretend Jimmy Carr was never human, as I went back to the earliest versions of that page in the Wikipedia history, and it appears Jimmy Carr was never listed there, until that podcast came out. And it does appear that whoever wrote Andy Zaltzman's Wikipedia page was using the pre-2022 So You Think You're Funny Wikipedia page for reference, as it says this:

Which I now realize is why Chortle left out Jimmy Carr when listing Andy Zaltzman's co-finalists in the article about the Taskmaster season 18 contestants; Steve Bennett would have been getting his information from Andy Zaltzman's Wikipedia page. It is probably that, and not another Jimmy Carr-based conspiracy in which Steve Bennett thought it would be funny to say "here are the people from that final who are important enough to mention" and intentionally leave out Jimmy Carr.

Although you never know with these things - who's important enough to get mentioned by name can change in a flash. Did you see Russell Howard got relegated to "and more" in the latest Big Fat Quiz?

This post has hit quite a lot of different topics, for one post. I think the main takeaway is that I would happily listen to Catherine Bohart and David O'Doherty chat to each other about Ireland and jazz music all day. That was pretty good. Don't worry too much about the unnecessary Wikipedia information.

Oh! And I almost forgot, David O'Doherty followed the podcast clip I posted above with an absolutely adorable story of how he'd recently taken Josie Long's young daughter to see a theatre show, while Josie and her partner were both busy performing (this was recorded at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival). She got excited to see pictures of her mom all over town on posters. What a good story. Great podcast episode.

[mistydeyes]

Hello, I saw that pairings were open. If so, is it ok if I can request a pair? I thank you kindly.

I identify as non-binary (AFAB) with they/them pronouns, I stand 5'1 ft /154.9 cm, and I'm mixed. I have black hair and an undercut, a few ear piercings and a nose piercing, but unfortunately no tattoos. My wardrobe is all black but I mainly wear a black tee, black cargo pants, my sneakers, and a barbwire necklace with some rings.

Based on how others describe my personality I'm seen as introverted, stoic, shy, timid, funny, kind, neurodivergent, and emotionless. I have emotions, I don't usually feel them a lot but I don't show it once I do feel it. For the timid and shy part, people often underestimate me and think I won't do anything about it. I usually ignore if it isn't a big deal but I'm not afraid to put my foot down if I need to. I do have anxiety so I feel like that's where my shyness comes from.

As for my hobbies, I tend to learn languages (Japanese, ASL, Spanish, and Italian), play video games, walk/skate around, and sleep. I don't like touches since it does stress me out, but when I become closer to someone, I may surprise them with a hug or seek cuddles. Oh, and I bite a candy bar without breaking the pieces..

Simon "Ghost" Riley

How you met: Civilian You had met Simon through a mutual friend who knew about your plans to get a tattoo. Since it was your first one, you gave Simon many texts asking him about the process. Your friend had warned you of his dry conversations which might come off as insensitive but to your surprise he was helpful with all of your worries and anxieties. You sent him a list of questions frequently ranging from the pain level to how clean the actual parlor was. Despite the constant buzz of his phone, Simon happily answered with either his own experience or with pictures and links that would be helpful to you. He even complimented your choice in design, your favorite phrase as said in the languages you were somewhat fluent in (Japanese, Spanish, Italian, and even ASL). When the day of the tattoo finally came, you woke up in the morning with a few texts from Simon reminding you to eat a good breakfast and stay hydrated. He even asked to see a final picture. When you entered the parlor and met with his recommended tattoo artist, you were still nervous but a little less so thanks to Simon. After a surprisingly short session, you proudly looked at your new piece of work in the shop's mirror. Of course, your first text was to Simon who loved the image and replied asking about your experience.

After a few months, you found yourself at the same mutual friend's party and you finally were able to meet Simon in person. After apologizing for the amount of questions you had, you proudly showed him your new tattoo. You held up your arm proudly to the tall man and he was quiet for a moment before saying, "looks absolutely gorgeous."

A peek into your relationship: "Want to see something cool?" you asked as your boyfriend sat next to you confused. "You're not going to start skating around the flat again, right?" he asked remembering when you tried to do an ollie on his wooden floor. "No but it is a cool party trick," you said as you leaned and grabbed a candy bar off the table. You held it up to him and bit down, proudly showing you had no broken the pieces. He looked at you unimpressed as he let out a small laugh. "That's it?" he sarcastically asked as you rolled your eyes. You scoffed before replying. "You try it!" you said and handed him the same bar, now missing one piece. You watched as he tried to replicate your actions but the candy bar broke into three different pieces the minute he bit into it. "Told you," you joked and he picked up the pieces littering the couch. Ever since you told him of your fun trick, Simon always makes it a point to let you try a handful of different chocolates. To this day (and to his surprise), he has never seen you break it into thousands of pieces and you still give him a shit-eating grin every time.

[i-don-t-believe]

Pep's media recommendations of the year!!

this list is based on media (video games, tv, web series) I've consumed this year and why I recommend them, spoiler free! Chances are you've seen me blog about them, so lets get into it!!

TWEWY: media type: Games | anime adaptation This video game is a story and battle game centered around one evolving mystery. Full of early 2000s slang, music, outfit choices, and much more, this game pushes the limits in its unique game mechanics and world lore. It's sequel NEO twewy came out just 2 years ago and follows its successor in its involvement of pop culture and new mechanics. This game deeply spoke to me and its story was one of the most interesting i've encountered this year. TWEWY shares the same origin on the ds and port to switch as Ghost Trick.

Trigun: media type: tv series | manga Trigun is a manga series that has now been adapted twice to tv, one an anime in the late 90s, and the other a 2023 anime that completely took over my life for months. Any fan of the series will tell you just how much this series digs into morals, complex characters, Christ allegories, transgenderism, and bodily autonomy. It is a tragic, funny, and deeply moving story about a far off world and future for humanity. You can experience the series in any order you like, but most hardcore fans will recommend the manga first.

The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog: media type: video game As most of you know, I am an avid fan of Sonic. This silly little april fools game is one of the best characterized pieces of modern sonic media we've had in the peast 2 years maybe aside from the idw comics and frontiers - those of course taking their own styles of storytelling. I can't recommend this game enough to anyone who either barely knows sonic or is just getting into it, because it shows off some energy from the series I love. It's also a mystery game!

Lego Monkie Kid: media type: tv show Lego Monkie Kid is an extremely well animated and well written small kids series that is a modern continuation of the legend of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from Journey To The West. It follows a spunky monster-of-the-week scenario for the first 2 seasons, and then splits off into season-long plots that involve a lot of hardcore character development and high stakes. If you're a fan of amazing visuals and superhero shows, this series is fantastic.

Bungou Stray Dogs: media type: manga | anime | novels | stage play adaptation | movie I've been into this series for a long time, and this year we got a lot more anime content for me to consume. Obviously this series is long stretching in terms of spin-off content and adaptations, but it's worth getting into if you're a fan of superpower content, detectives and mafia, and just generally insane hijinks. Go check it out!!

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective: media type: video game I experienced Ghost Trick within the span of two days while staying at my friends house, and was practically speechless the entire time when not trying to get through trick parts. This game is the most interesting mystery games I've ever played. It has insanely interesting mechanics and great characters, as well as one of the most fun takes on a whodunnit ever. Anyone who has played this game knows that it reaches so deep into instant spoiler territory that it is impossible to talk about, so I just leave you with this: Go Play Ghost Trick.

Generation Loss: media type: web series - youtube and Twitch Genloss is streamer Ranboo's longtime project that he had been working on as long as I had been watching him. His passion for this comedy-horror series adapted to livestream is easily seen in how much work went into this series. Genloss takes inspiration from a sort of dystopian streaming-service view and old horror tropes, with references to the saw series apparent in the second episode. The many streamers that play characters in this series are fun to see put on the big screen outside of just playing games to their audiences. Ranboo has many more goals and installments for this series, and I can't wait to see what comes out of it.

Persona 5: media type: video game | anime adaptation | manga This game has been out for years but I finally just got into it!! You probably don't need me to tell you to play it, but I genuinely can't find anything in this series that would turn anyone away from playing it. It may be lengthy, but it keeps me engaged by constantly having something to do at all times. Of course, the music is BANGING.

Puss in Boots 2: media type: Movie One of my favorite movies of the year, Puss in boots is both well animated and well written. Continuing with the story of Puss from his own spin off from the Shrek series, this sequel takes a much darker note by having Puss fight for his life constantly, at the end of his 9 lives. It also features a bunch of different villains, antagonists, and other big bads. It's very worth the watch.

Spider-man into the Spiderverse: The Spiderverse series has had a knack for revitalizing the animation industry with new techniques and showing off new skills, and this movie is no outlier to that. Its full of great twists, amazing characters, music, animation, and writing. Full of a great mix of jokes and series moments, I was hooked and cannot wait for the next installment. Go check out this movie and its previous edition.

That's all for now! Obviously if anyone who follows me or is mutuals with me gets into one of my interests i explode on the spot, but feel free to reblog with your own top choices from this year!! as always, i'll still be here in 2024 and for many years to come. Tumblr can't get rid of me. :3

[nataliesnews]

Subject: If you want to know how Israel is appearing to the world. 16.2.2023

Subject: If you want to know how Israel is appearing to the world...... To:

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Featured snippet from the web

Israel's military has jailed a soldier for 10 days after he assaulted a Palestinian activist trying to escort a US journalist around Hebron in the occupied West Bank. In a video posted by Lawrence Wright of the New Yorker, the soldier is seen grabbing Issa Amro by his neck and arm and throwing him to the ground

After the demonstration on Tuesday....which one of the politicians described as a "small demonstration which was probably held with money donated by outside sources".....I am wondering if this is not our swan song. Laws are being passed at such a speed that I would not be surprised that when I come back from Dubai at the end of the month I will find that a state of emergency has been declared and that it is forbidden to hold protests. I again say that I have never seen anything like I saw on Monday. One of my friends wrote that she was also there and she is able bodied and tall and she also immense trouble getting out of the crowd and, in fact, was lucky that she sat down on a bench which was right next to the ambulance and fainted. She also had not drunk enough water....which is a reminder for me. But she is OK. 

I was so glad to see that Benny Begin was there with his son. I always had a soft spot for him even when I loathed his father......and today I would pray that we had a statesman such as the latter. His wife studied at the School of Social Work and when he came to return her books he always stood in line like any other student....which is something Yair Netanyahu would never do. Actually he would probably send one of his two bodyguards.--

A book which may interest you

21 VOICES from Israel and South Africa: Why the Palestinian Struggle Matters is expected to be available by the end of next month – in hard copy and as an e-book.

 Nora Carmi from Palestine wrote the Foreword and the awarded author, poet and artist Breyten Breytenbach, known for his resistance against South African apartheid, wrote a wonderful letter of recommendation, including the following words:

 In a long life of having read poems and novels and reports of so many kinds, many of them of deep insight and value, I cannot remember ever having been moved as profoundly and as searingly and yes, also as painfully, as I am by your document …  May this work be read as widely as possible. Not only by those concerned and the protagonists. But by everybody. For we are all of us involved. Let us not be allowed to pretend we did not know of this crime against humanity, of this agony of the Palestinian people. This too: your book, with the reports and the interviews with ‘ordinary’ women and men is a testimony to the immense bravery of the individual and communal spirit.

   You wanted to know why I have no respect for Herzog. Read the PDF which I sent.

Thank goodness this week at last we no longer have to wear masks in Nofim, nor will our visitors have to be tested. I thought that I would soon have two trees growing out of my nose. 

Our Minister of Defense .....who never served in the army...Ben Gvir and if you want to know where he is coming from the man standing next to him is wearing a t-shirt on which is written......Free Yigal Amir. 

 And then of course we have Smotrich backing him up ......and the defense of Israel is in good hands

 "Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich says he’s ready to be defense minister in the next government despite only completing a shortened military service and having no combat experience"     He only enlisted at the age of 28 and sat in a very safe place. 

  Weird how the media and the politicians can close their eyes to fact. Much talk now about two teenage Palestinians who have been involved in terrorist activities. Every effort is being made to put the blame on Hamas. on the Palestinian textbooks, etc. Nothing is being said of the fact that every day Palestinians are being shot and killed including children ....even those innocent of anything.....see above, that there are nightly excursions of the army into the villages, that their lands are being taken from them, that the army and police give them no protection from the settlers....this is an excerpt from a report which I have just translated

 We visited Fadel, whose family includes two women and their children. They live in a cave, are there both day and night. The cave is heated with wood, and it is difficult to breathe. On these rainy days, the children do not go to school at A-Twani, which is a four-kilometer walk away.

Fadel tells about the daily arrival of settlers, by motorcycle, or ATV, or van, or on foot. Most of the time, they make rounds near the mosque. When Padel and other shepherds from the village are in the pasture, the settlers arrive and harass . The army gives the settlers  full backing, and expels the Palestinians to the village, arguing that it is a firing area.

  eferable

[multi-lefaiye]

idk what this is gonna make me sound like but Man i wish discussions about like. stories and such in videogames and movies were less centered around this need to Decode™ everything and Find The Hidden Meaning in everything. sometimes a story is.... what it looks like.

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

[votederpycausemufins]

Chapter of SF2 and a slight tribute

I was nearly done with my chapter when the news hit. In my years of playing minecraft, and following it and the content creators online, I never really knew of Technoblade. I started with some of the og youtubers, into Mindcrack and related series, then finding Hermitcraft. When the datapack came out for getting a random item every minute or so, I wanted to see various people using it because of adhd brain hyperfocusing. That was when I found Wilbur. A little after was SMP Earth and because of my recent interest in Wilbur, I saw some sort of video or stream or something about it, and looked into it more. And that was the first time I knew of Technoblade. I didn’t really keep up with it much because my hyper focus doesn’t do streams well, but I knew of Technoblade. After that, it was the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. I saw some of his videos get recommended, heard other people talk about him, saw he was in MCM, and other stuff. I didn’t really watch much of it, just was aware.

At one point, a friend of mine invited me to a discord group, and from there a small private minecraft server. This was around the time the DSMP had been going for a few months, I think around the time of Tommy’s exile, I want to say. The friend who invited me to the server was really into it, but I was still in my happy Hermitcraft bubble, and again, I don’t do watching streams all too well and that’s what the DSMP was, lots of streams. But I got a summary of some things and then was recommended a small fic on tumblr by PetrichorMeraki. After reading a bit, I had my own idea for a short fic, and I did a bit of research before writing a short fic of Tommy having been living in Hermitcraft going to MCC.

I wrote a few more short fics before starting War on Hermittown. I blazed through that thing, writing I believe 25 chapters in 19 days. I wrote fast of course, but I also did research. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to learn of Technoblade’s character, and really learning about him and not just knowing the name itself. Of course then I looked back at other stuff like SMP Earth and a few other things because of Strawberrylemonz’s fic, having Grian related to SBI. 

Eventually MCC Pride 2021 happened, and for the first time I really watched something of Techno’s. Mainly because of Grian, but still. At the time I didn’t really try looking at other videos because I was dealing with a lot, but it was the big first time I saw/watched Techno and not just his character. And I can see why so many people watched him and found community in his videos.

So when the news hit, I still cried at the video, I still wanted it to be a joke or something. I’m sure if it were a joke, people would be upset for the fakeout, but I still think it would still be nice because then it wasn’t real. And I’m someone who barely watched his videos and only knew him through clips and characters and the like. I’m sure for so many people who were more directly part of his content and community, it hit harder.

I will admit, some of this story later on was going to touch on death in terms of how it works in the MC universe. I was planning to have an offhanded conversation about it in a later chapter. It was still going to involve the group going through the nightmare scenarios, though I wasn’t sure who exactly would talk about it other than Phil being the one to explain. Then the news hit.

A scene I had half planned for a while suddenly seemed much more pertinent in a sense. I’m not sure how everyone will react, but I felt it was good for some sort of tribute, especially when Techno himself was thinking about memeing his own death. Technoblade as a person may be gone physically, but as people have said, he never dies in our hearts or our souls. And there’s the fact that he wasn’t just a person, but also played a character or two, and us writers love to write au’s where a character didn’t actually die.

“You’re very pretty. Yes, a very pretty chicken. So can you please get the tree for me?” The chicken didn’t answer, instead just pecking at the ground. “Pleaaaaase? It would really help me, and I’m helping out your boss.”

The chicken looked up at the person who was asking them the question. They had a smile on their face as they looked expectantly. When the chicken kept staring, the person tilted their head to the side, letting their ears flop over which caught the bird’s eyes. The person blinked and suddenly the chicken had attached itself to one of their ears, biting down onto it with its beak. “Oww! That’s not nice! Why do you always do this? You don’t even do it to actual rabbits!”

The person finally pried the chicken from their ear when both of them looked up at the sound of a twig snapping. “Hello? Who’s there?”

“You answer first.” And both the person and the chicken found themselves looking at a half dark teal and half pink person.

“Oh! I guess that makes sense! I’m-” And then the chicken clucked and grabbed onto their ear again. “Ow! I said no biting!!! Let go!”

“Oh… Aven. Finally left the castle?”

“Hmm? Castle? Oh! Yeah I was asked to come here and I was supposed to be doing something. But I can’t remember exactly what- Oh yeah! I need to find… Spore! Yeah that was the name they gave. I just got a little distracted with… With Grifter… Uh, anyway! I’m having trouble with the trees, could you maybe help?”

Silski huffed. “Ghosts… typical. Sure, Toob’s parents are visiting and they’re not the biggest fans of me. Was just going to wander around, but at least this gives me something to do.” A sudden thank you had the hybrid jumping before sending out a stream of curses. “Well if you really want to thank me, stay in one fucking place.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I can’t see what’s not really there!” And Silski waved an arm around, it passing through the ghost a few times in its blind movements. “No matter means no sound interaction. No sound interaction means I rely on my nose and you don’t have a smell either. See, if I were a full blown Warden hybrid, then I could. Could even freak Sense out.”

“What do you mean?” 

“He’s some ‘ender hybrid’. Smells like death to me. He doesn’t seem to like me either.”

“Oh, him?” The ghost replied, patting the chicken again. “Well that’s why I’m hoping to talk with Spore, see, my boss is not happy with him since he’s going to have one of those complicated deaths. I mean, that’s half the reason he’s still around. Well, that and the magic that keeps being used on him.”

“Grifter no do- wait, dead? Like, dead dead? No respawning?”

“Yeah? He uses redstone a lot, right? I’ve seen a lot of people get reaped for that. Wait if he’s not the reaper does it still get called that…?”

“Uh… not sure what you mean, but thank you for the tip.” Silski smiled. “Here’s your wood or whatever. I’ve got to go mining for a ‘peace offering’.”

“Oh! Okay!” and the ghost waved before trying to pick up the logs. “Hmm… I didn’t think that through.”

But then the chicken picked up the wood and clucked at the ghost, making them smile. “Right! First to find Spore, then, Gree-on!” and they started off on their own path, rabbit ears bouncing as they went along.

.

.

.

“Alright, I know it’s sort of obvious that this is for Doc based on the fact he’s not here.” Phil spoke up, making the two hermits and Paul look around to see that was the case. “But you didn’t notice that before knowing that was the case. What’s going on?”

“The vines make it a bit obvious.” Mumbo answered for him and Xisuma. “We know enough about them. Not sure why he knows though.”

Paul started his answer by gesturing to the area around them. “While yeah, the vines are a big clue, the buildings are more so. That one over there is The Elusive Chicken, Beef’s bar and inn, and then that is Adlingtont’s church. It’s the Mindcrack world Doc and I were first in. The vines everywhere just make it more obvious it’s Doc.”

“Because of The Jungle.” Xisuma nodded, and then Paul agreed. 

“Yeah, because of the jungle.”

While the others got ready to start moving, Grum just tilted his head. “Wait what?”

“Well you weren’t built when-” Mumbo started to explain, but Grum shook his head.

“No, they said different things.” And he pointed at Xisuma and Paul.

“We both said the jungle.” Paul said, a little confused.

“No no no. You said ‘thuh’ and Xisuma said ‘thee’. Maybe it could just be standard inflection, but Xisuma normally says ‘thuh’ too, and the only reason for differently is if he’s using it as a more proper noun version!”

“Did you understand any of that?” Phil asked, looking at Techno, who shrugged. He actually did, but also wasn’t going to interrupt Grum and the others any further. 

“If we’re thinking about two different jungles, things might turn into a mess from getting our wires crossed. We’ve already been here too long dealing with all of us.” And he gestured to the group. “Well, most of us.”

“I’m not fully convinced the previous one wasn’t also about me.” Xisuma commented, trying not to give a reaction as his brother scoffed.

“And we’re not going to have to deal with me. This is all about fear, and fear is just an involuntary psychological reflex that clouds your better judgment.”

“You’re ignoring the ‘involuntary’ part of whatever phrase you’re quoting.” Paul spoke up. “We’re trying to get into a world that already had admin protection, and now you’ve got a magic user as admin. And it sounds like they’re pretty experienced. They’ll find something on you.”

“I already know what I’m going to see.” Wilbur spoke up, surprising everyone to look over to him. He had been quiet for a while, obviously still recovering from shifting back and forth from the exile replication and where the group had been. It had stopped once Xisuma had arrived on the island, but even with the time, it had still been taking a toll. “Having to wait for it isn’t helping. I guess you’re different.”

Xannes just stared at Wilbur for a few moments before turning back to Paul. “Fine, two different jungles. Which are you talking about?”

“Doc’s jungle. He set up his base in a jungle, made a treehouse to live in. I think he got out all the woodpeckers Bdubs left there. What about the one you guys are talking about?”

“The NHO jungle.” Mumbo spoke up. “Just called The Jungle now because talking about the NHO connected to it is… a sore subject. Doc, Etho, Beef and Bdubs started up the group and claimed a jungle as well as a nearby mesa. They wanted to go back to the more classic ways, like no fishing farms or messing with reality. I mean, they did it anyway here and there. They acted as sort of villains of the server as a joke. Tried framing an opposing group for plastering banners all over my base. Stuff like that.”

“Alright, so what happened?” Paul asked, Phil, Techno and Wilbur also looking curious from being unfamiliar with it. Tommy was also interested, only knowing bits and pieces from other hermits, Grum being in the same boat.

“First thing that happened was vines growing on Bdubs. We thought he was just putting them on himself as camouflage or something, but Doc later told us they were just growing. After that, Etho had been seen working on a redstone project before disappearing. His disappearance led to a conflict about the mesa which nearly boiled over before thankfully calming and things started to get peaceful, but then the rest of them started disappearing. Bdubs seemed really off before he disappeared, followed by Doc. Beef was around the longest before he also disappeared.”

“Obviously they came back. I saw all of them other than Beef when I showed up for the party.” Paul commented before Xisuma picked up the conversation.

“They all reappeared for a competition called Hardcore Hermits. Because of how it was set up, all I knew was they did show up, and then eliminated night three due to phantoms. Bdubs and Doc showed back up when season 6 began, brought from worlds they found themselves in afterwards, but a large amount of their memories surrounding the jungle were… fuzzy to say the least. I wasn’t able to do anything to help them regain their memories, but was able to verify that it really was them.”

“And that’s all?”

“Well, any talks about it leaves them feeling a bit off again.” Mumbo spoke up again. “Bdubs most of all. Doc normally tries to brush it off and act like he’s fine, but with all this…?” And Mumbo gestured to everything around them as he trailed off.

“Alright, so Doc has trauma from a cursed jungle that he set up in with people he knew from a place where he was also in a jungle, did I get that about right?” Phil asked, getting a few nods. “So which way is the jungle here?”

Paul gestured in a direction and started to lead them down the paths, quickly getting them to a portal. Even with the situation, the group was still about to take a moment to admire the nether hub. Resources back in the early days of Mindcrack weren’t the most plentiful, that was well known, but the mix of sandstone and nether brick was pulled off well, even with the various colors marking the different rail lines breaking up patterns. 

He led them over to a rail line marked with purple wool. A sign listed it as going towards Doc’s base as well as Joe. They scavenged a bit for minecarts as well as Paul grabbing an extra one, a furnace, and some coal. Sure, the rail was powered so they didn’t need to use it to get them going, but it would make sure they were all going at the same time so nothing unexpected could split them up. The only exception was Paul. He knew the rails best, so he would be able to spot and issue, and if he needed an extra few seconds to fix it before the other carts got there, it would help with that.

Once the carts started going, Paul explained just how long the trip was going to take. There were a few complaints, mainly from those used to flight in some form. But after that settled down, conversation started up, being the only good way to bide the time until something interesting happened.

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.

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Vee was at a table, kicking her legs, not really paying attention to the reason she was currently at said table, that being the conglomerate of hermits also in the room and around the table. The only ones not at the table with the rest of them were Scar, Cub and Hoodie. All three of them were carefully working together to constantly cast an illusion based spell.

Vee had showed up a few days ago at this point, and while the hermits wanted to interrogate them earlier, the incident at Mumbo’s base with them and Rendog had caused issues. The human passing and shifters of the group were able to be around her easily enough, but not everyone had that luxury. So Hoodie had brought up an illusion spell from one of his books. He wasn’t sure if he could keep the spell up for as long as it was needed based on the exact circumstances - a large group of people that would always be shifting around no matter how still they may try to stay - but if other magic users helped, between any number of them they would be able to keep it constant.

After what happened with Grian, while Grifter was involved, the hermits still came to the conclusion that at the very least something happened from the mixing and colliding magics. Not wanting to risk a new side effect, the Convex pair and Hoodie made sure to practice privately. While that occurred, the only hermits worked on discussing how they would go about questioning Vee. Though she was a Listener and had already mentioned a more direct connection to Grifter, she was still obviously a child. In the end, they decided that for the most part, only one hermit should ask a majority of the questions to keep from overloading her as well as keep from talking over each other. After that it was deciding who. Since they were going to be moving more and that was the issue with the illusion, it was narrowed to non hybrids, and then further narrowed by who were emergency admin.

In the end, Joe was picked for following the prior guidelines as well as his generally softer voice as well as having some more recent experience with kids through his daughter. Well, that and he was the oldest person there, being a sort of immortal being and having the most experience, but it was mostly the other stuff. So when it was all set up, he was sitting closest to the head of the table where Vee was, Jrum sitting in the other closest seat across from him, mostly at Vee’s insistence.

“Howdy there. I’m Joe Hills. Hope this isn’t too overwhelming for ya.”

Vee shook her head before adjusting some headphones she was wearing. Joe had a little knowledge of Listeners, a little less than Watchers, but it was enough to know that they had ear coverings to mirror the masks Watchers wore. They, however, were not what Vee was wearing. Instead the item looked worn, yet well taken care of. Obviously an important item to the girl, which meant a way for Joe to ease into the conversation. “Those headphones helpin’ out?”

“Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. My papa gave them to me. He thought they were good at blocking stuff out if things got too… bleh.” And she waved her hands around to represent ‘sensory overload’ clear enough for Joe. “So he got some for me because it could help it for me too! And then he also got some for my sister, but she doesn’t use them as much.”

Another opening for Joe. ���Yeah, I heard she helped out when you had a run in with a scary animal earlier.” He could tell there was a little wince from Ren, but he could also tell he knew Joe didn’t mean it like that.

“Yeah! Astrid’s the best! I was really really really happy when Papa adopted her so then I had a bigger sister and she didn’t like me at first because I think she still was angry at her brother but Papa was really nice and even offered to adopt Flora too but Flora likes her family so that was a no. Oh yeah, Flora is Astrid’s girlfriend! I don’t get to see her much, well I only got to see her once, but she’s really really nice. And now Astrid’s visiting her for our break because it’s been a year since dad started helping us as listen things and I know Astrid really really really wants a break because she was stuck doing double the work and then it all went bleh because Grifter didn’t know what she was doing and messed it all up.”

The last part collectively caught everyone’s attention, all three magic users needing to work to keep everyone disguised as they all seemed to sit up a bit more in their seats. “So you know Grifter as well? What exactly did he do?”

“Yeah he’s kinda sort of my uncle, but that’s ‘cause he’s friends with my papa.” A few small winces occurred from the hermits, but that was already something a number of them knew from Jrum. “But also since he’s Flora’s uncle.” And that part got more reactions out of people, half from the news of the greater connection in general, and half running through Grian’s family tree to figure out whose hels Flora was. “Well Astrid’s brother-” Another bout of people trying to figure out who Astrid and her brother were. “-was really mean and hurt Flora and her family, so Astrid was gonna use magic to fix it, but because she was only just learning it, she had to use an older weaker spell to fix it, but she didn’t get to finish it in time when Grifter did his version and so Astrid couldn’t finish the spell and it kinda backfired.”

“Olortun.” Hoodie spoke up, having everyone look at him. “Old spell, famous for a tale it was told in. It can take months or even years to cast due to the physicality of the spell and number of recipients. Caster needs to take a vow of silence and if the spell is left incomplete, it backfires and curses the caster with the ailment they were attempting to cure.”

Someone was about to scold Hoodie for speaking out of turn, but Vee didn’t seem bothered and took control of the conversation again. “Yeah but I don’t know if she’s still doin’ the spell or not because the thing she was trying to get rid of was the fact that the bad thing was Flora and her family couldn’t talk or anything.”

Hoodie nodded, not talking this time, which allowed Joe to get them back on topic. “But you said Grifter messed with that?”

“Oh, well he really likes Flora because she’s his niece and he likes to spoil her a little bit so when he became admin of her server super recently, he fixed it. Of course that meant Astrid couldn’t complete the spell, so she’s staying quiet… but we work through it!”

“I see. So Grifter is the admin of… Flora’s server?”

“Yeah, but I mean it’s also kinda Astrid’s server. I mean, Papa made it so now she belongs to the world he’s in when not doing listen things, but she still thinks of it as hers since she grew up there and everything. Which I think is stupid because then that could make mom’s world my world and I never want to go there again. Never ever ever ever.”

“Right, so I’m guessing that both of them are with him right now?”

“I mean maybe? But I thought he was supposed to be here.” And that caught the attention of the hermits again.

“Oh? And now why’s that?” Joe asked, words potentially rushing out a little bit to keep the other hermits from speaking first, and while it stopped them, Vee could tell something was up and fidgeted in her seat a bit before replying.

“W-well, there was the mistake with Grian getting all magicked to forgetting stuff, and it was enough that none of you were helping and he wasn’t believing you, but Grifter was visiting and since he’s sorta like him but not, he was believing better and then Papa helped get paper proof and Grifter’s been using it.” Then Vee hesitated, looking around at the group who didn’t look happy with the answer. “R-right?”

“That’s… not exactly the case.”

“Okay well I know Papa said you wanted him to come, but no one but me ‘n Grifter can get in since he was here in the first place and I’m still considered in training, so then it’s not the only reason for him being the one helping?” Vee said, though in the end it was more of a question than a statement.

“No. While the magic part’s all correct, and potentially no one being able to get in since I’m sure someone else would have intervened at this point if that weren’t the case, Grifter took Grian away after the magic incident and hasn’t been back.”

“But… But Grifter said he was helping. H-He did…”

“Now I’m sure he did, but he might have been lying.”

“But why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a piece of shit.” Jrum was the one to speak up, though he was quickly scolded by a few hermits. Still, it didn’t end well with Vee reaching her emotional breaking point from the statement and starting to cry, now overwhelmed. Joe kept the others back as he moved closer to Vee, also moving back a few seconds later once he confirmed she needed space and not someone by her side.

Once Vee had calmed enough that someone could get close again, Stress carefully picked her up and left, her magic still being available for assistance to help the two of them get around with the others keeping up the illusion until Vee was completely out of sight just to be safe. After that, Scar followed after Stress, leaving the rest of them to converse about everything they learned. The main points being that first Grian was almost definitely affected by the magic collision, which made Jrum’s suggestion of needing Vee to figure out a counter spell more likely. 

Second was that he was in the hels version of Tommy’s old server since most of Grian’s family was from there. Pairing with that was that this Astrid person also seemed to be in that server with Grifter and also a Listener, which no one was sure if it were good or bad. The assumption was bad since Vee and her dad were still in the dark. Plus according to Jrum, either Grifter or Grian had been on Vee’s call to Astrid and Flora, so either way, there was some association there.

While in the long run, there wasn't much new information, what was new was a big help. So if there wasn’t much progress on the other team’s front, the rest of the hermits at least had a leg to stand on.

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Grian couldn’t immediately find Sally when he returned to his room in the castle. He searched for a while before Grifter showed up with Flora. He had given her the rundown on Toob’s parents being there and apologizing for them busting into the room, which Flora was glad to hear. Now, Grifter was looking to teach Grian more in terms of magic.

Since he couldn’t find Sally, Grian was initially hesitant, but after telling Flora the issue, she agreed to continue searching for Grian until he returned.

Training didn’t last too long, Grian having issues with using magic and just not having the stamina for it yet. There was one instance he managed to get his magic past the blue color he saw Astrid using most of the time and into the same viridian color Grifter sported. It left him feeling especially sapped of energy afterwards, but it was still a nice feeling to have done it.

Upon returning, Grian was fine with collapsing into bed and maybe giving Sally some cuddling in the process, but it looked like Flora hadn’t found her yet either. And while Flora had messaged Astrid, she was still apparently with her dad and couldn’t come back to help look.

With just the two of them, Grian and Flora went looking for Sally. Since it has been so long since they had last seen her, Grian was a bit worried. If she had escaped on her own, the area she could have gotten to grew every second they couldn’t find her. But then there was the possibility someone stole her, which wasn’t completely out of the question after their kidnapping of Jane. Plus it could have been someone other than Toob and Silski. Maybe Wassa was upset they hadn’t returned with the information yet, though he thought Flora said she sent it to him with a message.

After combing through the castle a second time with Flora, they somehow managed to get some important information out of Aven, who claimed he saw the chicken with another ghost. Flora said there were no other ghosts on the server, but Aven also had a horrible memory, so it could have been someone in pale clothes or something. At the very least it told them that someone had Sally and she wasn’t just wandering about. 

They managed to pry out a little more information on a general area and direction Sally had been in which helped with the scope of the search. Having Flora helping to search helped as well due to her being a hybrid, specifically a fox at that. They were known for hunting down chickens, and now that they had a more recent trail for her to follow. She led Grian along most of the time, but sometimes Grian flew into the sky to see if he could see anything from above. There wasn’t much, but here and there he noticed something that helped.

Once Flora really got Sally’s scent, they were racing through the trees of the forest they found themselves in, Grian struggling a little to keep up. Because of it, Flora reached wherever the chicken and her captor was before Grian. And then because of that, Grian didn’t slow down when he reached the area, only having to stop as quickly as he could when he realized that he had caught up and Flora had stopped. This led to Grian falling on his face and finding himself eye level with a chicken that was decidedly not Sally. Sally, instead, had her beak firmly clamped on the ear of a hybrid unfamiliar to the server. A very rabbity ear on an all too familiar looking hybrid.

Grian and the hybrid stared each other down for a few seconds before Grian’s brain caught up with what he was seeing. His wings puffed up in an attempt to make himself look bigger and more threatening at the same time his hands tried to force himself back up so he was standing and easily able to fly, run, flight, or anything else he might need to do. “S-Sam… how… I… Why…?” Grian tried to look for words at the same time, which he was failing at. He wanted to ask how Sam was here, or why he was here, or yell at him, or even warn Flora on who exactly this was since he hadn’t given names before. 

But any attempt at words were lost by the shrill shriek that was heard, making Grian wince at the tone and notice Flora doing the same. And when he looked back at Sam, he had now picked up Sally and was holding her in front of her. Grian was so sure the sound came from the chicken until Sam opened his mouth again and Grian saw him speak. “Please please please I was just caring for the chickens and Gallus was helping me out because I needed to find Sally but then I found Sally and we started walking and talking and I didn’t mean to do anything bad please please please I promise I’ll be good and nice and won’t I swear I won’t do anything bad!:

Grian was left speechless. Sam never acted like this. Sure, sometimes he might apologize to make you a little guilty, but it was always something small. Not like he was begging for forgiveness and like he himself was expecting to get hurt. It was weird and so unlike Sam, and then Grian realized it wasn’t.

First off, it was now obvious as to why Aven mistook Sam for another ghost, because they seemed to actually be a ghost. They were see through and everything, and other than interacting with the chickens, Grian could see through enough to tell that the grass wasn’t being trampled underneath the rabbit hybrid. And speaking of them being a hybrid, Sam’s ears were almost always perked up and a bright white color. Though one ear was still clamped on by Sally even as she was held out in front of Sam as almost a sort of meat shield, the other was flopped over. And not only that, it was more of a sandy or creamy color and not nearly as fluffy as Sam’s normally were.

Now that Grian had taken a moment to calm down enough to look over the ghost Sam, it also gave him a moment to think about what he knew otherwise. A week ago, he had been living with Sam and Taurtis, dealing with highschool among… other things. But since then, he had been here, in the future. And Sam was supposed to be dead. And sure, this person was a ghost, which happened when you died, but they were a different ghost. And Grian wasn’t just in any future, he was in the future where he had escaped to a sort of reverse reality. His dad was the one who wasn’t usually around instead of his mom. One of his twins was some sort of green hybrid thing instead of a pig or piglin or whatever. And apparently, Sam wasn’t a murderer, but someone who looked more scared of him than he usually was of Sam.

“H-Hey.” Grian managed to choke out. “I’m… not sure who you think I a-am… But um… I’m probably not. And I d-doubt you’re Sam. Uh… W-Well, my name is Grian.”

Slowly, the not Sam peeked out from behind Sally. “Gree-on?” Grian of course flinched at the way it was pronounced, but not Same noticed and let go of Sally, letting her hand from his ear, and instead using one hand to tug at this other ear and the other to hit his head a little. “I’m sorry I’m sorry. I’ll do better I promise.”

“H-hey, It’s okay. Uh, there’s no… ‘ah’ sound. It’s more just ‘an’ Gree-an. And It’s supposed to be just one word… but just that little change would be a lot better.”

Not Sam gave a little nod, carefully saying it a few times before getting it all together and saying Grian’s name pretty much normally, which was a great change of pace compared to normal Sam. “Oh… I hope you don’t mind… but um…” Not Sam trailed off for a moment before quietly continuing, almost in a whisper. “It doesn’t go ‘Sam’ like you said it.”

While Grian was a little conflicted to show any sort of vulnerability or kindness to someone who looked so much like Sam, he still managed it. “Oh? How should we say it then?”

Not Sam noticed the ‘we’ enough to take note of Flora, who was thankfully staying out of it for now, though Not Sam grabbed Sally again as well as the other chicken, almost to try and protect them from the fox hybrid that Flora was. “I-it’s Sahn… not Sam. S-ah-n.”

“Well then Sahn. I’m… sorry for frightening you, but we were just looking for Sally, my pet chicken, and you seem to be holding her.” Grian explained, and Sahn looked at the chickens in his arms before trying to pry Sally off his ear, a feat that was much easier once Grian had his hands on the animal. “I guess we both remind each other of people we know. Not so nice people unfortunately.” And Grian didn’t miss the wince from Flora. She thought highly of her uncle, and while it was actually her false uncle, she didn’t know that. “So, why are you here?”

Immediately, Sahn looked a little calmer and happier. “Oh! That’s right! Um, so my boss or master or whatever you want to call him sent me here! And he sent me to look for you.”

And now things were more complicated again.

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The rolling of minecart wheels had rolled on for a while after the most recent conversation had ended, or more accurately, the last conversation Techno had focused on. He had realized partway into it that Phil hadn’t spoken once in any of the talking. And then looking just behind him at Phil made Techno realize his dad seemed out of it. He tried to think of why, then quickly came up with the answer. Tommy’s confession. Or talk or admission or whatever fit that kind of thing. So obviously while Phil said he was fine with it, that obviously wasn’t the case.

Thankfully Techno and Phil were at the end of the minecart train, so they didn’t really need to deal with keeping their conversation private from both sides, and the people in front of them were more likely to focus on forwards anyway. “So, what’s eating at you?”

Phil jumped just a little bit from Techno’s voice being closer and obviously directed specifically at him. “That obvious?”

“Yeah. I’m guessing this is about Tommy?”

Phil nodded. “Look, I know I’ve been a shit dad. Grian told me as much when I first showed back up, plus I had a bit of an idea when Tommy went missing. Sure, I helped the kids with accurately summoning Tommy back which kicked off this whole mess, but they were the ones trying it in the first place. Hell, If I wanted to, I could have tried it with Grian when I first found out about that technique.”

“If I recall, you did try, you just were left confused since the information was mixed with worship of some bee god.”

Phil chuckled a little at that. “Yeah, But I did figure it out. The big problem was that you need something that helps represent the person you’re after. And it had been years at that point, so we didn’t really have much to go off of. But I still could have kept trying.”

“You have no clue if it would have worked.”

“I know. For all I knew, he could have actually been dead. I didn’t fucking know if their little summoning shit would work if Tommy was actually dead. Only hope I had was if I was not too shitty here.”

That left Techno a little confused. “What does that mean?”

Phil shrugged for a moment before sighing. “Look, Hels isn't the most well known thing. Sure, the older you get, the more likely you are to find out, but even people older than me sometimes don’t know about it. It gets excused by mods or Herobrine or whatever. But Paul and I know a bit differently because of who we are.”

“And that is?”

“The Wels of the Hels Deaths. See, Death can’t fucking deal with their own family. And If you noticed, You and I are both related to Kristen, me by marriage and you by being her kid. And since Zedaph is her brother, he’s related too.”

“So that means we literally can’t die? Bruhhh I could’ve staked so much more on the fact that I can’t die.”

That earned a slight chuckle from Phil. “Not exactly. That’s where the deaths of Hels come in. Sure, one of them is my hels and one is Paul’s, but they’re not actually the hels of Kristen and her brother, and aren’t actually me or Paul. So it becomes a sort of exception. So the family of the deaths of one side are dealt with by the other.”

“So you’re saying I’d have to punch you in the face to keep living?”

“Depends. There’s two deaths not just to try and deal with that family problem, but because there’s two kinds of death. There’s nuance to it, but simply it’s if you're accepting of your death or not. Your mom is for when you don’t here, but if I recall correctly, Paul’s Hels is that, so mine would have to be the other.”

“Alright, so I can keep punching Paul in the face and not have to regret my actions when I finally go out on my own.”

“I mean, it won’t be me, me. But I guess close enough. And I’m guessing that means you’re planning to eventually go out on your own terms? I thought you would just refuse outright.”

Techno smiled a little. “Nah, don’t want to get as old and ancient as you. I’m not sure I could deal with trying to consciously keep myself from turning to dust.” He paused as Phil jokingly hit the back of his head. “Plus, I’m sure with all those political people heading to whatever afterlife there is, there might be some government to take down there.”

There were some more chuckles between Techno and Phil before it was serious again. “But no. I mean, I dealt with my mom literally being death and I saw that didn’t keep Wilbur alive. I’ve seen here and there you struggling with having been alive so long. Some people think not dying is great, and so many people have respawn magic to keep them alive. Yeah there’s some people who die because of a particularly bad death or hardcore gone wrong, but there’s other people who realize that they’re done. They have the chance to keep living, but they think it’s better to go onto whatever is next. No one knows what that is- Wait you haven’t been-” “She hasn’t told me anything.” “Right, well, no one knows what’s next, and while some people have comfort in familiarity, some people like the thrill of what’s next. And I think maybe someday I’ll go onto that. We all probably will eventually.”

“Yeah. I’m not sure how long I think I could keep sticking around after losing you guys. There were some days where I was thinking of giving my soul up just to not deal with it.” Phil admitted.

“Bruh you better not do that if we kick the bucket. Look, I know we’re cool and all, and while you might suck at it, you still love us.” “Hey!” “And yeah, if we end up in some place where our souls or whatever we have get to interact with each other, sure I hope that means we find each other again, but I don’t want it to be that you only showed up to follow after us. I’m sure whenever I die you’re going to be all upset or whatever, but I’ll be going out on my own terms, not your terms. Your terms are for when you’re done. So don’t make that something I’m responsible for.”

“So, essentially?”

“You’re used to living a lot. I might not be the same. Don’t blame yourself if that happens. If anything, you can make fun of me for taking the easy way out or whatever. Just know that if I happen to die, I’m okay with it, and you can’t be beating yourself up like you have with everything else.”

“Thought you wouldn’t come back to that.” Phil said with a half joking, half sad smile.

“Well I did. Look, I’m just going to say it. You kind of sucked as a dad. To be honest, you probably spent a century or two without kids and haven’t even spent half of one with us around. And if Paul’s got a family and he managed it, who cares, because he’s him and not you. With how you reacted to me talking about my death and how you reacted to other stuff, you have a tendency to expect the worst and just kind of give up.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“Well I’m going to guess you did it in the past too, right?”

“Maybe.” Phil half admitted.

“Well you dealt with that, so deal with this. It’s not as finite as death or whatever, so you’ve still got time to try and fix it. And it doesn’t have to be immediate, especially since you’re used to taking a while through life.”

Though he rolled his eyes, Phil agreed. “Guess that makes sense. When did you get so wise?”

“Got raised by you.”

“Yeah. Guess you did.” Phil sighed before giving Techno a quick hug. “Sorry for being a shitty parent. But know that if you die or disappear or leave or whatever it is, I’m still going to care for you. And not just me either. Your brothers, your mum, hell, anyone else you’re close with in any sense really. They’re going to care for you.”

“Yeah. And even if any of that happens, call me cheesy or whatever, but if any of that happens, at least they’ll all have a memory of me to keep.”

[thetoadghoul]

Volunteering: (Ohtani x Reader) <333 (Part - 2)

part 1!

plot: Wednesday’s game arrives which Ohtani invited you to, some bonding time before the first pitch <3 slowwwburn, long cause idk details are fun lol

Wednesday quickly arrived, made much faster by the crazy amount of work you were required to do for your ‘actual’ job. The last three days had been spent with you running around the LA area, as well as cyberspace, to serve your role as interpreter. It was hell, for more reasons than one. The biggest of all being that even though you were not in Japan at the moment, you were still required to wear a proper suit. That meant a tight navy skirt, stockings, and some blasted heels. Sexist men, long meetings, and endless paperwork aside, you enjoyed your job for the most part - but this aspect really wore on you. However, the pain in your feet wouldn't damper your excitement for tonight’s game. Today you were not actually volunteering at the Angels stadium.

The day before yesterday, when you were actually volunteering, a bashful Ohtani had tapped you on the back while you were picking up baseballs from the batting cages. When you turned around the giant man was holding out a lanyard with an attached document, marked ‘VIP Guest of Player’. It took all you had not to let your hands shake with nerves as you reached out and grabbed it gingerly.

“Uh, see you on Wednesday.” The man looked to the side awkwardly, running a hand through his hair.

“...Yeah.” You responded with a small smile, feeling stupid, but it was all you could think of.

“Well, uh, I better go...” He motioned behind his back with a lazy thumb, staring to jog backward.

You nodded quickly, rushing to go back to picking up balls before you said something super lame, or weird.

It wasn’t till you were on the way home did you take a look at the back of the stadium pass. It read ‘Guest of Shohei Ohtani’. So he had put in the request for you, that was just like him, so kind. It would be an understatement to say you weren’t excited for tomorrow.

-----

Currently, your heart was still racing, but for another reason other than a certain super cute and insanely talented baseball player. It was because it was almost three-thirty in the afternoon and you were running around your company-provided apartment, trying to get ready as fast as you could. Ippei let you know you should get there around four-thirty, by then the team would have been done warming up and starting to enjoy a pregame meal while the away team got the field to themselves. From that point onwards, pretty much everyone was free to relax in the clubhouse till just before the first pitch.

With little time to consider, not even enough time to take a shower after having just got off work, you went with an oversized red T-shirt, baggy jeans, and some cool Jordan’s. This was your go-to, and it was comfortable. You don’t have many clothes anyway, living out of a suitcase.

Right as you were about to run out of the door you remembered to grab your standard Angels cap, it had been provided to you as part of your volunteer uniform a while back, slipping it on over your tight work bun. You would let your hair down later.

All right, everything was in order, Uber scheduled, lanyard secured.

It took about half an hour to arrive at the stadium, and once it came into view, you instructed the driver to let you out in front of the ballpark entrance. It had been a long time since you got to go through the gates as a member of the audience, it actually gave you a wave of nostalgia seeing everyone in their gear, so hyped up for the game, tailing gating outside for what was probably hours.

Once you were through, you started walking through the concession stands and various other stalls, dodging around the fans that were already inside watching the warm-ups, as well as hanging out drinking and eating. There were pictures of Ohtani everywhere, people taking turns snapping pictures of each other in front of the various cutouts of him. The air was buzzing with energy, and it seemed like all for that guy. Honestly, you had worked for a couple different teams over the years, but you had never seen hype like this. It was surreal, seeing a legend in the making.

You smiled, gripping the lanyard around your neck, making your way through the stadium. Shohei was super nice to do this for you, really, you should show him your support. Maybe a quick peek in the team store would do? Plus, you deserved to spend some money on yourself. After all, this was the first time you had really been ‘out’ in the almost three months you had been in California. Your free time was either working, volunteering, video games, or sleep.

You took a couple moments in the Angel's merch shop, quietly perusing the aisles, keeping an eye out for any Ohtani-themed items. Unfortunately, there weren’t really that many, probably sold out by the fans. What was there, was way too small for you.

“Y/n, you here to watch the game?” A young voice sounded.

When you turned to see who addressed you, a familiar girl was standing there grinning.

“Hey Jordan! I didn’t know you were working tonight.” You grinned back.

Jordan worked at the store as a stock manager, she was close in age to you so the two of you often hung out. You had invited her over a couple times, both bonding over your love for crappy reality TV, beer, and of course, baseball.

“Yeah it was last minute, a girl was feeling sick and there wasn’t anyone else cept’ me.” She sighed.

“Bummer, text me if you need help?” You offered, to which she waved you off.

“Nah, you enjoy being here and NOT working.” She chuckled, walking over to organize a messy shelf.

“So, you looking for something in particular?” The girl glanced over her shoulder.

“Uh yeah, you recommend any cool Ohtani stuff? Or is there any at all... seems wiped clean in here.” You said while looking around.

“Ohtani? You here to cheer him on too then. Wanna catch his eye.” She teased.

“Don’t say it like I’m just here for my like, prince charming.” You snapped back playfully, but, maybe a little too fast.

“Aren’t you?” She pressed with an eyebrow.

“Okay, I’m leaving.” You pouted, fake walking away.

“I’m just kidding, actually, stay here for a second I might have something you’ll like.” Jordan yelled as she jogged off to the back room behind the counters.

You did as you were told and when she came back there was a large white Angels jersey in her hands.

“Ta-da!” She grinned, twisting it around to show the player’s name on the back.

“Oh, it’s in Kanji? That’s cool, I didn’t know these existed?” You questioned, running your finger over the ‘tani’ character of Ohtani.

“It’s the last one on the floor, had to grab it off the mannequin. Hope it’s not too big? It’s XL?” She questioned, passing it to you to hold.

“Nah it’s perfect, can’t you tell.” You joked holding the jersey next to you, while you showed off your oversized clothes.

“Figured it'd be fine, wanna get rung up? I’ll give you that ‘good good’ employee discount. But, don’t tell anyone.” She smiled, heading to the register, to which you nodded and jogged after her.

After you finished your purchase and waved bye to Jordan, it was time to head to the clubhouse. It was around five, so you were later than you planned but Shohei usually practiced batting in the cages a little while longer while everyone headed in. Slipping the plastic shopping bag into your purse, and ripping the tags off your new jersey, you slipped it on over your T-shirt, smoothing out the material as best you could. It felt great to finally have some real merch from the team, and part of you sort of wondered what Ohtani would think when he saw you. Hopefully, it wasn’t too much to just show up in his gear after he pretty much randomly invited you, let alone in the stadium-specific one, as you just learned from your colleague.

After you got to an employee-only doorway, you pushed on it hoping it was actually open. Ippei had also let you know via text that it would be unlocked for you. Another kindness of Shohei, not just inviting you, but making sure you had access to all the catering and AC inside the resisted area of the building. You slipped in and locked the door behind you, not wanting to encourage some intoxicated fans to follow. The hallway was empty and cool as you started making your way to the clubhouse.

You were admittedly a bit nervous by the time you got to the doors, feeling a bit awkward about strutting in as anyone other than a volunteer for the first time. Carefully you pushed open the door, making sure not to hit anybody. The room was full of chatter, some players eating, some playing cards, others watching TV on the room's monitors. You looked around for Ohtani, but he wasn’t there yet apparently. No matter, you strolled in and went for the snack area. Truthfully you hadn’t eaten since that morning, and that was just a toasted bagel. Turning your back to the rest of the room, you began filling up your plate with cocktail shrimp and grapes.

“Nice jersey.” Ippei said, coming up next to you, grabbing small sandwiches for his plate.

“Is that sarcastic?” You questioned with a smile, finishing your plate.

“Nah, I’m sure he likes it.” Ippei jerked his head to the left.

He? You leaned back to see around the man, meeting Shohei’s surprised face almost immediately. Had he been standing there the whole time? He had obviously been staring at your back, at his name, bashfully looking up to your face when you moved, blinking a couple times to clear his eyes.

“I uh, got it ten minutes ago.” You grinned awkwardly, pointing your thumb proudly at the jersey, hoping he wouldn’t think you were a weirdo.

The large player didn’t say anything, blinking more slowly this time before opting to just nod gently, with a quick “thanks for your support”, hurriedly leaning forward to start filling his plate with all kinds of foods.

—-

Once everyone had their food the three of you found a place to sit while you ate, it was at the back of the room away from the noise, and where the two usually sat before a game anyways. A small conversation started while the three of you ate calmly.

“Why... do you only have grapes, and shrimp?” Ohtani questioned suddenly, looking at your plate baffled. You looked down at it as well, pausing for a moment trying to find out what was so weird about that.

“Uh, well, it’s because... these things are... super expensive in Tokyo. It’s like a rich person food to me.” You smiled, eating a couple shrimps happily.

“Wow. That’s so sad.” Ippei chuckled before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Shohei on the other hand burst out laughing at your response, making you laugh a bit too at your pitiful confession.

“Seriously, I feel like a mega-rich, and very posh, Ginza lady right now - eating nothing but shrimp and fruit. So fancy right? ” You exclaimed, popping a grape in your mouth.

The Japanese player laughed even harder, tears building up as he wiped his eyes.

“Those people wouldn’t touch that stuff with a three-meter stick.” Ippei stated, letting out a small laugh.

“Just let me have my moment.” You pouted through a smile, shoving more shrimp in your mouth.

The other man calmed down finally and was now sitting there smiling while he ate.

“So, fancy y/n, are you okay to sit in the dugout tonight. Not too unrefined for you?” Ippei questioned with a smirk.

“That’s, allowed?” You asked, surprised.

“Yeah, if you want to. Can’t stay there the whole time, but.” The man responded nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s the best place to hear, ‘the surprise’.” Shohei added, food in the process of being shoved in his mouth.

“Well, doesn’t seem like there’s any other option.” You smiled at the player, who nodded in acknowledgment.

“He’s batting first tonight, you won’t have to wait long.” Ippei spoke, starting on the next sandwich.

“Hope me being in there won’t be bad luck.” You joked.

“You believe in that?” Ippei smirked.

“My family ingrained it into me, wasn’t allowed to watch a single super bowl game in the living room till I literally moved out.” You frowned, stabbing a grape.

“Harsh.” The man smirked with a small laugh under his breath.

“You will be good luck, for sure.” Shohei leaned forward in a hunch to take another bite of food, smiling sincerely at you as he looked up from his food.

“Then, I will see to it that will become a very good omen. Please believe in me.” You responded in the highest form of keigo you knew, bowing rigidly from your seat for comedic effect. Since you never studied that level of grammar, it was really freaking bad, causing the two men to laugh again.

“You’re funny.” Ippei chuckled.

“Yeah, and your Japanese is so good though?” Shohei exclaimed, eyebrows raised, eyes wide.

“Nah it’s pretty bad, I fell off the study wagon a long time ago.” You laughed awkwardly, waving a hand in front of your face.

“You’d be there forever if you stayed on.” Ippei chuckled again, while Shohei nodded in sullen agreement.

“Writing would be nice though, having to look up every other kanji at the doctor's office, or like city hall makes me literally sweat, like, a lot. Buckets. But when I look around, I'm the only one.” You giggled.

“You’re so honest.” Shohei chuckled, wiping his mouth with a napkin, still leaning forward in his chair, you grinned back at him. Your eyes locked for a while, you had never noticed, but his eyelashes were sort of long.

At that moment Ippei had to take a call, letting the two of you know he’d be back in a bit, walking off. The two of you looked away and finished eating in silence.

When you looked up from your empty plate, the large player was now staring at you with a soft expression. The warmth in his eyes made you blush, he didn’t even break his gaze once he was caught like he usually did. You responded back to him simply with a shy smile, before being the one to avert your own eyes to the floor again.

Thankfully at that moment, a group of Angels came over, slapping the Japanese man on the back, starting up a conversion. They were going over strategies for the game and overall just getting hyped up. You didn’t have much to input, so you just kind of sat there enjoying the excited chatter. Shohei smiled merrily the whole time, inserting little jokes, completely affected by their excitement. The way he carried himself really reminded you that the essence of baseball was really just about having fun with your teammates and giving it your all. He looked simply happy to be there, and it made you smile too, just watching him goof off. It was charming to see his duality of being a just big kid with endless laugher, versus the super-serious, and seasoned player he was on the mound.

You were really trying hard not to but, you were rapidly developing feelings for Shohei. The last three months of volunteering here, you of course thought he was really cute and kind, classic boyfriend material. A simple crush, like many of the girls working around him, surely had as well. However the possibility of you two actually dating had always been a foreign concept, one which stopped you from even considering it, at all, you just didn’t know if you even could. With you both traveling for work, how would there be time? Plus, what about the media? His family? Yours? All those things seemed unscalable walls, that is, until this moment, when you could feel his gentle eyes on you once again.

Maybe, there was something? Or maybe, he was just a super nice guy, and you were treated no different than anyone else.

When you snapped out of your thoughts, Shohei was starting to stand up, grabbing everyone’s empties plates. He reached his hand towards you, asking for the one in your hand with a tiny nod of his head, to which you thanked him, stood up, and handed it over.

Well.

Either way, you were so screwed.

-------

Hope you enjoyed! <3

[thotsforvillainrights]

Hey friend! (Not gonna lie I'm jealous of that Kai plushie ;-;) I'm sorry to bother but do you remember that chibi au? I was just curious how would you do it? Maybe with Shigaraki? Could be hcs but only if you want to do it. Have a great day ^^

(I abuse that plush every single day. I punch his stupid face all the time, I love him so much. I highly recommend getting one so you can throw it against the wall too. Perfect for stress!😂 Anyway, I remember a long time ago of your Chibi works and I’d love to try my hand at it. I can only hope it would turn out even half as good as yours did. Wish me luck as I put my little spin on things!)

~Chibi! Soulmate AU: Shigaraki Edition~

headcanon|scenario|imagine|match-up

(This is from the reader’s P.O.V by the way!!!)

It happened again today and to say you were both warmed yet upset by it was an understatement. Another new couple was formed today in public. This time it was in the mall when a boy met his soulmate for the first time. Watching the two men combine as their Chibis happily disappeared was gut wrenching since you figured it would never happen to the likes of you. It was around that time of the year where Chibi soulmates were more prominent in the community than usual. Who’s to say where and when these things came about. There haven’t been much scientific studies on the creatures, and many people theorized they came about around the time that quirks did. Either way, it was that time of the year again and they were seemingly everywhere. Although they were like tiny squeaking humans, they were widely regarded as a temporary pet of sort. Some people got one in their lifetime. Some people ended up luckily with two if one of their soulmates died and by chance was reincarnated as another person. Some people unfortunately would never get a Chibi nor a soulmate in their entire life. By now in your age you had figured you’d have gotten your soulmate. Really it could happen to anyone at any age but it was more renowned that it happened around this age group of yours. You spent your days watching soulmate connection videos online, and reading about forums where people hadn’t received their Soulmates. When you got home that night you had fully prepared to read some more articles until you opened the door and saw him. You gasped while dropping your bags on the ground and you followed as well, dropping to your knees. 

The Chibi was rooting through the snacks on your shelf, struggling to get into the bag of chips before nearly falling off the counter and basically almost killing itself. “You quickly caught him and laughed while still in shock. “How did you even get up there!?” It looked at you in annoyance before squeaking once. He laughed lightly and gently placed him on the ground before standing up and grabbing the chips. He watched from the ground as you grabbed a bowl, opened the bag, and poured some chips into it. You put the bowl on the ground and watched him munching on the snack, squeaking happily with a full mouth. “To just eat this bowl would probably take you all night little guy.” It growled a bit before continuing to eat. You sat there and admired the light blue tint to his hair and the cute little dot on his chin. It was rather peculiar to see the damage to his skin along his face and his neck, but you weren’t one to judge. He was your soulmate and as far as you could tell, he was beautiful to you even by just viewing his Chibi in the moment. 

When the little guy was done snacking you placed him on your shoulder and you continued with your evening. Without needing to do any reading you actually freed up your time and took on a lot less stress about the whole Chibi situation. Now you could spend time doing things you really enjoyed like watching a movie or playing a mindless game on your phone. It would’ve been more relaxing had you not had to deal with the unnecessarily LOUD squeaking commentary from the Chibi on your shoulder. It was as if he was directing you on the game when you were sure you knew it better than him. “Well fine if you think you can beat this level then by all means feel free to try.” You said sarcastically as he climbed down your shoulder and held got good balance on your arm. To your surprise, he absolutely obliterated the level and caused you to get a new high score. He flashed you a rather smug look and you rolled your eyes. “Oh please, that was beginners luck!” 

The rest of your week would usually be more mundane if you were alone but you ended up having a bit more fun with him there by your side. Grocery shopping, work, even just sitting in the park and enjoying the sunlight was different when you weren’t alone for once. Of course don’t forget you were also ever vigilant now that he was around. You always scanned the crowd as you searched desperately in hopes to find your one true soulmate. You haven’t found him yet but you felt it would be soon. 

And you were right.

One particularly hectic morning was brought about as your phone alarm shocked you awake from being set too loudly. You slapped the desk quickly in search of the snooze button and your phone accidently fell to the ground and cracked. Your Chibi peered up at you with concerned red eyes before you reassured him with a small scratch to his head. “Oh I’m sure it’ll  be okay. I’ve dropped it plenty of times!” You were wrong. And now you found yourself standing in the worlds longest line at the phone store while you waited to get it repaired. You had finally almost made it to your turn in line when your Chibi started squeaking frantically and running around like a chicken with his head cut off. “Hey wait! WAIT!” You shouted, pushing past someone and following your Chibi out of the store. You were so worried you’d lose him that you kept your eyes on him and him only as you were chasing. Most people moved out of your way since they either knew what was happening, or they just didn’t wanna get ran over by some random crazy girl/boy/person running down the sidewalk. You ended up slamming into someone’s chest as a Chibi that looked exactly like you stopped just short of your feet and smiled at you. “Wha...?” You rubbed your head and looked up at him...your Soulmate. He was even more beautiful in person than you had ever imagined. By the look on his face, he clearly felt the same way about you. You were so taken aback with shock and happiness/relief that you hadn’t noticed your little Chibis disappearing. A part of you was saddened by the fact but how could you stay upset for much longer when the person you were always meant for was standing right in front of you. It felt like it took years to get to this point. You clearly had a lot to catch up on 💗

Instagram: @pastelbattydraws & @pastelbattystore

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRNMJH7vHL7APNobUykhK4w?view_as=subscriber

[cinematicnomad]

what's your favourite sterek fics?

anon. ANON!!! i have so many sterek fics that i've devoured over the years, so i'm going to try and do this reclist justice but please know this is not all encompassing. please note that i tend to read long fics so be prepared. a lot of these are fics that i discovered when i was deep in the sterek fandom back in college but i promise you they are all classics. with that being said...let's go!

divided we stand by KouriArashi/@gingersnapwolves (29/29 | 156+ | M) AU—werewolves are known; alive hales; mates; slow burn; angst with a happy ending

derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of...

note: this is the first fic in the searching ceremonies series and is one of my all time favorite fic series. each fic delves into a different mystery that stiles works on solving while also exploring his developing relationship with derek. this fic series is filled with the BEST world building and does what i love best about AUs by taking what we know of canon and tweaking things just so to tell a new story. i cannot recommend this series enough.

don't savage the messenger by exclamation/@jessicameats (61/61 | 172k+ | Ex) AU—werewolves are known; human/werewolf war; slavery; threats of violence; slow burn

there is an uneasy truce between the werewolves in the woods and the humans who live in beacon hills, protected by a magical boundary that gives warning any time a werewolf crosses it. then the sheriff is taken by werewolves and his son offers himself in exchange. stiles promises to serve the werewolf pack, not knowing what horrible use they might have for him. but it turns out his most useful skill is the ability to cross the boundary line between humans and werewolves. life with the werewolves is nothing like he feared and the werewolves themselves are nothing like the hunters' stories would have him believe.

ever after by Sybilina (11/11 | 57k+ | M) depression; suicide attempt; domestic violence; hurt/comfort; stiles is pushed out of the pack

four years ago, stiles left beacon hills, to go to college, to get away from the pack, to try to mend a broken heart. he thought he'd succeeded by right when graduation came around, his whole world fell apart. again. there's only so many times stiles can deal with his world falling down around him. this was one time too many. it isn't about getting the girl, or the guy, because romance and lovey feelings aren't a cure for depression.

note: pay attention to the tags on this fic before choosing to read. this fic deals in very heavy topics but honestly does it in such a carefully thought out and compelling manner.

three marks by sanam/@sanam1712 (8/8 | 113k+ | M) AU—human; alive hales; no hale fire; soulmates; slow burn; age difference; minor derek/paige

"and then there was pain again, but this time it was in only three places—his arm, below his clavicle, and next to his heart, all on the left side. it felt like the skin was being sliced apart, ripped open, flayed off— and suddenly it was done. derek looked across the room and saw the boy on the floor, looking about as bad as derek felt." derek and stiles learn that bonding is probably best done with ridiculous amounts of video games and maybe a little bit of time.

those are the days that bind us by s_a_m (5/5 | 52k+ | M) stiles is pushed out of the pack; magic!stiles; running away; PTSD; canon-typical violence

his father wasn't stupid. he was an officer of the law, trained to look for patterns. he confronted stiles about werewolves and they shouted and stiles tried to explain but his father was so, so, so mad, more mad than stiles had ever seen him, ever in all his life and then his father looked at him and said, "it's like you're not my son anymore." and stiles broke.

note: this might be my favorite sterek fic? i am SUCH a sucker for BAMF magic!stiles and i do have a soft spot for fics where stiles leaves beacon hills and figures shit out on his own. this fic is also the first in a series with the same name, with the follow up fic being a retelling from sheriff stilinski's POV and the third fic being a wildly original retelling from the original villain's POV. i can't tell you how many times i have re-read this series but it is...A Lot. this author has never written anything else in the teen wolf fandom and i still cry about it tbh.

find it in our hearts by Regann (17/17 | 103k+ | T) past derek/kate; past sexual assault; kid!fic; s2 compliant; family drama; domestic

kate argent had a lot of secrets, some of which she took to the grave. when one of them shows up on chris argent's doorstep in the form of kate's five-year-old daughter, it's not long before more to come to light—namely, that kate's crimes against derek hale didn't begin and end with the murder of his family. it's no surprise that as soon as derek learns about his daughter's existence, he decides that nothing will keep him from claiming the only family he still has in the world. stiles finds himself firmly in the middle of the hale-argent family drama, slowly growing more certain of his feelings for derek and ever more sure of the inevitable heartbreak they'll bring.

tiny houses by ohmyjetsabel (7/7 | 77k+ | Ex) mpreg; rape/non-con elements; depression; body horror; angst with a happy ending; magic

so this is what stiles does. he lies in scott's bed and waits for melissa to say she's found someone to get it out of him, to cure him of the wrongess and the bad, and he dreams. god, he dreams. he dreams of fire and swollen bellies and that scene in alien, of giving birth to jackals through his urethra, the whole horrific nine yards. his head is a terrible place to be, he can't imagine his stomach is much better, why anyone would want to put a thing inside of it.

note: pay close attention to those tags bc YES this fic has mpreg in it. to each their own, but it's usually not my thing so when i tell you this is one of the only mpreg fics i'll read and that it's actually one of the best fics i've ever read, believe me. this fic delves deep into the actual body horror intrinsic of mpreg and really explores how isolating and traumatizing the experience would be for stiles. this fic is heavy, but so, so, so good and it genuinely has the best slow burn between stiles and derek. i'll say that most of the heavy, darker themes are covered in the first 2 chapters and then the fic moves into one exploring parenthood. i highly recommend it, but if it's not to your taste don't feel bad!

just act normal by zosofi/@zosofi (10/10 | 78k+ | Ex) s2 compliant; future fic; actor!stiles; deputy!derek; canon typical violence; slow burn; past trauma

if someone had told stiles back in high school that he would be an oscar winning actor by the time he turned 25, he would've probably told scott to punch them. the thing is, though...they would've been right. which makes returning to beacon hills, center of all that is supernatural and better left avoided, all the more awkward.

if the ley lines you should follow by forestofbabel (10/10 | 52k+ | T) alternate universe(s); parallel universe(s); temporary character death; magic!stiles; angst

and derek just stood there, staring at stiles like he was a ghost. "dude, i know it's been a while but you don't have to look at me like you're that surprised i'm hung over in the woods. it's practically a tradition at this point." "stiles?" derek whispered, the name falling from his lips like a punch to the gut. stiles watched, confused, as derek took a deep breath in and took a shaky step forward then back again. "you're not—you can't be. who are you?"

note: this fic is the first in the ley line series. it was originally intended to be a stand alone fic, so can be read on its own, but i highly encourage you to read the sequels (in order)—the world building is phenomenal and the parallel universes get super trippy. especially part 3 which is from (a) derek's perspective and really pulls everything together. i will warn that while each fic ends happily, each are heavy on the angst—especially part 2, which i remember just emotionally destroying me when i read it the first time.

by any other name by entanglednow (1/1 | 19k+ | Ex) amnesia; action/adventure; angst; canon-typical violence; magic

he doesn't know his name, he doesn't know who he is, and neither does the werewolf he's on the run with. but he's pretty sure they hunt monsters, because they seem to be really good at it.

easy trouble by Survivah/@optimismology (15/15 | 55k+ | M) fae & fairies; dub-con elements; love spell; slow burn; angst with a happy ending

derek + stiles + fairies = love spell "make love to me," derek demands. what.

note: this fic takes a common trope (love spells) and then really flips it on its head and wrings out the most angst possible. there's some light parts of this fic, and then some very heavy ones, but it's def a fic that's stuck with me over the years.

the standing dead by standinginanicedress (8/8 | 166k+ | Ex) AU—celebrity; past domestic violence; past abuse; alcoholism; angst; friends with benefits

"tell me you're not seriously with derek hale." stiles pretends to check that the guitar is in tune (of course it is, they tune all of these before he shows up), and then makes a face like he has no idea what scott is talking about. to sell it, he says as much out loud. "who?" "who?" scott's eyebrows disappear into his hairline, his mouth falling open in shock that stiles would be so bold as to deny it. "stiles, that guy is an asshole." "that's fine," stiles waves it off, "because i'm not with him, so it doesn't matter."

misfire by unpossible [podfic by mothlights] (6/6 | 28k+ | T) alternate universe; parallel universe; fae & fairies; magic; time travel; angst

"the debt must be repaid," she says, and it has the weight of a vow. the words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILF now there is galadriel's much hotter older sister, a Presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-Thai-takeout hallway. "oh shit," stiles says.

note: this fic fucking destroyed me. bc it takes the common trope of time travel fix-it fics and then asks what happens when the person who fixed everything has to return to a timeline they have no connection to. i love this fic but also i hate it bc just the thought of some scenes makes me want to sob. this fic also has a sequel that explores the story and the world from other POVs and gives some insight into what sterek's future looks like together.

sleeping dogs by starsystems (6/6 | 42k+ | M) s2 canon compliant; pining derek; oblivious stiles; age difference

let sleeping dogs lie. prov. do not instigate trouble; leave something alone if it might cause trouble. derek hale is asleep in stiles's bed. and it just escalates from there. because of course it does.

don't know what i'm supposed to do (haunted by the ghost of you) by crazyassmurdererwall/@crazyassmurdererwall (1/1 | 30k+ | T) canon divergent; ghosts; insecure stiles; oblivious stiles; angst with a happy ending

stiles sees dead people. yep. seriously. (he's got this. he's totally got this. so what if one of them is derek's mom?)

note: literally E V E R Y fic by alli is amazing, but this is my personal favorite because i am an absolute sucker for fics where a character suddenly gets the ability to see and talk to ghosts. and then alli just has to be an insanely talented writer who always makes me cry with her depictions of stiles and derek. if you haven't read this fic, please, stop what you're doing right now and rectify this mistake.

where the real beasts are by kaistrex/@kaistrex (12/12 | 109k+ | Ex) AU—historical royalty; full shift werewolves; past abuse; alive hales; hurt/comfort; happy ending

crown prince stiles is gifted a direwolf on his eighteenth birthday by king gerard I of venatia. the only instruction? never remove the collar. stiles never has been one to do as he's told.

i've lived for these few seconds by kyrene_writes (12/12 | 124k+ | NC-17) minor steter; minor character death; physical assault; semi-graphic violence; underage; angst

even in beacon hills the dangers aren't always supernatural. there's plenty that is supernatural, of course, and sometimes that can include the solution as well as further danger. even though this can mean playing with fire.

note: this fic used to be on ao3 but was taken down by the author, though it's still published on their dreamwidth account. please pay attention to the warnings on this fic as it deals with heavy topics including homophobia and violence against lgbtq individuals. this is a sterek fic, but there are steter elements and peter does emotionally manipulate stiles.

actions speak louder than words by isthatbloodonhisshirt/@isthatbloodonhisshirt (25/25 | 434k+ | Ex) AU—werewolves are known; magic!stiles; dead sheriff stilinski; alpha derek; slow burn

"i apologize." the cop finally looked back up at his face, seeming thrilled. "it's just—it's been so long. and we finally have you." that was a bad word. not found. have. stiles wrenched his hand free and took a step back, but before he could even think up a game plan, he felt a prick in his neck and jerked away, reaching up to slap one hand against it and twisting in the same moment. one of the others had come up behind him while he hadn't been paying attention, and his vision began to swim even as his eyes caught sight of the half-empty syringe the guy was holding.

ahead in the count by elisela/@elisela (17/17 | 50k+ | E) AU—sports; pitcher!stiles; teacher!derek; long distance relationship; getting together

“yankee fan,” derek says, laughing when stiles makes a disgusted face. “the bronx bombers, stiles, you can’t be a new yorker and—” “stop talking right now,” stiles sighs, shaking his head. “i can’t believe i still want to kiss you after that,” he says, pulling derek in by his coat. “this is making me rethink everything.” “i’ll never watch them again,” derek promises, and stiles laughs against his mouth. or: stiles is a starting pitcher for the NY mets when he meets and falls in love with derek. derek doesn’t know.

note: eli is WICKEDLY talented and i'm obsessed with her southpaw series which continues to grow and evolve and fill me with the softest, sweetest feelings. this might be the fluffiest fic i've recced so far on this list and honestly it's SO GOOD.

stand fast in your enchantments by DevilDoll & Rahciach (3/3 | 76k+ | Ex) alternate universe; magic!stiles; feral!derek; captivity; torture; PTSD; slow burn

"stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." an AU in which derek is feral, stiles is magical, and they eat a lost of fast food.

put down in words by paintedrecs/@paintedrecs (31/31 | 203k+ | M) AU—human; professor!derek; student!stiles; POV alternating; age difference; slow burn

"oh," stiles said, his voice coming out low and breathy, "fuck me." "i don't think that's on the syllabus, but we can check to see if there's a spot open in any of his classes," scott said, grinning. "this isn't an actual professor, though," stiles insisted, unable to resist brushing his thumb over the sharp line of the man's bearded jaw. he was laughing at something off-camera, the shot taken in three-quarters view, his coat collar casually rumpled and opened to reveal a sliver of a simple grey t-shirt. the whole thing was deliberately calculated to lend him a more accessible feel, and god help him, stiles was falling for it. * when stiles signed up for dr. hale's intro to history class, he had two goals: knock out the credits his advisor was bugging him to complete before he graduated, and spend a few hours a week daydreaming about his sexy professor's salt and pepper beard. derek, a few months away from turning forty and not sure when his life had started feeling so damn lonely, had never encountered someone like stiles before. bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, determined to throw derek's carefully cultivated world into disarray...and absolutely the last person derek should be falling in love with.

note: i tend to avoid professor/student fics but this one was SO good. i binged it all in one night and suffered the consequences the next day and felt no guilt about it. this fic is WORTH it and comes with some beautiful artwork!

play it again by metisket (3/3 | 63k+ | T) time travel; dimension travel; magic!stiles; alive hales; temporary character death

in which stiles goes along with one of derek's plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. he should've known better. he did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself. "laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral cat. derek wants to have him arrested for stalking. they're at an impasse. (and the rest of the family is staying emphatically out of it in a way that suggests bets have been placed.)"

break me like a promise by Sidara (1/1 | 9k+ | G) crossover—mcu; stony; magic!stiles; canon divergent; violence; world building; non-linear

stiles has to learn to live with his choice. so does everyone else.

note: this is the first part of the 3 part rattle loose your bones series. i don't engage with much mcu content anymore, but this fic series is amazing and was written around the height of the first avengers movie craze. these fics are non-linear and have incredible world building that i am always obsessed with.

i know that you love me, even when i lose my head by LunaCanisLupus_22 (13/13 | 135k+ | Ex) AU—a/b/o; temporary amnesia; internalized homophobia; canon-typical violence; mates

"we're not mates, cora," he insists. "i mean look at him—" "ouch," the kids says, no longer pushing that shit eating grin. "he's—he's," derek tries, at a loss of how to explain why this can't be possible. why it shouldn't be possible. or the one where derek gets attacked by hunters, ends up with amnesia, and forgets stiles is his mate.

present by reillyblack (25/25 | 112k+ | Ex) AU—werewolves are known; werewolf!stiles; mates; enemies to friends to lovers; pack dynamics

when stiles's best friend scott presented as a werewolf, it was just the worst. it was front-page news, there were reporters outside his house asking him questions, and people at school stared and kept their distance or interrogated him mercilessly. worst by far was that it meant scott had to leave immediately with the werewolf pack in the mountains—which no one knew anything about. stiles couldn't even visit, so he only got to see scott once a month when he came back to visit his mom. it sucked. a year later, he presents too.

note: so the tags on this story mention a/b/o dynamics but honestly i don't remember that element of this fic tbh. what i DO remember is that this fic really builds up the world and gets deep into stiles' psyche and his resentment for how little he understood when scott went away which makes it harder for him to bond with the pack when he first presents. there's a mystery conspiracy that has to be solved and the author writes a compelling story filled with angst and pining and all the best parts of fanfic.

it seems wasted now by DaaroMoltor (12/12 | 48k+ | T) stiles is pushed out of the pack; magic!stiles; bamf!stiles; miscommunication; angst; hurt/comfort

it's been months. months of lonely days and lonelier nights. and stiles can't understand what he did wrong.

what i did on my summer vacation by grimm (4/4 | 118k+ | Ex) AU—werewolves are known; full shift!derek; feral!derek; magic!stiles; alive laura hale; slow burn

there's something weird about beacon hills that stiles can't quite put his finger on. the way everyone in town knows his name the day he arrives. the way they insist the melancholic howling that echoes through the forest every night is just a dog. the way his dad denies getting a dog, even though stiles comes home to find one sprawled across his bed, some big black thing whose eyes gleam red in the right light. the way that massive oak tree out in the woods vibrates under his touch, pulsing with sickly life. there's something weird going on in this town, and stiles is determined to get to the bottom of it.

note: this is a great fic where the sheriff moves to beacon hills when stiles is in college and he comes to spend his summer vacation in the town. it’s got a central mystery going on and has feral, full shift derek living as a wolf in the woods that stiles, naturally, befriends and helps to heal. this fic does an amazing job at building the world around them and slowly introducing stiles to the idea of the supernatural before revealing the truth about derek’s identity. a lot of feral derek fics tends to spend most of their time with derek as a wolf and only tangentially have him as a human towards the end—this fic does a great job of splitting the fic into two pretty equal parts so that you really get a chance to know both sides of derek, and witness how his relationship with stiles evolves.

and last, bc this list is v long, i’m tired, and since it's my list i might as well—here's my own lengthy sterek fic that i am still a fan of tbh:

taste your beating heart by cnomad (19/19 | 112k+ | M) AU—canon divergent; magic!stiles; post-s3a; slow burn; pack dynamics; canon-typical violence

something was wrong in beacon hills. derek was halfway across the country when he felt a call to return to his hometown, and somehow stiles had been talked into letting the werewolf stay in his guest bedroom. this could lead to nothing good.

[soramei]

Intentional - Part 5

Pairing: Bang Chan x Reader (she/her)

Summary: Landing your first real job at JYPE was something short of a miracle. You were prepared to face the new struggles of this elusive career whilst moving to a new country, however, nothing could have prepared you for him. Will stolen glances, secret touches, and hushed nights spent in the recording room ever be enough for the both of you?

Genre: idol!bang chan au, forbidden relationship, coworkers to eventual lovers, slow burn

Warnings: cursing, eventual smut

Word Count: 4.0k

Masterlist

A/N: yeah so about that upload... i was really busy this whole week but i hope to start uploading mondays again! thanks for understanding!!

Taglist (reply to be tagged!): @planetdemon​ @hvunvely​ @fluffybitch0325​ @fashi0nablee @juststop88 @straykisz @theultimaterad @margaritas-en-la-montania @meowtella

There was a pause in the phone call.

You started biting your nails, instantly regretting what you had just done. Basking in your stupidity, you could only wait for his response, for it was too late to retract what you had just said. Your day must have been worse than you thought. It must have been so bad that you had the nerve to ask Bang Chan — an idol, a person with a strict schedule, somebody who you had an argument with — to come over to your pathetic little apartment.

You kept nibbling on your fingers.

“I’ll get my jacket.”

You froze, eyes wide.

“Huh?” You were bewildered. You weren’t even expecting an answer, much less this.

“It’s cold this late at night,” he explained, “I’ll be there soon.”

You didn’t know what to say. You heard rustling on the other side of the call.

“Wait, I’ll tell you my address,” you blurted out.

“You did,” he said.

You frowned, trying to remember if you did or not. That’s right. You blushed at the memory of your first day of work.

“Oh yeah, umm, I’ll hang up now.” You awkwardly said, hanging up before Bang Chan could fit another word in.

You were a statue in your own apartment, clinging on to the last words exchanged on your phone. In actuality, you didn’t know why you asked him to come over. It was just blurted out in the moment. Or maybe it was a result of your extremely frustrating day. Either way, you felt extremely embarrassed that you did so, especially so late at night.

You started boiling some water, still trying to rationalize what you had just done. This was normal for friends, right? Na-eun and Yoojin came over just yesterday and you were friends with both of them. You knew for a fact that you two were friends, but you still couldn’t find an explanation for the strange feeling in your chest whenever you were around him.

Turning your phone on, you checked your face in the selfie camera. It was a miracle that your makeup didn’t smudge off. You thanked your new ‘CLIO’ foundation cushion, it looked like all that time you spent doing your makeup didn’t go to waste. You stared at your reflection for a couple more seconds before turning your phone off. Why did it matter what you looked like anyways? You wiped off any remaining lipstick with the back of your hand.

The kettle started rumbling, letting you know that the water was ready. You took out your mug to prepare some tea. It was a bad idea to have tea this late at night, but there was something about your mother’s tea that could knock a grown man out.

Sipping your tea, you turned on Youtube to an episode of a Korean web-drama that was getting really popular. It was another one with some rich CEO and a clumsy average girl, but you still watched, fully enamoured. On the recommendations list, there was a video with Felix — the other person you saw at the cafeteria on your first day — on the thumbnail. I can never escape from work, you thought to yourself, rolling your eyes.

You clicked on it anyways, just to pass the time. Watching through the video, you were shocked by the production value. Well, that, and Bang Chan. Whether it was hair and makeup or just his acting, he was so different from the person you knew in real life. You were in awe by his natural charisma gleaming at you through the screen as it was a rare quality that few people you knew possessed. Embarrassingly, you found your eyes drawn to only him in every group shot. He looked good in an apron.

You got distracted by more random videos before clicking back on your drama. The next episode was just about to start when the buzzer to your apartment rang.

It was Bang Chan.

Hurriedly, you shuffled towards your door. With your hand on the handle, you took a deep breath before opening the door.

“Hey,” you smiled.

“Hey,” he smiled back. He was leaning over you, his forearm on the doorframe. His coat was bulky, almost engulfing his whole upper body. He was wearing the same beanie you saw on multiple occasions, and in his hand was a white plastic bag.

You stepped aside, silently gesturing for him to come inside. He took your hint and sauntered in the room, head turning left and right to observe his surroundings.

“It’s not much,” you blushed, realizing how small your apartment really was. You could basically see all your belongings from the center of the room.

“No, it’s cute.” Bang Chan looked at you, taking his hat off. His dimple peaked out. “I brought some leftovers from that barbecue place. The kids and I went there after our shoot today.”

So that was what the bag was. With only food on your mind, you rushed to help hang Bang Chan’s coat before setting the table up.

The food was really good. They were leftovers, but it was so good. Stuffing a bite of pork belly in your mouth, you sighed. Where was this food earlier today?

“It’s good, right?” Bang Chan asked whilst chewing on a piece of meat. “I’ll take you next time.”

It was like he read your mind. You nodded eagerly in response, to which Bang Chan replied with a smirk.

“So, uh,” he scratched the back of his neck, “how was your date today?”

You rolled your eyes, not wanting to remember that embarrassment of a night. It was such a pity too, because that man was probably the most gorgeous man you’ve ever witnessed. You swore he had just stepped out of a webtoon when you first met him.

“It was alright,” you shrugged. It was difficult to reflect on the date without putting a damper on your mood, but maybe vocalizing it would have helped ease your discomfort. “He compared me to a model, you know.”

Bang Chan chuckled, making you look up in confusion.

“Was it because you looked exactly like the model?”

“No,” you replied.

His face immediately fell. “You’re kidding, right? Y/n, tell me you don’t believe anything that loser said. He’s got to be something below garbage if he was comparing two women.”

“Thanks, Chan.” You tried to force a grin on your face. “I appreciate it.”

There was a pause.

“I know my opinion means nothing, but Y/n, I think you’re beautiful.”

You stared into Bang Chan’s eyes, frozen like a statue. Your heart was beating so loud that you could hear it more than you could feel it. He stared back at you from across the table; mouth parted, breaths uneven.

You’ve received many compliments before, to which you would always reply with a smile and a quick ‘thank you’. However, it felt as if your brain malfunctioned in this moment and your heart was the only thing keeping you alive. You could still feel your body, but you couldn’t think.

“Thank you, Chan.” You awkwardly coughed, blushing profusely. Immediately focusing your eyes at the table, you couldn’t bear to keep looking at him.

The two of you ate in silence, with only the tapping of chopsticks adding to the ambience of the room. You wanted to make conversation with him, but you did not want to be the first one to break the silence. It frustrated you that you were so shy right now as you’ve never been like this back home.

To heck with it, you thought. There was no need to be shy around him.

“So,” you still couldn’t look him in the face, “any shows you’ve been watching lately?”

Small talk was good. You could do small talk.

“Actually, I’ve been wanting to watch this Transformers movie for quite a while.”

“Transformers?” You’ve never heard of that one. It must’ve been an American movie.

“Seriously?” his eyes widened. “You’ve never seen Transformers before? Oh, we’ve gotta watch it now.”

“You wanna?” you smiled. “I haven’t used my TV since moving in.”

“Mhm, let’s do it.” He stuffed the rest of the leftovers in his mouth before standing up and clearing the table.

You watched him clear the table in a trance. You should have offered to help since it was your own home, but watching the veins on his hands appear and disappear was way more interesting. Watching him, you suddenly remembered the hoodie.

“Oh, that’s right!” You exclaimed, shuffling over to the bag with the hoodie in it. Taking Bang Chan’s black hoodie out, you held it up to him with both hands.

He looked down at you and chuckled.

“Keep it,” he took it from your hands and slipped the hoodie over your head. “At least until you buy a new jacket.”

“I will.” You rolled the sleeves of his hoodie higher to show your hands. You turned the light off, leaving only the floor lamp to illuminate your apartment. Grabbing the remote from your coffee table, you summoned Bang Chan over to the couch.

You turned on the TV, fooling around with the remote control for a few seconds before giving up.

“I give up.” You sighed. Pouting, you handed the remote over to Bang Chan. He took it from you and started reading the buttons.

“Netflix, right?” Bang Chan asked, to which you nodded. “There we go.”

He scrolled through the titles, looking for the coveted movie. Once he found the movie, he quickly selected it and turned the subtitles on. That was nice of him, you thought. Although you also studied english in university, it was nowhere near the level of watching a full english movie.

The title sequence started and you tried to immerse yourself in the movie. You watched in awe, surprised at the fast pace of the action already.

Fully engrossed, you started to sink your back into the couch. Half-way throughout the title scene, you felt Bang Chan stretch his arm behind you to rest on the back pillow. Suddenly, you started feeling too aware of your surroundings. You sat up straighter.

Throughout the whole movie, you caught wafts of Bang Chan’s cologne everytime he moved. He smelled like safety and familiarity.

You turned your head up a little to get a glimpse of his profile, mapping out every edge and curve of his face. The light illuminated the tip of his nose, along with his dewy cheekbones and chin. The plum of his lips were let slightly open, allowing his teeth to peek out slightly. You unconsciously let out a sigh.

“Something wrong?” He turned his body to face you.

You shook your head and focused on the movie.

The rest of the movie was pretty good, although it lost you at parts. You watched the end credits in silence, not knowing what to say.

“So,” Bang Chan cleared his throat beside you, “I should get going now. Since it’s late.”

You turned your head to face him, not realizing how close the two of you had physically gotten throughout the movie. Looking up at him, your face was inches away from his. His face was almost enveloped by the darkness of your apartment. You heard his breathing get heavier.

“Yeah,” you breathed out, “you should.”

He didn’t get up though.

You heard his staggered breath as you kept looking in his eyes. The end credits had long been over by now. Your own breath was just as shaky and you heard your heart beat out of your chest.

He started leaning in. Slowly.

Your eyes widened. You gulped, your nerves snapped you back to reality all of a sudden. Wasn’t he supposed to be your friend? This wasn’t what friends did… Right?

Clearing your throat, you leaned back shyly.

“You should go. I don’t want the others to notice you’re gone.”

Silence.

“Yeah.” Bang Chan’s lips flattened in a line. Without another word, he stood up and walked towards your door.

You followed him in silence, hoping to at least send him off. Wrapping your arms around your torso, you watched as he put his boots on in the dark. He tied his laces, and with a nod, he opened the door and stepped out.

You were left with a sour taste in your mouth and a cloudiness in your head. Still standing in front of your door, you tried to process what had just happened. However, you couldn’t. All you could think about was the soft curls of his hair, the delicate threads of his eyelashes, and his lips. The dusty rose of his lips. The parting of his lips. Inviting you in.

You were frozen, looking at nothing particularly. The only thing on your mind was Bang Chan.

The door opened.

“Hey, sorry, I forgot my jack-”

His sentence never got a chance to complete itself as you rushed to him, wrapping your arms around his neck. As your lips touched his, you felt a fire ignite in you like nothing you’ve felt before. Your fingers clawed at the nape of his neck, wanting more. Wanting to be closer.

Almost immediately, Bang Chan responded. He was taken by shock at first, but his hands didn’t waste any time to grip your waist. You felt the muscles of his shoulders tighten as he pulled you closer.

He moved you back into your apartment by the waist, lips never leaving your own. You blindly shuffled backwards, only focused on trying to get closer to him. If that was even possible.

You ignored the clunking of his boots against your clean floor, allowing him to guide you to the couch. A whimper left his lips as you used your hand to comb through his hair, pulling it. His soft brown curls were silk against your fingertips.

The back of your legs hit the couch and he turned you around so he could sit on the couch. Your lips finally left his. You gasped for air, trying to steady your deep breaths.

Bang Chan’s breathing was synchronized with yours, his equally as unsteady. He reached his hands out again, grabbing your waist and pulling you on top of him. You were a ragdoll, responding to whatever he wanted to do to you.

With each knee on either side of him, you gripped his jaw and kissed him again. The fire inside of you instantly reignited. It was addicting.

The two of you didn’t dare to separate from each other, only parting to gasp for air every now and then. Even in the dark, you could imagine the plum of his lips and the threads of his eyelashes. This drove the fire in you more.

“What if the boys realize you’re gone?” you breathed out the next time you parted from his lips. They were most likely sleeping, but the thought still worried you.

“Fuck them.” Bang Chan exhaled. Grabbing the back of your neck, he reconnected his lips with yours. You gladly complied.

His sloppy kisses slowly moved from your lips to your jaw, then to your neck, eliciting a soft whimper from your throat. This seemed to only edge him on as kept leaving sloppy kisses against your neck, all the while running his hands up and down your waist.

His cologne surrounded you, keeping you safe. Soon later, the adrenaline left the two of you, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing to fill the room. You brushed your thumb under his eye to which he deeply inhaled.

“Chan?” you said. He was leaving kisses all over your collarbone.

“Hmm?” He didn’t seem to pay much mind to what you were saying.

“It’s half past three. I really think you should get going.” You didn’t want him to leave, but you were almost sure he had another packed schedule for tomorrow.

“Mhmm.” Your words went in one ear and out the other as he made his way up your neck again. You couldn’t help but close your eyes and let out a small moan.

“C’mon, get up. How did you even get here, by the way?” It took everything in you to break away from his touch, but you were starting to get sleepy.

“Taxi.” He said, helping you get up from his lap. He stood up after you, brushing his hand against your waist one last time before making his way over to his jacket.

“You’re allowed to ride a taxi?” You tilted your head, sceptical.

He slipped his jacket on.

“No.” He peppered little kisses on your cheeks. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that now.”

You giggled, pushing him by his shoulders out the door. He played along, pretending to stumble with every step he took back.

“Text me when you get home,” you said, repeating what he said to you on your first day of work.

He nodded in response and winked before turning around to head home. As soon as the door shut, you slapped both hands against your face. Your little act of impulse had spun your head in spirals. You didn’t know whether to feel relieved at the fact that Bang Chan reciprocated your impulsive actions, or to worry that you had not only just kissed your coworker — but also a freaking idol. No one — not Manager Chen, your friends, or even anyone in the general public — could know about this. If they did, both your careers would be screwed.

You doted on this thought as you got ready for bed, only the worst possible outcome came to mind. If either your manager or his manager knew about what happened tonight, you could get fired. Or even blacklisted. You sat in bed, nervously biting your nails.

Your phone buzzed.

Bang Chan: Hey, I got home. Nobody’s awake… ^^

Bang Chan: Don’t think too much, alright? It’s late, go to sleep…

You felt relief reading his text. For some reason, he knew you were overthinking your actions. You decided to listen to his words and go to sleep.

The next day, Sunday, was very uneventful compared to the day before. You texted Bang Chan back when you woke up, but because of his busy schedule, he hadn’t had the time to reply yet.

Yoojin called in when you were eating lunch, asking about your date. You told her the truth, explaining how there would definitely not be a second date with that man. She sounded disappointed and vehemently tried to set you up with another man in her pool. You politely declined, thinking about your restless night with Bang Chan.

You finished some work ahead of time to free up the next week. Since you were invited to work with Manager Chen at the content shooting, you assumed that you could lessen your work stress ahead of time.

The shooting days were allocated for Friday and Saturday, with there being an overnight stay at the mountains. Whilst you didn’t know the arrangements for Stray Kids, you were informed that the production crew booked a small lodge for the team. You were excited to not only see a behind the scenes of a real shoot, but to also possibly form a closer relationship with Manager Chen.

You were thankful that you did some work ahead of time as Monday’s workload was so much lighter than usual. People were still coming to you with their ideas for the project, but with your other work done, you had the time to go through everybody’s ideas.

You didn’t hear from Bang Chan the whole day, which was nothing out of the blue. You remembered him showing his schedule to you once. The amount of things he had to do everyday had your eyes bulging out from their sockets. All of a sudden, you were thankful for your nine-to-five job.

The next couple of days ran the same way as your Monday, with you easily breezing through your workload. Since you had more time during your breaks at work, you took to exploring the part of the building that you could. You admired all the art, the trophies, the awards and memorabilia. Of course, you also spent more time with your new friend Na-eun.

On Thursday, the day before the shoot, you were helping the producers by translating some notes for the script. All was going smoothly, when you got a text.

It was from Bang Chan.

You weren’t going to lie; you were curious as to what he sent you. He was basically silent the whole week so far, and if you were being honest, you missed hearing his voice. And seeing his face. And feeling his hands brush against your waist.

Bang Chan: Come to my recording room… I’ve got something to show you.

Your eyes lit up right away, curious as to what he wanted to show you. Quickly checking the time, you decided to take your lunch break then and there. After all, you didn’t have much work left for the day anyways.

Locking up your computer, you zoomed inconspicuously past all the other cubicles and made your way to the elevators. You weaved through the hallways of his floor, praying that your memory didn’t escape you. It seemed like your memory was on your side today as you found yourself in front of a familiar set of doors. You didn’t bother to knock before going in.

Inside was Bang Chan: feet up on the desk, drinking from his iced coffee, concentrating on his producing software. You smiled. He looked so comfortable, even in an ‘office’.

He had his headset in, and didn’t seem to notice that you had entered. You went up behind him and tapped his shoulder. He turned around, and immediately threw his feet off the desk and stood up upon seeing that it was you. You smirked.

“I should really put a ‘please knock’ sign on the door.” He cursed under his breath. He reached behind you to close the door.

You giggled.

“So, what do you have to show me?” you wondered aloud.

“A new song. Since the filming is tomorrow, the producers put me on a time crunch to finish the song by today.”

So that was why he was so busy, you thought. You didn’t realize how the sudden filming would have impacted his schedule for the month. Especially since it would take up two whole days.

He let you sit in his chair, and hovered over you to press play on the song. His chair smelled like his cologne.

As he was playing the song, your eyes drifted up to see his face. The face — even after only four days — you missed. The dark circles under his eyes were prominent. That, along with his disheveled hair, told you that he truly was dedicated to his work. You imagined him sitting where you were, two in the morning, sipping on his iced americano.

“You like it?” His eyes drifted towards you, resembling a puppy bringing a ball back to its owner.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know how you managed this in just a few days,” you said. And you were sincere too. You couldn’t imagine yourself doing any of this.

“Eh, you know, late nights.” he shrugged. “Wanna see another?”

You nodded, and the two of you began listening to another one of his songs. You listened in silent wonderment.

However, the silence didn’t last long as the two of you soon found yourselves on the couch: hands all over each other, lips the same. You were lying underneath him, his arms resting on either side of you to hold his weight up. Your lips never left his as you ran your hands up and down his defined biceps.

The two of you couldn’t stay away from each other. The sound of the songs that he had put on shuffle filled the room, along with a fleeting sigh of moan every now and then. Bang Chan’s hand had started wandering up your blouse when, all of a sudden, the door opened.

“Hey, I have the lyrics h-” He stopped mid-sentence, eyes wide.

Crap.

[shorkbrian]

Mirrors

Prelude - Haha Hi I've never done anything quite like this or this long (like 5k bich) but I am THORSTy and I’ve been sitting on these asks for so long I’m so sorry. ALSO to the ppl sending me the sweet gentle asks about my blog guess what??? I would D I E for you legit I read one of them this morning I almost teared up. I haven’t cried (Except for like (TW) s*ui*ide cry lol those don’t count) since like??? last year?? no joke. 

ANYWHO idk how to write a praise kink so I went with like, insecurity? but then Kiribaku likes makes the reader just melt cause they keep praising her and they bring it out during nasty times and she's GONE yeeted off the earth it makes her so hot and wet lol.

Pairing - Kiribaku X Reader

Prompt - 

Warnings - NSFW!!!! Dirty talk, my best effort at a praise kink, mirror stuff, ummmm mentions of kidnapping. DUB-CON big time, maybe technically even noncon cause reader DOES NOT want it but has just. resigned herself to being a plaything.

Music - https://youtu.be/STO4-8vkG0U 

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“What the fuck did you just say?”

You couldn’t meet Bakugou’s eyes. HIs gaze was so intense, eyes so passionate and fierce. You were so embarrassed, aware of Kirishima’s gaze fixed on your form from where he was seated in the armchair.  

“I-I…….. don’t like it…. when you talk like that….”

“Fuckin’ what?” Bakugou barked, his brows knitting in confusion.  

“What do you mean, baby?” Kiri stood, moving to sit next to Bakugou on the couch so he could see your face.

You wiggled around uncomfortably in your spot on the floor,  where you were kneeling between Bakugou’s feet.  Kirishima had made some comment, something about how pretty you looked being so sweet for Bakugou. You were literally just sitting there, but Kiri thought you worthy of praise

“It’s not true…… I’m not-my body doesn’t look nice and I just….. every time you guys say stuff about me, all I can think of is how bad I look.”  It was hard to choke out the words, your face flushing red as your eyes filled with tears. You were so embarrassed, having to explain your insecurities to your kidnappers. It was bad enough that they dressed you up in slinky outfits, booty shorts and thin shirts that were almost see-through. You hated it, hated the way it made you feel, hated the way it made you look. It was humiliating.

“Well that’s a bunch of bullshit. I don’t go around saying shit unless it’s true.” Bakugou glared down at you. He seemed angry that you would even have that view of yourself, the foot resting on the floor by your hip beginning to tap in agitation. 

Kirishima scooted closer so he could reach you, his hand coming up to stroke your hair. “We mean what we say. You’re beautiful, such a good, obedient little girl for us.”

“No, no - please don’t say that kind of stuff!”  You were getting worked up now, tears falling freely as you hugged your arms around your body. Kirishima shared a look with Bakugou, the two men quickly deciding to drop the conversation and move on to something else.

“Tch, whatever. C’mere”  Bakugou patted his leg, prompting you to shuffle out of your kneeling position and onto his lap. You would rather not, but you knew what resistance would result in, and you’d prefer not having to nurse a sore bottom and mild burns for the next few days. Bakugou wrapped an arm loosely around your waist, tugging you closer to him on his lap. Kiri still petted your hair, pressed up against the blond man’s side as he smiled at you.

“It’s fine baby, calm down. Maybe one day you’ll see what we see.” Without leaving any room for you to argue, Kirishima planted a quick smooch on your forehead before rising from the couch. “Do you two have any preferences for dinner? I was thinking we could order something from that yakisoba place, remember Bakugou? The one Mina recommended.”

“Yeah, go for it. They have any spicy shit?”

Tuning them out, you swiped at your tears, trying to reel yourself back into a steady emotional state. You feel so weak these days, both physically and emotionally. Being held captive by the two men had worn you down, made you prone to teary outbursts. You held no control - your daily routine dictated by the men from the first day they had snatched you from your home. You were reluctant to obey, had even fought them at first, but you quickly realized it was easier (and less painful) to just do what they wanted.  

Fighting was useless.

——

Weeks had passed since your little outburst. Unfortunately, Bakugou and Kirishima weren’t willing to give up praising you every chance they got.  You had an inkling suspicion that they had upped the amount of comments they made about you ever since that day, enjoying watching you squirm and your face go bright red. It made you blush, yes. Made your heart beat a little faster, made you flounder for words if you were in the middle of speaking. But you just felt….. shame when they praised you. 

They lauded you for your obedience, how compliant you were for them. Kiri would ask you to sit down and wait at the table while he answered the door (“don’t make a sound baby.”), and you did. Bakugou would have you sit in his lap while playing video games, and you tried you’re best not to squirm. It made you almost feel sick inside, how quickly you had adjusted to being their “good girl”. You just wanted to please, didn’t want them angry at you.

What really made you blush was when they would strip you down, bend you over the nearest surface. They’d be fucking into you, fondling your body while whispering compliments in-between kisses. You never felt “beautiful” nor “delicious”, no matter how many times they told you otherwise. It was especially humiliating when one of them would take you on the bed, the other watching. You always wanted to hide, shield away your body from their prying eyes, but they never let you.

You just didn’t get it, didn’t understand what they saw when they looked at you. Staring into the bathroom mirror, all you saw were your imperfections, your insecurities.  It was shameful, pathetic. You felt entirely unworthy of the attention and love you were being showered with.

——

The boys had seemed more… energetic today, Kirishima almost seeming to bounce with each step, Bakugou smiling gently at you. It made you nervous. It made you even more nervous when Bakugou took his leave, giving both you and Kirishima a quick peck on the lips before going out the door. It was a weekend, and you knew that both men didn’t have work today. You tried asking Kirishima where Bakugou was going, but all you got out of him was a laugh and “Don’t worry about it! He’s gonna do a little bit of shopping.”

Well, at least that eased your mind a tiny bit.

You didn’t have much time to dwell on it though, Kirishima herding you into the basement.  It was the their home gym, filled with weights and machines that kept the two men strong and fit, and you weren’t usually allowed down there. If you were, it was because both of the men were present, and they could watch you while they worked out (you knew that they liked showing off for you, even if they didn’t admit it.).

But today Kiri wasn’t going down there to work out. Once the two of you made it down the steps, Kiri was pulling an exercise bench over, instructing you to lay down on it, belly up.  You did what he said.

“‘Kay, I’m gonna go upstairs to get some stuff. I want your shorts off by the time I get back, alright baby?”

You nodded.

Sighing, you shimmied your shorts down as he left. You never had to worry about underwear - they never let you wear it unless you were on your period. You knew vaguely what direction this was going in, and had already resigned yourself to getting fucked silly by the redhead. It was practically useless trying to resist.

When he came back, you were surprised. He had rope and…… a Hitachi. That was new. In the short time you’d been living with them, you had gotten used to their habits when they fucked you. Neither man was too interested in toys,  preferring to stimulate you manually, so this was an unwelcome surprise.

“Mmhm, you look so sexy baby.” Kiri kneeled down next to you, before peeling apart your thighs. He grinned at you, shark teeth flashing, before snatching up the Hitachi wand, pressing it directly against your pussy. You didn’t like where this is going. 

He didn’t turn it on, instead reaching for the rope that he had brought down. The redhead began wrapping it around your thighs, lifting your legs to encircle them with the rope. It took a few minutes, which were tense, silent as you watched him work.  He made sure to also circle the rope around your hands and torso, anchoring your arms by your side. When Kiri was finished, you were trapped, unable to move your legs, to even simply part them an inch. The Hitachi wand was still directly on your pussy, snug and unmoving. It rubbed against your clit, making you bite your lip at the delicious friction.  Kirishima gave you a flashy smile, turning to ruffle your hair. Distantly you noticed he didn’t have a shirt on.

“Alright babe, we’re gonna have some fun while we wait for Katsuki. You know what this is?” He tapped the wand nestled between your legs.

“It’s…. It’s a vibrator.” You managed, throat suddenly dry.

Kirishima seemed to beam even brighter. “Yeah! I’m gonna turn it on, let you have your fun. But you gotta tell me before you cum, okay? Think you can do that?”

A quick nod from you and the vibrator buzzed to life between your legs, Kirishima not in the mood to dawdle. Your back arched off the bench at the sensation, the pleasure quick and intense. Kirishima stayed kneeling beside you, watching you writhe as he changed the speed of the wand. 

It didn’t take long for you to cry out, “Kirishima, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum!”, a thin sheen of sweat covering your body. It made your shirt stick to your chest, accentuate the heaving of your breasts as panted. Right before you orgasmed though, Kiri flipped the off switch, the vibrations cutting off and leaving you hanging. Your eyes shot open, confusion furrowing you’re brow.

“Wha-Kiri? What?”

The redhead smirked, pressing a hand to your tummy to prevent you from moving against the wand, desperate for more stimulation, desperate to orgasm.

“Not yet baby, not yet.”

He patted your stomach soothingly as you stared up at him in confusion. You had been so close! Why have you tell him when you’re going to cum, only to rip that away from you??

A minute passed, then two, Kirishima still rubbing his big hand across your tummy. It was meant to be soothing, a soft gesture, but it only heated your skin, made pleasure thrum in your veins. When you had sufficiently calmed down, chest no longer heaving, Kiri reached down and flicked the wand back on, chuckling at the way you desperately ground against the rounded head of the toy.

“Mm, desperate little baby, aren’t you?” He was kissing your neck, letting his tongue slip out to lick at the skin there.  It set you on fire. Reaching the high of orgasm came even quicker this time, spurred on by your movements and determination to cum. If you didn’t tell Kirishima when you were about to, he wouldn’t be able to stop you. So you stayed silent, circling your hips as best you could, leaning into the hot kisses being pressed to your throat.

All of a sudden, the vibrator clicked off, Kirishima’s hand on your tummy once again.

“Thought you could get away with that one? You’re so cute.”

You felt like screaming, yelling out your frustration. He knew your body too well, could feel the hitch in your breath as you prepared to orgasm, felt your fingers tighten, clenching around nothing. He had stopped the vibrator right as you were beginning to feel it, the wave of pleasure. It was frustrating.

You could hardly believe you were thinking this, but you couldn’t wait for Bakugou to get back.

——

It was torture, having your orgasm slip away from you time after time. Kirishima was having fun, groping your chest, leaving sloppy kisses along your neck and collarbone. He liked seeing you struggle, almost at the point of begging and pleading with him in your need to cum.

He had been edging you for a while now, you didn’t even know how many orgasms he had yanked you away from. Kiri had just stopped you once more, turning the vibrator off and holding you still /right/ as you felt yourself letting go. You wanted to scream, on the verge of tears. But then Kirishima was glancing at his phone, stuffing it in his pocket before standing so he could untie you from the bench.

“Bakugou’s back, we’re gonna go see what he brought home for us!”

You could barely think straight, wincing when Kiri removed the vibrator pressing up against your pussy. You were drenched, pussy wet and red and puffy, your own slick covering your thighs. Kirishima helped you to your feet, guiding you into your shorts. You were too out of it to do much, simply letting the man guide and push and lift your body as he pleased. When he pressed up against you to pull your shorts snug over your hips, you felt his bulge through his shorts, poking you in the stomach.  You suppose he’d been waiting for relief too, just the same as you.

Kirishima helped you totter up the basement stairs, then guided you towards the bedroom, hand on your waist. You stumbled through the door, eyes immediately focusing on the giant mirror leaned up against the wall. How had Bakugou even gotten it through the door?  

“Damn Kiri, you’re really worked up.”

Bakugou was sitting on the bed, unlacing his shoes. Kirishima chuckled, hand leaving your waist so he could go sit beside the blonde.

“Me and her both man. Had to hold myself back, she was making such raunchy sounds.”

Their attention turned to you, both men smirking as they eyed you, Kirishima still with a prominent tent in his shorts.

“Yeah, I fuckin’ bet.”  Bakugou smirked. 

Kirishima stood, stepping languidly around you until he was at your back, broad chest pressing up against you.

“I mean, look at this -“ a hand cupped your mound, making you jump. You were still sensitive from being denied so many times, even the slightest touch had you twitching. “ - she’s fucking dripping.”

It was true, the crotch of your shorts soaked with your juices. Kiri rubbed his index finger against the seam, pressing it up and against your clit. You shuddered, hand flying up at grasp onto his arm. It felt so good, you hated his touch, didn’t want his hands on you, but oh, your body liked it.

Kirishima pushed you forward, fingers still teasing you through your wet shorts.  You gasped when you were pushed face first into the bed, bent at the waist.  A hot, blunt hardness rubbed up against you, Kiri’s hand still cupping your mound.

“You’re being such a good little bitch, letting us do whatever the fuck we want to your stupid little cunt.” 

You lifted your eyes, saw Bakugou smirking down at you as you were rocked gently by the force of Kiri’s humping. The blond was palming himself over his jeans, but your attention was quickly shifted when you felt your shorts getting ripped down, off your body.

“Step out.” You obeyed. Kirishima was hungry, lustful - voice deeper and serious now - no trace of his signature lightheartedness. He always got like this this when he was excited.  Your head was wrenched to the side, cheek mashed against the bedspread, large hand pressing and holding you in place. Belatedly, you recognized you were facing the mirror leaned against the wall, could see Kirishima’s bulk behind you, his shorts already pulled down to reveal his hard cock. If you hadn’t taken it before, you would be scared. He was thick, blunt and girthy - not to mention a considerable length. The tip was flushed red, almost purple, shiny with leaked precum and almost swollen. 

“Look at yourself in the mirror baby, you see that? How nice you look, all obedient and ready to take my cock? Such a good, sweet little girl.”

You looked so tiny compared to the redhead, the man having to bend his knees slightly to rub the head of his cock against your pussy. You tried not to moan when he focused it on your clit, rubbing it rapidly over the nub.  “Kiri - please……Aah! Let me - lemme cum..” You whined.

“God, you’re so perfect, you know that?” He breathed out a laugh, still rubbing the head of his blunt cock over your clit, hand still forcing your head to the side, making you watch his movements. You almost wanted to cry - being teased and denied for so long. You just wanted to cum, wanted to get this over quickly so you could go shower. 

Normally seeing yourself in a mirror was something you’d try to avoid, not favoring the way you looked. But now, you were mesmerized, watching through the reflection the way Kirishima’s red cock pulsed as he finally, finally slipped it into your opening. You choked on a moan as he slowly stretched you out, feeding inch after inch of his wide cock into you. In the mirror, you saw him tip his head back, groaning low in his throat when he finally bottomed out, fat balls pressed flush against you.

 “Fuck, oh god, feels so good. You’re so good, can feel your pretty little pussy trying to milk me.” He leaned down, warm chest plastered across your back as he whispered in your ear. 

“You really want this, don’t you? Such a gorgeous baby, so sexy and hot and  perfect.”

The man didn’t start out slowly, he never did. He was aggressive, unrelenting as he thrust his fat cock into you over and over. Your legs were shaking, the pleasure making you weak-kneed, your tongue lolling out of your open mouth, unable to quiet your moans. Kirishima’s pace was frenzied, excited, animalistic as he chased his own pleasure, the sound of his skin slapping against your own filling the room. It was incredible.

His dick hit all the right spots, pressing you closer and closer to your orgasm. If he didn’t let you cum this time you were going to cry.  Your could hear the lecherous, sinful sounds of your pussy squelching, milky juices getting everywhere. It coated his dick, was covering your thighs. You could feel drops of wetness being flicked everywhere on every thrust, the wet, fast slaps of his thighs against you making your stomach clench even harder.  The hand in your hair pulled up slightly, wrenching your head back in order for Kiri to give your a quick, desperate kiss - full of teeth and spit. He had hardly detached from your lips before he was mouthing at your back, spitting out filth as he did so.

“Shit, I love you so much. Wish I could be inside you all time - see how easily your body takes me? You were made for this, such a filthy little baby. Always look so tempting, always wanna fuck you, fill you up, make you squirt.” 

His words were getting to you, as you were forced to watch him pounding into you, hips snapping and tensing in an animalistic fashion. It was too much - the pleasure, his crude words, the visual of seeing yourself getting fucked, worshipped. Your eyes closed, clenching shut as you moaned over a particularly satisfying thrust. Kiri didn’t like that. The hand not holding your head against the bed slipped underneath you, immediately finding your clit, pinching at it viciously.

“Open your eyes, keep watching or else I stop.”

You wailed, eyes flying open. Kirishima was smiling, still kissing sloppily at your back as he began playing with your clit.

“You always look so tasty, can’t tell you - Fuck! - how many times I think about fucking your brains out during the day - shit, you’re so good for me.”

HIs hips stuttered as he rammed forward, signaling he was close. He wasn’t the only one - your hands clawing at the bedspread, your hips moving and twitching as you tried to grind yourself against his hand, his cock slamming into you.  His big hand rubbed you just right, and it sent a pang of sizzling pleasure trough your body.  A broken cry left you as you finally orgasmed, hot, shaking, senseless. Thank god.

The wild twitching of your pussy as you rode out your high triggered Kirishima’s own orgasm, the man burying his face between your shoulder blades as his own hips twitched wildly, humping his cock into you as he released his seed.  He was cursing, saying something, but it was muffled by the skin he caught between his teeth, making you squeal as you felt hot cum shoot into you. It took a minute for the man to slow down, thrusting through his orgasm and into the aftershocks, milking and prolonging both of your pleasure. It felt so good, so right. You were so high from the endorphins that you couldn’t even think to remember how wrong this was, how you didn’t want any of it.

Pulling out, Kirishima watched his cum begin dripping out of your cunt, pushing himself away from your back as he stood, chest heaving, body glistening with sweat. You were barely able to keep yourself up, still bent over the bed, legs wobbly and arms jelly. A separate set of hands pulled you to the side, and you let yourself be manhandled, pulled and situated in Bakugou’s lap, his chest to your back.

You had forgotten about Bakugou.

His jeans were off, along with his boxers. His shirt was gone too, thrown somewhere on the floor. The blond ripped at the shirt still plastered to your chest, the fabric giving in easily to his strength. You couldn’t bring yourself to care as it shredded right through the middle, freeing your tits. It’s not like it hid anything anyways.

“Jesus, that was so fuckin’ hot, watching Kiri pound into you like that. Look at yourself, leaking everywhere like a damn hose. You like having Kiri’s cum sliding out of your soggy little cunt?” 

His chin hooked over your shoulder and he directed your gaze forward. 

There was another mirror.

It was leaned up against the far wall, allowing you a perfect view of your sweaty, debauched body as Bakugou spread you legs, hooking your knees over his own so he could force your thighs even further apart. Oh god.

He was hard as a rock, moving your body around on his lap so his dick pressed up against the outside of your pussy, cum still escaping from your hole. You were exhausted, body limp and pliant - you didn’t know if you could go another round.

Bakugou didn’t care.

A harsh slap had you crying out, a sharp “Ah!”  Filling the room. Bakugou slapped your slit again, and you tried to curl in on yourself, protect yourself from the abuse on your sensitive pussy. The blond slithered a hand around your chest, reaching up to grip your throat lightly.

“Stop that. Fucking look at this shit. See how sloppy your pussy is? Everytime I do this - “ He delivered another quick slap, and you writhed on his lap, which caused you to push against the hard cock nestled between your thighs. “ - You let more cream out.”

Without saying anything more, Bakugou shoved the hand not around your throat under your thigh, lifting you up just enough so he could slip his dick into you. HIs cock was less girth than Kirishima’s - it was  about the same length but a more manageable size. He had been jacking off while watching Kiri fuck you, so his length was already coated in a layer of his spit and precum. That, combined with the cum already drenching your insides,  meant he met virtually no resistance as he thrust up slowly.

You writhed, the hand at your throat and at your thigh keeping you steady in his lap. Kirishima was on the floor, leaning his back against the bed as he watched the two of you in the mirror, still panting and calming down from his intense orgasm. 

There wasn’t any time to adjust, to ask Bakugou to wait, you’re too sensitive to go again! He was more relaxed than Kirishima, more controlled and languid in his thrusting. He rolled his hips, bouncing you gently in his lap as he forced you to keep your head straight, despite your efforts to turn away from the mirror showing your own reflection. You looked absolutely filthy - face flushed, tits bouncing, Bakugou’s hard cock drilling into you. You couldn’t help but moan, the sight stirring up something, some heated feeling inside your tummy.You liked watching them fuck you.

“Goddamn, every single time feels so fucking good. Shit, shit shit shit - it’s like you were made for us!”

He sounded so gleeful, so truthful. You unconsciously clenched around his length, feeling tingly as his thrusts ground deep, hit every single spot that made a sweet zing of  bliss race through your body.

“Ah, ah fuck, you finally get it? You see what we’re fuckin’ on about when we say you look so damn delicious? Shit, I wanna take a bite outta you, so juicy and ripe and fucking perfect.”

Bakugou was out of breath, his voice deep as he growled at you.  You grabbed at the arm around your chest, his thighs, his hair - anything to anchor yourself as his balls papped against you. You could hear someone moaning, whining and sobbing, was that you?

Kirishima had recovered, moving to kneel between Bakugou’s and your own spread legs. “Bakugou, you two look so good together.” That seemed to spur the blond on, his thrusts speeding up as he grunted. You screamed when you felt  a wet muscle swip at your clit, looking down to see Kirishima grinning up at you, his tongue hanging out. On each thrust, he was licking at Bakugou’s cock, and then at your clit right above him, making you wiggle and spasm as you tried to escape the intense sensation.

“Kiri, Kir- stop! Stop, please I can’t! Stop, stop stop stop!”

You were pushing at his head, albeit weakly, but you were trying to move him away, becoming frantic as the combined efforts of the two men overwhelmed you, had you throwing your head back against Bakugou’s shoulder and gasping. Bakugou snickered, before plunging his tongue into your open mouth, stealing a kiss. You whined, scrabbling at his arms, Kirishima’s hair, trying to get away but simultaneously trying to bring the two of them closer. It felt so /good/, you didn’t even have the words to describe how heavenly and lascivious and filthy you were feeling. 

“Hah, you’re so wet, you hear yourself? Sloppy girl. Taking me so well, shit, so goddamn good.”

You could indeed, hear yourself. On every thrust of Bakugou’s, your pussy squelched, greedily sucking him in. It was absolutely filthy, hearing your juices and Kiri’s cum sloshing together as Bakugou shoved his cock into you, again and again. You could hear Kirishima slurping at your cunt with fervor, could tell by the slick sounds and rhythmic movement of his arm that he was frantically jerking himself off as he lapped at the point where Bakugou’s hot flesh met your own.  It was hot, not only in temperature. 

“C’mon baby, let it out, let me taste you. Wanna see you clenching around Katsuki’s cock like the good, sweet little girl you are.”

Kirishima’s words hand you reeling, and the second his lips went back to attacking your clit, you were gone. It almost hurt, how tense your muscles became, squeezing an agonizingly delicious orgasm out of you. Bakugou felt you release, his thrusts speeding up as Kirishima kept his tongue out, laving at Bakuguo’s cock as he hammered into your clenching cunt. You were crying, twisting In Bakugou’s hold as you were quickly overstimulated, shrieking as you were left with no respite.

It didn’t take long for Bakugou to cum, spurred on by your writhing and tears, the way you were begging and pleading and sobbing, imploring the men to stop. With a guttural moan, the blond gave on last thrust, shooting his seed into you, hot ropes of cum filling you up. Kirishima was still licking around Bakugou’s cock, catching the cum and slick that squeezed it’s way past the cock plugging you up.

You shivered, relaxing against the hard chest behind you as Kirishima eventually stopped lapping at you, his own arm still. He had cum again at some point, pumping his cock into his own fist. Bakugou pressed a gentle kiss behind your ear, panting hotly against the shell.

“Fuuuuuck-“ he whined out “- that was amazing.”

“Mhmm.” Kiri hummed his agreement, slowly standing. The redhead flopped down on the bed, crawling up to sprawl out on one side, head resting against a pillow. Bakugou slipped out of you with no warning, your sudden gasp as you felt wet drip out of you making him chuckle. He maneuvered your lax body onto the bed, next to Kirishima, before pressing himself up behind you, trapping your body between the two men. You were too tired to feel gross, to mind the wet slide of your thighs as you shifted into a more comfortable position. Kirishima threw an arm around your waist, leaning up on his elbow to hover over and across you, stealing a kiss from Bakugou. Then he was stealing one from you, wet mouth connected to your own. 

You didn’t fight.

When he flopped back down, you breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like you could finally relax as the two men stayed silent, all three of you exhausted, fucked out. 

This was only the tip of the ice berg. 

If you knew how often and intensely the men intended to fuck you near the mirrors, you would probably pass out. They just wanted to show you what they saw in you. It had been two of the strongest orgasms you had experienced in a while, but there was no way you’d admit it was because of their praising and insistence  on making you watch yourself getting railed by them.

For now, you let yourself drift into a comfortable doze, let the heat of the two bodies caging you in keep you warm, keep you trapped.

Why bother fighting? 

There was no escape.

[chibinekochan]

How to become a Demon Ruler 210

Part: 00 I 01 I 02 I 03 I 04 I 05 I 06 I 07 I 08 I 09 I

Gender Neutral Reader insert

taglist: @ayesha95 ; @nomnomcupcakesworld ; @fex-phoenix ; @depressed-bixch ; @kitsune-oji ; @witch-o-memes ; @gallantys ,@tanspostsblog ; @undertaker-02 ,

---------------------------------

At some point, I wake up. I hear the sounds of soft snoring beside me.

I laugh as I see Diavolo sprawled out on my bed, fast asleep.

I'm still a bit sluggish but I feel much better. It really must've been exhaustion that made me sick. I wonder how long I slept and carefully get out of bed. Tiptoeing around to not wake Diavolo. He looks kinda cute like this. It's hard not to poke his cheek when he is looking so peaceful.

I look at the clock and realize that my classes have already started. For a moment I panic when I see a note on the clock.

You are taking today off to get better.

I asked the brothers to bring you today's homework later.

-Diavolo

I smile at the poorly written note, he probably did it in the dark with only his phone light.

I suppose I should go and take a shower now. Even if I'm resting today I feel somewhat sticky.

Just when I'm about to turn around I see Diavolo opening his eyes. He looks at me with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning. You can keep lying. I will take a shower." Somehow this feels nice. Waking up like this, besides him.

"Good morning. Are you feeling better?" His voice sounds muffled, he must be still waking up.

"Yes, thanks to your great care I'm feeling much better." I show him an energetic smile.

"I'm glad." He smiles at me. "I guess I'm doing pretty okay for a big brother after all." He still seems to be half asleep but these words hurt more than I expected.

"You do." I press the words out. "I will take my shower now." I rush to the bathroom.

I'm a true fool after all. Not only can't I see Diavolo as my brother but my feelings for him only grow.

Then there is also the fight between him and Barbatos that troubles me greatly. Both of them are very important to me.

Liking two people like this at the same time is serious trouble. Especially since they both see me as master and sibling respectively.

What a mess. I could use some real advice.

I sigh and step into the shower. Trying to clear my head while cleaning my body.

It's refreshing and the thought of breakfast makes me forget my other troubles for now.

I dress and go back into my room.

Diavolo is sitting on my bed. He must need a long time to wake up. It's endearing somehow. I sigh at myself, I need to stop this.

"Ah, you are done. Breakfast came while you were away. Shall we eat together?" Diavolo stands up and walks to the already set table. It doesn't look like Barbatos work, it's somehow rather sloppily done.

"Of course, but why won't we eat in the normal room?" It seems a bit strange to me.

"Well, that is because I don't wish to see Barbatos right now. I had No. 2 serve us breakfast today." Diavolo is still hung up on what happened yesterday.

"You know that you have to see him eventually, right?" It seems somewhat childish to me, even when I understand how much this must've shaken Diavolo to his core.

"I know, but not now." He sighs and sits down at the table.

I shake my head, I need to help them to make up.

We both eat in relative silence.

Diavolo seems to have a lot on his mind and so do I.

After we are done he looks at me with a grave expression. "I fear that I have work to do."

I saw this coming. "I'm much better so you don't need to worry. I will just rest until I get my homework. I need to catch up on devil tube. Yesterday the demon brothers told me all about it." I gently reassure Diavolo.

"I'm glad to hear that. I will make sure the brothers will give you your homework and you promise that you will stay here." He looks at me pleading.

"I won't move. I promise." It's easy to agree with him since I'm still a bit tired after all.

Diavolo nods and pats my head. As nice as it feels he seems to think of me as a child or something of that nature.

It's frustrating.

"I will trust you. Get as much rest as you can. If you feel in any way off by the evening you will take tomorrow off as well." Diavolo is usually stern with me.

"Alright." I know he is only worried and so I agree.

This seems to relieve him a little bit at least.

Diavolo then looks at me one more time before returning to his duties.

I lay on my bed, scrolling on my phone through some comments under devil tube videos when I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in ," I yell.

The door is slowly opened and I see Barbatos peeking his head in. "I'm not sure if you wish to see me but I felt the need to apologize to you in person." He looks very pale like he didn't sleep at all.

"I want to see you, don't be silly and just for the records I don't blame you at all." I smile at him to strengthen my point.

Barbatos steps into my room, closing the door behind him. He has a cart with snacks and tea.

Probably his way of apologizing to me.

He slowly makes his way towards me. Then he pauses a good distance away from me as if being close to me would be a bother to me.

"It's my fault since I should have seen it. Not just because I should've been able to see that future but also because it was so obviously dangerous. I can't state enough how much I have failed you." His face looks like it's frozen or rather like he is in deep pain.

"Even if you were there you couldn't prevent any possible outcome. I mean there is always a small chance I die. Humans are fragile after all. I could slip on the bathroom or something. It's not possible for you to protect me 24/7 and to be honest, that wouldn’t be what I want. I need to do my own thing and I like to be alone too." I try to approach this from a logical angle.

"That might be true, but I always prevented any likely harm to you. I always tried to lead you down the path of least likely harm." Barbatos seems to have a hard time telling me this.

Now a few of his strange requests make sense.

"So you were saving me without me even knowing it? Thank you for that." It's very nice of him for sure.

Barbatos nods. "Sadly for some reason, my ability seems to weaken when it comes to you. I'm not sure why. Usually, nobody is capable of surprising me at all but you somehow always do." A short-lived smile appears on his face.

"I see but then you are even less to blame. No matter what you think I don't blame you at all." I can understand his guilt but I miss the old Barbatos.

"I appreciate the sentiment but honestly I was thinking of stepping down as your butler. I can't serve you properly." His face mirrors deep pain.

I also gasp at his words. "There is no way that I'm willing to accept this!" I raise my voice.

Barbatos seems to be taken aback. "But master, I cannot give you the full protection that you need. I failed you."He is serious.

I can't just let Barbatos quit. His duty is so important to him and he always works so hard to make me and Diavolo happy. Even when that also creates a gap between us.

"I can't stop you, but I will not accept another butler or maid to serve me." I look at him with determination.

"But Master, you need someone to serve you." Barbatos frowns.

I cross my arms. "Too bad, if I have to have a servant it can only be the best and that is you." I'm stubborn but I'm also right.

Barbatos sighs, he seems conflicted. "Even master Diavolo told me it would be better if I wouldn't come near you anymore." These words seem to hurt him.

"Diavolo is just very scared that this might happen again. I think it's easy enough to prevent though. And regardless of his feelings, my trust in you is unmoved." I voice my feelings for him.

the

Barbatos closes his eyes. There must be many things running through his head right now.

"Be honest, would you want anyone else to serve me?" I know his answer could hurt and I brace myself for that possibility.

Barbatos opens his eyes, they aren't wavering at all. "No." Then he pauses a moment. "I would not like that one bit. I believe I'm the best to serve you." His pride as a butler has not been broken at least.

I nod. "I feel the same way. Even if you can't see every possible future I want to keep you as my butler. I care deeply about you and there just can't be anyone else." I let my true feelings slip a little bit but it looks like my words reach him.

He smiles gently and steps closer. He kneels on the ground just before my bed. His eyes focus on me.

My cheeks grow hot. He is so close.

"May I keep being your butler despite my countless failings?" He asks in a very humble-sounding voice.

"You may, in fact, I order you to do so." I do my best-spoiled brat expression.

Barbatos then takes my hand and kisses the back of it. His lips feel cold but pleasant.

"I swear I will do whatever I can for you. Whatever order you give me will be fulfilled." Barbatos is earnest, this exchange is very intimate. I can feel the weight of his promise.

"I gladly accept you as my butler but don't forget that I also see you as a friend." And potentially more but I don't mention that part.

Barbatos nods and smiles softly. "Thank you for your kindness."

At least he seems more normal now, but the rift between him and Diavolo is still very much there. I need to think of a plan.

But first I want to eat the delicious snacks that Barbatos has brought me.

"Why don't you join me for some tea?" I feel like it's been forever since I saw him.

He looks a bit surprised for a moment. "Very well, I have some time for that." Then he smiles and prepares the table for us.

I slowly stand up and sit down across from him. The treats all look so good. "With what should I start?" I ask this more to myself.

"I recommend these fresh hell berry tarts, they are best when still slightly cold." Barbatos points to them.

They look very good. "Alright, I will start with them."I take one to my plate and take a bite. "Wow, you were not exaggerating. This is the best tart I ever had." I pretty much have stars in my eyes. It is that good.

Barbatos chuckles. "It was well worth the time I spent then."

"Did you see this in one of your visions too?" Now you wonder if all the food was so good because of that.

"No, as I said my ability isn't working on you and I'm quite confident in my skills. I was certain you would enjoy this. Even when I didn't expect you to love it this much." He smiles at me full of confidence.

I like this Barbatos much better. "I always love your food. I might become the avatar of gluttony at this point." I laugh.

"You still are far away from that plus it's good when you enjoy your food this much." He smiles gently.

"If I'm becoming fat you take responsibility." I tease him slightly.

He simply nods. "I will."

I didn't expect this straightforward

It's somehow embarrassing so I just continue eating to avoid that feeling.

Barbatos seems to just watch me the entire time. I'm about to complain about that when he suddenly touches my cheek.

My cheeks heat up instantly. It was just a light touch that didn't even last longer than a second but it still surprised me.

"You had some cream there." He smiles sheepishly at me and licks his finger.

This feels very intimate to me. "You should eat the tart instead of the cream on my face." I try to hide my ever-hot cheeks and ever-growing emotions.

"You are right but it might taste better this way." Barbatos nonchalantly takes a tart of his own.

"You are pretty cheeky sometimes." I mostly blurt this out, but it is true.

"Only to those close enough to me." Barbatos calmly looks at me after saying such words. My heart skips several beats.

I'm happy that he feels this way about me. Though it's still bugging me that he always manages to embarrass me. He isn't as bad as Diavolo in that regard but he is very troublesome in his own right.

Then suddenly I see an opportunity for payback.

I quickly seize my chance and wipe a bit of cream off his lip. His surprised face alone makes it all worth it.

He simply stares at me, mouth agape.

"You had some cream there." I smile and lick the cream off my finger.

Barbatos cheeks turn crimson, a full success. At least until I realize that this can count as an indirect kiss.

Now we are both embarrassed.

So I guess it ends in a tie today.