#i'm not even sure. but i saw the way the narration pointed out “it's making a lot of noise”

[bibiwrld]

i'm definitely gonna need a part 2 to the nerdy loser anakin fic, it was too good. maybe about sydnee taking his virginity?

Nerdy Loser Anakin Skywalker!— His virginity!

Pairing: Nerdy loser Anakin! x Black fem oc!

Content: 18+ (Minors DNI!)

Author’s Note: Okay, watch this!💗

It's been maybe a month since that happened at Anakin's apartment. After that, nothing really happened between them again, it was just that one thing. But that didn't mean Sydnee and Anakin didn't think about it almost everyday.

They would hang out every other day, and see each other around campus more often. Like today, Sydnee finished her last lecture for the day and was headed back to her dorm, but then she saw Anakin working out through the glass of their college gym, making her stop dead in her tracks to gawk at him.

She thought he looked so fucking hot doing pull ups and he was shirtless too? Oh she could melt into a puddle right now.

He did his last pull up and was now on solid ground, and then he noticed her, waving profusely at her, his cute smile brightening up her day.

She felt like she had been caught. She gave a small wave back to him.

He then gestured for her to come in and they talked and talked until Anakin decided to go home, to which he invited Sydnee.

After taking a shower, he joined Sydnee in his room and put on a beetle documentary for them to watch.

“Darkling beetles, the leggiest of all.”

Multiple beetles crawled along the screen.

“Is this too weird?” He suddenly turned to her. “Do you want to watch something else?” He was nervous.

“No, Anakin, I want to watch whatever you’re watching.” She answered honestly, slowly batting her lashes. “I think it’s cool you watch this stuff.”

He twisted his lips, trying to fight a smile. “Y-you do?”

“Yeah.” She licked her lips.

“Syd.” His voice trembled.

“Yes Ani?”

“I really want to kiss you.” He confessed. “I-I wanted to kiss you this whole time.”

She shifted closer to him. “Then kiss me, Anakin.”

He wasted no time in pressing his lips on hers, making her topple over onto the bed. One hand pressed beside her head, while the other cradled her face gently.

“You smell so good.” She mumbled between the kiss, wrapping her arms around him, her fingers raking through his damp hair.

He moaned at the feeling, her tongue slowly easing its way into his mouth. This was new, Anakin liked this. French kissing is his new favorite thing now.

The tips of their tongues teasing each other, making lewd sounds, but the narrator’s voice from the beetle documentary drowned out their sounds.

Anakin pulled away, a string of saliva keeping them attached. He hovered over her, breathing heavily, staring into her brown dazed eyes. “That was okay?”

She nodded, biting her finger softly.

“C-can we keep going? Like all the way?” He couldn’t believe his own words, but he knew what he wanted.

“Are you sure?” She knew he was a virgin, well everyone did.

“I’m so sure, I want this so bad.” He planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

She smiled. “I do too, just don’t push yourself.”

“I won’t.” He took off his glasses, placing them on his side table, then removed his shirt and tossed it on the floor to reveal his toned torso.

Sydnee was practically drooling at this point. Eating him up, devouring him with her hungry eyes.

She touched his hand that was beside her head to get his attention. “Can you see without your glasses?”

“Sort of. I have mild nearsightedness, my optometrist says to wear them even when I read.” He replied, kissing her neck. “I can see your face, just fine, I just don’t want them to break.”

“O-okay.” She breathed out, as his kisses began trailing down her neck.

His large hands kneaded her clothed breasts. He leaned up to look at her, making sure he wasn’t hurting her.

“Can I take it off?” His hands found the hem of her shirt.

She nodded shyly.

He pulled the t-shirt above her head, tossing it on his stack of books. She wore a dark green lace bra, and his hands found a way under it, pushing it up onto her upper chest so he could have a better view of her bare chest.

He gulped, feeling his dick throb in his shorts.

“You’re staring.” She muttered.

“They’re beautiful, Syd.” He told her softly, before latching his mouth onto her left breast and pinched the right nipple.

She whined and writhed underneath him. “Ani.”

The way she cried his name made his dick twitch, no one’s ever called his name like that— oozing with such pleasure.

He then switched to the right boob, trying to fit the entire thing into his mouth, he wanted it all, he was greedy.

“Yes.” Her hips bucked. Her pussy was a wet throbbing mess underneath those shorts of hers.

Leaving her right boob, he peppered kiss down to her navel, licking along the waistband of her shorts.

‘Where did he learn to be such a tease?’

Anakin wasn’t an idiot, he may have been inexperienced, but he knew what sex was. He’s watched porn, very very intimate porn, not those actors, the real thing.

“Anakin, please.” She begged with half lidded eyes.

“It’s okay.” He came back up to kiss her forehead, before unbuttoning and removing her shorts, discarding them somewhere on the bed.

He stared in awe at the wet spot on her grey panties. “I got you like this?”

“Yes, Ani.” She purred. “D-do something about it, please.”

He bit down on his lip, slowly removing her underwear and quickly pushing them in the pocket of his shorts, hoping she didn’t realize.

“So pretty, baby.” His tongue swiped over his bottom lips as he spread her legs open, revealing the slimy mess between her legs. “You’re so pretty.”

His middle finger teased her, rubbing her folds with such an easy because of her wetness. He then eased his finger into her hole, causing her to mouth gape and hips to stutter.

“It’s so warm.” He leaned down and whispered into her ear, kissing and licking it , as his finger pumped in and out of her at a slow pace, trying to find her sweet spot. “And so wet, it gets everywhere.” He pulled away and looked at her, then pressed his thumb against her clit, rubbing it in circles.

“Oh my God!” Sydnee moaned into a nearby pillow.

He slowly removed his fingers, sucking his finger clean from her juices. “I want to taste more.” His voice trailed off, as his head dipped between her legs. His strong hands holding her legs open over his muscular shoulders. He gave kitten licks to her clit, sending her into a frenzy.

“Anakin!” Her hands found his hair, tugging at it hair, causing him to lowly groan into her.

The vibration only made her squirm and cry out more. Her moans and cries were encouraging him to keep going.

His eyes lazily peeked up from between her legs to stare at the mess of a woman before him. She looked so hot like this, eyes squeezed shut with quivering lips. His tongue lapped at her hole, slurping up her sweet nectar, making such nasty noises.

Her legs quivered, daring to close.

“No..o-open.” He muttered, prying them back open.

She became a babbling mess, from calling his name, to calling him baby, and begging him not to stop. The knot formed in her stomach, letting her know she was almost there.

“Hah! Fuck!” Her hips raised, beginning to grind into Anakin’s face. “I– cumming! Ani!” She threw head back and released a clear liquid.

Anakin was taken back by the sudden action, but that didn’t stop him from lapping everything up with his tongue.

Her hips stuttered shamelessly as the pressure of her squirt got weaker, finally laying her hips back on the bed.

“Fuck.” He licked his lips, looking at Sydnee’s limp body. “You— you uh.. squirted.” His tone was a surprised one.

She gave a weak smile as she looked at him. He was wet because of her. His face down to his to chest was soaked. She couldn’t tell when last she felt that good or even squirted.

“Sorry about your bed.” She weakly apologized, trying to catch her breath.

He planted kisses along her belly, then laid beside her. “It’s okay, I-I thought that was–uh..pretty hot.”

“You’re a pervert, Anakin Skywalker.” She teased.

He looked away shyly. “I guess I am. Do you want to stop here?”

“Stop? Can’t a girl catch her breath first?” She brought her body off the bed, straddling Anakin with a smirk on her face.

His eyes grew wide. “O-oh.”

She bit her lower lip and took off her bra, leaving her completely naked. “You should take those pants off.”

‘This is actually happening.’ Never in his 20 years of life did he think he’d be losing his virginity, especially to such a gorgeous woman.

Quickly coming out of his thoughts, he pulled off his pants and underwear in one quick motion. His dick twitched, pre cum beading at the tip.

“Aww.” She cooed, smearing the pre cum all over his tip. “You got all messy too?”

He inhaled sharply at the feeling. “Y-yeah..I did too.”

She looked at him, feeling her flutter at his words. Stroking him slowly, she asked. “You sure you want to do this?”

He nodded quickly. “Yes, I want to do this.”

She smiled, grabbing his dick and aligned with her hole. “Okay, tell me if you want me to stop.”

He mumbled an ‘Okay’, his eyes glued to where his dick was going to enter.

She teasingly rocked her hips back and forth along his shaft, coating it with her wetness before finally taking him in inch by inch.

Anakin’s right eye twitched and mouth hung open at this new feeling wrapped around him, as Sydnee groaned, being stretched to new limits.

“Fuck Ani, y–you’re so big.” She groaned, placing her hands on his chest for balance while her hips slowly rocked.

He squeezed her thighs, letting out incoherent sounds just as he looked up at with such intensity. His hands traveled, cupping under her breasts and giving them a light squeeze, he was so mesmerized by them.

She pouted so sexily at the feeling, picking up her pace.

“So g–good—oh! Sydnee!”

“Mhmm!” She closed her eyes and hummed, scratching Anakin’s chest.

Her pussy was softer and wetter than he had imagined, this was much more intense than in his pretty little head.

Sydnee now bounced on him, raising her hips and slamming it down harshly. That made Anakin jolt up, propping himself up with his elbows.

“So good, so good, oh my God.” He whimpered with quivering lips.

Sydnee leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him as she went even faster. “Such a good boy, you’re gonna make me cum.” She whispered into his ear, before tracing the outside of it with her tongue.

“Shit.” He groaned lowly, his breath fanned her neck. “I want you to cum, pl-please!” His hands found the round plumpness of her ass, controlling her movements and snapping his hips into her throbbing core.

The sounds of their skin slapping drowned out the documentary, sounding like nothing but white noise to the pair.

Her mouth was agape, barely able to form words as he was fucking her dumb with his cock. Oh how the roles were reversed now.

She was right there, she could taste it. Her legs began trembling, pussy clenching around Anakin’s thickness as the surge of electricity ran throughout her body. It’s been such a long time since she felt this, and it felt so much more fervid than ever. Anakin didn’t slow down for a minute, feeling himself nearing his pleasurable high as his dick was being painted in a creamy white color.

“Anakin.” Tears rolled down her cheeks from her new as she cried into his neck. “Please!”

“It’s okay, baby.” He hissed, holding the back of her head.

“I-I can’t take no more.” She sobbed from overstimulation, clenching even harder around him.

“I’m so sorry, baby, I’m so—fuck, fuck, fuck!” He moaned into her shoulder, suddenly spurting out his seed and filling her to the brim. “I like y-you, so p-perfect–God, you’re s-so pretty.” He babbled breathlessly into her shoulder, kissing it softly she not loosening his hold on her.

She breathed into his neck, trying to get herself together. “I–I like you too.”

His heart felt warm at her words. Finally regaining some strength, he pulled out of her, his warm seed running out of her and onto his thigh.

She nuzzled even closer to him, their sweaty naked bodies laying atop each other. They both didn’t move, both too drained to even turn the TV off as the documentary was still going.

“We should rewatch that.”

💋

[aoioozora]

Simon.

Part 6

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 7 - Part 8 - Part 9

Character: Simon Riley / Ghost Content: Biker! Ghost x Fem! Reader, strangers to lovers, fluff, civilian au

Note: Plot twist resolves, Reader and Simon enjoy the rest of their evening, more sneaky Johnny and Lindsey, Alejandro makes an appearance, and a doorframe lean 👀 enjoy!

Tags: @cmbghost @gluttonybiscuits @paintlavillered @eatingtheworldsoffanfiction

“I wanna grab both your shoulders and shake, baby, snap out of it. Snap out of it,” sang Johnny as soon as Lindsey had finished narrating the tale of her best friend's failed relationship. 

“Exactly, he needs to snap out of it and stop bothering her,” agreed Lindsey, by this time used to her new friend's random bouts of singing. 

They were sitting in the same restaurant as their friends, far enough to be undetected and near enough to spy. Lindsey's eyes moved from Johnny's face towards her friend's table and saw that she gave her phone to Simon. 

“I reckon he's playing the boyfriend again,” Johnny spoke, also following her line of vision, “Ain't that no’ nice of him?” 

Lindsey huffed; she didn't like being proved wrong, but she had to admit it, and nodded slowly. Her eyes still remained on the duo they spied. 

____’s face paled and her gut wrenched and writhed when Simon had uttered the name, 

“Uncle John?” 

Simon looked at her with wide eyes, his jaw clenched tight. While it wasn't a look of malice or disgust but of pure shock and horror, she still winced at it and looked away at her trembling hands resting on her lap.

If she had a shovel, she'd already be digging a hole to bury herself alive. 

He raised his hand up to her and stood, indicating that he would return in a few moments and asking for her to wait. Without waiting for her approval, he hastily stepped out of the restaurant to speak to his uncle further. The watching spies saw the agitation and anger on Simon's flushed face as he strode out. 

Johnny let out a low yet solemn whistle as he turned to Lindsey. “This is no’ gonna be pretty,” he said, taking a slow sip of his drink. 

This only worried Lindsey as she looked at her friend, who was now forlorn in her seat, looking embarrassed and helpless. Lindsey longed to run to her and comfort her, but she sat still, not wanting to blow her and Johnny's cover. She anxiously gnawed at her lip and fiddled with her fingers. 

“Hey, dinnae ye worry,” Johnny offered her a reassuring smile, “That might look like a complete disaster right now but it'll all work out.” 

She raised a brow. “You sure are confident.” 

Johnny smiled as he looked out the glass doors of the restaurant, watching Simon face the road with the phone held up to his ear. He remarked, “Simon's the typa guy who wouldn't let anything get in the way of what he wants tae enjoy. He'll deal with it and call it a day.” 

Simon, outdoors by this time, was slapped by the cold wind and the spray of rainwater that it brought along. He turned sideways so that her phone wouldn't get wet. 

“Uncle, you cannot be serious,” he began with some difficulty. 

“First of all, how do you even know her? I never even told you about her… or anyone,” said John, sounding bewildered by this turn of events. 

Simon told him about it in brief. 

“And she told you about our relationship then?” he asked at the end of the account. 

“Just now,” Simon answered, inhaling sharply to keep his composure, “I can't believe you'd date someone so young. You're lucky she wasn't a minor when you dated her.” 

“I know, I know,” John sighed, “Look, when you're thirty-five and still single, it's hard, alright? I'm forty-something now and I still haven't found someone. At this point, I'm desperate.” He was unusually honest, but only because it was his nephew he was speaking to. 

Simon understood the point his uncle was trying to make and did admit that it was a tragedy, but that didn't stop him from snapping. “Desperate to the point that you'd bother your ex who clearly told you she wants nothing to do with you? And even back then, she was young and you were the adult. You should've known better than to date her! The fact that you told no one about this relationship is enough proof that you knew this whole thing was wrong! And who gives a fuck if you're desperate?” Simon inhaled sharply, his voice now sounding both pained and disappointed, “Don't you have morals, uncle?” 

Simon paused, now breathing heavily from his fiery speech, feeling his face burn. John, stunned by his usually quiet nephew's outburst, was silent on the other side, not having anything to say in argument. 

The young man continued, saying with a tone of stern protectiveness, “And besides, she's off limits now.”  

He could hear his uncle's pause even in the silence. He asked after a moment, quietly, “She really is your girlfriend then?” 

Simon's jaw clenched again. It was a lie, but he had to protect her. “Yes,” he said in a quiet growl, his voice resolute and firm. 

“I see,” he sighed, but it came out as a weary groan. “But it's a bit odd that she made no mention of her having a boyfriend when she refused me.” 

Simon paused at that. “I don't know about that but I think she didn't want to use me to get you off her back.”

“Hmm. It didn't even occur to me to ask her if she was taken.” 

Simon had to fight the urge to let out a sigh of relief. John was normally sharp, but occasionally forgetful, and Simon could thank him for that, or else she could've unintentionally blown his cover. He said, “Well, now you know she's taken.” 

John let out another sigh, a defeated one. “Alright, I won't bother her anymore.” 

Simon's lip twitched at this. He asked, “So you'll back off only when her boyfriend tells you to, but not when she tells you to?” 

John sighed the third time; Simon could almost see his uncle pinching the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was desperate or frustrated. “Simon, my boy, it's my mistake and I won't do it again. Look, you're my favourite nephew and I don't want to be on bad terms with you because of this, alright? I promise not to bother her anymore and we'll end it at that.”

Simon exhaled heavily, feeling his anger abate just slightly. “Fine,” he spat. 

“I hope it's not too much to ask but…” John began, but paused, unsure. 

“What?” 

“Since she doesn't want anything to do with me or talk to me, will you just pass one last message from me to her?”

Simon was about to refuse, but with how pathetic his uncle was sounding, he just couldn't. “What is it?” 

“Tell her that I wish her happiness in her relationship with you and that I'm sorry for troubling her so much.” He paused and then addressed him, “I know that you're more the man than I'll ever be, and you'll keep her happier than I have.”

Simon felt his heart melt at those words. “Right,” he said through his teeth. 

The call soon ended and Simon stood watching the rain for a moment, the phone clenched tightly in his hand. 

He felt a knot in his throat. Did his uncle ruin his chances with his crush? It was too much. He was tempted to blame his uncle, but it was partly unreasonable; how would either of them know about a future like this? And besides, if Simon really ended up dating her, how awkward would it be if he had to bring her to family gatherings and the exes met? 

He sighed heavily and ruffled his hair. “Thinking too far into the future,” he reminded himself. He stayed out a little longer to allow the cold weather to cool his warm face and then turned to enter the restaurant. 

He breathed in and out to compose himself, reminding himself to speak calmly, as he didn't want to worry her. When he finally neared the table she was sitting at, he saw the frown on her face and her furrowed brows as she stared at the pouring rain outside the windows. She immediately started when she noticed him approaching. 

“Simon, what happened?” she asked, her eyes eagerly following his every movement. 

“I spoke to him,” he said, sighing as he sat down, “He won't bother you anymore.” 

He might've sounded calm, but she could see the tenseness in his face. 

“He has a message for you. He's sorry for bothering you and he wishes you happiness in your new relationship.”

She nodded to acknowledge the message, and the two sat in brief silence. 

“This is the third time I had to pretend to be your boyfriend,” he began in a matter-of-fact tone, “My uncle had noticed that you didn't mention me when you refused him, but I managed to cover that up.” He paused, allowing her to let that sink in. “Tell you what, darling,” he shifted in his seat, “Let's make this consistent, alright? I'll pretend to be your boyfriend whenever you need me to. If anyone asks, you say my name. Do you understand?”

She nodded, pursing her lips. Simon had hoped that his logical suggestion would ease her worries somehow, but he saw that she still looked sullen with her downcast eyes and thoughtful look. “Are you very close to him?” she asked carefully, pulling Simon's jacket closer to herself. 

“Yeah,” he answered quietly. 

She felt her heart sink. Would her presence sour the good relationship the two had? His shock was enough for her to know that he was probably deeply pained by this. 

She was now also plagued by the same worry as Simon. Would he even consider a possible relationship with her given her past? She always believed that the past never mattered unless it had a lesson to teach, but in this case, it seemed like a vital decisive factor. 

The lady groaned and put her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.” The awkwardness of this whole situation cut so deep that she could feel tears threatening to spill. 

Simon truly felt sorry for her. He reached across the table and gently pried her hands off her face. One look at her glossy eyes gave his chest a painful twinge; he discovered that he hated to see this look on her face, and he'd do anything to wipe it off. 

“Yeah, it is, but try not to dwell on it, alright? If you think that I'm going to let your past relationship with my uncle ruin our friendship, then think again, because I won't,” he said firmly, gently holding her hands away from her face so she wouldn't hide again. 

Her interest in him made her hyper-aware of everything he did. The warmth and gentleness of his hands against hers. The intense, determined look in his eyes as he stared at her. Though her body internally reacted with excitement at this, she was also eased by his consolation. 

When he saw how his words had driven away the shadow of doubt from her face and allowed a gleam of hope to shine in her lovely eyes, he gave her a reassuring smile and let her hands go. “There we go.” 

She smiled involuntarily, although it was an embarrassed one. 

“Chicken tandoori pizza?” The waiter appeared by the table at the right time, holding the freshly baked pizza in a tray. 

The savory, spicy, and buttery smell of the pizza filled the air and the two watched eagerly as the waiter placed it on the table along with two plates, a bottle of ketchup, and little bottles of seasonings. Thanks to the sight and smell of the food, the embarrassed smile on the lady's face turned into one of utter, unbridled joy, as if nothing happened at all. Simon was relieved to see this and he smiled to himself, admiring her unintentional cuteness.

They served themselves the pizza slices and she began to eat daintily and carefully so as to not make a mess, but the deliciousness overcame her and she began scarfing it down ravenously like a dog that hasn't eaten for days, all the while singing its praises. Simon was amused to see how much she enjoyed the food, and his relief settled in firmly. Truly, there was nothing good food couldn't fix. 

After eating, Simon footed the bill despite her protesting, but he proposed a compromise where she could pay the next time they hung out. He was very persuasive, and she had to relent. 

They went to the arcade as planned, since Simon wanted to introduce her to his favourite games. And of course, their two spies followed them there swiftly, as Lindsey was keen on seeing this whole thing through. 

He taught her to play Counter Strike, first on single-player before the two tackled multiplayer together. She lamented about it being very hard, but Simon encouraged her and they played a few more times. 

They then played a racing game with actual steering wheels, and the lady bested Simon completely, which came as a surprise to both. 

“How are you so good at this?!” exclaimed Simon, staring at the ‘YOU LOSE’ slapped on his screen just above his crashed car. 

“I'm good at driving.” She winked at him, or rather attempted to; it came out as a blink. 

He chuckled. “Good at driving me crazy.” He thought to himself, finding it cute that she couldn't wink. “Well, I admit that I'm pretty bad at driving.” 

She laughed at this confession. “Really? Then it's ironic that you're a car mechanic.” 

He shrugged, smiling, “That's exactly the reason why I am one.” 

After playing a few more other games, the lady spotted a photobooth and pulled Simon with her to take some photos together. Simon wasn't much of a photo person, but he didn't need pulling; he was more than willing and happy to do what she wanted to do. 

They took four photos, all of them printed on a single strip of photo paper the size of her hand. Two copies were made for each of them, and she looked at them fondly. 

“This commemorates our first time hanging out,” she said with a grin as they stepped out of the booth. 

“We should visit a photobooth every time we hang out,” he jokingly suggested, only half serious about it. 

But she actually took this into consideration. “That's a good idea. I really like having photos like these to look back on, you know.” 

Simon immediately took mental note of that. 

“The only problem though,” he flapped the strip of photo paper to see what sound it made, “If we hang out a lot then we'll have too many photos.” 

“You're right,” she chuckled, “So, how about for special occasions then?” 

“Sounds good,” he smiled.

As they walked around the arcade looking for something else to play, the claw machine caught the lady's attention. Yet again she excitedly dragged Simon to it, and yet again, he didn't mind at all. 

While she looked through the glass box for her target plushie, Simon leaned his shoulder against the machine slightly, gazing and admiring her side profile and the focus in her darting eyes in the soft yellow lights. He watched as she put in a coin and started directing the claw to the farthest corner of the box, trying to pick up a little skeleton plushie. 

“Ugh,” she grumbled when the claw dropped the plushie so close yet so far away from the depositing hole. “I'm so bad at this,” she said with a frown, “I'm not spending another dime.”

“Here, I'll try,” Simon offered. 

She was about to move away to give him space, but he stood behind her before she did, and placed his hands on the joystick and buttons on the machine in front of her, essentially trapping her in between. 

“You want that skeleton doll, right?” he asked, leaning down slightly so that his mouth was just a little above her ear. 

She nodded, feeling her heart pounding in her burning ears. The closeness of his voice instantly reminded her of the “Good night, love” voice message he sent her only earlier that week. She breathed in and out to compose herself and not appear as though she was heavily affected by him. 

She would've watched how he controlled the claw, but she was far too distracted by his hands. They were huge, but that was to be expected of a tall, burly man who went to the gym six times a week. His nerves and blue-green veins popped out over his pale skin as his thick fingers managed the controls. The very controls were on her mid-waist level, and she couldn't help but consider what it would feel like if his hand accidentally brushed her waist as he pulled it away, or better yet, what it would feel like if he actually held her waist, circled it with his arm, trailed down to her hips and- 

“Yes, got it!” Simon exclaimed, interrupting her reverie. 

She blinked away the distant look in her eyes and heard the soft thump of the soft toy falling down the deposit hole. She watched as he brought out the skeleton plushie she wanted and handed it to her. 

“There you go. Got it on my first try,” he said with a proud, boyish grin. 

She accepted the plushie and grinned. “You're good at this.” 

“Yeah, I've always been weirdly good with claw machines,” he bragged. He moved to the machine again to try his luck, and this time, she moved away to avoid another heart attack. 

Another dime in, and out came a Charizard plushie in no time. He smiled a celebratory grin, and then handed the soft, cuddly Pokémon to her. “That's for you.” 

“For me?” she blinked. 

“As thanks for hanging out with me tonight.” He nudged the soft toy to her, urging her to accept it. 

She accepted it, holding both soft toys close to her chest. “Thanks, Simon.”

He smiled gently, feeling his endearment towards her increase. “No problem, darling.” 

The spies watched from a distance. Johnny was pleased; he never saw Simon smile and laugh so much in the presence of a woman or even in general. He was all smiles as he stealthily took his photos. 

Lindsey, on the other hand, seemed a little sullen as she watched her friend give Simon an adoring look as she cuddled her new gifts. Johnny noticed this and nudged her arm. 

“Wit's the matter, lassie?” he asked. 

“Nothing.” She looked away from the sickeningly sweet sight. 

Johnny looked at the two and then back at Lindsey. “If it really was nothing, ye'd be smiling right now.”

Lindsey shot an annoyed glare at Johnny, who was smirking at her. He playfully rolled his eyes. “Ye lassies sure love the word ‘nothing’ like it does ye any favours. It doesnae hurt to be honest for once, ye ken?” 

Lindsey also rolled her eyes, further annoyed by his playful directness. She decided it would be better to spit it out. “They look… Happy.” 

“Aye, they do,” he smiled, “Are ye jealous?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Because ye want something like that?” 

She hated how he read her like an open book. Or maybe she wore her heart on her sleeve. She didn't know which one. “Yeah,” she admitted quietly. 

Johnny saw his chance. “I can give ye that, if you'll let me.” 

She whipped her head towards him, making her long hair slap against his arm. “Uh, what?” She raised a brow. 

“I know ye heard me,” 

She narrowed her eyes at him and scoffed. “You're confident.” 

“Is my confidence a problem for you, wee lassie?” He asked with a smile. 

She looked away, as if considering it. “No… not at all.”

“Then what's stopping you?” 

“You're a stranger,” she said, knowing it was a weak argument. 

He rolled his eyes. “As if strangers can't be friends… or more.”

She shook her head and handed him her phone, the screen displaying the dialer. “Go on.” 

He grinned triumphantly. “Score.” 

Simon took ____ back to her place and offered to walk her to her door. It was late after all, and he didn't want her to go by herself. 

“Thanks for today,” she said as soon as they had stopped by her door. 

“No problem, darling,” he smiled, “So, here's where you live, huh?” His eyes turned to the door number to see what it was. 

“Yeah, you should come over sometime.” 

“Sure, I will.” 

The chime of the elevator echoed in the quiet corridors and out of the open doors emerged a slightly disheveled man in a suit. When he raised his head, he was met with the sight of his neighbor with Simon. 

“Hey, ____,” he greeted with a smile as he approached the two. He motioned with his eyes to Simon. “Your boyfriend?” 

“Yeah, my boyfriend,” she said, remembering their agreement, “Simon.” 

The gentleness on Simon's face was replaced with annoyance at the entrance of her neighbor. He was just a little shorter than Simon, black-haired and brown eyed, and just as muscular as the other. He held out his hand, a cordial and friendly smile on his face as he introduced himself, “Alejandro. Nice to meet you.” 

Simon took his hand and shook it firmly, nearly squeezing it as he narrowed his eyes slightly. “Pleasure,” he lied. 

Alejandro noted Simon's intensity, but only smiled wider. As soon as their hands let go, he gave Simon a pat on the shoulder. “Alright then, you two have fun. Good night.”

“Good night, Alejandro,” the lady returned, blushing a little bit at his last line. 

He walked past them to his apartment two doors away and disappeared behind it. The two looked back at each other. 

“Your neighbour,” he began. 

“My neighbour.” 

“Are you two close?” He glanced at Alejandro's door. 

She shrugged, leaning against her door to support her tired legs. “We're acquaintances at most.” 

“I see.” He raised his arm and leaned against the doorframe, allowing his shadow to fall over her, and for his honey eyes to darken. “If he acts weird with you, you know who to call,” he said in a whisper. 

Simon was naturally tall, but the gesture along with the shadow, his broad chest and shoulders made him appear larger and more dominant. Her stomach took no time to turn into a circus, her legs overcooked noodles, and her face a furnace. If she had any feminism at all in her, she could feel it evaporate. 

“He's fine, I don't think he'll do anything weird,” she finally answered, looking away shyly. 

“Hmm…” he paused, “But still, just in case.” 

There was a brief silence between them, and Simon stood up straight. 

“Also, don't worry about your ex. He won't be calling you anymore. I made sure of that.” 

She sighed, “I'm in your debt.” 

He chuckled, and ruffled her hair. “You don't have to be. I'm just looking out for a friend.”

“That means a lot.”

He shifted awkwardly on his feet, feeling a little fuzzy about what she said. “Now you better get back in and go to bed,” he quickly said. 

“Don't forget your jacket.” She took off his leather jacket, sad that she had to part with its warmth already. 

He took it and jokingly inspected it for any damage. “You've taken good care of it,” he said with a cheeky smirk. 

“Come on,” she rolled her eyes, laughing, “I know how to take care of other people's things.” 

“Good, because if you do,” he slung the jacket over one of his shoulders, “I'll feel like lending you my jacket more often.” 

“That's a win for me,” she now unlocked her door and attempted a wink again, but failed, making him chuckle. 

“Wait, before you go,” he paused and shoved his hand in his pocket, “Do you want a kiss?” 

She had to do a double take. “A what?” 

He pulled out a Hershey's Kiss from his pocket. “A Kiss?” 

She stared at the sweet treat in his hand and then burst out laughing. “Oh yes, sure. Thank you.” she said as she took the Kiss, her face burning with embarrassment for having misunderstood him. 

He smiled, also feeling his cheeks turn pink, thinking of the future possibility of giving her an actual kiss. “Right then,” he finally said, now stepping back, “I'll be off now.” 

“Alright, take care on your way back,” she waved at him, “Text me when you reach.” 

He chuckled at the role reversal. “Sure. Good night, my love.”

Her heart fluttered and a warm but shy smile pulled her lips. “Good night, Simon.” 

She closed the door and he walked away, both feeling more drawn to each other than ever, and relieved that her past relationship was not going to hinder what they already had and what they secretly wanted to have. 

As she entered her bedroom, she first took out the strip of photos from her bag and stared at it. While she was grinning and being goofy, Simon was more tame with his poses and smiles. When she had pinned it to the board over her desk with a magnet, she brought out the Kiss he gave her, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth, allowing it to melt on her tongue. It was a sweet way to end the enjoyable evening. An actual kiss would have been amazing, but this sufficed for now. 

She then took out the plushies she received and placed the Charizard on her bed, while the skeleton remained in her hand. She was glad that he didn't ask her why she wanted this particular one, because she wouldn't be able to admit that it reminded her of him. 

“My love, my love, my love.” His endearment echoed in her thoughts repeatedly, causing her another flutter. If his sweet words were a breeze, then she was a tree, ever fluttering and rustling gently, swaying hopelessly in love. 

“Don't take it too seriously,” she ended up reminding herself; he could have meant it cordially. It was only safe to assume that. 

She fell back on the bed, feeling the high she felt now settle down. Holding the skeleton plush high over her head, she stared at it, half wishing it was Simon who was hovering over her. She decided to name the soft toy,

“Simon.”

End of Part 6.

Part 7

Likes, comments, and reblogs are greatly appreciated! Also, leave a comment if you'd like to be tagged for future updates.

[hwanchaesong]

Altschmerz Teaser

a/n: imma give you a sneak peek for now to give y'all some idea about my works (i'm terribly sorry bc like i said, i type so slow idek why and my brain lags every 5 mins) this is an apology i can manage for the mean time 😭😭 pls do not hesitate to tell me, whatever means, if you wanted to be added to the taglist, tysm! 🥀✨

genre: angst, fluff, smut, university au, part of the ATEEZ Minisode Series

It is a good day to live and breathe like any normal person.

The weather is actually nice, a little cloudy with a nice touch of spring air, the skies are bluer than Taylor Swift's eyes and said singer's song titled 'The Man' is blasting through your earphones. You feel vigorous, your pristine white uniform for your medical course gives you a certain glow. Your classes went well, acing all of the assessments without much studying done, oh, truly a lucky day for you.

Then all hell breaks loose when your lovely friend, Felix, spills the tea during lunch at the cafeteria, his thick aussie accent that you usually love screeched like a racing car's tire in your ears.

"I heard that Kim Hongjoong of the music department has a crush on you."

"What the fuck?"

He held his hands up, explaining that he heard it while passing by their building. The way people narrated the 'girl' sounds exactly like you, and you couldn't help but roll your eyes at the information as Felix lists out the descriptions that caught his ears.

'She's from the Allied of Health and Sciences department.'

'She's really intelligent and kind, well, that's what the professors had said.'

'A fluent speaker! Shy at times but really bubbly with her friends.'

"I did say that I want some spice in my boring college life but not like this!" you exclaimed, stabbing a kimchi with your fork and aggressively eating it, the spice further heating your head up.

"Not like what?" just then, your other friend Lily, sat down beside you with her own tray of food.

"Felix here is spreading some fake news, he said that someone named Kim Hongjoong has a crush on me." you explained, side eyeing the freckled man before continuing to eat the remainder of your lunch.

"Oh yeah, he does. Some people are already shipping you together."

Then you choked at Lily's nonchalant reply, making her grimace and pat your back as an attempt to soothe your burning pharynx.

You did not expect her to agree at all, and you made sure to tell her that with the way you glared at her.

"He's not that bad, yes he is a music major like Hee-" you stare at her hard, not wanting to hear that specific name. Lily clears her throat and rephrases her sentence, "It is true that he is a music major, but you don't have to lump them all in one category. He's nice, my cousin knows him."

Felix nods, gulping his food before speaking, "Plus, it's just a crush. It's not like he's gonna court you all of a sudden."

They have a point, you don't have to make a big deal out of it. Besides, it's a rumor, most of the time it's plain bullshit.

You need to calm down. You're having a great day, a great start of the semester and you'll be damned if it'll be ruined this early.

Then the students at the library squealed like dying squirrels when they saw you enter. The other music majors at the university gates gave you a wink, hell, even one of the freshmen congratulated you and even said, 'You and Hongjoong-hyung will look good together!'

You mustered a smile throughout the ordeals, opting to finish the day peacefully like how you started it. Whatever happened today shall pass.

Well.. it should be but then you find yourself stalking the man's social media. You have already found his facebook, twitter, instagram, even his fucking youtube account (he has uploaded some guitar covers and you have to admit he's great at playing the instrument.)

You could defend yourself and blame curiosity later, but now, you'll indulge in some information that you could find on the internet. Surely you haven't seen him before, his face is unfamiliar, heck, you don't even know his name, not until your friends brought it up today.

Kim Hongjoong. A music major born on November 7, plays a lot of musical instruments, can write lyrics and is also a good producer. He sings, raps and dances (he was tagged in a dance cover on instagram, courtesy of someone named Park Seonghwa.) A passionate one in his career you assume as you watch one of his vlogs on facebook. You also listened to his recordings posted in his accounts, and you have to give him applause for his aesthetic instagram account.

He takes nice photos of his surroundings, even himself, and he does know how to make himself look good. He definitely knows the colors that suit him, outfits that make him stand out yet fully blended in the crowd if he wanted to. His hair is also unique, seems healthy despite the dyes that had stayed there for months before being layered by another one.

You lie on your bed, thinking that maybe the man himself isn't that bad. That you may have judged him early prior to knowing him. A fault on your part but it's not like you're going to meet or get to know him or the likes, you were simply curious about him and now that you have seen that his surface isn't dry nor rotten, your curiosity shall now die before the cat inside you does... and it's 3 in the fucking morning and you have 7 am classes so really, you'll still die either way.

What you did not expect though, as you wake up at 6:00 am, getting ready with max speed, was a notification that had you stumbling over your feet.

'Hongstagram has followed you back!'

Follow you back what? Since when did you follow him on his instagram?

You were careful! Very careful in what you were clicking and all that shit, not wanting to leave a trace of your visit in his social media accounts but you were so fucking wrong. You could blame the fuzzy feeling of drowsiness but you were so sure that you didn't click anything out of the ordinary.

Fuck your life.

That was your motto all day long, going as far as being dramatic with your friends during lunch break. Rambling about how he'll think you're a creep for stalking him or, or, how he'll think that you're interested in him when you swear to every rat out there that you're most certainly not.

It was horrible, except for the fact that you gotta eat coffee jelly for dinner because your father bought tons during a sale in the grocery and he couldn't resist his sweet tooth ass to buy some desserts.

Maybe you can sleep all of this away, yes, one night of beauty sleep will rejuvenate all of your worries except when Kim Hongjoong himself messaged you.

You jumped up from your bed when you accidentally tapped the notification on the upper half of your phone, due to your persistent tapping all over the screen because fuck that chop chop filter in tiktok (you're pretty sure you can cut that cucumber up to 200), opening the message and you contemplated whether to left it on read or be polite enough to reply.

You chose the latter, not really wanting for your name to be tarnished if this Hongjoong guy goes around and says that you're a snob.

Hongstagram: Hey Y/N! Sorry to disturb you, but may I talk to you tomorrow?

You: Good evening Hongjoong! I'm sorry my sched is kind of packed tomorrow, you can tell it now though.

Hongstagram: It's kind of embarrassing to say it through dms.

Oh my god. No fucking way. He's gonna confess.

Hongstagram: But okay, here goes nothing.

Hongstagram: I heard that you're one of the best students, so, could I borrow your notes for History? I've been meaning to ask you this for a while now because Mr. Lee talks about you every time he's in class and tbh, I couldn't care less about the minor subject. But still, I need to pass it in order to advance soo..

He was yapping so hard and you're ridiculing him inside your head but, the guy needs help and you're not some kind of witch with a stone heart. So you, being the kindest soul out there, decided to help him out.

You agreed to give him your notes and print-outs, but you didn't reply to him when he sent you a time and place for the meet-up.

Imagine his surprise when you arrived at the said café, on time and with a big, thick envelope in your hands, sitting in front of him without any trace of hesitance.

"Hi." you greeted him calmly, offering a handshake which he accepted with a smile, "Y/N here. Nice meeting you Hongjoong."

"Likewise. Thank you for entertaining my request." he replied, short but enthusiastic nonetheless.

Still, the awkward air is suffocating you and thank god the coffee and pastries can provide you some distraction because you truly cannot do this without going crazy.

Whatever confidence you had before was some kind of fallacy because you're a nervous wreck in front of this man. You're suddenly hit by the realization that this is the same guy that was rumored to have a crush on you and now you're sitting in this coffee shop with him, alone.

If someone from your university sees you two, that will surely cause a ruckus and your friends will probably bombard you with questions.

"Thank you for this, by the way." Hongjoong speaks up and it brings you back to reality, this time, you took a moment to take him in.

He really is fashionable, you'll give him that. His previously pink hair had turned into burgundy, he pairs his denims with leather better than anybody, and his color scheme for today is on point.

"You're most certainly welcome, I-"

"Listen, I know you know the rumors."

He cuts you off, rude. But he's getting straightforward now, nice.

Then you held a breath, is he actually confessing? If he did, how should you react? How should you answer?

You gulped, your palms getting sweaty and you couldn't help the tiny bit of excitement that coursed through your veins.

Your first ever confession after your dark, thunderous days of romance.

"Yes, I heard about it." you answered truthfully, giving him a small smile which he purposely avoided. This baffled you, shouldn't he be happy that you're giving him the time of your day?

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but my friends are idiots. It's not you that I like." he admits, biting his lower lip and cautiously peers over your confused form.

You almost sputtered your coffee out, the sweetness of your iced hazelnut compensates well to the bitterness that was starting to spread out.

You faked a cough, sporting a feigned understanding countenance before asking for more elaboration, "If not me, then who is?"

He beams at you giddily and his answer almost made you want to leave.. almost.

"It's your friend, the cute one that you always help out during 21st Century Literature, Sakura." 

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

taglist:

@hyuckilstan @gwenchwana @minkiflwr @yeosangsbiceps @charreddonuts @justyoonsworld @hwadump @marievllr-abg

[sjmgirlie]

I’m sorry. I try not to be rude about people’s ships because well you have fun with what you like and I’m totally okay with that. But the discourse about the Blood Rite and Hybern camp is hilarious.

Of course Cassian was freaking out knowing his mate was in the BR. A completely normal reaction when you have strong feelings/a bond with someone. Did Azriel? No. Was he still furious at the mention that the women he is training are in harms way? Of course??? Contrary to popular believe, Azriel actually exhibits way more protectiveness over the females in his life than any other character in ACOTAR:

Mor - Eris calls her a slut and he literally almost chokes him to death. Always protective of her in Court of Nightmares and around Eris.

Feyre - be careful how you speak about my High Lady. Helps her with flying and other moments.

Nesta - He brought her back from the mask and comforted her in CC3. Was never mean to her in any of the books even when the rest of IC was.

Elain - Hybern, when everyone (including her sisters and mate) thought she was crazy. There’s more.

His mother - Nesta makes a comment about how Az probably has a bad mom and he gets mad.

These are off the top of my head.

I feel like people forget that Az… does not like Illyrians. He literally said in ACOFAS:

“A pointless week of bloodshed” pg 25

“The Illyrians are pieces of shit” pg 67

If it truly came down to it, I’m sure that Azriel would at least argue to break their rules. Just like Cassian did. But Cassian still cares about the Illyrians. Azriel really doesn’t.

The involvement of Nesta and Gwyn is the Blood Rite is not as significant as Emerie’s!!!!!! Emerie is an Illyrian woman. She is the ONLY Illyrian woman to ever win the Rite. THAT is the biggest plot point of the event. Yes, Gwyn and Nesta participating builds on their healing journeys and the Valkyrie, but Emerie winning the Rite initiates what SJM laid out in ACOFAS. Where Cassian and Emerie first met. The layout for a change in Illyrians and the Illyrian women actually training as warriors.

If anyone is going to “fix” the Illyrians, it will be Emerie. Not Gwyn or Nesta. Emerie, the ILLYRIAN women. And Cassian would be who helps potentially. Because he actually cares about the Illyrians regardless of his history. He is the General. Of course he cares.

Now in terms of the rescue of Elain in Hybern, as many have already said, this was a massive risk. Cassian said "We'll get her back", but moved to comfort Nesta. Not only did Az actually notice Elain wasn’t there, but he also specifically said “I'M getting her back” twice (with rage if I might add) even after Nesta specifically said “then you will die”. Az, Feyre and Elain could have died in this rescue attempt too.

What was the point of this kidnapping if not to show he saves her? Tamlin redemption for giving Feyre the wind to fly? Jurian helping Feyre enter the camp? For Feyre to fly? Like maybe but the biggest point was Azriel going to save Elain. Tbh we kind of needed Feyre there to narrate lol. “You came for me” which Feyre says is what she saw in her dream of what the cauldron even lured Elain in by. That Grayson had come for her. He didn’t, it was Azriel.

Do I think if there weren’t the rules for the Rite that Cassian and Azriel would have went to save them? Of course they would have. But they weren’t meant to rescue them.

This was the big moment in all of the healing journeys for the Valkryie. For Emerie, becoming the first Illyrian women to win it. For Gwyn, leaving the library and becoming a true warrior. For Nesta, holding the line and protecting the people she loves like she hasn’t been able to before. THAT is the purpose of the Blood Rite. Not determining if there’s some couples involved. We already know the couple involved. It’s Nessian.

We seriously need to stop diminishing massive moments in the female characters journeys to ships.

[meraki-yao]

RWRB: A list of thoughts on the Campfire Scene

Ok I went to sleep for another hour to calm myself down and now I can form coherent thoughts about the scene and not just scream and squeal

It's a three-minute scene with two shots. The first shot is a little over two minutes

When Alex asks his question, Henry, who was looking into the fire, tilts his head towards Alex as if to listen better. After Alex finishes, Henry looks up towards the sky, like he's wondering how to answer

Alex doesn't really react to Henry's "Once upon a time" even though he's not directly answering Alex's question. He just listens, and that's such a beautiful thing

Nick deserves a round of applause for this scene, his monologue was two minutes long, and monologues are really hard to perform because it's just you who keeps talking, you don't really get to react to other things or people, it's just you, so Nick is a fantastic job

Nick's delivery and tone, and the way he sometimes ends a sentence a bit like a question (ex: "acutely") makes it sound like Henry's been thinking about this story/ metaphor for a while but this is the first time he ever verbalizes it, so while he knows what he wants to talk about thus he doesn't need to pause a lot to think of the story, he does occasionally need to think of the next word or line because again, he never actually said any of this out loud before, and Nick does that so well

@pippin-katz pointed out that Nick misspoke and said "sent the suit a prince of armour" which is hilarious, and while because movie, this shouldn't happen, realistically we all have moments where we mix words up so it almost feels more... authentic? Also, I didn't pick it up but now that Pippin mentioned it I'm really aware of it lmao

Also Henry/Nick's voice here is so soothing? I can almost imagine him telling bedtime stories to his and Alex's kids like this in the future. I wonder if Henry would write children's books because it feels like it'd be something he do and something he could write really well, if this clip is anything to go by. Plus I stumbled across an audio of Nick reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" before (I literally have no context of why he was reading that and it was literally just audio, not sure if I can find it anymore) and it was so soothing and calming that I fell asleep to it one night. Besides the full-cast RWRB audiobook that I'm practically demanding at this point, I wonder if he would be interested in doing more audiobook/narration stuff. He's really got the voice for it

The King sending a suit of armour to protect the prince's heart kind of further proves my point of the King being a much more loving grandparent to Henry than the queen in the book, and him worrying more about Henry himself than the image of the crown. He noticed that 1, Henry is an emotionally sensitive person, 2, Henry is gay, and both of those things could be turned against him easily, and he will get hurt. He does love Henry, just not in a way that's good for Henry. If we get a sequel I do hope we can see them reconcile in one way or another. It'd be a nice example for people in the same positions.

The "Nothing will ever happen to him" line!!!! I wrote a whole essay about Kensington and this line because somehow this line was one of the most powerful ones to me, but to know that it was originally Henry's word just adds another level of pain to the Kensington scene

You can see Henry's face light up when he starts talking about the peasant boy. And Alex's quick eyebrow raise and deep chuckle. It's so beautiful, I wanna cry

We talk about Alex's heart eyes, which, yes, but Henry's look of pure adoration and love at Alex when he says "Truly Alive" makes me want to melt

I yelled a little at Alex when he started to lay back down (as in I verbally shouted "DAMMIT ALEX LOOK AT YOUR MAN") because I felt like if Alex saw Henry's face in the following lines he'd figure out Henry has issues earlier? But then I saw a take saying the shot was framed like theatre where Henry's both centre stage and in the spotlight so the focus is on him, so Alex was designed to lay back down on the timber bench to make the entire space for Henry

Henry's look of sad longing when he talks about the peasant boy pulling apart his armor is heartbreaking

I wonder if this was originally planned to be the changing point from Alex's POV to Henry's POV? Because in that case I do think the lake scene worked better as a changing point

I also wonder how did Henry end the story in his head up to this point? Because as hopefully as the last line is, at this point in the story, Henry still doesn't believe he can keep this

I get why scenes are cut because when you're putting together a movie, there are a lot of things you don't see for individual scenes until you put them together. This is why as much as I want the cast and crew to get the premiere they deserve to have, I don't really want an extended cut of the movie, because things were cut for a good reason

That being said, if the cornetto scene and this scene proved anything, is that the scenes themselves are fascinating, and I WANT THEM ALL

[hannahlovesluca]

i was wondering if request were open if it is i would like to request for luxiem angst to fluff (separately) where the reader overworks themselves to the point where their mental & physical health r really bad then like luxiem steps in and like try to like stop u which leads to an argument then uh fluff u can add plot twists if u like !! ( im sorry if u dont understand 😭)

Only if ur request r open!! If not feel free to ignore!! - 🍡

hi 🍡!! nice to see you back here!!

| warnings: shu’s is a bit suggestive

As soon as Vox had come home, he saw you still working on that goddamn outfit.

See, you were Luca’s mama. You designed all his outfits, his hair, everything.

Right now, you were working on making him the scariest mafia boss this godforsaken world has seen.

But if you spend even a second longer working on that stupid outfit, he was going to rip you to pieces.

You deserve more than just sitting at your desk, sketching, sewing, and even knitting now and then.

And he was going to see it through that you did get more than that!

“Y/N, hey, lets go to bed, yeah? It’s midnight already, love,” he smiles at you with that charm, the one you can’t say no to.

However, tonight was different.

Tonight was dedicated to work.

“Love, come on… please?” Milord was practically begging by now.

And who were you to say no to this handsome devil?

When you (reluctantly) agreed, he scooped you up in his arms and practically threw you on the bed before laying his head on top of your stomach, finally basking in the peace surrounding you two.

Mysta frowned.

You’d been streaming over half of the day…

What has it been now..?

He checks the time on his phone.

Eleven hours.

Eleven hours you have spent staring into a screen and simply daring to dream.

Eleven hours you have spent narrating god knows what and making stupid commentary.

Well Mysta wasn’t having it!

Not only was it bad for you, it was bad for him to go this long without kisses.

Mysta texts you to come to the living room, saying he had something important to say and it couldn’t wait until after stream.

After a few minutes explaining to chat that ‘your food had arrived’ you made your way out into the living room.

“Yes, Mysta?”

“End stream.”

“Huh- what? Mysta, no. I have to keep going, they’re expecting me to.” You deject with a small smile, insisting that you had to keep going.

“Y/N, they don’t expect anything from you. You’re their entertainment, not their friend. And frankly, you’re my ____friend and I think I rank higher, hm?”

Ike couldn’t say much.

He was just as bad as you when it comes to this, but his own tendencies be damned.

He was going to make you take better care of yourself.

Was.

It wasn’t to be taken lightly.

He slowly opens your office door, looking at you hunched over your desk and taking notes about god knows what, your hands shaking and your mechanical pencil almost out of lead after having using it for over five hours straight.

As soon as he had caught your attention, without sharing any words, he swept you up into his arms and held you for what felt like forever, but in reality had only been a few minutes.

(oh god im running out of ideas)

Luca hated every second of this; he hated seeing you so overworked, hated seeing you stressed… he just hated it all.

So,

He did the only thing that made sense.

He offered his hand to you and gave you a charming grin.

"Wanna dance?"

You look at him, horrified.

“We are not dancing, Luca.”

The golden retriever-like man pouts, crossing his arms.

“Why not, baby?” He asks with a pout.

You look up from your computer and look at him with a small smile.

You were so tired and you were sure you looked awful but his sweet smile and puppy dog eyes got to you.

You take his hand.

"Well, you got me, now. I can't say no to you. But we're gonna get some food and I'm not changing into a dress."

The man beams, happy that he'd gotten his way.

And with that, Luca takes your hand and immediately brings you in for your first dance of the night.

It's slow, soft and romantic, and honestly, the two of you can't take your eyes off each other.

"I missed this, baby," he whispers.

Luca pulls you close to him as the two of you sway in place.

"Me too,” you whisper back.

You lay your head against his chest and feel your stress and exhaustion melt away.

This moment was worth everything.

"You're beautiful." He says softly, kissing the top of your head.

(i genuinely dont know what to put..😭)

Shu loves that you love work, but by God if you spend another minute at that desk he was going to go insane.

"You know I'm a simple man," he says. "all I need is a little food and a little sun, and the rest of my needs are met."

He's laying out the blanket for the afternoon.

"And if you keep this up, my food and sun time is going to be at night."

You sigh, stretching out your back. You'd been at your desk all day, trying to figure out the final parts of the puzzle to the latest quest you've been given.

The strong mafia boss himself had come to you, begging you to complete this mission and find his missing son, and the people were starting to get nervous as he had been missing for a few days.

"I'm sorry," you sigh. "I know I've been at this forever."

"It's been nearly two hours," Shu snarls.

"Sorry, sorry," you sigh. "I can tell it's getting on your nerves." You stand up and stretch out, then smile at him. "What should we do this afternoon?"

Shu's lips twitch and curl. "It's too late to go to the beach now," he says. "And honestly, the weather looks pretty bad. I was thinking, though," he smirks at you. "Since it's our first anniversary, and I was thinking, well," he motions to the blanket.

You immediately go red, lightly smacking his arm.

“Shu!”

He chuckles.

“Kidding, kidding.” He wraps his arms around you and holds you fast. "Seriously though," he murmurs. "Happy anniversary, babe."

You melt and smile, holding onto his face. "I love you."

[aquickstart]

pls may i have some saltburn takes. i saw u liked my post abt oliver never having read the reading list and it made me giggle.

OH YES DUDE oh i Loved that post because it brings up actually something that for some reason i haven't seen discussed much. oliver's unreliable narration.

i have a brilliant, i think, genius four-question plan for making people understand saltburn, and it has worked before and i will maybe elaborate on it, but not right now. right now i'll talk about one of the questions.

who is oliver telling this story to, and why?

we've established that he's an unreliable narrator at least because it's the logical conclusion for a movie shot in a way that opens and closes with his narrative. but what does oliver being untruthful actually mean for what we know about anything and everything that happened. have you ever obsessed over this particular question. well. i have.

my hot take, first of all, is that oliver is not that smart. he's clever, but the point of the movie is that he's caught up in and driven by desire; desire, pointedly, in the moment, merging desire, adapting to circumstance and leading him on. his want is not concrete from the beginning. his want is insatiable hunger that grows.

so, okay, from the top. the whole meet-cute with felix? because of a punctured tire? eh. idk if that's true. the money thing at the bar, pretending to not have any while he actually did? eh, perhaps. chronologically he then lies to felix about his dad, and this is big, this is deliberate, this is what ties felix to him for good.

what if the first two instances were coincidences? like, felix genuinely in trouble then, oliver genuinely out of cash. makes sense to become attached and actually do something, something impulsive, drastic, when felix seems to be drifting away, and lie about his dad.

interjection: you might be saying, nadia, he lied about his family from the get-go. well of course. i didn't say he's not smart enough to clock what image of a damsel in distress felix would gobble up. i'm saying he didn't do it for the long game, because there was no long game to speak of, as narrator-oliver would have you believe. i think he wanted felix so badly in that moment of several months in oxford, i think he was so blinded that he would've said anything. and he did.

now, i've briefly talked about oliver's feelings about the invitation to saltburn, and i think this is very important here. in the moment, he couldn't possibly know what exactly this invitation could mean, in the long run, only that it is definitely the next step in progression of desire for felix. present-day oliver interjection, and i believed him, after felix said he could leave anytime, i read as a slip up, an admission that oliver didn't plan shit, or at least from the beginning he didn't. it lured him in as soon as he got there, gothic house driving mad-style. he held on to a dream of something elusive (felix as a friend? lover? forever-partner in whatever capacity? i want him so bad i don't care what he is as long as he's there? please? please?).

the other obvious hole to poke at is in the end. venetia very conveniently takes the razors he places for her, and while sure, it could be read as him just hinting at how he conveniently read her fragile state and took advantage of it, i don't buy it. (i'm honestly even tempted to suggest he met elspeth on accident, to then spin a pretty story for his own sake, but him keeping tabs on the surviving cattons all those years tracks with what we know about obsessive oliver; he's definitely known about her flat for a while.)

but those are all minor stuff. i get completely if you think i'm reading too much into it and this is all just a headcanon after all, to be fair. BUT. but.

my second big take is that oliver was/is madly in love with felix. i know, shocking. but you have probably seen people say he wasn't. i will elaborate.

i wasn't in love with him. i loved him. i hated him. what does this sound like. have you ever had a friend come to you after a breakup fuming and telling you how they'll never end up with this asshole for sure and then get back together with him and then break up and say the same thing again.

i loved him, but i wasn't in love with him. i know everyone thought i was, but i wasn't. have you never told anyone something of the sort, specifically the last part, to emphasize just how it's everyone around you that's kinda hung up on whatever it is, and you've moved way past it, actually. have you never told yourself that.

i have. i know many other people who have, too. so, who is oliver telling this story to, and why? there's no one but dead elspeth in front of him. there's no one but himself. fun fact: each time you recall an event, it distorts under the influence of the mix of past and present emotions. each time you recall, you mold memory (source, e.g., x). the way i personally see it, oliver, for whatever reason, retells the story in order to solidify his own memory of it in the way that he wants to remember it. whatever he says, this is his final word, and this is his final truth.

this is also why details slip through, like my beloved i believed him, like the emotional i hated him growing into self-convincing, misleadingly dismissive, definitely unsure i hated him by the end. those are the true emotions that he recalls, those are the times that are hard to rewrite, for whatever reason.

of course, he hated them all. but before that, he loved felix to the point of blindly following where felix's desire led oliver, at least the way oliver perceived felix's desire. it failed, crucially, when felix's desire brought them to the center of the labyrinth, where oliver could not be the desired anymore.

my third hot take in connection to this is that oliver did not know he would kill felix until the very night he did it. he didn't know it, i think, until the last hour, until felix refused to reconcile completely, until he made his blood run cold. i also briefly mention it here, specifically how farleigh is tragically connected to felix's death, in my opinion. this tracks with, again, my strong belief that oliver lies, lies and lies throughout this whole story about wanting to take everything from felix from the beginning; no, he fucking didn't. he wanted felix. he wanted felix to be his. that was number one priority. he wanted felix and whatever else came with it, undoubtedly, but not the other way around.

paradoxically, he also wanted to be felix; he wanted to be him and be with him just as us tumblr people can often relate and the tragedy is that you always have to choose. felix pushed him away, so there was no other choice but to take what was left of felix that oliver could take. hence the clothes wearing, the table scene talk, the refusal to leave.

felix chose not to choose oliver, so oliver became felix. it's his fault. felix promised oliver could leave. felix left instead. what was oliver to do.

but to your point about the books, i think it could be either way, actually. i think he could have lied about it because technically that's also in character for him, he was performing for an audience of his tutor. but i also think that he was, genuinely, a nerd before he came to oxford, and he didn't, and still doesn't, have any friends, and he hates his sisters and his mother and is miserable. he's the perfect profile of someone who'd read king james' bible over the summer, and then some, imma be honest.

so, yes. i think oliver lies about most things in saltburn and i think he's pathetic, lost, confused, grieving, angry, horny, down bad and in denial. and i fucking love him. i so fuckin do.

[findmeabowloftrash-blog]

okay so. I am very very recently into The Property of Hate. I am caught up, and rereading bits and parts, while attempting to find blogs that still actively talk about/post about it. I'm quite new, so there's a good chance I have just missed it, but these are some things I have noticed/wondered that I haven't seen talked about.

1) Theory: The eyes on (the top half of) the butterfly's wings are RGB's eyes. Reasoning: In "Iris," on pages 455 and 456, we see the butterfly glare at RGB while asking if he cares who they (the butterfly) once was, and he says no. It then cuts him, and we get a brief flashback of, presumably, human RGB telling someone (whoever the butterfly used to be? Or his reflection, perhaps?) that he hates them, with the same glare. This is also, I believe, the only time we ever see his eyes in a flashback. Further, the butterfly is widely believed to be Hate, and it would make sense that his own hatred (of this other person? of himself?) is what "blinded" him. ESPECIALLY if it blinded him to his own potential. More on that later.

2) Observation: Negative seems to wear actual spats, as opposed to having them be part of his shoes. Relevance: Mod once said in answer to an ask about RGB's suspenders that nothing about him is genuine, it's only meant to appear that way, and cited his not-actually-spats as one example. If Negative does indeed wear real spats, does that make at least part of him more "genuine" than RGB?

3) Theory(?): Negative means no harm to Hero, and in fact cares a great deal about her. Reasoning: He's clearly intelligent, not just violent toward whatever is closest, because in his first appearance he protects Hero, rather than going after her himself. If the Fears were no match for him, why waste time fighting them if he wanted to hurt her? She would have been the weakest target, not the Fears. Then, in the desert, after creating the giant rose to protect himself and Hero, once he looks up and notices her, the eye on his screen looks teary, like it's watering up. (Pg 355) And wouldn't you cry if a child you wanted to protect came back into a deadly storm for you? In addition, I saw a post somewhere reasoning that the House of Lead belongs to Negative, and in that post the OP theorized that Negative wanted Hero to tell RGB about him. If he were antagonistic, or had literally any ill will toward Hero, that wouldn't make any sense.

Miscellaneous thoughts and rambling:

RGB calls himself "an unreliable narrator at best" during the same conversation/monologue/story he says that he is a failure, that the only thing he ever does is fail. ("After all, I died, didn't I?" -pg 472) And it seems that way, based on his history with heroes, sure. He fails pretty much all of his goals in the story (even ones like "don't get attached"). But if we go based on a number of meta things, we can easily reason that that isn't true, and he is, in fact, an unreliable narrator of his own life. For one, he was almost certainly an actor or entertainer of some sort. That in and of itself is a form of success. But beyond that, we have Mod's "The Face of Television" art, which implies he was VERY successful. There is also the "I was in Brooklyn when I found out" art of Dial looking at obituaries in the newspaper. Why would the obituary of a failed British actor be in an American newspaper? He had to have been someone well-known. Finally, on page 433, all the way to the left, among the static, you can see, "-reaking news tonight --as famed --tertainer". All of this heavily points toward RGB being, not a failure, but instead highly successful when he was human. Rather, I think the "failure" part comes from how he viewed himself. Unable to look in the mirror, to stand himself at all, to think of himself as anything more than a projection-- empty, hollow. And isn't that exactly how he ended up? I think that he played into Hate's hand because he did, in fact, have hatred-- but it wasn't the kind she could use against others directly, because he doesn't hate others; He hates himself. He hates himself so strongly that, even after selling his memories, he still truly believes that he is, at his very core, a failure.

Maybe Negative is the part of him that believes in himself??

Also:

I never see anyone talk about the recurring shapes/symbols in RGB's flashbacks/dreams. I'm mentally calling them: Box (or possibly Casket), Hands, Iron, Teardrop, Rectangles. They appear on pages 335 and 456, at least. Possibly others. Really really curious what they represent.

Anyway I'm sure I'm missing a lot of well-known fandom stuff but. I just needed to put my thoughts together and dump them into a public space.

[thewitchofbooks]

A few things about Cyril Rose, Chevalier Michel and Lucian

I was always curious about Chevalier's behavior towards Cyril, especially after Lucian was introduced as the covert and the royal guard later on for Chevalier. The question in my mind was, if Chevalier really trust Cyril to become the lead knight of the foreign affairs faction, then would he ever call him by his name? The post is based on Chevalier's election promise party event

Spoilers and facts about Cyril (and a few about Lucian) under the cut!

After obtaining Chevalier's Early Clear Bonus from this party event (promise from 2nd anniversary/election):

The story was in his POV and fully voiced (meaning that his thoughts and dialog were voiced, except for a few lines of narration).

But from this story, we are able to see a few sides of Chevalier that we never saw before, nor did we hear him talk about. Including Cyril Rose.

The story starts with him training with the knights, before "killing them" as he said after knocking them out. And it ends with Cyril being the only one standing. From the Mc's POV, Cyril could keep up really well, but Chevalier kicked his sword. In Chevalier's POV, Cyril actually got distracted, else the battle would have continued.

This whole training thing was never something that Chevalier would have done, but he feels the need to show off in front of Emma.

Back to the topic, while training and inwardly praising all the knights, who were able to keep up so much longer against him, Chevalier thought of Cyril.

And while thinking of him as Clavis' knight, he also acknowledges his name!! The same way Lucian's name is acknowledged, meaning that it's written right on top of his job in the castle:

Translation:

Chevalier's thoughts: 'Usually, I leave the management of the knight's to Clavis and the red head (Cyril),'

So he does, indeed, acknowledge him with his name. Conclusion: Chevalier loves to "make fun" of others with these nicknames (more like he points out what describes them XD). Lucian is also called the long black haired royal guard (Since Chevalier is the king, Lucian is the royal guard).

A few things for Cyril:

In the party event story (previous discussion), it shows how much more familiar the knights are with Chevalier and how much more they are scared of Cyril (as their master in training). Chevalier told them to run 100 laps around the castle, making the knights complain about it (with no fear towards him). Translation of the moment:

Knights:"Hyahhhhhh.....100 laps!?"

Chevalier:"Even if I'm showing the losers mercy?"

Cyril:"Thank you for your mercy! Everyone, keep your mouth shut!"

When Cyril told them to shut their mouth, they all stopped complaining and run out to train

Before that, Chevalier admitted to Cyril that out of all of the knights, he would be the only one standing at the battlefield. And not only that, but he told him to make sure to withdraw if something goes wrong and return to the castle before he dies. He also said that he should help and save as many of those around him, leaving Cyril at a loss but he was quick to agree with Chevalier.

Thank you for reading this far! This event was truly enjoyable and definitely worth to get the ECB. A small flashback of Chevalier and Clavis is also in there, but in Chevalier's thoughts.

Chevalier was drawing Benitoite in huge detail and Emma was watching in amazement, before she complimented him. Chevalier thought that he never payed attention to drawing before, but he once tried it, because Clavis made him draw to find a weakness, but Chevalier knew how, so Clavis threw a tantrum when he saw the finished project.

And of course, after he finished drawing Benitoite, he drew Jade and gave attention to the huge greenhouse, because it looked like it came out of a fairy-tale, so he knew Emma would love this the most.

Although he finished with the drawings, gave them to Emma after she asked to keep them, knowing that all he was doing was useless and had nothing to do with their lessons, he still asked her to draw something for him.

(Keep in mind that Sariel doesn't give Emma lessons as much anymore, it's mostly Chevalier when he is off of work).

Emma drew roses, books (Chevalier's thoughts were that this was a rose garden with her favourite things), and in the end, she added added tiger! And Chevalier took the quill pen from her hands to draw a little rabbit too. He started praising Emma a lot and her expressions changed a lot, so he laughed very hard at her (his thoughts were that he never laughed this hard in his whole life).

[solomiracle]

I saw your post about levi encountering "himself" as an enemy/boss and I only can think about Levi loving some characters that look like his brothers.

Gathering a party that reminds him of his brothers but he does it without noticing. He will have a charismatic one who makes jokes all the time and is a fan favorite (Levi hates fan favorite character but he will always keep the joker around because he likes their jokes)

or maybe Levi will really like the serious and cold villain, but who did everything they did to protect their family (Levi is the number one Emet Selch (ff14) apologist and I'm going to die on this hill) (also sorry Lucifer, but your type It's used a lot in villains bye)

I can see him being "this villain is so boring, another villain who likes orders and is very strict. I hate people like them, who don't care for anyone besides themselves" and then bam! Here the villain backstory and Levi is just ugly crying for days and fighting with everyone in the forums and the funniest part is he doesn't do this because he is trist for the villain it's just hit some familiar thing inside him, he can't explain but he'll protect this tragic villain with all his force and determination

I also can see he saying "oh this old brother is so cool, I wish Mammon is like this" narrator voice: Mammon is, in fact, exactly like that

And not only Lucifer and Mammon, but all his brothers. I just can see the raid team "hey RurichanSupremacy666, why do you have this femboy in your party?" "Because he is the best in white magic!!" Or "stop calling them lazy, it's depression!" Or "I don't want to kill them! They're angry because they're lonely!!!"

I can see him searching for fan arts and fanfics with those characters but not because "oh I ship them with my oc" but more "I want to see them happy, I want to read a fix it where they're all happy together with their loved ones"

The best part? He does all of this for instinct, doesn't even realize what he is doing (maybe the mc point it out in the most hilarious way possible like "oh obviously this one is your favorite, it's Mammon" and Levi isole himself for the rest of the century, oh henry why do you betray him like this?)

ANON YOURE SO BEAUTIFUL AND WONDERFUL AND OH I LOVE THIS IDEA SO MUCH AAAAAAAAAA

and the difference in how levi treats his usual favs vs these characters!! say when he defends or expresses why he loves his usual favs, he gets very loud and rambly, to the point of being incoherent. but with his not-brother characters, levi's more calm and precise, happily explaining everything he loves about these characters, because, subconsciously, those traits are the same things he loves about his brothers.

levi likes this mage, for both her healing bonus and how she sees the true beauty in everyone. yeah, the warrior does consume a lot of materials, but his protectiveness over his bedridden little brother is so touching!!

ohhhhhh there's gotta be some characters that unknowingly remind him of lilith. ohhhhhh that's a tearful can of worms i'm not opening today.

but the last part with mc?? and how they're so sure of themselves? oh he's such a loser <3 levi's gonna spend the rest of the century realizing half of his favs are just his family members and he's gonna be so embarrassed about it, esp when he discovers his top favs are a bunch of not-mammons. suck it

[inkangeliguess]

Oh my god, I absolutely LOVE The Nightmare route in Slay The Princess

Spoilers plus long rant under the cut

(@the-local-eldritch-microwave please check out this game i beg of you. It's several hours long but its great)

Ever since I saw a playthrough of the demo, the Voice of The Paranoid was my favorite voice and route. I love stressed out characters in general, but I loved how unsettling it is when you uncontrollably fall asleep and then wake up only to die of fright. The second time you go in was pretty anticlimactic, as basically the same thing happens with only the Paranoid being there and the Narrator being completely confused at your sudden death AND even saying "I'm so sorry"

What makes the updated version so good is the execution. The first part is basically the same, but the second part is so much more intense. Your character just experienced dying of literal fright over someone you first assumed was normal turning out to be an eldritch horror. Story wise, the Voice of The Paranoid makes you feel this with how much of a contrast he is compared to the Narrator and the Voice of The Hero. The Hero gets nervous occasionally, but never to the degree that The Paranoid gets.

This stress only continues when you go inside the cabin. Every second round, the cabin always changes in appearance. What makes the Nightmare route's change more jarring is how mild the change is. For the Razor, the Damsel, and the Captive (the routes i've rewatched so far), the change of the cabin is too extreme, which while it does convey the mood of the route, doesn't have the same effect as the Nightmare. The room itself seems to 'perfect,' with the most obvious difference being the wider door frame and overall lack of door. The subtle change plus the Paranoid's overall mood keeps the player on edge.

Things start ramping up once you get to the stairs, which don't even try to be subtle with its attempt to hide the overall unnatural feel of the cabin. Then it hits you with the reveal that you are stuck. You can't go back. You can only go forward and confront the inhumane Princess.

You're finally in the basement, which does a fantastic job of conveying the idea that once again, you're stuck. You do not have an actual choice in the matter. No matter which way you go, you are going to be hunted down by this creature and you will most likely be killed.

The moment of truth happens and you finally confront the Princess. While she was unsettling in the first chapter, her appearances have been completely twisted. Her limbs bend irregularly, her face is cracked and shaded in a way that makes it look like it's not even her actual face, her appearance constantly flickers and looms over you, giving you the feeling that you have no power over her, weapon or no weapon.

Finally, you start talking to her. She almost kills you again, until the Paranoid suddenly, without explanation, starts mumbling "Heat. Lungs. Liver. Nerves" over and over. You don't even have time to question it, because it somehow is keeping you alive, but barely. If you choose to talk to her with all the 'Explore' dialogues, her unsettling demeanor never wavers. The conversation feels realistic, with certain actions causing the Paranoid to start panicking and chanting desperately.

The last thing i'll point out about Chapter 2 is that the Hero and the Narrator hardly talk. It's as if they themselves are frightened of the entire situation. That is until she pulls off her mask. You don't get to see what she looks like, but the Narrator's description is more than enough to give it its effect.

Then there's the artstyle change. I originally thought it was just to convey you dying again, but it really changes the name of the Route. The Narrator's description and the visuals give the idea that this may not only be your nightmare. The Princess is most likely suffering as well.

Then after all of that, THE NARRATOR HIMSELF GIVES UP. You are left in a state of not being sure whether you're dead, but your mind has clearly given out.

We then move on to chapter.. uh... "The Moment of Clarity." You wake up, and for once, everything genuinely feels wrong. One could argue that in The Arms Race and Mutually Assured Destruction turned everything on the head by adding pretty much all the voices, but everything is thrown off in The Moment of Clarity. You're not even in the woods, or in the cabin for that matter, you're somewhere else. It's a place that vaguely feels like the woods, but it isn't. On top of that, the Voices can't remember what happened very well. Their memory isnt completely wiped, but the fact they have trouble remembering at all is completely new.

Not only do the voices not remember what happened, pretty much all the voices are talking now. With all their contradicting personalities, it's unclear what the truth is. The timeline is everywhere, the Narrator is no help, and there is still no feeling of safety.

"Maybe you're shattered in your own way." OH MY GOD THAT LINE ABSOLUTELY SLAYS ME (no pun intended). Even if it's swept under the rug by the other voices "not being philosophical," considering the stakes of the route, it just messes with me

My one complaint is the Voice of the Smitten. It's usually funny how down bad he is but it seriously is not fitting for the route at all.

It's interesting how they all consider the Voice of The Cold to be the voice of reason in the moment. In the Narrator's words, all the other voices have been traumatized to the point they can't be talked any sense into. Since the Cold is just so unfeeling, it's pretty much your characters only drive into move on except for maybe the Opportunist.

For once, none of the Voices question the mirror, not because they've accepted that there is no mirror, but because they've accepted that the Narrator thinks there is no mirror. It gives you how much of an idea that the Voices and in extension your character has given up. Hell, the Voice of the Stubborn even tells you to smash it at one point.

Something i havent mentioned much of is the music or sound design, but it really helps give off the atmosphere. In this 'third' chapter, the background music is a ticking clock and a breezy noise you may hear in a quiet room. Paired with the surreal landscape of the black forest and the floating cabin, it further gives off the idea of everything being a dream, or by extension a nightmare.

When you're told to pick up the blade, you're once again stuck. You aren't given any other choice except for the illusion of a choice. Some of the options are even blacked out, saying that 'you've tried everything else. Don't you remember?'

The way she climbs out of the pit. You only see her face at first, then her abnormally long and lanky arms. Then you see her legs, with her bare feet looking like hands, reminding you of a spider or a monkey, but definitely not human. She isn't interrupted once she's in full view, leaving you to stare at her and her outstretched hand and cracked mask.

Remember how I mentioned that in the demo, the Narrator is so shocked by your sudden death that he says 'I'm so sorry.' There is now a complete contrast with this new version. When you take her hand, he ends off his sentence by saying "I can't believe you just made me say that. I hate you." and with full sincerity, not even in a joking or petty manner.

"Why is it so cold?.."

[phantomrose96]

I just finished reading Savit-e and I wanted to tell you that it's a great story. I'll be mulling on it for at least a week, I'm sure, and I apologize for the length of the following ramble lol.

I think the most interesting part about how it ends is that you've (seemingly) got this situation where the narrator is now taking care of Savine (almost making the incorrect savit-e = daughter belief a self fulfilling prophecy) and the idea of an unwilling caretaker is a pretty standard fare. But the way you've done it... it's rewriting the playbook.

The narrator never asked to be Savine's mother... but she has been caring for her, and picking her up from school, and cooking for her, and risking her life and even killing someone to save her! By every metric both we and the narrator know, Savine my well BE her savit-e! The thing is, the men never saw her, never held a gun to her head, so there's no way to know what she would answer if she truely one-to-one weighed her own life against Savine's.

She is a caretaker now, and she can't even argue that she's unwilling to be. It's just this strange situation without a way out because it seems like in this country, the willingness to risk your life to save another's, the willingness to kill to save another, is tied up in only the most important person in your life and no one else. After all, if you're willing to risk your life to protect someone, that means you're willing to give your whole life to them, right?

(Savit-e)

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

To me, everyone is a victim by the end of Savit-e. Savine of course for being the victim of the attack and losing her mother. Reb of course for being foisted into this indefinite caregiver role, which she can't revoke for fear of what may happen to Savine (and for fear of what may happen to herself, as she understands on some level that she was pardoned on account of Savine being her Savit-e, and can't know for sure how that may change if she were to revoke the role the way Jira did.)

And even Jira, I still think, is a victim in this. Flawed and selfish certainly for transferring Savit-e to herself and leaving Savine to die... but also what was Jira's other option? She was unarmed facing down two men with guns. Sure Reb acted, but as you pointed out Reb was armed and she was not staring down the barrel of a gun.

Jira could have made a pointless attempt at protecting Savine and gotten herself killed, which would have been in line with the rules around Savit-e. And maybe any mother should have at least tried. ...But it was life or death for Jira, and she chose the taboo option of transferring Savit-e to herself and saving herself. Her options were dead hero or living pariah... and she made her choice.

[kelp-my-beloved]

What the hell is going on with False

[EDIT: This is no longer up to date, and has insted been suplanted by this post]

As the title says, I'm trying to get to the bottom of False's lore. I divided all my questions into ten points that I think sumarises the mistery in a satisfactory way.

This is also 90% so I can have some sort of structure when making any theory. If you notice something missing or want to add literally anything, feel free to let me know or make your own adition

So, first of all. In my opinion, for a theory to be strong, it has to answer at least most of the ten main questions:

Dead Guy's Clothes: This one is about that corpse e!False found in episode three and stole their clothes. Besides them, in the pile there was also bones and raw beef. Where did they come from? Why are they dead?

Those Weird Signs: Here's a post with all the signs. Who put them there? What do they mean?

Pumpkin Jack: Our favourite suspicious pumpkin. He was seen outside of Goblan, too, and appeared to False for the first time in episode 4. On episode 9 False put him in jail for Scary Crimes, and on episode 10 he was found being murdered. He was put in a field, where he stayed, and on episode 12 he got Buff after eating his vegetables. Sausage also claims to have seen many like them before, and one appeared outside Gobland. Plus, at the beggining of JoeHills hermitcraft s9e40, we see him wake up in the Tumble Town Water Thing in the bridge, no memories of how he got there, a sign saying beware of the pumpkin, three pumpkins stew, various pumpkin seeds, and saw a giant carved pumpkin at the end of the bridge. Wether or not it's connected is up to your interpretation.

e!False Murders: What the hell False. She killed Pixlriffs with an amnesia potion, and is heavily implied she did the same to Jevin (she threw an amnesia potion at him while he stayed in her room, after which he woke up on a different place and no memory of the fact. On False's video, we also see the same room filled with redstone/blood. This clip is shown before the one where she invites Jevin to stay, and the next morning False can't find Jevin, and tells herself he must have left on his own. Wheter this is an unreliable narrator stuff or the blood is somebody else's is unclear. Also, it's important to note that Jevin is literally a blue piece of slime. Wether this implies that it can't be Jevin's blood or that it's hard to recreate a murder scene in minecraft is unclear). False is also shown placing a sign on the hermit area to invite them to stay at her tavern, and it's implied that that's why Jevin went to stay there

h!False and e!False: Funky Lore Stuff. h!False knew of e!False, but e!False seems to not know about h!False. h!False called the other one dangerous, and is spying on her to make sure she isn't doing anything bad. e!False had a flashback at some point, where a False is shown looking at the camera, talking about wheter or not something worked, and that she had never wiped someone's memory before. There's also the fact that while e!False is having "brain glitches", a high static/electricity noise can be heard, and after them the sound of a clock ticking.

Gathered Resources: Now and then, resources that e!False's need appear out of nowhere. In one ocassion, they were placed in chests with a sign that said "you're welcome". They were the resources needed to build the ship she had dreamnt about.

Glitch/Flashback/Vision: There was a post that tumblr will not let me find that disected the clip beautifully. Point is, we see a False looking at the camera, claiming that she has never wiped anybody's memory before so she's not sure if it worked. See 5 for more details. Ep 14 had a whole cake of vision's lore, in which we see a False captured in a cage, working behind a desk somewhere, and observing someone in a cage. For more details see the wiki

Rift and Tower shock: Whenever a False is near something she shouldnt be, she gets shocked, even if the material can't carry electricity (eg wood). This happened to e!False when she tried to check on h!False's spy tower, and to h!False when she tried to get near the rift over at hermitcraft before the travel happened.

Where did e!False come from?: This one is probably very related to (5). At the begining of the season, we see what she described as "home" being a small room with a bed and nightstand, with windows we can'tsee through, and an iron door that she uses at the end of the clip to get out, though it's barely shown. Whether or not this is a holding cell depends on how much you want to stretch it. This also has to do with how she appeared in empires. Once again, ep 14 has a whole cake of lore. For vague details see 7, for extended ones visit the wiki

Memory potions: Who made them? How long did False had them? Did she only use them on Jevin and Pix? What are they for? See: JoeHills ep40, detailed in point 3. Also, both of them had recently been on an ancient city, and is shown on Pix's video that he is missing his Lore Compass, though the reason why Jevin went to stay at Cogsmead was a sign inviting any hermit in their area. On ep 14, e!False comments that maybe she should make some sleeping potions for her bad dreams, instead of the 'kind she's been making'.

Also, credits to @maple-cloak and @moth-ed-man for pointing out a few details I missed! I added them after posting

New note: Im updating this post as new information comes, but there's a limit of what i can reasonable put in it. If I dont cover something completely, I'll put where one can get the full picture besides watching False's whole season.

[renjirukia]

tbh i don't think too hard about the forty year renruki separation beyond the angst of the pining and avoidance but in an effort to un-vague that time period and make some sense as to why renji is so aggressive towards rukia during the arrest/reunion i have some thoughts.

more under the cut because this got long

first let's talk about the break up. they've been drifting apart since arriving at the academy; they're in different classes ; renji gets sorted into the advanced class while rukia is not and this creates a shift in their dynamic; as it's implied rukia was very much the leader of their little gang. renji doesn't seem to mind the shift as he finally gets an edge over rukia and likes to show off though there isn't any kind of malicious intent in his behavior. rukia on the other hand is going through an intense case of cultural shock, her shift in dynamic with renji is distorting her own self-perception and making her feel cut off from her one friend in the world. enter byakuya. rukia is hesitant to accept the offer of adoption but at renji's boisterous (and somewhat forced) encouragement she takes the offer. i think renji's actions here devastated rukia and saw it as a confirmation that she was right in feeling like she was being left behind or cast aside.

now the intervening years. in the soul society arc the root conflict between them is that she is a noble and he isn't and that class disparity is why they can't "be together" though there isn't much evidence of the gotei adhering to such a rigid caste system and that class mingling is acceptable at least during work hours (and like everyone wondered why renji just didn't get a job at the 13th if he wanted to hang out with her so bad). we don't learn too much of what they got up to during their estrangement other than rukia's kaien trauma and her tenure as one of the more unlucky heroines from an 18th century gothic novel. while renji graduated school went to the fifth got transferred to the eleventh and somewhere in their picked up the goal of surpassing byakuya. we get a glimpse when renji tells ichigo "for a long time... a real long time... for decades... rukia and i... ...had drifted so far apart we wouldn't even pass by each other. it was you... who closed that... distance between us."

Like i said i don't think academy renji was fully aware of how hard of a time rukia was having at adjusting to seireitei life. he teases her about not "getting with program yet" but i think renji was confident in rukia's moxie that he figured she would eventually settle in. i don't think it was much later he realized there were irreparable cracks in their relationship. in chapter 98 as rukia walks away he narrates "rukia finally had a real family. let her go... don't get in the way... that's what I told myself." but it bleeds into the present day and it reads like a retrospective rationalization. "but thinking back...maybe i was just... afraid."

ok the point finally. now this part is just speculation and headcanon-ery but that's the lifeforce the animates any fandom so... basically i think rukia ignored renji. hard. after he finally went to work in the gotei 13 and i think it blindsided him. it's never stated exactly when renji decided to surpass byakuya but in the (frankly incredible) chapter 144 flashback kira tells renji "i suggest you stay away from her. for your sake and hers. i'm sure she realizes that she's not like us." and as that scene does not take place during their academy days i read it as renji only at that moment understanding the full breadth of their separation. i'm not sure i take kira's word as law wrt to her intentions because frankly he doesn't know her like that, and instead i see it more as kira encouraging his friend to move on and uses their difference in social status as a reason for her snubbing him ( rukia doesn't care about social status and it's not something she could have picked up from byakuya because 1. he doesn't talk to her 2. byakuya himself doesn't care about social status). next we cut to ikkaku saying "wow. that's quite a goal. to become stronger than kuchiki byakuya." and finally yumichika in all his wisdom sums up their break up era, "it's a difficult thing. discouraging, isn't it? it's always easier to tear down than to build. and much more difficult to tie than untie."

i read these scenes as a cause-and-effect from the order presented to us. rukia ignores renji (because from her pov he dumped her and she still feels some type of way about it) -> kira witnesses said ignoring and tries to impart some advice -> renji doesn't agree with the advice because he can see different social classes interacting all the time but kira's minor nobility does hold some weight with him so he takes what he wants from the advice -> concocts a plan to surpass byakuya (love the vague word choice surpass him in what? social status? ability? height? i don't think renji really knew instead using it as a launch pad to get back into rukia's good graces, because once they start hanging out again he seems more than fine with being byakuya's 2nd) -> yumichika imparts his own advice (which reads more like a thesis statement of the arc the way "a heart is born between two people" was used during the hueco mundo arc) but in the context of the scene he's sympathizing with renji and his relationship woes; "rukia finally had a real family. let her go... don't get in the way... that's what I told myself. but thinking back...maybe i was just... afraid." renji had doubts about pursuing rukia this way, but kept on course because he was uncertain he was in a position to 'tie' the relationship back together, but doesn't want to 'untie' it either.

now the other point; renji's aggression during the arrest. renji has dedicated a huge chunk of his (after)life into reaching a position where they can be equals again, and here rukia is fucking it all up with her "antics" as he later calls them. and if he's been living with the idea that rukia won't talk to him because of the gulf in their social status and here she is living amongst humans (not sure where humans sits on the soul society social hierarchy but i'm gonna guess they're not even considered they're so low) it probably brings up some deep resentments, i don't think renji has the heart to truly stay pissed at her for long and when ishida and ichigo step onto the scene they make for much easier targets. this isn't renji at his best, but i can see where he's coming from, and he drops the act completely when it becomes obvious rukia is willing to go to jail for a long time for ichigo's sake.

ok wow this really got away from me and i've forgotten the point i was trying to make BUT tl;dr i think the renruki break up is more complicated than initially presented and there are some incredible unexplored avenues of angst.

[alittlefrenchtree]

Come on now, what kind of critique is saying it was unrealistic? What were them supposed to do, a 20 minutes scene only about that or a *20 minutes later* spongebob style thing? Also they didn't sponsor it like that, it was just mention in an interview with so many other things and sometimes that's what made the title. This is a romcom and everyone is reviewing it like it's an oscar movie. It was never this serious. I guess at least you wrote your personal opinion and stopped there, hopefully you are not engaging with people making fun of nick like some other "fans" of his, the same that were not gonna watch this movie and end up following every step of the press tour and were first in line to watch it the day it came out.

You're right, nobody in the history of cinema has ever used elliptical narration. Never happened EXCEPT with spongebob who found the only way to show that time has passed on screen. My bad.

But that wasn't even my point. I don't care how long is the foreplay on screen. If they hadn't been loud about selling a movie the way they did, that would have been perfectly fine, a nice surprise even. I care about someone selling me a red dress and me buying it only to find out that it's a green dress. The green dress is totally fine but I bought the red one so it's a problem, right? And that isn't the only thing that what mis-soldi n the promo.

So I don't know which promo tour you saw but I think I saw like more or less 50% of it and I've already heard enough about female pleasure and women taking back their freedom and not being dead at 40 or whatever and I've seen very very little of that in the movie. I could argue that I've seen as much as the opposite as this, actually. So yeah, if there isn't going to be a red dress, don't tell me that you wanted to show a red dress. Talk to me about the green one, I'm sure there is nice things to say about it.

"Somehow that what's made the title", the somehow is most likely because that was in the talking points written by the pr team of the movie sooo my point still stands I guess. It's not that hard to pinpoint each one of them after a few typical interviews. Chemistry (leading to the casting story). Boysband boot camp. Feminism stuff. Not Harry Styles (Hayes is his own character). So in my book that wasn't really a unfortunate hasard. They lead themselves there and they didn't live up to it, so that's on them.

And oh darling, if I had reviewed this movie like an oscar movie, I would have burnt the thing to the ground and left no ashes with oh so many words. The only reason the first half made it in my eyes, is because I took it like a unserious romcom. The problem is that the second half didn't even meet this unserious expectations.

And I'm not going to even acknowledge the last part of your message since it does sound a lot like you're fandom police and since fandom police doesn't exist, I'm pretty sure I've hallucinated your words 😘

[gunkreads]

WOW (breathe)

WOW (breathe)

WOW (breathe)

Look, I saw it coming from about the halfway point. It was written on the walls and floor, and even little hints on the ceiling sometimes. Fuck, dude, it's written on the cover of the damn book. (spoilers below) GO READ IT. HARD RECOMMEND.

But a perfectly-executed twist has values besides shock to carry it.

The beauty of the twist at the end of The Traitor Baru Cormorant is the steadiness with which Dickinson shifts the narration itself to make you question whether you could have ever believed Baru was really with the rebels. Around the midpoint of the Haraerod summit, Baru's internal monologue--i.e. the narration--begins to betray small hints that she's trying to re-distance herself from the Aurdwynni. From there on, Dickinson makes these

HANG ON I JUST LOOKED HIM UP, HE WAS A WRITER FOR

THE TAKEN FUCKING KING??????

okay we're back

AND FORSAKEN????????????? TAIN HU = SJUR EIDO CONFIRMED??????????

okay back for real.

makes these little "slip-up" hints appear constantly and with increasing frequency throughout the latter half of the story. By the time they're gathered before the battle, Baru is all but admitting to herself that she's trying to end the dukes. Dickinson plays with the fact that his writing is so deliciously tight and refined that any teeny little "misplaced" word sticks out like a gunshot in a church.

I love it, OK? I love when authors know how good they are and play chess games in which their own mastery is the piece that lands the checkmate.

But really, once I had a little chat about this book (thanks @pillowfriendly) and established that it wasn't meant to be a mind-bending political drama, I picked it up and blasted through the latter half. So it was also a teaching book! I now have a better idea of how to assess what a book is trying to be when I start it.

Also, what the hell is up with people comparing this series to The Locked Tomb? What's the similarity there? I'm asking because The Masquerade can be compared much more directly to another series that infected me with a nearly identical flavor of brainworm: Red Rising.

Like... come on, man. I could draw a Venn diagram of plot points between the first Red Rising book and The Traitor and you'd have to break out a microscope to find the places they don't overlap.

Probably ice fucking cold take: Seth Dickinson's first book is about two miles better than Pierce Brown's. Red Rising (the book) takes a HOT sec to get off the ground and is just so incredibly derivative in its structure that I have a hard time putting it up on the pedestal that Dickinson has just effortlessly launched himself atop. I love RR in a deep, unkillable type of way, but the first book isn't... all that. I'm not unpacking that shit right now.

Anyway, yeah... The Traitor Baru Cormorant is an all-timer for sure. Elicited a lot of soft "oh...."s from me, which is about twice as much as I ever ask for.