#so having that as the first unlocked memory would set some of that up pretty well

[aparticularbandit]

Debating having a second, parallel fic to dr1 end rewrite that's just. memories.

And then sometimes posting one of those instead of a main fic update to show what memories Kyoko's recovering as time goes on, while also giving a better look (albeit out of order) of stuff that happened prior to the Killing Game.

....

The first chapter would be the first all girls sleepover that Kyoko goes to. Because I think that's apt.

[denpa-dere]

house arrest 3

afab!mc x beelzebub

description: NSFW, you are confined to your room for your own protection. But how long will that last when the only thing standing between you and your housemates is a door and some willpower? Would Beel pass the marshmallow test?

warnings: Capital B breeding kink with talks of impregnation, babies, afab reader with she/her pronouns. Talk of emotional eating. Dubcon warning!!! This one turned out sounding kind of sketch in places, but actions depicted are intended to be consensual. Size kink.

Note: reader is described as being shorter and smaller than Beel, but I tried not to go into specifics. so just scale Beel in your mind to however big he'd have to be to be significantly larger than you.

|| Intro || Mammon || Asmo (mini) || Levi || Satan (mini) || Beel || Lucifer (mini) || Asmo || Belphie (mini) || Belphie || Barbatos (mini) || Satan || Diavolo (mini) ||

For the past few days, Beezlebub had been eating his feelings. 

He was a menace in the kitchen, he could admit it. Since breakfast three days ago, no meals were able to be prepared to completion without interference from the sixth-born. Occasionally, one of his brothers would try to separate him from the fridge where he had set up camp, but each attempt only served to make him more irritable and territorial, less like himself. It soon became clear that their efforts were not worth the struggle and creative measures were implemented to allow for some form of cookery. 

Belphagor hovered as much as his fatigue would permit, worried for his twin. Left unspoken for the sake of Beel's dignity, Belphie understood intrinsically the depth of the hunger you had unlocked in his brother. It was a terrifying force to be reckoned with, one that could very easily boil over into something disastrous. 

At this late hour, Beel was alone, Belphie having retreated to the attic for yet another nap. Four puddings pushed down the memory of your scent for the nth time. Twelve poisoned apples for how his hands dwarfed your tiny shoulders. A couple boxes of leftover takeout to smother your big doe eyes looking up at him before the first shove kicked off a regretful fight between his brothers. 

Guilt weighed like an albatross around Beel's neck. He loved his family- you were included in that. You rounded out their group in a way that felt complete. Beel wasn't always the most articulate demon, but his feelings were genuine and acute; sometimes overwhelmingly so. 

"Oh, hey."

He felt sick. 

Beel twisted to see you over his shoulder, refrigerator door still halfway open. You were standing in the kitchen doorway, looking unsure, picking your fingernails. You looked so small. 

"I was going to get something to drink," You said, as if you needed an excuse to be there. 

He smiled at you and hoped it was reassuring, "I think there's some juice left."

"Thanks, that'll work," You returned the grin, relieved he broke the tension first. He sat the carton on the counter and stepped aside.

See? You could both be normal about this.

“I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you,” You mused, getting yourself a glass from the cupboard, “I’m going stir-crazy in there.”

Beel leaned against an opposite counter, “How much longer are you locked down for?”

“Ugh, I don’t know, two or three more days, maybe?” You mirrored him from across the room, “I hope Lucifer doesn’t think I’m doing this every month. Absolutely not.”

Every month.

This was going to happen every month? Indefinitely? He felt light-headed. How was he supposed to contend with this on a regular basis? A month was nothing. 

“You okay?” You asked, shaking Beel from his thoughts. 

“Yeah,” He replied, “Are you at least eating enough?”

“No complaints there,” You shrugged, sipping your drink, “Anyway, I should head back.”

The words came out reflexively the moment your back was turned: “I missed you.” 

“I missed you, too,” You beamed back at him, stopping in your tracks. You were so pretty when you smiled. He felt his heart speed up.

“Can I walk you back?” He asked, knowing very well he shouldn't, but not ready to say goodbye just yet. 

You hesitated for only a moment, "Yeah, I'd like that."

___

Trying to keep pace with you was always a little awkward, given your much shorter stride. Beel was used to waiting up for others after a few millennia of adapting to Belphie's slothful movements. Still, the urge to scoop you up and carry you with him tugged at his fraying nerves. Would you mind? You'd let him do it before…

Even if you did mind, it'd be easy, he thought, to simply hook an arm around your waist and lift you like a fangol ball. You could wiggle and fight as much as you wanted, but realistically, you were physically no match for the most average of demons, let alone one such as himself. Especially if caught by surprise, with no time for magic (or pact orders) to level the playing field. Despite all of your time spent in the Devildom, your trusting nature left you wide open to any number of those with ill intent. It was like you refused to understand that humans were prey. 

Which is why you needed to be here, with him them, Beel reminded himself. To keep you safe. Because, right now, you were all but screaming to be devoured. 

Sweat dotted his brow. Maybe going with you was a mistake. Without a constant stream of food to distract himself, his thoughts were drifting to dark and unfamiliar territory. Even tucked under his arm, were you really safe? He swallowed the rapidly pooling spit in his mouth, chewing on the discomforting idea. 

"Well, this is my stop," You said, breaking the uneasy silence that had formed between you. Your hand hovered on the doorknob, but neither of you moved. He was certain you could read the distress all over his face. You were good at that sort of thing. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" You asked gently, twisting the handle.

"I don't know," He replied, honest as ever, "I want to spend more time with you, but I'm worried."

"That you'll hurt me?"

He nodded, "Or worse."

You seemed to consider his words carefully. You studied his expression, though what you were searching for was unclear. Finally, you shrugged as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. 

"I'm not worried," You said, pushing open your bedroom door, "I trust you."

___

Beel loved his family. He loved you. 

But he could stand for there to be more of you. 

It was his single-minded focus, and had been since… since however long it had been that you'd allowed him into your room, he supposed. 

You entered first. You showed your back to him and he went after you, blinded by instinct. Time was fuzzy after that. Later, Beel would go through and make sense of things. Right now, with your cunt squeezing him so deliciously, the only semi-coherent thought in his head was breeding you over and over and over again. 

"More, one more," He slurred almost apologetically. If he could feel the satisfaction of cumming deep inside your tight little body just one more time, then he would be sated. Maybe. Probably. 

You were like jelly, eyes rolled back, reduced to wordless noises while he bounced you on his cock. Your arms hung loose around his neck, legs locked around his waist. Dark marks bloomed across your skin, purple bruises in the shape of hands and teeth despite his best efforts to keep your trust. It took everything he had not to break your soft, salty skin when he tasted you. He mouthed at whatever exposed flesh he could reach, desires and intentions blurring hopelessly together into a confusing mess. 

You fell against him with a pathetic cry as another orgasm was pulled from your poor, overstimulated body. You were trembling uncontrollably. He curled protectively around you, kissing your sweat-slicked temple and murmuring sweet praise that bubbled up through his mental haze. You were taking him so well, please, just one more for him, please, one more so he could make absolutely sure you wound up carrying his babies- and why stop at one? You were going to be gorgeous pregnant, working so hard to make their family even bigger, giving him even more people to love. Fuck– he couldn't get enough of you. 

He felt a tightening in his core that signaled he was close. He held you in place, bottoming out when he bucked up into you. Stretched obscenely full, your walls pulsed around him, milking his cock for all he could give. You groaned something that sounded like his name muffled into his chest, your desperate keening triggering his own release. His previously rhythmic grunting built into a low growl as he pumped thick ropes of cum deep into your already stuffed cunt. Beel let out a small whine feeling some of his seed dripping out around him. It wasn't fair. It all belonged to you. 

A brief moment of clarity washed over him in the wake. He knew you were tired- exhausted, actually, judging by your adorable fucked-out expression. That was okay, he could help. He'd get you cleaned up and into fresh pajamas before taking you upstairs to rest together in his bed. 

Consequences be damned, he was going to keep you close. He knew Belphie wouldn't mind. Besides, what if he needed more later? 

[starshinegarcia]

hi!!! Can you do Spencer x fem reader where she is not a part of the BAU but is Spencer's gf and no one on the team knows but they have their suspicions. Then one day he forgot his lunch so she decides to bring it to him at work and everyone is so shocked that he has a gf and they tease Spencer bc he's so infatuated with her and they are so in love!

I love this idea so much!! requested Spencer x Reader oneshot- my first time writing Spencer! feedback appreciated as always! __ stands for Y/N! hope i did it justice! thanks so much for the request lovely 💗

Isn’t it just so pretty to think..

The sun peeked in at you through a crack in the cream colored curtains, a trick of the light casting shadows on your freckled back as you dozed off- again. The slow beeping of your alarm clock came into earshot once again, and you begrudgingly unlocked your phone, trudging across the apartment to take a picture of the fridge (it was the only way to shut your alarm off, Spencer had figured out your sleep habits.) Slowly padding back to your bedroom, you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes, blinking as you examined Spencer’s side of the bed. Wait. You twirled around, doing a double take as your eyes focused on the blue lunch bag sitting on the counter. Spencer had forgotten his lunch, the one you had packed for him the night before, like you always did.

The love note peeked out at you in the front pocket, an extra reminder to you as you grabbed your phone. Scrolling through a few texts from Spencer from earlier in the morning, you dialed his number, chewing on your lip as it rang. “Good morning, sunshine.” “Spencie, you forgot your lunch.” You heard your boyfriend sigh on the other line, imagining him rubbing his temples. “So much for that eidetic memory, huh? I’m sorry, baby, put it back in the fridge, okay? I’ll order something for today.” You shook your head, but refrain from arguing audibly as an idea sprang into your head. “Baby?” “Just wait there, okay Spence?” “__, sweetheart, what-” “No time to talk! Bye!” Giggling, you DID place the lunch back in the fridge as he had asked, dashing back to the bedroom and shutting the door with a spin.

Spencer had, undoubtedly, been in a rush that morning, having stayed in bed with you a few more minutes then time allowed for. He ended up not being late, and even if he had been he would never sacrifice that time with you, not for the BAU, not for the world. You had been dating for half a year now, but you had been in his life for much longer before that- hence you two moving in relatively quickly. The team obviously had their suspicions, but no formal introduction had taken place- but Spencer was left completely clueless that morning as you hung up the phone, smiling and going back to his files with a loving shake of his head.

So, come lunchtime, the last thing he was expecting was your scent wafting through the office, his ears picking up on the jingling of your bracelets and suddenly feeling slightly crazy. But no, there you were, bouncing up to him with a visitor badge pinned to your blouse, your guy’s favorite Chinese takeout cradled in her hands.

“Hi, babe.” You set the food down on his desk, perching yourself on his desk. “What are you doing here, sunshine?” “Well, I have a shoot later downtown, and, I figured you might want some lunch- free delivery, of course.” Spencer chuckles, taking you in- you were wearing a light blue blouse over a darker blue skirt- two of his favorite colors, though anything looked good on you. “You shouldn’t have. You look stunning, though. I can’t wait to see those pictures later.” You giggle, swinging your legs and reaching out a hand to smooth his curls down. Spencer clears his throat, and you glance up to see the entire BAU staring at you.

The rest of the office watched in awe as you came in, then with even more surprise as you beelined it to Spencer’s desk. JJ whipped a fashion magazine out of seemingly thin-air, pointing to a woman on the front cover. “She is quite literally the top plus sized model in the US right now.” “You’re telling me that Spencer is dating HER?” Garcia burst out in a fit of giggles, “I told you guys, big girls are the way to go!” while Derek shook his head with a smile. “Pretty boy pulls a model. Who knew?” Emily swiveled around to face them, shaking her head. “She looks different than the magazine, though. She looks smart, and look at the way he’s looking at her. Reid wouldn’t date someone without depth.”

Becoming aware of everyone’s eyes on you, you look to your boyfriend for an answer, getting a nod and gentle smile in return. You hop up off his desk, smoothing your skirt down and waving shyly. “Uh, hi, everyone! I’m __, it’s really nice to finally meet you guys, Spencer has told me so much about you and I’m really glad to finally be putting a face to the name and I’m-” “Baby, breathe.” The team stifles a laugh, the resemblance between your rants and Spencer’s tangents clear. You flush. “Anyway. I brought enough food for all, if you guys want? Penelope, I um, got some vegetarian stuff for you, as well.” Garcia, the woman that she is, wraps you in a tight hug, and you laugh, appreciating her silent invitation into the group.

Seated at the round table, everyone passes food around, settling down eventually and eating off of paper plates Rossi had dug up somewhere. Chatter fills the table, and the door abruptly opens as Hotch enters the briefing room. Everyone freezes, and you drop your fork startlingly loudly as his eyes find you. Rossi starts, “Aaron, we were just-” Hotch holds up his hand, cracking a smile as he motions to shake your hand. “You must be Spencer’s girlfriend. I had a feeling we’d be meeting you soon. __, is it?” You blink, standing up and letting out a sigh of relief, eyes twinkling as he winks at Spencer and starts to pull up a chair.

As the lunch hour came to a natural close, Spencer pulled you close as you leaned on his shoulder. Pressing a kiss to the side of your head,Garcia gazes at you two from the bullpen. “They are so freaking cute, I could cry.” Everyone laughs, but silently agrees, happy to know their youngest and most troubled colleague had found someone. Back in the office, you glance at your bedazzled watch and sigh.“I need to get going, baby, my shoot starts in half an hour.” Spencer groans, tugging on your arm as you start to stand up and gather your things. You laugh, rubbing his hand with your thumb. “I’ll see you at home, Spencie.” He nods, pulling you into a kiss and resting his forehead against yours. “I’ll be looking forward to that PB&J tomorrow, sweetheart.”

All along there was some invisible string, tying you to me..

Tags: @discotitsposts @ilikw

Comment 🦋 to be added to my tag list!! :)

[fortheloveofwonderland]

Midnight | Chapter 20 | S.R

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Summary - Spencer seeks to enact his ultimate revenge on his biggest demon. You run into a face from your past, but is it simple coincidence?

A/N - we’ve reached the part that Spencer’s story has been leading to. Tread lightly with the next few chapters as they get pretty dark.

Pairing - unsub! Spencer Reid / Fem! Reader

Category - dark angst | smut | very eventual happy ending

Warnings - child molester, past sexual abuse of a child, Spencer faces his trauma, past drug use, swearing, making out, cheating, fingering.

WC - 5.5k

Chapter 20 - Unopened Windows

The residential suburb of Summerlin was barely fourteen miles off of The Strip but given the time of night it took Spencer almost forty minutes to drive to. But it would be more than worth it for this kill. 

It was one he’d been thinking about for some time, but one he’d never thought would come to fruition. It was his most dangerous target by far, it broke a lot of Spencer’s own rules he’d put into place when he’d started this vigilante mission. 

But this would be his swan song, his grand finale. It was easily the stupidest idea he’d ever had, and if he were to ever get caught this would be why. But it would be so worth it to say he’d slayed this final monster. 

This one had been over three decades in the making. The man in question, who’s house Spencer had parked the Impala a little way down from, was a serial child molester who had flown under the radar for nearly forty years. Spencer didn’t know exactly how many children had fallen prey to the seemingly innocuous looking man, but he knew his very first victim personally.  

It was entirely plausible the wheels had been set in motion on Spencer’s ultimate demise long before prison, long before he’d even realised it. Maybe he’d been destined to become this person all along. He knew all the facts and figures on the subject, he’d just never thought too much on it in case it was a particular line of thinking he never came back from. 

But there was a definitive link to abusees becoming abusers. On average fifty percent of serial killers suggested they had been psychologically abused as children, while thirty six percent said they experienced physical abuse. And twenty six percent reported suffering sexual abuse during childhood. 

It was a definitive correlation but it didn’t take into consideration the amount of abuse victims who didn’t go on to commit violent crimes or the serial killers who weren’t abused as children. But it certainly bore some kind of relevance. A victim takes back the power they lost by becoming the oppressor. 

Spencer ran his finger over the blunt side of the blade, eyes never leaving that one house. There was a light coming from one of the downstairs windows so he knew his target was home, that’s not why he was waiting. 

Why he was waiting, he wasn’t sure. The sooner he got this over with the better, one less evil in the world. He never imagined this would be so difficult. 

He’d gone two months without killing and he’d hoped he was done. He’d thought maybe the strength of your love had pulled him out of the darkness for good this time. 

But then two days ago he’d awoken from a nightmare, the likes of which he hadn’t had in more years than he could count. It was less a dream than a memory, a memory from when he was just eight years old. The worst moment of his life, worse than his drug addiction, worse than watching Maeve die; even worse than prison. 

He hadn't exactly repressed it, it was more a case of he’d locked it inside a box at the back of his conscious mind and never dared open it. Maybe if he had repressed it he wouldn’t have ended up here. 

It had been what the BAU called his trigger. It was the trigger that set into motion a lifetime of events that had led him to this moment. And the nightmare had only unlocked that box and set the monster free and now it was out, there was no containing it. This man had to die so Spencer could live. 

As he stared at the house he simultaneously had both Cat and Mary’s voices in his head. 

I had Lindsey dose you in Mexico. You lost time. And I gave her very specific instructions to get you in the mood. 

Fine, I’ll tell everyone I know that you sexually assaulted me. 

Stop being the boy who cried rape, Spencie. It’s not a good look. 

So if you don’t give me what I want, I will disgrace the former FBI agent Spencer Reid and tell everyone that you raped me.

And then through the fog appeared another voice, this time his own. 

Do you have any idea how many people are actually assaulted every day? How many don’t report it because they’re scared they won’t be believed? And you want to use their real pain for your own sick gain?

Maybe it was the events with Mary that night that had led him to have that nightmare again after so many years and brought it all back to the foreground of his mind. That horrible nightmare in which he was trapped inside that house with no escape from the one man he was supposed to be able to trust. 

Time was said to heal all wounds but Spencer’s were still just as open as the day as they’d been made, never giving them a chance to scar and mend. 

He suddenly slammed his hand against the steering wheel, subsequently silencing the thoughts that fought for dominance in his fractured brain. It didn’t matter how he’d ended up here, it didn’t matter what had been his undoing. This was his beginning and tonight he was making it his end. 

Spencer had tracked down your demon, now it was finally time to take care of his own. Most children were told about the boogeyman hiding under their bed but the monsters under his bed were never as terrifying as the one who crawled into it. 

At eight years old Spencer Reid had learnt the hard way that he couldn't trust anybody, not even his own family. His future had been written in the stars from the very first time his father had crept into his room and beneath his sheets. 

He slammed the wheel again, closing his eyes tightly against the onslaught of tears that had built up and one last resounding voice cut above all the others. 

It’s ok, daddy will make it all better. Big boys don’t cry, Spencer. 

When he opened his eyes again, he allowed one single tear to fall before he roughly rubbed his eyes free of anymore. Picking up the blade, he pulled at all his bravado and opened the car door.

It was finally time. William Reid had to die. 

Big boys don’t cry dad, but we do grow up to be psychopaths. 

***

After a long soak in the tub and throwing up once more, you put on a little summer dress before texting Spencer on the burner phone that you were heading to the spa and to let you know when he was back. He’d see it once he picked up the phone from Bennington. 

You took the elevator down to the first floor and the hustle and bustle coming out of the casino assaulted your ears. You stepped out, heading in the direction the signs told you the spa was, trying to put distance between yourself and the sounds of coins in slots. 

As you headed further away from one noise, another caught your attention but this one was much more welcoming. The dulcet tones of someone playing piano wafted your way and instantly relaxed any tensions you had in your body. 

You instinctively followed the sound, now ignoring signs for the spa in lieu of finding where the tickling of keys was coming from. It led you into a grand room with a large mahogany bar taking up one wall and plush, velvet armchairs scattered around glass tables. The piano was in one corner, a man in a full suit and tails sitting behind it. 

You glanced around and continued forward. Now you thought about it, you did have a kind of metallic taste in your mouth, a glass of something would go down a treat. You let the music wash over you as you made your way to the bar, taking in all a multitude of liquor bottles on shelves but the thought of any of them made your stomach turn violently. 

What the hell is going on? Why don’t I want to drink? I swear those goddamn hotdogs…

A man with a very fake smile and even faker tan behind the bar greeted you and you reluctantly ordered a soda. You paid the man and picked up your glass before turning on your heels but as you did so, you crashed straight into a hard, broad body. 

Your drink splashed all over both your dress and his shirt and you narrowly avoided dropping the glass. You grumbled under your breath, staring down at your soiled clothing. 

“Sorry, I wasn’t…” you glanced up and met the dark eyes and bearded face and your hand around the glass slipped again and you quickly put it on the bar to avoid breaking it. 

He stared at you but you couldn’t work out what he was thinking, his expression completely unreadable. Your heart drummed against your rib cage as the music continued to play around you. 

“I…what are you doing here?” You swallowed thickly. 

He didn’t even seem to notice his wet shirt, not taking his eyes off of you and you were sure he didn’t look as surprised to see you as you were him. He folded his thick, tattooed arms over his chest and exhaled heavily. 

“Hi Y/N.” Jesse finally spoke. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

***

With the SIG and his hunting knife tucked into the back of his jeans, Spencer snuck down the side of the house and into the backyard through the broken gate. 

It hadn’t been at all hard to find his father, not when the man was such a creature of habit. All those years ago when he’d come face to face with the man again during the course of a case, Spencer had made a mental note of the address in his dad's case file. He’d kept it inside of his head for all these years and it was finally of some use to him. 

Since waking up from that nightmare two days ago he’d thought of nothing but coming here and ending his fathers life. Thankfully when he woke up screaming you’d already been up, in the backyard listening to music that had drowned out his cries. 

Spencer had only ever told one person of the torture he’d lived through at his fathers hands. When Morgan had come clean about his own childhood abuse he’d considered talking to the older man about it but every time he tried he would clam up. Talking about it meant thinking about it and he couldn’t do that. 

The only time he’d ever opened up about it had been completely out of his control, whilst high on dilaudid he’d accidentally let slip his darkest secret. 

“Spencer, Spence…just calm down. Please?” She tried to reach for him to stop his frantic pacing but he shook her off. 

“Can’t. Can’t stop. If I stop they win.” He turned away from her, ducking behind the desk in his living room and rifling through papers.

“Who? Who will win?” She followed him, frowning at her friend. 

“The monsters.” He replied simply. 

“Spencer…”

“They’re everywhere, we can’t stop them all. We can stop some of them but we can’t stop them all. We’ll never stop them all.” He kept moving papers about but she had no idea what he was looking for. 

“Spencer, what are you talking about? Are you…are you high?” Her tone caused him to stop his rampant shuffling and look up at her across the desk. 

“Y-yes.” He nodded. “The drugs make the monsters not seem so scary.” 

She cautiously rounded the desk and placed her hand on his shoulder. She gently guided him away from the desk and over to the couch where they both sat down. 

“Spence, Hankel is dead. He can’t hurt you anymore.” She kept her hand on his shoulder. 

“This isn’t about him.” He spat, furiously grinding his teeth. “Fuck it all came back to me. Carl Buford unlocked that box and while I was in Hankel’s cabin all those memories came flooding out.” 

He rubbed his eyes heavily with his palms, his left leg bouncing up and down. 

“Carl Buford?” She frowned again. “What does he have to do with this?” 

“He hurt Morgan. He hurt Morgan in the worst kind of way. The kind of way that sticks with you for the rest of your life. Never look at yourself the same. Is it my fault? Did I do something to encourage it? My fault, gotta be my fault.” He hit his forehead with his hands a few times, devolving into incoherent muttering. 

She took hold of his wrists and guided his hands away from his face. He looked at her in a doe eyed fashion, looking so small and innocent. 

“Spencer,” she inhaled a shaky breath. “Did someone hurt you in that way? Like Carl Buford did to Morgan?” 

His bottom lip quivered and she saw the tears that quickly sprung behind his eyes. 

“Yes.” He nodded stiffly, pulling his hands free of her hold. “My father.” 

The first time he’d cried and begged his dad to stop but all the times that followed he laid there and waited for it to be over. 

The abuse continued for two years. For two years every time Spencer crawled into his bed at night and he would stare at the door and wonder if his very own boogeyman would surface that night. 

When he was ten and his parents divorced, it was the best day of his life, finding out his father was moving out. He hadn’t realised at the time he’d probably started growing too old for his dad anyway, sexual predators were very specific in their type. It also didn’t occur to him then that he wouldn’t be the only one. 

He was still fairly certain his father assaulted Riley Jenkins. But how many others had there been? How many other kids were terrified of William Reid sneaking into their room at night? Certainly none of the others were the man’s own flesh and blood. 

He crept around to the back of the house, his hands trembling at his sides. He understood now how you could get so emotional when you’d confronted Green. It was different when you knew them. He wasn’t going to be able to distance himself from this like he had the others. This wasn’t some stranger, this was the man who had ruined Spencer’s life. And Spencer was going to look him in the eyes and return the favour as he cut his fathers throat. 

There was something oddly poetic about it. His dad had played a role in giving him life and now Spencer was the one who got to take his fathers away. It was almost a full circle. 

He quietly traversed the back steps up to the screen door. As expected it was open, much like most of the monsters he tracked down. They thought the evil living in that house was far worse than any that lurked outside. His father was about to be proven wrong. 

He inched open the screen door and stepped inside the dark kitchen. The light was coming from the living room and he could hear the TV was on. As he silently padded across the linoleum floor, he withdrew the SIG and pointed it forward in his shaking hand. 

His entire life had been culminating up until this moment. Everything he’d done had led him here. This was the ultimate kill, and once he did this maybe he would finally be able to find peace. 

Killing his father would be Spencer’s crowning glory. And if he got caught because of it, at least he would always be able to say he’d taken out his biggest demon. 

***

“Hi Y/N. Fancy seeing you here.” 

“You don’t seem all that surprised to see me.” You felt a pit forming in your stomach. “Did you follow me here?” 

Jesse pulled a face before he started chuckling, unfolding his arms and letting them fall to his sides. 

“What? Why would I follow you? I’m not a stalker, I swear.” He held his hands up. 

“It seems very coincidental that you’d be here. And you didn’t seem surprised that I was here.” You took a step backward. 

“Trust me when I say I am just as shocked as you are. I’m partly wondering if you even are here or if I'm just going crazy.” He continued to laugh. 

“Why are you here?” You took another step back. 

“I’ve got a buddy from college who moved out here a while back. He’s been trying to get me to come visit for a while and after everything that happened with you it seemed like a good time to get away.” He shrugged. 

Your heartbeat started to return to normal, looking in his eyes you saw no threat. Sure it was a huge coincidence but coincidences happened, right? You were being paranoid. 

“Jesus,” you shook your head. “I’m sorry for being suspicious.”

“It’s ok, I would be too.” He shrugged. “You on your own?” 

“Yeah.” You rolled your lip between your teeth. 

“Can we talk? Somewhere more private?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets almost nervously. 

That didn’t seem like a good idea, you didn’t trust yourself to be alone with him. But nonetheless you started nodding. 

“I’ve got a room upstairs. We can go there.” You turned and motioned for him to follow you. 

This was a horrible idea and once alone in the elevator you already wanted him to put his hands all over you. You kept your eyes on the floor and neither of you spoke as it makes it slow ascent. 

Finally on your floor you led him to your room and slotted the key card in before the door clicked open. You led him inside and he took in the suite with a similar wide eyed awe as you had. 

“Jesus, this one room is bigger than my entire apartment.” Jesse shook his head. 

“Yeah, uh, Spencer’s doing, not mine.” You shrugged awkwardly. “What did you want to talk about?” 

“Mary‘s missing.” He cut right to the chase. “She disappeared the same day you and Spencer did.” 

You felt that pit opening up in your stomach again and you fought to keep your expression neutral. 

“Seriously?” You didn’t trust your voice to say anymore than that. 

“Yeah. And I think you know something about it. It seems too coincidental, don’t you think?” He cocked an eyebrow at you, walking further into the living room of the suite. 

“About as coincidental as you being in Vegas at the same time as me, in the same hotel.” You mirrored his expression. 

“I told you, I’m visiting a college buddy. Thought I’d treat myself to a night in a decent hotel.” He shrugged. 

“What’s his name? Your college buddy?”

“Liam.” 

You couldn’t tell if he was bluffing or not and you hated that. 

“And he lives in Vegas?” 

“Henderson.” He was quick to counter. “Stop changing the subject, Y/N. I think you know what happened to Mary.” 

“I have no idea. Maybe she ran away? She didn’t strike me as being all that responsible.” You shrugged. 

“I don’t think so. She had no money, she worked a ton of jobs so she could get out of Butte but she couldn’t afford it.” He stepped closer.

“Maybe she started charging for her services.” You rolled your eyes. “Being a whore could have been her big payday.” 

“I guess.” He chuckled darkly. “But I don’t think so.” 

“You seem to know her pretty well. And clearly she likes older men. There’s a story there.” You tried to change the subject again, 

“You think I would sleep with Mary?” He scoffed. “I prefer a woman my own age. And you know all about my complicated history.”

“There’s something you aren’t telling me.” 

“How am I suddenly the one on trial?” He heaved a sigh. “Fine, if you must know, my ex, the one who managed the Tin Cup, the one who fled town…she was Mary’s aunt. So I guess I knew her pretty well or whatever. Got invited to some family dinners in the year we dated. Now I’ve been honest with you, it’s your turn. What happened to Mary?”

“I have no idea.” You stepped back when he stepped forward again.

“I think you’re lying.” 

“And I think you don’t know me well enough to know when I’m lying.” Again you stepped back as he stepped closer. 

“Her aunt, Laura, called me after Mary’s mom got in touch with her when she disappeared. Her mom thought maybe she’d run off to visit Laura. So she called me, for the first time in two years I had to talk to her. She was the first woman I got close to after my wife killed herself and she broke my heart. And Mary’s disappearance meant she called me and I had to deal with all that again. So if you did something to her, the least you can do is be honest with me.” He was trying to intimidate you and maybe if you hadn’t dealt with Spencer’s aggressive side for so long it might have worked. 

“I did nothing to her.” You squared your shoulders. “I’m sorry you had to talk to your ex but I have no idea where Mary is.” 

“And I still don’t believe you.” This time when he stepped closer you didn’t move, you weren’t backing down. 

“Then that’s on you.”

“Tell me what happened to her, Y/N.” Another step and he was dangerously close to you, you could smell his woodsy aftershave. 

“I don’t know.” You tried to ignore it. 

“Tell me.” 

“No.” 

“Tell me.” He repeated, raising one of his strong, intricately decorated arms and his large fingers wrapped around your bicep. “Spencer did something to her right? And you’re covering for him. Do you know how foolish that makes you? You think he cares about you? You think he wouldn’t throw you under the bus giving half the chance?”

“You don’t know him.” You shook your head, his grip on you getting tighter. 

“I’ve known plenty of men like him. What did he do to her? Did he kill her?”

“No.” You swallowed, his aftershave assaulting your senses and making your legs tremble. “He didn’t do anything to her.”

“You can tell me, Y/N. Tell me what Spencer did to Mary.” 

“He didn’t do anything to her!” You suddenly raised your voice. “I killed her ok? Is that what you want to hear? She was threatening Spencer. She found out who we were and was blackmailing him for ten grand. She said if he didn’t give her the money she would tell the whole town he raped her! I couldn’t let her do that so I killed her and we buried her body somewhere it will never be found.” 

Jesse’s face paled and his hand fell from your arm and he stumbled backwards a little. Your heart started racing as you realised the words that had just left your lips. He glared at you like you were a stranger. 

“You…she…why would she say that? She’s a bitch sure but surely she wouldn’t…” he trailed off, his voice distant. 

“I heard it with my own ears.” You croaked. “And I just saw red. My sister was raped and murdered when I was seventeen years old and it tore me and my family apart from the inside. I couldn’t bare to hear her spread a fucking lie like that and so I shot her in the back of the head. She never saw it coming.” 

Jesse ran his tongue along his bottom lip, his breathing growing heavy. 

“Jesus Christ.” He grimaced, taking in your words. “Jesus fucking Christ.” 

“Are you disgusted by me?” You pouted. 

He exhaled shakily, his brows furrowing as he tried to process an answer. 

“No.” He shook his head, looking confused by his own voice. “Which says more about me than it does you. I’m not disgusted. I should be, but I’m not. If she would have told everyone that it would have ruined Spencer’s life. What kind of person does that?” 

“An evil one.” You swallowed. 

“Exactly.” He nodded his head in agreement. “So no, I’m not disgusted. But even weirder than that I’m actually incredibly turned on.” 

Suddenly he moved closer to you again, quickly closing the space between you but you held your hands up to stop him. 

“I’m married.” Your voice cracked. 

“No, you’re not.” He tried to move closer once more but again you stopped him. 

“No, I really am this time. As of a few weeks ago.” You held up your left hand, showing him the new ring. 

“Fuck.” He groaned, running his hand over his beard. “I came out here to get over you! Jesus, I barely knew you any time at all, and I didn’t even really know you but I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve been on my own for so long now and I’ve gotten so good at it. But since the first night I met you in the Nickel I never wanted to be alone again. You’re everything I always wanted and more but of course you’re married and I’m such a fucking idiot.” 

“No, Jesse, you’re not an idiot.” You found yourself moving closer to him, bringing your hand up to cup his jaw. 

“Of course I am.” He scoffed. “Only an idiot would fall in love with a woman he doesn’t even know.” 

Your heart grew to double the size hearing those words from his mouth and you couldn’t stop yourself when you suddenly crushed your lips together. 

Jesse instantly kissed you back, cupping your face in both of his hands and parting your lips with his tongue. 

“Say it again.” You mumbled into his mouth. 

“I love you. I love you. I love you.” He repeated, grinding his hips against you. 

Out of nowhere tears sprung to your eyes and when you opened them and pulled back from the kiss they unexpectedly started to fall. Jesse’s face fell. 

“Why are you crying?” He started brushing your tears away with his thumbs. 

“Because when you say it I actually believe it.” You snivelled. “I don’t think I’ve ever really been convinced when he’s said it to me. But I believe you, I believe that you really do love me.” 

“I do.” He nodded. “I shouldn’t. I know nothing about you apart from the fact you killed a person. And that should make me hate you, I should turn you into the cops. But that’s the last thing I want to do.” 

“What do you want to do?” You dared ask him. 

“Oh I think you’ve got a pretty good idea.” With that he kissed you again, one hand moving from your face to your lower back which he used to guide you towards the couch. 

He kept kissing you while he lowered you back to it and crawled on top of you. His erection pressed into your leg and his hand was quickly wandering under your dress and ghosting along your panties. He hissed into your mouth when he felt how wet you were. 

“I love you, Y/N.” He spoke against your lips as his fingers brushed your underwear aside. “I love you so fucking much.” 

You moaned into his mouth when two fingers suddenly entered you and your eyes rolled back in your head as you succumbed to Jesse entirely. 

It was a glimpse into the life you’d never have, one night to see what you and Jesse could have been but never would. After tonight he would leave again and you’d have to let him. He was simply just a window that had to remain closed. 

***

William Reid sat in the old battered armchair watching Family Feud whilst sipping from a mug of tea. The armchair faced away from the kitchen door and enabled Spencer to sneak right up into the doorway. 

His fathers thinning head of hair rested against the back of the chair as he hummed along to the theme tune. Spencer had the SIG pointed at the back of his head as he took a few steps forward into the carpeted living room.

He edged right up behind the chair, the muzzle of the gun just a few inches from the back of his fathers head. He could end this now before William even saw it coming. All he had to do was pull the trigger and it would all be over. 

But he wanted to look him in the eyes, the same way his father always made him do. 

Open your eyes, son. Look at me, don’t be scared. Daddy’s going to take care of you. I said look at me! 

The rage bubbling within Spencer was like nothing he’d ever felt before. This man was responsible for destroying his childhood and the childhood of so many other young boys. The cycle had to end. 

William Reid suddenly tensed in his seat, slowly setting his mug down on the little table next to the chair. Spencer could hear his breathing grow heavier and when he glanced up at the TV he realised why. 

Spencer could see his own silhouette in the small, ancient device and clearly his father had seen it too. William swallowed thickly, his shaking arms raising gradually until they were over his head in surrender. 

“Please don’t hurt me.” His voice trembled as he spoke. “Take whatever you want, b-but I don’t have much.”

“I don’t want anything from you.” Spencer replied harshly, and he saw his father straighten in recognition. “You have nothing I could possibly want.” 

“I should have known this day would come.” William sighed and lowered his arms again. 

Spencer kept the gun focused on his fathers head as he cautiously rounded the chair until he was standing in front of the older man. 

William Reid looked haggard, older than his years. His eyes that had haunted Spencer’s dreams for as long as he could remember had lost their menacing spark. His face was hollow, gaunt even. And he didn’t even look phased by the firearm trained on him. He sighed as though the whole thing was an inconvenience to him. 

His lip suddenly turned up at the corner in a wicked smile that Spencer remembered so well. It caused his stomach to flip and he momentarily felt like that terrified little eight year old begging his dad not to touch him again. 

“You’re all grown up.” William smiled at him, threading his fingers together in his lap. “I missed you, son.” 

Spencer coiled his finger around the trigger, his heart beating loudly in his ears. His father was his one unopened window into his tormented past and today was the day he finally put all those horrid memories to bed and opened that window and at long last be able to breathe fresh air for the first time in over thirty years. 

It was time to break out of the walls of that house his father had confined him to in his memory and set himself free. 

My favorite movies,

Are tales never filmed.

That I dream of living out,

A private screening,

That plays in the field.

But I'm trapped inside this house.

Walk through the halls, trace the walls,

Back to where we made our memories.

See what will never be.

Through unopened windows, bound to my heart,

Fantasy so close, feels so afar.

But I long to break the lock and live among the life we lost,

Through unopened windows, they tear me apart.

I'm sick of hearing,

That time always heals.

Try to tell that to my scars,

Sure, it stopped the bleeding,

And it's harder to feel.

But it really left a mark.

I walk through the halls, trace the walls,

Back to where we made our memories.

See what will never be.

Through unopened windows, bound to my heart,

Fantasy so close, feels so afar.

But I long to break the lock and live among the life we lost,

Through unopened windows, they tear me apart.

All the stories left unwritten,

That we drew up in the past.

It's the game we never went to,

Or the drinks we never had.

As I look up to the stars,

And make a wish to bring you back.

But I curse the roof above me,

And I learn to live behind all these.

Unopened windows, bound to my heart,

Fantasy so close, feels so afar.

But I long to break the lock and live among the life we lost,

Through unopened windows, they tear me apart.

They tear me apart,

They tear me apart.

See what will never be,

Through unopened windows, they tear me apart.

@bubblebuttwade @jay-2s-world @daddy-dotcom @nomajdetective @rebelliousstories

[helloheyhihowdyheya]

Rose Thorn Blues | pt. 4

Gif originally by @pierreparker (now it seems to be attributed to @king-keery)

Peter Parker x fem!reader

Part One Part Two Part Three Masterlist

Summary: You were certain you could work with Parker on this Beaumont case, but you were wrong in the worst ways OR the three times you visited Parker's apartment.

Word count: ~6.8k

Warnings: Enemies to lovers!! Awkwardness, swearing, tension. Mild depictions of stalking and violence. Some arguments. Repressed feelings. (and a sleepover :)

A/n: I'm sorry it's been 3 months since the last chapter — I started a new job and got sick like 3 times, but it's here!! Thank you all for your patience and love for this story. I really hope you enjoy it, love ya <3

The first time you visited Parker’s apartment was a few days after the fundraiser. If anyone had asked you whether you were avoiding him, you would have outright denied it. Not checking your texts in case it was him or spending that Monday work day shadowing Alice instead of sitting across from him meant nothing. Obviously.

Arriving home after the fundraiser had been mostly awkward goodbyes and restless sleep. You hadn’t ever meant for it to go this far, to be standing in the home of your rival intern/work partner/fake husband, and you were fine with never talking about what happened.

And it was all just a precaution really. Distraction kept you from getting too far into thoughts or memories that you wouldn’t — couldn’t — think about. Not if you ever wanted to face him again.

Despite your attempts to definitely not avoid him, you stood in the entryway of Parker’s apartment the next day after work. The Beaumont story ate away at you, and the two of you needed to make more progress on it. And his place, conveniently, was pretty close to the Daily Bugle building. So despite your best efforts, you walked side by side from work.

And when he unlocked the door for you both, your eyes looked past him and into the space. You were faced with the bare walls and messiness of his home. Old laundry covered his couch and papers lay strewn about any flat surface, but what hit you first was that there were very few decorations. Nothing sitting on the shelves. No family photos.

As you stepped into it, into the naked silence of the place, your eyes wandered with nothing to say. Briefly, the thought of whether he got lonely living here struck you so sharply that you bit back a gasp, suppressing a jolt running through your chest. It nearly ached as you pushed it away.

“Wow… this is, uh, nice,” you said through a weak smile, your gaze roving all around the apartment. 

Blinking at Parker, you watched him cross his arms in front of his chest. His body rested back against a small dining table, an unimpressed look on his face. “You’re being mean, sunshine,” he said.

You breathed out an airy laugh, falling back into what was easiest with him. “Ah, sorry for thinking you might at least clean up your dirty laundry before company comes over. My bad for assuming the bare minimum of you, Parker.” 

At least the bickering between you two hadn’t changed.

You walked farther into his apartment and set your backpack down. Parker stood fully and went to his small kitchenette, saying, “One, that’s my clean laundry. I’ve been a bit busy lately helping a coworker commit crimes. Two, I’ll clean up when I have company worth cleaning up for. And third, would you like anything to drink?”

He reached up into a cupboard to grab a glass, waiting for a response. At that moment, your eyes suddenly had a million more interesting places to look than the exposed skin of his back as his shirt rode up. You thought about anything but the memories of his warmth beneath your fingers.

“I’ve got tap water or a 2-liter Dr. Pepper that I drank straight from.”

Your lips pressed tight. “I’ll just have water, thanks.” 

He set the cup down on the table in front of you before grabbing out his laptop. You watched a small drop of water roll down the side of the glass until it landed on the tabletop. 

For a passing beat, or stretching minutes, you weren’t sure, you let your vision go unfocused, idly grabbing your own laptop out. You also pulled out the blueprints, the weight of them heavy since you stole them. Mentally, you flipped through everything you’d seen, and that worrying pit returned to your stomach. 

You hadn’t taken a sip of the water before finally breaking the silence.

“So what’d you learn from the back room you went into?”

Twirling a pen between his fingers, Parker rocked his chair on its back legs. “It was just a VIP section. Rich people talking about rich people things — and none of it explicitly illegal.” His eyes glanced at you for a second. “What’d you learn?”

You sighed, settling further in your seat. You’d been mostly avoiding thinking about it. “Not much from Will. Just his part in the non-profit, which doesn’t seem to be all that much. And that he seems different from his father, which may be an advantage after we report Ellis’s crimes.”

You watched an innocent look fall over Parker’s face as he nodded. Squinting your eyes at him, you asked, “What?”

“Nothing.”

Before you could interrogate more, he reached a hand out and grabbed the blueprints from you and traced a finger over the images. Letting out a quiet “Okay…” as you returned to your notes, you said, “You’re minoring in engineering, right? Does any of that make sense to you?” You gestured vaguely at the paper.

“It’s biochem,” he grumbled, not lifting his gaze. 

“Okay, whatever. Does it help us here?”

He let out a small gasp, making your head snap up. “Oh my god, yeah. My biochem final was on assembling a super suit to destroy the city. Can’t believe I ever thought it wouldn’t come in handy.”

You glared at him, your lips pursed, until he looked up at you with that stupid grin of his. You asked, “Are you done?”

Parker only shrugged, returning to his computer with the ghost of a smile on his face. You gave him time to study the blueprints as you let the case take over your mind once again, using it as a familiar buffer between you two.

Looking into the city hall’s archives, you wrote down names of any other people that may have had ties to Beaumont. You recognized a few from other pieces you’ve written — too many of them being stories on Spider-Man.

But by the time the sun began to hit the city’s skyline, your research hit dead ends. And Parker hadn’t given you any updates that told you he’d made breakthroughs on the blueprints. 

The ends of your thoughts felt frayed and fried, and it didn’t help that Parker now began interrupting the silence more and more often. 

“I’m just saying, center pieces of brownies are superior,” he said on his latest interruption.

Nodding with a tight smile, you checked the time. “You’ve been ‘just saying’ that for the past ten minutes. And I still disagree despite your best persuasive efforts.”

“You don’t want a warm, gooey piece that melts in your mouth?” He let out a hungry groan, presumably imagining it.

Leaning in slightly, you looked at him and said, “Parker, if I could make only crispy edge pieces, I would do it in a second.”

His mouth dropped, his voice becoming a whisper. “You’re a psychopath…”

With a soft laugh, you mindlessly switched from tab to tab, almost just waiting for Parker’s next interruption. He often brought up anything and everything that came to his mind — something you were slowly getting used to with him. 

And with fingers hovering above the keyboard, that thought stopped your movements.

You dragged your eyes up to see if he was looking at you. He wasn’t. Whether it was that realization of getting to know him or the genuine laughter he pulled from you every couple of minutes, you didn’t know. But it suddenly felt like too much. 

Several emotions hit you all at once as you sat there — some of them of relief and appreciation for a break from this case, and others sat cold and confusing in your chest. They clouded your mind even as you tried to sort through the names you’d found. Your leg subtly bounced up and down repeatedly. 

Slowly, without thinking, you began to pack up your things, moving your body instead of your mind. The only way you could react.

“I should get back. I’ll, uh, work on the story more tomorrow. With a fresh mind,” you muttered, throwing a tight smile his way. From the corner of your vision, you saw him nodding and saying a weak goodbye. But you hardly looked at him or the way his face fell as you left.

--

You’d ended up at Parker’s apartment for a second time four days later. The time in between the first and second visit was spent making little progress on the story, those days full of pointless interviews and wild goose chases — including walking back in the late-night air from talking with yet another dead-end lead. 

The bright moon peeking from behind clouds rose in the sky alongside your growing frustration — at Beaumont, at the city for its apathy, at yourself. The only thing to top it off was the feeling of plopping raindrops hitting your skin. Within a few seconds, the sky opened up, releasing a flood all at once to wash your hopes for this case down the drain.

The journey home felt heavy, each movement slow with your backpack and bag from your grocery stop held against your chest. You tried to ignore the rain’s staccato pattern humming a message to abandon this story. 

But that message grew louder when a slow creeping feeling snuck up on you. Maybe it was the sound of rain pounding against buildings or it was your heart beating in your ears, but a strong pulse went through your body with each step. A chill began to crawl up your arms, all the way to the base of your skull.

You looked behind you.

In the cloudy air, you saw no one. But you couldn’t shake a feeling twisting in your gut — one that told you someone was watching you.

Your pace quickened. With sharp, clenched inhales, your fingers gripped against the cloth of the bag like lines slicing through crumbling sand. 

Goosebumps rose along your skin under the cold summer night air. You brushed raindrops from your face, blinking your eyes a few times. When footsteps sounded not too far from you, your head whipped around.

No one. 

And when an unrecognizable voice cut through the fog — somewhere too far to see but too close for comfort — fear began to crawl up your throat, pricking at the corners of your eyes. You didn’t know whether the deep voice’s words were directed at you, but you understood the angry tone beneath them.

Your mind, running through a million panic-laced thoughts, kept returning to the fundraiser. You two must have not been careful enough. Maybe it was Ellis himself to talk. Or one of his men to make sure you didn’t talk. 

You didn’t want to find out which it was.

The noises surrounding you dulled beneath your pulse thundering against your ribs. You tried staying near street lamps and other people walking, but the trip back took longer than normal with the pouring rain.

The sharp blade of the situation threatened you, grabbing you in an icy grip as your body ran into someone. Time froze with your blank mind. Gasping, stumbling backward, you instinctually raised your hands. Your fingers gripped impossibly tight onto your bags.

Brief seconds stretched into what felt like neverending moments as you stood there. You could only risk a hesitant glance when the person spoke.

“Sunshine?”

Shakily, you lowered your bags an inch at a time. Your sleeve tried brushing the rain from your face, your watery gaze raising to the man.

Never before had you been so thankful to see Parker, even as he stood in front of you with most of his body and face covered by a dark raincoat.

He asked what you were doing here, but your mind found it difficult to focus on his words. You barely picked up the unusual raggedness to his voice beneath the heavy storm.

You intended to say something sensical, maybe even sarcastic, but no words came out of your opened mouth — just a hiccuping inhale that strained your throat. A crack of thunder boomed overhead, and your body jumped with the sound. 

You couldn’t help looking behind you again, watching for any dangerous person between the raindrops. But it was only people trying to escape the rain.

Vaguely, you registered the dull ache on the inside of your cheek, your teeth gnawing on it nervously. Looking at Parker again, you noticed the neon red sign beside you two. At the street corner, the cherry light cast shadows across his face. You watched his eyes glance around, gaze scanning and calculating. You stopped breathing when they landed back on you.

Again, you tried answering him as he asked whether you were okay, but you mostly felt the warmth of him as he stepped closer. Reading his lips, you made out the questions, “Who is it? What do you need?”

As another boom of thunder sliced through the sky, you shook your head. Tried to make sense of whether someone was following you and how Parker was standing before you now. You looked at the crease between his eyebrows growing deeper with every passing second.

But when his arms wrapped around you, the presence of him engulfing your senses, a deep inhale settled into your lungs. The breath blew against his coat like a dam breaking.

Finally, you heard his words clearly. “My place isn’t far from here, okay?” he said. “Is that alright?”

You exhaled a “Yes,” and he began to guide you both down the sidewalk in an instant. He tried his best to shield you with his raincoat, but your body felt that familiar weight of Parker more than the raindrops.

He kept you talking, engaged in the conversation to keep you from slipping away inside your mind. You answered his question robotically, unthinking. But a strange silence eventually washed over your bodies. It sat in your chest until you coughed up something to say.

“What were you doing out here?” you asked. It took a waning effort to keep your voice steady. 

A too-long beat passed before he spoke. “Taking a walk.”

You would’ve told him bullshit if you had fight left in you, but not now. Maybe later.

And you never would have thought you’d be so thankful for Parker’s apartment either as you two entered the building and crossed the empty lobby. Your soaked shoes left wet footprints and squeaky steps on the tiled floor.

In the creeping moments of waiting for the elevator to come down, your eyes drifted to the building’s front door, watching for any movement that might pass. 

“It’s safe here,” Parker said from beside you. You nodded, but your eyes wouldn’t tear from the windows until the elevator doors shut behind you. Still, your mind repeated his words, the mantra echoing with each level the elevator rose past. 

You hadn’t realized just how cold you’d become until Parker’s hands wrapped around your arms. He rubbed up and down along your skin to build some warmth against your apparent shivering. You sent a begrudging nod as thanks.

“Just trying to stave off the frostbite,” he muttered, more to the air than you in particular.

You let out a sharp breath. “This means nothing,” you whispered half-heartedly — as some attempt at normalcy.

“Of course not.”

As the elevator doors opened, his grasp slipped from your body. Maybe you were too close as you followed behind him, but you couldn’t find yourself caring all that much. Not as you watched to make sure he locked the door after you both.

At his outstretched hand, you hesitantly traded him your bags for an old bath towel. You followed his offer to leave your damp shoes by the door, drops of water falling from you. They formed a spotted image around where you stood. You dried the best you could to avoid flooding his apartment, which looked slightly different than last time.

And before you could think better, you asked, “Did you clean?”

“Hmm?” he called from the next room, presumably his bedroom. As he came back to you, eyebrows raised high and innocent, he said, “Uh, maybe?” 

You nodded, pursing your lips as you considered his answer. Between his fingers, Parker held out a stack of folded clothes.

“Do you need a change of clothes?”

He stood in front of you, expectantly. “My last roommate left them. I think they’d fit you.” But as you paused your drying, your gaze fixed firmly on the soft-looking sweatpants and shirt, he said, “They’re clean, I promise.”

You took in the neutral expression on his face, the unusual straight line of his mouth. You gave a quiet thanks and followed the line of his finger pointing to the bathroom. 

The door didn’t quite fit, so you wrestled it closed and locked it. You relished in the warmth of the dry clothes over your slightly damp body, and you focused on that rather than the intimate feeling of undressing and redressing in Parker’s apartment.

Every few moments while changing, you took in your reflection in his smudged mirror. Mental and emotional exhaustion etched itself into the crevices of your body. It weighed down your hands as you hung your wet clothes over the shower railing, and it sat uncomfortably in your stomach as you left the bathroom.

Under soft lights, Parker stood before the stove in comfortable clothing, the shirt hugging his frame a warm dark blue. He moved with quiet steps around the kitchen, so at home here in a way you hadn’t seen before. Beside him, the ingredients from your grocery bag sat out on the corner, a pot of water heating up on the back burner.

Before you even made a sound, he turned around to face you. “You hungry? ‘m making us dinner.”

You stared at him, absently picking at your nails. “Uh, sure.”

You weren’t certain how else to answer, especially as he’d already begun cooking. The two of you had eaten dinner together before, but that was takeout while working on the case. This was… decidedly different.

Between cutting vegetables and putting pasta into the boiling water, Parker grabbed a granola bar from the new box you’d just bought. The first hint of a smile that night appeared on your face as he offered one to you too.

You both snacked as he began cooking the vegetables, and the silence didn’t feel so aching this time — not beneath the sounds of Parker’s kitchen. But a few times, he opened his mouth or looked as if he were to ask you something and would decide against it within a moment.

Eventually, you let out a long sigh and said, “Thanks, for uh letting me come back here.” You paused, your gaze staring off into nothing. “I was just a bit freaked out.”

He let your obvious understatement go and just nodded. “Yeah. Of course. Do you… know who it was?” His eyes glanced from the food cooking to you.

You shook your head. That might’ve been the worst part. “Couldn’t see anyone. Don’t even know if someone was following me.”

“Do you think it had to do with the fundraiser?”

You brought up a hand to run down your face, the weight of it unable to ground you. “Could be. I thought we were careful. Well, careful enough to not draw suspicion…” 

You trailed off, refusing to look at Parker. You tried refusing to think about that night, that maybe you’d done all that for nothing and still got caught, but it was no use. The thought churned over and over in your head, looking at it this way and that, until it became mush and a dull headache began to form behind your eyes.

Instead, as Parker finished cooking the vegetables, you thought about the end of the internship. When you’d be able to go back to classes and a normal life — with a promise of a job at the Daily Bugle that didn’t require you to pick up coffee for your boss or write about Spider-Man every other day.

As Parker strained the pasta, steam from it curled through the air, wrapping around the ends of his hair and warming the small kitchen. You watched him combine the pasta with the vegetables, plating the food for you both. And you found yourself sitting at a small table in Peter Parker’s apartment, having a meal cooked by him.

Between the hot food and safety of his apartment, the harrowing events of that night felt farther away — at least for now. Instead, the time was filled with talking about things that didn’t matter, just anything to keep your mind distracted. And by the time you helped him clean up dinner, you were plenty preoccupied by his offer to stay over rather than walk home in the dark storm. 

Besides your quiet “yes” as an answer, few words were passed alongside the dirty dishes. The silence continued as he grabbed a pillow and sheets for you, setting up the couch as a makeshift bed. “Here you go. Complimentary with each stay at La Casa de Parker.”

You shook your head at him. “Is the half-drank Pepsi an extra charge then?”

He flattened his mouth, shoving his hands deep in his pockets. “Afraid so. Can’t get service like that just anywhere.” He neared, merely shrugging his shoulders.

You let out a quiet laugh before noticing a dark spot along his cheekbone. “Oh, I think you somehow got sauce on your cheek,” you said. You began to reach a finger up to his face before pausing, your hand floating between you two. “Um…”

But his eyes stayed on yours, his head nodding for you to continue. Your thumb nearly shook when he grinned — a softer, nearly happier, smile than his usual one. Ignoring its intensity proved difficult with each gentle swipe of your thumb against his skin.

As your hand fell back to its usual place by your side, an electric buzz coursed through the air. Your quickening pulse went up through your body, sparking every nerve it surged past. Parker’s gaze dropped to your mouth, and you couldn’t help doing the same — maybe out of instinct or maybe to escape those pleading doe eyes.

Under the hyper awareness of Parker inching ever closer, you thought your heart couldn’t race any faster until a crack of thunder exploded overhead. A short gasp stuck in your throat, your body nearly jumping a foot in the air. 

Parker’s soft laughter interrupted your attempts to return your breathing back to normal, making you let out a breathy laugh too. But you took a few steps backward, palm flat against your chest, and pretended not to notice his hand ready to pull you back in.

“Christ…” you muttered, your muscles twisted so tight you thought you might burst. A weight dropped into your stomach, your feet moving toward the couch as you said, “That, uh, might be as much excitement I can handle for tonight.” 

He just watched you, his mouth slowly forming a closed smile. “Yeah, we should probably get some sleep before the next round of thunder makes you pee your pants,” Parker said, backing toward his bedroom with a tight laugh. Achingly slow it seemed, you watched his shadowy form disappear into his room, leaving you standing in the living room and picking at the hem of a stranger’s shirt on your body.

His light peeked from under the door, and when you eventually lay down, you traced the shapes from it resting on the ceiling. Your eyes moved over them again and again, timing it with the rise and fall of your chest and the beating of the things you refused to think about. You weren’t sure how long it’d been by the time you fell asleep under the weight of his blankets on top of your body and the smell of Parker’s apartment.

And when you woke the next morning, after a night of tossing and turning, the sun had begun to rise. It cast the world in a blue haze that quickly broke to a bright sky. It was still early, but the memories of last night and where you were now kept you from staying there another minute. 

As quietly as possible, you changed back into your own clothes, eyes glancing to his shut door every couple of seconds, before grabbing your bags. You set the worn clothes next to the folded sheets you left on the couch. 

That and a scribbled out “Thank you” on a scrap piece of paper were the only evidence that you were there. That you had somehow fit into his life at all, like a needed fresh breeze of air passing through. But it made you hold your breath until his apartment door shut behind you.

--

You went to Parker’s apartment a third time a week later. You vowed to never return again after that.

The time between those two visits was filled by earnest attempts at keeping things normal between you two at work — despite the silences that now felt awkward and energy focused on not thinking about everything — but it seemed normal wasn’t a word in the vocabulary of this relationship. Friendship?

The moment you made the promise to yourself to never return was at his dining table, laptops and piles of notes sitting between you both. After weeks of little progress, you looked back over the blueprints and let the thoughts you’d been avoiding float to the surface.

With a sigh, you said, “These parts for the blueprints had to be the ones in that warehouse I went to. I think we might have to go back there — check it out and see if maybe they’re still there.”

The idea had been in the back of your mind for days, but after the incident of someone possibly following you, you’d tried looking for any other alternative. The lack of useful interviews and new information pushed you back to that option again and again. You’d already done it once, though, and you would do it once more for the story.

And these thoughts drifted through your consciousness as you read over your notebook for the hundredth time. They were interrupted when Parker responded, but his words only registered seconds later.

“What?” you asked, lifting your head to look at him — certain you hadn’t heard him right.

“I already did.”

A stillness dropped over the both of you, your breathing slowing. Confusion hit you first, the feeling wrinkling in your chest. Disbelief hung from your lips as you stared at his face still looking at his laptop. Although his words sounded absolute, leaving no room for misinterpretation, you asked, “You went to the warehouse?”

He just nodded as his teeth dug into the edge of his lip, his eyes moving across his screen. “Uh, yeah. Like last week.”

He explained it as if that was enough. But no answer came, nothing worked its way past your clenched teeth. Past the sudden intensity coursing through you — feeling almost like pain and something heavy you couldn’t pick out.

When it was clear that his explanation wasn’t enough, he continued. “Didn’t want you going back and snooping again,” he shrugged, and that set your nerves alight — as if he were shrugging at a hornet’s nest he just swung at. “It looked like those boxes had been moved to another location.”

Beneath the table, your other hand slowly clenched until your nails bit into your palm. You shut your eyes just for a second, forcing yourself to breathe. It barely helped when you spoke, your voice coming out strained.

“Parker?”

He finally looked at you, eyebrows raised.

“I…” you began, shaking your head in a confused disbelief. “This is my story, remember? You follow my lead. What are you doing going to the warehouse without telling me?” You tried to keep your voice calm, but a tightness rising up your throat threatened to choke you. 

“I knew you’d want to go back — a very unsafe decision if you ask me. So I went instead.”

“But I didn’t ask you. That’s the– how was it safe for you to go by yourself?” you asked, your eyebrows coming together in a deep line.

Parker shook his head, his mouth set in a straight line. “I mean, would you have even been okay to go? After last week… and everything that’s happened?”

That made you pause, your breathing stopping for a moment. The fragile air hanging between you and him seemed to crack under pressure. “Everything?”

He began to say something before pausing, unused words on the edge of his lips. “Yeah. Like the fundraiser. Like flirting with William Beaumont, you know?”

“I… that’s just part of the job. I mean, it seems like you need to talk through some stuff.” When he gave you an unamused, almost disbelieving, look, you shot back, “I’m fine, Parker.”

His expression didn’t flinch, just the muscles of his jaw tightening. “Okay,” he said, raising his hands up in surrender. “Jus’ trying to get you to open up.”

“Why?”

The question left your mouth before you could really consider it. It felt sharp cutting through the air. But that didn’t mean you weren’t thinking it. His questioning was passing over some invisible line — you weren’t sure what it separated or where it stood, but it felt dangerous. The more you let his words dissolve in front of you, the more your face twisted into an unfortunately familiar hardness.

Parker pulled back a little, his eyes flaring open as he seemed to stare through you. “Because it’s been a lot. And I don’t know, maybe because we snooped through a criminal’s mansion and made out in a closet?” he said, a bite to his voice.

When you didn’t answer — couldn’t get an answer out — an exasperated sigh left his mouth as he threw his hands up. “You’re not exactly proven in the field, so I thought I’d check in. Try to help out with the warehouse.”

You couldn’t stop the weight forming in your chest or the angry glare your eyes narrowed into. “Okay, well thanks for your ‘help’ or concern or whatever, but you’re not exactly the person I’m going to open up to. Not with… everything,” you repeated, shaking your head. “And all this is for the Beaumont story. For the internship, so we can just forget about it once we’re done.”

His scoff had your nails digging farther into your palm. He crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. “Is everything just a competition to you?”

“Is it not for you?”

You quirked your head, raising your eyebrows while awaiting his answer. Jumbled thoughts rolled through your mind, some calling you a liar and others itching to speak their mind against him.

His normally bright eyes looked nearly black. Cold. His mouth opened and closed, as if he couldn’t decide on what to say to you. He landed on, “I… can you just trust me on this warehouse thing?”

Trust. The question he’d asked before he kissed you — whether you trusted him. Maybe you had at that time, in his embrace and your heart in your throat, but in this moment? The aching, sinking feeling in your stomach told you something different.

You could only ignore his question, too pulled apart to really think about it. Your frantic instinct had you dodging, trying to find some way to move forward. In a quiet voice, you asked, “What’s next then? Talk to Will?”

“No,” he snorted, “Definitely not.”

And whether any part of him had grown less irritating in these past weeks no longer mattered as you stared at him. His unending smugness, the unwarranted superiority he carried with him, even his stupid hair that he never bothered to brush — it all wound tight around you until it begged to snap.

Your jaw began to ache from how long you’d been clenching it. “What do you suggest we do then, Parker?” The words came out sharp and rhetorical, ready to attack.

Setting down the blueprint, Parker leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “I think we need more information and more research. We can focus on that before making any quick decisions.”

You let out a disbelieving laugh. “Are you serious? We finally made some progress at the fundraiser, and now you want to wait? Beaumont’s plans could already be happening.”

“Which is dangerous. How are you going to go up against him? Especially with this suit he’s made?” he asked.

“It’s our job to uncover the truth. You knew this from the beginning.”

His face set into a hard stare, his gaze unyielding. Had you been any less furious, you might have averted your own gaze. But you just sat there as he said, “Well, things have changed.”

Yes, they certainly had.

Those dark eyes that no longer felt familiar dropped to the table, his chest rising and falling sharply.

A cold dread filled your body. You hated this whole conversation and whatever it meant. To either of you.

“Are we good here?” You began packing up your things without an answer, ready to leave his apartment and forget about “everything” to do with him.

His head shot back up, but he quickly forced himself into looking relaxed. “Sure. Whatever.” His hand came up to roughly scratch through his hair. “Just don’t get yourself killed.”

Pushing back your chair with a screech that cut through the silence, you muttered, “Like you care.” You shoved your things into your backpack, fighting against the strange wave of strong emotion boiling in your chest. You shouldered the backpack without a word.

“Sunshine...”

God, you hated that nickname. How it sounded coming from his mouth.

You just gave a bitter laugh and fought through your anger while walking out of his apartment. With each step carrying you farther away, you were sure you had the answer to the question you had that first visit. This place certainly felt lonely, even when you were there.

--

It only took two days for you to return to the warehouse, cast in the shadows of the night. Any small voice in the back of your mind telling you to trust Parker and stay away from that place fell into silence — deafened by the very convincing thought of “Fuck Parker” that played on repeat.

Maybe he was being honest about the suit parts, but you both knew he wasn’t telling you everything. And if he wasn’t going to give you the truth, you’d have to go find it yourself. Past the bright billboards and busy bars, you followed the steady beat of your heart back to the warehouse.

In Uptown, the path gave way to more warehouses and fewer street lamps until you were back to where the story began. As you crept down the alley, you once again saw no one around, a fact that worried you more than you liked to admit. But you pushed forward, ensuring your footsteps fell silent against the cracked concrete. Your ears strained to catch any noises outside the warehouse. You heard nothing but a breeze brushing along your skin… until you climbed the fire escape again.

Growing closer to those fluorescent-bright windows, you could barely hear muffled voices. It sounded kind of like bickering, but it was hard to make out. Swallowing back your persistent fear, you dared a glance down into the building.

A shaky gasp fought its way out of your mouth as you saw the once countless rows of neatly shelved boxes strewn across the warehouse, most of them shattered and broken into splinters. Your eyes traced briefly over the ruined scraps of wood until they fell on something metal poking out from beneath the wreckage.

As you crept down the line of windows, the different angle showed the object’s sharp edges and green glow. A bitter sinking weight hit inside your chest as you recognized Green Goblin’s glider.

So Parker had lied to you. No, he’d gone behind your back and lied to you.

The realization made you breathless, your lungs suddenly aching for more air. You tried shaking it from your head, to forget about it until you were home, but the hurt stung worse than you’d expected. Had you been wrong to ask for him to join this story? Was his help worth all this?

Voices from inside the warehouse growing louder cut through your confused thoughts. The sound drifted from above, through the skylight Spider-Man had come through last time. A man yelled at someone, his words spewing anger alongside crashing — almost as if he was breaking more boxes as he spoke. The voice became clearer bit by bit, and you were able to catch a sentence here and there.

With fingers gripping the edges of the window until they hurt, you crouched in silent stillness. The screaming man came into view, his white-hot emotions intense enough to make you shiver against their cruelty. He walked while berating some worker until his face grew red. A face you’d become familiar with.

William Beaumont, the man you’d danced with, now stalked along the aisles in an almost animal-like way. The mouth that whispered along the shell of your ear and promised real change now spit hatred like he couldn’t contain all of it inside him. The hands that had smoothed along your dress were clenched into fists, punching against the metal bars of the shelves — and bending them like it was nothing. A suffocating wave of nausea passed through your body.

Your unsure hands grabbed your phone from your pocket, your mind running on autopilot as you took photo after photo of him. Many of them were likely blurry, but at least one had to turn out. It had to. 

Before you could take more, your phone began vibrating as Parker’s contact name appeared on the screen. Behind the initial shock of fear that someone could hear you was the seething anger that hit. But beyond that was your finger immediately hitting the answer button. You had to tell him.

But the words died on your lips when a sharp coughing fit hit your ears, followed by a pained groan that froze you in your spot. The whole world seemed to come to a gnawing stop for a moment.

As quietly as you could, you said, “Parker?”

You refused to take your eyes off the men in the warehouse, watching for any sign that they heard you.

“Sunshine…” Parker’s distressed voice muttered out, then a too-long pause. “I need…”

A horrible buzzing overwhelmed your senses, a deep frown pulling at your face. “Parker, are you okay?” With only an answer of static silence, you pleaded, “Peter?”

You heard his strained, almost fading breathing. “Can you, um, come to my apartment? Please?”

You weren’t sure whether a yes or no came to your mind first, just that they both sat there waiting for you to choose. But through your frantic worry, you caught Will’s next shouted words and hung onto them like your life depended on it.

“Fucking find him! He’s a goddamn swinging man in red, and you shot him! How hard could he be to find?” he yelled to the other man, throwing a half-shattered box at the wall. The explosion of wood rained down on them, creating a background to their confessed crimes.

The worker finally spoke up, clearing his throat through the destruction. His gruff voice explained, “We lost him near Midtown. My people are searching there now, and we’ll find him.”

“You fucking better, for your sake.”

While you weren’t surprised that Spider-Man was involved in this, you couldn’t believe he was being hunted — and shot. 

But it was Parker’s coughing fit that brought you back, pulling at some deep part of you that needed to know what was hurting him. Instead, it sparked memories, breadcrumbs, of these past months. Of Parker always being one step ahead of you. Of just how close he always seemed to be to Spider-Man, as he seemed to be now.

Parker’s apartment, which you visited three times and three times only, which sat on a threshold between achingly foreign and frustratingly gentle, which was too far from your outstretched hands right now, was in Midtown.

Your heartbeat seemed to dim until you could no longer feel it. Your eyes began to sting, unshed tears crawling up your body. All your thoughts left until two remained at the center of your mind. Peter was Spider-Man. And Peter was hurt.

“Sunshine…”

The nickname came not from your phone but from behind you — spoken by a voice that shouldn’t be calling you that name.

Your phone dropped from your hand, clattering against the metal fire escape with a bang. Peter’s voice barely came through the speaker, but you could catch the urgency in his tone — all as you turned to scramble away. Still, you caught a glimpse of the man behind you.

You recognized the dark features and dead look in the eyes of Ellis Beaumont before something hard came down on your head. In an instant, tears spilled across your cheeks, the world darkening into shadowy nothingness.

@dil3mma @hollandweather @reidslovely @a-lumos-in-the-nox @keepingitlokiii @thedevax @sincericida @agent-tempest @olivezgalore @qwintlimon7 @eddieslooneymoonie @aheadfullofsteverogers @bitchy-bi-trash

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for sort of betraying my friends—but not really, since I was planning on being a double agent?

I didn’t tell anyone about my plan. That may have been my biggest mistake. But to get the bad guys to trust me, I had to PROVE it. And… there was sort of this REALLY IMPORTANT THING that my… friend was hiding away in the void. She had a very specific voice command that only she could use to unlock the void and give her this important object.

Except I have this ability where I can perfectly mimic voices. So my plan was to mimic her voice, say the password that only she is supposed to know (I know it because she trusts me enough that she didn’t think about the fact that she was sharing it in earshot of me… yeah I feel a little bad about this), and then give the bad guys the Really Important Thing that the good guys really don’t want falling into the wrong hands.

But then this horrible thing happened—she followed me!! She was there for the whole thing and didn’t know my plan!

She watched me steal from her using HER voice and HER password and give it to the bad guys. She watched me betray her and everything we stood for.

And look, while I was with the bad guys I was a part of some things I’m not proud of, okay? But as SOON as I could sneak out, I tricked her into meeting up with me so I could explain everything. She was a little upset with me, and wanted me to promise to be careful, but she seemed to understand.

I had to carry out my mission though, so I blew up the glass room with her inside WHICH SOUNDS REALLY BAD I KNOW, but I have her my cloak first so she wouldn’t get hurt. It further convinced the bad guys to trust me without hurting her… at least physically.

I feel bad about the whole ordeal. Like I said, there’s some other stuff I was a part of that I’m not really proud of—but I DIDN’T cross any of the lines I set for myself. I compromised some pretty serious information and one of the good guys’ hideouts where my friends were hiding.

But I gathered some seriously important information while I was there! Because I was with them, we knew that they were coming after my friend’s family and were able to prepare to save them! I told her all the information I learned.

But I have a photographic memory, so I still remember the look on her face. AND I have a power where I can feel others’ emotions, so I remember exactly how she felt, too. It was like her heart was breaking—and it HURT knowing I’d caused that.

But I don’t think I’d change what I did.

Maybe I would. I don’t know.

It was probably a huge mistake. But I was trying my best. And it wasn’t supposed to be a REAL betrayal—just look like it.

I don’t know. AITA?

[y0urm4m]

Distant memories

Warnings: arguing, swearing, mentions of sexual activity.

Summary: You see a familiar face in public and all you can think about is the old memories with a bit of a twist at the end!

╔═ஓ๑♡๑ஓ═╗

╰┈➤ ❝ 𝐼𝓉'𝓈 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝑒𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓅𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓈𝓉𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇, 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒾𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 ❞

❤️‍🩹

——————————————

I looked down at my phone, my roommate stephy had messaged. She was hungover and needed some stuff from the grocery store. I rolled my eyes at the message, I’d obviously have to go as otherwise I wouldn’t have had any food or anything I just needed to finish the painfully hard shift I hated this job but otherwise I’d have no source of income at all. This was gonna be a hectic 2 hours.

I groaned,cleaning the last table, grabbing my bag and signing out. 3:48pm, if I could get in the store and home quick enough Stephy should still be asleep as she said she set an alarm for 5. I grabbed my car keys unlocking the car before hoping in.

After a antagonising drive I eventually made it to the store, grabbing a cart and rushing in. The first isle I had to go to was the soda isle as I hoped they had more of my favourite drink, I rushed over to the isle eventually finding what I was looking for but when I looked up I was caught by surprise. Chris sturniolo, this couldn’t be happening right now I hadn’t seen him in years. He slowly looked up at me, I couldn’t tell if he knew it was me until he spoke. “Y/N?” He asked. “Hi Chris.” I replied sheepishly. I just wanted to pull a lever and fall through the floor at this point. The tension was thick in the air. But as I was about to make an excuse to leave he spoke again. “So how’ve you been?” “Uh.. good, how about you?” I asked looking down at my shopping cart. “I’ve been good, I recently moved to la with Matt and Nick which was pretty cool.” He replied. “That’s great I hope the move was good,” I said. He smiled, the same smile I remember seeing when we would eat ice cream laughing at films. Just thinking about the memories made me almost cry. “I should probably get going, I’m actually here to get stuff for my roommate.” I added my voice almost cracking. “Oh alright, it was nice seeing you!” He replied before leaving the isle. “Bye.” I practically whispered. I rushed around the rest of the shop hoping to not encounter Chris again because I would probably start crying.

I finally payed and headed back home which felt painfully long as all I could think about was my encounter with Chris I had finally made it to my apartment. I grabbed the shopping bags and unlocked the door, dropping the groceries off and heading straight to my room. I changed into some lounge wear and sat at my vanity looking in the mirror. I looked horrible my makeup practically gone,my high ponytail hung low and the eye bags from working overtime awfully visible—

But my focus on my face was abruptly shifted to the instagram notification that had popped up. I unlocked my phone opening instagram.

christophersturniolo has started following you.

I hesitantly clicked on his profile following him back, but after staring at his profile for 5 minutes I began scrolling through the posts. Mostly they were pictures of him and his brothers but as I went further on the timeline one picture specifically caught my attention. It was a picture of me and Chris, my head leant on his shoulder. I remember that day, Nick took the picture of us the day Chris asked me to be his girlfriend. Just looking at the picture was nostalgic and sad.

I scrolled down further, it was a mirror picture of Me, Matt, Nick and Chris all together. The day we all sat crying of laughter cause I tripped over the last step. Just thinking about the memory made me smile although it also made me emotional. The tears that had built up this whole time finally falling but thinking about all the good memories made me thinking about the bad memories.

The time me and Chris had a petty argument because he left me at his house alone till 2am or the time we both were mad at each other for talking to other people at a party that argument also played in my head on replay as that was the day we broke up.

Start of flash back:

I walked inside the house flinching at the door slamming behind me, “who the fuck was you speaking to the whole time?” He said frowning at me. “What do you mean who the fuck was I speaking to you was speaking to that girl the whole time!” I replied raising my voice. “That "girl" you’re shouting about is my friend so answer my question!” he spat back. I frowned, “well your supposed friend was definitely expecting you to fuck her or something!” I spat back. He was taken aback by that but still spoke up. “Well it sure looked like that man wanted to fuck you, he was practically undressing you just with his gaze! And you didn’t do shit about that you kept speaking to him!” He shouted even louder this time. I just rolled my eyes. “You know what Chris I can’t be assed for your shit, that girl was all fucking over you maybe you should just go fuck her!”I said, shocked at the words that had just left my mouth. His eyes widened, “What did you just say!?”he said his eyes narrowing slightly. “You heard me.”I said crossing my arms over my chest. “Y/n you should leave I’ll drop your stuff off tomorrow, this just isn’t going to work.”he spoke softly this time. I just grabbed my phone slamming the door on the way out. I remember the whole night I was crying in stephy’s arms.

End of flashback:

By this point the tears were streaming down my face my eyes foggy from how much I was crying. All I wanted that day was to walk back to Chris’ house, apologies and go lay down in his bed with him. But after that day we never spoke again, I always wanted to reach out and apologise but could never bring myself to click send. I honestly missed the old days when I wasn’t stressed over working overtime and I was just living life, when I’d spend all day with Chris and his brothers going on road trips and making good memories. I looked down at my phone now in the dm section, my fingers hovering the keyboard, as I began typing. But before I could even press send I received a message.

Christophersturniolo: Hey, after seeing you in the store earlier I couldn’t help but want to apologise on the way we ended I shouldn’t have even started the argument so what I was wondering is maybe you’d want to hang out some time?

I stared at my phone for a few minutes before eventually typing. I started off by apologising for how immature I acted at the time and how I should have heard him out instead of carrying on bickering with him, I then told him I’d love to hang out when I was next free.

For the next five minutes I stared into space until the realisation hit me, holy shit I just planned to hang out with my ex after however long.

I was then surprised by another notification. Christophersturniolo mentioned you in his story. It was the photo that I saw earlier, the one where my head was leant on his shoulder. I smiled to myself. 2 years ago today, it was if me was meant to see each other today.

I guess it’s as they say, everything happens for a reason.

A/N: I decided to do a bit of a different ending this time lmk what you think!!

Tag list:

@junnniiieee07

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/30/2024

a good 60% of my brain is screaming in unemployment terror at all times so these will be somewhat abbreviated until that situation resolves itself

listening

sleeping on the ceiling by friday pilots club. this is a song by a five-piece alt-rock band from chicago that could EASILY open for mid-aughts fall out boy. i would like to think it is from the point of view of a freshly-turned vampire. listen this slot isn't about the best song i heard this week it's about the one that got stuck in my head the most

Hey, I swear I'm okay Honey, I been sleepin' on the ceiling all day Yes way, like hey I swear I feel great Looky, looky, love the feeling of being okay Yes way

spotify.

reading

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick. it was in a dollar book bin and i got it as a joke gift for a friend. mike resnick is a remarkably prolific writer who's done a lot of tie-ins. i don't have anything particularly notable to say about his star wars books but they are a sort of minimum viable product? they feel star warsy and don't annoy me on every page.

this book was published in 2003 and treats the people of the Nile delta and their beliefs with all the delicacy you might expect from a 2003 video game tie in novel. i do think the twist is being telegraphed way too hard. perhaps i should say instead of sending a telegram mr resnick has simply set the telegraph office ablaze as a signal fire. the titular triangle-pointed woman herself ms croft is VERY insistent she's just as good as the boys. this is pretty on par for my experience of 2003 empowering womens' feminism AND my experience in a male-dominated field so i can't really ding it too hard? aside from the racism, in the notably racism-free fields of archaeology and video games and archaeology video games, this book is aging a little strangely overall. i do not know if i will finish it before i mail it out to my friend, but despite its sins it is a very fast read.

watching

watched the four dungeon meshi episodes. it's cute! ProzD was an unexpected delight! it made me want to make something fancy for dinner but alas i still have to go food shopping!

some posts on my dash were talking about how the episode with the mollusks inside the living armor really got them hooked and i have to agree. i also saw the full potential of the show's speculative biology unspooling before me. i don't know if i currently have the brainwidth for the manga but it is going on my reading list for after i finish berserk. which is kind of like saying i'm going to watch chopped after i finish up hannibal

playing

forgot i had an original gen switch, given to me through a complex series in a complex series of friend barters back in uhhhh late '21? early '22? i got through 3/4 of the divine beasts the first time around and then could not crack the camel. it was well past time to create a new switch profile so i could start a new game without losing the old one.

omg twinnsssssssss

i did forget how goddamn big the map is. i have just now unlocked the camera and the memory quests, i have not really. done much more than basic tutorial and beginning of game stuff.

making

anxiously junebugging between a whole bunch of shit. finally figured out the correct charger/extension cord setup for my bedroom. replaced all the fluorescent lightbulbs and took them to be recycled. fixed the hall door enough so it latches closed and an irritated cat can't claw it open. tidied up the balcony and patio and repotted the surviving houseplants.

in textile news, started this cross stitch. this is a Bless This Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy Star Wars themed sampler, i have made two as gifts and had to throw out a mostly-completed one i made for me bc of the moths. but i now know exactly where this will go in this apartment and i already have the frame and i bought all the floss pre-being fired, so might as well? the real bitch of the situation here is backstitching the buildings. it's so start and stop. it's so much tan. i talked about this on the weekly siblingchat facetime and now my brother has requested one lmao. that's his christmas gift settled. i suppose.

i had somehow forgotten how loadbearing textile crimes are for me. i haven't done much of anything since the moth debacle, and that was almost two years ago. last night i found some suspicious holes in a camisole and i'm really really hoping it's just cat claws and not moths or carpet beetles or any other fun things that eat clothes.

[hananoami]

[ Directional Orbit ] Ice - Stage 120 Clear VOD

This post is very late but I've finally cleared Zayne's Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 120 on June 9th! He is the second love interest to have successfully clear all the Deepspace Trials currently available. If I were to be honest, his last stage really gave me a lot of trouble in spite of him having the most high leveled memories out of the three in my collection. I'll go into more details about that below. For now I want to give attention to what you should expect from this particular stage. At this time Stage 120 is the final stage available for Zayne's Directional Orbit: Ice. Like all x0 stages with red hues around its orbit this stage will require you to use two separate teams. Team 01's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Ruby memories and Team 02's Protofield Stellactrum is 6-Sapphire memories. Matching the Protofield Stellactrum will grant you additional bonuses to your team. By matching the colors completely you will have a 'perfect match' which allows you to break 2 protofield shields in a single strike. This will ultimately save you some time by quickly bringing those wanderers into a weakened state. You also get an Attribute Bonus (up to 30.0%) for every color you match - increase DMG boost 5.0% and DMG reduction 5.0%. Of course, you could opt to go off color and try to brute force it. That's what I ended up doing for these fights. I don't mean to sound repetitive when I say this, but I still want to reiterate that there is no right or wrong way to play the game. Game play will vary from player to player. You have to take into consideration the memories you have in your collection, protocores used, their stat attributes, levels, etc. So I hope you wont be discouraged as you work on your own trials. If it's any consolation know that I am cheering for you, and am always willing to help~! Fighting!! ଘ(੭˃ᴗ˂)੭♡

Okay, let's rewind to when I first unlocked this orbit. Zayne was actually the first love interest to reach Stage 120, much thanks to the sheer amount of love and dedication I put into his Sapphire build. Low key I was pretty confident that he would also be the first one to clear stage 120... that is until then I saw the all ruby Protofield Stellactrum for Team 01-- I knew i was gonna be in trouble. (｡>﹏<) If you've been following along with my Deepspace Trials journey, ever since I've been playing this game and blogging about it, it's well known that his Ruby sets always give me so much grief. [Neon Night] was the last memory I was missing, but after 79 days it made is first appearance on 04/06 after roughly ~2k pulls since I started playing on day one. This memory eluding me became a meme amongst my friends so of course I had to write about it coming home. Originally, during my first attempt on 05/14, I had his 4-star NT solar pair equipped but historically for some reason I was never able clear any of his orbits that used all ruby. I opted to brute force those stages by going off color, however, that isn't possible to do here. Which is why I mentioned in my prog notes for this stage I was going to take a hiatus from any attempts until I was able to obtain his new ruby solar myth pair on 06/07 -- but that's a whole different story. After I got those SF memories and leveled them up it was time to go back in and see what I could do in order to finally clear this stage. During my early attempts my teams looked like this: Team 01 with 6-Ruby memories (Master of Fate build) and Team 02 with 6-Sapphire memories (Foreseer build). I chose to match the Protofield Stellactrum for now to see how things would play out. Real talk the damage output difference between a 4-star solar pair and a 5-star solar pair is kinda ridiculous. I had previously struggled to clear the first half, but with Master of Fate it was a breeze. I was finally able to see and prog the second half of the fight with Foreseer on 06/08, but wasn't able to clear the fight in the end. I thought maybe it was a protocore difference, as most of the memories I had for that half were max level (minus the 4-star memories, those were at 70). During the hiatus I focused on leveling up his sapphire protocores, yet it still wasn't enough. My mind was thinking of what else I could do in order to close the final gap between my prog and a clear. So I decided to do a different strat taken from a different playbook that I used in my previous 120 clears (open orbit / Xavier's Directional Orbit: Light) which was to swap my solar memories, but keep the respective lunar memories for team. Now here is where things got spicy.

Remember when I said I was confident with Foreseer? That notion quickly faded as I was struggling to clear the first half (2x lv 80-FS, 4x lv 70 ruby lunars). By this point all of the lunar protocores were maxed out at +15, yet I still wasn't doing enough damage to clear the first half of the stage before the timer ran out.

Okay then, since I can't level up protocores anymore and don't want to farm protocores with hopes to find better ones I decided to level up one of the lunar memories to max. The pattern was level up a ruby memory to 80 > run an attempt > fail > repeat until all of the ruby memories I had equipped were level 80.

AND EVEN AFTER ALL THAT EFFORT I STILL HAD TROUBLE... HAHAHA 💀

૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა

Like damn, Foreseer what happened to you?! It wasn't an easy fight to clear and I struggled to do enough damage before the timer ran out since I wasn't able to shatter the protofield shields in a single strike. That's the down side of going off color and trying to brute force it. Yet I was stubborn. I was so determined to clear this fight with Foreseer... and for one of my attempts I was super duper close! I had 1% left on my last wanderer's HP, but due to my mistake of trying to multitask / stream the fight for my friends mid combat, I wasn't able to finish the job and failed that run. Out of all of my defeats this one hurt me the most. Needless to say I WAS SO TILTED I ACTUALLY CRIED OUT OF FRUSTRATION. Hard lesson learned: don't turn on a stream until after you cleared the fight. I thought Foreseer would be able to finish the job, but the timer got the best of him. I was so upsetti.

For the next hour I kept going at it. Miserably might I add. There were countless defeats, but none of them even came close that one run that tilted me off this astral plane. Eventually I got lucky and had the wanderers group up at the end so I completely shatter their shields to AoE them down with my < ARDENT OATH >.

My advice to anyone attempting this fight is to try and stick close / focus on the CARMINE TALON first. Auto target is shit, but at least by sticking close to those the THUNDEROAR will jump to you instead of you trying to chase them down... Of course, if you're going off color you'll need to press your abilities on cooldown in order to bring them into a weakened state as fast as you can. Having Duo Rank 1 for Foreseer meant I didn't need to have a Oath Recovery Boost beta protocore equipped, but if you don't have that then you'll definitely need to use one here.

FINALLY, after all that pain and suffering I was able to get back to my prog point.

Because this was my first day using Master of Fate's kit in an actual timed battle my runs with him were very sloppy... I've mentioned in an earlier post using the demo they provided in the events page that his kit felt very quick and spammy. Even after doing some research on the Love and Deepspace community groups, every one also agreed that his blade play style using [Sacred Rainfall] was very fast...

For this build I had two +9 Ruby Expedited Energy Boost beta protocores on the SF memory pair. Because I didn't have much practice with this blade I just spammed all of my abilities with hopes I didn't accidentally overwrite / cancel any of them. It'll take some time to get the timing down with patience and more practice, but at this point of the night I was so down bad for a clear I just wanted to get this fight done and over with since I was still upset from that 1% defeat in the first half of the stage. It took me a while to bring the final boss into a weakened state because I did not have a perfect match. So it was crucial to use resonance skill on cooldown as soon as it came back up. The three charges you get after using it is an interesting kit, but slightly confusing cause we never had something like this before. Still, I made an effort to press everything on CD anyway so my timer wasn't off. If possibly I would also highly suggest you try to get perfect dodges for the extra support damage. I want to say a lot of time and resources went into obtaining this clear. And when I say a LOT I seriously mean it. The diamonds and irl currency used to obtain R3 Master of Fate. The amount of stamina that was dedicated into farming protocores, bottle of wishes, and ascension materials. This clear was not something I was able to do in one go, but took me almost a month to do. I understand that not many can replicate what I've done and I'm not saying you need to do what I did in order to clear. The purpose of this post/blog is for me to reflect on my journey and to share my experience. The happy moments, the sad moments, and even the ones that were upsetting-- I'm glad I found a way to use this space as a positive outlet. Thank you all for taking the time to read all of this, and for following along my deepspace trials progression. As always if anyone has any questions or wants additional tips/advice with their own battles I would be more than happy to help to the best of my ability.

ADDITIONAL SCREENSHOTS

Companion: Zayne's Foreseer [ Defend | DMG | AoE ] Weapon: Everlasting Song [ Support | AoE | Heal ] Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 20.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 20.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 97 (Zayne’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 3xxx || DEF xx || ATK xxx ] Pair Bonus [ FS ] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces team DMG taken by 8%. When fighting together with Foreseer, your Active Skill DMG is increased by 25%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When you and Foreseer are granted with Wards of Curses, team DMG will be increased by 12%.

5☆ FOREVER SEALED (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 2 using +9 and +14 SSR protocores

5☆ PROMISE EVERLASTING (sapphire/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 1 using +9 and +15 SSR protocores

5☆ COZY AFTERNOON (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

5☆ DRUNKEN INTIMACY (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ MEDICAL RESCUE (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ EXCLUSIVE TUTORIAL (ruby/lunar) Lv 80 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

Companion: Zayne's Master of Fate [ DPS | Burst | Sustained ] Weapon: Sacred Rainfall [ DPS | Burst | Single-target ] Attribute Bonus For each matched stellactrum, increases DMG Boost 5.0% (currently increased: 20.0%) and DMG Reduction 5.0% (currently increased 20.0%). ♡ Affinity Bonus: 97 (Zayne’s Protective Skill) When you take a fatal blow, Zayne teleports to you, blocks a hit, and counter attacks. Enemies will be knocked back. [ HP 38xx || DEF xx || ATK xxx ] Pair Bonus [ SF ] - Starting Effect: increases team DMG by 8%, and reduces DMG taken by 8%. When the enemy is in [Shattered Jade] state, reduces its DEF by 10%. - Duo Rank 1: boosts Ardent Oath charge by 20%. When fighting alongside Master of Fate, the enemy's weakened state is extended by 2 seconds. Each time an enemy in weakened state is hit, the damage it sustains increases by 0.5%, up to a maximum of 10%. - Duo Rank 2: increases Energy Charge cap by 1. When [Jadesunder] is triggered, restores a small amount of Energy Charge. - Duo Rank 3: increase team DMG by 8%. Increases DMG of [Jadesunder] by 100%. When [Orchid Metamorphosis] is replaced by [Piercing Rain], there's one more attempt of using [Piercing Rain] hitting an enemy. The cooldown reduction can be triggered once when unleashing [Piercing Rain].

5☆ SNOWFALL ENCOUNTER (ruby/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ SNOWFALL EMBRACE (ruby/solar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +9 and +12 SSR protocores

5☆ HEARTS WITHIN REACH (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80 rank 1 using +15 SSR protocores

5☆ BUSINESS TRIP (sapphire/lunar) Lv 80/ awakened rank 3 using +15 SSR protocores

4☆ FRAGMENTED DREAMS (sapphire/lunar) Lv 70 rank 3 using +12 SSR protocores

4☆ EVERLASTING SNOWDROP (sapphire/lunar) Lv 70 rank 3 using +12 and +15 SSR protocores

[hbyrde36]

Chapter 8!

ao3 link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

When Steve woke he was immediately overcome with a wave of nausea and a searing pain in the side of his neck. He felt so sick that he couldn’t even appreciate the fact that he was, by some miracle, still alive. He didn’t know where he was, the only thing he could see from his position was the blood-red fabric of the couch he was lying on, but he didn’t have the capacity to panic about that just yet. He was expending all of his energy trying not to throw up. He groaned, swallowing reflexively to keep the bile down.

“It’s the blood loss.” An unfamiliar voice said, from what sounded like only a few feet away.

Steve turned his head slowly to see who it belonged to. He found a young black man, a vampire, smiling down at him and holding a bottle of Gatorade out in his direction like an offering.

“The sooner you can sit up and drink some fluids. the sooner you’ll start feeling better.” The stranger explained.

“Who..” Steve started to ask, but the other man held up a hand, encouraging him to save his strength.

“I’m Jeff, a friend of Eddie’s. You’re in his office at Guilty Pleasures.”

The vampire helped him to a sitting position, which Steve allowed because, one, he was too weak to fight him off, and two, he didn’t want to be a dick when the guy was just trying to be nice. He took his time, sipping on the drink until it was about half gone, but eventually he had to start asking questions.

“Why didn’t Billy kill me? Why bring me here?”

Jeff shrugged. “Maybe he thinks he can use you for something. Also, it’s…frowned upon, to harm another vampire’s human servant.”

“But, I'm not..” Steve insisted, weakly.

“How you feel is irrelevant.” The vampire said, waving off his objection. “Eddie has marked you twice. You are his and he is yours. Might as well get used to the idea.”

Steve glared at him.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. “Would you prefer Billy had killed you?”

“Yes!…No!…I don’t know!” Steve hissed.

He looked away first, fishing his phone out of his pocket and angrily thumbed through it looking for the Uber app. He remembered double parking last night and assumed his car would have been towed.

“Any idea what tow company The Corroded Coffin would use?” Steve asked. He didn’t really expect Jeff to know, but it was worth a try. The last thing he wanted to do was spend half the day calling all over town looking for his car.

“No, but if you’re worried about your car, it’s parked out front. Whoever brought you here last night brought it too.”

“Oh.” Steve patted his pockets, his keys were there. “Thanks.”

When it seemed like he was no longer in danger of passing out again, Jeff excused himself. Sunrise wasn’t far off, and he’d needed to get to wherever it was he normally slept off the daylight hours.

Once alone, Steve drained the rest of the sports drink quickly and decided to risk standing. He was a little woozy but feeling better by the minute. He left the office, venturing out into the club beyond to make his way to the exit. It was empty at this hour of the morning, of course, and he found himself staring at the pole set in the middle of the center stage as he crossed the room. He flushed all over, recalling his dream about Eddie.

Steve ground his teeth, angry at himself for reacting to the memory this way. There was nothing he could do about how attractive Eddie was, it was a simple fact, an undeniable law of the universe. What he could do, is remind himself that this monster, no matter how pretty, had trapped him into some magical lifelong bond bullshit without his consent.

The moment his foot hit the sidewalk he unlocked his phone and pressed the button to call Nancy.

“Steve?” She sounded groggy, as if he had woken her up. In fairness It was barely 6am, so he probably had.

“I know the master of the city’s daytime resting place.” Steve stated, no patience for greetings or formalities.

“Great, tell me.” She sounded instantly more awake. It almost made him smile. Almost.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll show you.” Steve offered. He had no intention of giving her the information and calling it a day. He wanted to see that motherfucker’s corpse for himself.

“Does that mean you want in on it?” Nancy asked.

He waited until he was safely in the car with the door shut before replying. “He killed Chrissy last night.”

“..Oh Steve. I'm so sorry.”

“Can you meet me at my house in 20?”

-

Nancy beat him there, but at least this time she opted to wait outside instead of breaking into his house. She took one look at him and her jaw dropped, no doubt having spotted the bite wound on his neck.

Inside, Steve filled her in on a little bit more of what he’d been up to for the past few days. He didn’t share every detail, and purposely said nothing at all about Eddie, but gave her the bare minimum of information to explain his plan.

He wanted to get in contact with Gareth, the young wererat king who had inadvertently helped him that first night. If the rats would tell him and Nancy how they got into that basement room, they could sneak in during the day and take Billy and Neil out while they slept without having to fight through any daytime security. It was a good plan, she quickly agreed.

Steve didn’t have any contacts in that part of the supernatural world himself, but Robin did. He sent her off a short text asking if she could get him in touch with Gareth, or someone close to him, but left it at that. He couldn’t tell her about the bite, not yet, she’d lose her mind and probably kidnap him in some misguided attempt at keeping him safe.

He didn’t tell her about Chrissy either. He wasn’t ready to think about it too hard yet, much less talk about it. Robin responded right away, and mercifully didn’t question him on the why, though he knew she would do just that later.

He was dead on his feet, still suffering the effects of blood loss, compounded by the lack of any real sleep. Unconsciousness didn’t quite count, did it?

Nancy ordered him to take a shower and a nap, and for once he was more than happy to comply. He could rest easy knowing she was there watching his back.

-

Steve sighed, becoming aware of the delicious tickle of fingertips running up and down body. Their path began low on his thigh and trailed slowly up, taking a detour in the dip of his hip, before gliding over the firm plane of his stomach and through his chest hair, coming to rest briefly in the hollow of his throat before reversing the process and beginning again.

His eyes remain closed, all the better to enjoy the sensation of someone else’s hands on him. He didn’t quite remember falling asleep, but this was certainly the most lovely way to wake up.

His thoughts were fuzzy, jumbled. He didn’t know who was in the bed with him, but for some reason the idea didn’t scare him the way it should have. He fought to open his eyelids and finally succeeded, finding the most beautiful face of pale skin and deep brown eyes filling his field of vision.

Eddie hovered above him, his pretty pink mouth mere inches away from Steve’s own.

“Hi sweetheart.” Eddie said, grinning in a way that displayed his dimples in all their glory. He dipped down, lips brushing over Steve's in a featherlight kiss. It was jarring, so unlike the frenzied and passionate exchanges they had shared so far.

Something niggled at the back of Streve’s mind. “Eddie, Is this real?” He asked, whispering into the space between them when Eddie finally pulled away.

“As real as a dream can be I suppose, big boy.” Eddie moved away to lay on his side, propped up on one elbow.

Steve sat up and pushed himself against the headboard, desperate to put more space between himself and the other man before he did something stupid.

“That wasn’t exactly an answer. Are you really a dream or is this more vampire mind trick crap?”

“This is a dream.” Eddie said, gesturing at the general area around them. “But I am very real. My body may not actually be present in the room with you, but I am here.”

Steve's heart raced, something he didn’t know was possible to feel in a dream. Of course, he hadn’t known any of this was possible before now. “What is wrong with you? Why are you doing this to me?”

Eddie smirked, drawing mindless circles into the sheet with a finger. “Why, have you not been having a good time?”

“That’s not the point, Eddie! You’ve been invading my dreams, making me do things!” Steve shouted.

Eddie didn’t miss a beat. “Let me stop you right there, sweet thing. I haven't been making you DO anything. You have free will here, they are your dreams after all. Besides, you could keep me out if you wanted to, but you’ve been so busy enjoying yourself that It didn't even occur to you to try, did it?”

Embarrassment, fear, and anger mingled together in Steve's mind to create a very potent cocktail of rage. It was all that was needed to spur him on, to try and force Eddie out. He said nothing, just closed his eyes and concentrated on his task.

When Eddie spoke next his voice held a hint of panic. “Wait, Steve. Please. I’m sorry, okay? I can help you with Billy if you just..”

“No, Eddie! I don’t want your help!” Steve screamed as loud as he could, and when he opened his eyes again, the vampire was gone. Lying in his place was a single red rose.

-

“Steve! Steve! Wake up!”

It took Steve what felt like a very long time to open his eyes. He could feel Nancy shaking his shoulder and calling to him, trying to rouse him, but it sounded like it was coming from another room, or miles away. It was hard to tell. When he did manage to finally wake up completely, she punched him in the arm, hard.

“What the hell? You scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry.” He mumbled. “How long were you trying to wake me up?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes and trying to focus on the clock.

“A while.”

“Sorry.” He apologized again. It’s not like he had done it on purpose or anything, but he still felt bad. He wasn’t used to seeing Nancy rattled.

“It’s okay, just, you were talking and shouting in your sleep, and then you wouldn’t wake up.” She was staring so intently at his face that it was making him squirm. Nancy had a way of looking through you, of figuring things out, and that’s the last thing he felt like dealing with right now.

Steve nodded and looked away, reaching for his phone on the nightstand as a distraction. He wanted to see if there were any new messages from Robin. He had apparently been asleep for a couple hours.

“Who’s Eddie?” Nancy asked.

Steve dropped his phone in surprise and it clattered loudly to the floor. His eyes snapped back to hers, too quickly to not be suspicious. “No one. It doesn’t matter.” He grit out, tone making it clear that the subject was not up for discussion.

She raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, fine.”

He climbed off the bed and retrieved his phone. There was a message from Robin, which he read aloud to Nancy. The rat king had agreed to meet with Steve at the Waffle house out by the airport at 10pm. Robin also asked if he wanted her to go with him. He knew she was worried, and he felt bad about keeping things from her, but the situation had become far too dangerous. He thanked her for the help but said he was fine, reluctantly adding that he was taking backup in the form of Nancy Wheeler, when she threatened to show up to the meeting anyway. Robin wasn’t Nancy’s biggest fan, but she knew there wasn’t anyone better to have on your side in a fight, so she agreed to stay safe at home as long as he filled her in on every detail when he could.

“We need to clean that bite before we go anywhere.” Nancy said, as he set the phone down.

Steve nodded, knowing this was coming. He’d carefully washed the area in the shower earlier, but that’s not the kind of cleansing Nancy meant. If they didn’t purify the bite with holy water, a painful process that would feel like pouring acid in the wound, Billy would be able to find him no matter where he was, and maybe even control him. Avoiding that was worth a little discomfort.

A half hour and two bottles of holy water later, the bite was officially clean, and no longer burned when the blessed liquid was poured over it. He sat huddled on the floor of the bathroom and relearned how to breathe.

Steve’s phone had, rather annoyingly, been ringing almost constantly through the entire process. Now that they were done, Nancy had gone to fetch it for him. It began to ring again as she re-entered the room.

It was the office calling, probably wondering if he was planning on showing up today after calling out the past two nights.

“Hello?”

“Steven, how kind of you to finally pick up the phone.”

Steve grimaced, It was his father, not the secretary he was expecting to deal with, fuck.

“Sorry, I was in the middle of something.” He weakly explained.

“Yes, it seems you’ve been very busy lately, which brings me to the reason for my call. I was just wondering if you were going to grace us with your presence tonight, or if you had another bullshit excuse for why you need to reschedule one of our most high-profile clients?” Bert sounded pissed.

“What high-profile client?” Steve asked.

“Mayor Kline, of course.”

“But his appointment isn’t for another two weeks?”

“He called this morning, said he needed to move it up. He wants his nephew raised as soon as possible, and for some reason insists you be the one to do it. You had an open timeslot this evening and I had no reason to refuse, so you better get your ass out to that cemetery by 9pm or so help me god you are fired.”

The cemetery wasn’t that far from the waffle house, if he was quick about it, he could make this work and not lose his main source of income.

“Fine.” Steve spat, before taking a deep breath and continuing on in a much calmer manner. “I mean yes, no problem. I will be there.”

“Good. And, Steven?”

“Hm?”

“I want to see you in my office tomorrow afternoon. We need to have a talk.”

“Can’t wait.” Steve snarked, hanging up before his dad could say anything more.

Nancy was gaping at him. “Did you really just take a job for tonight? Don’t we have more important things to worry about?”

Steve groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “I didn’t really have a choice if I wanted to continue to be able to pay my rent. It’s fine, there's enough time to do both, as long as you don’t mind riding along to a zombie raising.”

Nancy shrugged. “Never seen that part of your work before, could be fun.”

-

It was 9:30, Steve and Nancy had been waiting graveside for over 45 minutes and it was becoming more obvious by the minute that his client wasn't going to show.

“We should just go.” Steve said.

“I thought you were worried about losing your job?” Nancy pointed out.

“Not my fault the guy didn’t show.”

Steve hoisted his work bag over his shoulder and bent to pick up the old dog crate that he used to transport the chickens. He wasn’t sure what to do with them now, he’d never had a client pull a no-show before. It was too hot to leave them in the car when they went to meet Gareth, granted they were intended to be used as a sacrifice, but suffocating to death in a hot car was too cruel. At least when he used them in the ritual their deaths were quick and painless.

He was considering opening the cage doors and letting them run free when he heard Nancy’s sharp intake of breath.

“Steve?” She whisper-shouted.

He followed her line of sight and spotted the problem. About 30 feet away a figure sat crouched between two headstones, staring at them. It had long black talons on its hands and feet, and Its mottled gray skin almost seemed to glow in the moonlight.

Steve froze, recalling the poor groundskeeper’s fate. If this creature was part of the pack that did that, they could be in trouble here.

“Nance, we need to get out of here, now.”

“What is that thing?” She asked, not taking her eyes off of it.

“A ghoul, and he’s probably not alone.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“Not usually, unless you’re injured, but I have reason to believe ghouls killed a groundskeeper here a few days ago, so I'm not taking any chances.”

The two of them started slowly backing up in the direction of his car, keeping the creature in sight the whole time, until a chittering sound from behind had them stopping in their tracks. Steve whirled, trusting Nancy to keep her eye on the other one, and found two more of them perched on the roof of his car. Shit.

“Would shooting them do any good?” Nancy asked, easing her hand towards the small of her back.

“They can only be killed by decapitation or fire, so, maybe with enough shots to the neck?” Steve replied, reaching under his arm for his own weapon.

Another figure stepped out from behind a tall monument, not far from the first ghoul. The man spoke loudly as he approached. “Keep those hands where I can see them, Mr. Harrington, Ms. Wheeler.”

It was Brenner, and he had a shotgun aimed right at Steve's chest.

Steve raised his hands, palms out, and Nancy followed suit. Two on one, he knew they could take the older man, but not if he took buckshot to the chest. The ghouls were a wildcard, but Steve had a sneaking suspicion. It hadn’t escaped his notice that the creatures never once looked in Brenner’s direction. Could he be controlling them somehow?

“I appreciate the fact that you haven’t yet told Billy about my…condition, but I can't take the risk that you won’t change your mind in the future.”

More ghouls spilled into the area as he spoke. There had to be at least 9 of them now.

Steve was confused to say the least. “Why would it matter if Billy found out? So you can’t raise the long-dead, who cares? You can still walk in the daylight, do his bidding. Shit, he’ll probablty like you better now, being that you are technically dead, it’s one more thing you two have in common besides being complete fucking assholes.”

Brenner laughed, which was not quite the response Steve was expecting.

“Ah, so I see you havn’t connected the dots yet. It seems I gave you too much credit, Mr. Harrington.”

Steve would like to say he figured it out right then on his own, but it wasn’t until the moonlight caught on the necklace peeking out through Brenners shirt that it dawned on him. The necklace. Magic that demanded a high cost. Like blood. Like death. No wonder he was afraid of Billy finding out his secret.

“You’re the vampire murderer. That’s how you feed the spell to keep you alive.”

“Precisely. Bit slow, but you got there.”

Steve scowled. “So what, you’re just going to shoot us?”

“Actually, I was planning on letting the ghouls have you. Better if it looks like a random attack. You understand.”

Steve flinched as Nancy’s shot rang out, she had taken advantage of the distraction of their conversation and drew her gun. The bullet hit Benner in the chest, causing him to drop his shotgun. He and Nancy tried to rush the man but several ghouls stepped in front of him, blocking their path, and any chance at getting another shot off.

“You afraid of a little pain, Brenner? You know the bullets can’t kill you, not with that thing around your neck.” Steve taunted.

“True enough, young man, but I don't know what would happen if I was shot in the head, and I have no intention of finding out.”

“How is it you’re controlling them?” Steve had to know, it’s not something he’d ever heard of.

Surprisingly, the other man answered. “I don’t really know. They started flocking to me when I came out of my grave and followed my orders with only the barest hint of my will forced upon them. It’s fascinating, really. They are useful little things.”

If the guy was going to be so generous with his answers, Steve figured he might as well keep going.

“I get why you killed the other vampires, you were doing what you had to do to stay alive, and Tommy had tormented you, but why kill the groundskeeper?”

Brenner shrugged. “I was trying out a few new techniques. Consider it target practice.”

“You son of a bitch, he was a human being! He was innocent, he didn’t deserve that.”

“And the vampires did?”

“I..I don’t know.” Certainly Tommy had, but what did Steve really know about the others?

“Hmm, someone is having a crisis of conscience. I wonder if that has anything to do with a certain dark haired master vampire, or perhaps the young Dustin who seems to love you so much.”

“Dustin?” Nancy gasped.

“Later.” Steve said to her before returning his attention back to Brenner. “Enough chatter, asshole. Stop hiding behind your minions and fight, unless you’ve decided to just talk us to death.”

“Unfortunately, I have somewhere to be. I’m sorry it had to be like this, truly.”

At his last words the ghouls surged towards them, covering Brenner’s escape.

Steve turned to Nancy, they needed to run, and fast, but she was busy rifling through her purse.

“Odd time to want to touch up your lipstick.” He said.

“Shut up” She murmured, finally coming up victorious with a lighter and a can of hairspray.

“What’s that for?” Steve asked, dumbfounded.

“Someone was never a Girl Scout”

Nancy stepped in front of him as she lit the lighter and sprayed the aerosol can, aiming the small improvised flamethrower at the closest of the creatures. They cowered away from the flames, and slowly but surely Nancy was able to clear them a path to the car.

“Scouts my ass.” Steve mumbled, rushing to the driver's seat and shoving the key into the ignition.

The spray sputtered and died just as Nancy bumped into the passenger door. She screamed, tossing the now empty can at the head nearest ghoul and throwing herself into the seat.

“Drive, Steve, Drive!”

He peeled out, sending dirt and rocks flying as he sped down the unpaved road that ran the length of the cemetery. The creatures pursued their car, but weren’t fast enough to keep up. By the time Steve turned onto the actual road, they were nothing but a spec in his rear view mirror.

Chapter 9

[misc-obeyme]

Since nobody has asked about Ciaran I’ll have to fix this injustice! >:(

11: Do they still have any objects from their childhood? What is their most vivid childhood memory?

12: What is something they have experienced that has shaped themed into the person they are today?

07: Would they date an immortal being if they aren’t immortal themself, and vice-versa?

09: How is their temper? Are they quick to violence? Do they get frustrated easily?

09: Share some fluff headcanons!

10: Share some angst headcanons!

11: Something you really want to mention about them that you haven’t before!

07: Where do you think they would most likely end up in—heaven or hell?

08: Do they carry anything with them protect themself from the paranormal?

I’ll stop myself for now! ILY CC!!💖💖

Ahhhh thank you Ivy, ily too!! 💕

Okay this is gonna be all about Ciaran and so you're all going to learn some new stuff about them for sure lol.

11: Do they still have any objects from their childhood? What is their most vivid childhood memory?

Okay, time for the story of why Ciaran loves the ocean. Ciaran's father died when Ciaran was ten. It was a fast acting cancer so once he was diagnosed, he went pretty quickly. But before that, when Ciaran was about seven or eight, the whole family went on a trip to Ireland (where both of Ciaran's parents are originally from) to visit family and so on. One day, Ciaran's father took them for a hike out to the ocean. It was all green hills and rocky cliffs. And they stopped for a while on a cliff where they could see out across the waves. And Ciaran's father told them stories about selkies. They walked along the beach for a bit, too, and chose a single rock to bring back with them. Ciaran still has that rock and this is by far their most vivid childhood memory.

12: What is something they have experienced that has shaped themed into the person they are today?

Well obviously their dad passing away at a young age was a big deal. But other than that, I would say it was discovering their love for painting. Ciaran is naturally very active and energetic, but painting is a calming and relaxing thing to do. They were so entranced by the method and the colors and depicting things in a visual medium that the found themselves able to settle and concentrate on it. They can't really do that easily in general, so it was like unlocking this piece of themselves they didn't know they had. It first really began to impact them when they were in a high school art class where they had to paint for an assignment. And the teacher could see that Ciaran was really connecting with that in particular and encouraged them to pursue it further.

07: Would they date an immortal being if they aren’t immortal themself, and vice-versa?

Ciaran is very much a "live in the now" type of person, so they might not even consider the consequences of something like that at first. However. Ciaran dearly cherishes the time they had with their father, even if it was short. So I think that if Ciaran was the immortal one, they wouldn't have a problem dating someone who was mortal. They would be happy just to love someone for however long that person is around. Because they know that even when that person is gone, the impact they had on Ciaran will live on until Ciaran themselves has passed on. In the opposite situation, I think Ciaran would consider it to be the choice of the immortal person. Since Ciaran would get to have that immortal partner by their side all of their life (assuming they don't break up or something). So Ciaran would totally date an immortal while being mortal, but they would consider it the immortal's choice in the end.

09: How is their temper? Are they quick to violence? Do they get frustrated easily?

Ahaha. Ciaran has a short fuse! There are a couple of specific things that really set them off. And once that temper explodes, yes they will get violent. They're pretty short so they have a tendency to throw things at people, but they will absolutely get into fist fights at the drop of a hat.

They can get frustrated easily, but it depends on the situation. They get frustrated with people who are needlessly mean, whether that's mean to themselves or mean to others. They also don't like it when people treat them as an inferior or like a child. It's pretty easy to ruffle their feathers lol.

09: Share some fluff headcanons!

Okay, for this I'm going to tell you another little story about what happens when Ciaran falls for one of the characters.

Ciaran paints large pieces with oils, but they also carry around a smaller book that they fill with on the go watercolor paintings. They tend to paint landscapes and abstracts. They take a lot of pictures when they first arrive in the Devildom and end up painting a lot of different Devildom flowers and buildings. They're fascinated by this whole new world of stuff to paint, so they end up with piles of canvases in their room.

And then one day the character they have feelings for (this changes because I can't decide) finds a portrait they've painted. It's still on the easel, an amazingly well crafted portrait in oils. And of course, it's a portrait of that character. He asks Ciaran about it, thinking Ciaran must have taken a picture of him when he wasn't looking. Ciaran's a little baffled by this (and also a little embarrassed because they didn't really intend for him to see it). Ciaran says that they could have painted a portrait from a photo, but they didn't need to. Ciaran hands over their current watercolor notebook and the character flips through it to find that nearly every other painting is of him. In between the paintings of flora, buildings, and a handful of other people, are paintings of him smiling, concentrating, standing in a RAD hallway, or doing his favorite thing. Ciaran says they painted the oil portrait from memory because they've painted him so many times now that it just comes naturally.

And even though Ciaran doesn't say anything about how they feel, it's basically a confession. What happens next varies depending on the other character, but in the end Ciaran always gives them the portrait.

10: Share some angst headcanons!

Okay lemme give you an extension of the fluff story for this one, then!

Because Ciaran used to paint portraits all the time, back in the human world. But then they fell in love with someone. And they started painting that person all the time. For a while, every painting was of that person. Until that person broke Ciaran's heart. :( Then Ciaran stopped painting portraits and never actually painted another one until the above scenario.

Additionally, I would say that angst for Ciaran is really prevalent in the Nightbringer timeline. They don't even like Solomon at first, until the third season of the OG when they become his apprentice. They eventually realize how smart he is and how lonely he is. Then he earns their respect and friendship. But Ciaran really struggles with the brothers not remembering them. And if they're going to fall for Solomon, they've already got feelings for him by the time Nightbringer happens. But they haven't told him, so it's all angst because they think it's unrequited (what can I say we're dealing with two idiots). So it's a lot of trying not to depend on Solomon too much, but having no one else to turn to, etc.

11: Something you really want to mention about them that you haven’t before!

One time, Ciaran got incredibly drunk and slept with their older sister's boyfriend. Fiadh said she was angry, but Ciaran was like yo do you think I'm dumb? I can tell that you don't actually care, what's up with that? And that's when Fiadh decided to come out to her family as a lesbian. Needless to say, she broke up with that boyfriend and did not really mourn his loss. In the meantime, Ciaran felt terrible because they really didn't mean to do it and they were far more careful about their alcohol consumption after that. Because they love their sister and would never hurt her intentionally. And they would like to not hurt her accidentally if they can avoid it.

07: Where do you think they would most likely end up in—heaven or hell?

Wow what a question. Are we saying this is when they die? Because I kinda think Ciaran would be hell bound lol. I'm not sure, honestly. Do they get a say at all? Because in that case they're definitely going to choose hell, assuming that's just the Devildom and not like... a fire and brimstone type of situation. But despite being an angry lil guy with a bit of a violent streak, Ciaran is generally a good person. So I guess it depends on what the requirements are. But they would choose to be in the Devildom if they could.

08: Do they carry anything with them protect themself from the paranormal?

Ciaran is no longer a practicing Catholic, but due to their upbringing, they still have bits of that lingering in the way they deal with this kind of thing. They've been known to cross themselves out of habit when they're really frightened. They also have a few saint medallions. They keep one of St Christopher in their car. Due to their love of animals, sometimes they will wear a St Francis of Assisi medallion too. (Their mother keeps their rosary for them.) But if such things are toxic to demons, they will leave them behind lol. Other than that, I don't think they have anything that's specific for protecting themselves from the paranormal. Though I could see them wanting to make such a thing that doesn't hurt demons because they care about having some protection.

Woo! That was fun, so much of this is stuff I've just had sitting around in my head for ages! Thank you for asking!!

MC & OC Ask Game

[nintendowife]

I completed Piofiore: Fated Memories on Nintendo Switch about a month ago. Piofiore is a popular otome visual novel about mafia in 1920's Italy. The promise of a mature story paired with beautiful art style enticed me to buy the game. I was also curious to find out why the otome fandom calls a certain love interest in the game a "trashbando".

The protagonist Liliana "Lili" Adornato is an upstanding young woman raised by church and she gets tangled in the world of organized crime. Most of the love interests in the game represent three competing mafia families: Falzone, Visconti and Lao Shu. The mafia setting lends a natural frame for mature themes that include violence, human trafficking, torture and sexual assault.

Each love interest has a bad ending, good ending and best ending. In addition to this they all have a short after story. Yang's route was easily my favorite - lots of action and fun events. Orlok's bad ending was memorable with its brutality - poor guy. Some of the routes weren't super interesting. Dante's route had the ingredients to grab my attention but the execution wasn't the best. I ended up slightly disappointed with the overall story not completely revealing a certain key factor of the plot. Maybe the rest of the "mystery" is reserved for the sequel, Piofiore: Episodio 1926? I could have done with less romance and more story even though Piofiore apparently isn't that loaded with romance fluff.

I found it interesting how a character could appear wildly different on a different route. Some may claim this is inconsistent writing but I find it logical to incorporate different points of view to characters' personality and have them act differently according to their motives in different situations. Being a loving and caring person towards someone doesn't mean they couldn't have a sadistic tendency towards people who oppose them.

What comes to favorite characters, at first glance I thought Gilbert would be my top pick - manly man with a badass eye patch. Gilbert had his moments with some funny light-hearted scenes and his gentlemanly ways. Especially the way he spoke to Dante made me chuckle: "Yo Dante! What's with the face? You sick or something?". But I ended up liking Yang the most. Yang was such a peculiar character and his attitude and dialogue made me laugh. I guess I'm part of the trashbando-loving "Yang gang" now. My husband pointed out that it's usually the bald 50+ year-olds or the red-haired ones that strike my fancy and that was true in this case too. The various side characters were a good addition to the cast.

There's a good amount of high quality CG images to unlock in the game. I was especially impressed with the intricate details in clothing and jewelry. A common occurrence was me commenting "oo wow, look at those amazing details in the dress" during a scene where the protagonist and a love interest kiss.

The game's user interface is pure eye candy. The usual quality of life features like skipping previously read content, dialogue history, quick save/load and chapter select are present. The music was pretty good too. Voice acting was top notch but I was unhappy the protagonist wasn't voiced (and her portrait wasn't shown during her dialogue). I recall a few typos and grammar mistakes in the game but overall I'd say the localization was done well.

My top complaint is that there was an absurd amount of dialogue about food but they hardly ever showed it in pictures. All kinds of delicious dishes and desserts kept being mentioned but I think they showed food only twice. Show me the food, dammit! Oh, and Nicola's fashion sense irked me. His outfit was so classy and then he had to accessorize with a tie that looks like it was barfed on.

Finishing all the routes and unlocking all content in the game took me 55 hours. I started playing in February and finally finished in October. I'm not the fastest reader and I have a chronic case of falling asleep when I try to play in bed in the evenings.

I liked the game but at some points I felt like the story was dragging. I didn't enjoy Piofiore quite as much as I did Café Enchanté and Variable Barricade for example. Maybe it's because Piofiore is a lot more serious in tone and doesn't have much in the way of humor. The art and Yang's route were the highlights for me. I'm still keen on playing the sequel at some point.

If you like some darker themes in your visual novels, Piofiore may be worth giving a shot.

[soul-dwelling]

Do you think some other series should try the "weapon partner" gimmick again or is that just too connected to soul eater to work? (even though I now that soul eater wasnt even really the first to come up with it)

I think someone else can pull it off--I don't think it's connection to Soul Eater would stop that.

In fact, it would help: "If you like the power system in Soul Eater, you'd love this series."

Sometimes this works better when tone, setting, and theme are different: Noragami is a pretty good companion piece to Soul Eater. But whereas Soul Eater as a series was about themes such as friendship and courage, Noragami is far more about memory, the past, definitions of humanity, religion, belief, and whether you can ever transcend your nature, your creation--in other words, whether you can transform.

Or, you know, the weapon gimmick was already done in Transformers. Megatron turns into a gun, someone else wields him. Tsubaki Nakatsukasa is basically a triple-changer. Make her into an action figure--there have to be fans who would buy that.

But I think the weapon partner gimmick would need to do a lot more to get out of the shadow of Soul Eater. It would need to differentiate itself, perhaps not only by genre but even medium.

For example, what if you had a video game that was, "Soul Eater, but a video game." A fighting game, but how well the fighter works depends on which partner they are paired up with during the character select screen. Maybe you unlock new weapon partners in combat, maybe there is a story mode where you meet new characters and partner up with them as your weapon. Maybe some weapons are forced onto you and end up being a bigger hindrance in certain stages or fights depending on which fighter you main, so who you main as your primary fighter can make it easier or harder to use certain weapons (think about how Black Star couldn't wield Soul, so he would be a specialized fighter, but Kilik could wield the Pots, the Thompsons, and Azusa, so he'd be a more well-rounded fighter to choose for beginners).

[postgamecontent]

Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the Week Ending September 14, 2024

Hello gentle readers, and welcome to the Nintendo Switch Weekly Round-Up for the week ending September 14, 2024. I've decided to carry this on in some fashion even though I'm not at TouchArcade anymore. It's going to be weekly, it's mainly going to be focused on new and notable releases, and I'm definitely not going to be doing the lists of sales. I might call out some specific ones here and there when I consider them juicy enough, though. With that said, let's see what this week brought us.

Select New Releases

Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics ($49.99)

The wildest retro collection you have never dreamt! Capcom tosses all of its arcade-based Marvel games into a package very similar in terms of interface and features to 2022's Capcom Fighting Collection. You get X-Men: Children of the Atom, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and The Punisher. All really good games, and don't ignore The Punisher if you pick this up. It's quietly one of Capcom's better beat 'em ups. A great set, and it's nice to see these games in circulation again.

The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case: The Okhotsk Disappearance ~Memories in Ice, Tearful Figurine~ ($44.99)

G-Mode presents a remake of Yuji Horii's classic mystery adventure game, The Hokkaido Serial Murder Case. It's very faithful gameplay-wise, so you can expect some very vintage Japanese adventure gaming from it. Talk to people, examine scenes for evidence, and try to figure out who was responsible for these grisly murders. This is the first official English release of the game, which is pretty nifty.

Grapple Dogs: Cosmic Canines ($17.99)

Grappling pupper Pablo returns for more platforming fun, this time joined by the gun-wielding Luna. Are two dogs better than one? I haven't played enough to say for sure yet, but if you liked Grapple Dog you'll almost certain have a great time with this sequel.

Yars Rising ($29.99)

WayForward does its best to make a sassy Metroidvania out of a property almost as old as ol' Shaun, and the result is about what you would expect from this developer. It's fine. If you want a new Metroidvania, a new WayForward game, or want your Atari fan itch scratched, this will serve you well enough.

Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland ($24.99)

A surprisingly solid platformer in the vein of Super Mario Bros. 2/USA starring the most popular babies of the 1990s. You can play in classy NES style or go with the very well-done modern presentation. Either way, some enjoyable hop-and-toss fun.

Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP ($44.99)

Lollipop Chainsaw was a really fun game back in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 era, with a style positively dripping with James Gunn/Suda51 energy. So what happens if you take that game, drain a massive amount of the style from it, and port it badly to Switch? This. This happens. It doesn't even play Mickey when you go super. What the heck is the point?

Arcade Archives VS. Battle City ($7.99)

A Famicom pirate cart/handheld staple, Battle City is already on the Switch via one of Namco's 8-bit collections. But this is VS. Battle City, which… removes the stage editor and adds pretty much nothing! One for the completionists, I suppose.

EGGCONSOLE Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes PC-8801mkIISR ($6.49)

The sixth game in the Dragon Slayer series is also the first game in The Legend of Heroes, which is technically the same franchise as Falcom's recent bread-and-butter Trails games. A pretty good turn-based RPG for its era, but one look at the screenshot will tell you what the problem is for most people reading this. Japanese only, and very text heavy. Oh well.

Crossy Road Castle ($19.99)

Another Apple Arcade game escapes the zoo, this time the platformer based on the hit Crossy Road franchise. Up to four players on this one, online or local. Plenty of hats and characters to unlock. The levels are procedurally generated, so you can keep playing it infinitely! Whether you will want to or not is a different matter, though.

Wild Bastards ($34.99)

The follow-up to Void Bastards, and one I'm sure will find just as many fans. It's pretty different from Void, incorporating turn-based strategy, roguelite, arena shooter, and a few other bits and bobs into something quite distinctive. That uniqueness might turn off some players, but I suspect it will win over more than it pushes away.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Reckoning of New York ($19.99)

Here's the third installment in the Vampire: The Masquerade series of visual novels for the Switch. If you're new to these, play the other two first. If you're not, then I'm sure you can figure out if this is for you or not.

Elsie ($24.99)

Played the wheels of 20XX and 30XX but need more roguelite Mega Man X mash-up action? Perhaps Elsie is what you're after today. Procedural generation! It's a popular choice in the modern age. Still, if the bar napkin concept doesn't put you off, this is a rather enjoyable game.

Eden Genesis ($24.99)

A cyberpunk-themed precision platformer with an emphasis on speedy moves. It's decent enough, but not so good that I'd recommend it with any real vigor. It's stylish and functional, and that might be enough for some.

Beneath Oresa ($24.99)

Here's another game inspired by the likes of Slay the Spire, this one aiming to be a bit more lively with its roguelite deckbuilding turn-based gameplay. It's extremely demanding, the kind of game where exactly one wrong move can end your run. So don't make any mistakes, okay? Glad we cleared that up.

Celestia: Chain of Fate ($29.99)

In this otome visual novel, you play as a young woman who finds out she's half angel and half demon. She's been invited to attend the Academy of Celestia, where she will find among other things three hunky dudes to potentially smooch. But which one will she smooch? That depends on your choices, my friend.

Metro Quester | Osaka ($19.99)

Just like the original Metro Quester, this is a game that is very much tuned towards a particular kind of taste. If you're into what it's laying down, you'll likely be absorbed for a while. Everyone else is going to be repelled with the force of an angry pantsless Magneto. Dungeon crawling, turn-based battling, chunky character building… ah, I love it.

Doomsday Paradise ($14.99)

This might seem like another Slay the Spire-style deckbuilding roguelite from that screenshot, but it's also an off-the-wall dating sim and features multiplayer for up to four players via online, local, or local wireless. Quite well-liked on other platforms, and I think this particular combination will go over nicely with the Switch audience too.

Fabledom ($24.99)

A deliberately relaxed fantasy-themed city builder. As near as I can tell, it more or less does what it sets out to do. Not the fanciest of cat pajamas, but if it's the kind of jam you're after today I don't think it will let you down.

Jackbox Naughty Pack ($21.69)

Those Jackbox Party Packs sure are neat, but if you've got a room full of adults and want to dig into something a little more saucy, here's the Naughty Pack. The games in this one go a little more dirty, as you can tell by the publisher cleverly ending the price with a 69 instead of a 99. I can definitely see this one going over well at the right kind of parties.

NanoApostle ($19.99)

Nanotechnology? How nostalgic. Remember when that was the buzzword in video games? Here's another one of those top-down boss-rush action games where you have to dash and dodge around while attacking a far more powerful foe. A fairly good one, I'd say. It works the way this kind of thing usually does, with skill trees, multistage bosses, and so on. Solid execution makes it.

Caravan SandWitch ($24.99)

A game about traversing a small but fairly dense open world in your cool van, helping people out. There's no combat, and you can't die. So it's just you, the citizens you'll be assisting, the sci-fi world itself, and a mystery about your missing sister to serve as an overall goal. It's been getting relatively good reviews so far. Provided the Switch port has come out smoothly, this might be worth the pick-up.

Edge of Sanity ($19.99)

The core game here is decent enough. It's a The Thing-inspired survival game with a lot of interesting systems to deal with and fairly satisfying strategic combat. The big problem is that this game is really buggy at the moment, at least in this Nintendo Switch form. I wouldn't pick it up on Switch until it gets some patching up, but I'm not the mayor of Yourwalletonshire.

Deep Beyond ($9.99)

Today is a day for missing family members, it seems. The main character of this one is a sea explorer looking for her father, and her journey will see her taking deep-sea dives, solving puzzles, and hanging out with her dog. Not a terribly long game by any means, but I think it punches well enough for the asking price.

Selfloss ($29.99)

This Slavic-inspired action-adventure game ended up being more engrossing than I expected. Rough edges aplenty, but it feels good to play more often than it doesn't. Solid boss battles, a good story, and really satisfying puzzles to solve. I was really caught off-guard by this, in a good way.

Pixel Game Maker Series The Willow Man ($6.99)

A modest little survival-horror game where you're trying to survive long enough to escape a house that plays host to an unspeakable evil known only as The Willow Man. There are multiple endings to arrive at based on your actions.

Downfall ($5.99)

I'm sure at this price you're not expecting fancy dining, and you shouldn't. Pretty much just a mindless little grinder. The art is decent and it's not the worst time-waster for a short while, but it gets dull fast.

Line Time ($5.99)

Regular readers know I'm a bit of a sucker for puzzle games, and this one isn't too shabby at all. You have to push the ball or balls to the goal on each stage, and you're given a set number of moves to do it in. Plan things out move by move and if there are multiple balls in play keep in mind that they will interact. Over two hundred stages to play, which is probably more than you'll need but appreciated nonetheless.

Samurai Kento ($4.99)

An small Metroidvania-ish game with RPG elements that casts you in the role of a samurai trying to save Japan from evil yokai run amuck. Not a bad time for the price, if you're in the mood for one of these.

Nimbusfall ($5.99)

Ah, haven't seen one of these in a while. You're a tiny character and you need to square off against twenty-five big bosses. You've got a good array of moves at your disposal, so all you have to do is learn the patterns and land your blows. Seems fine.

That's all for this week, friends. We'll be back next Saturday with another Round-Up, this time featuring a review or two! If you enjoyed this and feel like tossing me a tip, I have a Ko-Fi where you can make that happen. I hope you have a super Saturday, and as always, thanks for reading!

[miyukihoshizora]

I just finished the base game of FFXI, and oh boy do I have things to say.

It's indeed the upcoming crossover with XIV which motivated me to start playing this game, but beyond that, I wanted to give it a fair shake on its own merits, not just to be able to brag that I “finished every FFs”, and boy oh boy, I absolutely do not regret it.

tl;dr: This game made me really unproductive at work these past two weeks, and letting a MMO consume my life is probably the biggest praise I can give it.

It was a unique learning experience about what is, in the end, a most criminally overlooked entry in one of my favorite game series of all times. Yes, it's old. Yes, it's dated, Yes it's probably impossible to experience what made the game truly amazing and ahead of its time in this day and age. But it has a rich history that serves it well. This world feels like one of the most well-crafted in a series that lives or die by the strength of its settings and characters.

Gameplay-wise, it was nothing like what I am used to with MMOs, but it had just enough in common with the old FFs that I never felt lost. This game's “action combat” being a disguised ATB system explained a lot about the direction of the series moving forward (I mean, that's basically a prototype of the VII Remake system), and I can only imagine how exciting it gets when you're at level cap with all the subjobs combination and abilities you unlock. This is a degree of gameplay complexity on level of FFV, and even 49 hours of playtime in, I feel like I only scrapped the surface.

If I'm honest, though, I am in no hurry to play the expansions just yet. For one thing, my free trial runs out in two days. The base game story left on a note high enough that I am satisfied for now. I know, it is like saying you finished XIV after ARR; there is still much to solve beyond the first storyline (and the Rhapsody cutscenes really neatly tie it up into a cohesive whole), but I really don't have the time (or money...) to invest myself 100% into a new subscription-based MMO. Also I am afraid I'm only getting closer to the limit of what can be done with a Trust party alone, and I know I would be frustrated leaving a storyline half-unfinished.

(Let me tell you, I did do my best to talk and reach out to people, especially when others (who weren't obviously bots) were grinding with me on the same map, but I got ignored most of the time. The few times they responded and I actually bonded with perfect strangers though? Best freaking parts of the time I spent in the game by large. Whenever I get back to it, I hope I manage to either rope some friends into playing with me, or maybe making new friends on my own!)

Now, for stuff specific to the finale: I can only imagine how exhilarating it must have been to play before Trust were a thing. I can totally picture a group of four or five classmates, spending the entire day running in circles in Castle Zvahl, and chip away at it until the Shadow Lord falls after thousands of tries, creating memories for a lifetime. I know this was my exact experience with Wrath of the Lich King back when I was in high school, so I definitely envy those fortunate enough to have been teens with free time in the early 2000s haha

As for the story itself, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Shadow Lord as a character. I was fully ready for him to be a pretty shallow Garland expy, but then no, I got a perfect crystallization of the game's theme.

That theme, let's talk about it. One thing that surprised me in XI is how mean the people of Vana'diel are toward each other, between the enlightened race and toward the beastmen alike, and Raogrimm's tragedy was the culmination of that animosity, with our character and their friends setting the bases to Improve Society Somewhat.

FF at its core is a series for teenagers, so I am pleasantly surprised they tried a moral that is a little deeper than the usual “Hope good Despair bad” thing (Not to discredit those stories of course!! But the angle XI took is the least treaded path.). The game says that yes, the world sucks, yes there's assholes, but if you believe cruelty is humanity's inherent nature, you will soon turn into the very sort of person you despise, and it will cost you genuine human connection.

I think that's about all I had to say? I loved what I played, I want to play more eventually, and I am sure that if I could commit to this game like I do XIV, it would easily become one of my favorite of all time.

Until next time, Vana'diel.

[babymorte]

I've never played Resident Evil, what about it makes it so good for you? Is it mainly a nostalgia thing or themes/story are just something you're really into? Which one would you suggest someone play for their first one?

that’s honestly a really good question. i do think part of it is nostalgia because i watched my parents play the first two when i was little and they were some of the first games i ever played. i just thought the setting was cool and i loved killing the ‘monsters’. but when i was a little older and the first remake came out it just kind of captivated me. i got into horror really young so this was the first horror thing my parents actually let me have when i got it for my birthday that year. i guess it has a special place in my heart to an extent.

but like i could legitimately write a thesis on why i love these games there’s so much for me to talk about. like they’re just fun games. i just did a village run last night farming crystal skulls in village of shadows and just running around with the s.t.a.k.e and lining up headshots is SO satisfying. or doing an all rockets run. i just really love the process of unlocking the extra content. like with the old games you had to complete the game in a certain amount of time and not being able to use too many heals or saves if you wanted a high rank so i was always draw to the grind of working towards the s ranks cuz im a perfectionist 😅 but like learning the layouts and the muscle memory it kind of just made the games a part of me in a sense. like i feel at home when im playing resi.

the story’s kinda goofy but it’s in the best way possible and i just love the whole b.o.w bioterrorism thing because it technically could happen. like we’re not getting bandersnatches or hunters but like if there’s a fungus that can turn ants into zombies im sure someone can turn it into something dangerous 😅 but the locations are always top notch. like i remember the first time i played code veronica and when it panned to the ashford house for the first time my mouth dropped cuz it was so pretty and so cool (i mean i was a kid so easily impressed but you know 😅) capcom just knows how to make great settings. every resi game has an iconic location in it even the shitty ones. like dead aim’s cruise ship is a mix between the titanic and the ship from the cruise level in goldeneye like it’s so good. or rockfort island in code veronica like the mad doctor/eyeball section is actually horrifying. that shit sticks with you so tough BUT ITS SO GOOD. i mean even now with house beneviento and the giant fetus like that fetus is more iconic than lady d i think. which then leads into how iconic the enemies are like i was just saying yesterday that even though i have played resi games for literally as long as i can remember hunters and lickers STILL get to me. they give me such anxiety and once you hear their noises you know you’re in for a bad time. especially as someone who doesn’t usually kill things when playing and just runs trying to outrun either of them is legit horrifying. same with crimson heads like i don’t kill any zombies in the mansion of REmake because i never carry the fuel and i hate dealing with crimson heads 😂

i don’t know i could go on forever why i love these games honestly 😅

so as far as suggesting goes it depends on what your plays your is. i think the definitive experience is re4 remake because it blends new and old so perfectly. if you wanted just to try the old style tank controls then the original REmake is hands down the only one you really need to play if you don’t wanna get into the lore of it all. if you wanna play from the original trilogy i was say re2 because the og resi just doesn’t hold up like at all. but also re2 fixed everything wrong with the first one and brought on new innovations in videogames still utilised today. plus with the two interlocking storylines it’s so cool to see the paths cross and find out each character was doing while you were off doing your thing and how your choices affect your second play through. they did kind of the same thing when switching from clair to chris in code veronica where all items left in the chest at the end of you run as claire could be utilised by chris during his campaign like that’s so freaking cool and not enough games do that now. but yea it definitely depends on which type of resi you’re going for honestly but those are always my options for people wanting to get into them 🤩

also sorry it’s so long i don’t know how to be concise when it comes to resi 🤣