#this has highs and lows but you know what. way more genuinely fun so far than i thought it would be
open the blinds, let me see your face
masterlist
Sejanus plinth x gn!reader
summary: befriending Sejanus plinth was a choice you made, falling in love with him wasn’t
warnings: one use of y/n, I make Arachne crane out to be a high school mean girl, little bit angsty but it’s most fluffy, miscommunication, overhearing something, Sejanus being a little self deprecating :(( protect my baby boy
an: thanks for all the love on my Sejanus fics so far!! Here’s another one <33 tag list ~ @celestialstar111 <33
Sejanus Plinth sits two seats to the left of you on the curved bench in the classroom and he always has his head hung low like a wounded dog; hunched over and trying to protect itself, ready to bite if provoked enough.
There was a day last spring when Festus Creed was mid conversation with you as you entered the classroom, and moved to sit with you so he could carry on talking to you until the lesson began. You got to your usual seat and carried on, moving one seat over and letting Festus sit in your usual seat, but when you’d arrived for your learning the following day you didn’t move back, sitting in the seat one to the left of where you usually did. Though you can’t quite remember when the one seat gap between you and Sejanus became the inch that stopped your arms from pressing against each other, you can remember when other people started to take notice.
The first had been an all-too eager Arachne Crane, who’d tried to make some scene about it over lunch, to which she’d very promptly failed. Although she’d made it perfectly clear just how weird she thought it was. “Are you two… friends?” She’d leaned across the table asking you in a loud whisper, totally oblivious to how her blazer went straight into her food in some kind of instant Karma. Her gaze flickered to where Sejanus sat, at a table for two yet still by himself, head hung low. Arachne’s face scrunched in disgust. “He isn’t the kind of person you should befriend, y/n.”
In her mind, she was just looking out for you, but in yours she was being unnecessarily mean. “And whose friend should I be, Arachne? Yours?” Silence took over the table as you scoffed, a genuine look of hurt crossing Arachne’s face for a split second and then passing, and Festus reaching for your shoulder, patting it gently as if to say ‘you took it too far this time.’ To hell with all of them, if anyone had taken things too far it was Arachne when she felt the need to make fun of sweet Sejanus Plinth for no reason. You stood from the table, half eaten lunch in hand. “That’s what I thought.”
It isn’t difficult to see where you’re going, the whole table watching as you headed straight for the seat opposite Sejanus. Arachne gets more and more appalled with each step you take, refusing to believe that you’re willing to sit with Sejanus over her, yet, you seem to ask him something, and then pull out the seat with a softer smile then you’ve ever given her and get straight to talking to the brunette. She can’t believe her eyes.
“Is it okay if I sit here?” Sejanus looks up at you with wide eyes, his whole body stilling at the question. Of course it was okay, but why would you want to sit with him? At first he thinks it’s some kind of cruel joke with the way a table full of senior academy students are looking at him with Arachne at its head, but then he thinks about everything he knows about you - you’ve never been anything but kind to him, you sat next to each other in class and made pleasant enough small talk, and though he doesn’t think you’d remember, on his very first day of attending school in the capital you came and sat with him under the big oak tree in the yard, asked him what living in district 2 had been like and shared his sweets.
He quickly rules that your question is sincere and pulls his tray closer to his side of the table, nodding. “Please do.”
“Thank you.” The two of you last about 5 more seconds without either of you saying anything before you speak up. Even facing him, Sejanus keeps his head hung low. “You’re very kind, Sejanus.”
He likes the way you say his name, the way it seems to roll perfectly and fluidly off your tongue, like it was meant to be said by you. What’s worse is he knows he likes the way you say his name so much that he’s blushing, so, he ducks his head and try’s to bore holes in the table top. “I don’t know about that.”
Once more, Sejanus Plinth was hiding away from the world, or in this case you, and you were having non of it. Tapping his hand with yours, you waited until he looked up at you before you spokes. “Really? Because I know for a fact you’re the kindest person I’ve ever met.” If his face wasn’t already flushed the same red as his clothes, it would be now. “I mean, have you met half the people in this room? Kind isn’t exactly their forte.”
His smile widens so much he has dimples prominently on show that you’re not sure if you’ve ever seen before. Sejanus’s face was made for dimples and smiling, you’re sure of it. “Well, if you say so.”
From then on, not only do you sit directly next to each other in all your classes, you begin to each lunch together too, and eventually it escalates to Sejanus walking you home everyday after having lessons at the academy.
The first time he walks you home it’s pitch black out and the two of you have been sat in the academy’s library for hours upon hours studying for an exam. At the bottom of the steps you go to part ways, but Sejanus turns in the same direction as you and carry’s on walking. It’s takes three streets in the direction of your house for you to be brave enough to say anything about it.
“You do know you live in the opposite direction, right?” Sejanus’s gaze fell to the floor and he stuffed his hands in his pockets.
Obviously he knew that, but he wasn’t able to outright admit he’d simply wanted to walk you home either - for some reason he could easily became a blushing, stuttering mess around you, and when you consistently looked at him like that, it didn’t make things any easier. “I know.” He didn’t know what else to say, but in an attempt to not blow his cover, he practically admitted it. “I just like talking to you, wasn’t ready to stop yet. I’d quite like to carry on walking this way, if you don’t mind.”
For the first time, it was you who became the blushing mess, looking anywhere but at Sejanus as you nodded, trying desperately to not let your hand brush against his. “Yeah, no, yeah. That’s- that’s more then okay. I don’t mind at all.”
When you finally reach your doorstep later that evening, you’ve brushed hands with Sejanus at least ten times and thought about just going for it and holding his hand twice. Three times if you count the fact you want to reach out and squeeze it as a thank you right now. “I like talking to you too, by the way. Like, a lot.”
“Oh, that’s good, that’s- yeah, wow, cool, cool.” Sejanus was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, hands still tucked stiffly into his pockets and still avoiding you gaze. If he’d look at you more, then maybe he’d see just how much were growing to like him, like really like him.
In a moment of bravery, you stood on the tips of your toes, pressing a fleeting kiss against his cheek then running up the steps to your front door. “Goodnight Sejanus, thank you.”
Sejanus stood frozen on your doorstep for a long moment, his shaking hand coming up to ghost over where your lips had just been pressed against his cheek, a dazed look in his eyes. Only hearing your door close behind you started him enough to get him moving again, and on his way home before he spent all night stood in a stupor on your doorstep.
The next morning, Sejanus felt as though he was as light as a feather walking through the academy, a skip in his step that had heads turning to look at him. Even Coriolanus had stopped him to ask what was going on, the brunette only able to respond with a bright smile and an airy promise that it was ‘nothing.’ He was sure this attitude would’ve continued all day - and perhaps even forever, getting renewed each time you pressed a kiss to his cheek again - if he hadn’t walked into the main hall to hear you and Arachne in the middle of a heated argument.
“You know it’s not like that, Arachne.”
“Well, If you’re not with him for his daddy’s money, I can’t see anything worth while. After all, he’s barely Capitol, district scum, so the only thing that would make sense is if-“ A wicked grin curled onto Arachne’s perfectly painted lips and it knocked you sick. She hasn’t even said the words yet and you knew she was about turn your world upside down, tell everyone what you’d been trying so hard to keep. “You love him.”
“No, no, that’s not-“ Your voice shook as you spoke and it was obvious to anyone that you were lying, well, anyone except Sejanus, who took your nervousness as embarrassment and felt his heart shatter. Of course it had been too good to be true. More fool him, he thought, for thinking one little kiss to his cheek meant anything.
But it wasn’t just one little kiss, it was so much more. It was thinking about holding his hand every time you were near him, it was getting two different things at lunch and having half and half each, it was knowing he’d always rather have a glass of apple juice, and that his Ma made the best baked goods in all of Panem. It was bumping your arm against his whenever one of your classmates said something stupid, it was him offering his blazer without you asking like he just knew how cold you were, it was curly hair that you wanted to run your fingers through and arms you wanted to step into and never move out of.
“You love him.” Arachne repeated, her words dripping with disgust the more she dwelled on them. Of course you would fall for the district boy, she’d only wished she’d been a better friend and stopped you before things got this far. “Poor thing, falling for a boy from the districts.”
“I’m not-“ Sejanus had heard enough, turning on his heel and heading out of the hall, not caring for the way the door slammed shut behind him. Turning to the noise, you noticed the flash of brown curls and Coriolanus stood by the closed door. “Sejanus…”
“Oh no, did I hurt lover boys feelings?”
The sound of your palm struck flat and fast against Arachne’s face resounded around the room, everyone staring at the scene in shocked silence. “Do you ever stop being a vindictive bitch? Or do you have nothing better to do?”
Pulling your bag further up your shoulder, you turned and ran for the door, wanting to catch up with Sejanus before he got too far. “Sejanus!” Dread filled your stomach as you realised it might be too late, Sejanus no where in sight. You started making a mental list of all the different places he could be heading for when the main doors closed with a hard thud. It had to be Sejanus. So, you were quick to follow, sprinting down to the opposite end of the corridor, and out into the pouring rain, not willing to lose him over something said by someone as cruel as Arachne Crane. “Sejanus, please, wait up!” Running down the marble steps without the care of slipping, you finally caught up to him, reaching out and grabbing onto his arm, causing him to still. “Let me explain, please.”
Sejanus turned to face you but kept his head hung low, something you hadn’t seen him do in months, and your heart clenched. Poor, sweet Sejanus Plinth curled into himself like a kicked dog, and it was your fault. “What is there to explain?” His words came out in a whisper, Sejanus trying his best to keep his calm as even if you were embarrassed by him, he’d never treat you wrong in anyway. Not even now. “You made it pretty clear how you feel about me.”
“Sejanus, please, Arachne was being cruel. You’re my best friend.” As you moved your grip down his arm to try and take his hand in yours, he pulled away from you, taking a step further back on the steps as well. “Sejanus please just let me explain, you have no idea-“
“You’re embarrassed of me.” He said firmly, as if it was the objective truth and you both just had to deal with that fact. He didn’t know how far from the truth it was. Sejanus’s hands curled into fists as he spoke and his voice trembled, like he was about to cry. “You’re embarrassed to be friends with the district scum who somehow made it to the Capitol, and you’ve spent the last few months becoming his friend because you pitied him, or to make fun of him, or something.” Sejanus was stumbling over his words as he got more and more upset, the rain against his face stopping you from figuring out if he was crying or not. “I get it, it’s fine, I just wish it hadn’t felt so real.”
Stepping closer to him before he could stop you, you cradled his face in your hands, forcing him to meet your gaze and wiping away at the rain that coated his cheeks and matted his hair to his forehead. “It was real, it was so real, all of it, every single second. I promise Sejanus, I promise.” He was completely dazed by the feeling of your hands cupping his face and he only wished they’d been placed there in a different scenario. However you had taken his silence as disbelief in what you were saying, promoting you to continue, clutching his face tighter. “I’m not embarrassed of you, at all, ever. How could I be? God, I’d shout it from the rooftops just how much you mean to me if I didn’t know how much you’d hate everyone looking at you when I called your name.”
Sejanus was silent for a long moment, but leaned into the warmth of your touch, closing his eyes for a brief moment while he took in what you said. “You would?”
You tilted his head down so that his forehead pressed against yours in desperation. “I’d do anything for you, Sejanus, please.” His lips were centimetres from yours, so much so you could feel him breathe against them. It’d be so easy to kiss him right now. Instead, you slide your hands back around his head to cradle the back of his neck, pulling him into a hug. “Please… please believe me.”
Sejanus was hesitant, but wrapped his arms around you; one pressing into the small of your back and the other cupping the back of your neck. You’ve never been anything but kind to him, and he highly doubted that you’d decide to stop being now, so out of the blue. But as much as he wanted to move on from this, believe you and pretend nothing happened, Arachne’s words can’t stop echoing in his mind.
Daddy’s money, barely capital, district scum, you love him, you love him, you love him.
“Is it true?” He asked, grip on you tightening slightly incase it wasn’t and this was the last time he’d hug you. For all the months that Sejanus didn’t know if you returned his feelings or not, he lived in blissful ignorance, like you were so far out of his reach that the confession of his feelings was something he’d never have to worry about. But now that Arachne had brought it up, he needed to know for sure. As selfish as it was, he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle staying just your friend. “Do you really love me? Like, love me, love me?”
There was no point in trying to hide it now. You’d spent weeks trying to be brave enough to hold his hand, and last night in a daze you’d kissed him on the cheek, and even though you would’ve rather done it of your own accord, you were about to shy away from the opportunity to get it off your chest. “Yes.” You whispered, tucking your head deeper into the crook of his neck, muffling your words. If this was the last time you were going to be able to hold him, you wanted it to last. “And if you don’t want to be friends anymore then I’m okay with that. I’d rather lose you because I loved you too much then lose you because you think I didn’t love you at all.”
Sejanus stayed silent, processing and digesting each of your word’s individually. A small voice in his head was telling him that this was all a dream and he was going to be woken to reality any second, but the rain against his face and your hands at the nape of his neck told him otherwise. Pulling away from you enough to look at you, Sejanus made sure to meet and hold your gaze, cheeks flushing red at the idea alone of what he was about to say. “I love you.” Nose slotted against nose, the words were said against your lips, the breath he released after he made his admission fanning against your skin. “Can I kiss you?”
“Please do.” You answered, nodding your head slightly and leaning forward, meeting Sejanus in the middle in a gentle kiss. Though a little awkward and unsure, neither of you knowing where to put your hands or how to actually kiss, what you lacked in experience you made up for in enthusiasm, trying to drink up as much of each other as possible in one kiss. His lips against yours were firm, but still loving and gentle in a way unique to Sejanus, and he let you guide the two of you through it, kissing you harder when you pulled him closer and waiting for you to end the kiss.
Finally breaking away from each other, you could feel the rapid rise and fall of Sejanus’s chest against yours. The boy in front of you now was more like the Sejanus you knew so well, his head hanging low, and a hot flush coating his cheeks that he was trying to hide form the world, from you. However, his flustered facade didn’t last long, as you placed a hand against his jaw, titling his head up to look at you. “Can I kiss you again, Sej?”
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Enraptured (Poe POV)
Poe Dameron X Fem!Reader
Rating : E / 18+
Word count : 2600 (ish)
Warnings : PIV, fingering, semi-public sex, tiny bit of needy!Poe, sprinkles of feral!Poe, reader wears a dress, lack of self confidence, praise kink, cock warming, fluff, brief mentions of F/oral receiving, a tad of possessiveness in a soft way
Summary: Poe litterally can't keep his hands off you during a party (This is Clandestine... but from Poe's POV ;) )
A/N : It's not necessary to have read Clandestine to enjoy this. It's simply the same story from another (slightly more feral) point of view.
He can't stop his foot from bouncing impatiently under the table, trying anything to distract himself from the way you look, bathed in flickering multicolour lights, your dress accentuating every part of you that he loves.
He has so many regrets about agreeing to come tonight. He hates these types of parties as it is, full of stuck-up politicians, only out for their own gain. But this one, this is so much worse because of you. He can't concentrate on anything, and now to top it off he can't even leave the table because, well, in short, everyone would see exactly what you do to him.
He wants to look elsewhere, he wants to distract himself, but he can't. All he can do is stare at you, imagining the way you would look bent over the table, your dress hiked up high, the plush of your ass against his hips as he presses himself deep inside you, making you scream his name.
Damn Jess for helping you pick that dress. He really must remember to thank her the next time he sees her.
"Stop that," you scold him, for probably the thousandth time tonight.
"Stop what?" He grins at you, licking his lips as his eyes flicker up and down your body for absolutely the thousandth time. He really can't help himself anymore.
"Looking at me," you hiss in response, adjusting your dress.
He wishes you didn't fidget the way you do, like his gaze makes you uncomfortable. You don't see how truly beautiful you are — more than anyone, anything, he's ever seen. Your smile, your laugh, your kindness, your good heart, the way you never take any of his bullshit, the way you make his heart beat just as wildly as flying does. Poe knows he's in too deep with you. He's fallen harder than he ever has. He can't stop looking at you because you're all he can see, all he can ever see these days.
But you, beautiful, sexy, sweet, funny, you can't always accept that. And so the fidget only cements that he wants to show you just how much he wants you, right now.
"I'm admiring," he clarifies, refusing to move his gaze, determined to make you see what he sees.
"Well, admire something else," you answer, refusing to look at him.
Poe almost scoffs to himself. Admire something else? Not fucking likely with his cock impatiently throbbing with need.
"I can't," he leans in close to you, his voice a low hiss. He's genuinely surprised you haven't realised why yet, that it hasn't even been a thought to cross your mind. "You have no idea how much I can't."
He has a fleeting thought about grabbing your hand and showing you exactly what you do to him, but honestly, if you touched him now, he'd probably cum in his pants and ruin all the fun he plans to have with you later.
"Poe."
It's only half a warning. He can see it in your eyes — the flicker of desire. He's an expert at reading you, or at least he likes to think he is, and so far he hasn't been wrong. Maybe he can convince you to leave early. One of you could fake an illness, make your excuses, and stumble back to your room. He reckons he could probably make it as far as the lift before he has you pinned against the wall, your leg held up over his hip, fingers gripping your thigh as you tremble for him.
Kriff, he needed to slow down before he blows his load without so much as a brush of your flesh against his.
Taking a breath to steady himself, his eyes flicker over you once more, reading every micro expression. Yeah, you are starting to want this just as much as he needs it. Bedroom, lift, hell even getting to the door out of here is going to be too much trouble. He isn't making it that far.
"Come sit with me. At least let me hold you," he whispers softly, slipping his hand into yours. Your fingers grip his, warm and soft, suspicion in your eyes. But when he tugs, you follow, allowing him to guide you down onto his lap.
Such a good girl for me.
Your gasp as you sit makes his cock twitch, just the soft friction of your movement enough to start shredding whatever little patience he has left.
"I need you," he whispers against your ear. "I need you, now." He brushes his nose up the column of your neck, inhaling the intoxicating scent of you, wishing he had time, and enough restraint, to climb under the table and taste you before he cums, but he doesn't.
"Poe, we are in public!"
Maybe you are right. Maybe it's time to stop before he gets too far but fuck, he's too far gone. The delicious little wriggle you do on his lap does absolutely nothing to help.
"I can't wait," he groans, his hips rutting against you of their own accord, desperate for any sort of friction. "Please baby, it's been like this all night. Please. I need to be inside you."
He's begging now and he doesn't care. All he can think about is how desperately he needs to feel you soaking his cock, how desperately he wants to show you the effect you have on him, how desperately he wants you to believe you're worthy of it.
Even in the dim lighting, he catches the little smirk at the corner of your mouth. Perhaps you're just a little proud that you can reduce him to this. You have no true idea what you could reduce him to if you wanted to. If you asked he'd get down on his knees and beg you for just a glance in his direction. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for you.
"I'll be good to you," he promises, catching the hem of your dress and dragging it up, splaying his hands against your soft thighs, inching them up higher. "You know how good I can be to you."
You shiver at the touch of his hands and he wonders if your mind fills with memories like his does — back to all the nights you've spent together, your head tipped back on sweat soaked sheets as he worships at the altar of your body.
"If anyone sees…" your voice trails off with a sigh as he presses his lips against your neck, fighting to keep his hands still while he gives you time to consider your position.
"They won't." He's confident in that. If there's one thing he is, it's observant. He knows everyone is too caught up in their own night to worry about the two of you tucked away in a dark corner. The table just about covers your lap, where your dress is hiked up, his hands drifting closer to your hot core. The music is loud enough that nobody will hear you.
They won't see, but honestly, Poe couldn't give a damn if they do. Let them look, let them watch, let them see you are his.
He moves his mouth down your neck, slowly, invitingly, pausing to suck against your pulse point, marking you as his own, his hands pushing your thighs apart. Your pliancy to his actions only fuels his desire for you. He's proud that you allow this, that you trust him to do this. He's absolutely going to make it worth your while. Well, he's at least going to try and last long enough to make it worth your while.
His fingers finally slip between your thighs and it's like his lungs have suddenly collapsed, all the air rushing out suddenly.
You aren't wearing panties. His fingers brush against bare wet, no not just wet, soaked, flesh.
His plan was to gently tease you, make you admit how much you're enjoying this, how much you want this, but somehow his entire vocabulary is erased by the shock.
"Fuck," is all he manages to punch out as he drags his fingers up over your clit, relishing the way your hips jerk in response. He lets out a low whine against your neck as he ruts into your ass, desperate for release.
He swears he almost cums at the gasp you let out when he slips a finger into you. You're so hot. He has to pause for a moment, calming himself as you take a breath of your own, before he finally draws his finger up and over your clit, and then back down, sinking two fingers into you.
"Shouldn't have let you leave the room," he grumbles as you squirm, each jolt of your hips only drawing his attention to his painfully hard cock.
Why did he decide to listen to you about coming to this party? Why did he decide he could wait? Of all the questionable decisions Poe has made in his life, he's putting the one of agreeing to leave the room before burying himself inside you, at least twice, right at the top. Well, at least for now.
He curls his fingers slowly against your walls, his thumb barely stroking your clit with feather light touches, keeping you just tiptoeing the edge. After all you've put him through tonight, you deserve a little payback.
When your wriggling increases and your chest starts to heave with the effort of biting down your moans of pleasure, he licks a hot stripe up your neck, enjoying the way your breath catches and your body jerks.
"Can I fuck you now?"
He waits with bated breath to see how far you'll let him take this.
He'd never push you further than you wanted, never make you do something you're uncomfortable with. If you say no now then he'll wait, as much as it might drive him to the point of absolute madness. At this point, he might just cum in his pants from looking at you anyway.
"Yes," you breathe out, and then you roll your hips back against him. Poe curses loudly, unceremoniously removing his fingers from you and scrambling to undo his pants, every last bit of patience blasted to pieces. Later he'll apologise about the rush, be embarrassed about it, but right now, he has to have you.
His hands grip your hips, probably a little harder than necessary if he was honest, as you take a breath and sink down onto his cock. Poe's eyes roll back and he has to bite down on your shoulder to muffle the moan of pleasure as your walls flutter hot and tight around him.
He realises too late that`s a mistake, and right as his teeth sink into your flesh, your pussy clenches around him. His hips jolt upwards of their own accord, pressing him deeper into you and listening to your choked moan as he fights not to cum then and there.
"Shit baby, don't do that," he warns, taking a trembling breath. "Not unless you want this over really qui-nghh!"
Of course, you do it again. Of course, he should have expected it. But he didn't, and it takes every last bit of self restraint he has not to pin you down over the table and fuck you so hard you'll still feel it tomorrow.
"Stop," he warns, gritting his teeth, trying to think of anything but the searing heat engulfing his dick. "Don't wanna rush this."
You clench again and he growls a frustrated warning. He wants you to just sit still for a damn minute while he catches his breath before this ends too quickly for both of you. But you seem to have no intentions of letting him do that.
Well if it was going to be that way, two could play that game. He was going to drag this out now. Fuck you slowly, deeply, like he has all the time in the world. Poe's stubbornness was the only thing that could outweigh his desperate desire.
He grinds his hips upwards, pressing deep inside you, pulling you down against him as he does, ensuring you feel all of him. Your whole body reacts, and he can't stop the smirk forming on his lips.
There we go baby, take it all for me.
He adjusts just slightly with each grind of his hips until he finds that one spot that makes you whimper. And then he presses against it, again, and again, and again.
Oh, how he relishes in the shivers of your body, the gasps escaping your lips, the beads of sweat rolling down your neck, the clench of your pussy as he holds you still against his lap, forcing you to accept the pleasure, even though he knows he's holding you on the edge of bliss for longer than you would like.
"Good girl, taking me so well," he praises, his voice low against your ear, trying to stop his own breath from heaving, lest you know you could tip him over the edge with one well placed word. "Letting me have you here, where anyone can see us."
The bite of your nails digging into his arms only spurns him on, making his cock throb inside you. He wonders if the marks will still be there tomorrow, something he can admire, something that marks him as yours.
"Driving me crazy in this dress. Lookin' like the hottest fucking thing. Fuck baby, you're so good to me, letting me do this." He knows he's rambling now, but his mouth, as it so often does, is going before his thoughts are connecting. All he can think about is how good you feel, your body pressed against him, anchored by his arms around your waist, your pussy gripping his aching cock as you take all he's willing to give you.
You're so close, he can feel it. Your body is stiff, your nails digging in painfully now, your head leant back against his shoulder, chest heaving, pussy fluttering, whimpering with each slow torturous grind of his hips.
His own climax creeps up far quicker than he's expecting and suddenly he desperately needs to let go. Scrambling to pull your dress up out of the way he presses his fingers against your clit, drawing quick tight circles as you gasp.
He needs you to fall first. He needs to feel what he does to you.
"Cum for me. Cum now," he demands.
Your back arches, your breath catching as you let go of his arms to grip the table, your pussy clenching and fluttering as your climax hits. It's too much and Poe finally lets himself go, burying his moan of satisfaction into your neck, his fingers moving to grip your thighs as you writhe on his lap. He continues to roll his hips slowly, milking every last bit of your climax, savouring each little shiver and whimper until you collapse back against him, boneless.
Even though everything seems hazy around the edges in the post orgasmic bliss, he notices the way your head turns just slightly, checking if anyone has noticed what has transpired.
"Told you nobody would see," he smiles, nuzzling your neck, enjoying the closeness of your body.
"You're lucky," you turn your head to kiss him and his heart jumps. How could there have ever been a time when you thought he wouldn't want you? How could there have been a time you didn't realise he spent every night, cock in hand, thinking about you. How could you not realise he was hopelessly, utterly in love with you?
"I am very lucky," he nods, wishing he could form better words to explain just how lucky he feels. But you're sitting there looking so prettily dishevelled, sweat still drying on your skin, your nail marks in his arms, and he can't think of anything but how much he wants to drag those noises from you again.
"Thanks for helping me take care of that problem." He grins, his hands moving to brush his fingers against the inside of your thighs, slowly inching upwards to where he's still buried deep inside you. "I'll repay the favour later tonight…" he pauses, wondering if you can go again already. "Or now?"
You let out the prettiest noise as his hands creep higher, placing a solitary kiss on your neck. Poe decided that means you need a minute, but he has no intentions of making it an easy minute.
He bites down a groan as his fingers are met with slick wetness, almost halfway down your thighs. Judging by how wet you are, and a small shift of his legs confirms his suspicions as his pants stick to his own skin, there's no way he's moving any time soon anyway.
"I'm sorry baby, but it seems you might have made quite the mess. You're soaked everywhere."
He's about as un-sorry as he can get, his mind already filled with how many more times he can get you to cum before the party is over. How much can you take before it's too much? How many times can he make you whimper? How many times can he make you soak his lap?
You could be stuck here for hours yet, right where you are. The thought makes his cock twitch.
His arms wrap tight around your waist, ensuring you aren't going anywhere anytime soon. He feels you shiver in anticipation as his lips ghost the shell of your ear, a wicked grin forming on his lips.
"I guess you'll just have to sit right there until the party's over."
-------------
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed please reblog and let me know your thoughts! Remember interactions keep writers writing!
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How to Get Your Friends into Doctor Who (2005) - A Guide
Ok I really like Doctor Who, and of course I like introducing people to it, but oh my god do you forget how randomly terrible and/or cringy and/or uncomfortably Moffat-esque some of the episodes are, *especially* when you're watching it with someone who has no idea what to expect.
SO I made a list of ten episodes that I think would be the best loose sequence of episodes for a causal introduction to the show...
But first, some requirements:
It has to be a one-off (NO TWO-PARTERS), low commitment, etc
It can't require watching previous OR following episodes to be enjoyable
It needs to actually be good
It needs to represent Doctor Who well
In a social setting where you're showing a group of people an episode, most of these would be fine. Watching consistently with one person however, loosely follow this order, and if your person decides at any point that they want to commit to actually watching the show, skip straight back to The End of The World and watch Series 1. Ok list time...
1. Rose (S1, E01)
I think Rose is the perfect episode of Doctor Who to start on. It's campy, it's fun and weird and it sets up almost everything you need to know for the Revival Era. You get the companion, the Doctor, regular Doctor Who tropes and themes, etc. Plus, if they can't get past the Mickey bin scene, this show probably isn't for them anyway.
2. Dalek (S1, E06)
Skipping a few episodes into Series 1, Dalek is a great way to get a feel for the format of the show, and also a great and intentional introduction to the Daleks. The Doctor and the companion turn up in a mysterious place and have to battle an alien force and really unlikeable one-off side characters, the works basically. It's a fun monster-movie of an episode.
3. Vincent and The Doctor (S5,E10)
Jumping a whole five series forward, Vincent and The Doctor is a notoriously heart-wrenching historical that I think is a classic (if a little indulgent) example of Doctor-meets-famous-historical-figure. It's nice to jump to a different Doctor and a different era of the show, to get a feel for its' diversity. Although there's a few moments relevant to the greater series plot, it's contained, very pretty, very sweet, and easy to understand.
4. Midnight (S4, E10)
Midnight just feels like an essential episode to be honest. A fantastic one-off sci-fi horror/thriller, with one of David Tennant's best performances, a great introduction to the 10th Doctor. It's a shame you don't get more Donna, but I think this one would be my go-to if someone asked for the best episode to watch stand-alone, just based on how genuinely great it is.
5. Heaven Sent (S9, E11)
Jumping to Series 9 with another critically-acclaimed episode, but also one that I think is an amazing introduction to the 12th Doctor. Heaven Sent is a little unconventional, and I'm not 100% sure it should be here, but it does give Capaldi a whole episode to just act his ass off, and he completely delivers. It's artsy, mysterious and dramatic, very much the high concept sci-fi style of Moffat's later scripts, so I think an appropriate watch.
6. The Voyage of The Damned (2007 Special)
If you're not in a festive mood, try The Lodger or Demons of the Punjab instead
The Christmas episodes are too iconic not to show, and as far as Christmassy vibes, celebrity cameos and whimsical concepts go, this one is a fun one. This is David Tennant in his prime, with Kylie Minogue, a massive budget and a romp of a script.
6. Blink (S3, E10)
I mean, duh, but genuinely I think Blink is just *too good* not to include. A tense, creepy, tightly-written piece of horror TV with twists and turns and drama, it's considered the best episode of Doctor Who for a reason, and along with Midnight is an amazing stand-alone episode. It's not super conventional, but all the timey-wimey stuff is very Doctor Who.
6. The Mummy on The Orient Express (S8, E08)
If you're a Tennant stan you could swap this out for The Planet of the Dead
This one is just a fun one really. The Mummy on The Orient Express is stylish and fun, with a cool concept and a little peek into a more complex Doctor-companion relationship. With a short explanation you can get the context pretty easily, and it's a good example of your typical episode anyway.
HOWEVER if you have time, there's a bunch of two-parters you should watch instead, like The Family of Blood, The Empty Child, Silence in the Library, even Extremis.
9. The Haunting of Villa Diodati (S12, E10)
Finally some 13th Doctor rep! This one has some of the strongest writing in the Chibnall era, and is a fun horror mystery that serves as a fun introduction to Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. It has a little bit of series-wide arc, but that's okay.
10. The Church on Ruby Road (2023 Special 4)
If your person liked all those episodes but still doesn't want to watch 13 seasons of TV, just abandon ship and watch the 2023 Christmas special in preparation for Series 14 (or Season 1) in Spring 2024. The Church on Ruby Road is the beginning of the latest soft reboot of the show and has been explicitly created as a jumping on point for new fans. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson absolutely shine in this special, it's fun and silly and in my opinion bodes very well for the next season of Doctor Who...
"in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important"
- Bannakaffalatta
I hope that was a success! After all those episodes hopefully you either had a good time with whoever you were watching it with, or you've already moved onto Series 1! I'll be trying this out the best I can with my girlfriend this year, so look out, because I may be back with adjustments later...
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could i request some hcs of the octotrio + leona with a gn!s/o that's more powerful than them? like in magic and/or strength (it's up to you whether reader is yuu or not.)
i love your writing so much! keep up the good work :D
✰ Stronger than you!!
how the fish mafia and cat boy react when youre THE alpha male‼️‼️😈 THE QUEEN‼️👏 the absolute drip💪💪💪
characters: leona, azul, floyd, jade
includes: crack, lighthearted teasing + bickering bc YES, fluff (though more on the crack side,, apologies dearest anon!) and ofc, gender neutral and sfw!
notes: im in sm pain shark week can go die anyways enjoy mwa mwa i decided to make the reader yuu bc thats easier to write! 🫶
✎ Leona Kingscholar!!
Hah? Some little herbivore managed to beat him? Now this he's gotta see
At first tbh hes mostly annoyed, heavily so, some random herbivore just decided to mosey on over and be all strong huh? What's next youre gonna go all-enemies-to-lovers-slowburn 100k words on him?
gosh damn i-
Ok real talk! he most likely doesnt, and wont care, at least not for quite some time
If some herbivore wants to beat him, then go, he barely has the time nor energy deal with it besides being mildly irritated
What he didnt anticipate for however, was to become closer to you
Whether that be platonically or romantically, he does come to realize you had become someone he cherishes, even if he doesn't want to admit it outright yet.
So the annoyance turns into admiration
(and teasing, dear sevens you will receive so much teasing from this man)
Expect him to teasingly challenge you into fights if you ever catch him during his spelldrive practice, and if you agree, sevens know he wont hold back
you can tell how much fun he's having competing with you, he hasnt felt motivation in a long time and you single-handedly made him grin, whether you lost the match or not he'll always have a teasing remark prepared
Overall he genuinely respects you, with how competetive and tiresome this school can be, he admires your skill, and how you can hold your head high, thats his herbivore alright
"Hah, great work herbivore, that was pretty impressive, still far from beating me though,~ now c'mon, im tired, lets go nap. You can go flaunt your skills later"
✎OCTORIO!!
✎ Azul Ashengrotto !!
Most likely was very tempted to drag you into a contract just to get said abilities, man held himself back to an intense degree ooooh boy
Envious, but knows when praise is due,
(even if said praise if back handed and most likely an attempt to scam you, wow zuzu so nice)
Will try to beat you, flaunting his skills infront of you as if a nonverbal way of telling you "he's better"
Eventually gets knocked off his high horse during his whole overblot-situation and stops pursuing his so called 'one sided rivalry' as floyd calls it
Starts to become more curious of your abilities and asks more questions, you two sharing nifty tips and tricks too!
(for a fee, of course,)
(said fee is visiting the monstro lounge to see him, psh softie)
The closer you two become, the less he minds and the more he appreciates your skill
After all, the twins cause enough destruction on a daily basis, having you by his side causes his stress levels to decrease incredibly low
(at this point he's just trying to convince you to join octavinelle for the sake of his sanity)
Hes more genuine with the compliments as time goes by, (blushy blushy octomer aww)
but at the same time not missing the competetive spark that he had when he met you, he's still willing to compete with you after all, only time time in a more "civil manner"
"My my, what marvelous skills you have prefect! perhaps you would be interested in...hm? No im not fishing you into another contract!..Although...I wouldn't refuse on the offer, my of course im joking. What do you think of me?"
✎ Floyd Leech !!
NOW ISNT LITTLE SHRIMPY SO ADORABLE
Bro run 😨 im saying it rn RUN FOR YOUR LIFE BC HES INTERESTED AND WONT LEAVE YOU ALONE ANYTIME SOON
At first he was a bit annoyed, cant have a little shrimp be better than him now could he?
But floyd being, well, floyd, didnt really mind much upon finding out it was his shrimpy! (he has claimed you yes this isnt kidnapping)
In fact, he didnt care at all to be honest, he'll still squeeze the life outta ya, strong or not! hehehe <3
Loves to pester and torment you for fun or as he calls it, playing, challenging you every second to a game of some sorts to "test shrimpy!"
If you're the type of person who's strong physically then floyd will swoon i tell you and will most likely ask to be carried by you 24-7
(yes youre carrying him like a princess)
(no shrimpy this isnt embarrassing go faster cmon!)
The best way to motivate him is you tbh, he can be having his moodswings and jade or azul could casually mention you and suddenly hes fired up!!!
(not for work tho, so azuls still mad but shh)
Overall, doesnt really mind, in fact he'll even brag to you to others probably, talking about his little shrimpy being so so strong and how theyre just little guppies compared to you (and him) >:)
"HEHEHEHE shrimmmpy~~~ let's play! Huh? What do you mean you're not in then mood? Cmonnnn!!! youre strong arent cha? Im bored! We can compete to see whos stronger!! I wont let you win this time, too! Loser gets to do my night shift at the monstro lounge!"
Jade Leech
Oh? Fufufu..How amusing
When I say run I say RUN
Like Floyd, Jade is heavily interested in you, seemingly curious to your skills and strengths, wanting to observe and see for himself how strong you could really be, and my my do you not disappoint!
( tbh he treats u like a lab experiment for awhile /hj )
While he and his brother are known to be polar opposites, theyre more alike than people give them credit for, because just like Floyd, Jade liked to stick with more interesting people, and boy have you piqued his interest greatly
While he thought you were rather dull at first, your strenght definitely intrigued him, even more so when you're just a freshman
You wouldnt see it in his face as he remained his composure because, well, he's Jade after all, but the surprised look he gives for a brief second was there and you swear left and right you saw it
Regaining his composure rather quickly, his suprised face curved into am amused smile,
"My my aren't you interesting? Perhaps you can spare some time and visit monstro lounge later? I'll be working on my shift, of course but you can always talk to me," he said, a polite smile painted on his features
"Oh, and, feel free to bring your little first yeae group with you too, fufufu~"
As the two of you got closer though, it would be less of him treating you like some sort of creature and more of him praising your skills
(knowing full well it flustered you)
(bastard)
He does admire your skill though, no matter how his teasing remarks feel, you can tell hes being genuine when he casts a fond look through your direction
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Update - 2nd year anniversary! (plus a reflection, and future plans).
Hi everyone! π here.
Today, May 13th, is the day I officially opened up this blog and began writing degenerate and immoral stories! 2 fucking years have passed, how time flies. So much can change in a year, and so do some of the stats!
First work: Sandwich - Red Velvet Wendy (published 05/13/21, 4:03 a.m.)
Highest note count: Awards after-party affair - Itzy Yuna (published 10/23/22, 1167 notes)
Number of works published: 80 fics (1 fic every 9.1 days)
500 followers: June 18, 2021 (36 days or 1 month, 5 days)
1,000 followers: October 12, 2021 (152 days or 4 months, 30 days)
2,000 followers: June 18, 2022 (401 days or 1 year, 1 month, and 5 days)
3,000 followers: November 12, 2022 (548 days or 1 year, 5 months, and 30 days)
Follower count: 3,953 followers (5.4 followers a day)
I wish I had something awesome lined up to celebrate this milestone, but I don't have anything prepared XD I've been busy and lazy at the same time. (Is that even possible?)
Actually, yeah, I do have a whole week's worth of cool things lined up this week! If I can even follow through with this one...
Monday: AMA
Tuesday: Reader Poll
Wednesday: ???
Thursday: ???
Friday: ???
I don't want to make the fun section of the update elaborately long, so I just want to say thank you so much to everyone for the support! Even though I'm not as active or as productive as I used to be, your eagerness never wavered, and you guys enjoy me talking about random shit on the side, whether it be song lyrics, Pokémon, or literally posts without any context to them. I love you guys. Here's to another year ���
Everything else from this point is a brief reflection and introspection of what I've been feeling since then. You can ignore this if you wish to do so.
So today marks the second anniversary since I opened up this Tumblr and became a degenerate writer. The work I've been putting up is getting worse—in a sexual and filthy way, not objectively—and my mental health has been getter much, much better! When I made the same anniversary post around this time a year ago, I was at an all-time low, mentally speaking. I really felt like I had not much left to give at that point, my skill has stagnated, and I thought there wasn't much for me to improve on. If you asked me if I had any future plans for this blog, I'd say I'd be done by the end of 2022, if not sooner.
It's now 2023, and I believe I'm as good as I can be right now. Slumps happen for a reason, and you can't always win, but it's how you bounce back from the lowest of lows that you reach highest of highs. And I believe I can still get better.
Genuinely, not to sound arrogant, because Lord knows I'm not the best fanfic writer—fuck no—I'm not anywhere close, even in a theoretical top 1000 list, but I do think some of my finest work have come up in my most recent fics. I don't know, it feels more polished and there was more effort and deliberation put into it. The numbers don't lie, either; every single work I published since May 2022 has over 400+ notes, and I've even passed the 1000+ note barrier twice! It goes to show that you guys are enjoying what I'm putting out as much as I love making them, slow and difficult it may be. I can fondly smile at last year's additions to my masterlist and say, "I can't believe I did that."
I do want to apologize if my output rate has drastically slowed down, and if I'm not as active as I was before. It's unfortunately part of the sacrifice needed for better quality control, and also because I have more personal commitments to attend to. 2023 has been fantastic for me so far in almost every department, except maybe physically—I could use more exercise—but that can be worked upon.
I do believe I'm on borrowed time. Again, look at the gap between fics over the past six months ago, and it's only going to widen once I enter my third year of college. I also have to begin considering what hobbies and other things I should do to occupy my free time, so I can be more productive as a person. This isn't to say I'm definitely quitting, but I expect more responsibilities to be shouldered onto me in the future, and having time for myself is going to be pretty much a birthday gift with how rare it might be given, and I'd prefer spending my time off recharging and relaxing instead of stressing over inconsequential or 'fun' things.
There's a lot of people I want to thank specifically, because while I was struggling with my own personal battles, they've been encouraging me to continue fighting and have been absolute lads—and lasses—throughout the past year. When I needed someone to talk to that wasn't my therapist, they were there, and I took solace in their comfort and companionship. I can't tag you guys, but if you're reading this—Chunk, Raf, Peach, Aaron, Sol, V1n, Iz, Ddeun, C.o, Kaede, Frisky, Smite, Shaun, Sins, Jett, Eros, Prael, Ken, Cray, CJ, Sooya, Gray, Svn—I sincerely thank you. God bless each and every single one of you. And to Tim, I really hope you can see this, but I'm truly, truly sorry. I hope we can find a way to bury that fracture in our relationship in the past, and we can reconcile. If not, then I just want closure and peace for the both of us.
So in closing, I want to thank you so much for sticking with me through the bad times and prospering with me through the good, and I'm always humbled that you've taken a chance on me when I started, when I was a hopeful newbie, two years ago. Now here we are. I appreciate every single one of you, be it a fellow writer, a reader, or a lurker.
With grace,
Peter / π
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So Close Yet So Far - Mingyu x Reader - Chapter 5 - Dinner Plans
Synopsis: Your college friend, Kim Mingyu, has had a grip on your heart since the first day you met. Over the past few years, as you acquired more friendships and memories, those feelings only grew. However, recently, Mingyu has seemed a bit more distant, at least when it comes to any ideas of romance. It only gets worse when rumors fly that he's off to Japan to receive a marriage proposal! Unsure what to do, you wonder how you can keep Mingyu by your side without jeopardizing your friendship or your growing feelings. You never expected that waking up one drunken morning next to two hot angels would be your ticket into Mingyu's heart.
Genre: Romance, College!AU, Modern Fantasy, Comedy, Angsty
Length: approx. 5.3k words
Chapter 5 - Dinner Plans
As classes let out for the night, you were relieved to be heading home. Seeing Mingyu had exhausted you more than you thought, and hearing him talk about the fun that he had on his trip only made you feel worse. You needed some space from him for the night, to think over all of the emotions swimming in your brain. You stepped out of your last class of the day, the sun already beginning to set over Seoul. “Maybe I can get Jeonghan to cook again.” You muttered.
"Don't push your luck." You heard a voice, and when you looked over, you saw Jeonghan at your side, linking your arm to his. Without a word, you felt your other arm being snaked around, and you looked to see Joshua. “I’m exhausted.”
“I didn’t even know angels got sleepy like that.” You said. Jeonghan nodded, a sleepy look already starting to form on his face as you chuckled. “Whatever, fine. I might have some leftovers. Just take me home.”
As the three of you walked out, you were stopped by the sound of your name being called. When you looked towards it, you saw Hoshi hurrying over to you. It seemed he was with Minnie, Seungkwan, and Mingyu, and you felt a small hint of dread tickle the pit of your stomach. Hoshi smiled as he finally reached you.
“We were waiting! Do you guys want to come to karaoke?!”
“Karaoke?” Joshua asked.
“Yeah! We were just talking about how it’s been a while. With Mingyu back, we’re all together again and we can go.”
“Uh, well-.” You began to stammer. “I was feeling a bit tired.”
“Mingyu wants you to come.” He smiled, knowing that comment alone would work to convince you. Turning your head, you saw Mingyu catch your gaze. Even from a distance, you could see him smile and wave to you. “Please. Only for a few songs, and then you can leave.” You couldn’t help but smile.
“Fine.” You said. Hoshi pumped his fists in childlike glee, and before you knew it, Mingyu and the others were headed your way. As they approached, you shimmed out of Joshua and Jeonghan’s grasp, hearing them playfully complain.
“Hey. You’re coming?” Mingyu asked. The genuine happiness on his face made you unable to hold back a bit of excitement. Karaoke, despite everything, did feel nice. Besides, there was no reason for you to be upset. Mingyu was back, woman was not on his arm, which was what you wanted.
“For a little bit.”
“I said we should stop and get something to eat first,” Minnie said. “I’m starving.”
As Mingyu watched you listen to the plan set so perfectly by Minnie and Seungkwan – kind of, it was mainly Seungkwan – he saw your smile slowly drop. He saw you rub your arm, grab your bag, anything to make your hands look busy. It didn’t take a genius to notice something was bothering you. As the group began walking away, Mingyu instead approached you once again. “Are you okay?” He asked. You felt him put his hand on your forehead. “You don’t feel warm.”
That feeling must not have lasted long, because you felt your cheeks burning as if someone was turning on an oven low up to high in a matter of seconds. “I’m fine.” You assured. “Just been a long day. Maybe I need to eat.”
“Ah.” Just then, feeling two people looking in their direction, he turned his head to see Joshua and Jeonghan suddenly at your sides. He frowned a bit. “You guys are coming to, I guess?” He sounded displeased. You looked between the two men at your sides.
They simply responded by looping their arms once again with yours, smiling up at the taller man before them. You couldn’t help but hold back a chuckle. Mingyu’s frown only deepened a bit.
“Of course,” Joshua said. “We’re going to sing a duet.” You felt Joshua squeeze your arm. The matter-of-fact nature of his statement not only shocked Mingyu but you as well.
“You wish,” Jeonghan said, peering over your shoulder. “You sound like a dying rat.”
“Oh, and your voice is so angelic,” Joshua said. You groaned as the two continued to bicker, simply walking past Mingyu and towards your friends up ahead.
“Hey.” Mingyu gasped turning towards them. However, he was blocked out by the duo continuing whatever it was they were bickering over. You kept looking from side to side, trying to get them to knock it off. Mingyu called your name as well, but when you were too distracted to respond, Mingyu quickly hurried after you guys, staying close behind to act as a monitor of the situation.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
The karaoke bar was pretty busy for a Tuesday night. It was filled with high school students, relaxing after a long 14-hour study session, drunk businessmen and women trying to find something enjoyable in their daily routine, and now you guys. Seungkwan and Hoshi hurried into the dim room, only lit up by neon strip lights around the walls and colorful LED lights posted by the doors and lyrics screen. They wasted no time playfully arguing over who got to choose the first song. You looked around, seeing microphones lining the little square table, and an L-shaped plush couch resting up against the wall. The giant flat screen TV was turned on, the logo of the company on at the moment while the first song was decided. You simply took a seat, watching as Joshua and Jeonghan plopped down beside you. They wasted no time pulling out the menu of songs. They huddled together like two little boys reading something they knew they should not be, whispering to one another behind the laminated menu. On your other side, the couch shifted and you saw Mingyu sitting on the other side of you. He looked over at you, smiling sweetly.
“I was thinking of ordering some snacks for the room for all of us. What do you want to eat? You get the first pick.” You watched him hand you one of the food menus. As you opened it and scanned it, you felt the seat move once again, and you glanced to see he that relaxed fully.
Fully.
You noticed he had unbuttoned the first two buttons on his light blue button-up, running a hand through his hair to loosen up some of the tightly combed pieces from this morning. He crossed one of his legs over the over, the heel of his shoe pointing in your direction. You chewed on your lip as you watched his lower body relax as well, his jeans stretching a bit. He let out a deep sigh, seemingly relieved to be off his feet after the walk over. His arm draped over the couch, fingers just barely resting themselves behind you. He was no longer looking at you, watching as your three friends tried to figure out how to use all three of their shared brain cells to determine a fair order as well as get the machine to work. When you saw Mingyu smile in the dark, you had to avoid your eyes. For your sanity.
Your eyes darted down to his bag, which sat half-open on his side. You peeked inside, wondering if your eyes would spot something. When there was nothing but books and study materials to be seen, you felt blood trickle inside your mouth, and you had to release the inside of your cheek from the tight grip between your teeth. Stop it. You thought to yourself. Setting the menu down seemed to alert Mingyu’s attention, but you only smiled.
“I think the popcorn and pretzel bundle sounds good. I’m still full after grabbing food.” Mingyu nodded, before taking the menu to look at himself. You glanced at the door, before quickly standing up. “I’ll be right back…” You said softly, before exiting the room.
“Okay.” He watched you walk out, closing the door gently behind you. Mingyu rested back in his seat, holding the menu himself to read the options. When he looked over to his left, he saw Joshua and Jeonghan were already out of the room as well. He blinked, having to do a double-take to make sure he wasn’t just crazy.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
You walked outside the karaoke bar, allowing the cool night air to tickle your body. A deep exhale escaped your lips and you ran a hand through your hair. You took another deep breath. Then another. Then another. Before you knew it, you were pacing outside the short strip of the karaoke bar, hands moving from your hair to your hips and then to gripping the hem of your shirt. Stop it. You thought to yourself. Don’t be upset. You can’t be upset.
As you turned your heel for another round of pacing, you were surprised – kind of, this was becoming common – to see Jeonghan approach you. He put his hands on your shoulders, stopping you in your tracks. Joshua was approaching as well, occasionally looking to see if anyone was coming to find them from the room. Jeonghan didn’t seem to say anything, simply pulling you into a little, yet comforting hug. Confusion only hit you for a moment, unsure of how you should react to the kind gesture.
Finally, you muttered: “I’m fine.”
“Lying is a sin in some cultures you know.” You heard Jeonghan chuckle a bit at his comment. “You can’t tell me you’re just tired, either. I know tired.”
“I’m fine.” You repeated, pulling yourself away just a bit to look at him. “What do I have to be upset about?”
“You tell us,” Jeonghan said simply. “It’s kind of our job right now to help.”
“We can’t do that if you don’t talk to us,” Joshua added.
“What is there to say?” you asked, shrugging. “I have nothing to be upset about.”
“Not even Mingyu’s little gift?” Jeonghan asked. “You’ve looked upset ever since then…” When he saw you look down at your feet, he hummed. “Aaah, I knew it.”
“Even if that were true, I can’t be upset. I did not ask him for a gift. I have no reason to expect a gift every time Mingyu goes on vacation. He’s not my boyfriend, after all. I got my own hopes up for no reason. I have no right to be selfish and then get upset over it.” You said simply. “So, I’m fine. I will be fine. Drop it.”
“You’re allowed to still be upset,” Joshua said softly, almost gently. You shook your head. “If you said he always buys you something, of course, you’d think he’d-.”
“I said drop it,” you repeated. “I came out here for fresh air, and that’s it. Okay?” You rubbed your eye quickly, feeling an intense pressure forming behind your eyes and deep within your throat. “I don’t want to start anything right now.”
“But-.” Before either Jeonghan or Joshua could say anything more, the door to the karaoke bar opened and you all looked over. Mingyu was standing there, obviously a bit worried about where you disappeared. When he saw the three of you close to one another, Jeonghan still practically holding you in his arms, he frowned.
“What are you doing?” he asked. Jeonghan looked at Joshua, both nodding in silent agreement.
They turned to Mingyu as he approached. “What does it look like? We’re professing our undying love.” Joshua said, complete seriousness in his voice.
“A bit of privacy, please?” Jeonghan requested. You covered your mouth, unable to hide a small laugh. How were the two of them able to be so angelic and gentle, yet so mischievous at the flip of a coin?
“We’re in the middle of the street.” You pointed it out. You watched as Mingyu walked over, gently reaching out and taking your hand. When he got a good look at you, he saw a glimpse of what seemed to be redness in your eyes and a wet spot under your eye. He wasted no time wiping it away.
“If you two are going to keep being a bother to her, then go home.” He said simply. You looked at the duo, who seemed completely unfazed.
“What’s wrong?” Jeonghan asked curiously. He clasped his hands together, eyes sparkling in pure innocence as he came to a realization: “Oh, we misread? We heard the rumors. Are you two dating?”
�� Mingyu stopped at that question, his face heating up. You saw his frown remain, eyes narrowing in annoyed frustration. You waited quietly for a response from him. Joshua took the silence to add another comment.
“Oh, are you not? Then you shouldn’t involve yourself in her personal affairs, Kim Mingyu.” Joshua smiled a bit.
“Why you-.” Mingyu was about to step forward; a knight wanting to defend the honor of the maiden. However, you held him back by gripping his wrist.
“Let’s just go inside. Seungkwan will kill us if we miss his entire one-man show.” With a deep sigh, Mingyu seemed to exhale all of the jealous anger coursing through his body.
“Fine. Let’s go.” He said. Turning around, he carefully led you back inside, leaving Joshua and Jeonghan to stand alone in the street. Jeonghan took this time to let out a long breath.
“Jeez, this is starting to feel like a mess.” He said.
“We need to find out who the heck has that key chain,” Joshua said. “I genuinely don’t think I can handle seeing her cry about it…”
“That’s the angel in you talking,” Jeonghan said. He started back into the karaoke bar, and Joshua nodded a bit.
“Yeah…” he said, before quickly following her inside.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
Back inside, Mingyu stopped you from continuing into the main room, turning to look at you. You were still rubbing your eyes and your cheeks. When you saw how concerned he was, you smiled.
“It’s just a bit cold outside.” You said. “Even though it’s almost summer, the winds are a bit-.”
“Are you okay?” he asked curiously. Your amused smile fell into an uncomfortable frown. “You’ve been weird since this morning.”
First, it was Joshua and Jeonghan, then Mingyu. Am I that easy to read? You thought to yourself. “I’m fine.” You said, ready to repeat what you said outside to the angels that were holding onto you. “I’m just feeling more tired than usual today.”
Mingyu didn’t believe you. Not because you might have something to hide, but he could just tell. He could tell your tired face, and this was not your tired face. As the front door to the karaoke bar opened, you both heard Joshua and Jeonghan making their way inside. Mingyu frowned.
“Also, how on earth did you get tasked with showing those two around? They didn’t force you or anything, right? Intimidate you?” you held back an amused chuckle.
“No, no. Despite how they like to act, they’re good people.” You assured. “You should get to know them more. Try trusting them. They’ve been nothing but nice to me, if not a bit obnoxious. But look who I hang out with.”
“I feel like that’s a dig to me.” Mingyu pouted.
“You? Never.” Your sarcastic delivery of the comment made him laugh a bit more.
“Seungkwan.” The two of you said in unison, before laughing again. After the moment faded, Mingyu looked down at you, glad to see content and a calmed smile on your face after a full day of looking distressed and distant.
“Hey.” He began. “I was just wondering if you knew where you wanted to.”
“You’re not inside yet?” Mingyu looked up and saw the men at your side like they had been all day. A twitch threatened to pop into his eyes. Why were these two suddenly popping up in the middle of everything at the worst times? Mingyu stopped himself from saying that out loud with a deep sigh.
“Let’s just go inside.” You nodded, and the group of you continued into the room. The minute Mingyu opened the door, a loud belting came from inside.
GEE GEE GEE GEE BABY, BABY!
“Oh my-.” You held back a chuckle, walking in as Hoshi hopped up from his spot on the couch. He immediately handed all of you some light sticks.
“There you are!” he said. “I’m up next!” before immediately cheering and chanting with a very energetic Seungkwan. You took a seat by Minnie, who rhythmically bobbed her little flashing lights to the music, a small smile on her face as she did so. When you looked over at the three boys, wondering who would sit on your open side, Mingyu seemingly wasted no time. You smiled at him as he nestled himself in the seat, Joshua and Jeonghan happy to sit by the eager cheerleader that was Hoshi. It wasn’t long before the group of you began cheering as Seungkwan finished his song and dance routine.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
“Sing with us!” Joshua begged, reaching his hand down to you.
“I really don’t want to sing.” You said.
“Come on, go sing!” Minnie encouraged. She practically pushed you to your feet and into the grasp of Joshua and Jeonghan, both of whom – for angels at least – had pretty mischievous grins plastered on their faces.
“Don’t look at me that way.” You pleaded.
“Just one. I can do one, and it won’t be fun without you.” Jeonghan passed you a microphone.
“What song are we singing?”
“Catallena by Orange Caramel,” Joshua said as he typed the song in. When he saw your confused face, he motioned to Seungkwan. “He suggested it.”
“You’re welcome!” Your friends shouted from behind you. You heard the trot-like beat of the song come up, along with the music video on the screen. Your microphone vibrated, signaling you to sing as the second person in the trio.
“I cannot believe this.” You sighed to yourself. You looked at Joshua, who took the first verse of the song. Despite his actions, he was the calmer of the two boys. How would he handle singing an upbeat quirky song like this?
When he belted out the first dramatic shout-like gasp in an overly dramatic fashion, all the while still having a completely serious face on, you had to hold onto Jeonghan’s hand to keep steady as the entire room roared into laughter.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
As the night ticked on, everyone knew it was time to head home in fear that if they did not, none of them would be able to handle waking up early the next morning for school. Mingyu watched as you pointed in the direction of your own house to the group.
“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked. You looked over. “My driver’s coming to get me since it’s late.”
“Oh, uh-.” Joshua and Jeonghan caught your hesitation.
“We already offered when we were professing our love tonight.” Jeonghan immediately said. “Sorry, Mingyu.” Joshua nodded.
“Professing your what?” Seungkwan asked, just as visibly confused as Minnie and Hoshi.
Mingyu sighed, trying to remember what you said a while back inside the karaoke bar: You should get to know them more.
“Okay.” Mingyu sighed. “Get home safe, okay?” You nodded.
“I will. You guys too.” With a wave and a cluster of warm goodbyes, Seungkwan and Minnie started down their own path, while Mingyu stood patiently by the street, hands in his pockets as he rocked on the heels of his feet. Hoshi, ever diligent, popped beside Mingyu and offered to hang around until his ride got there, not wanting to leave the younger member out in the dark alone, no matter how much Mingyu assured he would be just fine.
As the three of you started on your way, you put your hands in your pockets and tilted your head up to the night sky. Your eyes examined the constellations and the stars around them glittering above your head. “Should I have driven home with him?” You asked, looking over at the men at your side.
“Did you want to?” Jeonghan asked. “You looked hesitant.”
“I don’t know.” You said. “I did. But I was worried if we were alone, it would be awkward. I shouldn’t feel awkward, but I can’t help it.”
“There’s always next time,” Joshua said simply. “Besides, if you’re awkward and uncomfortable, then where’s the fun in that?”
“I guess.” You said. You glanced over to them again as they continued to walk. “What did you guys see him doing when you went to Japan?”
The out-of-the-blue question led both men to fall uncharacteristically silent, eyes straight ahead as they continued to walk. “Hm? You said you saw him shopping.”
“We did.”
“What did he buy?”
“Not sure,” Jeonghan said simply.
“…Lying is a sin in some cultures.” You said, and Jeonghan mentally smacked himself as the words were thrown right back at him. “I won’t be upset. I already told you. Just tell me.”
“We saw him buying some key chain, but we don’t know who he was buying it for. He never used names or gave specifics.” Joshua said simply.
“Besides, we only saw him in one store. The rest of the time he went clothes shopping and then we left when he hung out with his friends. Just like he said.” Jeonghan assured.
For some reason, that didn’t make you feel any better. In fact, the new uncertainty bubbling up in your stomach made you feel worse. If you asked Mingyu for more detail, you worried you would come off as a jealous girlfriend without actually holding that title in reality. What would happen then? You could only nod your head as you fixed the strap of your bag.
“Okay.” You said. A small, reassured smile formed on your face as you walked ahead of Joshua and Jeonghan. “At least we still have to make dinner plans….”
It’s a good thing you walked in front of them because the looks of relief that washed over their faces were too obvious to not be seen.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
“Where do you want to go for dinner?” Mingyu asked, looking at you as you settled beside him in Literature class. You looked over at Joshua and Jeonghan, who found their seats nearby, but a few rows up. They were surrounded by people still trying to get to know them, so you were very pleased not to have to sit with them again today to overhear it all. However, knowing that meant you’d be sitting by Mingyu made you feel nervous in ways you had never felt in this situation before. Trying to respond to the question, you leaned back in your seat and shrugged.
“Chicken?” you asked. “Like always?”
Mingyu looked affected, and you smiled a bit. “Like always? You act like I never take you to nice places.”
“I like chicken.” You said simply.
“Oh, come on.” Mingyu smiled, resting his hand on the desk and using it as a cushion for his cheek as he looked at you. The look he gave you made your anxiety wash away at that moment.
“You said I could pick.”
“Sure. You can pick from one of my very nice choices.” He grinned playfully, and you felt defeated at the sight.
“Well, since you seem to have an idea, let’s hear it,” you said simply.
“There’s a delicious new Italian restaurant that opened in Ilsan. I haven’t been yet, but a friend of mine says they have some of the best pasta around. It’s really fancy too.”
“Fancy?” you asked. “I don’t have anything fancy.”
“Minnie told me you two had plans to go shopping.” You watched Mingyu dig into his back pocket and pull out his wallet. Flipping it open, he handed you a credit card. Your eyes widened. “Buy something.”
His matter-of-fact nature made your entire face explode, and you looked away. “Mingyu, I can’t take your money. I can afford something just fine.”
Mingyu smiled, only pushing the card closer to you. Finally, he set it on top of your textbook. “Let Minnie buy something too. Both of you get lunch and do whatever. It’s my gift to you.”
For some reason the word gift made your heart string pull in your chest like a puppeteer holding a broken marionette doll. You looked down at the card, taking it into your hands. Mingyu immediately put his wallet back into his pocket and turned back to his book, flipping it open to the page you guys were going to focus on in class that day. A moment passed of you trying to decide whether or not to act on Mingyu’s whims, as it seemed he wanted you to. However, you finally pressed the card into his side, alerting his attention back to you.
“I can’t. Gifts like this feel hard to accept….”
As Mingyu took the card, uttering an apology before putting it away, you turned quietly back to your book, flipping it open and focusing all of your attention on reading it. A few rows behind you, however, Joshua and Jeonghan shared a glance, momentarily ignoring the people asking them questions around them. As class began to start, they sat back in their seats and tried to decide what they could do next.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
“You said no?!” Minnie shouted from your side. You saw your friend frown as she tied up her hair into a bun and put the college’s café visor on. You did so as well.
“I felt weird accepting it. He just gave me a card with no expectation of what to spend.”
“I wish someone did that for me!” She gasped. “What is wrong with you recently?”
You frowned. “I just didn’t want him to feel like he had to do that for me. He doesn’t owe me anything…” Minnie frowned.
“You do know that man practically worships the ground you walk on, right?” You sighed.
“He’s just being nice. He’s like that with everyone.”
“Then why didn’t I get the card if he knew we were going shopping together through me way before he mentioned it to you?” She asked. You fell silent. “Exactly.” She said. “Did you at least finalize your plans for dinner?”
“Yeah. He said he wanted to go to a fancy Italian place in Ilsan that just opened. We agreed to go Friday night since we finish class early.”
“So, we have to go shopping to find you a stunning dress to make him fall even more in love with you! Dresses of that nature are really expensive.”
“I’ll be just fine.” You said once again. Your friendly bickering was interrupted by a voice behind you. When you turned, it was Seungkwan calling your name, hands on his hips as he approached.
“Ready to go?” he asked. You both nodded and got yourselves ready for the upcoming rush. “Don’t burn yourself again, please.” You could only laugh a bit at his playful comment.
“Seungkwan-.” Minnie began. “If the person you loved gave you a card to spend on something nice with no expectation of price limit, would you turn it down?”
“If I was a fucking idiot.” Seungkwan said simply. You hung your head and let out a groan of frustration. “Oh. Sorry.” He said, patting you on the shoulder as Minnie snickered a bit.
As the rush of students poured in, ready for something to eat, you all got right to work. Seungkwan and you were serving food and greeting as Minnie rang them up. You were just passing a meal over the counter when two pretty faces popped in front of you. You sighed.
“Yes?” you hummed.
“Aw, you don’t look excited to see us.” Jeonghan frowned.
“I’m kind of busy.” You mentioned.
“Perfect. Then we’ll have-.” As Joshua began rattling off his orders, you couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking your head. Collecting their order into boxes, you passed it over. Without any other conversation, they slid through the line and went to Minnie to pay. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Joshua and Jeonghan pass one of the boxes to Minnie, before pointing in your direction.
“What are you doing?” you asked curiously.
“Well, Mingyu said after class he couldn’t come here. Something about an important phone call he had to return.” Joshua began. “So, we bought you lunch.”
“It was Joshua’s idea.” The brunette angel grew flustered at being thrown under the bus. You saw Minnie slide the carton over to you, before looking up at them again. You smiled a bit, nodding your head.
“Thanks.” You said. “Will you be here when I’m done?”
“Probably,” Jeonghan said. Just like that, the duo found a spot to sit down and begin eating. You looked down at the carton, feeling the warmth radiate onto your hand and your stomach rumble, eager for the meal you did not realize you almost missed. Setting it to the side, you continued with your shift, a smile once again forming on your face.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
Meanwhile, back in the law and politics building, Mingyu was pacing the empty hallway. The sun was already starting to go down, and he knew you were halfway into your shift by now. He watched Joshua and Jeonghan hurry out of the room, Joshua turning towards him and calling out before they disappeared.
We’ll make sure she eats.
Mingyu crossed his arms, the ringing of his phone in his left ear coursing through his entire brain. He had no idea what conversation was waiting on the other line. Finally, he heard:
“Hello?”
“What do you want now Dad? I’m busy.”
“I just heard back from Mr. Myoui.” Mingyu frowned but said nothing as his father continued. “You turned her down before the drinks were delivered!”
“I told you I would! You didn’t believe me.”
“Mr. Myoui is very displeased. He was happy with the arrangement. That’s a huge deal!”
“I’m flattered but I was very polite with her. I told her I was not interested. But I told her we could be friends so business-wise, we can-.”
“You can’t turn her down and expect her to be ready to do business in a few years! Are you out of your mind?”
“I don’t care Dad. I’m done with these blind dates! I don’t want to do them anymore.”
His father was quiet for a second. “…You’re right. You are done with them.” Mingyu sighed. “Because you’re going to make things right with Mr. Myoui and his daughter and fix this!”
“Dad-.”
“I’m not arguing about it. I’m your father, you’re taking over my company, you’ll do as I say!”
“Then I won’t take over the company!”
“Kim Mingyu!” Mingyu immediately hung up the phone, clutching it tightly in his hands. His eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“Fuck!” He shouted, throwing his phone against the wall. The loud sound of the phone connecting with the wall, the snap of the screen shattering as it fell to the floor, all of it felt quiet when compared to Mingyu’s stressed and ragged breathing. He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head as he walked over to it. Kneeling, Mingyu picked up the shattered pieces. He winced, one of them scratching his hand a bit. Looking down, he saw a faint look of blood poking through the skin of his thumb. “Damn it.” He finished collecting the pieces, tossing the shattered glass in a nearby trash can. He stuck his phone, now cracked and shattered, into his bag, and started down the hallway. As he took a second, pressing his thumb to his lips to try to stop the blood with light pressure, he remembered something that made him feel just a little bit better, a little bit calmer.
He was taking you out to dinner this weekend. And his father couldn’t do anything about it.
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I think it's time we all admit that What if?...Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands? has been the only genuinely interesting and well done episode of the show so far.
High stakes, good pacing, phenomenal animation, and a story that actually deviates from the original in a meaningful way. It actually feels like such a small change lead to a vastly different reality.
I think what makes a What If? story interesting is the ties it has to the main timeline; if you want to showcase how a small choice can utterly change a whole universe, then you have to start in a universe that is comparably the same as what we already know, and show how one character choosing one different option can be catastrophic. Otherwise, you aren't really exploring branching timelines/butterfly effect, you're just looking at unrelated universes.
Even then, not every idea is interesting enough to warrant spending so much time on it. *ahem* captain carter *cough*.
Strange Supreme's appearances are just so fascinating because we get to see the new highs and lows a character can reach when their hearts are in a slightly different place. We get our unique factor in the form of him being genuinely in love with Christine instead of his job, and then our diverging path with him choosing to seek out dangerous knowledge, a choice which is highlighted by showcasing what would have happened if he hadn't done so! In the end, the universe is fundamentally changed, completely collapsed around him, despite starting off so normal. And that's not even the end of it!
He shows up in more episodes because of the power and knowledge he has attained, and as a lesson to the Watcher that choosing to sit out is only selfishness in the face of a danger that is ready and willing to take advantage of your compliance. It is genuinely fun to see the power he has in action; Ultron tried to blow up the universe in the finale, and Strange DEVOURED THE EXPLOSION. Like, that's fucking awesome!
And then there's Carter... Whose reason for being everwhere is just "I'm Captain Carter!" How dull...
Anyways, Strange supreme is goated and I will have no sass.
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Alright so this is less romantic and more shitposty but. If I can request the scarecrows' responses to a gotham university psychology student showing up at his doorstep like "hey uh could you look at my thesis?" Like fully prepared to be fear toxin-ed on the spot but absolutely worth the risk cause lord knows that's some shit I'd do 💀
A/N: hnnggg this shouldn't have taken as long as it did but I kept taking it too seriously except for the absolute crack that it is lmao I have no doubt in reality it'd be a miracle if any of them opened the damn door.
Scarecrows Reacting To A Student Looking for Feedback (crack)
Arkhamverse Scarecrow:
First of all, how did you find him?
Secondly, how dare you disturb him?
Are you fearless or just foolishly stupid?
He genuinely can’t tell and he doesn’t want to waste time thinking about it.
However, since you’re here now…
And it doesn’t look like you’re going anywhere anytime soon.
Clearly, despite how many threats he’s shot your way.
He isn’t opposed to a willing test subject
Nolanverse/Murphy Scarecrow:
Well, this was odd.
If not also incredibly annoying.
When he hears your reason for being on his front stoop.
He is shocked…
Surely your institution has much more qualified, not to mention more relevant assistance to look over your paper.
He’s a man of science making headways, he has no time to–
Well, actually…he hasn’t seen very sufficient results in his recent Arkham patients…
BTAS Scarecrow:
Really? Him?
Even when he was a professor, none of his students came to him for a review.
No doubt he’s itching to just shut the door on you.
Then again, perhaps he can hold you ransom for some money to fund his toxin…
And on top of that he can also use you for testing the effects of his recent toxin…
How he could make it stronger, faster, last longer…
Besides, he’s never gotten a chance to properly review a term paper..
This should be fun.
TNBA Scarecrow:
He’s likely to ignore it, if not open it, yell at you and then slam the door.
This Scarecrow doesn’t have time for this nonsense.
Surely, you have other institutional superiors that you can go to?
Why would you willingly dive headfirst into danger?
Unless…you just don’t care?
If you’re so willing to get into danger, perhaps he should take advantage of it.
He debates with himself for a minute…
Before finally just gassing you with his toxin.
Taking sweet delight in your screams.
Fear State Scarecrow:
You should consider yourself lucky that he even answered the door.
Like seriously, the only reason he answered was because of your incessant knocking.
He had half a mind to slip on his mask and inject you with toxin and be done with it.
He’s far too busy planning his Fear State Theory into motion.
Jonathan can’t have any distractions or loose ends…
Everyone has their role to play, he was so sure that Gotham would enter it’s Fear State seamlessly.
Patience running low, he does open the door, and one threat is all you get.
When you don’t leave, it’s very much your fault that you’re screaming bloody murder down the street.
Year One Scarecrow:
Jonathan groans at the prospect.
His past sure has a strange way of following him somehow.
Again, you should be surprised he even answers the door.
But you kept pushing your paper underneath his front door.
Quite, infuriating him.
It takes a few more threats and slams of the door before he finally reaches his breaking point.
He slaps on his mask, believing he’s done all he could to be rid of you.
Perhaps, a reminder will help you.
He’s no professor, a scholar on fear.
He’s The Scarecrow, the Master of Fear…and you’ve just experienced his wrath as you breathe in the toxic fumes.
Masters of Fear Scarecrow:
Jonathan is confused, if not also agitated.
Is this some kind of joke?
His lived a long pathetic life of humiliation…
He doesn’t need it coming to him, knocking at his front door.
You can’t just expect anyone with a PhD is willing to help you…
What kind of simpleton just walks up to a known high-class criminal, a criminally insane criminal?
Honestly, when spoken like that, it was quite admirable.
Took a lot of courage…bravery…or just a huge lack of common sense.
Yes, yes, he’ll take a look, but first…indulge him in your fears
(it’ll help him in his own research later)
HQ:TAS Scarecrow:
Jonathan thinks this must be some kind of joke.
Surely, this is the Legion pulling his leg, what else could it be?
Not only that, how else would you found out where he lived?
It has to be a joke.
He tries to play along, but is quick to realize you’re actually being serious.
Probably the only one that’s actually going to help you with your thesis paper.
1000/10 would recommend
And you may even get a member of the Legion of Doom as a friend.
HHSD Scarecrow:
I’m surprised Grandpa could hear you knocking.
Just kidding, only a little, I love to love and rag on this version when I can.
But you really shouldn’t have picked a night when there were Elvira re-runs.
Jonathan opens the door, reluctantly and is perplexed, but immediately annoyed.
He didn’t have time for these things when he WAS a professor.
He thought he left this type of harassment years ago, why do you choose to haunt him now with it?
When you fail to leave on your own accord. He advises you to go away through a speaker by his door.
When you still refuse, he decides enough is enough.
Jonathan was inspired by that intriguing night at Crystal Cove, as he used a maniacal jack-al-lantern of his own to run you off.
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I think (tentatively committing) I’m going to write another fanfic. But this one might be way off as far as world building goes since it takes place out in one of the rings. So maybe I’ll ask about that!
Like what do the people in Pride do with their spare time? I’m picturing stuffy dinner parties and dances, where it’s a big unofficial competition to seem the most elite. Different tiers have their own events (so imps can fight over who has the most power separate to mids and high ranking demons).
Separate question - would it be far out of character for an envy demon to start drama? Publicly? 😂 I’m picturing one of those people who cancel on dates and then turn up anyway and get mad when you’ve found a replacement for them. It might be more pride leaning than envy leaning is all.
(I’m sorry I am playing with your OCs like dolls but I’m having fun now)
I can't categorize everything right now. If you come at me with very specific questions, I won't be able to answer them all because I develop things according to their level of convenience to my current projects.
Pride demons do a whole bunch of shit. Generally, the more high-ranking they are, the less genuine as people they become. Meaning that a low-ranker may have modest and normal hobbies while a high-ranker is indulging in pure showoff activities and things that probably don't mean that much to them personally but are seen as symbols of status. This isn't always the rule however, low-rankers can cope with their lack of power by playing everything else up, you know? There are groups and subgroups within Pride according to fame, wealth and whatnot- Just exaggerate it for the sake of comedy.
Envy demons are, next to demons of Pride, some of the most insecure and toxic people there can be. They absolutely do start shit for absolutely no reason other than their own desire to have more conflict in their already torn lives. Just look at Livius, he's constantly going to the surface to cause conflict in others. Some of the more modern scandals you hear about might have a bit of his touch in the mix.
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idk if i'm poking a hornet's nest, if i am, feel free to ignore this ask. i just wanted to know: what are your thoughts on jjk? i'm genuinely really interested because i've started reading it and i'm really enjoying it so far. and i love how it's inspired so much fanwork and analysis, but also, a bit of criticism. idk ... what's your response to it? sorry for sending such a vague ask!
Oh don't worry at all, if there is one thing I can be counted on is to share my opinion on p much anything I can have an opinion on, loudly and in length.
So here are few things to consider before giving my opinions any weight
I don't read shonen because I think it will be good hjbhbh this sounds mean but like, as frustrating as it is, shonen not being As Good As I Would Like It To Be, is kind of the point. I almost NEVER write fanfics about manga i really truly love. If i asked my followers now I don't know if they would be able to name my fav manga n anime. I read shonen to have something to write about, to have something to fill out and develop.
Shonen focuses a lot on fights. I don't care about fights. My primary interests when I'm reading are A. Characters B. World building. Shonen has these but they are never the focus, the focus is setting up a cool way to have a cool fight, whatever that means in the world of the particular story. This of course doesn't apply to every shonen manga, don't come for me, but it applies to a lot of the popular ones and it applies to JJK
All that to say: I'm not the target audience and I know it, if you are looking for an opinion of someone who really really really likes shonen manga and is into the major aspects of it that's not me and I won't give you any useful insight on that.
Onwards with my thoughts:
JJK is really really fun at the beginning! If you just started reading it you are in for a fun time for a good bit. The characters are interesting and show a lot of promise, the central themes are cool, the designs are badass and it has one of the better adult supporting cast which I, as an adult who can no longer really identify with teen protags, really appreciate. It has amazing villains, some of the better treated women in shonen (tho keep in mind that is a very low bar) and enough emotional content to keep you digging for more. It had me teared up at least once! It's world is very interesting and the psychology and the make up of it are just MADE for someone like me who specializes in studying pain and grief and death to splash around in.
It's just that after a bit...it stumbles. I think it's p much unanimously agreed at this point that the shibuya arc was the high note after which the manga very very slowly started getting dull. The nature of where it was headed meant that a lot of new characters had to be introduced only to be immediately discarded. It was a death game where it didn't really feel like the main characters were in danger which, after Shibuya which had a high death toll on known and bellowed characters, just had me kind of disinterested. Death game with no stakes is BAD. It's hard to explain all the ways i just kind of stopped caring. Combination of the inflation of the cast with characters I didn't care about while leaving the old ones by the wayside. Feeling like the most interesting of new characters got sidelined (suspiciously mostly women...remember what i said about the low bar), while the boring ones stuck around. It started feeling rare that the manga hits an emotional point (it did happen, it was this era of the manga in which it almost brought me to tears) but even the hits would get undermined with something later that made them stumble and fall flat. A lot of promising, cool things, conversations, backstory details, interactions that were expected and predicted from the first half just kind of fizzled out, didn't happen, or were done so quickly and offhandedly that it got me saying 'is that really how he's gonna do this'. It was just a pile of small disappointments that grew and grew until I found myself not as excited for the new update like i once was, till i found myself completely forgetting to check if the new chapter was there or not.
All in all, I would place JJK very close to BNHA in terms of my feelings for it: Very promising but can't live up to its own ideas. Or to be fair, can't live up to my ideas. Every time I check in Gege seems to be having a blast and in the end that's what's most important. I'm just someone writing in the blanks he left behind according to my own interests lol.
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So, I just rewatched The Rookie season 3 finale, and now I feel the need to bother you about Chenford, so: top 5-10 moments Chenford moments so far?
asdfghjkl; um I don't have them in order but let me scrounge up a few
still a solid "thank you" "for what? doing my job?" because it outlines both of their characters and the way they fit together so cleanly in like,,, neon orange highlighter. Tim genuinely cares for Lucy and it's his job to help her so that's what he's going to do, and you'd better believe that he'll pour every drop of softness into the act because it's what she needs at the moment. Lucy on the other hand is allowing herself to open up to him and letting go of her hardened self-preservation instincts. she's accepted that she has no control and is trusting Tim to guide her through it. The moment was so so gentle and I really loved that
paintball. it's over anakin, they have the high ground! also a bit of a shock because what??? they're hanging out off the clock????? huh???????? this was nowhere near prospective at that point but it was the best most brilliant delightful surprise. They really deserved that moment to let loose in an exciting but low risk environment and just have fun for kriff's sake. the fact that they went and did it together was so unexpected in all the best ways
um you know... post barrel hug. We'd never seen Lucy that vulnerable until that scene. Sure, she'd been scared or nervous in past episodes but this... this was pure childlike terror and sadness; you can see it in the way she cries and curls her hands close. BUT we only get a brief glimpse of that raw emotion because immediately Tim has her bundled up in his arms and he's holding her so perfectly and auuughghhh 🤌🤌 You can see the relief in the way his face pales and it's just. mwah. wonderful. so human and broken but it feels so right that it's him, it's them together, and he's got her now she's SAFE. it's going to be okay. i feel like this scene solidified more than anything that they were partners, and while I'll never get over TV CPR, i'll always love it for that.
When Tim pulled her over on her first undercover op. that was hilarious. on so many levels. first of all she leads with "oh flirting! let's flirt! weeee!" despite having like. never flirted on the show before. maybe she's just playing the part? BUT WAIT. THERE'S MORE. Tim is just🧍♂️hello? then Lucy starts talking and you can see the wheels turning in his head. "wait is she trying to flirt?" while she's being really kriffing slick she is definitely not flirting i dunno man it's really not coming off right and he's. guys it's so funny. he's trying to play along but he can't tell if he'd rather do that or bust out laughing, but then also she's trying to sneak in some intel and hang on he might need to write that down. amazing. beautiful and awkward and so so dumb I love it
Lucy's feelings fake-out. *wheeze* man she really got me at first. ngl I paused a few times because I needed a break or two from the second-hand embarrassment. Sheesh Lucy I knew you were sentimental but this is a little over the top. AND POOR TIM. Mans was floundering oh my. you can see the panic in his eyes. wonderful acting on Eric's part. the emotion is so blunt and obvious you cannot possibly mistake the fact that he's have a Tim.exe has stopped working moment. LOOK AT HIM. I bet if you pushed his chest he'd make a squeaky toy noise. And then Lucy starts cackling laughing and the whole scene gets five times better in the span of two seconds amazing. bless. This scene was actually special to me because I realized like. woah. actually he does love her. and he realizes too, and I think that's part of why he's panicking so much. As funny or cringey as the scene may be it really is artful because of the way it redefines their relationship. it's the last day of him being her boss, and we've established both that Tim has many kinds of feelings for her while Lucy has just staked her claim on sharing none of them. wow. how do you put a piece of writing like that together? that's some serious skill holy kriff. mad respect for that.
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The Legend of Vox Machina: The Nature of Change
The Legend of Vox Machina is two-thirds of the way into its second season, with three episodes left in terms of the adaptation of this portion of the campaign’s Chroma Conclave arc. I think on balance, it’s been pretty great! The first season tackling the Briarwoods arc was excellent, but as with most first seasons, it took a bit to find its creative identity and how to approach the material. The Conclave arc is bigger, bolder, and wider in scope, and they’ve done a hell of a job upping the stakes as well as their production values, already very good to start with. Additionally, there have been even more changes made to the story and character choices than there were in the first season. This has caused a lot of debate, inevitably, and I don’t begrudge people for DISLIKING some or even most of them; for my part, I think they took a bit to figure out how to translate Scanlan’s crass humor when at the table, much of the edge is taken off by his cast members’ genuine laughter and assurance that it’s all in good fun. And I think there have been some odd friendships seemingly lost in translation like Vax and Grog’s prank war, or Percy bonding with Keyleth initially because he thinks she’s the only other adult in the group. But outside of my own minor personal gripes, I think there has been a broad failure here of a proper analytical framework for an animated series as opposed to a tabletop campaign, and I wanted to dig into that in my own long-winded way. Strap in.
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Where does one start a story? Good question. There are as many ways to begin weaving your tale as there are to end them. Once upon a time, long ago in a galaxy far far away, it was a dark and stormy night, and so on. The beginning is in many ways the most important part of your story because it’s setting the tone, the place, the time, and your characters. And much is dependent on genre too: if you’re, say, a romantic comedy, you might choose to begin with your protagonist at a low point in their personal relationships so that the conflict is immediately established.
Critical Role’s first campaign began in medias res, two years into the players and characters already knowing each other as respected adventurers and heroes of the realm. Thus, the audience was left at an initial disadvantage, and the cast created backstory videos to explain what the plot had been up to this point as well as the journeys of the characters. Thankfully, Matthew Mercer’s world of Exandria was fairly simple and standard in terms of its high fantasy leanings at first, and the initial streamed arc was a basic dungeon crawl as a quest given to them by NPC Allura Vysoren. By the time the adventures through the Underdark and Vasselheim were over, the story was ready to move into the far more personal and harrowing Briarwoods arc because we as an audience were now attached to those characters. Even so, much of this was dependent on the cast playing out those relationships in the theater of the mind, especially since Mercer’s minis and battle maps were far less elaborate at this point. We learned information as we went, and Mercer built the world to be far more robust as time went on, narrating descriptions of towns and cities to bolster that picture.
By contrast, animated series, like any other kind of film or TV, have many more tools at their disposal in order to help with these tasks even if there is a far shorter amount of time available because of how much time production takes and how expensive it is. Think about how Avatar: The Last Airbender begins with the refrain of “Water...earth...fire...air“. It then segues into Katara, one of our main and most important characters, explaining how those elements correspond to the four nations of her world, how “everything changed” when the Fire Nation decided to make war upon the others, the function and disappearance of the Avatar, and her belief that he will return some day. This is a lot of information and could have easily been dry exposition, but it gains our interest through the visuals of moving through the world map, the excellent music by Jeremy Zuckerman, and striking still images like the fearful closeup of Katara and Sokka in their village, as well as Mae Whitman’s heartfelt vocal performance. The effect is far more immediate. We know the danger of the current situation, we gain insight into Katara as a character (she has grown up in a terrible situation but not yet lost hope), and where our journey will go (the Avatar’s almost certainly going to show up again soon).
Thus, The Legend of Vox Machina opts for a different approach compared to the campaign or even other adaptations of pre-stream material like the Vox Machina Origins comics or novels like Kith & Kin: we’re still in medias res, but Vox Machina are not yet a cohesive unit of heroes that kings and arcanists call upon in their time of need, and they’ve been traveling together for a much shorter amount of time outside of pre-existing relationships like the twins or Pike and Grog. This is the largest and crucial change made in the adaptation, and key to understanding every other choice that comes out of it. Starting them off in a far more difficult position makes us more likely to root for them as the underdogs, such as when they’re laughed at in their introductory bar fight scene and then lick their wounds afterwards, wondering if they can change their luck. We see how their failure to save a village and children within it galvanizes them into vengeance and heroism in the Brimscythe encounter. This provides explicit proof that they can kick ass through the power of friendship and teamwork. Basic, but it gives everyone somewhere to grow from.
MECHANICS AND MEDIUM
Now, it is true that the Briarwoods arc did not have as many changes on a basic plot level. We still go from A to B to C in much the same manner; it helps a great deal that the Briarwoods arc itself was on the shorter side, and there was less to outright cut. But even here, there are myriad changes large and small, and much of them have to do with the filmmaking end of things. As an example: because the script cuts down much of the timescale, things happen more quickly and with juicier character interactions: Percy no longer has time to prepare for dinner with the Briarwoods to calmly disguise himself as Vax and avoid recognition, but instead has to sit and listen to them lie with his own face, finally able to stand it no longer. We are also able to gain more insight into the Briarwoods and some of their associates because we are no longer restricted to the party’s POV in all scenes. Delilah’s flashback to the deal she made with The Whispered One to save her beloved Sylas illuminates what was only hinted at in the campaign. Or take how Professor Anders, a fairly forgettable boss fight, becomes a genuine highlight through Stephen Root’s demented, sneering intellectual tones and showing us that he felt underappreciated by the De Rolos because they held his research back. Ripley too is boosted by actually helping the party with the acid trap, even if it’s only for her own survival, and escaping at a moment where it’s far more inconvenient for her to do so.
Yet despite these and other changes (I like in particular how Percy is in far more denial about Orthax’s hold over him and this adds considerably higher stakes to the fight with the demon), it’s still fairly compact as a story. The Conclave arc, meanwhile, has had far more drastic additions and subtractions to the plot. Because the original is so sprawling and epic, the party could afford to take their time and do the usual goofing off shenanigans in between fights. Not so here; time is of the essence, time the party increasingly seems to be running out of. And that seems to be the chief complaint rising up, that we’re rushing through things and not slowing down enough.
I do find a couple things funny with this statement. It’s always been a complaint of both fans and haters that the cast goofs off even when things are serious and does side trips. And of course there’s the infamous planning sessions where they can often argue in circles before finally deciding on a course of action. But this is a function of the tabletop stream medium; unless Matt decides to literally drop a dragon on them, he can let them take as much time as he wants.
The series, however, gains as much as it loses by cutting most of this down and switching things around. For one, the danger IS more immediate; losing allies like Kamaljiori as soon as they gain him ups the tension dramatically and keeps the threat ever-present, which is useful if you don’t want people to get bored in an action-adventure series. Or Grog, Pike, and Scanlan getting sent to Westruun in a botched plane shift spell adds intrigue to that; can Grog get his strength back in time? Additionally, the visuals, music, and performances can substitute for everyone narrating out every action. Sam Riegel dials down considerably as Scanlan and offers more sincerity to where we know his arc is headed. Vax’s connection with the Raven Queen is an outright horror movie at the moment with his flashes of images he doesn’t wholly understand, as well as hinting at his eventual fate. Or we can now truly see the guilt and shame on a young Grog’s face as he regards Wilhand, begging for life in Henry Winkler’s quavering, sympathetic voice. Parts that could feel a little weaker dramatically because Matt is not ultimately out to “win” the game and most heroic-aligned NPCs need to be at least a little accommodating no longer have that restriction; Troy Baker can bring the full force of Syldor’s personality to bear and make him a tougher challenge, such as dismissing Percy’s attempt to bolster Vex with his title and fueling her defense of herself and her friends.
(Sidenote: I’m very curious to see how the Mighty Nein series translates Yeza, who I felt and still feel is Matt’s most jarring example of this tendency)
Hell, what about the Conclave themselves? Even outside the casting of heavyweights like Lance Reddick and Cree Summer as Thordak and Raishan, we can now gain more insight into their motives and just how scary they are. An exchange between Umbrasyl and Kevdak has the danger of two politicians jockeying for position, and almost makes us feel sympathetic for the latter...almost. Ripley teaming up with Umbrasyl is another boost for a character who was great but appeared infrequently; by keeping her and Kelly Hu’s hot-but-evil purr around, we’re keeping her fresh and active.
THE FEMALE CHARACTER PROBLEM
This is where things get a little bit...trickier. Both Dungeons and Dragons and tabletop gaming at large have long-time problems of sexism, homophobia, racism, you name it; many a horror story has been told of gatekeeping assholes. And the reception to Critical Role was sadly no exception despite their evolving efforts to be an inclusive company and brand. Marisha Ray got the worst of it for sure in terms of her portrayal of Keyleth, being both a novice to D&D and streaming as well as Matt’s girlfriend, later fiancee and wife. But Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson have had their fair share of mistreatment too: Vex was called a greedy bitch on the regular, Jester confounded everyone by rarely suffering serious consequences for her prankish actions (whatever the hell that means), and to this day Johnson is seen as the worst player at the table mechanically by rules lawyers because she commits cardinal sins like not remembering all her class abilities (in case you can’t tell, add a heavy sarcasm font to that). In response to this harassment, both Critical Role and the community made it increasingly clear these assholes weren’t welcome and they thankfully, slowly bled out of influence.
However, I must confess that it feels like we haven’t really left that sort of...defensive paternalism, for lack of a better phrase. Instead of treating the female cast members like adults, which they are, and fellow participants in the company and story, there is this odd parasocial insistence that anything they do that the audience doesn’t like is somehow forced upon them by the male cast members. To be blunt: we don’t have evidence this is the case. And while it would be folly to say that the CR team can do no wrong or have no biases because they are a majority cishet white group, their apparent sincere commitment to inclusive practices leaves me doubting that anything especially pernicious is going on.
What’s basically come to a head recently with The Legend of Vox Machina are complaints that they’ve either made the women characters too mean OR too nice. This hasn’t really come up with Pike (who I think is a much stronger character because Ashley has a much clearer thesis upfront and isn’t absent for huge chunks of the narrative), but I’ve seen both applied to Keyleth and Vex. Keyleth, I think, is a case of Marisha wanting to not exactly sand off her edges, but correcting what she saw as missteps because she the player didn’t know what she was doing. She’s less self-righteous about things like religion or that they shouldn’t make deals with groups like the Clasp because those conflicts have been substituted for putting more emphasis on her reckoning with the “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” principle. I do miss that a little, but also, I think people are often reading more into those instances than what was actually there in terms of substance.
Vex is admittedly a difficult character to translate because in the campaign, so much of her arc is internal and subtle; she changes very slowly compared to Keyleth going from “nervous wreck” to “confident leader”. You can’t really do this in an animated series. Long-term character arcs are certainly POSSIBLE, but they genuinely require being communicated through clear shifts in visuals, writing, and performance. Thus Vex’s problems in particular have to be more blatantly shown: her stinginess causes problems with Zahra before they reconcile, she connects with Percy quicker because of shared experience, and she folds in on herself far more when talking with Syldor compared to Vax because she still wants a relationship and her brother has long given up on this.
And here’s where we get to the complaint I still find the most inexplicable because it seems to describe a totally different character than the one that exists onscreen: that making changes like this or Vax being present for Vex’s rescue of Trinket when he originally had no idea how she found him somehow makes her arc “all about men” and “not about herself”. I feel like this is an overcorrection from earlier feminist schools of criticism that women characters are all too often accessories to men and not their own full characters. Which I do still agree is v. bad, but also, saying that women can or should never have meaningful relationships with men because of our patriarchal systems of society...well, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. More to the point, it ignores that Laura had and has meaningful input into these relationships in the game as well as other campaigns: in addition to focusing much of her C1 roleplay on Percy, Syldor, Vax, and even Scanlan, Jester directly pursued Fjord because Laura wanted to try and romance her husband Travis Willingham in game and blatantly said this was her intent. It feels like people aren’t giving themselves permission to just...not like her choices because they don’t want to be lumped in with Those Assholes. And that’s a terrible way to treat yourself as a fan.
CONCLUSION
To sum it up: feel free to be a hater! You don’t have to suddenly like the show and the changes it makes because some random rambling asshole like me says so. But I think it is far more useful to look at what actually exists on the screen than making up an idealized version in your head of “this is how it’s supposed to go!” You’ll be happier, I’ll be happier, and we can enjoy things. Or don’t. It’s your choice.
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okay here's my final horizons review that nobody asked for :) the short summary is an overall like 8/10 personally with high highs and low lows to average it all out there, but like . god those highs are high
speaking of i played on hard mode for the entire thing and did not change it a single time so this also influences my perception but like im a loser tryhard sweaty gamer so that probably just added to the positives for me ngl JGKLASDFJL;KS okay anyways
amy gameplay 8/10, tails gameplay 8/10, knuckles gameplay 6/10
i am SO FUCKING SERIOUS WHEN I SAY KNUCKLES WOULD BE LIKE 9/10 IF HE HAD FREE CLIMBING AND WASN'T LIMITED TO THE RED SPOTS like it makes sense in this scenario since he's literally free dlc and like the game wasn't really made with knuckles in mind therefore if he was given free range to climb and shit like SA2 it might be weird or just lead to things you super weren't intended to do etc. BUT like. im just saying. in a perfect world he would be able to climb on all surfaces and that would be more than enough for me to forgive his glide's super wide turns (i already forgive it because it makes sense it's just like. from a player feel perspective)
i can't forgive some of those awful camera angles though it's the same issue i have with sonic when he wall climbs, wall climbing just has bad camera angles that i greatly dislike u__u also i think i was most looking forward to playing as knuckles so i was just kinda disappointed he isn't more punchy i want PUNCHY
amy was super fun to play and would've been a 9 but i am in fact a hammer believer, i know they like at least bring it up in game why she doesn't hammer more but i AM a hammer enjoyer and i think if she had more swingy hammer movesets it would be like. chef's kiss i love her floatiness and tarot cards
tails is tails he's so broken LMAOOOO and the wrench attack shit is genuinely really good and so funny, his entire thing fits perfectly with the fact that he's like, not really a Fighter fighter guy and matches with previous tails gameplay .... but i do still want a homing attack for specifically objects not enemies or something. idk that'd be hard to handle sometimes but that's my single grievance i thought tails was really good he's so cute :)
in general i wish all 3 had more combat options but again. it's free dlc. in the future if they do like sonic adventure 3 or whatever then i'll be more harsh for not having more moves for them like sonic but this is free dlc
sonic gameplay 8.5/10
i'm crazy and i thought the towers were a lot of fun, my favorite WOULD'VE BEEN tower 2 except the pink squares not respawning is genuinely like girl what's wrong with you + tower 5 eked out being my favorite anyways in the end
my favorites in order were 5, 2, 4, 1, and 3 (3 was by far the easiest but also like . i am so not into the wall climbing camera JGKALSDJFKLASDJ and also i had the funny glitch where the boostpad clipped me out of the tower which like, funny but now i have to climb the tower again) i thought these were super fun platforming challenges with the only grievance being they're literally WAY more difficult than anything from base game and so the sudden jump is like actually insane expecting little timmy to play frontiers on like hard mode which is very easy, and then doing this
the combat trials were disappointing bc like. .. the first one had some difficulty to it and then the rest were snzzzz and then suddenly MASTER KING KOCO BABYYYYY but again im insane. and deranged. i thought a time/ring limit boss rush was sick as fuck and perfect parry is what i wished the actual base game parry was so like. yeah. but again the boss fights weren't Made for perfect parry so especially wyvern, figuring out was like harder than necessary since this is something they throw at you with no warning or prior practice in the base game or anything
i had fun though. i had gamer fun and joy. so like <- sick in the head i just felt the thrill of battle and violence and any time i figured out the parry timing/got consistent with it and i was like being the ultimate speedrun gamer it's like. YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! also kellin quinn's vocals carried me because god the music never gets old dude that shit pumped me up (helps i only had to fight knight twice and the problem child was just wyvern lol)
AND THE FINAL BOSS .... supreme still lowkey is a very very very very mid boss. and the new THE END doesn't change it a Ton because like after you see the sickass cutscene and stuff, it becomes kind of a mid boss again but with really hype animations and all .... like it's not a hard fight. it's just ... jank .... the controls feel kinda wonky when you're trying to target the tube .... the camera is weird because it's so easy for sonic to not be visible from all the trees, so while parrying the meteors isn't hard it's just like ... why would you do this to me
final boss fight itself is like 7/10 carried by the visuals and setting, but then the end of the boss fight is like WHOOOOOOOOOOO FUCK YEAH FUCK YEAH FUCK YEAH LETS GOOOOO I FUCKING LOVE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG YYEAHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHH so like overall good dlc imo
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Hii! Im the anon that asked about watching F1, thank you for the lengthy answer I really appreciate it!
Karting is so fun but I never realised before going how hard it was on your body. It’s difficult to imagine how these F1 drivers do it tbh, it’s crazy!!
I ended up watching the Suzuka race live after sending in the ask and you’re right I did learn a lot just from watching it (also crash almost gave me a heart attack, was not expecting anything like that to happen..). I really love learning about the strategy, I never realised how much really goes into racing before this. I read a few more chapters of the fic too and learned a lot from that. Actually I really love learning about racing in general just from the fic it makes it a bit more digestible when there’s so much to learn.
I have adhd too so I totally get not being able to like things normally haha.. I’ve spent all of today so far reading about F1 and I’m looking into tickets for the British GP since it’s somewhat close to where I live (which is funny bc less than 48hrs ago all F1 is to me is cars go zoom..). I blame your fic but in a good way! I’m really glad I started reading it, I already feel like this is gonna be my new obsession.
And as it turns out one of my friends used to watch a bunch of races at the Shanghai circuit so I’ll have someone to annoy with questions for the Chinese GP, I’m really excited to watch that! I still don’t know in what ways the track influences the race technically, but what an interesting looking track! It looks like it’d be fun to drive on that.
Also can I ask why you like and support Ferrari and Leclerc in particular? And do you think they could win this year? Since from what I see Verstappen/Red Bull Racing have been stuck in the top spot the past 3 years
Thanks again for your answer!
so many opportunities to yap about f1….
lap 1 incidents are pretty common, but suzuka in particular has a very high rate of safety car use (ie crashes occuring) because its so technical and driver heavy. its one of my fav tracks for this reason!
silverstone is a brilliant track and the atmosphere is amazing - its one of the classics! however what i will say is that the prices are EXTREMELY inflated. if ur european (even if you live IN england) its cheaper to go to races abroad if thats an option because silverstone is SOOO expensive. ive never been to a race bc of money but if you can spare it silverstone is definitely one of the best especially in terms of the racing.
tracks influence a couple of things : drivers and cars. mostly cars, since f1 (unlike f2 and f3) is equally a constructors series. there are a bunch of concepts that effect how a car will perform on a certain track, but the main ones are downforce and straight line speed. downforce mainly effects cornering. diff tracks will have corners that are taken at different speeds (high speed v low speed corners) and different cars will be weak or strong through corners depending on their characteristics (RBR last year was weak in low speed corners, hence singapore being SO bad for them, and mclaren was in incredibly strong in the high speed corners (qatar, japan) but lacked straight line speed, making them weaker in other places.
why ferrari? the legacy. micheal schumacher won 5 of his WDCs with them, the iconic red, the passion. it feels like a cult and i love it
leclerc… oh my god leclerc. first of all i just think hes a little bit funny in an insane way. but aside from that, he won f3 as a rookie, then won f2 as a rookie. that is RARE. only Rosberg (WDC 2016) Lewis Hamilton (7x WDC), Nico Hulkenberg (uuh), George Russell and Oscar Piastri have won the support series as a rookie, and of those only hamilton, russell, piastri and leclerc won f3 / f2 or their equivalents back to back. (f1 fans u can correct me if im wrong on this)
his f2 performance is the most dominant of all time. the sprint win in bahrain 2017 (f2) was genuinely one of the most jaw dropping pieces of racing ive ever seen. he went to sauber (midfield/backmarker team) in 2018 for his first year in f1 and scored the vast majority of the team’s points - 39. 39 points in that car was insane. he signed to ferrari in 2019 as a second driver to 4x WDC sebastian vettel. instead of backing down and playing nice, he then proceeded to outqualify him over two seasons, and outrace him too. his win in monza 2019 is POETRY in motion. verstappen rates him very highly and said in 2018 that he hopes theyll have a rivalry like hamilton and vettel. god he makes me INSANE
as to whether ferrari/leclerc can win this season… i wouldnt be a fan if i didnt say yes. RBR bought a major floor update to suzuka and they still didnt run away as much as last year (at least perez, verstappen is inhuman). despite having a couple of poor qualifying runs, leclerc is racing at an incredibly high level and is on pace with verstappen. with a strategy generally considered slower (and definitely much more difficult) he advanced from P8 to P4 today. vassuer (the ferrari team principal) has said hes optimistic about the upgrade trajectory, and that it can be developed aggressively. those first upgrades will come in Imola.
basically the season is long. max had a dnf in australia and leclerc is still within touching distance of perez. i think we need a little luck but it could be possible if the upgrades go well. leclerc couldve fought for P2 today with a decent quali. (charles also seems to do really well on sprint weeks. and china is a sprint week) :)
tbh though i think the real battles will come in 2025 and 2026. leclerc v hamilton in equal machinery, and then ferrari v RBR:3
thankyou anon<3
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Finally got a semblance of free time to play the Recently Released Videogame! No plot discussions happen in this post, I just gush about the little things.
My experience is, uh. Suboptimal. I am grateful my laptop can emulate Switch at all, but when your average FPS is around 5, only gets as high as 12 and has a tendency to go into decimals or freeze, fast-paced combat gets hard.
Despite that, the gameplay is fun! All the abilities are such a blast, and compliment one another nicely: for example, I cheesed one part of a certain shrine by Ultrahanding a platform in one place in the air for a bit, then effectively Stasising it with Recall, then Ascending on top of that still-Recalled platform, and then getting additional height by shield-jumping on a shield fused with a spring. Just for funsies. The intended solution was to essentially shield-surf on a short straight rail.
God I love fusing springs to shields. Revali who. My Bomb Flower count is criminally low, as I haven't figured a way to dupe them w/o exploding, and I don't have consistent source of rockets yet, but the springs are relatively early-game and do their job pretty well!
You know what I love even more than that? Glitches :^). And they're finally easy enough for me, a total noob, to perform. I only duped materials so far, timing a frame-perfect weapon dupe on my suboptimal setup sounds hard... but I wanna try and transfer the legendary MsgNotFound one of these days. I was so lucky to find a diamond in one of the caves tho!
Did you know that the shrine lobby (a tiny area seen through the entry portal) can serve as a cover for your campfire during rainy weather? It made more sense in BоTW, as Shеikah shrines were more material, but beggars can't be choosers.
So far my playthrough fits the "feral Lonk" stereotype. Towns are laggy, so I mostly wander around the wilderness aimlessly. The overall plan is to grind the full second stamina wheel + activate a few towers, then go get the Heart Container from the Great Plateau quest, get the Master Sword, grind shrines for hearts and only then hit a couple of dungeons. After that, joining the Yıga is a must. I'm not even sure I'll be able to fight the dungeon bosses or G-man with how hard even the basic combat currently is, so my only hope is to be able to tank through damage.
I wanted to get the Lobster Tunic so badly, but the guys at Lurеlin keep kicking my ass :^(.
Sadly, it seems you cannot skip the first memory. The puddles just aren't anywhere inside the geoglyphs.
Fujibаyashi-san loves to put the "temporary equipment loss moment" in all of the series entries done under him (except MC), and in TоTK alone there's soooo many. It's a whole shrine subset now, not to mention the dedicated pantsless quest in the gazette storyline. Wonder how's the Еvеntide doing these days - judging by a chasm, it doesn't seem like a similar event will take place here.
Speaking of chasms on the islands... Remember the PH-themed archipelago in the wetlands? There's a chasm on Mercay island. You know. The island where the Temple of The Ocean King is located. Something about the way BоTW/TоTK genuinely appreciates DS games feels very vindicating. First Monster Cake being a chancellor's favourite dessert, then the Phantom armor being one of the most OP sets, and now this chasm.
I saw Flowerblight :з.
Ang got owned by the Floormasters Gloom Hands once. Not touching them with a sturdy-stick-stick before I get s'more hearts, I know what comes after.
The guy with the sign! Such a cute concept, and the rewards are always so generous!
Depths are weird. The flora is super cool, and the landscape is twisted to a degree that merely figuring out how to get from point A to point B becomes a nontrivial challenge. Collecting Poes is fun, and I love getting the uncorrupted weapons from the ghosts of the past. Everything else scares me shitless. Mostly
Catching a Star fragment mid-air feels downright magical. I know they were probably coded with exactly that method of aquisition in mind, but it always feels like such a lucky catch.
Saw Nауdra once. Got the scale. Fused it to a spear. Now the spear looks like a comically large spoon, and I can't keep a straight face when this thing pops across half a screen, so I never equip it, but don't unfuse it either out of respect for the comedy aspect. The only funnier weapon that I've got so far is the honeycomb boomerang I got from a monster camp (the idea is genius, and I have honeycombs to maybe recreate it later), which is currently fused to a surprisingly high-damage Boko arm.
Yeah, I'm not unfusing my comically large Nауdra spon until I get a camera and take a selfie with it.
I always feel bad when fighting the apple-collecting Bokos. They have tiny Boko baskets on their backs :^(. They're just little guys :^(.
PORTABLE COOKING POTS. AND MULTIPLE TRAVEL MEDALLIONS THAT AREN'T LOCKED BY A DLC. YES.
Purаh is the prettiest woman to grace this world.
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The Count and Mrs. Shelby
For my infp!anon
Warning: this came out very sexual because idk that's how it came out
Rated: M
Gif by @peakykoko
It all began with a bite.
Usually, Eva can cover it up with the skill of a master, but that time he had gotten a little too carried away and jealous from the way Mosley leered at her tits and given her a love bite right while he fucked her on his desk.
Should wear high necked things when she visits him at parliament even in summer.
But that day she wore a dress with a scandalous low-cut neckline and came out of his office too satisfied to notice the love bite. Been two entire years since Tommy had been horny and jealous enough to fuck her like an unhinged animal.
Much like him eye fucking her from his window in 1919, it did wonders for her self-esteem.
“I see Mr. Shelby has teeth as sharp as his cheekbones.” One of the ladies said with a teasing grin as Eva tried to cover it up with powder.
Violet was one of her true friends here, her husband one of the MPs of a neighboring constituency and best of all, a fellow republican. A breath of fresh air in the stale perfume of insipid false friends.
“He’d give Dracula a run for his money,” Eva had said making her laugh as she pulled out a short scarf that went well with her dress.
“With those cheekbones and that strange allergy to garlic, he could be a vampire.” Violet whispered just as another woman came out of the crapper just in time to put her nose where it doesn’t belong.
“Who’s a vampire?” Jane something asked as she washed her hands and wondering what sort of gossip she’d get to spread amongst the ladies in her circle and the other wives of politicians here.
“My husband, our dear Violet has solved the mystery.” Eva answered in jest, forgetting this Jane believed everything she heard.
It wasn’t her fault; her parents had raised her very conservatively and she had married young. Jane hadn’t even known that you could have sex through the back door ---so to speak.
“That would explain so much, I don’t recall ever seeing him in the daylight.” Jane said and Eva couldn’t discern whether she was going along with the joke or genuinely believed it. Jane was easily led, a good thing she had chosen to stick with the other wives of the Labour candidates ---and the occasional female candidate.
And so, it went, and it spread like fire throughout society.
And Eva did what she always does, go along with it while it’s still harmless fun.
Tommy has even indulged her and worn a cape to see the Dracula film on its opening night in London. Hamilton Deane had redefined the Count’s appearance into a man that looked more like Tommy in his plays in 1924 and now with that film playing every fucking where, some people couldn’t help but mention that the rising politician, Thomas Shelby, did share a striking resemblance to Dracula.
Count Shelby, Violet and the other gals of the Labour Party have taken to calling him.
“I got you something.” He looks amused, aroused as always and Eva can’t help, but wish she had just a little more time alone before her guests arrive.
If it were up to him, this tea party with the ladies involved in one way or another with the Labour Party wouldn’t happen.
If it were up to Tommy, she’d be bent over the table or on top of it with her legs spread wide and a far too eager husband between them.
She can tell this is his plan by the insistent way he embraces her from behind and began kissing her very exposed neck.
“You are an absolute angel, Tom, you know that.” Eva took the carved wooden box he’d found at a curiosity shop in Small Heath and opened it.
“Only you think that, love.” Never thinks himself a good man, always loathing himself because he can’t see past the bad.
First spontaneous gift since Polly died almost three years ago.
This was a good sign, a sign that things will be better.
He is still shit at communicating with her like he used to, when he’d be vulnerable with her because he knows she will never betray him.
But this weird gift she will adore with all her heart signals that the bleak winter of his heart is coming to an end.
“A vampire slaying kit?” she asks wondering how and why he’d get her this.
“They had it on display and I know my witch of a wife must have a vampire slaying kit.” His voice did things to her, his hands roaming about made her wish she could just cancel the brunch and let him fuck her stupid on this table.
“After this shit is over, I want to fuck you here, bend you over the table and leave you with a limp for the rest of the week.” His lips crept up to her jaw and down the bare part of shoulder, but never messed her pretty and natural looking make up.
“If you make up an emergency, you can fuck me any way you want, mi vida.” She said with a gasp.
It was good to have most of him back, he was not the same as before, but sometimes, just sometimes he is the same Tommy who he was before all this happened.
“Dear Eva, you and our dear Count have such a way with each other.” Violet said as she gestured to the vampire kit she’d forgotten to have put away, just as she had shooed Tommy away. “No bite this time?”
Jane colored pink and the other woman with her cleared her throat.
Eva had been forced to invite Lady Cynthia Mosley, what with them being neighbors along with her husband and Tommy being ‘friends’ now.
“I’d put a stake through his heart if he gets too carried away again, dear Vi.” Eva joked with her friend.
“Did you know, Cimmie, that our dear Mr. Shelby is a vampire?” Jane ---with her innocent cherub like face--- lied through her teeth. She had grown from the shy and naïve lady they had befriended earlier this year; she was quite fun now.
While most of Eva’s guests were of Tommy’s party, they had made the exception to include Mosley’s New Party and some Conservatives. Most of the Labour party wives were in on the joke, the newcomers, like Cynthia Mosley were not.
It had been Vi’s idea to use that inside joke to haze them
This had been a strategy set in place by Churchill and the handful of people who knew what Tommy was doing by flirting with fascism. Get people to think Tommy genuinely believes in that horseshit and make him more popular than Mosley.
It was rather easy, Eva was born and raised to be the wife of a powerful man and be powerful in her own right.
High society was her arena, and while Violet and Jane had cultivated a reputation for being proper ladies, Eva had already cemented her role of being the Alva Vanderbilt of this generation.
Eva had been groomed to bend society to her will and make herself it’s queen, like her grandmother before her.
“Bridgette, will you be a dear and take this to my sitting room? It doesn’t quite fit the theme of today’s party.” Eva handed the carved box to her most trusted maid, a shy thing who had been cursed by a former lover after he was killed for being one of Swing’s rats.
“Yes, ma’am, do you want me to put it next to the garlic or on the shelf with the Holy Water?” Bridgette quipped.
“Next to the Holy Water, kid.”
The tea is rather boring, and Tommy has not made an appearance, Florence however has and now Eva can’t use her as an excuse to cut it short.
The new women here are wary of her, they should be, she thinks.
The women of the Labour Party are used to her oddness and find her parties the best there are in society.
“I don’t believe he’s a vampire, no matter how great he looks in a cape.” One of the ladies at her table says when they continue to sell them the idea that Tommy is a vampire.
Once this thing is over, they will understand it was all a joke at their expense, but until then, Eva and the other labour party women had to ensure the farce was believable.
“And where is Mr. Shelby this afternoon?” Cynthia Mosley asked, and Eva tried not to smirk.
“Hiding in his office.” Eva answered as if they were friends. “Avoids sunlight like the plague, that man.”
“And mirrors, and church and garlic.” Violet adds sipping her tea.
“Still doesn’t make him a vampire, just makes him a little odd.” Cimmie pointed out.
So what if Tommy’s known oddities worked in his favor.
He avoided mirrors because he sometimes sees his mother or Polly in them, he has stopped the charade of being a godly man altogether and he has a mild allergy to garlic.
She hadn’t known about it until he tried to hide a rash on his neck after he ate Mexican food for the first time.
Eva had found it adorable especially after she ended up having to rub some ointment on the rash that had started to spread to his chest, giving her an excuse to touch his skin.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” Tommy gave the women his signature charming smile which would have made them all swoon if he didn’t have blood on his rumpled and torn clothes. He wiped the blood from the edge of his lips on his sleeve and his wife wondered how he managed this.
He got thrown off Helsing again, didn’t he?
“Van Helsing again?” Eva would fuck him into next week the second the tea is over.
That horse was the worst, sure she let Tom ride him, but he had been trying to kill him lately. Hence the name they’d given him: Van Helsing.
“Come join us, Shelby, we were just talking about you.” Violet had that twinkle in her pretty green eyes.
“Can’t,” he points to the open curtains and remains on the other side of the arch.
Violet and those who know about the joke try not to giggle as the newcomers wonder if the Witch of Warwickshire is married to an actual vampire.
“Excuse me, ladies, as you can see my husband is calling to me.” Eva takes her leave and joins him in the hall.
“Thanks for getting me the fuck out of there, amor.” She said as the walked away from the tearoom. It doesn’t take long for him to pull her into the hall closet just outside of view of the tearoom.
“Your husband is hungry, witch.” He says as he pinned her against the wall. He kissed everything except her lips. Should’ve worn that supposedly smudge proof lipstick she got yesterday.
Been so long since he had been this insatiable. If she didn’t know any better, Eva would think he was back. He was getting there, the worst of his depression had gone away, but Thomas was far from good still.
Takes time and patience.
But he will get better, she had seen it.
“I told Frances to have a tray ready for you.” She bites her lip when she reached for his trouser button. Had to make this fast or else the women will be suspicious of her tardiness.
“Not food, love.” He winked and did something better, got on his knees. “Something to get me and you by until the fucking tea party is over.”
Eva didn’t know if she’ll be able to stop herself from being too loud.
When she comes back to the party, Eva has almost forgotten about the whole Tommy is a vampire bullshit they were running with.
“And what did Count Shelby want, dear?” Violet asked with a knowing smirk.
“He had a thirst.” Eva winked to her friend and the meaning wasn’t lost on most of them.
“Of blood?” Jane asks in faux innocence.
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