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spiderwcd · 4 months

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siren lake c.b.

pairing: colby brock x mermaid/siren ! f ! reader

summary: they come to explore the haunted lake, but maybe it wasn't just haunted.

warning(s): mentions of deaths, near drowning, profanity, near-death experiences mystical creatures, etc.

w.c.: 3.3k

a/n: guys, please don't hate me!! i've been away so long, ive been having writer's block and then i've been so busy with my life and having the worst luck ever (they weren't wrong about that fanfic writer curse) but trust me! i have a lot of works saved, slowly plowing through them.

images from pinterest !

“Dude,” Sam abruptly jumped from his seat on the couch, carrying his laptop over to Colby. “Look at this.” He pointed the screen towards him, revealing his discovery.

Colby curiously averted his gaze over to the screen, reading the article that was pulled up. “W-What am I looking at here, Sam?” he inquired, raising a brow towards him.

“Well, someone sent me this article about this supposedly haunted lake,” Sam began, plopping himself next to Colby on the couch. “They say that these entities are haunting it, causing a bunch of disappearances.” He finally added.

Taking a moment, Colby glanced at the article, contemplating. “I mean, it’s worth a shot,” Colby muttered, facing towards his best friend.

In due time, they arrived in Michigan, the Land of the Lakes. Colby had been studying about this mysterious lake, finding holes in different stories. It was something unknown to him, unable to find an obvious answer here.

“Okay, so as we know,” Sam began, looking over at Colby from the driver’s seat. “This lake is in the middle of the forest, near some campsites.” Sam clarified.

Colby nodded, understanding his statement, “Don’t forget to mention the disappearances, also about the spirit that drowns first in the 80s.” He pointed out.

Sam nodded in return, pursing his lips as he attempted to dig further into his thoughts. “Oh, what about the mermaid theory?” Sam suddenly blurted out.

Colby scoffed, looking over at Sam with a slight grimace. “Seriously? Mermaids?” Colby murmured, flipping through his notebook. “I mean, sure, it’s a fun idea to entertain, but we both know that’s not real.”

“Oh hey, come on,” Sam nudged Colby, still steering the wheel of the car. “It’s nice to have an imagination here, Colby.” Sam chuckled, patting him on the shoulder before placing both hands on the wheel.

Colby shook his head, smiling as he studied the pages of research. He examined the illustration on the page, deep into toying with the idea. He shook his head once more, closing the page as he thought about the ridiculous idea.

The car came to a halt, prompting Colby to face upward to the scene. His jaw flew open in amazement, admiring the large forest surrounding them. The middle showcased a lake larger than he had envisioned.

“Woah,” Colby muttered, exiting the car to get a better view. “Did not expect it to be so gorgeous out here.”

“Even if this comes to a dead end, at least we’ll have a good time in the middle of the forest.” Sam joked.

“You must be Sam and Colby,” they had suddenly heard, causing them to avert their gaze over to the voice. “Hi, I’m Ben.” The man waved over towards the two.

The duo made their way towards their host, introducing each other.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Ben had asked them.

“Oh yes,” Sam nodded, glancing around once again. “Very nice, exceeded our expectations.”

“That’s great,” Ben chuckled, leading the two towards the cabin that peered over the ominous lake. “Cause the two of you will be staying here, so get used to it.”

Sam and Colby glance at each other for a moment, following Ben towards the door. As they entered, they studied the room. It wasn’t one of their Airbnbs, but it was still nice, grateful for a roof and not a tent.

Colby’s eyes slowly averted towards the window, as if an irresistible force was pulling him towards the lake. But swiftly pulled away at the pat on his shoulder, facing towards the grasp.

“Isn’t that right, Colby?” Sam asked him, confusing Colby.

“Huh? Oh yeah, for sure.” Colby randomly replied, going along with Sam’s story.

“Alright, I’ll let ya get to it then,” Ben sighed, making his way toward the entrance. “I’ll come back in the morning to check on y’all. Remember to check the list I left every night.” He pointed out.

Once Ben had exited the campground, leaving the duo alone in the woods. Colby let out a breath as he planted himself onto one bed, rubbing his eyes slightly.

“Well, what did you want to start with?” Sam asked, plopping next to him. “Did you want to do the intro or do more research?”

Colby peaked from his hands, looking towards Sam. “Uh, let’s just figure out our intro and record that, followed by more research,” he answered.

They didn’t waste any time, every minute counted for them. Considering the way the sun crept through the blinds and curtains, the time was very limited. Colby’s fingers started to cramp from the various writing and typing, along with the migraine sneaking in.

“That’s it,” Colby blurted, tossing the pencil down. “I think it’s time to throw the towel. I need a break.”

“Me too,” Sam sighed. “If I have to write one more thing, my head might explode.”

Colby dryly chuckled, planting himself onto his feet. “I’m just gonna go out onto the pier. I need some time alone.”

He opened the door, letting the cool wind hit his face. He quickly closed the door, walking towards the wooden structure. Colby let out a groan as he crossed his legs, overlooking the large body of water. He ran his hand through his hair, attempting to relax as he listened to the soft music of the forest.

But he lost his train of thought, a splash ringing out. Colby curiously raised his brow, searching for the source of the ripple of water. He focused in on one area, unable to take his eyes off.

Colby soon got interrupted by a ringing from his pocket, pulling his eyes away from the lake. He picked himself off the wobbling planks, retrieving his phone.

“Hello?” he answered, still glancing over towards the ominous lake.

“Colby, get in here,” Sam waved over from the window, still on the line. “I found something.”

Colby hung up the phone call, stuffing the phone back into his pocket. As he entered the cabin, Sam quickly dashed his way and shoved his laptop into Colby’s face.

“Look.” Sam smugly grinned.

Colby looked at his best friend before looking back towards the screen.

‘Sirens in Michigan?’

“Sam,” Colby tried to protest, but Sam was persistent.

“Listen, we hunt ghosts. How much different can this be?” Sam scoffed, attempting to change Colby’s mind. “Can you at least be open to the idea?”

Colby looked at Sam with a blank look, crossing his arms. “Fine, we can be open to the idea, but I’m still skeptical about it all.”

The next day arrived, prompting the boys to prepare their video at last. Colby stood at the edge of the lake, awaiting Sam to finish setting up the camera. Sam gave Colby a thumbs up, signaling everything was ready.

“Hey, what’s up guys!” Sam greeted. “It’s Sam and Colby, and we’re here at the Siren Lake in Michigan!” he panned the camera towards the lake and treeline.

“We’re here to investigate the various spirits that might be roaming the lake,” Colby began explaining. “But also, as the name suggests, there might be more than just spirits here.”

“That’s right guys,” Sam chimed in. “There are supposedly sirens, aka mermaids, in this very lake.”

“If you ask me, I don’t think there’s such a thing,” Colby raised his hands in defense, causing Sam to shake his head. “Listen, ghosts and demons have a lot of proof and we’ve seen them, but mermaids?” Colby scoffed.

“I think you’ll say differently later,” Sam smirked. “Cause one of us is gonna have to go onto the pier and talk to the said spirits or whatever roams that lake.”

The two continued to talk, making their way around the lake for a bit.

“Okay, so the history of this lake begins with a family, as most do,” Sam began. “The Bradson family had owned this lake from generations ago until the 80s.”

“The only reason they had sold it off is because they used to run a camp here until odd drownings had appeared,” Colby added. “And all of them were all men.”

“That doesn’t give us a lot of comfort, does it now?” Sam joked, nervously laughing into the camera.

“Our guide and the owner of the campgrounds will be here in a moment to explain more in-depth,” Colby explained. “He knows more than we do.”

Just in time, a car pulled back onto the dirt road. Ben exited his car, greeting the boys once more.

“Perfect timing,” Sam laughed. “We just began introducing you.”

Ben chuckled, making his way towards the two, “Almost as if I was summoned here.” He joked.

Sam turned on his camera, recording once more, “So actually, as we closed our camera, our guide just pulled in.” He chuckled, pointing it towards Ben. “Say hello to Ben.” He introduced

“Alright, Ben, we just want to know what you know,” Colby started, crossing his arms slightly. “Tell us your secrets.”

“As you must already know, this used to be a campground until the 80s,” Ben began. “Do you know why they call it Siren Lake?” He asked the two.

Sam glanced over to Colby with a grin, causing Colby to roll his eyes.

“Yeah, we might have an idea,” Sam answered.

“Well, people started talking about how the victims were all men,” Ben pointed out. “A rumor started that they were ‘seduced’ over to the water and murdered by a siren.”

“Really? Sirens?” Colby scoffed, laughing a bit.

“Yep, since the lake connects to a river that leads to the ocean, they assumed that something supernatural might cause of this.” Ben chuckled at Colby’s reaction.

“Can you tell Colby is a skeptic about mermaids?” Sam teased.

“Oh, that’s alright, he won’t be by the end of the trip,” Ben replied.

While heading to the pier, Ben entertained the group with tales of the profound history and personal experiences of different individuals.

“So tell us, have you seen the siren?” Sam asked curiously.

Ben thought about it for a moment. “You know, I have,” he nodded. “I was letting a group of guys stay here for the night. I went to check on them and they were freaking out about their friend seeing something. So I went to check out the lake because I figured they saw something and freaked out. But when I stopped at the edge of the pier, I saw something peeking at me through the water.”

“Woah, that’s so weird,” Sam muttered. “What did you do?”

“Well, I thought it was someone playing some joke, so I yelled at them to get out of the water and it was private property.” Ben shrugged. “But they just stared at me for a second so I pointed my flashlight over, which made them go underwater and splash away, and I saw bluish silver scales on the biggest fish's tail I’ve ever seen.”

Sam looked over to Colby, a smug look on his face as if he was saying ‘told you so’.

“I’d be careful, boys,” Ben warned. “Even you, Colby, sirens are no joke. They will lure you and drown you. Just be careful.”

“Thank you, Ben.” Sam thanked him, shaking his hand before letting him return to his daily work.

Sam turned over to Colby, “I told you, what happened to having an open mind?”

“I’m trying, but mermaids? It’s hard to wrap my head around.” Colby responded. “I already have enough of ghosts and demons.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his best friend. “Okay, let’s just talk about the spirits. Surely you’ll keep an open mind about that.” He patted Colby on the back, pulling out the various equipment.

Sam turned on the rem pod, placing it down onto the pier, followed by the Alice box.

“Alright guys, so we’re now gonna talk about the spirits,” Sam sighed. “There were about 3 guys that drowned. They weren’t even able to recover any of their bodies because of how deep this lake is.”

“Yeah, so their bodies could still be down there,” Colby added, shivering at the thought of it.

“There’ are a lot of theories about how these guys died, most of them saying they were drunk or under the influence. There’s also speculation that they died from how cold the water was, causing hypothermia, but of course, there’s the siren theory,” Sam stated. “Sirens, though, tend to just kill to kill. It’s said that it killed them because they were terrible guys.”

“They were awful, apparently having a reputation of being sleazy and gross,” Colby added, having a grimace grow on his face at the idea. “But we’ll try to find out through the spirit box and maybe the Estes method.”

“I think since I’m more open-minded, unlike my colleague,” Sam teased, pointing the camera towards Colby who shook his head. “I’m gonna be doing the Estes method.”

They quickly turned on the devices in hand, thinking of questions.

“Alright, Uh, is there anyone here?” Sam asked to the open, listening carefully as the crickets chirped and the night wind blew past them.

“...you…”

“Who are you referring to?” Sam responded.

“...water…”

“Yep, there’s water here. Is this where you passed away?” Colby nodded, shifting his weight.

“...rocks… drown…”

Sam snapped his head towards Colby, a confused look painted on his face. “Woah,” he muttered. Colby agreed, looking back at the Alice box.

“Who are you? Are you one of three men that drowned here?” Sam added, biting his lip as he rubbed his chin with his finger.

“...Mike…”

Colby’s jaw dropped, facing the camera. "They're not gonna believe that, but one of the men who passed away was named Micheal Anderson," Colby said, his jaw dropping as he faced the camera.

“...unknown…cold…”

Sam’s face contorted to one of confusion, looking at Colby for answers. “Maybe they’re saying they don’t remember how they died? I mean, the water gets freezing.”

Colby nodded, attempting to decipher the various words and their meanings. “Can you tell us what happened? Did you guys just die from the cold water or drown from drinking too much?”

“...none…strange…”

“Huh, maybe the siren theory was right?” Sam nudged Colby.

“Yeah right,” Colby sneered. “Maybe they died from something else.”

“...careful…”

“Look, it’s even trying to warn us,” Sam pointed out, but soon the familiar red light and blaring sound appeared from the rem pod, alerting the two. “Oh my god, that scared the fuck out of me,” Sam murmured, pointing the camera towards the flashing device.

“Is that you Micheal? Or is someone else making that flash?” Colby asked, stepping away from the rem pod as the light continued to circle.

“...pussy…”

Colby blurted out in laughter, followed by Sam. “Wow, maybe they were jerks.”

“I think maybe the Estes Method will give us a simple answer then,” Sam said, calming down from the fit of laughter.

Colby turned off the spirit box, handing Sam the bandana followed by the headphones. Once he had put them on, Colby showed the camera that Sam couldn’t respond.

“Okay, so let’s begin,” Colby sighed. “Okay, can you give us a straightforward answer to what happened here? You guys are being very hush-hush about the answer.”

“Pier,” Sam blurted out. “Something dangerous.”

“Yeah, some can say drinking and swimming are dangerous,” Colby joked. “Can you clarify more?”

“Beware of the woman,” Sam answered.

Colby felt his heart drop, unable to comprehend what that could mean. “Uh, what woman?”

“She calls for you,” Sam responded, confusion in his voice. “Watching you.”

A shiver ran down Colby’s spine, goosebumps covering his skin. “W-Wha… Watching me?” Colby repeated, hearing the familiar splashing near the pier.

Colby snapped his head up, his eyes attempting to adjust to the dark as the moonlight hit the ripples. Colby pointed his flashlight over to the deep gray water, searching for the source, just as he had done earlier in the day.

Sam continued to speak, unknowing of his best friend’s search. Colby’s feet stopped at the edge of the pier, ignoring all the sounds in the background. He let out a sigh of relief, unable to find any evidence of anything going on.

But as soon as Colby put down his flashlight, he felt large hands pressed up against his back. Colby, unable to retain his balance, fell into the deep cold waters, which had created a large splash that traveled to Sam.

Sam tore the headphones and blindfold off his head, turning around to look at Colby as he floated to the top.

“Woah, you alright, man?” Sam hurried to the edge, squatting down as he offered a hand to him.

Colby let out a laugh, swimming towards the pier. “Someone fucking pushed me in.” He muttered, reaching for Sam’s grasp.

He was about to grab Sam’s palm, but felt a tug at the end of his legs. “What the fuck, something grabbed-”

Colby’s sentence soon cut off as he got pulled under the water. He kicked the unknown entity, gasping for air as he heard Sam’s voice muffle as he called out for him.

Colby thrashed, adrenaline kicking in as he attempted to free himself. Colby looked down at the void of the lake, unable to find the source. Water filled his mouth, oxygen slowly escaping his body. His body sank, and the energy to fight slowed.

Colby had accepted there wasn’t a way out of this doom, looking up as he slowly descended into the seemingly never-ending waters. His vision slowly distorted as he examined the murky waters above him.

“Wow, I never realized it was a full moon tonight,” was all he could think about

Just as he thought it was the end, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. A figure slowly circled him as it made its way past the moonlit waters, a glow of bluish silver reflecting as its hair sprawled around it.

Well, it wasn’t rather it; it was a woman. Colby wanted to react, but his body slowly shut down as his vision darkened. She was beautiful, her skin flawless and her long hair engulfing them as she touched his face as if she examined his features.

Colby’s vision became dark, becoming unconscious. She doesn’t remember men being this flawless, gliding her fingers across his skin. His tattoos caught her eye, something odd about painting skin to her. A frown grew on her face, looking back up at the land above as blue and red lights danced around the surface of the water.

She looked back at Colby, knowing the minutes were passing by. She quickly grabbed his arm, carrying his limp body up. Peeking over the water, she glanced around at the various people walking around. She bit her lip, brainstorming ideas.

The mermaid decided it was best to leave him by the shore, where Sam was pacing and freaking out. She knows if she does this, who knows if her identity will be safe? But something against her nature knew this one thing: she did not want the beautiful man to perish.

She drew him above the water, grunting as she pulled his seemingly lifeless body towards the wet rocks. She looked back at him, her brows furrowing as she fought within herself whether she did the right thing. Under the water once more, she dove, splashing as she vanished, making her way under the pier to observe the scene.

It wasn’t long until many flashlights lit up the shore, revealing Colby’s drenched and pale body. Sam let out a cry, watching as his best friend coughed and gasped for air as the water exited his lungs. Sam embraced him, relief washing over him as he recovered from his accident.

Colby sat at the edge of the patient compartment of the ambulance, wrapped in a towel, drowning out as the EMTs and various cops talked to Sam as he stared towards the lake. Something inside him was fighting whether he had made up the mysterious creature or, by some miracle, it was all true.

Colby jumped as Sam’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Dude, what the hell happened? I thought you were gone. The cops said you were lucky to even make it out of that lake.”

Colby looked up at Sam before glancing back at the body of water. “I think a mermaid just saved me.”

˖⁺‧₊˚ ♡ ˚₊‧⁺˖

thank you guys for reading!

I'm sorry if it's short, Its just something I put together in one day. I do value your opinion, so please do tell me what you think!!

expect more stories soon!

#colby brock #colby brock fanfic #colby brock imagine #colby brock smut #colby brock x reader #colby brock x y/n #sam and colby #sam golbach #xplr #sam golbach x reader #jake webber #jake and johnnie #johnnie guilbert #xplr merch #xplr club #colby #sam goldbach

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definitelynotafurinasimp · 7 months

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HELLO hi im new here but. the. the concept of combining prompt number 11 with the idea of Furina having the hiccups and desperately trying to cover it up has me losing my MIND

“You’re so red, are you okay?”

Characters: Furina x gn!reader

warnings: none

a/n: Sorry it took me so long, I'm currently trying to get out of a writers block I've had for the past few weeks, so there might be a few more uploads in the next few days or nothing once again.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Furina

Today was supposed to be the day, everything down to the most minute detail planned out long before you even received the invitation. From the decorations of the room, the food and drinks Furina had asked her chef to prepare and her outfit, to the conversation topics she picked out specifically to impress you, having done her share of all-nighters filled with enough research to write a whole book about each and every one of them.

So when she started hiccuping only a few minutes into your little tea party, having answered one of your questions too eagerly while still having remnants of a small piece of cake in her mouth, the Archon wasn’t sure if she felt like screaming her frustrations out of the window or wanted to disintegrated into a puddle of water, yet, stuck with neither option, all that was left for her to do was try and keep shut until it finally stopped and draw as little attention to it as humanly- well… archonly possible.

If you had been paying any less attention to how great the food and drinks were and took a closer look at the person sitting opposite of you, you might have easily noticed how nervous she seemed all of a sudden, the sound of her voice talking about whatever subject you touched on growing much rarer. And yet, you chalked it up to her simply enjoying her food as well, not paying any mind to it before digging into the cake in front of you once again.

Or at least you were until the silence that had engulfed the room was suddenly interrupted by a… weird sound, there one moment before being gone almost instantly, only to pop up again and again, slowly drawing your attention to Furina as a curious look made its way onto your face.

“Did you hear that as well?”, you asked, expecting the Archon to give her usual confident sounding answer, one that would seem far-fetched but somewhat realistic enough to explain it all. Only for her to greet your question by visibly shrinking into her seat, embarrassment washing over her face as her cheeks grew redder and redder with each inch she shrank, before suddenly jerking her shoulders up for a split second as the same sound rang out through the room once more.

“N-no…?”, Furina managed to respond eventually, her answer sounding almost more like a question than yours while failing to look you in the eyes for even a second.

Once again silence swept over the room, neither of you daring to speak up again for a few seconds causing the sporadic sounds to be even more noticeable and considering how Furina tried covering her mouth and how the sudden jerks of her chest matched the times the sound appeared you slowly got an idea what you were dealing with. However, theory could only take you so far, and so you decided to test your hypothesis almost instantly.

“You’re so red, are you okay?” The moment you rose from your seat and leaned over the table, moving closer to Furina before almost pressing the back of your hand against her forehead, only for her to almost jump up from her seat, dodging your hand as if her life depended on it.

“What are you doing- DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”, she practically screamed at you, causing you to stop in your tracks, her face somehow growing even redder than before as a feeling of shame washed over her.

“Is it gone now?”, you eventually asked, the crypticness of your question being obvious by the puzzled look you received at first, only for the lack of Furina’s hiccups to quickly dawn on her, causing a relieved look to sweep over her face… one that got quickly replaced by one of panic as she realized it meant all her attempts to hide it were futile.

“So you noticed…”, Furina stated, her nervousness causing her words to come out an octave higher.

“Noticed what?”, you played dumb, tilting your head ever so slightly before finally sitting down once again, the confusion on your Archon’s face quickly being washed away as a small expression of gratitude peaked its head.

“Do you wish for another cup of tea?”, Furina finally returned to her previous tone, both of you deciding to ignore that little incident and simply enjoy the rest of your time together.

#1500 simps event #furina #furina x reader #furina x you #furina x y/n #genshin impact #genshin x reader

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jaegeraether · 6 months

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Sunsets and footballers (Part 33)

Lucy Bronze x Reader (31) & Alexia Putellas x Character (5)

Masterlist (other parts here)

(Only a little piece of Alexia in here...)

((**Any theories on who Joe is, send me a DM xD**))

YFN woke around 8:30am, having a decent sleep after her long day. She’d slept the best she had done in a week, and the only explanation was the warm right-back who was now gone. It was a disappointing feeling, waking to feel her not there, yet was superseded by the feeling of peace and security that came with the conversation she’d had the night before with Lucy. Lucy. She’d be halfway to Barcelona by now. She rolled over and could still smell Lucy there as if she’d only left a few minutes ago. She must be so tired, she thought, hoping she’d be able to sleep on the plane.

She woke and had her shower, letting herself chuckle a little at Lucy’s blue toothbrush and made her way out to the kitchen to find a note from Lucy on the kitchen island.

Good morning, little one.

You have no idea how difficult it was to leave you in bed this morning.

I ordered breakfast for you for 9am. I hope I got the timing right and they don’t wake you up.

Have a great day, please; I know I will now that I’ve seen you.

Remember: I won’t have a phone until the end of today or tomorrow… and please also remember to cancel the company car.

PS: I love you, and don't worry, you were too tired to talk in your sleep last night.

Lucy x

God, that woman. She pulled the piece of paper to her chest and held it there, unable to contain her smile. She looked at the time. It was almost 9am. Lucy knew she only slept seven or eight hours a night and had, of course, timed it perfectly.

She checked her phone and the first thing she did was respond to Joe.

Joe: Which do you like best?

Joe had sent a few links to cars.

YFN: I’m sorry, Joe. Please disregard. No need for a car. Do you have time for a phone call this morning?

Joe: Copy that. I’ll call in ten.

She went back to her other messages and emails which mainly concerned the edits that her colleagues had done. One by one, she approved them to be posted to social media. This first round had been a test for many things, one being the editing following the collection of footage at the games. She’d expected there to be some need for notes or changes, but she didn’t find any. Joe really had chosen some talented individuals.

Lumos group chat: YFN: Morning all! First round was a success! Fantastic job, everyone. The footage we’ve collected is remarkable. I’m happy for all of these to be posted today. As for the interviews, I’ve reached out for players approval and will post them once I have them.

Again, fantastic work, and a reminder to ensure we’ve sent the personal videos and photos to the players for their own use.

Our goal for next round is to post real time recordings of the game, goals and significant events.

Any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

The group chat started responding eagerly as a knock came at the front door. YFN jumped until she realised it would be breakfast. She checked through the peep hole before she collected it.

Lucy had ordered her an acai bowl, juice, and more of the banana bread she’d loved from last night. She dug in, hoping Lucy had a chance to eat before training. Her phone started buzzing and she dropped her spoon to pick it up.

“Morning, Joe.”

“YFN! Good morning, how are you after yesterday? I imagine you slept well.”

“You’re not wrong there!” She laughed. “It took a lot more out of me than I realised, Joe! But on a positive note, I think it was a success.”

“I think you’re being a bit modest there! I’ve seen everything and I’m beyond impressed. Whatever you’ve done to prepare all week was excellent, just excellent! And your interview with the Arsenal and Man City players? Brilliant. I know it was thrown at you last minute, but I really liked the way it was more of a casual conversation than asking generic questions. It really brought out the characters of the players.”

“Oh, I agree. Even if I did have time to prep questions, I still would have let them talk about what they wanted and just steer them ever so gently within the lines we wanted. I’m also a big fan of interviewing multiple players at once. They bounce off of each other well, even if they are opposite teams.”

“I was going to mention that! It’s the first time opposition players have been interviewed after a match together, yes? I love the dynamic. As for the other footage… I want to scale this up already. Did you want to talk about extra people to cover more of the games?”

YFN could hear that Joe was excited and knew that she’d give her absolutely anything she wanted. But that’s not what this conversation was about.

“Actually, Joe, I wanted to talk to you about something else..”

“Fire away, anything you want.”

YFN explained her meeting Mark at the charity event, about the photographer with Mark at the game last night, and then how she was followed. There was a long period of silence at the other end until she sighed.

“I knew this would be an issue, I just hoped it wouldn’t happen until later on.” She admitted. “Firstly, they won’t hurt you. Think of them as paparazzi. Mark is competition of mine when it comes to business, and he uses his PIs to try and get controversial gossip to undermine my business and partnerships. Saying that, I’d really like to apologise to you for putting you in this situation. Like I said, I hoped we’d be much more established by the time they came after us.”

“That’s a relief to hear, Joe. I’m glad they’re just that and not lunatics. I’ve dealt with too many of those lately.”

“Yes, yes you have.”

YFN hesitated. There was still an unanswered question there. “Joe… what did Mark mean when he said you would bring controversy to the business if people knew you were involved?”

She knew it was a personal question, and fully expected her to respond by saying he was lying. But she didn’t, because she was Joe and she was an honest woman. YFN trusted her.

She gave another heavy sigh. “Okay… okay. I think you need to know. It’s going to be much easier to explain in person. Are you able to get on a flight to my house tonight?”

She wasn’t expecting that. She didn’t care where she lived, she would go. Half out of curiosity to meet the woman, and half for the mystery. “Of course. I can fly from London or Birmingham.”

“Okay, if you head back to Birmingham today, I’ll have my assistant send you flight details for a flight out of Birmingham tonight. You can stay with me a few days. This will be good to fully discuss our future plans together and lay bare my hand. I have to go into a meeting now, but I’ll see you tonight, YFN. Great work again!”

The call ended after their goodbyes and it just left YFN even more curious. She truly didn’t know the woman, and the next few days would certainly be interesting to say the least.

“Lucia.” The teasing voice came from behind.

Lucy turned around as Alexia wandered over to her at the stretching station.

“Why are you smiling at me like that?”

“Because I think your London trip went well, si?” Alexia held that teasing expression. She wasn’t wrong. Besides the long day and minimal sleep, she had been in the best mood she had been for days. Alexia stepped forwards and slapped her face lightly like a proud adult. “The grin is back.”

Lucy tried to get rid of it, but she just couldn’t. If anything, it got wider.

“Thank you for your help, I definitely feel a lot better.”

Alexia tilted her head, giving her a cheeky look that seemed to assume sex had made her this happy. Lucy rolled her eyes at that. They’d definitely gotten a lot closer in the past few days, having supported each other through their relationship issues. “It’s not what you think.”

Alexia’s expression said she didn’t believe her one bit. Her head stayed tilted, her expression cheeky and knowing, and her lips remained a more subtle version of the Cheshire cat.

Lucy laughed and shoved her lightly. “I promise! We just talked and sorted everything out.”

“You feel better?”

“Oh, yes. You get to meet her in six days when she comes to Barca.”

“I look forward to meeting her..”

It made Lucy happy to see Alexia smiling. “And how goes your woman?”

Her smile faltered a little. “We have training-”

“Don’t you back out now. You had a plan.”

“Si, si. But we need to train and the game is Saturday.”

“Saturday afternoon.” Lucy clarified. “So there’s no reason you can’t go on Friday night..”

Alexia thought on it for a few seconds.

“Alexia, Lucy!” Jonatan reminded, pointing to the mats.

They took the hint and began stretching themselves out, both starting with their bad knees. Lucy’s felt much better after YFN had massaged it the night before, and she swear she could have come just from the release of pressure and feel of her hands on her. If only they’d wandered further up-

She caught herself and made herself stop. She was at training. She looked at Alexia who was now rolling her calf and thinking still.

“Would you like me to come?”

Alexia turned to Lucy, surprised. They didn’t usually do things together like that unless they were in a group, but perhaps it was time for that to change.

“Okay,” she said after another few seconds of thought.

“We won’t get drunk or do anything stupid. We’ll just go and have a chat and dinner and see if she turns up.”

“She…might not.”

“And that’s more than okay. We’ll have a good little date out, regardless, yeah?”

“Okay, Lucia. But only if you tell your girlfriend so she doesn’t break her phone if she sees photos.”

Lucy gave a sheepish smile. “She’s a lot better with her emotions than I am.”

“She sounds perfect for you.”

“Are we talking about YFN?” Kiera asked as she walked over and joined in.

“Si.”

“I haven’t met her yet, but Leah says they’re pretty adorable together.”

“I’m right here.” Lucy reminded.

“I know.” Kiera said, giving a little head pat. “But it’s more fun to talk over you.”

Lucy appreciated their relationship and how there wasn’t any jealously, they truly did want the best for each other.

“Are we meeting her this weekend?”

“Who are we meeting this weekend?” Mapi asked as she and Ona joined their ever-extending stretching line. Lucy looked at Ona who seemed curious at their conversation. She hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to her yet as she had arrived late, but she would. She made sure to give her a little smile, knowing it wouldn’t make up for how distant she’d been the past few days.

“Lucy’s girlfriend.”

Ona pouted. She wasn’t unaware of her because she must have seen Lucy’s posts on Instagram, but she still couldn’t help the look of disappointment on her face.

“She’s coming this weekend?” Mapi asked, completely unaware of Ona’s feelings next to her.

“Si,” Alexia said, sharing a look with Lucy that said she’d also noted Ona’s expression. Alexia changed the topic back to their strategies and training, a smart Captain manoeuvre around the previous topic.

YFN received her flight details not long after she’d finished her breakfast. Joe was definitely efficient. She was originally worried at her late flight time, 7pm, until she realised where it was to. Edinburgh. If she’d driven, it would have taken her over eight hours, so she appreciated the flight. Realising she had time to spare, she took her time to shower and pack up before messaging a few fellow Aussies about popping by.

Caitlin: See you soon, chicken! Warning: Kyra seems eager to see you. She’s in her annoying mood.

Erin Cuthbert: All good to pop by, bring snacks and Emma will fall in love with you.

Mackenzie: See you soon, I’ll let the girls know.

Caitlin had introduced YFN to Mackenzie Arnold, Captain of West Ham and goalkeeper of both West Ham and the Matildas during their dinner, and she hadn’t had a chance to see her play during the round so she figured she’d stop by to network and become more of a regular around the players.

She stopped by Chelsea first located south west of London at Cobham as it was the closest. Erin was right, Emma did appreciate the snacks, though she had to sneak some to the players when she wasn’t looking. She had a good catch up with the players and before that, she actually had a fantastic conversation with Emma Hayes. Emma was the manager for Chelsea, notorious for being hard, yet caring for her team. She was one of the best managers in the sport and had led the team to four consecutive WSL victories. When she spoke, it was slow but so excellently worded that everybody stopped to listen, including YFN even as they were alone on the sidelines.

“What you’re doing is so important for these players.” Her accent was rich and unapologetic. “I can’t say I’ve met Joe but I’ve heard of her, and she’s going to be the best thing to happen to this sport in a long time. If she’s chosen you to lead the way, then I know you must be excellent at what you do.”

YFN took the compliment with a smile. They’d been standing on the sidelines, Emma pointing out how they trained and worked strategies and weaknesses. It was all so interesting to her, and she assumed that Emma had appreciated her interest and questions from the compliment she’d just given her.

“I appreciate that, thank you Emma. You don’t think my lack of knowledge in the sport is a weakness?”

“Nah, not at all. I think that’s one of the reasons she chose you. You bring a new perspective. I saw the interviews you did with the other teams, Arsenal, United and such. They were a breath of fresh air to be fair. I’m sick of arguing with media.”

YFN chuckled. “Are they that bad?”

“Oh, sure. And just asking stuuupid fucking questions.”

Emma yelled advice at one of the players across the pitch who put their hand up in acknowledgement.

They spoke for a bit longer, really getting into some deep-seeded issues with media, and needed improvements for the womens game when one of the assistant coaches blew the whistle. Training break. Somehow, Emma had been so inspired by their conversation that she suggested YFN talk to the girls before they had a debrief. She obliged.

YFN had met most of the girls: Millie Bright, Erin Cuthbert, Hannah Hampton, Zecira Musovic, Jess Carter, Niamh Charles, Fran Kirby, Jess Fleming, the list goes on. She was actually quite surprised to see that she only hadn’t met a few of them. Emma gave her a lovely introduction and YFN made herself comfortable on a stool up the front as she dove into a conversation with the group about media and how to make them more comfortable. They had a lot of suggestions, even Emma looking impressed at their eagerness. They spoke for a good half an hour before YFN wrapped it up before it turned into too much banter and ate into Emma’s time. She’d written a lot of notes down and made sure to tell them to message her or come over for a chat at a game anytime.

With that, she took her leave for West Ham over at Chadwell Heath by 11am. Mackenzie was the first to greet her as they were on their lunch break. She was much taller than YFN who had to reach to the sky just to hug her, but she bent down for her.

“I’m used to it with this one!” She’d said, pointing to Kirsty Smith, her partner. Kirsty was Scottish and they’d been dating for over two years. Mackenzie had that sarcastic, Australian sense of humour YFN missed, though she was so soft around Kirsty. It made her think of Lucy.

They let her join for lunch, introducing her to the staff and players. YFN made sure to say hello to their manager, Rehanne Skinner for Emma just as she’d requested. There were only a handful of female managers in WSL, Emma had pointed out, and they supported each other. She also mentioned that Rehanne was a great manager, which was a big compliment from her.

The West Ham team seemed a lot more relaxed than the Chelsea environment, all with their own ambitions and goals. She was introduced around, having a good chat to the team and enjoying her catch up with the young Riko Ueki again who seemed excited to see her. Her most entertaining conversation, however, was with Hawa Cissoko who was a strong French and Malian defender, and notorious for her red cards. She was very vocal about racial abuse and asked YFN to bring awareness to it when possible.

YFN loved the dynamic of the West Ham team, there was such a mix of different nationalities and personalities and she especially appreciated Mackenzie and how she took care of them like a mother bird, especially the shyer players like Riko who was introverted and still a little shy speaking English at times. After joining them for their Subway lunch, and talking around the group for just over an hour, she was off to her final stop.

Her Arsenal girls were at the end of their training day, definitely slowing down and ready for the day to end. Kyra, however, was as young and eager as ever, especially when she saw YFN. Jonas drove YFN down to the field in a golf cart, dropping her off and she barely exited the vehicle when the young midfielder landed on her back, limbs wrapped around her like a spider. YFN was only small and barely managed to stay upright.

“I was told you’re in an annoying mood.”

“That’s rude.”

YFN laughed and hugged the limbs around her. “How are you, little sis?”

“Great! Can I ask you a favour before the girls get here?” She asked into her ear, her chin resting on her shoulder.

“Sure, mate.”

“At the game this weekend…can you ask for Courtney and I to be interviewed together?”

YFN paused. She hadn’t even thought about interviews yet.

She continued. “I don’t care if it’s in a group of us.”

“I can do just you two alone..” She offered. Thinking about it, it would be good to do a young player interview, and then a similar one with older players like Kim Little and Aileen Whelan.

“Can you?!” She squeaked and dropped off of her back as Katie jabbed her in the ribs.

“Chicken!” She was enveloped by the girls.

“Ew, you smell like Chelsea mate.” Caitlin said, scrunching up her nose fakely. YFN rolled her eyes.

“Calm down, mate.”

“We’re pretty much done with trainin’ today,” Katie said as she swung an arm over her shoulder and pulled her along as they began walking back towards the building. “I spoke to Kim and the girls are all keen for a chat.”

Although she didn’t have a favourite team, it was becoming more and more difficult not to as Arsenal had a lot of her heart. The players were all so free to be themselves, and she knew a lot of that was due to Kim and Katie who were the leadership within the team. They made sure it was a safe space and everyone could not only work hard but have fun also. Her chats with the group was more like a night out at town and she had to steer the conversation back to relevance a few more times than with the other teams that day. They all got along well, yet they all also had their little clicks that overlapped a lot. Beth and Viv. Beth, Jen and Steph. Katie and Caitlin. Caitlin, Steph and Kyra. Kyra and Alessia. Alessia and Katie. Alessia and Vic. She was caught unawares by Leah also being there, though she knew she shouldn’t have been surprised. Leah was already back up and running with the team, just not training fully yet. When she saw YFN, she came over for a polite hug and a few pleasantries. YFN could see she wanted to talk about Jordan, but they were too swamped by the eager girls wanting to talk to YFN about interviews, photos and such. She gave her an apologetic smile and made her way around the group for a few hours, or to be more precise, she sat in the same spot as the girls rotated through.

By 2pm she called it, saying goodbye to the team and collecting more than a few hugs on her way out. Her favourite though was the little head taps by Steph.

YFN was loading her work bag into the car when she heard a voice behind her.

“Do you think she’d be mad if I stopped by tonight?”

She turned around to see Leah looking like she needed some advice. “Do you two not have a day to catch up organised?”

“This Friday..”

YFN understood all too well why she didn’t want to wait any longer. “Leah… talk to her. Just talk. If Friday is too far away, then ask her for something sooner.”

“I don’t want to push her. Besides, you can be mediator tonight? That will ease tension a little.”

“Ah, that’s why you’re asking me. Well… I’m not sure if she’d be mad, however I won’t be there tonight.”

“Oh! Spain already?”

“No, Lucy was here last night. Edinburgh actually.”

Leah’s eyebrows shot up. “Lucy was here last night?!”

“Just for a few hours.”

“That’s why you look so happy.” She smirked.

“Don’t do that.” She laughed. “We just had a few things to sort out, as you know.”

“All sorted?”

She nodded. “Better than ever. I’m going to Barca on Friday.”

“What time are you flying out tonight?”

“7pm?”

“Okay… okay I can wait until Friday. I don’t want to mess this up.”

YFN gave her a supportive hug. “You won’t, Leah.”

YFN’S bag was packed for a few days, the peace lily Lucy had gifted her was watered, she’d cuddled with Blu and was just sitting down to an early dinner with Jordan as there came a knock at the door. They looked at each other confused. YFN shrugged and got up. She checked through the peep hole and sighed before opening the door.

“Turns out I can’t wait until Friday…” Leah said apologetically, a bouquet of flowers in her hand.

YFN bit her lip, thinking, and then stepped to the side. She wondered what Jordan’s reaction would be. Leah stepped in slowly and YFN closed the door behind her, leading her to the dining table.

“Who was it?” Jordan asked and turned around, freezing on the spot. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected that. Leah stood awkwardly with the flowers and YFN wanted to disappear.

“Uh…” Jordan struggled to find words.

YFN tried to break the tension. “Do you like ravioli, Leah?”

Leah nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay…I’ll get you a bowl.” She looked at Jordan and gestured to Leah as if to say ‘be nice’.

“They’re pretty.” Jordan said.

“They’re for you.”

Jordan stood and YFN watched as she walked over and took them from Leah, their fingers softly grazing over each other. Both reacted physically to it. “I’ll put them in water. Take a seat.”

Leah sat down as Jordan went to the kitchen to find a vase. “What’s she doing here?!”

“I don’t know.” YFN whispered back. “She said she couldn’t wait until Friday, remember?”

“What am I supposed to say?”

YFN looked at the clock. “We need to go in thirty minutes, can we just talk about football, then you two can do all the talking you want without me.”

Dinner was mainly talking about their days, and YFN’s experiences around the different clubs. It started off awkward, but definitely became a lot more casual. Like roommates having dinner. YFN didn’t realise, but Jordan appreciated her there for the awkward part. Now when she dropped her at the airport, they would have avoided most of that.

Leah helped Jordan clean up, working together at the sink to wash and dry as YFN collected her belongings for the airport. The car ride was funny, Leah in the back listening silently to Jordan telling YFN to be safe and message her if she needed anything. Jordan had been extra protective since hearing about Mark and his friend, as well as Kristie being a maniac as per usual. Leah hadn’t seen that side to Jordan much, and she listened with interest. They dropped her at the airport and YFN gave Jordan and apologetic look before she hugged her, whispering in her ear.

“She loves you, Dory. Just be patient and be honest with what you need, okay? I’m a phone call away.”

Jordan’s hug tightened, nodding into her shoulder.

“Also, if she doesn’t sleep in your bed, she’s more than welcome to sleep in mine.”

Jordan scoffed and pulled away with a grin, slapping her arm.

“What? You have needs.”

She turned to Leah and gave her a hug and Jordan jumped back into the drivers seat. “She’s just as nervous as you are, Leah. Communicate, okay?”

“Thanks, YFN. Fly safe.”

“You’re welcome. And I’ll definitely try.”

The flight was short, barely an hour, and unfortunately it was too dark to see Edinburgh as they descended through the clouds. YFN hadn’t known what to expect once she arrived, the only note in her flight details being ‘private car hire to meet at airport.’ She exited with her smaller carry-on suitcase and immediately saw the sign with her name on it. The driver looked professional in his suit and insisted on taking her luggage. He introduced himself as David and was a polite, middle-aged gentleman who guided her into the backseat of the dark Mercedes before taking his place in the driver’s seat.

“How long is the drive?”

“Just over an hour, ma’am.”

An hour?!

“Do you know Joe?”

“I do. I’ve worked with her for quite a few years now.”

“How would you describe her?”

“She’s a smart businesswoman. A great mother. A role-model. A creative genius. She’s kind and very well read.”

“Did she…tell you anything about me?”

“Oh, I know all about you, ma’am. It’s wonderful what you are doing together. My daughters are still young and love playing football. We need this exposure, so they have a better pathway and more incentive.”

He knew all about her? What they were doing?

“Do you know why I’m here?”

David paused. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Is there anything you can tell me before we get there?”

“That’s really not for me to say, ma’am. It will all make sense when we arrive.”

What was this big secret?

They spoke a little more during the drive, YFN a little tired as they passed the 9pm mark. Eventually they turned off of the bitumen road and onto a long gravel driveway. She watched as a large estate came into view, still very much lit up, the warm lights escaping through the many windows of the large stone building. If she had to describe it, she’d say it was almost gothic, though repurposed to suit an English ambiance.

David stopped at the front of the steps leading up to the entrance. He insisted that YFN go ahead, claiming he’d take her bag to her room for her.

She walked up the steps, not knowing what she was getting herself into and as she raised her hand to knock, the door swung open. A man stood there, looking just as neat and tidy as David.

“YFN, lovely to meet you. Welcome. My name is Benjamin, and I’m the estate manager. Please come in.”

YFN smiled and introduced herself, entering and found her eyes were immediately wandering, looking up down, all around at the architecture of the place. Although an old building, it had modern refurbishments and she couldn't help but appreciate it, but also wonder at its cost. Where was she? Did Joe have some sort of link to royalty? Nothing else made sense. Until it did.

“You made it.” YFN turned to the voice she’d heard several times on the phone and whatever she was expecting, it wasn’t that. Her mouth physically dropped.

It all made sense now. The company. The secrecy. The controversy. The fact that they’d never met before. Why she’d hired her, a writer, in the first place, of all people.

Holy shit. It can’t be.

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feroluce · 1 day

Text

For some weird reason, I've always been fascinated by how wildly different Sampo operates in the Underground vs the Overworld.

Sampo is present in both places and even in official sources, he's not really counted as one side or the other- now that the theory has been confirmed in-game, he's generally just lumped in with the Masked Fools.

But there really is a big difference!

Probably the most obvious and well known instance of Sampo's...business practices *cough burglary and fraud COUGH* in the Overworld is from the Belobog Museum event. In it, you don't find out Sampo is the main culprit until near the end, because Pela has to set up a sting just to catch him in the act. And that sting is necessary all because the initial suspect they arrested, Norbert, had pretty much no idea of his partner's identity. Sampo wouldn't even speak to him face-to-face.

And whereas Sampo is normally very pleasant and friendly with the trailblazer...when he thinks he's talking to Norbert here, he straight up says that they are NOT friends. Like he really shuts that shit DOWN.

There's also an Overworld NPC, Chavez, who heads the "Dark Blue Scam Support Group." And he. Really really really does not like Sampo fjkdasjklfdj

Chavez clearly wants Sampo caught, and has literally no positive feelings about him. So. Why call it the Dark Blue Scam? Why not just out him by name? Chavez obviously doesn't give a single shit about Sampo's dignity or privacy. But he never once refers to him as "Sampo," and even the pamphlets he passes out make no mention of it. No one in the entire support group seems to know how to identify him or how to refer to him except by his hair color. If the trailblazer says his name, Chavez reacts as though he's never heard it before.

(I've seen people say this means Sampo Koski is an alias and not his real name? But Ray pointed this out, and honestly I agree; even the Fools call him Sampo, after all. I think it's just that Chavez never knew Sampo's name in the first place, and given his immense distrust, immediately assumes it's an alias.)

And then there's his characters stories, where he proceeds to pull off a heist in the Overworld while in disguise as Brughel Poisson the entire time. Literally his own stories don't mention Sampo's name even once.

So anyway, all this shows that when he's up in the Overworld working cons, Sampo is incredibly slippery and secretive about his identity. The only people who seem to know him are Pela, Serval, and Gepard. He doesn't get close to anyone else, and is even surprisingly unfriendly. Nobody knows his name. No one knows his face. He has zero qualms about backstabbing or double-crossing, and even plans for it in some cases.

Meanwhile, down in the Underground, I'm pretty sure literally the worst thing we hear of him doing is scalping tickets in front of the Fight Club. Which isn't even illegal in a lot of places (although it's certainly a dick move).

In Hook's companion quest, a vagrant miner steals Fersman's equipment and tries to sell it to Sampo. Even before the trailblazer and Hook jump in and out the vagrant as a thief, Sampo hesitates to buy it because it sounds like stolen goods, which he doesn't want any part of.

Even knowing that a geomarrow detector is rare and incredibly valuable in the mines, Sampo makes no attempt to double-cross Hook or profit off of her loss, and even tells her who to go to to get it fixed.

And my favorite example of Sampo in the Underground is the Survival Wisdom adventure mission. In it, Sampo starts up a business with Peak, another miner. And like. In wild contrast to all the cons he pulls above ground, Sampo is actually super nice and helpful here.

Just the same as with Hook's quest, Sampo talks to Peak face-to-face, with no disguises or barriers. When the trailblazer finds them, they're just in the Great Mine, no secretive meeting places. Peak knows Sampo, is familiar with him, and calls him by name. It's not even a con! There's nothing illegal going on; it really is just a business partnership. Peak is more than happy with their deal, he's even pretty enthusiastic about it, because thanks to Sampo he can now make enough money to get by while also accommodating his chronic fatigue.

The only person Sampo lies to in this whole ordeal is the trailblazer, who he manipulates into getting Peak's mining equipment back from the vagrants that stole it in the first place. And when it's done, he rewards them with a legit treasure map.

So when he's working in the Underground, Sampo is MUCH more upright and lawful. Part of this is probably to do with his "business" model- Sampo only takes advantage of the wealthy, and poverty runs rampant in the Underground. When he charges Peak an extra 30% (the same percentage he charges Norbert as a consultation fee in the museum heists- Sampo seems to go by percentage instead of a flat rate, which means his prices are more fair for lower incomes) for carelessly losing their supply, Peak literally starts counting out pocket change.

Dude's working for pennies and good will down there dknsmdmd

And you can twist this into a Robin Hood thing if you want- Sampo IS technically working to feed orphans and heal the sick. He says himself he's more than happy to make up the shortfall between the greedy and the marginalized- I mean he says it in the shadiest way possible, but I doubt the people benefiting from his work really care that he's a slimeball if it means they can survive another day. Even the two heists he pulls in his character stories are literally just him stealing absurd amounts of food.

Personally though I think it is solely because of Natasha, and Sampo is hilariously well-behaved specifically for her, because she keeps him on a short leash JSKZJMSMSKS

#honkai star rail #sampotasha #hsr natasha #sampo koski #hsr sampo #hsr #today's post is brought to you by the letter Y. for the Yaps fdklsajfkd #'for some weird reason' I say only to realize through writing this post that the reason I like it so much is because I think-#-Natasha having Sampo by the short hairs is funny dkxjmskskdmdm #so sampotasha if you want or Sampo & Natasha if you want either or #I love Sampo behaving just for her because she holds a LOT of power in the Underground and he knows she could destroy him if she wanted #she could blacklist his business and run him out of Boulder Town if she really thought she needed to #Natasha exiled her own brother who eventually died in the cold because he was running unethical medical experiments on unknowing civilians #and granted what Sampo does is nowhere NEAR as bad as that but she also probably does not have nearly as much mercy for him dkdjdmkskd #I'd like to think they hold a decent amount of camaraderie for each other though. and maybe even some affection.#they work together like all the time after all. sampo is in the clinic with natasha so much that hook thought he was really sick.#and for as much as he relies on her for business she also relies on him for resources.#it's not really an exaggeration to say a LOT more people would be dead without Sampo constantly smuggling goods across the border.#maybe I should just make a post about their relationship sometime because I do very much love it skzjkskdk

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hayakawalove · 21 days

Text

Test of Love (Chapter Five)

Chapter Five

All Chapters

Summary: You and Satoru talk about the recent attacks. After he leaves, Suguru comes to your house. A/N: Hello! I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. It was really fun to write and I've been building it up a lot. Comments always appreciated!

CW: Smut, Vaginal Sex, Cunnilingus, Unprotected Sex, Dirty Talk, Hair Pulling, Fem Reader, AFAB Reader W/C: 7,333

Credit to Benkeibear for the banner

Your apartment was excruciatingly quiet, the only sounds were coming from your fingers as you picked at your shirt, and the low hum of your AC.

He was going to be here any second now. Any second.

Satoru was coming to your house tonight to go over potential suspects regarding the attacks on the school. He was the one who suggested the idea. In theory it sounded great. After proposing it, he quickly followed up saying he wanted to do it at your house, which left you feeling a bit nervous.

The loud sound of your doorbell shakes you from your thoughts, causing you to jump to your feet. He’s here. You rush to the door, gripping the handle tightly as you swing it open. Satoru’s standing there with a pile of papers shoved under his arm.

“Satoru!” You say.

Before you can greet him properly, he’s leaning down and grabbing your face. His lips press against yours in a rather rushed way, the taste of him seeping into your mouth. You fly your hands up and grip his shirt, eventually pushing your lips against his. He’s grinning by the time he’s pulling away, leaning over you.

“Hey.” He responds, cooly.

You try to self regulate your breathing while he slips past you into your apartment. The air immediately shifts around you the second Satoru enters your place, a fact that is not lost on you. No matter where he went, he shifted it.

You carefully shut the door behind you as you turn around, taking in the sight of Satoru in your house. He’s dropped you off before, but he’s never been inside. Everything looks small surrounding him, briefly making you wonder if you’ve actually lived in a dollhouse this whole time.

Satoru takes in his surroundings, before making his way to your couch and sitting down. He splays the papers out on the coffee table in front of him, pulling his blindfold down at the same time.

Stunning.

You suppress a groan at the sight of his blue eyes, instead choosing to slide into the seat next to him. Your hands are sweaty, and you aren't sure if it’s because of your anxiety about the attacks or because Satoru was in your house.

“What’s the matter with you?” Satoru asks, handing you half a stack of papers.

You grab it and quickly flick through the pile, mentally groaning at the amount.

“I’m just worried about what’s been happening at the school.”

You had no reason to believe it was anything scary, anything scarier than what was considered normal at least. But there was a nagging feeling in the back of your brain telling you that something wasn’t right.

“That's why I’m here, right?” Satoru kicks up his feet on your coffee table.

Satoru had brought over a stack of curse users that Jujutsu High was keeping an eye on. It was bigger than you were expecting. You were hoping the answer would lie somewhere in the list. Now that you were looking at how many there were, you were sure statistically speaking they had to be in there, you wouldn't be surprised if the whole damn population of Tokyo was in it.

You heave out a sigh and look down at your half. The first page greets you, a man named Tetsuya Nakamura was listed, his picture staring right at you. He looked like the definition of evil, his dark eyes staring straight at you.

How were you going to narrow down the list?

“I have an update about the last attack. Remember how some trees were lit on fire?” Satoru asks, his gaze flicking through the first paper before he sets it down. “Turns out there were remnants of cursed energy on the remains of the trees. Someone used their technique to light it up.”

Well that would help in knowing what to look for. It didn’t make you feel any more relieved though, knowing there was someone who could light the school on fire lurking around.

“So look for someone who can start a fire, got it.” You mumble, setting Nakamura’s page to the side. As scary as he looked, he wouldn't have been able to do it.

The room is mostly silent as the two of you look through the files of what Tokyo’s most evil had to offer.

It felt like hours had passed as the two of you searched, the sun slowly setting outside your windows.

��Aha, there he is.” Satoru murmurs to himself, pulling a paper out and looking at it.

You perk your head up to see who he’s talking about. Mahiro Kawaguchi. He doesn’t look at all like what you’d expect a curse user to look like. He's skinny with short brown hair, his eyes holding something like humor in them.

“Who’s that?” You ask.

Satoru sets his stack of papers down, eyes drawn into Mahiro.

“He's a pretty infamous fire user. The kids been on our radar for months but we’ve always had bigger fish to fry. I think he's probably the most fitting out of what we have.”

You had never heard of the guy, but that didn’t really surprise you. The elders had their eyes on many people, most of which you probably didn’t even know existed.

“This whole thing is weird, Satoru.”

Something was off about this situation. At first, you thought that they were doing multiple attacks to wear everyone down. But it's been going on for so long, wouldn’t something have happened by now? It feels like there’s a missing piece, one you can’t quite wrap your head around.

Satoru looks up at you expectantly.

“Why hasn’t anything happened yet? If they were going to hit us with something major, they would've done it by now, right?” You ask, dropping your pile of papers on the coffee table.

Satoru looks away for a moment to think, his teeth digging inside his cheek.

“I think so. I'm also really confused about how they burned that patch of trees down. I checked the schedule for the day, and the graduates came as soon as we left. They should have caught them.”

If that was the case, why didn’t they?

You dig the heels of your palms in your eyes, feeling the onset of a migraine coming on. Two mysteries you had to solve, and you weren’t sure how much time you had.

Tilting your head to the side, you notice Satoru is staring at the ceiling. You were never sure if you wanted to catch a glimpse inside his mind or not. Just what did someone like Satoru think about? How much did he know?

“And I mean, Mahiro is a dumbass. The nature of it all doesn’t suit him. He never takes a slow approach. But his curse technique fits it the best. Unless, it’s someone completely new which will be a fucking headache.” Satoru taps his foot lightly against your floor.

He looks down through snow white lashes, making eye contact with you. He looks weary and broken down, exhaustion seeping through his features. It's sick, but you feel relief at the sight of him lowering his guard down for you. It was a sight not many had seen, other than Suguru.

It would be nice to have a break. Jujutsu was constantly on your mind. You loved it and found it fascinating, but god did you want to feel ignorant for just a moment.

“Why don’t we take a breather?” You ask, praying that Satoru will agree to it.

“Sounds good to me.” Satoru sets Mahiro’s paper on the coffee table.

“It's got me so stressed and I’m not even sure why.” You groan.

You deal with much more stressful things on a regular basis, there was no reason for you to feel worried about this. You raise a hand to press your fingertips into your temple, whimpering at the pain.

You’re too focused on your self pity that you don’t notice Satoru inching closer and closer to you.

“Do you need help relaxing?” Satoru grabs your arm, pulling it away from your face.

His cologne overwhelms your senses, making your brain short circuit. You weren’t horny, you weren’t even close, but the second his skin made contact with yours it felt like sex was the only thing on your mind.

“I'm not sure you make me feel relaxed.” You mutter, flicking your eyes to his lips.

Wasn’t that the truth. He made your heart race, your skin tingle, and your mind reel. Relaxed was the furthest thing he made you feel.

“Really? How do I make you feel then?” His face is closer to yours now, and you can feel the heat of his breath gracing your cheeks.

“I can show you.” You respond.

His lips smash into yours, causing a soft moan to slip from your mouth. Satoru smiles into the kiss, turning his body to face you more. The size difference is glaringly obvious as he turns you to face him, maneuvering your bodies to lay on the couch. Lean muscles sink into your flesh, making your back arch.

Satoru tastes like strawberry as his lips meld to yours. You would expect nothing else from the self proclaimed sweets enthusiast. Your arms wrap around his neck, tugging him down towards you as your lips part. Satoru takes the chance to slide his tongue into your mouth, grazing yours. Kissing Satoru was nothing like kissing Suguru. He was rushed, hard, and desperate. Suguru was more methodical, drawing you out until you wanted to beg. The two balanced each other out perfectly, neither being better than the other. Satoru’s breathing picks up as he feels you reciprocate his neediness. The room is filled with the sounds of lips smacking and quiet groans exchanged between the two of you.

You lace your fingers in his feathery hair, giving it a soft tug. Satoru’s brows furrow as he moans into your mouth. It shouldn’t surprise you, Satoru being a loud lover made sense. His groin is pressed against yours as his tongue tangles with yours. You shift your hips up until you can feel his bulge, sliding your pussy against it to get a reaction. You had yet to see it, but you knew his cock was perfect. There was not a doubt in your mind that it would ruin you.

Satoru pulls away to catch his breath, peering down at you. The proximity leaves you breathless, you were at the mercy of the man above you as you were trapped. His eyes are even more beautiful up close if that was even possible. Satoru pushes himself against you, smirking at the way your lips part. You wanted to rip your clothes off and get on your knees to beg for more, you certainly weren’t above it. But the game you were playing with him felt nice, the two of you waiting to see who would break first.

Your pussy clenches at the weight of his cock pressing into you. Even through layers of fabric your body calls for him. You moan out as Satoru pushes against you harder, somehow finding your clit. He grinds against you at a slow pace, his cock beginning to weep inside his pants. Satoru hadn’t been intimate with anyone besides Suguru in a long time, you could almost see the excitement leaking from his pores.

“Satoru, I need-“ you moan once more, your eyes squeezing shut.

“What do you need?” Satoru asks.

You’re pathetic.

You’re pathetic, but you don’t care. You open your eyes and look up at him, lust lighting up your features.

“Need you, need you bad.” You mutter.

Satoru lets out a shaky breath as he presses his lips against yours once more. There’s an urgency this time as he grinds against you faster, his hands gliding down your body.

God likes playing jokes on you, you think. Satoru’s phone blares as he gets a call, disrupting the flow. You desperately want to beg him not to answer it, not to even check who’s calling. But Satoru is a busy man, and you can’t be selfish with his time.

Satoru relents and pulls away, reaching for his phone. You don’t get the chance to see who’s calling him before he picks up.

“What?” His voice makes you feel bad for whoever’s on the other line.

Your chest heaves as you stare up at him, waiting for him to say he had to go. Satoru hangs up and sits on his ankles, his eyes dancing across your figure.

“I'm sorry, I have-.” He begins, sadness leaking from his words.

“I-it’s okay. Go. We can continue this later.” You assure, trying to keep your voice level.

You’re hoping you don’t look as disheveled as you feel. Satoru tugs your shirt down, pressing a kiss against your lips. A string tugs at your heart as you watch the world's strongest sorcerer pull himself up, standing while he adjusts his hair.

“I’ll call you.” He promises, gathering all the papers.

“Be safe.”

Satoru’s eyes flick up to you as if he's caught off guard. How many people have told him to be safe before? He cracks a grin that feels superficial at best before making his way to your door.

“Later!” He bids you farewell before slipping out of your apartment.

You’re met with the harsh silence that falls over your house, a heavy weight resting against your shoulders. Satoru’s presence was so large that the second he left it felt like a hole was carved out of your chest. This sucked. Not only were you sad, but you could feel stickiness between your legs, the result of all the teasing Satoru put you through.

The bastard.

You slowly sit up, releasing a shaky breath as you do so. Your stomach begins to twist as you suddenly realize that it’s dinner time, and you hadn’t had anything to eat since the half doughnut you stole from Satoru in the break room before lunch.

Your eyes glance to the kitchen where you feel dread build up in you. Cooking was the last thing you wanted to do. A chime breaks you from your inner debate.

Suguru: hey

Suguru: what’s up?

You smile at your phone, typing out a response.

You: Satoru just left so now I’m trying to figure out what to eat

Suguru: I can pick up food and bring it over?

You bite your lip as you try to hold back a smile.

You: yes please

Suguru comes to your house within 15 minutes, a soft smile on his lips as he holds up the plastic bag of take out.

“You have no idea how excited I am to see you.” You exclaim.

Suguru slides past you and sets the bag on your counter.

“Are you excited to see me or the food?” He asks as he chuckles, opening the bag. He had gotten yakisoba from your favorite place down the street, a while ago you made an off handed comment to him about how much you loved it. He remembered.

“Hmm, can it be both?” You tease back, appreciating him from behind.

Him and Satoru looked so large in your apartment.

You go to your kitchen to grab extra plates for the two of you. It feels entirely domestic, the way Suguru dishes out the dinner for you. You almost feel angry at Satoru for hiding this man for so long. Then again, if he was yours, you wouldn't exactly be jumping at the chance to share him.

While you eat together, Suguru tells you about his day. It sounded like he was on campus helping Yaga with a project, which apparently was a common occurrence. It honestly blew your mind at how often he went to the school, you had no idea how you managed to miss each other this entire time.

Your stomach is happier with you by the time you’re done. You don’t want Suguru to leave yet, so you ask if he wants to watch a movie with you.

That's how you find yourselves in your bed, his large frame beneath you as you rest your head on his chest. You focus on the way his heart beats underneath you while he strums your back, eyes watching the movie playing on your screen. The two of you aren’t really paying attention, only sort of understanding what was happening in the movie.

“What’d you and Satoru do?” Suguru asks.

“Not much, he came over to look at suspects for the problem we’ve been having at the school.” You conveniently leave out the part where you grinded against each other like a bunch of horny teenagers.

Suguru hums.

“You’ve heard about it, right?” You turn to look at him.

Suguru’s fox eyes drag to your face and you have to remind yourself to breathe normally.

“Yeah, Satoru’s told me a bit. It’s sort of weird.” Suguru slides his hand down your arm, causing a chill to run up your spine.

“That’s what I was saying! It just doesn’t make sense.” You respond. “There’s the fire which was weird, and apparently Satoru doesn’t understand how the graduates missed the last attack, since they should have been there. There’s also an uptick of curses near the school.”

Suguru’s eyes look up in thought.

“That's the part that’s weird to me. There hasn’t been any recent tragedies there, so there shouldn’t be curses there.” Suguru chooses his words carefully before speaking. “It’s almost like it has something to do with someone with curse manipulation, but that can’t be right. It’s not very common, and I would’ve heard of someone else with it.”

Well you had never thought of it like that before. If Suguru thought it was weird, then surely it was. Suguru had curse manipulation so he would understand the signs.

Hold on.

It dawns on you.

Not only are you seeing Satoru, the strongest sorcerer of your time, but you’re also seeing Suguru, arguably the next strongest sorcerer.

Your eyes widen before you force the surprise back down. You knew they were both strong, but there was never really thought put into it. You remember your thoughts from when you first saw Suguru in the bookstore where you told yourself you could handle him, what a joke.

“What’s wrong?” Suguru asks, pulling you from spiraling.

“I just realized how strong you guys are, I’ve never really thought about it before.”

“You just realized? I feel like Satoru never lets people forget.” Suguru grins in amusement.

“Fair.” You laugh to yourself.

You wrap your arm around his chest, appreciating all the muscles underneath you. You think he shudders at the action, but you aren't sure if your mind’s playing tricks on you.

“You’re strong too, you know.” You speak softly.

Suguru’s body goes rigid for half a second before relaxing underneath your touch. You look up towards him, his deep eyes causing your breathing to stutter. It’s hard to tell who moves first, but your lips are on each other in an instance. It was soft and calculated the way his mouth moved against yours. Nothing like Satoru. You feel Suguru’s hand thread against the back of your hair, and you gasp in surprise. Suguru smirks to himself and takes the opportunity to glide his tongue inside your mouth, stroking yours. More, you needed more. You press your mouth harder against him, wrapping your tongue around his.

“Eager, are we?” Suguru pulls back to say.

He had no idea.

You hadn’t cum in days, and the boys were both teasing you the whole time.

Were they even aware of what they were doing?

“Please.” You mumble, your lips brushing against his as you speak.

Suguru pulls back to look into your eyes. You probably looked a mess. You felt like a mess. His eyes slide across your face, taking in your features.

“Tell me what you need.” He asks.

Just like Satoru.

“More.” You respond.

Suguru runs his tongue along his bottom lip before pushing his mouth against yours. You yelp in surprise, grateful to feel his body against yours once more. It was hard to breathe when you kissed him, but you weren’t sure if that was because your mouth was occupied, or because of who you were kissing.

Suguru keeps his lips on yours as he slides out from underneath you, throwing his leg over your body as he hovers over you. All you could see, feel, smell, taste was Suguru. You could hardly get enough.

He uses one hand to tilt your face up, guiding his tongue against yours as he balances his weight on a hand beside your head.

Jealousy strikes through you at the insight that Satoru had this every night.

You push your hips up in an attempt to create friction with something, but you’re met with open air. Suguru chuckles above you, removing his lips to watch you. Yellow eyes flick to your lips before back up and you have to force yourself to breathe.

“I can’t believe Satoru got to you before me.” He insinuates. You know exactly what he’s talking about.

“He-he didn’t. Not really.”

Suguru’s face draws in surprise. Hold on. Satoru didn't tell Suguru how far the both of you went? That was surprising. It was hard to tell whether or not you were grateful. You couldn’t figure out why Satoru would keep it from Suguru. Maybe because he wanted something to hold over his head?

“Really?”

“We just, he uh,” you look away. “He ate me out but that’s all.”

If you were looking at Suguru you would have seen the mischievous glint that flashed across his face. He brings your gaze back to his, craving to see the look in your eyes.

“Is that so?” Suguru trails his finger from your jaw to your throat.

You can feel your pulse beneath his finger, the fragility of your body completely in the grasp of the man above you.

“Y-yes.”

Suguru smiles, but it’s not the smile you know. It’s dark and nerve wracking, as if millions of ideas were flashing through his head. It would have scared you, you think, if it didn’t excite you.

Suguru grabs your throat with a gentle but firm hand and tilts your head up. You’re completely at his mercy as he dips his face down, moving his hand to press his lips against your neck. Your hands fly up to grip his shoulders as he places soft kisses along your tender flesh. It's a ruse and you know it. Suguru was kind, protective, and trustworthy. But he was also strong, assertive, and domineering. You’d heard the rumors about him. Ruthless in a fight, they said. You were starting to wonder if that applied in the bedroom as well.

Suguru leans back to look at your neck before going in again, his teeth now digging in you. You yelp and hold onto him tighter, briefly spasming underneath him at the sharpness of his fangs. Suguru sucks your skin into his mouth, pulling back to glide his tongue over the injury. Your head is dizzy at the switch, and you’re almost left wondering if he bit you at all. He finally graces you with friction as he lowers himself towards you, pressing his cock against you. You gasp out, pushing yourself up more to get even a little bit of pleasure.

Suguru looks at your face as you try to angle your hips correctly, an amused expression on his face. You don’t care how you look. You just need it, and you need it bad. Suguru reaches up to gently push your hair out of your face before he kisses you again. Your attention is split between his lips and his hand as it glides down your body, resting at your waist as he slides it beneath your shirt. Your breathing is coming out much more heavily now as his fingers make their way to your chest. He pushes his hand underneath your bra, trailing across your breast. You pull away to groan as he slides his thumb on your nipple, causing your head to spine.

Off, you need it off.

You reach down to tug your shirt off, throwing it across your bedroom. Suguru instantly looks towards your exposed skin, pushing your bra up.

It had been awhile since you had sex with someone and your anxiety was finally starting to catch up.

You fidget beneath him, tempted to cover up. Maybe he didn’t like what he was seeing?

Before your doubts can eat you alive, Suguru is leaning down, his breath brushing across your sensitive skin.

“God…” he speaks to himself before taking one of your nipples in his mouth.

You moan and arch up into his mouth, his tongue grazing across your nipple. He uses his hand to pinch the other nipple, making your body shake beneath him. You twist underneath him, his heavy breath gliding across your skin as he switches breasts. You throw your head back, keeping your eyes closed. You couldn’t look at him. You may cum on the spot if you did.

Suguru sits up and looks down at you, enjoying the sight of you withering underneath him. You open your eyes to peer up at him, your hands carefully reaching out to tug on his shirt. You wanted more of him. Suguru pulls it off his head and tosses it near yours, before pressing kisses down your stomach. You twitch underneath him, his velvet lips leaving goosebumps as he goes.

Squirming beneath him, you dig your teeth into your bottom lip as he carefully pulls your pants down. Excitement bubbles up in your veins, but your legs try to squeeze shut once you're exposed.

A rush of cool air brushes against your exposed pussy, making you clench around nothing. Suguru’s eyes are focused on your core, his strong hands keeping your legs apart. He lifts a hand towards you, pressing his thumb against your clit.

“You’re so beautiful.” He says, the tone of his voice making you want to curl in on yourself.

“H-hah!” You groan, your body spasming as you try to push against his finger harder.

Suguru’s eyes carefully trail back up to your face to watch your reactions as his thumb begins to swirl against your clit. It was the perfect amount of pressure, you think. Not too hard, not too soft. Your lips are parted as you look down to watch him rub your clit.

“You’re so wet already.” Suguru observes, flicking his eyes down to your pussy.

“Me and Satoru uh…” Suguru pauses his thumb and looks up at you.

Should you tell him?

“We made out and grinded against each other, but he had to leave.”

If you talked about any other man with someone else, you were sure the other guy would be pissed. But that wasn’t the case with Satoru and Suguru.

A hunger flares across Suguru’s face as he listens to you, your heart fluttering.

“He just left you like this?”

You dig your teeth into your lip and look up at him.

“Why don’t I take care of you?” He asks, starting to rub his thumb again as he looks into your eyes.

You aren’t even sure how to beg him for it, so you just whimper a “please”. Suguru smiles and slides down your body until his face is right in front of your pussy.

Your hands rest against your thighs as you stare down at him, his face mere inches away from where you needed him most. It was scary, you wondered what was going through his mind as he looked down at you.

“So fucking perfect.” He murmurs, looking up at you as he leans in.

The first lick is a shock to your system, and the second restarts your brain. Suguru slides his tongue through your folds several times to taste the wetness that clings to you, before focusing on your clit. You moan out and lift a hand up to rest on Suguru’s head, unable to run your fingers through his hair, as it was tied up in a bun. Suguru wraps his lips around your clit and gives a harsh suck making you arch your back. Just like kissing, Suguru was completely opposite of Satoru when it came to eating you out. Satoru was messy, and overwhelming. Suguru was slow, choosing to draw out your moans for as long as possible. You think Suguru would keep doing this forever if only to torture you.

“Pull it.” Suguru orders, speaking directly into you as he reaches up to take his hair from the bun.

The hair falls against your thighs, briefly tickling you before he flicks it back behind him. Why was such a small action so fucking hot? You tentatively run a hand through his hair before gripping it, unsure of how hard to pull. Suguru grins against you as he licks your clit again. Your hand is shaky as it holds his hair, and it seemed like Suguru wanted to change that. He continues to eat you out as he lifts a hand up to wrap around yours, tightening your grip on his hair. He pulls his hand back a bit, causing you to tug his black locks harder than you would’ve if he didn’t help. Didn’t that hurt? Suguru groans into your pussy, the noise making you go cross eyed. He liked it rough.

You keep pulling his hair with the same harshness once he releases his hold on you. His tongue trails down until it finds your pussy, sliding in once, twice, before pressing against you and keeping it inside. The moans filling your room are pornographic, the sound almost making you flustered. You couldn’t dwell on how ridiculous you sounded, not with the way Suguru was tongue fucking you.

“So sweet, I'm a bit jealous that Satoru got a taste first.” He says as he pulls back, staring at the way your clit twitches beneath his gaze.

“At least I get to have you fully first.” Suguru is talking to himself you think, because there’s no way in hell he expects you to respond.

Suguru licks your clit slowly several times before sucking it again, making you pull on his hair even harder. Your other hand is holding his next to your hips, fingers intertwined. He’s breathing hard against you as he brings you closer to the edge, you almost wondered if he was going to cum too.

You can feel yourself getting closer and closer, but you almost don’t want to cum. You wanted to stay in this state forever, the pleasure of being trapped beneath Suguru’s mouth leaving you breathless.

“S-Suguru it feels-“ You let out a moan, looking down at his face between your legs.

“Tell me how it feels, baby.” He’s muttering against your skin, lips finding their way back to you instantly.

“Fuck- feels so good Suguru, you’re gonna make me c- I’m gonna cum!” You sob, feeling your pussy rhythmically twitch.

Suguru doesn’t respond, at least you don’t think he does. You can’t hear anything besides the loud moans you’re releasing and the sounds of his tongue making contact with your dripping core. Suguru continues sucking your clit until your body goes completely stiff under him as you cum on his tongue. He uses it to his advantage as he sucks you through it, your groans only encouragement for him.

When he stops, you briefly wonder if you’ve died and gone to heaven. He looks like a saint between your twitching thighs, his lips covered in your release as his eyes look heavy with lust.

Even though you had just cum, you wanted more.

“How’d that feel?” His soft voice floats over to your ears as he runs his hands down your thighs.

Incredible, breathtaking, time stopping. You don’t think you’ve cum like that in years, if ever. The only other time you felt just as good was when you came on Satoru’s tongue.

“G-Good.” Your voice is shaky as his hands continue to run along your skin.

Why did he ask? Could he not see how you looked underneath him? Maybe he just wanted to hear you say it.

“I’m glad, it’s been awhile since I…” he trails off as he takes in the sight of your form beneath him, his eyes darkening.

You tremble beneath him as aftershocks flow through your body.

“Can I… I wanna…” you try to reach up to tug at his pants.

Suguru grins and takes your hands into his.

“Not now, I just wanna be inside you.” His voice is low and dangerous, the tone of a man who was going to ruin you.

Suguru’s eyes flick up to yours before something dawns on him.

“I don’t have condoms.” He’s speaking more to himself than you.

Suguru hadn’t been fucking anyone besides Satoru in years. It wasn’t like Satoru was going to get pregnant. Neither of them had any need to get them.

He pulls away to sit on his heels as he looks at you, a disappointed look on his face.

“We shouldn’t…” he mutters.

There was no way in hell you were stopping.

You had condoms in your nightstand, but you didn’t really want to use them. You wanted to feel Suguru wholly and completely.

“I'm on birth control.” You reach out to grab his hand again to tug him towards you.

You were on it, and you don’t think you had ever been so glad you started it until this point. You sent gratitude to your past self, grateful that you had the future insight to start birth control. Suguru searches your eyes and you try to translate just how badly you wanted him.

“Are you sure?” He asks.

“I'm sure.”

Suguru presses his lips against yours and the taste of your cum leaks into your mouth. He wasn’t rushing, but you could feel the underlying sense of urgency in his touch. He holds your face with one hand as he begins to unbuckle his pants with the other. Your pulse is erratic in excitement as he pulls the clothing down past his cock, and you're too distracted with his lips to look.

Suguru pulls away, the string of saliva connecting your lips tearing apart as he tugs his pants off the rest of the way. You stare at the way his luscious hair hangs from his head, memories of what it felt like between your fingers.

“Ready?” He asks, snapping your attention back to him.

“Y-yeah I’m r-“ you start, looking down at his cock.

Holy fucking shit.

Suguru’s eyebrows raise as you stare at him, his leaky tip standing rock hard. He was joking, right? You knew it was big from the way it felt in the club, but you were not expecting this.

His face relaxes as he realizes what you're staring at. He smiles before grabbing your hip. His thumb smoothes along your skin while you look up at him, your eyes wide.

“It's okay baby.”

“Suguru, I don’t think, it’s not gonna,” your hole clenches as you try to imagine fitting all of him inside you.

“Trust me.” He kisses your forehead and you feel your defenses start to fall. When he said that, it was hard not to.

“I'll be right here this whole time.” He says lowly, pulling away.

You take a deep breath and spread your legs wider, staring at him as he situates himself between your legs. His cock nudges your entrance and you know it’s going to hurt more if you watch, but you can't look away.

At least you were dripping.

Suguru holds his cock as it pushes against your pussy, sliding in easily. Your mouth drops open as he starts to fill you up.

“Relax for me, I got you.” He speaks softly to you, and you will your tense muscles to calm down.

It works enough that he can slide into you even more, making you whimper in response. Your walls are clinging tightly to him as he pushes into you, nice and slow.

You throw your head back and shudder as Suguru takes his hand off his cock, resting his grip on your sides. He’s halfway in, but it still feels deeper than anyone you’ve had before. He leans on his forearms above you as he slides the rest of the way in, his body going completely still to let you warm up.

“Y-you’re so,” You stutter, your voice airy as you try to speak.

It pinches slightly, your pussy spreading wide to accommodate his size.

“I know, I know. Look at me.”

You lift your head up to look into Suguru’s eyes. He’s showing concern as he stares down at you, and your heart tugs at the sight. He was beautiful.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

You were okay, you were just stretched more than you had ever been. The sting subsides as he sits inside you, refusing to begin until you give him the okay.

“Yeah.” You breathe out.

Your arms wrap around his neck, threading your fingers through his black hair. It calms you a bit.

“Want you to start.” You say as you look away, the intensity of his gaze overwhelming you.

Suguru chuckles and places a kiss to the side of your lips before drawing his hips back.

“Anything for you.”

He slides back in slowly and you moan at the feeling. Your walls hug him tightly as he pulls out again, moving ever so faster as he feels you warm up beneath him. It didn’t hurt anymore, all you could feel was white hot desire flow through you. Suguru’s eyes are watching your expressions as he fucks you, in awe at the way your face pinches up in pleasure each time he bottoms out inside of you.

The veins on his shaft press into your pussy, making you clench around him. Once you do, his brows furrow and he lets out a heavy breath. You wanted to hear him groan again, like the sounds he let out when he was eating you out. There’s no pain on your face as he speeds up, his hips pulling back to snap into you again. You weren’t sure you had ever felt so full before.

You moan as he thrusts into you, letting yourself tug on his hair. His slips inside you easily at the mix of your cum and his saliva, his cock picking up speed as he pushes into you.

The proximity of his face makes you dizzy, your body feeling shaky underneath his gaze. You were starting to understand what Satoru meant when he said Suguru was smothering. You press your lips against his and let his tongue slide against yours. You moan against his mouth until he pulls away, sitting up. You’re sad that he’s further away, but you’re quickly met with how much deeper he can get at this angle.

“F-fu…” you groan as he slides himself all the way inside you once more.

Suguru holds your waist as he fucks you, his cock pushing against your gspot each time he bottoms out. It was hard to breathe. Your pussy holds onto him tightly as if you didn’t want him to pull out, which you really didn't. His face is focused as he stares down at your pussy, his lips parted as he watches his cock slide out only to be sucked in once more.

“You feel so fucking good.” He murmurs, a groan slipping out as he raises a thumb up to press against your clit.

Your legs try to snap together in response but his body stops you. Suguru rubs your clit, his cock nudging into you at a much faster pace. Your eyes roll back in your head as he fucks you, his cock making you breathless.

You want him to rub your clit faster, but you're not even sure you can handle it. He angles his hips to push against your gspot even more, making you groan out. It felt like you were in heaven, you had never felt so good before.

Suguru slides his thumb against your clit faster, smirking to himself once you clench against him. He lets out a quiet moan at how tight you were, feeling dizzy at the way you wrapped around him.

He rubs against you while fucking you, forcing his eyes to stay open to watch your face. Drools seeping past your lips as he pushes into you, his cock filling you to the brim. You aren't sure how much longer you’re going to last. You already felt sensitive from your previous orgasm, and his thumb was only working you closer to the edge. His cock is fast and unforgiving as he fucks you, leaving you no time to recover.

“I'm close,” you moan, looking down at how he thrusts into you.

“Can tell, you keep,” Suguru groans as you clench around him again. He pants as he fucks into you. “Doing that.”

He speeds his thumb up and fucks into you faster once you clench around him again.

“Suguru,” you moan, reaching up to dig your nails into his arms. “Suguru!”

“Just like that, baby, just like that.”

You twitch underneath him as you groan, cumming on his cock. Suguru moans in reaction to the way your pussy grips onto him. He fucks you through it, his hips losing rhythm as he feels himself get closer.

Your eyes lose focus as they look up to him, your mouth hanging open as he continues to use your body. There’s a light sheen of sweat covering his chest, his head thrown back as he softly groans.

“Where?” He asks, voice sounding slightly strangled.

“Inside, inside.” You assure, moaning with him.

“F-fuck.” He murmurs.

Suguru’s hips stop as he starts to cum. It shoots inside you, whiteness leaking from your body. It feels warm as it fills you up, sliding down your pussy. Suguru stops and looks down at your core, pulling his cock out slowly. He watches his cum push from your needy hole before he snaps out of it, looking up towards you.

“Where’s your towels?” He asks, intent on taking care of you.

“You can just grab something from the hamper.” You grumble, feeling exhaustion start to seep into you.

Suguru hops up and digs in your hamper to find a discarded shirt, carefully sliding it between you to wipe up his cum. Your body spasms underneath him, still sensitive.

“There.” He says, tossing the shirt back into the hamper.

Suguru lightly runs his hands up your sides, making you shudder. He leans down to press a kiss against your lips, and you find yourself disappointed once it ends.

“You did so good, baby.” He coos, grinning at your sleepy smile.

Suguru lays down beside you, eyes fluttering as you situate yourself next to him. You wrap your arm around him, and nuzzle against his chest. His touch is light as he strums your back, letting the silence fall over you both.

You didn't need to speak, you didn't have anything to say. You just wanted to enjoy the presence of him before he had to go.

“When do you have to leave?” You ask, your arms subconsciously tightening around him like that would stop him from going.

You look towards your bedside table where your clock sits. 10:30 pm.

“Whenever you kick me out.” Suguru says, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“I'm serious.” You nudge him and laugh.

“So am I.”

You think for a moment. Honestly, you were expecting him to leave soon. You were used to Satoru constantly being busy.

“Can you stay the night?” You ask, scared he might turn you down.

Suguru wasn’t rude, but you were afraid nonetheless.

“Of course.” Suguru kisses the top of your head.

Your eyes flutter closed as you grin, focusing on the electricity between your bodies as you drift off to sleep.

Tag List: @tojislittleprincesss, @dinolvrrr, @kimi01985, @mikisspeak, @spookysoowpprince, @reosnagi, @faerie-soirxx, @platrom, @oownowonwoo, @megumisdivinedogs, @sakui1, @maskedpacific, @riri-twix

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illicitlimerence-writes · 2 years

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lost in japan | m. schumacher

pairing: mick schumacher x vettel!reader word count: 5.5k words request: yes by anon: “could you please write an imagine where mick and reader have a crush on each other but whenever they're together they always get shy or flustered and it's all cute and stuff?” & “may i please have some crumbs of vettel!reader and mick slowly catching feelings for one another and seb is in the front row eating popcorn watching as it unfolds” warnings: language, time jumps (i tried my best with the years and ages (reader and mick are the same age)). also! again! seb’s age makes no sense here!!!!!!!!!!! another thing, i know cherry blossom season is in march-may but let’s pretend it’s also in september-october okay byeeee. a/n: it is 4:30 am and i just finished this, kinda glad bc it confirms my theory that i work best during the night.

my masterlist

meeting him was the beginning of everything.

there was nothing special about their first meeting, but her life would change completely from that moment on.

she always wanted to go with her father to his races, she loved that her dad was so passionate about the sport, everytime he returned home he’d explain everything to her, she always had a million questions.

so, when she was eleven years old, in 2010, she joined her father, sebastian, for the first time. they traveled to monaco, a track that his father loved and could potentially give him the lead of the championship if he were to win it.

age 11, 2010.

she held her father’s hand and looked at everything surrounding her. everything was so big and shiny and new to her.

“woud you look at that?” a tall man said as they walked the paddock. he had a big smile on his face, she recognized him.

“dad, that’s your friend!” she said, pointing at the man.

“yes, darling, that’s my friend, michael,” seb looked down at her, smiling.

“hi, michael!” she waved her hand, the older german ruffled her hair in return.

“it’s great to finally meet you, and see you here. is this your first time here?”

“yeah! i’ve always wanted to see this in real life,” her smile was big as she looked at the teams’ motorhomes around her.

“and what’s your first impression?”

“i don’t think i want to leave,” she giggled, looking up at her father.

“well, i’ll let you get back to your tour. but when you have some free time make sure to stop by the mercedes garage, okay? i think my son could use a friend,”

“ah, you’ve brought mick with you?” sebastian asked, his friend nodded. “then he’ll have to come to the dark side, cause my kid is not going anywhere near that garage,” he shook his head, as both his friend and his daughter laughed.

“we’ll figure it out, these two need to meet, though.”

okay, maybe meeting him did have something special about it. a thought ran through her mind, maybe they’d grow to be as close as their fathers.

age 22, 2021.

“hey kid,” she froze, eyes widening as she turned around.

“dad!” she wrapped her arms around her father, closing her eyes as she hid her face in his chest. “what are you doing here?”

“good to see you’ve missed me, you haven’t called in so long i thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“it was only three days, dad. but i’m so sorry, it’s just… i’ve been busy here, and with the schedules and time difference, i-”

“it’s okay. i’m just happy to know you’re alright,” he smiled, ruffling her hair.

“i am. i am, it’s… kinda hard to believe that this is finally happening,”

“well after all these years and all your hard work, you deserve this, my love,” he threw an arm over his daughter’s shoulders, holding her close.

after endless classes, auditions, she was finally about to star her first movie as the lead actress. when she was about thirteen an idea got to her head, and it was impossible to get it out. she took as many acting classes as she could, even left her home when she was seventeen to fly overseas and hopefully get more opportunities to be in the spotlight.

it didn’t surprise sebastian, that his daughter would find her passion in acting. when she was little she used to always set up plays where she portrayed every role, most times recreating a disney movie she’d seen that day. he trusted her. he knew that a child’s dream had to be supported as much as possible, just like his own parents had done with his.

distance had been difficult at first, but once her first roles started coming, once she started to get so busy she barely had time to sleep, she knew it was all worth it. her first roles were small, but slowly, she caught people’s attention. casting directors, actors she’d worked with were asking to work with her again. it was simply out of this world.

“i- but dad… don’t you have a race this weekend?” she said, walking through the different sets of the studio until she reached her trailer. she was in the middle of shooting, but sebastian arrived just in time since she was about to take a break.

“yeah, that’s why i’m here. i’d like you to come with me,”

“dad,” she smiled. it had been years since she stepped foot in the f1 paddock, she remembered when her entire life revolved around that sport, when she wanted to know every detail there was to know about it… that’s not to say that that wasn’t the truth anymore, but her passion for the sport moved aside, leaving space for what would become her job, her favorite thing in her life. of course, she still followed the sport, tried to not miss any races, supporting her father, her favorite person and biggest inspiration.

“come on, i know you have the weekend off,”

“how did you-” she frowned

“your mother,” he answered. she sighed, but smiled after a second.

“okay. i’ll go”

a beautiful ‘before and after’ picture would be created later on the weekend, as she walked side by side with her father down the f1 paddock. just like she’d done when she was little. she was getting deja vu. she was happy she’d decided to join her dad, they didn’t spend as much time together as of lately, but this weekend she was determined to make the most of their time together.

as they walked, sebastian was catching her up on everything she’d missed since the last time she was there, which was about two years ago. she knew some things from speaking with him, and from the things she saw online, but there was nothing like seeing it all in real life.

they were stopped several times, by fans, journalists, and even people who knew her since she was just a kid. mechanics, engineers, and other team members from both red bull and ferrari.

then, someone caught up to them, embracing sebastian and smiling, her father patted the young man on the back, keeping a hand on his shoulder once they separated.

“all good?” sebastian asked, the younger blonde nodded, noticing her.

“(y/n)?” he asked, his eyes drifting back and forth between the father-daughter pair. sebastian smiled at the way mick’s eyes widened. he knew it.

she nodded, frowning as she couldn’t quite name the person infront of her.

“it’s been so long, how have you been?” he asked, smiling.

that was it.

she recognized that smile.

age 11, 2010.

contrary to the previous days, that saturday afternoon, she found herself watching the qualifying session with company. of course, the day before she hadn’t been completely alone, but she wasn’t with people she knew that well.

seb had meant his words, his daughter couldn’t leave the red bull motorhome, not because he didn’t allow it, but because he didn’t trust anyone to really take her through the paddock to the mercedes garage. so, corinna schumacher and her kids, mick and gina, went to find the young girl.

‘michael, his wife and kids, you can trust them.’ those had been her father’s words before introducing her to them.

she’d been quite shy at first, keeping to herself and just staring at the screens. she’d already had all of her questions answered during the first two practice sessions, but quali was different. she didn’t get it.

mick noticed her small frown, and he turned to his mother, who was busy staring at the screens showing michael’s data.

“mom,” he called, the woman turned to him, running her fingers through his hair, making a mental note to take him to get a haircut soon. “she’s upset,” he said. “why?”

“well, i don’t know. why don’t you ask her? maybe you can help her feel better.” mick turned his head back, pursing his lips, then nodded.

he walked to the young vettel girl, standing behind her. but he couldn’t figure out how to talk to her. then, he heard her talking to herself.

“why is it only eighteen minutes?” she huffed, her eyes glued to the moving cars.

“are-are you mad?” mick asked her, not thinking twice about his words, or how he could’ve startled her. she jumped, moving to the side and looking back at him.

“what?” she asked.

“are you… upset?” he tried again, raising his eyebrows, he didn’t know why he felt nervous talking to her.

“no. yes. i- i don’t know,” she said, looking back at the wall of screens in front of her. “dad said ‘see you in an hour’, but the clock says there’s only fifteen minutes left,” she pointed.

“oh!” he said, “that’s just the end of q1,” he continued, but she stared at him only with confusion in her face. “sorry, qualifying is divided in three, q1, q2, and q3,” he started, she nodded.

“i know that, but-”

“all qualifying sessions last different times, and when you add it all up it takes about an hour, a little longer sometimes,” he explained, “i know it can be confusing, but that’s why i’m here! and my mom and my sister. we’re here to take care of you. that’s what my dad said,”

“thanks, that’s… nice.”

“you’re welcome. and… i know that our dads are friends. so… maybe we’ll be like them when we grow up!” mick smiled, and her eyes drifted down to his lips, he had a nice smile. she could still see it in her head seconds after, that was a smile she’d never forget.

“i was thinking the same thing.”

–

age 22, 2021.

“mick?” she asked, eyes wide. “no way, you made it to f1?” she asked, eyeing his shirt and cap.

“finally,” he smiled, she chuckled, she remembered hearing him talk non-stop about one day being like his father. she was happy he’d finally reached that dream.

“congratulations! i- that’s amazing!” she smiled, “why didn’t you tell me? any of you?” she asked, looking from her old friend to her father.

“well, you’ve barely had time to pick up the phone and say hi, i didn’t even get a chance,” sebastian shrugged. she turned to mick, raising an eyebrow.

“well i… you know… we haven’t talked in a long time and… i didn’t think you’d care,”

“oh, come on! it’s me! i’ve known you… forever!” she was genuinely shocked that she’d missed this news, “you know you can tell me anything-”

“yeah, she’ll just answer three days later,” her father butted in.

“but i’ll answer,” she defended herself, “anyway, as i was saying before being rudely interrupted, doesn’t matter how much time passes, i’m here for you, yeah?” she smiled, trying to think when the last time they’d spoken was. too long ago.

“got it, and… same goes to you,” he grinned too, and she was immediately transported back to her teenage years. “i have to go, but it was great seeing you, you’re staying the whole weekend?” he raised his eyebrows, smiling as she nodded, “great, guess i’ll see you around,”

she nodded again, waving her hand at him, but he took a step closer to her, moving to wrap his arms around her, she was caught off guard, but slid her hands around his waist in return.

“good luck,” she told him, watching him walk away after he said goodbye to sebastian. she turned to her father, and frowned. “what?”

“anything i should know?”

“what?” she asked, seb raised his eyebrows.

“you’re… flustered,” he noticed, she rolled her eyes.

“i’m not,” she grunted, pushing him with her shoulder. seb chuckled, walking beside her, “everything used to be so big,”

“it’s all the same, you just grew up,” he smiled, a nostalgic smile.

“don’t get emotional,” she chuckled.

“you and mick…” seb started, “what… what happened between you two?”

“what do you mean?”

“well, one day you wre hanging out, the next it’s like you never knew each other.”

“i don’t know, i mean… i still consider him my friend, you know? like… he was a big part of my adolescence and i just… got busy. but, so did he. i’ve followed his career, well, i must’ve messed up somewhere along the way since i missed the news that he was in f1.”

“maybe this weekend you guys can work on that,” he suggested as they reached the aston martin hospitality. “i’m sure he’s missed you. he always asks me about you,”

“really?” she asked, taking one last look behind her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but he was nowhere in sight.

“every weekend.” seb nodded. “he’s a good kid. you two have my blessing, you know? in case you both ever want to… you know.”

“dad!”

age 23, 2022.

seoul had always been one of her favorite cities. the culture, the people, the different traditions compared to what she was used to from living in europe for so long. it was always special when she was there.

but that night, she wasn’t as ecstatic about being there.

not when he was so near yet so far at the same time.

it was pathetic, really, to be that infatuated with someone. she’d lived many years without him in her life, and it only took him one weekend to turn her life upside down.

mick and her father were in japan, it was the last time sebastian would race there, and her stomach hurt at the fact that they were really close, but she was stuck in south korea for the press junket of her first movie, a little over a year’s work was finally ready for the world to see.

to say that she was stuck would be an exaggeration, she’d arrived a few days before to get used to the time difference, she didn’t have to be there until wednesday, and it was currently monday. and all she wanted to do was get out of there.

she was being dramatic.

but she did wish she could be there with him.

her phone rang, and she ran to the bed, picking it up. she smiled as she picked up the call.

“hey,” she said, a smile appearing on her face before even hearing his voice, just reading his name in the contact was enough to turn her stomach upside down, to make her heart beat at high speed.

“hi, i didn’t know if you were busy, i-”

“no, i’m free,” she bit her lip, “how’s japan?”

“well, i actually haven’t had the chance to check it out, i’ve been sleeping all day,” he chuckled, she let herself fall on the hotel bed, looking up at the ceiling.

“tired?”

“not anymore,” he laughed, which made her chuckle, too. “and you? have you explored seoul yet?”

“ah, well that’s the plan. that’s why i got here a few days before necessary,” she explained.

“oh, that’s nice, i’m sure there’s a ton of things to do there,” mick said, his voice sounding lower than before.

“yeah,” she sighed, “tokyo sounds great right now, though.”

“so does seoul.”

“what a tragedy we are,” she chuckled, biting her lip. “if only… there was a way to solve this,”

“switch places?” mick joked, though there was nearly no humor in his voice.

“maybe… we could get lost in japan.”

“we?"

"you're two hours away," she whispered, standing up and walking to the window, the sun was starting to go down, the best of seoul's night life would be starting soon. "i'm only a couple hundred miles away,"

"do you want to get lost in japan?" he asked, and she could hear the smile on his face.

"let's get lost."

age 22, 2021.

she felt like a little kid again. she remembered the thrill and excitement the pre-race brought, but living it as an adult, after years and years being away from this world, it felt like living it for the first time.

watching her father get ready, she thought about how lucky she was to have him. he’d taught her to fight for her dreams and not give up until she achieved them, to love people with kindness and give back whenever she could.

there were cameras all over the place, something she’d gotten used to. her eyes shifted from her dad, who was talking to the mechanics, to the screens on the side of the garage.

after a few seconds, she saw herself. she smiled at her ‘reflection’, turning to the side until she spotted the camera, giving it a small wave before looking back to the screen. she saw herself doing that, then the broadcast changed from her, to mick. who was also smiling at the screen, and the delay allowed her to watch him smile at her.

she looked down, feeling her face getting flustered. she and mick had been rekindling their friendship that weekend, catching up when he had free time, remembering the days when the paddock was their playground. it was easy and she was happy that they’d had the chance to do it, she felt bad for losing touch with him years ago.

“it’s time,” her father said, walking to her. she smiled, hugging him.

“good luck and fight hard,” she said, watching his eyes light up as he recognized those words. the same words she told him the day of her first f1 race.

after watching her dad step in the car and wait until he drove away, she stood up and walked down the paddock, sneaking into a different garage.

mick was zipping up his suit, adjusting the velcro strap. her lips curled up as she watched his concentrated face, his eyebrows furrowed as he seemed to be in deep thought. a second later, he turned his head to his side, and he had to do a double take to make sure he was really seeing her there.

she smiled sheepishly now that she’d been caught, she took one careful step in, relaxing as he walked to her.

“hey,” she said, smiling wider. “just wanted to wish you good luck,”

“thank you,” he grinned, a light pink tint creeping on his cheeks, “i’m really gonna need it,” he exhaled deeply.

“you’re gonna do great,” she reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “come here,” she pulled him closer, giving him what was supposed to be a quick hug, but he wrapped an arm around her back, keeping her there for longer than what was deemed appropriate. “i know this place brings back a lot of memories, but just enjoy it. it’s your first time here, racing in f1, your dream. you got this, mick.”

after the race she went to the pit lane, hugging her dad, but spotting another blonde german behind him.

“i’ll be right back, dad,” she told him, making her way to mick. “hey, that was so cool. congrats on finishing your first monaco race,” she hugged him, feeling his arms around her back.

“your dad is watching us. he’s smiling really weird, make him stop, please,” he pleaded, and she turned around to see her dad raise his eyebrows. she rolled her eyes, smiling sheepishly at mick.

“it sometimes feels as if he’s the kid. i should go. i’ll talk to you later,” she raised on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

age 23, 2022.

she’d landed in tokyo. the city was filled with lights, skyscrapers, and she never wanted to leave. she’d told her dad about her plans, and had arranged a dinner for the three of them. she was the first to arrive, and was waiting for the two drivers to get there. the place was packed, but of course they’d given priority to sebastian vettel and his daughter. her booth was away from the rest of the other tables, it felt closed off and she was glad the place was good for talking. it would be good for catching up with them.

it was night, and she was feeling quite tired after a hectic and busy day, but she had limited time before having to jump back to her own responsibilities. she wanted to make the most of her free time.

footsteps caught her attention, she looked up, a happy smile on her face.

“mick!” she jumped up from her seat, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. it had been about a month since she last saw him, but she missed him as if it had been years. “how have you been?”

“i’m good, you?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek as his way to say hi.

“same. i… on my way here i was thinking that maybe… i was overreacting, and that i could’ve just come here after the race and-”

“no, i- it’s fine. actually i- as soon as i landed i just knew that you’d love this place if you were here. so i guess i- i’m glad that you wanted to get lost-” they both smiled at his words, “with me.” the concept of ‘getting lost’ in a new place fascinated her, to be so mesmerized and hypnotized by the people and the little markets and stores, that you forget about time, responsibilities.

she smiled at him, nodding, she sat back in her place, with mick in front of her.

“oh, great, i thought i was late,” mick said, sitting in front of her, “your dad’s always pestering me about being on time, and look at him, or- well, you know, you can’t because he’s not here.” he continued, “shutting up now.” he raised his hands as she laughed.

just at that moment her phone rang.

“sorry,” she excused herself as she picked up her phone. “dad?”

“hey, kid, so… i won’t be able to make it tonight. some last minute thing with the team came up. but! you two enjoy a nice dinner, catch up, behave and use protection,” he rushed the last few words before hanging up.

she was left with wide eyes and heat creeping up her cheeks, she shyly looked over at mick, thinking about how to explain what her father just said.

“what did he say?” mick asked, still so confused about everything happening.

“um… dad’s not coming, um, he said we should have a nice time and catch up.”

“oh… well, that’s alright with me, if…” he started, raising his eyebrows as he waited for her answer.

“yeah, i- yeah, let’s do it, we’re already here.” she smiled, pushing aside her nerves, reminding herself who she’s with. it’s mick. sweet, kind, thoughtful mick. her friend mick.

mick, who was staring at her with those big, bright blue eyes that took her breath away.

they talked, ate, drank wine and felt as if they were the only people in the world. conversation flowed easily with him, and the best part was that he really seemed interested in watever she was saying, he asked questions, gave suggestions and advice. and when it was his turn to talk, it took everything in her not to swoon right then and there. he spoke with such confidence and eloquence, softly. and even used his hands to emphasize important points.

they had to be basically thrown out of the restaurant, since they’d stayed thirty minutes past their closing time already. but that ddn’t mean they had to go their separate ways. they walked the streets of tokyo, side by side, speaking lowly as to not disturb the people sleeping, even though it seemed that no one was in their homes, since there were lots of people enjoying the nightlife. but it never crossed either of their minds to do anything other than walk and talk, and laugh and smile. mick took his jacket off when he noticed her skin got goosebumps after a particularly strong gust of wind, draping it over her shoulders, his heart stopped at the soft sigh that left her throat as she felt the comforting warmth enveloping her.

shy smiles and hidden looks when the other was unaware seemed to be their favorite way of communication. their eyes spoke all the words neither of them was ready to speak, perhaps because they didn’t yet know what they were feeling, or couldn’t figure out a way to express it.

he walked her to the hotel, at some point during their walk his hand had found hers.

he’d pulled her close to him, hiding in an alley to avoid a group of drunk men approaching them. it was probably nothing, but mick had been quick to think of a way to avoid them. she’d pressed a hand against his chest, looking up at him as he pressed a finger to her lips, telling her to be quiet. once they passed, and after a few seconds of silence, in which they stared at each other, he leaned down to press a kiss to the side of her head, tugging at her hand to keep walking. she licked her lips, biting her bottom one to try and stop the tingling sensation she was feeling.

they hadn’t let go, not that either of them wanted to. but as she looked down to their joined hands, once they reached the door leading to his hotel room, she realized she never wanted to let him go.

he blushed under her stare, tapping his thumb against the back of her hand as he moved his hand back. since her decision to travel to japan had been a really sudden one, most hotels had been booked for the grand prix, and mick had insisted she stayed with him, claiming to have more than enough room for the two of them.

the next day, they woke up early. it was their only full day they had together in japan, and they were both more than ready to get lost in beautiful tokyo.

their first stop was an electronic store, where she bought an instant camera to capture their adventures of the day. after that they went to have breakfast at a famous cat cafe, which mick was dreading. it’s not like he hated cats, but he was a dog person, and the few times he’d interacted with cats they ended up scratching him, hissing at him or just ignoring him. not this time, a cat immediately crawled in his lap, claiming it as his seat for the day.

he smiled as she took a picture of him and the cat, and he noticed the way her lips curled up softly as she looked at the developed photograph.

that day would go down as one of her favorite days, an entire day with someone who made her feel special, who was almost as excited as she was about doing all the basic tourist stuff.

“i think we really are lost,” mick said, as he stopped in his tracks, making her stop as well. once again, her hand was in his. neither of them noticed when it happened, it just did. but they were both aware of how natural and right it felt.

“we just have to take a right turn,” she pointed.

“you’re sure?” he raised his eyebrows.

“that’s what the lady said,” she nodded, taking a few steps and dragging him behind her. “see? i told you we’d- whoa!” she whispered, looking at the huge park in front of her, filled with big cherry blossom trees. “mick, look at this,” she tugged on his hand running towards the park. she let go of him as she rushed deeper into the park.

“it’s beautiful,” he said, watching her wide eyes take everything in. she looked beautiful. a big smile on her face as she saw all the trees, the pink flowers.

“come here, i want to take a picture of you,” she said, making him pose in front of a tree. in the middle of the photograph stood mick, with his signature grin on, and everything behind him was pink.

“your turn,” he declared once the picture developed. he waited for her to decide how she wanted her picture, but she was simply so taken aback by the beauty of this place, that he decided to capture her like that. with her looking up at the trees, a smile on her face. she didn’t notice him until he was shaking the photograph, and she smiled wide at the gesture. that’s when he snapped a second picture.

“mick!” she laughed, taking the camera from him, he slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as he shook the picture with his free hand.

“hold on,” he said, walking to a girl about their age, he asked her to take a picture of the two of them. once he returned to her side, his arm returned to its previous place, bringing her close to him as she slid an arm around his back. before the girl took the picture he looked at her, which caused her to look up at him. they both smiled at the same time, and that’s when the girl took the picture.

after an entire day out on the streets of tokyo, they went to a sushi restaurant, nothing fancy, just what looked to be like a family-owned business.

“thank you for spending this day with me,” she said, taking a sip from her water. her throat was dry, her feet ached and her makeup probably needed more than just a touch-up. “i loved every second of it.”

“hey, you don’t need to thank me. i- i really enjoyed this day as well, i felt… free,”

she nodded, sharing the same feeling.

“besides i- i don’t think there’s anyone that i’d rather get lost with, other than you,” he smiled, his hand reaching for hers. she let him intertwine their fingers together, she’d gotten used to the feeling of his hand on hers.

“i feel the same way,” she said shyly, and it was not her turn to watch him get flustered under her stare.

once they reached their hotel, with the moon and neon lights illuminating the city, they sat on the balcony to look at the pictures they’d taken throughout the day, with a sharpie in hand to write small notes underneath. they watched the cars passing by, head the sounds a big city like tokyo made. when she got cold, instead of getting her a blanket, mick offered to keep her warm, she sat between his legs, with his arms around her.

“this one is my favorite,” she said, smiling at the picture of the two of them standing in front of the cherry blossoms.

“mine too,” he tightened his arms around her. she leaned her back against his chest, looking up at him.

“what should we name it?” she asked.

“hmm, i’m not sure,” he replied, staring deeply into her eyes. “would ‘lost in japan’ be too obvious?” he asked.

“maybe,” she chuckled. “i know i’ve already said it but… i just wanted to thank you. i really- i can’t describe how much i loved getting lost with you.”

“and i already told you, i only want to get lost with you. and you know what the best part about getting lost is?”

“what?” she asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“being found. i- i want… i want to be the person you get lost with, and the one to find you. i want to explore the world by your side, and be consumed by the beauty of it, at the same time as i’m learning more about myself… and about you.”

“mick-”

“i’ve liked you, for so long. i think you were my first crush since back in the day. the years when you went away, when we lost touch, i’d convinced myself that i’d lost you forever, and would only have to know about you through your dad. but after last year… in monaco, when i saw you i just knew. i couldn’t let you go again. and i’ve loved every moment, every conversation we’ve shared since that weekend, i’ve loved getting to know you, and knowing that the kid i knew is still in here,” he tapped her chest, where her heart was, with one finger. “and getting lost with you these few days has been the best choice i’ve ever made. i not only got lost in this place… i also got lost in you. in your mind, your ideas and dreams. it’s like a paradise.”

she cut his words off by placing her lips on his. after years, they were both admitting that this thing between them was more than just a friendship, that the reason they couldn’t get the other out of their minds wasn’t just because they were good friends.

getting lost might have been the best decision they ever took. and having the right partner to get lost with. with the promise that they’d find each other during each adventure.

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braxiations · 3 months

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What is Hylics Canon? - The Accretion

Preamble/Disclaimer

Hi! This post will be a bit different from my previous analysis and theory posts. Unlike those, I'm going to be doing very little theorizing or speculating -- at least, that's not my primary goal. What I want to do today is go over everything we know about "The Accretion," a vague event referred to numerous times throughout Hylics 2. Additionally, I'll try to draw some conclusions about what I think is Mason's authorial intent with the Accretion. I'll do my best to walk through my logic and view multiple sides, and whenever I speculate or make a stretch I'll try and be clear about it.

Before we start, I want to apologize for if I come off as rude or dismissive of certain headcanons or interpretations. Later on I'll be tackling 3 of the main theories I've seen floated around and I intended to be critical and clear when I think they contradict the established canon. However, I do not mean to invalidate these interpretations. Hylics' lore is very interpretive and vague and "canon" isn't something that needs to be strictly abided to. If your interpretation conflicts with what I've shown here, that's perfectly ok!

Basically, my post is for people who either care about adhering to canon or are just curious as to what evidence there is. That being said, let's jump in!

The Basics

"Gibby! Emerge from that vessel. The Hylemxylem was a failure. Only now does the Accretion's long dark age begin to subside." This dialogue, said by Wayne to Gibby before the final battle, is perhaps the only piece of required dialogue referencing the Accretion. This paints the Accretion as the cause of a "dark age," although it's unclear what this entails, which the Hylemxylem threatens to begin again. Many have taken this to indicate that the Hylemxylem caused the Accretion, but there isn't substantial evidence for or against this. It's certainly a valid possibility.

"Back when the accretion hit, the strongest gesture was buried." This line, spoken by one of the Waynes at Waynehouse is one of many indications that the Accretion was an event. Many other pieces of dialogue have wording that confirms this, this is just the first the player is likely to encounter. I bring this up to dispel the idea that "the Accretion" could be the name of the dark age itself.

This is also the first instance we see of the Accretion being claimed to "bury" things. This might indicate that certain objects either hit the ground with such tremendous force that they sank deep in. Alternatively, the Accretion might have actually produced a layer of matter that buried objects on the surface.

Known buried objects: - Disthlarn Moon. (New Muldul NPC: "When the Accretion buried the sage's great ship, Disthlarn Moon, my wife and I were stranded here on the surface.) - The Bombo-Genesis monitor (The TV Wayne and various other NPCs. The monitor is in Disthlarn Moon so this makes sense.) - The labyrinth ("The key is ancient. Whatever door it unlocks is likely deep underground, buried in the Accretion." Said by Smuldunde, referring to a key that unlocks a door in the labyrinth.)

You'll notice that many of the things explicitly listed as buried in the Accretion are specifically those that belong to the Sages. This makes sense given what we'll discuss in the next section.

"A great gesture may oppose Gibby. But accretions place it beyond our reach, and embolden his agents as they seek reconstitution." The Sage of Accretions gives this line, and like their name it confirms that the Accretion is just a singular instance of an accretion, and in fact there have been multiple. The Accretion, denoted by "the" and also capitalized (at least by me, the in-game dialogue is inconsistent) may have just been a particularly damaging one.

Given that a Sage of Accretions exists, they're likely not all catastrophic and could be somewhat akin to weather event. They happen from time to time and aren't necessarily bad, but under particular conditions or if emerging suddenly, they can be a disaster. These are all just assumptions though. Accretions could happen over massive spans of time and the Accretion is only referred to as such due to being the most recent. As we know that the "great gesture" referred to here was buried in the Accretion, the fact that multiple accretions place it beyond their reach may indicate that smaller accretions have occurred since. This is all just speculation.

The Age of Sages

"Our empire was undone by a sudden accretion. Only the cabinets recall its grandeur now." This line, spoken by the Sage of Monitors deep beneath Viewax's Edifice first establishes an "Empire of the Sages" and the idea that that empire was undone by the Accretion. The Empire of Sages is also referred to by Pongorma and Gibby. Pongorma specifically refers to Disthlarn Moon as a "remnant" of their empire. This indicates rather clearly that the "Age of Sages" as I've decided to call it was specifically ended by the Accretion, which cast the labyrinth and Disthlarn Moon deep into the subterranean.

"The surviving sages hid themselves, one in Viewax's edifice, another under the fortress at Foglast, and a third in those halls which recently held this ship." This line from an NPC within Disthlarn Moon directly implies that many Sages perished in the Accretion. The mention of three survivors is interesting in regard to the other three Sages we know from Hylics 1. This is something we'll talk about later in the theory section.

This provides us a pretty solid layout of events. For a time, the Sages led a prosperous empire. However, a sudden accretion ended this era of prosperity, plunging society into a dark age.

The Cabinets

An often overlooked detail is that the arcade cabinets provide some of our only looks at the world of Hylics before the Accretion. The cabinets can be presumed to have been built by the Sages, given that they protect items like the deep key that corresponds to the Sage's labyrinth. We see many within Viewax's Edifice in complete disrepair, with only one functional, as one might expect from ancient machines caught in a catastrophe.

The Sage of Monitors also remarks that "only the cabinets recall its [their empire's] grandeur now." This may suggest that the games within the cabinets are actually designed to tell important stories of the Sage's empire or hold information. This would make sense given the story we see play out, which follows a Wayne transforming into the Sage of Satellites. It's not a stretch to suggest that the Sages chose to immortalize the ascendance of one of their own.

With this in mind, we can use what's seen in the cabinets to date certain things to the pre-Accretion times.

A flag bears the image of Odozeir and Gibby, suggesting they're not only older than the Accretion but were even allied back then.

The, or a Hylemxylem, seen in the background. It resembles the reconstituted Hylemxylem in Hylics 2. This is probably the previous Hylemxylem before it grew into the Moon seen in H1.

A structure resembling the Waynehouse. Notice the egg pod in the basement, the bathroom, the bedroom, and the tv.

At least one Wayne (the player aka "Sat-Wayne.")

Poolmen

Coutures

Truculents

Numerous kinds of airships

Various other enemies

The labyrinth and drill site also indicate what species existed before the Accretion, albeit less directly. Tyros are depicted in numerous statues in the maze, and a tyro in the drill site seems to refer to a herd of galliforms as being pre-Accretion (although this dialogue is kind of vague and could refer to the labyrinth itself.) The labyrinth also has a pool hooked up to the Afterlife, implying that it existed back then too. There are also numerous enemies found inside the labyrinth which one could assume were sealed down there in the Accretion, but they may have crept in through breaches in the structure or other means. I'm not comfortable saying they're definitively pre-Accretion, although I won't disregard the possibility.

There is another character heavily implied to have lived before the Accretion, Pongorma.

This dialogue amounts to show us that Pongorma lived during the Sage's rule, and I believe we've successfully concluded earlier that the Accretion is what ended their empire. Thus, Pongorma is pre-Accretion. This fits in well with his introduction in the first game: we find him sealed away within a vault "through long ages."

The Three Main Theories / When Did it Happen??

Okay, so this is the real meat of this discussion. I'm going to lay out the three main theories I've seen discussed and go over evidence for and against each of them. I'll also be making the case for what I personally believe to be the canon intent of Mason lindroth.

Theory #1 - The Human Extinction theory: It is widely accepted that the world of Hylics is a post-human one, following some kind of apocalypse that wiped out humanity. This theory suggests that the Accretion is the event that caused this. Note that some believe humanity didn't necessarily die, but rather that they were transformed or evolved. Regardless, this event is what caused humanity to stop being human, which is really the only thing we can prove or disprove. I'm going to say "extinction" for simplicity.

Theory #2 - The Moon Crash theory: This is the only theory of the three that actually proposes a cause for the Accretion, being the crashing of the Moon at the end of Hylics 1. This theory states that, after Wayne's crew killed Gibby and trashed the Moon, it crashed into the planet, causing the Accretion.

Theory #3 - The Other Apocalypse theory: This theory is kind of vanilla compared to the other two. It just states that the Accretion happened before Hylics 1 (and presumably long after the extinction of humanity if you believe that to have also happened.) Because this theory says so little definitive about the Accretion, it's sort of the default if the other theories are disproven. As a result, it's the theory I personally subscribe to, and I will explain why below.

This is where we get into harsh, potentially theory-"disproving" territory, and I want to again reiterate that I don't intend to invalidate anyone's personal interpretations, I'm just speaking in terms of what the games show us and what I think to be canon. That being said...

The easiest of these theories to """disprove""" is the Human Extinction theory. This comes from the views of the pre-Accretion world given to us by the cabinets. The world depicted in the Accretion is very Hylics-y, still comprised of clay, having Hylics-age species, and no traces of human civilization or typical Earthen life. Even if the world and the people in it underwent some kind of transformation and the Sages and Pongorma were originally human, this directly shows that clay species and landscapes existed pre-Accretion. There are a few explanations for this, hence why I put "disprove" in quotations. One could argue that only parts of the world were clay'd at this point, or maybe the scenes depicted in the cabinets have changed over time as did the world. I personally find these explanations kind of contrived (the former would make the Accretion seem nearly redundant if the world is already transforming, and the second would make it incredibly strange for the cabinets to "recall" events if they can't recall them accurately.) There's also the language in which the Accretion and its ensuing dark age is described. Wayne calls it a dark age, and Gibby seeks to return to the Age of Sages' grandeur by forging a new zone. The "dark age" in this theory wouldn't just be a more stable society, it would be a completely different world that, to put it simply, none of the characters we know would fit into. It seems especially odd for Gibby to want a return to this sort of world when the fortress he launched transformed the inhabitants into surreal creatures. Personally, I find the Human Extinction theory to be uncompelling. While it can't be outright, factually disproven, explanations for it require inelegant contrivances. There isn't really any evidence for it either, and in my opinion it removes depth from the world's history.

Now we'll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the Moon Crash and Other Apocalypse theories. First, I'll give what (to my knowledge) is the main evidence for the Moon Crash theory. As Oxford Dictionary defines it, "Accretion" can have a few definitions, but two are primarily relevant to us. 1. the process of growth or increase, typically by the gradual accumulation of additional layers or matter. 2. the coming together and cohesion of matter under the influence of gravitation to form larger bodies. The second definition, astronomical in nature, is particularly intriguing and relevant, especially with Hylics' themes of moons. This brings light to the idea that maybe the Moon crashing into the planet is what caused the Accretion.

"Pongorma, you witnessed the empire of the Sages." Here, Gibby speaks directly to Pongorma as someone who witnessed the empire of Sages, something we previously established ended at the Accretion. This heavily implies --but again does not directly confirm-- that the other characters didn't see the empire. Why would Gibby call out Pongorma specifically if what he was saying applied to everyone? And, if the gang indirectly caused the Accretion, how could they have not witnessed the time before it? There's also the general language with which the Accretion is spoken of. As previously mentioned, Wayne says the Accretion caused a "long dark age," and Smuldunde says that the labyrinth must be "ancient." The monitor containing bombo-genesis is also called the "monitor of the ancients," indicating that the Sages must be viewed as ancient too. While Hylician lifespans and therefore general scale of time may be amplified compared to ours if that was the case we would expect adjectives such as "long" and "ancient" to be equally stretched. However, there's no indication that such timespans have passed since Hylics 1. It'd be especially odd to refer to a time as ancient if most people were alive for it. While Pongorma certainly was, his age is portrayed as an exception. Although I understand that this is ephemeral, the general vibe is that only a few years have passed (or whatever the equivalent is to Hylicians.)

The only evidence against the Other Apocalypse theory I can gather is how the remaining Sages are described. One inhabitant of Disthlarn Moon says "The surviving sages hid themselves," going on to describe the locations they're found in. Another says "Tokens from the three sages." This could be taken to say that only three Sages are currently alive, which would imply that the Sage of Computers, Brains, and Monitors from the first game have since perished. Otherwise, there'd be six. I would like to counter this with two possible explanations. For one, this dialogue exists specifically to tell the player where to find the Sages. If the NPC also said "another sage can be found in the hall of deadly statues," players would be confused because that location doesn't exist in this game. It'd defeat the purpose of this dialogue in the first place. Secondly, we know that the Hylics 1 and Hylics 2 locations are different, evidenced by Somsnosa's dialogue about moving away from her island home from the first game. It'd make sense for the NPCs to not be discussing Sages from distant lands. If you were talking about a natural disaster in your country that only left 3 politicians alive, no one would correct you saying "actually, there are plenty others in other countries!" That's simply not what you're talking about. It's even possible that the Accretion wasn't a worldwide event. The Hylics 1 location could've been unscathed and thus be equally irrelevant.

Conclusion

An analysis of all the dialogue referencing the Accretion brings us to a few conclusions I find to be rather sound.

The Accretion was a particularly sudden or strong instance of an event called an accretion. This particular accretion buried numerous objects like the labyrinth and Disthlarn Moon, as well as ending the empire of Sages and plummeting the Hylics 2 location (and possibly others) into a long dark age. "Only the cabinets recall its grandeur now." We know that Pongorma, Gibby, and Odozeir witnessed the time before the Accretion, and it seems likely that Wayne, Somsnosa, and Dedusmuln did not. As indicated by the cabinets, the previous Hylemxylem (likely the one that later became the moon) existed before the Accretion. The labyrinth shows us that so did the Afterlife. The pre-Accretion world is shown by the cabinets to be similar to the current one, still made of clay and containing many of the same species. Given the general language in which it's discussed, it's likely that the Accretion occurred before the events of either games. Less catastrophic accretions may have occurred since the large one, further burying Disthlarn Moon, but this is unclear.

I hope you all enjoyed this analysis! It was tough to write because basically everything is vague, and with this vagueness, it's tough to not rope in a billion other subjects and ideas. I ended up leaving out quite a few things because otherwise, it would've come out even longer and more bloated than it already is. I might make a follow up post containing every piece of dialogue I could find about the Accretion, the Sages, and their associated artifacts, just in case there's something significant I missed.

#hylics #hylics 2 #hylics facts #hylics analysis #hylics theory

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thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai · 2 months

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One very admirable trait of Yuuri is his determination to go through with an idea no matter how terrified he is if that brings him closer to his goal. We see this trait come into play over and over throughout the show. Often, this drives him to do something he has never done before but knows how to do in theory.

And then there's this:

Viktor has assigned Yuuri a short programme, but Yuuri has absolutely no clue how to perform it because he doesn't get Eros.

Yuuri has yet to learn what (unconditional) love is, too, but he is able grasp it on a subconscious level since he doesn't struggle to explain his interpretation of On Love: Agape

based on the level of understanding he is currently at.

However, Eros is a concept so foreign to him that his reaction to the music is just this:

He can't even put his associations in words (note his clueless tone). These two very different reactions to both arrangements reflect perfectly his own experience and his (current) understanding of "unconditional love" and "sexual love".

Yuuri is the kind of person who despite his anxiety boldly changes the composition of his programmes over and over because he's that desparate to win and this results in some badass moves like:

putting all the jumps of his SP into the second half just because he has stamina

turning the solo jump (3S) in his SP into a quad although he never landed a 4S in competition

going back to jump 3 quads in his FS instead of one

exchange the 4T in his FS against Viktor's signature move

and most prominently: jumps 4 quads so that his FS has the same difficulty as Viktor's

While all of these are daunting for Yuuri, they're doable because he knows how to execute these jumps and he knows he has the stamina to go through with it. The ultimate result boils down to timing, technique, and stamina. But skating to Eros is a major disaster for Yuuri because he delivers his best skating when he skates true to his feelings, and to make things even worse, the stakes are astronomical (they aren't, but that's what he thinks). How should he portray something he can't even feel? How is he supposed to win the Onsen on Ice with that, especially since he believes that losing Viktor as a coach is at stake? No wonder the poor boy outright freaks out at the thought.

Yuuri would have been happy skating to Agape because he has an innate basic understanding of unconditional love. However, he's completely blind to Eros and will need to rely on workarounds to deliver a somewhat decent performance--at least until he and Viktor know each other well enough for Yuuri to figure out how to seduce him with his skating.

And yet in that moment, Yuuri doesn't flinch because he wants Viktor to coach him. He wants to win the Grand Prix Final. He wants Viktor for himself and to eat katsudon with him. All these things embody a dream he has been pursuing for half his life, a dream that involves skating and Viktor, and for the first time in his life, this dream is within reach. He's not going to let a 15-year-old punk take that away from him, he's going to fight for it with all he has. Because even though Yuuri doesn't get Eros, he has eros and this eros is very possessive (and Viktor happens to like that a lot, but Yuuri doesn't know that yet).

Even when he's terrified does Yuuri keep pursuing his goals because he has this strong determination inside him that pushes him to great lengths to make his dreams reality. Nothing is too difficult not to try. Not even when he's supposed to portray with his skating something he neither feels nor has a concept of. He's terrified, he isn't ready for that, but he does it anyway. To me, that's an exceptional showcase of his bravery.

A little rant below:

I often see fans treat Yuuri like his anxiety and his determination combined turn him into an enigma of contradictions. Like he's two different personas. But these two traits don't contradict each other at all. That's called bravery and this bravery eventually starts bleeding into Yuuri's off-ice decisions like when he sends Viktor home to Makkachin although he needs Viktor by his side, or when he decides to quit his dream so that Viktor can continue pursuing his (that was a bullshit decision, but that's not the point).

Yuuri claims that he needs Viktor to believe in him and that because of Viktor's love he is stronger, and while it's true that Viktor is a positive influence, his presence in Yuuri's life only reinforces Yuuri's own innate strength.

#yuri on ice #yoi #yuri on ice meta #katsuki yuuri #on love: eros #not sure whether I should continue posting metas at all but I had to get this out of my system #my yi meta #yoi meta #my yoi meta

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drnikolatesla · 1 year

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A Century Ahead Of Our Time

After his unfortunate laboratory fire in 1895, which destroyed nearly all his work and research, Nikola Tesla was immediately back in a new laboratory experimenting with his wireless theories. As early as 1896, Tesla was already sending signals from his laboratory in New York City to West Point, located roughly 30 miles north of his lab. He continued these experiments and many others until he realized he needed more space than what the crowded city could offer.

In 1899, he developed a laboratory station in Colorado Springs, Colorado in hopes of developing a transmitter of great power, to perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted, and also to ascertain the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere. Tesla ultimately believed that it is practicable to disturb the electrostatic condition of the earth and by developing large enough machinery he could grip the earth with electricity, use it as a conductor, and transmit signals and power through it.

While in Colorado, Nikola Tesla was informed numerous times by his secretary about the many other competitors in the wireless art. There was George H. Clark, who was sending messages up to 3 miles. There was also Professor Marble in Connecticut, Dr. Riccia in France, and Professor D'Azar in Rome. Guglielmo Marconi was the biggest competitor who was sending messages up to 20 miles in America at the America's Cup boat races. Although Tesla's secretary was worried that Tesla might be wasting time in Colorado while others were getting the jump on him, Tesla confidently replied:

"Do not worry about me. I am about a century ahead of the other fellows."

In January of 1900, Tesla would leave Colorado fully convinced that he accomplished all he set out to do. He would then set out to engineer and build his machines on a large scale, but ended up lacking the investments and funds to finish his work in its entirety. Some say he failed because his idea didn't work, but that's not true at all because his Colorado experiments proved that they did. He simply underestimated the cost of his system. Unfortunately, his failings to fulfill his dreams and finish his work would leave him with the public persona as being the mad scientist who had unrealistic ideas for the future. Although we are advancing with great strides in technological achievements, we are still a century behind the future Nikola Tesla hoped and dreamed for.

#nikola tesla #science #history #quotes #wireless #electricity #power #technology #ahead of his time #ahead of our time

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pink-onyx-au · 10 months

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[Jump to the Episode Master List]

Nap time! Thank you everyone for your continued support and interaction! I adore it and it adds so much more to the AU than you could know. This is a heads up on some minor down-time for the blog while I rest up and prepare the next episode.

Notes and asks are still open and encouraged during this time! Bored and want to chat? Send me a message!

To see some WIP, storyboard previews, doodles, shitposts, and other projects I’m working on, along with a healthy amount of 3am memes, head over to my trash fire blog, Ceephor’s Shit Show. The "pink onyx au" tag will filter everything for you, along with showing you fabulous fan art made by others that I just love to pieces.

Speculation and theories are encouraged! The comic is designed as close to the show’s logic as I could muster, which means many secrets are staring right at you, provided you know what to look for! Just be kind to one another.

Comic FAQ:

What is this? Pink Onyx AU is a Steven Universe AU focused on interactions between Steven and Jasper and is intended to be read after you have finished Steven Universe Future, as it contains many many spoilers for the series. If you have watched it already, great! Welcome! The goal is to bring you a Jasper redemption arc that we couldn’t get due to time and cooperate restraints on the Crewniverse. I hope you enjoy!

I do not own these characters or their likenesses except for the single fluffy thembo fusion I created for the story. This is just a fan comic.

Comic is PG-13 for some angsty themes, minor blood, violence, and gem-cussing.

When do you post? Typically when you see this post pinned, I’m on a bit of a break, but when Nyx wakes up (this post goes away) the comic is due to be released 1 page at a time at 7am EST most days. I try for a daily release. Sometimes I skip a day if I’m behind. Episode release dates are always announced ahead of time by a few weeks.

Is this a romantic ship AU between Jasper and Steven? Nope, more like an aunt and her nephew trying to figure it all out. No romance between these two here.

Is your Tapas updated at the same time? Nope, tumblr comes first, and the tumblr will always have bonus content which Tapas will not. The Tapas for this updates after the tumblr version is completed. Usually same day or within a day.

Curious about the characters? Check below the cut for more a detailed FAQ about the inner workings of the story. Love you all! See you soon! 🧡💕❤️

FAQ’s about the characters generated via interactive asks:

What kind of fusion is Pink Onyx? Are they good or bad? Pink Onyx is a fusion of a protagonist and an antagonist, so their alliance is yet unknown, but they have Steven’s good heart and Jasper’s loyal nature. They also have Steven and Jasper’s flaws, so they can be volatile and emotionally explosive at times, too.

What are Pink Onyx’s pronouns? Onyx likes they/them, but also answers to he/him and she/her, especially when Steven or Jasper is dominant over one another. They also seem to take on a fluid role and prefer a she/her when in a caretaker status. They dislike it/its.

What does Pink Onyx sound like? Personally, I hear them as a youthful, masculine tone. Like Steven if a little older. But I also enjoy when people say they hear them as a gruff, Amazonian-type feminine. I enjoy and endorse both.

Do Jasper and Steven enjoy being fused to one another? For now, it is a struggle, but they enjoy what the other brings to the fusion even if they won’t say it.

Does Pink Onyx need to eat and do human things? If so, do they enjoy it? They don’t need to do them, but they do feel the discomfort without them. Things like breathing, eating, and sleeping are optional for Onyx, but they will become quite irritable if not allowed to do them. They greatly enjoy sleeping and trying new foods.

What does Jasper think about having human organs when fused? She’s pretty grossed out by the idea of organic matter going into her mouth and coming out of other places. The heart beating and lungs breathing she can feel for the first time, and it is highly strange for her to experience.

What is Pink Onyx’s favorite food? They adore anything watermelon flavored and Cookie-cat ice cream products

Does Pink Onyx have any special fusion powers? They do, and as they learn about themselves, more powers seem to come out. Each of their base component appears to be enhanced in a unique way. They have Pink Diamond at their core, so the destructive potential is also there.

Why is Steven hiding Pink Onyx from others? This AU occurs directly after the events of "I Am My Monster", so Steven is very emotionally, and mentally, raw. He fears judgement for running back to Jasper, who in the past, was part of so much trauma he already endured.

Pink Onyx seems to know nothing about human culture and gem culture despite being a fusion. What’s going on? Jasper and Steven agreed to fuse, but they have yet to open up to one another about much else. The fusion exists because they agree to do so, but Jasper won’t open up about her emotions, and Steven is so sensitive yet that he is not sharing because he knows Jasper won’t want to hear it. This causes Onyx to be unable to access both of their memories easily, but they can bring it out with enough effort.

#pink onyx au #steven universe au #steven universe #steven universe future #c423art #ceephorart #pink onyx #fusion #jasper #steven #Nyx nap #faq

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captain-mj · 1 year

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does selkie!soap know that ghost is a changeling? if not can we have him figure it out?

Yes! I absolutely fucking can! Continuation from this post

Soap looked at his husband, watching him carefully. Ghost had eaten twelve pancakes. Not eggos. Eggos would be reasonable. Twelve, full sized pancakes.

To be fair, Ghost had been the one cooking them, so it wasn’t that noticeable to anyone else. They all had large appetites. Big men, big muscles, bit metabolisms.

But Soap was watching Ghost make more for himself and he was clearly trying to make it seem like he hadn’t eaten that much. It was odd.

His husband. What a funny phrase to be able to use now. Anyway. His husband was odd.

He poured more syrup on his pancakes, he made chocolate chip for Soap, blueberry for Gaz, strawberry for Price and from the looks of it, plain for himself. Ghost ate in the kitchen, probably to keep them from seeing his face. It wasn’t unusual, but Soap couldn’t help but wonder how often Ghost was using it to hide his odd eating habits.

The next was simpler. Ghost’s gloves had torn. His hands looked normal but very pale.

“Guess you don’t get out in the sunlight much, huh LT?”

“Not really.” Ghost rubbed his hands together gently.

Soap tossed him again and turned away, only to hear it thunk against the floor. He looked backed to see Ghost just staring at it.

“I’ll stick to knives.”

“There’s a lot of people. I’d feel better if you have a gun.”

“Do you have one with a grip?”

“What? No.” Soap stared at him for a minute and Ghost relented. He picked the gun up and followed him.

It wasn’t until later that he finally got to put the gun down and Soap saw them. Everywhere the metal had touched his hands were burns. Severe ones. In parts, especially where he’d have it pressed hard to his palm, the skin had started to bubble and crack.

Ghost noticed him staring and dropped the gun. “Ironic. A sniper who can’t actually touch it. S’why I wear the gloves...”

“Ah...” Soap thought of the steel and therefore the iron in the gun. His whole not human theory was starting to make much more sense.

It was such an odd topic to bring up, but they were on it and Soap was determined to use it.

“Yeah, personally I grew up Roman Catholic. Got the baptism and everything.” According to his dad, who had laughed about it, his mom had begged him not to, worried it would kill Soap or make him human. According to his mom, his dad had jumped at the idea that baptism might make him human. It did neither of course. “What about you, LT?”

“My mom was Protestant, but I never was baptized. She stopped taking us before I was old enough to do it.”

“Why?”

Ghost paused, glancing around. No one was really focusing on them so he shrugged. Soap had noticed that although the bond effected him in the usual ways, the world revolving more around Ghost, him always being aware of Ghost, feeling Ghost’s presence around him at all times, yada, yada, it had also affected Ghost, which was interesting. It made him a little more open with Soap. Just Soap. If that sent a thrill through him, no one needed to know.

“My mom took me and Tommy every Sunday. My dad occasionally tagged along. One day, one of the patrons caught me stealing an extra piece of the communion bread. This lady made it fresh and it was fucking great. They told my dad and he hit me with a bible so hard it knocked me to the ground. Right in front of everyone. My mom stopped taking us to church after that.” Ghost told it all to him quietly. “I had liked going, even though I didn’t believe in it. Always felt insincere, but it made my mom happy.”

“Oh.” Soap stared. “How old were you?”

“I think I was seven.” Ghost hummed and looked away. “Never got baptized. Probably good thing. They always heated the holy water up.”

Soap prepared himself for the joke of “boiling the hell out of it” but after a moment he realized Ghost was sincere.

The holy water burned him.

Soap suddenly had a vague idea of what he was.

Soap had a heavy suspicion at this point. He had a feeling he knew exactly what Ghost was, so he decided to do a little experiment to see.

Before he left that morning, he turned his shirt inside out and then slipped his hoodie over it. The only exception being creatures that had to notice.

Ghost stared at him for a moment before he simply turned away and ignored him. Soap tried to get his attention and Ghost just wrinkled his nose and turned away from him.

Gaz gave them an odd look and Soap just smiled awkwardly before stepping away. He fixed his clothing and tried once again to strike up a conversation.

Immediately, Ghost actually talked to him. It was his usual rather quiet amount but it was definitely there.

“Why did you ignore me?”

“What are you talking about MacTavish?”

“Right now. You ignored me.”

“You weren’t talking to me a minute ago. You need to go to the medics?” Ghost seemed genuinely concerned.

“Nah, probably just dehydrated. I’ll go grab a drink.” He smiled at him and stepped away.

Gaz looked at him. “I think Ghost is going a tad crazy.”

“Nah, think he’s fucking with me.” Soap covered for him.

Gaz didn’t look like he believed him but he dropped it.

“Johnny, why are we on a secluded beach in the middle of the fucking night?” Ghost had followed him though. In his civvies, the soft hoodie and sweatpants clinging to all the right places. His mom didn’t warn him how bad marriage would feel at first. Or more, how bad one sided marriage would feel. He wanted to attack Ghost. Throw himself at him and claim his husband in every way he could.

“Simon. I need to talk to you about something.” Ghost turned towards him. Soap vaguely put the face he remembered from Los Almas over the ski mask. He was glad Ghost went with this instead of the plastic mask and balaclava. That day, the kohl makeup had run all the way down Ghost’s face, covering his cheeks and his nose. His hair was shaggy and curled oddly, sticking up all over the place. It had been shoved down as if to cover his ears and it felt in his eyes. Despite clearly being cut into a buzzcut recently, it looked like it hadn’t worked too well. Soap had wondered at the time if it had been unfinished and he had to rush it.

Now that he knew he was a changeling, it made more sense. Their hair tended to grow unnaturally fast and choppy.

“What do need to talk about Johnny?” Ghost seemed worried. He glanced at the coat around Soap’s shoulders.

“I... I know you’re not human.” Soap decided to start there.

There was a beat of silence.

Then Ghost laughed. There was a slightly bitter edge to it. “Oh, fuck off, Soap. You know, out of everyone, I never expected that shit from you.” He started to turn away from him.

“I’m not either.” Soap thought he was playing coy. It made sense, Soap would never admit it so easily and this Ghost. King of not saying shit about himself.

“MacTavish,” Ghost looked at him, “you may be experiencing psychosis. Sometimes men on the battlefield...” Soap stared at him, hearing him like he was muffled through more than just his mask.

Did Ghost... not know?

There was no way Ghost didn’t. He hid away all his oddities. Been so careful. There was no way he didn’t at least expect it.

“Have you ever heard of a selkie?” Soap interrupted.

“The seals that turn into humans. Yeah, I guess.”

“I need you to understand I’m not... I’m...” Soap sighed. “Just. I need you to trust me for a just a minute, okay?”

Ghost stared at him for a long while before nodding slightly. “Okay.”

Soap slowly slipped his coat off and then started to undress. He kept his eyes downcast, but he could feel Ghost’s eyes on him. Scanning over him with growing alarm.

Soap wrapped his coat around him before he shucked off his underwear.

“Johnny.” Ghost said softly and there was something there that Soap needed a lot more time to unpack.

“Trust me.” Soap said softly. “Just... could you turn around for a minute?”

“You’re willing to undress in front of me but not do... whatever you’re about to do?” Ghost sounded... amused. It made butterflies in his stomach.

“It’s unpleasant.” Soap said softly. Ghost finally turned around him.

His coat fused with his skin and the transformation was... unpleasant to look at it. His fur laced with him and he sorta fell to the ground, luckily able to muffle himself so it didn’t startle Ghost.

There he was. A harbor seal. He barked and Ghost turned around slowly, staring at him.

Ghost continued to stare. And continued. And stared.

Soap slowly rolled over to his expose his stomach. He couldn’t exactly talk, but his dogtags, which he had clearly been wearing, were around his neck now.

Ghost slowly moved closer, touching the chain and reading the name. He didn’t move, staying crouched over him.

Soap could see the ring of gold around his pupils again.

“Oh.” Ghost said softly.

The transformation back was much easier and faster. His snout seemed to wrinkle before splitting and he poked his head out, shaking his head. It looked like he had just had the coat over his face, but Ghost knew better.

“Take your mask off.” Soap muttered against him, the coat splitting down his chest to go back to a more coat like shape. His bare chest was out but he was smart enough to cover his lower half.

Ghost stared at him even longer and Soap knew for a fact he hadn’t blinked the entire time. He reached up and pulled Ghost’s mask off for him.

There was Simon.

Oh.

Oh God he’s incredibly hot.

Simon hadn’t put the make up on so Soap was treated to his freckles. They were... He sat up and grabbed Simon’s face who didn’t seem that surprised by it honestly.

They sparkled. They weren’t like a human’s at all. One, they were mostly shaped like stars instead of just dots and fleck. Two, they were a stunning gold color that reflected the moonlight.

Soap reached up and ran his hands through Ghost’s hair. It was just like before, spiky and uneven despite clearly being freshly trimmed. His ears were pointed like an elf, too severe to look normal.

“When the body modifications came out, I just blamed it on that...”

“Do you... know?” Soap spoke gently to him but he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. His husband was right here.

“No. I don’t... know. I didn’t even know there were other things like me. Thought I was just... wrong.”

“I think you may be a changeling.” Soap admitted. “I may have... tested it. A couple of times, trying to see if I could figure it out.”

Ghost glared at him and he went to take his mask back, but Soap stopped him. “Johnny... Please.”

“Simon.” Soap said softly, pulling him a little closer and Ghost finally slid to his knees instead of crouching. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Simon looked at him and suddenly stiffened. “When I took your coat.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t... You didn’t purposely do anything.” Soap reassured.

“But I did do something.”

Soap sighed. “This isn’t... the conversation I wanted to have tonight... What do you know about selkies?”

“Take their coat and you can control them. That’s it.”

“Pretty accurate. It’s a little more than just control though. When someone holds my coat, there’s an instinct under my skin. A desperation to please is the best way I can put it. It’s a survival tactic to keep from being punished according to my mom. You do what you can to keep your master happy so they don’t strike out at you.”

“Have you...” Simon was touching him now. Holding his face and putting his arm around him. “Been...”

“Twice. Once when I was 12 for two months and once when I was 17 until I turned 19. The first one was by a kid my age and it wasn’t... nothing happened. People usually get concerned.” Johnny smiled at him.

“And the other one?”

Johnny shook his head. “Another day. Please.”

“Another day.” Simon promised. “But what did I do?”

“You gave it back. The way you did it... You pick it back in my hands. You didn’t let me grab it.”

“Is that bad?”

“We’re married. Kinda. It’s not legally binding, of course. It can be ignored. Even broken.” Soap mumbled the last parts. It hurt. He’d like to blame it on his coat. That it was making him a little crazy. But he knew it wasn’t just that. The idea of being rejected by Ghost was... He cared a lot for Ghost and it had nothing to do with being not quite human.

Ghost was staring again. “Since the hospital. That was weeks ago.”

“Yeah. I suppose it was. Look, I can tell you how to break it.” Soap felt Ghost’s mouth on his and the arm pulled him closer, right against his broad chest.

“I haven’t been a very good husband to you.” Ghost joked, but there was a layer of stress underneath it.

Soap shrugged. “I haven’t been a very good bride.” He leaned in closer.

“Would you... like to be?”

“If you’d have me.”

Ghost huffed. “I’d be an idiot not to.”

“Good. Although, you are going to have to court me. My mom is not very impressed with you right now.” Soap got up.

“You talked about me to your mom?” Ghost was scrambling to get up and follow him.

“Of course. Had to tell her some Brit married me. She was worried.” He flashed him a smile and tossed him his mask.

“How the fuck do I court you?” Ghost tugged it on and followed him. He gathered up Soap’s clothes, watching him twirl around barefoot on the beach.

“Figure it out.”

“Can I have your mom’s number?”

“Why the fuck do you need that??”

“To ask her how! Also I want your mom to like me.”

#Johnny Soap Mactavish #Simon Ghost Riley #Soap Cod #Ghost COD #Soapghost #Ghostsoap #Soap x Ghost #Ghost x Soap #Macriley #Call of Duty #Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 #Selkie Soap

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