#maybe I’ll post an image of how my boy actually looks right now

[rtnortherlyarchives]

More Arboren, done with heavy black inks for practise.

#my art #dos2 fanart #goodintentions #digital art #divinity original sin 2 #player character #godwoken #arboren #really need to draw him with a shield and wand at least #he is supposed to be a conjuror #though you’d never tell given how lightly armoured I draw him #not that practical armour matters to elves in this game #apparently #maybe I’ll post an image of how my boy actually looks right now

[writingwithciara]

18 ~Matt Sturniolo~

summary: y/n’s family wants her home for the holidays and this year, they’re expecting her to bring a guest. she struggles to find someone who her parents will love so she settles on someone who doesn’t fit the image her parents have for her, or so she thinks

word count: 7.9k (she’s a long one)

pairing: matt sturniolo x reader

notes: loosely based off the song ‘18’ by anarbor (that was the goal but it changed halfway through) also was supposed to post this around christmas but i never got around to it. also might post a part 2 for valentine’s day but who knows 🤷🏻‍♀️

part 2 !

“Yes, dad. I’ll be there Saturday morning.”

“With a special friend I hope.”

“Yeah. A special friend indeed.” y/n began chewing on her fingernails. She knew her dad really wanted her to find someone and she had been trying a lot recently. But nobody she went out with fit her dads perfect image. He wanted her to find someone who was not only a gentleman but someone she could easily get along with. There was only 1 person she could think of who fit that but he’s gay so she knew that wouldn’t fool her dad.

“Okay sweetie. We’ll see you Saturday morning.” Her dad chuckled and hung up the phone. y/n dropped her phone and laid on her bed, slowly losing faith.

After a few moments, she dialed Nick’s number and waited for him to pick up the FaceTime request.

“Hey. What’s up?” he smiled at her and noticed her expression. “Everything okay?”

“Not really. I’m having a crisis that I don’t know how to handle.” She sighed and noticed his background. “Are you filming right now?”

“No. I’m just in the car waiting for Chris and Matt.” He looked out the window. “What’s your crisis?”

“I told dad this year would be the year I came home to visit and right before he hung up just now, I promised to bring a ‘special friend’ this time. The problem is, I don’t have a special friend to bring home and I don’t want to break my father’s heart. What am I going to do?”

“I can help if you want.”

“That’s lovely, Nicolas but you’re gay and even though you do fit my dad’s perfect image-“

“Aww, thank you.”

“I just can’t bring you home with me. Sorry.”

“I was suggesting that I help find someone for you.” he looked back out the window. “Oh, Matt could work.”

“No, I don’t think so. Matt is the complete opposite of what my dad wants for my future.” y/n sighed. “What about Chris?”

“Honesy, if Matt is the complete opposite of what your dad wants for you, then Chris ain’t what you’re looking for.”

“You’re right. Maybe I’ll just have to disappoint him this year.”

“How long do you have to find someone?”

“I told my dad I’d be there Saturday morning so the flight leaves Friday.”

“That gives us 3 days to find the perfect guy for you.” Nick set his phone down. “The boys are coming back and we’re going to be filming so I’m gonna have to let you go.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later then.” y/n went to hang up but Nick stopped her.

“Come by the house later and we can discuss this some more. I’m sure we’ll find someone.”

“Alright. See you later.” y/n hung up and looked up at her ceiling. Maybe she had to rethink her options.

Later that night, y/n found herself in the same position but this time she was on Nick’s bed. He was laying next to her as they went through a list of possible guys.

“How about Jordan?” Nick shot up and looked at his best friend.

“No way in hell. I never want to see that jerk again.”

“Okay. Um, maybe we can get Nate to do it.”

“I love Nate but he’s not exactly ideal for the occasion.” y/n picked up her phone. “We’ve gone through all the possibilities. There’s nobody good enough to bring home to my dad.”

“Maybe we need to think outside the box.”

“And what do you mean exactly?”

“Maybe you need to bring home the opposite of what your dad wants for you.”

“Then we would have to narrow that down to who’d be most willing to go and someone who I can actually stand being around for 3 days.” y/n looked through the list and none of the names stuck out. “This is hopeless.”

“Wait, hold on.” Nick put his finger to his lips for a second and then smiled. “You said earlier that Matt was the complete opposite, right?”

“Yeah.” y/n matched his smile. “And I actually enjoy spending time with him. I should ask him.”

“The worst he could say is no.” Nick opened his bedroom door and the duo ventured into the living room together. Matt looked up from his phone and smiled.

“Hey, Matt. Can I ask you for a favor?”

“That depends. Is it dangerous and/ or disgusting?”

“No, of course not.” y/n sat in the open seat next to him and took a deep breath. “I promised my dad I’d be bringing someone home for the holidays and I don’t want to disappoint him so I was wondering-“

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to be the one who disappoints your dad. I hate disappointing people. I’m sorry.”

“It’s totally fine.” y/n stood up and grabbed her phone. “Well, Nick. Thanks for trying to help me. This has been fun but I think I’m going to head home and start packing.”

Matt went to walk back to his bedroom but Nick stopped him and silently pleaded with is younger brother. Matt just  rolled his eyes and headed back to the living room. “Wait. I’ll go with you.”

“You will?”

“On one condition.”

“What is that?”

“If your dad finds out we’re not actually dating, you have to take all the blame.”

Thursday night rolled around and y/n found herself back in Nick’s bedroom, doing a final check to make sure she had everything she would need.

“I can’t believe you got Matt to agree to come with me.”

“It wasn’t difficult, really. All I did was give him a look.”

“And he just gave in? That’s odd.”

“Maybe he likes you.”

“No. Don’t even think about that. Gross. Not my type at all.” y/n protested.

“You don’t have to like him that way. I’m just saying it is a possibility.” Nick shrugged his shoulders and looked down at y/n. “Anyway, do you have everything?”

“Yes. And even if I didn’t, I could always grab stuff when I get there.” y/n smiled and looked at Nick’s computer. “I think I should probably get some sleep soon. I know the flight is tomorrow night but I don’t want to wake up too late.”

“Can you manage to stay up for a movie?” Nick pleaded and y/n knew she couldn’t say no to him.

“Fine. Just one.”

The one movie turned into 3 and they ended up staying up all night. By the next afternoon, Matt was fully rested while y/n was moving around slowly.

“This is why you’re supposed to go to bed at a decent hour, y/n.” Matt chuckled as he handed her a cup of her favorite coffee. “I know the flight doesn’t leave until later tonight but I was thinking we go early & beat the traffic. And maybe we can rehearse our story on the plane.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s a plan that can work.” y/n took a sip of the coffee. “But how early are we talking?”

“I’m planning on leaving in about an hour.” Matt looked at his phone. “It’ll be about 2:30 then and it takes an hour to get to the airport. Flight leaves at 6. It’s about a 5 hour flight so we’d be getting there pretty late so I booked us a hotel room for the night. Of course, if that’s alright with you.”

“Oh my goodness. That thought was running through my head after I got off the phone with my dad but I completely forgot to do that. Thanks, Matthew.”

“No problem. I figured you’d be dealing with other stuff so I figured I could take care of this one little thing.” Matt smiled and began heading to his room. “Oh. The room has 2 beds, because I figured it would be weird for you.”

When he disappeared behind his door, Nick looked at y/n with a knowing smirk. “He’s been thinking about you. How sweet.”

“Shut up, Nicolas.” y/n turned to Chris. “I know you two like to fight a lot so please don’t kill my best friend while I’m gone.”

“I can’t guarantee anything.” Chris chuckled and threw his hands up. “But I will try my absolute best while you’re gone.”

“That’s all I ask, Christopher.” y/n smiled and went to grab her bag from Nick’s room. When she returned, Matt was packing some food into a bag. She gave him a look and he shrugged.

“Snacks for the trip because, like Nick, you like to snack a lot. Thought it’d be best to be prepared.” He set the bag down on the counter and looked at her. “This was supposed to be a surprise. Thought I would have it all done by the time you got out of the room.”

“Sorry for spoiling the wonderful surprise.”

“I’m just doing what a good boyfriend would do.” He chuckled, mostly to himself and grabbed the bag. “I’ll meet you out in the car.”

“Guess I’ll see you guys in a few days.” y/n hugged each boy quickly and headed out to the car.

The car ride was faster than they thought it would be and they arrived at the airport almost 3 hours early. When they boarded the flight, Matt did some more time calculations and estimated that they would be arriving in Miami around midnight.

So, when they landed in Miami and 11:57, Matt couldn’t help but be proud of his estimation. He smirked and y/n laughed at his excitement.

“Okay wise guy. Let’s head to the hotel so we can finish going over the story. My dad wants to meet for breakfast in the morning and he’s gonna have a lot of questions.”

Matt lead her to the rental car and held the door for her. When she got in, he took a brief moment to think about details for the story that would be believable before he got in the car and headed to the hotel.

At the hotel, y/n was relieved to actually see 2 beds and not have a cliché mix up where they’d have to share a bed. It felt weird sharing a room with Matt, though she supposed she would have to get used to it, seeing as she’d be doing it for 3 days.

“Okay, so I was thinking about the length of this ‘relationship’ and I think it’d be believable if we say it’s been 10 months.”

“Coincidentally, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe we say I asked you out for Valentine’s Day and it blossomed from there.” Matt smiled and sat on the empty bed. “How romantic should we say the date was?”

“On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say a 7. Not too romantic for a first date but just romantic enough to be believable.”

“Got it.” Matt pulled his notebook out and jotted some notes down. “Okay, what else do we need to discuss?”

“Hmm.” y/n pondered the question for a moment. “Who should we say fell in love first? That’ll definitely get my dad hooked onto the story.”

“Well in that case, we should say I fell first. We can say that when Nick introduced us over a year ago, it was instant for me but you took a while longer to warm up to the idea. Maybe we could also say that I finally won you over when you saw how much I really cared about my brothers.”

“Sounds cheesy, but I actually like it.” y/n leaned against her headboard. “So far, the story is that when we met, you were instantly in love with me. But I didn’t care much for you at first. Then, I saw how caring you could be and when you asked me out on Valentine’s Day, I said yes. And we’ve been together ever since.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

“What if my dad asks about your future?”

“Then I’ll say that I want to marry you, but only when the time is right. And that I want at least 2 kids so they’ll always have a lifelong best friend. Siblings are the best thing you could ever have in life.”

“Perfect answer. I’m an only child but my dad has 3 brothers and they’re super close so he’ll love that answer. He’ll probably tell you how much he feels bad about not giving me a sibling.”

“And I can just say that my brothers already treat you like family, so you get to experience all of the sibling stuff in LA. Albeit, a little late in life, but that they would do anything for you if you asked them to and that you guys also fight like real siblings sometimes.”

“Who are you and what have you done with the real Matthew?” y/n looked over at him and saw the biggest, goofiest smile on his face. “Are you real?” she reached across the gap to poke at him but he swatted her hand away and finished writing the notes down.

“I’m 100% real, baby.” He smirked playfully and set the notebook down on the table. “Are we all set for the story?”

“Yes. I believe so.” y/n got under the covers and looked at him one last time before turning off the lamp. “Goodnight, Matt.”

The next morning, Matt woke up first and almost forgot where he was. But then he looked at the bed next to him and saw y/n sleeping peacefully and he remembered they were in Miami. He glanced back at y/n after checking the time and noticed her stirring. When her eyes opened, she smiled.

“Good morning, Matthew.”

“Good morning, sleepy head.” He chuckled and climbed out of bed. “We have to meet your dad in an hour.”

“Dad and his girlfriend.” y/n stretched and went to her bag to grab an outfit.

“You want first shower?” Matt asked her, causing y/n to nearly drop her phone in shock.

“Yes.” she grabbed her stuff and ran to the bathroom. Matt chuckled and went on his phone. There was a missed call from Nick and a few hundred texts from both of his brothers. He clicked on Nick’s contact and waited for the answer.

“Oh thank god you’re not dead!” was the first thing that came out of Nick’s mouth. “You need to answer your phone more often, asshole. We were worried.”

“Yeah. Really worried, jackass.” Matt heard Chris’ voice in the background. “How’s Miami?”

“It’s actually going really well. We got so many details for our ‘relationship’ story that her dad is going to love.”

“That’s awesome. Can I talk to y/n?”

“She’s in the shower but when she comes out, I’ll tell her to call you while i take my turn.”

“You let her have first shower? Who are you?” Nick joked. “Okay. Just tell her to call me when she’s done. I have something important to tell her.”

“And not me?”

“It’s about you, actually.” Matt could hear Chris laughing in the background, no doubt because he said something he wasn’t supposed to. He just chuckled and said a quick goodbye before hanging up on his brother. Y/n walked out of the bathroom a few moments later and smiled. “Hey. Nick wants you to call him while I’m in the shower.”

“Okay.” She immediately clicked on his name while Matt disappeared. When Nick’s face flashed on her screen, she smiled.

“Glad to see you’re not dead. Do you ever answer your phone?”

“I was in the shower.” She giggled and looked at the bathroom door. “What’s up?”

“I have something super important to talk to you about. It involves Matthew.”

“What is it?” she looked at the 2 boys on her screen and when they kept exchanging looks, it started worrying her. “If you guys don’t say anything, I’m going to freak out.”

“Apparently some girl has been going around LA saying she’s dating Matt. Thought I’d let you know, just in case it comes up at some point while you guys are away.”

“Oh. That’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s a real relationship between us. If he is dating her, that’s alright.”

“Just don’t let your dad hear about it. I’m sure he wouldn’t be too happy that his daughter is getting ‘cheated’ on.”

“I’ll do my best to keep him of the internet.” y/n smiled and looked back at the bathroom. “I’ll talk to you guys later tonight.” She ended the call just as Matt emerged from the bathroom. “How was your shower?”

“Refreshing.” He chuckled and picked up his phone. “So what did Nick have to talk to you about?”

“Apparently some girl has been going around LA saying that you guys are dating. He just told me to keep the news away from my dad.”

“Oh, must be Jessica.”

“Who the hell is Jessica?” y/n raised an eyebrow and suddenly realized how jealous that sounded so she dialed it back a bit. “I mean, who’s Jessica?”

“I went on one date with her 6 months ago and she’s been stalking me ever since. Nothing to be worried about. I only have eyes for you.” he playfully winked at her and grabbed the car keys. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Let’s do this.” y/n followed him out to the car. As they parked at the restaurant they’d be meeting her dad at, y/n looked at Matt. “How are you feeling?”

“Honestly, a little nervous. I never met a girls dad before. What if he hates me?”

“Matthew Bernard,” y/n paused her sentence and squeezed his hand. “he will not hate you. I promise. You have nothing to be nervous about. I’m going to be with you the entire time.”

“Thanks.” He looked out the window. “Should we head in now?”

“Yeah. Let’s do it!” y/n got out of the car and grabbed Matt’s hand again when he approached her. They walked in and Matt followed y/n to a table where another couple sat. He stayed a little behind her as she greeted the man and woman with hugs.

“It’s good to see you sweetheart. It’s been too long.” The woman beamed brightly.

“I know. I’ve just been really busy out in LA these last few months.” y/n looked back at Matt. “Speaking of busy, I would like you guys to meet my boyfriend. Dad, Crystal, this is Matt. Matt, this is my dad and his girlfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about you two.”

“I wish I could say the same but y/n has failed to tell me anything about you.”

“I’m sorry about that, Dad. But I didn’t want to oversell him and have him not meet your expectations.”

“Well, is he treating you good?”

“Absolutely. The most perfect gentleman.”

“Then my expectations are met.” y/n’s dad smiled at Matt and they sat back at the table. As they ate, Matt found himself warming up to y/n’s dad and his girlfriend. She was right. He really had nothing to worry about.

“So since you two have been dating for quite some time, I would assume you know a lot about my daughter.”

“Well, dad, Matt doesn’t-“

“I know lots about her.” Matt looked at y/n and smiled. “What questions do you have for me, sir?”

“What is her favorite color?”

“Her favorite color is green. That was an easy one.”

“Okay. Um, what is her favorite meal?”

“Okay, that’s a little tougher. But I know it really depends on her mood. If she’s sad, she prefers chili with shredded cheese. If she’s happy, her favorite meal is a nice juicy cheeseburger with a side of french fries. If she’s angry, the best food to give her is a crunchy taco so she can take out her frustration by breaking the shell.” Matt glanced over at y/n and smiled. “And her comfort food is vanilla ice cream topped with hundreds of sprinkles and drizzled with warm, not hot, caramel sauce.”

“I think it would’ve been best if you just told us everything you know about her instead of me asking, huh?”

“Dad, stop.” y/n giggled and hid her face in Matt’s arm. “You’re lucky I love you guys.”

“We love you too, honey.” y/n’s dad smiled as he reached for the bill. Matt was faster and already had his wallet out.

“Please, allow me.” Matt placed the money on the table, along with a generous tip for the waitress, before y/n’s dad could fight against him. Her dad just smiled and watched as Matt’s arm found its way around y/n’s waist. He was pleased knowing that his daughter had found someone so caring and attentive.

“Well, sweetheart, we’re going head off. Are you gonna be staying at the house tonight?”

“That’s what I was originally planning. If Matt is okay with it.”

“Of course. That sounds like fun.” Matt stood up from the booth and took y/n’s hand.

“We’ll meet you guys there in a bit. There’s something I wanna show Matt.”

“Okay. See you lovebirds later.” Crystal hugged y/n and waved to Matt before heading out to the car. Y/n turned to Matt and smiled.

“I had no idea you knew that much about me.”

“Well, most of it is from being very attentive but I had to get a few bits of information from Nick and Chris.”

“Still. You remembered it and I think my dad likes you.”

“Good. Then our plan is working.” He continued to hold her hand even as they got in the car. “So where did you want me to go? What did you want to show me?”

“When I was 9, my cousins and I found this really cool tree but that’s that not the cool part. The best part about it is that it leads to this really cool spot and I only bring the best people there. So you better feel lucky.”

“Oh, I do.” He smiled and listened to her directions. Within minutes, he was pulling up to an odd looking tree. “Is this it?”

“Yes.” y/n happily jumped out of the car and ran to the tree. Matt followed slowly behind her and chuckled to himself as she danced around the field. She never cared what anyone thought of her and that was why Matt admired her so much. He would never admit it, but he just found her incredibly attractive and fascinating. “Come on, Matthew. We haven’t even made it to the best part.”

“Right behind you.” he chuckled and followed her further. When they finally stopped, Matt was staring at one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. It was a hidden waterfall that pooled out into the most mesmerizingly blue body of water. Y/n stood at the edge of the water and looked around.

“It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“Mesmerizingly so.” He took a step towards her and when she looked up at him, he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Wanna take a dip in the water?”

“We’re not exactly dressed for the occasion.” Matt chuckled. “Besides, we promised to meet your dad back at his house.”

“Okay fine. But we should come back tonight. It’s even more magical at night.” She wiggled her eyebrows and headed back towards the car before Matt could give her an answer.

For the rest of the day, Matt got a tour from y/n and a big speech from her dad about their future. When everyone had gone to bed for the night, y/n convinced Matt to sneak out of the house and head back to the waterfall. She was right when she said it was magical at night.

However, Matt couldn’t bring himself to look at the water. He was instead focused on the way y/n had stripped down to almost nothing and was encouraging him to do the same. Not knowing what came over him, Matt quickly rid himself of all his clothes, leaving him in only his boxers. Y/n smiled and held his hand.

“Ready do go for a swim?” she winked and pulled him into the water with her before he could say yes. Her impulsiveness was another thing he admired about her. As she swam around, she felt Matt’s gaze on her. “What are you thinking about, Matthew?”

“Just thinking about how cool this place is and how lucky I am that you chose to show it to me. Never have I felt so lucky in my life.”

“Well after today, I feel like you deserve to have a little fun. Hope my dad didn’t scare you too much.”

“It was actually really nice getting to know him. He’s a really good guy and he raised a really great daughter.”

“He’s not around. You don’t have to suck up to him, Matt.” y/n rolled her eyes playfully and splashed a little water at him. “But I do appreciate the compliment.”

Matt splashed her back and his smile only grew when she began to laugh. “You know, I thought I was going to hate this trip but it’s only the first night and I am already enjoying it. Makes me excited for what’s to come.”

“You’re going to absolutely love meeting my cousins. They watch your videos like 24/7 and they’re 12 so when they see you, they’re going to be so excited.”

“Oh, wow. I can’t wait.” Matt smiled and swam cover to where y/n was. “The moon is bright tonight. Really brings out the green in your eyes.”

“Really? I think it makes my eyes look dull.” She tried looking away from him but he grabbed her chin and made her look directly into his eyes.

“Your eyes are so beautiful and I’m trying really hard not to kiss you right now.”

“Same.” y/n’s eyes widened as she spoke. She was not expecting to hear that come out of her mouth ever.

“Well, maybe we should’ve added it to the list of details for the story. Make something up, or something.”

“Or we could get the pesky ‘first kiss’ story out of the way and have something true about our history.”

Just as their lips were about to connect, Matt backed away. “I think we should head back to the house before someone realizes we snuck out.”

“Oh. Okay.” y/n tried to not let her disappointment show in her tone as she swam towards the edge of the water. Matt followed and got dressed silently. The car ride back was slow and silent, not to mention incredibly awkward. Whatever moment they were having at the waterfall was clearly over and didn’t seem like it would happen again anytime soon.

As they slowly climbed back into y/n’s bedroom, there was a heavy tension between them. Matt looked at her and felt so stupid for not kissing her when he had the opportunity.

“I’m sorry about that.” He looked down at his feet.

“It’s okay.” She turned her back to him and sighed. Matt noticed it as an anxiety breath. He wanted to go over and comfort her but he didn’t want to cross any boundaries. “We should get some sleep.”

“Yeah we should.” Matt took a step towards the bed but stopped. “Should I sleep on the floor so it’s not uncomfortable sharing a bed?”

“No. You can sleep up here with me.” y/n turned to look at him and for a second, Matt had hope he hadn’t fucked everything up. “I have enough pillows to put between us. It’ll be fine.” She began to build a small wall down the middle of the bed. Matt watched her carefully. He could tell she didn’t want to do it but they both knew they needed something to keep them from getting too close.

“I know you said it’s okay but I truly am sorry.” Matt slowly climbed onto one side of the bed while y/n got in the other side. “Good night, y/n.”

“Good night, Matthew.”

When Matt woke up the next morning, the pillow wall was completely demolished and y/n was wrapped up in his arms. He smiled and pretended to be asleep when he felt her stir.

Y/n opened one eye and noticed how close she had gotten to Matt overnight. A small smile spread across her face and she couldn’t help but get closer. He was so warm. He subconsciously pulled her closer and when he opened his eyes again, he caught her looking at him.

“Morning.” He smiled. Even though they were both awake and there was no need to be cuddled together, neither of them wanted to let go. It was as if the almost-kiss last night didn’t happen and everything was alright between them.

“Good morning, sleepy head.” y/n smiled and finally rolled out of his grasp. She checked her phone and noticed they had slept later than either of them had wanted. “Crap. We slept in. My family is gonna be here any minute.”

“You’re right.” He slowly turned away as y/n got out of bed and began to change in front of him without thinking. When she was done, she turned towards him and giggled.

“You didn’t have to look away, Matt. It’s not like you haven’t seen me like this before.”

“All those times were accidents. And besides, it’s not polite to watch a lady change.”

“You’ve been acting differently since we started this trip. Are you feeling alright?” y/n approached him and placed her hand on his forehead. Suddenly aware of the close proximity, Matt held his breath. “Well, you’re a little warm but that’s nothing to be concerned about.” y/n dropped her hand to his shoulder. “You should get dressed now.”

“Right.” He stood up awkwardly and grabbed some clothes. Y/n noticed his internal struggle and she went to the door.

“You can get changed in here. I’ll be downstairs.”

“Wait. You can stay. It’ll just take a second.” Matt slowly slipped his sweatpants on and quickly replaced his shirt. As he did so, y/n noticed the way his arms flexed as he raised them above his head. She tried to look away before he noticed but when he smirked, she knew she had been caught. “Like what you see?” he teased.

“Shut up.” y/n rolled her eyes and walked out of the room with Matt following closely behind. They made their way to the kitchen where Crystal was busy preparing stuff for lunch.

“Well, good morning lovebirds.” She smiled. “I was going to wake you earlier but you guys looked so cute all cuddled up in bed. Figured I would let you sleep a little longer.”

“Thanks, Crystal.” y/n smiled and sat on the stool at the island. Matt took the seat next to her and smiled. “What’s for lunch?”

“We’re just going to do a basic barbecue since your cousins are coming over soon. We know how picky they are.”

“And you can never go wrong with a good old fashioned barbecue.” Matt looked up and smiled.

“Yes, exactly.” Crystal grabbed a few things from the fridge and put them on a tray. “Your father is outside working on getting the grill started.”

“I think I’m gonna go talk to him.” Matt stood up and headed outside. Crystal turned to y/n with a wide smile.

“He’s so cute and such a gentleman.”

“Yeah, I suppose he is.” y/n watched the door as if Matt would reappear any second.

“You should’ve heard all the nice things he was saying to your dad last night. That boy is head over heels for you, y/n.”

“It’s not real.” y/n blurted out, quickly turning to Crystal with wide eyes. Crystal herself was just as shocked.

“What are you talking about?”

“The relationship. It’s not real. Not even close.” She sighed. Why was she suddenly so upset?

“I’m still not following, dear.” Crystal had a little bit of a clue as to what was being said but she wasn’t believing any of it.

“I didn’t want to disappoint you guys this year so when dad called and asked if I was bringing someone home for Christmas, I panicked and said yes. Then I was struggling to find someone to agree to come here with me so I got my best friend’s brother to do it.”

“Honey, you could never disappoint us. And honestly, from what I saw, it doesn’t seem so fake to me.”

“Huh?”

“When that boy talks about you, he gets a sparkle in his eye that lights up every feature of his face. I’ve known you for quite some time and I know some of the boys you actually dated and none of them ever looked that way when talking about you. Hell, they never really talked that much about you or knew anything about you. But Matt does. He truly cares for you, sweetheart. And whether it’s actual love or plain admiration, it’s there and it’s real.”

“No. He doesn’t.” y/n sighed. “Please don’t tell dad or anyone else that I told you. Not yet anyway.”

“You got it, honey. My lips are sealed.” Crystal winked just as Matt walked back inside. He slid his arm around y/n’s waist with a smile.

“How are you lovely ladies doing?”

“We’re doing just fine.” Crystal picked up the tray and headed for the door. “Talk to you two later.”

Matt looked down at y/n when Crystal left and noticed she was tense. “hey. You alright, pretty girl?”

“What?” she shook her head and looked down at where his arm was still sitting then looked back up at him. “Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking.”

“What about? What’s going on in that pretty little mind, huh?”

“I told Crystal this relationship is fake.” y/n ignored the compliment and focused on something different.

“Oh.” Matt dropped his arm and took a step back. “What did she say about it?”

“She didn’t understand what I was saying at first and then I told her that I only did it to not disappoint her and my dad. She told me that I could never disappoint them. And then she said something I never really thought about until now.”

“What was that?”

“She said that whenever you were talking about me last night, your eyes sparkled and lit up every feature of your face. She then told me that, even though the relationship is fake, there’s some real feelings going on.” y/n took a second to glance up at Matt, catching how he was already staring at her. “So, I need to know. Is she telling the truth? Do you have any feelings for me?”

“Um…about that. I, uh-“

Matt was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. As y/n went to answer it, he let out a sigh of relief. Seconds later, he was face to face with y/n and some of her cousins. The younger girls began to squeal as they approached him.

“I can’t believe that our y/n is dating a Sturniolo triplet. This is absolutely insane.” The little blonde girl hugged him and he smiled, instantly hugging her back. The boy looked at him and smirked.

“Don’t mind her. She’s been watching your videos for years.”

“It’s perfectly fine. I love meeting fans.” He looked at y/n and smiled.

“Brooke, you can let him go now.” the young boy chuckled and tried to pry his sister off of Matt to no avail.

“But Jackson, I have so much to ask him.”

“Why don’t we let him breathe for a minute before you attack with the questions?” Jackson finally pulled his little sister off and smiled.

“You alright, Matt?” y/n offered him a small smile, which he gladly returned.

“Yeah.” He chuckled and looked at Brooke. “What questions do you have for me?”

“Oh, so many.” Brooke grabbed Matt’s hand and dragged him into the living room. Y/n was about to follow but Jackson stopped her.

“I don’t think you’re going to get very much time with Matt while we’re here.” He chuckled and y/n glanced at the doorway.

“That’s okay. I get plenty of time with him any other day. Plus, he’s really good with kids so this is actually really heartwarming to watch.” y/n walked into the living room and took a seat next to Matt. He was quick to put his arm around her as he listened intently to Brooke’s questions and answered what he could.

They were like that for another hour before the rest of the family arrived. Matt was introduced to everyone while Brooke and a few more cousins stuck to his side. By the time they were all called outside to eat, Matt looked almost exhausted from answering all the questions but he smiled through it all.

While the kids all hurried out to the backyard, Matt and y/n hung back in the kitchen.

“I told you that you were going to be bombarded with questions.”

“That’s alright. I really don’t mind. Your family is amazing.”

“I know they are.” y/n smiled and looked at him. Her smile started fading when she remembered their conversation from before everyone arrived. “Can we talk later?”

“Yeah, of course.” Matt instinctively placed a kiss on the top of her head and went outside, leaving y/n to wonder what just happened.

Later that night, y/n and Matt were back in their hotel room, away from the chaos that was her family. Matt was on his bed while y/n was searching through her suitcase for something.

“What did you want to talk about?” Matt asked, remembering the conversation. He knew what she wanted to talk about but he needed her to ask the question again.

“Honestly, I don’t remember. Maybe I’ll think of it again and ask you in the morning. Oh, that reminds me. Christmas dinner is taking place at my dad’s house around 2 but I told him and Crystal that we’d be there around 10, if that’s alright with you.”

“Yeah that works.” Matt pulled the covers over him and looked at her. He knew she didn’t really forget the question but he didn’t want to bring it up again, in fear of making things more awkward than they already were. Instead, he plugged his phone in and smiled. “Goodnight, y/n.”

“Goodnight.” She headed to the bathroom and Matt slowly fell asleep.

--

The next morning while they were at her dad’s house, Crystal pulled Matt aside for a ‘talk’ that wasn’t really a talk.

“Look, I know the relationship is fake and everything and y/n may never admit this but there’s clearly something real between you two. I know it and maybe you know it too so if you truly do love her, you need to tell her before she slips away from you and ends up with someone else. And believe me when I say this, none of the other boys she has dated have ever made her smile the way you do, or even talked about her like you do. So please, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, just tell her how you feel.”

Matt went to respond but she was gone before he could blink. He found y/n talking with Brooke and Jackson so he decided to join them. “Y/n, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Yeah sure.” She followed him into the kitchen and watched him lean against the counter. “What’s up, Matty bear?”

“I just, uh, had a talk with Crystal. Well it was more like she talked to me then disappeared.” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“What exactly did she say?” y/n raised her eyebrow and subconsciously leaned closer to hear what he was about to say.

“She said that-“

“Everyone, can you please come into the living room?” y/n’s dad called out to everyone in the house. Everyone gathered in the living room and y/n watched her dad pull out a ring and propose to Crystal. Matt didn’t pay attention to the whole speech. His focus was on y/n’s reaction. When Crystal said yes, y/n’s eyes welled up with tears and she hugged her dad and Crystal tightly. She noticed Matt watching her and pulled him into the hug as well. Soon enough, everyone was joining in. It was a joyous celebration.

At the dinner table an hour later, y/n’s leg bounced a little more than normal. Matt noticed and he held her hand underneath the table, hoping to calm her down. It worked and she thanked him by squeezing his hand tightly. They were both silent about what they each knew and neither one of them wanted to cross the friendship line, in fear of screwing up possibly the best relationship either of them ever had.

By the time everyone was leaving, y/n found herself talking with Brooke and Jackson again while Matt watched silently.

“You guys are so cute together.” Brooke gushed. “Matt is so cute. OH my goodness. I forgot to ask you how it feels to be dating THE Matthew Sturniolo.”

“It feels different. Better than anything I’ve experienced before. He’s a great guy.” y/n smiled down at Brooke.

“So, do you love him?” Jackson questioned, cocking an eyebrow in anticipation.

“Yeah. Of course. He’s my best friend.” y/n smiled in Matt’s direction. “He’s the best thing that has ever happened to me, honestly. And he treats me so good.”

“Good. Because you’re my favorite cousin and I would hate to find out he hasn’t been treating you well.” Jackson hugged her and followed the rest of his family out the door. Y/n turned to Matt and smiled. As she approached him, he had a big smile on his face.

“What’s up, Mr. Sturniolo? What’s got you so smiley tonight?”

“Your family is absolutely amazing.”

“I agree.” She leaned against the opposite wall in the doorway. “What did you think of my dad proposing to Crystal?”

“I didn’t really hear the speech. Honestly, I was completely zoned out and staring at you the entire time, just watching your reaction.”

“Why?” she was interested to know. It could be the answer she had been looking for since yesterday afternoon.

“It was a beautiful moment. Just had to see your reaction.” He shrugged. “Besides, in a crowded room, my eyes always find you.”

“Oh.” y/n smiled.

“I didn’t get to give you my present!” he exclaimed suddenly, grabbing her hand and dragging her up to her bedroom. He pulled out a box and handed it to her. “M-merry Christmas.”

Y/n opened the box and nearly sobbed at the beautiful necklace before her. She had been wanting this specific necklace for the last 6 months but whenever she went to buy it herself, they happened to be sold out. She never told anyone so how did Matt know and how did he suddenly end up with one?

Matt took the necklace out of the box and moved her hair to the side so he could place it around her neck. As she turned back towards him, her hand went up to play with the charm.

“How did you know?” she looked up into his eyes.

“I saw the way you looked at it that one time we passed it at the store. While you went to go with Chris to that one store, I went back to buy it for you. I figured you would want something that was as beautiful as you.” he moved a piece of hair out of her face and she subconsciously leaned into his touch before she knew what she was doing. But just as fast as that happened, she pulled away just as fast.

“Matt, don’t do this. Please?”

“Do what? Listen to Crystal?”

“What did she tell you to do?” y/n took a step back but Matt walked closer.

“She told me to tell you how I felt or risk losing you to someone else.” He sighed “Look, I can’t do this anymore.”

“Do what, Matt?” y/n looked down at her feet.

“I should’ve just fucking kissed you at the damn waterfall. It’s been eating me up inside that I skipped over possibly one of the greatest opportunities of my life because I didn’t want to fuck up our friendship.” Matt stepped back and ran his hands through his hair anxiously. “Crystal was right, y/n. I do have feelings for you. I have for so damn long and that was why I didn’t initially want to come on this trip with you. I was afraid. Afraid I was going to fuck something up and turns out, it’s exactly what I’m doing. I could tell how upset you were when we left the waterfall that night. And that seriously fucking crushed me. Like, how could I be so damn stupid?” he looked at her. and sighed. “Please tell me I didn’t mess our friendship up by completely backing out of that kiss.”

“Matt, take a breath. Just relax.” y/n rubbed his arm up and down before squeezing his hand. “You didn’t mess anything up. I am right here and I am always going to be right here. You could yell at me and call me every possible name you could think of and I would still love you. Because you’re my best friend and that love stretches beyond any human comprehension. You stand out from every single person I know and that makes me love you so much more. And every single detail we came up with for our ‘relationship’ suddenly seems incredibly true. Yeah, maybe you fell in love with me first but I can guarantee that this love right here,” she gestured between them and stepped impossibly closer. “this love is real. As real as you and me, Matt. So no. You didn’t screw up by backing out of the kiss. You just delayed the most perfect moment between us because now, it won’t be a kiss that was just random. It’s going to mean something.”

“What kiss?” Matt questioned, his eyes flicking down to her lips before going back up. Before he had time to register what was going on, she grabbed his face gently and placed her lips on his. Her hands wrapped around the back of his neck while his gripped her waist tightly, as if at any moment, she would slip away like Crystal said. But he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Not anytime soon.

Y/n was the first to break the kiss but her arms stayed around his neck while her fingers danced delicately on the little hairs that were there.

“I know we’re all the way in Florida right now but a part of me keeps thinking that one of your brothers is gonna come bursting through that door to ruin our moment.”

And as if on cue, Matt’s phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and showed the screen to y/n. She laughed when she saw Chris’ face pop up.

“Merry Christmas, bitches. How was your day?” he smirked, somehow knowing that he interrupted an intimate moment. “How’s Miami?”

“It’s great here. Don’t have to put up with you idiots in person.” Matt chuckled and held y/n close.

“I was just calling to wish you both a Merry Christmas but I’m sensing that I interrupted a moment so I’m gonna go before the Mattitude kicks in. Buh-bye.” He abruptly ended the call and Matt shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Now where were we?” he smirked and kissed y/n again.

taglist: @worldlxvlys @carolinasamattgirl

#matt sturniolo #matthew sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo #sturniolo fanfic #matt sturniolo x reader

[ladykailitha]

All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 8

Hello! We get an actual resolution with no cliffhangers, but a lot of backstory revealed. Also, Harri gets his temper and stubbornness from all his parents (his two dads AND the surrogate ;)). Really, the poor boy never had a chance.

Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4  Pt 5 Pt 6  Pt 7 

***

Eddie and Harri looked at each other in shock.

“Dad!” Harri hissed.

Eddie held up his hands in surrender. “She didn’t even give me a chance to respond!”

Harri huffed. “I guess. But I swear to god, if you Yoko this shit up, I’ll post the baby pictures of you Grandpa Wayne kept on your Insta.”

“Hey!” Eddie protested. “It’s not my fault, okay!”

“Yeah?” Harri asked. “Uncles Jeff and Gareth gonna agree to that? Because now that I know who they were talking about, they’ve been telling you to let it go since before Papa died.”

Eddie frowned. “There’s more history there then you know.”

“So tell me!” Harri yelled, getting to his feet. “What is so fucking bad you can’t talk about it? Not to me, not to Uncle Jeff, and certainly not to Papa. So what aren’t you tell me?”

Eddie glared at his son. “I can’t tell you.”

“Not this fucking NDA shit again!” Harri growled getting in Eddie’s face. “Just own up that nothing happened.”

Eddie lifted up his shirt. “Does that fucking look like nothing happened? Huh? Does it? Because this is end of the list of shit I can’t talk about. There is so much I know. So much that I still have fucking nightmares about it. And when I told Steve that I was in love with him, he told me I couldn’t be. That it was the trauma of what we’ve been through!”

“Twenty years ago!” Harri snapped back. “Don’t you think he might have changed his mind? God damn, Dad! He still has your ring!”

Eddie took a step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Harri glared at him. “The hell you don’t.” He marched into the studio, Eddie fast on his heels.

“I don’t know what the hell you think this will prove,” Eddie growled.

Harri pulled two pictures off the wall. One featuring Corroded Coffin on a torn up sofa in Grandpa Wayne’s old house and the other all them around the table signing their contract. In both photos you could clearly see Eddie’s right hand. In the first picture there was a silver and grey gem stone ring and it was gone in the second.

“I always wondered about that conversation you had with Grandpa Wayne about that ring,” Harri said. “It was right after Papa’s funeral and I asked you what happened to it. I said it was really pretty. You told me that you lost it. Do you remember what Grandpa Wayne said? Because I do.”

Eddie glared at his son, lips pursed.

“He said that it was bullshit and that you knew exactly where it was,” Harri continued. “And that all you had to do was go get it back if you wanted to.”

He turned the pictures around so Eddie could see them. “You gave Mr Harrington that ring. Why, that I don’t know. But I do know I saw it two days ago on Mr Harrington’s right ring finger. And you can lie to me again about it or you can tell the truth so we can fix this. Whatever it was between you. Because Uncle Jeff liked the dude so much they remained friends for years. And we both know he hates people.”

Eddie sighed, taking the picture of the one on Wayne’s couch. “I told him that maybe if he didn’t feel that way about me then, that might change. And I gave him the ring as a promise. He could give it back to me only if he returned my feelings.”

He ran his fingers over the image of Brian and sighed. He then touched the part of the picture that showed the ring. “He never returned it, so I thought he’d thrown it away, sold it, pawned it off. Whatever. I don’t know how I feel about him keeping it.”

Harri nodded. On the one hand, Steve kept the ring, meaning it was important to him, but on the other, it meant he hadn’t returned Eddie’s feelings. “At least you know you’re still important to him, Dad. And maybe that’s all that really matters.”

Eddie nodded. “Call your friend. Tell her I’ll do it. I’ll befriend that bastard.” He looked at Harri a moment. “Maybe don’t say it exactly like that.”

Harri laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. I’m not that stupid. After all I got my smarts from Papa.”

“Hey!” Eddie protested.

*

By the time Edie got home, she was wrung out, physically and emotionally. She was glad that Harri called. Of course she was. But the whole thing was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

All she wanted to do was flop on her bed and ignore everyone until dinner. But it was not be. Standing in her living room, softly chatting with Aunt Robin was Vivian Knightly, super model extraordinaire.

Viv was tall and statuesque, with legs that went on for miles. She had dark skin and full, red lips. Her long, black hair was braided into hundreds of small braids, decorated with colorful beads. She wore a bright yellow sundress with a white belt.

In short, she made everyone else in the room dowdy by comparison.

She turned when she heard the door. “Hello! You must be Edie! It’s nice to meet you in the flesh, at long last.” She stuck out her hand so gracefully that it made Edie want to snort. How this elegant woman got with her absolutely uncoordinated giraffe of an aunt, she never could figure out.

Edie took her hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“You’re home later than usual,” Robin said. “Everything all right?”

Edie nodded. “Just had drop off the music we’re practicing over at our guitarist’s house.”

Robin’s eyebrows shot up. “And this wouldn’t be your new guitarist would it?”

Edie rolled her eyes. “Yes, Aunt Robin. Harri Munson is a good friend, a good guitarist, and good artist. Anything else you’d want to know? Blood type, height, weight, dating status? For the record he’s single. And no, I don’t know his sexuality any more than he knows mine. We’re not that close yet.”

Robin grimaced.

Viv stepped into the breech. “I bet he’s cute though. You got a picture of him I can see?”

Edie raised her eyebrow. “I’m a lesbian.”

Viv laughed. “Me too!”

Edie rolled her eyes again, this time with more humor. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her pictures. She showed her the photo of Harri and Mandy with their arms around each other.

“He is cute,” Viv said. “In that awkward teenage way. I’ll bet he’ll grow into his dimples.”

Robin looked over her shoulder and then scoffed. “He looks just like his dad, and his dad so didn’t grow into them.”

Edie put her phone away. “Yeah, it’s a bit eerie how alike they look.”

Robin laughed. “Sure, little miss carbon copy of her dad.”

“I am not!” Edie protested, just as her dad walked in.

Viv looked back and forth between them. “Nope, sorry babe. I’m going to have to side with Robin on this one.”

Steve looked at all of them in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“Dad,” Edie said with all the put upon nature of a teenager, “please tell these lovely ladies I am not a carbon copy of you.”

Steve blinked. “Honey, I love you and I can tell you’ve had a rough day at school...”

Edie’s eyes went wide and she threw her arms in the arm. “Not you, too!”

Steve grimaced. “Sorry. But it drove Addison nuts how much you look like me. Even as an infant.”

Edie’s lip twisted as she grumped.

Steve pulled her in for a hug. “Why don’t you go hang out in your room until dinner? De-stress a bit, okay?”

This is why Edie loved her dad. He could tell she wanted escape the social interaction and gave her an out. She kissed his cheek and with a promise to chat with Robin and Viv later, she went to go nap.

*

When she came back downstairs for dinner, Robin and Viv had gone out to dinner and it was just her and her dad.

“They’ll be back later,” Steve explained as he handed her a large plate of spaghetti. “I just wanted it to be us for dinner.”

Edie nodded and dug into her food with gusto. Steve was good cook and he knew his daughter’s comfort food.

“Rough day at school?” Steve asked, gently.

Edie sighed and stabbed at her plate. “A little. Things got a little awkward with Harri today.”

“Ah.”

Steve pushed his food around and Edie nudged him with her shoulder. “Come on, eat.”

He took a couple bites before he spoke again. “I didn’t mean to make things awkward with your friend.”

She bumped him again. “Hey, it’s not your fault.”

Steve scoffed. “No, no. It really is. I was an ass.”

“You were a teenager after a fucking earthquake,” Edie reminded him. “And he was asking you to uproot your life so soon after wasn’t fair either.”

Steve looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “And who told you that?”

“Harri,” Edie admitted with a wince. “Minus the barracks language his dad used to describe the incident.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah, I can only imagine. Eddie always did have the most colorful language.”

“You really liked him, didn’t you?” Edie said jumping down from the barstool and grabbed both of their empty plates to put in the sink.

“Yeah,” Steve mumbled. “I was just too stupid to realize it until after he went to LA.”

Edie began washing their dishes. “So why didn’t you follow him?”

Steve stood up and grabbed a wash cloth to wipe down the counter. “Because I learned that if I listened to loud noises I would lose all the hearing in my left ear. And that included plane rides and metal concerts.”

“Oh.”

Steve ran the wash cloth under the tap and laid it flat to dry. “Dustin set out to create earplugs that would allow me to do both and accidentally invented a better hearing aid.” He chuckled and shook his head. He leaned up against the counter and folded his arms.

“It took him another couple of years to make the earplugs,” he said softly.

“In time for Brian Martin’s funeral?” she asked, putting the dishes into the sink.

Steve nodded. “Too bad I didn’t get to use them then. But I’ve used them on every flight since.”

She hummed in agreement. “Is that why you married Addison? Because you couldn’t be with Mr Munson?”

Steve sighed. “I wanted him to be with someone who could go to his concerts, to cheer him on from backstage and that couldn’t be me.”

Edie dried off her hands. “Shouldn’t he have a say in that?”

He chuckled. “Probably. But remember, I was young and stupid.”

She hummed in agreement and he swatted at her playfully.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out between you,” Edie said quietly.

Steve straightened up and gave her a hug. “It’s okay. I got you out of the deal and I’d say that was worth it.”

Edie hugged him back tightly. “I know. I just want you to be happy, Dad.”

He kissed the top of her head fiercely. “I know, honey. I know.”

***

Part 9  Part 10 Part 11  Part 12  Part 13 Part 14  Part 15  Part 16 Part 17  Part 18  Epilogue

Tag List:

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk​ @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666  @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @thylatrek @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU #ladykailtiha writes

[buckybarnesthehotshot]

Just an Act I: Boring (Max Verstappen x Reader)

|main masterlist|

summary: max decides to drag his friend into the world of formula 1 in the most unconventional way possible (fake dating au) 

word count: 1546 (i don’t have the energy to write more words)

warnings: not proofread

a/n: woah, i actually wrote the idea

January 26, 2022

           “You know, people think we’re dating,” Max laughed over their shared lunch, bringing up a topic that had only been recently brought to his attention.

            “Right, I saw that,” y/n nodded in agreement, clearing her throat before mocking one of the articles she’d seen about them, “Who’s Max Verstappen’s h/c-haired Mystery Woman? Bro, you literally tagged me in that post, I don’t think there are any other questions that need answering.”

            “Yeah, well, my PR team’s heard about the articles,” the Dutchman admitted, letting out an awkward chuckle, “And you know, mate, it’s funny actually because they said it would be better if we were actually dating.”

          Now, this caught the woman off-guard. Why would Red Bull’s public relations team prefer it if she and Max were together that way? 

           “What? Why?” she narrowed her eyes at him, “You’re joking, aren’t you?”

             “Not at all, mate,” Max shook his head, recalling the conversation he had with his team about the articles, “They said it would have made me put up less of a reckless bad boy image, and one that’s gonna resonate more with fans or some shit.” 

           “Who cares? You’re the world champion,” y/n scoffed, rolling her eyes at that.

            “Yeah, well, they said that maybe fans would like me more if I had a girlfriend,” Max explained, earning a burst of laughter from the woman. 

            “They think you’re too boring on your own,” y/n snickered, “Also, I totally understand where the PR team’s coming from. I’m way more interesting than you.”

             “I travel the world and drive race cars for a living, you’re fucking delusional,” Max broke out in a small fit of laughter at the pout on the woman’s face.

            “Yeah, well, I’m a college graduate who hasn’t decided what she wants to do for a living, I’d say that’s more interesting considering we live in Monaco,” y/n shrugged nonchalantly, “I mean seriously, who wouldn’t want to see somebody like me working different jobs for shits and giggles.” 

            “Right, what job are you taking up right now?” Max questioned, unsure of what his friend really did for a living nowadays. Last she checked, she worked as a cashier for a grocery store. 

              “Well, I tried taking up a bartending job, but it’s been so ass,” y/n scoffed at the mention of her jobs, “If I knew I was going to have to turn down drunk men this much, I probably would’ve started to look for a stable job.”             "Why don’t you then?” 

              “I don’t know, I mean, I always had this idea of a year between college and working an actual job just so I could have some free time to do whatever,” y/n explained, a dreamy look in her e/c eyes. Max scoffed, knowing better. 

            “And how’s that going for you?”

            “Terribly. I’m bored all the time,” y/n let out a huff, “I thought it would be more exciting, but I don’t even have enough money to do some traveling like people do for their gap years.’

              “You know what would be exciting?”

              “Oh no, why do you have that look on your face?” y/n questioned, eyes growing wide at the look on Max’s face, one that clearly meant he was plotting something. 

              “Well, since the PR team suggested I get a girlfriend—”

               “I’m not going to be your girlfriend, maybe ask me to dinner first and I’ll maybe think about it,” y/n deadpanned. 

              “You didn’t even let me finish,” Max shook his head, “Anyways, I thought that maybe we could just pretend to date. For the fans, and so my team finally lays off my back about you.”

            “What? You guys discuss me in your meetings?” 

           “Not really, but since more people started talking about us, the team started to talk about you more too,” Max explained with a shrug, “So, you gonna do it?”

            “Why the hell would I even agree to that?”

            "Well, you mentioned traveling. We do a lot of that in Formula 1,” Max started off, “Also, it’s never boring on the track.”

            “Yeah, when you’re actually in the car driving,” y/n scoffed, “I could barely see shit from the stands during the Monaco Grand Prix.”

             “If you accepted my offer to have you in the garage—”

             “Maybe next time.”

             “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking you,” Max deadpanned, “Besides, what happens on the track’s definitely more exciting than whatever you have going on in Monaco.”

           “I can’t just take off, though. I have to pay rent for my place here, and also, did you miss the fact where I said I don’t have money to travel?”

           “It’s fine, I’ll pay for everything,” Max insisted with a small shrug. He had a notably large paycheck too, footing y/n’s expenses while they were out on the road wouldn’t have been a problem for the man. 

           “Yeah, but what’s the point of you paying for my rent if I’m not even going to be at the apartment often with how often the F1 circus travels?”

           “Do you even want to go?”

           “I want to, but come on, I have some responsibilities, Max.”

          “Then you can move your stuff to my place first,” Max shrugged, “You can stay there when we aren’t travelling for the rest of the season.”

            "You must be really desperate to have me around,” y/n quipped, biting her lip hesitantly before nodding, “Yeah, okay, alright. I’ll do it.”

             “You will?” Max’s eyes widened at her quick response. Part of him definitely believed there was no way y/n would have agreed to his idea. 

            “Well, yeah. You’re covering everything, I don’t have to worry about shit,” y/n shrugged nonchalantly. It would be a nice change of pace for the woman too, “So, what kind of girlfriend do you want?”

            “What?” 

            “What kind of girlfriend do you want?” y/n repeated, “That way I can act like that or something like some kind of fun improv experiment.” 

            “Calm down, you can just act like yourself,” Max chuckled at his friend’s eagerness.

           “If I acted like myself all the time, people would think I hate you with how much we make fun of each other,” y/n arched a brow at him as Max nodded in understanding. The pair had a habit for getting into random squabbles. 

            “Okay, then act like yourself but in love with me?” Max suggested, earning a pause of silence from the woman before they both broke out in a fit of laughter, “Okay, that sounds fucking stupid, mate.”

            “I know,” y/n let out a small laugh, “I mean, I guess I can probably pretend to put up with you.”

            "If anyone’s putting up with anyone here, I’m the one who’s stuck with you,” Max scoffed, refusing to accept y/n implying he was the more annoying one of the pair.

        “Yeah, but this was your idea, and I’m the one putting up with it,” y/n shrugged, her simple way of saying she was winning this argument. Max huffed, nodding in acknowledgment as y/n pulled out her phone, “Smile, bitch.”

          “What are you taking photos for?” Max questioned, caught off-guard by her phone’s quiet click as she snapped his image. 

             “So I can post you to my Instagram story like a well-trained girlfriend,” y/n shrugged, typing away on her phone before the image made its way to her story. 

            “Well, in that case,” Max paused, pulling out his phone and snapping a quick photo of y/n, “Smile, bitch.”

           “Wait, no don’t post that, I look like shit right now!” y/n gasped, grabbing at his phone from her side of the table, practically leaning over their food as Max held his phone away from her grasp.

            “You’re not stopping me, y/n,” Max teased, holding his phone as far as he could from her and typing up a quick caption and tagging her as he posted the picture to his own story. 

           A quick chime came from y/n’s phone as she got the notification of Max tagging her on his story. The image was simple, her holding onto her phone and smiling like a dork as she typed away on her screen. She groaned.

           “I look like shit in this, Max.”

           “Yeah, well, I look even more like shit in this picture you posted,” Max scoffed, holding his phone up to her, a photo on her story of him looking very clearly unprepared to have his picture taken. 

        “Yeah, but you’re a Formula 1 World Champion, it doesn’t matter,” y/n muttered, “All your fans are going to wonder why you’re even dating me.”  

            “We aren’t actually dating, though,” Max reminded her as she pouted.

             “But still, that’s what the fans are going to think, then they’re going to start questioning why you fell in love with like, a commoner or something,” y/n blew raspberries, “That’s how bad I look in that pic.”

               “You look fine,” Max shook his head at her dramatics.

              “You’ve got to admit, I look a bit shit.” 

              “You look fine,” Max stated with such finality that y/n finally accepted her reality and stopped pestering him about the photo he posted. Instead, she smiled and nodded, continuing on with her food. 

F1 TAGLIST: OPEN

JUST AN ACT TAG LIST: OPEN

ppl who replied to the other post about this fic: @welcometomyworldwithoutrules / @rosalysaoirse / @dorisfantasyworld / @chiogarza / @deargalaxy​ 

#max verstappen x reader #max verstappen #max verstappen x you #max verstappen x y/n #max verstappen fanfic #max verstappen fanfiction #f1 #f1 fanfiction #f1 x reader #formula 1 x you #f1 x y/n #f1 x you #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 fanfiction #formula 1 x reader

[serenefreakgeekao3]

Ever in our favour

CHAPTER SIX

[Table of contents]

Summary: Someone new enters the fray... Warnings: Cannon typical violence, descriptions of blood and death Author's Note: Hey, it's been a super long time since I've updated this fic, and I apologize for that. This chapter is also a bit shorter than the rest, but I felt it was a good stopping point, and figured posting something rather than nothing would be better. Enjoy!

“You mean to tell me you showed someone one of your specialities?” Your mentor stared at you with a saddened look in her eye, her long blonde hair tied up into a messy bun atop her head. She shook her head slowly, sighing. “What did I say before?”

“I know,” You mumbled, shrugging as you poked your food around your plate. The dining room in this apartment was splashed with a multitude of colours- it still shocked you, having grown up in the muted world of District 9. “Don’t show them what I can do so they don’t know what to look out for. Don’t make friends, don’t talk to any of the others, because you’ll just feel worse when you’re in the arena. I know.”

“What do you mean, ‘don’t make friends’? Did you make a friend?” She asked, glancing between you and your district partner- the one that had brought up this conversation. The one that had told on you to your mentor, saying you showed a contestant or two how much you know about differentiating plants. You didn’t really care if she knew, but you were trying to avoid this exact argument. You sigh, looking back up into her eyes.

“Yes, I made a friend. I think if I’m completely alone out there I’ll be killed quicker than I can run.” You held back your next comment- that you actually liked Peeta, that you hoped he liked you back. But you couldn’t think that way, you were doomed. You both were. Your mentor shakes her head again, reaching out to place a hand on your fidgeting one.

“Y/N-”

“Oh stop it,” You pull away, shaking your head. “We both know I won’t survive this. I’d rather go out on my own terms. Being loyal to someone who is loyal to me. Maybe even helping the right victor succeed.” You push away from the table with a huff, shaking your head. “I’m going to my room for the night.”

Those memories were already precious in your head, and you wouldn’t let either of them spoil it, not when you were about to lose your life no matter what. You would take that smiling, sparkling image of Peeta to your grave. His laugh was infectious, and you knew from the looks of the other contestants that you were just painting another target on your back. But he’d seemed so sweet… You had just wanted to know if his eyes really were that shade of blue…

As you startle awake, you hear voices nearby. The events of last night slowly come back to you as you sit there, blinking in the low light. After having escaped from Toby, the boy you had killed for the fish, the group of you had hunted down a secluded enough spot to build a campfire and rest for the evening. Peeta seemed almost too good at spotting the right areas to sleep, as he had come across a natural cave opening that seemed the perfect spot. You had settled down to begin carving the fish as Rue ran back and forth, gathering materials to build a big enough campfire that could cook the fish for the lot of you. Peeta spent his time disguising the entrance to your little cove, and after all was said and done you had taken a look. If you hadn’t just pushed past that bundle of leaves, you wouldn’t have even known where the entrance was hidden at- or that there was an entrance to begin with.

You would feel settled by that fact now if you didn’t hear a distinct female voice that you knew was not Rue. Not only did Rue tend to talk in almost hushed whispers most of the time, but this one sounded older. Probably around your own age. You push yourself to stand, wincing at the soreness of your muscles, before inching yourself into the small grotto that Peeta had surrounded. You spot Rue sitting next to the snuffed campfire, knees pulled up with her arms wrapped around them. She lifts her head as you emerge, shooting you a smile through her fear, and you begin to make your way toward the exit. You can hear the voices clearer now.

“What do you mean you can’t- Peeta-”

“Listen, I have-” You hear him grumble, and you begin trying to find a spot where you might be able to peek through the foliage. “I just can’t come with you, okay?”

“What, is it that District 9 person you kept talking to before? You know they’re just going to betray you, Peeta.”

“And what, you won’t?” Peeta’s voice almost sounded harsh, but his demeanour wouldn’t let it get that far. Instead, he just sounded firm, almost in disbelief of what the girl had said. The silence that followed said a lot before you heard her finally speak up again.

“Of course not, Peeta. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Only one of us can make it out of here alive, Katniss.” ‘Oh, it’s her. The girl from your hazy memories, the Girl On Fire. Peeta’s district partner.’ “You know that as well as I do.”

“But you choose to follow around someone you don’t know?”

“I know-”

“Someone you hardly know, then?”

“And I know you more? You hardly knew me back in twelve.” There’s another silence and you feel yourself getting antsy, patting your pockets to locate and withdraw your knife. You flick it open, feeling it lock into place as you strain to listen for any movement. “Look, you should just go. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you give me a reason.”

“You wouldn’t hurt me, Peeta,” You hear a soft voice reply, and that antsy feeling in your chest ramps up to 100%. You push your way through the disguised exit, not bothering to hide the knife you’re wielding, but not raising it either. You watch as both sets of eyes turn to you quickly from the noise, and you make sure to keep your face emotionless. She looked plain, almost too plain for someone who had flames bursting out of her back a week ago.

“I think he said he’d like you to leave now.”

Katniss stood tall, a few feet away from Peeta, with her hand holding a rather impressive looking silver bow. With Peeta’s eyes on you, he missed her reaction. You never thought you’d see such a burning hatred in someone’s eyes, something that was hardly reflected on her face. She still looked emotionless, but she couldn’t hide her feelings in her eyes. You began to wonder if Peeta could see it too, if he knew how to read her as easily as you did. You glanced to him, watching him visibly swallow, eyes slightly wider than normal, his hand twitching at his side. They both spoke at the same time.

“Y/N, please, go back inside-”

“I told you before, nine-”

CRASH

You stumble back, knocking into the pile of bushes behind you, managing to catch yourself before you fell through. The scene before you seemed to happen in slow-motion, but also in an instant. Something- someone, just crashed through the nearby brush. Someone large, who had pushed through from the opposite side of the tiny clearing the three of you had been standing in. Katniss was knocked to the ground immediately, and you watched in sick fascination how her head banged against the rock nearby before she immediately tried to push herself up, shaking her head. Meanwhile, the figure that had pushed Katniss down now grappled with Peeta. You knew from experience that he had some skills with wrestling, but it didn’t seem to matter when opposing this brute of a man.

You couldn’t think, everything began moving quicker and quicker, Peeta getting thrown to the ground and Katniss stumbling on her own feet, shaking her head and raising a hand to her new wound. The man turned his attention to you. You locked eyes, his deep brown gaze penetrating yours, and his dark hands reached out toward you. You swiped your hand toward him, feeling resistance and watching in satisfaction as he hisses and withdraws his right hand, a new slash of blood welling up on his palm. He snarls, moving to pounce.

Peeta had pushed up already, tackling the man with all of his might, but still unable to move him more than a slight stumble. You try to regain your balance from your half-leaned position in the disguised opening of your campsite, but you couldn’t regain your footing fast enough. The man grabbed Peeta by his shirt with both hands, lifted him until his feet were no longer on the ground, then yelled out in fury as he threw Peeta a good distance away. Your heart rate spikes, and panting, you finally manage to gain a footing, crouching slightly in some memory-locked defensive position. Behind him, Katniss raises her bow, aiming an arrow for his back.

He looks at you, then charges. His hands wrap around your throat, pushing you down to your knees. You couldn’t fight him, his strength was just too much. You glanced behind him again, and watch with dread as Katniss slowly releases the tension on her bow and lowers the arrow. She wasn’t shooting him.

You were pushed further down, struggling against his hold. You couldn’t breathe- not in a panicked way that you’ve since grown to know, but in a holy-shit-I’m-about-to-die way. Your back hit the grass, the dew from the morning beginning to sink into your shirt and soak it. What an odd thing to worry about now, the chill on your back as you struggle to find breath. You beginning hitting his hands, pounding down onto his wrist in any attempt to move him.

“Thresh!”

This scream was familiar, but you had no time to ponder why Rue would suddenly be yelling since you were able to finally gasp a lungful of air. Thresh had looked up, directly behind you- likely at the young girl who called for him- and accidentally released his hold on you in surprise. You gasp in again, pushing his hands away from you in a panic before his gaze looks back down at you, locking eyes. Then a silver arrowhead appears in the center of his throat. Through his throat. You can see his eyes widening, a gurgle of blood spilling from his mouth and falling down onto your chest. Frightened of your fate if he falls forward, you begin to frantically push him to the side, managing to get your feet planted on the ground for an extra shove. He falls to the side, and you decide you can’t look at him anymore- figuring the gurgling sounds and his clawing at his own throat will haunt you enough.

By the time you managed to stand, the blackness fading from your vision as you heave deep breaths, you watch Peeta run across the small field and shove Katniss.

“What the hell was that?” He screams, and you’ve never heard him so angry, so bloodthirsty.

“What do you mean? I saved them!”

“I saw you!” He pointed at her, glaring as he took a few steps back. “I saw you lower your damned bow-”

“I shot him, didn’t I?”

“You were protecting the kid!” Peeta screams, clenching his fists. You blink, remembering Rue and turning quickly. She stared in shock at Thresh on the ground, unmoving. You rush to her, turning her around and holding her face to your stomach.

“Of course I was protecting the kid! You think I’m going to protect them? What do you think this is, Peeta? Some romp in the woods? A fun little camping trip to meet friends?” You placed your hand over Rue’s available ear, pressing her tighter against yourself. Peeta was visibly shaking in anger, shaking his head.

“I know what this is, Katniss.”

“You obviously don’t.” There was blood framing the right side of her face, dripping down from the top of her head and beginning to drip off of her chin. Her eyes were dead of emotion, but flickering constantly for danger. She looked deadly.

“I’m not going to let them change me, Katniss.” Her eyes finally settled on him, and there was something there. She was too far away, and the light was low surrounded by all of the trees, but there was something there that just looked too familiar.

“Then I’ll do it for you.”

She’s so quick you almost missed her moving, but suddenly she had an arrow notched and ready to fly, aimed directly at you. You watched her breathe out, and it was a split second before she released that Peeta sidestepped quickly to set himself between the two of you.

“No,” Peeta growled out angrily, shaking his head. His hands were still clenched, and he looked tense enough to pounce at any moment. “I won’t let you. If you touch them- either of them- I will kill you myself.” You hear no response, but after a few moments pass (long enough that you want to throw Rue somewhere safe and push Peeta down and yell at him to stop being so self-sacrificing) you watch as Peeta takes a slow step forward, his voice low and dangerous. “It wasn’t five minutes ago you were telling me that you don’t believe I’d harm you. Want to test that theory?”

You slowly start prying Rue off of you, who had at some point raised her arms and circled you in a death grip. It took a bit of struggling, but you pulled her off and kneeled down in front of her. As quiet as can be, you point back into the concealed camp. She shook her head, her curls flying back and forth, before you stern your expression and point again. She raises a hand, rubbing the (real) tears from her cheeks, and begins to scamper back into her hiding spot, as quiet as a mouse. As you stand, you hear her voice.

“We should worry about One and Two before we start the infighting, don’t you think?” Glancing over, Katniss not only finally lowered her bow, but slung it onto her back. Peeta was still tense, his hands loosening and clenching once more, over and over. If you didn’t know any better, he might’ve been deciding whether to deal with her now or later. You take a small step forward, then another. Enough that you’re right behind him now. With a light touch to his back, he still startles, loosening the tension as he turns to look in your eye. He seems so conflicted, and your heart breaks slightly for him. He must’ve known her back where they’re from, somehow.

“I think that sounds like a decent plan, don’t you?” Your voice was a whisper at this point, but you could still see the confusion cross both of their faces, as you turn your gaze from Peeta to Katniss. It might not be a very smart plan, in all honesty, but you only knew one thing for sure. You would kill Katniss, yourself.

#peeta mellark x reader #peeta mellark x you #peeta mellark #gender neutral reader #tribute reader #rue hunger games #the hunger games #fanfiction #also posted on archive of our own #ever in our favour #in the arena #katniss hunger games

[arvensimp]

Hey, would you please be willing to write something where arven calls the reader a good girl/boy and maybe is just super big on praising us? (Nsfw preferred but if you want to write sfw that’s totally fine too!! I’ll be happy with anything) ❤️

Hello! So... pt. 2 to different kinda jelly ended up having these kindsa vibes? I hope you don't mind if I post it here? truth be told this was actually going to be longer, but then it got too long, so I split it up hehe. i'll have pt 3 out some other time if folks are interested.

-

Different Kinda Jelly Pt. 2

Jealous!Arven x fem!reader, you get sent back to Galar for a publicity stunt with Leon, and Arven isn't overly pleased with the matter.

--

"No. No, absolutely not."

La Primera sighs, folding her hands across the desk in front of you. "We'll make it well worth your while, of course."

"That doesn't matter! The last time I went to Galar, it nearly destroyed my relationship with Arven."

She raises a single perfect eyebrow. "I'm sure your...relationship...has only become stronger since then, wouldn't you agree?"

You splutter a bit, not quite sure how to respond to that. "S-still. It doesn't seem right."

"You have to understand," Geeta insists, maintaining her infamous cool head. "We're trying to put Paldea on the map right now, and Galar's league is one of our best shots. You already have rapport with their former champion."

Your face heats up a bit. You're not quite sure you like having rapport with Leon. You open your mouth to argue, but La Primera doesn't give you the opportunity.

"I know you're not overly pleased with press and paparazzi, but we could use the buzz. Just a little goodwill trip of friendship, hm? Maybe to show off that invasive charizard you caught during that bizarre event a few weeks back. The league was thinking we could use you two as a symbol of...friendship between our regions. Two champions, two charizards. It's perfect, don't you think?"

You really don't think this is a good idea at all. "So, what? You just want me to go over with Charizard, maybe have a few exhibition matches, take some pictures with Leon and be done with it?"

Geeta nods. "More or less. We just really want to drive home the idea that you and Leon are of the same caliber; that Galar and Paldea are of the same caliber."

"But I proved that months ago at the tournament."

"And we need to maintain the image."

You sigh. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"I'm afraid not."

"There's no chance you could just send Larry in my place?"

She laughs. "Maybe some other time."

"Fine. I have one condition."

"Yes?"

"Arven is coming with me."

"Done, but he cannot be seen with you in public."

"What?!"

"This is a business trip, and I won't have you turning it into some kind of honeymoon. Besides, you know we don't want the press to get the wrong idea about you...pursuing multiple men or some other nonsense."

"You're kidding me."

"Absolutely not. He does this or he doesn't go."

"...Fine."

Geeta smiles, and as usual, the warmth doesn't seem to reach her eyes. "Perfect. We'll have everything booked and sorted for you as quickly as possible."

--

You're on a plane to Galar with your boyfriend just a few weeks later. Convincing him to come wasn't easy in the slightest, but you feel a lot better about the whole ordeal knowing he's close by. You think he feels similarly, too. Even if he's grumpily refusing to talk for the time being, he's still holding your hand, occasionally brushing his thumb over yours in reassuring circles.

After landing, the two of you are quickly whisked from the terminal to your hotel in Motostoke. Arven whistles as he examines your suite.

"It's nice... La Primera didn't really spare any expense, did she?" He wanders over to the window to part the curtains.

"She really wants to make this work," You reply. "The Paldean League is like her baby, and she really wants it to thrive..." You meet your boyfriend by the window to check the view...to see that there is none. Your window looks directly out at a brick wall, and you can't make out the street below or the roof above.

"Wow, she was serious about trying to keep 'us' hidden."

Arven gives you a confused look.

"The Galarian paparazzi are beyond nuts. If they wanted to find me or get pictures of me in the room, they'd do it. Looks like she made sure they couldn't."

Just then you hear a knock on the door.

"Am...Am I supposed to hide or something?" Arven asks you softly. You shrug. "I dunno. Let me check who it is first?"

Arven conceals himself, just to be safe while you answer the door.

"My Paldean Champion! Welcome back to Galar!" Leon greets you with his 10,000 gigawatt smile, sweeping into the room with a flourish. It seems for the time being he isn't wearing a cape, but his signature cap is still perched on his head like a crown.

"Leon..." You return his grin nervously. "How...nice to see you." You smile through your teeth, shutting the door firmly behind you.

"I hope it wasn't too forward of me to show up so soon after your arrival! I was just so excited to see you again!" He says in thickly accented Paldean that he's clearly been practicing since last you saw him.

"It's fine... Listen--"

Leon grabs your hands and swings you in a wide circle, making you cry out in surprise. "Oh, we've got some great stuff planned for this trip! Just you wait! I'll be taking you to Ballonlea, we'll have a battle together in Hammerlocke, Charizard vs Charizard, of course," He laughs, "And then--"

Arven clears his throat loudly from behind Leon. The latter stops and turns, still holding onto your hands which you gently pry yourself from, as you make your way to Arven. He slips an arm around your waist and pulls you in a bit tighter than he probably would in anyone else's company.

"Leon, you've...uh, met Arven. Remember?"

Leon's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly, then he cracks his fist against his hand. "Yes! Yes! The boyfriend! How are ya, mate? Sorry about all that mess last time. Good to make your acquaintance." He reaches out a hand.

Arven takes it, and the two shake hands gruffly. "Yeah. Same to you, buddy."

"So, Leon." You interrupt before things get even more tense. "I understand this trip is to do some publicity for Paldea and stuff... But, just so we're clear..." You take Arven's free hand. "Arven is my partner, okay? I, or, uh... We don't want...any scandal or anything like that. Y'know?"

Leon smiles brightly at the two of you. "I completely understand! The plan is to just...create an image, yeah? Nothing for the cameras will be real. We can just have fun with it. Sound good?"

You look to Arven, and the worry must be clear on your features. He squeezes you just a bit tighter against him. You sigh. "Yeah."

"Great! Shall I take you to dinner then?" He asks.

"Actually... Do the paps know I'm here yet?"

Leon shakes his head. "If they do, they don't know you're at this hotel."

"Perfect." You look to Arven. "How about we have dinner in then? Just get takeaway or room service?" Arven nods and opens his mouth to reply.

"Oh, that sounds grand!" Leon says. "I can get something and bring it back for us. Here, what are you in the mood for?" He takes out his phone and starts searching for local restaurants.

Arven blanches, looking to you to un-invite the Galarian.

"Leon, maybe... Uh..." You start to say, and the man in question turns his head to you, looking as excited as a little greavard. Your heart melts, and you can't bring yourself to fix his faux-pas. "...Do you know any good curry places or chippies? I really want Arven to get a proper taste while we're here."

"I know just the place!" He tells you both, standing. "I know just what to get us, too. I'll be back in a jiff!"

Arven full on balks at you once you're alone again. "Are you serious right now?"

"I know!" You cry, throwing your head into your hands as you fall back onto the bed. "He just... He seems so excited, ya know? I don't wanna hurt his feelings."

"That's fine. I will, then!" Arven tells you. "Seriously, if you keep trying to spare his feelings like this it's just gonna hurt him more."

"That's the thing." You reply. "I... I do think he gets that I'm not into him. I think he's just kinda...forward. Lively. Ya know?"

Arven scoffs. "I thought Galarians were supposed to be stuffy and uptight."

You laugh, teasing him. "Yeah, and Paldeans are romantic and take naps every afternoon."

"I'm romantic!"

"Hm..." You tap a finger to your lip, thinking. The mirth in your tone is obvious. "Are you? Maybe, sometimes."

"Oh, come on!" Arven pulls you into his arms, nosing up against your collar bone. "Don't be like this, sweetness." He whines. You laugh, as he unintentionally tickles you with his soft hair.

"Fine, fine! I give, you're a romantic! You're a sweetheart and the love of my life!"

Arven joins in on your laughter and lovingly kisses at the spot he was just pressing up against. "I thought as much..."

The two of you lay there on the bed, enjoying the silence and one another's company for a long moment.

"How long do you think it'll take him to get back?" Arven eventually asks. You shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine. If he's anything like how he was last time, he's probably gotten lost on the way to the chippy, so we might have to wait a minute."

He's quiet for a moment. "So..." One of his hands creeps up your thigh suggestively. "Wanna risk it?"

You smile, widening your legs for him without thinking. "Why not?"

Arven grins boyishly as he moves to straddle you, stripping his shirt as he does. He leans down to kiss you, and you eagerly meet him in contact, humming happily against him. One of your legs hooks behind his knee, bringing him just a bit closer to you, letting him lean a bit more of his weight on top of you in a deliciously smothering way. You kiss him with a bit more urgency, gasping softly between each one. One of your hands travels up the nape of his neck, twisting fingers into his wavy hair and scratching lightly at the sensitive skin. Arven responds with a pleased, grumbling hum from the lowest part of his register. He pulls away from your mouth to pepper kisses down your jaw and neck instead.

"How about I leave you with some nasty little bruises here, huh? Make sure that guy knows who you belong to?"

You gasp out Arven's name with a hitched cry as he finds a particularly sensitive spot beneath your ear.

"You like that? You want everyone to know you're mine, right?"

You nod and moan out a pathetic sounding "U-uh-huh..." As Arven continues his work on you. You roll your hips up to meet his without thinking, eager for some kind of friction. He chuckles lowly at your shameless display.

"I love getting you all worked up like this, ya know? You're so easy to tease..." He goes back to ravaging your neck, placing a lot of attention on that singular spot he found a moment ago that had you turning gooey on him. When he's done there, he moves to nibble at your earlobe, breathing warmly into the sensitive skin, making you shudder and grind up against him all the more needily.

"Please, Arven..." You whine as you make futile attempts to get any kind of satisfying friction.

"Use your words, Sweetness..." He hums against you while one of his hands slides up under your shirt and bra to palm one of your breasts. You arch your back at the contact, groaning.

"Please touch me!"

He goes to start kissing the other side of your neck, likely thinking to make symmetrical marks on you, the bastard. "Mmm... Pretty sure I'm already doing that..." He says as he rolls his hips slowly against yours. Truth be told you don't feel much between your clothes and his, but you can still tell you're wet and he's hard from all of this, and it's driving you wild.

"C-C'mon..." Your hand leaves his hair, and you go to unbutton your pants, but Arven stops you. He presses your hand into the pillow by your head.

"Absolutely not." He warns, and you whimper, clamping your thighs around his hips without thinking. "I'm taking care of you, but you need to use your words."

"Pl-...Please...let me cum for you...?" You ask with an unsteady voice.

"There's my good girl..." Arven smiles against your skin. The hand that was massaging your tit moves down to flick open the button on your pants. You wiggle out of them quickly, and Arven barely needs to move for how fast you kick them off. He laughs low and sweet. "So needy, aren't you, Sweetness..." His fingers go to part your folds and you whine, rolling your hips against him. "And so wet for me already? Oh, that'll do just fine, won't it..."

He starts to circle his fingers around your clit, occasionally pressing against the bud or dipping a finger down to drag just outside your entrance. You cry in frustration when he refuses to just fuck into you like you want.

"P-Please, Arven... Inside?" You finally bring yourself to ask as he kisses and sucks at the base of your throat in a way that has you feeling breathless.

"There you go..." He finally acquiesces and lets one of his long, slender fingers breach your entrance, pushing into you with a wet sound that should have you more embarrassed if you weren't so worked up. One finger soon becomes two, and they both pump into you at a gloriously aching pace that has you choking on moans of Arven's name.

"That's a good girl, sweet girl..." He praises as he brings his thumb into the mix to press against your clit.

"C-Close..." You manage to stutter out between pitchy whines.

"You cum for me whenever you like, sweetness. I'm here..." Arven tells you, kissing at one of the rapidly darkening bruises he left on your throat.

And it doesn't take much from there before you're tumbling over the edge into sweet bliss, your cunt squeezing tight and rapid against Arven's fingers. Once you're well and truly mush beneath him, Arven drags his digits from you, pulling gently and agonizingly all at once, such that you shudder when he finally leaves you.

"Good?" He asks, and you can only nod. "You ready?" He asks, and you nod as you hear him fumble with his fly.

He lines up with your entrance, his boxer briefs and pants slung low on his hips when you hear a knock at the door.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...If we pretend we're not here, maybe..?"

Another knock sounds, louder this time, then you hear Leon's voice calling your name. "You in there?"

Arven collapses on top of you with a frustrated groan.

"One second!" You call out, breathless and very much annoyed. Arven rolls over.

#arven fanfic #arven x reader #arven x female reader

[givemeanaccountalready]

for milgram ask game 💖 1, 2, 5, 8 for Yuno 3, 4, 6, 7 for Haruka 12, 13, 14, 15 for Mikoto

Yuno

1.) Favorite song lyrics?

I think I like Tear Drop just slightly more than Umbilical.

“I’m the one who chose / let you and you and you all in / Happy or sad? / Why decide? / Where’d you get your half-baked sense of justice / So nauseating… so creepy will you please disappear? / Phew. Anyway”

I just really like this verse from Tear Drop and that she is continuing to emphasize her point that yeah, you can punish people outside the law, but it’s never-ending and people have differing views on what the ‘right’ punishment is. No one in the audience expected Kotoko to attack the Guilty prisoners after Trial One, and during Kotoko’s voice drama, she is able to verbally put Es in the corner when they try to shut her down. As far as Kotoko was concerned, murder is murder, get wrecked by the fang of justice. Muu, in her first voice drama, brings up the idea of self-defense and Es agreed with her that killing someone in self-defense is justifiable and can be forgiven, something that conflicts with Kotoko’s view on justice. Yuno brings up that most people look down on sex work, but if it’s a consensual exchange of sex in exchange for money, is it really hurting anyone, and if not, why is it other people’s business what she does? Especially even seems to understand where she is coming from, even if they don’t give a vocal agreement to it. That said, I still want to know how in the hell she got involved with sex work in the first place. I know she’s using sex (the warmth) to fill an emotional void (the coldness), but how long has she been doing sex work, because some of those men she’s been with have taken her to upscale places that a high school boy and most college guys certainly can’t afford to take their dates to.

2.) Favorite music video frame?

I did get question 2 before and I picked a scene from Tear Drop, so it’s only fair that I pick from Umbilical.

I think this one is my favorite because it seems to be the one time she’s making her own decision and seems totally into it.

5.) Favorite voice drama line/moment?

I had gotten 5 before (see the previous link in 2 if you’re interested) and since I picked a line from her second voice drama the first time, this time I’ll do one from the first:

“That’s right. You know those people who just want to convince themselves, so they intrude in other people’s affairs even though it’s not their place—I despise them. That’s what I was saying. They only do it to make themselves feel better, don’t they? Those people don’t actually end up doing anything.”

Though, the “It’s fucking bothersome,” line is still number one Yuno quote in my heart.

8.) What is your theory of their crime? If there is a general consensus on it in the fandom, do you have any other, not-so-widely-accepted theories?

The abortion. I’m 99.99% sure that her murder was an abortion and I will be very surprised if it turns out that she murdered one of her clients because that would be out of left field at this point. @2amtechnicolor has a good post on whether Yuno actually wanted the abortion, and how that plays into her feelings regarding her Trial One verdict. It definitely put Yuno’s words in a different light and explains why she was adamant over being found Guilty in Trial Two. Definitely not something I would have thought of on my own. Before I read that post, I thought Yuno had been angered by everyone waving her off as a naive young girl who doesn’t understand what she’s done and maybe even regretted her abortion after the fact.

Haruka

3.) Favorite non-MV official illustration?

I think I like the birthday image for him best:

I like the little Chibi drawing. I do just want to point out that in his Trial Two image, the heel of one of Haruka’s shoes is stomped down and it bothers me, so now you all have to look at it:

They’re not tied either but untied fits the image of his younger self that he is trying to cling onto. I wonder what happened to his slip-on shoes he wore last trial. They didn’t have any laces.

4.) Favorite Minigram episode/moment?

Ooh, it’s probably the cat’s cradle one where Yuno is showing off her tricks and he keeps asking Fuuta if he saw the tricks and Fuuta is pretending not to care. And then they both get amazed and Haruka is like, did you see that, did ya, did ya, as Fuuta is frantically yelling that he’s apathetic. Comedy gold.

6.) Favorite relationships with another character in the prison?

Fuuta for sure. They have the, “Excuse me, he asked for no pickles,” energy that I appreciate. I think it’s important that Fuuta treats him like a peer with equal footing, because Haruka seems to be so used to being less than. I’m sad that they splintered off after Trial One. Muu is alright with me for now, since I was introduced to the idea that she has been teaching him how to write and that’s why his questions in the second response are longer and neater than in the last trial, and she does seem to be trying to increase his self-esteem, if her gifts are anything to go off of. She’s not number one best girl because she and Haruka magnify each other’s worst traits and behavior. I think Fuuta was trying to encourage Haruka to speak for himself, (see the timeline convos insistence that Haruka not speak so formally to him and trying to figure out what Haruka likes). Haruka does need someone to support him, but he also needs that someone to help give him a push so he doesn’t stagnate (same with Muu) and he and Muu are not a good fit for where they are mentally.

7.) Favorite relationships with another character if they weren’t in Milgram, the way you imagine or would like them to be?

I had gotten 7 for Haruka before and said Fuuta, but besides Fuuta… hmmmmm. I think I would say Shidou and Haruka would be interesting since Shidou is said to have treated Haruka for a cold in the Minigram and when Haruka cut his palms by pressing his fingernails into them. I know Amane doesn’t like how Shidou treats her like a little kid and would be better off with Kazui as a father figure because Kazui has shown himself to be capable of treating Es like a young adult, which she would appreciate it. But given Haruka’s mother’s neglectful treatment of him and the apathy and disappointment his father feels towards him, I think the gentleness Shidou has shown him would be a welcome relief. If I remember correctly, I think Shidou had asked Haruka to make sure to take care of himself after he finished bandaging his hands.

It’s possible that the two could meet if Shidou worked at a doctor’s office where Haruka’s mother took him for a check up. Or maybe Shidou moves his family to Haruka’s neighborhood or vice versa, and Shidou notices how Haruka is staring at how Shidou and his wife interact with their kids. Maybe he’d ask if he would mind watching their two boys while they have a date night, or start simpler with asking if Haruka could help Shidou move some things in their house and thank him sincerely and praise him a little for being so helpful. I think the gentler, while sometimes condescending, attitude that Shidou takes with younger prisoners is what Haruka would need to start believing that he is capable of doing things right.

Mikoto

12.) What do you wish would be discussed more often about them within the fandom?

Hmm, I see a lot of theories and analyses of Mikoto, and I wish I could do him justice the way others in the fandom have. I’m starting to see some discuss the reliability of Mikoto and John’s accounts, which I’m thankful for because they are putting the words together much more coherently than I could. I’m happy I got @archivalofsins to watch Primal Fear and to hear her thoughts on it because whenever I try to analyze Mikoto, I’m worried that that film is coloring my view negatively and I’m not giving Mikoto a fair shake and jumping the gun.

There are a couple of things that I want to hear more talk about. For starters, since DID is a rare disorder formed in response to extreme abuse during early, and sometimes middle childhood, what could have caused it in Mikoto? Was it abuse from his dad? When John first appeared in John Doe, it sounded like I was listening to an abusive father beat and belittle his kid. We know his mom raised him and his baby sister after she divorced their father and he sounds quite attached to her. I had hoped for some more answers on this during Trial Two, but Mikoto’s murder is supposed to be at the forefront of the discussion, so we may not get an answer just yet. Which leads me to my next thought: I think John and/or Mikoto is full of shit that the person killed by them was just a stranger. In MeMe, it looks like Mikoto is waiting for someone before we cut to the blond guy crawling on the ground while Mikoto swings the bat down. I think it was a targeted attack. Maybe he is someone from Mikoto’s past who could have ruined all his hard work with blackmail (hence the “my life… wasn’t supposed to be this way,” and “DESTROY EVERYTHING”) that Mikoto either thought he could scare off with the bat but ended up killing the guy or went there with the intent to kill or seriously harm him. I do think that Mikoto knows more than he is letting on, and that John isn’t a purely evil monster hellbent on killing anyone who annoys him.

I am bummed that Trikoto seems to be officially dead with Double, but there better not be a surprise twist of a third alter during Trial Three.

13.) Any ideas on what would they and their music videos would have been like if they had gotten a different in Trial 1?

Remember how the beginning of MeMe had some glitchiness and jump cuts? I think we would have seen more of that in Double if Mikoto had been voted Innocent in Trial One. Mikoto doesn’t seem to know, or maybe, doesn’t want to know what goes on during his memory lapses and about John. He probably attributes it to stress from his work and while the stigma attached to mental illnesses has lessened over the years, it’s still not something you admit to in private, much less in public circles around most of the world. Voting Guilty forced John to surface more, and him surfacing more often seems to have forced John’s perspective of the crime to appear more in Double and both seemed to have been stressed out over the murder. I think the flashes of John probably would have been much more violent compared to the POV of the easygoing, but ignorant Mikoto. Like MeMe on steroids. I hope that makes sense.

14.) Any headcanons on their appearance?

It’s kind of funny in a mean way that in-universe, that Mikoto is said to be so plain that he resembles mass-produced goods. I like to think he is the most fashionable of the male prisoners because he learned how to cultivate different looks to make himself stand out more and boost his confidence. He would love to join in on Mahiru’s skincare routine when he learns that she shared it with the girls. He does notice how Fuuta and Haruka balk at joining in on Mahiru and Yuno’s fashion fun times because of their low self-esteem, and does try (well, did try for Fuuta) to gently encourage them to join by offering himself up as the girls’ ‘doll’ because Amane and Kotoko are not willing and Muu prefers certain aesthetics and isn’t ready to let them go hog wild just yet. Haruka wants to join but doesn’t join in because Fuuta is loudly complaining about how it’s girly and boring and it’s only when Mikoto shoots him a death glare that Fuuta gets the message and reluctantly agrees on the condition that they don’t put anything on his face/touch his mask. Fuuta does grumble but it’s more half-hearted because Haruka is soaking up the positive attention.

15.) What do you think of their voice?

I am not the coolest when it comes to taste in music, but I did dabble with metal and I like the kind that Mikoto does where it’s mostly singing with some screaming to punctuate. Sorry, I’m a bit lame, haha 😅

As for his speaking voice, I like the sound of his and John’s different ways of speaking. It works with his more cutesy and chill moments as Mikoto and the blunt, brusque, and brutal way it gets with John. I love the range. I may not know many Japanese voice actors, but I can’t imagine anyone but Natsuki Hanae voicing him.

#milgram project #yuno kashiki #haruka sakurai #mikoto kayano #ask game #thank you I needed something to think about today

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

About Me: Favorite Video Games

So you may not know this, but I’m a gamer. Shocking, right? Who’d ever have guessed it? But to be totally fair here, I rarely talk about video games on Tumblr. I talk about movies, and there have been a handful of times where I reviewed video games, but I focused more on the story, characters, and all that then I did on whether or not the gameplay was good. In my earliest days, before I found my niche, I talked about games a fair deal, but that fell by the wayside so I could focus on films (my true passion).

So hey, look at this! You’re all going to get to see what my favorite video games are now! Remember, everything here is just my personal opinions; I'm not trying to give actual reviews of each of these games in a couple of sentences or trying to sell you on them, I'm talking about the stuff in them that makes me love them. All of this is my subjective opinion, and I'm not asking you to agree with me here, I'm just trying to talk about stuff that I love.

Oh, and here are some honorable mentions: Super Mario Bros. 3, Banjo-Kazooie (I still haven’t finished it and I don’t want to include games I haven’t played through), Kid Icarus: Uprising, Bayonetta 2, Injustice 2, BioShock, Doom Eternal, Super Metroid, Dragon Age II, God of War II, Castlevania: Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, The Wolf Among Us, The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando/Up Your Arsenal, and Heritage for the Future. Also a shout out to Tell Me Why and Life is Strange, games I watched my wife play and loved the story of but that I didn’t actually play myself; the former in particular has all sorts of elements I love in my stories.

Now, without further ado, here’s my top 50! Oh, and only the top 30 have pictures because there's image limits on posts! What a load of BS!

50. Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Ok, maybe this game is lacking in a few areas at the expense of its massive customization system… but boy howdy what a system it is! I cannot tell you how much time I’ve sunk into decorating my island, reorganizing my villagers, and just making all sorts of weird themed areas. It’s a lot of fun, and I get to do all this work while hanging with a bunch of weird, cute animals.

49. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle R

The original game was a lot of fun, but even I’ll admit it felt like it was missing something. That something was probably Foo Fighter, but guess what? She’s in the updated rerelease, along with aslew of other new characters like my favorite minor antagonist Mariah and the bane of Heritage for the Future players, Pet Shop! Add onto that a much better campaign mode with some fun little AU shenanigan matches and you have the most loving fighting game tribute to JJBA imaginable! Now if only they’d give Part 8 a little more love...

48. Batman: Arkham Origins

This is the redheaded stepchild of the Arkham series, and on some level I get why. It is very much aping City, right down to the map despite their being some expansions here and there, and the combat is much more of the same with little in the way of evolution, and don’t get me started on the fucking Joker showing up again. But this game also features some of the best bosses in the series such as Firefly and especially Deathstroke, a Bane who isn’t just a mindless mass of muscles like in the other games, and some interesting sidequests that make this early look at Batman’s superheroics a worthwhile entry in my eyes.

47. Miitopia

This is one of the easiest games out there, what with the autopilot combat and minimal difficulty (though there is a big spike late in the game). But the sheer vastness of the facial customization means that literally anyone from all of art or history can take part in a wacky, cliché RPG adventure. Hank Hill can fight the evil overlord Seth MacFarlane with a crew consisting of Chowder, Thor, and Japanese comedian/director/actor Beat Takeshi. If that’s not worth the price of admission, I don’t know what is.

46. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

The DS is where Castlevania truly shined, and my favorite of all the handheld entries is this portrait-hopping journey to defeat a mad artist and his evil vampire children. The locations are pretty great, there’s tons of sidequests and alternate game modes (my favorite is the one where you play as the Old Axe Armor), and there’s an awesome brutal bonus dungeon where you get to fight the bosses from Dawn of Sorrow without the stupid drawing bullshit!

45. Maximo vs. Army of Zin

The original game was a fun, yet very flawed action platformer. This game veers more into the hack-and-slash genre to great effect; it’s not the deepest combat ever, but it’s a lot of fun, with much better platform, bosses, and story than the first game. There’s just something cool about a world that mixes Gothic horror, steampunk, and other fantasy elements together all in one place.

44. God Hand

This is one of the most deceptive games you’ll ever come across. On the surface, it might seem like an ugly beat-em-up, but it’s so much more than that. The bosses are brutal yet fantastic, the music is fucking incredible, and the humor is just the right level of absurd to be incredibly charming. It’s ball-bustingly difficult, but let me tell you, when you finally overcome a fight or a boss battle that’s been giving you trouble? It is literally the best feeling in the world.

43. South Park: The Stick of Truth

‘Member when South Park was funny? I ‘member. And The Stick of Truth really brings back all those memories because this is a hilarious and loving tribute to the series made with the help of Trey Parker and Matt Stone to deliver the playable South Park experience of your dreams. It’s gross, immature, raunchy, and funny, and best of all it doesn’t get too preachy or up its own ass with messages—no, it gets up Mr. Slave’s ass to defuse a bomb. Peak South Park right here, though the gameplay is kind of basic. It’s all carried by that stellar writing.

42. Crash Bandicoot: Twinsanity

This game mainly scores a spot on my list for being fucking hilarious. This is the funniest Crash Bandicoot ever got, with all sorts of wacky gags and clever dialogue. Cortex really is the MVP here, with the constant slapstick that befalls him combined with his snarky dialogue making him a standout. It’s a bummer so much was cut from the game, and it does feel a bit incomplete in some areas, but for what it is it’s a damn fun time.

41. Pokemon White/White 2

It was genuinely hard to pick a single game from the series to go on here considering how much I loved Gens III – V. Emerald perfected the generation I first got into the series, LeafGreen is the definitive Kanto experience to me, Platinum polished up Gen IV’s uneven debut and made it incredible, and SoulSilver is a fantastic remake of the first Pokemon game I ever played (Crystal). But I think I have to go with the Gen V games I played as my favorites. They’re fun and challenging, and while the first game has a ridiculously restrictive regional dex and the second has an overreliance on defunct wi-fi features, the fantastic story and fun new Pokemon make up for it. Can’t be too mad at the games that let me make trashy cult classic B-movies with my boy Garbodor, can I?

40. Batman: Arkham Knight

I put off playing this for years, because I wasn’t happy with some of the things I heard about it, such as a lack of traditional boss battles and an overreliance on the Batmobile. These are still problems, but not near as bad as I feared (obviously, since it’s on this list); everything about the gameplay is the series at its peak. The main story is a bit lacking and ends up being a tad too predictable for me to love it as much as the other entries in the series, but the fact it has Professor Pyg and Man-Bat really helps make up for its shortcomings.

39. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

This game is just as silly and clunky as I imagined an older Bethesda game would be, but to my surprise I think it holds up incredibly well even compared to Skyrim. It’s a bit more complex in a lot of areas, but it’s not too daunting. What really strikes me is how this game actually has a really good story; it’s nothing groundbreaking, but when you look at how bad the Civil War plot in Skyrim was it feels like Shakespeare in comparison. Throw in a ton of unique sidequests with interesting plotlines, a gruesome Dark Brotherhood plot, an interesting villain, and Patrick Stewart for all of about five minutes, and I’d almost say I like this more than Skyrim. Almost.

38. Wolfenstein: The New Order

Sure, it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel when it comes to FPS games, but does it need to? All I want from a Wolfenstein game is a horde of Nazi motherfuckers to mow down, and guess what this game gives me? What really surprised me was how genuinely cool and likable BJ was. He might be one of my favorite heroes ever after this game. It’s a shame they couldn’t keep this level of polish up in the sequel.

37. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In a lot of ways, this game is objectively worse than its predecessor. Like the story is ass for sure; I could not give less of a fuck about the Stormcloaks and the Imperials and their stupid civil war if I tried. But the vast world filled with things to do is so much fun to explore, and there’s all sorts of sidequests and shenanigans to get into. This game is pure, stupid fun, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve restarted it just to play as a different race or class. Maybe someday I’ll make it to the final boss. Maybe.

36. Psychonauts

The original Psychonauts is one of the last great platformers, and among them it’s a lot more unique than many of its peers as you’re platforming through the minds of all sorts of wacky characters to help them overcome their issues. Bouncing through the conspiracy theory-addled brain of a disturbed milkman or decimating a city kaiju style inside the mind of a hyper-intelligent mutant lungfish are the kind of off-the-wall ideas this game throws at you, and in my opinion the only thing that could hold it back is if it had a really janky final level that combines meat, circuses, escort missions, and an underwhelming final boss… Oops. Still a great game in my eyes, one that’s 95% perfect.

35. Final Fantasy VI

For a lot of people, this is the best Final Fantasy game, and I definitely see why. It has a truly massive playable roster of unique characters with their own special gimmicks (of which only a handful are actually useful, mind you) and one of the greatest video game villains ever conceived in the mad clown Kefka, plus it is so focused and tightly plotted for the first half of the game. I think that after Kefka takes over the story becomes a lot more aimless and unfocused, but that’s also where the game becomes a lot more fun and challenging too. It’s a bit uneven, but after how hard the opera house scene goes I think it’s allowed to trip a little bit.

34. Dragon Age: Origins

A lot more praise is thrown at this series’ sci-fi sibling Mass Effect, probably because that series is a lot more consistent with how good it is across the board (Andromeda notwithstanding), but I’m much more fond of fantasy settings myself and this game delivers a fantastic one in ways its sequels couldn’t quite manage. This is the only game in the series where I genuinely loved every single party member (especially Leliana) and actively tried to get them the happiest endings possible—yes, even the douchebag anti-villain who joins you if you play your cards right), and the plot is just the right level of epic fantasy cheese seasoned with some delicious side quests. If the dwarf plotline wasn’t such a slog and if Varric was in the game, this would be a lot higher on the list, but this game still holds a special place in my heart.

33. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Our first trip into the Asylum really did kill the notion that licensed games had to be the most obnoxious shovelware schlock imaginable by making a Batman game that actually makes you feel like Batman. Sure, the detective part is a bit minimal here compared to the sequels, but the combat is so fun and refreshing that I’m not too bothered by the lack of crime scene investigations. There’s a clear love for the entire mythos here, and best of all a clear love for the animated series—Hamill and Conroy reprise their roles as Joker and Batman respectively, and Arleen Sorkin gives Harley one last ride before her retirement. It’s a real love letter to the Dark Knight, and it spawned one of the most consistently good video game series around, so I’ll forgive it for having the lamest final boss I’ve ever fought just this once.

32. Kingdom Hearts

What I like about the original game is how it struck such a nice balance in its absurd premise, with it never feeling like the Final Fantasy or Disney elements are really overpowering each other. We have the grandiose, convoluted plots of the former and the magic, whimsy, and awesome villains of the latter combining together into one impressive package. Yeah, a lot of the level designs are dogshit (looking at you, Deep Jungle and Monstro), and some of the stunt casting is really bizarre (Lance Bass as Sephiroth?!) but overall this is a game way better than you’d think by hearing that it’s a game where Mickey Mouse and Cloud Strife exist side by side.

31. Super Mario 64

Mamma mia! It is genuinely impossible for me to not feel nostalgic for this game. So many 3D platformers that came out in its wake took what it did and polished it to absurd degrees, but there’s still something so special about diving back into one of the portraits in Peach’s castle and going through those levels again and again. The music and atmosphere of the game add onto it; every time I play it, I feel like a kid again. It’s just such a charming game.

30. MediEvil

If Tim Burton made a Gothic horror fantasy movie, I imagine it would be something like this game. It really uses the limitations of the PS1’s graphics to the fullest extent, with the jagged polygonal looks of the characters enhancing the experience, and it has such a crazy variety of levels and enemies, from a phantom pirate ship to a crystal cave with a dragon to a village of posessed villagers to an ant hill. Sir Daniel Fortesque is one of my favorite video game protagonists around because of his posthumous journey to live up to the legend fabricated around him.

29. God of War III

Every single one of these games just escalates from the previous one. Oh, you fight the hydra in the opening of the first game? How about you fight through Rhodes and then battle the animated colossus that once stood in its port in the second? And how do you top that for the third game? Beat the ever-loving shit out of Poseidon and gouge his eyes out from his POV. And this game only gets more brutal from there! Titans and gods all fall to Kratos in epic and gory boss battles, but honestly even without that I’d put the game on this list for the simple reason that you get to fucking murder Kevin Sorbo as Hercules.

28. EarthBound

Nintendo’s quirkiest RPG makes the cut, mostly on the basis of how weird and charming it is. At this point I’ve essentially memorized everything you need to do in this game, which is good because if it’s your first time you desperately need a guide or you’ll be fucked. There are points where things get a little too grindy (mostly for Poo’s weapons) but it’s genuinely a game whose charms outweigh any negatives there are. Plus, that final boss battle is something else entirely.

27. The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Rebirth and all of its DLC updates took everything great about the original game and polished it into absolute perfection, with so many different item combos you could potentially get and so many bosses and endgames you could encounter. No two runs ever really feel the same, and it’s so satisfying to become so overpowered you nuke the screen every time you attack. The fact there’s a thriving modding community to continually generate new and crazier content also adds to why I have a ridiculous number of hours dumped into this game.

26. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard

This is the first Resident Evil game I ever played and, wow, I sure was missing out all those years! This is one of the most tense survival horror experiences I’ve played through, with a creepy family of hillbilly horrors to avoid as I creep through their ramshackle domicile. It’s fun, creepy, and even a little campy, and it has raised my interest in the rest of the series. Hopefully the game with the giant vampire mommy will live up to how good this one is when I finally get around to playing it.

25. Portal 2

Yes, the puzzles are great, but this game really soars due to its writing. The first game was fun and all, but it was mostly just GLaDOS insulting you the whole time with Chell being an entirely silent protagonist. In this game, we get the lovable idiot Wheatley and the greatest mad scientist ever conceived Cave Johnson to listen to as well, and the way GLaDOS bounces off the former and reacts to the latter help make this game a fun and engaging puzzle-solving adventure.

24. Doom

The legendary FPS series got revitalized after years on the edge of relevancy, and its return is one of the most metal games imaginable. Slaughtering your way through the forces of Hell while heavy metal blares in the background? It really doesn’t get much better than this. While I do think Eternal improved the formula and gameplay in a lot of ways (particularly with the addition of an awesome hub level), I find the original to be way more fun and balanced in terms of difficulty. The lack of Marauders is really what gives it the slightest of edges.

23. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Nobody got left behind for this one. Everyone across the series came back, and then they went and added even more to give us the most ambitious crossover of all time. Ridley, Simon Belmont, Sora, Sephiroth, Kazuya, and more all get to duke it out on the best stages of the series as well as some fresh new ones, and every character plays even better and more balanced than they ever have before. While the single player campaign isn’t quite as exciting as Subspace Emissary from Brawl, it still manages to be a pretty epic quest with fun boss battles. This is just the definitive Smash experience in my opinion.

22. Red Dead Redemption

My daughter has affectionately labeled this game “Horse Movie,” and she’s not wrong. This is a true cowboy experience right here, with lots of gunfights and horse wrangling, and it’s all a blast. The story in particular is really well done, and there’s plenty of fun side quests too. Maybe the gunfights get a bit samey after a while, but it’s an enjoyable open world to explore and is filled with oddities and mysteries galore.

21. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The first Metal Gear game to make the list, and easily the most underrated of the bunch. It gets a lot of flak for the missing final episode that would have had Venom fight the young Liquid Snake, and while it does suck that that moment isn’t in the game, the story still feels plenty complete and well-done without it. Venom might be one of the most fascinating characters in the series, and the game has some of the most brutal gutpunches and tearjerking moments in the franchise. Maybe it’s just because I’m predisposed to love Metal Gear, but I loved this game even though I was well aware of what it didn’t have.

20. Final Fantasy VII

Not to be a basic bitch, but this is my favorite Final Fantasy. I mean, the cast is all so cool and fun, the story is great, Sephiroth is an amazing villain, and there’s plenty of obscure and obtuse ways of finding secrets that make a strategy guide practically mandatory if you want the most out of the game. What’s not to love? I think I was mostly surprised by how good the game actually was; it’s always high on lists of the best games ever, and it definitely earns that. The fact that Aerith’s death still made me tear up despite being common knowledge is a testament to just how amazing this Fantasy is.

19. Mother 3

EarthBound coasts by on its fun, lighthearted quirkiness… but what if you took that and applied heaping helpings of darkness and a more solid story? That’s Mother 3, a beautiful tale filled with the same out there humor as its predecessor as well as a lot of more mature and deeper themes than even the original tackled (mind you, Earthbound wasn’t devoid of deeper themes to begin with, so this is saying something). The ending is one of the few times I have openly sobbed while playing a video game. They need to officially release this in the West, because I will buy it day one. Fuck, I’ll pre-order it!

18. Yoshi’s Island

If this game was only one of the most charmingly animated games ever made, that would be enough to earn it at least some respect. But it’s also one of the best platformers in a series that invented the genre, centered around a truly inspired baby-carrying gimmick and featuring all manner of creative boss battles and one of the most earwormy soundtracks ever made. That’s enough to get it a spot on this list, but the fact it solidified Shy Guys as a Mario mainstay and not just a one-shot enemy? That gets it into my top 20.

17. Spyro Reignited Trilogy

It’s kind of cheating since it’s all three games in one package, but it’s my list, I make the rules. I view this as the definitive way to play Spyro; the redesigns are all fantastic (especially Elora) and the fact Tom Kenny is now the lovable purple scamp across all three games is wonderful. They even made the first game more enjoyable and even visually interesting, even though it’s still the weakest link in the series! And as much of a Crash Bandicoot stan as I am, the fact this game allows you to switch between the newly composed arrangements of the songs and the original Copeland tracks is a big W over the Bandicoot remakes only having the new versions of the songs.

16. Metal Gear Rising

This is perhaps the most badass game ever made. The first level has Raiden battling through a war zone and then fighting a RAY singlehandedly, leaping across missiles and slicing it in half while the most fucking awesome metal music blares in the background. The game just decides to get even more insane from there. People have argued against it being canon for years, but these people are stupid. This game is just as insane and politically-charged as the rest of the series, so in my book, it’s fucking canon.

15. Undertale

This game’s time in the spotlight has faded a bit, but that only makes it easier for me to look back on it and say, “Damn, that’s one of the finest games ever made.” It has all the quirkiness of the Mother series with unique combat and a stellar story, a cast of likable characters, and some of the best boss fights I’ve ever been through. Best of all, it’s a game that practically encourages and even rewards you for being nice! I still love it, even after all the discourse and skyrocketing popularity, and nothing will make me budge on that love.

14. Hades

I’m a big fan of Greek mythology, so this is yet another game that would have had to try really hard to make me hate it. Thankfully, all its efforts were put into areas that made me love it instead. While the roguelike gameplay is well done, the writing and story are really the stars here, with fantastic character interactions between desperate god Zagreus, the gods of Olympus, and the various denizens of the underworld really making this game something truly special.

13. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Sometimes this game feels like the designers saw all those articles and reviews comparing the first game to Dark Souls and took it to heart, because some of the levels in this game are absolutely brutal—especially if you’re going for 100% completion. But that same difficulty makes playing through the levels a lot of fun as well; it’s probably the most challenging Crash outing to date. It really polishes and updates the Crash formula for the modern age, and hopefully they expand on this in a future game. If nothing else, it finally lets you play as Dingodile, which is a dream come true.

12. Grand Theft Auto V

It’s wacky. It’s cartoonish. It has a surprisingly good story about three criminals from different walks of life becoming fire-forged friends as they violently work out their emotional issues. There’s just so much to do and so much to see, all sorts of collectibles and side missions, and more black comedy than you can shake a stick at, and all of it is made all the more enjoyable because the main villain protagonists are a likable bunch of nutjobs. Hell, sometimes I just like to hop into a car, put on some tunes, and cruise around until I can cause some mayhem, and the fact that’s just as valid as doing a bunch of story missions really makes me love the game.

11. Silent Hill 2

While the first and third games are good in their own rights, I vastly prefer the psychological horror and the monsters manifesting as living allegories for trauma with heavy and dark symbolism as opposed to the evil cult narrative. Plus, you know, this one has Pyramid Head in it, and his presence makes sense instead of simply being there cuz he’s cool.

10. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials & Tribulations

The Ace Attorney series is one of my favorites, and I love just about all the games in it and even the ones I don’t love always have one or two solid cases that keep me coming back. But pound for pound my favorite game in the series is the third one, the one that lets you play as Mia Fey, introduces the callous murderer Dahlia Hawthorne, and has you match wits with the coffee-guzzling prosecutor Godot. Even the filler cases are entertaining, with the one where Phoenix has to get to the bottom of a murder involving his evil doppleganger being wildly amusing (which is more than can be said for that circus case in the second game or cases two through three in the fourth).

9. Live A Live

Few games can boast the sheer variety this game has on display, with levels changing up their style to give everything from standard RPG fair to a prolonged timed puzzle to a fighting game pastiche to an incredibly tense survival horror experience. We also have the precursor to Undertale here in a ninja-themed level where you can spare everyone you come across or otherwise brutally murder them. And while the stories remain relatively simple in every time period you visit, it doesn’t stop them from hitting hard when they need to, like with the fantasy RPG deconstruction that is Oersted’s chapter. This game would easily have switched places with the next game if the final level played a bit more to the game’s strengths, but hey, it’s still good enough to be in the top 10.

8. Chrono Trigger

Square’s other time travel story is definitely the superior one even if it’s a traditional JRPG through and through. Of course, that is because it completely and fully takes advantage of its premise, with actions you take in one time period affecting others in turn, not to mention the vast amount of bonus bosses and sidequests there are to keep the multiple playthroughs to acquire all the endings fresh and fun. I’ve sunk so much time into getting all the endings on the DS version, and I’ve never once been bored even after visiting the Middle Ages or the ruined future world a dozen times.

7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

There are few games that I love revisiting more than this one. This is Metroidvania at its peak, a perfect blend of action, platforming, and RPG elements into one glorious Gothic horror monster mash package. What’s truly fun with this one is the myriad ways there are to bust the game right open. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve grinded for hours so that I could dual-wield Crissaegrims and trivialize the Dracula and Galamoth battles.

6. Psychonauts 2

The original Psychonauts is fun and quirky, and is only really held back by a pretty sloppy final level. This game, though? This game is damn near perfect. Nearly every level here is fun and memorable, and the ways Raz has to help each person deal with their mental trauma is a lot more nuanced and tasteful than the original game’s fair-for-its-time takes on dealing with mental illness. The minds of Ford’s old crew as well as Ford himself provide some of the best Psychonauts content to date, and really, who can hate a level that ends with Jack Black as a gay psychic rock star viking performing a musical number to obliterate his own insecurities?

5. Kingdom Hearts II

This is where the Kingdom Hearts franchise peaked, and it’s a high note they’ve yet to reach again. Sure, the tutorial prologue level drags on for quite a long while, but once you get to play as Sora again, ooh boy is this basically the perfect meeting of the worlds of Disney and Square. The Disney worlds are a lot more fleshed out and have twice the plot due to midgame return visits, the combat is more exciting with fun little reaction commands to let you pull off crazy maneuvers, and you get to hang out with Tron and the most based of all Disney heroes, Chicken Little. Best of all, the story manages to strike the perfect balance between being complex and silly without disappearing all the way up its own ass like later entries would.

4. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

In my house, there was a legend that I had beaten this game to completion one hundred times. I’m not entirely sure how accurate that is, but considering how often I replayed this growing up it can’t be too far off. This is one of the most gorgeous platformers around, and Naughty Dog’s final shot at a genre they’d perfected with their Crash Bandicoot games. Even all these years later the visuals are breathtaking; I still am in awe at how you can see the entire world from atop Snowy Mountain. Every day I cry because they decided to turn the series into GTA clones instead of continuing to explore the gorgeous fantasy world they created in this game.

3. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

The original Crash Bandicoot was the first game I ever played, and the rest of the series were cornerstones of my childhood. Imagine how elated I was when they not only remade the games, but they created the single definitive way to play them! Sure, the soundtrack being redone can be a little hit or miss, but they completely unfucked the brutal difficulty of the first game (and this is even with adding back the ball-bustingly hard “Stormy Ascent” level) and for the most part left the latter two games entirely untouched save a graphical boost and the ability to play as my girl Coco. Playable Coco alone makes this a dream come true.

2. Batman: Arkham City

The Arkham series is one of the most consistently great series, and this is its greatest entry. The titular city is massive, with so many things to do, and the combat and puzzles are polished to perfection. Add in some actual detective work, some truly epic boss battles against iconic Batman villains like Clayface and Mr. Freeze (and also Solomon Grundy, because why the fuck not?), the ability to play as Catwoman, and one of the most shocking and tragic tales the Dark Knight has ever been in, and I’m more than happy to call it my second favorite game ever.

1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Of course, there was no hope Arkham City had at overcoming this game. This is Kojima’s magnum opus, not least because the entire rest of the Metal Gear series revolves around the events that transpire in this story. After the mindfuck that was the second game, it’s nice to return to a more coherent story, one detailing how Big Boss came to be the man that Snake fought in Zanzibar Land. Everything in the series sprang forth because of the actions the characters take here, and each subsequent game just makes this one better and better. Every single boss battle is unique and engaging, and the final battle is one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of gaming. I still cry every single time I get to the ending. It's such an amazing game, with a relatively simple yet still strong and convoluted story populated with a Russian madman with inexplicable lightning powers, a spirit medium's ghost, and a man who controls bees. God bless Hideo Kojima, that absolute madman.

#about me #video games

[tsu-kitsu]

Daily ZenNezu Brainrot with yours truly, Tsuki!

One thing that always boggles my mind is when KNY fans say Zenitsu and Nezuko are a ‘rushed ship’, or ‘weren’t written well’.

In hindsight…they were! Gotouge San took great pride in this relationship, and wrote them very well. And here’s why!

Zenitsu, a broken boy— No familiarity with…well, family!

Being an orphan, it’s no surprise he pinned for women quite often. He acted out of pure desperation, opening his heart to anyone and everyone who would dare show him an ounce of affection. The poor boy didn’t know much better, thus being an target with easy vulnerability for women to manipulate.

When he saw Nezuko, sure, his boyish giddiness took quite a turn on overdrive, but a part of me feels that Nez served as a goal for him. I think it heavily has something to do with his respect towards Tanjiro. He described the Kamado’s sound as ‘gentle’. Knowing Tanjiro was willing to die for whatever was in that box, it changed Zenitsu’s perspective quite a bit. (What a sweet boy.) So, knowing how important Nezuko was, gave him a sense of responsibility— to fight hard in the name of his beloved, whether or not she would actually return to a human. (Which, in my opinion, makes it so much cuter. To him, it didn’t matter if she was a demon or not.)

Now, onto Nezuko!

Nezuko, a broken girl who lost the ONLY thing she knew: family!

It was made clear that the Kamado’s were in fact ‘country bumpkins’, just a bunch of oblivious kiddos who’s social circle was very small.

Now, we weren’t given the perspective of Nezuko’s reaction to the loss of her family right off the bat. Her dazed out demon state can be hard to read, but after Urokodaki’s hypnosis (?), she uses the image of her family when relaying protection for strangers. Tanjiro also stated in a Taisho secret how her siblings looked up to her greatly, Nezuko being the light in the dark times they’ve been through.

With that in mind, it’s no doubt Nezuko lost a part of herself following the death of her family.

Back to what this has to do with Zenitsu…

A taisho secret revealed that, when reverting back to human form…the blurred memories of Zenitsu saving her made her heart beat faster.

Even in her flashbacks leading up to the completion of her transformation, a panel of Zenitsu was shown.

He was the light in her darkness!

All that time spent in a demonic fog, the presence of the giddy blonde boy kept her company. This statement is even stronger when you realize the many times Zenitsu spent time with her to make Nez feel included, such as the goldfish viewing (taisho secret), flower field (light novel) and the many times he would sit by her box spewing about his daily happenings.

…What point am I getting to?

Zenitsu and Nezuko complete each other. They’re both the missing halves to broken hearts.

Think about it:

Nezuko, a girl with strong heart, who lost her family. And Zenitsu, a boy with a healing heart, who hasn’t had a family. Its a harmonizing balance.

Nezuko and Zenitsu alike became their sense of family for each other. He was able to open his heart to her, with no judgement nor manipulation— her presence serving as family. She was able to lean on him, giving her hope—his presence serving as family.

Its great chemistry.

(And with the thought that Nezuko was a bit oblivious to love, while Zenitsu had a clear understanding of it, only makes Zennezu have a cuter dynamic. Both of them are shy cuties who forget how to form coherent sentences when around each other.)

🌸🌼

I headcanon that, during Tanjiro’s bedridden woes post Muzan battle, Nezuko would sit by his bedside and ask him very…awkward questions.

“Onii-Chan, what does being in love feel like?”

Maybe I’ll do a headcanon post later on.

Credits to Petite Kimetsu on TWT for the clear scan of this!

#zenitsu x nezuko #zennezu #zenitsu #nezuko #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny headcanons #zennezu headcanons #brainrot #rambling

[pianostarinwonderland]

Chapter 6 Thoughts

Finally finished chapter 6 after a busy weekend 😩 I'm planning to make a more well-thought out post regarding certain aspects of ch6 later, but for now, I want to list down everything I love about this update and probably the whole chapter overall. It also serves to answer a few asks in my inbox all at once HAHAHAHA This post is gonna be very messy, just to let you know, but I’ll write something more comprehensive eventually. 

EN players and JP players who have yet to pass the time gates, I advise you to scroll past this post or read at your own discretion. This contains spoilers for Chapter 6 and alludes to other events not released in the EN version.

Firstly, about the gameplay, I may be in the minority for saying this, but I really like that they limit your cards and leave you without a support for 6-66 and 67. Main story was always easy on the battles, so learning about buddies, stats, etc about the different cards was always seen as a tests/exams thing with the only rewards there being madol/thaumarks and exam coins, so most people didn’t super care about it. As someone who really levels up the cards to get higher scores in the tests, it was really gratifying to see all that hard work finally paying off in main story. Lowkey gave me a power trip on everyone else struggling to bypass the battles 😂 

Ngl at first, I thought we were supposed to clear all the points 😭 so I didn’t care about getting the right box until I clicked a box that cleared the chapter before I cleared the other points. I wish I didn’t know about it because it definitely made clicking on boxes less irritating hfhjhjsghkhjkgsdg

I absolutely love how we get to see character development of the OB boys?? It's something that I was really hoping for in ch6 since the boys are taken to an unfamiliar place.

Regarding that, I do like how NRC boys could just . talk about other things while in dangerous situations HAHAHA it was like this too in Halloween 2 😭 when there's nothing happening, they somehow get into conversations, like,, how LMAO most media would have their characters talk something about the situation or remain quiet. But these boys are really chatty and talk like the world is not about to get reseted or something

Starting with Pomefiore, the revelation about Rook being from Savanaclaw originally was a bomb I didn't expect but wasn't surprised about. I think it was more common to hear about it in 2020, but a lot of people were curious about Rook and Leona's relationship with each other. They mainly noted that Rook pursues Leona and the latter expresses much disdain for him. Then there was also the fact that Rook and Leona (and Ruggie) hailed from the same country. While country doesn't necessarily determine what dorm you'll be sorted in (see: all Shaftlands/Pyroxene boys in three different dorms), it did make people curious back then. So I do like that TWST (unintentionally) answered those speculations

AND LONG HAIRED FIRST YEAR ROOK IS ACTUALLY CANON,,, all long haired Rook artists and lovers rejoice for your headcanons and wishes are now canon. Now we wait for Lilia /hj

I do like though that Rook in his first year was kinda meh about his own appearance mostly because I was the same when I was around 15-16. Like, why do I have to care about the clothes I wear as long as I'm comfy in them? 🤡 Maybe the shirt looks kiddy but I mean, it shouldn't matter so much 😭 But it really is worth beautifying your wardrobe and learning to value your own beauty just as much as you value others. It makes me happy to see a bit of myself in Rook.

Vil seems a lot more expressive now than he was in chapter 5 🥺 I think it might be because he has to keep up the image of being a leader figure in VDC, but he feels much more approachable with how he doesn't seem to care as much about looking professional.

There was one part where Vil and Rook would tell Epel to stand back, and obvs Epel at first took this as “are you saying I’m weak?” But then Vil and Rook said it’s because they trust him to have their backs, and it’s like 😭 FUCK THAT’S SO CUTE,,,, THE WAY THAT THIS SHOWS EPEL’S GROWTH BECAUSE NOW HE CAN BE RELIED ON BY HIS SENIORS........ I think this is also a cute allusion to Dorm Vil’s and Dorm Rook’s buddies, specifically the fact that they both have Epel as a buddy— Dorm Vil has Epel giving him an ATK M boost, while Dorm Rook has Epel giving him a HP M boost. Notice how it’s an M (medium) boost and not an S (small) boost 😭 they really can trust Epel by that much,,,

Now for Leona and Jamil, hooooo boy, I really like this one and do wish to discuss this in depth in another post because Leona essentially humbled Jamil brutally. Jamil was trying to protect Leona because he’s a prince and all, but at some point, he got pissed off at Jamil for getting in the way. I love how Leona pretty much compared Jamil to Riddle and Azul, saying that the latter two are in a much different league than Jamil. Riddle has book smarts and amazing magical power, not to mention a killer UM, and Azul is quick on his feet and works really hard to get to where he is now, but Jamil just goes "if only I could use my full potential" while blaming others for his setbacks. He even points out that Kalim has something that Jamil doesn’t, which is money (much to Jamil’s surprise). Sure, he isn’t the smartest, but he’s generous, and he’s going to inherit a very successful business

Then he points out that Ruggie and Jack know when to listen to him to survive. Ruggie obvs follows Leona because it’s his best chance at surviving in NRC, and Jack, while strong, is young so he knows when to listen to older people such as Leona

I just like that the overall lesson he’s telling Jamil is that he isn’t the strongest person, and he needs to know when he isn’t the strongest, and he shouldn’t blame others for his setbacks. It’s essential for Jamil’s growth, but it also shows Leona’s own growth, considering that what Lilia said to Leona back in ch2 that triggered his overblot was also along the lines of Leona being slothful but blaming others for everything wrong that happens.

While it gets annoying to get the wrong box in 6-66 (and 6-67), I found the boxes where Leona just opens all of a sudden and Jamil going “what the FUCK are you DOING LEONA” really really funny like 😂

Now hoooo boy I LOVE AZUL AND RIDDLE'S INTERACTIONS SO MUCH;;;;;; I'm biased because I tunnel vision for Azul and Riddle is top 2 for me, but the way that both of them were written in this chapter is so chef’s kisses

I really like the way Riddle was written. He still has that sort of “I’m right, so you need to follow me” mindset and I like that because it shows that while he is making the effort to change, his personality at his core is solid enough that it’s not going to change that much. While his lacking knowledge regarding social cues is already a bit obvious when inferring from his upbringing, it’s really emphasized in 6-66, particularly when Azul was angry about being told to ‘stand back’ and said something like “hey I know someone like me who shifts from 2nd to 10th place in rankings can’t be seen as a rival b u t” and he wanted to be seen as equals but Riddle took that literally,, , and then he’s like “oh so you’re trying to compete with me?!” 

Eventually he clarified in 6-67 as to why he doesn’t want Azul to get hurt which,,, IS HONESTLY SO CUTE ?? ?/ LIKE ,, SURE IT’S BECAUSE HE’D END UP PROBABLY BREAKING THE LAW TO GIVE TREATMENT TO AZUL BUT HE STILL CARES 😭 not to mention that Riddle even pointed out that he WOULD break the law to help Azul, like it was out of the question that he’d leave him behind to go ahead, he WOULD make sure Azul is ok 😭 besties it hurts because AzuRido was one of my first Twst ships and it’s still a cute ship till now. But this also really shows that Riddle still needs to learn a lot about social cues + proper communication xD he didn’t think that it could be taken the wrong way

THE PART WHERE AZUL GOT ANGRY AT RIDDLE ,,, bitch that hurt a lot. Like, Riddle going “if you didn’t waste time on Mostro Lounge, helping out other students, etc, you’d have a chance at first”, bestie Riddle I love you but what the fuck? I kinda felt the sting because at the time I was reading that, I was mulling over how I hadn’t been trying hard enough in the things that I do or want to pursue so I end up being the kind of person that I’m not content with. But it also just,, really fucking hurts to be told that your passion is a waste of time, and we all know how much Azul works so hard in everything he does 😭 his insecurities coming out when he got angry really tugged me badly. It was 2am when I read that part and I wanted to cry lmao 

WHEN HE LAUGHED THOUGH . when he laughed .. oaoghuooHOHOFAHOHSGOSAOHAOGHOASH WHEN HE LAUGHED AND SOUNDED SO MIRTHFUL AND AND AND AND  .   .... passes the fuck away

I do love the lore dump about Ariel and transformation potions! Ariel went to the Sunshine Lands, so she set up the mermaid boot camp facility there. Transformation potions also now last from a week to 10 days, and the mermaid boot camp facility provides them,,, for free, ,, , , like shit dude, that’s a big ass steal. 

GOD WHEN AZUL MIMICKED FLOYD’S VOICE THOUGH ,,,, , the fucking DROLL???? God I’m not your strongest soldier I am down on the ground 

Azul started magic at 8 yrs old 👁 Riddle started his studies at 3,,, , yummy yummy yummy 

AND WHEN AZUL FELL ASLEEP ON RIDDLE’S SHOULDER;;;; LIKE BYE I ALWAYS IDNULGED MYSELF WITH THE IDEA OF AZUL SLEEPING ON MY SHOULDER OUT OF EXHAUSTION but fuck,, they made Azul sleeping on someone’s shoulder canon, not caring about who it is,,,,,, God send help 

idk man, this whole part really just made Azul feel more relatable. Ch3 and even ch4 to an extent, he was mostly scheming and smarmy and smirky and that’s hot shit sure but HIM BEING SO,,, LIKE, GETTING ANGRY OVER A REMARK THAT MADE YOU FEEL INSECURE, LAUGHING GENUINELY, SLEEPING ON SOMEONE’S SHOULDER...... besties I feasted so much this chapter, I am so fucking FULL 

I actually really like Idia’s OB design!! He seems to have designed it himself given that he’s willingly doing it, which is really interesting to learn 👁 some people were saying that they don’t like it because he doesn’t look like Hades but .. none of the OBs were meant to look like their villain counterparts?? nKSNKDGKSNG and not to mention that Idia’s face resembled Hades a lot. If we’re talking about outfits, though, again, OB designs would more likely shape themselves according to the person overblotting rather than think about the villain inspiration. If anything, Ortho’s the one wearing Hades’ toga. 

I JUST HAVE TO SAY THIS,,,, IDIA’S UM CHANT IS THE BEST ONE SO FAR ??? “Game, set, match, Gate to Underworld” that is so sexy like ??? the alliteration of game and gate, and there was this musicality to those words, like you’re saying a poem out loud. It sounds so badass too. Like a final boss line (which knowing Idia, he’d definitely do that)

Shoutout to Riddle and Azul for being the funniest duo on earth: “You drive this chariot, I don’t have a license” “BITCH I DON’T HAVE A LICENSE EITHER ????” “I should have enrolled into driving school if I knew this was gonna happen” “IS THIS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT THAT NOW ??????”

Also “wtf why are you taking the risky option??” “well you know this is the best option anyway” “ok yeah you’re right, if anything happens to us, our seniors are there anyway 🥰”

Anyway I still can’t believe Azul actually drove a chariot (and successfully too)

It was a good thing too that he was driving because Riddle fainted from using all his power and being exposed briefly to the underworld 😔 it’s so funny of Azul to just think “ok this guy’s gonna use all his power, so I’m just gonna hold back a bit because it’s gonna be enough <3″ and it turned out to be a really good decision or we’d be finding two old people 

Riddle with white hair was really cute. It reminded me of the white rabbit, and with how he nearly fell into the underworld (kinda like falling into a hole), the allusion seems stronger. I also saw some tweets on Twitter suggesting that it could symbolize Riddle starting out with a blank slate to become his own person and not just someone following his mom, which is pretty interesting 👁👄👁 kinda matches well with the white rabbit idea since it’s “falling to wonderland” or “heading to an unknown place”

I find it funny how Leona and Jamil just . took the time to analyze why Azul was able to not faint/fall to the underworld from fighting Ortho. but hey it worked for them, they didn’t put too much power into it and they came out well 

I love how Vil was just like “I need Idia to come out alive so that he can close this damn gate and fix everything” and then said that he Will make Idia do all of that NRC style, aka “the weak must obey the strong” 

VIL FINALLY GOT TO BE THE HERO THAT HE WANTED TO BE 😭 GO QUEEN, SLAYYYYYY. You may not have been casted as a hero in a movie, but you saved the world in real time, and I think that’s even better 

I really just like how even in OB, Idia was still talking about the idea of who’s hero and who’s villain while Vil was just like “we’re just classmates fighting and for the record, I’M standing till the end” 

When Vil jumped to pull Idia, Ortho, and Grim out of the underworld, idk, something about that just made me go 👁👄👁 there’s something mesmerizing about someone catching someone else as they fall from a very tall height. Even if it’s to make sure Idia’s alive to close the gate, Vil really just,, that was so noble of him 

IDIA JUMPING TO GO WITH ORTHO THOUGH 😭 like holy fucking fuck, I don’t know what to say... I think that moment speaks for itself. 

Vil being Hercules and Idia being Megara... damn, it kinda makes sense. Vil-Hercules for the hero thing, and Idia-Megara for the reason that they’re trapped by the underworld to an extent

THE FLASHBACK HONESTLY . it was expected, but it did hurt 😭 being a witness to someone’s death was one thing, but being the indirect cause of someone’s death is just,,, Idia was just a child then. That shit would be traumatizing

Whoever voiced child Idia’s cries, good job but also fuck you. When he was showing off AI Ortho and then going from laughter to crying ?? I think that’s where my heart truly broke. That was genuinely so painful to listen to. 

Maybe I’m being delusional, but the way Idia broke down over losing Ortho reminded me of how Azul broke down when his contracts were dusted. There was that plea from them going “give it all back” (give Ortho back; give Azul’s power back). And then they reassure themselves that they could fix their problems. 

I... I really like how the overall problem for Idia and Ortho was that they just wanted to live like everyone else, but because they were born into the Shroud family, they, Idia in particular, had their lives planned out for them at the start. I think Hades in the myths was like that?? 

The part where real Ortho’s soul talks to Idia..... his face being fully revealed, when he said “please continue to live, make our dream of going on an adventure come true”, when Idia was shouting for Ortho’s name at the end........ wow thank goodness that I can’t understand anything or I’d be crying onions 

The way Idia was saying that with all the damages he has to fix, he’d have to drop out possibly, but literally None of them letting him go xDD true NRC students 

When he revived Ortho again,,, and he had a heart this time,,,,,, I really like how he was resurrected and not at the same time. Like real Ortho will be gone no matter what, but his soul will still live on through his robot self. Kokoro was also playing in my head during that scene 😂

OLD MAN VIL “I’M 18″ SCHOENHEIT IS SO FUNNY. Best content is seeing him cry for 3 hours straight about how he wanted to be casted as a middle aged man someday then calming down only to cry again when Jack went “wait who’s this old man”

Vil’s kyaaaa when Malleus managed to turn him back to his 18-year old self was so pure. 😭 I’m so happy for him 

RAMSHACKLE UPGRADE KINDA 💅 we are now material gworls 

I find it funny how they couldn’t upgrade our room bskbdgjsndgksd like it’s still the same even after how much Charon trashed it?? At least Vil was kind enough to give us projection mapping to make it look pretty HAHHAHHA

ORTHO BABY,,,, ORTHO BABY IS NOW A FIRST YEAR !!!!!!! I’M SO HAPPY THAT HE FINALLY GETS TO STUDY IN SCHOOL LSGJSDLGSDKGLSJLSJSK YES ORTHO YOU’RE A REAL BOY ENJOY NRC LIFE UEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUEUE BABYBABYBABYBABYBABY I CAN FINALLY SAY I HAVE A FAVORITE FIRST YEAR AND IT’S ORTHO 😭

AND HE HAS A NEW UNIFORM CARDDDDD uwehhhhh his lines are so cute, and his story !!! him choosing a club !!!! and and and his profile change!!!! He chose Vil’s club 😭 Vil made that much of an impact in his life. I heard that the story seems to be longer than some SSRs though, which is . well d a m n 

Chapter 7 seems to be really spicy 👁👄👁 from Lilia talking about how people are weak but they intertwine together and create a strong presence in history, Malleus mulling over those words, to Mickey saying that he saw “a mysterious silver-haired boy” on his side of the mirror (not his room, though), which implies that it’s Silver and bringing up the possibility of him traveling to people’s dreams or him being from the same world as we are since Grim can’t see Mickey and vice versa....... oooooonga boonga ch7 is gonna serve us so well 

Overall, I think chapter 6 had the excellent pacing and writing that ch3 and 4 had. They wrote every character so well, and the wait for Idia and Ortho was absolutely worth it. This might be the new fan favorite chapter actually, and it sets the bar very high for Diasomnia. Good job Twst. Thank you for serving us a very good story. 

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst jp #twst spoilers

[the-7th-heart]

Ah yes, the Inatober

I was very scared for some reason about posting any of my participations...

But I decided I don't care anymore and I want to share my ideas with more than 1 person-

So this is day 1.

Don't know if this will be comfortable to read but for now I'm not sure how else I can put it out here...

1 - tropical fruit(s) / in your arms

“Aaaand, we’re back!” Tsunami threw his surfboard-free hand up and shouted as the two walked back into the small wooden cabin.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Joe said, putting his surfboard on the wall next to the door. “But this time I think I might’ve actually enjoyed it.”

Tsunami turned around at a dangerous speed while possessing a big block of wood and smiled.

Joe once again thought back to the nights he’d stay up and think about how he’d come to love this smile as much as he did. The nights when he questioned, if he even loved it, if he wasn’t just faking it all not to make the poor fool feel bad, if he was even worthy of all that he got. But then he’d turn around and Tsunami would be there, sleeping, drooling, and looking like a total mess that a regular person would just laugh at and Joe’s heart would melt.

Even now, after a year (or was it 2?) of meeting each other, Joseph King was looking at a person he could call his own standing in front of him in his swimming attire, his hair still somewhat wet, and the King of Goalies was melting on the inside and hell, maybe a little on the outside too.

“Great to know we finally found a beach you don’t hate!”

“I think the fact that this one didn’t have sand saved it.” Joe sighed and looked around the cabin, looking at the mess they’d made in the week they’d been staying there.

When Tsunami suggested that the two go on a “little getaway” Joe was extremely suspicious of where they’ll be staying. He knew he’d be forced to go to the Okinawa islands because of course, Tsunami is practically a one-trick pony, but he didn’t really know where exactly he’d be sleeping for the planned time. One thing he did not really expect was a chack or rather a shed-looking thing right next to a beach. At first, he did a 180 and started going right back to the airport, but after Tsunami explained the nature of the shack and the history it had in its walls, he gave in.

Now, every time he looked around, he couldn’t help but imagine a tiny, hungry boy running around with some ducktape trying to repair the sink in the kitchen, just hoping for his parents to come back, without the knowledge that he’d be on his own from then on.

“Well, all is good and stuff,” Tsunami said walking into the kitchen. “But personally I’m very hungry. You?”

“I could use some food.” Joe followed after him and leaned on one of the few mismatched counters. Tsunami opened the fridge and looked a little dissatisfied. His face immediately lit up when he noticed the bag Joe forced him to get last evening during shopping time. He took it out and put it out. Joe was looking at him in silence, admiring the way his muscles flexed around his arms as he lifted the heavy paper pack.

After closing the fridge Tsunami reached into a cupboard and took out a cutting boards and a sharp knives, set them on the last free counters, and turned triumphantly to Joe.

“And?” Joseph King crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow, trying to still keep up his intimidating image. Why? Because the author struggles with characterization, that’s why.

“Fruits.” Tsunami said in a proud tone of a true winner.

“Just?”

“Grilled.”

“Es todo?”

Tsunami stumbled, his voice sounding less confident.

“I mean,” he said, softening his stance. “We don’t need to grill all of them if you wouldn’t like that…”

Joe sighed, smiled, and relaxed his own posture.

“Grilled sounds fine, don’t worry.” Tsunami jumped right back up.

“Okey-dokey! You can wash and start cutting the stuff we have, I’ll go out back to get the grill hot.” Before Joe could argue Tsunami walked off to do his part.

‘C’mon Joseph, puedes hacerlo.’ Joe took out the contents of the bag - a pineapple, some mangos, dragonfruit, starfruit, and overall Okinawa-native produce.

“How he’s planning on grilling water-based fruits is truly a fascinating topic of discussion. And also not my problem.”

He turned on the tab and quickly rinsed all of them. Afterward, he proceeded to stare all of them down and re-evaluate how hungry he actually was. He took a deep breath and looked to the door to see if Tsunami’s coming back, then took the knife in hand.

“Lo hiciste un millón de veces antes, una más no te hará daño.”

Hyping himself in his mother tongue didn’t help the fact that as soon as he held down the mango, the hand he held the knife in started shaking. He put down the knife and breathed again.

“Una vez más, Joseph.” He took the knife again and focused more. ‘Tsunami gave you one job and you are more than confident enough to fucking do it.’

He started cutting the soft fruit and it was going well until he had to slice again and at the last minute messed up his focus.

“Shit!” He let go of the knife and instead gripped his finger. “Maldito idiota…” He prolonged the ‘a’ at the end in frustration. Just then Tsunami walked back in.

“Hi there, I think I got it to work, and how are you- Oh” He paused and looked at the clearly not-great situation. “Everything… Alright?”

“It’s fine,” Joe said sharply, still pissed at himself. He looked at him, his eyes just filled with aggression. “Where do you keep the first aid kit?”

Tsunami looked scared but carefully went to the cabinet above the fridge, took out a white plastic box, and handed it to Joe who snatched it and turned away from him to rummage through it for a bandage in the safety of the counterspace. He was frustrated and getting more and more angry with the things falling out of the box and off the counter until he just screamed and slammed his hand on the nearest surface.

“Hey hey hey,” Tsunami approached quickly. “What happened? What do you need?” He sounded worried, but Joe didn’t respond. Just stood there with his eyes closed, one of his hands close to his chest and the other supporting his weight on the counter. Tsunami hesitated when reaching to put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and instead looked at his bleeding finger. Without a word, he looked around and picked up the adequate equipment from the floor.

“Let me see.” Joe opened his eyes. Tsunami’s face was focused, his eyes serious. He was holding a little spray bottle, some gauze, and a rolled-up small bandage. “Let me help. Or you’ll bleed out.”

A little hyperbole never hurt anyone and it was just enough for Joe King to extend his bleeding finger to let Tsunami handle it while he looked away.

‘Can’t even fucking complete a simple task. Useless.’

He winced in pain when Tsunami cleaned his wound.

“Sorry, I know it hurts…” But it was Tsunami that sounded hurt. And worried. This made Joe feel even worse about the whole situation. He felt soft material going on and around his palm just before Tsunami explained that he was finished.

“Now will you tell me what happened?” When Joe looked at him, he immediately just extended his hands in front of him, spread his palms slightly, and looked down. He could feel them shaking. He hated that feeling.

Suddenly his palms were rolled into soft fists by warm hands. He looked up and Tsunami was looking him in the eyes.

“You should’ve told me.”

“I…” Joe felt like he had forgotten how to speak, his voice apparently did too. “I thought I could do it.”

“You should’ve just told me…” Tsunami was still holding his hands gently. “How bad does it get?”

“Bad enough to fucking cut myself.” His tone was hostile. Tsunami’s hold wavered, but he stood there firmly. Just then Joe realized how it must’ve looked on the outside, with all that anger seeping out of him. He was usually scary-looking, but right now he was scary and angry, like a puma locked in a too-small cage. It hit him that the way Tsunami looked at him just a few minutes ago was scarily similar to the way he looked at him during that match - but this time it had that hint of personal influence in it, like Jude’s gaze had that day.

“Fuck, I’m…” He took away his hands and just sat on the ground. “I’m so sorry, I-”

“Hey hey,” Tsunami rested on his knees in front of him. “Whatever you’re about to say, don’t. It’s not your fault, I presume at least. Shaky hands are usually caused by stress or some other underlying condition, like some past hand trauma, and seeing as you’re a goalkeeper I think I know why yours are as bad as they are. Still doesn’t explain why you didn’t just tell me before, I wouldn’t have left you alone with sharp utensils if I knew!”

“Like I said, I thought I can do it-”

“Well, you clearly can’t!” Tsunami exclaimed. “Joe, next time, please please please, just tell me. I know I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed nor the most handy person, but I can sometimes help out, y’know?”

They stared each other in the eyes, a silent staring battle for who is in the right here. Tsunami won, but only because Joe let him. Or so he told himself. His gaze softened and he took Joe’s hands again.

“I know a lot just happened,” Tsunami said carefully and smiled, looking a little embarrassed. “But I am still hungry…” As if on que Joe’s stomach agreed with the given statement. He sighed.

“Okay than,” Tsunami got up from the floor with Joe before the latter continued. “Let’s get to work.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll do the cutting now.”

“I’m for, but what am I supposed to do now? Sit on the counter and look pretty?”

“Considering how beautiful you are, I’d say yes.”

“...”

“<3”

#inatober #genda koujirou #tsunami jousuke #hurley kane #joe king #one of my “I just think they're neat” ships #I'm honestly not sure about this one but it's the first thing I've written after a massive writer's block

[subsequentibis]

ok in an attempt to clean out my brain and prepare for the upcoming year of art, here’s all* the hotel-related sketches i started and did not finish in 2022, some with explanation, some without. note: there are a fuckton of images in this so if you're on mobile maybe skip this one unless you feel like Scrolling. little bit of gore in there too but just one image of it

*not all of them actually bc some i did like last week and still have a decent shot at finishing, some are so sketchy they are incomprehensible even with an explanation, and some are uh. Not For Public Viewing.

first up: all of my assorted owner scribbles, because i like drawing him.

^ used to not like drawing him with wings but i’ve changed my tune a bit. they can be fun. i think i prefer the cape i’ve been drawing him with though

^ the above two were for the same concept, a drawing using the lyrics “i wouldn’t be so worried if i wasn’t always right” from lemon demon’s i earn my life. i still like the poses a lot and might do somethin’ with it

^ me n the lads were kicking around a pirate au before the ship bonus ep came out and i like how captain morgan owner came out

^ fuckin. sock garters. scandalous.

^ futzing around with an alternate monstery owner design that leans a little harder into Bird

^ was gonna be another lyrics drawing with “patient is the night” by the blasting company off the over the garden wall soundtrack, bc i love that song for hotel/owner

^ yeah i did two takes of this one too. take a wild shot in the dark why

NEXT! hotel/owner stuff!

^ followup to the piece with him crawling out of the grave i did a while back

^ song drawing that would have the lyrics “let’s do what mary and joseph did / without the kid” from marry me by st vincent

^ self explanatory

^ i have like five takes on just this pose over and over. this is the cleanest one

^ i like him beat up sorry for having correct opinions

onto more miscellaneous group drawings!

^ cards inspired by the “jack, queen, king, wild card!” line from the neighborhood bonus ep

^ manager & owner mid s5 trying to find the lobby boy

^ tsundere hotel/manager drawing, lyrics from “want you gone” naturally

^ nihil’s little hotel design enchants & delights me

^ bellhop/manager. listne. wait. hear me out come back i can explain

^ halloween costume

^ staff reacting to the pinup calendar as described in the intro written by Thee travis mcmaster i’ll never shut up about this hey guys did you know he reached out about doing that and is the nicest person on the fuckin planet

^ this is actually finished i just never posted it bc uh. well look at it man. bit saucy really

^ okay so this is like. kind of a followup to a comic i did waaay back when of my OC sal going into the hotel and getting ganked, now it’s lazarus’s turn, except he Literally Is Not Allowed To Die so the plot of this comic was going to be ‘um. guys the guest won’t die.’ it didn’t get too developed though

^ roadtrip bonus ep drawing where the car stalls out and the lobby boy has to fix it. was gonna be nihil’s lobby boy if i ever ended up finishing it

HOKAY that’s all folks thanks for lookin!

#ibis art #the hotel podcast #i drew. so fucking much #i went and checked and i finished 395 individual images of hotel art this year. #not all of it got posted everywhere but i drew it! #guys do you think i might be an eensy weensy bit obsessed #i might like the hotel or something

[morbsxadorbs]

so because baron zemo’s been a source of serotonin for me lately as I’ve been trying to work on my fic which makes his snubbing in the current thunderbolts announcement suck all that much more, I thought I’d shoot some outfit photos with my zemo muse doll 💜

photos and more info under the cut to save dash space!

I introduced him over on my fandom blog @nbraraeaves when I first got him a while ago - as I think I mentioned in the plush guide I reblogged the other day, I got him from Meizai on etsy a couple years ago a while after I first started from sokovia with love. the coat and shirt he’s wearing are part of the outfit she custom-designed for him! the pants are some generic suit trousers I swapped in, and the boots are actually from a Loki cotton doll I ordered on ebay years ago without really knowing what it was (thus making him my first doll in this style).

here he is in just his shirt, please feel free to add your own “I Came for the Low” in the background:

anyway, onto this slapdash fashion show that I put together while no one came to my drop-in hour for work lmao 😂

1. I try to have a “casual” outfit for my plushies that travel with me a lot back and forth to my family’s place in TX, and Zemo is one that usually comes with just bc I never know when I’m going to get bit by the from sokovia bug again. I bought him this hoodie bc it’s purple, albeit a different shade from his main color, but I also just really wanted to see him in something cute and silly. (excuse my crooked bow, I’m still working on my technique)

Just modeling the hood up, with a different angle for the embroidered details one might miss on his enormous noble head.

2. I have a puffy pirate shirt that I bought specifically to give my different plushies their macfayden Mr. Darcy moment (minus water obvs), and on Zemo I always think of him being cajoled into posing for a traditional portrait by his parents, maybe when he’s still working his way up through the ranks of EKO Scorpion:

(I always have to tuck it in to his trousers bc otherwise it looks like an old fashioned christening gown lmao)

behold: a handsome boy! a boy of many talents!! and he will begrudgingly pose for photos!! ✨

2.5. I’ve been wearing a sword necklace I got a few years ago recently as I’ve been planning chapter 10, and I suddenly desperately needed to know how it would look if I gave it to him to hold -

with some quick thinking to make the chain itself into a sort of harness belt, it turns out he looks quite dashing wielding his family’s ancestral weapon!!

a close up for detail (and just me showing how I balanced it):

3. then of course I had to see how he looked with his usual coat over top, and definitely got a swashbuckling-‘92 Candyman hybrid vibe that I adore with his little frilly sleeves sticking out 🖤

look at him. isn’t that the cutest shit. what the hell.

4. finally, I don’t have his famous bathrobe yet bc I’m still looking for the right color, but for now, here are his pajamas, which are the closest I’ve managed to come right now:

look at him. flourishing. thriving. unbothered ✨

my next goal outfit is to replicate the first ever art I got for anything I’d ever written, this piece by my buddy Toni aka @imalsonotsure aka @three-stacked-raccons:

[insert the Dean IronGiant “It’s ART!!!”.gif bc I’m editing on mobile and hit my image limit lmao)

I have the pink shirt and glasses, I’m just waiting on the pink cardigan to get to my folks’ house (as it was a birthday gift this past year). I’m sure I’ll post an updated photo from there once I can put it all together!!

Next likely photos will either be chibi!Maxi or his secret alt twin mini!Maxi (long story to be explained), or maybe my bat collection, which is now large and historic as I’ve literally been picking them up since I was a wee baby bat myself. 🦇🖤

anyway, thanks for humoring me and my old camera! I just really love my little plushies, and figured that I might as well start sharing them with others who might like them too 🖤🖤🖤

#baron zemo #helmut zemo #plush doll #cotton doll #cotton dolls #plush dolls #commissioned dolls #commissioned plushies #etsy plush artists #rae’s plush problem #long post #image-heavy post #(I’m new to actually posting about my plush hobby so if there are tags I should use guidance is appreciated) #(do I tag this as k-pop doll? just bc of the style?? 🤔)

[shinakazami1]

Been busy lately so I don’t have much time to review and edit, but here I am! (this was supposed to be sent on the anniversary.) (edit 1: It’s already (edit 2: halfway through) november.)

(edit 3: i gave up. words be damned, i’m sending this. there should have been more. curse you writing)

(edit 4: reminder. write a long ask anywhere else except the actual tumblr ask window. sending again just to make sure i didn’t hallucinate all this- it would be so, very embarassing...)

hehehehehe love your art. Crunchy. Pringles. Crushing it in my mouth. yummy colors and perspective (That bucket sexyman design looking kinda fine though.,..i mean who said that) (->absolutely normal behavior)

I love how you interact with others’ art, leaving your comments and compliments. Really appreciate that little motivation boost and positivity you spread :)

As seen from Paratober, you seem to take the prompts beyond their face value and messed around with the concepts of those prompts (gonna put Jester in a carton box hehe. Can we have Jester loafing? Loafing in a box?)

Personally I’m not a writer, so I don’t know how you guys’ brains work but I love how you come up with interesting ideas stemming from the game’s original material, expanding, digging deeper into them. I look up at you all in wonder hehe

Also, I read unheard wishes.

You see, I rarely ever seek out angst. I came in there with “this is gonna hurt but I can totally bring myself through this”

Boy was I wrong. Now, because I didn’t read it properly enough to leave a comment that would do it justice (time restraints get you like that), I won’t give a lengthy review. But just so you know, my general feelings were “who do you think you are. did you really think you had the right to hurt me like this. *inhales* aaaaaaaaaAA *cars crashing glass breaking sound effects idk* *lays motionless on the ground* (affectionate)”

Maybe i’ll read your filk wip next. Biology is fun :]

It’s your way with the images you make for your stories and art. Candlecurator? Whatever’s up with fernarrator? I’m not listing the ones in your writings. A lazy, lazy anon I am, I know. [insert another keyboard smash]

I haven’t been here for a while so i don’t really remember much, sorry ;; (-> fake fan detected?!? *vine boom*)

Your theories definitely left the strongest impressions on me. How do you all think like that?? (this goes to the rest of you, tsp theorists/analysts/meta. what are you all on??? damn. give me some.). Perhaps it’s a writer’s thing, maybe I’m just incompetent in this deep thinking kind of stuff.

My favourite was the nature connection theory. Absolutely ate that up. (definitely not because of my bias for plants and nature-related stuff, noooo-). You somehow connected the plants in the parable, creating these wonderful strings of text about what you saw in these plants, the implications, and then sharing those ideas to us. Give me your braincells, shina. Give me-

[Close your eyes.]

Anyway- I think you’re pretty neat :]

Have a nice day!

✨✨✨!!!!!307 ANON!!!✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

ᴬᵍᵃᶦⁿ since I was already writing a draft to respond to your previous ask. The fact you have this copy makes me hope you are saving these asks somewhere because I lost a lot of posts thanks to the great Tumblr editing system....

Happy (belated and too early at the same time hehe) anniversary 307 :] To your edits - PLEASE start writing drafts somewhere else oshsaoifas I don't want you to lose your versions again. You might say you are not a writer but you decide to write such beautiful comments and asks - value your words more :]

Anon. I have an exam this week so it will take my energy but DO KNOW YOU WILL GET BUCKET SEXYMEN SKETCH. I imagine you will see it in a few months but,,, I hope you will like it, just like you like my art in general.

I feel now in retrospect so silly I hadn't done this sooner!! While I sometimes don't have the energy to comment on other people's stuff in my own comments, I know how much joy being told your words could make someone happy :] And I love interacting like that!! Shared appreciation!!! That's why I adore Tumblr in general - it feels most organic in that ability to engage with others as a social media.

I'm glad you like the Paratober prompts! I am happy I mixed the prompts to try to get even more creative with them!! And feel free to put him in every box!! Some old art of Jester in a box:

(I gotta finally start uploading my old art I do have. There is so much...

FEEL FREE PLEASE TO LEAVE MORE COMMENTS EVEN A SILLY ONE BUT OUGHHH I am so proud of Unheard WIshes so thank you so much <333333 Glad you could enjoy

Just remember anon that I do not know your age and the rating for Filk is Mature so please respect the ratings :]]] Ao3 tagging system is there for a reason!! However I still keep on getting opinions that Filk seems to target 16+ demographic since it's more South Park style...But still, please respect it :]

Oh sure, you are so lazy *looks at your very detailed an amazing asks* so lazy. But WAH THIS IS LIKE??? A VERY RARE CANDLECURATOR APPRECIATION??? Like I know folks see Fernator and like him but to hear you like her means so much to me ;;;;;;

And hey - life gets busy :] The fact you wanted to come again, read my story and wrote this, rewrote even god knows how many times... I will always think fondly of you.

DUDE OUGH I need to return to theories, I have so many yet to share,,, you wanting one means a lot to me :} I worked hard on the Fernator theory post so I am glad to hear you could enjoy it! I might do a pool on what people could want hehe

[Closes my eyes and tries to close yours]

I think you are very neat, 307 anon. Thank you, for being you and I hope I will see you one day again. Every ask, I worry it's also a farewell. And then - you come back. I hope you are okay out there - I hope your life, even if so busy, gives you moments of happiness and calmness.

Have a lovely day, 307 :]

#307 anon #307 #anon #ask #i shake you #SO FUCKIGN HARD #I LOVE YOUR ASKS #I SAW YOUR FIRST ONE #AND LIKE #I HAD READ IT SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE WRITING A DRAFT I WANTED TO FINISH TODAY #AND THEN #I SEE ANOTHER ONE #AND WAS LIKE #'oh fuck. of course tumblr glitches out.' #but then I read it again #And I was like #'*gasp* the edit 4 is different...oh ma gawd this madlad' #I HOPE YOU WILL SEE THIS #IF NOT I WILL BE SO FRICKING SAD #AND THE BUCKET ART I AM WORKING ON IT BUT IT WILL TAKE A BIT TO FINISH #BUT WAHAHAH #WAAAAAAAAAAH #YOU ARE #SUCH A BLESSING #A SWEETHEART #I SHAKE YOU #I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE WORK YOU READ #I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY #SO FRICKING #AWESOME

[introdemodev]

How’s da game going?????

Here’s an update on how things are going. It’s three pages long. Cool.

Update 1.0.4?

As of now, I’m deciding not to proceed with the update anymore. I don’t want to rush through anything and I want to focus on the full game. I am still planning on a Fall/Winter 2022 release, but it’s possible that it could be out by the beginning of 2023 instead.

1.0.4 was supposed to focus more on accessibility features and update some older artwork. With the former, I want to spend as much time with implementing those features and figure out what needs to be added. Which segues me into…

Accessibility Features

I was just talking about this!

Some lines of dialogue do not sound right when read with a voice reader, so I need to figure out how to have it read properly when that feature is enabled. I also want the player to be able to toggle captions for sound effects, music, and cues. There are minigames that involve decrypting a made-up alphabet, so I need to find a way to make that more accessible.

I don’t believe anything I listed above in this section is impossible to do, but it will take me a while to implement properly. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around coding and I have a hard time grasping things that are more ‘technical’. I find these features to be very important so I would rather not rush through them.

These features will be in the full game at launch (along with some others) and you will have the option to toggle them on and off.

Art

There’s a lot of artwork in Introdemo, which is one of the reasons why the file size for the demo was so big. That, and some music files. 

I’m trying to figure out ways to not make the final size for the full game be 100GB. Saving images as pngs, then optimizing the images in png gauntlet, then saving them as png-8s cuts down on a lot and there’s no quality or color loss either. Moving forward, I plan on working with a more limited color palette, utilizing webms more, and….I dunno, I’m still thinking of other ideas. 

I also plan on updating some background art + sprites, but this will be saved for last. I learned the hard way not to update sprites in the middle of development, haha…..

Writing

I was about to make a spoiler joke, but actually, I have a few things to say here.

In the survey, a critique that came up a few times was that there were some scenes that went on for a little too long. One scene in particular was when Fennel meets Clyde in the hallway. There’s a lot of fluff that needs to be cut out. I do like long set-ups, but it’s incredibly difficult to pull off. Also, I’m kinda rambly and I think that reflects in my writing. This post is two pages long so far. Wow!

There were some scenes I didn’t have time to put in the demo. For example, the bathroom scene plays out the same, no matter what. I always wanted that scene to be a ‘checkpoint’, if that makes sense. If you had more bad boy points than good boy points, it plays out differently. It should give you an idea of what choices you should be making if you want a good or bad ending.

Also, proofreading. I will make sure to proofread everything thoroughly this time. Until 1.0.3., I did not think to use writing or proofreading software to catch my mistakes. Very stupid, I know. Of course, a program isn’t going to catch all of my errors so I’ll try my best to look things over and maybe look into getting a beta reader.

Gameplay

Introdemo is primarily a visual demo, so there’s not much to say about that. You read. You click to advance to keep reading (or hit the spacebar or enter key). The end.

Though, there are minigames throughout Introdemo. You do have the option of not playing them and you will not be penalized for doing so. Though, you are rewarded for playing them (sometimes). Choosing to play or avoid minigames reveals different information about the story and characters.

Anyways, I’ll try to talk a little bit about what I have planned for the minigames….

Look it’s Fridge and Bear from Fridge and Bear! 

What does throwing eggs have to do with Introdemo????? I wanted to test out a drag and click feature since it’ll appear later in the game.

Darcy’s minigame will be getting revamped too. 

Concept for it was helping Darcy brainstorm ideas for his romance novel. Mad Libs, but with decadent vampires. It’s a fun idea but it doesn’t add anything to the game or to the story. Instead of allowing you to type whatever, you’ll have a set of options you can select now. The minigame will still be about helping Darcy brainstorm for his book, but it will be relevant to Introdemo’s story now.

I’m still working on how I want the decryption minigame to play out, so there’ll be more info about that in a future blog post.

I also want to add an inventory list to Introdemo. Fennel doesn’t use/carry enough items to justify a complex system, but I believe having a list will come in handy. This game will be long so the reader might forget what Fennel is in possession of.

Other Stuff…

The reproductive health drive is now over, and I want to thank everyone who contributed to it. Some money went to itch.io, so I will have to wait until my fees are processed so I can give you guys the final amount. I will also be pitching my own money in too. 

The art book will continue to be worked on alongside the demo and will be released with it.. Another thing I learned: you cannot create a book overnight, did you guys know that??? I didn’t, and I spent a week working on that rough draft trying to figure that out. 

The full will still be free but the art book will be NYOP (as long as it’s a dollar or more).

That’s it for now. I’m sure there are a few things I missed, but I’ll cover it later. I just wanted to catch everyone up on how the game is doing. I’m just starting to work on it again after taking a couple months off from it. 

I want to thank everyone again for playing or checking out this blog! Thank you thank you thank you.

#introdemo #it's three pages long...it's three pages long! #hows THAT for a boomer reference #game update #game stuff

[darling-i-read-it]

President's Daughter

Leon Kennedy x fem!reader

Word Count: 1.1k

Warnings: guns

Author’s Note: re4 Leon my beloved

Im posting this cause I haven’t posted something Leon in too long here take it

Summary: Sherry and Claire try and convince you to go along with Leon to save the Ashley.

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

You ran your hand through your hair and held the phone to your ear. You took a deep breath, struggling to put your shoe on as you walked forward.

��Leon’s good Sherry,” you said. You heard her hum on the other line.

“How good?” she asked cautiously. She had gotten much older since you had last seen her but her voice remained pretty much the same. She probably looked so different from when you, Leon and Claire had saved her from Racoon City. You promised yourself you would see her soon.

“He’s very good.”

“I know he’s gonna be sent to get the President's daughter,” Sherry said.

“Shouldn’t you be doing homework?” She giggled.

“I am I am. I just wanna know how you two are doing. Come onnnn.” You shook your head gently and walked up to Leon who was sitting down and tying his boots. You ran a hand through his floppy hair and sat down beside him. He gave you a quizakle look. You put the phone on speaker but held a finger up to Leon to keep him quiet.

“What do you want me to say Sherry?”

“Say that you’re going to finally get married or have 5 babies or something!” Leon stifled a laugh.

“I don’t think our line of work is great for that many babies Sherry,” you said. She laughed.

“I just wanna make sure you guys are never allowed to break up. Claire keeps breaking up with boys and girls, I just want to know you two are steady,” she said. You heard a bit of truth in her voice. She hadn’t had much of a steady parentage. When her parents died you, Leon and Claire mostly took care of her.

“We’re steady. I promise,” Leon said.

“Leon! You’re not supposed to eavesdrop!”

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” he said. He kissed your cheek and stood up. “I have to go to some remote village Sherry but I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

“Is Y/N coming?”

“They said I couldn’t,” you cut in. “Apparently the President thinks Leon and I will be all over each other instead of saving his daughter.” Leon shrugged.

“Maybe he was right.” You scoffed and took the phone off speaker, placing it up to your ear again.

“I’ll come see you soon Sherry,” you promised.

“Is Leon gone?”

“Uh huh.”

“Sneak in his suitcase! Don’t let him go out there alone.” You had been thinking the exact same thing.

“He won’t be alone. They’re sending in other people with him.”

“But no one is as good as you. Once you both have the President’s daughter, who can yell at you then?” She had a good point. You looked back at Leon who was putting on fingerless gloves and loading his guns. It wouldn’t be the first time you disobeyed orders. Probably wouldn’t be the last either.

“I’ll talk to you later hun. Go do homework.”

“Get in the back of his car!”

“Goodbye Sherry.” You hung up the phone and put it down. You walked up to Leon and put your hand on his back. He looked back at you.

“What’d she have to say?” he asked gently.

“Nothing much. Just checking in. She said I should get in the trunk of your car.”

“Now that’s an idea,” he muttered.

“I could come, you know. I hate the idea of you out there by yourself.” He opened his mouth to speak but you cut him off. “Don’t say they’re sending you out with people. Those people will be dead before you get the chance to learn their names. This is dangerous Leon.” Leon looked up at you and you saw his cogs turning.

“The President said you couldn’t come.”

“And you’ve listened to authority so many times before?”

“No, I was authority.” You were about to say something else when the phone rang. You picked it up, immediately putting it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” It was Claire. You laughed gently. Talk about catching up with old friends.

“Hey Claire, what’s up?”

“You’re not letting Leon do the President thing on his own are you?” You eyed him and he rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think I will.”

“Good. Cause if you didn’t, I was gonna have to fly down to your place and hop in his suitcase.” You smiled.

“I’m actually getting ready right now.”

====

The two of you walked through the woods, guns at the ready. He shook his head gently, annoyed that the two men they had sent in with him had been hijacked so quickly. You were walking behind him carefully, watching every movement.

“This was a mistake,” Leon said carefully.

“Coming?”

“Letting you come.” You scoffed.

“Hey, if it weren’t for me you’d be alone out here. I’m happy I came to watch your six.” Leon spared you a look.

“What if we get separated?”

“We won’t.”

“What if we do? I’m going to have to choose between you and Ashley and then what?” he muttered. You hadn’t thought of that.

“Then you choose Ashley.” He stopped completely and turned to you.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“Yes you can.”

“And if you have to choose between me or Ashley?” You paused and that was enough for him.

“The President can always have another daughter. I can never have another Leon.”

“See? This was a mistake.” You both kept walking. There was a beep on Leon’s device at his hip. He picked it up and in the incoming image was Hunnigan. You had worked with her before.

“I see you brought company,” she muttered.

“Hi Ingrid!” you said, waving at her image behind Leon. Leon tried to hide his smile. She gave you a pointed look.

“You know you aren’t supposed to be there.”

“Gonna come get me?” She paused and you smiled, slinking away from the image.

“We’ll send backup. For now, you need to find where Ashley is.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Leon said.

“And keep your hands to yourself,” she said before cutting the image off. You laughed, reloading your gun.

“Yeah Leon. Keep your hands to yourself.”

“You’re one to talk.”

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy imagines