#getting real Resident Evil 1 teas
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🦋Life Is Strange: General Headcanons
🦋 just some pretty normal headcanons
🐺 GN!Reader, no specific pronouns are mentioned!
🦋 warnings: dorky stuff, bad mental health and swearing.
🎧A/N: Been super busy lately, thanks for the loads of support though guys! Gonna be writing more for Skip because nobody's writing for him and he's actually REALLY attractive??
🦋Chloe Price:
📄It's obvious that Chloe literally adores punk rock and possibly heavy metal music. She's also a HUGE PissHead fan, from listening to Skip's demo to then asking if she can hear more of his music.
🖤She doesn't wanna admit it but she definitely sees Skip as an older brother figure, they're basically family and they have such a sweet bond together.
📄Chloe and Steph are actually pretty close in Before The Storm, from how Steph asks Chloe for permission to ask Rachel out and how she's okay with Chloe venting to her if she wanted to.
🖤Her favourite songs are Nothing Wrong - Pisshead and Everything Reminds Me Of Her - Elliot Smith. (those are all literally my favourite songs as well..oops)
📄She is actually secretly a bit of nerd, like not a huge nerd but she's played Dungeons & Dragons multiple times with Steph and Mikey before and after Episode 1.
🖤Her favourite animal is the Palos Verdes Blue butterfly, since a blue butterfly is her spirit animal but she also really likes Tiger Sharks and 100% thinks she could take them in a fight.
📄She sucks ass at cooking and Joyce has tried to teach her before but she gets bored so easily.
🖤When she got her skull tattoo, she teared up and nearly started sobbing but told everyone she knows that she was totally 100% cool + badass during it.
(hella pissed about the zero skip gifs and lack of fanfiction, he's literally so attractive?? wtf)
🎤 Skip Matthews:
📄He secretly flips people off behind their back as they walk away if they've pissed him off, will totally freak out then switch to standing still and laughing awkwardly if they turn around.
🖤Listens to Taylor Swift but apart from that he's a huge punk rock + heavy metal fan.
📄Okay now, Skip is a HUGE horror game nerd. I'm talkin' Outlast, Resident Evil, Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent Hill.
🖤He can cook, okay?! He doesn't look like your average chef but he can definitely serve up some good fucking food.
📄Talks shit about anyone he doesn't like with you, if you guys are together of course or really good friends, he's like Victoria Chase sometimes because oh my god is he a bitch.
🖤Apart from listening to music, he'll also listen to urban legends podcasts on his way to work.
📄Skip comes from a pretty normal family in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado with two older sisters and a younger brother.
🖤(He's such a dork, I love him.) He's also pretty into fishing and is constantly taking trips for his band when he has to.
📄His favourite animal is the Polar Bear, like yeah he'd piss himself if he ever saw one in real life but he thinks they're pretty cute online instead of them being outside his door ready to beat his ass.
🍂Kate Marsh:
📄She's very religious but also very supportive. She just wants to settle down with someone, falling in love + possibly starting a family together, sitting on the porch swing in the afternoon while drinking tea/coffee side by side.
🖤Can Kate cook? Yes, she could totally make a living out of her talent but she just isn't into that for a career.
📄She never really has anything bad to say about anyone, she doesn't believe in being mean to other people because that just isn't in her blood.
🖤Kate is sort of sensitive, she won't cry if you bump into her accidentally but would tear up if you were to raise your voice/insult her in any way like any normal person. (so don't, you asshole)
📄Listens to soft, classical music sometimes but also some indie pop now and then.
🖤She's a walking angel, her personality, her looks and smarts, everything about her is just *chefs kiss*.
📄Her favourite animal is either the Florida White Rabbit or the Harp Seal, commonly known as Saddleback/Greenland Seal, Kate adores Harp Seal's so much and is always smiling while looking at photos of them.
🖤Hobbies? Playing the violin & the piano, back when she lived with her parents she was super into gardening + cooking.
📷 Max Caulfield:
📄She's always cooped up in her dorm either studying away, practicing her guitar skills or hanging out with Warren and Chloe.
🖤Max is a proud geek, alright? She's a board game, video game, everything remotely geeky fan, 100% played Dungeons & Dragons with Warren and has a few photos of the whole thing in a box under her bed titled 'W&M DND'.
📄Has overplayed Speedy Ortiz & Syd Matters so much but surprisingly never gets bored of their songs, but everyone else around her already has.
🖤Max sucks complete, utter ass at cooking and she knows it, she'll still try her best though but she can't even make toast properly without making it suffer through the toaster.
📄She can say some bad shit about people if they're assholes but she'd never say anything about someone who's innocent/someone she knows is a good person.
🖤Her spirit animal is a Doe and while she adores it completely, she also really likes Koala's and thinks that they're absolutely adorable.
🎭 Rachel Amber:
📄Rachel is that perfect, pretty and amazing popular girl that everyone knows, she struggles with her emotions pretty bad and I can see her going to Rose for help but never really her father.
🖤She wants to be an actor, right? Then that's what she's aiming for, to be in the public eye with a smile on her face and an award in her hands.
📄Multiple public bathrooms, walls and doors across arcadia bay are marked with 'RACHEL AMBER WAS HERE' or 'R.A'.
🖤Best chef in the world, clap clap! She's honestly so good at cooking and baking, has definitely thought about being a badass chef instead of a badass actor before.
📄She can sing really good, her and Chloe made a song together which was stashed away ..kept in a safe place after she went missing.
🖤She's heard about Skip from Chloe + always thought he was a cool older brother/father figure to any fucked up kid around the campus and 100% agrees with his nerdy horror game lifestyle.
📄Rachel's favourite animal is the Red Panda, she has a photo of one on a shelf somewhere and also has a Red Panda stuffed animal.
🖤Listens to punk rock and some heavy metal if she's in the mood, she loves PissHead and Firewalk.
🎬 Victoria Chase:
📄Her schedule is nearly always full, she's either bossing Vortex Club members and others about or practicing with her camera.
🖤She secretly listens to punk rock sometimes but will roll her eyes and say 'you don't look like the type' if anyone else like her takes an interest in her music taste.
📄She's got a geeky side to her from the figures in her room to the shit she's stuffed under her bed (video games, etc) so nobody else will find out about it and make fun of her.
🖤Victoria isn't the best at cooking but she isn't awful, she's told everyone in Blackwell that she's a master chef though. There's room for improvement, she needs MAJOR improvement cooking-wise.
📄She's really good at playing the piano, photography (of course) and she can make her own outfits with the right fabrics + tools.
🖤Her favourite animal is the Cheetah and she makes that very clear, even told someone 'i could claw you like a cheetah, bitch.' once before.
📄Definitely posts stuff about positive vibes on her socials while acting like a total bitch in real life.
🎮 Warren Graham:
📄He's broken his hand before during a fight, it sounds so badass but he's hella embarrassed and ashamed about it.
🖤Listens to small bands he found through his dorky websites that he's always on and always attends their gigs.
📄(Sucks dick at cooking), will totally hype his friends up about it then laugh awkwardly and act completely clueless at their grossed out reactions.
🖤He knows Skip pretty well since Warren was already in Blackwell at the same time that Skip was working there, they've exchanged opinions about games and movies way before the first game.
📄His favourite animals are Owls especially the Great Horned Owl, he saw one at night while he was hanging with Max and watched as she took a near hour taking photos of it.
🖤He hangs out on websites nearly all the time to read about the local bands, owl sightings, when the new video game he wants so bad is coming out.
📄Has probably searched up shit like 'how to get a boyfriend/girlfriend' before.
🧨 Nathan Prescott:
📄(He looks like a bent ass banana from the fruit bowl with the weird ass way he's sitting, fix your posture man.)
🖤He's 99% busy all the time, he's either attending therapy, in class, doing stuff for the Vortex Club or doing his usual..shady shit.
📄When he's texting you or his friends, the messages are barely readable because he texts like 'CU Thre, LOL, 2nte' and adds an unnecessary amounts of ?? and !!.
🖤Nathan doesn't have a specific music taste but he does sort of like listening to heavy metal.
📄Doesn't know how to cook at all, his parents never cared to teach him and why bother when you're filthy rich?!
🖤He doesn't really care for shit other than his fucked up photography or the Vortex Club, he'll maybe sketch some stuff here and there but even his sketches come out looking severly fucked up.
📄His favourite animal is the Indian Saw-Scaled Viper, he's into some scary shit because he's a scary asshole so don't be surprised. I mean, he also likes dogs..i guess.
🖤Huge horror movie fan as well like you sit him down, turn on a terrifying, traumatizing ass movie but he just rolls his eye and stays there completely unphased.
#🤍kane's headcanons#nathan prescott x reader#kate marsh x reader#victoria chase x reader#max caulfield x reader#chloe price x fem!reader#rachel amber x reader#warren graham x reader#lis headcanons#life is strange headcanons#skip matthews x reader
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Welcome to my blog!
Reqs - Open!
fandoms i write for: 2012tmnt, rottmnt, stranger things, who killed markiplier, a heist with markiplier, jacksepticeye egos + iris project, resident evil (re4 remake, re2, re village and biohazard) and in space with markiplier
i love writing, music and making edits, my favourite colours are red and purple, and I use they/them pronouns! my sleep schedule is also wrecked-
tysm for taking the time to read my profile and i can’t wait to read whatever requests you make! love y'all!
MASTERLIST:
ROTTMNT:
rottmnt boys with ticklish reader
rise!leo x kitsune!reader
disaster twins x reader (platonic)
rise!leo x singer!reader
rise!donnie's s/o being jealous of 2012!april
rise!leo x hurt/kidnapped!reader
rottmnt boys with vampire reader
rottmnt boys with an autistic/adhd reader
rottmnt movie angst
rise!leo x fem!reader with his swords
rottmnt boys x soft!reader
rottmnt boys x chubby!reader
rise!donnie being overprotective of gn!reader
rise!raph x cruella!reader (p.1/2)
rottmnt boys x insecure!reader
rise!leo x shy!reader
rottmnt boys x loud noise sensitive!reader
2012 TMNT:
2012!leo x reader - tea-time
2012!raph x fem!reader - gentle giant
salaì chapter one
salaì chapter two
salaì chapter three
salaì chapter four
salaì chapter five
salaì chapter six
salaì chapter seven
salaì chapter eight
salaì chapter nine
salaì chapter ten
salaì chapter eleven
JSE/Markiplier Lore:
damien x reader (for us in every universe)
jse fic promo
potential damien x reader fanfic
Resident Evil:
(smut) the cat and the mouse - you've agreed to a joint mission with Leon Kennedy in a rural village in Spain, you never expected to be involved with a cult. you also never expected your tension to be resolved after a certain chain incident.
(fluff) groceries - Leon uses a new trick to keep track of you during a grocery trip.
(hurt/comfort) dancin' with our hands tied - you and luis serra at a banquet after the spain incident. things get miscomunicated and personal real fast.
(fluff) one step at a time - A TLOU2 AU where you and Leon live on a farm and herd sheep. Domestically.
Thorin's Spring Forge 23/Hobbit Fics:
royal bridges - It's time. Elvanore's arriving at a royal banquet as the new Queen of Erebor and she's been planning a shocking plan for the night.
the tavern - Elvanore travels off to the nearby city of Laketown to have a nice night with some friends. Unfortunately, the night ends with Elvanore getting injured and no one injures the Queen of Erebor without Thorin knowing.
burns and scars - you've hidden your burns ever since Dale had been decimated by Smaug. But during a fight with the Mirkwood elves, your scar gets revealed and Thorin sees this.
#profile#pinned post#rottmnt#rottmnt x reader#multi fandom blog#multifandom x reader#stranger things#headcanons#oneshots#fanfiction#markiplier fanfiction#open requests#request#markiplier ego x reader#the hobbit x reader
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• Before I continue, Excuse my writing, it’s horrible, so please beware.
• I don’t want any minor interacting with my account, so please respect my wishes.
• Please have your age on your blog before following me because I will be blocked, If you don’t.
• If I catch any spam blog, bot blog, or blank blog, and ageless blog, following me, I will block you.
• Please make sure you have a avatar picture on your account, so I know you are a real person and not a bot blog try to follow me.
P.S. Feel free to chat with me about anything on my personal messages.
Little about myself :
Username: Soullessbitch 999, but you can call me soulless 999, or soulless bitch, which ever you prefer, I don’t care.
Sex: Female
Pronoun: she/her
Age: 20
Fandom I’m into:
• Devil May Cry
• Resident Evil
• Supernatural
• Creepypasta
• Candle Cove
• SCP Foundation
• Obey Me
• Record of Raganarok
• hornet marbles
• EverymanHYBRID
• Grimm
I reblog lot of uncomfortable heavy kinks:
• Dom Characters x Sub Reader
• Heat Recycle & Knot
• Mating & Breeding
• Monster Fucking
• Tentacles
• Laying Eggs, maybe? Not sure
• Noncon & Dubcon
• Overstimulation & Multiple Orgasms
• Fingering & Edging
• Creampie & Stomach Bulging
• Ownership
• Light Degrading
• Brat Taming
• Light Impact play, mostly spanking
• Spitting & Squirting kink
• watersports
• Period Sex
• Light BDSM & Light Bondage
I Reblog lot of uncomfortable scenario, and situation in the story plots, such as:
• stalking & kidnapping situation
• Yandere scenario
• Toxic/Abusive Relationship
• Possessiveness/Jealousy
• Forced Feminization
• Misogyny
• Pregnancy, may be in the story I reblog
• Abortion, may be in the story I reblog
• Violence and Death, may be in the story I reblog
• Little Bit Of Gore, but nothing major
• The word Pussy, Cunt, Clit, Tits, Boobs, Breast. Are use in the story that I reblog
• The world ‘Slut’ or ‘whore’ are used in the stories that I reblog.
• AFab -Reader
• I may get a lot of hate, but I’m a pro-oc’s & self ship you will hardly see me reblogging male reader (unless its neutral gender) because I notice a lot of the male writers don’t want Afab-Readers liking, following, or reblog there stuff, and I respect their wishes.
• Please know that I will always try to reblog/ like stories and art like, rather it’s good or not. I always try to be supportive as much as I can, especially the POC writers because they don’t get enough support and love.
Creepy pastas characters I refused to reblog :
1. I will not be reblogging Laughing Jack character, rather it’s a headcannon, scenario, or arts, or Laughing jack x reader stories, especially finding out what sunffBomb did. I don’t want to associate with that kind of crowd.
2. I won’t reblog any Ben Drowned x Reader stories because I believe he’s still a child and die as a child, this also included aging him up,but I don’t reblog cute arts of Ben Drowned.
3. I won’t reblog any headcannon, scenarios, or arts of Sally William, especially finding out what happened to her character and I don’t want to associate that kind of thing, makes me feel uncomfortable.
4. I won’t reblog any Jeff the killer x reader stories because in my own personal headcannon, he’s too mentally unstable to have relationships and I personally headcannon him as a child.
5. I won’t reblog any Jean the killer x Reader stories because in my own personal headcannon, I see her as a child as well and plus there two Jean the killer so I don’t know which is the original Jane the Killer.
6. I won’t be reblog any DR.Smiley x Reader stories because, Dr.Smiley is a a stolen oc which I didn’t know until now.
7. I won’t reblog any Glitch red x reader stories because apparently he’s have a girlfriend. (I read it on Wikipedia)
8. I won’t reblog any sonic.exe x reader or Tail.exe x reader stories because they are not my cup of tea.🤷♀️
#creepy pasta#obey me#scp foundation#dmc#resident evil#candle cove#record of ragnarok#hornet marbles#everymanhybrid#grimm tv show#I’m all done
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When I Was The New Player In DBD
I can remember this happened to me twice in my first few days of playing Dead By Daylight as a baby Quentin. For those that aren’t aware DBD is a 4 Survivors vs 1 killer game.
The first was a Freddy (killer) who was apparently good enough to tell I was very much a baby at the game. When I managed to corner myself twice in a ruined building panic trying to jump the window, not to mention I dropped a pallet wrong and ended up in my panic cornering myself via a pallet and tree. When I failed to vault a window due to panic he shook his head at me and left, after that he would only chase me if I was healthy, wound me and then leave.
The second was when I was dropped in as a solo player with a three man Survivor Squad. In the pre-game chat they learned how new I was and the Nea said “Quentin stay away from us, do gens on your own.”
I won’t lie I was sad but I understood, generators or gens are the objective survivors have to complete to get out and if I miss skill checks they blow up and lose a lot of progress
Well the game starts and the killer starts chasing me, and she downs me, they pick me to put me on the hook (something they have to do 3 times to remove me form the game and get closer to winning the game.) when out of no where Nea, Ace, and Meg appear around the killer with flashlights to blind them. When the killer is carrying a survivor and gets blinded they can’t see on their screen, are blinded, and I come off their shoulder wounded but able to run away.
Ace then clicked his flashlight a lot to annoy the killer player and baited himself to be chased. For the rest of the game the moment I screwed up during a chase and pinned myself or was downed there was a flashlight clicking sound suddenly and the killer left.
After the game the Pig (The killer) asked me; “You new Quentin?”
Me: “This is my seventh game!”
“Ahhhh now I understand. You did really well around the jungle gym next to shack! Keep practicing and if window vaulting makes you panic try it a time or two when you know you’re alone before hand! Have fun!”
The Teabag Of Justice
Now I have about 1,000 hours in Dead By Daylight which makes me the very bottom run of intermediate player in terms of skill level but when I see a survivor that is being tunneled by the killer or a newer player who is just getting eaten I take hits, I body block the killer, I use what I know to bait the killer into forcing a slug (leaving a survivor on the ground instead of trying to put them on a hook) so we can try a pick up and in dire circumstances I deploy the teabag of justice.
The teabag of justice is when I drop a pallet, or take a hit, or stun the killer and then teabag them relentlessly, they usually chase if they hit me I run as far as the “You’ve been hit” speed boost goes then stop and keep tea bagging to get them to chase me more.
I usually end up dying but...and this may be shocking for some people who play Dead By Daylight players, escaping and dying in any one particular game doesn’t actually mean anything. There are infinite bloodpoints for us to earn so if we earn marginally less of those in a single game it doesn’t matter.
The best teabag of justice game was, in a lobby we had a David who said he was sorry in advance he only had double digit hours, and this is only his second match after life forced him to not be able to play for several months so he’s really bad at the moment.
We spawn into what was the worst map at the time, RPD (yes from Resident Evil) and I know the Onryo wasn’t actually trying to tunnel the David but the map sucked and David was having real bad luck. David got 2 of his 3 hooks real quick and I saw that bad luck had him end up in front of our killer again.
Well I went full teabag of justice mode, I won’t lie between body blocking, stunning, pallet pre-dropping, and a bunch of teabagging I was borderline toxic. I died for that David, who ended up dying anyhow.
After the game...
Onryo: “What the fuck Byers?”
Me: “David is baby, second game back after a long while and first RPD.”
Onryo: “Oh. I was wondering why you went feral mid-game. Okay cool. Yeah that map sucks. GG all.”
It’s not hard but it the type of mentality the comic shows makes games better for all of us.
By the way if you want to find the original post of the image I web posted from it’s here: https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/ccr8c8/take_your_time_you_got_this/
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tag 9 people you want to know better
I was tagged by @arkhana
3 ships: How about... Mia/Moreau from Resident Evil Village... Emmet/Johanna from Pokemon... And... (former) Wheeljack/Shockwave from Transformers Cyberverse lol
I like a lot of ships. And I know. I’m disappointed that two of these are straight too. But Mia/Moreau is my weird little monsterfucker ship that I and only I enjoy from the RE8 fandom, and I’ve been working on something for my Coordinator!Emmet AU which would eventually (probably) end with Emmet and Johanna getting platonically married to meme on Ingo and for tax benefits lol. Wheeljack/Shockwave is here because I’ve recently been watching Transformers: Cyberverse and Wheeljack and Shockwave are TOTALLY exes and I love it! Shockwave’s probably my favorite character in Cyberverse since its version of Starscream is just... SO BAD! Cyberverse has a good version of Shockwave. Still has that classic loyalty from gen 1, while being an unethical scientist like later iterations. Also he kept his severed hand around and programmed it to float around and do stuff for him, and I find that HILARIOUS! Cyberverse Shockwave is a good iteration of him! Even though his vibes are RANCID lol.
Oh, but as a bonus to the person who tagged me, @penquinlori and I have talked A LOT about Bernadette Beneviento/Salvatore Moreau as an idea. Basically the idea was that Sal was engaged to Bernadette (Donna’s aunt) some time before he started undergoing the cadou experiments. At some point Miranda took Bernadette for experiments and she died. Sal was away from the village at the time and so was never really made privy to what happened to his fiance. Sal’s brother Mihai may have also been involved in all of this too. It’s all very heartbreaking and I love it. >:3c And we’ve both been working on fic that features this relationship. :p
1st ever ship: I think it must’ve been... Naruto/Hinata from Naruto...? Because that was the first fandom that I like... REALLY got into...? Yeah, boring, I know. Like maybe I shipped May/Ash from Pokemon before that? Hard to say. But I remember shipping Naruto/Hinata pretty hard when I was a kid. Though I did have an OC that I made to be with Gaara lol
last song: If we’re not counting the theme song from the Ghost and Molly McGee or the music from Encanto... According to Spotify the last song I listened to was Smoke Damage by Hi I’m Case. Though I’ve also had Sarah by the Derina Harvey Band and Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives stuck in my head lately lol
last movie: Encanto (I just wanted a good cry, you know? Honestly, I didn’t cry as much as I would have liked. I could probably use some more good cries. >.< )
currently reading: Uhhhhhh... I’m REAL bad about reading things. I’m a very slow reader and can mostly only focus on like... Manga... (Which I’ll read a volume in one sitting) so the best I can come up with is like... Metro 2033...? Which I haven’t gotten around to reading in like... Over a year... >.< I guess you can maybe count The Promised Neverland too. I like reading that one when I go to the library.
currently watching: The Ghost and Molly McGee (literally in the other window while I wait for it to load a little lol)
currently consuming: Peppermint tea with chocolate truffles as the sweetener lol
currently craving: Soup and orange juice (will have after I’m done with the tea)
I was also tagged to create myself in in this picrew.
I’m very pleased about all of the options for black people, but man... Not a lot of options for more masculine presenting people who aren’t black in this picrew... Though to be fair, this is a Japanese site and I’m Asian, so I usually have tons of options lol. Little disappointed they didn’t have a darker brown for eyes and hair in this picrew either. :p
tagging (but only do this if you want to): @penquinlori @steeltypeloverbecca @keets-writing-corner @momodarling89 @xenoverse2194 @waywardstation @detectivesnickers @bonf @trashbunnysblog @zeco5000
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genshin modern au cheat sheet
i’m planning to do more pieces set in this au, so i’ve put together a quick list of the characters i'm planning to write about/include!
there are three main groups here - the zhao family, the ragnvindr family and friends, and the Miscellaneous Pals™
(the next volume in this au is going to be a xiao piece, and that should be up within the next two or so days!)
1. the zhao family
zhongli, 36: history professor at the local uni who also plays the guzheng very well, tea-enjoyer, a very proud and supportive dad who loves his kids more than anything in the universe - probably unironically has so many pictures of them in his wallet
xiao, 23: taking a degree in psychology at the local uni, has a cool motorbike, bit of a control freak, doesn’t like surprises, will drop-kick you if you look at him or his sister funny, wants a cat but his dad’s allergic, never really grew out of his emo phase
yanfei, 19: baby of the family, prodigy lawyer-in-training, far smarter than many people give her credit for, likes building snowmen, has to protect her unsuspecting dad from Evil Salespeople looking to make some extra money
xiao and yanfei are biological siblings, and zhongli adopted them when xiao was 11 and yanfei was 7. the circumstances of this adoption is a mystery that none of the zhao family members seem willing to divulge…
the zhao siblings can have a little bit of tragic backstory. as a treat.
basically they were born into poverty and often went hungry for days on end. biological parents were distant and neglecting (though not actually physically/emotionally abusive - yet.)
when xiao was caught shoplifting bread and fruit from a local grocery store so that he and yanfei could actually eat, both parents went ballistic and kicked him out the house in the middle of one of the coldest winters the town had seen
poor kid was practically freezing to death out there, and yanfei raised such a fuss back in the house that mum slapped her square in the face to get her to shut up, which xiao saw through the window, and he promptly decided that he Was Not Putting Up With This Shit for any longer
immediately went to a neighbour’s house and told them what was going on, neighbours promptly called cps, and an investigation was launched
parents were deemed unsuitable for raising kids and (after a lot of back and forth) the two kids were taken into care
meanwhile zhongli was kind of sad because he had no friends or family in this town and all he really did was write articles, read books, and mark work
then one of his co-workers mentioned hearing about xiao and yanfei’s story and it hit zhongli so hard that he immediately rang up the adoption centre and ended up taking them in
and from then on both yanfei and xiao were very happy and healthy because zhongli was literally the best dad ever and put everything into taking care of them
2. the ragnvindr family (+ friends)
diluc, 29: budding businessman who still works at his dad’s cafe but is looking to open up his own company some time soon, still buys himself juice in those little cartons with the straws, still doesn’t know how raising bread works?? how does it get bigger???
diona, 7: diluc’s adopted daughter who has her father firmly under her thumb, bit of a spitfire but can also be the sweetest kid ever, enjoys making ‘potions’ out of grass and flowers and water (diluc can and will actually drink these potions because his love for his daughter knows no bounds)
kaeya, 25: diluc’s idiot little brother who’s changed majors at least five times and still doesn’t really know what he wants to do, practises fencing and horse riding in his spare time like a nerd, spoils his niece rotten
lisa, 26: the first of kaeya’s three roommates, has a degree in english and could easily have gone on to become a leading scholar but chose to instead open a bookshop that gets way more business than expected because she’s pretty and men and women alike are all simps
albedo, 23: the second of kaeya’s roommates, bit of a genius, has already started his chemistry phd, is almost concerningly pale and exhausted at all times, has not gone a day without breaking one of the cups for at least two years
venti, 21: the third of kaeya’s roommates, studying music, acts way older than he is sometimes but is mostly just a child, asks at least one of his roommates to marry him every day without fail, was and still is both a music and a theatre kid
lisa’s actually the one who owns the roommates’ residence because it’s on top of her bookshop
i was going to keep the whole ragnvindr family trauma thing but i decided that diluc deserved to be happy in at least one au so the brothers are still happy brothers :D
unfortunately that means that i’ve transferred a lot of the family trauma over to diona
essentially her mother died when she was a baby and her father, draff, turned to alcohol to get him through the stress of raising a child alone. unfortunately this led to him drunk driving one day, and he crashed the car into one of the wall’s of diluc’s dad’s cafe.
draff died on impact since he was in the front seat, but three-year-old diona managed to pull through despite her injuries. one thing led to another, diluc ended up taking care of her for a bit while the authorities sorted the whole thing out, but then he got too attached and decided to adopt her permanently
now diona has a dad, three uncles and an aunt who are all willing to shower her with all the love she deserves :’)))))
3. the Miscellaneous Pals™:
xiangling, xingqiu, chongyun, 17: local high school kids, they’re all kind of dating each other, low-key got adopted by xiao at one point, guoba is xiangling’s guinea pig and they all have joint custody over him
barbara, bennett, razor, 17: also local high school kids, also kind of all dating each other (but a lot more tentatively), regulars at diluc’s cafe, almost never seen apart
lumine, aether, ??: they keep showing up here and there around town to climb a tree and just sit there throwing leaves at people on the streets, then disappear. no one knows who the fuck they are
tartaglia, 23: nicknamed childe by his friends, also known as Mr Moneybags, is always just hanging around the local uni campus but doesn’t actually study anything there. his real name is ajax, but he thought that was lame so he gave himself a cool new one
eula, 24: new teacher at the local high school, her father used to be headmaster and was notoriously cruel to his students so everyone’s kind of wary of her, but she’s just really sweet and wants the best for her pupils :(((
amber, 21: number one eula defender, teaches the younger kids at the local primary, likes bunsen burners a little bit too much, still can’t remember how to spell the word necessary
hu tao, 25?: shady local mortician who may or may not practise illegal things, was kind of dating yanfei at some point but zhongli sent her packing as soon as he realised who she was, no one knows what her deal is
xiangling’s already a budding master chef and has received several offers from culinary schools, xingqiu is planning to study literature/language at uni but also might just go straight to trying to get a book published, chongyun is going to continue the family tradition of studying the supernatural with maybe a side job at xiangling’s future restaurant so that he doesn’t end up with no money if he doesn’t get any supernatural work
barbara is planning to go to medical school and also sings/dances in her spare time, bennett still doesn’t know what he wants to do but is considering carpentry among other things, and razor is dead-set on working at either a zoo or an animal shelter when he’s older
tartaglia never leaves the house without at least three pocket knives and a water pistol. he’s never had to use them yet, but you never know...
eula and amber live together and are probably dating but they’ll both just dodge the question if you ask them about it
they’re most definitely together though because on eula’s birthday amber brought her entire class of little kids to say happy birthday and bring her flowers
(incidentally amber is diona’s teacher)
#genshin impact#genshin impact imagines#modern au#genshin zhongli#genshin yanfei#genshin xiao#genshin diluc#genshin diona#genshin kaeya#genshin lisa#genshin albedo#genshin venti#genshin childe#genshin tartaglia#genshin eula#genshin amber#genshin barbara#genshin razor#genshin bennett#genshin xiangling#genshin xingqiu#genshin chongyun#genshin lumine#genshin aether#whew that's a lotta characters#zhao family#ragnvindr family and friends#Miscellaneous Pals™
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Serenade (Daniela Dimitrescu/Reader) Pt. 12 FINALE
Fandom: Resident Evil: Village
Rating: T for language
Warnings: Nope!
Notes: How lovely it has been, to go on this journey with you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every person who has liked, reblogged, or left a kind comment on this story. Combined, you all have genuinely changed my life. I'm writing more than ever, more consistently, and I'm having a blast. So if you like this story, and wish it wasn't ending, well... maybe don't worry too much. There will be a sequel of sorts, same timeline but new reader, instead focusing on Cassandra. Also oops this is hella long. And mostly dialogue.
Past Chapters: Pt. 1: Nocturne, Pt. 2: Overture, Pt. 3: Accelerando, Pt. 4: Toccata, Pt. 5: Poco a Poco, Pt. 6: Elegy, Pt. 7: Harmony, Pt. 8: Obbligato, Pt. 9: Berceuse, Pt. 10b: Hymn AMAB, Pt 11: Cadence
Chapter 12: Cadence (Reprise)
(Cadence: Two chords that mark the end of a song)
Truth be told, she had never expected much of anything to come from this. ‘Twas not that she thought her daughter to be talentless, or that she denied the capabilities of the servant-turned-teacher, rather that she knew just how difficult it was to keep Daniela’s attention for any measure of time. Even as the weeks went by with undeniable progress, there was a part of her awaiting the collapse of it all. How long would this instructor last? How long before they were drained of blood, either for some perceived insult, or merely out of boredom? Surely, in the end, Alcina would not need to lift a single finger.
And yet here she was, at the end of a concert, pride roaring within her chest. What had she missed? What clues had eluded her, what had changed within her child’s nature? She knew that there were hints of deeper affections, fragments of a would-be love, but she had thought them miniscule. Thought that those feelings were doomed to crash and burn, unable to live up to the expectations set by decades of romance novels. Well, maybe they had failed. Maybe, somehow, Alcina had missed something else entirely.
The thought might have sent a shiver down her spine, if she weren’t so readily distracted by praising her youngest child… or by the looming shadow of a life-changing revelation.
“Mother… we need to talk. I… I have a confession to make,” Daniela explains, hesitantly slow, but with a conviction she rarely ever showed. Taken aback by the unexpected announcement, Alcina pauses, silently awaiting some form of elaboration. Instead, Daniela takes her hand, pulling her towards a set of chairs. They sit gingerly, each feeling the weight of terrifying possibilities upon their shoulders. When she at last continues speaking, she does so without a trace of showmanship or false bravado, trading it in for heartfelt sincerity. “I love them. All of this- these lessons, this concert- has been for them. For my sweet, innocent little songbird.” So here it was, the birthplace of her fears, brought forth from her mind into reality.
“I was afraid you would say that,” Alcina muses, leaning back into the chair with a deep sigh. Something itches in the back of her throat, and she yearns for her pipe, or even just a normal cigarette to distract herself. Without one, she is left to metaphorically chew on her thoughts. Realistically, there has to be some way to deal with this, some way that she can convince her daughter of the sheer foolishness of this mess. “Daniela… how can I put this in a way you will understand, hmm?… The two of you have only known each other for three months. There is no chance that you truly love them, or them you. How close can you possibly have become?”
“When have I cared about anything for three whole months? I dedicated myself to-” Daniela is cut off by the sound of the door opening, revealing the rest of her little family. It was guaranteed that they would have heard the conversation from outside, seeing as they were all inhuman, though they perhaps intended to intervene. A single hard glance from both of the room’s occupants convinces them to change their minds. “Wait, Ava, can you get us some tea, please? Something tells me I’ll need a soothing drink soon.” Hesitating in the doorway, the butler in question eyes the both of them, naturally tempted to stay and fill the role of a therapist.
“I do believe my daughter gave you an order, Ava. Don’t tell me you have forgotten the stipulations of your agreement with Mother Miranda?” Alcina interjects. With that said, the butler finally moves, exiting with an apologetic bow. An awkward silence hangs in the air once xe closes the door behind xerself, as Daniela takes a moment to recall her place.
“Three months is a long time for me. I put all of my energy towards both them and what they taught me, almost every single day. Even when their work kept them busy for too long, I still practiced, because I wanted to make them proud! For all my flirting, I’ve never bonded with anyone this way before now,” she says, hating the way her voice gets a little shaky. No matter how much confidence she has in her own writing, it is another thing entirely to be convincing out loud, with a truth she had been hiding for so long. All of her practice had been with lies. Now she had to contest with the hope that the strength of her emotions would be enough. “That song we played together, at the end, they wrote that for me. Doesn’t that mean something?”
“Oh, my dear… I want you to be happy more than anything. But we both know that your ‘history’ is stained with a number of incidents. You have always been absorbed within those books you read, and the fantasies that they provide for you. It is one thing to enjoy these stories on the side, but another matter entirely to let them corrupt your relations with others. As your mother, it is my duty to keep you safe, first and foremost,” Alcina proclaims, sitting up straighter, trying not to let her frown evolve into a full out scowl. Beneath the table, her hands ball into fists, clutched tight to stop herself from breaking the table. In the back of her mind she could think of little other than dismembering that damned piano instructor. Focusing on the discussion at hand, she takes a deep breath before finalizing her point. “You don’t know what a healthy relationship looks like, nor what it feels like. Your books are not ideal models for reference. One- or both- of you are going to end up suffering, and that is something I cannot allow, regardless of how ‘happy’ they make you before then.”
“You’re right,” Daniela whispers in defeat… or a feigned version of it. A split second later she’s making eye contact with her mother again, lips curling up into a smile. “I didn’t want to admit it, especially not to someone as attractive, talented, and charming as my Songbird, but I didn’t have to. They understood from the very start. We talked about it, about my expectations and my shitty behavior, and we worked on it. We’re still working on it. Maybe there will be bumps along the way, just like in every relationship, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be worth it in the end. What we have is still real, and they make me want to be a better woman. I know they’ve already helped me make the change.”
Once more the door opens, making the conversation pause, as Ava near-silently brings in the requested tea. If a pin had dropped at that moment, it would have felt as ear-shattering loud as a gong. Every second that passed felt like it dragged on, stretched out by the tension in the room, as though xe was moving in slow motion. The ‘clink’ of ceramic against the table makes xer flinch, almost spilling the tea. Neither Alcina nor Daniela react, or even acknowledge xer presence with anything more than their eyes, instead remaining impassive until xe makes a hasty retreat.
“Use what you’ve learned on someone else, then. Perhaps another one of Miranda’s experiments will someday provide a suitable match. But this ‘songbird’ of yours? They’re nothing. A human, a servant, they are not worth your time, nor are they worth mine. No matter what words or songs they weave, or illusions of grandeur they show you, you will end up getting bored of them. I’m afraid it is inevitable, my dear,” Alcina says, as soon as the door is closed once more. Then she attends to her tea, with the composure of someone convinced that they had just won an argument. On the other hand, Daniela was not so quick to give in, some of her worry melting into anger.
“How can you say that? How can you be sure? We were all human, once! Even Mother Miranda was human. And my Songbird is no mere human- they are wondrous, with flowery prose and lovely melodies, with soft-lipped smiles and reassuring eyes, and don’t even get me started on how beautiful they are!” She rambles, voice getting louder with every word. All at once it is too much for Alcina, who sets down her glass a little too hard, nostrils flaring as she stares at her daughter. When Daniela speaks again, she does so with love coating her tone. “We have weathered each other’s anxieties with no signs of stopping. I promised that we would weather yours.”
“I only want you to be happy. I need you to understand where I am coming from. This may be your longest lasting infatuation so far, but you have yet to honestly convince me that this is any different from your past ‘distractions’. I’m sorry, Daniela, I simply cannot allow this to continue,” Alcina sighs, hating to break her youngest daughter’s heart like this. There was only one thing that Daniela had yet to try. Maybe two, if she was willing to resort to begging.
“Can’t you trust me enough to give us a chance? Cassandra of all people seems to understand. Bela went as far as to lie to you, for our sake! She never does anything she thinks will hurt me, or you, or any of us. Please, mother, please. How can you ever know if what I have will last, if you cut it down now? Are you going to wait forever for some ‘perfect candidate’ for me? And what if that person loves someone else? Or what if the ‘perfect’ person doesn’t exist! What if we’re stuck waiting for them like Mother Miranda waits for another child, hmm? Would you have me spend another century alone, my only memory of genuine romance being poisoned by the thought that you broke us apart?” Daniela’s words ring throughout the chamber, echoing a damning accusation, somehow more bitter than the taste they left in her mouth.
All at once, Alcina’s heart takes a hit like no other. Her hands damn-near tremble, her lungs ache, her lips purse, and her brow furrows. So be it, she thinks.
“Bring this ‘Songbird’ here. Let me talk to them.”
—————————
Goddess, you are practically vibrating at the speed of sound, palms sweaty, nervousness trashing your mind. What the hell had Daniela done? Last thing you knew, she was determined to keep your secret, even if meant being unable to celebrate with you. But now you were getting tugged along by her, while tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She had said something about “mother” and “important”. That was all the context that you had been given. When you round one last corner, pulling up in front of Lady Dimitrescu’s study, you are shown a sight that somehow makes you feel worse: Bela, Cassandra, and Ava are all resting outside of the room. They appear exhausted, and motion for you to be quiet as you approach.
“They’ve been listening in on our conversation,” Daniela admits with a whisper. Then she’s pulling you into the study, ensuring that the door doesn’t open wide enough for the eavesdroppers to get spotted. Something told you that Alcina was already well aware of their presence. “Alright, mother, here is my Songbird. What did you want to ask us?”
“Daniela… leave us. My questions are for ‘Songbird’ alone,” Alcina replies, seemingly confirming the absolute worst of your fears. This was where you would die. By her hand, without your lover by your side, after what could have been the happiest night of your life. Of course. But Daniela is not willing to go without a fight. As soon as the words leave her mother’s mouth, she is moving between the two of you, just as she had when she first called you her teacher. Before she can speak, her mother stands up and stares her down. “Don’t make me ask again- there will not be a third time.” When she still hesitates, it is your turn to be brave.
“Hey, it’s okay, we’ll be okay,” you promise her, reaching out to take her hand. Instantly she’s returning to your side, hand cupping your cheek, eyes filled to the brim with sadness. “Firefly… ‘Tell me love, we shall last until the end of days’. I love you. Nothing is going to change that, not now, not ever. We’ll be okay.” Maybe not now, you think, but you’ll be okay eventually. Cassandra and Bela, and Ava I suppose, will make sure of it.
“Okay. We’ll last until the end of days. I love you too,” Daniela says, swallowing the lump in her throat. With one last kiss she pulls away, wishing that her departure didn’t feel so much like a betrayal. She pauses in the doorway, meeting your gaze, unable to bring herself to move until you give her an accepting nod. The door swings into place with a click, sealing the room and your fate.
“So,” Alcina begins, returning to her seat as she does. For now you stay standing, unsure of just about every part of this situation, especially your upcoming role in it. “You have been deceiving me. That alone is a crime worthy of severe punishment, and yet you stooped so low as to do far, far more. I had hoped you had, somehow, managed to teach my daughter a real lesson, that you had inspired a love of music in her, that you had made an honest difference in the way she learns. But all this time… it has been nothing more than a ruse.” The last word comes out dipped in venom, acidic enough to make you flinch. Thankfully, your beloved was not the only person who had a gift with words. More than that, this was a topic that you had spent numerous nights thinking about, making you as prepared as you could ever hope to be.
“You know, as much as I desire to claim that I am that interesting, or that Daniela felt so strongly from the very start, I can do no such thing. The truth is this: Music is what brought us together in the first place. It was the catalyst for our first real interaction, the first time she ever looked at me as more than just another servant or bloodbag. We bonded because of it, and so when we went to play together, to learn, Daniela honestly did connect to it,” you explain, despite the fire in Alcina’s expression. To your surprise, she does not interrupt you, and you take it as permission to keep going. Which was very good, considering that being nervous only made you ramble more. “Music is something we’ve shared for the entirety of our relationship. Even if it’s not something she would do much of on her own, I know that she’s grown to care for it more than she might be willing to admit. And, well…
“Even if you decide that what I’ve done is unforgivable, even if I’m destined to die within the hour, I know in my heart that everything the two of us worked on still matters. Because, like it or not, she is capable of growth, of change, of progress. And even if I die, someone else will come afterwards. Daniela will get to use music as a way to forge connections for the rest of her life, now that she knows it works, now that she knows how it works. And every goddamn time that she plays, or Bela plays, or you play, she’s going to remember me. She’ll remember every moment we spent together, every piece we ever played. I’ll live on in the melodies we made. In the song that you can’t quite place, that gets stuck on loop in your head. In the song the maids sing to themselves between shifts. In the quiet evening when the rain against the window feels so much like a familiar rhythm that your daughters can’t help but start humming along, without even thinking, muscle memories in sync.”
“Are you trying to convince me that there’s no point in killing you? That, regardless, you will be in my life until the end of time?” Alcina’s eyes are narrowed, but there isn’t even a hint of anger in her tone. Just curiosity.
“No, not really. Guess I’m just making peace with my fate the best way I know how- by remembering the echoes I’ll leave behind,” you answer, pausing to wipe a few tears from your eyes. All you can think about is how much Daniela will miss you. How much pain you think she’ll go through. Because at this point, who are you trying to fool with your hope? Yourself, or the people listening?
“Hmm. I think I understand. Now, tell me… what was that you said to my daughter a minute ago, before she left the room? It sounded familiar, though I cannot place it,” Alcina questions, idly toying with her glass of tea. You’re not entirely sure why it matters to her, but you have no qualms delaying the inevitable by answering. Besides, it was a chance to talk about how much you loved Daniela (and you’d never skip such an opportunity).
“It’s a line from a poem she wrote for me. “Tell me love, we shall last until the end of days”. A promise. The song Daniela and I played together… I wrote it in response. My way of doing what she asked of me, I guess. Like I said, she’ll always have the music we shared,” you answer, unable to stop yourself from smiling.
“Damn this… I can hardly believe I am asking this, yet I feel I have no choice: Tell me, do you love my daughter? Do you honestly, with your entire being, desire a future with her? Or was this a game of survival you couldn’t afford to lose, that turned out to be more ‘fun’ than you had anticipated? Show me your heart, as it is, bare as it would be if I tore it from your chest, this very moment.” There’s no room for argument in her voice, using the very same tone she reserved for maidens who got a tad too close to refusing her.
“Alright. It was a game. At first. Daniela wanted a distraction, something to entertain her. I didn’t want to die, like I had heard so many of her ‘playmates’ did. I can’t tell you when things changed, at least not for her,” you confess, with a shaky breath. Did that make you a monster? One worthy of death? If so, you wondered if it actually made you more fit to date Daniela. “For me… I just remember her smiling wide at me, hand on my cheek, having just cracked some lame joke. Next thing I knew, well, I knew. We had a spark of something, and all I could think about was how badly I wanted to make her happy, you know? All the sudden there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her. I just wanted to see that smile again, everyday for the rest of my life.
“To answer your question: Yes. Goddess, yes. A thousand times yes. A ‘yes’ for every smile she’s ever shown me, for every butterfly in my stomach, for every time she’s held my hand, for every breath she’s stolen from my lungs, and for every single time my heart has skipped a beat in her name. I love her. I know we haven’t been together long, but the things I feel are undeniable. I will give her every part of myself, for as long as she wants me, for as long as I am blessed to live,” you pour your heart out, weaving your heartbeat into every turn of phrase, spilling your lifeblood onto the very conversation.
“And what will you do if she does change her mind? If she grows bored of you, as she has done with a dozen others?” Alcina counters without hesitation.
“I will weep. I will fall to my knees, and mourn this beautiful thing. But I will cherish every memory she leaves to me. Every moment where I am hers is a moment worth living, worth remembering. It will be better to have loved her with all my heart for a little slice of her immortality, than to love another, lesser so, for all of my life.” With that, Alcina sets her empty glass of tea onto the table, eying you with an unreadable expression. Something seems to stir in her chest, and at last the mask crumbles. She smiles.
“I see. Daniela, you may come back in now. Do not bother pretending that you have not been eavesdropping.” Not even a full second passes before the door opens, revealing a shaking Daniela, both of her sisters quite visible behind her (though they quickly move out of frame, leaving behind Ava, who gives a cheesy thumbs up as the door closes in xer face). She rushes to your side, taking your hand, looking stunned that you were still alive. But what shocks her more is what her mother says… “Of all the women I have ever known, family or otherwise, you are, perhaps, the most determined. Normally only in… ‘spurts’. Yet here you are, defying what I have come to expect of you. It almost feels as if I have been fooling myself this whole time, falsely believing that there is more than one possible outcome. So, ‘Songbird’, I say this: Three months ago, I agreed to give you a chance to prove yourself worthy of my daughter, for the sake of her happiness. Now, I suppose it is only fair that I do so once more.”
“Wait. Are you saying-” Daniela is once again cut off by her mother, who seems eager to avoid a trademark rant.
“Yes, yes I am. For the time being, the two of you have my blessing. I cannot say that I am entirely convinced of your chances at success, but, having seen the strength of your affections for one another, I sincerely hope that you will prove me wrong. Now come here, Daniela. I never got to finish telling you what I thought of your concert…”
—————————
In the glowing comfort of your girlfriend’s room, with the fireplace keeping things warm and cozy, you lay with your head against Daniela’s chest. One of her hands absentmindedly plays with your hair, and you release a sigh of bliss. Ava had assured you that xe would let Daphne know the good news, as xe thought that having one of the castle ladies visiting the servants’ quarters might cause a stir (and Daniela was far from willing to let go of you so soon). Now the two of you were just enjoying time holding each other close. Regardless of Alcina’s concerns, you knew that everything would be looking up from here. Assuming that Daniela didn’t have any more surprise confessions to involve you with.
“That was one hell of a surprise, Firefly. But I’m glad we don’t have to hide anymore. I love you, and I don’t know how long I could have survived without being open with it,” you say, a light teasing to your voice. Beneath you, Daniela chuckles, but holds you just a bit tighter. Then she places the softest of kisses to your forehead. “I’m always gonna love you, Firefly.”
“Until the end of days?” She asks, in a delighted whisper, grin practically audible.
“Until the end of days.”
—————————
Elsewhere in the castle, a caring mother takes another long, hungry drink from her glass of wine, staring intently into the fireplace. By her side is a silver-haired servant, who wordlessly watches her every move.
“There’s still a chance that this will all end horribly. Only time will tell, of course… but I can’t help worrying for her, she’s my daughter,” Alcina proclaims, gripping the glass hard enough for a web of cracks to form along its bell. But it does not fully shatter. No, it remains just steady enough to still be of use to her. For now. “Of course, you knew about this all along, didn’t you, Ava?... I know that you value how close you are with my children, and I know that they trust in you as much as I do… but if there are relationships or entanglements that I am unaware of, I expect you to tell me, or there will have to be consequences, regardless of your affiliation with Mother Miranda. Do you understand?”
Sighing, the mute servant pulls a notebook from xer pocket, opening it up to pen in a fresh script. There’s much tension in the air, and it only gets worse when Alcina catches a glimpse at what the note reads. As xe hands it to her, she scowls, and the wine glass fully breaks into countless shards. Immediately, Ava gets to work, picking up the largest of fragments with xer bare hands, refusing to complain about the resulting cuts. All the while Alcina stares into the fire, thoughts racing, wondering if maybe this time she could end her daughter’s problem before it was too late. Beginning to brainstorm ideas, she sets the notebook aside. Inside, in perfectly penned cursive, is a very, very dangerous piece of knowledge. The sort that could affect not only Castle Dimitrescu, but the entire village.
“In that case… there’s something you need to know about Cassandra- and Mother Miranda’s lovely little ‘pet’.”
#daniela dimitrescu x reader#daniela dimitrescu#resident evil: village#re8 village#it's really here lads#this is it#gonna go cry now#oh my god#i can hardly believe it
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Markiplier plays “Resident Evil: Village” - part 2 - sentence starters
1. “This goat eye be glowing, and I don’t know what that means.”
2. “That was probably a mistake. I don’t care though.”
3. “This is where my ADHD is really going to come in handy.”
4. “You know, you’re going to get a face full of stab if you keep that up.”
5. “You think I can’t kill you with a knife? I can. I’m probably going to have to.”
6. “Can’t wait ‘til I find the shopkeeper. Spend all this money I’m pillaging off of these corpses.”
7. “What the frick are you doing in your own home? What do you think you’re doing, huh?”
8. “You all right? You need a knife to plug up that wound?”
9. “You left bullets in your backyard. Hope you know about that.”
10. “If it’s just the one of you, I shall stab thee. If it’s two, I am going to run away.”
11. “You know what, gun time.”
12. “______ will be so impressed with me when I regale her/him/them with that tale.”
13. “Good thing I killed all those dudes, because otherwise they would have absolutely murdered you.”
14. “The last time I was invited into somebody’s home it only went well.”
15. “Just wanted to type out my life story real quick.”
16. “That was a spell just to get the tea going.”
17. “Do you think _____’s cooked yet? Sorry, bad joke.”
18. “Yeah, I didn’t think it would work anyway. I thought it was a terrible idea.”
19. “You wanna meet my freaky baby?”
20. “It’s a window. You heard of it? It’s glass. We can break it.”
21. “I smacked my wound hand! Ow!”
22. “I’m a badass. That wasn’t cold at all. I am fine.”
23. “Oh, I’m sorry. The metal spike in my chest is a little whine-inducing.”
24. “I’m used to this. I run for my life a lot.”
25. “You didn’t even take my gun?! You amateurs!”
26. “Why is this free?”
27. “Ow! Why?”
28. “You like mushrooms? I’m pretty much mostly fungus.”
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We recently received a request for enemies and lovers recs. We already have an enemies to lovers fic rec list here, but after looking at that list, we realized we had much more to add to it and therefore decided to make a part two.
Happy reading!
1) I Couldn’t Get Away From You | Mature | 5185 words
Suddenly in the heat of the moment, Harry’s eyes turned darker as he pushed Louis’ back more and more towards the wall. “Fine.” He plants his lips on Louis’ and begins to roughly kiss him, soon enough turning it into a make-out session.
“Fuck you, Styles,” Louis moans and grips onto Harry’s shoulders, hands trailing up to the taller’s hair and gripping that as well.
“We’ll see about that.”
2) There's More Than One Place To Call Home | Explicit | 8416 words
Harry never asked for much from his neighbors - he didn't care about barking animals during the day or loud talking during the night.
The only thing he needed was silence when he was writing. And that was the only thing his new neighbor wouldn't give him.
Deciding to confront the loud guy who lived next door, Harry found himself ringing his doorbell one night. And that decision just may be the best thing that's ever happened to Harry.
3) Make A Run, Cause Some Rebellion | Explicit | 8824 words
As a general rule, kitten hybrids are small and disinterested in what other people want them to do, slightly evil and at least a little manipulative. Louis prides himself on being all of those things to varying degrees, but especially on being uninterested in what other people tell him to do. He’s still human goddammit, despite his pointy ears and penchant for curling up in the sun and taking naps.
He’s going about his daily business, knocking things over where he sees fit and leaving a trail of mess in his wake. As exasperated as it makes Liam he’s used to it by now, having shared a flat with Louis for almost three years now, and if Louis whines enough he’ll even clean up after him. It’s a great life, really.
With the exception of Liam’s stupid, broad shouldered, entirely too big mate, the one who always comes over to watch sports with him. Louis hates that guy. His hair is always greasy and he brings weird hipster beer with him when he comes that tastes like shit. And he won’t even let Louis have any of it, either. The only reason Louis even knows what it tastes like is because one time he stole a bottle from the fridge and fled to his room before Harry could catch him.
4) Something To Prove | Explicit | 9425 words
Louis is the first and only omega to work at Red Valley Medical Center. Despite being more than qualified, he still faces prejudice for his career choice everyday. From patients refusing his treatment to condescending alpha doctors intervening with his work, practicing medicine in Boston is more challenging than Louis had ever thought it would be.
5) Where Do We Go Now | Explicit | 10617 words
Louis goes off to college ready to start a fresh life away from the oppressive alphas of his pack. The odds aren't in his favour when his new dorm mate turns out to be an alpha. Louis hates alphas.
6) Enjoy The Ride | Not Rated | 11103 words
The one where Louis, an omega more than tired of being treated as lesser than alphas, is forced on a road trip by his beta besties only to meet Harry who might just be the alpha he never knew he wanted.
7) I Didn’t Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) | Explicit | 20681 words
These days Louis tends to steer clear of dating alphas. He’s dated too many knotheads in his time, and he’s ready to just focus on school and his friends and his pet monitor lizard, of course.
Too bad the alpha next door won’t take a hint and stop using the worst pick up lines of all time on him. He’s really got to stop laughing with him--and talking to him and walking to class with him and letting him bring him coffee and tea and gifts for his lizard and watching Netflix together and...
8) Written In The Stars (That’s You And Me) | Explicit | 22632 words
Louis pushes himself up on one elbow and stretches enough to just barely trace his fingertips over Harry’s jawline. Harry’s eyes drop to track his movements as he does it again. “D’you feel that?” he whispers.
To him, it feels like all of the universe’s magic lives just beneath his skin when he touches Harry with intent. It feels like something special. Louis watches Harry’s lips part and wants to touch that too. He almost does, but then Harry shakes his head. “Feel what?”
6) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23516 words
Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.
Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.
10) When It’s Late At Night | Mature | 25597 words
The Late Late prompt that we all need to get through this excruciatingly hard time.
11) Supposed To Be | Explicit | 26100 words
The Geek Charming AU where Harry's a film geek, Louis' a popular jock, and they both need each other to get what they want.
12) Magical Soup | Explicit | 28850 words
Slytherin prefect Louis Tomlinson's seventh year at Hogwarts takes an immediate turn for the worse when he's made to be potions partners with Harry Styles, Hufflepuff's resident heartthrob and class clown. Louis has always considered Styles to be a terrible show-off who coasts by on his charm and good looks, but the more they work together, the more he questions that idea. As term goes on, will Louis be able to admit to himself that he might actually like Harry Styles after all... and maybe, just maybe, as more than a friend?
13) Building Me Up (But Buttercup, You Lied) | Explicit | 31007 words
Harry’s mouth felt dry just saying those words. What he had with Louis was so much more than a simple ‘fuck buddies’ situation. It was slow kisses in the morning between soft sheets and shy smiles, it was holding hands in the afternoon while walking and eating ice cream. It was breakfast for dinner, laughing and licking honey from each other’s lips as they shared goals and even some secrets, it was happiness, it was glow.
To Harry, what he had with Louis meant everything. Until Louis decided it meant nothing.
14) You’ve Set On Me | Explicit | 31100 words
Louis' in an obscure band. Harry's an international popstar. Their paths aren't meant to cross, not like this, but when Louis' band signs on as Harry's opening act, both Harry and Louis are forced to confront the open wounds of their shared past.
15) Nicotine | Explicit | 32245 words | Sequel
"We're two different types of people, Liam. He likes sex and drugs, I like theater and tea. Trust me, we'd never date." Except they would, they do, and neither of them plans on letting go anytime soon.
16) Let Me Feel Your Heartbeat | Explicit | 34572 words
Harry is 98% sure Louis hates him. So he feels like his bewilderment is justified when the omega offers to help him through his rut.
17) Close To Nowhere | Explicit | 34589 words
Louis and Harry are psychics who kind of hate each other. They go to Tennessee to investigate a haunting.
18) Make This Feel Like Home | Explicit | 42032 words
The house on West 28th Street in London is twice the size of Louis', more expensive than the price of all of his house and car payments combined, and is falling apart at the seams.
19) Strangers in Love | Explicit | 42207 words
Louis wakes up to find himself in a marriage with the last man he thought he'd ever end up with.
10) Why Can’t It Be Like That | Explicit | 63567 words
A fashion AU with a royal twist, where Louis doesn't need a stylist, Harry's thrilled to have a real life Barbie doll, and they're both very wrong about each other.
21) I Want You So Much (But I Hate Your Guts) | Mature | 83648 words
AU in which Louis gets accepted to play for the Manchester University Alpha-Beta Football Team. The only problem: Louis is actually an Omega. He is determined to make it big in the football world, though, and he can't do that bound to an Omega team. With the help of a faked doctor's certificate and some pretty strong suppressants he is ready to fight for his dream.
That Harry Styles (Alpha, second year and youngest football captain of the A-B team in ages) doesn't seem to like him complicates matters, though.
22) For Reasons Wretched and Divine | Explicit | 94655 words
Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.
Ten years ago, Harry Styles was just a nerdy kid with one friend and a debilitating crush on the captain of his school’s football team. He thought the stars were smiling down on him the day he and Louis Tomlinson were paired for their end-of-term Literature project. But because Harry’s life is decidedly not a fairytale, the budding friendship quickly leads to the least happy ending of all time.
Now, Harry Styles is a household name. Barely twenty-seven with two Grammy nominations to his name, the singer-songwriter is poised to take the music industry by storm with his highly anticipated third album. So, what happens when the best producer in the business is also the only person Harry’s vowed never to speak to again?
23) You Drive Me Crazy (But It Feels Alright) | Explicit | 102306 words
Note: This fic has mentions of BH.
“Harry is not short for Harold,” he corrects, his voice as thick as molasses. He lowers his eyes to Louis’ sequined lapels, rubbing one between two fingers. “Is this small or extra small? It looks lovely.”
Louis breaks away from his grip with a petulant huff and pushes him back with two fingers.
“You’re mocking me. Again.”
Harry smiles and it's a real honest swoop of his lips this time. Louis’ stomach swoops with them.
24) Tainted Saints And Velvet Vices | Mature | 126056 words
A self-fulfilling Hogwarts AU in which Louis is new to seventh year and Harry is the resident devil-may-care Slytherin set to make his entire experience a living misery. Due to less than favourable circumstances they're forced to forge an unwilling, tentative relationship for their own survival. Repressed emotions, decidedly unromantic ballroom dancing, Triwizard Tournament tasks, creative jinxes and twilight flying above the Forbidden Forest ensue.
Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.
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HBO Max New Releases:. July 2021
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
LeBron James might be out of the NBA playoffs, but he’s still angling to be a big part of the summer entertainment season. That’s because HBO Max’s list of new releases for July 2021 is highlighted by a very special sequel.
Space Jam: A New Legacy premieres on July 16. will find LeBron teaming up with the Looney Tunes in a Warner Bros. IP-extravaganza. Can ‘Bron and the Looney Tunes beat the Goon Squad before Warner Bros.’ server steals LeBron “Bronny” Jr.’s soul (or something)? Let’s hope so. The two other major WB releases this month, No Sudden Move and Tom and Jerry in New York, both come to HBO Max on July 1.
HBO Max is also bringing some fun TV shows to its stream this month. The long-awaited Gossip Girl revival premieres on July 8. That will be followed by Mike White’s satirical limited series The White Lotus on July 11. Ronan Farrow’s excellent book Catch and Kill gets a docuseries adaptation on July 12.
July 1 will see the arrival of library titles like Planet of the Apes, Reservoir Dogs, and Scream. Recent hit Judas and the Black Messiah comes to HBO Max on that date as well. It’s a good month for geek TV with the Doctor Who 2020 Christmas Special (July 1), Nancy Drew season 2 (July 3), and Batwoman season 2 (July 27) all coming home to their streaming residence.
HBO Max New Releases – July 2021
TBA
FBOY Island, Max Original Season 1 Premiere
Romeo Santos: King of Bachata, 2021 (HBO)
Romeo Santos Utopia Live from MetLife Stadium, 2021 (HBO)
July 1
¡Come! (aka Eat!), 2020
8 Mile, 2002 (HBO)
All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, 1996 (HBO)
All Dogs Go to Heaven, 1989 (HBO)
Behind Enemy Lines, 1997 (HBO)
Beneath the Planet of the Apes, 1970 (HBO)
Bio-Dome, 1996 (HBO)
Black Panthers, 1968
Blackhat, 2015 (HBO)
Brubaker, 1980 (HBO)
Cantinflas (HBO)
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, 1972 (Extended Version) (HBO)
Cousins, 1989 (HBO)
Dark Water, 2005 (HBO)
Darkness Falls, 2003 (HBO)
Demolition Man, 1993
Dirty Work, 1998 (HBO)
Disturbia, 2007 (HBO)
Doctor Who Holiday 2020 Special: Revolution of the Daleks, 2020
Duplex, 2003 (HBO)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes, 1971 (HBO)
Eve’s Bayou, 1997
Firestarter, 1984 (HBO)
First, 2012
For Colored Girls, 2010 (HBO)
For Greater Glory: The True Story of Cristiada, 2012 (HBO)
Full Bloom, Max Original Season 2 Finale
Ghost in the Machine, 1993 (HBO)
The Good Lie, 2014 (HBO)
Gun Crazy, 1950
House on Haunted Hill, 1999
Identity Thief, 2013 (Extended Version) (HBO)
Ira & Abby, 2007 (HBO)
Joe Versus the Volcano, 1990
Judas and the Black Messiah, 2021 (HBO)
Laws Of Attraction, 2004 (HBO)
Lucky, 2017 (HBO)
Maid in Manhattan, 2002
Married to the Mob, 1988 (HBO)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, 1997
Mississippi Burning, 1988 (HBO)
Monster-In-Law, 2005
Mousehunt, 1997 (HBO)
My Brother Luca (HBO)
No Sudden Move
Pleasantville, 1998
The Prince of Tides, 1991
Project X, 1987 (HBO)
The Punisher, 2017 (HBO)
Punisher: War Zone, 2008 (HBO)
Rambo, 2008 (Director’s Cut) (HBO)
Reds, 1981 (HBO)
Reservoir Dogs, 1992 (HBO)
The Return of the Living Dead, 1985 (HBO)
Return of the Living Dead III, 1993 (Extended Version) (HBO)
Rounders, 1998 (HBO)
Saturday Night Fever, 1977 (Director’s Cut) (HBO)
Scream, 1996
Scream 2, 1997
Scream 3, 2000
Semi-Tough, 1977 (HBO)
The Sessions, 2012 (HBO)
Set Up, 2012 (HBO)
Snake Eyes, 1998 (HBO)
Staying Alive, 1983 (HBO)
Stuart Little, 1999
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 2003
Tom and Jerry in New York, Max Original Series Premiere
Trick ‘R Treat, 2009 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, 2007 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, 2005 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself, 2009 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail, 2009 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, 2011 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion, 2006 (HBO)
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too, 2010 (HBO)
The Watcher, 2016 (HBO)
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, 2007 (HBO)
Westworld (Movie), 1973
White Chicks (Unrated & Uncut Version), 2004
The White Stadium, 1928
Won’t Back Down, 2012 (HBO)
Zero Days, 2016 (HBO)
July 2
Lo Que Siento por Ti (aka What I Feel for You) (HBO)
July 3
Let Him Go, 2020 (HBO)
Nancy Drew, Season 2
July 7
Dr. STONE, Seasons 1 and 2 (Subtitled) (Crunchyroll Collection)
Shiva Baby, 2021 (HBO)
July 8
The Dog House: UK, Max Original Season 2 Premiere
Gossip Girl, Max Original Series Premiere
Human Capital, 2020 (HBO)
The Hunt, 2020 (HBO)
Looney Tunes Cartoons, Max Original Season 2 Premiere
July 9
Frankie Quinones: Superhomies (HBO)
July 11
The White Lotus, Limited Series Premiere (HBO)
July 12
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO)
July 15
Tom & Jerry, 2021 (HBO)
July 16
Betty, Season 2 Finale (HBO)
Space Jam: A New Legacy, Warner Bros. Film Premiere, 2021
Un Disfraz Para Nicolas (aka A Costume for Nicolas) (HBO)
July 17
The Empty Man, 2020 (HBO)
July 18
100 Foot Wave, Documentary Series Premiere (HBO)
July 22
Through Our Eyes, Max Original Documentary Series Premiere
July 23
Corazon De Mezquite (aka Mezquite’s Heart) (HBO)
July 24
Freaky, 2020 (HBO)
July 26
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes, Documentary Series Finale (HBO)
July 27
Batwoman, Season 2
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO)
July 30
Uno Para Todos (aka One for All) (HBO)
cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });
Leaving HBO Max – July 2021
July 3
The ABC’s Of Covid-19: A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Parents Part 2, 2020
July 4
Annabelle, 2014
Annabelle Comes Home, 2019 (HBO)
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, 2021
The Curse of La Llorona, 2019
The Nun, 2018
July 5
Lost And Delirious, 2001
July 8
Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015
July 10
It: Chapter 2, 2019 (HBO)
July 11
An Elephant’s Journey, 2018
In the Heights, 2021
Thanks for Sharing, 2013
July 15
Burlesque, 2010
July 17
The Notebook, 2004
July 26
The King’s Speech, 2010
July 31
17 Again, 2009
A Clockwork Orange, 1971
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, 1985
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, 1988
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child, 1989
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984
A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2010
Adam’s Rib, 1949
America’s Sweethearts, 2001
Anaconda, 1997
The Apparition, 2012 (HBO)
Are We There Yet?, 2005
Argo, 2012 (Alternate Version) (HBO)
AVP: Alien vs. Predator, 2004 (Alternate Version) (HBO)
Badlands, 1973
Beau Brummel, 1954
The Benchwarmers, 2006
Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, 2011 (HBO)
Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva La Fiesta!, 2012 (HBO)
Billy Madison, 1995 (HBO)
The Book Of Eli, 2010 (HBO)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992
Bringing Up Baby, 1938
The City of Lost Children, 1995
The Color Purple, 1985
The Comebacks, 2007 (Alternate Version) (HBO)
The Conjuring 2, 2016
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, 2002 (HBO)
Don’t Let Go, 2019 (HBO)
Downton Abbey, 2019 (HBO)
El Angel (aka The Angel), 2018 (HBO)
Eyes Wide Shut, 1999
Fool’s Gold, 2008
Fort Tilden, 2015 (HBO)
The Four Feathers, 2002 (HBO)
The Gay Divorcee, 1934
Get A Job, 2016 (HBO)
The Goonies, 1985
Grand Canyon, 1991 (HBO)
Hairspray, 1988
Happy Gilmore, 1996 (HBO)
Hellboy Animated Collection, 2006, 2007
The Hurricane, 1999 (HBO)
I Know What You Did Last Summer, 1997
Iniciales SG (aka Initials S.G.), 2019 (HBO)
J. Edgar, 2011
Jackie Chan’s First Strike, 1997
Jacob’s Ladder, 1990 (HBO)
Jeremiah Johnson, 1972
Keeper Of The Flame, 1943
Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003 (HBO)
Kill Bill: Vol. 2, 2004 (HBO)
Kung Fu Hustle, 2005
The Lego Ninjago Movie, 2014
Less Than Zero, 1987 (HBO)
Life Stinks, 1991 (HBO)
Lincoln, 2012 (HBO)
Little Children, 2006 (HBO)
Little Man Tate, 1991 (HBO)
Lovely & Amazing, 2002
The Lucky One, 2012(HBO)
The Madness of King George, 1994 (HBO)
Marisol, 2019 (HBO)
Me 3.769, 2019 (HBO)
Michael Clayton, 2007
Mickey Blue Eyes, 1999
Monster-In-Law, 2005
Mulholland Dr., 2001
Muralla (aka Muralla, The Goalkeeper), 2018 (HBO)
Murder on the Orient Express, 1974 (HBO)
Music and Lyrics, 2007
My Dream Is Yours, 1949
My Girl 2, 1994
My Girl, 1991
My Sister’s Keeper, 2009
Now, Voyager, 1942
Old Dogs, 2009 (HBO)
The Opposite Sex, 1956
The Pledge, 2001 (HBO)
Precious, 2009 (HBO)
The Producers, 1968
The Prophecy, 1995 (HBO)
The Prophecy II, 1998 (HBO)
The Prophecy III: The Ascent, 2000 (HBO)
Prophecy IV: The Uprising, 2005 (HBO)
Prophecy V: The Forsaken, 2005 (HBO)
Pulp Fiction, 1994
Rachel and The Stranger, 1948
Radio Days, 1987 (HBO)
The Reluctant Debutante, 1958
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, 1987 (HBO)
Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love, 2005 (HBO)
Revenge of the Nerds, 1984 (HBO)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1991
Roger & Me, 1989
Rollerball, 2002 (HBO)
Romance on the High Seas, 1948
Rumble in the Bronx, 1996
Safe House, 2012 (HBO)
Salvador, 1986 (HBO)
Shall We Dance?, 2004
Shallow Hal, 2001 (HBO)
Shocker, 1989 (HBO)
Sinbad of the Seven Seas, 1989 (HBO)
Sprung, 1997 (HBO)
Stop-Loss, 2008 (HBO)
Sunshine Cleaning, 2009 (HBO)
Swing Time, 1936
Tea for Two, 1950
Thief, 1981 (HBO)
This Is Spinal Tap, 1984 (HBO)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 2011 (HBO)
Top Hat, 1935
Trapped in Paradise, 1994 (HBO)
Troll 2, 1990 (HBO)
Troll, 1986 (HBO)
Two Minutes of Fame, 2020 (HBO)
Underdog, 2007 (HBO)
Untamed Heart, 1993 (HBO)
Up in the Air, 2009 (HBO)
The Visitor, 2008
Waiting for Guffman, 1997
The Wedding Singer, 1998
Wendy, 2020 (HBO)
Wildcats, 1986 (HBO)
The Wings of Eagles, 1957
Without Love, 1945
Woman of the Year, 1942
Worth Winning, 1989 (HBO)
Young Man with a Horn, 1949
The post HBO Max New Releases:. July 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3jwDnnp
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Starved
Rating: General AudiencesArchive
Warning: No Archive Warnings ApplyCategory: F/M
Fandom: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Relationships: Steve Burnside/Claire Redfield, Steve Burnside & Alexia Ashford (kind of)
Characters: Steve Burnside, Claire Redfield, Alexia Ashford (kind of), Jill Valentine
Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Touch-Starved, Post RE Rev2, Therapy Group - Freeform, Read A/N for more context, Steve is a sad sad man who missed out on A Lot, Angst, Subtle love languages
Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29232369
Summary: Months after being rescued from his second island prison, Steve Burnside tries to adjust to a normal life while dealing with the scars left both physically and mentally. Luckily, he has some help.
Notes: Sooooooooo here's the thing. There were worms in my brain. Real bad. So this is like... a manifestation of a longfic that I want to write later down the road. Some things to know before going in. 1) Steve revived on an island meant to store "failed" B.O.W. experiments that was left abandoned. He was there for a year and some change. 2) Allie is a child clone of Alexia who was in the same facility and befriended him. They live together and Steve is her legal guardian. 3) Jill runs a victims of B.O.W. experimentation which includes Steve, Manuela, Sherry, herself, and some others. I think that's everything but if yall have anymore questions feel free to ask. This is incredibly self indulgent to write but I hope you guys enjoy it too.
“Please stop pacing,” Allie sighs, “You look like a caged beast.”
Steve glares at the child, a clone of the insane woman who killed him, as she sips her tea at the other side of their flat. She glares back, her hazel eyes sharp as ever. She’s waiting for him to retort so she can shoot him down with a smart ass remark like a shark circling a drowning bird. When all she gets is an indignant huff she sips her tea and rolls her eyes.
“You do this every time she comes over. If she didn’t run away at the first sight of your ghastly visage she’s not going to run now.”
Steve sighs, “Yeah, but-“
“What absurd thing are you putting in your own head this time?” Allie snaps, setting her dainty pink teacup next to her stuffed dragon, “You’re going to stink up the room if you think too hard.”
He tunes out the insults with a scowl, but Steve knows the kid is right. He’s thinking way too much about this. Claire didn’t run away screaming the first time they met since he came back, she’s not going to do it for the seventh.
Even still, as Steve passes by the mirror in the front room he jumps at his own reflection. The person inside doesn’t look like him, it doesn’t feel like him. Their ginger hair isn’t wild and tangled, it’s washed, brushed and tied up in a small ponytail. Their shocking green eyes aren’t sunken into their sockets, and there’s a splash of red sunburn on their skin. He can even see a smattering of freckles across their nose and cheeks. They look like a stranger, but the deep, ragged scars across his face remind him of his past. The biggest and ugliest of the marks starts well above his hairline, drops down over his right eye and curls over his lips. A few smaller ones run across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, but they aren’t nearly as deep.
He always thought scars were sexy when he was a kid. Manly. The marks of some action hero or badass. Now they just… Make him look tired and scared.
A small hand grabs onto one of his. “Did you take your medicine today?” Allie asks without a trace of her previous vitriol.
Steve shakes his head. “I’m out of the anxiety pills. Ms. Valentine said she’s going to bring them over when she comes to pick you up.”
“Okay.” Allie says with a curt nod.
“You got everything for your field trip?” Steve meanders over to the kitchen again, eager to change the subject.
“Can I have some spending money?”
He raises an eyebrow, “How much and what for?”
“Fifty for museum books.” Allie puts her hands on her hips and glares up at her guardian with defiance sparkling in her eyes.
Steve crosses his arms over his chest, “Twenty.”
Allie lifts her chin, “Forty-five.”
“Thirty.”
“Forty-five and I buy you a cool rock from the Natural History Museum.”
“Deal.”
With negotiations done (and Steve down forty-five bucks) the only thing left to do is wait. He switches the tv on to drown out his own thoughts. Some hockey game. It’s not his team so he doesn’t care too much, but it’s a comforting familiarity. At least sports didn’t change too much since ‘98.
Steve let’s himself zone out as much as he can to the game. At one point he thinks about getting a beer but decides against it. He’d probably have one or two with Claire at dinner. That, and his meds don’t mix well with alcohol if he hasn’t eaten. So instead he bounces his leg, bites his nails, and busies his hands with whatever he can reach.
Did he used to be like this? It’s hard for him to remember past his awakening and even harder to think past Rockfort. He was a neurotic mess out of necessity on the Storage Facility Island, a place where any sound could be death, and Rockfort was a similar story with the addition of his teenage bravado, but before he was taken? He barely remembers what his parents looked like, let alone what social masks he had to put on. Steve lets out a long, quiet sigh. It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s like this now, and that’s all he needs to know. At least now he has a support system.
Just as Steve starts to calm down, the doorbell rings.
He jumps out of his chair and bolts to the front door, heart in his throat and stomach upside down. His hands begin to shake as he reaches for the knob-
“Hi, Steve.”
“Oh,” Steve sighs, a bit too loudly judging by the way the visitor raises an eyebrow, “Hey, Jill.”
She gives him a warm, knowing smile as she fumbles with her shoulder bag. “Claire coming over today?”
“Yeah.” Steve scratches the back of his neck, “That easy to tell?”
Jill laughs, “Careful now, Redfields can smell fear.” She hands him a paper bag from the local drugstore, “Here. I know you said you were out of the anxiety meds, but I got everything refilled for you.”
“Oh! Uh, thanks!” He tosses the bag across the room to the chair he had just left. “So what museums are you hitting today?”
“All depends on our little cruise director.” Jill says with a small laugh, “Speaking of-”
Allie brushes past Steve, the charms on her backpack jingling with each step. “Air and Space and Botanical Gardens! Oh, and Natural History too. I promised I’d buy Steve a cool rock.”
“Easily bribed, I see.” Jill smirks at him quickly, then turns her attention back to Allie, “Sounds like a deal, kiddo.”
Eager to get on her way, Allie all but jumps out of the door and runs to where two more members of their little therapy group, Manuela and Sherry, wait. Both women greet her with smiles and hugs, and she wastes no time in launching into sharing things she had learned since the last time they had spoken.
“I’d stick around,” Jill says as she backtracks to the group, “But I feel like if I wait any longer there’s going to be a mutiny.”
The rumbling of a motorcycle echoes down the street, and Jill turns back to Steve with a quick smirk.
“Besides, you have company.”
Jill darts over to the group, casting a wave back to Steve and over to the biker before motioning to the ladies to begin their trek. Steve watches with wide eyes and a thundering heart as the biker dismounts and pulls off their helmet, revealing short auburn hair and stunning blue eyes. She gathers up a few plastic bags from her bike before jogging over to him, while he stands there like a deer in headlights.
“Hey, Steve!” She says with a bright, radiant smile and shoves some of her bags in his hands.
“W- Hey, Claire.” He fumbles with the grocery bags, “What’s all this?”
“Dinner. Figured making our own burgers would be better than ordering out.” Claire explains and shuffles inside the door as Steve moves aside for her. “And more fun.”
Though Steve can’t deny her claim, he also can’t fight the apprehension that coils in his stomach. He can cook, sure, he had to or die on the island, but he has no idea how to use any of the kitchen gadgets Jill’s group and Terra-Save set him up with. None of it is as simple as a slapdash firepit and some scraps of metal. Maybe if he’s lucky Claire will know what to do and he can just chop vegetables or something. The last thing he wants to do is make more of a fool of himself.
“Uh, sure!” He blinks his thoughts away, shuts the door and retrieves his bag of medicine from the chair.
By the time Steve turns back towards his kitchen, Claire is already busy setting up groceries and making herself at home. He watches her take off her heavy bomber jacket, revealing a thinner red and black flannel, and set it on the back of a chair at the kitchen table. She drops her plastic bags on the counter and grabs a beer out of his fridge; she looks like she’s been coming here for months. Something about the image before him makes Steve’s chest tighten. He’s not sure if it’s a bad feeling or not.
“-Steve?”
“Huh?” He snaps out of his stupor with a jolt.
Claire wiggles the opened bottle in her hand, “Did you want one?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” He stammers and rubs the back of his neck but walks across the room to take the beer. Maybe he did need something to settle his nerves after all.
Claire smiles at him like she’s known him all his life, like she knows what’s going on in his head and she understands why he’s so awkward and nervous around her. What was it that Jill said before? Redfields can smell fear? He knows it’s a joke but the way Claire seems to understand his fidgeting and hesitation leaves him wondering if there’s some kind of truth to it. A few gulps of beer (technically a hard cider, his first beer made him vomit) gives him enough bravado to at least go into the small kitchen with her.
Thankfully, she doesn’t ask him to work any of the gadgets. Claire’s hands glide over buttons and knobs, setting temperatures on his stove and placing pans. She directs Steve to break the ingredients out of the bags. Ground beef, cheese, brioche buns, vegetables, and a myriad of spices.
“This is a lot for just burgers, isn’t it?” He asks, mouth full of stolen tomato.
“Come on now, you know I wouldn’t do just burgers.” Claire laughs a bit, a sound that makes Steve’s heart stop. “This is an ancient Redfield family recipe.”
“Should I be worried?” Steve can’t help but smile back. She has this way about her that makes him feel lighter, like everything takes a backseat to just… being around her. He can joke, come out of his shell a little. She won’t hurt him.
Claire giggles at him, “It’s the way our dad used to make them. Chris held onto the secret ingredient till he was… Thirty something I think. I basically had to interrogate him for it.”
He raises an eyebrow and grins devilishly, “So...what’s the secret?”
“Oh, just a blend of spices.” She shrugs, “Nothing that inventive. But it’s special to Chris, so don’t go telling him I told you.”
Claire winks at him then turns back to mashing the ground beef into patties, leaving Steve to gawk at her. She’s delightfully impish when she wants to be, he can see himself getting into all sorts of flirtatious teasing matches with her… if he weren’t so weird. She directs him to chop up the tomatoes and onions after she catches him staring, again with a playful smirk and slug to his shoulder.
Something he had to become good at while on that remote island, alone aside from Allie and the wild B.O.Ws, was how to observe. The more he watches Claire out of his peripheral, the more she reveals to him. He watches the way her face falls as she focuses on the burger patties, as if she gets lost in her own thoughts and forgets where she is for a split second. It isn’t hard for him to see the sadness she hides from the world, it’s the same kind as one he carries. The reason Steve still roots for his hockey team, or even still watches the sport is because it reminds him of his dad. It’s the last connection he still has to his late father, and of a time mostly lost to him. He feels more special than he should that Claire would choose to share something like that with him.
Suddenly a sharp pain shoots up Steve’s arm. He drops the knife, now streaked with red and pulls his hand close to his chest with a hiss. His heart races and his eyes dart around, searching for other dangers in the area. Anything might be lurking in the shadows waiting to take advantage of his weakness. He scans back and forth for threats, eyes wide and alert. Nothing catches his attention except-
“Steve?! What happened?”
Claire drops her own knife and rushes over to him overcome with worry, but stops in her tracks when Steve backs away from her. He looks like a frightened animal, eyes wild and darting to anything that moves even the slightest bit.
“Did you cut your hand open?”
Her voice is soft and gentle as she approaches, hands low and outstretched to him. She doesn’t step closer, she waits for him to bridge the gap. Steve can see the caution in her face. Like she’s trying to coax a stray kitten out of hiding.
It works.
“Y-yeah,” Steve says, dropping the tension in his body a little. “I uh, wasn’t paying attention and… I guess it slipped.”
He opens his hand enough for Claire to see the small streaks of red that pool beneath his thumb. It’s superficial, barely deep enough to scar. The virus would already be hard at work stitching the burst blood vessels together, but he should still clean and bandage it. He has a bad habit of picking at the scaly scabs that form over wounds.
“Are you okay?” Claire asks, taking a small step forward. The gap between them is barely a foot wide. “That looks like it’s bleeding a lot.”
As Steve starts to relax further, Claire’s fingertips brush against his hand for a split second. The shock is enough to send him reeling back, his heart leaping into his throat. His instincts tell him to run and hide or fight his way to a safe place. Somehow he finds the self control to speak.
“No!” He yelps, loud enough to startle Claire. He lowers his voice but takes another step back. “No, I got it. It’s fine.”
He doesn’t stick around long. He can’t bear the worried, somewhat hurt, look on Claire’s face. Steve hurries into the bathroom around the corner and shuts the door before the fear and guilt tear him to pieces from the inside out. With trembling hands he turns on the sink faucet and lets icy water run over his open wound. It stings a little, but nothing he can’t endure. The excess blood trickles down the drain and vanishes in seconds. Just as he thought, the cut isn’t deep at all. That eases his anxieties somewhat, but not enough to stop the oncoming panic attack. Before it overtakes him, he wraps a washcloth around his hand to contain the blood as best he can.
Steve sinks to the floor and puts his head between his knees. It’s a struggle but he forces himself to take deep even breaths, just like Jill had taught the group. Though his head still spins, it helps to calm his heartbeat enough that it doesn’t feel like he’s about to have a heart attack. The trembling stops once he lets his consciousness fade to survival mode; he only thinks about his breathing and that he is safe.
Claire isn’t going to hurt him. No one is. He’s safe here. He’s safe with her.
Claire isn’t going to hurt him.
The world slows down, finally. Steve isn’t sure how long he’s been here but it can’t have been too long. Claire hasn’t come knocking on the door looking for him yet, and the savory scents of meat and spices being seared drifts in from the kitchen. His stomach tightens at the smell, helping to distract him further. Though his whole body feels heavy and drained of energy, Steve finds the strength to push himself to his feet once again. He cleans the now dried blood off of his hand, sloppily wraps his hand with a bandage, and dumps the rag he was holding into the wastebin before leaving the sanctuary of the bathroom.
When Steve returns to the kitchen, he expects Claire to rush at him and assault him with questions, but the only question is in her eyes. Wide, blue, and deeply worried about him. She doesn’t say anything or move to approach him, she only watches and waits for him to be ready. The way her brow creases and turns upwards at the ends make her look guilty, and that sends a pain through his gut he can’t identify right away.
“All good.” He announces, showing off his slapdash bandages. “It’s not deep. Just wanna keep it from getting dirty. And keep myself from picking at a scab.”
Claire looks at him with such intensity that Steve almost shrinks back from her gaze. It’s like she’s staring right through him.
“You sure?” she asks, keeping her voice low and gentle.
The genuine worry throws Steve for a loop. “Yeah.” He flashes her a wry, lopsided smile full of false confidence; as if he didn’t just have a panic attack. “I’ve had a lot worse.”
Claire studies him for a moment, then scoffs and shakes her head. A small grin finally appears on her face and it takes his breath away. “Yeah, I was there for some of those.”
She turns back to finishing up dinner. A shadow crosses her face as she grills the burger buns as a final touch, but it’s gone in a flash. Steve busies himself with getting drinks and plates, and thinking of something to say that might distract Claire from whatever sadness is eating away at her.
“You’ve had a lot worse than that.” He says with a grin, and immediately regrets it. Why did he think it’d be a good idea to bring back those kinds of memories?!
But Claire turns around and smiles broadly at him. “Oh you have no idea.” She drops a plate of burgers and a plate of toppings on the table, then as if to give Steve another heart attack, she props her leg up on the chair and rolls up one of her pant legs. A long, wide scar follows the length of her toned calf. Tan with age and wear, it stands out against her pale skin.
“This was from the Tyrant in Raccoon City.” She smirks, almost proud of her scar. “I was lucky it didn’t hit bone with how deep it was.”
There’s an edge to her voice, testing him. Teasing him. Steve grins. If Claire wants to have a scar battle, then he’s more than happy to show off.
He points to the largest scar on his face, “I got this from-...” Shit, he can’t tell her it was from falling down a mountain. That’s not cool. “...I got it from this big… Turtle thing.”
Claire raises an eyebrow at him, “Turtle thing?”
The lie spins out of control in his head, faster than he can stop. “Yeah! It was like...a big armored reptile B.O.W. Had these nasty claws for diggin’ in the ground. I got too close to it and it swatted at me. I’m lucky I didn’t lose this eye.”
He puts his hands on his hips and puffs out his chest a bit. He can’t pinpoint why showing off his trauma like this makes him happy. Maybe he’s just happy to share it at all. It doesn’t matter to him now. Claire is smiling. He’s smiling.
They go back and forth, showing each other their scars and places where bones were broken while eating homemade burgers and fries. Claire shocks Steve with just how many scars and injuries she suffered over her years of fighting bioterrorism, and he astounds her with his stories of his misadventures on the B.O.W. storage island and his encounters with all manner of beasts. Watching her listen to him with such fervor and interest almost makes him forget how horrific it all was. It helps in a weird way.
But that changes in an instant.
When it’s his turn to point out a scar and tell a story, he stops thinking. He lifts up his shirt, exposing the most gruesome scar on his body with an excited grin. A scar that stretches from his collarbone and disappears beneath the waistband of his pants, with dots alongside it on either side. Instead of a jagged outline like the scars left by accidents and B.O.W’s, this one is straight, clean. Surgical.
“This one was from when they autopsied me.” He explains, far too excited about the grim display he presents Claire. “It still itches like hell where the staples were-”
Steve snaps to reality once he looks up to see Claire’s awestruck face. Instead of excitement, it’s horror. Her hands cover her mouth and her eyes, brimming with barely restrained tears, lock onto his stomach and a wound so old he had almost forgotten about it. Beneath the autopsy scar, beneath the scars from man-made beasts, there’s a circular mark a similar color to the scar on Claire’s leg. It’s old, faded, but still aches from how deep the tissue reaches inside him. The gravity of the old wound may be lost on him, buried under the countless others that mar his body, but it’s fresh and raw to Claire.
He hastily pulls his shirt down, “Shit- I’m sorry, I didn’t-... I forgot that…” There’s nothing he can say that will ease her mind. He reaches out to her with one hand, stopping just by her arm before pulling back and sinking back into his chair. Another muttered apology falls from his lips as he hangs his head in shame.
He doesn’t notice Claire get up and cross the gap to him. Not until she takes a knee in front of him and brushes his unruly hair out of his eyes.
Claire’s touch is feather light and tender, but even that sends shocks through his skin. It jolts him out of his shamed stupor, and Claire pulls her hand back a few inches. Her expression is something he can’t make out. Somewhere between pity, sadness, and guilt. Before Steve can properly figure out what she’s thinking (something he’s never been good at) Claire runs her thumb across the large scar on his face, slowly and gently. He doesn’t flinch away from her this time. Then, something mundane yet earth shattering to this broken man out of time happens. Claire cups his scarred, stubble covered cheek in her hand.
Something breaks within him. A dam he didn’t know existed anymore that kept everything back, every trauma, every broken piece of him; some of which he didn’t even know were broken. Claire’s hand, her warm hand marred by callouses but still soft despite it all, molds to the contours of his face. There’s such tenderness, unrestrained kindness in her eyes and her touch and he can’t fathom how it can be directed to him. He doesn’t notice the tears in his eyes until they spill over.
Steve tries to calm himself with deep breaths but they come out stuttered and shaking. His shoulders heave, a lump in his throat chokes him. He screws his eyes shut, trying to shut out the vision of someone caring about him that deeply, but she’s still there. He can still see those piercing blue eyes boring into his soul and reading him like an open book. The moment Steve opens his eyes he sees the blurred outline of Claire Redfield wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
He wants to yell at her to leave, to tell her that he’s a lost cause and there’s no helping him. He’s too damaged, too broken. He’ll never have a normal life. He’ll never be able to pretend he isn’t a monster. He will never be able to have meaningful relationships. But all that comes out of his mouth is a broken, choked sob. Someone is touching him, someone cares about him. And he can’t understand it.
Despite himself, Steve pulls Claire into a tight embrace and sobs into her shoulder. Her fingers run through his hair, while her other hand rubs his quaking back. Steve can’t stem the tears, that’s a feat that even a mighty Redfield can’t achieve, but he can’t deny that simply being in Claire’s arms replaces despair with a strange warmth. For the first time he can remember, he feels...safe.
Eventually, the tears stop, and Steve is able to breath easily again. Claire doesn’t let him go for a minute and for that he silently thanks her. It isn’t until he begins to pull away that she too lets her arms down and pulls back from him.
“I’m sorry…” he mutters, wiping the stray tears from his eyes, “I don’t-”
“Shut up.” Claire commands and takes Steve’s hands from his face. “You have nothing to apologize for.” Darkness crosses her face for a moment. “I should be the one apologizing… I know you-... It’s hard after a while, not being… Not having human contact like that for a while. It’s not something they tell you about in therapy.”
Steve shakes his head, “I needed it. I really… Really did.” He sighs, “I...I didn’t know how much I...everything… still hurts.”
With that same kind smile, Claire leans forward and kisses his forehead. “It takes a lot of strength to admit you’re hurting that much. Give yourself some credit.”
“Maybe…” he says with a sad smile. “... Thank you, Claire. For everything.”
She takes his hand in hers, tracing the callouses and scars with her thumb. “Thank you for coming back.”
#Steve Burnside#Claire Redfield#resident evil#resident evil fanfic#tank fics#Holy shit yall i had the brainworms bad
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Tea and Tourniquets-The Beginning ☕️
(GIF is not mine)
There is something living in the forest beyond your village, something evil, something ancient. The only known survivor of this evil is a reclusive healer by the name of Min Yoongi. Rumor has it though, that the herbalist hermit may, in fact, be the evil himself.
Summary: You were told never to venture into the forest after dark. Stories of people going missing and, an ancient darkness, keep most of your quaint village paralyzed with fear. However, after another disappearance, you decide to do the unthinkable and, search for the answers yourself.
The darkness is real…and it’s alive.
Pairing: Yoongi x Reader
Word Count: 15.5k
Genre: Supernatural au! Supernatural! Yoongi, his true identity will be revealed later on, Fantasy! Au, Tsundere! Yoongi, fluff, angst, smut throughout the story, slightly spooky
Warnings: slight spooky-ness? lmao thats not a word, references to death/dark themes, future smut, moderate angst
A/N okay so hello! I hope you guys are okay with getting this in two parts. I have the plot figured out but, I really felt it was best to release it in separate pieces. The second part may be just as long, or even longer, I’m not totally sure but, I truly truly hope you guys enjoy this! I’ve been working on it for months now. I love you guys <333
“A toast to our great explorers...Namjoon, Seokjin and, Jungkook, your commitment and bravery to our village is unparalleled, thank you for all that you have done and, all that you will do...here here!”
The booming voice of one of your village’s leader echoes off of the walls of the pub’s cozy interior and, the clinking of glasses soon follows.
Tonight, the village is celebrating the three men who have made it their mission to answer a question that has loomed over your world for centuries:
What lurked in the ancient forest?
Stories had been passed down through countless generations and, although, those stories have yet to be confirmed, the disappearances and deaths surrounding the forest, served as a warning to anyone who dared to breach the trees after sunset.
“I think we should revisit the Yoongi theory again, he’s our only clear source of information...”
The celebration had been in full swing for roughly an hour or so before, the men of the hour had made it over to the bar.
Seokjin smirks knowingly, glancing at Namjoon, “That’s very true Jungkook-ah, so we should go visit him then yes? Perhaps he will have time for an interview?”
Jungkook sputters on the bitter liquid in his glass, eyes wide and blinking owlishly at his elder brother, “Are you insane? If Yoongi is behind the curse, he is more evil and powerful than any of us could possibly imagine. My swordsmanship, as incredible as it is, would be no match for his powerful...sorcerer...demon...powers.”
The younger boy trails off as his uncertainty grows, causing the two other men to snicker in amusement.
“Kook, we have gathered no evidence that supports this theory. Yoongi has always been helpful to our people and, just because he’s figured out how to survive in the forest, doesn’t automatically mean he’s a demon...sorcerer or, whatever it is that you just said.”
Seokjin continues to snicker through Namjoon’s explanation and, Jungkook huffs, slumping back into his chair, his brown bunny eyes rolling in annoyance.
“Hyung, he’s got to be ancient by now, our elders remember stories about him as young children. Don’t you think it’s strange that he’s been around for so long? What if he’s...a vampire or something?”
At his comment, Seokjin and Namjoon burst out in a fit of belly laughter, holding onto each other through their fit. You giggle to yourself as you bend down to place a clean glass onto the shelf, shaking your head at their antics.
“A benevolent vampire who delivers medicine, free of charge, to a village of humans? Doesn’t sound like the type to senselessly murder by the hundreds...” Jin inquires as their laughter dies down, Jungkook retreating further into his seat, grumbling to himself.
“Leave him alone you two...” You admonish, a fond smirk still gracing your features as you continue to straighten up the bar, your three friends directing their gazes toward you.
“Yeah, leave me alone....” Jungkook mumbles, nudging his foot against Namjoon.
“We’re just trying to encourage him to be more logical Y/N, he’s new to our profession...it’s very easy to get carried away.” Namjoon smirks, still chuckling as he nudges Jungkook in return.
“Hyung, with all due respect, it’s hard to be logical when all the evidence points to something...otherworldly. Besides, has anyone in recent times seen Min Yoongi? How do we know it’s him dropping off the remedies, what if it’s one of his familiars or something?” Jungkook urges, eyes going wide once again as he leans towards Namjoon.
Jin brows raise, “Familiars? So is he a vampire or a witch?”
“Maybe, he’s a vampire...witch...” Jungkook insists, slitting his eyes toward Jin.
Namjoon snickers again, taking a sip of his whiskey before nodding to you, “Y/N hasn’t your grandfather encountered Yoongi? Can’t he vouch for his normalcy?”
Your grandfather had been your caretaker since you were around the age of 7. After the passing of your parents, he had vowed to raise you as his own. Although your grandfather claimed to be a logical man, he often gave in to the mythical side of life or, ‘teahouse tales’ as he fondly referred to it. He encouraged your curiosity but, he always warned you of breaching the trees after dusk. During the day however, the two of you had spent quite a bit of time in the forest. Your grandfather loved researching the flora and fauna of the region and, you often accompanied him on his days out. If you were ever to go on your own, he had a few rules that he urged you to follow.
1. Stay away from the blue frogs (they’re poisonous)
2. Remember to pack an extra change of clothes (a swim in the lake is impossible to resist)
3. Don’t eat ANY of the plants (especially the beautiful ones)
4. Be home before sunset
5. DON’T BOTHER YOONGI
Pretty simple. You rarely ventured into the forest alone and, if you did, there was never a time when you felt compelled to go very far. There was no guarantee you would make it back in time before sundown and, there were plenty of sights to indulge in right at the forest’s entrance. You understood the first four rules without explanation although, one day, your curiosity got the better of you and, you asked your grandfather why he had included Yoongi on the rule list:
“Yoongi is a...solitary type. He doesn’t take kindly to strangers and, it’s just...best if you let him be. His cottage is quite difficult to find anyhow but, even on the chance you should see it, you’d be wise not to approach it.”
“May I ask why?”
“Yoongi is a medicine man and, a good one at that but, no one really knows how he procures his remedies, especially without connections to the mainland. There are rumors that he may be practicing spellwork...”
“Spellwork? Is that legal?”
“Well...our region has always been more forgiving of benevolent spellwork but, still, you can never be too careful...”
“Have you ever encountered him before?”
“I have yes, he didn’t do me any harm but, he wasn’t the kindest fellow I’ve ever met...there was something strange about him though. He had a darkness of sorts, something lingering...it’s hard to explain. He didn’t say much, only asked that I keep away from his cottage. Strangely compelling actually, he put me in a bit of a trance but, that could be my old age talking...just promise me, you won’t go looking for him ok?”
“Ok, I promise.”
You turn to your friends, pouring Seokjin another drink, “Well, technically he’s only seen him once but, according to him Yoongi was pretty strange...maybe Jungkook is on to something...”
The responses cause Namjoon to groan whilst Jungkook simultaneously lights up, “See? Pretty strange, we have an eyewitness, from a reliable source, stating that Yoongi was strange...how’s that for evidence hyung?”
“Lacking, severely lacking.” Namjoon answers immediately, “Yoongi is a man who chooses to live alone, in a forest that is notoriously known for being haunted...of course he’s going to be strange. Not to mention the fact that no one really knows how old he is so, his age could also play a factor in his behavior...”
Jin nods thoughtfully, smirking at Jungkook as he once again deflates into his seat, “I think we’re dancing around the inevitable here...”
“Which is?” Namjoon glances in his direction, annoyance starting creep into his features.
Namjoon is not a fan of the fantastical and, rarely makes time for conversations surrounding these topics.
“Jungkook may be right...”
“Hyung…” Namjoon begins as Jungkook perks up, a jovial smile appearing on his face.
“Right now, he is one of our theories yes?” Jin explains further, amused at the chaos his suggestion caused
“He is not, I’ve just explained why its highly unlike_” Namjoon dismisses but, Jin cuts him off and continues.
“Unlikely, Namjoon, not impossible...” Jin sends a pointed look his way and, you’re quite surprised considering the fact that Jin isn’t known for his serious nature. “Yoongi is the only man who may have some insight into what happens in those trees and, as far as I know, he has been serving our village for years, there is no real threat in paying him a visit. I meant what I said earlier…we need to speak with him.”
“Hyung, with all due respect, the threat isn’t Yoongi himself but, the journey…we don’t know where he resides, he could live miles and miles into the forest…what if we were unable to make it back before sundown?” Namjoon insists, wise eyes pleading with Jin to see his point of view.
A pang of fear hits your chest at the thought of your friends being lost to the clutches of the forest, you decide to speak up once again, urging them away from dangerous choices, “You could always wait at the Archway, his remedies appear there every week, my grandfather believes he delivers in the middle of the night, to avoid being seen…”
The three of them regard one another for a moment before, Namjoon reluctantly nods, his lips pursed in an attempt to release the tension in his face, “That’s…not a bad idea actually…”
“The Archway is in plain sight at the edge of the forest, it would allow us a safe space for interacting with him…or whoever happens to show up.” Jin points out, nodding to Jungkook, the smirk reappearing on his face, “Maybe the kid should sit this one out…”
Jungkook’s feathers are thoroughly ruffled as he sits up straighter in his seat, attempting to mask the obvious fear on his face, “What? No, Hyung…I’m ready, I promise, I’ve been training every day, I could take down anyone that comes through that archway…”
Namjoon chuckles, some of his frustration starting to dissipate, “We don’t want to take down our witness before we’ve spoken to him Kook…”
“Well, when we need to…I’m ready; I have your backs…” Jungkook vows, determination ringing clear in his innocent tone, his hyungs both smiling fondly in return.
“That’s good to know, we’ll need a strong man on our side…especially since, you know, Yoongi is an evil vampire witch…” Jin retorts, holding in his laughter
“Exactly!” Jungkook agrees enthusiastically, smiling at his hyung’s decision to accept his theory.
His reaction causes the three of you to laugh, gratitude heavy in your hearts for the small bit of innocence still left in your village.
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The following morning you awake just on the crest of sunrise. Washed out light teases the edges of your window, casting a square shadow on the wall opposite you. It was a peaceful night’s rest, a rarity in these times so; you pull the blankets over you to shield yourself against the cold. You are currently resisting the temptation to slip back into the warm embrace of slumber until the shattering of glass jolts your body upright.
“Grandpa?? Are you ok?” The shaky call of your voice wobbled in your throat and, you nearly slip on the wooden floor as you scramble out of your bedroom.
“Grandpa!?” Your tone increases in it’s urgency as you frantically scan the den, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“Back here!” There’s nothing out of order in his tone but, that doesn’t stop you from hastily shoving open the heavy wooden door that lead to your back-garden.
Your grandfather’s hearty laughter greets you as you stumble onto the patch of grass which was barely hanging on for dear life.
“Good morning!” He chirps, looking up from the floor that’s currently covered in glass.
“Are you alright? I heard…a noise and…” You’re slightly out of breath, your chest recovering from the tightness it had just endured.
Your grandfather snickers and shakes his head at you, reaching for the wooden broom leaning against the side of the house.
He’s tinkering again.
“Did I wake you?” He murmurs, amusement coloring his tone as he sweeps up his mess
“No but, you almost gave me a heart attack, I thought you fell…and, what did I tell you about conducting your experiments without proper lighting? You’re going to get hurt…again.” You grumble, finally feeling yourself calm down as he snickers again.
“Alchemists get hurt all the time, Y/N, nothing to ruffle your feathers about…” He chuffs, smirking fondly at you as he scoops the glass into his mixing bowl, his brow furrowing in thought as he likely is thinking of ways to use the newly shattered beaker in his concoction.
Your grandfather practiced alchemy which essentially meant that he spent day after day trying to turn things into gold: a dangerous and wildly unsuccessful hobby.
“Yes but, you’re archaic and, if anything ever happened to you, I would be a wreck…” You bite back, returning his smirk as you size up the possibly lethal mixture.
He pulls back in mock offense, eyes widening in playful horror, “Archaic?! I don’t look a day over 25, I’ve never felt better!”
“That may be so but, you were badly hurt last summer weren’t you? And you couldn’t get out of bed for a month and, since I was the one worried sick about you, I have every reason to get my feathers ruffled…”
Your grandfather chuckles, nodding in surrender, his fingers stalling on the edge of his mixing bowl “Alright, alright, I concede; I’ll try and be more careful.”
Eyes narrowing in his direction, you nod, attempting to look firm as you adjust your dressing gown.
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, a large horn asserted itself into the atmosphere around you. The sound sends a sinking feeling into your stomach and, your grandfather’s playful gaze turns to one of pure horror.
“No…not again…” He whispers as you pull a shaky breath through your nose, gesturing for him to come inside.
----------------------------------------
BANG.
A gavel near the front of the room slams down onto the cherrywood of the council desk, sending a jolt of panic through your chest.
“Be silent! We will accomplish nothing with all of you quarreling at once!”
The council sits at the head of your villages Home Room, the five of them clearly frightened and frazzled. The people of your village had gathered in wake of the horn, most of which were still in their bed clothes. At the sound of the gavel, the room settles but, the thick and unyielding tension still hangs in the air.
“Tayeon has been taken by the forest.” One of your council members delivers the news with a solemn expression, their face stiffening as the crowd reacts.
The announcement takes your breath away, your hand clutching Jin’s, who is currently sitting beside you, a solemn look on his face. His long fingers tangle with yours as he pulls a deep breath through his nose, attempting to mask the fear in his heart.
Tayeon was a young boy, not yet surpassing his 7th birthday. You knew him well, he was a gentle soul, always giving to others, placing freshly baked bread outside of people’s homes in the morning and tending to the weeds of the elderly. Any good deed he could manage, Tayeon would accomplish.
And now, he was gone.
Vanished.
Just like that.
Tears sting at the corners of your eyes but, you manage to hold it together, clutching Jin’s hand tighter as the council members continued to elaborate on the most recent disappearance.
“His family states that he was sound asleep in his chambers and, when they awoke this morning, he was gone…”
It was then, that you spot Tayeon’s family; both of his fathers are huddled together on a bench near the front of the room, Tayeon’s older sister, Minerva, consoling them as they wept.
“How are we to know that it was the forest? What if he wandered off elsewhere?” A young man chimes in, you recognize him as Chanyeol, a young blacksmith from the center of your village.
“The forest glows this morning does it not? That is your answer.” Namjoon is on the council this year and, his usual sunny disposition is replaced with stoicism, his jaw clenched as he responds to the inquiry.
The forest was usually clouded in darkness, particularly at night however, following a disappearance, the space between the trees glows a dim ruby color and, occasionally you will see a faint violet light darting through the branches; this phenomena has yet to be understood. The entirety of the forest glows through the day and, the sun never rises high enough to constitute a full sunrise and, your village usually spends the day indoors, the light not sufficient enough to complete its usual routine. Livestock are brought inside, shops close down and, the kitchen serves only porridge for breakfast and, rice for dinner. It felt appropriate however, the sun shouldn’t shine over a mourning village, it’s too intrusive.
“I am no longer going to stand idly by as another one of our people vanishes. The answer is obvious, the only person living in that forest is Min Yoongi therefore, he is our prime suspect. Upon the rising of tomorrow’s sun, we must summon him for trial. He must face justice!”
“But, Yoongi has been an asset to our community for years and, his remedies have saved far more lives than, have been lost.”
“We have never had extended contact with him, we know nothing of his intentions, don’t you think it’s odd that he drops off his remedies and, refuses to interact with our people? How is he getting knowledge of our ailments?”
“Exactly, he either has a spy on the inside or he is obtaining his information through unorthodox means…he could be a spellworker”
“So what if he is? As far as I’m concerned, he is using his talents for good.”
“Good? Do you suggest that the disappearances of our people are a good thing?”
The bickering between the council members continue and, you find yourself shrinking into your seat as the volume of their encounter seems to grow. Tension rises in the crowd as well and, as more and more people join the conversation, the room erupts into chaos. Arguments are breaking out left and right regarding whether or not the village should arraign Yoongi and, just before the interactions incite a riot, your grandfather stands, his voice bellowing out into the crowd.
“I have encountered Min Yoongi…” He announces, causing the storm of chaos to slow to a mere murmur, dozens of eyes darting towards your grandfather.
“Mr. Y/L/N, with all due respect, several of our senior councilmembers have encountered Min Yoongi. Due to their unpleasant experiences, we only have further reason to believe in his wickedness. Now as we were saying_”
“He saved my life.” Your grandfather chimes in again, slightly clouded eyes shooting a determined glance towards the council, his chest puffing out slightly.
Namjoon’s brows furrow at his announcement, deciding to speak up for the first time since the council began arguing, “He…he saved your life? Would mind elaborating Mr. Y/L/N?”
Your grandfather clears his throat, glancing at you momentarily before continuing.
“When I was a young boy, I wandered into the trees…” A hushed gasp falls over the crowd as your grandfather tells his story, “I was searching for lavender and, at the time, it grew in tremendous amounts along the river…I wasn’t a great swimmer you see. I fell in and, Yoongi saved me. I’m not sure how he managed, as he was a slight man but, he did. He seemed to conjure the tides of the river to pull me ashore. I’ll admit, he was brash and left very little room for questioning but, he saw to it that I return to the borderline, safe and sound. As we parted ways, he warned me against returning to the forest and, told me to stay away from his cottage, should I ever find it…”
“And did you…ever find it?” Namjoon inquires again, the entire room completely still as they await the conclusion of your grandfather’s story.
He sighs then, hesitating a moment before nodding, “Curiosity is an illness I frequently suffer from…I went back the following week in search of his home. I wanted to express my gratitude…the journey took me half a day, I think, if I remember correctly, but, I finally came across a small cottage nestled inside several massive dead trees. There were no security measures, no gate, no padlock, not even a guard dog. He was completely vulnerable to the outside elements…he came out as soon as I approached his home and, scolded me for disobeying him, he did accept my token of gratitude however…a large bag of coffee beans that I had procured from a merchant near the edge of town. He was strange; there was something…awry about him. I remember feeling very tired as he was speaking to me, he spoke a language I did not recognize and, the next thing I knew, I woke up at the borderline, completely alone.”
Whispers fall over the room once again and, the people gathered in the home room glance earnestly at one another. One of the council members nod to your grandfather,
“Would you be willing pay him another visit Mr. Y/L/N? We believe he …”
Alarm signals deep within your stomach, your head whipping to the front of the room and, then quickly over to your grandfather, “No, no absolutely not…he cannot make the journey himself…he wouldn’t make it back in time…”
All eyes turn to you and, your grandfather attempts to placate you, patting your arm gently, “Y/N, it’s ok, please, I’m willing to make the journey if it means our people may finally have peace. I will leave at first light…”
Namjoon, Jungkook and, Jin share your concern and, Namjoon attempts to reason with his council members, “Y/N is right, he shouldn’t go alone, there is no reason for that…”
“Yoongi is an unpredictable creature…he knows Mr. Y/L/N and, according to his story, has been quite useful in the past, if we send a search party after him, he may feel threatened.”
You shake your head again, stepping front of your grandfather, as if to shield him from their judgement, your heart hammering in your chest, “Please, there has to be another way, he can wait for Yoongi near the Archway, he can_”
“Y/N please...settle down.” Your grandfather admonishes gently and, you feel frustration heating your cheeks whilst a lump forms in your throat.
“It’s settled then, Mr. Y/L/N will find out where this Min Yoongi dwells and, attempt to gain insight into our cursed land, we thank you for your bravery…”
The gavel jolts the entirety of the room and, with that; your world comes crumbling down.
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You’d be damned if the cowardly council-members sent your grandfather in the forest alone. No, if anyone was going to go, it would be you. You were willing to lay your life on the line to ensure your grandfather’s safety, he was all you had. After waiting until your village had fallen asleep, you packed yourself a small bag and, left. No looking back, you were capable of surviving; your grandfather had taught you all the necessary skills you would need.
The darkness of the forest however, proved to be much greater than you could have estimated and, half way into your journey, you began to grow increasingly uncomfortable.
Something didn’t feel right. You felt like you were being watched or, worse, followed. The hair on the back of your neck stood at attention. The lump in your throat continued to grow as you focused all your attention on the path in front of you. You had found a crudely drawn map done by your grandfather that supposedly lead to Yoongi’s cottage and, had taken it when you left hastily in the middle of the night.
Halfway there.
A crack sounded behind you. It was subtle but, distinct, sounding very much like the splitting of wood. A step, perhaps. Your heart threw itself continuously against your sternum over and over, louder and louder until you felt your head pounding. You adjusted the bag on your shoulder, your feet picking up subtly underneath you, your eyes zeroing toward your intended direction.
Suddenly, the rustling of leaves could be heard behind you along with the familiar crack you had heard moments ago. The noise causes your head to whip around in its direction only to be met with the familiar, haunting scene of the forest.
It’s an animal. Stop being so paranoid.
The wind had been twirling through the trees for quite some time but, at this moment it began to pick up its dance, causing the trees to ache and groan around you. The chill creeps its way through the thin material of your sweater as your arms curl into your chest, desperately trying to keep warm. You shouldn’t be here. You knew what it meant by making the journey into this part of your world and, you felt foolish that you had ignored the warnings of your people.
Just focus, don’t lose sight of what’s in front of you.
The sounds of the forest began to grow around you, like a sinister symphony, the pitch rising higher and higher as you were drawn deeper into its music. You carefully tug the hood of your sweater over your ears, which you were surprised hadn’t succumbed to frost bite. Out of the corner of your eye, you see a movement that stops you in your tracks. Blackness is rising from the forest ground, morphing and twisting into a shape that is twice your height, and half your width. A figure stands still momentarily, long arms like tree branches extending from its body as it seems to regard you from across the forest. All of the blood from your face drains; your heart halts its assault against your sternum as you stand, frozen in horror.
Your hand moves slowly towards your bag, attempting to retrieve your dagger. Eyes squinted, you keep an eye on the figure, trying to understand its form: Diamond-shaped body, upright with long spindly legs and arms to match, faceless until you catch a glimpse of something that makes your stomach turn. Insidious and arrogant, the figures blank face splits into a wide, toothy grin, the entirety of it nearly reaching either side of its head.
Before you can take your next breath, the figure breaks out into a run, smiling all the while as it races toward you. You fall back, hands desperately trying to rip open your pack, frantically trying to defend yourself. Tears sting your eyes as the terror of your situation overwhelms you, you get ahold of the dagger, handing shaking as you hold it in front of you. The attempt is pointless and, you know it. Whatever this is, isn’t human and, it’s intentions were quite clear. You felt frozen, helpless, you screamed out in desperation but, to no avail.
You were going to die.
A flash of brilliant violet light illuminates the forest, blinding you momentarily, your hand coming up to shield your eyes. Everything happens so quickly, the creature that was pursuing you lets out a strangled scream when a wave of energy pulses through the forest. It’s powerful and knocks you completely on your back, haziness beginning to creep into your vision. Dazed, you lay on the forest floor as your eyes grow heavier and heavier, sensations of pain moving throughout your body. You hear a faint sound of leaves crunching as something seems to approach you. The darkness overtaking your vision prevents you from seeing anything beyond a figure, thankfully human, looming over you.
“Foolish human, what on earth have you done?”
With that, everything goes black.
---------------------------------------------------
The sound of bubbling is the first thing that teases your conscience back to life. As to the source of the sound, you’re still unsure but, it’s not the worst way you’ve ever been woken up.
Wait…woken up.
Are you waking up?
Did you die?
You don’t remember falling asleep the night before and, you’re beginning to grow restless behind the darkness of your eyelids.
There is a faint sensation of pain winding around one of your feet and, you feel a very uncomfortable stinging across the right side of your ribs.
“After all this time, humans are still insufferable creatures Meow, the only species who has managed to stall the evolutionary cycle…such a shame.”
The voice is unfamiliar, crisp and condescending, it frightens you.
“Human, your sleep cycle concluded 27 minutes ago…it’s time to wake up…”
Human? Why is the voice referring to you as human…
Your eyes pop open, a warm yellow light greets you along with a myriad of other images that you’re too disorientated to discern.
The surface beneath you is a soft cotton fabric, looking very similar to a cot and, you finally gather that you’re in some sort of cottage. There is a figure standing behind a counter watching you, however you can’t yet make out the specifics of it.
With your vision slightly blurred you attempt to rise from your horizontal position but, the searing pain in your ribs keeps you from doing so.
“The venom has yet to take hold of your ribs so, I would advise against sudden movements for the next 17 minutes…”
Your heart drops, “V..venom? What venom? What did you do to me?”
The figure scoffs, “I saved your life…”
The blur in vision begins to lessen and, after a few strong blinks you start to make out the image of the figure behind the counter.
It was a man. Dressed in a black peasant blouse, his hands are braced against the counter; dark, almost feline eyes regard you earnestly from across the room, a scowl prominent in his features. He wasn’t difficult to look at but, the context of the current situation was preventing you from fully appreciating just how beautiful he was.
“You saved my life by injecting me with venom? That seems rather counterproductive...” You bite back, nervousness hidden behind your tone as you awkwardly attempt to turn towards him.
The movements prove to mildly successful as you finally prop yourself up on the side of your ribs that aren’t marred by discomfort.
“The specifics of the procedure are irrelevant, although I didn’t inject you with anything...” The man corrects, rolling his eyes as he does, as if your statement was ridiculous.
You’re frustrated with your lack of clarity and, you can’t help the budding panic, forming at the bottom of your throat.
“Where am I?”
“Somewhere you’re not meant to be...” He quips, annoyance coloring his pointy features as he scans your face, “your loss of memory isn’t surprising due to your injuries and, the impact from my spell...” He sighs as your confusion doesn’t seem to wane, slowly moving to step around to the front of the counter, “What’s the last thing you remember?”
A deep breath is drawn through your nose as you frantically search your brain for answers. You remember entering the woods, the trees, the darkness, the fear...
Oh god.
You gasp then, eyes darting towards the stranger who was currently scooping, what looked like syrup into a turquoise bowl, “the creature...the smile, it...attacked me.”
The man snorts, shaking his head, “If it had attacked you, you would be dead right now...”
“I’m not entirely sure that I’m not...” You counter, wiping a hand over your face.
You take in more of your surroundings as the fog in your mind begins to lift. A large, shelved apothecary cabinet took up the entirety of wall opposite you. Clear blue bottles of varying sizes lined the shelves, along with a potted plants that seemed to be overflowing down the length of the cabinet. The walls were made of grey and black stone and, stretched into a tall ceiling that seemed to be entirely covered in greenery. The counter the man worked at was littered with evidence of what had happened the night before: various herbs and tonics were uncapped and, a clump of bloody gauze was hanging out of the sink. To your left, another wall, paired with an archway and hundreds of books, led to what you presumed was the rest of the cottage.
“Maybe this will jog your memory...” The man nearly hisses his declaration, seemingly threatened by your curious gaze. He held up a scrap of paper and, although you had to squint to read it, you could distinctly see that it was your grandfather’s crudely drawn map to Yoongi’s cottage.
Oh…
“Yoongi?” You venture, feeling slightly threatened yourself.
Yoongi’s feline like eyes, dark and almost menacing, glare at you from across the room.
“You are a foolish girl, entering the forest past sundown, journeying into its depths...to find me. Have I not made it clear to your people that I am to be left alone?” Yoongi’s tone grows more and more frustrated and, you could sense what your grandfather meant by his lingering darkness. The wild mass of black hair on his head, his sharp features, his eyes look incredibly dark and, there seem to something peeking out from underneath his top lip, something you hadn’t noticed, they looked like fangs?
“I’m...I’m sorry…listen, please, I didn’t want to disturb you but, a young boy disappeared from my village and, my people, they...tried to send my grandfather to find you, you’re the only one who can withstand the forest.” You’re not much for groveling but, there’s a pretty sizeable chance that Yoongi isn’t human and, you aren’t trying to press your luck.
His hardened gaze falters slightly, “You went in his place?”
You nod, wishing desperately that you were able to sit up fully, awkwardly shifting your weight to the side again, “He wouldn’t have made it...they insisted on sending him alone...”
“And you wouldn’t have made it either, you’re lucky I was out making my deliveries, or you would be enduring a slow, agonizing death...” He admonishes before, he turns to make his way over to you. You tense then, shrinking back into the cot, he notices your hesitation and scoffs, rolling his eyes.
“If I wanted to hurt you, I would have left you to the creatures...I need to treat your wound, my venom will only heal the superficial cut, and it won’t prevent infection…” His irritation lessens, likely sensing your fear before nodding to your sweater.
My venom?
You hesitate for a moment. There is no reason to trust Yoongi, he is a stranger who, so far, hasn’t been very kind to you however, he did save your life and, you suppose that’s enough to trust him…for now.
A sigh leaves your nose as you move to lift up the white wool which, you could now see was decorated with splotches of your blood.
Yoongi kneels down beside you, collecting the sticky golden substance on the tips of his fingers and, slowly spreading it across the surface of your wound. His movements were surprisingly gently and, for some unknown reason, goosebumps erupted across the back of your arms.
“What happened to my ribs anyway? I only remember falling backwards….”
Yoongi is careful to avoid eye contact with you as his fingers work the honey over your skin, ignoring his own chaotic thoughts.
“The method I used for killing that creature…some of the material hit you and, cut your skin…” He keeps his answer as vague as possible, hurrying with his application before laying down another piece of gauze over the wound.
Your brow furrows, eyes flitting to his fingers, “What method did you use?”
Yoongi sighs, his jaw tightening slightly, “You ask a lot of questions.”
“Well, I came here for answers …” You retort, feeling frustrated by the lack of information he was willing to give.
Yoongi’s eyes darken with annoyance once again, pulling away from you as he finishes up, his expression hardening, “You are not entitled to answers. I saved your life; I don’t believe I owe you or your people anything else…”
His words perturb you and, you have to fight the urge to confront him as anger begins to bubble up inside of you.
“Yoongi, my people are growing restless, this is the 8th disappearance in two years…they won’t stop until they find answers…it’s what lures them back into the forest. “ You plead with him as he turns his back to you, beginning to clean up his work station, screwing the cap onto his bottle of honey.
“Your people have been warned on countless occasions, if they refuse to listen then, that’s not my burden to bear.” Yoongi insists, shrugging his shoulders as he places a few bottles back onto his massive shelf, “I advise you to stay here for a few days to allow for your body to heal but, after that you will be returning to your village. Until then, I ask that you leave me alone unless, you are in need of something…”
Your irritation with him increases as his brash responses continue, “I have to stay here for a few because of a cut?”
Yoongi turns back to you momentarily, “Your foot is injured as well but, if you think you can make the journey back yourself, by all means, be my guest…”
Looking towards your foot, you wiggle your toes, feeling a slight sensation of pain as you do.
“What happened to my foot?”
“You tore your anterior talofibular ligament…it happened when you fell.” His back is to you again as he arranges the bottles in a neater fashion, his tone one of disinterest.
“My anteater tylo what?” You press, shaking your head at his behavior.
He snorts at your pronunciation, a slight smirk threatening his mouth, “Your anterior talofibular ligament is a flat triangular band of fibers, that extends obliquely downward and lateralward between the adjacent margins of the tibia and fibula, on the front aspect of the syndesmosis…”
Your mouth hangs open as he delivers his explanation, frantically looking toward your foot in an attempt to make sense of what he was saying.
“That was wildly unhelpful…”
Yoongi turns back toward you, his sharp features unimpressed by your response.
“My healing of such a ligament should be considered more than helpful…”
“Am I able to walk with this injury?” You inquire, brows rising, mirroring his unamused expression.
He shrugs, “With minor discomfort, yes…”
A hand comes up with your question as Yoongi leans against the countertop, “…then why can’t I leave?”
“You are free to do as you wish however, if you leave now, you will die.” He explains, far too casually given the content of his sentence.
The sunlight shining through the window makes his statement even more perplexing and, you gesture to it as you respond, “What why? It’s the middle of the day?”
Yoongi’s lips quirk up, a smirk still threatening his mouth as he notices the irritation in your tone.
“Death can occur regardless of the time of day.”
You huff, eyes rolling in incredulity, still fighting the urge to raise your voice, “…yes I’m aware of how death works but, I thought your little light show got rid of that thing.”
“Sonum Aquarum.” He corrects you immediately as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“What?”
“It’s not a light show, it’s an aqueous blast of energy and, it requires hundreds of years of training. Also…” He stretches slightly, face turned up with arrogance and, you try to ignore the way his peasant blouse opens up to expose the pale skin of his chest. “…my blast killed that one creature. It did not eradicate their species. There are still thousands of them and, you are more vulnerable than you were last night, there would be no chance of you making it to the border before sundown and, I refuse to tell you the way back until, I’m sure that you’re ready.”
A defeated sigh leaves your lips then, realizing that until Yoongi was willing to take you back, you were stuck with him. The rumors made sense now, he was insufferable.
“Fine.” You surrender, trying to make yourself comfy on the cot, feeling capable of sitting up now that the pain in your ribs had subsided slightly.
Yoongi smirks then, feeling victorious that you had finally halted your questioning.
“You can make yourself comfortable down here. I will prepare meals for you twice a day but, there are fruits and vegetables in the garden should you get hungry, I can show you later. The bathroom is through this archway,” He gestures to the archway beside you that was filled with books, “and around the corner. My bedroom is upstairs; you are not permitted up there under any circumstances. I will be out during a few evenings to…”
He pauses then, cat eyes darting from side to side as he searches for the right word.
You smirk, raising your brows, “To?”
He rolls his eyes at your smirk, looking slightly uncomfortable as he continues, “Nevermind, don’t worry about it, just stay downstairs while you’re here and, touch as little as you can, I don’t want you messing things up…”
“Understood. I’ll stay out of your way…”
He eyes you suspiciously, desiring to question why you weren’t trying to argue but, he decides to drop it as he nods to the archway again, “There is a place for you to sleep through here, there is a fire burning most nights so, please be careful not to fall inside.”
“Is roasted human not your thing?” You quip, leaning back against the wall, already dreading the thought of being trapped in Yoongi’s presence.
There is something dark that flashes over his face for a moment and, for the first time since you spoke with him, you felt yourself growing slightly afraid of him. He smirks as he tilts his head slightly to the right and, when he does; you confirm that he possesses a pair of fangs.
“Human meat is too tough with very little pay off, I prefer the taste of their soul, it’s much sweeter…”
His words send a shiver down your spine, your lips pursing in an attempt to hide your obvious reaction to him. However, he can already pick up on the increase in your heartrate and, the change in your body’s chemistry, the knowledge pleases him.
“You’re a demon then? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” You challenge him, not wanting to display any signs of weakness.
“You asked me a question and, I responded. Now,” He averts his gaze, a satisfied smirk still lingering on his mouth as he looks up towards the ceiling, “…entertaining you has been thoroughly exhausting so, I’ll be retiring to my room for the day, there’s a plate of food in the other room, eat it..”
You roll your eyes, feeling extremely frustrated with his attitude but, the last few moments of conversation have advised you against testing Yoongi’s patience, for the time being at least.
“Sweet dreams.” You force a fake smile onto your face, something Yoongi can clearly sense, his face turning up in disgust.
“Mm.” He hums, unimpressed by your comment before, turning to head out of the apothecary, “…don’t touch anything.”
You shoot a thumbs up his way, wincing slightly as dull pain radiates in your ribs, still sporting your fake smile.
He rolls his eyes for the thousandth time before striding out of the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts.
“Don’t touch anything…” You mutter to yourself, bitterness prominent in your tone.
“What’s that?” Yoongi calls from the other room, his voice halfway up the staircase.
How the hell did he hear you?
“I’m just committing your orders to memory your majesty…” You call back, trying to appear nonchalant.
“Well, do it quietly then…” You can hear the bite in his voice but, given that he is in the other
room; you miss the smirk plastered on his face.
You roll your eyes, leaning against the stone wall, wishing desperately that you were home in your bed, listening to the sounds of your grandfather tinkering in your back garden.
A pang of worry rushes through you; your village likely thinks that you’re gone: taken by the forest, never to be seen again. You shudder at the thought, pleading with the powers that be that none of them come looking for you.
There were a million questions running around your head at the moment. Yoongi wasn’t much help in explaining what had happened to you but, there were two things you knew for sure:
1. There was something evil in the forest, something real and tangible
2. Yoongi wasn’t human.
An uneasy feeling asserts itself into your stomach…
He said quite a few things that unnerved you: the bit about his venom, the mention of eating human meat, and liking the taste of human souls? Was he just messing with you? Was he serious? Should you wait long enough to find out?
He did save your life. Why would he save your life if he was planning on harming you?
Unless, well, he was planning on eating you?
Fuck...what if he was planning on eating you?
A shiver runs through your spine and, while the fantastical side of your brain really wants to run with the idea that Yoongi is some sort of monster, the logical side reminds you that not only did he save your life but, he saved your grandfather’s as well. You didn't like the idea of placing your fate into a stranger but, right now, that was your only option.
With an audible sigh, you decide to hoist yourself up, carefully, because you’re still very sore. You scan the wall full of bookshelves, your brain going fuzzy as it catches a glimpse of a few of the titles, some you recognize but, some appear to be in various other languages. There were so many of them adorning the shelves, you couldn’t imagine anyone finishing all of the titles in their lifetime. Yoongi was known to be solitary however so, maybe all of his free time was divided evenly amongst healing, reading and, being creepy.
Makes sense.
Yoongi’s den is quaint and, if you were under different circumstances, you might actually think it was cozy. A sizeable, black, L-shaped sofa takes up most of the space in front of the massive and somewhat intimidating fireplace. Yoongi was right to warn you about falling in, the gray cobblestone structure stretches a third of the way up the extremely high ceiling, the crackling fire doing its job as it warms the entirety of the room. There are very few decorations apart from side tables positioned at either end of the couch both of which are carved from marble. There is a crème colored woven blanket thrown over the sofa as well as a few pieces of art that looked both expensive and imported. You wonder briefly about how Yoongi manages to afford marble and, expensive artwork but, given that he is likely a DEMON you decide that it’s not all that strange.
You meander around the sofa, taking small careful steps to avoid causing yourself any pain. There is a cozy spot in the corner of the couch that’s calling your name and, although you’re quite sure that you slept a few hours through the night, you could feel your lids growing heavy once more.
The last 24 hours had been exhausting.
Pulling the throw blanket off of the corner of the sofa, you snuggle against the plush cushions beneath you.
Demon or not, the man had great taste in furniture.
It doesn’t take long for the exhaustion to take over and, before you know it, you’re drifting off into a deep sleep.
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“Meow, move out of my way, I’m going whether you like it or not. Your boredom is not my problem…” The rasp of Yoongi’s voice is simmering just above your consciousness and, you feel yourself being slowly drawn out of your nap.
As your eyelids flutter open, vision still hazy from your slumber, you panic slightly as you realize the room is pitch black.
“Y…Yoongi? Is that you?” The voice that leaves your mouth is shaky and thick, your vocal chords clearly not ready for speaking yet.
A deep sigh as let out from the figure in question before you hear the sound of snapping. At the conclusion of the sound, the entirety of the room is light up with a least 4 dozen candles lining every bit of free space in Yoongi’s den.
You spot him near the door of his cottage, dressed in a black hooded cloak, an unamused expression on his face.
“Obviously it’s me, who else would it be? Why are you awake?” He grumbles, black hair sticking up in all different directions.
“Wait…how did you?” You whip your head around, amazement obvious in your features, “How did you do that?”
He rolls his eyes, ignoring your question, “Why are you awake?”
You sit up, wincing slightly at the dull ache all over your body, his words causing your irritation to flare up, “Your voice woke me up and, I took a nap in the middle of the day, how long did you expect me to sleep for?”
Yoongi’s face turns up, a mixture of shock and, amazement painting his cat-like features, his brows knitted together in scrutiny, “What do you mean, my voice woke you up?”
“I heard you talking to your cat,” You explain, matter of factly, adjusting the sleeves of your sweater, wishing desperately that you had a different change of clothes, “Or I assumed it was your cat, unless someone else is here…”
Yoongi’s pale face turns practically translucent, he rushes over to the arm of the couch, peering at you curiously, “I wasn’t…how did you hear me? Who are you? Did someone send you here?”
Yoongi’s sudden interrogation alarms you and, it causes you shrink away from him slightly, “What? No? I told you why I was here, no one sent me…why are you freaking out?”
Yoongi’s mouth opens and then closes it, his brain currently in full panic mode. In the midst of his crisis, a fairly sizeable black cat jumps effortlessly onto the arm of the couch. It perches in front of Yoongi, wide golden eyes boring into your very soul, an almost knowing look in its gaze.
An uneasy feeling stirs in your stomach as you stare back into the cat’s eyes but, you point it out none the less, trying to ease Yoongi’s sudden nervousness, “This is your cat right? I heard you talking to them this morning too, it’s not a big deal, I’m a really light sleeper, I wake up at the drop of a pin…”
Your words only increase his panic and, his wide eyes glance towards the cat and, then back at you, his body language stiffening, “You…you can see him?”
You can’t help the laugh that comes from your mouth, “The giant cat sitting in front of you? Of course I can see him, are you feeling ok? Do you need a nap or something?”
The cat’s eyes seem to glisten with amusement but, you do your best to avoid it’s gaze, something about it or him, as Yoongi had mentioned, was slightly off.
“Who are you?” There’s acid dripping from his tone and, it frightens you, so much so that, you scoot further into the sofa cushions, your hands coming up in defense.
“I’m Y/N? Do you not remember me? We spoke this morning? You saved my life?” You venture, the perplexity of the situation increasing your heartbeat.
“I’m not suffering from memory loss human…tell me who you really are…”
You hadn’t been close enough to him to really notice the color of his eyes but, you’re fairly certain that if they were as black as they are now, you would have noticed.
Before Yoongi can speak again, his cat lets out a menacing hiss, its golden eyes narrowed in aggression. You flinch at the sound before you realize that the hiss wasn’t directed towards you, it was directed towards Yoongi.
His eyes widen at the sound and he steps back, “What? Don’t give me that look, she’s obviously not who she says she is…”
He’s talking to the cat as if the cat had the ability to understand him and, you wait on bated breath as Meow seems to stare intently into Yoongi’s eyes.
A wordless exchange is all that’s needed before Yoongi relaxes slightly, his cool demeanor returning once more.
You’re confusion however, has yet to wane.
“Yoongi, I’m not here to hurt you, everything I told you is true.” You attempt to find his gaze but, he avoids looking at you, his eyes still black but, fading to a much softer brown, “Might I remind you that, the only reason I’m still here is because, you refuse to tell me the way back….”
At that Yoongi rolls his eyes, “I’m not refusing because, I enjoy your company human, quite the opposite actually, I’m refusing because, you won’t be able to reach the border until you’re healthy, I think you underestimate how far away from home you are…”
His words are paired with a snide expression, his eyes flitting in your direction. The information sends uneasiness into your stomach but, you have no choice but to take his word.
You won’t be facing the forest alone again.
“How far are we exactly?
He smirks, “Far…”
His response frustrates you beyond belief: WHY WAS HE SO VAGUE?
A groan leaves your lips as you slump back into the sofa, “Are you ever going to answer my questions properly? I don’t know how you expect me to feel comfortable here if you refuse to tell me anything…”
Yoongi shrugs, “I don’t expect you to feel anything human, your feelings are not important to me…”
This offends you, of course it does but, you’re don’t have time to get your feelings hurt. You want answers.
“My feelings aren’t important but, my life is?” You press, brows knitted in displeasure
Yoongi ponders this for a moment, pursing his lips and, nodding, “That’s a fair conclusion…are we done now? I have somewhere I need to be.”
With a defeated sigh, you push yourself off of the sofa, stumbling slightly as you do, “Whatever.”
You brush past him, ignoring the way he smells: (like fresh pine and, lavender) and, your movement causes him to flinch but, you don’t notice.
Yoongi smirks again, pleased with your defeat, “Where are you going?”
“Oh, you know, a place…”
Yoongi’s smirk grows, feeding off of your annoyance, “You are permitted to look around downstairs but, I would advise you to keep clear of the leeches, they’re very eager, particularly when your blood is sweet…”
A shiver runs down your spine and, you whip towards him, “Leeches? What are you talking about?”
Yoongi has already disappeared through the doorway and, if you aren’t mistaken, you could swear you hear him chuckling as he does.
Disgusting.
The night ended up dragging on for quite some time. You busied yourself with looking through Yoongi’s collection of books, well trying to at least; the man has a least 8 billion of them. After the 12th or 13th you ended up falling asleep against the shelves in the apothecary room and, you’re pretty sure you had 4 or 5 nightmares involving leeches.
Thanks to Yoongi…
He had been out all night, doing god knows what and, didn’t return until sunrise.
He walks into the door, sore and defeated, shrugging his cloak off and, placing it onto the rack beside his door. His brow is furrowed as he looks around for you, feeling slightly uneasy as he scans the cottage.
“Human?” He calls out, trying to sense you, hoping that you hadn’t run off.
Most people do…
He rounds the corner into his apothecary before, his eyes narrow at his “cat” who is sleeping soundly in your lap.
Leaning against the wall, he smirks down at your sleeping expression, lips pouted, brow furrowed slightly, (kind of cute). Meow wakes up then, sensing his presence, yawning and extending his chubby black paws, golden eyes peering up at Yoongi.
“Don’t look at me like that…” He mutters before knocking his knuckles on the wall, “Human, it’s time to wake up, you must eat…”
The sound startles you awake, your eyes popping open, bleary and confused. With a still furrowed brow, you look up towards Yoongi, unamused by his actions.
“You could have chosen a nicer way to wake me up…”
Yoongi rolls his eyes, “This is my home, not a bed and breakfast and, you were meant to be asleep in the den. Sleeping in such a position is going to prolong your healing process…”
Upon rubbing your eyes, you notice that Yoongi’s cat is resting comfortably in your lap and, rather than bickering with Yoongi, you smile softly, fingers stroking against the cat’s obsidian fur.
“Sorry…I fell asleep reading…” You are distracted by the creature in your lap, who is now purring and, nudging your hand, trying to garner more of your attention. “You cat is really cute…”
Yoongi feels uneasy as he watches you interact with Meow, his confusion at an all-time high, “He’s not a cat,” He grumbles before extending a hand to you, “Come, you need to eat…”
You’re perplexed by his response and, regard his hand warily, “What do you mean, he’s not a cat? Do you call him something different?”
Yoongi ignores your question and, merely jerks his hand towards you again, “It’s been 15 hours since you’ve eaten your last meal…we don’t have time for questions…”
You look up at him, grimacing at his outstretched hand before, a thought pops into your head, “If I eat, will you answer one question??”
Yoongi’s mouth twitches, fighting a smile at your ridiculous request, “What do you mean IF you eat? You have to eat to survive so_” He cuts himself off, face wrinkled in confusion, “I don’t negotiate with mortals, now let’s go, I have things to do…”
You’re whining at this point, your curiosity rising to an agonizing level, “Yoongi, please? I don’t know where I am, or who you are and, you keep calling me mortal or human, and, you talked about consuming my soul and, apparently there’s leeches in your house?? I was almost killed by a monster in the forest, my village probably thinks I’m dead and, I’m going to go insane if you don’t tell me SOMETHING…” You can feel the tears beginning to form in the corner of your eyes and, Yoongi looks as though he’s cringing in discomfort. You aren’t sure if your mini tantrum is just annoying or if he can actually sense your pain but, either way, he sighs, peeved that your emotions are even affecting him the first place.
“Ok, fine, I’ll answer a few questions,” At his words, you perk up and he jerks his hand towards you again with a pointed look, “AFTER you eat.”
“Eat? No problem, I’ll eat as much as you want…” You rejoice, a smile on your face as you take his hand, using it to rise to your feet. Meow scurries off of your lap as you do so, standing beside Yoongi, regarding you with a wise gaze.
“Follow me…” He commands, leaving the room, insuring that he doesn’t move to quickly.
Yoongi leads you through the den and, out through the backdoor. You’re expecting to feel the cool crisp air of the morning but, instead you enter another room, entirely enclosed by glass windows. Sunlight streams through the trees and, cast leaf-shaped shadows on marble countertops. The room is beautiful and, like the other parts of Yoongi’s cottage, the perimeter of the room is also covered in greenery. It seemed to grow out of the walls.
“Sit…” He nods to the stool in front of the counter, before stepping around it and, retrieving a few things from his ice box.
You don’t comment about his bossiness, although at some point, you definitely plan on mentioning it. You’re not a fan of being told what to do but, you decide that the nicer you are to Yoongi, the more he will be willing to tell you.
“Your cottage is beautiful…” You murmur softly, eyes scanning the ceiling once again, feeling very much like you are in some sort of fairy tale.
Yoongi is getting to work on some sort of pastry, long, nimble fingers beginning to kneed and, stretch at some dough. He doesn’t look up from his current task but, you can see his lips twitch again, “Flattery will get you nowhere with me human…”
At this you roll your eyes, propping your chin against your hand, “I’m being serious. I’ve never seen anything like this before; we don’t have plants growing out of our ceilings back in the village…”
“Eat…” He commands, pushing a plate towards you, complete with some sort of puff pastry along with freshly cut berries and, a dusting of powdered sugar.
How the…
“Wait, how did you_”
He cuts you off, brows rising to challenge you, “Are you going back on our agreement?”
“N-No I just…” You defend, completely bewildered at how quickly he just made your breakfast
“Then do as you promised. I will hear your questions after you’re finished…”
His tone never leaves much room for discussion and, you have to consciously remind yourself not to retaliate.
He is starting to infuriate you…
You merely nod though, saving all your quips for later as you dig into the food he prepared.
The breakfast is delicious and, you don’t realize how hungry you are until you take your first bite.
“Where am I right now?” You ask as Yoongi dumps your dirty dishes in the sink, your burning curiosity becoming too much to handle.
Yoongi sighs through his nose, wiping his hands on a linen towel before turning to you, “That’s a very complicated question…”
He regards you with a sage gaze and, you note that despite him looking around your age, you couldn’t help but feel that he was centuries older than you.
“I’m listening…”
“Let me ask a question first…” He wages and as you begin to protest, he silences you with his raised hand, “It’s important…”
“Fine…”
“Who gave you the map?” He inquires, pulling the scrap of paper out of his pants pocket, which is odd considering you know for a fact that’s he’s changed clothes since yesterday morning.
“My grandfather…he says he’s been here before…” You explain, eyeing the map between his fingers, “He says you saved his life…”
At your second comment, Yoongi cocks his head, “Did he give you any further details?”
“You still haven’t answered my question…” You point out, growing frustrated once again.
He sighs, lowering his hand to place the map on the counter, his dark eyes flitting around the room, “My house cannot be found by just anyone, I have it hidden underneath a veil, a protection spell. If you’re grandfather found my cottage, it would be because he possessed certain…abilities.”
Yoongi’s answer surprises you, your brow furrows, “What kind of abilities?”
He shrugs, not looking directly at you, his fingers picking at the edges of the map, “It can be any number of things but, regardless, if he did in fact, find my cottage, he must have done so using a spell…”
“Would the map have been useless to me then?” You press, your curiosity overflowing, the eagerness to ask another question hot on your tongue.
Yoongi nods, a smirk playing on his lips, “This map is nonsense, if you would have continued to follow it, you would have ended up back in your village.”
You lean back, confusion painting your features, “What? That’s impossible, he was planning on following it himself to come and find you…”
“Well, either your grandfather never found my cottage in the first place or,” He regards you with a satisfied expression, delighting in your confusion, “…he left out the wrong map.”
It hits you then; your grandfather fooled you. He knew you wouldn’t sit idly by whilst he essentially walked to his death. He knew that you were just the right amount of stubborn to enter the forest in his place, he knew…
“Bastard,” You curse him but, you have to admit, you’re hurt by this conclusion. Why would he knowingly lead you in the wrong direction? Why wouldn’t he stop you if he knew you were going in his place? “Why would he do that?”
Yoongi’s smirk has grown significantly and, you’re starting to grow uneasy at the thought of Yoongi actually being evil.
“What is your grandfather’s name?”
A deep breath is pulled through your nose, “Y/GF/N…he said you saved him as a boy, when he almost drowned in the river. He told my village that he came back to find you, to thank you…”
Yoongi seems to perk up at your response, “I remember him…clever boy.”
The man before you looked as though he was your age but, given the fact that he knew your grandfather when he was just a child, something isn’t adding up. This leads you to your next question, “How old are you?”
His mouth twitches, “It’s impolite to ask someone their age Y/N…”
Your brows rise in defiance, your patience paper thin, “My grandfather is 71, you should have aged significantly since then but, you haven’t, you look as though your my age.” A pointed look is sent his way, “You said you would answer my questions...”
Yoongi chuckles at your eagerness, fangs peeking out from under his top lip, his eyes darkening as they finally look into yours, “Seven hundred and twenty seven…”
Your eyes widen your heart dropping into your stomach as you try to respond calmly, “So, you’re a vampire?”
Yoongi snorts, face wrinkled in disgust, “Heavens no. Vampires are awful creatures, dreadfully unrefined…”
“Then, what are you?”
A scowl is beginning to make its way onto Yoongi’s face as he is beginning to grow irritated by your tone, “I am beyond your scope of understanding…human.”
He spits the last word, as if it’s meant to insult you and, you can sense the tension in the room. You know you have to dial it back if you want answers so you nod, conceding with his answer.
“Fair enough. What attacked me in the forest?”
He seems to relax slightly at your change in subject, “The creatures in the forest, the ones that are responsible for the disappearances of your people…they are the remains of an unaligned spell gone wrong. They feed off of organic energy and, slowly drain the life of their victims. Humans are their primary prey but, they feed off of larger animals as well…when the pickings are slim.”
You rest your chin on your hand, intrigued, “How powerful are they?”
“They are powerful enough to compel your people into the forest but, they don’t stand a chance against light, whether that be sunlight or aligned magic…”
“Aligned magic?”
“Magic that aligns with basic morals, magic that doesn’t seek to harm others or exploit the natural order of the world…” Yoongi explains, the timbre in his voice almost soothing as he continues, “The creatures are known as The Nahbbun, or the vicious but, they have been called many names over the course of history…”
“Do they exist outside of our forest?”
He shakes his head, “Not in this magnitude. A tainted space may contain a few of them but, this forest in particular, contains thousands of them…”
A shiver runs down your spine then but, you can’t help your desire to learn more, “Because of the spell that was performed here?”
He nods sagely, “The person responsible was exceedingly powerful; this level of darkness cannot be contained…”
Attempting to take in all of the new information, you pause for a moment, collecting your thoughts. You notice that Yoongi looks, almost, defeated, as if the information he shared burdened him somehow.
“What happened to the others? My people have never returned once they are lost.” You shift your tone to a gentler one, trying to ease into touchier subjects.
Yoongi stiffens, “Your people are typically conjured away from my cottage and, I can only sense them if they breach my perimeter. Even if I have managed to intervene, they often slip out in the middle of the night…there have been very few I have been able to save…”
“You saved me…” You point, eyes much softer as you sense his genuine regret.
“Yes, well,” He coughs, looking away from you momentarily, “I suppose I did…that is unless you plan on sneaking out in the middle of the night.”
Smiling, you reach out towards him and, resist the urge to giggle as he flinches slightly, “Thank you…for saving me and, for saving my grandfather all those years ago.”
His expression shifts again and, if you’re not mistaken, you can see a bit of softness in his eyes but, he quickly composes himself as he waves you off, “Has your curiosity been sated for now? You have kept me held up for quite some time…”
It’s only been ten minutes or so since this conversation began but, you don’t want to risk Yoongi shutting you off all together so you nod and offer one last sentiment, “I wouldn’t have come here…if I didn’t think it was my only option. I’m sorry for all the trouble…”
A smile threatens Yoongi’s mouth, “You’re the least of my burdens human, don’t worry yourself on my behalf. Focus on healing so, you may return home, I can imagine your grandfather is very worried…”
You nod, making your way off of the stool, “Thank you for breakfast…”
He nods back at you, his lips pursed in an odd sort of smile, “I’ll prepare dinner for you at sunset…”
You smirk to yourself as you head out of the kitchen, “Sounds romantic…”
At your comment, Yoongi rolls his eyes, a minor sense of dread overcoming him as he feels his cheeks heating up at your comment “Don’t be ridiculous…”
He hears your giggle right before the door swings shut behind you and, he does his best to ignore the way the sound warms his heart.
“Humans are dreadful…” He grumbles to himself as he attempts to soothe the redness of his cheeks. At his comment, Meow, who had been listening in, meows at his feet, gold eyes looking up at him knowingly.
“Quiet…” He hushes down at him before heading out of the kitchen and, quickly making his way upstairs to his room.
Yoongi leaves the cottage that night after you fall asleep. The two of you had a relatively pleasant dinner which consisted of an exquisite plate of pasta Yoongi made, or uh, conjured from scratch and, cinnamon teacake for dessert. The conversation was scarce as Yoongi really doesn’t enjoy talking but, he responded when necessary and, kept his sarcastic comments to a minimum.
Which is honestly all you can ask for.
The evening ended as soon as it began as Yoongi was very eager to get you to fall asleep so, he could do whatever it was that he did after the sun set. However, you had yet to sleep a full night in Yoongi’s house.
Something always seems to wake you in the middle of the night.
You are currently huddled up on his sofa bed underneath a thick woolen blanket when you hear the faint sound of meowing that seemed to be coming from above you. Yoongi’s cat is clearly not pleased with the fact that he’s disappeared.
The cottage isn’t as inviting when you’re in it alone, in fact, the howling wind just outside of the walls, makes an uneasy feeling settle in your stomach. The scraping of the tree branches against the cottage’s exterior startles you momentarily before, you take a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself. Meow continues uh meowing upstairs, the sound growing louder and louder. You’re beginning to wonder if something is wrong with him.
Maybe Yoongi forgot to feed him?
Another howl from the top of the stairs sends you stumbling off of the sofa and towards the noise. The floorboards creak beneath you as you approach the seemingly never-ending spiral staircase.
“Kitty? Are you ok?” You call your voice unstable.
Silence.
With a furrowed brow, you place a foot on the bottom step, your eyes squinting as they peer upwards into darkness, “Meow? Come here kitty…it’s ok, Yoongi will be home soon…”
The silence is deafening and, you feel that familiar sinking feeling in your stomach. The wind beyond the cottage walls seems to halt as the hair on the back of your neck stands up.
“You…uh you don’t have to be scared ok? I don’t want to hurt you…I just want to make sure you’re ok…”
You hear it then, the sound that makes your blood run cold: an insidious almost childlike giggle sounds from the top of the stairs and, you step back immediately, feeling threatened by the sound.
“Oh, little human…it’s not me who should be scared…” The angelic cadence of the voice contrasts against the clear threat in its words.
You feel the need to run but, you’re frozen stiff with fear, “Wh-who’s there? Who are you?”
Another burst of giggles echoes throughout the cottage and, you desperately wish that the floor would swallow you whole.
“You know my name…”
“I..I don’t know your name, I…” You pause then, realization washing over you, “Wait. Meow? Is that you?”
The giggle you hear now is much less threatening but, the movement in the darkness still keeps you on guard, “Yoongi gave me that name out of spite. Personally, I would have chosen something much more endearing…”
Your hand is placed on the bannister as you desperately try to spot him, “I don’t understand…aren’t you his cat? How are you able to speak?”
Meow snickers, tickled by your lack of knowledge, “Don’t you remember Yoongi warning you that I wasn’t a cat. Silly human, you really should pay better attention…”
You do remember Yoongi saying something of the sort but, you had dismissed it as him choosing to be difficult.
“Then, what are you?”
Footsteps echo at the top of the stairs, light and delicate, as if someone is tip-toeing their way towards you. It makes your heart pound in anticipation.
A man appears halfway down the stairs, causing a gasp to leave your mouth. He’s roughly the same size as Yoongi, with the same raven-colored hair atop his head, except there is a bit of orange peeking through. He, like Yoongi, possesses a quality that you can’t quite pin point along with an otherworldly amount of beauty. His features are much softer however, his pink lips plump and turned up in a playful smirk, his eyes heavy with mischief, his body sporting a minimum amount of clothing.
“I am beyond your scope of understanding human…” The man deepens his voice, clearly mimicking Yoongi’s words before he bursts into another fit of giggles, “What a ridiculous thing to say…”
Your words seem to stop in the base of your throat, unable to comprehend what exactly is going on.
“You’re…uh, you’re…” You’re truly making an attempt to speak but, nothing seems to be coming out. The man notices and takes pleasure in your flustered state, another giggle leaving his lips.
“What’s the matter Y/N? Cat got your tongue?” He winks and, you swear you feel like you’re going to faint.
You thought Yoongi had managed to balance being both beautiful and threatening but, this man seems to take the cake as far as duality is concerned.
“If you’re not Yoongi’s cat, then who are you?”
Meow cocks his head, the moonlight streaming in through the window illuminating his naked top half as his hand comes up to push his hair back. It’s almost as if he is intentionally trying to distract you.
“I am…a friend of Yoongi’s…” He begins, turning his gaze towards yours as he slowly starts to descend down the staircase, “We’ve known each other for quite some time…”
You step back, still on guard, already growing impatient with a lack of answers, “A friend of Yoongi’s, who just so happens to shape shift into a cat…”
Another giggle, a few more steps, Meow is getting closer to you, “Mhm. You’re growing frustrated aren’t you? I can taste it…”
“I’m growing tired of a lack of answers…” You counter, trying to hold your ground as he approaches you.
Meow smirks, his pupils dilating to the point of vertical slits and, you can’t decide if he looks more like a cat or a snake.
“Ooh she wants answers does she? You’re quite nosy Y/N…I like that about you.” His tone is shifting to a slightly more sultry tone as he leans against the bannister. “However…I don’t give away anything for free…answers come with a price.”
You don’t back down and instead, stand up straighter, “Name your price then.”
His cat like grin grows, his eyes scanning over you slowly, drinking you in, “It’s nothing major…just a taste…”
“A taste of what…”
Meow’s eyes darken, “Of you…”
You back away, all of the alarms signaling in your body, preparing to run.
The man before bursts into another round of giggling, his head falling back as he braces against the bannister, “I’m only kidding. Goodness, you’re so wound up, if Yoongi had any sense in him, he’d be requesting to heal you in other ways, to ease your tension. It’s certainly the route I would take…”
A shaky breath leaves you as you glare at him, “What are you?”
Meow’s laughter dies down, however, his smirk remains, “Your people have many names for me…”
Your brows rise, conveying that you are searching for a concrete answer and, Meow concedes, turning to the side to reveal his bare ribs to you. Squinting, you can see that he has a several black marks adorning his skin. You don’t recognize the language but, just before you inquire about them, Meow speaks up again.
“Siren…” He practically whispers the word, a delighted grin on his face, “Do you know the meaning of the word?”
Siren.
You’ve heard the term from many of the sailors who reside in your village, they told stories of beautiful women luring their men to the ocean with their song before, devouring them whole. It was easy to dismiss their stories as drunken banter so; you never paid too much attention. However, you nod at Meow’s question, “Yes, sailors from my village have told stories containing that word…you don’t exactly match their description.”
Another twinkling giggle, “We take whatever form we need to…human men are the easiest targets.”
“Is that…” You pause, biting your lip, “Is that why you’re here with Yoongi? To prey on him?”
“Mm I wish. He would be a delicious meal,” Meow muses, “but no, I am bound to Yoongi until I have paid my karmic toll…”
“Karmic toll? What do you mean?
“I was a very naughty boy when I was alive Y/N…” Meow giggles, biting his puffy bottom lip, “ and an accumulation of bad karma is keeping me from entering Paradise. My soul was assigned to Yoongi for…correction.”
Your stomach sinks, “You’re dead? Wait, if you’re dead then how can I-“
He cuts you off, “Ah yes, Yoongi and I were wondering the same thing…it seems as though you possess ‘the sight’.”
“The sight?” You breathe, growing rather eager as you finally receive some answers to your burning questions.
“Yes, it is believed that there are a select group of humans who have inherited the ability to see things beyond their mortal world. It’s a rather uncommon occurrence; personally, I’ve never encountered a human who could see me in my true form.” Meow stretches his arms high above his head, not unlike a cat, making a small noise at the back of his throat.
“Is this,” You gesture to him, “your true form?”
He chuckles, nodding, a sense of pride washing over him, “It is, lucky me right? Although, I often take the form of what my prey desires the most. However, with you, my true form seems to align quite well with your desires…”
Your cheeks grow hot at his comment, your heart rate increasing slightly, “Can you still harm me when you’re dead?”
A wide grin presents himself on Meow’s mouth, “What makes you think I’d be interested in harming you?”
“Well referring to me as prey is quite a big tell Meow, what else would you have me think?”
The grin never falters as he steps towards you, hungry gaze drinking in the sight of you, “I only kill when I have to feed and, I only play with those who come willingly…I’m not completely deranged.”
“You…eat people?”
He snickers, “No, silly girl, I consume their soul…”
His response doesn’t shock you but, as your brain connects his statement with a familiar statement from Yoongi, you begin to grow nervous.
“I prefer the taste of their soul…it’s much sweeter…”
You pull at the sleeves of your sweater in an attempt to comfort yourself, feeling rather faint, “Yoongi mentioned consuming human souls…is he a siren too?”
Meow pouts his lips, “Hmph no, he’d be much less of a bore if he was…he is something else entirely. My people have no name for him but…” Meow trails off cat-like eyes scanning the perimeter of the room, as if he were afraid of someone overhearing him, “I can tell you this, he is one of the very few creatures we sirens fear and, if I were you, I would watch my neck around him…”
Meow’s words strike fear into your heart but, before you can respond, the sound of a familiar voice sounds throughout the room.
“Jimin!” Yoongi barks, his tone sharp and unrelenting with a glare to match.
Jimin?
Meow giggles before you before disappearing with a light thud, shifting back into his cat form and, scurrying up the staircase.
“Vile creature! Have you learned nothing???” Yoongi shouts at the ceiling, fists clenching at his sides, anger radiating off of him.
Meow or Jimin’s laughter echoes against the walls of Yoongi’s cottage and you shrink away from the volume of his voice.
Yoongi’s glare flits over to you, scanning your figure, “Did he hurt you?”
You shake your head, backing away from him, “No…he…”
He cuts you off with a raise of his hand, irritation heavy in his voice, “What did I tell about proper sleep? What are you doing awake? The remedy I gave you should have been enough to keep you asleep until sunrise…”
Why was he laying into you? You did nothing wrong, in fact, it’s you who should be laying into him, demanding answers yet again.
“Well I’m sorry but, your demon cat woke me up….” You spit the words, feeling furious at all of the ambiguity, “And then, proceeded to tell me that he was dead and paying for his sins, that included CONSUMING HUMAN SOULS! WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU LEAVE ME ALONE WITH HIM?”
Yoongi stiffens at the tone of your voice, his anger at an all-time high, “Watch your tone mortal, I won’t be disrespected in my own home…”
“Tell me who you are…” You seethe your fight or flight response clearly ready to do the former.
Yoongi steps towards you, the power within him ebbing and flowing against his body, his black pupils slowly taking over the entirety of his eyes, “I don’t owe you an explanation…”
You back away slightly but, stand your ground, eyes narrowed in his direction, “Jimin said you were something to fear, he said to watch my neck around you. You owe me enough to ensure that you aren’t going to kill me…”
He smirks, his eyes entirely vacant of color, “Jimin was correct. I suggest you heed his warning.”
Despite the raging tempo of your heartbeat, you puff your chest out, taking a step in Yoongi’s direction.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Yoongi’s breath can be felt against your face, his lips, wet and almost lingering against yours, “Really? Then why is your heart sputtering in your chest hm? Why does your body tremble in my presence?”
There is something stirring within the pit of your stomach that you don’t recognize but, your anger overshadows it.
“What. Are. You?” You press again, ignoring his other questions.
His eyes seem to glimmer momentarily, a color flashing across the surface, his sizeable hands bracing against the wall behind you, trapping your body. Yoongi leans in and, for a moment you think he’s going to kiss you but, his lips make a detour over to your ear instead. Your heart is practically in your throat and, the odd sensation grows stronger and stronger within you. Yoongi’s lips brush over the shell of your ear, whispering a language you don’t recognize,
“Sleep now human, before your mouth gets you in trouble…”
Darkness envelops you and your body goes limp, causing Yoongi’s arms to come out and catch you.
------------------------------------------------------
“Human…” A low voice rumbles beside you, slowly pulling you from your unconscious state.
You know the voice but, the fog in your brain can’t quite place it, the only thing you can feel is a dull throbbing your temples.
“Y/N…”
It was Yoongi.
Your eyes pop open, immediately on guard, your hazy vision noting that Yoongi was sitting on the arm chair beside the sofa.
A white blouse adorned his top half, the ties loosened, exposing his chest, his hair damp, suggesting that he had just bathed.
You sit up slowly, back away from his figure, “What did you do to me?”
He rolls his eyes, “I subdued you. You were getting out of control…”
“You drugged me? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Yoongi scoffs, a smirk playing on his lips, “I didn’t use any drugs, don’t be ridiculous. You were being unreasonable; I merely helped you fall back asleep...”
The frustration you’ve been feeling returns quickly but, the way Yoongi spoke to you, always dismissing you, made defeat spark in your heart.
His brows rise, challenging you, “Are you going to behave now?”
However, this comment ignites the fire within you once more and, your eyes shoot up to lock onto his.
“Are you going to tell me who you are?”
Yoongi can’t help but chuckle, your frustration beginning to amuse him.
“No.”
The fire is hotter now and, you have to resist the urge to reinstate your argument.
“Then no,” You smirk, ensuring that the venom is present in your voice, “I’m not going to behave.”
Yoongi feels something brewing in his body but, he does his best to ignore it. Although, there is something about the authority in your voice that gets to him.
“You are peculiar you know that? Provoking me, disregarding my boundaries, do you not value your life at all?” He leans back against the back of the chair, dark eyes scanning your face.
“I don’t value my life over another. Finding the truth could ensure the safety of my people…” You retort, the two of you locking eyes, palpable tension beginning to rise.
“I’ve told you the truth human…”
“You’ve told me part of the story,” You counter, nodding to him, your confidence growing slightly as Yoongi’s resolve tends to break.
“Why are you so curious? The part that I told you is the only part that pertains to your people, the rest is-”
He pauses, breathing out through his nose, breaking the gaze between the two of you.
Emotion flutters in your heart, your eyes turning their attention towards the tree branches that brush against the window pane.
“Yoongi…” Your voice is gentler now, trying to reason with him, “ …my parents died in this forest. They were explorers and, made it their life’s work to unlock its secrets. I don’t want their work to be in vain, please…maybe I can help you, maybe if more people knew the truth, we’d be able to stop the darkness...”
As you revert your eyes back to his, you notice he’s sporting a disgusted expression, an expression that doesn’t reach his eyes.
“You are naïve human, naïve and foolish. Just like your parents…” Yoongi’s words cut like knives, slicing through your exterior and, tearing you to pieces. “I have searched for centuries and, have yet to find a solution; you would be useless to me, knowing the rest of the story wouldn’t change that…”
That’s it then.
Your heart sinks, your face flushes and, the tightening in your throat is unbearable.
Standing shakily to your feet, you sniffle, trying to keep the tears at bay before looking up at Yoongi, “Maybe you should have left me in the forest Yoongi, since I’m so useless…”
He watches you rush out of the den, his chest aching at the sight of your sadness and, he suddenly regrets every word he said.
His defense was too strong this time, he took it too far.
Yoongi’s words are caught in his throat as he ignores his desire to run after you and, he curses himself for being so hard-headed sometimes. “Wow Min that was harsh, even for you…” Jimin appears at the bottom of the stairs, smirking, his tongue licking over his pointy teeth.
Yoongi sends a glare his way, “Do not refer to me so casually, Siren or I will ensure you never enter Paradise...”
Jimin falters slightly but, presses him further, snickering quietly, “Apologies, my lord. I am merely confused; if you hate this human so much, why not consume her? I imagine her soul would be...divine...”
Yoongi feels his blood boil over, “Because, unlike you, I’m not a degenerate...”
Jimin chuckles darkly, stepping off the final step, “Why do you hate her so much? She is one of the better humans I’ve encountered…quite beautiful too…”
Yoongi feels a pull in his stomach as he mentions your beauty, something about the way Jimin was speaking of you made him uncomfortable.
Although Jimin, in general, often made him uncomfortable.
“I don’t hate her…” Yoongi mutters, pushing himself off of the couch, wishing to retire to his room, alone.
Jimin steps in front of him, mischief in his eyes, “You’re attracted to her aren’t you?”
Another tug in Yoongi’s stomach puts him further on the defensive and, pushes past Jimin to get to the staircase.
“Siren, I won’t tell you again…” Yoongi warns, venom in his tone, “…stay in line, or I will eternalize your sentence…”
This threat does a number on Jimin’s desire to pester and, rather than risk feeling Yoongi’s wrath, he shuts his mouth and, disappears into a thin mist.
As Yoongi reaches his chamber, he strips himself down to his undergarments and crawls under his duvet. He pulls the fabric completely over his head in a futile attempt to drown out his chaotic thinking, beyond frustrated with himself.
He shouldn’t have spoken to you that way, he knows that.
He knows that Jimin, however infuriating, wasn’t completely wrong in his assumptions.
You do…intrigue him.
He knows that you have good intentions; he can sense your purity.
He knows that you possess something you don’t quite understand; the fact that you could see Jimin proves that.
He knows that you have a strong moral code, one that isn’t easily manipulated, despite his best efforts.
He knows that you’re argumentative, impatient and, passionate.
However, he doesn’t understand you completely; he doesn’t understand how you manage to rattle his carefully crafted resolve.
He doesn’t understand why he wants to protect you.
Or why he finds you so endearing…
So enchanting…
Despite spending his life being feared, Yoongi finds himself completely and utterly terrified for the first time.
Terror aside, he knows what he has to do.
He has to tell you that your grandfather lied to you.
He has to tell you that not everything is as it seems.
He has to tell you the truth.
#softyoongiionly#sub-bts-network#btswriterscollective#bts#yoongi#yoongi bts#min yoongi#min yoongi bts#demon! yoongi#witch! yoongi#supernatural! yoongi#bts supernatural au#min yoongi fluff#min yoongi smut#yoongi fluff#yoongi smut#yoongi x reader#jimin#jungkook#hoseok#namjoon#seokjin#taehyung#vampire! yoongi#vampire! bts#min yoongi fics#yoongi fics#yoongi fic recs#bts fics#smutcentralnet
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Okay folks, I am all caught up with Tokyo Mew Mew Au Lait chapters 1-3 and Tokyo Mew Mew 2020 Re-Turn chapters 1 and 2 so I am Doing A Thing! Buckle up, bitches!
MASSIVE SPOILERS IF YOU’RE WAITING FOR THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH RELEASES (whenever the hell those will be). Thanks to @berrychanx, @hikayagami, and @ribbonstrawberrysurprise for the scans, English translation, and hard work putting the translation onto the manga so neatly.
LEADERS
MOMOMIYA ICHIGO AND SHIBUYA AOI
Honestly this is the biggest difference between the 2020 Re-Turn reboot/original series and the magical boy tribute. Aoi is in no way like Ichigo once you get past that they’ve both been injected with Iriomote cat DNA. Whereas Ichigo is cheery and bubbly and cute, Aoi is withdrawn, suffers from low self confidence, and sort of breaks the fourth wall during nearly every fight, freaking out at how catchphrases and such just seem to burst forth from him after he transforms. (It’s honestly a funny highlight.) Their respective crushes are also treated differently, with Aoi falling hard for Anzu (though of course saying nothing) almost immediately, almost a love at first sight sort of deal, and Ichigo already having this crush on this boy when we start vanilla TMM and already deeply committed to him in the reboot. In civilian form, (using vanilla Ichigo here, it’s not fair to compare Aoi to 2020 “been a magical girl for years” Ichigo), Aoi is a lot more unsure of himself, and seems almost to be in this Mew Mew thing for Anzu, whereas Ichigo immediately had a “I’ll do my best” acceptance mindset from the start. (Both freak out over their cat ears appearing at random moments, even Ichigo in the 2020 reboot, and I think I can finally give poor Aoi a point over Ichigo here. It makes him uncomfortable but he just wears a hoodie and hopes no one notices. It makes Ichigo freak out more lol.)
THE LOVE INTEREST / DUNGEON NAVI / SECONDARY PROTAGONIST
AOYAMA MASAYA, HINATA ANZU, SHIROGANE RYOU
Anzu is a precious peach and she occupies such a weird role here that I almost couldn’t make her a neat little graphic. She doesn’t fit neatly into a “oh, they’re a genderbent so and so” like nearly everyone else, and it’s fascinating. On the one hand, several panels in the first chapter of Au Lait make it clear that the writers are setting her up to be Aoi’s love interest. Every magical girl anime has a love interest, so why wouldn’t a magical boy manga? But that’s where she diverges. Unlike Masaya, who is a very clear tribute to Sailor Moon’s Tuxedo Mask (with the exception that he’s a cute bean as a civilian, he’s nearly the same person. No past, gets kidnapped, magical form to protect the magical girl, evil form to fight the magical girl [this happened in PGSM, and he’s been brainwashed several times]), who has always been a secondary character, Anzu actually starts the Au Lait manga. She wasn’t even featured on the promo images, so when I opened the first chapter in a zip file I thought I’d downloaded the wrong one. My rudimentary Japanese confirmed I hadn’t, but I was like “well who tf is this chick?” I waited for an English translation to be sure and yup - Anzu is being treated almost like a secondary protagonist. Well that’s new. It’s as if the Au Lait writers smashed together the characters of Ryou and Masaya and named their love child Hinata Anzu. She’s intelligent, she knows more about this project than she should, and, like Ryou in vanilla, she’s out and about and helping the boys, not just as a civilian, but in every battle. She doesn’t have powers (that we know of), but her smarts and knowledge of animals have served them well time and again. Au Lait seems more like, as one reader put it, Anzu And The Dork Squad than Aoi’s team.
Masaya in 2020 Re-Turn is adorable. He is at odds with Quiche over Ichigo (or more like, he dislikes just how much Quiche likes Ichigo), and in a moment of panic he uses his leftover remnants of Deep Blue’s power to... change his clothes. I’m not sure what actually happened there. (Note: Thanks ribbonstrawberrysurprise: Deep Blue manifested to float the chimera anima/train and its passengers to safety.) But I love that he was so concerned for Ichigo, who at that moment desperately needed help, that the being who created his body and didn’t like Ichigo wanted to protect her. Ryou was his standoffish self, but even he seemed to have a hint of a lingering crush. He organized a party for the Mews and then took over in cafe duties so Ichigo could meet her man at the airport, unable to quiiiiite meet her eye while saying so. I always did like Ryou/Ichigo.
THE SASSY RICH BITCH
AIZAWA MINTO AND YOYOGI SHIZUKA
First of all: SAILOR JUPITER TAUGHT ME THAT PINK EQUALS FLOWER HURRICANES AND CAN I JUST SAY THAT I AM DISAPPOINTED AS FUCK THAT SHIZUKA ISN’T PLANT BASED AND CAN’T DO FLOWER HURRICANES THAT IS ALL.
Admit it. When we saw the promo image, we assumed certain things. One of those things turned out to be true: Aoi would be the Iriomote cat, because of course he would be Ichigo’s counterpart. Shizuka is wearing glasses, and his costume had the little tail, which meant he must have been a fish or a marine mammal and therefore Retasu’s counterpart, right? RIGHT. But also very, very wrong, my friends. Shizuka is indeed water based like Retasu - he’s an Amazon river dolphin (the pink ones!) - and that’s where all his similarities to our gentle green girl end. Instead of making everyone exactly the same but gender flipped, Au Lait is going in a slightly different direction, and I really like it. Shizuka is actually the most similar to our resident princess Minto! They both attend prestigious elite schools and generally act better than everyone else, but the real gem here is their interactions with their leaders. Shizuka has some truly snappy one-liners - such as discovering Ryuusei (”that’s the power of an idiot”) - and his reactions to Aoi are gold. He considers himself a genius, and indeed he’s very intelligent according to Natsume (and his school seems to be for smart people, it’s not prestigious for music or anything like that), and he makes little quips at Aoi all the time about how Aoi isn’t. I could totally see him spending an entire shift reading a book at Cafe Mew Mew while Aoi does all the work, only for him to stand up and someone to scream “HOLY CRAP, SHIZUKA’S UP, SHIT’S ABOUT TO GO DOWN.”
Minto is also full of snappy quips at Ichigo in the reboot, mostly about how Ichigo should handle the biggest, strongest enemies since she’s the leader, and can’t Ichigo even keep them in place so Minto can shoot them down? (And yeah, someone totally said the above comment ^ when Minto stood up at Cafe Mew Mew.) Minto was always one of my favorite characters, and I love that we saw a lot of close ups of her in the reboot, and that she seemed to be second in command.
THE CHILD
FONG PURIN AND KANDA RYUUSEI
Oh my god these two. I refuse to believe they aren’t related. I know Purin is Chinese but you cannot take this headcanon from me.
Purin is my favorite character in OG Mew Mew and Ryuusei claimed my heart the second I saw the Au Lait promo. NEITHER OF THEM DISAPPOINTED ME, I AM SO IN LOVE.
While I WILL say that I in no way care for Mew Pudding’s redesign (I hate literally everything about it. I miss her jumpsuit. I hate the little pigtails at the top of her head. I hate the ribbon. At least she still has her fingerless gloves), I love that she got an entire panel of just her being badass. She stood in the middle of some train tracks, facing a runaway speeding train chimera anima, with that ^ fucking look on her face, and was like “where you going, na no da?” Purin from like, ten years ago wouldn’t have done that. She has matured so much, but she’s still the young, goofy little acrobat monkey who provides for her tea-themed siblings (who criminally do not make an appearance) and I just love her so fucking much, you guys.
RYUUSEI. Guys. He’s an idiot. Oh my god. He’s a cute lovable idiot. “What’s a gomodo dragon? What’s a kodomo dragon? What’s a condo dragon and why does it need a house?” Anzu was in love with him for like five seconds until she learned he’s a dumbass, and Aoi was jealous as fuck, and no one ever told him what his damn animal was, and I laughed my ass off through his entire last couple pages. He also had his jacket hand embroidered with the kanji for dragon, BUT IT’S MISSPELLED. It’s missing a stroke! XD
Ryuusei is the KOMODO dragon (which is Anzu’s favorite animal), and komodos are badass. He also either always had weird animal powers, or just never noticed that he suddenly got super smell. Komodo dragons, by the way, can track their prey for literally MILES by smell alone, for DAYS. It’s absolutely terrifying (thank you for the nightmares, Wild Thornberries), and Au Lait made it fucking comical. I can’t even. HE CAN SMELL THE RED DATA ANIMAL ON PEOPLE. I love it. He’s super strong and super cute, apparently lives with his grandparents, and is Purin’s counterpart in every single way, except I think SHE might be more mature than him. I love him. He is my baby.
Yellow is my favorite color and yellow never disappoints.
THE FAMOUS
FUJIWARA ZAKURO AND ROPPONGI AYATO
Zakuro had next to no presence in the reboot. She occasionally made some panels look pretty. She twice had a half page to herself, one per chapter. I am sad. I love my wolf lesbian. In semi-related news, I feel I have solved the mystery of Zakuro’s red data animal, something that has plagued the TMM community for years. The grey wolf is not endangered at all, yet Zakuro is injected with one, right? I read somewhere (either in a TMM blog or a conservation blog) that there is a subspecies of grey wolf that IS critically endangered. I believe it’s the Mexican grey wolf? I headcanon she was injected with DNA specifically from a Mexican grey wolf.
Moving on. In Chapter 3 (which was a DELIGHT), we met Ayato. Chapter 3 was the most frustrating chapter because let me tell you, Au Lait marks the first time I have ever read a manga chapter by chapter as it was being released in Japan. So I’m waiting Nakayoshi to publish the chapter, then I’m waiting for someone to scan Nakayoshi, then I’m waiting for someone to translate it, over and over and over, and omg I can’t believe this is what people DO. I’ve waited for full volumes before, but CHAPTERS? This is torture. Ayato, I haven’t had enough TIME with you!
Ayato seems to be an actor (in a really... really weird stage play), and has very few lines in his first appearance. I’m not sure what I make of him. He says about six sentences, which is actually a lot for a character introduced on a cliffhanger, but... I can’t decide if he’s said them in a mysterious Sailors Neptune and Uranus way or a flamboyant Sohma Ayame way. I ALSO DON’T KNOW WHAT ANIMAL HE IS AND I AM VERY ANGRY. BB Ryuusei said he smells like yakitori (a type of grilled chicken), which confirms he’s a bird. But. WHICH BIRD, DAMNIT?
CHAPTER FOUR WHERE ARE YOU?
THE FUNDING
AKASAKA KEIICHIRO, HINATA NATSUME, SHIROGANE RYOU
Hello again, Ryou! The boys here were wallpaper (though cute wallpaper) in the reboot. Natsume is 100% a troll. I love her. She admits in chapter 3 she literally just injected hot boys for her Mew Mew project. Even Ryou wasn’t that blunt. I mean, if you gotta save Earth and stare at people while you do it, they better be cute, right?
IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL THE FANDOM
MIDORIKAWA RETASU, SHIRAYUKI BERII, AKAI RINGO
Aside from her two half panels as a Mew Mew per chapter, this is the only good cap of Retasu as a civilian in the reboot. D: I believe Hiroo Taichi will be her counterpart in Au Lait.
I never liked Berii. There, I said it. She got TWO animals. She was some random newbie and she got to be leader just like that? And she was clueless and dumb and the writing in A La Mode wasn’t great. But I really like 2020 Berii. She’s cute, she seems more rabbit than cat, and she seems more intelligent and less of a blonde Ichigo clone. I don’t know if she’ll have an Au Lait counterpart.
WHERE IS RINGO? THE REBOOT WAS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO PUT HER IN THE STORY FOR REAL AND SHE JUST... WASN’T THERE?! THIS IS BLASPHEMY. RINGO IS THE BEST MEW MEW. BEST GIRL. JUSTICE FOR RINGO.
THE RELATIONSHIPS
MASAYA & ICHIGO VS AOI & ANZU
ZAKURO & MINTO VS AYATO & RYUUSEI
Nearly all of 2020 chapter 1 focused on Ichigo seeing Masaya again. I’m guessing this took place after he left for London. Ichigo left with him after A La Mode, and some time between then and Re-Turn came back to Japan, and now Masaya is back. They are still as lovey as ever, but not as sickeningly cute as Tsukino Usagi and Chiba Mamoru or anything. Phew! Their counterpart in Au Lait seems to Aoi and Anzu. (Look at that height difference! Poor Anzu, her poor neck.) Aoi already has a massive crush on her, but Anzu, bless her, is oblivious.
AND NOW FOR THE GAYS.
I think Zakuro and Minto is probably one of the most popular TMM ships and holy lesbians, Batman, they were well fed with this GORGEOUS panel at the end of chapter 2. Look at it. Zakuro had literally no panels, save for her two intros, to herself, and barely any panels at all in the reboot, and then BA-BAM, this beautiful ending shot. I swear Ikumi did it on purpose. Speaking of gays - is Ayato/Ryuusei the new Zakuro/Minto? Ayato seems to be at least bisexual (he also hit on Anzu), but this was literally his second panel. He is in a (terrible, TERRIBLE) play, and the actors are walking in the audience looking for the villain. Ayato walks into the audience and HITS ON RYUUSEI. His first goddamn words are “Do you want me to keep you, my cute little puppy?” to Ryuusei. He says fuck this acting shit, I see a SNACK. I think I ship it. I think I ship it hard.
THE STORY
*Au Lait is just getting started, so typical magical girl boy anime manga: Let’s find the others! Shenanigans! Some fillers! It’s cute, I love it, go read it.
*2020 Re-Turn is actually REALLY GOOD and chapter 2 reminds me of just how unique Tokyo Mew Mew was and still is among not just magical girl series, but animanga as a whole. Quick, what was the last environmental series you remember? Mine was Captain Planet - in the 90s. Preachy, in your face, after school special about things like pollution and endangered species and littering and honestly it was really cool, but very much a product of its time. Even now, magical girl animanga is still focused on bad guys, but bad guys are generic and represent something created for the series. Here, the bad guys are US, other human beings, who traffic animals, who endanger them, who wreck our planet enough that animals are barely clinging to life. There’s a very poignant scene featuring the adorable snow leopard up there (who’s the secondary protagonist of the reboot) ^, showing his mother being shot and himself being snatched by poachers, and he’s terrified, and has no idea what’s going on or where he is, and Ichigo is terrified for him. We need more series like this - not just of the magical girl genre, but of ALL genres. To make it accessible in this way, for people of all ages, something enjoyable, that people can fangirl over and love and its creators clearly put a lot of love and thought into. We need another Captain Planet, but less preachy, less after school special-y. We don’t want to be like the aliens (who remember, are descendants of humans who fucked up Earth so badly they had to leave it).
Behind all the cute of this manga and its reboot, and its new spinoff, Tokyo Mew Mew has a powerful message that we should all be following. It’s not even subtle. Get yo shit together, peeps.
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Mighty Nein ep. 32
“It’s weird looking at yourself walking towards you. Kinda like playing Resident Evil 1.”
“I tell Frumpkin to drink his milk.” - Matt: *sad cat noises*
“Maybe make some tea and shut the fuck up for one second.” - LOL.
I think Bryce is one of my favourite NPCs of c2 so far... Bryce and Risa, the gnome girl in Hupperdook.
“When you drink tea made of dead people you see things.”
Grog is still the only character to get psychic damage from thinking too hard, but Caduceus is now officially the only character to get a nosebleed from thinking too hard.
That weasel dies first. XD
"Nott now has a full-on Alf dynamic with some of these creatures." - this is gonna end real well. :D
#Nane watches CR#okay so I'll be on mobile for#the next 2 weeks#and it's a big pain in the ass and also my blacklist doesn't work properly#so I might log off for a while
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Beach Reads
When we reviewed Beach Read (by Emily Henry) we were highly disappointed by the little reading that was done at the beach, thus we thought to recommend our own favorites. Whether you read them at the beach, on a bus or sitting at your local coffee shop, we hope you enjoy them!
The Hating Game, by Sally Thorne
Alicia: Personally, one of the tropes I enjoy the most is 'enemies to lovers'. I find it so thrilling, I just can't get enough of it. If you're like me, this book may be for you. Sweet and sexy and perfect to take your mind off things. (Also, apparently there’s a movie adaptation in the making starring Lucy Hale and Robbie Amell, and I really hope it's not going to end up being cancelled because I’m really excited about it now)
Tweet Cute, by Emma Lord
Alicia: This one is more on the teen side, but it's still such a good option if you want something to read that won't make you use your brain too much. It's a really fresh and enjoyable story full of funny tweet wars and an 'enemies to friends to lovers' plot that is so cute and adorable. It's so light and quick to read and if you give it a chance, it may surprise you.
Did I Mention I Love You, by Estelle Maskame
Alicia: This one is somewhat controversial. The main characters are step siblings (no blood relation whatsoever), and some people don't feel comfortable with that, so it's definitely not for everyone. If that's not a problem for you, you may enjoy this series a lot. It's so quick to read and almost addictive. There are three books and a 4th one with a different point of view, so you have a bunch of books to binge-read if you want something light.
The rithmatist, by Brandon Sanderson
Ariadna: If you are a fantasy reader, you sure have heard the name Sanderson at least once. He is one of the masters of the genre, known for his prolific, intertwined worlds and complex magic systems (they make such sense that sometimes you wonder how come they are not real). He usually writes long, rich books, but this one in particular, being directed to a younger audience, is supereasy, superfun to read. In a world where the chosen ones can invoke magic through chalk drawings, Joel, who knows everything that needs to be known about the Rithmatism but has no magic ability whatsoever, and Melody, a terrible Rithmatist student, to win a competition and solve some bigger mysteries. A must-read if you love a good fantasy novel with impeccable worldbuilding.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman
Ariadna: Eleanor Oliphant follows the same exact routine everyday, the same sandwich for lunch, the same cup with the same tea, the same phone call from her mother ever Wednesday... She is so organised and thorough it is borderline sociopathic. But her life will turn upside down the moment she meets Raymond, her work colleague, an unapologetic opposite to her.
This novel is a ray of hope for those who feel weird and mildly left behind in society. I bought it without much expectations, and it surprised me how much you could empathise with such an eccentric character who, in the end, suffers as any of us do. It is full of delicate moments, daydreaming, kindness, pain and unconditional love — a fuzzy and heart-warming novel of self-discovery and overcoming of the past traumas which will leave you feeling optimistic and, somehow, sheltered.
If Only It Were True 1 and 2, by Marc Levy
Ariadna: Lauren is a pretty and successful medical resident working in the Emergency Room of San Francisco Memorial Hospital who suffers a car accident. Arthur, a single, thirty-something architect rents a flat in San Francisco to the family of a girl who is in a coma... And starts seeing her! You may have guessed right, the ghost is none other than Lauren, and together they will go to unimaginable lengths to help Lauren go back to life.
This plot may ring a bell to some. Yes, the movie «Just like Heaven», starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, is based on the first book of this series, so I won’t spoil you the sequel. If you don’t feel like reading a book of a movie you have already seen, I recommend you to read any other book by Marc Levy —a French romance writer whose short novels are full of light-hearted, optimistic relationships and wondrous journeys (both literally and figuratively) to self-discovery. I personally enjoyed The first day and The first night as well as The strange journey of Mr. Daldry.
The Martian, by Andy Weir
Marina: If there’s something I enjoy doing at the beach more than escaping the scorching heat, it’s reading. The Martian is one of those books I could read a hundred times. It has science facts explained for us lesser humans that know nothing about space; whitty and dry humour that makes you put your book down because you’re laughing so hard; and a trip to Mars, what’s there not to like? This astronaut’s diary is the perfect companion for a day of reading at the beach.
If you think this reminds you of something that’s because there’s a movie adaptation starring Matt Damon, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara and Jessica Chastain (it even has a little cameo but I’m not going to spoil who it is) that’s also very entertaining. Though, folks, this is another one for team “The book was better than the movie”.
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, by Joël Dicker
Marina: If you’d prefer a mystery for the ages with flashbacks to the time of the crime, here’s a book for you. Dicker’s debut novel, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair, takes place in New Hampshire when a novell author takes refuge after a (too) long writer’s block to seek inspiration and visit his old mentor. Who so happens to be the main suspect of an old murder case that took place in 1975. A well crafted and fast-paced thriller you can enjoy while tanning ;)
What’s even better, after the success of his first book, Dicker has published more thrillers that have been very well received among fans of the genre.
Stars of Fortune (The Guardians Trilogy #1), by Nora Roberts
Marina: Now, I know what you’re thinking: Nora Roberts only writes romance books, wrong! He has a couple of amazing urban-fantasy sagas that are amazing. One of them is The Guardians trilogy. It takes place in the Mediterranean (this first book begins in Greece) and Ireland. Six people are brought together by the stars to Corfu to find and protect the stars of fortune from evil.
I have to warn you though, this is a Nora Roberts book and there is romance involved. Each book revolves around one of the couples (what, you thought destiny brought together six adults and they wouldn’t end up dating each other?) and their roles in the group.
#beach read#reading#read#review#romance#sci-fi#sci fi#fantasy#love#ya#young adult#goodreads#readers guide to the universe#rg2u#rg2universe#mystery#thriller#chick lit#book#book review#book rec#Book Recommendations#summer#literature
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