#you were clearly feeling some type of way x3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

teeskz · 8 months

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Deja Vu: “I want you so bad.”

» pairing: asshole! wooyoung x fem! reader

» summary: Getting paired with Wooyoung, notorious half-asser and asshole, on your midterm assignment must’ve been karma for something you’ve done in the past, cause god did you luck out bad. He’s constantly late to your meetings, hardly does any work, and on top of that, he teases you like no other. You can’t stand him. Until one day, a storm comes, brewing unfamiliar feelings amongst you two, and what you thought you knew had honestly just turned out to be deja vu.

» word count: ~ 9k (i actually have no idea, i just know it’s long)

» genre & warnings: non-idol au, asshole (most of the time) wooyoung, sub (sometimes) reader, dry humping, grinding, praises, unprotected sex (BAD, DON’T DO IT), rough sex, cream pie, ass & tit slapping, major teasing (both sexually and socially), orgasm denial x3, edging, fingering, dirty talk, overstimulation, reader has a younger face but is of age, mentions of bff!seonghwa, reader is unintentionally cute, minor peer pressure (helps reader get out of her shell/pushy roommate), heavy make out session, whiny wooyoung, sensitive reader

» a/n: when i tell you i am in love with this kind of wooyoung

─ ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*.･｡ﾟ

Everyone warned you about him.

He’s a handful for sure.

You got him as your partner? Good fucking luck with that.

Be ready to do your half of the load, plus his.

You knew this would happen.

So how come you’re still surprised when at 6:45, Wooyoung strolls into the library, a drink in one hand and his laptop in the other, looking as if he’s ready to work. He should’ve been here 45 minutes ago.

You peer up from your own screen and can’t help but scowl at the boy. Wooyoung also notices you, and instead of feigning remorse a cheesy grin spreads across.

“Look at you being all studious.” He reaches the table you occupied and plops down next to you, parts of his drink splashing onto your bare arm, “How much have you gotten done?”

Adjusting your laptop screen, you hardly spare him a glance as you go back to typing, “Honestly, not that much. It’s hard coming up with research on my own.”

You hope the bitterness came through in your tone and judging by the way Wooyoung guffaws, you could tell it did. He just didn’t care.

“Y/N-ah, why’re you being so cold to me?” His voice is playful, lighthearted even, speaking as if the two of you were friends. Which you’re most certainly not.

Instead of replying, you let your fingers do the talking as they slap the keyboard with clicks, a reminder that you guys need to work and not converse. Does he think you actually want to spend your Friday working on some stupid project? One that’s worth a large chunk of your grade at that.

“I brought you something to drink.” He shoves the cup in your face and you can see the liquid start to turn more opaque as the ice melts. It’s also like 70% gone. Having enough, you harshly face him, the sudden movement causing him to buck backwards.

“Wooyoung, you need to get to work and stop playing around. We don’t have time for this, especially when you decided to show up almost an hour late.” You try to sound authoritative, but that in itself is a bit of a problem for you. Your voice has always been softer than most, so when you do try to take charge, you often get ‘awwws’ of how cute you sound. And you hated that.

It also doesn’t help that you have a rounder and softer looking face for someone your age. If you could count on your fingers the amount of times someone’s asked if you’re touring your college instead of attending it - with them thinking you’re a high schooler, well, you’d probably put around 3 fingers down. But the analogy still stands.

Wooyoung’s no different, him holding back a smile from the way your eyebrows would furrow and how your nose would scrunch whenever you exhibit anger. He found it endearing, actually.

“Okay...you’re clearly mad at me-”

“How can I not be?” You exclaim, “It’s been a week of us working on this project together, and somehow you manage to show up late every time, but it’s never been past 30 minutes. You’re even the one who told me to be here at 6!”

“I have a good reason for being late though.”

With that, you push your computer forwards and lean back in your chair arms crossed, entertaining whatever nonsense was about to spew out of his mouth, “Oh please, I’d love to hear this.”

He mocks your stance, “I was getting chased by a girl.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. You give him a deadpanned expression which causes him to whine.

“No seriously! I was.” In a flash, he pulls out his phone and puts it out for you to see a string of messages.

5:48 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- HYUNG!!!

- i need your help asap

5:49 PM

SEONGHWA:

- huh?

- what’d you do?

5:51 PM:

WOOYOUNG:

- the girl from last weekend’s pissed at me and is looking for me all over campus

- can i pls hide in your dorm?

5:51 PM:

SEONGHWA:

- tf did you do to piss her off?

5:52 PM:

WOOYOUNG:

- i’ll explain later just please let me hideout at your place

- i heard she has a knife

5:52 PM:

SEONGHWA:

- okay fine

5:53 PM:

WOOYOUNG:

- thank you!!

- i’m already outside your door

Admittedly, you were left dumbfounded. So maybe he did have a reason today, but that doesn’t excuse all of the other times. Wooyoung slips his phone back into his hoodie pocket while you go to ask the obvious question.

“What did you do to make this girl mad?”

He blows out a hard breath, as if even thinking about her is such a hassle, “We hooked up last week and I told her I didn’t wanna see her again. So, this is how she reacted.”

You purse your lips out, “Well, maybe she was hoping to gain something out of it. You know, there are nicer ways to phrase ‘I’m not ready for a relationship’ that don’t involve the girl getting hurt.”

“Why should I care about her feelings?” His words are icy, though it seems to be directed towards you, “I told her upfront I didn’t want anything more, it was only supposed to be sex. I asked her if she could handle that and she said yes. If she went ahead and caught something for me, that’s not my fucking problem.”

Once he was done, Wooyoung reels himself in. The realization that you weren’t, in fact, the psycho chick that had been chasing after him earlier dawns on him as you silently nod in agreement. If he had been clear on his intentions since the start, then there wasn’t really much you could say against him.

“I didn’t know that, sorry for jumping to conclusions.” You sound more sad then you meant to and reach out for your computer.

After a beat his sour look turns sweet again, another playful smile returning, “Oh Y/N-ah, don’t apologize for that. I’m sorry for getting worked up.”

“Your frustrations understandable, especially if you’d been real with her from the beginning. Frankly, she should’ve expected that.” Shrugging your shoulders, you go to work again, now noticing the time hit 7:18 PM. You had about 12 minutes to get Wooyoung to do something, but that probably won’t happen.

He cheers your name loudly, happy that you and him agree on a topic for once and the librarian on standby hisses at him to quiet down while throwing a nasty glare.

The two of you exchange glances before both quietly laughing, you going back to finishing one of your paragraphs for your thesis while he simply sat and watched.

«—————————»

The next time you were supposed to meet with Wooyoung, you receive a text from him hours before your designated time.

12:07 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- pls no library today

12:09 PM

YOU:

- what was wrong with it last time?

12:10 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- the old hag yelled at me

- i’m not dealing with that again

12:11 PM

YOU:

- well tbh you aren’t the quietest person to have around

12:11 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- sorry we all cant be mouses like you

12:13 PM

YOU:

- ignoring that

- how about the cafe nearby?

12:14 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- ugh the coffees gross

- and psycho chick works there

- hell. no.

12:15 PM

YOU:

- oh then def not there, where do you wanna meet then?

12:17 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- just come over to my apartment

- i would suggest your place but i don’t feel like going out

12:18 PM

YOU:

- what if i don’t feel like going out

12:18 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- who wears the pants in this friendship?

12:20 PM

YOU:

- there is no friendship

12:21 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- still don’t wanna admit we’re friends…..

- it’s bad enough you pretend to not know who i am around others

- makes me sad

12:24 PM

YOU:

- does it actually?

12:26 PM

WOOYOUNG:

- no 😛

- come over at 7

12:27 PM

YOU:

- alright fine

Even though you agreed to 7, you actually intended on getting there around 7:10. Hopefully the taste of his own karma would help him learn to respect others times and not waste a second of it.

Throughout the day, while doing your mundane tasks, the text messages between you and Wooyoung keep circling your thoughts. Mainly towards the end.

You and him haven’t established a clear relationship, so that’s why you denied his friendship claim. In all honesty, he just didn’t seem like one to you. But after what happened at the library, a part of you can possibly start to think differently.

Yet your mind races at the possibility you had actually hurt his feelings. It’s not a secret that you two are partners, so whenever you do deny his existence, many people laugh off your comment as a joke. Which for the most part it is. Had you been going too far with that?

Then again, this is Wooyoung you’re talking about. He hardly takes anything serious. Not even a project that’s worth more than half of his final grade. You’re probably just overthinking it, no need to stress out over this.

Telling yourself that, you continue to busy yourself with random tasks till around 6:30, which also happens to be the time your roommate arrives back from wherever she had left early this morning.

“Hey, where are you about to go?”

She asks as she notices you picking out a sweatshirt to wear, already having on light flared jeans. She comes up behind you and lands a loud smack on your ass and you fake cry. This is not a first time offense.

“Wooyoung wants to meet at his place for our project.” You look between two sweatshirts in your hands, a light grey and black.

Your roommate throws herself onto your bed since hers is barely visible due to the abundance of clothes occupying it. But then she pauses for a moment, rethinking over what you just said, “Wait, you’re going to his apartment?”

You nod absentmindedly, still deciding on which clothing option to wear.

“Is he trying to fuck you?”

Now that snaps you out and you dart your eyes to her, “What?! Absolutely not.”

She sits up now, legs crisscrossed as she becomes engross in the conversation, “Y/N, he 100% is! You’ve guys been studying at the same two places for the past week, now suddenly he wants to change locations? To a more secluded place? Sounds sketchy as hell.”

You’re quick to discard that, “It’s because he doesn’t wanna go out today. Plus, Wooyoung has his reasonings for not liking our usual spots.”

Her eyes do a dramatic roll, “Right, just as I’m sure he had his reasonings for being an hour late last Friday.”

You had been texting your roommate up until Wooyoung’s arrival, frustration running into the ground. But you also told her he had a legit excuse later on. So, she’s clearly not the biggest fan of him.

“Don’t say such things. And besides the seclusion will probably help us work better.” You finally choose to go with the black sweatshirt and put back the grey.

“Or it’ll help when your screaming his name and no one will be around to hear it.”

“Hey!”

She throws her hands up innocently, though nothing’s innocent about what’s coming out of her mouth, “I’m just saying! The possibility isn’t a no.”

“To me it is! Plus, he doesn’t even see me like that. Just as a friend…..sorta. Well, that’s not really the case for me. But it’s- you know what, never mind.” You finish putting on the sweatshirt and do your go-to style for your hair, something quick.

“Okay, well can you at least prepare better just in case you guys are gonna bone?”

You just shake your head in disbelief that this conversation is even happening, while she gets up and begins rummaging through the pile on her bed. When her hands come out again, they’re gripping a lacy tank top and matching underwear.

If you thought this couldn’t get any worse, it just has significantly.

“You’re not serious….” You shake your head once more, disbelief clouding your mind again.

“Y/N go put this on right now!” Before you had a chance to protest, she’s pushing you into your closet, throwing the clothes at you before locking the door and turning the lights on from outside.

“You’re crazy! I thought you don’t even like Wooyoung, why’re you so on board with this non-existent idea?!” You yell.

“Cause, even if he is an asshole, he’s still hot! And the perfect gateway into the hookup culture you’ve always wanted to be apart of since freshman year!”

You mentally curse yourself for wanting to have a ‘hoe phase’ and for sharing that with your roommate. That was forever ago anyways, surely she would’ve realized you grew up since then. Once you realize your roommate is dead set on not letting you out, you sigh annoyingly. She is insane.

But as you begin to caress the fabric, your mind begins to race. You had absolutely no intention of getting with Wooyoung, not now or ever. You don’t even consider him a friend! Yeah, he’s extremely attractive, and maybe even your type.

However, that doesn’t make up for how much he irks your soul, and you could swear up and down that you dislike him.

Maybe that’s why it would be perfect, the voice inside of you starts, no extra feelings attached, and no one has to get hurt like psycho crazy girl.

You bit your lip at the thought. Would he even hook up with someone like you? You don’t think you’re exactly his type.

………oh who’re you kidding, he’d probably mess with anything that has a hole.

“Don’t overthink it, if you feel the moment happening, jump on it. If not, then let it ago.” Your roommate adds more encouragement.

Suddenly switching your brain off, you strip off you clothes, removing the current underwear for the newer kind. You toss back on your other clothes before begging your roommate to let you out.

She opens the door but stops you in your tracks, “Now hold on, before you go let me see that you have it-”

You lift up your shift to reveal the tight material straining against your skin. You felt your breasts were gonna pop out at any second.

Your roommate gapes at you then goes to quickly put your shirt down, “Oh wow, I almost just said something I might’ve…...anyways you look fucking amazing.”

“Aww, thank you.” A tiny smile spreads across your face and your roommate resists the urge to pinch your cheeks.

“Okay, what time are you’re suppose to meet him?”

You glance over at your clock which reads 7:01 PM, “Hmmm, about right now.”

She tells you to hurry out of here but before you get the chance to, she walks over to the window and takes a peak, “Hey, have you checked the weather?”

“No, why?” It had been sunny all today there was really no point.

Your roommate holds back saying something, her gaze going over to your closet, “I think you should wear the grey sweatshirt.”

«———————————»

You were going to kill you roommate. The funeral’s been planned out, you already knew the casket color - burnt siena - and all you needed was the body. She is so dead.

You knock ferociously at Wooyoung’s door, at such a rate that someone could mistake you for one of his many, many girls. The door swings open, a freshly showered Wooyoung standing on the other side.

“Y/N-ah, why’re you so angry all the ti-” His eyes go wide at the sight of you. Your once neat hair all messy and soaked from the rain. The sweatshirt your roommate suggested had turned a much darker grey while your light pants were splattered in raindrops.

The worst part about it all, the rain started just as you were approaching his street, and it came down in waterfalls. You were already too far to turn around and grab an umbrella.

“I don’t. Wanna. Talk about it.” You roughly push past him and into his apartment, which you would normally stop to admire the niceness of it if you weren’t so upset. His living room and kitchen’s clean and modern, a TV playing some movie in the background.

“I feel like I could make a joke, but this is just too easy,” You toss a harsh glare over your shoulder at him as he closes and bolts his door, him shuddering at your expression, “Is this why you were late? I was counting every second.”

You highly doubt that’s true, “No, my roommate and I got to talking about…something.”

He tsks, running the white towel over his damp hair, “You know for every minute you were late, I say you deserve a spanking.”

If not for you roommate, that statement wouldn’t have illicit more than a scowl from you, maybe even an eye roll. But your mind trails off to you bent over his lap while he counts the number of times his palm hits your flesh.

And you feel your face immediately burn so you turn away, “If that’s the case, you’d probably wouldn’t be able to walk for like a week.”

With your back facing him, Wooyoung’s eyes linger down to your ass, and how full it looks in those pants. Dammit, he told himself he wouldn’t think of you in that way. And that spanking comment completely slipped out, but now he’s wishing he hadn’t said anything. His thoughts are truly something else.

“Where should we work?” You ask, desperately needing a change in subject.

He seems to be cleared from his own thoughts and he leads you to his living room where his laptop’s already set up with your guys’s work document. Hey, talk about efficient.

Wooyoung drops to the couch and you sling off your backpack, going to follow his lead when a foot comes in contact with your ass.

“Sorry, but I can’t have you sitting on the couch.” He slowly lowers his leg and you scoff lightly, your face doing the thing it does when you get angry. It kills him inside each time.

“Well, what am I supposed to do? I don’t have a spare change of clothes.”

Just as quickly as he sat down, Wooyoung’s back up again and tells you to follow him to his bedroom. Outside, you can hear the wind start to pick up, mixing with the treacherous rain.

“You can borrow a shirt from me, but I’m kinda low on bottoms.” He says as he yanks open a clearly broken drawer and begins looking for a suitable replacement.

He pulls out a ratty, white tee and tosses it on your face, you hearing him laugh at you as he makes his way out the door. You rip the shirt off with a huff, “Thank you for this.”

His eyes do a quick motion back to you before smiling his usual, playful grin, “That’s what friends are for.”

And he goes to exit again, leaving you alone to change. Trying your best to ignore the way your stomach buzzes at the remembrance of his smile, you pull off you own wet shirt and replace Wooyoung’s dry one, his scent engulfing you the minute it’s on you. You thought you could get drunk of this.

And as for pants, well, your jeans didn’t get as much damage as your top, so it should be fine. You work your way back to the living room, Wooyoung actually working diligently for the first time in ages.

“Whatcha doing?” You take the only open seat next to him on the cushion, but whatever change of heart you had towards him dissipates in a matter of seconds as he flips his screen to show you some clothing store he’d been browsing.

“Do you think this would look nice on me?”

You stare at him blankly before giving him a half-hearted answer. That seems to do the trick as he twists his computer and goes back to typing, most likely still not working. You open your own laptop and begin immediate research, the sounds of clicks filling the air as if you’re both competing for which one is the most significant.

An hour goes by, then two, then three, till next thing you know it’s 11 o’clock at night and the only thing left of your paper is the conclusion, which you tasked Wooyoung with since no one knows all that he’s really done.

“Holy shit! I can’t believe we’re almost finish with this.” He sighs happily into the couch while you shoot him a face. He instantly backtracks and rephrases his sentence into something more accurate, where he’d actually given you more credit.

“This feels like the longest paper I’ve ever written,” You huff as you layback alongside Wooyoung.

“Yeah, well,” He regards you and you meet his gaze, a tiny smile breaking out, “I know you did a great job. You’re an awesome researcher.”

The words could make you melt on sight, “Wooyoung, you’re too sweet.”

At the sight of your genuine smile, he felt as if his heart was going to leap out his chest. Damn you and you’re cuteness.

“Here I thought you couldn’t wait to rid me of your time.” You say as you snicker at your own joke. Definitely was the other way around.

“Well, don’t count on that. Trust me when I say, you’ll never get rid of me.” A devilish grin overtakes him and you roll your eyes, playfully this time. Maybe there is a part of you that’s starting to warm up to him.

“It’s probably time for me to go, it’s past 11.” When you go to stand, you hear Wooyoung whine behind you, begging you to stay longer. It’s just him being bored, don’t overthink it.

Right as you go to pick up your bag, a flash of lightning followed by loud thunder stop you in your step. With the time you spent with Wooyoung, you’d completely forgotten that a literal thunderstorm had been conjuring outside.

“Where’d you park?” He asks as he goes to stand next to you, trying to see out of the window of the blinds but even that had been barricaded by water.

“Oh, uhh, I actually didn’t drive. I walked here from my dorm.” You begin to think about how you’d get home. The bus normally comes around 12, so you could just wait under the bus stop to get out of his hair-

“You better not be considering leaving,” He chastises and when you make a guilty face he’s shocked, “Are you kidding me? I’m not letting you go out there.”

“I don’t wanna be in your way anymore, I’m sure you’re tired of me enough.” You rebut with wide eyes that make it hard for him to look away.

“Don’t make up lies, Y/N-ah, that’s what bad people do.”

Why does he do this to you? Treat you like you don’t know that there’s wrong in the world, like your sheltered. You stick your hip out and cross your arms, “Who’s to say I’m not bad.”

That sentence alone was enough to get him to laugh as if he’d been holding one in for a while, “Yeah, okay. I’ll go get my room ready for you.”

You trail him like a puppy as he goes down the hall and into his bedroom, “Hey, I didn’t agree.”

“And I don’t remember caring if you did.” He picks up the little trinkets off the floor before switching his pillows out with new ones.

You trot behind him, “Then if that’s the case, you take your bed. I can’t kick you of here.”

“You’re not kicking me out, I already gave the room to you.” He moves onto collecting a blanket from his closet then proceeds out into the living room again with, surprise surprise, you close by.

“Wooyoung this isn’t fair, I feel bad.”

He drops the cover then whips around to face you, his eyes burning deep into yours, “Where do you want me to sleep if you’re taking the bed then, huh?”

“Don’t overthink it, if you feel the moment happening, jump on it.”

Your roommate said this to you and boy if this doesn’t feel like a moment. Your eyes drop down slightly, then off to the side before landing back on Wooyoung, “You could….oh I don’t know, just stay in the room with me.”

He halts in place, trying to register if he just heard you correctly, “Stay with you……?”

You rapidly shake your head yes because you aren’t too confident your mouth could say much more. He pushes his tongue against his mouth, obviously lost in thought, and you briefly look at the movement. You must’ve turned into a huge pervert in the span of 4 hours because just the sight of that is enough to make your heart race.

“I normally don’t sleep with classmates, but I think I can make an acceptation for you.”

You flick him in the chest at his comment, him immediately laughing. And while part of you felt that was the proper response on your behalf, another hated how you knew he was joking. Like he could never even imagine you in that kind of way.

“Alright, let’s go back to the room then.”

This time you lead the way, with Wooyoung immediately stripping once he steps foot into the room. At the removal of his shirt, you spot a gold chain dangling from his neck, which you felt was a good fit for him. He goes all the way down to his boxers, a classic plaid mix with colors, and your eyes widen at how casual he’d just done it. Though, you don’t completely mind.

“Oh yeah, I get hot easily so sometimes I like to prepare. .” Without another second to waste, he hops into his side of the bed, “Don’t let me stop you though, okay Y/N-ah?”

You don’t even respond as hastily you turn around and fiddle with the button of your jeans. It’s now or never. You pull your pants down, around your ass and past your thighs till they pool around your ankle. You step out of them then bend down to retrieve, folding and placing them on a nearby chair.

“Did you wear that underwear just for me?” He’s teasing you, just like always, though this time you don’t have a comeback. You really had worn these just for him.

He picks up on your no-reply and could tell there’s a sense of something in the air that wasn’t there before.

When you turn back around, Wooyoung’s eyes are glued to you, more specifically towards your legs. You don’t get into bed immediately, instead watching him to see his reaction. Is this where everything goes downhill?

He rakes his eyes upwards till they land on your gaze and it appears he’s confirmed something in them, not playing around or joking. That you’re dead serious. Your heart rate accelerates and his lingering stare is starting to make you curdle.

After a beat his body weakens, “Come here.” His finally says. His voice is strained quietly, speaking as if you’d break if he were any louder. And so you do, leisurely, stalling.

You reach the side of the bed and he motions you to continue. You dip a knee into the mattress before placing your other, then again slowly make your way over to him.

Stopping right in front of his face, his arms reactively go up to grab at you but he stops himself midway. You can tell he’s asking for full permission, and attempting to calm your breathing you give a nod of approval.

His hands grip the back of your thigh, sinking into the skin, before making you straddle him. You sit perched up and toying with your fingers, then decidedly to rest them across his bare shoulders.

“You know I was just messing with you?” He starts, forcing you to give him your attention.

“You always do.” You’re tone sounds neutral thank goodness, but your goddamn pouty lips make you look like your frowning. Or to Wooyoung, kissable as fuck.

Chuckling gently, he bites his lip to stop him from smiling too much, “Yeah, that’s true. But this time it didn’t seem like just teasing to you.”

You feel his hands rub against your thighs, not working their way up, just caressing them while he keeps his eyes locked on you.

“I….” You already knew saying it aloud would sound weird, “I wasn’t sure where tonight was gonna take us.”

He continues to knead into your skin while you go to play with his chain, awaiting his response. You never would’ve imagined this is how the two of you would end up, but damnit if there’s not a part that just excites you a little about it all.

“Did you think we were….” He allows the words to hang in the air but you knew too well what he meant. So you shyly respond, affirming his suspicion.

Wooyoung sighs downward, looking like he just a lost a battle. “I told myself I wouldn’t do anything with you, scolded myself even.”

His words definitely are a shock to you, you stopping your fiddling on his chain to give him your full attention again, “What do you mean?”

“You’re just too cute, Y/N-ah, how could I not think about you in those kinds of ways,” his eyes are back on you, large and dark with plead, “But even when we got paired up together, I told myself to not do anything stupid. Because you don’t deserve that.”

The confession makes your head spin while watching him even more intensely.

“Are you sure this is something you want? If we do this, I promise you I’m not gentle and I don’t have any intention on being so.” He waits for your response but your mind is still murky from his previous statements. What does all of this mean? What was he trying to tell you?

You study him further. The softening of his eyes deepening the longer you two sit in silence. How his now dried hair hangs flowy on his forehead. His skin is clear with full lips. An absolutely gorgeous sight to take in. He’s absolutely gorgeous.

So much so in fact, that you don’t spare another second before leaning in to touch his lips with your own. And he’s quick to react, reciprocating the action in an instant.

It feels as if any previous doubts in your mind just fade out, leaving you with the blissful feeling of Wooyoung. He kisses you like he’s starved. Not sloppy, but uniformed. Almost like he’s been waiting for this and doesn’t want to mess up.

Your mouth moves perfectly with his, and you start tilting your head to either side. He copies your action and the two of you begin to get completely absorbed in the make out.

The hands on your legs work their way up, snaking behind you to cup your ass. He’s had literal dreams of this, and how your ass would feel in his hands. But those don’t compare, can’t compare, to how euphoric he feels in the moment.

When Wooyoung slips his tongue in your mouth, ever so slightly, the minor action causes you to whine a bit, his own groan buzzing into you. You feel some growth in his lap, soon a hardness pressing in your inner thigh.

Your breathing becomes irregular as random sounds emit from you, loving the way your core reacts accordingly to the pleasure. You don’t think you’ve ever been this turned on so quickly. Without even realizing you start to feel friction build from underneath you, now catching onto your hips rolling against his lap.

He starts to take charge though, grabbing and moving your ass to further grind into him. You break away first at the new sensation, huffing and hipping lightly while you struggle to keep your eyes open. Wooyoung takes notice in the way your expression looks so overwhelmed and just so damn cute.

“You like grinding on my cock?” The words tumble out as he flops his head against the headboard, “We haven’t even done anything and you look like you’re already gonna cum.”

His words are ammo to you, fueling you to gyrate faster while your hands go up above his head. He bites his lip, hard, to stop a loud groan from escaping

“You can’t cum just yet, Y/N-ah.” The sentence is more airy, like he’s struggling himself with the pleasure. You still continue though, too caught up in your satisfaction to notice him hoist an arm around your back and flip you face up onto the bed.

He lands between you, throwing in more clothed thrusts while holding in a smile at your reaction, a mix between lust and anger.

“What-” He bucks particularly hard into it your core that you thought you were going to orgasm right there, “Nrgh! What was that for?”

Wooyoung dips his head down to your cheeks, kissing them tenderly before scooting towards your ear. He eases up on the thrusts too until the two of you work at an equal, tiny pace, “I couldn’t have you cumming, not when I finally get to enjoy this.”

He wiggles down a bit till he reaches your stomach, taking the fabric of your shirt between his fingers and lifting it up towards your mouth. You gladly accept it, him shoving the tee until your mouth was full.

When he glances back down, your top now fully in view, his eyes almost bulge out of his head.

"Holy..." He drags his fingers up the curve of your waist to your outer breasts, which are practically spilling out of the tight shirt, "You wore this for me?"

He smirks up at you and your eyebrows furrow at the bad joke. He's lucky your mouth's being occupied at the moment.

Wooyoung goes back to admiring you, craning his neck up to place open kisses on the soft flesh that pokes out before working his way to in between your cleavage.

Your heavy breathing, though muffled, is still audible enough for him to hear, lifting his head up quickly to speak to you, "I think those are gonna be my favorite noises."

You dismiss him, grabbing the back of his head to push him back into you. Wooyoung laughs at your neediness and eagerly goes into your tits again.

The feeling starts to build again in your heat, with you gradually increasing your movements against him. He responds to you by rolling himself further between your legs in a rhythm, the sloppy sounds of him kissing and sucking at you still filling your ears.

You've always been a quick pleaser, not typically lasting more than 15 minutes when pleasuring yourself.

If Wooyoung hadn't changed positions earlier, you most likely would've finished like that, which for the record you were perfectly contempt with.

But now everything feels like so much. So much happening at once that the desperation to spill over comes clawing out.

Wooyoung doesn't let that happen though, letting up once he felt you grinding even harder into him. A single string of spit still connecting to your breasts hangs past his mouth, another all-knowing grin plastered on.

"Someone's a little quick on the trigger." Throwing caution to the wind, he sticks a hand against the middle of your underwear, making you squirm on the spot, "Oh, I can see why. You're fucking soaked."

You mumble out a reply but he pretends he doesn't understand, which to be fair he probably doesn't.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Say it again for me." This time he pulls your shirt out, your own little spit string dropping down to your chin.

You gasp harshly, "You're so mean, Wooyoung."

He peers back to your face, staring intently at you when his fingers below push rather deep into your underwear, the action causing you to hike up and grimace, “Hmmm….yeah, I guess I can be.”

In no time his mouth is back between your cleavage as his fingers work your clothed core. You think your hearts gonna explode from overstimulation. You wiggle yourself against his hand, twitching when he starts to move your fabric to the side.

The bare touch he has brings such a feeling you’ve never experienced, making you shiver. The way he would cup your pussy momentarily before releasing, rubbing at your clit again then repeating it all once more. Honestly you thought you were game over.

Till Wooyoung takes his hand away from you fully and sits up. Your face drops at the absence of his touch.

“Hey, what’d I say?” He fakes an angry expression before cracking out into a playful one, “You can’t cum just yet, I haven’t even fucked you.”

He notices the greediness in your eyes, the way you’ve only been concerned on getting yourself off and not him. And he’s not even mad at you for it, finding it rather enticing the desperation you have. Actually, it’s turning him on so fucking much.

“Look at this.”

His voice is authoritative, and when you don’t look exactly where he wants you to, he roughly grabs your hand to palm him through his boxers, “I’m leaking right now and I haven’t even taken my cock out.”

The wetness permeates to your fingertips and you quiver, a sudden sensation taking over. Like you want him inside of you right now.

“I’m gonna pound you until you’re shaking from me,” He wraps his arms underneath you to hoist you up, twisting you around till you’re on all 4’s, “So no orgasming. At least until I say so.”

You go to speak when a hand pushes your head down into a pillow, automatically arching your back with your ass poking out. Your underwear spreads across your cheeks which causes Wooyoung to sigh happily, “I could look at your sexy ass forever.”

“Wooyoung-ah,” You heave, already waiting too long for him, “Hurry up.”

Your voice again was never rude, but it did come off as whiny. He goes to make your wish come true but before that, he lands a harsh smack against your plush skin.

“Fuck, it even jiggles. Y/N-ah, you’re gonna make me cum on myself.” His words make your eyes flutter, swearing that if he kept talking you’d be done for, again.

“Need you in me…..please.” Your last attempt at pleading does the trick for you, with him bringing your underwear down to your knees. He positions himself behind you as he goes to pull down his boxer shorts.

“No more stalling starting right now.” A stroke of dick sends tingles down his spin, then, of course, he toys with your entrance.

Sliding just barely his damp head into you before swiftly pulling it out, rubbing his full length on your pussy lips. He taunts you in a manner that you couldn’t even verbally protest cause it still felt so good.

“I….” Your voice trails off from his continued teasing but that does stop him from being curious.

“Mmm, what’s that?” There’s no edge to his tone this time. If anything, he presents himself softer and more genuine.

You choke on your breath, “I’ve never wanted someone so bad before.” Wooyoung hears the possessiveness in your voice and just like that, his facade comes crumbling down, reaching his breaking point.

If only you’d understand how true those words are for himself.

“Okay,” he pause himself to readjust, “I’m actually gonna fuck you into the sheets now.”

Before he does, his reaches a hand to grab your hair, twisting it to pull you back, “Just let me know when to stop.”

You nod as your consent, which then Wooyoung throws your head back down and brings your waist further up.

He gives no warning when he thrusts himself fully deep into your core, the motion causing your head to almost drive into the headboard.

“Oh my….you’re so damn tight.” His own eyes practically roll back at the feeling of your walls around him, and he almost doesn’t wanna move.

But then you wiggle your hips in need of some friction, and soon he begins to pound into you, just like he said he would.

It starts off slow, him letting the action run through you as your slickness spreads across his cock. You even have the strength to rock with him though you weren’t sure how much longer that would last.

He’s holding onto your waist for support, but then switches one of them to the headboard above, sort of mimicking your earlier position.

His head becomes dizzy with your soft, tiny groans and the slapping sound of his skin against yours as a background.

“S-Shit, think you’re gonna make me…..” Wooyoung becomes too enveloped in the sensation, the intensity from you both, to even finish the sentence.

He gets faster while you grow more limp. Your own pleasure starts to consume you and soon you don’t have the willpower to move. He looks down briefly to your ass, taking the hand from your waist to slap your cheeks.

“Ah!” You gulp in for air, “shit….”

“Oh you like that?” Another one lands on you, though this had some sting behind it. But you love it, “Told you, you needa spankin.”

He doesn’t stop there. Grasping at your tits in front, he forcefully tugs your tank top downwards till they fall out, “Need both.”

Then, he unleashes a smack onto your breasts, this round making you cry aloud, “Wooyoung!”

“You’re so cute, Y/N-ah.” He roughly grabs your mounds of flesh and shakes them, “I love your body so damn much, could fuck you all the time.”

He goes back to fucking you, but your mind wanders. You want to ask if he truly means that, but when a particularly hard thrusts sends you soaring out of your stars, you’re quick to forget.

There’s a build up approaching and your cunt feels extra sensitive from the previous activities. You’ve surprised yourself by lasting this long, but you know your end is near.

“Woo, can I-” The words get caught in your throat and instead you croak them out.

He knows exactly what you want though, and how to give it to you. He folds himself over to completely engulf you, him wrapping both arms around your stomach. He’s still pumping in and out yet his pace has increased significantly, “Yeah, yeah you can cum now. You’ve been such a good girl.”

With his permission you let go, allowing yourself to succumb to the intoxicating heat spreading all around. Wooyoung’s breathing is present behind you as he struggles to find his own regular pattern.

He’s whining, though quietly, into your shoulder, muttering small praises, “Fuck, you’re so good. So damn good. You’ll never let anyone else have you, right?”

He drives his hips continuously as you utter incoherent nonsense, “Promise me no one else will ever see you like this. Can you do that for me?”

You can hardly muster a reply but after a few more gasps it come out, “I promise.”

Your eyes begin to flutter while Wooyoung peppers small kisses down your spine, “You’re mine now.”

And just like that, your orgasm hits like a tidal wave, just a massive explosion causing you to shake. The feeling of your walls contracting around his cock causes Wooyoung to finish too, the two of you cumming in sync. He continues to fuck you through your orgasm, and you whimper loudly.

You’ve never had one hit you so intense before, and even Wooyoung’s load is more than usual as he fills you up, your cunt milking his dick in pulses.

You try to draw out your pleasure for as long as possible, taking a mental note of the whole night until slowly you come down from your high.

Wooyoung finishes as well, his hips growing slow until he finally stops. Instead of removing himself immediately however, he takes in the feeling of him still buried in you, loving how warm you feel. You both breathe heavy and you feel him clench his arms around you.

After regaining your composure, you flop down onto his bed, Wooyoung following close behind you. He lands on top of you and sighs, “You’re probably the best fuck I’ve ever had.”

You giggle lightly, “Is that so?”

“Oh yeah,” He plants another kiss this time on your inner neck, “And I’m definitely your last.”

At that, you crane your neck to him, leisurely turning over as he scoots back slightly, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His hair is now slightly wet from sweat, showing just how much effort he put in, “Cause, you’re never getting cock from anyone else again. If you want it, you have me.”

The smile that spreads afterwards is shit-eating and mischievous. You’re amused by this but don’t oppose it, and Wooyoung senses your acceptance at his declaration.

He drops down to your lips, kissing you in such a passion that felt had a little more to it than he’s willing to show and maybe you don’t want him to. At least, not right now.

Just as you start to get into it, he breaks away, “Wait, I remembered something.”

“What is it?” Your cock your head to the side a bit in confusion, an act that briefly makes him put his guard down. But he quickly regains it, and scoots down towards the end of the bed.

He takes ahold of your back thighs and pushes them towards you, your legs reactively parting slightly. He then moves your knees apart and creates an open view for himself to your pussy.

There's an audible groan, "Oh fuck, I need to burn this image in my head.”

His cum leaking out of you combined with your puffy cunt practically makes him hard again. He continues praising you and gloats about how fuckable your cunt is.

Your face burns as you can’t help but cower from the attention, but apart of you knows you’ll be getting more of this in the future.

Better start getting used to it now.

- Bonus -

When you wake up again, it’s to your phone violently ringing off in the distance. You feel a heavy arm slung over you and it takes you a minute to realize Wooyoung is nestling between your neck with a leg on top of yours, out like a light.

Still groggy, you sit up, some surprise coursing through you as you notice your lack of clothing. But that didn’t matter as of right now. All you want is to find this phone and shut it the hell up.

You aimlessly search through the comforter, then bending over to reach the ground when you see a light being covered by your jeans pocket.

Now you have to get up and actually go retrieve the device, something you do then your back onto the bed.

The photo ID is of you and your roommate 2 years ago when you guys first met in high school. A memory you’d rather forget from when she took you fishing for the first time with her family. Your eyes also dart up to the time which reads 2:43 AM.

Oh gosh.

You press the answer button, “Hello-”

“What the hell is wrong with you?! I’ve been texting and calling you for the past 2 hours and I was getting worried!”

You wince at her shouting, holding the phone a way from your ear slightly, “Sorry, sorry. The storm got really bad so Wooyoung offered to let me sleep here. I should’ve told you that-”

“Damn straight you should’ve! Had me thinking the fucker kidnapped you or something, you’re so reckless.”

Your eyebrows furrow, minor irritation pricking at you for her earlier stunt, “Okay, I get where you’re coming from, but you’re the one who knew it was gonna rain. Why would you let me wear grey-!”

“Oh come on, you are not bringing that up right no-”

Your phone gets plucked out of your grasp and soon you hear the end-call noise. You look over at Wooyoung who’s resting up on his forearms, your phone in a hand with your call gone from the screen.

“She’s really loud, woke me up from our nap time.” He mutters then goes searching through your phone before he appears to type out something.

“Wooyoung!” Your shock subsides as the realization of what he’d just done dawns on you, “You can’t hang up on her, she’s my roommate.”

He just shrugs his shoulders, your scolding rolling off of him, “I just did though, plus shouldn’t she be asleep right now? It’s too late for you girls to be up.”

You scowl at him when he glances up at you, shooting you a tiny smile. Then he hands out your phone and you take it skeptically, “What’d you do?”

“Relax, I just told your roommate you’d talk to her in the morning. She needs to take a chill pill, texting you 47 times, holy shit.”

You graze through the messages and see all of the texts she’d sent asking about your whereabouts and then you see the one Wooyoung sent merely seconds ago.

“Hey, come back to bed, you need sleep.” He attempts to pull you back to him and you allow him to, falling down into his chest.

And that’s how you spend the rest of the night, safe in Wooyoung’s arms.

#ateez #ateez wooyoung #wooyoung x reader #ateez x reader #ateez smut #ateez seonghwa #ateez scenarios #ateez fanfic #jung wooyoung #k pop smut #wooyoung #Wooyoung x reader smut #wooyoung smut #ateez oneshot #teeskz #ateez imagines #wooyoung x reader smut #kpop imagines

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naffeclipse · 1 year

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So, I was going through the Bounty hunter Eclipse tag because I am very normal about him as we all know, and rereading the alternative reveal of y/n's past, I was wondering how that conversation with him goes? You mentioned it's not pretty, but I imagine by this point Eclipse has shown himself worthy enough of the vigilante's (maybe not complete but most of their) trust, because in this timeline he does eventually earn a chain as a gift as well!

On one hand, the vigilante being furious is a given, because it made them panic pretty bad and it wasn't his secret to tell, as much as it wasn't actually a secret. On the other hand it obviously brings to light something that Eclipse is obviously struggling with as well. Clearly it's not the exact same, as he actually enjoys the violence and still craves power, but he is trying to make sure to not cross a certain line to not comlpletely lose what he values even above power: his brothers. In contrast, y/n's motivation is clearly a sense of justice and a desire to make up for the harm they caused, with keeping the detectives coming as a priority shortly after too.

There's lots to discuss on that front! Like y/n exclaiming how it's clear they can't trust him after all, and they knew it (despite that anger towards him probably being in part from a sense of betrayal), and also y/n demanding to know how exactly he knew about that. Or Eclipse asking why it's so different with them? Why are y/n's actions so much more forgivable to his brothers, when arguably they did much worse than him, and they still are on the other side of the law when although violent and admittedly a bit sadistic, he is technically doing things legally (Though I'm sure he toes or crosses the line frequently XD). Which is why he brought it up in the first place in the original argument. Their work is still rather similar even! Because it's not that y/n stopped slaughtering people, as they are capable of gunning down entire gangs almost single handedly. They just now do so with the objective of bettering the city instead of following the lead of the man that would have it rot to its core. Y/n might get even more heated about that because unlike Eclipse, they didn't even have an illusion of a choice. For years it was that or death. (Though they know there were some very mixed feelings about it, with how much anger they used to harbor and that might get mentioned too).

I can see that conversation going south very quickly between them, before it gets better. Maybe they sort of reach an understanding right then, or maybe they end on a sour note and have to rebuild what they had managed from the start? I feel like in this version Eclipse has more ground to claim similarities in their situations, because their ARE some very clear ones between the both of them even in the main SJ (though we know how blind Mafia Boss Eclipse was to the very crucial differences), and that would be an uncomfortable thing to have to confront for y/n I think. Even through their very justified anger towards Eclipse.

Oh and a little off topic, but I also wanted to ask! You mention that y/n does end up stealing one of Eclipse's bells to tie with the others (which I've already expressed how much I love that as symbolism heh X3) but I was curious as to what does he do with those or where he keeps them? I somehow don't see him as the type to wear them, and in main SJ he uses it as a symbol of who is not to be messed with by his gang (or rather who he considers his property which sends the same message). But as a Bounty Hunter, does he keep the ribbons tucked away in a drawer in a safehouse of his (or wherever he lives)? Or would he keep them on his person in a pocket or something as a way to keep his brothers in mind, maybe to remind himself not to go too far again lest he lose them? I'm very curious when and how exactly vigilante manages to snatch one of those haha

This got so much longer than I was expecting but what else is new XD Just goes to show how much I love the way you built these characters heh <3

Oh yesss! I have been mulling this ask over and over in my brain for a few days now, and oh, I'm so excited to get into it!

The conversation is anything but civil. Y/N is whirling from the panic and fear of almost losing their two favorite detectives and devastated by this twisted reveal of their past without their consent. Eclipse is still frustrated and bitter over the fact that his brothers still welcome Y/N with open arms.

That goes as well as you might expect, dissolving into violence and shouting. Before Y/N can run away from him, again, Eclipse catches them in his arms as they struggle to kick and punch but can't really do much but squirm and curse at him. He explains in quick, growling words that he doesn't understand. It's driving him mad that Sunny and Moonie cherish them while his brothers only look at him like a monster. It slowly stalls Y/N's struggle, but not their aching heart.

Y/N doesn't understand either. Not the detectives love for them, and not how Eclipse could give up their past so easily. Y/N is sharp and cruel when they congratulate Eclipse—he fooled them. Round of applause for him. They'll take exit stage left now and let him keep the show he stole and leave with what they can of their misplaced trust.

Eclipse doesn't want this. It hits how much he doesn't want to lose them or this tentative bridge they've built but only now does he see the blaze he just set to it.

He lets them go, without bruise or blood, and Y/N is not settled nor fine, but before they can disappear, Eclipse begs for forgiveness. His plea stops Y/N dead. They look back to him, not believing him, but they have never seen him so contrite. It... it isn't him, but here he is.

Y/N tells him no. He can't have their forgiveness, and in sharp retort just to make sure it hurts a little more, Y/N informs him that they're going to see Sun and Moon because that's still something they're struggling to come to terms with and they desperately need reassurance from those they trust wholeheartedly.

Eclipse is left standing there, boiling in place, but he is frantic in his head while watching them slip away before he can catch and squeeze them.

He doesn't know how to fix this. He doesn't know what to do. He's losing control.

He wants Y/N back but he can't do it with his previous methods of barely withheld bloodlust and his crushing grasp.

But that's a conversation for after wounds are less tender, and a more valiant effort is placed into proving his change of heart, or rather, celestial wire. He needs to gain control, and that begins with himself.

A less angsty answer here for what Eclipse does with his burgundy ribbons and bells, he has one stashed away in his inner suit jacket pocket—a cruel connection to his brothers and a grim reminder of what he's gained freedom from. The other is in his safehouse, tucked away. Y/N steals the one he keeps in his safehouse once he's truly changed for the better (a rare moment when he's caught off guard by their antics) but Eclipse does allow Y/N to have that other bell as well.

Ahhh, thank you so much and thank you for the lovely questions!!!

#there's plenty more to talk about but in that moment #y/n doesn't care to hear it nor does eclipse have the patience to explain it #eclipse giving up the other bell is a way for him to let go of the past in a way #another oath to y/n to show that he's trying to do better #sleuth jesters #bounty hunter!eclipse #*smooch ya on the head*#chaotikanvas

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urslasherbaby · 4 years

Note

May I request an imagine of the collector about to attack the s/o in her home but, she thinks he's a male stripper for her birthday her friends set up with? Humorous & nsfw-ish x3 😄

Okay, okay, okay... I don’t know who you are but you need to become a producer and start making movies 🤣🤣🤣

(also I know this took a really long time, I’m so sorry)

Rent-A-Booty - The Collector/Asa Emory x Reader and Her Birthday Surprise

In all honesty, you weren’t a big fan of birthdays. Your parents were a bit... overenthusiastic and it never really wound up the way you wanted. Fortunately, as you grew older, you got a lot more control over how many small horses showed up at your party. Unfortunately, as you grew older, you also gained friends--amazing friends--who also had their own ideas of how you should celebrate.

Which is why you are now in the middle of a conversation about how much a stripper would cost.

“Ooh! Ooh! Rent-A-Booty! I totally have enough for their Sexy Deluxe package,” one of the girls, Tori, exclaimed.

“No way, (Y/N) deserves at least the Sexy Premium package,” another friend, Charlotte, added, “Look! It even lets you touch the dancers!”

As your very good, yet very inappropriate, friends continued arguing about pricing, you couldn’t help the blush that rose to your cheeks. You weren’t the prudish type by any means, but that didn’t mean you wanted a strange man gyrating in front of your face.

“Alright, that’s it: executive decision, no stripper,” you insisted. Both of the girls looked up from the laptop in shock.

“(Y/N)! This would be so much fun!”

“Yeah, and the service even lets you do themes! Everything from police officer to movie characters,” Charlotte gushed.

“Oh my god, remember in the ninth grade when you said you had a sex dream about Michael Myers? What if we could make that dream into a very sexy reality?” Tori added.

“First off, it was not a sex dream! We were just making out with some medium to heavy petting. Second off, the amount of tequila I would need to bump and grind with a stripper who looks like a serial killer in front of all of my close friends is inconceivable. No. Stripper.”

Tori and Charlotte slumped their shoulders in disappointment, but ultimately closing the laptop and dropping the matter. You nodded your head contently and everyone decided to head home to prep for the party. Luckily, Charlotte had kicked out her sorority sisters for the night so you had the house to yourselves. Tori had already set up snacks and booze beforehand, so by the time you met up with them, the party was practically in full swing.

Friends from class, people from work, and even a few past roommates all came to wish you a happy birthday. It was a little daunting at first, but having Tori and Charlotte by your side all night definitely helped. Before long, the mood changed from full-blown rager complete to the much more intimate get together you wanted complete with your favorite tequila.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Charlotte began, handing out the fifth round of shots, “Last round before we sing happy birthday, let’s go!”

“No, no, no! You know I hate that dumb song,” you whine.

“Exactly why we saved it for last! One, two, three!”

Hearing a drunken version of a song you already hated would’ve sounded like torture to sober ears, but it filled your heart with nothing but glee. Swaying your head to the beat of the song, you noticed something moving outside the window in front of you. The more you focused, you recognized a white truck posted just across the street. You couldn’t quite tell but the logo on the side had very familiar colors...

Rent-A-Booty.

“Hey, guys... do you have something to tell me?” Tori and Charlotte both looked at each other with wide eyes. Between the whispers and accusatory smacks against the arms, you definitely figured something was up.

“Alright, we may have gotten a small surprise for you. Don’t be mad, we just couldn’t help ourselves!” Tori defended.

“Just wait here, we’ll go grab it for you,” Charlotte finished, grabbing Tori and stumbling out the front door giggling like little kids. You rolled your eyes and took another swig of the tequila they left. You figured you’d need it for what was about to go down.

Suddenly, as if on cue, you heard heavy footsteps that didn’t sound like either of your friends from down the hall. You smirked and slowly picked yourself up to claim your “surprise”.

Quietly rounding the corner, you got a peek at the guy the girls picked out. It looks like they kept their promise of hiring a true lady killer. He was dressed head to toe in black with a strange black mask covering his face. Funny, you imagined it would be a bit more gimmicky, but the doubt quickly left your mind as you noticed the rest of him. He was certainly big. It looked like he could toss you around the room and you were very curious how those nitrile gloves would feel on your skin. Before you knew it, the prospect of getting down and dirty with a stripper was a lot more appealing. The very idea had your core aching.

So you decided to shoot your shot. Why not? The half a bottle of tequila you drank was already making your skin hot.

“So,” you announced, clearly shocking the man who spun around to face you, “is this the part where I’m supposed to cower in fear and beg for my life?” The stripper cocked his head silently but didn’t approach you.

“Or would you like it more if I ran and hid while you tried to find me?” you pressed further. He still didn’t make a move, but you could tell his breathing was getting heavier. You were definitely having an effect on him. That’s when you noticed he had pulled something out from his side: a small knife. Going method, huh? You took a few steps closer and leaned up to his ear.

“Interesting... planning on cutting me up a bit while you have your fun,” you whispered teasingly, causing a low growl to leave the man’s throat. You couldn’t help but utter a similarly wanton moan.

That’s when he pushed you up against the wall and held you there with a knife to your throat. You couldn’t help but reminisce about your dream and it made you all the wetter.

“Oh god... please tell me they paid for the Sexy Premium package,” you said to yourself. The man only squinted his eyes in confusion before pressing the knife further into your neck. It was sharper than you expected but somehow that made it better.

“Fuck if I care,” you sighed and pulled him closer until your lips met in a heated kiss. The stranger was hesitant at first but quickly took control with a level of ferocity that made you whimper. He bit on your bottom lip hard, making you gasp and allowing his tongue inside. Meanwhile, his free hand was already under your shirt and playing with your nipples.

“Fuck, please... touch me,” you begged. The man seemed enthusiastic to oblige and spun you around so your chest was pressed against the wall. You could feel the knife pressed into your back, but your only concern was his hand reaching around and unbuttoning your shorts.

Just as he managed to get them undone, you heard a knock at the door that distracted you for a moment. You immediately elected to ignore it and waited eagerly for your Sexy Premium package. You realized, however, that the small prick you felt earlier was gone, and once you turned around, you saw the stripper was too.

“Goddamn it.”

You went back up front and ripped open the door to find Charlotte and Tori covered in clearly fake blood with a phony scared look on their faces.

“Oh god, (Y/N)! You have to help us! There’s a maniac after us!” Charlotte screamed. Wait a second...

“And he wants you too!” Tori finished. The two girls moved out of the way and revealed a shirtless man with a six-pack and a plastic machete wearing a clown mask. Tori then pulled out her phone and started playing a raunchy club mix. Clownface didn’t waste time to start dancing and gyrating while the girls waited for your reaction.

All you could was smile and nod along while panicking about whoever the hell you were seconds from fucking in the middle of the hall... and when you would get to see him again.

Luckily for you, Asa was watching you all from his truck across the street and was planning on finishing what you two started the moment he got you alone.

#slasher x reader #slasher imagine #asa emory x reader #the collector x reader #asa emory imagine #the collector imagine #the collector #the collection #requests

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yakocchi · 4 years

Photo

(I’m the only one who knows Akihiko in this way...)

first i was like ...well i have 100+ tickets saved from that reading promotion so i was like might as well do the sebas route bc i’ve done everyone else’s but now i feel compelled to try rly hard on the election 😔 but the kiss avatars aren’t as cute as the hug ones from last year imo

i did one run on the first day in a hurry to get them all spent before the story fever was done (before i realized all the story fevers will be x3 whoops) so looking back through that rush... this route is not so bad esp. versus the others on the second half (dazai and count)

further rambling behind the cut bc woops i realized i started typing a whole lot omg tried to keep the spoilers (for sebas’ route) as pretty vague but in terms of spoilers for dazai, count, etc. it’s all over

sorry if you don’t like reading run-on sentence hell, but that’s how my stream of consciousness works orz

but i couldn’t help feel like this route was kind of trying its best in getting the reader interested in faust. isn’t as bad as it was in dazai’s route where i feel like some ppl end up just sitting there going “i’d much rather be with charles wtf” lul to me it was like they’re trying to invest some interest in him but are delicate in trying to make him not seem too irrational in his motivations and antagonistic or else they get into a Will situation in which nobody likes him... and then when the route finally comes out ppl are too mad to change their mind lol.

i just feel kinda bothered with the second half routes bc at times they feel like parts of them only serve to introduce the new characters. which is fine, but like... it takes time away from the actual love interest and it’s like “beh this didn’t happen with a good bit of the other characters” u know. i actually think sebas’ route is the best in finding that balance. i mean with the count it’s justifiable that vlad consumes a lot of “space” bc he is a convenient vehicle (a childhood friend) to further understanding why the count is the way he is. charles essentially appears out of nowhere and takes a pretty active role as a rival, which is new for a ikevam route... but as mentioned before has the unfortunate effect of readers perhaps siding with charles instead of dazai. whoops

well thinking about it there’s probably people who read the count’s route and went “well i think vlad might have an actual case here” in terms of the terrible future he foresaw or w/e .......but the writers probably caught on to that and that’s why they threw in the part where he throws the mc through the door where she could’ve died a terrible death. WELL people still choose to stan. somehow. I MEAN with charles he essentially tried to “axe” dazai by trying to “help” him so mc will be all alone for charles to love or w/e but at least that wasn’t violence. honestly i thought charles was going to go apeshit given how the route took a good chunk having charles toil about his past as a killer (as he was an executioner) and how he’s worried that mc will judge and dislike him if she ever finds out about that

ok well with faust and sebas, faust takes up more of a “devil in plain sight” role where you know he’s gonna do something sketchy as shit and either sebas and mc will fall for it. and it’s sebas who really falls for it first but it was for loooooove man. it was very dramatic (given how sebas has that dumb cliched backstory but i like that dumb cliche) but i mean the man’s gotta have a plot somewhere

i’m surprised that vlad doesn’t actually have a proactive role in this route, granted that his route is the very next one in the schedule. i guess writers knew people would be interested in him regardless so they essentially left him out. which is good, more time for faust.

but what really put surprised me is that they threw in another leo and count gay dads moment like the older routes have where the two of them are used to keep the plot moving so the main charas can go ichaicha try to take care of shit in the bg. i thought this one for this route was esp...... a choice. it makes me realize that their bond is something that’s really beyond a simple friendship? probably bc they’re both old purebloods, but even with that... the very few times the readers get to see the friendship between vlad and the count imo it’s always... strange. like i can’t really tell that they’re that close of friends? like yea clearly they were close somehow given that they built the magicke door together but still, it always gave me the “crazy friend but you stick with him bc he’s known you forever” vibe.

like that scene (in the sebas route) where the count finally comes back and leo is the first and only one to greet him at that time... it was very heartwarming in that “old bros” way. you can tell that they really have each other’s back, like that time in the count’s route where the count embarks on vlad’s castle and leo is like “(i’m not going to stop you but) if you don’t come back by dawn... i’m going to go get you. because i, too, cannot die” whew powerful. it’s a nice contrast from when the count was very down after an event in the past and vlad doesn’t really comfort him and actually is more like “you’re weak because of things like this” (not the actual quote but it’s the same gist) lol. like i know why he didn’t support him emotionally because at that point the count was totally not down for vlad’s plans but yeesh

another vague thing from the route... i like how while the count is unavailable, leo more or less takes the helm as the caretaker of the mansion residents. like it’s only a minor part in the grand scheme of things in the route but it’s clear that leo does have great compassion in his heart. in the dazai route too, he’s like the only chara that tries to set dazai straight (albeit for a single scene).

ok thats all i really wanted to say before this becomes some dumb leo woaw we love him essay thanks for reading this garbage lol

#spoilers #ikemen vampire #ikevam #sebastian

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clownsgobeepbeep · 3 years

Text

Stick Together

@grodygabe

How long did this take me? I don’t know and I don’t want to think about it X3 But uuuuh, finally the fic fgor Damian and Flora meeting! I hope it’s good ^^’

There weren’t exactly too many people, but it was still difficult to not find the situation somewhat overwhelming.

Nine adults.

Six kids, not including him and his two siblings.

Damian mostly watched everybody, observed how they interacted with each other. It was still a rather curious thing that all three siblings had been quickly accepted into the family that clearly did not just stop here. It was a big family from what they had been told, only those that were directly related to their adopter had come, those being her parents, siblings, their spouses and their own children. Even then, it was still fifteen people as well as Damian and his siblings.

Funny enough, these weren’t even all of the new cousins they would be meeting. The youngest of them all had been sent off to the homes of their other grandparents, adding another five kids into this mere mix.

Damian sighed to himself as he stood in place, actually leaning against a wall as he saw the adults chatting with each other. Of course, his brother was amongst this crowd, eager to meet and learn everything about this new family.

In front of Felix were two rather tall and well built men, Atlas and Schrader were their names. They were apparently married to each other, but also married to his adopter’s elder sister who was much shorter compared to the two.

Felix was clearly already fascinated by the two men, one being a musician and carnival owner while the other was a book-shop owner, quite the scholar type.

That was another thing Damian learned about this family, business careers really coursed through their veins.

A few feet away was his younger sister, clinging onto Cordelia who was introducing her as best as possible to a couple: Cordelia’s brother and his wife. Next to them was a young boy, a smaller version of “Davey”, and the boy was clearly of the shy type like Margaux.

“Damian, honey?”

A woman’s voice was heard behind Damian, prompting him to turn around after removing himself from the wall to face the woman that had approached him.

“You don’t mind me calling you any names like that, right?” said the woman introduced as Coraline, Cordelia’s mother who also went by Coral or even...Jelly. Apparently, she really loved jellyfish.

“I guess not.” Damian slightly shrugged as he looked at Jelly, seeing that she gave him a warm smile.

“Would you care for some cheeseburgers or hot dogs? Or is there anything else you might want?”

“I’m okay for now.” Damian slightly waved his hand.

“Do you at least want to take a seat?” she offered, motioning her hand to a lone table in the dining room beside the kitchen, this being apart from all the tables that had been set up for all of the guests. “I know how overwhelming meeting so many new people can be. Even though I’m a business-woman and a socialite, I understand the feeling. It’s nice to be alone sometimes.”

Damian eyed the table before looking back at Jelly for a bit.

“I can bring over some snacks for you, maybe a laptop or something so you can be entertained.”

He continued to look at her for just a bit, then giving a slight nod.

“I...I appreciate that.” he spoke up, Jelly nodding in response before Damian walked into the kitchen and took a seat. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” she gestured before making her way out, leaving Damian to sit alone in the kitchen.

He examined his surroundings, noticing the slight mess of dishes that were most likely left for after the family get-together. Besides the things meant for the cheeseburgers and hot dogs, there were some seafood leftovers. Clam chowder specifically, he had heard that chowder was one of the possible foods being served today.

Damian was then startled when he heard some scuttling, nails scraping against the floor before a flash of blue came into his sight. This blue figure nearly crashed into the doorway as it came into the kitchen, actually bumping into a chair after it practically ping-ponged around.

“Mana! Slow down!”

The boy stood up from his chair in an instant before he finally saw the blue creature near him: a rather...he actually didn’t know what it was he was looking at.

“Mana!”

Damian brought his arms up in a sort of defensive manner as he felt something be placed on his lap, something that was wiggling in pure excitement.

“Oh Damian, I’m sorry. He just got too excited.”

In front of Damian was the strange creature he had briefly seen earlier, wagging its tail as it gave him a wide smile with a tongue that lolled out in pure glee. On the creature were now the hands that belonged to Cordelia’s sister.

“What...what is that?” Damian blinked at Mana who wiggled with excitement, jumping around in Ula’s arms as he was eager to properly meet the new family member.

“This is Mana, he is an al-, ahem. He’s an axolotl. A much larger one.” Ula explained as she settled Mana down, petting his head as he sat in a calmer manner.

“Why does he look like that?” Damian pointed at Mana who could only smile.

“What do you mean?” Ula gave a chuckle as she kneeled down to Mana’s height, holding him to make sure he wouldn’t jump up on Damian again.

“Just...I don’t know.” Damian shrugged as he examined more of Mana. “I saw him earlier. He acts like a dog but...isn’t.”

“Because he’s an axolotl. Part of the salamander species.”

“I’ve never seen an axolotl that big.”

“He’s a big axolotl. From a totally different part of the world.”

“What part?”

“I see you’ve finally met Mana!” Jelly’s voice was heard from the doorway as the clicking of her high heels followed, Ula sighing in relief as she knew there would be more questions she needed improvised answers for. “How is the goodest of boys treating you?”

“Um...good?” Damian’s eyes remained on Mana who wiggled even more at the sound of Jelly’s words, clearly proud of himself for achieving such a title.

“Mana is a long time family-member, always been there for your Auntie Ula and now her own kids.” Jelly pet Mana’s head. “Ula, how about you take him outside? Your dad prepared some squid for him.”

“Sounds good.” Ula nodded before standing up, still making sure that she had a hold on Mana so that he wouldn’t jump Damian again. “I’ll talk to you later Damian, I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Thanks.” he replied as Ula made her way out, leaving Damian alone with Jelly who was setting down a few things she had brought over. He noticed that it was a few plates that she had perfectly balanced over her arms, but she also had been carrying a box that aided her in bringing everything to the table.

“I brought some of the food from the grill as well as desserts. There’s a cheeseburger, hot dogs, some cake and cookies. Before you eat those, eat the other things, there’s also fries that I made earlier so they should still be at a decent warmth. You’re not vegetarian or anything, right? No allergies? I know I should have asked earlier.” Jelly stopped herself before Damian shook his head. “Oh, that’s perfect. However, Damian, if there’s anything you don’t like, you can just leave it here and I’ll come back later to pick it up.”

“Okay.”

“Also, I didn’t know what you wanted to drink. Is there anything in particular you’d like? We have extra soda cans stored in the fridge as well as lemonade.”

“Some soda would be alright.”

“Got it.” Jelly nodded before opening the fridge and taking out at least three cans of soda. “You can have more than one if you want. I’m not sure if you’re like your brother who has had quite the few already.”

“Felix tends to go a bit overboard with food.”

“I noticed, he’s just like your cousin Rowan. Those two immediately clicked.” Jelly gave a chuckle before giving a sigh, excitement having gotten to her just at the sight of Damian. “If I’m being too overwhelming, or anyone is, you just make sure to tell us, okay?”

Damian stared at her for a moment before softly shaking his head, his gaze remaining down before his eyes trailed on over to the box Jelly brought with her. This was when he realized that it was perfectly wrapped in a paper that had teal waves on it. To finish it all off was a shiny, golden ribbon and bow that almost glistened under the kitchen light.

“I didn’t want to give it to you with everyone all over you, it does get uncomfortable when all eyes are on you.” Jelly ran her fingernails over the gift, eventually scooting it closer towards Damian who now looked up at her. “You open it when you’re ready, it’s just one of the welcoming gifts I got for you and your siblings. They have their own now, Felix just couldn’t help but rip the box to shreds.”

“I can imagine.” Damian breathed out, carefully reaching out to grab a hold of the box that was slightly heavy, and he gave it a slight shake as he wondered what was inside. “Um, thank you, again.”

“No need to thank me.” Jelly reassured him with one last soft smile before she made her way out of the kitchen again, making sure to close the pet-proof fence Damian just noticed in the doorway. That was something that was clearly needed often after Damian and his siblings learned that this home also happened to be an animal sanctuary of sorts.`

After making sure that he was completely alone, Damian once again shook the gift box before setting it down in front of him. He slowly began to peel back at the wrapping to then see a cardboard box he began to open once finding the appropriate spot.

The box was a bit heavy indeed, and Damian could now see why. There were a plethora of gifts inside the box, each one individually wrapped up as well. He decided to go for the biggest one first, tearing away at the shiny paper before his eyes widened.

On the box Damian read the words “NINTENDO SWITCH”, the boy not being able to resist a slowly forming smile as he realized this really was being given to him. He had to stare at it for a good while, almost not believing that he was actually holding this device in front of him. This couldn’t be a joke.\

Damian carefully peeled off the tape to then open the device’s box, realizing that it indeed was there along with everything that came with it.

He remembered that there were other gifts yet to unwrap, so he began to do just that.

“Protective case, backpack, game case, stand, rubber grips, earbuds...this is insane.” Damian looked over everything before coming to the last of the gifts, a rather thin and rectangular box that was very light. Once the wrapping had been ripped off, he blinked a few times as he read the title of what he knew was a game in his hand. “Animal Crossing?”

A game where he could create almost anything he wanted...he could grow all the flowers he ever wanted and not a single one would die on him. Oh god...this was perfect.

“I see that smile.~”

Damian slightly jumped at the sound of a voice, gaze now on the doorway as the little door opened up to reveal a girl not much taller than it. She looked a lot like that one man he’d met before, Schrader.

She had long, black hair as well as hazel eyes that sparkled under the kitchen light. Skin slightly darker than her fathers that was tinted by rosy blush on her cheeks, no doubt something she always had.

“Hee hee, sorry if I spooked you.” she giggled to herself before giving a curtsy that took Damian by surprise. “You might have seen me earlier but I was busy with my sister. She’s the one with dark brown hair and blonde streaks. She can be shy at times so I try to help her out with people.”

“I noticed.” Damian blinked at her, finally snapping out of it before the corners of his lips ever so slightly curled up as he recognized the sweet gesture.

“You’re Damian, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a nice name, I like it a lot.” Flora continued to smile as she made her way into the kitchen, Damian now taking notice of the two baskets she had with her. “I have something for you Damian!”

“Is that so?” Damian looked over the baskets as he saw that one was smaller than the other.

“Yeah!”

“Oh.” Damian blinked once, somewhat expecting this to be some joke. “R-Really?”

“Uh huh.” she nodded before making her way to Damian, standing beside his chair to present him with the larger basket that he eyed. “I brought lots of cookies! My mommy likes to make toooons of different types of cookies. And we made some candy apples, some are chocolate-covered, some have actual caramel and stuff. Also, my mommy runs two cafes, though one is more of a tea shop, so she also let me put in some of the drink stuff she makes; you can make your own tea! And then, and then...oh...I’m rambling. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay.” Damian soothed the back of his neck as he felt himself flustered,it was a surprise to get gifts...especially this many thoughtful ones. The large basket was placed on the table beside all of Damian’s gifts as he tried to ignore his flustered state.

“No, no. I need to calm down, I don’t want to get as hyper as my brother Rowan. He can be a bit much at times.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah, I live with him.” Flora playfully rolled her eyes before giggling to herself. “Hey, you wanna know a fun fact?”

“Uh, sure.”

“Rowan and Basil are twins. Just like Willow is my twin!”

“That’s cool.” Damian nodded. “Not identical ones of course.”

“Nope!” Flora laughed as Damian continued to nod, slowly coming to a stop as he realized...these girls and boys had different fathers. Both married to the same woman who was their mother but...they were twins...how was such a thing possible. “It might sound weird, but we’re twins for sure. It’s a thingy called superfecundation I think? It’s real, I swear.”

Damian had to process everything for a moment, eventually wagging his head before paying attention back to Flora who continued to smile up at him.

“Hey Damian?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you mind if I sit next to you?” Flora pointed to the chair beside Damian with a hand he realized was gloved. “It’s okay if you don’t want me to.”

“I…” Damian straightened up in his chair, packing up all the gifts back into the box they had been placed in. “Go ahead, I don’t mind.”

Flora’s smile widened at his response before she placed her smaller basket on the table, pulling out the chair before her short frame climbed onto it. She adjusted the poofy dress she wore until she was comfortable, smoothing out the fabric on her lap before she went back to grabbing the basket she had set down, grinning as she stared at Damian.

“I also wanted to introduce you to my friend.”

“Friend?”

“Uh huh.” Flora nodded before scooting the basket towards Damian, allowing him to peek inside as he saw a bundle of vines and plant tendrils. “This is my friend Twoey. They never leave my side.”

“Twoey? Like, from Little Shop of Horrors?” Damian brought a hand up, motioning with his finger to the plant as Flora nodded in excitement.

“Yes! I’m so glad you caught onto that.” she softly caressed one of the tendrils that was draped over the basket. “I love that movie a lot, I like both of the endings. How about you?”

“I enjoy them both.” he tilted his head in thought. “The happy ending is pretty nice, though the cycle will no doubt start again because of the baby plant. The bad one seems a bit more realistic honestly, capitalism causing all that disaster.”

“Oooh definitely!” Flora continued to stroke the plant. “But yeah, this is Twoey. Twoey, say hi to Damian.”

Damian looked down at the plant, not expecting any sort of movement from it, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw no kind of motion as tendrils merely hung loose around the basket’s edges.

“Hi Twoey.” he actually smiled, carefully grabbing the tip of a tendril to shake it like he would a hand. “My name’s Damian. You look very lovely and green.”

Flora watched the interaction, having to stifle a giggle before she spoke up.

“They appreciate the compliments.” she gently pet another one of the tendrils. “So...do you have a favorite song from the movie?”

“Hm?”

“From Little Shop of Horrors. Is there any particular song you might really like?”

“Oh...there’s the dentist one...and the one that Twoey sings before eating Mr. Mushnik.”

“Suppertime is a good one, and Dentist is very funny.”

“Do you have any you like?” now Damian asked, catching Flora off-guard, smiling nonetheless.

“I like Mean, Green Mother From Outer Space. Also Somewhere That’s Green.”

“Is that when Audrey sings about her and Seymour?”

“Yes, I think it’s very sweet.” Flora shrugged as she set her basket aside, noticing the food that Jelly had left earlier. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not really. I was focused on opening these gifts.”

“Ooooh! Did you also get Animal Crossing?” Flora peeked up at Damian’s gift box as he nodded, taking out the gamebox of said game.

“I’m excited to play this.”

“I’m excited to add your friend code! I can give you so many flowers if you want! I have so, so many on my island, even the hybrid ones.”

“I would actually like that.” Damian smiled a bit more. “Do you like to garden?”

“Of course! It’s probably all I do. Okay, well, maybe not. Maybe yes.” Flora shrugged. “I really, really love plants. How about you?”

“I love them, I also like to garden.”

“Do you happen to have a favorite plant?”

“I like...white egrets…”

“Those are so lovely!” Flora quietly clapped her hands so as to not create a ruckus. “Maybe we could grow some of those together one day, I know my mommy has plenty of supplies for those. If you’re okay with that stuff.”

There was a new silence between the pair as Flora smiled up at Damian, grinning before she brought a finger up to her chin to tap it.

“Do you happen to have any favorite movies Damian?” she questioned. “Is Little Shop of Horrors one of them?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Damian replied as he pondered at the question. “I guess Halloween is another one. And...well, nevermind.”

“No, no. It’s okay, you don’t have to be shy.” Flora reassured him. “I’m not here to judge.”

“Well, I also do like the movie Anastasia.”

“That’s a very nice one.”

“Yeah...do you have a favorite movie?”

“Besides Little Shop of Horrors…” Flora tapped a finger on her chin, then shrugging. “I don’t really know!”

“Okay, I can understand. Picking out movies can be a little hard.” Damian nodded as he shifted in his seat, already feeling a bit more comfortable as he thought to himself. “Do you have a favorite animal?”

“Elephants! I love elephants!” Flora practically slammed her fists on the table before realizing how hyped she was getting, then clearing her throat before she smoothed out any possible wrinkles from her puffy skirt. “I really like elephants, they’re so cute. How about you? Do you have a favorite?”

“Raccoons.”

“Raccoons are so cute too! We have a pet raccoon.”

Damian made a bit of a surprised face at the sound of this, blinking for a moment as Flora giggled to herself.

“Well, we don’t. But my great-great grandpa does, it was my great-great grandma’s raccoon. His name is Nikolai.”

“Wait, wait…” Damian held a hand up as he processed the addition to Flora’s words. “Great...great grandpa? Is he alive?”

“Yeah!”

“How...how old is he?”

“Ooooh...I’m not really sure.” Flora shrugged with a smile. “But my mama Jelly told me that it’s rude to ask about someone’s age, so I never try to find out. She does get upset if somebody asks her that.”

“She does look pretty young for being a grandma to this many kids.”

“Oh yeah, mama Jelly is so beautiful. She’s like the queen of the sea.” Flora fawned at the thought of Jelly, clearly an idol of hers. “But anyways! What’s your favorite color? Do you have a least favorite?”

“Oh. I like green. I’m not big on navy blue specifically.”

“Green is so lovely, it’s also my favorite...our family really loves green, my daddies like to wear it often while my mommy loves wearing teal. Do you have any favorite desserts?”

“Hm, dulce de leche ice cream is one. I enjoy crepes and funnel cake too.” Damian answered before making a bit of a face. “I’m not a fan of yogurt though.”

“That’s understandable.” Flora nodded before a grin came across her face. “But hey! Speaking of crepes and funnel cakes, do you like carnivals?”

“I love carnivals.” Damian gave a soft nod. “I don’t mean to brag, but I haven’t lost a carnival game since I was 8.”

“Whoa, really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so cool! You should come to my daddy’s carnival!”

“Your dad owns a carnival?”

“Yeah! It’s horror themed, so many people are pretty scared of it.”

“That’s pretty cool. I’d totally go if there were no actors touching me.”

“Hee hee, well…” Flora glanced to the side for a moment. “There is a section where the actors can interact with you more...but for some reason, every time I go, they never scare me too much. I don’t understand why.”

“That’s...scary.”

“It’s especially scarier with all the music they put, my daddy writes most of it. He’s very musical.”

“What’s he play?”

“Almost any instrument you can name.” Flora stated in a proud manner. “In fact, my mommy is also musical. They two used to be in a band together, she was the lead singer.”

“What?”

“Yeah, yeah! It was called Cin-O-Surre. It consisted of them and three of my uncles. They were sooo cool, I wish they were still a band.”

“Like, a band-band?”

“Yup.”

“Wow...did they ever make it big? What’d they play? Wait, were they big enough to go on tours?”

“They could have been more famous but they all agreed that they never wanted to do that sort of stuff. They preferred to play in small places, do small performances, only do big events if it was to help someone out.” Flora now held a cell-phone in her hand, no doubt hers with how cute-sy it was accessorized. “They would play emo stuff, rock I think? I heard my mommy also developed a ‘heavy-metal- voice after a while and they tried that out, but that’s a legend hehe.”

“My kind of music.” Damian peered down at the phone that Flora now handed to him, having found old pictures in old posts, no doubt from years before even Damian was born. “Is this them?”

“Uh huh!” Flora let Damian scroll through the pictures of Flora’s parents at a much younger age, so different yet so...the same. They looked exactly as they did now. Just less adolescent. Flora’s no doubt had a big change in style, looking like a goth in some pictures or the typical teenage girl to...dressing in a much more sophisticated style. Minus the facial piercings, but those weren’t anything bad of course.

“Wow. This is interesting.” Damian handed the phone back to Flora. “So...why’d they disband?”

“I actually don’t know...I’d have to ask my parents. My deer dad might know too, he was never really part of the band but he was always there.” Flora put her phone away as she thought to herself for a moment, then pushing those thoughts away. “Now my daddy owns a carnival, my deer dad owns a bookshop, and my mommy owns a cafe but also does painting in her free time. I have seen her post singing videos every now and then though, people do definitely miss her.”

“She paints?”

“Yes! If you ever see a really cool and pretty painting somewhere around here, it was most likely her who did it. She and my mama Jelly really love to paint. I’ve been learning. How about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, do you like painting?”

“I do actually. Just like gardening, and I like to play video games.”

“I think you’d get along with Basil, those are basically some of his favorite hobbies too.” Flora clasped her hands together as she hoped for another friend for her brother. It wasn’t until she realized that Damian’s eyes avoided hers that she realized that maybe this wasn’t one of those cases after all. In fact, not even that was necessary to know how Damian was feeling about her brother, he wouldn’t be the first to react in such a way.

“Damian?” she called his attention before he looked back at her, offering a soft smile in an attempt to comfort him. “What do you think of our family so far?”

“Your parents are nice...I like them all.” Damian shared as he clasped his hands together on the table, fiddling a bit with his thumbs. “Your mom’s really sweet, she makes me feel very calm. So does Atlas...why do you call him deer dad?”

“Because he really likes deer.”

“Ah, I see. But yeah, I guess they’re cool.”

“What do you think of my daddy?”

“He seems awesome. Especially with what I’ve heard about him. He looks cool, acts cool. I like talking to him...that’s somebody I’d look up to.”

“He really is awesome.” Flora agreed, thinking of very many things Schrader had done that perhaps Damian would learn of some day. “What about Uncle Davey and Aunt Ally?”

“I like Davey, he seems cool too. Is he...a pirate? He seems to really like pirates?”

“If only you knew about his pirate ship.~”

“So he is.”

“I guess so.”

“He makes me a bit anxious...he looks very…”

“Grumpy?”

“Yes?”

“Uncle Davey isn’t grumpy, but he kinda is. He was such a grumpy baby and then child from what mommy has told me. He usually looked so grumpy that they called him the Scrunched Creature.”

“Oh gosh.” Damian quietly laughed at that. “I hope there’s some picture of that.”

“I could always ask my mommy, she has so many pictures of her siblings. She still calls my uncle her baby brother hee hee.” Flora snickered at the thought of it, even the times when her mother managed to carry her uncle like a child. Golly how embarrassing that must feel like. “How do you feel about Aunt Ally? I know you haven’t properly met Finnian and Celeste, but that can always wait.”

“She’s clearly very sweet. I like her macaroons, they look so detailed.”

“She hopes to sell some one day, she has done it and lots of people have purchased them! She’s just not too confident she could make a business boom. I think she could though.”

“They are tasty treats.” Damian nodded in agreement before letting Flora continue.

“How do you feel about my brothers and my sister Willow?”

“Willow is...so sweet and kind...I don’t think I’ve ever met such a good child besides my sister.” Damian commented as he remembered the shy twin of the two. “She’s almost so...fragile. She’s Atlas’ daughter, right?”

“Yes. Just like Rowan and baby Dahlia are, but you haven’t met her yet.” Flora used her fingers to count, having lifted three fingers for now before more lifted as she counted more names. “Meanwhile, Basil, me and Frankie are Schrader’s, but we all share the same mommy.”

“Okay…”

“Anyways, how do you feel about Rowan?”

“He’s...um, not my type exactly, he’s more suited for someone like Felix. Heck, they’re perfect for each other.” Damian widened his eyes for a moment. “It’s nice seeing someone closer to Felix’s age bonding with him, they just immediately clicked.”

“I can see them having so much fun.” Flora gave a nod before her smile slightly faltered. “And...how do you feel about Basil?”

“Basil?” Damian turned to her, releasing a sigh after a moment of silence. “Well...he’s, uh...he’s...he’s family…?”

“Good try.”

“Thanks.”

“But really, how do you feel about him?” Flora questioned, hoping that she wasn’t prying. “I know some people tend to be scared of him upon first meeting. He’s actually a nice person...I know it doesn’t seem that way, but he is nice. You would never expect him to hang out with someone like Rowan, but they’re twins! They’re always together. He can be nice after a while.”

“Basil...does scare me a little.” Damian’s voice quieted down before he leaned in closer towards Flora, feeling the need to whisper. “Is it true he carries around a knife?”

“...yes.” Flora also leaned in to whisper, making sure to wave her hand a bit. “But it’s only for like...self-defense. He’s not allowed to use it unless it’s necessary. My mommy doesn’t allow it.”

“That’s...ha...got it.” Damian nervously chuckled to himself, ready to lean back before Flora motioned for him to stay close.

“You wanna know something funny about Basil?”

“Sure…”

“He’s a mama’s boy. Ever since he was born.”

“Really?” Damian breathed out before Flora nodded with a smile, this in turn making him give a slight chuckle.

“Yup! You can ask anyone and they’ll confirm it.”Flora quietly giggled as she sensed a part of Damian’s nervousness slightly leaving him, but it was still a good amount that would clearly not be disappearing any time soon. “When he was a baby, he had a costume of Audrey II. It was one of his favorite things to wear so that he could get her attention.”

“That is funny.”

“Yeah.” Flora gave a nod before continuing on with her previous questions. “How do you feel about my Auntie Cordie? I assume you like her, right?”

“Oh, Cordelia?” Damian started as Flora gave another nod. “I honestly can respect her. I didn’t care too much when I talked to her the first time, until she mentioned that she wanted to adopt all three of us. It’s a really good thing what she did.”

“Family sticks together.” Flora added in before Damian softly nodded.

“Yeah, that’s what she said.” he slightly smiled. “She said she didn’t want us separated...who knows what would have happened if that ever came to be.”

It took Damian a moment to speak again, having to rub his eyes as he sighed to himself.

“I’m really glad that she took all of us in, that it was her initial plan and we all kinda got along with her. I don’t know how she did it, but it’s greatly appreciated.”

“She was able to do it with the help of our family.” Flora mentioned with a tiny giggle. “Mama Jelly is a rather...popular person around here, so is the rest of the family. I think she might have helped my Auntie Cordie. But then again, how could a place like that ever say no to such a cool family?”

“Yeah, I wonder.” Damian made a bit of a face. “But like I said...I’m glad we’re all here and not in that place anymore.”

“Well Damian,” Flora gently took one of Damian’s hands into her own, giving him a soft smile. “I’m glad you guys are here.”

#damian #flora #fantastic flora #jelly the clown #ula the tiny clown #mana

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bapydemonprincess · 4 years

Note

Please share anything you can about the ship Hannamey!! It seems so cuute!! x3

*cracks knuckles* >:3

Mey and Hannah are both soft and enjoy peaceful times, though Mey, with her years of always being alert, always have a small ounce of anxiety still clinging to her no matter w peaceful things seem. However, in the ancient demoness’ presence, her anxiety seems to VANISH as if it was never there, and perhaps she even gets sleepy and low on energy really fast the first times spending close to Hannah, as in that time, close to the other, her physical and mental form relaxes completely... even more so than it did that first time she got to have a real nice hot bath for the first time in her life!! Its so so relaxing, Mey Rin collapses against Hannah, and the demoness is completely unsurprised, holding her, carrying her, cradling her precious human close.

“My sweet little Mey Rin... My beautiful mortal... my little princess..” Hannah croons, unable to help herself. She babbles beyond even her own comprehension, going on and on about this one single mortal until she is out of things..... Then she picks up with words in other languages that you don’t find in others. Things her human will never understand, but Hannah has to say them. To get them out.

Hannah has cared for many humans in her long, long life, and she didn’t expect this experience to be any different. But Mey Rin’s very presence before her is so different than any other human’s. She feel almost an ancient instinct to bow to her in respect, to take up her little hand and kiss her tiny knuckles. Perhaps.. those who believe in mortals having more than one lifetime have a point. Perhaps she’d known this human before, eons ago... But no, she would’ve recognized something in her soul, wouldn’t she have?? Some piece of a past that even Mey does not recall??

Mey Rin delights in the little things, like rarely seeing Hannah’s dark cheeks flush a bit, her always calmed, slightly lidded eyes going wider when something Mey Rin tells her or shows her makes them do so. Or the opposite; when Hannah’s eyes shut fully, as she enjoys Mey Rin giving her some pleasant physical attention in some way or another.

But the mortal girl also loves the VAST array of things Hannah teaches her, even things Mey Rin never thought would be brought up. Like what the Earth itself looked like, the very ground she walks on, years and years ago. When buildings didn’t exist. Nor the clothes she and others wear or even the types of animals they see now. Oh to imagine creatures like giant versions of lizards! Things out of fantasy stories!!

“Was there also a time when um, demons walked freely around humans, too, Hannah?” The girl asks, openly curious.

“...In a sense. Though they did not always put on human guises such as we do now. Back then, appearances didn’t matter for a beast, when all it needed was to be a beast.”

.... This makes Mey Rin look ready to cry, which is another fascinating yet sad thing Hannah still hasn’t gotten used to. Yes, she has experienced seeing humans cry, plenty of times. But this girl... does she ever run out of tears? Sometimes they aren’t sad either. Sometimes they are absolutely happy, and delightful, and she doesn’t mind at all. Others come when the girl gets angry on a very, very rare occasion. When pure, unhinged ferocity hits her and Mey Rin wants to- or gets to -shout about something being unfair or wrong.

This is a sad time, though, Hannah recognizes. And all because of how the demoness worded her answer.

“Little one, please..”

She accepts Mey Rin leaning into her, face bowed and hands instinctively going to cling.

“Y-you talk so badly ‘bout yerself, you do, Hannah!! D-Don’t do that!! I dunno many other demons ‘sides you an’ Sebastian, but- but I don’t wanna call demons beasts like that!!”

“Well, I did not mean it as an insult to my own kind, dear. It’s simply how we were back then. Just as humans hadn’t evolved much at the time either. Some species simply start out only as base creatures, doing what they must to survive.”

Mey Rin sniffles some more, clearly trying to calm down. She keeps her head resting against the demoness, head turned to look out at the world as she pouts like an upset little girl.

“I know that... I know that well, I do.” She mumbles sadly. “But no one deserves to be all taunted for just... doin’ what they can to get by. Even demons. I don’t care if they might’ve looked all scary, no I don’t. An’ even if they probably woulda killed me on sight, I wouldn’a blamed ‘em.”

“I’d never let another demon harm you-” Hannah automatically reminds her, though she knows this is merely a hypothetical.

“I know.. but- but listen Hannah.” She looks up into the demoness’ face, her eyes still shimmering behind her glasses with water. But her eyebrows furrowed with seriousness. “We are ALL creatures. We are ALL tryin’ to survive. No matter if a lotta things ‘ave changed or not! THAT never changes!”

And once again for likely the upteenth time, the ancient demon is.. fascinated.

How can such a sweet, pure soul.. feel and look so old and understanding?

Hannah just chooses to accept it, and agree, as she holds and coddles her sweet little Mey Rin.

.... Wow I just went and wrote a drabble there WHOOPS hope that enough headcanons for you though!!! 🙈🙈🙈🙈

#answer #headcanons #Hannah annafellows #Mey Rin #Hannamey #Anonymous

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psychosistr · 3 years

Text

The Stars of the Stage- Chapter 2

Summary: Jonathan runs into a familiar face while getting breakfast at his local coffee shop- lucky for him, that familiar face is quite handsome.

Notes: Who doesn't love a good old fashioned cute "accidentally met up at the coffee shop scenario"? x3

-First Chapter-

Needless to say, Speedwagon got the part of Sir Haste Dray without any other actors really being considered. Soon enough, the rest of the cast list was set, full scripts were sent out to the chosen actors, and rehearsals were scheduled to begin.

Jonathan was excited to see how well the show would come together. However, first, he had to finish up a few last-minute touch-ups for the script. The lines would still be essentially the same, he was just revising the movements for the climactic final fight to make it more dramatic while still being believable.

To help with his concentration, he went to work at the same place he always did when the weather was nice- his favorite coffee shop situated along the river near his apartment complex, The Ripple. He was seated outside at a table under the awning with his laptop open on the table in front of him and a large covered coffee cup with a plate of pastries off to the side. In the middle of deleting a line he’d just typed and had found less than satisfactory, however, he heard a voice calling his name.

“Mr.Joestar?” A figure accompanied the voice approaching him and he looked up to see a familiar looking blonde man dressed in a white tank top and a dark hat. “Ah, thought that was you. ‘ow’s it goin’, Mr.Joestar?” The man greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Oh! Mr.Speedwagon!” Jonathan smiled at him, taking off his glasses and setting them down on the keyboard to see the other man more clearly. “What a pleasant surprise.” He gestured to the seat across from himself at the table. “Stopping in for a drink? If you would like, you’re more than welcome to join me.”

“Mighty kind o’ y’.” Speedwagon grinned and headed for the entrance to the café. “Lemme just go grab a cup an’ I’ll be right back.” He was quick to return with a much smaller cup than Jonathan’s own and a simple croissant rather than Jonathan’s platter of pastries. “So, do y’ come ‘ere often?”

“Actually, yes.” Jonathan chuckled, pointing to his apartment complex down the street. “I actually live right over there. I usually end up here nearly every day of the week, depending on how busy I am.”

“Ha! Y’ gotta be kiddin’ me!” The other man chuckled and pointed at an apartment complex on the opposite side of the river facing the one that Jonathan had pointed at. “I live over in that one, on the fourth floor. Just moved in a few weeks back an’ I’m learnin’ me way ‘round the neighborhood.”

“Really?” Jonathan looked at where he’d pointed then back to his own, noting how the fourth floor lined up with the floor he lived on almost evenly. “Why, it would appear that we are neighbors then.” He chuckled a bit- life sure did work in mysterious ways. “In all likelihood, we’ll certainly be seeing quite a bit of each other.”

Speedwagon took a sip of his drink with a pleased hum. “Well, I sure wouln’ mind that one bit.” He set the cup down and broke off a piece of his croissant. “Say, while I got y’ ‘ere, there’s somethin’ I’d been meanin’ t’ ask y’.”

Jonathan watched the blonde curiously while eating one of his own confections. “Oh?” He swallowed and gestured for Speedwagon to continue. “What would that be, Mr.Speedwagon?”

The blonde man winced slightly at the title. “Ugh, please don’ call me that..makes me feel old. Just Speedwagon’s fine, or even Robert- but don’ go callin’ me Bob or anythin’ like that or I may have t’ deck y’.”

Jonathan chuckled a bit and nodded in agreement. “In that case, please refrain from calling me ‘Mr.Joestar’- just Jonathan is fine, or even Jojo, as that is how most of my friends and colleagues refer to me.”

“Alrigh’ then, Jojo.” Speedwagon’s smile returned, apparently pleased with the increased familiarity between the two of them now. “I read through the script that y’ sent me, an’ I was wonderin’ if I could ask y’ somethin’ ‘bout me character.”

Jonathan nodded as he listened, wondering if perhaps he’d made something unclear about Sir Haste Dray that he would need to explain in more detail. “About Sir Dray? Of course, what would you like to know?”

“Well..it might jus’ be me readin’ too much of meself int’ the character..but..” He paused, tapping his finger against the coffee cup as if considering his wording carefully. “I know the romantic focus for Lord Samuel Sunstone ‘s Lady Bella Penrith..but..does Sir Dray, y’know, ‘ave feelin’s for Lord Sunstone, too?”

Jonathan’s eyes widened slightly. “What..?” Had he really…?

Speedwagon looked back up at him with a thoughtful expression. “Don’ get me wrong, I love the relationship with Samuel an’ Bella, i’s really sweet an’ a long time comin’..but..I dunno, when I read Dray’s lines, the way ‘e talks about lovin’ Samuel’s good nature an’ ‘ow ‘e completely devotes ‘imself to the guy..it just makes me think ‘e might ‘ave a thing for ‘im, y’know?” He frowned at Jonathan’s wide-eyed stare. “I mean, if I’m wrong, y’ can tell me, I was just wonderin’-”

He was startled when Jonathan suddenly reached across the table with both hands and grabbed Speedwagon’s shoulders with an excited smile on his face and stars in his eyes. “You actually picked up on that?! Oh, I cannot believe it! I did not know if that would still come through, but I am delighted you were able to see it!!”

Speedwagon blinked in confusion. “Wait..so..I got it right..?”

“You did!” Jonathan suddenly realized that he had grabbed the smaller man and released him, settling back down in his seat with a slight flush to his cheeks. “My apologies, I became too excited again..I just..I am so happy you were able to notice the truth about Sir Dray’s feelings!” He was still smiling, he couldn’t help it with how excited he was. “I wanted to write their relationship into the story as well, but William said it would confuse the audience since most don’t associate such things with the time period. I tried to tell him that there was an entire subculture and code-system practiced by homosexuals during the Victorian era, but he said it would feel like too much for the audience to believe. So, I was forced to remove a few scenes with Samuel and Dray having the discussion about Dray’s sexual identity and the implications of such a thing between himself and Samuel, but I did not want to change any of the other scenes with them, so I left the dialogue unchanged. I cannot tell you how happy I am to know that their connection was still able to shine through enough for someone to recognize it!”

Speedwagon smiled too, beaming with pride. “I’m jus’ glad I wasn’ misjudgin’ the guy. People tell me all the time I’m tryin’ t’ projec’ me own ‘preferences’ ont’ characters. Good t’ know I was right on this one.”

Jonathan paused for a moment hearing those words, trying not to blush as a rogue idea crossed his mind. “So then..you are..?”

Speedwagon winked at him with a chuckle. “Yep. Gay as a maypole, mate.”

“O-Oh..I see..” Jonathan glanced away, his cheeks feeling warm. Really, now, how ridiculous was that? He barely knew the man and after one short conversation he felt like a school boy with a crush? Honestly, why was he like this? “Well, in any case, I am truly glad you identified so well with Sir Dray. Honestly, I was overjoyed that William allowed me to caste you for the part- you were a perfect fit.”

“Glad y’ thought so, ‘e caught my attention from the moment I read ‘is description.” He took a sip of his coffee and finished up his croissant. “By the way..mind if I ask y’ one more question ‘bout Dray an’ Samuel?”

“You may ask as many questions as you please- I am always excited to talk about my work.” Jonathan replied honestly, more than happy to discuss such things with someone insightful enough to understand his writing so well.

“Hmh, good t’ know.” Speedwagon smiled and set down his coffee cup before asking his question. “I jus’ wanted t’ know..are Dray’s feelin’s for Samuel one-sided, or does Samuel return some of it? Like I said, I’m fine with Samuel an’ Bella’s romance, but thinkin’ that ‘e doesn’ know ‘bout Dray’s feelin’s or jus’ allows the guy t’ follow ‘im ‘round knowin’ ‘e loves ‘im is kinda sad, y’know?”

“Ah..that is a good question.” Jonathan’s smile softened into something more understanding. “To answer it simply- no, Dray’s feelings are not one-sided. Samuel is quite aware of how his dearest friend feels, and, in one of the scenes I unfortunately had to cut, he discusses with his mentor that he has feelings for both his best friend and his long-time crush. He goes on to say that, in a perfect world, he would be allowed to marry both of them and live a long, happy life with the two who have supported him and showed him such love and kindness right when he needed it the most. His teacher acknowledges that his feelings are pure and that he deserves such a life, but advises him on how, even without the influence of the same dark forces the antagonist controls, that peoples’ hearts are fickle and easily led astray by misconceptions and tells him not to be too public with his affections, for both his own and Dray’s safety. I even wrote a scene towards the end where, after Samuel’s wedding to Bella, when they step into their horse-drawn carriage to be carted off for their honeymoon, Dray was the one waiting to open the door for them instead of a random servant. Dray and Samuel would have shared a loving smile at one another before Dray and Bella winked at each other knowingly and each kissed one of Samuel’s cheeks before all three went off into the carriage together to start their new life.”

Speedwagon listened to his words intently, looking positively riveted by the story. “That sounds beautiful, Jojo! Do y’ still ‘ave a copy with those scenes? I’d love t’ read ‘em some time.”

“Certainly.” He replied with a grin. “Would you like me to bring them to the set during the first rehearsal?”

“Hm..I’d rather not wait that long..” Speedwagon reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen. He then proceeded to write something on his coffee cup as he talked. “Tell y’ what, seein’ as we live so close t’ each other, ‘ow ‘bout we just meet up ‘ere again sometime?” He brought the cup to his lips and chugged the last of his drink before setting the cup down near Jonathan’s hand. “I gotta get goin’, else I’ll miss work, but I usually keep me phone on me.” He gave Jonathan a wink as he stood up and grabbed the rest of his trash before walking away. “Be seein’ y’, Jojo.”

Jonathan’s face heated up again from the wink. “F-Farewell for now, Speedwagon.” He managed a wave and a smile, feeling really shy and screaming at himself internally because DID HE REALLY JUST STUTTER LIKE THAT?!!

Once Speedwagon was out of sight, Jonathan looked back down at the coffee cup and grabbed it. He turned it around until he saw that Speedwagon had written his phone number along the side of it along with a message:

“You’re really cute and I like listening to you talk. Looking forward to doing it again sometime- maybe here, or maybe somewhere else? ;) <3 –Speedwagon”

The heat that had previously been burning at his cheeks blossomed into a full-fledged blush that encompassed both of his cheeks and his ears, leaving his face very red.

So, he wasn’t the only one feeling something? That was good to know…

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: That's all I have for now, but will post more when I eventually get the chance x3

Also, for anyone curious about the names of the characters from the play, they're all synonyms or close-enough names to the characters from the regular universe because I am half-lazy and half-bad taste in humor x3

#JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken #jonathan joestar #robert edward o speedwagon #jonawagon #Modern!AU #stars of the stage

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thisyearingaming · 4 years

Text

1997 - This Year in Gaming

Muggins here was born in ‘97, and can’t really remember much of it, natch. But there were some good things released this year - I’ve played every one of these, and have missed so many more.

Diablo - Windows, January 3rd

We start with dungeon-crawl-em-up and well-loved out of season April Fool’s Joke, Diablo. I’ll be totally honest - I don’t like Diablo that much. It’s absolutely fine, I just can’t get into it. The writing, setting and characters are all very good especially since this year only marks the beginning of games being seen as a bit more adult and intelligent. Check out this gameplay from Hour of Oblivion on YouTube, and marvel at the faux-Scottish accent on Griswold the blacksmith.

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Mario Kart 64 - Nintendo 64, February 10th

Compared to its more recent versions, Mario Kart 64 is a veritable bloody relic of the past - solid controls and a quirky style mean it’s still a crowd pleaser to this day, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone right now that would die on the hill of it being their favourite single-player racing experience. It’s also got some of the deepest, impenetrable lore in any medium known to the human race - why exactly is Marty the Thwomp locked up here?

Blast Corps - Nintendo 64, February 28th

February’s position as most boring month of the year is shaken up a bit by having a uniquely designed Rare game slammed into its 28-day long face. Blast Corps is the puzzle-action game where you take control of several vehicles to destroy homes and buildings in order to prevent a nuclear warhead exploding in the coolest incarnation of Cold War politicking ever seen in a video game. Calling Blast Corps a “hidden gem” these days is like calling Celeste a hidden gem - it impresses nobody and makes you look like a dick.

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Nintendo 64, March 4th

The N64 was home to a surprisingly large number of above-average shooters despite its muddy graphics and small cartridge space - Turok is one of these, a great FPS game where you shoot the SHIT out of dinosaurs. Brett Atwood of Billboard said it was like Doom and Tomb Raider mixed - Doom Raider, if you will. I say it isn’t - there’s no demons, and there’s no polygonal breasts to poke dinosaurs’ eyes out with!

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

What is a retrospective? A miserable little pile of opinions. I’ve only recently played through SotN for the very first time on a TOTALLY LEGITIMATE copy with a CRT filter. Bloody good (geddit?) game, that takes the repetition of its predecessors, improves on it in basically every conceivable way, and combines it with special effects and graphics that even 23 years later had me going “ooh, that looks quite good!” Symphony’s music and audio design are wonderfully paired with a deeply enjoyable experience that’ll have you saying “mm, maybe just one more room?”

Tekken 3 - Sony PlayStation, March 20th

Also releasing from the Land of the Rising Sun that day was Tekken 3, which many believe is still one of the best fighters ever made. Tekken 3′s combat is so fast and responsive that it’s better than some games made today. T3 is also the best and easiest way to knock seven shades of absolute shite out of your friends without risking a massive head injury or a trip to the headmaster’s office... where you could also challenge him, but only if he plays as my favourite Not-Guile-or-Ken character in gaming, Paul.

Sonic Jam - Sega Saturn, June 20th

The moment Sega realised that re-packaging old Mega Drive games would net them serious cash - although unlike later collections, this is a strictly Sonic affair, and has a neat little 3D world to run around in as a sort of hub world. Sonic X-Treme proved that Sonic Team would have to work hard at getting the fastest thing alive into 3D space properly: Jam is the sort of test ground for it too. It features some genuinely good emulation work for 1997, although it’s basically the gaming equivalent of going round to your grandparents at Christmas only for them to give you the exact same gifts you got in 1991, 1992 and 1994 but wrapped in a bow to make you think it’s different. What are you lookin’ at, you little blue devil?

Star Fox 64 - Nintendo 64, June 30th

So there’s this German company, right, called StarVox. Nintendo look at Europe and say “shit, we don’t want another lawsuit... after all, we’ve done three this year!”. So they give us in the PAL region the exciting title of Lylat Wars which as far as I know means absolutely fucking nothing in the context of the game. They’re still called Star Fox in-game too so what was the point? Anyway, fun 3D shooter with graphics that’ll make you do a barrel roll off the sofa and onto the power button to make the brown and green blurs a little easier on the eyes. Hello 2007, I’ve come back to make old references with you!

Carmageddon - Windows, July 30th

The game so scary it was BANNED in the UK! More like the game so fucking shit it was banned. Carmageddon is so deeply boring to play on PC that I can only imagine that Stainless Games made it tasteless by 90s standards simply to ramp up demand - much like another game we’ll be covering soon.

Herc’s Adventures - Sony PlayStation, July 31st

“And they said Kratos was the best hero? Shish... they got it wrong, sister! Hercules is clearly better... he even has a coconut weapon.” A surprisingly fun overhead action game that most people only know for... well, I’ll just embed it.

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Mega Man X4 - Sony Playstation, August 1st

A few years ago I tried playing every Mega Man game there is - I gave up at X3 because I was getting bored. Even still, Mega Man bores me - but at least the level design is good. Stay away from the Windows port. Pictured: me in the background yawning.

GoldenEye 007 - Nintendo 64, August 25th

The name’s Intro. Overused intro which I also managed to fuck up twice through the deeply editable medium of text. GoldenEye is like the Seinfeld of console shooters - playing it nowadays you’re unlikely to be amazed but holy shit there’s some absolute greatness in this game. Every sound and every piece of music in GoldenEye is permanently seared into my brain - sometimes I’ll just hear Facility or Frigate in my head alongside the door opening sound and the gentle PEW of the PP7. I mean come on, fucking listen to this and tell me Grant Kirkhope isn’t cool as all hell.

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LEGO Island - Windows, September 26th

The first open world experience I ever had was LEGO Island. It’s still quite good today, utterly deranged animation from the likes of the Infomaniac and Brickster - a cautionary tale for children that giving pizza to high-profile criminals is disastrous for the human LEGO race.

Fallout - Windows, October 10th

War never changes, but franchises do. Fallout’s legendary status in the industry is exemplified in how different it feels. Yes, we had the game Wasteland nine years prior, but until September 97 there was nothing quite like Fallout. From the chilling introduction sequence showing the ruins of the United States to the tragic ending, Fallout is an exercise in pure human misery with the brightest spots of hope it can possibly muster thrown in for good measure. What begins as a tedious isometric point-and-click RPG ends as a minigun-wielding power fantasy, before your entire worth is stripped from you at the finish line. You have 500 days to find a water chip before it’s too late, but you’re constantly being fought by terrifying Super Mutants, irradiated animals, and the biggest monster of all - humanity. See what I did there? If anything, humanity in Fallout’s setting would be the greatest unifying force possible against the horror of the outside world. But how is it? It’s dull, it’s sluggish, and it’s really hard to get into even if you’re already a fan - but push through that and it’s worthwhile to see exactly how far the series got before Todd Howard said “eh fuck it” and had the whole thing dipped into an FEV vat.

Grand Theft Auto - Sony PlayStation, October 21st

To put it simply, the first in the GTA series is now nothing but a novelty. It has an irritating camera, wonky controls, poor graphics and deeply repetitive gameplay. But thank fuck it exists, because without it the Rockstar story may have been very different indeed. It’s quintessential cops and robbers gameplay, spanning across Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas in one game, but with maps so far removed from their modern incarnations they may as well be named “Not New York, Possibly Bristol and Orange Town”. People really fucking hated Hare Krishnas in the 20th Century, didn’t they?

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - Sony PlayStation, October 31

A hard one to talk about, honestly - it’s more Crash and better than the first one. It looks great, and Crash controls so well compared to his first outing. It’ll also keep you playing for 100%, fiendishly addictive and unashamedly difficult. Had a weird cover that moved with your head.

PaRappa the Rapper - Sony PlayStation, November 17th

Type type type the words into the box! (Type, type, type - uh oh - the box?)

PaRappa is a gorgeously stylised rhythm game about rapping to steal the heart of the girl of your dreams - which involves learning karate, getting your driver’s license, selling bottle caps and frogs, making a cake, desperately trying not to shit yourself, and finally performing live on stage. Every one of its segments is so well-produced that they’d genuinely sell like ghost cookies in this era of shite rap. Notable for producing the greatest Jay-Z backing track ever made.

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Sonic R - Sega Saturn, November 18th

Sonic R is absolutely FINE with vibrant textures, interesting levels, neat gimmicks and decent controls. But I’m gonna talk about its fucking AWESOME soundtrack by Richard Jacques and T.J. Davis, an eclectic mix of Europop and New Jack Swing - even thinking about it is bringing tears of absolute joy to my eyes hearing Super Sonic Racing in my head. You’ve got the main theme, Living in the City, Can You Feel the Sunshine, Back in Time, Diamond in the Sky, Work It Out and Number One - all of these are absolute club bangers and genuinely wouldn’t be out of place in a 90s disco.

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Tomb Raider II - Sony PlayStation, November 18th

Lara Croft returns to single-handedly endanger every species on Earth. TR2 is really good, the exploration and puzzle-solving aspects of the first game expanded upon here and the gunplay remaining just as punchy. Lara’s got a fully-functioning ponytail which absolutely boggles the fucking mind - a lot of work went into Lara’s hair for the 2013 reboot, so I can’t imagine the amount of man hours it took to get fluid(ish, come on, it’s the PS1 we’re talking about) hair movements in 1997.

And really, that’s all I played from 1997. I’ve left out big hitters like Quake II, Gran Turismo and Diddy Kong Racing, but I simply haven’t formed an opinion on them yet. Maybe in a future post.

Thanks for reading.

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daesungfmd · 3 years

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30 days of character development : 1 - 6. headcanon / wc: 1322

day one / introduce your muse. hwang daesung is the lead vocalist & rapper of impulse; a 7-member boy group that debuted on january 16th, 2014. despite being labeled as a rapper, there’s only one song that daesung has significant rap lines in: king, which is a duet between himself and one of impulse’s other rappers. on a similar note, daesung is not officially part of the dance line, but gets (arguably) more than his fair share of center time. so, what does this mean for daesung? it means that he’s an idol who believes he could 100% be seen as a triple threat if gold star would promote him as such, but instead, he’s pushed for his voice and has to read comments saying “why’s he a rapper if he never even raps?” and “why’s the lead vocal in the center?” on the daily. </3

day two / talk about your muse’s childhood and when they decided they wanted to be an idol. daesung was born and raised in seoul, but to be more exact, it was in the neighborhood of samcheong. it’s a lovely place (as daesung himself will claim), but his childhood hardly reflected the color of his hometown. he initially had both parents, but after losing his father in 2008, he and his mother were left on their own. the loss greatly affected both daesung & his mother; ignoring the emotional impact, their financial situation was on a fast decline. you could argue that they couldn’t even afford for daesung to have big dreams ― that’s certainly what his mother tried to tell him, but he was a stubborn kid. the only “dream job” he ever had was becoming a rockstar, which is a dream that he never fully let go of. he stressed his mom out a lot during these years because instead of studying hard and aiming to go to a good university/get a good job, he spent most of his “study time” playing his guitar and/or trying to weasel his way into divebar shows. he ultimately became an idol trainee at age fifteen, but it wasn’t because he suddenly decided that he wanted to be an idol instead; he just didn’t realize what he was auditioning for, and who the hell was he to say “oops, nevermind” when he had a reality check? up until he debuted, he didn’t have any interest in being an idol. seven years in, he still doesn’t. he’s a rockstar in his heart and that’s what matters!!!

day three / talk about your muse’s audition. part of daesung’s ~charm~ is that he’s blindly optimistic. he has a lot of faith in himself, his talent & his abilities. by the time that he auditioned for gold star, he was more confident and hopeful than ever because he had already gone through hundreds of other companies and he’s the type to think that after lots of failure, you’re bound to succeed. in retrospect, perhaps the reason why so many companies turned him down was because they were looking for idols and he was a boy so clearly inspired by grunge and rock ‘n’ roll. regardless, by the time he reached gold star he had gone through enough auditions to realize what companies wanted to see in their auditionees, even had a dance memorized as well as he could with his lack of actual training in case they asked to see it. looking back on it, he wouldn’t give any advice to his former self except to do more research into what the auditions were for. he’s happy enough with where he’s at in life, but becoming an idol was never the end goal; he just went with the flow because he didn’t want to face pressure to do well in school. (ofc he realized that idols face pressure way worse than that every day but </3 mf realized too late)

day four / talk about your muse’s trainee years. daesung trained for eight months before being selected for who’s next?: origin story, having joined gold star in april of 2012. now... eight months is a decent enough amount of time, but keep in mind that he had no prior experience in idol music, nor did he even know much about idols; to put it simply, he felt (and was) underprepared. still, he figured that he wouldn’t be put in a team and thrown onto a survival show if the company didn’t have some kind of faith in him, so the show also made him more confident (even though his team lost)!!! he had another 10-ish months of training after the show ended, so if you ignore the three-month period of the survival show, he had a collective 18 months / 1 year and 6 months as a trainee. as for his training experience........ it was tough for daesung. he wasn’t as serious about becoming an idol as most of the other trainees were considering it wasn’t his “dream”, so he was more concerned about just making the experience fun and making friends than improving quickly (or even following the rules). he got scolded a lot, even at times when he hadn’t actually done anything to be scolded for because of course it was easy to assume that daesung was the culprit if something went wrong. a lot of other trainees at the time didn’t like his lack of professionalism/lack of care or the fact that he didn’t even really want to be an idol and was still taking up space. he struggled to make friends even with his grand efforts, so he felt really, really lonely more often than not. started to struggle with body image and general insecurities during this time as well which i won’t go into detail about here because that’s ~a story for another time~ but overall....... training was the loneliest part of this mf’s life. he tried to have fun and every now and then he did, but he really just wanted to go home most of the time.

day five / recall your muse’s debut. girls, girls, girls is the bane of daesung’s existence. even though he didn’t really want to be an idol, by the time he finally got the news that he was going to debut, he was excited!!! he hates routine, so at least he would be escaping the repetitive days, right? right? no. his excitement dulled once he listened to the demo for their debut song and disappeared completely when he tried to express his displeasure but was ignored. at the time, he was seventeen and i think we all know that 17 years olds have fragile egos. everything about girls x3 embarrassed him: the lyrics, the outfits, the choreography, the mv intro, the mv setting, the promotions. the first time he performed on stage ~should have~ been exciting, but daesung just wanted to hide. granted.... seven years have passed and he’s begrudgingly fond of girls x3 now. he won’t admit it, but he listens to it when he’s going through breakups and/or rejections for an extra little boost of confidence. but it’s humiliating if anyone else brings it up.

day six / talk about your muse in relation to concepts. daesung pulls off fun and/or high-energy concepts the best. his stage presence is a fickle thing — even this far into his career, he struggles to not look bored when performing mellow songs (or songs that he just doesn’t vibe with), but he shines when he’s having a good time. he has fun performing upbeat songs and it shows. to date, he’s gotten the best feedback during the eras of just right, lullaby & look, but has also gotten decent feedback during ~manly~ concepts like if you do and you calling my name. his ideal concept would have to be something dark, like mars’ older concepts, but he’s 99.9% sure that impulse will never go in that direction. something that doesn’t feel so out of reach but he knows he could pull off would be something like alien’s jealousy or charm’s clap — masculine like if you do and ycmn, but high-energy like look and lullaby. any time impulse has done songs that combine those aspects, it’s resulted in a huge headache because of unnecessary beat drops </3 please gold star let him have one (1) concept like this that doesn’t hurt to listen to, he’s begging </3

#𝐃𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆. headcanon.#i could ramble abt daesung forever probably

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nevermindthewind · 5 years

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the beach house on crack: a love island au

alright lads so basically i’ve been binge watching love island and got to thinking about how jake and amy would be if they were in the villa bc you know it’d be spicy af so naturally i called up my resident brit @fourdrinkamy and the two of us wrote up some (4k words of) headcanons!!! If you dont watch love island then 1) culture yourself 2) it’s a british reality tv show that’s like a better version of the bachelor

“The premise of Love Island is simple. A group of attractive 20-somethings are made to couple up and share a bed—regardless of whether they have a romantic connection—in a villa on the Spanish island of Majorca. New cast members and challenges are introduced to make things difficult and they are made to recouple.” - time.com (oh + the winning couple gets £50k)

keep reading below the cut for some reality tv/brooklyn nine nine madness!!!

· so jake and amy are part of the original ten in the villa, obvs, along with charles, terry, gina, sharon and rosa and a few other randos who we don’t care about

· when jake comes in amy thinks he’s cute in a goofy sort of way but she doesn’t step forward (therefore admitting she would want to couple up with him) bc she wants to keep her options open and what not but jake thinks shes a BABE so he decides to couple with her anyway

She’s not mad about it though, he seems like a good time

charles choses rosa and she is Not Pleased bc he seems like a goober (he is)

Terry picks sharon and they become like the jack and dani of the season (kinda)

· Charles and jake instantly bond and have one of the best bromances in love island history

· Gina is the biggest pot stirrer the island’s ever seen and is constantly trying to get terry away from sharon but he doesn’t ever budge

· within the first few days its clear to amy they’re just gonna be buddies but that’s fine bc while he likes orange soda in his cereal and is possibly the messiest man she’s ever met he’s really funny and they’re really good at all the different competitions and she’s got the perfect wingman for when mr. right does come around!

· jake doesn’t mind either bc amy’s super chill and also wants to join the police academy so they can talk cop movies which is dope and also they smoke the competition when it comes to challenges

· Amy loves that they get given water bottles and forces Jake to drink it in its entirety x3 daily

· The first set of new guys/girls comes into the villa and while amy and jake both try neither of them feel anything so at the first recoupling Amy chooses to stay with jake so they both can stay and try to find someone

Rosa choses the new guy marcus much to charles’ disappointment

· jake gets everyone in the villa to start making title of your sex tape jokes and it becomes a running joke and the public gets it trending on twitter

· Over the course of the next week or so they have become each other’s best friend in the villa and often find themselves hanging out one on one even when they don’t have to, to the point where everyone else is questioning whether they actually like each other or not

· The islanders get a text from the producers (“I GOT A TEXT”) saying each couple has to pick two other couples they think are the least compatible and whoever has the most votes will get dumped from the villa, but even though jake and amy are in a friendship couple the rest of the couples think they have such good chemistry they don’t receive a single vote

· jake’s thinking the same thing and confides in charles after a few drinks and charles convinces him to say something to her

Charles is already a self-defined “melt” for jake & amy

THATS WHEN TEDDY COMES INTO THE ISLAND dun dun dun

Amy’s instantly drawn to teddy and everyone is excited bc she finally found someone she’s interested in

“He’s 100% my type on paper”

jake is genuinely happy for her ( “how do i look? Is this lipstick too much?” “you look great, ames”) but at the same time is a sad lil puppy

That night they recouple and amy chooses teddy and the public are sad bc jake and amy belong together!!!!!

Gina recouples with jake to keep him around bc she’s his mate le duh

amy’s all excited that night because she finally has someone to cuddle with but teddy just??? rolls over and goes to bed??? uh okay…

Also he snores. Big time.

Charles brings his sleep apnea machine and between that and teddy’s snores no one can sleep

On the brightside no one can hear the couples who are ~doing bits~

(A/N to clarify: in the villa, everyone sleeps in the same room which has six double beds & you share a bed with whoever you happen to be ‘coupled up’ with at the time)

· The jimmy jabs is totes one of the competitions they do and jake lets amy (and therefore teddy) win bc he knows how bad she wants it……and because he still likes her

· The heist, on the other hand, is something jake comes up with on his own and eventually everyone in the villa starts swiping things from each other

· Eventually this super hot girl sophia enters the villa and jake is SMITTEN

Jake in the interview room: “Looks like the gods have finally answered my prayers…”

iain the narrator: “Yes, the gods. Or, our producers wanted a bit of action so they asked our intern to find out your type.”

· Pimento enters the villa the same time as sophia and he and rosa are instantly drawn to each other and poor marcus doesnt stand a chance

They become co-presidents of the do bits society within like a day, even doing it in the middle of the day

Jake walks in on them doing it TWICE in one day and just silently backs out of the room, it’s not like he needed sun cream anyway

· sophia gets to pick two guys to take on a date and one of them is jake and amy is v jealous bc teddy is a dud (not that she’s going to admit that to anyone apart from in the talking head…just yet)

“I just don’t get what he sees in her honestly? Oh god…am i jealous of sophia?! Noooooo…”

Iain the narrator: “Yessssssss…”

· Amy’s been trying to get to know teddy, but it turns out the guy is a total snoozefest, which she tells gina and rosa one day while they’re getting ready

“All he ever talks about is pilsners. I dont even like pilsners!!!”

“Also, I dunno if you guys noticed this but the guy wears mesh underwear. Like why? Is it medical? How do you even ask that?!”

· Jake and sophia immediately hit it off and in the same episode it becomes v clear amy is over teddy and his lack of a personality

Theres a recoupling where boys pick and jake picks sophia and teddy picks amy but amy is Not Pleased

· A group of the islanders (led by Jake) creates a game where they take a shot every time Teddy chooses a pilsner to drink

charles is pissed by like six pm

· UH OH THERES A KISSING CHALLENGE

The islanders play snog marry pie, so basically the boys line up in a line and the girls pick a boy to make out with and one they’d want to marry (and one they want to throw a literal pie in their face)

Sophia snogs jake ofc and then says she’d marry some rando (again who we don’t care about)

Amy, however, chooses to marry teddy - “i’m marrying you because i think we’d have cute babies who would go to code camp” - AND KISSES JAKE. jake is surprised but also not upset?? And when amy pulls away jake seems to lean in for more!!!

Cut to sophia in the talking head like “HANG ON. why did she kiss jake and why did he look like he was going in for more???”

Sophia gets pissed off at jake who’s genuinely confused

“It was just a game?? Like i’dve kissed anyone bc that’s literally the game”

“Yes jake but you clearly went for more. And you didn’t have to slip your tongue into her mouth.”

Jake tries to clear his name but sophia’s not having it

“If you liked amy you should’ve just told me, not made out with her in front of me and the whole damn country”

She storms off after that leaving jake alone on the swinging couch

Cut to jake smiling in the talking head: “amy kissed me…”

NEXT TIME ON LOVE ISLAND…

Just kidding i don’t have enough follow through to make two posts so we’re just gonna do it all now

· After all that ~drama~ sophia goes to sleep on the couch but jake, ever the gentleman, tells her he’ll take the couch and she can sleep in the bed

Teddy and amy still share a bed…i mean it’s not like they cuddled before anyway…

· Everyone in the villa gives jake crap for his bedhead and amy crap for her old lady glasses

Jake def makes the glasses/penis comment and iain makes some snarky narrator remark

· Jake and Amy kinda dance around each other most of the day and then they hear Gina announce “I GOT A TEEEEEXXXXXT”

“Islanders, tonight there will be a recoupling. The girls will choose their partner. The remaining boy with be dumped from the villa immediately. #choosewisely”

Everyone in the villa immediately turns to jake and amy

· After a proper gassing up from gina, rosa, and charles jake finally goes over to amy

“Hey ames, can we go for a chat?”

Amy tucks her hair behind her ears as she gets up heheheh

Gina, rosa and charles don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re watching the entire conversation unfold from their spot on the day bed

· They go to the hanging couch (the best spot in the villa in my humble opinion) and jake finally tells her how he feels!!!!

“Look, i dont wanna be a jerk…I know you’re coupled up with teddy and it’s going really well. It’s just…”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen at this recoupling and I think I’d be pissed with myself if I didn’t say this. I kinda wish something could happen between us…romantic stylez. And i know it probably will never happen because you’re happy in your couple but…”

· Before either of them can say anything more they’re cut off by terry announcing he has a text!!!

“Islanders, it is now time for the recoupling. Whichever boy is not chosen to recouple will be dumped from the villa immediately.”

Jake and amy just kinda stare at each other for a few seconds before amy finally gets up wordlessly and walks to the bonfire

· In classic love island fashion, amy has to choose her boy last, so it’s down to just teddy and jake. Whoever she doesn’t pick has to leave the villa.

Everyone, e v e r y o n e is visibly stressed. Charles is full on crying, and rosa is clutching pimento’s hand so hard it may or may not break by the end of the night

Teddy, god bless him, looks completely at ease. Jake keeps scratching the back of his neck and wringing his hands

· Finally amy takes a deep breath.

“I chose this boy because…he makes me laugh. He’s a good friend, and he knows me better than anyone in the villa. Also – he’s probably gonna make fun of me for saying this – but he’s, like, really fit. I don’t know, I just would be so, so sad if he left the villa. And I want to give us a chance to go beyond friends.”

At this point the camera flips to jake who is giving her the smallest, sweetest smile and then to teddy who’s finally catching on.

“The boy I choose is…”

*dramatic-ass pause*

“Jake.”

· THE MUSIC SWELLS. JAKE WALKS OVER TO HER AND GIVES HER THE SWEETEST KISS. EVERYONE CRIES, EVEN ROSA.

Amy smiles as they pull apart.

“So, a lot of change around here, huh?”

He kisses her again. :’)

· The first night they sleep together they don’t kiss but they do spoon

Jake is almost always the little spoon and at first he gets crap from the other boys when they see this but he doesn’t care because being the little spoon is the best!!!!! He gets to wake up in amys arms like hellooooo

· Amy and jake are surprisingly affectionate??? Not in a weird way like charles and genevieve but amy just always seems to have a hand on his knee or what have you

For the record, amy was NEVER like that with teddy.

· Amy has a STRICT no-sex rule in the bedroom bc hello they are on national television her abuela could be watching!!!! + it would be super weird to do bits in the same room as charles…of course jake completely and utterly respects this and doesn’t even question it. If he has to go 6 weeks without sex even though he’s sharing a bed every night with the hottest girl he’s ever seen then so be it

· UNTIL it’s announced via text that The Hideaway (a private area/bedroom in the villa away from everyone else but still not the cameras Obviously this is love island) is open and the islanders get to choose a couple to stay there for the night. Having had to put up with their blossoming love and flirting 24 fucking 7 everyone else unanimously screams “jake and amy!!!! It has to be Jake and amy!!!!” and they just grin at each other

· The bed is so big and covered in rose petals & there happens to be a very handy bowl of condoms on the bedside table…at first they just talk about how nice it is to get some alone time and just hang out….which of course turns to kissing and then making out and then………under the covers they go (for those who don’t actually watch the show it’s literally like seeing sims wahooing but irl) (maybe we see a cheeky black and white shot of amy moaning)

· The next morning amy wakes up with the BIGGEST grin on her face and her hair all mussed, and she kisses jake awake “morning, baby” and he immediately pulls her into him and kisses her back

Jake’s talking head: “Last night? Last night was….it was amazing. Stupid good. That’s all I’m going to say.” our boy!!! Cannot!!! Stop smiling!!!!

· When they get back to the main villa they naturally segregate into boys and girls and the guys immediately ask jake “how was your night? Did you get any??” “oh my god, did you FRENCH???” “charles, no nothing happened”

· (in true Jamie style) he goes over to the day beds with amy and lets her cuddle into his chest and asks if it’s okay if he tells people what happened in the hideaway - he’s a gentleman!!! And he’s always going to respect her boundaries!! Amy tells him of course that’s okay, people are going to find out anyway and that it’s really sweet of him to check with her…and she laughs to herself when jake goes back over to the boys and she hears charles scream “I KNEW YOU WERE GLOWING”

· Rosa and Gina casually-but-not-so-subtly ask amy “so did you shag? Tell us everything” and amy just smiles….rosa and gina look at each other like noice, they’re so proud of her!!

Rosa later confides in amy “the amy i knew two weeks ago would nEver have done that with Teddy…i’m happy for you, santiago”

· CASA AMOR. the boys have to sneak out of the villa (jake goes into full on spy mode rolling around on the carpet) and get shipped off to a separate one that has 6 new girls in it and then 6 new boys enter the old villa to shake things up (reality television at its absolute FINEST YALL)…the producers’ twist? Fucking Constantine Kane gets put in the girls’ villa - amy’s eyes widen out of their sockets when she sees her most random ex enter. He of course is still so in love with her, or so he claims, and tells her how excited he is to couple up with her and share a bed and win her over and get married and have babies with her. Amy naturally is like no way jose and spends the entire time trying to avoid him (with the help of rosa) hiding everywhere she can fit and sleeping on the sofa at night (and, also naturally, she worries that Sophia 2.0 is with jake right now and she realises it kind of makes her sick to her stomach thinking about jake kissing another girl….maybe she likes him even more than she thought she did?)

· Just to mess with him, jake gets a text that has a photo of constantine trying to kiss amy and poor bb gets beside himself with worry…

Jake’s talking head: “I mean Amy can do whatever she wants, I’m obviously not going to stop her from being with another person - we’ve only known each other for what a month…” [he looks away from the camera and rubs his face with his hand] “But I really like her…so it just kinda…sucks.”

· OBVIOUSLY he has nothing to worry about and his face!!!!!!!!! Just lights up in relief!!!!! When amy walks back into the og villa during the Most Dramatic recoupling without bringing back anyone from the new one!!! She rushes over to him and cups his face with her hands and kisses him hard in front of everyone

· “I missed you, you know” “I missed you too” “Hey I have to ask…that guy you were with-” “You saw that?” “I got sent a photo…nothing…nothing happened between you, right?” “Yes - I mean no. Things did happen. In the past, on the outside. But I was young and I regret it so much - i tried to avoid him the entire time in casa amor. Honestly all I could think about was how much i wanted to be hanging out with you” “really?” she moves to sit on his lap, wraps her arms around his next and kisses his cheek. “the only person i want to be in this villa with is you” “i could say the same thing about you, ames” and then they get straight back to kissing :’)))

Iain: “nope, that’s definitely not a tear in my eye”

· One morning the islanders wake up to the delightful sound of babies screaming bc you guessed it!! baby challenge!!! (i.e. towards the end of the summer, the couples are given plastic babies and have to look after them for a day)

Amy is SO excited and throws the covers off running towards the cribs (after Charles and Genevieve) screaming - “We made a baby! Oh my god I have a baby!” leaving a half-awake dazed and confused jake still in bed

Jake & Rosa eventually bother getting out of their respective beds, definitely not as excited as the rest of the villa, but jake will admit his heart flutters a little seeing amy cradling a plastic baby to her chest so attentively

“Jake! Look we have a little girl!” “awww she looks just like you, Ames” “we have to name her” “Nakatomi” jake answers immediately, to which amy whines “jaaaake take it seriously! I’m not having a daughter called Nakatomi” “fine, i’ll compromise on Holly”

At first jake is a little apprehensive about having this new Responsibility (and he’s not about to blurt out all his dad issues on national television) and so he keeps his distance and mainly lets amy take care of their new offspring in the morning (“amessss why does it keep crying?” “i cannot Believe you would call our baby it, peralta!”) That is until the girls get sent off on a Mommy’s Lunch, turning the villa into daddy day care….

He knows how much Amy loves this little baby so he decides he is going to take this seriously and it doesn’t take long for him to realise that??? This is kinda fun??? He takes Holly on strolls in her buggy around the villa and plays with her in the pool with charles and terry and (tugging at the public’s heart) sits on a day bed with her and tells her just how awesome her mummy is

When amy gets back, her heart completely MELTS at the sight of her new bf with their little one……and they end up talking about how they’re the best parents in the entire villa nay the world (“our kid is WAY cuter than terry and sharon’s” “oh for SURE”) & then of course win the challenge

· For the Final Date extravaganza they go on a helicopter ride and ngl even Amy is beside herself with excitement…they’ve spent the last 6 weeks talking about their favourite action films etc. and now it’s like they’re in one! They definitely act like literal children/real cops pretending they’re on a manhunt for a fugitive (instead of appreciating the view like normal people)

They get treated to a romantic dinner afterwards followed by dancing with live musicians and that’s when they FINALLY say those 3 words to each other….(well 5 if you count “noice, smort”)

· AND THE WINNER IS…..jake and amy obviously this is a b99 x love island au :’) they’re so sweet and humble about it & amy makes jake promise on live national television that he’s not just going to spend all their cash prize on sneakers. They each end up with over a million followers on their instagrams, where they regularly post photos of each other on date night/ at premieres/ evenings at home…and also video sagas of them pranking each other which starts with amy pieing jake’s face unexpectedly and escalates into fake proposals and frozen shoes….and maybe some *light* tasering

· Of course they end up getting married for realz and a baby announcement follows not too long after that…they are utterly the nation’s sweethearts (and Charles keeps doing interviews to the press saying he’s the one who brought them together in the villa from the beginning)

#ive never been more proud of a piece of work than i am of this #fic #my writing #headcanon #peraltiago

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meat-husband · 5 years

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Can we please get some headcanon a for the slashers (mainly Michael and Jason) if the s/o actually attempted to ‘break up’ or didn’t think said ‘relationship’ would work out...? Or if like even early on during the ‘courting’ phase the were initially like ‘yeeeeaaahhhh no thank you’? I absolutely adore your writings! But that first meetings hc was the absolute best! I wish you’d expand on it sometime! But your the absolute best! So glad I found your blog! Just wanted to tell you that really X3 !

Thank you

Both of these happen after this post.

Michael

You couldn’t help the silly grin on your face as you tapped away at your phone, holding it in your lap. You hadn’t had much luck with relationships in the past, but you had somehow managed to get into a flirty conversation with the crush you had been pining over for the last few months. They were honestly amazing, and you were sure you didn’t have a chance, but here they were replying in earnest to your cheesy texts. Your smile widens as their next reply comes in, reading it over quickly and feeling your face turn red at the abundance of heart emojis included. That was good, right? They were actually flirting back, and you somehow hadn’t messed it up yet!

“Hey!”

A big hand comes down from behind the couch, slapping the device out of your grip. It clatters to the floor and you swear loudly, afraid that your already damaged screen is going to be ruined.

“What the fuck, Michael!”

He looks at you impassively, face blank. You weren’t sure how long he had been standing behind you, but you didn’t doubt that he had been there long enough to spy on your whole embarrassing conversation. You half lean off the couch, reaching for your phone, but the collar around your neck is suddenly tight as you’re yanked back into the cushions.

“Oh my god, you’re being such a cockblock right now!” You yell furiously, trying to twist away from his hand. “C’mon, they’re finally talking to me, don’t be a dick.”

He lets you go and you’re quick to swipe the phone up from the floor, hastily starting to type your reply. There was a new crack in your screen, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad, so you settled for giving him a glare from the corner of your eyes. You’re halfway through your message when the phone is taken again, lifted up above your head as Michael inspects it, swiping up through your conversation.

“Hey, I’m being serious, give that back!”

You sit up on your knees, throwing yourself towards him over the back of the couch, but you’re nowhere near tall enough to reach. He puts one hand on top of your head to keep you at bay, and lazily scrolls through your messages with the other. It was just like him to start getting involved right as something good came along.

“Michael, please,” you beg, reaching up to grab a handful of his dirty jumpsuit. “They’re so cool and they’re actually flirting with me!”

He looks at you from the corner of his eye, face still turned towards you phone, and the neutral line of his mouth turns down.

“Mine.”

You’re more shocked at the sound of his voice than the actual words, eyes going wide. Your eyes go back and forth between the serious look on his face and the phone in his hand.

“What? Uh, that’s my phone, give it back.”

Michael’s frown deepens, lip pulling back to show a slight gleam of teeth. He lets the phone drop out of his hand, turning to face you over the back of the couch. You shout, watching your phone hit the floor and just knowing the screen is beyond repair now. When you look up at him, eyes full of anger, you’re surprised to see the same look on his face. Long fingers wrap around your jaw, digging into your cheeks and pulling your face up to look at him.

“Mine.”

It’s nearly a whisper, but you’re close enough to hear it clearly. He looks you in the eyes, expression serious, and makes you meet his gaze. You’re not sure what he means by that, but the short statement feels definite and final. Heat floods your face and you squirm under his hand, but he doesn’t let you pull away.

“Okay, okay, I got it, stop smushing my face.”

He tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes like he doesn’t believe you. He shakes your head a little, and you struggle to keep from knocking your teeth together.

“Yours, I get it! C’mon, my face hurts.”

A quiet buzz from the floor lets you know that your crush has noticed your late reply. Michael looks down, and you know what he’s about to do, but your hand reaching up for his sleeve is too late to stop him. A heavy boot crunches your phone into splinters, grinding down until the screen detaches completely.

“Really?! That’s a shitty start to a relationship, Michael, I just finished paying for that!”

Jason

You were a mess.

You hadn’t slept well for the past few days, and the lack of rest showed. Tired eyes, messy hair and a grumpy attitude were clear signs of your unrest, and the friends you spoke to everyday were starting to notice as well.

The reason you hadn’t been sleeping was sitting across from you, a hulking body balanced precariously on the edge of one of your kitchen chairs, as though he wasn’t sure he was allowed to sit on it. Big hands were folded in his lap, masked face pointed down and keeping his eyes on the floor. He looked almost like a child being scolded, even though all you had done was offer him a seat.

You weren’t sure what to do about him. Each day only brought more little gifts, thankfully less morbid than the ones he had been leaving before, and he was always waiting when you came home from work. Tonight had been no different, arriving home to find him standing on your porch with another handful of weeds ready to be presented to you. It was a little endearing, you couldn’t deny that, but you had to put a stop to it.

“Thank you for the, uh, flowers. Again.”

You had placed today’s bundle of weeds in the same jar of water that held the ones you had received for the past week, but they didn’t look anything like a bouquet. Mostly made up of grass with clumps of dirt still attached and a few stray dandelions, you were a little amazed that he had managed to pick everything except for flowers. Especially when you considered the abundant amount of wildflowers surrounding your house.

He doesn’t reply, but you can tell he’s uncomfortable. This is the first time he’s been inside your home, and you usually would never have allowed him in despite the awkward presents, but you thought it would be polite, considering you were about to turn him down. It was sweet, you supposed, the little gifts he gave you, but you couldn’t let it go on.

“Do you want food?” You’re a little nervous to actually get to the point, so you flit around the kitchen trying to find something to do with your hands. “Or something to drink?”

He gives you a short shake of his head, eyes still on the ground. You close the cabinet doors you had been looking through, standing nervously with your back to the counter. There wasn’t a good way to let someone down normally, let alone a murderous urban legend.

“Okay, well. I appreciate the flowers, you know, like I said. It’s sweet, but, uh…”

You trail off, shifting on your feet and glancing away. This was much harder than you had anticipated, and he wasn’t helping things with the downcast look and slumped shoulders.

“Jason.”

He looks up at that, finally meeting your eyes. You’re a little surprised at the sudden eye contact, and the words you had been preparing vanish. It was hard to tell with the mask covering so much of his face, but you thought he almost looked happy at the mention of his name.

“C-can, can you talk?”

You stutter out the question with a flush creeping up your face. He shakes his head again, making low gurgling noises in the back of his throat. You look away, mostly to avoid the strangely affectionate look on his face, and spot your grocery list on the counter next to you. You pick it up, turning it around to the blank side, and pull a stubby pencil from your junk drawer.

“Okay, we can use this.”

You slide the paper and pencil in front of him, stepping back to put the little table in between you. He looks down at the pencil, but doesn’t move to pick it up.

“Just write your answers,” you explain, reaching over to nudge the paper closer. “Can you do that?”

Jason cocks his head to the side like a curious dog, pulling the items closer. The stubby pencil is minuscule in his big hands, but he takes it and presses it roughly against the paper. He doesn’t wait to see what questions you have, but starts writing immediately, big, loopy shapes scratched out in a clumsy manner. When he’s done, the whole paper taken up with his work, he holds it back out for you to take.

There are dark smudges from his dirty hands, but the writing is surprisingly legible, only because it’s not words at all. Big hearts cover the page, like the kind little girls draw in their notebooks at school, lines wobbly and uneven. You feel your face go red, trying to find some kind of reply. Looking up, you see the corners of his eyes crinkled up, clearly smiling under the mask.

Okay, change of plans, you decide. You can’t let him down easy now, but surely it wouldn’t hurt to wait a little longer.

#Slashers #Michael Myers #Jason Voorhees #Slasher x Reader #Gender Neutral Reader #im sorry jason is just so CUTE #let him be happy pls #its like saying no to a puppy u just cant do it #Anonymous

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cutiecrates · 5 years

Text

Cutie Reviews: DokiDoki May 19

I was kind of disappointed in how my review for the TokyoTreat went yesterday, I mean, even though it annoyed me through various means I wouldn’t not recommend the box still.

Meanwhile, I was very excited for this one. I’ve realized that after doing two really big box reviews, I come to really appreciate the much smaller ones, DokiDoki and YumeTwins. In turn I feel like that makes me do a little better... maybe.

This months theme: Sweet Dreams

“Drift off into dreamland with May’s crate. This month’s theme, Sweet Dreams is all about getting you ready to settle down and get cozy for a good night’s rest. Oyasuminisai is the common saying in Japan to wish someone a good night, so this month Doki Doki Crate is wishing you sweet dreams and a good night!“

This month, the booklet features a fun illustration featuring Tomomi with the girl mascots of Japan Crate and KiraKira Crate having a slumber party. I love how they have cute crossovers between their brands like this x3 it’s a fun touch- did you know Tomomi’s boyfriend is the mascot from Umai Crate?

I also like how even though they quit making the comics, they’re still making original art now and then.

Suteki Crate

This month the Suteki Crate (special crate all subscribers have a chance to win, in case you’re new here) focused on the theme and stuck to the characters featured in this box. It makes me want to nap just looking at everything~

(and I just woke up like an hour ago...)

But I will point out that they have offered a Kirby Otamatone before. Probably a year back or so, I remember seeing it. Also, the adorable Sleepy My Melody plush goes great with the photo contest prize, a sleepy Kuromi plush~

My Melody Mesh Case

Our first item would come in handy when staying out of the house for the day, it’s a mesh pack/bag/case, which can hold many toiletries; hair brushes and accessories, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, soap, etc. It features an adorable pale pink zipper to match the adorable patterned band around the bottom, which is covered in My Melody with some small forest friends doing various activities (and lots of adorable English phrases).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

You know, I wasn’t ever into mesh containers like this, I always thought they looked kind of gaudy and they just didn’t appeal to me; but now that I’m older and I’m actually looking at one, it isn’t that bad. This would have come in handy when I was younger, I used to visit my grandma and spend the night/weekend a lot and my suitcase was always a pain dealing with. This could have lightened the load a little, or at least organized it better.

Also, it’s pretty big, I was able to fit in a lot of items and it didn’t feel too heavy or bad carrying. I did notice something though, the inside of the bottom section is sort of... thin cloth-ish, that kind of has me concerned that it might not be a good idea to get it wet, compared to the outside, which feels like it could handle that. Oh, I also noticed two holes in the mesh from the tag being cut, but I feel like it doesn’t really hinder anything.

San-X Towel

Also for bathroom/washing preparedness prior to bed or in the morning, we have a cute mini-towel featuring Sumikko Gurashi or Rilakkuma. As you can see, the Sumikko Gurashi group are out enjoying what looks like an autumn excursion :3 perfect timing considering it’s going on that season now.

And yes, it’s on one of my cats. He wouldn’t leave me alone while I was trying to get pictures, so I tried making him comfortable enough to go back to sleep.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Well, besides being cute, I’m always impressed when we get towels like this because I don’t usually seen any around here. We have slightly bigger hand towels/rags, but nothing like this. It feels soft and nice, so I feel like this would be ideal for washing your face, drying off the hair, wrapping around the shoulders, using as a hand towel; it’s also the perfect size for wrapping up adorable pets~

(also, I noticed that when held up to the light you can see noticeable tag holes again. Not a huge deal though.)

Pajya Shark Plushie

Of course when you go to bed, you need a cuddly companion by your side to ensure sweet dreams or to help chase away the bad nightmares~

This month, we have an adorably colorful, pastel shark. The name Pajya is inspired by the fact that this was made with common Japanese Sleepwear in mind, which is usually in various soft tones and made from fluffy, soft material.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I love fluffy-soft things~ and I also happen to have a fondness for sharks; it’s a weird combination when you think about it, but I love it! He is very soft and sweet looking, and he isn’t threatening or have any teeth, so he’s a good buddy for all types and ages x3 I admit, the sewing could be a little better, but it’s not bad.

(This box has made me super-sleepy~ As of now I’ve only been up an hour and a half >3< But it’s probably because I stayed up until 4am, and I’ve been hungry and didn’t eat yet...)

Kirby Eye Mask

As we prepare for bed, our next item is an adorable eye mask :D featuring Kirby or Waddle Dee. I have a few eye masks and I enjoy using them sometimes (they especially come in handy if you have a headache or just need to relax, unless they squeeze your head too much...) but I don’t use them too frequently.

The mask has a sleek feel and is thin and made from shiny material. It has a really stretchy light pink strap, and the inner-side is cloth, featuring a dark blue star pattern. It also has a small black nose flap...? I’m not entirely sure how that works or what its for, none of my others have one, but I assume it’s just for a little additional comfort or to help support the mask.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s very cute, and I love the concept of bringing in Kirby for this sort of theme. In preparation for the review I was very excited to use this, and it feels very comfortable. Sometimes when I use eye masks I end up pulling them off after a while because they’re kind of uncomfortable or start squeezing, and I admit that this one felt like that after a while- but at the same time it wasn’t nearly to the same extent and didn’t bother me as much. The thin material makes it feel sort of breathable as well, which is nice when my poor nose is stuffed up and I can hardly breath as it is.

I can’t help but relax when I wear an eye mask, so I can’t imagine a more suitable item for this theme~

Kirby Night Light

Our last item is an adorable partner to the Kirby eye mask; a light! Again, this is another great and perfect bed item, especially if you’re someone you might feel a anxious in the dark or need a back-up light. It would also just be cute for a little desk light or something.

This requires 3 AA batteries (not included) and it is available in 2 styles; this parasol blue one I got, and a pink one covered in black and white old style manga or pop art Kirby. We all know how much I love pink, but I also really like the rain, and have a lot of fun playing with the parasol ability/item in Kirby games, so I think I’m actually really happy I got this one.

And of course I wouldn’t leave you guys hanging. I did get it working:

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The light is warm yellow (you know, the lights that seem kind of dim when you compare them to white lights? and yes I know it looks white in the pic, I had to brighten the image to make it see-able clearly) but still very bright; it ended up surprising me. I found it to be really soothing~

I also like the practicality behind this, if you didn’t want to use it as a night light you could use it as a backup flashlight (cause if you’re like us you have a bunch and they either die and you don’t replace batteries, or you lose them), or just to help create a mood- like telling spooky stories during a slumber party.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 5 out of 5. I have no complaints, I love these items :3 They’re very sweet and cute, and seeing them (and doing this review) makes me want to lay down to snuggle up with some of them~

Theme: 5 out of 5. I’m really happy to finally have a theme like this, I wish we’d get more bedtime items or themes. I feel like this is also suitable for all times of the year, and everything definitely went together to create a near-seamless box. I say near because some could argue well the bathroom items don’t count: but many people have a routine prior to bed, and some enjoy taking bathes before bed, so in a way yeah, they do count. Suteki Crate and the prize were also spot-on.

Total Rank: 10 out of 10 Cuties. I know to some people they might argue that a bedtime theme isn’t very exciting but everyone could use a little unwinding, especially at bed. I wasn’t feeling tired when I began writing this but I’m probably going to go back to bed when I finish. I didn’t have anything going on today and I fully plan to take advantage of that. As much as I liked our prior box, I love this one even more! Keep it up Doki Doki~

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Kirby Nightlight - I love how it resembles an actual lamp x3 and I adore the pattern/print on both of the options. The glow made me feel relaxed- the only way it could be better would be if it had an actual rain effect or color change feature like my oil mister~

2. Pajya Shark - It’s colorful and sweet, it’s perfect for bed or just in a sugary sweet pastel setting. Very soft and cuddly.

3. Kirby Eye Mask - I kind of find face-themed eye masks to be kind of corny, but when it comes to Kirby it’s very cute! It felt really nice against the skin and I can’t wait to use it again (probably after this review).

4. Towel - It’s very cute, I can’t say the color scheme does all that much for me but I love how it’s fall/autumn themed and goes with the upcoming season. The cats really like it too.

5. My Melody Mesh Case - I think it’s sweet and soft on the eyes, but I know I won’t get much use out of it. I could use it now to do some organization of my items in the bathroom (or some others, which I’ll probably do) though, so it’s really practical.

#dokidokicrate #kirby merchandise #sumikko gurashi #my melody

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natalyatr73 · 5 years

Note

6, 14 and 66 for apprentice questions?

((ohshit i wasn’t actually expecting to get these! XD thank you!)) Sorry it took a moment to do this but, I wanted to provide lil doodles to go along with these.

NOTE: THERE’S A LOT OF TEXT AND SOME ART UNDERNEATH HERE SO JUST TO MAKE SURE THIS ISN’T TOO LONG ON SOMEONE’S DASH, IM PUTTING A READMORE HERE THING, OKIE? OKIE-ANSWERS ARE BELOW!

#6 : What’s their favorite piece of clothing?

At first I was going to say her shawl/scarf thing but i couldn’t draw it right, sooo i gave up and did a different outfit. While her usual clothes are a go to, she really likes the outfit the player gets from Nadia during their first day of being at the palace. It’s either this, or the necklace she wears, either way, she adores the clothes since they’re not only well made, but feel nice.

#14: What kind of magic are they good at?

This was one I didn’t think about previously so it gave me a chance to work on her! While readings are a given, her strongest magic has to do with creating light/manipulating liquids (which isn’t shown-I figured she’s drawn to light and water elements), and protection spells.

#66: How do they express affection?

Affection is a broad term, so I went with things both platonic and romantic. This was fun to think of and doodle. Generally when she’s closer to someone, she’s really talkitive and likes to just hang around, spending time with people is great for her, even if they don’t do much but talk a few times and go back to doing their own thing, she’s content just being with them. She’ll also often make or buy gifts for others, usually the earlier unless there’s something she knows the other has been looking at (and if she can afford it). She’ll normally make things like bracelets or little carvings, which will usually have some type of protection/goodluck spell attached to it. She also leans into people when she’s close to them, might just lean her entire body on them because physical affection is a biggie for her. She’ll rest her head on someone’s shoulder, nudge her head into their chest, or if they’re laying down, lay right next or ontop of them. Now-when she is emotional, or someone is in need of affection (cough a certain dramatic man who keeps sayin he ain’t gOOD DAMN IT COUGH), she’ll go into a tight hug and refuse to let go, her head /right/ on them. When it’s her that needs the comforting, she lets loose and allows her emotions to spill, but if it’s the other way around, she’ll stay connected and talk to them while keeping them close. (as best she can as she is….shorter than most of the characters here.) And will stay by their side until she feels they’ve felt a bit better, or truly do need the space.

extra: also since none of these were clearly romantic-in a more romantic relationships…. she leaves lots of small cheek kisses and almost always wants to hold hands, and if given the chance, will cuddle for hours on end.

I hope these were alright! X3 thank you so much

#the arcana #the arcana game #the arcana apprentice #fan apprentice #apprentice sabah #apprentice questions #my art #asks

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some-cookie-crumbz · 5 years

Note

Yes lesbian!Kidge please 😍😍😍

Can I just say I’m so happy that so many people were interested in this self-indulgent little idea of mine??? It makes me so happy! x3

Also, this fic is based loosely in canon, somewhere between S7 and S8, since I started to write this out before S8 hit. Also, in regards to Female!Keith in this, I was vague so that the reader can view it however they’d like. If you want to read this as Cis Female Keith or Trans Girl Keith, you’re free to! x3

Keira Kogane had to have pissed off some cosmic force in herlifetime, with what she was facing in that moment.

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal aboutthis," She said, crossing her arms and glaring at the figure before her,poised over a large box filled with clothes. Off to the side, she saw Shiroleaning against a wall and skimming through a magazine, seeming quite contentto hand the reins over to another set of hands. She narrowed her eyes to flashhim a half-hearted glare.

Filthy traitor, leaving her to fend for herself against thewolf.

She perked up as the other hoisted himself up, hands settledon either side of the box, flashing her a chiding look with his bright blueeyes. "Because, my poor, misguided friend," He said before seeming tospot something in the box that he liked and diving back down, "a date is abig, big moment for a blossoming romance. And I can tell that your experienceregarding romance is... Well, let's just say it leaves a lot to be desired.Plus, gonna be honest, but your sense fashion could use a serious helpinghand." He pulled out a bright yellow and blue tube-style shirt and lookedat her with a bright grin.

She made a face and, with a small huff, he cast the shirtover his shoulder and resumed his searching. Feeling a bit braver, she walkedover and peered over his hunched form into the box, arms crossing on instinctover her chest. "What's wrong with the way I dress?”

"Have you lookedat your jacket recently? It's like a poorly constructed matador cape!" Helaughed, casting an incredulous look at her over his shoulder.

"It does not!" She snapped back.

“It totally does. Besides, it doesn’t fit you right anymoreanyway. You need to update your fashion sense as well as your ensemble. Getsomething that actually fits,” He retorted, tone dismissive.

"I really like my jacket. It's comfy and I can movereally well in it. Who cares if it isn't the height of fashion?" Sheasked, waving one hand in the arm as if to dismiss him in turn.

"Pidge will,"Lance sang back, the smug look on his face causing her to flinch back.

It hadn’t been something she’d been planning to do, really,despite how badly she wanted to. In the weeks following their last huge fightagainst the strange Robeast that showed up on Earth, the Paladins hadn’t seen awhole lot of each other. Or, rather, Keira hadn’t seen too much of the others.Galra contained a slightly elevated healing rate than humans and, due to herown heritage as a Halfling, she’d been cleared to leave the medical bay muchsooner than the others. And once she was cleared, Shiro and Commander Iversonhad scooped her up to help with this or that, as well as to give statements toEarth and coalition-based media outlets about the situation as it stood.

It was in this time that she stood back and examined things.In specific, an interesting conversation she’d had with Iverson about missedopportunities was what caused her to decide she needed to act. She’d spentplenty of time sitting on her hands, quietly wondering if she even stood achance if she were to put herself out there like that. After all, Pidge wasbasically living starlight; brilliant and vibrant and vivacious. She was loyaland intelligent and passionate. Oh, and how her eyes lit up when she gotrambling about her latest research project!

And then Keira was just… Well, she was just a mopey, lonelysort that got stuck being the leader of the most powerful weapon the universeshad to offer. She wasn’t the type of person that people like Pidge Gunderson,or Katie Holt or whoever she was took an interest in. But, when she’d dared tosay as much outloud, Commander Iverson had cast a curious glance at her. “Notlike you to give up without a fight, but it sounds like you’re ready to pullyour hat out of the ring before it even touches the dirt. Not as brave as Igave you credit for, huh?” He said, tone near wistful.

And Keira, a creature of pride and impulsiveness, hadstormed off to find the other young woman and ask her out.

She’d found Pidge by chance, heading to the hanger to checkon the Lions with Hunk. Hunk, dear sweetheart that he was, had sensed the moodand excused himself. Keira had stumbled through her words, barely managing toget it out that she wanted to go out with Pidge. Just the two of them. On adate. She’d been startled when the shorter girl had actually flushed and lookedaway, everything about the gesture coy and nearly painfully cute, beforelifting her head and nodding, still clearly embarrassed but also giddy.

“I’d love to,” She had breathed out, her voice a littlewispy. The two had agreed to a few days later, when they were to have a freeday to start milling about the rebuilt portions of town, and then parted. Asshe was heading back to her room, though, the reality of what she’d just donesettled in and she was faced with another challenge.

Which was how she’d ended up where she was in that moment,wincing as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Do... Do you reallythink so?" She asked quietly.

There was suddenly a hand on her shoulder, causing her tolook up at a smiling Shiro. "No, she won't. Lance is just beingLance," He said, calmly placing the shirt Lance had tossed aside back intothe box. Lance groaned and shoved the shirt aside as he riffled through andpulled out a neon orange spaghetti strap thing. He set that one down beside thebox; to offer to Allura or Romelle, Keira hoped. She then glanced back up ather mentor, taking his gentle squeeze as a way to get her attention. "Pidgewouldn't have agreed to the date if she didn't like you for you, Keira."She blinked then smiled, feeling a bit more reassured, as Shiro reached intothe box himself and pulled out a denim skirt. "Although I will concede,trying out a new outfit or two might be more worth it than you'rethinking."

"If I may also add, Shiro" Lance mused happily ashe turned to look at the two, "the outfit can help set the mood. I mean,you want to make it clear to Pidge that you're interested in her. It's why youasked her out in the first place, after all."

"Well, yeah," Keira said with a small scowl. Shethen cocked her head a bit. “But, shouldn’t the fact I specified it was a datebe enough to get the point across?”

“A date and a dateare two totally different things! You need to make sure to wear the rightattire to get the differentiation clear!”

Keira frowned and glanced up at Shiro. Ever helpful, hesimply shrugged and shook his head, as lost as she was. “O… Kay?” She trailed,turning her attention back to Lance.

"And you're the one who asked me for help on picking anoutfit, right?"

"Actually, you were eavesdropping when I was asking Shiro to help me. And then, as you'reprone to doing, decided that you just had to take over,"

"Eh. Tomato, tomatoe," He huffed, waving a handbefore grabbing a few items that he’d pulled to the edge of the box closest tohim. "Now let's see... Your usual color preferences are towards reds,blacks, and purples, from what I've seen. How do you feel about exploring andtrying out some other ones?"

She knelt down beside him, peering in curiously. "Aslong as you go with darker shades, I'm open to going a little bit farther outof my norm. Oh, but I'm not big on patterns" She said. Lance nodded,taking three of the items in his grasp and setting them at the other end of thebox. "And nothing that’s, like, super ruffly or frilly or has any kind ofglossy material to it. No dresses or skirts, either. Oh, and nothing toorevealing. Like, if I have to go with short sleeves, I’d rather have a coat orjacket or something to wear over it. And I'd really like to wear some boots. Ormaybe just my usual boots would be fine."

Lance dropped all the articles in his hand and let out along, drawn-out groan.

Keira shifted back a bit. "Or... I guess just whatlooks good?"

Shiro settled in on Lance’s other side and shook his head ashe started to look through the box as well. "No, Keira, this is good.You're the one going on the date, not Lance. You should like what you wear andhave final say on it,"

"Shiro's right. I just wish you were a little more...Diverse in style," Lance said, rummaging to the bottom of the box until hepulled out a pair of light blue denim shorts. "How about thesehigh-waisted shorts? Pair these off with some nice, dark colored leggings,maybe?” He prompted.

She reached out and gently took the shorts, holding them upto her hips. The looked like they’d fit just fine. "I like these,"She said, offering him a small smile as she settled them in her lap.

He whooped and pumped one fist in the air. "There wego! I'll take this little bit of progress!" He reached back in and pulledup a shirt, looking it over with his head tilted a bit. "So, I know yousaid no to patterns, but how do you feel about stripes?"

"Stripes are fine. I more just meant, like, floral oranimal prints," She elaborated, trying to get a glance at what he waslooking at.

He snorted as he pulled out a red and white striped shirtthat was knotted at the shoulders in lieu of proper sleeves. "Well Iwouldn't put you in those kinds of prints. It takes a very classy,sophisticated lady to rock those prints and you aren’t in that class by a long shot,"

"Rude," She hissed lowly.

"Not rude; honest. There's a difference," He said witha smug grin, holding the shirt up to her to make sure it would fit her alright.

She snatched the shirt from him and set it in her lap, aswell. “Kinda like the difference between a cargopilot and a fighter pilot,” Shesaid, waggling her eyebrows at him playfully.

Lance let out a faux-scandalized gasp, pressing one hand tohis chest. “Rude girl!”

She merely shrugged before leaning further into the box,spotting something that looked black and stretchy off to the side."Tomato, tomatoe,"

They both jumped in surprise when Shiro started busting uplaughing at the jab.

He blinked when they both stared at him, the tips of hisears turning pink. He then cleared his throat a bit. "What? You have toadmit that was pretty clever, Lance!"

The other hummed and turned his attention back to the box,his blue eyes mirthful as he continued his searching. "I'll take your wordfor it. Now, back on track, if we could?"

In the end, they found a pair of black leggings, as well asan oversized cardigan in a light grey. And, instead of boots, Keira agreed toswing for a pair of ankle-high converse-style sneakers. The sneakers clearlyweren’t name-brand, but they were surprisingly similar and comfortable to wear.Her hair was tugged back with nothing more but a simple red headband, whichfelt strange with how the little teeth gripped at her head. She normally justwore it back in a ponytail or let it loose. Lance had wanted to try and get herto accessorize further, but she’d opted into only wearing a modest silvernecklace with a heart charm at the end, a small topaz at the center.

It had been a gift from Krolia; the pendent one that Keira’sfather had given her before she left, so that she’d always have something toremember their daughter by.

She shifted a bit as she hovered by the small path that ledinto the city proper. It wasn’t much of a city anymore, admittedly, but it hada certain charm to it. Made her think of the kinds of elaborate villages Coranwould describe when Pidge and the others had played Monsters and Mana with hima handful of times. It reminded Keira, too, that she should ask about them allgetting together sometime to play. The idea of playing a game with the othersafter she’d been away from them for so long seemed kind of fun, and she’dalways been a bit of a sucker for fantasy-style worlds.

She’d never played a game like that before, but she figuredit wasn’t too hard to pick up. Besides, she was certain that Pidge would helpher figure things out, if it was that big of a struggle.

"Oh, wow, you look really pretty,” A voice gasped justa few feet away, snapping her from her musings. She must have looked surprised,see how immediately Pidge’s face was turning bright red and she held her handsup in an almost defensive manner. “I mean-! You always look pretty! You don'thave to try to look pretty but you look even prettier when you try! Oh, wait,that's not what I meant either!"

Keira blinked then giggled a bit, covering her mouth withone hand. "Hey, it's okay. I know what you mean. And thank you," Shesaid, cracking one eye to size Pidge up. Her outfit was a simply one, too; apair of dark blue capris, a sleeveless green top with a lightly ruffled edgealong the collar in white, and a pair of pale pink flats for an added splash ofcolor. The thing that really got Keira’s heart thrumming was how the blush onher cheeks made her freckles stand out even more. "You look super cute, bythe way."

She visibly relaxed at that, shoulders slacking a bit, butthe blush remained high up on her cheekbones. "Thank you," She saidbefore perking up and stepping a bit closer, so she was standing beside her."So, what's on the agenda?"

Keira smiled and gently led Pidge down the path, resistingthe urge to take her hand or offer her own arm. She didn’t want to be tooforward. "Well, I was mostly just thinking we could walk around, see how therebuild is going," She explained, glancing over at the canopy-coveredshops not far ahead. She knew most of what was here already from her check-inswith Shiro, but she knew Pidge hadn’t had the chance to come exploring justyet. She then offered Pidge a small smirk. "I may have also found arebuilt ice cream shop not too far from here, if we wanted to get some."

"For real?"Pidge gasped, eyes lighting up like the tail of a comet.

Keira nodded, having to swallow and compose herself a bit. "Yeah!I’ve been coming down here with Shiro since I’ve been cleared to leave the medicalbay, so we could do proper introductions with the coalition volunteers. Whilehe did that, I wandered off on my own a couple of times. They were almost donewhen I stopped by," She explained as they walked along. The paused for amoment at the first stall once they entered the shopping area proper, Pidgeleaning in to look at the alien ores laid out curiously. "They said theselection might be a little limited, though."

She sat back up and looked at her, still glowing at theprospect. "Pssh! Who cares? It's icecream!" She laughed happily. The darker haired woman could feel ablush creeping up to her own cheeks. It was ridiculously charming how riled upPidge was getting at the idea of something as simple as getting ice creamtogether. “Though, I suppose we do need to resolve one thing before we go anyfurther.” She said, tone suddenly somber, gaze at Keira expectantly.

She blinked a bit and cocked her head. “Uh.. Sure, what?”

“Rum raisin… Any thoughts?” Pidge asked.

Keira couldn’t help but make a face and stick her tongueout. “Ugh! Rum raisin is disgusting!”

“Thank you!” Pidge blurted, throwing her hands up in theair.

“Who in their rightmind was trying to defend rum raisin?”

“Matt! He was trying to claim that it ‘isn’t that bad’!Like, did all the space travel screw with his taste buds? I feel like I mighthave to disown him for this,” She said, using air quotes and flailing her handsabout as she spoke.

Keira snickered slightly. “I can’t believe Matthew Holt isfucking dead,” She mused.

Pidge let out a quiet yelp before bursting out laughing. “You’vebeen brushing up on memes! You’re so sweet!” She said, her smile turning tosomething a bit fonder.

Keira’s heart leapt in her chest as she watched Pidge’sexpressions shift, noticing for the first time that a few of the largerfreckles on her left cheek could be traced to form a miniature inversion of theLeo constellation, as if she’d been born with a marking of stardust to helpguide her to her fate.

Before they part ways later that evening, Keira makes sureto press a quick peck over the little mark, and delights in how theconstellation becomes more profound at the blush that crops up from the smallpeck.

#crumbles grumbles #Voltron legendary defender #Keidge #Kidge #Peith #Kidgemas #my fics #But seriously though #Thank you so much everyone whose been interested in this idea!

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feynites · 5 years

Note

for prompts, I'm sure this goes without saying but some of that good good Dirthalene stuff would be great if you're up for it

I did a Mo Dao Zu Shi AU.

Well, to be accurate, I borrowed the basic plot of the first two episodes, because I watched it recently and I wanted to. X3 But knowledge of the series shouldn’t be required, so here! Enjoy some Dirthalene stuffs!

Did you hear? Did you hear about it all?

What?

Lord Dirthamen, that evil master of black magic, has died!

No! Truly? How?

He was killed, of course! His evil lair was destroyed and he was shattered into a thousand pieces.

Who struck the killing blow? Who could have managed it?

His brother, of course! Lord Falon’Din led the march on the lair himself.

Weren’t those two allies? I thought they opposed the mad Keepers together…

They did. But Lord Dirthamen went too far. His magic turned too dark. Lord Falon’Din had to put a stop to him, before he razed the world! They say he’s been left near to death himself by the whole ordeal, too. A real hero.

Well. I suppose we ought to drink to Lord Falon’Din, in that case…

To Lord Falon’Din! Liberator of the people, destroyer of evil!

Here here!

Dirthamen blinks his eyes open.

…Odd.

He shouldn’t have those anymore.

His vision swims a little. Disjointed images crossing it, and equally disjointed thoughts spilling from his mind. But he is not unaware of what has transpired. He was dead. He recalls it quite clearly. It had been… peaceful, actually. Though recollecting the particulars is proving more and more impossible, the knowledge slipping from his grasp, like water between his fingers. He was absolutely dead, though. For a long while.

And now he isn’t. The difference is too stark for him to doubt it. For the first time in a long while, he feels pain. Sunlight streams in through the slats of some kind of ramshackle roof. His limbs ache; his ribs hurt. He stumbles over remembering how to breathe, and ends up in a coughing fit that makes white sparks dance across his vision.

How has this happened?

The coughing fit prompts him to sit up. His head swims. He presses a palm to his brow, and sees red.

Long, deep slashes of red, running down pale wrists. He regards them blearily for a long moment, flexing the fingers of the hand in front of himself, before looking at his other arm. It, too, has been mutilated. His chest is bare; bruised, but not cut. Dirthamen regards the purple blotches on a torso that looks thinner than the one he recollects having - when he was in an elven shape, anyway.

His inspection draws his gaze down to the ground he’s sitting on.

It, too, is covered in red.

Runes. Written in blood. As he stares around himself, Dirthamen realizes that he is sitting atop a summon circle, infused with copious amounts of blood magic. Blood from the body he is in, it would seem, and also from a pair of headless chickens, lying slaughtered in a corner of the… stable? It looks like it might be, some sort of pen for an animal. He swallows down past a dry throat, and turns a more critical gaze to the summoning circle.

Hmm.

That would explain some things, at least.

A self-sacrifice ritual.

Dirthamen has never seen one outside of a book before. It is a rare ritual, primarily because it is fatal to the caster. Where most resurrection spells involve binding a spirit to an unwilling host body, allowing them to be performed by casters who can still live to benefit from making some kind of pack with a demonic spirit, a self-sacrifice ritual invites a spirit to enter the body of a willing victim. One who has spilled their own blood, one whose own spirit will die the moment their body is taken possession of.

It is almost exclusively the purview of zealots, and generally used to summon spirits of great havoc and destruction. The intent, generally, is to die destroying one’s enemies. A suicide attack; infiltrate a camp or stronghold, or even gain vengeance on a home or work place, by summoning an entity of pure chaos into your body, and letting it lash out and attack until either it or everything around it has been destroyed.

But… Dirthamen is not an entity of pure chaos.

The runes in place specifically invoke him. Which explains why he is here. Yet he has no recollection of bargaining with any would-be petitioner… not in this regard, at least. There have been attempts to summon him before, but he simply refused them.

Apparently, this type of summoning does not leave such options.

It is an interesting thing to learn, and not information that one could probably glean without having been subjected to the particulars of this process. Dirthamen files it away, before he finally manages to get up onto his feet. The runes beneath him flicker once, and then burn away. Leaving behind the scent of blood, but nothing else, as the magical energy in them finally dissipates. It makes him feel even heavier, in his new shape.

He may be alive again, but judging by the state of this body, there is a chance he will not remain that way for long. Perhaps it would be wise to simply sit down and wait for death to claim him again. He is still undecided on that front when he hears the sound of approaching footsteps.

The stable he is in does not provide much cover; the walls are fairly open. Dirthamen hears someone mutter an oath, and can only turn and watch in growing astonishment as a pair of teenagers suddenly begin running down an overgrown path towards him.

“Sir!” one of them calls. “Sir, are you injured? Were you attacked?”

Dirthamen blinks.

He is taken aback, of course, because of how the teenagers are dressed. Though he has been dead for a long time, he still recognizes the uniform of the Lunar Disciples. His mother was once head of their order, after all. The two teenagers look like pictures drawn from his past; dressed in crisp white uniforms, with their hair neatly tied back, each of them holding a staff topped with a transparent quartz crystal. The left breasts of their uniforms are emblazoned with symbols of the moon in the First Quarter phase; that, along with their age, leads Dirthamen to conclude that they are Junior Disciples.

They have a similar look to one another. Probably, they are related; though one has a streak of white in his otherwise dark hair.

“Sir?” the other asks him, looking him over in turn. “You’re bleeding…”

Dirthamen watches as the Junior Disciple takes off his overcoat, and begins to gently settle it over his shoulders.

“Careful,” his companion says, standing some ways away, and observing their surroundings more intently. “This could be a trick.”

“I think he’s in shock,” the other replies, apparently heedless of the warning. His youthful face is twisted in concern, as he begins to prod Dirthamen towards one of the stable posts, and urges him to sit down. It is only as he begins to feel some warmth seep into him from the enchanted coat that Dirthamen realizes how cold he must have been. Likely, blood loss had not helped matters much.

After a moment, the other Junior Disciple comes over to look at him as well.

“Do you have a name?” he asks.

Dirthamen blinks. He does. But he probably should not say it.

The two teens share a look.

“Give me the healing kit,” says the one who offered Dirthamen his overcoat. The other narrows his eyes, but then lowers his pack, and retrieves a smaller bag from inside of it. Dirthamen finds himself simply sitting in place, observing as a pair of Junior Lunar Disciples tend to his wounds. He realizes that he has no idea what he looks like; but that is not so strange for him. Towards the end of his life, maintaining a consistent form had been difficult. The teenagers frown at the slashes on his arms; the one with the streak in his hair catches Dirthamen’s eye for a moment, before pointedly averting his gaze.

“I’ll keep a look out,” he says, and moves a few steps away.

The other nods, but then offers Dirthamen a reassuring smile. An expression that falters as he observes what seems to be a boot-shaped mark on Dirthamen’s ribs.

“Well… perhaps we should start with our own introductions, instead,” he says. “My name is Darevas. That cheerful fellow over there is my brother, Felasel. We are both Disciples of the Lunar Order.”

Dirthamen blinks.

Darevas smiles at him again, and waits a moment. Then he carries on.

“We’ve come to the region to investigate claims of dangerous magical activity,” he says. “People say there are undead monsters roving about, attacking travelers in the night. Felasel and I have never been on such an assignment alone before, but we’ve gone along on similar ones many times. If you saw something strange - something that you might not think an ordinary person would believe… we’ll definitely take it seriously. We’ve seen a lot of bizarre things.”

Dirthamen looks down as Darevas begins bandaging his arms. He supposes that, to these two teenagers, the situation must look very strange. Even for himself, the situation is very strange. He doesn’t have an answer for them. So he remains silent; but somehow, the cheerful teenager trying to help him only seems a little discouraged about it.

It is only after the worst of his injuries have been attended to, that it occurs to him that he should probably not have accepted the help. It is a waste of resources for the two young disciples, in the end, if he only means to sit down and die. And yet… it seems like such a striking twist of fate, that he should be found by Junior Disciples from his own mother’s order.

The last time he knew of it, the Lunar Order was being headed by Lady Selene, instead. Someone Dirthamen had once fought alongside, facing challenges during their own years as Junior Disciples. Before the Evanuris ancestral home was destroyed by Sariandi’s armies, and Dirthamen’s soul was split, and he began down the road to mastering dark magic in order to help his brother on his quest for vengeance and dominion.

Then they had been uneasy allies, for a time, fighting against Sariandi’s forces; before finally becoming enemies. Not that they had ever met on a battlefield. The Lunar Order had mainly contested with Falon’Din’s forces, before his brother had claimed that Dirthamen had ensorceled him for the past several years, and killed him to forestall his defeat at the hands of their former allies.

Dirthamen harbored no desire for vengeance, however. He had not become a malevolent spirit or wrathful demon. In the end, he had been able to make a sort of amends to his brother for failing him so profoundly; Falon’Din was able to start anew, to try again, and the only cost was Dirthamen’s life.

Which had never been worth very much to begin with.

Yet, somehow he finds himself keeping quiet as Darevas tugs him along, and insists that they must take him into town with them. Felasel offers no objections, but seems more uneasy with the situation all the same.

“Do you live around here?” Darevas tries asking, as he finally gets Dirthamen to walk down the road between himself and his brother. “Do you have any family? Anyone looking after you?”

Dirthamen blinks.

“Leave him be,” Felasel says, to his brother. “When we get to town we can ask around.”

Darevas subsides, and the pair fall into silence. Dirthamen suspects his presence is to blame. After a few minutes, they begin to let him lag behind them on the path somewhat. Though if he falls too far behind, then Darevas will slow down until he has caught up again. Although in truth, he is not trying to shake them; he has not made up his mind enough to do such a thing. Rather, he is simply very tired, and his body does not want to move without pain.

As the afternoon sun stretches on, the teenagers stop for a break. Darevas produces some food from his pack, and offers Dirthamen a sweet-tasting travel bar, and a small flask of water. He puts some herbs into the water, first.

“Medicine,” he says. But Dirthamen recognizes the scent; herbs that are good at staving off infections. He takes the tiny flask, and then hesitates, before offering it back.

“You shouldn’t waste it,” he says.

His voice rasps in his throat.

Darevas looks shocked to hear him speak; Felasel’s gaze narrows, and his lips purse in what seems to be disapproval.

“He speaks!” Darevas exclaims. “It’s not a waste, friend. Disciples like ourselves are supposed to help people. It’s what we do. And I have plenty of herbs; so drink up!”

Dirthamen can see that the young man has no intention of taking the flask back. And his throat hurts. So after a moment, he does drink, and he does eat.

Felasel’s gaze slips towards the bandages on his arms.

“Those wounds on your arms,” he says. “That angle… self-inflicted?”

Dirthamen blinks.

Darevas freezes for a moment, taken aback. But it seems it less the assertion that bothers him, than the fact that it was made, as he lowers his voice to address his brother.

“Fel,” he hisses. “Leave it alone.”

“Well. If he thinks it’s a waste, then he’s probably planning to try again,” Felasel counters. “If that’s the situation, we can’t just leave him with anybody.”

Darevas glances at Dirthamen, who finds himself largely unbothered. The observation is true enough; the wounds on his current body were self-inflicted. The cutting marks, at least. Not the bruises, he doesn’t think; it would be difficult for him to boot himself in the chest. He is not suicidal, or at least, he had not been in life. Willing to die, perhaps, but apt to take his own life. Though he supposes that deciding to simply wait for death, in this situation, would amount to the same thing.

Isn’t a form of suicidal thought to simply opt to return to one’s natural state of death after forced resurrection?

He supposes that is the sort of thing that would be debated among more scholarly disciples in the Lunar Order’s celestial halls.

“We’re not going to just ‘leave him with anybody’ anyway. Those boot marks weren’t self-inflicted…” Darevas says. He looks very young, Dirthamen notices. How old are these teenagers? It can be hard to tell, but definitely not more than eighteen. To be sent on a mission alone, either the Lunar Order is sorely strapped for resources, or else there is some senior member not far away from these events. Waiting to see if an emergency signal goes up; to record how well the pair handled their first ‘solo’ assignment.

Both youths look at Dirthamen, as if waiting to see whether he will respond to any of this.

He finishes the small bar of oats and nuts that Darevas had offered him, and, again, find himself too indecisive to do anything but blink.

The brothers sigh in unison.

Despite the signs of exasperation, though, they do not leave Dirthamen behind. Instead he fins himself following them into a town he does not recognize in particular, and yet finds nebulously familiar. There are many places like this scattered throughout the territories, though. Tiny towns, with small local ruling families, old but limited in their growth by the amount of resources available to them. The arrival of the Junior Disciples seems to stir up some interest; their staves and uniforms are noteworthy. But then a few eyes seem to land on Dirthamen, and twist towards shock, disgust, confusion, and surprise. As near as he can tell, at least.

The teenagers decide to ask for directions, and end up stopping at a local merchant booth. Darevas is the one who bows politely.

“Excuse me, miss,” he greets. The girl at the booth looks uncertain; but also blushes, a bit, as she looks at the two boys who cannot be much older than her.

“Yes, Sir Sorcerer?” she replies.

“My brother and I have come at the request of your local lord to investigate some of the disturbance,” Darevas says. “Could you tell me where I might find this lord’s home?”

The girl blinks, and glances uncertainly at Dirthamen.

“Why don’t you ask him? He lives there,” she says, gesturing towards him.

Felasel and Darevas glance at him, and then share a look.

“Oh?” Felasel says, folding his arms. “Our friend seems to be having troubles locating his voice at the moment. He hasn’t even given us his name, I fear.”

The merchant girl ducks his.

“It’s not my business,” she says, glancing at Dirthamen again. “But everyone knows that the young master is… a bit prone to addled senses. That’s the lady’s bastard nephew, sirs. You’ll find his family up at the big green house, close to the mountain side of town, but they probably won’t thank you for bringing him back.”

“Won’t they have been worried?” Darevas asks.

The girl shifts uncertainly, and then shrugs.

“I wouldn’t want to gossip,” she says.

“But…?” Felasel invites, leaning in a little closer. He pulls a pouch of coins out of the front of his overcoat. The girl’s eyes widen, and her blush darkens a little. She seems resolutely determined to avoid looking at Dirthamen, now, as she closes a hand over the parcel of coins.

“Everyone’s been blaming the young master for the dark magic,” she explains. “His father was one of those rogue sorcerer types. He left an ‘inheritance’ behind, all kinds of things. The lady of the house found the young master trying to call up evil magic, after some of the villagers reported seeing dead wolves hunting in the woods, and trees trying to grab men off the paths, and serpents lunging out of their shadows. She ran him out.”

Again, the twins exchange looks.

Dirthamen finds the information interesting, at least. Perhaps this is where the former owner of the body he is in managed to obtain the information on his summoning spell. Did he even realize what he was doing, in that case? It seems even more tragic to contemplate that he did not.

At least this is something closer to an answer; though Dirthamen is not certain that he is seeking one, in the end.

“Thank you, that’s very helpful,” Felasel says.

“Of course,” the merchant girl says. “Happy to help, sirs.”

The brothers share another look, before they begin heading towards the mountain side of town. Darevas turns to regard Dirthamen critically, but they do not tell him to leave, or attempt to turn their staves on him.

“Were you really trying to summon something evil?” he asks, plainly.

“…I don’t know,” Dirthamen finds the voice to say.

The answer seems to surprise both of the teens. Felasel’s expression turns contemplative, while Darevas looks uncomfortable. But again, they do not run him off. They seem to reach some unspoken agreement with one another, and bring Dirthamen with them to what is obviously the nicest household in the immediate area.

There is a servant who looks alarmed as he sees them all. Another who runs off, and then finally, they are approached by yet another servant, who looks stiff and uncomfortable as Darevas introduces himself and his brother, and requests to see the master of the house. They are brought in without trouble, though. Dirthamen is still wearing Darevas’ coat, so it seems to take people a few glances to recognize him.

They are lead into a reception room with a few mirrors on the wall. He takes a moment to observe his own reflection.

…Oh.

To his surprise, Dirthamen realizes that he doesn’t not look like he could be much older than the two Junior Disciples beside him right now. There are bruises on his face, too, yellow and purple, but not swollen enough to disguise his features. He is not bad-looking, as youths go. His hair is short and dark, and looks at though it wants to curl. His eyes are blue, again. His nose looks as though it has been broken and improperly set at least once before in his life, and there are bruises shaped like fingers on his neck. An old scar splits through his left eyebrow.

Hm.

He looks like the aftermath of one of his brother’s rages.

Their small group is not left waiting for long before a very refined-looking woman enters the reception room. She makes a face at the sight of Dirthamen, but manages to retain her composure as she politely greets Felasel and Darevas.

“We’ve come by request,” Darevas says.

“The Lunar Order sends children to protect our town?” the woman asks.

“It may seem worrying, but my brother and I have been trained since birth,” Darevas assures her, with a polite bow. “We can at the very least assess your situation.”

“Can you?”

With a sharp motion, the woman gestures towards Dirthamen.

“Then what is he doing here? That wretch is the cause of all these disturbances! We never had anything like this going on in these parts until he gained that cursed ‘inheritance’, and started using the tools of dark magic. If you know what you are about, then you should have left him wherever you found him.”

Felasel raises an eyebrow, and folds his arms.

“Madame, with all due respect, the events you have been describing are not the work of a dark magic practitioner.”

There is a moment of silence, as the lady of the household seems taken aback by that response.

Dirthamen nods in agreement, however.

The merchant girl had described undead wolves, shadow serpents, and moving trees. While dark magic can accomplish many things, even at the height of his power, Dirthamen would have struggled to control or manifest so many natural elements on his own. He could command an entire army of walking corpses, or summon his raven spirit companions, but to perform elemental magic while controlling a pack of undead wolves and summoning shadow beasts?

Either there are many practitioners of dark magic foolishly targeting random villagers, or there is some kind of corrupting influence in the woods. Most likely a corrupted Nature Spirit. A strong one, to create such anomalies.

Felasel states precisely that.

“Well, if there’s some kind of thing in the woods, then he probably put it there,” the lady of the house insists. “You think it’s a coincidence that all of this just started happening?”

“Good lady, when did your nephew receive his inheritance? Your request for aid reached the celestial halls three weeks ago,” Darevas says.

“And that loathsome package came for the boy just a few days before that!” she snaps.

“So you’re saying that your nephew managed to master dark magic in a few days?” Felasel drawls, straightening his sleeves. He glances back towards Dirthamen. “I am impressed, young master. Your aptitude must be astounding.”

Dirthamen blinks.

For him to have managed the self-sacrificial summoning, it could not have been terrible. But it is true; pulling off a ritual generally only requires knowledge of the ritual and the requirements to fulfill it. Mastering spells, however, is another matter entirely. And sustaining them for more than a few seconds is something else again.

The lady of the house does not look pleased.

“…I think, perhaps, it would be best if you were to summon a senior member of your order,” she says. “I believe the Lunar Order has underestimated the severity of this matter, and on behalf of my community, I am offended at this lackluster response.”

The Junior Disciples look somewhat annoyed, at that. Though they maintain their composure.

“Your thoughts are noted, madame,” Darevas says. “We will conduct our investigation. Rest assured, if something beyond the bounds of our training should come to light, we’ll seek further guidance. In the meanwhile, I will have to advise you to keep the villagers away from the forest. Our investigations may stir up activity.”

The lady does not seem pleased with this. But after some tension, she does offer to let the brothers stay in the guest lodgings of her home. The two decline, however, citing a preference to work at night, and remain largely outside the boundaries of the village. A guard arrives before they are leaving, and attempts to escort Dirthamen to the local jail house.

He is surprised when the Junior Disciples intervene.

“He’s part of our investigation now,” Darevas says, cheerfully. “I think it would be better if he stayed with us.”

“We should get him his own coat,” Felasel mentions.

“Does he have any belongings left in the main house?” Darevas asks. And after politely pressing the matter, Dirthamen is giving a sack of ‘his’ belongings. Mainly clothing. He dutifully returns Darevas’ jacket, or attempts to; but the teenager refuses, making a shooing motion when he tries to hand it back after changing into a shirt from the bag.

“It has protective enchantments on it. You should keep it for now,” he insists.

Felasel does not look pleased, but after a moment only sighs, and shakes his head.

“What? He doesn’t know how to fight. I do. If we’re taking him along, we should offer some protection,” Darevas insists.

These two are very gallant children, Dirthamen thinks. He feels badly for causing them so many inconveniences.

Probably, he thinks, he should try and make sure they don’t die in the woods.

Then he can just die again afterwards.

There is definitely something in the forest.

Dirthamen is having troubles deducing the specifics, but the energy in the air itself is telling enough to one who knows what to look for. The brothers grow quiet, as they begin laying down scrying runes, in order to attempt to deduce what has gone on in the area. It is a good idea, but it might not yield any useful information. There is too much ambient energy in the region; scrying spells can easily become ‘cluttered’, and, by the time evening has arrived, most of them have not yielded anything more coherent than a confirmation that something is going on.

Dirthamen is not sure either of the Junior Disciples notice the undead deer. Or rather, notice that several of the deer they pass are dead. If they do, they do not remark upon it; but the signs are subtle, and only Dirthamen seems to be watching when one turns so that its torn throat is plainly visible.

They notice the trees, however.

It is night, and they have set camp, and the air is quiet. The trees creak. Dirthamen watches as one begins to slowly encroach upon the campsite. Its roots move slowly, sifting through the earth as if it is loose sand rather than densely-packed soil. The leaves rustle. He is debating whether or not he should draw attention to the movement when the brothers notice it themselves, and stiffen.

They observe for several minutes, and then move camp.

“Definitely a nature spirit,” Darevas says, while they keep a look out. They have no fire this time, but Felasel had handed Dirthamen an enchanted warming rock. And the moon is full, so there is still light to see by. The brothers worried that the trees were drawn to put out the fire.

“I don’t know,” Felasel says. “You weren’t with me when I went with Uncle Des and Wonder to Riverfall Village. That was a corrupt nature spirit. It was old and mean, but… it tired out fast. This is sustained.”

“Maybe more than one?” Darevas suggests.

“If it’s more than one, we’re in trouble.”

Dirthamen is inclined to agree that they are in trouble, but he has his own suspicions. The brothers decide to take turns holding watch. They do not truly intend to investigate in the dark, he supposes; they were only claiming as such, to avoid staying with the lady of the town. That is good. Even Lunar Order disciples are courting a lot of disaster when they try and hunt monsters at night, especially if they are not using traps and lures, and do not even necessarily know what they are hunting.

Dirthamen waits until Darevas has fallen asleep, before he whispers a spell, and sends his brother tumbling gently down beside him. Then he gets up. He takes off Darevas’s coat, and lays it back over him, before laying down some simple spells to awaken both brothers if anything gets too close to their little camp site.

Then he sets off towards the treeline.

There are more signs to be found. Pockets of air where the temperature wavers from intense heat to inexplicable cold. Crops of dead trees, that look as though they have simply had the life energy sucked directly out of them. He hears the clacking of bones on the wind; skeletal things, most likely.

No spirits.

That is the trouble with it being a nature spirit. Or several. Where are all the other spirits?

This imbalance is not created by corruption, Dirthamen thinks, but by absence. Theft. The odd quality of the air is the brittle lack of normal spiritual energies, creating voids where other things are attempting to fill in the gaps. Ancient remnants of magics from generations ago; or echoes of things even beyond the Veil, that are ordinarily too weak to reach so far into the waking world.

It takes him an hour to find what he is looking for.

A black stone pillar, half as tall as most of the surrounding trees, marks an area of dead growth. Dirthamen can feel the pull of the black magic on it. Like a magnet, drawing nearby spiritual energy towards itself; even trying to draw Dirthamen’s own out through his flesh. Beyond it, he can see only ordinary-looking green trees; but he suspects that they are an illusion.

Past the pillar is a Spirit Vault.

Someone has built a Spirit Vault in these woods. A container that can trap spirits, and like a flytrap, gradually ‘digest’ them. Breaking them down into their component energy, which can be used to create powerful magic. Dirthamen himself was credited with their invention - an inaccuracy. It was another practitioner in the Black Skull Order who made the discovery; and Falon’Din himself who devised the idea of the spirit vaults.

His brother did not have much of a reputation for inventing, however.

Dirthamen observes the magic, but does not get any closer. They will be wards to safeguard such a place. Any interactions will likely alert its creator to its discovery.

He is debating what to do, still, when he sees a bright white signal flare go up in the distance. Bursting like fireworks, from the direction he just came up by.

The Junior Disciples.

Dirthamen turns and hurries back, and sure enough, finds that the brothers had apparently entered the woods of their own accord. The source of their distress is obvious, as Dirthamen hears the sounds of fighting, and makes his way down a small hill covered in dead growth to fight them both wielding their staves against a chimeric beast.

Something animated by the discordant energies, Dirthamen thinks. A confused and aggressive creature, part broken spirit, part wrathful remnant. It looks to be made from the body parts of a dozen dead animals; antlers and claws, hooves and two sets of sharp, snapping jaws, with patches of fur and bone and rotting flesh all jutting out of it. The aura surrounding it is intensely vile; Felasel’s bright cleansing spell simply rebounds off of it, and Darevas’ physical blows only give it an opportunity to swing its mismatched limbs back at him.

It lets out a horrific roar. Echoing and gruesome.

Dirthamen cannot see this fight favouring the teenagers.

He glances around himself. Fortunately, the dead growth affords him some opportunities. He searches for a moment, while the Junior Disciples attempt to deflect the monster’s attacks, and then finds an elderly tree, drained abruptly dry of its life-force. Black magic cleaves to the wood, steeped in the layers of a long existence, and the shock of the suddenness of its end. Dirthamen neatly breaks off one of the branches, and scrapes off the smaller twigs. He splits the skin on his hand - this body is very fragile - but the smear of blood he leaves behind only helps as he channels a rush of energy into the wood.

He checks on the brothers. It is not looking good. Darevas seems to be trying to redirect the water from a nearby stream into a purifying burst, to press back against the monster, but the energy is still rebounding and so he only seems to be impeding it a little; and Felasel is moving to attack its flank, but it has too many limbs for the usual weak points to apply.

The monster closes a human-like fist around Felasel’s throat.

Dirthamen slams the butt of his makeshift staff into the ground, and draws upon the discordant energy in the whispering shadows. Three whispers answer his call. He points at the monster with his staff, as he feels the dark energy lick against his ankles. Black fire lights at the end of the dead wood branch; too dark to see from a distance.

“Dismember the fiend,” he instructs.

Three massive shadow ravens erupt from the blackest segments of the night, and launch themselves at the monster. Crashing into it, so that it loses its grasp on Felasel. The boy gasps, and his brother races to him, immediately dragging him away. The brothers stare in consternation, as the shadow ravens rip at the undead chimera; attempting to tear its disjointed parts away from each other. That will be the weakness, of course. But even with the directed attack, Dirthamen can tell that it will not be enough. That aura is simply too profound to breach. The ravens’ beaks do a better job of piercing it than the disciples’ spells had, however, it will not be sufficient.

Dirthamen lowers his branch, and douses the black fire. The shadow ravens will follow his command until he has either moved out of range, or they have succeeded. It would be better to leave, especially since Felasel and Darevas seem to have concluded the same thing, and are hastily making their escape from the monster.

Dirthamen follows at a distance, attempting to keep an eye on the situation.

Unfortunately, they have less time than even he would have guessed. He hears the sound of shadows being rent, and another terrible roar breaks through the air; and then the monster begins to pursue the Junior Disciples, no longer impeded by the shadow ravens.

Inadequate.

If he had his proper tools…

But he does not. He is not even supposed to be here.

Besides which, the monster is not chasing the disciples in a random direction; the way they are running, the beast seems to be herding them. Dirthamen does not have to double-check the direction to guess where; it is drawing them towards the Spirit Vault.

Is this an accidental chimera? Or a deliberately constructed guardian?

He calls more shadows. Only one answers, as he runs, but he directs the new raven-shaped minion towards the monster all the same. It buys the brothers some more time to gain some distance, while Dirthamen tries to think of what he should do. He needs to get them to change course; with no other immediate recourse, he veers down off of the higher path he was taking, and nearly barrels into them.

Darevas has very quick reflexes. He almost smashes Dirthamen’s skull, before he realizes that they are not being attacked.

“Not this way,” Dirthamen says, sharply, and shoves both of them towards a different route between the trees. “Go.”

Fortunately, they do run in that direction.

“Where did you go?!” Darevas demands of him, however. And Felasel throws him a suspicious glance, before another bellowing roar has all three of them focusing on their escape again. Dirthamen is able to call another shadow, directing the raven backwards; the flash of black fire makes Darevas swear, in a manner typically frowned upon for Lunar Order disciples.

But then the monster seems to come into a renewed burst of strength, and with its most furious roar yet, charges clear through several lines of trees. Breaking wood and flinging itself towards them with feral intent. Dirthamen rushes to put himself between the monster and the Junior Disciples - better someone already dead than two boys who have barely had a chance to live - but before the snarling jaws can close on him, a bright burst of moonlight shoots down from the sky. Shaped like a white raven, as it collides with the monster, and encases it in a shimmering barrier.

The chimera flings itself wildly against the surface.

The brothers both let out sudden gasps of relief.

“Mama!” Darevas exclaims.

Dirthamen follows the line of his gaze, and stills.

A figure is standing, impossibly lightly, on top of one of the tallest nearby trees. Near a small clearing, that is right next to them - and likely where the chimera had hoped to corner them. She is dressed in the white robes of the Lunar Order, too, though the moon symbol on her breast is that of a full moon. A silver circled adorns the top of her head. White hair flows down like ribbons around her, and the staff in her hands is intricately carved; white wood, covered in thousands of tiny runes, wraps itself around a single large ruby.

Selene.

Dirthamen does not recall her having any children, before he perished. It has been a long time, then. His once ally, once enemy, is focusing her spell on containing the chimera. She looks over the Junior Disciples, but then her gaze moves towards Dirthamen.

Something in her expression shifts. He is not sure what to describe the look as, but it makes him feel… recognized.

“We need to help seal the barrier,” Felasel realizes, a moment later. And he is correct; Selene’s spell has captured the chimera, but unless it is fortified, it will break loose again. The two Junior Disciples determinedly plants their staves against the ground, and begin to cast their own spells to solidify the effect.

Dirthamen suspects this will be his only chance, now, to make a retreat. If Selene has recognized him, he is not certain what it will mean; and he finds himself increasingly caught off-balance. He does not know what to do with this situation. So after a moment, he turns and retreats. Fleeing back into the forest.

If that chimera is a guardian, then whoever created the Spirit Vault likely knows it has been compromised. Now, the wisest course of action would be to attempt to destroy it before its creator can harvest the spiritual energy, and then remove the evidence. For that is likely what they will do.

Dirthamen keeps hold of his dead wood branch as he makes haste back to the pillar.

He is tired. This body fatigues too quickly.

But time is of the essence. He has to accomplish then, and then retreat. Part of him is surprised to find the thought of retreat crossing his mind; hadn’t he already decided to simply return to death? Survival instincts are quite strong. Apparently, even just being alive for less than a day has already gotten him to start wanting to preserve this state; however inappropriate it may be.

It is still an adjacent concern, he decides.

Taking down the pillar will require something large. Fortunately, there seems to be a lot of energy to work with in the region. And he is beginning to think that he does know where they are, after all.

The forests surrounding the base of the Lunar Peak were frequent cites of battle, in the days of the war. Felasel said it took three weeks for the Lunar Order to answer the nearby town’s request. By the standards of such things, that is quick; particularly for an incident with, apparently, no confirmed human casualties. Selene’s response to the emergency beacon was also fast; and this mission was deemed suitable for two Junior Disciples. All implications leading to the logical conclusion that they are near Lunar Peak, and the halls of the order’s sorcerous training grounds.

If that is correct, then Dirthamen knows if something he can call.

He plants his staff before the pillar, and begins a familiar incantation, in ancient elvhen. A summons, but not the spiritual kind. He chants for several minutes. The sound of his voice carries through the trees, and reverberates where the pull of the Spirit Vault warps reality and attempts to draw all things inwards. It is, he has been told, a haunting sound on its own; but he had not anticipated the ringing of his voice to echo beyond the boundaries of the vault.

He is debating whether to cease, when he finally hears an answering cry.

So there is at least one still left in the region.

Dirthamen keeps going, calling it forward. The familiar sense of magical connection grows, as he hears the rustling of narrow legs speeding through the forest.

Come, guardian.

Come to me.

The cries of the varterral split the night, as his spider-like minion finally emerges through the trees to his left. Dirthamen opens his eyes, and feels the black fire traveling all along his staff, and up his arms. The points of the flames aim towards the vault, as it pulls at him.

He steps back, and aims his staff towards the pillar.

“Destroy it.”

Without hesitation, the varterral charges the pillar. Its armored body is strong, but the important part is its aura, as it rams against the fortified magical energies of the structure. Dirthamen reaches out a hand, enhancing the vaterral’s energy with his own, until it, too, is wreathed in dark flame. Every charge it makes grows more effective, as it rears back, and strikes, and rears back, and strikes. Again and again, a terrible clanging filling the air. The pillar cracks. The top stone shifts. The illusion on the Spirit Vault falls, and Dirthamen finds himself staring at a deep chasm; like a mineshaft. Surrounded by magical lodestones, and sealed at the bottom, with a single stairwell leading downwards into the dark.

The varterral moves to smash against the cracked portion of the pillar again.

Dirthamen is so consumed by the amount of energy it takes to maintain the spells he is casting, that he is caught utterly unprepared when a black and golden spear streaks through the air, and skewers his guardian clean through.

The varterral screams. Dirthamen leaps back, and can only watch as the enchantments on the spear burn like acid; and dissolve the poor creature alive. His eyes widen, and he staggers backwards.

When there is not enough left of the varterral for the spear to remain in its form, it drops towards the ground. Right before it lands, it stops, and then flies backwards. Returning to the hand of its owner.

A tall figure, standing on the opposite side of the vault. Familiar, of course. His pale hair has grown longer, and even from a distance, Dirthamen can tell that he is not what he once was. Killing one’s twin soul cannot come without costs.

Falon’Din looks gaunt. But whole. His armour is lighter than usual, and the lines around his face are etched deeper. Sorcerers of their ilk do not age swiftly; from what he saw of Selene, Dirthamen would not expect his brother to look so changed. But there are exceptional circumstances, he supposes.

His heart sink.

If Falon’Din is here… then there is no denying who must have built this vault.

He was supposed to start fresh…

For a long moment, the two brothers regard one another in silence. Dirthamen is not certain if he has been recognized. He is surprised to find that even with his brother standing right across from him, he does not feel anything. No pull of connection. No sense of their bond. Not a fragment of what was once so inescapable between them.

Then Falon’Din shifts his grip, and flings his spear again.

Dirthamen watches as the black and gold weapon arcs towards him. Stunned, in a way he cannot quite describe. So he will die twice at his own brother’s hand…?

Before the spear can reach him, however, there is a flurry of white fabric. Something moves in front of him, and then a burst of magical energy erupts, flickering with blue-white flames at the edges, and crashes into Falon’Din’s spear. The weapon does not clear the opening of the spirit vault. The counterattack knocks it backwards, far enough that the magical pull of the space catches it; Dirthamen sees it fall, sees his brother’s expression twist across the open expanse. Most of his vision is filled with pale white hair.

Selene turns, just slightly, to look towards him. From behind, he can hear the sounds of more people coming. The Junior Disciples, he assumes.

A blink of an eye goes by, and Falon’Din vanishes from his place across the vault; only to reappear from behind the nearby pillar. One of his hands rests pointedly close to the hilt of the sword at his side. Dirthamen takes a step back, but is surprised when Selene moves between himself and his brother again.

The two regard one another in tense silence for a long moment. The Junior Disciples arrive, and seem to draw up short.

Felasel’s hand moves towards his own sword.

“Lady Selene,” Falon’Din finally says, breaking the silence. “Do you know what you have behind you?”

There is a pause. Dirthamen can hear the wind; and the moon seems very clear overhead.

“Funny,” Selene replies. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Falon’Din pauses. After a long moment, he removes his hand from the hilt of his sword, and makes a pointed glance towards the Spirit Vault.

“You think I had anything to do with this?” he asks. “What an insult. I drafted the legislation forbidden the creation of these death traps myself. Black Skull Order was the first to sign the treaties, prohibiting the creation of any Spirit Vaults by members of the allied sects.”

“And yet, here is a Spirit Vault, and here is Lord Falon’Din,” Selene replies.

“A Spirit Vault at the foot of the Lunar Mountain,” Falon’Din counters. He begins to move, slowly. Pacing. He is nervous. Dirthamen is surprised to see it; it is rare for his brother’s bravado to falter, and to his knowledge, Selene has never been a figure he feared in her own right.

But it has been a long time; it seems some things have changed.

“This is not my territory,” Falon’Din continues. “If anyone here is suspect, I think it is the Lunar Order.”

Selene does not flinch.

“And yet, you are here,” she says.

Falon’Din raises a hand.

“I am not actually accusing you,” he assures her. “Though of course, I could. But I am certain of your innocence, in fact. I know the real culprit. The one who was behind all of these monstrosities, in the end.”

Selene’s gaze narrows.

Ah.

Dirthamen understands, now. His brother has recognized him.

Falon’Din levels an accusing finger towards him.

“That boy is no boy,” he declares. Then he gestures to the remains of the varterral.

Selene does not take her eyes off of Falon’Din.

“He is back, Lady Selene. Our old foe, the great betrayer - Lord Dirthamen has stolen the body of that poor youth.”

“Possession?” Darevas blurts.

Selene gestures at him, and he goes quiet. Felasel still has not taken his hand away from his blade.

“What utter nonsense,” Selene declares.

“Nonsense? If only,” Falon’Din counters. “Test him if you like. You’ll see, the answer to both of our dilemmas, to resolving this entire situation - without any undue hostilities between two of the most prominent sects in our alliance - is the simple truth. Lord Dirthamen has been hiding under our noses, disguised as some backwater nobody. Possibly for years. Trying to build up his power again, the only way he could.”

Selene remains where she is.

“How very convenient,” she drawls. “Is this going to be the new trend, Lord Falon’Din? Every transgression you commit will be excused by accusing some random villager of being your brother reincarnated? It must be so difficult for you, that you could only pin the blame on him that once…”

“Your lack of faith in me is hurtful,” Falon’Din counters. “But also irrelevant. Because I am not lying.”

Dirthamen’s brother snaps his fingers, then, and a dozen Black Skull sorcerers suddenly move out from the surrounding trees. Dirthamen does a swift count, and stiffens in alarm. They are badly outnumbered. He doesn’t know the full extent of Selene’s power now, but even if she has surpassed Falon’Din, the odds are not favouring the Lunar Order.

He does not want to die, but neither would he have the Junior Disciples and Selene perish. Whatever their past differences, they do not deserve such trouble on his behalf.

He moves.

Selene stiffens, and for a moment her hand reaches out as if to halt him, but Dirthamen is quicker. He bolts out from behind her, and raises his hands in surrender. Barely getting them up in time to see Falon’Din’s expression turn to triumph. His brother gestures, and casts a spell. The bright energy slams into Dirthamen; knocking the breath clean from him, as he recognizes the incantation.

Possession reversal; to remove an intruding spirit from an unwilling host.

It hurts, but mainly because the magic is so potent, and Dirthamen’s current body is already badly bruised and beaten. He lets out a cry of pain and drops to the ground, as the spell engulfs him, and washes over him…

…And vanishes into nothing.

Because of course, he is not an intruding spirit with an unwilling host. He is, if anything, the subject of a kidnapping, of sorts.

As he looks up, he blinks back the stars in his vision, and hesitates in yet more surprise.

Selene has moved. Her staff is angled directly at Lord Falon’Din’s face, while his brother has gone rigid in shock. Felasel has a shortsword in one hand and his staff in the other; Darevas is holding his staff in a fighter’s stance. The Black Skull sorcerers look ready to attack, but, both Selene and Falon’Din seem astonished as Dirthamen stands back up without exuding any miasma of ghostly possession. Or perhaps it is only Falon’Din who does; as he looks again, Selene’s expression seems perfectly neutral.

He rubs a hand gingerly down his bruised ribs.

“That hurt,” he admits.

For a moment, one could hear a pin drop.

His brother’s expression shifts from shock to fury, before he finally glances towards Selene. The brief flicker of fear is there and gone again, before he finally stands back. One fist clenching tight enough to turn the skin white.

“He is-”

“He isn’t,” Selene refutes. “Clearly, Lord Falon’Din. This matter will not be resolved with wild ghost stories.”

Falon’Din sucks in a breath through his teeth, and lets it out again.

“Perhaps he is not Dirthamen,” he concedes, with very little of the grace their mother had tried so hard to teach him. “But he still summoned a varterral. He is still a local practitioner of black magic. Whatever is going on here, it is clearly his doing. My order was passing through when we witnessed a distress signal; we came to help, not be subjected to mistreatment.”

There is a long pause.

Finally, Selene moves her staff out of its threatening position.

“We will look into that,” she decides. “We will look into everything.”

Falon’Din sneers.

“As will we,” he spits. Dirthamen does not think it sounds as intimidating as he hopes. He gestures towards the Spirit Vault. “We will also be investigating, and should we find that the Lunar Order has been harboring dark magic practitioners and creating Spirit Vaults, the full might of the rest of the alliance will fall upon you.”

“As it should fall upon anyone doing such things,” Selene says, with an odd tranquility that somehow does not seem to be genuine.

Falon’Din motions at one of his followers.

“We’ll take the rogue sorcerer off of your hands,” he says.

“Oh no,” Selene replies, moving in front of Dirthamen again. “You won’t. He’s coming with me back to the celestial halls, for proper questioning. This is our region. And your methods of interrogation are in violation of our order’s mandates.”

Falon’Din dares to move a step closer. His gaze is intense, and when it darts towards Dirthamen again, he feels burned by it.

Why is there so much hatred?

He had thought… he had thought it ended, with this death…?

“If you do not give him over to us, we will read it as a sign of the Lunar Order’s guilt and involvement in these matters,” he warns.

“Oh, will you?” Selene replies. “What a shame. I hate to lose the faith and esteem of such reliable allies.”

There is a long, tense pause. Dirthamen wonders if it will not come to violence after all.

But in the end, even despite having them outnumbered - it is Falon’Din who backs down again. With one more scathing look, that seems fit to burn Dirthamen right down to his bones, the man turns on his heel and finally withdraws. Shouting a few more warnings of investigations and dire outcomes in the wake of his atypical retreat.

Dirthamen watches until he is gone, before slowly looking towards Selene, and blinking.

It is Darevas who approaches him, though. Reaching out to gently shake his shoulder.

“You shouldn’t have wandered off,” he says. “Even if you know some dark magic, it’s not safe. That stuff’s illegal, you know.”

There is a light ‘smack’ sound, as Felasel puts his hand to his face, and sighs.

Selene’s lips twitch. When she finally turns towards them all, Dirthamen is surprised to see an unexpected gentleness in her gaze. Particularly as it does not seem to abate when it lands on him. And again, despite no real indication of why he should think so… he feels recognized.

As if Selene still believes it is him.

As if she is… not unhappy with that?

She looks away, in favour of brushing a stray strand of hair away from Darevas’ face.

“Take our guest back to the halls,” she instructs. “I have to secure this area.”

“Do you really think Lord Falon’Din would be brazen enough to build a Spirit Vault in our territory?” Darevas asks.

“Yes,” Selene and Felasel agree at once.

Dirthamen finds himself nodding, too, before he catches the gesture, and halts.

With some obvious reluctance, the Junior Disciples move to start accompanying him. Dirthamen hesitates, as well. Uncertain of what to make of this situation. He and Selene had never been friends, though she had been kind to him, once. He could not see how should could be kind to him if she recognized him, however. So far as the world is concerned, he is one of the most evil beings to ever walk the earth. Dirthamen thinks the reputation is exaggerated, but that does not mean the opposite is true.

They were opponents.

Selene turns and looks towards the varterral’s remains, while her sons summon up a pathway back to their magical halls.

Dirthamen stares at her, until Darevas gently encourages him forwards.

“It’s alright,” he says. “Just don’t do any more illegal dark magic.”

Hm.

That may prove… difficult.

But if it is required, Dirthamen is certain he can try.

#dirthalene #mdzs au #my-beautiful-thief #long post

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