#but the short version of that is that it's usually the MC that moves the plot forward

[lyn31]

First Time (Explicit)

Note:

As it say, this is actually just the extended/explicit version of my other short fanfic, First Time, so If you want less explicit and much more emotional focus, it's there! and if you're looking for something more explicit, hey welcome lol it's nothing crazy ofc, I just got carried away as usual.... anyway! Pairing: Zayne x MC/Reader College AU, smut, first time, oral, fingering, penetration, teasing.

Ao3 link

My Masterlist ✨

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Zayne’s hands are warm, firm, kneading you in a way that sends a shiver through you. He’s touched you before, but never like this—never with such focus, like he’s trying to commit every curve to memory. Your breath catches, but you refuse to give him the satisfaction of a sound. Not yet.

Zayne’s touch trail up your body, his touch firm as he finally palms your chest. You exhale shakily, arching into his hands as he kneads, his thumbs rolling over your nipples.

“Really into my chest, aren’t you?” you tease, voice breathy but playful.

Zayne hums, his fingers slipping beneath the lace. “And?” His tone is dry, almost unaffected—but the way his thumbs keep rubbing against you betrays him.

His fingers slip beneath the fabric, unhooking your bra with an ease that makes your breath hitch—like he's done this in his head a dozen times before. When the lace falls away, his gaze drops, and for a second, he just stares. His fingers flex slightly, his breathing slows—like he’s seeing something he’s wanted for too long. Heat coils in your stomach, your skin burning under the weight of his attention. You expect him to say something, but he doesn’t. Instead, his fingers reach out, rolling your nipple between them, watching every tiny reaction you give him.

You swallow hard, trying to keep your teasing edge, but it’s difficult when he’s touching you like this—slow, focused, like he’s savoring the feeling. Then he leans in, dragging his tongue over the peak before closing his mouth around it, sucking lightly.

A sharp inhale escapes you.

Whatever teasing remark you had dies the moment his tongue flicks over you, warm and wet and thorough. He lingers, taking his time, switching between licking and sucking, occasionally biting just enough to make your stomach tighten. His other hand isn’t idle either, fingers rolling and pinching your other nipple in tandem with his mouth.

A whimper escapes you, and you feel him smirk against your skin.

Your hands tangle in his hair, trying to keep some semblance of control, but it’s useless. He’s relentless. He alternates between soft and sharp, lazy licks and teasing pinches, his pace just slow enough to make you feel everything. Your body writhes beneath him, thighs pressing together in search of friction, but it isn’t enough.

“Zayne,” you breathe, voice caught somewhere between frustration and need.

His tongue flicks over your nipple again, unhurried and intent.

You glare weakly, but the effect is lost when your breath stutters at the sharp tug of his fingers. His teasing would be unbearable if you weren’t so desperate already.

Your hands slide down, tracing over his chest, lower, until you reach the hem of his shirt. You push at it, fumbling slightly, and he huffs a laugh before pulling back just long enough to yank it over his head. Your gaze drops instinctively, tracing the lines of his stomach, the sharp dip of his hips. Your fingers trail over him, nails scratching lightly, and you don’t miss the way his stomach tenses under your touch.

Then your hand moves lower, pressing against the outline of his erection through his pants.

His breath stutters.

You do it again, dragging your fingers slowly, palming him through the fabric, and he groans, the sound low and rough. The noise sends heat straight through you, your own body burning with need.

Zayne exhales sharply, his grip on your waist tightening as he matches your movements—His hand dips between your legs, the pressure teasing through the fabric.

You gasp.

The pressure is just right, firm but teasing, matching the slow drag of your hand over him. Your hips move instinctively, chasing the friction, and Zayne groans again, pressing against you harder, his touch growing more deliberate.

He lets you tease him, his breath growing heavier, his grip on your waist tightening—but just as your fingers tighten around him, he catches your wrist, stopping you in an instant.

You barely have time to react before his fingers are back on you, pressing down, rubbing slow circles that make your breath hitch. Your hips jerk toward his hand, needy, desperate, and he watches you—eyes dark, lips parted.

“Too much?” he asks, voice low, controlled.

You can barely form words, your body pulsing with need. Instead, you shake your head, hips moving insistently against his touch. Your hands tug at your waistband, fumbling, desperate to get rid of it.

Zayne exhales sharply, then helps you, urgency matching yours. The moment your pants hit the floor, his gaze drags over you, eyes dark and heated. He licks his lips, and you expect a teasing remark, but he doesn’t speak. He just looks—hungry, focused.

You open your mouth to say something, but then his fingers part your folds, sliding against your bare skin.

The words die in your throat.

His fingers stroke over you, teasing, parting your folds as he watches your face. Then he presses in, sinking one finger inside, then another, stretching you just enough to make you shudder. His pace is slow at first, exploring, feeling you out.

Then he lowers his head.

His mouth finds you before you can react, tongue gliding over sensitive skin, heat sinking deep into your core. His tongue flicks over your clit, slow at first, then more insistent as his fingers move inside you, curling just right. A broken moan escapes you, loud and unfiltered, and you feel his smirk against your skin.

He doesn’t stop. If anything, he doubles down, sucking at your clit just as his fingers thrust deeper, setting a rhythm that has you unraveling far too fast. Your hands fly to his hair, tugging hard, but he doesn’t waver, doesn’t let up—just keeps going, building the pleasure higher and higher until your whole body tenses, aching for release.

It hits you before you can stop it.

Your orgasm crashes through you, blinding and relentless, and Zayne doesn’t let up. He draws it out, tongue still moving, hands still gripping you, until the pleasure crests into something too sharp. A whimper slips out, your body twisting as you push at his head, and only then does he relent—though not without one last slow lick that makes you jolt.

When he pulls back, his lips are slick, his pupils dark and dilated, his breathing uneven. He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, gaze flicking up to meet yours. For a second, he just looks at you—wrecked, trembling, his—before his fingers trace slow, aimless patterns along your thigh. Your heart is still pounding when you hear the crinkle of foil.

Your eyes flicker open just in time to see him rolling the condom on, his length standing hard and flushed. You swallow, heat curling through you at the sight, at the way his jaw clenches as he strokes himself once, twice.

Then he’s hovering over you again, his shaft pressing against your entrance.

A hesitation lingers in the air, heavy and unspoken. The teasing, the urgency—it all slows, funneled into this single moment. You look at him, meeting his gaze, and it’s like the whole world narrows to just the two of you.

His chest rises and falls, breath shallow. His grip on your waist tightens, like he’s grounding himself. For the first time tonight, there’s no teasing in his expression, no restraint—just want. But beneath it, something else.

He exhales, pressing his forehead to yours. He doesn’t ask the question aloud, but you hear it anyway.

Your answer is silent—fingers sliding up his arms, gripping tight, hips tilting in wordless permission.

His throat bobs as he swallows, and then he kisses you—slow, deep, like he’s savoring you, like he’s committing this to memory. And then, finally—he pushes in.

Your breath catches, nails digging into his back as he stretches you open. He groans, low and guttural, his grip on your hips tightening as he buries himself inside you.

The first few thrusts are slow, measured, like he’s holding himself back. But then your hips move, meeting his, and that restraint snaps.

Zayne curses under his breath, pulling back only to thrust in harder, deeper.

Your moan echoes in the room.

His pace picks up, his body pressing you into the mattress, his breath hot against your skin. The pleasure builds with every movement, every snap of his hips. And when his hand slides between you again, fingers finding your clit, it’s enough to push you over the edge.

Your climax crashes into you, and he follows, his rhythm falters as he groans against your skin, burying himself deep as your body pulses around him.

For a while, neither of you move—just breathing, just feeling, the warmth of him grounding you in the moment.

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Notes:

And now time for me to disappear again! :D oh and for anyone that likes this series, I did write others short fanfic in ao3 like Scavenger Hunt and the other is well this, if you didn't already check it out, go ahead! Just in case you missed it, here's First time part 1 (Mature)

I was editing to add the rest of the series part but it was too long ahahaha so here's just the whole list: College AU list ✨

[rashomonss]

Learning To Adapt

context: readjusting dealt with MC, learning to adapt features how each of the brothers try to adjust to life after you disappeared, let me know if y’all want a dateables version! again some, short and somewhat angsty headcanons, enjoy!

come back to me

Your room is always visited every day by Lucifer. His visits are early in the morning and they usually consist of checking and cleaning your room for even the slightest speck of dirt or dust.

When you come back he doesn’t want a messy room on your to-do list. That and just being in your room gives him a little peace of mind, that a part of you is still here with him. Even if you aren’t actually there to reassure him you’re okay.

Lucifer will make the mistake of buying you something while he’s out shopping and it’s only when he returns does he realize his mistake. Because of this a box of things intended for you is collecting dust in the corner of his room

The piano is another thing that collects dust in the house. With you not there what reason does he have to play it? Even the thought of actually playing it makes him walk out of the room.

Of course, like usual his coping mechanism throughout this time period is to drown himself in work to the point of collapsing. Nothing new here. If anything he needs to show his brothers that he can keep it together; for they’re sake and his.

Mammon checks his pact mark in the mirror every day when he gets up. That’s the first thing he will do when he’s fully awake. Once you left and it started to fade all hell broke loose Due to this he constantly freaks out about it now.

He won’t let anyone touch him if they’re in the vicinity of his pact mark. Mammon actually moves away quite quickly, worried that the slightest touch might make it fade for good.

Any piece of clothing you stole from him, he decides to take it back and wear it. It smells like you and it’s the only way he actually stays calm, if not be warned of violent outbursts every once and awhile.

Much to his brother’s surprise he actually doesn’t hole himself up in his room. He instead picked up a few jobs and took the liberty of taking care of his brothers when Lucifer was too exhausted. Though at times he felt even more exhausted than Lucifer.

Mammon spends the most time in your room out of all of the brothers. Sometimes he’ll ignore his room for days and just stay in yours till Lucifer kicks him out. Though he just goes right back when the oldest leaves.

Levi constantly checks in and logs into your accounts for any games you have. He wants to make sure you don’t miss anything. A new event came out? Don’t worry he’ll speed run it and get everything for you. A new skin came out? Don’t worry you have it now.

He becomes so immersed in making sure you have a good ranking in a game or you get all the things he’ll believe you’ll want instead of actually taking care of himself. So when Lucifer and Mammon finally pull him away he collapses from sheer exhaustion.

He doesn’t leave his room per usual, the only other room he heads to if he gets up is yours. However, he walks in and then proceeds to hole himself up in there too until his brothers drag him out.

Lothan has been summoned many times when his brothers tick him off so the house is always a bit damp now.

Levi takes this time to finish the cosplays you both were working on, however, as he’s in the middle of sewing yours many emotions come on all at once and he becomes angry with you for leaving him.

He does understand that you didn’t have a choice and it’s not your fault at all, but he still becomes upset about the current situation and rips the costume. Once his breakdown is over he then cries at the destruction he’s caused.

Satan finds himself more irritated with everything these days. One wrong word from a lesser demon and he’s in his demon form causing a rampage across the Devildom.

Or one snarky remark from his brothers and a whole wall at the house of lamentation is suddenly is gone.

This man is irritated with everyone and everything. The only thing he finds comfort in now is the cats you both would feed in the alleys of some Devildom streets. However each time he goes to feed the cats, his wrath will boil up and he goes on a rampage due to the memories of you and him.

Not worry because he won’t finish any books you two were currently reading, instead, all those books get stacked neatly in your room for when you get back.

All the cleaning progress you made in his room went to waste because of how many times he’s had angry tantrums in his room.

The thought of cleaning his things does cross his mind, but then it makes him think of you and he decides against it, soon throwing more books around in a fit or rage.

He’s having trouble processing that your gone. After all this is his first time “losing” someone so dear to him, so give him time.

Asmo finds himself using everything he had to drag himself out of bed. He still does his regular routines but they take much longer now because he can’t find any purpose behind them anymore.

At first he went out and partied till he dropped or had to get picked up by Lucifer or Mammon. However while he was at a certain club, a demon had asked him where you were, since you both go clubbing together. And upon hearing the question Asmo literally broke down in the club, and hadn’t gone back since.

He’ll still wait by each classroom door to go pick you up. Asmo always made it a point to walk you to every class even if his was on the other side of RAD so he’ll still continue to wait for you due to it being such a habit for him.

However as soon as he sees the last student exit and there’s no sign of you he then remembers that your not there. Sighing he heads to class by himself, not particularly concerned if he’s late anymore.

Asmo tries his hardest to delude himself that Solomon will bring you back soon, each time he wakes up he wishes that this whole ordeal was just a horrible dream.

Whenever dinner comes around at the House of Lamentation each brother is forced to eat, per Lucifer’s demands. However as each of them put food on their plates, a separate plate of food is set at the end of the table in your spot along with silverware and a drink.

Throughout dinner, the food doesn’t go touched by anyone and once they all finish eating Beel takes the plate wraps it, then places it in the fridge with the rest of your leftover dinners.

They soon take up most of the fridge room but Beel forbids anyone from throwing them out. Including Lucifer.

No one is allowed to touch anything that had your name on it, Beel makes sure of that. Every single snack or dessert you had in the fridge or pantry is still there for when you come back. It doesn’t matter if it expired or not Beel refuses to throw them out.

Beel often floods a corner of the pantry with snacks you favored, and again doesn’t allow anyone to touch them. Every time he goes shopping he’ll buy you something as well, it’s become a problem for Lucifer since not many things fit in the pantry anymore so Beel can only be on grocery duty now if someone is with him.

When he has trouble sleeping Beel will look up to his ceiling and speak to himself as if he were speaking to you. He hopes you’ll reunite soon so he can tell you just how much he misses you and loves you. He’s dying to hear you say you love him.

Belphie curses you in his sleep. The youngest demon brother believes if he just sleeps throughout this whole period he won’t have to deal with the fact your not here.

Instead he tries to escape to his dreams, but in turn he finds you there greeting him with a smile. It hurts to see your smile.

Due to this he’ll often wake up in a cold sweat or to Beel shaking him awake out of concern. He then sighs and decides against sleeping for awhile. Which doesn’t turn out to be good for him in the long run.

Dark circles become more and more prominent as he goes some days without sleep. Belphie never took loss well, in fact he hated the whole thought of not being able to see you asleep next to him when he did awake.

He refuses to go to the planetarium for awhile due to being reminded of you. In the beginning he also stayed clear of your room too. However as the days pasted if his older brothers didn’t occupy the room he’d try to get a nap in your bed. It was difficult though.

There was a period of time he locked himself in the attic with a hope that maybe you’d come find him again in the spot you both first met. Much to his dismay Lucifer and Mammon found him and dragged the grumpy youngest back to his room.

part 2.

[courtofcrescent]

There's a big festival at the market, and you are trapped in the garden of your house.

• Court of Crescent: Short Stories •

Little F!MC x Lunera

(You can read M!MC x Galeas version in the next post)

.

You sulk.

Of course you sulk. How could you not? There's a big festival at the market—you can even hear the sound of their singing from here—and you are trapped in the garden of your house. It's right at midday, even!

You sulk inelegany—or is it inelegancy? No, inelegantly? No, no. You think that's not right. What did your tutors say about it? Ineleganily? Inelegranily? Inelegranary? Granary?

You sulk thinking about that hard word. Now it's even make you want to eat granary bread at the market...

You sulk that you can't eat your bread.

But the girl in front of you seems happy.

"Let's play in the maze!"

You sulk hearing her plan. This is her third, no, fourth, no, five plan? You just arrive at the garden—you don't even sit yet! And now she want to go to the maze in the other side of the garden? Does she not tired running around your house from the morning? She's as old as your third older brother, but she can keep moving with a lot of energy like your eldest brother.

You sulk thinking about your sore feet. But you can't say no. Papa said that you must a-kom-pa-ni her today while he talked with her papa. Papa said she wanted to play with you today. You don't know why she doesn't want to play with your older brothers or your older sister and choose to be with you.

You sulk thinking how she ruined your festival plan with your eldest brother. You have wait for a whole month to have a shopping trip that he promised!

And now she ruined it.

You don't like her. You also don't like that she keep patting your head. Or pinching your cheek.

You sulk. But you can't say no.

"Come on! Come on!" She grab your hand.

You sigh. Your face a bit hurt after a lot sulking. So you just look sadly at the sound of the festival. Looks like you won't be going this—

You fall as you feel a pull in your hand.

Your eyes widen as you see the soil begin to close—

Suddenly you see a black fur. Fluffy, smelly, black fur. You fall on it. You land on it with a thud. And you feel a warm, wet... tongue.

How...?

"That's a stupid thing to do for a great lady." A familiar high voice. "Did your tutor never teach you how to move elegantly?"

You immediately flip your head up. "Sister!" you yelp as your sister's big dog lick your other cheek.

But you just let him lick you today and just keep looking at your sister. Her face look... bad. Annoyed, you think that's the word. For-tu-na-te-li it's not red yet, or you will hear her talking so long—lecturing, she calls it. Or rambling, your eldest brother says. For-tu-na-te-li too it's not you that she stare right now.

She's looking straight at your playmate.

"Such a bad manners," your sister says loudly, enough for the whole garden to hear—even if it's just three of you and one big dog here. Her hands go straight to her hips. Uh oh.

Sister stare turn really bad. Glaring, you think is the word. She's glaring at your playmate. "Does the heir of Great House Tubery not even know a basic etiquette at the age of ten?" Oh, no! Her voice's rising faster than usual. That's the sign your sister's face will turn red soon. That’s when she starts talking a lot...

Your playmate's face change. She stops smiling. Now her face turn bad too! She's always smiling with you since morning, but now she's glaring right back at your sister. That's a weird look on her. And definitely bad. Bad bad bad!

Your playmate steps closer to your sister. "Did your tutors never instruct you to not interrupt a private moment, Lady Lunera? Nevertheless loudly commenting their manners in those said moment." Huh? Why is she suddenly talking like your older siblings, with all that hard words?

"Do you not even know how to address a proper title?" your sister answers with another question. She's now crossing her arms in front of her chest. "That's very bad. I think you should change your incompetence tutors, Great Lady Tula."

You blink.

Sister says your playmate's name like how she sometimes say your brothers name. You don't know why she do that—eldest brother says she's jealous of his name. You don't think your sister's jealous with your playmate name. You think Lunera is more pretty than Tula.

"Or perhaps," your sister tilts her head, waving her right hand around, "it's not them who are at fault."

Your playmate blinks. And then her mouth curves just a little up. "Who—"

"—taught you to grab another lady so roughly like that? To handle her like a sack of potatoes? That's indeed my question too," your sister say before your playmate can finish. Wait, isn't that not polite? She even use that bad tone!

"What kind of lesson teaches a heir of a great house to yank a child much younger than her around like that? Do your tutors teach you to greet your noble cousins like that as well? Or do they teach you to throw them over your shoulder? Perhaps drag them by the ankles?" sister continues without a breath.

Her voice's climbing again. Like stairs. Tall ones. Long ones. With no end.

Sister step forward. "Because mine certainly do not! You may wish to review the section on addressing noble peers in the second etiquette volume. Do you still have it? Or should I lend mine?"

Your playmate's eyes narrow.

She looks at your sister and sister stares back. They don't blink. They still staring. Keep staring at each other. Still staring. Still... your playmate blinks!

Your playmate eyes suddenly turn to you.

"I was only playing," your playmate says. This time her voice is softer again, like earlier, as she crouches in front of you. "Did I hurt you? Oh no, I was just excited! We were having fun, yes?"

You... are playing with her, yes. Papa said so. But your feet are sore, and your arm feels weird, and your cheek is wet—your sister's dog still licking you! You also really really want to go to the festival with eldest brother!

"She's tired!" your sister quickly says before you can say anything. She's brushing something from your dress... wait, when did she get behind you? "And you've quite clearly exhausted her with your maze-chasing nonsense."

Your playmate tilts her head as you look at her again. "I didn’t mean to upset you, budling," she says, gently patting your knee. Completely ignoring your sister as she keeps looking at your eyes. "Maybe the maze's too far for today, and the sun's too hot. Let's play again next time, yes?"

She gives you a bright smile—her smile from before—as she steps back before you can nod or shake your head. She then bows her head just a little. Not too low. Not like when other people greet you. A noble bow between their peers.

Oh? Does that means playtime's over? But Papa hasn't called for you?

You're thinking about the answer too hard that you almost don't realise your playmate is looking at you for a little longer... before suddenly walking away.

You blink.

Your playmate doesn't say goodbye or give goodbye kisses. Is... that polite? You wonder if she's mad at you. Your tutor said that forgetting a goodbye can mean someone's feelings are hurt... Oh. No, no! You forgot to bow back at her! You immediately look at sister who's just straightened her head—sister bowed! Of course she is!

Your playmate's definitely mad at your rudeness, right?

You prepare yourself for your sister rambling... but that's never come.

Huh?

Your sister just... stares at your playmate's back.

You... feel a little strange. Like maybe you did something wrong—no, no, you definitely did! Or maybe... you didn't. Your tutors say sometimes that what you think is wrong is actually the right one. Or perhaps something went wrong and maybe you helped it go wrong? You don't know.

But you do know when your sister kneels right in front of you. And her big dog sits beside her, finally done licking your cheek.

"Did you want to play with her again?" your sister asks. Her voice still sounds bad, but it isn't rising as before. That's a good sign!

So you shake your head. But then you pause. Then nod. Then shake again. Oh it's confusing! You want to play, but maybe not with her. Or maybe with her if she doesn't run too much and doesn't touch your face too much. But definitely, certainly, un-da-be-li, not on a festival day!

Your sister gives you a familiar look. That look. The one she gives when you and your eldest brother sneak cookies past bedtime or try to paint your white dress or lying. Oh no. You hope she won't start rambling now—

Sister takes your hand. And sighs.

"Let's go to your room and fix that dress and hair," she tells you like how Papa told you to study before playing. "You look unnoble."

Oh, no, no! You don't like it. No, not sister's tone, but what she says. It's even more bad than hearing her rambling! You sulk again. You don't want to sit still in front of the mirror for another hour again—

"Catur's already waiting at the gate. Sweet Luxen knows he doesn't like waiting."

Wait.

"The festival won't wait for you if you keep sulking like that, young lady."

What? Festival? The festival??

You're going to the festival with eldest brother???

Suddenly you feel wide awake. Suddenly your feet feel very light. And suddenly there's a big smile on your face.

You take sister's hand.

And you finally stop sulking.

.

.

.

[totothewolff]

The Speed Game of Love

Toto x reader | comedy, crack humor (RuPaul's Drag Race bang), romance, fluff.

Summary: Three fierce queens will race for your love, but only one will win your heart. Could it be the spicy Carla LaTurbo Slayz, the fierce Adore D. Hammer, or the queen of England herself, GiGi Reigns? Or maybe that sexy host could get some! Hosted by the hot and only Toto Wolff. Author's note: It's short and fun. Y/N has the hots for Toto, as usual. Who doesn't?! Enjoy! Let me know your thoughts or if you have an idea, here I am."

More Toto Wolff fics right here > Masterlist

-

From the racing capital of the world is The Speed Game of Love.

And here is your host...

The hot and only Toto Wolff.

(Opening music plays, and the camera pans over the bright and sparkling stage. Toto Wolff is standing there in fullness, tallness, and hotness, just a few steps away from you. As you peek in from behind the entrance, he is looking as sexy as you expected that man to be, dressed in a sluty tight suit, his eyes set on you for a brief second making your knees and other regions jiggle as he starts the show).

"Welcome to the Speed Game of Love. I'm your hot, I mean host! Toto Wolff." he winks at you before moving to his mark at the cue.

(Cheers, gaps, and a loud moan come from the sound effect console as Toto passes a hand on his hair and smiles big and bright straight at the pro camera).

"Let's meet tonight's lucky heartracers!" he gestures with both arms to his left.

(Cut to a shot of the competitors, each one dressed in their best sickening drag looks, all sitting in white bar stool chairs next to each other)

"It's the Queen of tracks! And hearts! Adore D. Hammer!" Toto approaches a fierce-looking queen. "Ready to smash some?" Toto raises his eyebrows as he asks.

"Oh, dear, I'm more than keen for some hammer time!" Adore answers, thrusting with her hips slowly.

She's rocking a sparkly, sluty version of the iconic jumpsuit in neon yellow and black from MC Hammer's iconic "U Can't Touch This" music video, but cinched for the gods along with really high-platform sneakers.

The jumpsuit is embellished with rhinestones and sequins that shimmer and shine under the stage lights. Adore's dreadlocks hung loose around her ears but with a glamorous, over-the-top twist.

Her makeup is bold and bright, with bold eyeliner, vibrant eyeshadow, and a shining golden lip. Her skin is glowing with a subtle shimmery highlight that makes her look like she just stepped out of a disco ball.

Toto gives her a chuckle before moving along.

"Next, Carla LaTurbo Slayz!" He strolls to her, mic in hand. "Miss Turbo, I heard you got some horsepower tonight! How are you, honey?"

(After he asks the question, a loud moan is heard as a sound effect).

"I'm 'fuel'-tastic, Toto!" she blows a kiss to the camera and shows some lil' leg.

She's rocking a stunning, one-shoulder gown made from the finest silk in a rich, jewel-toned red that evokes the majestic flamenco dancers of Andalusia. The dress is fitted and figure-hugging, accentuating her curves in all the right places.

Her hair is a masterpiece; a few strategically placed braids and hairpins add a touch of Andalusian flair.

Her eyes are lined with bold, black kohl and smudged with shimmery gold eyeshadow to create a sultry, seductive gaze. Her lips are painted a deep, crimson red. Her accessories are chunky gold jewelry.

"Up next, it's GiGi Reigns. Is Your Highness ready to conquer this race?" Toto turns to her, bowing first.

"Keen to have a smooth pit stop and a great finish!" an old lady's voice with a thick Windsor accent answers.

She is rocking a look that's equal parts regal and ridiculous. She's donning a velvet-trimmed corset and hoop skirt that's so big it requires its own zip code.

The skirt is a riot of colors, with florals and patterns. GiGi's hair is a marvel; think Elizabeth I's famous ruff but on steroids! Her locks are styled in towering curls that resemble a pompadour.

Her makeup is a masterpiece of over-the-top opulence. Layers of foundation, blush, and powder are applied with the precision of the era, but they make her look old, really old, with wrinkles adorning her features.

Her accessories are an array of fake pearls that look like they belong on the Queen herself.

"Let's start your engines! Close that pit wall!" Toto instructs as the obstructing divider slides from the wall. It looks exactly like a pit wall fence but glamorous, all in metallic pink, blocking the view from both sides.  

As you are about to enter the stage, an empty, small white podium is waiting for you.

"Our wag tonight is from (Y/N's City/Country). Meet (Y/N's profession/studies), Y/N, Y/LN!" Toto introduces you as you step in, smiling at him.

"Mmm, you look good!" Toto runs his eyes all over your body as he approaches you and offers a hand to help you step on the podium.

You feel the heat instantly.

"What brings you smoking gear around here? Did your engine overheat?" Toto addresses you, starting to lean closer to you.

"I'm just looking for touch at this point!" you answer, plain and honest.

(Aww noises come from the sound effect panel).

"Uhmmhu!" Toto gets closer to you than his mark on the floor suggests. He gestures to you to articulate more as he stands by your side, slowly sliding a hand down on your back.

How you react to his touch makes him smile naughtily.

In between a nervous giggle, you explain: "I tried the apps and whatnot, but nothing worked, so my friends suggested I come here to speed up the process. You know, to look for something accelerated, fast-paced." You wink at him, gaining confidence, feeling his eyes traveling down your lips and neck.

"Oh, so you like it fast-paced? Who doesn't like to get their flag chequered hard!" Toto keeps your game of innuendos, flirting with you along.

You nod and bite your lip; he arches his eyebrow slightly.

"Then, you came to the right place!" his voice is deep, and he flexes his arm so you can enjoy the view of his muscles as Toto grabs his mic. "So, Y/N, here's how the game works: You ask the heartracers some questions, and they will try to win this lap for your heart with their answers. When the time runs out, you choose who steps into your podium. Are you ready to race?"

"I AM!" you feel pumped up!

(Engine noises are heard in the studio, indicating the start of the lap).

You read one of your cue cards. "Heartracer number one, finish the following sentence: If I was your car to run me on a race, you would leave me (blank...) at the end."

"In desperate need of a new set of wheels. Oh! I would run you relentlessly from one side of the circuit to the other!" Adore answers, jumping on her feet and doing the iconic MC Hammer moves, passing by in front of the other contestants.

You laugh and nod at the excellent answer. "And you, number two?"

"I would leave you revving for more! You would want me to run you down over and over again around these corners." LaTurbo answers with a very sexual voice, sliding her hand all over her body curves.

"And you, madam, number three?" you ask.

"At the finish line... eventually! I'm a lady of a certain age, darling." GiGi Reigns' elderly voice answers, making you and Toto burst into giggles.

"If it was me, I would have you shifting gears so hard that I would end up breaking you down. But that's me!" Toto jokes, inserting his answer there. "Let's move on to the next question, shall we, Y/N?"

"YES! Let me push that pedal all the way in!" you joke back.

"All the way in?!" Toto asks, now curious, in a high-pitched voice. "Fast-paced and all the way in. Taking notes!" He swaps his cue cards around.

"I think that one's hammer is starting to show! Haha," GiGi Reigns adds, inserting herself into the conversation, bumping Adore with her hand, and both of them taking a small peek at Toto's crotch.

"Please, give head, go ahead, I meant!" Toto jokes with you.

"Based on yourself, how would you prefer to be called if you were a fuel brand?" you ask the contestants.

"Piston Pumping, you gotta keep the hammering for miles long!" Adore gives her answer in perfect branding.

"Fuel-in' Around, just kidding," Carla waves her hand.

"The Lube for The Crown, cause at this age, darling, you need some extra help." GiGi slowly spreads open her legs, making rusted noises, cracking you up again.

"I'd be, Fuel Me Maybe, you know, like tonight, after this show," Toto flirts shamelessly as the game progresses, making it clear that he's interested in none other than you.

"Final question," you go ahead. "Imagine you are an F1 team. Sell yourself to me."

"On the Hammerella F1 Team, competition can't touch us! We are faster than you can say parachute pants!" Adore D. Hammer answers.

"On El Toro Racing, we are unleashing the bull full speed, with fury and passion and with a whole lot of rhythm, ahhhh." Carla LaTurbo's every word gets more sexual somehow as she answers your question, her hands going all over her neck and legs.

Finally is GiGi's turn: "On the Motor on the Bus, The Queen's Royal Racing Team, we race round and round, vroom and vroom, all through the town." She pauses before adding, "But with protocol, dear."

GiGi's stupid answer makes you gag.

"Oh, time is up! Y/N, who do you choose from our heartracers? Number one, two or three?" Toto comes near to you again.

Fuck! He smells so good! That's an arousing cologne.

(A dramatic pause comes before you turn straight at him to give your definitive answer).

"You," you point at Toto. "I choose you!" answering aloud to everyone's... actually... to no one's surprise!

"I'd love to take you for some good ol' laps!" he blows a kiss to you. "But first, let's meet the ones you didn't choose! Say hello to Adore D. Hammer."

"Oh! This hammer would have broken you in half, dear!" she jokes with you as she looks you up and passes along, thrusting the air on her way out.

"and Carla LaTurbo Slayz," Toto again shouts, extending his arm.

"This," she closes her hand at you, moving it around your body, "Has red flag all over," she says, belittling you as she goes out, pretending to be insulted by you rejecting her.

"Finally, GiGi Reigns! Madam..." Toto bows one last time.

GiGi takes her time walking there, making grunt noises as she grabs her back, complaining, making you two lose it.

"I, TOO, CAN COMMAND THE WIND, SIR!" She screams out of nowhere in the most Shakespearean voice, catching you two off guard.

Like GiGi got possessed for a second before she composes herself and gives "royal hand waves" politely as she dramatically exits.

"WHHAAT?" you say, catching your breath between laughs.

"Ready to blow my engine?" Toto triumphantly asks, holding you up like a trophy as he wraps his arm around your waist.

"Against the pit wall?!" you joke around, laughing on his lips, standing next to it.

"Another Speed Game of Love with a... happy ending! To me!" Toto winks. "Good night, everybody!"

(You two wave at the lense before you wrap him in a passionate kiss as the camera cuts to black)

You don't make it further than his dressing room.

The audio crew picks up the loud moans and smashing noises coming from there, as Toto is still wired, and they quickly turn off the equipment.

Join us at The Wolff Pack Discord Server > https://discord.com/invite/tpgArxqbfd

[lovelypastelsweets]

♡{Heaven in Hell:}♡

Caleb Xia X Female Reader.

{Notes:}

Y/N's gender is never stated, but they bathe in the women's bathroom, so this may be suitable for trans women?

This takes place at the laboratory, but it isn't cannon(the game hasn't told us much about the EVER's laboratory yet) This is only done to create a non-personalized oppressive environment that many of us face in real life.

Y/N is labeled as "Having hair", but the color, type, style, length and all other aspects aren't mentioned. And it's only said once.

I'm sorry for the pictures I used that shows MC I usual avoid pictures that show the MC to make my works more universal.

If you'd like a "Male reader" version, just message me or ask in the comments.

{Trigger-warnings:}

Depression. Alluded suicidal thoughts. Caleb is referred to as Y/N's definition of "Heaven" so this may be offensive to people who are religious. Side characters disrespecting the Y/N's mental health(like I said, it's meant to be realistic 🙃). A perverted gaurd.

♡{Genre:}♡

Anguish to fluff. (I haven't labeled genre before, so this may not be accurate)

Conousness hummed at you through the void of dreamless sleep.

"WAKE UP!"

"LET'S GO! LET'S GO!"

"HURRY THE HELL UP!"

You jolted from your sleep as the sound of yelling and clapping rang loudly through the room.

You sat up and lifted a hand into the air to signal that you were awake. Once doing this, the guard left with a show of slamming the door to ensure that you knew of his anger.

You flopped back down on the small bed, looking at the white ceiling with it's color tainted slightly with dust, and a spider's web looming in the corner.

"Another day.."

You thought, dully- Your wish last night that you wouldn't wake up in the morning was rejected, as always.

You sat back up, knowing that if you fell back asleep, hell would rain down upon you.

Slipping your shoes on, you walked into the main room where all the subjects were required to stand in a line. Caleb noticed you and gave a subtle wave. Usually he'd leave his place in line and move to the back so the two of you could stand together, but at times where there are gaurds are present- like right now- he cannot.

"Of course.."

You thought.

If you and Caleb can't stand together in line, then it will be hours before the two of you will get the chance to talk to each other again. Talking to him is the only thing that seems to fight off the depression that's slowly drowning you theses days.

Another problem, another drop-

And another-

And another-

And another-

Drop-

After drop-

After drop-

After drop-

Dripping down-

More-

More-

The larger the issue, the harsher the downpour.

Again..

And again..

Over..

And over...

...Until you can't breathe.

You started your training for the day. After a few hours it was time for dyonositcs to be ran. That sounds like the easiest part of the day, and it was- or it would be if it weren't for the women who runs the dyonositcs; A short woman with a bulky build, dyed-purple hair, thick gothic makeup, and cold, merciless green-ish grey eyes.

"Did you finish your training, yet?"

A demeaning tone poisons her voice, as always.

Y/N: "No.. Not yet"

You answered dully.

"Well, get it done."

Y/N: "Yes."

She clicked her tongue.

"I see someone's acting like a stuck-up bitch again today. I don't know how you think that you're going to get a life outside this place one day when you're rude and incapable of doing anything on time! Nobody is going to put up with your bullshit in the real world."

You didn't respond. There's no point, you'll never be right and she obviously doesn't care about you being depressed.

"Not going to respond? Tch, typical. Fine, act like a bitch then. I don't care."

You sighed.

Y/N: "I wasn't trying to-"

"No! No, no, no! You wanted to be a snobby bitch, remember? I don't care about your excuses. I don't have the time to deal your drama, I've got far better things to do."

Hit with sarcasm then deadpanned. Yeah, she was right 'typical'.

Whatever. Same issue, different day.

The dyonositcs tests were over, and you headed to the cafeteria. You were gald that you would finally get a chance to see Caleb... But..

...Honestly, talking to him wasn't really something you wanted to do right now. Emotionally, you were going though a lot, and.. You didn't even have a reason! Nothing has changed.. You're just weren't as good at "Dealing with it" right now. Your mind was just.. Darker.. Emptier.. Duller..

..It felt like a void.

Of course Caleb wouldn't judge you. In fact he'd do whatever he could to make you feel better. But, 'That' was the problem. It wasn't his fault that you felt like this. And it wasn't his responsibility to fix it, either. He was in the same situation as you, he had just as many reasons to feel like you did. But he didn't walk around and complain. He didn't force his problems on you- He was strong..

..Stronger than you could ever be.

You knew you had to face him. With a deep breath to steal your resolve, you put on a faint smile and walked into the cafeteria. You sat at the table in the far back, on the right-side; The usual table you and Caleb sat at. Caleb was already there. He waved at you as you came over.

Caleb: "Hey, there. Pipsqeak."

Y/N: "Hey.. Uh, how was your day?"

You hoped to start a casual conversation that would distract him from the way you were feeling.

Caleb: "It was a usual day. Pretty boring, honestly. You?"

He.. Had had an intense look hinting in his gaze.

Y/N: "Oh, it was alright."

He was staring into your eyes, it was like he was looking for an answer to a question he hadn't asked.

Caleb: "I see."

The conversation was spearse during lunch. Once more, you two had to part, it was time to clean up after lunch.

Even though you knew it was pointless.

Even though you knew it only caused more problems.

Even though you knew that you were only making yourself more miserable.

You couldn't figure out how to stop this feeling.

This dullness.

This emptiness.

This feeling that made life seem so daunting.

This feeling that made you feel like you were decaying.

This feeling that made you feel like you were a walking corpse.

You didn't know the cure.

You've been through this time, and time again. You've felt this time, and time again. It would eventually fade. You knew that, but that did nothing to lighten the darkness looming over you- In fact it made you more angry at yourself for being so weak.

Now, you were waiting in line for your turn in the "Resestaince Training" room, where you'd test how long your threshold was for how long, and how much, you could use your EVOL before taking damage; This would usually continue until the subject was injured or lost conousness.

Caleb: "Psst! Psst, hey, Y/N?"

Caleb maneuvered to stand in line behind you and caught your attention.

Y/N: "Yeah. What is it?"

You both spoke in whispers to avoid alerting the guards.

Caleb: "Guess what I was told earlier?"

Y/N: "Hmm.. To shut up?"

You joked.

Caleb: "No, Pipsqeak. Tonight is Sanitizing-night!"

Y/N: "Really? Yes! Finally.. I-.. I really think that would.. That would be really helpful."

You tried not let the emotions you were feeling seep through your words.

Caleb: "Me too."

There was a heaviness to his words- A meaning you weren't sure of

"Sanitizing-night" was an event that occurred once every month. It was where all the subjects would spend the night in the same room, while their usual bedrooms were sterilized. The room was empty; There weren't any beds, but each subject was given a blanket and a pillow. The best part was as long as everyone stayed quiet, and nobody got hurt, you guys were allowed to do whatever you wanted- As long as the gaurds were convinced that you were all sleeping.

On these nights, you would always sleep in Caleb's arms. Which, right now, seemed like a ticket to Heaven. He was always your ticket to Heaven, even as you felt like you were burning in hell. Caleb was always your escape, your eden, your paradise-

Your home.

The day continued in a usual way, but now you had something to look forward to. You knew it wouldn't really change anything, but a bandaid on a bullet-wound would stop more pathogens from entering the wound at least.

Evening finally approached.

After dinner, you and the other female subjects headed to the shared bathroom. Shower stalls lined with dulled-white tiles, each containg a silver showerhead covered in hard-water and a grey shower curtain with a pattern of geometric squares.

You all hurriedly washed up- All of you knowing all to well that a particular trio of male gaurds wouldn't hesitate to not only enter the womens' bathroom, but open everyone's shower curtain as well. Of course, they only wanted to "Ensure everyone's safety"- Which would be more believable if multiple women, both staff member and subjects alike, haven't already reported their multiple accounts of sexual-harassment and groping.

Navy blue pumpkin-shorts and a white T-shirt replaced your training uniform of light grey sweatpants and a white, tight, cropped sports top.

As you tucked in your shirt, the bathroom door suddenly slammed open.

The few subjects who hadn't finished dressing, rushed to cover themselves.

Gaurd: "Ladies. Nnm, looking nice."

Vomit. That's exactly what you want to do.

Gaurd: "I'm here to tell y'all that you won't be heading to your usual rooms tonight. You.. Beautiful girls, will be headin' to the shared room tonight. Heh."

The gaurd turned and left the room.

He really didn't need to say "Beautiful girls" like that..

After finishing up, you walked to the hall were other subjects were lined up once more, this time in front of the shared-room. Each subject has to be checked by a gaurd before entering.

Once you entered, your eyes seeked out Caleb subconsciously, as if by nature. Once you saw him you couldn't help but feel a smile playing at your lips- He was wearing a white, baggy sweater, and navy-blue sweatpants.

Did he know what you were going to wear?

Y/N: "Twinsies?"

You say jokingly, point beween your outfits as you walk over to the white blanket he sat on, taking a seat in front of him and setting your appointed bedding down beside you.

Caleb: "Heh, I'd say "What are the odds?", but these people seem to be allergic to clothing that isn't either white, black, navy-blue, or a variation of grey."

And just like that, the darkness that has plunged you for days finally brightens.

Y/N: "Hmm, true. But we have the same exact color pallet; White shirt, blue bottoms."

Caleb's smile looked a little more sincere at your words.

Caleb: "Maybe we are just that in-tuned with each other Pipsqeak."

Before you could respond, the bright, blue-tinted overhead light shut off, leaving the room pitch black except for the predominant glowing red dot from the camera above the door.

Caleb: "Come here."

Caleb readjusted on the blanket and opened his arms so you could lay comfortably on his chest.

Taking his offer, you lay with your face resting on his chest, pulling the blanket that you were assigned on top of you both, as Caleb crosses his arms gently around your waist.

As you two lied there, a blanket on the floor and a blanket to cover you both-

As you two lied there, living in a unfavorable situation-

As you two lied there, not know when or if one of you will be drug away in the middle of the night-

As you two lied there, not knowing what the future had in store for you both-

As you two lied there, with your head on his chest-

As you two lied there, his hand caressing your hair-

As you two lied there, his free arm hugging you closely like a teddy bear-

As you two lied there, your heartbeats synchronizing-

As you two lied there, everything felt okay.

Maybe it was temporary. Maybe it was a lie. You didn't care. You wanted to believe in it. You wanted to believe that everything was okay...

..Just for a little while.

This. This was your definition of "Heaven". Caleb's arms were the only 'saving grace' you've come to know.

Even when you were sure that you've walked the halls of hell, you knew Heaven wasn't too far away.

Overwhelmed by the release you finally experienced, hot tears burn at your eyes.

Caleb didn't ask, didn't judge, he just hugged you a little tighter as you bury your face into his chest.

After you finish crying- no matter how long it took- Caleb would just remove the pillowcase from the pillow you were given that wasn't in-use, hand it to you so you could wipe you face and blow your nose with it. And once you were done, he'd crumble it up and toss it acrossed the room. Then he'd lie back down and beckon you to come into his arms again, gently lulling you to sleep as he holds you close and fans your flushed face.

[opiopal]

This is a more serious version of one of my other posts! The whole idea is that, for a short amount of time, Mc strongly feels the sin of the brother they newly made a pact with, Og post here! ⬇️

(It gets a little suggestive when it gets to asmo’s, and violence is mentioned with satans,)

After forming a pact with Mammon Mc can’t help but feel drawn to anything shiny or glimmery for a week, which leads to only a little bit of theft. They can’t help themselves! Everything just looks so appealing all of a sudden!!! And I’m sure mammon is ZERO help when it comes to Mc trying to control themselves, they try to tell him that their feel greedy but is only met with encouragement.

Mc: that thing over there is shiny.

Mammon: yeah?

Mc: …. I want it.

Mammon: go for it! I ain’t stopping ya!

After making a pact with Belphie they’re so so SO insanely sluggish, since they already have the other pacts and are more familiar with the after effects of making one, they’re able to power through it for a few days. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t falling asleep in class or even falling asleep standing. Which probably leads to whoever is near by having to just scoop them up and bring them back to the HOL… but I’m sure it’s usually beel or Lucifer since I can imagine the brothers bickering about who should get to carry Mc.

After making a pact with Beel they, of course, are insanely gluttonous. Beel ends up feeling a small tinge of guilt at this so he tries to offer Mc some of his own food. But it just leads to the both of them being hungry, since Mc just can’t help themselves but eat and eat and eat and maybe get a little hangry. After a few days it wears off and Mc is definitely in a food coma for a day or two, cramping and in pain. And Mc also understands beel just a bit more, so I can imagine that’s when Mc decided to start carrying around snacks with them for beel.

Mc: I’m hungry..

Beel, offering a bag of chips: want a bite?

Mc, accidentally takes nearly all the chips in one handful: … sorry,

Beel: :(

After making a pact with satan Mc is just.. so irritated by everything that MOVES. Accidentally snapping occasionally, scolding Mammon for leaving his stuff in their room, glaring daggers at asmo for making a flirty joke, Barging into Levi’s room late at night to yell at him to stop screaming at his computer so loud while gaming, ect. So Mc probably finds themselves ranting to satan a lot since he’s the only one that won’t look at them like they’re mental for threatening someone’s life over something as small as a pencil.

Satan, listening to Mc rant: and so what did you do after that?

Mc, still red in the face: I kicked the jackass in the nuts obviously!!!

Satan, nodding in approval: I wouldn’t have handled it any differently.

After making a pact with Asmo Mc finds themselves staring at their favorite brother a little more often. Having to constantly restrain themselves. Eventually Mc finds the easiest thing for them to do is to just lock themselves in their bedroom like some sort of wild beast until this passes. But to put it simply Mc is practically in heat for a few days lol. They have to make sure that their door is locked always to make sure can’t barge in after forgetting about what Mc is going through at the moment, especially mammon, though I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the aftermath of doing such a thing.

After their pact with Levi they can’t help but feel like everything they have is all of a sudden utter garbage! Their favorite shoes? They’re so dirty and the color is so faded! Why would they ever go out looking like that?! Their favorite shirt? Ugh the design is almost completely crumbled off the front!! Why did anyone ever let you go out looking like this!! Why does everyone else look so much better!?? And they just can’t help but also feel like garbage!! Compared to someone like asmo or mammon, they look like actual dirt!!

Once it wore off Mc can’t help but wonder if that’s how levi feels all the time.

Mc, entering Levi’s room and immediately putting their hands on his shoulders and dropping their voice in despair: I am so sorry if I’ve ever made you feel as if you are overreacting about anything. You are so amazing and dorky and I cherish you

Levi, immediately flustered: w-WHAT!? WHAAAT??

By the time Mc finally makes a pact with Lucifer, they’ve done this song and dance before. So they’re ready for whatever whirlwind of emotions they may feel waking up the next morning after making a pact with Lucifer, even going as far as to send a text to the HOL group chat before sleeping that reads “I apologize in advance for however self centered or arrogant I may act for the next few days✌️(no offense lucifer)”

Though the next day the strongest thing they feel out of anything is the sudden confidence boost. Their brain just can’t stop itself from being all like “yessss yes we ARE the best.” “We’re the favorite in this household and that’s how it should be,” “yesssss.” “Of course we’re kind and considerate!! We’re ourself!!! We’re amazing!!!!!” Which ends up leading Mc to wanting to be praised, yes! I did do amazing on this test! Thank you! Dinner was amazing? Why thank you! I was the one that made it after all! Once the few days are over Lucifer approaches Mc in private,

Lucifer: it’s good to see you got over the effects of my sin quickly, Mc. But I do have a question.

Mc: yeah?

Lucifer: I… don’t act like that myself, do I?

Mc: eh… you uh… hide it well..?

[queenburd]

holding up mac with love and adoration as i make their existence more and more miserable. here's the rundown on our sad little server. There are spoilers for MITYO, which you should absolutely get and play here (it's free! and accessible on browser!), AND for NonPlatonic Forms.

Mac was previously known as MC, the term short for MAIN CHARACTER. the term MC was used a lot when describing the protagonist of May I Take Your Order. (There's ALSO the joke that the "May" of May I Take Your Order is me. wordplay. badum tsh.)

In MITYO, MC is the server at the restaurant Rakove summons Talaiporia at for their date. This restaurant is supposedly USED to them and they are implied regulars and MC just was assigned to them accidentally.

MITYO is a really sanded down version of Rakove and Talaiporia, more, ahem, palatable for mainstream consumption. Though Talaiporia doesn't disguise her cruel and eldritch nature, she never particularly threatens to harm MC or any of the other guests, and she even enjoys MC as a server, who ends up leaning into playing up their discomfort for her pleasure.

When I played MITYO, I usually ended up getting the 80% tip ending, ending #4 I think. This ending shows a sort of softer, sweeter side to Talaiporia and Hendrik, and MC comes away actually enjoying the experience and wanting to be their server more consistently. Although they're gonna need a long talk with their boss about this mishap.

When NonPlatonic Forms was taking shape, the first round took place in what was meant to be the same restaurant. So I made jokes galore about the same server having to serve Diegesis and Lee and how this keeps happening to them.

However, as NPF progressed and the restaurant showed up again as a setting, it became pretty clear that this wasn't the same establishment from MITYO. This place was serving up spirits and humans! This is definitely..... not a great place to work. The servers might LOOK human, but that's no guarantee.

Still. I was amused by and attached to the idea of this poor human, still working a job, only in a much more dangerous setting. And I loved the idea of them being used to Rakove and Talaiporia as guests. Even if the kid gloves were off and the pair were in their full glory as fucked up horror characters, it seemed funny to me that there was just this One Person who was, you know, used to it, I guess.

And I thought Liam could use a human friend who still understood a bit of what he was going through. Being shoved into a world with spirits and entities and things that want to eat you, but also want to play with their food.

So, MC somehow moves from the relatively safe restaurant of MITYO to the much less safe restaurant of NPF. There were jokes about it looking good on the diversity paperwork, humans being easier to employ because all THEY want is money, they're not about to steal the food off the plates for themselves, and of course "this is the restaurant's gimmick. human servers."

The joke I've decided to stick with is that MC was moving, which meant they had to quit their old job at the restaurant in MITYO, and when they let their regulars Rakove and Talaiporia know, Rakove "oh so helpfully" said that he knew of a great restaurant that would hire them and he could put in a good word as reference!

And, because MC got a little too used to Rakove, sanded down and well-behaved in his appearance of MITYO and a stellar guest, they.... agreed. Stupidly, and naively, they were SUPER GRATEFUL for the help with finding work, because it's really hard finding work in this economy.

The job they have now is... well, it's not good. There is a benefit to having human servers at the restaurant. Humans being witness to pacts and deals gives those much more power than if spirits were just the ones to witness them. And servers can be quickly added to the bill as a fun treat, if they get the attention of their guest. Employee turnover rate is high.

Mac knows they're basically doomed, at this point. It's not really a matter for debate. They can't exactly quit, either, because the more you come into contact with spirits and ideals, the more you'll stand out from the crowd to OTHER spirits and ideals. There's no protection either way. There's no way out.

So they really, really want Liam to live. They want him to win his game with Diegesis, so that at least one human's fate isn't set in stone.

Mac's gonna be eaten, it's just a matter of when and by whom....

Only, it's not actually that simple. And maybe the reason they've lasted so long at their job isn't simply because they've been really good at fading in the background.

Maybe it's because Rakove got them that job on purpose. Maybe the more miserable they become at the job, the better they'll taste for Talaiporia when they're finally served up to her as a special gift. Maybe Mac's just been a specially commissioned meal, marinating, becoming well-aged, for that moment when Talaiporia comes into full power.

One thing's tragically certain. When they do go, it won't be quick.

Sorry, Mac.

[sunbloomdew]

my olba mc timeline!

introducing my darling buttercup, Haru Nakamura :D

finally i can post this! i'm very happy to talk about a character i have been working on since may haha. does that mean they are fully cooked? let's talk about something else :) insert why do they call you babygirl meme

you don't wanna know how long was the process of making this one drawing,,,, 1/10, would do it again no question, but god did that take time. here's the sketch for comparison :]

(hopefully) short and concise description of each step below + a couple of songs that i assign to each step, from their playlist because i can and i will

ʰᵃʰᵃʰᵃʰʰᵃᵃᵃᵃᵃ ᵗᵘʳⁿˢ ᵒᵘᵗ ⁱ ʷʳᵒᵗᵉ ᵃ ᵇⁱᵗ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ʰᵃʰᵃʰʰᵃᵃʰ ⁱᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʳᵉᵃᵈ ᵃˡˡ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰⁱˢ ʸᵒᵘ ʰᵃᵛᵉ ᵐʸ ʰᵃⁿᵈ ⁱⁿ ᵐᵃʳʳⁱᵃᵍᵉ ᵇᵗʷ

now before i move to each step, i want to take a moment to talk about Haru's name. they are japanese american (their biological parents were both japanese people who moved to california) so i wanted them to have a japanese name.

first their birth name, Kaito. i picked this [快仁] way of writing it. 快 means "pleasant, comfortable, agreeable" and 仁 means "humanity, benevolence and kindness". i chose it as their birth name because of a few reasons:

first, some other ways of writing this name include a kanji that means "ocean, sea". it's an obvious connection to the setting of olba, as well as the character's deep connection with sunset bird, especially in their childhood.

the meanings assigned to the version i chose, describe haru at their core and during step 1 when they use this name. they are a comfortable presence whose greatest desire is to make meaningful, genuine connections with other people (fucking extravert). while they are pleasant they are a people-pleaser as well - part of their journey is to unlearn that.

it sounds very cute and they are the sweetest kid

now the name people actually know them for, the one they feel describes them the best - Haru. the kanji that i picked [春] means "spring, season of growth and renewal" and it's precisely what Haru's 'arc' is about. the meaning and value of their personal growth, understanding themselves and working with oneself instead of against.

a little tidbit about their name: there is a kanji with which it can be written that means "cherry blossom". those flowers are considered as a symbol of spring in japan, usually blooming between the end of march and beginning of may. another fun fact, haru's birthday is on the 2nd of april :]

Nakamura is a surname i chose instead of Last in the game. i thought it would be fun to headcanon that the family's surname is actually from Noelani's side (some Hawaiian last names are Japanese in origin, hence Nakamura). The kanji i picked to write it are [中村] - 中 meaning "in, inside, middle, center" and 村 meaning "village, hamlet". I think of it as a reference to sunset bird itself.

so once we put all of the ingredients together it already forms an image of a character. i've been reading a book by david day "the hobbits of tolkien" in which the author describes j.r.r. tolkien's process of creating the hobbits. it's very fascinating, the way in which he used his philologist knowleadge - digging up the word first and then tracing it's origins and the word family to slowly create the hobbits we know today. my process of creating haru was somewhat similar in methods, though definitely not the process (god no, i am nowhere near tolkien's level). i wanted to mention that because the words we use to describe the world, or in this case characters are important.

i like to think that haru's whole name means "spring in a village", with them being the embodiment of said season, connected to an undeniably summer town. a little bit like baxter, our resident autumn boy stumbled into a seaside tourist town. only in haru's case the lines are more blurry. i think of them as the manifestation of the spring/summer period, when the sun shines brightly and trees bloom but the wind is still chilly and strong.

in any case, let's move further! fairies know i could talk just about their name forever

Step 1: welcome to childhood folks! in step 1 Haru uses their birth name, Kaito, and he/him pronouns. Kaito is a lonely child who wants only one thing - to have a friend. he is too fat, too shy, too different from other kids his age, which leads to him being isolated from them. this plants the first seeds of his insecurities that will follow him into the future. being ignored and laughed at really impacts Kaito, who only wants to make friends with anybody. it makes this thought slowly grow at the back of his mind: "there is something fundamentally wrong with me." thankfully, he has the support of lizzie and their moms and the soothing sound of the waves and the warm sand at the beach, which make his social isolation feel less hurtful.

when it comes to his personality, Kaito is an open-hearted, open-minded kid who is quite shy. he is naive, terribly impatient and impulsive which can be a fatal combination. curiosity is another defining trait of his - not really with any things of an academic nature, but definitely about other people, so much he can be very nosy. despire that he is pretty good at reading social cues and figuring out people's feelings. if only he had enough foresight to actually confirm his thoughts with others - he is prone to assume things solely based off his judgement. he is empathetic and a good listener. his tendencies in people-pleasing are only starting to grow, but it will be a huge problem down the line.

a sidenote about his design: colours chosen for each step hold a meaning. the colour palette for step 1 is a triadic colour scheme with purple, teal and yellow. i chose those colours because they remind me of summer, and in step 1 kaito is at the beginning of his growth as a person. at this point in their life, they are connected with summer as a season the most, because they have yet to begin the process of figuring themselves out and understanding themselves.

Cove moving in is a turning point for Kaito. he changes his life by befriending him. it doesn NOT alleviate the insecurities and doubt still nestled in Kaito's heart. rather he views Cove as someone special for befriending him. the setting for their relationship is Nervous Fond. Kaito likes Cove immediately (as they do with most people, they are very open) but is very nervous about this whole making friends process.

Alright this all probably sounds very angsty but this internal turmoil of Kaito's is (for now) very much in the background. think of it like a box covered with sheets, dusted over and hidden in the attic. step 1 is mostly cute kid shenanigans (and some crying).

Songs:

hawaiian roller coaster ride - mark keali'i ho'omalu, kamehameha schools children's chorus; lilo and stitch original soundtrack

the right amount of dumb - kan gao; finding paradise (original game soundtrack)

i have a hole in my tooth (and my dentist is shut) - dodie

take me anywhere - kan gao; to the moon (original game soundtrack)

second child, restless child - the oh hellos

(the right amount of dumb is like their theme in step 1 because they are a bit of a dumbass <33 silly little kid)

Step 2: ahhh early teenage years. i think 12yo and older is the time when you start to realize how profoundly fucked up reality is and react appropriately! which is exactly what Haru is going through, on top of being obsessed with becoming popular. sigh.

step 2 is very rough for Haru. for one, their insecurities from childhood only grow. they see their inabilty to create a large circle of friends as a reflection of their worth. their self-esteem is at all time low, which is why they do everything they can to cover it up. kids are cruel so they cannot show any weaknesses. in order to cover up their low self-confidence they become very arrogant,they arrive at this conclusion: if they are so unlikable (false) then they only need to pretend to be someone else entirely to make people like them (bruh. teenage brain is a mystery).

and so begins their fabrication of themselves, altering parts of their appearance, personality even giving up and picking up hobbies just to appeal to the 'popular kids'. deep inside they know that this is futile. you cannot make people like you, you cannot make them respect you if they don't no matter how hard you try. but they are so starved for social interactions, that it doesn't matter at the moment. if they get to hang out with the cool kids, if people wave to them in the corridors then what does it matter that the person they are greeting is fake?

those purposeful but forced changes consume them. they are constatly playing a role around people they know but don't trust - they can only relax with their family, Cove and Derek. but even then, they aren't fun to hang out with that much. seeing as they can reveal their true thoughts only then, it makes them constantly angry (at everything, but at themselves the most probably) which affects their relationships with their friends and family.

to them it feels like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. they can't bear their soul to the cool kids group, because that would mean admitting that they are not a person they pretended to be - this loud, out-going, larger than life, perfect person. and in their head they think they can't reveal anything to their loved ones either - it would mean admitting defeat in making friends.

so yeah, the struggle is there y'all. despite all the harm that comes from their behaviour and their environment, they learn a couple of things too. they realize they aren't a mind reader and perhaps asking people about their problems is better than assuming you know what is wrong, even if you are like 99% sure you know. doesn't mean they won't ask in the most blunt, tactless way possible tho. their shyness as if evaporates completely - you're not gonna make it far in middle school being shy. funnily enough, they are a massive people-pleaser. you'd think that this bold, boisterous teen star would be far from it, but every action Haru performs in their school circle is for the approval of others. if there are any mild upsides to their state is that they can fulfill their innate need of connecting with other people. it's not deep or meaningful in most cases but what can you do.

as you probably noticed, the main colour of this step is green. but why? green is such a nice colour, with so many positive meanings... sike! i mean yeah it is, but you know what else green symbolises? greed and envy. i used green for this step to highlight haru's desire of becoming popular not as a genuine dream, not even as a way to connect with others but because of the immense jealousy they felt. of other people who got to have friends that liked them for who they are. of elizabeth especially, who never seemed to struggle with making people like her. in this stage of their life, green is definitely a negative colour for them.

the comfort level in step 2 is Direct Fond for both Cove and Derek. no matter which route i'm deciding on romantically, haru does not have a crush on anyone in step 2, or at least doesn't allow themselves to have.

Songs:

freaks - surf curse

kawaki wo ameku [カワキヲアメク] - minami [美波]

carnivore - starset

stand out fit in - one ok rock

remember my name - mitski

(i especially like carnivore for this step because haru starts avoiding eating meat, cause they don't like the taste that much. the choice of this song is a bit of an inside joke for me, also the lyrics fit very well)

Step 3: we enter era of healing! i'd say in step 3 haru is at a solid 3/4 way to doing better internally. step 2 was their lowest, but now they are beginning to bloom. but growing older doesn't only bring knowleadge and growth, it also brings a new lot of issues to deal with.

Haru has been confronted about their behaviour. the impact it had on others and on themselves (there was a lot of crying and broken confessions, not a good time). as they reached their limit, they finally decided to speak their feelings and accept help from their loved ones.

now, it's hard to simply get rid of one's insecurities, especially those that seemed to be reinforced by the outside world for a long time. they use a strategy as old as time to deal with (not cover up anymore) their low self-esteem - fake it till you make it. some of their arrogance stays with them, as a blanket of security in a way, but they are determined to be confident in themselves.

their growth starts with a somewhat superficial thing but one that they always cared about: their clothes. they were always interested in clothing and fashion but only in step 3 they move a bit further with that interest and begin to make clothes on their own. it's an important passion to them, not only being very therapeutic but also allowing them to express their true self, both in terms of their personality as well as gender.

a major shift in their perception of their relationships with others was caused by realizing, that gaining popularity was not going to make them feel fulfilled. they had always desired deep, meaningful relationships, and while being recognized at school was nice, it wasn't really what they were looking for. this in turn make them rethink their whole "pretending to be someone you're not" business and with their loved ones assistance they figured out that... it simply wasn't worth it.

and because haru is the most impulsive person on this side of the globe, they did not ease themselves into this realization but again forced themselves to abandon their old ways in favor of being painfully true to themselves. and then everybody smacked their foreheads.

haru is a lot kinder to themselves now, courtesy of cove and others, but they still tend to ignore themselves in favor of somebody else. their shyness returned, and they no longer try to force themselves into acting more out there than they are. since the let down their walls, they speak their mind without thinking and are prone into agreeing to things immediately, often finding themselves in uncomfortable or annoying situations.

right now their most pressing struggle is dealing with becoming an adult. they feel as if they had just got peace and stability in their life and yet their friends are leaving or staying, getting jobs, time is slipping through their fingers like sand and everything is different. haru themselves feels very lost and overwhelmed by the future, so for now they latch onto people, their friends, sister and moms and try to spend as much time with them as possible, drowning the sound of their own fear in their laughter. on top of that there is a new guy in sunset bird, who seems to have a bit similar internal struggles to them, and haru feels like they could make a connection for life. i wonder how that will go :]

step 3 colours! they wear a lot of different colours because their style is mostly inspired by the 80s, plus they like to go crazy with the clothes they make. but colours that appear the most are definitely pink and yellow, plus a little bit of green. green appears in smaller amounts and in shades closer to yellow to express it's different nature than the green in step 2. this time it represents growth, freshness and hope.

now yellow is a very important colour that i consider haru's main colour. they are simply inseparable in my head. it was completely gone from their colour palette in step 2, and in step 1 it had more of a golden shade, one reminiscent of summer, but in step 3 it brings forth thoughts of spring more. it is purposeful, as Haru is finally growing into the person they want to be. yellow's positive meanings are among others optimism, happiness, creativity and enthusiasm. but it can also be associated with fear and cowardice and that is definitely something that fits haru in this step as well.

pink is prevalent in this specific outfit, but like i said, the clothes they wear in this step are pretty colourful. still, it holds meaning, seeing as it's also visible in their step 4 clothes. pink is invincibly linked with romance and romantic feelings - something haru allows themselves to open up to in step 3. like most things about them, if they have a crush on somebody their infatuation comes fast and strong, seemingly out of nowhere. but other than romance, pink is a colour of youth and playfulness.

after dealing with all that teen angst, they are very playful. combined with the dread of the future and genuine excitement they finally feel, they are a sweet, sociable person. the comfort level is Relaxed Fond, unless they have a crush on either Cove or Baxter, then it's Nervous Crush.

Songs:

permanence - bears in trees

wishing well - the oh hellos

infinite - lyn lapid

summer depression - girl in red

what if it doesn't end well - chloe moriondo

(i didn't put this song here despite it being the first one on haru's playlist, but teenage dream by katy perry is such a step 3 haru song)

Step 4: sweet woes of adulthood! Haru has grown and grown up but of course, life is a continuous string of things happening and us having to deal with them. some things stayed the same, for example their big ego. from aiming to cover up their low confidence, to actually gaining a healthy amount of it, like in most things they do, they went overboard. and while some of it is still a little bit of a defense mechanism, they are also completely insufferable and a beast of self-esteem. you win some you lose some.

they grew into the person they were always meant to be: free spirited, open, empathetic and creative. even so, they still retain their oh so recognizable traits. their curious, almost nosy demeanor, impatient nature and people-pleasing ways. they are still reckless though not quite as impatient, they learned to be a bit more chill.

haru learned to manage their intense nature. especially when it comes to meeting new people, they realize and respect the fact that not everybody will be eager to form a deeper bond, as much as it confuses them sometimes. they have always been ride or die type of person, but growing up has mellowed them out a bit.

the most growth happened with their way of managing their relationships as well as their perception of themselves. they are a lot more mature and as such manage to maintain their relationships. even if they still sometimes assume other people's thoughts or take up too much upon themselves, they see what they have accomplished and are very proud of themselves.

their struggles now involve the usual perils of adulthood, but mostly keeping up with their friends and making sure everything is alright. other than that though, they eagerly travel and go out of their way to meet even more new people - they do need someone to anchor them, or they will get carried away and eventually step on somebody's toes (or fail to return from another state on a scheduled date).

speaking of their adult relations, baxter leaving was a huge blow to them. like traumatic event rank S type of thing. when they meet again it's a storm lol

when it comes to Haru's other dreams and goals, i picture them with a business that makes custom clothes, like handmade ones. their side job would be helping out cove with surfing lessons and his business. they like to work with other people and are a fairly good leader, but they dislike doing the simple tasks because they are so boring.

last design notes! so there is yellow and pink, a bit of blue and white, at least in this outfit. yellow, pink and white are their characteristic colours, but green finds it's place here too sometimes (to drive home the spring theme more).

like i mentioned, haru's colour is yellow. it's the colour of sunshine, buttercups, the sand and some birds and fish, and most importantly it's the colour i associate with spring (along with green). haru is a character that represents the late spring, teeming with life and joy, intense in growth and weather, downpours or clear skies alike.

i don't think there is much more to say about the colours in this step, as in my opinion yellow is most significant. pink also connects with haru's acceptance of femininity and figuring out exactly how much they associate with it. and blue is the colour of the sky :)

in step 3 they are at Direct Fond or Crush. I like their energy in relationships with other people :]

Songs:

hey blondie - dominic fike; barbie the album

everybody loves me - onerepublic

never gonna not dance again - p!nk

sick of losing soulmates - dodie

rebel rebel - david bowie

dancing with myself - billy idol

(hey blondie is such a bop holy shit you guys- also very much a haru song <3)

wow i can't believe i actually wrote this. i am very particular about my characters so now that i have this sort of "introduction" for haru posted, i can post other things about them! don't ask me how that works, it has to be chronological

if you've read this thank you very, very much <3 and if you didn't, fair i feel you lol. feel free to ask about them if your heart desires :]

toodles~

[xaharadesert]

Kidnapped MC Turned Bandit Leader - Headcanon Pt 1

Julian Devorak x MC

TW: like 1 swear

A/N: this is another year old, pretty specific anon request that I’m only now getting to. The essential premise that was requested was for MC to be kidnapped, only to show up a few months later totally fine and leading a group of bandits— the initial request asked for Julian, Portia, and Asra, but since there’s a lot of content to cover, I’ll be splitting this into 3 parts :) also, special shout out to the two anons who both sent me some version of “hydrate or die” within moments of each other— also also everyone say thank you to the anon who said they bet I couldn’t finish this draft even though I’ve been staring at it for ten minutes, you’re the real MVP here

❤️Julian❤️

When you initially went missing, this man obviously went into no-sleep panic mode

He immediately swore to search every corner of the Earth until you were found

Nadia convinced him to stay put for at least a few days, since it was unlikely that you could be taken far in a short period of time, and her guards were more likely to find you than he was alone

Shockingly, this was one of the exceedingly rare instances in which Nadia was wrong

Her guards did not find you, and this only increased Julian’s ungodly level of panic

He hadn’t slept since you were taken, save for the 16 hours he was passed out after smacking his head into a low doorway while pacing

Honestly, he wasn’t even borderline delirious, this man had passed clearly into hysteria territory

So needless to say, he began his travels to find you

However, with no clear direction, and no clues to go off of, the nonexistent trail quickly grew cold

The countless letters from his friends in Vesuvia were what brought him back, and even then, it was mostly Nadia’s point that if you were to ever escape of your own accord, you would likely make your way home

When he returned, his mental health only continued to decline

He felt useless— he couldn’t do anything to help you; all he did was sit and wait, and it was driving him insane

The only times he could be dragged out of his home were when Portia or Mazelinka made him

For a usually sociable man with a tendency to hide his self hatred behind humour and charisma, this was a terrifying change

He made absolutely no attempt to move on with his life, and insisted that everyone should leave him to wallow

Of course, they did not

It was on one of the rare occasions that Portia managed to pull him out to the Rowdy Raven that you finally returned

Honestly, he thought he was hallucinating until Portia confirmed his hopes by asking “Holy shit, is that them?!”

You looked completely fine; in fact, you looked like you were having fun

Julian still couldn’t quite believe his eyes, and stared, open-mouthed, as he tried to process that, yes, this was really you

(Portia gave him a little shove to get him started)

When your eyes locked with his, he felt all the excitement and anxiety of new love all over again. It was like all the emotions that he had felt over the months that you were gone came crashing back into him all at once

So needless to say, it was a tearful reunion, especially on his part

You didn’t stay at the tavern much longer than that; Julian really wasn’t in the right headspace for drinking or chatting with friends

The two of you went him, with him clinging to you like a koala

Obviously you were in for a long night of explaining yourself

He listened to every detail, never interrupting

Once your story was finished, he felt his heart settle in a way that it hadn’t since you left

And of course, with that sense of calm came all the exhaustion of having the world’s worst sleep schedule

He wanted to pass out immediately, preferably in bed beside you, but first, he had a few choice things to say to you

One, how dare you have such an amazing adventure without him?

Two, how dare you risk your life with bandits for months?

Three, how dare you do all of the above without contacting him?

And finally four, he loves you so so so much, please never scare him like that again, and obviously he doesn’t blame you for being kidnapped because that’s not your fault so please don’t blame yourself, but also please come home faster and don’t get involved with bandits, because believe him, he’s been down that road and it can get really messy really quick, and while he knows you can take care of yourself he really doesn’t want you to get hurt without him even knowing

He got a bit ramble-y at the end, but he was so tired that he really couldn’t process his own grammar

He asked you to come to bed, which the promise that you would talk more thoroughly in the morning when he could think properly again

And by morning, he meant like 24 hours later, because this man was practically in a coma

Later on, he would ask to meet the members of your bandit crew

He phrased it as wanting to “meet your friends”, but really he was heavily judging them to decide whether or not you were safe with them

Julian isn’t really known for being on the right side of the law, so he wouldn’t dare lecture you for your legal choices, but he does need to know that you’re being relatively safe

If this is the life you want to lead, then obviously he’s coming with you

Seeing you happy, and being with you, was more than enough for him

[accordokite]

I just shifted.

Twice, actually. First one I'm gonna say is a minishift, because it was so short. I usually perceive minishifts as a "how long were you in your DR" thing, rather than a "did I fully shift" thing, because at any point and time, we've already shifted. Second one is where I am now -- an alternate version of my CR (or "old reality" as I like to call it). I'll also recount the dream I remember under the cut. Sorry if something isn't grammatically correct or there's a typo, it's like 5 am for me.

First, the dream so that I don't forget. I don't really remember the plot, but the visuals were very vivid. That, and I was my current self, not any of my DR selves. It involved real people I knew, and I remember seeing my father, one of my sisters, and one of my dungeon masters for a campaign I was in?

Like I said, I don't really remember the plot, but some settings included (but are not limited to):

A dimly lit hotel room, with warm lighting from a light. A very basic Hampton one, with two twin (maybe even queen) sized beds. I had one bed, the aforementioned sister had the other. My bed was closer to the window, hers was closer to the bathroom.

Not technically a setting, but father was in the hotel room next door. He's a very loud person, and I remember being able to hear him through the walls.

A parking lot at night. Very self explanatory.

A gigantic, dimly lit gym. Like, a school gym. This is the one setting that doesn't line up with the others -- a dark orange, polished floor, black bleachers, and me talking to my DM. I could tell where the gym began and ended, but some parts of it were super dark. There was also a stage, with velvet evergreen carpet and curtains.

And that's pretty much all I can remember. There was a pool in there somewhere too I think? Most of these probably took place in the same dream.

Now, for the actual shifting experience.

The first one was probably somewhere around 2 am here -- I'm not exactly sure, I was so exhausted. I think I was in the void state? I thought I've been in the void state before, but this felt like nothing I've ever felt before. Like, my eyes wouldn't fully open, my body felt super heavy, but I could still move it somewhat, so I don't think it's sleep paralysis.

And more importantly, I was in my DR bed.

For context, I tried to shift to my Uluru DR again. If you haven't seen my intro pinned on my blog, it's basically just a love and deepspace DR where I am just hanging out with Xavier on Uluru. It functions as both a waiting room and a comfort/rest DR. Continuity-wise, it's not from when MC and Xavier first elope in the myth stories in the games, its more so kind of after everything, even the main story. I am the MC in this DR (or at least, my own version of her), but there are two other MCs for Zayne and Rafayel respectively that are not on Uluru.

The experience didn't last long, however, because my visuals soon shifted back to my old reality (which I will shorten to OR from now on). I know I was fully there -- something I find important of note was that I was in my DR bed alone, even though Xavier usually shares it with me. I could feel a fan running, too, even though I don't think I had a fan? And it was also quite late in my DR. There was more light coming through the windows than normal for like 2 am at night, so I think Xavier did a "I'm gonna head out the window and take a walk" thing, just because he can/he's used to it from living in the Linkon Apartments.

When I shifted back, somehow I was clutching onto one of my plushies that I had organized on my OR bed. Specifically, it was a rather big one, and was nicely snuggled among other plushies, so I wasn't really sure how it got into my hands, but when I tried to move it back, it was like I had lost all coordination. I did manage to put it back, but my arms wouldn't move like I wanted them to. I went back to sleep after that, because I was still so groggy.

And when I woke up this morning, the second shift happened.

I have a plethora of posters plastered on my wall. Some of them are these really old Pokémon ones from when I was a kid, taken out of a sun and moon poster book. I had taken a few down some years ago, but I know I had a bounsweet poster under my window.

But when I woke up today, it wasn't there.

This kind of shift isn't anything new, but usually, it's the color of something in my OR changing. A house on my bus route being a dark grey and bright red, when I swore it was another color. The wash cup in the bathroom being blue, when I thought it was red. But most of these can be chalked up to my poor memory. At least, that's what I thought at the time.

But this? I can't deny an entire poster going missing. And it's not just the poster. One of my purses hanging on my chair is missing too.

I shifted.

Do I still feel a bit out of it? Yes.

But is it worth it? Also yes.

[caffeinatedfantasy]

Mammon is the main love interest not Lucifer, Mammon is the “default” character the game uses and the guy who cares for you 24/7, Lucifer is hardly romanceable with his intimacy taking forever to level up and being so focused on Diavolo, but he is the one who moved the plot forward and if you want a good story you need a character that moves it forward (e.g all stories in Lovestruck)

Alright, so. I’m gonna start this by saying: I’m not coming at this from a “best boy” or “who MC is supposed to end up with” or “who’s canon” or anything like that. There’s nothing wrong with whoever is anyone’s favourite, either. 

This purely my opinion of the roles from a development standpoint. And I’d like to note that I believe that the Beta changed some things, though I can’t be certain what. I also don’t know how the Japanese version of the game differs [I can’t find it and don’t know if it differs at all.]

Also. This contains spoilers.

Moving on. The question is: Is Lucifer meant to be the Main Love Interest? 

Short answer: It’s… Complicated, since I personally don’t believe the “romance options” have officially been released, but if this had been written with only one romance option, it’d be him. 

From a narrative point of view, Lucifer is the most important brother. I don’t think that’s up for debate. 

He’s the reason everyone fell, the reason they’re all bound to Diavolo, he’s the one who locked Belphegor away, he’s the one credited for choosing you for the program, and he’s the one “in charge” of you [Mammon is your guardian, but that choice was Lucifer’s, not Mammon or Diavolo’s]. It’s his trust you’re breaking, his respect you’re trying to get. 

The narrative focuses on him more than anyone else. And this isn’t technically his “route” yet either. [If they do specific routes, that is. We’re on wait and see for that.]

But, as you say, Mammon is the one with you all the time, so why isn’t he the “Main” Love Interest? 

Well, because his narrative role in the story is often more of the clown or, in general, a humorous one. He is actively shown to have a crush on you, and is greedy for affection/attention from you, but his potential romance scenes never quite hit in the way they should if he was meant to be the main. 

When Levi goes to attack you, its not Mammon who saves you. It’s not even whoever you call for. It’s specifically Lucifer swooping in because Mammon couldn’t. 

When you go to the retreat, it’s Lucifer who swoops in to steal you for a dance when Mammon is [rather obviously] trying to ask you. 

He does this again in the hard lessons while in London. 

Lucifer is the one to turn Mammon’s idea of matching keychains between you and him into a group thing. [And it’s mentioned later on only for Lucifer.] 

There might be more examples, but I’m going off of what I remember. And from a narrative perspective, Mammon’s attempts at romance lean towards silly, light hearted, etc. If this were a traditional love story, he’d be meant to be the awkward loser with a crush. Used as a foil to show you how cool the real love interest is.

From a Marketing Perspective, which is what I was referring to with typical Otome game pushing their “Main”, it’s a little foggier, and it makes me think that Mammon and the other brothers “tested” better than expected. 

In nearly all marketing material that include all of the brothers, he is at the fore. He’s either first if it’s a list, or in the center if it’s a spread. 

His CGs tend to be featured the most often in the ads, and even the anime intro focused on him more than any other brother, more similar to if he were the protagonist.

[”But Samie!” You say, “he’s the oldest, so of course he is often first/featured!” Well, sure, but that was a narrative choice, as traditional demonology does not have them consistently aged/ranked like the game. Hell, Lucifer isn’t even universally grouped with these specific demons. Only the Laterne of Light and Binsfield’s [the “seven sins model”] classifications even include Lucifer.  But I digress…]

Also of note, in otome game marketing, in terms of how the Shall We Date? Games tend to market/focus on their characters, I’ll look at all of NTT Solmare’s Ninja series’s. [Ninja Love, Ninja Shadow, Ninja Assassin], They tend to have a formula for their “mains”, which is noticeable, but changes as they add more options. The Official Leader of the group is rarely the emotional leader of the group, who is almost always the “main” romance option. Which. Diavolo, as a currently unromanceable character who is literally the next in line to the throne, fills that role. [Hanzo, Makoto, Kinshiro]. 

Lucifer is second in command to Diavolo, though, which is actually notoriously their favourite spot for the “main romance”. [Saizo, Ukyo, Soji.] Mammon falls in third “role”, which in all of these examples, is the more flirty/cool character [Goemon, Asagi, Aoi]. 

I’ve written more than I intended, so I’m now all kind of rambled out, even tho I could probably go more in depth with the thought process behind the marketing and why I believe that they altered plans when Lucifer wasn’t as popular as expected. [Mammon definitely stole the show in the beta.]

And once again, since this is an otome game, there’s no correct answer to who you’re supposed to romance, so they can only clearly cut off a romance option in a specific route. Which, we haven’t reached their romance routes yet, so I might be proven wrong.

Also, alternatively, my view of Lucifer as the “Main” love interest could be because he was originally planned to be the “main” antagonist instead. It’s hard to say for sure.

I also didn’t proofread this or anything, so. Sorry if it’s only marginally coherent. 

EDIT: I forgot to address the Lovestruck comment of this. Voltage tends to have different practices than the Shall we Date? Series. Both with their Lovestruck, the Love 365, and their Party stories. Ayakashi would be the closest [of theirs] in design, but I could write a whole thing on how those vary.

[oepionie]

— "MY JOLLY SAILOR BOLD." tweels

💭masterlist | 💬ao3 link

SYNOPSIS: You meet two mysterious yet beautiful mermen around your age and you ask them to sing for you. They agree—though there's one condition....they want a kiss in return. A fair deal and you decide that nothing could possibly go wrong....right?

⊹ [ cw ] — suggestive, making out, lovesick/slightly yan-coded behavior, both of them pin for you, drowning, the tweels deserve a warning themselves, fighting, mild blood and injuries, mentions of murder, everyone here is morally grey◞

⊹ [ tags ] — gn! reader, on my siren eel agenda, flirty pirate mc, siren-eels are not to be messed with but mc is reckless, jade and floyd having an ariel moment but they're…a fucked up version of ariel, typical siren-behavior, floyd calls you pretty◞

⊹ [ w.c ] — 3.3k+◞

WHAT AN ODD LITTLE pirate you were.

Raised by your mother, horrific twisted tales of the deep were practically bedtime stories for you. She was a former ship's captain and a seasoned sailor who had spent more than half of her life at sea.

Mother weaved tales of glorious bloody battles, of thrashing waves, and, most importantly, of dangerous creatures in the sea. Hatred and fear for these grotesque marine creatures have been indoctrinated in you since you were young. It was imbued to the very core of your being, hammered and nailed into your head.

Alas, it appears that you have entirely disregarded the cautions that were issued to you. Any capable pirate knew better than to invite merfolk around.

Especially if you were all alone on a ship.

This year, spring had arrived a little earlier than usual, but you didn't mind at all.

It was at an obscene hour of the night when you were aimlessly paddling your little rowboat over the waves.

Floating a few feet away from your ship, you were gazing out over the sea where the waters were flat and serene, blue as far as your vision would allow. It was a sight you've grown all too accustomed to seeing.

You've sailed a hundred expeditions down this route and you were well aware of the carnage and bloodshed that’s been wrought here in the name of piracy.

A majority of which you've taken part in as—Captain (Y/N).

Young as you were, despite your youth, you had ambition. Already having established yourself as a living legend—or, as some have dubbed you, a living nightmare.

Sailors—young and old—have perished in your name, ships have sunk at your command, and your sword has spilt the blood of hundreds. You had amassed a great fortune from wandering merchants, and fellow pirates alike, all of which were misfortunate enough to fall upon your path.

These were tales and legends from bygone eras; the golden age of piracy had long since passed. Nowadays, you just cruise the sea anyway you pleased.

Adventure seldom found you.

In the middle of reminiscing, you abruptly became aware of a shimmering brilliance beneath the murky sea.

Oh?

'Maybe it was a trick of the waves? Or was it the moonlight's illusion?' You ponder to yourself as you stand at the stern of the boat and look out into the dreary waters.

The entire ocean sleeps when the moon is full. In the middle of the night, no fish or creature would dare remain thus near a boat...so what could possibly be out there?

Peering down, you make eye contact with a pair of glowing yellow eyes, slitted into diamonds.

Startled, the unknown creature slips back into the darkness with scarcely a ripple to disrupt the waves enveloping all about them. You're hypnotized by their shimmering skin as they moved smoothly and elegantly past the icy surfs.

In those short seconds while staring into the pitch-black sea, your mind conjures only one word.

Mermaid.

STRANGE AND STRANGELY FASCINATING, it was. "It" being the obsessive infatuation the Leech twins had for you.

Since they were little, the two brothers have been watching you grow up on that ship, peeping at you behind rocks and tall clusters of brilliant coral.

Curiosity and an interest for humans drew them to you at first, so they thought nothing of it. However, later, as they grew older, that interest developed into something more.

One that made their hearts feel like it was going to burst, a blood-curdling carnage of red and pink spills gushing out in a splatter. With the mere mention of your name, their stomachs sink and turn. The hems of love along their hearts diving into obsession—both feelings closely akin.

Jade and Floyd haven't run upon anyone who was courageous enough to meet creatures like them. Though, they shouldn’t have expected anything less from a pirate like you with an astronomical desire for adventure.

As you waved down at them from the ocean's depths, both of them swiftly swam up to the surface, eager to meet you. Their hands were clamoring and their hearts were racing to a tune that sang praises for you.

"There you are." You grinned handsomely, cocking your head to the side. The flowing fabric of your blouse blew wildly in the fresh salty wind, exposing bits and pieces of your chest and neck for them to see. "Hello~"

Big love-tinted eyes peeked up at you, drinking in every feature, blemish, and scar on your flesh. Occasionally, your gazes would meet and they would quickly avert their stare—a deep blue hue creeping up their cheeks, almost as if they felt bashful around you.

Even then, you thought it would be more appropriate if you were the one who was acting timid.

Because, by the gods, their beauty was such a sight to behold above the waters. In all your years out at sea and land, you've seen no maiden nor man with such features.

Such captivating features.

Teal-haired, with keen, slitted eyes that were veiled with thick, drooping lashes. Cheeks colored with a pale touch of death.

They were breathtakingly beautiful.

There was an urge, a pull at your heart to dive down and join them—drowning yourself in their embrace. Though, you resisted, almost immediately recognizing the sorcery that pulled on your carnal desires.

Mother and weather-beaten sailors had warned you of this. This overwhelming want. This spellbinding stare. Yet as they both drift closer, the forewarned dangers vanishes from your thoughts like mist. You're now left with little more than a hazy consciousness as you see them approach your boat.

You are in grave danger yet you are not afraid. Fear does not grip you as you raise a leg over the side of the boat, swing it over the top of the wood, and then sit over the edge, never taking your eyes off the mermen in front of you.

Their entire body, apart from their eyes, were submerged in the water which made it hard to determine what their species were. Though you could occasionally catch the flicker of their tail slapping against the surface.

Speaking of their tail, it was an utterly resplendent sight! Even if you tried, you wouldn't be able to explain its magnificience as it gleamed brighter than any of the gold or jewels your sullied hands have ever taken hold of.

Its lack of a single color and its vivid, luminous nature fascinated you. Depending on how the moonlight hit it, it radiated a wide range of shades, from the deep tint of blueish teal to a rich shade of bluish jade.

"First time away from your home?" You rasp, waving a hand in the ocean, watching as small ripples curved against the water's surface, tides of the blue abyss travelling outwards.

Minutes pass, and yet you get no response.

"Hmm…you two don't talk much, do you?"

Jade and Floyd knew all about pirates, heard every story, whisper, and tale of the bloodthirsty monsters fueled by lust for gold and glory. And yet, they somehow struggle to picture you as the avaricious captain you were labelled as.

Still, while you appeared free and jovial, both of them could sense that you yearned for the thrill of danger, for life-threatening adventure, and for the many fantastic yet perilous things the ocean has to offer.

They exchanged glances, and at that instant, their plan was set in place.

Appearing docile, Floyd shook his head no, hovering near you and spinning around playfully.

"Awe, aren't you a cute little guy?" You cooed, running a rough hand along his back. The mer shivered, preening at your compliment.

"I really shouldn't be so close to you, though. Us pirates usually avoid approaching any merfolk since…they feel your methods, your ways of living are…" You trailed off, waving a hand in the air as you searched for the right words.

"Spooky?" Jade spoke out, swimming closer to you with a sinister glitter in his eyes. Breath hitching in your throat, you leaned towards him, an amused smirk slowly stretching across your cheeks. "Oh ho? You do talk."

"I can do much more than that." Jade purred, the tone of his voice sinking into a sonorous lull.

Well, you certainly can’t deny that something draws you to these two.

The predictability of your life on these seas has gotten boring to you. Gone were the days of bloodthirsty glory instead, it was always the same routine. Poring over the same ancient yellowed maps, loitering about the deck, and secluding yourself away in the vast sea.

You know your mother would be horrified by your actions, disgusted to see you mingling and, Poseidon forbid—flirting with these…mer.

Though you couldn't bring yourself to care. Speaking with these two was the closest thing to excitement you've felt in a long time.

"That's a pretty voice, love." The grin on your face lacks any of the warmth it had in the past few moments.

You tip your head back and giggle, raspy and brittle, "I heard a mer's song was, um, what did those bards call it? Ah, yes—A voice that is so alluring that men and women jump overboard in squadrons."

"Hauntingly beautiful, that's what the poets call you mermaids…" You hum, watching them slyly from your row boat while reclining back against the wood.

Gaze drifting down their body, your arms folded around your chest and your gaze turned half-lidded, lips curled up in a sensual, cat-like smirk. "…and I can see why. Haunted, I am."

Both of them go abruptly silent and you chuckle, staring at them through the wreaths of grey smoke that curled into fanciful hazy whirls from the foggy environment.

Floyd and Jade squirmed as they both felt the strong pull of their instincts, screaming at them to just drag you into the waters already.

Your conniving praises and silver tongue was starting to get to them. One more push and—

"Say…I've been meaning to ask," You murmur, and seem to take a moment to stare into their innermost souls.

"Can you sing for me…?"

Something snaps.

Floyd makes a low sound, somewhere between a trill and a growl, while Jade's eyes darken considerably. Beneath your piercing, ice-cold gaze, the twins felt their nerves prickle up like the flickering electric stings of a jellyfish. 

This is a dangerous game you're playing. 

"…You're quite the flatterer," Jade—ever so composed—is quick to snap out of it and smiles simply, tapping his talons along the wooden deck. "…I suppose I could grant you your wish. Though, there is to be an exchange for it."

"Hm? What's that, mate?" You looked up at your ship from your little boat, eyes darting to the windows of your chambers. "That ol' girl isn't new to the seas so there's quite a lot of stuff there. Maybe some of my treasures will catch your fancy—"

"No." Jade interrupts you, the shadow over his eyes returns. "…I do not wish for any treasure or gold. All I want is a kiss."

"A kiss?" You parroted, an eyebrow elevated and amused laughter peaking from your lips. "I have chests of golds and heaps of ruby-eyed jewelry; yet, all you want is a kiss, is that truly what you desire?"

"Yes."

"Nothin' more?"

Jade ponders and pauses for a while, before turning to face his brother. "Floyd, perhaps you want something as well?"

"I wanna kiss from pretty shrimpy too!" Floyd cooed, pursing his lips at you and imitating kissing sounds by hollowing his cheeks. His strong arms, taut with ripping muscle, are crossed over one other as it rests upon the rims of your boat.

"So, what do you say, Captain? Is it a deal~?" Floyd stretches out a hand expectantly.

And you take it.

"Deal." You smirk. "One kiss for each of you, in exchange for a song. Pirate's honor."

Not like the honor of a pirate was worth much anyways.

The melody lifting from Jade's lips was somewhat familiar to you, yet it was of a faraway nostalgia. You couldn’t remember where you'd last heard it, but it felt…right. He had a voice that was velvety smooth; thick, and deep like a dream.

"Upon one summer's morning /  I carefully did stray," Jade sang, deep voice flowing off his lips in a sweet honeyed song—its melody lathering itself on your tongue. The saccharine taste of its imbricating rhythm obliterating every bit of skepticism you held towards them. "Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay."

"My heart is pierced by Cupid / I disdain all glittering gold." Jade continued, tucking the long dark strand of his hair behind his ear—leaning his head atop the rickety rims of the boat's mossy wood. "There is nothing can console me / but my jolly sailor bold."

"Come all you pretty fair mers, whoever you may be / Who love a jolly sailor that ploughs the raging sea." Floyd hums along, lovingly tracing a hand up your arm. His voice was a lovely little thing; echoing deep throughout the air.

As expected, they sang beautifully, hauntingly; with an accent in a tongue native only to the sea. There was a mystical lull weaved into their voices—fitting to their titles as bewitching creatures of the sea.

"My heart is pierced by Cupid /I disdain all glittering gold." Jade stares straight ahead, his sapphire gaze alluringly fixed on you seated in front of him.

"There is nothing can console me…" Pushing himself up the wooden edge of your boat, the eel lures you over and you followed. "…but my jolly sailor bold."

As Jade's song came to its finality, he leaned in close and pressed a swift warm kiss atop your agape mouth, such tenderness in his affections—and that of heavily masked lust. The eel parted from you, nipping at your bottom lip and watching with unbridled delight as a flicker of pink hue glazed over your diluted eyes.  

"Come in the water, shrimpy~" Floyd cooed at you, claws reaching out to trace against the curve of the ships side. "We don't bite~"

Songbound, you leaned in towards the two and plunged in.

You don’t think about holding your breath.

The water was ice-cold and it strikes at you like a venomous bite. Yet before you could sink, two strong hands grasp at your waist, keeping you afloat in spite of the rough rocks of the sea. Jade was cradling you close to his chest, his hold firm and uncompromising while his tail encircled and bound your legs together.

"Hello, shrimpy~" Crooning, Floyd moved to rest his wet cheek against your tangled hair, talons pushing past the fringes of your damp torn-up shawl to rest against your thighs.

The slippery pads of his fingers trailed up to your torso; Travelling from your hips, past your corset, all the way up to your chest. The eel toyed with the drawstrings of your poet shirt before grasping it tight and yanking you forward.

"You're so pretty~" Floyd trailed his other hand up your neck, sharp talons feathering over your pulse dangerously. The eel craned his head down to meet you eye to eye. 

"I could just eat you up." The silky strands of his lashes fluttered against his lidded gaze as he leaned in close, breath fanning across your burning cheeks. Floyd pulled you into a deep kiss, loving the way you groaned against his mouth.

Chuckling against your lips, Floyd tightened his hold on your neck—his claws almost breaking skin, "You like that, shrimpy?"

You return the kiss, dazedly smiling against his lips before pulling away, lungs in desperate need of oxygen.

Floyd could see drops of water resting atop your swollen lips, and as your tongue darts out to wipe them, a fiery desire ignites in the deep curves and crooks of his heart. It didn't take long before he was diving in once more, lips pressing against the side of your neck.

While his brother was fixated on marking your skin, Jade hugged you from behind—affectionately cuddling into your hair.

The eel ran his hand up your throat and grasps your jaw with webbed hands to tilt your head backwards. He presses his lips against yours, the thick muscle of his tongue prying your mouth open before it darted in.

Floyd glides away from your form after a few minutes, leaving your neck sufficiently bitten and marked. He grinned excitedly and took your hands in his webbed ones, whisking you away from Jade.

You couldn't help but notice how he was gently dragging you away from the rowboat. "Say, shrimpy~ You ever wondered what it's like to swim under the sea?"

A flash of clarity hits you, shattering the enchanting spell that both mermen had cast upon your heart. You sensed danger as both eels started to close in, grinning ominously which revealed their fangs—long and dripping with thirst.

It seems that your fun little swim was over.

"I can't say I've ever experienced the pleasures of drowning—" you muttered. "And I don't intend to do so very soon."

The texture of their tails may appear solid and rough, but when you kick your legs at Floyd's, you immediately discover how the skin is supple when touched.

The sharp end of your worn boots cut at his silky luminescent skin, dragging along the scales of his flesh and leaving a deep cut in its wake. A small trickle of blue blood spreads into the waters and the eel hisses, darting away from you.

You try to swim away, but something—or rather, someone—gets in your way.

"My my, leaving so soon, pearl?" Jade quips, grin all-to-sharp.

In hindsight, it was foolish to interact with two mermen you hardly knew, especially ones who were taut with sharp teeth and firm muscles. Any pirate with half a mind would know to turn the other way and flee if these two approached them.

The mer both advanced to surround you, a mysterious glimmer swimming behind the haze of their duo-colored eyes.

A startling epiphany rushes over you.

As slippery as they might be, there’s no hiding the lethal sheen of pink in their eyes—especially not from you, a pirate who’s spent a fair number of their days hauling the cold dead bodies of lovesick sailors away from their watery graves.

These two weren't your run-of-the-mill mermen, no. You have heard about them before—in tales and legends.

Mermaids. Vampires of the sea. Water nymphs. Naiads. Sirens.

Many names, yet they are all the same.

A sighting like this is not unusual. This species of mer is mostly found in the deepest, darkest sections of the ocean, and they only come up to hunt at night.

It seems that you've walked right into their trap. Sailors were their easiest prey.

"Ah." You grit your teeth, a low, breathy snarl slipping past your swollen lips. "I should've known."

There’s a warm yet strong pressure against your shoulders and arms; followed by an odd feeling of heaviness as you were suddenly propelled down the water's surface. Webbed hands keep you pinned beneath the waves and you're suddenly all-too-aware of your body's exhaustion; of the salty liquid flowing past your tongue and the scorching gurgle that ignites your lungs as water fills it.

There's a ruckus around you, and you can barely hear Jade's voice, who was eerily calm in the midst of your murder. A bottle is then abruptly forced into your mouth, the potion within it spilling down your throat and leaving you disoriented.

It appears that today is the day that the monotony in your life finally ends. The pull of unconsciousness becomes too strong to resist, and the world darkens.

TO BE CONTINUED...?

—TAGLIST:

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[slayingfiction]

Questions to ask your alpha/beta readers

I thought I would put together a master list of all the questions to ask your alpha and beta reader to help you improve your story.

You can choose to ask questions every chapter, every few chapters or after the whole book. This list of questions will be more generic and all encompassing for you to tailor to your needs.

Reminder: Beta readers typically receive a completed and polished version of your story. They give feedback on any last improvements based on the reader’s perspective. Alpha readers read your story or manuscript before it’s completed, usually a rough draft. Alpha readers are best if they also have some writing experience to give reader and writer feedback.

Choose some of the following questions to ask your readers:

Start:

When did you first feel the story was truly starting?

Do you like how the story started? If not, why?

Do you find characters were introduced slow enough to learn them all?

Did you find settings, different languages, and cultural differences were introduced slowly enough to not be confusing or overwhelming?

Were there any moments you found yourself going back over old exposition just to understand what was happening?

When, if at all, did you find yourself being pulled into the book?

Did the first sentence grab your attention?

Did the first few pages draw you into the story?

Did you find the opening paragraph/page interesting enough to continue reading?

Characters:

What do you like about the MC? What don’t you like? Can you name at least one relatable trait between yourself and the MC?

How did you feel about the character(s)’s growth from the start to finish of the story? Did you find there was enough? Was it believable?

Are the MC’s motivations and goals clear and strong enough?

Did you feel the MC’s fears, hopes, excitement, passions, etc.?

Did you get confused between the characters?

Were the characters believable?

Are there any characters you wish were more interesting? Why and how?

Do you feel each supporting character had their own motivations and contributed to the plot?

Are there any characters that seem cliché, underdeveloped, or stereotypical? If so, why?

Were the character relationships believable?

Did the romantic relationships build naturally, or did it feel forced?

Are there any character names that were too difficult to read or sounded too similar to others?

Were there any parts where the characters seemed to be acting out of character?

Who was your favorite character?

Which character, if any, did you wish was more present?

Which character do you care for the least?

What are your thoughts/feelings on the MC’s character arc?

Do you feel like the antagonists and/or villain is just as fleshed out and relatable as the MC?

If you had to remove one character, who would it be, and why?

Which character would you like to meet, and why?

Did you hope or dread any character relationships?

Are there any characters you found annoying and frustrating?

What are your general thoughts and feelings about the MC or supporting characters?

Which character did you find least developed?

Plot:

Which moments in the book did you find the most suspenseful?

Were there any moments in the book you found boring, lagging, or uneventful and unnecessary?

Did you find the pacing to suit the story well? Are there any areas you found moved too fast or too slow?

Was there ever a time you felt like you weren’t excited or intrigued enough to want to continue?

Did you find any plot holes? Any discrepancies in timeline, characters, descriptions, or other details?

Were there any scenes you found did not further the plot at all?

Are there any scenes or events you found to be too long or too short?

Did you find all explanations and revelations came out naturally and at appropriate times?

What was your favourite scene in the book? Why?

What was your least favourite scene in the book? Why?

Are there any chapters you found lacked conflict?

Did the action scenes make sense as you read them? Did you understand how they came to that action scene (or did they feel random)?

Where there any moments or scenes that made you feel emotional? Happy, sad, cringy and disgusted, etc.

Do you find the plot moved logically and naturally between scenes and chapters?

Are there any moments you felt detached or pulled out of the story? When and why?

Are there any events or scenes you found confusing? Either what was happening or how the characters came to that point?

Where you surprised by the plot twist?

Settings:

Which setting in the book was the clearest for you to visualize? Which do you remember the best?

Did you find the setting interesting, with vivid and real description?

Were there any scenes you thought lacked description?

Were there any moments you thought there was too much exposition, or not enough?

Did you find there were moments you didn’t know where the characters were unless stated?

Do you find the culture and historical events are realistic and add depth to the story?

Is there any exposition you found unnecessary? Are there any moments you wish you had more exposition?

Did all technology and science, or magic, make sense or seem believable?

Was there ever too much or too little description?

Dialogue:

Did you find that each character had their own personal voice when speaking?

Are there times where you couldn’t figure out who was talking solely based on how they spoke?

Is there any dialogue that sounded unnatural?

Could you see what the characters were doing and where they were while talking?

Was there any dialogue that seemed to not fit well with the story?

Was there any dialogue that you thought had too much exposition or explanation?

Did you find the dialogue kept your interest?

Ending:

Did you find the ending to be satisfying and emotionally fulfilling?

Are there any questions you had left after the story ended? (Mostly for stand-alone)

What did you hate most about the ending?

Did you find the ending believable?

Did you feel the tension building to the climax?

Was the climax worth the read, or did it feel weak?

Do you feel the ending came on naturally, or did it feel forced or rushed?

Did the book feel too short or too long?

General:

Were there parts where you found yourself skimming?

Which parts of the story did you find it easy to put the book down?

At what moment did you decide you wanted to finish the book? (If not DNF)

What are some of your favourite lines/quotes from the book?

Do you have any predictions for what you think will come next? (Good for chapters or end of book)

Is there something you hope will happen?

Is there anything you hoped would happen and was sad when it didn’t?

Did you find the map and glossary helpful? Is there anything you think would be beneficial to add, such as terms or names?

Are there any moments or scenes you found ethically and socially problematic and unacceptable.

Were there any moments in the story that made you stop and think?

Were you able to identify the story themes? Did you find the themes well developed throughout the story?

Did you think about the story when you weren’t reading it? If so, what were your thoughts?

Were there times during the story where you felt description was told instead of shown?

Does this book make you feel the same as other books in the genre when reading?

Is there anything you really enjoy from this genre that you found lacking in this story?

Did you find the story kept your attention with enough action, conflict, intrigue, and tension?

Do you find the story or writing style like other books you have read?

Are there any moments you found confusing, irritating, annoying or frustrating?

Are there any moments in the story you thought, “this could/would never happen”?

Did you have any questions after reading the book?

What are your general thoughts and feelings about the story?

Is there anything you wish there was more or less of?

What do you think were the best/ strongest aspects of this book?

What do you think were the worst/ weakest aspects of this books?

How would you describe this book to a friend?

Would you recommend this story to someone?

How likely/ eager are you to read the next book in the series?

Chapter specific

On a scale from 1-5, how much did you enjoy this chapter?

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Happy Writing!

[lumidark166]

New Kid (Rewrite) Headcanons cause why not lol

This is my new kid in TSOT

IN TFBW, this is my new kid look and his character sheet Credit to @lolliepops-rox for this edit, thank you so much!!

This gonna be full-on rambling I'm sorry Eka's full name is Eka Widjaya Pratama but he always uses a short version cause the full one makes him look plain Indonesian lol

Eka in tsot, he somewhat freaks out because the town is crazy and weird, but he feels comfortable that now he finally made friends after so long his family moved town to town so much that he hasn't made friends He has selective mutism, which causes anxiety but after that, he feels more comfortable saying a few words to speak, but when he suddenly can't speak, he usually texts or uses cards to speak cause the kids and the adults probably can't understand what he said in sign language and Cartman will make fun of him.

speaking of Cartman, Eka never anyone his real name cause of Cartman, he is not afraid of Cartman, he just doesn't want his anxiety to make it more troublesome if Cartman spread that his name is shit like gossip and his progress to speak more will reduce to square one again His vocabulary is just 'dude' cause how much he spends time with Kyle and Stan Eka just doesn't care, everyone, calls him douchebag, buttlord, etc, he just thinks it's funny cause he likes to make fun of himself and make smelly farts all of the time lmao-

He is like when tfbw gives him time farts "Fart now can time bend shit, fuck yeah THIS IS MY MC ERA" like he doesn't think tsot also in his mc era

Creek couple for some reason 'adopted' new kid beside Stripe, Eka is confused about wtf is going on until Tweek spoiled him so much lmao Eka is like "My real parents are shit so Tweek and Craig is my parents now" that didn't age well in tfbw for a while tho-

Being a hero with an assassin class, he uses SHARP ace of spades cards instead of knives cause he was inspired by a cartoon show of spies/ agents that used cards lol

when the start of tfbw, Eka is kinda bored and curious wtf is this game they are playing that is so important that they ditch Eka and the other kids. then when Cartman asked what are your class, Eka immediately takes his notebook, and make one page of the class he wants and skill he wants also describing the weakness so cartman can't do his class type picker thing cause Eka knew Cartman gonna make fun of him. why one page? cause Eka knew if he was too invested he gonna make it 10 pages instead lmao

Eka doesn't care about the timeline of the movies when the two franchises hate their methods so much that they split up but He ONLY cares about the angst, after they got together as one franchise, Dr.Timothy asks origin story of Ace of Spades aka New Kid Hero Name, then he wrote in google doc of 40k draft origin story and send it to the freedom pals gc chat and he texted

Butthole: So if there want changes somethings let me know *Thump_up* I don't think they see Eka the same way after he wrote that shit in 15 minutes, 40k in 15 minutes lmao also, they cried hard cause its so much angst, they never gonna survive because Eka is an angst enthusiast ofc he gonna make it unnecessarily sad for no reason (edited) The freedom pals meet and discussing it about the franchise timeline, till making it a yelling battle

"What if there is angst on the table guys, angst bring entertainment you know" Eka only speak only in that meeting and never said anything again in other meetings

Freedom Pals stare at him confused while the former coon and friends are terrified Even Super Craig was like "Oh my god, I forgot about Butthole origin story- Fuck, guys… never make New Kid the main writer if there gonna be casting" Mosquito even start crying, yeah Eka traumatized them for dear life lmao

The new kid wrote his superhero persona as a self-destructive, self-sacrifice hero, he even tried to suggest that he want to lose his arm when the situation of one of Eka's parents need to sacrifice for Mephesto thing but luckily, Craig talks it out to him into not doing that, Eka is silly but idiot bitch

Eka play Stick of Truth and superhero game as the distraction of his home but because Cartman and others play superhero now, he instantly joins so he can peacefully forget about his parents being shit Reactions to them about NK skill, spin slash

"What is that... cards?, pfft that not gonna hurt me-" Then New Kid threw a few cards at Tupperware and the cards almost got into Tupperware's head, it goes through the helmet

"Okay, who dare it's okay the New Kid play with sharp things.." A very concerned and angry Wonder Tweek being a mom "Shut up, New Kid doesn't need to be babied" (Super Craig) 'Why are you my emotional dad figure again…' Eka is disappointed lmao

Eka is also a style shipper but he is kinda tired of them talking about the bigger franchise but then again he doesn't care about franchises so- He was like " YOU GUYS ARE SO STUPID, YOU GUYS CAN BE STILL FRIENDS FFS, CAN YOU GUYS LEAVE COON" But because of his mutism, he can't say shit

Eka is sick of Coon and his bs and also wants to unalive him for a couple of reasons but he realized that not worth the hassle cause he knows it's gonna bite him in the ass if Cartman revenge on the new kid

in the finale of mitch conner's fight, Eka made his arm almost broken cause he is sick of Coon bs he just said "You know what, you already traumatized me killing my own father, so I am gonna give you a taste of REAL pain" which is he is not holding back and almost break Cartman left hand

Eka's best friends are Kenny and Butters, blonde boys and also Butters's protection squad Remember a photo in butters parents' room? Eka blackmailed Stephen to use that photo, to put it on Coonstagram so Butters don't ground for a long time About Kenny and Eka hc, they are inseparable until a superhero game made them distant In fact in civil war fight, Mysterion mostly target Eka for no reason "You join the wrong side, New Kid" "THEN WHY YOU DIDNT TELL ME, YOU UNDERWEAR HERO ASSHOLE bangsat anjing nih anak" translation: son of a bitch

he whispered cussing in Indonesian in the last ones cause he was that angry- "Dude, I think he pissed.." Toolshed noticed when Eka is angry is not a good thing "I guess our intel that New Kid willingly join Coon and Friends is fake" D.Timothy usual telepathy thing

also the twist here, Eka becomes a quadruple agent, instead of spying for coon and friends he was like "Nope, I wanna know wtf is cartman going with this shit and I am not gonna get blamed for his shit"

after the couple's counseling, Eka get beaten and the couple just looks at Eka, "You know what, let's do this together.. for Butthole" After that they eat at McDonald's cause Tweek spoils Eka like a child lmao

after civil war 2, freedom pals found a notebook belonging to Eka but it's nothing special.

cause it's a drawing vent book that he draws mostly circles and notes from school and a weird list of items which is 100 glue, 20 tortillas and etc it's for crafting but he didn't write the context what is it for so they are so confused about what it meant "Look is New Kid okay? the book on the back of the cover it's said it's a vent book, but why the hell are there so many circles and this weird list??.." Toolshed concerned "As much I hate New Kid mentally ill and need therapy jokes (affectionate).. he needs therapy" (Tupperware)

One day, Eka found his confidence and tell his real name cause new kid doesn't feel like gonna be a long thing and probs confused with other new kid/exchange students so crack hc : Eka write fanfic of their superhero persona, especially Bunny but its enemies to lovers mysterion and Chaos cause in canon, chaos has WALL of mysterion pics Eka see that in tsot was like "… fruity"

Eka also does cover songs but in vtuber style where the cover/mv has lore animation so it gives a hint to his origin story he realizes singing makes him forget his anxiety, so he gives a message with his singing instead

Oh yeah also, Eka is kinda Kyle 2.0 but more emotional like Stan, he is just Kyle 2.0 cause he second person to fight Cartman constantly lol, At the start of the fight usually Eka gives him a really BAD fart lol

"Wha hey, Douchebag what that for?!" Cartman is angry at the Eka, apparently, he talks shit about his country's people being overproud Eka just stare at him blankly but he put a card that quote "Come at me, bitchboy" Ofc Eka won that easily, he kick him in the stomach hard that he vomit. Probably shouldn't watch too much Kamen Rider cause Rider Kicks lmao-

"Mampus lu" then he just walked away

"I don't know what that means but I am prouuud of our kid" (Craig) "It's mean 'deserved' but that doesn't mean New kid is your child, Craig" (Wendy)

Eka uses this to communicate sometimes when his phone is dead or doesn't have a notebook on him

Eka usual wear in TFBW

And that it lol, this is long post lmao

[thefinalcinderella]

Twisted Wonderland Novel 1 Prologue Observations

So I got the novel (which is really expensive for an ebook by the way) 

I won’t translate it but i’ll be happy to provide the raws or help with other people’s translations

Also this might not be everything since i skimmed a lot of the stuff that was the same as in the game (i started playing the en version recently and i keep up with the manga monthly so i’m a bit sick of ep 1 haha)

- The front color illustration is a really nice picture of overblot Riddle

- no illustrations of Chenya in the novel unfortunately

- The name of the novel MC is Kuroki Yuuya (黒木優也), his pronoun is “boku”. He’s a sixteen years old boy with short dark hair (no illustration for him)

- interestingly, the novel starts off with the tutorial part of the game with the wrecked mirror chamber and the beast that looks like overblot Grim. It’s not clear whose perspective this is (presumably it’s Yuuya but who knows). There are people in hoods shouting something. Also interesting: the “never let go of this hand part” is described as whispering in the back of this person’s head.

- One of the robed people is stretching out their hand to this unknown person, but they can’t move. The beast smirks

- Then we cut to our boy Yuuya, who wakes up. He feels very relaxed even though just a while ago he was feeling scared and sad about something that he can’t remember. After a few seconds he completely forgets about it

- Like Yuuken, Yuuya was transported to twisted wonderland after school. For some reason, he got stuck at the red light on the road he usually walks home on, even though it’s a narrow street that barely has any traffic. When the light finally turns green, the carriage comes.

- Crowley is excited to see which dorm Yuuya will be sorted into since he was able to open the door of his coffin on his own. He has high expectations for Yuuya and embarrasses the poor kid when they go back to the entrance ceremony by calling him a “new star.”

- Riddle has a little chant he says before he does his unique magic: I’ll tell you my judgement. Your verdict will come after. Are you prepared?” (this is a bad translation but that’s the gist of it.)

- Just like the manga, Riddle sort of has it out for Yuuya from the start.

- Apparently, before Crowley went out to search for Yuuya, he said “Look forward to the special new student who ran out earlier!” Though like everyone else he seems surprised that Yuuya doesn’t have magic. Crowley sus

- After all the students leave and only Crowley and Yuuya are in the chamber, Crowley says, “I thought that if an excellent magician comparable to Draconia-kun enters the school this year, we will definitely defeat ‘them’...” Same “them” as ep 5? Crowley sus x2

- Apparently Yuuya is hard to say for non-Japanese people? Anyways Yuuya straight up says he comes from Japan

- Yuuya wonders if he is actually speaking Japanese right now. He is able to speak and understand with no problem, but when he pays attention, he notices that the words he think and the movements of his mouth don’t match up. He is somehow “translating” his Japanese thoughts into an unfamiliar language.

- The reason why NRC holds their entrance ceremony at night is because they’re quirky  a famous magic school that’s different from the others

- After Crowley leaves him at Ramshackle Dorm, Yuuya cries a little when he realizes that he is truly alone in this world and that he might never see his parents again

- Yuuya has no desire to do magic or become a great magician, he just wants to go home

- Yuuya dreams of his high school classroom. Even though his seat is empty, no one seems to notice he is missing. Rather than forgetting about him, it’s more like they didn’t know they had a classmate named Kuroki Yuuya in the first place. Yuuya doesn’t feel sad or angry about this, he’s actually relieved. This is what he wanted

- Ace calls Yuuya boring when he doesn’t say anything back after Ace insults him

- The ghosts show up after the fight with Ace. They think Yuuya is too nice for this school since attending this school requires a special magic sense. In other words you gotta be a bit self-centered

- Even in twisted wonderland, being able to use magic is an exceptional thing. For humans, only one in ten can use magic. And only a small handful of them have enough magical strength to attend a school like NRC

- Ghosts and Grim tell Yuuya to beat up Ace the next time they see him, but Yuuya refuses since he has never been in a fight in his life. Just thinking about confronting others makes him scared. He can’t understand people like Ace or Grim. This is also part of the reason why he has no friends back home, because the closer you get to someone, the higher the possibility of conflict, so he keeps a distance from everyone.

- However it’s different with Grim, maybe because he’s not human. This might be the first time he can unreservedly talk with someone who isn’t a family member

- According to the ghosts, NRC has more than 800 students, including the fourth years who are almost all away on internships

- Yuuya meets Deuce in a classroom, not the hall of mirrors. He chases down Ace on his own initiative instead of being dragged into it

- Yuuya gets nervous when talking to Ace; he tells Ace and Deuce that he’s from another world; Ace shows a little bit of remorse!!???

- Ace and Deuce both compliment Yuuya for coming up with the strategy to defeat the dwarf monster

- Ghost camera still exists here

[doriana-gray-games]

I'm sure that I read this question somewhere on your blog, but my search proves fruitless. And after a wonderful discussion on the discord (everyone should join if only so that I can bug more people about their mcs), we are dying to know the answer.

So my darling Dori,

How would the ROs react to walking in on Sherlock changing? What if the situation was reversed?

Hi Goob! <3

I'm gonna do these with some variation—

Lestrade is walked in on by MC:

Loud expletive followed by a scramble to put their clothes back on / while screaming at you to turn around. I can see them falling over trying to put their pants back on in such a hurry.

They would feel very uncomfortable for a while after because they aren't terribly comfortable in their body and being naked in front of people. They've lost a lot of weight and muscle tone in the last few years by not eating and sleeping properly. In their mind, they convince themselves you find their current build unattractive and unseemly.

Lestrade walks in on MC:

Full body freeze, not even breathing or blinking. You're gonna need to do something to shake them out of their short circuit. Yell at them, talk to them, move from your position, cover yourself—anything—which would end in them practically running out of the room as quickly as possible and murmuring a dazed apology.

Watson is walked in on by MC:

Deer in headlights look and/or slight shriek... followed by blushing and somehow them apologising to you. If you're very, very close platonic friends, I can see them, instead of blushing, starts laughing while running away for cover with one hand inadequately trying to hide the derriere.

They would be secretly wondering if you think they look good/okay. But—they could never ask you. They couldn't. Could they? No... probably not.

Watson walks in on MC:

Romantic Relationship: Nightmare meeting fantasy. I think maybe they would be so shocked they make one loud laugh (not at you, of course). But just as a nervous reaction to something so improper and irregular as seeing you in such a state. Then bury their head in their hands, screaming apologies, and turn around asking if they can get you something to cover up with. I imagine some freudian slip on undressed and plenty of stuttering.

Platonic and very comfortable with one another:

Some version of this emoji, possibly some small blush, while trying to conduct business as usual and discussing whatever they came in to discuss. (✨Platonic admiration only✨)

Adler is walked in on by MC:

They really don't care. Probably some flattering or impressively flexible posing. "Care to join?"

If MC freaks out at the sight, they will laugh. "Hmm, not the most common reaction, I must admit. You wound me, darling." then they pose some more.

Adler walks in on MC:

They would look...

Some light chuckle or one raised eyebrow. "Ah, I apologise. Unless? No? Fair enough..."

Their hypothesis about you was mostly correct.

H is walked in on by MC:

Probably would not happen unless they wanted it to happen... which wouldn't happen early on in a relationship.

They would simply continue dressing/undressing. "Would you mind helping me with these buttons, Sherlock?" A small smile on their lips.

H walks in on MC:

"Ah—you're. My sincerest apologies." They swallow hard and exit the room.

They are gonna have a difficult time forgetting the sight. A real difficult time.