#i’ll copy it over to google docs later

[narugen]

my brain started cooking up narumina high school au and now i kinda have to write it

au where mina is part of a shooting club (don’t know if this is a Thing or sport in japan but it is in some places so) and she’s the Only Member. the only other member (kafka) graduated before they could do it together so . it’s just her now and Has been her ever since her first year (she’s a second year now)

cue: narumi. annoyed. frustrated. angry. at some stupid shit the teacher said about him skipping classes or playing games in class and the baseball club doesn’t want to let him use their bat and he’s not a member bc they have practice and he doesn’t have any other outlet so he’s trudging along the school compounds walking further and further away from the main buildings when he hears a loud Bang

he doesn’t know what it is, but he plays enough games to recognize a gun going off. he doesn’t run, just finds his aimless walking a bit more pointed. more motivated. as he walks in the direction of the noise

there he finds. to his surprise. a shooting range. there are targets placed on the opposite stretch of the …?? grass?? idk i’m visualising a setup similar to archery rn but once i do more research this is subject to change the MAIN part is that the targets all have bullet holes in them and they’re ALL bullseye

he drags his eyes away from the targets and finds the source of the damage.

a girl with short hair he feels like he’s seen before Somewhere and she’s in her pe uniform the jacket sleeves rolled up to her elbows with the little googles and headphones on and narumi watches in (he hates to admit it) admiration as she loads up the gun with such precise accuracy he can’t follow with his eyes and the next moment he hears another resounding bang

“holy shit.” he finds himself saying and in the next moment the pin drop silence as she aims at the next target is broken because she turns to him immediately.

thankfully the gun isnt pointed at him, and she’s kept her arms in position. the only thing that’s moved is her head and narumi sees the pure confusion on her face and wonders if he’s somehow walked so much he isn’t on the school grounds anymore

“oh.” she says, and puts the gun down and pulls the headphones off her head and keeps them resting around her neck. “it’s you.”

and narumi knows what that tone means. she knows him. he doesn’t know her though.

narumi hates to think about how his face must scream confusion because she follows up before he can say anything with: “we’re in the same class.”

he doesn’t attend classes often. or at all really. so that’s why she seemed a bit familiar. like a blurry after image.

“what is this place,” he says, not a question because narumi doesn’t ask questions, he simply gets answers.

“a shooting range.”

“i’ve never heard of a shooting club in this school.”

“because it doesn’t exist.”

he waits for an explanation. because a building so obviously made to host students or whoever with all this equipment and yet there’s no club?? narumi doesn’t believe it. but he doesn’t think she’s lying to him either.

she takes a painfully long time to find her words, or maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to him, because she keeps her eyes trained on the targets far away.

“i’m the only member. so it doesn’t exist.”

narumi thinks he’s heard somewhere that school clubs need a minimum number of members. he never really cared though. since his after school activities consisted of doing what he does during school hours - play games, pick fights, etc. he doesn’t go to school in the first place. so he doesn’t need an after school club.

he looks at the guns lined up. they’re all clean. he looks around him. everything is spotless. no indication of abandonment.

“well. i don’t care about your circumstances,” he says, and points at the gun she was holding. “i want to shoot too.”

he recalls the image of his form teacher, or maybe it was his science teacher, narumi doesn’t know - he doesn’t even know why he came to school today

(but he does. it’s because they kept begging him to attend at least once a week and narumi can’t say no to family)

but that teacher. with his bald head and smoker breath just kept on saying he should be more responsible blah blah he’s almost a third year god what does narumi care? he shouldn’t even have lived this long but here he is! and just thinking about it has narumi balling his fists up in anger.

“you need to be a club member.”

“does that really matter.”

“yes.”

she’s finally looking at him again. and narumi observes how she has really round eyes. a mole under each one. despite looking pretty innocent, she seems to be serious about this, mouth drawn into a frown and eyebrows furrowed.

narumi can’t really be bothered but he has so much pent up energy. and shooting a gun sounds really fucking awesome.

“okay. whatever. just let me shoot.”

she hurries off somewhere, through a door narumi hadn’t really noticed before and he takes off his school jacket, rolling his sleeves up.

he observes the equipment on the table, and then sees there’s spares in a nearby box. those will have to do.

as he puts on the goggles, he looks around for headphones, ear muffs, whatever, narumi knows their purpose - doesn’t need to know what they’re called but can’t find any.

the girl. he doesn’t know her name still. not that it matters. returns with a piece of paper and he almost barks out a laugh

“fill it in.”

“you’re not gonna tell me to wait until it’s approved before i get to shoot, are you.” he glares at her, because narumi seriously doesn’t want to wait any longer. he wants to let out all these restless energy now.

“i’m the one approving new members.”

“you’re not a teacher.”

“i’m a good student.”

he doesn’t know what the fuck that means but it manages to piss him off a bit more so he scribbles his details into the damn form and shoves it at her.

“approve it.”

“say please.”

he feels himself snap.

“are you trying to piss me off?”

she’s not the least bit intimidated. in fact she doesn’t look away from his glare. most people in the orphanage would have run away by now. and she repeats herself, “say please.”

he takes one look at the gun on the table. the guns on display. the painstaking effort of keeping all these equipment clean despite no one using them. the painstaking effort of keeping a club no one cares about alive.

“please approve the fucking form.”

if she has a single thing to say about it, she doesn’t. she doesn’t say anything. takes a stamp out from her jacket pocket and stamps his club registration.

it takes him a bit later to realize he’s joined a fucking after school club.

he’s being handed a gun, similar to the one she was holding and he grabs it. she doesn’t tell him to watch and follow when she starts loading it up. he got the memo the moment she side eyed him and started preparing, much slower than she had earlier when she was alone.

that annoys narumi a bit.

but he follows everything to a tee. commits the steps to his memory. doesn’t know why. doesn’t think he’ll be back. but he makes sure to remember anyway.

she looks around the area for a bit, as narumi feels the weight of the gun in his hands.

while he’s distracted, he doesn’t realize she’s in his personal space until she is, and he has to hold back from throwing a punch.

their heights aren’t that different, which adds to narumi’s list of annoyances from today, and he takes the split second to calculate how tall the girl must be. above 165cm that’s for sure.

how surprising, she’s got a baby face, so narumi had expected her to be shorter.

when her face is finally drawn away from his, he feels the weight of something around his neck and understands what had happened. she could’ve just passed the ear muffs to him though.

what a weirdo.

she puts her own earmuffs on, and narumi mirrors her actions.

she shifts her stance, and he follows.

she shoots and narumi forgets how to breathe.

the atmosphere around her changes for the split second she releases the trigger, and for once - narumi feels fear.

everything seems to move in slow motion, as he watches her. her face. her eyes narrowed. concentration the only thing there and time resumes as the bullet pierces through the air.

narumi doesn’t have to look to know she’s hit bullseye again.

it’s a challenge. to him, at least. he knows she probably doesn’t care about him. but narumi wants to shoot like that too. so he takes a deep breath and steadies himself and pulls the trigger.

“you’re surprisingly bad.”

not a single bullet hit even remotely close to the center of the target.

“aren’t you just absurdly good?! who the fuck hits bullseye consecutively? look at all your targets!” he screeches, tugging the ear muffs off.

“kafka-kun did say i was weirdly accurate…” she muses, has to think about it- as if she wasn’t aware. as if she only had this realisation.

narumi wants to sock her in the eye or something.

he lets out a deep sigh. at least he released his pent up anger. although he’s kind of angry at a whole other thing now.

“so? what the hell are you doing here if you’re this good. there are competitions aren’t there.”

he doesn’t know why he’s making conversation

“i’m just taking care of the club.”

“the club that doesn’t exist.” he points out.

“i made a promise.”

and narumi remembers he’s not the type of person to give a shit. so he shrugs, ending the conversation.

he refuses to ask for help. for advice. so he keeps his eyes on her as she shoots, and narumi thinks there’s no need for her to train at all. her. accuracy is crazy. he doesn’t know why she even bothers coming here.

by the end of the day, two hours later, he’s managed to get a bit better. or so he likes to think.

he can’t believe he stayed until the sun is about to set. in school.

as she starts cleaning up, narumi finds himself mimicking her actions, the same way he has been doing the entire time.

to his own surprise, his back is sweating, and it must’ve taken a bit more effort than he’d considered.

“ashiro!” somebody calls, and narumi nearly jumps out of his skin. he doesn’t get surprised though. so he pretends he isn’t.

ashiro. he says the name in his head. so that’s who she is.

doesn’t ring a bell.

“hoshina.” she says, and despite a friend (?) - narumi presumes, showing up to this side of the school - she doesn’t smile.

in fact, narumi doesn’t think she’s seen her make any sort of expression that wasn’t a straight face or brief concentration.

well. not that he cares.

“who’s that?”

she looks over to him.

and he looks back at her.

“narumi. from my class.”

so she does know his name.

“ahhh the problem child?”

this guy is pissing him off.

“and who the hell are you? club activities ended ten minutes ago, for your information.”

he doesn’t know if they did end ten minutes ago. but it’s when ashiro started packing up. so he assumes that’s the case

the guy laughs - loud and annoying and narumi held back against punching ashiro but he won’t back against this guy.

“you bastard-,” he growls, walking up to him and glares at ashiro who stops him.

she doesn’t stop him. per say. doesn’t say anything really. but she’s moved closer to him. and she has one eyebrow raised.

“whatever.”

he doesn’t know why he stops.

narumi gen doesn’t stop for anyone.

and that annoys him even more. his list is pretty long now.

longer than it should’ve been.

“so you managed to increase your club numbers? good for you.”

it sounds so sarcastic, but narumi knows it’s not. everything just kind of sounds like shit when it comes from that guy.

“i’m not-,” narumi starts, and then stops. that’s twice now. “i’m not.”

ashiro holds the piece of paper up. the fucking club form and points at the stamp in red. “he is.”

“i’m not coming back here.”

“you probably should though? your aim doesn’t seem to be the best.”

the guy says, and damn this fucking bowlcut guy because the next time he speaks narumi will definitely slam this guy face’s into the wood floor.

“hoshina.” she says, and the tone is a warning. narumi doesn’t need somebody else giving out warnings for him. “your aim is just as terrible.”

“but i’m not a member of the club.”

“he’s new.”

narumi doesn’t know if she’s insulting him or defending him. doesn’t think he’d like either option.

the guy shrugs. before looking at ashiro. “are you done? let’s go.”

she nods and turns to him. they walk out together.

ashiro locks up, and narumi leans a little away from her to take one last glance at the shooting range.

“see you tomorrow, narumi.” it’s the first time she’s addressed him by name. even though she knew it.

“i’m not coming to school.”

“you’ll be here though.”

she doesn’t have to specify for him to know she means here - as in the shooting range.

“i’m not coming to school.” he repeats.

she shrugs, like she already knows.

narumi watches as the two leave, talking about something he can’t hear from where he is, still standing by the door of the shooting range.

he’s not coming back tomorrow.

“you’re here.”

“took you long enough. unlock the door.”

“i told you so.”

“shut up.”

[hannie-dul-set]

YOURS TO KEEP.

p — SHEN QUANRUI x female! reader. g — college! au, exchange student! ricky, fluff, very very lightly angsty. w — swearing, alcohol consumption. kdrama references and misquoted quotes. 3.2k words.

note — dreamt of ricky. vomited out.....ricky as ur cute bf who behaves like a cat and whose favorite forms of cross-cultural exchange is receiving headpats and watching kdramas. only 2 scenes are actually inspired by my dream 😭 if someone guesses which line/s were extracted directly from my dream, i'll reward u with a gyuvin drabble how about that 👍

you picked up a cat from the university’s foreign exchange program.

however, he did not come in a box. he came in a louis vuitton tracksuit and balenciaga sunglasses, which very much caught you off guard when you came to meet him at the admin building, and you greet him after mustering the courage to finally walk up to the cat’s imposing presence. “h—hello! are you perhaps shen quanrui?”

he takes off his sunglasses, meets you with a pair of pretty swoopy, pretty eyes, and says, “oh. yes. are you my owner?” 

you pause. you’re taken aback because that...that doesn’t sound like the right word. “ah, um. i’m the person assigned to help you around the campus and the city for the semester, yes! it’s nice to meet you!” but you brush it off because of language barriers and all. his mouth falls into an ‘o’ shape when you tell him the correct term.

“oh, sorry.”

“it’s alright!” you say. “hope we get along!”

quanrui tells you that you can just call him ricky, and gives you a small smile. one of many that you’ll be graced with for the duration of the semester.

“i’ll be in your care.”

your new cat is a little intimidating at first, clad in all black at all times. the night you helped him first settle into his dorm, even his pajamas were reminiscent of an abyss— like a white ragdoll trying to disguise itself as a panther because you later find out that he’s actually a really sweet, really polite, and really clingy cat.

“um. knock, knock.”

you look up from your laptop, ricky in a long leather coat hesitantly peeking out from your half-open bedroom door (you gave him a copy of your apartment key. your cat needs a way to get in by himself somehow). he texted you earlier, asking if you can help him out with an essay, and you assume he’s right here right now for that very reason.

“do you have your paper?” you ask, closing your laptop. he nods and lifts up his ipad, showing it off. you have a very cute cat. you scoot aside and pat the empty space on your bed, and ricky comes padding in, mattress sinking when he settles beside you, making sure to maintain a respectable enough distance and hands you his device with the google doc open.

“oh. i marked the parts where i’m not sure about my vocabulary,” he mentions the moment a yellow highlighted part came up on the screen. 

you give it a once over. “i think this is right. yeah, you did good.” when you turn your head, you’re met with a pair of proudly sparkling eyes. you stifle out a laugh. “what? do you want a head pat for that?”

“maybe i deserve one?”

you let your fingers sink into the fluff on the top of his head. again, he’s really sweet, really polite, and really clingy. but maybe a little too clingy sometimes, especially when he finally got a lot more comfortable around you.

comfortable enough to hiss at your friends.

“oh, you signed up as a student-helper for the exchange program too?” hanbin asks after seeing you walk in the classroom with ricky in row, trailing behind you like a shadow. 

“yeah, i can’t miss the extra points prof choi baited us with.” you nudge ricky with your elbow, noticing how tense he is all of a sudden and how he’s looking at your senior with a bit of a glare. perhaps he’s threatened by another feline presence.

“nice to meet you!” hanbin greets with a bright, an arm outstretched before you, meant for ricky, but he keeps tucking himself behind you with his hands fixed on your shoulders.

hanbin has his hand left unshaked for five seconds too long now. you nudge him again. he won’t budge.

“ah, ricky is still a little shy!” you exclaim, trying to salvage the situation by grabbing hanbin’s hand instead with both of yours, swinging it around, left and right. you’re lucky your senior is so easygoing. he laughs along with you and says of course, of course, he totally gets it, merrily swinging your arms together back and forth. “he’s still not that confident with his korean. right, ricky?”

“keep holding her and i’ll claw your eyes out.”

you freeze. you leer back at ricky shen, giving him your what the fuck are you saying look? he maintains his stance, tugging you back by the shoulders. you twitch out a smile and try your best to defend your clingy and jealous cat. “ahaha. he’s picked up some weird things from all the dramas he’s been watching,” you say. “sorry about that seonbae! we’ll get to our seats now!”

“haha, it’s alright! nice to meet you ricky!”

“what was that?”you snap back at him the moment hanbin leaves the premises. all ricky does is shrugs and steadies his hold on your shoulders, aiming your body somewhere and he starts making you walk to the back of the classroom— far, far away from where hanbin is sitting.

your cat is a little weird sometimes, sure. gyuvin finds him entertaining enough though. they play tennis every weekend, and ricky started picking up even more weird things from him and all the rest of your friends that you’re starting to think they’re not very good influences.

case in point—

“if you drink this, we’re dating.”

the grape juice he poured into your paper cup nearly spills over from shock. you look at him, eyes wide and brows furrowed, cheeks burning and heart racing because what the hell? “seriously, where have you been learning these things?” 

ricky looks satisfied for eliciting that kind of reaction. he pours himself a paper cup of grape juice as well because it’s a weeknight, and you have a quiz tomorrow, and getting wasted is off of the table, so you two settled for juice and chips on your living room floor to relish in your academic misery.

“jiwoong hyung and gunwookie recommended me some movies for me to watch.” he sets down the juice bottle after screwing the cap shut, and you fear the other movies those two gremlins recommended him come from a list of top 50 movie pick-up up lines to woo an unsuspecting victim. next thing you know, he’s gonna invite you to have ramen at his place or go see freaking butterflies with him. “i just watched a moment to remember earlier. my pronunciation is getting better, right?” 

ricky is looking at you with his eyes all big and his lips all pressed together expectantly. he’s waiting for your praise. you feel your chest swell. the grape juice feels heavy in your hand. gosh, he’s such a needy cat. a needy cat that deserves all the praise in the world.

“yeah. i’m proud of you. c’mere.”

you leave your cup on the table to focus on more important things— that is, giving ricky his well deserved pats on the head. you don’t recall how your relationship with him managed to get this far, still remembering how intimidated you felt when you first met him. now he’s on your living room floor, head laying back on your couch with a drama playing on the tiny laptop screen settled on the coffee table, both of you barely paying attention because he’s looking at something on his phone, and you’re gently rubbing his head as you reply to some messages on yours.

“ah, gyuvin is seriously annoying,” you complain. “he’s trying to get me to join his club. coding club he says, when i’m pretty sure he’s just starting it as an excuse to play games on campus.”

“are you going to join?” he asks, bumping his head against your palm when you stop giving him scratches.

“mm, i don’t think so.” you set down your phone to pour all your focus into satisfying your needy cat’s attention requirements. ricky lets out a satisfied rumble when set his head down onto your lap, raking your fingers through the tufts of his hair as he lets his eyes flutter to a close. “i’m already too busy this semester to bother with those things. maybe next time if he’s that desperate to fill in the member numbers..”

“yeah,” he mutters. “you’ll be too busy spending most of your time with me.”

your fingers stop moving.

ricky looks up at you, confused as to why you stopped petting him, and you’d eat him right up if you could. but you can’t keep your cat for too long. it’s only a matter of time before you get your last opportunity to coddle him like this, to shower him in unabashed affection disguised as friendship because the exchange program is temporary, and he’s returning back to china at the end of the semester.

so why is he raising your hopes up if he’s just going to leave anyway?

“i meant my acads, silly,” you say, picking up your untouched juice cup from the table, feeling the weight of the drink slosh around the paper cup as you let it hover in front of your lips. 

he’s raising your hopes up and you’re letting him. you know this is gonna end in a disaster.

still.

“but if you put it that way—”

the sharp taste of sweet grapes hits the back of your throat, swallowing down the lukewarm juice that’s been sitting since ricky poured a cup for you. if you’re gonna crash down at the end of this, might as well crash down from two thousand feet above the ground. 

“are we dating now?”

you set the cup back down on the table, gaze flickered down at ricky, whose face is flushed in surprise one moment— easing into understanding the next, and he props himself up from your lap, reaching out for the back of your neck to pull you into a sugary tart kiss.

yeah, you think, feeling the softness of his lips brush against yours, his eyelashes tickling your cheeks when he pulls you in even closer. if your time with him has a deadline, might as well make the most out of it.

“i was disappointed when you didn’t drink it the first time,” he says, drunk on sweet juice and the feeling of your mouth against his. “jiwoong hyung said that line was effective.”

“can you not think about another man when i’m kissing you?”

he lets out a laugh, “‘m sorry,” then presses a fluttering kiss on your temple, tip of your nose, until his lips meet yours once more at last. “let me try again. ahem. i like you. i don’t need a rainbow.”

“you got the line wrong, baek yijin. try again next time.”

if he’s going to leave anyway, might as well make his departure as heart wrenching as all the dramas he’s so fond of watching.

“looks like our friend here got more than just extra credit for volunteering to help out the exchange students.”

you look up from the stack of papers on your table, only to have more dropped off by taerae with a thunk. hanbin, gyuvin, matthew and ricky are also loitering around the classroom— not that they’re helping you and taerae check the test papers your profs asked you to grade as a favor. at least the constant yelling and arguing and meowing noises(?) are making things a lot more lively.

“congrats, you lucky bitch,” he says.

“you sound like you want to covet my cat,” you raise a brow at him, adding the new set to your pile as taerae grabs a new stack as well.

“your cat for this mutt,” he points his thumb at matthew, who’s currently tucked in the to answer an evaluation sheet on taerae. ricky’s doing the same evaluation about you, somewhere. you’re not sure where your cat went, but he’s probably just around. “are you perhaps open for negotiation?”

“matthew isn’t a mutt. he’s a cute golden retriever.”

“well, your cat doesn’t seem to appreciate you calling someone else cute.”

taerae swerves off to reveal a pouting ricky. he’s got his arms crossed, the evaluation sheet folded in between the fingers of his right hand, and you have to hold back a laugh. “did you finish my evaluation?” you ask.

“i did, but i wanna redo it now. negative points for you,” he protests, but lets you snatch the paper from him anyway. you scoot your chair to the left to give him some space next to you. he grabs an empty armchair and nudges his nose close to your face when you start reading his note at the bottom.

“mid-semester evaluation. my student-helper is very acommodatimg. she has been helping me adjust to korea very well. you spelled accommodating wrong, angel.” 

“i did it on purpose to test you. good job. you pass.”

you roll your eyes, free hand absentmindedly reaching out for the top of his head, and you hear ricky let out a noise of satisfaction. “she always answers my questions and is…very pretty and smells nice,” you set the paper down. your cat is looking at you expectantly. “ricky, i don’t think you can submit this.”

“why not?” he asks. “professor choi said to be as honest as possible.”

your cheeks grow warm.

gosh. this makes things even harder knowing your cat has to leave eventually.

“what did i tell you?”

the convenience store lights need to be replaced soon, you note. it keeps flickering intermittently against the dim night— reminiscent of how you’re feeling right now when you called jiwoong out for a few drinks two weeks before finals, but you’re not depressed because finals are near. you’re wallowing in tear stained sniffles because the exchange program will be over soon, meaning you only have two weeks until ricky has to pack his bags and leaves.

“not to get too attached because he has to say goodbye eventually,” you lament, a puddle of soju burning your lips. jiwoong looks at your pathetic state with remorseful sigh.

“and what did you do?” he says.

“got too attached and now i have to say goodbye to him eventually.” you groan and swallow down a shot. you’re about to pour yourself another, but jiwoong pulls back the bottle— maybe your third one of the night, you’re not sure— away from your reach, and pushes you a plastic bottle of water instead. 

“you just had to go ahead and start dating him like an idiot,” he cracks open the water for you when you don’t do anything with it. he pours it in a shot glass, and you take the bait, drinking down the water, eyebrows furrowing when it doesn’t burn your throat like you expected. “maybe if you tell him to say, he might listen to you.”

you let out a gasp. “i can’t do that! that’d be so selfish of me!”

jiwoong can’t do anything to help you but share your miseries tonight. he simply sits in silence, waiting for the owner of the number he texted a while ago to make an appearance, and listen to your drunk ramblings at eleven in the evening.

“i miss my cat. i haven’t seen him the entire day because he says he had things to do with hanbin and hao.” you’ve melted into the table. high pitched whines aside, he’s surprised you’re still coherent at this point. “bring me back my cat. i miss him so much. i miss my cat. i miss my ricky. i wish he’d never leave me.”

jiwoongs eyes flit up. “looks like your cat misses you too.” he pulls himself up from his chair and picks up his jacket from the backrest. “took you long enough.”

when you tip your head back in confusion, wondering who the hell jiwoong is talking to, you’re pleasantly surprised to see the upside-down face of the cat you’ve been missing.

“ah,” you sound out. “you’re here.”

“thanks, hyung,” ricky settles a hand on the top of your head. you blink. now you understand why he liked headpats so much. “i’ll take care of her from here.”

this is eye opening. you feel your eyelids growing heavier as ricky continues to massage your head, his and jiwoong’s faraway voices talking about something, something you can’t really hear, until jiwoong waves off, and it’s just you and ricky in front of the quiet flickering lights of the convenience store entrance.

you hear yourself whine when ricky’s hand disappears from the top of your head. “you should’ve called me if you missed me,” he says, circling from behind the chair to being in front of you now. he crouches down, settling his crossed arms on your lap, and he looks up at you with his pretty swoopy eyes. “why didn’t you call me?”

“i need to get used to you not being around even if i miss you,” you say, letting your fingers sink into the soft strands of his hair.

ricky lets out a questioning hum. “why wouldn’t i be around?”

“because your deadline is near,” you grumble. “i have to return you to where i first picked you up, but i don’t want to. but you have to. this sucks so much.”

you’re still saddled with insobriety, and the fact that your sweet cat isn’t purring like usual when you’re patting his head is making your bottom lip quiver and your eyes sting because you fear you might’ve said something wrong. “aren’t you gonna ask me what i did today?” he simply asks. you suck in a wavering breath and swallow a lump in your throat.

“what...did you do today?”

“hanbin hyung helped me settle the requirements for my transfer” ricky lands a gentle hold on your wrist and brings your hand down to the side of his face, cupping his cheek. it’s warm. “i’m going to continue attending here. hao hyung is too.”

you blink at him. “w—what?”

“i don’t have to leave. you don’t have to keep missing me.” he brings your hand down palm to the front of his lips, pressing a kiss into your palm. “i’m not going anywhere. i’m yours to keep.”

it takes you a moment to register ricky’s words, so you stay there for a while— sitting frozen in cold silence until the warmth of his messages finally settles in to thaw you out. oh, you think. “oh,” you repeat out loud, voice wavering. ricky hums out a smile at your reaction. he rises, pulling you up to your feet, and you stumble into him.

“i think i know the perfect line for this moment,” he says, steadying a hold on the small of your back. “what was it? if I don't see you, i get upset. If you're depressed, i get curious. something like that?”

“it’s the other way around, dummy.” you sniffle. “why do you keep quoting nam joohyuk?” 

“because he’s cool,” he says. “let’s go watch start-up at your place once you’ve sobered up.”

the cat you picked from the university’s foreign exchange program is clingy, sweet, and is for some reason obsessed with quoting the dramas he’s been watching. he keeps an arm around you when he walks you back to your apartment after grieving over his departure, only to kiss you with the news that you don’t have to return him any time soon.

YOURS TO KEEP. © hannie-dul-set, 2023.

[brisquad-unit-4402]

Hello!! Could I maybe request some Ike content? Honestly, anything you want, the brainrot is so real for me right now lol. I would definitely love something very fluffy, maybe with some cuddles or something though :) (also if you could keep it sfw that would be amazing)

Honestly just have as much fun as you want with this!

I'm sorry if this is like.. a bad format or something, this is my first request to anyone ever fdhsig

wip - ike and pet names

from the list of unfinished 4402 ike wips. notes under the cut.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It takes Ike a while to get into the idea of pet names. It’s not that he doesn’t like them! He actually thinks they’re sweet. 

So sweet, in fact, that he set on only calling you by one if he really means it. There’s meaning behind those words, even more than the literal definition, and as a novelist he’d kick himself if he didn’t use his language properly. He only moves forward when he knows what he wants. 

That’s one of the reasons why it catches you so off-guard when he calls you dear.

It’s just four little letters, right at the end of a question. Something so simple shouldn’t be throwing you as hard as this, especially since you can’t even recall what Ike was asking you. They way that he called you dear has you in a chokehold, and all your thoughts jumble into a pile of string.

“So what do you think?”

The thoughts halt. You struggle to remember the question, but the only thing coming to mind is how adorably nonchalant that name was, and how you wish you saw Ike say it out loud instead of plainly hearing it. “Sorry, um, what did you say again?”

Ike leans against the doorway, across the room from you, and holds his phone in a hand. He’s typing. “It’s about that restaurant you were thinking the other day? I found a coupon for delivery, so I wanted to know if you’d just like to stay in instead of go out.”

“Oh, sure, that’s fine. You’re getting hungry too?”

“Mhm. I’ll go ahead and order, then. The usual?”

“Yep. Thank you—”

A moment of gutsiness, now or never—

“Sweetheart.”

Two can play at that game! You swear his olive-green eyes light up for just a moment, before his casual smile returns like nothing happened at all. “You’re welcome, dear. I’ll make the call.”

Your heart flutters, but you see him off as usual, until the door behind him quietly closes.

Then you shut your eyes and swoon. He’s seriously the sweetest, even if you’re so much more receptive to the name than he is.

(An incorrect assumption. Later that night, cuddling in bed with bellies full of good food, he nuzzles up closer to you when you call him your sweetheart, and has to admit he spent a solid minute with hands over blushing cheeks the second he left the room earlier that day.)

sötis: cutie, sweetie

älskling: darling

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

from unit 4402:

sorry for taking so long, especially with current circumstances on ike's graduation. i should have used this request for the many ike things i wrote ever since i got it, i also apologize for never answering this request even though i ended up posting a bunch of things that would apply in return

i actually found this old wip on pet names in my documents, and i think i totally forgot i even had it to begin with. longtime followers might remember the time i accidentally posted the draft and didn't realize for something like an hour at least... sorry to those 4 notes. at some point i must have copy/pasted it onto google docs before i deleted the post, so i'm glad it could see the light of day after i totally forgot it was a thing, lol

i'm surprised that most of the wips i'm posting right now don't have more nonsense at the end, i usually write notes to myself on where to go next there. this time the only thing at the end of my document were the translations for two swedish pet names

i have a lot of mixed feelings on esl/bilingual characters using their non-english language for their partners, but ever since i wrote slow dancing with ike i was fixated on älskling from all the research i had done on it. i don't think ike would use pet names that often, actually, and if he did i could see him using more elegant, not-that-cutesy ones like "dear." this is where the swedish names come in, though. i think he'd be alright calling you sötis when you don't know the language, but once he's in a room with other swedish speakers he'll get super embarrassed if he calls you that, or älskling for that matter. oh, and he could never call you sweetie or cutie in english without blushing nervously, even once your relationship is serious

my intentions with this fic was to be more of a character study on how ike feels about nicknames, rather than actually being pet names. this is the main reason why i never got around to finishing this fic, i ended up hitting a wall. you can kind of tell that i tried to avoid that mistake by focusing on solely pet names and their contexts in krisis giving you pet names

thank you very much for the request, anon. i'm sorry i never responded to you specifically, but i hope my luxiem, ike, and other liver writings satisfied you.

this idea is free to use without ai.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

✧. ┊ masterpost ✧. ┊ kofi ✧. ┊ ike wip masterpost

[foggyfanfic]

Love and Fury Deleted Scenes

Since I'm done with the Love and Fury verse, I'm going to dump some of the deleted scenes on tumblr. You know that writing advice "Never delete anything, just put it aside in case you can use it later"? It's good advice and I made use of it, but now I have a bunch of unused scenes gathering cobwebs in my google docs. I'm proud of 'em so I want back up copies in case something happens to my docs, but none of these are developed enough to be their own story so I'm not going to post them to AO3. So! Tumblr!

This one was the first draft for Bruno admitting his feelings, it was going to be caused Sleepover and was about Pepa playing match maker in a way that was guaranteed to make Bruno miserable. I cut it because the playful mood didn't really match the rest of the third act of a story about rape culture. Warning: It is only half a chapter!

“Aren’t we a bit old for a sleepover?” Bruno griped, even as he helped put out the snacks, “We’re 26.”

“Mm-hm!” Pepa placed a bottle of tequila on the snack table, “And you would think a 26 year old man would be perfectly capable of asking out his crush, and yet, here we are, Sunday afternoon. Your crush is unasked.”

Bruno rolled his eyes and grumbled, but couldn’t exactly deny her allegations. He had indeed neglected to ask out Reina, despite having multiple chances to do so.

“Aren’t we a little bit old to have a sleepover?” Julieta asked, as she entered Pepa’s room with arms full of cushions.

“We’re doing this as a personal favor to Bruno,” Pepa said, wrapping an arm around Bruno’s neck, “right Brunito?”

“Um.”

“How exactly is this a favor for Bruno?” Julieta asked, raising a pointed eyebrow at Bruno’s very apparent misery.

“It’s to help him get up the courage to-.”

“I love sleepovers!” Bruno shouted over Pepa, throwing up a couple of very unconvincing jazz hands, “A-And I never got to have my own sleepover because, you know, I have no friends. Or I didn’t. But now I do. Sooo sleepover… yay?”

Julieta looked from Bruno to Pepa, clearly unconvinced, Pepa grinned back, barely holding back a laugh and gestured at Bruno, “He loves sleepovers.”

“Pepa, are you bullying Bruno?”

“Sí.”

Julieta tapped her foot for a second, “Bruno, what will you give me if I put a stop to this?”

“Oh. Oh! Um, hold on, let me think-.”

“I’ll tell Mamá about that time Agustín saved me from puking on the Gúzmans if you let me do it,” Pepa held up a finger. It was a rather embarrassing memory, one she rather wouldn’t share, but it was exactly the sort of thing that would make their Mamá decide once and for all to give Agustín her blessing.

“Oooh, I like that,” Julieta turned back to Bruno, “counter offer?”

“Um, I… I can show Mamá a vision of you and Agustín getting married,” he tried, he figured at this point Julieta probably already knew marrying Agustín was an eventuality, she just needed help convincing their Mamá that Agustín wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hmm, not bad,” Julieta held her chin while she thought about it, “but, that means we’re getting married either way, and Pepa’s offer will make our lives easier in the long run, sooo… lo siento Bruno.”

“Damn!”

“Hah!”

There was a knock at the door, Pepa opened it to reveal their mother who greeted them with a skeptical, “Aren’t you three a bit old for a sleepover?”

“Sí Mamá! We are much, much too old,” Bruno leaned around Pepa, “imagine what’ll happen if people find out we were doing this, they would say… they would say ‘gosh, I had no idea the Madrigals were so childish’. Then they would lose all faith in us and the village would fall into chaos. Chaos! We must put a stop to this.”

Alma raised an eyebrow at him, then turned mildly to Pepa, “Are you doing this to torture your brother?”

“What?! No! Of course not,” Pepa shook her head, laughing the thought off. Alma looked thoroughly unconvinced.

Julieta jumped in with a gentle smile,  “It’s for Reina and Rosalie, they’ve both been so stressed out with that whole Cicero business. They need a night off, a night when they’re surrounded by friends and can sleep peacefully, without any fear.”

Bruno glared at Julieta, who shrugged back, unapologetic. 

“Ah, of course,” Alma nodded, she handed them the extra towels for their guests, “that is very kind of you three. Please, just keep the noise contained in this room, if you will.”

“We will Mamá,” Pepa promised, “good night.”

Their mother turned away and Pepa closed the door most of the way. She left it cracked open just a tiny bit so she could watch their Mamá walk down the hall to her own room. When she disappeared into her bedroom, Pepa waited until the count of 100 then rushed over to her window.

“Psst, Félix, Agustín,” she hissed into the tree line, almost immediately the two men materialized out of the woods, Pepa held up a thumb to them and they quickly disappeared around to the front of the house.

Bruno rolled his eyes and grumbled some more when the two men snuck into the room. They hadn’t asked whether or not Agustín and Félix could join in the festivities, mostly because it was assumed the answer was no. In fact, Mamá had been pretty clear that Bruno was not to sleep in Pepa’s room with the girls, so there was no way she would have signed off on having their boyfriends spend the night.

“This is fun,” Félix chuckled after he had greeted everybody, “haven’t snuck around like this since I was a kid.”

“Well, nostalgia is the whole point,” Pepa said, although Bruno was pretty sure everybody knew the actual point was to mess with him.

Agustín wrapped himself around Julieta and asked, “Are we going to play all the classic games too? It’s been a while since I played truth or dare.”

“If we do play truth or dare, nobody is allowed to dare Agustín to do anything athletic,” Julieta immediately said.

“Juli, we could dare him to take five steps and he might find some way to lose both his thumbs,” Pepa pointed out, then turned to Agustín, “no offense.”

He just shrugged, “You’re not wrong.”

“I just want to let you girls know, that if we’re not painting each other’s nails tonight, then I’m going home, right now,” Félix joked, stabbing the air with a finger.

The floorboards shook beneath them, then somebody knocked on Pepa’s door. Bruno felt his heart leap into his throat, as Pepa walked over to open it. When she pulled it open and invited Reina and Rosalie in, he was struck with the sudden temptation to run and hide.

Reina spotted him and immediately swept over to stand at his side, something that did nothing for his nerves.

“Hola you,” she bumped her shoulder against his, “long time no see.”

They had sat together in Church that day. Actually, Mamá had made a show of inviting Rosalie and Señora Ruiz to sit with their family in the front, and wherever Rosalie went, Reina followed. Padré had spent the entire sermon avoiding looking at their pew, something Reina had clearly noticed and had to visibly restrain herself from commenting on. She had taken Bruno’s hand and had squeezed it to keep herself in her seat.

He wouldn’t be able to tell you what that day’s sermon had been about to save his own life.

Although, he did know exactly when Padré had made eye contact with Rosalie, because in those moments Reina’s grip on his hand had become painful.

“H-Hola,” he greeted, chuckling nervously and rubbing his arm.

She placed her hand on his, the other loosely holding his bicep as she leaned in close to whisper, “So, is this whole thing so Pepa can mess with you? Should I come up with an excuse to get you out of here?”

His shoulders relaxed even while his heart beat harder.

“Sí- well, no. I mean, sí this whole thing is to embarrass me, but no, if we sneak away it’ll only get worse,” Bruno told her, then he darkly added, “Pepa has back up plans.”

Reina pulled back, sucking air in through her teeth, “Oof. Suddenly happy I’m an only child. Well- you know what I mean.”

Bruno glanced over at Pepa and was startled to realize that she and Rosalie were whispering to each other in much the same way Reina and Bruno had just been. Félix, Julieta, and Agustín watched on in amusement.

“Look,” he pointed it out to Reina, “I think Rosalie is in on it.”

“What?” she hissed, then, because Reina had very little shame she cried, “Rosalie! Are you betraying me?!”

“Sí,” Rosalie nodded, then held up a finger to her lips, “now hush, we’re scheming.”

Reina gasped dramatically, putting a hand to her heart, she turned to the peanut gallery and gestured sharply at Rosalie, “Can you believe this?”

“Tragic,” Agustín shook his head mournfully.

“The state of the world,” Julieta agreed.

“I should probably mention that I’m helping them too,” Félix said, shrugging.

“What?!” Bruno stood up straight, head whipping over to Pepa, “You told him?”

“He has eyes, Bruno,” Pepa retorted.

“That’s it, this means war,” Bruno declared, pointing one finger at the heavens.

“War!” Reina enthusiastically agreed, copying his gesture.

“Oh good,” Pepa smirked, “this will be more fun if you two put up a fight.”

“Oh, we’ll put up a fight alright!” Bruno narrowed his eyes at her as he slowly backed up further into the room, pulling Reina with him.

“What’s the plan?” she hissed, when they were far enough away.

“No idea,” he said, “you know any good pranks that won’t get us zapped with lightning?”

“You would know better than me where the zapping threshold is,” Reina pointed out, even as she examined their opponents, calculating.

“You know, you would think so, wouldn’t you,” Bruno chuckled ruefully, then shrugged, “but uh, somehow, I-I still haven’t figured out quite where the line is between, hilarious joke and um grievous insult.”

“Oh,” Reina frowned, “ok, then let’s go back to basics, divide and conquer.”

“Alright,” Bruno nodded along.

“If they suggest truth and dare, I can get Rosalie just as good as she can get me,” Reina bit her lip in thought, “what have you got on Pepa?”

“She has a fear of spiders.”

“I’m pretty sure bringing spiders into this would get us murdered, by more than just Pepa.”

“It’s a win-win.”

“Bruno,” she lightly shoved his shoulder, “stop trying to die or I’m joining their side!”

“Lo siento,” he held up his hands, “how about… how are you at drinking games?”

“Abysmal. I stopped drinking when Rosalie did, as a solidarity thing, and I realized I kind of hate being drunk,” she shrugged.

“Really? I didn’t know that. What about it do you hate?”

“I always get queasy really quick, kind of ruins the fun of being all loose and stuff,” she shook her head, “anyways, drinking games. How are you at that sort of thing?”

“Better than Pepa, she hates the taste, always folds first,” he said, “if we can get her in a competitive mood she’ll play whatever game we suggest, even if she knows she’ll lose.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Reina put her hand out and after a second Bruno realized he was supposed to put his hand on top of it. She counted to three then threw her hand up and Bruno copied her.

“You two are cute,” Pepa called over.

Bruno’s cheeks burned, ay dios, was he playing right into her hands?

“Damn straight,” Reina responded, grinning, “so, what’re we doing first?”

“Before you four get started,” Julieta cut in, holding up her hands, “can we please just sit for a little while and catch up? Maybe eat some of the dessert I made?”

“Oh, of course,” Rosalie agreed, before the other three combatants could throw themselves into the fight, “I have missed your cooking.”

“Thank you, you’re too kind,” Julieta smiled warmly at her, she led the way to the couches and they spent some time eating and talking about their week.

With seven of them trying to fit on two couches, it was a cramped affair, with Julieta sitting on Agustin’s lap, and Pepa eyeing Félix’s speculatively. Bruno was crammed between Reina and Rosalie, who spent an hour subtly crowding him into Reina’s space. He didn’t even notice she was doing it until Reina curled her legs up and they rested on his thigh.

He glanced at her to see if she noticed the contact, then felt silly, of course she noticed they were touching, it’d be hard to miss.

She didn’t seem to care however, and when Rosalie somehow managed to gain another inch, Reina had no problem wrapping an arm around him so he could lean on her.

Bruno gulped. Was there some way to alert her to their enemies’ objective without revealing his own feelings?

Rosalie stretched, and Bruno instinctively ducked closer to Reina to avoid her arms. When he looked straight across at Pepa she was hiding her smirk behind a cookie Julieta had made.

He glared at her.

A/N: Sorry about the abrupt end. I wrote and cut this before making Leandra her own OC (back when the entire story would have finished in twenty chapters), so she was still only reader insert Reina, and also a little more oblivious than she ended up being. She doesn't actually know what the goal of the game is, she's just happy to play on Bruno's team. It always hurts to cut scenes that are centered on the triplets acting like actual siblings, they are some of my favorite ones to reread, so this one is a major part of why I want to share these and have extra copies.

[the-paladin-gay]

Things for faint-i-wont-be-ignored to work on in 2025:

Immediately important steps -

• Drink water frequently

• Get more sleep (teenagers need like 10 hours. Try to find a regular time when you can start sleeping and stick to it. If you're used to a late hour, start by pushing it back an hour or half an hour every night, until you achieve an appropriate hour.)

• If you don't eat regularly (at least three proper meals a day, at regular hours), do that too please

-> If you need to snack in between, do it. That's your body crying out for sustenance. Ignoring your body's needs will only make you miserable.

Optional but would be beneficial -

• Spend more time offline. Find somatic activities you like to do. Writing? Drawing? Knitting?

-> If you write on your computer, just stick to your google doc or wherever and don't open a tumblr tab, or any other social media (music apps are fine if you wanna listen while you work)

-> If you write on your phone, then turn off wifi and data and write in your notes app, only going online when you wanna copy and paste to where you're gonna post your work. You can listen to downloaded songs, or use your computer for music, but if you use your computer, don't open anything else other than the music app.

• Or you can play singleplayer video games. Whatever it is, it must be singleplayer.

• If you still want to microdose on online connections, try discord instead of tumblr, so it's not a mass wave of posting but just private conversations with your chosen friends instead. Maybe you have a small server together. And, if you want company while you're doing your offline activities, you can talk to someone on there.

• You have a mutual who's also your friend irl, right? Ask them if they'd be willing to help you, to keep you accountable. And be sure to help them too if they need it! Also, if you feel like have something you wanna say but wanna stay offline, then confide in your irl friend. You can always share it on tumblr later on when you come online.

Most important -

• If you are working on this, but falter back, don't beat yourself up over it. Be kind to yourself. (Repeat after me: I will be kind to myself. I am loved.) Just pick yourself back up and keep going at a pace that's comfortable for you. Progress isn't always linear, and that's okay. There are people who love you and want to see you happy and healthy, both physically and mentally.

(I love you too btw :3)

Thank you! This is really nice I didn’t expect that, I’ll try to work on this :)

[sixthwater]

Dean Winchester (Rough) Natal Chart Analysis

As a gift for a friend, I did a gen rough analysis for the character dean winchester since one of their interests is supernatural. I on the other hand have only seen a few episodes from season one, so I was simply grooving here and if I can find their reactions I’ll add them lmao

Still can’t get over the fact that he’s supposedly a cancer rising beware, copy and pasting from google docs below!

There’s a few things that I want to look into and assess first (mainly career aspects because I’ve been focused on training my eye for that, but I find it interesting with the little knowledge I have of Supernatural), and a bit of his roots and connections to others, because that’s also interesting to me – however I’m going to try and go in my normal order so the important parts of the chart (asc, sun, chart ruler, moon, etc) aren’t forgotten

Cancer Ascendant

I’ve noticed that people with this asc tend to be great caretakers – which is due to their cap dsc. They want to make sure they have a secure place in the world and they can have a ‘sensitive’ approach to how they do things. Not in a sense that they’re easily affected, but they love/care for things heavily, so if they feel that it’s compromised in some way, they will take the proper steps to fix their shell so they are no longer hurt. I’m a bit annoyed because the Ascendant is very important but I have nothing else to say about it and more about his moon which is the chart ruler. There are no aspects being made to it, but his chart just has more important stuff for my eye besides this.

Chart Ruler - Sagittarius Moon in the Sixth House

A Sag moon is going to brighten his cancer attributes a bit. Internally it might cause some frustration (cancer & sagittarius naturally have friction, trying to balance elements that argue with each other within your chart will be a lesson to learn throughout your life) but on the other hand it can cause someone who seems very inviting, loving, or sweet. You mix the bubbly sag with the caring cancer and it attracts people naturally.

People with a Sagittarius Moon are going to end up being drawn to various walks of life and needing stimulation in order to feel comfortable. They will want to experience new environments or thrills, not just hear about them. So the more chances to do things, the happier they’ll be. They are also jolly souls, though they can sometimes have that blunt edge to them.

Having the Moon sitting within the Sixth will also mean that he is easily affected by his routines, work, environments, etc. For ex; he needs to watch his diet since he’d be prone to overeating if stressed out or upset. A co-worker he doesn’t like could make him act out at work more (especially with that sixth stellium). So all things dealing with the sixth house will in turn affect his emotions and internal cycle. With it being a fire sign, he will act first and think later, so it’s a bit helpful that he won’t sit on it and let it stew – ruining his body even more. However the downside is that if he feels bad, he will immediately act on it, and then process that it could’ve been solved another way. Sagittarius is a philosopher and enjoys higher thinking, but it’s still a fire sign. Also a smart-ass.

Sixth House Stellium – he could be prone to low self-esteem. Not just from this stellium, but planets here come naturally so they are hidden from the native. Unless the chart has help somewhere else, there’s a natural response to downplay compliments because the native doesn’t have physical evidence themselves.

Moon, Venus, and Neptune sitting here – this feels very healing in nature which I will come back around to when talking about both his career and childhood. His emotions are going to be visible to those that he works with or those that deal with him daily – even if he isn’t aware of it. So whatever habits learned from childhood, pure/facial reactions, things that go unfiltered, etc – they will be what’s remembered. Venus can show a person that has a natural charm or charisma – sometimes even being a natural beauty. This points to someone who is loved by a lot of their co-workers unless afflicted. It’s also someone who has high standards for themselves and can sometimes be awkward when trying to navigate their own love lives. Neptune is backing up that ‘emotions affecting the health’ issue. It can cause small hiccups that might not be picked up when going to get checked out. It can also be flare ups. They’re also a sign that they are easily influenced by outside forces so creating a good boundary between people and the self is Very important.

With Sagittarius being the sign here, it’s a sign that there’s a 50/50 shot he’s liked or hated. Sagittarius is charming but they have a mouth on them. However he has pleasant signs in the sixth, so it helps ease that up. Sagittarius also helps ease that awkward and tense energy it throws onto planets that enter that house.

Now they make some interesting aspects but I’ll come back to them.

What’s in a Career?

yaaay finally got to it – so for this we usually look at:

-Ascendant

-Tenth House

-Tenth House Ruler

-Midheaven/MC

-2nd, 6th, and 10th House for income/workplace energy

-North Node

So I spoke briefly about the Cancer Ascendant; they seek security within this lifetime. So in turn, they will want to provide security for others. They are great at providing it actually so much so that some of them want to be protected by others every once in a while. With angles, all of this energy repeats. They seek out security (1) > their home usually was domestic/peaceful for the greater good (4) > they become someone who can provide that same energy and end up attracting people who are older or mature for their age (7) > they become leaders, self-employed, or entrepreneurs (10).

The tenth house sits within Aries, which is co-ruled by Mars. When looking at traditional rulership you have to understand how the signs operate. Scorpio is ruled by mars as well, but it’s energy will store it, it will be methodical, it wants to go the distance, it’s in the background until it needs to strike. Aries on the other hand will come crashing in. It wants to fight, it will tackle the problem without a clear concise plan, but it’s going to make sure it’s solved. So they’re both action oriented, and they will both use their body, but in very different ways.

Using the body being the keyword.

A few things that Aries 10th house careers usually involve are: firemen, armed forces, rangers, welders, locksmiths, athletes, race car drivers, boxers, dancers, etc (and ofc, executives and the like). You get the point. Intense use of the body.

So we follow where his mars is going and it sits within the 8th! (sidenote: I don’t like how many house placements we share what does this mean for my career) So the eighth usually talks about loans, debts, shared money issues, inheritances, transformation/transition, and gaining/losses. For modern astrology it can also include the occult but that’s more the twelfth. However having Aquarius sit on the eighth, will still include things of that nature because Aquarius can share topics that are seen as obscure and at the time, the occult or astrology was seen as such (however once again, that’d be more Pisces or Scorpio) but they mainly talk of things like technology or science. SO basically this means that his career will be delivered out in a way that his energy is devoted to things of a give and take nature that might deal with science. Then we add the sun. Whatever this career is, it’s his identity. It’s an important part of him, and it will either bring drama or be a way of expressing himself.

So let’s bring in his actual Midheaven, which is a Pisces MC. So what did I say about Pisces lmao. We’ve already crossed out a lot of options for Pisces. It sits within the Ninth house which just slams down on Jupiter (Pisces and Sag are ruled by Jupiter, Sag sits within the Ninth). The ninth also can stand for a job that either involves the father in some way, it’s satisfying in some way as it’s a soulful career, or it’s the standard priest option because that’s the only path we have left. So let’s look at Jupiter, the ruler.

Jupiter sits within Leo in the second. Leo in the second is a sign that you should be selling yourself as it’s profitable, but we know any sort of modeling is out of the question lmao, it might just be a great asset in some other way. Jupiter in the second means there’s no issue with making money (maybe an issue with spending it if anything as it opposes mars, but that’s not a bad aspect in this case). The second house is once again pointing to a family business, it’s ruler is the sun so we just go back in a circle. In issues like these we look at the quality of the house. As I mentioned before – Leo should be selling the self. So this house wants to be able to manage itself and profit off of self-expression. So the career is pointing towards more of an entrepreneur like job despite all of it’s jupiter energy (lmao what is he a boss babe).

The only other thing we have to add is the energy of the sixth that is constantly fluctuating, plus with that Neptune sitting there it’s like what he does is truly not…it’s not usual. I’m watching The Blacklist and it feels like whatever they do, where they have to work in a secret site and not explain anything about their job – but it’s nowhere near that stiff. Plus Sagittarius means there’s no set routine and travel is abundant in order to be happy. Maybe not every day, but a lack of travel would make him restless.

FINALLY THE NODE. His node sits within the third house; communication, siblings, short journeys, etc. It’s also in Virgo which supports his sixth stellium – he wants to be of service, but needs to be able to be recognized for his work that he’s done. There is no doing stuff in silence and gaining no reward, which is slightly going against his tenth ruler.

Now the third house node is funny as hell I don’t have to spell that out. More importantly I think it’s interesting that Saturn sits alongside his Node. He has to ground himself and come back to be present, and that Saturn is showing up as being a responsible caretaker to the immediate people around him. Which works well with his Descendant as those qualities will pop up naturally. Mercury sits there so it’s probably more through communication (dryly, probably stiff, but it’s communicated). He’s battling the premise that his job is to be done not seen or heard, but his chart is urging him to understand that it’s okay to take the rewards after a hard job is done or to like pamper himself sometimes.

Mars is opposing his Jupiter so there’s a habit of pushing the bar. He might do too much because he believes he can achieve it and sometimes he can, sometimes he fucks it up. Also, Mars is a malefic (negative) meanwhile Jupiter is a benefic (positive). When they both sit in money houses that’s important to note, especially when they aspect each other. It’s like they negative the influences on the house – so mars could have him constantly ask for money or burn through it, but it’s hitting Jupiter which would mean it’s easy influx of money is also lowered. So income could come at the right time, but then he goes through it. So there’s an idea that he isn’t too worried about money because it works out as it’s worked out before.

Childhood

Okay last part because I’m talking too much honestly- Did you think I was going to ignore that pluto in the fourth lmao.

Pluto in the fourth is usually not very fun. It is a sign that something big happened during childhood and the native takes that with them. It’s changed their perception and how they walk through life and it impacts their tenth. The possibilities are usually an oppressive energy within the household, an unstable figure, being abandoned, feeling unloved. It’s possible that the family itself was fine but there was an external event that affected the home and it’s affected the native. In this case, since Pluto is squaring Mercury, it seems to be within the family and due to an event there was a shut down of expression. Act one way and that’s the only way. Especially since Pluto sits within an air sign and now Mercury sits within Cap who is usually snarky and more direct – expresses facts. I also wouldn’t be surprised if a traumatic event occurred because his sun is also in his eighth along with that Pluto in the fourth – so considering the show did this start at a young age? Those houses are known to be sensitive to this stuff. Anyway, I also see a natural channel to being a protector. In general, but mainly a big brother. Malefics within the fourth will make someone closed off but protective of others, and I already expressed my thoughts on Saturn in the third.

Saturn is also Squaring his Moon, so there’s another affect of restricted emotions or a sign of heavy responsibilities. There’s a scene from Always Sunny where Dennis talks about ‘how he’s feeling his emotions all the time like is that normal’ and that’s literally natives who have a Moon-Saturn aspect lmao. So there’s some sort of conditioning where it’s like…emotions bad control good, but it was for a reason (I wonder why).

Last bit is that Venus Squares his Saturn – which points again to having a conflicted sense of self. Some natives will hold off on love due to external factors, and then it causes a distorted view of the self. They wonder if they can ever obtain it or if they should give up on it, but it usually gets better with time (plus it’s sag influenced and he has uranus sitting in his fifth so like, this is long term not flings or whatever).

————————

Yaaaaaay

Ok that’s it. He has a T-Square but like…I generally brushed over it already. But yaaay he has a t-square go dean!

Oh. I wasn’t touching his chiron either to not upset you. You’ll be fine.

Oh yeah and who did his character end up with? Was it anyone? I wanna test out his seventh house I’m not even bothering to look at his relationships with that fifth I know that shit messy (I generally picked up on no heavy romantic energy, so whoever who he ends up with is of circumstance to put it nicely).

[chericheribaby]

20 questions for fic writers!

thank you for the tag lovely kay @xjustakay <3

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

Six so far!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

57,991 —which might not seem much but still, very proud of it, specially because a year ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed writing that many words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far only marauders, but I have some drarry/golden trio era in the making, as well as some PJO and GO so, we’ll see!

4. What are you top 5 fics by kudos?

Since I don’t have that many I’ll only put my top three:

Archenemies (or so he thought) -> Sirius hunts down his bestie James for ditching him on a prank and finds him cuddling with the enemy (a black cat) who turns out to be more of a pain in the ass than he expected, especially because for some reason, the little shit acts a lot like his brother.

Don’t threaten me with a good time -> Ah, Black cats, mischievous little things, aren’t they? Known for being a pain in the ass for older brothers, a good companion for best friends and devil incarnated for lovers and love ones alike.

When it rains -> It all comes down to a certain bus stop on a rainy week. Between interesting chats, pastries and being almost ran over by a purple car, there’s something about the person they share the bus stop with that seems familiar. (Basically a bunch of meet-cutes and pinning idiots being, well, idiots)

5. Do you respond comments? Why or why not?

I do, yes! I love responding to comments but sometimes I tell myself I’m going to answer later in the day and I forget :( but I do love comments, they make my day every time. 💘

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hands down it will be slow dancing in the dark, the whole fic is quite angsty, at least for me, but I wouldn’t say it has a angsty ending, maybe a little— nvm I just re-read it. Yeah, it’s sad.

7. What is a fic your wrote with the happiest ending?

My babygirl some sunny day, that fic is my go-to when I remember this fandom is based in death, angst and misery hahaha. Some sunny day is like a, well, a ray of sunshine lmao. It has my favorite setting, my fave pairs and some Spanish here and there. Love it dearly.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully no, maybe some weird ones but nothing that I would count as hateful. Really grateful for that, dunno what I would do if I were to receive those on a daily basis, never post again most likely lmao.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Haven’t post smut yet but I wrote some, still in the doc and everything but is there, waiting to be posted 😈

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest you’ve written?

Not really my thing, no. but maybe! who knows

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, haven’t looked Wattpad yet tho.

12. Have you ever has a fic translated?

No, but if anyone would want to, it would be lovely!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

It’s in the making, actually! @sequinhaze and I are doing a drarry fic, so there’s that 😌

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

All-time favorite is a not easy to answer, i mean currently it’s drarry and jeggy but my first was Percabeth and Solangelo, I was a sucker for them and still am. So maybe them.

15. What’s a wip you what to finish but doubt you ever will?

The empire of the sun trilogy jsjsjs maybe I’ll finish the first one but the other two seem pretty far away for me right now, but one never knows so.

Also copying Kay’s answer here because my google docs also looks like a graveyard of unfinished works lmao.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I believe I give a solid characterization and maybe storytelling (?? Inner monologue maybe? love to see the chaos i created in my little puppets.

17. What are you writing weaknesses?

Run on sentences, I’ve been told I tend to do that a lot hehe and comas —also it costs me greatly to just write, if I’m not in the mood it’s hard for me to just go for it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

1000% I’m favor. Some of my fics have French/Spanish in them, I like the idea of leaving non-spanish speakers to go to the end notes or to google translate or straight-up wonder what the hell I’m talking about jsjsj

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Some 1D and JB back in the day, so you bet your asses y/n and I were besties

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

About time, scars and the brightest stars is my absolute favorite. That fic is the love of my life, it has everything I love and more and rn I can put the link bc I took it down so I can finish it all and post it in one go but yeah, that one.

no pressure tags: @sequinhaze @a-fiery-fox @residentrookie @magswrite @fruityindividual @nevvaraven @inevitablestars @arakhnee

[decidentia]

Hi gang! Just some housekeeping under the cut:

I’ll soon be rocking a blog makeover courtesy of the absurdly talented Briar ( @villiansrph ) – I can’t wait to bask in all its moody gorgeousness!

A plotting call will be going up later today.  I know I posted one fairly recently for a small selection of characters, but this one will be open for my entire cast, and this time I’ll be getting back to everyone.  I plan on finally answering the rest of my DMs too.

I’ll be doing another ( small ) follower clean-up on Sunday.  Nothing personal, I’m just determined to keep things tight and clean here.

On that note:  I’ve set up an aesthetic side-blog and will be using this to hoard inspiration posts.  From now on, drafts will only be for threads I owe in and dash games I plan to participate in.

I’ll be moving to my new Discord soon.  Going forward, I’ll be fairly picky about who I give my handle to, and it’s very unlikely I will join group servers – private servers are a different kettle of fish, however.  If we’re mutuals, I’ll share my new contact in due course, or you’re welcome to ask for it.

For the next six weeks or so, my workload is going to be through the roof.  Please bear with me!  Once the upcoming arts festival is over, I’ll have more spoons to spend here.

Send all the memes, send all the memes! I highly recommend sending multiple asks as it increases the likelihood of me answering one.  Basically, my process is to look at a prompt, and to give myself a minute or two to mull it over. If I can’t visualise a response it will be deleted, but a copy of the ask will be kept in a Google Doc – in case I have a flash of inspiration!

I want to make a concerted effort to meet the energy of people who are keen to engage with me and to build compelling dynamics, etc.  I feel like I’ve been failing to do this. The flip-side of this is that I’ll be pulling away from collaborations where it feels like I’m making a main course out of a side dish.

Muses are going to be reordered under a new structure of primary, secondary, request only, and dormant.  There are no startling changes planned.

I’ve become one of those people who prefers to keep their likes clean.  You may see me responding to posts with a ♡

At the time of this post, I’m most interested in high fantasy, modern (with or without supernatural elements), post-apocalyptic and horror settings.

And that’s it!  Love you all, and thank you for continuing to be so patient with me as I try to find my flow again.

[shinydmoon]

Please note that this is copy pasted from Google Docs so formatting is wrong.

Lets just think through large groups then spilt them

Nature

Beast

Plant

Earth

Elements

Fire/Heat

Air(Wind-Storm-Breath)

Water(Vapor to Ice)

Create

Herb/Alcamie

Structural

Smith

Gem enhancer

Find/Collection

Miner

Bone/history

Plant farm

How works? Everybody is born with 1 of the 13 Magics(there is Null aka 14 but thats both hard to confirm and typically is ‘masking’ a second magic that is of the 13 so most just think it took them practice to awaken magic)

There’s normally no defining mark of what magic at birth, but it is genetic(i’ll go over the Dominant vs Resesive later) so if both parents share a Base group(Nature, Element, Create, or ‘Gather’) the kid is like 80% likely to also fall into it.

By 10 years there are enough signs of the kids' magic to solidify what magic they got. Difficult cultures have ways of handling it. Some Tattoo the kids with the Head and Sub group marks, others give the people articles or Set wardrobe, and others don’t care besides on Documents.

[womenblogger]

8 ChatGPT Prompts to Outperform a Team of 20: Maximize Efficiency

AI isn’t just artificial; it’s authentically driving a productivity revolution. With ChatGPT, efficiency becomes second nature, and productivity becomes a way of life

If you are not using ChatGPT, you are falling behind. ChatGPT and other AI tools have the potential to make you super productive and effective at whatever you do. I‘ve found that combining multiple(2–3) productivity and AI tools can be a game-changer, especially when working with ChatGPT. For a fraction of the cost of ChatGPT’s Pro subscription, I use tools like Quillbot(2.5$ per month), TheSukha.co(5$ per month), and Notion AI(8$ per month) to boost my productivity. Strong prompting skills will always be an asset even while working with other LLM/Generative AI tools. Use these 8 ChatGPT prompts to get the best out of ChatGPT and transform your life.

To add more value and as a USP of my blog, at the end of this blog post, I have designed and deployed the ChatGPT cheat sheet/carousel of the prompts discussed here for you to use, download and share. Also, I’ll share this month’s bonus tip or best productivity tools that are cheap, effective, and a game changer, which I personally use, prefer, and insist you all try. So do check them out and use them.

Here is the Bonus tip for you all:

1) NOTION: Bonus Tip 1: One great AI all-in-one Productivity/Task management tool I recently started using is Notion. Over the past few months, Notion has become famous and my absolute favorite. If you’re like me, Juggling work, daily tasks, notes, and projects is tough. Multiple tabs for email, Slack, and Google Docs make it overwhelming. I personally use Notion AI, which streamlines everything in one place. It’s a game-changer, and you won’t regret using it. I’ve been using its PRO version for a while now, and I must say, it’s been a complete game-changer for me. With almost every online co-working tool integration you can think of, it makes my daily work routine a breeze. Plus, the pricing is unbeatable/cheapest for the tonnes of features it provides compared to all other all-in-one AI productivity tools I have used.Best all-in-one AI Productivity tool for this month 2)QUILLBOT: Bonus Tip 1: One great AI Productivity Writing tool I recently started using for day-to-day writing and tasks such as plagiarism checker, grammar checker, QuillBot-Flow , QuillBot AI Content Detector, Paraphraser, Summariser, and translator is QuillBot . I wanted to try something similar and cheaper than Grammarly(12$ per month). I took up its yearly premium for around $4/month (58% off) . The price was literally dirt cheap compared to other writing tools I have used in the past. I personally love QuillBot Flow, and the whole set of amazing writing tools it offers. Personally, it’s UI and UX is very simple and easy to use. So I just wanted to share this awesome, productive tool with you all. Do check it out and use it in your day-to-day writing tasks. 

Best Productivity Writing tool for this month I really insist you to go try the above tools out. Trust me, you won’t regret using these tools and will thank me later. Let’s get started and copy and paste these prompts and use them.

INDEX

The McKinsey 7S Framework Learn Complicated Topics Faster Business Analysis The Cynefin Framework Write a copy for your Business Strengthen your Persona Development Skills Create a successful product launch strategy Get Advice from your Business Idols

Prompt 1: The McKinsey 7S Framework Prompt: “

Analyze [MY PRODUCT/BUSINESS] using the 7S framework. How aligned are our strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, and staff?

“ Prompt 2: Learn Complicated Topics Faster Prompt: “ Explain [COMPLEX TOPIC] like I’m a 5 year old “ Prompt 3: Business Analysis Prompt: “

Analyze the current state of the [INDUSTRY] and describe its trends, challenges, and opportunities. Support your analysis with relevant data and statistics. Additionally, provide a comprehensive list of key players in the industry.

” Prompt 4: The Cynefin Framework Prompt:

“ Evaluate the problems [MY PRODUCT/BUSINESS] faced using the Cynefin Framework. Are they simple, complicated, complex, chaotic, or in disorder?

“ Prompt 5: Write Copy for Your Business Prompt: “ Write a 50-word copy for a product called [PRODUCT NAME] that helps struggling [TARGET AUDIENCE] get more followers and earn money in 30 days with a guarantee, then ask them to sign up at [COMPANY]. “ Prompt 6: Strengthen your Personal Development Skills Prompt:

[ DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND CHALLENGES]. Using the GROW(Goal, Reality, Options, Will) coaching model helped me create a personal development plan to achieve my goals. “

Prompt 7: Create a successful product launch strategy Prompt:

“[INSERT A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR PRODUCT AND TARGET AUDIENCE] Guide me through developing a product launch strategy using the Product Launch Formula to generate interest and sales.

“ Prompt 8: Get Advice from your Business Idols Prompt:

“Here is the situation I’m currently facing: [INSERT SITUATION] Based on these circumstances, what would [STEVE JOBS]? recommend me to do? “

CONCLUSION I hope you enjoyed reading this blog about some handpicked and tested top 8 ChatGPT Prompts that will make you more productive than a team of 20 employees. Try out these prompts, save this post in your reading list, and keep experimenting with the ChatGPT prompts mentioned here.

Try out these prompts, save this post in your reading list, and keep experimenting with the ChatGPT prompts mentioned here. Awesome, you have reached the end and have already become more smarter, effective, and productive just by learning about these Prompts. The next step is to use them. Good luck!

Thanks for reading; if you liked my content and want to support me, the best way is to —

Follow Me On Tumbler .

[snzysimper]

FINALLY!! I haven’t posted a fic in AGES. Apologies for that. This is probably the longest thing I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of how this turned out. It took me a while, but I hope it was well worth the wait for everyone. This is the re-write of this fic. I tried to keep it loyal to the original, but also make it better.

Note: I had everything italicized and shit, but tumblr is stupid and doesn’t keep it when it gets copy pasted from a google doc so I’ll go back and fix it later. For now, you can just use your imagination because I am to lazy to do it rn.

Another note: not that this really matters, but Security Breach doesn’t exist in my AU, so first of all, no ‘Burntrap’ and also no SB Vanessa. I much prefer the fan made version from Help Wanted, so that is who I use in my fics and such, but feel free to portray it however you like. She just looks better. Feel free to look at some fan art else where.

A Warm Surprise

A Will/iam x Van/ny Snz Fic

Written by SnzySimper

Word Count: 1950

TW: Spray, Snz (ofc), mentions of deceased children (only briefly)

| I am allowed to write what I want and I would appreciate if you keep whatever rude comments you may have to yourself |

It is about 11 o’clock at night. The pizzeria was far past closing, which was 8 o’clock. One would generally expect for the place to be empty. Isn’t that how this works anyway? Starting in only one hour, the haunted robots spring to life and, well, you know the rest. But, no, not right now. We are far beyond that point. Long story short, after the closing and re-opening, new animatronics were made, and the Fazbear brand was re-started after someone bought the name. As of the current moment, a new man owns the name brand. Well, not quite. After escaping his presumably eternal hell, William Afton put his consciousness inside of a game, making himself nothing but a piece of computer code. With the help of an innocent bystander, he was set free into the world again and, under a new name, bought his company back. Who’s his partner in crime, you may ask? A young woman named Vanessa, or Vanny, as William usually calls her. His little reluctant follower, although she has become less reluctant as time has gone by. In fact, she had become much less of a follower and more of a friend. The two did most everything together. Were they themselves together? Well, no. Not right now, anyway.

Sitting down on a table, Vanny looked over towards the animatronics. They were powered off, as they should be. She and ‘Dave’ planned to keep it that way. No more vengeful ten year olds wanting to damn your soul. And hopefully not ever again. He didn’t have any reason to make it happen again. He had obtained his immortality, so why would he need to kill more children. It’s not like he needs the remnant. She glances around the pizzeria, not used to it being so empty and quiet. No sounds of children giggling and screaming. No music. Only the hum from the air conditioner. A bit creepy and unsettling to most, but she had come quite accustomed to it. She found it almost peaceful. It was silent, and peaceful, and not a single sound to-

“-gGGes’SSHHhss!!”

Slightly startled at the broken silence, Vanny looks up. She was alone in the pizzeria, minus her ‘boss’. It had to have been him. Come to think of it, had she ever heard him sneeze before? Being a computer code, she didn’t really think he could sneeze. Oh well. Who cares? A sneeze is a sneeze. No skin off her teeth. She pulls out her phone, not paying it anymore mind. “Hh’gGG’shhh!!..’Ggsshh!” Well, this was certainly interesting. It was strange enough for this to happen once, granted that it had never happened before. But three times? Curious to what could possibly be happening, Vanny hops off of the table to go and find him. It was getting to be time to head home, so she should go and get him anyway.

~~~~

“Hhhh…”

Sitting at his desk, William breathes heavily. He was happy that the day was finally over. He could just go home and fall asleep on the sofa. He crosses his arms and lowers his head, about to fall asleep in the chair. In front of him are blueprints for trying to fix SpringBonnie. Trying. Although he may as well just start from scratch. The suit itself is beyond repair, but the internal parts, or at least the springlocks, could possibly be salvaged. It would take a good bit of effort though. As the AC turns on, he shivers, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest. Was it usually this cold in the pizzeria? Or maybe someone had just messed with the thermostat. Who knows. Giving William the benefit of the doubt, he is a TWIG. The average weight for someone who is 7’2 is around 230. William is 190. One could say that this is due to him not eating much. He doesn’t see a reason why he should. As we have previously established, he’s already immortal. It isn’t like he can starve. Although, the occasional meal is nice. He slowly raises and tilts his head back, his breath hitching slightly. “hhHh’GGschh!!” Damn. Why is he so cold? Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, he sighs. Was it possible he could- no. No, no. He’s a piece of computer code for crying out loud; barely even able to be classified as a human being at this point. Being sick is completely out of the question.

Right?

It had been a long day of listening to the same 6 songs on repeat, children's laughter, and, worst of all, the smell of shitty cheap pizza. He was more than ready to go home by now. Vanny walks in the room, softly knocking on the door. “Mr. Afton?” She walks up behind him, and gently places her hand on his shoulder. Having completely zoned out, he jumps at the touch of her hand. She jerks her hand back. “M-Mr. Afton-! I’m so sorry, did I wake you?” While they were ‘friends’, Vanny’s voice still trembled whenever addressing him. She knew all that he had done in the past, and was terrified of what he would be capable of doing now that he was immortal and essentially invincible. William, however, didn’t respond in his usual manner. “Vanessa,” he gives her a small weak smile. He doesn’t face her directly. He simply looks back at her using only his eyes. His piercing, icy blue eyes. “It’s nearly midnight.” She wrung her hands. “Shouldn’t we be leaving soon?”

“Yes. Worry not, we will be heading out soo-”

He abruptly stops speaking. He looks a bit dazed for a moment before quickly bringing his hand to his face, pinching his nose. “Ht’nnt-!” It is almost silent. “Ht’nxxt!! ‘nxxT -nnt!” And again. “hhHt’nkkt!!”

“Bless you,” Vanny says softly. He lets go of his nose, which is now a warm pink, and sniffles as he wipes his nose on the back of his hand. “Hhh, thank…thank you.” At last, he turns in his chair to face her. Vanny is worried by the sight of him. His cheeks are a touch of pink, and so does his nose, although his nose is a brighter shade. The parts of his face that aren’t flushed somehow look even more pale than they usually do. The dark circles under his eyes are more noticeable than normal. Tiny droplets of sweat are present on his forehead. Almost by instinct, she reaches up and gently presses the back of her hand against his forehead. “Mr Afton, you look awful. Are you feeling alright?” Realizing that she literally just reached up and touched his face without any sort of warning, she panics and quickly tries to jerk her hand away. Before she can fully pull her hand away, William reaches up and presses the palm of her hand against his cheek, sighing happily. Vanny blushes, shocked by the intimate gesture. He closes his eyes and lowers his head. He looks very happy to say the least. “Your hand,” he says quietly. “It feels really warm. It feels nice.”

“Your face is very warm, too. And not in a good way.” She lets him hold her hand and uses her other hand to feel his forehead again, now assuming that he doesn’t mind her touching his face. “You have a fever. I’m sure of it.” She removes her hand from his forehead and moves his hair so it isn’t covering his eyes. “Mmhm,” he hums in agreement, although she is quite sure that he isn’t paying all that much attention to what she is saying. She laughs softly. “Come on, let's go home.”

Vanny helps walk him into the house. Leaving her side, William walks away and flops face first onto the couch. He looks pretty comfortable. Vanny giggles. She isn’t used to seeing him so relaxed. Usually when he interacts with others, he lacks much emotion and is very curt. Any time someone tries to care for him or assist him with something non-work related, he snaps at them to leave him alone. With her he is usually a bit more friendly, but not much. Tonight, he had been everything but that. He even smiled at her. Vanny walks over to the couch and sits down next to him. William helps himself and rests his head on her lap. She lets out a small squeak, shocked at the fact that he is being so affectionate. She sighs and begins gently scratching his head. He smiles. “We should probably get some medicine for you.” William hums softly. “I’m fiiine.” He closes his eyes, sighing softly. Vanny sighs. “Alright. If you say so.” She didn’t want to challenge him on anything, so as not to take his gentle and chill attitude for granted.

They are silent for a good ten minutes before William starts sniffling. Vanny looks down at him. He is rubbing his face with the back of his hand, his nose clearly irritated. William eventually gives up, deciding that his efforts to relieve the itchy tickling sensation in his nose are fruitless. He looks adorable, Vanny thinks. She gently presses the tip of his nose with her index finger. “h’EHshhSS!” Vanny jumps slightly. “Oh. Bless you.”

“Mmm..what was thah for?” He grumbles sleepily. “Sorry. You just looked so cute. Your nose was twitching like a little bunny.” Vanny giggles. William rolls over to face up at her, his eyes still closed. “Could you..do it again?” She is a bit surprised, and pretty confused. “What, why would you want-”

“My nose..it’s still itchy. I need to sneeze. Please…” He opens his eyes looking up at her, his eyes practically begging for her to do something. Vanny can’t help but feel bad for him. “Alright.” She takes her thumb and index finger and begins gently rubbing the sides of his nose.He sniffles a few times as she continues to gently touch his nose. “I-is this helping? Is it working?” He sniffles once again. “Y-yeah, snff, sorta.” Vanny moves from the sides of his nose to the base, just below his nostrils. “Oh- hihh right sndff there..” She continues rubbing his nose, a bit harder this time. William’s breath is hitching. He tilts his head back, before inhaling sharply. “Hh’Gggshhs!! HGg’essh!! EH-shhiis! Ht’chh ‘chtt!!” He tries his best to avoid spraying Vanny, although he still gets her a little. Vanny lifts his head off of her lap. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go find some tissues.” She quickly rushes out of the living room to go and search for tissues.

William sits up, holding his nose shut as he continues to sneeze wetly. “hMP’tchh! Ht’CHH!! T’chh k‘chh -gSHH!!” Vanny comes back with a box of tissues and sits back down on the couch. She hugs William, leaning him back in her arms. She holds the box of tissues out in front of him. He quickly grabs one and holds it up to his face. “H’ppshh!! Hh’IISHH!!” He sighs, having been able to finally catch his breath. He rubs his nose with the tissue. His nose is revealed to be much more pink than it was before. He sniffles, draping his arms on Vanny’s shoulders, holding on to her like a sloth. He rests his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. “I’mb sorry sndDF for..snff sneezigg on you.” Vanny chuckles softly. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.” She rubs his head and begins playing with his hair. Laying down, she holds onto William and hugs him close. “Try and get some sleep, alright?” William hums in response. It isn’t long before she hears him softly snoring. She smiles, kissing the top of his head. “Sleep well, Mr. Afton.”

[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

It would be super cool to see your voice claims for the characters!

VOICE CLAIMS WOO!

Okay okay so this is a very long list, because I’m indecisive, and originally I would’ve loved to make this a video but alas I do not how to edit, nor do I own my computer, so it’ll have to wait

I was debating if I should of just sent my Google doc here of everything (because that doc has even more then I’m sending here) but I decided to just- copy and paste some of it so apologizes in advance for the length!

This list is very extensive and I’ve pulled voices from ALL over the place, I haven’t even watched all these shows, most of this I’ve just seen through clips and went “omg it’s perfect” so it’s a mess I’m sorry akdjsjd

Long post ahead!! (Italicized font are the ones I especially like the most)(I’ve also included links to some of these if you’ve never heard them)

UNDERTALE

Frisk

•Gregory (Over the garden wall)- Colling Dean

•Jessica (Craig of the creek)- Lucia Grace Cunningham

•Chihiro (spirited away English dub)- Daveigh Chase

•chowder (chowder)- Nicky jones

•niki yang, BMO (adventure time), Candy (gravity falls)

Flowey

•Yakko Warner (animaniacs) -Rob paulsen

•Richard Horvitz

Toriel

•Sigourney weaver

•little foots mother (land before time)

•Kala (Tarzan)- Glenn close and Kat cressida

•freya (god of war)- Danielle bisutti

Napstablook

•Sadness (Inside out)- Phyllis smith (although maybe a tad pitched down. But only a smidge)

Sans

•Herb (BoJack horseman)- Stanley Tucci

•Bob (bobs burgers)-H. Jon Benjamin

•Moist Cr1tikal (the YouTuber)

•Revtrosity (also a YouTuber)

•Red guy (DHMIS) -Joseph pelling

Papyrus

•Jacksepticeye (you all know who that is.)

•Scudworth (clone high)

•Skeletor (he-man) (I think this one speaks for itself)

•revtrosity (YouTube)

Monster kid

•Darwin Watterson (Gumball)

•Steven universe- Zach Callison (specifically young steven)

•Wybie (Coraline)- Robert Bailey Jr

Grillby

•Jack Skellington (nightmare before Christmas)- Danny elfman and Chris Sarandon

•Wirt (over the garden wall)- Elijah wood

Gaster

•Narrator (the Stanley parable) kevan Brighting

•bubo (bubo)- James dijit

•knight lautrec (dark souls)

•Sasha barbicon (titanic adventure out of time)

Undyne

•Jasper (Steven universe)- Kimberly brooks

•kuvira (legend of Korra)- Zelda Williams

•Yunan (amphibia)

Alphys

•Peridot (Steven universe) -Shelby Rabara

•Lara Jill Miller

Mettaton

•ENA (ENA)- Gabe V and Lizzie freeman

Mettaton Ex

•Alaska thunderfuck (hieeeee)

Burgerpants

•Hiccup (HTTYD)- Jay baruchel

•Randell(monsters inc)- Steve Buscemi

Asgore

•Mufasa (lion king)

•Aslan (Narnia)- Liam neeson

Asriel

•Lewis (meet the robinsons)

•kubo (kubo and the two strings)- art parkinson

•yes hear me out: Max (camp camp) -Michael Jones

Hyperdeath Asriel/Adult asriel

•Anakin (Star Wars)

Chara

•Connie (Steven universe)

•Kristofferson (fantastic mr fox)- Eric chase Anderson

•Marcy Wu (amphibia)

•Demetri (cobra Kai the karate kid saga continues)

•Ronno (Bambi)

Temmie

•Happy (Fairytail)- Tia Ballard

Mad dummy

•Blitzo (Helluva boss)- Brandon rogers

Gerson

•Yule (Mune: guardian of the moon)- (it’s the large green old guy)

That’s it for the Classic cast so far, I’ll make a seperate post this with my picks for the Environmentalshift au and other miscellaneous voices at a later time. This took forever

Maybe someday I’ll turn this into a video. So it’s easier

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Shadow And Bone Season Two Thoughts

I’m just copying over the 3.5k google doc of doom lol because otherwise I’ll never get to it. It’s in no particular order and expect many spoilers!

— The choice to stick to Alina having prophetic dreams makes sense. But they also don’t really explain it? I could understand it with the stag since it chose her or whatever but it seems odder with her seeing the shadow fold expanding. They’re meant to be tied to her “mind palace” visits with the Darkling I think, and the overall push to make their connection something more unintentional that neither really know how to use until later in the story. But also… they’re already having full conversations from the very beginning??? So I’m not sure I get the choice to have them *both* be uncertain over whether their dreams are real or whether the other is even alive. Their dialogue is just too drawn out and fully realized. I do find it really funny though that the Darkling poses the question “are you willing to sacrifice that which is most precious to you” which is clearly narratively setting up the Mal = the third amplifier reveal. But what did he think he was talking about?? He didn’t know about that?? So what was he referring to??

— The first episode was BY FAR the weakest. The dialogue was frankly atrocious, especially the exposition. I think they even managed to make really basic comments *sound* like exposition when they weren’t meant to be. And it’s very jarring next to all the book dialogue later on, especially when one of LB’s biggest strengths has always been fantastic character voice and strong dialogue. The entire made up conflict over Mal’s former commander just happening to be there, and Alina randomly finding the Sea Whip’s general location on basically the first map she finds just feel sooo contrived. I didn’t hate the majority of the new content in this season, but basically everything in this episode on the TGT front fucking sucked. Which, if I’m not mistaken, was written by the showrunner himself, and lol. lmao. (Also WHY would the Zemeni be fantasy!christian? The way they flock to help Malina feels… weird.)

— Meanwhile: why do everyone and their mother know how amplifiers work apparently? Both Mal and Nikolai talk about them super authoritatively. They are also presented as having a strong idea of how they work vs just vaguely. And it just seems… odd? Like we know Alina didn’t know anything about them before plot stuff happened to inform her. Again it just feels like clumsy exposition overtaking character writing.

— I don’t know how I feel about them tying Nikolai back to the plot to kidnap Alina in season one. On the one hand it’s a clever way to loop him into existing plotlines, and I guess it’s a fun book nod that he was supposedly studying at Ketterdam. But it also just seems like a really backwards way to go about it? That being said, Nikolai’s interaction with the Crows is VERY fun and I like how they give us a mini identity reveal moment since book fans (and anyone who’s watched the trailer or season promo) already know about the Sturmhond/pirate reveal. Also loling forever at Alina kidnapping herself for an entire second time

— I wasn’t expecting to but I did really like how they picked several aspects from Crooked Kingdom to do so early. Unpopular opinion but Crooked Kingdom just Did Not work for me in a multitude of ways (the plot structure felt really weak, the fucking magic yellow face with Wylan and Kuwei, the way the Khergud paired with the parem plotline feel like SUCH a racist set of tropes) so seeing these fairly strong parts from it divorced from context was very fun. I was initially annoyed by the concept of Pekka Rollins being aware of Kaz so early and viewing him as a rival. But they preserved him not remembering the original con he pulled on him and Jordie which was the most important part. I think I would’ve still preferred it if he was oblivious to the Crows existence for longer, but they were really speedrunning this plotline lol and I understand how it drastically raises the stakes. Also I think we got word of god confirmation that LB herself suggested this change, so I trust it a touch more. I think the scene where Kaz beats up Per Haskell and everyone at the club was perhaps the ported over CK best that worked the least for me within its new context. But eh.

— So something I was absolutely not expecting was the Darkling’s pivot into full cartoon villain territory. On the one hand… he is simply not the OG Darkling. He’s not on his level and simply never will be! But I’m interested in the choices made so far. Though most of the dialogue out of his mouth when not breaking out book quotes is frankly fucking terrible, and I understand now why Ben Barnes kept pushing for book lines lmao. His first in-person introduction in the season pilot alone was godawful. What the actual fuck was that “cook up some dinner” line??? Anyway I liked the glimpse of social repercussions to the Grisha defecting.

— Nikolai generally very pleasantly surprised me! The initial exposition is just as bad as I suspected. But his general dialogue and delivery is good. I can definitely buy Patrick Gibson in the role. His little Superman outfit change was delightful! I LOVED that they kept Alina punching him then and there once she realizes his identity. I also really liked the choice to ease up on the animosity between him and Mal and instead give them some one on one bonding. Their relationship was surprisingly effective for me!

— I was strongly suspecting we weren’t going to get the Darkling blinding Baghra, or mutilating Genya entirely out of spite, just because of how softened he was in the previous season and that’s been fairly true. I’ve seen some people be aghast at the finger bones thing but that’s at least to a purpose, frankly I think his book retaliation is far worse. I didn’t much enjoy what they did with Baghra this season? She was mostly just giving exposition. And she just wasn’t around the gang enough for her opening up about Morozova being her father to have as much weight as it should. I also just didn’t really get the choice to handle her death the way they did with the burning building etc. It felt particularly rushed and was the part I had to pause the most to explain book context to my friend who was watching it with me.

— I do wish we’d gotten a bit more mid S&S era politicking and seeing the characters navigate a glittering court setting. The show leaned more towards militaristic. Which is fine, and I feel like the climactic sequence is implying that they’re saving the more court focused stuff for later. But I wish we’d just gotten a bit more of the general climate. Or like what the fuck the Apparat is even up to. His complete absence particularly felt like a forgotten storyline when he was fairly active and creepy in season one.

— I did NOT like the shadow blade subplot for multiple reasons. The heist itself felt the weakest of the Crow schemes, on par with their season one era kind of ridiculously spinning their wheels, the quality really plummets when they stop drawing from book content entirely. It was just poorly thought out and executed on their side, for example, why send literally everyone into the house? Did they do any recon at all? Just seems really half baked comparatively. Meanwhile it really strongly undercuts the *point* of the amplifiers and magic not being the big dramatic thing that kills the Darkling. I just adore that, in the books, it’s an entirely ordinary knife that takes him down. Especially because he *only* really counts magic/Grisha power/merzost as threats. He overlooks anything else. I just hate him being taken down by a magic blade. It also just ties into the trend of like the Darkling amplifying *himself* or giving his troops of Grisha red shirts the powdered remains of his mother’s finger bones. It just points to a need for bigger and flashier, which idk just doesn’t seem like the right choice here.

Which is funny because the biggest and flashiest scenes were the ones they toned down the most! Baghra leaping to her death to steer away the nichevo’ya, Nikolai turning into a demon, the entirety of the chapel showdown. I get the sense that they probably just didn’t have the budget for these scenes, and maybe that’s why they’re trying to instead bring in random other mcguffins and amplifiers to sound cooler without doing anything that’s too fancy. The sea whip scene for example also felt way too small scale, and they didn’t even bother with the red herring firebird.

— The hallucinations during the above shadow blade plot also just felt rather cheap as ways to try to do some character work and to rush some quick backstory on Jesper’s part AND to give Wylan something to do. The butterfly antidote was beyond the fucking pale in just how contrived it was lol. Like sure. it just HAPPENS to fucking be there and it’s so easy to grab. Frankly if they really wanted to do character work like that, I wish they’d leaned into it and made it magic. Some sort of Saint/Grisha controlling their dreams and deliberately manipulating their emotions perhaps either through more muddling the worldbuilding and what magic can do even more lol or just introducing the question of parem earlier. But yeah if you’re going to make them all confront their fears and wants simultaneously then at least own it and make that the point.

— I’m also loling forever at Mal being arrested at Vasily's behest and apparently tried for desertion entirely off screen?? Right before the climactic sacking of the capital? Why was there so much focus on Mal being absent if he’s just going to randomly show up again? Was it a case of the writers not talking to each other? Did they have a more fleshed out storyline planned that got cut? That just felt like the most silly and half baked development to me.

— The attack on the palace itself just felt way less momentous. The Darkling steering Alina away from the fighting was itself kind of silly. I take it that was entirely just to cut down on how much fighting and CGI we need to see on camera lol. But like he kills a bunch of people and apparently forces the government to essentially flee? But he doesn’t even take the capital for himself??? One of the biggest missed opportunities in the books in my opinion was how we never see what the Darkling actually does once he installs himself as ruler, when there has been so much focus on him gunning for that kind of unilateral institutional power. Highlighting any changes he may have enacted (or the lack thereof!) could be really interesting! But we never get those details! And the show uh does not fill in the blanks there at all. Instead it’s even more confusing over why the fuck he just… retreats? back to wherever his base is? Why the fuck didn’t he press his advantage? Also WHO is running the fucking country in the meantime?? There’s the throwaway line in the last episode about the Apparat having ruled in the king’s staid but that’s way too late and like what even were the logistics of that happening! It would’ve just made more sense for the Darkling to take over and live out his evil overlord dreams! But I guess this season was very particularly averse to giving him any control of or deliberate choices with anything lol. Anyway, I also just have no idea where he was meant to be for the majority of the season. I feel like we could’ve used a bit more detail.

— I’m mostly cool with Darklina content being nerfed for this season. They were far too softened in the first season so this 180 feels appropriate and I just prefer getting to see the Darkling be awful. And the one scene riffing off the book’s “apt pupil” moment did actually feel like it was in keeping with the spirit of their dynamic. So I’m fairly satisfied on a shippy front, even though it had almost none of what I enjoyed from the books. The show dynamic was just too different to follow that same trajectory imo. That being said, the way his interactions with Alina become increasingly violent just feels… dull. This goes hand in hand with one of my gripes with season one as well, where he just raises his voice too often, loses his temper frequently, and even has that fist fight scene. It’s such a boring like “ooh male rage” sort of take? And it didn’t really do much for me!

I’m undecided on how I feel about them having such an extended conversation after she tears down the Shadow Fold. On the one hand they didn’t get to talk all that much. So I enjoy seeing that. But also feels a little inorganic considering just how at each other’s throats they’ve been?

The nichevo’ya attacking her and him being like STOP was really funny. In general I LOVED the choice to give him fucked up victorian wasting disease and to generally just give him drastic consequences for using merzost. I’m a little unhappy with the implication that he might have been dying even if she hadn’t killed him, because there’s so much focus on the concept of eternity and who else will weather immortality with her etc. But overall I loved how much they tore him down this season.

— Despite all that. Not sure how I feel about him offering Alina a hand. And also trying to protect her from the nichevo’ya. And while he’s remembering kissing her she guts him agufgfdhhdfjgd like on the one hand good for her.gif. But damn idk. Not very Darkling of him 😂

— I don’t get the early focus on amplifiers not needing to die (with the sea whip particularly, and later with Baghra’s finger bones) to then flip over firmly to Mal 100% needing to die once it’s clear he’s the third amplifier. I get the sense that they may have been trying to pose that question and explore it (I think maybe Baghra’s bones weren’t very useful before her death?) until it’s clear that no, death *is* necessary. But it just feels rather clumsy and I think it was already fairly well established with the stag. Though I really enjoyed the later attempt they made to rules lawyer killing him by stopping his heart for two minutes lol. It’s also a great red herring for book readers, because you’d think that’s going to be the excuse for the deus ex machina of him coming back from the dead… and then he doesn’t. So Alina has do delve into merzost.

—I’m very curious what they’re going to do with the Dark!Alina development. I have truly no idea. I’m assuming some variation of KoS and since we know the Darkling will be back, I’m guessing they might have more interactions then? I found it really interesting that word of god, and generally the show’s framing, seem to imply that he’s not wrong when he’s speaking about the cost of immortality and wanting to make a difference etc etc. So that alone makes me strongly suspect that when he’s resurrected (if the show goes that far lol) she’s meant to have a stronger understanding of him. But yeah idk! I’m curious to see what they’ll do once entirely off script for her character. I’ve seen speculation that they’re going to strip her of her power eventually like in the books. But I doubt they’ll do that unless they know they’re getting canceled and want to wrap up or if JML personally wants to leave the show. They’ve been pretty explicit about keeping them on as protagonist for as long as the show’s going. So I suspect that itself will mean we probably won’t get her becoming corrupted only to justify losing her power.

— I do think it was clever how they rearranged it so that we basically do get an attack on the Spinning Wheel type beat. But it’s so different that you’re not expecting it.

— Getting the Dominik plotline so early and sparsely is a little disappointing. But I get simply showing him onscreen when we have the chance, rather than establishing him entirely in flashback after the fact. They clearly want to do KoS so I’m expecting we’ll get more about him from Nikolai’s perspective later. That being said, Nikolai telling Dominik that he and Alina aren’t a thing (after the public engagement announcement) is SO funny. Like. Are you worried that would ruin your chances with him 👀

— On that note, I frankly do not understand the Zoyalai vs Nikolina uproar. The Nikolina scenes were pretty much entirely what existed in the trilogy already, with a couple liberties taken. And they actually went out of their way to remove a few more overtly romantic gestures and the like two times they kiss. I doubt her choosing to stay on is going to stick for very long. I think a lot of people were just expecting the Nikolina scenes to be cut entirely in order to start seeding Zoyalai (which same lol) but… this isn’t that different from the books. I’m sure Zoya will just get her romantic arc later?

That being said I did always prefer Nikolina and one of my biggest gripes with KoS was that sidelining Alina while bringing the Darkling back undercut her arc entirely. So. I won’t be mad if they do more with her. But I really didn’t think they went out of their way to like encroach on future Zoyalai 🤷‍♀️

— I did really like the choice to break up Malina, literally for Malina’s sake even. Something that was always uneven in the trilogy was how it set up the first book with the implication that Alina must let go of her codependent attachment to Mal to grow. So her winding up with him by the story’s close inadvertently ends up looking like regression. So giving them a break from each other to grow as people, only to later come back together (which I’m assuming is the plan) is a great choice to keep that thematic consistency and to let the characters breathe. I was also really impressed with how they handled the Malina conflicts, his “you’re my flag, my nation” speech always felt really sulky and guilt trippy to me in the book, but the show really sells it as a sincere and heartfelt thing to say. However, with book context, it was kind of fucking hilarious to see Alina yell at him later for being too chill with all of her decisions. The “deserve her” scene was also really good, and I am a fan of how it actually established that he has any sort of dreams or distinct personality lol.

— But, I did NOT enjoy the Darkling going directly to Mal’s dreams. Though it makes sense for him to try to be sly. But it just centers him in a way fairly similar to the climactic sequence of the first season.

OR like “Mal and I changed the world. WE tore down your shadow fold” yes technically correct but stopppp

— I was a fan of the expanded role Genya got and how we got to see more of what the Darkling was up to from her perspective. And how she begins to fear him. That being said, the confrontation with the Queen, and later Nikolai, felt rather… on the nose? The dialogue in this show isn’t the best but hm that wasn’t great. I think that underground segment generally was one of the points where the rushed writing was really showing its seams.

— Speaking of the underground segment, I was shocked by just how much they’d cut the Apparat from the plot and also the general focus on Alina as a religious figure. I guess I get it structurally because they need screen time and the Apparat plot literally goes *nowhere* in the trilogy proper, so might as well save him being a turncoat for the KoS era stuff. But simultaneously… KoS gets so strongly into what Saints actually are vs how they’re been perceived up until then, which *itself* was already high key inadequate imo lmao. So cutting that groundwork even further is… a choice. So yeah I’m really intrigued how that bee aka Elizaveta foreshadowing is going to pan out if they ever get a season three.

— I liked that we got more red shirts for team Darkling at all, if only to make my fic writing life easier lol. Perhaps the only bit of TV show content I’ll ever actually use. But the focus on a super amplified evil Grisha army that it’s okay to kill without any regret is. meh. I’m assuming they just didn’t have the money for mainly focusing on the nichevo’ya as the Darkling’s primary weapon. But they just didn’t have personalities. And the fight scene just took way too long. I was definitely missing Ivan and Fedyor. Ivan’s always been my like ancillary character fave so I was sad not to see him.

— I never particularly cared for David in the books, and especially Genya/David. I just liked Genya with either Alina or Zoya sooo much more. But the actor is really charming! And the scenes they got together were really sweet. I hope he hasn’t been actually killed off and it’s only a cliffhanger fakeout. The lack of a body and how coy they were about how he disappeared feels very deliberate. So I think it’s likely they’re planning something more with him.

—Something really noticeable was how the writers completely dropped the focus on in-universe racism. I guess they just took note on how much people hated it and course corrected. But comparatively it just makes everything that came before feel much more unnecessary. It’s like so you could’ve simply had an Asian lead without making up fantasy slurs to call them all along huh?

[ltleflrt]

Helllo 🙂

Alright so the whole ao3 tos violation drama is ongoing on twitter and since your name is somehow what these people are using to legitimise their arguments, I’ll super appreciate it if you could clear up a couple of things for me.

Do you also believe the person they’re calling out is behind this? There doesn’t seem to be much proof about it except for the “everyone knows” and the google doc and some unknown insider. I’ll basically take your word as proof because I trust you.

And second, were any of your fics ever in trouble with ao3 because of this thing? It’s very hard for me to accept ao3 deletes fics because someone in the comments mentions getting a physical copy. The whole spin these people have put on this is just *shakes hands*

Thank you and I’m sorry the trolls try to stop you from making physical copies of your work. Their “well someone’s making profit” sucks!!!

I'm going to preface this with a reminder that I'm not active on Twitter, so I do not know everything that's going on there.

Do I believe the person they're calling out is behind it? Well, I believe she started it. Or at the very least was extremely vocal about her opposition to printed fics in a forum where she whipped up people who respect her opinion into having the same opinions.

I don't have proof. It has been several years since I was targeted, and I did not save receipts. I'm bad enough about doing that with things I buy in the store, so I certainly don't keep track of shit like that for fandom drama. Everyone who attacked me was on anon, and at the time I was naive enough to think it was okay to share my links publicly, so I have no idea who decided to impersonate CW/WB and report me for copyright. (I seriously doubt it was actually someone at CW/WB doing the reporting.) Someone came to me privately at the time and explained that she saw the drama go down in this person's FB group and showed me some screenshots. Here's the first anon message I got about it, and as you can see that was 5 years ago. If you check the comments you can see that someone mentions thinking they knew who it was.

I have also seen a recent screenshot where someone posted pictures of printed fics that they purchased on FB, and she responded negatively to it and said that she didn't think that the author getting zero profit was good enough since Lulu makes a profit. That's basically the same thing she and her groupies were talking about 5 years ago when they were bitching about me, so the tune has not changed in all this time. And during the conversation that followed they were patting themselves on the back for just printing their favorite fics on their home printers instead. That's what set me off on this rant. That screenshot was shared in a private discord server, and I don't intend to make it public. There are people in that FB group who don't share that person's views, and they'd like to remain anonymous.

So back to the original question. Do I think she's behind it? Yes. I've seen her name on things. And I've also seen how she has a little group of super-fans who take her opinions to heart without actually thinking about it very hard.

After the anons jumped all over me several years ago and reported my Lulu account, I just created a new account and moved on with my life after that, and am more careful about letting people buy prints than I was in the beginning. (I also stopped doing free giveaway drawings, because I didn't want to risk an unknown hater getting a free copy. Fuck them.) I didn't call anyone out, and just kept things to myself. However, when another author friend of mine had a similar experience a few years later, we compared notes and found that it was the same person whipping up outrage. My friend happens to be active in the FB group, where I am not, so she sees more of the drama there. Based on the fact that she told me the name, and I was like "oooh that person", I'm inclined to believe my friend about what she witnessed.

Any time I see another author deciding to make their prints available, I make sure to warn them about keeping their info secure, and that's the extent to which I generally get involved. Unless someone asks me about it privately, then I'll name names.

On to your second question. I have not been reported for anything on AO3 (yet, *crosses fingers*, cuz the trolls try really really really hard to punish those they disagree with). I don't think I've mentioned my printed fics in any comments. I had it in my profile for a while, with all in caps ZERO PROFIT to cover my bases, but eventually took it out to be better safe than sorry.

I'm speculating, but I suspect the AO3 reporting might have gained traction because one author got sick of having their Lulu account get stealth reported (because the trolls will pretend to be your friend and will pay actual dollars to access the links in order to report them), so they made their own website. They order the books in bulk, and then take orders through their direct website. Due to this, it's nearly impossible for them to avoid some kind of profit, due to being unable to accurately determine how much everything is going to cost to the penny, so they round up a little to make sure everything is covered. It's possible (again, SPECULATION), AO3 went ah that's the Forbidden Profit, and slammed the ban-hammer down.

Another author eventually rewrote one of their fics as an original and is selling it. I don't know if their AO3 got reported too, but that might be a potential connection to profit as well. I do know that when I first started getting angry anons 5 years ago, a few of them didn't like the idea of filing off the serial numbers of an AU and selling it as original fiction either. So it wouldn't surprise me if the Reporting Trolls still conflate Fic For Profit and Fic Rewritten As Original For Profit and went on an AO3 reporting spree for that author too, even though the situation is slightly different.

I don't work for AO3, I don't know what they're specifically looking for. But I do believe they'll delete a fic if they find something against their TOS. But I also think they're not going through it with a fine tooth comb until Reporting Trolls do it for them and find the teensiest scraps of evidence to supply them.

My take on all of that is that I hate everyone who disagrees with zero-profit fic prints, and I hope they all develop a nasty, incurable toe fungus. And until I see that one person who I believe is the ringleader of the anti campaign go "y'know what I changed my mind, here's my fic printed on Lulu too!" I'm going to think she's sus based on the screenshots I've seen and the conversations I've had with people in her FB group.

Also, why do you need proof? What's your stake in all of this? Are you planning on printing your fics and want to avoid drama? If yes, just keep it off FB. If no, then why does it matter? Continue reading that person's fic if you enjoy it, and ignore the drama. Don't report your fellow fans for zero-profit fic prints.

Anyway, I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to come off anon and message me privately about it, and I'll be a little less vague. I still don't have any proof if you want it, but I'm happy to talk about it with people.

Edit: the "you" in the proof paragraph isn't necessarily You, Nonny. I'm sorry, my brain got pissy at hypothetical requests for proof and I got carried away lol...

[foxys-fantasy-tales]

Arigale: Spite in the Spirit Ch. 5 - Betwixt

Since the first five chapters are up on Amazon as a free preview anyways, I may as well bring them on here to remove the middle man and have it up to promo myself. I will not share more since the book is for sale and this is my job, but there is other free content for the series and more on my website at ArigaleFantasy.com. Now, here's the fifth chapter! (Keep in mind this is copy/paste from google docs and not my final pdf since it's taking away all my breaks doing that.) You can find the first chapter here. You can find the second chapter here. You can find the third chapter here. You can find the fourth chapter here. Here is the fifth and final chapter that I will be putting up for preview! Many thanks if you have made it this far! Besides my website which links to stores in the paragraph above, you can also purchase the full book using these links on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Apple, Indiebound, and Kobo. Enjoy! Feel free to message me with any questions, and yes, you can look at the trigger list in the descriptions before buying! 💜💙💜💙💜

The floorboards creaked in the dining hall; as Chit finally snuck into his placement at the far end of the long dining table. Members of the Dark all sat in a line. No one seemed significantly perturbed by his lateness, but his body held every muscle tensed like he was ready for a punch to be thrown. His wooden tableware didn’t offer the same gleam as that used at the Light table across the hall, yet he tried to crane his head just right to catch a glimpse of what his face might look like this morning. Proper excuses whirled about his thoughts to match it by the time he was approached. There was no way he wouldn’t be reprimanded, both for his missing curfew and his tardiness at breakfast. His shoulders dropped as he watched everyone else around him eat and held his hands together in his lap.

“About time. I made sure to save some for you. You’re never late.” Chinea’s sweet voice reached his ears, and they both burned. He was caught. It could be much worse.

“I-I o-overslept.” He fumbled and burned darker across his cheeks. It sounded lame even to him.

“Overslept? Where? In a field or a tavern?” She chuckled and dished out some porridge to him and, looking over her shoulder first, threw some bacon on top. “You were back in your quarters well past nightfall. The whole of the upper ranks is aware, but it hasn’t been spread to your peers yet. I’m trying to get Master Brenner to go easy on your first offense, but he’s beside himself. I’ve never seen him act like this with the other boys.”

Chit sunk lower in his seat, but he still made sure to swipe the bacon off the top of his bowl and cram it into his mouth to quell his rumbling stomach. He rubbed his arms as his tail twitched around behind him on the floor. He looked up at Chinea with a heavy expression dragging down his features.

“I should speak to him l-later. Sh-shouldn’t I?” The thought of it made the hair on his neck stand up.

“Yes…” Chinea looked like she’d buckle if that serving bowl she held were any heavier. “He’s ordered me to tell you to see him after breakfast, but I’ll be at my usual post, so you can find me after.”

“R-Right…” He looked down at his food and brought a wavering spoonful to his lips. Chinea sighed and sat on the edge with a hip bump to scoot Chit down the bench to make room.

“So, want to tell me why you were really late last night? It may help me help your case.”

“I-I… I was helping someone. She needed a hand after we met at the tower outside town.” His body relaxed as she scooted closer.

“You were outside? That far?” Chinea held a hand to her chest. “If the Master hears-”

“He already knows.” Chit stuffed another bite into his mouth. “He’s the one who agreed to it, because of the elf that invited me, but that weird mage said Master wasn’t pleased about agreeing to it. That means I’m in double trouble now.”

“Mage? Was that who needed your help?” Chinea was watching his face about an inch away from it with a skeptical look. He swore a bead of sweat crossed her cheek.

“No. Judith did. She u-um… well she needed to bury a friend, but before that, I was just helping her get back home after she used up her strength and couldn’t walk.”

“Bury?” Chinea’s voice rose before noticing as she grew more concerned by the second. “Chit, you know that’s against the-”

“I couldn’t help it. She said he didn’t like f-fire. She wanted to let him rest peacefully, and I couldn’t say n-no to that, so we went out to the old tree. I-I made sure it was far off and obscure.” He pulled at a curl in his vision and set his spoon down with the bowl only half empty.

“I see then.” Chinea rubbed her forehead with one hand as the other tried to support her against the table. “Let’s hope that part stays secret. Don’t tell another soul, you hear me?”

“Y-Yes ma’am… of course.” Chit swallowed hard and pushed his bowl away. He felt sick to his stomach.

“So you were called out to that tower outside town along with some girl named Judith. Whatever for?”

“An um… I don’t know if I should say. The elf wants us both to w-work together on some request. A big request at that.” He slowly eased his posture while his tail wrapped about their ankles.

“The two of you, huh?” Chinea got the hint of a smile forming in her dimples. “Is this Judith cute?” The white speckles appeared on his still darkening cheeks.

“N-Not like that m-matters.” The spoon clattered against the wood as he flicked it from one side to the other.

“You didn’t say no~,” Chinea said in tune as she started to chuckle at him. “Chit. You’ve got one shot still. You’re turning twenty in two weeks, and I know you’re aware that after that you’re…You’ll be initiated and take oaths into the Dark.”

“Two weeks isn’t enough time to get to know anyone. I’ve got more training. I probably won’t see her again.” The hall had cleared out but for a few talking at the end of the Light table. Chit rose, and his muscles all screamed at him as they tensed again, but he looked stoic as could be under the thick, cumbersome robes of the church.

The echo of the Master’s staff as it hit the stones in the hall made the few remaining people quietly retreat through the ornate door to the Light side of the church. The Master emerged from the bowed doorway of the Dark, the brooch and gold stripes of his rank slithering with the fabric as it rolled. Staff in hand, leaning on it as a walking stick, he made a limping beeline toward Chit as Chinea stood in front of him. He still towered over her, shoulders and up, a clear target as his posture stooped the closer his Master came. The older man’s face seemed to bear more lines than before as he used the rod to urge Chinea to the side. The force knocked her breath out and she followed with a huff as she straightened her robes.

“My office. You’re even late for your inquiry. What nonsense has wormed its way into your head, boy?” He spat the words out across Chit’s neck as needles pricking up his neck again. Chit nodded as he tried to withdraw his trembling hands into his sleeves, yet Chinea eased her way back beside Chit with a hand concealed between his shoulders.

“Chit was just finishing eating. I’m afraid he hasn’t felt well, and I was offering him some aid with my latest remedy I mixed into his porridge. It must need some work. Too bitter to handle at the proper dosage. Please take it easy on-” The long, ebony staff connected with her waist on the side that wasn’t squeezed up to Chit and made her crash against him. Chit bent down and scooped her into his arms before she could fall. His tail lashed out without thought, and the table behind them was overturned, porridge and all. The wooden tableware clattered to the floor. His dark eyes watched his own bowl roll into Master Breener’s buckled shoe as porridge flecked over the shine.

“I’ve warned you to remember your duties, Chinea. I will not repeat myself again.”

“With all due respect, my Master.” She panted through clenched teeth as she held to Chit’s shoulder to pull herself back up. “Taking care of the sick is one of my duties.”

“From this moment onward, this one is under my sole supervision. Effective immediately.” Chinea balked and clenched her fists at her sides. Tears stung behind her eyes even as they twitched with indignant rage. Chit straightened his robe and hung his head as he walked forward toward the Master.

“Y-You should head back to the L-Light, M-Mistress.”

“Chit.” Chinea exhaled as her shoulders shook. She walked a few steps away, but then turned back at Master Warren with a cold calm. “I was still his caregiver. I raised him. I expect to be able to see him when I wish.”

“As soon as his punishment is decided and fully enacted upon.” The Master turned, and Chit’s tail dragged across the stones on the floor as it bumped along behind them. They walked off in silence, but for the clack of the staff on the floor that resounded to fill the empty space.

The sun was already low in the sky as Judith pushed past a few stumbling men and women exiting the church doors. Their countenances rang of a fine mood as the hour changed to evening. She had never been this close to the building before, and she wondered for a moment if this was the right entrance. She waved down the first person in robes she saw with a gleeful grin. They wore far different designs from Chit’s clothes, with such vibrant colors, it almost hurt her eyes against the glare of the sunset. The woman with autumn hair smiled and waved back at her calmly.

“Can I help you? I haven’t seen you around before. I’m Freena.” She extended a hand, and Judith shook it gladly, along with most of her thin arm as the young woman’s eyes opened wider.

“I’m here to see Chit. Is he around? We have something I want to talk about, and all I know is he lives here somewhere.” Judith chuckled to herself and peeked around the woman to the open doors behind her. The finery within sparkled and the colorful hangings reflected in prisms out the door as her jaw dropped. “He lives HERE?”

“Not quite.” Freena regained her composure until she realized her hand was now covered in dirt, as were the sleeves and hem of Judith’s dress.

“Oh. You know where he is then?” Judith started for the doors, only to be tugged back by her collar.

“Yes, but… right now isn’t a very good time.” The woman’s sweetened voice lost its sugar as her fingers curled about the hem of the fabric.

“Ah.” Judith nodded and stood in place as people passed her into the church carrying fruit, incense, wine, and all manner of offerings.

“You can come back tomorrow if you like.”

“Tomorrow is a while when the outcome of so much is riding on what he decides.” Judith pouted and crossed her arms as she racked her brain for an idea.

“Well, I um, don’t know about all of that. It’s the best I can tell you on the matter. If you wish to come inside a while and leave a prayer or offering, perhaps indulge to ease your worries, all of that I can help with.” Judith didn’t seem to hear her. Freena had a hand on the door handle, ready to close it in front of her before Judith finally snapped to and lifted her head.

“Can I speak to Chinea? She’s here, right?”

“Well, yes, but… You’re asking to speak with the Mistress out of the blue, and we don’t have any prior knowledge of you. Are you even a devout? A new worshipper? A recruit looking to join should be far younger, so I am afraid if you wish to petition that case you are far too late to-”

“You can trust me. Besides, it’ll be fun to meet her. She’s like his mom or something, right?” Judith ducked under Freena’s still outstretched arm and between her body and the heavy door, with a twist she was able to easily free herself from the grip at her neck. She rose on the other side as the woman in bright orange hurried to shut the doors and follow.

“You cannot just waltz around looking for her! Take a seat, please.” Freena had to jog to keep up with Judith flitting around the area and weaving through the heavily dyed drapes enraptured. A piece of mint-colored silk was tugged toward her face. Her whole form inhaled it with a loud gasp.

“It’s so nice in here! Is that perfume?” Judith exclaimed as she spun and wrapped the cloth about herself. The group she passed sat on large tufted pillows on the floor, and they all cringed at the dirty footsteps and cracked mud that dislodged from her and ended up all around them. A plop echoed in the silence as she spun back out of the fabric. A woman a few years older than Judith herself with just as shiny hair slammed her drink down with a piece of brown floating to the top. Outrage spread until the whole section began to stir, yet the ensuing commotion piqued Chinea’s interest. An older woman stood up from the altar with smoke trails wafting off of her from the incense. Judith’s eyes landed on the small, stocky woman, even if she had to look down to hit eye level. Chinea’s robes gleamed gold through a sheer orange fabric, like clouds covering the sun cast in the diminishing light from the many tall windows of the area. Chinea smiled softly and waved Judith over. Freena tossed up her arms and went to clean up the mess and offer the other patrons some more wine with overlapping apologies.

Judith followed the woman in flowing robes to a multitude of rather plush white chairs in the corner of the room, behind an array of the drapes they had to work together to push aside. The woman let her weight sink into one such chair, but it didn’t seem to relax her at all. Her eyes focused somewhere else as she looked past her guest. Judith took her seat across from her, assuming she had to be the boss. Her hands went to straighten her unruly hair, but only scattered dirt among the tangles.

“How may I help you? I heard Freena call out that you were looking for me in particular?” Her voice was a soothing broth that warmed her stomach.

“Yes. You’re Chit’s mom, right?” Judith set her hands back at her sides to feel the softness of where she sat. Chinea’s gaze flew back to focus on Judith in the space of a blink.

“Not quite.” Brown eyes looked the girl over in one quick nod before her smile widened. “I take it your name is Judith then?”

“How did you know?” Her dominant hand reached for her staff leaned against her seat and gripped tight.

“No one would come here talking about Chit, except maybe the girl he just mentioned to me at breakfast this morning.” Chinea leaned on one hand and gave her another once over. Judith looked down following her gaze and shrugged, which caused Chinea to giggle. “He said he helped you with something quite private. Do not fret. I wouldn’t tell a soul.”

“I finished up and did pretty much all the work in the end, but he did help me get home. I wanted to see how he’s doing and ask if he’s decided on what Maleth said to us.” Chinea stared at her as her skin erupted in goosebumps.

“Maleth… asked you. You’re sure of that name? I believed someone else may have taken up residence. The Light hasn’t corresponded with them since-” Her fingers twirled around the yellow ribbons that hung off her waist cincher until her skin turned colors. There was a moment of perfect clarity in her expression, but also fear that made her back rigid. Judith nodded as she gazed all around the room at the glimmering goblets and trinkets. Her hand reached toward a bauble made of the thinnest colored glass she’d ever seen, but she drew it back to her lap and stayed it under her other hand.

“So, where is Chit? I think the lady at the door said he was busy. I can wait if I need to.” Judith poked a hummingbird wind chime and jumped a little when it started to tinkle. The sound carried on as she quickly put her hands in her lap again to face forward. Chinea shook her head at the girl and went to go fumble in a trunk behind her. Her middle was bent over the wood as she reached deep inside and came back carrying another dress of gold and orange that dangled with multiple layers of varying cloth, the likes of which she had only seen on the wealthier merchants in town. Her hands reached out eagerly to feel the fabric between her fingers. It was so thin it was sheer, but the layers overlapped and made it colorful and light, but still modest enough to wear in town, maybe.

“You should change clothes. We’ll wash yours and get them back to you as soon as we’re able, so for the time, let us care for you in a way befitting a newcomer.”

“Oh. I guess changing would be a good idea.” Judith stared greedily at the dress. Her hands let go of the fabric, only long enough to reach for the back of her dress and hike it up overhead. Chinea guffawed and had to still her laughter with both hands. She had to stretch to help the young girl maneuver the new layers around her body and tie the corsetry in the back. Judith gasped as Chinea pulled the strings so taut she felt her chest try and heave out the top. She tried to stuff herself back down, not being used to her bust sticking out so much.

“You’re a miniature string bean, but you are pretty cute.” The rotund hands left the dress once it was finished and started to shake a few sticks out of Judith’s hair. A comb was pulled off her tidy desk and raked through the tangles with utmost care as sticks clattered to the floor. Judith was boiling over rocking back and forth on her heels as her head was pulled back with a tug. The words bubbled outward.

“Thanks! It’s been ages since I heard that. My dad used to gush all the time over me and my Sis being cute.”

“I called you cute before…” Jacob murmured, and she directed her gaze over to his glow at the edge of Chinea’s desk and smiled at him in reassurance. Her father chucked him on the shoulder before wrapping the same arm around his shoulders. Jacob smiled some at that, and Judith’s smile widened with an added burst of giggles.

Chinea gave her a look from one side, but then shook her head. Her fingers separated her hair like second nature as she reached to a shelf beside Judith’s head for some ribbon. She held the tips of the black silk in her mouth and let them hang as she formed two buns with braids trailing from them. The black silk was interlaced in the braids and made the shine in Judith’s hair stand out all the more in contrast. There was plenty of hair still left down in loose waves that Chinea struggled to get the brush through.

Once the Mistress of the church was satisfied, she took a seat across from Judith. The lines in her face deepened as her gaze still focused on someplace beyond all the silk and shimmering furniture. Judith played with the new braids between her fingers with a grin. The texture was wholly changed, and the ribbon gleamed in even the lowest light.

“So, can I see Chit soon?” Chinea looked down at her hands, and then to the last smolders and puffs of smoke from multiple sticks of incense that expired on the desk. She heaved a heavy sigh and extended one of her hands to Judith, careful of the pile of ashes on the golden stand emblazoned with a symbol of black and gold waves crashing into one another.

“I can’t help you there. I wish I could, more than anything. If you would like to stay here through the night with us, by the afternoon I would hope we can both see him.” Judith stared at the outstretched hand and gave a quick nod.

“If you think that’s best. Who wouldn’t be happy to spend a night here?” She smiled, but she could feel Jacob and her family move in closer to her with concern. “It will be fine, everyone. Chinea seems nice. They all do.”

The older woman stared at Judith with intent as she went about closing down the church for the night and setting up a spot for Judith to sleep in secret next to her own chamber. The hanging curtains separated everything in the spacious room and were repositioned easily to give her a little nest of her own covered in plush pillows and blankets strewn across the ground. Chinea pulled a powder blue curtain aside as Judith was trying to get comfortable. Another pillow was tossed in her direction, that Judith caught and held to her chest.

“This is the first time I’ve slept somewhere this fancy.” Judith yawned, somewhat drained from the solo burial earlier. It was only then that she fully appreciated the pleasant aroma that surrounded her, resulting from the different incenses mixed in citrus and floral scents that saturated the air. The thought crossed that if she took deep enough breaths she may just fill her belly.

“Maybe you can stay again sometime. For now, rest. I have a few more things to attend to before my respite.”

Judith shut her eyes and pulled a violet, velvet cover to her chin. After a minute, she could hear the curtain rustle again as Chinea walked away. A few minutes more passed and one blue eye opened up to look around. All the bustle from earlier had faded, and the energy had turned subdued and silent to an eerie degree. Judith sat up and looked at the low glows of her spirits around her with a whisper that barely crossed her lips.

“Spread out. See if you can find anything going on nearby. I’ll move to give you all more space if I need to, so let me know. I’ll act like I need some water or something if anyone sees.”

“That is a bad plan, Judith. Chinea is obviously upset about something, but she said even she couldn’t do anything about it. She’s the second-highest rank here!” Jacob huffed and settled near her shoulder. “We could wait like we were asked.”

“You know I’m not the patient type; besides I’m worried now. If she’s his mom, then why can’t she even go see him?” Judith pushed her lip out and Jacob groaned before his purple light was the first to leave her sight. Her family followed soon after, and she was left alone with nothing but the flickering candlelight from beyond her enclosure to help her watch for them, or any obstacles.

Meanwhile, Chit’s shoulder skidded across the stone floor of a room he had grown far too used to over the years. He placed his hand over the new wound and winced as he looked up at Master Brenner while he slammed and locked the door. The cold floor soothed his other bruises and bumps, so he lay back and let it be, but the Master continued to stare at him through a few short bars high atop the door.

“You will stay here overnight.” The harsh tone made Chit’s tail curl beside him. He shut his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see the displeasure on top of the audible disdain this man had for him.

“W-What else?” Chit sighed and rubbed at some bleeding marks on his tail.

“You will be here every night henceforth, as well as every day. Unless I declare otherwise.”

That made the breath freeze in his lungs. Chit slowly raised his head to glimpse Master Brenner’s face. The way he watched Chit surveying his wounds was apathetic at best, but his tone and his shoulders held firm with his authority. Chit scrambled to his feet and placed his palms open on the door.

“You can’t m-mean that. I haven’t done a-anything warranting th-that! Where’s the c-council!?” His tail struck the floor as his mind began to race while his sentencing took hold in the clamminess of his skin.

“I will have scrolls delivered to you so you may complete your tasks.” The Master’s voice trailed off as he cracked his staff on the door, and Chit jumped back with a hiss and blistering burns on his hands. He knelt and cooled them on the stones, but his stunned gaze never left the Master until he walked out of frame.

Not long after the corridor fell silent, his first delivery arrived, from the very boy he trained with in the pit. Chit was none too pleased to see him and barely bothered with a greeting as he swung his tail about in a half-hearted wave. A clatter on the floor drew his attention as the scrolls were pushed through the bars above one by one. Chit gathered them in his tail and laid them in the farthest corner of his new accommodations. He barely had to even stretch since the room was so small. If he lay flat, he could nearly touch both walls with his fingers.

“There a-are no c-candles in here. The light from the t-torches in the hall w-won’t do unless he wants m-me blind too.” Chit thwacked the scrolls, and they bent under the force. His spine bent as well, curled up with his head on his knees. Another clack rang out, followed by a hollow thud, but Chit didn’t bother to raise his head again. The boy hit the iron bars with a clang so loud Chit jumped and had to look.

A dagger was pressed against the iron as the sound continued to reverberate in his head. A wide chin set atop the ledge around the bars with heavy lids over the boy’s eyes. There were candles, matches, and a sizeable chunk of bread lying below on Chit’s side of the door. A deep groan drowned out the fading noise as his muscular forearm shoved through the bars. The sleeve of his robes rumpled back and exposed a fresh branding in the exact middle between his palm and the bend of his elbow. The flesh was red and raised in bumps in places with the seal, a familiar circle filled with two contrasting colors for the Light and Dark aspects that melded and opposed each other in a strange dance. Chit pinched at the same symbol he wore around his neck in color, while the brand was only red. The other initiate laughed at Chit’s reaction.

“What’s so f-funny, Geraine?”

“You probably won’t even flinch when you get it. You’re so used to bleeding by now, you know?” He peeked down at the items on the floor. “Going to waste it? Lotta good that will do you.”

“Why the f-food? It’s not c-custom.”

“Not going to let another one of us starve. Ain’t right. Master’s got his reasons for things, but I got a conscience too. If you’re down here for who knows how long, then you got to eat. Candles can help you not go nuts after a couple of days. Trust me on that. The shadows in here start to get to you.”

Chit leveled a glare in his direction. The bread was scooped up in his tail and brought to his mouth. The two stared at each other as crumbs fell and dissolved on the stones in the damp chamber. Once Chit had finished, he looked up with a calmer disposition.

“Hey.” The brand disappeared from view as Geraine took back his arm. “Your ol’ babysitter may have had the right idea.” He mumbled before his steps faded away down the hall, leaving Chit to curl up in the corner with his thoughts.

[softxsuki]

Kuroo's Love Confession Letter To His Manager

Valentine's Day Letter Event Masterlist (CLOSED)

Pairing: Kuroo x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mentions of insecurites

Genre: Fluff, kinda Comfort

Post-Type: Letter

Word Count: 690

Summary: In which you're the manager of Kuroo's team and he leave a confession letter to you for Valentine's Day in your locker.

[A/N: Hey Moonie @musicshylover. I'm pretty sure this is your request if I'm remembering correctly. Tumblr deleted the draft I made for your request for some reason, but thankfully I copied and pasted everything to google docs before I lost it permanently. Happy Valentine's Day, thanks for your support once again on one of my events! I always appreciate it <3. Hope you enjoy this letter!]

Kuroo tried his best to show you how he felt through his actions, but you seemed to never take the hint that he cared for you. Aside from that he was nervous about telling you upfront about his love for you, in fear that it might push you away from him. After all, you were the manager of his team, and if things went bad with his confession, it would be awkward–even if he could pretend like it didn’t bother him. So he decided to take matters into his own hands and take advantage of the holiday of love–Valentine's Day.

Maybe an old fashioned love letter would finally make you see the feelings he had for you, and hopefully you shared similar feelings for him.

Looking into the gym where you were still occupied with some of the other players, practicing their serves, he took the opportunity to quickly run to your locker where he knew you’d be going to later to get your books and whatever else you had stored in there. He slips the folded paper through the slot in the locker and turns on his heels back to the gym once he finishes.

After finally clearing up the gym and the coach dismisses everyone, you make your way to your locker, exhausted from a day of being manager. Opening up your locker, you notice a paper fly onto the floor as soon as the door opens. You bend down to pick it up and open it, seeing that it was full of words that didn’t look familiar to you, but your name was at the top of it so you read it;

To My Kitten,

Can you guess who this is without reading my name at the bottom yet? This is my confession letter to you. Now imagine who you’d like to find out loves you..I hope it’s me, but I guess we’ll see.

We talk a lot and I come to you every now and then asking for advice. I’ve tried flirting with you too, but maybe it wasn’t noticeable enough that I was interested in you. Anyway, here I am, on Valentine’s Day confessing my love for you.

I’ve loved you for a while now. Just the way you’re so helpful to the team, and how you throw everything aside to make sure we’re all okay–I love that. But on top of your amazing personality, you’re also beautiful. So so so so so beautiful, I can’t really find the words to describe how you look in my eyes, but my heart does a few flips whenever I see you at practice. You’ve talked about your insecurities before and I listened but I want to say that I love everything you’re insecure about. While you may see them as a bad thing that people won’t like, I love them all. They all make you unique to YOU. You wouldn’t be Y/N without them and I’d love to be the man that gets to remind you each day how much I care for you.

I want to be there for you at your highest moments, laughing and hugging you, but I also want to be there for your darkest moments where I can comfort you and love you until you feel better. So Y/N, my kitten, will you allow me, Tetsuro Kuroo, to be your partner? If not, then you can just ignore this, but if so, then I’ll be waiting to hear from you…

All My Love,

Kuroo Tetsuro.

As soon as you finish reading the letter, you race over to the gym where you had last seen Kuroo, your heart hammering in your chest from running. You hoped he was still there.

Thankfully, there he was panting from practicing even after the original practice hours and your eyes meet. He sends you his cheeky smile, knowing exactly why you were running to him.

“Kitten,” he says, beginning to stand up as you run full force at him.

“I love you too,” you confess, hugging him tightly, not caring that he was sweating as he hugged you back, “I’m never letting go.”

“Good, because I won’t let you.”

EVENT REQUESTS ARE CLOSED

REGULAR REQUESTS ARE OPEN

Posted: 2/14/2022