scarletwritesshit

[scarletwritesshit]

Two weeks left for contributor applications! Have you applied yet?

[scarletwritesshit]

schedule lowkey STC because i did get a copy of expedition 33 ordered finally

also stay safe during this heat wave ;-;

✮ twitch - scarlet_nevermore

✮ bird app - @/crowdrxgon

✮ bluesky - crowdrxgon.bsky.social

✮strawpage - scarletnevermore.straw.page

[scarletwritesshit]

Today's contributor announcement is @scarletwritesshit! Scarlet is a writer for the project. With a multitude of works in the Persona 3 tag on AO3, she'll be bringing a plethora of passion to this project! Let's give her a warm Colorful Nights welcome!

[scarletwritesshit]

💍 Hugo x Belle 💍 Stealing Hearts Is A Few Steps Up From Jewelry

Hugo ran his gloved fingers across the surface of glass jewelry display counters. The smooth leather slid across the surface, leaving not a single trace of his touch. Under a glimmer of moonlight that peered through one of the mall windows, he held up his fingers and rubbed them together. Pristine and clean, he noticed, as if the case had no knowledge of the concept of airborne dust particles.

"Remnants of filth nowhere in sight," Hugo said. "Not one speck of dust to be seen in this entire establishment."

"Their cleaning service must be stellar. Either that, or everyone carries a feather duster with them and insists on wiping after every breath~," Belle observed.

"Yes...and while it looks untouched, I suggest you keep it that way and keep your hands to yourself, dear."

Belle quickly pulled her hands up and in from the case she was inching towards touching, showing Hugo that her fingers grazed upon nothing and no objects were misplaced within her grasp.

"I wasn’t touching anything."

Hugo grabbed her by the wrist. "Come. Our hours for 'shopping' run thin."

Belle stumbled over her feet as Hugo dragged her forward, the soft soles of her shoes echoing throughout the deserted mall-corner jewelry store as they smacked the ground. Hugo quickly shot her a glare. She could hardly tell between the darkness and his mask concealing his eyes, but he seemed rather serious, sharply hushing her. Belle narrowed her eyes, equally offended, but kept silent to avoid sparking further argument.

It was three o’clock in the morning. Dawn was still hours away, but they nonetheless had to make haste.

Flashlights weren’t Hugo’s style, for as flashy of a man he was. Such choice of tactics caused some difficulties for Belle, who only had the assistance of the glimmering moonlight to help her browse her prey and navigate the maze of display counters. Though, even with her vision impaired by squinting her eyes, Belle could see the radiance of every bracelet and ring shining brilliantly. If they looked that beautiful under the cover of darkness, then Belle could only imagine how glamorous they would be under some proper lighting. With her being in such close reach, she felt as if she could snatch each and every one of them out for herself for the sole purpose of seeing just how shiny they were under the sunlight. Hugo would probably allow her to do such, if she knew how to properly steal, that was.

As Hugo was observing his surroundings, checking for any traps or security guards that may be on the prowl, Belle kept her steps light and head high. Despite her attempts at maintaining an imposing posture, it was not enough to mask her anticipation for her first official heist as part of Mockingbird. As soon as Hugo turned away, Belle dropped the scowl she barely managed to hold anyways as she was in awe over the silence and isolation of a shopping mall after-hours.

"My dearest partner in crime," Hugo said, his whispers melting into the deathly silence, "your enthusiasm is reminiscent of my very own younger...compatriot."

"Eh?" Belle gasped, freezing as if she did something wrong.

"She too, was enamored by the thrill of her first time heist. If her hands were bigger and her grip nimbler, she would have swiped everything that her little heart desired."

"If only I could do that," Belle said, "but you won’t even let me touch the glass."

"That’s because you haven’t quite learned precisely how to, my dear," Hugo said, stopping in his tracks to swipe some of the glass with his fingers, leaving not even a single streak behind.

"By the way, has anything caught your eye?" he continued.

"A lot of things. But stealing them would be wrong."

"Us breaking in and being here is already 'wrong.'"

"Oh. Well, yeah you have a point actually. But how do you plan on getting us out of here unscathed?"

"You’ll see in due time," Hugo said with a barely visible wink. "Now, we must make haste. Don’t force yourself, but at the same time, the night isn’t getting any younger."

Belle nodded her head and continued scavenging the display cases. There was so much that she wished she could take for herself, jewelry and keepsakes big and small. The only real factor stopping her was that if she turned up with a big bracelet coincidentally matching the one reported missing, some heads are bound to be turned. Belle couldn’t put the blame on Hugo, either, as saying it was a gift "from her boyfriend" would rat him out almost instantly. Going for something a bit more inconspicuous would be the safer option for the time being, such as a pin for her bag or an adornment for her desk.

Belle was still new to this whole “phantom thief” thing. She couldn’t tackle the larger prey quite yet, not with her identity of both video store owner and Proxy at stake.

With her hands held behind her back, Belle continued stepping along, bending down and keeping her quiet "hmm’s" of curiosity confined to her mind. She waddled along on the tips of her shoes, as if that would make her any better than the light-footed Hugo. Every necklace and every ring shone in what little light was gifted to them through the windows, capturing her attention and distracting her gaze. With Hugo by her side, practically everything and anything was within her reach

She opted to play it safe, at least for now.

Against the back walls away from the jewelry-stocked display counters were displays neatly packed full of handcrafted figures. Some appeared to have been cut directly from solid crystal, others hand sculpted down to the finest details. Bangboo, cats, therians, humans, the cases housed figures of everything for all.

A glitter of purple within a display counter caught her eyes and stopped her from scanning instantaneously. A Bangboo figure, bedazzled just enough to stand out but not so much as one would think it costed millions, made eye contact with her.

That was the one.

The perfect size to sneak out with her little hands, and just small enough to not direct too much attention to her. But how was she to pull it out of the counter without the whole mission going awry? She narrowed her eyes and became lost deep in her thoughts. Or at least, she appeared to be thinking.

Hugo took notice of her lack of advancement and turned around. Belle was still thinking "very hard" and was “quite focused,” so he backtracked and looked down through the glass case.

"Something catch your eye, darling?" Hugo asked as he stood from behind.

"Hmm...this purple Bangboo figure in particular, but getting it out is proving to be a real puzzle," Belle said, acting as if she had a clue as to what she was doing.

"You can drop the act, dearest. I’ll handle this step."

Belle, curious, looked up to see Hugo rolling a coin in between his fingers. He glanced around before flipping it once in the air. Almost the instant it landed on his thumb and pointer fingers, he flicked it at such astounding velocity, shattering one of what Belle could only assume was a component of the security system. The coin was launched with such strength that it rebounded directly back onto Hugo’s fingers. He wasted no time welcoming its return and flicked the coin back out once again.

Shatter.

Rebound.

Flick.

Repeat.

Hugo executed his onslaught with such flawlessness and grace that Belle’s jaw dropped to the floor. In the span of a few seconds, the coin made its final rebound, only to be laid to rest in Hugo’s hand.

"So... does this mean we can get to breakin’ and stealin’?" Belle asked, at a loss for words.

Hugo dismissively waved the coin at Belle. "Not quite."

He strutted closer to the display case, and Belle took the message and backed up to give him room. She thought that he was about to shatter it with his arm or a weapon, but he stood there quietly, perplexed. Then, taking the same weapon of mass destruction that he used to disarm the security systems, he began tapping on the glass with its edge.

"…What are you doing?" Belle asked.

"Ah, reinforced glass like this is virtually impossible to break with mere brute force. But everything claimed to be indestructible has a fatal weakness."

Tap, tap, tap.

Suddenly, Hugo stopped moving the coin around the glass.

Tap tap.

"Right here," he said, holding the edge of the coin firm on the glass. "Here. You take ahold of it."

"And... now what?" Belle said as the coin was passed to her, still held firmly in position.

"Strike the glass with the coin at this exact position with all of your might."

Belle, though she failed to see how a small coin could shatter reinforced glass, kept her questions to herself and listened to Hugo’s orders. She carefully lined up her shot, then slammed it into the case at a speed comparable to a black belt’s karate chop. In an instant, the glass shattered into a thousand shards, big and small. While frozen in utter disbelief, Hugo retrieved the coin from Belle’s hand and flipped it.

“I told you,” he said, smugly.

Belle reached in to grab the Bangboo figure, but Hugo swiftly scooped it up before she could even disturb a speck of glass.

"Not so fast, darling. You have yet to learn the art of causing no more than no disturbance than what is necessary," he said, lightly tossing the Bangboo into her arms. "Come. Let’s make our grand exit and pull the curtains on tonight’s performance."

"Aren’t you going to steal something for yourself?" Belle asked, confused by the lack of valuables in his possession.

"Ah, not tonight. This excursion was for you and you alone."

"Wasting an opportunity just like that?~ "

"It’s not a waste if my future mastermind leaves with a token of her first success. Now, we mustn’t linger much longer. Hang on tight, my darling.~”

Before Belle could react, Hugo snatched her by the waist and pulled out a grappling gun, shooting it upwards into the ceiling panel that they descended from. Ascending into the labyrinth of ductwork and support beams, the two of them left behind no traces of their presence, other than the remnants of the security system’s greatest fumble yet. Like a bat taking off into the night sky, Hugo’s coat spread out behind him, catching wind and making for a smooth ascent. Before crawling back, Belle repositioned the ceiling tile just as it was before, making sure to leave absolutely no trace of their path.

In the morning, during what would be considered normal opening hours, all operations were immediately put on hold upon the first sight of the shattered glass. Employees and bystanders alike were puzzled by the scene. No sign of exit or entry, no traces hinting to an identity, and no valuables missing, except that of a single Bangboo figure. A phantom intruder with perhaps ulterior motives for stealing such a specific trinket…they could only trace the name of the perpetrator to an organization and nothing else.

Mockingbird.

[scarletwritesshit]

Wriothesley & Andrius 🐺 Domination of Equal Ground

Written for the Genshin Puppy Love zine ran by @bycmykae.

Wriothesley ran his hand along the edges of the Wolf’s Gravestone that stood firmly jammed into the stone floor. It felt bitterly cold and stung his fingers with a chill through his gloves, despite Mondstadt currently in the height of the spring season. From what he had assumed through word of mouth, the Dominator of Wolves was supposed to rest here, in this very perilous, frozen arena.

Perhaps their definition of rest was a bit different than he had initially assumed. The wolves roamed with much ferociousness and liveliness throughout the forest, so Wriothesley had assumed that Andrius was still rather lively, albeit conserving his power. Much to his disappointment, the only traces of the great wolf in question were a chilling breeze lingering in the air and the thin layer of frost that coated the surrounding stone.

He crossed his arms and kicked up some of the frost. It’s not like he was demanding Adrius to accompany him back to Fontaine. Wriothesley simply desired to spar, share guidance, anything to make his trip worthwhile. The only thing he got in return was bitter silence and biting frost. All that he would have to show for his journey would be some scavenged wolfhook berries and perhaps a discarded fang from a common wolf, if he were lucky to find one.

He couldn’t help but be disappointed. Sure, results of this trek were far from guaranteed, but he was rather irked at the rumors for seemingly being nothing more than a sensational falsehood.

In the midst of his silent grumbling, he had failed to notice the gravestone behind him fade into the chilling breeze. But with no clear sign of Andrius being willing to show himself, exiting the arena seemed like the only reasonable course of action for him to take. He could seek further advice from the Mondstadt natives, but what were the odds that they too, were just as in the dark about Andrius as Wriothesley was? And if the Dominator of Wolves truly was nothing more than a fairy tale, then he would risk being laughed out of the region for his sheer naivety.

Sighing out of disappointment, Wriothesley ultimately made the decision to make his way out of the arena, where he was stopped cold in his tracks by the sound of footsteps approaching from behind. Massive footsteps, if that. He turned his head and was greeted by the sight of a massive, fluffy, white and blue wolf staring down upon him.

"You are not from around here, I presume?" the wolf bellowed.

"Ha, what gave you the hint? My clothes? Or perhaps my vision?" Wriothesley said, turning his body around and holding out his arms

"You reek of outsider. Commendable, however, seeing as your journey appears to have been no simple feat.”

"Eh. It was nothing. I came here with one simple goal in mind.”

The giant wolf tilted his head in curiosity.

“I have come in search of Andrius. You seem like the type to know a thing or two.”

"Come to the right place you have, weary traveler," he said, with what could be argued as a smile on his face.

A smile appeared on Wriothesley’s face in return. "Perfection."

"What is it you seek from me?" Andrius said, staring down Wriothesley even fiercer than before. “Speak.”

"A friendly confrontation, between one wolf and another. I came here seeking a challenge, and I don’t plan on returning to Fontaine empty handed.”

Andrius narrowed his eyes. "With the body of a man, you claim to be a wolf. How is this one supposed to take your kind seriously?"

"Do you want me to howl?" Wriothesley taunted. "Show me what you’re made of and I’ll give you a few good reasons to show a little respect."

Andrius braced himself and snarled at Wriothesley. “Do not order me around, human.”

“What? Too afraid to fight me?”

“Fine,” Andrius said, huffing and shaking his head. “If it is a fight that you seek with me, then a fight you shall get. Do not let me down in return, for the repercussions of disappointment will be worse than you can fathom.”

“Hey, you aren’t the one who had to come all the way from Fontaine for a duel,” Wriothesley said, bracing his metal gloves. “I expect to be the one not disappointed here.”

Without wasting further time on pointless talk, Andrius pounced towards Wriothesley. With years of experience as a honed fighter behind him, he deflected the force of his claws effortlessly, sending Andrius flying back. Andrius gracefully landed on all fours, and wasted no time charging forth once more. Though Wriothesley was rather swift on his feet, Andrius was quite the imposing beast, and dodging his attacks regardless proved to be no easy feat.

A quick swipe of his tail was practically nothing to Wriothesley, as he simply deflected it with the force of his metal gauntlets and counterattacked with a few punches of his own. Andrius’s fur was mighty thick, and it was probable that he hardly felt the impact. His punches were shaken off, and Wriothesley concluded his onslaught by smashing the ground with his fist, shattering the stone around him.

For as many blows that were exchanged, neither of them managed to inflict a single scratch.

In the brief moment that Wriothesley spent recovering from the strike, Andrius seized the opportunity to charge forth. Once again, his efforts were in vain as Wriothesley rolled beneath him, flung to his feet, and leaped forward to land a strike on his side. Andrius, his body physically knocked to the side from the impact of the blow, seemed completely unscathed.

Physical confrontation was hardly having an impact on either, they quickly realized. With a mighty howl summoning wolf spirits and the glow of the Cryo Vision, the full force of the elements was at their command. The small wolves that charged up to Wriothesley in an attempt to sink their icy fangs into him were met with the heel of his boots, disintegrating into Cryo dust.

A few punches infused with Cryo energy were nothing to Andrius as his fur once more absorbed the impact. His punches were countered with dropping icicles, but Wriothesley deflected them, shattering them to bits. Not one moment did either hold back, and not a scratch could be dealt to either of them. Talk was pointless, as all that they needed to communicate their undying will was split-second eye contact in between missed strikes and deflected onslaughts.

A swinging paw and dropping icicle was nothing to Wriothesley, though, he had to admit that Andrius was quite the force to be reckoned with. One strike after another, the Dominator of Wolves refused to let him breathe, and Wriothesley could feel the strength slowly draining from his body. He wondered how much longer he could hold his own. With his honor at stake, he wasn’t willing to let his body give out so easily, but one chip off of his metal gauntlets at just the right angle could have him down and out.

Andrius, though a great spirit, was starting to tire himself as well. Wriothesley had proven far more formidable than he initially thought, and as a result of not holding back, his power was draining rather quickly. Even with the full force of immensely concentrated Cryo energy, Wriothesley was not budging an inch. If it weren’t for either of them having yet to be harmed, Andrius’s fading power would have caused the old soul to call the fight right then and there.

Though their strength was deteriorating, both of them felt it to be disrespectful to kneel down in defeat, and continued throwing punches even to the point that their coordination deteriorated. With Wriothesley clearly struggling to throw a punch, and Andrius unable to maintain the bitter freeze, the great wolf spirit commanded him to stop.

“Giving up now, tough guy?” Wriothesley said, panting heavily.

Andris shook his head. “Outsider…you have proven yourself to be a most worthy challenger. For as much as our claws have clashed, neither of us had sustained an injury other than the exhaustion from holding up our own pride.”

“Ha, in that case, I will admit, you threw me for a fast one there. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up.”

“You have managed to stand on grounds equal to me. For that, you have my utmost respect, outsider.”

“You aren’t too bad yourself. And for the record, it’s Wriothesley. Duke of the Fortress of Meropide.”

“A title most deserved,” Andris said, before turning around and walking towards the back of the arena, fading into the icy mist.

By the time the mist had faded, no traces of Andrius remained. It was a relief to Wriothesley, meaning that he could could collapse onto the ground and take a much-needed breath after sustaining such heavy blows from a legendary spirit. Out of the corner of his eye, he had noticed a strange, cone-like crystal laying on the ground similar to those that adorned Andrius’s neck. It didn’t seem plausible that it was something that he had knocked off during the fight. Was this some sort of parting gift? A sign of mutual respect, perhaps?

He picked it up and stashed it safely in his pocket. It was a better souvenir to bring back to Fontaine than any amount of woofhook berries; that much was obvious.

[scarletwritesshit]

🐶 Who Let the Dogs Out ?

Puppy Love, a genshin canine exclusive zine, is now available for free download!

✧ 183 pages of illustrations and stories ✧ 28 puppy lovers ✧ 4 good bois ✧ 2 moderators

🔗 cmykae.itch.io/puppy-love 📸 sporepapo​

[scarletwritesshit]

lowkey kinda pissed i cant find a copy of E33 anywhere so im just playing wuthering waves this week

new patch drops anyways

✮ twitch - scarlet_nevermore

✮ bird app - @/crowdrxgon

✮ bluesky - crowdrxgon.bsky.social

✮strawpage - scarletnevermore.straw.page

[scarletwritesshit]

The time is here! Apps are officially open! App guidelines can be found on our carrd and these are the direct links to each app type; we have Card art, Merch Art, and Writing.

[scarletwritesshit]

preview of my fic for the puppy love zine ran by @bycmykae! wriothesley and andrius have a long overdue spar, and you can read their full battle when the zine releases for free on the 9th!

[scarletwritesshit]

🐶 The Dog Days are coming a little early this year.

Join us on June 09 for a puppy filled day with the release of Puppy Love. Find out which dog came up on top 👀 Was it Gorou?

📸 sporepapo

[scarletwritesshit]

☀️CONTRIBUTOR APPS OPEN☀️

We’ve got everything ready to kick off our journey, all that’s missing is you! If you'd like to join us on our mission, apply below~

Contributor Applications are now open through June 30th🗓️

Application Links:

Artist

Merch Artist

Writer

Alternative Artist

~

RTs appreciated🫶

@anizines @zine-scene @zinesubmissions @zineapps @hsrbulletin

[scarletwritesshit]

kh4 news this week source: dude trust me

✮ twitch - scarlet_nevermore

✮ bird app - @/crowdrxgon

✮ bluesky - crowdrxgon.bsky.social

✮strawpage - scarletnevermore.straw.page

[scarletwritesshit]

【True Blue】作者リスト Contributor List

全ての作者の方々を応援してください～ 💙

Please support all of our contributors 💙

[scarletwritesshit]

🔥 Phainon x Stelle 🔥 Until the End, Carry my Flame in your Hands

Phainon collapsed outside of the door leading to the baths. His legs could not carry him any further, even though Era Nova was just a few more steps and the delivery of a coreflame away. He attempted to push himself up from the ground, though his muscles were far too worn to be able to sustain his weight.

Just a few steps away. That’s all it was. A few measly steps that his legs were unable to manage. If Phainon had to crawl to the end, then so be it. His arms, too, were screaming in agony, but he clenched his jaw and slowly dragged himself closer to the door. Behind him trailed streaks of golden blood, a permanent reminder of his struggle, but nothing more than another stain amongst the Okhema carnage.

The Flame Reaver would be hunting him down any moment now. He could not allow himself to falter at the finish line.

Phainon had the final coreflame in hand, and the door putting him on the path to the Vortex of Genesis was standing tall and staring him down.

But his body would not heed his command.

His arms, too, were on the verge of surrender.

So much for being the Deliverer of Amphoreus. The only things that he had managed to deliever to his people were catastrophe and disappointment when they needed a savior most.

Crawling could only get him so far, as once he had exhausted what little strength remained in his body, his arms finally gave out. Phainon completely collapsed onto the ground, reopening clotted wounds on his arms and stinging the bruises that covered his skin. If the Flame Reaver wasn’t due to soon catch up to him, then certainly his own body will wither away and bring a long, drawn-out conclusion to his life.

Sprawled out like a rotting corpse, Phainon’s head slumped to the ground. He couldn’t make himself close his eyes; he could only watch in horror as he awaited the dark shadow to descend upon him to pierce his vitals. This was his punishment, and he had come to accept and bear it.

Acceptance was the bare minimum that he could do to retain his last shard of honor.

He was deprived of too much energy to even attempt to close his eyes, and when he heard the approaching footsteps from behind him, Phainon knew that he was going to bear witness to his own body being mauled to shreds. A gory scene of his own guts and blood was going to be no different than what he had faced on the battlefield. It was just going to hurt a little more than simply being a bystander, that was, if he would even be alive to feel the Flame Reaver’s blade ripping through his chest.

"Phainon?" a voice shouted.

It sounded like Stelle. Perhaps his injuries were catching up to him far more rapidly that he anticipated. Hysteria and delusion manifesting into the form of her voice to mask the growls of the impeding Flame Reaver. Maybe she was reaching out to welcome him to the field of flowers, to where he could see Aglaea, Castorice, Mydei, all of them once again. Though, it was selfish for a hero like him to wish even in the back of his mind that she had fallen too. If she hadn’t already, then Stelle would soon follow in his footsteps regardless, not like it would matter as who would want anything to do with a letdown like him.

"Phainon!" the voice once again called.

Whoever was calling his name bent down onto their knees to look Phainon in the eyes. He had no trace of light in them; he might as well be no better than a dead man. The apparent Stelle before him lifted up one of his heavy arms, and could feel her prying her fingers around his wrist. It stung to the bone, but he had no voice left to protest.

"You’re still alive!"

…Alive? He certainly didn’t feel like it.

Stelle lifted his arm around her shoulder and pulled his body up. His legs dragged across the ground, as he had no will nor energy left to stand. Stelle was, thankfully, a woman of considerable strength.

She dragged him to the wall beside the door to the vortex, and sat him up against it.

"Dan Heng currently has the Flame Reaver occupied," she said, "so we're safe here for the time being."

Phainon, his head slumped, barely mustered the strength to look at Stelle.

"...Why did you come back for me?" he spat, golden blood rolling down the side of his lip.

"Why wouldn’t I? I couldn’t just leave you alone on the most important mission of your life. And I am glad that I didn’t."

"You should’ve let me fail. I’m not the hero that you believe me to be."

"And let all of Amphoreus turn to rot? You are our last hope. I’m not letting you fall so easily."

"I can’t even stand on my own two legs, Stelle. What makes you think that I have even an ounce of heroism left in my corpse?"

Phainon was becoming increasingly choked up on his words with each passing moment. He was using the last bit of his fleeting strength to hold back his tears, though, even that was beginning to falter.

His humanity was hanging on by a thread.

"You are the Deliverer. Nobody else could go through hell and back and live to tell the tale with a smile on their face."

"Alive is a generous term," he said. "I’m no better than a dead man in this state."

"Dead men can’t shed tears, Phainon."

"I can’t shed tears. I can’t mourn the loss of my friends. I can’t fight for them like I swore to. There’s nothing left of this ‘Phainon’ that you speak of. What good am I? What good am I other than to act as a sitting duck for the Flame Reaver?"

Stelle knelled down in front of him and lifted up his chin, the palm of her hand becoming drenched in his blood. Phainon looked at her, the tears in his eyes winning over any ounce of restraint he had for such emotion. She looked around high on alert, making sure that no shadows were seeping through and that the Flame Reaver’s cries were nowhere to be heard. The discord, for the time being, was contained to the outdoors, and the Flame Reaver’s cries still were silent to her ears. With a small window of peace being presented to them, Stelle pulled Phainon forward onto her shoulder, his body collapsing into her without any resistance.

"You are the Deliverer. You are the hero of Amphoreus. Nobody would have followed you this far and from the beyond if they didn’t believe in you."

"And now they’re looking up and throwing curses at me for damning them and all of Amphoreus to a never-ending hell."

"I know for a fact that they’re cheering you on. Would Hyacine of all people willingly offer herself to the sky if she didn’t believe in your ability to protect the people alongside her power?”

"She is a foolish young lady," Phainon said, sinking further into Stelle’s shoulders.

"Is Aglaea a foolish woman, for offering you her protection?"

"Only for me to lose what I had left of her essence in the end?"

"She served her purpose, in both life and death. We would be good as dead if it wasn’t for her golden threads’ final gambit. Whether or not she was still around, Aglaea would be watching from above with a smile on her face, pleased with the news that her preparations had come in handy."

"And look at the hero that they put their faith in. Dead. As good as dead."

Careful as to not aggravate any wounds, Stelle gently ruffled Phainon’s hair in a last-ditch attempt to offer any form of comfort. None of her words seemed to be getting through to him. Being better with a baseball bat and a flying pink dog helped in battle, but not when it came to comforting her dear partner when it mattered the most.

She could sense that the unrest outside was growing greater and rapidly approaching their shelter. Stelle knew that their window of opportunity for a brief moment of rest was closing fast, and that they no longer had the time to spare. She wrapped her arms around him and softly pulled him in, nestling her face into his hair. Phainon reeked of blood and strife, but the touch of death had yet to overcome him. Stelle could still feel his chest rising and falling shallowly against her body. Though his arms and legs gave in, his heart still beat, subconsciously acting as his body’s way of refusing to die just yet.

His resolve had yet to truly falter. He just needed one final push to return the final coreflame.

"You’re almost there," Stelle said, wrapping her arm around his torso. "Come on. Let me help you."

Using all of her strength, she tried to lift up Phainon. She was able to slump him against her body where she stood, though it seemed as if his despair was weighing him down even further.

"Please. Just a few more steps," she pleaded.

Phainon did not respond.

"You can’t give up on me now," she said, barely holding back her sorrow.

His eyes glazed back over to her, but he still remained silent.

"Phainon, please," Stelle said, losing her foothold.

If it was one thing Phainon could not stand, it was seeing Stelle in such a state. He tried to steady his feet on the ground, one foot at a time. His balance was quite clumsy, but he was holding up his own weight and no longer dragging his feet behind. He grabbed onto Stelle’s clothes to secure himself onto her, and started limping forward. She looked at him in awe, pleasantly surprised by his change in attitude, but chose to stay silent should she accidentally say the wrong thing and plunge him back into despair.

The chaos outside grew even louder. Stelle knew they had to make haste, but Phainon’s muscles were nothing more than dead weight. They walked to the door with a pace that made snails look fast in comparison, but better a slow Deliverer than a dead Deliverer. When they had finally completed the few-foot trek to the door, Phainon shakily lifted up his hand up to open it, but Stelle was ahead of him and flung it open so that the last of his energy was better spent elsewhere.

After a grueling trek through the desolate baths, the spirit basin within the Vortex of Genesis was finally within sight. With his destination visible and pace steady, Phainon gained a second wind and lifted his head high. It was a relief for Stelle, as her adrenaline had worn off and his weight was starting to bring her down.

"I don’t know what’s going to happen after I deliver the final coreflame, Stelle, but there’s something that you should know," Phainon said, in between heavy breaths.

"What?" Stelle inquired in a panic, expecting the worst.

"You...you are more than just a hero of Amphoreus. You are the hero of my heart," he said, with a bloodstained smile.

"I couldn’t have done it without my Deliverer."

Exchanging one last hopeful glance, the two of them marched onwards to the spirit basin. Phainon looked down into the water’s reflection, taken aback by how sorry of a state he was in compared to Stelle. If he had the breath to spare, he would have apologized to her profusely for being in such a disheveled state.

Phainon, coreflame in hand, barely managed to hold out his arm over the basin. Stelle supported his arm, holding onto it as much as she could while simultaneously supporting his weight against her body. This was it. The final coreflame to be surrendered. Phainon’s body was trembling from anticipation and injury. Taking a deep breath, he began to recite the words once belonging to fallen friends.

O majesty of the Twelve Titans, pillars of the world—

We seek your divinity, to mend the rifts of the world —

We seek your divinity, to mend the rifts of the world —

Fill our bodies with blood of gold, till…

Fill our bodies with blood of gold, till we wither in willing service…

“…Phainon? Is everything alright?” Stelle asked, glancing over at the Deliverer, who had suddenly gone silent.

She looked first at the coreflame, then into the reflection of the water, when she was taken aback by the reflection of a pink-haired girl with a shocking resemblance to March 7th.

And who might this be, ████████?

[scarletwritesshit]

taking a bit of a streaming break so i can cut down on these 700 fic drafts that have built up

...except that i cannot say no to another excuse to play wuthering waves

✮ twitch - scarlet_nevermore

✮ bird app - @/crowdrxgon

✮ bluesky - crowdrxgon.bsky.social

✮strawpage - scarletnevermore.straw.page

[scarletwritesshit]

With the end of mod apps it means it’s time for contributor apps to step into the spotlight. We have 2 weeks till our contributor apps open!

[scarletwritesshit]

🐈Phainon x Stelle 🐈 Two of a Kind

Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter.

For a man with the weight of the entire world on his shoulders, Phainon seemed relatively unbothered. The Flame Chase this, Chrysos Heirs that, duty didn’t matter to him on a clear, pleasant afternoon. Though it was always a clear day in the city, it was "clearer than usual," as he would put it. Any excuse that he had at his disposal to take Stelle out for a leisurely stroll, he was going to take full advantage of it.

Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter.

Everyone greeted Phainon with a smile, and he did so in return. His optimism was infectious. Those who were looking down in the dumps perked up right away upon seeing him spread his heroic joy. He wasn’t doing it for the attention or anything of the sort. Phainon was just… like that.

Pitter, patter. Pitter, patter.

The wagging of his invisible tail would have long since knocked Stelle off of her feet. She felt like she was taking an overgrown dog for a walk, only her “puppy” broke free from the leash time and again. On an occasion, though unintentionally she assumed, Phainon would wander off, yet quickly notice that Stelle had left from his side and stopped to allow her to catch up. Phainon wasn’t a small man in the slightest, though his body could not contain the sheer amount of energy he had. Stelle wasn’t the only one trying to keep up with his sheer amount of energy.

Pitter patter. Pitter patter.

Phainon had been too distracted to notice the small companion that had accompanied Stelle on their outing. Phainon’s interest wasn’t piqued until he heard its mews of exhaustion after having chased him down for the umpteenth time.

"Oh? Who’s this little guy joining us today?" Phainon said, looking down.

"You’re only just noticing him?" Stelle said, bending down to pick up the little blue chimera wearing a hat, sunglasses, and floaty ring. "This is Bubbles. I met him at the baths not too long ago.”

Bubbles looked at Phainon with his big eyes.

Phainon looked at Bubbles with his wide eyes.

Telepathic communication between two fluffy creatures appeared to be taking place, only there were no thoughts being exchanged at the present moment.

[What is with this guy?] Bubbles asked.

"What a strange little creature," Phainon said.

"If it were not for the glasses and the hat, I would’ve thought that you two looked identical to each other," Stelle said.

Bubbles turned around and tilted his head. Phainon tilted his head at Stelle. Were they aware that they were only proving her point?

After a moment of thinking, or perhaps, none at all, Phainon said, "I can fix that.”

Wandering off as per usual, Phainon walked down the street a few steps to a clothing vendor located off to the side of the walkway. He grabbed a large hat and a pair of absurd sunglasses off of the racks and put them on, now resembling a taller and slightly more absurd Bubbles.

Stelle squinted, holding the little blue chimera up by the scruff beside Phainon. Big eyes, big smile, big hat, big sunglasses, they looked almost one in the same.

"Hmmm....something’s missing," Stelle said, scratching her chin.

Bubbles didn’t say a word and simply dangled in her grasp, way too relaxed to care, but Phainon was equally as intrigued as she was. Phainon looked at Bubbles, then at Stelle, then back at Bubbles again. And he was thinking. Thinking very hard. He was missing a certain...cat-like aura. Phainon, of course, not short on great ideas, had a plan to rectify this problem.

He lifted up his arms and hands like a chimera begging for food, or pets, or something.

A lightbulb went off in Stelle’s head.

"Indistinguishable,” she said. Whether or not she actually meant it remained a debatable fact.

The words of praise made the dog-chimera-boy Phainon rather pleased. And like any well-behaved domesticated animal, Phainon demanded his fair share of some form of reward. He walked forward and practically shoved his face into her chest, knocking the edge of his hat into her face. She pushed his hat back to give herself some breathing room and pet his hair while simultaneously trying to nudge him off of her. Bubbles remained relatively unbothered. He was still held firmly by the scruff; his body relaxed and smile as dumb as ever.

It was quite the embarrassing scene to the onlookers around them. The stand owner wanted nothing more than for them to pay for those accessories, if they were going to at all. Not to mention, they were taking up a considerable amount of space in the walkway, and people had to go out of their way to step around them. Simply witnessing the scene itself inflicted major secondhand embarrassment.

This was their Deliverer. It was reassuring to know that he was quite the caring person...but would it kill him to be a little more mindful?

Stelle finally nudged Phainon back off of her, and he looked back up at her as if he didn’t get enough attention.

"We should probably be on our way," she said, "that vendor looks like he’s about to hit us with a bat if we don’t decide if we want them or not."

The vendor wouldn’t dare do such, not to Phainon of all people. The bat, or anything for that matter, would break upon impact with him, and Phainon would be left unscathed. That is not stating that the idea hadn’t crossed the vendor’s mind, however.

Phainon looked back and forth between the shopkeeper and Stelle.

"...You’re not actually thinking of buying it, right?"

Somehow, Stelle felt as if she belonged more with the average citizen of Amphoreus than the two besides her. A grown man and a chimera were both proudly marching down the street together wearing sunglasses and a hat. Bubbles and Phainon’s sense of fashion were equally awful. At least their steady pace of "aura farming" kept them from running off.

As embarrassing as it was to be around Phainon, it was a small price to pay to Stelle. His smile and idiocy were gifts to be treasured, especially in the end times were talks of apocalypse were rampant. The impending doom of the Black Tide and continuation of the Flame Chase Journey were bound to strip him of the light in his eyes, and Stelle wanted to drag out these moments, even if it meant Phainon retaining his happiness for just a little bit longer.

After all, why should she deny a man a moment of joy amongst a cycle of tragedy?