#But oh well I guess who's there and who isn't is not technically my problem since I'm not going

[peachymilkandcream]

My Husband, My Monster|Part 1|William Afton x Wife!Reader

(A/N: So this is the fandom that won the poll! I'll try and keep these and Break Me Slowly regular, but still feel free to give me requests for both in my inbox, I do oneshots and headcanons as well as I'll answer your questions and comments! (Please just read the rules first) I think I have a general timeline and idea of the lore [It's FNAF lore it's complicated as fuck] so I'm going with my best guess on things. Hope you guys enjoy!)

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, power imbalance, age difference, manipulation, mind breaking, yandere themes, yandere behaviours, domestic violence, misogyny, violence, William's a warning himself, etc.

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Who knew that a bit of twisted words and cash made all of your problems go away? William had struggled to stay open with Henry Emily's company showing such strides in mechanical technology. He was still wearing homemade cloth suits while his rival had dancing puppets that children adored. His dreams and ideas were being stolen right out from under him in his eyes, rolling in mountains of debt and the threat of closing down looming over his head. They were his characters, his dream, his business idea, and the bastard had to steal it and make it better. Even though he had bought William out of debt all those years back, it didn't change the sting of defeat when the two businesses merged.

Now he didn't regret it, Fredbear's Family Diner was just starting out but it was already projected to be a success. His characters took centre stage and had never been more alive, delighting young and old alike, his legacy started now.

Which is when he noticed the girl sitting at a table with her friend, they were giggling and laughing together over some inside joke. William had always had a soft spot for pretty girls, his more reckless years spent taking what women offered him freely, now he didn't have the time.

However for this girl he might just be able to make the time.

Casually he walks over, pretending to just be passing by, when he spies the job application she's filling out on the table and catching snippets of their conversation.

"I'm just saying, you're not going to have time for school while getting even a part time job." The friend was saying this, a slightly concerned expression on her face. "And now offence, you're not the brightest bulb, you need all the time to study that you can get."

"Well thanks." She mutters, giggling slightly. "But I can't afford college with my situation now. Mom and Dad agreed to pay for most of it, but-" She hesitates with a blush. "I want the full college experience."

"Ooh~" Her friend seems intrigued. "My best friend finally loosing her innocence? Scandalous."

She scoffs. "Look I just haven't found the right guy yet, it'll happen when it happens."

At this William can't help but interject. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but glance over your shoulder and see you're applying for a job here."

She meets his eyes, and man was he a sucker for a pretty face. "Yeah I am, are you a manager here?"

He chuckles a little. "No actually, I'm the owner." While co-owner was technically true he liked to tell people he owned it solely to give himself an ego boost. "If you wanted, I could do the interview right here."

"Wait really?"

"Actually, she's fine, thanks, she's going to get a job with my mom or something. Come on let's go-" Her friend slides out of the booth, trying to drag the woman with her.

"Well I'm going to be brutally honest with you here ma'am, for a girl your age your options are going to be extremely limited. And even though the pay isn't great it's a great experience."

She stops, considering his words before waving off her friend. "Go ahead, I think I'll still fill it out, never hurts."

"If you'd like I can interview you right now, save some time."

"Oh wow that would be awesome-"

"Seriously? Listen, this guy gives me a weird feeling, let's just go okay? And I'll find you something better." The friend again reaches for her to come along, but the girl refuses.

"I'm serious, go on and I'll tell you how it went later."

With a huff her friend leaves, a clearly annoyed expression evident on her face.

William regains his composure before sitting across from her. "So, a job. Tell me what you can do." He crosses his hands on the table in front of her, a smile easily coming to his face.

"Well, I was thinking I would be a good server, I'm good with people, especially kids, and I love to clean. I can cook pretty well too but I think something at this scale would be too much for me." She laughs a little, clearly trying to ease a little nervousness.

He joins in on her laughter, hoping to make her comfortable around him, since that's what he wanted. "I suppose that's fair. Out of curiosity, why is it you want this job?" She was hired already, that he knew, a pretty face with a nice ass? What more could you want from an employee?

"Well I'm in college, and I want to be able to afford just some extras to really experience that life before it's too late."

"College?" He feigns interest, in his opinion all she was doing was wasting her most fertile years and her money. If she's halfway decent at any of her qualifications then she'd easily find a rich enough man like him, pop out a few kids and have a truly fulfilling life. "Can I ask what for?"

"Psychology, the human mind has always fascinated me."

"Oh yes definitely." He suppresses an eye roll, even more of a useless degree, maybe he could help this girl from throwing her life away because she thinks deep thoughts will make her money. "Then I should ask for your class schedule for hours."

"Right, I always keep it with me because I'm always forgetting." She giggles again, pulling it out of her purse and handing it to him. "I cannot work these times but anything else I'm there."

Wanting these hours to know when not to schedule this girl was the last thing on William's mind. "Well I'll do what I can, but it's not that easy, you have to be flexible in the real world."

"Of course, I understand that sir."

"William, call me William. My grandfather was sir and my father was Mr. Afton, so I'm just William." He flashes another smile, coaxing one from her lips as well.

"Alright, William." She tests his name out on her tongue with a soft smile and a subtle blush, the poor girl clearly hasn't been within five feet of a man before.

"Now Miss, have you had any work experience prior to this?"

"No, I haven't, this sounds entitled but I've never really had the need to up until now?"

"There's nothing wrong with that, although I'll need to teach you the proper dynamic between employee and employer. But I trust that won't be a problem, right?"

"Not at all sir-er-William. I'm more than happy to learn."

"Good, all you need to know is that I'm your friend, but I have authority over you so you need to follow what I say without question."

"Why without question?"

Oh she was so naive. "Insubordination, it's grounds with which you can be fired. So best not to stray too far towards that right?" He winks.

"Absolutely-" She shivers slightly.

"Then if that's it..." He draws the moment out for it to seem authentic. "Welcome to Fredbear's Family Diner and we're happy to have you on the team." He extends a hand to shake, which she grasps eagerly, her rows of white teeth on full display.

"Oh thank you so much! When do I start?"

"We'll have you start next week, let's say, Monday."

"That's perfect, that's so perfect-" She glances at the door. "I really should go, I think I've pissed her off enough as it is, thank you for your time." She shakes his hand and hurries out the door.

"Oh trust me, don't worry about it." He watches her go, a small smile coming to his face.

This was just the beginning.

[spookberry]

Hello I hope you are doing well! I wanted to say that I really love your art! Could I ask for more information about Henri and Claire, or just Henri in general? I think they're super cute but additionally, I think Henri is interesting by himself because I feel like I don't know as much about him! How long has he been immortal? How did he become immortal? How did he learn to exorcise? Oh, and I wanted to ask how you feel about fanart of your ocs? I really love Claire's design and I think it would be fun to draw him :)

:D! No one's ever asked me about Henri before! Also to answer your last question I'd love fanart of my OCs 🥺

More on Henri under the cut:

Okay so basically his backstory goes like this: back in the Victorian era there was this couple that was really into the occult. They were fairly nomadic, traveling the states as consultants when people were having supernaturally driven issues. This couple also happened to have a young son, Henri. Henri and his folks were very close and he took after them and their interest in ancient magic A Lot.

When Henri was about 9 his parents died. They left everything to him, but they didn't exactly have a house or anything, just a ton of old books and cursed trinkets. His favorite though was a book that was written entirely in ancient greek. So when he ran away to avoid being shipped off to live with relatives that didnt appreciate his interest in magic too much, that book was one of the things he thought to grab first.

Grief can make a 9 year old orphan do crazy shit, for Henri it became about trying to translate this book. Thats when he discovered problem number 2 with the book: its full of dark magic. Every spell in it is awful and corrupting. There's one unfinisged spell thats meant to banish a demon from their host body. And its like the one spell he can concieve of in this book that isnt just like flat out evil. So he decided to try and finish it.

The book also has a demon summoning ritual in it, so you can guess what he does.

After that he's saddled with Claire a 12 year old girl who is VERY mad it him about getting rid of her demon and demands he help her find him again. (Note: Claire does not realize he's trans yet here)

They try to summon skid back but it just doesnt work, so they gotta do this the old fashioned way.

Takes them months before they finally manage to track skid down again, but during that time the two manage to become friends. Claire opens up a lot about her fear of dying and how she feels she cant enjoy life because of how little time she has left. Henri decides his new goal in life is to heal her so that they can grow up and grow old together. He tells her as much and she gives him this gentle little smile and he internally is like "i would die for her" (he's in love but doesnt know it yet.)

Once Skid is back in and puppeting the body, Henri makes the choice to stick by Skid's side. He needs them to be close for when he finally figures out a way to heal her. And ya know the modern medicine of cough syrup with cocaine and mercury isnt gonna do it so he starts experimenting with magic instead.

He's 15 when he accidentally curses himself. Part of the curse effects his memory, so he doesn't actually know WHAT he did, and he doesn't even realize right away that he isn't aging. All he knows at first is that suddenly dark magics waaaay easier to do so he needs to be careful about that and also one of his eyes is fucked up. So now his secondary motive is also undo his own curse as well as heal Claire. Cuz itd suck if he finally heals Claire but isnt able to age himself, ya know?

Henri's a pretty chill guy and most of the cast view him as skid's 2nd in command and often her voice of reason(though he himself is prone to being impulsive and moody due to the whole technically still being 15 thing). The underlings also all view him as an older brother sort, because he's protective but often "hands off" in how deals with things but also hes just really tall. Lucky him he had his growth spurt before cursing himself to never age.

He tends to have a lot of memory issues, some days are worse than others. On his worst days he doesn't even remember how he met skid, but most days hes just sort of fuzzy and cant quite remember all 200 years he's spent by their side. His vision has also deteriorated with time, he cant see out of his left eye at all and can only make out colors and general shapes out with his left.

Even though he stuck with Skid for Claire's sake, Henri has actually become very close with skid after 200 years. Skid's secretive and doesnt actually like talking about themself honestly but depsite that he knows a lot about them. He knows skid has their own memory issues, and he's aware that Skid's not a full demon. He's heard skid's human name before but forgot it at some point and knows better than to ask about it. He's also very aware that Skid's prone to getting involved in shit which leads to them getting hurt magically and letting Claire run the body for a couple days every other decade. So they still get to see each other. These brief meetings is how Henri realized he was in love with Claire.

Bonus Info: Henri doesn't actually subscribe to modern labels and doesnt really consider himself as being into women or men. He just loves who he loves. (Hes asexual and panromantic)

Fun Fact: i came up with Henri and Skid when I was 12, but every other character in their story, including Claire, formed a slightly later.

^ skid and Henri drawings from when I was 12

[innitmarvellous]

So I read some books about aro & ace identities recently, because while I am quite sure that I'm ace and probably even aroace, I'm still struggling a lot with the ramifications of this discovery about myself, even though I first noticed this about myself a few years ago.

That's why I tried to make myself feel better by reading these books in the hope that it might be helpful in any way...and that's also why I took some notes about things that always bugged me in some way, both while reading the books and before that. (I'm not done with the books, but I already noticed enough recurring issues for a whole post.)

First, I really would like to feel at least sort of good about it. It doesn't have to be pride, just some sense of it being alright. I know that's not a prerequisite, but I don't want to feel unhappy and uneasy all the time just because of my identity :/

And there are some things I like about it. For example, having found a name and explanation for whatever is going on with me was undoubtedly nice, and I like the fact that the community seems to be very open to people identifying as ace or aro no matter where they exactly are on the spectrum. Well, there are always the exclusionists, but that's technically the consensus and I like that.

Still, there is this unpleasant feeling that doesn't seem to go away. The fact that there is something I will never understand and never experience - despite desperately wanting to. I guess that is the problem if something just isn't there, and that's just so hard to accept. Like, other people also might struggle with their orientation, but at least they do have the option to find someone who feels the same and will enter a relationship with them - while this is entirely impossible for me. And I think that's where I struggle the most, honestly. Knowing that there is no way to get the thing I want with my logical mind, because my feelings won't allow me to - and thus people on the outside won't consider me as 'relationship material' in any form since I'm lacking something crucial. And yes, I entirely understand that this would make people avoid me when it comes to relationships. After all I could never give them the thing they would expect from a relationship and it would be unfair towards them if I entered a relationship while being unable to do so. But it really doesn't make it hurt any less, and it definitely doesn't make me feel good about myself. There is something missing about me, that's just an undeniable fact and it reduces my worth in the eyes of others. Is that fair? Maybe not - I can't say, as I can't see things from their perspective - but it just is how things are. But it is very, very hard to accept.

Oh, and there is another thing that keeps being mentioned: namely that relationships without sex or of course also even fully platonic relationships are possible. But honestly? That doesn't really comfort me at all :') Because...I wasn't even nice and attractive (in both a physical and personality sense) - and whatever else - enough for a "normal" relationship, so it feels downright illusory to tell myself that someone will accept me despite my "defects" (if that's what I'll call them in this context, since that would be an allo person's view in most cases, I assume) and agree to have whatever kind of deeper relationship with me. That sounds like such a nice dream, and yet that's all it is and will remain: a dream. It's simply impossible, and that just feels bad. Because I would want to have closer connections to people, but I can't. Idk, but that is a bit cruel, especially as it isn't exactly my fault because of a choice I made.

I also feel kind of uncomfortable identifying myself as queer or part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I'd like to, but idk, I fear I wouldn't really be welcome in most queer spaces since I used to think I was heterosexual before I came across the terms ace and aro. Also, I was never oppressed due to my identity and had technically no trouble to pass as more or less some kind of straight allo late bloomer, so idk... And well, I see why my constant talking about some fictional/celeb mancrush I've got might make people think that I'm a liar and just pretend to be aro or ace for attention or other reasons. In fact, the exact same thing happened to me when a guy fell in love with me and I was forced to tell him about probably being ace. He didn't believe it because "I was always crushing on anime guys" and basically accused me of deliberately leading him on and it wasn't pleasant :/ (But I can't help it...I mean, a celeb crush doesn't require me to act on anything! I just find a guy attractive in whatever shape or form and it makes me happy to have my silly little daydreams about him and whatever. But it doesn't necessarily mean I graphically dream of fucking him, despite what I might jokingly say.) Anyway, I think it would be useful if I could confidently use the term queer for myself because idk, it would make things easier. As in, I'm definitely not "normal" aka not the standard straight cis person I once believed to be, but yeah...I still doubt that I would be allowed to call myself queer. I'm too different to be considered normal and too normal to be considered queer, I guess. So I'm sure people wouldn't be too happy about me pushing into their communities. Falling between the chairs again :')

Maybe all of my doubts and all that stuff...it's not so surprising, though. I mean, I kind of assume that most people wouldn't be too happy at the prospect of lifelong solitude and loneliness, without any chance to form deeper bonds with other people. Or maybe it's just me, who knows. It definitely scares the hell out of me and I hate it so, so much. And well, that makes it so difficult to make peace with this annoying sexual/romantic orientation of mine. (I would change it if I could...but alas we all know that's impossible.) I don't know what I exactly expected, but I surely didn't sign up to a rather sad lonely life of unhappiness and yet that is exactly what I will get :/ Another thing that is very hard to accept, and I genuinely wonder how other people managed to deal with that... I know accepting it and facing that truth is the only possible way, but yeah...I still can't bring myself to feel good about this. I mean, I've been lonely for my entire life, so I don't know...maybe I just hoped this would change at some point in the future and finding out that this will never happen now is kind of soul-crushing, honestly.

Lastly, I know that this is mostly a lengthy and overly personal rant post, so maybe no one has even read until here. But if someone did and feels like commenting, then I would really appreciate that, because...I still don't really feel fully enlightened on how I'm supposed to feel now. Maybe talking to actual people would help, but who knows. Again, I'd appreciate it if anyone wants to share their thoughts (my DMs are also open btw), although I'm aware that a random Tumblr post probably isn't the best way to solve my problem. ^^

[teenandbeyond]

Levi Ackerman x M. Reader [Pt.3]

After reading a Levi fanfic, I got inspo to make a prequel to my Hero two-shot...now three-shot (technically). This is what lead up to parts 1 and two.

Want more from me? Masterlist 2

Here are Part One and Part Two.

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

⚔Love, Sweat, and Tears⚔ (AOT or SNK)

Warning(s): Fluff, cursing (I think? I don't remember), long, low-key angsty toward the end

Levi just wants some tea, turns out he gets something a little sweet, too.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

"Where are we going?"

"They say this place has the best tea around here, you like tea, right?"

Levi glared at the outside of the building they stopped at.

RoyalTea.

He was still deciding on what he thought of the name.

The outside had a creamy purple color with white and gold painted accents in well-placed areas.

"Wanna go in?" Gabi, one of his caretakers asked.

"They better have good tea."

"It's been open for a year exactly today. But apparently it's very popular," she wheeled him inside.

The second they were inside, they were hit with the scents of different teas. Though every individual smell complemented each other.

But the interior was what really caught their attention.

"Whoa...I don't think I've ever seen a shop this clean looking..."

Levi liked this place already, this place was anti-dirt.

Customers were scattered across the shop, talking to each other over white tables, sitting in window seats, and girls were crowded at the counter table.

They didn't look like tea drinkers, so why were they looking so eager?

"It looks like this place is taken over by brats."

"Hello, sorry for the wait. I got the blend you wanted in your preferred amount."

Levi couldn't see who the voice belonged to over the throng of ladies as he got closer to the counter to hopefully be able to order.

"Yes, [Name], this is perfect! Thank you."

You laugh, "It's no problem. You, ladies, might want to start buying in bulk, though. Your usual order of two pouches can last about a week just between 4 people per bag. But you come here every other day ordering more."

"Yeah, we just love tea so much! And we just want to support our favorite shop owner," one leaned in.

"We should go, customer service is shitty here," Levi muttered.

"Sorry, Levi."

"Thank you, I appreciate that. But ladies, would you mind moving since you've paid already? There are customers behind you."

"Oh."

They turned to the two dryly, glaring at them before leaving the store altogether.

"Sorry about that, some of my customers can get that way! You look like you two must be new. Would you like to hear the options of tea I have? I also have pastries if you're interested."

Levi dragged his gaze back to you and he swore he stopped breathing.

Who was this beautiful man? [Name] he heard? He was suddenly much more interested.

"Sir?"

"What?"

"Do you need some time to think about it?"

"No. What do you have?"

You began to rattle off all the types of tea you possessed, even some that Levi's never heard of, which you explained when noticing any confusion.

Usually, he didn't like when people talked so much...but he found he didn't mind when you did it.

Privileges of finding you pretty, he guessed.

He stealthily observed you, from your jaw to your white dress shirt to the beginning of your waist until the counter blocked the rest of the view.

After he ordered, since Gabi didn't want anything, you smiled.

"Want any sugar or honey with it?"

Levi cringed, "What kind of moron adds shit to their tea?"

You only chuckle at his language, "It actually isn't too bad if it's done right."

"Nothing belongs in tea," he glared.

You rang them up, "Three dollars–and Mr. Levi, I'm sure I could change your mind. I'm very convincing. I'm pretty good at what I do," you gestured to his cup, "Just see for yourself."

After he was settled, he took a sip and almost groaned at its taste.

He was coming back here.

And he did.

Again. And again.

Until it was a regular thing.

"Welcome back, Levi."

That smile was lethal, did you not know that?

"Hey."

At this point, it'd been months and Levi became a [Name] addict.

"Same thing?"

"Yeah."

After serving him, you prepped some tea leaves to grind.

He watched as you work, enveloping the quiet atmosphere.

"I'm so happy I have this place."

"Hm?"

"I uh...When I was a kid, things came easy. So they didn't feel rewarding...until I bought this place and grew a business from the ground up...It taught me how to work, it taught me discipline, it taught me that an easier life doesn't mean it's better," you laugh to yourself, "Sorry, I know you don't want to hear this."

"That why you opened this place? To work hard after having an easy life?" he subtly signaled he did.

You snickered, "I know that seems backward, but yeah. I know it's selfish since there are people out there who'd kill to have the easy life I had...but...I wasn't being fed, or stimulated, I had nothing to wake up for. Then I met a military police officer—a good one—and he--he worked so hard, he had a passion for what he did. I wanted that. I wanted to know what it was like to have a reason to live, to serve others. So I left an easy life behind for a life of work...but it was worth it. It's so freeing to live this way. I was never free when it was easy."

After that day, Levi realized he crushed on you, hard. He couldn't talk to you straight after that.

You leaned on an elbow behind the counter one afternoon, "Hey, Levi. You look really handsome today--not that you don't always look handsome, of course. But today seems a little different."

His cheeks flushed pink, "I-I didn't do much brat, just...changed my hair a little..."

And one evening, you got bold.

"Hey Levi, can I get your opinion as an avid tea drinker? I'd feel like you'd be a better judge than me who leans more toward alcohol."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I've been testing a new tea brew, but I need another opinion before I decide to add it to the menu or not. Can you try it for me?"

"Sure."

"It's still in my apartment upstairs, I'll take you."

"[Name], I'm in a wheelchair, I can't go up the stairs on my own."

"I know, here."

"Pu-put me down!" he flushed red.

"But you can't walk..."

"You could've just helped me up. The other leg is still fine."

"It's faster."

It became regular for you two to hang out in your apartment above the shop after closing, and one night, you kissed. Neither of you knew how it happened, but it couldn't be taken back.

And once you finally get Levi comfortable with the thought, you decide to try being a couple.

And Levi needed time to get used to the foreign type of relationship.

He had to get used to someone smiling at the sight of him.

He had to get used to someone's lips brushing against his skin.

He had to get used to someone treating him like a prince.

Someone celebrating his birthday that he didn't think was important.

He had to get used to someone remembering the little things.

Someone with an open ear to listen to the feelings he hides within his depths.

Someone saying, "I love you, Levi."

And him saying it back.

And after three years of dating, he had to get used to living with someone he was in a relationship with.

Had to get used to full, warm meals from morning to night.

Someone restoring him back to health when he's sick.

Someone soothing him from the nightmares, someone showing him how to sleep better. And waking to another warm body in a bed he shares (which he had to force, for a while you'd let him have the bed to himself in respect).

He had to get used to finding more reasons to smile, he had to get used to making someone laugh and smile with ease.

He had to get used to someone cleaning for him, someone who's very stubborn with what they allow him to clean, "I know you like to clean baby, but let me do it, let me take care of you."

He had to get used to someone cutting his hair for him.

Someone who didn't judge him for his background, no matter what.

"Levi, you're practicing your writing?" you leaned over his shoulder.

"Habit."

"There's nothing wrong with where you're from. Because without that place, you wouldn't have become the Levi I love now. So don't feel like you have to hide it or be ashamed," you kissed the curve of his neck.

He had to get used to someone being attentive to him and his habits and behaviors. Someone knowing him better than he knows himself.

He had to get used to being protected and fought for, although he still likes to feel like he can protect, too.

"Levi! Never do that again, do you know how worried I was?" you growled, running a hand through your hair, "I swear you want to make me go more insane for you than I already have...Do you not understand that I would shed blood for you if I had to? Please don't take me lightly."

He had to get used to someone reading to him, someone tucking him in.

Someone making him try new things, like sugar in his tea. He couldn't believe it.

Someone...calling him beautiful...

Someone bathing him and joining him sometimes just for the pure connection of intimacy.

Someone that didn't need to have sex with him to connect with him.

Someone that will ask him how he's feeling, and happily fill the silence when he doesn't want to divulge.

Someone who buys him whatever books he wants. Spoils him and works hard to earn back the money spent.

Someone showing their love in physically any way they could, showing what it was like to have a gentle touch.

Someone who won't let him go to bed angry.

"Please, don't leave me, [Name]!"

"What?"

"I-I'm sorry, I do need you! And—And not just because you take care of me," Levi looked up in desperation, tears welling up in his eyes, he regretted every nasty word he'd just said to you.

You look like a broken-hearted puppy, "It really hurt, Levi."

"I know...I know, I...I'm not good with this 'feelings' stuff. I don't know how to tell you things, I don't know how to show you I care about you. But I'm tired of people leaving me! And you're the only person who hasn't, I don't want to be the reason why you finally do. So please," he approaches you with shaking hands, his face burrowing into your torso as he grips the back of your shirt. "Don't leave me...Please. I love you, I love you. I'm sorry."

(But he didn't tell you the real reason he blew up at you that night...because of his own hidden thoughts...)

He had to get used to someone who cried from his tears, someone holding him tight, keeping silent about the tears he knew they felt.

He had to get used to having a reason to keep going.

He...had to get used to you...

The one he loved more than anyone.

The one he wanted for the rest of his life...

...and the last person he'd want to see at the end of it.

[weebsinstash]

Ugh okay I’m not sure if this will really fit with ur ideas but whenever anyone brings up group yanderes I’m always drawn to a specific scenario: Reader, by some miracle, gets a significant other outside of the group that, again, by a miracle, they don’t know about (I’m thinking, in this scenario, Reader travels through universes often to hang out with different spiders, and in a universe they visit frequently, they sneak off and see someone whenever the local spider is doing their spider stuff). Said s/o breaks up with Reader and they’re obviously upset. The group starts freaking tf out because their darling’s upset and not telling anyone what’s wrong, while Reader’s going through a whole internal conflict because they know they’ll be in trouble if they tell the truth, but also they know their ex will be in MAD trouble, so they’re desperately trying to hide the whole situation, which only makes things worse as the group descended into chaos, knowing that their darling is hiding *something* and not telling anyone. The whole spiderverse is working together to manipulate you/figure out what’s going on. People like Jess, Pav, and Gwen try to approach you as sympathetic friends who you can vent your issues to, while characters like Miguel and Hobie are much more upfront in telling you to tell them what’s going on, not even asking. When the truth does inevitably get revealed, it’s hell on earth for both you and your ex. (Bonus; imagine if said ex actually hurt you in some way other than breaking up, like admitting to cheating or was generally cruel to you either during the relationship or just in the breakup. The fury of your captors would be biblical)

God and from their perspective some/most of it is justified because you're walking around SIGNIFICANTLY more depressed than before, you're starting to become more anxious and jumpy, and with some people you're outright lashing out in anger if they press you on the subject, so like, even if some of the Spiders are trying to invade your privacy or even manipulate you, from their side, there's no telling how serious this problem actually is, or if it's nothing to be concerned about (in the grand scheme of things, you having a fight with your partner isn't some world shattering event, but to THEM it's 'wait Reader's been dating? who???' And like virtually no matter who it is, if they're a Normie they aren't good enough by the Society/your group's standards. Although technically if dating could potentially interfere with any of your future canon events, well, then you have a particular spicy papi very upset with you...)

So like, I haven't seen all clips of Miguel's scenes and speaking lines yet but I've been spoiling myself to a little more (I aim to see spiderverse on the big screen this weekend so I was kinda leaving some to surprise, fucking hid all my wax and edibles, im gonna dry out for a few days and hit some dabs and see this shit in IMAX and itll rewire my fucking brain shits gonna be so good) but oh my god this man gets so fucking scary. He's just on his brooding platform already stressed as fuck which is a constant state he lives in at this point and here's Jess and Peter B as concerned parents to fill him in on their concerns, what they've seen from you: sudden increased self isolating, crying more, becoming more withdrawn and quiet, refusing to talk to them about it, trying to spend all your time alone. Miguel just, trying to tether the last pieces of his mental sanity together as he decides to go visit you personally, and he can immediately tell you're hiding something from all the darting glances to the fact you don't want to look him in the eyes.

Like can you imagine, I guess it depends on how you see Reader "going about", like do they have their own home universe or whatever, but, Miguel hasn't confronted you himself yet and he decides, fine, you want to keep secrets, good fucking luck, and all of his dimensional watches he's given out are probably connected to the same servers and systems so he just, looks up your travel log and quickly identifies that you've been visiting the same universe repeatedly, but none of your friends seem to know why you would be going there. Say you've been hanging around in Gwen's universe and Miguel assumes, oh maybe you're spending time with Gwen, maybe that emo little drummer said something to upset you, but Gwen looks confused (and a little upset) when it turns out you've been apparently popping in her universe without even saying hi? And Miguel is gritting his teeth because he's starting to form a theory on what's going on and he doesn't like it one fucking bit

He teams up with Jess and Peter B and Gwen and some of your other pals and he starts triangulating your bracelet and. Wow what the fuck you're in Gwen's dimension RIGHT NOW. So then they all race towards your location to watch from a distance, some real loony tunes, "all 6 or 7 of us are hiding behind the same tree" bullshit, and, there you are from a distance, out of costume as you're clearly very upset, talking to someone that, most of the Spiders recognize instantly minus characters like Pav and Jess and Miguel and there's this resounding GROAN OF DISGUST "oh god, NOT FLASH THOMPSON" (for Spiderman lore newbies this is literally the character that bullies the fuck out of Peter Parker in high school like literal actual shoving him into lockers shit)

Peni uses her mech to send out a listening device and everyone is comically gathered around as they eavesdrop and start getting progressively more furious as they start piecing things together: you HAD been there to visit Gwen initially, but somehow you met Flash out of costume and the jockey SOMEHOW managed to woo you, but the relationship quickly became manipulative and controlling until you eventually caught Flash with another person. They're all GRITTING THEIR TEETH as you're in tears, asking him what you did wrong, where did you mess up, and Flash basically tells you to your face, "you're nothing special, I got bored of you"

Your little groupie gang of platonic and romantic yandere WITH STEAM BLOWING OUT OF THEIR EARS as you whimper "but... you-you said you loved me! We SLEPT together!" And he just. Fucking laughs in your face, SHOVES YOU, and calls you a slut before walking away with someone else on his arm

Gwen absolutely seething as she reflects on how Flash treated her Peter and Pavitr is swearing curses onto his entire family line meanwhile Hobie just like "oy would it break canon if I smash my guitar over that pisser's head". Peter 'I just wanna talk to him' B Parker as he hands Mayday off to Jess while cracking his knuckles. Miguel is, well, upset about like 10 different things because God fucking damn it, how long have you been hanging around with non-Spiders in other universes? (Do you think the Spider Society would be like, more than just a little possessive and insular, since youre supposed to be part of the Ha Ha We're All Spiderman club and they catch you hanging with normies over them) Is there anyone else? What have you been doing? He's just instantly a mixture of furious and hurt because damn it don't you know you're like his favorite, why the fuck are you running around potentially flirting with canon, don't you know how dangerous this is

But also deadass he wants to tear that man apart with his claws and he's considering checking the canon events of this universe to see if he can make it so

The Gang just watching as you pick yourself up but can't stop crying, and you drag your feet as you head to sit in a park or something, seeming like your entire form and surroundings are nothing but a depressed, deep blue. You're in a park or something so they can't exactly approach you normally because there are people around, but you just sit there crying for ages before you eventually pick yourself up and draaaaaag your feet, seeming to walk around aimlessly until, eventually, you go to a dark alley or under a bridge somewhere and they all pop out at you just as you're about to warp home anyways and you're just immediately bombarded by all these people

"Hey, you know what he said isn't true, right? Dude's a punk bitch!"

"Scuse me? I take that personally. He IS a total fuckin wanker though"

"Hon, you can't let what some ego-tripping blonde who peaked in high school said make you feel like this! He ain't worth it!"

And you're just standing there looking at them as your heart breaks a little more because you HAD been wanting some kind of support in all of this but you're muttering out with disbelief, "you guys followed me...?" And you're really hurt by that, but, here comes Miguel, stalking forward, putting a hand on your shoulder that's one part sympathetic comfort, one part possessive anger as he glowers at you with chestnut eyes that almost look RED, "anything else you wanna share?"

Miguel marching back to the weekly We Love Reader meeting and slapping a graphic up onto the wall with your face like a PSA "THIS Spider FUCKS and only YOU can stop it" fhfjfjg no not really but like non yandere Spiders are doing their own thing when, from a secret meeting room somewhere in Nueva York, the ground practically shakes with dozens upon dozens if not hundreds of voices crying out in agony "NOT FLASH THOMPSON 😩"

Bonus points if like, one of the things The Gang had witnessed was you crying and all that right, but, what if Reader had specifically said to Flash, "but I gave you my VIRGINITY" like. Mayhem. Pandemonium. All the Spiders have a sudden "aha!" because wow no wonder you suddenly started talking about how you're worthless and don't matter, this DICK HEAD lured you into a false sense of security and trust and then took your virginity and bounced while calling you a fucking loser and judging by that shove, has maybe even put his hands on you before? Like fuckinnnngggg The Society and your entire friend group freaking the fuck out one day because you have a black eye one day you were trying to hide with sunglasses and you say it was from a Villain but they're all like Nah Fam That's Sus because how would a villain pop one off on your face when you have super strength and Spidey Sense and they get you/intimidate you to open up and it's like, oh, that was because your "boyfriend" didnt like how you thought you smelled someone else's perfums/cologne on him and he lost his temper when you pressed him for answers, and even when you tell them the truth you're still crying with a small laugh, "it was my fault, I should've backed off and realized I was upsetting him"

Reader just gets surrounded by all their friends and "the cute Spiders" like the cat Spiderman and oh my fucking god there's a plushie Spiderman and just, gosh, they try to basically smother you with love to cheer you up and bring your confidence back but your heart has been wounded and needs time to heal 🥺 regardless, later on Detective Stacey is having to investigate and finds Mr Thompson in an alleyway with a busted knee that permanantly ends any sort of athletic career and the words "CHEATER" cut across his body in multiple places while he's covered in scratches, bruises, bites, and he keeps mumbling the weirdest most incoherent shit under his breath that gets him hospitalized

"The- the pig... it TALKED... it pulled out a HAMMER... from its POCKET... the pig... had ... POCKETS..."

[auxiliarydetective]

Evie's One Piece OC Compendium

SO @eustasskidsfattits asked me to make a post about my One Piece OCs, so here it is! I wanted to make this way sooner, but then stuff happened and then I got to show one of my friends OPLA and 8 OCs turned to 9 (oopsies...). Also, the perfectionist in me would not shut up. Yes, this is technically the intro for the three newest ones, so buckle up!

I'm gonna list them in the order that I created them, simply because listing them in the order of their appearance in the story would be fairly impossible with how OPLA likes to introduce characters earlier on lol - These OCs also all exist in their own separate universes, by the way...

So yeah, long post incoming and, for any OPLA-onlies reading this post: Spoiler warning!!!

Not proofread because I just wanna finally get this post out and I am lacking energy

The Guardian: Aether S. Luna

The original One Piece OC and also the one who has gone through the most changes. I revamped her only recently!

Luna is convinced that she's the daughter of the moon goddess aka of Mother Moon herself, and there are some very odd things about her that make that very plausible. She looks like how you would imagine the daughter of the moon to look like, with very pale skin and very light blonde hair, she has magical powers that are charged by basking in the moonlight, she needs very little sleep as long as the moon is out, her strength is based on the moon cycle... Oh, also: Wings. Large, white wings, that don't fit in with any other humanoid creature in the world. So, nobody really has any solid evidence against it either. Well... Nobody who hasn't been to Egghead Island.

She's introduced into the story at Long Ring Long Land (I actually have two fics for that) as a part of Foxy's crew because he won her in a Davy Back Fight. Before that, she was sort of aimlessly travelling the seas with various crews, just trying to find a place to belong. Throughout the Davy Back Fight, Luna ends up befriending the Straw Hats and Luffy, being Luffy, of course won't pass up the opportunity to have someone as weird as her on their crew, so she joins!

Sanji is, of course, very enamoured with this literal goddess. Even more so than usual. Luckily for him, his charm seems to be working on Luna too. She essentially goes from "Oh, you're adorable. You're funny." to "Oh. Oh no. That's the love of my life, isn't it?", at the very latest when she sees Sanji after he absolutely decimates the people on the Sea Train.

I can't really talk too much about her because a lot of my ideas for her are very visual, but I guess I could give some more little facts? First of all, Luna is 18 and her blood group is S. You can take a look at my animanga character sketches for her here and here if you want! Her wings haven't grown to their full size yet pre-timeskip, and she molts like a bird as she grows, so whenever that happens, she's essentially grounded and chronically exhausted. And that happens around the time of Sabaody. Perfect timing, right? Also, she has to preen her wings, especially after battles, and her crewmates keep around her feathers either for practical or sentimental reasons. And in case you were wondering, of course she heads to Whole Cake Island to go after her boyfriend. Big Mom takes an interest in her, Judge wants to steal her lineage factor, it's a very fun time for everyone involved.

The Sweet Tooth: Charlotte Inari

Ah yes, sweet little Inari. Inari is Pudding's twin sister, she's also a member of the Three-Eyed Tribe and she's named after inari-zushi (if you were wondering how she fits into the Charlotte Family naming scheme). She ate the Kami Kami no Mi, Model: Shikigami, which has a very complicated way to how it works, but, essentially, it binds her to a master whose orders she has to follow and, in turn, gets special abilities from based on her master's. That master is the person who last saved her life. The problem with that situation is that she got the devil fruit when she was still very young and travelling at sea with one of her siblings, and a sea battle ensued where chaos happened and she got herself kidnapped. So, she ends up being passed around from master to master for years until finally ending up with Enel. That is, until Luffy defeats him, and she joins the Straw Hats.

Inari, being that she spent her early formative years on Totto Land, has some very interesting ideas of what's considered normal for animals, plant life, people... for everything, really. She fights with two war fans (as well as her devil fruit, of course) and knows how to play the shamisen, both of which she picked up while travelling with a crew of Wano ancestry for a while. Also, she naturally has a huge sweet tooth and loves to make sweets too. It runs in her genes.

Inari's goal while travelling with the Straw Hats at first is to get back home. She's just a kid, she wants to go home, at least to let her family know that she's okay. And her family and her friends will totally get along, right??? That's also why she doesn't fully consider herself part of the Straw Hats for the longest time. She's a member of the Big Mom Pirates, simply by birth right. However, this all gets a bit thrown on its head with the Timeskip and everything after that. Because, during the timeskip, Kuma sends her to Totto Land, and she officially joins the Big Mom Pirates. So, she has everything she has ever wanted, right? Well... She still ends up coming back. She loves her friends too much not to go back to them. And then Luffy ends up starting a war with Big Mom, which is... not ideal? Whole Cake Island is especially fun. And Wano? Oh boy!

Also... remember the special ability of the Three-Eyed Tribe? Yeah. Inari awakens her third eye when she hears the Drums of Liberation, but nobody notices and she doesn't tell anybody until the battle is long over, and even then she only tells Sanji and Robin.

The Tailor: Akaito Coraline

My dear, sweet Cora... We're entering the live action era now! Aka when everything started to escalate and I started drowning in OCs. I freaking love the live action, man... Maybe a little too much.

Anyways, Cora! Cora is the last living member of the Akaito Clan, a tailoring family from the North Blue of world-class fame who was eradicated by Germa 66 when they didn't want to work for their evil plans. Their main identifier is a sewing needle pierced through the left ear, and they can tell a person's measurements just by looking at them. Of course, there are many imposters around because Akaito-made clothes sell for a fortune, but they usually fail at these criteria. Cora was only a baby when the attack from Germa happened, so she doesn't remember anything from that day or about her family, except for her mother, who was selected as the sole adult survivor of the massacre, because she had Cora, and Judge had plans for Cora. Little did Judge know that her mother also had plans for Cora, and that she had given the baby the Akaito Clan's most prized possession: The Sew Sew Fruit (Chiku Chiku no Mi), which gives its user mastery over the entire clothesmaking process and its tools and materials.

I don't want to get too much into Cora's backstory here, but she befriended Sanji and thought that he had died, and then her mother died, she helped create and designed the Raid Suits and then she ran away with the help of Reiju at 16 years old. Afterwards, she rose to considerable fame as a tailor in the East Blue, until finally stumbling across Sanji at Baratie, the same day that the Straw Hats also show up there. Shenanigans ensue.

I think, if I were going to describe Cora's personality in only three aspects, it's trauma, kindness, and a huge double crush that she doesn't like to admit. Because not only is she wholly unprepared for Sanji being not only alive but also a pretty and charming young man, there's also a swordsman who she has to stitch back together after a big fight and who she ends up falling head over heels for. The two boys constantly bickering doesn't help much either, and they also bicker over her, constantly trying to out-boyfriend each other. In case you were wondering whose side Cora usually takes in these fights, the answer is: She joins in on the side of entertainment. Whichever side would yield the funnier result. She just thinks their fights are way too funny and stupid. Also, she's constantly touch-starved and also scared of touch. And sleep-deprived. She gets better in the "scared of touch" category over the course of her journey with the Straw Hats, so... Sleepy cuddles. So many sleepy cuddles. If Zoro's taking a nap, she's taking a nap too, no buts. And Sanji eventually ends up with his arm around her waist 90% of the time. His personal space is also her personal space.

So, uh, fighting style! She uses a rapier and keeps explaining to people that, no, she's not a swordsman, she's a fencer. There's a difference. Also, she uses strings a lot, and plagiarizes Doffy's travelling method after Dressrosa. The thing with strings and dyes and whatnot is a whole new can of worms that I won't get into right now but it's super cool.

One more fun fact: Cora is short. She's tiny. And she wears heels to compensate, which Zoro hates because they're not practical at all. Her entire fashion sense gives him minor aggressions, partially because a lot of her clothes are a lot more fashion than function, partially because she looks too damn gorgeous in them and he's constantly reminded of his embarrassing crush and has gotten so distracted by her that he has walked into tables and doorframes multiple times. Sanji, on the other hand, fully supports her fashion choices. Maybe show a little more skin next time..? Pretty please? I have concept art for her and one of the more distracting outfits :)

The Scout: "Desert Fox" Felicity

The baby of the crew. Yeah, she's younger than Chopper. Inari is already young, being 14, but Lily? Lily is twelve. Absolute baby. How did she end up with the Straw Hats? Blame it on Buggy kidnapping her and then kidnapping the Straw Hats on top, letting them bust her out with them. Nami and Zoro pretty much become her caretakers on the spot, Nami consciously and Zoro... well... Turns out he has a bit of a soft spot for little scared kids with fox ears. They bring her back home to her "sister" Kaya at Syrup Village, but then she almost gets murdered by a killer butler, and Kaya asks them to take Lily with them, so... Well, she's with them now! Only about a few days later though, one of her caretakers gets himself almost killed and the other decides to abandon the crew. Good thing that Sanji has pretty much decided to adopt her, because otherwise she'd be crying her eyes out.

Lily is actually half mink! That's where she got her fennec fox features and some of her behavioural patterns (i.e. cuddliness, switching between napping and getting the zoomies...) from. But her behaviour could just as well be caused by her devil fruit, because she ate the Jōi Jōi no Mi, which gives her emotions magical properties. Which ones? No one knows! You'll find out when it happens. Pretty much the only really predictable effect back when Lily joins the crew is that she turns back into a nonverbal five-year-old when she gets too scared. She also has a pretty good success rate of turning into a more anthropomorphic fox creature when getting into the spirit for a battle. She's a mink after all, and minks are born fighters! And in case you're wondering: Yes, she does have electro! And sharp teeth. You do not want to make her upset. Best case scenario is that she bites you, worst case is either some magical shenanigans or she starts crying and her crewmates come to kick your ass.

I haven't developed her too much beyond the first season of OPLA, but I just know that she has to go absolutely feral at Alabasta, because that's a fennec fox's natural habitat and her epithet is "Desert Fox", so it only makes sense for her to get it at Alabasta. Also, it would be peak funny for Crocodile to complain to the Marines about a literal child messing up his plans, and peak funny is also peak One Piece, so you best believe I'll do it. Also, her being this young means I get to watch her grow up over the timeskip. I imagine she maybe gets sent to Zou and starts to really master her electro and devil fruit attacks? Something along the lines of "I'm all grown up now! I have my powers under control!" and then immediately turning back into a kindergartener in the face of danger would probably be her running gag post-TS. Also, I'm so soft for her relationship with Sanji. I could go on for ages about Whole Cake Island, but I'll leave it at that for now. This post is already getting long enough...

The Matron: Dracule Aurelia

Oh boy, you're not ready for her. She's the daughter of Rayleigh and Shakky. Trans queen (thanks, Iva). Raised as a Kuja, got love sickness just like her mother and fell for a red-headed idiot first, then for a certain swordsman. Ended up marrying the swordsman in the most dramatic way possible. Also maybe the second most beautiful woman in the world, after Boa Hancock of course.

Aurelia is essentially the fusion of a mafia boss, a mob wife, and an Ancient Roman patron. She has unbelievable amounts of money and an invisible net of connections that makes her almost untouchable. She's allied with Emperors, Warlords, kings and queens... Her main deal is providing smaller, more inexperienced pirate crews with her protection and support and getting their services in return, for example as soliders, for transportation... Whatever she needs at that moment. She can be as kind as she can be cruel, and people are generally both in awe and scared of her. Her epithet is "Black Widow" both because of her spider net of connections and because all of her lovers keep mysteriously dying as if through some sort of curse. Mihawk is the only one who has been able to resist that curse. Shanks doesn't count because Aurelia claims she never truly loved him.

One of the places under her protection is Baratie, and so she gets caught up in the Straw Hats' shenanigans. First, Nami asks her for help, then she returns to Arlong ransacking the place and essentially kidnapping Nami, then she finds out that Zoro was almost killed by her husband... Also, Sanji is the closest thing to a son that she has, so Sanji joining the Straw Hats is pretty much the final nail in the coffin to her deciding on her own terms that she's going to protect those kids to the best of her ability. You can kind of imagine her as the rich aunt, but a lot more deadly. Generally, she spends a majority in the story picking up her den den mushi and going "Luffy, what did you do this time?" The boy pretty much becomes her most effective portégé when it comes to expanding her territory, because he keeps punching tyrants and asking her to put the newly freed kingdoms under her protection. She also kicks ass at Marineford, of course, helps protect the Sunny during the timeskip, and becomes decorously unhinged when Whole Cake Island comes around because of her own personal history with Big Mom and "That's my son!" and "Luffy, you are not going to kill an Emperor." - so yeah, she pretty much has to follow the Straw Hats to Wano too, lest they get themselves kicked. She's both the queen of the literal universe and the exhausted mother of a crew of literal toddlers. Or. Well. Children and one supercharged toddler who will not stop causing chaos.

Her entire backstory is so freaking great. Growing up as a Kuja, running away from home because she's mad at her mother for leaving the Kuja tribe, her very first murder of a lover who also happened to be a nobleman, her bond with Iva and speedy hormone therapy, whatever the hell was going on between her and Shanks, her relationship with Mihawk, the whole situation with Big Mom and her rules for alliances, Mihawk literally fighting for her hand in marriage, her meeting Sanji and essentially adopting him... There's a lot going on. Wish I could write it one day.

The Mechanic: Lux Jirou

Lynx boi! Kuro tricked him into thinking he had Amber Lead Snydrome but it's actually just vitiligo. Used to be a member of the Black Cat Pirates (posing as the mansion's security guard) but liked Kaya a little too much and figured out Kuro was lying, so he teamed up with the Straw Hats to take him down. Also has the worst crush on Zoro and Zoro has the worst crushback, but they're both too stupid to figure it out. He goes by Jirou while with the Black Cat Pirates but starts going only by his last name Lux once he starts rebelling. Ends up joining the Heart Pirates and working as a mechanic on the Polar Tang.

Once again, so many of my ideas for him are more visual because... big kitty! Huge freaking paws! Cuddly cat naps! Involuntary purring because he has a crush and he's a cat and... Yeah. Also, he's absolutely thriving at Punk Hazard. Lots of snow? No problem! Lynx have built-in snow shoes. Also, his devil fruit (Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Lynx), much like the dinosaur SMILEs of the Beasts Pirates, works with Zoan logic. "Lynxes can walk on snow, so they can also walk on water, right? Since water is just frozen snow. And then maybe they can walk on air too if they train hard enough? Because of the humidity?"

The Siren: Kanyalani

Also known as Kan-chan, because Luffy is not pronouncing her full name. She's a betta fish mermaid and former slave and joined the Sun Pirates after being liberated. She has a romance with Jinbe which eventually turns into a polycule with the addition of Robin and Franky when they both join the Straw Hats. Kan-chan fights with chakrams and uses Merman Combat as well as some Fishman Karate.

Now for some mermaid characteristics: Since she's a betta fish mermaid, she shares betta fish characteristics. This means that she loves her color when she's unhappy and becomes more vibrant when she is happy. She also has a unique ability. Whereas all mermaids have beautiful voices, Kan-chan's singing can lull anyone to sleep, even in the midst of battle. Also, she's over thirty, so her tail is split, but she has trouble walking, so she practically never does it. She prefers using Bubbly Corals to navigate and claims that her very frilly fin makes for bad legs anyways.

The Archer: Shimotsuki Kaede

A Kuina look alike from Ebisu Town who nearly gives Zoro a heart attack when he sees her with her mask off for the first time. The concept for this OC basically came to me in the concept of many What Ifs. What if Kuina was still alive? What if Kuina was even more gender? What if there was a flying squirrel? What if someone pulled a Robin Hood on Orochi?

So, here's Kaede. Regular Ebisu Town citizen by day, dying and mending kimonos, stealing food and shooting arrows at people by night. As Ebisu Town gets the leftovers from the Flower Capital, this also includes the half-eaten SMILEs, and Kaede had the one-in-a-million luck of one of the SMILEs, finicky things that they are, still having traces of the power it once gave. And so, she got the power of the flying squirrel SMILE, making her the "devil fruit twin" of Bao Huang. She practices kyūdō in secret and almost runs an arrow through Orochi's head after Yasuie's execution. She would've hit the bastard too if someone hadn't hit her bow and made her miss.

The Soldier: Roronoa Sonoko

Ah yes, the reason why this post took me so long... She just appeared the moment I saw the scene in OPLA where Morgan tries to get Zoro to join the Marines. Because my brain went: Y'know, what if he actually had? So, I bring to you: Zoro's sister. No, not biological sister. They're siblings the way the ASL brothers are siblings. By exchanging sake cups. They got in trouble for stealing the sake and the cups but it was all worth it. What makes the situation even funnier is that Sonoko keeps on telling people that they're not biological siblings but nobody believes her because she's pretty much Zoro's spitting image. And it's her fault, too! Because she chooses to wear those earrings (more or less, but that's a bit of a longer story) and she chooses to dye her hair green! Yes, among the thousands of people with naturally funky hair colors, Kaede is pretty much the only one who actually dyes her hair.

So yeah, she's a Marine! Freshly promoted to Ensign when Koby and Helmeppo join and Garp's protégé. Her sword training comes from Bogard but she uses Two-Sword Style, so it's more her figuring out techniques and Bogard putting up with them. That is until Garp calls on Mihawk to go catch Luffy. Hawk Eyes comes to the ship to say that he decided not to do just that and Garp, as a payment for not reporting this to the World Government, asks Mihawk to take Sonoko on as a student. Mihawk, being Mihawk, is about to remind Garp that he does whatever he wants and doesn't need a deal like that. But then he sees the spitting image of Zoro in front of him and hears the same last name - and he changes his mind. Maybe it's worth a shot?

Following that, I don't have that many ideas except that Sonoko gets a bunch of promotions, only to go AWOL to warn Mihawk of the dismantling of the Warlords system during the Reverie because, at this point, she's far more loyal to him than to the Government or the Marines. She then completely deserts and dashes to Wano to help her brother and his crew defeat Kaido. In the process of the Raid on Onigashima (possibly while protecting either Hiyori or Zoro), she loses an arm and one of her swords and is just... overcome with guilt and shame. So much so that she can't bring herself to return to Mihawk after this incredible failure. Franky does replace her arm with a robotic one and everyone is super nice and supportive to her, the samurai step in and try to reason with her, but she's completely blinded by shame and anxiety. She keeps training, of course, she keepy going, but she just doesn't see herself as worthy anymore of being the student of the World's Greatest Swordsman. But then Mihawk himself shows up at Wano, looking specifically for her and tells her that she isn't a failure, that he's proud of her for her sacrifice for her cause and, most importantly of all, because she kept going. So, all is well and she joins the Cross Guild. Maybe befriends Cabaji, I dunno.

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats @supermarine-silvally - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

[doppel-doodles]

What is Shui's opinion on a certain "Albino Witch" wandering in the mortal realm? xD (Aka: Yeva shdhsjjd-)

Also, do they have any hobbies? :0

Ayayayaya you are tickling my writers brain I see-

Let’s say in this scenario Shui and Yeva probably met via Redson dragging her along to his lessons with Arthur because uh yeah he is kinda his teacher-

And in that case congrats she is now part of the family and no rejecting this is not an option.

Of course a friend of redson is a friend of hers! But for Yeva specifically I can see Shui would probably mother hen after her a lot, I feel like her more quiet nature and lack of emotion remind her a lot of one of her own daughters.

And a bonus for if she would have known her in her younger years, while Shui was a lot less terrifying than she was in her celestial warrior years she was still not the most approachable person however when Yeva decided to become her problem she would probably become the unpaid babysitter because „I guess I won’t let you die from stupidity.“ meant affectionately of course XD

She definitely would have made Yeva babysit her little brats once they came into the world as revenge :>

Well as for hobbies they all have something going on :0

But this is already way to long so have a quick list-

Shui: One of her favorite pastimes is researching marine biology and the underwater world in general, as an aquatic type demon it is pretty easy for her to just dive into a body of water and explore to her hearts content after all. On these trips she also looks for shiny knickknacks for her ever growing collection but besides that she also works out.

Arthur: Honestly if you were to just ask him then he would probably just answer "work." And to be fair almost blowing the roof of your house is a fun pass time but what he also likes doing is cooking which he is quite good at. Does adopting everything that breaths in your general direction also count as a hobby?-

Adrien: He's pretty into books but Adrien doesn't just like reading he also likes to write them himself. (definitely wrote a lot of fanfic in his teen years)

Klara: Oh she definitely is the type of kid that would do millions of activities and hobbies all the time and would leave nothing untouched, does everything from sports to researching physics for fun-

Katie: She likes to draw and dabbles in fashion design, really wants to learn how to actually make clothes, also a pretty big theater kid.

—

Jú: Dancing and singing were her main ones but she definitely doesn't do those a lot anymore, another one where the answer would just be "work." If asked. Volunteers at animal shelter's in her free time.

Băoshí: Also pretty big into working out but also likes to craft, everything from cute little bird houses to full on furniture if bro can make it himself then he won't buy it. He to has a collection of shiny things stashed somewhere and it's only growing. He does some gardening on the side.

Yúnlü: Her passion lies in music, she is on a mission to try and learn as many instruments as possible. Besides that I picture her to be really into video games, definitely gets way too competitive when playing Mario party.

—

Ming: I guess the closest thing he had to a hobby after his death was etching a line into his gravestone to keep track of the days, though eventually he couldn't even do that.

Baí: Sleeping, he doesn't need it anymore but it's a nice break from reality. Other than that he isn't exactly allowed to do anything that isn't serving or training.

—

Mengtao: Gardening is her main one, even if it is technically her duty she still enjoys it. Other than that she also likes to annoy Nezha and Lao tzu-

Amia: She likes to knit! Her webs make for surprisingly comfy sweaters. Amia is also into crappy romance novels as well as making candy and baked goods.

Wanna know who you can ask a question? Click here!

Of course Yeva belongs to @chuitu

[thessalian]

Thess vs NaNoWriMo

So that time of year is fast approaching, and I think a lot of people I associate with on this platform are going, "But Veilguard's coming out on HALLOWEEN!", which is entirely fine - NaNoWriMo is optional. And honestly, all things considered, I am probably never doing it as an organised situation again.

It took some digging to find the original text, and I'll probably post the screenshot I saw on Bluesky too, but summary: not only is NaNoWriMo pretty much supporting AI (they say "absolutely not condemning", but the rest of the text isn't nearly so mealy-mouthed about it) but also calling people who are against AI "ableist and classist".

No, seriously. I mean, seriously.

Look, how people get their ideas is probably up to them. And stolen valour aside, plugging an idea into ChatGPT and getting some word salad in return is ... I guess someone's prerogative. The same as someone just typing, like, "rutabaga" 50k times technically counts as writing 50k words. But ... first of all, NaNoWriMo was supposed to support people who write. Second of all, the idea that not having someone immediately at your side to serve as beta reader is "classist" is ... no. Like, if you're online enough to understand NaNoWriMo, you can find a damn beta reader. Third, "Some people's brains don't work well enough to see the problems in their writing--" SEE ABOVE RE PROOF-READING, FOR ONE THING, and for another, that's just shit like spelling and grammar check, which has been standard on word processing programmes basically ever since the concept existed! Fourth, I'm not sure how AI assists in shit like "Can't find a publisher because publishers are only really interested in what will sell ALL THE BOOKS", but that's one of their arguments too.

But the last thing - the worst thing - is what that means. NaNoWriMo is not cool with plagiarism as far as I know, but that's what trains AI. More to the point, you have to verify your word count with their website by actually copy-pasting everything you wrote into the site for it to show you as a winner. The fact that they support AI, and that one of their sponsors offers a whole bunch of AI features? I don't trust them not to be selling every single thing people submit for word count total to feed someone else's writer-bot.

I mean, the NaNoWriMo bods have made some spectacularly shitty decisions the last few years. There was that partnership with those scammers at Inkkit, which also revealed the whole thing where one of their moderators - who operated the youth programme, by the way - turned out to be a paedophile and groomer. But this one is just ... disrespectful of the very thing they were supposed to be supporting.

Please don't use the official NaNoWriMo resources. I am concerned for what it will do with not only what you submit for word count, but what you put in their forums too. If you want to do 50k words in 30 days, I am with you all the way, and others will be too. Find a support group that isn't these jackasses and do that.

Plus the "not using AI is ableist" thing is bullshit, by the way. I am not participating this year (I don't think, anyway; not unless I get a great idea) because I'm damn sure I don't have the spoons for that ... because disabled. Because fibromyalgia. The thing is, I don't want to just say "I produced 50k words and won NaNo", I want to write. I want to use my voice, not something cooked up by a machine learning algorithm based on a single sentence. I think way too many people have forgotten what "in your own voice" means to art.

Like, on the r/criticalrole subreddit, we were talking about how Lance Reddick actually did record all his lines as Thordak in TLOVM before he passed, and I mentioned how different that was going to hit, with the example of having heard Robin Sachs as Zaeed in the ME3 Citadel DLC after he passed. And someone went, "Oh, shit, I didn't know he passed! Hey, do you think they'll one day be able to use the voices of dead voice actors so we can keep hearing them? Because I know it's possible because Snoop Doggy Dogg is reading me my homework now and it's awesome!"

I ... may have kind of exploded. I may also have mentioned that some bunch of assholes tried to make a George Carlin special after Carlin's death and his daughter (understandably) hit the roof. It's bad enough to disrespect thousands of people by training an AI to spit out whatever of their works will fit a prompt sentence, but imagine hearing the voice of someone you love, mangled by AI's inability to get real emotional nuance, possibly saying shit they would never say? Using their voices doesn't change that the emotion and power behind those voices is gone forever; it just parades a decaying copy of them around like some vocal equivalent of Weekend at Bernie's.

[ragsy]

Hey congrats do the whole list for Kenny

🔫🔫🔫

Oh, pvp enabled, OKAY LET'S GOOOOO

are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

not really sure, actually! i've only drawn him a handful of times and only one of those times was colored in, so i haven't quite figured out his color palette yet. desaturated purple comes to mind when i think on it, though

what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

His music taste is what i can only describe as "my real life father's mp3 player on shuffle" which is. Not anything that anyone on here has any frame of reference for!! But that would include, but isn't limited to: Cat Stevens, Manu Chao, Sheryl Crow, Third Eye Blind, Fatboy Slim, Fleetwood Mac, Traffic, Green Day, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Shpongle.

weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?

Uuhhhh technically his character sheet lists his weapon as his walking stick, (it only does 1 damage) (he never uses it as a weapon, he has never once in his history on a monster hunting team hit anything with his walking stick)

The rest under here 👇

how crafty/resourceful are they?

Middlingly average, for the most part. He's much better at navigating problems than actually solving them; he'll look towards his team members if something needs fixed.

how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

Sweaters, slacks, polo shirts, sneakers. Retired guy in american suburbia swag.

how do they wear their hair? do they care a lot how their hair looks?

he keeps it somewhat short, but he doesn't really care how it looks anymore. he's grateful to still have most of it, so he just kinda lets it do what it wants. he also used to have a well-maintained goatee before his time in the Other Place, but since returning to the real world, he's only done the bare minimum of keeping his facial hair mostly trim.

favorite animal? why?

not a huge animal guy, honestly! he finds the presence of birds to be extremely reassuring, though. 

do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it's not derived from their real name, what's the story behind it?

i guess kenny is technically a nickname (he always introduces himself as kenneth, and everyone else always decides "oh this man is a kenny actually"), but he's much more of a giver of nicknames than anything else

favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?

always a big fan of fresh baked goods, especially blueberry muffins. he has some challenges with eating these days-- after having spent five years in the Other Place not needing to eat or sleep, stuff tastes weird to him now. He's got a mental list of safe foods, but he tries not to be a bother when other people are cooking, so he'll try his best with what's available to him.

if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem?

gold wedding band :( (deadwife trope)

what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

i gave him my fear of being forgotten and love for terrible dad jokes, what else could he need?

we're actually more different than alike, i think. he's just lived an extremely different life than me; he's a 65 year old heterosexual retired dentist who has been married and has a daughter who is my age. i am literally none of those things. but i think we would get along really well; he's based heavily on some of my own extended family who i already like fairly well, lol

how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

i've had him as a character since... roughly 2020? but he was extremely different in that iteration (a haunting-the-narrative NPC in the motw campaign i ran and have since completed). his current iteration came about earlier this year when i rewrote him from the ground up to be a motw player character. also his birthday is march 17th, 1959 and birthdays are... complicated. if someone tried to throw him a party he would be GRATEFUL, and he would offer to celebrate someone else's birthday with them, but he doesn't know how to think of his own birthday anymore. he spent ages being extremely unmoored from the passage of time, you know? makes it hard

what languages do they speak? how fluently?

fluent in english (his first language), more than a little bit of mandarin (from his grandparents) and spanish (he had some patients who only spoke spanish; he always made an effort to be able to directly communicate with them whenever possible). the latter two are largely forgotten from disuse, though

are they any good with numbers?

he's actually pretty good with numbers, but it doesn't come up very often anymore. he's itching for the day that someone comes to him for help with their taxes

how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?

very, very small. he was his parents' only child, he had a language barrier between him and one set of grandparents, and he never knew the other set. his late wife had a big family, who he has since fallen out of contact with (with the exception of his beloved nephew charlie). he has one daughter, who he is trying to reconnect with. he currently lives alone.

do they have any pets? what do they call their pets?

no pets, and he would never ever ever consider franklin the potted plant to be a pet. that's his TRAUMA BONDED BEST FRIEND

how did they spend their summers/free time as a child?

wildly unsafe summer camps of the 1960s/1970s. here you go child, have some lead paint to play with

their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

top three things to make kenny disappointed in you

are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

very, very slow to anger. will ALWAYS give someone the benefit of the doubt, but if they really are in the wrong, he will bottle it up for as long as possible. when he finally breaks, it's hysterical and venomous. he generally hates being angry more than he hates the things that *make* him angry

if applicable, can they drive? if they have their own, what color is their vehicle? is the inside neat and tidy, or a mess?

he's got a royal blue toyota prius :]

it's pretty tidy inside, for the most part. gotta make sure there's space for passengers inside, it's not a large vehicle to begin with!!

their favorite place to be?

alice's house, with everyone else there with him

do they sleep well at night?

HA, no, lmao

5 years not needing to sleep will fuck up your sleep schedule once you finally have to again. he wakes up at odd hours, falls asleep at even odder ones, and has crazy weird dreams (which he then has to write down in his dream journal before he can go back to sleep again)

how would you describe their voice? can they sing?

quick and flighty, like he has to get his words out as fast as he can before something stops him. he stammers a lot. he's not a great singer by any means, but he's not immune to singing along to a favorite tune in the car or in the kitchen.

do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

he tried out a lot of different hobbies while trying to adjust once his daughter moved out, but none of them stuck. he tries to augment his dream journal with drawings whenever possible, so i guess that counts? 

how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?

hearing is actually pretty good for his age; eyesight isn't great though. he's been a glasses wearer since the second grade, and it's only gotten worse as he's aged

how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?

he's not quick by any means, but he can get around just fine. he has a chronically bad knee from a car crash earlier in his life that was exacerbated by an injury during an encounter with the lighthouse keeper. he walks with a cane on days when he needs extra support.

if applicable, do they have a favorite sport? do they play any sports or prefer to watch?

he understands the appeal of sports, but was never very athletic and never really got into watching them. he'll still tune into the olympics though, just to see what crazy things they're doing with spheres and gravity in athletics these days

how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

He cares a lot about most people he meets, so it is generally easier to tell when he *doesn't* like someone; his warm, inviting manner turns curt and closed. 

are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)?

Air, probably? I've no grounds for this, it just feels right

do they smell like anything notable?

Uuuuuuuuuh i dunno, come give uncle kenny a whiff and tell me what you think

do they like receiving gifts? giving gifts? what is their ideal gift?

He LOVES giving and receiving gifts, he eats that shit up, but if he's the only one receiving and not giving anyone anything he starts to feel really guilty about it. His ideal gift is something small yet thoughtful. He's going to be thinking about the magic walking cane that Charlie gave him forEVER

do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

He carries around a potted plant like his life depends on it, he's removed the doors from every room and cabinet in his apartment, and he hesitates before passing though any sort of entryway

if applicable, how would your other characters describe them? i mean specifically the people around them.

Mark's the only other one who has met him, and he would describe him as "uh. Nice, i guess? He talks too much, and he's kinda weird like he's on a different planet than everyone else, but he seems... harmless."

how would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.

"Who, me? Ah, I'm just some kook who got lost once, haha!"

do they ever return home?

He's tried. That house isn't really home anymore; home feels more like the people he's with nowadays.

[touyubesposts]

Ghosts aren’t Real (Part 1/?)

Hey, this is my first Storytime Big Bang (@tss-storytime) submission! It was very fun, even thought here were a couple of road blocks (Mostly my fault. 😅) I was partnered with @pizza-box-raccoon, who has some amazing art! (Some of the best IMO.) Their art is here, go check it out! There's nothing too serious in this chapter (or in the next one (I think)) but look at the tags and keep them in mind just in case ❤️

Summary: After a ‘Ghost’ knocks over something in his kitchen while he was coming up with video ideas with friends, Quill and Davi come up with the idea to go ghost hunting in his house. Virgil is scared that they’ll somehow get detected, but Logan is less convinced. Because Ghosts aren’t real… Right?

Rating: PG?

Word Count: 2135 (A short read :))

Ships: None, everything is purely platonic

CW: Mentions of death, Negative thinking, Remus being Remus, if I miss anything let me know 👍

(Fanfic under cut)

(Thomas's P.O.V)

"- So yeah, that could be a fun video idea," Davi finishes up his statement, taking a bite of Chinese food.

Quil chimes in, "Yeah, I could see that, but we don't have a pool."

"There are public pools."

We were talking on the couch about video ideas and things the others wanted to do, trying to come up with ideas while also talking a bit about how we were doing. Patton was watching over us in the kitchen fondly, smiling at every idea and laughing at every joke, even if they weren't particularly good. Patton adjusts himself, accidentally knocking a spoon onto the floor, causing Quil and Davi to look in his direction.

"Thomas, your ghosts are hungry," Davi jokes.

My sides come around and check on me often. It's not surprising at this point and there is nothing I can really do about it anyway. However, they can be clumsy at times as well, accidentally knocking things over and bumping into furniture or walls. No problem, they usually pick whatever they knocked over up and go on their way. The problem is when people are over and they do it. At first, it freaked out my friends and made me self-conscious about it. But over time it became a light-hearted joke, so now whenever something gets knocked over or there's an 'unexplainable thump,' they say it's 'my ghosts' messing around.

"Well, they'll have to stay hungry," I smile, "I have no idea how to feed them."

"That rude, Thomas," Quil joins in, "You should always feed your guests."

I glance at Patton for a split second, "More like unruly roommates. They're lucky, they don't even pay rent."

"Technically we do, but-" Patton goes on to say before being cut off by Quil.

"Damn, must be a hard afterlife. Knock over a random guy's stuff and he doesn't even make you food."

"Would you?”

"... Depends."

Davi asks, "Hey, Thomas? Random question, but were you scared when you first moved into this house?"

I glance at Patton for help, but he just shrugs wildly at me. "Umm... No, not really. I mean, I guess it was scary at first, but after a while, you just tune out the noise."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Do you think it's actually a ghost or a demon or what?"

Oh boy, if only you knew. "Well... No, I don't think it's a ghost or a demon. I'm sure there's a solid, logical reason that all of this is happening but we just aren't seeing it. But the way I think of it is... If it was going to hurt me or wanted to hurt me, it would've done so by now, you know?"

Davi nods, "Yeah, I get it." I play off a breath of relief as just a sigh. I was making stuff up. I know for a fact it isn't a ghost, it's me. And it's not an it! It's a he! Sometimes a 'they,' but in, like, a plural way.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Quil smiles excitedly. "Let's do a ghost-hunting video!"

I feel my heart drop to my stomach as I realize what that implies. "... A ghost-hunting video?"

"Yeah! I have some equipment I could bring over, try some stuff I saw on TikTok a while ago, it could be fun! I mean, we most likely won't catch anything, but it could still make a cool video if we crack jokes and just have fun with it, you know?"

I nod along, feeling like roots and vines wrapped around my chest and squeezed tightly. "Yeah, totally!"

"Oh my god, I love watching those ghost-hunting videos!" Davi excitedly grabs Quil's arm, "Have you seen the ones that Ryan and Shane do?"

"Are you talking about their newer ones or their older ones?"

Davi and Quil continue talking about Ghostfiles and Buzzfeed unsolved while I give Patton a concerned glance. He holds onto his cardigan nervously, refusing to make eye contact with me. Finally, he sinks down guiltily. I feel bad for Patton. He didn't mean to, it was an accident. But now I may have to face a reality I don't want to face, that being 'confronting the idea that my sides are more than my sides.'

"So when do you wanna do it?" Quil turns to me and asks, catching me off guard.

Oh god, how do I answer this? Is there a good answer to this? "Umm, I don't know-"

"The soonest I'm free is a week from now," Davi chimes in, "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, I should be free then," Quil turns towards me, "Thomas?"

"... Yeah, that works great!" I force a smile, trying my hardest to not let them suspect anything.

"Sweet! Hey, I gotta go, but I'll text you guys about it. It will be fun!"

"Great!" Davi grabs his bag, "I'd stay longer, but Quil's my ride. I'll see you soon, alright?"

"Yeah, of course!" I walk Quil and Davi out the door, waving them off. I take deep breaths as I close the door as sit back down on my couch in defeat. After a couple of minutes of agonizing silence, Virgil pops up by the stairs. Great.

I sigh, forcing a smile, "Hey, Virgil."

"Cut it," Virgil ordered, not buying my happy exterior. I immediately drop my smile after I hear him speak. "You were hanging out with Quil and Davi and now you're anxious... Why?"

Without another word, I summon Patton. As soon as he appeared, he began rambling. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! My hand just brushed against it and it fell and I didn't know it was there! I shouldn't have even been here, I should've ducked out when I could, I-"

"Patton!" Virgil shouts over him. Patton stops, waiting for Virgil to speak. "... Tell me what happened."

Patton takes a shakey inhale before speaking, "So, I... I knocked a spoon on the floor... in front of Quil and Davi-"

"Is that it?"

"No, that's... That's not the bad part. The bad part is... Now Davi and Quil want to ghost hunt here because of me."

"What?!" Virgil shouts, along with Roman and Logan who just arrived. While Roman and Virgil sounded genuinely concerned and panicked, Logan just sounded confused.

"I'm sorry!" Patton covered his face, part in embarrassment.

"Hold on," Logan interrupted, "Why are we panicking? Why is Quil and Davi 'ghost hunting' a bad thing?"

"Because what if they detect us?" Virgil speaks up.

Logan sighs, "They won't. We aren't ghosts, we are a part of Thomas. Also, ghosts aren't real."

Roman buts in, "Yes, I get that, but... Don't you at least find it a little strange that we can touch and throw things even though we are nothing more than Thomas's thoughts and feelings?"

Virgil leans in closer, "Interact with our surroundings... Like ghosts?"

Logan holds the bridge of his nose, "Gosh, both of you are being ridiculous. Yes, it is a little... Odd that we can touch things that exist. But for us to be ghosts, we'd have to be real or human, in some sense. And as far as I'm concerned, we don't even exist outside of Thomas."

At this time, Remus and Janus have both appeared in the kitchen, listening in on our conversations. Virgil pipes up once more, "You say that, but obviously, we have to exist somewhat. We can literally interact with our environment! Meaning we are as real as the things we knock over. Also meaning, we could be ghosts."

"... Virgil, we would have to have died to be ghosts, meaning we existed before Thomas. And that just doesn't seem likely, considering we are Thomas."

"But how do we know that?!"

"Because we are Thomas! Literally! If it looks like Thomas and sounds like Thomas, it's probably Thomas."

"No, I mean how do we know that we didn't exist before Thomas?!"

"We didn't exist before Thomas, there's... There's no way we could've... Ghosts are dead, Virgil. For us to have died, we would have to have lived. And the only one here that has ever lived is Thomas."

"Maybe we did live and we don't remember it! Isn't that the cliche? That the ghost has to remember how they died to pass on? If that's the case, then it makes sense why we don't remember dying or living."

"God, Virgil, you are infuriating right now." Logan turns towards everyone else in a slow turn, looking for support, "I'm not the crazy one here, right? I'm being reasonable? Patton, Janus, anyone?!"

Janus tilts their head slightly, lost in thought, before speaking. "You know... I would try and lie about this, but I... I actually don't know the answer."

"What?" Logan says exasperatedly.

"I mean... I could give an answer, but I wouldn't be lying... I'd just be wrong, maybe."

Logan whips around towards Virgil again, "Okay, then how do you explain all of us looking like Thomas if we are separated beings from Thomas?"

"I don't know, maybe that's the only way Thomas can see us."

"So... What, you think Thomas is a medium? And what about what we represent? We know what we represent, that has to have some meaning for you, right?"

"Guys, let's calm down and take a breath, alright?" Patton tries to de-escalate, moving his hands as he speaks. "I mean, will know the answer when it happens, right?"

"Yes, but-" Logan interrupts himself. He takes a deep breath, before facing Virgil once more, "... But I want to try and ease everyone's mind before then."

Virgil sighs, "I know, I just... I'm scared to be... 'Found out', you know? I mean, as much as we pretend that all of this is normal, we all know it isn't. We know Joan or Kenny or Davi and Quil don't have their own 'sides' that they talk to daily. And I don't know how much longer we can lie to them about this."

"Virgil-"

"And what if they react badly? What if they think all of this is weird or strange, too weird for them to stick around? Or what if they think Thomas is haunted by ghosts and they freak out and run off? And what if they tell Thomas's other friends and they do the same? What then?"

The entire room has gone silent. This wasn't a new train of thought for me, being scared that my friends were going to leave, but hearing it out loud in this context made my stomach flip. Finding out about the sides really would freak them out too much, wouldn't it?

Logan places his hands on Virgil's shoulders softly, with a neutral but sympathetic look. "Everything will be fine. I promise... They may think it's weird, but it should take more than this to drive them away. "

"... And if it does drive them away?"

"Then they weren't real friends anyway. Plus," Logan removes his hands and dusts himself off, "I don't see why they should be scared. We're the ones who live with it."

"Yeah!" Roman cheers, "If they don't like it, they can suck it! We deal with us every day, and that just makes us stronger than them."

"And it's not like they have anything to fear," Patton adds on, sitting on the arm of the couch, "We aren't violent or evil or anything."

"Speak for yourself," Remus cracks his neck, the pops sending shivers down my spine.

Patton winces, "Well... Well, we've never hurt anyone."

"On purpose."

"Or severely."

"Or physically," Logan explains, "We can't touch them. We can touch things, Like spoons or counters, but not people. So even if Remus wanted to put his hands on them, he couldn't."

"If I could physically hurt people, I would've done so already. That's why you gotta... put them to sleep for me, Sanders-man."

I shoot Remus a look, "Okay, that first sentence did freak me out a bit, but... Sanders-man?"

"Like sandman. Not my best work, I admit. I'll workshop it."

Janus clears his throat to get everyone's attention, "So we're lying about this, right? If they suspect anything just deny?"

Virgil takes a harsh breath in, taking a seat on the stairs, "... As much as I hate you and that idea... It's the only one that can keep Thomas safe."

"Aw, Virgil doesn't want to admit I'm useful~"

Logan takes control of the conversation once more. "Reminder: this is all dependant on if their ghost equipment even detects us. And there's a very good chance it doesn't.

Maybe... Maybe attempting to rationalize with fear was the wrong move. Because, and don't take this the wrong way Virgil, but fear can be... A bit irrational. Why don't we try and find different ways to cope until then? Any ideas?"

To be continued…

[hyenahunt]

Rouge & Ruby: February's Situation - 1

Writer: Umeda Chitose

Season: Winter

Characters: Nagisa, Ibara

Proofreading: royalquintet (JP) & Skyress (ENG)

Translation: Mirei

Nagisa: … Even if this doesn't count as an apology for that, I intend to go along with whatever plans or other things that you want to do.

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Location: Inside Company Car

Nagisa: …~♪⁠

Ibara: You sound like you're in a good mood, Your Excellency. Did something good happen?

Nagisa: … Not really, nothing much.

… It's just that we will be having work with Eve after this. Perhaps the thought itself has my heart dancing a bit in joy.

Ibara: Is that so?

Nagisa: … Yeah. Ever since the new year, we’ve had tons of work that divides us into Adam and Eve, after all.

… That's why I think it's natural to get excited to be working as Eden.

Ibara: Oh yes, indeed.

Nagisa: … I made Hiyori-kun really lonely because I wasn’t present during the SS qualifying rounds.

… If we only continue to work as Adam and Eve, the time I get to spend with Hiyori-kun is too little. It makes me sad.

Ibara: Is that so?

Nagisa: … To be honest, I would be happier if we could work together more. But according to what I’ve seen on the schedule so far, it seems that we’re still working as Adam and Eve.

… What should I do to make us more likely to work together? If I make a personal request to you, Ibara, would the chances of us working as Eden be higher?

… So instead of giving me that automatic reply, I want to hear a response from you, using your own words and explanations.

Ibara: — Oh. You've called me out before I could even open my mouth..

Nagisa: … If I didn't do that, Ibara would likely say "I wonder..." and just gloss over the conversation.

Ibara: Ahahaha⁠☆ You are right, it does sound like something I’d say.

The thing is, even if you asked me, there isn't much to explain… Technically we still have work as Eden, and it’s not like you can’t afford to spend time with them in private, right?

Although it’s true that Adam and Eve work has increased, as you’ve stated…

Nagisa: …Then at least give me a reason. What are you planning that would make you increase the activity and exposure of these two units now?

Ibara: So, Your Excellency has already decided that I have plans?

Nagisa: … Yes. I'm sure Ibara wouldn't make us do something out of the ordinary for no reason.

Ibara: Well, it does seem quite obvious by looking at the schedule alone, so I guess it's natural that you would question it.

However, before I give my answer, I want you to understand that I have no intention to “divide” Eden, or “force Eden into a fight” in any way, like how that executive once suggested.

Nagisa: … Of course. If I sense anything like that, I would force it out of you, rather than simply ask.

Ibara: Force it out of me, you say. How brutal.

But if we have an understanding, then there won't be a problem. After all…

The reason we are increasing the exposure of both Adam and Eve while continuing to work as Eden is because we are in the middle of an ongoing project.

Nagisa: … Project…?

Ibara: We are planning for a certain event and it is currently in the preparation stages. That’s why our activities are the way they are now…

I suppose both His Highness and even Jun might have the same question as Your Excellency. That's why …

Nagisa: … There is no point in explaining it now?

Ibara: I wouldn't say there is no point. To put it bluntly, doing it twice is just inefficient!

That's why I would rather explain it all when Eden has gathered. That way I can also hear everyone's opinion on it.

Nagisa: …Hmm. If you have your own reasons and are also willing to listen to us, I’ll let you go.

Ibara: Oh. Are you certain?

Nagisa: … It was you who said you'd explain it in our meeting. I'm simply choosing to believe you.

…Besides, because of my own anger and vengefulness, I took away the things that you really looked forward to in SS.

… Lately, you say things like "Love and Laugh~♪ ". But in the end, you didn't get to play your beloved war games.

… Even if this doesn't count as an apology for that, I intend to go along with whatever plans or other things that you want to do.

Ibara: …

— I get that you seem to have learned what “overthinking” is, Your Excellency.

But, perhaps I should say it hardly matters if you suddenly become self-aware of the trouble you’ve caused? Because for me, this isn’t the first time that I’ve been a victim of your whims.

Nagisa: … Did I cause that much trouble…?

Ibara: Argh, this deja vu feeling! This only makes things more difficult for me! Enough of such questions!

Knowing that Your Excellency is willing to go along with my plan is enough.

Nagisa: … Really?

… Then, I'll be good and wait for Ibara's explanation.

Ibara: (It looks like he really is waiting for my explanation as he said. His Excellency… opened the book in his hand again. I suppose that really is the end of our conversation.)

(Although, even with the problems that occurred in SS, I’m already very fortunate that His Excellency has chosen to take the stance of accepting my proposals.)

(… What's left is Eve. I assume Jun wouldn't have a problem with it. The main problem is conveying this plan to His Highness.)

(Well, if anything goes wrong, I’ll figure it out anyway.)

(I'll try to convey with the most convincing words I can muster that this is a project that was created for Eden, to show off Eden's greatness.)

[ ☆ ]

✦✦✦✦✦

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[rubykgrant]

Can't wait to see live reactions from everyone (mainly Grif Sarge Wash Carolina) to AI influencing Simmons

OHHHHH... alright, so, maybe 3 years ago now? I was kind of doing really simple/scribble comics (that were mostly heavy with text because I didn't have a good concept for how to draw these goobers, and wasn't diving into writing it all out as a story yet) that were basically high-lights of different plot points in my big story-line. In particular, some bad guys are planning on scanning the brains of the Reds, Blues, their medic, and former Freelancers to try and make new AI (they think that because they've all technically have had "long exposure" to the most significant known AI Fragments, this will be the best way to create more that will be "useful". the bad guys also have a really limited understanding of how the "fragments" even work, thinking they can only make more "Logic" and "Trust" and so-on AI, and that FORCING fragmentation is the only option that "works")

The bad guys are using boot-leg equipment that will probably kill everybody in the process. The characters have all been knocked-out for the scanning, but! Guess who came back; Church, Tex, and the Fragments! They all split up and take turns waking up different characters (in particular, Omega reunites with Doc/meets the headmate O'Malley. Theta helps Caboose and Sarge, Delta helps Grif, etc...). Sigma goes to help Simmons with some very motivational words. I would actually want to re-write all the text for the Simmons and Sigma interaction, just to make it less wordy and also because I've up-dated/adjusted certain parts of the larger plot... I do still like a few bits, though! I'll paste them below-

Text for Sigma reads; Well, well, well... who do we have here? Oh yes. The one who has a lot to say, but is rarely listened to. Always seeking approval and attention... I'm sure the people trying to fragment your mind have no idea about your potential. They see the problem-solving skills and the mental capabilities... but they also see the anxiety and the insecurities. They'll probably try to strip all that away from you when they re-build what they think is useful from your mind. A shame that would be... nothing makes an individual strive for MORE quite like feeling insufficient. That would be such a shame, wouldn't it? Well, don't worry, I'm here to stop that. Now, Dick Simmons, let's wake you up...

(a lot of text, Sigma explaining the situation as he slowly wakes up Simmons mind first, but warning him not to try and move yet. Sigma then informs Simmons that even without armor and tech, he can help Simmons fight back, and it will be easier if they can sort of "vibe" first-)

Text for Sigma reads; By connecting with you... show me what drives you, Simmons...

A mother and father, disappointed in you from the beginning. Well, that hardly seems fair, does it? It stuck with you, too... authority figures, superiors, even peers... they all kept rejecting you. Very sad indeed... but what is hidden under all that sadness, under the fear of letting people down? A streak of pride, a sense of smug indignation. Ripples of jealousy that turn into waves of resentment. An ego, burning with frustration and ambition

(more text, Simmons trying to deny it, then complaining that Sigma is picking on him, and they finally get to the point... also, Sigma is definitely PROJECTING bit regarding his own previous situation-)

Simmons; Alright... you want me to think about getting back to everybody who's important to me. Sure, that makes sense. I can roll with that

Sigma; No, that isn't enough. You need to think BIGGER. The people who tricked you all into coming here, they're going to destroy you. They will delete what they think doesn't matter, and focus on the parts they think they can use as tools. This will kill who you are now. It will also kill everybody else. It will kill the people who have become your dear friends. It will kill the people who have become more of a family to you than your pathetic parents. It will kill Grif

Simmons; What, are you trying to scare me now?!

Sigma; I'm trying to MOTIVATE YOU. Everything you want is out there, waiting for you, and you can't let anybody stand in your way. Wha is happening to you is an insult, an injustice. How DARE these people try to take away your life, when you've FINALLY gotten what you deserve? You have respect, you have purpose, you have genuine happiness. What will happen if you can't get out of this room? Nothing. You'll have nothing, and you'll BE nothing. Does that sound good, Simmons?

Simmons; No. It doesn't (partial illustration of a face, meant to be Simmons, his eyes closed and expression relaxed to mimic sleep)

Sigma; I didn't think so. Well, look at us, bonding and everything. I'll be able to help you now. I can tell you exactly what to do, when to dodge and when to strike. I won't be "taking over your body", so don't worry about that... we'll just be in unison. I can function at a migher capacity than humans, and normally you couldn't keep up. However, the better connected we are, the easier it will be for me to give you advice. You'll react much quicker, and they won't know what hit them. Once you're in the clear, and I point you in the right direction, I'll go help somebody else. Perhaps I'll even find Grif for you

Simmons; Alright, I guess I'm motivated... actually, I'm pretty pissed-off

Sigma; Yes, I can tell. Let's be sure to aim that energy at the people who put you here

Simmons; I don't want to kill anybody...

Sigma; We won't

Simmons; but I want to make them pay

Sigma; We will

Simmons; I can feel my fingers, and my legs... when should I move?

Sigma; Not yet. I'll tell you when the time comes. Just hold still, relax, keep your breathing even... they think you're still sleeping. Don't let yourself fall into a rage, that's not what we need. Calm and confident, that's what we need. You are better that these people think you are, you are capable of more than they expect. Think about what you want, and hold on to that feeling... almost ready... almost...

Sic 'em

(another partial illustration of Simmons' face, this time his eye opening, with flames as the iris)

Also, later Sigma basically needs to give Simmons a powerpoint presentation about his feelings regarding Grif; somebody had to SPELL. IT. OUT.

[chipped-chimera]

So since the fates decided not to give me a idk ... big gay aunt to guide me along with my sexuality realisation, I'm kind of at a loss of what to do. I'm 30 and I went off the dating market back when meeting someone online to date was considered 'novel'. Idk how the fuck to use dating apps.

So I guess I'll throw this cry for help to you, people who follow my blog apparently, in the case you have some insight? More deets below the cut oh god help me

Okay so basically - I think I am (somewhat hesitantly) ready to start looking at dating apps. I've kind of hit a point in my self-work where I think I could actually handle rejection - which was the entire reason I was holding off in the first place. Because I know I have a lot of potential "deal breakers" to contend with, getting to this point was my bare minimum.

So aside from the obvious I-have-never-used-a-dating-app-in-my-life problem, I guess my other problems are the following:

Do I disclose I am disabled on my profile? My disability is technically 'invisible' and while I absolutely could go hang out with someone at a bar or whatever it WILL knock me out for like ... two days. Especially right now where I haven't really done any big social-ey shit in a while. Idk how else I can explain that I will absolutely still want to do things with someone, I just have the energy habits of a house cat (sure I don't say nap every day anymore but sometimes I really just gotta lie in the dark ... Yeah :C )

Disability also kind of explains all the other deal breaker shit. I won't go into that. Aside from the obvious 'money ain't great' and I cannot avoid interdependence. Like I am still recovering and hoping for the best but I don't know what the end of this shit looks like. I know there is going to be permanent damage. But I also am not gonna bench myself until I'm 'well' (also because I'm touch starved and THIRTY).

Ugh, photos. Due to disability reasons (see I told you it explains everything) my irl social circle died years ago because I could just not keep up and I've had the photographic record of a cryptid for the past ten years. So now I have to basically go TAKE photos and it feels very forced. But I'm also aware apps are really visual, so idk - ideas? Tips?

Is there some obvious Lesbian space I'm missing? Am I missing the lesbian bat signal? I've joined Facebook groups for my city but they're quiet and tend to be populated by much older people (did I mention I hate Facebook?) Also apparently queer scene is kinda sucky in my city at the moment because one of our two gay bars changed ownership and it may as well just be a regular bar now. For the moment I've just been hanging out on Reddits to feel somewhat connected but it doesn't really help my irl situation and lack of social anything.

Yeah I am not selling myself here but I'd rather be honest early on and make sure anyone who isn't cut out for it or emotionally mature enough to handle that I have baggage (well treated baggage!) Is filtered out. But I also feel like putting disability right on my profile could result in a knee jerk reaction which would prevent them from even trying to get to know me. Like I do feel I have some really appealing things about me that I'm happy about, and I do think offset the bad - I've just had a rough time of it.

Augh idk. I'm lonely. And very confused. Anyways any kind of advice or insight would be highly appreciated 🥺

[mariana-oconnor]

A Case of Identity pt 2

For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect.

Watson... you're kind of a judgy bitch sometimes, y'know? It's really coming through in this story. I don't know why all the modern adaptations choose to make Holmes the rude one when clearly Watson's the one you really need to watch out for.

"Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite one.

I know that Mary Sutherland is a fictional character, but in a Watsonian reading, she's going to have to live in a world where people read all these descriptions of her and her problem. I should try to avoid thinking of that.

I can never bring you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace.

Ah yes, thumbnails, the most suggestive of body parts. Be careful posting a picture of them on Tumblr, your post will be automatically flagged as mature content!

She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way.

Seriously, Watson, you're publishing this. Stop being a dick about it. We get it, you don't think much of her appearance. My dude.

"'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for color."

Aw, Holmes is proud. Albeit in the same way of a parent of a toddler presented with a picture of an unidentifiable blob made of different colours. 'Oh, what lovely colours, Watson. It's lovely. You're really coming along well!'

The double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to surprise her.

Ah yes, the explanation. Sherlock showing off. But I do enjoy these bits.

though the boots which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one

I have actually done this before. I want through an entire day of work with odd boots on and only realised when I looked down at my feet on the train on the way home. The heels were pretty much the same size, and they were both black and zipped up, in my defence, but it was still pretty bad. That was about where the similarities ended. Very embarrassing and I still have no idea how I did it. I don't even know if anyone noticed, though. Certainly no one at work mentioned it. But were they just being polite?

Holmes would have a field day, I guess.

You observed that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink.

And I thought you said he had a good eye for colour, Holmes? Were you lying? Were you just humouring him?

"My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case?"

I'm pretty sure Watson is the only one at this point who does not know what's going on.

The only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel.

And as far as I'm aware, there still isn't. Technically, as they didn't get married, no crime was enacted. Her promise isn't legally binding. It's definitely abuse, but I don't think there are technically any laws broken as the subterfuge was performed not to get money, but to prevent them from no longer getting her money.

a bland, insinuating manner

Just the wording of this makes my skin crawl a bit. I think it's the word insinuating, a very snake-like word.

It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind on a point.

Classic moves: discredit the character of the abuse victim. Oh, she's so excitable, so impulsive. You don't want to listen to her, it's all a flight of fancy, Mr Holmes. Such a silly woman.

"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.

Laying the groundwork for reasonable doubt. This man is a piece of work. Also, Watson's judgy descriptions are working for me this time. So close to 'beady little eyes'.

Mr Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr Holmes," he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you have done it."

Mr Windibank, sir. You know the jig is up. Give up already!

"Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!" "What! Where?" shouted Mr Windibank, turning white to his lips and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.

One thing that can be said for Mr Windibank is that he really does commit to the bit. I have zero respect for him as a human being, and honestly, it's absolutely destroying his dignity, but he is committed. He is seeing this through? Hosmer Angel? He has never met the man. No idea what you're talking about.

But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me.

Yep. You can say that again.

Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us.

He stuck his feet on the mantelpiece? Sir. That is too high up. Sir... How is that comfortable? The mantelpiece? Seriously Sherlock?

With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself

Ah, there it is. Her mother did know too. I actually dislike her mother more. Doing that to your daughter is just... ugh. Like yes, yes, evil stepfather was the mastermind and main agent of the enterprise, but to assist in it. With your own daughter. Ugh ugh ugh. That's despicable. I hope Mary cuts her off forever.

"The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to—"

This is very satisfying to read. Also grateful that Holmes agrees with me on this point. Although I think Mary should be allowed a whip... as a treat.

"That fellow will rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and ends on a gallows."

I like how certain Holmes is that Windibank isn't going to be a better person.

Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was suggestive.

Just like thumbnails.

"And Miss Sutherland?"

"If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world."

This is not satisfying. I remembered the solution to the problem, but I didn't remember that he just got away with it. Mary's just going to... do exactly what Windibank wanted? And keep living with her odious mother and her abusive stepfather? I do not vibe with this. I do not vibe with this at all. Not even a note from Watson to say that Windibank did indeed hang from the gallows for a future crime and Mary Sutherland got away?

I find myself longing for the equinoctial gales to drop a ship on his house (when Mary is elsewhere).

Horrible people committing horrible, immoral acts that cannot be stopped. This whole story is like a layer of scum on top of water, it's such insidious, cold-hearted petty evil. Mary Sutherland deserves better.

Honestly, I hope she (in universe) did read this story and gtfo.

[ghostblazewrites]

Children of the Forest Intro

BASIC

genre: fantasy, adventure,

status: finished first draft, editing

key themes: found family, exploration, fantasy, nature, mythology, magical realism, siblings, childhood friends, nostalgia, parasites, at this point i'm just listing things in my book i'll stop

𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼

STORY

Two boys are born in a willow tree inside a forest brimming with magic. They become obsessed with uncovering the secrets of this forest, exploring and researching the wilderness along with their childhood friends. When the forest suddenly vanishes and then reappears in struggling condition, the boys are left wondering what happened to their home, and if they can save it.

CHARACTERS

Theo Winter (he/him)

Impulsive, always-smiling, and just a tad bit reckless. He's the class clown, never one to take things seriously and it backfires. a lot. Theo's just having fun ok? Not his fault the god of the forest decided his body would be perfect as its puppet!

age: 17

quote: “I highly doubt any of what you said is gonna be a problem,” Theo said distractedly, then grabbed onto Kian’s backpack urgently as another thought struck him. He was always active, and always filled with energy. Kian didn’t think he ever saw Theo without a grin on his face or his blue bandanna off his head.

quick facts

he's trans (ftm)

adhd king

playboy (don't worry, he learns very quickly this isn't good)

inspired by oliver queen and lance mcclain

heart of the forest

Kian Winter (he/him)

Intelligent, oblivious, and always locked in his own world, he's always operating at 100% and extremely determined/stubborn. the inventor of the group, his tech assists his research on the forest.

age: 17

quote: John’s veins bulged from his neck, his eyes slitted. He turned slowly to look at him and his voice was low. “You’re dead.” “I’m very much alive. It’s Mothsong who is dead. I think.” Kian rushed to pick up his robotic insect’s limp body from inside the mess. “I’m sure I can fix this–”

quick facts

autism king

inspired by zane (ninjago) and gansey from the raven boys!!

always wearing his goggles and his jacket with a million pockets in them- with almost any gadget you can think of

gayyy

always known as the younger brother of theo even though they're technically twins and no one knows who's older

brains of the forest

Rue Ezeani (she/her)

Quiet, sarcastic, and always willing to stand up for what she believes is right, she's a punk who got kicked out of her home, and she's brutally protective of her friends. also, flowers grow on her quite a lot.

age: 16

quote: “Poverly, you don’t know shit about me,” Rue growled, taking a step towards them. “I’ve been to this forest longer than you, it’s more important to me than you’ll ever know. Of course I was working to get it back.”

quick facts

has freckles

trans lesbian

first friend kian and theo made

inspired by blue sargent (wow who could've guessed) and killer frost

eyes of the forest

can play electric guitar

i love her

Becca Hill (she/her)

Smart, cold, and competent, she is known as the 'normal' one of the group, although she has her issues, don't worry. Gets skeptical and annoyed easily, but connects with nature and animals very well. Natural-born leader.

age: 17

quote: “Oh my god, you guys can’t just break ceilings and destroy classrooms. Do you have any idea how much those cost?” Becca pressed her lips together, concerned.

quick facts

'token straight friend' (sure...)

inspired by laurel lance and pip fitz amobi!!

has a pet dog, turtle, and bird

complicated relationship with theo

ears of the forest

Cove Poverly (they/them)

If you thought Theo was impulsive, think again. They're a fighter, with a short temper and witty humour. Chews gum, tobacco, straw, lollipops...they like to keep busy. Mastered the 90's + 2020 aesthetic at the same time? A reaaal southern kid.

age: 16

quote: “Trouble in hetero relationships. Can't relate," Cove casually chewed on a piece of gum. They brushed past Theo, picked up a twig, and began drawing something on a nearby rock.

quick facts

heterochromia! (one eye is blue, one eye is hazel)

inspired by... tbh i have no idea where cove came from they just popped up

very blunt/no filter

nonbinary

m e n

likes arguing with rue (affectionately, they hate each other)

fists of the forest

Amora (she/her)

Mysterious, sassy and flirtatious imp, lives deep within the forest and a master of manipulation. Is she truly evil? Who knows? Some hate her, some love her, but no one trusts her.

age: ?

quote: Amora grinned, her eyes a deep mauve in this lighting. “No games, Thorny. I’m just here to help you save the forest. It’s my job.” She stretched the last part, singing it with a tilt of her head.

quick facts

wears a red cloak

inspired by darcy wu and parisa kamali

seduces like half of the characters

she has elfish ears

twig horns and long black nails

also has ties to a god/spirit...

Miiba (it/its)

no picrew for this mf but basically this is the god of the forest, it's a big pain in the ass for our main characters because there's...occasional possessions and flora growing everywhere on their clothes/body. it has questionable morals due to being immortal and its sole purpose is to preserve the forest. it doesn't have a corporeal form, instead bouncing its consciousness around any creature/living thing in the forest (plants, trees, animals)

AESTHETIC

FACTS

𖡼 i wrote this entire book during nanowrimo!! i won, but i added 13k after november so it's only 63k right now, but i am editing to make it longer. it took me two months to finish draft 1

𖡼 i came up with the idea during summer of 2022, based on a playlist that a close friend gave me - they said boom, make a story, and i did!!

𖡼 the story is set in the fictional town of pinevale, canada, and i do not have a name for the forest yet (i should probably get on that so it's less vague when i talk about the forest

𖡼 it's third person and the POV switches between kian, theo, rue and miiba, and amora for like one pov (i'll probably make it more consistent in the 2nd draft)

LINKS

spotify playlist

pinboard

𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼 𖤣 𖥧 𓋼 𓍊 𖡼 𖤣 𖥧 𖡼 𓋼

if you want to know more, please tell me! this took SO LONG but i loved doing it. i'll probably do it for my other wips!!

[yunarim]

. . . loading : real-life otome simulator ☆ - chapter 2

❤︎ prologue ; chapter 1 ❤︎ tags : female reader, reader is yuu, extrovert reader, second-year reader, sfw, fluff, chapter 6 spoilers ❤︎ author's note : english isn't my first language, please make sure to point out mistakes if any! :) you can read this work on ao3 & wattpad ^^!

. . . loading 2nd chapter : 45% (in which Idia just can’t really comprehend extroversion mess and maybe a game session isn’t so game-ish anymore)

Idia can’t sleep. 

He has tried closing his eyes countless times, and yet it’s already 3:47 am. What’s the point of being awake now? The sound of Ortho charging on a dock station isn’t disturbing in any way, moreover, usually it even helps. Some people buying aroma candles, Idia himself heard from Vil (another story of how he ended up in a potionology class, flesh-and-blood, but yes, he did heard it in live ) that maintaining sleep schedule is important, and in cases of insomnia he, above all, should visit a doctor, and then he could try drinking herbal teas, and… blah-blah, another normie talks or whatsoever.

For a second Idia thought it would be better if he closed his eyes and saw himself ordering a whole pack of 20+ aroma candles with a huge variety of scents as a cure from insomnia, but of course it won’t happen. 

He saw Yuu‘s smug face instead. Idia Shroud, true genius, proud eccentric, pro-gamer in all fields (except these stupid otome ones), a grown-up 18 years old adult by now, can’t damn sleep because the one magicless girl is haunting him at night. Oh Sevens, another day, another flop. How the hell could he comprehend what happened today? Oh, the day already passed, it’s night, then it’s yesterday then. Idia despised himself at some rate due to behaving in a normie way. Would be just perfect if he graduated from this shitty college as soon as possible, live with Ortho, play his favorite games everyday, maybe raising a cat or two - Sevens, he just wants a fluffy cute little creature to give his sudden bursts of attention to at least someone (bonus points if it’s meowing instead of talking, so he won’t deal with embarrassing situations). That would be so perfect, so safe and comfortable for him, but fate has other plans stored for him.

Idia bit his lip, leaving another mark comparable to a scratch, and sighed heavily, closing his eyelids in the hope of erasing the image of the girl from his memory. He heard his underclassman once. An Ignihyde - Ignhyde!! - student asked Idia if he could give him advice as a dorm head, and Idia thought he built a strong enough image of him as a dorm leader - unreliable, insecure, uncommunicative, mysterious maybe, but nothing out of character. Idia tried his best, though, giving a nod and convincing himself it was just a small technical problem, but then…

“D-dorm head,” the student mumbled back then, and Idia thought of a quite distinguishing feature of all Ignihyde students - stuttering out of embarrassment. “I have no friends to consult… Can you give me a piece of advice?”

“W-well… Y-yeah, let’s see…” Idia hated being responsible for others. You’ve managed getting accepted into this college somehow, then you would handle the rest too, right? Why ask others? Why communicating? Argh, it was driving him insane. 

“Y-you know… I-I… I guess I have a crush on someone…”

Sevens, it was hell. Idia wondered if Hades has ever encountered such a situation? What would he do if he was in Idia’s shoes? 

He can’t remember what it was that he told him in response, but two weeks later the student ended up being rejected. Of course he was! Who would want to deal with gloomy, irritable and antisocial students? It was just logical thinking, rationale and just. 

Yeah, normies behavior is the worst. He couldn’t believe he was thinking of Yuu when he could be gaming or oh wow sleeping even. Was it his first or second sleep deprived day? He can’t remember.

Idia will be staying in his room as always, but this isn’t helping. Ortho was looking really intimidating when he said he wants Idia’s room to be clean and neat when he and Yuu will be back after classes. So much stress for one shitty day. 

For a second he thought of completing the game this night so Yuu will lose and yeah, she’ll complain for some time, maybe kick his ass, but that’s bearable, that would do. He even completed the route Yuu was finishing yesterday, all thanks to her walkthrough though , but then he thought Ortho will be disappointed in him and Idia couldn’t afford keeping his little brother sad. 

Well… if he can’t sleep, maybe he can do something productive now? 

With that thought he jumped off the bed, sighing and deciding to rearrange his figurines at least, preparing for a long morning full of normies tactics. Isn’t it pitiful?.. He thought, rolling up his sleeves and grabbing monitor wipes.

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

 “Good morning, brother!ー Huh?”

Ortho turned on automatically, and the image of Idia with the lanky limbs of his sleeping rather uncomfortably on the floor, perfectly neat and clean room remained untouched. Ortho couldn’t analyze the received data for a mere seconds, but then his eyes blinked with a light of joy. 

“Hehehe~” Ortho laughed, making Idia lay in a more comfortable position and bringing spare pillows to lay on. “See you soon, big brother!”

Idia woke up a few hours later, finding himself with tangled limbs, his whole body aching from pain. Unpleasant anxiety filled him, as if spreading over the body with viscid ink. He tried to escape his thoughts, accumulating in his head, when he took a look at the pillows around him, smiling and imagining Ortho keeping his precious brother in a cozy comfortable atmosphere.

Luckily for him, there were no dorm heads meeting today, he already could proclaim he’s a deadman because of Yuu coming to his damn room. Geez, was it necessary to ventilate the space or was some basic cleaning enough already? Could he be considered maintaining a healthy lifestyle by now? Argh, he started thinking he was doing it for Ortho, not for the girl who tried to debate him!

Alright, enough worry. He was going to beat her anyway, what would possibly go wrong?

His whole existence, apparently. 

───◌┈┈───♡⃝───┈┈◌───

Yuu pulled all-nighter. It was not an unfamiliar thing for her to do, despite all Lilia’s complainings, but it was worth it, or so she thought.

Ortho kept on asking her, how was her school day, wasn’t she tired because according to his tests her state wasn’t a 100% one, but she insisted it was fairly normal. Human beings were still the most complicated creatures, Ortho thought.

Yuu felt some gazes lingered on her silhouette as she walked through endless corridors filled with glowing bluish light. She got used to being watched, but couldn’t help but wonder if it’s okay for her to approach Idia right now? She did not want to make him uncomfortable, even slightest.

“Alright, Yuu! Please have fun, I’ll check on you two later,” Ortho stopped at the massive heavy-looking door, tagging the girl on her sleeve as she wanted to proceed further without any thinking. 

“Oh, thank you for showing me the way. See you!”

She hugged him, a smile spreading across her face. She took several deep breaths before knocking. But this, however, was not necessary ー Idia heard and saw her mental preparation on the cameras installed in the corridor, and thought about whether such great courage and determination was really needed to enter the room of a worthless otaku.

“Hello, Idia, it’s me, Yuu!”

“C-c-come in…” Yuu heard him mumbling behind the door, and made her way into his room.

His room was everything she expected, but suspiciously cleaner. Neatly arranged things, consoles, figurines and books with complicated names on its spines made her too stunned to speak.

“Urgh, just sit wherever you’d like…”

“Do you have a spare chair then? I promise I won’t sit close to you so you’re not in an uncomfortable position. Gotta keep a safe distance, you know,” she smiled but Idia didn’t find anything funny.

He does not have a spare chair. Shit.

Panic overwhelmed him at once, causing to tremble a little, and Yuu figured out he actually did not have one. Small “ah!” escaped her lips suddenly, making Idia shift his attention to her.

“I can sit on the floor! I’ll stretch a bit in case I won’t see the monitor.”

“N-no need…”

Suddenly a whole monitor just lost its glow, as if curled into a thin line, to appear right at the level of her face, closer to the floor. She gasped, astonished by the tech development of this world, and made herself comfortable on the floor, minding if it was alright to grab a pillow.

“Thank you, but… How would you look at it yourself?”

It's a nightmare, it's unbearable, he just kept embarrassing himself, worsening the situation with every second!

“I have an idea, if you wouldn’t mind,” Idia glanced at her, trying to cover his pink hair tips in vain. “You can sit beside me on the floor.”

Oh Sevens, he wanted it over already. 

He didn’t say anything to her, though, sinking to the floor and pulling his knees to his chest, burrowing. He dropped his chin on the knee bones that were showing through his pants, to which Yuu swallowed vaguely  

It was awkward. 

“S-shouldn’t you do your extrovert stuff and just… You know…” Idia grabbed a console, stuttering while speaking and totally avoiding her straightforward piercing gaze, when she chuckled suddenly.

“Thank you for asking, dear customer! Today in stock: extroverted monologues which can help you in case you find silence awkward and don’t want to chat yourself, then we have an amazingly wide range of topics for conversation with the ability of further discussion support.”

“Geez, you’re spending too much time with Azul, quit it. You won’t gain anything good from it.”

“Heheh, you know him well! In any case, our service can provide you with another helpful item. Look here.”

Yuu gave him her phone. Apparently there was a 30 seconds-long video in her phone gallery, and he didn’t get what she expected him to do. Giving a small nod, she encouraged him to tap on a play button, and he did accordingly.

Idia recognized the music immediately, a remix of the newest Gakemo song played. It was a MijiU edit, many frames of her fancams flashed before his eyes, cool video effects changed each other with smooth transitions, not to mention pretty decent work on a soundtrack. Yuu picked MijiU finest fancams with the best outfit choices, considering Idia was quite picky with them, and Yuu managed to guess his tastes correctly… 

Yuu wanted to ask Idia for his opinion on her edit on which she spent an unholy amount of time during a night she could be sleeping peacefully, but he pressed on the slider, dragging it to the start, and rewatched edit five times in a row, his golden eyes flickering with unconcealed childlike joy. 

“U-ugh!” Idia realized he showed too much of his emotions and quickly tried regaining himself, pink hue covering his hair tips. “Did you do it yourself?”

“Yeah, I haven’t done edits since I got isekai-ed into Twisted Wonderland.. I thought of creating a  MagiCam acc dedicated to kpop edits, what do you think, heh?” 

“Kpop?” Idia asked.

“Ah, yeah, it’s the music genre. K stands for korean, and pop… I guess you have it here. Since Gakemo music sounds similar to one we call kpop in my world, then maybe it is called twst-pop here? Lol,” Yuu chuckled, making silly guesses as Idia rewatched an edit once more.

“I-I suggest you invest into this, sounds pretty cool…” He returned the phone to her. “O-oh, and t-thank you for this edit… You didn’t have to do it…”

“My pleasure! I thought I would cause quite a nuisance by being here, since you didn’t agree wholeheartedly to me coming here in your room. I’m glad you liked it! I’ll make more once I have time.”

It was another normie tactic of hers, don’t fall for it, it’s a trap, Idia thought, finally managing to keep his hair steadily blue as usual, calming his heart as well as pink hair tips. 

Idia turned in his computer, a password needed for proceeding. A crazy long combination of digits appeared as black dots.

“Right down up right right down right right up up down down. Rotate, Invert, One revolution,[1]” Yuu hummed as if she was singing an unknown to Idia song, and he glanced at her real quick. 

“E-eh?” He was genuinely confused, while the desktop image appeared on the monitor. An anime scenery, similar to something from Hayao Miyazaki’s works, and Yuu thought Idia decided to play it safe, almost revealing her sixth sense and guessing he changed it before she came. She would be okay with anything, considering she wanted to use Changhee[2] pic as her lockscreen, but it was impossible since the idol doesn’t even exist in this world, so she uses Kintoki from Kintama[3] pic instead. 

“It’s a song from my world, maybe I should write the lyrics to you, I guess you can relate to it at some rate. I wonder if you have vocaloids in your world too…”

Idia now realized how he sounded to all the normies surrounding him occasionally in this college. Yuu was speaking an alien language, at least it sounded like that to him, but he thought it wasn’t bad… She had her geek side too, it felt… pretty much okay?

The opening scene began to play, and Idia quickly skipped it. He watched it one first time, and so did Yuu, it was enough. The whole menu was redesigned due to a true ending route finally unlocking, four walls ruined as cerulean butterflies enveloped menu buttons, small bell ringing noises escaping from wings flapping. Mysterious atmosphere got Yuu excited as Idia began the game. Yeah, the design was pretty, but the story still hasn’t awakened anything in him.

The main heroine found herself locked in an unknown apartament, the music citing suspense lingering everywhere. Idia observed Yuu‘s side profile quickly, noticing pupils dilating in excitement, and he could understand her bright mood. It’s okay if she finds the game interesting, well, it was decent at least. Not that he wanted to voice his opinion to her, though.

“Y-you know,” Idia interrupted the silence, which wasn’t uncomfortable, but Idia felt stupid speaking so suddenly. Yuu didn’t mind, though, tilting her head to see him better. “Many players get stuck in the first chapter because the difficulty level increases insanely.”

“Mhm, I heard about it. I’m still in no favor of turning the challenge down,” oh, Idia got it, she was persistent as hell. 

“T-the game has a database with possible questions on which players need to answer by typing themselves, no options offered…” he continued, as she managed to keep up with his reading pace while he was clicking on his console, her eyes locked on the screen. “It has, like, at least o-one hundred possible questions b-based on your previous walkthrough…”

“Ooh! That’s so innovative!! Twisted Wonderland's AI development is incredible, really.”

“R-right?!” Idia’s voice suddenly became louder, but Yuu only smiled at him, returning him back to earth, him feeling highly embarrassed. “Ughm.”

They continued playing in silence interrupted only by the main heroine’s voice trembling, giving she was scared of being locked up and chatting with an unknown man through her phone. Yuu adjusted herself on the floor, nearly brushing Idia’s shoulder for a mere second, and got him squeaking in fear of being touched. She apologized for being inconsiderate, feeling embarrassment accumulating in her. She got so comfortable that she forgot they weren’t friends, it was a pleasant acquaintance for sure, but nothing more than that, to her regret. 

In any case, they proceeded further, and a mysterious man who was chatting with the heroine, threw her into another chat with people she didn’t know. The players knew, though, since the characters were other love interests. 

“Aww, look at K[4] being concerned about the heroine,” Yuu mumbled, cupping her face in her hands and smiling. 

“Ew, gross, stop,” Idia cringed at her, quickly skipping the whole scene. 

“Hey, wait, show me the log, maybe there was something important to the question we’ll get soon!” She protested, considering grabbing his console, but Idia just brushed her off.

“Nah, another normie cringe flirting, set me free, ‘kay? You’ll be in charge of these lame things.”

“I don’t mind, but I still need to see what they’re talking about!! How am I supposed to do it when you’re skipping a whole scene?”

“Chill, I don’t think there was something important.”

“Argh, just how are you so sure!! Yo, give me the console, I’ll check it real quick myself.”

“Woah, normie, get yourself together. Me giving you my console? Not gonna happen.”

And she thought the friendship was about to blossom despite every embarrassing interaction they had today. 

She grumbled and furrowed her brows, not impressed by the Idia’s sly grin. He stretched out his hand with the console, making it almost impossible to grab for her. She leaned over, causing Idia to jump out of his place, making him stand, and she did the same. Their height difference hit her hard, giving she was really small next to him. Yuu realized it only now. 

Idia was tall. Like, really tall. 

“Dude, I highly recommend you to not pick up fights with me!”

“Heh, what’s with your casual confidence, normie?”

“Argh, don’t tell me we’re back to calling me normie!!” 

Yuu decided to step closer, grabbing Idia’s shirt and making him scream. 

“G-g-g-geez, normie, stay back! Critical damage taken, need a HP recovery item asap…”

Console fell out of his hands, and Yuu managed to grab it in midair somehow, but an unusual sound came from the game, shifting their attention to the screen.

“Shit,” Idia hissed.

There it is. The choice. 

❑ :: you won’t be able to proceed without answering the question!

⌜ Why K is the only one who isn’t against of you coming over to a mysterious man? ⌝

✎﹏﹏ Type your answer here

“Urgh!!” Yuu sounded furious. “We skipped this whole scene, how should I know! I don’t even understand what was happening for the last 5 minutes.”

“Chill, I’ll manage, look.”

Idia escaped the game without saving, causing Yuu to frown, but when Idia entered the game again, they continued right where they stopped, the answer window still floating in the middle of the screen. 

“What the…” he mumbled. “Wait a bit.”

He opened the browser and showed her a bunch of comments saying one can’t proceed without answering, and even deleting the game isn’t helping. It’s either one managed to guess correctly or one’ll be stuck for god knows how long.

“Guess we’re in this together,” Yuu sighed in disappointment, placing herself on the floor again, when Idia visibly began trembling.

And what was he dragged into even?.. 

❤︎ notes :

[1] - There's Supposed to Be a Cheat Code for Happiness - Yuzuki Yukari. [2] - Member of kpop group called THE BOYZ [3] - play on words, it's supposed to be Gintama (Gin means silver, while Kin means gold in Japanese) [4] - V from Mystic Messenger reference

This 'true route' feature will have A LOT of references to Mystic Messenger so be prepared hhh

Yuu in this fic is much shorter than Idia.

© yushiiae 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲, 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.