#I guess I'm scared of rejection but I should be used to it by now-

[billygoat26]

Guys- moots who know me well enough kind of-

I'm not simping solely for fictional characters anymore-

...

I hate this, it's weird, I wanna say something to them or at least one of my other irl friends but I'm too scared that 1: they'll judge me and 2: they'll TELL HIM. Dear god I do not need that-

BUT IT WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE (aka it's been on my mind for a few hours too long)

Yesterday, pool party with friends, right?

I knew that he did some workout stuff but I still was NOT prepared- (me, who was fully expecting him to wear some form of his normal outfit but for the pool- noooooope! Shirtless- very unprepared)

And listen, I knew I at least sort of like-liked him before cuz you know, personality and all that stuff, but come onnnn- like- what do I do now??

And then they were playing chicken fights in the pool or whatever the game is called, and after that they were standing on each other's shoulders and pretending to walk on water (We all had just endured a bible unit in our English classes)

He had offered for ME to stand on HIS shoulders- and for that to happen, you know, they gotta swim under, right? Well, we both have the dirtiest of minds (I also just have shitty balance so I was not about to try that anyways. That was the main reason on my mind but I thought of the other stuff after).

I don't even know if I have blushed since elementary school, but if I did then, then thank god for the sun because sunburnsssss

And then he couldn't find his shirt after we had all gotten out, and one of my other friends said that he didn't need the shirt (jokingly) and dear god I wanted to agree (verbally) but I'm too worried about my whole bullshit being too obvious if I did, so I just had to stay quiet. (He ended up not finding it and just having to leave cuz his parents were there)

But that- that day- just... that. It's not. Leaving. My. Mind. Alone.

[yuyu1024]

Fate

Pairings: Yoongi × y/n

Genre/tags: Arranged marriage

Warning: 🔞🔞🔞 mention of blood/violence/drugs/trafficing, trauma, mention of killing, kidnapping, gun, mention of food/eating/weight, cursing, sensual touching, making out smoking, smut (but not this chapter)

~~~~[lmk if i miss anything]

Words: 5.2k

Disclaimer:

- this story is just made up

- english is not my first language, please be nice 😊

Note:

Part 1 - Prisoner

Part 2 - Escape

Part 3 - Twilight

Part 4 - Fate

A/N: again... im really sorry for being a slow writer/update for this mini series🙏🏻 i can't help it. 😭 I do get msgs asking for updates & i feel bad... so sorry 🥹 I try my best to have time to get into the story/characters whenever i have free time. I work full time and have a 2nd job too so it takes all my energy. I'm really... really sorry.😭

But yeaah, thank you for everyone liking my yoongi fanfic. 🖤🫶🏻 thank you for the patience😭

I hope this chapter is okay ♥️

****

(Prologue/Flashback)

"Sshh..." she covers your mouth for you to stay quiet and not make any noise. She reminds you constantly to keep it together or else they will find you. "Just a little bit more, Yoongi." She whispers. "Calm down..."

You try your best to do what she says because you want you guys to survive this. To escape. However you are a kid and you are terrified. And you can't stop yourself from shaking like a twig. Also you are rapidly breathing through your nose. Tears even start to fill your eyes as you look into her eyes.

"You'll be fine..." she says to you. "Noona, will protect you."

"I'm scared..." You whisper grabbing onto her long braided hair.

You two are a few inches apart. If she could only embrace you, she will. However there are metal bars between you two and she is.... injured.

"Me too." She wants to cry to as she must be as scared as you or maybe, more. But since she's the eldest between the two of you she have to be brave for you. "Just go to sleep... I promise... the moment you wake up...when the sun is shining after the storm tonight... we'll be safe... we'll already be at home..."

"P-promise?"

She tries her best to not break down because she knows that she's promising something that's very unrealistic in your situation right now. Both of you are held captives, kidnapped and waiting to be saved.

"I promise." She sniffs "Just hold onto this for now..." she meant her hair and then reaches her hand to you slowly even it's causing too much pain for her. "Go to sleep... Noona will be right here..." the tip of her fingers barely touched your cheek. "I will protect you..." she adds

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Present]

The silence between you two is very deafening. Even the staffs at the mansion notices how both of you are very distant to each other.

Odd right? They should be used to this situation since Yoongi is the silent type or the one who does not talk that much especially to you.

However for you, maybe this is out of character as every one is not used to you being like this. Well THIS silent anyway.

You usually talk and greet them or make small talks with them or Yoongi even if it's just a random question to make him just...talk. You do anything to make him speak to you. You make small efforts to chase his attention just to get him look back at you per say. Like a dog.

But now, since he made sure to leave you the moment you got vulnerable with him during sex and mentioned a feeling you have, which in the first place you had no idea you have, really hurt you this time. Big time. It is a rejection that you never thought would bother you this much.

"You two are awfully quiet." Mrs. Min says as soon as she puts down her cup of coffee on the table. "You two are both quiet originally... I know... but..." she looks at you and Yoongi back and forth twice. "Did you guys had a fight?"

No one answers.

"Guessing...silence means yes?" Mrs. Min looks at us again, hoping someone will speak up. "What did you do?" She asks Yoongi.

But he didn't open his mouth to speak. He just continued on chewing on his breakfast while his eyes are glued to you.

He has been eyeing you since the two of you left the mansion. He have been silently watching you move along, react and walk from your back. You don't notice it as you are trying to achieve to ignore him completely today. And so far, you are a gold medalist at it. You don't even bat an eye on him.

"Fine... not gonna ask anymore questions..." Mrs. Min gives up. "Anyways, after this lunch... I'll have a meeting with Hannah."

Yoongi flinches, finally reacting and gets interested to whatever his mother is saying. "What for?"

"About the private resort project that she is building... she wants my opinion about what brands to use for the decorations. She have a final lists of candidates of brands and she wants to know my say to it."

"Really...."

"Yes... and as soon as it opens... she says you two can go there... and celebrate... as her gift. Since she missed going to your wedding."

"Celebrate?" You finally spoke after how many years. Even Yoongi whip his head to look at you.

"Yes dear," Mrs. Min smiles so brightly and holds your hand. "You're 2nd anniversary... next month... right?"

"Ah, yes... right." You try to smile it away. But deep inside, you are not looking forward to it.

Why would you? Last year Yoongi didn't even greeted you Happy Anniversary. He probably didn't care back then so why would he care now and celebrate this year? This marriage is nothing to him.

"Is she coming here?" Yoongi asks his mother, changing back the subject to Hannah

"No... I am meeting her at her office."

You are holding on for dear life on your gold medal for 'Ignoring my husband award'. You are so curious to look at him. To see his beautiful face, how he reacts when they talk about her. Hannah. The girl you saw more than a year ago. The girl you saw on the driveway, talking to your husband while she hooked her arms on his'. The girl that Yoongi seems interested about. The girl he seems to.... like.

"How about you guys? What are your plans today after our brunch?" Mrs. Min asks

"Hmm.." he sighs heavily and then takes his phone from the table. "Probably fuck my wife " Yoongi answers nonchalantly making you and Mrs. Min almost choke on nothing. That sentence made you even look at him with wide eyes and red cheeks.

"Omo..." Mrs. Min is too stunned to even comprehend what she just heard. "Well... okay... too much information but..." she then takes a sip of her coffee. "You do you."

"I'm sorry..." you apologize to your mother-in-law.

You are embarassed. This topic should be a private matter. Everyone in the mansion already seem to have the idea what you two do on a regular basis but you do hope that outside, no one has to know.

It's not that you are embarassed of having a sex life. It's normal. Yes. But to have to talk about it to his parents, oh dear god, no.

"Why are you apologizing?" Yoongi's face looks so damn serious. "We are husband and wife right?"

You scowl at Him. You don't like how he acts or portrays like sex is just a hobby for him and it's nothing to be embarassed about. Especially in front of his mother while you are present. He really does not treat you like you have any feelings. He is evil.

"Okay... children...children... don't fight about this... it's okay. You already have issues before we got here so... it's fine." Mrs. Min tries to sooth the situation up.

She's so nice to try. Though she does not know the real reason why there is a huge distance between you two today. It's not that simple. You don't even know if she knows how his son treats you.

***

"Sir." Mr. Kim bows as both Yoongi and you arrives at the driveway, about to leave Mrs. Min's property.

"Get in." He orders you

You glare at him then roll your eyes away. You are in no mood now. You have scowled at him earlier already so why not do it more now that he is irritating you.

"Hold on..." he suddenly grabs you by the arm, stopping you from getting in the car. "Did you just fucking roll your eyes at me?" He scoffs

You try your best to pull your arms from his grip but he is stronger than you. "Let me go." You grunt

"What are you doing?" He asks, "You've been.... acting up lately..."

"I don't know...what you're talking about..." you finally freed yourself from his grip.

"Don't act innocent on me... I know you."

"Know me?" You snap. "How? We barely talked these past two years... You only look for me when you want something done and someone to fuck...besides that, I am nothing to you. So how the fuck will you know me?"

Finally! You've said something. However you can't lie to yourself how terrified you are right now. Your legs are shaking. You have never risen your voice like this before. Not with him. Plus Yoongi is so freaking silent. There was no reaction from him not like Mr. Kim who just coughed because of the sudden tension.

Is he in shock? He must be surprised to hear you speak out after all this time. He had never heard you talk like this before. You can't even read his expression. He is just looking down at you, straight on.

"Ahm... Sir... Miss... I'll leave you two... alone." Mr. Kim finally broke the awkward silence. "Just message me if... we're going home."

You glance at him and bow. Also giving an apologetic look since the situation got a bit serious.

And as soon as Mr. Kim is gone from our sight, Yoongi takes a step forward closer to you, making you back up and your behind bumping on the car. "Is that... what you think?"

You glare up at him. "Yes."

"You think... I don't know you?"

"Yes."

He chuckles. "I know you more than you know..."

You frown. "You only see me when you are horny... you don't even talk to me unless to I ask you... unless you tell me what to do and what not to do... so, how would you know anything about me...?"

He scrunches his face. He looks irritated "I see you more than you think." He mumbles. And then he took a step back and looks at you and watch you tremble,"Do you regret it?" He asks

"W-what? Regret what?"

"The sex... do you regret it?"

"W-what? What do you mean...?"

He then puts both his hands on the car, trapping you between. "Just answer the question... do you hate and regret the sex?"

You look away. "No...."

"Do you want us to stop fucking?"

You sigh heavily. "Why are you focusing on the sex?!?" Your brows are furrowed. You are really showing your frustration. "It's not about the sex, Yoongi! There is nothing wrong with the sex... what I just want is... I just..." you look back at his face and you see an empty expression from him. Does he not get what you are saying or is he ignoring the other parts of what you told him. That the only thing he thinks about is your sex life. "Never mind..." you lower your gaze. "It's not like my opinion matter..."

"Y/N..." Yoongi begins. You look back st him waiting for whatever he's about to say. You think he was about to response to you or maybe say what is on his mind as well. (Maybe.) However, both of you got suddenly distracted by the honk of a black sedan car entering the property.

You have seen that car before. It is familiar. And then when it stops and someone steps out of the car...

"Yoongi?" The woman that came out of the passenger seat, is Hannah. "What are you doing here?"

She is smiling ear to ear. Her smile is as bright as her tear drop pear earrings that is perfectly shown under her tucked bob hair. She's... so pretty.

"Oh... Hi..." she waves at you when she finally notices you

"Hi." You try to smile as brightly as you can.

"You must be Yoongi's beautiful wife." She is sweet. She looks like a friendly and easy going person. "I'm Hannah by the way... I'm Yoongi's friend since we're... toddlers..."

"Nice to meet you." You bow

"What are you doing here? Mother said..."

"Ah... yes... we we're supposed to meet at my office but I just came from another meeting and since we will pass by the house I decided to just meet her now..." she explains

"She must be in her room now.. preparing to meet you."

"Oh. I see... well, I guess I'll just surprise her." She grins. "Are you guys leaving?"

"Yeah... we just had brunch with her..."

Fuck. What is going on?

Just a second ago, you're having a serious confrontation with your husband. You guys are about to talk about the situation between you two. Yes, it may not be the ideal 'talk' but it is a start. But then, here you are. Hannah arrived and stole his full attention. Literally, she have all his eyes and ears. You suddenly became a shadow.

Then you are also hearing Yoongi converse. You are hearing how is he when he's not alone with you. You are hearing a side of him that you are not familiar with. 'Fuck Y/N, stop it.' You say yourself

Maybe, you just need to stop. Just stop complaining about his attention and him not liking you. Maybe he is not the problem. Maybe.. it's you? They forced him to marry and got stucked with you. YOU are the problem. You are NOT the person he wanted to marry. You just got selected just because.

You are the problem. As always. Like what everybody says to you.

"I'll just email you my thoughts after..." Hannah says

"Why not discuss it now?" Yoongi suggests

"Hmm...but you're about to leave..." she glances at you

"It's okay." Yoongi then pulls out his phone and messages someone. "I asked Mr. Kim to come... wait for him... I'll be quick." He says to you

You look at him for a second before you turn your back on him. "Sure." You sound lifeless. You sounded like you've given up already.

"Y-yoongi... you're going to make her wait?" She whispers to him but you care definitely hear it

"Let's make it quick. I don't want to work over the weekend."

He's more worried of working on the weekend but not making you stay and wait all alone.

They start to walk away. You could see their reflection through the windows of the car.

They left you alone.

He left you alone.

Then as you are standing there, waiting for Mr. Kim to come back, you slightly bend over your torso, holding onto the yourself as soon as you felt a little uncomfortable feeling on your lower abdomen. It's not painful but it is a bit of discomfort.

"Fuck..." you hiss under your breathe.

You should be careful now. Atleast until it's fully confirmed. Yes, you are pregnant. Well, that's what the PT told you a few days ago.

You took the test, in your bathroom, scared and shaking like a twig. You have never felt this terrified in your life. Ever. And the freaking 3mins of waiting felt like forever whilst you are in there, sitting on the floor.

But yeah, after the torture of waiting, the test did show two lines. It was a faint but it is positive. And during that moment, your world suddenly stopped spinning. You had to gather your thoughts and emotion within the span of 30mins that you have. (Because your maid will enter your bathroom to help you get ready after 30mins). That was one other toture you had to endure. And to add more spice on this never ending problem is that you were all ALONE. You had no one to hold hands or hug for moral support.

You are, all by yourself.

After testing, you did processed the result in your mind and managed to get back right to reality and decide by yourself to be... okay. To take it as another good day. Because this is not something bad. It is a miracle. It's a life.

Though, you can't lie. It was a whirlwind of emotion. And you don't know what to feel yet about it. You are not even sure if you are able to share it with anyone, even Yoongi since you still need to see a doctor to really confirm it.

Confirmation.

You fucking need that final 'yes you are pregnant'. Because your further decisions in life will revovle around that one thing. Decisions that might affect this marriage and basically affect your whole life. So, you really have to find a way to get a doctor's appointment in secret. For now...

"Miss?" Mr. Kim arrives and sees you slouching, "Is everything alright?"

You turn around, stands up straight and smile. "Yes..."

"Are you hurt?" He asks

"I'm fine... but I just think... my stomach feels heavy a bit from eating... I did ate quite a bit." You lie.

"Okay, let me bring you home quick so you could rest." He says

"Thank you."

****

[Yoongi's side]

Yoongi can't sleep. He got home earlier just an hour after Y/N got home. He asked the maids to call her, to have dinner with him, but unfortunately Y/N was already fast asleep.

He waited for her to wake up from what he thinks is just a quick nap. But whenever he asks the maid if she's up, they just shake their head and say sorry.

They fought. He thinks. It felt like they fought. It's his first time hearing her talk to him like that. She have been always timid and her patience with him is very long. However, she finally have had it.

How can you make your wife, who is clearly showing you that she's falling in love with you, start to hate you?

Well, Yoongi knows what he did and is doing to her. He is very controlling, cold and distant. And these are the traits that can't be part of your life especially of you are married. However, this is how he is. As a child no, but ever since the incident happen fifteen years ago, the trauma and the life he had to put through made him, This.

Outsiders might call him as the devil or the punisher of the Min Family because of all the work he is doing inside the office and outside. He is a fighter and his hands are always covered with blood. Though what he's doing is not a crime. The Min's business is not illegal. They control everything that they can do end everything that is illegal in the most legal way possible. If that makes sense.

They were just a business before. A typical rich family. But yeah, since what had happened to them years ago, they changed their rules and how they do it now.

And that's why Yoongi have this cold exterior. He needs to show to everyone who's watching him that he can't falter. That no one could try to even break him like how those monsters break his father. How those monster took them and made them hostages.

10 million. That's all it takes, for some uneducated humans do the most horrendous thing in this world. To hurt and kill an innocent child. A 16yrs old girl and a 14yr old boy.

Their parents were willing to give the money and even more, just for them to surrender their children. However, the fear in them when they know that the children saw their faces, made them decide to end it all.

Yuna, his older sister, sacrificed her life to save Yoongi. She is one brave young lady. She managed to push his brother just in time to fall on the edge, to roll down small hill and get away through the woods. She got shot and died on the spot. Yoongi saw everything but didn't had the time to grieve then and there because he had to survive yet. To run.

It took two more days before he was found. How he survived? No one knows. But since that day, the happy and cheerful little boy grew up and became the cold Yoongi everyone knows now.

He knows that what he have been through is not an excuse to treat his wife so coldy like this. She was only forced the marry him. She didn't even know him. Which is his fault as well because he didn't allow her to enter his bubble. Up to now...

However, through all the times that he have been with her little by little, as per his therapist's words, 'You are slowly breaking.' She said.

She said that before, whenever she asks him about his wife. He is usually nonchalant or indifferent. Like he's just talking about someone he randomly met. But then one day, the therapists said, she saw a glimpse of change in his eyes the moment she asks about his wife. His expression is the same but his eyes started to shift like he's thinking about it more before he speaks.

'You care. You just don't know how to show it' she said to him.

At first, When Yoongi heard that from his therapist, he got worried. Not because He is starting to have this feeling for his wife. No. His wife is never and will never be a bad thing that happened to his life. He is worried because, what if he breaks his cold exterious and somewhere out there in the world takes advantage of it and what happened years ago will happen again?

That is his only concern. That is why, he added more men. That's why Y/N can't leavr a house alone. That's why he always tracks her phone wherever she is. That's why he can't sleep without know if she is fine or not.

If only... he never had these issues, these traumas from the past, maybe... it's easier.

"Please... don't quit on me..." he says out loud as he closes his eyes, imagining the smiling face of his wife. "Don't... leave me..." he mutters

****

After what it seems like a very, very long day for you you're finally home. You are so tired that the first thing you did after getting changed is sleep. It feels like this is the longest you've slept in like forever.

You keep turning and waking up every now and then but your body kept forcing you to not wake up. It's like its telling you that you needed this. After all of the worrying you have been having these past few days. This sleep is for you.

But then maybe after hour five of sleeping, you felt something cold touch your skin. It didn't sting. It oddly felt good.

Slowly opening your eyes, you see a blurred figure in front of you. He's so close that you could actually smell his scent. The smell of baby powder.

"Yoongi?" You ask softly as your eyes slowly adjusted to the little light of your lamp shade. But no one answered back. You then rub your eyes to wake yourself up a bit more. Just to be surez you saw what you saw.

No one. There's no one there.

"Did I... just dream about him?" You ask, looking at the ceiling. "But I swear..." you trail off. "How funny... even in my dream... I see him..."

But you swear you smelled his scent. Your imagination of him is getting stronger. Your memory of him is getting move vivid. Even the smell now. That's how longing you are of him.

You miss him. Even though he is there  you miss him. Oddly, you miss the time that both of you are just sitting down together in his home office and just reading. You miss casually asking him questions. You miss hearing him talk even though he's talking about his work and not to you. You miss him even though you just saw him earlier. Even though... he hurt you.

His scent. The scent you really, really like. His smell whenever you two have sex. It's not strong but it's there. Whenever you close your eyes and drift away from the high, you know you are okay as long as you could smell and hear him.

Fuck. Is this how being in love is?

Just thinking about him makes you want to cry. You are frustrated at him but at the same time frustrated to yourself as well. Why is communicating is so hard? You know that's the issue. Both of you are not good with talking nor expressing yourselves. Well, that's what Taehyun told you earlier.

Yeah, you went on a side trip earlier before going home, to meet your friend at his work. You needed someone to talk to and you know Taehyung is always there ready to listen to you.

You poured your heart out earlier, crying and all. You were sorry for disturbing him at work but you needed that cry and that hug. You had to told him your feelings about Yoongi. You have to say it out loud for you to truely understand the situation and yourself.

You needed someone's opinion to point out the obvious so it could stick in to your brain.

Growing up to a family where your opinion does not matter took a toll on you as well. Especially to an adoptive family. A family that only needed you for money.

To them, you always feel left out and does not deserve a voice. They always tell you that they only gave you a roof above your head and food to eat because you are what they needed. A piggy bank.

Your parents died in an accident years ago, when you are just 12yrs old. There was a police chase in the highway that rainy day. Every one is on high alert and giving way. But well, the criminals weren't exactly running away and trying to avoid cars. They hit quite a few vehicles during the chase and one of them was your parent's. The crash caused an explosion, killing them in an instant.

And like any drama stories on TV, yout aunt took you in because of your parent's insurance. They are not big but it is a decent amount. However, they could not actually touch it since it is saved for your education that's why the first month of you staying with them was torture. They beat you, make you work and starve you from time to time because they said, 'you don't deserve to eat unless you work for it'.

One reason why starving yourself was easy for you when you need to.

But then things changed a bit when someone knocked on the door one day and gave your adoptive parents a good amount of money. You remember the man saying 'this is for the trouble and lost we caused your family during our battle for saving our children.' You do remember you aunt, being a good actress that day, crying and all. You even saw them be in a good mood. Everyday because of that money. So since then, whenever you have a part time job or one good seasonal job, you save up and give it to them.

You do this not because you want them to be happy. You do this because you wanted peace for yourself. They will not hurt you if you give them what they need.

This is one reason too why you accepted this marriage. Even though, you know you will have trials too. But atleast you know, no one is going to hurt you physically anymore.

Though, you are having troubles now too.... it is still different. Like you said, it is the communication.

Is it all Yoongi's fault? No. Taehyung said that maybe, since I'm very submissive and him being very dominant, grew up giving orders or not listening to anyone because he is who he is, it affected the talking part in the relationship. Though he cannot say that it is a hundred percent fact. Because he explain, everyone have different stories of growing up and these affects every facet of their whole being when they get old.

Well, that's what you got from all his talk. Half of it, you are numb from all the crying and can't hear properly.

Though that talk with Taehyung,you needed that. Now all you have to do is talk to Yoongi.

If.... you have the courage too.

It is so hard to start a conversation not knowing how he feels about you. It is scary and a risk. But you are hoping it will turn out good especially now that you are expecting.

"Oh, right! The result!" You got up immediately and grab your phone.

You visited Taehyung in the hospital and he got to help you get a blood test to confirm. You forgot to talk to him about the result because you two are busy with doing friend therapy. He said, he'll just email you the result.

But then as you were scrolling scrolling through your emails your stomach growls. "I'm hungry..." you mumble and pause. "Taehyung said that if I am really pregnant... I need to eat properly now..."

And you haven't eaten dinner since you just slept since you came home. You need to eat.

Looking at the time it's pass 10pm already. Everyone must be asleep now or getting to bed so you must go and make yourself food yourself.

"Just one toast." You say as you push your blanket away. "Or two..."

You walk along the hallways as quietly as you can and then take the stairs instead of the elevator, going to the upper ground, so you could not disturb anyone.

There is still minimal light coming from the kitchen area. 'Maybe someone is still there?' You thought to yourself and hoping it is one of the maids so they could help you grab the things in the pantry. Since you don't really know how they organize it.

But then the second you turn to the corner, to enter the doorway

"Ah!" You hit your head first at something. Or at someone

Then after collecting yourself from bumping on someone, you look up to see who it was. "Sorry, I wasn't looking at--"

Fuck! It's not Yoongi nor anyone of the staff.

You tried to run back and scream but it was too late. He was quick to cover your mouth with a cloth. A scented cloth. The smell quickly pierced your nostrils and immediately made you feel dizzy and sleepy.

You are barely awake but you know he carried you over his shoulder. You could see the floor and the lights slowly to flicker. You are about to loose it.

'Help... Someone.... Yoongi... please...' You say to yourself before totally loosing consciousness.

-----

Taglist based on the replies last post 🖤

@gaby-93   @goodbyetwenty   @baechugff

@amyz78   @qeen123   @armystay89   @bangtannie7 @daisies-and-dandelionpuffs @corruptedmistress @ot72025 @cheezwiz

@xkh0  @eli-deville

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Love is Stored in the Cat: A Nepeta Leijon Character Study

I guess these are a series now! I also have a request for Feferi in my inbox that I'll get around to eventually.

SO! Dear, sweet Nepeta.

Nepeta is the troll that is most against the existence of the hemocaste.

I believe the Ultimate Self speech was originally going to be from her, not Davepetasprite^2.

She's bad at shipping.

These all make her extremely impurrtant!!!

So furst of all, I'm going to start with the same disclaimer as my Eridan essay (go read that first!!! It sets up a lot of ideas that I'm expanding on here), which is that the things Hussie says are going to be lowered in value, because he likes to play coy about plot stuff. I'm also not counting anything but the actual text as canon, and even with in that text, I'm counting everything after GAME OVER as soft canon - a suggestion of what would have been, often truncated for time, often a deliberate middle finger to the shitty fandom.

Okay, so with that squared away!

Nepeta Says Fuck The Hemocaste

I'm not going to bother doing a deep dive on Nepeta's characterization, because fur the most part, I think the fandom more or less gets her right - she wears her heart (h33h33) on her sl33ve, after all! She's a very sweet little catgirl who loves roleplay and shipping, who is also a vicious hunter of wild beasts and lives in a cave. She's very nice and friendly, but has a tough streak and a spine.

She also says fuck the hemocaste, why does that even exist:

CT: D --> Your fraternization with the base classes have 100sened your morals, can't you see this AC: :33 < no! i dont care, they are fun AC: :33 < and i dont know anything about classes or bases or blood color, it doesn't matter! AC: :33 < what does gr33n blood even mean! it doesnt mean anything to me and it shouldnt mean anything to anyone else!

This is a radical stance not outright shared by any of the other trolls. Aradia calls highbloods "hateful sn0bs" that she and Tavros shouldn't have "ever had anything t0 d0 with", the highbloods are, of course, all casteist to varying degrees, and even Karkat seems fairly accepting of the class divide, at one point taunting Vriska that her rejection from the blue team is "ANOTHER INFURIATING VICTORY FOR GUTTER BLOOD OVER ARISTOCRACY". Not to mention his long-held dream of becoming a threshecutioner.

Even Feferi, despite saying to Eridan that "W-E AR-E NOT B-ETT-ER T)(AN ANYBODY!!!!!", is actually perfectly comfortable with the caste system's existence, comparing having to stop using her royal typing quirk to "peasant-IFICATING" herself - and let's not forget that a Beforus under her rule had its caste system 100% intact.

This means that Nepeta is the ONLY troll who has said, in no uncertain terms, that the caste system should not exist. It's stupid, it's bad, and it doesn't meowtter!

AND SHE'S RIGHT.

But she's never able to fully express this opinion, which brings us to:

A COMPLICKATED RELATIONSHIP WITH EQUIUS

Now, before I say anything, I must insist that I do believe these two work as good moirails. That does not, however, stop them from being 13, and therefore, being poor to each other the way 13-year-olds sometimes are. I don't think they should break up; I think they should re-examine certain dynamics, and I think they need some space to breathe apart from each other.

Equius has a lot of problems, which I won't get into overmuch here, because... that's a whole essay on its own (are you people seeing a trend yet). But with regards to Nepeta specifically, he's extremely controlling and protective, to the point where she's a little scared of him before the game begins:

AC: :33 < well it does sound like it will be a lot of fun but i think i should get purrmission first GC: BL4R!!!!! GC: TH4TS SO STUP1D GC: H3S NOT TH3 BOSS OF YOU AC: :33 < i know! AC: :33 < but still im kind of scared of him and i think purrhaps its best to just run it by him first so there isnt a kerfuffle about it or anything

She's also afraid to tell him about her crush on Karkat, since she knows he doesn't like Karkat:

AC: :33 < well AC: :33 < i have never told anybody this not even my moirail AC: :33 < heh, actually hes the LAST guy i might tell, he so wouldnt appurrve X33 AC: :33 < but yes i have liked somebody for quite some time, but alas he doesnt know it

By the time they end their game, she's gotten over this fear, seeing as she spends many hours curled up with Equius in a pile of robotics parts, but it still must be noted that they have some issues in their relationship that were never resolved, primarily on Equius's end. What this means for Nepeta, however, is that in addition to setting her up as the most outright anti-classism troll, the comic sets her up to be socially isolated due to her moirail's paranoia about letting her associate with both lowbloods (seeing them as bad influences) OR other highbloods, seeing them as dangerous.

He's not entirely wrong - his refusal to allow her to participate in FLARP kept her from winding up entangled in the horrible chain of revenge, as Tavros alludes:

AT: iT'S PROBABLY FOR THE BEST, AT: tHAT YOU LISTEN TO HIM, AC: :33 < i dont know AC: :33 < you think so? AT: wELL, AT: iF YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO HIM BEFORE, AT: yOU MIGHT HAVE PLAYED GAMES WITH US BEFORE, AT: aND SOMETHING BAD MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU, AC: :33 < hmm purrhaps

But he's still wrong. And it's probably an uncontrolled manifestation of his Heir of Void abilities - he's both consciously and unconsciously hiding her from other people.

This isn't to say she doesn't stand up for herself! Many of her discussions with Equius are pseudo-arguments, and she does get her way often enough, managing to get him to roleplay with her, and managing to get him back in the roboti% pile to talk about his feelings about Aradia. She also talks to the humans explicitly against Equius's orders, although she's keeping it a sneakret from him:

NEPETA: :33 < but equius already furbid me from doing that :(( NEPETA: :33 < not that i am listening to him, but shhhhh! :33 KARKAT: WAIT, HE DID? KARKAT: OK, THEN AS YOUR LEADER I ORDER YOU TO RP WITH THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. BE AS OBNOXIOUS ABOUT IT AS YOU CAN. NEPETA: :33 < yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

But the fact that she has to tiptoe around him like this speaks to them having issues in their relationship that go unexamined and unresolved, especially since it's clear that Nepeta really would like to be friends with more people, were Equius not getting in her way. So, even though I do think they are good moirails for each other - they clearly genuinely, deeply care about one another. But they could use some relationship counselling.

In fact, Jasprosesprite^2 outright calls her lonely:

JASPROSESPRITE^2: Or the girl who likes ships! Cause they made her less lonely. ;3

So, she's anti-hemocaste and lonely, two character traits that were set up and never resolved. And beclaws this is Nepeta, in her honor, I'm going to talk about a third:

Her Unrequited Crush On Karcat

She has the BIGGEST flushed crush on Karkat. It's seen on her shipping wall twice, once with the word OTP on it.

And, despite never discussing it with her moirail, Nepeta mentions it once to Jaspersprite, and once to Jasprosesprite^2.

Now, I'm not really here to debate on the validity of KatNep - I think it's fine, even if I don't personally ship it, and don't personally think it would work out (there are lots of indications that they wouldn't work out, including Jasprosesprite^2 outright saying so). However, her crush on Karkat is both complicated and creates some interesting setups for her character. I am going to discuss it fairly critically either way, so KatNep shippers have been warned.

A lot of her feelings about Karkat - and about shipping in general - wind up being heavily interlinked with her status as a Hero of Heart, so I'm going to expand on it more there. But what I will note in this section is the fact that, despite Nepeta insisting twice that she doesn't think Karkat knows about her crush on her:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < it was karkat NEPETASPRITE: :33 < but i never told him and im pretty sure he never found out how i felt!

He tooootally did:

KARKAT: OK, BUT TO BE FAIR, I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'S STILL OBSESSED WITH ME. KARKAT: IT'S A VERY UNFORTUNATE, VERY RED AND VERY UNREQUITED SITUATION I'VE BEEN TRYING TO TIPTOE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, OK?

Interpret that how you will for shipping purposes, but I want to propose that this is a reflection of their statuses as Heart and Blood players. Heart, despite its players' obsessions with romance, is not the romance aspect, Blood is. Karkat displays this very same romantic acumen when he tells Dave that he's known Terezi and Gamzee were a thing for a long time, despite everyone else on the meteor trying to keep it a secret from him. Heart is, instead, about identity, feelings, motivations, souls, and self. In other words:

Nepeta Is Kind Of Bad At Shipping

Let's take a look at those shipping walls.

Let's break this down a little. Nepeta's ships are not entirely wrong, but even the successful ones are kind of wrong. Here's what I mean. We've already discussed how Equius and Nepeta's moirallegiance has some... issues in it. If we go down her list of ships that actually do happen, most of them have some issues in them!

Aradia expresses her regret for getting together with Equius in the Ministrife. Kanaya and Rose suffer some major relationship problems when Rose starts drinking, to the point Karkat feels a need to step in as an auspice. Karkat and Gamzee fail, as Karkat is not calmed by Gamzee, and Gamzee stops listening to Karkat. And while Sollux and Feferi seem to be fairly healthy, after they both wind up in the Furthest Ring, he's pretty much always next to Aradia - he and Feferi don't even get to exchange words with each other once they're in the Furthest Ring. Purrsonally, I think he and Feferi are meant to end up as moirails, but shhhh.

So what's happening here? Well, this goes back to her identity as a Heart player. Heart is concerned with feelings and motivations.

They simply want to understand the one thing we all are stuck with for our entire lives, i.e. our own minds. Forging an identity is extremely important to the Heart-bound, and every decision and action goes toward building a coherent narrative of their own story. That isn't to say Heart-bound don't care deeply for their friends and allies; they just have a tendency to assume that everyone is as concerned with identity as they are.

Nepeta's shipping has also been associated with her isolation and loneliness. When you put this together, it implies that Nepeta's shipping is about her desire to understand others, and much of her ships are based on one of the parties having feelings, regardless of compatibility, feasibility, or broader implications. After all, despite the fact that she has pretty terrible romantic acumen, she IS able to instinctively identify that Eridan's advances toward her were insincere:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < well ok i guess eridan hit on me a few times NEPETASPRITE: :33 < but his advances always struck me as cr33py and insincere

And that Karkat secretly LOVES and RESPECTS his friends:

JASPROSESPRITE^2: On the contrary Nepeta. You deserve someone who will RESPECT and ADORE you. NEPETASPRITE: :33 < well... yes NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i always hoped to find someone like that some day NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i dunno maybe youre right but in spite of whatever problems he might have i always felt like i saw something in him that made me think he could be that purrson!

Or knowing that Equius loves to play games, and still feels sad about Aradia exploding:

AC: :33 < i s33 right through your stupid act, who are you trying to kid! AC: :33 < look how you go out of your way to use words that have x's in them so that you can use your silly purrcent signs AC: :33 < or use these absurd words that you can shoehorn a '100' into, even if its not strictly replacing 'loo'!!! AC: :33 < you are so transpurrent AC: :33 < i can tell you like to play games, d33p down you are a guy who likes to play games! AC: :33 < i can smell a guy who likes to play games from so fur away with this nose, you have no idea X33

NEPETA: :33 < she was so happy, just like she used to be, and she said she would s33 you soon! EQUIUS: D --> That's a nice thought, and thank you for sharing it EQUIUS: D --> But it was only a dream, and will surely have no consequence in reality NEPETA: :33 < equius? NEPETA: :33 < are those f33lings i an detecting with my wiggly whiskery nose? EQUIUS: D --> Maybe

Because feelings, and not relationships, are her actual domain.

And speaking of Heart powers...

Nepeta and the Ultimate Self

So from this point forward, I'm going to assume you're more or less agreeing with my take that at some point after Game Over, Hussie - for whatever reason - gave up on his original ending, and wound up truncating his ideas so he could finish the comic faster. I go more into detail about that here.

So, in this hypothetical original ending, I firmly believe that the speech about the Ultimate Self would have come from Nepeta. First, let's take a look at what the "Ultimate Self" entails, as it appears within the comic:

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < everything that ever happens to every version of you is an important part of your ultimate self... like a superceding bodyless and timeless persona that crosses the boundaries of paradox space and unlike god tiers or bubble ghosts or whatever, it really IS immortal DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but in your physical form there are all these partitions in your mind that prevent you from remembering any of that which makes your existence f33l totally linear DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < which is probably for the best! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < in a regular body s33ing all that would be too overwhelming ... DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < and after it sinks in for a while you start coming to this understanding of a greater self DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < maybe i "got it" quicker though because of the two people i was and their aspects DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < understanding heart is all about the nuances of a distributed self DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < nepeta never got to make much headway with her aspect but shes finally gettin the chance DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < the time aspect is all about running into different versions of yourself so you kinda get confronted with it in a really literal way that can be disturbing DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < obviously davesprite stuggled with that too, but now its fine DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < hes fr33 from worrying about it all and what it means for his place in reality DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < because he can s33 now all his selves have relevance in painting the full picture of who he truly is DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < im not COMPLETELY sure because im not like some sort of ASPECT MASTER but DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < my avian slash feline intuition tells me that all roads will lead you here eventually DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < gaining the d33pest possible understanding of any aspect will bring you to the same final conclusion about your ultimate self

Now, I believe - and I hope you'll agree - that it's kind of lame, narratively, for Davesprite to have been set up with so much angst about not being the "real Dave," and for Nepeta to have all her issues with loneliness and shyness, and for these two specific iterations of each other to have never interacted, but suddenly getting double-prototyped fixes all of their problems, and they achieve Ultimate Selfhood despite being two total strangers to each other. So let's instead break down the more salient points about what Ultimate Selfhood entails, divorced from the fact that it's Davepetasprite^2 doing the narrating:

Every player in the game possesses an "Ultimate Self," an ultimate culmination of all their experiences and memories, specifically referred to as a "persona"

Normally, people are not aware of this, because it would be too overwhelming to deal with so many memories and iterations of each other.

Everyone will achieve Ultimate Selfhood eventually as the final culmination of their understanding of their aspect.

Heart is all about the nuances of a distributed self.

Let's talk about that last one some more, and by that I mean, let's see what Calliope has to say about it:

TT: I don't know why it had to be this way for me. Juggling these two waking selves at once. TT: I guess I'm used to it, but it still makes for a pretty intense existence. TT: Do you even know what the deal with that is? Like is there any precedent in your readings? UU: i don't know aboUt precedent, bUt it makes plenty of sense to me as the type of path one might expect for a hero of heart. UU: a path rUled by the heart aspect can be a joUrney of splintered self. UU: that is, the player's being may exhibit the same kind of fragmentation which certain classes coUld caUse in others. UU: i think this is what has triggered yoUr dUal-awareness between waking and dream selves, thoUgh it woUld not sUrprise me if the symptoms manifested in even more ways than this.

Now, Dirk has a clawmplicated relationship with his alternate selves, given that he's a Prince, but Nepeta wouldn't have the same struggles, or at least, not to the same degree. The problem is, hampered by Equius and her own shyness about discussing her thoughts and feelings with others:

NEPETASPRITE: :33 < i get so shy and worried what people might think of me if i say how i f33l NEPETASPRITE: :33 < im always so scared that they wont f33l the same way or just think im stupid or pathetic or something

She never actually gets to explore this part of herself.

But What If... She Did?

The way I imagine the original ending going is that each troll that gets saved by John's interference in the timeline then asks John to help them fix their own mistakes, thereby saving somebody else. Each successive trip through the meteor brings new character development, and also riddles the comic with progressively more password pages, which I think would be really funny. And throughout all this the Game Over team is searching for Vriska, Meenah, and the treasure, and resolving their arcs that way, so it's not like they would be replaced - they're the ones who get to kill LE. The process, in my mind, goes like this:

Terezi asks John to save Vriska, and prevent her from getting too spades with Gamzee, as these are her two greatest regrets.

Vriska obviously had great regrets about killing Tavros, both pre- and post-retcon, so she asks for his death to be prevented.

Tavros staying alive means that he and Gamzee wind up hashing out some stuff - Gamzee mentions that he feels "So aT ChIlL WiTh yOu" while talking to Tavros, and Tavros reciprocates the friendship and also - interestingly - acknowledges Gamzee's religion, calling it beautiful even if he doesn't necessarily believe in it. This is interesting because Karkat's inability to do so is explicitly one of the reasons their moirallegiance broke down. So having Tavros back, alive, means that he and Gamzee would likely end up in some sort of relationship, probably pale despite flushed leanings, and would bring Gamzee back into the fold.

Gamzee would then be like, yeah, wow, that time I killed Nepeta and Equius was pretty bad, huh? Especially since his decision to hang onto his friends' bodies and prototype them is often interpreted as him genuinely feeling bad about his dead friends (he tells Kurloz to shut up when Kurloz mentions all the dead friends, and his religion seems to be about a paradise he wants to share with his friends anyway). So he'd ask John to prevent him from killing them, resulting in the two of them getting to live.

Things get much more hypothetical from here, since so much of the character dynamics would have changed, but I think by this point, Equius might command ask John to let him say goodbye to Aradiabot before she explodes, which he expresses feeling very sad about. However, in doing so, John and Aradiabot end up in the same room, and when she realizes that he has the ability to change the timeline without repercussions, she'd seize him by the arm and demand that he take her back in time, to before she died. After all, she expresses regrets about her reckless actions, and how she always felt like it was all one big setup.

She would take Aradia's place in the Vriska revenge chain, being once more freed of her robot chassis, and from there, would trick Doc Scratch and the Handmaiden into thinking everything was still going according to their designs. Meanwhile, Alive!Aradia would be hanging out at Equius's place, borrowing his void powers to avoid notice, coordinating a new timeline that keeps the beats of the original (too much deviation causes unpredictability, and an paradox'd timeline offshoot without John's direct interference would still become doomed), but allows them greater freedom and the ability to overcome the machinations of Doc Scratch and associates.

This would also prevent Sollux from becoming so self-loathing, since it's no longer "his fault" that Aradia dies, although he winds up in that hole again after Feferi gets killed. Now that his Aradia is alive, he wouldn't feel like he might as well stay in the bubbles because his closest companions are there, so he'd make it to the end, and would ask John to prevent Feferi's death.

Eridan still dies; he's so disconnected and isolated from all his friends that his course of actions is largely unaffected even by everybody else's timeline tweaks. But before Feferi can suggest bringing him back, Karkat would butt in.

The Friendship Troll should be the one to demand that ALL of their friends be revived, especially if they had everyone except only one guy, and Karkat and Eridan are heavily implied to be moirails anyway. The course of Karkat's fixes are so comprehensive, and primarily romance-based, that the end result of this final loop is everybody not only being alive, but god-tiered, with appropriate character development.

Now, where Nepeta's Heart powers would play into all of this is that she would start to notice something going on. After all, Heart players are sensitive to their splintered selves, and (Nepeta) is probably much closer to Nepeta than regular doomed timeline offshoots. As the loops continue, and Nepeta has more and more time to talk to people, and meets her dead alternate selves, and even meets (Nepeta), she starts to awaken to her Ultimate Self - to come into possession of alternate memories.

And if the Ultimate Self is a very soul-y kind of concept, such that Heart players have a natural advantage in coming to understand it, then isn't it a natural fit that a Rogue of Heart - one who steals from Heart or steals Heart for others - would be naturally inclined to share the wisdom of her alternate selves, and even the very concept of the Ultimate Self, with her friends?

Because the Ultimate Self is actually, in my opinion, a pretty good narrative device. It turns the sadness of the dead and doomed timelines into something littersweet instead, and makes it so any weirdness regarding time travel and not really knowing your friends anymore will eventually be resolved, even if off-screen.

It's not really narratively satisfying when Davepetasprite^2 suddenly comes into being and reaches enlightenment, but imagine if instead it's a post-character development Nepeta comforting Davesprite on his relevance, or Jade on her loneliness, or John on not really knowing these new post-retcon versions of his friends? It would feel a lot better, since in this hypothetical, she would have reached that point after on-screen character development. Being able to share her true self with her friends on the meteor - by necessity, since what else are they going to be doing for three years - leads to her finally being able to fulfill her role as a Rogue of Heart.

Also, at some point during these repeated meteor trips, she dates Karkat (whether that's successful or not, I'll leave to reader interpretation - you already know where I stand), fulfilling Jaspersprite's musing that she might only be able to date Karkat after she dies.

So that's two out of thr33 of her outstanding plot hooks resolved... okay. So, I try not to make these essays into ship propaganda, but hear me out:

Hate Is Stored In The FefNep

Okay, so, remember that thing about how Feferi is actually a huge casteist hypocrite? Well, let's also note that the comic, post-Murderstuck, seems to put Nepeta and Feferi together a lot - they're a Commodore and Rear Admiral in the ghost pirate army, respectively, and they also wind up as Fefetasprite. So I think it's not entirely out of left field to say that these two were implied to have SOMETHING going on.

And that something... is a difference in political views.

I mean, let's be real, there's a reason Fefetasprite is the most explode-prone after Tavrisprite. Miss "The Hemocaste is Stupid and Shouldn't Matter" vs. Miss "I Love Being A Princess And Call Jade Hornless and Finless (Derogatory)"? Come on, tell me you don't see it.

Without getting too much into Feferi, this hypocrisy, and unwillingness to check her privilege (so glad I found an excuse to use that term unironically), are probably her greatest character flaws - ie, the things you would expect the story to address about her. Meanwhile, one of Nepeta's flaws, which she laments to Jasproseprite^2, is that she feels too shy to talk about her feelings to other people, leading to her having never expressed her views on the hemocaste to anyone but Equius.

I think that they initially think they'd be friends. Each one of them would go "oh man, this other girl is soooo cute, I wish I could talk to her more often!"

And then, once they do, they realize they fucking hate each other. Nepeta would go "X00 < you are such a hypocrite who f33ls like youre better than all of us!!!" and Feferi would go "You're suc)( an uneducated glubbing P-EASANT! 3X0" and then they'd claw each others' eyes out. It would be so funny, and if a homestuck ship isn't extremely fucking funny, then why are we even here.

But more importantly, this would further them along into resolving each others' arcs - Feferi would be forced to grapple with the greater implications of classism, and Nepeta - who is shown having a spine the most in defiance of somebody else - would grow more aggressive about being open about her feelings in defiance of Feferi. Even Equius would get roped into it in a positive way - you can just imagine him going "D --> Can I really believe my auricular sponge clots D --> Nepeta, you are finally taking interest in politi%" and be 100% on board with teaching her so Feferi won't be able to call her uneducated.

And then for flushed, I dunno! Karkat's an option, and Jade and Jake also both love the fuck out of furries, and Tavros seems nice. But yeah I'll die on the fefnep hate ship. Guys it would be so funny.

Thank you as always for reading! Let me know if there's a troll you want to hear me ramble about next.

[mehiwilldoitlater]

The atmosphere was as tense as a violin chord, thick and heavy as a blanket.

Yae eyes darted from Ei figure, calmly sipping tea from her cup, enjoying from time to time some small bite of the mochis on her plate, to you, clearly upset by something by the glares that you threw to the Shogun, who was obviously ignoring your attiotude.

Usually the afternoon at the Shogun residence, where the three of you shared some good chatting, news, and gossip from the towns, was a moment of pure relaxation and nothingless. It was the moment when the Raiden Shogun, the Head Maiden of the Narukami Shrine, and the Creator weren't such mighty and important figures, but just three friends who loved to spend some quality time together.

At least that was the case for the other days, since now there are some problems between you and the Shogun.

"Oh my, I wonder. You both are so chattering today. I'm guessing that whatever happened between you two must have been quite an event."

Before speaking, Ei's eyes sparked toward her friend. Did she really need to bring that up?!

"Me and Y/N had a discussion a few hours ago."

"We argued-"

You corrected, noticing Ei eyes rising toward you in the same glare.

"About some matters that aren't supposed to be on their minds right now."

"Um, um, and...what are those matters, to be precise?"

"I asked her to teach me how to fight."

The ceramic Ei cup clattered with the small plate in her hand. Why do you have to be so stubborn? She loved that thing about you, but, seriously, on those occasions, it was impossible! Yae hears, on the other hand, pointed up, showing her her full interest in the matter. Her eyes were full of a small glimmer.

"Oh really? And...why so?"

"Why not?!"

"Because you don't need to! I can protect you just like this!"

Finally, Ei decided to get out of her small, composed shell. She raised her voice, shocking you for a momet, and Yae, not so used from the Shogun to shout.

"I don't want to be protected! I want to be able to do it myself!"

"This world is merciless; one wrong step and-"

"I've been hurt and hunted by the nations, Ei; I'm far more aware of how this world works! I want to protect our people too!"

The two of you keep on having that argument in front of the fox lady.

She found the entire ordeal quite cute. She knew that, at some point , this was supposed to happen. You wanted so much to prove yourself, while Ei tried with all the strength of her being to reject the thought of losing her Creator. It was meant to happen that the two of you would crash at some point; it was later than she believed, but better than never, no?

Posing her cup, she started to adjust the front of her kimono.

"Umm...well, it seems like she won't help you, dear Y/N. Forget asking her to help you master the art of polearming."

Finally, thought there was some sense in that discussion! It was strange to hear Yae finally siding  with-

"So, instead, why don't try to master another weapon? Sarah would love to get the chance to teach you the bow—or the Kamisato sibling? I can sense it; the art of the sword would elevate your status."

Your face glowed (literally) for happiness, while Ei looked at the scene with confusion and so much disdain.

"Do you mean it?!"

"Of course! Maybe you can master all of them! Why don't we pay them a visit later?"

"AAAAAW! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"

You launched towards her, hugging her closely. She giggled a little, caressing your head in delight.

"I'm going to change! I'm going to need some proper gear...FIGHTING CLOTHING!"

You disappeared from the room, leaving the room again in the same silence. Ei keeps throwing light from her eyes towards the fox.

"....DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT?"

"They want to protect their and your people, Ei, and they don't want to be scared anymore... You should acknowledge that..."

[dotster001]

Yo! I really enjoy your writting style and was wondering if you do songfics? I didn't see anything in the pinned post but if you don't you can just delete this

If you do, could I request a azul ashengrotto x reader (gn if possible) based on Study Me by Zutomayo? (https://youtu.be/Atvsg_zogxo), i just think that it would be fun for the reader to try and get their feelings across whilst it either flies over azuls head or he just thinks that the reader is pulling a prank on him

Terribly sorry if this request is too guided, i got really exited

Study Me

A/N: hope this is what you wanted, lol, I get especially nervous about song fics, cause it's such a "I know what I want" kind of thing

3k followers masterlist

Azul stared at you, expressionless. Then his lips split in a grin. A grin that sent shivers down your spine.

In these moments when I’m brimming with highly defined painful emotions Saying ‘there’s nothing I can do’ is embarrassing

"Or maybe it was one of his little friends. Either way, I'll find them whether you tell me or not. So this is your last chance."

"Rielle put you up to this, didn't he?"

"Who-" you started, but were cut off by his mirthless laugh.

"I'm so confused, do you not accept my feelings?"

He stared at you, the fury rising in his aura. You were more frightened than worried about your confession.

"I'll say this once. Stop wasting my time."

Ah~ It’s fine, put on your airs as you (you loner) are You punk punk, status quo maintaining immortal

You rushed out, bumping into Jade with a half hearted apology, before running down the hall.

"Don't you think you were too hard on them? Y/N seemed genuine?" Jade asked Azul, seeming genuinely distressed that things had not gone as expected.

"No one could ever love me," Azul smirked. "Find out who put them up to this. Make them pay."

You lay in your bed, staring at the ceiling. It all still hadn't sunk in yet. That he'd laughed in your face. That he'd yelled at you. That he'd outright rejected the deep feelings of love that had, you had thought, been mutually building.

This funky feeling will continue to change today’s song so that’s why I took the plunge

Guess you were wrong.

Your phone buzzed, Jade's name coming up. You let it ring, staring at the ceiling. When it finished that round of buzzing, it started buzzing again, this time Floyd's name popping up on the screen.

You sighed, shutting down your phone, and shutting your eyes, trying to drown out the crushing approach of realization.

Your eyes filled with tears, and you took a heaving breath.

But now I just wanna cry, make a plan for this reference book of emotions I’ve gathered

All this time, you'd truly thought…you'd truly believed …

You thought back to all the lingering glances you'd shared, all the moments you two stood closer than you needed to, the times when Azul initiated a touch or a conversation, and the two of you had hesitated to end it.

Had you truly misread the situation so hard? Was he using you?

Study me, figure me out

Azul was angrily drafting contracts. He'd get them. He'd get whoever had taken your fragile peace, and crushed it. How could he have been so blind? How could he have let you slip through?

"Azul," Floyd whined, waiting on the phone for what had to be the tenth call he had made to you. "Shrimpy really likes you? Why can't you see that?"

The pen in Azul's hand snapped.

"So you put them up to this? I thought you were my friend!" He snarled.

"Shrimpy-"

"You see me as some pathetic, clumsy octopus, just like everyone else!"

"Azul-"

"Get out!"

With a flick of his pen, Floyd floated out of the vip room, landing on his ass as the door slammed shut.

He angrily huffed, and moved to bang on the door, but froze in his step as he heard a shuddering sob from within.

"He's just scared. Please. Talk to him."

What should I do today? I can’t look back without being optimistic, it’d be dangerous

Jade and Floyd had broken into Ramshackle. They were sitting at the foot of your bed, reiterating the tale you'd heard time and again.

You were well aware of Azul's past. But you thought…

I want to stay healthy, at least

You had hoped…

Maybe you could have been enough.

In the end though I’ve managed to raise these emotions

And I’m staying humble about it all, I don’t wanna be poisoned by them

"Why should I try again?" You asked, bitterly. "So he can laugh in my face, again? So he can break my heart again?"

"Honestly? So I can go back into the dorm," Floyd pouted, quickly followed by Jade elbowing him in the side.

You turned on your stomach, burying your face in your pillow.

"Y/N. He loves you. If you try again-"

You groaned, turned back over, and kicked at Jade.

"Shrimpy, until you try again, I'm moving in," Floyd growled.

You kicked at him again, but this only made him laugh.

"You have plenty of empty rooms, roomie! It'll be fun! Confess to Azul~"

He skipped out of the room, seemingly to choose his room. Now it was Jade's turn to sigh.

Azul tried to focus on running the restaurant. Now that they were down a Floyd. But everyone around him was on edge. He couldn't say why for sure-

I put my memories of yesteryear through the wash but as usual In this cold season they’re still not dry In this season of false bravery they’re still not dry.

"Alanno! If you drop one more glass you're fired!"

Yeah. It was a big mystery. Consequently, he had to work twice as hard. So he had time to think.

To think about you.

You're laugh.

Your smile.

The way you always sought him out.

The way you snuggled against him when he helped you with homework.

Had he.…had he been wrong?

No. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? He thought as he snapped at Miles, who was going to comfort his stressed boyfriend.

Wasn't it?

Study me, figure me out

Wasn't it?!?!?!

He dropped his own tray of glasses. Making Miles and Alanno have to fight very hard not to snicker at him.

I hope that the weakness that keeps you thinking of me Is still hurting you, even just a little

He stared at the shards of glass on the floor, before slowly kneeling down.

You would have been comforting him right now. You would have told him to go to his room, while you cleaned his mess. You would have brought him a mug of tea, then sat next to him and caressed his hair.

And I hope that you even start to find them inevitable And be just as soaked in these emotions as me

You might as well have been dating already, with the way you both interacted on a daily basis.

I hope that the strength that keeps you thinking of me Is still troubling you, even just a little

You were probably just playing the long game.

But as he stared at the floor, he realized even if you were pretending…

He would be willing to play along forever.

Study me, figure me out

"Ask him. Ask him. Ask him. Ask him."

Floyd was the worst roommate ever.

But if his tactic was to get you to ask out Azul, again…it was working.

He wasn't just annoying you. He was telling stories. Stories of childhood Azul. Stories of present Azul. Stories of Azul before you. Stories of Azul with you.

Sevens, you love that man…

"Ask him. Ask him. Ask hi-" he cut himself off with your half hearted glare. He grinned, mildly sinisterly, before singing out, "Yes!"

You took a heavy breath, and knocked on the door of the vip room.

I’m choosing the uncertain Cause today’s song will keep changing

"Enter."

You square your shoulders, and push the door open.

He looked up, and his face was immediately beet red, eyes flickering back down to his desk.

"Prefect." He greeted.

"Azul." You said, cooly taking a seat. "I want to make a deal."

His eyes widened, quickly flickering back up to meet yours.

"Oh?"

"There's something I want."

He stiffened, but summoned a golden contract anyway, beginning to write.

"And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"Not what, but who."

The pen snapped. He slowly pulled out a second one.

"Mhmm."

"The problem is, I confessed to him before, and he doesn't love me back. So you'll have to use a love potion."

He froze, and gently set the pen down. He looked up at you, eyes tearing up.

"You don't need one. He already returns your feelings. He's just a stupid idiot sometimes."

You smiled, softly.

"I can work with that."

Isn’t that amazing for both of us?

That’s all i can ask now

[calamitys-child]

Thinking about how that one redemption episode was like 2 degrees short of a coming out episode. How much it would have meant to have them estranged not because of military history disagreements but because Eliot was 15 and his dad heard from the guy at the gas station that he had to chase that queer son of his out with a bat for kissing boys behind the bike shed. Gets home and unloads on the kid, and it's because he's afraid, really, he doesn't want Eliot hurt, but it comes out like a total aggressive permanent rejection. Eliot joining the military to prove he's as much a man as his dad ever was and getting only a reflexive bitter joke about communal showers in reply, his dad doesn't want him to get hurt!! But it all comes out through that filter of not talking about feelings and his dad's military trauma and small-town 80s homophobia and Eliot runs. Spends years not letting himself feel anything. Letting himself be used, a tool at the disposal of others. And then he meets this team and he falls in love and they go back, he leaps headlong into the fight to help his dad with Parker right on his heels and when he looks up, long-haired (his dad made him cut it off again and again as a kid, told him he looked like a sissy, the army kept him in a crew cut, this took a lifetime) and wide-eyed and pleading, his dad looks at Parker and back at Eliot and sniffs dismissively. Finally got yourself figured out, I see, and Parker doesn't know the history but she knows what it looks like when Eliot is defiantly Not Flinching and she steps forward, puts a hand on his back, helps him up even though he doesn't need it and he lets her, and now she knows something is hurting. And Bre knows that tone, though never from Nana, and she tells Hardison man, you gotta get here. They plan out the job, because no matter what, they help people. Eliot's dad tells him he's glad he found Parker, and he means it, and god is Eliot grateful he found Parker, but it still hurts. When Hardison calls and asks Eliot if he's alright, Eliot cries, and it scares the living hell out of both of them. They save the town. They finally get a bit of an admission that his dad is sorry, deeply so, he was just so worried. Parker takes Eliot's hand. Hardison appears and kisses them both, screw space, you guys needed me here, you think I'd go anywhere without an escape pod? You know I always wanted to ride an escape pod, and Eliot's dad goes wide-eyed and Eliot stands tall, not parade rest, he's comfortable, relaxed, he's safe, and after a moment his dad goes shit, kid, I'm never gonna stop being afraid for you, am I? And Eliot shrugs and goes guess that's what being my father means.

I just think that this is what redemption should be.

[scarasimping]

love-avoidant princess

pirate!scaramouche x princess!reader

synopsis: scaramouche’s crew had been planning this heist for years prior, and finally, they dock ship at the most heavily guarded kingdom on this side of the world with only one goal in mind: infiltrate the castle and steal the crown used for the coronation ceremony. The only setback? The princess had already stolen it, so now he has to go through her. 

tags: fem!reader, allusions to medieval sexism, you know how that is, mentions of blood like once, alcohol also mentioned a couple times, i believe that’s it for this part!

author’s note: ITS DONE omg, this took way longer than i thought but I guess that’s what happens when i try to throw myself in to writing actual pieces for the first time in three years instead of taking it slow. and it only ended up being 3k words TT but this is not the end, i have way more in mind for these two, this is honestly more like...a prologue of sorts!! hope you all enjoy !! so glad we actually have a plot now instead of me posting random hcs hshshshs also yes, his crew is most of the anemo characters because I said so

word count: 3.63k

One can only see the same garden of flowers so many times before becoming bored of the sight. You have walked through here on so many occasions that you're sure that you could list each plant by its scientific name in the order they appear, from the front of the garden to the back.

So, really, it shouldn't come as a surprise to your retainer when they watch you leave a meeting with a potential suitor halfway through your millionth walk through the garden.

The suitor was confused, calling out to you and running to keep up with your fast-paced steps.

"Princess! Did I do something wrong?" He shouted, but you shook your head, an unimpressed and uncaring look painting your features.

"I apologize for saying this after you made the long journey here, but this simply will not work between us."

And thus, another man was rejected by the unromantic princess.

Known for turning down every suitor imaginable, you had gained the reputation of being entirely against romance. Even though you were clearly not interested, this only made people want you more, and your father, who was eager to get you married off, agreed to let everyone interested in you meet you, as long as they were of high enough standing. This included royalty from other kingdoms, wealthy businessmen, and other government officials or their sons who were your age. 

None of them even came close to winning your heart.

It’s not that there was anything wrong with them. To be honest, even you weren’t sure why you were so bored with every man or woman you met. It seemed to be more the life you would lead with them than the suitor themselves that made you gag. No first-born heir of a royal family wants to be married off; they want to have the throne! And if your parents weren’t going to give it to you, then you wouldn’t make it easy for them to send you away.

As you gracefully left the heartbroken businessman behind, the retainer assigned to watch over you hurriedly followed, barely keeping up with your pace.

"Princess, this is the seventh suitor you've met. Please tell me, what is wrong with this one?" he pleaded. In truth, he was scared to report more bad news to the king and queen, but frankly, that was not your problem.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I just do not see myself having a life with him," you replied, staring straight ahead and hoping he would stop following you. After forcing yourself to be nice to these suitors, all you wanted was to lay in bed and nap, or maybe practice your sparring skills with your sword.

"We'll have to tell your father about this," he gave you one last warning, but your mind was already made up.

"I understand, but I'm not altering my decision."

Just as you and your retainer thought, your father was not pleased, going on one of his long-winded rants about how you should get married quickly because it’s “better for the kingdom” and “what a princess should do.” All the while, your mother sat and watched, not saying a word because she knew that she did the same thing when she was your age. It was how your parents met in the first place, after all.

"At this rate, your little brother will have inherited the throne before you're satisfied with a man." The king ends his rant with this statement, huffing angrily as he furrows his thick eyebrows in your direction. There it was, the constant reminder that you, the eldest heir, were not to inherit the throne, which should rightfully be yours, all because your parents favored your younger brother.

However, who would dare question the king? When he makes an order, it is carried out, and what he demands is brought to fruition. So if he says your sibling shall inherit the throne, he will, and when he finally gets fed up with your high standards and simply makes you marry someone of his choosing, you will have to obey. Such is the life of a princess.

With a heavy heart, you bow to your father, asking to be excused. He sighs and waves his hand, allowing you to leave, to which you immediately turn on your heel and pace quickly toward your chambers.

When Scaramouche's crew docked at the pier, they knew the welcome they would be given wasn't going to be a warm one. It never was, wherever they stopped. It was no secret that wherever this ship docked, well-known valuables would soon go missing and trouble would follow, yet no one could prove it was them.

Still, seeing every guard on patrol look at them with a noticeable glare and watch their every move was more than unnerving. All Scaramouche was doing was going for a stroll, after all.

But, so were his crewmates, Kazuha and Heizou, in separate parts of the city. And it's not their fault if they happen to notice which areas are more guarded than others, when the guards switch shifts, or which buildings have the least amount of foot traffic coming in and out of them. It's all coincidental, of course, not on purpose at all.

It's definitely not intentional when Heizou reports that the only guards that step into the tavern are always there to get so drunk after their shift that they won't remember what they say.

And who's to shame Scaramouche if he wants to step in and have a drink or two, and happens to run into a guard who's slurring his words and would have fallen over if he ever tried to stand up in this state?

"And that princess…god! She's so stuck up.." the guard ranted, taking another swig from his pint. Scaramouche listened with faux sympathy to the drunken man in front of him, but he wasn't sure how much more he could take from this man. He too often leaned too close as if whispering a secret, the stench of sweat, metal, and cheap booze radiating off of him. 

"That princess! She keeps rejecting every suitor who's interested in her! Do you know who has to deal with the king's fury after she does this? Us!"

He leans in once more, and Scaramouche gets a whiff of his rancid breath  "I hear….the king wants her married off to someone wealthy because he's in debt…but she just wants the throne instead! Can you believe it? Too stuck up to let her brother be the heir to the kingdom…."

It seemed all this guard was going to reveal was pointless rants about the king’s only daughter, and today he was not going to get any information that would be helpful to him. After all, if this princess was to be married off, it’s unlikely she would be able to get hold of the crown that was to be used in the coronation ceremony when the prince came of age.

Like an answer from the heavens, his doubts were quickly proven incorrect when the guard’s voice drops to a whisper, and he leans across the table to speak in Scaramouche’s ear.

“I hear…that she got so jealous, she stole the crown. The king says it just got lost, however, we guards know the truth. But what grounds could we present that would warrant a search through the princess’s private quarters? It’s useless…”

And just like that, Scaramouche knew whom he should target. 

The captain stands from their booth in the corner, excusing himself. He buys the guard another drink as thanks for the “lovely conversation” and to ensure he really wouldn’t remember the information he spilled.

The next few nights, Scaramouche and other members of his crew alternate between taverns to gather as much information as possible. Each night, a different person hit a different establishment to not raise suspicion. This heist was going to be big, and after it was pulled off they wouldn’t be able to dock for months to avoid being caught and interrogated.

Stealing the crown from the most heavily guarded kingdom on this side of the world was no easy task, but it had been Scaramouche’s dream ever since he started his life of piracy. Something like this would earn them respect like no other on the seven seas but also put a huge target on their back. His crew was prepared, of course, they wouldn’t have docked here if they weren’t. It’s not like they couldn’t fight, either. They were notorious for many reasons: their crimes that left no evidence behind, the sheer intimidation their crew gave off, and the fact that no crew member lost any duel they were challenged to.

After a couple weeks of solely gathering information, Scaramouche’s crew was ready to take things to the next level. They learned that the princess was unable to leave the castle without supervision, which only occurred on rare occasions. She lived a secluded life and many of the kingdom’s citizens didn’t even know her face. His first mate, Kazuha, who was always good with his words, even managed to get one of the guards to reveal which terrace on the castle belonged to the princess’s room and that the staff had recently increased security in the city and outside the castle because of a suspicious ship that had docked at the pier, which lessened the amount of military inside the building.

Kazuha was always better with people than any other crew member, and Scaramouche was forever thankful he was a part of his crew, even if he didn’t show it.

However, it seemed no one was able to learn that the princess provided enough security for herself, not even needing guards.

Scaramouche quickly learned that when he was finally ready to attempt to get inside the castle, scaling the walls during a shift change and approaching the terrace he was informed about prior.

A candle on your bedside and the illumination from the moon were the only sources of light in your quarters at this time of night. Every other member of the royal family was asleep, but not you. Far too frequently would you stay up reading a novel you “borrowed” from the castle’s library, even though books weren’t supposed to leave the area. 

All was silent except for the wind blowing outside and the rare footsteps in the hall, metal clashing with each step from the guards’ armor.

Though silent, and easy to miss, a sound from outside your window caught your attention. 

Breathing, silent steps getting closer, the scraping of someone climbing the walls and terrace.

You turned, blowing out your candle so that whoever was coming wouldn’t know you were awake. With the time it took for them to reach the glass door that separates your room from the balcony, your eyes had already adjusted to the darkness and you had your sword out from underneath your bed, drawn and ready to be used.

The door cracked open, slowly, and it was obvious that whoever was there was trying to use the element of surprise. They must not know you, considering they thought you wouldn’t discover them. One hand pushes the door open all the way, then pulls the person inside. It was a man with indigo hair and eyes. Everything he wore was black - his boots, high-waisted pants, and tricorn hat, - besides his shirt, which was a white poet shirt with purple and black accents tucked into his pants. Adorned on his hat were feathers that spewed from the back and gems which were sewn on, each one catching the light from the moon. He was obviously a pirate, and based on the whispers from the staff in the castle, he was probably from the ship that docked recently and made everyone nervous. The captain of the guards had even told you to report anything suspicious you happened to see, which told you they were no joke, Normally, if there was a threat, you wouldn’t even be informed. 'No one wanted to worry the princess, of course' is what they would say, but you know they just think you can't handle it.

Before he even has time to process you're there, you point your sword at his throat, the tip pressing against his flesh, but not hard enough to draw blood. Just enough so that he knows he made a mistake.

The pirate stares down at the sword at his neck, his gaze following the blade to its holder; the very princess he intended to come in here and threaten. It's a funny thing how easily the tables can be turned. He eyes the princess warily, one eyebrow raised and an awkward smile on his face, knowing he's been caught so easily.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?" He chuckles to himself, raising his hands up beside his head in a phony sign of surrender, but your sword never wavers.

"What do you think you are doing here?"  You demanded, sword to the pirate's throat. The captain remained silent, weighing his options. He could try to talk his way out of this or use his cunning tactics to somehow overpower the princess and make a break for it. Whatever decision he made, it could mean the difference between life and death.

"Sure, as soon as you put that sword down. I'd rather have a conversation than an encounter between your blade and my jugular if you don't mind," he reasons, staring right back into your eyes with a look that screams mischief. Still, you sigh, and lower your sword, taking a step back and never loosening your grip on its handle. 

"Speak." 

He chuckles, lowering his hands and letting a cocky smile spread across his face.

"You see, princess, there's a rumor going around that you've stolen and hidden the coronation crown. I'm here to simply…take it off your hands," he explains. Everything about him seems sly, and even though it seems he's at a disadvantage, he's acting like he has the upper hand. There's not an ounce of fear on his face.

Your hold on your sword is steady, ready for combat at any moment, and it seems he's thinking the same thing.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do so. I can, however, offer you a deal. Leave now and I won't report your attempt to rob the royal castle and have you thrown in prison."

The pirate shrugs and sighs, his hand reaching for the sword that hung from his belt. 

"Oh well, looks like there's no other way."

And with that, he draws his sword from its scabbard, a sleek, steel sword with a curved blade,  and lunges forward, dealing the first strike. Blades clash and the sound of metal on metal echoes throughout the room as you parry his sword, pushing him back further. He doesn't let up, dealing strike after strike, yet landing no hits nonetheless. 

While the pirate’s blows are strong and aggressive, his attacks powerful and relentless, yours are both quick and agile with fast and precise strikes.

He expected the princess to be less of a hassle, yet here you were, not only putting up a good fight but winning too. Similar to him, there wasn't even a hint of sweat dripping from your brow, no signs of exhaustion as you dueled him in just your nightgown and slippers.

Your sword comes down once more towards his chest, and he raises his own to block it when suddenly you change your direction and aim to land a hit on his arm instead.

Ever quick on his feet, the pirate steps out of the way, dodging an almost fatal attack, but not before your blade can tear through his shirt and leave the faintest wound on the flesh of his shoulder.

He hisses as he feels the sting of his skin splitting, looking down as red stains the sleeve of his shirt.

"Not bad," he mumbles, his eyes sharp as he glares at the princess, a cocky smirk adorning his face. "Haven't struggled this much with an opponent in a while."

"Likewise," you muse, tightening your grip on your handle as you raise your eyebrows, almost taunting him.

"Tell me, pirate, what is your name? I want to know what to call my attacker before I slice your throat." 

He chuckles, rolling his wounded shoulder back and getting into a better position to keep fighting.

"Oh, I don't believe you really could. Wouldn't want to get your pretty hands dirty after all." He, once again, swings his sword, but to no avail. You continue trading blows with him, barely giving each other a chance to breathe. No matter what he tries, he can't seem to get the upper hand. Mentally, he wants to blame it on the fact that he was caught off guard, or that the way the silk of her nightgown hugs her body when she twists and turns to use her sword is distracting, but really he knows he's just finally met a well-matched opponent. 

"But the name's Scaramouche, consider this knowledge a gift before I beat you at the game of swords.”

It was then that the sound of armored footsteps approaching rapidly caught both Scaramouche and the princess’s attention. You bite back a laugh, glancing at the door and then back to the pirate in front of you.

“Looks like that will have to wait, Scaramouche.”

His name spilled from your lips easier than you’d like to admit, sounding almost natural when it came from you. Scaramouche noticed this too, stiffening as you say it and running his tongue along his cheek. It was annoying whenever he found himself having to make an enemy of an attractive woman. He takes one last look at the princess, before stepping away towards the glass door he came in through. He keeps his sword pointed at you as he backs away, not taking any chances.

“This was lovely, princess. I’ll be seeing you again very soon, but for now, I bid you adieu,” He takes his hat off, bending his arm at his waist and bowing overdramatically before opening the door and launching himself over the fence of the terrace, disappearing into the night.

As the footsteps get closer, you kick your sword under the bed, praying it wasn’t damaged, and toss yourself onto your mattress, throwing the covers over your body just in time for the door to swing open. A few guards peer inside, seeing nothing but you sleeping soundly in, your back turned to them as your body rises and falls to the rhythm of your breathing. There was no sign a fight had even occurred, despite the noises that multiple knights had heard coming from here.

As they close the door, the sound of their footsteps moving away from your room, a giddy smile creeps onto your face. After all, if no fight happened in their eyes, there would be no reason to increase security and you could see that intriguing pirate again.

After Scaramouche escapes down the castle walls, he books it for the treeline that separated the castle from the ocean. It was just past there that his ship resided, where his crew was eagerly awaiting his return with good news. A sinking feeling resides over him whilst he runs through the trees, kicking up dirt and leaves with every step. There is no reasoning he could possibly give that would excuse his failure. Not when he knows it’s caused by his own faults as a man. He, just like all of her numerous suitors and admirers, simply got distracted by her appearance. At some point, he had to stop as his head became too muddled by his thoughts, leaning against a tree, taking a deep breath, and trying to calm his thoughts.

Before, when hearing about rumors of the princess and all of the men interested in marrying her, he assumed the stories all came with a tinge of exaggeration.

Yet, after seeing her and fighting with her, he knows each metaphor and story told of her had to have been nothing but the truth. Tales of her beauty were honestly an understatement. It’s not often he finds himself this distracted by a woman, especially a princess, and he can’t help but feel ashamed in a way. He just failed to execute the plan his crew had been working on for years prior to docking it this kingdom, but all he can think about is her smile when she taunted him, her confidence because she knew she could fight, or the way her nightgown revealed the shape of her body, expensive silk clinging to every curve of her flesh. She was a princess rarely even seen by the public, but he got to see her in such a private setting, and god was it worth it.

He starts running again, her face in mind doubts infecting his every thought. His heart pounds heavily in his chest, and his lungs burn with each breath, but he doesn’t stop running. He would much rather face his crew than the entire royal army. He was sure the princess had reported what had happened by now, and he didn’t want to stick around so they could remember his face.

As he runs, he starts to feel the ocean breeze brushing along his face, and it reminds him that he’s almost home. His crew is smart; they’ll be able to come up with a new plan together. Maybe next time they’ll send a different member of the crew. 

As soon as the thought of someone else seeing her like that enters his mind, he quickly shoos it away. 

Just for now, he’d like to keep the image of her to himself.

taglist: @danfelions @bleachisfood @klanxii @nillajhayne @call-me-nayo @pinkiepiescanonn @etherisy @kazuuhhaaaa @featuredtofu @ulquiorraswife @skyoverkill1 @wandererskitten   @lxkeeeee

[sage-green-matcha]

MAROON - ETHAN LANDRY PT. 4🍷🥀🔪

“The mark they saw on my collarbone. The rust that grew between telephones. The lips I used to call home. So scarlet, it was maroon” - Taylor Swift

Content includes: death, blood, fluff, angst! Idk honestly, just prepare for the worst!

PT. 1 of Maroon | PT. 2 of Maroon | PT. 3 of Maroon |

<3

<3

<3

You shook the nervousness off your body as you waited for Ethan. You'd went home and got ready as quickly as you could, not exactly knowing what time he would be arriving.

You played with the hem of your cardigan, leg bouncing with your mind somewhere else. You couldn't believe you were going out on a date in the middle of this whole situation. You knew it was stupid, and you were right. But you had wasted too many months of your life being scared to care now, when it actually mattered.

"You feeling okay, Y/n?" "I'm better, I guess" Sam rubbed your back in a comforting motion, in reality you knew you should've been the one comforting her. She was the one that had actually been attacked along with Tara, luckily that night you had been too busy crying in your room.

"I should be the one comforting you, none of us are going through it as bad as you are" you glanced back at her and she frowned. "I don't want anymore of you to get hurt, even if it's mentally" she ran her fingers through your hair, finding peace in the feeling of your waves between her fingers.

You heard a knock at the door and jumped up, nervous to see him. "Go, have fun and make sure he's not ghost face for us" you nodded before saying goodbye, opening the door. “Hey…” his face was crinkled in a smile, your heart slightly racing as you stood at the door. “Hi!”

☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~

"Hey! The two newlyweds, come on in! We're just making some food" you smiled, Ethan's arm over your shoulder. "They're not married yet, Chad. Ethan's not good enough for Y/n" you rolled your eyes at Mindy. "She's not wrong..." you blushed, turning away from him before you became a hot mess. "See! He even agreed with me"

She went off to find Chad and Tara, disturbing their tension with more teasing. “Mindy, that is so inappropriate!" you chuckled, looking back at Ethan as he gave you a comforting smile. "Look at you, acting so sweet now" you took his chin into your hands, turning him towards you.

"I'm not acting" you fluffed his hair, turning away as Mindy called you and Sam into the kitchen. "I'll be back" you placed a kiss on his cheek, Anika's mouth open in shock. "You know, we don't have to stay here" "welp, too bad. I insist" you nodded your head. "Safety and numbers"

"This will be so fun, a little slumber party with the fantastic 5" "Fantastic 5?" Sam asked. "Did you just call us that nickname?" Tara raised an eyebrow in disgust. "I sure did, I mean we've been through a lot together, and it's a pretty cool nickname" you stared at Mindy, the both of you equally confused before you laughed. "That's debatable" you added, Tara agreeing. "It's extremely debatable"

"You can't just give yourself a nickname dingus" Mindy teased her brother, a smile on all of your faces. "Oh! Of course I can dingus, because I just did! Fantastic 5 uptop!" He held up his hand for a high-five, being rejected by all of you. "No" "down low" Tara gave him a side eye. "Get that away from me" she shook her head, hiding a smile.

"Please for the love of god Y/n!" You squirmed, Mindy warning you not to do it. "You know, I would actually like a little more respect and support from my fellow members of the fantastic 5" you all groaned, shaking your heads.

"Hey...guys, what the hell?" Anika called, all of you rushing to the living room. You wrapped around the couch, sitting down next to Ethan with your eyes glued to the screen. You watched Sams eyes as they filled with sorrow. She was the main suspect to this whole thing. It didn't make sense to you, the way people thought. She fought for her life and now she has to fight to defend it again.

The video of her attacking the girl from Halloween popped up on the Tv, all of you watching with annoyed expressions. She grabbed the remote, turning the TV off before walking back into the kitchen.

You played with the rings on your fingers, Ethan intertwining your hands before smiling down at you with a reassuring look. You listened to Tara and Sams conversation, your heart feeling guilty about all your opinions about their relationship.

“None of us can relate to what you are experiencing" it's like Tara had stolen the words right out of your mouth. You felt bad for everyone else, of course you did. But your heart ached more for Sam. You knew she did everything in her power to seem strong, but this was just taking over her in a way you'd never seen before. "It's not your fault, and I know I shouldn't care what people think...It just sucks being this hated" she wiped her tears and you couldn't help but now hate what you said about her to Ethan.

"Hey, hey just a reminder. Not a single person in this room hates you. Okay? We have all been through some fucked up shit and we're all coping with it differently" you pulled Ethan over to the table with you, sitting on his lap with his arms around your waist, hugging you tightly. "Look at Y/n! She was so miserable for the longest time till she found someone to be miserable with!" Chad teased and you rolled your eyes. "He's not wrong Sam, we all dealt with it differently, we still are" you moved your eyes back to Ethan, gently swiping away loose curls that covered his eyes.

"We moved here together for one very specific reason...we're a team" you all nodded, Sams eyes tearing up once again. "We are...the fantastic fucking 5" "thank you very much!" Chad high-fiving Mindy excitedly.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom" Ethan looked up at you, getting off his lap before sitting back down in the chair. All of you laughed, smiling as Chad bragged about the newly used nickname. "Say it" "no, I'm not gonna say it" Tara whined. "Come on Tara!" You held your head in your hands, laughing with your friends.

"Ive been sleeping with cute boy from across the hall" your mouth dropped open, "I told you! I told you" you laughed, pointing at chad. "You owe me $20!" "That was a joke!" He shook his head. "Wait you guys made a bet?" Mindy laughed, her hand slammed against the table. "Boom! We fucking knew it" Tara smiled, "I knew it, I knew it" Sam watched in confusion as you all rambled.

"We knew from the day you got that hickey" you teased. “Oh come on Y/n! Look at your neck!” You rolled your eyes. "I see you've been getting it on with my roommate and I respect that, but you will get tired of him eventually" Chads hands were up in defense as you rolled your eyes. "He's not longer a virginnn" Mindy dragged out and you blushed, covering your face.

"You need to tell us everything" Tara added with a hiccuped laugh. "Not to take any credit, but maybe I was the one that gave him some tips" you sunk down on the chair in embarrassment. "Ew Chad!" Mindy hit the back of his head.

"I feel like...we should high five or something" Tara smiled. "The fantastic 5 high five, please" Chad put his hand up and you all intertwined your fingers. "Come on, come on" you smiled. It was a mutual feeling between all of you, that no matter what happened you would all make it out alive, together.

Sam pulled away, a call coming from her phone. "Ah! Look" Tara snatched her phone out of her hand, holding it up high was Danny, aka cute boys contact number. You tossed it around the table, handing it to Mindy with another laugh. "No no no!" Sam shook her head, a poor attempt to get back her phone. "No, Tara no" "hey, soo what are your intentions with my sister?" She joked, Sam taking back the phone before hanging up. "Oh it's fine, I'll call him back later" she grinned, stuffing her phone back in her pocket.

You heard groans coming from the bathroom, your eyebrow cocked as Chad looked at you confused. "You send him a nude while we weren't watching or something?" "What? No" you shook your head, the familiar sound of Ethan's moans filled not only just your ears, but everyone else's too.

"You liar! Or he probably sneaked one while you were fucked out" Mindy winked. "Explains why he's been taking so long in there" Sam added and you rolled your eyes, embarrassed once again. You all heard a chime from your phones, digging into your pocket to be met with a picture.

Your heart dropped once you saw the full image. The sounds weren't from him getting off to you, but instead it was the sounds of his struggling to fight off ghost face. "Ethan...Ethan!" you got out of the chair quickly, everyone running behind you before Chad pulled you back. "Wait! Wait" you could hear his blood curdling screams throughout the whole apartment, pleading and glass breaking as he cried. "No, no no let me go" Chad held you back as you took heavy breaths, Ethan's struggle finally stopping. Tears flooded your eyes, your cries being the only thing heard before it went quiet.

Everyone stood back, heavy breathing with a mix of fear and anticipation as everyone waited. You watched the door through tears, covering your mouth trying to stop. "Run" Ethan's dead corpse pushed Anika down, your eyes bleeding with tears as you watched him collapse on top of her. "Ethan! Ethan!" you ran over to him, Mindy rolling his body off of Anika. He was covered in blood. There was no way he was alive anymore. You felt your heart shatter inside your body, his deep brown eyes with no life left in them.

"Guys come on!" Tara and chad ran out the door. You held onto his arms, tears falling onto his bloody shirt. "Fuck..fucking kill me" you hiccuped, wiping your tears to see the figure of Ghost Face. "God fuck!" Mindy yelped in pain as he sliced her arm, Sam pulling you away again, before you also got stabbed. "Mindy! Jesus Christ" as much as you tried to stop them, tears continued to fall, blurring your vision.

Anika grabbed him by the legs, Ghost face only responding by gripping her neck tightly. You and Sam ran towards the kitchen, looking for any knives you could find. Someone had taken all of them. "Seriously!?" You screamed, taking a stack of glass plates while Sam grabbed the knife block with no other choice.

When you rushed back into the living room Anika was held up against the wall, the knife plunging deep into her stomach and a scream escaping her mouth. The knife dug inside her, twisting and turning before you came up behind him, smashing the plates onto his head. You felt nauseous, triggered by the bloody mess on her stomach.

He got up surprisingly quickly, Sam leading Anika into the bedroom while you pushed Mindy in, ghost face just seconds away from slicing your arm. "Fuck, fuck!" Sam struggled to hold the door close, the clothed figure pounding himself into the door repeatedly.

You could hear Tara's faint screams from outside the apartment, ripping off your cardigan and tightly tying it around Mindys deep wound. You heard the banging stop, your hands applying pressure to Anika's stomach as she continued to bleed out. "Y/n, bathroom door! Hurry" sam whispered, you ran over and closed the door, Ghost Face right in your view once again. "Shit!" You pushed the door shut anyways, blindly directed stabs from the knife trying to hurt you.

You ran backwards, slamming the door to the bathroom shut. You struggled to lock it, blood covered hands making you slip as kicks were shot into the door. You held it shut with your body, Mindy now helping Sam push her dresser in front of the door. You pulled it into you, struggling but you managed. Ghost face just kicking through the door as you pushed the dresser against the wall. All you felt was anxiety, the horrible rush. You could only think about saving yourself and your friends.

You backed away from the dresser, untying Anika's blouse and holding her stomach, she cursed as you tied the wound, hands and arms covered in blood. "Hey!" You replaced Sam as she ran towards the window. You held the dresser back with all your power, feeling ghost face become tired as the kicks got weaker, or so you'd thought.

He pushed his whole body into it, you and Mindy jolting at the sudden movement. "Don't worry! I got you" you silently prayed as you pushed with all your energy, glancing back at Sam and Anika. You watched as Sam pulled in a ladder, your head falling back and your breath short. "You three go first! Mindy, go" "What? No" she shook her head as you pushed back against the dresser, you held it with all your force, trying the best that you could to not get tired. emotionally you were more than exhausted, you could feel yourself start to give up. god, you were losing all hope. But you had survived once and you knew you could do it again.

"We need to hold the door! I'll send Anika next just go!" You looked back at Mindy, tears in both of your eyes as the nobs from the dresser slammed into your skin. "Come on! Come on!" you heard Sam and Danny call out. "Help her on, i got this" "are you sure?" Mindy cried and you nodded. in reality you weren't sure at all. you were strong, but still a bit on the weaker side.

She rushed over, taking Anika into her arms and placing her on the ladder. "Don't Look down Baby, keep going. You got this, keep going" you pushed back the bloody dresser against the knob of the door, your breath unsteady as you almost gave out, pushing it harder with each kick and slam. Its like you were fighting with pure force itself, doing your best to push back with the same amount of power.

Sam words encouraged you as you kept pushing, Anika making it across safely. Your heart was beating faster than it had ever before. Closing your eyes as you talked to yourself, using your back to hold the dresser. Your legs started to give out, Ghost face knife waving around as he slipped his arm in, trying to slice you. "Y/n! Come on Y/n hurry!" You gave the dresser one more shove, the door slamming into ghost faces arm, making him drop the knife. You grabbed it quickly before running towards the window, letting the knife drop below you. blood splattered onto your top, looking down below at the long drop.

The sound of the dresser falling down made you shake as you crawled onto the ladder, Mindy and Sam holding out their arms for you to take. "Y/n...Y/n hurry!" You sobbed as you looked down, the feeling of the ladder started to shake making you sick. Ghost face was taunting you, shaking the ladder roughly as you crossed. "Shit" you cussed as you almost let go.

"Please y/n, please come on" you held onto the steps, the ladder shaking more and more and you persisted, Sam and Mindy dragging you into the apartment.

"We made it, we made it" you sobbed, watching as ghost face walked away from the window. "Fuck! Fuck, Anika" you laid her down on the floor, tying the fabric around her tighter. "Not bad Y/n" she cried and you couldn't help but smile, shaking your head.

"Ethan...what about Ethan?" You stood up, running towards the door. "Y/n, Y/n no come back" Sam followed behind you as loud sirens were heard in the background. You ran back to the apartment, swinging the half shut door open, running over to Ethan, his eyes still opened as he laid there. "E...Ethan don't do this to me" you pulled him into your lap, sobbing into his his arm as you grabbed his hand. He was still warm.

The cuts on his shirt proved he was stabbed more than just a couple times, blood covering his entire chest. You moved away the curls from his face, your thumb gently rubbing his jaw like you had done earlier that day. You placed a small kiss on his lips, finger running over his features for one last time. His body was limp, wet from blood and your tears that sprinkled over his skin. you wanted to take him in, for the last time. all you felt was pain. You weren't hurt, there wasn't even one scar on you. But this hurt more than any wound you had experienced.

"Y/n...y/n we have to go, they have to mark the crime scene" you shook your head as you cried, Ethan's limp hand in yours while the other brushed through his curls. You didn't know you'd end up like this, getting close to someone just for them to get killed. you felt so extra, so dramatic. But no one could blame you. finally, you decided to open up. But it ended in disaster.

"Y/n, please step out of the apartment" you looked up, Officer Bailey and his team entering as they started to mark the crime scene. You felt so dehumanized. You weren't even aloud to sit there and hold him. He was basically pried away from you, from everyone.

"I'm so sorry" your whisper was just barely heard, tracing his lips one last time before placing his head gently back on the ground. Sam pulled you away as she walked you out of the apartment. "Here" she handed you Ethan's Jacket, pulling you into a hug.

"They're taking Anika and Mindy to the hospital" she sighed. "Where's Chad and Tara?" You wiped away your tears but it was no use, more falling than before. "Sam! Sam!" Tara ran into Sams arms, the reminder that you were always alone amongst them flashing right in your face. You finally had someone, and just like that, he was dead.

A/n: i'm crying my poor bb

[fatuismooches]

SMOOCHES!!! Hii darling !! ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა

ohmigosh i swear whenever you respond to my asks, my brain exploded with ideas its crazy and i love u sm for it <33 but anyways this kinda tied down to my recent brainrot b4 this, so since fragile!reader was in a coma for hundreds of years, the first time they probably tried getting out of bed and walking on their own two feet was probably an absolute failure 😭 fragile!raedrr probably looked like a baby deer learning how to walk for the first time. to say it was cute but also embarrassing is an understatement. also THATS SO TRUE! reader would literally beg Zandik and every single clone to go outside to see Snezhnaya, but since their health is so fragile it’s such a huge risk that they can’t take :(( so they’re usually just looking out the window to see if they can even catch a glimpse of Snezhnaya’s city. also adding onto Zandik being more mature and different from the Akademiya, reader probs has so so many questions on what happened while they slept, like what do you mean he has power that can match even the gods?! fragile!raeder would probably be so amazed but also scared that their own lover, THE Zandik, the outcast from Sumeru, turned to become the 2nd Harbinger, and have so much strength. ALSOOOO lifting up his mask and seeing the new scars littered on his face </3 reader would probably be so worried and ask “does it still hurt?” AHHHH it’s past 12 AM but this man has had such a grip on me the whole day. Currently sick rn, hopefully I’ll get better. But ANYWAYS I love you so so much smooches make sure you take breaks and stay healthy in college I know it must be really stressful. Just know I’ll be giving you a bunch of chu chus. <33

-from your dear boo boo bear 🎐 anon ౨ৎ

HI 🎐 ANON!! <33 I'm so glad I inspired you wabdbedbdw that's so cute ily more ❤️❤️ And RELATABLE 🎐 ANON i can't go a day without thinking of this crazy doctor man smh,, and omg i hope you feel better 😭 i'm responding a bit late but hopefully you feel better by now!! Make sure to rest a lot and don't push yourself okay? Staying up until 12 AM isn't good for you!! 😤🥺 Thank you luckily I've been coping well in college, it's just that is SO!! hot and walking to class has me sweating hard unfortunately 😅 Anyway- MOVING ON TO DOTTORE!!

I didn't even think about that- poor fragile reader would have to relearn SO many basic things. At first you'd be stubborn about accepting help - because well... obviously you feel embarrassed and upset that you need help doing something that should be easy to you, from a man as powerful as Dottore nonetheless - but... eventually you have to. At least baby Zandy holds your hand the whole time to steady you ❤️

YEAAA the clones and Dot probably can guess what you are about to say with EASE when you come up to them with a pleading "🥺" expression. They really do feel bad about rejecting you, especially when your shoulders droop and you let out that little dejected sigh that they've gotten used to hearing... You just want to know about the world outside, to explore just like how you once used to in the Akademiya... to venture into the unknown with your beloved. At least there are some really pretty picture books of Snezhnaya, and they always bring you souvenirs from their expeditions <33

Reader would be literally bouncing off the walls in excitement when they hear all of the stories Zandik has to tell 🥺 They want EVERY piece of the story down to the most minuscule detail. I mean, how could you not want the whole story when he went from this random guy in the Akademiya to a HARBINGER? In the Fatui? Those same people who used to watch y'all in the desert and forest?? 😨 And now you're saying this whole lab and space belongs to you too? Zandik, we have hundreds of years of catching up to do and you're not letting him go until he recounts everything <33

OH MY GOD THE SCARS😭😭 TEARSSS I didn't think about how he'd get the scars after you fell asleep- you would be wondering why he wears that mask nonstop until he finally relents and lets you take it off... :( your heart would just break as you softly kiss the scarred skin and trace it with your fingers. It probably doesn't hurt anymore but it aches when you touch it so tenderly...

[gachawolfiebloom]

Your Pursuit of Perfection

Story and Artwork By: @GachaWolfieBloom

Chapter 7: You Can't Escape Your Fears

Summary: A few months after the events of WOTFI 2023, SMG4 starts having really bad dreams about the "Its gotta be perfect" incident. One night however, his fear allows the nightmares to break through and he gets taken to a horrific dimension. He finally meets the tv adware, who manipulates him into returning to his insane ways, intent on claiming much more than the perfect video. Now it's up to his friends to stop this madness and save SMG4. Can they do it in time or will they lose SMG4 forever? (In case you are unaware this is a sequel to the its gotta be perfect movie)

Tags: angst, its gotta be perfect, love confession, luigi, mario, meggy, melony, nightmares, scary, smg3, smg4, smg34, smg3 x smg4, tari, tv adware

Saiko was putting on a rock concert for all the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. She thought she was doing well until the crowd started to turn on her. A chanting of booing came from the crowd and they all shouted mean insults.

"You suck!"

"I wasted my time on this!?"

"You'll never become a rockstar!"

Saiko could feel her fear overcome her until someone jumped onto the stage. "Saiko! It's not real!" Three had come to save her along with One and Two. "No! Look at this! I'll never achieve my dream of being a famous rockstar!" One tried to persuade her that this was all fake. "This is all just a nightmare. See?" Saiko turned to see how the crowd had a shadowy look to it. Of course! The mist of nightmares. "My fear is what's causing this?" Gaining back her confidence, Saiko picked up her guitar and shouted "I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU MONSTERS!!!" She had escaped the smoke and was back with the other three.

Mario was despairing as the world had run out of spaghetti. Three came crashing through the door and yelled "Mario snap out of it! It's just a nightmare!" He was still shaking as he said through his tears "But...Mario will never be with his true love again..." Saiko used her hammer to slam through. "Wake up Mario! We need your help!" He remembered how much he loved his friends and how he really wanted to save Smg4. He stood up and screamed "You think you can scare Mario with your dumb tricks. Well guess what? Mario is strong and he will not let you control him!" The scene faded away as he hugged his friends and thanked them for saving him.

Tari was surrounded by hundreds of angry ducks. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you all. I just love you so much." The ducks didn't listen as they inched closer. Mario hurdled into the room with a gun and said "Freeze!" Three came up behind him with Saiko and said "Tari those ducks are stupid fakers!" Mario grabbed one and shook it with all his might. "FAKER!" Tari was still panicked induced as she still defended her "little friends." "No. They are just scared. I should have treated them better." Saiko pulled out her hammer as the ducks attacked her. "Look around Tari! This is just the work of the nightmare mist!" Tari gasped as she said "How could they?"

Bob was trying to be a successful rapper, but nobody supported him. All the friends that he had made over the years went back to their old ways of rejecting him and pushing him aside. Even Birdo didn't think he was cool anymore. He was about to give up when he heard clapping in the distance. Mario was supporting Bob and the others had came to get him. "This is just a nightmare Bob!" Saiko questionably said "Your worst fear is being rejected from rapping?" Bob tried to deny it. "NO." Saiko then knew what to do to snap him out of his nightmares. "Then prove it." Bob took his microphone and smashed it on the ground. "SHUT UP! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!"

Melony's nightmare was taking a huge hit on her. She had failed to rescue Axol and now she was all alone. Zer0 had won and killed all of her friends. Just then a huge team of heroes stepped in to fight the eldritch monster. "Melony help us!" Tari called out as she looked up from her tears. "B-b-but Axol i-i-is..." Saiko sighed and said "I know. But we defeated Zer0 and we can defeat this nightmare as well." Melony rubbed her tears and inquired "This is a nightmare?" She turned to the huge creature and remembered how she saved all her friends in 2021 and 2022. That filled her with determination, as she pulled out her sword and ended the life of this bad dream.

Luigi was running his successful flower shop until he got terrible news that it was being shut down forever. He curled up into a ball on the ground and started crying. "Luigi!" He looked up to see who that familiar voice belonged to. "Wake up!" shouted Mario as he kept slapping his brother on the face. "What about my flower shop?" Tari stood in a confident pose and told him "Remember when Meggy coached us. Don't let her or your friends down. I faced my fears and so can you!" Luigi remembered Meggy's final assignment as a flashback of her giving him a thumbs up was playing and Boopkins was dressed in her beanie and headphones. He got up with a determined face and yelled "You're just a stupid nightmare! You don't scare me!"

Boopkins was crying while holding a picture of him and JubJub. Bob burst in and said "LET'S GO BOOPKINS!" He turned and said "I failed on protecting my brother. I'll never see him again." Bob rolled his eyes and said "BEING SAD ISN'T AN EXCUSE! GET A MOVE ON!" Boopkins wiped tears from his eyes. "THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!" Boopkins looked around and realized that it was. JubJub was back home and safe. Boopkins threw his arms in the air and yelled "I am not afraid!" Bob watched and then turned to the camera. "DANG BOB. YOU'RE A NATURAL."

There was only one person left...

Meggy had lost the big game of splatfest. The crowd was yelling in disbelief and Desti looked at her. "You promised to win splatfest for me." One Shot Wren shook his head and said "I expected better things from you kid." She held her head in her hands and whispered "I tried. I really did try." Her friends came running into the stadium. "Meggy snap out of it! It's only your fear!" Three tried to call out to her, but the opposing team started shooting them with their splatshots. While they all tried to avoid it, Three said to them "You distract them while I try to save Meggy." Bob immediately pulled out his grenade launcher and says "NOW YOU'LL SEE HOW A TRUE ATHLETE DOES IT!" Three slipped through the crowd up to Meggy, but the nightmare versions of Desti and Wren stopped him.

They tried to punch and kick him, so he thew them off the ledge. "Get out of here you stupid nightmare creatures." He ran up to her and tried to snap her out of it. "Meggy let's go now!" Her eyes were still full of tears as she whimpered "I lost. I'm a failure. I deserve this..." Three stopped in his tracks when he heard what Meggy said. "Believe me, I know how that feels." Three mumbled as Meggy looked up. "All those times I was lost in thought, it was about Four. My worst fear is that I failed to protect him and he died because of me." Meggy didn't move an inch.

"I just don't want to lose him...or you." He looks towards the ground, but then feels a warm embrace. Meggy hugs him and says "Thank you Three. I don't want to lose you either." He smiles and puts his arms around her as well. After a few seconds he pushes Meggy away from him and reverts back to his tsundere behavior. "Okay that's enough. Give me some space squid." She giggles and looks down to see that the rest of her friends are in trouble. She grabs her splatshot and fires at all the inklings. Once she defeats them, the scene melts away and they all find themselves back in the Nightmare realm.

They weren't alone as the icky creatures were surrounding them. "Ooooo very scary goop." Mario said, wriggling his fingers. They then see a man with a tv head come out of the shadows. "But some of you still are." He said as he directed his attention to Three. "Isn't that right Smg3?" He backed up, but didn't let his guard down. "I won't believe your dirty lies." The smile on the screen did not fade away. It actually got a bit wider. "But there is something you fear. If you surrender, I might be willing to spare your little friends."

An uneasy expression went across his face as the TV Adware continued. "After all they have done for you, this is how you repay them? Taking Smg4 away from them?" Darkness crept closer as Three yelled out in a state of defeat "No! They did nothing wrong! I'm the one who deserves this! I will-" He was about to make a deal with the Adware till Meggy stopped him. "NO! Smg3, you're our friend and you aren't going anywhere. Nobody blames you for what happened."

He stops in shock. "I'm your friend?" They all nodded. "Of course! Mario loves you!" Tari took a gentle approach. "And we know we can trust you." The TV Adware backed up and said in a slick voice "Well I see you have some real friends. Those who would do anything for you."

"This is your last chance. Before they see what you let happen." The others were confused, but Three knew what he meant. "You wouldn't dare..." Only Meggy, Mario, and Three saw their corrupted friend from the inside. Everyone else had taken on the goop outside.

The Adware chuckled and said "Well it seems we are not able to make an...arrangement. Don't worry though. I came prepared. I will get the kingdom I so desperately deserve."

A pink light started to shine through as a figure came up behind him. The creature had pink cracks on his face, his clothes were dirty, and his eyes looked desperately strained. When he was seen clearly in the light, everyone gasped in shock as they all said the same thing. "SMG4!?"

"Now you will all be destroyed and the Mushroom Kingdom will be defenseless! Meet my new friend...NIGHTMARE FOUR!!!"

Your friend is mine now...

Chapter 8: Are You Ready For The Next Show

[marauders-peace]

Burning moon 2.

Summary: Over the holidays the reader tries to ignore Remus and their feelings but in the end it only gets worse. Of course his friends would catch on to something...

Warnings : self hatred, self doubt, anger directed at the reader, over thinking, bad communication and of course much Angst :o

Author's note : I love you guys soo much <333. I'm soo happy you like the story (sry for so much Angst :')) I hope you will continue reading it because now I am attached to this train wreck </3

Masterlist Part 1 Part 2 part 4 part 5 part 6

Was I the asshole for ignoring my best friend which I liked for years?

OF COURSE I WAS.

But I hated this. I hated that he wrote me every day. That he tried soo hard to get our friendship going. And maybe I should have been grateful for that. Many people who got rejected by their crush will just be left alone by them.

But not remus. Ohhh noo never Remus. He cared for the people around him and made always sure that they were okay.

But I didn't want that. I wanted him to ignore me. I wanted him to be mean to me. I wanted ANY reason to hate him so I could feel better about myself. So I could stop loving him.

It was the last day before school started and I was scared. Yes I ran away from my problems in hope they would solve themselves. But Remus seemed to make it his mission to remind me everyday how powerless I am about my feelings.

He wrote me a letter today and I was almost opening it but as I realized what i was doing i threw it in the trash. But then i saw a second letter. From James.

What?

James never wrote me. He always said that it wasn't worth it if he doesn't see the one he is writing to.

But he did write me a letter this time. I was getting more and more nervous as I started to open it.

Dear (y/n),

How were your holidays? I hope you had a great time! I was hoping we could meet today. Sirius and I were nearby and we hoped you could come see us at (your favorite coffee shop) and get something to eat. We wanted to meet at 2pm. Do you have time? If not it's alright we just want to talk.

Hope you can make it .

Love James.

Oh no. This was about Remus, wasn't it? To say i was scared would be an understatement.

But maybe it would be fine. Yeah it would be! Why wouldn't it? I was fine, they were fine, Remus was fine. Everything was alright.

Who am I trying to convince here?

I am not going to lie i was at the verge of tears. I hated confrontation and it seemed like James was just about to do that. Confront me.

I explained to Lily and Mary what was up with me and of course they said I should talk with Remus. They talked like they didn't have a fear of rejection. Like they didn't fear the pain that followed when your feelings weren't reciprocated.

But they were trying to help me. And I was grateful for that. Lily would say, that i should go and see what they want. That i shouldn't over think it and just have coffee with friends.

So you guessed it. I was going.

Was I thinking that this was an absolute idiotic idea? Yes. Was i scared of what was coming? Absolutely! But was I thirsty for coffee? Ohhh yeees.

When i arrived I saw James and Sirius sitting at a table near the windows. Sirius frowned and said something to James which lead him to shake his head. When I stepped closer they didn't seem to notice me.

"Sirius, I am just as worried as you are, bit we can't do- heey (y/n)!"

I just smiled and waved back. I sat down on the opposite of the table and looked at them.

James smiled back at me.

"So you got my letter."

Sirius scoffed at that.

"So you do open and read letters! Wasn't expecting that from you after this summer." he said and got straight to the point. He looked furious.

Of course it was about Remus.

James cursed and glared at Sirius.

"What was about patience? You can't just say that like that, we don't know what's going on!" James reasoned with him but Sirius wasn't looking any bit less angry.

"Prongs, I can't hear about moony waiting for her response anymore!" he then looked at me again and raised an eyebrow.

I immediately got up.

"Of course this was about Remus,"I spatted at them" And here I thought you actually wanted to spend time with me. "

Maybe that was unfair to them, but I wanted to escape from that place immediately.

Sirius then sighed.

"Yes it is about him but also about you. We were worried about you! You didn't answer any letter and we thought something happened to you."

"We want to know your perspective! Why didn't you answer?" James added and looked at me with a look that begged me to stay.

Still standing I looked away.

"I was just busy."

"Yeah right that's why you are here right now! Because you are 'busy'." Sirius mocked, but then quickly was serious again (pun not intended).

"Why are you so cold to him? He is really trying to figure out what he did and he is trying to make it better for you! But you are just looking away at every form of Kindness he is sending your way!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself but Sirius wasn't finished. He seemed to get emotional, like this was bothering him for a long time.

"You haven't seen him the last days! He hasn't slept in weeks and is constantly feeling guilty. I really tried to make him feel better but it's hopeless. He needs you! He's so hopelessly in love with you-"

"SIRIUS!" James interrupted him and looked at him angry. Sirius just seemed to realize what he just said and shut his mouth.

Remus? In love with me?

"Remus isn't in love with me."

Sirius scoffed at that again and now narrowed his eyes. There was a long tense silence before he spoke.

"You know what I think?"

"What?" I said more to myself.

"I think you are scared of his love. I think you are scared of a Werewolf loving you. I think you never really accepted him-"

"ENOUGH." I screamed at that. Now I really was furious. At first he is saying Remus would love me and now he was saying I wouldn't accept Remus as the human and werewolf he was. But that was a straight up lie.

"That's a new low, even for you Sirius. Trying to get my hopes up so I would talk to him again and now insinuating that I wouldn't love him because he is a werewolf."

Tears were building up.

"If you would just talk to him... He is really worried for you. He loves yo-" He began but that was to much.

"HE DOESN'T LOVE ME, STOP SAYING THAT!" I bursted out and now tears were flowing down my cheeks.

Sirius opened his mouth but James glared at him. Then he looked at me with a gentle look.

"What happened, (y/n)?" he whispered. His look was concerned and in this second they weren't just Remus friends. They were also my family that cared for me. I should have told them but I couldn't.

"Nothing." I said quietly and tried to wipe away my tears. But they didn't stop. Of course they kept on going.

Sirius looked at me apologetic.

"I'm sorry. I know you accept him as a werewolf, I'm just soo... Tired." he said and I wasn't angry at him. I knew that he didn't mean it. In his shoes I would be confused and done with me too.

"I should go." I said, so I would stop crying and making a fool out of myself in public. In the moment I tried to go away, James spoke up.

"Sunny?"

The old nickname lead me to stop,but I didn't look at him.

"Yeah?"

"It's okay to be weak."

I heard his smile. I ran away before the tears would flow again.

The next day I was really tired. I didn't sleep that night and cried my heart out the whole night. I was at the train station with my stuff and was ready to go. But then I saw him.

Remus.

His look burned through my body and soul and it felt like time stopped. He really looked like he hasn't slept in weeks, but that didn't bother me. He still looked beautiful. But as our eyes meet his beautiful face frowned.

And then I remembered all the letters I didn't open.

I looked away and waited for the train in hope he would rescue me. But in the corner of my eyes I could see Remus going this way. Panic started to rise inside of me and I realized how pathetic I was. I was scared of words. Simple words.

But when Remus spoke they were never just simple words. They were so much more.

"You've been avoiding me."

Not a question, so it didn't need an answer.

The train was coming and I was glad that I could disappear from this scene.

"You are angry at me. You hate me don't you?" his voice was soothing but the words he spoke were full of sorrow.

I didn't answer his question. I was scared to admit that I didn't.

He sighed softly and then spoke up again.

"Sunny, when will you talk to me again? Please, say something."

"I'm sure there are plenty of people who would wish to talk to you Remus."

"But I want you to talk to me. You and only you."

I looked at him but that was a mistake. In his eyes were tears and they made me weak and triggered myself to cry.

"Don't cry, Remus, please. That's not fair." I whispered.

Why did he cry, when he rejected me?

The train stopped in front of us, but both of us didn't have eyes for the train. In the corner of my eye I saw students from every year watching our scene go on.

"You should go on board of the train. You didn't want to miss it last time." he said and I knew, he knew.

My eyes were burning more and more but I couldn't look away from him.

Then he stepped closer to me. So close that I felt his warm breath on my skin. My breath hitched and my heart beat faster than ever before.

And then he kissed my forehead.

It was just a close moment but it felt like an eternity.

As he stepped away I felt the looks around us and I felt humiliated. It felt like he was playing with my feelings in front of an audience like it was a TV show.

So I ran away from the scene on board of the train. I got into our cabin and cried. Lily and Mary came later I don't know when. I couldn't talk only cry.

In the end I fell asleep.

And the sun left the moon alone in his slowly growing and burning sorrow, while their heart melted from his flames.

Taglist : @juleshadalittlelamb @fluffybunnyu @tendous-pretty-hair @helloitsmeeeeeee @valencia-rou

[rowretro]

✧𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍✧

WARNINGS: Stalking-ish, kissing

✧taglist✧: @heeseung-min

✧CHAPTER 5✧

She cant run from Sunghoon just like that. Not when he's on her 24/7. As soon as y/n ran all the way home, barefoot. Sunghoon peacefully walked there, giving y/n time to put down her heels, run to her room and scream into her pillow. Oh how cute she looked, crying as she thought about Sunghoon. He smirked at his phone, watching her through one of the cameras he sneakily installed in her room.

Watching as the girl walked into her restroom, and returned 40 minutes later, wearing a pretty short, silky white night gown. Smirking, Sunghoon left his car and rang their doorbell, knowing damn well Heeseung was out with his new girl toy, and their mother was out on a date with their father. The girl, opened the door, gasping almost immediately when she saw Sunghoon.

Before she could even try to close the door, Sunghoon stepped in, slipping his shoes off. "Hmm I'm hungry." He simply said as he stared down at her, intimidatingly, how he loved seeing the impact he had on her. "I-I'll go get you a snack-" she stuttered as Sunghoon chuckled. "A snack?... I'm staying the night- it's 6pm, lets go make dinner" He simply said as y/n stared at him in shock, oh how she wanted to curse Heeseung for putting her in this position.

The 2 were silently kneading the dough to make pizza from scratch. Sunghoon suggested to do so as he wanted her to talk to him. Bout his plan clearly failed. "Y/n do you like pesto?" The male randomly asked "Yeah I guess..." she trailed off, digging the drawers for some other ingredients. As the girl placed some jars on the counter, she found herself being trapped between Sunghoon's arms.

"Why are you avoiding me?!" He simply asked as the girl struggled to reason with him "Come on baby... talk to me" He said, leaning into her face, as she stared at him in shock having heard him call her baby. "God Sunghoon just stop it! I hate it when you do this. Why are you so perfect?! I-I just really really love you, I want us to happen god I really really want us to happen and last, I know I only ever got to know you for a few months but Hoon... I think I've definitely fallen in love with you- now I know so many pretty girls have your attention, Most of which should be models and I-" as the girl rambled. Sunghoon simply smashed his lips on hers.

Y/n kissed back almost immediately, his hands massaging her waist through the sheer fabric of her night gown, his tongue pushing in to collide with her tongue. Oh it was a dream come true, for the both of them. Sunghoon's plan was in motion, how bad he wanted to make her his, keep her, and make sure she'll never leave him. The 2 pull away to catch their breath, but Sunghoon instantly kissed her all over nonstop "My pretty baby... mine mine mine. all mine. all fucking mine." He mumbled through his kisses.

After a shower of kisses, the 2 finally make their pizza, leaving it in the oven as Sunghoon carried her to the sofa. "So I guess this technically makes you my boyfriend?" the girl asked, a little hesitant "Which makes you my girlfriend... that means no flirting with pretty boys." Sunghoon pointed out as the girl smiled up at him. "I was scared you'd have freaked out or rejected me embarrassingly for saying I love you..." y/n trailed off as the male kissed her nose.

"Oh darling... if only you knew how god damn crazy you drive me, especially when you looked at other boys instead of me" The male admitted, turning on the TV. "You're mine now so I don't have to worry about some rock-chic wannabe trying to shoot his shot with a pretty girl like you." Sunghoon added as the girl stared up at him. "Awww you liked me before I liked you~" the girl cooed. "You should've told me sooner... now my pillow has mascara stains" She pouts.

If only she knew this was a trap, god she was so gullible and vulnerable. It was only a matter of time before Sunghoon could fool her into living with him, heck, that was indeed his next step.

✧𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍✧

[coolyiooo]

001 / PETER BALLARD X READER (SMUT)

⚠️WARNINGS ⚠️creampie, slight scratching, first time

‼️ DISCLAIMER ‼️y'all are 18

You and Peter Ballard met eachother at the Hawkins laboratory. You and him have become friends since young teenagers, but because the system is strict, you guys only hang out during the rainbow room hours. He usually tries to spend most of his time with you, but every once in awhile, helps other kids to not seem suspicious. He has told you of him being 001 and the world, and you both agreed to leave the lab together when the time is right. You two have also started to fall for one another, and secretly became an item. You've been together for almost a year and it's been the best thing to have ever happened to you and him.

You two have never had sex before, you knew of it but didn't know much because the lab doesn't tell you shit, but you and Peter had an interesting and awkward conversation about it once, because you didn't know where babies came from. As you got older, hormones started to form, and being a teenager, nature makes you horny, unfortunately, so you've thought about possibly having sex with your boyfriend, but you don't want to have a child and get you and him punished, but sometimes curiosity gets the best of us.

One day you and Peter were in the rainbow room, but you asked Peter to play chess with you, to talk to him privately. You knew the basic rules, to not look suspicious and don't have any reactions since there's a camera in the room. You wanted answers about sex so you asked Peter, "hey...can you tell me more about ..sex?" You said bluntly and quietly. You could see that Peter was a bit stunned but quickly hid his expression as he gulped and blushed a bit. He stared at you "why do you wanna know more about it?" You kept playing the game, "I've been...thinking about it.." he looked at you with tension but tried hiding it "why have you been thinking about it?" "I'm just.. curious" you looked at him with pure eyes, he stared back, looked down quickly, and played the game, "well..what more do you want to know?" You thought for a bit "who...should you do it with?", You saw him gulp again "um..well.. with someone..you care about..like..husband.. wife.. girlfriend or boyfriend.." you nodded and kept playing the game, knocking out one of his pieces, "are there ways to not..get pregnant?" He was quiet for a few seconds, then started to play the game " yes" you got a bit hopeful now, "how does it feel?" You saw him move around his seat, uncomfortably, "I can't say from experience" you looked down in disappointment "but" he said. You looked at him as he played the game, knocking out one of your pieces, "from what I've heard...it...feels good" "what does that mean?" "Im not sure.." he answered truthfully"I guess.." you started to say while playing the game again, checkmating him "we can find out... together"

You looked up and saw him blushing intensely "if..we can.." you said, trying to reassure him. He looked at your eyes "I don't think it's possible with our conditions" you stayed quiet for a few seconds, looking down "we can find a way...that is if you really wanna..try" you said while shaking a bit, scared of being rejected from the person you care most in the world.He got up from his chair, walked around the table, grabbed your chin to make you look at his eyes, "I'll find a way".

A few weeks later Peter found a way and made a plan. He told you while playing chess that one of the security guards owed him so they made a deal. The deal was that the security guard won't say anything during 12:00 am - 12:20am. Anything later than that, they'll rat us out. Peter also told you that it's safer to do it in your room, since the walls are thick for whenever papa comes to do notes on your power, you need thick walls so you won't be able to hear outside of your room to concentrate more, so that if y'all made noises, nobody will hear.

It was the night to do the plan and you were nervous and excited, but mostly nervous because you didn't wanna get caught and be punished, but excited to do this experience with Peter. When it was bed time, you couldn't sleep, and stayed up till 12 am. It was quiet for a long time since it was just you and your thoughts, but suddenly you heard your door open and saw Peter come in quietly. He looked at your eyes and slowly walked towards you "how long have you been awake?" He asked, You stared back "couldn't sleep". He sat down next to you, you could tell he was a bit shaky "are you nervous?" He asked, "yes but..also happy" he looked deeply into your eyes "me too" you slightly smiled, he smiled back too. "We don't have much time so..we have to be quick" he said, you nodded, "I don't know much but..I think I know enough" you placed your hand on his cheek "I trust you" you said, he smiled.

He slowly got closer to your face "remember what I told you about kissing?" He asked, You nodded, "I'ma try that with you first". You two have never kissed before since there's no way y'all could because of security cameras. He put a hand on your chin and slowly put his lips onto yours while closing his eyes. It was a small peck but it made you feel something you've never felt before, but in an ecstatic way. You put your hand on his cheek and brought him closer to your lips to feel that spark again, he kissed back of course. This time your kisses were longer and started to get passionate, it made you feel happy and needed and..good..was this what they mean by when it felt 'good'?. You pulled him into deeper kisses by grabbing his hair. He must've felt good too but you heard him panting a bit, making you worried. You pulled away "are you ok?" He smiled bright "I'm the happiest I've ever been" you smiled back and kissed him again, but he pushed you away, "remember we only have limited time" he said, you nodded in response.

He got behind you and slowly slid his hand down your body, feeling every inch of it, it made you feel weird but you trusted him. He then slid his hand under your gown and slowly started to rub your clit in circles, making you gasp and jolt from the unknown feeling he kissed you, "it's ok this is..how you start it" he said. You started to twitch, you couldn't really explain the feeling but it made you want more..is this what they meant by 'feeling good'. "It..feels...good..faster" you could barley say. He looked at you and started to rub your clit faster. You shut your eyes tightly and laid your head on his shoulder, making small noises. You felt something hard against your back but didn't really question it.You started to feel your heart beat faster and become hot and...wet. it scared you but something started to build up inside you, like it was going to explode soon. You didn't know what it was but it felt good "something's...coming!" You whispered yelled. He stopped. You were slightly panting "why..did you stop?" You could hear him slightly pant too "I think it's time we try it out".

He got up and started to take off his clothes and you started to do the same. You felt embarrassed so you tried covering up yourself, but he went next to you and said "don't cover up..you look beautiful" and kissed your cheek, making you blush and smile. You laid on your back as you could feel your heart pound throughout your entire body, and you looked down and saw this huge thing sticking out of Peter, 'this is what is probably called a... penis' you thought, but it scared you. From what Peter tells you, it's going to go inside you. You gulped and felt your heartbeat go faster. He could see your fear, so he hovered above you and said "don't worry it'll only hurt for a bit but then..you'll feel even better than before" you looked at his eyes with a bit of worried "ok..I trust you".

He took a deep breath as you put your hands around his neck. You could feel his heart race just like yours. He slowly started to insert himself into you, making you whine quietly from the pain, but he kissed you to muffle the noises you made. It made you a bit distracted from the pain but it still hurt. After awhile he was finally fully inside you, you also heard Peter make some noises as well, he pulled away "I'm..gonna start now", you nodded in response. He started to slowly pull out of you, making you feel pain, then he slid back inside you slowly, you started to hear him pant. After awhile you couldn't feel as much pain as before and started to feel good, so you wanted to feel more "f-faster " you whispered. He startrd to go faster, slightly making your bed make some noises but not too loud for other rooms to hear. You heard him make groaning noises "are you ok?" You asked, thinking he was in pain, "yes..it feels..good..really good" hearing that made you feel tingles all over your body, it's glad to know he was feeling the same too, "yeah..it's feel really good" you slightly moaned while saying that. It made him feel something deep inside him after hearing you say that, so he went faster. You tilted your head back and moaned a bit louder, you felt him hit your deepest parts. It was like he was hitting a button deep inside you that made you feel electricity throughout your body, and it felt amazing. You started to feel something inside you build up again, and it was going to explode soon, "something going to...explode inside me !" You whispered yelled while tightly gripping on his shoulders, he was panting "yeah..something's going to explode inside me too..do you want me to stop?" "No!" You slightly yelled "i- I mean no..please don't stop..it feels too good..please go a bit faster..Peter" hearing his name come out of your mouth during this experience made him weak, in a good way, he wanted to hear you say it again, so he went faster. You started to moan while panting, slightly scratching his back with your nails. He kissed your neck "say my name again " he said while panting, "Peter.." you softly said, he groaned quietly in response. You could sense that he liked that so you kept saying his name over and over again, making him go roughly and deeply inside you, the amazing feeling becoming unbearable. "Peter..it's..coming!..im going to!" You moaned slightly, "me too!" He grunted softly. A few more thrusts and you felt something go deep inside you, and it felt really good, making you explode on him. Your legs trembled and intense electricity flowed through your entire body. You too felt Peter twitch and quiver.

You two were both panting for While but he looked at you and smiled "that was..amazing" you smiled back "yes it was..I'm glad we did this ..together " he smiled wider and kissed you. He slowly pulled out of you, feeling something drip out of you "is this..sperm?" You asked "yes.." he answered. He got a towel from his pants and cleaned you up "I have to go now..I'm really happy we did this.." he said smiling at you, you nodded and pulled him into a kiss. He pulled away and put his clothes back on "I'll see you tomorrow.. beautiful " you blushed as he walked out the door. You fell asleep smiling wildly, you've never felt this way before and you loved it.

[lythea-creation]

Brighten My World - Tasneem x fem reader (Chapter 2)

Previous Chapter

warnings: grieving

word count: 1.121

-------------------

Before Tasneem had become my girlfriend she had kept me a secret. She would only meet me at school when nobody was around. Her friends had had no idea that we were even interacting at all.

But now it had all changed. They all did not know the whole truth because we had decided to wait a bit longer to tell anyone about our kind of relationship. But Tasneem was trying to integrate me in her friend group.

“Have you taken in a stray?”, was Hiba's first reaction when Tasneem had introduced me to her friends.

“Shut it, Hiba”, Tasneem shot back angrily. “I won't let it slip if you try to pull her down.”

“Woah! What's gotten into you? First Sarah and now that freak? What are you trying to accomplish? Improving your status by taking in outcasts? Is Shams next then?”, Hiba mocked her.

“You know what? Forget it!”, Tasneem exclaimed and pulled me away from then.

I could feel Hiba's eyes boring into my back.

“I'm sorry, (f/n). I should have expected Hiba to act out. If I had known it, I wouldn't have tried in the first place”, Tasneem stated. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it”, I brushed it off.

“Please don't lie to me, okay? You don't have to pretend around me”, she assured me.

We were coming to a hold between two buildings, a corridor where barely any students came by.

Tasneem was still holding my hand, waiting for a reply.

“Of course it always hurts a bit to be rejected. But I didn't really hope for anything. So it doesn't bother me too much”, I explained.

“You shouldn't stop hoping for good things to happen, (f/n)”, Tasneem considered.

“Yeah, I know”, I admitted. “After all you're the best reminder that there's still hope. I guess it's just a bad habit I picked up.”

Tasneem sent me a sympathetic smile.

“Speaking of bad habits … have you finally talked to your mom about seeing a therapist?”, I wondered.

Her body language was answer enough.

“Tasneem, you need to work through it all. I can only help you so much and you never know when I'm not around anymore”, I remarked.

“Why? Are you planning to leave me already?”, she worried.

“Of course not”, I reassured her. “Sometimes you don't have a choice though.”

“That's not the first time you're saying that”, she recalled. “Why are you worrying about that so much?”

“It's my thing I have to deal with”, I alluded.

The ringing of the school bell signaled the end of the break before we could deepen the topic. I did not know if I should curse or thank it as this conversation was just as tough as it was inevitable if I wanted to build a trustful relationship with Tasneem.

After school I was visiting Tasneem again. Her mom was not even questioning my presence anymore, already expecting me to join them for dinner.

Shortly after entering Tasneem's room we ended up on her bed in a make-out session, hoping that her mom would not walk in on us.

When we were both too exhausted to continue we switched over to cuddling.

“Do you wanna tell me now? About the thing that's hurting you so much?”, Tasneem questioned.

“I haven't worked through it yet. The last time I tried to tell you I broke down crying”, I reminded her.

“I wouldn't mind comforting you”, she noted. “But you don't have to tell me if you don't feel ready for it.”

Tasneem was caressing my cheek with her hand, a gesture that was relaxing me to no end.

“What if it makes you uncomfortable?”, I considered.

“Why should it?”

“It's about the last person I had a crush on, my first love”, I confessed.

She took a deep breath. “You lost her?”

I nodded slightly, holding onto her other hand for support.

“I was too scared to tell her. And now I never will. That was the only reason why I was able to gather the courage to tell you about my feelings for you”, I proposed.

“And why you're always afraid that we won't stay together as well”, she concluded.

“Yeah”, I whispered.

Silent tears were running down my cheeks. But with Tasneem still caressing my cheek and having her to hold onto, I could hold it in check. Stop it from paralyzing me again.

“It was Layan”, I enlightened her.

Tasneem gasped at the revelation. Now I could see tears in her eyes as well.

“She was the closest person I had and Rania, her best friend, told me that Layan loved me, too. But Layan didn't want to admit it to herself. So she tried to be with someone else, which killed her in the end”, I declared.

My crying was getting stronger the more I was talking. I was choking on some words, but continued anyway: “If I had just told her, she might still be alive. It feels like it's all my fault.”

Now I could not control the sobs anymore.

Tasneem switched over to holding me in a tight embrace, until my crying settled down again.

“I'm so sorry you have to endure all of this”, she whispered. “I wish I could make it better.”

“You are”, I uttered, clinging even more to her.

We stayed like that for a while, my breathing regulating itself.

Tasneem placed a kiss on my head. “I love you”, she proposed.

“I love you, too”, I mumbled into her chest. “Thank you for wanting to be with me.”

“You were the one who started helping me first, remember?”

“Doesn't matter”, I pointed out. “That doesn't oblige you to be my girlfriend.”

“True”, she stated. “But that made me get to know and love you. It's awful what happened with Layan, but it isn't your fault that she made the wrong decisions or her brother in that matter. And even if you feel guilty about it, it made you save me.”

“I never thought about it like that”, I admitted.

“What do you think about going out and enjoying ourselves a bit? We don't have to if you're too exhausted or not in the mood for it. But I think it might help”, Tasneem suggested.

“I wanna do what makes you happy. Seeing you smile always cheers me up”, I proclaimed.

Ironically my words caused her to smile at me.

“That won't be hard then”, she supposed and pulled me up with her.

--------------------

Next Chapter

This story is ripping my heart out in the best way. I'm feeling so lucky to get to write it. I hope you like it, too.

Btw I somehow turned this oneshot into a series. I've already written chapter 3 as well. I didn't plan it. It just happened. But I'm glad it did.

Tag List: @sunwoniie

[writing-whump]

Status: upset and getting worse

Seline is scared, Matthew is upset and Isaiah deals with the fallout. Emeto, fluff and comfort.

✨️You can find the wonderful illustration for this chapter made by @bellysoupset here✨️

Isaiah thought today would be an easy day. Apparently, that was too much to hope for.

When he got out from the parking lot, whistling softly to himself, he noticed a someone cryiny at the bench few meters from their building. The sniffing noises and shaking shoulders...

He turned the corner to take a look if there was something he could help with, only to find it was Seline.

She didn't have a jacket or she was only in her pelty slippers.

"Seline? Hey." He went to her, crouching to be on the same level, watching her teary face. He could see no injury or obvious cause...and why wasn't she inside?

Seline looked up at him, sniffling. She gave him a strained smile, rubbing at her cheek, trying to take her composure back.

"What's wrong? You are crying." He hesitated but then reached for her hands to hold them in his in her lap.

"It's fine, I just..." she stiffened again, fresh tears welling up.

"You are cold. Come on inside and you can tell me all about it," he said softly, tagging at her hands.

She recoiled from him. "No! I'm not going up there."

Isaiah's head went back a little. Okay, something was very wrong here.

"Did something happen with Matthew?" He asked, dread clawing up his back.

"Oh, did something happen with Matthew?" She said mockingly through her tears, crossing her arms on her chest. "What would happened with Matthew? Ah, you mean how he threw a wolf jealousy fit, pulled his shadow on me and scared my student into getting sick on the sidewalk?"

Isaiah stiffened. "Did he attack you?"

"Yes. No. Technically he just pulled his shadow up and then didn't follow us out, so I guess we should all thank him and be happy."

Okay, this was more than alarming. He thought Matthew was pretty settled with them since they moved in together and he and Seline seemed to get along well. They went to all those bonding activities she came up with and dozed off together on the couch and all in all their new roomate situation seemed to have been working well...

He needed to know the whole story. From Matthew as well. But he couldn't just leave her here crying alone, could he?

Isaiah sat down on the bench next to her. "Come on upstairs. You are cold. You don't have to talk to him. I'll figure this out, hmm?"

"No, I'll not. This was a mistake, all of it." She looked at him accusingly.

He didn't know what to say. But she was trembling so he shook of his coat and threw it over her shoulders.

The gesture made her blink and cry harder again.

"Seline..." He said helplessly.

"You are going to be on his side, aren't you?! Because he is a wolf, and he can't help it, and it's just that his shadow is strong and of course he would react to a foreign wolf on his turf..." Tears were sliding down her cheeks freely now, in quick succession, dripping from her chin and skipping to the side into her hair.

He was starting to understand this though. Seline said she didn't like how her parents coddled her younger brother when his pubertal hormones and moods made it harder to control his shadow. She had moved away after an argument with him.

On the other hand Matthew never had a pack of his own. His shadow was so troublesome in combination with his bad temper, he was always rejected. Of course he would react to challenges to his place and territory, even the smallest one...and more so because they weren't an official pack and it made their shadows insure. Shadows were primal, primitive sides of them. They wanted clear territories and people that were theirs, to feel stable. To know whom to fight and who to protect.

If they had become a pack at the beginning, Matthew's shadow could never turn against her. Not against his witch.

These would have been all understandable issues separately. But they have both just kicked their sensitive points with their hurts.

And Isaiah didn't know how to clone himself to treat them both at the same time. If he could cut himself in half, he would.

"Well? What are you silent for? Just say it-" she spat with anger at him.

"I hate to see you cry," he said quietly, looking at her. Her tears made his stomach tightened and heart squeeze painfully and made him want to shake someone or break something. How could she doubt that?

Seline's eyes widened, the anger fading as something hopeful and vulnerable replaced it.

He opened his arms for her, offering, letting her choose the next move.

She sniffled and then basically threw herself into his arms, face smashing against his chest. Crying even harder.

Her closer his arms around her gently, lips on her hair. "Of course I'm on your side. I'm always on your side, silly."

Isaiah rubbed her back as she cried against him, hands balling up into his shirt. He could feel her tears seeping into the fabric.

"Shhhh. It's okay. I'm here, so it will work out, okay?" He pulled his coat more snugly around her, his shadow very happy to have her wrapped in his scent like that.

It had been clearly the right thing to say, for despite her crying her breaths were slowing down and she nuzzled her face into him. It was making his heart beat all faster, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Isaiah only cursed himself for not carrying handkershiefs on him, when Seline pulled back a little, wiping her face into her hands. She had that wobbly smile now that he was coming to recognize as her way of getting herself back under control.

"You still don't want to go up? Even if I go with you?" He asked.

Seline just shook her head. Isaiah held her by the shoulders for a bit, enjoying the excuse for contact that would soon run out.

"Listen. What about you go to the coffee house across the street, get a chai latte and cake or whatever you like and come back, when you feel better? My wallet is here," he tugged against the inside pocket of his coat still draped over her shoulders. It didn't escape him that she had left the apartment without anything on her to pay with. "Come up, when you feel ready. Or text me if you want some company. I'll go first and deal with this." He was getting seriously worried about Matthew as well, but didn't want to sound like he was ignoring her worries either.

Seline didn’t protest the idea, so he hoped it wasn’t an insensitive offer as he made his way towards the apartment. Her scent and tears were clinging to the front of his shirt and he only had his suit jacket and not the coat, so he looked a little rumpled.

When he opened the door, he was met with a sight.

The walls, floor and the windows were covered in a shadow, like somebody spilled black paint all over it. Even the sunlight was blocked. The shadow was stretched all over, moving in front of his feet. 

Seline had the right idea not to come. This would just scare her more.

“Matthew? I’m coming in,” he announced, stepping gingerly inside. The shadow wiggled restlessly, but didn’t fight him on contact. Isaiah followed the the trail as it thickened towards the bathroom.

Matthew was curled up on his knees inside, forehead pressed against the cold tiles, hands on his head as if he was trying to block a terrible noise. 

“Oh, Matt,” Isaiah sighed, going to his knees beside him. “Can you hear me, bud? Hey.”

Matthew made a sound at the back of his throat. “Zaya?” His voice was strained and raspy, on the verge of crying. 

“Yeah, I’m right here. Come on, buddy, pull your shadow down.”

“I can’t.” Matthew’s hands tigheted into fists beside him, head turning enough to give Isaiah a side-way glance. “I c-can’t control it all. Zaya, please. Roll it down for me.”

Isaiah winced. Rolling down someone’s shadow was a terribly painful thing for said wolf. Even if the shadow was a manifestation of dark instincts, cutting a wolf off from his natural power, leaving them helpless and unable to heal with their shadow paralyzed from the ordeal for the next few hours…and wolves capable of such a thing were very rare, since it required both innate aptitude for precise control and lots of skill. Not to mention the knowledge was strictly guarded, for it was an ability for pack leaders who usually only passed it over to their children or successors. 

Isaiah had been forced to roll down shadows before, when stopping an escalating clash in a public space or helping a young inexperienced wolf to hold down their agitated shadow. He had done it for Matthew once before, when the other wolf couldn’t make himself calm down in a very dangerous meeting with overwhelming numbers. 

But he hated doing it. It wasn’t right, any part of it. And if Matthew came to rely on it too much, temper or not, he would never have the confidence needed to control himself. 

“Matt, you can do it on your own,” Isaiah whispered. “I’ll help you, but you have to do it.” 

Matthew took a shuddering breath as if he was trying to lift weight off his back, then clenched his teeth. “I can’t.”

“None of that.” Isaiah’s voice grew louder and commanding. The black haired wolf gripped Matthew’s shoulder, trying to offer an anchorpoint, something to ground him. “You are alright. You are not your shadow. You are in control. You win this. It has no place here, when you command it. You hear?” 

Matthew let out a quiet sob, eyes squeezing shut. Something was moving though, cause the shadow tentacles over the place started to pull back together, concentrating in a whirlpool like shape around them. 

“That’s it. Very well done. Just a little bit more. Don’t let it breathe. Don’t let it think it can win.” 

Matthew nodded, whole body tensing. The rest of the giant mass pulled back into what looked almost like a regular looking human shaped shadow, if a bit too black for the small light of the bathroom. 

Isaiah watched it carefully. “That’s it! Excellent work-”

He was interrupted by a loud gag as Matthew heaved over the floor, once, twice and then a giant pool of barely digested food splashed against the tiles. 

Isaiah grimaced, gripping his shoulder harder so Matthew wouldn’t crash head first into the mess. “Okay. Take deep breaths.”

Matthew heaved again, whole body shuddering as more puke joined the mess. “Sorry-”

“Shut up. It’s fine. Everything is fine now.” He rubbed Matthew’s back. It was sticky with sweat and he could feel every laborious breath the red haired wolf took, fighting against the nausea. 

Matthew gagged and coughed, then made a move to stand, only for his feet to buckle underneath him. He collapsed against Isaiah, who grunted, catching him. Matthew’s energy seemed to have been sapped completely, for he didn’t try to get up again, sprawling over Isaiah’s lap like a rag doll. 

Isaiah let them both just breathe for a minute, though the smell of vomit was intense. Matthew’s head was over Isaiah’s stomach who had his legs folded underneath him, leaning against the wall to support their combined weight. 

“She hates me now, doesn’t she.”

Isaiah looked down at Matthew in surprise. “Of course not.”

“I smelled the fear on her. On the kid too, but…that was worse. For a second I-”

“It’s your shadow. It reacts too strongly, especially when you are surprised by a foreign wolf.” 

“I wouldn’t have hurt her, Isaiah. I swear I wouldn’t.” Matthew’s voice was hoarse from emotion.

Isaiah’s hands slipped around him from behind, gently wrapping him closer against him. Matthew didn’t protest, melting in his arms. 

Isaiah’s shirt was still wet from Seline’s tears. 

“It’s the pack thing,” Isaiah said finally. “We have been really close since we started living together. Your shadow craves it. So it feels threatened easily. Like someone is trying to take her away.”

“I should be able to take a visit from another fucking wolf.” 

“It’s not like you have much experience with…friendly interactions.” 

“Oh yeah? What do you think this is?” Matthew asked, his tone getting more ironic and like him again. 

Isaiah chuckled. He was getting the impression lots of things would get a lot easier if they just did become a pack. Just like Reuben said. Their shadows would stabilize, their tempers calm, the insistent threatening incomplete feeling would go away. And thing like this wouldn’t be weird. Not like it felt off now.

And Isaiah realized how badly he really wanted it. For all three of them to be a pack, to be able to worry, touch, protect and comfort each other with a prerogative right to do so.

"We are going to figure this out, Matt. One problem or two aren't going to destroy everything."

@bellysoupset

[ant-thebooknerd]

Alright, here's Chapter 1. It's not fantastic, but I'm just going to leave it as it is. It can also be found on Wattpad in Shatter Me One-Shots. Hope you enjoy!

Set after Believe Me

"Alright, never have I ever...thought my boyfriend's brother was hot while I was dating him"

Juliette, Warner, Nazeera and Kenji were all seated around a small coffee table in Juliette and Warner's new house. They had eaten dinner and were now playing "Never Have I Ever", where Warner was regretting his life choices and planning a way to kick them out of the house without Juliette objecting. He found none.

"KENJI I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KICK YOU OUT OF THIS HOUSE!!!" yelled Juliette, with mock annoyance. 

Kenji looked at her, not even bothering to conceal his grin. "I don't see you denying it"

Juliette gave a side eye to a now rather smug-looking Warner.

"Ok yeah, maybe I did, but you've seen Adam," she confessed, not regretfully. "Alright then, never have I ever BEEN REJECTED by a girl I was head over heels for but the only thing I heard from that rejection was that I was cute!"

Nazeera laughed, remembering that exact incident months ago. "Hmm, can't say I have", she looked over at Warner. "Neither can I," he said. "Kenji, you?". Kenji's face turned slightly red, before sheepishly glancing at Nazeera. "She did say I had a great face"

"That actually happened? She turned you down?" asked Warner, his face now amused. "You asked her out and he said no?". Kenji looked over at him, and fired back "Well, at least she didn't shoot me!"

The girls exchanged glances, both sporting matching jovial expressions, and they burst into laughter. Warner was surprised at the comeback and looked ready to kill, but he didn't want to ruin the mood, especially not when Juliette looked like she was having such a good time. And to be honest, he wasn't prepared to deal with Nazeera should he do something to Kenji. 

"Well played, Kishimoto. Never have I ever used my brother as target practice while I was learning to snipe and accidentaly shot him in the shoulder. Then,  slapped him in the face for being an idiot and not dodging the bullet."

Kenji and Juliette looked at each other, confused. "What are you on about?"

He shook his head. "Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Warner. "I am not the only person here with a brother."

 All eyes turned to a chill-faced Nazeera.  "Oops, I have," she admitted.

Juliette's eyes went wide, and Kenji's jaw practically dropped to the floor. 

"I...you...YOU WHAT!?" yelled Juliette, in an undignified, high-pitched tone. 

"What do you mean oops? You can't just say Oops, I shot my brother!!" exclaimed Kenji. 

They weren't taking this news very well. Poor people, they had no clue. 

Nazeera raised her eyebrows at them, questioning their shock, as if they should have expected her to shoot her brother without reason. 

"I was learning how to use a sniper and wanted to practice on a live, moving person." She explained. "I could have used a security guard or something I guess, but they never did anything to me. So I used Haider. I spent an hour waiting for the perfect shot, for him to step out onto the balcony and for me to shoot him from the ground, a few hundred metres away. It happened, he stepped out, and I shot him. A guard heard his scream and rushed him to a doctor. The next day, I went up to his bedroom and slapped him for not dodging a very obvious bullet. He got me back the next week though, he broke my arm with a bat. I was nine. It's not a big deal. Did Haider tell you that, Warner?"

"He to-" Warner was cut off by Juliette yelling "You were nine and sniped your brother!?"

"Haha, yeah. Great times. Are you okay over there Kenji?" Nazeera looked over at her troubled boyfriend, his eyes wide. "Heh, I'm fine. I'm just...just a little bit scared"

"You weren't already?" asked Warner. "Kenji this woman could murder half the Sanctuary before anyone notices. I think your fear is justified, considering you are dating her"

"I'd have to agree with him," she laughed. "Anyway, it's getting late and we have a lot of work to get through tomorrow. We'd best be leaving now." She stood up from the armchair she was sitting on and gestured for Kenji to do the same.  

"Awh no, let's do one more round, please!" said Juliette, which was followed by a wholesome, loving and cheerful "Yes please get out" by Warner. 

Much to Warner's dismay, Kenji and Nazeera listened to Juliette.