#I think it’s gonna be one of those ambiguous relationships~

[justanotherfanwriter]

a winter lover needs her jacket

a/n: one-shot, huntlow, unedited. I just wanted to write something. I feel it may be a bit ooc, so forgive me in advance

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

“It’s not pretty to look at, is it?” Hunter asked Willow, surprising her. 

She fumbled, embarrassed she had been caught staring, “Uh?”

Hunter turned his attention away from the map he was scrutinizing to smile at her. His smile was smaller then it had been in the human realm, and she didn’t think it would ever reach his eyes again. 

“It’s okay, Willow,” He shrugged, “you can give it to me straight,” He gestured to his face, “ugly, right?” 

Her heart dropped down into her stomach. A few weeks had passed since they had first returned to the demon realm. It had been emotional, to say the least. Heartfelt and heartbreaking, but their home, in some ways, was still here. Their small world—smaller then the human realm—seemed even smaller, broken up by the Collector and his sick, childish games, but witches were the resilient kind. The band of rebellious survivors they had been lucky enough to reunite with weren’t going down without a fight.

Today, they had set up base camp in the ruins of some town she could no longer recognize. It was a disorienting feeling, but not unfamiliar. For the most part, she swallowed down her discomfort, like she had been since the Day of Unity. It was starting to wear on her though, acting like everything was fine or going to be fine, just as she and Gus had agreed to do back in the human realm for Luz and Hunter’s sake.

Maybe if Willow could gauge how useful her part in this fight was, she’d feel better, but it seemed that even Ms. Noceda, who was quite literally a fish out of water here, knew more then she did. She recognized that these doubts and worries were just a culmination of her anxiety, but the obvious lack of transparency and trust amongst the grown-ups was slowly clawing at her sanity.

In the human realm, when it had just been the five of them, it had all felt so simple. Getting home had been their only goal, and they had all been in the same clueless boat on how to go about doing that.

Here, back home, it was like she had forgotten how frustrating everything could be, how little the adults listened, how everyone seemed to have their own secrets, and how small she actually was. Even in her own friend group, everything that should have been said was not being said. To her, it seemed there was a lot of very crucial, very important stuff to talk about, and anytime she tried talking about anything, she was kept a safe arm-length distance away.

Like for example, Hunter was a Grimwalker. At this point, she knew Luz had been aware, and was sure Gus had been too. And yet, no one was talking about it. 

Or, better yet, tonight’s debriefing. No one had told her it was happening until she accidentally walked in on the tail end of it. A group of adults, including Ms. Noceda, had surrounded Luz and Hunter, talking in hushed tones and worried glances. They had disbanded when Hunter had noticed her, and Luz had tried dragging her back to Gus and Amity. 

“I just need my jacket,” She had explained, shaking the other girl off, “I’ll be right out.” 

And now, she had her jacket, but she wasn’t interested in leaving the tent. Instead, she stared at Hunter. Standing there, prior to being caught, she had thought about giving him a piece of her mind. It wasn’t fair, she knew why, but he hadn’t been the same after stepping through the portal. He was avoiding her, and he was making it obvious. Secrets aside, his avoidance stung. She had thought they were friends, but maybe, she had been wrong. Maybe everything in the human realm had been finite. Their relationship born out of convenience, not shared history. And maybe she could have dealt with his cold shoulder (she was unfortunately well acquainted with rejection), if he wasn’t also avoiding Gus. That was where she drew the line.

But then she thought about how lifeless and limp his body had felt across her lap, soaked to the bone with dirty graveyard pond-water, and the heart wrenching panic that had consumed her. She had thought about that moment more times then she could count. She thought about it every time Hunter left her and Gus behind, and she knew that maybe her friendship wasn’t important to him, but titan, his was important to her. 

And then, of course, because how could she not, she thought about Flapjack. It was a fleeting, painful, and guilty thought. Because it was her secret. The one thing she would never admit. The relief she had felt when it had been Flapjack and not Hunter. 

The thought made her sick. It killed the words sitting on her tongue, so she had stood there, and instead of saying anything at all, she had stared. What could she say to him, thinking something like that?

“Ugly?” She finally spoke after finding a handful of coherent words, “What do you mean?” 

He tilted his head, smirking, “the scars. Don’t worry, they’re—” He glanced into a broken mirror, “—I get it.” 

His eyebrows furrowed the same way they always did when he was mulling over anything from the insignificant ants on the sidewalk to Belos. Generally, she found it endearing. Hunter was bad at masking his emotions when he didn’t have a, well, actual mask. 

She found nothing endearing about it right now. Chewing on her words, she crossed the space between them until she could lean comfortably against the table next to him. She didn’t know if she had the words she needed to explain what she had been thinking about with all of her anger, hurt, and guilt swelling, then cresting. She did know, however, that she hadn’t been standing there thinking about his looks, or lack thereof, in his opinion. She wanted to be offended that he would ever think of her as so shallow, especially after all they had been through together, if it didn’t make her so sad. 

“I don’t think your scars are ugly,” She crinkled her nose, “don’t say that about yourself.” 

He snorted, glancing away from her and back to the map, “sure.” 

Willow frowned, trying her hardest to rationalize the way he shuffled a few inches away from her. 

“You should find Luz and Gus,” he turned his head at an angle so she couldn’t see his eyes.

“Are you not coming?” She crossed her arms, trying to nonchalantly take a peek at the map he seemed so invested in, but Hunter was too quick for her. He started to fold the end closest to her up, seemingly reorganizing the space. She knew him well enough by now to know that was his polite way of dismissing her. Hunter didn’t want her to read the map, just like he hadn’t wanted her to read the book on Gravesfield’s witch hunters. 

He fiddled with a stack of books, “I’ll catch up.” 

“I can—“

“Don’t worry about it.” 

“—wait.” She teetered off awkwardly, deflating.

She was barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes. “Don’t worry about it.” That, or something like it, was all she heard from him nowadays.  

“Well, okay,” She sighed, now knowing she really had been dismissed, “but Hunter?”

He turned away from her to place a few items in a chest, but hummed in acknowledgement. 

She wet her lips. In truth, she still had nothing to say. They hadn’t had a chance to talk one-on-one in so long, she didn’t know where to start. She hadn’t even had the chance to personally say how sorry she was about Flapjack, but still, no words came to mind. She could find nothing to say. Or at least, nothing right to say. Things like I’m sorry, or I’m here for you, felt so...empty and impersonal. And not one hundred percent truthful. Because she wasn’t really sorry sorry. She wasn’t sorry Hunter wasn’t dead. She couldn’t decide if that was evil, or selfish, or cruel, but it was how she felt.

Instead, she blurted the next thing that came to mind. Anything was better then nothing at this point, anyway, if it meant staying in his presence just a few seconds longer. 

“I’m serious.” She reached out and tugged the back of his shirt, pulling him to her, “your scars? They’re not ugly. Do…do you really think that?” 

He turned slightly, putting his most prominent facial scar on display. “Well, they’re certainly not pretty. People stare; you were staring, so...” He trailed off, shrugging again. 

She quirked a brow at him, tilting his chin towards her so she could look at him in full. Despite the way his eyes widened with surprise, his body followed her direction.

“Now, I’m staring,” Willow chided. She looked at him for good long minute, pursing her lips in thought as he fidgeted under her gaze before continuing, “Is there something in particular I should be looking for? Because there’s definitely no way you’re talking about my friend like that.”

There was a beat, and then Hunter snorted and rolled his eyes, “okay, har har, I get it. I’ll be nicer to your friend.”

“Thank you,” She met his smile with a wider one of her own before relaxing.

“They’re going to call for dinner soon, and I’ve got to—” he started backing away from her, but she pulled him closer, positioning him between her knees as she hopped up onto the table, Then, gently, she cupped his face between her hands, “—um, h-hi?” He finished with a nervous laugh.

Willow was too focused to really notice the way Hunter’s whole face seemed to flush as she continued her assessment of him, turning his head this way and that.

“Do they hurt?” She hummed, gently rubbing the pad of her thumb over the scar tissue of his right cheek. While there were a few bumps, she was surprised to find the skin there was extraordinarily soft.

“U-uh, no,” Hunter’s voice cracked, which usually made her giggle, “not anymore really.”

She frowned at that, “so it had, though? It had hurt?”

He shrugged, his face warm to the touch, “I’m okay.”

Don’t worry. I’m okay. It’s fine. He was always playing the martyr, she was beginning to suspect he enjoyed it. She let out an exasperated huff, shaking her head fondly before meeting his eyes.

Eye contact with Hunter never lasted long, but at this proximity, it lasted mere milliseconds. She was able to hold his gaze for maybe .5 seconds before his eyes flitted down her face then quickly to the door.

“Well, I still don’t see anything ugly, Hunter,” she teased; now, carding her fingers through his hair, pushing the fringe up and off his forehead, “just nothing.”

“Thanks, um, you too,” he said after clearing his throat, and then cringed, lips twitching into a wince as he corrected himself, “like, I mean, I don’t see anything ugly either.”

“Oh!” She teased, peering at him from over the rims of her glasses, “Was there supposed to be?”

His eyes widened, and he stuttered through another sentence, “No! No! I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve never...there’s never been anything ugly about you. You’re, uh...”

“I’m...?” Willow slipped her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, urging him on.

She was now acutely aware of the red that scrawled across his face, and it would have made her just as flustered if she didn’t know who Hunter was, and how easy it was to embarrass him. It wasn’t like he was flustered because of her, but she still enjoyed it. It felt...normal, like nothing bad was beyond the tent they stood in, just her and Hunter talking again. She didn’t want it to end.

“Pretty.” He finally choked out, settling on the same socially appropriate adjective Willow would have used to save her feelings too.

And she had the good grace to be appropriately humbled, “Aw shucks, thanks, Hunter. You’re pretty too,” He opened his mouth, likely to argue, but she talked over him, “I mean, look at your hair! It’s the palest blonde I’ve ever seen!”

His hair was still long, or maybe, now, even longer from when they had first reentered the portal back into the demon realm. Though, she would admit, she was a bit biased towards his last haircut, she liked his hair long or short. He didn’t seem to have a preference either.

She pulled her fingers through the almost shoulder length strands, marveling at how impossibly soft the tresses were.

Her attention fell back to his eyes a moment later. The difference in color was still slightly jarring, and if there was anything that she would stare at, it was that. She had grown used to his previous eye color. Actually, she had been embarrassingly fond of it.

In some lights, his eyes had glowed a reddish-pink, in others a dark mauve, and no matter what, they seemed to twinkle like precious jewels.

Willow had thought his eyes had been so interesting, she caught herself staring at them often. It should have clicked earlier that he was a Grimwalker. In the abomination track, she had learned about the fabled “creature.” While Grimwalkers weren’t abominations, since Grimwalkers were sentient, the process in which they were created involved the same magical techniques, plus a significant amount of complicated wild magic involving the other magic tracks that Emperor Belos had banned long ago.

(The irony was not lost on her.)

The magic behind Grimwalkers was about the only thing she could confidently say she paid attention to during her time in the abomination track, and that was because it was the only time an abomination Professor mentioned plant magic, so of course, she had paid attention.

Now, his eye color was brown. A good brown. The color was a warm kind of brown that felt less exotic and more homey, and made her think of honey, and for whatever reason, hugs. Or at least, soft things, which she had come to associate with Hunter now as opposed to the sharp and jaded boy she had met all those months ago.

“Your eye color was so pretty before, but this color,” she paused, smiling at him as she again pushed his hair off his face, “I think it really suits you.”

It was her turn to break eye contact, hoping her tone hadn’t admitted too much.

She was in luck, he didn’t notice a thing. Instead, his face twisted and he looked away. Hunter from the human realm was gone in an instant, leaving behind Hunter from the demon realm.

“Caleb had brown eyes,” Hunter spat, pulling away from her, though not far enough that he had stepped away from her entirely.

Willow bit the inside of her cheek. Hunter had never mentioned Caleb before, at least, not to her, but she was semi-aware of who the man was thanks to a bunch of half-whispered gossip and context clues. It was obvious how much this admission tore him up, and she was, again, confronted with the horrifying fact that she had nothing to say to that.

Willow had her dad’s eyes. She was smart enough to know this wasn’t anything like that.

However, she could see the storm brewing behind his eyes, and every second that ticked by where she didn’t say something, his features only grew darker. This, she felt, was a crucial moment, and she had to say the right thing, so she decided to tell him her honest truth.

“Flapjack had brown eyes.”

“What?” He asked after a beat of the absolute heaviest silence she had ever had the displeasure of sitting through.

“Flapjack had brown eyes.” She repeated, “And I...I see who I know in you, and I knew Flapjack, and those are his eyes. Not Caleb’s. And they,” She tried again, taking a deep breath, “they suit you.”

“Flapjack’s?” He echoed, his voice very small and very far away.

“Mhm, and anyway, I may not know who this Caleb guy is, but,” Willow shrugged with what she hoped was a bashful smile, “still not bad looking.”

He didn’t respond to that right away either, but he no longer looked like he was ready to attack, and she counted that as a personal win. With a sigh that could have also been a laugh, he ran his fingers through his hair, and she watched the lock of hair that had never know any kind of rhyme or reason, pop out and fall back down across his face.

“Hunter?” She twisted a finger around the forlorn lock and gave it the slightest tug, watching as Hunter’s pupil’s dilated, “We’ll see you at dinner, right?” 

“Yep,” He breathed, swallowing, and then gestured to the mess around them, “I just, um,” His eyes fluttered closed and he shook his head, thinking something she wasn’t privy to, “gotta put this stuff away.”

Understanding this was his polite way of asking for a moment, Willow hopped off the table. Given how close Hunter was to her, their chests grazed against each other as she stood and she could feel her face tingle with a sudden, embarrassed warmth. Sometimes she forgot how much space she could take up, but he didn’t move away.

“Don’t take too long, okay?” She said, peering up at him over her glasses once again, “We miss you.” And then she realized, if she didn’t say what she really meant, she’d never find the courage to say it later on, so quickly, she corrected herself, “I miss you. A lot. So, stop avoiding me, okay?”

“I’m not av—”

She put a finger to his lips, shushing him, “You could be Boscha’s Grimwalker for all I cared, but you’re Hunter to me, so no more, okay?”

He nodded with an unwavering gaze, and didn’t so much as whisper, but moved his lips against her finger, “Okay.”

Willow let her finger fall away from his mouth, and winked, “see ya at dinner then.”

“Yeah,” He nodded again, “see you then.”

She smiled, giving his lock of hair one more playful tug before saying her final airy goodbye.

“Byeee,” He copied, waving as she walked out of the tent.

It wasn’t until later that night, while in the dinner line with Gus, mulling over her conversation with Hunter, that she realized she had forgotten something crucial.

”Willow!” Gus cried out in surprise as she smacked her forehead, “What the heck!”

“I forgot my jacket!”

———————————————

Hunter watched Willow leave with his heart lodged hard and fast in his throat. When the tent flap fell down behind her, he allowed himself to suck in a gulp of much needed air, melting into a random chair like a puddle.

“Whoa,” he breathed, still sinking with relief as the areas Willow—Willow Park—had touched and caressed, tingled, and he licked his lips.

Then, he pinched the top of his hand, hard, just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. He registered the pain, heard himself hiss, but still couldn’t believe it. Good things didn’t just happen to him like that?

Without thinking, he glanced at the broken mirror hanging to his side. Its once smooth surface now had a million fissures shooting off in different directions, likely damaged when the Collector had first attacked, and a cracked reflection stared back at him. This time he didn’t see the face of a man he didn’t know, but himself. A deep red flush that traveled from the tips of his ears down to the base of his neck was just beginning to fade as his heartbeat evened out. He forced himself to take another deep breath, gaze falling to his mouth, only for him to blush again as he thought of the measly few inches Willow’s mouth had been from his own. 

Again, he looked at the whole of his face. His. Not Caleb’s. And breathed, enjoying the pink of his cheeks, why it was there, and the excited gleam in his eye. He hadn’t looked so alive in a good few weeks. The last time he had enjoyed what he had seen in the mirror, he had been in the broken down “club house” back in the human realm with Flapjack.

His gladerstone-heart-thing let out a hard pang at the thought of his palisman. He felt guilty all of the sudden, that he could even fathom enjoying anything at all without his very first loved one right by his side. Tears gathered quickly in the corner of his eyes—

No.

Flapjack’s eyes.

Willow’s words echoed in his head, making him smile all over again as he stared a little deeper into his irises. After awhile, he let out a little whistle, like the one Flapjack did when he said hello, and just the sound of it forced a laugh—thick with tears—from his mouth.

“Hey buddy,” he sniffled at his reflection, wiping snot away with the back of his hand. “I miss you.”

He knew from personal experience how nice that was to hear.

[yamujiburo]

HANAMUSA (JESSIExDELIA) MASTER POST

I probably should have started doing this forever ago but I wasn’t sure how long I was gonna stick with drawing these comics. But I guess we’re in it now! This will be continually updated~ EVERYTHING UNDER THE CUT

BEFORE YOU START:

This post is required reading about Team Rocket’s ages since that’s usually a question that comes up a lot LOL. As for Delia’s age, she is said to be 29 in Takeshi Shudo’s (original writer on Pokémon) novel that built out the world and characters of the anime.

Next, I feel like this chart helps give the vibe of what these characters relationship is (all just headcanons except for their names and ages)!

WHERE TO START:

Here’s a post I made detailing how Jessie, James and Meowth initially start living with Delia. It also goes into what each character does in this AU. Before going into the post, you might enjoy this fanfic my girlfriend commissioned! It’s based off of said post and is a more enjoyable read.

Here’s also a list of headcanons!

COMICS:

Here’s all the comics I’ve done! The order of most of them are pretty ambiguous and up in the air but I put them in the order I kinda see in my head! There are some that do take place before Jessie and Delia start dating though! Also a few comics that have several parts but the “next” and “prev” links will be in each comic. So I’ll only link the first part of those ones in this masterpost.

Pre-Relationship

Fast Food

Ophidiophobia

Whipped

Making Eyes

Hairbrush

Inquiries

Separated

First Kiss

During Relationship

Big Bed

Tattoo

Crumbs

Pet Clown

I’d Like To

Jessica

Lipstick (not a comic but some fun extra dialogue for this)

Glow

Sleeptalking

Official

Stare Down

Shovel Talk

Invisible Walls

Date Night

Face Blind

One Motto Away

Babygirl

Snowgasboard

Delia’s Got a Cold

Mr. Jessie Ketchum

Peek-At-Chu

Hands Off Pikachu!

Wine Nights with James

Beauty and the Beach

Turning Point Arc

Sunscreen

Where Do Babies Come From

Head Scritches

Love Life

Ugly

Ace Trainers

Pikasitting

Mother’s Day

Father’s Day

Gift for Delia

Gift for Jessie

Jessilina Fan

Crossdressing

Type

Hickeys

Journey Arc

Tone

Cooking Twerp

Son

Cooking Advice

Serperior Facts

Cassidy’s Cabin Arc

Father/Son Bonding

Uniform

Hand-Me-Downs

Glasses

Study Help

Happy Valentine’s Day

Wrapped

Daddy Daughter Double Battle

Splinter

Married Life

Wedding

Arbok/Weezing Reunion

Snake Eyes

MISC DRAWINGS:

I’ll update this with links to my other miscellaneous drawings later! 

FAQ:

What does "Hanamusa" mean?

Hanamusa is a combination of Delia and Jessie's Japanese names, Hanako and Musashi respectively.

When does this AU take place?

It takes place sometime after the Mezase Pokémon Master/To Be a Pokémon Master series. So all the events that happened in the series, unless retconned within the series, happened. Ash is 10 at the start of the comics.

What's the status between Jessie, James, Meowth and Giovanni/Team Rocket?

Not great terms since they were fired, but also not the worst terms. Giovanni just let the three of them go without any further issues. I will say that I've always loved the theory that Giovanni keeps Jessie specifically around because of her parentage and he as a soft spot for her that he keeps a secret. I feel like Matori was the one that got the three of them fired and Giovanni wasn't able to make an excuse for them this time (without showing nepotism/special treatment) so he was forced to let them go.

If you headcanon Delia as a lesbian, how did Ash come to be?

Delia was young when she had Ash and I hc that she just didn’t really explore her sexuality much! I myself didn’t realized I liked women until I was 18 and didn’t know I liked ONLY women until like 2 years ago. She got married, had a baby and realized after her husband left that she liked women (trans people exist obviously but I’m also interpreting Ash’s father as a cis man).

Who do you think Ash’s dad is?

I don’t know and I don’t really care to explore it. I’m going off of the novel interpretation that he’s just a deadbeat that left to be a trainer, failed and never came back because of the shame. He’s not important.

Isn’t Giovanni Ash’s dad?

That’s a common misconception that people remember wrong from the Pokémon Live show. Delia mentions she dated Giovanni but then left him and his gang after meeting Ash’s father. I also don’t consider the live show canon personally! I follow The Birth of Mewtwo timeline where Madame Boss founded Team Rocket.

Do you think Delia and Giovanni dated at least?

Nah, I think he’s too old for her? I always got the vibe from The Birth of Mewtwo that he was quite a bit older than Jessie and it’d be sus if he was dating Delia when she was married to, and had a child with her husband at 18/19. He’s a bad guy but not a BAD guy.

You mentioned you still ship Jessie and James. Why not make a Jessie, James, Delia polycule?

I have a few reasons I’ve mentioned before! 1. I’m in super deep with this AU already and I feel it’d be very confusing for casual viewers of my stuff if James was added into the relationship haha. 2. I’ve drawn Jessie and James together since 2011 and took this AU as an opportunity to try my hand at writing them as queer, platonic besties bc I love that interpretation of them a lot as well. 3. I’m not poly myself and the way I write this ship is largely based off of my experiences with my girlfriend. I just know I’d favor the Jessie/Delia of it all which isn’t fair and not a good interpretation of a poly relationship. All that said, I DO super enjoy seeing peoples’ poly headcanons and art!

Who does James end up with in this AU?

No one. He's aroace and is happy to be single

Do Jessie and James have all their Pokémon in this AU

I think they have all the Pokémon that they did by the end of Mezase Pokémon Master (all their Pokémon that were left at HQ). Most of their released Pokémon have stayed released and the Alola Pokémon are still in Alola. I bring back Arbok and Weezing post-Jessie and Delia getting married. I may bring back Chimecho, Growlie and Cacnea if I think of an idea I like!

What are Meowth and James up to in this AU?

Hop back to the top of this post under the "Where to Start" section. All your questions will be answered.

Does Ash travel with anyone at this point of his life?

I don't have anyone in particular in mind! I could see him making new friends (Nemona???) or traveling with different combinations of old friends. Like him, Misty and Goh, him, Dawn and Cilan, him, Serena and Lillie etc.

Will Delia ever get over her phobia of snake Pokémon

Not fully! I think overcoming fears is fine and good but I think real PHOBIAS are much harder to get past and I don't want to cheapen it. She slowly gets used to Jessie's Seviper specifically and gets to the point where she can pet it comfortably with Jessie in the room. But otherwise, still scared and would need that same amount of time per Pokémon

Is Jessie gaining weight or is it just me?

Not just you! Jessie puts on a bit of relationship weight overtime as you'll see in the later comics in the timeline. Jessie grew in poverty, never knowing when her next meal would be and that continued into her life as a Team Rocket member. Once she was able to settle down (with a woman who runs her own restaurant no less) she's able to live a healthier lifestyle with regular meals and puts on some weight because of that.

Does Jessie ever feel self conscious about gaining weight?

Nope! She feels happier and healthier and hotter. She's also unreasonably excited to clear out her old clothes and get a new wardrobe.

Would Jessie and Delia ever have kids together or adopt?

Nah, Ash is enough for them! I have come up with hypothetical kids for them but they're not canon to this AU. Just a fun little thing for me.

Will you ever put this on webtoon?

Nah. People mostly ask me this because they want to read everything in the order of the timeline but to my knowledge, you can’t reorder chapters or installments which would defeat the purpose. I also don’t think nintendo fan stuff would fly there. Also, also it’s just extra work and another place to upload and I want to keep this all fun for myself~

[cecilxa]

lasting childhood dream/sweetly shared future

summary: ever since you were little, alhaitham knew what he wanted.

contents: childhood friends!au, fluff, ambiguous relationship at the end (although implied romantic), gn!reader (they/them pronouns used), soft soft alhaitham

cw: food

wc: 1k

a/n: so so sorry for the slow updates :') things will (hopefully !) be picking up momentum again 🤞

“Hey, Haitham.”

Your high-pitched voice calls out to him. He chooses to ignore it. 

“Hey! Haitham! Are you purposely ignoring me cause you wanna read? Again?”

A crease forms at his eyebrows–an action that a nine-year-old should never have gotten used to as often as he did–and his hands tighten around the pages of his book. You always did this. Nearly every day, you would choose to sit next to him. He can’t even remember when it started, but soon enough, you had proclaimed him your ‘best friend for life’. 

For a child prodigy like Alhaitham, it’s extraordinary how he has no idea why you’ve chosen him to be your designated play partner. You don’t even play like the other kids. He just sits there, reading his book, and you sit there with him, chatting incessantly about whatever it is you want–not like he cares, anyway. (It was food on Monday, an interesting flower you found on Tuesday, and food again on Wednesday.)

He’s never asked you why, and you’ve stuck with him long enough for him to be satisfied with not knowing. It’s not like he’s not curious; he just finds his books more interesting. 

“Well, since you’re not answering, I guess I’ll just find someone else to play with!” 

You harrumph, turning your head away. However, since you don’t make any move to physically get up, Alhaitham doesn’t look up from the slightly-yellowed pages that he hasn't noticed he's crinkling. 

But then, the unthinkable happens. Legs that were previously lounging beside him begin to unfold and rise, a shadow forming over his head. It takes him the time for you to fully stand up for him to comprehend what was happening. His crease deepens further. 

“Wait.”

On instinct, one of his hands that was holding onto his book clasps onto yours, his head bowed down. His fringe hides his face, which, for once–however annoying it may be–he’s grateful for, as it means you can’t see the blush readily spreading across his cheeks. Pretending to be more interested in dragon fights and swordsmanship, he all but whispers. 

“Stay. I like it better when you’re here.”

Your eyes lighten up, and a large smile breaks out across your face. 

“I like it when you’re with me too! And I wasn’t actually gonna leave you. I just wanted to get us some sweets!” 

“Oh.”

If he wasn’t already thankful for his fringe, he definitely is now, what with the embarrassment he’s being forced to endure. You can still probably see his ears, which he can feel burning up. Not replying, he lets go of your hand–almost abruptly–and lets you skip away to the local sweets vendor that always exudes a sugary smell. 

He watches you all the way. The sun’s shining brightly on your skin, making it glow. Your toothy grin still pervades his mind, and he can feel the blush on his cheeks that never seems to go away whenever you’re around. Or maybe that’s the heat. But then why is his heart doing backflips? And why do those backflips increase in speed when he looks down at the hand that was held in yours? He thinks that they fit perfectly, like two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, and (as much as he doesn’t want to admit it) that he wants you to be around him. 

“Stupid thoughts. I only tolerate them because they’re my only friend.”

He chooses to ignore the other thought that his heart seems to tell. 

“They’re my only friend. But I don’t mind, because I really only care about them.”

After a few minutes, you come back with that same toothy grin, carrying an assortment of sweet treats for the both of you to devour in only a few seconds. They all blend together into a saccharine scent. 

“Look, try this one, Haitham! The person said it was a new flavour!”

He accepts it immediately, taking it gently from your hand and putting it into his mouth. It explodes with flavour–nutty and aromatic, nothing like the sugary syrup of the others. A small and satisfied smile creeps onto his face, his eyes failing to hide his delight. It does get stuck, however, as he tries to get parts of it dislodged from the gaps in his teeth. A giggle interrupts him.

“Haitham, you look really funny! Y’know, I want to have a sweet shop when we’re grown up so that I can make all the sweets you want! Then we can have fun together even when we have to do grown-up, boring stuff.”

You remember to be considerate, and turn to him.

“What about you, Haitham? What do you wanna be when you’re grown up?”

–

Alhaitham doesn’t remember exactly what he said after. Probably a scholar. All he can remember is younger him staring blatantly, mouth gaping open at your questioning eyes, and his heart pounding at your mention of ‘we’. The realisation that you felt the same way as him left him astounded. In that moment, he felt something bloom in his chest, something that he’s carried all these years. 

Although he’s not sure whether you ever fully understood how much of a soft spot he had for you. You never even noticed how his headphones were always on the ground, rather than on his head, whenever you were around. 

Now, reading his book peacefully, he looks down at his lap and allows himself to smile. You’re going to wake up with a sore neck if he keeps you in this position for much longer, but just for a moment, he wants to admire you. 

Alhaitham strokes your hair tenderly, moving it out of your face, nimble fingers caressing your jawline. His eyes soften. How much you’ve meant to him. The years that he’s known you for don’t compare to the amount of gazes he’s thrown your way, so full of youthful longing and yearning. Because ever since you said ‘we’, he’s been able to answer your question. Maybe not in the exact same way he did all those years ago, but an answer that’s been stewing for every year after. 

“When I grow up, I want to be by your side.”

a/n: he’s grown on me i can’t lie 😔 enemies to lovers though 😍😍 likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated !! 🩷🩷 (pink heart for iOS finally!)

[twstddream]

If your request are still open can I ask for some hc of Savanaclaw trio, Octavinelle trio , and the diasomnia gang reacting to:

Twst boy: what you reading there?

Mc: *walking out of room* 101 ways to seduce a male _____" (ie. Hyena, fae or octopus) ~❤

 I’m not gonna lie, I had no clue how to write this. But, I’m giving it a shot. The MC will be more flirty, but aloof at the same time. And just for y’all Che’nya lovers, I added him to the list :)

THIS WAS REQUESTEDLAST OCTOBER I’M SO SORRY

Story outline: The boys notice you reading a book. Now they’re subjected to your interesting reading material

GN!Reader by default. No personal pronouns used besides they/them.

Ambiguous relationship with the boys.

• Leona had few things he cared about at Night Raven College. Those being magical shift tournaments, napping under the shade of his favourite tree in the botanical garden, and you. He often found himself pouring all of his love and attention into you, and you didn’t mind reciprocating one bit.

So of course he’d notice once your attention starts to waver from him.

• You see, just a few days ago, Ruggie had approached you asking for help in returning and checking out some new books for classes. After messing around with Ruggie for a bit (and being told to quiet down more than a handful of times) you both had stumbled across a rather fascinating book. At the behest of the cheeky hyena boy, you had checked “How to Seduce Afterglow Savannah Beastmen” out of the library.

• Nothing much gets past Leona, even when’s asleep he’s somehow acutely aware of his surroundings. You knew it wouldn’t be long before he sat up and badgered you about whatever, but you wanted to control the topic today.

•  Finally stirring from his catnap, he noticed that damned book in your hands. He only stared for a few moments, waiting for you to engage with him, but you hadn’t.

• “Oi, herbivore,” Leona finally spoke up “what’s that book you have there, hm? Is it really that much more important than me?” He teased.

• Ohoho, he fell right into your trap.

You held up the still-open book in your hands for him to read.

“Nothing much, Leona. I just picked up a book I thought looked interesting today...”

Now that he can read the chapter you were on his eyes widen in shock

“... How to Seduce a Male Lion Beastman”

• “Hah? What are you trying to start here, human?” he bore his fangs lightly

• This was the time to play dumb.

“I don’t know what you mean, I’m not trying to start anything, Leona. I’m just indulging in a good book.” You replied, all while batting your eyelashes sweetly at him.

• “You’re reading that in my bed, forgive me for making such accusations.” His sarcasm did not go unnoticed. But after that he flipped over and fell asleep.

-------

• After the initial incident, he expected you to drop it, but to his utter surprise (and slight embarrassment) you once again brought that damn book to his dorm room. What’s more, he’s seen that you’ve made significant progress in the book, 3/4 of the way finished judging by the bookmark you’ve left stuck between the pages.

• Leona lets out a heavy, laboured sigh. He knows you’re not gonna drop this until you get the reaction you want.

“I’ll indulge you just this once, herbivore,” Leona rolls over and faces towards you, laying on his side with his arms propping himself up, an expectant look on his face 

“Hit me with your best shot. I wanna see you put that rotten book to use. If it turns out that you’ve been wasting your time, I’ll be looking forward to see how you make it up to me.”

• Okay, nothing to worry about, all you have to do is uhhh...

• Being put on the spot like this has made you forget everything you’ve (jokingly) read.

• In your panic you did the only thing your malfunctioning brain could think to do. You lean in and place a quick peck on his lips, quickly retreating to your side of the bed, placing your face in your hands and curl your body away from the lion beastman now sat at attention next to you.

• Leona let out a loud and boisterous laugh, something so rarely elicited from the normally lazy and jaded prince.

"Hahahah! You really though you had something there, didn’t you?” His laughter quickly but quietly died down, and he became serious. Taking advantage of the now slightly-tense atmosphere, he trailed on,

“Hah, in all honesty, I don’t think you need some book to ‘seduce’ me. You’ve got me wrapped around your finger..” his voice died off towards the end but you heard him perfectly fine.

• “Well, if we’re admitting truths here, I didn’t think I’d get this far.” You shyly confess.

• Staying silent, but nodding to acknowledge what you said, he shifted closer to you and leaned in, a soft plea on his lips

“Do it again...”

-------

“I’m waiting to see how you’ll make it up to me. And no more of these soft affections, I expect you to fully devote yourself to me from now on, and to honour me properly.”

• Ruggie has taught you many things. To enjoy the small pleasures that life brings, how to efficiently utilize everything you’re given, and his most important of imparted knowledge, how to have a good laugh.

• Ruggie isn’t one for practical jokes per se, but he’s always up for messing with and teasing others’ when the opportunity presents itself (and it’s safe to do so.) He’ll rope you into his badgering on occasion, and he’s sure to share the blame with you (even if you didn’t actually do anything.)

• With all of his past jests in mind, you decide to mess with him yourself. The poor boy is so easy to fluster with genuine affection, it’s easy to come up with the method of which you’re going to torment him.

• You pick up a book from a small library on Sage Island and quickly employ all that you’ve learned. All that you’ve learned was, essentially, to walk funny. Hilarious diagrams were shown, and you were convinced you had it down pat. Now all there was to do was to, ahem, present yourself to the hyena boy. Even if it was embarrassing you were sure he’d get a laugh out of it, even if your original intent was to set the boy’s heart aflutter (through unconventional means, that is.)

• But then you decided your pride and dignity are more important than doing a funny walk. So you opted to just present the book to him.

• It was easy to track down Ruggie down in the Savanaclaw dorm. He was always running around doing various chores and tasks, ever the dutiful golden goose- er, hyena.

He notices you approaching and quickly whistles in your direction while sending you a short wave of acknowledgement.

• Time to enact your master plan. Quickly jogging over to the young boy, you pull out your prized possession and call out,

“Oi, Ruggie! I wanted to ask you some questions!”

The second year’s tail started wagging wildly behind him.

• You want to ask him a question, meaning you want his help with something? Out of everyone you went to him. Oh, he was over the moon.

‘What’s that you’re holding? A book? So you want help with studying, huh? It’s gonna cost you though. Hmm, what should he charge you, a meal at the cafeteria? Or maybe some help with shopping? Oh wait you’re right in front of him now uh oh -were you saying something?’

• His agape mouth only opened even more when he spotted the title of the book you brought along with you.

“101 Ways to Seduce a Male Hyena”

• “He- hey! What are you doing with something like that, huh?! Are you trying to start something?!”

You responded with a simple nod and a loose smile. His cheeks were dusted with a dull pink, and his widened eyes were twitching ever so slightly. A beautiful sight, indeed. Unfortunately for you, he recovered quickly, his gaze shying away and holding his hand to his mouth to muffle his words and hide his face.

“You’re more trouble than you’re worth, you know that? As compensation, I expect you to help me with this laundry.”

• Okay, fair enough. You got what you wanted. You throw the book on top of the pile of already folded clothes and get to work, Ruggie still avoiding your curious gaze.

-------

“If you’re gonna do such a poor job then I might as well teach you myself. I’ll let you know though, I’m very much a hands-on kind of teacher, shishishi~! And it won’t be cheap either! But I guess since you’re so eager to learn, I might give you a discount. Only because we’re this close...”

 • Jack liked his routine, it was familiar, and it helped improve what he considered essential in his life. He can appreciate that you join in on his daily training, or studying. Even if you’re not joining in, and all you’re doing is passing him his water or towel, or handing him a new pen when is runs out. You’re kind like that.

• With that being said Jack didn’t expect you to enter his dorm room holding a book with the title “How to attract a wolf beastman” because why would someone like you do that. You wouldn’t do that, right?

• He rubs his eyes and sees that he is, in fact, not having the strangest nightmare of his life. No, this is real alright.

 “Jack! Just the man I wanted to see!” You greet, inviting yourself to sit on his bed, choosing not to make a comment on the flustered state of your best friend.

 Jack is stuck in place, feeling like he just got pushed into a surprise ice bath.

• His reaction really isn’t anything other than switching between a mixture of shock, mortification, and the tiniest bit of envy. 

•  But why envy? Why I feel jealous over what is clearly a small prank. Is it that I feel insignificant enough for them to do this, but then again, in them going through with their prank does that make me special? But would they do this with just anyone? If it garnered the same result, would they try and fluster just about anyone? Agh, thinking about all of this is useless!

• Nothing prepared you for Jack crossing the room and ripping the book out of your hands faster than you could blink. He holds the book loosely in one hand, his other placed on his hips, and holding the book as far away from him as he can, all the while reprimanding you with his glare alone.

“You’re crazy, you know that? I don’t want to have to deal with the aftermath of your messes, especially when you pull stuff like this. What if it was anyone else but me? Someone less savoury and can’t take a joke or a no. I don’t want you getting hurt over such a small trick...”

“What do you mean ‘it’s only for me’!? That’s it! Out!”

• Jack couldn’t stay mad for too long and went to apologize to you for his outburst with an offer of lunch in the cafeteria. Which you found strange, he was the victim of the prank, not you? Why apologize for getting (appropriately) angry?

• He took your fucking lunch that’s why. He’s a damn scoundrel and a liar.

-------

“What do you think you’re doing?! ..Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not flustered at all! I’m concerned for your well-being is all; carrying something like that around in Savanaclaw is sure to bring about some unwanted attention. Of course, I’ll protect you from any rowdy students, don’t mistake me for some scoundrel... I know you were looking for my attention, and now that you’ve got it, I don’t want you seeking out another’s. Heh, you’re crazy for doing this, but don’t expend that effort for anyone else. Only me, got it?”

• Azul tries so hard to keep up his suave businessman persona, but he fails miserably. He’s slumping into himself, face red, with his mouth agape. He looked ridiculous.

• Genuinely has an anime glasses crack moment. He sits silent in his seat but quickly starts sputtering nonsense and averts his gaze, looking everywhere but you.

• It takes a monumental amount of effort to not start reading off a paragraph from the book. But you decide that Azul’s in enough agony as it is.

• “My dear, is there ah- any particular reason for your visit today?” The poor octomer looked about ready to burst, all while trying to compose himself.

“Not that I don’t enjoy your visits and our time together, no, no. Any time spent with you is time well spent! But I- you see- uhm...” He rambles on.

• Standing from your seat, you make your way over the dazed man, stopping mere inches from him, and lowering yourself to look him in the eyes (which was hard since he was doing the exact opposite of what you were doing)

When his eyes finally dart to yours, he gains a hopeful expression. It was a cute site. His faint blush, slightly ajar mouth, while he looks up at you beneath the rim of his hat with that timid expression, it truly was a marvelous site. Little did Azul know, these expressions are exactly what make you keep pulling stunts like this.

• You quickly flip his hat down onto his face, and let out the lightest of laughs, thought it was at his expense, Azul found your laugh to be simply angelic and (begrudgingly) worth the embarrassment.

• It was a quick and easy solution, his last resort to save face, Azul invites you to a free dinner at the Mostro Lounge, with him as your guest, of course. And with your eager acceptance, he begins to plan the perfect date.

-------

“What are you laughing at? My face? You’re laughing at my face?! ... Oh. You meant my expression... Well, yes, yes, it was a funny joke, you don’t need to keep laughing so hard, please exert some effort to keep your dignity in tact. Though I’m not sure you have much left, let alone care about regaining or sustaining it...”

• Desperate to seem actually interested in the subject of the book currently in your hands, you walked and read at the same time. Which isn’t always the best idea, as it’s left you open to stumbling into walls and fellow students alike. But then you accidentally got invested in the reading material, and you found yourself reading it for real, flipping the pages at a rapid yet steady pace.

 This is how you found yourself floundering about the empty yet claustrophobic walkways of the Mostro Lounge to your assigned table. When it hit you, literally, that you were so focused on your book that you neglected everything (and everyone) that was around you. You ran into just the eel you wanted to see.

•  “Do keep your attention and guard up around these parts, it’s quite rude to ignore those in your presence, not to mention easy to slips things by you. Not that I’m suggesting any harm shall befall upon you, but it is best to be careful. Now, may I recommend reading over our menu, seeing as you’re quite the voracious reader.” He lightly chuckles at his little comment at the end.

• You honestly did not know how you missed the presence of Jade, what with his tall stature and somewhat menacing aura, and also the fact that you were reading this damned book just for him, so he really should be the person you’re most alert to right now, but that seems to not be the case.

• The leering grin on his face clues you in on the fact that he has definitely seen your reading material, and definitely expects you to make your move. That sadist.

• He’s curious as to what you’ll do. Will you deploy any tactics? Or will you stumble over yourself in an attempt to save face? Is that even a concern of yours?

He finds your reaction and next actions endearing anyways. Whether this was all a joke to fluster him (which he’ll never admit it, but it worked) or an honest attempt to study the culture of his species, or something else, he’s enraptured by your boldness.

-------

“I thank you for choosing to dine with us today. And trust me when I say that I’m not just spouting rhetorics, I truly am grateful to have seen you today. You and your antics... Please continue to show me such interesting things. In that regard, I am in your care”

• Floyd didn’t like boring things. This was a fact everyone knew. So to really capture his attention and catch his interest, you decided to (perhaps) step out of character and do something spontaneous. Something that’ll hopefully catch him off-guard and get a laugh out of him.

You already held his attention and affection, of course. But what’s wrong with a bit of harmless whimsy?

• Turns out a lot, actually. All you wanted to do was show off your book to him and maybe get a chuckle out of it, but Floyd thought of this as a passion-filled chase and promptly rose from his seat and sprinted full-speed at you. Which led to you boarding yourself inside of Ramshackle with the crazed eel-man banging on your front door. Grim was wailing upstairs, telling you he knew it was a bad idea, the ghosts were arming themselves with brooms and mops. It as a disaster.

• You half-expected your door to be bust down and for you to resign yourself to your fate of being squeezed to an inch of your life, until the deafening knocking on your door quieted down to nothing. But you knew he hadn’t left, and you knew it was a bit cruel to the boy to run away like you did. However, he truly seemed like a predator chasing his prey. 

You took a deep breath in, and approached the door as you exhaled. Preparing for the violent hug of your closest friend. You closed your eyes as you turned the handle, and let out a gasp of air as you were tackled to the ground.

• “Shrimpy! You’re so mean, y’know that? Locking me out of your home when you started all of this!” The boy’s tackled hug had knocked the breath out of you, but he didn’t seem to mind your panting, as he rubs his cheek against yours and pets your head.

“You owe me something, don’t you think?” He turned serious all too suddenly, lifting his head to stare into your eyes with his mismatched own.

“How about a date!?” He cheerily proposes, his menacing air dissipating completely. 

Why not, you decide. Spending time with Floyd was what you wanted all along.

“And, you can show me all the stuff you learned. Won’t that be fun? It better be good though, I don’t want anything lazy.” There’s the Floyd you know and love.

-------

“So about that date, I was thinking of taking you to the Coral Sea and dumping some swimming lessons on you! Doesn’t that sound fun? Hm, no? Well too bad, we’re doing it anyways! I won’t let you drown, don’t worry, but I can’t guarantee I won’t toy with you a bit. It’s only fair, you know? Accept your punishment~”

•  The devotion you invest into your relationships is what made Malleus sure that you were the right one. The right one for what? Only time will tell, but he’s fine with anything. Your love, your disdain, your affection, he’ll gladly accept it all. So when you threw yourself into the study of his culture and home country, he felt honoured. And he knew that would understand how wonderful Briar Valley was. You just had to.

• So imagine his surprise when he catches you reading what he considers such a scandalous book. Were you, his child of man, truly interested in the courting methods of the fae?

• He’d spend many silent hours pondering on whether or not this interest was surface level, or if it delved deeper. Were you reading just to understand it from a clinical perspective? Or were you truly looking to take up a lover, and if so, who?

• Malleus hoped with all his heart that he was on your mind as you flipped through the pages, that it was his hands and fingers you envisioned when prompted with the thought of exchanging rings and vows, that it was his hair you would keep in a locket safe and secure around your neck. His body, mind, and soul belonged to you, and he knew it. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

-------

“Child of man, I see you are studying up on the courting methods between humans and faeries, are you not? I thought as much. Tell me, does your heart yearn for another when you read these passages? Does it ache with the passion of young love maturing? I wonder, do you feel what I feel?”

• Ohoho, has someone caught your eye, young prefect? For you to indulge yourself in reading something so improper, oh it must be someone special.

• Of course Lilia knows. He knows everything, apparently, and he knows you know that he knows. And he’s gonna give you the run-around.

It’s all “Oh, where did you pick up this book of yours?” this and Any particular reason that it caught your eye?” that. “Anyone on your mind lately, prefect? Don’t you worry, I won’t tell a soul, I promise.” He says as he throws in a wink at the end. You swear he’s not worth the trouble, but you know you’re lying to yourself in thinking that.

• Lilia now hovers around you more (literally), more than he ever has. He’ll pop in and strike up a conversation while you do the most mundane things. The old man can’t help but want to hog up all your free-time, and then some. How can he help himself? You’re just so cute in his eyes!

• I wouldn’t call him flustered per se, but he’s definitely moved by your gesture, now matter how comedic it started out as. The old bat often finds himself thinking of you, but now with the added details of a life spent together. Oh how he wishes to raise some children with you, he hopes you’ll accept that. He hopes that you’ll accept him, the real him, underneath his spontaneity and tailored youth.

-------

“Prefect! I see you still have your nose buried in that old book of yours. Say, how about instead of some light reading, we have some fun. just the two of us, some quality time for us both. We both know the importance of time and how we spend it, at least, I do, and if you accept my offer, I can teach you the importance of time as well. In fact! Why don’t I cook us both a traditional meal, hm? Surely that will bridge the gap between us!”

• “HUMAN! Just what do you think you’re reading?! Do you know the disrespect you are exhibiting towards the Young Master and fae kind right now by even holding that book?!” The usual volume of Sebek’s voice seemed like a whisper compared to the sheer screeching he was hurtling in your direction. The few students still lingering in the cafeteria turned towards the two of you, but quickly dismissed you both. You opted to put on a brave face, and turn your full attention towards the green-haired boy.

“Sebek! Just the man I wanted to see! Come, sit, sit!” You eagerly pat the empty seat next to you. Begrudgingly, Sebek takes a seat, posture stiff and rigid. But he seems to have a softer look to his countenance.

• “You know, Sebek, I may just be a lowly human compared to you, but I want to learn how to love you the way you want me to.” Your heartfelt confession surprised even you.

Sebek flinched at your words, though you didn’t mean them harshly, quite the opposite, actually. He cast his gaze downwards, folding his hands into his lap and thinking intently. Understanding that he needs to compose his thoughts to properly convey what he means to say, you let him take his time. Offering him a small smile.

• Suddenly, he shoots up from his seat at the table and extends his hand towards you, a determined look on his face.

“I see that I’ve been unnecessarily rude, and perhaps even offended you. Please let me rectify this oversight of mine!” The sparkle in his eyes is too endearing, you’d have accepted his apology regardless, but the genuine shine of regret and hope enchants you even more as you take his hand. 

• It’s only when he starts to lead you out of the cafeteria do you snap out of it and wonder where you’re going. But you trust Sebek not to lead you astray.

-------

“Devote yourself fully to your studies, and it will bare fruit. Hmph! I see that this book is insufficient in teaching you all you wish to learn. Follow me! Where to you ask? To Diasomnia, of course! I’ll be teaching you myself all there is to know. Perhaps even Lilia can offer some assistance.. No! It must be me! Well, what are you waiting for? We start at once.”

• Che’nya was rarely ever on school campus grounds, except for Heartslabyul, and he never strayed too far from there when he did visit. The only hope you had of puling a trick on the cat boy was to attend every Unbirthday Party that you could. Even then, there wasn’t a guarantee he would show up. And if he did show up, there was no guarantee that he would show himself either. All in all, you were subject to embarrass yourself every Unbirthday Party until you got your desired results.

• Now, Che’nya isn’t as sadistic as Jade, or as playful as Lilia in the sense that he’s gonna drag this out for a long time. He’s gonna milk your reaction to his antics that are a response to your antics, but he’s happy to accept this small jest and he’ll take it in stride.

• Much like a cat he takes a seat in your lap, arms wrapped around your shoulders while he dangles his legs back and forth, flashing that cheshire grin of his at you.

“Nyeh, what’cha reading there? Is it something more important than me?” He makes a show of leaning into the open book in your hands, slowly moving his eyes along the pages while letting out a small hum. He finally snaps up straight and once again leans into the personal space of your face.

“Oh! It’s for me! Isn’t that precious!” He leers in a playful manner. Cuddling himself further into your half-hearted embrace. His tail knocks the book from your hands and onto the ground with a loud thud.

“Whoops! Nyahaha now you have to pay attention to me !” His tail flicks you on your nose and continues to hover there. 

“Okay, Che’nya, you have my full attention.”

-------

“Don’t you think that book is a bit old-fashioned? I say just do what mew want, haha! There should be nothing to worry about if it’s true love. Nyah? That was out of character for me? You’ll see that I’m full of surprises~”

-------

I went ham on Leona’s part and then immediately fell short on everyone else.

[thechaoticdruid]

So I've finished my first run through of the game and did the epilogue which was just so precious! But anyways, it made me think, how would the companions react upon announcing at the reunion you and your partner are expecting!

I actually don't do requests but I like this one. I haven't made it to the epilogue yet in game but I think I can still answer these. They might be short though so please forgive me! 😔

I also tried to keep the reader's sex and gender as ambiguous as possible, but some words are hard to convey in gender neutral terms. Also the reader's partner is not specified.

But if your partner is Astarion (like my Tav's) I feel like everyone would have a similar "Is that even possible!?" reaction, except maybe Gale cause he's well studied.

Shadowheart

If you're the pregnant one she remarks on how she thought you were getting fat.

Like girl has no chill.

But if you're the father I can see her teasing you about not being able to keep your hands to yourself around your partner.

Proceeds to gift you gothic style clothes for the little one when it's closer to the birth.

Wyll

He immediately congratulates you both and wishes you well on your new adventure in parenting.

Assures you that the two of you will make a beautiful baby.

Also he asks to touch the bump if the pregnant person is showing. 🥺

Buys toys for the baby before it's even born.

Karlach

Immediately screams "FUCK YEAH I'M GONNA BE AN AUNT!!!"

Runs around to tell everyone else and buys you both drinks to celebrate for the occasion.

Needs to be reminded that drinking is bad for the baby.

Will plant a big smooch on the baby bump if the pregnant person is showing.

Starts wearing a T-shirt that says "BEST FUCKIN AUNT EVER." Also gets a matching shirt for the little one.

Lae'zel

Unless she has Xan she isn't particularly interested. She'd probably still congratulate you in her own githyanki way I suppose if you're on good terms.

If she does have Xan she suggests they spar together some day. Though she is confident her son will be victorious.

This is probably her own way of having a play date for your children.

Gale

Congratulates you both and wishes the two of you the best.

Offers to teach the child magic when they become old enough to learn.

Buys you lots of parenting books and tries to help by reminding you lots of useful facts, but in the end he kinda just low-key starts to be a bit annoying.

He means well though.

Astarion

Of course he may already be well aware of the pregnant person's bun in the oven depending on how far along they are.

His vampiric senses alert him to the little heartbeat within, you see.

"Enjoy your last few months of freedom and sleep filled nights while you can, darlings!~"

"But really, I am rather happy for the two of you. Especially you, I didn't think you had it in you." He says condescendingly to the father of the child.

Honestly he's just a little bitter he's single and alone.

Pretends not to have any interest in touching the baby bump, says he has no interest in the little creature growing inside.

But if he has a good relationship with either of the two parents he will make the baby eccentric little outfits. Especially goes all out if it's a little girl. Purple and red ruffles all over.

Will get very offended if he doesn't see the baby wearing them.

He put his soul into those outfits godsdamnit!

[cinnbar-bun]

Popularity- Cross Guild's Day Off 2 (Cross Guild x Reader)

Summary: In which you work with the three Cross Guild officers and Buggy attempts to prove his popularity through a poll. Of course, it's never as simple as it really should be in Cross Guild.

Rating: SFW/Crack

Word Count: ~3k

Notes: No relationships are defined, so feel free to headcanon whatever you want. I know it says x Reader up there and I wrote it in mind that it's a weird ass polycule but I made sure to leave it ambiguous for your reading pleasure. Made in mind with part 1, but can be read as standalone. Features cameos from Alvida, Galdino, and Daz Bones.

A/n: I love these three goofballs so like feel free to request stuff with them or what scenarios you'd like to see them in please???

Read Part 1 here! Read this chapter on my AO3 here!

“It’s really not fair! It’s not fair at all!” Buggy screamed. Mihawk, Crocodile, and you sighed at whatever it was that seemed to be, well, bugging Buggy. 

“Will you stop your complaining? Some of us are actually trying to do work here,” Crocodile growled while his fingers continued clicking away on the calculator. “(Y/n), go and hand me the reports for-,” 

“Right here, Sir,” you said as you handed him the stack of papers he wanted. Crocodile smirked proudly while his eyes narrowed at Buggy. 

“See, why can’t you be like (Y/n)? They know how to get work done.” 

“Wha-! I get work done! Plenty of work!” 

“Juggling isn’t work.” 

“Is too!” Buggy stomped his foot. 

“Hardly,” Mihawk chimes in. 

“Grrr… you two are just jealous of me! Jealous of how I’m the Star Clown and you two will just be boring, old men!” 

Mihawk and Crocodile glanced at each other knowingly and rolled their eyes. 

“You’re still bothered by the fact you were not important enough to have any good cards in the deck, aren't you?” Mihawk states bluntly, not bothering to be gentle with Buggy’s fragile ego. 

“SHUT UP!!! SHUT UP!!!!” Buggy shouted, gaining the attention from his subordinates outside the office. 

“Aw… someone’s upset,” Crocodile teased. You huffed at the two stoic ex-warlords and tried to soothe Buggy. 

“Buggy, it’s alright. They’re just silly cards. Look around you, you have so many employees happy to work for you because they really admire you as captain,” you say genuinely while patting his head. Buggy sniffles and nods. 

“You’re right, (Y/n), you’re right,” Buggy agrees. He wipes his eyes and nose with his hand before he bounces back to life, clenching his fists. “That’s very true! All these people love me and would die for me! So those card makers don’t know anything! I’m the most popular one here!” 

“Wait, what…” you wince, while Crocodile and Mihawk groan. 

“Thanks, (Y/n), now he’s gonna do something stupid again,” Crocodile sighed. 

“Buggy, all I’m saying is-” you try to fix your error, but Buggy shakes his head. 

“Nope! You just gave me an amazing idea!” 

“Here we go again,” Mihawk mumbles. 

“W-what’s the idea?” You ask Buggy. 

“Obviously, to really settle the matter, we need to hold a popularity contest!” Buggy proclaims. 

“We really don’t have to. No one cares about this except you,” Crocodile says blandly while he opens the folder you gave him. 

“Haha! You’re just saying that because you know deep down that I will win when it comes to Cross Guild!” Buggy eggs Crocodile on. “They love me here!” 

“I really don’t care-” 

“So, to finally gather once and for all who the most popular is-” 

“God damn it.” 

“I’m going to poll the others!” Buggy announces, grabbing a random clipboard from your desk. 

“Isn’t that rather biased?” Mihawk asked. 

“Biased? What are you talking about?” Buggy raises his brow. “You think Imma lie about this?” 

“Yes,” all of you respond. Buggy lets out an offended gasp and frowns. 

“Well then, what do you suggest, smart guy?” Buggy yells at Mihawk. 

“Having only you go around and then return with results will obviously not be the most accurate. We need to send a third party that won’t lie,” Mihawk explains. 

The three men turn to look at you. 

“Why do I have to do it?” You fold your arms. “I have work to do!” 

“I’ll pay you extra for this week in order to have Buggy shut up,” Crocodile states. 

“Do you think I can be swayed so easily with money?” 

“Yes,” the three men respond. You swipe the clipboard from Buggy. 

“Damn right I am,” you state as you pick up your favorite pen from your desk. 

“Now then, since you’re going to be polling, I expect truthful and honest answers,” Mihawk demands. “No one can lie or cheat this.” 

“Before we do this, none of you are allowed to know who voted for who,” you add. “I’m not having you fire or hunt down some poor employee because they voted for Mihawk or something.” “Well that won’t happen,” Buggy comments. “No one is gonna vote for Mihawk to begin with.” 

Now it’s Mihawk’s turn to be offended. “What do you mean by that, Buggy? Do I need to silence you for good?” 

“Eek! All I’m saying is, you hardly ever step out of the office or interact with anyone!” 

Mihawk stays silent then mumbles, “I interact with others…” 

“Oh really? Name one person you’ve interacted with,” Crocodile demands. 

“You can’t do that, either,” Mihawk counters. 

“That’s just because I don’t give a shit about these people’s names. I still talk to them, though,” Crocodile corrects. 

“Fine, (Y/n)!” Mihawk huffs. 

“They don’t count.” 

“Why don’t they?” Mihawk crosses his arms. 

“Because we all see them every day in this office,” Crocodile chides Mihawk. “Name someone.” 

“Okay, I guess I cannot name anyone,” Mihawk relents. “Not that it matters in the slightest, by the way. This is a silly and pointless little game.” 

“See? No one is gonna vote for you!” Buggy laughs. 

“I guess I should kill you now, Buggy,” Mihawk says as he draws Yoru. 

“Gaaaahhh! No! Please don’t!” Buggy cries, latching onto you for safety. 

“Buggy, please let go,” you sigh. The clown does so shakily and you begin to write on the paper in your clipboard. “Okay… Buggy, Crocodile, Mihawk. There we go. I’ll go around and ask, then. See you guys later.” 

“Before you go,” Crocodile begins. You turn to hear him out while he has a big shit-eating grin on his face. “If you’re going to talk to Mr. 3… knock before you enter.” 

Your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets from what this could mean as you nod and exit the office. 

“Why the hell did you say that?” Buggy questions. Crocodile chuckles, taking a puff from his cigar as he shakes his head. 

“Oh, they’ll see soon enough.” 

-

“Favorite head of Cross Guild?” An employee scratches his head. His coworker beside him does the same. 

“Wait, uh, they’re not gonna kill us for answering this, are they?” The other one asks. 

“Crap, you’re right. Is this some way to weed us out or something?” 

You shake your head. “No, no, not at all! This is just a… uh… thing they’re testing for some new merchandise,” you lie. 

“Ah,” the two men nod along. “That makes so much sense.” 

“Buggy,” the first man states. 

“Mmm… yeah, Buggy,” the second adds. “He never harps on us like Sir Crocodile.” 

You thank them for the response and tally it to the votes. 

“I guess Buggy was right,” you mumble to yourself, seeing as he currently had seven votes out of the seven people you asked. “Maybe we could send these results in to those cardmakers and get a cut of the merchandising.” 

Just as you’re about to walk away, Alvida strolls into the room. 

“Oh, Alvida! Good morning,” you smile at her. “Can I have a moment of your time?” “(Y/n), dear,” Alvida runs a hand through her hair. “What do you need from the most beautiful woman of the sea?” 

“Well, the higher-ups wanted to run a poll,” you show her the paper. “Please vote for your favorite head of Cross Guild.” 

She studies the paper for a moment and purses her lips. “Hmm… you know what, I vote for you.” 

“What?” 

“What? Just put a tally for you,” Alvida suggests nonchalantly. 

“But, um, I’m not a head of Cross Guild,” you argue. 

“So? You practically are their fourth one. I’m sure they won’t mind. And if they do, they can take it up with me,” Alvida brushes your concerns aside and takes the pen from you. She writes your name down and adds a tally. 

“Can I ask why you want to add me?” 

“Simple, dear.” Alvida chuckles. “You’re not like those brutes upstairs. You get worked to the bone by them yet still retain your own sense of self. Do you know what that is?” 

“No, I don’t think I know what that is-” 

“Passion!” Alvida throws her arms in the air. “You are passionate, clean, stylish, and most of all, you are quiet! If anyone is worthy of my vote and attention- it is you!” 

“Wow, thank you,” you comment, impressed that Alvida actually gave you a nice compliment. 

“Yes, yes, well, what do you think about becoming my assistant instead of working for them?” Alvida winks. 

“Ah sorry, I’m pretty happy where I am right now,” you quickly shut down. Alvida clicks her tongue. 

“Hm… perhaps you’d prefer to be my partner instead? You would be a good match by my side.” 

“Would you look at the time!” You awkwardly laugh. “Bye, Alvida!” 

“Bye, darling. Don’t worry though, we’ll pick this conversation up another time~,” she waves. You sigh in relief as you walk away that she didn’t mace you immediately. Still, there’s work to be done. 

You walk into the staff lounge and greet the other members there, who cheerfully greet you back. 

“Sorry to bother you guys, but if you could just fill out this poll, that would be great. And don’t worry, no one will know of the results, so please be as honest as you can!” 

The clipboard gets passed along by the staff members, who quickly add a tally mark to the poll. In less than a minute, all twenty people in the lounge have responded. 

“Wow, thank you guys. You guys are quick,” you joke, taking back the clipboard. 

“The choice was obvious,” one of the employees answers, and the others nod. You wonder who they voted for when you look at the paper, only to see your name has now over twenty marks attached to it. Your eyes widen and you politely thank the others as you step out of the room. 

It was one thing when Alvida did as she pleased, but now the others were voting for you in droves. You took a deep breath. Crocodile, Mihawk, and Buggy surely wouldn’t kill you for this, would they? After all, Alvida herself said they could bring it up with her. Yeah, that was okay. This was just a silly joke anyways. 

You continue to collect polls, feeling touched yet also nervous when you found that every employee had checked you off as their favorite. It got so bad that you had to use a second page to collect all the tallies that the employees were adding to your name. 

As the number of employees left to ask dwindled, you remembered to get Daz Bones and Galdino’s polls. You figured the choice would be clear for them- Crocodile. After all, they were very loyal to him and even continued their work relationship into Cross Guild. It would also allow for Crocodile to at least get some vote from his current tally at zero. 

You had scoured for them all around the base, but didn’t find any sign of their presence. Just as you were about to give up, you found Daz Bones peacefully sitting, probably waiting for his next assignment. 

“Daz! Can I-” 

“(Y/n), I have no interest,” he cut you off. 

“It’s for Crocodile,” you add, knowing he wouldn’t participate otherwise. Daz nods and then urges you to step closer. You show him the clipboard and he raises a brow. 

“Crocodile really cares about this sort of thing?” 

“It’s mostly because of Buggy,” you explain, and Daz nods, connecting the dots. He quickly tallies a mark to Crocodile’s name. “Thank you, Daz!” 

“You’re welcome,” he gruffly responds. 

“Oh, and do you know where Galdino is?” 

“Why should I know? Perhaps he’s in his room,” Daz shrugs. You should’ve guessed that but wave goodbye and walk to Galdino’s room. You’re about to knock when you remember Crocodile’s ominous warning echoing in your head again. 

“Knock before you enter…” 

You were going to do that anyways, but the weird way Crocodile said it made you grimace. You nervously rapped your knuckles against Galdino’s door. You heard a huff and a lot of grumbling as Galdino swung open the door. 

“What do you w-,” he angrily yells until he gasps when he sees it’s you. “(Y/n)! Ah! Uh! Please excuse me!” 

You briefly notice a large wax statue on the table before Galdino slams the door on your face. You jump when you hear Galdino freaking out and throwing things around his studio. Something metal is grating against the floor as you hear Galdino struggle to move the obviously heavy object. 

“G-Galdino? Is this a bad time?” You call out. 

“No, no, no! It’s fine! Perfectly fine! Hahaha there’s nothing weird going on here!” Galdino answers from inside his room as something crashes to the floor and Galdino swears. 

It’s silent for a moment until Galdino opens the door, leaning against the frame and trying to give you a charming smile while some wax is now splattered against his pants and shirt. 

“So, (Y/n), what brings you to my studio?” He asks while forcing his voice to sound lower, pushing up his glasses. 

“Ah, the heads wanted to take a little poll. Mind answering?” 

“Anything for- I mean-,” Galdino coughs and lowers his voice again. “Anything for you, (Y/n).” 

He takes the clipboard from you and begins to notice the options, quickly marking a tally next to your name. 

“There you go- wait a minute!” He looks horrified as realization sets in that there’s only one tally next to Crocodile- most likely Daz, he thinks. Crocodile would absolutely know right away that Galdino didn’t choose him, and the thought makes Galdino nearly pass out. “I-I need to change my vote!” 

“Sure,” you give the clipboard back to him and Galdino scribbles over the one he gave you to mark one next to Crocodile. 

“Kh... but we’re supposed to be honest…” Galdino mutters. He glances at you, and seeing you patiently waiting and smiling at him makes his heart tighten. 

Gah! Who am I supposed to choose?! My muse or my boss?!

“Are you alright, Galdino?” You asked, making Galdino struggle to form words. Instead, he scribbled over the mark he put next to Crocodile and re-marked a tally next to your name. 

He hands the clipboard back to you and you smile and wave to him. “Thank you, Galdino!” 

“Y-you’re very welcome!” Galdino shouts, unable to control his voice properly around you. You turn around and head back to the office while Galdino lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

He was most likely going to die after this, but seeing your smile was all worth it. He could die happy, even knowing that Crocodile would probably drain him of life later. 

You, however, didn’t notice the longing look Galdino gave you as you open the door to the office. 

“Well, I got all the votes!” 

“Well, who won?” Buggy immediately jumps forward and steals the clipboard from you. He notices that Crocodile and Mihawk hardly have any, with only Crocodile have a mark. “See I wo…” 

His face darkened as he noticed he had only seven votes. 

“What’s the matter, Buggy?” Crocodile smirked. “Can’t handle the fact you lost?” 

“I… wha…” Buggy grips the clipboard roughly, nearly snapping it in half. “How the hell did (Y/n) get all the votes!?” 

Crocodile and Mihawk are caught off guard. 

“Wait, what? (Y/n) won?” Crocodile repeated. 

“I thought I told you to be fair and not cheat!” Mihawk accused you, his golden hawk eyes glaring into yours. 

“I-it wasn’t my fault! Alvida was the one who put my name on the list!” You try to defend yourself. 

“Give me that-” Crocodile snaps as he swipes the poll from Buggy’s hand. Crocodile grunts as he notices page after page marked with tallies from the employees choosing you. He sees Mihawk has none, but that his name has one mark (Daz, of course), and one crossed off (that bastard, Galdino-). Given Crocodile’s attentiveness, he does recognize that yours and Alvida’s handwriting is different, so your story is credible. He huffs and tosses the clipboard, making Mihawk lean over curiously. 

“Not even one vote…” he murmurs. 

Buggy, meanwhile, is distraught, crying on the floor and banging it repeatedly. 

“It’s not fair! Not fair at all! I hate this! I’m the star!” Buggy wails out loud. 

At first, Crocodile did this as a joke to satiate Buggy, but even his own ego is hurt by this new poll. 

“I take it back, you’re getting docked again,” Crocodile threatens, pointing his cigar at you. 

“What?! But I spent all day getting this with the promise of money!” 

“I changed my mind! I wanted a good poll, not whatever the hell this was!” Crocodile yells back. 

“Recount! Recount this!” Buggy shouts. 

“I refuse to lose this competition. Give me an hour, I will win this,” Mihawk says, pushing himself off his couch as he walks out the door to do who knows what. 

The ensuing commotion causes some of the Cross Guild members to peek through the door and watch Buggy screaming in agony at losing while you’re sobbing at the fact you’re losing money due to this dumb poll. 

Alvida rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. 

“Would you guys cut this noise out? It’s driving me mad!” 

“Alvida! This is all your fault!” Buggy yells at Alvida in tears. “I was supposed to win, not (Y/n)!” 

Alvida frowns at Buggy and twirls her mace in her hands. “Are you questioning my decisions?” 

Buggy gulps as he sees the mace casting a shadow over him. 

“N-no, not at all!” He quickly corrects himself, praying Alvida will not maim him to death. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

[agronzky]

⠀⠀⠀𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐏.

⠀⠀⠀Anyone who knows me or has rp with me knows how much I love building ambiguous — or grey, if you prefer — characters or villains. The drama, the chaos, the complex plot… It all makes everything more interesting, especially once you get bored of characters who are exclusively nice, naive and suchlike. Even so, it's a construction that needs to take several factors into account and be very delicately written so it doesn't become a trigger rather than a character.

⠀⠀⠀For this reason, below I've provided some tips on how to create villainous characters for rp, taking into account various traits, setting and also demystifying the fact that not every villain is a soulless monster. Anyway, on to the guide.

Deep and personal motivations.

⠀⠀⠀Convincing villains usually have compelling and understandable motivations, even if their actions are highly questionable. It's the premise of them being right in their quest, but using the wrong means to achieve it and ultimately losing their reason. This brings a sense of humanity and it's even possible to feel connected to what led this person to become a villain. You can truly see how they lost the way.

⠀⠀⠀Another point is the fact that not everyone wants to conquer the world, nor do they have the ambition to have a lot of money or power. Think of plots about revenge, twisted love, the quest for justice or fear. Generally, a character's deepest motivations give them more determination to fulfill their goals because it comes from something much more internal and traumatic. Give them a proper reason and make them lose the way, this is gonna make everything feel real, convincing and interesting to developed.

Moral complexity.

⠀⠀⠀The simple truth is the days of people liking completely cartoonish characters are long gone, and nowadays many people don't like those who are evil simply for the sake of being evil. This is because it's too out of touch with reality. Obviously there are people who are like that in real life, but the vast majority is more complex than this. Humans, in the end, are very complicated and, probably, will never truly understand why we are the way we are.

⠀⠀⠀To get away of this cliché and cartoonish form when creating your character, try to develop moral nuances and internal dilemmas which can explain their actions. Put a small fragment of morality in the character, make them question themselves a few times as to whether they're on the right path… Remember yin yang: there's a little tiny good inside the evil. This tip can be used for any character, when you think about it, but it's very important for those who want to create villains.

Human traits, personality and vulnerabilities.

⠀⠀⠀Like any human being, provide your character with traits unmistakably human, such as fears, insecurities or personal relationships that will impact them, to make them more realistic. Just because someone is doing something morally wrong doesn't mean they've lost all touch with their humanity, especially since not every villain is a psychopath who has no empathy for anyone. It's always very interesting when a character believes they're doing what's right or good for someone else, and this is their motivation. 

⠀⠀⠀Also bring some weaknesses to the character, whether physical, emotional or psychological. This provides room for development and also ways for other characters to access them in a more specific way, either to get to know them better or to retaliate against them at some point.

⠀⠀⠀You know that line "Do you like my personality? I created it especially for you!"? Well, consider how the character behaves and bring in more layers when making the personality. Take into account how they behave in different situations and with different people.

Charisma and a magnetic nature.

⠀⠀⠀The fact is that bad guys aren't unbearable one hundred per cent of the time, they need to know how to live in society and captivate people. So define unique and appealing traits for the character, whether they're genuine or merely a façade. It's always interesting when, within the plot, most people don't know about the evil or wrong side of a character because it gives them more room for development. Maybe make them ashamed of what they're doing and try to hide it as best they can. And just think about real life: do we truly know the people around us?

Connection with other characters.

⠀⠀⠀Nobody lives completely alone since we're in a society and this makes us having connections, for more simple they can be. Thinking about that, create connections with other characters to bring more motivation and drama to your muse, such as an old rivalry, a complicated personal relationship or a surprising connection which generates tension. You can also create connections that actually bring their good side to light, you know? It's also always good to add a certain complexity, to have troubled moments, wounds that haven't healed fully, secrets being revelead, etc.

Questions for creating villains.

What are the character's main motivations?

What is the character's origin story? What led them to become what they are today?

What are the past traumas or events that have shaped their worldview?

How does the character justify their actions morally? Does they believe they are doing the right thing?

What are their weaknesses and vulnerabilities?

How does the character present themselves to the world? Are they masked, manipulative or showy?

What do they want to achieve through their actions?

What are their emotional reactions to obstacles and challenges?

How do they justify their actions to themselves? Is there any sense of internal validation?

How do they relate to the authorities or the law?

How do they see themselves? Do they see themselves as the hero of their own story?

How do they react when their plans fail?

What do they feel when faced with the possibility of redemption or change?

Other small (and important) advice!

Corruption arcs are also super interesting, leading a good character to become bad over time and through traumatic situations. Redemption arcs are also sensational. The point is: nobody was born a villain and nobody has to die a villain.

Leave clues indicating your character before fully revealing your motivations. Also try to leave some motivations completely secret, using them when the plot calls for a surprise. In the best "surprise, bitch!" style.

Think about how environment and culture can influence beliefs and actions.

A villain doesn't have to be a psychopath or murderer. There are arcs of revenge and corruption which can be created without going to such extremes.

It's obvious, but always respect other players and the limits they impose. As I said, a villain isn't always doing evil and being a complete asshole, so make sure you know what kind of approach the other person will prefer.

Always be careful when approaching topics which are triggers and avoid them as much as possible. As I said, it's not necessary to go down this route, but if you do, always keep a firm grounding when writing, because triggers are complex real-life situations that always need to be handled delicately.

The end, for now.

( Be with Morgana, my good girl gone bad ♡ )

[gilverrwrites]

belphegor possesses jacks body, reader who is grieving jacks death finds comfort in belphegor? maybe a bit of a crush..

Close As Strangers

Belphegor/GN!Reader

Author note: I tried to keep the exact nature of Jack/Readers relationship ambiguous, so you can fill in the blank as you please. Similar with Bel/Reader, but it has very much enemies to friends/lovers vibes.

Rating: Teen +

Genre: Hurt/comfort, angst

Words: 1624

TW: Grief, arguing, manipulation, crying, very minor mentions of gore, mentions of death, unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Please remember: You are allowed to make a big deal out of things that are really big to you.

“See something you like?” Your heart feels hollow as you watch him wiggle his Jack's brows at you. Blackened, bloody skin peeks out from the top of his sunglasses. His words, his movements, the whole thing made you feel sick.

“No.” You respond curtly, intending to stop there. You can’t help the bitter word vomit that continues. “Just you, defiling the body of someone I love.”

Belphegor inhales through his teeth in mock pain. Not a hint of sympathy or remorse. When he alters his stride to walk closer to you and drapes an arm over your shoulders, you’re too shocked by his audacity to pull away.

“You know, babe, I think I know a way to help you feel better about all this.” He says, offering you a smile that is too sharp, too smug for Jack's face.

“What?” You ask, your eyes darting back and forth between his face and his unwelcome arm.

With a gesture to his Jack's body, he answers, “You could love me.”

You scoff, ready to respond with something harsh and mean, but when you look at his face again, his expression has changed. His head tilted back, chin pointed out, mouth closed and stretched into a familiar smile. There’s that empty feeling again. You know that’s not Jack, but that’s his face, his smile, and at that moment, you couldn’t snap at him like that.

Before you can think of a response, you’re both distracted by the sound of a shotgun being cocked. Dean, who had been walking a few paces behind, presses the barrel of his gun between Belphegor’s shoulder blades.

“Get your arm off them and keep walking.” It’s an empty threat, and all three of you know it.

Dean wouldn’t shoot Jacks's body any more than you could insult it. Even if he did, it wouldn’t do anything.

Regardless, Belphegor, with a smirk, releases you and picks up his pace, but not without raising those scorched brows at you one last time. “I like it when he’s bossy.”

“If we’re all gonna work together, you’ve got to shut up.” You call after him, slowing your footsteps until you fall in line with Dean.

“Awwwh, I’m starting to have an effect on you.” He calls back, refusing to give you the last word, and you concede, crossing your arms over your chest and walking in silence.

"Are you thinking about me?” The sound of Belphegor’s Jack's voice so close to your ear, the feel of his unnatural breath against your skin makes you almost jump out of your skin, makes your body tingle in a way it definitely shouldn’t have. “Is that why you're so unfocused?"

"You wish.” You retort, snapping your head to face him. Admittedly, you had been slacking off, unable to keep your mind off the chaos that had been the last few days. Particularly Jack.

Belphegor doesn’t appear offended by your response. Hands in pockets he offers you a casual shrug before stepping back and leaning against the nearest wall. The two of you were alone, guarding the back entrance of the High School. There had been a lot of debate about who would be ‘left with’ who and for what purposes. It seemed nobody wanted to leave you alone with Belphegor, but nobody else wanted to be stuck with him either.

“What were you thinking about then?” He asks.

Without processing, without thinking clearly, you reply. “You. No, I mean Jack. I was thinking about Jack.”

“Am I sensing a little Freudian slip?” That smile is back, the one that’s too much for Jack. But for a moment, you think to yourself that it actually looks attractive in a roguish sort of way.

Feeling flushed and guilty at your laps of judgement you look away. Hiding your expression. “No. It’s just… I don’t know.”

“It’s just hard to differentiate us sometimes?” He offers, in a tone much softer than you’d come to expect. You know he has self-awareness, but you’re surprised he’s showing it. When you nod your confirmation, he continues; “It must be hard. I mean, I’ve seen loads of people die, probably millions, killed most of ‘em. But no one that I ever cared about. At least, not for a loooooooong time. I don’t really remember it.”

When you hear his feet against the concrete you watch him from the corner of your eye. It only takes a few steps before he’s in your personal space again, but he’s slow and calm. His face is solemn as he gently places a hand on your shoulder. You think he’s trying to comfort you, maybe? But it all feels wrong.

“I’m just saying, I can tell the two of you had some kind of connection. If you want to talk about it, I-”

“Stop.” You shrug his hand off and turn your back to him completely.

“Stop what?” You don’t know if he’s faking it to play with you or not, but the confusion and the hint of worry in his voice, Jack's voice stings.

“Stop being nice to me.”

“Fine, maybe you didn’t care about him all that much.” The softness and uncertainty is gone in an instant, replaced with pure venom.

You’re grateful your back is to him. It takes everything in you not to spin around and go off on him. A part of you knows you’d likely lose your resolve the moment you look at him anyway; you’re inches away from the brink of tears already.

“Oh, blow me!” Is all you can muster.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Malice, all malice. It sounds so wrong.

“I’m gonna sweep the building.” This is too much, and you can’t cope. You need to clear your head. “Don’t follow me. In fact, just don’t move.”

You don’t turn to look at him as you leave, if he says anything, you don’t listen. 

You hadn’t told the Winchesters or Castiel about your spat the night before. So here you were, patrolling quarantine with Belphegor. Alone. Again. You’re certain any one of them would swap with you if you asked, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. They were hurting too. Besides, you figured after last night that Belphegor and you needed some kind of conflict resolution; you were just surprised when he broached it first.

“You haven’t insulted me all morning.” Belphegor nudges your shoulder with his own, and you can’t help the quiet chuckle that escapes you. “What’s up?”

“No… Yeah.” You’re not really sure what to say, so you offer him the only thing you know for sure. “My head is a mess right now.”

“I know.” He gives you that relaxed shrug you’ve begun to associate with him. There’s no way of knowing how earnest he’s being, but he seems surprisingly understanding, for a demon at least. “This whole situation is a mess, and you’re grieving. Can’t blame you.”

“Thanks. And thank you for helping us.” You smile at him, it’s a weak smile, but he smiles back and that tingle from last night returns. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

“I know one way you can make it up to me.” You hold your breath in apprehension. Certain he was about to spoil the moment. “You can talk to me.”

Still tense from your moment of dread, you respond immediately and defensively, “We are talking.”

Clearly unbothered by your cautious reply, Belphegor goes on, “You can talk to me about Jack. It's not good to keep it all bottled up.”

You feel bad for assuming the worst. You’ve felt bad for a long time. How good would it feel to get some of that off your chest? How easy would it be to talk to Jack about it? Only, this isn’t Jack. This is Belphegor, who, for all his apparent kindness, is still a stranger. A dangerous stranger.

“I really don’t think I can do that.” The tingle on your skin is gone, replaced by the ever-lingering emptiness.

“Why?” The familiar venom creeps back into his tone.

“Because y-” As much as you want to tell him it’s because you can’t trust him, you don’t. You can't afford to lose his assistance right now. “Why do you want me to?”

“Oh what? Because I’m a demon I can’t care about you? Is that it? I find that offensive.” There’s a tinge of humour in his voice, but you’re still shocked by how accurately he hit the hammer on the nail. So shocked, in fact, that your only response is to stare at him slack-jawed. “You don’t have to be strong and good all the time, you know? Let me help you. I’m begging you to let me help you.”

He stops his strides, forcing you to halt with him and turns to look at you straight on, jaw clenched as he impatiently waits for you to say something. Anything.

In that moment, with explicit permission to be vulnerable, the tears you’d held back last night, the tears you’d been holding back for a long time, finally come out. It starts slow, a tear rolls down each cheek, and you sniff to try and hold them back. You press your jacket sleeve to your eyes, but for every tear you soak up, another falls, until you’re heart-pounding, blurry-eyed sobbing.

When you feel Belphegor’s cold hands on you, you don’t pull away. You let him come close, you let him cup your face and use his thumb to wipe your tears, you let him guide you until you're chest-to-chest, your face cradled in the crook of his neck, you let him caress your neck and rub your back. You let him Jack lean down to whisper in your ear. “It’s okay. I’m here, don’t worry.”

[platonically-loving-alastor]

Aroace Alastor

Hoo boy here we go- This one might make some people mad at me, so I'll preface by saying I do not want to start a fight and as long as you respect my business, I'll respect yours. But let's get this over with-

First off, I genuinely don't understand how some people can see the Ace-In-The-Hole quote and still believe that Alastor is only intended to be asexual and not also aromantic. Yes, the term Rosie used for purpose of the pun was 'ace', but can we look at the context of that moment before jumping to conclusions?

Rosie, motioning to Charlie: "Oh, who's this you brought with you? Come now, Alastor, she's much too young for you! Oh, I'm just kidding. I know you're an ace in the hole!"

Her original statement implies nothing sexual, only that he's involved in a relationship with Charlie, and she follows it up with why she knows that couldn't be because he's an 'ace in the hole'. I don't think you have to read too far between the lines to see that.

I would also like to say that when Vivienne has spoken about his orientation before, I recall her saying that she didn't want to confirm him being aromantic so that she wouldn't 'ruin anyone's fun', which I just feel like is an odd thing to say if she wasn't already explicitly picturing him as aroace. If she thought he had romantic attraction, why wouldn't she just say that? What fun would that ruin? I also feel like keeping things like this ambiguous just to appease the shippers is a little weird, but I digress-

And to those of you who I know are saying "But aromantic people can be in relationships too!!" *deep inhale* yeah I know. I'm not gonna pretend you're not right about that, but there are also aroace people who have exactly 0 interest in romance or sex at all. This is the part of the post that really is based on how I interpret certain moments, but to me he is absolutely one of those people. I don't really know where people get any vibes of him being interested in that stuff. I have never once looked at him and thought "Yeah I could see him in a romantic relationship with *insert character here*". Even aside from attraction in general, since that's what we'd be talking about at this point anyway, he just seems like the kind of guy who'd rather work and live independently instead of relying on anyone, whether practically or emotionally (which is also probably part of the reason he never joined the Vees, but that's another topic entirely). Hell, I'm pretty sure he's in heavy denial about even developing any kind of care or friendship with the people at the hotel (ie. the episode 8 scene with him and Niffty).

The only ships I see him involved in with people he doesn't hate (so ignoring RadioApple, RadioHusk, and StaticRadio. But to be real, maybe the fact all his main ships are enemies to lovers coded says something about the whole situation, but that's just me-) are Charlastor - which I will not even try to discuss here, people aren't gonna like this post as it is - and RadioRose. Rosie and him would at least be fair, if it weren't for one thing (which is also personal opinion on my end), and I don't know exactly how to word it. I'm tempted to say she has wingwoman vibes? But she knows he's aro, so that's not the right word, but there's vibes of like, she probably did act as a wingwoman before she realized that about him or something.. There's also something about her joking around like "Oh this is the girl? You have a girlfriend and I'm only now meeting her?" is almost giving motherly behavior. Idk man they're just besties to me, I could see them in a QPR though (not that they'd probably label it that way, considering the word queerplatonic is likely just complete gibberish to Alastor lmao).

So to summarize: It feels incredibly likely, if not practically canon, that Alastor was written with aromanticism in mind, even if Vivienne refuses to explicitly state it. Subtext and not-that-subtle implications can say just as much about a character as word of God, especially when that God has explicitly told us why she won't confirm or deny this information. Do I think any of this will stop people from shipping him romantically with literally any other character? No ofc it won't, and that's okay, that's just what fandoms do. I do think there's something to say for the fact the one aroace (or even at the very least asexual) character gets constantly shipped with everyone else in the cast, but this post is long enough I think. The only point of posting this is that I wanted to get information out there in one post to say "Hey, let's look a little bit past the surface for a second before saying there's no proof of him being aromantic"

Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you at least took something away from this

[wendytestabrat]

kyle "liking" heidi was a HUGE cop-out

i can't believe we just got a 50 min long kyle-sided kyman episode and still all i wanna talk about is this episode from 2017 LOL. "doubling down" is prob the episode i've done the most rants on and i ain't stopping now. ok so like what i wanna talk abt his how fucking forced the whole kyle liking heidi thing was and how it came out of completely nowhere. and i have a theory on why that is...bc if kyle rlly was supposed to like heidi they rlly did NOT do a good job convincing us that was the case. ok so what i think what happened was this episode was originally intended to be a SUPER on the nose kyman episode abt kyle confronting his feelings for cartman but then trey parker pussied out and changed the script at last second bc he was too afraid of canonizing kyman lol. and trey does this bs A LOT especially with the 6 days to air format, he'll write the script one way and then he suddenly changes his mind at last second and wants it to be something completely different lol. bc yeah it's sus AF how in s20 they were originally setting things up for kyle to realize he's gay for cartman like in the little red riding kyle scene and then the scene of him crying over the picture of cartman (which was how we knew right away his jealousy was bc he had feelings for cartman NOT heidi) and then out of nowhere they revealed kyle liked heidi like hWat. that made us feel gaslighted AF. and i remember back in the day (in the ancient year of 2017) when they dropped the promo for that episode the description said "kyle is playing with fire when he gets in the middle of cartman and heidi's relationship" or some shit like that, which was ambiguous AF but kyman shippers got all excited bc we assumed the episode was abt all of kyle's jealousy with cartman & heidi finally coming to the forefront BC OF HIS FEELINGS FOR CARTMAN NOT HEIDI. so i feel like they released that description to be ambiguous on purpose bc they didn't know if they were gonna continue the route of having kyle liking cartman or change it to kyle liking heidi. and the only reason why they changed it to kyle "liking" heidi was bc they were too chicken to go forward with a kyman plot that strong, and bc it would've been too hard to change the episode to something completely unrelated on such short notice. it's not bc matt & trey give two shifts about kydi lol. it's obvious they LOVE kyman and deep down wanna make it happen, i think they either just don't know the best way to write it in yet or they're too afraid to piss off the non-shipping fans of the show. so that's the reason why we only get hints and they never take it any further than that. bc even tho kyle supposedly "liked" heidi this attraction was hardly believable and it still seemed EXTREMELY obvious that when kyle "liked" heidi, he was still repressing his feelings for cartman and those feelings came out in more unconscious ways throughout the episode. bc yeah for YEARS they've been writing kyle's character as gay and obsessed with cartman so that's why it was hard for them to make us believe kyle actually liked heidi and why him and heidi had 0 chemistry dhdhskks. and the reason why all kyle did was ask heidi about cartman was bc the original premise set up for the episode was for him to be a jealous snake bc he HATES heidi and LOVES cartman. he even deadass trashed heidi in the beginning when he was like "why is she still supporting him?!?!" which showed how much disdain he had for heidi (and cartman also called him out for having a problem with heidi back in s20), yet they expect us to believe he actually liked her??? LOL. kyle also literally says "i think we're all going out with cartman right now" so i think the way things were set up in the first half of the episode was actually the original vision for the script about kyle liking cartman. the moment when the girls told kyle he "likes" heidi was when they decided to change it up out of nowhere. they probably originally intended to have one of the characters call him out for liking cartman or some shit which stan and butters got pretty close to doing LOL.

[aspoonofsugar]

What do you think of soukoku? Do you think Dazai has any role in helping Chuuya become a leader?

Hi!

I am not sure about Dazai helping Chuya to grow into a leader, even if I think Chuya will become a leader.

So far, I think Chuya's story in the manga is set-up to have two layers:

Becoming the leader of the mafia

Solving his relationship with Dazai

The first one is prepared in the Cannibalism arc. The second one instead permeates Chuya's screentime in the manga. After all, every arc ends with a sskk fight, but also every arc (minus Cannibalism) has skk parallel Atsu and Aku structurally:

The first arc ends with sskk's first real fight over Kyouka. Just some chapters before, there is Chuya's introduction and his first confrontation with Dazai

The second arc ends with sskk vs Fitzgerald, but the climax is kickstarted by skk vs Lovecraft

The current arc has clearly paralleled sskk's real struggle while Aku is vampirized with skk's fake one over Chuya's brainwashing

In short, sskk and skk are almost always paralleled structurally, which means that even if the new generation is gonna save the world, the old one has still a role to play. Most likely, this role ties with Dazai's arc, which is probably gonna take flight in the climax of the series.

In general, Dazai's plan to make Aku and Atsu partners has a double objective:

a pragmatic one- the combination of their abilities is gonna save the world

an existential one - Dazai is trying to save himself through the two kids

Dazai projects all his past bonds on Atsushi:

Atsushi embodies Odasaku's goal to save orphans

Atsushi is Dazai's second chance to be a good mentor after Akutagawa

Atsushi is an attempt Dazai does to indirectly help Akutagawa after leaving him

The sskk's partnership reveals how Dazai is still emulating Mori to an extent. Mori sets up skk's alliance and Dazai does the same with Atsu and Aku

Finally, Dazai pushing Atsushi and Akutagawa together, so that they can save each other is an indirect aknowledgement of the importance the bond with Chuya has for him.

Sskk represents Dazai's redemption, to an extent. He couldn't help Oda, but can help Atsushi. He left Aku behind, but can still save him through Atsushi. He can't properly communicate with Chuya, but he can recreate his bond with him through Aku and Atsu.

Still, what is Dazai and Chuya's bond? Let's explore soukoku! (Here I finally come to your ask after much blabbering).

DOUBLE BLACK = DOUBLE LONELINESS

Soukoku is a play on words:

It is pronounced "conflict"

It means "double black"

Soukoku sounds like conflict because that is Dazai and Chuya's superficial relationship. They are always annoying each other and fighting. Their whole dynamic is a rivalry.

Soukoku means double black because it describes the meeting between two darknesses. Dazai and Chuya are both engulfed by black, so together they make the black double. They are double darkness.

What does the darkness in Dazai and Chuya's life stands for? The answer is found in Fifteen:

" " existed in a sterile bluish-black darkness. There was no up or down, backward or forward. Even the flow of time was ambiguous. " " had no idea who it was or why it was there. (...) Beyond the heavy darkness was a clear wall. " " knew instinctively that the wall was keeping it inside - that it was a seal. (...) But one day, that seal was destroyed. The sacred realm had been opened, the darkness had been tainted, and the outside world had intruded. Someone was calling " ". (...) A man's powerful hand grabbed on to " ", and reddish-black flames erupted from where it touched. Those were the cries of a newborn. (Fifteen, phase xx)

Chuya recalls his time in the lab as fluttering in a bluish darkness (the black fluid) sealed by a glass wall (the tube). This state is one where he feels nothing and isn't anyone. It is perfect solitude. And yet, Verlaine and Rimbaud come and bring Chuya into the world. They taint the darkness, which is nothing, but Chuya's loneliness:

LONELY DARKNESS MY SORROW, once it is opened by the key I'd rather just fall than go back to being alone Staring at the destroyed cage of this self, (GRAVITY) Slowly, I sing, "Not bad at all."

Chuya is scared to find himself alone again. And yet, he deep down wishes to go back to a perfect and untainted darkness:

I want nothing anymore but simplicity, quiet, murmurs and order. O acquaintances, grantors of dark disgrace, do not wake me again! I will endure my solitude, arms seeming already useless.

In the verses used to activate corruption, the poet gives up on life and community. He chooses nothingness and loneliness instead. So, every time Chuya awakens Arahabaki he is metaphorically giving in to these feelings. He is letting the Tainted Sorrow take control.

This is the contradiction Chuya is built on. He consciously doesn't want to be alone, but unconsciously he is tempted by the bluish darkness of his childhood. Dazai is instead Chuya's opposite. He behaves as if he is unapproachable, but deep down he craves human connections. Chuya and Dazai are made of similar parts, but show and hide different things. This is why they seem opposite, but are actually the same.

They are two lonely people, who crave companionship, but know that bonds come with pain. They are victims of the hedgehog's dilemma:

The hedgehog's dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is a metaphor about the challenges of human intimacy. It imagines a group of hedgehogs who want to huddle together for warmth in the winter, but they cannot avoid sticking each other with their sharp spines. Though they all want a close mutual relationship, their own prickly nature might make this impossible.

Can Dazai and Chuya grow close to people or does their nature make them impossible to understand? Is it worth it to search for intimacy, when it comes with pain? These feelings and doubts are the true nature of Dazai and Chuya's darkness. They are soukoku because they are double loneliness.

Fifteen is the story of these two lonely people meeting:

They picked what they deemed the fairest method of deciding things: the loser would have to obey the winner no matter what. They ended up playing close to a hundred matches, but that's a story for another time. (Fifteen)

Dazai and Chuya are two abnormal teenagers. Dazai is too smart, while Chuya is too strong. This is why they find themselves with no real peers. However, when they meet each other they find someone they can act their age with.

Dazai is usually gloomy and makes people around him uncomfortable. However, when he is with Chuya he gets angry and annoyed like other kids.

Chuya needs to always act as a leader and to put the Sheep's needs before his own. This is why he acts dead serious when he meets Shirase and the girl at the arcade. However, when he is with Dazai he goes back to be himself. He shows his feelings and acts silly, like a teenager should.

Dazai and Chuya don't like each other, but they are attracted to each other because the other brings out a hidden part of who they are. A part tied to humanity and life.

NO LONGER HUMAN

Dazai's skill is called No Longer Human because he feels inhuman:

"He's already dead," said Chuuya. "Quit shooting his corpse." Dazai was puzzled. His expression was bizarrely childlike- fit for a boy his age, yet unlike any he had shown before. His lips suddenly curled into a gloomy smile. "You're right. When you're right, you're right. That's the most common reaction to have." (...) His expression was back to how it usually was: lifeless and utterly disinterested. "Ha-ha. Normal. Ha-ha-ha." (Fifteen)

Dazai sees himself as wrong and thinks Chuya is far more normal than he is. Sure, he has an incredibly powerful skill, but deep down he is just another kid. This is why the reveal of Chuya's background leaves such an impact on Dazai:

Chuya: Arahabaki is me.

It forces him to look outside himself and to reconsider what it means to be human. The point of Dazai's character is that he thinks he is this impossible to read being, who stands above others. And yet, he is really a normal person. Not only that, but he is also pretty childish. He wants friends and grows attached to the few people who step into his loneliness (Mori, Chuya, Oda, Ango, Akutagawa, the ADA). And yet, he sucks at communicating with them out of fear, which leads to more problems than needed. In synthesis, the story of Dazai in Fifteen is really that of an emo kid, who discovers the jock has more reason than him to be emo.

This is why Chuya grows linked to the idea of humanity in Dazai's mind:

"You sound like you're certain he's human." "I am." Dazai sighed, smiling. "There's no way I could hate a man-made character string this much." (Storm Bringer)

In Storm Bringer, Dazai risks the destruction of Yokohama to prove that Chuya is human. He does so because if a guinea pig like Chuya is a normal human, then surely Dazai can be human, as well. Dazai cares about Chuya's humanity because it is linked to Dazai's own humanity. It gives him hope.

THE SUICIDAL BASTARD WANTS TO LIVE

Chuya's skill is called Upon the Tainted Sorrow because deep down Chuya wants to die:

The Tainted Sorrow has Nothing to desire and nothing to wish. The Tainted Sorrow has A dream of death to its wary self.

This is why he is so disturbed by Dazai's suicidal tendencies. He sees a dark mirror of himself in the other boy. This is why Dazai's sudden wish to live impresses Chuya so much:

"Working for the mafia has piqued my interest, albeit slightly," Dazai began. "In the outside world - the world of light - death is kept separate from everyday life. It's swept under the rug. People find it unpleasant. But the Mafia's world isn't like that. Death is an extension of everyday life. And I tend to think that's more accurate. Death isn't the opposite of life, but merely a function of it. We breath, eat, fall in love and die. And you can't get the full picture of living without observing death up close." Chuya quietly stared at Dazai's expression as if he were searching for something human deep inside of him. "So you're saying... you want to live now?" (Fifteen)

And after Dazai opens up about his feelings, Chuya does the same:

"Hey. You wanna know why I always fight without using my hands?" Chuuya asked as he approached Randou. (...) "I've never lost a fight in my life. I've never even been in real danger... But that's no surprise. After all, I'm not even human. My identity is a safeguard, like you said. Hey do you know how that feels? (...) That's why I kept my hands in my pockets. I figured I'd one day feel like I was about to lose, no longer enjoying the fight, but just doing everything I could to protect myself... I thought maybe that way I'd start to like myself as a person - me, a little pattern without a body of my own." (Fifteen)

Dazai and Chuya say the same thing. They both like risking their lives because in this way they feel they are truly living. It is only when they are fighting to survive that they can truly believe in their humanity.

The twist of Fifteen is that Chuya seems more normal than Dazai, but he is really as self-hating and as suicidal as the other teen. And yet, it is because of this similarity that Chuya ends up associating Dazai to life:

Dazai: You used Corruption, believing in me? How beautiful. Chuya: Yeah, I did. I believed in your disgusting vitality and craftiness.

In Dead Apple, Chuya jumps in front of a Dragon and activates Corruption because he refuses to believe Dazai might really be dead. He needs to hold on to the idea Dazai is alive because Dazai's willingness to live gives him the strength to keep on living, as well. After all, if a suicidal bastard wants to live, then surely Chuya can share this wish, as well.

ON HUMANITY AND LIFE - RIMBAUD'S FINAL MESSAGE

Dazai and Chuya are two suicidal and self-hating kids, who meet each other and realize they are not alone in their feelings. This doesn't make their sense of loneliness disappear, but they can at least be lonely together. They recognize each other as human beings, who want to live:

"Your plan better not fail and get us both killed, or I'm gonna kill you, Dazai." Dazai smiled back at him. "I'm fine with that. Now, let's do this, Chuuya." (Fifteen)

Chuya reveals he is Arahabaki and Dazai admits he wants to live. The result of this shared moment of vulnerability is that the two kids enter an alliance and defeat Rimbaud, who is trying to take away their humanity and life. And yet, it is Rimbaud's last words which convey the lesson Dazai and Chuya need to learn:

"Live," Randou said in almost a whisper. "There is no longer... any way of knowing... who you are or where you came from," he rasped. "But even if... you are but a pattern... etched on the surface of raw power... you are you. Nothing changes that... because all people, all humanity... their brains and flesh... are nothing more than patterns - beautiful patterns... upon the material world..." (Fifteen)

Everybody feels cold. Everybody looks for answers they aren't gonna find. The dark feelings Dazai and Chuya have are proof they are humans. And the only thing humans can do is to keep on living, despite it all.

TOGETHER ALONE

Bsd is full of people who are together alone. Let's consider two of these bonds, which foil soukoku:

Rimbaud and Verlaine

Fyodor and Gogol

Rimbaud and Verlaine

Rimbaud and Verlaine are Chuya's literary parents and their relationship clearly foils soukoku. In particular, they fall apart because of communication problems:

Rimbaud doesn't understand Verlaine's pain

Verlaine fails to open up to Rimbaud

The end result is that Verlaine betrays Rimbaud and their confrontation escalates into a fight, which ends with the worst outcome possible for both. Not only that, but they end up projecting their issues on Chuya (their metaphorical child). Rimbaud believes that if he makes Chuya his skill, he will find Verlaine again. Verlaine thinks that if he forces Chuya to come with him, he will stop feeling the loss of Rimbaud. In the end, though, they manage to find each other again through empathizing with Chuya.

Rimbaud understands Chuya's fears of not being human. In this way, he can finally understand Verlaine's feelings. By seeing Chuya is human, he also sees Verlaine as human. Because of this final realization, Rimbaud gives up on his humanity and turns himself into a singularity with no regrets. He becomes Verlaine's core and a proof of his friend's personhood.

Verlaine realizes through Chuya that he himself is human. In this way, he can finally aknowledge his grief over Rimbaud's death and apologize to his friend. Verlaine is a lonely monster, who finds redemption and humanity in a single meaningful bond. Rimbaud symbolically takes the place of his heart.

Dazai and Chuya have similar communication problems. Dazai is unable to be honest about how he feels about Chuya and the people he left behind in the mafia, as a whole. This is why soukoku's interactions are full of gags where Dazai jokes about dramatic confessions:

He probably has something to tell Chuya, but can't. If anything, he leaves the mafia without giving any explanations. And in Beast, he marches towards his death without telling anything to Chuya.

Chuya instead fails to truly understand Dazai's reasons. The mafia is Chuya's family and he is content with it, but it is an organization which sucks away Dazai's willingness to live. Chuya probably fails to see it.

The end result is that Dazai betrays the mafia and leaves both the organization and Chuya behind. It is probable that this past grudge is gonna come up eventually. If anything because past grudges keep being mentioned when it comes to soukoku and Chuya:

Not only that, but just like Rimbaud and Verlaine, it is possible soukoku has their own metaphorical child to save:

Q appears in Fifteen and is the person soukoku join forces to save in their first fight together in the manga. They clearly represent both Dazai and Chuya's inner child:

They are a problematic child taken in by Mori, like Dazai. They are taken advantage of and trapped because of their monstruous abilities. Dazai himself is assigned as Q's guardian.

They have a skill they deep down hate, like Chuya. They even admit they don't want their gift while tortured, just like Chuya does while a prisoner in Storm Bringer.

So, Q is the child Dazai and Chuya used to be. And yet, they both show very little sympathy for them. That is because they have yet to reconcile with the most frail parts of who they are. They can do so only through both Q and each other. Once they do, Dazai will be able to be honest and Chuya will be able to understand.

Fyodor and Gogol

Fyodor and Gogol share Dazai and Chuya's religious motif:

Dazai is often compared to a demon and Chuya to a God

Fyodor calls himself a God and Gogol refers to himself as a rebel angel (aka the Devil)

This imagery highlights how all four characters feel separated from the rest of humanity. At the same time, Fyodor and Gogol are set up as Dazai and Chuya's dark foils. It means they are pejorative mirrors of the characters. They have some traits Dazai and Chuya also possess, but taken up to eleven. In particular, the two couples' juxtaposition is centered around control, freedom and how these two ideas impact relationships.

Fyodor and Dazai are both manipulators. They are able to read others' behaviors perfectly and can control others' actions. This is why they can build exploitative relationships, where others are just puppets. Fyodor fully embraces this part of himself. This is why he refuses to forge real bonds and pushes Gogol away. He can't accept a friend with his own free will. Dazai instead has learnt from his many bonds that he can't fully control other people. No matter how much he tries to turn Chuya into a slave, he never gives up his freedom. He tries his best to stop Oda from dying, but his friend goes on with his suicidal plan. Ango betrays Dazai, despite their friendship. Kunikida is able to surprise Dazai in their first mission together. And so on:

Gogol and Chuya both feel trapped by the world and are constantly fighting against a sense of nihilism:

Even though it feels like I might be trapped, there is no room for sentiments I'll push myself to the limit and dye everything jet-black The world is a bird cage, faded in colour Even if I lament, I can't get out of this prison BUT NOW, DARKNESS MY SORROW I have not yet fallen apart So, as I laugh off this imposed inconvenience Let's overturn even the heavens and the earth (GRAVITY) Within the darkness, a shadow of a hat lightly dances.

Gogol's freedom is nothingness. It is the same nothingness Chuya experiences in the lab, before his rebirth into the world. It is poignant that Gogol uses similar imagery to the one Chuya sings about in his song. Both talk about a cage and the ability to fly away free from gravity. However, this wish can't be realized because being humans means not to be fully free. Neither from morality nor from feelings. Gogol wishes to escape from himself. This is why he wants to murder Fyodor. Because Fyodor is his only bond, a tie. Chuya instead keeps binding himself to others. He starts with the Sheep, goes on with the Flags and with the Mafia. Gogol keeps on fighting to free himself from everything. Chuya instead accepts he is always going to be a prisoner.

In other words, Fyodor wants to control everyone, while Gogol refuses to give up even a small fragment of his freedom. This is why they push each other away and (apparently) lose to soukoku in the current arc. In order to have a bond, you need to trust the other person and to sacrifice some freedom to them. Fyodor and Gogol refuse, so they fail to forge a true relationship.

Dazai and Chuya have similar flaws, but they are lucky enough to have many people to teach them about friendships and bonds. This is why they can have relationships with others.

That said, it is possible the next confrontation soukoku has with Fyodor and Gogol (yes, Fyodor is gonna be okay and yes, they are set up to fight in the future) won't go as smoothly. After all, the role of a dark foil is to challenge the character so they can see their shortcomings. This is gonna happen to Dazai and Chuya, as well.

A TAINTED DARKNESS

Dazai and Chuya are two people with opposite personalities and the same existential emptiness. This is why they gravitate toward each other, but also repulse each other. Theirs isn't a bond that can fix pain. Rather, it is a bond, which is real, despite all its contradictions. In a sense, it is the opposite of Dazai's romanticized double suicide:

Dazai curled into the fetal position and screamed, "Dying with Chuuya? Anything but thaaaat!!" (Storm Bringer)

Dazai and Chuya don't heal each other. However, they keep on living along each other, despite the pain and the messiness. They don't make the darkness disappear, but they manage to taint each other's blackness.

This metaphor is brought home by their use of "corruption".

Upon the Tainted Sorrow is a metaphor of Chuya's inner depression and nihilism. Whenever he activates Corruption, he lets this side of him take over. He goes back to his dark loneliness.

No Longer Human is a skill that nullifies others' skills and it is a metaphor of how Dazai feels estranged from others. Not a human being.

And yet, Dazai is able to use his inhuman gift to bring to the surface Chuya's humanity. At the same time, Chuya's loneliness is tainted by Dazai's touch. Once again, another hand comes into his dark world and brings him back to life.

In conclusion, double black is really two tainted lonelinesses.

[epickiya722]

Okay, I ranted about it in my tags of another post, but I'll say it here. And I know some of you ain't gonna like it.

The amount of hate Mei Mei gets is an example of how people can't actually handle complex and/or evil female characters.

Now before anyone says anything, I'm not saying you should like Mei Mei or you shouldn't hate her. Just really think about what I'm about to say next.

Do you hate Mei Mei because of her character (how she treats people, her personality, etc,)? Or do you hate her because she's a woman?

If it's the former, think about this and see if your answer changes.

Think about all the male characters you like that are complex and/or evil and why you like them. Did your answer change? In fact, do you like a male character worse than Mei Mei?

Now, here's the thing.

It's really odd to me that people will be like "we need more complex female characters" and yet when we get those female characters, the fandom acts like they shouldn't exist.

"Oh, she's a bitch."

"She should die."

"She deserves all the pain and suffering."

And yet, male characters who are just as bad or worse easily can get people glazing the hell out of them and dropping panties. Where is that same hating ass energy? Don't you want the male character to die, too?

That's an issue. Do you see the issue?

Still using Mei Mei as an example.

I doubt, I do, that Gege intends for people to like Mei Mei. Quite the opposite. The way her scenes are written and drawn makes me feel like the mangaka wants us to feel intimidated by her in a bad way. We're supposed to feel uncomfortable by her relationship with Ui Ui. We should feel some hate towards her.

However, not because she's a woman. It's because of her character. She's not written to be a good person.

This is going to sound awkward, but if you hate Mei Mei because she makes you uncomfortable gender be damned, then you're hating her right.

You hate her now just as you would if she was a man.

I'll use Sukuna for example for comparison. He does has his fans (as does Mei Mei), but he does have his haters.

However, it's not because he's a man. People don't hate him because he's a man.

It's because he's downright damn evil. He murders, he tortures, he uses and abuses, he doesn't care who you are he'll cut you down. The only person we know Sukuna actually never wants to kill and never shown any sort of annoyance to is Uraume. People say Gege is glazing Sukuna and are mad because it seems he keeps winning, but has no one stop to think THAT'S THE POINT?!

You're supposed to be frustrated that Sukuna is still around. Gege keeps throwing Sukuna in our faces to make the audience mad. Not to troll. It's how stories work. You should feel different emotions. Especially with bad people like Sukuna.

If Gege wanted us to sympathize with Sukuna, Sukuna would have been gotten his sad backstory. But no, when there was a chance for that (fight with Hajime), we get a line of Sukuna saying he was unwanted or whatever and him just brushing it off. That right there is a sign of an explicitly evil, unsympathetic villain. (We might get a sad backstory later, you knows, but I kinda doubt it.)

Now apply all that I just said about Sukuna to Mei Mei and rethink over this.

Do you hate Mei Mei because she's a woman or because she's a bad person?

To end, can you actually handle complex female characters? Can you hate a female character who is evil or ambiguously evil and/or complex because that's how the author may intended (or she just isn't your kind of character) and not because she's female?

[flightfoot]

ML Fanfic recs for 2023: 2K - 5K Words

So I’ve been going through and adding particularly good fics I’ve read throughout the year. Only Complete fics, of course. Enjoy!

An uncaffeinated Marinette makes for an easily misunderstood Marinette.

Luka’s a ghost. Naturally, he does some haunting. He didn’t expect to fall in love along the way.

Nathaniel keeps trying to confess his feelings to Ivan. Marc keeps trying to sabotage those attempts in order to confess his own feelings. Why does it seem like things never go right?

Cat Walker’s under orders to fight Ladybug. That doesn’t stop Adrien from helping his girlfriend.

Zoe and Kagami discuss the intricacies of relationships while being mildly inconvenienced by zombies.

Kagami awakens to find herself in a house with a zombie. This is less of a problem than you might think.

Sabine keeps having nightmares about Ladybug and Chat Noir killing Marinette. She has some basis to worry.

All this and more below the break!

---

They fill you with the faults they had. And add some extra, just for you by @unecoccinellenoire 

The thing is, Adrien Agreste isn’t a sentimonster. That’s the problem.

It’s left ambiguous exactly what’s happening, but... instead of the characters who’re canonically sentis being controlled, it looks like another method’s been used to keep them under their parents thumb. Basically, that what we thought were the kids amoks’ were actually used to brainwash more generally. Which leads to some complicated ethical questions for Adrien, since he now holds the rings. Especially since he can now use the rings on others the way they were used on him. 

---

what if we got married in the park by my house in the middle of the school year by @wooawi

Marinette comes up with an ingenious plan to take Adrien away from Gabriel's garbage parenting.

This was just fun. Of course Marinette’s immediate plan to get Adrien away from his garbage family is to make him part of her own. It’s hilarious and adorable and Adrien rocks the wedding dress!

---

Slip of the Tongue (And Not Enough Caffiene) by That_WildChild

Marinette is tired. Marinette is also uncaffeinated. This is not a good combination.

A sleepy Marinette accidentally suggests that she shares her bed with Ladybug. At least she's protecting her identity?

Pure Crack.

Ah, sweet, sweet crack! I giggled during the story. Marinette is “fucking Ladybug” indeed. At least her classmates are supportive! 

---

See This Chance by @19thsentry-blog

Luka died in 2016. Yep. Crushed by the Arc de Triumph when Mayura’s Robustus slammed into it. It was kind of a big deal, but once you’re dead, you’re dead—especially when there’s no Lucky Charm to bring you back.

Luka’s been dealing with it in the typical ways.

Written for FeLuka week 2023.

Yes, this is FeLuka. Not one of the typical ships I read, but I ain’t opposed to it, and this is a nice foray into the pairing. I love ghost AUs! Luka’s just fumbling around, unsure what to do with his incorporeal existence, until he starts haunting Felix. It’s an intriguing plot and I gotta admit, I wish it was longer so it could be fleshed out more, but what’s here is good.

---

Confession Plans of Questionable Sanity by yellow14

Nathanael Kurtzberg has a confession to make. He's in love with his big classmate Ivan. With the help of Marc, Marinette, Adrien and Nino, he's going to confess, using increasingly complicated schemes.

Marc meanwhile, is busy coming up with even more complicated schemes to sabotage those schemes so he can confess HIS feelings for his redheaded friend.

Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong with this, right?

Written for the March 2023 gift exchange on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord forum for CassieTheweirdWolf.

This fic’s just really funny. These kids love to make things waaaaay harder than they need to be. But hey, everything ends up working out in the end, even if it’s not the way they planned!

---

at our wedding by @anna-scribbles

“Chloé,” Adrien said slowly, “At our wedding, are we gonna have to…”

“No!” Chloé shook her head firmly. “We don’t have to kiss. We can do whatever we want. It’s our wedding.”

“Oh, good,” Adrien sighed.

“You have to kiss at a wedding,” Félix argued.

“I don’t have to do anything and you’re not the boss of me!” Chloé shouted.

“Yeah!” Adrien grinned. He grabbed Chloé’s hand again. “Yeah, it’s our wedding.”

//

Adrien and Chloé, wedding planning through the years.

Despite what the summary sounds like, this is NOT a Chloe/Adrien fic - this concentrates on their platonic relationship (and a bit with Felix, he shows up a few times) throughout the years. I especially liked seeing Chloe’s reaction to Adrien coming to school and making friends besides her, being jealous and feeling abandoned, and how she finally had a breakdown over Adrien somehow staying nice despite everything, while she... hasn’t. It’s a great character study!

---

Showing Love by @generalluxun

After the fiasco of Queen Wasp is over, Marinette knows what she had to do. If she just brings Chloé and her mother together, all will be fixed. A mother's love is just the thing to turn Chloé around, and it all must really just be a misunderstanding right?

Nothing else makes sense.

Marinette's mistake was forgetting that life never has to make sense, but she's Ladybug, and when one path closes she finds another.

I love Marinette really comprehending how little Audrey cares about Chloe here, and taking Chloe home with her to show her what a family should be like, reaching out to her even after everything. It’s just really nice.

---

the legend of the firefly by @agnes-writes

“She’s… beautiful.

If he were to describe her, he’d say that they bottled summer in her eyes, and painted the night sky in her hair. Her lips are curved into a wistful smile, eyes trailing the thicket of trees where Adrien stands.

Her gaze sets his heart stuttering in his chest as it softens, and Adrien almost believes that look is meant for him.”

OR: A pair of lovers create a romance that transcends time, and leaves a mark like no other.

This is an incredibly well-written folk tale, one that I highly recommend anyone who loves mythological, folktale, fantasy, etc AUs for Adrienette to read! It’s on the shorter side, but woven so perfectly that it packs an outsized punch, and feels like it belongs in one of those collections of folk tales and myths I read as a kid! 

Adrien’s a god, gifting prosperity to those under his protection, but never interacting with them... until a farm girl catches his eye.

---

The Cat’s Out of the Purse by The_Rabbit42

Adrien just took the ring off to be safe.

Plagg just got bored and wanted to annoy Tikki.

Rose just opened her purse and SURPRISE!

Ladybug just wants to get the ring back to her partner.

This was a fun fic, never seen Rose and Plagg interact like this before! It’s a treat getting more Rose and Plagg focus in general of course, but I really like their relationship here. Plagg’s really good with his wielders in general, and I love how he emphasizes that while he needs to get back to Chat Noir, while Rose is transformed with him, she’s as much her own wielder as he is. It reminds me of how he acted with Zoe, Plagg’s just a treasure XD

---

home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder.

“—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred.

Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

I adore this fic! Which shouldn’t be a a surprise, it’s no secret that I love Sentiadrien Enemies AU. Adrien’s so worried about Marinette getting hurt, and wishes that he could help keep her safer, could tell her what’s really going on or get rid of the ring or something, but he can’t. Still, he IS able to find clever ways around some of his father’s more problematic orders. Loopholes for the win!

---

Attack of the Crystal Zombies by @trainsinanime

Kagami had spent more and more time hanging out with Zoé, talking about things like families, expectations and crushes on Marinette. It was only natural, probably, that she would help Zoé practice flirting. That was definitely a great idea.

Granted, the deadly Akuma battle around them was a bit of an issue…

Quality Zoegami fic here! I loved how Kagami kept thinking she was bad at flirting, but it was sure working on Zoe XD. The akuma attack going on around them, interweaving with their conversation, added a bit of spice to the whole affair!

---

Closure by @bisexually-finger-guns

After the events of “Trust”, Alya tries to find closure.

I love this. A lot of the time, only the effects of Lila’s lies and manipulation on Marinette is explored, with the feelings of the people she tried to trick and use, with the Miracuclass and Alya in particular, ignored, downplayed, or even used to just rail at the kids for being gullible.

Not so here. Alya gets to go to a school counselor and talk about her feelings about Lila manipulating her, using her. Ladybug even gives her the Fox Miraculous to try a Burn-letter therapy technique on, telling an illusion of Lila everything she wants to say to her in order to get some closure. 

---

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite! by 55Anon

In which Hawkmoth is defeated by a strike.

So basically, Parisians get pissed at Hawkmoth and decide that hey, maybe they can’t stop him themselves, and they can’t just stay entirely positive at all times, but they sure as hell can direct every bit of their hatred and anger at him so that if he akumatizes one of them, they make a beeline for his lair. Hawkmoth didn’t stand a chance against the contempt of Paris!

---

All Of Them? Every Single One? by @liiinerle

It turns out that Marinette loves a lot more people than she'd initially thought.

This is hilarious and adorable. Tikki lays out how Marinette has a crush on basically every girl she’s met - and even girls she doesn’t know are girls yet XD. 

---

Anchor by @liiinerle

“Marinette. Please take that sabre out of your neck.”

“Right. Thanks. I forgot it was there.” She grabbed hold of the guard and pulled; the blade slid out like it had only been run through butter. After dropping it on the floor, she picked up one of the teacups and picked up a biscuit from a tin she’d brought in; she placed the biscuit on the saucer plate and handed the whole thing to Kagami, who could only really resign herself to accepting it.

-----

Marinette has raised Kagami from the dead, and also happens to be dead herself. It turns out some bad choices were made in the past. But that doesn't mean they'll lead to bad outcomes for them now.

I love this, Marinette’s incredibly blase about being a zombie - which makes sense, given how long she’s had to get used to the idea. And she’s waited so long, tried so hard to bring Kagami back as well, though if she didn’t WANT to be back, she’d accede to that request. Luckily, Kagami doesn’t seem to mind as long as she’s with Marinette XD.

---

safe and sound by Lady_Bryght

A crazed fan is stalking Adrien with violent intentions, and Ladybug is determined to protect him. When the school goes on lockdown and Marinette can't transform, she does her best to keep him safe without the use of a miraculous.

So this is a bit of a suspenseful thriller with a twist ending - well, sort of an ending, it’s a oneshot so far with an ambiguous ending that reveals what’s going on, but not how things actually resolve. It’s the sort of story where, after you see the ending, you look back through the story for foreshadowing. Can’t really go much more in detail, without spoiling the twist.

---

Worth Your Time by @pearl484-blog

After the events of the Season 4 finale, Adrien leaves a series of voicemails for Felix after learning he is missing. Just because Felix is out of sight, doesn't mean he's out of mind for his cousin.

Entry for Adrien AUGreste prompt: Rings

I’d honestly forgotten about Adrien being told by Amelie that Felix was missing, and how that might have affected him. He doesn’t know that Felix is okay - he just knows that Felix disappeared after giving the Miraculous to Monarch, and that not even his mom (supposedly) knows where he is. So naturally, he fears the worst, and after awhile of leaving voicemails and not getting replies, he almost starts using the voicemails as a diary of sorts about the various events of season 5 - up until Emotion that is, for obvious reasons.

---

the less I seek my source for some definitive by katrinette

When the akuma manages to smash a hole in the hull of the colony ship that's supposed to be unbreakable, Ladybug has to take drastic action to keep everyone safe.

This is an interesting sci-fi AU! Ladybug and Chat Noir pilot the last few fighter ships of their colony ship, the only defense against the akumas that keep on appearing and attacking the ship. But when one of the akumas smashes a hole in the ship, well Ladybug is willing to go to extreme measures to make sure everyone doesn’t die from the depressurization - measures that do not include any regard for her own safety, much to Chat’s displeasure.

---

Guilty by Association by @rosie-b

Marinette respected Adrien’s strength and courage more and more every day. No matter how many times people threw nasty words or literal tomatoes at him; no matter how many companies refused to work with him anymore; no matter how clear it was becoming that he would never be forgiven for his father’s crimes, he chose to greet new people with a smile and hope that this time, someone would recognize the kind heart hidden behind his hated name.

She wished she’d had the chance to meet him before she’d accidentally ruined his life.

Written for the Ml Writers Guild September event 'back to school'

I love how Marinette keeps reaching out to Adrien, trying to protect him, even if it doesn’t always work. To let him know that she’s in his corner at least. Hawk Moth had to be taken down, but the consequences for Adrien... she never wanted anyone to get hurt in the process. 

---

The Supreme Movers by PearlO_O

Continuation of Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir.

Adrien and Marinette battle with the emotional aftermath of meeting their alternate selves.

This was an excellent follow-up to the Paris Special! To be clear, the Adrien and Marinette here are Claw Noir and Shady Bug, not the ones from the show we’ve been following all this time. I really liked Adrien and Marinette reflecting and recontextualizing how their parents have been acting in more positive ways, and getting more positive responses in turn, along with them reassessing how they’ve been acting and reaching out to Alya and Nino. There’s this theme of “it doesn’t matter who we were or what mistakes we made, but who we want to be and that we keep moving forward”.

---

Keep Me Safe Inside by RoFair

Adrien Agreste, formally known as Claw Noir attempts to get to know the girl he admires behind the mask of the reformed Shadybug. He has a plan, but it is derailed by a blonde bully.

I love how smitten Adrien is with Marinette! He might have a lot of bravado as Claw Noir, but he’s kinda shy as a civilian. Of course, that all goes out the window when Marinette needs help - like when she’s being bullied and is nearing a breakdown.

---

delicate in every way but one by katrinette

When Marinette finds a wanted ad that provokes just enough questions in her mind that she can't help answering it, the reward is sweeter than she could have imagined.

I love the little bit of worldbuilding we get here about vampire society, and Adrien’s usual awkward adorableness in asking Marinette for a certain necessary favor. It’s always neat to see such familiar characterization in a supernatural setting like this.

---

Lost Feather by @a-flaming-idiot

Sabine has always liked and respected Ladybug and Chat Noir. They've always been wonderful heroes and inspirations to all of Paris and she wouldn't trade them for the world. But that isn't to say she didn't begin to get worried when the heroes of Paris made it their mission to destroy all sentimonsters in their path. Though she knew they never would, it was hard to not worry for the safety of her daughter.

I liked this glimpse of what might happen if Marinette was a sentimonster as well! Poor Sabine, of course she’d have nightmares about the Heroes of Paris killing her daughter. While she likes and respects the Heroes and understands why they’ve been killing sentimonsters, given that the ones Shadow Moth spawns often don’t even seem sentient and are wreaking havoc, she’s still afraid for Marinette, that Ladybug might purify her Amok without ever considering that Marinette might be an actual person.

---

Partners in [Chaos] by @aidanchaser

Griffe Noire's needs no excuse to crash a fashion show competition, but when he sees the baker from his favorite bakery is involved, he decides to shift from spreading destruction to a different sort of chaos. He's not ready for her to see through him better than he knows himself.

Remixed from Partners in Clown by MiaBrown

I love Adrien’s portrayal here, how he lies to himself about how bad the cracks are getting, while also relishing them in a way, feeling like he’s living because of the self-harm he’s inflicting every time he unleashes a Cataclysm, it fits with his portrayal in the special. I like Marinette here too, you can see a bit of her vulnerabilities in this piece, though it’s not in her POV so she’s out of focus.

---

Perfect by @deinde_prandium

It’s Adrien and Marinette’s wedding day! On site to ensure the event goes perfectly is their friend and famed wedding planner Kagami Tsuguri, and so far all has been going according to plan. There's just one problem: no one ever told her about Adrien, Marinette, and their struggles with automatic doors. Add to this the fact that Marinette’s determination to play matchmaker between her and a certain wedding singer…

Needless to say, Kagami is not pleased.

This is mostly a Kagami-centric fic, with a touch of Lukagami at the end. I loved the callback to Adrienette’s automatic door troubles, and Kagami and Luka being sneaky XD. 

---

Patrolling with a friend for Christmas by @seasofsilver

Adrien just wanted to gift his Lady some time off and hang out more with Marinette during the festive season - it didn't exactly go to plan, but somehow ended up... better?

This was adorable! Chat Noir tries to give Ladybug a break by recruiting Multimouse to replace her on patrols for a bit, and Ladybug returns the favor by recruiting Aspik to replace Chat. Yep, it’s Snekmouse!

---

Far-Fetched Plans by @cravingcraze

“While that’s true, and I was going to bring that up, I wanted to talk about… when Wishmaker hit you,” he sat up and looked at Felix with… concern? Why was he concerned for him?

“You only care about my secret identity,” Felix deflected. No, there was no way fucking Viperion, Luka Couffaine of all people was worried about him.

(It was hard to imagine anyone working with Ladybug worried about him.)

So this is an intriguing prospect. Gabriel’s forcing Felix to work with him to try and get Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s Miraculous, something Felix isn’t thrilled about. But Luka finds out Felix’s secret identity, and decides to try and help him to break free.

---

Life with a Stolen Slime by RustyAce

Sharp, dagger-like stabs from his stomach made the small creature whimper as they curled into himself. Hunger. A frequent state he should be used to by now, but a painful one nonetheless. His gelatinous form was nearly a ball as he tried to self soothe himself, with just portions of slime forming ears and a tail that stuck out of his main body. Usually this worked, but the slime made a distressed moan as they pressed their forehead against his glass prison.

Oh, how he wished he could escape this jar he was in. The humans never came often enough to give him enough food, or even to let him out to stretch his legs. No, instead they carefully opened the jar’s lid just enough to slip some disgusting trash into it with some forceps. They, it seemed, did not appreciate his surprisingly sharp bites or scratches when they first brought him here. A shame.

The slime let out a small sigh, their eyes closing in an attempt to fall asleep to ignore his hunger. Perhaps if he fell asleep, he would wake up to them bringing him food.

So this fic is based off the Reverse world presented in the Paris special. Claw Noir’s a small cat-slime that’s being held captive in a jar, until Marinette eventually rescues him and puts him in a bigger container and feeds him better food at least. It’s cute, and it makes me curious about the setting of this story (like where he came from and why humans were keeping him captive, along with how Marinette stumbled across him), and where the story might go from here (this is a oneshot, but I’d love to see this explored more, if you can’t tell).

---

Changeling by @unecoccinellenoire

Gabriel makes the Wish believing that he regretted everything with Adrien. The results suggest that he in fact regrets Adrien

So this is interesting. It’s giving a glimpse into a universe where Gabriel and Emilie never found the Peacock Miraculous, and they (along with Amelie and Colt) just adopted. Which unfortunately meant that Adrien and Felix as we know them never existed, and Gabriel finds that he misses his original son, which is especially acute when interacting with his new adopted son and knowing how much he’s NOT Adrien.

---

Here for now, but I can see the better days by @nirby-wirby

Now, laying on his bed with only the soft light of a bedside lamp illuminating the room, he felt guilt eating at him from inside his chest. His miraculous burned on his finger, a reminder of what he’d given up. Of what had somehow led to his father helping Ladybug and dying in the process. The guilt was suffocating, building more and more until he felt like all that was left of him was guilt.

———— Or: Adrien deals with the grief and guilt of losing his father with some help. Set post-s5 finale and written for the ML Secret Santa Exchange of 2023

I love the support Adrien gets here, both from Nathalie in a more motherly role, and from his friends. He even tells Nathalie his secret identity, which gets her thinking about how badly Adrien got screwed over. Especially with him feeling guilty over Gabriel’s fate, when she knows he has no reason to.

---

Under the Umbrella by @fruitdragon1a

Almost everyone has a soulmate. What are Adrien and Marinette supposed to do when they meet theirs?

ML Secret Santa gift for Mei! Merry Christmas!

Thank you to Now Loading and Rewan Demontay for beta reading this fic!

So this is a version of soulmarks I haven’t seen before. Around age six, soulmates get a soulmark that shows what their soulmate is thinking when they first meet them. Though I guess it doesn’t register while transformed, since it only counts for this one when Adrien and Marinette meet as civilians, and not when they first meet as superheroes.

[vvvvivi567890]

Chinese LeoKlein & KleinLeo Fic Recs

(Last Updated: Apr. 11. 2024)

I was gonna put this in a huge post but apparently theres a limit to the number of links you can have in a post here you go

One Shots:

How to Act as a Midnight Poet by star-farming

Deacon Mitchell has a Crush by cherishqiao

Mr. Star is so Scary! by yuzhanbiluo

Can Stalking Be Considered a Chance Encounter? by huankonglongying

Incident of Image Collapse of Poet Classmate by wokeyicaiddanwocpbixutietie

Tingen, Klein trades his sexuality for money

My Former Colleague is Now My Summoning Spirit by fengju840

I Recognize Your Breath When We Kiss by woodyo

Pallez Wants to Change Parasite by gulyer

Leonard, Are You in Love? by burklend160

Looking at the Mountains and Missing Them by smallskywww

Post-book 1, when Klein is sleeping

Leonard Just Wants to Fall in Love by smallskywww

Tingen, s8 Leonard x s8 Klein

Klein Wants Leonard to Learn to Say No by cielianx

But Parents on Both Sides Can't Stand It Anymore by 2014today

Possession Beyond the Line by ws40423

All chapters of the series are integrated into the final chapter linked above (i spent hours trying to find the previous ones on their account and then pondering if it was deleted before just reading it and realizing that its all in one post hahahaha ha ha...)

Family Banquet by beijishouweizhe

AU where there weren't any casualties during the Megose incident; Melissa is worried about Klein coming home late and tired so Klein lies and says he's seeing someone

To Klein Who Will Eventually Wake Up by genkimori

After Klein wakes up, he follows Leonard's letters to regain his humanity

The Pros and Cons of Fate by beijishouweizhe

Leonard's Bucket List by beijishouweizhe

A Secret by xinjinjumin741787426675

Tingen; Klein moves in with Leonard after joining the nighthawks so Leonard can monitor him

Encounter on a Narrow Road by zhujianqingjiu

If Gehrman’s vest had not been taken off

A Sincere Confession by zhujianqingjiu

Gehrman gets caught by the Red Gloves after infiltrating Chanis Gate

You Must Kill the Opponent 100 Times by annlova

That Deacon is Paid to Fish by ailikesitudou

Although a certain senior deacon is sitting at his desk seriously, seemingly immersed in writing a report, in fact he is just writing a love poem

Complete:

The Goddess Suddenly Doesn't Want to Let Cats Go Anymore by kapuayi: 1, 2, 3, 4 (END)

Before Klein is promoted to s5, red gloves catch Gehrman

Klein Became a Spirit?; Gehrman Abducted Back to the Church (END) by qinglinyanyu

Delusion; A Cup Sweet Ice Tea Just For You (END) by genkimori

A World Without Leonard by cherishqiao: 1, 2, 3 (END)

Double Crisis by zhujianqingjiu: 1, 2, 3 (END)

Leonard thinks that Klein is in an abusive relationship with Dwayne

Incomplete:

Take Your Tears to Gently Embrace Those Colors by hanpeiwen: 1 (Last Updated: Jul. 04. 2020)

When you fall in love with someone, you will see colors

A Kind-Hearted Adventurer Passing By by bethel614882: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (Last Updated: Jan. 14. 2024)

Will Former Colleague Red Glove Dream of the Crazy Adventurer of the Five Seas by zhuomeng518: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (Last Updated: Sep. 09. 2023)

Body swap with Leonard and Gehrman

Benson's Troubles by bingjingming: 1, 2, (Last Updated: Mar. 10. 2024)

Is There Anything Wrong With the Lover I Thought Was an Ordinary Person but Turned Out to Be a Extraordinary Person? by kuailedantuiren: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (Last Updated: Oct 25. 2020)

The Cat Caught Naked Behind Chanis Gate by lossdragonluosi: 1 (Last Updated: Feb. 15. 2024)

It's a Secret by heilangbushilang: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 (Last Updated: Jan. 11. 2024)

Before Dawn by renaissance92629: 1, (Last Updated: Mar. 20. 2024)

After facing numerous attacks as Gehrman because of a bounty on him, Klein looks for a place to stay until things calm down and accidentally moves in with Leonard

Brother, We are a Bit Ambiguous by xinjinjumin4545033: 1, (Last Updated: Mar. 21. 2024)

Does Mr. Red Glove Keep Cats in Captivity? by xinjinjumin4545033: Preface, 1, (Last Updated: Feb. 29. 2024)

Gehrman gains the weakness of fearing lies from death knell, loses his disguise, and gets caught by Leonard

[theshadowrealmitself]

Saw some people trying to explain this in the replies of another post and other people were coming in with well meaning misinformation, so I’m gonna make my own, hopefully clear, post on it:

If you are uploading a work on ao3, you use:

Character/Character for romantic and/or sexual relationships between the characters

And

Character&Character for relationships outside of romance and sex, so like friends, families, coworkers, etc

If two characters are in a sexual and/or romantic relationship of some kind, but you want to show that it’s not a main part of the fic, you still tag it with the “/“ and then under “categories” you click “gen”, that means a fic is more “general” and isn’t about a relationship

Or you can avoid tagging a couple and just add in the tags “fic includes [pairing] but just in the background” or something else along those lines

If you put “&” and then it turns out the characters are together, even if it’s just mentioned, it’s gonna frustrate people who have that as a notp, and for people who maybe like that pairing, they’re gonna avoid it because they think it’s just a platonic relationship

If you put “/“ and the characters aren’t together, people who clicked on your fic for that pairing are gonna click right out, and people who have that as their notp aren’t gonna click it at all

You could technically tag a fic both ways, but honestly you shouldn’t, because many people will filter out one kind (if they only want platonic fics, they’ll filter out “/“ and vice versa) and many times readers will just get confused about what you’re trying to convey the story’s about and may avoid your work

If your work is more ambiguous on the type of relationship they’re in, then you put that in the tags, I know one common tag for m/m pairings is “pre-slash or gen” because you can read it either as this is before they get into a sexual and/or romantic relationship or they just have a platonic relationship

Hopefully this was helpful!

[dana-is-snax]

Do you think Hannibal was in love with Alana and Bedelia? The same way he was in love with Will? Or how do you see Hannibal's relationship with Alana and Bedelia compared to his intense love for Will?

okay, buckle up, this is gonna be a wild ride. [that escalated a bit, short answer: here.]

First of all, I want to say that I am not sure how Hannibal would define love. I think for him it is mostly about being understood and seen.

Second, I think that Sorbet is really telling about his three main relationships. It contains the first session we see between him and Bedelia, we see the beginnings of his and Alana’s romantic relationship and we see Will missing his session and Hannibal coming to see Will, their conversation where Will gives such an accurate assessment of the Ripper’s motivation.

Third, since Hannibal is so manipulative his relationships are often written in a way, where we often see what he wants us to see and then later, it is revealed that it was a whole other thing entirely. In my opinion that makes it hard to assess his relationships.

alana bloom

In my opinion he neither loved nor was in love with Alana – she was an esteemed colleague. He carefully flirted with her and entered a relationship with her as means to an end, a future alibi, because she was someone Jack would trust. It was built on manipulation – even if Hannibal expressed regret for that and offered her an out.

“I was hoping you and I wouldn’t have to say good-bye. Nothing seen nor said. You may have found that rude.” “[…] I was so blind.” “In your defense, I worked very hard to blind you. You can stay blind. You can hide from this. Walk away, I’ll make no plans to call on you. But if you stay, I will kill you. Be blind, Alana. Don’t be brave.” Mizumono, 00:29:37-00:30:27.

It is mentioned, they worked together in what I think was a mentor-mentee relationship. This previous platonic relationship, their history, is what he constructed their romantic one on.

“You had me examining PhD candidates that week.” “And I’m grateful you were examining PhD students and not the Ripper. You realize those candidates thought we were having an affair. Why didn’t we?” Sorbet, 00:25:50-00:25:58.

I think for Hannibal it is important that people see him, that someone understands him. Alana did not and could never – “while being able to understand Hannibal's philosophies, [she] is unable to accept or digest them.” (cf. tayasui-mono in her post)

“Could I ever have understood you?” “No.” Digestivo, 00:26:32-00:26:40.

[honorable mentions]

that weird ass kaleidoscope sex scene

the theremin rizz

bedelia du maurier

I do believe that he was in love with Bedelia once upon a time, at the starting point of the series I would say he loves her but is not in love with her anymore.

In Sorbet, Alana mentions an affair he had while she was working with him. I always interpreted that this affair was with Bedelia.

“You were already having an affair.” Sorbet, 00:26:05-00:26:07.

In my opinion, Bedelia is one of two people, who get to know Hannibal under the person suit. Alone by her knowledge that there is a person suit she knows him better than most. The best scene for that is the first session we see in Sorbet.

She sees small glimpses of him. When she mentions the existence of his human veil/person suit as well as the loneliness that surely must come with it, we see a small smile flash over Hannibal’s face, acknowledging her knowledge of him. More so she knows that she knows him.

“I see enough of you to see the truth of you. And I like you.” Sorbet, 00:18:18-00:18:22.

Not only does she confront him with the fact of his dishonesty, with the existence of his human veil/person suit, but she also distances herself from him being his friend; they are colleagues and in a doctor-patient relationship. She gives clear boundaries, BUT crosses them in the same scene by drinking a glass wine with ‘her patient’.

Bedelia is morally ambiguous, we never know whether she is scared or complicit – or a little bit of both. Or if she even knows.

“Important to get across was the degree to which she is aroused by what is happening. Why on earth is she there? I mean, I know she is titillated by him. But the fact that she got on the plane and went to Italy with him implies that there is something deeper between them. This is the first time he commits a murder in front of her. It was important to see the degree to which she is on the one hand completely terrified. And on the other hand, there’s a part of her that is definitely turned on by and enraptured by the danger and him.” Gillian Anderson in ‘Gillian Anderson Rewatches The X-Files, Sex Education, Scoop & More’ for Vanity Fair.

I believe also that if Italy had been the first time she ever was directly confronted with Hannibal’s violence - while acting like or rather being his wife mind you – she would not have been so torn about it.

Something that I also don’t want to skip is the fact that she killed before and that she liked it – at least that's how I would interpret the orgasm-like camera work in that particular scene. Therefore I would say that Hannibal likes to play with that darker side of her – to provoke her.

“Observe or participate?” “What?” “Are you, in this very moment, observing or participating?” “Observing.” “You say you’re observing, but this…this is participation, Bedelia.” Antipasto, 00:37:25-00:37:53.

In the end though, Italy happens while Hannibal is already and still very much in love with Will and he is literally talking to his ‘wife’ about his boyfriend.

“Was it nice to see him?” “It was nice…among other things .He knew where to look for me.” “You knew where he would look for you.” "He said he forgave me." “Forgiveness is too great and difficult for one person. It requires two: the betrayer and the betrayed. Which one are you?” “I’m vague on those details.” "Betrayal and forgiveness are best seen as something akin to falling in love." "You cannot control with respect to whom you fall in love." Secondo, 00:00:53-00:01:57.

After all that there is no way Bedelia didn't feel used. She knew she was filling the gaps Will left in Hannibal's life while understanding that although they are similar she could never replace him in any manner.

I don't understand how people interpret her as annoyed or as if she "just didn't want to die". There was surely understanding and love between Hannibal and her, yet not like between Will and Hannibal.

And YES, they fucked.

[honorable mentions]

the dancing scene (and the whole antipasto episode just for their chemistry): “Bellissima.” “Grazie.”

the dinner scene: “My husband has a very sophisticated palate. He is very particular about how I taste.” “Is it that kind of party?” “It’s not that kind of party.”

will graham

Hannibal’s relationship with Will I always find hard to define as it is written in a way that is not so much based on romantic or sexual attraction but rather mutual understanding – ‘seeing each other’. (Which, let’s be honest, is probably due to NBC being homophobic.)

Because of his ‚gift‘, his heightened empathy, Will can assess the Ripper in a way that no one else can. In Sorbet, he does so in Hannibal’s presence and Hannibal finally finds someone who really sees him.

“Displaying one’s enemies after death has its appeal in many cultures.” “This aren’t the Ripper’s enemies, these are pests he’s swatted.” “Their reward for their cruelty.” “Oh, he doesn’t have a problem with cruelty. Their reward is for undignified behavior. These dissections are to disgrace them. It’s…it’s a public shaming.” “Takes their organs away because, in his mind, they don’t deserve them.” “In some way.” Sorbet, 00:34:44-00:35:21.

In each other they find someone that understands and reciprocates.

“They are identically different, Hannibal and Will.” Digestivo, 00:03:59-00:04:02.

With his Achilles/Patroclus reference in regards to their relationship Hannibal practically confesses that he is indifferent to anyone but Will in his life. (How Will misses the point of this reference is completely inexplicable to me. After this he still had the audacity to ask, “Is Hannibal in love with me?” YES, YOU STUPID MAN!)

"Achilles lamenting the death of Patroclus. Whenever he's mentioned in the Iliad, Patroclus seems to be defined by his empathy." "He became Achilles on the field of war. He died for him there, wearing his armor." "He did. Hiding and revealing identity is a constant theme throughout the Greek epics." "As are battle-tested friendships." "Achilles wished all Greeks would die, so that he and Patroclus could conquer Troy alone. Took divine intervention to bring them down." Tome-wan, 00:40:22-00:41:07.

In the end, Will and Hannibal are so incredibly complex, they are written so that they literally defy definition und do not fit into a mold. I could not even say that Hannibal feels intense love for Will. I’m not even sure that Hannibal is able to feel love at all - same with Will - or rather how they feel love.

But they see each other for what they are.

"Time did reverse. The teacup that I shattered there did come together. A place was made for Abigail in your world... You understand? A place was made for all of us, together. I wanted to surprise you. And you... you wanted to surprise me. I let you know me. See me. I gave you a rare gift. But you didn't want it." “Didn’t I?” Mizumono, 00:36:15-00:37:18.

 [honorable mentions]

the baby trap: "Who knows Abigail better than you and I? Or burden she bears. We are her fathers now. We have to serve her better than Garrett Jacob Hobbs."

the ogling: “Are you feeling paternal, Will?”

conclusion

Hannibal did not love Alana. She was an esteemed colleague but in the end, she was a means to an end. She was there to give him an alibi. He manipulated her.

Hannibal surely once was in love with Bedelia, maybe even loves her still but is not IN love with her anymore. I would say he took her to Italy for the love that once was there – for old time’s sake.

Will is ‘Blackbeard’s last wife’. He and Hannibal just have an unprecedented understanding for each other. Hannibal wanted a future with Will.

So, no, Hannibal was not in love with Alana and Bedelia, or at least not in the same way he was with Will.

[I want to note here that both Bedelia and Will often behave in a way that Hannibal would consider rude and he turns a blind eye to it. All this to say, if it had ended with Bedelia, Will and Hannibal as a throuple, Hannibal wouldn’t have had a peaceful day in his life ever again.]