#and considering these are all at similar stages of ‘stuck’

[emry-stars-art]

Im a little late but I think I wanna try something

This post by @kedreeva is a fun WIP Wednesday Game! I’ll paraphrase the rules here:

Post up to five file names of your wips (not titles, file names)

Post a snippet from one of them, something you’ve written in the past seven days

After you’ve posted, people can send an ask with one of your file names, and you must write three sentences in that file.

Since I don’t have five separate wips I thought I’d try posting five scenes im writing/want to write of the royal au 👑 help me decide what to work onnnnn

My scenes are:

another horse ride

first day

responsibility II

Andrew freshening up

bath

Some of these you can assume what’s happening by the names so 👀 hooray for descriptive titling

And a snippet from ‘responsibility II’:

Day came out of a side door. More of an everything room adjacent to the infirmary, used for temporary housing and storage and countless other things Andrew had no knowledge of. Day looked about to stalk down the hall, but stopped in the doorway upon seeing Andrew.

“Your Highness,” he said, and it was that same tone that he always had on when dealing with Abram. Annoyed and worried at the same time. Andrew knew first hand that Day never used it with Abram; it was only the concern leaking through when he talked to anyone else. “What have you gone and done with Abram’s hair?”

“…What about it?”

“He won’t let the dresser touch it. He won’t let me touch it, and he keeps talking about you. That it shouldn’t be his decision to cut it. Care to explain?”

If you want to participate, please go check out the original post to get the full read on it! Happy writing 🥰

[ratatouillewastakendammit]

i can't stop thinking about Hawks getting pissed during an interview where another pro hero makes a remark about how Hawks pretty little sidekick could do so much better at their agency,,, and he has to sit there and play nice but once it's over hes allllllllllll over her,,,,, yea <3

I was at a con when I got this request and it got me giggling out loud and shit.

This took so long to write because I had writer's block, but I hope you like it <3

Warnings: the tiniest bit of spice, basically just enhanced making out, I tried to make this one a bit more fluffy, language, a random oc because I couldn't really think of any other pro-heroes within the age range who were assholes

Word Count: 2.5k

"And now for our next set of guests, I would firstly like to introduce the primary reason that half of our female viewers tuned in tonight."

The live audience erupted into applause as the pro made his way onto the stage, waving a hand before running it through perfectly-styled golden bangs.

The host, a middle-aged man with strikingly purple hair met him halfway. "Hawks, how are you doing tonight?"

"I'm doing great." He smiled, perfectly aware of how easily that grin could melt hearts. "Happy to be here."

"We're happy to have you!" The host reflected his expression, flashing a set of teeth that were so flawlessly white it was almost unnerving. "And next up, we have another hero slowly climbing up the ranks, the Hound Hero, K-Nine!"

Another man hopped on to the stage, earning another round of cheers from the crowd in front of him.

Umber hair had been wrapped into an unkempt bun, matching the deep shade of his eyes. He could be considered pretty attractive, Hawks supposed, if you could look past the ears poking past the up-do.

Although he didn't know the hero's legal name, nor did he care enough to look it up beforehand, he was ninety perfect positive that it started with the letter 'K.'

Cheesy, but he wouldn't judge. He'd been known to appreciate a good pun.

What he didn't appreciate was that fact that his PR rep had dragged him to another interview on his supposed day off.

Still, he was better than most at keeping up appearances, flashing that heart-stopping grin and throwing in a clever comment when the time called for it.

The host asked the usual questions, the similarities to K-Nine and himself, even though he was sure that those ended at their shared animal-based quirks and the fact that they were both in their mid twenties. Regardless, anyone with eyes would see that the two could barely be considered to be on the same level, something that brought an air of dullness to the interview.

As usual, the winged pro found it difficult to pay attention, leg bouncing in anticipation of how long he would be stuck here. That was one of the less-apparent downsides of being someone who prominently valued speed; sitting through such monotonous situations was quite the feat.

Instead, he droned out the voices as the men across from him started to discuss the importance of sidekicks.

And that's when he heard your name.

He perked up, immediately recognizing that K-Nine was staring in his direction, wolfish grin only accentuated by the sharpened canines poking out from under his lips. "I gotta say, I'm jealous."

Hawks cocked an eyebrow. "Jealous?"

Nodding, the brunet allowed the surface-level authenticity to settle for a moment. "Someone as cute as that? I don't know how anyone there manages to get work done."

It was almost unnoticeable, practically unseen over the televised pixels many were watching through. Regardless, the slight tense of his wings in pure irritation was undeniable.

So, that's what this was about.

Forcing a smile, he replied. "Considering our criminal apprehension rates, I think you'd be surprised."

K-Nine leaned back into his chair, haughty expression flickering between the good-hearted playfulness he was supposed to be exuding. "All I'm saying is a pretty little thing like that could do a lot better at my agency."

Golden eyes narrowed slightly as the connotation, fingers digging into the plush sofa as he used every bit of mental strength to will the spite from his tone. "As far as I know, all of my sidekicks are perfect content to work with me. Just like I'm sure yours are happy to work with you. Not sure how they handle all the fleas, though."

The cluster of people in front of him busted into laughter, and he joined in, but the sound seemed to be laced with a soft malice if you managed to listen hard enough.

Playing nice for the public was one of his strong suits, and considering his resilience in a long-term business relationship with Endeavor, he could rightfully say that he was able to handle difficult personalities.

All that tolerance seemed to fly out the window when it came to you.

And the hero across from him either had the social recognition skills of a goldfish, or was too dumb to care.

Regardless, K-Nine turned to the audience. "Come on, I've got a chance, right?"

Some man in the crowd let out a whistle and Hawks felt a compelling urge to hurl a shoe at his nose.

"Speaking of romance," the host verbally silenced the room, making Hawks more grateful than he thought momentarily possible, "I've got to ask, anyone special worthy of a mention?"

Internally, he breathed a sigh of relief, the inquiry signaling the closure of the interview, which had seemingly gone on for a few decades at the very least.

It was always like this, the same question would be asked, and then he'd give the same bullshit-answer about the love from his fans being more than enough.

Fuck, how great would it be if he threw your name into the mix.

That'd shut that arrogant mutt up real quick, that's for sure.

But he'd keep his mouth shut, if not for his own benefit, but for yours.

With your take-down rate, it was blatantly how talented you were as a hero and, even if it wouldn't be many, Hawks would be damned if anyone questioned your acceptance into his agency.

In all honesty, he had initially recognized your power and intelligence, traits that had gotten you the job in the first place.

It was in those first few months that he had begun to realize how much he liked you, how much he liked to watch you kick ass, or how pretty you were, even if it was preposterously early in the morning.

So he'd stay quiet, if only to keep a few impudent naysayers off your back.

Not to mention that you might wring his neck.

Instead, Hawks sat simmering with annoyance on that plush sofa until the cameras were cut and he was forced to shake hands, first with the host, then with his fellow interviewee for the night, the latter receiving the tiniest bit more squeeze.

The night was cold but he opted to fly back to his agency, allowing the chill to tangle through his hair and hopefully disperse some of the vexation he desperately needed eradicated.

Besides, driving would mean lesser access to his office skylight, which also meant a long-ass elevator ride that he didn't have time for.

It was unlocked, thankfully, and he slipped into the room. He moved to shrug off his jacket, but paused, double taking at the light blooming under the thin fracture between his door and the marble flooring.

Obviously, he wasn't scared. Anybody would have to be pretty idiotic to attempt robbing a place belonging to the number 2 hero, and even more so to leave a light on.

Regardless, he stayed quiet, hoping to avoid an unnecessary interaction with a coworker he didn't have the patience for, and crept around the corner, expression softening a bit at what he saw.

It was you.

You were huddled over your desk, typing furiously at some important looking document. The computer screen illuminated your features, casting a dull glow over the otherwise unlit room.

Hawks recognized the soft tense of your eyebrows every few seconds, the way that you would pause to collect your thoughts before issuing that recognizable click-clack of your keyboard in focused chunks of writing.

He leaned back on the wall, arms crossed as he watched you work with a fond grin gracing his features.

After a while, you sighed, taking a moment to rotate the stiffness beginning to take place in your neck. Your gaze lazily flit over the room and you jumped. "Fuck!"

"Wow, that took you forever, sweetheart," he sighed, tilting his head in a teasing inquiry. "Do we need to work on awareness skills with the other sidekicks?"

"If you're gonna keep lurking behind corners like the boogeyman, then probably." You rolled your eyes, allowing his petname to settle in your mind. "And I thought I told you not to call me that during work."

"Why? Because you get all blushy and embarrassed?" He pushed off the wall, strolling over and nestling his head on your left shoulder.

You tensed a bit as he arms snaked over that of the chair, hands wrapping around your torso. "I don't."

The hero laughed, pulling at your cheeks like he could feel the heat creeping into him. "Work hours are over anyway. Which means that you shouldn’t be here."

"I need to finish this report." You nodded to the screen as if to prove your point, eyes narrowing as he continued to bury his face into your neck. "Are you okay?"

He paused, eyebrows furrowing as he backed away. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You get extra clingy when you're upset. Did something happen at the interview?"

So, you hadn't seen it.

"How dare you," the faux-hurt lacing his tone was a stark contrast to the satisfaction he felt knowing that you were close enough to recognize some of his physical tellers. Still, you didn't need to know that. "I do wonderful in interviews."

You smiled and he felt his heart melt. "Well, I'm just going to have to check and make sure."

Saving the work on your current tab, you moved your mouse to open up a new one before finding YouTube, which would most likely already have clips of the program uploaded. You were barely hovering over the search bar when the man all but threw himself on to your lap, arms latching themselves around your waist. "Don't. There were so many annoying people there."

"I thought you had an avian quirk," you groaned, arms straining as you tried to detach his. "If you had boa constrictor powers then I would've liked to know."

He glanced up, eyes wide and oddly reminiscent of a child waking up his parents in the middle of the night. "I'll let you stay and work overtime if you let me hang out here for a while. It's been a very long day."

"Oh, I'm sure it has." You rolled your eyes, sighing in exasperation.

Despite the sarcasm, you succumbed to his request, letting go of his annoyingly firm grasp in favor of continuing to finish your report. Hawks found himself relaxing into your thighs, overly hyper brain surprisingly calmed with the muted tapping of your keyboard.

After a few more minutes, you shifted, pushing his unsuspecting form onto the floor and giving a laugh at the pout overcoming his face. "Bathroom. I'll be two minutes, at the very most."

It was, in fact, just past one-hundred and twenty seconds by the time you returned. The hero was currently taking up occupancy in your swivel chair, oblivious to the confusion at which you glaring at your phone with.

"Do you somebody named Kano Kirisaki?" You asked.

"Who?" He asked without looking up.

"The Hound Hero. He's somewhere in the late sixties on the charts, I think?" Despite your career as a pro-sidekick, you weren't exactly overly concerned with the rankings.

"Oh," he replied, ignoring the urge to add a 'called it.' A tic of annoyance threatened to emerge on his forehead, but he did his best to ignore it. "What about him?"

"I just got a text. The guy said that you gave him my number. Is that true?"

That made him pause.

"He said what?" The vexation simmering in his copper gaze was downright terrifying, only extenuated by the slow upturn of his chin as his eyes met yours.

"Apparently not." You made a beeline for the door, device still in hand and fingers typing away. "I'll just let him know that-"

Something whizzed past your face and you came to an abrupt halt, feeling the breath of air over your cheek as the object whirled by and just barely missed you.

You blinked, taking a moment to recognize what had just happened. You hadn't been hit, but the object previously in your hand?

Less lucky.

Spinning around in shock, you were met with the stupefied face of Hawks, who was currently staring in horror at the item stuck in the wall and the feather protruding out of it.

He just skewered your phone.

You turned again, silently walking over and yanking the hardened plume out before inspecting the damage. The screen had been shattered, the back cameras also blown to bits from the harsh impact.

"Oh, fuck." The hero stood, movements quick and panicked as he ran over to you. "Oh, shit. I am so sorry."

"What the fuck?" The sentence was less of an aggressive statement, more of an actual, bewildered question. Seeing as how completely flabbergasted you were, it was almost hard to be genuinely angry for the first few seconds.

"I swear, I don't know why I did that," he assured, running a hand through his hair in alarm. "But I'll get you a new one. That model was kinda old anyways…"

You scoffed. "Oh, thank goodness. I was hoping to get a replacement. How wonderful that you happened to impale this one."

His arm caught yours as you turned to leave, forcing your line of sight to meet his. "I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Against your best efforts, you felt your chest lighten a bit at the tenderness he was regarding you with. It was almost impossible to stay cold when the guy you had been admiring for weeks was looking at you like that. "I just don't... I just need you to know that you can be honest with me. I don't know what's wrong, but if there's anythi-"

Your eyes shot open as his mouth smashed against yours, taking a pause before fluttering to a close.

One of his hands curled into your hair, the other finding its way around your waist. His kiss traveled over your jaw, trailing until it was above your collarbone.

With his enhanced senses, it was easy to tell what areas you were most sensitive. He relished in every pleasured breath, the way your heart rate would speed up when he bit down ever so gently.

It took a tangible amount of self-control to keep himself from jumping you when the smallest whine fell from your lips. Instead, he lifted his leg in between your thighs, watching your form falter as a spark of warmth shot through your abdomen.

You around an arm across his shoulder, an attempt to steady yourself as you watched him pull away, arrogant grin gracing his features and eyes glowing softly. Their soft luminescence was nothing less than beautiful and you silently questioned why you hadn't scheduled more late night patrols. His fingers grazed underneath your shirt, tickled the skin of your waist with their gentle warmth.

The breath had escaped your lungs, but it was nearly impossible to keep the smile from your features. "What the fuck happened in that interview?"

Hawks chuckled, touch brushing over the small mark on your collarbone that he had left behind. His heart jumped at the thought of leaving more, leaving zero questions about who you belonged to. "Nothing that you need to worry about, sweetheart."

It was less than a day by the time you got your new phone.

[hopefull-mindset]

Design Analysis: Kouyou Ozaki

Have you ever wondered why everyone has assumed Kouyou to be a courtesan or brothel owner when there has been no specification in the main series?

First, there is the fact she refers to herself using “wacchi” (わっち), a pronoun that had been used by Geisha and Oiran alike in the Edo Period. Second is that, while she doesn’t have as many layers or hair ornaments, her large Obi is still tied at the front, and wears a Uchikake over her kimono. An Uchikake by itself is not an indicator, but I would think she has it to accentuate what she’s meant to resemble.

An Oiran is a general term for a high-ranking courtesan who has taken up some traditional arts and refined in their entertainment skills, putting them above the common prostitute. The term “Oiran” (花魁) means “flower leader”. It was said to be used by Kamuro and Shinzo to refer to the older courtesans and eventually became their title. It is theorized to come from the phrase "oira no tokoro no nēsan" (おいらの所の姉さん), but there is no exact and official origin of why they’re referred to as such.

They are exclusive because of their price ranges and the highest ranking had a degree of choice in who they had in their company. They get confused with Geisha often because of their similar skill sets and when you don’t know what you’re looking for visually, but in addition, this is mostly the fault of the Occupation of Japan with many coupling both of them into what they’d call “Geesha Girls” and mistaking Geishas for prostitutes. Many even called themselves a Geisha to bring in business, but Geisha’s legally couldn’t promote sex (that didn’t stop them though sometimes if they needed the cash). They are not distinctive only because one of them can practice sex work and the other cannot. Besides my previous comments on accessories, layering, and their distinctive Obi, Oirans have more extravagant coloring and designs on their clothing.

Not to be confused with the Tayū, whom Oiran had taken after in their clothing. Tayū are not as relevant in pop culture, so do not worry about trying to tell the difference in fictional media because they’re 100% going to be an Oiran unless specified. If you would like to learn more about Tayū and not look at confusing wiki pages, I recommend reading these: Karyukai Workers and Roles, The Look of Oiran Versus Tayuu, and this nice video about a modern day Tayū.

While Shinzo are the new debuting girls late into their training, a stage before that is the Kamuro. Kamuro are young girls sold by their parents to either pay off debts or have fewer mouths to feed, and some were even born into it. On the surface, the deal of their daughter becoming someone so luxurious was desirable and made it easier for them to give her away, but not all of them got that life and had to fight for that position. Kamuro were put under the care of senior courtesans who would teach them the skills they’d need while Kamuro did their chores for them. Kamuro were also considered a social marker of how rich the courtesan was to be able to provide for these girls, but they were limited to only caring for two. It was an exploitative and abusive industry that groomed them into this life. These girls can’t leave because they’re stuck to a never-ending contract that they need to pay off in their work because of the costs of their living, so competition for the top spot wasn’t only for the idealized life promised, but to get a higher paying customer to pay off their contract to escape.

Kouyou’s backstory is heart-wrenching in this context. We don’t have details of how she ended up there or the rest of what happened, but you can’t deny the resemblance between the life of a young girl in the red light district trying to escape her conditions with a man who has promised her freedom and Kouyou wanting to live in the light outside of the Port Mafia’s unlivable darkness with someone who wanted to show her that. Along the same lines, Kyouka can be seen as a Kamuro that Kouyou has taken under her wing and wanted to leave herself. Granted, using sexual favors is manipulation 101 and she could’ve learned this anywhere, but it would make sense if she had learned this from Kouyou as a courtesan. Kamuro weren’t ignorant of what their “Older Sisters” did.

There are many differences between the life of these girls and the bloody one Kouyou had lived in the Port Mafia, and it’s not as if I’m implying she had lived the life they did as we don’t know much, but the similarities can’t be just coincidence. As for “brothel owner”, the Yakuza unsurprisingly stick their nose into the sex work business, so it wouldn’t be too hard to assume Kouyou was looking over these things.

Side comment: “Ane-san” is old-fashioned, so the only time you’ll see it be used instead of just “Ane” or “Onee-san” is in a historical context, or with the Yakuza to refer to the upper echelon female members.

(I refuse to use something not from mayoi, bones art… is ugly)

Kouyou’s crimson hair comes from her name “紅葉”, which can be translated to “Red (Autumn) Leaf”, or roughly “Crimson Blade”. It’s referred to as crimson in the light novels, but we all want to call it deep pink. Either way, both colors are deep-seated in love and she wears it all over. Her uchikake starts light at the top and deepens the lush cherry blossom pink into a bloody red where it drags at the floor with trailing bellflowers (or some type of thin petaled bellflower). Her inner kimono is pure black, except at her shoulder where only a piece of pink is left, and at the bottom are prominent red spider lilies. Their color is emphasized with a transitioning dark shade of purple.

Red spider lilies are infamous because of their connotation with death, but there’s more to it. They’re considered “hell flowers” and could lead the dead to reincarnation. Used in funerals, legends say that seeing someone you will never meet again will have these flowers bloom in your path. They’re flowers that bloom in autumn and the meanings they have are: painful memories, abandonment, passion, independence, giving up, longing, and “never to meet again”.

Kouyou is a mournful soul whose past has never left her, especially in the face of confronting Kyouka’s choice. For these flowers to appear in the inner darkness of her design is significant to how deeply his death had affected her, but also the abandonment of what she regards as her “born nature”. That man had wanted to show her light but had only contributed to the growing darkness that she wasn’t allowed to escape. She had died that day with him, and could only keep walking in the flower field of death she had created. It’s only the piece of light on her shoulder that is left of her past self.

Now, the bellflowers on her uchikake can mean: Loyalty, gratitude, faithful, unchanging, honesty, and discipline.

If the Port Mafia had once been a place of terror and misery, then Mori had changed that for her and made the Port Mafia her home. She is forever grateful for what he has done to make this life livable again and dawns this flower gracefully with light colors. She chooses to wear these light colors over her kimono because even if she resents the hypocrisy of the people who can live in the light without criticism, she still wants some semblance of that dream after her soul has been blackened to that gain. Harukawa, when designing these characters, keeps in mind what organization and type of person they are when color coding them. It’s also with the understanding of what shades will appear darker and lighter in the manga style. Harukawa says that she made sure to give Kouyou light colors and kept her eye from being dark to signify that she’s a good person.

In the manga, her outfit is slightly different from the anime’s design. Her uchikake is paler and does not have any flowers on it, and the flowers on her kimono are much more... vague, so if there are better candidates than my guesses, then be my guest and throw me a bone. From the silhouettes, I will assume that the largest visible flower is a water lily and/or lotus and the flowers growing on the branches are sakura blossoms and/or plum blossoms. It’s fitting considering she is introduced with sakura blossoms falling around her, but they could be plum blossoms too as “花魁” can refer to them in some cases.

Water lilies and Lotus flowers are very recognizable, and I’m sure most of you have seen them around. Their meaning of “purity of heart” comes from how wild water lilies will usually be white. Similarly, lotus flowers are seen as pure because they can bloom in mud without staining themselves. Other meanings water lilies are given are: Rebirth, trust, faith, and kindness. With lotus flowers, they are: Rebirth (again), “to change someone’s mind”, “eases suffering (of the heart)”, and resilience.

Ignoring the meaning of faith and trust since we had already gone over it with the bellflowers, both possible flowers emphasize her good nature and the renewal of life that Mori had blessed her with. Mori had eased the mindless suffering caused by the old boss and changed her mind about what the Port Mafia was to her. She pushed through the muddy waters of the old boss’s darkness and stood her place well in her strength.

Sakura blossoms and plum blossoms introduce two different meanings in their symbolic usage. Plum blossoms bloom in the winter cold in the signal of spring coming, showing the prosperity of life in the hardest of conditions, while sakura blossoms remind us of life’s impermanence and that its beauty can only last for so long. Plum blossoms also can mean: elegance, nobleness, patience, loyalty, hope, and renewal. If these are Sakura blossoms, then they can mean: renewal (again), violence, and hope (again).

In the context of these flowers appearing on her kimono, they mean something different than the renewal of a new era Mori had brought. The remark at the beginning of chapter 17 gives us a personal meaning for Kouyou to what sakura flowers are to her. They are the blooming hope of a girl’s wishes, but they eventually have to drop not long after growing up and facing their reality. Remaining a bud is impossible, so Kouyou, in defiance of this eventual fate of this girl, sees slashing the girl’s heart to be more merciful than the long, doomed drop they all have to face. Kouyou is a bloomed Sakura flower who has already dropped, and her change had started there, not when she bloomed. Even if a part of her had died, she still clings with no real hope.

This is the only image we have of her kimono without anything covering it. This is right at the end of the Guild Arc where they are celebrating their accomplishment. Kouyou sheds her outer bright colors because there is no room for that in this setting and trusts Chuuya and Mori enough to shed any pretenses. They’ve all dressed casually, so she would too. The leaves are meant to be red maple leaves that also show up in the flashback of Kouyou of you look carefully. As I’ve said before, these have to do with her name. The vague firework-like design that shows up are either enlarged spider lilies or chrysanthemum flowers. Assuming these are the white kind, they mean: truth, loyal love, admiration, and sincere heart. However, the yellow kind can mean “slighted love”.

She is sincere inside and out, even if some of that sincerity isn't as pretty as what it looks like from a distance. “A flower that blooms in the dark can only survive within the dark” is a sentiment she lives by after all. If it is a yellow chrysanthemum, then its meaning is what you’d expect from her lonely heart.

Bonus round

Welcome if you have read this far, this is where I stray from her main outfit and talk about outfits that only appear once. This first kimono is what she wore when staying put in the Armed Detective Agency’s capture so that Kyouka would be able to live out a dream she can’t bring herself to live out. The white kimono is covered with columbine flowers. They can mean: risk-taking, good fortune, faith, folly, hope, and specifically for white columbines, “I’m concerned for this person”. Negative/inverse meanings include: The emblem of deceived lovers, ingratitude, and faithlessness.

What this means in Kouyou’s overall situation shouldn’t be too mind-boggling. She is in this room for Kyouka’s sake and is fairly concerned about how this plan of many risks will play out, but has faith in Dazai’s abilities. She is her most stripped version of herself and works with good intentions with Dazai under this idea, so she only wears light. Kouyou though is only left to her thoughts, her own past in that room. She is glad for Kyouka, but it only leaves fear that Atsushi won't be able to live up to something he promised so she ensures that he is committed to helping her into the light and strong in a way that man wasn't able to be. 

The second one is from the chapter art with Kouyou and Mori leading Soukoku away from each other. It’s an outfit that reflects her mindset during her time with the old boss, an inverted palette from what she’s currently wearing. She hasn’t fully embraced her environment yet. Unfortunately, almost all of the flowers and plants are a bit too vague for me to point out. There is only one flower I think I recognize on her right sleeve that looks like a bird, and it is called an Egret Orchid. The only meaning of significance here is: “I think of you even in my dreams.” Some sources will say, “My thoughts will follow you into your dreams”, but I think this made more sense in this context.

This sentiment is regarding that man who had told her such an innocent lie. She not only hid her sorrowful, pure yet broken heart inside the guise of flowering darkness but weaponized this sorrow in her violence and climbed the ranks of the Port Mafia. He is a source of regret, hate, and sadness. He is her only semblance of what hope and love could resemble, and it has become a corrupted and negative thing to her in his death. Pure darkness is the only thing can trust for people like her… but she still ponders what that life will be. His influence had never left her, whether it was for better or worse. 

—

Alright um

I don’t typically do analysis like this as I don’t find clothing all that interesting to look into, but there is merit to thinking about what a character is wearing even on a surface level. It can be a show of their social rank, their job, their interests, their personalties, their culture, etc. but there isn’t always a deeper meaning to their clothing on a theming sense and I can’t find it in me to usually be interested in doing it myself. In most media, the clothing only indicates the era the characters are from and how marketable they can be.

Luckily, BSD is one of those stories that do put heavy consideration on what the characters are wearing and how their clothing changes overtime for some. Obvious examples include Harukawa’s color pallet consideration to indicate what type of person they are and what organization they are from, Dazai’s clothing swap when he leaves the Port Mafia, Chuuya’s many outfits as show of his growth in belonging to the Port Mafia, the coat passed down from Mori to Dazai to Akutagawa, and the Yin-Yang coloring of Atsushi and Akutagawa that stays consistent even in Beast where they swap.

When doing clothing analysis you’re almost expected to overanalyze and stray into your own interpretations of what certain things mean, when sometimes there isn’t any intended meaning. None of that is a bad thing though! You don’t have to rely on an author or artistic word to analyze a thing, but I tend to have a hard time with just making claims like that. So I picked this concept for Kouyou because I have my own ideas for the thought process behind her design that felt right and find it intriguing enough to share. I had actually asked a friend if I could take her from their hands since they had been planning to do their own clothing analysis, but got stuck. So thank you for letting me steal it!

I’m not a historian or whatever, but I do like sharing what I do know about certain topics! Unexpectedly, this took more out of me than I thought. I’ve written more in a shorter time, but I got stuck with having to write about one certain topic than the character entirely. I will probably never do something like this again, at least not with flower meanings. Who knew how much work it was to actually explain what they mean in context in such a big bunch?

The day I finish that Odasaku analysis is when I’ll read The Golden Demon.

[mellowwillowy]

HEAR ME OUT!! Please please please!!

Yandere!prince who fell in love with the lady in waiting of the princess he is supposed to marry

A forbidden love that he is ready to do WHATEVER it take to make it happend

Why would he marry a princess when there this being who can but the queen of fae to shame with theire beauty ?

I'M LISTENING NONNIE!!

Yan! Prince x (neutral-f/m) Lady-in-waiting reader

I've actually written fics similar to this concept! This one is about a princess and a crown prince, the crown prince was supposed to marry another noble of higher status but the crown prince and priest found a way to make you the wife instead! (fem! reader)

This one is about reader being the former Empress' lady-in-waiting with the crown prince snatching reader from his brother's grasp! You were supposed to marry his brother (a knight) but he broke his legs and gave him the illusion of choice by becoming a priest instead. (gn intersex reader)

And as for this concept...

mmh... I can see the Yan! Prince going feral over you... you are the most beautiful woman (right?) he has ever laid his eyes on, even more than the garden of flowers he fancies so much! What do you like? What do you dislike? He wants to know everything about you this instant. He needs to.

I don't have much to say but yeah, Yan! Prince is capable of doing anything, even going as far as convincing everyone with the stage he prepares for you. Oh, you are a guy? Just keep up with the farce and no one will know though he would wonder why the princess had a guy dressed as her lady-in-waiting... were you her fucktoy or what? That irritates him and you are not spared with his gentle ass.

I'll use Erickson again for this idea (hehehe crown prince...). Erickson, falling in love with you? The crown prince? Say goodbye to your kneecaps or ankles once he gets his hands on you.

So how does he annul this whole wedding? With the help of his twin brother, they'll both dig or make scandals that will trample the princess family's reputation. It's nothing hard for two people of status and power after all.

Now that her reputation is tarnished, the prince's family will annul the wedding and he'll convince his mother to take you in as one of her ladies-in-waiting. He'll praise you and coax her mother into taking you in, anything, as long as you get to stay under the same roof as him. You bet your life would be a living hell the moment you upset or piss him off even just for the slightest.

Next would be having your hand in marriage. This will be tough, considering his status as the crown prince. Should he convince the former Empress to make his brother the next Emperor instead? He doubts she'll allow it as the prophet's dice had chosen him to be the eldest despite being born second.

If he can't do that, then all he has to do is make a stage for you, a fake family of reputation that was at the edge of a downfall, convincing rumors of you circulating around the citizens and a load of lessons about the royalties' history.

Now that you are completely perfect, suitable to be his suitor, this nation's Empress, another problem spurts out. Noel, his brother, has also taken a liking to you.

Seriously, of all the affections he had received, he wishes to have you as well? He sure is a gutsy bastard, perhaps he should strip him from his status as a knight to teach him a lesson?

The same turn of events happened again, Noel's legs were broken, he was sent to the church and you were wed to Erickson, everything was smooth perfect.

Depending on Noel's love for you, if it was high, it'll reach the same conclusion, with him coming back to overthrow Erickson in the name of the church and God. The only difference was that you did not share that much fondness for the two of them, alas the ending had you died without any last words to them.

If his brother didn't love you that much, he wouldn't return and you are forever stuck with him until he dies. (yup, you don't get to die first, magic is not as hard as it seemed.)

[flamingpudding]

Part 15 of Ghost Kid in Gotham

>>Masterpost >>AO3

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Green and Red Emotions, similar but not

Jason leaned against the wall, arms crossed, as he waited. He checked the time one more time and then listened for the sounds in the hallway. The bandage against his arm was causing an itch he ignored skilfully. If there was one thing the little shit was apparently good at in his feral stage it was fucking biting, though it was nothing to be proud at. Well unless you were well versed in the art of fighting dirty.

Eitherway the kid had a sharp set of chompers and apparently some sort of homing sense, considering Jason was only sporting three visible bite marks all on the same forearm and all nearly in the same area. The kid always aimed for that specific spot to bite. Maybe Jason should start considering keeping that arm out of sight for the little shit so he wouldn't latch onto it. But the following worst case would be the kid deciding on a new spot to bite on.

Footsteps caught Jason's attention and he inclined his head slightly. Light with purpose loud enough to make sure people knew they were coming.

So he knew and was not going to avoid him today.

Good, Jason wasn't going to allow his brother to make that choice today anyway. He had waited long enough. His patience lasted long enough for his brother to step into the room fully and flick the lights on, before Jason closed the door behind him. Considering Dick was only simply turning around with a tired smile, confirmed his thoughts that his brother knew this was coming.

"Got enough of avoiding me already? Thought it would take me a week." He could help the teasing dig.

"Jason."

"Safe it Dickbird." He shook his head. "You're good. I don't think the 'kids' noticed anything. No bets on Cass though. She can read any of us like an open book."

He watched how his elder brother sighed, put his hands on his hips and still smiled at him. "What gave it away?"

Eyes traveling over the wary form of his elder brother he considered answering the question honestly. Dick was good at hiding certain emotions, but even he slipped up in the smallest of moments. Moments you wouldn't catch easily if one wasn't looking for them, small tells Jason had gotten familiar with over the years. He could be honest but then his elder brother would attempt to cover these tells in the future so he wouldn't 'worry' them and put even more on his shoulder unnecessarily.

"During that Dinner you stuck close to Demon Brat, little shit and me." It wasn't a lie, but neither the full truth. It was the first thing that tipped him off along with what Dick had said. "Besides that I have my own sources ans suspicions. The little shit has a pit, one that is different from mine."

"Is that going to be your nickname for Teethling, that's not a very nice little Wing?" Dick joked but Jason's expression didn't change as he watched the other. After a moment Dick once more let out a sigh and comped through his hair with one hand.

"If this is about what we found out about Danny's past. We didn't hide anything there. We have found an entire paper trail of his schooling. You know he could use some help with English." The light heartedness of Dick's voice did not carry as Jason didn't take the bait, but instead heard something else out of it.

"So what did you and the old man hide?"

"Jason." He tensed at the seriousness that entered his brother's voice. So it was bad, really bad. He wanted to curse Bruce but he didn't really know for what exactly, it was just one of his go to mechanisms whenever the old man kept something from them.

"Keep talking Dickbird or I will go to Barbie instead." Dick flinched, he refrained from arching an eyebrow but couldn't help the small lift to his lips. It was just a thrown out thread, implying that he would have Barbie hack into the Batcomputer if necessary to get the information it wanted but looking at that reaction. She was involved, and most likely not happy with their handling of the information they had.

As the silence stretched on he got impatient again.

"Chop chop pretty boy. Spill or do I really need to see Barbie?" Was it fair to use Barbara as some sort of weapon here? Probably not, but did he care? Nope, he didn't. He was going to get information on what was going on with the little shit and how much of that fucked up green juice was involved. Though he was pretty sure for the kid to get dragged it must have been a shit ton of it.

Neither of them moved for a while again, and Jason really thought that he might have to go to Barbara for real until Dick once more commed through his hair seemingly finally having come to a decision himself. Turning on his heel the elder went over to his desk and pulled out a laptop, not any laptop but the one with direct connection to the Batcomp Servers.

Jason caused heavily under his breath as he walked over and watched Dick power it up before logging in to access files. Fuck, it must be really bad if they went that far which meant Bruce had intended to keep all of them out of these files should they attempt it directly over the Batcomputer.

Which meant Demon Brat would have no chance of seeing these unless he uses one of the special access ways. The moment Dick pulled up the first image, Jason only half heartedly listened to his brother's explanation as his eyes turned green.

"These fuckers!" Oh he would need to go out on Crime Alley tonight, otherwise he wouldn't know where to put this shit ton of rage. His head sharply turned towards his elder brother for the first time he realized just how much of his own emotions Dick had been hiding from them reflected in the others eyes.

"The bits and pieces of the reports we recovered are even worse." He watched how Dick closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and focusing them solely on Jason. The rage he had just seen no longer reflected in his eyes but at the same time his brother halted like he saw something else that stopped him for a brief moment before he continued. "It's more speculation based on the bits and pieces we have discovered. Are you sure you really want in on this information Jason? It will not be pretty, and Danny…"

"Will still be a little shit that fucking bites me like I am his personal chew toy." Making direct eye contact Jason attempted to earnestly convey his stand on the situation. Besides now that he had seen a glimps of what was most likely truly going on, he was not going to leave that fucked up shit alone.

Jason only later learned through Dick's admission that his eyes had glowed green throughout the entire explanation of what they had dug up so far as well as what they were suspecting and only turned back once Dick was done and had closed the laptop. If he punched a couple of criminals in close combat just a tad bit harder than necessary in response that night, that was no one's but his own business.

Meanwhile in a Area hidden between Illinois and Gotham

Dan sat on the little hill of unconscious bodies he had created in his ghost form. Originally he was going to go for the headquarters of the League of Assassins. Thing was, having a merged ghost core of two different ghosts, as well as a newly created human side (thanks to his clone body), did intact impact his 'Danny' memories slightly. Which meant he sort of forgot where it was again, but hey instead he remembered where some of the sub hide outs where. Like this one that happened to be close to Illinois.

He kicked the guy squished under the one he was sitting on, enticing a pained groan out of them. They weren't dead, Jazz, Ellie and the twerp had spent a lot of time resocializing him. He was not about to fuck that up by taking a live. Besides, the twerp as well as his human half never really had been able to take a life.

Still he was stuck, now. He had thought that they had been involved. Danny had disappeared without an explanation. Of course there could alway have been the chance that the GIW as well as the twerps former parents had lied in some way. That instead of disappearing, the twerp just got transferred to some other place they didn't know about.

But Dan had remembered when he had seen the world map. He had remembered them. People capable of making people disappear without a trace. Be it permanently or for their body to turn up at a later point as a warning. He wouldn't have put it past them if they had been behind it.

If the old sack of bones had learned of the twerps powers, his tone most likely would have changed. His eyes flashed for a moment just a bit brighter in a muddled red at that thought.

In a way it surprised Dan that he was able to think this way about these people. But then again. He had left his human side behind and merged his core with Plasimus. He did not hold any sympathy for these people anymore. Well maybe only for one of them, the rest could go screw off as far as he cared. And if he knew his former self the way he did then he knew that the only ones the twerp would really care for would be his mother and twin. Which was fine with Dan only to a certain extent, he would only care for one of them and which one it was was pretty obvious in his opinion. Damian held the same value to him that Jazz did.

Talia was a different matter. Without his human half and probably a bit of the influence of Plasimus' core, Dan had a more objective opinion on his shared memories with Danny in regards to her.

Kicking another unfortunate soul on the human pile to give his frustration way, he growled as he sensed a new presence coming closer. When the growl didn't work as warning enough and the presence did not deter in their approach, he turned, flaring his hair and snarled towards the shadows.

His eyes glowed stronger and dangerously warning red as they narrowed at the person that stepped out of the shadows. Observing him and the pile of unconscious bodies stacked under him.

"This is quite the surprise. I did not expect your appearance."

"Where is he?" Dan snarled gloved fingers turning into claws, figures she knew about his existence somehow.

"Won't you at least greet me, Habibi?"

His hackles rose and held out his claws threateningly, preparing for the fight that was most likely to come. "I am no son of yours! Now, where the fuck is he?"

[project-sekai-facts]

Do you have any thoughts about rui’s character and his relationships? I really enjoy your character analysis i think they’re super good so it’ll so cool to hear something about rui ^_^ otherwise i really enjoy the work you put into this account!

thank you! here's a little something i threw together to commemorate the end of curtain call hell on EN, except it's about the main story because the animation released recently and i have thoughts about it. and i think it's a good starting point for his character.

First though, we need to go backwards a bit to the flashbacks in Revival my dream and KAMIKOU FESTIVAL!. When Rui was a kid, he was considered a prodigy by many and it was constantly shoved in his face that he was different from everyone else. Be it because he was incredibly intelligent beyond his age, or because he had different interests to the other kids in his class. At the end of the day, if he was having fun with his classmates, it wouldn't last. Usually they'd all leave at some point because they thought his ideas of fun were weird or they didn't understand them. By the time he was in middle school around 8 years later, he was completely isolated from his peers. As he said in A Once-In-A-Lifetime Pandemonium, he believed that he would never be able to connect with or understand anyone around him. What Rui had always needed was like-minded individuals who could accept him for who he was, not shun him due to his perceived weirdness. He had Mizuki, but even they said back in middle school that the reason the two of them were friends is simply because they were both lonely; they couldn't actually do anything to help each other change.

It's very clear that Rui didn't think things would ever change. In the main story, even after Tsukasa invites him to join the troupe, the only reason he accepts is so Nene can do what she's always wanted. Sure, it's what he wants as well, but he's never worked well with people before, so why would it be any different now? He'll go along with it so long as he can try and help Nene change, because if he can't change himself, then the least he can do is help his only true friend.

Was joining the crew at Wonder Stage so bad for him? Not really, he actually ended up hitting it off with Emu due to their similar way of thinking, something that had never happened before. Nene even points out that he seems happier than normal after joining.

I think the part where he leaves the troupe is the part a lot of people fail to get their heads around, I've seen so many arguments on twitter over it and I think people just need to get it into their heads that there were multiple factors that contributed to him leaving and refusing to rejoin.

First off: Nene. Nene is Rui's closest and pretty much only friend. She's the only person who stuck with him since childhood. Everyone else left him in the end because they just couldn't understand him, Mizuki bonded with him over their shared loneliness but they were never truly close. Nene means a lot to him because of that, hell, the whole reason he even decided to join Tsukasa and Emu's troupe in the first place is because he saw Nene suffering and wanted to help her be happier. Tsukasa took his anger out on Nene, and Rui felt bad because he was the one who got her into this mess. He wanted her to be happy and to try and overcome her trauma only for her to mess up again and face even worse repercussions. Tsukasa hurt her, and Rui doesn't want to work with someone who's going to act like that, especially not towards his closest friend.

Second: Tsukasa's selfishness. Which admittedly plays into the last point as well. Tsukasa was selfish. He just wanted the fame and glory and to be in the limelight. Nene messed up his debut performance, and he was angry. After all, it was his moment to finally shine, so it had to be perfect, and yet a member of his troupe made an amateur mistake. He wanted to put on the best show with the best troupe, he can't have anything short of that. That's what Rui points out here. Tsukasa says he has a passion for theatre, but really all he wanted was to be in the spotlight. He prioritised himself, let it all get to his head, and couldn't work with other people. That's what Rui means when he says Tsukasa doesn't have what it takes to become a star. Tsukasa doesn't care about anyone but himself, and you can't be a star and put on the greatest show by yourself.

The animation actually adds in a little extra scene here. Leaving the group wasn't easy for Rui, it hurt him and you can really tell it did. As Nene said, it was the happiest he had been in a while. While he denied at the time that anything was different, I think he did know things were different. He thought he'd maybe finally found like-minded people, just like his mother told him he would when he was a kid. And he's a hypocrite even. He tells Tsukasa great shows can't be made alone, despite the fact he's trying to do that himself.

The first time Emu, Nene and Tsukasa try to get him back, he refuses. Tsukasa had apologised to Nene, she accepted his apology and rejoined his troupe. And he's really happy for her, she's making moves to help herself get better, but he still refuses. After all, Tsukasa getting angry at Nene wasn't the only reason he quit. As he says, he and Tsukasa aren't compatible. Tsukasa only wants the fame and glory, whereas Rui wants to make shows that the audience can enjoy. Their goals simply do not align. He thought he'd finally found a place where he could engage in what he's passionate about, but was harshly reminded that place seemingly doesn't exist for him. Whether it was Tsukasa's hubris and selfishness or his classmates isolating him, he can't find anyone to pursue his interests with. Nothing changes.

But it does change. WxS isn't complete without Rui there, Tsukasa needs to prove that he's changed and that his goals do align with Rui's own. And what better way to communicate that than with a show - it's what Rui knows best, after all. I think what's particularly impactful here is that this is a rewritten version of the show Rui was performing the first time he was asked to rejoin the troupe. The show about an alchemist who wanted to put on shows, but everyone who joined him left him because they found his ideas to be ridiculous. Neither the alchemist or the townsfolk understood each other, and the townsfolk wanted nothing to do with the alchemist. It's a bitter ending with the alchemist's happiness being limited and him ultimately being lonely forever, since the story does not continue.

The ending is not a happy one, so they change it.

Tsukasa has changed, and now he's giving Rui the chance to change as well. Rui has never had anyone take his shows seriously, never had anyone take him seriously. No one understands him and he never understood anyone. But that changes. There's finally people who want to do shows with him, who appreciate his ideas and understand his motivations. Even if he's a little different, everyone else in WxS is a little weird too.

I also like how they actually show in the animation that things have changed through a little bit of stage direction. Rui watches that entire play in the dark, alone. When Tsukasa reaches out to him, the light turns on on Rui. We then cut to reveal another person in the scene. He's not lonely anymore.

Ultimately, the most important part of Rui's character arc is change. He never planned on changing - what was the point? He wasn't going to pretend to be someone he wasn't, but he also wasn't going to risk being himself and get rejected again. But once again, as he said in Pandemonium, once he joined WxS, he did change. He's the happiest he's ever been, he has friends that he never wants to let go for the first time, he's able to actually have fun and let himself enjoy things for the first time, he begins to be able to understand people without using shows as a reference point. But even before then, he changed. He changed as soon as he decided to take Tsukasa's offer. As pointed out by Tsukasa in Pandemonium, even if he was the one to give Rui the chance, Rui was the one who took it. He could've refused it again and continued to be lonely forever. He could've chosen to continue to believe that truly he would just never be able to understand and connect with the people around him. But he wanted to change, even if he denied it at the time. And he changed that belief so he could change his life.

(TL)

[forestkniight]

I'll Be Seeing You

✯ Chapter 1 ✯ Chapter 2 ✯

Thank you guys so much for your patience! With college and rehearsals in the way, I don't have much free time, but I hope you all enjoy it!

Pairing: Fizzarolli x Reader

Warning: Cursing, Violence, Attempted Kidnapping

Word Count: 3.7K

I’ve heard of affairs

That are strictly platonic

But diamonds are a girl’s best friend

You walk around the stage, entirely in the music, in this character you’re portraying. The audience hangs onto every word you sing, which surprised you when you first started working here. You hadn’t expected so many sinners to want to listen to something that wasn’t about sex or violence. Considering the number of people who often listen to the radio, you should have known. 

And I think affairs

That you must keep liaisonic

Are better bets

If little pets get big baguettes

You look at the audience and notice a few familiar faces and some new ones. You wink at an older regular who only came to hear you sing because it reminds him of when he was alive on Earth. You continue to look out in the audience as you start heading down the stairs towards everyone. Your eyes land on someone who the character you're playing would chase. He looks rich enough. 

You slowly strut over as you continue singing. You see his eyes, all four of them widen when he notices you coming directly towards him—poor thing. You look at his table and notice the empty seat across from him. Strange. 

You finally reach him, slide a finger under his face, and lift it to look at you. You feel him swallow before you quickly drop your hand and spin to your left, moving to stand behind his chair. You grab the chair with your right hand while the left is outstretched. 

I don’t mean rhinestone

But diamonds are a girl’s best

You spin to your left against the chair, so you end up falling in the gentleman’s lap, sitting sideways. 

Best friend

While you sing the last two words, you quickly tap two fingers against your lips before lightly tapping your fingers once on the stranger’s cheeks. You notice a slight blush on his face as you stand and return to the stage. You would typically kiss your target’s cheek, but this man looks red-faced enough with your attention on him. 

“So good to see all of you lovely folks here tonight,” you say breathlessly in the microphone. 

The crowd cheers, and you smirk. Being up on stage was healing. You weren’t that little child stuck in the rafters anymore. You commanded attention now. 

“While I would love to stay out here performing for you all night,” you hear sounds of disapproval before you can even finish. 

“Now, now, you can come down and see me any time, but tonight, we have a set of talented musicians ready to get you out of your seat and onto the dance floor instead. But I can’t leave you all without one more song,” you giggle as your back faces the audience. 

You slowly turn around with your eyes closed. The warmth of the spotlight touches your skin, and you smile brightly as you bring the microphone to your lips. 

Prim and proper, the girl who’s never been kissed

You open your eyes and turn so your side profile faces the audience, putting on a show. You hear a couple of whistles as you sing. 

Well, I’m tired of being pure and not chased

You turn back to face the audience and drag your hand from your thigh to your stomach, between your chest, and up your neck until your hand flourishes. You knew it was slightly suggestive, but you would be lying to yourself if you didn’t accept part of the reason you were hired. Even if you didn’t believe it some days, you were easy on the eyes, making audiences especially susceptible to your performances. 

You continue singing the song, mainly focusing on everyone sitting closest to the stage. By winking at them, you give special attention to those placing money on the stage. Some respond shyly, while others, your least favorite, get this nasty look in their eyes as they smirk at you. A similar feeling to one you’ve felt before. A feeling that makes you feel small. You shake your head as you head down the stairs of the stage once more. 

I wanna sing songs like the guy who cries

I wanna be horrid, I wanna drink booze

As you sing that line, you notice one of the bouncers on break in the audience and smirk. You take a drink from the beer in front of them before giving them a wink, to which they laugh and shake their head. 

You turn away to continue giving everything into your final song for the night. You turn around and notice the stranger from earlier, and you decide he will be the last person you tease for the night. 

And whatever I’ve got, I am eager to lose-

You didn’t even reach his table before you felt your heart drop. Across from him was a face you hadn’t seen in years. Blitzo. Blitz. His confused eyes stare up at you. He doesn’t recognize you. You quickly turn back to the stranger to try to make the sudden stop in singing make sense. 

“Sorry, pretty boy. I didn’t know you were a taken man,” you force a giggle as you quickly make your way back up the stage. 

You turn to the pianist.

“Sorry, sweets. Let’s take it where I left off,” you smile sweetly, and the pianist returns the smile and nods. 

I wanna be evil, little evil me

Just as mean and evil as I can be

The room erupts in a cacophony of cheers as you take your bow. You gesture over at your pianist, who also bows to the room. You turn back, and you smile as you take another bow. You look out to the audience as they beam up at you. You dare another glance at Blitz, except he isn’t looking up at you directly. He’s looking at something lower. You raise your eyebrows before looking down, and you see it. Your locket must have slipped out like it typically did during performances, except you never really had to worry about it…until now. 

He looks back at you with an undistinguishable expression, and you try to look away while keeping a smile on your face. You cannot freak out now. You just have to get off the stage, and then you can go home. 

“Thank you, thank you! Now, please help me welcome our next performer,” you yell out as you take a final bow before calmly walking towards the opening curtains. You smile at the next performer before the curtain closes, leaving you again in darkness. 

There is absolutely no way. You begin walking back towards your dressing room and think about what you saw. He looks different. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, that’s for sure. Neither were you. You noticed that he had burn marks on his face, but it was still his face. It’s hard to forget the face of one of your best friends, even if it does look slightly different. 

You sigh as you change out of your outfit and into comfier clothing as you take off your makeup. If you are lucky, he didn’t even recognize you. The look he gave you was probably because his date told him that you chose him as your target of some very minimal flirting. While looking directly at the locket around your neck. But also, the spotlight is extremely bright, so maybe you imagined it all. Yeah, that was it. There was no need to panic. Everything would be okay. You smile at yourself in the mirror to convince yourself of that. You’re interrupted by a knock on the door. 

“Um, hello,” you call out as you turn to face the door. 

You were never typically bothered after a performance. 

“Are you decent? Can I come in?” 

Stage manager.

“Uhh, are you by yourself,” you ask hesitantly. 

“Yes?” 

You roll your eyes at your behavior. You’re being so paranoid.

“Sure, come in,” you say as you turn back to face your mirror. 

The stage manager walks into your room before closing the door. 

“Good job out there tonight.”

You shoot her a smile through the mirror’s reflection.

“Thanks, kid.”

“So…weird that you asked if I was alone. Were you expecting guests in the audience tonight,” the stage manager asks while looking down at the clipboard in her hands.

You feel your heart drop. You are hoping this conversation wasn’t leading where you thought it was. 

“No.”

The stage manager looks surprised.

“Oh! That guy you sat on was asking to see you. His name is,” the stage manager looks down at her clipboard again. “Stolas.”

You drop your makeup wipe.

“As in the prince?”

What in the hell is Blitz doing with a prince? How could you not recognize him? To be entirely fair to yourself, it could be pretty dark towards the back of the club…is what you’re telling yourself. 

“I guess? He was insistent that he needed to see you,” the stage manager says while leaning towards the door, listening to the music outside.

“Was he with anyone?” 

“No, ma’am,” she shifts as she gets antsy to return to her post, “plus, if he is a prince, as you said, and he’s interested, you’ll get your wish of getting with someone rich.”

You raise your eyebrows.

“You know I just sing ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,’ right? I don’t apply it to my real life. I don’t value wealth over meaningful relationships,” you explain.

You see the stage manager’s cheeks turn red. 

“I’m sorry,” she starts, but you wave her off. 

“Send him in,” you sigh as you work on fixing your appearance again.

So much for being comfy; maybe the finger kiss was too much. You hear the stage manager sigh and make eye contact with her through the mirror, raising your eyebrows. 

“Look, between you and me, there was someone else with him, but he told Stolas to say it was just him because you wouldn’t agree to see them if you knew he was there,” she exclaims. 

You feel like you’re going to be sick. You didn’t think you could do this tonight, especially since today seemed to have more blasts from the past than usual. 

“Oh, fuck,” you mutter.

You become hyper-aware of your breathing and raise your hand to your chest. You can not do this tonight. You quickly turn towards the stage manager, who looks concerned.

“Look, kid, Emmie? That’s your name, right,” you ask as you turn to face her. 

She seems shocked that you know her name, and she nods. 

 “I need your help, Emmie. I need you to cause a distraction and lead them away so I can slip out of the back doors. Please, I just feel a little under the weather, and I don’t feel like I’m in a good place to talk to people tonight,” you beg as you feel tears start to pool. 

You are trying so hard not to cry in front of this poor girl, but you will if it means she feels bad for you. Luckily for you, that wouldn’t be necessary. 

“Of course, ma’am. I have the phone number you gave us for emergencies, and the moment I manage to lead them away, I’ll text you. Do you have any recommendations for getting them out of the backstage area?” she asks.

You think. You must be clever because Blitz has already experienced your disappearing act once. 

“Tell them I typically go out to watch the show by the bar, and they should wait for me there. Tell them that drinks are on me,” you whisper, unsure of yourself. 

She nods, and she smiles sympathetically. 

“Good luck,” she says as she walks out. 

Now, all you had to do was wait. Would they buy it? More importantly, would Blitz buy it? You wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly knocked on your dressing room door. 

What would you even say? Sorry for running? You weren’t. If you would have stayed, you would have been stuck there for the rest of your life. But on the other hand, you would have had your friends. You look down at your locket and open it to look at your young friends before closing it again. You look at yourself in the mirror. No. You wouldn’t have had them. They would have moved on without you. 

You notice that you must have still had some mascara on since there was a barely visible trail going down your cheeks from the few tears that escaped. You go to grab tissues to wipe them off when you get a text from Emmie.

Maybe: Emmie

EMERGENCY! YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW!

ONLY HAVE MINUTE!

EMMIE BTW!

You stare at your phone in horror, decide not to question her, grab your bag, and immediately take off. You exit your dressing room and beeline to the backdoor exit. You see Emmie standing by, holding the door open. What a saint. You speed walk, and she looks slightly panicked as you reach her.

“No time to explain, just go,” she rushes out.

You didn’t have to be told twice. You nod, and you exit the club. You hear her close the door behind you and take in your surroundings. You are currently in an alleyway, which is slightly terrifying. You turn your head to the right and see one of the bouncers smoking. He watches you, giving you a nod, which you return. You begin walking to your left to get to the front of the building. The line to get in has gone down, but some people are outside. Some of them had too much to drink. 

You begin walking back to your apartment. You should have brought your car tonight. The streets are lit up, but you feel you're being followed. You glance across the street to the reflection in the windows and see someone a couple of feet behind you. Not the prince or Blitz. You feel chills run down your entire body. This couldn’t happen again.

“How did this even happen,” Fizz whispers as he hugs you, trying to calm you down while Blitzo tries his hardest to clean your wounds.

It was late at night, and none of you should have been up. You would get a good yelling at if you were caught being up. 

“I- I- They were following me for a while, and they pushed me when I was in their way,” you cry as you try to stop the body-wracking sobs.  

“Why would you go out by yourself in the first place,” Fizz hugs you tighter as you cringe away from Blitzo’s hands.

“You guys left without me. You said we would go get pizza together after the show.”

You look up at Fizz and Blitzo, who share a look. 

“Papa said you were feeling sick,” Blitzo whispers. 

They both look down at you as you start crying harder—such big emotions for your tiny body. Blitzo moves to put bandages on your cuts. It wasn’t even the fact that you were left behind. It was the day as well. 

“I finally,” you hiccup. “I finally reached ten years like you two, and it’s no fun,” you whisper as you feel yourself calming down again. 

Fizz and Blitzo look at each other again.

“Next time, you won’t be alone, okay,” Blitzo assures you as he takes your hand. 

“We’re sorry,” Fizz says, moving his hands over your eyes. “We still got you something.”

Your hear movement, and your tail moves excitedly, causing Fizz to giggle. You feel someone’s presence before you, and Fizz moves his hands from your eyes. 

“Happy Birthday,” Fizz and Blitzo silently yell. 

In front of you is a pizza in the rough shape of a heart. The pepperonis spell out ‘Happy Brithda.’ You giggle as you notice the misspelling. 

“Blitzo was in charge of the words. I chose the shape,” FIzz explains with a slight blush on his face. 

You take the pizza box from Blitzo before closing it and setting it to the side. Blitzo’s smile drops, and Fizz looks sad. 

“Didn’t you like it,” Blitzo mumbles. 

“Of course, silly. I just needed to put the box down to do this,” you say as you throw yourself at both boys, wrapping your arms around them. You all giggle as you nearly make them fall backward. 

“Alright, alright, what’s your birthday wish,” Blitzo asks excitedly while pushing you back. 

“I can’t say it out loud, or it won’t come true. I heard a sinner say that,” you exclaim as you mime a zipper over your mouth.

“It’s not the same rule for us,” Blitzo argues.  

“How do you know that Blitzo?” Fizz asks.

“Because I know things.”

You and Fizz share a look before looking back at Blitzo, who was waiting expectantly.

“Fine, Blitzo. I wish we’d be friends forever,” you said while pointing your tongue at him. 

“Boring. I would wish for my own tent so I don’t have to share anymore.”

“Blitzo, that’s mean. I think your wish is good,” Fizz beams at you. 

“I think so too,” you whisper as you all continue talking the night away.

Maybe the sinner was right. It was bad luck to say your wishes out loud. You start walking a bit faster when you hear the steps getting closer. You are so close to your apartment, but you know you can’t exactly run towards it for safety reasons. Maybe you are being paranoid, and this stranger is just walking in the same direction that you are. You remember that a coffee shop is open 24/7 across the street from your apartment, and you decide that maybe waiting there would be the wiser option. 

You cross the street since the coffee shop is on the other side and hear the same steps follow. So much for walking in the same direction. You had to guarantee your safety one way or another. You decide to fake a phone call with someone meeting you. 

“Oh,” you exclaim loudly as you continue walking as if you got a call you weren’t expecting. 

“Hey! I’m almost at the coffee shop. Are you there already?” you beam into your phone.

You realize how fucked you would be if you got a real call. 

“Perfect! I’ll be there in a few, love,” you say as you pretend to hang up. 

You strain your ears to hear the footsteps, and you nearly take off in a sprint when you hear them closer than before. Okay, a phone call was a bad idea. You prepare yourself to run when you feel someone roughly grab your hand, jerking you backward into a chest.

“I think you’re going to be late for your little date,” the stranger growls into your ear.

You feel fear creeping up and paralyzing you to the spot. This was definitely a lot worse than getting pushed to the floor by a couple of assholes. 

“Aww, cat got your tongue? It didn’t seem that way back in the club,” he hisses at you.

You raise your eyebrow as you look back at him, and you immediately recognize him as the guy who tipped you and looked at you like a piece of meat when you winked at him. Well, crap. 

“Look, man, I don’t want any trouble,” you plead as he chuckles.

“Oh, that’s perfect.”

You need to find a way to escape. You try to think, but your brain goes empty. This day has been a fucking nightmare. You suddenly feel his filthy hand over your mouth, and he starts dragging you towards a darkened alley. Tears begin to prick your eyes, and you try to yell. 

“Shut the fuck up, you bitch. No one is going to save you,” he growls as he digs his nails into your skin. 

Your muffled sound of pain is not loud enough for anyone to hear. No one is going to save you. You have to save yourself. With all the strength you can muster, you elbow him in the guts, which causes him to loosen his grip on you. You immediately push out of his arms and run across the street. You debate calling out for help, but this is Hell. You are risking putting yourself in more danger if you scream for help. At this point, the club might be the safest place for you. 

You continue running, and you pass your apartment building. You desperately want to run in but know it won’t end well. You are halfway to the club when the stranger tosses himself at you, causing you to fall forward.

“What the fuck,” you yell as you feel your knees scrape roughly on the sidewalk. 

This was familiar. The stranger lands next to you, so you roll away from him before trying to stand. However, he is quick on his feet this time and slams your body into the wall next to you. Your head hits the wall, and your vision blurs. You feel a searing pain in your side as you realize he must have had a knife on him. 

“Mother fucker,” you cry out as you try to stand, but you’re so disoriented. 

You slip down the wall as your tears start falling. You want to run. You want to go home. You feel yourself growing weaker. You almost don’t notice the lack of action coming from your attacker. Maybe he was trying to catch his breath. You should use this moment to run. You try to stand weakly from your spot on the floor when you feel a soft hand on your shoulder. 

“Hold on, darling. You’re badly hurt. It’s okay, you’re safe, but I wouldn’t recommend standing,” you hear from your side. You turn to look at who is beside you, only to be met with Prince Stolas. You watch him look away at something behind you, and his eyes hold anger. You see his mouth moving, but everything is spinning. 

“Prince Stolas,” you weakly beg. “I just want to go home. I’m so tired.”

He looks down at you, and his gaze softens. He brings you closer as he strokes your hair. 

“It’s alright, just stay awake for me,” he whispers. 

“I can’t,” you cry as your eyes get heavier. 

You start seeing black spots in the corner of your eyesight. You’re definitely going to pass out. The last thing you feel before your vision becomes dark is someone grabbing your hand tightly.

Songs mentioned: Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, sung by Marilyn Monroe, and I Want To Be Evil, sung by Eartha Kitt.

See you all in the next chapter (which may or may not already be written)!

[thehollowwriter]

The Official Bio Ezra Citlalli

Basic Info:

Name: Ezra Citlalli (see-la-lee)

Homeland: The Afterglow Savanna

Species: Jaguar beastman

Birthday: 24th March

Age: 68

Height/length: 189cm

Dominant hand: Right

Occupation: Fashion designer, ex model

Family:

Several ex husbands who all died mysteriously

Unnamed parents (deceased)

Unnamed cousins

Godson: Finn

Preferences:

Hobbies: Wine tasting, travelling

Likes: Fashion, wine, singing, performing

Dislikes: Shallow people, people who don't listen to him, quite a few of the younger celebrities, his exes (that's not true, he swears, he's mourning them all deeply to this day 😢)

Favourite food: Caviar

Least favourite food: Asparagus

Appearance:

Ezra is tall, lanky, and black (as in VERY dark skin). His hair is short and curly, wine red and orange with silvery grey streaks starting to run through, and his eyes are dark red. He has Jaguar spots/marking on his wrists, neck, lower back, and ankles.

He just radiates elegance in a similar way to Vil and carries himself in a way that makes you feel he might be royalty made from glass, even though he is ridiculously strong.

Ezra has retractable claws he often paints with gold nail polish, and he has large sharp teeth similar to that of a jaguar's. He also has Jaguar ears and a tail.

Personality:

If elegant was a personality trait, Ezra seems to have it. He's very calm and collected but can spit fire if he feels like it. He can be uptight, strict, and serious and is viewed by some as stuck up, but he considers that to be more of a stage persona.

Ezra is very passionate, creative, imaginative, and kind to those he's close to. He's a firm believer in his own unique brand of tough love, where he won't be needlessly cruel or mean, but he's not going to tiptoe around your feelings, especially if he feels the person he's close to is struggling and needs help.

He has a sense of humour and drips sarcasm at times. He's got wine aunt energy, to be honest. He DOES love wine.

Some Fun Facts/Extra Info

•Ezra is loosely twisted from Tanya from Mamma Mia

•Ezra was one of Morrigan's best friends at NRC and remained his friend until he died

•He comes from a strict, wealthy family and gravitated towards Morrigan due to their similar desires to just rebel and give them the middle finger

•Ezra was the housewarden of Pomefiore during his time at NRC

•He used to be a famous singer but decided to switch careers in his early 30s

•While he was terrified of ageing and was jealous people like the fae, his time with Silas had him reconsider his views on age and find the beauty in it

•He keeps offering to help Silas pay for stuff, but Silas keeps turning him down

•Jaguar beastmen are extremely rare, and part of Ezra's "allure," so to speak, is being this exotic, beautiful, and rare creature (he hates it so much)

•Ezra is one of Finn's two godfathers

...........................................

A/N: I hope you like my new skrunkle! It's really fun expanding Morrigan's life and Finn's family:) Big thanks to one of my friends for helping me work on him

Tagging: @distant-velleity @br3adtoasty @rainesol @theleechyskrunkly @jovieinramshackle

@galaxies-and-gore @cyanide-latte @cynthinesia @officialdaydreamer00 @krenenbaker

@offorestsongs @kitwasnothere @elenauaurs @boopshoops @inotonline

@1dont-really-know @kazumify @minteasketches @elysia-nsimp @skrimpyskimpy

@casp1an-sea @offorestsongs @tixdixl @poisoned-pearls @the-trinket-witch

@ramshacklerumble @ghostiidasponk @thegoldencontracts @the-banana-0verlord @cloudcountry

@skriblee-ksk @twstinginthewind @lumdays @theolivetree123 @natsukishinomiyaswife

@authoruio @jewelulu @raguiras @honeynclove @moonyasnow

[akutasoda]

Hello! If you play genshin impact can I get headcanons/imagine with blade, march 7th, jing yuan and himeko with nilou! Reader?? Thank you so much in advance! Your writing is so good and please continue being amazing 💞💞

dance with me

synopsis - you were always so amazing, your dances and your personality

includes - himeko, march 7th, blade, jing yuan

warnings - gn!reader, reader is based of nilou(GI), fluff, slight jealousy, wc - 1k

a/n: hello! thank you <3, i am quite the avid genshin player and have been since it's release(same with star rail) haha

himeko ★↷

↪perhaps you had met himeko when the express had stopped on your planet of origin and you decided to ask to join. and yet even upon joining the trailblazers you still hadn't given up your passion for dancing. thus performing in most places the express stopped earning a galaxy wide reputation for not only yourself but the express.

↪himeko was most likely concerned at first considering normally why the express would stop at places, but considering how much people enjoyed seeing your performances - her included - and your ability to carry yourself in battle, it quickly went away. and she often found herself enjoying seeing each and every one of your performances.

↪another thing she admired you for was your warm nature. alot of the places they stopped at always held stories of not only your performance but how kind and warming you were to anyone. she loved your emotional intelligence and thought it suited you very well.

↪wouldn't hesitate to help you when you were stuck with decisions, afterall you always did seem to struggle with them.

↪did always remind you to make sure you are looking after yourself inbetween your shows. and that wouldn't change upon becoming official. if anything it increases.

↪and now being official she wanted to make even more effort to see your performances. not just because she wanted to see you or support but because she thoroughly enjoyed them. would love going through all the gifts and letters you are sent, afterall they all get sent to the express.

march 7th ★↷

↪maybe you had met march in a similar way above. travelling with the express after asking to join but still wanting to do performances so trying to hold one for everywhere you visited with your new friends. and march loved it.

↪she absolutely loved all your performances, she loved how energetic and passionate you were for them at all times. she did truly admire how talented you were at them and the same went for your emotional intelligence. you both were quite similar in that way.

↪your warmth was also similar to hers, except she was normally quite cold to the touch. she just admired you as a whole and thought you were so great! she also understood your struggles with making decisions and would help you no matter what.

↪and when you two became official she became like a personal cheerleader. well cheerleader/helper, often making sure you were okay and reminding you to take breaks, helping you choose some clothes and other things she could do to support you in anyway she could.

blade ★↷

↪now meeting the swordsman was most likely through a mission. he and his fellow stellaron hunters had to stay on the planet and according to elio's plan had to attend some performance on a day. whatever it had to do with the mission, blade did not know but he trist elio's word. but upon entering the performance hall he found himself quite captivated by the striking individual on the stage.

↪his entrancement was noticed and kafka smirked as her and silver wolf went to the actual mission. he surprisingly found himself staying for the whole thing until kafka tapped him on the shoulder and said it was over. maybe it was due to elio's script that he found himself in so many of your performances.

↪and eventually you striked up conversation with the man who very clearly wasn't from around here. and surprisingly you two clicked. he never saw himself deserving of your pure kindness and natural warmth but allowed himself to be selfish and indulge in it in your presence.

↪additionally admired your emotional intelligence aswell. amd found himself helping you with any issues with decision making. and when you two became official you understood that meant most likely that you would travel with the stellaron hunters. and you agreed under the condition of being able to continue performing on different planets.

↪you would always giggle at blade's jealously when another fan had sent a gift or letter to you about your performance. often reminding him that they were just friendly gestures, he would only grumble something in response.

jing yuan ★↷

↪you had most likely met the general at one of your performances. you were quite well know among the luofu, your performances being highly regarded by everyone. so much so that it was only natural that the general would see a few - or many. you noticed how often he showed up and of course you knew who he was but you payed him no mind, he was just someone else in the crowd.

↪the general had snuck out to see quite a few performances before he decided to send a letter to your place of work in a bold statement of asking to get to know you better. your fellow performer's teasing you as you felt confused about what to do.

↪inevitably you had decided to entertain the general. you normally wouldn't do this sort of thing but something told you that you wouldn't regret it. jing yuan had been quite surprised that you actually accepted but was happy nonetheless.

↪and you two immediately clicked. he loved how you seemed to radiate this sort of comforting warmth in your presence and your simple kindness. and if you were being honest the general wasn't that bad himself. and thus you two began hanging around more often.

↪he absolutely admired your level of emotional intelligence, he wasn't that great at it himself. and so would understand if you came to him for a more problematic issue that you couldn't make your mind up with.

↪and even as you two would become official, that didn't stop him from trying to see most of your performances. would always claim to be your #1 fan and admired everything else about you.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

First time sending an ask to ya….. greetings!

Cross wouldn’t get rid of XChara the moment an option presented itself. Because in a sad way, they are both of what remains of Xtale. Even if they don’t get along. Cross wouldn’t have it in him to kill XChara.

It would take a long time for them to form a genuine bond with each other. But I think they would eventually get there. It’s a very rocky road considering their circumstances.

Maybe, XChara could even see Cross as a potential father figure. Despite being older than he is.

I dunno. My apologies, I am not the best at stringing my thoughts together.

I just think the Monochrome Duo is extremely underrated. And I’m upset the fandom rushes to remove XChara from Cross’ story.

That’s their duo name?!?! Monochrome Duo! That’s so cute I love that.

And I completely agree! I think people are missing out on a lot of potential and opportunity by finding a way to get rid of XChara, and not considering XChara as a character either—rather than just some big bad or obstacle in Cross’ story.

It’s similar to the way people don’t do much with Something New!Chara, either. Because even if they may just be living in Killer’s head in endings where he turns on them and is then taken by Nightmare, they are still a huge part of his life and reasons for why he does or says things and behaves certain ways.

Especially whenever he attempts to or even considers trying to hope for a better life, his Chara keeps him in line and feeling scared and uncertain in Stage 1–which in turn keeps him stuck in Stage 2 and all of its dreaded apathy, unable to care or bother to hope.

Even in endings where Killer is supposedly free, he still isn’t—because he believes his abuser is inside his head and watching him. That shit is scary, and no one does anything with the potential! Imagine all the internal flashbacks and memories and potentially triggered sensations.

Ughhhh. I need to see more of Sanses with their Charas, it’d be so interesting. Especially with XChara and Cross, they can try to find family in eachother and heal from everything they suffered from!

{ @twinribbonz }

[dullgecko]

Hallo again!! I was the one who sent in a lot of those Riz in backpack headcanons! Here are some more.

Places Riz had woken up in because he fell asleep in someone’s backpack

- Zelda’s room, I’d like to imagine it’d just pan back and forth we between slowly getting closer to the back and Riz slowly unzipping, when he confusedly peeked his head out of the backpack, Zelda and him screamed out of utter surprise. Once the two of them calmed down, Zelda offered to call Gorgug to come pick up his backpack with Riz in it.

- Sam Nightingale’s car, very similar to the last one, Gorgug left his backpack at Zelda, and Sam was already gonna take the maidens out tonight. So they were just gonna drop the backpack off on the way, Riz wakes up to blasting pop music, pokes his head out to look up at Zelda. All the seven maidens really like Riz (he was the one started looking for them in the first place) and they offered to drop off the backpack and take him with him as a thank you.

- Backstage at a concert, he was passed out the whole time. He could faintly hear the sound of Fig welcoming people and introducing Gorgug, but he didn’t really recognize where he was until he heard the speakers blasting. When he poked his head out, security try to kick him out. Fig heard this, came back stage and fired the security guard for not recognizing one of her best friends. (There’s now a list of everyone that’s allowed backstage)

- Hell, Fig accidentally left her backpack in her domain, there was no cell service so he was kinda stuck there with Baby until it Fig came back. He didn’t enjoy a second of it, Baby kept trying to get Riz to kill him. Eventually when Fig found him she was freaking out because apparently no one knew where he was.

- Compass point’s library, Fig or Adaine left forgot Riz was in there. Ayda was going to promptly return the bag as soon as she was finished with whatever she was doing. Until she heard Riz groaned, she opened it and saw Riz sleeping with a bunch of Adaine’s books. She took a picture because she knew this was something that would be considered cute and put the backpack back down.

- On Baxter, Sandralynn, in a hurry, accidentally picking up Kristen’s back and flying off on Baxter, not know that Riz was in there. He woke up at least a hundred feet above ground and he scared the shit out of Baxter, almost sending them falling.

Zeldas room:

Riz woke up and he was... not where he was supposed to be, but he recognised the smell of Zeldas deodorant and soap so he figured he was probably in her house. This posed a bit of a problem because if he was in her house, Gorgug was probably there.... and they were dating..... and she was a satyr... who worshiped Faunus.... and her boyfriend was there.... and they probably thought they were alone.... The rogue covered his face, ears flicking as he tried to listen to what was going on outside the confines of the bag. Thanking all that was holy when he heard nothing gross and carefully unzipping the backpack to peak out. Quickly ducking back down when Zelda spotted him and screamed. Riz yelping when the bag was impacted by a textbook thrown at full force from the startled girl. "Ow! Fuck, sorry!" he waited a moment before peeking back out again, Zelda still looking a little startled but calming down when she finally recognised him. "Oh! Riz I'm sorry you frightened me." She put down the lamp she was about to throw next and crouched to inspect the goblin. Riz rubbing the side of his head from where the textbook had nailed him through the padding of the bag. "I didn't realise Gorgug forgot his bag. I'll get him to come get you."

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

Really Gorgug? Again? At least it felt like he was in a moving car this time, so there was less of a chance of him seeing something he shouldn't. It also felt like someone had buckled the bag into the seat so there was a good chance they knew he was there.

The goblin shuffled around inside the bag, using his claws to try and find the end of the zipper. It wasn't needed though, someone on the outside was opening it for him so he popped his head out. Laughing and ducking back down as several different peoples hands tried to ruffle his hair all at once (he didn't duck away too quickly from Penny though, she had first friend head pat privileges).

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

He must have been more tired than he realised, Riz thought, when he checked his watch and realised school had finished /hours/ ago. The rogue scrubbing his hands over his face as he tried to wake up the rest of the way as he listened to his surroundings to work out where he was.

He could make a fairly educated guess, given that he could hear Fig giving her usual pre-show introductions, that they were at The Black Pit. She still did little shows like this when she wasn't on tour and he vaguely remembered her mentioning there was one coming up. It was too far away for him to walk home so he'd have to wait around for them to finish which was fine. He enjoyed Figs shows as long as he didn't have to stand in the audience, he was too likely to get stepped on in big crowds.

Riz fished his glasses out of his breast pocket, putting on the light filtering lenses before unzipping the bag from the inside. Clambering out to stretch and check out his surroundings as the music started blaring from the stage. He could only just see Fig from here, The Black Pit wasn't big enough of a venue to have green-rooms for the performers meant she'd left her things in a pile with Gorgugs in the wings.

He crouched back down next to the bags after watching for a while, finding himself thirsty and rummaging through Gorgugs bag looking for the unopened bottle of water he knew was stashed in there. Riz wasn't trying to be stealthy so he wasn't surprised when one of the security staff noticed him, he /was/ surprised that they didn't seem to recognise him though.

"You theivin little rat! What the hell d'you think you're doing?" The orc in a 'security' emblazoned t-shirt stomped towards him, Riz giving him a confused look and standing up as they didn't seem intent on slowing their approach.

"Oh. Hi? I'm in Fig and Gorgugs par-" he didn't get to finish his sentence, the security officer swiping for him which the rogue tried to dodge. Riz didn't quite get far enough away though, the orc managing to grab him by the tail and yank him into the air in one smooth motion.

Riz wasn't quite sure exactly what happened next but he vaguely remembered screaming as his vision whited out from the pain. His tail was part of his spine, wasn't strong enough to support his weight and when he was yanked into the air he felt something /snap/.

The next moment he could form a coherent thought he was somehow back on his feet, gentle and familiar hands keeping him upright as healing magic dulled the pain to a distant ache. The music had stopped and the air now smelled of burning fabric so he could make an educated guess as to what happened. He couldn't see Gorgug anywhere, or the security orc, which probably didn't bode well for the staff member.

"You okay?" Fig let him go when he moved to stand up straighter from his pained hunch, the bard frowning and using her sleeve to wipe his face dry since the pain had made his eyes water. "Oh that fucker is /so/ fired once Gorgug finishes with him."

----------

"Why not? It'll be fun!" Baby cackled, Riz hissing like a feral cat and trying to kick him away as Baby scaled the bookshelf the rogue had perched himself on. The goblins foot landing with a squelch and making the Imp fall back to the floor with another peel of insane laughter. They really needed to work out how to get cell service down here.

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

Riz had been hanging out with them for a while but there was only so much girl talk he could handle before checking out of the situation. Plus, his head was killing him. Even he had to admit sometimes there was a limit on how long you could go without a nap and, rather than lying down in the open, had flopped down partially concealed inside the duffle bag Adaine had brought with her. Riz shuffling around the contents in order to use one of her textbooks as a pillow before passing out.

He'd apparently done TOO good of a job hiding himself though, because Fig and Adaine had completely forgotten about the bag when they left. He'd woken up back at Mordred hours later and only found out about the abandonment when he spotted a photo printed out and taped to Adaines mirror at their next sleepover.

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

Riz was usually fine with heights. What he was NOT fine with was SUDDEN UNEXPECTED HEIGHTS WHILE NOT FULLY AWAKE. There was a lot of screaming involved, and claws (not just his) and it took forever for his heart to stop trying to beat out of his chest once his feet were finally on the ground. Baxter got a lot of treats from the goblin over the following weeks in apology.

[mari-lair]

Who do you imagine confessing first? Kou or Mitsuba? How would you envision or want a mitsukou confession to go down?

Mitsuba!

I personally see Kou as someone that hides when his feelings are something he is ashamed off. He needs to be pushed to the edge, to express any big conflict he has, otherwise he can spend years bottling it up.

And even when Kou is so consumed by a feeling that he needs to vent, he is quick to focus on others.

He is a character that doesn’t like to indulge in his own wants, not feeling like he deserve it, or ashamed of wanting more for himself. Hence why he was so panicked in the red house and why I believe love in a manga where being in love is mostly depicted in selfish or obsessive ways would conflict him to death

And Mitsuba absolutely conflicts him. When the topic is directly brought up he tends to go ‘...’ and sweat

He does not want to think about Mitsuba at all despite constantly thinking about him.

The only person he has talked about Mitsuba with (outside mitsuba himself) is Nene, and the intention seems to had been to just catch her up with Mitsuba's situation. The glimpses of personal troubles he shares seem to have been on accident.

It's enough to make him sweat and change subjects with a smile, as if thinking “I shouldn’t have said that, let’s forget about it!”

Kou either has no idea what he feels or he does have some idea but doesn’t want to. I think he is mostly confused though. Which makes sense cause his feelings about Mitsuuba are hella complicated.

Kou seems to think whatever he feels is a sort of strange and convoluted annoyance, which is a similar conclusion to what Mitsuba had reached at first.

But while Kou is still mostly stuck in “god why do I need him? Why do i think so much about him?? He is annoying.” stage, refusing to explore or indulge in the positive feelings Mitsuba brings, Mitsuba already know a lot about his own feelings and he does not hesitate to share them.

He understands the problems of a ghost being attached to a human and vice versa, so he has reasons to not confess, but even if there is conflict, he doesn’t run away from his feelings.

Mitsuba was the one that informed Nene about their little aquarium trip. She had no idea before, so Kou (who is far closer to her) didn’t share anything.

Even if Kou does realizes he is in love, I personally can't imagine he would try to start a relationship, cause he wants the very best for the people he loves and he does not consider himself a good option.

Remember his crush on Nene? How he never made a move and tried to do what would make her happy? He pushed her to stay with Hanako the second he felt like he was not just some ‘evil spirit’, he never considers himself a better option than the dead murderer at any point, and he is very quick to sabotage himself for others.

So he would likely just hate himself for thinking he is not the best but still wants to be the one to help Mitsuba, be the one he depends on, and stay by his side. Unwilling to be ignored.

And I can’t imagine being so conflicted and hating yourself as a very good push to confess to someone.

But I can imagine Mitsuba accidentally confessing, since it was shown constantly that this boy is gay as hell for kou and that he can’t lie. He feels something strongly? There is a big chance he will blurt it out: No bravado, no filter.

And if this confession does happen, I have no idea how I want it to go down.

I just know I want Kou to sabotage himself somehow, cause that’s what this boy constantly does with Mitsuba, and I just can’t imagine a confession being smooth and sappy with them regardless of who ends up confessing in canon, it would just feel out of character to me, unless of course, it has the proper set up/character development for it.

[misseviehyde]

Fit Bitch

"SURPRISE!"

Tyler leapt in shock as he entered his apartment and the lights flicked on to reveal all his friends and family waiting for him. Colourful birthday bunting hung from the walls and a cake with twenty candles sat on the coffee table.  Grinning happy faces stared back at Tyler's shocked and puzzled expression. Then his girlfriend Holly squeezed his hand and he shook his head wryly at the situation as he realised they were throwing him a surprise birthday party.

"You knew about this?"

"Of course," she laughed, "I planned it for you.  Everyone was desperate to be involved."

"Happy birthday doofus," grinned Mark, Tyler's best mate as he ruffled his friends hair.  Mark's girlfriend Ashley gave him a peck on the cheek and a hug too.  "Happy birthday Tyler."

Moving amongst his friends and family, Tyler felt a wave of love and affection for them all.  He shared a joke with his Dad and gave his Mom a massive hug.  His little sister Mandy stuck her tongue out at him and they laughed.  It was brilliant to see everyone gathered together.  Everyone he loved was here.

Tapping a glass Holly grinned as Tyler's friends and family gathered round to listen.

"Thank you for coming everyone.  We're here today to wish an amazing twentieth birthday to Tyler.  His birthday was always going to be a special day - but it's even more special when we consider everything he's achieved in the last year.  Tyler's kindness and selflessness are a shining example to everyone.  I think that's why we all wanted to meet here today and celebrate... so happy birthday Tyler."

The crowd cheered and Holly reached up to kiss him on the cheek.  "I'm so fucking proud of you," she smiled squeezing his hand.

Tyler flushed, getting embarrassed.  His life in the last year had been crazy.  He'd always been interested in trying to help people, so when he developed a mental health app that went viral whilst still in college, he had been pleased at the response.  Pax was a behavioural app that worked to help support people who wanted to make a positive change to their mental health.  It had proven wildly successful and the fact that Tyler had refused to monetise the app had just made it even more successful as people accessed it for free.

With millions of downloads and users now regularly engaged with the app, he'd found himself a little overwhelmed - but even with all of the offers coming in from big tech companies to buy the app from him he'd refused.  Tyler knew that as soon as some money grabbing company took the app, they'd turn it from a helpful mental health app into some way of making money.  One company in particular - Hyde.Inc had been very assertive with their offers.  They were in a similar field - using behavioural technologies to improve fitness outcomes - and they wanted access to his technology to merge it with their own. He didn't like the company - they seemed, unethical.  He'd refused all their offers so far.

Tyler knew he could make a lot of money if he monetised his app and developed it further.  He'd had to take a couple of years out of university to work on it and although he still had a confirmed place, he wasn't sure if he should just drop out and start work in the tech industry.  A lot of companies were willing to invest and support his future, in the hopes he would come work for them. Until then his parents and a few charities were helping to support him whilst he got the app to a stage where he felt he could leave it to focus on his own studies. At the tender age of 20 he had the world in the palm of his hand but was also not yet fully set on his path in life.

And yet he was so self-effacing about it all.  Tyler was a deeply humble and kind person. He wasn't motivated by greed or pride or ego.  He did what he did out of love.  That was why people liked him so much.  With his talents and skills he could have been rich, but he preferred to stay out of the limelight and do his thing.

Holly beamed at him. They'd been sweethearts since they were younger, having attended school together.  She was training to be a nurse and as she worked with people with mental health concerns, she saw first hand the positive impact Pax was having on people.  She couldn't have been prouder of her lovely boyfriend.

"It's nothing really," demurred Tyler as he squeezed her hand back.  "I just knocked up an app that brought together a load of stuff people already knew. It's not like I solved world hunger or something."

She shook her head and laughed, "Tyler - you're so humble it's sometimes annoying. Just for once, enjoy your birthday and the fact that you're helping so many lives.  Go open some presents."

Tyler grinned and walking over to the large table where people had left gifts - did as she had suggested. There were presents from his Mom and Dad, Holly obviously and all his friends - including a stupid one from Mark (as usual).  But as he walked down the table, he saw there was a very expensively wrapped present sitting slightly apart from the rest.

It was wrapped in rose gold paper and neatly tied with a satin bow.  A crisp handwritten label said, "A birthday gift from Hyde.Inc."

Tyler rolled his eyes.  These people really weren't giving up. He supposed it made sense that they would want to bribe, or influence him, by sending gifts.  He unwrapped the box and whistled as he saw it was an incredibly expensive product from the top of their line.  A 'Fit Bitch' smart device.  They were obviously really desperate to get him to sell them Pax. Putting the box to one side, he opened his remaining presents and for the time being, thought no more of it.

************************************

"Damn it," cursed Tyler.  "Have you seen my watch?"

It was the next day and Holly was getting ready in the other room to go to work.  It was a common daily ritual that they would both rise in the morning and get ready together. The two of them had moved into a shared apartment a few months ago and it was small and compact, but the rent was at least cheap.  They had discovered that working around each other in the morning almost required them to dance around each other.  Having so many guests at the party yesterday had taxed the living room to its limit. 

Holly had just finished a gym class and was slipping into her nurses uniform, whilst Tyler had just showered and was now hoping to spend a few hours writing an update for Pax.  

Cursing, Tyler rubbed his naked wrist.  He knew it didn't really matter, but he was quite particular about certain things and he liked wearing a watch.  He usually just wore a cheap Casio - but there was now no sign of it and he couldn't find it anywear.

Then he saw the Fit Bitch box on the table.  

Ripping open the packaging, Tyler hesitated.  The watch was fully charged, but it did look quite... feminine. It was rose gold, like the packaging and had a bright pink strap.  He shrugged - he didn't suppose anyone was going to see him wearing it anyway, it was just to have on his wrist whilst he worked.  Besides - he was curious to see how it worked.  He'd heard a lot about these kinds of watch.

Slipping the Fit Bitch onto his wrist, he tightened the strap and turned it on.  The screen booted up and he continued getting ready whilst it connected to his home wifi and performed various other initial set up tasks.  

"Bye babe," shouted Holly from the hallway and he gave her a kiss on the cheek as she went out to work. 

Set up complete.  Calibration complete.  Fit Bitch activated.

Admiring the clarity of the display, Tyler saw that the watch was now monitoring his vital signs. He could flick through various menus and there were options and controls for all sorts of apps and add ons. He'd look at them later.  Right now he needed to finish getting dressed.

He'd laid his pants and clothes out on the bed, and slipping off his towel reached down to pick up his underwear.

Inappropriate clothing.

Pain lanced through Tyler's body.  The hand holding the boxer shorts unclenched as he gasped in agony. His hand felt like it was burning, like his underwear was scalding hot coals to him.  A nausea and revulsion like nothing he had ever known pulsed through him and he was almost sick as he fell to the floor retching.

"What the hell?" he gasped, panting in horror as the pain faded.

He looked down at the Fit Bitch.  There was a message on the screen. "Inappropriate clothing?"

Had the watch made him feel like that?  What the hell?

In a fury he reached down to rip off the watch.

Unauthorised removal.

Tyler screamed.  The pain was a million times worse than before. It was the worst, most horrific feeling he had ever known.  It was suddenly as if the thought of removing, or taking off the Fit Bitch was the worst thing that could ever happen.  Pain burned through his body, his temples pounded. Feelings of nausea and revulsion crawled through his body and he nearly bit off his own tongue as his heart hammered and he convulsed on the floor.

"I won't take it off, please stop!" he screamed.

Compliance rewarded.

The pain was gone.  In an instant it was gone and instead a wave of euphoria and bliss was spreading through Tyler's body.   He suddenly felt relaxed and happy.  He felt euphoric.

The feeling lasted only a moment, then he was back to normal.  Picking himself up, he looked down at the watch on his wrist in horror.  He reached towards his phone.  He needed help, he needed to tell Holly or his Mom or even Mark that he needed help.  Maybe they could remove the watch for him.

Disclosure denied.

This time the pain built gradually, but began to intensify.  As his hand got nearer his phone, as his intent to call for help increased - so did the pain.  He stopped and the pain stopped immediately receding rapidly.  It was like the watch had been showing him what it could do.  He knew that if it wanted to, it could make him feel agony like he had never known.  This time though it had warned him, given him time to alter his behaviour.

"This is insane and unethical," he hissed.  "This is illegal.  This damn thing has enslaved me... or at least it's trying to condition my behaviour somehow.  I have to find a way out of this... and I will!"

Pacing his room, Tyler decided the secret lay in using his computer talents.  He'd find a way to hack the watch and get it to release him.  For now, he'd play along - but as soon as this thing was off his wrist, he was going straight to the police.  Hyde.Inc were finished!

Aware he was still naked, he walked over to his clothes.  Even looking at his boxer shorts gave him a feeling of nausea.  "Fine, I'll have to go commando," he hissed reaching out to take his jeans.

Inappropriate Clothing.

Tyler snatched his hand back.  "What the hell? All my clothing is inappropriate? What the hell am I supposed to wear?"

He began rooting through his wardrobe, but every single item of clothing was flagged inappropriate... until.

"Aha," grinned Tyler as he pulled out a pair of grey sweat pants.

Clothing acceptable.

It was then he realised why.  "Shit, these aren't mine. They must have got mixed in by mistake. They're Holly's - she was looking for these.  Oh my God - it wants me to wear female clothing."

Tyler looked with hatred at the watch.  He could just not wear any clothes he supposed. He picked up the sweat pants to throw them into Holly's room.  The Fit Bitch had other ideas.

Pleasure.  Pleasure throbbed up Tyler's arm as he touched the sweat pants.  They were soft and light grey, high waisted and cut to the female form.  Holding them felt good.  Really good.

Tyler gasped as his dick sprang to attention.  Delicious feelings of pleasure pulsed through his body and without even realising it he began to rub and stroked the pants lovingly.  "Ooooh shit, that feels good. I have to try these on," he gasped struggling to get a leg inside.

Underwear required.

There was no pain this time, but the pleasure began to recede and with a whine Tyler ran into Holly's room.  Pulling open her underwear drawer he saw there were numerous choices. He began to reach for a sensible pair of white cotton briefs, but then as his eyes fell on one of Holly's g-strings, the pleasure suddenly began to intensify.

Now it was even more sexual in nature and his dick throbbed and pulsed. It felt like the best orgasm he'd ever experienced in his life was building and his mind was almost instantly made up.  Grabbing the thong instead of the panties he groaned as he slipped them on.

Slutty clothes bonus activated

Sliding the tracksuit bottoms on, Tyler began to cum.  Only he didn't really.  It felt like he was cumming, but he didn't ejaculate.  And the pleasure didn't abate.  He still had a kernel of horniness inside himself that he couldn't get rid of, an itch that needed to be scratched.  He looked at himself in the mirror.  He supposed he didn't look too bad.  Holly's tracksuit bottoms were gender neutral enough.  Perhaps a little tighter fit and his ass didn't fill them up right.  Now he just needed to find a t-shirt.  Holly had plenty of plain white ones.  Again, they'd fit wrong, but he probably wouldn't look too stupid.

He hoped.

***************************************

Walking into the apartment, Holly was surprised to find Tyler home.

She'd known he wanted to work on Pax this morning, but thought he had wanted to go out this afternoon.  Instead he was hunched over his computer, his fingers furiously tapping. He looked like a man possessed.  He also looked strange. She didn't remember him owning he light grey tracksuit bottoms or white t-shirt he was wearing.  In fact... it almost looked like...

"Hey are you wearing my clothes?!?" she asked incredulously.

"Huh, wh... oh Holly, you're home," said Tyler looking up tiredly.  He looked haunted and angry and upset about something.

"Wh... what's wrong?  What's going on?" she asked suddenly worried.

Tyler looked like he wanted to say something, then he suddenly grimaced and his face turned green like he wanted to be sick.

"N...nothing.  It doesn't matter."

"But... but seriously Tyler, what the hell is going on?  Why are you wearing my clothes."

"I told you nothing is fucking going on," he suddenly hissed venomously at her.  "I found these clothes in my washing pile, I was distracted and didn't realise they were yours.  It's not my fault you dress like a boy half the time." 

Tyler had said mean things before when upset, but usually he realised pretty quickly and got embarrassed and calmed down.  This time though, Holly was appalled to see he appeared to be enjoying it.  Worse, he actually seemed to get some sort of thrill of pleasure speaking to her that way.  He actually shivered like he was getting off.

"Tyler, have you taken drugs or something?  You're acting like a psyscho."

"Holly I've had a long difficult day - I really can't explain - but this is not a good day for me. Please stop asking me so many questions and ahhhhhhh," Tyler grimaced suddenly like he was in pain.  "I mean, stop asking me so many questions and leave me alone. I have work to do."

"Fine, fuck you," spat Holly as she turned round with tears in her eyes and stormed out of the apartment. "I'll go see my Mom then and stay at hers tonight - I can't believe you're treating me this way. Something is wrong with you!"

Tyler winced as he heard the door slam.

"FUCK YOU," he screamed at the watch on his wrist.  "I can't believe you made me do that!"

The moment Holly had walked in, he had known there would be trouble.  He'd spent all day trying to hack into the watch, but the encryption on the device was incredible.  It was also monitoring his efforts and blocking his best attempts to hack it properly. 

When Holly had started asking questions he had wanted to tell her everything, beg for her help.  The feeling of nausea had put an end to that.  Worse... once he had started being meaner to her, it had begun to reward him.  It was like the Fit Bitch wanted him to be nasty to Holly.

The worst pain had come when he'd used the word please.  That had been bad.  He looked down at the display.

Unacceptable word.

"Please?  I can't say.... ahhhhhhhh!

The word felt like a coal in his mouth.  Even saying it made his body ache in agony.  "Okay... okay... I won't say it FUCK!"

Swear word encouraged.

Pleasure throbbed Tyler and he gasped as he went from pain to pleasure in an instant.  "FUCK, FUCK, OHHHH FUCK!" he screamed, each time the word left his mouth, the pleasure intensifying.  He began to fake cum again.

"Oh fuck," he gasped after he'd finished orgasming.  "What the hell are you trying to do to me?  Make me mean to my girlfriend and swear more?  Where is this going?"

Turning back to his computer screen - he began to tap away. "I have to find a way to stop this fucking thing..."

*******************************************************************

Tyler groaned.  The Fit Bitch was vibrating on his wrist.  It was waking him up.  He'd fallen asleep at his desk, slumped over his computer... his attempts to hack the system still a failure. Now it was 5.30 AM.  What the fuck?

Exercise needed.  Exercise supplies arriving.

There was a knock at the door and Tyler leapt to his feet in astonishment.  Striding over, he yanked the door open to find the corridor empty, but a large cardboard box in his entryway.  Picking it up he walked into the kitchen and ripped it open.  The box was full of more Hyde.Inc technology, including a load of fitness devices designed for body toning and shaping.  There were also sachets of some protein drink and various other work-out supplies.

"What the fuck?" gasped Tyler, not even noticing that the word 'fuck' was now firmly embedded in his lexicon.

Drink protein.  Begin workout.

Picking up a sachet, Tyler groaned as he read the blurb.  "Female enhanced protein supplements... enhanced with advanced hormones to promote healthy growth to give you a bitchy body."

"Oh my God, they're trying to actually turn me into a girl."

Even as he thought about becoming a girl, the wave of pleasure hit him hard.  It was stronger than before... so strong that he groaned in ecstasy.  

Big tits

Tight body

Mean bitch

Drink hormones

Drink hormones

Drink hormones

Tyler gasped as the fit bitch pulsed and vibrated.  Images of hot feminine clothes, bras, panties, tight tops throbbed through his mind as it manipulated the pleasure centres of his brain and made him lust for female things.

Staggering to the sink, Tyler emptied the sachet of powder into a cup and filled it with water. He groaned as he drank the delicious pink liquid it produced, the fit bitch rewarding him with another false orgasm - the strongest he'd ever experienced.

Crawling into the bedroom he saw that Holly still wasn't home - she must still be at her moms.  He tore open her clothes draw and found her work out leggings.  Pulling them on he began to cum again - groaning as the Fit Bitch rewarded him for abandoning the gender neutral tracksuit bottoms and wearing something tighter and sexier.  His cock was rock hard in the clingy leggings as he began to work out.

Complete 50 squats.

Tyler had never exercised so thoroughly in his life as he began the routine. Dressed in his girlfriends super tight clothes he sweated and groaned as he worked out his ass and the pain and pleasure responses of the fit bitch spurred him on.  His stomach gurgled and his head swam as whatever chemicals and hormones was in the protein pulsed round his body.  He felt like he was going to pass out...

"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh FUCK!" he moaned.

*****************************************

Tyler's phone began to ring.  He looked at it in irritation, dropping the razor he was using to shave his body.   He was still aching from the work-out, yet strangely full of energy.  It was 10.30 AM now and the Fit Bitch had made him drink another sachet of the protein mix and go clean himself up in the shower.  Having a smooth, hairless body seemed to please it, so he'd got to work with a razor.

Tyler sighed as he saw it was Holly that was trying to ring him.  

Get rid of her.

He looked down at the message on his Fit Bitch in despair.  The watch clearly wanted him alone and isolated for the time being so it could work on him some more.  He was desperate to ask Holly for help, desperate to beg her for aid - but he knew the Fit Bitch would punish him with pain.

Answering the call, he decided he had no choice but to convince her to stay at her Mom's. But how?

"What do you want?" he asked hesitantly.  He groaned as the watch rewarded him with a pulse of pleasure.

"Tyler.  I... I'm sorry about last night, you were tired and I pushed you too hard. I'm going to come home so we can talk about,"

"Please don't," he said without thinking.

The pain was incredible.  The word 'please' like filth in his mouth.  He had to expunge the pain, he needed the pleasure instead.

"I mean FUCKING don't," he gasped.  The pleasure returned.  Telling Holly to fuck off felt good. It thrilled him in a strange way and made him crave more.  Damn it, the pleasure from the Fit Bitch was so good.  He was starting to get addicted slightly.  His hand began to stroke his cock, almost without realising.

"Tyler, what are you saying?" said Holly in shock.  "Why are you talking to me like this?"

Ejaculation authorised for bitchy responses.

Ejaculation?  It had been days since he'd ejaculated.  The Fit Bitch gave him orgasm after orgasm, but it wouldn't let him cum.  He needed to cum.  Not being able to shoot his load had been frustrating, but now the watch was saying he could cum if he could only rid himself of Holly.

"Listen you dumb bitch," he gasped groaning as his cock got harder and harder and harder.  "I... ahhhh... I don't want to see you.  You've really pissed me off and I need a break from your stupid useless, ohhhh FUCK, idiotic presence... I OHHHH FUCK.... I... just stay away from me!" he screamed, gasping as the pleasure grew and grew.

Pumping his cock like a maniac, Tyler dropped his phone as cum blasted out of his dick and the most powerful orgasm of his life throbbed through his very being.

Ohhhh fuck - why did it feel so good to be evil?

******************************************************************

Tyler had no idea what day it was anymore.  He thought it must be several days since he'd spoken to Holly and he hadn't left the flat since then.  She'd never turned up, just sent some messages about how much she hated him and that he needed help.

He thought maybe his Mom and Dad had come round at some point and tried to get in - but he'd double locked the doors and jammed a chair in the way so no one could get in.  He'd shouted at them to fuck off, and carried on masturbating.  The Fit Bitch wanted him all alone.

He didn't need food or drink anymore - just the protein shakes.  He didn't need do anything except jerk off and use the exercise equipment that Hyde.Inc had provided him. 

Funny thing was his dick seemed to be getting smaller.  He would jerk it for hours now... dressed in Holly's clothes watching the Youtube makeup channels and fashion hauls that the Fit Bitch was forcing him to watch.

From time to time, his hands would go down to Holly's makeup and he would try the techniques on himself.  He was getting pretty good at contouring.  A set of false nails sat ready and waiting.  He groaned as the Fit Bitch gave him a thrill of pleasure at the thought of having them on his hands.  Yesssss, long sexy nails would feel good.

He fondled his chest.  It felt good to rub his boobs - the slowly, swelling tits that were pushing out of his chest and expanding with every protein shake he drank. They were small, but growing in mass the more he exercised and the more he drank.

"Ohhhh fuck, I'm becoming such a slut," he moaned. Saying it sent a throb of pleasure through him. He really was starting to enjoy the transformation now.

It was so hard to resist - to stay sane when your every pleasure and pain response was being used against you.  The orgasms the Fit Bitch could give him were so powerful, he'd begun to crave them. They were like nothing else. He NEEDED those orgasms. 

And the watch was refusing to give them to him now unless his escalated his behaviour.  It was no longer enough to just wear girls clothes - he had to wear Holly's sluttiest outfits. He had to force himself to speak in a high pitched voice.  He had to use words like slut, bitch and whore.  Every now and then he'd try to think of a plan to escape the watch - to free himself from this situation - but then the pain would return.

It was easier not to fight - it was easier to surrender.

And worse... part of him was starting to wonder how far it was going to go and wanting more. Part of him was starting to wonder just what sort of girl he was becoming.  At first he'd thought Hyde.Inc wanted to make him some sort of helpless submissive - but even though the watch had him firmly under control for now, it didn't seem to be encouraging submissive behaviour.

Mean behaviour, yes.  Slutty behaviour... yes.  Bitchy behaviour... definitely.

"Fuck, like OMG - what am I becoming?" he whined in the increasingly bratty voice the Fit Bitch seemed to favour. 

Walking over to the mirror, Tyler realised he hadn't looked at himself properly for days.  The figure looking back at him looked feminine.  She had a toned, plump ass - nicely worked out with wide hips. Her breasts were small... cute and perky.  Pulling up the top he was wearing, Tyler rubbed one and groaned at how it felt.

What would it be like to have big tits? Big slutty teen knockers he could use to get people to do what he wanted.

Walking to the counter he saw there were dozens of sachets of the super enhanced hormones.  A sudden wicked idea entered his head.  He knew he shouldn't... he knew it was insane... but as he thought it, the Fit Bitch made him squirm with pleasure.

"I need bigger tits," he groaned, emptying six packets into one beaker.  The protein shake was thick... sludgy... like pink goop.  Gasping like a whore, he sucked it down... groaning as he felt it flowing into his stomach.  He could almost feel his tits inflating as he did so.

Giggling, Tyler slumped next to the mirror and began to rub his tits, groaning as he did so.  

Good girl.  Big tits are good.

"Ohhhh fuck yesssss," he gasped as he rubbed his increasingly tiny dick.

How many packets of protein could he drink in the next few hours?  He needed those boobs.

He was going to get them.

***************************************

Tyler groaned as he sat up and felt the weight of his new heavy boobs on his chest. He no longer knew what day it was.  It felt like he had been in the flat for years, but he knew it was probably less time than that.  After days of pleasure and pain conditioning, the Fit Bitch on his wrist seemed to have stopped. Brushing his long silky hair out of his eyes he crawled through the discarded wrappers of the protein shakes and into the bathroom.  He had to see what this thing had done to him.

His body ached and the horniness he had been afflicted with was fading for the first time in days.  He still felt sexed up - but no longer consumed by a impossible desire to touch himself and masturbate.  It was like the Fit Bitch no longer wanted him trapped in the flat playing with himself.  It was like he was entering another stage.

"Like, what the fuck has this thing done to me," he groaned as he switched on the lights and gasped as he saw his reflection again.

Tyler was gone.  The girl looking back at him was the most beautiful, bitchy, feminine looking girl he had ever seen.  She had tanned flawless skin, a toned body and a beautiful face. She was a Goddess.

He couldn't help but thrill at how beautiful she was.  Could this really be him?  He made Holly look like a total plain Jane.

Physical calibration 90% complete.

Mental Calibration 40% complete.

Subject ready for Stage 2 - Total Bitchification.

"Oh my Gosh," groaned Tyler as he touched himself like he was a mirage.  "This can't be real, I'm Tyler... I'm a boy... this isn't happening."

Inappropriate name.  Inappropriate gender.

Tyler screamed as the pain returned.  He groaned in agony.

"NO!  No I am Tyler... I'm a boy.  I won't let you do this to me."

The pain intensified.

"NO STOP!  Okay!  I... I'm Skylar now.  I'm a girl... I'm a fucking girl!"

Acceptable identity.

"Oh fuck," gasped Skylar as the pain receded. She felt a sudden strange sensation in her crotch.  Looking down she squeaked in shock as she saw that after days and days of shrinking... her cock was entirely gone.  Whatever chemicals, hormones and DNA viral strains the protein shakes contained had finally completed their work.  Skylar had a pussy now.  She really was a girl.

Initiating stage 2. 

Skylar bit her lip anxiously as she looked down at the ominous words on her Fit Bitch and wondered what they meant.  What was Hyde.Inc's end game?  Why were they doing this to her, and what were they going to try and do next?

Sobbing she staggered to her bed and collapsed into it.

Darkness took her.

********************************

Tyler was having a naughty dream.

In his dream a deliciously evil mean girl was bullying his friends and family.  The girl was beautiful - with long sexy brunette hair, a dazzling smile and tanned flawless skin.  She walked with a self-assured dominance - her body barely covered by her tight clingy clothing as she strutted like a Queen amongst her subjects.

Tyler's girlfriend Holly was in the dream, grovelling at the feet of this horny Goddess. For some reason, seeing his girlfriend abasing herself to another woman made him feel turned on and he began to enjoy the dream as he willed the bad girl to dominate his innocent girlfriend. 

"You fucking pathetic loser,"  laughed the hot bitch as she drove her toes into Holly's mouth, "suck my foot like a good slut. Lick off my Goddess sweat." Holly moaned, licking and sucking the girls foot like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted.

The woman slid her big breasts out of her top and began to play with herself... moaning as she squeezed her perfect breasts and rubbed her own nipples.  "Yes, you're just my fucking toy now bitch - and I love it."  The woman's hands went down to her crotch and she began to finger-fuck herself.

"YESSSS! I love being a fucking bitch!"

**********************************

Tyler groaned and opened his eyes blearily.  He was half-awake, half still in the dream - but as sensation returned he could feel the weight of the breasts on his chest - and feel his fingers deep between his legs as he finger fucked his new body and moaned like a whore.  

"Oh my God," he gasped squirming and soaking wet as he realised HE was the girl from the dream and he had been fantasising about dominating Holly whilst masturbating in his sleep.  On his wrist an expensive looking watch beeped and he groaned as he remembered his predicament.

The Fit Bitch had done this to him.

It had only been perhaps a week since his birthday - since Hyde.Inc had delivered the evil watch that had slowly corrupted him into a girl.  Through a mixture of pain and pleasure conditioning it had forced him to act more and more feminine - trying to turn him into Skylar... an evil, busty, bitch.  The mind shattering orgasms and pleasure the watch could deliver had quickly turned Tyler into an addict.  The exercise supplements and drugs the company had followed up with, had rapidly transformed his body too.  He'd exercised, masturbated and conditioned himself till he finally had the body that the Fit Bitch approved of.  He even had a pussy now and his dick was gone forever.  Stage one had been completed - his physical transformation was complete.

Now the watch was moving into Stage Two and he wasn't sure if he could stop it. Nothing felt better than doing what the watch told him to do and he felt nothing but nausea and sickness when he disobeyed it.

Nausea and sickness like the kind that was welling up inside him now.  Tyler's head throbbed... his body ached... he felt like he wanted to tear his skin off... he felt so weak and poorly.  He groaned as the pleasurable sensation of masturbating as a girl faded to be replaced by pain.  "Noooooo," he groaned wanting to cum so desperately, wanting to feel his clit explode.

He knew what the problem was immediately.  He was thinking of himself as Tyler... so long as he was thinking as a male, he would feel bad.  There was only one way to stop the pain... one way to get the pleasure back...

Skylar sighed and her lips twitched into a smile as the nausea faded and the pleasure returned stronger than ever.  "Oooooh fuck, I hate that you make me love this so much," she gasped as she squealed and moaned, playing with her pussy and rubbing her tits till with a final eye-rolling moan she cummed and groaned as she squirted hard.

And with a beep - the Fit Bitch fell off her wrist.

Skylar blinked in surprise and looked down at the watch.  Her fingers still sticky with her cum, she slowly sat up and her pretty mouth dropped open slightly.  "Wh... what?" she gasped, looking down at the evil watch lying next to her.  A message was blinking on the display

2% POWER - PLEASE CHARGE TO BEGIN STAGE TWO

Skylar gasped.  The Fit Bitch had run out of power.  She... she was free!  

Leaping up Skylar whooped. She was no longer enslaved to the evil watch, she was able to make her own choices at last!  This was her chance!

She ran to her phone and picked it up.  Now she would ring the police, tell them everything... there must be a way to force Hyde.Inc to reverse this process and turn her back into Tyler. Surely what they had done to her was illegal?  Surely they could turn her back into a boy?

Nausea welled up in Skylar and she suddenly gagged at the thought of turning back.  The thought of wearing male clothes, of no longer having this hot, beautiful, powerful body made her feel disgusted. What was she doing? She couldn't let anyone take this away from her. 

"Wh... what the fuck is wrong with me?" she groaned clutching her head.

You don't want to turn back into a stupid fucking boy.  You like what the Fit Bitch has done to you.

"Noooooo," moaned Skylar as her own mind turned against her.

Aren't you even curious as to how fucking good stage two could feel?  Why don't we charge up the Fit Bitch and put it back on?  Giving into it will feel SO good.

Walking over to the watch Skylar picked it up.  Part of her wanted to smash it.... part of her wanted to wear it again.  She hesitated as she struggled for control within herself.

Holding the Fit Bitch, Skylar thought about how good it felt when it rewarded her for doing the things it wanted her to do. The surge of pleasure - the explosive orgasms... groaning she slid the watch onto the charging station that had come in the original box and staggered away as it began to power back up.  

It has a fast charge facility.  30 minutes and we can begin stage two. What can we do for 30 minutes?

Skylar knew exactly what she could do.

*******************************

Masturbating without the Fit Bitch on just wasn't the same.  Skylar bit her lip and whined like a spoiled slut as she urgently pumped her tight pussy with one of the sex toys she'd acquired during her transformation. It still felt good - but it felt like scratching an itch that wouldn't go away.  She knew that no matter how much she touched herself or masturbated - she'd never reach those orgasmic highs without the Fit Bitch.

But there was more than that to it.  It wasn't just a physical thing anymore.  Skylar knew that the Fit Bitch hadn't just wanted to turn her into a woman. It had been programming her to act and behave a certain way.  It had been making her more and more feminine... but there was more to it than that.

The watch had seemed keen to punish her for kind or considerate actions. It had encouraged her to swear... to be selfish... to be mean.  It wanted her to be evil and that was somehow such a turn on.

She groaned as she suddenly got wetter.

Skylar gasped as the orgasmic feelings her body had become addicted to began to return.  As she thought about being bad, about doing naughty, cruel, evil things - the pleasure increased. 

"YES," she hissed grinning and spreading her legs wider.  "Ohhhh FUCK!  That feels good."

Skylar began to fantasize about her best-friend Mark.  He was in a loyal and committed relationship with his girlfriend Ashley.  It would be so easy to seduce him... make him cheat on Ashley... turn him into HER simp.

"OH FUCCCCCK," gurgled Skylar her eyes rolling up into her head at the thought of making Mark kneel between her legs and eat her out.  With a scream, she began to cum imagining ejaculating all over his face whilst Ashley sat in the corner handcuffed to a chair and sobbing.

Skylar screamed and bucked, moaning as she squirted like a fountain - images of using a Fit Bitch on Holly to turn her into an obedient slave - of taking the technology from the Fit Bitch and merging it with her own program Pax to create an app that could allow her to control people filled her horny mind and her body rewarded her with pleasure.

Then it was done and she was left panting and wet on the bed.

Dropping the dildo, Skylar shivered and groaned.  She felt like sobbing too... how could she think such evil and depraved thoughts?  But now she'd thought them, they were burned in her mind.

Pax.... how could she have forgotten about Pax?  That was what this was all about.  Hyde.Inc had wanted to buy the mental health app from her - now she was beginning to suspect why.  Their company were clearly looking for ways to further weaponise this conditioning technology.  Skylar was horrified to realise, in her mind she'd begun to look for (and realise) ways it could be done.

But only a truly evil, spiteful, self-centered ego-maniac would do something so unethical.

The thought made her pussy almost instantly wet again.

"Nooooo, what the fuck is wrong with me," she groaned - hating herself for her depraved thoughts.

It's only natural to resist what we truly want.  The feelings of guilt will pass as we accept what we truly are.  We're only fighting this because it goes against everything we once believed.  But we should just admit we WANT to become more evil because it feels so good.

"No... no we... I don't want to become evil."

YES we do. Put the Fit Bitch back on and let it continue our corruption.  That way we can pretend we were forced... that this wasn't really what we wanted.  Give into it.

Skylar suddenly heard an insistent beeping.  The Fit Bitch was fully charged again and it was waiting for her to wear it.  

What was she going to do?

You know exactly what you're going to do. It's time to start Stage 2.

****************************************************

Sliding the Fit Bitch around her wrist, Skylar groaned like an addict getting a hit of their chosen drug as she tightened the strap and felt it bond with her body again.  "Fuck, I missed you," she purred - realising she was now just as addicted to the watch that had ruined her as she was to this new body it had given her.

Last time she'd worn the watch not knowing what it was, what it could do.  This time she was putting it on willingly... she just needed to feel its control over her again.  She wanted to experience Stage Two.  What else was she going to do now it had made her like this?

Calibrating.

Good morning Skylar.  Beginning Stage 2.

Your Bitchness goal for today is to achieve at least 100 points towards bitchifying yourself.

"Bitchness goals?" mused Skylar as she read the scrolling text on the screen.  

Completing ultra-feminine, selfish, slutty and mean actions will award points.  You must achieve enough points to hit your daily target.

Skylar saw she now had a 'bitchiness' counter on the watch.  It was currently on 0.  Experimentally, she walked over to the bed and picked out a pink bikini set - the sluttiest one that Holly had owned.  Pulling her big heavy tits inside the cups of the binki and squeezing her tanned, perfect ass into the lower half - she grinned as she saw she'd achieved bitchiness points for her choice of outfit.

Wearing makeup... shaving her body... putting on perfume.  All awarded points.  Speaking in a slutty voice... swearing... rolling her eyes.  They all would reward points now.  The spoiled bitchy behaviour the watch had started to program into her during stage 1 now needed to be reinforced. 

But that alone wouldn't be enough. To hit her daily target, Skylar was going to need to up the ante. 

You wanna become a bitch so badly now don't you?  You know it's wrong, but it feels so fucking good to imagine every last drop of empathy being squeezed out of your tight new body as you become totally evil and self-obsessed. We're going to hit those targets and we're going to enjoy every last second.

Skylar groaned as her pussy got wet and she reached out to grab her phone as she played with herself. Even as she began to message - the bitch counter on her Fit Bitch began to increase...

This was going to be fun...

************************************************* 

Holly was in a complete state.  Her hair was a mess, her face red with crying.  She wiped her running nose on her sleeve whilst next to her Mark shifted uncomfortably on his seat.  He wasn't sure what to say to her as they sat in his living room, but lukily his girlfriend Ashley was.  She hugged Holly and stroked her hair, comforting the distraught other woman.

It was a few days since Tyler had seemingly kicked Holly out of the apartment and she'd been a broken woman since.  With nowhere else to stay - Mark and Ashley had told her she could stay with them for a few days.  They'd all tried ringing or contacting Tyler - family members and friends had even gone round and banged on the door - but they'd all been denied entry. 

"He told me to go fuck myself, he said he wanted to break up.  Why would he say such horrible mean things?  And his voice... what was wrong with his voice? He sounded... like a girl! I caught him wearing my clothes as well.  I don't understand what is happening to him.  He was so happy at his birthday party."

"I don't know babe.  Maybe he's having a mental breakdown?  He's been working so hard on that computer app of his, maybe he's losing his mind?"

Mark felt his phone suddenly vibrate and pulling it out of his pocket, he gasped in excitement.

"Holy shit - Tyler just messaged.  'Come to the apartment alone - I can explain everything, we need to talk!'

Holly looked at him in surprise,  "Are you going to go?"

Mark nodded, "Yes. This could be my one chance to talk some sense into him and find out what the fuck is going on.  You stay here and I'll go confront Tyler and have it out with him. Tell Ashley when she gets back that I won't be long."

"Maybe I should come with you?" whimpered Holly.

"No... not yet.  Let me talk to him first and then if that goes well, I'll message you to come over."

"Okay... good luck."

Holly grabbed Mark and hugged him.  He stroked her hair and gently took her face in his hands. "Don't worry, it's going to be okay. Tyler is the kindest, nicest guy I know.  I don't know what the hell is happening to him, but whatever it is - he'll beat it.  He loves you - I know he does, and that's all that matters."

"I hope you're right," sobbed Holly.

"I know I'm right," said Mark with conviction as he grabbed his car keys and walked out with a determined expression on his face.

Holly watched him go - a spark of hope in her breast.

Sometimes a spark was all you needed.

******************************************

Knocking on the door, Mark felt his heart leap as he heard bolts slide back and the door slid open.

"Hiya Mark."

He goggled at the sexy girl standing in the doorway.  She was tanned and toned - her entire body smooth and perfect.  She wore an expensive looking e-watch on her wrist and her soft silky hair tumbled down around her shoulders.  Her body was barely covered up - a bright lime green bikini set barely holding her massive tits under control - her plump round ass prominently on show.  Soft pouty lips curved into an amused smile as she saw his reaction.

"It's me... Tyler."

She winced as she said the name, almost as if saying it hurt her.  "Ple.. please call me Skylar though, it's my new name. I can't use my old one anymore, I'm not allowed."

"Not allowed - is this some sort of joke?" asked Mark in shock, "Where's the real Tyler?  What the hell is he playing at?"

"It IS me Mark," whispered Skylar almost shyly,  "I've changed... I've been changed... I... please come in and I'll explain."

Mark walked into the apartment following the strange girl.  It looked like a hurricane had hit it. There were empty cardboard boxes full of discarded protein shakes - girls clothing strewn everywhere and no one had bothered to tidy up for days. 

"What the hell happened here?" asked Mark in shock as Skylar sat down on the sofa and made him sit next to her.

Holding up her wrist, Skylar looked sadly at Mark.  "You've got to help me Mark.  It's this watch.  It's transformed me.  I can't take it off and it's fully in control of my actions.  It made me become a girl and now it wants me to be bad. I'm frightened as to what it will make me do next."

Skylar explained to Mark what had happened over the last few days.  She was at great pains to make it clear that she wasn't in control of her actions - that the watch was forcing her to do all of this.  Mark was shocked - but as he listened and she told him things that only Tyler would remember or know, he began to believe.  Seeing evidence of his old friend inside this slutty new body made him feel sick.

"Hyde.Inc have to pay for this. We have to go to the police..."

Skylar screamed - moaning, she clutched her stomach and gasping writhed in agony on the sofa.

"Tyler... I mean Skylar... whatever you're called... what's wrong?"

"Aggghhh, the watch is punishing me for even thinking of going to the police.  It gives me pain when I try to do things it doesn't like."

"It's okay - we won't go to the police - we won't!"

Skylar stopped writhing and with a sob sat up.  "Oh thank you Mark."

"We need to get it off you - then we can do something, why don't I just remove it?"

"NO!" snapped Skylar, strangely sounded worried for a moment.  "I uhhhh, it will hurt me if you try. No - the only way to get it off me is to do what it wants so it deactivates and I can take it off."

"Okay," said Mark.  "And what do you have to do to get it off?"

"You have to let me get YOU off," smirked Skylar. "You have to let me suck your cock."

************************************

Skylar wanted to giggle insanely at the expression on Mark's face - he was in total shock. It was all she could do not to laugh and give the game away.  She was proud of her acting skills so far.  She sounded completely plausible as the friend in trouble who needed help.

Well after all - isn't that the truth?

Well yes - except she'd said nothing about having already got the Fit Bitch off and then voluntarily putting it on.  She'd also lied about the pain - the Fit Bitch hadn't punished her once since she put it back on. It knew her lies and deceit were intended to manipulate Mark and had actually been rewarding her.  It had been hard not to groan in pleasure when she was supposed to be in pain. The Fit Bitch had made her feel so good about lying to her friend.

Lying is good... it's worth lots of bitch points.  You love being a naughty little liar.

Tyler would never have lied... he hated people who made things up.  Skylar though... she loved it. It felt good to lie, to say hurtful things. As poison dripped from her lips - the Fit Bitch would reward her.  She was starting to enjoy how depraved it was making her.

NO!

A sudden pang of guilt throbbed through her as she saw the pain and hurt in Mark's eyes.  This wasn't some random person - this was her best-friend.

"What?  Why would you say something like that to me?  How can that possibly be something you need me to do?"

For an instant Skylar wanted to apologise - say sorry. She wanted to tell Mark that this was all a trick, all a game and things had nearly gone too far.  She opened her mouth to speak.

A wave of nausea flooded through her.  She felt her stomach cramp.  This time the Fit Bitch really was punishing her.  Looking down at her wrist, she gasped in panic as she saw she was LOSING bitch points.

Stop being so pathetic and get your mouth round this losers cock.  Once you're sucking him off, he'll be putty in your hands.  We'll easily hit our bitch point target for the day.

Skylar felt a wave of Euphoria and evil flood through her at the thought of making Mark cheat with her. She shivered as her pussy got wet and the Fit Bitch manipulated her pleasure and pain centres, making her want to be bad... to be evil.

Fuck yeah... being bad feels so good.  I love what this fucking watch is doing to me?  Why was I even hesitating a moment ago?

"Oh Mark," sighed Skylar in mock anguish.  "If there was any other way I'd take it.  I know what I'm asking you to let me do is wrong and depraved and wicked - but if it helps me get this damn watch off - you'll save me.  Ashley never has to know.  We can say that you came round, helped me get off the watch and then we can find a way to turn me back to normal."

"I... I don't know," muttered Mark as Skylar reached over and with her painted nails began to rub at his crotch.

"Oh come on, it's not like it will be that bad.  I mean... look at me.  Look at my tits. I'm fucking hot Mark - much hotter than Ashley. Don't you wanna know how it feels to have your cock in my mouth?  Between my big tits?"

Mark groaned as Skylar unzipped his fly and giggled as his swelling cock popped out of the slit.  Taking it in one hand, she cooed and sliding onto her knees in front of him, licked the tip.  "Mmmmmmh," purred Skylar tasting precum and feeling the cock twitch.  Sure - she'd never sucked cock before, but as she felt the Fit Bitch pulse and reward her with pleasure - she knew she must be doing something right.

Being bad is good.  Making boys your toys is fun.

A warm feeling flooded through Skylar as with a horny sigh she began to stroke her hand up and down on Mark's cock and took the head of his dick into her wet pink mouth.  He looked down through guilty eyes at the gorgeous slut sucking him off began to go deeper and deeper with wet gargling sounds.

"Oh fuck, this is so wrong.  We shouldn't be doing this."

Yes we should.  I love cheating on that bitch Holly and Ashley is nothing compared to me. Mmmmh this feels so fucking good.

"Tyl... Skylar... stop... I've changed my mind," groaned Mark - but she ignored him and just took his cock deeper.  His hands reached down to grasp her head - pull her off... but as his hands slid into her silky hair he just found that he was using his hands to help move her head up and down on his cock.  It just felt too good to stop.

"Ohhhh fuck, Skylar... ohhh yes, suck my dick."

Pulling her head off with a wicked smile - pumping his cock to keep it hard, Skylar looked at him with twinkling eyes.

"Suck my dick... what?  What am I Mark... say it."

"Suck my dick you little fucking slut," moaned Mark and Skylar squealed in pleasure. 

Yessss, when he calls me a slut it makes me feel so good.  I LOVE this!

Mark had never been harder. His cock was rock solid and as Skylar squeezed his balls he grunted in ecstasy. Giggling she pulled her head off his dick and began to suck his balls instead.

"Mmmmh, help me get more bitch points - tell me what I am Mark."

He groaned as she popped his balls into his mouth, her nails tickling the head of his dick.

"Y...you're a bitch."

Yes!  Yes.. when he says it, it feels like it's changing me... making me into who I want to be.

"You can do better than that Mark - come on."

"Y..you're a fucking bitch.  A dirty, little slut."

YES YES I AM!

Skylar could feel her watch buzzing and vibrating.  The Fit Bitch was rewarding her, flooding her body with serotonin as it made her enjoy every moment of this.  She shuddered and moaned in pleasure, her pussy was so fucking wet now she could barely stand it.

"That's right Mark.  I'm a fucking bad bitch, and you love it don't you?"

Glancing at her watch, Skyler grinned as she saw she had already smashed her bitch points target for the day.  This was too easy.  

She began to pump and stroke Mark's cock with her sexy hands, using both of them whilst making eye contact. 

"I want you to know something Mark," she smiled. 

"I lied to you earlier.  I lied about the watch.  It isn't stuck on my wrist - in fact, I think I can remove it anytime I like now.  I put it back on because I like what it's doing to me.  Bit by bit it's destroying that loser Tyler and making him into ME.  I'm not quite finished yet - but I already know what kind of girl I want to be. "

Mark gasped as Skylar's hands increased in speed.  She spat on his cock - her hands pumping up and down with confident strokes - her incredible face with their cruel sexy eyes staring into his.

"I want to be the most evil, selfish, slutty and hot bitch I can possibly be.  I want to become so vain and mean that all I care about is me.  I want to have money, power and sex.  I want to be a fucking bitch Mark.  I will have the bitchiest body and the bitchiest mind of any girl in this city.  I will take everything that was Tyler's and make it mine."

Yes... soon that's exactly who I will be.

"N...noooo," groaned Mark realising he'd been tricked but unable to stop Skylar from giving him pleasure. "I'll stop... you."

"No you won't Mark.  You're just going to cum for me.  You're going to fucking cum all over my slutty face."

"Uggghhhh you evil... fucking... bitch," moaned Mark.

YESSS! Keep saying it Mark.  I love how it makes me feel when you call me evil.  Fuck, but it feels so GOOD!

"Yes, that's right Mark... I'm evil... but you're still going to cum for me. Cum for me now... fucking CUM FOR ME!"

"OHHH SHIT!"

Mark screamed - his cock spasming as it began to blast out hot spurts of white cum.  They splashed and landed on Skylar's giggling face as she frantically pumped him and squeezed his balls, milking him for every drop.

"HAHAHA! Oh doesn't it feel good Mark?"

He gasped, spasming and clawing at the sofa - the most intense orgasm he could ever remember having pulsing through his body and making him arch his back.  Then it was done... his cock still in Skylar's hand, cum leaking out and dripping onto the sofa.

Mark was spent - but now his sexual urges were satisfied - he was free of Skylar's manipulative control for a moment.  Groaning he began to sit up.  This evil bitch had used him, but now he was going to deal with the situation.

*Snap*

He felt something snap around his wrist - cold and metallic in parts, rubbery in others.  Bemused he looked down to see that Skylar had take off her Fit Bitch and had put it on his wrist.

"What the hell?" he gasped as she stood up and laughing licked up a drop of cum from the corner of her mouth.

"Stage Two is complete Mark - I don't need to wear my Fit Bitch now.  The pleasure and pain responses it has gifted me are burned into my brain. I've been fully bitchified and there's no going back.  I will experience pleasure when I do evil and bad things and pain if I try to be good or turn back into Tyler.  It's just part of who I am now."

"You pyscho bitch... I'm not going to let you get away with this..."

Mark screamed as sudden agony washed through every limb and fibre of his being.  He screamed and writhed as pain like nothing he had ever experienced lanced through his body.  It felt like he was being skinned alive.

OBEY SKYLAR.  WORSHIP GODDESS

The Fit Bitch on his wrist was beeping and pulsing - sending him a message he couldn't ignore. 

Leaning down, Skylar laughed as she stroked his head and shushed him.

"Shhhhhhh, don't fret my pet.  The conditioning hurts at first, but you'll soon come to love it.  You'll experience only pleasure and rapture when you do things that please me.  If you go against my wishes or my interests - then you'll feel pain."

"Wh... what are you doing?  Ty...Tyler please," whimpered Mark.

"Tyler is gone silly boy," giggled Skylar.  "I understand now what Hyde.Inc wants me to do. The technology in Pax can be weaponised in the same way the Fit Bitch works.  Using pain and pleasure... suggestion and conditioning - I can make people do whatever I want and change them, just like I've been changed."

Standing up Skylar strutted over to the window and gazed out onto the city.  "Thousands of people just waiting to use Tyler's lovely app to help them in their lives.  Imagine what a Goddess who wants the world to worship her could do with power like that?  Doesn't it make you fucking horny Mark?"

"N...no... please... it's not too late," whimpered Mark as the pain subsided and he slowly rose from the floor.

"Oh but it is," smirked Skylar.  "Far too late for you at any rate. I already know what I have to do.  Stage Three is about to begin and it's time for me to go from helpless victim of the Fit Bitch into it's true Mistress.  But first I'm going to need to test out my theories and I'm going to need a henchman to serve my needs.  With a little conditioning, you will be perfect."

Advancing on Mark - Skylar began to laugh as he backed away at the ruthless emptiness behind her eyes.  He bumped up against the wall and groaned as she grabbed his cock and began to stroke it.  The pleasure this time was ten times stronger, the watch intensifying the sensations... making him want to do whatever Skylar asked him too. 

Seeing him moaning in ecstasy and falling under her control, Skylar smiled and leaned in close. "Don't worry Mark - in a few hours time you'll be just as excited about my plans as I am. You're going to love what I turn you into.  You're going to help me deal with Holly and that slut Ashley.  She's not your girlfriend anymore... I AM.  From now on, you're all mine."

She stopped stroking his cock and he groaned, desperately gasping as he willed the pleasure to return.

"Ple... please don't stop, oh fuck it feels amazing."

"Then say it Mark. Say it and I'll finish you off."

"I... I... I'm all yours."

And as Skylar pumped his dick with a huge grin on her face and Mark began to cum again - her mind filled with evil thoughts and desires as she thought about just how delicious Stage Three was going to be.

"Good boy. Now get the car, we have things to do."

*****************************

The car-radio was playing some dumb bitchy tunes as Mark sat and waited nervously for his Goddess to return. It was Skylar's favourite station, but he hated it.  Seeing as that she wasn't here, he reached out to change the channel.

INCORRECT RESPONSE.  MISTRESSES TASTES ARE NOW YOUR TASTES

Pain burned through Mark's body as the Fit Bitch on his wrist sent waves of agony through him and he screamed.  He dropped his arm and hugged himself whilst the pain receded. Damn it, he'd forgotten for one moment that even when Skylar wasn't here - she was still pulling the strings.  She was in control.

He began to sob.

It was only a few days since Skylar had seduced him at the apartment and taken over his life.  She'd turned him into her slave and the worst bit was the conditioning was starting to become natural.  Try as he might to fight it, the watch on his wrist was using pleasure and pain to program him into the perfect pet.  

He patted nervously at his pockets.  He wished he still had his mobile phone - Skylar had taken that from him, along with his wallet.  He wondered whether Holly had contacted the police - whether she had tried to do anything to find him when he didn't return. He thought about his girlfriend Ashley.

ASHLEY IS PATHETIC - YOU HATE HER.

Mark heaved as the inadvertent thoughts of his girlfriend caused the Fit Bitch to activate and make him feel sick and nauseous . The fucking thing could read his mind.  Desperately he thought of Skylar instead... her perfect body, her soft skin... the feel of her lips on his cock.  At once disgust turned to pleasure.

YOU LOVE SKYLAR. SHE IS YOUR GODDESS

He groaned happily and knew that for all that he hated it, this conditioning was working. He already associated Ashley with feelings of disgust and he adored Skylar. It was getting harder and harder not to just want to serve her willingly.

He wondered what was taking her so long.  She'd been inside Hyde.Incs headquarters for nearly an hour now, leaving him waiting in the car like a dog.  An obedient dog... he was Skylar's bitch and he knew it.

The Fit Bitch rewarded him at that mental thought.  The more subservient and worshipful he was of his Goddess, the better it made him feel.

GOOD BOY, GOOD BOY.

He moaned and lay back thinking of his Mistress and how eager he was to serve her.

He couldn't wait for Skylar to get back...

*********************************************

Skylar felt no nervousness or concern as she sat in the board-room and sipped on the excellent coffee the cringing intern had brought her.  Her lips curved into a cruel smile as she saw the beaten cur back out of the room - the Fit Bitch on his wrist clearly responsible for his obedient behaviour.  It made her wet to see another broken boy and a desire to intensify her conditioning of Mark grew in her.

Patience.. it was only a few days since she started and he was coming along nicely. This man had probably been conditioned over weeks, maybe even years.

Skylar was everything Tyler had once been - intelligent, clever, perceptive and mentally-agile; but now married to the body of a mega-bitch and with the limitless desire to dominate and do evil.  Being an evil slutty bitch was her overriding desire - she no longer felt lesser emotions such as fear or anxiety.  Skylar knew that she was better than everyone else, and nothing would stop her.  Not even Hyde.Inc.

She'd been made this way by this very companies products - their evil conditioning watch and their hormone laced protein products.  She had been reborn thanks to Hyde.Inc and now she wanted answers.

"As you have noticed, we don't allow men to have any power here," purred a soft voice causing her to turn in her chair, "they either become female much as you did - or they become enslaved."

A woman had entered the room - obviously important. She wore a very expensive business suit and had blonde hair with attractive features.  Skylar had met her before - a long time ago when she had been Tyler and this bitch had tried to buy her software from her.

"I remember you," she purred rising to shake hands with the other woman.  "You're Erica."

The other woman smiled tightly, the two of them circling each other warily like cats.  Skylar could see immediately this women was like her - but that made her dangerous.  Erica was clearly bright, focused, devious and cruel. 

"You're the owner of Hyde.Inc?"

Erica laughed, "Oh no - I'm pretty important but I'm not the owner. No - she prefers to work though other people. I'm her closest confidant though - so you can be assured if you're speaking to me, you are talking to someone with full authority to act."

"I see," said Skylar warily.  "Let's not waste time. Your company sent Tyler all those products to turn him into me. Your little Fit Bitch unleashed his deepest darkest desires and allowed me to form.  But why?  To turn me into your slave? So I would sell Tyler's software to you?"

Erica grinned, "Well of course my darling.  When Tyler refused to cooperate with us and like some damn fool began using his mental health software for free, we realised we needed to stop him.  Pax is now downloaded onto millions of devices and with a little adjustment, a positive mental health app can become the perfect tool to program millions of minds.  We are happy to give you what you need to develop it further and... weaponise it."

"Why... why help me obtain such power?" mused Skylar warily. "You know I'll just use it to help myself and get what I want. I'm not sharing anything with Hyde.Inc."

"We don't expect you to share anything. My boss is moving on to head up - other projects.  She's been looking for a successor to become CEO of the company and has decided it should be you."

"Me?  Why doesn't she want you to run the company?"

"I have other tasks to perform more suited to my interests.  You on the other hand would be perfect to run this company and develop it's mind controlling technology further."

Skylar mused this over, "Okay - I'll bite - let's discuss the details of what you're proposing..."

Ercia smiled and pressed a button.  Another pretty young woman with a warm smile entered the room carrying a series of folders.  "I prepared the documents just as you wanted Erica," she grinned.

"Thank you Cookie," smiled Erica to Skylar, "She's my assistant from Norway - incredibly efficient, in fact this place would fall apart without her. We all have little nicknames for each other here."

"Whatever," scowled Skylar, "Just show me the details..."

The two women sat down to begin discussing their deal.

***********************************************

Skylar's head was whirling with possibilities as she exited the building an hour later.  She giggled as she slid the contract she'd signed into her bag and looked at the building behind her.  "All this is fucking mine now!" she gloated, pleased at the rush it gave her to know that in a month she would be pulling a seven figure salary and have all these people working under her.

She couldn't believe Erica had just given the company to her.  Skylar was now a 20 year old CEO with all the wealth and power of Hyde.Inc behind her. The mysterious owner of the company continued to maintain a large portion of the shares, but the rest was hers.  She wasn't sure what kind of game was being played here, but she didn't care. Now she could focus on merging the technology of her own discovery Pax with the Fit Bitch and other products produced by HER company.

Walking over to her car, she reflected that she'd have to buy a model more suited to an all powerful bitch like her soon. Perhaps a Bentley or a Porsche?

Her pussy was wet and she felt so fucking horny - her pouty lips twitched into a mean smile as she saw Mark sitting obediently in the car.

Sliding into the front seat, she slid it back as far as it would go and wiggled her daisy dukes down to show her tight shaven pussy. She giggled for a moment, remembering how she used to have a worthless dick down there - thanks to her transformation, that wasn't an issue anymore.

"Eat me out bitch," she laughed, grabbing Mark's head and forcing him down into the foot-well.  He barely fit, even with the seat all the way back and awkwardly got to work as Skylar gripped his hair with her manicured fingers and forced his head down into her dripping pussy.

"Mmmmmh, eat me out loser - serve your Mistress!"

The Fit Bitch on Mark's wrist beep as it detected a work-out going on and began to monitor his life-signs.  SATISFY YOUR MISTRESS - GOOD BOY, it flashed and Mark groaned as he was given a reward for pleasuring Skylar.

"You're going to be such an obedient boyfriend by the time I'm finished with you," groaned Skylar playing with her tits and not caring who saw them through the car window.  "Ooooooh fuck, I have so many nasty plans to carry out... you're going to love what comes next baby.  Make Goddess cum and then drive me home, I have some upgrades to make to my software..."

Skylar began to moan as Mark licked her clit - it felt so fucking good to be the Mistress.

*****************************

"Ma'am, please calm down and repeat that again.  Your boyfriend has been kidnapped?"

Ashley's mascara was smeared and she wrung her hands together as the desk-sergeant in front of her tried to make sense of her hysterical sobs.  She was shaking with stress and hadn't eaten in two days.

"Ye....yes. He... he's been kidnapped by my friend Tyler... only... we don't know if Tyler is still Tyler and we haven't seen either of them for days. We think Tyler is holding Mark hostage we..."

Ashley realised how crazy it all sounded even as she tried to explain.  For three days she and Holly had been searching the neighbourhood. They'd tried everywhere they could think of, but they hadn't been able to find either of the guys.  

BUZZZZZZ, BUZZZZZZZ.

Ashley was suddenly distracted by her phone vibrating.  Checking it in case it was Mark, she saw to her disappointment it was just one of her apps automatically updating.  Wait... it was the PAX mental health app.  Like all of Tyler's friends, she'd installed the app to help him test the software - but if it was updating that means that Tyler must be releasing a new version.

UPDATING SOFTWARE - INSTALLING NEW PAX SOFTWARE TO BLUE-TOOTH DEVICES. HEADPHONES AND WATCH UPDATING...

Ashley gasped as her expensive smart-watch began to buzz too.  What the fuck?  Tyler's software was leapfrogging to all her connected blue-tooth devices.  Her watch was being over-written with some sort of alternative software.

FIT BITCH V.1.1 INSTALLATION COMPLETE.

Her watch beeped and rebooted with a screen and a set-up she'd never seen before.  What the fuck was going on?

Then her phone began to ring.  It was Mark's number.

"Miss - Miss are you okay?" said the desk sergeant impatiently. He was old-fashioned and found all these smart devices tiresome.  He also didn't have much time for time-wasters and that felt very much the case today.

"Wait, please - it's him. It's Mark.  I have to take this."

Walking away from the desk, Ashley took a deep breath and answered.  "Mark?"

"Hello Ashley," purred a woman's voice.  "I'm afraid Mark is busy right now... but I thought I'd say hi.  I'm Skylar.  Hey, are you enjoying your visit to the police station?"

"What?  Who the fuck are you? Where's Tyler... where's Mark?  Wait - how did you know I'm at the police station?"

"Tyler is gone loser and Mark is MINE now bitch.  As for how I know where you are, thanks to the watch you're wearing I now know everything about you.  I know how fast your heart is beating, your exact location, where you've been today... EVERYTHING."

Ashley looked down at her wrist.  The software update...  it had to be something to do with that. She gasped in horror and went to rip off the watch.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Ashley screamed as the pain blasted through her. It was the worst pain she'd ever felt - crippling and soul-destroying. Waves of nausea rose through her and every nerve was agony.  She thrashed as the desk sergeant gave a cry and ran around to check on her.

Through the ringing in her ears Ashley could just about hear Skylar still speaking.

"Get rid of this fool and get out of the station. I can make the pain even worse if you disobey. If you try to tell him what's happening, I'll burn out every nerve in your body and you'll be in agony forever. Ring me back on this number when you're done."

The phone clicked off and Ashley groggily pulled herself up from the floor where she'd fallen.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whimpered as the desk-sergeant helped her to her feet. "It was just the shock of hearing Mark - I've not eaten properly for days or slept.  I need to go meet him, thanks for your help - but everything is fine now."

The desk-sergeant wasn't sure, but Ashley managed to talk him round and in minutes was stood outside the station, shaking in fear. She walked to her car and got in, ringing Mark's number and waiting for it to answer.

"Hello again Ashley.  That little demonstration was most useful wasn't it," purred Skylar's satisfied voice.  "Do you understand the power I hold over you now?  To be honest, I wasn't sure my little software update would work.  I wasn't sure an average smart-watch would contain the necessary technology to implement the control algorithms - but it turns out Hyde.Inc have been sneaking propriety hardware into their competitors smart devices. They just needed someone with a genius for software engineering to make it work... and I did it. It only took me 24 hours, I really am a genius."

Skylar laughed and Ashley felt a chill run down her spine.

"Not every smart watch or phone has the needed upgrades yet, but I estimate there are millions of devices world wide by now and certainly you and all our friends have them.  All it takes is a little software update by me, and I can transform your once harmless watch into a Fit Bitch.

"Whhh, what do you want you bitch?" screamed Ashley.

"Why my dear. I want to test my upgrades.  At the moment I've only upgraded your app - but in approximately a week I intend to activate a general release that will turn millions of users smart-devices into Fit Bitches under my control.  Then I will truly become a Goddess.  Now listen carefully - drive to this address and don't tell anyone where you are going.  If you do - the Fit Bitch will activate and you'll be in SO much pain.  Also, you'll learn that doing what I want makes you feel good.  Really good. Do you understand.  If so, say 'Yes Mistress.'" 

"Yes," whimpered Ashley and she immediately felt a growing stab of pain.

"I mean yes Mistress."  As she said the word Mistress, Ashley suddenly felt a wonderful feeling of release and pleasure. Her nipples tingled and her pussy throbbed and she felt such delicious pleasure.  As the feeling receded, she found she wanted to say Mistress again - just to feel that pleasure.

"Haha, it's time for us to meet in person. Don't be long."

**************************************************

The hotel suite was large and spacious - a penthouse apartment. Ashley felt her heart in her mouth as she knocked on the door and it opened to reveal her tormenter. She gasped as she caught sight of Skylar. She was beautiful, with a tight tempting body and a perfect wicked smile.  She walked with a bitchy, self-assured confidence and made Ashley feel small instantly.

"Hello Ashley. I'd say nice to meet you, but we have met before. Of course - I was a different person then."

"Wh.... I don't understand," whimpered Ashley as she walked in demurely... feeling a threatening buzz from her wrist every time she even tried to think about violence towards Skylar.

"Haha - haven't you worked it out loser, I used to be that pathetic idiot Tyler."

Ashley was stunned.  It couldn't be true - it just couldn't.  Except - now she looked more closely, she could see that perhaps there was something in those beautiful features that was familiar.  "No... you can't be him. Tyler was the kindest, most loyal, most selfless person I ever met!"

"Haha, and I'm the meanest, bitchiest, most selfish slut you'll ever encounter Ashley," purred Skylar. "Ohhhh you have NO idea how fucking good it felt to destroy Tyler and make him into me.  I cummed SO fucking hard as he died and I replaced him.   He's gone now and I'm in charge."

"No - there must be some part of Tyler left in there. Please - it isn't too late."

"Oh it is Ashley.  At least - it's far too late for you.  You're my fucking slave now and soon you'll enjoy it, just like Mark is starting to."

"Where is he?"  

"Oh, he's out doing some errands. I don't want you two to meet until I've had a chance to test my latest innovation.  You see - when I started playing around with PAX and working out how to corrupt an average smart watch - I also started to play around with other blue-tooth devices.  Now it's time to test that too.  Put on your blue-tooth headphones."

"No, I won't," stammered Ashley. "I won't let you experiment on me any..."

YOU MUST OBEY MISTRESS, flashed her watch.

The pain was intense and Ashley groaned in agony.  "Ahhhh - okay. I'll do it."

Reaching into her handbag she found her earphones and shakily inserted them.  Skylar grinned and picking up her own phone pressed a button.

Ashley winced as a wash of sound - strange static and high pitched whining flooded her ears.  Swooning she fell onto the bed, jerking as her nervous system was overwhelmed by sound.

Then she heard Skylar's voice.

I am a bitch...  I am an evil spoiled brat. I want to be just like Skylar. 

Ashley groaned as her Fit Bitch began to send pulses of pleasure and the hypnotic voice intensified.

I want Skylar to become more powerful. She is my bestie - I love sharing my boyfriends cock with her. We are total bitches together.

"Nooooooooo," she whimpered - but the voice was powerful and when she listened to it and accepted what it was saying - pleasure pulsed through her body.

I am Skylar's friend. I am a bitch. I am evil.

"I... am... a bitch..." groaned Ashley, her hand slipping down to her panties as her resistance crumbled and her eyes rolled up into her head as she entered a hypnotic trance.  Watching with curiosity, Skylar smirked and increased the intensity of the programming using her app.

"I knew I could perfect the conditioning - mmmmmh, Ashley's brain is going to be so fucked up by the time I'm done with her."

Ashley moaned in pleasure - then in pain - as the programming taught her that to obey Skylar was to know satisfaction and to disobey was to know pain.  As she watched Ashley begin to finger herself and moan wetly in pleasure - Skylar began to do the same. This was so fucking hot... corrupting other people was SO much fun.

***************************************

Holly was starting to panic.  "Ashley... Ashley where the fuck are you?  I've tried ringing you six times. Please answer."

Dropping her phone onto the bed, she pulled at her hair in anguish.  "This can't be happening - THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING." 

First Tyler had abandoned her, then Mark had disappeared and now Ashley was gone.  The last she'd heard, her friend had been going to the police station - but now she had also vanished and according to the unhelpful desk-sergeant, Ashley had chosen not to file a report after all. 

It was like her world was being systematically dismantled.  A few weeks ago she had been so happy. She'd been so proud of her wonderful boyfriend and all the good things he was doing. Now everything was falling apart and she didn't know what to do.

Suddenly her phone buzzed.  Picking it up, her heart missed a beat as she saw she had a message from Ashley.  It was an address - a luxury hotel nearby and it simply said 'Help Me.'

Trembling in fear and in anxiety, Holly grabbed her things and ran to her car.  Ashley needed her help - she had to go.  She was the only one left, but somehow... she would stop this from going any further. She would find Tyler and she would put this right. Whatever was going on - it stopped today.  It would end - one way or the other.

She drove to the hotel... she took the lift to the penthouse... she crept to the door as indicated and found it ajar.  Pushing it open she stepped inside.

"Ashley?"

And darkness took her...

********************************************

Waking groggily, Holly had a moment of panic as she remembered strong arms around her, and a cloying scent in her mouth as someone clamped something over her mouth. She realised immediately she was tied to a chair and it had been positioned to command a perfect view of the room. On her wrist a Fit Bitch had been strapped.  She looked at it in confusion and then surveyed the room. 

On the bed sat a smirking woman - beautiful and wicked looking.  Behind her, arms folded with an equal smirk stood Ashley. She was now dressed in tight bitchy clothes just like Skylar - her hair and makeup done immaculately. She giggled at Holly's expression of shock - her transformation into Skylar's loyal mini-me complete.

"Look at her Sky... she is SUCH a fucking loser. I can't believe she fell for it."

In the corner of the room stood Mark. He was impassive - his face neutral as he regarded her coldly, and in his hand he still held the chloroform that had been used to drug her.

"You're right Ash. She is a fucking loser and now she's totally fucked," giggled Skylar as she winked at her former lover. 

"T... Tyler... is that you?"

Holly recognised her boyfriend immediately.  He had been horribly transformed, but she would always know her Tyler.

A slight wince of pain appeared on Skylar's face for a moment and she smoothed it over quickly with a scowl.

"Tyler - oh my God.  What have they done to you?"  There was so much love and compassion in that voice that to Skylar's surprise she felt a swell of love and emotion for Holly rise up.

"Shut up," snapped Skylar as she twitched uncomfortably.  "Your useless fucking boyfriend is dead... I'm in control now and this is my victory we're about to see."

And yet inside - inside an old voice was rising.

Oh my God - what am I doing?  What have I become?

Skylar grit her teeth as she suddenly realised that not every-part of Tyler was dead. He was still inside her and growing stronger as Holly recalled all the love and affection they had once shared.  

"Uggghhh, I thought this might happen.  That's why I left you till last," groaned Skylar rubbing her temples.  "That's why I wanted you awake and un-programmed - to witness my final ascension."

Wait - it's not too late - I don't have to go through with this.

"Mark and Ashley.  You know what to do."

Skylar shivered as she picked up her blue-tooth headphones and slid them into her ears.  Now she could no longer hear Holly.  Looking her former girlfriend in the eyes, she grinned - but weaker than she would have liked and began to undress.

No... wait... maybe this isn't what I want after all?

Skylar groaned, "I have... to hurry. I'm... I'm turning back into Tyler. I didn't think the conditioning would be vulnerable."

Ashley scowled at Holly. "You idiot - you're ruining everything. Luckily Skylar was prepared for this."

"Ashley - what has she done to you?"

The headphones began to buzz and whine as the hypnotic programming she had tested on Ashley earlier on began to work on her as well.

There is only Skylar. You love being an evil bitch. Tyler is gone.

"Yessssss," hissed Skylar, arching her back and moaning.

Holly means nothing to you. You are finally free.

"NO! Tyler, don't do this!" screamed Holly fighting against her bindings as the pulses of pleasure throbbed through Skylar - reinforcing her programming and self-corrupting her into a bitch forever.

This is what you want. To be evil, powerful and spoiled forever.  You want this for yourself. You want to be the Goddess. You want to be Skylar.

"YES!" groaned Skylar as she beckoned Mark over.  "I want to be the fucking GODDESS! Come here and fuck me baby."

Mark hesitated - looking at Ashley in confusion. She scowled and snapped her fingers. "What the fuck are you looking at me for Mark? You heard Skylar, go fuck her you dumbass."

Laughing she pulled Mark's hard cock out of his pants for him and pumping it dragged him over to Skylar.  "Here you go Sky... I can't wait to see him fuck you."

Skylar spread her legs wide with a moan she slid Mark's fat cock into her tight body.  

"Yes take that fat cock" moaned Ashley as she eagerly watched Skylar get pumped by her boyfriend with devotion in her eyes.

Rubbing her clit, Skylar laughed as her eyes rolled back in her head and the headphones in her ears throbbed and reinforced her own corrupt programming. "I AM SUCH A FUCKING BITCH Hahahahaha! YES I wanna be evil FOREVER! Wipe that fucking loser out. Make me a GODDESS."

The last of Tyler was absorbed - his brain completely rewired to become Skylar's.  It was over, she had won completely.

"Lie on the bed - I want to ride you. Ash bring that loser here."

Skylar giggled as she began to bounce up and down on Mark's cock and her new bestie dragged Holly's face nice and close so she could see every inch going in and out of her pussy.

With a groan, Skylar began to cum... rubbing furiously till her pussy erupted and she began to squirt.  Holly cried as Skylar drenched her and hot pussy juices ran down her face... mingling with her tears.

Sliding off Mark and contemptuously pushing his cock away as if it didn't matter Skylar advanced and slid the headphones out.  There was nothing now - no hint of Tyler left in her cold blue eyes.  She giggled as she pushed her pussy into Holly's face and the other girl tried to twist away in disgust.

"Ohhh don't worry Holly.  I'll help make the pain go away.  Soon you'll feel so happy being my friend. I'm going to add you to my squad. Watching you become an evil bitch like me and Ash will be so much fun."

"Ashley... make her into one of us and make sure she is a TOTAL fucking bitch. I want you and Holly by my side forever."

"My pleasure," laughed Ashley with a hot gleam in her eyes. "Don't worry Holly - it feels so good to be bad."

Holly whimpered as her new Fit Bitch began to vibrate and Ashley laughed. "From now on you idiolise Skylar and you want to be just like her. I'm going to fuck your brain up so bad you'll forget you were ever a good girl. I'm going to make you super fucking nasty."

Skylar wasn't paying attention as Holly was made into one of them. She was already thinking about the next part of her plan.

***********************************************************

It was just a normal day like any other when the updates started to arrive.  Across the world, millions of users of the free mental health app PAX were suddenly surprised to find their phones, watches and headphones all upgrading.

Most people didn't think anything of it... not until the first instructions started to arrive.

In a million bedrooms across the world, men and women masturbated and whimpered as their new programming took.  In a million bedrooms across the world - the first worshippers of a new Goddess were born. In a million bedrooms across the world, the conditioning started.

And high up in a luxurious office on the top floor of Hyde.Inc, Skylar watched it all.  The world would soon be hers.

Flanked by Holly and Ashley - the three bitches wore identical smirks as they watched the roll out.

"Fuck yeah," purred Holly - "you are a genius Sky."

And in an even more exclusive office a thousand miles away in London, a soft pair of pink lips curved into a smile and a manicured fingernail crossed off yet another successful project from her list.

[masterdetectivexx]

Hi mtx hope you are doing well

what are your thoughts on last case? who do you think that old woman and who she is focus on is it amuro or conan? and what abt the baby is it possible for him to be KARASUMA ?!!

File 1126-1128 Review

I think this latest case was very refreshing, similar to the Butler shinkansen case, where we revisited classic DC mystery themes and settings that aren't often used. You immediately get a classic kidnapping case with the added trait of a seemingly gory and highstake threat from the start through the reveal of a head in a jar (File 1126).

The twist that the gory atmosphere was ultimately a fakeout is such a callback to the very old Ayumi kidnapping case (File 83), where the head she was stuck with was a prop as well. It was also a neat trick on how to create the illusion of a 3D head out of a 2D paper.

The trick of opening a lock with a mini-explosion using matchsticks (File 1128) was also quite genius and I hadn’t thought of such a way to actually work (as expected of Gosho).

Another revisited theme was Masumi and her protective and watchful gazes against anyone with potentially ill intent towards Conan, which I always love to see more of. Her noticing Amuro's nosiness towards Conan (File 1126) took me immediately back to Yusaku cold case in Bourbon arc (File 814), where she started glaring the same way towards Subaru after he alluded to figuring out Conan's true identity discreetly.

As for whether her eventually revealing to Conan, that Amuro is investigating him (File 1128), is gonna lead to any actions from Conan's side is all up in the air. Since Conan already views Amuro as an ally, he most likely wouldn't be too concerned of it, since unlike his Bourbon worries in File 1009 (after his recent Kudo Shinichi publicity) he has no reason to suspect the BO is onto Edogawa Conan.

One thing I somewhat got right was something I speculated in regards to one of the suspects that Ran and Sonoko found so familiar. I had speculated that Kanamaru was an employee who has worked in Poirot since before Amuro & Masumi intro, based on the clues that were given in File 1127 (Knowledge on behind-the-counter, familarity, etc).

I was convinced, but mainly hopeful, that we were finally getting the reveal of the mysterious never-appearing owner of Café Poirot. It seems however unfortunately that, while the line of thought was correct, it was rather a former employee who covered for the owner when he was hospitalized in the past (File 1128).

It was however cool to learn that Kanamaru had previously appeared as a background Poirot employee in the anime, making his general design and official manga debut pretty cohesive in the DC franchise.

Now... as for the important question of yours, who is the old lady that looked unique in how she appeared as a witness with a mysterious toddler in a stroller and who also appeared once again at the very end...?

She is none other than: Karasuma Renya's mother pushing her shrunken Boss son in a stroller!!!

Jokes aside, she did pretty much catch every other fan's attention the moment she appeared and it was a running joke that the boss has finally made his appearance xD

As for what I really think, I'm not really entertaining the idea that the Boss would have first of all shrunken into a younger age than our main protagonist (a 7-year-old), since it would lose any air of suspending disbelief and start becoming more comical than serious (especially since a toddler boss would be too vulnerable as a threat). The old lady also looked quite generic for a character design, which of course doesn't need to mean she isn't important, but it does ultimately lessen the chance that she is a major player in the story. What I however entertained was the possibility that she could be another named, but unrevealed, old woman character in the story, who has the best timing to appear in this stage of the ongoing plot. I'm talking about Haneda Kohji's mother, Haneda Ichiyo.

Considering that Gosho is very likely already setting up the introduction of Haneda Yasuharu (Kohji's named father in the marriage registration in File 947) through the mystery of Vader (respirator elder), it couldn’t be more fitting to have the also-named wife being setup to get introduced in such a discreet way that once she eventually appears in association with Vader (assuming it's Haneda Yasuharu), it will leave a bigger and better impression on the reader than a simple worthless appearance of a new character.

As for her motives for appearing around Poirot Café, it could be that similar to Vader, who this old lady is actually being watchful of is neither Conan nor Amuro, but rather Sera Masumi. Vader has had his eyes on Masumi and Mary (which again fits with him being Yasuharu) and seemingly realized that Akai Mary has become a middle-schooler (File 1096), so in a similar fashion, this could be Gosho sprinkling in some hidden continuation of that plot thread, but with the twist being that Ichiyo (Kohji's mother) is trying to confirm her husband's (Vader/Yasuharu) crazy findings by borrowing one of her housemaids' baby as a part of her cover as a passerby, rather than glamorously appearing in a vintage/expensive car that shows her status of being from the powerful Haneda family.

The ending of the chapter had a sidenote mentioning that many premonitions were swirling around Café Poirot, which is ultimately enough that it is referring to what Masumi brought up about Conan being investigated by Amuro, but it could also indeed covertly be including the looming old lady literally outside the Café hearing the rom-com commotion inside. What is however the most exciting is that the awaited Osaka Heizuha likely-confession case in Naniwa has been teased even in the to-be-continued note to be the next big 5-chapter case coming in Aug 7. I can't wait to finally see more development of not only the main characters of this stage (Heiji & Kazuha) but also Rum arc's new stars of this subplot that have thoroughly been a joy to follow (Momiji and Muga).

[the-nosy-neighbor]

Pedrolino vs. Pierrot

Pedrolino vs. Pierrot (Part 2) 

Part 1 covered the history of this theatre genre, so head over there for background information.  

Now, why does Sally choose a Pedrolino costume of all the commedia costumes?  When I think of Sally, I think loud and brash and incredibly confident.  She is performing all the time and she thinks she is AMAZING at it.  Based on what we know, which character would we expect her to take?

She is vain enough to want to have the major role, so that could be one of The Lovers, but those characters have to be somewhat subdued and they don’t have a recognizable costume.  I would pick Il Capitano for her because of the boasting and love of attention.  All things considered, though, obviously she is going to pick Arlecchino (Harlequin).  This is the guy that has stuck with us through the centuries.  Pedrolino gets some play, especially in the move to Pierrot, but he becomes another thing entirely—the precursor of mime and clowning.  

Harlequin is everywhere. 

I grew up with mass produced art of Harlequin at the end of the hall in my childhood home.  Famous artists have painted him, hobby artists have painted him, he’s on the decks of playing cards as the joker, and then the most modern iteration of Harlequin is the Joker’s main squeeze, Harley Quinn.  And once you think about it, she is pretty spot on.  Harlequin is not afraid to beat someone with that stick he carries.  The Joker is also an avatar based on the tradition.   

We have pictures of Pedrolino/Pierrot as well, but it really isn’t as common to see him, or even Pierrot, that much.  Let's take a look at the differences between the two characters.   

I cannot see this without thinking of Groucho's line: "How do you sleep with such big buttons on your pajamas?"

There are sources that somewhat conflate some of the Zanni’s, particularly Arleccino and Pedrolino.  However, there are very distinct deliniations of the characters in a lot of examples, with Pedrolino and Arleccino presented as rivals for the love of Columbina.  Generally, Pedrolino would be the servant of one of the main characters, though usually Arleccino serves the lead. (Women have a long history of being either banished from the stage or suffering through flat dialogue and action.)  The Wikipedia article details Pedrolino as the first or primary Zanni, but from my readings, that distinction is less defined.  I find it really hard to believe that when faced with a character in bright patchwork who was quick and nimble and clever and acrobatic, that the crowd would be turning to the more serious guy dressed in white instead. 

Pedrolino, often the butt of Arlecchino’s jokes, or a participant in setting up others, was a more serious, intense kind of character.  This is something you see when Columbina comes in.  Arlecchino is bright and sassy and fun, but Pedrolino is completely taken with her and that love informs his entire life.  The words used to describe Pedrolino in this article are “a Janus-faced aspect.”

Janus is a Roman god, depicted with two faces.  He sees the past and the future and is present in moments of transition.  He is also associated with the moon, as it changes; it’s always in a state of transition.  These characters, Pedrolino in particular, is associated with the moon because of his moodiness and feelings of love.  Once he sees Columbina, he is smitten and is changed, his mind moved to wooing her.  Pedrolino is all romance as a counterpoint to Arlecchino’s fuck boy.   

This is something to be explored in a bit when Sally comes in. 

The costumes of Arleccino and Pedrolino are distinct from each other, but similar in theme; Arleccino is wearing a costume primarily make of patches (like that old joke of so many patches that no original material is left) and Pedrolino wears a costume that is far too big for him, most likely cast offs from his master.  Pedrolino typically did not wear a mask, but instead wore white makeup, called infarinato.  This lead to the creation of modern clown make up, which started as Pedrolino’s flour-like make-up.  As you can see above, there is still some tradition of Pedrolino wearing a mask, which as you can see, has exaggerated cheeks and raised eyebrows, which was meant to portray humor, openness, and innocence.  Arleccino’s mask (which was much more common) was meant to reference his quick wit and love of mischief, but also to give him a satyr-like aspect (spicy).   

I didn’t get into masks heavily in the prior piece, so just a bit here.  We discussed the characters and that they wore costumes related to their archetype.  For many (with the exception of The Lovers, Pedrolino, and sometimes Columbina), their masks were built to identify the characters, but also to present the personalities of the characters in a highly symbolized manner.  These masks are created in the Greek tradition, though the Greeks tended to focus on the emotion being portrayed, sometimes leading to actors changing masks as they move through the action (It’s all part of that Aristotelian catharsis, baby).  The masks in commedia could also reinforce racial and religious stereotypes existing in society, which I don’t really want to get into.  The point of that is that sometimes these masks had exaggerated features, which would be another source of info for the audience.  In addition to the masks, the characters would also highlight various appendages or areas of the body, for example, the lustful Pantalone was often portrayed with some kind of phallic costume piece to stress that he is lustful inappropriately (as the ingenue is far too young for him, etc.).  This is a somewhat regular feature of theatre throughout time, because everyone loves dick jokes.   

Pedrolino became a popular character, making the jump to French theatre, but they renamed him Pierrot, which is basically "little Peter" in French.  As Pierrot, the costume became more stylized, and the cone shaped hat and large buttons became staples.  A famous French actor portraying Pedrolino, Jean-Gaspard Deburau (1796-1846) played the character for 20 years, moving him into mime territory.  Yes, Pedrolino becomes the proto-mime (though I did see references to mimes existing before this, but it could be either AI or a very strange clown fandom.)   This character not only moved toward mime, but also modern clowning, with the makeup (as mentioned before) and a use of the same kind of bits.  Clowns often perform acrobatics, are the target of pranks, and use the slapstick clumsiness that was a staple of the character.   

Pierrot is often described as “moonstruck” which is a phrase that means affected by the moon, but generally is also a way of saying that someone is in love.  It refers to the changeable phases of the moon and a kind of out-of-this world focus.  Generally, mental illness is referenced, stemming from a belief that the phases of the moon could affect people’s moods, sanity, and behavior.   

Pierrot is often pictured with the moon: 

As you can see, these are from around the same time period, so we definitely have a shift in focus to Pedrolino as being very romantic. Not a Harlequin in sight.

These images are referring to his romantic nature and his tendency to court Columbina.  This is a waxing crescent moon, which is a symbol of blooming love or planting seeds leading to fruitfulness, so I’m guessing a less innocent kind of love than you get from The Lovers.  

This blog points to performance of Pierrot in the 1900’s as being more spoken word over music, hence the instruments in those pictures.  They were super into orators in the 1900’s.  I’m glad we have TV.   

So, the major symbols and associations of Pierrot: 

Love/Romance 

Youth/Young adult 

Planting seeds/growth/Spring 

The moon/phases of the moon 

Music/Poetry 

Next, finally, Sally and why Pedrolino, but also, why Pedrolino who is actually Pierrot? 

Sorry about the length on this one, but there are a lot of pictures, so I hope that helps.

[pool-of-gwens]

polywar dating hcs

- I mentioned before that I think Izzy is the one who thinks everything is a date, her preferred love language is quality time so for dates Duke always likes to walk home with her or just sit in a park together

- more often than not they will lose track of time and talk for hours. they never seem to run out of things to talk about either, from that movie Duke watched last night to the dumb meme Izzy scrolled past this morning or even a surprisingly heated debate over the objectively best pokemon (eelektross vs lucario)

- they'll always end up talking in the weirdest places too (like the middle of a roundabout or the elevator to a fancy hotel neither of them have heard of) but they don't really mind or notices when Izzy's hour 2 of her 'why all her partners need to binge watch cowboy bebop on their next movie night' rant or Duke ranking all his fictional crushes (Storm is number one followed closely by Ben 10)

- Duke and Dax have the most similar music taste of any of the group, most of their dates are looking around music store (cuz when your in a poly relationship of five at least one of you collects records) or going to live gigs together. Duke has consistently been to every single frown clown gig (except a few that he missed due to missions). Dax usually invites any of his partners in the audience onto the stage during the last song of every show and at this point any frown clown fans or regulars in the gotham hardcore scene recognise at least one or two members of the polycule.

- even tho Duke and Dax have the most similar music tastes Duke still prefers metal while Dax prefers punk music.

- Duke and Dax's first kiss was definitely at a batman's @#$& concert

- Dre and Duke butt heads most out of all the polycule, they don't really connect in the same way as the rest of the partners, and didn't really consider themselves dating until the polycule had been around for about a year.

- despite this they did work hard to improve their relationship and ended up falling for each other just as they fell for their other partners.

- Duke and Dre's dates are usually in the gym or doing some kind of physical activity, it started with Dre teaching Duke boxing when they were both robins and later Duke showed him fighting combos he practiced with Cass, eventually they started some different sports like rock climbing and trampolining (idk if those are considered sports tho) they always have this level of competition between them that they don't really have with any of their other partners. but it's sorta Duke and Dre's weird brand of love

- i think it was in my last post i mentioned that Duke has the weirdest date ideas, well Riko isn't far behind.

- a lot of the time their dates start out normal. they just rarely stay that way.

- like the time when they planned on having just a regular lunch date and ended up with them in metropolis, head to toe in superman merch and getting storage looks on the bus back to gotham. or that time they tried to recreate iconic kisses from movies and they ended up stuck on the roof of the wayne enterprises building with Harley Quinn and a box set of Powerpuff girls.

- people outside the polycule never believe them when they explain their dates to them but Izzy, Dax and Dre have gotten used to the special brand of chaos that comes with Riko and Dukes dates