#and his story is so awful and tragic that I just wish he had a little clarity to his character

[iaus]

okay I think it might skirt a bit past the 500 word limit but for the ask meme: the temple of the fallen sun scene from chapter 6 of epilogue fic, because it HAUNTS me and it's so excellently done. plz share and and all of your authorial thoughts/takes/secrets/truths!

CHAPTER 6 MY BELOVED.

I feel like I could probably talk for hours about this entire chapter because it's such a Huge Thing in my mind.

I wish I could say it was one of the driving scenes for writing this fic but it's just... not. It was almost an afterthought when I wrote it but now it's so. Central.

I almost even gave the chapter a name. Which is not something I wanted to do for this fic. But. Okay I digress. (I'm so long-winded all the time help.) Let's get into the The Scene.

(Oh my god I typed so much. I typed so much. I can't shut up. HUGE Wall of text under the read more.)

So, to preface I actually had some difficulty wrangling Jace and Porter to where they needed to be. There were some diversions I was going to do before this scene (including expanding on Jace's flashback to his... storied past).

But after some screaming and crying I realized that bridging the "sweet" scene of Jace and Porter hiking through the woods would be best bridged with "actual" Porter interacting with Jace. To add to the foreboding tone.

But this comes to this line:

To Ankarna, he thinks, the god he should worship. The god he won’t.

At this point, we know Jace is dreaming so it's time for his "meta" knowledge to come in. He knows he's about to die. He knows why (?) and he knows the goddess. (Also, this line is totally foreshadowing some upcoming choices and some choices already made.) I love this line. Jace has all this knowledge about his past and could so easily apply it to the present and he's kind of evasive about it when he's awake to this point. But here in the dream, where he has Porter again he can be so direct. He won't worship her. He is with the man who is about to kill him, but in this space he can be so truthful.

Then we cut into Jace speaking, saying these snarky little quips to Porter that we and Jace have context for:

“Romantic,” Jace says flatly. “Why are we here, Porter?”

And this little exchange

“Tragedies happened here,” Porter says, voice quiet, like an impending storm. “Took a lifelong bond and sundered it because their wife couldn’t handle the costs of conquest. Of war.” “Alarming; again, tell me why you decided here was a good idea to take me for… what did you call it? Oh, right. A date?”

All of us witnessing this moment have such horrible context for this. Including Jace! But we also know that the Jace of the past ignored these warning signs. Porter briefly mentions Cassandra's divorce as a warning: You are not doing that to me. I'm going to become this awful raging God, but you are not leaving me.

And Jace hand-waves it. I purposefully did not describe Jace's physical reaction to it, because it takes away some of his agency in a sense. We do not see if he rolls his eyes, if he shifts away from Porter, or if he moves closer. Jace, despite his knowledge, despite that this is his dream, does not get to say no to Porter wanting him to stay in this moment. That steel trap of devotion? It's already snapped shut. You are the tragic lover.

Then, we immediately set into the follow through. Jace does not get action, but Porter does. And what does he do after the acknowledgement that this romantic getaway is alarming?

He grabs Jace. He walks them to the altar: Both marriage altar and sacrificial altar. I have Porter move a lot in this chapter and Jace is mostly experiencing this standing still. Porter's moving the plot, he's got the tempo, Jace is just caught in the storm (in the story).

Then we get to some more Menacing Porter dialogue which. I will admit, I get a lot of how I write Porter from Hannibal Lecter himself from NBC Hannibal. He is deliberate, he is creepy. I actually do picture Porter as having high charisma, he just doesn't think of how he uses it so he just sounds like, well:

“Told you,” Porter says, he presses Jace onto the stone, hands grasping hard enough to bruise. He reaches one hand up, to grab Jace’s jaw. He pants into the touch, wriggles on the stone. “You can’t leave me again, sweetheart. Everything,” he drawls against Jace’s throat, “hinges on this. Plan like this has to have vows.”

This paragraph haunts me. I love it. It is everything I want Porter to be in this fic: Menacing, dangerous, but also... maybe a bit enticing? You can see this for the red flag it is, but if you've been lonely for so long and haven't been able to make connections... it's almost flattering? Here's this man that you perceive as someone who could have anyone (he makes sure you know that) but he chooses you? It's bad, it's scary, it's not something you should want but. BUT.

Also, I need to shout out this line:

Porter had kissed him that day as if he never quite believed Jace was giving him everything.

Because we don't get insight into Porter, but I think this line is damning for Porter. He is obsessed with Jace, he is sure that Jace is as obsessed with him; but there's that... doubt. I've established by now that Jace has left Porter multiple times. We never know why. But I think this line gives you a little taste, maybe, of what this horrible egomaniac feels underneath his toxic masculinity bravado. He has feelings for Jace and this murder he is going to commit comes back to this: He doesn't believe Jace. There is no trust in what he cannot control here.

But okay, back on track. We see Jace give into this and Jace also sees himself give into it:

As the memory washes over him, the heaviness of Porter’s tongue in his mouth, his palm on his arching spine, he remembers loving it. (He misses it.) After the cold loneliness that had gripped him for months as he researched and did everything Porter wouldn’t—to be greeted with such heat. With such longing. Jace loved it.

Jace even calls himself stupid for it. He gave himself to this dangerous man and he's like. I didn't stop it. (I enjoyed it.) He has this feeling that maybe he could have stopped the motion of things, but now that he's resurrected and watching it happen he has two distinct feelings on it: You are absolutely stupid for falling for this AND I miss him and everything horrible (and everything good) that came with it. He misses that unhealthiness, the danger. But he also just misses Porter (but we don't get to reconcile that right now).

And then we get to see into Jace's own view on things. For whatever reason, he likes this attention. He can see how unhealthy it is, but he likes that Porter (in his perception) is just as sick for this relationship as he is:

He had basked in the knowledge that he was the only one Porter was like this with. Others may have had him in their bed; known the devastating, delicious way Porter could make someone beg. But Jace was the one he kept coming back to. The one he growled at, grabbed, marked, and bruised—pursued. That was for Jace alone.

This whole thing is a culmination of a lonely, desperate man finding a toxic, possessive man that scratches all those deep down itches he has. We'll get more into Jace's own issues in further chapters (that flashback we saw was important), but this is just a little peek.

And now. We get to the scene that defines this whole fucked up tragic chapter:

“It’s always been leading here,” Porter growls against his mouth. The grin is back—that same curve of wild growing wider and crueler as he presses Jace fully back onto the altar: Spread out, gasping, chest exposed to the slowly sinking sun. Now, he knows the threat of Porter’s last harsh, needy kiss before he steps away, voice soft and heated, "'Til death do us part, sweetheart."

I have a very early draft of this chapter where there were no wedding vows. My first thought was to have Jace's death be so ordinary that it was insulting, but that ordinary death did not line up with as yet unpublished chapters. I was standing in another room doing something so mundane when this idea hit me. I like lunged at my phone to add in the vows. Originally, the only thing Porter was going to say was "It's always been leading here," which I felt was apt. It felt right. But I realized. Porter's obsession with Jace would not just end with that.

He would want to say something that left Jace as shattered as he was physically. So. He marries them in the worst way possible. He is now God and husband. They are bound in unholy, horrible matrimony.

In the past? Jace didn't think anything of it. Porter says creepy shit all the time, right? But. Now:

Now? Jace would lay upon the altar for Him willingly this time if given the chance. (Anything; anything to not be alone again.)

Porter has this perfect isolating control over Jace which is honestly horrifying. But all Jace can think about now is how he wants that back. A kind god has extended their hand to him, but no he wants the man who manipulated him. Who pulped his heart. The God who made him acolyte, saint, right hand, husband... Porter is the center of Jace's universe.

And now he's gone.

So, now, all he can do is remember that question: Do you want this life?

[azure-steel]

So I watched AC again for like the billionth time a couple of days ago, and after an in-depth conversation with @ghostofnibelheim/ @roleplay-abiogenesis2 about it I've been thinking about it a whole lot since.

Like, I know the remnants are supposed to represent the difference facets to Sephiroth's personality;

Kadaj: Ruthless, cunning and vindictive. Incredibly intelligent making him the brains of the outfit.

Yazoo: quiet yet charming. Very attractive, Cool calm and eerily collected.

Loz: strong, tunnel visioned, immature, overly emotional and sensitive due to immaturity.

At least without looking it up that's what I get from their characters. They are all very extreme representations of everything that makes Sephiroth, well... Sephiroth.

But then there's Cloud whom they refer to as their "Big Brother" and "Black Sheep" even though his relationship with Jenova and Sephiroth as a whole is vastly different. Not a remnant as such, but a clone and the first and only largely successful one at that considering that it's stated in lore that Sephiroth's DNA cannot be replicated. But like, Cloud isn't a true clone as such, he's just been brutally tampered with to hold parts of Sephiroth/Jenova inside him which is where Sephiroth's obsession with him comes from.

Reunion is the mass joining of all of Jenova's parts to make the whole and Jen!Sephiroth needs the missing pieces Cloud harbours to make that whole. I mean I'm telling you what we already know, I'm just attempting to make it all make sense again in this rambling theory we have here.

Because the Remnants lack the ability to pinpoint where they need to look for Jenova's head in the movie. They know that's their goal, and they have the knowledge to know where to look for clues, but no direct attraction to the calamity's exact location where as Sephiroth did have this instinct about him, as does Cloud to a lesser degree. He knew what to do, and where to go, Jenova's goal etc. The remnants don't and rely on other sources to tell them their next step.

But it isn't until Kadaj gets a hold of Jenova's remaining cadaver that he's able to summon Sephiroth but... Is that really him? Or is this Jenova shape shifting again and showing Cloud what he fears and hates the most? (A bit like Stephen King's IT where the creature feeds on fear and and morphs into the things that you fear the most) or is Sephiroth and Jenova so interlinked now that there's no discernable difference anymore?

Because I always struggled with this part of the story. Crisis Core showed us that Sephiroth was actually a good man, with good morals. He didn't agree with his orders and actions but felt he had no control over them. Orders were orders and he'd been so heavily indoctrinated by ShinRa from a very young age to just do as he's told when he's told to do it.

It wasn't until Genesis literally sprouted a wing and flew away that he grasped the notion that being a free man was even a possibility and planted that seed. But even then, he just talked about "quitting" and getting away rather than destroying everything. He showed little to no signs of mental instability, only that he was desperately lonely and extremely unhappy in his situation.

Nibelheim happened so very suddenly. One minute he's of sound mind and the next he's utterly insane. The descent into that insanity was so incredibly short (where no one tried to help or even attempt to relate to his better nature of which he DID have one. You did Sephiroth so fucking dirty here, Squeenix...) that I feel we're lead to believe that he just gave up after finding out the truth which gave Jenova that chance, in Sephiroth's moment of weakness, to take over. I'm sorry, but ain't NO WAY this man, so calculated in his assumptions despite how sheltered he is would suddenly just be like I'M CETRA NOW LETS KILL EVERYTHING. It makes absolutely no sense.

But again, come AC we're again being forced fed the notion that Sephiroth is the one in control, that he's so intune with Jenova that he can continue to respawn and cause devestation because the planet can't digest him when he enters the lifestream...

... Apart from the fact that it actually CAN!

See, after the fight in AC, when Kadaj returns and is dying in Clouds arms, Aerith calls to him, and he is accepted into the flow of the lifestream, which tells me that the parts which make up the remnants are actually human, not alien. These extreme facets of Sephiroth are what made him HUMAN and NOT Jenova. That the two are so closely knitted together that the lifetream cannot split them apart on its own hense why Sephiroth is constantly being rejected by the lifestream, not just because he has a strong will to survive and exact Jenova's bidding, but also because his make up is so very complex, thus giving him this pseudo immortality as it were.

I mean, Angeal never came back, maybe that was a simple case of just not wanting to? I don't know at this point.

But my point is that I believe the remnants do not have Sephiroth's reunion instinct because their make up is wholly human, because Sephiroth was actually conceived naturally and birthed to a human mother despite being tampered with in the womb. But he was still a person before the hatred and the crazy and the remnants show us that.

[d-targaryenshoe]

Once and Forever - Anthony Bridgerton

Word count: 1332

Summary: Not everything is meant to be seen as a duty when one feels different, am i right?

The ballroom of the Bridgerton household was abuzz with activity, as the crème de la crème of society gathered to celebrate the impending union of you and the beloved Anthony Bridgerton.

You were praised as the most enigmatic beauty of the season, your arrival at the ton had been nothing short of legendary.

Rumors swirled of your heritage, your tragic past, and the scandalous circumstances that had brought you to England.

Now, as you took your place at Anthony's side, your every move was scrutinized, your every word analyzed, and every touch felt like a spark igniting a blaze.

Despite your outward appearance of calm, Anthony could feel his heart racing as he looked into your eyes.

He'd never been so torn between his duty and his desires.

On the one hand, he knew that this marriage was the only way to ruin the 'rake' rumors, on the other, he couldn't help but feel an undeniable attraction to you.

He longed to tell you how beautiful you were, how your laughter filled the halls of the house, how your presence lit up the room like the sun on a summer's day.

But he didn't know how.

You, for your part, could feel the tension emanating from Anthony.

You'd thought him arrogant and dismissive at first, but as the night wore on, you found yourself growing more and more confused.

His eyes seemed to bore into your skin as if he were trying to see past your facade and understand the real you.

You wished he would say something, anything, that would put you at ease.

But you knew that your marriage was about more than just your feelings, it was about duty and obligation.

And so, you smiled and laughed and tried your best to fit into the world he'd built for himself.

Yet, you thought that the most thoughtful thing to do was to distance yourself from heartache and a whirlwind of emotions.

And so you did.

You spent your days in solitude, trying to find comfort in the familiarity of your rooms.

The servants, who had once treated you with such admiration and awe, now ignored your presence, as if you were nothing more than another piece of furniture.

You found yourself missing the sound of laughter and music that once filled the halls of the house, but you knew that it was better this way.

Anthony, on the other hand, was a different story.

He seemed to be everywhere you went, always watching you, always studying you.

It was unnerving, to say the least. You wondered if he was trying to find some fault in you, some reason why you shouldn't be together.

Perhaps he was looking for a way out of your arranged marriage.

The thought brought a twinge of sadness to your heart, for you had begun to hope that perhaps, in time, you might find some sort of happiness together.

The servants, too, seemed to be more attentive to him than ever before.

They hovered around him like a cloud of gossipmongers, whispering and giggling whenever he was near.

You couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy. You wanted to be the one who made him smile, the one who made him forget about everything else.

But you knew that it was not to be. Your marriage was about duty and obligation, nothing more.

One day, as you were wandering the gardens alone, lost in your thoughts, you heard footsteps approaching.

You looked up to see Anthony walking towards you.

His expression was solemn, his eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and longing.

For a moment, you couldn't breathe. You'd never seen him look at you like that before.

"Y/n," he began, his voice gruff with emotion.

"I... I wanted to apologize for my behavior. For treating you the way I have. I know that I haven't made it easy for you to adjust to life here, and for that, I am truly sorry." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"I want you to know that I did not choose this arrangement lightly. I did it because I believed it was the best thing for my family, and for my siblings who look up to me. I thought it was my duty to protect them."

You looked up at him, your heart racing. His words were like balm to your wounded soul.

"I understand that, Anthony," you said softly.

"And I appreciate your apology. I want you to know that I didn't come here under false pretenses. I know what our marriage is about, and I accept that."

He studied your face for a moment as if searching for some sign of deception.

"You're not just saying that?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "You truly accept it?"

You nodded, your heart swelling with a mixture of affection and understanding.

"Yes, I do. And I want you to know that I'm not angry with you. I understand why you did what you did, and I respect that."

Anthony took a step closer, his eyes never leaving yours.

"I... I wish things could be different. That we could be different." He hesitated as if searching for the right words. "I want to try, y/n. I want to make this work between us."

"At which moment has there ever been an, us, Anthony?"

His features twisted in thought as if he were trying to understand your words.

"I don't know," he admitted softly.

"Perhaps there never was. Perhaps we were always meant to be pawns in a game greater than ourselves. But... I want to try. I want to see if there's something more between us. Something real."

You felt your heart skip a beat at his words.

You wanted to believe him, to trust that he was sincere. But you couldn't help but feel a sense of caution.

"Anthony, I... I appreciate what you're saying. But I don't want to hurt you, or your family."

He took another step closer, his expression solemn.

"Y/n, I understand that. Yet, I want you to know that I will always put your happiness first. Above everything else."

His voice cracked slightly on the last word, and for a moment, you stood there in silence, the weight of your words hanging between you both.

And that was the very exact moment that you decided to do something very unexpected.

You stepped forward, closing the distance between you both, and tentatively placed your hand against his chest.

He looked down at you, his eyes wide with surprise, as if he couldn't quite believe what was happening.

You smiled up at him, feeling a warmth spread through your body that you hadn't experienced in a very long time.

"Anthony," you breathed, "I... is this a smart thing to do?"

He smiled down at you, his eyes softening.

"I don't know, y/n. But I do know that I've never felt this way about anyone before. And I think... I think I want to find out where this leads us."

As if emboldened by his words, you leaned in closer, your lips meeting his in a gentle kiss.

His hands came up to cradle your face, his thumbs brushing against your cheeks as he deepened the kiss.

It was a tentative, exploratory kiss, a first step into uncharted territory.

You could feel the heat from his body, the strength in his embrace, and for a moment, you forgot about everything else.

You pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily, your face flushed.

He looked into your eyes, searching for some sign of what you were feeling.

You reached up and traced your fingers along his jawline. "I know," you whispered, your voice shaking slightly. "I want to find out as well."

He smiled down at you, a genuine, heartfelt smile that lit up his entire face.

"Me too," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Me too."

[bohbee]

Genshin Characters when you have a nightmare.

Part 1

Part 2

I don't know when the others will come cause I am tiredd

Characters: Al-Haitham, Cyno, Tighnari, Wanderer, Childe, Ayato, Thoma

Warnings: blood [Al-Haitham, Thoma], strangulation [Childe], death [Al-Haitham, Childe, Cyno, Tighnari, Thoma], Dottore [Childe]

Notes: this was pretty sweet and its not proofread 💀

Masterlist

Al-Haitham

Purple flames incinerated everything around you, Sumeru city was destroyed. A large robot with maniacal laughter crushed bodies and buildings, and your eyes saw what it was holding, making your blood drain. Aether and Nahida.... their bodies bloodied and limp. "No, please wake up, guys." Tears pricked the corners of your eyes as the world started to shake, his crushing steps coming closer and closer.

"(y/n)"

Your ears faintly picked up on the quiet whispering, your light.... your savior. As if on cue, you shot up from your bed, Al-Haithams body slightly hovering over yours. Your terrified eyes met his calm ones, his hand carefully rubbed your shoulder reassuringly. "I'm here," he said softly. He placed your head on his chest and rubbed circles in your back.

"They defeated the false God. There's nothing to worry about." He hummed softly, the vibrations of his chest calming you down.

Your eyelids got Droopy, and you let sleep overwhelm your brain, Al-Haithams strong hold making you feel safe and secure.

Ayato

It wasn't often for you to have nightmares, so when Ayato had walked into his bedroom only to find his beloved crying and shaking in their sleep, he kind of panicked. He was used to taking care of his sisters nightmares as a kid. However, this was a completely different story.

He swiftly knelt on your side of the bed and rubbed your cheek softly. He quietly said your name to slowly wake you. His soft lips pepper kissed your face, causing you to jolt awake.

He quickly embraced you, whispering sweet nothings in your ear. "My love, do you wish to speak about it?" He asked softly. You shook your head, causing his to nod, "Alright then, let's get some rest, okay?" He got in the bed and spooned your body. "I'll always be here to save you from those off-putting thoughts"

Childe (Ajax, Tartaglia)

It was dark. The only thing you could see was Childe restraint to a chair. Dottores shoes clicked on the floor behind you, "You see relationships leave room for vulnerability, Tartaglia." The blue-haired male said. Childes eyes widened as he started to thrash around in the chair. "There's no room for vulnerability in the fatui, you know that." The doctors hands grasped your neck tightly, panic searing through your chest as your oxygen slowly cut off.

Childes grunts and screams of agony slowly turned into ringing as your body thrusted forward, trying to breathe. However, Dottores hands never let go. Your vision got spotty before quickly turning to black.

"(Y/N)"

Your name was yelled, startling you from your awful slumber. Childes panicked eyes scanned your body, "archons finally your up." His strong, scarred arms pulled your shaking body tightly in his grasp. "They won't touch you, I'll kill every one of them if they try." His tone was dark but heavily reassuring. You nodded, not being able to trust your own voice.

He softly rocked your body and sang a quiet melody from his hometown. Assisting you back to rest.

Cyno

Dating Cyno meant that he would be gone for many weeks. He was supposed to come back three days ago, but he didn't. You asked everyone you could, but nothing was heard. And so you just had to wait. Each night he was gone, you had a nauseating nightmare of something tragic happening to him. This night wasn't different....

Tignnari rushed you to Gandharva Ville, telling you that something had gone wrong. Your heart raced as you rushed through the clinic, only to see your beloved lying on the table. His body was peaceful, his cheeks slightly sunken in, and you grabbed his hand, trying to shake him up. However, his fingers were ice cold "no no no Cy, please!" You whimpered, shaking his body harder. "Don't leave me here, cy..." You cried harder, praying to every Archon to bring him back.

~Cynos POV~

I sighed heavily as I finally entered my home, I had to prolong my expedition thanks to the sand storm that had hit. Silently, I took off my hat and walked to my bedroom, happily ready to see my spouse.

As I opened the door, my eyes landed on their shaking body. "Cy please" they whimpered, I rushed over to them, "Hey, hey. Wake up love, I'm here" he softly woke his beloved up and wiped their tears.

~(y/n) pov~

"Cy!" You exclaimed and jumped on him, bringing his body down onto yours. He let out a deep chuckle. "Where were you!" You asked, tears of relief streaming down your face.

"I got caught up in a sand storm..... I guess you could say I was Duned..... get it cause doomed and dune-" you cut him off by kissing his lips "never ever do that again, or I will sand you straight to the after life" you joked to him, he shivered slightly but smiled at your now happy demeanor. "You won't have to worry about me leafing you"

Tighnari

You and Nari had set up camp while you were exploring a new part of the woods. Nari decided to stay up first watch, so you laid down and closed your eyes...

It was everywhere, the withering zones had taken your home... your people. You looked at Gandharva Ville only to find the bodies of the ones you called family. Many researchers, watchers, and adventures laid on the ground. However, two of them had specifically caught your eye. The green-haired girl and the male with large ears laid limp on the ground, as if they were peacefully resting. Your throat erupted in a crackled sob as you tried to wrap your head around what was happening.

But a strong smell woke you up from your horrid imagination. Your eyes went wide, and you were met with gorgeous brown and green ones. He removed the herbs from under your nose "hey" he said quietly, his tail sort of hugging your waist. "You were whimpering. Why don't you grab the blanket and lay on my lap while I watch?" He offered. You shook your head and joined him outside. His delicate fingers drew intricate drawings on your back as you closed your eyes.

Thoma

Aether jumped up and grabbed the vision from Raiden. The two of them continued to fight. Thoma still restrained by the guards you watched in fear as your fiance went to go assist his blonde friend. However, in a swift motion, the guards' spear entered his abdomen.

Red painted the floor underneath his body, and you yelled his name as you tumbled to his body. His hand reaching out to you before falling limp.

You gasped, now fully awake from your traumatic dream. You turn to your fiancé who was now looking at you with confused eyes. "Hey, what's going on, my love?" He asked. You pounced on him, hugging his chest tightly, gaining a quiet humph from his chest.

"Please don't leave me," you said as tears dripped from your eyes, his heart panged against his chest. "I would never, ever. I promise to you." He softly kissed your forehead and hugged you close. "Don't let those bad memories flood your brain, I'm here and I'm not leaving."

Wanderer (kuni)

You and Kuni had dated for about 50 years before he turned into the 'wanderer', he was an awful person. But, he always had a spot for you, and so you stayed. So watching the man you love trample to the ground, only to come back again and not know who he was.... in simple terms destroyed you.

Yes he gained his memories back, but it still traumatized you to see that happen....

"Who are you?" The wanderer asked, his head tilting a bit to the side. "Kuni. Don't joke like that." You went to go grab his hand but he pulled away, your heart cracking slightly "I'm not joking..." your heart dropped. 'No' you thought to yourself 'this can't actually be happening'.

Your body shot up, catching the attention of the puppet who was at his desk. He turned around and looked at your body, shaking and crying. Though he didn't understand what was going on, he knew that you were in a place of vulnerability.

"Doll? What happened?" he said sternly, "the same nightmare." Your mumble was weak as you hugged yourself tightly. He sighed and walked over to you, getting into the bed. You hugged his chest tightly, as if he wasn't gonna be there the next day. "I am still your same Kuni, just with a small upgrade." He said softly, slowly rubbing your back. It wasn't often that he would be this affectionate. But he had felt guilty for causing you such turmoil. "Go on back to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up." He said, his words reassuring you. "Promise?" He smiled and nodded "Duh"

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

I think this was good.

[silent-browser]

*sigh* oh the tragic romance of a merfolk x human story. Neither can be with the other without giving up something important. Usually fins for legs. Also usually their entire family to simply love and exist with this person in a different biosphere. Rarely legs for fins if we wanna go a reverse little mermaid here.

But what if it was different. And no one had to give everything up. And maybe yandere. With a bit of soulmate shenanigans thrown in for flavor.

Imagine if you will, a walk on an empty beach. Headphones in, listening to your favorite song and sining along. Kicking up sand and the smell of the ocean air. Just minding your own business and having a good time by yourself.

Or so you think. Because not far from where you are walking a single quiet audience member hides behind some rocks, wondering why your song, your human song, sounds so similar to their soul song.

The song that they would normally perform for other merfolk in hopes of attracting their perfect life partner. But they had never garnered any attention for it.

So how did you, a weak and squishy human get them so immediately. No creature had ever been so close to repeating his own soul song back to him. And with your own little twist too. Human words and slightly different notes in his soul song. Your song. Our song. He soon found himself refering to it in his mind.

It takes a while of them impatiently waiting for your return and slowly learning your 'walks on the beach' schedule for them to finally make their move.

On the day that changed the rest of your life, you were simply walking along and humming softly to your favorite song once again when you heard the most fantastic voice start to follow along the melody with you. They matched your tone and moved their voice in such a way that it felt like an instant musical connection.

They were worried that you would stop and run away when they started but tried not to let that fear taint their song. If you ran further inland they would have a very hard time following you. Not impossible but certainly difficult. So they took your continued humming as a good sign and continued.

They began to dribble their emotions into the notes. The lonelyness. The fear of an uncaring ocean. The rush of affection they felt when they first heard you singing. The need to see you. Hold you.

Slowly, what started out as a dribble became a riptide of intense emotions they never knew they were capable of feeling. Longing. Jealousy. Want and need so powerful he felt like he would wear out his voice singing it all. By the time he stopped he was mortified that he put all of that on you. And before the first courting gift too! He suddenly felt awful. He gutted his soul when he never ment to and you weren't even singing anymore. What if you didn't want them? What if it was all too much for you? What if you left and never came back!?

You were stunned. Breathless. The emotion. The raw intensity. No words were ever sang and yet the song resonated in the very depths of your being. You felt intimidated to ever even think of humming ever again after that impromptu masterpiece. You wanted to respond but couldn't find the words to, much less the notes like they had. So you instead made your way to the shore where the music seemed to come from and searched. Looking for this person who simultaneously swept you off your feet and explained their life story in one song with no words.

Two star crossed lovers. Separated by the sea. One filled with obsession. The other with curiousity. Both wish desperately to meet and yet both are not quite ready. How strange that love can both bind and seperate. How strange indeed.

Idk where to go with this so no continuations for this one unless I suddenly get inspired. Also the end feels really jarring to me. Mostly because I originally intended for this to continue but I couldn't come up with anything so I just cut it lose. I hope you like it none the less.

[melonteee]

I've seen many people complain that Oda in Post Time skip One Piece spends a lot of time worldbuilding and making up side characters on every island that distract from the main ones and the plot. While I can see where some people are coming from, as someone who reads comics from Marvel, I WISH the wordbuilding and side characters were that developed because most of the time, unless it's about space or magic or directly related to the plot, the world feels genuinely dead. Even the main setting of a story sometimes feels so dead, like for comparison

Around 2 years ago, they had an event where, at some point, an inhabited island got pretty much nuked. We spent 3 real life years on that island and the writers really couldn't make any readers care less about all the civilians (men, women, children and babies) dying as they wrote them as a single minded entity who didn't mind that fate if their government told them to do it so they used two of the "main characters" (the most selfish pricks imaginable who never even cared about the island and the people there as they are long-established villains + due to plot, were made part of the people who rule over the place and get the most privilege and best life there compared to everyone else), to pull the heartstrings of fans on how terrible it is for them to die this way and how tragic that these two had to die in this event... All because the plot hyperfocused on the island's government (not even interesting to read and full of what felt like highschool drama) instead of the people the government looks after and who would be the greatest casualty here. All of this didn't matter either because everyone on that island was brought back to life (that plot device was present even before the event so caring about anything was going to be hard from the get go) including the "main characters" that died.. Guess who got to come back to life first while many others were on a waiting list years down the line still ?

Now compare this to Oda and what he did with Lulusia. All things related to this island were mostly cover stories, many cuts back and forth in a "meanwhile in...", ... But once Chapter 1060 hits, we feel the tragedy and horror, we are at awe at how much destruction was unleashed on these people. That scene was made even more horrifying and sad when it was animated in Episode 1089...and then we learn the reason the island was obliterated had nothing to do with Sabo being there. Any island we knew who partook in a revolution could have been a target. We find out that even that was an excuse because the main goal was to test a weapon and nothing more. Oda is using a tool here called "less is more" for this island and it was sincerely enough for me to care A WHOLE LOT about Lulusia even if the main characters never set a single foot there and it wasn't part of the main plot. There wasn't even a main character who "died" there either to pull on our heart strings. We just saw these people triumphantly come out of a political crisis and enjoy their first hours of freedom after lord knows how long and then

They were all gone. Erased. And even if they didn't all see what was about to happen to them, they felt it. They died in fear

Oda is very very good at his world building, because he makes sure these islands are LIVED in, not just that they EXIST. It's all well and good to wipe out an island to show the political and immoral powers that be, but we don't feel the impact unless we SEE the people and culture existing on the island.

It's why now, with Vegapunk explaining the state of the world, we are getting reactions from EVERY corner of the globe. We are being reminded how big this world is, how lived in this world is, and how many people are suffering under the world gov. We CARE about this world, we care about the PEOPLE in this world, and Oda's spent years building his world up for THIS moment. It's really spectacular.

[vbecker10]

Loki's Silent Sentry (alt. ending Part 1)

Part 2

This is meant to be read after part 2, instead of the original parts 3 - 7

**Seriously please do not read this without reading the trigger warnings**

TW: fire, life threatening injury, blood, death of a main character (if you message me I will tell you who in case that will change if you read this or not), mourning the loss of a loved one, loss of a family member, having to mourn in secret, depression, feeling alone, brief mentions of previous loss of parents, inability to move on, guilt

(Please let me know if I missed anything and I will add it)

A/N: I wrote the fluffy, happy ending for this story but I got this song (tagged below) stuck in my head and it felt like a really tragic way to end this story. The idea just kept getting more depressing and heartbreaking so I had to write it. I understand this is not for everyone, it's not even something I would usually read.

Please, please do not feel the need to read this because we are mutuals or because you read the happy ending version. I will absolutely not be offended if you skip it.

...Last chance to turn back lol 🫣

You close your eyes as he pulls you tighter to him, you are sure he can feel your heart pounding in your chest. "Are you really here?" you ask in a whisper. You fear he will vanish like one of his illusions the second you let go of him.

"I'm here my love," he reassures you. He kisses the top of your head and you look up at him. "Follow me," he says in a low voice.

You smile and nod, telling him, "You know I will follow you anywhere."

He takes your hand and leads you into the room he came out of. You can see he has been busy with his magic, his abilities have always thrilled and impressed you. The magically altered office is twice as large inside as it should be and is an exact replica of his chambers. You look around in awe and can't help but wonder if this isn't an illusion but one of his transportation spells.

He smiles with pride at your reaction and puts his arm around your waist, pulling you close to him again.

"How did you do all of this?" you ask. "Its amazing... you're amazing," you tell him as you turn in his arms to face him.

"I'm afraid the young corporal spent has a large portion of her time this week dutifully guarding my empty office," he jokes and you laugh with him.

He smiles and kisses you, his hands traveling up and down the back of your thin shirt as he hold you close. "Stay here with me tonight," he says between kisses. He doesn't say it as a prince ordering his sentry but you obey his request without a second thought.

It is almost five months since your new Sunday night routine with Loki began. He would slip through the palace with ease after he dismissed his sentry for the night and you would take a left at the top of the stairs after his mother released you.

While hidden away, surrounded by his illusion, the two of you could pretend everything was perfect. You love him with all of your heart and he loves you back just as fiercely. He would kiss you and hold you and tell you that you were his but the moment the sun came up, everything would change. You always did your best to hold back your emotions as you put your armor on and returned to your silent duties.

It devastated you every time you needed to leave him but you kept your pain to yourself. You were afraid to ruin the small window of time you had with wishes and false hope that things could somehow be different.

You stand silently outside of the queen's office and let the smallest smile slip when you notice Loki coming down the hall. He offers you a brief smirk in return as he comes to a stop in front of you.

"Lieutenant Y/L/N, is my mother in a meeting?" he asks you.

"No, your highness," you respond, shaking your head slightly.

"I would like to speak with her for a moment," he tells you and you nod.

After knocking on the door, you wait for her to open it then step out of Loki's way. As he passes you, he carefully slips a folded piece of paper into your palm and you close it quickly. He goes inside, pausing for barely a moment to lock eyes with you before closing the door behind him.

You return to your position next to her door and tuck away the note for later, Loki's sentry stands at attention on the other side. You glance over at him quickly, you recognize him but can't recall his name. He had only graduated the academy a month ago, he was far too new to be guarding someone of Loki's standing but that was precisely why he had been selected. Loki had taken to choosing soldiers with limited experience and often replaced them every few weeks. He said he did this so they were less likely to notice he was slipping away to visit you but you joked that it was because he would never be able to find a sentry to fill your place.

The door opens fifteen minutes later and both the queen and Loki step out into the hall. She closes the door behind her and says, "Prince Loki is going to visit the blacksmith and I've decided to get some fresh air and go with him."

You and Loki's sentry nod to acknowledge the plan. You both follow mother and son down several hallways and winding staircases until you finally reach the steps leading to the courtyard. As you step out into the sun, you take a deep breath and close your eyes for a quick moment. The palace air could be stale at times and you always welcomed a chance to spend even a few minutes during the week outside.

Its almost a twenty minute walk to the blacksmiths, past the stables and a well used for the horses. The apprentice steps out of the one story wooden structure to pick up a few cords of wood that are stacked neatly out front. He opens the door and yells something to the man inside, presumably that the queen and prince are coming. He opens the door and bows his head as they walk past to enter, you smile at him a bit to hopefully help ease the young boy's nerves.

The blacksmith bows to Loki and the queen as they enter and the boy shuts the door once you are all inside. You can't help but look around, you've never been in here before but Loki had told you about his frequent visits. You can feel the heat from the tall fires of the forge off to your left and the breeze that flows through the open windows at the far end of the building. Large timber rafters line the steeply pitched roof and a small rainbow shines onto the sawdust covered floor, caused by the colored glass in the door.

Your attention is drawn back to Loki, as it always is when he is near. He begins talking to the older man, the apprentice's father you assume due to how similar they look. They discuss the knives Loki had previously ordered, a set of two daggers with black leather handles and gold inlays in the shape of a coiled snake. You try not to smile at how obviously Loki his request is.

Your focus shifts to the apprentice, he can't be older than nine or ten you think. He takes something from his father and brings it to the office space in the back then returns with a wooden box containing different types of metal to select from. The queen joins in the conversation with her son and Loki's sentry leans against the wall near an open window, staring off into the forest beyond.

You keep your eye on the boy, watching him run from one errand to the next for his father. He brings things to him and is waved off to find something else, only to do it again. In between helping gather the materials, he continues to feed the forge. He has added at least four logs since you arrived, surly that was plenty to keep the fire raging, you think but truthfully you know little about blade work and forging swords.

Several more minutes pass, Loki and his mother are deeply engaged in conversation with the blacksmith who has easily convinced Loki to get a second set of knives. His sentry has disappeared into his own little world while you continue to observe everyone quietly as you stand near the door.

You stretch a bit and cover your mouth as a yawn slips free, you should really stop reading until the sun comes up, you scold yourself. Suddenly you stand up straighter and sniff the air again, breathing deeply. You can't quite place the smell but the heat from the forge has gotten stronger. Your eyes immediately find the boy who is frozen with fear as he looks into the fire.

Blue flames erupt from the metal and stone enclosure of the forge.

Without thinking, you move to the young boy and grab him by the arm, pulling him away from the rapidly growing flames. Once his feet start moving, you push him in the direction of the door and look for the queen. As soon as your gaze is away from the forge you hear metal grinding and a loud crack as the chimney buckles under the sudden and immense increase in temperature.

You look back to see the fire spark and spit embers onto the sawdust spread over the floor. Walking backwards from the forge, your eyes move up as the fire spreads to the roof of the structure. Smoke quickly begins to fill the air and your eyes sting as you fight to keep them open. You watch in horror as one of the rafters on the ceiling splinters from the flames and you run towards the queen, you know the building won't be standing much longer.

You keep your arm around her waist until you've guided her safety outside. She takes a few steps away from you and sits heavily on the grass, coughing from the smoke. You look back towards the burning building, the roof already partially collapsed as the trusses are destroyed by the flames.

Smoke billows out of the open door and you quickly turn to count that everyone is out. The queen, the blacksmith, his son, Loki's sentry... but not Loki.

"Loki!" you scream, scanning the field in front of you in the hopes that you somehow missed him. You rush to his sentry who is on his hands and knees coughing and gasping for fresh air. "Where is he!?" you demand.

He shakes his head and doesn't respond, you grab his arm and pull forcefully, making him look up at you. You can see the fearful tears in his eyes but his feelings are not your concern, not while Loki is still missing. "Private, where is the prince?!"

"I don't know," he cries. "I just- I just ran- I don't-" you let go of his arm and turn from him, unable to listen to his excuses.

You look back to the fully engulfed building and without a moments hesitation, you run through the open door.

"Loki!" you call for him, you cough painfully as you inhale the ash and smoke. You crouch and shield your eyes as the glass in one of the windows near you shatters. "Loki!" you scream as loud as your lungs will allow. You move forward, towards where he had been when you last saw him with his mother.

You cough harder as the flames surround you and you get low to crawl under the ever thickening smoke. "Loki!" you scream again, your heart racing as tears stream down your cheeks, making it harder to see.

"Y/N," you hear Loki faintly over the crackling of the fire and get up to run towards his voice.

Your heart pounds in your chest when you see him, trapped under part of a collapsed beam. He struggles to lift the large piece of wood, it's edges blackened by the flames growing closer. You grab the end of the beam nearest to Loki and lift while he pushes, it moves but not enough. Your grip slips and he screams in pain from the sudden movement. Your eyes fix on the blood that slowly starts to gather at the corners of his mouth, adjusting your grip you get ready to try again.

Before you and Loki can make a second attempt, a nearby section of the roof collapses. You instinctively use your own body as protection against the falling debris shielding his face and upper body, you hold back a cry as ash falls onto the exposed skin on the back of your neck.

"Y/N, please get out of here," he tells you, his voice hoarse when you sit up.

You shake your head no and tell him, "I won't leave without. Help me lift this."

Again, he pushes with what little strength he has left and you pull with every bit of strength you can gather. The beam moves enough that you can free him. You grab Loki under his arms and pull, he cries out every inch until he is fully clear of the beam. It devastates you to cause him pain but you have no choice. You wipe your tears on your arm and without letting go of him, you tell him you are sorry but you can't stop. You know if you do, neither of you will make it out.

You lay Loki on the grass behind the burning building, ignoring the sound of a wall giving way and kneel next to him. His fingers are dripping with blood as he reaches for you.

"Y/N," he says softly but you shake your head and avoid his gaze. You are too scared to look at him, you know he wants to tell you goodbye.

"I need to stop the bleeding," you say with as much determination and hope as you can force. You move to check his chest wounds and your heart shatters, your mind spins in shock and disbelief as you rip open the rest of his torn and bloody shirt. "No no no," you mumble to yourself in denial.

You move your hands to his chest in desperation, trying to cover the largest break in his skin but his fingers close softly around your wrist, keeping you from touching his wounds. Looking into his eyes, in a gentle tone he simply says, "Stop." His grip on your wrist loosens but you can't accept that there is nothing you can do for him.

You shake your head no again, "Please Loki..."

He tries his best to smile but the blood in his mouth makes him cough violently. You move so you can gently rest his head on your lap and you run your fingers through his hair damp. He raises his hand again to stroke your cheek and you close your eyes at his touch.

"Y/N," he says just above a whisper and you lean closer to hear him. "I knew you would come for me," he coughs and spits out a bit of blood. "You always followed me..." his voice trails off.

You smile through your tears and tell him, "I will follow you anywhere, I promised you that I would."

He continues to slowly stroke your cheek, wiping away your tears but leaving a light trail of his blood, "I'm sorry my love, but where I go now you cannot follow."

"No, Loki please," you cry, "I love you."

"I will always love you Y/N, more than anything in the nine realms," he says softly as his breath grows still and shallow.

"Stay with me," you plead, taking his hand in yours. "You're all I have left. Please stay with me," you beg him. "I love you. Please don't go, Loki, please."

His fingers slip from yours and you look down at his lifeless body, your chest tightens as you struggle to breath. You feel as if your heart is physically breaking, the pain is unbearable and consuming. "I'm so sorry Loki," you apologize over and over. "I was supposed to protect you, I should have protected you. I'm sorry, please."

"Loki! Loki!" the queen's voice rips through your grief and guilt as the rest of the building collapses, the fire still raging. You look up and see Frigga running towards her son, her eyes full of fear which turns to anguish as they met yours.

Getting up, you walk slowly backwards, your body on autopilot as you distance yourself from mother and son. She let's out an agonizing scream, a sound you will never forget, as she falls to her knees next to her youngest son. She cradles him in her arms and kisses his forehead, whispering to him as she rocks slowly.

You stand motionless a few feet from Loki's body and his mother, your breathing becoming more ragged as your chest tightens. You barely register the dozen or so workers who struggle to keep the fire from spreading across the field or the soldiers running with Thor.

"Mother! Loki!" Thor calls as he sprints around what is left of the building, desperately searching for his family. He gets closer and stops suddenly when he sees his younger brother laying in his mother's arms.

Frigga looks over her shoulder and Thor begins to slowly walk towards her, you can do nothing but watch his expression change as the reality of what he is seeing hits him. As he gets closer, she looks back down at Loki, wiping away some of the blood from his face gently. Thor kneels besides her, his hand on her back and she quietly says, "Loki is gone."

Your knees buckle at her words and you collapse onto the grass. You cover your face with your hands as your body shakes violently from the force of your sobs.

Loki is gone, your thoughts echo the queen's words. Loki is gone and it is your fault, your guilt adds. Loki is gone and you couldn't save him. Loki is gone but he shouldn't be. Loki is gone but you were supposed to give your life for his. Loki is gone.

You stand at attention in the center of the throne room in front of the royal family, the council and every high ranking officer from the royal guard. You keep your eyes straight ahead, focusing on a small detail on the wall beyond Odin as he speaks. You are too afraid to look anywhere else but slowly your focus drifts to the queen and where Loki used to stand.

She holds Thor's arm for support, her gaze fixed to the marble floor beneath her. Your chest aches at the sight of the queen in her black mourning gown and you hate yourself for wishing you could wear one as well.

This morning, every soldier in the royal guard was given a thin black piece of fabric to tie around their arm in memory of the lost prince. For five minutes, you struggled to tie it properly before a fellow sentry finally offered to help you. The members of your unit and palace staff no longer made mocking comments about the favoritism Loki showed for you but they would never understand the depth of your grief.

As a sentry, it was against protocol for you to show any emotion while on duty and that was especially true in your case. As far as the king and council were concerned, you meant nothing to Loki and it was made clear to you yesterday that you were not to mourn for him publicly. A part of you didn't care, what could they do to punish you that was worse then the hell you were currently living in. You didn't have the strength to disobey the king, however, it took every ounce of strength you had to simply get out of bed each morning. So here you stand, surrounded by nearly a hundred people, trying with all your might to keep from falling completely and utterly apart.

Frigga slowly looks up and your breath catches when you see the tears in her eyes. She doesn't seem to see you though, it is almost as if she is looking through you, her mind unfocused on the ceremony taking place.

You force yourself to pay attention to Odin as he continues his speech about what is being called "a tragic accident". The phrase sounds like nails scrapped across metal to you and you brace yourself so as not to shiver every time you hear it.

You were still not sure what exactly caused the fire to burn uncontrollably but it was quickly determined that the boy meant no one harm. He and his father had been cleared by the council of any wrong doing and were granted a small sum to rebuild their forge. You wish the boy well and hope he isn't being plagued by nightmares as you are.

Loki's sentry, however, is to be sentenced this afternoon. The day after the fire, he was brought up on numerous charges and subsequently dishonorably discharged from the royal guard. You had stood as a witness at his hearing, forced to recount every detail of that horrific day.

You hear Odin droning on but your mind can't seem to absorb what he is saying. You continue to watch him though, knowing it's almost time for you to play the part of the noble hero.

He gestures for you to step forward and you follow his command, kneeling when you are just a few steps from him. He walks towards you and says, "Lieutenant Y/L/N, you are being awarded the Medal of Royal Protection for your actions during the tragic accident three days ago. This honor is bestowed upon sentries who have risked their lives to save, and attempt to save, a member of the royal family. Thanks to your bravery, my wife, Asgard's queen was escorted to safety."

He pauses, his eyes finding Frigga before he turns back to the crowd of soldiers and council members gathered around you. "We are all heartbroken over the loss of Prince Loki. My son's life was woefully cut short... far too short," his voice trails off for a moment and you think he may let his emotions show but he clears his throatand continues. "But that does not overshadow your extraordinary act of heroism. You risked your life by going into a burning building and in doing so, you have given us the chance to say goodbye to Prince Loki properly, which is what he deserves."

Your throat feels like it is closing, your eyes sting as you fight desperately to keep the gathering tears from slipping free. Your head pounds as you prepare to receive a medal for saving the queen but not saving Loki.

"Lieutenant Y/L/N," he motions for you to stand. He takes a round golden medal with a red ribbon from a council member and pins it to your dress uniform. "Asgard and I thank you for your continued commitment to protecting and serving the royal family," he says and you feel nauseated by the applause that spreads through the throne room.

This is the song that inspired me, if you listen to the end you will see why. Again... I'm sorry to everyone who reads this that I hurt you but I just needed to get this story out of my head. If you want the happy ending version please read the original part 3 (linked at the top) 💙💙

If you did like this, please like, comment and share! Thanks! 💚💚

@siconetribal @soubi001 @lulubelle814 @newtomofgods

[m1d-45]

in a flash

a/n: this one’s for the kazuha kissers on ‘remorse’, based on my actual experience pulling kazuha. thank you all for your lovely comments <33

-> warnings: none, you and kazuha are very sad and it’s very tragic but there’s a happy ending so dw. reader acts like i did bc this was 110% copium

-> lowercase intended!

kazuha watched from his banner as you flicked through your history, excitedly counting.

75! any wish now, he’ll be here.

he could feel your excitement like the sun itself, warming his skin. he was the first five star you truly wanted off a banner, and he was determined to give himself over.

he’d heard stories, from beidou, how even if she wasn’t on the team at all, she was still ascended. she was still blessed with newfound strength, even though she technically didn’t benefit you in any way.

their eternal kindness. a blessing for those that arrived.

so when the wish turned gold, his heart broke.

he could hear your excited shouts, the pleas of his name, and he fought off tears.

it landed, and you fell silent.

because he wasn’t inside it.

he hoped you’d been given one you wanted. keqing, maybe, from the qixing, or whoever ‘diluc’ was. it was a 2/5 chance, but maybe….

with no warning, the warmth left, and with it, your presence.

the next day was one of pain.

you dragged yourself through commissions, opening the wish screen on instinct to check how many of the gems you had.

he didn’t have to look to know it wasn’t enough.

….it’s useless.

he almost wished you were talking about him, even as you closed the banner. he could handle knowing that you hated him. it was only fair, after all; somebody else had to answer his call.

he could hear you in his periphery, just on the edge of audible, and he sometimes wished he couldn’t. even as you explored, taking down enemies and collecting materials needed for other characters, your mood never lifted. he could hear you try and rationalize it, sometimes, convincing yourself that it made sense.

and he could hear when you ascended jean.

that was a shock. you’d gone through so much trouble to get everything he would have needed, to kill that wretched maguu kenki over and over and over until you had enough of the cores, carefully following routines to collect sea geoderna, and all for nothing.

and you continued to show kindness to those that joined you.

he could feel the sadness radiating off you, it was evident as you fought in silence, completing everything you had to and spending resin with cold, calculated moves. you could have left jean, left her at level one, still stronger just for having joined you, a permanent reminder of his failure… but you didn’t.

by the end of the day, you had enough to wish once more.

the day after that was almost worse.

it’s fine. i’m overreacting. jeans good.

he could hear the cries of treasure hoarders as they fled before your vessels.

she’s a five star. sword user, which i have a lot of good weapons in.

he hated this awful system. there was no way you could wish enough to have a logical chance of wishing him, but he wanted to go.

she’s anemo. a healer. she’s a good person- acting grand master, right?

but as he watched the gem count rise, one or two or maybe five at a time, he could tell you were exploring. looking for chests, subconsciously hoping beyond reason.

she’s good in a lot of teams. it’s unfair to judge her like this…

he could hear the unspoken addition to your words.

(but she’s not him.)

the next day feels like a show.

the counter goes up quicker than he’d ever seen it, rivaling the four days left on his banner.

i don’t know why i’m doing this. i can’t get up to pity in time. this is just painful.

it goes up by 100. what were you doing?

he doesn’t care. he wants to be with you. it hurts to hear you put up a front, to grind out the ‘imperfections’ in the way you’ve set up your team.

he looks anyway. he hopes you aren’t pushing yourself too hard. the last thing he wants is for his fault to weigh on your shoulders.

he’s certain most people in teyvat couldn’t even pass the second floor.

you’re upset you can’t perfectly do the seventh.

the wind brings him the sound of your voice, soft humming interjected with swears and apologies when somebody gets hit and you restart.

he wishes he could sing alongside you.

you wish once more.

the white tassel is ignored.

3.

the number has never felt more taunting.

3 wishes, barely even drops in an impossibly large bucket labeled 90.

3 wishes. 3 days left.

even though it’s impossible, when you wish, he prays that he can feel that pull in his chest, that the floor will vanish beneath him and he can finally meet you-

thrilling tales.

another drop falls.

in all his days traveling, kazuha has never felt this empty.

he’s certain the spark in his eyes on his banner is gone, he knows that if you look closely you could see the distressed twist of his lips.

but you don’t. it’s as if his very presence hurts, a knife of a reminder.

he wants to be with you. he doesn’t care if he’s the exception, if he’s left at level 1 for making you feel this way, he just wants to go.

he pesters beidou daily, making her recount your day with saddened eyes, makes her tell him of the edge to all of your words when you sigh about not being ‘enough’.

the notion makes them both cringe. they don’t know what to do, how to soothe it, as she’s not on the team and can’t do anything about it, and he…

he’s permanently stuck behind glass. an enclosure you can see into but never touch.

youve resigned to it by the next day, and he almost wishes you hadn’t. you sound better, at least, a little less frayed around the edges, but when you wish…

he can hear the sigh when it stays blue.

5.

an eighteenth of the way there, if he did his math right.

he wants to follow them, but he can’t. this… this stupid system never takes what he wants into account, it just runs probabilities and coin flips, and he hates that he can’t force his way out.

you stay awake long enough to see his banner timer tick down to a day.

no words are said as you wish once more.

he feels a little pride, knowing that you’re still doing everything you can, still following those compasses to the gems for him..

and then he remembers that all these wishes will go towards another, that the next five star you get will be a banner character, and certainly not him.

selfishly, he wants you to stop.

you don’t say goodbye when you leave.

his sadness boils into rage.

anybody on the crux could tell you that the winds been angry around the alcor, and beidou had grounded him in liyue.

“find friends,” she’d said. “maybe somebody here’s met them before.”

the only person he can think to go to is yanfei.

she’s been ascended by you too, and invites him to walk with him through the harbor.

nothing she says is new. the pit in his stomach grows.

he finds himself on one of liyue’s many rock spires, inspecting a qingxin next to him.

the wind whispers of your arrival, of the hilichurl towers torn down swift as possible.

all he can think about is what he wants, but when would that matter? he couldn’t force anything, no matter how much he wants to. no matter how much he wanted to go to you, he would never be able to. he’d have to wait until whenever his stars crossed the sky again.

your presence on the wind fades.

you return later that day, mumbling an apology he doesn’t pay much mind to. he’s taken to resting in his banner, where he’s closest to you, where he can hear you the clearest.

the timer on his banner taunts him, even when he’s not looking. he wants to stay in this feeling, stay in the warmth of your presence before you’re gone.

you’re talking to yourself, as you usually do, and he’s trying to memorize your voice. it could be years before he hears you like this again.

he doesn’t like to think about that.

heizou… i need to get him higher… it’s not like i’ll get that lucky, right?

he knows what they’re talking about.

the crystals of near-pure anemo, the ones you’d carefully checked your math over, to ensure you had enough for him..

used on another.

he tries to tell himself that you’re moving on, that he should be happy that you’re happier, but he can’t. jealousy rolls stormclouds over his heart, thorns worming their way between his ribs.

he wants to be there for you.

him.

he wants his blade to be used by your hand, he wants to feel the strength that comes with being with you, he wants you to, selfishly, wait for him.

he wants it to be him, not some detective, he wants him-

the wish screen opens, and all of his bitterness fades away under the honey-sweet grace of your presence. no matter how upset he may be, everything seems to melt away with you. he only wishes that, as your hand hovers over the button to wish, you won’t remain upset over him for too long.

he knows you don’t expect it.

seven has always been a lucky number.

the rush of wind is familiar in his ears, the bright gold light around him not straining his eyes despite the fact that it very much should. he’s falling, plummeting down to earth, but he’s not afraid.

and he can hear your voice—soft, slow, hesitant, perfect—over it all.

…kazuha?

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

Do you think the music video “Sleep Well” is canon to Poppy Playtime, and is it canon for your AU?

Also, I wish instead of including all this ARG (like Theodore’s tragic tale that had no reason to not be in the actual game) and extra stuff just for hype purposes and promoting their YouTube content, Mob Entertainment would instead make the game have a stronger story by just putting that stuff in there, either in the main plot or by making the player find it like the VHS tapes…I have many issues with them as a company…

I just hope the actual canon sticks to a morally gray conflict with no chickening out, and maybe even have our antagonist be somewhat sympathetic, no matter whether the ending is good or bad for all parties involved…I’m just kinda dreading/expecting that there will be huge open ends/dangling plot threads or even a sequel hook so the franchise can be milked even further than it has been, especially with that movie in the works…

I just saw that music video, and... Honestly it's a nice song, but I dont think any of it adds up to anything lore wise? And oh my God, I can't agree enough with you regarding all the ARG stuff.

As someone who's ALSO making a mascot horror game, and also as someone who had their brain rewired at age 11 thanks to FNaF's, I am SO tired of games pulling the mysterious/obtuse lore on us. Mob (as in, the company, not the poor probably overworked gamedevs) cannot deal with the idea of their game actually having cohesive lore and impactful moments that aren't shock value. Everyone loved chapter 3 not because it was a masterpiece, but because it's actually a decent horror fucking game. Of course chapter 3 is good, chapter 1 was a paid demo and chapter 2 was almost Hello Neighbour levels of fun! Of course chapter 3 is good, it's actually trying to be a horror game instead of a YouTube Kids content farm product!

Chapter 3 of Poppy Playtime lacks any impact that isn't shock value. That's it. And yes, I disliked chapter 3 so much it reverse engineered me into making an AU where everyone lives because fuck this awful shock content logic!

I want the canon to stick to a morally grey conflict as well. I WANT Prototype to have an actual point and for him to be a tragic character, I WANT the game to show us that maybe Poppy isn't as good as she wants us to believe, and I WANT the game to pick all of this and still go "but what the Prototype did was wrong, and we need to put an end to this carnage". But, c'mere, look at me.

I have no faith this will actually happen.

That's it! Zero faith, nothing, nada! I was expecting nothing out of chapter 3 and STILL managed to be dissapointed. I doubt Poppy Playtime will ever try to have an interesting story inside the chapters, much less an actually compelling conflict. At this point I'm just seeing where Mob Youtube Kids Content Farm Entertainment will do to destroy any future opportunities of something compelling.

Also. I would have liked chapter 3 way more if we actually saw Theo go from being Theo into becoming Catnap, with his death scene being PAINFUL to watch after spending the entire chapter learning how he became Catnap.

[waywardsunlight]

I love Philip. I wish he didn’t have fans. He could be. So awful if you just let him. He can be a sad little meow meow but you have to hold him accountable for his actions and not be racist about him (forcing Luz or any other characters to work through their own fear or upset about his actions to redeem him is. So weird and inappropriate, as is trying to justify his actions saying he doesn’t know better- he does and even if he didn’t, they’d still be horrendous actions that wouldn’t owe time on anyone else’s part). He’s not a tragic character in the Owl House, he had agency and intent. Romance or forgiveness will not make this man better AS STATED in the show. Have him completely dismantle the ideals he stands for BEFORE he makes irreparable decisions if you want to have him be okay in your story because pre-planned murder is intentional and not a mistake. There really isn’t a world where Luz, or anyone, owes him any of their time. Please recognize that he’s a horrible person and his ultimate goal is genocide, and none of his victims or their families owe him their energy.

[dat-town]

careful what you wish for

never seen circus masterpost

Characters: fae!Yeonjun & female reader

Setting & genre: magical realism au

Summary: You had grown up listening to stories about the power of love and you ached for a love story like that. Yet, you are only granted tragic ones. Little do you know that it’s because of the fae that granted your wish.

Warnings: general creepiness of an eerie circus, emotional manipulation, heartbreak, curses

Words: 2.5k

For @restlessmaknae, happy D-1 <3

Many people came to Yeonjun with their wishes.

Hearsay had it, he had the power to grant humans what their fragile hearts desired. In a way it was truer than most rumours about the circus but being benevolent wasn’t in the nature of dark faes. Treachery was though, so he smiled pretty, promised the naively hopeful people that their wishes were going to turn true but didn’t warn them about the consequences. About every wish having a bitter pay-off. How else could it have been fun to him? Watching a man win the lottery wasn’t nearly as entertaining as watching him losing the money almost as fast. He had never granted a wish out of the goodwill of his heart as it was cold and full of thorns.

Although Yeonjun missed living in a forest, he had the time of his life in the circus. Faes liked chaos and riddles and challenges, they liked twisting their words and playing with humans’ emotions. And the circus boasted an abundance of desperate visitors each and every time. Some wanted to know about their future, about their fortune or their love. Others wanted to watch magic happen and take their future’s matters into their own hands. Or so they thought. Yeonjun wasn’t the only one at the circus who enjoyed the suffering of humans, after all.

It was a day like any other when you walked into the circus. You were in awe watching the acrobatics and fire show in the main tent and won a teddy bear at ring tossing only to lose it a corner away before you walked by him. You brought the scent of books and roses with you and the spirit of someone genuine and full of hope. Yeonjun’s favourite kind of victim.

He was sitting on top of the wishing well, engulfed in darkness, watching your every move with a sinister smile. He saw the way you faltered, glancing at the deep well and the sign encouraging you to toss a coin and make a wish. He could tell you wanted to but something was holding you back. After some pondering eventually you turned your back to the attraction and the fae boy you couldn’t see. Yeonjun pouted, disappointed, and sent fireflies after you, hoping they would lure you back. He wasn’t allowed to coerce you into making a wish but there was nothing against something as innocent as that.

The parade of the circus was still going on when you eventually found your way. Yeonjun tilted his head as he watched you approach, tentative and shy, almost as if you were unsure whether you should be there at all. Interesting. Most people who visited the circus just wanted to have fun, they didn’t think more into their actions. It was a kind of part of the enchantment as well, one that could unravel people’s true feelings. They didn’t know they wouldn’t remember it at the end of the day, that they could only live the consequences of their actions but there was something in the air, something that helped humans put down the mask they wore. So why were you so careful?

Still, you slowly stepped to the well, golden coin trapped between your slim fingers. The light gleamed upon the metal piece the same as stars were reflected in your doe eyes. You turned the coin a few times between your fingers then lifted it to your rosy lips, kissing it goodbye with hushed, bashful words.

“Please, I wish to fall in love,” you whispered barely audible even to the fae’s amplified hearing. Then you tossed the coin into the well and let out a little sigh when you heard the money hit the water with a little splash.

Even as you walked away, Yeonjun could tell the genuine desire in your heart to finally find a love everybody was talking about. You wanted to feel devoted, to be cared for, to have a love you would have given up everything. Such a naive little thing, the boy thought with a wicked smile in the corner of his mouth.

It was no question he would grant your wish, oh he will! He would give you a love story, or even love stories, you would never be able to forget. Because you forgot the most important thing when it was about wishes: the devil was in the details. Or in this case, a dark fae was.

You had grown up reading fairy tales about princesses and knights, poor girls and princes, good daughters and loyal soldiers. You ached to feel that kind of fluttering feeling in your chest, to be held, to cook for somebody, to just be someone's. You knew the stories always had some kind of obstacles in front of the lovers, if not dragons or similar dangers then class difference or politics, so realistically speaking you knew that not even those love stories were easy. Yet, if it meant that you could find the one, the one for you, you believed you would have endured everything in the name of love.

However, you would have never imagined yourself visiting a wishing well, pleading to fall in love. Somehow it felt like cheating but on the other hand, it was just a harmless little wish, wasn't it? That's what you told yourself as you turned the coin between your fingers before letting it drop into the well.

Then you forgot about it. But unbeknownst to you, something changed.

You had always fell in love with the idea of people but being too shy, you had never initiated anything. Now, the people you had interest in suddenly noticed you and the more you interacted with them the more it felt real, like love. Until your heart broke.

First, it was the boy from the bookstore. He had a lovely smile and always greeted you kindly, but now he even remembered your name, asked how your day was and talked with you for minutes (what felt like hours) about the books you were currently reading. He felt like a soulmate, making your heart flutter with his genuine curiosity and like-mindedness but then just after he proposed having a coffee together some day, it turned out that he had to move away.

You were quite saddened but around that time you met the newbie barista at your favourite coffee shop who remembered your order and tried to make you smile when you were having a bad day. You fell in love because of the heart next to your name on the cup.

Then the old high school classmate whom you accidentally ran into on the street and told you that you should catch up and reminisce about nostalgic memories.

And it continued like that:

The helpful stranger at the supermarket picking up your rolled away oranges.

The neighbour who brought over the letter that had been mistakenly delivered to him.

The clumsy tourist on the metro asking you for directions.

You felt your heart flutter with the hope of love with all of them. One after another. But it all inevitably led to heartbreak. Without fail. They all left. Or weren't available. Or it just wasn't the right time.

But you truly believed that it would change some day, that you would find true love, one that was worth waiting for. You didn't give up, didn't lose hope. You wiped your tears away as a firefly flew by you.

Yeonjun watched your heart break time after time. It was a wicked game he played, fueled by the darkness he had grown accustomed to. But he also watched you smile at the old lady the next day, asking about her granddaughter or taking out your sick neighbour's dog for a walk. He knew that your heart had been shattered and patched and yet you still showed kindness to everybody around you. He told himself that the reason why he found himself being drawn to you was because he didn't understand it: how you had so much love to give when your heart was so fragile, when none of those whom you had fallen in love with loved you back truly or not enough. He couldn't break you and he just couldn't comprehend how. What kept you going?

It felt like fate when you walked back into his web. Not remembering your last time he wondered whether you were about to make the same wish or you had become smarter since then. However, this time he didn't want to leave it to luck, to just watch you from afar, through firefly eyes. So when you walked by his well, he stepped out of the shadows and shoulders straight, eyes sharp he called after you.

"Miss. You dropped this," he held out a golden coin to you, a cheap trick but it was worth seeing the embarrassed blush on your cheeks as you checked your pockets and purse after spinning around. You were so lost, so clueless, he couldn't help but smile, sickeningly sweet. "Were you about to make a wish?"

You glanced at him briefly, taking in the sight of a lean boy in a silken white shirt tucked in brown pants, his skin glittering under the stars. His dark locks were long and messy but not unkempt, rather artfully styled and the accessories he wore seemed like having little stories to them each. But with his human features and pointy ear hidden, the fae was sure you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between him and a simple boy.

"No, I– I'm not sure," you mumbled, shy, but oh with centuries behind him Yeonjun was nothing but a patient man.

"About what?" He asked, tilting his head curiously, watching your reactions closely.

"About what to wish for."

Oh. Well, he didn’t expect that. Humans were greedy little creatures after all, almost as much as his kind, they always had wishes. Even if they had all the riches of the world and all the power, they always wanted more.

“Isn’t that supposed to be easy? You should wish for what you want,” he explained, confused, but you just smiled, kind.

“What I want is something simple but it’s not just about me. If it’s supposed to be, it will happen anyways, won’t it?” Your words were nicely phrased and thought out, but Yeonjun wasn’t sure whether you were trying to convince him or yourself. Either way, who could have trusted destiny so much when they had a chance to have a say in their lives? 

“Keep it. You can use it to make a wish yourself,” you pointed at the coin in his hands and turned back around, ready to go, leaving the flabbergasted fae behind.

It had been so long since he had last been treated so kindly even if it was such a simple gesture, even if you didn’t know anything about him that he couldn’t just let you leave like that.

“Hey, wait up,” he caught up with you on long legs, slowing down only next to you, flashing you a charming smile. “What if I want to use it to have an excuse to stay by your side?”

Yeonjun watched you blush pretty and try to hide your smile. You didn’t say anything but let him tag along. You told him your name once he introduced himself as well and you talked a bit while walking around in the circus, him making sure you saw the most stunning parts of this mystical realm. He told you there were better things out there than the illusionist’s performance as he urged you to follow him. He summoned fireflies when you walked in the dark and watched your eyes widen in wonder upon seeing them. He watched a smile tug on your lips when a raven sat on his shoulder and nipped at his ear. The closer he lured you to the borderland of his world, the more entranced you looked and oh, still it was him whose heart skipped a beat when you grabbed him by the wrist before he could have tripped in tree roots he hadn’t paid attention to. Watching you get shy once again, his once-immune heart began to thaw.

“Can you tell me what you would have wished for?” He asked in a whisper, his fingers playing with the dark hair strand obstructing your view.

“Love,” you said, simply, with a nostalgic smile of somebody wiser. “I used to want to fall in love but I realised that’s the easy part. Keep loving is harder.”

Now, that was a lesson learned, but Yeonjun wasn’t satisfied.

“Why is that?”

“Isn’t it always so easy to find and lose something? Keeping things requires constant care,” you said matter-of-factly and the fae boy thought of how he believed it was how things were supposed to work: nothing ever stayed. He also always took back what he gave. It was vicious and selfish but things had always been like this. Not for you though. “You know, for a long time I thought I was unlovable. But then I realised that if even I didn’t love myself, how could I have expected others to do so? I finally learned to accept myself like this, with my flaws and all, and now I feel like I have love to give to others too. Love isn’t a limited resource, it multiplies.”

The more you spoke, sincerity and goodness in your words and beliefs, the more Yeonjun lost his grasp on reality. He thought he knew how the world was: cold, harsh and full of terrible, fallible people. But the way you saw the world was so strikingly different. He used many human emotions to manipulate them: hope, trust, love… He only saw how it made them weak and vulnerable. He hadn’t seen the side when these things could make somebody strong. He thought he had lived like this, in a realm where intentions were never simple and never selfless, too long for things to change, that he was always going to live a life in which people either hate or fear him. Yet, the way you looked at him as if you knew his secret and it didn’t scare you, Yeonjun didn’t know what to do with it.

He stumbled backwards, yanking his arm out of your hold as if you burnt him. He looked at you in horror as he felt his heartbeat pick up its rhythm. He knew this feeling all too well even if he hadn’t felt it himself before.

You had wished to fall in love but deep down, you wanted nothing less than a love like in fairy tales. The kind of twisted, forbidden love people fought wars for.

And Yeonjun granted it to you with inevitable subsequent heartbreak without knowing that he himself would fall victim to this vicious cycle of love and heartbreak.

It was his own doing, the consequences of his cruel actions, and now both of you were going to pay the price because it was not easy to cast aside the curse of a fae, to untangle the threads of his dark magic. But if he didn’t find a way, he knew that he was going to love you.

And lose you.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #23 – Montress Volume 4: The Chosen by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

My monthly Monstress read! Because spacing them out forces me to evaluate each volume more as an independent piece in itself (still not very good at this), and also putting five books between each 6-issue comic volume makes it feel less like cheating. This volume was still very good, but also pretty easily the weakest of the four I’ve read so far – though honestly I can’t be entirely sure how much of that is honest analysis and how much is me just finding a couple big choices made this volume very aesthetically disagreeable.

The story picks up with a bit of a timeskip from the previous book, as Kippa’s kidnappers carry away to their employer and Maika and Corvin furiously search for her. Kippa manages to escape into an incredibly cursed tomb and gets to safety with the help of a selectively friendly dragon, while Maika is captured herself while trying to rescue her – and finds out that the ‘Lord Doctor’ who had Kippa kidnapped is her father, a centuries-old direct descendant of the Shaman Empress who has assembled a collection of warlords and cultists he plans to found an empire on. He attempts to sell her on accepting a role as the princess of his Court of Blood as he plots to set off the world war everyone knows is brewing, and also to embrace the whole cannibalistic-eldritch-monster-symbiote thing and just stop worrying and eat people. Maika, of the arbitrary and incoherent but very stronglt felt moral code, is not an easy sell on this.

My biggest issue with the volume is just that it feels a bit disjointed, I think? Not that previous volumes haven’t had mostly separate plot threads running through them, but this one felt more meandering than any of the others I’ve read so far. The impression wasn’t really helped by how much of it felt like it was just jumping from Kippa getting exposited to by a dracul to Maika getting lectured by her father, either. The little cutaways to Vihn and Ren or Tuya and the Warlord were both great on their own merits, but they didn’t exactly improve the sense of narrative focus or forward momentum.

Part of that was just this being (if I recall correctly) the first time that the Maika/Ren/Kippa trio’s been separated for functionally an entire volume? I really didn’t realize how much I missed the dynamic each of the three has with the other two until it was gone. I can only hope they stick together a bit more from here on out.

As for more obviously subjective issues – I really, really don’t like the fact that Marium (the Cumena’s messiah-figure) was apparently deeply tied into whatever was going on with Zinn and the Shaman Empress? It’s just too neat and tidy, tying everything important that ever happened into one tight weave. Makes the whole setting feel claustrophobic.

Besides that – and this is pure aesthetics – but blech, really don’t particularly care for the way that the Ancient’s, uh, ancient civilization is shown and described almost through the idiom of science fiction? Skyscrapers and flying cars and hyper-[magi]-tech and a past descending from distant stars to claim this new world. It’s just kind of boring, I guess? Two great tastes that absolutely do not taste great together.

Not to say this was bad, or anything – I absolutely still enjoyed it overall, and it never became a chore to read. Maika’s cosmically comically awful family is always fun (even if I wish the Doctor would die sooner rather than latter, preferably messily), and even if Zinn’s layered tragic backstories are getting a bit much, the complication of its relationship with the Shaman-Empress is intriguing in its own right. Also Tuya and the Warlord’s toxic yuri soap opera is amazing and I kind of want a whole issue of just them tearing into each other (though the Warlord so far seems to really be a bit of a dumb brute. Really not holding her own).But the baseline set by the previous volumes is high, and it doesn’t really quite live up to them.

In terms of writing anyway, the art remains as sublime as ever. One thing that especially that struck me this time was just how unique and high-quality the designs of characters who are, functionally, extras there to provide background color were. Both the various warmasters of the Blood Court and Kippa’s kidnappers had these incredibly rich, detailed designs that were just full of personality and individual flourishes – it really is one of the main appeals of the book.

[ystrike1]

Paper Cuts - By toterpxl (8/10)

This is a classic stalker story. It's about a depressed girl, who has never had a stable life. She is finally isolated and alone, with no family left to protect her. Her stalker has been waiting for an opportunity, and now it's time to hunt.

The stalker, Elliott, is an author who writes about obsessive love. His target is May. A girl from an abusive family who had a protective older brother. After his death the stalker immediately moves to May's city.

There are plenty of good people in May's life, but her brother was also her parental figure. He was...it. She has to support herself now. After his death she becomes depressed and she wishes she died with him. Their parents aren't dead, just neglectful. May has pretty bad abandonment issues.

She attended her brothers funeral alone. Her best friend Nina could not attend. Elliot walks back into her life soon after. They were pen pals. Elliot was a good friend, but he lied to get on her good side. Her brother, Adam, figured out what was happening and he chased away the stalker when she was young. Adam didn't explain what happened, because he didn't want to scare his sister. So now May thinks Elliot is a long lost childhood friend, and she really needs friends.

She welcomes him back into her life.

Elliot is a great actor. He's overjoyed because Adam died. Surprisingly he is not the one who killed Adam. Adams's tragic death just gave the yandere permission to hunt again. He cries for May and tells her he'll never leave her again. He brings cake and he acts cute around her. His personality is completely fake.

They hang out. He is polite and wonderful. She's happy as she can be after experiencing a tragic loss, but Elliot moves too fast. He thinks he is smart but he's too eager. He starts showing up at her workplace. He meets her coincidentally about five times. He's everywhere. May can't get a moment alone, because he always shows up.

She becomes suspicious when he starts talking about his books. They're all insane love poem based novels about kidnapping women. Red flag. Especially since someone recently broke into her apartment.

He smells like cigarettes.

Her bed has started to smell of cigarettes.

He's been sleeping on the floor next to her, and kissing her hair. He broke in to plant microphones in her home. His job allows him alot of freedom. So, he stalks her all day. He can't stop and now he's getting too obvious.

His house is full of photos of her. Her knows everything about her. He knows things she hasn't told him yet, and he accidentally blabs about those things. I think this could get violent. Elliot was afraid of Adam, but there are no big strong men left in May's life.

Her bubbly best friend is her best ally, and they don't want to fight to get rid of Elliott. The two girls plan to gather evidence to present to the cops. May is not a dumbass. She calls Nina and begs for help. Nina agrees and says she has noticed Elliot walking around. He wanders around May's neighborhood all day, in different outfits.

He got caught.

Elliot blames Nina. He thinks his act is perfect. May should love him. He's the only man around her too, so he thinks she has to have feelings for him. Nina is getting in the way. May is scared because of Nina, not him. It can't be him.

This is the way he thinks.

He's rude and awful to everyone but May, and that is his real personality. He is also a coward that was too scared to challenge Adam to get to May. He's an insecure, unstable stalker who has based his career and life around toxic love. Cowardly yanderes are less common, so I don't know what he'll do next.

I hope Nina doesn't die.

[aquato-family-circus]

I think an additionally understated element in the tragedy of the Psychonauts' degradation is how much it had to have affected Lili and Truman. The latter has to bear the responsibility of needing to keep the organization that his Uncle and the other founders started, despite unfortunately also not really having the means to truly "fix" the heart and soul of the organization due to the founders' various mental issues. The kind of burden he must be under, that feeling of never being quite good enough to hold the mantle but still trying his damdest to keep things together with what skills and tools he has...

I think that's probably another factor of why he would bring on agents like Hollis, Sasha, and Milla; because even if none of them can truly begin to fix the problem, they end up sharing a lot of the qualities needed that represent what his family tried to do. The drive to help others fight their inner demons, the drive to explore the human mind, and the love to try to aid those who need it is there (albeit not perfect, given their mixed record with the Campers of Whispering Rock), even if only to find and mentor those who came later on in hopes of prolonging things.

And Lili, even if she can't entirely pin the specifics, had to grow up with that burden as well. Daughter of a man stuck with that kind of burden, the distance mixed with love for her father, but still perceptive enough to recognize that something is clearly missing and gone from the Psychonauts, the broken family dynamic with her Uncle whom she's never met and her missing mother...

Truman's entire baggage where he became the leader and had to literally fire his uncle AND see most of the others become reclusive and unwell because of all their shared gried is so sad... like that was his uncle helmut who died, that was the lucy he got to know as a young adult as a sweet, passionate woman who was basically like an aunt to him

truman almost certainly volunteered to hep build the PN organization after maligular was defeated in hopes that he could help lighten the load (and maybe work to cope with his losses)...

from the very little we know about the real truman, he doesnt seem like the guy who likes or wants to be in charge, since he's apparently been trying to put hollis in charge for years

but he's also ultimately the best person for the job bc of how his reaching out to hollis parallels how ford was reaching out to people like compton

they both knew these people struggling and making awful mistakes just needed a chance to develop their skills and flourish in the right conditions

from a very easy to miss conversation we know lili says (paraphrasing) that uncle bob would never hurt her dad. and truman sends pictures of lili to bob despite the pain and distance between them... im sure truman really wishes his daughter could know these people the way he grew to know them... and it messes lili up bc she really probably only has gotten to speak to compton and otto, a nervous wreck and a reclusive weirdo respectively. her perception of the rest of them is through stories told to her & through comic books, thats so wack

the fact shes rly only gonna get to know her uncles after all this tragedy is, well... tragic!!

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Also shorter ones today… mostly related to our previous replies and posts!

Anonymous asked:

After seeing Eel Floyd with Riddle

AND THOSE BITE MARKS 👀👀👀👀

I gotta know -

Did Floyd slip and slide in Riddle?

Or

Also

Did Riddle magically goldfish form and the two had merman sex???

Honestly I wasn’t thinking about Riddle also becoming a merman, but they absolutely have to have merman sex at some point, otherwise it just isn’t fair (to me) lol

And to answer your first question, yes, there might have been some slipping and sliding in Riddle involved~

Anonymous asked:

re: the gaslighting Jade ask. I randomly stumbled on your blog from other ones, and I literally blocked you because shroudcest triggers me. Ultimately, we are responsible for our own safety. As long as it’s properly marked for (which yours clearly is since I blocked you the second I made a tumblr), really all we can do is filter the things that hurt us out.

(im agreeing with you btw. draw what you want i cant stop you. just feel like i in particular make a point worth mentioning from seeing that. you can answer this or not bc obviously i probably wont see it anyway)

Anon! Whether you see this reply or not, thank you very much for writing this despite having us blocked lol

You really are making a good point, and I am glad that you are taking care of yourself and avoiding uncomfortable stuff. I really encourage it. Thank you for understanding and for approaching this issue with respect.

Have a good day.

Anonymous asked:

Gaslighting IS Jade’s love language. Also mushrooms.

Facts, Anon <3 He doesn’t waste his gaslighting and mushrooms on those he doesn’t find entertaining love!

Anonymous asked:

Honestly I can totally see Cater as the kind of guy that now and then buys a random manga just because the cover looks aesthetically pleasing, although if they are BL they are probably more oriented towards shonen-ai than explicit content. But also he wouldn't really read them because he finds the stories and characters a bit ridiculous (is he a bitter anti-romantic? or maybe his sisters used to collect shojo manga and he associates the love story genre with them?). I bet when he had roommates he had fun leaving one of his manga lying around, just to see people's reaction and go "aw, shoot, you saw it? that's sooo embarassing..." or something like that

To be honest, I can see that too. Cater seems like someone who isn’t all that into anime and manga, but is aware of it enough to recognise that the cover is pretty and that there is something gay inside (he might figure out the latter thing later as he looks inside the book lol). His sisters really could be into it though, so I can see him having certain associations.

lol Cater’s roommates “finding” his manga though… Don’t act so coy, Cater 😭

Anonymous asked:

Goddammit! Idia, you cannot escape me for long, one way or another, your chest will be licked! *shakes fist at the sky*

I love how this is turning into a Looney Tunes cartoon…

Anonymous asked:

Idia doesn’t have nipples. He accidentally shaved them off. Tragic 😔 L in the chat for his nipples.

Damn. I’m afraid I have bad news for the previous Anon.

Anonymous asked:

Do you have any HCs for Neige and/or Chenya?

We do have HCs about Neige/Vil and Chenya/Riddle (1,2)!

Anonymous asked:

It is I, 🐩 anon,

So I got a friend into twst and tell me why her favorite character is goddamn Crowley? I'm currently trying to convert her to Divus supremacy. Enough about this. Let me ask my silly little question.

Is there anything about TWST's story plot that you dislike or wished it was worked on more? Or character you wish were more fleshed out? 

Your friend has quite the taste… She is probably a genius of sorts 😔🙏

I feel like I was pretty vocal about it, so I am sorry for talking about it again, but I really didn’t enjoy how Ch2 was handled and Leona in general, to be honest. I wrote a post about my grievances a whole year ago, but my stance didn’t really change. We’ve rewatched the majority of the main story since then, and I thought that maybe with fresh minds and fresh eyes we would enjoy Leona at least to some degree, but unfortunately it didn’t really help. The events don’t really help either…

There might be some other things, but this is the one I think about every time when we talk about the flaws of TWST writing.

Anonymous asked:

what is your notp?

A bunch of Leona ships come to mind, i.e. Leona/Malleus, Leona/Vil, Leona/Idia 🤔 But also a bunch of Trey ships, like Trey/Jade or Rook/Trey…

Anonymous asked:

if you had to go on a date with one of the twst boys who are you picking? i'm picking idia

Idia is a great option, Anon; he would be so uncomfortable and awkward, getting nervous about the smallest inconveniences and whispering “thank god” every time you don’t force him to do something… I would pick him to, but my second option would be Jamil. I think he’s pretty chill.

Katsu would've picked Jade because of course, this is the best pick.

Anonymous asked:

any old fandoms that you feel out of love with?

Can’t think of any, Anon… I feel like we never fall completely out of love with anything, just move on, but there is always an opportunity that we’ll come back at some point. Things like Homestuck are still on our minds constantly lol

There are some titles that we kind of started watching, but then stopped because it wasn’t fully out yet, and since then we kind of lost interest for this thing. And with some of these titles it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever go back, but it’s never 1000% impossible. But then again, it’s not like we loved these titles…

Anonymous asked:

Funfact: The crowley that crowley is named after used to perform sex based magic with men

Damn I hope this is what our Crowley also does. This is his dark secret that is very poorly hidden

Anonymous asked:

I think Riddle would be a really good teacher's pet

Oh he would <3 He is a teacher’s pet.

Ironically, I feel like this makes him a bit boring for Crewel…although it depends…🤔

Anonymous asked:

What is a ship you rarely draw but you love

I don’t draw any of them enough, I love them all! Waaaaah :(

I feel like I don’t draw Sebek/Silver nearly enough for how much we love them, Rook/Epel is also a rare one but we love it, Sebek/Idia could use more love, anything with Jamil too…

Anonymous asked:

Please share with us a full list of the preference of the TWST boys? Top or bottom? I typed up a list for you to use!

Anon, we have a list in our pinned post! But since you’ve typed up a list, I’ll go through the list again :) We also have a post in which we explain our reasoning for each choice, so you can read it too if you’re interested.

Oh! And if you meant some other types of preferences, please let me know. In that case though, we have a list of the boys’ kinks, which isn’t the same thing, but pretty close; so you can read this one too if you want <3

Riddle – bottom

Ace – top

Deuce – bottom

Trey – top

Cater – top

Leona – bottom

Ruggie – top

Jack  - top

Azul – top

Floyd – top

Jade – top

Kalim – top

Jamil – bottom

Vil – bottom

Rook – top

Epel – bottom

Idia – bottom

Ortho  – top

Malleus– bottom

Sebek  – top

Lilia  – top

Silver– bottom

[abyssal-ali]

The Terrifying Trio (T3)

Alright y'all this is my DP x DC x MLB crossover!

Masterlist here

A/N: Rereading this it's more of an outline than a story, oops. I do like this idea and have vague plans to flesh it out & turn it into an actual story, but that will likely be wayyy in the future, so feel free to be inspired by this or flesh it out for me😜 (just please tag me!)

Rating: G (? Mentions of death and experimentation but nothing graphic. Let me know if I should change/add warnings!)

Everyone knew about the T3, as they called themselves. No one imagined they were real until they met them, and then they wished they hadn't; the trio were far more terrifying than their tales.

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The T3 began with three completely normal teenagers forced to meet by their friends and family. Their origin was simply to make those who set up this meeting regret it and serve as a warning not to mess with scarily-well-trained teenagers. It worked better than they hoped and grew into a branch of the vigilante groups.

The group, as civilians, looked similar, with black hair and blue or green eyes, and appeared to be a normal teenage friend group.

Wrong.

Nothing about them was normal.

The oldest of the three, Damian Wayne, was the youngest son of multi-billionaire socialite Bruce Wayne, who happened to be a founding member of the Justice League and the original vigilante of Gotham, Batman. His mother was an assassin and the daughter of the League of Assassins' leader. Damian was the fifth user of the Robin mantle and now went by the moniker Phoenix.

Daniel Fenton was the second halfa and King of the Infinite Realms but preferred to be referred to by his hero persona, Phantom. He was Marinette's twin but had been separated at birth.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the Grand Guardian of the Miraculous and the true holder of both the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculi, going by Blackjack as a hero. She was treated as a queen by the other members of the trio, as Danny was her brother and Damian her boyfriend.

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Danny Fenton was 14 when he entered his parents' portal to the Ghost Zone and became half-human/half-ghost in a tragic accident. A couple years later he, as his hero alias Phantom, became the new Ghost King by defeating the old tyrant. He was discovered by Superman, who was flying home from Smallville one day and found a ghost boy fighting more ghosts. He became Danny's mentor and introduced him to the Justice League.

Damian was Robin when he was kidnapped by his mother to be part of an experiment, as Heir to the Demon. It didn't work immediately, and he was thrown into a Lazarus Pit to heal and revive him. The Pit bonded with the experimental serum and Damian awoke as a meta with regeneration/reanimation/healing powers similar to Deathstroke's. Damian also began learning basic magic from his brother Jason's girlfriend, Raven.

Marinette knew she was a true Ladybug, but once she took back the ring from her ex-partner she discovered that she was also a true black cat. Her arch-nemesis Hawkmoth and his allies were swiftly defeated with her combined abilities and the support of her team. A previous Ladybug's daughter, who was a museum curator in Paris, recognized her energy and offered to become her mentor, introducing Ladynoir to the Justice League.

----------

Today was the day for the Leaguers to bring their mentees to the Watchtower to meet the other mentees/partners. Batman arrived first as always, accompanied by Robin. Superman arrived soon after with Superboy and Phantom, then Wonder Woman and Ladynoir.

Nightwing pushed Robin towards Phantom and Ladynoir, who were gazing out at the galaxy in awe.

“Go make some friends, Baby Bat!”

“Tt.” Robin stalked over to the other two, who barely acknowledged him. “If you do not want my company, do not hesitate to say so.” Please.

Ladynoir turned and scanned him critically. “Hm...were you forced to come and 'socialize' and 'make contacts, if not friends', too?”

“Unfortunately. I am perfectly happy with the small circle of friends I already have.”

Phantom turned from the stars to the conversation. “My sister keeps telling me I need more socializing for my mental health or whatever, but I'm perfectly fine with my girlfriend and guy in the chair.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Ladynoir. “I have my team, why do I need civilians or more hero friends?”

“Why don't we show our mentors why they shouldn't encourage us to make friends, then,” suggested Robin.

Cheshire grins spread over the others' faces.

Across the room, deep in their own conversation, their mentors shivered.

----------

After that, the trio really did become friends. One day, during a visit to the Batcave to see Robin, an incident happened that forced Robin to find out that Phantom and Ladynoir's DNA showed their genetic similarity; both siblings had been adopted and hadn't known it. That was an awkward conversation. Ladynoir was glad she had a crush on Robin, not Phantom, which would have made it even worse.

Ladynoir was introduced to her brother's clone, Dani (her sister? Cousin?) The trio told each other their civilian identities several months into their friendship collaboration and started their own hero group, Styx.

(Dani and Jason were honourary members.)

Damian shed Robin and became Phoenix instead, and Ladynoir became Blackjack, but Danny decided to keep Phantom as his alias.

----------

Damian asked Marinette out while they were on a stakeout. When she happily responded, “It's a date!” he got a little flustered. Danny looked at him and grinned at his friend's awkwardness.

Having had years of practice as their alter egos, all three members of Styx were excellent fighters, but even as civilians, they were trained in martial arts, with their mothers being formidable women. Maddie Fenton was an eighth-degree black belt, Talia al Ghul was a leader of assassins, and Sabine Cheng was a former assassin/mercenary.

Damian discovered Sabine's old career on the stakeout and was struck by how similar he and Marinette were. Of course, Mari was usually a lot nicer (maybe softer was a better word?) than him, even after she toughened up, but they were similar in many other ways.

After the intel they needed was gathered they realized how close they were when they glanced up from reviewing the information. Damian froze and Marinette leaned in a tiny bit. “Is this an actual date?” she whispered.

He swallowed. “I hope so.”

Mari smiled softly. “Me too.”

He closed the distance tentatively and she inched closer.

Danny flew up just after his sister's and friend's lips met. “I called it! Jason owes me $20!”

They jerked apart, glaring daggers at him. “Danny!”

----------

T3, the civilian Styx, finally agreed to let their friends/teams meet each other. Phantom and Blackjack had interacted with the Bats and Titans on missions and JL gatherings before, but the Miraculous Court and Team Phantom hadn't met yet.

Yet again, a glowing portal opened in Amity Park, but his time it was connected to Paris. Danny's support trio (not to be confused with his abetting trio) stepped into the Miraculous Corut's HQ. Luka and Juleka Couffaine-Stone, Kagami Tsurugi, Chloe Bourgeois, Max Kante, and Alix Kubdel met Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Jazz Fenton. Max and Tucker became instant frenemies, battling over tech, while Sam and Juleka bonded surprisingly quickly over all things goth.

----------

The T3 waited in the shadows of the warehouse to apprehend the cultists intent on summoning a long-dead magician. When it was go time they transformed (Blackjack had figured out how to do it without a flash of light), becoming the cultists' nightmares, Styx.

Danny had glowing green eyes, weightless white hair, fangs, and Phantom's general ghostly presence for beginning intimidation.

Blackjack appeared as a white-haired, glowing green cat-eyed, fanged, clawed, and winged being: in short, terrifying.

Phoenix had glowing green eyes, white hair, sharper-than-should-be-normal teeth, a katana on his back and fireballs in his hand. (The Pit had whitened his hair completely, but he had a glamour spell on his civilian form to appear as before with black hair. The pyrokinesis was one of his favourite spells and one of the first Raven taught him, upon plenty of begging bribing.)