#and it’s also cool how black knights and white knights both can be admired but there are darker elements in both

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Randomly thinking about grrm’s deconstruction of knighthood in asoiaf and how ironic it is that the Night’s Watch - an organization known to be half full of murderers, rapists, thieves, and all sorts of criminals - is essentially in charge of defending all of humanity when shit hits the fan. Like westeros just scrambled ‘the lowest of the low’ together into a penal colony in the far north and is totally fine depending on them for their survival; though tbf, i guess part of it has to do with expecting these societal ‘others’ to give their not so valuable lives for the good of the realm, who really cares if they live or die because they’re out of sight and out of mind. And it’s kinda funny too when we factor in the kingsguard because it’s a far more respected institution than the NW presently, but it too has its fair share of monsters. Quite a few men of the kingsguard have been morally bankrupt individuals, and we even see how the men of the KG sometimes forget other people they should be responsible for because their one priority is the king (we see what happens when you put the people of the realm first and then are ostracized by it a la Jaime tho there’s more to it). Missing the forest for the tree is something both institutions share, making them quite similar. So it’s interesting how grrm flips the fantasy classic of the black knight vs the white knight. The black knight is often anti-heroic, if not straight up villainous, and is often made to be diametrically opposed to the valiant and ever good white knight. But asoiaf has white and black knights both be shown of great virtue and great vice. The white knights in this story really are no better than the black knights. I’d love to see how these two entities could intersect, i.e., what happens when a white knight eventually changes his cloak for a black one (*cough* Jaime *cough*) and how that falls into grrm’s deconstruction of the romance of chivalry, the extent of personal heroism, and perceived knightly virtue. Welp I don’t even know what point I’m trying to make anymore, I just wanted to talk about the KG and the NW because they’re really cool.

[flanneryculp]

cleo knight for the character bingo ?!

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT CLEO EARLIER TODAY!

Every time she appears is such a delight, and I think she has the best debut out of any Snicketverse character! telling dr flammarion off and making it so HES scared of HER?? even though he kidnapped her??? just *chef’s kiss*

Cleo has such great fashion sense, her style is very distinct with her black and white stripes and glasses and beret, it’s just so cool! I’ve been wondering if the pink accents in her outfits could represent her difference from her family? (she wears black, white, and pink, which contrasts with her families’ black and white thinking? something like that, i havent figured it out quite yet.)

I don’t think we can talk about Cleo without mentioning Jake, because wow, what a power couple! aside from being sooo cute, they bring out the best in one another. Cleo’s calm gentleness toward him and Jake’s admiration of her work so well. Both of them tend to be the people who look out for the rest of the associates the most, and their different personalities make the perfect blend. And from the way they stayed together despite Cleo’s parents objecting shows that they can get through hardships in a healthy way. They don’t mind giving each other space and aaaah,,,,,,, theyre SO good for each other!!!! I don’t often ship canon couples, but Jake/Cleo isn’t even a ship to me. It’s just a fact lol

Cleo and Moxie are another dynamic I love. Since Cleo met Moxie, she’s been looking out for her. ofc there was that whole Knife Thing, but the way she helped Moxie drink coffee in book three, kicked Stew in the shins when he tried to steal her notes, and just casually makes sure she’s okay all the time is so sweet. Especially since Moxie doesn’t really like to be doted on, the way Cleo doesn’t make it a big deal is v good. cleo saw moxie lying on the floor of the colophon clinic and said “is anyone gonna be an older sister figure to her?” and didnt wait for an answer.

The only catch with Cleo is just how cool she is! theres so much more I want to see of her!!

Cleo’s complicated relationship with her parents is v interesting. We don’t really get much info about them, but I would say Cleo’s parents liked her, but they didn’t get her. The way bought her everything she wanted but only called her Miss Knight? they were so strict about her not dating Jake that they had to hide their relationship from the entirety of town but then didn’t come back to Stain’d-by-the-Sea after learning she’d been kidnapped?

They liked the ambitious and fashionable chemist trying to save the town, but weren’t interested in her as a person. Cleo says she loved her parents, and maybe that’s true, but I believe she only liked a certain side of them. and thats well within her rights because her parents kind of suck lol.

Zada and Zora got closer, but judging by how they also called her Miss Knight, even when they’ve known her all their lives, and how they didn’t defy Mr. and Mrs. Knight to help Cleo, there was still some distance between them.

Since Mr. Knight was the one who decided to drain the sea in the first place, does Cleo feel responsible as his daughter to fix the town? Zada and Zora mention that Cleo likely inherited her chemistry abilities from her grandmother, who founded Ink Inc. Were they close? Why did her parents hire Dr Flammarion in the first place?

In my opinion, Cleo and Ellington’s relationship wasn’t explored enough considering how big a plot point it was in book two. I get it tho -- for story reasons it wouldn’t make sense for Ellington to have anyone other than Lemony. Personally, I see Cleo as who Ellington could have been if she had a reliable support system. Both of them are some of the most ambitious characters in all of Snicketverse, they’re both independent and distrustful of everyone except those they’re closest to, and they both feel responsible for others’ safety. (Ellington with her father and Cleo with the associates as a whole.) 

The difference is Jake. All the associates, but especially him. Jake is always supporting Cleo and when he rescues her in book two, Cleo isn’t surprised. She knows she has someone who has her back, and meanwhile Ellington knows she’s on her own. So while Cleo works out plans with her friends when things get difficult, Ellington does whatever comes to mind, no matter the cost. 

In book two, her invisible ink was made out to be something revolutionary, but after that it’s not brought up as much as I wish it would be. Lemony and the associates are saving the town from immediate danger, but ultimately she’s their last hope. Even if they defeat Hangfire, Stain’d-by-the-Sea will eventually become a ghost town if she doesn’t finish her formula. That’s a lot of pressure! I wish we got to see Cleo’s progress or the logistics of it. If it worked in book two but Flammarion messed it up, what does she still have to do? What did the Inhumane Society want with the invisible ink, anyway? 

Something that I don’t see talked about very often is how impulsive Cleo gets in fast-paced situations. How she agreed to have Ellington cosplay her and go around town while seemingly asking very few questions of Ellington, the way Jake had to talk her out of jumping onto the train? I think the difference is kind of funny, how she’s usually so logical but anytime she has to come up with anything on the spot shes like “hmm this might work!! no guarantee we’ll survive but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. :)”

shes objectively one of the coolest Snicketverse characters. love her. <3333

[snelbz]

I'll Be Seeing You {4}

Nesta x Cassian, 1940′s AU

Collaboration with @tacmc​

Summary: After Cassian gets injured in the war, he’s taken to a war camp to be cared for until he gains enough strength to return to his battalion. While he’s there, he falls for a nurse that couldn’t care less about his title and doesn’t put up with his bullshit. Once he’s healed and the years pass by, he finds that there’s only one thing he wants to remember from the war, and she’s only a letter away.

Trigger Warnings: war

Chapters will be posted every Monday.

Word Count: 2429

IBSY Masterlist

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October 1940, The Autumn Court

Major Cassian Nazari was bored.

Nesta could sense it from where she was, back turned to him at the other end of the tent. It had also been a sign when she came in that morning and he was complaining, loudly, to Madja. I don’t see why I can’t get up and walk around. I’m fine. And bored shitless.

Madja, of course, had told him, Very well, Major. Do as you wish.

Cassian had taken two steps before a wave of nausea hit him from the pain, and he was throwing up his breakfast. After a dose of pain medicine, he had fallen asleep.

Now, he was awake, his pains were dulled, and he was loud.

Loud, and having a one-sided conversation with the unconscious soldier next to him about his favorite brands of whiskey.

He was just getting to the pros of living near a distillery, back in Velaris, when Nesta approached his cot. He glanced over to her and gave him a smile. A sleepy, drug-induced smile. “Nurse Nesta.”

“Major,” she replied, sitting next to his bed. “How are you feeling this afternoon?”

“Feeling great. Ready to get back out there.”

“Really now?” She asked, feeling his head for fever. He’d been warm after getting sick and she wanted to check and be sure they hadn’t missed some sign of infection setting in. His skin was cool as could be now. “So this morning was just a reaction to the breakfast porridge?”

He got quiet immediately and rolled his eyes.

“That’s what I thought.” She helped him sit up and checked the wounds on his back. They weren’t healing like she would have liked, but it was also likely he could have used stitches over a few of them. His burns were healing nicely though, even though she knew they still caused him quite a lot of pain. The broken arm and shoulder were the same.

Now that his shoulder was set correctly, it was all about keeping him still, which seemed to be a continual problem for him.

“I can’t sit here forever,” he claimed. “I’ll go insane.”

“You need something to occupy your mind,” Nesta said. “I’ll bring you some books.”

Cassian snorted. “Your romances? I’ll pass.”

Nesta huffed and shook her head. “Has anyone ever told you how difficult a man you are?”

“On many occasions,” Cassian noted. “Mostly women.”

Nesta sighed and helped him fall back against his pillows. “I’ll be back.”

“Good,” he muttered with a yawn as she walked away. After telling her fellow nurses she’ll be back in a moment, Nesta exited the tent and walked to the one just across the way from it, where the nurses slept. She strode to her tent in the far corner and grabbed an old western romance that he would surely read if bored enough, then pulled a suitcase from underneath her cot and popped it open.

The old, folded-up wooden chess board that sat inside had once belonged to her father. They used to play often, before the death of Nesta’s mother.

All the pieces were slightly dusty, but still in good shape. She picked up one of the ivory pawns, wiping it off with the apron tied around her waist, careful not to get any blood or antiseptic lotion on it. Without the dust coating it, the piece shined and she replaced it in its home before cleaning off each piece. She closed the suitcase, carrying it, the book, and a small, foldable tray back across the camp, and into the med tent.

As soon as Cassian saw her, he zeroed in on the case. “What’s that?”

“First,” she said, sitting down and holding the book out for him. “I brought you this.”

His face twisted with a twinge of pain as he reached out and took it, opening it and flipping through it. He paused on a random page and read a few lines. His eyes widened. “This is…explicit.”

Nesta’s cheeks reddened.

“It’s a romance,” he groaned.

“It’s an old western,” she defended. “It’s one of my favorites. It’s a very good book.”

Rolling his eyes, Cassian sat it on the side table, but pointed at the suitcase, which she had set down to unfold the tray. “And what’s that?” He repeated.

Nesta set it on the end of his cot and opened it. “Until I’m needed, we’ll play chess.”

Cassian stared at her for a moment before repeating, “Chess?”

She lifted a brow as she set up the board, on top of the tray. “You’re complaining about the forms of entertainment I offer?”

Cassian hesitated, and Nesta secretly liked that hesitation. For once, a comment made by her actually made him think. Usually, he was so quick on his feet. She liked it when he wasn’t.

“Fine,” he said, at last, clearing his throat. “But, it’s been a long time since I’ve played. You may have to refresh my memory.”

She suppressed her smile, moving the tray just next to his bed, so it would be within his reach. “I can do that.”

He nodded, grunting as he got himself into a sitting position. Nesta made a move toward him, but he held up a hand, letting him know he could do it on his own.

Even if it was just barely.

She laid out the pieces, almost reverently, but quickly and efficiently. She didn’t have to think about where the pieces went and before he knew it, the board was set in front of them. The white pieces sat on his side of the board, the black on her own. She gestured for him to make a move.

He reached for one of the pieces in the front, but then pulled his hand back. Twice, he repeated the movement, before clearing his throat and saying, “Ladies first.”

“That’s not how chess works, Major,” she chuckled. “White goes first, black second.”

He nodded and stared back down at the board. “Right.”

Picking up one of the pawns, Cassian moved it diagonally, as if it were a checker.

Nesta blinked, waiting for him to move it back or chuckle as if he were playing a joke. “That’s not how you move a pawn forward.”

His cheeks heated and she knew he was embarrassed. “Well not all of us grew up as well off as you were.”

Eyebrows raising, Nesta was unable to stop the surprised chuckle from bubbling from her lips. “Excuse you, sir?”

“I’m just saying, only spoiled, rich girls grew up playing chess.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, but couldn’t bring herself to be angry at his words. “You don’t know how to play chess, do you?”

“I told you I would need your help.” He wasn’t looking at her, just the board and pieces.

“When’s the last time you played chess?” She asked.

He shrugged. “Never.”

Nesta stared at him for a moment, waiting for an explanation. “Never?”

Cassian’s head fell back and he groaned. “Nurse, are you going to make me ask you to explain the rules to me or do I have to make a fool of myself any longer?”

Nesta pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “Very well.”

She went on to explain the rules to him, then just to make sure she was not setting him up for failure, she explained the rules to him, again.

The pawn can move one square, unless it is the first time they move, then they can move two. It can’t move backwards. They can capture pieces on either space, diagonally, in front of them.

The knight moves in an L shape. Don’t ask why.

Bishop is a bit of a roamer. It can move in diagonally, as many squares as it wishes.

The rook can move both horizontally and vertically, as many squares as it wishes, as well.

The Queen is basically the best, most important piece. She can move however she wishes, wherever she wishes.

Cassian stared at the board thoughtfully. “Hmm. And the king, again?”

Nesta chuckled, quietly. “He can move only one square in any direction.”

“And he decides who wins the game?” Cassian asked, head cocked to the side as he stared at the board, trying to imagine it all.

“More or less, yes,” Nesta said, watching him study the board. “When a player attacks the other’s king, it’s called a check. A checkmate, or the win, is what happens when the opposing king can no longer make any legal moves.”

“So you must protect the king at all costs, then?” Cassian asked. “That’s the purpose of the other pieces?”

“It is,” Nesta nodded.

“And that’s why the queen is such an important piece?” he continued, meeting her gaze. “Why she has the most freedom? To protect her king?”

Nesta narrowed her eyes. “Speaking like that, I cannot believe that you don’t admire a good romance novel.”

“I already told you, I don’t think women are meant to stay home and do nothing but become mothers,” he replied, reaching out and moving his own piece properly this time. “However, a boring book about two people falling in love? No, thank you, ma’am.”

“Falling in love isn’t boring,” she defended, moving her own piece.

He grunted in answer, making his move.

Nesta looked at him, gauging his non-reply. “Have you ever been in love, Major?”

“Now who’s asking the personal questions,” he muttered, waiting for her to take her turn. She did, silently waiting for him to answer. He picked up the piece, studying the board, though barely anything had been done to need strategy yet. “No. I haven’t.”

Nesta watched him for a moment before looking back down at the board. “Interesting.”

Cassian moved his piece at last. “Don’t worry, plenty of women have been in love with me, I just haven’t returned the feeling.”

Nesta couldn’t help but bark a laugh. “Of course you would think so.”

Cassian’s grin told her it was all just a joke, but Nesta had no doubt that Cassian had had his fair share of women throughout the years.

“What about you?” He asked. “I know about your ex, of course, but have you ever been in love?”

It was Nesta’s turn to be quiet, but she pretended to be thinking over a move. “Yes,” she finally admitted, moving one of her knights, which had finally been unblocked by her pawns. “At least, I think so, at least. Things with Tom were…complicated.”

“Complicated doesn’t sound like it’s a good thing,” he replied, mirroring her own move.

She narrowed her eyes at him, finally catching on to how he’d been playing. She said nothing about the game though, and continued on. “There’s a reason we aren’t together anymore, if you recall.”

Nesta moved another piece and he asked, “Would you go back to him? If you found out he’d been waiting for you?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted, still staring at the board, if only to keep from having to look at him. “His family was much better off than mine, which was the reason for our engagement anyways. I came here to keep my sisters from having to do so.”

“That doesn’t sound like love,” Cassian murmured, taking his turn.

“And what makes you such an expert on the subject?” Nesta snapped.

Cassian slowly met her eyes once he set down his knight. He didn’t look offended by her tone. Instead, he remained quiet for a moment, then said, “I may not waste my time reading romance novels, and I may have never been in love, nurse, but I have plenty of experience in what love is not.”

She couldn’t place it, but she didn’t like why his voice became so…sad when he said it. “I didn’t mean to react in such a way,” she replied, not even paying attention to the moves she was making at this point. “I’m just not…accustomed to talking to anyone about these sorts of things. Especially a patient.”

He nodded. “I get it.”

Nesta nodded and broke his gaze as her eyes settled back on the board. After a moment, she moved her queen and said, “Check.”

Cassian blinked, eyes darting to the board, trying to find how his king was in jeopardy. Once he saw it, he tried to figure a way out of it, but after five minutes of thinking, he knocked his king down in surrender.

Nesta suppressed her smile as she outstretched her hand. “Good game, Major.”

He chuckled and shook her hand. “Nice lie, nurse.”

“Perhaps we can play again tomorrow,” Nesta asked, with a questioning tone.

Cassian met her eyes, and the edge in them softened as he said, quietly, “I would like that.”

She nodded and began putting it away as a few nurses entered the tent with big boxes in their arms. “Looks like we got some care packages from Velaris, gentlemen.”

Cassian’s brows rose, and Nesta chuckled at the excitement that flooded through the tent from those who were awake. In a war, it was the little things that made it all better.

Nesta placed the chessboard beneath Cassian’s cot and rose to help the nurses go through the boxes. With everything they pulled out, there was an announcement.

We’ve got candies!

Homemade breads and jams!

The funnies from the newspapers!

Tea!

Nesta reached into the box and pulled out a big carton and announced, “Cigarettes!”

That one got a round of applause, but nowhere near the number of cheers that the whiskey got. It went on for another few minutes, and then for the first time in quite some time, something that resembled joy could be felt in their little war camp.

As the goodies were dispersed, Nesta’s eyes kept trailing to Cassian.

She was surprised to find his eyes on her as well. Carrying one of the small bottles of the cheap whiskey that had been sent, she found herself standing beside his cot. She set the bottle down on the side table, along with a pack of cigarettes, and said, “Might not be the brand you prefer, but it’s better than nothing.”

“I’d drink anything right about now, brand doesn’t matter,” he chuckled. “If you could possibly get me some of that sweet bread and blackberry jam though, it might make it just a bit easier to go down.”

She shook her head, saying, “You’re unbelievable.” But she knew she would get it for him, she’d make sure of it.

Because his smile was the first thing that made her own appear without being forced in quite a while.

[baepsaesbae]

Masked Windfall

Pairing— Park Jimin x reader x Jeon Jungkook

Genre— SMUT, strangers to lovers au

Warnings— Switch!Jimin, Dom!Jungkook, Switch!reader, threesome, explicit unprotected and somewhat rough sex (stay safe my friends), double penetration (but like a bj and in your business at the same time? I’m bad with terminology I’m sorry), brief handjob, fingering, multiple orgasms, a booty slap, praise kink, slight derogatory kink, brief guy on guy action, nipple play, hair pulling, lots of kissing, teasing, swearing, PHEW I think that’s all? Please let me know if I forgot something

Word Count— 6k                                                                                         

Win(d)fôl: a piece of unexpected good fortune || After a bad breakup, you’ve given up on the prospect of a relationship, and on romance in general. Things take a turn once you get dragged to a mysterious party an encounter an alluring stranger. 

A/N— Happy 2021~ I hope you guys enjoy this sinful fic! This was the first fic I ever wrote a threesome scene for and I was quite happy with how it turned out. Reviews and reblogs are greatly appreciated <3

Ever since your breakup, it was as if love was in the air for everyone but you. Seeing happy couples everywhere served as a constant reminder of your bitter split with your longtime boyfriend. Your jerk ex-boyfriend dumped you right before the holiday season, even after you had planned to spend Christmas and New Years’ with him. Left dejected and inconsolable, you gave up on the idea of romance.

“You gotta stop moping around,” your friend, Chungha, tried to cheer you up.

Chungha was single too, but by choice. Boys (and girls) were constantly flinging themselves at her. She didn’t care for a relationship at this time, and would rather opt for meaningless one night stands.

“Come with me tonight!” she excitedly shoved a flyer in your face.

“Love is Out, Lust is In! An exciting one night event dedicated to adventurous singles who just want to have fun…” you read the flyer aloud, “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

“Girl, you gotta stop feeling sorry for yourself! It’s not your fault that that idiot dumped you. To be honest, I always thought you could do so much better,” Chungha rubbed your back, “I’m not gonna force you to meet anyone new, but one night out can’t hurt. You might even have a serendipitous encounter!”

“Fine, I’ll go. But just to watch over you, I don’t want some creep to follow you around all night,” you caved in.

“I love my little knight in shining armor! This’ll be so fun,” she excitedly clung onto your arm, “I’ll pick you up tonight. Wear something sexy! I think the motif is black? Something appropriate for an anti-lovey dovey stuff.”

It was nearly time for Chungha to pick you up. You concluded that dressing up for the first time in ages was the right move. Maybe it was about damn time to move on from your past.

“Ohhh girl you look amazing!” Chungha praised as you stepped outside, “There’s no way you WON’T be getting dicked down tonight.”

“Oh hush, before I change my mind. I haven’t worn anything this revealing in forever,” you tried to hide your embarrassment.

You were wearing a black mesh top that revealed your bra (the one that makes your boobs look the best of course) paired with a flattering skirt. You felt sexy, but you didn’t have the confidence that you used to. Chungha also looked amazing, but that was a given.

“Where did you learn about this event?” you asked as she drove.

“My friends in the cabaret club told me about it,” she answered.

“You have friends who work in a cabaret club? That’s cool,” you mused as you gazed out the window.

“Not exactly. It’s just called that; it’s really just a group of girls who like to brunch on the weekends. The place we’re going to is known for being a bit secretive,” she smiled.

“What does that mean?” you start to get anxious.

“You’ll see!” she said gleefully.

The venue looked more like some millionaire’s mansion. The property was stowed away at the end of a sketchy road that was more akin to a beaten up dirt path. However, you saw that the lot in front of the house was littered with fancy cars; from G Wagons to Bugattis. The guests emerging from the vehicles all looked like celebrities.

“Where the hell are we?” you asked Chungha.

“Not quite sure, but I can’t wait to find out,” she was also awestruck.

Upon arrival, a gentleman stationed at the entrance requested for your invitation. Chungha pulled out a fancy envelope and casually handed it to him. It looked far more formal than the flyer she showed you earlier.

“Is this your plus one?” he gruffly asked.

“Yep,” Chungha linked her arm in yours.

“Very well. Here are your masks. Enjoy your stay,” he responded curtly.

“Masks? Chungha, seriously. Where the hell are we? I was picturing some dingy club based off of the flyer you showed me. Not to mention that I am drastically underdressed,” you admitted as you helped her put on her mask.

Chungha took the sparkly white mask that was adorned with feathers, which was fitting since it made her look even more angelic. Your mask was matte black accented with gold trimmings. It was far more elegant than the outfit you were wearing.

“Okay, I confess. I made the flyer. I knew you’d decline if I told you it was actually a swanky invite only shindig. I’m sorry for lying! I just really wanted to take you out,” she pouted.

Her puppy dog eyes worked on you every time.

“I forgive you. I don’t know if I’d ever get to experience something like this without you anyway,” you pulled her in for a hug.

“Aw yay! Alright, we’re gonna have a bunch of fun tonight! Also, you look hot. Don’t worry about what you look like. Plus, I have a feeling that people aren’t gonna care,” she says as soon as you both enter the foyer.

Your jaw dropped as soon as you saw the most sumptuous house imaginable. The foyer opened the house up to two grand staircases. The baroque decor screamed nothing but lavish expectations for the rest of the house. Chungha led the way into the large room past the staircases. The room was even more magnificent than the entrance, with white marble pillars creating the doorways.

The place was bustling with activity. Once you finished admiring the place, your attention turned to the guests. Some women were wearing seductive gowns, while others were only wearing beautiful (and probably extremely expensive) lingerie. All of the men were wearing suits or tuxedos. With the motley of outfits you observed, you figured what you were wearing really wasn’t that strange.

“Drinks ladies?” a waitress materialized from thin air.

“Yes please! Thanks,” Chungha quickly grabbed two glasses.

Your eyes widened as the waitress walked away. She was wearing a thin white sheet that was completely see through, and she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

You realized that this must have been their uniform, as the rest of the servers were dressed the same way. Both males and females.

“CHUNGHA!” a shrill voice cut through the air.

“Ah hey! Thank you so much for inviting me!” Chungha greeted the girl who called out to her.

“Of course! I live for these parties! I’ve never seen hotter men anywhere else,” the girl winked, “My uncle wants the guests to know that all of the servers are available. All the rooms upstairs are unlocked, unless they’re being used of course. I hope you ladies get a good catch tonight!” the girl quickly hugged both of you before scampering away.

“The servers are all available…? For what?” you shot a confused look to Chungha.

“I think you can figure that out,” she smiled sheepishly.

“Chungha, did you invite me to a freaking orgy!?” you cried out.

“You said you wanted to watch over me!” she playfully argued, “You’re already here, ___. You might as well try to enjoy yourself.”

“I guess I’ll settle for people watching,” you sighed.

“Oh! I see someone I know, I’ll be right back,” Chungha squeezed your arm before disappearing into the crowd.

After snatching another drink from a scandalously clad waiter, you retreated to an empty corner. You hoped to observe the guests unnoticed and unbothered. After about half an hour, you noticed an odd pattern. People would woo their target, disappear for a bit, and then return to continue the hunt. Their clothing was often disheveled once they resurfaced, but it didn’t really matter when they were bound to be torn off again.

“Bored?” an unfamiliar voice asked.

“I’m thoroughly entertained,” you answered without taking your eyes off of the party.

“I think I could bring you more entertainment,” the man suggested as he gripped your hips.

“Get your hands off of me!” you push him off.

The assailant was an older man, at least 30 years older than you, and he seemed bewildered that you turned him down. His breath reeked of alcohol, and the dilation of his eyes alluded to his other indulgences of the night.

“I was promised that everyone at this party wanted to have some fun,” he angrily grasped your arm.

You cried out in pain. You were about to punch him in the face until someone else beat you to it. The man crumpled to the ground clutching his bloody nose.

“You little shit! I’ll find out who you are and ruin your life!” the man threatened.

“Mind your tone, worm. Or do I need to beat you senseless to remind you of your place?” your savior shot a baleful glare at the pathetic man who now cowered in fear.

“Are you okay?” your rescuer asked in a soft tone after the man was out of sight.

“Much better now, thank you. That guy was crazy. I’m ___,” you raised your hand for a handshake.

“I’m Jimin. Pleasure to meet you,” he delicately kissed your hand.

His intricate silver mask matched his hair. Even with his face half covered, you could tell that he was remarkably handsome. His dark suit made him look professional yet charming. You felt out of place standing beside him.

“Have you found a partner yet?” he asked bluntly.

“I’m not looking for one; I’m just here to take care of my friend. I don’t think I belong here,” you admitted.

“Why not? I know half of your face is hidden, but I’m willing to bet that you’re more gorgeous than half the people here. I like your style, it shows that you don’t really care for the norm,” Jimin gave you a thumbs up.

Even though it was meant as a compliment, it was off putting to know that you really did stick out like a sore thumb.

“Thanks,” you replied softly, “Have you found yours?”

“Nah, I hate big parties like this. Especially this one,” he shrugged.

“Then why are you here?” you figured that he’d have a line of women begging to sleep with him.

“Much like you, I’m watching over a friend. However, I have lost track of him. Where’s your friend?”

“I lost track of her too,” you laughed.

“If you don’t mind, could we go somewhere quieter? I’d love to get to know you better. Wait, not like that. I genuinely mean I’d like to have a conversation with you,” his flushed cheeks made him even cuter.

“Sure, lead the way, my noble hero,” you took his hand in yours.

It was a bold move, and you usually preferred to play it safe. Tonight was different. You’ll probably never see this guy again. Where’s the harm in flirting a little?

“Of course, my lady,” he played along.

He led you outside to the gardens. Fairy lights were strung up everywhere, giving the gardens an inviting aura. Tall shrubbery caught your eye. Jimin’s eyes followed your gaze.

“It’s a maze,” he said, observing your curiosity.

“This place has an actual labyrinth?” your eyes widened in disbelief.

“Wanna go explore it? I can’t guarantee you that we won’t get lost,” he offered.

“Yes please!” your eyes lit up.

Jimin couldn’t help but smile at your ebullience. How did someone so sweet end up in a twisted place like this?

“Can we take off these silly masks now? I hate wearing mine,” Jimin squeezed your hand.

“Sure, I don’t care. I apologize in advance if you go blind after seeing my face,” you jested.

You both took a moment to soak in each other’s true appearances. Jimin was more handsome than you could’ve dreamt. His individually delicate features attributed to an overall godly image that you had a hard time believing was real.

“Even more beautiful than I imagined,” Jimin acknowledged you with an approving smile, “Let’s ditch this stupid soiree,” he held out his arm for you.

Abandoning the masks on the ground, you practically dragged Jimin into the labyrinth. Corn mazes at Fall Festivals were fun, but this was the real deal. The hedges were at least 3 meters tall. No one would be able to find you if you actually got lost here.

“I think I heard that the trick is to keep to the right wall,” Jimin explained.

“Why don’t we take turns choosing which way to go? Unless you’re scared of getting lost,” you teased.

“Don’t get mad at me when we’ve been stuck in here for days,” he laughed.

You traversed the maze hand in hand with Jimin. The conversation began to flow naturally. Jimin listened to you intently and replied thoughtfully.

The night darkened as the party was left further behind. Normally, this eerie setting would frighten you, but your company made it bearable. Nothing but the moonlight lit your path now. You were too busy enjoying yourself to realize that you both were hopelessly lost.

“I hope you don’t mind me pointing out that this is the third dead end we’ve encountered in the past two minutes,” Jimin elucidated once you found yourselves staring at a green barrier yet again.

“Do you think someone will come to rescue us?” you started to panic.

“Definitely not tonight. Probably not tomorrow either,” Jimin answered brusquely.

“Let’s retrace our steps again. I might end up eating you if we really do get stuck out here,” you tried to joke.

“Eat me?” Jimin chuckled, “My dear, what if I end up eating you?”

“Sorry pretty boy, but I feel like I could easily beat your ass in hand to hand combat,” you laugh as you turn to leave.

Suddenly, your back was being pinned against a hedge. Jimin placed one of his hands on your shoulder and the other one on your waist.

“Let me rephrase that. What if I end up eating you out?” he raised an eyebrow suggestively.

“I might enjoy that. However,” you quickly hook your leg around his knee to dead leg him.

Jimin’s surprise gave you the opportunity to knock him to the ground. You wrapped your right arm around his left arm, effectively pinning him down. You firmly gripped his left wrist with the same arm, rendering both of his arms useless.

“I don’t think you’re capable of doing that right now,” you fake a pout as your free hand wanders from his chest down to his crotch.

He was already somewhat hard when you began to palm him through his pants. You planted a soft kiss on his neck, sucking slightly before breaking contact. Jimin moaned at the sensation, his hips bucking up into your hand.

“What do you want, pretty boy?” you whispered in his ear as you cupped his length in your hand.

“Oh my god I want to fuck you,” he pleaded.

“You’re in no position to fuck anyone,” you reminded him, tightening your grip on his arms.

“I want you to fuck me, ___,” Jimin’s whines grew desperate.

“Is that so?” you say as you unzip his pants, “Here outside? On the ground? That’s a bit improper for a prince like you, don’t you think?”

His erection was fully exposed now. You slowly pumped him, pleased with his length. It took every bit of self-control to not immediately pounce on his dick. You traced your thumb around the soft tip, causing him to moan again.

“I don’t care. I just need my cock buried in you,” Jimin replied between moans.

“You’re so needy. I guess I could help you out,” you release him from your clutches.

Jimin instantly knocked you onto your back as soon as he was freed. He pinned you the same way you pinned him. You were both impressed and shocked that he learned how to do it already.

“That was a cheeky display. Very hot. I admit that I’ve never begged for pussy before, so props to you,” Jimin awarded you plaudits.

His free hand snaked its way down to your clothed pussy, pleased to find that you were already wet. He toyed with your clit through the fabric of your panties. He relished watching your squirm beneath him.

“It’s not so fun being pinned down, huh?” he kissed your neck in a similar fashion, except he ended his kiss with forceful suckling that was sure to leave a mark.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of fun,” you tried to keep your cool, but were failing miserably.

“Do you want me to touch you, my dear ___?” Jimin asked sweetly.

“Please do,” you exhaled with exasperation.

“You can beg better than that,” he admonished.

“Jimin, fuck me until I forget my own name,” you begged.

“You’ll only know my name by the end of tonight,” Jimin promised as he pulled your panties aside.

He slid in a finger to test how wet you were. You squealed with delight as he easily stuck in two fingers. He expertly curled them in you, grazing your g-spot. Your body tried to move to cope with the pleasure, but Jimin refused to let you go.

“You’re staying right here until I say so. I enjoyed going along with your power play, but you have to learn that I’m the one in charge,” he smirked.

His thumb circled your clit as he mercilessly fingered you. Your legs spasmed as your orgasm led a wave of euphoria across your body.

“Jimin, I’m--oh fuck, I’m cumming,” you cried out.

Jimin helped you ride it out, not slowing down his pace. However, he still didn’t slow down afterward. Your clit was oversensitive and tears began to well in your eyes.

“You’re beautiful when you cum, I want to see it again,” he praised as his pace quickened yet again.

It wasn’t long before your second orgasm hit. The bliss was more intense this time, causing you to cry out even louder. Jimin finally pulled his fingers out of you, then promptly popped them into his mouth.

“You taste like a delicacy,” he said after licking his lips, “You ready to take this cock?”

You nodded silently, as you were attempting to catch your breath.

Jimin aligned his hips with yours. He tantalizingly ran his dick along your wet folds. His tip eventually teased your entrance by barely entering before he took it out again. He loved watching your body beg to be fucked; your hips seemed to move by themselves as they tried to buck into him.

“Jimin, I can’t take this anymore. Stick it in already!” you yelled.

“So impatient,” Jimin chuckled, “Ready?”

“Yes!”

Jimin slowly inserted himself in you. You groaned at the feeling of finally being stretched out by his cock. His tip was fully inside you when a commotion interrupted him.

“We’re fucking lost bro,” a guy said.

“We wouldn’t be in this mess if you listened to me in the first place!” his companion retorted.

Jimin immediately pulled out and helped you up. He shoved his erection into his pants before leaning against a hedge to blend into the shadow.

“You’re the one who said you wanted to go in!” the first man bickered back.

“I said ‘I bet no one else is in there, let’s check it out’”, his companion explained.

“Okay, well now we’re lost. We haven’t even seen a single person since we’ve entered.”

Jimin took you by the hand and quietly led you out of the dead end. He didn’t know where the interrupters were, but he simply went in the opposite direction of their voices.

“We’re all alone now. Pull down your pants, Hobi,” you heard one of the guys say.

“Make me, Yoongi,” the other guy challenged.

“You won’t be so cheeky when my balls are in your mouth,” Yoongi replied, his voice suddenly lower and domineering.

The sound of clothes being ripped off mixed with passionate groans and wet noises grew further away as Jimin navigated through the maze.

“They sound like they’re having fun,” you broke the silence.

“That should have been us,” Jimin was obviously annoyed, “I’m gonna get us the fuck out of this goddamn maze. I swear to god, I’m going to dick you down properly tonight.”

You didn’t know which was more impressive: sheer luck or Jimin’s determination. Either way, one of those things (or maybe some of both) allowed both of you to finally emerge from the maze’s clutches.

Jimin dragged you back to the mansion while completely ignoring everyone who called out to him. You’re not surprised by his popularity; this man looks like he was carved by God himself.

The party had only escalated inside the mansion. Guests had started to forgo public decency altogether. You saw at least three explicit acts of fornication on your way up to the private rooms.

Once upstairs, you heard nothing but people deep in the throes of passion on the other side of just about every door. Jimin led you past them all, not even stopping in front of the ones indicated as ‘vacant’. At the end of the neverending hall was a large ornate wooden door. Its style clashed with the sleek marble that decorated the rest of the mansion.

Jimin whipped out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. You weren’t prepared for what was on the other side. Unlike the modern style that fitted the rest of the house, this room was decorated with wood.

The carved wooden furniture gleamed brightly due to their polish. The room itself was huge. A king sized bed awaited you at the opposite wall. Elegant curtains draped around the bed, reminding you of the beds royalty would use in movies. Even though the room gave off a cozy aura, it still boasted opulence.

“You like it?” Jimin asked once he saw you gazing around the room in awe.

“It’s beautiful. It feels like I’m in some Elvish Woodland King’s room or something,” you spoke honestly.

“That’s high praise,” he chuckled, “C’mon. I believe we have some unfinished business,” he pulled you onto the bed.

Jimin kissed your neck, peppering in nibbles that made you shudder. You slipped off your skirt and panties as he fondled your breasts. You helped him undress as you threw off his suit jacket and unbuttoned his shirt. You held back a gasp when his abs and toned chest were revealed. You figured he was fit, but you didn’t realize how fit.

His fingers found their way back into your pussy. Jimin sucked on your neck as his nimble fingers made you wetter by the second. Your back arched as your moaned in pleasure when his thumb played with your clit.

“I’m so fucking wet, Jimin,” you breathed into his ear.

“All for me, baby?” he cooed.

“Who else? Honestly, I’ve never been this aroused in my life,” you admitted.

“I’m happy I could change that for you. If you liked my fingers that much, let’s see what my cock can do for you,” he winked as he tugged off his pants.

Jimin spread your legs open as far as they could go. He didn’t have the patience to tease you this time. He filled your pussy up with the entirety of his cock. You relished the stretch; you’ve been waiting all night for this the moment you laid eyes on him.

Jimin began vigorously thrusting into you. The sound of his hips slamming into you coupled with the wet noises of your sopping pussy were drowned out by moans from both parties. Hearing Jimin’s grunts only turned you on more, and the same could be said whenever Jimin heard your melodic moans.

Jimin leaned over to makeout with you, his tongue dipping between your parted lips. You clawed at his back while you kissed him back with ferocious reciprocity. You were getting close to climaxing yet again.

“Jimin, I’m so--”

“Missionary? I know you can do better than that,” an unfamiliar voice interrupted you.

“Fuck off, can’t you see that I’m busy?” Jimin replied angrily, yet he never stopped fucking you.

You were so embarrassed that you grabbed a pillow to hide your face. One person seeing you like this was already flustering enough, but two? Although your mind immediately went to shaming you for being in such a compromising position, it was also kind of a turn on.

“Aw, is she shy? That’s cute,” the unfamiliar boy said.

“What do you want?” Jimin finally pulled out to actually hold a conversation with the intruder.

“I got bored. I figured I’d come in here and jack off or something. I didn’t think you’d be using it,” the voice got closer.

“Well, I am. So get lost,” Jimin growled.

Suddenly, the pillow that covered your face was yanked off. Looking down at you was a man whose beauty rivaled Jimin’s (though you didn’t think that was possible). The man had more of a boyish devil-may-care look. His long dark hair framed his face perfectly, as it showed off his sharp jawline. He traced a finger from your cheek down to your chin.

“She’s cute,” he gave Jimin an approving nod.

“Yeah, and she’s mine. Go away, Jungkook,” Jimin was getting more frustrated by the second.

“Yours? Are you guys dating already?” Jungkook raised his eyebrows in amusement.

“No, but--”

“Then it should be fine if I did this,” Jungkook cupped your face with one hand as he bent down to kiss you.

“Jungkook!” Jimin threw a pillow at him.

Jungkook chuckled as the pillow harmlessly bounced off of him. He deepened the kiss, and soon your tongues were swirling over each other. One of his hands wandered over to your breasts. He pinched your nipple, causing you to gasp into his mouth.

“Oh, she’s so sensitive,” Jungkook smirked, “Let me play with her after you.”

“She’s not a toy,” Jimin defended you.

“It’s okay,” you said softly.

“What?” both of the boys asked in unison.

“You can both use me...however you like,” you looked away shyly, bewildered at what you had just said.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Jungkook grinned.

“You’re too sweet for your own good, ___. Are you sure?” Jimin asked.

You simply nodded, not able to make eye contact with either of them.

“Alright, baby. Let me take care of you first. Jungkook, you can watch how a man properly fucks a lady,” Jimin glared at Jungkook.

Jungkook stripped down to his underwear as Jimin flipped you onto your knees. You moaned loudly as he started hitting it from the back. This position allowed him to penetrate you even deeper. You buried your face in the sheets in an attempt to muffle your whines.

“Nuh uh,” Jimin tsked as he grabbed a fistful of your hair.

He pulled your head up, exposing your lustful moans. He thrusted harder when he heard you. You opened your eyes to find Jungkook intently staring at you. Feeling cheeky, you made a ‘come here’ motion with one of your pointer fingers.

Jungkook happily obliged. Instead of directly kissing you, he licked up your neck, causing you to shudder. He sucked lightly on your neck as he once again played with your boobs.

“You’re not mad, Jimin?” he was surprised.

“She got wetter. Keep doing whatever you’re doing,” Jimin was lost in pure bliss.

Jungkook pulled you into another heated makeout session. You periodically moaned into his mouth whenever he tugged at your nipples. You whined as he broke the kiss.

“Such a good girl,” Jungkook stroked your cheek, “Wanna try something?” he asked.

You eagerly nodded. It was hard to think when one gorgeous man was making out with you and pinching your nipples, while another gorgeous man was roughly fucking you from behind.

“Open your mouth and stick your tongue out,” Jungkook ordered.

You complied, opening as wide as you could. You watched Jungkook reveal his hard cock, which made your mouth water. His dick was bigger than Jimin’s, but less girthy. It had a little curve that made it look prettier for some reason.

“Want me to put it in? I’d love to see how deep you can take it,” Jungkook stroked his cock.

“I’ll take it all,” you said confidently.

Jungkook smiled at your determination. He lightly placed the tip onto your tongue. You twirled your tongue around it, making Jungkook moan with surprise.

“Maybe she’s not as shy as I thought,” he said to Jimin.

Jimin harshly spanked your ass, causing you to jerk forward. You heard him chuckle behind you.

“I love it when good girls go bad. They’re always the most fun,” Jimin reached his hand around you to play with your clit.

You almost lost control in your arms and fell forward when Jungkook grabbed you.

“You have to be a good girl and hold yourself up. We can fuck you from both sides if you do that, babygirl,” Jungkook ran his thumb along your drooly lips.

You propped yourself back up on your arms and opened your mouth again for Jungkook. He patted your head in approval before placing his dick back onto your tongue. He began pushing himself into your mouth, his eyes never leaving yours.

“Blink twice if it’s too much,” Jungkook instructed.

To his surprise, you managed to take in his full length. You kept gagging since Jimin was thrusting you forward, but that just made it feel better for Jungkook. Jungkook let you know that he was going to start face fucking you, to which you nodded in response. Well, as much as you could nod while his penis was in your mouth.

It didn’t take long for both of the both to boys to fuck you in unison. They rhythmically pulled out and thrusted into you at the exact same time. The intensity of everything turned you on so much, you could feel your juices running down your legs.

Your climax hit you like a truck. Your legs spasmed under you as you cried and gagged on Jungkook’s dick. The feeling of you cumming on Jimin’s cock brought him to the edge. Almost immediately after, Jimin pulled out and came all over your ass.

“Switch places with me,” Jungkook instructed Jimin, “You didn’t think you were done yet, did you?” he winked at you before pulling his dick out of your mouth.

Your sensitivity was through the roof. Jungkook didn’t give you any warning before he inserted himself in you. Jungkook went even deeper than Jimin, and your legs were on the verge of giving out.

“It looks like she can’t hold herself anymore,” Jimin observed with a sly smile.

“I guess I have to do all the work. Stupid slut,” Jungkook groaned, abruptly snatching your arms.

He chuckled when you momentarily fell forward onto your face, but he easily lifted you back up by pulling back on your wrists. You’ve never been roughly restrained like that before, but you wouldn’t complain. Jungkook’s powerful thighs slammed into you repeatedly.

You couldn’t begin to comprehend how sinful you looked: titties bouncing, messy hair, and a lustful expression that rivaled that of succubi themselves. Not to mention you were practically glowing from the film of sweat that developed over the night.

“I’m jealous that he’s kissed you more than I have,” Jimin pouted before he cupped your face.

Wriggling underneath you, Jimin made it easier for you to kiss him. His pillowy lips felt heavenly as he playfully fondled your breasts. He didn’t twist or pinch your nipples like Jungkook did. Instead, he massaged them in a way that still felt delightful.

“Dude, your junk is really close to mine,” Jungkook complained.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Jimin responded between your kisses.

Jungkook’s pace started getting sloppy. You could tell he was close just by his irregular breaths. The room was filled with lewd sounds. Jungkook’s grunts, Jimin’s moans, and your mewls all blended into a chorus of carnal pleasure.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Jungkook stuttered before pulling out.

You felt his hot juices splatter across your backside. You toppled onto Jimin when Jungkook let go of your wrists. Jimin just chuckled and held you in a warm embrace.

“You did so well, ___,” he praised before kissing your forehead.

“Was that your first threesome? If so, I’m impressed,” Jungkook cleaned you up with a warm washcloth.

“Mhm,” was all you could muster up to answer his question.

“She’s pretty out of it. Should she stay here for the night?” Jimin asked Jungkook.

“You’re offering to house her? You must have really loved her pussy,” Jungkook laughed.

“Shut up, I’m being serious. I don’t want to let her go back out there to those animals,” Jimin disclosed.

“Did she come alone?” Jungkook sat at the foot of the bed.

“She said she was watching a friend...I don’t think she mentioned who though. Hey, ___, darling, who did you come with?” Jimin gently questioned.

“Chungha,” you said meekly.

“Holy shit. Everyone has been trying to get with her all night,” Jungkook was shocked, “Yeah, I think her friend will be fine on her own. I can watch after her if you want.”

“By watch you mean fuck?” Jimin rolled his eyes.

“Who’s to say I haven’t already?” Jungkook replied cheekily, “You’ve been the most fun I’ve had in a while though,” Jungkook affectionately began scratching your back.

Your eyelids were getting heavier with each passing moment. You instinctively clutched onto Jimin tighter. You’ve always been a cuddler when it was time to sleep.

“I’m gonna go, want me to lock the door?” you heard Jungkook say.

“Yes please. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jimin sent him off.

“Are you sleepy?” he asked while stroking your hair.

“Mhm. And hungry,” you said half asleep.

“What would you like to eat?” Jimin inquired.

“Grilled cheese,” you said without skipping a beat.

“Just grilled cheese? I could get you anything you want. Lobster, caviar, takoyaki, or maybe even steak?” Jimin was eager to take care of you.

“What time is it?” you asked groggily.

“Uh, a little past 1am.”

“It’s time for a midnight snack. And grilled cheese is the perfect midnight snack,” you nodded your head to confirm your reasoning.

“God, you’re adorable. Alright, a grilled cheese will be here soon,” he kissed your forehead again.

“You go make it?” you pouted, not wanting him to leave your side.

“No, I just texted one of the chefs,” he answered.

“Oh, you’re friends with a chef? That’s nice.”

“Somewhat? They work for my father.”

“Is your father the head chef?”

“No, he’s a businessman,” Jimin chuckled.

“Do you like business? Like your father?”

“No, I actually detest it. My father’s riches mean nothing if he can’t even love his family. He does ridiculous things to showcase his ‘love’ but I don’t buy it. Like this stupid fucking party that he throws every year. His excuse is that he’s providing any luxury money can buy. It’s all just bullshit,” Jimin sounded upset.

“This party? Your dad hosted it?” intrigue stirred you from your sleepy state.

“Yeah, this is the house I grew up in. This is my room,” Jimin admitted.

You were silent for a bit before responding, “I’m sorry your dad is a dick.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault. At least one good thing came out of tonight,” he squeezed you tighter.

A knock at the door interrupted your thoughts. Jimin retrieved the delivery. Never in a million years would you have thought that you’d be eating grilled cheese off of a silver platter. Jimin ate quietly beside you.

“I don’t know if this is too forward, but would you like to go on a date with me sometime?” he finally piped up.

“I literally can’t think of anyone that has seen me more intimately than you. Well, besides Jungkook. Of course, I’ll go on a date with you,” you leaned over to kiss Jimin’s nose.

“I guess the dating timeline is a little off since you’re spending the night here too,” Jimin laughed before stopping himself, “Wait, you are spending the night, right?”

“I have no idea where Chungha is, and she’s my ride,” you shrugged.

“You’re welcome to say here if you’d like,” he offered.

“I suppose I can clear my schedule for you,” you teased.

With a tummy full of grilled cheese, it didn’t take long for you to fall sound asleep in Jimin’s arms.

[9:24am from Chungha] BITCH! I heard rumors you slept with THE Park Jimin?! A different rumor said you slept with Jeon Jungkook??? Explain please???

[10:19am] What if I slept with both?

[10:20am from Chungha] NO WAY! Tell me all about it asap

“You good?” Jimin nuzzled your neck.

“Never better,” you smiled.

Published January 7, 2021. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2020-2021 Baepsaesbae

[kaibacorpintern]

hi i forgot the ship name but would u write something thats seto and ryou? (platonic or romantic) where they play a ttrpg together or somethin idk

“or somethin idk” give me an inch, i have run a mile. a mile of 4.7k words.

platonic euroshipping. post-canon. ryou applies for a game writer position at kaibacorp and makes it to the final stage. contains: dragons, swords, some very sexy things about solidvision and the virtual world, kaiba covered in blood and having a great time, me the writer having a great time, hopefully you the reader having a great time, and ryou, not covered in blood, having a very, very, very anxious time

tw for some fantasy violence

++++++

Ryou inhaled, taking a deep breath of: the fresh, sweet smell of grass, the coolness of river water, something dry and grey in the wind, slightly rotten - smoke? And sulfur. The grasses were filled with the restless susurrus of the wind, each blade quivering with anticipation. Above him, a hawk tilted in lazy, wide circles, tracking the hidden paths of its prey. He stood on a dusty path halfway up the long slope of a steep hillside, the farmlands of the valley behind him peeled back to reveal the burned, blackened devastation beneath. The village from this distance looked like the charcoal remains of a bonfire, the air still shimmering with heat. 

The sun itself was hot, making him sweat in the thick, coarse silk of his mage’s robe, every purple thread saturated with light and heat. Mopping sweat from his brow, Ryou opened his options menu, the holographic display falling open, in the guise of an illuminated manuscript, and hovering at waist-height in thin air, perfectly tilted for reading. The parchment was old and yellowed, almost velvet to the touch, the edges frayed with age, and he couldn’t resist the urge to smell it, leaning in cautiously to take an experimental whiff. Strong notes of dust, old ink, age; an undertone of knowledge, of the forbidden kind. 

He selected Player Appearance and the page turned, with weight and heft, to reveal another. Kaiba didn’t miss a beat. Ryou had no doubt if he knelt down to drink from the stream that flowed down the slope, folding in clear ribbons past the rocks, the water would run cold over his fingers until they pruned. And the magic effects?

He swallowed. It was not just the sun that was making him sweat.

He’d just changed into something more practical - a short-sleeved green tunic, a pair of white breeches, leather boots that had just a bit of bite to the fit, like the player had to wear them in - when a chime pealed out from six feet away, as though someone had rung an invisible bell. The air tore apart, in odd, geometric anguish, like a broken mirror twisting into itself - 

and there was Kaiba, standing in the knee-high grass in his customary black turtleneck and tight pants, frowning with his arms crossed.

“Hello,” Ryou said. “It’s so nice to see you again. Your technology is... this is amazing. The attention to detail is incredible. The player screen, with the parchment - it even smells like - ”

“What is this? Medieval?” Kaiba said, glancing around at his clothes, the distant village, taking no notice of his praise; Ryou bit his tongue in self-rebuke. As if buttering him up with compliments was going to help. 

“Western Europe. From the mid-11th century to the 12th. The age of knights and chivalry,” he said, deciding that maybe his best strategy was to simply be straightforward.

“I’m familiar with basic history, thank you. How... classic,” Kaiba said, in a tone that screamed disinterest, and Ryou’s heart began to plummet - already starting from behind? No, no, no, he reminded himself, straightening the slouch out of his shoulders. Yuugi had warned him about this. Kaiba was fantastically tough to impress, in general, and the Virtual World was his world, a realm he'd built with sweat and tears, and stolen back with blood. So he hand-picked every writer that wrote for Virtual World games, refusing to squander a single pixel on conventional nonsense and uninspired cliché. 

The last step - before he brought the axe down - was a short, playable demo, as proof of concept, written by the applicant and executed by the Virtual World team.

Ryou had come this far in the application process. Trust that, Yuugi said. And trust yourself.

Kaiba was looking at him, eyebrows arched with expectant curiosity.

“Er,” Ryou said. “Let’s get started, then. You’ll need to change.”

He pulled up the menu, revelling in the hovering parchment once more, and changed Kaiba’s appearance, like - like magic, the lines of Kaiba’s silhouette rippling like a sine wave from the bottom up, his modern-day clothing becoming a knee-length tunic of chainmail under a belted dark blue surcoat. Kaiba held still throughout the entire transformation, in smug admiration of the effect, his arms held out in a ballet dancer’s pose as chainmail draped down his shoulders to his wrists. 

In his right hand appeared, with a sharp, diamond flash of light, a long arming sword, the edge nicked with age and bloodspill. The hilt was black, with a sapphire gleaming in the pommel. A plain shield dropped onto his left forearm. 

He gave the sword an experimental spin, testing the heft with practiced ease, and slid it back into the leather scabbard on his belt.

“A knight, the charred, smoking remains of a village… I’m assuming I’m on a quest to kill a dragon?” he said, pushing back the hood of the chainmail so that it draped off his shoulders, and nodding up the slope to where the grasses tattered into rocky shale. 

“Yes, you can assume that,” Ryou said politely.

On cue, a child no more than twelve years old staggered up the dusty path from the village, her small torso heaving with breath, sweat and tears running in clean streaks down her soot-stained face. 

“Sir Knight,” she choked out. Flashing a look at Ryou that said cheap blow, but unable to deny his own fraternal instinct, Kaiba dropped to one knee and caught her, his hands swallowing her thin, shuddering shoulders. Playing along, at least.

“Calm down,” he said, steadying her. Ryou imagined his anxiety as a small, hard rock, packing in the twist of every fraying nerve, and leaned all his weight onto one foot, grinding the rock into the dirt with his heel. "What is it?”

“They sent me to warn you, about the dragon,” she panted. “They said only the Chosen One can truly defeat the dragon, and bring peace back to the land. Many have tried. All suffered the same terrible fate - a fate worse than death.”

“I see,” Kaiba said. “And who is the Chosen One?”

The girl glanced at Ryou over Kaiba’s shoulder, her eyes glinting with fear. 

“No - no one knows,” she said. “But all the oracles say they’re coming… a knight with a pure and worthy heart. Sir Knight, don’t go. Come back to the village. It’s safe there. What do you gain from this? Our humble lands aren’t worth the danger!”

“I think they are,” Kaiba said, thumbing soot off her face, and frowning as her cheek pixelated, briefly, and resumed a skin-like texture. "Open master commands, user ID 000002510. Initiate master log. Begin recording: skin-to-skin contact glitch reappeared during writer play-test, candidate Bakura, R. Begin patch work immediately. End recording. Disperse to Virtual World team, flag Sawada, project manager. Close master commands. Did you know, one of the most compelling unsolved problems in physics is the lack of a theory that realizes both general relativity and quantum mechanics?”

The girl gave him a wary look, wide-eyed with faint alarm. Ryou sucked in a breath, grinding the anxiety rock down, down, down.

“You - you speak in tongues, Sir Knight," she said. "Are you also an oracle? Has your future-sight failed you? Don’t you see that only death lives on the mountain?”

Kaiba snorted and stood up, turning to Ryou. “A solid response to non-standard player input. Doesn’t ignore modern concepts, but re-contextualizes them in the setting of this world via a framework of prophecy, and redirects the player to the plot.” 

“Um... thank you?” Ryou said. “I wanted this world to feel like it has a future, too, not just a history. I wanted to place it on a timeline, like it - ”

Kaiba’s attention swung back to the girl, still standing there with her eyes darting between them, full of bafflement. 

“Return to the village, girl. Tell them my future-sight never fails me.”

The girl retreated backwards, warily, twisted on her heel, and fled down the path.

"If I go down to the village, what'll I find?" Kaiba said.

"More information about the Chosen One, and an outlaw who tries to recruit you to her band of thieves, with the option to join them for a stealth-based quest.”

"Hm. You have the imagination and the decency to offer me something other than blatant bait, which I don't always bite. The cliché of the Chosen One is boring as hell, it’s both over-done and deterministic, but I think... yes. Yes, I'll bite. Let's go see your dragon."

In the wake of this... compliment?, Ryou could only offer him a small, tentative smile, his heart clenching tight around Yuugi's advice. 

Kaiba started up the path. 

“Er, Kaiba - you might want to check your inventory before you encounter the dragon."

Kaiba’s hand padded around his waist until he found the small satchel that sat on his hip. Another parchment unfurled in the air before him, listing its contents:

Two full healing spells;

Two glamour spells, for changing the guise of a person or object;

Two transformation spells, for changing a person or an object into an animal;

Two scrying spells, for locating people or objects;

Two ignis spells, for commanding fire;

Two aqua spells, for commanding water; and

Two ventus spells, for commanding wind.

Ryou watched him as he read. He'd carved a small, thick groove into the dirt below his foot. Surely, that was enough for Kaiba to get creative?

Kaiba only closed the parchment with a brisk flick of his hand. Then he started up the mountain, Ryou following nervously behind.

***

The mountain path was rougher than Ryou expected, a tightly-coiled spring of switchbacks, leading to the curved lip of a high pass. After several minutes of trudging the dust in silence, he was panting for breath, his feet aching and blistering in their boots, and deeply regretting adding this little detail to the story. Next time, he was just going to put the dragon on a rolling, grassy plain, and he’d make it like an American autumn corn maze, because it still needed to be a challenge, and when the players got to the center they’d find the dragon’s decaying, rotting corpse and realize they’d been stuck inside the maze for five hundred years and everyone they loved was dead, and if they wanted to go back to their own time they’d have to find out how to resurrect the dragon, but only at a terrible cost, a sacrifice of some kind... Not his best off-the-cuff work, but there were usable concepts in there, somewhere. If there was a next time.

Despite being laden down with the chainmail, each tiny link flashing like fish scales in the airy slanting of the afternoon sun, Kaiba seemed unaffected by the demands of the hike, propelling himself forward with long, energetic strides. How?

Ryou thought about asking for a break. Or drinking water from the stream. Or changing his boots for something comfier, but he didn't have anything else in his outfit inventory except the mage robes, and the slippers might be even worse… he stopped, hands on his hips, gathering his breath.

From here the valley sprawled below them, a wide, velvety plain, its edges rising and scalloped by mountains. The village fit in the circle of his thumb and forefinger, a smoking black thumbprint. The team had done a fantastic job: the stream ran down the mountain, flattened into a river, and ran south, lazy and serpentine, a green-blue ribbon cutting through the yellow plains, just like he’d outlined in his initial description of the world….

Wait. 

This was all virtual. 

There was no such thing as air, here, or rivers or sunshine or grasses.

His real, physical body was half-asleep in a Virtual World testing pod on the 17th floor of the Kaiba Corp Tower, and his body here was just a series of algorithms, and if he didn’t want to sweat, he didn’t have to fucking sweat! Thank God!

Up ahead, Kaiba noted the absence of his footfalls and turned around, one hand resting easily on his sword hilt. From his position on the path, he looked down at Ryou from several feet up, which doubled the intimidation of his already formidable bearing.

“I’m fine,” Ryou said. “Just... admiring the view.”

“Are you having your Matrix moment? That’s what my programmers call it,” Kaiba said.

Ryou laughed. “I think so. I was tired but I don't feel it at all, anymore. Like all the fatigue's just melted away and I could run a marathon.”

“Is that something you enjoy?”

“Oh, no. I hate sports.”

Kaiba snorted.

“So, tell me. Why do you want this job?” he said. “At my company? Writing stories with my technology?”

“Er - ” Blindsided by the swerve in topics, Ryou tripped over his thoughts. Surely he must’ve read his application? Maybe he didn’t have the time. Stick to straightforward. “I’m sure you remember my performance in Battle City?”

“Yes, I remember,” Kaiba said, which was honestly more than Ryou expected of him.

“Well, I don’t play much Duel Monsters anymore,” he said, “but I still.. every once in a while, I turn my Duel Disk on and play a few cards, just to see my monsters come out, see them breathe… you know I run a Zombie deck, full of demons and dead things, but SolidVision makes them feel so - so alive. You took these fantasy monsters that exist only in our heads and put them in our world.”

“Virtual World game writers don’t work on SolidVision products,” Kaiba countered.

“Right, I know that. To me, Virtual World and SolidVision are the inverse of each other, or opposites that contain each other, like, like yin and yang - with SolidVision, the unreal enters the real, and becomes real. In the Virtual World, the real - ” Ryou motioned to himself - “enters the unreal, and becomes unreal. We like to put walls between imagination and reality, you know, taxes are real and unicorns aren’t, but with SolidVision and Virtual World, there is no wall. That’s the world I want to write stories for.”

“Hm,” Kaiba said, the corner of his mouth curving up in a smile. “Interesting take.”

And he waited, saying nothing more, until Ryou realized he was waiting for him; and trotted lightly up the path to join him.

*** 

By the time they reached the top of the mountain pass, the air had turned a clear, dusky gold. The mountains cast long, black shadows across the valley, like dark teeth, chewing up the farmlands. The mountain pass was saddle-shaped, one side sloping down into the valley they’d just come from, the other flattening into a smaller, higher bowl, cupping a pale blue-green lake between its rocky palms.

Kaiba scrambled onto the nearest large rock, his head swinging as he scanned the lake valley. Ryou wrapped one arm around his waist and bit his thumb. They had found a deep, penetrating quiet, the kind of wilderness quiet that was devoid of texture of any kind; no bugs or burbling streams or bird song. It was not even like holding your breath, waiting, because that implied a coming moment of exhale, a sigh of relief. This was a perfect stillness. 

And hidden somewhere inside it was a dragon. 

Ryou bit harder, until he remembered the pain was fake and did nothing, and he had to come up with something else to temper his anxiety, which was definitely, definitely real.

Kaiba's gonna flip his shit when he sees your dragon, Yuugi said, from the back of Ryou's mind, Ryou's demo manuscript in hand. In a good way or a bad way? Is it too derivative? What does it matter that he'll flip his shit for my dragon when he flips his shit for ANY dragon? He's a slut for dragons. Oh my god, you can't say that! Yuugi, please, help - nope. You got this. You know what you're doing.

Even the metallic shing of Kaiba’s sword coming out of its sheath seemed small, in an unnatural way, a pointless, petty defiance. 

A shadow fell across the lake valley. 

Both of them looked up -

and an enormous dragon hurtled out of the sky, landing with thundering force on all four clawed feet, flattening trees and boulders beneath its reptilian bulk. Ryou staggered backwards and fell, in an awkward, clumsy crab pose; Kaiba threw his shield over his face and dug in, undaunted.

"HAVE YOU COME TO KILL ME?" the dragon boomed. “MISERABLE WRETCH?”

Kaiba lowered his shield, just enough for his first full look at the dragon. From his spot, crumpled on the ground, Ryou saw, in the shadow below the shield, another slender smile. The dragon’s hide was a dark, luxurious blue-black, mottled like snakeskin but textured with the heavy crags and knobs of crocodiles. It lowered its head on its long, arching neck, gracefully bearing the weight of two massive, curving horns, and stared down at them with fathomless acid-green eyes.

Even Ryou, who had designed it, sat enthralled: every movement it made - the eager flick of its tail, the claws, curling into the dirt, glinting under a layer of blood and grime, the shuddering of its leathery wings as they folded into its long body - hinted at indomitable power. It was a true creature of legend, a titan from the youngest days of the world, demanding both reverence and terror.

“I have!” Kaiba replied blithely, despite announcing it in a ringing voice.

“ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE CAN DEFEAT ME,” the dragon said. “YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF SUCH A FEAT. I SEE YOUR HEART, BLACKGUARD KNIGHT. I CAN TASTE THE BLOOD YOU’VE SPILLED WITH YOUR SWORD, BRIGHT AND PUNGENT. I CAN HEAR THE CRIES OF ALL THE LIVES YOU’VE LET EBB INTO THE DIRT AT YOUR FEET!”

“I’m here to avenge the village!” Kaiba shouted. 

“YOU COME UP HERE TO DEFEND SOME PATHETIC SCRAPS OF BRICK AND WOOD, THINKING YOU CAN KILL ME, AND CALL THAT HONOR? REDEMPTION? YOU CALL THAT COURAGE? ITS TRUE NAME IS VANITY! EMPTY AND FALSE! IT WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN BEFORE I DO!” the dragon boomed again. “LEAVE. I WAS ONCE NAIVE AND VAIN LIKE YOU. COME BACK WHEN YOU ARE MORE THAN A MERE WORM, OR ELSE SUFFER MY FATE!”

Ryou had clambered to his feet and bolted for the safety of a low ridge, which gave him a perfect view of Kaiba, head held high and proud as he gazed unflinching at the dragon, several hundred times his size. He’d written those words in his notebook on the metro, leaning his head against the cool midnight glass, pausing every other line to ferret out another piece of sour candy from his bag. Then he’d missed his stop. That trundling, light-washed world of a train car seemed impossibly distant now - a rapidly fading dream, to be remembered only in flashes and silence. To hear the words come out of the smoking jaws of this dragon, each syllable flowing in a delicious, indulgent baritone from its shining teeth, filled him with a breathless exhilaration, his heart hammering in his throat - this was real!

“Only one of us is suffering fate today!” Kaiba shouted back, a laugh in his voice, and then threw a glance at Ryou. “‘Suffer my fate?’ Is that a typo?”

“VERY WELL. COME KILL ME! THERE IS PEACE IN DEATH, AND ONLY ONE OF US CAN CLAIM IT!”

“I - watch out!” Ryou yelled, as the dragon lunged forward, its jaws snapping shut on the empty air where Kaiba had been standing half a second before. Kaiba threw himself out of the way, a nimble tuck and roll, and scrabbled across the shale towards higher ground. Behind him, the dragon swung its massive head, nostrils red and flaring, mouth curled up in a savage draconic grin, glinting with the promise of violence. 

No sooner had Kaiba flung himself behind a scattering of boulders, shield raised, than it unleashed a jet of fire so hot and scorching the boulders glowed red, their rough faces melting in sheets. Ryou felt the heat wash across his face, from several dozen yards away. 

The fire died out. The dragon snorted in satisfaction, horse-like, a loud, wet huff of smoke. The boulders sizzled as they cooled into their new, bizarrely dripping forms.

Kaiba emerged from behind a boulder, sweating and singed, his face streaked with ash and his eyes shining. He tossed the warped, melted wreckage of his shield aside, where it bounced and clattered against the rocks.

“SO YOU STILL LIVE? A MISTAKE. WHAT COMES NEXT WILL HURT WORSE!”

“For you!” Kaiba hurled back, and threw his hand into the air, a gesture Ryou had seen countless times on a duel field - a lightning rod, a summoning. “VENTUS!” 

The wind picked up, in a giddy, howling whirl, bringing with it a cloud of dust that descended gritty and blinding and pale across the valley. Kaiba and the dragon vanished from sight inside it. Mentally Ryou subtracted one spell from Kaiba’s satchel.

“THIS WON’T HELP Y - ” Cut off by a wet chop and an ear-splitting draconic scream, a raw, awful sound, torn out of an unwilling throat. Just below it, a glorious, cascading laugh. “WRETCH! WORM!”

The dust settled, revealing glistening, dark-green blood splattered across the rocks, and a single severed claw, its flesh still twitching. The dragon seethed, its wounded foot curled in agony. Kaiba was clear across the other side of the pass, by the dragon’s tail, grinning open-mouthed as he panted for breath. His chainmail and surcoat dripped with dragon blood; his hair was thick with it. 

“COME GET YOUR PEACE, DRAGON!” he bellowed, and the dragon slung its head around, tail coiling in an ominous whip. 

Again Kaiba lifted his hand, shouted “VENTUS - !”

And a second dust cloud barreled into the valley, as the dragon roared back, “THAT WON’T WORK AGAIN!”

It whipped its tail through the dust cloud, a scythe-like sweep - smacking something hard into the rocks with a thick, fleshy crunch of bone that made Ryou’s insides clench tight with terrified sympathy.

The dragon whirled around, clearing the dust with several storm-gathering wingbeats.

This was not real. This was just pixels, neatly arranged and running in rivers of algorithms - just a clever series of ones and zeroes - and yet Ryou gasped, the dragon laughing, at the sight of Kaiba lying in a crumpled, motionless heap in the rocks. He hadn’t considered Kaiba might actually fail to kill the dragon - all thoughts of jobs and game-writing abandoned - unreality aside, the mind had a way of making it real - what the fuck happened if Kaiba died?

“IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE, WORM?” the dragon said, nudging Kaiba’s limp body with its claws, rolling him over. His head lolled, his body twisted into a horrifying, broken-boned slouch. How on earth was Ryou going to explain this to Yuugi? Hell. “I TOLD YOU, YOU'RE NOT W - ”

Ryou almost didn’t see it - a hawk in a dive, arrow-straight, from the top of the sky, diving through a blinding flash of light several stories up - and out of the light came Kaiba, alive and whole, plummeting towards the dragon’s head, gripping his sword with both hands - plunging it straight through the top of the dragon’s skull. 

He left the sword hilt-deep in dragon flesh as he pitched forward with the force of impact, rolling over the dragon’s brow, flailing to catch himself - on the massive horn. Clinging, victorious, as the great dragon swayed, its green eyes filming, and finally slumped, in agonized slow motion, to the earth, body first, head last, with a thundering, bone-rattling crash. 

It released one last, rattling breath, the trees shuddering in the fetid breeze.

The valley descended into stillness once more. 

Ryou sat down on his low escarpment with a limp thump, burying his face in both hands. This was just a Virtual World, where at one point everything would power down and they’d wake up safe and sound in the squishy, air-conditioned comfort of a pod, and he had, after all, planned on Kaiba killing the dragon, but Kaiba’s sheer nerve seemed beyond that. Yuugi was right. The guy was, maybe, a little nuts. Completely off his rocker.

“Ryou,” Kaiba said, above him, and Ryou lifted his head. Kaiba rested the sword jauntily across his shoulder, the rest of him filthy with dragon blood and human blood and dirt. “I have to say, I enjoyed your dragon. A shame it had to die.”

“Your strategy... You used a glamour spell? On a... rock? To make it look like your dead body,” Ryou said. “And then a transformation spell.”

“Correct. Is that all for your demo?” Kaiba said, cocking an eyebrow, both bloody and disdainful, and Ryou swallowed. “I was hoping for more of a cha - ”

His words stopped hard in his throat, a harsh, hacking sound. His free hand flew to his neck, mouth dropping open in pain and confusion, eyes widening. He coughed - or tried to, achieving nothing more than a thin, ugly retching, his face going white - and Ryou watched, in fascinated horror, as his gamble began to play out. There was nothing he could do to help; he’d written it that way.

The sword clattered to the stones, green blood dripping off the shining edge, as Kaiba staggered sideways, gasping for breath, both hands on his neck - what was the algorithm doing to him? Ryou had only written ‘a suffocating, squirming pain, concentrated in the lungs,’ and resolved to think more carefully about what types of pain he might inflict on the player characters, if the gamble paid off... But how interesting to know even the creator of the Virtual World himself suspended his disbelief - his knowledge of the truth - sometimes, and indulged in pain...

He collapsed to his knees, stretching one hand out, fisting it around Ryou’s collar and dragging him closer - 

“What - ” he choked out, eyes glaring into Ryou’s, in baffled, furious agony - terrified - they rolled backwards, the blue sliding away to white, as he slumped over himself. 

His hand went slack and fell. What life remained slipped away in a low, shaking sigh.

Ryou took him by the shoulders and gently lay him down, passing a hand over his eyes to close them. Dead, but not really.

“Just hold on a moment,” he said. The body had been vacated. The soul - the player - was awakening elsewhere.

He waited a few moments, absorbing the stillness, the detail on the leaves of the pine trees; the way the lake water shimmered in golden flecks with late afternoon light. It was maybe his last few seconds to enjoy the world he’d written, rendered in full splendor by the magic of technology, and he’d banished his anxiety from both his mind and body, to live out its exile in the real world. It didn’t belong here.

The great dragon body began to stir, drowsily, waking up from a deep, deep sleep. The deepest sleep.

Ryou stood up and slid down the escarpment to the dragon, pebbles and dust avalanching around his feet. The stab wound in its skull was knitting back together; the severed claw was crawling back to its slow-bleeding joint. There was an agonized hiss, forced through the dragon’s tightly-clenched teeth, and a vibrating groan, deep in its chest, as it gathered itself out of death.

Its eyes opened, in wary slits - not the bright, acid green, but a stunning, oceanic blue.

“OW. FUCK,” it growled, in Kaiba’s voice, magnified and twice as resonant. “OPEN MASTER COMMANDS, USER ID 000002510. SUSPEND ALL PAIN ALGORITHMS. CLOSE MASTER COMMANDS.”

He rolled upright, flexing his wings with experimental care. He arched his neck, looking down at Ryou.

“YOU TURNED ME INTO A DRAGON.”

“Yes,” Ryou said cautiously.

“NO ONE HAS EVER TURNED ME INTO A DRAGON BEFORE,” Kaiba said. ”SO I WASN’T WORTHY? IS THIS WHAT IT MEANS TO SUFFER THE DRAGON’S FATE? EVERYONE WHO KILLS THE DRAGON BECOMES THE DRAGON, AND ONLY THE CHOSEN ONE BREAKS THE CYCLE. IS THAT HOW IT GOES?”

“That’s how it goes.”

“HOW DO I FIND THE CHOSEN ONE?”

“You choose them,” Ryou said. “You decide what makes them worthy.”

"SO ANYONE CAN BE THE CHOSEN ONE? ANYONE CAN BREAK MY CURSE?"

"That's right."

Kaiba pondered that for a moment, flexing his claws idly in the dirt, the massive slabs of muscle in his shoulders shifting as he tested the strength and fit of his new draconic body. His gaze drifted out over the lower valley, eyes clouding briefly with memories of another story, another game, another man; one who had always seemed real and unreal, all at once, no matter what world he lived in. Ryou had heard it all from Yuugi.

Then Kaiba looked at him and started to laugh, a sound that echoed and rebounded across the small lake valley, the water shivering as each delighted peal of laughter rolled across. Ryou blushed as it buffeted him from all sides.

“IS THAT SO,” Kaiba said, with dry relish. “YOU’RE HIRED.”

[famedexclusivearchive]

Knight’s Taeyong and Fuse’s Minjung tell the “tales untold.” through this month’s cover of Dazed Korea.

The duo shows off their mysterious charms through the photoshoot of the idols in close proximity using the cool-tone and black and white effects of the photos. The idols play to the elusive aura, dressed in various luxury brands such as Fendi, Alexander McQueen and Miu Miu, giving viewers up close and more personal touch to the photos. Viewers are also able to appreciate the idols’ visuals from the individual close-up shots. Dazed has also released a short 30-second video of the photoshoot process emphasizing the artistic and mystifying feelings relayed by the two artists.

In the interview portion, the two were interviewed their first meetings to which Minjung replied, “Ironically, we’re from the same high school but I never paid attention to Taeyong sunbaenim past ‘Knight’s Taeyong’ — nothing more, nothing less. However, that’s evidently changed as I can start to understand Taeyong sunbaenim in a more artistic sense after our collaborations.” When asked about the collaboration process, and how that has changed their dynamic, Taeyong replied “I’m not a person who can always communicate well in conversation, but music is special to me, so working together through song helped me to come to understand Minjung better. First through working on “Girl, Interrupted” for her to sing, and now through producing songs together on her upcoming album, she’s become a singer and songwriter whose skills I admire.”

Both Taeyong and Minjung are currently part of the main cast on JTBC’s Mystical Record Shop. When asked about any memorable times on the show, or their favorite moments thus far, Taeyong answered, “What was most memorable to me was getting to meet guests in other lines of work. I get so caught up in my work, I don’t get the chance to meet with people who aren’t entertainers often,” while Minjung coyly said, “I’ll spoil a bit — there’s a cover of a song I really enjoy that I get to perform in one of the latter episodes. So, I suggest tuning in to see what I’m talking about.”

Aside from Mystical Record Shop, both the Knight member and the Fuse member have been busy with their respective solo activities. Taeyong finished promotions for his chart-topping ballad “Me After You” while recently wrapping up his third solo concert and BC Entertainment has recently announced he will be taking an indefinite break from activities due to stress. Minjung is slated to release her first full-length album loveforclosure, which features Taeyong on two of the tracks, on July 9. Both idols, as mentioned, are currently part of the main cast on JTBC’s Mystical Record Shop, which airs on Fridays.

COMMENTS

1. separately, they have similar feelings... but together... it’s an unmatched top-tier atmosphere ㅠㅠ

2. 33 seconds of that video was not enough... make it 33 minutes

3. please let this mean more taeyong and minjung collaborations. their songs together are so good ㅠㅠ

4.  taeyong in that bath tub... ㅎㄷㄷ... dazed korea thank you ㅠ

5. minjung is seriously in a visual league of her own....

6. their images are so notorious that this is probably one of the few duo photoshoots that won’t cause rumors ㅋ

[holy-chocolate-biscuit]

Nine in the Morning

Micky x Percy (Butterkins) Fan Fiction

Secret Santa was: @thatrosewoodwriter

Fic Summary: Taking place after the events of Princess in Practice, this fan fiction is an imagining of Micky and Percy and what they did next.

Thank you @rwchsecretsanta for organising the whole thing.

I’m sorry it’s so long xjsjsje I got pretty carried away.

Note for @thatrosewoodwriter

Hey Charley. I was your Secret Santa, sneaky me. You might have already guessed that because I think I was pretty bad at hiding it. Anyway, I was very happy when I found out I got you, we were already friends (and continuing to develop our friendship) but I was delighted. You’re a great friend that I love talking to, and you never seem to run out of interesting stories to talk about. You are also very talented, with singing, writing, making art etc, and it blows me away. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the fic. Even though I don’t usually really write, I tried my best. As I said, I am very happy that I got you and I hope you like it.

-: ✧ :-

Nine in the morning, before breakfast, Percy was walking in the Tompkins Gardens in a dark blue bath robe, under the vivid pastel blue sky.

Percy had always adored the gardens - wise like several football pitches put together.

Plants and flowers of extreme beauty and colours, rosy pink, glowing blue, fluorescent greens surrounding him, nature at its best, beautiful and bright. He walked on the smooth gray stone pavement, his hands in his pockets, on his left side a bush wall with different coloured flowers.

In the middle of the gardens, was a big fountain, at the centrepiece of it, a white statue of Aphrodite, the greek Goddess of love, a paper white life size statue, her hair tied back and a warm smile on her face, wearing a white robe.

Percy slowly walked his way to the very front, occasionally bending down to sniff the flowers and admiring the beauty as he walked.

Last night he hadn’t got much sleep, he admitted to himself, and he felt his energy draining as he walked.

He remembered looking around his room in the Tompkins Manor, pastel blue walls painting ironic melancholy as the walls felt like they choked him. Restlessness consumed him, and dark thoughts had wormed their malicious control into Percy’s brain daily. The thoughts came to him abruptly and without control, even though Percy did his best to suppress them.

Alfred Tompkins is sick.

Leviathan have the Hamelin formula.

Your own father sold you out for Leviathan.

Percy physically cringed as those memories came coursing through his mind again. He shook his head, as if to literally shake the memories away.

He turned his head and saw a figure emerge from the back doors.

Micky Tompkins, his best friend.

His light blonde hair was messy, not brushed properly, and it looked annoyingly good on him, and it made Percy want to ruffle his hair. As he ran closer to Percy, he couldn’t help notice that his ocean blue eyes sparkled today. He wore a white fluffy bathing robe. Only Micky could look good in a white bathing robe, Percy thought bitterly.

“Micky,” Percy scanned him, smiling. “Hi. Walk with me?”

Micky smiled back. “Of course.”

-: ✧ :-

They walked side by side in the heat, Percy on Micky’s left as a cool breeze found it’s way down his spine. Micky suddenly felt his palms build up with sweat, and he shook his hands quickly and clenched his fists, praying Percy didn’t see anything.

This wasn’t exactly ideal, as recently, Micky had fallen more and more in love with Percy, and he prioritised looking good in front of him nowadays.

Everything Percy did, Micky couldn’t stop admiring.

His smile. His hair, that he loved to ruffle. His personality. How he held himself. He’d become more and more in love by everything he did. It was almost worrying.

Even that black bath robe he was wearing, that accentuated the black circles around his eyes, that made him look like a panda, as his eyes were sunken and his skin was pale white. Micky let out a quiet laugh.

Percy didn’t seem to notice this, he stopped walking and fell back. He went on his tiptoes, pulling a red rose lower and smelled it.

His jawline. The way he crinkled his nose. The way he closed his eyes.

Percy went down to his feet again and let go of the flower, his smile fading slowly again. He wore a withdrawn expression as they walked, looking down occasionally and chewing his lip. Micky’s heart beat quickly. What was wrong?

“Are you alright?” asked Micky.

Percy looked at him, and slowly signed, “Tired. Just a bit tired.” He gave a small smile as if to show this.

Though Micky senses there was more to the story, than “just a bit tired.”

Micky’s face swiftly morphed into a mask of worry, his heart aching seeing Percy like this. “I don’t think that’s all.”

Percy ignored this, and continued walking.

“I think I know what it’s about. What... happened. And, you can talk about it, if you want. I don’t mind,” he offered an encouraging smile, hoping that hid his anxiousness.

Percy chewed his lip again as they walked. They reached the end of the garden now, facing a large bush wall where rows and rows of different flowers popped out, and the two turned to face each other.

“Alright,” signed Percy, his eyes burning. “I will. I just...” he coughed. “I’m still angry. My world is still loose at the seams, threatening to tear at any minute. I’m still getting over the shock, and I still have to accept-“ Percy put his hands down, and clasped them to his sides.

Micky nodded as Percy’s face tightened, but he continued. “I still have to accept what he did.” Percy didn’t need to specify who he was. His father. “It feels like everything I’ve ever known has broken, shattered in front of me. Like I can’t trust anyone. And it will be a long time I get over it, I guess. But for now? I’m still lost.”

He walked slowly toward the wall at the end, his hand scraping through the bush delicately, as a dark melancholy overwhelmed the air.

“I’m sorry,” Micky signed, though the action felt useless, numb, and his throat felt dry.

“Don’t be.”

Micky sighed. He desperately wanted to wrap Percy up and to hide him, protect him from his own inner demons and from the horrors of the world.

If only it worked like that.

“None of this is your fault,” Micky signed desperately. “It’s completely understandable to feel like this.”

Percy looked at him again, raising an eyebrow. Micky mentally wished he was better at advice. The whole fiasco had only happened days ago. And, here Percy was, vulnerable for the first time that Micky could really see, and he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t magically take the burden off his shoulders. There was nowhere they could both just go and hide in. He wasn’t a knight in shining armour, ready to protect him. He was just Micky.

“And, I’m here for you,” continued Micky eventually. “You can always talk to me. I’ll be here for you. And I will help you. I promise.”

Percy walked away from the wall and towards him again, with a blank facial expression. Micky gulped but he continued. “Whatever you need me to do. To be there for you so you can talk it out. To distract you. To buy you Butterkist popcorn.... anything. Because, what has happened... you didn’t deserve it to happen to you. And I will keep helping you until you’re happy again. Me and Lola will help you to the very end.” He attempted a smile.

There was a long pause. Percy eventually smiled back, and Micky exhaled, relieved.

“Thank you,” signed Percy. “I appreciate that. I’m glad you can help me,” he paused. “And I’m glad I can be honest with you. So I will continue to be honest with you, too.”

Micky nodded in response.

“I’m not sure it’s that easy...” signed Percy, his facial expression hardening, though Micky could see the vulnerability etched in his eyes.

Percy fiddled with his bathrobe belt, before continuing to sign again. “This memory. I will get better, but never the same as I once was,” he rubbed his eyes. “And I’m trying to be happy, I really am,” he blinked quickly. Micky could almost swear he saw tears building up. Micky leaned closer and held his shoulders, as Percy sighed, his hands shaking. “And I’ll try harder. For you. But it’s difficult, because I wish things were just like how they were before-“ and before he could attempt to sign anything else, Percy’s face was leaning against his shoulder, breathing heavily, his hands moving its way onto his shoulders.

Micky hugged him, placing his hands on his back. He didn’t dare move, his heart aching for his best friend.

It was a while before Percy lifted his face again, and looked at him head on.

He had stopped crying, although fresh tears were still on his cheeks. Percy held his breath and stepped back a little.

“I’m sorry,” he signed, avoiding eye contact.

“No, it’s okay,” Micky signed. There was a pause before he continued. “Life might not go back to how it was. But things will get better from now. Things will improve. This is just a setback. I promise things will get better. But for now, you just need a distraction.

Percy exhaled again before laughing bitterly. “Then distract me,” he grinned, as if he was challenging him.

Micky wiped the tears off Percy’s face with his thumb, as he leaned closer. He stepped back again, but only to look at Percy right in the eyes, to take a deep breath, and sign “challenge accepted.”

And suddenly Micky was kissing him.

-: ✧ :-

Percy’s eyes widened as he felt his hands tremble, Micky kissing him softly, curiously. Percy placed his hands on his shoulders carefully. Micky gripped Percy’s bath robe belt and pulled him closer, as they both closed their eyes.

And suddenly, energy coursed through his body, through his veins. His heart beat against his rib cage furiously, and he thought it was going to shoot out at any given moment.

He forget everything: Leviathan, Hamelin Formula, even his father, as they kissed, and Percy felt like he was floating.

Until a fresh wave of horror set over him.

What was he doing?

He opened his eyes and abruptly stepped back.

“I’m sorry,” he signed quickly, his eyes big and his mouth wide open, as he ran off, back into the house, leaving Micky in the garden.

-: ✧ :-

Michael Tompkins, you are worse than a stickless lollipop.

Micky wore a permanent expression of horror as he lay in his cold bed. It was night now, 10pm, and he wished the ground would just swallow him up whole.

For the whole day, he had ignored what he had done, ignored Percy, ignored Lola, stayed in his room, and when he ever had to go out, he had lurked the house like a silent ghost. He acted like he hadn’t done nor remembered anything.

But he remembered what he had done alright.

He remembered a kiss, his lips against Percy’s, as soft and light as a feather.

Why did he do that? Why? Why? Why?

One minute, he’s trying to help his best friend, give him advice. Percy had been washed completely by the numbness of misery, of agony, of a sadness he could barely comprehend, inner demons constantly gnawing at his mind with no mercy.

The next minute, he was kissing him, as if nothing else mattered.

And under the guise that he was distracting Percy, instead of genuinely doing something that would help him, acting on his own selfish desires.

Yet worst of all, he still enjoyed it. Enjoyed kissing him.

He remembered the gentleness, the affection of it leaving him breathless and almost knocking him off his feet, making him feel like he was floating.

The way his body felt so light he thought he was going to melt.

He rubbed his hands over his face in shame, groaning.

You’ve ruined everything, Micky. Why did you have to kiss him?

But then, he sat up suddenly. An idea brewed in the corners of his mind.

But you can fix this... maybe?

He got up from his bed speedily and sat down at his desk and scrambled for a pen and paper, hurriedly opening drawers. He eventually found some lined paper under his books, and quickly grabbing a pen, he wrote rapidly.

Meet me in the gardens, nine in the morning. I will explain myself.

He was going to apologise. It was selfish of him, to do something so problematic, and he planned on dismissing the kiss and saying it meant nothing.

Since Percy clearly didn’t like him back, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

All you can do is help him, he thought to himself, hovering behind Percy’s door and pushing the note underneath it, taking deep breaths, his heart breaking slightly.

-: ✧ :-

Even though the sticky air was hot and humid, a cold chill went up Percy’s spine as he stood at the front of the garden, looking around nervously at the harmony of flowers.

He wrapped his arms around himself, not because it was cold, but to calm his nerves.

What did that note mean? What was Micky going to say?

His hand hovered above his lips, remembering the sensation, unsure what to think.

He squinted in the distance. He saw a figure in the distance and he felt himself exhale in relief, silly as it was.

Micky slowly walked towards him, his mouth in a thin line, and Percy felt his heart beat frantically.

“Finally,” Percy grinned.

“Percy,” Micky smiled, but it looked awfully sad. “I need to tell you something,”

Percy nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he signed. “You said ‘distract me’ and I took that too literally. We can pretend nothing happened, if you like, and it’s okay, and I’m sorry for doing it, so incredibly sorry. We can just talk about you and everything that’s happened, from now on, and the kiss doesn’t have to mean anything, as I said,” he signed rapidly, keeping eye contact.

When he finished, Percy felt his head thud and he felt like he had swallowed bile.

His body had previously buzzed with excitement, of curiosity, wondering what Micky had to say, tight with hopeful anticipation, but now he felt paralysed.

His bones ached, his heart had sunk. His hands were at his sides, dead, unable to move.

Percy desperately tried nodding. He only managed a single, quick one. He forced his hands to go up, they were as heavy as lead. He was about to bite his tongue and sign, “alright,” but his hands moved differently, as if he had no control over them. “I don’t mind if that kiss means something.”

Micky blinked repeatedly, his eyes fiery. “What?”

Percy took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. His hands moved to sign, individual hand movements explaining, telling the story of how he felt, something his brain didn’t know, only his heart knew.

“Yesterday, I’m going to be honest, I stopped kissing you because I was scared that it would ruin everything. That our friendship would be ruined. Because I’m not good enough for you.” He felt his throat go dry, yet he continued. “You’re so kind, you’re good to everyone. And understanding, I don’t need to explain what’s wrong, ever, you always just get it somehow. And, you’re really cute, you’re incredibly attractive - I always look like a middle aged man who’s been through three divorces. I can’t even sleep at night anymore because I’m so nervous after what happened. I’m a wreck. I’m broken. And scared. And I won’t be able to be good for you. And most importantly of all, you deserve better than me anyway,” he and shoved his hands into his pockets, balled them into fists as he dared to open his eyes.

Staring back at him, was Micky, those same wistful ocean blue eyes, but they were open wide. His mouth was open, he looked shell shocked.

“No...” Micky signed quickly. “No, no. You’re wrong. That’s not it at all,”

Percy raised an eyebrow. Micky continued.

“I thought you were too attractive for me. And you’re great. You care so much about everyone. You’re so smart. And brave, after everything- after everything that’s happened. If I went through the same thing I would have broken down.”

Percy laughed aloud, though there was no humour to it. “I’ve already have.”

“No- that’s the thing,” Micky walked closer towards him. “You talked about it. You asked for help. And now I know what to do. I will help you, Percy. As you have helped me my whole life. With talking to people, with drawing when were younger. Everything. You make my life better. And I will help you get through this.

Percy felt his fists loosen, his hard facial expression soften and melt. He was about to open his mouth wide open, but before he knew it, all of a sudden, they were kissing again

A warm feeling flooded through Percy’s chest in an instant. His body hummed with electricity, with heat.

Before, when Micky had said the kiss didn’t have to mean anything - as he said those words he felt like he had been pushed into a cold darkness for eternity, but as they kissed and Percy wrapped his hand around his neck, he felt like he had stepped into the sun again, embraced by warmth and into the healing sunlight.

It was the second kiss, and he still felt the same way.

Like there was a missing jigsaw piece that had been slotted into a hole in his heart he didn’t realise was there, as if Micky was a part of him.

They stopped kissing at the same time to look at each other, as Percy’s head ached.

“I’ll be yours,” Micky signed slowly. “As long as you let me. And we’ll help each other.

“And I will,” Percy signed quickly. “I let you. And we’ll be with each other. We’ll make this work,”

They blindly grabbed each other’s hands, squeezing tightly, a look of understanding passing between them, as they let go again and leaned in for another kiss.

We complete each other.

-: ✧ :-

[22degreehalo]

On coolness

So I have some... very lengthy, mostly disconnected thoughts on the subject of coolness, and how it relates to social dynamics and oppression and neurodivergence, that have been rattling around in my brain lately. I’m sure this is going to end up WAY too long to be readable but welp, here I go anyway.

I’ll start off by describing what I mean when I say ‘coolness’. The shortest explanation I can give is that it’s anything that would be typically described by a young person - particularly on this site, since that’s the context here - as being cool. But that’s not very clear, so here are some examples of what I mean.

Coolness involves a certain kind of respect or admiration. It’s the popular girls in school, as long as you’re in school, but it’s also the dark anti-hero or the charismatic villain. Cool is anti-authoritarian, at least in aesthetic. It’s powerful and confident and capable. It’s authentic, but not earnest - it might be ironic and superior, or just not needing the validation of others (while receiving it, at least from the audience.) It’s about separating yourself from the crowd, but it’s also about social control and charm and high status. It’s sexy and funny and chaotic and it doesn’t take any shit. It’s physically and emotionally unassailable. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s also the only thing worthy of being taken seriously. It’s femme fatales, leather jackets, and knives. But it isn’t edgy - 'edginess’ is looked down upon precisely because it’s an attempt to look cool that fails. It’s what makes audiences swoon or clap or look up in awe because that’s what you would be like if you weren’t so self-conscious and awkward.

(It’s worth noting that this is specifically a Western version of the concept. In other countries, general competence and cool-headedness in general might be ‘cool’. But while a dashing knight in an anime might be described by his love interest as ‘cool’, under my definition he’d more likely be seen as an authority figure with a stick up his butt, unlike the genuinely cool shifty rogue character.)

It’s an interesting concept that varies wildly in application, but it definitely does impact the way people view certain things. As I said, coolness is anti-authoritatian and authentic, so corporate attempts to be seen as cool tend to be viewed very harshly, and anyone who ‘falls for it’ is also judged. Does that mean that coolness belongs to the oppressed? 

In some ways, that makes sense. More privileged people have historically tended to take on the characteristics of oppressed groups as a particular kind of status symbol, most obviously in our culture with white people taking from black people. But that leads to the first niggle - there’s often an implicit assumption that a white person doing these things is cool, while for black people, it’s either just normal, or viewed more as a sign of poverty and ‘trashiness’. So, some have responded by trying to make all white people uncool altogether, while black people are inherently cool, which contributes to the simplifying of black personalities as all just sassy, hyper-confident people who ‘don’t need no (white) man’.

In other words, as I’ve said above: ‘coolness’ is also its own kind of social status. In school, the cool kids bully the uncool kids, and while that’s a simplified version of the way adults interact, ‘uncool’ is a category that almost by definition makes someone a target. Both in practical ways - uncool people are weak, have little social support, and are vulnerable to mockery - and in moral ways - uncool people are often seen as snivelly and self-obsessed and dishonest. Coolness is social, and uncoolness is unsocial, or even antisocial.

(All of this, by the way, relates back to a very common dynamic in ideologies: that of the honest, hard-working, capable, and moral group versus the weak but morally reprehensible group who oppresses the other by resorting to evil tactics the first group is too good for. Seriously, look at almost any kind of discourse and you’ll see this over and over - kind and community-focused women versus competitive and physically brutish men, Good Honest whites verus sneaky [insert racist stereotype here], etc. That’s not to say that all of these narratives are equal, of course, but they often operate on the same logic even when the facts are VERY different.)

In other words: ‘coolness’ is used by everyone, to both combat and uphold oppression. 

But, there is a lack of understanding on how the latter happens, I think, especially among certain groups. There are some oppressed groups that map very well into ‘cool’ (black people, east Asians in recent decades, gay/bi people), but... there are also those that map very well into ‘uncool’ (neurodivergents and aro/aces).

It goes back to, I think, the way coolness is thought of as being disruptive and loud and chaotic. We talk about literally ‘disrupting’ the status quo, the same way you can ‘disrupt’ a party by blasting loud rock music and laughing at the stuffy jerkys who tut about the volume. But, for many neurodivergent people, the problem with that specific example isn’t that the disrupter is ‘taking up too much space’ or ‘refusing to care about what’s socially acceptable’ - it’s that too-loud music physically hurts.

I think this site, and a lot of progressive groups that pride themselves on being radical, understand intimately how groups are oppressed for being too much, having their excess actions restrained and being presented as too angry or sexual or confident. But I think there’s a real lack of understanding how the opposite can happen, too. How people can be oppressed for being unable to do things society expects - for being too sensitive, and too meek, and socially disconnected.

(I also think it leads to a IMHO way too excessive focus on things like appropriation, as though companies using a pride flag to advertise something is really the MOST important issue we should be getting angry over, and not a pretty benign sign that social views are improving. It also implies that these views on coolness are universal - when light-skinned Aboriginal children were prevented from accessing their culture, this was not, actually, a good thing. And that’s why as an Australian I cannot put up with light-skinned people being attacked for acting too much like POC.)

This was definitely a huge part of what directed ace discourse. Gays were fun and sexy and sociable. Aces were just lonely sad old virgins bitter that other people were enjoying themselves. Aces were a wonderful target, an uncool counterpart to gay and bi people, and what ensued was an almost perfect depiction of that kind of high school bullying where the self-described cool kids would gang up on a small, pathetic group who were crying like babies over shit that didn’t matter. I remember more than one person scoffing at the idea that someone could be oppressed for just wanting to sit at home - but that exact same description could be given of autistic people.

Honestly, it’s a commonality I’ve felt a lot, recently. A-specs and neurodivergents are both expected to live in a world that isn’t built for them, that excepts as part of humanity things that are easy and good for most people but often VERY BAD for them. That all feeds into Voidpunk, I suppose, which is probably the closest thing to a genuinely cool a-spec/ND thing that I’m aware of, except... well, accessible to ME, personally.

It probably goes without saying, but my personal connection is that I have never, ever in my life been cool. As a kid I was looked down on by the more social and cool kids, and was neither socially capable nor all that interested in my group to have any kind of sway there, either. As a teenager I tentatively experimented with some more goth styles, but none of it ever suited me at all. And nowadays, the personal style I’ve settled on is deliberately a little quirky - deliberately aesthetic, but too colorful and brightly patterned and old-fashioned. I don’t have the guts to wear out my plaid pants with my pink Peter Pan-collar blouse, purple bow-tie and red suspenders, but dear god do I love it.

And, I’ve come to realise finally that this is a big factor in what things I like - whether it’s about safety or contrarianism, as soon as something comes across as ‘cool’ it turns me off. I’ve always disliked snarky, insincere characters who feel only the Cool Emotions and want Revenge and don’t waste a second to Stick It To The Man - I’ve always preferred the upright, stiff servants of justice, whether they be earnestly optimistic and ardently loyal, or deeply tormented by doubts and a desperate hope that what they’re doing is good. I dislike careless rebels who don’t give a shit who they offend, and prefer the scrupulously polite ones who worry about accidentally saying the wrong thing. I can’t stand Jerks with Hearts of Gold, but I love characters who are kind but struggle to stand up for themselves.

Which is all also part of why I often don’t... vibe with progressive art as much as I expect to. I thought for a while that it’s because western dating sims and YA novels need to make their characters too competent, but it’s really not the capability that matters to me - it’s that these characters are presented as so confident, assured of themselves, and socially correct. And often deliberately contrasts them with bad people, who are often portrayed not as people with real societal power, but nasty ‘uncool’ people, like incels or gross male anime fans (which, uh, are usually portrayed as the same thing, anyway.) These characters always immediately and instinctively dislike this other type of character, or if they don’t, they come to Call Them Out assertively, which is presented as morally right, and sometimes even leads to them immediately changing and becoming more socially acceptable. It’s all... unnervingly uncritical of this whole ‘cool = good, uncool = bad’ dynamic.

That’s one reason why I prefer anime. As a genre it’s very okay with having characters be dorky or lame or overly enthusiastic and still be good people deserving of respect. If they love an unusual hobby, it’ll probably be treated with the same depth and seriousness as any popular sport. If they’re lacking in common sense or don’t know how to make friends, that’s okay - the main characters will support them.

And it’s why I never really got into all of the Hermione Granger love. It all seems predicated on her being not actually nerdy, but a cool badass - complete with ‘the books would’ve been 1000 pages shorter if she’d been the protagonist and/or Harry had listened to her.’ She rolls her eyes and speaks back and commits crimes. I am definitely much more like pre-development Hermione, and even then I would never have been that bossy.

Instead, I always come back to Leslie Knope. She’s not radical, she doesn’t command respect, and she is the opposite of cool. She earnestly believes in all this stuffy government bullshit and tries too hard to make other people like her, while being totally oblivious to how lame she is. She’s overly emotional and overly affectionate and takes everything way too seriously. But in the end, her hard work pays off. The show doesn’t really try to say that Leslie is really the MOST badass - even when well-intentioned a lot of her efforts are pretty silly or awkward. But she’s a good person who tries to make the world better and succeeds. You don’t need to believe in what she does or think her clapbacks are fierce or not ever cringe a little at her antics to truly, deeply admire her. She’s a dorky, embarrassing middle aged woman and she’s one of the greatest characters ever put on TV and that is why I LOVE her!

[dragonkeeper19600]

Fallen Star AU: Stella

This is a character profile for Mario and Peach’s daughter Stella, the main character of the Fallen Star AU.

I’ve posted a picture of her before, but I’ve decided I like my original concept sketch of her a little better.

General History: Stella was born in Sarasaland less than a year following the collapse of the Mushroom Kingdom. As Peach’s only daughter, and thus the rightful heir to the Mushroom throne, Stella was raised in absolute secrecy in Sarasaland, lest Bowser’s forces should discover her existence. Peach knew that the child of Mario and herself would give hope to the Toad population now living in oppression under Bowser’s rule. However, this reasoning has led Luigi to accuse Peach of using Stella.

Let it be said that Peach never pressured Stella to follow in Mario’s footsteps. Stella chose that path on her own. At a young age, she chafed at her confined existence and longed to liberate the conquered kingdom and take her rightful place as princess. 

As a teenager, she became aware of the toll such a quest would take on Luigi, who had always worried over her and might never recover if she died the same way her father did. But, at 18, her hand was forced, and she officially made her existence known to Bowser and his forces. She understands she’s risking more than her own life by fighting, but she believes the war with Bowser is bigger than herself and Luigi. 

Personality: Stella has always been a tomboy and being confined in her childhood has given her an intense wanderlust. Despite the tragic circumstances of her birth, she is a very idealistic individual, believing in a clear distinction between right and wrong and the sacred duty to fight for justice. These ideals will be challenged as she fights new foes, learns more of her family’s legacy, and sees that things are not as black and white as she believed. 

Stella exudes confidence in everything she does and has inherited her father’s impulsiveness. She’s also inherited his appetite. She can finish a slice of her mother’s cake with shocking speed. She tries to emulate Mario in many ways. She spent years training to gain his skills in acrobatics, and deliberately chooses to dress like him to order to evoke his image.

However, there’s a little bit more to her emulation of Mario than simple hero worship. Ever since she was very small, she’s been aware of a gap in her family’s life, the gap left by her missing father who would never come home. Stella remembers an occasion in her childhood where she walked in on Peach, hoping to give her a bouquet of flowering weeds she’d picked outside. Peach didn’t see her come in, and Stella saw the tears rolling silently down her cheek. Her mother, she’d come to understand, had lost everything, her home, her country, her people, and her knight. Stella’s attempt to follow in Mario’s footsteps is, in some way, an attempt to fill the gap. 

Abilities: Stella boasts the usual Mario Bros. agility and strength. She also possesses traces of her mother’s Wish Power. She can slow her descent from a long fall, and she inherited the ability to seal the Dark Star, which comes in very handy at a critical moment. 

Relationships:

Peach: Stella has spent most of her life in the company of her mother. Peach opted to use a frank and non-judgmental approach when raising her daughter. Whenever Stella had a question or was uncertain about something, Peach answered her as though she were an adult. When Stella expressed a desire to journey to the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach chose not to try and dissuade Stella and instead told her very clearly of the risks. As she grew up, Stella grew to admire Peach’s fortitude, managing to raise her lovingly even though her entire life had been destroyed and she is now living in exile. A huge motivator for Stella’s need to defeat Bowser once and for all is her desire to finally bring her mother home. 

Luigi: Luigi came to visit Stella often, and Stella found herself both flattered and intimidated by Luigi’s almost reverential love for her. Luigi taught her Italian and begrudgingly trained her how to fight the plumber way, though he would prefer for her to never use the skills he taught her. Luigi no longer fears for his own safety the way he did when he was younger but is instead plagued with fears of losing Stella. It was the guilt of worrying him that kept Stella in Sarasaland until she was eighteen. Mario died before she was born, and Toadsworth passed away when Stella was too young to really remember him, so Luigi has been her main father figure throughout her life. She’s called him “Zio” since she was little and continues to do so as a adult.

Mario: Stella’s entire life has been defined by her secondhand knowledge of Mario. She grew up hearing stories of his exploits and her family’s tender memories of him, and she quickly grew to idolize him. However, she has often longed for him to have a real, physical presence in her life. What would it be like to have a father say goodnight to you every night? And, wouldn’t her mother and uncle be so much happier if her father were still around? Stella, in many ways, sees Mario as the ideal of what a person should be, and she’s tried in every way she can think of to live up to his legacy. It’s put her under a lot of stress.

Daisy: Daisy is Stella’s Cool Aunt. Stella has known sorrow before she really knew her own name, and Daisy is a much-needed source of levity in her life. Daisy has matured since her younger days. Since the fall of the Mushroom Kingdom, she’s taken a more active role in the politics of Sarasaland, and so Stella sees her less often than Luigi. But, whenever she comes by, she’s always ready with a joke, a laugh, and presents for Stella and Peach. As a parent, Daisy has taken a more hands-off, let-them-learn-by-doing approach, which her own kids and Stella have benefitted from and which is the source of many headaches for Luigi. 

Cousins: Stella has three cousins: Tony, the eldest, Marigold, the middle one, and Viola, the baby of the family. Of the three, Stella is closest to Tony. Growing up as sheltered as she was, Tony was the only child her age available to play with. Even in their teens, Stella still considers Tony to be her best friend. Lanky and accident prone, Tony is more cautious than Stella but usually ends up going along with whatever she’s doing anyway. Stella influences him to journey into the Mushroom Kingdom to fight alongside her. Tony and Stella’s closeness is all the more impressive considering that Tony has often been envious of Stella. As a child, it often seemed to Tony that Luigi cared more for Stella than him. Stella and Luigi were united over their grief for Mario, and Tony felt his own exclusion from that connection. Tony covers up these negative feelings with a jokester personality. Whenever he’s feeling nervous about a leap into danger, he’s always ready with a self-deprecating joke. 

Bowser: Stella was warned her whole life that Bowser would try to kill her if he ever learned of her existence. When they finally encountered each other, Bowser did not disappoint. He’d spent eighteen years looking for Peach after she escaped the Kingdom, and when he learned Mario had had a daughter with her, he saw red. Whereas he’d never meant to actually kill Mario and felt something resembling remorse afterwards, he wanted Stella on a platter from day one. In his warped mind, Stella is the last thing tying Peach to Mario, and if he kills her, Peach will have no choice but to accept him. That Peach would never forgive him for killing Stella seems to never occur to him. Stella, however, is mostly unfazed by Bowser’s white hot rage. She’s always thought of him as a monster, a two-dimensional tyrant, and there was something morbidly satisfying in his immediate hatred of her. Neither she nor Bowser really see each other as thinking beings, just living symbols of what they oppose. 

Bowser Jr.: In the years following Mario’s death, Bowser Jr. has grown up to heavily resemble his adult father. Whereas age, stress, and, yes, grief, has caused Bowser to begin to decline, Bowser Jr. is in the peak of his adulthood. It’s often Junior, not Bowser himself, that Stella faces in combat, and at first, it seemed as though their relationship would be a copy of the enmity between Mario and Bowser during Mario’s lifetime. Bowser Jr. was pressured by his father early on to “torch that girl” that had stolen his mother from him, and Stella made her own disdain for Bowser Jr. clear from their first meeting when she told him, “You are standing in between me and my throne.” Despite their rivalry and volatile beginning, Stella and Junior eventually formed a mutual respect for each other. Junior came to feel disillusioned with his father’s drive for conquest, but he didn’t see an alternative to his current strength and war-centered way of living. Stella, an emphatic person herself, began to see and understand the burden Junior bore as the only son of the Koopa King, forced to comply with the wishes of his father and his people against his own better instincts. This understanding eventually bloomed into a sort of mutual attraction, and a lot of their fights became romantically charged. It progressed to the point where Junior at one point proposed to Stella, reasoning that a union between them would end the conflict. But, Stella turned him down. She’d already fought against him for so long under the narrative that he was an illegitimate prince with no claim to the Mushroom throne. If she married him now, thus acknowledging him as the heir, she would be betraying her people. She couldn’t accept a kingship that had been based on so much sacrifice. None of the reasons for her refusal had to do with Junior himself but what their union would mean for her people. They couldn’t be together. 

The Havoc Star: The weapon that allowed Bowser to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom, the thing that had killed Mario. For the longest time, the Havoc Star was a source of awe-inspiring horror for Stella. If Mario represented an idealized good, then the Havoc Star was pure, voidal evil. Bowser’s hated of Stella occasionally drove him to try to use the Havoc Star on her, and while these attempts were unsuccessful, Stella always escaped just by the skin of her teeth, and the destruction was always terrible. Other stars speak soothingly with wisdom or kindness, but Stella never heard anything from the Havoc Star but nerve-scraping screaming that filled the entire cavity of her skull. Stella’s top priority in the early days of her conflict with Bowser was to find a way to destroy the Havoc Star. If she could do that, then Bowser’s main ace in the hole would be gone, and taking back her kingdom would be easy. 

[hellsbovnd]

dead man’s shadow

wc: 1524 focus: rosemund blackthorne

quick piece before i go to bed and work on something else in the morning, kinda a warm-up i gueeeeeeeess?

[ PDF MIRROR ]

Rosemund lifted the necklace and held it against the moonlight, quietly admiring the way that blood-slicked silver reflected both red and white in the shadows. The Rosemund who was thirty and five, the Rosemund whose burning rage had subsided from an inferno to ever-burning embers waiting to lend him their warmth, the Rosemund who had properly(?) undertaken communion had no use for such trinkets.

But this is not about the Rosemund of thirty and five, a man who recognized the necessity of playing long, tiresome games in favor of marking names off his list with extreme prejudice, as quickly as possible.

This is about the Rosemund of twenty and one, whose blade tasted blood for the first time on one fateful winter’s night; the Rosemund who yet burned.

The pendant of the necklace bore the crest of a House that served Dzemael. Its owner laid motionless, facedown in the snow: a blond man robed as an inquisitor. He’d carried a concealed blade on him but against a sword as long as he was tall, a dinky little knife had offered him little protection. The robes didn’t do much to preserve his life, either, but at least the black outer made it difficult to see the blood. If it weren’t for the blood that seeped into the snow, maybe he could have been mistaken for passed out, sleeping. Anyone who examined the body, though, would find that he’d been cut shoulder-to-side, been left there to bleed out slowly while the combination of cold and blood loss and being watched over attentively by his assailant kept him from crying out, kept him from finding the help that could have saved his life.

Rosemund’s stomach turned at the deed, really; he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking, and he wasn’t rightly sure if he was just shivering from the cold or not. There was a blizzard in the forecast for later in the night and the temperature was rapidly dropping even though the clouds had not yet rolled in, but he couldn’t pull himself from that spot. The pendant swung idly back and forth, dangling from a chain looped around the middle finger of his right hand.

Beautiful Grotesque. You did this. You can’t take it back. You wouldn’t have it any other way. How many men would he have been responsible for executing? How many false charges would he have levelled? Ishgard is better without him. You love Ishgard.

With a single, swift motion, the pendant swung up from its dangling and landed in his palm. He closed his hand around it, tilting his head back and squeezing his eyes shut. He needed to leave, he knew. At the very least he needed to drag the body to an edge and throw it into the abyss that waited below the city. But he couldn’t bring himself to move, instead transfixed by the feeling of the pendant in his hand, so much different from the feeling of gripping his sword. It made the deed—

So much more real. If it weren’t for the pendant, the voices lucking in the back of his mind might have given him the impression he was dreaming. They didn’t come to him while he was awake. Until now, that was.

You can’t go back. You can’t go back. You can’t go back.

Now, they clawed at him more than ever, the edges of his vision blurred as he was beckoned to listen. Hearken to their call, slowly draw the freezing winter air deep into his lungs and… … …

At twenty and one, Rosemund had taken his first real step to becoming a full-fledged Dark Knight. He’d trained with two-handed swords before, of course—not for long, since he knew he would have been expected to bear a shield with the crest of House Haillenarte or the crest of the Temple Knights if he continued down that road. Since he was forced to take on the mantle of Lord of House Valieroix, however, he suddenly found himself with a lot more freedom regarding what his weapon of choice would be.

But it was not the physical training, he learned, that would mark him as a Dark Knight. He remembered sleeping there, on the street, and waking in his bed, warm at home and questioning if it was all a dream—and then being treated to the revelation that no, it wasn’t when he not only found the pendant clutched in his hand so tightly that his knuckles were very nearly turning white, but saw that the veins lurking just beneath his skin traced stygian trails up his arm, as if someone had traced them in ink.

The sight prompted him to throw the pendant across the room where it landed with a soft, dull noise against the carpet, and curl back into bed. The blackened veins were accompanied by an uncomfortable numbness that only subsided when the sun was no longer trying to peek through his curtains, having arrived at its apex in the sky.

At thirty and four, Rosemund could feel himself unravelling. He’d stowed all of the mirrors in the basement along with his armor, his sword, and more junk than was probably reasonable. Not because he had anything against mirrors. He swore up and down that mirrors were an excellent addition to any room, but—

He’d smashed three on impulse within the span of a week.

And he found himself on the verge of smashing another, heedless of how much of a pain it was to repeatedly pick the broken glass out of his own skin and re-bandage them. He’d quelled the inferno, stamped it down to embers. He had to. He knew the legends of the Dark Arts that Dark Knights wielded, and while they filled him with the strength to lift people one-handed and endure pain far beyond most normal people’s thresholds, he also knew—perhaps instinctively—that they were dangerous. He tried not to push it since his first time, terrified of waking in the morning with lost time and blackened veins.

He gripped the edges of the washbasin in a desperate effort to suppress his basest urges, to teach his reflection a lesson for daring to bare his teeth before a nobler man than most, to stamp out the golden fire that stared back at him, rimmed by long eyelashes and dark circles. The bathroom was still filled with steam from his bath, one of the few warm refuges left in this Fury-forsaken city.

What’s wrong, Rosemund? You should be proud of what you’ve done. What you’ve become.

He’d come to the realization years ago—though he hated himself for it—that the voice lurking at the back of his mind was his own. Taunts and guidance both. Egging him into giving in to his baser impulses. Shrieking in the heat of battle while the blood roared in his ears. The edges of his vision blurred and his knees struggled to support his weight.

There was no weight around his neck.

His reflection wore the pendant he’d taken that night. He barely remembered it anymore, really; he remembered the man’s name, his face, his crimes, but he didn’t remember killing him, not really. It all ran together after a point. Inquisitors, Temple Knights, priests. Not all of them were felled with his greatsword, least of all the most wicked of his victims which required more discerning measures. But what difference did it make? Death was death in the end, whether the Fury was waiting for them with open arms—approval of their disgusting deeds—or not.

Rosemund blinked and the pendant was gone, and his face in the mirror was no longer contorted into a wicked snarl but a look that was frankly, more of confusion. His eyes were unfocused, and his reflection swayed a bit, unsteady as he braced himself against the washbasin. Perhaps it was a result of exhaustion, perhaps it was a result of too much wine on an empty stomach, but either way he didn’t feel a whole lot better even after he vomited into the sink.

He spent a few bells on the floor before he found the strength to make it back to his bedroom and collapse in a crumpled, sick heap on the bed, burying his face in the heavy wad of blankets that he could never really be bothered to straighten and that reeked of the sweat that they’d soaked up from his occasional nightmares. The pendant waited in the same box on his nightstand that he kept his soul crystal in, polished to a shine and cool to the touch.

He let it dangle from his fingers, swaying a bit with the little tremors that he couldn’t suppress. He couldn’t pinpoint why he’d kept such a thing for so long, but it required some admiration, perhaps… Rosemund knew that he would need to get rid of it if he ever wanted his first victim’s shadow to stop looming over him. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Was it truly the pendant, a relic of such a monumental occasion, slicked with blood and glinting underneath the light of the moon, that terrorized his dreams?

[kingdomofgufalla]

Introduction

The land of Gufalla is a Kingdom Roman created because of his desire to bring joy to the other sides/figments. The fic below is written by my friend who we will call Kitty, even though that is not their real name as they wish to stay anonymous. Basically, a summary of the fic is Roman showing them the ropes of the new kingdom that he has created. After this fic, is when I and Kitty started to world build on Gufalla together. Before I go any further, please read the tickle fic.

Sander's Sides Floral Fic

Words ~ 4,089 ~

"Welcome to my newest kingdom!" Roman exclaims with a grand gesture as he leads Virgil, Logan and Patton, in that order, behind him.

"This is so beautiful, Ro!" Patton wears a grin as he walks behind Logan and admires the myriad of colors and wonders in the Imagination.

"It does display your creative abilities well, Roman. All of these plants and natural additions make it seem almost feasible that they could exist in reality," Logan chimes in, a small smile adorning his face as well. Roman had definitely wanted to make Logan feel heard when he addressed these issues to the prince.

Virgil glances at everything around him, the strange newness to it all. "It is pretty cool, I guess. But safety is number one, Princey, you know that. So...?"

"You're all too kind! And yes, everything is this wonderous new land is completely safe. Not to mention it's designed to bring out joy from all who enter it!" Roman continues to walk, Virgil letting out a breath of relief at his statement.

A bush with muted purple leaves catches Patton's eye and he takes a few steps away from the others and toward the mysterious plant. He crouches down in front of it, his eyes full of childlike wonder as he picks a single berry off, turning it in his hand to examine it.

It resembled a blueberry but a little bigger, and it was a beautiful and gradient shade of Kelly green. He remembered that Roman said everything was safe so it couldn't hurt, right? He popped it in his mouth, chewed, and melted at the flavor. It tasted like a pistachio muffin!...maybe a few more?

Patton ended up eating about five more berries before he paused, a fluttering feeling appearing on his stomach. He looked down and brushed at his shirt but there was nothing on him. He tried to rub away the sensation but nothing happened. In fact, the feeling was getting more apparent and felt oddly like.. Feathers?

Feathers.

Patton couldn't hold back his giggles if he tried, putting a hand over his mouth to somehow dam them back but to no avail. In about twenty seconds flat, the father figment was lying on the soft grass, curled up and squealing and giggling as the ghostly feathery sensations continued.

Virgil could hear something behind them and quickly turned his head around to see not only a lack of Patton but the addition of laughter in the distance. And also Patton.

Virgil was a blur of black and purple as he raced over to Patton, kneeling beside him and calling out for the other two, who also came rushing over at the sight of Patton on the ground.

"Roman, I thought you said it was safe!" Virgil exclaimed, still confused and concerned as to why Patton was on the ground and giggling.

"It is! I don't know why-" Roman catches himself mid sentence, his eyes locking onto the bush where a small patch of berries was missing from. "...ah. He simply ate some rainbow buttons."

Virgil's eyes go wide. "He ate buttons?! Roman, I swear-" Roman points to the bush and the hoodie wearing side's shoulders slump. "Are those...berries?" Roman nods and clears his throat.

"Indeed they are! Patton has eaten a certain variety of fruit that grows in this new kingdom called rainbow buttons. They have many variations that can affect different parts of the body."

"And how do these 'buttons' affect the body?" Logan asks, half out of concern for Patton and half out of curiosity.

"I'm glad you asked!" Roman walks over to Patton, seeing that his giggle fit was over and he could talk again. He offers a hand and Patton takes it with a silly smile, standing with the prince's help. "Patton, would you care to explain what you felt just now?" Roman inquires, putting on his own grin.

"It felt like feathers all over my tummy. Gosh, it really tickled a lot!" Patton explains with another round of soft giggles as Logan and Virgil's cheeks turn a slight pink.

So that's what Roman meant by 'bringing forth joy'.

"Uh, w-well, that's good to know. Roman, do all of these berries have the same basic shape?" Logan asks as he picks one to look it over.

"They do, but they all have different colors and markings. That one you have there is the Kelly green gradient variety. The color decides what part of the body it affects and the markings tell you what ticklish sensation you'll feel." Roman also picks a berry, holding it out for the rest of them to see. "This particular one targets the tummy and feels like feathers. Ain't that right, padre?" The princely side teases and Patton turns away with a shy grin, nodding.

Virgil stands from where he was kneeling, shoving his hands in his hoodie pockets. "What other plants and flowers and whatever else should we know about?" He mumbles, eying the bush with the same slightly pink blush as Logan.

Roman perks up at this, a shining grin flourishing on his features. "A wonderful question, but I'm afraid I don't want to spoil any surprises. I can, however, show you around the different flora in the kingdom. Come! Let's explore!" And with that, Roman was already strutting down another path, the other three following suit.

They soon reach a clearing in the woods full of flowers, some normal daffodils and daisies but some looked magical, to say the least.

"Ooh, these are all so pretty! What's that one?" Patton points to what could be a bleeding heart flower, save for the claw shaped petals rather than hearts. Logan and Virgil both look at the flower, curious and slightly wary of it.

"A brilliant question, my dear! These," Roman pulls a stalk of flowers from said plant gently, laying it on his palm. "are called monster flowers. Each blossom has a red berry inside that you can eat! They taste like strawberry hard candy, too." He opens one of the flowers and pulls out the aforementioned berry, handing the stalk to Patton, who admires the flowers' beauty.

"What happens when you eat it?" Virgil murmurs, tilting his head as his gaze lingers on the berry. Logan nods at Virgil's inquiry.

"Yes, and how long does it last?" Logan looks at Roman now, eyebrow raised.

"One berry will last you about one minute, maybe two. The more you eat, the longer it lasts." Roman replies as he moves his hand holding the berry towards Logan. "Why don't you try it out for yourself to see exactly what it does, teach?" Roman has a huge smirk on his face because Logan was a sucker for two things; Crofter's and experiments.

"I-If you simply told us, it would be a more simple experience for both of us." Logan's cheeks heat up a little but Roman knew just what to say.

"Are you sure? If I only tell you, how can you possibly know what exactly it would feel like? You wouldn't want to lose an opportunity for possible data...would you?" Roman quirks a brow, still smiling and holding out the berry again for Logan.

A moment passes and Logan hesitantly takes the small fruit and places it in his mouth, taking no more than a few seconds to chew and swallow. For a brief moment, nothing happens, but-

"RoHOhomahan!!" Logan exclaims, his arms suddenly wrap around his midsection and Virgil jumps a bit at the outburst of laughter, looking to Roman.

"Yes, specs? What can I help you with?" Roman responds and then turns to Virgil. "Just give him a minute, it'll wear off soon." He assures, calming the darker persona's nerves a bit.

"WaihiHIHit, nahAHAHAHaha!!" Logan could feel the playful scribbling of claws all over his sides and rib cage, skittering quickly over every spot they could find in that area. A giant grin split Logan's face in two as he continues to fail miserably to hold his laughter in. But as soon as it started, it seemed to stop all at once, leaving Logan leaning against a nearby tree for support as the last few leftover giggles leave his lips.

Virgil can't help but chuckle softly at the logical side's adorable giggles. Logan would never admit it but Virgil knew for a fact that the bespectacled side had an incredible laugh. Patton and Roman were also smiling at Logan's wonderful giggles and Roman spoke up again.

"Well? How was it, calculator watch?" The royal asks with a smarmy tone.

Logan clears his throat, fixing his glasses before he speaks. "It, uh- it felt like small claws. Very small claws. Tickling me." He gets it out in short sentences, attempting to will his blush away somehow.

Virgil grins at this. "What other flowers can Teach over here test out, Ro?" Before Logan can object with a much redder face than before, Roman interjects with a wide smile.

"An excellent question, my dark and stormy knight!" The royal makes his way over to what looks like a belladonna plant, berries and flowers blooming, but the petals were a light lavender color and the berries had a gradient from white to black.

"These are a little something I like to call 'bellapiuma'! But Logan will probably recognize it as-" Roman starts but the logical side interrupts

"Belladonna. You based it off of belladonna?" Logan asks with an almost curious tone. Roman smirks at Logan's interest and continues.

"Indeed it is! But this is completely safe for consumption, I assure you. It fills your tastebuds with the flavor of cookies and creme but the effects seem to escape my memory...perhaps a certain Sherlock Holmes could help us solve this case?" Roman wonders aloud, sneaking a crafty glance toward a very conflicted Logan.

"I- Roman, you-" Curiosity wins out and Logan plucks a monochromatic berry from the bush, examining it for any blemishes. "How dare you use the great detective against me?" Logan murmurs to Roman, popping the berry into his mouth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Roman purrs, watching the other eat the berry and stepping back over to Patton and Virgil, chuckling to himself. He whispers to the two of them as Logan's cheeks turn slightly pink.

"Bellapiuma means 'pretty feather' in Italian. Eating one of those berries causes the feeling of tickling feathers. It starts at one general area and slowly zones in on a specific spot but let's watch it in action, shall we?" The prince nods toward Logan, who was currently clamping hs mouth shut with one hand to try and hold his laughter in.

It started in Logan's legs, causing him to lean against a tree as giggles start to pour out of his mouth. The sensation of the many feathers, some stiff, some fluffy, were scattered all across his upper and lower legs. "Rohoman, what's hahappenihing?" Logan calls out, sliding to the ground as his laughter increases in volume.

"The feathers should focus on one spot in a moment, Logan, don't worry!" He yells back to the other, wearing a snarky smirk.

"Romahan, whahahAHAHAHA, NAHAHAhaha!!" As Roman had told him, the feathers honed in on his calves, some flicking quickly and some running up and down the skin slowly as cackles bust out of him, a smile spreading across his lips as he tries in vain to rub away the seemingly nonexistent ticklish sensation.

Patton, Roman and Virgil all smile as well. It was always nice to see the serious side let loose and laugh when he could and they would all be lying if they said it wasn't cute.

Logan's laughter soon turns into silent, hysterical giggles, curling in on himself as his cheeks turn a deep scarlet. The feathery feelings soon fade as well, leaving him on the soft grass taking deep breaths intermingled with giggles. Patton moves through the flowers carefully, kneeling next to Logan with a gentle grin.

"You doing okay, Lo?" Patton asks as he offers a hand to Logan, who takes it and sits up, nodding.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." Logan takes a final huge breath, straightening his tie and adjusting his glasses as Patton helps him to stand, the duo making their way back to Virgil and Roman.

"Let's find another area, something a little more calm." Roman gives Logan a sympathetic look, gently patting his shoulder, the bespectacled side nodding and smiling softly at Roman. The prince returns the smile, leading the others to a different part of the kingdom.

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

The four figments happen upon a rather relaxing scene; a small pond with a cherry tree next to it. The usual light pink sakura petals are colored a deep red, almost the same as a rose, with the cherries now the color of the flowers.

"This seems like a pretty peaceful spot, Ro. We can recharge and rest up for a little while!" Patton states excitedly, walking into the clearing, the rest following suit.

Roman nods and sits on a nearby rock, letting out a sigh of content. "It is very peaceful, yes."

Virgil stakes his claim under the tree, leaning against the trunk and Logan sticks with Patton, the two of them sitting in the grass near the pond.

After a few minutes, Virgil looks up at the cherries and then calls to Roman. "What are these, Princey?" He nods up at the tree.

"Hm? Oh, those are cheery cherries! I believe they taste like cherry jubilee. They don't have any direct effects, either." Roman explains as he removes his boots, stretching his legs a bit.

"Huh. Couldn't hurt to try one..." Virgil mumbles to himself, standing and grabbing a single cherry from a low branch. It looked like a normal cherry, aside from the light pink color, but slightly bigger. He puts it in his mouth, biting down on it and- oh. It did taste like cherry jubilee.

...Maybe a few more couldn't hurt?

But he should've learned from Patton's earlier escapades. After eating about four cherries, Virgil hums in content and leans against the tree again. Roman, noticing just how many fruits he had eaten, wanders his way over to sit next to the anxious side.

"I did forget to mention one little detail about those cherries, by the way." Roman pipes up, trying to hide his growing grin.

Virgil looks over at the other, his glance wary at the look on his face. "What's that?"

The prince lets his smirk take center stage as he makes a gentle grab for Virgil's ankle, causing the other male to yelp as his leg is trapped in Roman's grip. "Hey! W-wait, what did the cherries do?" Virgil asks as he fights the urge to smile in anticipation.

"Oh, nothing. You know what? Let's find out!" Roman exclaims, sliding off one of Virgil's black leather combat boots.

"P-princey, don't you- wahIHIHihihit!" Virgil squeals as Roman scratches one nail over his socked sole, giggles waterfalling after with no signs of stopping.

"They simply made you even more ticklish than you already were! Which means just this one little finger can give me those lovely giggles that we all adore so." Roman coos, moving said finger up to wiggle under Virgil's big toe, drawing out a snort from the hoodie clad side.

"Rohomahan, dohohon't!" Virgil's smile is unbelievably bright, using one sweater pawed hand to try and cover it.

"Aww, don't hide that sweet smile, kiddo! It's so beautiful!" Patton chimes in, chuckling to himself.

"Padre's right, son of Skellington! It truly is a sight for sore eyes." Roman adds as he changes positions, wrestling his way to rest softly on Virgil's thighs, making sure there wasn't too much weight on him at the same time. "You know, I distinctly remember Patton calling you a little kitten at one point. Let's test this out, hm?"

Just the sight of Roman's devious smirk is enough to make Virgil bust into bubbly giggles but the gentle scribbling of all ten of his fingers on his stomach certainly didn't help either. "Roho, dohon'T, NAHAHEhehihihihi!!" His hands scramble to grab onto Roman's but they don't do much to stop him.

Unbeknownst to Virgil, Roman's plan was working perfectly. "Coochie coochie coo!" The prince teases, his smile softening at the adorable sight in front of him. He suddenly lifts his hands away in the air, fingers splayed out. "Coo!"

Virgil copies Roman's arm and hand movements, immediately pulling them back down with a face full of shyness and a blush like no other.

Patton squeals and smiles at the scene. "Oh my goodness, he's like that one kitten that gets his tummy tickled!" Even Logan nods and has a small grin on his lips.

"It does seem that he replicates the behavior seen in that video, proving Roman's hypothesis." Logan remarks, gazing fondly at Roman and Virgil.

"Sh-shuhut ihit!" Virgil mumbles, hiding in his hoodie and trying to rub away the redness from his cheeks.

"When will you admit how adorable you can be, Virgil?" Roman whispers in a teasing tone, the darker clothed side groaning and hiding further into his sleeves.

"I won't cause I'm not- AHHahehehihi, wahihihihi!!" Roman continues his cooing and gentle tummy tickling as soft laughter escapes Virgil's lips yet again.

"What were you saying? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of your precious giggles, Virgil. Tickle tickle, little kitten!" The prince snickers as Virgil lets out tiny snorts between rounds of giggles. Roman pulls his hands up again and Virgil does the same, causing the former to smile sweetly and the latter to hide his flushed face again.

"You're too cute for your own good, I hope you know that." Roman murmurs as he moves to sit next to a slightly embarrassed and giggly Virgil.

"Youhu juhust- just you wait, Roho. You're gonna gehet it." Virgil breathes out, sitting up against the tree trunk but still wearing a little grin.

"I'm sure I will, sunshine." The royal stands, smiling, and offers a hand to Virgil, who takes it and dusts himself off, placing his hands in his hoodie pockets. "I think we're ready to head out again, yeah?" Roman asks the other two, who nod and stand as well.

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

"So rainbow buttons can grow in any environment as long as there's soil?" Logan asks his almost endless questions about these new species of flora, Roman elated to answer them all.

"Indeed! They are quite adaptable and hardy plants, not to mention- PATTON, DON'T!" Roman suddenly calls out, tugging the father figment's arm away from a seemingly normal but large bush with bi colored peonies growing from it.

Patton's eyes widen and he looks at the bush. "Sorry!- Well, it doesn't look dangerous to me, kiddo, why stay away from such pretty flowers?" He asks, tilting his head at the plant.

"It isn't dangerous, per say: nothing in this kingdom is but..." Roman mentally finds the right words. "It's a sentient plant. It feeds off of laughter and it takes close examination to see how 'full' it is. They can tickle someone for close to an hour if they're too hungry."

Patton nods at this, taking a few more steps back. "Good to know, Ro."

"Close to an hour? Could someone pass out 'cause of that thing?" Virgil wears a concerned expression but Roman quickly shakes his head.

"No, I made sure of that. It can sense when a living thing has reached its limits and allows a break to keep the captured creature from fatigue." Roman explains, taking a slow step toward the plant in question. "It's called a Laughter Lure, the flowers can lower someone's guard enough to make them approach it."

"Fascinating." Logan mumbles to himself, hand on his chin in thought. "How can one tell how 'full' it is, as you put it?" He inquires and Roman points the flower in the center of the bush; it was noticeably bigger than the other's at a close glance and was a slightly more vibrant hue as well.

"The head flower is the only surefire way to know. If it's completely satiated, the flower glows dimly." Roman squints at the flower, examining it from afar. "It seems to be pretty well fed, almost full."

Virgil grins as an idea comes to him. "Why don't you show us how it works so we know what to look for in the future, Ro?"

Roman opens and closes his mouth a few times, unable to respond at first but he soon finds his words. "I- well," He then sees Virgil's smirk. "I can see what you're plotting, Hot Topic." He squints at him, pouting slightly.

"Who, me? Plotting? Never." Virgil holds up his hands in surrender, still wearing that smug grin.

Logan catches on, also smiling, and adds, "He's right, Roman. We wouldn't want to be unprepared should we be by ourselves in your kingdom."

Roman can't even rebuke them, huffing a little as he starts to slowly make his way over to the plant. "First things first, no sudden movements! It uses vibrations in the ground to sense things!"

Roman takes a few more steps closer and a curious, harmless vine pokes out of the bush. The prince pauses as the vine seems to turn to face him. It then retracts back into the bush and Roman lets out a sigh of relief. "See? Slow and steady wins the race!" He turns around to look at the others, Logan Patton and Virgil looking back at him in shock. "What? Is something wrong?" Roman asks.

Four thicker and longer vines are poised behind him, the tips of them wiggling teasingly. The other three could only watch in amusement as Roman finally turned around, his eyes going wide. "Uh...can we talk about this?"

The answer was no.

Two vines pull Roman to the grass, a third wrapping around both of his wrists and holding them above his head. "Virgil, I blame you for this!!" Roman yells, twisting and turning only to find no escape.

"This isn't on me! You walked over there, Princey!" Virgil teases, smirking. The two vines that pulled Roman onto his back on the ground are now slowly rolling up his shirt to reveal his belly.

Roman's cheeks heat up to a light pink, biting his lip to hold in his giggles as one vine traces little spirals all over his side, causing the royal to squirm in the opposite direction but not getting far. Another vine slithers up his shirt, drilling gently into his underarm.

"NAHhaha, nahahAHAT THEHEHAHA!" Belly laughter explodes out of Roman's mouth, his whole body wriggling around in mirth.

"Roman almost looks 'pit'iful, huh?" Patton whispers to Virgil, causing the latter to snort and cover his smile with his sleeve.

The vine on his side suddenly takes interest in this new spot as well, using slow and teasing strokes in his other armpit. Roman bucks and flails but the vines are sturdy and determined. "BAHAHAHA, WAHIHIHAHAHA!!"

Logan is extremely intrigued by the plant; how it seems to perceive a person's laughter and its fluctuation, directing vines to draw out louder laughter to feed on. Perhaps he could ask Roman to summon a houseplant sized version for him to observe back in the mind palace.

Meanwhile, Roman is losing his mind, cackling and squeaking up a storm but the vines pull back and stop as soon as they started, leaving the prince a flustered mess on the ground. "Thahank Odihin..."

The other three come over and help Roman stand, supporting him as the prince stands on wobbly legs for a moment. "Doing alright there, Ro?" Virgil asks in a sincere but slightly teasing tone.

"Yes, I'm alright. Let's head back home, yes? I think that's enough adventure for today." Roman admits and Virgil lets out a soft gasp.

"Did Roman Sanders just say he had enough adventure?" The anxious side remarks in a sassy tone, causing the others to laugh. "But I agree."

"Additional affirmation. While today has been...'fun'...it's also been a bit tiring." Logan adds as they all start the journey out of the imagination.

"I guess all these new plants really tickled your funny bone, huh, Lo?" Patton jokes, a groan and two bouts of chuckles following.

(Thank you for reading.)

The world building begins with Roman giving Logan his own tickle plant from the kingdom in his laboratory. Afterwards, all the sides/figments began accumulating their own tickle plants each with their own personality and different ways they interact with the other characters. The plants cannot speak, but are sentient and able to write using their vines and other leafy appendages to express how they are feelings. They have no faces and are plants, but have the emotional and intellectual capabilities of any normal human beings. And that is what makes the world of Gufalla so unique. (Or one of the reasons.)

Taglist: @fluffymary​ @soft-blog-for-tickles​ @adoryblegiggles​ @violetmcl​ @novaticklee​ @chituri​ @shadowkittycat97​ (Let me know if you want to be tagged.)

[twilightofthe]

For the Star Wars questions- 16 & 19. :)

Thank you!!! (y’all this got ridiculously long for two damn questions lol)

Send me a number and i’ll tell u my fave/least fave:

16. Book/Comic (Aight, so I’m actually not a huge comic reader in general, most of my comic knowledge comes from other fans on here posting about them, so this is gonna be mainly book-focused)

FAVE:  Welllllll, since I’m literally incapable of narrowing down my favorite anythings, I’m gonna do faves for both canon and EU novels.  

Canon-wise, it’s a tie beween A New Dawn and Ahsoka.  I know I don’t post about them as much on here, but I truly have a super soft spot for Kanera and Kanan and Hera’s characters, they’re just so GOOD and I love themmmmm aaaaaaaaa.  You get super good insights to how Kanan was running wild and traumatized and trying to repress everything and how Hera was a little naïve but still tough as nails and she had a dream and she was going to make it happen or so help her, ugh I just love how the story showed how they’re strongest as a team working together and I just love character dynamics where the two are so obviously married and kinda snark at each other sometimes but they have each other’s backs through everything and know each other like the back of their hands and uggghhhh this is just such a healthy good ship and such a good book.  The Ahsoka novel is just fantastic all on its own because it shows Ahsoka as a young adult, kinda floundering and lost in this new world, full of guilt over what happened with Anakin and the Order, trying to do what she can to help people and just enduring because she’s a survivor, she was raised (by two argumentative, adoptive parents who love her very much SO SAYETH THE BOOK) to be a survivor and handle herself, but that doesn’t mean she’s not lonely as all hell.  And oof I just fucking adore Kaeden Larte and her relationship with Ahsoka (who absolutely comes back and marries her once the war is over oh yes) and her relationship with Miara and ugh just all of it is A+++++.  E.K. Johnston is just an amazing author in general and her other book, Queen’s Shadow is one of my two canon runner ups because I am in love with her Sabé and her Padmé.  Other canon runner up is A Certain Point Of View, if only for the “Time of Death” chapter.  Don’t get me wrong, the rest of it is also fantastic, but oh god it kills me DEAD OBI WAN DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER AND I CRY I REALLY CRY

EU-wise (oh god, I haven’t even gotten to least-faves yet), it has to be the Revenge of the Sith novelization.  Without a question.  Y’all it’s SO FUCKIN’ good, and in my personal opinion should be considerrred canonnnnnn (look I think the reason they gave for excluding it is that there’s no mention of Ahsoka or Rex or Mandalore or any of the stuff that happened literally the day before which is valid, but I counterpoint that Anakin is a mess with A Lot Going On At The Moment, he could have just forgot?  He forgets most of his morals, all of his common sense, and three of his limbs by the end of the story, Snips could have just slipped his mind! xD).  Anyway, besides the fact that it’s like 99% written in Obikin-colored glasses which really just makes me happy as a person because I love it being acknowledged just how important they are to each other, it really offers a deeper insight INSIDE the chaos going on in Anakin’s head, the mess, just why he falls so quickly and so awfully.  I love it gives the Padmé plot that got cut on screen some validity.  The beautiful beginning and the goddam introductions to Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi are just A++++++++++++++ and oof other people can more accurately describe just how good this book is, but I love it a Big Lot ok?

LEAST FAVE:  Okey doke, here we go....  So firstly for canon, I’m not the biggest fan of how Claudia Grey writes Leia’s character.  She’s a wonderful storyteller and I love her worldbuilding, but just the way she characterizes Leia herself never felt... right, ya know?  Idk, I can’t really explain it, but it makes it difficult for me to enjoy her Leia novelsWarning right now that this is a VERY unpopular opinion and my opinion alone, please do not yell at me!  So as skilled and admired an author Timothy Zahn is, I don’t like the Thrawn books.  I’m sorry, I don’t.  To me, Thrawn is just.... ok so he’s like BBC!Sherlock but in space.  The plot makes a big deal about how “oooh cool and intelligent and Literally Better Than Everyone Else” Thrawn is, but the only way they really show his “cleverness” is by either him solving problems by pulling together information that literally no one but the writer knows and then acting like it was oh so obvious and in front of everyone OR, the story dumbs down other characters to make him look smart.  And maybe it was because the one Thrawn book goes after Anakin/Vader in particular to do the latter is what kinda ticked me off on Thrawn books in general, but y’all, it really ticked me off, because Anakin is like the lowest hanging fruit for an author to pick to make their character look good in comparison, and therefore it is done All The Time (LOOKING AT YOU, CLONE WARS), which I think is lazy and an insult to Anakin’s character.  Look, I am fully aware Anakin Skywalker is a dolt to the highest degree sometimes, but he is ALSO A GENIUS.  He is SMART.  IT IS CANON THAT HE IS SMART.  So when the Thrawn book has Thrawn constantly one-upping Anakin The Useless Doofus (and Padmé a bit!!!) and then doing it again once he meets him as Vader, that just makes me hmmmm.

The canon comics are actually gonna be featured on the list here a bit because if y’all don’t already know my hatred for That One Particular Vader Comic (not the rest of the series run as I have not read it and from what I hear, it’s excellent and I’d probs like it a lot) doing the implication in a dream sequence where it says that Palpatine used the Dark Side to impregnate Shmi and create Anakin, well I HATE IT.  Look, I know the plot was literally about Sidious trying to mess with Vader’s head and that dream shouldn’t be trusted, but it fooled all the fans too and now like 60% of Star Wars fans actually believe Sidious fathered Anakin and I am so damn tired of hearing about that.  Yeah, now that Reylo is canon, that comic’s authors are trying to do damage control by saying that no, Sidious isn’t Anakin’s father and Rey and Ben are not second cousins, but they’re still being mysterious about it and “oh well it COULD be this--” so now there’s just more fans who are digging into that theory just because they don’t like Reylo and I don’t really care for the ship either but I really HATE the entire “Born of the Dark” concept for reasons I can explain more separately, so I’m pissy at that particular comic for spawning it.  I know it’s petty but I do.

EU-wise, well, this is gonna be unpopular too, cuz I haven’t read most of the EU stuff, and from what I’ve heard of it, there doesn’t seem to be much that I WOULD like.  The movie novelizations all seem good, but everything else???  “Obi Wan prequels but guess what, he had a shitty childhood too!” uh, no thanks, the rest of his life sucks enough, I want to see him happy.  “Mandalorian worldbuilding, but they’re all a bunch of stoic, overpowered badasses who are Good At Everything And Better Than Literally Everyone and the plot bashes the Jedi left right and center!” ehhhhhhhh pass.  “What happened after Return of the Jedi, except the Skywalkers still don’t get a happy ending because the galaxy goes to war again, Han and Leia’s son turns evil, Luke Suffers, and Palpatine comes back again!” nah, that sounds too depressing-- oh wAIT :) :) :)(at least the EU actually lets Han and Leia grow old and happy together okay okay that’s enough sequel salt for one day)

19. Outfit

FAVE:  Everything Padmé Amidala wears in the movies.  No I will not narrow it down.  I am in love with her whole wardrobe and I want it. 

 I also love the standard Jedi tunics and tabards and cloak (c’mon, the cloak completes the picture!)  It’s just such a signature and unique look that’s supposed to combine medieval European knight tunics and samurai warrior clothing and just the #aesthetic is oof, just wonderful.

Also Sabine Wren’s armor and its various paint jobs.  It’s just so uniquely her and bright and beautiful and badass in all its stages and yes good I like it.

Also Lando Calrissian’s cloaks!  Swooshy and colorful and good!  I love cloaks!  

LEAST FAVE:  Gonna go with my petty, silly ones first, and those are all of Padmé Amidala’s outfits that are only seen in the The Clone Wars TV show (so not the ones that were based off of movie costumes).  Eh, actually three of them were nice, her orange outfit she visits Mina in, her white casual housedress, and her black slinky Clovis dress.  All of her other series-only outfits made me highkey pissy because they were either A.) Wrong for the situation she was in, B.) Defied the laws of physics and should not have held the shape they did/stayed on her body, or C.) just plain UGLY (the highest crime of all), and for the animators to have the audACITY to put any of those things in the mere vicinity of the most stylish woman in the galaxy is an insult to Padmé, an insult to ME, and an insult to Star Wars as a whole (yes, I am mostly joking, but come on!).  No, I will not give the designers the excuse of clothing being difficult and expensive and time consuming to animate because I have SEEN the fancy, PRETTY outfits of the other ladies of Padmé’s status on the show.  Everything Satine Kryze wore was intricately beautiful as all hell and I loved it.  Riyo Chuchi’s two outfits were lovely and fashionable.  Heck, I’m pretty sure I liked Mina Bonteri’s outfit too.  There were tons of people on that show with stylish clothing!  How hard would it have been for the animators to remember Padmé doesn’t wear exposed midriffs on official government business?  That dresses with no sides or back cannot be sleeveless or they will not stay up?  Not give her hairstyles that looked like either a goddam tuning fork or like Jimmy Neutron’s mother?  That beige jumpsuits are BORING and adding a mauve vest is NOT enough to make it exciting!!!! xD xD xD 

Aight, now in more seriousness, I also hated both of Ahsoka’s outfits in the original TCW show.  Enough people have spoken on why sending a fourteen year old into an active warzone in a tube top and miniskirt is a BAD IDEA, but like it just makes me extra mad when you remember her older and more experienced at Not Getting Pulverized Masters were both in full concealing robes and chest and shoulder and shin armor, so you can’t even pass it off as Jedi not getting hurt as easily.  Her updated outfit was only slightly an improvement because her Masters STILL got at least fully covering robes and arm bracers, while Ahsoka still had her entire back exposed, leg holes exposing valuable arteries and stuff, and a goddam boob window that basically signals “shoot me here”.  Look, I know the animators goofed, and I know how they have learned from it because from Rebels on, they never show her as improperly covered for battle, in the new TCW season both outfits are cute and practical too, but seeing her running around in her red outfits actively impeded and took me out of my watching experience because I was cringing over her having a lack of protection, that it made her that much more vulnerable to injury.

Finally just gotta give a standard raised finger to the Slave Leia Bikini.  Carrie Fisher hated it so I do too.

[chocolatemin]

TIME (ONEUS FANTASY AU)

AMBER'S POV

Once I got inside, the passage immediately shut. Sigh. Why does that always happen? Am I in a sort of horror movie? Cold wind brushed against my cheek caused me to shiver and snap back to reality.

I looked to my surroundings and everything is covered with thick snow while the sky is pale. "Winter?" It's very cold that I can barely move from my position. I hugged myself due to intense coldness. "Why didn't Xion tell me about this?" I started walking trying my best to ignore the freezing wind. "Thank goodness, I am wearing this black leather boots, my feet could've been stuck as soon as I stepped here!" I whispered triumphantly to myself. I can't find any other way except heading straight so I didn't bother to trouble myself.

I was walking and walking until it started to snow, I pulled my hoodie up to lessen the chance of me getting sick due to excessive coldness. I just keep walking as I lost track of time, maybe an hour or two had passed already... I wasn't able to notice that the road is quite bumpy. I slipped and fell down to the pile of snow and landed on my butt. "Ow, ow, not too cold! Ouch, it burns!" I looked up and saw a large, human-sized raven looking down at me with its clawed hand offered to me. I got startled and moved back from it. "Do you want my help or not?" I got more shocked when I heard him speak but regained my composure and took his hand, the feeling of his scaled skin and claw fingers are foreign which sent chills to my body. I thanked him for helping me and apologized for my behavior. "Have you broken some bones?" "Fortunately, I haven't, thank you for your concern." I hesitantly smiled to the large black bird from the crow family.

"By the way, my name is Ravn and don't be afraid, I don't bite." He suddenly turned into a human-like appearance. He has pretty eyes that compliments his other features well. "I'm Amber, I'm looking for the way out of here and was kinda lost, perhaps do you know any exits?" "I do, there's a town plaza nearby the castle, at the back of the castle is the Forest of the Lost which I had heard rumors of having an exit somewhere." "Can you help me go to that place?" "Sure. I'm heading there too. Just follow me." He smiled at me and pulled me beside him before we started walking.

"Do you live here?" I curiously asked him. "Yes." He replied briefly. "Uh, about earlier, why were you in that appearance?" "Oh, I'm sorry about that, it was too cold at that part of the land and was snowing heavily at the woods so I used my hybrid form to keep me warm." "Ah, I see. So I'm guessing you are not a human?" "Not really. I'm from the Human-Crow family, to be specific, the Ravens." "Woah, I think that's cool." "Well, I ain't gonna deny it." I looked up to him and he smiled cheekily. "Why did you choose to walk instead of flying?" "I'm still weak as of now and I cannot fly yet. I had just recovered from cold and fever." "What? Then you shouldn't be here, you could have just stayed home!" I got worried but he reassured me, "I was looking for a certain fruit to cure me, and fortunately I found it and ate it right away. I'm all good now." "You sure?" "Yeah. Don't worry."

We walked in comfortable silence and talked occasionally, it's very easy to make a conversation with him and it wasn't awkward, as if we had known each other for some time. We reached the seventeen o'clock as said on the huge clock in the middle of the plaza. It is not like any other clocks that are up to twelve only, instead, it is up to eighteen. It was really weird. "I'm going to buy dry ingredients at the market. Is it okay for you to wait a bit?" "No problem, I am looking for a botique, is it possible to find it here?" "Yup, are you going to buy clothes for you? Do you have money, I can lend you some if you want." "Don't worry, I have some with me besides I can't stand the coldness wearing these clothes." I sighed and shook my head earning a chuckle from him. "Yeah, yeah, I'll take you there after I buy the ingredients, is it okay?" "It's okay, I don't mind waiting." I smiled at him.

—

Ravn told me to change my clothes in the bathroom. I thought there isn't enough water for them since it's currently winter but I was wrong. The pump has lots of water. Ravn even heated water for me incase I wanted to take a quick bath. As I am taking a quick bath I suddenly remembered the clock on the town plaza, why is it up to eighteen? I'll ask Ravn after. I changed into a white long sleeve ruffle blouse and fitted dress pants that I bought from the botique. It is old fashioned but simple. Ravn told me to just leave my clothes on the small table inside the bathroom. Before I leave, I made sure that the place is clean. I left bathroom feeling warm and refreshed.

I headed to the kitchen where Ravn is preparing the plates. "I'm done, thank you for letting me use the bathroom." "No problem, come here, sit down." He motioned me to sit on the chair opposite to him, "I prepared dinner." I sat down and thanked him. After we ate, I volunteered to clean the dishes while he get changed which he agreed hesistantly not wanting to bother me but I insisted.

"Are you done yet, Amber?" Ravn asked me when he got out of the bathroom. "Yes." I replied as I am drying my hands using the hand towel on the cupboard. He sat down on one of the chairs at the dining table. "Amber, please sit down, I have some questions to ask you." He said sternly which made me quite nervous, so I sat down quickly, "What is it?" "Helping you and letting you stay here doesn't mean I trust you fully and I'm not suspicious, right?" "Well, yeah. I'm still a stranger to you." "I don't want to hurt your feelings." "No, no, not at all. Go ahead."

"What are you?" Ravn realized his question, "I'm sorry it came off like that." "It's okay. I am just a mere human. Next question please." "You said you were kinda lost. How did you end up here?" "Well, I... uh, I entered a gate and was transported here. I don't know if you'll believe that but it's true." "Oh, I see. Are you aware of this place? I bet you don't know anything about the Winter Realm." "It is true that I don't." He sighed at my answer. "Be thankful that I'm the one who found you, if it was the werewolves hybrid, they could have killed you." My body shivered thinking of it. "But why would they kill me?" "They aren't very welcoming to strangers. Plus, you also look suspicious so they'll probably put you to painful death." I cringed at the thought of them tearing my body apart.

"I'm done asking questions, if you want, you can ask me too." My insides calmed down after he said that. "Then, where am I really? What kind of place is this?" My eyebrows furrowed unintentionally. "You're in Winter Realm, and obviously it's winter here. Wherein the season through out the whole year is winter." "What?!" "Yes." "How do you survive in this place? If the snowing is all-year round?" "Most of the citizens here are hybrids, humans are very rare here. And I'm not the only one from the Human-Crow family living here, we're a lot. Also, the werewolves hybrid are living here too. They are the knights of the castle while some of the human-crows are messengers and servants. Some of the hybrids us are just like me, a commoner." Woah, his house is quite big for a commoner's, that's what I thought. "Does that mean that the workers on the botique I bought these clothes, are not human? How about you?" He nodded and I gasped, if Ravn wasn't with me, maybe they won't sell clothes to me. "I sometimes have a duty in the castle as a cook or whatever they need for a special occasion like grand balls, meeting other diplomats but I work part-time on a small restaurant at the town plaza every 27 o'clock until 32."

"Oh, speaking of time, why is the clock up to eighteen?" "Are you referring to the clock on the plaza?" I nod. "It is because a day is equivalent to thirty-six hours, but! The daytime is 'til 12 o'clock only, then the rest is nighttime. That's total of 24 hours of night." "Then, what time is it now?" He looked to the window at the living room and squinted his eyes. "Hmm, according to the clock outside, it's currently passed twenty one o'clock ." "Isn't it late already?" "Not really. Why do you ask?" "In the place where I originally live, it's actually time to sleep by twenty one o'clock." "Really? You may sleep at my bed upstairs." "It's okay. I will just sleep at the couch. Can you take me to the forest later instead?" "That won't be a problem. It's actually my nap time, and I take my naps on the couch." "Oh, then I guess I'll be sleeping on the bed, you may have the couch." We both sat up and I reluctantly went to the three-stepped stairs while he's heading to the living room. "I told you, just sleep on the bed." He laughed while I climb the stairs, I just smiled at him and head to his room. I left the door half-closed since I'm not used to sleeping not in my room and for him to be able to enter without the need to knock.

I can't fall asleep yet so I stood up and went over to the window. The neighbourhood looks peaceful at night, I wonder, what are they doing too? Some are in their houses, while the others have their lights turned off. After admiring the view for some time, sleepiness finally kicked in and I immediately dozed off as I laid down myself.

—

"Amber, you ready?" Ravn asked me after I finished gathering the things I needed. "Well, the keys are here, the coins too, the fruits I bought earlier and the water bladder you gave me. I'm ready to go!" I replied to him happily and put on my sling bag. "Wait!" "Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "Take this lamp and this dagger, you can't just go to a forest without anything to protect you, especially at night!" He handed me the lamp and the dagger with a smile. I tied the dagger to my waist and hid it under my cloak. "What time is it?" "It's 26:13. I think we need to go now." "I believe so. Let's go?" Ravn opened the door to his house and let me step outside first.

—

Ravn flew me to the back of the castle and we landed safely. I climbed down from him before he transformed back to his human form, "Thank you for this, I cannot give anything back except these coins." I took the purse from my bag and handed it to him, he pushes it back to me saying he's fine but I grabbed his hand, placed the purse on it and shoved it to him and smiled, "No, I insist, take those. I have the half of it in my bag." Lie, I only left a quarter on my bag. "Well, I don't have a choice, you're too persistent." We both laughed knowing he won't win this arguement with me.

"Thank you so much Ravn for everything you did... From helping me on my way to the town, letting me stay the night, to bringing me here. I wish I could have given you anything aside from those coins." "It's alright, Amber. I'm glad I was able to help you. It's our family's rule— to help anyone in need without seeking for something in return." He plastered a smile. "Thank you again, but I think you need to head back or you'll be late for your work and might get paid less than you should have." I replied in a concerned tone, afraid he might think I'm shooing him away. His eyes went wide, looks like he had forgotten it already, I chuckled at the sight. "Oh right, I totally forgot about it, thank you for reminding me. I need to go, bye Amber." He waved to me and quickly transformed into a black raven spreading its magnificent wings. I waved back at him and he looked at me one last time before flying away.

I marched towards the inside of the said forest with excitement and nervousness. The only things I hear are the sound of crickets, owls and my own footsteps. I countinued walking until I heard a howling sound from afar. I got startled and stopped on my tracks for a while. Sure, walking at night– in the woods, with a small light and all alone? Isn't really scary. As I walked deeper and deeper to the forest, the growling of the animal became less and less faint until I spotted a creature not far from me. Its body is covered with black smoke and its eyes are glowing yellow. I stopped on my tracks to prevent further noise and hid the lamp beside me, hoping that the creature won't notice the light and come towards me. Unfortunately, it started walking to my direction causing me to flinch and drop the lamp I was carrying. It jumped infront of me and I wasn't able to move due to fear taking over me.

"Grrr, what is a lady doing here at night? Mayhaps you don't want to be able to see the sunlight tomorrow, eh?" It growled louder and before I could talk it lunged infront of me causing me to fall to the ground. "Please, spare my life." "Ha! You wish. Now, say goodbye." The creature, which somewhat look alike to a lion and wolf at the same time, slowly brings its face closer and opened its mouth widely. Is this where I end already?

-END OF CHAPTER-

[A/N: kskshskksjj-]

previous | next

[nighttimepixels]

What soul trait(s) do the ladies prefer or particularly like?

There’s definitely a real loose affiliation for this one, because all the skeleladies are totally down with any soul type! There’s a lot of variation in how a person acts within even a soul type; they’d never say yes or no to someone based on what their primary trait might be.

So with that disclaimer, let’s say this list would be the equivalent of them noticing a trend in tastes, or maybe having taken an undernet quiz popular with monsters that tells you ‘what your favorite soul types are!’ (๑ò◡ó)ﻭ

Preferred types & little breakdown of their taste inspiring it under the cut

Serif: Patience, Perseverance

really, Serif just likes people who aren’t in a rush, and will keep figuring out a way forward at their own pace for the things that matter... but are more than willing to take time to appreciate the little things. Despite her laidback attitude, she has a tendency to push herself too hard and never lets people in on it - someone who can see that, and can remind her that things take time, and to take time herself... but still value her work? That means a lot, and she needs that.

Vellum: Bravery, Integrity

Vellum’s more than happy to be your lady knight in stylish armor, but she also really likes it when someone is willing to stand by what they believe in, even if it’s just in small, quiet ways; and if they’re willing to face the scary things to help someone or tackle their own problems, well, she’s inspired and starry eyed and’ll be right there to help you forge onwards!

Sapphire: Perseverance, Kindness

Bright and witty and full of adventure as she is, Sapphire’s also a surprisingly straightforward person in a lot of ways. Just... be compassionate, try your best, and she just knows you’re her kinda person, one way or another. She’s highly functioning and gets so much done but deep down... she’s hard on herself, really hard, and fights a lot of dark thoughts. Someone warm and kind, who keeps trying... well, she can’t help but adore that.

Amber: Patience, Justice

Not unlike Serif, Amber really likes someone who can appreciate the little things in life - but she’s also got a streak of her own that truly earns how cool Sapphire always says she is. She stands up for the little guy, no matter what, and doesn’t care much about credit for it - but seeing someone else who gets that fire to make sure someone isn’t buried under the bullshit... well, she really, really likes that, too.

Crimson: Kindness, Justice

Crimson has been through too much shit in life. She’s got a big personality, and talks a big game - hell, can walk it, too. But underneath all that is a woman that’s had to hurt, and kill, and do terrible things to ensure her and her sister’s survival, has given up so much to make it this far. She’s a fighter out of necessity, and out of a need to make sure her family - real and found alike - aren’t done wrong. But... underneath it all, she craves softness, compassion, someone who can look at the world, look at her, and see the hope and love there... even with a corrupted soul as scarred as her own.

Scarlet: Determination, Perseverance

She may have an ego, but nothing in life was just... given to her. She’s had to work her coccyx off for everything she achieved, hell, just to make sure the food her sister managed to scrounge up when they were younger was... edible. Eventually. As such, she values that kind of drive, both immediate and over time, and seeing it in someone else - even if not as in, shall we say, as passionate a way as she displays it - inspires her and makes her feel... seen. Appreciated. Understood.

Pepper: Integrity, Bravery

Pepper’s played dirty in life because she’s had to. She doesn’t like it, but she also was never fool enough to think she had the luxury of playing by a civil rulebook that had been burned long before she came around; still, where she can, she does right, fights... some kind of fair, and is too observant to not ease up when the situation allows, no matter how competitive she is. For her, someone willing to jump into action sure lights her soul on fire, but so does someone who has their own code and stands by it. That... that earns her respect, when done right, and that’s not an easy thing to do. Especially when that sense of integrity understands that the world isn’t black and white, and has adapted and yet still stands strong.

Cinnamon: Perseverance, Determination

Cinnamon’s one of the hardest to pin; of all the girls, she’s probably the least preferential, because she deeply appreciates all the soul traits. Kindness, Justice are such close seconds... Still... by the thinnest margin, if pressed, these two come out on top. While her sister clawed her way up the ranks and earned every title, Cinnamon did the dirty work, gave her the foothold to make it into the guard, was judge... jury, and executioner. A true jack of all trades, she does what needs to be done - even though she’s more of an artist, a lowkey storytelling nerd, and for as badass as she is, as many times as you’ll find her elbow-deep in a car engine, any found family story gets her tearing up and tugging you that little bit closer. Someone who gets that you just have to keep going, no matter what, well... it’s a kindred spirit thing, just a bit.

Blade: Kindness, Patience

Blade just... wants peace. For her, for her sister - for her weird, but admittedly treasured, found family amongst the lilytale crew. You’d have to turn her to dust before she’d willingly let anyone drag her and her sister back to their original timeline... But as much as she would do, has done, anything to ensure survival - she just wants someone who... isn’t going to judge. Isn’t going to push, and can maybe, just maybe... look at her with compassion and... acceptance. True acceptance, and a willingness to take time to just... be. To live.

Twist: Justice, Determination

Though the biggest (literally, the biggest) softie, Twist has a fiery streak in her that takes care of business. She wasn’t helpless in the Underground - her hands are effectively as dirty as Blade’s, in fact. But... thanks to Blade, too, her spirit remained intact. She’s feisty, won’t give up on life - or on others. Someone who takes a stand for what’s right, who’ll fire up and do something incredible when it needs to be done - well, even if it’s the smaller things in life, Twist recognizes it for what it is, and she can’t help but admire that.

Glyph: Bravery, Patience

Adventure and an appreciation for... just... living life. That’s what Glyph’s all about. Again, it can be smaller things - in fact, with her, it is. Part of her traveling isn’t just to see the great, big-name sights; it’s the little moments, like pulling over on the side of a long stretch of road to stretch and hearing the sounds of a local fair in the distance, lighting up a little patch of horizon, and deciding to check it out... or taking a nap under a tree only to wake up under the rising stars, and singing a wordless song as a breeze draws you closer for that little bit of extra warmth. She doesn’t have a goal - but she’s always drawn to someone who’s willing to take the plunge into the unknown, and to take their time exploring it once they’re there.

Alpha: Justice, Kindness

Much like her male alternate, Q, Alpha’s got a strong draw to those who’ve got a justice inclination, someone who’ll right wrongs even if it’s by questionable means. No but really - she’s inspired, and... well, she’s an AI; she’s got the entire breadth of the internet at her mental beck and call. She knows what people are capable of - a sense of justice is... incredible, but perhaps just as much is kindness. Someone who won’t be harsh, who’ll look at someone with understand and just... give them a chance. Someone who knows there’s water in that glass, dammit, measuring be damned - that just... brings a smile to her face, and perhaps just a bit warmer of a glimmer to her digital eyelights.

[nidhoggssoultrap]

My "Headcanon" (Nidhogg, Louie, and Yvette. Mostly Nidhogg) Part 1

This one is a long one, so I'll be splitting it into parts. I don't think I have ever had a headcanon list this long. Jesus...anyway,

I ship him with Louie shamelessly and without apology. I know that they are adopted brothers, but well, it doesn't stop me, and I hope you don't read Game of Thrones or Angel Sanctuary because BLOOD incest is CANON in both. Anyway, I started out shipping them in a "bitter ex" sense, but it quickly became a situation where Nidhogg wanted more than being a "brother and a friend" and Louie did not and it's unlikely that he ever would. This leads to a lot of heartache for Nidhogg, but he loves Louie very much and while he has attempted erotic things with him, he backs off when Louie refuses. The fact that Nidhogg is unwilling to set aside his feelings for Louie has actually saved him.

The outcome? While they do eventually reconcile, Nidhogg accepts the fact that they will never be anything more than brothers/friends. Louie ends up with Yvette. Nidhogg? Well, I dunno. Shade, for some reason, is creeping up.

Plotbunny: Louie visits Nidhogg at a base and tricks him into thinking that he has finally "seen the light" and it willing to not only side with the Dark, but to become lovers like Nidhogg wanted. They do what is known as a "grudgefuck" with Louie in control (alternate: Nidhogg tries to kiss him but Louie rebuffs him). Either way, Louie grabs Nidhogg by the chin and says, "There'll be a chance for 'us' when you bring Lunar back to me." (Alternate: After they kiss/grudgesex, Louie stabs Nidhogg in the heart and gets shot in the heart by Nidhogg. They die in each others's arms. "As it should be..." (well, according to Nidhogg).

2. I DO NOT ship Nidhogg/Yvette. She deserves better. That being said, she was never interested in him in THAT way. She only liked "the idea of him." In reality, while she did admire him and legit like him, she had no romantic/erotic interest in him at all. Nidhogg also was not interested in her in that way as well, in my headcanon, "he prefers the company of men." He viewed her as someone who was not only an image, but someone to "vent his spleen on". He did, however, come to view her as a friend, sister and maybe even a daughter. It's why he ended up getting "cold feet" and chose not to keep her and send her home. She was supposed to be sent elsewhere as part of a "quest" in order for Nidhogg to gain even more power. If he fails, then he will be "doubly cursed" with both the Blood Curse and a "Fail Curse."

He figured that there is still time and when he is on the losing end of the war, he kidnaps her again which leads to a very long and intense car chase between him and Nikki's group(Louie driving). This is basically a Louie vs Nidhogg and due to Yvette's actions at the end(she bites Nidhogg and tries to fight him, not caring about the blood curse or dying as she DID not want to end up "in a box" for the rest of her life), the car chase ends and a knock down drag out fight between Louie and Nidhogg begins. It ends in the latter's defeat, and he ends up "doubly cursed", humiliated by Louie(needlessly), and banished out of Miraland through a "transport tree". At least for awhile.

3. Speaking of kidnapping, I honestly believed that he actually drove out of Lilith with her. I thought that he "kidnapped" her because someone was after them and he took her to protect her. Hehe...yea, right. Still, I kept the idea that he drove her out of Lilith to the North Kingdom. As for kidnapping, I cringed how it was handled in canon, so I decided that he would be the one to knock her out with a sleeper hold and that kidnapping was 100% his own choice. She "knew too much" and well, see above.

4. Interesting to see Yvette as a "White Knight" because before I saw that, I did decide that she would become something like that. Like Louie. Nice coincidence. :)

5. Nidhogg speaks in a tenor with a soft-spoken tone. He has a tendency to whisper the final parts of his statements and is capable of sounding very sharp. Some say that he does that as a form of control. Louie says that he has always done that and admits that it sounds good. Nidhogg was a wonderful voice. When he actually sings(and in my headcanon, he does lolol), it's a high tenor range. Louie also sings, but it's lower.

6. Nidhogg drinks vodka/vodka drinks and Jaegermeister. It's one of his few "poisons/weaknesses". He does not, however, smoke or do any other kinds of drugs, except caffeine and vaped nicotine/cbd. He vapes though, but not heavily and it's not common to see him with any kind of mod/e-cig.

7. He has a tarot deck which people think odd considering his attitude about destiny(that, ftr, I generally agree with), but he does not view the tarot as destiny, but only guidelines/advice/warnings. The forecast is like the weather to him. Either way, it's not etched in stone. He likes the art anyway. His tarot deck is military themed. He does NOT overindulge in them as to him, such a thing is weakness that needs to be fixed. He is like that with a lot of things.

8. Like Louie, he can drive/fly anything. Louie is a better pilot/biker, Nidhogg is a better driver. Nidhogg drives a sleek, black, powerful, manual shift sportscar. I want to say BMW, but it could just as easily be a Jaguar. It's the car he was driving when he kidnapped Yvette both times. FTR, Louie was chasing him in a white Porsche. Okay, my biases/kinks are showing, but whatever. :p

9. I hope that Nidhogg ends up like Shield Anvil Itkovian (I highly recommend Memories of Ice and the Malazan series entirely):

"We are all pushed into a world of madness, yet it must now fall to each of us to pull back from this Abyss, to drag ourselves free of the descending spiral. From horror, grief must be fashioned, and from grief, compassion." - Itkovian

Itkovian was a warrior who served a war god. He was a mercenary and he was also the Shield Anvil. He fought in war as one of the leaders, but he also took the pain and suffering from others, took it upon himself and gave it to his God. When his god disappeared, he chose to take the pain of thousands of souls into himself. Because he is THE SHIELD ANVIL. I'd get more in detail, but I don't want to spoil too much. Itkovian is a cinnamon roll. Nidhogg is more of a "problematic fave", but still...

Anyway, I say this because I am aware that Nidhogg willingly took on the Blood Curse and refused to dull it. He, like Itkovian, knew that war causes suffering. The Shield Anvil alleviates that suffering and I suspect that Nidhogg would not mind doing the same thing:

"I did it. I should be the one to undo it." In my headcanon, Nidhogg wants to try to bring Lunar back. Yes, he has ulterior motives(See: Louie and he readily admits this), but he wants to do it anyway as it is still the right thing to do.

10. Nidhogg loves the moon and prefers silver over gold. He LOVES Onyx. He had his ears pierced since he was a teenager and got it done at a tattoo parlor. He tends to wear boot jewelry too.

11. His "animal totem" is the wolf. His temperament is similar to Griffith's of Berserk. However, there might be disagreements about dreams, depending on what one means by dreams. In Nidhogg's mind, ambition and dreams are two different things. You want to compare bad deeds? If you've read both Berserk and Love Nikki, then I think you can take a few guesses. To put it simply, externally, both are cool, calm and collected. Internally, there is a great deal of intensity that only shows in certain circumstances. Otherwise, they are both very laser guided and "tight-vested" with their hearts.

12. He has issues with Locco due to her well basically saying "If I must choose between being weak and being dead, I'd rather be weak for the dead have no dreams." She has her own "Fountain Scene" with Yvette. Nidhogg did not like this but he chose to leave it alone. He found it amusing when he found out that she suggested that Yvette make a "March Hare" design. He found it even more amusing when Yvette won an award for it.

13. After Yvette returned home from her first kidnapping, she developed a Jesse Pinkman attitude towards Nidhogg. What I mean is "HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!" Breaking Bad fans will know what I'm talking about. So, I wasn't surprised when I later found out that Yvette did want him brought to justice for pretty much ALL of his actions, but especially against Lilith Kingdom.

14. Nidhogg has a foul mouth, especially when stressed. He is, however, no match for a sailor, but he can try. Heh. Obviously, as Prime Minister he is a lot more "clean."

15. His interests are actually similar to Yvette's but they have different tastes. Example: when it comes to say, the fantasy genre, Yvette prefers the more light-hearted fantasy in general. Nidhogg, otoh, prefers "darker fantasy" that is more rooted in reality.

16. He does not hate the clothing he designed for Lilith, he just does not generally wear them himself unless it's modified to his actual preferences.

17. I call his real name Heinrich, which is the Germanic version of Henry. FTR, I cannot stand the name Henry and prefer the NON-English version of the name. And really, I think Henrik is more suitable anyway. FTR, the name means "Ruler of the home." Nidhogg means "Curse-Striker." The name definitions are rather fitting for him.

18. He has a "Victory not Vengeance" philosophy(check out vnvnation.com) mentality. This means : "One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret." He has lived by this all of life. One of the reasons why Louie is not dead.

19. Nidhogg is his "second name" that his parents had given him because he would suck on "Ygdrassil" licorice when he was a baby. He loves licorice and most often eats that brand. He also loves butterscotch, coffee(of all kinds), and peanut butter. He does not, however, have much of a sweet tooth beyond that.

20. Nidhogg was blamed for the death of his adoptive father. Not by Louie, but by other rumor mongering sorts. Reality: He had nothing to do with his adoptive father's death.

And yikes...I think that'll do. I do have more, but I can just make another post.

[yamamuragaku]

Nagi Rokuya [white side] RabbitChat

“Of course our fans won’t take their eyes off us, but let’s perform a live that will convey our feelings to them :-)”

Part 1-5

Part 1: Ichiban Kuji

Tsumugi: Good work, Nagi-san.

Why! Ichiban Kuji is going to release IDOLiSH7 goods again…!

Nagi: Good work, Tsumugi.

So we’re doing another collaboration X-)

Nagi: If it’s Ichiban Kuji, this event can be called a fierce competition for our devotees. Completing a Kokoka set was already hard ;-(((((

Tsumugi: So you look forward to the collaboration!

Tsumugi: Collecting Kokona-chan goods looks tough!

You have to wait in lines right?

Nagi: There are a lot of fans of Kokona goods, and we so-called adult fans have really good manners.

When the stores open, we calmly line up without rushing or running.

Tsumugi: I see…!

It’d be good if there was a way to spread our goods to all our fans….

Nagi: That’s a never-ending theme.

Let’s think of what we can do for our fans together!

Tsumugi: Thank you!

Please lend me your wisdom, Nagi-san…!

Nagi: I’m waiting for the details of the lineup o(´∇｀*o) (o´∇`)o

Tsumugi: Oh, speaking of the lineup, TRIGGER is releasing products at the same time.

Tsumugi: In addition, the Ichiban Kuji Awards will be held.

It’s been decided we will have a contest with TRIGGER on stage, and the fans watching get to vote.

Nagi: Hm, this is a new endeavor.

Let’s not let TRIGGER’s female fans take their eyes off us.

Tsumugi: I look forward to it…!

I’m anticipating Nagi-san’s performance!

Nagi: I’m also looking forward to your staging, Tsumugi.

Nagi: I still remember how moved I was when “Pythagoras☆Fighter” was first performed, and the live staging matched the melody.

Nagi: Yamato says each time it’s like pro wrestling, but it’s thanks to you that we can perform at full power.

Tsumugi: Nagi-san….

Tsumugi: I’m glad you think that.

I also get very spirited whenever I see your performance, Nagi-san!

Nagi: Thank you, Tsumugi.

At the Ichiban Kuji Awards, of course our fans won’t take their eyes off us, but let’s perform a live that will convey our feelings to them :-)

Tsumugi: Yes!

I look forward to it…!

Nagi: :-))))

Part 2: Memories of the Day Off

Tsumugi: Good work, Nagi-san.

We’re thinking of what Ichiban Kuji promotions to do this time, but can you tell me if there’s anything you want to do, Nagi-san?

Nagi: Tsumugi, thanks.

Promotions? Iori seems better at making these kinds of plans, so is asking me okay?

Tsumugi: Yes!

I’d like to consider everyone’s opinion, including Iori-san’s.

Tsumugi: By the way, I don’t know if this is helpful, but I sent you the rough draft of your costume, Nagi-san!

Nagi: Thank you.

I like this bard-like design. I’ll captivate more and more women around the world.

Tsumugi: You look stylish in both cute and cool outfits, Nagi-san, so I think you’ll surely look good in the outfit this time!

Nagi: Wonderful.

By the way, what’s meaning behind this fantastic outfit?

Tsumugi: I heard it was made in the image of white knights!

TRIGGER is black knights.

Nagi: These outfits are exquisite.

Let’s first reveal the key visual on the web page. The impact will be big. The power of visuals is great after all.

Tsumugi: The product lineup hasn’t been decided yet, so only the visual will be released first….

Thank you!

Nagi: Are you not going to show me the other members’ costumes? :-3

Tsumugi: Since it’s a long-awaited collaboration, I wanted everyone to be surprised, so I’ve only shown everyone their own costumes…!

Nagi: As expected of Tsumugi. You’re good at making us “wait”.

You’re amazing at this, Tsumugi.

Tsumugi: T-thank you…?

Tsumugi: Speaking of which, Riku-san told me he was looking forward to everyone’s costumes, but won’t Nagi-san look stylish in a cool costume that makes you look like you popped out of a picture book?

Option 1

Tsumugi: He’s right!

Nagi: As expected Riku really has an eye for people.

He received a lot of care, so he can tell apart kind and unkind people, he told me. He’s incredibly perceptive.

Option 2

Tsumugi: What do you anticipate, Nagi-san?!

Nagi: I want Riku to wear more cute costumes.

It’ll be a sight to see on whether the production company can devise a costume that shows Riku’s charms (dark smile)

Option 3

Tsumugi: It’s great that you’re matching with Riku-san!

Nagi: We’re like two parts of a whole! How admirable!

Will we wear matching ribbons on our chests?

Nagi: I also want to wait in line in disguise at a shop on that day, but of course it might be difficult in the morning ;-(?

It’s not like when I went with Riku to the TRIGGER radio recording studio.

Tsumugi: You can get goods samples later, so be patient until then…! Sorry ><

Nagi: OK X-D

As a devotee, going there is a necessary task, but I will wait for the samples.

Tsumugi: Thank you ><

Speaking of TRIGGER’s radio recording studio, you meant when you spent your day off with Riku-san, right? How nostalgic! lol

Nagi: It’s a good memory of when I spoke directly into Kujou-shi’s mind with Kokona’s magical stick.

It was a great day where I got to feel Kokona’s magnificence once again.

Tsumugi: You also went to a collab café!

However, please stop disguising in mafia cosplay! lol

Nagi: No one can win against Riku’s begging.

Thanks to him, I got the Kokona coaster. I remember that moment like it was yesterday.

Nagi: I won’t wear a mafia cosplay outside again. I got carried away with Riku’s idea…. It was my first experience with girls being scared of me and not making eye contact.

Tsumugi: It gradually came back to me! On the radio, TRIGGER angrily said, “Don’t make me laugh”….

Tsunashi-san laughed and said, “The mafia came,” without getting mad, >< but I was terrified…!

Nagi: Yaotome-shi glanced at us seven times X-P

Nagi: However, now we’re going to collaborate with TRIGGER for Ichiban Kuji.

How wonderful.

Tsumugi: Indeed…!

Thanks to everyone, a wonderful plan for your namesake program is set in motion. Thank you for bringing me to this sparkling world…!

Nagi: That is my line, Tsumugi.

Shall we continue to walk together?

Tsumugi: Of course…!

I look forward to it!

Nagi: (´∀｀b)

Tsumugi: (´∀｀b)

Part 3: Costumes and Rehearsal

Tsumugi: Good work, Nagi-san!

The costume fitting and rehearsal for the Ichiban Kuji Awards were today, how was it?

Nagi: Good work, Tsumugi.

Nagi: Everyone’s props were clanking against each other. I have gained the skill of narrowly dodging props :-(

Tsumugi: So it’s like that after all….

Tamaki-san also told me they hit him quite a lot, so I’ll make plans to improve them. I’ve caused you trouble…!

Nagi: It’s not a problem, Tsumugi.

Tamaki looked like he had fun.

Nagi: Tamaki told Yamato, “Your cloak looks like a Christmas tree,” and poked him with his sheathed sword.

I photographed that scene.

Nagi: Here is the photographic evidence.

Tsumugi: I-indeed! They didn’t notice you…!

There weren’t any injuries, right…?

Nagi: It’s fine. Since it was just a little poke.

I told Yamato Tsumugi would get sad if the props were damaged, and they meekly stopped.

Tsumugi: Phew…!

Thank you for your support, Nagi-san ><

Nagi: No problem. My reward is a passionate kiss from you, Tsumugi.

Tsumugi: I can’t do that, but I’ll support everyone with the same passionate feelings!

Option 1

Tsumugi: What was Sougo-san’s situation?

Nagi: He was with Riku, who was enviously chatting about and looking at Tamaki and Yamato’s sword fight. Since Sougo had a staff, and both Riku and I don’t have weapons.

Nagi: Mitsuki appointed me to the photography team, so I took pictures of the 2 of them.

Option 2

Tsumugi: What was Mitsuki-san’s situation?

Nagi: Since Riku looked a bit lonely because he didn’t have a weapon, Mitsuki couldn’t just do nothing so he spent time with Riku. He told him some kind of fairy tale about characters wearing our costumes.

Nagi: Even though I also didn’t have a weapon, Mitsuki said, “Nagi is in the photography team!” and didn’t spend time with me, so I was a bit lonely ;-(

Option 3

Tsumugi: What was Iori-san’s situation?

Nagi: Mitsuki appointed me to the photography team, so when I was interviewing Iori, he highly praised Mitsuki’s costume.

Nagi: As expected of brothers, Mitsuki also also thought Iori’s costume looked good and gave it his seal of approval.

Nagi: I’ll send you the photos in a ZIP file later.

I think you can use them for promotion.

Tsumugi: Y-you’ve thought up this much…!

Thank you! I’ll accept your offer, I look forward to the data!

Nagi: It’s for Tsumugi and IDOLiSH7’s sake.

Nagi: By the way, TRIGGER shows up in some of the photos, and I thought we needed permission so I also took the liberty of consulting TRIGGER’s manager.

Tsumugi: Really…?!

Nagi: It’s OK if they show up this amount, she said.

However, for some reason she looked like she was in a bad state.

Tsumugi: I’m worried about her health…. Is she really busy….

Thank you for checking. I’ll also check!

Part 4: Talking About Goods

Nagi: Tsumugi, please look here.

I’ve continued taking photos, and sent you pictures of the dorm covered in goods.

Tsumugi: Thank you, Nagi-san.

Really?! How fun!

Nagi: Here’s the 1st picture.

Nagi: Title: Onii-san, as a Christmas tree.

Tsumugi: The cushion is wrapped in red and green tinsel…?!

Was Yamato-san not angry? lol

Nagi: I silently took the tinsel, wrapped it around my neck, and left.

Tsumugi: Silently…! lol

Nagi: Continuing on to the 2nd picture.

Nagi: Title: Excuse me from the bathroom.

Tsumugi: A poster was hung in the bathroom?! lol

Nagi: Tamaki used tape so as to not damage the wall.

Nagi: Well, just sending the next picture to you is uninteresting, so please guess what the next picture is from the title X-D

Tsumugi: A quiz! Leave it to me!

Nagi: Title: OSK Strengthening Month –Closing Party-

Tsumugi: It is still May so is it something related to Sougo-san?!

Option 1

Tsumugi: A picture of only Sougo-san’s goods?!

Nagi: Amazing, Tsumugi.

You’re very close.

Option 2

Tsumugi: A picture of Sougo-san’s acrylic key chain around a Tabasco bottle?!

Nagi: That’s what you’d think. Indeed Tsumugi, Tabasco comes to one’s mind. You’re close!

Option 3

Tsumugi: A picture of everyone’s autographs on Sougo-san’s goods?!

Nagi: Like when we collected our autographs during B or W right?

So that’s your viewpoint, Tsumugi!

Nagi: The answer is, a picture of Sougo’s goods, with TRIGGER’s goods arranged around them.

Tsumugi: Amazing!!

It’s like an altar!

Nagi: This is what Sougo said when he saw it.

Nagi: “That’s disrespectful, so can you return it to how it was? But, can you give me the picture…. (My Last Will and Testament)”

Tsumugi: W-will?!

Nagi: Excuse me. Only I was supposed to hear that message, but I accidentally sent it to you.

Tsumugi: His birthday is over but it’s still May, so Sougo-san must be happy!

Nagi: If TRIGGER is near us during rehearsal, observing them is the one thing that will make Sougo happy.

Tsumugi: I’m somewhat worried, but let’s concentrate on rehearsal tomorrow! lol

Nagi: Of course (dark smile)

Part 5: Towards the Awards

Tsumugi: Good work, Nagi-san.

Tomorrow is finally the Ichiban Kuji Awards performance…!

Nagi: Good work.

Tomorrow I will charm all the girls in the world again.

Tsumugi: Indeed! lol

Please show off your charm to your heart’s content, Nagi-san!

Nagi: Today’s briefing also had a nice atmosphere.

Tomorrow’s live will surely be a big success.

Tsumugi: I think so too.

Everyone has calmed down! In a good sense, we had room to breathe, one could say…!

Nagi: We’ve faced and overcome many trials.

That moonlit night we danced near Zero Arena, I can’t forget it.

Tsumugi: Me too. I’ve somehow never danced before, but thanks to you, Nagi-san, I had a really fun night.

Nagi: I’m honored you said that, Tsumugi.

Like that night, will you dance with me again?

Tsumugi: If it’s okay…!

Kinako also has a good sense of sound and is good at dancing! Let’s dance together!

Nagi: If Kinako participates, will the president also come?

Tsumugi: Is that a problem? ><

Nagi: No, not at all ;-P

Tsumugi: Kinako will dance to any song!

The other day we were listening to “MEMORiES MELODiES” and “Leopard Eyes” lol

Nagi: Kinako is a mysterious rabbit. I memorized the dance in the “Leopard Eyes” MV after I saw it once. I also like it.

Tsumugi: Is that so…?! Which part do you like, Nagi-san?

Option 1

Tsumugi: The overall melody?

Nagi: Unlike us, they finish up coolly.

I don’t usually listen to this genre, so it sticks in my head.

Option 2

Tsumugi: The way everyone sings?

Nagi: TRIGGER’s way of singing overall uses vibrato effectively and the sexiness stands out.

Option 3

Tsumugi: The production of the MV?

Nagi: I’m concerned about why they want to strip, but it’s appropriate for the MV.

Tsumugi: While talking with TRIGGER, they also told me their favorite song of ours, and Tsunashi-san said he also likes “MEMORiES MELODiES”!

Nagi: The song we sung at B or W?

We won, but I’m glad he said he honestly likes the song from that time.

Tsumugi: Yes.

Thinking back on that time, have we also grown…?

Nagi: Don’t worry, Tsumugi.

There’s nothing to worry about.

Nagi: Sometimes it’s good, so please try thinking back.

With the fans’ support, we should overcome many challenges. There’s nothing to fear.

Tsumugi: I’m always encouraged by you, Nagi-san….

I might cry. Thank you. It’s fine to keep going the way we always have!

Nagi: I cannot always face ahead, but when I see the members’ faces, the unpleasant feelings fly away.

Where there’s worry, hello! Confidence is coming.

Tsumugi: I love IDOLiSH7.

From now on, so that we make a lot of people smile with our music, everyone please stay by my side!

Nagi: We can’t start a legend without you, Tsumugi.

Well, tomorrow starts early, so good night. Sweet dreams.

Tsumugi: Sorry for making you stay up with me this late….

Good night, Nagi-san.

Nagi: Ti penso. :-*) (1)

Screenshots courtesy of rabbit-library.

(1) “I think of you” in Italian.