#beetles don’t have troubles

[floralstorms]

tehe I have. An au. For The Characters

[ambcass]

Can I request Jamie Reyes x reader where they are both sleeping at night, with reader hugging Jamie from behind while he sleeps shirtless. It’s late, and reader can’t sleep, so she stares at the beetle on his back, and starts to kiss his back while Jamie is still sleeping, then she kissses the beetle and whispers “thank you for protecting him,” and the beetle glows slightly, like it’s acknowledging what she said. Now, the beetle really like the reader even more. Idk I thought it was a cute idea

yall can start requesting again btw 💔💔

A/N: I GOT SCHOOL IN THE MORNING BUT I GOTTA WORK ON BEING MORE ACTIVE😢😢

cute idea btw (its short sorry🙁)

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“Jaime?” you murmured. Calling his name but no response. You went to sleep while Jaime was showering. You turned over, staring at his bare skin on his back. The dark covered your flustered and scarab impaled on his back was mildly glowing. You sit up and looked over at Jaime.

“Jaimee? Sweetie, y’awake?” No response. Jaime was out cold and snoring loud. You got up to grab water and melatonin for your sleep. Walking to the kitchen counter, you thought you felt something behind you. You jumped, took the supplement, and ran back to the room and leaped back to bed.

Staring outside your door was a black figure and you rapidly started blinking. The figure was gone but you were scared shitless. Forgetting Kaji-da was on Jaime’s back, you screamed when you saw the scarab attached on his back. Kaji-da started the glow even more, growling at you for waking it.

“Woah, woah! Bug! You-I-Please don’t do anything. It’s me!” You quickly covered your shivering body with the blanket and leid back down. Kaji-da was silent and its glow went down. You wrapped your cold arm around his waist. He jolted up but he still wasn’t awake. Slowly, you clanged the rest of your body on to his back.

You shift your position to face his neck. “Aren’t you such a sleep beauty…you’re so lucky that you don’t have trouble sleeping Jaime.” You groaned. You trailed your fingers through his hair and started playing with it. “I don’t say this much but I love you a lot…You probably know that but I don’t think you know how MUCH I love you, Jaime Reyes”. You leaned in, kissing his neck, and slowly going down with kisses until you meet the scarab.

You gently tapped on the scarab and kissed it on the head. You whispered gently, “Thank you for protecting him. I don’t know what he or I would do without you.” It blinked its lights two times, letting you know that it acknowledges what you said. You smiled, wrapped you arms around Jaime’s arms, and closed your eyes.

“Good night…To the both of you”

[sorrowfulrosebud]

I got idea from your keiko story. What if reader somehow meets kid shigaraki?

ANON. I WANNA KISS YOU SO BAD. (Consensually of course)

Content: reader finds kid Shigaraki and takes care of him (sobs)

Genre: angst, a lot of fluff tho so it cancels out

“Okay, do I have everything? Keys, purse? Yep, looks like I do,” you reassured yourself as you set off to the store. The looming thought of the hot summer sun sent ironic shivers through your body, days lolling about on the couch sleepily when your boss wasn’t demanding every second of your time.

You locked the door hurriedly, determined to stock up on essentials, as well as some treats for your kitten, and set on your way. Your earphones nestled comfortably in your ears, drowning out the whines of crying children and rowdy school students by blaring your favourite music. It was a beautiful day nonetheless, birds twittering softly as the sun beat down on you. Your bag thumped lightly against your side, providing a steady rhythm alongside your music.

The trek was relatively easy; the local convenience store wasn’t even a 10 minute walk from your house and you were soon on your way back to your beloved princess kitten, Freya, with an armful of essentials (plus a few goodies). Music thudded from your earphones noisily, distracting you from looking properly where you were going until you nearly fell over from an unknown obstacle.

“What the hell?!” You were ready to cuss the fucker out, until you looked down.

A small child, couldn’t have been much older than six years old, stared emptily back. No. The look wasn’t empty. It was hollow, as if a child was stuck in a body it didn’t belong in. His hair was a beautiful powder blue, long and stark. It was ashy too, and slightly greasy. You assumed it was from days, possibly weeks, of parental neglect. Some of the thicker strands were matted at the back, and his fringe fell heavily over his face.

When your eyes connected, something shattered deep within your chest. Small orbs that would normally be filled with tears at the idea of being lost were totally empty. Despite the lack of emotion on the poor boy’s face, you could see some small flecks of red amongst the vast space of white.

Blood was everywhere; on his face, deep in his eyebrows, caked under his nails that he held oh so tightly. The poor baby was in trouble, and you were desperate to know why. You removed a headphone and crouched down, placing the plastic bags gently either side of you.

Each move was tentative and slow, like the shivering lamb in front of you was going to bleat and run away.

“Hey there sweetheart, are you lost? Did you lose your parents?” You questioned him softly. The boy tightened up at your question, before tears started to fill his waterline. His hands wrung tightly against each other before lifting one up to scratch his neck.

“I-I didn’t mean it!” He choked out. The tone of his voice caught you severely off guard; instead of being soft or rowdy like a regular child, he sounded strained. Not unlike nails on a chalkboard, you found yourself flinching. The scratching grew more intense as you looked on in anxiety.

“Woah, hey little guy! You could really hurt yourself doing that!” You brought your arm up to stop him scratching, before flinching backwards due to a blood-curdling scream.

“NO, PLEASE DON’T!!” He shrieked, hands covering his grimy face and fell to his sides. The petrified baby was trembling profusely despite having fallen to the ground in his fear. Tears dampened his once dry and crusty cheeks, little torso shaking in heaving breaths.

A beetle that was pottering near his hand’s disintegrated immediately, and the dots started to connect. You paused; you had to be careful about this.

“Okay, sweetheart. I promise I won’t touch you, but you might change your mind after you hear my quirk. Do you want to know what it is?” You remained on his level. Slow, and gentle. Like taming a wild kitten.

This seemed to rouse the boy from his oncoming anxiety attack as he looked at you tearfully. He seemed to consider the idea, before nodding his head dolefully. A large grin overtook your features as you presented your hand.

“My quirk is called equilibrium. It means that I can balance out quirks and maintain a constant state. In exchange for being able to being ‘immune’ to quirks, I usually end up with a killer migraine that lasts a few days. It normally depends on how strong the quirk is, so I don’t really use it a lot. Isn’t that cool?!” You asked him excitedly.

The boy looked at you with curiosity. You let out a small chuckle.

“So, what I’m saying is, you can touch me and I won’t disappear. I promise you,” you solemnly swear to him, extending your pinky finger. Tenko looked at it in pure fear, almost as if the devil himself tainted it.

“I understand that you’re frightened, but you’re dirty, walking around the street with no shoes. I want to help you,” you whispered to him gently. Tenko seemed to light up at your statement.

A tiny pinky extended to you, trembling but still willing. It wrapped itself around you, and you almost shuddered at the texture of his skin. Nonetheless, you continued to loop your fingers around his small hand until you were fully holding his hand. Tenko stared at you with tears pricking his eyes again. He could… touch you?! You smiled softly.

“I told you, see? You can’t hurt me,” you promised. Tenko couldn’t help the tears that trickled down his malnourished cheeks as he dove into a hug. Your eyes widened; just what the hell has this poor baby been through? Your arms shifted under him to cup him closer to you.

“Do you want to come to my house? It’s not that far, so we can get you cleaned up, fed and then find out what to do with you,” you murmured into his ears. Tenko thought for a moment before nodding, his shaggy hair tickling your cheek.

Tenko rearranged himself to wrap his arms around your neck as you grabbed the bags that you previously dropped and nestled his legs around you.

==================================

The journey was only 10 minutes, and yet Tenko had dozed off on the way. His small snores rumbled softly in your ears as you fiddled in your pockets for the keys. Tenko jolted awake at the sound before realising where he was.

“Mph, are we there yet?” He whined sleepily, dry fists rubbing against his eyes. Your cat meowed at the new smell in her home, shaking the sleep off and meowing indignantly.

You set Tenko down with a slight grunt; carrying a small child and 3 grocery bags was not an easy feat. You knelt back down to Tenko’s level and gently rested your hand on his shoulder.

“Now, I need to know your name. I think it’s silly that we don’t know each other’s name, so let’s introduce ourselves before we start calling each other sillier nicknames,” you giggled, earning a small smile from the boy.

“I’m (Y/N), nice to meet you,” you said warmly, holding out your hand. Tenko paused before giving you his hand back.

“I’m Tenko Shimura,” he mumbled back.

“Well Tenko, I think you need a bath. Am I alright to run you one?” You asked him. He thought for a moment before nodding his heavy head.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

==================================

The bath water was an absolute godsend to Tenko’s fractured body. The soothing smell of your cherry bakewell scented bath gel calmed Tenko’s nerves as he glanced around the bathroom.

“Is the water alright in there, sweetheart? It’s not too hot is it?” You shouted from your bedroom, gathering soft fluffy towels.

“N-no. Its… nice, thank you,” he tried shouting back, voice cracking. He observed the bath water as he waded his hands through it. Once clear as diamond, the water slowly shifted to a murky brown. Chunks of dried blood dropped into the water, splashing back into Tenko’s face. He let out a whimper; he must look disgusting.

Your soft rapping at the door brought him out of his thoughts.

“Tenko? Am I alright to come in, little lamb? I can help you wash your hair if that’s okay?” You asked him gently.

“U-um… yes please,” he nodded back. You opened the door and smiled at him to reassure his jolting nerves.

“You’re certainly looking cleaner, little lamb! Look at the colour of the tub!” You giggled before feeling your heart pang at the tears forming in Tenko’s eyes.

“Oh no, I’m sorry sweetheart. I didn’t mean to make you upset,” you rubbed his hair to comfort him. Tenko’s eyes grew wider as he started to sob louder in the tub. The feeling of something so simple as rubbing his head when he’s sad was so alien to him. God, you hated whoever did this to him.

“That’s it my little lamb, let it out. That’s a good boy, just cry until you can’t any more,” you crooned sympathetically, rubbing his head and wiping away tears.

And so, Tenko did just that. Cried. He cried until no more tears would come out, he cried until his head started to hurt, he cried for everything. For his mother, for his sister and for Mon. And oh, how he cried for his dog who provided more comfort than any member of his family.

==================================

When Tenko woke up again, he was bundled up in blankets on a couch that felt worlds different than the leather one at his house. This was soft and warm, with needlefelt and crocheted cushions. He lifted his sleepy head up before jolting his hands away. But the crumbling of the couch never came.

Tenko glanced down and was met with a small pair of winter gloves, cut so that Tenko’s fourth and pinky finger were concealed.

“Ah, you woke up! You worried me for a second there, little lamb. You kinda passed out on me in the bath, so I cleaned you up and bundled you up on the couch,” you rambled on as you set down a glass of milk for him.

“Here sweetheart, drink up. You must have hurt your voice badly,” you nudged it to him as he readjusted himself comfortably.

“T-thank you,” he mumbled brokenly, voice still strained from all of the crying. He took the first gulp before realising just how thirsty he was. Next thing you knew, the glass was empty as Tenko huffed and puffed.

“Wow little lamb, you must have been thirsty, hmm? I’ll bet you’re hungry too?” You guessed. Tenko nodded his head quickly, scared that you’ll pull back your offer. You smiled at his slight change of demeanour.

“That’s alright, I’ll go make you something now. How does Katsu curry sound?”

Tenko’s eyes lit up.

“T-that sounds good thanks,” he mumbled happily, playing with his fingers shyly. You nodded at him and told him to get comfortable.

As you cooked, Tenko remained on the couch and looked around. Your apartment was cozy, filled to the brim with trinkets and photos of your friends and family. Soft knitted blankets dotted around the room, a large scratching post for your cat as well as numerous toys.

Tenko jumped as he felt a slight shift in the couch. The small black, white and grey cat he saw earlier was staring at him, sizing him up for a moment before nestling into his side. She kneaded the blanket that pooled around his knees, purring away.

Tenko thought for a moment before tentatively stroking the gap between her ears, pleased when the purring increased tenfold.

“I see you’ve become friends with my cat,” you giggle as you present two steaming bowls.

“She’s lovely,” he murmured shyly, petting her a little more confidently. You hummed in acknowledgement as you set the bowls down as well as some cutlery.

“Now, eat up. Then, we have to go to the police and see what happens next,” you smiled at him as ice flooded his blood.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Nothing is going to happen to you. You’re only a child, and you clearly didn’t mean to kill anyone. I’ll have to check if you have any more family that can take you in,” your tone softened as you looked at Tenko’s face.

“I-I don’t have anyone else. A-all of my f-family was in the… the-,” he started crying again, gloved hands coming to reach his neck. You took his hand in yours and rubbed it soothingly, before lifting him up and placing him in your lap. Tenko buried his face into your neck and sobbed whilst you stroked his hair.

“I know, little lamb, I know. If that’s the case, then I’m going to look into adopting you myself, if that’s what you want?” You looked at him as you asked him.

Tenko’s eyes lit up before dimming again.

“B-but my quirk hurts people. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. I’ve already hurt so many people,” He whimpered. Your heart ached looking at the young boy.

“My quirk is perfectly compatible with yours, and as long as you wear those gloves then you have no reason to worry. You’ve already seen just how mean people can be with people with a quirk like yours. If you stay with me, then I can protect you and help you,” you lifted Tenko’s chin to meet his eyes.

“Sweetheart, it’s a cruel, mean world for people who society deem ‘villains’. You have been hurt and ignored by these people, and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. You’re only a small boy, you didn’t deserve what happened to you. It’s not your fault. It was never your fault. I can help you learn to control your quirk to prevent accidents like this again. I know it hurts now, but we can get through this. I’ll be there for you every step of the way.”

Tenko flung himself deeper into your chest and sobbed until his throat was raw. In the past few hours, you had shown him such kindness that it overwhelmed him, on a level that only his mother dared display. Throughout the day, you had a warm glow radiate from within you. Tenko knew he wouldn’t have anyone else look after him.

You cuddled Tenko closer to you as he settled down.

“Now, let’s eat before the food goes cold,” you smile.

“Okay mama.”

==================================

“Tenko? Tenko, hurry up! You’re gonna be late for your first day!” You yelled up the stairs to your adopted son.

“I know, ma! I can’t find the extra pair of gloves you gave me,” he yelled back, rootling the Eraserhead backpack you gifted him. It was his first day at UA Hero Academy, and your nerves were just as shaky as his. He eventually found them, relieved at the sight as he readjusted his tie agitatedly.

“Do you have everything? Lunch, your creams, your throat spray?” You fussed over him, straightening his tie and smoothing his blazer lapels.

“Damn ma, you were rushing me out the door and now you’re gonna make me late,” he groaned, but cracked a light smile.

You looked at him. He had improved so much since you first took him in. His hair was cleaner, his skin had better creams, his lips were smeared in soothing lip balms and his allergies were nearly a thing of the past. The thought of the young, helpless boy you took in using his once destructive power for the better of society brought tears to your eyes.

“H-hey, don’t get all emotional ma! What’s the matter?!” He fussed, stopping when you smile at him.

“I’m so proud of you, Tenko. More than you’ll ever know. Now, go be the best hero that anyone has ever seen in UA!” You wiped your tears as you hugged your son, feeling him tremble slightly in return.

“Thanks ma. For everything.”

[skyof-atlas]

You want this the hard way? Kuki Shinobu x gn!reader

Warnings: teasing, afab! reader, overstimulation, short! reader, cold hands, edging, angry sex (but not that angry).

Got the idea from the new event hehe >

You've been friends with Shinobu for a long time now. You both first met when you were hunting for some onikabuto to play with and she stumbled across you getting chased by a boar.

From then on you were inseparable. Even now with the Arataki gang, you both make sure that Itto stays out of trouble. Although now you were siding with Itto to host a beetle battle boot camp in Guyun Stone Forest.

"Shinobu, hear him out this time...This could be fun!" You said, supporting Itto and grandmaster Hanakado.

"Yeah! Yeah! Listen to shortie!" Itto frantically said, trying to convince Shinobu. Your eye twitched at his name for you.

Who is he calling shortie? You are so dead Itto...

"You wanna do this the hard way? We'll do it the hard way." She replied, not wanting to make her senpai to do more work for this. She turned to you and stared you down. You knew you were in for a lecture after this.

"You are such an idiot." Shinobu had dragged you back to the inn you were staying in and made you sit and listen to her lecture (not like you had a choice).

" 'nobu...You know nothing stops Itto once he has his mind set on something. Plus it could be good to let them have fun. Pleaseeee." The please was dragged out and made you sound like you were begging her. (you were).

A frustrated sign left her lips as she rubbed her temple.

"You know well I can't say no to you." You smiled at her comment knowing how much you had her wrapped around your finger. But the same applied to you with her.

"You are so good to me" You pulled her by the waist to hug her. She stumbled forward due to the sudden pull in. She shivered at your touch on her waist.

"H-hey! Your hands are cold!" You decided to tease her further by running your hands up and down her waist.

"wh-wha--aaaah" She sucked in the air and before you could tease her even more she knocked your head to escape your grasp. Your hands shot up to soothe your head from the *now* pounding pain.

"Ow...'nobuuu" You whined as you look up at her.

"You are such a tease!" An idea popped in her head. If you wanted to play dirty, so will she.

She changed her composure and pushed up back onto the bed. Her eyes had a suspicious glint behind them that you couldn't exactly pinpoint. A mixture of anger and ....lust?

oh fuck-

"H-hey Shinobu...I was just playing....haha.."You stuttered out afraid as she walked closer to you without saying a single word. You watched her as her hand went to take her mask off and place it on the table nearby. She then aggressively pinned you on the bed and straddled you. 

You were getting extremely nervous now. Butterflies erupted in your stomach as you looked at her face for some type of answer or emotion.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Except it would just be Shinobu teasing back and laughing it off or her knocking some sense into you, usually the latter. She never went this quiet with you, so you feared that you had upset her or went too far this time. 

“You always love to tease me don’t you. Do you like seeing a reaction from me? Do you like playing with me?” She seethed her words through her teeth. You could only stare at her with confusion and fear.

“N-no!” You stuttered it out. Why did you like teasing her?...why…Were you so oblivious to your own feelings? 

“Then why?” Shinobu chuckled as she brought her hand to your chest. You could feel your own heartbeat beating. You were sure she could feel it practically beating out of your chest. 

“I-...I tease you because I…..” You couldn't finish your sentence. It felt like a giant weight was resting on you and you couldn’t breathe. She stiffed her body when you stopped and then she gave you the sweetest smile you’ve seen her give. She leaned down to whisper something in your ear that sent a shock through your body. 

You nearly moaned out hadn't your hand quickly covered your mouth. 

“You like it when you play the hard way, don’t you …shortie.” 

Archons…

Her hand slipped under your shirt to tease you the same way you did to her. This is her revenge. 

“If you don’t want to say anything, fine. I’ll play your game.” Clothes were ripped off and kisses were shared. 

She played with your cunt like putty. Her fingers slipped in and out easily while her thumb played with your clit, flicking it and occasionally pressing on it. Your hips bucked against her fingers. 

Everytime you were close she would stop, waiting a few minutes before starting fucking you again. Her fingers were coated with your slick and the sheets were stained. Your body was sensitive to everything and she has yet to let you come. 

You clawed, whined, moaned, and begged her to let you come, but she was waiting for something. It wasn't until you finally confessed that you like her that she let you come.

Your body was shaking and your eyes rolled back when the knot in your stomach finally snapped. You screamed out Shinobu’s name while grasping her hair. She pulled out and let you catch your breath before starting again. 

She had you cumming over and over again, but even then she didn’t stop until the sheets were stained and nothing but her name was spilling out of your mouth. 

You wanted the hard way, so you got it.

Thanks for reading! I'm starting college again so I'll be pretty busy, but I'll try to keep updating.

Please visit my blog :)

[return-to-twisted-wonderland]

Long ask incoming. Angst for a Viper sibling - Jamil’s twin (identical or fraternal, dealers choice!)

They come back and they’re so happy to see Jamil again! But… because everyone thought they were dead… that means… as long as everyone continues to think they’re dead…

They’re free.

Yuu has been living free this entire time on earth. They don’t want to live a life of servitude now that they’re back in Twisted Wonderland. And, as jealous as that makes Jamil that his twin is free and he is not… he doesn’t want that fate for them either. At least one of them could be free.

And Kalim, once Yuu explains the situation, while he would be sad, would of course keep the secret. He doesn’t quite understand it, but he was childhood friends with Yuu as well. He wants them to be happy.

The problem is… if they told Mr. and Mrs. Viper, Jamil and Yuu’s parents, that Yuu was alive? They would have Yuu come back. They would have Yuu serve under the Asim household. They would tell the Asims. Because the elder Vipers would be more concerned with upholding the family honor and tradition of serving the Asims than letting Yuu live their life.

Najma would keep the secret of Yuu’s survival, so they could tell her. But their parents would have to be kept in the dark.

And that hurts.

The three Viper siblings know their parents would pick their family honor over allowing one of them to live a life of freedom. Because as long as the elder Asims don’t know about Yuu, there would be no real reason for Yuu to come back. And with Kalim as the next head of household promising to keep the secret… Yuu would be safe. Because despite there being the small chance of Yuu being discovered and them getting in trouble, Kalim could vouch for them if that happened.

Yuu could easily remain living free from servitude - Kalim would even happily give them money to pay for them to live a comfortable life now that they’re back, ecstatic that his other childhood friend has been returned to him!

But for Yuu to remain free, they need their parents to keep thinking they are dead.

They may never be able to see their parents again, even though they are finally back in Twisted Wonderland.

Tears are shed by both Yuu and Jamil early into the morning for numerous reasons the night of the welcoming ceremony; both of them are curled up around each other on Jamil’s bed in the Scarabia dorm like how they used to cling to each other on bad days all those years ago.

Many things change, but them being twins never will.

Jamil only shows this side to his twin, Yuu holds their brother close as they both come to terms that Yuu can never return to Scalding Sands in order to stay free.

"I'm happy to have you back, but..." Jamil's voice is quiet, almost lost to the gentle music coming from his player.

"Yeah, this sucks." Yuu sighs. "What happened to always being together?"

"We are, you're just the one with the freedom." He mutters.

A beetle flies in and tries to settle on Jamil's back, which Yuu quickly waves away. They're not about to have their tender moment ruined by some bug.

[hannahbarberra162]

hOrnithology for Beginners, Chapter 4

on Ao3 Previous chapter

Unfortunately the real Imperial Woodpecker is thought to be extinct.

ALSO were none of you going to tell me that the beetle would be poisonous not venomous?! I made this mistake in front of Marco, smh.

Marco POV

You had to be fucking with him, right? Either that or he was being severely punished for a heinous crime in another life. Because the sight of you stripping down in front of him while he couldn’t respond was almost too much. He’d seen some of your figure before, but nothing like this. You were absolutely perfect, legs toned from all the hiking you did but also thick in all the right places. He did feel guilty - he knew you wouldn’t want him seeing you naked if you knew he was also Marco the pirate - but he couldn’t stop himself from watching. You were like a little water nymph, jumping and splashing happily in the waterfall. This was one of the times he missed swimming but he contented himself by watching you. 

“I went on a date today,” you said, breaking the silence. “It was OK, but it was with a pirate.”  Interesting, he would get to hear your perspective. It was a little strange that you would tell this to a mythical bird you befriended, but you were a unique woman. Marco decided to help himself to some of your dried pineapple, flying down from his perch.

“I hate pirates,” you said, floating on your back. Marco watched mesmerized as your breasts and hair floated freely in the water, the pertness of your nipples distracting him from your words. “They’re always trying to kill or take living creatures to sell. Always selfish. Bad tippers too.” You pulled yourself to standing, still half submerged in the water. The water cascaded off you in rivulets down your chest, and he was suddenly thirsty. 

“Is that what happened to you? Did you escape from Whitebeard’s ship?” Marco shook his head as he finally registered your question. It was endearing you wanted to help but he didn’t want his captain vilified for something he didn’t do. At least now he knew the reasons behind your passionate hatred of pirates.

“I have so many questions for you. Would you want to answer any?” you looked at him imploringly. He shook his head again. He didn’t want to get himself into any more trouble than he was already in by answering questions. Besides, he would rather hear you talk about your impressions of him. 

“Of course, I’m sorry,” you said abashedly. You pushed yourself to sit on a rock jutting out over the edge of the pool, dangling your legs in the water and your torso exposed. You started kicking your legs gently, which jiggled your breasts with every kick. It was hypnotic.

“This pirate was alright. I think he actually listened when I talked, which is different from most pirates. Well, most guys really. Most of ‘em just listen when they think it’ll get me to sleep with ‘em. But I wasn’t going to either way so he didn’t need to impress me.” Marco trilled softly to show he was paying attention. He had listened to everything you’d said today - your knowledge was fascinating and he enjoyed hearing you speak about your interests.  

You smiled warmly. “Not like you, right? You’d never do that.” Marco cooed to confirm. If his brothers ever found out he spoke to you like a bird he’d never hear the end of it. You stared off at the waterfall.

“He is very good looking though. I don’t like pirates, I didn’t say I wasn’t attracted to ‘em…” You trailed off in thought. Marco ate more of the pineapple and you looked over at him happily. You were so beautiful when you smiled at him, it felt like a warm summer breeze under a cerulean sky. At least you found him attractive, he could work with that. It would be better if you liked his personality, but at least he had a foothold. Er, talonhold. 

“Ha! I’m justifying my feelings to a phoenix. How sad is that? I hope you didn’t mind.” In response Marco came closer to you. You stopped moving and watched his slow approach. Marco stopped a few feet away from you and raised his wing. His primary feathers stopped a few inches from you. You looked at him wildly when Marco trilled.

“Are you sure?” you brought your fingertips up. Marco trilled again, quieter this time. You reached out slowly and extended your index finger to his primary feathers. You ever so gently stroked down one feather and Marco swore you shivered. You trailed your fingers down his feathers with such a light touch he could barely feel it. It felt like a whisper of a kiss on his skin and it was hard to concentrate. You were teasing him with complete innocence and it was increasing his desire to an unbearable degree. 

“You have no idea how much this means to me,” you said with tears in your eyes. Marco suddenly felt guilty - he didn’t know you’d have such an emotional reaction to touching him. He could guess that you didn’t like to show your softer emotions to strangers, and definitely not while naked. He fluttered his wing and a feather trailed down in the air. He picked it up with his beak and handed it to you. You took the feather with shaking hands, clutching it tightly.

“I’ve been looking for a feather since I saw you on the island. I will never sell it. Thank you.” You bowed your head to him. Marco got the distinct feeling you’d be more upset about bowing to him than being naked in front of him. He was in trouble.

Your POV

Aside from the date stuff, which really wasn’t that bad, today was the best day of your life. You got to touch a phoenix, confirm your suspicions that it could communicate, it gave you a feather, and you’d gotten to touch a phoenix . You were walking on clouds, you couldn’t contain your happiness. After bowing to your phoenix (when had it become your phoenix?) it had flown back to the perch, peering down at you every so often. You finished up your swim and put your now dry clothes back on. It was now evening and your stomach growled loudly. 

“I’m going to make dinner. Would you like some?” you asked your phoenix. The phoenix shook its head regally, like the monarch it was. It took a little time to make dinner - you first had to gather wood and start a fire. Gathering the wood didn’t take long as you were in a forest and you assembled the kindling into a cone so it would catch fire quickly. You sorted through your pack, looking for your flintstone when you heard the sound of fire catching. Confused, you glanced back at the now blazing fire and the pleased face of your phoenix.

“Is there anything you can’t do? You really are the perfect creature,” you told the phoenix dreamily. The phoenix preened at your words, looking pleased with itself. It gently cooed at you one last time and sailed off into the night with a flap of its gorgeous blue wings. You sighed and ran the feather it had given you over your face, enjoying the sensation under the darkening evening sky.

~~~

Marco POV

Unfortunately, Marco had to leave. He had other duties to attend to and also wanted to check in on Ace. He assumed Ace would be busy until morning but the doctor in him just wanted to make sure he was at least on the mend. He flew away from you reluctantly as you watched him glide through the sky. Their days on the island were dwindling and he’d have to leave you soon. Selfishly, he’d been enjoying your worship of his phoenix form. The phoenix, though part of him, had a personality of its own. It absolutely thrived on praise and adoration. Marco didn’t think he needed it, but having you dote on him scratched an itch he hadn’t realized he had. Flying himself back to the inhabited part of the island, he soared over Etta’s house and heard Ace…doing well. He was glad Ace was no longer in pain but didn’t stick around to hear the details. 

Landing on the ship’s deck, Marco braced himself for the inevitable onslaught of questions from his brothers. Thatch was the first to spot him and wandered over with a shit eating grin.

“So, how was the double date?”

“Good yoi.” Ace was so far the only one who knew the full story and Marco wanted to keep it that way. 

“Where’s Ace? Had a better ending than you?” 

“Kind of, he touched that poisonous beetle. The aphrodisiac one. He’s…working it off right now.” Thatch laughed heartily and Marco smiled. Ace got into all kinds of trouble, he was young and reckless and it made for good stories. Well, for the others at least. 

“ Jozu, I owe you 50 Beri, he did touch it!” Thatch yelled across the deck, still laughing. This wasn’t their first time to the island, the rest of them knew not to touch the Peel Rhino Beetle. 

“But your date was a sour grape? It was that …friendly waitress, right?” Marco had hoped Thatch would drop it, but no such luck.

“She was nice, actually. I spent a long time with her. She’s quite knowledgeable about birds - wants to be an Ornithologist. Made for good conversation yoi.” Marco took the opportunity to leave - he had spent a few hours away and was sure there was work waiting for him back in his office. Besides, he’d be catching up with you again, and soon.

~~~

Early the next morning, Marco flew to Etta’s house, making sure to shift completely into his human form before getting close to the town. Marco wasn’t used to how long walking took - flying was so much faster. But he didn’t want to risk you seeing him in a partial transformation. His plan today was to charm you into liking him as a man, not as a bird. After all, he’d been on the Grand Line a long time, he was no stranger to attracting women. And he knew that you at least found him attractive. True, he didn’t usually have to try, but it was the thrill of the challenge. He had a few tricks he was willing to use if it endeared him to you.

After listening for a minute to see if anyone was busy , Marco knocked on the door to Etta’s house loudly. No one answered so he knocked again, louder. He finally heard someone scurrying around and the door cracked open. He saw a tired but happy looking Etta behind the door. Marco smiled at the young woman.

“Good morning yoi. How’re you and Ace doing?” Marco asked cordially.

“Ace’s sleeping now but doing better. The, uh, poison is mostly gone.” Etta finished her sentence with a blush on her cheeks. 

“Glad to hear it. I’ll leave you two be, I’m sure you need some rest.” Marco turned to go with a smile, but Etta stopped him.

“Wait, how was the rest of your date?” Marco pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure what Etta did and didn’t know.

“It ended after I brought Ace here yoi.” Etta put her hands on her hips, arms akimbo with an incredulous look on her face.

“Don’t lie. I know you’re the Phoenix she’s been seeing around the island. I’m not going to say anything, I think this might be good for her. She’s a really sweet person, just a little… guarded.” Etta explained. Marco heard Ace moaning for Etta from within the house. Etta and Marco locked eyes.

“I’ve gotta go,” Etta said, her blush returning. 

“Enjoy,” Marco said simply. Etta turned bright red and shut the door. Ah, to be young and poisoned. 

~~~

Already knowing where you were likely to be, Marco picked his way over to the waterfall. He wanted to “surprise” you and see if he could sway your opinion of him. He made his way over carefully, making sure to make enough noise to alert you to his presence. Though it wouldn’t affect him, being shot with a dart gun wouldn’t feel great either. He entered the clearing, pretending to take in the scene for the first time. He sat down on a rock near the waterfall and enjoyed the peace and quiet. 

“Marco?!” he heard you call from the other side of the pool. You didn’t look happy to see him.

“How did you find this place? Did you follow me?” you stalked up to him with a finger pointed in his direction. 

“So suspicious yoi,” Marco said without heat. He had anticipated such a reaction from you. “I checked Ace and Etta this morning to make sure they’re OK. After I thought I’d hike around the island, see what’s here.” Marco threw in the bit about your friend to hook you into conversation with him. You dropped your scowl.

“How are they doing?” you said, biting your lip. 

“Ace is better, Etta took care of him.” He saw your face heat slightly, which he found cute. 

“Anyway, I thought I would enjoy bird watching while I’m still on the island, which brought me here.”

Your POV

Your eyes narrowed, you weren’t sure if you believed him. But you couldn’t prove he had done anything wrong. Besides, it’s not like you owned the waterfall, he could go where he wanted. You considered it your special place, but it wasn’t actually yours. You had been drawing the phoenix feather in great detail when he’d come up to your camping area. You’d moved the feather for safety but your sketches were still out and you wanted to go hide them from his prying eyes. You turned to move back to your belongings when you spotted an Imperial woodpecker in a nearby tree.

“Marco,” you whispered, not moving “look over there.” If he liked birds, he might enjoy this rare treat. If he didn’t ask you to sell it, that is.

“Nice, yoi. Imperial woodpecker.” Marco whistled an incredibly accurate bird call to it, causing it to chirp back. You listened to the two of them singing back and forth until the woodpecker decided to fly off. Two points to the pirate - he correctly identified the bird at first glance and you’d never heard such a good birdcall before.

“That’s a good skill to have,” you remarked casually. He didn’t need to know how impressed you were. Marco shrugged.

“Birds like me yoi. I’m hoping we’ll see some uncommon species today.”

“What do you mean, we? ” He wasn’t planning on tagging along with you again, was he? Just as you were about to tell him off, the Imperial woodpecker returned with a mate and chick. Your mouth dropped - you just had to draw this. You’d never seen a family unit of Imperials together before - they were said to mate for life. It almost looked like the male and female were showing off their young, but why? You slowly grabbed your notebook and pencils, sketching on the clean opposite page. You drew the family unit from various angles until they flew away once more. As you were putting the finishing touches on your sketches, you felt Marco peering over your shoulder.

“Hey!” you exclaimed, crushing the notebook to your chest. “I told you, they’re private!”

“You really are very good,” Marco complimented you. “What was that bird on the opposite page? It looked interesting.”

“None of your business.” He was a nosy guy, for a pirate. You hoped he hadn’t seen too many of your phoenix drawings. You’d expanded on the real life sketches you’d had and were now drawing the phoenix in different positions, some of which were kind of funny. You had drawn the phoenix next to you under the waterfall, annoyed about being drenched with water, steam rising from its non-fiery head. It was childish but made you laugh.

You assessed the situation - Marco was tolerable enough, had a talent for bird calling, and wasn’t terrible looking. Maybe it would be OK if you spent another few hours with him. You didn’t need to become mates for life, after all. 

“We can go bird watching together, I’ll show you some hot spots. But don’t look at my drawings again.” You’d never extended an invitation like this to a man before, you hoped he felt special.

“It’s a date yoi,” Marco said, smiling. 

~~~

You’d had an unbelievably successful day bird watching with Marco. They almost seemed drawn to him, warbling and chirping to his astounding calls. Bird songs filled the air no matter where you went on the island. You wished there was some way for you to record the sounds, but the closest you could get was Marco’s ability to mimic them. You were elated - you were thankful for whatever weather was bringing all these birds to the island and to your sight. You were so happy that you were actually being friendly with Marco. He was surprisingly knowledgeable about birding, despite his protests that he wasn’t a professional. He had a dry sense of humor, matching your own, and had even made you laugh a few times. It might have been your favorite date you’d ever been on. You even showed him some of your sketches of birds, not the phoenix of course, but some of the birds you’d seen together. He asked to keep one, and you wavered.

“I don’t give these out, they’re-”

“Private, I know yoi. It's OK, I’m not offended.” 

You were feeling generous and Marco was looking gorgeous. “Hold still for a moment,” you ordered, taking out your pencils. You did a rough sketch of Marco as a bird, complete with fluff on his head and glasses. Just something silly as a thanks for such a good day together. You ripped off the page and handed it to him. Marco looked at it, then at you.

“Are you sure …never mind.” Marco started to say something but stopped midway.

“You don’t like it? I’m sorry, it was just for fun.” You were feeling self conscious, you didn’t show your drawings often.

“No, I like it a lot yoi. But isn’t it missing something?” Marco said, looking down at the paper.

“Hm, I don’t think so, let me see.” You crossed over to him, standing shoulder to shoulder. You glanced down at the drawing. 

“Nope, got your glasses, your hair, your half open eyes and even the tassel on your leg. Got everything,” you teased. You were close together, examining the paper. If you turned your head, you’d be face to face. You were breathing quickly from the close proximity.

“It’s missing your signature, so when you become a famous scientist I have your autograph.” You smiled, what a charmer. You turned to face Marco.

“I can give you something other than my signature.” You leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips.

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

The Mudman (again)

This one goes out to @eldewinddolly

---

“What in Heaven is that?” Trouble barked, drawing a gun on instinct. The target he was currently aiming at scurried back and forth in the torchlight, acting agitated. It hissed, its shining black shell chittering in the firelight as it darted around in the sand. It was almost like the disgusting little creature had realized that it was in danger.

Artemis smiled almost draconically. “Beautiful is what it is, Mister Kelp. Beautiful.” He knelt down to inspect the beast, which took the opportunity to leap up at him threateningly. “Fascinating little creatures,” Artemis continued, dancing out of the bug’s range. “From the family Scarabaidae. This branch of the tree appears to be particularly partial to an all-meat diet. In fact…”

Holly, who had drawn her own weapon when her academically inclined kin opted to wax poetic, knocked her shoulder against Artemis. “We get it, you’re in love,” she said through tight lips. “Now step on it. It’s freaking me out.”

“Step on it?” Artemis asked, spinning around to regard his sister with a look of shock and disgust. “I expected better from my own flesh and blood. This creature is a snapshot of history… you saw how they swarmed earlier, we haven’t seen a beetle quite like it in… well, I don’t believe there is anything like this on record! We ought to -”

His lecture was cut off by the sound of a sickening crunch.

Trouble pinched the bridge of his nose. “Holly. Please tell me that thing didn’t just take a bite out of Artemis,” he groaned. “I’d really rather not have to dig a man-eating bug out of your brother today.”

“Wah feen?” asked a muffled voice, its owner standing over the beetle. Or rather… standing over where the beetle had been only a moment before.

Holly made a quiet gagging sound and turned her face into Trouble’s shoulder. “It’s somehow worse,” she managed to say after a moment. “Much worse.”

“Worf thah wah?” the hairy little man asked, popping the other half of the beetle into his mouth and biting down. He chewed for a moment, then grinned. “Now come on, love,” he chuckled, noting Holly’s discomfort. “Beetles like this are a part of my heritage. My grandma practically raised me on these little beauties.”

Anger flashed across Artemis’s countenance for just a moment before he managed to school his features into a mask of calm indifference once more. “Mister Diggums… you might want to reconsider your dietary habits in regards to this particular source of protein. You may be interested to learn that they are carnivorous.”

Mulch flashed Artemis his signature tombstone grin. “I’ve been accused of the same, my friend,” he said with a wink.

Artemis let a smirk of his own cross his thin lips. “That may well be, Mister Diggums, but pause to consider with me for a moment… have you seen many natural animals running around Hamunaptra? Anything that we didn’t bring with us?”

The mirth in Diggums’ eyes cooled ever so slightly. “Can’t say as I have, no,” he said slowly. “What’s your point?”

Artemis slowly paced toward the hairy fellow, tapping his chin theatrically. “Well, Mister Diggums, if there are no sources of meat to which these fascinating little creatures might be availing themselves, just where do you imagine they’ve been sourcing their nutrition?”

Mulch swallowed nervously, any trace of humor now gone from his face. “You don’t mean…”

“Oh yes, my friend.” The smile on Artemis’s face was more unsettling than ever. “I believe they’ve survived off eating what remains of the mummies here.”

Several long moments of very tense silence passed amongst the group. Finally Holly holstered her sidearm. She dusted off her hands and turned away from the poor stunned fellow still looking, somewhat terrified, at her brother. Trouble matched her step for step, looking significantly paler now.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a smirk at her companion. “Artemis was embellishing to make a point. These mummies are all far too old to be feeding any of these surviving beetles.”

Trouble stopped cold, turning to look at her. Then he began to laugh, long and loud. “You two are evil,” he said, shoulders shaking. “Pure evil.” He shook his head, his eyes twinkling as he smiled at her.

Holly felt her cheeks redden slightly. “He’s the evil one,” she defended herself. “I just play along on occasion.” Then she rested her hands on her hips, looking around the subterranean tunnel they traveled through. “Still,” she whispered confidentially, “that thing seemed pretty aggressive. Try not to get cornered by a swarm of them.”

Then she was off again, leaving a somewhat perturbed Trouble cautiously inspecting the shadows behind her, his hand trailing to the heel of his pistol.

[verfound]

FIC: "Stop It" (MLB; Lukanette; LBSC Lukanette Month 2024)

@lovebugs-and-snakecharmers is doing a Lukanette Month for September 2024, and we all just kinda tossed some prompts in the disco to compile a list?  We ended up with 71 prompts, so I decided I’d roll some dice to pick a prompt, do a twenty minute (ish, bc we all know sometimes they run away from me) sprint, and try to get some short fics out this month?

Read on Ao3

Prompt 43: “Why do I feel like you enjoy getting yourself into danger?”

Marinette tried for her best smile.  A flirty smile, if you would – just like Alya had taught her.

The superhero standing across from her didn’t look like he was buying it.

That…wasn’t really surprising, she supposed.  Alya might firmly live by flirt your way out of anything, but Marinette always felt less flirty and more…catastrophic chicken.  Y.  Especially around him.

“Really, M. Beetle,” she tried to say, hoping the giggle in her voice didn’t sound too manic, “we have got to stop meeting this way.”

Scarlet Beetle heaved a weary, longsuffering sigh and dropped his head into his palm.  His fingers started massaging his temples, his red-tipped bangs scrunching adorably with the gesture.  Part of her wanted to bat his hand away and sink her own hands in those locks instead – if she could currently move her own hands, that is.  They looked…

…no!  Bad Marinette!  He was the savior of Paris what are you thinking?!

“Why do I feel like you enjoy getting yourself into danger?” he finally asked, looking up at her with a defeated smile.  He crossed the short distance between them and reached up, yanking on the yoyo strings that were currently holding her upside-down in front of him.  She gave a startled yelp as her bindings gave way and gravity did what it did best, but the freefall lasted only a moment.  Scarlet Beetle grunted as he caught her.  She was proud to say she only flailed a little as her arms wrapped around his neck, clinging tight to keep herself from hitting the ground.

…not that he’d let her.  He was too good like that: as often as she’d found herself in sticky, akuma-related situations, he had never let her get hurt.

“…I was just trying to help,” she insisted once she had caught her breath.  She glanced up at him with a pout, and his smile was…less annoyed.

“I need you to help less and hide more,” he said.  He hesitated a moment, and then she would swear his hand caressed her side.  She definitely didn’t hold him a little tighter at that.  She didn’t.  “I need you safe, Marinette.”

“Alya –” she started, but he shook his head.

“I have enough trouble keeping Alya on the sidelines,” he said.  “She’s reckless enough, and I don’t even like her most days.  Definitely not enough for all the gray hair she’s giving me.”

“Is that why you dye it?” she teased, hoping she sounded flirty again as she flicked at his bangs.  He rolled his eyes and squeezed where he was holding her.

“My point, Marinette, is that I can’t be worrying about you as well.  Watching you run into these fights after her like this, completely unprotected…” he said.  “It…distracts me.  You know it does.”

“…but you like me?” she asked, a slight smile curling her lips.  He sucked in a breath, and she would swear his cheeks darkened under the mask.  “M. Beetle, my boyfriend will get jealous.”

“…you don’t have a boyfriend,” he said, an odd note to his voice.  She bit her lip and looked away, her own face flushing at his assertion.

“Not…not yet, no,” she confessed.  “I keep hoping he asks, though.”

“Marinette…” he sighed, looking away.  An explosion sounded in the distance, and his sister shouted for him over their comms.  He winced, and Marinette pressed her fingers below his ear and frowned up at him.  “Paris needs me.  The city…the city comes first.  You know that.”

She was twisting in his arms, laying her head on his shoulder as her arms tightened around his neck.  He sucked in another breath, frozen to the spot.

“I would hope I would understand that,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  “Just like I would hope someone else would understand that I did.  If…if that was a reason someone might be hesitating.  The thinking I wouldn’t understand.  Because I do.  I –”

It was a bad idea.

Very unprofessional.

Tikki would have Words for him later, he was sure.

But it was too easy to turn his head, for his mouth to find hers and cut her off.  And it wasn’t the kiss she deserved – the one he’d been dreaming of giving her since the moment they’d met – but it would have to do.  For now.  She gripped him a little tighter, and he held her a little closer, and then Cheshire Cat was shouting in his ear again and he had to go.  He pulled away, panting, and leaned his forehead on hers.

“We’ll talk,” he said.  “Later.  We…damn it, Marinette.”

“Go,” she said, her fingers feather-light against his jaw.  He turned his head, kissing the pads of her fingertips, and she smiled.  “I’ll try to stay out of the way.”

“Don’t try, melody,” he whispered, his voice tight.  “Just do it, all right?  If Alya gets hurt, she gets hurt – I’ll fix it later, anyway.  Stop making reckless decisions just because your best friend does.  My poor heart can’t take it.”

“Think what my poor heart does knowing it’s you in the mask,” she tutted.  “I hate watching you get flung around the city like that.”

“Marinette…” he laughed, a little desperately.  She squirmed again until he put her down, but she pecked his lips one last time before patting his shoulders.

“Go,” she said.  “I’ll…can you come by the bakery later?  I’ll be waiting on my balcony.  We’ll talk?”

“We’ll talk,” he agreed, nodding.  He took a step back, readying his yoyo.  He could already feel Tikki’s displeasure echoing through their bond, but he couldn’t stop the stupid smile on his face.  “Now stay out of danger – I mean it!”

[worldserasingandcreatinginmymind]

Bloody Beetle | Part Three

Summary: a conversation with Harrow decides your fate

Pairing: this chapter is mostly Arthur Harrow x Reader

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Manipulative Harrow/Lying Harrow. a LOT of artistic interpretation on Harrow’s abilities...

A/N: So sorry its been a year since I updated this story but im fully back on the Moon Knight hype right now and I actually have part four written, part five half written and the rest of this story *mostly* planned out! For the purposes of this story, lets just pretend Harrow has the ability to give people strength or make them need to sleep... As always, spelling and grammar are not my strongest skills so please be kind :)

Part Two | Series Masterlist 

- - - - -

Nothing.

The first thing you notice when you wake up is that you feel nothing. No aches, no pain, no shortness of breath. Before you fell asleep you felt so weak, you weren’t sure you would even make it thought the night. And now here you are feeling better than you did before Harrow made you ill.

You get out of bed and go straight to the door. To your surprise it opens. You half expected Harrow to have locked you in here. But then he probably thought you were still too ill to move.

This is your chance to escape.

You open the door as quietly as possible and try to remember the route back to the exit. The floorboards creak under your feet and you freeze, listening to hear if anyone is coming after you. You only hear silence so you continue.

Eventually you make it back to the communal area you had walked through yesterday, only now it is completely empty. It’s still night. Everyone must be asleep. You spot the exit ahead of you and your heart skips. This is it. You're free. Free to go to Steven.

But wait; Steven left you here.

Or did he? What if Harrow was lying? What if Steven is trapped here too?

You stare ahead at the exit, take a breath and turn away. Away from your chance at freedom.

Steven said he would find you. He promised. He wouldn’t just leave you here.

Which means he must be in trouble.

You have to find Steven.

You head back into the communal area, a huge stone walled courtyard with half crumbled arches and mismatched furniture. You pass the selection of random armchairs, all facing towards a giant screen. Past the shelves covered in various items, boxes and books. Past the tables and chairs and the small kitchen area. You reach the end of the room and as your about to start climbing up one of the sets of wooden stairs…

“You intrigue me, Y/N.” Harrows voice comes from the archway behind you. You turn around to see him step out into the light, his eyes fixed on you. “You could have left. The doors are open, there’s no one here to stop you and yet you didn’t leave. Why?”

“Did you want me to leave?”

“Oh no. Quite the opposite, I’m actually glad you decided to stay. What I do want is to know why?”

“Where’s Steven?” You ignore his question.

“Ah.” He says, nodding with understanding. “You believe he’s still here.”

“I know he’s here.”

“What makes you sure?”

“He wouldn’t abandon me.”

“No you're quite right. I can’t imagine Steven Grant would do such a thing.” He pauses. “But Marc Spector did.”

“I don’t know what you're getting at, but I already know all about Marc. Steven told me everything.”

“What exactly did he tell you?”

“The truth. He said he didn’t fully understand it himself but there’s this other person, Marc, living inside of him and that he is basically the reason Steven’s life has been falling apart. Sometimes Marc takes over the body and does things… are you saying that Marc took over and forced Steven to leave me here?”

“Let’s take a seat.” He moves over to the closest table, sitting down and gesturing for you to sit opposite him.

You stare at him for a moment, watching as he leans his cane against his chair and places his hands on the table in front of him. He looks back up at you again then back to the empty chair. You sigh as you pull out the chair and sit opposite him with your arms folded across your chest, leaning back away to create distance between the two of you.

“Steven Grant doesn’t exist.” He starts and you look at him confused. “Marc Spector created this Steven persona and ran away to England in an attempt to escape the many sins of his past. He is a very bad man Y/N, he has done some terrible things. He was a mercenary. He killed a lot of people and got in a lot of trouble. That is why he made up Steven. He pretended to be someone else just so he could hide. But it wasn’t real. His gentle personality. His job at the museum. His friendship with you-”

“No-”

“-It was all an act Y/N, and I am so very sorry to have to tell you that. Truly I am.”

“Just stop-”

“I know how much you cared for this Steven-”

“You're lying!”

“You're feeling better now, yes?”

“What?”

“You're alive, you feel no more pain. Why do you think that is?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, placing on the table in the middle of you both. “He gave me this.”

It’s the scarab beetle.

“He gave me this and told me to keep it. And you.” Harrow explains, a false sympathetic look on his face. “He told me he has no use for either of you anymore.”

You can’t take your eyes off the golden beetle in front of you. Your heart sinking further and further with every second as you take in what Harrow is telling you.

“I know this is a lot to process Y/N but there is one more thing I must tell you. You are free to leave if that is what you wish-”

“Great!” You get up out your seat and start to walk away.

“But I really think you should stay.”

“Why the hell would I do that?!”

“Because if you leave you will become weak again and you will die.” He states, making you stop and turn back.

“What?! No, he gave you the scarab and now I’m okay, that was the deal.”

“An error on my part.” He stands, taking a step towards you. “I failed to mention that in order to keep you alive Ammit must restore your strength every day. Through direct contact with me.”

“You..? How?”

“A simple touch of my hand.”

You remember him last night, placing his hand on your head right before you fell asleep.

“You healed me last night?” More of a statement than a question.

“I did.” He takes another step closer to you.

“But you told me Steven had left with the scarab. Why did you lie to me?”

“I was trying to protect you, protect your feelings. I knew you weren’t strong enough for the hurt that the truth would cause.”

“And you think I’m strong enough for it now?” you scoff and he reaches his hand out to hold yours.

“You are stronger than you know Y/N.” He locks eyes with you, his bright blue eyes almost staring into your soul. “Ammit sees something special in you. That is why she’s allowing you to live.”

You shake him off, taking a step back as you gather yourself. You take a breath.

“So either I stay as a prisoner for the rest of my life or go out there and die? Are those really my only options?”

“You're not a prisoner, Y/N, there are no locked doors. No guards forcing you to stay. You could live a happy life with us.”

You think for a moment.

“Or option three; I leave, go live my own life in my own home and then I’ll just come back here every day so you can top up the life support.”

“That won’t work I’m afraid. I move around a lot from place to place, there is no way of knowing exactly where I will be from one day to the next. The safest option for you is to join me.” He pauses. “Join us.”

He raises his arms out to the side as small groups of disciples begin emerging from the doorways and shadows, all facing you. The way they’re all looking at you makes you feel uneasy.

“Just to be clear, if I agree to stay with you that does not mean I’m on your side. It’s purely self preservation, okay? I am not helping you find Ammit. I will not help you murder innocent people. Got that?” Arthur nods. “Good.”

“Good.” he echos, smiling.

“Okay. So what happens now?”

“Now, we go to Cairo.”

Part Four

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[ashdreams2023]

may i request being snape’s son whos in syltherain(?) and just miserably failing ur dad’s class? :)

Lol I love this 💀

Severus snape x son reader

Little boy

In his over 10 years of teaching dunderheads from ages 11 to 17 years of age, he has never and he means never seen anyone this atrocious at potions.

This was worse than Neville, and that’s something he never expected to witness in his life. Not only did the potions always either blew up or somehow became so toxic that the air is no longer safe to breath but the worst part of it is

"Chopped I said chopped!" It was too late you the already threw the crushed beetles in there and within seconds the cauldron huffed a huge purple cloud.

"Everyone out!" You cringed and grabbed your bag sprinting with your housemates outside of the classroom.

A mix of looks were thrown at you, some with anger and others just pitiful.

"It was literally written on the board mate, you’re in so much trouble now" said Theo, you groaned already knowing you’re in for yet another lecture.

And loud and behold you were called to detention.

Well more his personal rooms to be exact.

You were sitting on your bed with him pacing left snd right, his hands were behind his back and the look on his face was just…

"I have a question for you son" he began.

"Yes dad?"

"What do I do for a living?"

"Um…you’re a teacher"

"Teaching what exactly?"

You swallowed "potions…"

Snape sighed before dropping his hands to land on his hips "so due tell me, how you my very own son my blood, that I’ve tried to teach everything I know about potions too from the age of five years old can’t brew a simple healing drought?"

You fidget your the ends of your shirt "I…I don’t know, it’s just not my thing dad!"

"Child you have to pass potions to go up to your next year!"

"I’m trying I swear! It’s just…why can’t you tutor me?"

"Because I’ve done it before and you’ve seen the results yourself…I just need you to pass this semester that’s it then you don’t have to take it anymore"

"I promise I’ll make progress…just lay off my back ok" his physical shook with something he couldn’t put a name on, he just hoped it rage.

Then with the most unexpected tone he said "Do you feel pressured by me?" You froze, you hadn’t expected that soft tone and the look anger to loosen up on his face.

"….maybe"

Snape rubbed his temples before taking sitting down beside you on your bed, he warped an arm around your shoulders and brought you close "you foolish child, I don’t ask of you to be the top of my class, I just want you to be decent and I feel you felt pleasured by that then you should’ve said something"

You felt small with a tingle in your chest, the same one that you used to have when he would comfort you as a little boy, when he would carry you back when you get injured or did something dangerous.

"Ok…I’m sorry" you pressed your face onto his shoulder, hiding away the small tears that threatened to fall down, you were too old to be crying in your daddy’s arms.

Although unknowingly to you, deep down in snape’s heart, you were still his little boy, the one who blew up his lab way too many times to count and liked to tag along to gather ingredients.

His little boy.

[souglias]

TWILIGHT - [Kaveh]

Both you and Kaveh work on your respective creative projects into the night. However, things don't go as smoothly as both of you wish.

Kaveh x gn!reader. Fluff.

Word count: 2.9k

c/w: alcohol consumption (on Kaveh's part), may be slightly self-indulgent

note: inspired by with my hand in yours (Kaveh's part) by @monocaelia , please go support her!!! Also, thank you sm to @dinoshimaaa for the beta mwah mwah

Dusk, Dawn, Twilight Masterlist

--

TWILIGHT in the wee hours speaks of a magical liminality that many miss. You are awake even before then, but you do not get to enjoy the serenity that such a quiet hour is supposed to bring. Instead, you are hunched over your easel with your final art assignment. It’s three in the morning, and the assignment is due at noon. You’ve barely slept the night before. Your third cup of coffee for the night is placed on the table beside you. An incomplete painting sits haphazardly on an easel by the table. Various paintbrushes sprawl all over the table. 

On the other side of the table, Kaveh pores over his architecture project, due for discussion with the client at the same hour as yours. His writing materials and tools are dumped atop one another on his side of the table. Instead of a cup of coffee on the table, he has a small cup of alcohol on the empty stool beside him. 

You tell him that it is counterproductive to drink alcohol for all-nighters because it makes him sleepy, especially since he’s a lightweight. But he protests that a small cup helps keep him loose. You don’t try to refute that, knowing that some classmates of yours do that.

Upbeat music plays in the background. Absent-mindedly, you tap your foot according to its beat. You wish you could turn the volume up higher. The higher the volume, the more sane it’ll keep you. However, that would lead to angry neighbours and you have no time to deal with such trouble.

As for Kaveh, he pays no mind to the music. His eyes are kept trained on his workspace, not even minding the beetle that crawls past his wine cup. His hands move as if they have minds of their own, moving his feathered pen gracefully. 

You’re kind of envious of him.

Kaveh knows what he’s doing. He knows what he wants. All the steps are already laid out in his head and they only need to be materialised on paper. You think he’s just a little careless, failing to set aside sufficient time to work on his project at a comfortable pace. 

With his eyebrows furrowed, he reaches out to his wine cup and takes a gulp. You’re pretty sure his cup isn’t gonna last the night and he’s going to head to the kitchen for a refill. It’s going to become multiple ‘small cups’. But seeing how focused he is, you don’t wish to break his concentration with any brief teasing.

The world around Kaveh is blurred out, his focus only zeroes in on the project in front of him. He stays this way for a long time until you let out an exasperated shout. Thank the Archons that both of you decided against working in Al Haitham’s home. 

His home would have been ideal with its proximity to the Akademiya. However, Al Haitham would go ballistic with the music. The last straw would probably be one of your (or possibly even Kaveh’s) eventual exasperated yells. 

Your head abruptly turns and you find Kaveh looking at you. “Oh shit, I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

Kaveh shakes his head and smiles instead. “Hit a roadblock? You can talk to me about it.”

“You sure?”

Kaveh nods. “I’d listen to you any day.”

Your eyes dart around your workspace, unsure where to start, as you turn your body towards him. After mulling over the question for a while, you start, “First off, my references don’t seem to be working very well? I took photographs for my references, but I only realised not long ago that the angles are all off. So I don’t know if this-” you pause to gesture at your painting, “is accurate.”

“Then, we have the issue of the paint. I can’t seem to get the colour I want! I spend so much time mixing the paint. If I could figure out the portion of colours I need to mix right off the bat, I could have saved so much time. Archons, I don’t know if I can finish.”

After throwing a glance at your painting, you start swearing. “Archons, what the fuck is this? What the fuck am I doing?”

Kaveh scrutinises your painting. Some parts of the canvas have been covered with paint while the parts unpainted only have draft lines. However, he still manages to discern two people near a window. One in the house with their back facing the viewer, the other on the other side of the window. Outside the window, the subject situated there has his body facing the one inside. However, Kaveh notices that his body is slightly turned away as if the subject is going away eventually. He guesses that a beautiful sea of stars expands out behind them, but there is still a large focus on the two people looking at each other. 

“Want to share what your assignment is about? Talking about it might help.”

You start fiddling with your paintbrush. 

“Our assignment was to create a painting and use it to convey a message to someone. It could be any message to anyone. Some wanted to make paintings to tell the upper echelons of the Akademiya about how insane the workload was. A few others wanted to advocate to just about everyone about our ever-warming climate…”

Your voice trails off and your eyes dart away from Kaveh. He raises an eyebrow at you and asks. “So, what’s the message you want to send and who are you sending it to?”

“It’s about the distance between… someone and I.”

Kaveh slightly leans towards you without realising. “Who might that be…?”

When you make eye contact with him again, you catch the intensity in his gaze and try not to flinch in your stool. The air becomes slightly charged and you hurriedly scoff to dissipate the tension, “Well, that’s not for you to know.”

You stick your tongue out at him and you turn away from him to face your canvas again. 

The urge to ask you who in the world this person consumes Kaveh. Who is it that has troubled you so much, that you have to make a painting for them to express yourself? 

He plays with the thought of this person being him. It feels slightly dangerous as if he’s walking a tightrope. Even this mere thought feels forbidden.

However, Kaveh cannot seem to disregard the little things that occurred between the two of you. The times both of you shared a drink with the same cup. The moments of accidental grazes of his skin on yours that cause him to flinch. The way you always listened to him talk about his designs, even if there were things you were not too familiar with. Kaveh cannot forget how his heart soars whenever you praise his design. 

On top of that, you always pick him up from the Tavern whenever he is too drunk to go home by himself. Without fail or complaint, you always come if Lambad sends someone looking for you.

Though, Kaveh would say that the two of you have been long-time good friends. There are some things that no longer matter when the two of you have been such good friends. 

Watching your back, he suppresses his desire to know. Kaveh isn’t ready to hear the name of the person you’ve been looking at. If he does, he thinks he’ll lose all the rights to relish the moments solely between the two of you. And what if he ruins the friendship between the two of you?

Kaveh takes a deep breath. He reaches out for his cup to take a sip of wine, but he realises that he’s empty. After making a quick refill, he dives back into his project. 

He’s not sure how much time has passed before he hears a sudden thud from your side. You’re standing up in front of your canvas with your stool toppled over behind you. Without turning to him, you say, “I’m going out.”

Kaveh’s grip on his pen loosens. He glances at your unfinished painting. In that one glance, he sees that you’ve added details, but he can tell it’s not done yet. Then, he checks the time. A little over 5.30 am. You’re already halfway out of the door. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll just be outside. I… need a breather.”

Kaveh watches you close the door without waiting for his reply. It is pretty normal for designers and artists like both of you to get overwhelmed. Space is a common need for creative minds. Perhaps that is all that you need, so he should let you be. However, Kaveh doesn’t feel at ease leaving you alone. It takes a few moments for Kaveh to navigate through his dilemma for him to decide to follow you.

When Kaveh finds you sitting on the porch, he heaves a silent sigh of relief. You’re gazing up at the navy blue sky. His eyes follow your gaze and he makes out a few blinking stars. 

Kaveh sits down beside you, not uttering a word. There’s only the sound of animals in the distant forest in the space between both of you until you break the silence.

“You know, I’ve never understood why people cry when they see art they admire so much. Maybe everyone has their reasons, but I think I finally found mine. Some of my classmates were sharing their mostly completed artworks. One of theirs made me want to cry.”

Kaveh keeps his eyes on you, noticing your lip quivering. You turn away from him when you continue speaking.

“It was so beautiful. So beautiful and I found myself fighting against tears. That artwork encapsulated everything I wanted to make. How? How does he make it so mesmerising? And why… Why can’t I do that? Why do I always have to come to despise my own work?”

Such feelings were not foreign to Kaveh. As a fellow creative, he knew you would feel this inevitable pain. Yet it makes his heart throb when he sees you doubt yourself.

“[name], look at me.”

You don’t move, keeping your body turned away from him. Oh, how you vex him.

Kaveh cups your cheeks with both his hands and he gently turns your head towards him. He watches a few tears roll down your cheeks and this sight claws at his chest.

“[name], I haven’t seen any of your friends’ works and I know you won’t believe me if I say your work is good. But from the bottom of my heart, the idea of making your painting a message for your… certain someone is wonderfully romantic.”

His voice becomes louder. His hands have started squishing your cheeks, yet his touch remains tender. “In the end, even if you feel like your painting hasn’t gone the way you wanted it to, I know your feelings will reach them. Sometimes my designs don’t turn out the ideal way I want them, but that’s okay. We’ll always nitpick on our work because we care about our craft. Your ideas are already amazing, so even if you hate the final product, take this as a step towards making better art.”

He inhales, not registering what he’s about to say. “And I like you! I don’t just like anyone out there, they should be artistic and creative! They should be brave to try new things too. So, you’re creative and artistic! And yes, you are brave to try new things too. You’ve never seriously dabbled in the arts before, and this is the first time the Akademiya is running classes for art. Enrolling into the Akademiya again for art is a huge leap of faith you’re taking!”

At this point, Kaveh’s ruby eyes are shining against the now violet sky. You see the stars you were looking at earlier in his eyes. “You’re not just anyone. You’re [name], the person I like! Do you understand?”

Kaveh watches as your face slowly turns red. You recall the countless moments he’s helped you to tide through your art assignments. The times the both of you spent together as a result of these art assignments and his client work. Of course, you caught feelings for him at some point, but you always thought you’d have to give him up someday and learn to cope on your own. The thought of having to go on without him haunts you like a ghost for countless days. Its presence looms heavily behind you on the long nights you have to finish your work alone. 

But with his slender and soft hands that hold your face, it’s as if he’s protectively encapsulating your weary soul within those two hands. The grasp of this presence on you loosens. Leaning into his touch, you mumble, “Kaveh, what will I do without you?”

When he notices you tear up again, the first thing he thinks is that he might have said something wrong. He tries to recall what he said, navigating through his hazy mind. When he realises that he’s confessed to you, all the lethargy leaves his body and more heat rushes into his face. He also becomes hyper-aware of the distance between your faces and his hands on your cheeks. 

Apologies come tumbling off his lips as he pulls himself back, “Oh no Archons, [name]. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to say that while you’re in a stressful-”

Kaveh notices the ink smudges he left on your cheek and more apologies come your way. “The smudges on your cheek! Oh shit, I’m sorry-”

“No, it’s alright,” a tender smile plays on your lips and a giggle escapes your lips, despite a tear that falls from your eyes. Your heart flutters thinking about your next words for the flustered architect. You take a deep breath to calm your hammering heart.

You confess, “The painting is meant as a message for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you properly after it was completed.”

Kaveh’s jaw drops, your words replaying in his mind. 

“Me…?”

A chuckle, music to his ears, escapes from your lips, “Yes, you. Renowned architect, Light of the Kshahrewar, Kaveh.”

“Holy Archons, I-”

Kaveh clasps his hand over his mouth and abruptly turns away from you. He recalls your painting in its most recent state earlier. There was one minute detail that didn’t escape him. The person in the house had been reaching onto the windowsill. 

You have been trying to reach him all along, and you didn’t know if he’d leave for a faraway glorious place.

Kaveh feels a lump in his throat, but he suppresses it and he faces you again. “It’s- I’m honoured to be the recipient of your message. I hope that you’ll be happy with me- No, I will make you happy, [name]. I won’t leave you.”

You reach out and brush a stray tear on his cheek away. The dried acrylic paint on your fingers does not stain his cheek, but you selfishly wished it did. It would have been your mark on him. Just like how he has left his mark on you.

An idea hits you, and you rub your finger against the spots where Kaveh’s fingertips touched your cheek earlier. You find some ink on your fingertips and you smear them on his cheek.

Smiling at your work, you say, “And I will make you happy too, my muse.” 

A soft smile appears on Kaveh’s lips and you wish you could capture him in this moment with the coming sunrise behind him. However, realising what time it may be, you straighten the feather in his hair and suggest, “Okay… I think we should finish our work and we will talk more after.”

Heading back into the house, both of you press on to finish up your respective tasks till this twilight passes and after. It’s not until after you’ve submitted your work that you feel fatigue kick in. 

You meet Kaveh near the location where he’s meeting his client. The meeting goes smoothly and quickly, it’s not long before you find his hands intertwined with yours. The sunlight feels unbearably harsh after the restless nights, so the two of you can’t wait to head into your cool homes to rest.

However, an immeasurable pull between the two of you makes the thought of going home without each other unbearable. 

“Say, could I crash at your place instead, since it’s nearer…? Would Al Haitham mind?”

Kaveh could care less about Al Haitham. Plus, he thinks the both of you will awaken before Al Haitham returns. Hooking his arm around yours, he proclaims, “Of course! Who cares about Al Haitham?” 

Both of you head to his house and settle on the sofa. With a heart filled with love, you drift off to sleep and you dream. You have not dreamt for a long time, but now, you dream of a confession that both morning and night have witnessed.

(When Al Haitham returns, he finds the both of you asleep on the sofa. Your head rests on Kaveh’s shoulder and his head leans on yours. His hands rest protectively atop yours. Al Haitham lets out an inaudible chuckle, finding relief in no longer needing to listen to Kaveh complain about his hopeless situation with you.)

--

Please like and reblog if you enjoyed this! All likes, reblogs and comments are appreciated <3

[stormiclown]

Marion Dupain-Cheng: Ice Cold

This is a Genderbent AU because there is not enough of creative stuff about Male Marinette. So we know the umbrella scene where Adrien basically pulls his “sad boy” card to make Marinette feel bad for him? Realistically, she shouldn’t have fallen in love with him just like that. I think she should have been wary of him because of his association with Chloe or outright hate him after he scolded her for being happy that Chloe was leaving. Or in ’Bubbler’ when all he cared about was having a party and not that adults we’re literally being launched into the sky. Or in ‘Despair Bear’ after a day of forced niceties he laughed when Chloe insulted Mylene’s macaroons. Long story short, Marinette shouldn’t have tolerated Adrien for as long as she did much less have a crush on him. If she did, it should’ve been obliterated by now. (This is a Drabble)

When Adrianne apologizes and hands Marion her umbrella, he takes it and thanks her but doesn’t smile at her because something wasn’t adding up. He walks away through the rain, thinking about what Adrianne told him of her lack of human interaction.

“At least she has a shred of human decency, for now,” Marion says to himself. He made a mental note to carefully analyze Adrianne‘s interactions with her classmates more closely. She just rubbed him the wrong way.

Marion knows she’s famous and despite her claims against it, being a model requires a lot of human interaction with fellow models, make artists, stylists, and managers as well as lessons about the social world and sexual harassment. No matter how much Adrianne declares she’s sheltered. He knows the truth.

He comes to two conclusions.

Either Adrianne was lying to their faces in order to make friends or she doesn’t want friends and just people who seek her out and like her with having to do anything.

Whichever one it was they both involved lying and manipulation. After dealing with Chloe’s bullying and Bustier’s gaslighting for so many years, Marion can spot a liar a mile away.

That’s when decides not to interact with or speak with Adrianne unless it was absolutely necessary.

After all, Marion Dupain-Cheng couldn’t stand liars or hypocrites. Right Tikki? (Tikki: You sure do)

And that’s what he does. He doesn’t speak to Adrianne unless, you know, someone’s in danger or dying which doesn’t happen very often.

It was Alya and Nino who noticed first. Alya, because she had seen the way Marion behave around Adrianne, even scowling at her at some point. Nino, because Adrianne had come to him once asking if Marion hated her.

So naturally, they spoke to their fashion designing best friend.

Alya: Hey Marion, is there a reason you act strangely around Adrianne?

Marion: I don’t act strangely around Ardrianne. I don’t even speak to her if I can avoid it.

Nino: That’s the thing dude. You avoid her and treat her like the plague. Do you have something against her?

Marion could see the underlying message in his oldest friend‘s eyes. He knew Nino was a nice guy and wanted everyone to get along, but this issue went deeper.

Alya: Is this about the gum incident? I thought she apologized for that.

Marion: Yeah, she did. After she told me that she doesn’t have any experience with people.

Nino: Poor dudette.

Marion: She‘s a model. She has obviously interacted its other people before. What she told me doesn’t make any sense.

Alya: Look, Marion. We can assume that Mr. Agreste is really controlling so she has trouble making friends. Can you please at least try for us?

After hearing about Adrianne’s over bearing father, Marion reluctantly extended an olive branch to the blonde girl, much to Chloe‘s ire.

Soon Adrianne’s birthday rolls around, Marion still makes her a scarf. He wasn’t a monster. He has no difficulty in handing it over to her, though Chloe shoves him out of the way and smothers Adrianne with hugs and a ‘Happy Birthday, Adrikins’.

When the Bubbler strikes, and Marion arrives to the “party” as Red Beetle, he sees everyone being forced to dance with forlorn expressions on their face as if they’d like to be anywhere else. Not that the hero could blame them.

Imagine his surprise to see Adrianne not only the sole aware person but also enjoying the party despite adults being launched into the sky. (Well plagg was the one to encourage it but she still shouldn’t have listened)

He promptly snapped that olive branch over his knee.

[aticklishpercivalwriter]

HELLOO i scrolled through your fics and i only saw things about aether/venti/xiao and anemo boys in general, so i was wondering if you could write something about Zhongli! Idk if you’re willing to since yk yk i saw that you particularly like anemo boys, but if you’re actually willing to: May I ask you to write something about Lee!Zhongli and maybe some geo characters or even only one as the Ler? :)

~sam

Finding Out an Archon’s Secret

Request(s): Up above^

—

I’m the person who asked for Itto and Zhongli, I didn’t notice I misspelled not once but twice💀 Anyway it was ler Itto and lee Zhongli😭 dyslexia hitting hard rn

—

Summary: Itto lands in Liyue and Zhongli finds himself in a tough situation to not reveal his well kept secret.

A/N: I finally finished this fic and I really am sorry for how long it took to get it written. I am not that well versed with writing tickling for characters other than who I really like (Anemo Boys, Lyney, Gaming, Sethos). I’ll be honest, I procrastinated with this fic and its research, trying to make it as good as my other writings. I could’ve written something short to satisfy these requests, but I like to indulge my readers (and myself) even though it takes more outta me. So yeah, for characters I’m not familiar with, it will take time. Hope you enjoy reading this one!

Word Count: 1928 Bonus Word Count: 239 Also on AO3!

—

On board The Alcor, Arataki Itto, along with his gang and Kuki Shinobu, arrived at Liyue Harbor.

“Liyue! It feels like it was yesterday when we had our beetle fighting event here,” Itto reminisced.

Shinobu hummed in agreement as they thanked Captain Beidou and got off the boat.

“I’m bringing the gang with me to find some ways we can make Mora overseas. Don’t cause any trouble while we’re gone.”

“Pfft. Me? Causing trouble? Shinobu, I am the responsible One and Oni. I can handle myself just fine.”

Itto grinned at Shinobu, leaning against some crates…before they toppled over.

“AAH!”

Itto fell to the ground, wincing as he got up with the help of Shinobu while the rest of the gang helped with putting the crates back.

“You were saying?” Shinobu’s eyes had a teasing glint in them.

“Ahaha,” he laughed, scratching his head. “I'm a responsible On- hehehey!”

“What am I going to do with you?” she chuckled, scribbling her fingers along his abdomen for a moment before stopping.

“Just be careful and try not to topple more things over.”

“Okahay. Ihihi wihill,” residual giggles slipping out of him.

They exchanged their signature glance before Shinobu called the gang to follow her, leaving Itto at the harbor.

“What to do, what to do…” he scanned the harbor trying to find anything interesting to do when a tall figure caught his eye.

The figure with his dark brown hair tied in a ponytail stood at the fish stall, strands of hair dancing in the gentle breeze.

“He looks familiar.”

Another figure, short with teal hair, walked up to the other. Itto immediately recognized him and sped his way to them.

“Little Dude!”

“I-Itto!?” Xiao quickly handed the bouquet of Qingxin that he was holding to the other man before being carried into the air and engulfed in a hug.

“Still short huh?”

“You big Oni,” Xiao couldn't even be mad at him as his contagious joyful attitude got to him, making him smile.

A chuckle was heard beside them as Itto put Xiao down. Looking at the figure’s face, Itto finally recognized him.

“Ohhhh, Zhongli!”

“Indeed. That is me. Our paths cross again, Itto.”

“Drop the formalities dude! We are bros!”

Itto wrapped an arm around his waist, boisterously laughing and attracting the attention of others.

“Um Itto, I know you are happy, but please tone it down.”

“Oh, heh. Sorry.”

Itto quieted down a bit and they all worked towards Zhongli’s abode talking along the way.

“What’s the bouquet for? Are you asking someone out?”

Zhongli choked on his breath, almost dropping the Qingxin, and Xiao started blushing.

“It’s actually Xiao’s,” Zhongli said, recomposing himself.

“Xiao? I wouldn’t have thought you were the person to be getting flowers.”

“Y-Yeah, it’s mine,” he said, grabbing the Qingxin from Zhongli’s outstretched hand. “I mean, I’m getting it for someone.”

“Who’s the lucky person?”

Xiao’s blush deepened and he started fiddling with his glove.

“It’s for A-Aether.”

Itto’s eyes widened, and he clenched his hand in shock, which was still on Zhongli’s waist, making him double over with a surprised laugh that went unnoticed by the two. Unfortunately for Zhongli, Itto started drumming his fingers as he and Xiao talked. Their conversation was lost to him as he was holding back giggles and laughter from spilling out. The Oni’s tight grip prevented any subtle movements that the retired Archon could try to use to get away.

Unbeknownst to anyone in Liyue, besides Xiao and Childe, the Geo Archon is extremely ticklish. So, having Itto drumming his fingers across his hips was driving him up the wall.

“Aether is definitely a lucky guy. Just follow your heart. You got it in the bag, Xiao,” a sincere grin spread across Itto’s face.

“Thank you, Itto.”

They both shared a glance and faced Zhongli, about to ask what was on his mind when they saw his flushed face.

“Zhongli!”

Itto let him go as Xiao went to examine him.

“Was it my body heat? I didn’t know I was hugging you too tight. I’m sorry!”

As Itto was muttering apologies, Xiao guided his hands to Zhongli’s head and then to his neck, checking his temperature to see if he had a fever.

“Do you feel un-”

“Hmphehe!”

A muffled giggle slipped out of him when Xiao’s hand brushed against his neck. A knowing look passed Xiao’s eyes as he tried to hold back a smile, understanding why Zhongli’s face was flushed.

“Calm down, Itto,” Xiao started, “He’s fine. He just needs a little water, and he should be good. The heat was getting to him. Bring him back home, his house is close by. I’m going to be with Aether now. Just be careful with taking care of him.”

“Okay, I can handle him. You are talking with the responsible One and Oni after all.”

He hoisted Zhongli onto his back and gave Xiao a thumbs-up.

“Good luck with Aether. You got it Little Dude!”

Xiao shook his head fondly before vanishing.

“My house is over there,” Zhongli pointed to a nice-looking building in the distance.

“Hold on tight Zho-Bro. Oni coming through!”

Before Zhongli could say anything, Itto was dashing through the streets of Liyue and arrived right at his front door.

“We’re here!”

Zhongli took out a key and handed it to him so he could unlock the door. When they got in, Itto set him on the couch and went to fetch some water.

He was left with his thoughts and all he could think of was Itto tickling him. The unbearable sensations would rack through his body as Itto found his spots one by one and reduced him into a laughing mess. Anticipation tingles started to spread through his body, and he groaned.

“Reduced to feeling ticklish all over just by a simple drumming of fingers. Oh Itto.”

"What did I do this time?"

Zhongli jolted up into a seating position, his wide golden eyes meeting curious, amber ones.

"Oh, uh," he stuttered, struggling to find words in his flustered state. "Y-Your Oni speed is most interesting. I haven't seen anything like it in a while."

Itto joyfully chuckled. "Oh, that's what you were thinking about! These guns aren't just for show."

He started flexing his muscles and Zhongli let out a quiet sigh of relief, narrowly avoiding sharing his secret. He took a sip of water from the glass Itto brought.

"Oh yeah," Itto stopped and walked over and sat beside him. "How's your temperature?"

Before he could respond, Itto brushed his hand along his neck just as Xiao had done. However, this time, Zhongli jolted and grabbed his hand.

"Oh shoot. Are you hurt?" Itto asked with worry.

"No, no," he reassured him, willing the redness that he knows is on his cheeks away. "You just... caught me by surprise is all."

"Oh, ahaha," Itto laughed. "I tend to do that all the time."

Zhongli let go of his hand, assuming Itto was done, but Itto slid his hand gently to rest on his neck. Zhongli slightly squirmed, a smile forming on his lips as Itto murmured to himself about the temperature.

"Hmm, I think you're fine," Itto said, pulling away. "I'm no doctor but- why are you smiling?"

Zhongli didn't know what to say, panicking as he saw the wheels turn in his head.

"I-uh-eh-"

"You're ticklish, aren't you."

It wasn't said as a question but as a fact.

"N-No!" he squeaked loudly. Seeing Itto smirk made him realize his mistake. "I-I mean- AHAHAHA!"

"Ohoho~" Itto grinned devilishly after squeezing his hips. "I didn't think you of all people would be ti-ck-lish."

He punctuated each syllable with alternating squeezes on his hips making him let out a guffaw of laughter each time.

"GAHAHA! NEHEHEHA! HAHAHA!"

The archon pushed at the Oni's frame to no avail. He was no match for him as he straddled his hips and went to town on them.

"IHIHITTOHOHO! WAIT! WAIT! WAHAHAIT! AHAHAHA!"

Zhongli can't even say a coherent sentence as Itto pinches his hips.

"What was it you were going to say Zho-Bro?~"

"YOU'RE GOING TO- AHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHA! IHIHI- EHAHAHA!"

He whacked his hand against Itto's arms only for Itto to grab them and raise them over his head.

"Didn't someone tell you it's bad to hit someone?"

"Didn't someone tell you to not tickle others so suhuhuhdenly!? AHAHAHA!"

Zhongli shook with unrestrained laughter as Itto scribbled his fingers over his stomach.

"Ihihitohoho!"

He tried curling forward, yanking at his arms and desperately trying to pull them down.

"NahahAHAHA! Lehehet meHEHehe gohohoHOHAHA!"

Itto roughly skittered his fingers making the poor archon let out a guffaw of laughter. He tried to curl in on himself, but his captor's grip was too strong.

As the minutes ticked by, Zhongli's attempts at escape weakened. Being restrained under an all too eager Oni who doesn't look like is stopping anytime soon made him even more sensitive.

"Tickle Tickle Tickle, Zho-Bro~"

"STOHOHOP thiHIckLIHIhing meHEHehe theHEHEhe- GAHAHAHA! NOHOHO! NOHO! NOHOHOHO! NAHAHAT THAHAT SPOHOHOT!"

"Not here, not there. Make up your mind, would ya?" Itto said, smirking all the while as he squeezed his sides with his free hand.

The man beneath him squealed with laughter as he shed tears of mirth, wiggling around trying to avoid his touch. Try as he might, the Oni's hand was able to seek his spots to elicit his deep laughter.

Itto finally let go of his arms and he huffed a sigh of relief, the tickling finally over.

"Hah, Hehe! T-thahank youhu- BWAHAHAHA! NOHOHO! PLEHEHE- AHAHAHAHA!"

Or so he thought.

"I got you by surprise, didn't I?~ Hahaha!" Itto teased.

"PLEHEHEASE! PLEHEHEHAHAHASE!" Zhongli pleaded as evil hands squeezed his sides. "IHIHIHITTOHOHO! YOUHUHU'RE GOHOHOING TOHOHO KIHIHILL MEHEHEHE."

He pushed against Itto's arms, hands, face, anywhere he could reach to deter him, but Itto persisted in making him fall into a crumbling, laughing mess.

And suddenly, he felt it.

"AHAHAHAHA!" he shrieked, feeling thumbs massaging his hip bones. "IHIHI- GAHAHAHA!" he brought his hands to his face, laughing uncontrollably as those thumbs rubbed in slow, circular movements and ignited the ticklish nerves. "NEHEHE- HAHAHAHA!" he tried rolling off the couch to escape Itto's grasp.

"And where do you think you're going, hmm?"

Only to be dragged back and have his sides squeezed mercilessly in punishment.

"WAHAHAIT! I- BWAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOHAHAHA!"

This continued on for a few more minutes until Itto sensed that the mighty Geo archon was at his limit. He slowed down to a stop and lifted the tickled-out archon.

"Eheek!"

"Relax, I'm not going to tickle you unless you want me to~" he wiggled his fingers against Zhongli's form.

"Nohoho mohohore!"

"Haha, I'm just messing with you. Just going to sit you up properly."

As residual giggles left his mouth, Itto made space for them both on the couch and refilled their glasses.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Itto asked, grinning from ear to ear at him.

Zhongli couldn't help but smile too as he nodded his head.

"Yeah, it was."

They sat in comfortable silence as Zhongli's breath evened out.

"We gotta do more of this sometime!" Itto joyfully expressed, breaking the silence.

"I don't mind," Zhongli chuckled. "It has actually been quite some time since I laughed like that."

“Sooo, you don’t mind if I do it again right now,” Itto smirked, wiggling his fingers at him.

“Nohohot nohohow!” Zhongli laughed, batting his hands away.

“Just kidding, hehehe.”

“…”

“How about now?”

“No!”

As they conversed, in their minds, they looked forward to another opportunity to do this once again.

—Bonus—

Childe and Shinobu burst through the front door of Zhongli’s home after hearing reports of screaming coming from there. They were met with the sight of Itto clawing at Zhongli’s belly and Zhongli throwing his head back in laughter. Both Childe and Shinobu sighed in relief before taking down the Oni.

“H-Hey!”

“How dare you tickle my Zhongli?!”

“I thought you said you’ll keep out of trouble!? Tickling the Geo archon of all people? I shouldn’t be surprised at how you get into these situations.”

“What do you mean by that!? I don’t get myself into any situaHAHATIOHON! WAHAHAHAIT! AHAHAHA!”

Zhongli watched from the couch as Itto got wrecked by Childe and Shinobu, chuckling at the excuses Itto was making.

“IHIHIHI DIHIHIHIDN’T BREHEHEAK AHAHANYTHIHING!”

“ZHOHOHONGLIHI IHIHINVITED MEHEHE TOHOHO HIHIHIS HOHOME!”

“COHOHOME OHOHOHON! IHIHIHI DIHIHIDN’T DOHOHOHO AHAHANYTHIHING WROHOHONG!”

“TIHIHIHICKLIHIHING IHIHIS HAHAHARMLEHEHESS!”

Hu Tao then came in with a grin and a glint in her eye along with a coffin.

“I heard there was screaming around here and was hoping for a business opportunity~”

Before Zhongli could say anything, Itto's laughing voice rang out.

“IHIHIHI’M GOHOHOING TOHOHO DIEHEHE! HEHEHELP MEHEHE! MEHEHERCY!”

“Ooh! Perfect!” Hu Tao practically sprinted towards the trio as Itto screamed bloody murder as he saw Boo Tao peeking behind her and a coffin coming his way. Childe and Shinobu scrambled for safety and Zhongli dived towards Hu Tao.

Suffice to say, a lot happened that day in Liyue.

[luce-speaks]

I just read your fic with Joshua and Artur and it made me really excited to see a fan of this pairing! Joshua has been my fave for the past 5 years and I’m just still obsessed.

I was curious as to what you think arturs intial reaction to him being king would be. I still think it’s a shame we don’t get anyone’s real reaction so I’m curious!

thank you for the ask! i do actually have thoughts about artur's reaction to all this that i'd been meaning to write up... it's a bit messy but i hope you enjoy!

the whole camp is shaken by the news. they're used to having royalty around, but this is different. a secret revealed, and the death of ismaire to mourn on top of it. few people talk to joshua right away, but everyone is talking about him.

artur falls a little aside of all of this gossipy concern, but he has his own worries. "lute," he says, half-panicked, sitting on the floor of her tent, "i've been... i've been slinging spells at the prince of jehanna."

lute blinks at him. "so?"

"so? so--what if i had injured him? i can't have that on my hands! can you imagine the amount of trouble i would be in?"

she goes back to the beetle she's poking around on the dirt floor. "probably not much, since he asked you to."

"i know," he complains, "but..." he trails off with a sigh. lute is right, as she usually is when it comes to matters of practicality. "it just doesn't feel right. royals aren't supposed to associate with commoners, not so casually."

"you're the only one who thinks that." she prods the bug a little farther, carefully preventing its escape without hurting it. "but," she adds, clearly an afterthought, "that's still his fault. he should have told you."

artur goes a little quiet at that. he does wonder about it, if there's a world where joshua would have trusted him enough to share his secret in confidence. now he'll never have the chance to know. it's hard to blame joshua for that, not when they've both just had this ripped away from them.

"i feel bad for him," artur says quietly, "having his personal business aired out like that. i don't even know why he left." he pauses, watching how the sunlight filters through the thin cloth of the tent. "i hope he's alright."

lute looks at him again, like he's missing something incredibly obvious. "go find out, then." she stops one last time, quite pensive. "you can give him the beetle if you want."

"ah--i don't think that will be necessary." he scrambles to his feet, giving the bug a wide berth. "i'll go look for him, though. thanks, lute."

[charlotte-official]

THE STEAMBIRD: 11/19 - 11/28

ooc: afiehafieho late again.. oops. hwfehw this weeks issue is not it ngl ive done better

HEAD OF THE KAMISATO CLAN ENTANGLED WITH... HOUSEKEEPER?

Kamisato Ayato, the head of the Kamisato clan, was accused by his sister, Kamisato Ayaka, for being “loud” with the Kamisato’s housekeeper at night. This housekeeper is Thoma.

It started like this: Kamisato Ayato called Miss Kamisato a disappointment to the clan as a whole. At first she was nonchalant, however, simply being a tad wounded, saying “ouch, fuck you too and your boyfriend.”

Thoma, the alleged boyfriend, responded, a little sad, asking what he had done since he had not contributed to the insult from Kamisato Ayato.

Ayaka, with an eye roll, commented that she could hear the two from her room. 

The older Kamisato, flustered, tried to cover it up by saying they were “fighting.” Thoma frantically agrees, and Ayaka, seeing through the two’s ploys, sighed, having “never imagined her brother would be a bottom.”

ARATAKI GANG - TAX SHENANIGANS

Arataki Itto, leader of the Arataki Gang (or how he calls himself, Arataki Numero Uno the one and oni head honcho Itto), suddenly burst in, hollering to the Deputy leader of the Arataki Gang, Kuki Shinobu. 

Itto, frantically, asks Kuki what taxes are why people are telling him that if you don’t pay them monthly it’s a crime. 

Kuki Shinobu, exasperatedly, asks Itto if he’s been paying his taxes. Itto replies that he doesn’t even know what taxes are and thought that “granny oni” handled them for him. Kuki Shinobu sighs and face palms while Itto continues to pester her, asking what taxes are.

Takuya, the blue oni, admits to Shinobu that he too, is confused on what taxes mean. Arataki Itto quips in, asking how to even SPELL taxes.

In an attempt to spell the word, Kuki Shinobu face palms, obviously tired of his shenanigans.

Takuya taps him on the shoulder, and tries to tell him how to spell the word. Itto, however, stubbornly tells him that his method of spelling the word doesn’t make sense and ignores him, adamant on not admitting he’s obviously wrong.

Kuki Shinobu, tired of the Gang’s shenanigans, buckles down and writes out an “Arataki Gang PSA.” Which, obviously, explains the premise of taxes.

Arataki Itto stubbornly proclaims that he refuses to read all that, and Kuki nonchalantly says that she won’t be busting him out of jail next time. Itto immediately takes back his statement and rushes to read the PSA. 

After Itto reads the PSA, he blinks at Shinobu, telling her that the government doesn’t know he makes money.

Kuki blinks at him, and then tells him that technically, if the government doesnt know, he technically doesnt have to pay taxes but is also illegal, and that maybe he shouldnt be proclaiming such a thing so loudly in a public place.

Following suit, the two pretended that this never happened at all.

TEYVAT - DOUBLE TROUBLE?

With duplicates and clones n such being all the rage as of lately, it was revealed that another Arataki Itto of the Arataki Gang was discovered. The two pointed at each other and opted to immediately beetle fight. They then flung attack names at each other which were.. More often than not named after body parts.

In fact, even Liyue’s top legal advisor has got herself a twin! Yanfei, Liyue Harbor’s top legal advisor, found herself her own duplicate. In fact, the two are still figuring out what’s going on!

Oh but we can’t forget the first pair! That, being the bard Venti from Mondstadt, and his.. Nameless counterpart. The two are a little less alike, anyhow, Venti being an absolute drunkard and Nameless bard being.. Dead. And also more responsible.

But of course, to top them all, is Il Dottore! The fatui Harbinger with all of his clones!

LIGHT OF KSHAREWAR GOES A LITTLE INSANE BUT STOPS WHEN OFFERED.. SOUP.

The light of Ksharewar, Kaveh, is revealed to have not eaten in 2 days. The first to find this out was none other than his eldritch horror of a cat, Adi.

Adi scolds the architect and tells him to eat. Kaveh, being a little.. Out of it.. tries to eat air. Adi, with an exasperated sigh, calls his “roommate.” (Alhaitham)

A fact the Architect has been desperately trying to deny.

The prior scribe and current Acting Grand Sage, looks at the sustenance-deprived Architect and tells him to eat and that he cant just. He cant just eat air.

Kaveh denies it and goes back to trying to eat air.. Before Alhaitham says he’ll make him soup if he goes home right now and eats.

Kaveh, absolutely bewildered, folds immediately, and rushes back to their alleged shared home.

FATUI HARBINGERS: REGRATOR AND DOCTOR OFFICIALLY TO BE WED

Pantalone- or the Fatui Harbinger known as the Regrator- according to my sources, consulted his fellow Harbinger Sandrone. 

Following the consultation, which I assume was a pep talk, Pantalone went to go talk with the Doctor, or Il Dottore. 

Entering the kitchen, the Regrator faced the Doctor and got on one knee. Reaching into a pocket, the Harbinger pulled out a box containing a diamond ring. 

With a heartfelt proposal, the Regrator asked for Dottores hand in marriage. 

Dottore, dumbfounded, could not believe his ears.  It was only after Pantalone repeated himself a second time that he was able to respond.

Even then, however, he was unable to believe that Pantalone would really propose to him. 

After a few loving words of reassurance, the Doctor caved and said yes. 

And thus, the two are to be wed!

headlines:

Itto and webttore argue about eating watermelon crusts and purple and blue haired man from another world argues with itto

Sandrone wants to be dottores harness.

Itto asks if Kaeya gay. Kaeya then turns the conversation around to accuse Itto of being gay.

Diluc is asked if he is the darknight hero. By Itto. He swiftly denies the accusation.

Itto tells Lisa she is sexy. The conversation devolves into Lisa telling him he seems like a man kisser and itto frantically trying to deny the allegation.

Madame Faruzan is appalled after being called old (with disrespect) by Itto

Xiangling and Yanfei begin their journey around Teyvat to go dirt tasting.

blogs mentioned:

@xiangling-official @yanfei-official

@yanfeiofficial

@autistic-arataki-itto @faruzan-official @librarian-lisa-official @diluc-official @kaeya-official @sandrone-official @dottore-official @webttore-official

@thebxnkersprayer

@kaveh-official @alhaitham-official

@venti-official @namelessbard-official

@kamisato-ayaka-official @ayato-official @thoma-official-genshin

@kuki-shinobu-official @the-blue-oni-official

@adi-cat-anon

[friendly-books]

Side Jobs live blog

Side Jobs

A restoration of faith 

“The kid lifted up her Oxford shoes and mule-kicked her leg back in my shin.” pg. 2 Ha I love this kid already 

“I’m up on North Avenue, and it’s after dark. I’m not leaving a nine-year-old girl out here by  herself.” pg. 3 That’s a good way for the kid to be ACTUALLY KIDNAPPED 

“What happened to your car?”

“Broke down this afternoon.” pg. 4 The Blue Beetle mention!

“It belongs on the set of El Dorando,” she snapped” pg. 5 Ha 

“Sucker,” she called back, her voice merry.” pg. 7 Ha I love this kid so much spunk 

Oh no a troll

Poor kid with neglectful parents 

“A ten-year-old girl’s world should be full of music and giggling and notes and dolls and dreams-not harsh, barren, jaded reality.” pg. 13 Did Maggie have this? Before the Red Court Did Harry have this before his dad died? 

“Her eyes were bright with excitement. “That was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen. I want to be a wizard when I grow up.” pg. 22 Ha

“Hey thanks a lot of help, Officer”-I squinted down at her badge “Murphy.” pg. 22 Murphy! Holy cow Murphy attacks a troll. So cool

Vignette 

“I have nightmares about Hell, where all I do is add up numbers and try to have conversations with people like you.” pg. 28 Ha 

“Yeah. Advertising is all about lying” pg. 29 Ha and Bob’s not wrong

“You suck at lying, Harry. You really do.” pg. 29 Ha and yeah Harry isn’t great at lying 

“Why do you do it?

I squinted up at the skull. “Because someone has to” pg. 30 Yep

Something Borrowed 

“Oh for crying out loud, Dresden.” Billy said, his tone amused. “He’s just fitting the tux” pg. 32 Ha 

Poor Kirby 

“For one thing, this” she said, flicking a hand at me. Then she gave me a second, more evaluating look” pg. 37 Rude

“Billy put his face in his hands” pg. 39 Ha

“Once my mouth was open and my lips stared moving, it was pretty much inevitable.” pg. 40 Ha

“Don’t get paranoid Harry” pg. 42 Given Harry’s life I feel like he should be more paranoid 

Oh no the apartment 

Oh dear Bob and Murphy meet 

Oh no Faeries 

“A faerie has taken her place” pg. 49 Oh no

“THE WORST THING about being a wizard is all the presumption; people’s expectations.” pg. 51 That’s the worst thing?!? Really? 

“I keep meaning to go back and fix that, but there’s never time

I had a marriage like that” pg. 52 Ha and which one?

“That’s why you have to be careful what you choose to Look at. I don’t like doing it, ever. You never know what it is you’ll See.” pg. 58 Harry knows that well

“I let out a battle cry. Sure, a lot of people might have mistaken it for a sudden yelp of unmanly fear, but trust me: It was a battle cry” pg. 59 Ha 

The trust Murphy has to run into the fire

The pure force bridge is cool

Good thinking with the sprinklers 

“Jenny Greenteeth would kill Murphy too” pg. 81 Oh no wait why am I oh no-ing I know Murph is going to be fine 

“The next thing I knew, I was smashing my blasting rod down into Jenny Greenteeth, screaming incoherently and pounding as hard as I could.” pg. 82 Protective Harry 

“For one second, for one teeny tiny instant, I felt her mouth move. I felt her head tilt, her lips soften, and my oh-so-professional CPR-just for a second, mind you-felt almost, almost like a kiss.” pg. 84 No that’s not how CPR works 

It’s my birthday too

“I mean, you didn’t get my dad one, and you’re friends with him” pg. 91 Harry get your friends birthday gifts 

“I’ve seen you two fight.” She lifted both pale eyebrows. “What? Have you seen how many brother and sisters I have? I know my siblings conflicts?” pg. 91 Ha

Oh no Thomas is in trouble no wait nevermind 

I can’t tell if Harry would like LARP 

“If you weren’t my brother, I’d probably tell you that you have some awfully nerdy hobbies” pg. 104 Ha and pot meet kettle 

Oh no Molly 

“The streetlights just went out” pg. 110 Oh no 

“And then it went dead, along with the lights, the music playing on the speakers, and the constant blowing sigh of the heating system.” pg. 111 Oh no

Oh no Black Court 

I love the Cobbs 

Cool gravity spell

Nice job with the garlic 

“First, anytime I’m not shooting my mouth off to a cliched, two-bit creature of the night like you, it’s because I’m up to something.” pg. 145 Ha

“Right after my dad died, they put me in an orphanage. It was Christmas time. On the television, they had a commercials for Rock’em Sock’em Robots. Two kids playing with them, you know? Two brothers” I shrugged. “That was a year when I really, really wanted to give those stupid plastic robots to my brother.”

“Because it would mean weren’t alone.” Thomas said quietly 

“Yeah” I said “Sorry I forgot them. And happy birthday.” 

He glanced back at the burning mall.

“Well,” my brother said, “I suppose it’s the thought that counts.” pg. 148 Aw my heart 

Heorot 

Gard and Harry bonding moments let’s go!

“Just basking in the glow of your compassion, Officer.” pg. 154 Ha 

Caine is terrible 

“I glowered at him. I’m not sure I could take it if my dog was smarter than me.” pg. 164 Ha

Caine starts a fight let’s see who wins 

It’s just beer Caine needs to chill 

“Marcone is behind this? That son of a bitch is going to be sorry he ever looked at that-“ 

pg. 169 Harry you should know Marcone better than that. 

Also Marcone mention!

“Me and polite have never been on close term.” pg. 179 Ha

“It hunts in the wizard’s territory. The wizard will come to face it. The Erkling will give us great favor when we bring the wizards head.” 

“Gosh. I felt famous” pg. 186 Ha 

“Enough talk” pg. 189 Gard is going into a rage fun 

Gard is a Valkyrie cool

“Then she leaned down and kissed me on the mouth.” pg. 209 Whoa 

Day off

Aw Harry’s playing D&D with the alphas 

“Again with this decision.” Andi sighed “I mean I know he’s the actual wizard and all, but Christ.” pg. 212 Ha

“Sorry about your wraith, there, Darth Wannabe.” pg. 218 Ha

“I’m a-fixin to defend myself” I drawled, Texas-style.” pg. 218 Ha 

“Molly,” I said, trying to be polite, “I can’t stand the sight of you. Go away.” pg. 222 Ha

An explosion happened and Harry didn’t cause it shocking I’m shocked 

Kirby and Andi have fleas ha

“Mister the cat, appeared exactly as he always did” pg. 228 So cool

“Andi. Please don’t tell me that you and Kirby have been getting down while you were fuzzy” pg. 230 Why would they do that?

Molly set the lab on fire she’s taking after Harry 

“At least it couldn’t get any worse.” pg. 233 Harry you know better than to say that 

What a mess Harry shouldn’t take a day off.

Backup

Oh Thomas narrating 

“He’s Gandalf on crack and an IV of Red Bull” pg. 241 Ha 

“He’ll spit in the eye of gods and demons alike if he thinks it needs to be done.” pg. 241 Yeah that’s Harry alright 

“My name is Thomas Raith and I’m a monster” pg. 242 No Thomas you’re not a monster :(

So there’s a secret Oblivion war going on 

Lara people aren’t pets 

The Hunger is terrifying 

Justine!

Oh no Harry’s in trouble

Thomas can do magic!!! 

“He’ll whip out some kind of half-divine, half-insane philosophy cobbled together from the words of saints and comic books about the importance of handling power responsibly.” pg. 258 Yep 

“Harry’s a master of the skill-as in simultaneous doctorates from MIT, Harvard, and Yale and a masters from Oxford.” pg. 258 It’s interesting to see other people’s perspective and opinions on Harry 

“Locks, though, never seemed to pose a much of an obstacle to my brother.” pg. 261 Ha

“Harry had occasionally accused me of being reckless and overconfident-which is, believe me, staggering magnitude.” pg. 267 Ha 

“He’d turned into a neat freak a few years ago, for some reason, though he’d never talked about why.” pg. 269 Ha 

“It’s a little bit creepy, actually. My brother’s got a voodoo doll of the entire town.” pg. 270 Ha

“I think that genuinely speaking, you don’t have secrets from your brother, man.” pg. 272 Yep unless you count the whole I didn’t tell you were brothers for awhile bit. 

“Bob made a whistle sound.

What the hell? How? He doesn’t have lips?” pg. 275 Ha 

The Oblivion War is scary 

Aw Bob is protecting Harry 

“Scratch one ghoul. My brother hates ghouls with a passion so pure it’s almost holy.” pg. 283 Yep it’s we deserved 

“But the bitch had messed with my brother.” pg. 285 Protective Thomas 

Thomas just feed the bad girl to his hunger 

“Sometimes I feel completely unappreciated.”

I found myself smiling 

“Wow” I said “what’s it like?” pg. 291 Ha

The Warrior 

Aw Michael’s a coach 

“I’m pretty sure there won’t ever be a place like that for me.” pg. 297 Aw Harry :( you’ll get a family home soon 

“She had a bruise on her cheek a couple of days old.” pg. 299 Oh no why does the kid have a bruise on her face? 

“Hi” I said, trying to be unthreatening as I could. I had limited success. Tall, severe-looking men in long black coats who need a shave are challenged that way.” pg. 299 Poor Harry

I love Harry interacting with Michael and Charity’s kids 

“Let me poke around and shine a light on things, so we know what’s going on. If it turns out to be nothing, no harm done.”

“And if it isn’t?” Charity asked 

“I kept a surge of quiet anger out of my voice and expression as I looked at her levelly. “No harm gets done to you and yours.” pg. 304 Yes protective Harry 

“It’d take one he-uh, heck of a serious counter measure to stop me from finding it.” pg. 311 Ha 

“I didn’t want to go off and leave…”

You 

“The sword…”

Unprotected 

“Here” I finished” pg. 311 Just your friends you’re worried about them Harry 

I don’t think Chuck should be drunk and working especially if he’s a electrician 

“I’ve been in burning buildings, man, and take it from me, this place…” I looked around at the wooden framework. “Fwoosh. I’m just saying Fwoosh.” pg. 321 Ha and you definitely caused those building fires Harry 

“Harry Dresden. Saving the world, one act of random destruction at a time.” pg. 322 Ha

“I don’t blame myself,” I said.” pg. 324 That’s the biggest bold faced lie I’ve ever seen. 

Yes you do Harry 

Butters! 

Oh someone in the church is behind it. A Fundamentalist maybe? 

“Watching life through the window and obsessed with how things might have been”

“Dear God,” she said. “You’ve just made Dickens relevant to my life.” 

“Weird, right?” pg. 341 Ha 

Oh no Alicia 

“The son of a bitch hurt my little girl.” pg. 352 Holy Cow Michael swore! :0 

Yes Michael vs Douglass 

“Michael,” I said, gently, “you can’t. If this is how it has to be, I’ll do it. But you can’t, man.” pg. 366 Is Harry saying he’s willing to murder so long as Micheal doesn’t 

Uriel’s here 

“Very kind,” he said and took a swig from the flask.” pg. 368 Uriel drinking alcohol 

I love how Uriel tells Harry how all the little things he did helped. 

“I nodded slowly. Then I said, “Let’s talk about my bill”

Jake eyebrows shot up “What?” 

“My bill,” I enunciated. “You dragged me into this mess. You can pay me, same as any other client. Where do I send the invoice?” 

“You’re…you’re trying to bill the Lard Almighty?” Jake said, as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

“Hel-uh, heck no,” I said. “I’m billing you.” 

“That isn’t really how we work” 

“It is if you want to work with me,” I told him, thrusting out my jaw. “Cough up. Otherwise, maybe next time I’ll just stand around whistling when you want me to help you out.”

Jake’s face broadened into a wide, merry grin, and laughter filled his voice. “No, you won’t” he said, and, vanished.” pg. 373 Ha and yes Harry won’t not help people 

Last Call 

Oh no Mac is hurt 

Oh no someone’s messed with Mac’s beer

Caine? Again? What is this guys problem?

Caine is the worst 

Caine attacked Murphy critical fail on Caine’s part 

“You put on a good show act, Harry. It would have fooled a lot of people. It looked…”

“Natural on me,” I said “Yeah” pg. 394 Ouch 

“I tried the door, just for the hell of it and-

It opened 

Well, dammit. I much prefer making a dramatic entrance.” pg. 420 Ha and come on let Harry have his dramatic entrance 

Oh Dionysus cool

“Then she smiled, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed my cheek” pg. 419 Aw 

Love hurts 

“They weren’t a married couple. They were brother and sister.” pg. 423 Ick doesn’t even begin to cover the feeling I felt reading that

Oh no mental magic

“We don’t exactly have orbital satellites for detecting black magic.” pg. 426 They don’t? Then what does Gatekeeper do? I thought that was his job. How did the council find out about Harry, Justin, and Molly? Gatekeeper clearly knew black magic was afoot back in Proven Guilty. 

Oh boy is it awkward between Harry and Luccio 

Evil state fair?

Don’t be mad at Will, Harry he’s concerned about you. 

“She stopped before she could say who Kincaid was like.” pg. 436 Was she going to say Harry? 

“Murph tittered again” pg. 443 Oh no they’ve been caught 

Is it the ride itself? The ride operator? The guy trailing them? 

“I bent my head down to her mouth and kissed her gently.” pg. 445 Yay Harry/Murph moment but now isn’t the time 

“It just isn’t fucked-up enough to really be you and me” pg. 447 Ha I love this is how they realize that they’ve been whammied 

“But hey. On the other hand, he had swindled me out of swindle me out of twenty dollars.” pg. 448 Harry you bribed him 

Oh no Red court vampire 

“He’s completely irrational” pg. 452 Ha

“Mortals are like mayflies, Wizard. They live a brief time, and then they are gone.” pg. 455 Scary how some immortals view humans

I’m glad Harry and Murphy burned the belt. 

Aftermath 

“I cant believe he’s died.” pg. 463 I’m still not over it. 

“I’d been able to learn a few Martian phrases over time” pg. 466 Ha 

“Lake Michigan is jealous and protective of her dead.” pg. 466 Such a good phrase 

Poor Murphy she’s not a cop anymore and now has to deal with Harry dying 

“He always told us if we ever needed him but couldn’t find him, we were supposed to go to you. That you were the person in this city who could help us better than anyone else.” pg. 475 Aw :) 

“Georgia’s pregnant” he whispered. “Seven months.” pg. 475 Yay Georgia’s pregnant nothing bad is going to happen to her or the baby. I refuse to believe it.

“And, if things got hot when we went after the bad guy, he would have been there, throwing fire and lighting around as if they were his own personal toys, created especially and exclusively for him to play with.” pg. 485 I love how other people describe Harry. It shows how Harry is viewed through mortal eyes. Yeah it would appear like Harry like that when he starts setting things on fire with his mind essentially. 

“Watching Dresden operate was usually one of two things: mildly amusing and positively terrifying.” pg. 485 That’s quite a difference 

“Quirky nerd gone. Terrifying icon, present.” pg. 486 I wonder if Harry knows this is how people view him? I wonder if Harry knows this is how Murphy views him. 

“Seeing Dresden in action filled you with the fear that you had just become a casualty of evolution-that you were watching something far larger and infinitely more dangerous than yourself, and that your only chance of survival  was to kill it, immediately, before you were crushed beneath a power greater than you would ever know.” pg. 487 Scary and such a good quote 

“Dresden was gone. His cheesy jokes and his corny sense of humor were gone. His ability to know the unknowable, to fight the unfightable, to find the unfindable, was gone.

The rest of us were just going to have carry on as best we could without him.” pg. 488 Sobbing 

“On the other hand…maybe I just give John Marcone a call and tell him how you’re helping  some of his street-level guys run some deals behind his back.” pg. 498 Marcone mentioned! 

Hendricks!

“I had to go see “Gentleman” John Marcone.” pg. 501 YES! Let’s go Marcone :) 

“He had eyes the color of several-days-old grass clippings.” pg. 509 Interesting with how Murphy describes Marcone’s eyes vs with how Harry describes them 

“Hendricks eyed Gard 

Gard rolled her eyes and withdrew a twenty-dollar bill from her jacket pocket. She passed it to the big man.” pg. 511 Ha

“Don’t confuse yourself with Mr. Dresden, Mr. Borden,” Marcone said, his voice level and cold. His eyes were something frightening, pitiless. “You don’t have the power to threaten  me. The instant you begin to change, Ms. Gard here will fire in Ms. Murphy-and then upon you.” His voice dropped to a barely audible murmur. “The next time you offer me a threat, I will kill you.” pg. 513 Nshslsbshevakbsn I didn’t learn my lesson from last time. I choked on my drink again when I read it. I think I almost hacked up my lung. Ahhh!!! It’s so bi and Harry’s not even there. Will didn’t even threaten Marcone or at least not as much as Harry usually does. And Marcone throws a knife at him. 

“Someone is rounding up those mortals possessed of modest supernatural gifts.”

“Talent search” pg. 516 Oh no

“Someone started picking up on the little guys in town within a few hours of Dresden’s shooting.” pg. 517 Monsters closing in already 

“I’m sorry. About Dresden. He was a brave man.” pg. 518 Glad Gard said that. 

“That was when we had the nightmares.” pg.528  Ah that’s the psych/bad dreams from the end of Changes.

“Dresden hadn’t been muscled as heavily as Will. Harry’d had a runner’s build, all lean, tight, dense muscle that…” pg. 535 Murphy I see that train of thought. Good Harry/Murphy moment and Harry’s not even there. 

“I mean that if Dresden just blew up the Red Court…that means the status quo is gone. There's a power vacuum, and every spook out there is going to try a fill it. The rules have changed. We don’t know how these people are going to react.” pg. 536 Yep things are going to change now. I can’t wait to see the repercussions 

“The man had gills” pg. 552 There’s fish people? What hole in Lake Michigan did these guys crawl out? Why now after Harry’s death? As far as I know there haven’t been any fish people before. 

Such a good fight 

“Dammit, Dresden,” I said into the silence in a choked voice. “Dammit. Here I am doing your job. Dammit, dammit, dammit.” pg. 576 Sobbing some more 

“That’s formor magic,” she said quietly. “One of their lesser sorcerers and his retainers.” pg. 578 Who’s the formor? 

“This is the second time the formor have attempted to move on Chicago-and failed” 578 When was the first time? 

“My boss is always pleased to find those with proper”-she pursed lips-“frame of mind.” pg. 579 Oh Donar Vadderung/Odin is hiring? Well that’s some foreshadowing

“Was she telling the truth, you think? That Marcone’s the one standing in the gap now?” pg. 582 Yes Marcone will help out in for supernatural threats 

“The Justice League of Chicago?” 

“We’ll cover his beat.”

“Until Dresden gets back.”

“It doesn’t seem to be. But…There’s this voice inside me that keeps pointing out that we haven’t seen a body.” pg. 582 Yes can’t wait for the next book. 

Final thoughts 

I love how the story shows Harry at the beginning and how Harry met Murphy. I loved Faith. I love the interaction between Harry and Bob. I loved Billy and Georgia’s wedding. I love that Thomas being Harry’s brother is the worst kept secret. The Cobbs are wonderful. I love the bonding between Thomas and Harry. I love the Gard and Harry bonding on an adventure. No one messes with Mac’s beer. I love that Harry’s D&D character says Gard’s catchphrase. Gard clearly made an impression. I love Harry playing D&D with the alphas. Harry’s day is frankly a comedy of misadventure. I can’t believe Kirby and Andi got fleas. I’m glad Luccio took the scene well. I love how sarcastic Thomas’s narrative is. I can’t believe Thomas has magic. That’s so cool I wonder why he didn’t tell Harry. I love how much Thomas admires Harry and how protective he is of Harry. I love is how much Harry helps people without meaning to. I love that Michael is Alicia's softball coach. I can’t believe Michael swore that’s such a big deal. I can’t believe Harry offered to kill a man so Michael wouldn’t. I love that Uriel tells Harry all the lives he has helped. It’s hilarious that Harry tried to bill Uriel only Harry would try to do that. I love that even Uriel knows Harry won’t stop helping people. Wow Mac gets attacked. Interesting to see other powerful characters from other patrons. So now the Greek and Norse gods are real in this world. I wonder what others? All others? Jim just giving us Harry/Murphy then taking it away. I love how they both realize that we’re hot with the spell. Oh boy still not over Changes. Everyone is in denial about Harry including me. Yay Georgia’s pregnant! I love the different pov and how people view Harry. I love how we got different perspectives on magic and Harry from Thomas and Murphy. I loved all the Marcone stuff all of it. I love how it shows that Marcone views Harry as a worthy opponent. Now the shipper in me thinks this scene is gold. Marcone really does let Harry get away with things that he doesn’t let others like threats and backtalk. I wonder if Marcone would have hurt Will if it was Harry present and not Murphy? And Marcone even warns Harry not to test him back in Death Mask while here he only does so after he’s knifed Will. I love the dichotomy between how Murphy describes Marcone’s eyes as the color of several-days-old grass clippings vs how Harry describes Marcone’s eyes as worn dollar bills. I love how Murphy then describes Marcone’s eyes as something frightening, pitiless. Harry really was a deterrent to the evil side of the Supernatural side and now they’re coming in now that Harry’s gone. I love the Harry/Murphy moments we got in this story. I hope we learn more about the Formor. 

I’ve learned my mistake now. No more eating or drinking while reading the Dresden files. 

Onto Ghost story!