#but i like how it looks so i'm calling it done for my own sanity

[kamvna]

✧ You left me waiting ...

[merakiui]

[01] 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓉, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 𝑔𝒾𝓇𝓁.

villain!azul ashengrotto x magical girl!reader note - welcome to this very impulsive magical girl parody! i'm not sure how many chapters it will be exactly, but i'm looking forward to writing more. i hope you'll enjoy reading! chapter navigation: [01] (you are here) // [02]

Magic is a messy, complex thing.

It can enchant and amaze with beautiful, endless possibilities. It can terrify with traumatic results. Like any sort of power in this world, it is a heavy responsibility for those who wield it. Everything has its dark side; you’re sure the same holds true for magic. No matter how marvelous it may be, surely there exists some shadow.

It’s also something you can’t use, and so the good and the bad don’t really apply to you!

Not that this is cause for envy. Rather, you’re relieved you don’t have to worry about experiencing the problems that accompany magic. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is; magic would only further complicate it. With no other plausible way to return to your world, you’ve had to make your home here on Sage’s Island. It’s an isolated place, boasting two elite magical universities and a bustling town.

It also happens to resemble a chicken wing on maps, so that’s a plus. Truly an ideal getaway! If only you weren’t trapped here indefinitely… Maybe then you’d have better appreciation for it.

As it happens, you’re a janitor living in the abandoned, decrepit dorm on the outskirts of campus. It took a month since you moved in, but you’ve managed to clean it up into a habitable space with the help of its resident haunts. The Headmage hasn’t been very helpful or present since your arrival, and so you’ve had to make do with what little you’ve been given. But for all of his troubling qualities, he isn’t inherently cruel. He’s kind enough to pay you for your services (but then that was only after you threatened him into an agreement), and he doesn’t overwork you (again, this is because you made it abundantly clear you won’t do anything if it violates your own sanity in some way, shape, or form). At least he’s willing to negotiate every time you argue for humane working conditions.

He’s an irksome guy. You can’t believe he has the gall to call himself the ‘embodiment of magnanimity’ when he’s done the bare minimum. Even the ghosts have offered more assistance and they don’t have any sort of authority here! You’re pleased to share a space with them. Sometimes they seem more reliable than the Headmage.

Despite your attempts to acclimate, the illustrious Night Raven College is still a place wholly unsuitable for a magicless human such as yourself. You’re the same age as some of the students here, but they feel like they’re on another level. Flying overhead on brooms, casting spells, mixing up potions… You listen in on some of their conversations while washing windows or sweeping the floors and wonder if all magic schools are this rigorous.

Maybe that’s any school regardless of its curriculum. Any sort of academic pursuit comes with difficulties; that’s normal. But magic is a facet unique to this world. There aren’t any arcane academies where you’re from, but now you wish there were. They seem so fascinating.

“Not much of my problem, though, is it?” you mumble, shaking free of that thought. Being a janitor is great. You can avoid the stress of school and keep up with the gossip exchanged in the halls. It’s like reading the newspaper, only it’s spoken instead of written.

Morning spills through the part in the curtains when you open them. You shut your eyes and bask in the warming glow of a sunshine smooch. It’s going to be another great day—you’re sure of this—and a day as pleasant as this deserves to be lived in its entirety. Perhaps you’ll have a picnic outside or you could even—

BAM.

Your eyes snap open just in time to view the raven who’s slammed itself against the window. Disoriented, it jerks itself up and away from the glass, flapping its wings wildly. You watch its attempts with a pitying frown. And then, inching closer to pull the window open to allow the raven respite, you see it: the blue flames racing towards you at a rapid speed.

With a yelp, you dive out of the way just in time. Due to the forceful blast, the window shatters in a spray of glass. Heat licks at your face, so hot it almost singes your brows, and you stumble to the other side of the room in a panicked daze.

“You lousy bird!” someone exclaims, the words pronounced in a growl. “Get back here so I can nab ya and prove that I’m worthy of bein’ at this school!”

The raven squawks, fluttering wildly about your room. A sleek, obsidian-colored feather floats into your hand. You don’t have time to admire it, for the curtains have just caught fire.

“Come on—I just put those up last week!” you bemoan, looking on in abject horror.

From the opening, a furry creature bursts through. He resembles a grey cat with his short, fluffy stature, but his tail is shaped strangely and there’s blue fire flickering from his ears. The same blue fire he’s currently conjuring in an attempt to catch the raven…

You grab hold of the coat rack—the nearest viable weapon you can think of—and jump in front of him. He startles and leaps back when you swing.

“What’re you doing?! You can’t do that in here! Fuck—my curtains! Don’t light anything else on fire!”

Baffled, the cat-creature scoffs at you. “How was I supposed to know someone’s livin’ in here? Not my fault!”

“It’s a residence! Of course someone lives here! I live here!”

“When they make me the Great Mage Grim, I’ll fix this place up for ya. That’s a promise! I just gotta catch that bird and prove myself a worthy candidate. Just you wait—they’ll be puttin’ my name up in lights!”

“Like hell they will!”

With a devastated groan, you whack the curtains down with the coat rack. They land in a heap, smoke curling from beneath the pile and sliding out the shattered window in dark, wispy tendrils. It takes a frazzled few stomps and smacks before the fire fizzles away, leaving you with charred curtains and the distinct stench of something scorched.

Still panting from the adrenaline rush, you loosen your grip on the coat rack. This is a mess. What am I going to do? I don’t have enough money to fix this!

You turn your hateful scowl on the cat-creature. “You!”

“W-Wait! Wait!” He raises a paw to his lips and gestures towards your bedside table. The raven sits perched, a golden chain wrapped around its neck and an envelope clasped in its beak. In all of the chaos, you must have missed that. “Don’t say a word. It’s right there.”

He approaches stealthily, slow as a sloth, and pounces. He misses narrowly, ending up with a mouthful of feathers instead. The raven caws and takes flight, circling overhead.

He spits feathers. “Myahaha! I got it! I actually—oh. Dumb bird… No one can escape the Great Grim.”

The raven lands on your shoulder next. It cocks its head at you.

“What? Is this for me?” you ask, even though you’re certain of the answer. You pluck the envelope from the raven, who sets to preening itself now that it’s no longer occupied.

“Give it here!” The cat-creature hops up onto your bed, reaching with an expectant paw. “That bird’s got my admission letter!”

“Your letter?” You hold it out of reach and stick your tongue out at him. “No ‘great mage’ sets someone’s home on fire. You’re a subpar mage, if anything.”

“I am not! You just wait—I’ll show you!”

“I don’t want to see anymore.” Turning away, you break the wax seal and procure the parchment waiting within.

He swipes at you impatiently. “Lemme see! What’s it say?”

Written in elegant script, complete with a stamp you’ve never seen before, it looks very official. Whoever wrote it is exceptionally good at cursive, their letters swooping together seamlessly. It’s almost like a decorative artwork with its double-looped O’s and dancing cursive. You marvel at the craftsmanship, wishing your handwriting could look as refined as this person’s.

To whom it may concern,  Greetings and congratulations on your admittance into the program! We recognize your outstanding achievements as a model student and believe you have what it takes to do wonderful things. It is with great pride that we bestow upon you a piece of magical history, referred to as The Tried-and-True Trident. You will find it enclosed in this letter.

You look up from the letter just as an aureate necklace lands in your palm. The raven blinks at you once before lifting itself off of your shoulder with a flap of its inky wings. It departs through the window, up into the cloudless, cerulean sky, in a flurry of feathers. There’s a tiny trident pendant hanging from the chain. It winks at you in the light, so shiny you think you might catch your reflection if you stare long enough. You’re not sure what part of it is tried or true, for it looks more like costume jewelry than anything. At least it’s cute. Kind of fashionable, even.

With this historic piece, you are now free to wield the wonders of the sea as you please. You are expected to use these powers to defend those you hold dear from the threat of tragedy. You should have met with your mentor already. If not, we shall send someone to escort you. We look forward to beholding your excellent heroics. Sincerely,

“Gimme that!”

Grim snatches the letter before you can glimpse the name signed at the bottom. The enchanted letter tears in two and then, before both of your eyes, it promptly disintegrates.

You eye the fuzzball with a fresh bout of vitriol. “What did you say your name was again?”

“It’s Grim—the Great Grim—and I promise ya as soon as I—”

“Good. Now I know what name to carve on your tombstone when I put you in the ground for ruining my letter!” You reach for the coat rack, expression ablaze with newfound ferocity.

Grim yelps and scurries away. “H-Hold on! I can fix it!”

“How? It’s ash!”

“Well, what did it say? I’m sure I can explain it to ya!”

“It said something about this necklace. The something-something trident. Protecting loved ones from tragedy. Admittance into some program. A mentor…”

“Mentor… Mentor! Yeah, that sounds about right!” Grim laughs proudly. “Aren’t you in luck, human! I’m gonna be your mentor.”

“Sure you are.” You rest your hand on your hip, brows raised. “The same cat who destroyed my window and curtains is gonna mentor me in whatever this is. Funny story.”

His jaw drops. “A-At least pretend like it’s cool! And I’m not a cat!” He hops off of your bed with a huff. “Ungrateful human. You’re undeserving of the Great Grim’s teaching anyways! I don’t need you!”

“Other way around.”

“You don’t need me!”

“There we go.” You applaud him sardonically. “Look, I don’t know what any of this is. I’m sure it was a mistake. I’m not even a student here.”

Grim, who had been on his way towards the door, halts. He turns to face you slowly. “Yer…not a student?”

“I work here. There’s no way for me to be enrolled here because I can’t use magic.”

“W-Wha—can’t use magic?! Then why did you get in, but I didn’t?!”

You can only shrug. The necklace twists idly when you hold it up for closer inspection. “So this thing is supposed to help me? Hey, Grim, do you know what this is?”

You lower to his height and hold your hand out. He watches you dubiously before approaching and leaning in to sniff at the chain.

“Smells fine to me. Kinda like wet metal.”

“I didn’t ask for a flavor profile.” You heave a tired sigh. The day’s only just begun and you’re already swamped with nonsense. “Maybe that Headmage knows something.”

Grim gasps. “You’re chummy with the Headmage? You think you could talk him into lettin’ me join?”

“Why do you even want in so badly?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m a renowned mage! They should be begging me to join!”

Anyone could’ve sent that letter. It might not even be from the Headmage… If I knew the sender’s name, I could just track them down and ask them. 

“You said you wanted to prove yourself, didn’t you?” You offer your hand again, this time to shake on it. “Become my mentor. That’ll show that Crowley you’re plenty capable. Then you can get into this school and I can find a way to return this necklace to its rightful owner.”

Grim folds his arms over his chest, avoiding your hand like it’s the plague. “And what’s in it for me? My services aren’t cheap, y’know!”

“You can live here with me. I’ll find ways to sneak you into the lecture halls if you wanna sit in and observe the class.”

“How about food?”

“Food is…” Nonexistent, really. That cheapskate Crowley! I’ve got to talk him into raising my pay. “I get paid at the end of this week. We’ll have to survive off of what’s in the fridge and the lunch I’m allowed to get from the cafeteria for now.”

Grim’s features soften. “Hm… I guess it’s not terrible. Could be better. But all great mages start from humble beginnings—including myself, but you’d never be able to guess!”

“Right…”

With how carelessly you tossed that fire around, you’re the last mage I should be partnering with.

“Do we have a deal, Grim? You’ll be my mentor and I’ll help you wherever I can.”

Grim places his paw in your palm, his chest puffed out. “You’d better start callin’ me Teacher!”

A smile strains on your lips. “Not happening.”

With a firm shake, your pact is made.

“So what spells do you know? Any that might be able to fix up a window and some curtains?”

“You don’t need those lame spells! The Great Grim can do plenty of other amazing feats.”

“Like?”

“Very amazing feats. Didn’t you hear me?”

“You don’t know anything, do you?”

Grim flinches, guilt flashing across his countenance.

“Is blue fire all you can summon?”

“I… I can do much more! This is just a fraction of my true power! If I had a magestone, this whole spell business would be a lot easier.”

“A magestone? Ah, those things the students have on their pens? I guess that would be helpful. Where can we get one, though?”

“I’d tell ya if I knew.”

“The library might know. If we head there now, we can spend the rest of the morning researching and then we can get lunch.” You reach to fasten the chain around your neck. It’s tucked under your shirt next, safe and sound. “Wait outside for a minute. I’ll change out of my pajamas, clean up the window, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Grim trots out the door without resistance. “I’ll grab a snack from the fridge while yer doin’ all that stuff.”

“One snack! Don’t eat everything!”

But he’s already bounding away, singing as he goes: “Free eats can’t be beat!” Sighing, you shut the door and turn to assess the state of your bedroom. It could be worse. Your bed could have been damaged, or you could have sustained quite the nasty burn.

One mess at a time.

You change into your uniform, which is really just a PE jumpsuit. The same one the students wear. This one has seen better days and it’s a size too big on you, but it’s all Crowley claimed to have on hand when you asked about work clothes. Once again, you soothe yourself with your favorite adage: It could be worse.

You could be homeless. You could be starving. You could be dead.

So it’s not so bad to wear the spare. It’s still got the dorm patch and class numbers sewn onto it, albeit both have worn considerably. Your eyes are drawn to them as you admire yourself in the mirror. Octavinelle Dorm… You’ve heard there are seven dormitories at this school, each based on a historical figure and representing the various spirits of these people. The sorting at the entrance ceremony was something special for the incoming first-years. You’d felt a little awkward to disturb such a grand occasion, even more so when the Dark Mirror announced to a hall full of talented mages that there isn’t an iota of magic in you.

Quite the humbling experience.

But sometimes you wonder which dorm the Dark Mirror would have chosen if your soul was bursting with magical capability.

As of now you’re a faux member of Octavinelle—whatever that implies.

By the time you’ve managed to sweep the glass, dispose of the ruined curtains, and patch the window with a temporary placeholder—what a relief for pasteboard and masking tape—Grim’s nearly through the few items left in your fridge. You yank him away just as he reaches for a container of leftovers.

“If you eat too much, you’ll spoil your lunch.”

“Can’t imagine that problem.”

“You sound so proud of your bottomless stomach.”

“And you’re not?”

You roll your eyes and tug your sneakers on. “Let’s be off.”

“How’re we gonna sneak me in?”

“How do you feel about becoming my temporary purse pet?”

Grim looks unimpressed when you hold your tote bag open for him. “No way!”

“It has lots of space and it’s stylish. Besides, shouldn’t your dedicated student pay proper respect to her great, glorious mentor?”

He doesn’t bother hiding his approving smirk. “Well, when ya put it like that…”

After Grim clambers into your bag, you lock the front door behind you and set off for campus.

“Please don’t blow our cover, Grim.”

From within the depths of your tote, he scoffs. “The Great Grim is the stealthiest mage you’ll ever meet!”

“I highly doubt that.”

It’s the second time you’ve found yourself in the library, but it’s still just as impressive as ever. You could spend hours here, wandering between shelves and skimming all sorts of tomes. Some of them are written in languages you can’t decipher, so you observe the pictures provided in hopes of gleaning any clues. Grim lounges on a chair beside you, absentmindedly turning through a thick textbook. You managed to find a relatively isolated corner in the very back and it’s not especially busy today. The promise of a hearty lunch keeps him well-behaved.

“Find anything?”

“Nothin’ important. Ugh. This stuff is the worst! Why can’t a magestone fall from the sky? That’d be a whole lot easier than this.”

“It sucks, yeah, but what else can we do?” You rest your face against your palm and scan through yet another page of information. “Let’s keep looking. I’m sure we’ll find something useful.”

“Nngh… I’m hungry.”

“You just ate.”

“That was hours ago!”

“Has it really been that long?”

“Feels like it.”

You lean back in your chair and stretch, listening to the satisfying snap of your joints as they crack into place. “Can you understand any of these words?”

“Most of ’em.”

You point to a specific place in the paragraph. “Can you tell me what this one means? I think I’ve got the general idea based on the graphics, but I could be wrong.”

Grim glances at it, his blue hues waltzing across the page. “It’s about merfolk.”

“Merfolk? They exist in this world?” And then you pause to gather your delayed thoughts. “Never mind. That would make sense.”

“What about ’em?”

“Where I’m from, merfolk aren’t real. They’re fiction.”

“Huh. A place without any merfolk… Bet they don’t have anyone like me either. I’m one of a kind!” Grim chuckles. “So where’re you from?”

You open your mouth to respond, but the sound of approaching footsteps interrupts. You usher Grim under the table, who goes but not without protest. He ducks under just in time, hiding within the shadows. A student rounds the corner and stops short when he sees you. He’s holding a few books in his arms, each looking more heavy than the last.

“Ah,” the both of you say in unison.

He clears his throat and offers you a cordial nod. “I wasn’t aware someone had already claimed this corner.”

You eye him carefully. He looks familiar. Glasses. Silvery-grey hair. Blue eyes. Where have you seen him before?

“It’s all yours. I was just leaving.” You move to stand, but he steps closer.

He peers at the open textbook lying in front of you. A smile you can’t quite classify as friendly spreads on his lips. “Is that so? You seem especially engrossed in this book.”

“I like to stay educated.”

I genuinely can’t understand a word in this text.

“On the anatomy of merfolk?”

You shut your mouth at once. That’s what this is? No wonder the diagrams looked…unique. But you’re too committed to your story to falter now.

“Especially the anatomy of merfolk.”

The student chuckles, but it sounds hollow to your ears. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before. You’re in Octavinelle?”

You gape at him like a fish out of water before realizing the jumpsuit and its patch. “Oh! Ohhh, no, not at all. This is an old uniform.”

He looks at you with more scrutiny until it clicks. “I remember now. You’re the magicless girl who so carelessly interrupted—ah, forgive me—fortuitously appeared during the entrance ceremony last month.”

What a little fake. You narrow your eyes at him, suddenly defensive. Now you’re made aware of who he is. He was one of the few in the audience during your awkward arrival. Back then, he was clad in a robe with his hood up and so you only caught sight of his glasses and the swoop of his silvery-grey hair peeking out. You’re certain this is the same guy. You could’ve said that without the backhanded barb.

“So my reputation precedes me.”

He smiles and shakes his head. “I disagree. You’re still quite the mystery.”

“Well, there’s nothing to solve.” You rise from your seat, reaching for your bag. “I’m just a janitor trying to get by.”

He hums. You can’t decipher the meaning in that, but you don’t particularly care enough to drive yourself mad over it. You feel around on the chair for Grim. He was just here a moment ago…

You drop to your knees to check under the table. Your heart plummets into your stomach.

Grim, you had one job!

“Is something the matter?”

You pop up from beneath the table so fast that your head knocks into it. “Shit! Ow! Yeah, no, I’m fine. I thought I dropped my pencil.”

You scan the rest of the space as discreetly as you can. The student watches you. You don’t like the way he seems to stare through you as if intending to gain access to your very soul. As if he sees something you don’t.

“Have a wonderful day. Study hard. Pass your tests. Get—uh—the scholarship or whatever.” 

Flashing him your most nonchalant grin, you make your way down the aisle at a pace that is the exact opposite of relaxed. There’s no time to dwell on that off-kilter exchange. You’ve got a runaway cat-creature in dire need of capture!

The one day I take off and it’s the day my window’s ruined, I get a weird letter, and my new roommate is missing. That’s horrible luck!

You walk briskly through the library, worrying your bottom lip between your teeth. Grim couldn’t have gotten far. You were only distracted for a few minutes, and the library is huge. Perhaps he’s just lost and waiting in place for you to find him. For some reason you can’t fool yourself into believing this train of thought.

Your search takes you out of the library and down the hall. Where could he have possibly gone? Surely he didn’t make his way back to Ramshackle. You check the time on your watch. It’s almost lunch.

Lunch! Of course!

You hurry towards the cafeteria with rekindled purpose.

I’m going to start calling him Gluttonous Mage Grim if he makes this a habit!

Fortunately, Grim is predictable. You’ve only known him for a day—not even—but it’s not so difficult to pinpoint his location after you’ve worked out his motivations. Unfortunately, you make it to the cafeteria just as the grand chandelier falls from its support in the ceiling, crash-landing in a broken heap. And standing just feet away from the damage, looking very guilty, is Grim alongside two students you’ve never seen before. Crowley’s there as well, just as frazzled as the feathers on his coat. He’s in the middle of lecturing them about the importance of this relic—how it’s been with the school since it was founded and it’s an irreplaceable piece that would cost over a billion Madol to fix—when he takes notice of you.

“(Name), it’s devastating! A most heart-wrenching tragedy! Why, it’s enough to bring one to tears.”

“Seems so…” You shoot Grim a vicious look. So much for being covert. Not so stealthy now, huh? “I’ll get the broom.”

“No, not yet. These three—” he turns towards them, yellow eyes fierce— “are expelled!”

“Expelled?!” the navy-haired student exclaims. He looks like he’s just stared Death in the face. “This can’t be… What will my mother think? I promised her I was gonna get good grades, attend all of my classes, pass my tests…”

“Hey, it’s not my fault. That hairball’s the one who started it!” the other argues, his arms folded over his chest.

“No way! It wasn’t me!”

Crowley clicks his tongue. “Unbelievable. This school has zero tolerance for blatant tomfoolery. Surely you’re all aware…” He pauses to look at Grim. “And you! You’re not even a student here! Just what are you doing, trespassing on school property?”

Grim flounders dizzily. “Spinning…”

“He’s my roommate.” All eyes flick towards you. “I’m letting him stay for now. Sorry if that breaks any rules. I just don’t believe in turning others away, even if they’re prone to causing trouble.”

“What a noble soul,” Crowley murmurs, impressed. “Well, if that’s the case, seeing as he’s nothing more than a talking pet cat—”

“I ain’t a pet or a cat!”

“I’m afraid my previous statement still remains in place. He’s not to be on school grounds.”

“You heard the Headmage. No school for you.”

But Grim’s already lying flat on the floor like a defeated pancake.

“Then what about us? That hairball can’t get the easy way out and leave us with the worst of it!”

“There’s a way to fix this, isn’t there?”

“Y-Yeah! Can’t you just use magic to fix it right up? It’ll be good as new. Someone with your skill should be able to do it.”

Crowley shakes his head, mournful. “Magic is not limitless. Not only that, but the magestone powering this great chandelier is cracked. And those are not so easily replaced. I fear this is the final day this miraculous chandelier will ever grace this grand hall with its light.”

The ginger-haired student grimaces. “Not good…”

The other withers. “Expelled… What am I going to do? I can’t go back home with this news!”

A magestone… That’s what Grim needs. You glance at the one set into the chandelier. A ghastly crack runs up the surface. Are they really that special?

Before both can succumb to their melancholy, Crowley says, “There is one way! Possibly…”

“Really? What is it?” they say at once, eyes bulging with hope.

“This very magestone was mined from the Dwarfs’ Mine. Perhaps, should you procure one of similar qualities, the chandelier can be repaired.”

“Then… Okay! I’ll get a magestone! As long as it’s all right with you, sir.”

“Ah, but the mines have been closed for some time. I reckon the magestones are all but gone.”

“I’m sure I can find one. Please, sir, I’ll do anything to stay here!”

Crowley seems to consider this. Eventually, he nods his approval. “I’m willing to postpone your expulsion for now.” The navy-haired student’s relief is short-lived when he adds, “However, if you fail to bring a magestone to me by the first rays of the morning sun, it will be expulsion for the both of you. No further exceptions.”

With a hasty nod, he says, “Of course! I understand! Thank you so much for the second chance. I won’t let you down!”

“Yeah, sure. Let’s get this over with.”

You gather an unconscious Grim in your arms while Crowley instructs the students on how to access the mine. They stride off with different degrees of enthusiasm. You open your mouth to ask permission, but Crowley beats you to it.

“Please do accompany them. I trust you’re responsible enough to handle any trouble?”

“If you raise my pay, I’ll do anything.”

He clutches his chest. “Your proclivity to bargain strikes through to my very soul! Ah, but since I am the kindest Headmage I shall grant your request.”

With a satisfied grin, you hold Grim tighter and run off after the pair. “Thanks again, Headmage!”

You follow them all the way to the Mirror Chamber. It’s just as imposing as you recall, but there’s a serene quality to the space that wasn’t there before. Maybe it’s because you’re here willingly and there isn’t an audience to witness your poorly timed debut.

You approach both of them. “Hey! Sorry to bother, but could I join you?”

They turn to look at you. Grim shifts in your arms, groaning.

“I don’t see why not. Welcome to the team,” the navy-haired student says with an awkward smile.

“Might as well. More people means a faster chance at finding that magestone.” He points at Grim next. “And he better be coming, too.”

“That’s the plan. I’ll make sure he won’t cause any problems for you.”

He sighs and shakes his head. “Today’s just not my day. What bad luck…”

“No time to sulk. We’ve gotta get that magestone,” the other says, turning towards the mirror. “Dark Mirror, the Dwarfs’ Mine!”

Grim jerks awake then. “Myaah?! Where am I? What’s goin’ on?”

You hold onto him tightly, preventing him from squirming out of your arms. “Relax. You’ll be fine. I think.”

“What d’ya mean by that?!”

The Dark Mirror brightens with life. There’s a blinding flash of light and then, just like that, you’re taken to the mine’s entrance.

Magestone, here we come!

[beelmons]

Just want Luke Alvez to spell out his name with his tongue against me. I'm a simple woman, with simple needs. No hands, all mouth. my cunnilingus king

no cause this is what i call having taste !

i accidentally posted this without finishing and im going insane trying to speed write it skckwkckwkf DOMT LOOK UNDER READ MORE

Edit: Okay NOW you can look.

cw: oral sex fem receiving, fem!reader

Some people paid billions of dollars to reach space and experience the wonders of the universe, and yet, it only took a heavily underpaid FBI agent to get you to see stars.

Luke Alvez was not a man to eat women out, oh no, he was the one to straight up devour them. Like an avid critic ready to cater his next meal, he would time and again bury himself in between your legs; no further aid needed whatsoever, a dedicated mouth could take you to places you were sure mortals couldn't reach.

It made you suspicious, to be honest. How could a man be so good at pleasing a woman? The only way it made sense was if he had done it hundreds of times before, but taking his time while in deployment and current new schedule in consideration, he wouldn't only have to be dedicated to it, he would have had to straight up clone himself to take two women at a time on the little time he had to spare.

He could do it, to be fair, without the need of cloning himself, after all he had his charm. You don't just open your legs for anyone on the first date, let alone the first thirty minutes of meeting them. He was a witty gentleman, and not hard on the eye at all.

Soon you would find out that his sharp tongue wasn't only skillful on the streets. Something about the way he so passionately licked you thoroughly each time. Or how he moaned along everytime he hit a good spot. Or the weird combination of strokes he pulled at the end, the one that never failed to push you over the edge.

You had to find out what it was, because you were starting to think it was not human. And tonight, as your apartment was filled with lewd slurping sounds, you were set on finding it out.

One little problem, keeping your sanity as his tongue, somehow, reached your sweetest spots was no easy task. It took all of your energy and some holding back from straight up cumming into his mouth without warning. Your face was clenched in what seemed more like pain than pleasure. But your climax was reaching, you were so close, just as close as you were to figuring out what the hell he did at the end, so close, so close.

"Babe, are you alright?" he pulled away to ask.

"No!" you yelled in anger almost instinctively, and certainly without intention.

He was clearly taken aback by your reaction, and the second you noticed his clear confusion, you spoke up again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." you said, reaching to have your hand land on his hair, not wanting him to be too far from your cunt "I was just so close."

"Sorry, you looked like you were in pain, so..." he tried to explain before you cut him off.

"I was focused." you clarified.

"Focused?" his brows furrowed "Listen, if you have to focus to cum... I'd rather you tell me what I'm doing wrong."

"No. What? Come on Luke, you can't be serious." you complained "I was focused on figuring out what the hell it is that you always do, that it makes my brain be reduced to a pulp!"

You certainly didn't mean it as a praise, but he still found a way to interpret it as such. He broke into a shy chuckle as he shook his head.

"I can tell you" he said "But you have to promise not to laugh."

"Why would I-" you were about to inquire, but he cut you off.

"I spell my name with my tongue." he finally admitted.

"You are kidding." your eyes opened in genuine surprise. It sounded so stupid right off the bat, even more so when you considered the possibility of being true.

Your free hand reached down to have your middle digit trail over your own clit, you were moist enough thanks to him, so nothing else was needed. You began making an experiment of your own.

L U K E A L-

Sure, it felt good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Not like that!" he quickly grabbed at your wrist to pull it away "It's not the same if you use fingers, and I'm afraid there is one more secret to it."

You were attentively looking at him talk, so you were able to see his face disappear between your legs. You thought after the break you wouldn't be so sensitive, but boy were you wrong. The second the tip of his tongue landed on your bundle of nerves again, your legs began to shake. Like no time had passed.

You tried your best to pay attention, you really did.

Luke Alvez

But you lost track after the 'K'.

Next thing you knew, you were dripping down in your own release, and he was doing his best to have nothing go to waste.

Your chest was raising up and down from the pants. Legs limb and tired against his shoulders. Once he was satisfied with the clean up, he raised his head yet again. His characteristic, slightly annoying, cheeky grin clear on his face.

"I do it in cursive."

[neverchecking]

Yoo, can I request sub!wild w/ reader? i was thinking like reader could just be teasing him by sucking on his neck, marking him up, ykyk and he's below them desperately trying to grind up against them. bonus points if he comes untouched >:)

have a good day!! or night!! or evening!!!!

You have a good day as well, anon! You absolutely can request that. I mean my favorite boy, being a big ol' sub? Sign me the F U C K up. This is also kind of an apology since my last Wild bit kind of, admittedly, wasn't up to my own standards. It was rushed and not as polished as I normally like. It was deleted twice and I was just over it at that point but that's no excuse. Anyway, I hope this makes up for it, Darling!

And you know I'm going for those bonus points.

Smut, so 18+, MDNI.

Smut CW: Wild is a subby baby boy, you edge him a little, he busts a little prematurely with no touching (BONUS POINTS), and you know me. He cries just a little.

His Home

The difference in the way people treated him varied. It varied a lot. It ranged from people taking one look at his scars and treating him like some form of monster that had escaped from it's cage to people automatically bowing to his every whim-- deeming him some form of warrior who had faced battles far past their comprehension. Some people tried to hide their whispers behind cupped hands and side glances while others outwardly made their disgust known.

It was just the way it was.

At least in his Hyrule, however, he had a safe haven. A home. A place he could go to, to hide and recollect himself enough that dealing with the public was palatable once more. The civilians of his Hyrule knew he was the Hero, yes, but that didn't stop them. They still talked about how he had failed. How he was a century too late. How it didn't matter what he did, because they had grown accustomed to the Calamity. That he had done it for his own pride when that wasn't the case at all. Of course, he knew why he did it. He did it to avenge the fallen champions. He did it to free Flora, who had been fighting non-stop for a hundred years. He did it to ensure his home remained safe and sound.

Because you were his home. You were his sanctuary. You were the one to collect him into your arms and hold him close, gently whispering soft comforts into his ear, the one who was humming a half-remembered lullaby to sooth his nightmares. You remained a stone pillar of patience and comfort for him to follow. Like a beacon calling him to his Goddess.

Then he was dragged away from his home. He went kicking and screaming, make no doubt about it, but it didn't stop that Fraud from pulling him away. He was dropped with his sword brothers, which was...fine (Fine was a good word for it). But they weren't you. They had nothing on you. They could dream of being half of the comfort you were.

That wasn't even the worst of it, however. No, the worst was the face that he had now lost his safety blanket. His one hold over his own crumbling sanity was eons away and the only way he could even hope to reach them was through luck alone and Hylia's filthy grace.

Neither of which he would bet any amount of rupees on. If he were a betting man, that was. But he wasn't.

He wouldn't bet anything on making it back to you in a timely manner.

But life had a way of surprising him, he supposed, as he blinked bleary eyes open only to find familiar surroundings. The stale smell of the forest, the cool feeling of dew and dirt under his palms, even the drifty breeze flowing through his hair. It was all enough to remind him that while he wasn't quite home just yet he was close. Closer than he had been in so long.

He could practically taste you on his tongue already, the salty tang of your sweat; hear the lustrous harmony of all the sounds he could pluck from you. Just thinking about the heat of your skin under his palms, smooth and unmarred unlike his own, had him buzzing with epinephrine. He was sure even the others could pin something was different with him as the minute they entered Hateno they had wandered off to the inn and allowed him to wander off. Which was perfectly fine with him.

He had it all planned out as well. He'd get home, scoop you into his arms tight enough you would never doubt his love for you. His absolute devotion to your being. How nothing, not even time itself, could separate the two of you. Nothing could keep him from you.

Then he'd pepper an absolute flurry of kisses all over your face, neck, anywhere he could reach, just to hear your giggles ring out in pure glee. Feel your arms wrap around his own neck, fighting to return the affection only for him to make the action nearly impossible. How could he break apart from you long enough?

Of course, he would, only to press your lips together in a heart stopping kiss. Just so you could steal his very breath from his lungs. And he'd let it happen. Just to make you happy.

It didn't happen. The reason you and him paired so well together was because you surprised him at every turn. At any given point you could turn him onto his head and throw him for a loop. And he lived for it. The excitement and the rush of following you into unknown waters. It was so addicting.

This was all proven when instead of him trapping you in his arms, you pounced first-- as if waiting for him by the door. You didn't even give him the chance to act before wrapping your arms around his neck, crashing your lips together in a flurry of desire and fondness. Distance does make the heart grown fonder or something, he didn't know. His brain had began the shut-down process, too overwhelmed on emotions and a lack of blood.

When you dragged him to the stairs leading to the loft, positively filthy promises leaving your lips making him stutter. His heart was in his throat, pumping wildly in an effort to make up for all of his blood rushing to his cock-- which stirred to life in his pants.

He hadn't even known he was so pent up until you were pinning him to the bed, hips a familiar weight against his as you dragged your clothed core over his own. It was like being hurdled into the deep end within seconds as something hot and fiery and untampered roared to life in his veins.

His hips bucked wildly, aching for some sort of friction that he desperately needed. He would take anything you gave him, of course, but couldn't you take mercy on his poor, tattered soul? He would slaughter Ganon a million times over should you just lower yourself a bit more. Just give him a little more, please.

The feelings of your lips on his neck had him jolting as his own hands latched onto your hips in a positively bruising grip. Teeth gently nipping at skin before your molten tongue was lapping at the indents, soothing the slight sting. It was all so erotic, positively prurient, and he could barely contain himself. He knew he was whining. High keens full of begging and pleading pleas. He knew he was whimpering. Bordering on too overstimulated to actually do anything, but not stimulated enough to actually burst. It all felt tight and frustrating, with salty tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

"Wildflower, please-" He cried out, nails clawing up your back as you moved from the hickey you had previously been working on to an unmarked patch of skin. You hummed against him before gently snapping your teeth on the skin again.

It was too much, but not enough. Just enough to keep him right there, but not enough to teeter over, not yet. At least you seemed to take into account his plea, humming in consideration against his skin before pulling off with a positively lewd pop. You weight settled onto his lap, at long last, before you were returning to your previous endeavor.

It only too one roll.

One roll of your hips, plump and perfect, with just enough weight to stoke his cock in just the right way. One salacious rock of your lower body, pushing against his own in a rush of lust and heat. One roll to have him absolutely shattering underneath of you.

Just the push he needed to have him jutting up into you, in an embarrassingly juvenile move, crying out in pure ecstasy with fat tears finally rolling his cheeks. It was an uncomfortable feeling to be reminded of how tightly wound up he was, but to be reminded of how tightly around your finger he was wound? It was pure bliss. To know that he was yours in such a way that you didn't even have to touch him to have him coming undone was salacious enough to have him remaining hard.

To know that you were such a comfort to him, his home, to have him this `devout to you was enough to have him restarting his entire being as fast as he possibly could if only to pin your stunned form beneath him.

He had to show his faith somehow, didn't he?

[copias-fluffy-asscheeks]

Tied As One, Eternally

Papa III x Reader

1000 words | Hurt/Comfort.

''Do you regret ever going out with me?'' He muttered, eyes fixed on the bed he was sitting cross-legged on. You blink at the suddenness of it. You were both getting ready for bed, and just as you were about to settle the question had dropped. You were frozen for a moment, processing before you spoke. ''Papa.. no? Of course not.''

There's a pause. ''You're doing that thing again.'' His voice was still sturdy, but the small hint of a higher pitch told you it was threateningly close to wavering and cracking with suppressed tension.

With a frown on your face you tilted your head trying to get any insight via Terzo’s face, but he had his head angled elsewhere. “I don’t understand?''

''It's whenever you get serious. You.. You always stop calling me by my name. I'm always Papa with you. Never Terzo. But.. I don’t want to be Papa with you. Papa is not me. It...'' He sighed, brows furrowing. ''Do you go out with me.. spend time with me, sleep with me.. just for the thrill of being with Papa?'' 

You felt your heart shatter for him. It hurt. It hurt so much. That was the last thing this was. You loved this man with every fiber of your being. He was your world, your sanity. He was so used to being the object of attraction for people, they wanted him for his body, for being able to tell other church goers they’d slept with the almighty Terzo Emeritus; He let you into his heart, he trusted you with it in your hands, not to squish the fragile thing under your shoe as soon as you’d had enough. You knew he’d struggled with these feelings since before you were together, heartbreak after heartbreak, and it was hard for him to let people in, to let them see the man behind the papal paints. He didn't wait for your answer, now staring dead into your eyes for his next question. 

''Do you love me? Really love me?''

The air was thick, the room quiet for a moment. You looked away, taking a deep breath. The man you loved so much, he was struggling so greatly with the realization that for once, maybe even the first time, someone wanted him, not the quick fuck, not the five seconds of fame. You would have done anything he’d asked right then and there to rid him of the hurt he felt, of the hurt others had caused him. He was vulnerable with you, vulnerability was something he might as well have been afraid of. He was the head of the church, the strong figure that so many followed and aspired to be like, and here he was, sitting on his bed, looking shrunken in and tired, eyes teary and breathing unsteady, ready to break.

You exhale. ''I do. I love you. I love you so much. You're my first thought in the morning and the last one before I fall asleep. You help me through my days, like you’ve helped me through so many other things. If only I could find a way to put into words how much people love you, how much I love you, Terzo. It pains me so much that you feel you are undeserving of love. You’re amazing, you’re so sweet and helpful. I couldn’t name anyone else I’d want to spend all my time with, perhaps even the rest of my life.''

You heard a shuddered inhale, and when you blink your own tears away you saw that Terzo’s were now streaming freely down his paintless face. A sob racked through his chest like the first raindrops that unleashed the upcoming storm; you immediately crawled over the bed to his side and he collapsed into you, burying his face into the crook of your neck and clinging onto you like his lifeline. The broken man weeped into your skin, his nails pressing almost painfully where he grabbed onto your back but you didn’t care, he needed to ground himself. You ran one hand through his hair, pressing kisses against his hairline and temple while the other drew random, soothing shapes over his back and shoulders.

After a while his sobs quieted into sniffles and uneven, shaky breaths. His near vice grip on you had loosened to small strokes over the places his hails had dug. You were still muttering soft words to him, humming songs you knew he liked, pressing the gentlest of kisses here and there. You gave him his time, holding him as long as he desired, only pulling back once he himself did. He stared at you, eyes red and lashes still wet, eyebrows still the smallest bit pinched. He looked like a kicked puppy, like he was ready to start whining any moment, his eyes, usually so bright when he laughed. Oh, how you loved his laugh, too. His smile, the sound of his joy, the look of it. Everything about him was perfect in your eyes, Papa or not, and you’d spend as much time as you could trying to convey that to him.

He was still staring at you, pure love in his eyes. He knew he loved you, of course. You’d been together for such a while now, but this was a love he’d not felt before, not for anyone. Unwavering, he looked mesmerized, partly because he felt it, too. He was mesmerized with you, in awe. You wanted to spend the rest of your life with him and there was no doubt he wanted so with you too. 

“So you’ll love me forever?” He asked, looking almost childlike, eyes big and round, still brimmed with tears, but now mixed with happiness.

“forever and ever.” You smiled back, pressing a kiss to his nose before he tilted his head up to place a kiss on your lips, too. Soft, simpel. Full of unspoken meaning, all the words neither of you could ever find to speak.

‘’I love you, Cara mia. So much. Thank you.’’

A/N: guess who's alive idiots (not proof read, sorry for any mistakes!)

Taglist: @sweatandwoe @papasmicstand @lightbluuestars @random-mizu-fan @dearlymrme @thew0man

[shortstrawberry]

Hi hey omf I'm so glad you like my art and such cndmnd and even let me request stuff your writing is so amazing btw omf sorry this got me excited hahaha

But yeah yeah you said I can request anything and if it's cool for you to write abt my lil concept of Donna keeping MC's skull w her?? If it's not too much that is hahah I have the context for it in a reblog— Anyways yeah omf you're so cool ncmsns

For the readers, this is the art @knightlystargazer is referencing to. A wonderful and beautiful piece of work!

Also, ask and you shall receive, always!

Now some trigger warnings: Mildish Gore, violence, depiction of mental breakdown and obsession

****

Donna felt the red from her vision clearing away. Still, she only saw red. It was on her clothes, her hands, even on her face. She was covered in red.

The florist knew something has went terribly wrong. The blood was pounding in her ears so loud that she didn't even hear the loud cackling of someone else in her shop. Instead, Donna helplessly stared at her hands, before finally looking down at what she has done.

There, underneath her lay you. The person Donna so dearly loved. Still loves. And you were covered in even more red than Donna. It was all over the floor, and all of it coming from the heart. The very same heart that Donna adored to hear the beat of. Just laying her head against your chest and listening to your heart like it's her own lullaby.

One, two, three, dear lord how many times did I ---?

Donna's hands began to tremble violently, her eyes filling with tears. Her face was so covered in red that anyone would think she was crying tears of blood. And maybe she was, as Donna let out a desperate wail of grief and loss.

The laughter sound of the intruder only got louder at the pained screams of Donna. The florist immediately whipped her face towards the cause of this whole tragedy. The damned monster who has taken away everything from her.

"You! You fucking bitch."

Donna snarled, making Mother Miranda laugh louder. Donna saw red again, but this time it was caused by her own love, and not some twisted spell this witch stabbed her with.

Donna lunged for the woman, her knife ready for taking Miranda's throat. Unlike Miranda who has her cult for protection, Donna has lived her whole life in a war for survival. It wasn't difficult for Donna to physically overpower Miranda.

Donna felt herself crack even more when Miranda just smiled to her face, even with a knife against her throat.

"Go ahead, take my head for all I care. But your so called dolcezza won't come back. Not for you, at least."

Tears burned in Donna's eyes. That's right, what's the use of bloodying her hands with this witch's blood? The timeline would be reset again, and Miranda will make sure that her dolcezza would never even look at her. No, just like the previous rounds, Donna would be a outsider. Trapped in her greenhouse with hemlock and oleanders. Watching everyone else take you away from her.

Donna pushed Miranda away with a frustrated scream, feeling her sanity slipping away like grains of fine sand through a sieve. It's over. It's all over for her. All her life, all Donna has done is to make sure others are happy. Whether it be her sister, Angie, the Dimiterescu family and even this damned Miranda. The one time when she got someone that makes her happy, and it gets taken away.

"Why not spare me just this one round? Just one round?!"

Miranda this time didn't laugh at her. Instead she just looked at a crying Donna with what looks like borderline pity.

"You're just like me. You would have never let go either."

Donna cried harder, dropping to her knees beside her long gone dolcezza. She heard Miranda walking away, but she didn't care. She instead clutched at you, her fingers pressing down on the marks that she has left on the gentle body. Hoping against hope that blood would just stop flowing.

"You promised. You promised. You promised you'll never leave me!"

Donna looked around frantically, searching for something, anything that would keep you with her. Her eyes fell on a potted plant blooming Oleanders.

A flower that means captivating love. A love that is yours forever. A love that she wishes was hers forever.

A twisted smile formed on Donna's red face, knowing what she can do now to keep you with her, forever.

Sarai sempre mio, tesoro

You will always be mine, darling

[thetopichot]

•°♧ Seth Fluff Alphabet ♧°•

7/7. I'VE DONE I'M FREE IM FREEEEEEEE RELEASE ME FROM MY CAGEEEEEEEE *rattles the cage of my enclosure*

CW: Suggestive

A = Abundance Of Love (Are they a loud lover that loves to express their love in many ways or are they a quiet lover that loves those quiet intimate moments?)

He is, without a doubt in sight, a loud lover. He's proud to have ya as his partner & he is not afraid to show it. Expect that man to yee his haw everytime he's with you. You make him so happy that I doubt he would contain it.

B = Brave (Were they the first to confess? If so, how did the confession go?)

He was! He was quite nervous to confess to you since he wasn't sure if you liked him back or not. You guys would throw around playful flirts to each other, but he thought it as silly friendly banter between you two & nothing more than that, which made him more nervous about telling how he feels about you.

He loves you, but for some reason, it hurts so much. Ah, situationships. Everyone's worst enemy when it comes to friends to lovers. Now this is the part where I fucking struggle here since Seth, I don't think, doesn't have his own separate storyline besides Bittersweet & I guess that Camping AU (Which is not canon by the way). For the sake of my sanity, I will be using the Bittersweet storyline with some sprinkles of the Camping AU. Capeesh? Good.

Anyway back to business, he takes you to the bar that you guys met for the first time & practically called you a homewrecker in cowboy terms. He still feels bad about that, lol. You notice that he's a lot more nervous & not showing his confidence demeanor. You ask him, "Hey, you good dude?". His smile says yes, but his eyes & hands are saying no. You catch it since the vibes from him were already like off as fuck.

You take him outside & ask him what's wrong then he just fucking breaks & rants how much he just adores you. He tells you that he was scared that he was just imagining things.

"I love you, I mean it."

He wasn't imagining things, however.

C = Control (Do they take the wheel of the relationship or do they let someone else do the driving?)

I think he would flip-flop between the two. He takes care of you & sets up dates for you two. On the other hand, you do the same & you try to protect him from doing stupid shit sometimes like him seeing a shadow & chasing after it, thinking it's probably Mothman.

D = Dreamboat (What do they find attractive in their partner(s)?)

He loves how sweet you are to him. Despite him being a bad boy, which sorta scares people off & also he's a dick time to time, but you still stay by his side regardless of everything. He loves that more than anything.

E = Empathetic (If their partner(s) was in a not so good mood, how would they cheer them up?)

He would make some soup for you if you needed it, or he would cuddle you to make you feel better. He would say the most reassuring things like "You're the strongest person I know, Sugar" or "I will gladly take a break with you if ya want."

F = Forgiving (If they had a fight with their partner(s), how would they apologize? Or would they be petty about it?)

He would be a bit petty at the start, but of course, being petty doesn't solve a damn thing. It just makes things even worse & since it's you, that's worsens the situation even more. So he gathers up the courage to talk about the fight & how he is sorry.

He hates fighting with you. He hates fighting with everyone, but you're not "everyone." You're his Sugar & he will do anything for you.

G = General (Random Fluff Headcanon)

He has a huge collection of cowboy hats. Well, duh, he's a cowboy. However, whenever he puts the hat on you, you look so silly. He likes it when you wear his hats. You look kissable, lol.

H = Home (How would they feel living with their partner(s)?)

YEEEEEEEEHAWWWWW‼️‼️🤠🤠

Bro already got his stuff in his arms. He can do it he's a big muscle boy. This man has been waiting for this moment. He was just too scared to ask though, but living with you is quite a treat. He enjoys every moment & he's gonna make them all count.

I = Idealistic (What's their personal preference in a special someone?)

He likes sweet hearted people, but he also likes it when someone who gives the same energy back in a playful manner. He says a crude joke & you say one back. Just matching eachothers energy is the best thing he could ask from someone.

J = Jealousy (Do they get protective of their partner(s) when someone flirts with them?)

Oh, absolutely. IT'S ON SIGHT, my guy. If someone makes you uncomfortable & disrespects your boundaries, that motherfucker is gonna yee his last haw when Seth catches them. However, if it's in a playful manner, like it's someone you know & if you're comfortable with it, he does get jealous, but he's not gonna make a big fuss about it. He just brings you closer to him. You're his, understand?

K = Key To The Heart (What is something that will make them fall in love instantly?)

Honestly, letting Seth just be Seth. Makes his heart melt into a big country boy puddle.

L = Luxurious (Do they spoil their partner(s) rotten? If they do, how do they spoil them?)

Yeah! :D He's a biker guy, so ya'll already KNOW. He enjoys taking you on rides on his motorcycle a lot. It could be just a short ride around town because it's nice to get some fresh air or just a long calming ride to find a spot for camping. He loves it when you hold on to him like just straight up holding on to him for dear life.

"Don't worry, I got ya. Ain't gonna let a sweet thing like you fall off."

M = Marriage (How would they feel about getting married?)

Marriage makes everyone feel nervous. Regardless if you look forward to it or not. Especially Seth. He does enjoy the idea of calling you his spouse, but he's obviously nervous about it. This is one of the most important things in his life & he doesn't want to like fuck up so bad that everything is set on fire bad. He doesn't want to end up like his mama or his dad. He wants to be better. For you & him. It's even worse that this motherfucker is scared of commitment which adds to his fear even more.

His heart is in the right place, that's for sure. He just wants you to be happy & he wants to be the best partner he can be. You already know that because he is.

N = Nobility (How honest are they to their partner(s)? Do they hide anything?)

Well, he does try to hide his past. He doesn't want you to be involved with the things he did in the past. Besides that, he is pretty honest with you.

O = Overwhelmed (If they were in a not so good mood, how can their partner(s) help them out?)

He doesn't have the energy to deal with what he had to deal with. He just wants to lay down with you & cuddle. It makes him feel a bit better when he just talks about his feelings & what's currently making him stress the fuck out. He also really likes it when you rub his back & just say sweet nothings to him. He just falls asleep automatically & honestly, he's not complaining.

P = Passionate (What is something to them that means a lot to them that only their partner(s) knows about it?)

Cryptids. Spooky creatures that lurk all around the world. He doesn't really talk that much about it since he doesn't really have anyone to talk to about it because when he does, he looks like a lunatic & that one meme where that guy has multiple red yarns connecting to everything. You, however, listen to him rant about it & he talks about it a lot with you. He plans that one day, you guys will finally have proof that Mothman exists.

Q = Quirky (Something silly that they do.)

There was legit one time that you caught him making a huge ass clue board in the garage. This clue board was trying to find the Mothman. You got mad at him since the garage was a complete mess. In the end, you guys found a perfect place to put it. You got him a corkboard to put in your guys bedroom.

R = Romantic (What is their love language?)

Physical Touch. He really loves being cuddled with. He likes back hugs, kisses, your hand on his leg, hugs, you name it. He loves everything about it. He wants to feel you near him. Not only does it protect you & but it also makes him feel very safe. So technically speaking, you're protecting each other.

S = Sublime (What is the best gift that their partner(s) can give them?)

He doesn't really have a gift in mind that is truly the best gift ever. Well it's actually finding Mothman, but he wants to find Mothman himself. He wants to be the first person to find Mothman & laugh in the faces who didn't believe him.

However, the best gift he could ask for is already right in front of him. You. You're willing to put up with his dorky antics & his nature is something that he can not get enough of. You guys are practically unstoppable & he loves that. You treat Seth like Seth. Like he can be himself without hiding underneath a mask. All he could ask is for you to stay with him.

T = Touching (How do they feel about PDA?)

Well, his love language is physical touch. Why wouldn't he like PDA? You gettin' kissies from him all the time, bucko.

U = Undeniable (Did everyone know about their crush on their partner(s)?)

Despite being a massive dork around you, nobody really caught on. Well, you kinda did, but you didn't really think too much of it.

V = Visionary (What do they want their future to look like with their partner(s)?)

Honestly, he isn't sure. He hasn't really thought much about the future. However, there is one thing he wants & that's you. If he could spend time with you for the rest of his life, that's something he is looking forward to. Also getting a big ass dog. He loves dogs.

W = Wacky (General Fluff Headcanon. Again.)

He almost always forgets to take a shower after coming back from work. You get mad at him & you don't let him join you in the bed until he cleans up. He looks at you with those sad puppy dog eyes.

"Sug, please. 🥺"

But as soon as you offer to join him in the shower, he shuts the hell up & he is already in the bathroom waiting for you.

X = Xaroncharoo (Yes, that's a word. Look it up. In a domestic sense, what are they exceptional at in the home?)

Despite being a mechanic, he is pretty good at fixing some things up within the house. He ain't a plummer, but he's pretty good at fixing up the shower. He doesn't really see as anything different from fixing up cars. He just knows what's wrong with it, then boom, good as new.

Y = Yearning (If their partner(s) went out to get something without them/went off to work, how would they feel about it?)

He'll probably get bored without you & watch some analog horrors or those YouTube videos that go into true crime. When you come back, expect to find Seth snoring loudly on the couch.

Z = Zonked (How do they cuddle?)

He likes to hug you from behind as his head is in the crook of your neck. Or you could just hide your face in his boobies. That's an option, too.

☆ミ Author's Notes Underneath 👇 ☆ミ

🩷 - THE CURSE HAS BEEN LIFTED & IM FREEEEEEEE‼️‼️

Anyway, thank you for sticking with me for this writing challenge. This was a PAIN in the ass to do mostly because SO MUCH SHIT happened to me & stuff has been kicking me in the ass but it is done. I'm free & now as a reward for me, I shall be making my well-deserved trophy.

[aphrodisiac-siren]

Home~ Neteyam x Metkayina!reader

Summary: Leaving behind everything he knew was hard for Neteyam and then adapting to the ways of the new clan was even harder. He'd push himself, overwork and exhaust himself even, to live upto his family's expectations; never really giving his own wants a second thought. That's why Y/N was the prefect companion for him, someone who kept things in his life balanced, who made sure to let him know that what he wanted was just as important, perhaps even more so, than what everyone else wanted of him.

//slow burn, angst, Lo'ak growing a braincell? And did I mention angst??// tìyawn-Love

masterlist

Part 7

🫧

[Flashback]

Pacing.

That was one thing he could remember distinctly from that day.

Pacing.

That's all he did outside the tent in which Y/N was, still very much injured and on the cusp of life and death.

While Norm and a few others were doing whatever they could to keep her from dying, all Neteyam seemed capable of doing in that moment was worrying.

His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, his heart pounding louder than the sound of an ikran's screech. He knew he was absolutely of no help but he refused to leave, not wanting to be anywhere but near her.

He had yet to tell her about what he felt, even if he himself hadn’t fully understood it himself. His constant need to see her every day, his desperation for her attention, how he craved fleeting touches. How an endearment as simple as 'pretty boy' started this whole whirlwind of foreign emotions.

He couldn’t bare the possibility of all of that coming to an abrupt halt, all if it being ripped away from him.

Y/N being ripped away from him.

He'd grown so accustomed to living alongside her that he could barely imagine a future without her in it.

It wasn’t fair.

Someone who was nothing less than kind, a little feisty and a whole lot of emphatic being given death after everything she’d done for his family, was just cruel.

Neteyam always trusted Ewya's judgement but in that moment, for the very first time, he abhorred her.

For Y/N to be snatched away like this was just. not. fair.

Amidst his loathing, he even pleaded to take him instead of her. Because according to him, the world would still be the same regardless if he was in it or not but take Y/N away and everything loses its light.

And while he awaited impatiently and helplessly, all he could irritatingly,

Was more pacing.

[End of flashback]

This was probably the first time Lo'ak witnessed Y/N in a rush to just get her lesson over with. In all his time knowing her, not once did the star pupil, soon-to-be Metkayina warrior, Neteyam's-personality-clone ever seem to end her training as soon as possible. Maybe his influence was finally rubbing off on her.

"Are you sick?" he smirked at the girl, looking at her amusingly as she impatiently tapped her foot.

"I'm already great at archery" she groaned, ditching her bow as she sat down upon the warm sand "way better than you in fact, I think that’s reason enough to call it quits for today"

"Okay, first of all" Lo'ak joined her, ditching hiw own bow and arrow. He wasn’t going to complain about ending a lesson early, if anything he was tempted to give her a hug for it "ouch. Second, did I ever tell you you’re my favourite person in the whole world? We should partner up for lessons more"

"Yes, you absolutely adore me. What’s new?" Y/N replied promptly with a smirk earning an eye roll and a playful shove from the boy next to her.

She fiddled with her fingers a bit, chewing on her lip as she contemplated whether or not she should just ask him about something that was gnawing her mind for days now. Her attention span had become almost nonexistent with that one particular instance chewing away at her sanity.

"Can I ask you something?" She looked up at him and he immediately nodded a 'yes' before he lied down on his back, arms behind his head "Neteyam and I had another argume-"

"Jeez Y/N" Lo'ak let out an exaggerated groan, looking at her like he was about to drop dead from boredom "for a minute I expected you to tell me something interesting and, I dunno, new?"

"Don’t be an asshole" She shot him a glare, contemplating throwing sand at him but out of the good of her heart, refrained from doing so "we fought and he said something but I don’t know what it meant"

"Ah so you need me to be your trustee translator" He wiggled his eyebrows at her, an undertone of mischief lacing his words. He pretended to be in deep thought while tapping his finger against his lips "what am I getting for all of these years' worth of english dialect translation, hm?"

"I don’t throw a spear at your butt anytime you say something stupid"

"I am thy humble servant" Lo'ak blew a kiss at her that had her roll her eyes at his antics. She'd grown accustomed to it over time but still, it never failed to amuse her "ask away my princess"

"Drop the theatrics" she said in a monotonous voice that had him chuckling at her reaction "so like I said, Neteyam swore at me in your stupid sky people language and then refused to tell me what it meant. Something m..ma.. lovh? I guess. Now I know it’s gotta be real mean if he..."

Despite her heavy accent and poor pronunciation, Lo'ak understood what she meant to say perfectly. He shot up instantly with a crazed look, like a fish being yanked out of water.

"He- what" His eyes widened and a grin etched its way to his face.

"I knew that it!" Y/N immediately shot back, pointing toward him as if her doubts had been confirmed at last "it was a really bad word"

"That bitch" Lo'ak ignored her, too thrilled at this newfound piece of information that seemed to make him very happy for some reason "he's flirting now huh? I knew that the idiot had some stupid reason for avoiding you, that blue lizard can’t talk to girls! Ohh wait till I-"

"Whoa, okay let’s back up" Y/N snapped him out of his deluded trance and brought him back to pandora "can you elaborate how you connected him swearing at me to flirting?"

"He didn’t swear, ma Y/N" he changed his tone, now talking to her like how his dad spoke to him when he tried to sound intelligent "he called you 'love', his love, to be more precise. Which is something you say to a person you are absolutely fond of. Ya know, like his tìyawn"

"You are seeing things that aren’t there" Y/N was tempted to throw a fistful of sand at him. Maybe even a small rock, just a tiny one "that's just some cute shit friends say to each other"

The idea that Neteyam could be infatuated with her seemed absolutely absurd. She could imagine an ilu speaking fluent Na'vi but Neteyam having a crush on her? Impossible. Not after he distanced himself from her more and more after each year.

"Look, I know my brother. He has never been a guy to do anything remotely close to cute.. like, okay forget that stupid endearment, but the never ending bickering? The whole looking-away-after-eye-contact on loop? You both constantly rambling about how annoying the other one is?" Lo'ak was tired of it and he was going to let it out. He tried with Neteyam and now he was going to rant about it to her as well "you both want to be around each other but don’t know how to do it anymore so you settle for getting into senseless fights. And when you’re not around each other all you both can do is talk about the other person"

All Y/N did in response was scoff.

There was no way she was going to let Lo'ak convince her that her animosity toward his brother came from a place of love and longing. No, it came from pure hatred and annoyance.

She was his close friend all along and then after the battle, she was nothing more than a pest. It was almost as if her presence was repulsive to Neteyam.

It confused her. Why did he all of a sudden, not want her.

Perhaps the whole incident of her getting shot was what pushed him away. While the rest of his family showered her with attention whilst she was healing and pampered her until they were sure she was sick of it, Neteyam made it almost a rule to never come in contact with her. Did the idea of having to tend to and look after her drive him away? Was that sort of responsibility too much for him?

If he'd decided that she wasn’t worth going through the trouble of looking after her, after she quite literally took a bullet for him then there was no use in trying to be friends again.

While Y/N was in deep thought, thinking of all the ways she could lure Neteyam into the mouth of an akula, Lo'ak was busy mumbling to himself about how he was going to tease and harass Neteyam about his unofficial crush on Y/N.

Maybe I should feed them both to an akula, Y/N made a mental note, Yea, both sounds good.

~

"You’ve finally lost it"

Neteyam was convinced he'd died and reached one of those seven somethings of hell his father once told them about. An odd story, purely fictional he thought; up until now.

His younger brother had been dancing around him in their pod, going on and on about how he knew about his crush on Y/N. Lo'ak at one point began to enact a make-believe scenario for him, using his hands as puppets.

"yo bro, check it out" he said in between his boyish giggling, ignoring his brother groaning in annoyance. He deepened his voice, trying his best to mimic his older brother, putting on a horrible accent.

"Hey bebe~ I don’t know how to act around you Y/N because I'm so in love with you so now I'll just start irritating you just so you engage in conversation with me" he then looked at his other hand-puppet which was supposed to represent Y/N, making his voice high pitched to mimic her's "ugh, I'm in love with you too Neteyam and I will also irritate you for your attention because all my sensibility leaves when I'm around you"

Lo'ak then proceeded to make some weird smooching noises while making his hand puppets kiss.

"Ay, stop that" Neteyam whacked the back of his neck, his other hand slapping Lo'ak's wrists when he refused to cease his dramatics "were you dropped as a baby? I do not have a crush on her"

"Liar" Lo'ak grinned "you have never, in your entire life called a girl anything besides her name. It would take a miracle for you to even address her by her nickname, much less call her something like my love"

"It just slipped out, jeez let it go" he sighed, too tired to offer any more of an explanation.

"Why won’t you just admit it?" Lo'ak was stubborn and wouldn’t drop this topic until he got a satisfactory answer "Why are you acting like liking her is the worst thing in the world? Why are you trying so hard to cover it up? Why is-"

"For fucks sake Lo'ak-" Neteyam was losing both his patience and his temper. His brother had no right to prod and question him about any of this.

"No, tell me-"

"Because I hated the way she made me feel"

Lo'ak went silent. He did not expect for his older brother to yell at him, much less give him the most vague and unhelpful response to his question but he decided not to poke for answer in that moment; he did not want to trigger any more outbursts.

Still hot headed, Neteyam left their pod. He needed to get away from Lo'ak and his prying inquisition. He owed him no explanation whatsoever for how he handled his relation with Y/N. Lo'ak had no idea about how he felt and what drove him to push her away but Neteyam knew that he did it for everyone's good.

He needed to cool off, he needed air.

Lo'ak and his teasing made his house suffocating and all he wanted was to be alone for a while lest he explode and let his anger out on another family member.

Calm down Neteyam, he scolded himself, if you can’t keep yourself together, you cant keep this family together.

It was like he wasn’t allowed the basic right to feeling. Be it anger or sadness, he denied himself to feel anything. He needed to be calm, composed and always smiling. If he allowed himself to succumb to such emotions it only went to show that he was weak.

His heart was already hammering in his chest from all that frustration but when his eyes met her's, it felt as though his heart would jump right through his ribcage.

Y/N stood a few feet away from him, momentarily freezing in her tracks and Neteyam did what he always did when he ran into her by himself:

Turn and go the other way.

This time though, plagued with indignation, he proceeded to scoff before he turned his back on her, a gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by Y/N.

Y/N's jaw was agape. He had some nerve to run into her, proceed to very obviously turn away from her and then scoff at her, unprovoked.

"Okay, I've had enough of you" she snapped, walking faster to catch up with the older boy who had no intention of stopping until he was far away from her "what exactly is your problem?"

Neteyam ignored her, picking up pace in a desperate attempt to be rid of her.

Y/N, as he knew, wasn’t one to back down and much to his dismay she followed him all the way to the beach. Despite his silence, she continued to babble, taunting him with ever passing second until he lost it with her too.

"Fuck! What is wrong with everyone today?" he snapped, finally turning to look at her. Just as he suspected, she was taken aback by his tone.

"You don’t get to act like an ass and then talk to me like that" her voice despite showing no lack of rage, failed to fully mask the pain she was feeling. Overcome with a wave of emotions that she'd suppressed for all these years, she allowed herself to just blurt all of it out "you one day wake up and decide you’re too good for me? Running away from me like some immature child.. why'd you initially act like you cared if you didn’t to begin with-"

"Oh great mother, I've had it! With Lo'ak and now you" Neteyam never allowed himself to act whilst hot-headed but he had reached his limit of tolerance for the day "how dare you say that I never cared about you. You have no idea-"

"Cut the bullshit Neteyam. If anything, I was the only one who cared between us" Y/N was merely annoyed at him but now she was outright furious. This boy really had the guts to argue that he cared about her despite his contradicting behaviour that he'd been exhibiting for the past six years "is this how you show people you care? By walking out of their lives?

"Do you know what I went through during those two days when you were recovering? When you were unconscious and Norm had the fucking balls to tell me to say my goodbyes because there was a high chance you wouldn’t make it, instead of going back in there and doing something to prevent that from happening?" Neteyam's chest rose and fell rapidly as he continued, his breaths slowly coming out in pants from all that yelling but he needed her to hear it once and for all. He could endure the name-calling and the verbal altercations but an accusation that stated he never cared about her? That was where he drew the line.

"For a moment I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and then I actually stopped for a few seconds, driving myself into a full blown panic attack. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, not then and not ever" He appreciated her silence as he continued, her expression slowly softening "I-I grew so attached to you that I needed you more than air. And as scary as that was, the heightened dependency on you and how strongly I felt for you, there was something else that was even scarier"

Neteyam dared to look into her eyes, something he avoided for years now. They glowed in the light of eclipse, those flecks of lilac even more prominent during this hour.

"I didn’t really know it at the time, how deep my feelings were but I knew that I had fallen for you. While I waited outside that tent in which you were, machines and wires all around you, I couldn’t eat or sleep or even think about anything that didn’t lead back to you and it terrified me, caring for something so much it..it.." He tore his gaze away from her, now feeling very small in her presence after being so vulnerable with her "but what terrified me even more was, you being in there because of me. You cared about me to a point where you took a bullet for me, to a point where you put your own life on the line. And so I..I.."

"What are you saying?" Y/N softly asked, eyes looking up at Neteyam who shied away under her gaze.

"I protect, that’s all I know and when I couldn’t protect you, someone I loved so so much it just felt like a stab to the heart" he could practically feel her gaze burning into him but he still couldn’t look at her, not just yet "you sacrificing yourself.. I didn’t know what I would do if lost you. When Tuk ran out, screaming that you'd woken up I felt like I could at last breath but then there was a thought looming over my head: What if something like this happened again? I didn’t want you putting yourself in harms way because of me. I needed you not to care about me, so that you wouldn’t put yourself in the same situation. That’s why I did what I did; I cut myself off, It’s my way of protecting you"

Y/N blinked, not a single word leaving her lips.

A few seconds of silence passed by but to Neteyam it felt like hours and the silence was getting unbearable.

"Say something" he pleaded, finally turning to look at he. He was half expecting her to be teary-eyed, maybe a smile or something on her face after he said all of that but to his surprise she stood there with her brows scrunched in confusion.

"You don’t get to decide that all of that shit you did was out of protectiveness" she snapped, finger jabbing at Neteyam's chest.

"Huh?" The boy shook his head and blinked twice to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Was this really her reaction? "Did you hear anything of what I just said?"

"You don't get to decide what’s right for me and just shun me away." she continued to jab, her piercing gaze never wavering "You took everything we had and just threw it away because you thought that that would protect me? That your sudden closed off nature would keep me from ever running to your aid if you found yourself in trouble? Do you hear how stupid you sound?"

"I did it for you!" Neteyam grabbed her wrist, the jabbing getting a little too annoying for him to tolerate.

"I didn’t ask for it.. I didn’t want it!" Y/N tried to shove him with her other hand but Neteyam easily caught it, now holding on to both her wrists to keep her from anymore attacks "If I run in between you and a gunman that is my choice, I did it then and I'd do it again if i have to. I didn’t need you to do any of this"

"But-"

"I liked what we had, I liked you but you ruined everything" Y/N's voice faltered for the first time in the presence of someone other than her own family. She knew she was about to cry, that was something she couldn’t hold back any more. She'd done so for six years but still, she didn’t want him seeing her crumble like this. She rested her forehead against his chest to keep her face out of his view, sniffling as she tried her best to keep her voice steady "for once Neteyam, stop thinking so much about what might be good for someone else and start doing what is good for you"

He placed her hands on his torso before he let go of her wrists. Suddenly he was a boy again, the same one who yearned for those innocent touches from Y/N. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, holding her awkwardly since he wasn’t sure how she'd react to being hugged.

"Did you want all of this?" She backed up slightly to look at him which caused his hands to drop around her waist. Her eyes were brimmed with tears that streamed down her cheeks when she blinked. Neteyam brought one hand up to wipe away the tears, heart shattering at the fact that he was the reason behind them. She didn’t resist his touch but she did repeat herself, emphasising on a particular word "did you want all of this?"

Of course he didn’t. Neteyam dreaded the idea of seeing her but not being able to touch her. Hearing her laugh and knowing he was no longer the cause of it. Accidentally looking into her eyes and then forcing himself to look away to avoid his feelings from growing. To then someday watch her slip away from completely, to watch her mate with someone who wasn’t him.

Did you want all of this?

"No"

[punishing-eden]

Hello. I'm sorry if this is sudden but I was wondering if you took story requests and if you do, could you make a platonic Dan heng IL story with the reader being the child of his previous incarnation and with the reader still being quite young and Jing Yuan is the one to tell Dan Heng about them even though he's only met them a couple and doesn't know them personally, but Jing Yuan felt like Dan Heng had the right to know about the reader especially after the reader had an encounter with Blade. (If this is too much or if you don't do requests that's completely understandable and I wish you a good day/afternoon and or night😊)

Author's Notes:

Hi, I haven't done the latest Trailblazer mission yet. But my stupid ass, low-key, accidentally spoiled myself with the whole thing about Blade :') . So, I guess I can give this a go.

Tbh, I am not a lore person when it comes to Hoyoverse. For me, it's too confusing and convoluted. I just pay attention to the details in the story and reread character lines over and over again to get their speech patterns.😅😅😅

I hope for the best.

Also…is this Dad!Dan Heng, or Creator!Dan Heng?

-Punishing Eden

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

His Legacy…

Dan Heng x Child!Reader (Ft. Jing Yuan & Bailu)

Summary:

Before Dan Heng leaves, he learns of your existence; his next of kin from his previous incarnate. Despite not harbouring much memories or parental familiarity, Dan Heng wants to see you one last time.

Tags: Lore (that I only know 10% about), platonic, parental relationship, request, one-shot, potential spoilers, possible ooc, canon divergent, request

It was a risk.

With every decision made, there’s always a risk. And, Jing Yuan knows that, by releasing the Stellaron Hunter; by the name of, “Blade”, was definitely a risk.

“General… are you sure we should do this?” Yanqing had expressed his concern, yet, for the General, Jing Yuan continued to execute his plan. Knowing, if everything is under control, the fruition will worth the risk.

Jing Yuan had given precaution to each step along the way. However, he never anticipated that the Stellaron Hunter would have other plans of his own.

___

“Who are you?”, you asked, looking at a man with a nonchalant, yet, troubled look.

Blade looked at you. The colours of his irises swirled. He didn't answer, as his dark presense towers over you.

Troubled, as if he was baring all the burden on his shoulders. Troubled, as if he held onto the anguish and hatred of the past. Troubled, as if he holding on to a thin line between ‘monster’ and ‘man’; of what is left of his sanity.

___

The guilt weighed on Jing Yuan when he had heard of your encounter with Blade. Were the precautions not enough? We're his predictions not good enough?

The General recalled, how the Master Diviner had given him a warning, prior, to the operation.

“Was it worth, to put so much risk to simply catch the Stellaron Hunter, Kafka?” Fu Xuan asked, she made her disapproval as clear as day.

"Nothing can escape destiny and fate..." Fu Xuan's voice rang in Jing Yuan's ears.

Maybe, despite all the precaution that were made, your encounter with Blade was inevitable. And, maybe it was also fate that brought Dan Heng back to Luofu.

“Dan Feng…” Jing Yuan began, “I see that you have finally returned to Luofu.”

“Dan Feng?” Dan Heng questioned, amused by how Jing Yuan called him by his previous name, “I don’t go by that name anymore… everything is in the past, I see no need to look back.”

Hearing what Dan Heng had said, brought a frown on Jing Yuan’s face. However, the General nodded. He accepted the fact; what had happen centuries ago was of a tragic demise. Done, out of the succumb of “immortality”.

___

“You’re hurt…” you said, trying to grab the man’s bandaged hand, “Lady Bailu can help you.” You offered.

Before you could wrap your tiny fingers around Blade’s hand, he immediately pushed you away. His eyes stared with intensity, seemingly glowing at the sight of his target. His chest heaved, as he felt his throat tensed up at the bubbling emotions of anger emerging.

Looking at the small child getting up from the ground, Blade fixated his gaze on you, as if he was planning to strike his next move. His grip held onto his sword tightly.

___

“Indeed, the past is the past, but…” Jing Yuan said, “ the legacy of your former self, will continue over the centuries to come, Dan Heng.”

He hinted something to Dan Heng.

“Whether you, like it or not…” Jing Yuan added.

Dan Heng’s foot step paused. There was a small weight in his heart. Was it something he did, when he was still Dan Feng? He turned around to look at Jing Yuan, the memories swirled in Dan Heng’s mind, trying to comprehend the muddled and missing pieces of the image of you. An sleeping child, hibernating until it was time for you to be awaken from your birth.

“… [Y/N]…?” He spoke of your name.

___

He lifted his arm up, the cracks on his sword glowed, as he looked down at you with an intense gaze. At that moment, Blade had felt he had snapped. He wasn’t a “man”, but a “monster” blinded my his emotions.

The animalistic growl grumbled from his throat, the anticipation of spilling crimson right before his eyes when he brings his arm down. Yet, his arm remain frozen. Your cries began to alert the guards of Bailu’s estate.

Blade struggled against his mind. Your childish cries was giving him a headache. “…Just…a…small…child…” He mumbled to himself.

“Who’s there?” The guards came running to your direction, “It’s him! The Stellaron Hunter! Quick, alert Lady Bailu!”

“Tsk..”Blade clicked his tongue. Without a word, he fled.

___

“[Y/N].” Dan Heng said.

You looked up at him. Your creator, that you never knew.

Without saying anything, you handed him a cup of tea, before returning to Bailu’s side. Warm light illuminated the living room of Bailu’s house.

“Do you know how tiring it is to look after this child, General?” she complained, “how long will you be keeping this child with me?”

Jing Yuan chuckled, “I understand, Lady Bailu. You have ‘just’ been through a rebirth, and I am certain that having a child under your care while still being…quite young…is tiresome.” The general took a sip of the tea, avoiding certain words, “But, please bare with this arrangement for a little longer. Until the time is right, you will be free of such services.”

Bailu was a little surprised, “W-wait!? What does that mean?!”

“Why do you sound like I want to get rid of this child?” Bailu accused.

”Oh?” Jing Yuan held a surprised look, “Was that not what you ask for?”

“I mean…yes, it will be less of a burden to have this child under my care... But, I have taught a few things about medicine to this child…” the dragon girl said, thinking of a excuse, “…so it will be a loss of my effort if the child leaves so soon. How are you going to compensate that?! ” She crossed her arms.

Dan Heng continued to look at you. You were at a corner playing by yourself. The way you look, the expression and features, were a reflection of him. Dan Feng, your creator, your father.

He let out a heavy sigh. There was a part of him, that wants to engage with you. There were so many things he wanted to say, to do, and to ask of you. Yet, the lack of familiarity and parental feelings for you, made him hesitate.

“…well, it will be quite some time before further arrangements can be made on the child’s welfare…” Jing Yuan grabbed his chin, a mock gesture to convince Bailu to fall through his plan.

“As I thought, General,” Bailu scoffed, “Now, if you are not asking for prescriptions or diagnosis, leave.”

“Yes, of course. Are you alright with that?” Jing Yuan looked at Dan Heng, who’s eyes were fixed on you.

He snapped out of it and replied, “…Yes, I am ready to go. The Astral Express will be leaving soon.”

“We’ll see you both out… [Y/N], the guest are leaving.” Bailu hopped off her chair. She gently took your hand and walked Jing Yuan and Dan Heng to the door.

Both men looked back as they walked out. Dan Heng gave you one last look. You were waving goodbye at him. With Bailu, the Elder High of the Vidyadhara, as your guardian. He knew you are in good hands.

The front gates closed. The image of you disappeared behind the structure with along with Bailu.

That was the last time, Dan Heng saw of you.

(C) Punishing Eden

[st-dorothy-minority]

Tell me the song "Enemy" by Imagine Dragons isn't Lucifer singing his pain.

I'm trying to cook up an idea where he just reaches his breaking point. He's done having people walk all over him, his own inner demons finally take over and cause him to lose his sanity. If everyone believes he's so evil, he'll start playing the part and make everyone suffer with him.

(still working on how to get Alastor/Lucifer in there 😅)

--------

I wake up to the sounds of the silence that allows

For my mind to run around, with my ear up to the ground

I'm searching to behold the stories that are told

When my back is to the world that was smiling when I turned

Tell you you're the greatest

But once you turn, they hate us

Oh, the misery

Everybody wants to be my enemy

Spare the sympathy

Everybody wants to be my enemy

(Look out for yourself)

My enemy

(Look out for yourself)

But I'm ready

Your words up on thе wall as you're prayin' for my fall

And the laughter in thе halls and the names that I've been called

I stack it in my mind, and I'm waiting for the time

When I show you what it's like to be words spit in a mic

Tell you you're the greatest

But once you turn, they hate us (Ha)

Oh, the misery

Everybody wants to be my enemy

Spare the sympathy

Everybody wants to be my enemy

(Look out for yourself)

My enemy

(Look out for yourself)

They say pray it away

I swear, that I'll never be a saint, no way

A chair in the corner is my place, I stay

I shake and I think about the powers at play, the powers at play

And the kids in the dark, they were doomed from the start

The child in the basement, face to the pavement

Oh, what a statement, love is embracement

Love is a constant, love is a basis

He cannot be, she cannot be, they cannot be changed

But keep on praying

Goodbye

[msookyspooky]

Fours a Franchise

Chapter 1

wordcount: 9,188

  

"What? No, I'm not doing it Rebecca! I told you already that I changed my mind-" 

"Yn, it's your last stop for the year! Do you know how insightful and inspiring it will be for the survivor to go back to where it all happened? Think of the book sales!" 

You paced your hotel room with your phone in hand. "I'm thinking of more than book sales, Rebecca…Like my sanity, my life, my-" 

"Okay, okay." She interrupted you over the phone. "But as your publicist, your assistant, the head coach of your career AND your number one cheerleader-" You rolled your eyes as she continued. "I'm HIGHLY suggesting you do this book signing." 

You blinked at the window. A huge high rise overlooking a bustling city, a far cry from your humble dwellings you were used to. "Are you suggesting this as my assistant or ordering me as my publicist?" You could hear the edge to your own voice as you felt your mouth twist into a frown.

"Hey, now. I work for you, remember? Bbuuttt, I know what sells. I mean…Let's face it, your um…Side novels were not what people wanted, sweetie. I've been right this far and look! Enjoying a cup of tea before Good Morning America last week! We even got you on Larry King, YN! Life is good so why mess it up over a town that has been a complete bore for over a decade?" You sighed and shifted your weight as she continued. "People love a survivor! They don't want to read a campy fantasy; they want reality. Out of Darkness. YN. The survivor. The fighter. 15 years of horror she faced. 18, 20, 23 were the tender ages she faced down homicidal maniacs some of which were betrayed friends. Trauma, guilt, hatred, fear and she faced it all-"

"Tone down the sales pitch. I'm aware of what I went through, just…Why this town? I've been traveling for weeks on end! Why do I have to go back THERE?" 

"And you can take a break after this one!…Now, it doesn't look very convincing that you're 'Out of Darkness' if you're not willing to go back to the place that Darkness came from to sign some simple books, hmm? It could plummet book sales, appearances, and your followers if you tell them you refuse to go back to Woodsboro…Oh, that reminds me; I need to update your Facebook page for tomorrow." 

Silence stretched on as you stared out your hotel's huge glass window at the world around you. Rebecca Walter's continued with what you could only describe as her customer service voice. Aka her 'We're done talking about this' voice. "...Okay! Your plane leaves at 6 tomorrow morning and I'll pick you up in the rental car to get to your hometown." 

You exhaled in exasperation. "It's not really my hometown. I wasn't even there a year." 

"Right, right. Anyways, get some beauty sleep and I'll call you in the morning. By-ee!" She sang out as she hung up. 

You sighed deeply, staring out at the big city around you. It should be exciting, new, wonderful but all it did was make you feel small and out of place…

Focusing on your reflection staring back at you; You still looked the same that you did 10 years ago as far as aging went but your hair was more modernized for 2011 millennial input. Recommended by who else but Rebecca. You didn't hate it but you felt out of place sometimes. Same with the bandage style bodycon dresses or pleated skirts or peplum tops and not to mention the too high stiletto pumps or the clunky jewelry all in colors you didn't like. It wasn't you. No matter your original style, this style was just to appease the masses that you had your shit together. 

You frowned at your own reflection. It had only been a little over a year ago that you were 'highly suggested' by your publicist to write 'Out of Darkness'. The title wasn't your idea, the photo on the front made you look like a damn Céline Dion CD cover and the lies that you had everything figured out enough to help others overcome trauma made you nauseated. Rehashing your worst times in life endlessly with a forced smile to a bunch of eager listeners with hopeful eyes in your direction that everything gets better…It really didn't; not for you. You just made the best of it. It felt like you were lying to them even if it was white lies to help others feel better.

You watched people walking on the busy street, the entire city lit up as you reminisced…You sometimes wondered if Sidney or Tatum had taken your place; what would they do? You knew Tatum would adore being a minor celebrity and probably get on some reality show or do interviews willingly to fit the lifestyle even more. You could hear her saying "If I'm gonna be traumatized; I'm gonna be traumatized with Gucci." 

Sidney probably would have genuinely believed in what she was doing and would move on. She would feel a purpose to help and inspire others. You wanted to be like that, be like Sidney would be. Hell, even be like Tatum. But the fact was; you weren't Sidney or Tatum. Your mom wasn't murdered by those two. Even if Sid and Tat were your friends…You had to accept the fact that Stu was partially right all those years ago in his own fucked up way. It was horrible what happened to them and to you and you will never forgive Billy and Stu for what they had done but the resentment you had for them wasn't comparable to Sidney's hatred after she found out who had killed her mother and best friend. Her Mom being made into a massacre that poor Sidney and Neil had to find was enough to make her ready to bludgeon her boyfriend to death with a lamp had you not stopped her… Sidney WOULD feel a great sense of duty to her mom and herself to help others overcome these types of situations. You wanted to as well but something in you didn't feel it…Maybe it was guilt? Or maybe what you lacked in life because of it? Mark wasn't here and you never got to find out if it could've worked with him or anyone else for that matter, friends outside the Woodsboro Survivors were nonexistent, and you felt alone in all of this. The secret felt like the heaviest burden on your shoulders you just couldn't shake.

With a heavy sigh; You pulled the curtains on the window to stop the bright city lights from pouring in. 

You walked to the bathroom to shower. Stripping off and looking at your body in the mirror. A scar on your left shoulder and your upper arm was the first to catch your gaze. One on your right forearm and one on your right hand where Neil stabbed you a decade ago. You went to make a fist and your right hand's middle finger and the ring finger trembled to form a fist fully. Not tightly closing as you clutched it in your other hand and looked away. Stepping into the hotel's shower and closing your eyes under the water. You let the water wash over your body as you thought of the last 10 years…How the hell did you end up here?

You faced the wall and leaned your head forward and let the water run down your back. Going from a normalish girl wearing what you wanted and no one knowing you as long as you didn't say your name; to trying to keep up with the kids and the Kardashians and EVERYONE recognizing you... From an isolated cabin to tv appearances nationwide.

'God, I can't believe Stu's ass hasn't barked up my tree after seeing me on TV….' You thought. Even if the malice you should have just wasn't there. You didn't even know if Stu or Billy were even alive or not.

You eventually turned off your water the more your mind wandered to places you didn't want to dwell on. Drying off before doing your nightly routine and getting ready for bed. You checked your phone to see no texts or missed calls from Randy or Dewey and your heart sank a little. Especially since you had to text or call them more often then they did you these days. You knew life was busy. God, did you ever know how busy life could be flying across the country routinely. However, you went from nightly calls from them both, to now, you were lucky to get a call once a month and even then that was usually phone tag with you calling them or them calling you. All of you are just too busy with life now.

You sat your phone down on the nightstand and laid your head down on your pillow. 

'I guess that's a part of growing up…People drift. It's like the trauma was what held us together and the more they move on; the less we need each other.' 

You felt your throat burn a little just thinking that thought before tightly closing your eyes. 

'Or the less they need me like I do them…'

———————————–—–—––––––––––

It was almost afternoon as you sat in the rental car's passenger seat. A picture of your aging Cherri on your screen. Your childhood cat that lived with your family passed away a few years back but you still had Cherri. A trusted family member was happy to take your extremely elderly dog in while you traveled. You swore to yourself you'd spend her final year or two with her instead of traveling for this dumb book signing. This was the last stop and then you were having a little chat with Rebecca.

 "Just text. I mean, you have a Droid. It's not 2005 anymore." Rebecca muttered as she eyed you.

"I know, I love this thing. But I still like calling." You admitted. It was SO much nicer than clicking each number anywhere from 2 to 4 times to get the letter you wanted. You hardly ever texted until you got your phone with an extended keyboard…You still kept the model Mark gave you as a keepsake at home. But a flip phone just wasn't going to cut it anymore.

"That's nothing, you'd die of overload with an Iphone." 

You huffed while calling Randy. "Who wants a phone with a touch screen you have to protect? And the screen is tiny too. I say it's just a fad and they'll die out in a year or two…"

"So, who are you calling up?"

You faltered as you heard Randy's voicemail after multiple rings. "…Well that sucks."

"What? Something wrong?" 

 You frowned as you looked at your phone. "Well, I tried calling Randy but he didn't answer and I don't want to call his house phone and bother his family this early…. There's Dewey." 

You pressed speed dial for him. Just to frown when it went straight to voicemail after a few rings as well. "...Which is apparently on duty." You drew out with a breath of air past your lips in exasperation. "So now, it's Gale." 

"Who?" 

"Gale Riley." You glanced at Rebecca. "Maiden name; Weathers." 

Her face lit up. "Oohh, god yeah! She was such a boss back in the day! Kid me had, like, starry eyes seeing her on tv." 

You smiled and held up a finger as Rebecca nodded while driving. Just when you saw the interstate sign pointing West to Woodsboro. 

It rang one time before she picked up.

"Hey, Gale? Everything okay? Kind of picked up real quickly there." You mumbled.

"What? Oh yeah, just…Writing my next book! I'm so busy with it. Halfway there. And my phone was beside me so… " 

"Oh, totally get it." You smiled to yourself knowing that the computer screen was blank and she was desperate for a distraction. You continued. "I tried calling Dewey but he didn't answer." 

"Oh, yeah…Sheriff Dewey is a very busy man." She muttered. 

"Yeah. So, if he panics later just let him know I was just reminding him I'm visiting Woodsboro today." 

"Today?" 

"Book Signing. " You felt uneasy as the 'Welcome to Woodsboro' sign came into view. "I'll be doing the signing at noon and was wondering if I could visit? I haven't even seen your place yet. It's only been what? 9 years of owning it?" 

Gale released an amused huff on the other line. "Yeah, something like that. I'll text you the address." 

"Thanks. And could I get Randy too? You know he only brings the family my way. I know it a little but I need a refresher because it's just a street away from his parents but I swear to god all those houses look alike." 

"Yeah, I'll send it your way…Listen, it's fine if you're too busy. So am I, obviously, but maybe we could get coffee? I've been dying to shit talk to somebody about this one pushy tart deputy at Dewey's work that keeps buttering him up with treats. Guess what? They taste like cardboard…" She was silent a moment before saying. "...Well…Unless you're running out of here as soon as you can. Been a long time since you stepped foot in this town." 

You sighed as houses came into view. "...No, I'm staying at least till the first kill." You deadpanned, no real humor in your voice.

"Yeah right. I'll see you later. Dewey's going to be over the moon when he finds out his surrogate sister's in town." 

You didn't know if that was sarcasm or genuine. You and Gale were not best friends by a long shot. Not even good friends. Honestly, sometimes you fight like two divorced parents trying to play nice while sharing custody of the kid aka Dewey. And yet, sometimes you both were the only company you had these days.

You listened to Rebecca talking aimlessly about nothing in particular as she drove. You sat in the passenger seat and suddenly it was like you were a 17 year old girl again…

 The memory played out in your head. Your family tried engaging with you as you sat there solemnly in the backseat. Torn up at leaving your old life behind for this place. You could just reimagine the view from the back window; looking at the town you only visited for your grandparents every so often. You dreaded being at a new school at the end of your Junior year. But your grandparent had a health scare and it was closer to your parent's work so you really had no choice in the matter when your folks decided to move there. Any other issues in life pertaining to you or your parents lives just sealed the deal for them even more.

You shook your head slightly with a forlorn expression when you both passed the school…Still the same after 15 years. In your mind's eyes, you could picture Tatum laughing and walking beside Sidney out of the bustling building. You closed your eyes a moment, imagining them waving at you as you passed by before opening them again. An ache in your chest slowly formed…You truthfully hadn't thought of your old friends in a decent amount of time but coming back here just seemed to resurface old wounds. It was so easy to be back in time to 1996. Preferably the Summer before your senior year. You were young and carefree as any teen could try to be. James being a new boyfriend that wasn't abusive yet. Sidney and Billy seemed in love and Tatum was freshly dating Stu. Randy making you laugh or roll your eyes at him at the video store, chilling with Tatum and Sidney at their houses or yours. Watching movies with Stu and Billy who at the time seemed like normal guys that genuinely loved their girlfriends and were just good friends with you…

You glanced at the car's mirror. Your sad face staring back at you and suddenly reality was crashing into you that most of your memories of that group weren't as real as you wanted them to be as far as Billy and Stu were involved as well as what followed just a few short months later. From James, to the strain on your group's friendships, to the very obvious reason why the tension was happening being revealed at the party that night…Those moments of naive bliss you had prior you would never, ever get back.

Rebecca rambled while you were in your own world. "So anyways, I told him he's a complete tool. Because, come on. How can this not be a good sales pitch, am I right?...YN? Hellooo?" 

You jolted slightly as you realized she was directly talking to you and not herself. "Huh? Sorry, just…Getting lost in thought. I haven't been here in 15 years. I literally moved away not even 2 weeks after…Well…You know what happened." 

"Okay, speaking of which. I know your character in Stab was with them-" 

"Right." 

"And you were not, based on your court case I read about." 

"Yes." 

"Sooo…"

"Yes?" You asked with a raised brow.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way but both of those guys were kind of hot for freaking seniors. I'm not a pedo or cradle robber, I'm just saying! I mean, if I had two guys that cute that were obsessed with me in high school? Murderers or not, I'd think about it…So, did you ever think they were attractive? Ever?" 

You felt the silence in the car. You wanted to be normal. To just admit that yes, they were attractive, their shitty personalities and selfish choices were what sucked but you were attracted to them. Who wasn't at the time? They were two of the most popular and arguably better looking guys in school that hung out with you. You got hateful looks your way just as much as Sidney and Tatum did. It's why the rumors about you were so easily spread. One day when you were talking to Stu in the hallway, him leaning over you with his arm on the locker as you tried to move away from him flirting because he was just recently dating Tatum but you know Casey saw it. Her locker was just down the hall. You were sure even if she broke up with him; seeing him so hyper fixated on you instead of still being hung up on her bruised her ego enough to spread the nasty rumors about you. James was threatened by them as well for the same reason…They were sought after in Woodsboro. So finding out they both were secretly in love with you had you so shocked it ALMOST rivaled the shock of them being the Woodsboro killers…Almost. You wanted so badly to just admit it and have girl talk you didn't get with anyone else.…But considering your trial in the past and the people online trying to dig up your case again; you trusted no one with that info. Especially a fame mongerer like Rebecca. 

"They were alright looking, I guess. " You lied with a nonchalant shrug and redirected it. "Nothing to excuse them from being monsters." 

Rebecca scoffed. "Well duh, they were! Please, they may have not been the nicest but that Billy looked like Johnny Depp and the other guy-" 

"Stu." You knew he'd just about shove Rebecca out of the moving car if he was here.

"- He wasn't bad looking either, I guess. Not my type but apparently he dated some of the most popular girls of Woodsboro High so he had something going for him." 

"Yeah, he was charming and popular and used it to manipulate people." 

"But you seriously didn't want them at all before the murders?  You had to have at least looked or thought about it. I mean, these two guys were obsessed-" 

"With getting their way no matter what." You interrupted her. "Besides, they were dating my best friends and I had a boyfriend at the time. I had no interest in them.

She gave you a once over from her seat. Looking like she wanted to say something before her mouth dropped. She pulled up to the bookstore and your heart sank.

 "Oh crap." Rebecca grumbled. Pulling in as you froze in your seat 

A handful of people with signs screaming at you with signs. Your picture is marked out on a few or 'guilty' written in bold red letters designed to look like blood. You even saw a few of Tatum, Sidney, Casey or Steven with their names and the word 'justice' written on them.

"Okay, just hold your head high and ignore them…You'd think the least they could do is have police here. What else do these small town feds have to do but shovel donuts in their mouths and bust some crack heads here and there?" She grumbled while undoing her belt.

You swallowed, slightly taken aback yourself that Dewey wouldn't be here to rally them away. Looking up to see rows and rows of Ghostfaces on the pole lights near the store. "I'd say damn kids with that-" You pointed, letting your finger fall as you gave a wary look to the small angry crowd. "But…The adults are acting kind of ridiculous too…Isn't this welcoming." You sarcastically mumbled, feeling your anxiety creeping in.

Rebecca shoved her door open. "Screw this, I am NOT having these frigging freeloaders hogging the media attention I-…We worked for!" She slammed her door shut as you gave a shaky sigh. 

Rebecca made a wide gesture to the angry crowd trying to boycott your book and you. Still convinced in the conspiracy theory that you actively helped Billy and Stu and you just got away with murder and were now profiting off of it. 

You were scared of crowds like this just as much as Ghostface. Especially after you almost died from a crazed conspiracy nut seeking 'justice' more than a decade ago. Despite that, you sucked in a breath and got out of the car.

Rebecca grabbed you and led you by the shoulder as you just prayed no one had a gun. 

You heard "Murderer", "We don't want you here", "Leave Woodsboro" as you walked by the 8 to 10 people protesting. Rebecca said a nasty remark back as you said nothing. Numb to it at this point as your assistant slammed the door shut.

"I'm gonna rip the owner a new ass for not handling that. Wasn't me threatening his cat over your set up not enough?!" She marched away as you saw the people still holding up signs, chanting at your picture on the store window. Rebecca slammed a door to a backroom looking for the owner.

You ran a hand over your face, already eager to get the hell out of this town. It wasn't like you didn't have naysayers in other towns but this one felt different…It felt worse.

 An orange cat eyed you curiously from the desk across the room. Leisurely lounging and looking rather plump and content with itself but watching your every move. You walked over to pet it but it jumped off the desk and ran behind a bookshelf.

'You too, huh?' You thought before you went over and sank into a seat at the table you'd have your books signed at.  Staring down at yourself on the cover. You wanted to go home already. YOUR home. Away from people and bullshit like this. Be with your very small inner circle, your aging dog, your small comforts. Anything but this.

Your thoughts were interrupted as a man cleared his throat and you flinched in response. Fearful a protestor got in and could be holding a gun to your head for all you know.

"YN, I'm such a big fan...So hey, can I get some special friends discount or something? By that, I mean, free?" 

You faltered, slowly looking up to see a man's belt and white button down shirt…Your eyes roamed higher to see a green sweater over top of it near your white table in front of you. Your eyes traveled more as a relieved smile slowly stretched over your face. 

"Ray." 

He grinned down at you. A light stubble on his filled out face. A few pounds gained since you were in your early 20's but still some muscle there too. You were sure he still worked out even after physical therapy just not as much with his busy schedule. His hair was in the same volumized, fluffy swept back style he had in Hollywood, just shorter or thinner with age.

He grinned as you stood up. Not having seen him face to face for almost a year as awful as it sounded. 

Randy remarked. "I never thought I'd see you back in this shithole. I mean, you're star status now." 

You gave a chuckle and walked over to hug him. He hugged you back, holding onto you for a few moments before you gently pulled away a bit. "Yeah, whether I like it or not." You replied unable to help looking at the crowd and he put a hand on your shoulder to look back at him instead.

"Hey, screw them. You've came a long way and they don't know what the fuck their even yelling about…" His eyes trailed down with raised brows as he fully pulled away. "And then there's…You." He huffed with a bemused smirk.  "Wow, you in heels is an eerie sight from your usual woman of the woods get up." 

"Oh, shut up." 

"No, seriously. Did you raid Gale Weathers closet?" 

"Ugh, do not compare me to Gale. " You grumbled with a huff.

"Or what? You can't give me pain anymore, Mistress. My wife will have a say in that." He showed his wedding band for emphasis.

You rolled your eyes playfully. "I think if you annoy her as much as you annoyed me in the past; she'll make the exception."

"Not if you're dressed like your going to Fashion Week, she won't. She wouldn't even recognize you if she walked by the window." 

You shoved away from him lightly. "Oh God, stop. Seriously, it's just heels…Your just mad it makes me taller-" 

You went to measure your height with a devious grin, doing the same thing you did at college before that party until he smacked your hand away with a small puff of air escaping past his lips.

He took you in again, his smile fading before shaking his head slightly with a smile. "Seriously though, you look good! Really! It's just so…So-" 

"Different?" You asked with a raise of your brow before your face fell ever so slightly. "Yeah. It's not exactly what I wear on the regular…But…I'm a product and the packaging is what sells. " You gave with a bitter smirk.

His mouth parted as he stared at you. The teasing gone from his face as looked at you. "...Is…Is everything okay? Are you happy with all of this?" He gestured to the table with all the copies of your books. 

You almost told him the truth but quickly forced a smile and shook your head. "No, I'm okay. I'm just…I'm grateful. I mean, I'm privileged with the opportunities given to me from very less than ideal circumstances. I guess…Just wish I could wear a comfortable dress boot with the leaves turning soon." You lost your smile to ask him the same question. "And you? Are you happy with everything?...It's been awhile since we talked. Like, really 'talked' talked face to face." 

He faltered as well before giving a 'pssh' noise between his lips and an outrageous smile. "Of course! I have a beautiful wife that is way out of my league but still stuck it out with me. Two wonderful kids that are everything to me. A house right here in my hometown, I can walk and move like I was never in a coma from being stabbed over a dozen times, I'm freaking alive for god sakes!…No…Life threatening Incidents in a decade. Life is good!" 

You didn't believe that as he folded his arms and closed himself off as he spoke to you. Your brows rose slightly as you softly asked. "Well…And the video store? Everything okay?"

"Yeah! Y-Yeah so great that I now have two businesses in town." 

"Really? Which one?" 

He gave a big gesture to the bookstore with a tight smile.

You gawked at him.  "...This? YOU'RE the bookstore owner Rebecca talked to earlier?!" 

"Yep. She is a very unpleasant woman, by the way." 

Your face scrunched as it dawned on you. "Wait, why didn't you tell me you owned the store I was scheduled at? Why didn't you tell me about the bookstore in general??" 

He sighed heavily. "I was going to but I've been so busy lately. Seriously, I hope my kids remember I'm their Dad at this point." He faltered before his shoulders sagged. "And…I guess I just didn't exactly want to brag I own not one but TWO pieces of shit businesses now. Thank God for Karla's job at the bank." 

"What? Ray, is everything okay financially? Are you and Karla okay?...I know life got away from us but you know you can still tell me anything…Right?" 

Randy stared with a harsh swallow and frown. A protester got extra loud outside enough to break the silence as Randy rolled his eyes, walked to the store's window, and  jerked down a curtain to hide you both from view. He continued as he walked back towards you, arms falling at his sides. "We're okay but it's not…What I want for my family…I know you called and I missed it and I apologize for that. I almost called you back but I just decided I wanted to surprise you instead. I mean, you certainly surprised me with your Assistant putting your face on my store window!…Those assholes out there were not a part of the surprise, obviously. They just arrived 10 minutes ago... I'm sorry, I tried to threaten them with the police but they're not leaving until police arrive and APPARENTLY Woodsboro's finest have more important matters to attend to because dispatch will send an officer when they're 'available'." He rolled his eyes. "Thank fucking god no ones dying her or anything." 

You sighed. "I'm sure Dewey has a good reason for the lack of officers available. He's worried about my safety too." 

Randy nodded. "Yeah, I know…It's just we barely talk as is and then your welcome wagon is that? He couldn't have made sure to be here or send a deputy no matter what?" 

 "Don't worry about it. I've had worse…But back to you. If you're struggling then why do you own this too? What about the video store?" 

"It's…Tanking." He sighed out with a frown as he looked to the ground in shame. "I just came to look over this place instead of my employee Jenny because you were in town…AND she didn't show up to work today or call in. It's weird for her though; she's usually a pretty good employee…. But trust me, any other time, I'd love to be surrounded by films…People just don't rent movies anymore; not like they used to. When I bought the store from my older than dirt boss years back it was like a dream come true. 'Yes! I have something to rely on instead of some pencil pusher job for a boss somewhere!'." He mimicked excitement before dropping the act and slumping his posture. "… But I'm starting to think being my own boss isn't worth the hassle." 

"Was it really doing that bad?" You asked with a grimace. You looked around and saw Rebecca outside through a back window, stalking the yard. Still looking for Randy. Having gone out a back door, apparently.

Randy continued with a frown. "Yeah. The video store really did feel like something and…It's just fading to nothing. I mean, even Blockbusters are shutting down so how does the little man stand a chance? People are relying on that Netflix thing more and more every year. And this place feels like I invested in a steaming pile of crap too. I'm only supplying mostly romances to middle aged suburban housewives wanting to spice up their marriage. Seriously, none of these kids pick up Stephan King anymore. It's fucking sad." 

"Be honest. Did you read when you were a teen?" 

"ACTUALLY, I did." He gave with his arms folded and a smug look.

"Oh yeah? Comics don't count." 

"I'm telling you, I read! I was wise beyond my years." 

You released a huff of laughter at that. "AND reading for school projects doesn't count…Or Stephen King and Clive Barker's 3 books circulating in the library." 

He opened his mouth then closed it. "Ookkay, maybe I wasn't the biggest bookworm compared to my love for cinema but I did read. These kids today don't read books at all! I swear to god, if it's not on their phones or tablet; they don't look at it." 

You shrugged. "I think they read blogs and …Fanfiction online?" You drew out. Unsure if that was even the right term.  

Randy raised a brow  "What the hell is that?" 

You gave an exaggerated shrug.  "I don't know, I just know it wasn't popular when I was their age. I heard Rebecca talking about it with a friend. Something about someone made an erotic fanfiction of Twilight and Rebecca was trying to get a hold of the writer to get her to make a bdsm book about it next year?? I have no idea what the two have in common but I kind of want to look it up later out of morbid curiosity." 

"Weird. What? Is Bella gonna finally punish Edward for being a stalker? Or is a threesome finally gonna happen-" 

You cut him off, silently kicking yourself for bringing it up. "Randy, please. No Twilight rants. I KNOW you hate it." 

"It SUCKS, Yn. It's just some Mormon women's secret wet dream disguised as her inserting herself as Bella, I mean, what the fuck does a 100 something year old man want to do with a teenager anyways? What the hell could he have in common with a kid that doesn't even know what Zima is? And why is he so emotionally constipated with the personality of a rock? Isn't he trying to blend in with his alabaster marble like skin and bright fucking golden eyes? Furthermore, why is he at highschool? People graduate early, who the ever loving hell wants to be in high school forever? Worst years of my life aside from Middle school. And don't even get me started on the fucking sparkles and no drinking human blood!" He ranted a mile a minute.

You groaned softly to yourself and hung your head. "Oh god..." 

"Salem's Lot was a classic, Fright Night a masterpiece of 80s vampirism, The Lost Boys is still enjoyable to this day, John Carpenter's Vampires was kick ass, Near Dark which no one mentions despite it being one of the first western vampire films and having 3 great actors from Aliens! Alien was tremendously better, sequels suck, but that's besides the point!…And most of all, Dracula.. Don't even have to elaborate on that one. Okay, they were all vampire movies. Cold, undead, fanged up assholes that loved being a vampire. They LOVED drinking blood! What the fuck is the point-" 

"RANDY." You snapped before giving him a look. "I know, okay, I know!…Besides, why do you know so much about it if you hate it?" 

He wore a scowl on his face and looked away. "Because Karla's made me take her to see all 3 movies so far and guess what we're seeing this November?" 

You raised your brows with an amused smirk. "...Twilight Breaking Dawn?-" 

"Fucking Twilight Breaking Dawn" He answered before you could even get it out. 

You rolled your eyes playfully. "After all the cheap horror movies you probably have had her watch; it's the least you could do." 

"Yeah, yeah." He sighed out.

"THERE YOU ARE!" You both flinched at Rebecca's voice. "What half brained, idotic, little man are you that you can't do one simple thing; KEEP. THE POSITIVE SHINE. ON. YN. Do I gotta skin that cat or what?-" 

Randy held up his hands. "It's not even my cat, Lady! He just waltzed in one day and never left." 

You raised a brow. "So it IS your cat then?" 

Rebecca went to yell again and you held up a hand. "Rebecca! This is Randy!...Randy Meeks. The other Woodsboro survivor and my friend! Turns out, he's the owner." 

Randy gave her a sarcastic smile and wave as she faltered.

"...Oh." She straightened herself up. "Well then, you can still do something about that outside. Where are the cops?" She pointed to the protesters.

"I already called the cops and they're busy. What more do you want?" 

"BUSY?" She snapped before adjusting herself with a glare while marching out. "Want something done right…" She slammed the door as you both grimaced. 

Randy gave you a sideways glance. "I'd lecture her for slamming my door but I'm kind of afraid to." He looked at you. "Uh…Should we go help her? I mean, I'm the man here and she's just a tiny thing-" 

You chuckled sarcastically as he gave an offended look your way. "What? Okay, What YN?" 

"Sorry but you don't know Rebecca. She's like a fake splenda version of Gale; she'll be fine." You gestured to the door. "But I mean, go out there if you want. Since you're the man here and all."

He looked out the door of his shop and grimaced slightly. "Uhh…Nah. No, you need someone to protect you here more than Gale Jr. out there." 

You tilted your head with a smirk. "Oh, that's good. I feel so much safer with someone to protect me. My hand that was stabbed from fighting a man twice your size gives me trouble making a proper fist. And I get dizzy sometimes after another man punched me in the mouth and smashed my head into a bar. So, I'm so glad THE MAN is here to save me." 

Randy gave you a deadpan expression. "Bitch please, I was stabbed 14 times."

"And yet…What's your kill count? And who saved your ass multiple times? And remind me how many times you were the main target?" 

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. "I fucking held my own, smartass." 

" I know, just screwing with you for old time sake. Don't be mad, I know if a protester came in you'd be the first one to hit them." You chuckled and shook your head as you saw a bin of books on a nearby table. You picked one up and showed him. "We got at least 20 minutes till the book signing…What are these?" 

He huffed with folded arms but walked over to join you. "Those? Oh, books that aren't doing so hot. There from some lesser known authors that apparently aren't exactly best sellers." 

"Yet. It just takes one." You gave and Randy nodded. You picked a few. "Juliette Morris…J.R. Whitney…Summer Raine. Never heard of them." You picked one up and eyed the dark cover. "Robert Gray." You mumbled.

Randy gently took it from you to examine it. "Yeah, I was eyeing that one. Seems like a psychological thriller. Not my type of horror." 

You rolled your eyes. "I know, no blood or boobs, huh?" 

He put the book down. "I take offense to that. I'll have you know, I enjoy plot." 

"Uh huh. The plot of a big set of lungs running from some guy in a mask?" 

"Uh those are Classics; show some respect! "

"I don't have to respect shit when I lived through it." 

"Fair enough. But besides that, you know I actually do like plot to my movies. I'm not Stu-" He faltered. Both of you paused as he said it. You turned around and he shook his head with a bewildered expression. "Jesus, where'd that come from?" 

You stared a moment too, a bit of fear ran through you at the Randy even saying his name before you sighed with a shrug and a tight smile. "Well um…Bound to happen eventually, I guess. Me being back here, talking about horror movies with you like we were in high school again…It feels like we're at the video store and Stu's gonna come by any minute knocking over the vhs tapes just to irritate you while sticking his tongue out at me." 

He gave a look of disgust, a bit of uneasiness in his expression. "Can we please not talk about that reject? Slip of the tongue and it won't happen again." 

You parted your lips to say something but it died in your throat as you curtly nodded in response, looking back down at the book bin before he took it for you. 

"Anyways, I better let you get set up. People should start pouring in within the next 20 minutes. Let me just put these in the horror section. Yell if you need me." He gave a quick smile to you before walking away. 

You sighed and nodded to yourself. "Can do." 

—————————————————

The protestors died out. Well, some stayed but a few left after Gale saw some woman threaten to release personal info after she found out one's identity through a private facebook account that still had their pfp as their face and full name. Then, she threatened to post  them on twitter. A few promptly left but just as many stayed. Holding up the signs that Gale stared at; trying to chant over what you had to say.

Gale eased back from the small crowd gathered inside; eyeing you talking to everyone. A protester tried going in with a sign but she stopped him. "Lloyd, don't you have anything better to do? What would your kids think?" 

He glared at Gale, sign still raised with your picture marked out in red. "They'd be proud knowing I'm defending their cousin Steve's death from the likes of her." He pointed, raising his voice as you kept talking and tried to ignore it.

"Stu and Billy did that and you know it. She was proven innocent." Gale mumbled. "I have the lawsuit and half a million dollars lose to prove it." She mumbled the last part.

"And you proved yourself a coward too. Judge could have been paid off for all we know. You started this, you brought it to everyone's attention, you showed the facts… Just to be a quitter. Out of my way-" 

Gale jutted a hand out as he went to march past her. "I wouldn't do that, Lloyd. This is private property owned by my dear friend Mr. Meeks. You step one more inch of your fat foot in here and my husband the goddamn Sheriff will charge you. You want to yell out there like an idiot that's your American right but don't bring it in here." Gale hissed out. "Now get your fat drunken ass out of here or maybe that lawn that was wrecked coincidently after that bar fight you had with the homeowner will be coincidently reopened?…Everyone has cameras now. I'm sure if I used my old reporting skills; I could find out just who did that…Got it?" 

The man huffed, looking at her in disgust. "One day, your mouth is going to get you in trouble." He pointed at her in a warning as he walked backwards.

"It already has." She muttered back. Focusing back on you as you seemed to handle the protestors with more restraint than she ever gave you credit for. Unbeknownst to you that she was even here let alone defending you from people like Lloyd.

She just…Stared a moment. Taking you in. It was crazy to her. 

 'How did you go from a kid that was shaking over your own shadow to a professional woman selling these schmucks books like they were lined with Jesus's freaking toilet paper?' She thought.

She huffed softly at the thought, tilting her head to watch you. She swallowed as she saw you engaging with everyone in the middle of Randy's newfound shop she knew wouldn't make it, but then again, she didn't think you would either.

She couldn't help feeling…Cast out. A frown on her face. Once youthful skin now bore thin lines near her mouth and eyes. Seeing you up there in your prime, a professional dress and high heels on that looked like something she might have worn, a crowd eager to hear from you and your book…Meanwhile, she couldn't seem to even write her own. No one stopped her on the street anymore, no autographs or photo ops…She closed her eyes a second as she listened to you…You were all grown up now…She was aging too. A part of her could easily see a younger version of herself in you as you gave your speech…She hated it.

She still had her doubts about Tim and James not being Billy and Stu but after a decade of peace; she'd be an obsessed fool to harp on it now. Dewey was Sheriff of Woodsboro like he always wanted, Randy had a happy family and owned a few businesses in town, you were a national treasure…It seemed like everyone was doing something but her. She was so lonely she even was looking forward to coffee with you; coming clear down here just to see you. That's just how pathetic it felt that she was having coffee with the girl that technically ruined her career and yet she had no one else…

You finished talking, Rebecca talking for you to have people buy book copies of the New York Times Best Seller while they lasted.

You walked away before your smile fell, eyes landing on Gale. Gale stepped away from the entrance and gave a curt smile as you forced one on yourself. 

"Gale…I'm glad you came." You said. Not very warm but not outright hateful either. Both of you hadn't seen each other in a long while. You never were very close…A punch in the face at Windsor followed by a lawsuit that made headlines didn't exactly scream 'besties'.

Gale slinked over, taking her time to take you in before forcing out. "Congratulations, YN." Her cool eyes gazed at the table. "I haven't had a chance to read it yet but…" She trailed off. It was a lie. She had read it but something in her didn't want to admit it.

"Oh, well, you can have a copy or I can send you one if we sell out." You replied as Gale gave you a humorless smile at the comment. So similar to what she had told Sidney Prescott 15 years ago outside the police station. 

You gave an awkward shuffle, raising your arms then lowering and raising before stepping forward. Gale was never one for hugs and she knew you didn't exactly want to hug her either. It was all a big, curt, polite show in Gale's eyes that she played along with. For Dewey, for Randy…Even for you. She wanted to hate you but you made it hard proving her wrong over and over. She surmised eating crow over and over makes you more…Tolerant of the person feeding it to you.

You both pulled away with forced smiles as quickly as you hugged. Gale saw Randy standing in the background watching. Observing your exchange as Gale forced a smile his way over your shoulder. He gave a nod with a small polite smile as well.

You completely stepped away with a genuine happy expression as you exclaimed. "Dewey!" You quickly rushed over to hug him tightly. Dewey pulled away sooner than he normally would. Gale frowned at her husband. After all, he hadn't seen you in so long so why not savor the moment? 

"Hey YN. Gale you made it. Good." He breathlessly gave. 

He seemed frazzled as Gale eyed her husband.

You spoke up. "Dewey, I tried to call you." 

"And I tried to call too, SHERIFF!" Randy chimed in, standing next to you. "Those protestors are probably running for the hills now with your cop car about..." He checked his watch. "...45 minutes later." 

Dewey gave a remorseful grimace. "Oh, God. Are you okay?" You nodded before he continued. "Do you recognize any of them?" 

Randy and Gale exchanged glances as Randy nodded and Gale replied. "Yeah, a few. Lloyd Oarth was one of them." 

"Good, good...I'm sorry. Something really important came up…I gotta do something here." He took off his hat and anxiously ran a hand over his hair.

Gale raised a brow. "Dewey, what's wrong?" 

"Just- YN, I need to do this here…I am really sorry." He moved you out of the way and addressed the room right as Judy came barreling in. Police cars speeding down the block to get to the bookstore. A few protestors on the sidewalk scattered but police instantly got out of their cars and forced them to stay. Gale could hear that much and see it from the window.

Meanwhile, Dewey addressed the room. "Excuse me. This will only take a minute! I need you all to stay where you are and remain silent." 

A woman went to leave and Judy pushed her back inside. "Nobody leaves. You heard the Sheriff. Thank you." Even her voice had Gale side eyeing her.

Gale watched some mouthy woman with brown hair and a blue shirt tell her husband. "Can't this wait, Barney Fife? I'm running an event here!" She guessed the event runner was your assistant.

Gale felt a tinge of guilt having said the same thing about him in her book years and years ago. It was pushed aside as she listened to Dewey and more cops came in. Randy put a hand on you as he pulled you towards him. 

"Ma'am, this is a police event now." Dewey replied back.

Gale came to Dewey, blinking repeatedly and whispering to him. "WHAT is going on??" 

All before Judy stepped in between them to tell Gale. "Gale, this is police business. If you could just let us handle it." 

Gale instantly felt that familiar rage filling her at this woman having the audacity to use her little badge as leverage to disrespect her in front of her husband. 

Gale's eyes zeroed in on Judy. "I am talking to my husband, Deputy Judy." Gale used deputy like an insult as you watched.

———————————————————

You felt Randy pull you closer and out of the way of police rushing into the building as you watched Gale getting heated with some blonde deputy near Dewey. You weren't positive but you were pretty sure this was the infamous Judy she talked so fondly about.

Your eyes scanned the area, glancing at Randy as he wore a nervous expression. You were sure you had the same look on your face.

Gale spat at the deputy overstepping. "I am talking to my husband, Deputy Judy." 

Dewey turned to Gale, you and Randy. "Listen. There's a phone we believe may have been taken from the scene of a crime. Deputy Hicks has traced its coordinates back to this location." He hissed out low to not alert anyone but your group.

Randy blinked at Dewey, eyebrows scrunching. "W-What crime?..." Dewey didn't answer and Randy asked again more forcefully this time. "What type of crime, Dewey?" 

Dewey shook his head and walked a few paces. "It's…Need to know for now." 

Gale shoved her hands out in outrage. "And I'm not need to know?!" 

"SHH!" Judy ordered with a finger to her lips and you thought Gale looked ready to smack her right then and there. You watched on with Randy as Dewey held up a cellphone…All before a ringing sounded out.

Everyone in the room looked around before an officer outside shouted for Sheriff Dewey. Dewey and Judy ran out followed by Gale. You and Randy followed close behind with a small crowd behind you out on the street. A few protesters were held up by officers as well. 

You looked confused as the officers circled your rental car. Judy got out her gun and pointed to the trunk as Dewey came towards it.

You stared with wide eyes as you came forward to get their attention.

Dewey held up a hand. "Not now, YN." 

You gave him a dumbfounded look. "Dewey, it's my rental car." You felt eyes on you as you said that. Rebecca gave Dewey a sassy look before tossing the keys to him to open the trunk up.

He did just that, forcing it open as a collection of gasps escaped everyone. Rebecca stared with her mouth parted, Randy's jaw clenched as he held a tighter grip onto your shoulder, Gale gasped and stood closer to you as well, gripping onto your other shoulder…And you…You just stared with wide eyes as a bloody mess was revealed. Posters of your face littered the trunk of the car drenched in blood smears over your image. A knife, gloves and the ringing phone lay on top. Staring back at you in a taunting manner.

Dewey quickly recovered, almost angered at what he found. "Damn it! This is an official crime scene now. Let's lock it down." 

You stood near the trunk staring in absolute shock as someone pushed you away and you just allowed it. Spacing out as your heartbeat was thumping in your ears and your stomach sank. 

You numbly stared at Dewey and asked. "...Tell me this is a prank, Dewey." 

Dewey rolled his lips, looking remorseful before shaking his head and walking closer. "I'm afraid not, YN." He shook his head and placed an arm on your shoulder to lead you. "Come on." As he led you to a police car. 

Gale stayed back and so did Randy as Rebecca got on the phone and called someone. You looked back at Randy one last time before stepping into the cop car. He had a worried expression with a tight frown. Not even looking at you; only the evidence in the trunk…You had to wonder…Whoever did this; how did they unlock it without the keys?…Who's blood was that?

You saw the protestors that stayed behind glare at you in the police car. That trunk makes you look like what they always thought; a killer.

[veliseraptor]

top 5 fictional villains

oh man how am I supposed to choose from my entire villain warehouse. let's see.

1. Xue Yang. I mean, if this wasn't obvious from my [gestures] whole blog. But boy did I fall hard from pretty much scene one of my first watch of The Untamed, and then never looked back from there. He's just! What a guy. An icon. I love him so much. Fucks up his own life irreversibly and doesn't even realize he's doing it until too late. Whoops.

2. Maeglin. #my trash son. I waffled between putting him and Celegorm on this list (I could've done both, but, well, I felt like I should pick one per canon) and decided to go with Maeglin because he's arguably worse? Though I guess it probably depends on your metric. (I'm not really interested in arguing on that one, I don't particularly care, they're both my beloveds and there's no changing that at this point.) Seriously fucked up childhood that's got to fuck some things up in one's head to begin with, and then making some terrible choices later on that just go rapidly downhill, and again, tragedy of condemning oneself but also how doomed was he from the beginning (pretty doomed).

3. Vegas Theerapanyakul. I kind of hesitated about putting him on here because it feels sort of weird to call him a "villain" but like. He did sexually assault the protagonist in an early episode and threaten to kill him later on, so, like. Even if the story turns around and gives him a happy ending (iconic) I feel like he counts. Disaster of a man, kind of an awful person ("kind of?", you say, and okay, that might be so), and it's very sexy of him. Pete thinks so too, apparently.

4. Shen Jiu. Yest all right I know he's technically Sir Not Appearing In This Book but he is technically the titular scum villain so I'm counting him. Awful man. Miserable history, miserable story. I'm irresistibly drawn to tragedies created by characters themselves and that's what this guy's got going on.

5. Moridin/Ishamael/Elan Morin Tedronai. We! Love! A nihilistic villain just craving the end of everything! Of tenuous sanity and an abiding obsession with the protagonist! Anyway I didn't have a lot of feelings about this guy the first couple times I read Wheel of Time but then on my second to latest reread he came roaring out in front and plop, in the villain warehouse he goes.

thought about including He Xuan but he only sort of feels like he counts as a villain somehow; honorable mentions here go to Celegorm (disney prince murderer), Jun Wu (king of creating a toxic work environment), Clytemnestra (queen of my heart), Azula (since I just mentioned her), Jin Guangyao (generator of infinite discourse) and Jinx. I feel like I'm forgetting folks here. but that happens, I suppose.

and this is not including villains who are just so much fun for me to watch, who live in a slightly separate corner of my brain but are beloved of me nonetheless.

[moonmeg]

Do you hate people who think Philip can be redeemed? Like, you would physically fight them? Cause I really like Philip, like, I would always try and see the good in people if they had a reason for it.

What brought this up is this:

Me and a buddy (ex buddy) were talking about your au, and he was saying about how Philip should go and do some... Not very nice things to himself. And was going on and on about really disturbing things you should make him do.

So, I told him my thoughts about it, and he said I was bafld person and called some things I won't say, because it had me crying for a while.

And also, I just want to give cannon Philip a cuddle. (Cuddle with his beard too.... It looks soft...)

I don't hate anyone who merely has a different opinion regarding a fictional character than me. It's rare I hate people in general. It sounds like your friend is not a true friend and a very rude and mean person so I'm happy to read they're an ex friend by now. Someone who calls you names and makes you cry because you have a different opinion on a fictional character is not a friend.

Theoretically seen every villian CAN be redeemed but I believe not every villain NEEDS to be redeemed. Philip, at least by the point in time the show takes place at, is one of them.

He is far away from sanity at that point in his life. The biggest indicator for that being him stuck in an endless cycle of creating clones of his deceased brother only to torture and kill them again at the smallest inconvenience. Over and over again for centuries. He has brainwashed an entire community and convinced them into helping with their own genocide and he felt no remorse for it. No hesitation. Nothing.

As much as I feel sorry for him because of his sad backstory, as much as I understand his rage and hurting after what Caleb has done - just leaving him behind without ever communicating it, when Caleb was all Philip ever cared for back then, when Caleb was Philip's everything - and as much as I understand he himself is a victim of manipulation too, I do not believe he should've been redeemed in the final episodes of TOH.

I do believe that at an earlier point in his life he could've started a redemption arc. Back when Caleb was still alive. In an alternate universe where instead of Caleb being wounded in the fight, it's Philip. Not mortally though, so in the time that he's bedridden due to the healing process of the wound, he has the chance to seriously think about everything again. An alternate universe where the brothers work all of this out together. Something along the lines of @phobylee and @mentalmeles Clarity AU.

Casually spoiling my Caleb-lives AU here

These are basically my thoughts on it!

I hope you're doing better after what your ex friend said to you..

Sending hugs! <3

[aspiringwriter1111]

Hallmark PSA

I know since it's coming on the holiday season, I'm going to start seeing a lot of Hallmark slander.

But here's a little known fact.

Hallmark is actually really really good.

WAIT WAIT DON'T LEAVE-

Let me explain!

The movies people usually associate Hallmark with are the "old" ones (2020 and back). I bet after seeing how cliche and unhealthy they were, you didn't see a reason to watch them again after that, am I right??

But you knew them well enough to know they weren't worth your time and sanity.

Girl in a high stress job goes to small town, learns the meaning of Christmas, and then cheats on her also stressed out boyfriend back in the city with a hot cocoa making stubbly kind of rude lumberjack man then quits her job and moves to Vermont or something.

Yeah, they don't do those anymore.

At all.

I'm serious.

A part of it is that there was a purge. A year or two ago, there was a new Christmas movie company in town. All the actors that didn't like the forward direction Hallmark wanted to go in, left and joined GAC.

(Great American Family, or as I like to call it GACK. The movies are exclusively awful old Hallmark style, but Republican, badly decorated, very white, and also much worse.)

GAC took all the problems away from Hallmark, and made movies out of them. Hallmark, now cleansed, is pumping out cinematic greats that I WILL be rewatching every Christmas.

The whole of Hallmark was Recast, save for the best of the best fan favorites (Like Lacey Chaubert-)

They have plus sized actors now and people of color, cast as main characters on a regular basis.

Half of the movies aren't even romance centric anymore, instead focused on life, and moving forward, but when they are, they're really well done, and actually healthy.

If you know me (which you don't), then you'll know I hate unhealthy relationships. Especially when they're treated like they're okay. I will pick apart ANYTHING over toxicity in a relationship, wherever that might come from.

I used to hate Hallmark movies, because they were predictable, unrealistic, flawed, and toxic.

But now the characters talk with each other, and they don't get in the others space without permission. If there's an accident and it does happen, it's not used as a plot device to move the relationship along. It's not treated in a "OMG hot guy is literally right in my face!!! I've only known him two minutes and I hate him, I'm in love!!"

It's more of an, "OMG I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that at all, im so sorry, I'm so sorry- *Immediately backs away*"

I can't even begin to explain how much better they are now.

To further prove my point, here are some gifs of Three Wise Men and a Baby, one of my favorite Christmas movies ever:

Just listen to this one.

It's about three brothers, one of which is a firefighter (this is important). A baby gets dropped off at the fire station, with a note. The firefighters name is on it, asking him to look after the baby until Christmas.

This is not his baby.

This IS a joke throughout the entire film.

They have no idea who dropped him off.

So they end up taking care of him for a week, and seriously bonding with him. The make his first Christmas ornament with clay, they do a holiday photo dressed to the nines.

They talk about how hard it is to actually take care of a baby, and how hard it must have been for their mom doing it alone.

Talking about how their own dad left, and finally processing that trauma together.

Their mom confesses that if she didn't have support, she may have done what the babies mother did. How she must be going through such a rough patch, and building empathy for her.

All three of the brothers go on complete cathartic emotional journeys about it, and all the other issues in their life.

I can't do it justice.

It's called Three Wise Men and A Baby. I'm begging you please go watch it, you will NOT regret it.

I CRIED SO MANY TIMES YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

I'm tearing up now just thinking about it oh my gOD-

The ending just sent it home for me, so I won't spoil anything.

Its amazing. I can't explain the whole thing, I seriously beg you please go watch it.

And, if you're more into comedy, I present to you Haul out The Holly:

A Christmas comedy starring your very own Gretchen Weiners!! Abso-fucking-lutley HILARIOUS.

It's about a woman, just broken up with her boyfriend, and coaxed into going home for the holidays. Here's where it gets interesting.

Her parents are the head of the Christmas neighborhood watch, something that has plagued her since childhood. Her childhood friend has now taken over the position, as her parent ditch her for retirement on a beach someplace, and she's left stuck, having to decorate against her will.

She wants a nap. The neighbors want her to carve ice sculptures. And her nutcracker apparently isn't up to code.

Includes: Girlboss and male wife power duo (madly in love), insane chainsaw man with way too much time on his hands, the ML an anxious wreck, and many, many, MANY MORE.

Another recent movie was built around a woman who is an astronaut (She's mixed) who was about to finally go to space (The goal shes been working on her entire life) She got into a car accident and her eyesight was impaired. She's currently grieving the loss of her dream (like, actually grieving, she took three months off-).

Her company asks her if she wants to do an exhibit in the planetarium for Christmas, that she doesn't have to, but she can if she wants to take her minds off of things. She says yes, and ends up working with the planetarium director on an exhibit about the sun and it's connection to Christmas through how people used to celebrate with the sun (I don't remember exactly, but it was explained thoroughly, and i think pagan???)

She and him don't constantly argue, or be angry at each other. They cooperate. They show genuine interest in each other. It's actually adorable, and it's also not just about them.

She meets his daughter, who is a wheelchair user. She asks why the Female lead isn't in space if she's an astronaut, and the FL tell her it's because of her eyes. The daughter tells her it's okay, because she'll never be able to go to space either, even if she wants to, but she can still enjoy it from Earth.

I'm not even doing it justice.

By the end of the movie, the FLs eye problem doesn't heal. Nothing is miraculously solved. But the ML and the FL are now dating (After the best, slow paced, healthy, communicative, collaborative bonding freaking ever-) ALL OF THE CHARACTERS HAVE FULL BLOWN EMOTIONAL JOURNEYS THAT ACTUALLY MATTER.

SHE GRIEVES.

HER BROTHER FINALLY FIGURES OUT ITS OKAY FOR HIM TO DO WHAT HE LOVES, AND THAT HE'S NOT A FAILURE FOR IT.

THE ML LET'S GO OF THINKING HES A BAD PARENT.

AND MORE.

There are soft bits, nothing is cliche, nothing is icky or gross.

It's healthy, it's cute, it's emotionally driven, I'm actually learning about things I didn't know before, and amazing.

And all the new ones are either like this or better than this. I could name over ten, but I can't even explain how good they are.

Some of the are still a little dark ages, but it's only every one out of six or seven.

Hallmark movies from 2022 and onwards are 5 star television, and you can't convince me otherwise.

[serenedash]

I love thinking about daily life in Daybreak Town and I'm gonna put a read more for my own sanity here LOL feel free to add your headcanons about Daybreak Town :]

one thing I really like thinking about is what quests/missions and raid hour was like for wielders since khux loved to make game mechanics actually Mean Something lore-wise. If you never played khux, raid hour was twice a day (11am and 11pm in my time zone) where powerful enemies would appear called raid bosses and you and your party could take them on solo or together

So like. Daily missions/quests are really only mentioned briefly in actual cut scenes (off the top of my head, Ephemera mentions it to Player that it would be suspicious if they were gone too long because it would look like they were slacking, Strelitzia also is shocked that Lauriam basically gets all of his missions done before noon) but I imagine that daily missions take up most of the day for wielders (again, another gameplay mechanic where you earned in game currency for doing things). And you know obviously we get to see lots of wielders around during the day, we get to see our character and others going to bed at the end of the day, and when Player waits for Ephemera at the fountain we see how no one is around at night,

I've seen a lot of discussions about night time in Daybreak Town, headcanons about how there are wielders that only do their missions at night, how darkness is more potent and there are more heartless (I especially love when people point out the night sky would be pitch black since the worlds are still one world so there would be no sky, only adding to the darkness at night). But back to raid hour!! I like to think about wielders getting their daily missions done and going back home to relax/nap/whatever and then when raid hour happens the clock tower rings and its like the empty streets suddenly fill with people, wielders meeting up with their parties or people going for the solo boss fights, and they all go ham until the bosses disappear and everyone goes back to bed. In the khx novel chirithy says that the clock tower only rings at "special times" but never elaborates so I like to think raid hour counts lol

for other daily life things tho, I've always had this headcanon that since the unions were formed (or maybe since the master of masters took on apprentices,) wielders just flocked to Daybreak Town and kinda. basically drove out the original people in Daybreak Town so its literally like a town run by kids (and moogles) and I like to think there's a good amount of kids/teens running little shops like there's that one part of Daybreak Town that's like a street market and I just know those were all run by like 15 year olds (also you can't convince me that 18 is like the oldest people get in Daybreak Town bc the game makes it SO SO SO CLEAR that wielders die CONSTANTLY and its VERY NORMALIZED) but anyway yeah some wielders not really doing their wielder stuff and instead just running businesses because you can't tell me there's moogles for Everything,

I've also had some very clear ideas about how parties work like since day one of unchained x, I like to think party leaders have get togethers to discuss what's happening in town or in their union and each union has their own like. Office I guess? for party leaders to gather and I always liked to imagine the leaders going there in the morning for reports of where strong heartless are or orders from their union leader yknow (idk in my head its like a post office, go to your little mailbox and get your stuff)

I don't have anything else those are my random disjointed thoughts👍

[andysorbit]

Chubby Crybaby

Shownu x Black, plus sized,fem!reader

Minors DNI

Okay so I posted this on my AO3 but I'm putting it here too so yeah

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Hyunwoo gives a stiff smile at the cashier and I cringe the whole time. Being an adult had its fun moments but paying for three Plan B packs was two types of embarrassment. I know I'm so much more but right now, I feel like nothing more than the fat girlfriend. How else can I feel knowing it takes three Plan B pills to get the job done? Hyunwoo, of course, doesn't care- about what we're purchasing or how many I need to make sure I don't make him a dad. He swipes his card and wishes the cashier well. I wish that I had his confidence.

Outside in the cold New York City air, I huddle close to him, "How are you so comfortable with that? Maybe I should just get an IUD." I say quietly. "You said you were scared to." Hyunwoo replies. He pulls me closer to him and quickens his pace. The night air is brisk and the wind blows steadily. We round a corner and quickly make our way back to his apartment building. I'm also the broke girlfriend. I'm the girlfriend who graduated a few years ago and still lives with her parents. Hyunwoo has been trying to convince me to move into his oh so luxurious penthouse. I don't like the idea of being a mooch so I say no even though I really wanna give in.

He takes my coat from me and hangs it up. After kicking off my boots and pushing them to the side, I look over at Hyunwoo and smile, "Should I meet you in the bedroom?" I ask him. "No... I need to talk to you for a minute. Come on. I'll make some tea." Hyunwoo says. His brow is furrowed and I know I've done something to upset him. I follow him into the kitchen and we wash the outside germs off of our hands then I sit at the island counter. He puts the kettle to boil and leans on the island counter and looks across at me. "What's this issue with the Plan B? You keep going back and forth and I need to know where your head is at." Hyunwoo is three years my senior and sometimes it feels like the age gap is much larger. "Buying three pills is expensive and embarrassing." I say timidly. My family was never the type of family to talk things out. I'm the child, my parents are the all knowing sages, and when my feelings were too much; I had to just get over it and move on. Even now at my big age of twenty-six, they reduce me down to a child. Hyunwoo likes talking things out. He's communicative and is not afraid to express his discomfort or call people out for the sake of his own sanity. "You shouldn't worry about the expenses, y/n. I've told you this. Two hundred dollars is nothing for me. I get that it's a lot for you but I told you that when you're with me, it's my job to take care of you. Please don't take this the wrong way but I make more in a week than you do in a month so I'm not gonna ask you to foot half the bill for anything. That's just ridiculous." He's very calm and I have to keep reminding myself that Hyunwoo isn't argumentative or manipulative and this is a totally regular conversation for him that won't turn into an argument. He's peacefully confrontational because he likes solutions. He's my safe space.

"But two hundred bucks is a lot of money for me considering one pill isn't enough to prevent a pregnancy... I don't like it sometimes." I gently scratch my nails against the counter and sigh. He comes around the counter and looks down at me, "Look... you're not comfortable with getting an IUD yet so this is how it is. If you wanna go back to condoms, we can. I need you to be happy with whatever choice you make." Hyunwoo says. He smiles devilishly and kisses me, "I could survive without cuming inside you for a while. You know I'm a patient man." I kiss him hard and he rubs my back soothingly, "I don't love you despite your size and if you lost as much weight as you need to feel content with yourself, I wouldn't love you any more than I do now. I just like you... I don't ever want you to feel like your weight is a downside in our relationship."

I nod and Hyunwoo hugs me. "Would you like green tea or black tea?" He asks and presses his lips to my forehead. "I don't want tea anymore... I want wine please." He moves over to the stove to turn off the kettle then moves to the counter and bends down to open the fancy wine cooler he had built into the lower cabinet, "Red or white?" He asks. "Mmmmm white." I say softly. He nods and takes out a bottle of white wine, "The works?" He says and motions to the refrigerator. "If you don't mind." I reply. I watch Hyunwoo take strawberries, raspberries, and a Capri Sun juice pouch out the fridge. He gets to work cutting a few strawberries and raspberries then opens the wine and the juice pouch. He drops the sliced berries into the glass then fills the glass a quarter of the way with juice then fills it the rest of the way with wine.

"One Princess special for my chubby crybaby." He says with possibly the sweetest smile. Only he has ever been able to call me chubby without making me feel insulted. He's also the only person who can poke my belly without getting cursed out. He pushes the glass over to me and waits eagerly for me to take a drink. I do and sigh, "I wanna know all of your drink recipes. You're the best." I say and down half the glass. "Hey, hey, hey. Slow down." He chuckles. I smile as the warm embrace of wine envelopes my body. It doesn't take much to get me drunk so I quickly finish the glass and stand up. "I need you sober tonight, okay? You know I'm not fucking you if you're drunk." Hyunwoon kisses me slowly and hikes my dress up. I can feel how hard he is and I slowly fall to my knees and look up him. He touches my hair, "I don't wanna ruin the mood but... is your wig on right? I don't wanna pull it off like I did last time." He says and fights a smirk. I giggle, "Yes. I'm good this time just don't pull so hard." I say and undo his jeans. He nods and pushes my hands aside to free himself from his jeans a little bit faster. He strokes himself while he looks down at me, "Do you want it?" He asks almost breathlessly. I nod and he grabs me by my arms and pulls me to my feet, "I want you right here against this counter. You can suck it later. I need to be inside you now." He turns me around and pushes me down against the counter. He raises my dress up, "God, I love it when you don't wear panties. It's so much easier to take what's mine. Is this pussy mine? Huh? Tell me it's mine and I'll fuck you like a dirty girl right now." He says as he presses kisses to the side of my face and rubs his dick against me agonizingly slow. "It's yours." I squeak and push back against him desperately. I need to feel him. "What's mine?" He sighs. "This pussy. It's yours, daddy." I moan. He slowly slides into me and I gasp as he fills me. "Fuck." I cry out. "Watch your mouth." He groans and fucks into me harder. My mind melts into TV static and all I can think about is how deep he is inside of me. "God, you feel so good. My good little princess. You love taking my dick like a good little slut, huh? You're my little slut, right y/n?" He traps my arms behind my back and slaps my ass while he pounds me harder. I cry out and move my hips as best as I can in an attenpt to gyrate against him. "Don't be rude. Be a good girl and answer your daddy, okay, princess?" He whispers and snakes a hand around to rub my clit achingly slow. "I'm your slut, daddy. Oh God- I- I love you." I choke out. He rubs me faster, "I love you too, princess. Are you close?" I nod and squeeze my eyes shut. "Cum. It's okay. Cum for daddy " He whispers thickly into my ear. My thighs buckle and he holds me up as he continues fucking me. I feel my stomach tighten and I squeeze my thighs shut as I cum.

Hyunwoo doesn't stop. I cry out and try to push his hand away. He laughs, "I didn't cum yet. You know how this works. If you want me to stop, use the safe word." He pants. I wiggle my hips and try once more to pull his hand away. I don't really want him to but it's almost too much and my legs nearly give out. "Daddy." I whimper over and over again. "Just a bit more, sweetheart. Come on. You can take it. I'm- fuck! I'm so close, baby. You can take it. You can take a little bit more for me, right?" Hyunwoo moans and his hips stutter and suddenly, he's cuming inside of me. I whimper helplesy and he releases my arms from behind my back then pulls me close as he stills himself. My legs finally give out and we both slink down to the floor. The cool tiles chill our bodies and Hyunwoo pulls his jeans back up then looks at me, "You okay?" He asks. His breathing is almost back to normal. I nod. I'm still trembling and he snuggles up next to me. "I'll get the pills... just.. gimme a second." He says. "You don't have to... I mean? If you're ready... we could not take the pills." I say quietly. He smiles, "Well, I never take the pills. You do." He chuckles. "You know what I mean, Hyunwoo... it's a we thing." I say. We stare at each other for a minute. "So... should we give those pills to a friend?" He asks.