#i hope the rest of the story will be enjoyable for you :D

[wishluc]

I. Miss. Solomon.

When you smile at Solomon, it feels like he's the only one you're looking at.

It isn't true, of course, because Mammon's got an arm around your shoulder, crowing about winning a bet of some kind, and Satan immediately gets your attention with yet another picture on his phone, but it gets too easy to pretend because you continue to sneak looks back at him and share a small, secretive smile with him, and what else would that mean?

The closeness of the demons does little to bother him. He's reassured by the knowledge that when the brothers finally retire for the day and you're allowed to leave, Solomon is the one who comes to walk you back. You believe that it's because he knows you're not the mysterious demon everyone makes you out to be, and that he's there to make sure you get home safe and provide company, but the possessive arm he has around you and the sharp, pointed gaze that linger on whichever of the brothers are at the door to see you off tells an entirely different story. None of them would dare tell you about their suspicions, however, not when it's abundantly clear that you hold him in higher regards to the rest.

Sometimes your smile catches him by surprise. His movements falter, spilling the tea he was pouring out for you the first time he catches you looking up at him with that fond expression, and though you later fuss over him and the hot liquid spilt over his hand, the moment is burned into his memory. It becomes a regular sight, too, as the two of you share a warm cup in Cocytus Hall after a hectic day of you working as an attendant. You smile at him, a lovely turn of your mouth, while recalling the adventures of the day, and Solomon holds the tranquil picture close to his heart.

Admittedly, the domesticity of it all is getting to him. (And to you, if your words are anything to go by). There's something enticing about knowing you'd be there to do the mundane tasks with him; cleaning, grocery shopping, and even cooking, despite how panicked you get sometimes. He starts letting you know when he's going shopping so the two of you can go together, and it quickly becomes a regular, anticipated event. Whether you were shopping for cutleries or groceries or a new pair of matching mugs after Mammon accidentally broke his, you always found a way to make it enjoyable. He thinks that he finds comfort in the normalcy of it all; you quickly stopping him from buying ingredients that are "too adventurous" or the cauldron that you claimed there was no space for. He finds that he likes doing all these activities with you, and most of all likes having you as a constant part of his daily life. He likes waking up to see you starting on breakfast already, insisting that he's been working too hard and that you'd cook instead, he likes the weight of your head on his shoulder during movie nights and he likes the knowing grin you shoot him when you hand him coffee in his mug.

These days, he anticipates seeing you smile at him. You turn to look at him, amused when you boldly tell Mammon that Solomon's your boyfriend (and he beams at you, proud and ecstatic at the blatant lie), and you offer him one of your sly grins when you're planning a way to annoy Lucifer again. The small one when you confess to him that you almost don't want to leave anymore, too, is dear to him. Your awkward, lopsided smiles when caught up in a situation you aren't too pleased about, too, are charming to witness, but the way you run over to him immediately after and push yourself into his side is even more delightful.

But his favorite one yet is the warm smiles that you share with him, when dinner turns out better than you'd hoped or when you successfully cast a spell. It's a heartwarming sight, all bright and unabashed affection, and breathtaking when the light falls on your face just right. None of the others can ever coax out a similar expression, because he's the one you rely on in this timeline, and he's the one that comforts you after a difficult day and promises to protect you if anything were to happen. He's the one you hold on to and call your boyfriend, and he's the one ushering you down the streets of Devildom.

Those, he knows, are special. And only for him.

all works © wishluc. do not copy, steal or repost my works on other platforms. (including translations)

[heartseungs-archive]

love.fm | h.rj

genre ❥ fluff, angst, coworkers to lovers  pairings ❥ radio show host!renjun x fem!reader  word count ❥ 7.2k   warnings ❥ none author’s note ❥ had this sitting in my wip for a while after rewatching renra on akdong seoul....just thought it would be a really cute idea!!

My love's so young, I'm young, at a sweet age I can't only look at you

As the ‘ON AIR’ sign flickers to life, you pick up the familiar pair of headphones at your seat, colourful stickers decorating the headband to separate it from the rest. The other guys at the station don’t particularly mind sharing headphones, but you find having a personalized one more enjoyable.

Seulgi, your program director, stands behind the glass wall, flashing a thumbs up from where she’s comfortably nestled in her chair. Jeno is just beside her, but he’s much more focused on the music controls, ensuring that it’s broadcasting smoothly. There’s a teleprompter in front of you, but you know you won’t need it. You’ll probably go off script anyways.

Which is why your partner flashes a warning glance at you, and you simply grin. He’s the one who keeps track of time and attempts to stick to Seulgi’s meticulously planned program sheets, reigning you in when you go off tangents.

Huang Renjun has been your partner host for the past year, and the both of you make a good team. A wonderful team, actually, if the listener numbers are anything to go off by. You know it’s partially luck that the both of you got an interesting show to helm, but surely part of it is due to your efforts as well.

Renjun’s dressed in a comfortable black hoodie today, already wearing his reading glasses as he looks over the script. You had teased him for his poor eyesight until he finally caved and bought the white frames that now rest comfortably on his nose.

A cue from Seulgi jolts you out of your thoughts, and you quickly take a sip of water before turning on the microphone. Renjun flashes an encouraging smile at you, even though it’s practically routine at this point.

“Welcome to The Love Club, where we provide a solution towards each and every dilemma you have about romance. It’s your favourite DJ, Y/N, along with Ren-D. I hope your Friday is going good, dear listener, so grab a cup of tea and let us accompany you until midnight!” The words flow out of your mouth smoothly, from weeks upon weeks of practice. Even then, the rush of excitement that fills you each time you speak into the microphone still remains as new as the first day you stepped into the studio.

“Thank you to everyone who sent in their stories! Today, we’ll be discussing the topic of first loves. Our first story is from user jiyeonluv.”

Dear Ren-D and Y/N-D,

I’m Jiyeon, a high-school student. I have a crush on someone in my school, and I really, really like them. But we’re graduating already, and I think we’ll be going to different universities. Should I pursue him?

You hum gently, thinking over your reply. The letter causes a fond smile to make its way onto your face, just from how adorable it is. “I think you should go for it. After all, if both of you really like each other, it’s possible. Besides, it’s better to try and be rejected, rather than not and worry about the what ifs.”

Renjun nods. “Besides, I heard long-distance relationships are the trend now,” he adds.

“I’m not sure where Renjun gets his trends from, considering he barely uses the internet,” you contradict, and Renjun scoffs slightly. “However, I hope everything goes well for you, user jiyeonluv! On that note, the first song of today that we’ll be playing is Young Luv by STAYC.”

“Good job today,” you say, and Renjun quickly returns your tired grin. He pushes open the glass door, you following behind him. Your tote bag lies on the shelf outside the office along with your sneakers, and you quickly put your shoes on, smartphone in hand.

Seulgi and Jeno wave goodbye to you as you leave, both of them already preparing for the next programme. Their schedules run a bit differently from yours and Renjun’s, considering they manage the night programmes until two in the morning. You wouldn’t be surprised if the both of them were almost nocturnal at this point.

The hallway is dim at this time of night, the broadcasting station void of much activity except for the room you just exited. However, there are still footsteps here and there, likely from interns or security patrolling the building.

It’s a short walk from your studio to the carpark, but you’re already shivering by the time you exit the building. It’s coming to fall, and the leaves are already transitioning to shades of autumnal red and yellow.

It’s quickly halted by the feeling of a jacket over your shoulders, however, and you quickly look up at Renjun, a silent protest in your eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a hoodie on. You, on the other hand, should really start remembering to bring your own jacket.”

“I don’t need to, when you lend me one anyways,” you reply, and he huffs a laugh, rolling his eyes.

However, you’re quick to move your hands towards the heating vents of Renjun’s car once you’re inside, sinking into the plush leather seats comfortably.

“You don’t need to send me back, you know. The public buses are still running,” you mutter, your breath fogging up the window. You draw a smiley face on it absentmindedly, watching as the cityscape flies by.

“It’s not that safe. Besides, you’re on the way anyways.” Renjun’s lying, because you know where he lives, and it is most definitely not on the way. In fact, it’s likely added an extra fifteen minutes to his journey home, but you’re not going to protest with him further, especially when the rides are in your benefit.

Even though the both of you are able to continue an entertaining banter throughout the entirety of the radio program, you and Renjun seem to lapse more into silence once alone, likely due to fatigue as well. You suppose it’s also due to the fact that there’s not much need for words to be exchanged for you to feel comfortable in Renjun’s presence, him focused on the road and you with…well, nothing exactly. The drive is always a good time for you to clear your mind, considering Renjun’s careful enough and you completely trust him to get you back home safe.

“See you tomorrow,” he says once the both of you are in front of your apartment building and you wave to him before stepping out onto the pavement, watching as his car gradually disappears down the winding path.

When you reach home, you’re quick to fall into bed, already exhausted. You’ll shower tomorrow, you think, but for now, what you need is a good night’s sleep.

“Well, someone looks cranky.”

“Shut up, Haechan.”

“Even I don’t mess with Jaemin, Haechan. You should be careful,” Mark says, and Jaemin just nods. Haechan sighs dramatically, sinking back into the chair, and his antics are the first thing you see when you step into the office.

“Well, I hope no one’s cranky after what I bought,” you announce, paper bags with recognizable green logos in your hands. Jaemin immediately perks up, looking at you gratefully.

“You’re so much better than Haechan,” he says, a sound of indignance coming from the other boy at his statement.

“Eight shots for you- I don’t know how you actually drink that, by the way, an iced tea for Mark and a latte for Hyuck.” The boys mutter soft thank yous as they take the cups from you, leaving two inside. Your caramel macchiato, and someone else’s-

“Speak of the devil.” Renjun is quick to grab his drink from your outstretched hand, raising a brow at you. It takes a while for you to realise you said it out loud, and your cheeks turn red, quickly shaking your head. “I was just wondering where you were, and you walked in right after,” you explain, and he nods, stealing a sip of your drink before he goes to his seat. You’re used to it at this point, even if Renjun has already gotten his own cold brew. You had been the one to persuade the boy into trying your macchiato a few months ago, to no little amount of effort. After a while, he had caved, but Renjun would never admit that he liked your drink more than his own.

“Today’s meeting is quite important, which is why I asked you guys to meet early.”

“At nine in the morning, no less,” Jaemin mumbles, and there’s barely audible laughter from the other two boys in the room. You had been wondering why Mark had texted the groupchat asking all of you to come down to the office early.

This morning, you had stumbled out of bed groggily when your alarm awoke you, running to the bathroom when you realised you might be late. The coffee had simultaneously been an apology and a distraction, but it ended up not mattering as much, since Renjun had arrived later than you.

“We need to discuss our plans for the second half of the year. If you guys want to revamp your programmes, change something about it, or anything.”

Haechan raises his hand quickly. “I think 37.5MHz should be extended to four hours.”

“No one wants to hear you talk for four hours, Haechan,” Renjun replies, and Haechan looks at him incredulously.

“Just because you can’t appreciate the masterpiece that is my voice, doesn’t mean others won’t-”

“Let’s stay focused, guys,” Mark reminds, but even he’s struggling slightly to maintain a serious expression on his face. The five of you are already familiar with each other at this point, being the ones to host the weekday special programs.

Mark’s in charge of the broadcast from ten in the morning to noon, his programme aptly titled Mark’s Music Space. You had come up with it at a meeting once, and he ended up liking it a lot more than you expected.

At two, Jaemin’s the one in the studio, a cup of coffee always by his side. Which is accurate, you suppose, since his entire programme is cafe-themed. He’s the one in charge of curating most of the playlists for the station, considering how well-versed the boy is in picking songs based on the mood.

Haechan takes over at five with 37.5Mhz, brightening the natural lull of the afternoons with his cheery personality. The boy runs it almost like a podcast at this point, often spending more time chatting than playing music. Still, if his ratings are anything to go by, you suppose there is an audience that he appeals to.

And then at nine, it’s you and Renjun’s turn, with Love.fm. The most interesting program, in your opinion, but you’ll never tell the other guys that, because they’ll definitely begin arguing with you incessantly. Still, you’re proud of how much work you and Renjun have put in, taking hours to plan out your themes and filtering through the listeners’ letters personally.

“Y/N, Renjun. Anything you guys want to change?” You look up at Mark, shaking your head. “I’m happy with the program.” “Me too,” Renjun replies, and you grin at him.

Jaemin lets out a slight chuckle, Haechan right after him, and you cast a pointed glance at the two. “What?” Jaemin quickly shakes his head, expression becoming blank once again. “Nothing.”

You look at Mark’s hesitant expression, and decide to just bite the bullet. “Mark, what is it?” The boy’s expression is stricken as he meets your gaze, and he coughs slightly before continuing. “Oh..um…I was gonna ask if you and Renjun wanted to make Love.fm a viewable broadcast.”

”Why don’t I get a viewable broadcast?”

“Because you post everything on your Instagram already. If I was your fan, I wouldn’t want to see your face anymore,” Jaemin responds, and Haechan huffs petulantly.

“Like….a live stream?” Renjun asks hesitantly, and Mark nods. “Yeah. Your program is already so popular, and I think a lot of the listeners are quite curious about what you guys look like. It would be a good idea for publicity. Of course, you don’t have to do a viewable one every day, it could be once a week, or something,” he explains, and you consider the idea briefly. It isn’t a bad one. You’re not someone who’s particularly afraid of the camera, and neither is Renjun. The idea’s almost exciting, the fact that you and Renjun are something like mini-celebrities because of your programme.

“I’m down if Renjun is,” you say, smiling, and Mark looks relieved, turning to your partner. “Sure,” Renjun says, and Mark claps his hands together. “Great! We can do the first one on Monday? For everyone else, Seulgi’s also discussing with the publicity team about getting us to film additional content, so I’ll keep you guys updated on that.”

You realise now that this is likely Seulgi’s idea, and it makes sense, really. When you had first started the job, you hadn’t expected the listeners to show so much support for their show hosts. Jaemin, Haechan and Mark have something of their own following as well. The five of you have potential as media personalities, and it's obvious that Seulgi’s making good use of it.

“Want to get breakfast?” Renjun asks, leaning over to your seat. “Yes please, I’m starving.” You grab your things and follow him out, waving goodbye to the others in the room.

As you pass by the recording studio, you hear faint voices filtering out of the room.

“Welcome to Chenji’s this….”

“And that!” You immediately recognize Jisung’s baritone and see the two younger boys inside, already rehearsing for their show. “They’ve improved a lot,” you comment, a fond smile on your face as you watch the two.

“I remember when they first joined. Jisung couldn’t even say one sentence without stuttering,” Renjun adds, and you let out a soft giggle. “Well, it’s thanks to you that he’s so good now. Don’t act like you didn’t stay up practising with him.” Renjun’s cheeks redden at your comment, but you know it’s true. Despite his colder exterior, Renjun is caring to the ones closest to him, and has a soft spot for the nervous youngest. It’s something you’ve noticed about him after spending so much time together, his quiet acts of service.

“What are you thinking about?” Renjun asks as the both of you step out into the bright morning sunlight. He looks nice today, brown corduroy jacket over a white shirt and jeans.

“I like your outfit today,” you comment, not catching the way Renjun’s breath hitches, his pulse speeding up just barely.

“Are you just saying this because you want the jacket?”

“No promises.”

When I see you happy Naturally, I'm laughing along I get excited by your actions and toss and turn

Technically, you shouldn’t even be nervous. But you can’t shake the tension that grips you, despite the two cups of hot chamomile that you’ve already consumed. It’s okay, you tell yourself. Today is like any other broadcast, Y/N.

“We just hit fifty thousand listeners,” Seulgi announces, and you sigh shakily, hearing Mark let out a low whistle at the news. You take it back. Today isn’t like any other broadcast. That’s close to double your usual number. Your train of thoughts- more like a nervous trainwreck at this point, really- is brought to a halt by the feeling of a warm hand on yours.

“You okay?” Renjun asks, his gaze warm, and you feel your heartrate slow down slightly. It’s not that you don’t want this- you’re quite excited, to be honest, but there’s also a little fear at the viewers’ reactions.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” he continues, out of earshot of the people outside. However, you’re quick to pull yourself out of it, shaking your head at Renjun. His concerned gaze doesn’t leave your figure, but you smile at him reassuringly.

“I’m fine. Ready as ever. Seulgi, shall we start?” You ask, and she nods, turning on the cameras. There’s a screen in front of you that shows the comments, but you decide not to look, instead focusing on your script and the camera.

“Hello, everyone! Today is a very special day. As you can see, Ren-D and I are meeting everyone for the first time via live stream.” Renjun waves shyly at that, and you automatically grin, nervousness easing slightly as you fall back into the routine of hosting.

“I feel like someone doing a face reveal,” Renjun points out, and you laugh slightly. “Yeah, me too. Honestly, I was so nervous.”

You’re feeling much better now, and it feels like any other evening in the broadcasting studio, Renjun next to you, script in hand.

“Let me read out our first letter today, from user tyongya.”

Dear Y/N-D and Ren-D,

You have no idea how excited I was for the broadcast today! I wrote this letter because I’ve been in a relationship with someone for two years, but we haven’t told each other we love each other yet. What is love to the both of you?

Thank you for this program, and I’m cheering both of you on!

“Oh…” you trail off as you think over your reply, head tilted. “Wow, that’s a big question,” Renjun comments, and you nod.

“I think love is wanting to see the other person happy, no matter what. Like, seeing them smile makes you smile too. That’s the simplest way I can put it,” you finally state, and Renjun makes a sound of agreement.

“Y/N said it well. If I love someone, I think I would place their happiness above my own. Personally, I would say that loving someone means that being with them makes you want to be a better person, both for them and for yourself.” Renjun’s looking at you as he says it, and his voice takes on a noticeably softer tone. You’re suddenly unable to look at him for some reason, gaze darting downwards to your script nervously.

Once you regain your composure, you continue, even though the back of your neck still feels warm for some reason.

“Yes, don’t forget that self-love is important too, guys,” you say, and Renjun chuckles, causing you to inevitably let out a laugh of your own as well. He’s smiling brightly, and you’re not sure whether it’s because of the excitement of doing a live video broadcast, but you can’t hold back the wide grin that appears resolutely on your features as well.

“Now, our next song is Love, Maybe by Melomance. User tyongya, this is for you. We hope you find love soon!”

“I knew you would recommend Love, Maybe,” Renjun says, a teasing smirk on his face. “It’s a good song!” you defend, and he doesn’t reply, causing you to jab him softly with your elbow.

“Say it’s a good song, or I won’t stop playing it in the car,” you threaten, leaning towards him until your faces are close. Renjun leans back playfully, away from you, and you only lean closer, eyes questioning.

Until your headphone wire gets caught, causing you to stumble forward into his chair. Renjun’s quick to catch you, and you turn to look at him, only realising your faces are a hair’s breadth away from each other when it’s too late.

You’re quite sure you’ve stopped breathing as you look into Renjun’s wide eyes. It seems like forever before he quickly regains his senses and puts some distance between the both of you, standing up from his chair and letting out a nervous cough.

You’re still in a daze, cheeks already reddening with their familiar flush.

”Guys, good job on the broadcast today- are you two alright?” Seulgi glances confusedly at the both of you as she steps in, and Renjun is the first to respond.

“Yeah…we’re fine. What did you say?” He asks, and Seulgi looks rather doubtful, even as she grins at the both of you.

“We broke our viewer record today. And you guys should see the comments,” she adds, handing the both of you her laptop. You scroll absentmindedly, taking a while to focus. There are thousands of them, coming in at a mile a minute even though the broadcast’s over.

Wow….the both of them look exactly how they sound. And I love their voices, so that speaks for itself.

Y/N looks like she could be a celebrity! And Renjun too.

It’s hard to conceal your happy smile at the positive comments, even if it’s shallow to care about your appearance. Renjun catches your eyes, and the previous tension seems to be dispelled. You continue scrolling down, not entirely ready for the next barrage of comments.

The more I think about it, Renjun and Y/N look so good together.

These two are so compatible…I wonder if they’re dating?

Wouldn’t it be so cute if they were a couple? They even run Love.fm together…it’s like something out of a fiction book.

You cough abruptly, cheeks flushing as Seulgi looks at you, concerned. Renjun seems to have noticed them too, handing the laptop back and averting his gaze from where you’re standing. You hear the door open, and realise the midnight news broadcast must be starting soon.

“Right, you guys must be tired. Go home and rest,” she nags, almost pushing the both of you out of the recording studio. You don’t even bother to resist her, thoughts hung up on the comments from the listeners.

There’s an awkward silence that hangs over you and Renjun as the both of you leave the company building, and you fiddle with your fingers, unsure of what to say. It continues even as you enter the car, and Renjun seems to feel it too, for he immediately plays music the moment the both of you get in.

You lean your head against the headrest, occasionally taking quick glances at Renjun when you think he isn’t looking. It makes you feel nervous somehow, as if you’re doing something you shouldn’t.

His profile is soft under the streetlights, silver hair shining brightly even in the darkness. You remember when he had first walked in with it, and you stared at him open-mouthed in shock. It was such a stark contrast from his previous raven black hair, and yet seemed to make his features glow even brighter. The thought makes your heart flutter against your own will. You’re bewildered at the strange feeling, and yet can’t seem to tear your eyes away from the boy.

“You’re staring. Is something wrong?” Renjun’s direct question causes you to sit up immediately, heart rate stumbling. “Nope, nothing,” you stutter out, stubbornly turning your gaze out the car window, just in time for you to miss the amused smile on Renjun’s face.

“Y/N, wait.” Your hand is on the car handle when Renjun halts you outside your apartment building. You turn back to look at him, tote bag already in your grasp. “What is it?” The silver-haired boy falls silent at that, seeming to hesitate over something. You’re patient, however, leaning back into the seat just as you recognise the next song that has started playing through his car speakers.

I'm gettin' really tired of this back and forth Why don't we just give in to this driving force? I mean, there's somethin' between us

The lyrics make your brain short-circuit, and you can’t help but interpret them in the context of the situation, filling your heart with a heady sort of hope as you look at Renjun. It feels like you’re wading into unfamiliar waters, but something tells you to keep going.

“You did well today.”

“Huh?” You’re brought back down to reality, Renjun’s words grounding you.

”You were nervous, but you got through it. I’m proud of you. That’s what I wanted to say, I guess,” he mumbles, and the words are sweet, warming your heart.

“That wasn’t what I was expecting,” you say reflexively, and he turns to you. “Were you expecting something else?” His gaze is strangely searching as he turns to you, almost as if he’s silently beseeching you to say something else as well. However, you’re seized by nerves, and quickly shake your head.

“No, nothing. Thank you, Renjun. You did well today too. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Even then, you feel a sense of disappointment, but you can’t possibly blame him for your own overactive imagination. It must be the comments getting to your head, you think, as you step out of the car and Renjun waves to you.

Still, you can’t shake the thought of Renjun being more to you, of the both of you being more than just colleagues and friends. It’s never been something that’s come to mind, and yet made glaringly obvious by the events of today. The way you are starting to find it harder to let your eyes stray from his features, the drives home with him becoming the most treasured moments of your day.

The answer’s simple, really. Stupidly simple that you should have figured it out a long time ago, considering the fact that the both of you run a romance advisory programme. You have feelings for Renjun. Not-so-platonic feelings, if the speeding up of your heartbeat in the past few days are any indication.

You only remember the second half of the lyrics when you’re on your sofa, the lyrics of the song that was playing in Renjun’s car.

If I'm on your mind You know that you're on my mind I don't want to fall in love alone

“I don’t want to fall in love alone either,” you say to no one in particular, the only accompaniment being the four walls of your studio apartment. You’re at a loss on what to do with Renjun, haunted by both the endless possibilities and the fear of rejection.

Love is hard when it comes to Renjun, and you’re not sure if all your experience with hosting will have any use.

It’s two days before Renjun sees you in the studio again. On Tuesday, he had been waiting for you outside, before Seulgi had fired a quick text saying you had called in sick.

When you were absent from your seat beside him on Wednesday, there had been a foreign feeling of emptiness in the studio, compounded by the fact that you had yet to reply Renjun’s messages. Even then, he tries to make the program as engaging as possible, assuming that you’re home resting.

It’s not the same, no matter how hard he tries. It’s not the same without you.

By the time you step into the recording booth, Renjun’s positively overcome with worry, ready to jump out of his seat and hug you at the sight of you well and alive. However, he’s not sure if it will overwhelm you. He decides to force himself to stay where he is, fiddling anxiously with his fingers as his eyes follow you around the room. You smile pensively at him when you catch his gaze. In truth, you hadn’t been sick. You were just scared of seeing Renjun, especially immediately after being confronted with the weight of your new feelings.

The introduction passes as usual, and you put in extra effort to make your voice bright and cheery after your absence, knowing that the listeners must have missed you. Even then, Renjun can detect a note of artificiality in your voice, almost as if you’re deliberately trying to present yourself that way. Maybe you’re still feeling sick, he thinks, and feels a pang of guilt for hounding you with his messages. However, he already has medicine in his bag, and a heat pack for you later, just to make sure you recover as quickly as possible.

You’re less talkative than usual today, giving short replies outside of the programme itself. Renjun tries not to let it unnerve him, but he’s not sure how to reach out to you.

“Renjun, can you read the next letter, please?” You ask cheerfully, the way your emotions switch up from lethargic to energetic becoming rather disarming to him. “Oh yes, of course,” he says, panicking slightly as he fumbles with his script, lost in thought.

Dear Ren-D and Y/N-D,

Hello! I’m not sure if you can call me a regular listener, but I’m very familiar with this program. I wrote this letter because of a very big dilemma I have. I think I have feelings for a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a colleague. But confessing might make our relationship awkward, and I don’t want to ruin it for us. At the same time, my feelings are so strong that I don’t know what to do with them.

“This is from user caramelmacchiato,” Renjun adds at the end, and you’re awfully silent as he looks at you, waiting to see if you’ll reply first. When you don’t speak after a while, he decides to go first.

“I think you should go for it,” he encourages, and the only thing he hears from you is a sharp inhale, causing Renjun to furrow his brows in concern.

“Often, we don’t have control over what we feel, or the people we like. I think it’s better to confess first. If he’s really someone you like that much, I’m sure he’s a good person who will understand your emotions, and the friendship won’t break apart that easily,” he continues, and you’re staring at Renjun now, a stricken expression on your face.

“And…for all you know, user caramelmacchiato, your friend just might like you back too.” Renjun’s mouth tilts up in a grin as he says it, his heart fluttering strangely for some reason. It definitely doesn’t help that your gaze is riveted on him, and Renjun runs a hand through his hair self-consciously. You’ve always made him nervous, even if you’ve known him for more than a year.

He quickly remembers that the both of you are on live broadcast, however, Seulgi and Jeno still watching. “Y/N?” he asks, and you shake your head as if clearing your mind from a fog.

“Oh, yes. Good luck, um…user caramelmacchiato.” Your voice is slightly high-pitched and squeaky, and it’s obvious you’re nervous, though Renjun can’t think of a reason why.

“As the night comes to a close, we have one last song for you. This is Fall in Love Alone by Stacey Ryan. Goodnight everyone!” You successfully bring the programme to a finale, and Jeno ends the broadcast.

Renjun’s quick to grab his things and make his way over to you, but you’re two steps ahead of him, almost jumping out of your chair once the microphone is off. He stares at you from where he is, and sees the same confused expression on Seulgi’s face. It’s unlike you to simply just up and leave, especially when Renjun is the one sending you home. And he doubts you have plans after midnight.

When he enters the hallway, there’s no sign of you, and Renjun worries his lip in frustration. He’s not stupid. There must be something wrong, somewhere. He thinks back to each of his interactions with you over the past week, picking each of them apart moment by moment in his brain.

The both of you had called to discuss the live broadcast four days ago, and ended up watching a movie together. And then it was the broadcast itself, where he sent you home afterwards. Where he had been so close to saying something that was on the tip of his tongue, but didn’t.

The next two days, you had disappeared without contact while you were sick.

There had to be something he was missing.

Maybe Saturday? But nothing happened other than the morning meeting. When the both of you had gotten breakfast after you bought him a matcha latte and got yourself a…

“Oh God,” he mutters to himself, the puzzle pieces falling into place. It’s not an entirely plausible idea, and Renjun’s pretty sure he’s making connections based on pure gut feeling. Still, it’s too much of a coincidence. Or maybe it isn’t. The way you’re acting, the song that you chose today to finish the broadcast, they fill Renjun’s heart with just the tiniest bit of hope.

He really has to find you now.

Renjun’s grateful he wore his better pair of sneakers today as he rushes out of the building, eyes scanning the place for your familiar figure.

It’s almost a solid five minutes of his heartbeat thundering in his ears until he spots you, walking in the direction of the intersection, and then he’s running.

Renjun reaches you right as the light turns green, grabbing your hand and causing you to spin around in shock. You’ve got your headphones on, and the sudden disturbance leaves your eyes wide in shock. You don’t even resist as Renjun drags you to a bench, motioning for you to sit next to him.

You guessed he would ask about your odd behaviour eventually. You just didn’t expect it to be so soon. The area is deserted except for the both of you, and Renjun’s still slightly out of breath as he sits next to you.

You don’t dare to look at him. It’s a cloudless day today, and you can see clearly even though there’s barely any lighting, thanks to the moon.

“Well, I’m sure you have something to say-” you start, but you’re quickly cut off by Renjun.

“User caramelmacchiato. That’s you, isn’t it?” His question causes your heart to stutter to a stop, and you’re hoping you heard him wrong. Still, the resounding silence tells you that you heard him exactly.

Honestly, you should probably have picked a better username. You’re kicking yourself for it now, realising you overlooked Renjun’s natural knack for observation. Your silence makes it obvious that he’s right, and the boy next to you lets out a soft sigh, causing your heart to fall slightly.

Your posture is tense, already prepared for the sting of inevitable rejection. “It’s okay if you don’t like me, Renjun, really, I’ll be fine-” you’re cut off by his palm over your mouth, and you stare at him incredulously. Renjun, for his part, looks frustrated, forehead scrunched as he turns to face you.

“Will you let me speak for one second?” He says exasperatedly, and you nod.

“I was right about the friend. He likes you back too,” Renjun mutters, and you stare at him for a few seconds too long before the words sink in. You push his hand away roughly, your lips falling open into an expression of shock.

“What?” Renjun shrugs at the disbelief on your face. “Is it that hard to believe?”

“No, it’s just that the both of us-” You’re quickly silenced again, but this time, instead of his hand, Renjun’s lips are on yours. He’s kissing you, and you’re frozen, eyes wide.

Renjun fills with alarm when you’re unresponsive, and he’s wondering if he’s made a terrible, terrible mistake. He’s just about to pull away, when there’s a tug on his hoodie. You’re kissing him back, and he can hear nothing but his heartbeat.

Renju’s not one for physical affection, but he thinks he might be dreaming. You’re definitely topping the list of people he doesn’t mind being touchy with, and he might just seek it out himself.

It seems like too soon when you finally pull away, but Renjun doesn’t mind. After all, he’s hoping that the both of you have plenty of time, to do….whatever this is. There’s still a tiny part of him, however, that fears the thought of you realising this was a mistake and running away.

That fear quickly disappears when you break out into the most radiant smile Renjun has ever seen, causing him to let out an exhale of relief, and you burst out in giggles at his expression. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m just happy,” you confess, and Renjun’s heart feels so full, so light, as you lean against him.

“I think I liked you the first day you walked into our office. I was just too much of a coward to consider even dating a colleague,” you continue, and Renjun lets a fond smile make its way onto his face.

“If you’re a coward, then I’m an idiot for not realising sooner. Will you let me send you home now?” At your soft nod, Renjun extends a hand out to you, relishing the feeling of your smaller palm in his.

It may have taken a year of waiting, confusion, and a whole lot of running, but Renjun finally has you, and he’s never going to let you go, not if you’ll have him.

“Ren-D, some of our readers are asking about your first love. Do you have any fun stories to share?”

There’s a teasing lilt to your voice, and the only thing preventing Renjun from rolling his eyes is the fact that the camera is currently panned to him.

“No fun stories, unfortunately, but I do have a reader’s letter to share.”

“Oh?”

Renjun clears his throat, feeling strangely nervous.

Dear Y/N-D and Ren-D,

Yesterday, I finally found the courage to chase after someone that I liked, and looking back, I think they might be my first love. I didn’t realise it until they confessed to me first, but I found myself missing their presence unconsciously when they were gone. I think many of us don’t realize how precious someone is until they’re no longer there. Hence, to all the fellow listeners here, I hope that you’ll live without regrets, and bravely chase your first love no matter what!

“Oh,” you exhale softly, eyes wide. The letter was strangely sentimental, heavy for a program such as yours. You can see the comments flowing in, and you’re sure many of them feel the same as you now.

“This person is really good with words,” you comment, and Renjun huffs a laugh, almost like he’s hiding a secret.

“This is from user matchalatte,” he says, and you nod absentmindedly in response, before you freeze, head whipping to look at him. The corners of his mouth are tilted up in a smirk, and you’re staring at him, before realising that the cameras are now panned to the both of you.

There’s heat rushing to your cheeks now, realising that you know who exactly user matchalatte is. Of course it’s him. Only Renjun would think of returning the gesture, just to see your reaction on broadcast.

“Um.” You’re not yet able to formulate words to respond, even though you know that Seulgi and Jeno are likely in the other room watching you both, along with tens of thousands of listeners. Renjun lets out a soft laugh at your starstruck expression, and it causes your heart to skip a beat at his happy expression.

“The next song we have for everyone is Je T’aime by Joy. We’ll be back after the break!” Renjun smoothly takes over your line while you’re still distracted, and embarrassingly enough, it makes you melt even more.

The gentle notes of the starting piano play are audible throughout the studio, and you jolt with familiarity, eyes meeting Renjun’s. You had added this to his playlist while the both of you were drafting the program schedule, and even though he had been ambivalent to the song at first, you found the album sitting on your desk a week later.

Honestly, you should have realised it sooner. That he was the one you wanted to have morning coffee runs and midnight drives with. The person whose playlists you would listen to and whose favourite songs you would save.

Je t’aime. It’s an expression of love, but you don’t think all the languages in the world are enough to describe the way you feel with Renjun. He makes you feel like you’re floating, but at the same time the one who’s grounding you, a tethering force that makes you feel safe.

There’s a consistency to the way Renjun cares for you, the way he makes a space for himself so easily in your life that he feels like home. Having his love has already become a force of habit, one that you never want to break.

The beeping of the timer reminds you that the advertisement break is up, and you’ve managed to regain some semblance of composure externally, even though there’s still a light pink dusting your cheeks.

“Welcome back to Love.fm with Ren-D and Y/N! Today’s a chilly Friday evening, so let us accompany you into the weekend. Send in any romantic worries you have, and we’ll answer each and every one of them,” you start, and narrowly avoid stuttering when a hand encapsulates yours under the desk. You flash a warning glance at Renjun despite your previous nervousness, but the boy simply has a smug grin on his face.

Still, despite his teasing, you’ll gladly give anything to live in these moments forever, him next to you with his headphones on and script in hand.

Stay by my side like a delicate scent I guess I love you, I'm in love I hope this pleasant feeling will never change

[bebop-station]

Shostakovich and Aziraphale

I was thinking (and talking to @balance-of-probability endlessly) about the choice to have Shostakovich's fifth symphony feature so heavily in S2 ep 1, and how it struck me as a little odd as there are a bunch of composers Aziraphale loves mentioned in the book and Shostakovich isn't amongst them.

Backstory: In 1934, Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth of Mtensk premiered to huge popular acclaim, which was very briskly walked back in 1936 after the Stalinist newspaper Pravda published an article denouncing it.

Actually more than denouncing it, condemning it. It wasn’t credited but was authored by a guy called David Zaslavsky who was almost definitely scribing for Stalin himself. Lady Macbeth was banned in the USSR until 1961.

Anyway by 1936 Shostakovich had written his fourth symphony, which he withdrew from public performance until 1961 because it was more of the same thing that had made the Soviet leadership cancel Lady Macbeth – it was unconventional, anti-patriotic, and indicated that Shostakovich was a “bourgeois formalist”.

So he shelved it and started working on Symphony No. 5 which is, on the surface at least, Soviet as fuck. And that’s what we hear Aziraphale listening to in S2E1.

(Sidebar this story is told in Julian Barnes’ The Noise of Time which is either a literary wank soup or a masterpiece depending on how cranky you are when you first read it)

So basically what Dmitri Shostakovich did in those years between the fourth and fifth symphonies was something that might be familiar to S2E6 enjoyers/agonisers: he decided to toe the party line.

Kind of.

Listening to the finale of the fifth symphony (and if you want to listen along it’s the recording of Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic, it’ll be called something like Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47; iv. Allegro non troppo) without the context of the rest of the symphony or in fact Shostakovich’s life is like ah yes that’s a bit of a Soviet battle anthem let’s march into Leningrad or whatever.

But it is, as critics have increasingly understood in the years since Shostakovich demurely described it as “a Soviet artist's no-nonsense response to fair criticism”, dripping with irony. This man reviled the Stalinist line on art and life – he takes the Soviet anthem and turns it into a sort of fucked up evil clown march. The whole thing gives me this vibe:

(gif from @goodomensedit)

There’s a lot of stuff about that time in Shostakovich’s life that is extremely hard to verify. There’s a “memoir” which is for sure at least partially fabricated called Testimony in which there’s an alleged quote from our man saying that final movement is a parody, that “it's as if someone were beating you with a stick and saying, "Your business is rejoicing, your business is rejoicing", and you rise, shaky, and go marching off, muttering, "Our business is rejoicing, our business is rejoicing"."

Whether or not Shostakovich said that (some of his friends who outlived him support that reading, including Rostropovich who conducted a bunch of his work) you can definitely hear it in the piece and you can definitely see how it gives us a clue into the decision Aziraphale makes at the end of the season.

What Shostakovich had to decide back in the 1930s was whether he would a) flee to somewhere like the US, where many other artists targeted by Stalin went; b) stay and become a public nuisance, leading almost definitely to an off-the-books execution; or c) become a party-approved Soviet Artist and hope for change. Even nudge it along in a subtle way. Even get on the inside and work to bring it down. We don’t know how true that was for old mate Dmitri and we don’t yet know exactly what Aziraphale has planned. But yeah:

tl;dr: Shostakovich 🤝 Aziraphale

          Staying inside a rancid and destructive militarised culture in the hope that it can change

[lambment]

Hello! I love your art so much! Your cult of the lamb stuff has really inspired me and has pumped me up and I’m trying to basically re learn how to draw again! Do you have any advice for a fellow artist and how to approach story telling? :D

anon its been like a good while since this message has been sent (I think? based off all the homophobic crown asks this was wedged btwn) and WAHHH im so happy for you, I hope youre enjoying your reentry into art C:

first and foremost, try to enjoy the process rather than the end result. a much wordier explanation in this post (X)

theres also the discipline aspect of it, you need to be pretty concious of balancing learning with enjoyment (and you can absolutley have that balance without thinking about it). but I find a lot of new/learning artists get easily discouraged when a piece doesnt pop out exactly how they imagined it. I have a secret, lets be realistic, none of my pieces do lol. expectation is the killer of art imo, just go with the flow of enjoyment and learn what you can to become better at it. get used to adapting often.

even if you arent always studying (dont make it boring for yourself now), just you constantly drawing will improve your art, but dont expect to notice an improvment with every piece, its an incremental process and youll have bad days. just focus on the journey not the destination is what im getting at.

REFERENCE!!! its a beautiful, beautiful thing, anyone telling you its cheating is a silly billy who needs to learn. look up artists you admire, try to figure out how they tackle a piece, examine photos that you think are beautiful. just collect different pieces of reference, and try making a piece based off of them, a fun excercise. it'll improve your art.

as for the story aspect of this, im ngl, Im still learning myself. my main rule of thumb is "if i want to see this, someone else out there will too." so dont get discouraged by thinking no one will want to see your story idea.

I'm constantly adding story ideas to my notes to save for later, idk bout you, but I WILL forget the idea if I dont write it down immediatley (built worse), and if you have a mental image of it make sure to add very vague stage direction to supplement it, dont get too detailed tho, youll be changing alot. if youre anything like me -pepaw brained- try to keep in the habit of that. some storyboarding tips for staging tips and reference (X)

from there, I'll take a key moment -money shot or emotional moment- of the story, and base the rest of the comic around that image -> how I tackle formatting and making a comic (X).

the best way to learn is by doing, and failing and learning from that. so dont sike yourself out when you get there and it doesnt turn out as expected, it might be something so much better, thats the fun of it (:

I hope this helped, sorry im a yapper!

[sirenjose]

So I've been really into your analysis lately and I'm a huge fan now, wanted to ask some questions, feel free to not answer any

1- what was your favourite idv story/event to analyze?

2- your least fav of the latter?

3- are you into anything else besides idv?

4-how do you find the motivation to analyze stuff? I've tried before and it was very draining :')

Thanks for your time, hope you have a lovely day

I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying yourself despite my own low opinion about much of what I put out. I'll do my best to answer!

Hmm I always dislike picking favorites because I'm bad at picking eheh... But the ones I liked most... I honestly enjoy T&I and COA (1-5) even more than the main story. So I think I might pick... Atropos' Ropes for T&I and for COA, thats harder... 3-5 are my faves but I might pick 4 just because of how it felt it had the most story/details given than all the rest. Even the *SONG* had story. I loved it.

Least fave, eh... Orfeo and Zinaida immediately come to mind, though Orfeo I'd say was worse... COA 1 is another primarily because of how DIFFICULT it was for me to figure it out enough to put together an analysis. And I had to rewrite that thing at LEAST 3 times to the point I'm just hoping it's good enough and leaving it alone. Time of Reunion I think is another that comes to mind, mainly because I didn't appreciate how they treated Norton in there, especially in the videos (but at least those aren't canon like the in-game event was). So based on all that, I might say Orfeo if I really had to pick 1. Then rank ToR 2nd and Zinaida/COA1 3rd.

FF14 and Honkai Star Rail especially I'm playing actively these days, but I honestly like a lot of stuff. Like Persona (espeially 4), 999 aka Zero Escape, and Star Ocean Til the End of Time. Least in terms of games.

Hmm... Maybe because the 1st reason I play a game is because of the story, and gameplay is always 2nd to me. If the story and characters are good, that gets me interested. Issue with IDV is we only get bits and pieces. Really need to look deeper to really understand some of the characters. I actually only started analyzing because I challenged myself (partially out of curiosity for the answer) to see if I could prove if Norton wasn't as evil as people thought (based on all the comments I saw when I 1st joined the fandom a long while ago). From there, there was Jose who I wanted to analyze because he honestly had so many plot holes I couldn't (and still can't completely) solve. So I get the most enjoyment analyzing something that doesn't have a clear answer. Which is why I don't always post for every letter. A big part of it is I enjoy history and culture and such, so it's fun for me to learn about different foods, or time periods, or how bad the environment was for miners or sailors back in the day, etc... I dont think I have an easy answer (I can see I'm rambling). Norton I actually only began to like because I was spending so long working on my 1st analysis for him (and my perfectionism made me analyze all of Norton's essences before i could call it finished). Jose was because I love Captain Hook, and then after because of the plot holes that bothered me. Then for others, I think I enjoy making analyses to... try to sometimes change people's opinoions/beliefs. Like with Margaretha or Vera. With Edgar was because I was more interested in his story and him as a character only once I put together all his lore. Sort of goes on from there. I could ramble on but I'm going to get even more guilty. I hope this helps somewhat, but let me know if it doesn't and I'll keep going. Maybe the simple is A) I like history/culture/research, B) I like to convince people that certain characters arent as evil as they think or change beliefs I think aren't quite accurate, C) I like solving puzzles and I love story, D) I already think too hard about literally everything, and combined with my perfectionism, we get analysis

[hisclockworkservants]

I hope you don't mind but I wanted to say that I really love your tales and skips!! I haven't been into the SCP mythos in a hot minute but I just really, really love the way you link so much of it together and to Chinese mythology, it always means so much to me to see our culture represented, especially in a genre that is so seemingly incongruous!! I have always been really interested in Alagadda lore and I came across your Peking opera SCP while combing through the tag and the rest is history haha. Your Alagadda tales are, like, foundational (haha) to my understanding of what Alagadda is and its history. I'm pretty sure you actually introduced me to the CotBG mythos too! I absolutely adore the Xia anomalous culture group pages. Linking Mekhane and Yaldabaoth to Fuxi and Nüwa is absolutely genius and I will think about it forever and always. Also your art is basically the definitive SCP art style to me. It never even crossed my mind that you might be on Tumblr but oh my god I'm so glad you are

Awww thanks! :DDD

Glad you enjoyed my writing an art! It means a lot!

My including of Chinese mythology stuff is very much intentional because I'm fascinated by the concept of seeing things through a different cultural lense.

(And it would make sense from a worldbuilding perspective, since if broken god and such are actual presences, different parts of the world would interpret them differently.)

Also I like writing in classical Chinese (poorly), it's really fun! Translating it into English makes it a very different experience from writing in English to begin with.

I'm glad you like my different interpretations of Alagadda origin :D I think my writing in prominent in this part is cause most of the people like to develop the story further but I just wanted to write more origin lore XD Pretty sure I've established at least 4 verions in my writing.

Speaking of which, I recently wrote this tale about Journey to the West meeting Alagadda, if you are interested :P

[lee-hakhyun]

Since you have no means of escape, let me tell you about my Merlin AU for ORV :D I haven't watched Merlin past some clips, making it clear, i just leveraged a very fun setting. Merlin spoilers ahead though.

Kim Dokja is the warlock servant who gets unceremoniously tied to Prince Yoo Joonghyuk by the whims of fate, meant to help guide him to become the Once and Future King. KDJ must keep this sunfish safe from perilous situations while hiding his magic, because magic is outlawed in the *flips notes* N'gai Kingdom.

Among this cast is fellow servant Yoo Sangah (Gwen), the king's ward Han Sooyoung (Morgana), a dragon in the basement (either Abyssal Black Flame Dragon or the Fourth Wall) the knights Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon, and on and on it goes.

In my head things would probably run similar enough to the show with the exception that every once in a while KDJ sees some strange cloaked figure that he can just feel the magic brimming off of, helping him in subtle ways when things get really tough. Who is that secretive figure helping him out?

KDJ kind of lets his guard down, able to trust this seemingly friendly (if extremely gruff) man with his magic in a way he can't with YJH. They don't have the same camaraderie, but it's still a comfortable companionship regardless.

And then this mysterious person kidnaps KDJ.

YJH and friends chase the evident sorcerer that kidnapped KDJ all the way to the ends of the Earth, having to combat power unlike any they'd seen before - until at a rift in space, this man finally uncloaks himself to reveal someone sharing YJH's face. It has to be a trick. It has to be.

But the man not a perfect reflection; he looks aged, older and wiser and with an undercurrent of grief that keeps him clutching KDJ to his side. KDJ is a warlock, the man claims. One that would, despite what YJH believes of magic practitioners, would give his heart and his life for over and over an ungrateful spoiled prince until he had nothing left to give.

And then he jumps into the portal. Into a parallel timeline/potential future.

This is where we get into spoiler territory for Merlin; in the series, Morgana betrays Merlin and Arthur, and Arthur kind of dies. In this AU, HSY and YJH were prophesied to experience the same thing, except KDJ gave all of his magic to abort said prophecy because it sucked and died, so now everyone in that particular future is in mourning.

Which is why, when the broken prophecy causes a rip in dimensions and into the past, YJH and HSY teamed up to nab KDJ from that other timeline. The people who MADE that prophecy though (either Olympus or the King Arthur legends from the universe of ORV's Main Story who are unhappy they didn't get the spotlight there, I'm not sure yet) are mad at KDJ for not following the prophecy and want to gank them. The future YJH (who will be referred to as SP for now) and future HSY have apparently become terrifyingly adept at fending off actual gods, but for how long? And how will KDJ get back to his original dimension?

Meanwhile, Prince YJH and friends desperately try to find a way to where SP had taken KDJ, as the rift had closed with their departure. Swallowing his pride and the biases that had started to form, he looks to powers he would never have trusted before...

(And somewhere in the future timeline, with the arrival of a reader to the world once more, a struggling writer finds himself startled to see a half-dead, malnourished young boy at his doorstep. To this boy that now rests in his home, he tells bedtime stories and fairy tales that he has no idea are now set to become another prince's adventure.)

This was very much abbreviated from the original thoughts I had, but I feel like I figured out a bit more of the details that I couldn't before (like what's going on with OD). Sorry for making your submission box my unwilling sandbox, but I hope you found some enjoyment out of it :>

[kitsu-kino]

I love drdt so much! Thank you so much drdtdev for making this fantastic fangame. It has brought many others (myself included) a lot of enjoyment and belonging, so I/ we all really do appreciate all the work you and the rest of those how work on drdt (voice actors, artist, animators, and more). Take your time, and I hope to continue seeing how the story goes. You guys are amazing. Have a great day/ night!

(Also first post :D)

[asteria-argo]

Do any of the Greyhounds play D&D in TATBP? And, if so, will they ever get to play with the Cool Kids (the teachers)?

Hey so I hope you don't mind but I have decided to use this ask as an excuse to talk my nerd shit.

First and Foremost to answer the question: Do I think any of the greyhounds play dnd? absolutely yes. Specifically I think Bumbercatch, Jan Maas and Colin play dnd.

Colin got into it when he was a little kid and a massive nerd before he grew up and started desperately trying to be cool. He was really embarrassed about how much he liked it for a long ass time but he's come to embrace it over the years as he's gotten older and stopped giving a fuck! He hasn't played much since he was a kid, but if he's ever given the chance too again I think he'd take it.

Jan Maas and Bumbercatch were both Weird Kids and found deep enjoyment in the game as a result that they carried into adulthood for entirely different reasons. Bumbercatch liked the choas of dnd and all the shenanigans you could get into, whereas Jan Maas was a big fan of the mathematics and rules of it all. Jan Maas is a rules lawyer but in the Siobhan Thompson from D20 way where he fucks DM's over by reminding PC's of cool shit their characters can do that the DM was banking on them having forgotten about.

Despite the fact all three of them like dnd, none of them actually realise this and have never played a campaign together, which might be for the best. There would be tears.

As for if The Cool Kids and playing with them? Maybe! I might write a one shot about it or mention it vaguely in the actual story but I'm pretty mindful about not putting too many of my nicher headcanons into an already very niche fic.

Now this isn't a question that you asked but I'm going to answer it anyway! How did Jamie himself get into dnd? easy! Skye dragged him into it kicking and screaming. Which is sort of a joke but not really.

When they were in university Skye really wanted to go to some board game club but she didn't want to go alone so she took Jamie with her. Jamie was just there to be a good friend, but when Skye made some new friends that wanted to play a campaign with her, she once again made Jamie come along because she wanted to have someone she knew better than these three randos from a board game club she'd been too once with her. And because Jamie while he was in university was on a journey of self discovery trying to figure out who he was without football, he said yes and ended up enjoying the game quite a bit.

He and Skye have been playing half elf siblings in the same campaign for years. Their names are Pin and Misty. Jamie's character is a Bard, Skye's is a ranger. When they started working at Clarence Hill and met Kareem, who was also a nerd, they learnt that he was a forever DM so they invited him to join them and their uni friends for the campaign where he could be a PC. The rest was nerdy ass history.

Jamie doesn't think or care about it half as much as Skye or Kareem do, but he enjoys watching them argue about it. He's mostly just there for the vibes.

Also fun fact; the rest of The Cool Kids dnd group is actually comprised of Skye's bandmates, because I have decided that she is indeed in a band. It has a name and a logo and everything. I'm committed to this being a thing.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Hello, I'm a humble fanfiction reader from the ancient times, when there was only a fanfiction.net, and I just came by to tell you, how much I adore your One Piece Stories. They really help me to calm down before sleeping and make me smile when my little world is crumbling. ❤️ I saw your post about the voices telling you lies and I would like to help, or at least distract you. 😉 So, here are my silly questions for you:

1. If you were a pizza, what kind of pizza would you be?

2. If you could choose a new color for the sky, what color would you choose and why?

3. If the One Piece was a cookie, do you think Luffy would eat it? 🤔

4. Captain Kid vs. Magneto, who would win?

5. Why are planets round-ish? Only wrong answers please.

6. What is your take on fake-pockets on pants?

7. If you could talk to people for the rest of your life in only one way, what would you choose:

a) rap-batteling

b) Musical singing

c) binary code

d) R2D2 beep-bops?

8. If you were a pirate, what would you call your crew?

9. Kiss-Marry-Kill: Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, Pennywise? (I know, that's a hard one.)

10. Bite Shanks in the buttcheek or suck on Mihawks toe?

Ok, that's it for now. I hope it helps, Love. Stay strong, I'm rooting for you! ❤️

HELLO FELLOW FANFIC VETERAN ♥️♥️♥️ I still have an account on fanfiction.net. Not active in the least bit, but it's there, with earlier iterations of some of my fanfics here, from when I was in my mid-teens. Sometimes I like to go read them and have a little cringe for old times' sake.

I'm always so glad to hear that any of my work offers comfort in anyway. I write partly as a comfort to myself, and it's the same reason I started sharing it here after being inactive in the fan fiction community for over a decade. Was still writing, I just figured out over time that I garnered more enjoyment out of writing for myself than for an audience, and only started posting again once I learned that I can write for myself and still share it with others.

The asshole voices significantly settled down after I put my metal playlist on full blast and laid down with my headphones on. There's just a lot going on right now and my brain was being way too loud about it. I actually finished a chapter last night but it was just...ugh. Couldn't focus enough to edit or type my author notes.

1. New York style pepperoni, no question. I love pizza in all its forms, but being from New York (originally, and I want to go back so bad I curse my family for ever moving to this hell-state) the classics win out.

2. Green. Because planet Namek.

3. He would not hesitate for even a SECOND. And to be totally fair neither would I.

4. Magneto, particularly Ian McKellan's Magneto. You do not F around with super-villain-Gandalf, I do not care who you are.

5. The round shape of planets is a natural defense mechanism against black holes, which are far less likely to swallow spherical planets because they prefer...a square meal AHAHAHAHAAA okay sorry that was fcking awful i'll stop now

6. Fake pockets are the root of all evil. Especially fake pockets that are just deep enough for me to catch them on my kitchen cabinet/drawer handles.

7. Definitely beep-boops, no contest.

8. I am a pirate though okay, like that's my crew's jolly roger there above my masterlist, I'm just not the captain or a crew officer or anyone important, probably a janitor or something, anyway yeah Hurricane Pirates

9. Kiss Pennywise (1990 It was my first ever horror movie ♥️), Marry Freddie (he's hilarious and I love him), kill Mikey (it's not that I DON'T enjoy the Halloween movies, just not as much as other 80s slashers)

10. I cannot handle feet, but I will more than happily bite Shanks on the ass, and I somehow doubt he would complain.

This has been delightful thank you so much, I was even able to develop a gods-awful planet joke out of it that I will be subjecting absolutely everyone to ♥️ ❤️

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

hi :) same anon who requested the eddie/wayne holiday traditions story. i loooooved it so much btw im sorry if i never sent that before! but i was hoping to request another holiday themed fic?

i was thinking maybe a couple of the school clubs like hellfire, drama, band etc come together for a holiday party. reader and eddie are just friends at this point but theyre secretly crushing on eachother ever since eddie got reader to stay after drama club to watch hellfire. and the whole time eddie convinces himself to tell reader he likes her but after misreading a situation between reader and another guy (maybe the is asking practicing how to ask someone else out and reader is helping him? idk if thatis too cliche lol) he gets sad and mopes the rest of the party even though his friends try to cheer him up. reader doesnt know why his mood has changed and he isnt his usual flirty self but she finally convinces him to talk and he admits his feeling and happily ever after <3

Request by anon 💞

Warnings; Insecure Eddie, tiny bit of angst, mutual pining, and fluff.

Likes or reblogs are always appreciated 💞💖 I don't give anyone permission to copy my work.

💞💞

There was a party going on at Hawkins High and all the clubs had come together for one night.

Band, Drama club, and Hellfire Club had all come together to hang out for the night.

Merriment was in the air and everyone was enjoying the atmosphere and mingling. Robin had even brought Steve and there was much enjoyment all around.

Yn was part of the Drama Club but had been hanging out for a few Hellfire sessions after Eddie convinced her to stay for one of his big campaigns.

They were friends and she really liked him, if she was being honest she had a crush on him and would love to tell him.

It was hard to work up the courage as she usually got distracted by his pretty brown eyes and would forget what she was saying.

Tonight though she would tell him. Everyone was in a good mood and she smiled as she could hear Eddie excitedly talk about a D&D campaign with Robin.

Nerves fill her belly as she thinks about what she was going to do. Hopefully, her gut feeling was right about Eddie.

They flirted a lot and she wanted to ask him if he wanted to hang out.

💞💞

Eddie had spent the party full of nervous anxiety. Every time had was yn he would break out into a sweat and get tongue-tied.

Rarely if ever did he feel this way but this was the effect she had on him, he had a massive crush on her, and just being in her presence made his heart race and his cheeks flush.

Dustin rolled his eyes as he saw Eddie look over at yn for the third time.

"Dude, just ask her out. She likes you and you like her!"

"I don't know if she likes me Henderson" Dustin gives him a look that clearly said *are you being serious right now?*

Maybe the little butthead had a point. Not that he would admit that as Dustin would get a big head.

Buoyed by this he makes his decision.

He sees yn talking to Steve and his stomach drops as he moves closer and hears Steve ask yn out.

She beams and she says yes which makes his heart sink. Of course, she would want to date Steve. He was handsome, chicks loved him and yn was perfect, they were a great match.

Steve and yn were beaming at each other and he feels gutted. Obviously, he had misread the signs that she liked him?

Miserable he heads off to find the rest of the Hellfire boys.

💞💞

After helping Steve with preparing to ask Nancy out she decides to find Eddie.

Eddie had been acting strange. No longer flirty and kind of withdrawn, kinda mopey she was confused because he seemed fine earlier.

Determined to find out what was wrong she goes to find him and he is taking to his friends.

"Eddie, are you okay?" his friends give them some privacy, and he looks upset about something.

"I'm fine," he tells her but she can sense his hesitation.

"Eddie, please tell me" he sighs.

"I heard Steve ask you out and you said yes, the truth is I really am falling for you but I get why you would want to date Harrington...

"Oh, Eddie. You misunderstand. I was helping Steve work up the courage to ask Nancy out. You know like a role-play kinda thing? I'm falling for you too"

He grins.

"You are? So if I asked you out? Maybe we could go and see a film together? You would say yes?"

Thrilled she nods.

"Yes" beaming he fist pumps the air.

"Milady, would you do the honor of accepting my request for a date?" she giggles reaching up and kissing him softly.

He blinks rapidly looking at her dazed.

"I would love to go out with you Eddie" beaming he kisses her tenderly and he takes her hand leading her over to Hellfire.

Eddie ruffles Dustin's hair.

"I told you so" Dustin grins and says this to Eddie.

"You were right butthead, now don't get a big head about it yeah?"

💞💞

[bluexgreenava]

Today I present you my VERY FIRST self-written fanfic, which I haven't posted anywhere yet, except here (≡^∇^≡)

I can't believe I finally realized that idea from my head and finally wrote a little story🥳🥳🥳 It's a really adorable and lovely story about how you feel when you don't have enough attention🥺🥺 I originally wrote it for Sticktober2023, wanted to participate in it and become an enthusiast :3 and here it is, my first writing job in my life 😇😭

Anyway, enjoy the reading and share your opinion in comments, pls pls pls pls :D From now on, I can officially call myself an aspiring fic-writer ✦_✦📕✍️

Green seeks for attention (💚/💙)

Green was sitting on the couch with his leg up, a phone in his left hand and wired headphones in his ears connected to his smartphone. He looked at it, scrolling through the playlist and choosing from the list of favorite tracks an interesting, original and unique melody that you can listen to deeply, and so deeply that you can listen without stopping. That's what's always happened to him, no wonder he's a music lover. Although....sometimes it's boring to enjoy music alone...when there is no one to share impressions about it, no one to get interested with it and no one to feel it with. With this thought, green stickman took his eyes off the phone, bent down and drooped, looking at the black floor for a few seconds. Angry, he threw the phone with headphones on the sofa, got up and walked to the house, said in his head: "My own enjoyment of music is certainly familiar to me, but not always. I hate loneliness and boredom to death... AND IF THEY ARE ALSO TOGETHER..." The last thought made him feel so bad that he stopped, clenched his hands into fists, frowned and with his eyes closed began to beat furiously into the void and wave his hands until he got tired of it, releasing all his accumulated steam. After a while, he opened his eyes and looking at the front door of the house, continued to go there, talking to himself along the way. "Wait a second!! I have friends. I'm sure they won't let me be bored forever.." The anticipation of listening to music together gave him more energy and confidence, even lifted his mood a little. He had long dreamed of listening to and discussing with someone what he liked most in the world, and expecting that this would happen and the boredom would finally disappear, he immediately had a smile on his face.

He opens the door and first comes in, but standing in the doorway, to his orange, literally, empty-headed friend and boldly, a little loudly with joy, asks: "Yo, Secooond!!!! Do you want to listen to music, dude??" In response, only snoring, because Second was sleeping sweetly on his crib and from what Green said, he only turned on his side, continuing to rest. Green noticed this and realizing that he had almost woken up a friend, rolled his eyes and before leaving Orange's room, quietly said: "Oh, my God!! Sorry, sorry, sweet dreams.. I'll come back a little later.".. He tiptoed to the stairs. In his thoughts, walking along it to one of the other floors: "I hope others aren't busy, I really hope" After 2-3 seconds, the door–entrance to Yellow's room opens wide and the green stickman's speech is heard: "Yoo, Yellow!! Do you want to lis-"

"I'm sorry, Green, I can't, not now. As you can see, I'm very busy" – with a serious look, staring only at his laptop and not taking his eyes off it for a second, interrupted yellow stickman his friend. Yellow held out his left hand in front of him as a stop sign, continuing to type and look at the computer. Green was only more offended by this answer, cause it was still very rude.

"Okay, I'm sorry... Good luck in your work!!((" – he said in a sad tone before reaching for the door handle and closing it. The offended green stickman was already silently moving up the stairs, searched remaining rooms, but other two friends weren't there. "So they're outside.." He left the house and headed for Red, but everything was also unsuccessful. Red also turned out to be busy, because it's not easy to wash Reuben from all the dirt and make a beautiful,clean and cute piggy out of a dirty one. Without saying anything, Green sat down on the sofa with his head bowed and his hands hanging down... and out of despair and resentment, he began to cry, covering both eyes with his thin green hands. "I haven't made it... Nobody's interested in me with my music," –thought Green, while he was crying bitterly. No matter how hard he tried, his dream didn't come true. . He would continue to grieve if it weren't for that one, who he forgot to ask...who loves his friends and will never let them hurt. Not far away from the sofa was a stove, on which Blue was cooking dinner for all his friends. But when blue stickman turned his head towards his crying friend, he became worried, put out the fire and ran to calm him down.

"Green, what happened?? Who offended you??" – Blue said, sitting down next to his friend, putting his arm around his shoulders and wiping the tears that were pouring out of his beautiful eyes with a handkerchief. Holding Green's cheeks and looking into his tear-stained eyes, Blue prepared to listen to him.– "Tell me what or who upset you, it's important for me to know, dude"

Sobbing, in Blue's arms, Green said, "With me.. Nobody wants to listen to music with me.. You know, everyone's busy, but I was just bored and wanted attention.. I hate feeling lonely, I wanted to be together with someone and do what I'm interested in."

"Huh, so you just wanted attention.. I know how to help you.. Do you want me to listen to everything you want with you? ッ".

From what he heard, Green was surprised, looked into his friend's eyes and stopped crying, asked again, because he couldn't believe that someone themselves had invited him to listen to music together:

"Y-you really w-want to listen to me?? WILL YOU REALLY LISTEN TO MUSIC WITH ME??!!  Green asked in a more confident and joyful tone, to put it mildly.

"Of course, why not?? I wanna admit, that doing any kind of things with you always turns out to be interesting, fun and unforgettable. You really know how to bring pleasure, my friend..."– Blue said with a smile, and wiping his friend's eyes with his hand, he said–"But when you cry, it's not fun and it doesn't bring any pleasure.. I'm all yours, let's listen"

Green hugged his friend tightly by the neck, blushed green and whispered gently in his ear: "Thank you for being with me, Blue, thank you for being there.."

"You're always welcome, Green," –Blue replied with a smile and a blue blush on his face, mutually embracing the green stickman. And so they spent several minutes in each other's arms, snuggling tightly, but then, Green took out his phone, plugged in his headphones and inserted one into his ear, and the other into the ear of blue stickman. They were just listening to a song from our music lover's playlist, closing their eyes and sitting on the couch, hugging each other by their shoulders. Their hearts beat to the beat of the melody, their ears, along with their minds, plunged into the sound and melody.. Green was happy that he was finally able to attract someone with his interests, and after they listened to a few songs, they decided to create their own playlist of favorite tracks.*

*Also below there are some tracks I thought of what they could listen, while I was writing this 🎧 🎵 💚💙

THANK YOU FOR THE READING💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗💖💗 MEANS A LOT TO ME 😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰

[not-poignant]

Recently I was passively listening to something about D&D lore and it mentioned that wielding hellfire is very difficult and can drain the user’s vitality or something like that. I thought about Astarion in Palmarosa wondering if the hellfire ritual was taxing for Raphael.

I don’t remember which edition of the game it was talking about or where I heard it because I was multitasking. I was just wondering if that was the case in your story and if it was the reason Raphael seems kinda spent and in need of a long rest. Did he use the last of his strength and/or non-cantrip magic for the day to protect Astarion?

It’s also cool if you don’t want to answer that/give anything away. I was just curious about the lore in this story and figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Thank you for such an enjoyable story and hope you are doing well!

Hi anon,

Tbh I don't really see wielding hellfire as being that taxing for Raphael comparatively with other fiends because his father is the unrivaled master of hellfire, and is known as the Lord of Hellfire, and no way did Raphael grow up without a decent amount of mastery at it.

That doesn't mean using it doesn't tax him, it's just... not really comparable, because most fiends were not birthed by, and then raised by, the most adept devil re: hellfire in Ba'ator.

That being said I don't really know all the different versions of lore etc. and I'm not really thinking about cantrips or anything. I think Raphael's tired because he was doing a whole bunch of stuff before he even returned back to see Astarion under one of Verillius' curses, and is moving quickly / on not much energy because he's a true cambion again and doesn't have the energy reservoirs of an ascended pit fiend behind him like he used to.

Generally speaking you can assume that aside from BG3, and some research here and there, I don't actually know much at all about D&D and am just writing fanfiction for fun and so making a lot of stuff up as I go! A lot of the lore in the story will be 'cuz I felt like it' (such as who is staffing Mephistar, and the layout) and then the rest is 'because BG3 said this happened / there's dialogue supporting this' and 'blue Mephistopheles is hotter than red Mephistopheles imho' dsalfksa

But yeah, Mephistopheles is the Lord of Hellfire! Mephistar is made of ice and yet perpetually warm because of hellfire, and even Raphael uses it fairly casually for things like locking and unlocking his vaults (in the story), because even he knows how much it taxes other fiends to use it. Imho that ritual was taxing less because of the hellfire (which he has casually summoned around Astarion in the past) and more because of the intensity of the ritual itself and the fact that he didn't really want to kill Astarion in the process.

I think my dude's just really tired tbh

[waterfallofspace]

Thank you to the lovely @onetrickponi for this request:

From a little ask I intend to work my way through using ~this list~ (I actually am writing 2 things for this one, hope that's alright <3) I went with D/azai for the first one, featuring C/huuya ofc. It takes a minute to get into the actual snz, but hopefully it's still enjoyable~ 2.1k words, Prompt #17, story under cut! 17. What did you do to your nose to piss it off like this?" (References to swearing, and mild violence, in case anyone doesn't like either of those!)

~~~~~~~

Walking into his office in the morning Chuuya has learned to expect a certain number of problems to be waiting for him. Being an executive in the Port Mafia means cleaning up a lot of messes. It also means handling a lot of issues so they don’t become messes. All that to say, he expects problems, just not… this one. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Aw Chuuuya, that’s no way to greet your pahhrtner!”

“Former. Now? You’re just a traitor.”

“Words hurt you know.”

“I should kill you on sight.” 

Dazai casts him a dark smile, letting the chair tilt as he leans back, eyes void of anything you could call ‘human’. It’s an intense look; emotionless and calculated. He has with ease a terror inducing quality that even Mori lacks. Something that leaves you feeling cold and itchy. Almost as if how calm you feel in his presence sets off every alarm in your brain. 

“Come now. We both know you hhhaave no intention of that.”

“Why you-” 

“Aren’t you gonna ask me what I want? I mean- sneaking into the office of a Port Mafia executive? I must want something.” 

Considering punching a hole in the wall, Chuuya settles for a shaky sigh, fist clenching around his jacket as he drapes it over the desk. ‘If I killed him now I’d have to deal with Mori. Besides, I need him to leave here without alerting anyone else or I’ll get accused of aiding and abetting. It’s my office after all, and he’s sitting here like he fucking owns the place.’ 

“Fine. But only this once, you hear me? And get your feet off my desk, you bastard.” 

“There’s the Chuuya I know and love!”

“I have seven knives hidden within my reach.”

“What an interesting fact! My turn! I have a video of Chuuya snoring on my phone.” 

“Eh?! You- Ach. Just out with it. The sooner you tell me what you want the sooner you can leave. And get off my chair, would you?” 

A smirk spreads across Dazai’s face, a grimace appearing on Chuuya’s in response. With a noncommittal noise he vacates the chair, Chuuya quickly taking his place. ‘Better, but I won’t be able to relax till he’s gone.’ They pause for a minute, trading stares as Dazai’s hand twitches to his face. A single movement, but one that Chuuya decides not to ignore.

“Something wrong with you?”

“Manners, Chuuya! Even Mori has more tact. But since you ahhsk, yes actually. That happens to be why I’m here.”

Chuuya’s face pales, a shiver running down his spine as he attempts to scan Dazai’s form. ‘No obvious wounds, he doesn’t seem that pale so likely no blood loss… It shouldn’t be some sort of special ability malfunction, he’s carrying himself with too much confidence. But his breath has been shaking. I didn’t notice it before, maybe-’ Dazai tilts his head, letting a hand rub against his nose again. 

“Are you worried, partner? How kind of you~! I knew you cared!”  

“I- I do not! I just w- want you out of my office. That’s all.”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. Along with all the rest.”

“Are you gonna tell me what you want or not!?”

“Right! Nearly forgot. It’s a bit heh-! Scuse me. Bit embarrassing.” 

"Everything about you is embarrassing.”

The anticipated retort never comes. Instead, Dazai’s eyes shift to the wall, a slight haze coming over them as his hand hovers in front of his face. Chuuya finds himself unable to look away, mind running through possibilities. ‘Is he gonna faint? Maybe I ruled out blood loss too soon. No… not pale enough. Maybe it’s an enemy's special ability? How would that be embarrassing though…’

“Not again, guhh- I really thought I had it that time.”

The voice pulls Chuuya from his thoughts, eyes refocusing on the man standing in front of him aggressively scrubbing at his nose. It’s only now that Chuuya starts to piece it together. The watery quality of his eyes, the slight flush to his face, and finally the dampness surrounding his nose. ‘Are you fuckin-’ 

“Are you fucking kidding me? You broke into the Port Mafia because you’re sneezing?”

“Actually, no. But good try, you’re very c- huhh-! close. I broke into your office because I can’t sneeze.”

“Wha-” 

Dazai lifts his hand back to his nose, sniffling with a quality that makes Chuuya flinch. He pinches it lightly, eyes starting to unfocus again, before huffing out a sigh and drifting his focus back to Chuuya. In response, Chuuya huffs out a laugh. ‘Wish I could say this is the weirdest reason he’s ever had for coming to see me. Unfortunately, this is pretty standard Dazai.’

“It’s not nice to laugh at someone who’s suffering!”

“Why the hell would you break in here for a sneeze?”

“Weren’t you listening? It’s the lack of sneeze that’s brought me here.”

“You know what I meant, jackass.” 

“It’s not exactly a problem I’m eager to share with just anyone. Not ex- hahh-! guhh… not exactly the proudest moment of my life. I needed someone I trust.” 

Chuuya pinches the bridge of his nose to fight off the growing headache. ‘I always seem to get one when interacting with him.’ Weighing the pros and cons of killing him here and now, Chuuya lets another sigh out, a low growl nipping at its heels as he offers a response. 

“Don’t you have someone over at the agency? The tiger kid, or that ideals man.”

“Maybe, but I wanted you.” 

A warmth starts to spread over his cheeks before he can stop it, Chuuya roughly huffing to distract from it. Judging by the smile that appears on Dazai’s face, he was unsuccessful. ‘Ach. What does it matter anyways, he’s the one embarrassed here. I don’t even care! I should just throw him out on his ass.’ Despite the sentiment, Chuuya finds himself vocalizing the complete opposite.

“Let’s just get this over with.” 

“Aw, see? I knew Chuuya would hhhhelp me!”

“Ju- just shut up, bandage waste. D… did you h- have something in mind?”

“Actually, yes. You see, this tihihhh- tickle has been bothering me for quite some time. I attempted a few rehhmedies myself, but it seems to be ineffective- heHH-!” 

Another pause fills the room as Dazai’s breath catches, a tear fighting to free itself as his hand flutters in front of his face. After an entirely too awkward amount of time, Dazai finally sighs, rubbing his nose against his bandaged arm as a light cough spills out. Chuuya fills the silence that follows, wanting to end this experience as quickly as possible. 

“So?”

“So, I figured it haahhh… has to be someone else. I checked around your office for something effecti-”

“-You did what?”

“-tive, and landed on this feahhhther. Not sure why you even have this, but I suppose it’s none of my business.”

“I- I uh-”

The look that crosses Dazai’s face has Chuuya’s fists clenching again, his entire body begging him to knock it off the bastard's face. Instead he stands, ripping the feather from Dazai’s hands and pushing him against the wall. A breath is snagged from Dazai’s lungs at the force, his eyes meeting Chuuya’s with a dirty look.

“Someone’s bossy a- hahh-! all of a sudden-”

“S- shut up and close your eyes.”

“Close my…?”

“I’m not doing this with you looking at me l- like that.” 

Dazai doesn’t respond, but he does as he’s told. ‘For once.’ Chuuya grimaces, fighting the warmth that threatens to reignite against his cheeks as he brushes the feather against Dazai’s nose. Dazai’s breath catches as his head tilts back on its own. ‘This’ll be easier than I thought. Bastard really couldn’t do this himself?’

“heHH-! ehh… hihh-! hEP-! guhhhh…”

“What the- are you fighting it?”

“Nohhhh… Ihhehh-! It’s been l- heAH-! like this all da-ahhhy-! It’s been driving me in… insane- hEP-! Damn…”

“Shit Dazai, what did you do to your nose to piss it off like this?”

“I had to ho- heHP-! huhh… holdback for a meeting, and I thhhhink this is… is… heAH-! is payback.” 

Chuuya can’t help but laugh, prompting a watery glare from the tortured man in front of him. He pulls the feather away to reevaluate, Dazai moaning slightly as it’s removed, breath catching again- leading to nothing once more. ‘This isn’t working, I need a better plan…’

“Whatever it takes, right?”

“You have my phehh-! permission to do anything your little hhheart requires. As long as it gets results.” 

“Got it. Stay here, and don’t touch anything!”

With that, Chuuya brushes out of the room, heading straight for Mori’s office. ‘There’s something in here… I think he keeps it in this- there it is! This whole thing might end up being enjoyable after all.’ Grabbing the item, Chuuya returns to his office, surprised to find Dazai pressed against the wall where he left him, eyes still shut.  

“Ready?”

“Go fohhh… for it.”

Offering a tight nod in response, a grin starting to spread over his mouth, Chuuya holds up the cologne, spraying it right onto Dazai’s nose.  The effect is immediate, his eyes snapping open, staring right into Chuuya’s, before fluttering closed again, jerking as far away from Chuuya as he can manage.

“heH-! hAH’KXSH-ENXSHH’diue-! Oh thank go- AIYZSHH-hNNXSHh’iew-!”

“Christ, Dazai.”

“heHh… wait there… there’s… huhH-! eh’KZSHH’shiew-! dAHZZSHhh’uu-!”

“A- are you-” 

“hh- hah’ihZSHHh’diue-! hehh’knESZHh’oo-! hehh.. huhHH-! ihh’tnZSHhhieww-!” 

The third seems to surprise them both, Dazai managing to bring a hand up to scrub at his face, pinching his nose shut and prying his eyes open. Chuuya can’t help but wince at the ticklish look of his face, nose quivering, still hitching despite the iron grip he has placed over it. A desperate look flashes across his features as he ducks into his chest, fingers still glued to his nose being used to stifle.

“hH’GNXT-INDXXT-! tehhh… heh’inGT-aiNGT’shh-! ihHH-! hh- knnGT-eh’dNT’chh-!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t-”

“eh’kznngt-inndgt’chhh-! huhh-! hk’nxxt’chh-geh’dxxt’choo-! heH-! dnNXt’choo-ainGT’choo-!” 

“Seriously you moron that’s only gonna-”

“ihh’knnT’oo-! iNDXT’oo-! hahHHh… gehh- hehH-! hehH’KXXNT’shoo-! eh’dENXGT’shhoo-!”

Each breath increases the tickle, Dazai only seeming able to inhale when he’s building for the next sneeze. Before he can think it through, Chuuya finds himself prying his hands away, holding them together. Dazai opens his eyes again, desperation flooding them as he tries to break free.

“Ch- Chuuya.. I hhhaaaa… haavee to… guhhh-! gonna… heHh-!”

“J- just sneeze, okay? That’s why you came to me isn’t it? Besides, this is hard to watch.”

No time to fight Dazai gives one last effort to break free. It fails spectacularly, and instead he attempts to aim for the floor, only succeeding in reaching Chuuya’s chest. Chuuya growls at the display, but ultimately resigns himself to the outcome. ‘Technically it’s my own fault. Still, bastard’s probably doing this on purpose.’ 

“ahh’tezshhiew-knnezsshh’iew-! heHh… guhh- hiH-! aih’YIZSHHhh’oo-YIEZSHH’shhoo-!"

"Bl-"

"hahhh… hAHhh-! ah’gnZUSHHh’diew-eh’zzUSHHhh’diew-!”

“Bless you.”

“Th- thahhhnnk… hH’INCHh’oo-! knNCHHH’oo-!”

“Don’t waste your breath.” 

“See- heH-! Seems like you’re the sneeehhh… eh’tzsshh’oo-! tzzshhh’oo-! sneeze whisperer, Chu- choo… ahh’CHH’uuya-! heh’CHH’uuya-!” 

A blush spreads across Chuuya’s face as he aims a kick for Dazai’s stomach, just a little satisfied when the bastard grunts in response. ‘It wasn’t strong enough to do any real damage.’ Dazai attempts to laugh, the noise coming out strangled as the congestion seeps into his voice. 

“Something the matter?”

“I- I will throw you out the window, Dazai.” 

“Might be doing me a faahhh… again..? heH’KZSHhh’oo-! kEHSZHH’oo-! Scuse me. Might be doing me a favour. This is gonna laahhh… last all day.” 

“You asked for it.”

“Yehh- yes I did.”

Freeing himself from Chuuya’s grasp, Dazai starts to head for the door, pausing with a spin to face him once more. A look spreads across his face, one that steals Chuuya’s breath the way the sneezes had stolen Dazai’s. A look with real emotion laced in it. 

“I don’t regret it, you know. Coming to you. I made the right choice.”

Leaving no room for a response, Dazai gives a wave, before crushing his nose into his palm again as he exits the room. Chuuya pauses, seemingly frozen in place as his mind races through the interaction. Replaying every moment as if he’s watching a recording in his head. 

‘Smug bastard. Just wanted an excuse to break into the Port Mafia, I bet that’s it. He just wanted to prove that he could get into my office whenever he wanted. Picked the dumbest reason just to piss me off.’ 

It’s a lie, and he knows it. But just for now, it’s easier than the truth, so Chuuya decides to stick to it, ignoring the smile that starts to form. A few floors down as Dazai makes his escape, the same smile graces his features.

“It was nice to see you too, partner.” 

[filipinosamflynn]

Golden Son tier list + review! :D

These books are so fucking good, I want to continue with book 3 already. I have never read books this quickly, but DAMN that was good. You can see my live thoughts while I was reading from the tag "#sam flynn reads red rising", but here are my post reading thoughts below the cut.

Characters: 9/10, everyone served their purpose well and was great except for Antonia, who SOMEHOW still disappointed me.

Plot: 9/10, I have no clue if there was anything for me to complain about.

Personal Enjoyment: 10/10, I was unfortunately spoiled to 2 events within the book before I started reading, but I had so much fun regardless. I wish I had come in 100% blind :(

I have NO CLUE where to start. I guess I'll start with Fitchner. His identity as the founder of Ares was no secret to me when I came into the book, I strayed too far and accidentally got myself spoiled. Despite that, the reveal was still fucking brilliant. I'm surprised by how far he shot up in my tier list, from close to the bottom to being top 5. Wish he didn't die though 😭

Another character that shot pretty dramatically up the tier list was the Jackal. I knew he was gonna betray Darrow from the start based on intuition (thankfully not from spoilers) but DAMN HE DIDNT HAVE TO DO ALL THAT 😭 He's so sociopathic, I love that. I am no longer disappointed by him, and are excited to see what this little fucker has in store next! (Unlike with Antonia. Maybe I hyped myself up too highly for her, I expected her to play a larger role in everything but she feels so much like a pawn, it's embarrassing. She is my unironic least favorite character because of how plain disappointed I am in her, and it's not a fun hatred, it's a "oh she is here again. will she do anythin- nope. okay.")

Roque. Sweet Roque. I thought you were eh in the first book, just a cool voice for darrow to talk to I guess. But after the ending, fuck you 😍 I got spoiled by his betrayal, but honestly I saw his betrayal coming when Darrow kept being unable to reconcile with him. Either that or Roque dies, but uhhhhh I got spoiled anyways so it was going to be the latter. yeah I wish he had died instead of this! 🥰 but honestly and to be fair, yeah Darrow kind of deserved some of it for being such an ass of a friend, but:

Cassius went down the tier list because the gala fight was AMAZING but he doesn't show up after that again until the end, and that made me feel sort of hesitant? BUT HE IS CLEARLY STILL BEING SET UP FOR THE FUTURE SO HE BETTER NOT PULL AN ANTONIA AND DO NOTHING BUT BE A PAWN.

Sevro is half red, cool! I am so glad he's still such a lovable scamp. I got excited every time he showed up, I love him.

Darrow is still an amazing protagonist, and I am so glad we are past his angsty "I miss my wife" phase, but I can guarantee I will see more of it after the ending. At least I will be mentally prepared for the whump this time.

Mustang is at her prime here. The scene with her in Lykos was so... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH i fucking hope she returns for darrow because these two are awesome and they deserve all the happiness.

Oh yeah, the scene where they revisit Lykos? As I said in a previous post, it watered my crops and cleansed my skin. I am so glad we finally got to catch up with Darrow's family. AND HE GOT TO HUG HIS MOM AAAAAAAAAA- I hoped we would see Darrow talk with the rest of his family, but just everything about this was comfort enough. Rest in peace uncle Narol though. 😥 Even if the meeting with darrow and his mom was cut abruptly short by Kieran's kids, but my heart... 🥹

Ragnar spawns in and just gets to business, and I love him. I love stories where people raised for only one thing learn to break free of their mold (that's why i was so interested in this series in the first place). I think it's so iconic that every time he speaks, the text becomes bold, that instantly endeared me to him somehow.

Victra was good, but her insistence on Darrow was weird. Could be because I'm a hard Darrow × Mustang shipper.

That's all the characters I feel like talking about. Onto other things like the plot! The plot was SO much better than the first book. We're finally out of that fuckass academy and doing actual rebelling finally! I don't know what else to say, the twists and the plots were phenomenal. The fight scenes here are even better than the ones in the first book. Overall, y'all weren't kidding when people said book 1 was the weakest of the series because I am flabberghasted by how good this book is.

I don't know what else to say, all of this has just been rambling. Darrow better break those god damn chains at the end of it all.

[tallyanimatez]

You don't remember how long time has passed when you're left in such a state. You may not feel anything but the bruises are there...you need to take care of yourself again.

"This is how you should take care of yourself, pup. How did you even navigate your way to the outside..."

The scientist sighed, you recalled his name to be Crewel, the person who assisted in your clothing and chemistry studies, as well as personal injury.

You don't understand what is churning inside your chest, you miss him-no, you miss them.

"Nya, henchmen! You're awake!"

"...O-oh?"

You forgot you haven't learned how to speak properly yet, Grim is all you have at the moment, you're only teacher, you're only family.

"If y'ah that tired then you should have told me sooner! You've been sleeping for 16 hours, I'm starvin' here!"

It must have passed Grim's meal time, for the 75th time, you feel sorry for Grim for having to deal with your clumsiness, you're still getting used to the outside world without your guardian's help. Wasting no time to stand up, you begin searching for berries or anything that's possibly edible for Grim to eat.

"These are the types that are edible to eat, those are poisonous, while the ones over there can be used for medicine."

You brought them back to Grim, hoping to make some stew for him to eat. You haven't mastered cooking so it may not be as enjoyable , but Grim said it's just fine to eat, you're glad it's not terrible.

It always repeats with you scavenging around for food, and then sleeping for the rest of the day. Though oftentimes you see Grim coming back with food on his own, more surprisingly, baked goods, and sharing them with you. Both of you were happy with what you have right now...

"Hide the child somewhere. Vargas! Take care of the intruders, I'll have to dispose of other documents"

"We should hurry up and give the little imp something to use, a knife would do."

"Promise me something pup, do not leave your current hideout until everything is clear."

After Crewel placed you down behind the bush, and using a perfume on you to conceal your smell, the skeleton looking man who generously offered the majority of your parts, Sam, put a pocket knife in your hands before following behind Crewel back to where they came from. With all your might, you tried reaching out to them, even though you were almost immobilized.

"D-don't....go-o...."

It was the last few memories you remembered when Grim helped you regain your mobility and consciousness again. You miss them dearly.

"Hey-y Grim, have you ever wished for so-omething?"

"Nyahaha, I wished to be the greatest mage in this world! What about you henchmen?"

"I-I...wish to f-ind my fami-ily...!"

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

Domicile au

Authors note: This idea came shortly after feathers au, me and some mutuals where chatting, all of the sudden mad father came up so I took the idea of Yuu being something that will be later revealed in this story. This au will mainly be focusing on fluff because I say so, and as you clearly can tell, I gave up on the title so I just googled whatever I could come up with ueueue.