#it doesn't add anything to the conversation but ego

[misslycoris]

PLATONIC

𐂂 Oh best believe he's not gonna take you seriously at the beginning of your so-called friendship, I don't even think he considers it as one.

𐂂 He just considers you as one of the many people he knows. He also definitely doesn't think of you as an equal or anyone significant.

𐂂 He'll probably acknowledge your existence if you were a part of the hotel, but if you were just a random demon off the streets then no, he has better things to do with his time. Not unless you do something that grabs his attention.

𐂂 Deliberately trying to be on his good side won't affect him in any way, he's used to that treatment, therefore what you're doing is nothing special.

𐂂 But what does grab his attention? Subtle things. Giving him his space, if you have a phone or any technology invented beyond the 1930s you generally try and avoid him, thanking him as he passes you your portion of the meal he cooks for hotel bonding nights that Charlie mandated. Stuff like that when added up makes Alastor generally more appreciative of your existence.

𐂂 Only then you're upgraded from an acquaintance to an acquaintance that isn't as annoying to be around as the rest.

𐂂 That's when he strikes up random conversations with you, he appreciates it if you take the time to listen and add to it, even more so if you actually set aside something you were doing just to talk with him. It gives him a mini ego boost every time.

𐂂 Writing something while he talks about the hotel's structural problems? His smile widens when you close your notebook and join him by recounting the time you almost fell down the balcony.

𐂂 Eating breakfast and he talks about how he hunts the perfect deer for venison? There you are, chewing your food and nodding, listening to how he graphically describes the process while the rest of the hotel stares at him in horror.

𐂂 Another thing he does during this phase is popping out of nowhere and keeping up with what you're doing, call it interest, call it curiosity, or maybe it's boredom. Now that Alastor knows that you are more tolerant of him he'll fully use that to his entertainment.

𐂂 I can see him trying to get a deal out of you but it doesn't go anywhere, since I'm going to assume we are all smart enough to not hand our souls to Alastor on a silver platter.

𐂂 Survive his onslaught of impromptu shenanigans and move on to the next tier of actually being friends.

𐂂 Alastor treats his friends as his equals so there's that, also be ready to accept his invites to drinking coffee around the hotel and talking about the latest mess the hotel went through.

𐂂 The way he treats you compared to how he treats Angel or Husk is way different that it physically gives everyone a whiplash. I'm talking about something like this:

"Can you not scare off people, smiles? We're tryna bring in people into the hotel." Angel explains, Alastor only simpers as he feigns ignorance.

"Why, I don't know what you're talking about!" He laughs as he skips off merrily. Charlie and Vaggie then nod to each other and drag you into the conversation, whispering you something before they push you towards Alastor.

"Hey Alastor, I just wanted to ask if you could help me with something?" You ask, you haven't made up a chore to ask for help from him but you needed a reason to try and stop him from scaring any potential guests. Does Alastor know? I guarantee you he does. But does he let you do it anyways? Yes, absolutely he does.

"Anything to help a dear out, if you'll excuse us then!" Alastor bids goodbye for the both of you as you walk away, despite being the one to ask him, he was the one leading the way.

𐂂 Alastor also invites you to meet Rosie! Rosie finds you very endearing and if you had a penchant for cannibalism expect luncheons together with them.

𐂂 By this point everyone in the hotel notices how Alastor gravitates towards you, they have mixed reactions to it but the general consensus is to not disrupt your "bonding sessions" as Charlie puts it.

𐂂 Alastor oftentimes shares jokes whether or not you appreciate his humor. Side note, Alastor full-on cackles if you or Rosie say something outta pocket about somebody, and hangouts with both of them are generally a good time. He'll try to say shit like:

"Let's be nicer now." All the while he holds in a laugh after you and Rosie called Susan the wicked bitch of the West.

𐂂 This is also a silly thought of mine, but picture this:

You decided to stay up late one night after you decided to do whatever it is you were putting off and after a while, you decided to grab some coffee from downstairs.

Arriving at the kitchen you see, this eldritch abomination in the shadows looming over the cabinet where the instant coffee packets were kept. It then takes you a few seconds to register that it was Alastor and you were just left standing by the kitchen doorway, wondering what to say.

"Can I grab the coffee packets from that cabinet over there?" You point towards the cabinet, Alastor then quickly shifts back to his usual form and ushers you to the kitchen counter.

"Nonsense my dear! Why don't I make us some nice and hot coffee instead of consuming such tasteless things." Alastor insists and before you could even refuse he was already doing a French press.

𐂂 Though as you can imagine Alastor has his off days, he makes it clear to you when he isn't in the best of moods and you steer clear of him per his request. Then the fight with Adam happened. As the rest of the hotel was busy with rebuilding the hotel, you were balancing both looking for Alastor and helping paint the walls of the new hotel.

𐂂 This is when the remaining walls he had crumbled down as you find him at his lowest, basically defeated and while he was royally pissed when someone saw him in such a vulnerable state, you were the best option out of the ensemble that was currently singing outside of the ruins of his old radio station.

𐂂 Hesitant as he was, he let you dress his wound with bandages, he wasn't comfortable with anything else you offered, not with cleaning up the wound itself, not with telling the rest that he was alive, and definitely not asking for help from anyone either. So you stayed there for a while after you finished dressing his wound up, his blood immediately soaking through the bandage. But you didn't say anything and let Alastor be, and after a few more minutes in silence, he got up and offered you a hand as if he wasn't the one who needed it. The only thing he says is:

"We mustn't dilly-dally now, the rest are waiting for you." Not us, just you. It sounded bitter but you didn't say anything.

ROMANTIC(? AS MUCH AS ALASTOR CAN BE AT LEAST)

𐂂 Romantic isn't the right word for Alastor, I imagine him to be somebody who doesn't outright say his feelings but there's a gradual change, and then one day, before you know it people around the hotel will start asking you if you two were a thing. He's not going to acknowledge the change verbally, but he does notice it and acknowledges it in his own way.

𐂂 Don't get me wrong he's capable of being romantic, acts of service is his go-to, and on days that he feels like it he can be very vocal with his affections. But it's not an everyday occurrence.

𐂂 This only starts right after something like seeing him at his lowest, that for me is when I feel like he's more willing to be more open to you. I mean, you've already seen him at rock bottom, so why not?

𐂂 Go to him during your more vulnerable moments, he's done it to you so he expects the same. Trust goes both ways after all.

𐂂 It starts out small, if you were used to setting things aside just to listen to him ramble, wait until you start to notice that he's doing the same thing for you. Usually when you're discussing something he multitasks, of course he still listens but efficiency is of the essence. Eventually though, he starts to physically put aside anything he is doing, showing that you have his full attention.

𐂂 There are also times when you (and the rest of the hotel) notice that your portion in meals that he cooked has significantly more than what the others have on their plates. Anyone who complains gets told that they were only imagining it by Alastor.

𐂂 Alastor also gradually becomes more lenient with you, letting you get away with a lot more than you should. Steal his monocle? He'll wear his glasses as he searches for you in the hotel. Break something by accident? He'll be by your side telling you to be more careful as he picks up every broken piece before you hurt yourself.

𐂂 Adjustment is key, I can see the other party doing more of it but he also makes an effort to meet you halfway. Are you particularly touchy? He doesn't get it but he knows it makes you happy so he makes an effort to accommodate you.

𐂂 Words of affirmation? Since he gets to see you get all flustered he's up for it! He finds you adorable whenever you do.

𐂂 Alastor tries for you, tries to navigate all of those unfamiliar territories that he's never had the chance to explore to ensure that you don't feel like the only one in your relationship. It does feel like it sometimes, I won't sugarcoat it, Alastor at heart is a man cold and sharp on the edges, but he isn't Alastor if he wasn't and he still cares for you all the same even if he doesn't show it.

𐂂 I'd say the most romantic part of the day for the both of you would be reading together in his room, fire crackling as you sit on the floor (much to Alastor's protest) while you lean against Alastor's chair. Sometimes he sneaks a peek into your book just to see what you were reading out of curiosity, and you'd rather not tell him that you could see him doing it from his reflection through the small mirror he had hanging by one of his shelves.

𐂂 Pet names for days! Yes he does call you chere, next question please. Pet names become more frequent the closer you two become, although, the more personal nicknames would be said behind closed doors. The most he'll call you in public would be darling, he didn't need to air out every part of his life and you both were content at that. Also, call me crazy, delusional even, but hear me out here sharks:

You were sitting by the fire, with Alastor still complaining that sitting on the floor was nowhere near as comfortable as you said it was, you only laughed lightly at how much of a fuss he's kicking up.

"I won't die a second time just because I decided to sit on the floor Al. Besides, you're a lot closer if I sit here. I like it like that. So let me have this one, please?" You don't know why, but he stops in the middle of his tangent. Something about what you just said struck something in him that got him laughing softly, even going so far as to ruffle your hair ever so gently.

"Oh, you dear old thing. I suppose I can't stop you." He eventually takes his hand back and goes back to reading as he hums together with the faint melody of jazz in the air.

𐂂 Alastor helps you dress up if you ask, need help with a zipper you can't quite reach? Hold his staff for a moment while he does. Can't pick between two things? Ask him and he'll give you his opinion, he'll often say you'll look just as lovely wearing either one but he does have his choice.

𐂂 You don't sleep in the same rooms unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you see it, if you're a part of the rehabilitation program you both would have a separate room of your own. Neither of you made any plans of asking Charlie to move you to his room or vice versa either since you were both unprepared for whatever questions she may have so you both agreed to put it off, there really was no urgency or need to stay in the same room anyways.

𐂂 Letters! Events like Valentine's Day never interested Alastor, there was no one to spend it with so he never needed to worry about it. But with you in the picture he starts to think otherwise, you both rarely ask for anything from the other so gifts would have to be purely given by initiative, and now was the perfect time. It takes Alastor an almost embarrassingly long amount of time to settle on writing you a letter, a heartfelt one dedicated to thanking you for being a part of his afterlife, for being someone he can trust, and for making the days less monotonous for him. Imagine his surprise when he hands you a letter only for you to give one of your own. You both share a laugh and settle down by the fire, reading your letters together as Alastor sits down on the floor together with you just this once to humor you he says.

𐂂 All in all, it takes a while, but with time, patience, and I mean a lot of it, you'll get there.

╭┉┉┅┄┄┈•◦_•◦❥•◦_

Interested in hearing me yap even more? Give Signed, Alastor a go if you have the time. It's about a bat and a deer faffing around until they sort their feelings out.

[amaya-writes]

this is kinda specific but bear with me! for ringtober—what about reader who is like Mori's niece or sm but she helps handle the business-y side of the mafia, then one day Mori is kinda like ykw you're a young girl you should be married at some point and sets up an arranged marriage. With Dazai, Chuuya and Akutagawa.

Ringtober Masterlist

Notes: I didn't add Akutagawa because I really couldn't come up with a reason for why Mori would pick him.

Warnings: regular port mafia esque warnings I mean it's a mafia fic so expect slight mentions of mafia themes, slight angst themes?

Characters involved: Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara

Fem reader, you/yours

Dazai Osamu

Dazai always knew his relationship with you was merely professional, and he was happy to keep it that way.

Mori had only decided to get the two of you married so that you couldn't come in harm's way. There had been several...complications at work lately, several 'what ifs' that Mori didn't like the sound of.

It was awful to think it, but Dazai knew Mori wouldn't care for you as much as he did if you weren't an asset.

You were valuable, and Dazai was on a job to protect the mafia's assests.

This was just work for Dazai, just another assignment, albeit an extremely long one.

He wasn't emotionally attached to you whatsoever, heck Dazai didn't even know if he could feel such things for someone.

You, however, were.

He could tell that this arranged marriage meant a little more to you.

Mori would have convinced you to agree either way, but you caved at the idea of marrying the suicidal mafia executive a lot faster than anyone expected.

It could have been anyone else. In fact, Dazai was certain it would have been Chuuya. He was the perfect fit—someone with enough power and hear to be able to look out for you and be a good husband.

But Dazai? Dazai was just doing his job.

Marriages held some sentimental value for everyone. And he couldn't lie, seeing you at the mafia headquaters in a white Kimono did slightly intrigue him. But that didn't change anything.

You spent your wedding night in separate beds and Dazai left the house far too early to encounter you.

The same continued for months, until that looming sad aura hanging over you began to disappear.

In its place came something more heartless, but Dazai couldn't find it in himself to care. In fact, he quite liked this side.

If only you had developed this personality sooner maybe he wouldn't have had to marry you.

He knew you liked him, knew that this marriage was more than just work for you. But Dazai Osamu was a suicidal maniac working for the most notorious mafia in Japan.

He lived to die, and a ring on his finger wasn't going to change that.

Chuuya Nakahara

At first, it doesn't mean anything to him.

He knows the only reason Mori picked him is because he can't trust Dazai enough to not manipulate and use you to hurt Mori.

Chuuya was too loyal to the cause, and powerful enough to ensure you would never be in harm's way so long as you had him by your side.

He wasn't the first choice, but the logical option.

The fact alone wounded Chuuya's ego quite a bit, and Dazai was always around to rub some salt into those wounds.

The day the two of you signed your marriage papers Chuuya didn't even bother looking at you properly, and got drunk and passed out on his bed soon after.

By the time he woke up you had already left for work.

Things continued like that for a few days, but they started to change with time.

It started slowly—you buying extra dinner and leaving it out for him, him offering you a glass of wine after a long day.

Casual nods each other's way turned into greetings and then small conversations.

By the time you got around to your one month anniversary, things had progressed to small conversations and occasionally having dinner together at the table.

Chuuya knew neither of you had any romantic inclination to one another, but over time you started to feel comfortable around each other.

You were more like roommates than husband and wife, a fact that Dazai and Kouyou never fail to tease him about.

Needless to say there have been a lot of jokes regarding Chuuya's inability to perform sexually and the impact that has on your relationship. All lies of course but that doesn't stop Dazai (Kouyou laughs with him).

Chuuya doesn't want to pressure you to think you have any obligation towards him as his wife. Aka he won't force you to do anything you don't want.

But with time the two of you become friends and then even more than that.

You start to help each other. Casual things like reminding each other to eat or cleaning each other's wounds. Sometimes Chuuya would find you asleep slumped over a pile of paperwork and would carry you to bed.

Othertimes you would help him get the stains out of his uniform since he was terrible at it, and constantly spilt both blood and wine over himself.

This one time Chuuya was drunk and made you wear his hat and has never stopped thhinking about how you looked. At that moment he felt very grateful to have a woman like you as his wife.

Maybe in a year or two your relationship evolves into a romantic one.

Or maybe not. But either way, Chuuya tries to be the best husnad he can.

[thickenmyblood]

why did laurent start dating / having sex with maxime, even before nicaise found out? maybe this is something we find out in ch. 20, but throughout hiuh i’ve really struggled to understand or empathize with laurent in this area. you’ve mentioned him being self-destructive, or how it was good for his ego to bring a date in front of damen. but why did he feel the need to throw it in damen’s face when damen was the one who got dumped? why would he let maxime call him baby and walk all over his boundaries when this guy is a total stranger? i know some people have speculated that maxime is a uncle-stand in, but to me that doesn’t parallel bc there the abuse happened because laurent did (unfortunately) love and trust his uncle at the beginning, which enabled his uncle to abuse him. i’m honestly really trying to see where this sexual self-harm aspect of laurent comes from when it’s with a complete stranger who doesn’t seem to like laurent as a person or give him any real affection. he said sex was the foundation of their relationship, which seems odd for an ascetic person like laurent who even in hiuh canon doesn’t seem to have engaged in that kind of relationship before dating damen, when he was in a way worse physical and emotional state, unless i’m wrong.

i really, really hope this doesn’t come off as criticizing or accusatory in any way — it is your story and you can characterize laurent any way you want! to me it’s felt like this is the one area so far where laurent has been extremely defensive and refuses to take responsibility, even though it really hurt damen — not just being jealous, but being compared to maxime over and over again by laurent’s friends and implicitly by laurent himself — not to mention how it hurt nicaise. yes, damen had flings, but he didn’t try to replace laurent after two months or ever shove it in laurent’s face. and yet it feels like damen over-apologizes for ever asking about maxime or suggesting laurent’s behavior was harmful. i don’t see how damen could get over this massive insecurity when laurent appears to ridicule or dismiss him for bringing it up, like with the condom conversation or the pet name issue.

feel free to ignore this message, but always appreciate hearing why you chose a particular characterization!

hello! i get this question every once in a while so i thought i'd answer it today since we're about to be done with the story. i didn't take it as an attack or anything and it's a very cool question!

but why did he feel the need to throw it in damen’s face when damen was the one who got dumped?

in a way, reading your ask, i think you answered some of these things yourself. why did he bring maxime to a bunch of events knowing damen would be there? because he wanted the upper hand, he wanted to be seen as having moved on (remember that he thinks damen has moved on, too), because it's an ego thing. but why do it if he was the one who dumped damen? same answers, but i'd add that it's implied in the story that laurent was surprised and hurt by how easily damen went along with the break up. laurent brings it up, says he can't do it anymore, and damen just goes to work and never comes back. once again, in a toxic and insecure way, there was a part of laurent that wanted damen to fight for it, to say "wait, let's turn things around" or something. obviously, that didn't happen, and laurent interpreted that as confirmation of a lot of negative thoughts he was already dealing with (damen wants out of this but he doesn't know how to do it, damen's too "nice" to say that he wants out, damen is looking for excuses to start arguments bc he's trying to get me to end this, etc.)

this is not me justifying laurent in any way. was it childish and immature to bring maxime to events bc he knew damen would be there and he wanted, along with all the reasons listed above, to make damen jealous? yes, probably. is it petty? yes. is it ooc? i don't know. i think laurent does exhibit some pettiness in the books.

why would he let maxime call him baby and walk all over his boundaries when this guy is a total stranger? i know some people have speculated that maxime is a uncle-stand in, but to me that doesn’t parallel bc there the abuse happened because laurent did (unfortunately) love and trust his uncle at the beginning, which enabled his uncle to abuse him. i’m honestly really trying to see where this sexual self-harm aspect of laurent comes from when it’s with a complete stranger who doesn’t seem to like laurent as a person or give him any real affection.

this part of the question is a bit more complicated for me to explain. i 100% agree with people's complaints that in this aspect hiuh laurent is ooc (compared to canon laurent). in the books, he doesn't sleep with anyone but damen, so everything regarding laurent/other men is always going to be ooc in some way (unless it's non con, i suppose).

maxime has to be a stranger. maxime has to be someone laurent doesn't care about, doesn't value, doesn't respect. it would never work between them if maxime was not a stranger, which is ultimately what happens in the fic (let's, for a second, ignore the fact that they also don't work out bc lamen are in love lol). when maxime wants more, laurent cuts him out.

why does he have to be a stranger? because hiuh laurent's biggest issue in this story is that he can't be vulnerable enough to be loved and accept that love. he loved damen, but he couldn't get to a level of vulnerability that allowed him to explain himself, to show himself to damen as he really is, and without that a relationship can't last. when you feel like you have to hide parts of yourself from the person you love, eventually that turns into resentment and anger and hurt.

when he starts sleeping with maxime, he's not looking for another boyfriend. he's not looking for love. he's not sleeping with maxime because he's too horny to function either. he lets maxime fuck him because there is something to prove. and here I have to apologize because to me this detail was so clear during my writing process that I'm only now realizing I did not do a good enough job of integrating it EXPLICITLY into the story. what is there to prove? laurent has only ever slept with two people in his life and only damen was a pleasurable, consensual situation. so, here's the setting: laurent and damen break up, they go no contact, months pass, laurent is STRUGGLING (nicaise mentions this time and time and time again in the fic), laurent has no way of knowing that damen is also miserable, laurent has no way of knowing that damen hasn't moved on (damen is, actually, at this point in time, fucking other people). laurent isn't looking for love or dates or romance, but then maxime shows up and he gives laurent an opportunity to prove to himself several things:

he has effectively moved on from damen (in his mind, having sex with other people = the ultimate 'i'm done with damen" move)

he is in control. he has only had consensual sex with one person in his life, which gives damen symbolic power over him in a weird, fucked up way. or... maybe the word isn't power, but status. damen has a status in laurent's mind and memories because he's the first person laurent CHOSE to have sex with, the first person he loved and showed him it could be good, etc. as long as damen maintains that status, laurent will never stop thinking about him, will never have anything to compare damen to and say "see, it wasn't that big of a deal". which brings me to...

he wants to minimize damen. he wants dismiss what damen meant to him, what their entire relationship meant, so it can be easier to move on. how do you move on if you're thinking "oh I broke up with the love of my life lol"? laurent needs to tell himself what he had with damen wasn't unique, wasn't that special. he can have it again (the SEXUAL part).

needless to say, this fails. he has sex with maxime and finds that it's nothing like it was with damen because it's WORSE, because having sex with damen was having sex with someone who knew him and loved him and respected him. laurent has sex with maxime but he's still thinking about damen, he's still in love with damen, the same way damen is having sex with kyra or trying to date iris while thinking and missing laurent.

once this realization sort of sinks in (yes, he can have sex with other people, yet that doesn't erase damen's status in his brain bc damen was special for a bunch of reasons I'm not gonna type in here - THEY'RE IN LOVE, YOUR HONOR) that's when the self-harm comes into the picture. (this is discussed a bit in ch20 so SPOILERS but)

what kind of sex are maxime and laurent having? it's not the slow, gentle, love making stuff damen knows laurent was into. it's rough, it's degrading, it's not as pleasurable, it's a chore, it leaves marks. does laurent want those marks? we don't know. does maxime ask him if he does? we don't know. you can make it as non con as you want because the text doesn't go into detail.

the petnames. "why does laurent like it when maxime says it but not damen?" I don't think he does. he never gives damen a straight answer on this, but he does say that it makes him feel like a bimbo. it makes him feel slightly degraded. he says it wasn't terrible, but he never says he wanted it or that it was good. it's implied that damen tried it once or twice at the very beginning of their relationship, and I think we can all tell why laurent didn't like it back then with him either (bimbo feelings, laurent using him for money, the power imbalance, etc.)

uncle parallels. okay, this one's a bit tricky. yes, you're right to think that the abuse laurent's uncle subjected him to is nothing like his relationship with maxime for a plethora of reasons, but I think the narrative supports some people's opinions that maxime does resemble uncle in some ways (older, brunette, has a beard). i did not write maxime as a literal uncle stand in, so of course it's not going to be a perfect comparison. i wouldn't even call maxime and laurent's relationship abusive.

he said sex was the foundation of their relationship, which seems odd for an ascetic person like laurent who even in hiuh canon doesn’t seem to have engaged in that kind of relationship before dating damen, when he was in a way worse physical and emotional state, unless i’m wrong.

i tried to mirror canon in hiuh when it comes to laurent's... choices? in canon, damen is the first person he's with after his uncle because he's the only one laurent trusts. i don't have any doubts that canon laurent was terribly lonely and probably wanted to be loved waaaaay before damen came into the picture (post uncle, I mean) but his context and environment were so violent and dangerous that he couldn't let his guard down. similarly, in hiuh, laurent leaves his uncle's house without any money and in a very vulnerable position. he's not exactly carefree and happy and able to be like "oh I wanna date and fool around!! explore my sexuality!!!!" - in fact, this is a pretty big plot point in hiuh: laurent did contact damen out of pure necessity.

and yes, sex is the foundation of maxime/laurent for all the reasons I stated above, but at the same time it's not all about sex. it's not even about sex. it's about control and self-punishment. it's about self-hatred. we also don't know what state laurent was in when he started seeing maxime because we don't have his pov, but we do have nicaise's testimony. again, this is briefly mentioned in ch20, but it wasn't exactly pretty.

however, having said all of this, i'm not blind or dumb enough to think oh hiuh laurent is sooooo canon laurent, not a trace of ooc-ness. i get where the characterization issues are coming from. at the end of the day, I have to say that this post summarizes a tiny bit of what went into creating hiuh laurent. i tried to make him as canon as possible, but I'm not pacat and so my characterization is different. my setting is different. the modern au is different. it is completely fair to read hiuh and think as a reader "i would not have gone in this direction, i don't think laurent would ever be with someone who isn't damen, i don't think it's consistent with his canon self". i accept those comments in the same way i accept those that say they love this laurent bc of XYZ.

this is the one area so far where laurent has been extremely defensive and refuses to take responsibility, even though it really hurt damen

i understand this, but at the same time i don't know how much responsibility laurent can take over that when it's... just dating/fucking someone else after a break up. he should apologize for making damen feel bad on purpose (perhaps taking maxime places), but the rest of it... damen also fucked and thought about dating other people. the comparisons you mention were cruel, but they were made, for example, by characters like aimeric (removed from the narrative entirely later on) and ancel (who tells damen he was wrong, who tells damen he thinks laurent made a mistake letting him go).

i don’t see how damen could get over this massive insecurity when laurent appears to ridicule or dismiss him for bringing it up, like with the condom conversation or the pet name issue.

i understand that, but i also think damen's insecurity wasn't born just from this issue. he is an insecure person throughout the fic. his toxic masculinity is one way this insecurity and lack of self-confidence manifest, for example. his fixation on penetrative sex. his fixation on performance. his fixation on parenting like laurent because his own way is wrong. his fixation on never thinking about the things and people he lacks because he can't take it.

yes, laurent played a huge role in feeding that insecurity, but I'm failing to see where he is ridiculing damen. during the condom conversation, laurent snaps because he feels judged and attacked, not because he's making fun of damen's pain. during the pet name conversation, the same thing happens. and in both instances, damen is judging laurent. he judges laurent really harshly in other scenes, too, like when they find out about claude.

some of these issues are talked about in ch20, but I don't think there is a scene where laurent addresses everything. perhaps he should. i just didn't write it.

[lotsofpeoplegetlostinsaltburn]

How to Romance Astarion: A Guide to Everyones Favorite Vampire Boyfriend

CONTAINS SPOILERS

*UPDATED OCT. 9* IF I MISS ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW, I WILL ADD IT.

A lot of people seem to be having issues romancing Astarion, and as the resident Astarion expert, I am here to help.

Many people are scared of the consequences of Astarion-favored choices. In reality, you DO NOT have to be evil to romance him.

I would characterize Astarion as chaotic-neutral. He is self-serving, but he can stray to the path of good later on.

I use an approval mod, which showcases the amount of approval and or disapproval from a choice. Download here.

Many people fret over the evil choices that will only net Astarion +1 approval, those can be safely ignored and still retain high approval.

The major approval you want to aim for is +5 and +10, which mostly comes from personal dialogue.

My advice is to say what he wants to hear, please his ego in personal conversation, be a little mean sometimes. He is a snarky and egotistical man. His shell is hard to break but you can get there. Be playful with him.

A WORD OF NOTE: Using the mod above, you can see there are some dialogue options that don't grant either approval or disapproval, if you're unsure on which to choose, go the neutral route.

MAJOR APPROVAL CHOICES

Act 1

Let him bite you. For those scared of the debuff, use lesser restoration and he can bite you all he wants without repercussion.

For easy approval early on, make Lae'zel say "please" when you rescue her.

When Mattis gives you the ring, just take it for yourself, and if you don't want to be evil to a child here, look at Mattis' stock.

Help Astarion to decipher his scars.

Agree with him in private conversation, you don't even have to do what you say you will do.

Let him read the Necromancy of Thay, this gives a +5 approval.

Avoid talking to Zevlor, you will be presented with the option to promise you'll save the grove. If you do not talk to him, you won't lose approval.

Let Abdirak beat you, this nets you +5 approval.

Make crusher kiss your feet.

Accept his advances during the Tiefling party.

Act 2

Help him with his proposal to Raphael. Slay the Orthon. There is a chance he will leave the party permanently if you do not.

DO NOT let Araj bite him at Moonrise. This will open up his Act 2 romance.

When talking to Disciple Z'rell and she is invading your mind, distract her with your lusts for Astarion.

Drink with Thisobald Thorm in the Waning Moon.

Act 3

Defeat Cazador, you do not have to let him ascend. If he doesn't ascend, he begins to sway towards the path of good.

DO NOT BECOME A MINDFLAYER. He will no longer kiss you.

I will update this list later with more approval choices, but these are the biggest and most important.

[starzgaze]

I have an ideaaaaaaa

So this is more of my random thoughts than anything but liu zhigang with an aloof reader

I just find the idea of him consistently trying to get a reaction out of someone who just does not care(reader does care, they just show it in their own way)

It would be very entertaining if his significant other hated other people except for a couple exceptions and he has to do all of the socializing. And the reader just hates other people just because they can, if they see an area with too many people they are booking it out of there.

Anyways, cheers!

omfg i get this more since i really dislike talking with people if it's like... not necessary or I'm in the mood to do so (which is none of the time) so i jumped on to this ask immediately because the concept is really familiar 💪

LIU ZHIGANG/INTROVERTED!READER

i think the concept of being introverted is now horribly diluted that whenever people bring it up, the first thing that comes to mind is someone who's shy or struggles with talking to people but theh they want to talk to people! i mean, that's what liu zhigang initially thought until he met you.

his whole opinion on introverts was completely turned upside down when he learned your reason why you don't talk to people.

"i just don't want to"

this baffled zhigang at first. i mean?? you explaining to him calmly that you don't have the energy to talk with people that doesn't seem worth talking to or you just wanna stay alone is such a bewildering mindset to him. he was used to talking with people and loved riling them up, feeds his ego zhigang says (you rolled your eyes at this). your whole existence completely shattered his image of introverted people and made him realized that maybe he's lowkey stupid for thinking that introverted people are shy beings that wants to socialize but at the same time doesn't want to because they have no idea how to..? like a shy bunny which embarrassed him that he thought of it that way...

liu zhigang feels a bit prideful over the fact that you choose to talk and spend time with him despite telling him that you dislike talking with people. does this mean you see him worthy enough to talk to? well that gives a rise to his ego. though he sometimes think that you have a bit of a high horse, you think that you're better than him huh? you quickly shut that idea down when he tried to brought it up with a swift smack. reactions like these is the reason why zhigang loved riling you up

liu zhigang is the one who deals with people whenever you're actually required to attend gatherings or parties. you used to attend parties alone when you are forced to be there but now you have a +1 you don't have to open your mouth. you appreciate that zhigang carries the whole conversation and understands you don't wanna contribute to the conversation at all, often catching you blanking out. whenever people tries to drag or include you into the topic you just simply look over to zhigang and the memo immediately clicks in his head then he takes over the topic again.

sometimes, zhigang finds it funny whenever you two are in public and you recognize a stranger. the way you squeeze his hand a bit tighter is just so... its really endearing to him but then you just suddenly drag him out of the area with a turn adds the comedic factor i guess. he notices you do this alot whenever you notice something is gonna bother you in the future or accurately, in a few moments, soo you just eliminate the problem by removing yourself from the situation. zhigang included.

despite your introverted nature, liu zhigang enjoys spending time with you. it feels more personal and he likes it more since its an one on one experience (his words). he feels a bit happy that only him will see these covered sides of you that you don't share with people on a day to day basis. zhigang admires that you don't need the approval of other people or the opinions of others since... well you don't even care to talk with them or bother socializing, he likes that.

hehhhee not so many hcs but i hope this is enough to suffice 😓 but yeaahhh!!!!!!!

[themountainsays]

It looks like the writers at Loki decided to undo all the romance, prune sylki from the timeline, srly if you don't watch season 1 you can't even tell they had something going on once. More surprising is that Loki doesn't care at all when Sylvie kissed him like, 3 days ago. He just forgot.

And I think that's bad writing because... as Brandon Sanderson puts it, stories make promises, for example, "this will be a love story", "this will be a coming of age story", "this is going to be a vampire story". If you set up a story as a vampire story but then only focus on the werewolves, even if most of it is good, it's inevitably going to feel like nothing is happening and there was no story, because in the first two or three chapters, you sold your story as a vampire story, even if you thought you were writing a werewolf story, and the readers will think they're reading a vampire story in which it just takes ages for the vampire part to actually start, and then it never arrives, and they didn't even enjoy the werewolf story because it felt like useless filler taking up the space meant to be for vampires. And it just feels like nothing ever happens.

In this case, Sylki is vampires and the temporal loom plotline is werewolf. Not only is it uninteresting, but it also just feels like the writers did a 180 and decided to take the show on a completely different direction out of nowhere. And if you're going to not fulfill your narrative promises, then you need to deliver something BETTER than what you promised - and Loki did that! In the first season. It set it up as a story about Loki playing cat and mouse with another Loki, which is cool and interesting, but then, Loki and the other Loki fell in love! Add drama, add character, add emotion and growth, and THEN it becomes even better, to the point you forget you ever wanted Loki trying to arrest another Loki in the first place.

But this season does the complete opposite. The temporal loom has no character, no personality, no emotion and no growth. The characters in the crew are either underdeveloped, have underdeveloped relationships with each other, or both. So when the writers want us to believe Loki's true motivation is to keep his friends close because he discovered the power of friendship, we don't buy it. I could buy Loki and Sylvie loving each other if the writers put a little bit more effort. I can buy Loki and Mobius being... coworkers who get along and work well together, they may even be friends if they talked about their feelings a bit more. The rest? I can barely remember their names or any significant conversation they had with Loki that wasn't about saving a soulless, empty, narratively useless temporal loom. This show became less about Loki and his loved ones, and more about a machine they need to fix. That's all everyone does all the time. And the one time Loki talks about his feelings... I'm not even gonna say it's ridiculous that he says he wants his friends, or that he suddenly cares about the TVA, "savings things", order or what have you, as if he hadn't tried to destroy New York like 2 weeks ago. Because ANYTHING he could have said would have been ridiculous. Be it love, friendship, redemption, duty, basic decency, power, ego or anything else, had NOT been set up at all during this season. The only thing they had going on, maybe, is some love for Sylvie as a leftover from last season, and even then it'd be shaky because Loki and Sylvie haven't shared an atom of affection at all since this season started, and even THAT would feel forced at this point.

I'm really disappointed in this season, I really loved the first one, I loved sylki and the sylki fandom, I'll still watch the last episode, but I'm pretty sad this is what we get in the end. A non-ending to an abandoned story about Loki, Sylvie, free will, chaos and identity, forever without conclussion, with only a storyline about a broken machine to call a continuation, a Loki whose only ACTUAL motivation is "Save the TVA or everything gets destroyed", but says he's only doing this for the power of friendship... without forming any friendships along the way.

What I would have done instead would be to amp up the character tension - remember that storyline about Loki chasing around another Loki? Bring it back. Make Loki and Sylvie "enemiss", with an obvious sexual tension, maybe, or make him desperately look for her as a villanous outcast on the run, just give some texture, some meat, anything at all to their relationship. And give Loki an actual motivation. Erase the temporal loom storyline. Keep He Who Remains as the main antagonistic force. Make it opposing him something... optional. Something Loki is either choosing to do or choosing not to, because if it's something he HAS to do or else the world ends, he necessarily would need to potpone any real desires of his, and that's not an interesting story. Whether he fights HWR or not, it has to be because it connects to something he actually, really wants. Because this show isn't fooling anyone. Loki doesn't care about the power of friendship. He just has to "save the TVA or everything gets destroyed". If he was only in it because he wanted friends, he would have actually befriended someone along the way, and not just pulled around coworkers to help him fix a broken end-of-the-world machine they had to help fix anyway.

[livingdeadmlm]

If u want you can make my Steve request a Steve, argyle, and eddie hcs so u can write for argyle :))

-💿

yes, I can do this! I love all the main dudes this season (including Jonathan cause what a guy am I right?) anyway here is the request!

Steve, argyle, and Eddie with a S/O who loves arcade games and is super good at them

Steve

he's known you for a while so after school or when you're off of work he knows where to find you

you introduced him to a lot of games because he wasn't that into it before

obviously, he's not the best at all the games from the start but!! when it comes to strategy games he does a little better

when you ramble about them he takes mental notes if you say anything that can help him kick your ass next time you play

other than that he just likes hearing you talk about said games because he thinks its cute to see you get so excited about it

at actual arcades, with you, he makes sure you're getting more than just soda and whatever greasy food the arcade has provided

in intense games/competitions you have his full support

he's right next to you cheering you on

Argyle

totally respects the amount of time and effort you put into the games you play

loves to hear you talk about the storylines of games or theories cause he could add to the conversation a bit more

he goes to the arcade and he's definitely the type that takes the tickets home to save cause he doesn't go that often

so when he starts going way more with you he brings out just a huge bag of tickets he's gotten over the years

With how good you are you get the number of tickets he got over the years on a bad day

lovesss the little trinkets and prizes, he keeps all of them because of memories and he loves being able to turn to a brightly colored stuffed animal or even just a small plastic toy he turned into a key chain to think of his boyfriend

It's years later but he KILLS it at DDR

when you win a bunch of games in a row he gets a little ego about it

puts an arm around your shoulder or waist and walks with you to the ticket counter practically with lanyards of tickets around his neck

when he plays against you he tries hard but he won't get butt hurt about losing cause you're like scary good at games

Eddie

Also loves to hear you talk about the games

if you tell him about your luck he doesn't believe you until he goes with you and watches you just body every single game and person in the arcade

to taunt you he'll say he can beat you all the time even if he's lost all but 2 games he's played against you

(the only reason he won is that he used 'street rules' and bit you while playing)

definitely gets an ego when you start getting multiple jackpots and are on all the leader boards

if you get him any prizes he holds them near and dear to his heart

any stuffed toy is on a shelf or on his bed cause it reminds him of you

when you talk about the storylines of games he takes a little inspiration for his DND campaigns

cause he gets a little giggle out of it cause it makes him think of you

[maochira]

can you do for the writing Event, hanging out with bastard München but it's field day and so they go eat Currywurst together

please

SAKJDKJSDSDAKDSHK I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS REQUEST IT'S SO SILLY

Field day with Bastard München!

request open! - event list - event introduction

Tags: gn!reader, for those who don't know what Currywurst is, just google it real quick (it's popular food here in Germany)

(A/N: because I've been asked that a few times, yes I am from Germany LMAO and so is Claire)

Event sypnosis: you, Claire (@deerangle3 ) and Mao (me) are assistants in the Neo Egoist League

-the trip goes surprisingly well. No chaos, no fighting, etc. That's mostly thanks to you, Claire and Mao because you're able to equal out the disharmony between some players (cough Isagi and Kaiser cough)

-the day actually only consisted of a bit of sightseeing and walking around the city because the players from Germany didn't get a chance to see Japan, since everyone has to stay in Blue Lock all the time

-you walk past a restaurant with German food and the players from Germany really wanna go there. Cause, you know. They've been only been served Japanese food in Blue Lock

-after a bunch of begging Noa gives in and all of you go in there

-it's just regular Deutsche Pommesbude food, like fries and Bratwurst and stuff

-Kaiser doesn't admit how excited he is to get German food again, but you know on the inside he's cheering like a little kid when their mom makes their favourite food, so you tease him a bit about it

-Kaiser actually orders multiple things but only eats like half of them and Ness has to eat the leftovers

-Gagamaru eats so fucking much and he would probably eat even more if you wouldn't have stopped him

-Birkenstock consumed 3 Currywurst with fries in 10 minutes (A/N: I have a weird emotional attachment to Birkenstock soo.... I had to add him)

-at first, Raichi complained about the food, before he even tried it. Claire started an argument with him and somehow got him to shut up and just try the food. He also ended up liking it but didn't admit it (he doesn't want Claire to win the argument)

-you share food with Kurona because he's not really hungry but still wants to try something

-Yukimiya gets interested in the food, so he asks a bunch of questions to Claire and Mao (if you're German, he will ask you as well.) He also wants to know about other German food! That starts the idea of asking Ego to provide some more food variety in Blue Lock

-Kunigami really hates being there and wishes he would have stayed in Blue Lock. He doesn't even eat anything. You try to get him to join in on the conversations but he ignores you every time

-you keep offering him some fries and he ends up accepting those (without saying a word, tho)

-Isagi is a bit weirded out by the food so he sticks to eating fries

-then Kaiser starts an argument with Isagi about him "disrespecting" German food and usually you would stop their arguments, but this one is way too funny so you let them argue for a bit

-the bread vs rice debate (like in that one Blue Lock Additional Time) starts between the entire team, and then they ask you, Claire and Mao for your opinions but you guys refuse to answer. But Mao is starting to have an internal crisis because as a half German she loves bread but as a half Thai she loves rice and you just see her spiraling into an identity crisis for 10 seconds. Then she snaps out of it because Claire makes a joke about putting rice on bread and force-feeding it to Igaguri

-Igaguri is NOT amused by that joke

-the day is actually some of the most lighthearted time you ever got with the entire team. Mostly because everyone forgets about soccer and being competitive for a bit

[campoverlook-if]

do you accept ros asks? if so, could i ask how they'd react to the cliché "holding someone's face after saying that you can hold the whole world in your hands"? it's cheesy but cute

Sorry for taking so long to answer this question anon, got distracted for a while there 🙃.

I do enjoy doing reaction asks, my problem is that with 13 ROs I’m never sure if it’s better to do all of them or just some of them. Especially with reactions like this one that are usually longer.

So I would like to ask people from on to clarify if they want ALL the RO’s reactions or just specific ones.

But for now, because I actually really like this prompt I’ve written one for Lucas. If you still want the reactions from the others, I can do that! (I already got some ideas…)

Lucas - During an archery activity with the campers, Lucas decides that his superior skills means that he can do almost anything...

"I can do something you can't," you blurt out suddenly. Lucas laughs mockingly, and the other campers turn to give him disapproving looks. Lucas just smirks back at them.

Turning his attention back to you, he says, "I'm sure you can." Then, he shifts his focus back to the campers, but the conversation isn't over. "So, what exactly do you think you can do?"

You almost regret saying anything, but you know backing down will only boost his ego even more. You're determined to follow through. "I can hold the whole world in my hands, right now."

Lucas barely gives you a sideways glance. "Can you really-" Lucas shuts up, for once, as you suddenly seize his head in your hands.

"See? The whole world." You tease Lucas, but he doesn't react. He seems either surprised by your boldness or too embarrassed to respond in his usual arrogant tone.

A smile grows on your face the longer you two stand there. This is a Lucas you could get used to. He looks away from you to try and avoid your gaze, yet he doesn’t move your hands from his face.

"Are you guys flirting?" you hear Avery say, you both look over at him and see the look of disgust on his and the other campers faces. "Gross..."

Feeling embarrassed by your open display of affection, you hastily remove your hands from Lucas' face. He shoots you a puzzled look before turning to Avery with a smug smirk. "It's more than you'll ever get."

"Lucas!" you reprimand. Avery gags, turning his attention back to the archery activity before him. You pull Lucas away from the campers, settling a glare onto him. "You don't say that to eighth graders."

But Lucas only rolls his eyes. “They're fourteen, I think they'll be okay," he says dimissively You’re ready to fight him on that, but you can already tell how exhausting that conversation will be so you just drop it. For now,

Eventually, after a long stretch of silence between you, Lucas coughs to catch your attention. “Also,” he adds, his gaze thoughtful for a moment. “I guess…there are some things you are better at.”

[jeonjaemark]

↳ Where We Left Off | forty four | {prev./next}

au masterlist

{taglist: @itsdnguyenxoxo @kpopjackie @markleepooh @enhacolor @nanamioo @billboard-singer @wekiczennie @renjunphile @theskzvibe @seongwhaffels @manutuankim @bobrouxsky @remiee @claireleem @butterfliesinthenightsky @allthings-fandoms @morklee02 @smoooore }

content warning: mentions of alcohol drinking, light suggestive sexual content // please let me know if i need to add anything or any specifics for clarification.

DK POV

I intertwine my fingers with hers as we walk behind the waiter through the dim restaurant. The place seemed pretty spacious with an open bar in the back. The tables lined up in different rows of six filled with small or large groups filling each table. Some people were dressed in casual attire of a crewneck and jeans, while others were in midi dresses and blazers. The different attires made me question the exact dress code of the restaurant. Soft pop music blasts through the speaker, but I could barely hear the music with the loud conversations and laughter overlapping one another.

I run my free hand down, fixing my navy blue blazer and tucked-in white button-down from wrinkling. Y/N squeezes my hand softly, and I look back at her raising my eyebrows. She flashes me a grin shaking her head, letting me know she is okay. The waiter gestures his hand towards our table next to the large window with a clear view of the night sky.

It doesn't take us long to order our food and drinks for the night. While our order slowly arrived one by one, the conversation shifted from one topic to the next. One moment we talked about what our schedules would like for this week, about Jia and what I have been doing to now Y/N talking about what happened on her girls' trip.

Y/N's hands kept moving against the table as she talked. The corners of her lips rose higher and higher as she spoke. Her eyes sparkled against the dim lighting. I couldn't help but smile while watching and listening to her. Her voice filled with happiness and excitement like a kid in a candy store.

Y/N and I talked about our failed attempt at a movie night the other day in between bites of our food and sips of our drinks. Y/N was overwhelmed that night, tears brimming her eyes. Jia wouldn't go down without screaming her lungs off, so I took over while she went to the living room to unwind. By the time I came back, Y/N was sprawled out on the couch waiting for me. Not even twenty- minutes into the movie, the baby monitor goes off, and we ended up having a movie night with Jia instead of a one-on-one date.

“I am still kind of sad we didn’t even finish the movie we were watching before Jia joined us.” I teased. “But I did like watching Tangled for the tenth time with Jia.”

“I think I have memorized the lines from Tangled at this point. I lost track of how times I have played it for her.” She laughs in between sips of her drink.

“I think you like the movie a little more than her. I see the way you look when the water and lantern scene is being played. Your eyes are glued to the tv listening to the song.” I smirk nudging her hand.

“Well excuse me for being a hopeless romantic.” She moves her fork around her plate.

“Maybe we could finish that movie tonight. I mean, we do have the apartment to ourselves tonight since Jia is sleeping over at the dorm with the members.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Your offer is very tempting. I think your seducing skills have really improved, Lee Dokyeom.”

"If you keep complimenting me like this, I don't think I will ever let you go." I teased. "It kind of strokes my ego a little too much."

"Then let me bring it down a little." She smirks mischievously. "You're flirting and seducing skills might have improved, but somehow I am still not convinced to let you kiss me."

"Don't underestimate me just yet. You never know where the night will take us."

"I am not underestimating. I am just stating facts."

"Really? Cause it sounds like I did convince you but you're not ready to accept it."

My fingers brush against her arm, and she freezes on the spot. Goosebumps rose against her skin. I suppress a known smile against my lips. Y/N can act like she doesn't want to kiss or seem unaffected by me, but I could see right through her. She wanted to kiss me as badly as I wanted to kiss. I never tried to kiss her prior because I wanted her to make the move. If she made the first move then it meant she trusted me. She trusted herself with me. She trusted us. I was more than willing to wait a thousand days or years to get there.

-

"Lee Seokmin, I never would do that to you!" She laughs shoving my shoulder.

"Y/N, you literally took every opportunity to scare me. It was your favorite pass time." I hissed.

"Don't act so innocent, DK. You also teamed up with MIngyu to scare me the last time we were together. Don't think I forgot slipping on my ass because you and Mingyu scared the shit out of me when I was walking in the practice to surprise you."

I double over into the couch at the memory. I completely forgot about that memory. It was one of my favorite scares I did. Y/N was told by Jun that I was in the practice room and she wanted to surprise me with coffee since I was working late. The room was dark and she was confused walking in. She barely entered the practice room and I jumped out with Mingyu behind her. At the time I didn't know Y/N took off her shoes and the floors were kind of slippery. When she jolted forward, she slipped and fell. Luckily the coffee was safe but Y/N's butt took most of her fall. She ended up laughing instead of scolding me.

"Honestly, I am surprised you walked out with any broken bones that day. I thought you definitely broke something when you fell." I laughed playing with her fingers.

"Please you were more worried about the coffee being okay than me." She jokes. "But I do remember how you tried to express how apologetic you were back then. I believe that night ended with our clothes in the hallway of my apartment."

My cheeks flushed at her words.

-

After hours of endless reminiscing Y/N takes my wine glass, walking back to the kitchen for a quick refill. I feel my phone buzz a few times. It has been buzzing throughout the whole night to the point I had to put a quick timer for do not disturb in order to focus on Y/N. Multiple messages from Jeonghan appear in my notification center. A flood of photos and videos of Jia and the members fills my screen. I scroll through the short videos and photos smiling to myself.

"Missing Jia already?" I hear Y/N chuckle from behind me.

I slip my phone back down into my pocket. "Jeonghan just sent me a video of Jia dancing with Seungkwan and Hoshi in the dorm. I think she is enjoying being around everyone."

"I wanna see." She pouts.

I pull out my phone showing her the video. Soft giggles slip from her lips as her eyes light up. Jia jumps around the living room while shaking her hips from side to side to Beyonce's Love on Top. Of course, it's Beyoncé. Seungkwan must have been in control of the speaker. Hoshi and Seungkwan stood near her while trying to copy her moves while hyping up her dance moves. Soft giggles break out from behind the camera.

My eyes trail away from my phone, hearing Y/N chuckle. The corners of her eyes crinkle with pure joy. The entire expression was written all over her face. Her smile widens as the video continues. She pointed something out, but I was too distracted to hear her. I focused on her laugh filling my ears and her face brightening with happiness. My heart slowly races at the sight of her.

"What?" She arches a suspicious eyebrow.

"Nothing."

Y/N POV

"Lee Dokyeom, you've been looking at me like that all night. What?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. I am just happy to be here with you."

DK connects his phone to the speaker, and a soft melody plays. It takes me a second to recognize the song. A Thousand Years covered by James Arthur. I chuckle softly and press my hand to my chest when he walks over, holding his hand toward me. I take his hand, and he pulls me close to his chest. I place one hand on his shoulder while the other clasps in his hand. He gently squeezes his other hand onto my hip while we sway around the living room. I giggle when DK pulls away, twirling me a few times before pulling me back into him. He takes the chance to dip me, making me laugh. When I get pulled back up, I press my hands to his firm chest before I crash into him.

His brown eyes met mine, and I could feel my heart beating hard against my rib cage. The ends of his eyes crinkle while smiling down at me, filled with admiration and happiness. My mind drifts back to the first time I danced with DK in the living room.

We just finished watching A Walk To Remember and we were tipsy after finishing two bottles of wine. I was blabbing about the slow-dancing scene on the balcony and he suddenly gestured for us to reenact the scene.

DK's hands squeeze against my hips bringing me back. His eyes still radiate happiness and warmth. A warm sensation builds in my stomach when the corners of his lips rise. My knees buckle at the sight. A rush of adrenaline pulses through my veins when DK's eyes shift to my lips. I glance down at his lips for a moment.

He wants to kiss me.

Just kiss him already. Make the move. You want the same thing as him.

Am I even ready to kiss him? Do I trust myself? Him? Us? What if I am just thinking irrationally right now? Is this too soon? If I kiss him then that means all defenses are down? It's over for me. He will have me completely.

He already has your heart even before tonight happened. You know yourself better than anyone. Take the chance and run with it!

By the time, I met his eyes again, I knew he caught me. I push any doubtful thoughts and press my lips into his. When DK doesn't kiss back after a few seconds, I pull away, shutting my eyes from embarrassment.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have d--"

My words get cut off with his lips colliding back into me. His hands pulled me at my waist. A groan slips my lips and he uses the opportunity to dominate the kiss. I stand on my tippy toes pressing myself further into him. One arm snaked around the back of his neck while the other fumbled with the top buttons on his shirt.

DK pulls away, stopping my hands at his midsection from unbuttoning. His breath is ragged as he mumbles, “Y/N, are you sure? I don’t want you to do this unless you’re one-hundred-percent sure.”

“Yes! I want to do this… with you.”

I collide my lips back to his and he slips his hands under my thighs. I jump up wrapping my legs around his hips. My lips nipping down at the side of his neck while making our way down to the bedroom. DK gently place me down on the edge of the bed. Lust pooling into his eyes as I pull him towards my lips.

He trails kisses across my jawline and down my neck, “I believe the last time we did this, Jia was created.”

“Is someone hinting they want more babies with me?” I teased. DK nips at my neck just near my sweet spot, causing a moan to slip from my lips. “I believe that exact move was the sole reason Jia is here now.”

“Stroking my ego again. Maybe we should test your theory since that’s what you believed.” He smiles, pulling away from my neck to slip off my top.

[seek--rest]

Hey!! very interested to know more about the specifics of a collaboration writing. How do you do it? Do you take turns in writing, do you have a shared doc, do you call each other and write a chapter together? Thanks for your time and hard work on these fics ❤️

I would LOVE to talk about this, I love shop talk it's the best!

Every collaboration is different because every person is different but what I've found to really work is that you have an idea, or maybe you're talking about an idea, or maybe someone else is talking about an idea. You think it's great. You want to see it exist beyond just screaming about in a discord and then never going anywhere.

I'll usually continue the conversation, maybe see how interested someone is in writing something and if they want to do it themselves, I'm the happiest little clam. However, if someone wants to do it but also wants some assist, I offer to co-write it with them. That's also happened to me, in the same way!

After you figured out that yes we both want to write this, then you work to figure out the how. Not assignments just yet, but figuring out the world. The details. Who is involved. Why are they involved. What are they doing there. What led them to make the choices they did. If it's a friends to lovers Peter and MJ fic that's great but like, who are they in this world? What's the canon like? What's their family look like? What are we using and disregarding? Who are we making their friends and their family?

Some of the stuff (like their choice of major in college if they're adults) may not seem significant but it helps build the world AND all those little details add up (who they're living with influences who they're going to interact with, how the plot unfolds, how things can be changed or shifted, etc.).

Once that's clearer, then I like to always work with some kind of outline. It doesn't have to be nailed down to the letter but I need some structure to know what's going on and imo, it helps to keep things clear for the collaborator too. Because after you've done that (usually in a scene by scene breakdown), then you can decide who is writing what.

It's varied anything from people writing wholesale chapters, alternating scenes, picking which scenes mean most to them- it can all change based on the preference.

One thing that I believe strongly about when it comes to collaborating is that you cannot have an ego. This isn't your fic, this is our fic and if someone wants to be more of an editor, sees different gaps in your sections or doesn't agree with the direction or the tone, a good collaboration makes it so that you are able to work on that. No one person is leading the charge, you actively work together so that hopefully the finished product doesn't read like two people cobbling together distinct styles and tones, but one cohesive piece. Idk if anyone notices, but I absolutely work to fit the tone, meter, and style of whoever I'm working with so that it matches.

It's written ad-hoc mostly, whenever the other person has the time via a doc and letting the other person know when it's their "turn" via discord DMs mostly lmao. It always helps to have a backlog before posting imo but then, I've also absolutely written fics week to week with people. The more you collaborate too, the easier it gets to go back and forth AND the easier it gets to anticipate what the other person is thinking and how to blend together.

tl;dr I LOVE collabs. It's half the work for double the fun and one of my favorite parts of being in fandom!!

[sensei-venus]

Could I maybe ask for demetri x mom reader (only if you want to tho)

(I didn’t really add any smut in this, will if anyone wants me to) (made the baby a girl in this) (unedited)

•Demetri is a toss up at first. Don't get me wrong but he was most likely one of the first people to hear about the “She has a baby”  rumor. Demetri always seems to be around when mass amounts of gossip is being talked about around the school. He probably doesn't even mean too but he's accidentally spending the information to others, mostly his friends at the dojo. He probably doesn't even realize how rude it is, talking about her behind her back like that.

•They end up being partners in class for a project and that's when his curiosity starts to peak. She acts prey normal and she’s super nice, he notices how soft spoken she is the whole time when they are in class together working. He does most of the work because he already knows about the subject they are working on really well. She is actually more interested in him then anything and she finds his rambling to be cute, she says so herself. He can’t help the blush that forms on his cheeks as he looks around the room.

•Overtime he starts to realize she has grown on him as they spend more time together. She sits with him at lunch and talks to him about all kinds of things. She doesn’t get mad or upset if he ramble’s on about different topic’s, Hawk would call him a nerd for it or Sam would get bored of his conversations. Reader would only add on to what he was talking about or would ask questions. She hung off every word he would say. She even laughed at his bad jokes and sarcastic comments.

•It took him a while to admit his own feelings. He's never actually meet a pretty girl who likes to hear him go on and on about random stuff like comics and video games. She liked hearing what was on his mind and he liked hearing what she had to say. They where both smart people.

•One day at lunch he just comes out and asks if they had a baby. She tells him she does, a little girl. She shows him a picture of the little girl on her phone, all bundled up in a pink blanket with big round eyes looking up. He can't help but let his sarcastic nature roll away as he looked at this cute little eyes. Reader explains that she wanted to tell him, but she didn't know how he would respond to the news. She already had enough bad experiences telling people she had a kid. He quickly nods, understanding what she meant. He secretly feels bad for being someone who helped spread her personal information.

•One day he gets a phone call from her, she’s frantic as she explains she’s stranded on the side of the road, with her baby, because her car broke down. She’s borderline crying because not only did the car completely breakdown but the ac won’t come on while they wait for a tow truck. It’s over 100 degrees outside. Her baby is crying and hot and she doesn’t know what to do. Demetri shove’s his ego aside and does the only thing he can think of, barrow Hawk’s car and goes and picks them up.

•They end up going back to her place where they are out of the heat and she can feed the baby. Demetri can’t help but glance over as the baby stops crying and suckles on Readers breast. The little one is finally cool and being feed. In that moment he just couldn’t stop looking at the two of them with a smile on his face. Reader soothes the baby as it feeds, she runs a gentle hand over the baby’s back and she coos at her. Before long the baby is done and Reader is pattering her on the back trying to make her burp. Once she’s done she’s about to put her down but then her phone rings which is in her bedroom. She rushes for a moment before handing the baby off to Demetri.

•Demetri doesn’t even know what is happening. Next thing he knows he’s holding the baby girl. For a good minute he’s scared she’s going to start crying because he probably would if a stranger was holding him. But she just moves around in his arms and then reaches out for his nose and cheeks. Her littler fingers grip along his face as she gargles at him. She blinks up at him as she babble’s. He rocks her as he starts to get the hang of holding her, he’s happy that she’s not crying at him holding her. He gently talks to her for a little while. He can’t help but smile at her cuter face.

•When Reader comes back he’s hesitant, he doesn’t want to give her back.

“I can hold her for a bit longer if you have anything you want to do around here. Free babysitting you know?”

The rest of the day is spent with him holding the baby. Reader cleans around her apartment and ends up making dinner for the two of them. He ends up staying for dinner and the two of them laugh about how hectic the day was. Before he leaves he works up the courage to look her in the eyes and say “This may sound stupid, it might even look it but I want to give this a shot. Me and you and your daughter. I was really scared at first, with the idea of having a baby, but if it’s with you, maybe it won’t be as scary. Can you give me a chance at least? To try this out?” He’s meet with a hard kiss that has him shocked but not enough to not kiss back.

•After a while of dating, Demetri full embrace’s being a father to Readers baby. But he’s way to overprotective and slightly controlling out of fear. He doesn’t want them hurt. That’s why it’s a surprise when he has Reader and the baby come to class at the dojo to watch him. Everyone is surprised when he kisses Reader gently before placing a small kiss on the baby’s forehead before going over to the others to practice. But he wants to show off to his baby. He’s also extremely admit on showing his baby how fighting should be for defense, even if they are literally just a baby right now. Everyone at the dojo just goes along with it, it is Demetri.

[timeoverload]

Today was a pretty easy day for me. I had 29 cases but it wasn't as stressful because they weren't moving too fast. Nothing bad happened except I still haven't found that muscle hook. Hopefully it turns up tomorrow. I was happy that I got to eat breakfast and lunch and it wasn't terrible.

I did get very angry with the morning team lead earlier. He started telling me how he feels about trans people and I do not agree with his opinions. I told him I didn't want to have a debate about it but he wouldn't stop so I sort of blew up on him. He was telling me that he thinks trans people are mentally ill and he refuses to treat them with respect because he doesn't believe in that. He's always preaching about God and going to church every Sunday but obviously it hasn't taught him how to be a compassionate person. I remember a verse from the bible that says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." I think he needs to read the book again. I believe if God exists then they created trans people and Jesus loves everyone. They have always existed and it's not a trend. He tried to argue that they are just "seeking attention" but I don't believe that's the case. I think all humans can be attention seeking and that's just the way we are. He needs to stop hating people just because he doesn't understand them. He said that we will have to agree to disagree and I was so mad that I had to leave the room. I also don't think that was an appropriate conversation to be having at work period. I don't want to be forced to be around a transphobic asshole. I barely said a word to him the rest of the day. He says so many horrible things and thinks it's funny. I don't think he realizes how mean he is. He was talking about one of the surgical techs and couldn't remember her name so he referred to her as "the ugly bridge troll". He makes so many disrespectful comments about women. He told me he would leave his fiancée if she didn't shave her legs and I think that's shallow as fuck. He believes a man should make all of the decisions in a relationship and I don't agree with him. He is just so rude and has the biggest ego. He's always pissed about something. I know I have been complaining about him a lot but I am forced to spend hours of my life working with him by myself. I hate coming in to work in the morning now. I think maybe karma is starting to catch up with him because he has been having a lot of bad things happen to him. He has been having a health issue and may need to go on leave. I don't want anything bad to happen to him just because I don't like him but it would be nice to not be around him for a while. He said he is going to come back to work the next day after his procedure because he "lives to work". He's crazy and irresponsible. He also spends at least half of his day talking instead of working anyway. I already know his doctor isn't going to let him do that. He thinks it's fine for him to come in to work anyway and is expecting everyone else to wait on him and bring him stuff to do while he sits. I'm not doing that and that's a bad idea for so many reasons. I really need to stop talking about him but I have been bottling it up and he has been driving me bonkers. I am going to try to stay away from him as much as possible. I'm sorry for going on a rant.

Anyway, there was an add-on at 4:15 and that didn't get done until 4:45. I didn't leave on time because it took me a while to get everything cleaned up but it's ok. I'm so glad I'm home and that it's almost the weekend. I am feeling strange right now. I think I might be getting sick but I can't tell. I have a sore throat but it's not that bad so maybe I will feel better in the morning. I am very tired and achy though. I'm sorry I haven't been on here as much. It's hard to use my phone at work and when I get home I am so sleepy. I am probably going to order a new phone on Friday. I have fallen asleep several times lately with the light on and my keyboard in my lap. I think I need to go eat something really quick and get ready for bed. I need to relax because I have 32 cases tomorrow and it might be a rough day but I hope it isn't. I don't like Thursdays very much but I will try my best to make it a good day.

I hope everyone else has a wonderful day tomorrow!!! Thank you for listening to me vent because that means a lot to me. Talking about stuff usually helps me feel better. I love you all!!! :) 💖💖💖

[vixthefantheorist]

Thoughts on Audio findings

I originally had this typed up on phone but THAT got lost when I had to put it down in the middle of typing to do something because it needed my attention. Came back to it to find that my tumblr app decided to close the tab... so all that was lost. -angy rifter noises- So starting this over AGAIN... I realized I never typed up my thoughts and guess of what was going on in the audio files. I was functioning at 4 hours of sleep yesterday and I had things to do but I had promised to at least get those files out there for everyone. I rushed to get them out there that my brain dead, too tired to think properly self forgot to do the... you know thing of explaining what I thought of what I found. And for that I apologize, I'm sure some of you were curious of what I thought about them and provide a theory for it. And I will provide it here.

But I do want to get something clear, I know I missed a few things in my run around deciphering audio; like Echo's conversation with Chase. I know people burn for it but with my current dismal skill of Audacity and audio editing in general, I couldn't do anything to see if there was any actual words in there or it was just sounds that only Chase (currently for now) could understand and leave us to guess what the hell was being said. For all we know the sounds Echo gives are some kind of code, I don't know. I don't even have the basic understanding of editing or usage of Audacity to even begin to pick that apart. The there's the whispers of Anti's mental assault on Chase's psyche, there's so much going on in there I... couldn't even begin to know where to start on working with that. That's why I gave the full audio of the video in the files I provided in my previous post. Take a crack at it and share it. Heh, We all want to know! Now, I can provide what I heard with a few audio bits. I'm sorry for the wait! I apologize for the volume for the files, I forgot I was wearing a pair of headphones that have its own volume so I had like 2-3x the volume control... which led me to not really change the volume in the files... but I will add these to the google drive for download and you can fiddle with the volume. Though in hindsight, I think that's for the best; with my shitty audacity skills, I could have blown out people's ears. And that would be bad. At least this way, you can adjust them to your own liking without going deaf by some idiot like me. XD First off, starting at 11:13-11:16. This little timestamp holds this Anti whisper...

Originally, I thought it said, "You can't hide from me." (It probably still does) But upon further fiddling around to make Anti's voice clearer, my thoughts on what he says changed. It sounds to me like he says, "You can't help his fate." Followed by his eye. Interesting! Given the fact his eye flickers on the screen like that makes me believe he's talking to whomever is watching through the camera in Chase's room. Meaning Anti is well aware of someone else in the room, watching Chase like he's watching even though he hasn't even shown up yet. Very much talking to US, the viewers, (as well as possibly the other party. Haha, nudge nudge, wink wink. Assuming he even does know they're there. Don't know) since we're the ones hacking the joint to seek out Chase. (Then again when haven't we been meddling around look for the Egos? As well as look for Anti? Come on, you know we were all there for sights of them all. He knows this and it doesn't surprise him that we're here. In fact, he's enjoying this. (I am so sorry, Chase! We were trying to help you, I swear!)) Speaking of that other party! We're at the set of lines I was the most curious of. On the Day Anti decides to drop by for visit to the IRIS facility we get to hear THESE whispers. At 19:58 - 20:04 A lot going on in there huh? But what little you do hear is that someone else (or a group) are already here. Why they are here, we're not sure. But I'll give you some clearer audio files of that same timestamp. I know its a bit hard to hear some of the dialogue in there I don't know how to clean it up any better, sorry. But from what I was able to hear (and probably lost my mind in the abyss of Audacity) is : "You know we have a plan. We can't be here."

"We have/got to go"

"Stop being stupid!" * The one saying "We have/got to go" sounds a bit like Echo... (or the pitch is high, very likely the pitch is high) And the last line... I don't even know where to begin with that one. It sounded like, *"Stop being stupid" "Stop sounding stupid" or "Stop sending stuff". The last bit of that dialogue is just super distorted and I don't know how to fix it, I'm sorry. But of the three guesses to that one thing, I just chose the one that made more sense for the argument. Now is the version of the same time stamp where we only hear Anti's demonic screeching. Settle down there, eldritch boy.

It might not be anything of actual value but the way it sounds, to me at least, sounds like Anti is screeching Chase's name. Creepy. But with all of these together... we can somewhat get a picture here. Besides us, the viewers being here to see Chase and try to find a way to help him, there's another party that's also there, making their own plan. What the plan is... I don't know for sure but I have a guess. Whatever the case is the pair (I don't know if its just two guys, two guys and Echo, or one dude and Echo, working together. For now I'm thinking just the two guys here) are arguing over what to do. These other files are what sounds to be the other half of the pair, arguing back with their partner of what to do. (20:07-20:08, 20:09-20:10, 20:13-20:15, 20:18-20:18, 20:25-20:28)

"No! We are going for it." This one wants to deviate from the plan and do something else while they have the chance, much to their partner's annoyance. But one of them states, "We gotta go." In confusion the partner asks, "What did you see?" Instead of answering the question, they merely urge the other, "Go." They seem to be aware of something, "Whatever happens happens." Suddenly an alarm blares, red lights flashing all over the place as Chase figures that something is happening from Arin's mannerisms and urgency to move. Those very same alarms seem to surprise our other party! One of them exclaiming, "What?!" at the alarm system going on. From the sounds of... My guess is that they didn't see that one coming. (-cue Last Surprise from Persona 5- ...I'm sorry I had to.) Though there is one piece of the whispers I can probably point out at 20:53-20:55. It sounds like it says "He won't give up." I'm not entirely sure, so if anyone can figure that out, cool. And as Chase is dragged down the hall, kicking and screaming, begging to be released... we hear one last thing... before things go silent in that hallway. (21:09-21:11) Anti whispering softly, "This is your grave."

*~*~*~*~*

My Summarizing Thoughts :

So what I can gather from all this... is that the same time we were poking around IRIS' computer systems, there was another party at the facility. I don't know if they were imprisoned in there as well or had broken in on their own. They had a plan of their own that they were going to do but I guess our meddling with the systems changed things for them. I don't know if they're here for the Stone Tablet or somehow planned it to be there to collect Chase and escape the facility together with the rock... maybe, I don't I'm just guessing here. But I don't think they accounted for our meddling which allowed Anti to speedrun (I can't help but think of Anti going "SPEEDRUN!" running around in there) the facility, forcing the party to go into action. What that action is, is anyone's guess. My guess though, is that they're going to try to rescue Chase. How, I'm not sure. Either intercepting from one of the T section of halls Chase is sitting at and block Anti from him or if Marvin is there or something, magic his ass out of there before Anti can kill him. Either case, that scene is not over! And I can't wait (of course I'll wait, I want Sean to have the time to make it as spectacular as he wants it to be and to do that, he needs time. I'm a patient birb) to see what that will entail and what will happen! Also I would like to apologize... again. I wanted this post out MUCH earlier in the day but I kept getting interrupted in my typing. And then, I originally wanted to add audio clips to talk about them, sadly I wasn't aware that there was a limit of how many flies/links one can add to a post. And I really didn't want to break this into two parts... so... here! A SUPER ASS LONG ONE! With timestamps to match to the files I gave. (Yes, I'm well aware there's a lot of files with the same timestamps, I will move those into a folder within the JSE IRIS Clues folder and leave it for anyone to see them if they want. That has been updated as I wrote this out) Well, I hope you guys enjoyed my thoughts on the files. I'm curious to what you guys think, or discover on your own with the audio files I gave. Please do share them, Sean did point out about looking into the audio so I hope there are others out there mining away at this to truly uncover the hidden clues within! At least we know there is another party involved! I'm sorry we screwed up your plans, honest! Please save Chase.

[masteroffakesmiles]

Oh dear, dear Wakko. Let me give you some words of advice from somebody's who's been ignored many times before.

*kneels down to his eye level*

Sometimes... people say and do things that can really hurt and sting, but that doesn't make them bad people. Ego, selfishness, vanity, the busyness of life in general-- the world is crazy, and filled with so many sights and sounds and messages that it is so easy to just take everything that's presented to us for granted. It can make us lose sight of what truly matters.

What I'm trying to say is, your siblings love you a heck of a lot. They would do anything to see you happy, safe, and loved. You're the Warner Siblings for crying out loud, you're the best trio this world will ever see! But right now, Yakko and Dot are sort of caught up in a loop, that loop of self-centeredness I mentioned earlier, and they've forgotten about how much they care for you.

And-- and it is wrong, and it's okay to be angry, it's okay to be upset, it's okay to cry and scream and punch a pillow if you have to. Get your feelings out. I understand how alone you must feel, which in and of itself is proof that you are not alone.

After you've got your feelings out though... maybe talk to Yakko and Dot about how you feel. It may be a hard conversation, but it'll be worth it. They don't realize how much they're hurting you and they won't realize it unless you say something. *gently hugs Wakko*

You're one of the strongest, kindest, bravest people I have ever met, Wakko. Please don't ever forget that.

Wakko: *sniff* Thanks, random stranger. I know they’re not bad people, I know my sibs better than anyone. Sometimes I just feel like I’m the unfavorite because I like to eat a whole lot and I…don’t smell really good most of the time. Because of that they either ignore me or insult me. I already know I’m the weirdest one, but that adds to my charm! What’s wrong with eating or gross-out humor?? (Well, I guess the latter would set some people off, but still!) Again, I’m already aware I don’t have as many fans as they do, but those meanies still didn’t have to rub it in!

(Had a whole bloody movie named after me too, for cryin’ out loud!)

[mk-oc-imagines]

In case you're wondering, yes, I did change my profile pic to NewTimeline!Valeria

Just want to add to my previous story:

Bi-Han watches as his other cursed self is always by the side of the older Cage and Valeria, like a true shadow, barely saying anything. And he wonders, briefly, how could he end up like that and why does he always stick to those two.

But it is the small moments that count, the Shadow letting the older actor do his hair, resting his head on the actor's shoulder or when Valeria brings a small vial of something and the Shadow drinks it without a second thought. It is also the fleeting touches, cheek and forehead kisses, hugs - Bi-Han notes that a simple eye contact holds an entire conversation.

Bi-Han can't imagine, that he would ever be friends with Johnny Cage, at least in his Timeline - the older actor, on the other hand.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I'm out there somewhere. Unless the Fire God made sure that I wasn't born. I can't find the Forgers that I come from." The brown haired woman told him matter of factly, spoke to him as if they were old friends - they were just not in this timeline.

"Why should I care?"

And she smiles at him, all warmth and kindness and Bi-Han sees his mother, sees her smile, her warm brown eyes. Bi-Han looks away and she steps closer to him - she's just like his mother, cooing softly, brushing hair away from his face, she's asking about his family, pulling his mask away - Bi-Han should leave, push her away, do something but when she pulls him into an embrace, her hair a shielding curtain.

Bi-Han misses his mother more than ever.

He knows he shouldn't, seek her out like this, at the dead of night, when she's suffering from insomnia, being out on the balcony or in in the library, he doesn't even have to announce himself, she looks over her shoulder, smiling, inviting.

He rests his head in her lap and Valeria undo his bun, gently combing trough his hair, humming a song.

The actor, who was full of himself, arrogant and ego bigger than the Elder Gods - was now writhing in pain on the bed, the markings on his chest spreading. Bi-Han stretches his arms, letting his hands get coated in ice, just enough for the coldness to spread and the actor calms down, his face still pinched in pain but he's no longer writhing.

Maybe now he understands, why his shadow self is friends with a man like this.

Bi-Han finds her, sitting alone in the Royal gardens, weird aparation on her head, blond hair tied into two braids...Bi-Han sees that her shoulders are shaking. He approaches her slowly, places a hand on her shoulder and she starts, whipping around and looking up at him, her sketchbook open, falls out of her lap. Blue eyes look up at him, one covered with her mane and she takes the weird aparation of her head. She's incredibly young, barely past the age of eighteen, if her wardrobe and youthful face is anything to judge by.

"Yes?"

"What's your name, child?"

"Valeria. Who are you and what do you want from me?"

Bi-Han watches her, she tries to steel herself, but there's still vulnerability and something he can't quite place.

Crouching before her, Bi-Han takes the sketchbook and slowly gives it back to her.

"Have you ever been to a Lin Kuei temple, little one?"