#like. hello??? the power fantasy they want is so unsettling???

[meanderfall]

thinking of causing psychic damage to everyone who follows me by reblogging call of duty posts

[hyomaslut]

──★ ˙🍒 ̟ !! SAY THAT YOU MISS ME. 18+!

☆⌒(ゝ。∂).ᐟ ʙʟʟᴋ ʙᴏʏs ɢᴏɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴇx

✿ ─ characters: bachira meguru, chigiri hyoma, rin itoshi ✿ ─ cw: somewhat angst, nsfw, smut, gn!reader, afab!reader, no pronouns, aged-up!characters(21+), established relationships??, exes to lovers, kissing, groping, dirty talk, semi-public sex, lots of jealousy, alcohol use, posessiveness, unprotected sex, cunnilingus, toxic behaviors/dynamics, use of foul language, suggestive themes, proofread?? ✿ ─ notes: they are straight up drabbles. i wrote hyoma's first and i was like, omg this is way too long. fuck it, hope i can get the others close to this word count. and then they were longer. im so sorry i promise next time i wont be so long winded.

BACHIRA MEGURU is unsettled by the silence that lingers in your absence...

he honestly doesn’t know what to do with himself. the heavy loneliness he feels in a bed far too big for just one person is almost enough to push him to call you, staring at your contact for at least an hour. you were best friends. partners in crime. a power couple. how could things be over? he misses your voice more than anything else, all the time in his day usually spent deep in conversation with you now feeling empty.

he could tell that he reached a real pathetic stage of heartbroken when he started listening to old voicemails from you at night, but couldn’t find it in himself to care as he smiles at your laugh and tears up at your i love you’s. that turns into scrolling through photos he has of you, and then that has his mind drifting to the hidden album he has dedicated to you, full of the numerous risqué shots you’ve sent him over the course of your relationship. meguru doesn’t dwell on the moral dilemma of keeping the pictures, they were his after all. either gifted to him or taken by him, so he feels he has some sort of right to them. when he scrolls to a particular video from his point of view of your pretty mouth wrapped around his tip, his hand almost immediately moves to palm his crotch. he tugs down his boxers to stroke himself to the scene of you deepthroating his cock, the sweet sound of your moans and sputters through his phone speaker making both his dick and his heart ache for you.

after some time spent desperately trying to create a cheap imitation of the pleasure you make him feel, bachira grows frustrated. it’s really unfair now that he thinks about it. how could you indulge him in all his deepest fantasies and give him the wildest hottest fucks of his life only to leave him high and dry in the end? finally giving up on cumming, covered in a thin layer of sweat, he opens his phone again in some lust fueled bravery, texting you hey can we talk?

in your apartment, you were dedicating your evening to trying not to think about all the ways you missed your ex, knowing that the first few weeks of a break up were the hardest. you stand up from the couch, breaking out of your thoughts and hoping to just distract yourself for the time being. picking up your cell was extremely counter productive in that regard, your heart jumping at a text from megs ‹𝟹. he wants to talk. seeing that the text was sent half an hour ago, you jump to reply yeah sure. when? you don’t even think before accepting, the chance to bask in his attention one more time is too tempting when missing him this much. the contact picture you set for him pops up, indicating an incoming call.

you take a breath in the tense silence, offering a somewhat unsure, “hello?” his end of the call comes to life all of a sudden, finally connecting through his current shoddy service. he sounds slightly out of breath and you hear a faint ding in the background. the grainy noises let you know that he probably wasn’t in the quiet privacy of his home as he usually would be at this time. “meguru? is now a bad time to talk?”

“no! now's a good time,” he reassures, “i’m in the elevator up to your place.”

“you’re what?”

there’s some more shuffling from him and quick footsteps that echo both from the call and the hallway outside your apartment. “open up.”

there’s apprehension floating somewhere in your mind, but the big part of you that was very much not over him moves your feet towards the door, unlocking it. as soon as the physical barrier between you and him is gone, there is a completely different tone that settles and you almost sense it before it happens when he pushes forward to crash his lips onto yours. he didn’t exactly have a plan showing up, but seeing you, there was only one thing his body wanted to do. your back collides with the wall of your entryway, one of his hands already on the back of your head to cushion the blow, his other arm coiled around your waist to press you flush against him. unaware of it, the two of you share the same thought. this is 1000 times better than being alone tonight.

“meguru.” you call out trying to gently push against his chest to create some room between you. trying to be the rational one and state the obvious facts. you broke up with him. he shouldn’t be here. it’ll just cause more heartache for the both of you. but tingles run up his back when you say his name that way, breathless as he steals all the air from you. fuels his need to hold onto you tighter and not let you go this time around. eventually you manage to get your hand over his mouth to stop him from kissing you before your resolve really breaks and you let this go too far. “megu we shouldn’t. this is hard enough as it is-”

he pries your fingers away, and just when you think he is going to say something, convince you, justify himself, he dips his head down to capture your lips again, gently sucking on the bottom one to draw out a gasp so he can shove his tongue in. greedy hands grab at your thighs, lifting one of your legs to wrap around his waist so he can shamelessly rut his hips against yours. he makes it hard to think straight, pulling away after a moment to stare into your eyes, giving you that signature wild look that causes your knees to go weak. “tell me you don’t want me.”

“huh?”

“look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want me.” he watches you expectantly, his impatience showing when he begins softly rocking into you. “cause we both know nobody else can make you cum like i can. let me make you feel good.”

you don’t find the strength to turn down his offer, not when you’re already panting at the affection he’s given you and soaking from the rhythmic press of his hard cock against you. bachira relishes the relief and arousal that floods through him when you wrap your arms around his neck to drag him into another sloppy kiss, and you feel his grin grow against your lips. the competitor in him recognizes a challenge, his heart pounding in perverse excitement. he has one chance to prove to you just how much you need him. lucky for you, that’s the kind of risk your ex gets off on.

CHIGIRI HYOMA is unreasonably bitter...

you and him are a perfect match, and the thought of you ever replacing him makes him sick. the egoist in him can’t stand the idea of someone stealing his role in your life. someone else taking you out, having your attention, putting their hands on you. deep down some rational part of him knows that he doesn’t stake any claim over you anymore, but the sinking pit in his stomach does nothing to alleviate the gut instinct that you’re his.

it eats at him. chigiri feels childish stalking your social media or casually asking mutual friends about you. he doesn’t want to seem affected, but he just can’t help but give into his curiosity. this same ‘curiosity’ is what leads him to hanging out in the bars he knows you frequent, either with friends or without. he hardly admits to himself that he’s hoping to run into you, but when it actually does happen, hyoma doesn’t hesitate to approach. he’s unsure if it’s the irresistible pull of being within arms reach of you again, or the selfish intuition to make his move on you before anyone else has the chance.

it seems innocent enough. he’s as charismatic and lighthearted as ever, offering to catch up, buy you a drink or two. chemistry you’ve always shared slowly surfaces through conversation. there was no denying that he had his charms, ones that hit all your soft spots just like the first time he won you over. so when he ‘accidentally’ bumps into you on your way out of the bathroom, and wraps his arms around you so you don’t fall over from tipsy imbalance, you barely even question it. being in his embrace is familiar and there is a glance shared between you with a certain spark to it that it’s only natural he leans down to kiss you. hyoma is nothing if not an opportunist, smoothly steering you back into the small bar bathroom, his lips and tongue never leaving you.

he’s panting into your mouth between hungry kisses, hands already tugging at your clothing. his teeth find your neck, sucking and biting warm bruises in his wake, eager to mark every inch of skin he can latch onto. before you get the chance to playfully tease him about crawling back to you, your body is twisted around and bent forward over the sink. your eyes dart to the mirror in front of you, meeting his smug grin as he yanks your pants and underwear down your thighs.

hyoma reaches his hand around to dip between your folds, deft fingers rubbing languid circles into your clit the way he knows you like. if it werent for the cocktails you would be embarrassed by the way you immediately melt into his touch, whimpers readily escaping you. “you’re already whining like that and i’ve barely even touched you, this pussy must’ve really missed me, huh?”

pleasure shoots up your core, arching your back at the feeling, pressing your ass into the bulge straining against his jeans. a moan bubbles up in his throat, but he’s quick to close his mouth, muffling the sound to a soft grunt, not willing to indulge you in the reactions you always seek to draw out of him. his hips push forward to grind into yours, the hard outline of his cock enough to remind you of what more you could be having instead of this PG13 dry humping session. you try to catch his gaze in the mirror, but it never leaves the place where you connect, giving you only soft thrusts while his fingers are unrelenting against your clit. “hyoma.” you manage to get out between heavy breaths. pink eyes finally travel up to meet yours. “please give it to me.”

and on a normal day, your ex-boyfriend would’ve dragged out the foreplay and teased you until you’re near tears and begging him for more, but something about the way you ask feels like a confession. that you wanted him just as desperately as he had been craving you. it sparks a fire up chigiri’s spine, wasting no time shoving the tight denim down to release himself. soon enough the tip of his pretty dick is squished against your entrance. his jaw is clenched from the restraint it takes not to immediately bury himself balls deep, grabbing your waist to keep steady.

any doubts that he had about still pining after you are gone, because the first tight clench of your cunt around his tip confirms what he’s always wholeheartedly believed. you were fucking made for him.

“god fuck,” he mutters breathily, biting down onto his bottom lip as he watches your hole swallow his entire length. his hips wind back, not getting far before the grip your walls have on him forces him to slowly sink back in. “anyone else fill you up this good, angel? get you this wet?” he asks, one of his hands grabbing hold of your hair to make you properly face him in the reflection again, wearing a cocky smirk that makes your stomach do flips.

a pout forms on your lips at his leisurely thrusts, far from enough to satisfy you, especially when you’ve seen firsthand the speed and effort he is depriving you of. “i don’t know, im getting a bit bored here princess,” you mock, despite the way you’re barely able to contain your noises as is.

without warning his pace becomes the staple unrelenting and overwhelming one you fantasize about while futilely trying to get off on your own. hyoma lets go of your hair in favor of clamping down over your mouth, loud moans already beginning to spill out around his fingers. the sight of the typically cool-headed prince losing his nonchalance, fucking you with pure ego and a savage glimmer in his eyes isn’t something you’ll easily forget. “this what you wanted? only satisfied when i fuck you stupid, right?"

ITOSHI RIN is not a fan of losing you, but loves getting you back...

rin doesn’t fall in love easily. he doesn’t know exactly how you managed it, but you barged into his life unannounced and dragged love out of him with your unrelenting company and killer smile. and rin was no willing victim either, figuratively kicking and screaming the whole way with his many cold moments and guarded emotions. in the end you won, with him wrapped helplessly around your finger. while rin would prefer to deny you any power over him, there’s a fire that burns in his chest for you that demands he give you everything he has. and he does.

but his love proves to be too much and not enough. too much in the ways of his possessive tendencies and clinginess and toxic defensiveness. and not enough in the way that it doesn’t keep you around. not that he blames you for it, although he does get the occasional bitter thought that you should’ve known to leave him alone from the start. deep down he knows he doesn’t really mean it, preferring even this pitiful longing you leave him with to the dark cloud that was his life before you. and it’s what he fears of returning to if you ever manage to fully pull away from him one day.

the first time you break up, rin admittedly doesn’t deal with it well. after endless calls and texts and showing up at your place with flowers and vulnerability, you take him back, only to return to the same arguments when his jealousy issues get out of hand. he wished he could say the second or third time went differently. fourth time around, however, rin gains some semblance of dignity and decides to keep his distance. maybe it was time to give moving on the good old college try. what other option did he have? as in love with you as he was, he couldn’t force you to stay and wasn’t well equipped to do the soul searching necessary to rid himself of all the behaviors that bothered you. maybe this was a lesson he needed to grow into the type of guy you could see yourself with. at least he intended to take that route, until you showed up at his house a few days later begging for him to forgive you for ever thinking you could live without him. he doesn’t even feel embarrassment over how easily he caves. it can’t be his fault when that night you swore you’d always belong to him while screaming his name. that same night he resolved that no matter what happened, you were it for him, and until you told him without a shadow of a doubt that you no longer loved him, he would return to you every time.

it started this viscous cycle of an on and off again relationship, fueled by passion and possession from both parties. one that rin never planned on ending as long as it was the only way he got to call you his, feeling a deep sense of comfort in the fact that you were weak for him too. that’s why he’s unsurprised hearing a knock on his door at 11PM. a new record considering it only been a day since the huge fight that caused your latest break up, not that rin was keeping count.

he has to stop himself from running to the door, because if he was honest he was thinking of grabbing his keys and heading to you minutes earlier. it doesn’t take more than a, “i’m so sorry baby,” to have him scooping you up into his arms on instinct. the familiar security of your legs wrapped around his hips, hands grabbing at your ass as he carries you to his bed, makes up for the self-loathing mess he becomes in the aftermath of every separation.

none of that other stuff matters when he gets to have you under him like this, already whining in anticipation as he peels away your bottom layers. rin can’t resist leaning in for a quick kiss to your clit before looking up at you from between your legs. a finger ghosts along your slit causing you to squirm and lean up towards the touch before one of his strong hands pushes you firmly to the bed, resting just under your navel. fortunately for you, rin is terrible at denying you the things he knows you want. especially when he’s practically drooling for you, letting the excess spit dribble out of his mouth and onto your cunt. you feel him lick long stripes from your entrance to your clit before wrapping his lips around it.

rin eats you as if it were his first meal in days. being apart from you always seemed a whole lot longer when he has to fear if you really mean it this time when you say you wanna stop seeing him. so he allows himself to be greedy, laves at your slick ravenously with a loud groan and humping his hips against the mattress to relieve his cock that’s already leaking in his boxers. your hands bury themselves in his hair, throwing your head back in pleasure as he bites down into your thigh, leaving an imprint of his teeth. “god you taste so good. you’re fucking criminal for trying to keep this perfect pussy from me.”

his free hand wanders to your core, two fingers easily slipping inside from a mix of your juices and his drool, curling to just the right spot. he sucks your clit into his mouth, your sweet moans fill the air and he has to stop his thrusts to keep himself from cumming in his pants at the sound, pulling away from you with a lewd pop. “‘ts mine,” he grunts out, “you’re fucking mine, and no one can make you feel like this but me. say it.”

“only you rin! ‘m yours!” you choke out, bucking against the pressure he puts on your stomach. satisfied with your response, he dives back in, fingers pumping into you with steady rhythm and using his tongue to lap up everything that leaks out. his intense gaze stays trained on yours with a newfound determination to make you feel so good, you’re ruined for anyone else but him.

“all mine.”

◑.◑ its honestly tempting to write a whole fic for rin…

© 2023 hyomaslut. please do not copy, translate, or repost any of my content onto any other sites.

[brighteuphony]

hello i have a genuine question, this is not hate! why do you ship sakura and kakashi? does it not feel unsettling to you due to the circumstances, them meeting when she was 12 and he was 27; and him being her teacher at some point? again this is not hate i just wanted to ask.

No worries!

The main reason is that it's fiction—and the characters are not real people with real consequences. As an adult, I'm capable of separating fantasy from reality, and if we're not able to safely explore alternate avenues of thinking in fantasy, then what's the point of making/enjoying them in the first place?

If you're asking about it in the context of the show- then I could argue that having an age-gap relationship with someone who was once your teacher (and initiating that relationship only when they're an adult, without power dynamics being involved) at some point is way less unsettling compared to enjoying a piece of media glorifying a military state actively training child soldiers.

And less unsettling than having Sakura get with Sasuke, given the latter spent all of his on-screen time deriding/actively trying to kill the former.

If we step back, Naruto (like all fiction) has many complicated and heavy themes that could be considered quite problematic, so it's always interesting to see shipping dynamics front and center.

At the end of the day, none of it is real, and while disseminating and discussing is critical to the health of any piece of media or fandom, I don't think it's worth getting up in arms against people who are using that media to explore their own ideas in a safe, consequence-free environment.

Hope that answers your question, anon!

[mauesartetc]

hello maue I have very fascinationing question.

How do you visual convey someone strength and power?

for example beerus destroy half a planet which is less impressive than frieza destroy planet namek. It’s funny beerus is way more powerful than frieza yet did which comes a bit weak than what came before.

how you showcase beerus strength than everyone else in dragon ball? Or least characters in general?

Honestly, the way the Dragon Ball series handles power (at least from what I've seen) is part of the reason I never got into it. Everything just had to be this arms race of whichever character could be the most ULTIMATE. After destroying one planet, what's next? Destroying multiple planets at once? Destroying a solar system? A galaxy? The entire universe? It just gets repetitive unless the writing gives us a reason to care. Like I know the whole thing's just a power fantasy aimed at preteen boys, but that sure didn't stop me and my sister from making fun of DBZ when we were six or seven, lol.

So I guess the real question is how to showcase strength in a more interesting way that heightens the tension rather than becoming stale. For example, there's a difference between what a character can do when they're actually trying, and what they can do when they're barely lifting a finger. If they can cause earthquakes just by flicking the ground, imagine the damage a punch would do.

Or maybe, if a character can't be the most powerful being, they've found a way to control the most powerful being. This still makes them intimidating, but through their brains rather than brawn.

Also, displays of power don't always have to come from destroying things. If a character used their powers to create things, but their unsettling personality lets everyone know they could wreak havoc if they wanted, that creates some interesting tension that could build over time.

Maybe this is less about measuring all characters with the exact same metrics of strength, and more about understanding the unique strengths each character has. I don't know the full context of Beerus destroying half a planet, but if it went exactly according to his plan, I might consider that even more impressive than just destroying the whole thing. Anyone can blow up a ball with explosives, but it takes skill to blow up half of that ball while leaving the other half intact.

Anyway, I found this neat video that talks more about what happens when characters are overpowered and their abilities are inconsistent. A lot of the problem seems to stem from giving them way too much power way too early, meaning the writer has to nerf them later on to make them more relatable. Hope that all makes sense.

[youn9racha]

I Know (Part I)

Pairing: Changbin x fem!reader

Genre: suggestive

Word count: 1.9k

Warning: slight adult content, swearing, suggestive actions, elements of stalker behavior

Extra notes: characters mentioned are all above the age 21 years, a lot of hatred towards the male figure lol. Also this is my first time writing on tumblr, so please bare with me, it may not be the best, but I still hope you enjoy it :)

And baby, I know, I know whatever city you’re in, you’re still the boy that I’d pick…

part ii is up !!!

—————————————————————————————————

This is no way representative of the way Stray Kids act. They’re nothing but references of character, and in no shape or form is this how they act. And I am in no way romanticizing or glamorizing any toxic behavior exhibited, they’re just stories that is meant to be read. Readers discretion is advised

—————————————————————————————————

Men…

Truly the scums of the Earth, who do no good for no one, and are an absolute menace to society. But oh, do I enjoy the looks of their faces at times. The way they would look at me with full hope and infatuation, with full beliefs that I would step down and give them all they want from me.

Hmph. How cute… and pathetic. How pathetic to assume and lower my standards for them. They all are the same. All but one however.

All that men hating… and yet, only one I’d be willing to go down to his level.

Yes, its him… He whom a lot would have not sought to be with, not many would expect a bombshell like myself would be with. But I do not see that in him, not an ounce of what many insecure individuals would see. I see something striking that not many could see, an underrated dignified beauty that anyone could wish to admire. A fanciable and irresistible personality and face.

He was a man.. but a pleasant one.

It all started when I moved in into a new flat for myself. I previously left the old complex due to the cramped environment I had that left me feeling uneasy and stressed, as well as it wasn’t even my apartment, it was for my partner, well, ex-partner. It was simply wasn’t working out, due to our seeming never ending conflicts. But enough of the past, let us move on..

I found this flat that is comfortable and the rent pays well, its only downside is that my room’s window is faced to the next door’s flat, however it’s not a big detriment or big turn off for me so it was fine by me, and also it was prone to have random, yet rare, blackout, but then again what neighborhood doesn’t have that. Anyhow, I was set to take the complex, but before I did, I have noticed something about the neighbor’s window next to me. It was a man. A really good looking one too. Giving his side profile, he was laying on his bed, his black hair covered head bopping with earphones placed in ears, laptop placed in his revealing shorts adorned lap. My eyes began started to stare into his arms then onto his naked well built chest, which indicates that he likes to keep up with his health, as his ring adorned hands was tapping away in his keyboard. I quickly looked away when I saw him repositioned his laptop, and walked out of the soon-to-be my room.

Great… I’ve entered Hell.

But I didn’t let it affect my decisions and got the apartment nonetheless, here I am now, weeks after the incident, sitting in my car, outside of the building, still thinking about the man in his laptop. Has he noticed that I was staring at him? Does he know that there’s gonna be someone living next to him? I hope not. And if he has, I must apologize to him. But before that, let me unload my car. I have gradually put my stuff into the complex as the days go by, it seems dragging, but it felt like the time went by fast, so I’m glad I have done that. However, today was different, as I took stuff more than I usually did, as I desperately do not want to go back to my ex. Typically, I never had assistance, as usually my best friend would join in and help out, but at a time I needed them the most, they had to be really sick. They still were willing to help, but I insisted that they shouldn’t and should rest.

After thinking, I sighed and got out my car, ready to fight the battle that is putting my stuff into my complex. I opened the trunk, eyes meeting my stuff, and I begin to groan. ‘Dammit, (y/n), why do you have that many stuff?!’ I thought to myself. I really should’ve had at least one more visit to my ex, but alas I picked to just take all all together in one day. I picked up a box until..

“Need any help?” I heard someone behind me asking me. I turned around and looked at the source. ‘God damn, is it just me, or does this town just bring out more attractive people?’ I thought to myself, as I see a man that looked like he could be at a museum. He had a sandy brown curly hair, slightly tanned skin, really plump and a crazy jawline. He donned a tank top that barely covered his side torso, and basket ball shorts that complimented his really nice, thick… thighs… yeah… Needless to say he was really attractive.

It seems that I was ogling him, rather than responding, as he shyly smiled and waved his hand in front of my face, “hello,” he softly said as I shook my head and looked back at his face apologetically.

“I am so sorry, I am just really tired, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” I cringed at my pathetic way of justifying of me literally internally lusting over him. I really am turning into someone I dread to be. How can I forgive myself?

“That’s okay, I know how moving can get tiring, and I sense that you’re alone, so please let me and my friend help you out.” He said, sympathetically smiling a sweet smile, already grabbing a box out of my hand. God, if this man has a partner, then they’re the luckiest person ever, and if he’s single, I’ll gladly hand him a ring. What am I saying? (y/n), what the hell has gotten into you?!

“I’m Christopher, but you can call me Chris or Chan, whichever you prefer is fine, what’s your name?” The generous man’s voice interrupted my inner battle and I found myself looking at him again. “(y/n)” I smiled at him, which he nodded back.

“Nice to meet you,” Chan said, looking back and see that his friend showed up, meanwhile, I went back to my trunk and got out more stuff from my car “oh, there he is!” Chan enthusiastically announced.

“(y/n), meet my friend and roommate, Changbin.” Chris said, while I got out the box and looked at the other man, my face shifted from contentment to horrific.

Its the man with the laptop.

“Hello? Chan, are you sure she’s okay?” Changbin looked at Chris with worry. “Yeah, she’s just tired, just nudge her.”

It’s like Chris knew me too well, despite meeting for less than 10 minutes, as Chris slightly pushed me with the box, not enough to hurt me, but enough to put me out of a trance.

“huh? I did it again, did I?” I looked at Chan, worryingly, which he nodded. I looked back at Changbin and the pathetic act was brought up again.

“I am so sorry, I don’t know what has gotten into me.” I apologized once again, which Changbin only smirked. “Don’t worry about it,” He said, carrying a box. Something about that smirk and tone seems off. Not off in a menacing way, but off in a… coy way. Maybe not the best term to use, maybe I am just over analyzing, but I am for sure either winning the lottery tonight, or convinced that the sun will rise from the west tomorrow, since I have two very attractive men helping out, one of which is someone whom I may have an odd fascination for a while now.

~~

The two have been nothing but a delight to interact with, their help with the stuff had done me even more than just a solid. However, I still in a way feel a bit unsettled by Changbin. It wasn’t that he was a creep, or did anything to make me uncomfortable, its just this feeling of guilt I carry with me. Meanwhile, I didn’t attempt anything, and I just simply just admired him from afar, it still felt wrong that I was just looking at him while he was barely wearing anything, let alone while not him paying attention. Despite this, it seems that he doesn’t know that I did what I did, which is why I chose to confront him about it when the time is right, which is probably when we start getting even more comfortable. I have exchanged numbers with both men, even though I could probably just go out my window and yell out their names, but I’d rather not disturb the peace.

Two good looking men are now my neighbors… Who would have thought? Whichever entity that is in existence have decided to play with me, because to them, my humiliation would be their laughing stock, because they definitely would have seen what is to become of me.

Its been a week in since I moved, and interacted with the two Chans, and I am glad that a curtain was installed onto my room, just so I wouldn’t carry even more guilt than I already do. But the thing is, I would lie that I still haven’t thought of Changbin. While I would have thought that Chris fitting into more of my ideal type, Changbin however held a mysterious power that Chan didn’t.

Ever since the time I first laid eyes on Changbin, he has never left my mind. He has started to creep up in my fantasies and dreams in every way shape of form. I couldn’t stop thinking of how his arms would look around my waist, how his lips would feel in my skin, or how his hands would wander around, exploring places that many men often fail to find to make me feel good, or how his voice would be like when talking as he puts his mouth by my ear— God, this is getting out of hand, I would think.

What if he had a girlfriend? What if he wasn’t attracted to women in general? What if he finds you a creep?

So many more endless questions would come in to ruin me, but its not like i have a choice, he just happened to settle into my dreams and thoughts, and went with it.

I decided to take a shower to try and distract myself from these thoughts, which didn’t help at all, as the hot water cascading my skin did nothing but accelerated my lustful thoughts. I decided to get out of the shower, as it didn’t help my case.

Damn you, Changbin.

I sighed, put on some underwear and a robe while having a towel wrapped around my hair. I got out of the bathroom and back to my room. It was dark out, and in my room, the only light came out of it were my night lamp, which barely lit up the whole room. I checked the window, making sure Changbin wasn’t there, or at least not facing the window, only to see his window being covered with curtains.

Great timing, could’ve used that when I first saw you, dipshit.

But nonetheless, I was really glad at least he wasn’t visible. I laid back on my bed, and decided to look through social media, as anyone should. While in the middle of a instagram scroll, I see a caller popping through at the top of the screen…

It was Changbin.

[btranmuses]

last updated 2023-02-06

Hello!

My name is B, 28M, Vietnamese, cis male he/him, and gay. Currently living in Sydney, Australia, and working on my first novel!

This tumblr is for me to connect with other writers—I don’t have any friends who are also into writing, so hoping to make some here :)—and basically to use it as a chiller timeline. Tag games, asks, DM open! Aside from writing stuff I also reblog general tumblr content I come across and like. I have a website too; all my original writing are on there, with layout and organisation for reading in mind.

I'm into gay stories, SFF stories, especially gay AND SFF stories. Lovecraftian horrors? Yes please. I'm going through my TBR, very slowly, of books about those things; faves include TJ Klune, Terry Pratchett, Alexis Hall; Winter's Orbit, A Marvellous Light, Heartstopper.

Outside of books, I love TTRPGs (Chronicles of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, PBTA etc.) and general geekery. Recently discovered The Magnus Archives and Welcome To Night Vale, and god I have a LOT to catch up on!

I'm anti-terf, anti-musk, leftist, vegan, and into occult/esoterica stuff.

Main WIP: Impossible Wreck

It’s an urban fantasy novel featuring a technomancer set in a fictional city in modern southeast Australia, with heavy Lovecraftian undertones and strong gay romance elements. I'm working on it atm, and there's a dedicated page for it on my website, and tagged #impossible wreck here.

Rosa City, modern southeast Australia. The Arcour Maritime-Antarctic Institute discovered in the depths of the southern seas an inexplicable shipwreck. While researchers attempt to solve the mysteries of the Impossible Wreck, strange events unsettle denizens of the city’s supernatural underground.

Nic Li, technomancer and fugitive, knows from bitter experience that to survive in that underground is to stay low, in line, and in protection. Fresh in Rosa, Nic struggles for membership in the mages' East Bloc for exactly that. But when a mysteriously injured local spirit was brought to his door, Nic's reluctant help ended in a disaster that threatens his entry to the Bloc and puts him once again in hunters' path. Desperate, Nic needs help from Phillip Cluett, a sentient droid-monster with a human form and a questionable past: a former servant of an enemy to the supernatural world itself.

Hunters on his feet with companions he struggles to trust as strangeness becomes danger in Rosa, Nic has to work with Phillip right under enemy noses, scrambling together makeshift technology and brittle alliances, all barely held together with magic and lit by despair, to discover how the Impossible Wreck is the last of a plot as old as the nation itself that if unstopped, will usher in the end of all they hold dear.

Shorts

I wrote a few short stories based on a City of Mist TTRPG game I played in. Meet Han Yu, the Sewer Doctor! The campaign is over, and there are 6 stories total, the last one being Restore. They are tagged here as #han yu. Let me know what you think if you check them out!

Beneath the streets of Payne Town where waste sludges through plumbing like clotted blood, where underdwellers tick their days by, surviving, preying, or festering, the Sewer Doctor holds his base of operations.

Do you want a grotesque trophy to impress your innermost circle of elites? Perhaps alien warmth to sate your darkest desires? Maybe seek the help and care everyone deserves, the help the powers that be withhold from you, for they deem your wellbeing unprofitable, your existence a simple statistic?

Seek out the rats in alleyways, behind the everyday filth daywalkers cannot bear to acknowledge. They will see you, and they will hear what you have to say. Speak to them, follow them, to the Clinic where the Doctor waits. May your pain be relieved and yourself made whole, no matter your perceived dollar worth. But if you do bring your shameful desires’ worth… the Doctor does not judge. He delivers.

@local:han simon is this the fucking reason why ive been getting fleshlight requests on the market?

@local:simon Modern solutions for modern problems, boy. ( 👎1)

I’m currently playing another City of Mist campaign featuring Liam An, marketing executive by day, manwhore by night, and an absolute psychic terror after midnight. The stories are tagged here as #liam an.

Welcome to Glacial Holdings Group. Liam? Of course, right this way. You’ve heard of Liam, you’ve met Liam, you’re here to talk to Liam. Why wouldn’t you? He gets you deals that by all considerations, are good for your business. No, more importantly, Liam gets you. Don’t worry that the Group benefits from these deals, it’s just business, you understand, right? After all, you get him, too.

You saw Liam. Caught glimpses of Liam, perhaps stole a few glances. At the gym? At the bar? Just getting breakfast at the Ornament, the definition of prestige dining? No you didn’t, he was looking for you. Yes, you. Why don’t you get a drink with him? It would be nice to get a drink with Liam. It would be nice to dance with Liam. It would be nice to kiss Liam. It is nice to kiss Liam. You won’t know until you try. You know you want it.

You don’t need to spill blood to make deals with the Devil from a mirror, but you still need to pay. If you’re a man and he likes you, you can fuck him, like literally, but whatever you’re willing to give, make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. If you don’t, well. Enjoy your time left before the Shard Reaper comes collect his dues.

[hanibalistic]

#E874F0 | HWANG HYUNJIN.

genre | fantasy au, alice in wonderland esque, magic au, adventure 

word count | 1947

warning | illusional body disfiguration (think cheshire cat) ​

note | i miss hyunjin pt.3, also i have not written fantasy like this in a while and i don’t think i have ever written a dynamic like this, so i might explore this universe a little more.

the burst of red petals in the air was the last thing hyunjin thought he would see, yet, at the same time, he was not surprised to see them appear in the nick of time.

the queen must be furious to hear his rejection of her marriage proposal, not to mention he had done it in the middle of a ballroom filled with elite guests of the kingdom. however, to be fair, she should not have been so self-assured as to propose to him in the middle of an extravagant party!

anybody with even a bit of sense could see that he does not love the queen and would not recommend proposing at such an early stage!

it appeared that nobody in the kingdom had sense.

thinking about the terrible courting process where he deadpanned his way through a majority of the process made him shiver. he tried so hard, but alas, the queen was too absorbed in trying to impress him that all of his effort to show disinterest was overlooked. and the general public thought nothing of his dislike toward royalty when the benefit of a crown overshone his mundane opinion.

he need not fall in love with the queen, but how could he not fall in love with the crown?

except hyunjin did not fall in love with the crown. he fell in love with the young maiden who lived next door to him during his childhood, and he chose her over the queen, he always chooses her over the queen... which was only preposterous! so preposterous that the queen wanted his head for rejecting her!

"hello, pretty boy."

you had appeared from thin air—bursted from thin air, to be precise, your signature mark of the red rose petals falling elegantly onto the ground with the end of your untraceable teleportation.

hyunjin looked to you immediately and he almost breathed out a sigh of relief. an annoying soul, but a familiar face, nonetheless. anything would be better than the situation he got himself trapped in by saying a simple no, which was hiding out in the palace maze and waiting for his eventual doom where the guards would find their way to his corner.

"caught yourself in a bit of a crossfire here, huh?" you hummed teasingly, your body floating about in the air with a feather's weight. "rejecting the queen's marriage proposal! now that is the kind of drama i have been dying to watch!”

it has been made abundantly clear to hyunjin before, on your first encounter, that his—or anybody's—misfortunes are a source of entertainment to you. your privilege to wield an uncertain amount of power and the freedom to dismiss the monarchy made your life so boring and slow that you sort to lurk all over the kingdom finding those in misery just to get a kick out of them.

although, you do draw the line at certain sensitive situations, but hyunjin has never seen you pipe down with that unbelievable mouth of yours.

"i never wanted to accept her hand in marriage!" he hissed, his vine-like paranoia forcing him to continuously cast anxious glances behind his shoulders.

the corner of your mouth quirked up into a smirk. your lower body twisted into an illusion, evaporating into colored-mist and vanishing, leaving only your torso in the air. your dreamy eyes set atop of hyunjin's disheveled features—messy hair and glistening sweat, a look of frustration as well as fear cast over his gorgeous face. your endeared heart jumped; oh, how you love this charming boy!

"of course you don't! it would make me so upset if you were to marry the queen," you giggled as you poked his nose. "keeping you single is my top priority."

he blinked in surprise when you flicked between his eyes, then he frowned at you suspiciously.

he no longer questioned your unsettling fondness toward him. on many occasions, you have unwaveringly confessed to him your supposed undying love for his beautiful face and boyish personality. such sweet words flown like waterfalls out of your mouth, and even though everyone in the kingdom knows that you have a charming tongue, affection is less spoken compared to wit. therefore, those words must hold some truth to them.

yet, hyunjin never once believed that your words were real due to your erratic behavior. you were too playful, too mysterious, too self-centered too if he may, for you to ever devote yourself to another person. you do not look out for yourself, but you look out even less for other people. there was no way you would fall in love, this has to be an on-going joke in your life-long schedule.

"i am in love with someone else," hyunjin mentioned after your comment. there was a scowl on his face.

your smile did not fade. before you could reply, you flew around his head when you heard the rattling of armors, your eyes twinkling with excited delight upon the guards approaching. then, returning to hyunjin, you grinned at the horrid expression he made. even he knew it was time to keep moving further into the maze!

"looks like we should get out of here first before we continue our conversation!" you said, flying in front of him.

hyunjin huffed in fear, his head turning to look behind him. the thought of being captured and having to explain to the queen his decision clouded his mind like poison he would drink just so he could avoid the responsibility.

"i don't know what you are doing here, truly," he said through gritted teeth. "but there is no we here. it is just me!"

"now, now, hyunjin. i am not so heartless as to leave you in this mess alone!" you shook your head just in time as your torso vanished, leaving only your head turning in circles like an owl would turn their neck. "i know just the way out of this maze."

"they probably have people at the exit waiting for me!" he sputtered out, then he took a step back and clicked his tongue at you. "also can you not do this cheshire cat thing with your human head!"

"what–why? it's fun, and it makes me even more weightless with only my head in the air," you whined, bouncing your head in the air as if your head was a ball walking down a flight of stairs.

you both could hear the voices of the guards now. their armors rubbed against each other as they ran, hoping to find the poor boy whom the queen has taken a liking toward. how unfortunate that such unpleasant sound would overshadow the orchestra performing at the ball tonight.

"oh no–[name], just get me out of here if you can!" hyunjin exclaimed desperately after he whipped around, away from the other side of the maze where he came from.

you cooed at the way his hair flung about his face, your eyes shining with endearment how his prettiness even in such a tight situation. he did not look appreciative of your reaction at all as he stomped his feet and glared at you to take the potential future his life seriously.

"okay, jeez, i will," you mumbled, popping your body back into the air and crossing your legs. "i said i know the way out."

"but the exit–"

"i said i know the way out of this maze, i never said i am bringing you to the exit of it," you said with a roll of your eyes before you tapped your chin, ignoring the ever-growing sound of footsteps. "hmm... let me think... i waltzed into the maze once and planted a secret exit but that was some time ago... it should be around the corner somewhere..."

"[name], are you serious!"

"there he is! we found him!"

hyunjin cursed under his breath at the booming voice. they would be surrounded soon if he does not make a run for it, but whichever way of the maze is he supposed to go? what if he gets trapped in a dead-end?

"he is with cheshire's descendant! everyone be careful!"

you grinned as you huffed out a few breaths of laughter. what glorious reputation you and your ancestors have cultivated that the royal guards have to set aside their objective to be alarmed with your presence. it was only smart that they should pay extra attention to you, but also not too much that they neglect their surroundings, because who knew what you would do?

not even you knew what you would do sometimes, it was all spontaneous!

sometimes you only spread rumors and gossip, which is all in good fun no matter the minor consequences, but sometimes you would plant bombs in flowers, which is still all in good fun no matter the deadly consequences.

"what a crowd tonight! unfortunately, i'm afraid i have run out of jokes to tell," you announced proudly as you flew over to hyunjin.

he froze when he felt your legs settle over this shoulders. you had sit yourself on his shoulders, your size shrunk to that of a child so you could sit upon him without being out of place. putting your illusional hands on his cheeks, you pulled at him and giggled. "so i and my side-kick is going to take our leave."

reaching your hand up in the air, you smiled widely and yelled at the top of your lungs, "may the cheshire family-style departure begin!"

hyunjin was not sure what happened but he turned around and began running when he saw fireworks bursting off amid the soldiers. he was more afraid of being hit by the fire than running away because he had to escape.

you laughed, almost maniacally, above him. your eyes were ablaze as the wind blew against you in this thrilling moment. and you remembered why you exist for a second as you feel the freedom of the current and the breeze; you could not pinpoint what it was, but you felt like you knew, you felt like there was some purpose in your spontaneity.

"[name], i don't know what it is that you did but don't kill anyone!"

when hyunjin saw you again, you were no longer sitting on his shoulders but flying alongside him. he turned to you, his eyes wide in acknowledgment instead of shock. he has known you long enough to predict some of your antics, he believed, and this one he liked to claim as loyalty—no matter what, if you start something with someone, you will stick with them until the end.

hence why you were still here with him in this escape.

or perhaps it was only because you like him more than anyone else.

"you are giving me an awful lot of orders, hyunjin," you grumbled as you leaned close to him. the grimace on your face vanished as quickly as the wind and was replaced with your usual playful smile. "have you finally learned how to use my affection to your advantage?"

hyunjin felt his heart stutter a little. whatever that meant! "you should stop claiming that you like me! i am already in love with someone else."

you laughed, still enjoying the wind as you flew ahead of him and threw your hands up. confetti released from your palms as if his statement was something worth congratulating.

"there is still a lot you don't know about the cheshire family, hyunjin!"

the first thing being that every cheshire descendant has a mate, a second soul, a linkage—a hatta. every cheshire descendant has a hatta whom they answer to, whom they devote themselves to, whom they love.

and your hatta is hyunjin.

[icharchivist]

hello icha… there’s no time limit here for gbf talk here, is there? 👉👈 feel free to answer this privately if u don’t want to like. put it on ur dash or something!

There’s no time limit no worries :3c I hope I’ll make as much sense as possible.

and i prefer to post it if only so i can go back and edit if i realize i confused stuff, or typoed, or similar. And since it's long it also allows me to save it on my blog.

Okay so.

I may have gone slightly overboard but i hope it is okay...? It mostly touches on plot events that happens on the first act of the story (up to chapter 63)

it is also pretty long (4.6k) and i have a spoiler warning in front of the paragraph for which i end up going a little deeper about the characters about. That said with the amount of infodumps i also kept a lot of things vague so if you want any elaboration, i can and i will it's no worries for me.

I just hope that it's clear enough as it is for a starting point!

Take care :3c

⚫ Main Lore and World Building

○ General Lore

Granblue Fantasy is set in a world of floating islands. At the start of the story, it is mostly unknown what’s at the bottom of the sky, and to be honest, it is still vague and unsettling what is going on down there. It’s not something that can be seen from any of the islands.

It’s a world where magic is not unusual, which technologies being mainly steampunk, that rely on flying ships to move between islands if you even want to move around.

This world is called the Skyrealm, and is constituted of multiple Skydom, separated by various weather events that makes it nearly impossible for the Skydom to connect and discuss, or to travel from one to the next. Each Skydom is constituted of multiple islands. There are 7 known Skydoms, with the one the most well known in the story being Phantagrande since it’s where most of the plot will be happening, so far.

The Skyrealm is inhabited by different type of habitant, called Skydwellers. There are various humanoid type of Skydwellers, mainly, Humans, Erune (human shaped with cat or bun ears), Draph (humans of very specific bodybuilt depending on gender, and with huge horns on their heads), and Harvins (small, bean shaped humanoids). All of those are mortal beings (unless specific magic buckaroo), all are capable of magic and such. There is no political or social difference between those types of people, and it is a common occurrence to find of all of them in every city and island you go to.

The politics tend to stick to various islands and their specific dramas. Some island have an united government, some are full of multiple countries with more or less ground for diplomacy, some governments (such as the Estre Empire) can have a hold on multiple island, while some islands may have very little form of government for one reason to the next. It’s a case by case situation, and depends a lot on the sagas you will read as well.

○ Important History bit:

A few centuries ago, the Skyrealm was invaded by the Astrals, who forced the Skydwellers into their empire with their technology and magic that was far ahead of them. The Astrals are immortal people, who are also human shaped (truly aside from like, actual beasts, most things are human shaped. Hell even a lot of beasts are human shaped.). They came from an island called Estalucia, inaccessible by normal means, seemingly further into the sky.

With them they brought Primal Beasts, still humanoid creatures who are also immortals, but confined by the purpose given to them at their creation. Primals can feel, think, have a conscience just like any being, but are generally limited by their impulses to fulfill their purposes at all cost. They were created as weapons for the war, but served different purposes in the occupation. For instance some Primals had their lifeforce bound completely with some islands for their power and purpose to accentuate the Islands’s natural particularities. For exemple, the Wind Primal Tiamat, who was created to oversee the Winds, especially for good navigation, was bound to the Phatagrande Island Port Breeze, known for its strong winds, and now those winds are all the more powerful due to Tiamat’s influence. By being Bound to an island, those specific Primals are set also as those Island’s protectors.

Primals can change shape (mainly in size, though some can take radically different shape, like see Luminiera, primal of Light and protector of the island Albion), can divide their essences in multiple parts, and all of them tend to behave differently due to their personalities or their commitment to their purpose or even what said purpose was set to be.

After a long occupation, the Skydwellers managed to win against the Astrals, and the Astrals left the Skyrealm, leaving the Primal Beasts behind. Because most of them were made with purpose set for the Skyrealm anyway, people learnt to live with the Primals in some way or another. Some Primals are respected, others are forgotten, some Primals will try to blend with skydwellers, others can decide to isolate themselves, others will have a tight relationship with the skydwellers they protect. But as they’re also driven by their emotions and their purposes, Primals can also go haywire and cause calamities. Due to their immortality, Skydwellers have learnt to just coexist with them as they can, often also benefiting of the Primals powers.

So those are the major players of the lore building. Granblue is a place of magic, of steampunk technology, where to be an adventurer you must be able to have a flying ship to travel from one island to the next, where the scars of the past war against the Astrals are still lingering in the very world’s fabric, where godlike creatures are living in the same space as you do, with various level of politics, and so on.

In current years, Phantagrande is under the threat of the evergrowing Erste Empire: a once kingdom that since has decided to extend its reach by using powerful and dangerous technology, such as dark matter, in order to dominate islands in its reach. They are the main enemy of the first act of the story, with the details of their plans unveiling every steps along the way.

And so this is where our story starts.

⚫ Main Characters:

-Gran/Djeeta (boy in blue, girl in pink) voiceless in game but voiced respectively by Ono Yuuki and Hisako Kanemoto in voiced media -Lyria, the girl with blue hair voiced by Nao Tōyama -Vyrn, the red dragon, voiced by Rie Kugimiya

Gran and Djeeta are both the Main Character of the story, depending which gender you decide to play as (you can change it anytime you want in game). They are mostly quiet protagonist in the scenario of the mobage, as the others main characters tend to talk for them, and are often used as self-insert. You can also change their name in game. They tend to be referred to by characters as “Captain” (or “Danchou” in Japanese), and by fans as MC, or even GranDjeeta to just talk about the MC as it is. Regardless they are generally defined by their bravery, courage, kindness, and refusal to give up.

Late teen, they were left on an eventless and primalless island called Zinkenstill by their father as a kid, left only with the speaking little dragon on the picture, who’s name is Vyrn. Vyrn and GranDjeeta basically grew up together and raised themselves, as MC doesn’t know their mother, and the absence of their father was lingering. They grew up in a little village where the others villagers took good care of them, and MC learnt to fight, but, yeah being abandoned by your father with no news about him for years left GranDjeeta with Abandon Issues™

So when after years of radio silence, GranDjeeta receives a letter of their father telling them that he has found Estalucia, the island of the Astrals, the reason why he disappeared, hoping to one day be able to show it to his child, GranDjeeta gets set on the idea of leaving on a journey to Estalucia to find their dad and figure out why they were abandoned. A classic.

To reach that island, GranDjeeta must find the different pieces of the Skymap, which were all left with major Primals bound to major Island in Phantagrande. For that, they have to become a Skyfarer: mercenaries of the air.

But before this journey can even happen, GranDjeeta first run into Lyria, the girl with blue hair, which will change their lives forever.

Lyria is a young girl who has been held captive by the Erste Empire for a long while. Kind, sweet and innocent, she has no memories of her life before the Empire, and she doesn’t know anything about herself except one thing: She has an unique power that allow her to feel and communicate with the Primal Beasts in a whole other level, to a point where she can also absorb a bit of a Primal Essence inside of her, which she can use to always be in contact with them, and being able to summon their power or them anytime she wants (in the limits of her stamina of course). This very power was the reason the ever growing military Erste Empire was trying to use her, until Lyria escaped with the help of Katalina, a former soldier who grew too attached to Lyria to let the Empire get their way with her.

As Lyria and Katalina were on the run, they ran into GranDjeeta, and quickly a bond was formed between them all. A bond that was challenged when the soldiers of the Empire came to reclaim Lyria, and, in attempt to protect her, GranDjeeta almost died. The death was averted by Lyria who linked her own lifespan to them, bounding them together for all of eternity. In the gameplay it will translate with the fact that if one fall in combat, the other will fall as well, or that you cannot summon if MC is taken down ect..

Vowing to protect Lyria at all cost, this new found crew will set themselves on a journey to find Estalucia, the land of the Astrals: GranDjeeta in order to find their father, Lyria to understand the meaning of her existence as the only thing she knows about herself is the fact she is not quite human and has a connection with the creatures the Astrals created to start with.

[SPOILERS] While we know from the start that Lyria is in search of the meaning of her existence, Vyrn’s plot will kick in later in the story with his realization that he has no memories of his life before he met MC, especially upon learning that he travelled with MC’s father in the past, and that he is also connected to a very mysterious power that no one is equipped to understand just yet.

Lyria and Vyrn will be there into every stories accompanying MC. Since MC is more of a quiet protagonist, both of them tend to express the “Main Character’s thoughts”, Lyria with her upbeat and sweet attitude, innocent and kind and nice, always extending a hand to someone, but also deeply emotionally mature as she connects with creatures beyond Skydwellers’s comprehension on a daily basis, and Vyrn with his knowledge of the MC’s past, his teasing attitude, his general confusion about the world around them.

⚫The Main Crew:

The people you recruit in the gacha or in the events are people who ends up joining the crew for one reason or the next, some are only from events, some are from mainstory.

But there are 5 characters who join the crew in the main story early on and are the core of the crew, and because of that, they tend to appear in most of the events, especially big events. They are the people who will be there and care for MC no matter what. They are also the characters you will get the SR of automatically as you meet them. A few more characters get added to that cast further down the line, but those 5 remain well….. The first family you get.

In order of introduction:

Left > right -Katalina (CV: Miyuki Sawashiro). 24yo, Human, Swordfighter -Rackam (CV: Hiroaki Hirata) 29yo, Human, Gunner

○ Katalina

Katalina is one of the most talented knight of the academy of Albion, the island specialized in military training. She joined the evergrowing Erste Empire and, due to her talent, quickly climbed to the place of Captain… until she met Lyria, alone in a cell, melancholically talking about how much she wishes she could see the sky. Moved by this child being used as a weapon, it opened Katalina’s eyes on the Empire’s intention, and she decided to help Lyria escape and vowed to be her protector.

She is a kind and dutiful woman, fighting for what she thinks is right. She has a soft spot for everything that’s cute and tends to dot Vyrn because of that. She is also a disaster while cooking despite her insistence to try over and over again.

[SPOILERS] She carries the guilt from her time in the Empire, as well as the event that led to leave Albion and her friend, Vira, to that island. This particular guilt coming back to bite her in the ass as the main story progresses. She tends to be extremely oblivious to people showing romantic interest into her, such as Lowain and Vira.

○ Rackam

When we meet him, Rackam is a washed out pilot, who had given up on flying when his ship, the Grandcypher, crashed through the violent winds of the Primal Beast Tiamat in Port Breeze. He had been too cocky, and it destroyed the ship of his dreams, for which he had worked for his whole life taking care of after making… someone a promise, even though he forgot all about it then.

The newfound crew was on the run from the Empire when they ran into Rackam, and they thought of using his ship to escape Port Breeze, but Rackam is the only one who can operate it and he fears to fly again. Thanks to the protagonist, though, Rackam will be inspired to try again, fix his ship, and go to fly it across the sky again, also making peace with Tiamat along the way.

Now so thankful to be able to go past this fear holding him back, Rackam dedicates himself into protecting his crew, and is the official pilot of the ship. His hope and happiness restored, Rackam is a cheerful man, who refuses to admit that he totally adopted those kids he SWEARS he did NOT, he totally did though, maybe more big brother style, and he’d die for them in a heartbeat.

Rackam has a strange affinity with Primal Beasts. As in, almost all Primal Beasts he’s personally met and had conversation with had flirted with him in some shape of form which is kind of hilarious to be honest.

[SPOILERS] As a kid he was taken care of by Eugen, and spent a lot of time on Golonzo, the island of ship’s management and repairs, in which he once met someone he since then forgot, despite the fact he was the reason for what Rackam decided to become.

From left to right:

-Io (CV: Yukari Tamura), young teen, human, mage -Eugen (CV: originally Keiji Fujiwara, who died in 2020. Currently, Kazuhiro Yamaji), 50yo, Human, Gunner -Rosetta (CV: Rie Tanaka), ????yo, ????, Dagger and magic user

○ Io

Io is met on the next island after their stop in Port Breeze, Valtz Duchy, a very hot island on which there’s a desert and a volcano, specialized in all sort of industries. She is a young mage who had been taken under the wing of the Archduke Tzaka the Great who lead this part of the Island. She was taught that magic was always meant to help people and to be used to make people happy.

[SPOILERS] When we meet her, the Archduke Tzaka seems to have gone mad when he discovered a buried Primal Beast, Colossus, under ruins, and driven by the magic in there and the influence of the Empire, Tzaka seemed set on a path of destruction. Only Io, concerned for her teacher, reached out to the crew for help, and together they could save Tzaka.

After having met the crew, Io doesn’t want to stay put anymore and wants to travel with them to discover more magic and be able to expend her horizons.

That said she remains immature and a smart mouth who constantly gets into petty fights with Rackam. She admires Rosetta a lot, who she takes for role model.

○ Eugen

Eugen is met on the next island on their trip, the Auguste Isles, an island mostly covered in oceans and beaches and is used mostly as a tourist resort. Eugen is then part of a group of people who help maintaining the peace in Auguste, though tbh I forgot the details per se. He’ll get heavily involved when the Primal of the island, Leviathan, will go haywire as the Empire is experimenting on it, as Auguste tends to be an island that values its primals a lot.

Eugen had met Rackam when he was a kid and took care of him when they were both staying in Golonzo. As a result those two are rather close and have a bit of a father/son dynamic. Eugen is kind of a dotting person, who will end up extending this dotting to the main crew as he spends more time with them, becoming more of a father figure to the crew.

He joined the crew as he discovered that one of the enemy running after the Main character was the Black Knight: a powerful Knight from a powerful order, who works for the Empire, with whom Eugen has a long and complicated history. Eugen originally joins in order to meet with the Black Knight again, but ends up caring too much for the crew to leave once this business is settled.

[SPOILERS] …. Which is ironical, since this business is that the Black Knight is his daughter, Apolonia, whom he abandoned when she was a kid because he didn’t think he could take care of her, leaving her to her dying mother, and leading her to have a rightful hatred for her father as a result. in a way, Eugen is trying to fix the bad father he had been to his daughter by being a better father to the crew now.

Eugen is a rather loud and kind man, a good living person who will encourage you to drink and eat at your heart’s content and enjoy life a little.

○ Rosetta

Rosetta is met on the next step of their journey on the Lumacie Archipelago, an island that doesn’t really have a set population as it is… mainly a forest, and its people live more in little villages in between the trees. The crew ended up there as they were chasing the Black Knight for answers, as the Black Knight seemed to be using a kid named Orchis, who seemingly has similar talents as Lyria.

Rosetta is met during this chase, as she had already found Orchis who had been separated from the Knight. A Mysterious and enigmatic woman, Rosetta reaches out to the crew to guide them around the island, and teach them all there is to know, especially about the Primal protecting the island, Yggdrasill.

She seems to always know a lot more than she let on, especially about MC, and she keeps on giving her wisdom when she can, without revealing any infos about herself. Still she remains a really teasing person. Before her identity is revealed, we also end up seeing her avoiding talking to some Primals while she can.

[SPOILERS]…. It is revealed toward the end of the first act that she is, actually, a Primal herself, The Rose Queen, created during the time of the Astral war. But her purpose was to protect an island that was completely shattered, which left her crashing in Lumacie, purposeless. If you stick to the main story, she is the first Primal you will meet who had to revaluate her life due to the loss of her purpose. She is really affectionate to Yggdrasill, who took care of her when Rosetta crashed here, and as a result Rosetta tends to be a secondary protector to this island in order to protect Yggdrasill. She avoided others primals in an attempt to hide her track a little…. Because on top of that, she knew MC’s father personally and have therefore an intense connection to MC and a personal interest in seeing them move forward.

⚫ The First Main Antagonists:

What’s a story without its Antagonists right? I will thankfully keep it shorter though.

The First Act’s Main Antagonists are Leaders and Mercenaries aligning with the Erste Empire.

Left to Right: Pommeren, Furias, Freesia. (CV: Wataru Yokojima, Yuko Sanpei, Yūko Kaida)

They are generally the three you will find the most as big bosses to fight. All of them are part of the Extension project of the Erste Empire, but Pommeren and Furias as mostly military pawns who end up having the worst of their selves coming out when they are using Dark Matter.

Freesia is a little different since she is probably the most self serving of them all. She has a very specific goal in mind with the Erste Empire’s expansion plan, that requires her using either Lyria or Orchis’s power, or both if she can. She is by far the one with the most control and goals in this endeavor. Her boss battles are often her using Orchis’s powers to corrupt Primal Beasts and torture them to twist them as more powerful, twisted weapons.

[SPOILERS] Her final plan is actually to use Lyria and Orchis to awake and control the Primal Beast Akasha, who can rewrite history, which she intends to use to whip out those past few years, as well as Orchis’s existence, because she is still grieving the death of the former Queen of Erste, before Erste became an Empire, Orchis’s mother. Freesia and the Queen were childhood friends… Until one day the queen fell in love with the man she married, an Astral on top of that, “choosing him over Freesia” like Freesia would mention. As a result Freesia always resented everything that represented that marriage, and even more so when her beloved died from it all. Awkward.

They are not the leaders of the Empire though. Technically the Empire is led by..

Loki (CV: Ryoko Shiraishi), an Astral who came back to the Skydom. I don’t have any details to say about him because of mix of this is only spoilers and “I don’t understand/remember enough” but I also know he is STILL the main antagonist of the game so far. He is accompanied by his primal beast, Fenrir. (CV: Yuki Matsuoka)

Oh boy and the four I want to talk about are a bit of a mess to talk about so let’s go.

○ The Black Knight and Orchis. (CV: Romi Park, Minori Chihara)

The Black Knight is part of an order of 7 Luminary Knights who each watch over a Skydom. She is officially in charge of Phantagrande and was supposed to join the Erste Empire to keep an eye on them. She is in charge of Orchis, whom she protects at all costs despite the fact she refuses to actually talk to her, look at her, and keep calling her a doll

Orchis is a young girl who is completely out of phase with the world around her. The only thing she cares about even a little is the Black Knight, and her plushy, but just like Lyria, she has no memories of her life before the Empire, and is being used by the Empire for her power to be able to control the primal beasts. She doesn’t seem able to communicate with them as much as Lyria does, and she seems less powerful in general. When they meet her, Lyria is inclined to think Orchis and her are the same… but they are not.

[SPOILERS] The Black Knight’s real name is Apolonia, and she is Eugen’s daughter. When Eugen abandoned her and her mother died, she was taken in by the then Erste Kingdom in which she befriended the Princess Orchis, who by then was her age, and a young girl full of fun and love and cheer. She was a lot like Lyria, actually. But an incident happened, leading the death of the Queen, and Orchis meanwhile was changed forever by the Primal beast, taking away her soul, leaving her an empty shell of herself that will remain in this young body. Heartbroken over her friend, Apolonia did everything to place herself in a position in which she could one day eventually bring her friend back to normal, and as a result she refuses to connect with she empty shell she became. Orchis is used to being treated that way, so it’s only when Lyria tries to befriend her that Orchis will start to think about her own self and try to figure out who she is… and she is not the Orchis Apolonia knew. She became her own person now and doesn't want to be erased and replaced. The climax of the First Arc is based on the relationship between Apolonia and Orchis, and this dilemma around Orchis’s existence.

[SPOILERS] After the events of the first Arc they actually all become Allies.

○ Drang and Sturm (CV: Tomokazu Sugita, Kanae Itō)

Those two are funny because while they are so recurrent they’re part of the main cast it’s so hard to come up with stuff to say about them.

Basically, they’re a duo of mercenary who were hired by the Black Knight, first to find Lyria, then to protect Orchis. They are mercenaries in the sense that they do not give a flying fuck about the Empire, and only are doing what they do for money.

Drang is a clown, always joking, teasing, cheerful and friendly, sometimes too friendly with the crew even. Sturm is his polar opposite: quiet, reserved, quick to anger. Their dynamic is often Drang: says something stupid / Sturm: tries to stab him. whenever she is willing to admit it or not, they’re best friends actually. Besties.

Eventually due to their wavering loyalties, they tend to come around and help the crew more than they try to hurt them, and actually becomes reliable allies. You know, for enemies.

[SPOILERS] They both actually met Apolonia when she was quite young and felt bad for this kid trying so hard to hire mercenaries for all of this. In the end they are actually helping her more out of kindness and loyalty than for money. But they’re only loyal to her, not the Empire. Drang and Sturm met when they were young and they still are pretty close.

[SPOILERS] Drang has a family member who joins the crew eventually. It’s his grand-aunt. She’s a ghost. I’ve yet to see their family relationship actually acknowledged after of the throwaway line where he confirms it which drives me nuts.

[SPOILERS] Technically they become allies halfway through Act 1 but yeah all of this to say they are major allies once act 1 is over as well.

⚫ Honorable mentions of characters who appears in the Main Plot:

○ Sierokarte (CV: Emiri Katō). She’s the shopkeeper and the person with the most connection on every single islands. Anywhere the crew goes, she’s there already preparing the field for you, with her laid back attitude and her jokes and puns.

○ Vira (CV: Asami Imai). Katalina’s childhood friend, she is now possessed with the Light Primal Beast Luminiera, and the Leader of Albion. She is in love with Katalina, though she shows it in a very Yandere way. ○ Noa (CV: Kaito Ishikawa). Primal Beast of Ship making, he’s the one who created the Grandcypher. He kept a low profile in Golonzo waiting for someone to come back to fulfill the promise that was made to him, long, long ago…. ○ Ferry (CV: Madoka Yonezawa) Ghost Girl who accidentally struck a deal with a Ghost Primal, Celeste, is now adopting and taking care of animal ghosts where she can.

○ Monika (CV: Ayumi Tsuji) High ranking member of the Crew of Enforcer, one of the rare crew to exist outside of any government in order to keep in check Skyfarer who may be abusing of their situation. ○ Lecia (CV: Ayako Kawasumi) one of the Captain of the Crew of Enforcer, she is the daughter of the creator of the Crew in question, a Luminary Knight who happens to know MC’s father personally. She especially intend to use this journey to understand her father’s past journey with MC’s.

⚫ Conclusion

With all of this i touched on a huge amount of vague plot, but also kept some development from being explored (mainly, the mystery around Vyrn and Lyria, specifics about encounters, everything that happens from chapter 40 and onward ect... Or the fact the chara i described in one line are just as deep and have a lot of content and didn't touch on the stories that led to their involvement in the plot)

I can get into more details eventually though it's just, a start.

And it's touching only the main story so far.

There are countless of others stories since, with this premise, the characters can get lost to another island while preparing for their journey, doing mercenary stuff and stuff, and that's how most of the events happen. They fly on an island, they meet people and primals, there's problems to solve. Some bigger events (like wmtsb) have a far bigger scale, and reveals so much more about the lore of the world. (for exemple the primal beasts met in wmtsb are all over thousands years old. Every single primals we met before that are only a few centuries old since they're from the time period of the war. This gets elaborated in details.)

So while it's. huge. It's a very huge post (4.6k words) this is still a scratch on the iceberg.

tbh i also wanted to post only a picture of the characters we meet in the second part of the story but tumblr is blocking me so it's my time to stop here.

That seems like a proper introduction so far though. If you want me to go deeper into any topic mentioned here, may it be characters, plot, or if you want details on some events or lore that i didn't explain yet, you're free to keep asking :3c

I hope this was a nice read!

Take care! :3c

[carryonmywaywardcaptain]

What’s in a Name?

CarryOnCap’s Masterlist

Pairing: Michael!Dean x reader, Dean x reader 

WC: 2,135

Summary: Weeks after Michael disappeared with Dean as his vessel, you decide to take some time away from the bunker. Nothing could have prepared you for the talk you have (or the tearful goodbye) when he pays you an unexpected visit.

Square Filled: Midnight Snack

Warnings: Season 14 spoilers if you haven’t seen it. Some angst. Sort of sappy fluff. Revelation of feelings and implied mutual pining. Minor mentions of injuries. Kind of a corny, abrupt ending. Also this gif by @teamfreewillbettertogether​​ (I mean LOOK AT HIM.) 

A/N: This is my first submission for #spndeanbingo challenge round 1 hosted by @spndeanbingo​​ Inspired by this 14x01 gif and the end dialogue of 14x09. (I do not claim to own the dialogue from those episodes, I just paraphrased for this fic.) This was supposed to be a drabble but it got away from me. lol

You had just finished a case up north-- nothing big, just a few werewolves preying on teenagers who were exploring the woods on the outskirts of town at night for “something to do.” You had tracked down the last of the pack just in time to save a young girl from becoming an unfortunate midnight snack. After driving her home and observing a tear-filled reunion with her parents, you returned to the motel you’d been staying at.

You were exhausted, covered head to toe in cuts and bruises from the hunt, and you knew you needed some rest. But sleep didn’t come easily these days and, when it did, you often found yourself dreaming of Dean. It kept you up at night knowing he was out there somewhere locked away under Michael’s control, and dreaming about him only seemed to make you miss him more.

It was late, but you decided to venture to the gas station up the street to grab a midnight snack of your own, hoping the cool evening air and a little food might help ease your mind. After cleaning up a little, you slipped out of your room and back into the night.

It had been weeks and there'd still been no sign of Dean or Michael. Sam had been working tirelessly trying to find him, but so far he still hadn’t had any leads. In an effort to help with the search, you packed a bag and set out to connect with some of your old contacts.

...At least that’s what you told Sam.

Truthfully, you had decided to leave because you needed a break from it all. The bunker had begun to feel crowded with all of the new inhabitants from Apocalypse World. Sam, Mary, Cas, and Jack checked on you at all hours of the day because they all seemed to know about the feelings you harbored for Dean. You appreciated their concern, but the lack of alone time and space left you feeling suffocated and on edge.

On top of it all, the bunker somehow also felt eerily empty without your favorite green eyed hunter. Reminders and memories of him seemed to haunt every inch of the place. With how overwhelming everything had become, it was liberating to work a case or two while you took some time to grieve and process everything in peace.

After buying a sandwich, a six pack, and a mini pie, you thanked the cashier and began the short trek back to your motel. Still lost in thought, you had taken a shortcut down an alley when a noise from behind stopped you in your tracks. It was subtle and if you hadn’t recognized it immediately, it might’ve gone unnoticed-- drowned out by the bustle of cars, sirens, and drunken bar-goers still enjoying what was left of their night.

The familiar rustle of angel wings.

Realizing you’d left your angel blade in the duffel bag beside your bed, you tried to remain calm. Cas had no way of knowing where you were and you knew the few angels left in existence were doing all they could to keep heaven running. Grappling with the fear and hope you could feel rising in your chest, you wracked your brain for any other possible explanation for who could be behind you. But even before he spoke, you knew it was him.

“Hello Y/N.”

It wasn’t his voice-- not really. Even so, the sound was oddly comforting after so many weeks without it. If you’d kept your back to him, you might’ve been able to let yourself pretend it really was him. That he had managed to break free from the archangel somehow and track you down.

But it was the way he said your name that let you know who it really was. His voice was hollow. Almost formal. 

One thing you’d always loved about Dean--whether he was angry or worried or teasing--was the way he said your name. There was always so much emotion behind it. Always a trace of the unconditional love he gave to everyone he cared about. When he spoke your name, there was always a deeper implication: no matter what he was feeling or what you had done, you knew he would always protect you and have your back. There was never a need for him to say those things outright, because somehow you’d always understood.

But this wasn’t him and those weren’t the feelings you had when your name rolled off of his tongue. Taking a deep breath, you slowly turned to face the man behind you.

“Michael.” 

The corner of his mouth tilted into a smirk. He wore a gray three piece suit, a long coat, and a newsboy style cap. His head was slightly bowed, casting a dark shadow over his eyes. Instead of the relaxed, bow-legged stance you were accustomed to, his posture was stiff and typical of the angels you’d grown familiar with over the years.

“It’s nice to be able to skip the introductions.”

He raised his head and the motion seemed almost robotic. His jade eyes briefly flashed a bright electric blue and the longer you looked at his emotionless face, the more unsettled you began to feel. Everything about him seemed detached and unnatural-- a stark contrast to the man you knew.

“What do you want?”

“What do I want? It’s a little...ironic.” His lips stretched into a wry grin, but there was still an emptiness behind it. “That’s what I’ve been traveling all around this world asking people. ‘What do you want?’ Their answers are always the same: Peace. Power. Revenge. Love.” 

You exhaled upon hearing the final word--recalling the countless number of fantasies you’d had about Dean confessing something similar to you.

“They say the things they think I expect to hear. Give answers they hope will ensure their survival. It’s all so very...weak. Pathetic. Human. But I will admit free will does keep things marginally interesting...how these ‘wants’ seem to motivate you. To give you a cause to fight for.”

You stood motionless, soaking in every bit of the speech he was delivering. The way he spoke was flat and unhurried. You reminded yourself over and over that it wasn’t him, but as his voice washed over you...the hold he had on you was undeniable.  

He took a few steps forward, hands behind his back as he began circling you like a predator stalking its prey. 

“He’s still in here, you know.” He tapped a finger on his temple when he circled in front of you again. “Resisting me. Squirming and trying to claw his way out. To get back to all of you.”

“Is there a point to this monologue?” Your voice wavered, sounding feeble instead of assertive.

“I can sense how vulnerable you are in my presence because of this pretty face. Haven’t you ever wondered what it is that Dean wants most?” He began slowly pacing back and forth in front of you. “I know his thoughts. His desires. His reasons for fighting. I know all that you’ve been through together...”

“He wants the same thing we all do. To take out as many of you douchebags as we can until--”

“You are what he wants.”

You tried to swallow, but your throat had gone dry.

“...what?”

“Why do you think he said yes to me? Why do all of you sacrifice yourselves for each other? Again and again...and again.” He paused and met your eyes when you didn’t say anything. “For love. For the fear of having to live without each other. For the ‘family business’ or whatever. Now, Sam? Mary? His angel pal and even the nephilim-- sure, he loves them. He would die for them. But you…well, there aren’t words for how devastated he would be if anything ever happened to you.”

“You’re...lying,” you whispered.

“I’m just a messenger, sweetheart.”

He spun on his heel and held his hands out to his sides, chuckling as he shook his head. You wanted to believe everything he was saying, but you had no reason to. Michael had lied to Dean-- why wouldn’t he do the same to you?

“Why are you telling me any of this? Why bother finding me at all?”

“Because his squirming is like an incessant gnat that simply won’t go away. So, as a small attempt to put his floundering to rest, I decided to pay you a visit. To say the things he never could. To put an end to his doubts...the worry and the fear and the anger that keeps him fighting. To show him there’s no need to resist me any longer. Lucifer is dead and all of you survived.”

“So you’re pretending to care about his well-being now?” you scoffed. “That’s your play?” 

“He’s angry with himself for saying ‘yes’--but he wanted to save his brother and the boy. To beat Lucifer and, together, that’s what we did. He’s so worried about his family’s safety but, with my help, you were all spared from Lucifer’s wrath. Now, after everything I’ve told you...do you have any idea what Dean’s greatest fear is? His reason for continuing to resist me?”

As the gears turned and every fiber of your being seemed to have a hunch about what he meant, your mind refused to even consider the possibility. There was no way he could possibly mean--

“You,” Michael sighed impatiently. “You’re the one he’s most attached to. The source of his deepest fear and regret. Because what if something happened to his beloved Y/N? What if he never had the chance to tell you that he loves you? That he’s always been too much of a coward to admit it.”

Feeling like the air had been knocked from your lungs, tears began to well in your eyes at his admission. You weren’t sure if he was telling the truth, but if there was any way to reach him...you had to try.

“Dean? If you can hear me--”

“Dean’s not home right now. He’s served his purpose and his mission is complete. Now it’s time for mine.”

You knew you should ask what he meant, but right now you couldn’t care less about Michael’s mission. Taking a measured step forward, you gazed into his eyes and hoped he could hear you, no matter how deep he was buried.

“I love you too, Dean. More than you could ever know… And no matter what happens, none of this is your fault.”

Michael scoffed at your attempt before suddenly hunching over to stare at the ground. His expression quickly grew irritated and he shook his head as he rolled his shoulders back.

“So...very...pathetic,” he mumbled angrily.

“...Dean?”

He stood abruptly, jaw clenched and nostrils flaring as he closed the distance between the two of you. You watched as he curled his lip in disgust and placed two fingers on your forehead. When his pupils flash blue once again, your body went rigid as a warm energy spread from your head to your toes.

As he withdrew his hand, you breathed heavily and rolled your sleeves up to discover the wounds from your hunt had been healed. You glanced back at him with a puzzled expression and let out a small gasp when you noticed how drastically his demeanor had changed.

Instead of blank, dead eyes, you were met with tender emerald ones. He reached a hand out and lightly traced his fingertips along the edge of your jaw.

“Y/N…”

It was nothing more than a whisper; a silent plea for you to hear everything he didn’t have time to say. When the word escaped his lips, he drew his eyebrows together-- all of the raw emotion Michael had kept locked away painted clearly on his face. 

You understood completely, hearing it all in the way he said your name.

“I know, Dean. We’re gonna find a way to get you back. Just hold on.”

He cupped your cheek and a sad, longing smile graced his lips when you leaned into his touch. Without warning, his eyes flashed blue once more.

In the blink of an eye he was gone. 

Clenching the bag of food and beer in one hand, you wiped away a few stray tears and fished your phone from your pocket. After selecting a number from your favorite contacts, you began jogging toward the motel. The line rang several times before going to voicemail, but you quickly hung up and dialed again. 

Arriving at your room, you unlocked the door and began frantically packing your bag. You huffed in frustration when the call went to voicemail again but, on your third attempt, you finally heard Sam’s groggy voice.

“Hello?”

“Sam? It’s Y/N. So, get this--”

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[houseisekai]

House Miisekai Prologue: The Adventure Begins!

House Miisekai Masterlist Here

====

Our story begins in the land of Miisekaitopia! (No, I couldn't think of a better name.)

It is a world where everyone from both storylines and unholy amounts of AU's can live in peace without worrying about wars breaking out every 4 seconds.

At least it was.

The darkness came without warning, a great and terrible shadow threatening all of Miisekaitopia! An unspeakably huge dick came and stole everyone's faces! Then, to add insult to injury, put those faces onto monsters across the land!

But, we shall follow the perspective of Sara Valestein, Instructor of Class VII and the original House Isekai...

Sara casually strolled through the hills, enjoying the sunlight and wind blowing gently across her.

(Sara) "...Goddess I am so bored."

She had been kicked out of yet another bar recently for drinking too much.

Again.

Left with nothing to do, she decided to take a trip to nowhere in particular, going wherever fate took her.

Sara continued muttering to herself, mocking the established "rules" for drinking in a tavern until she noticed something flying in the air.

(Sara) "Is...that a face?"

She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and saw the eyes slowly float over to a nearby butterfly.

(Sara) "Uh...?"

(Sara) "GAH!"

The horrific creature began floating faster towards Sara, which prompted her to run full speed ahead towards the closest town.

As she ran out of breath, she ran towards anyone would even take a minute to listen.

(Sara) "H-Hey, there's some freaky bug thing out there with a human face!"

BE-LOP!

Tiny lines of text ran down the guide's face.

It showed too many messages at once for her to properly read it, and the person remained completely still.

(Sara) "...Hello?"

(Everyone) "..."

(Sara) "...Right."

Sara moved to the next person she saw.

...

Sara saw a platypus with a name tag 'Perry' calmly sitting on the market stall.

(Sara) "Hello, anyone here?"

The platypus stared at her, not saying a word.

(Sara) "...What in the hell is with this town?"

Next try. That would probably work.

...

(Anakin) "What did we get ourselves into this time?"

(Obi-Wan) "I'm not sure but...I do not like this a single bit."

(Anakin) "At least you're in a taller body, my head barely reaches your stomach!"

(Obi-Wan) "It's not the first time."

(Sara) "Hey, excuse me ma'aaaaaaaaaa...What in the?"

(Anakin) "Listen lady, we got our own problems right now. We're not in the mood-"

(Obi-Wan) "What my young padawan means is that we unfortunately cannot spare any help if you need it ma'am."

(Sara) "...Evidently."

Sara nervously walked away from the two grown men in a child and woman's body.

(Sonia) "Did we get transported again?"

(Gundham) "By the works of dark magic, no doubt..."

(Sonia) "Oh, looks like there's someone over there. Hello ma'am, do you know where we are?"

(Sara) "Eh?...Huh. That's a good question. Where is this?"

(Sonia) "Oh well, I'm a bit more comfortable knowing that someone I like is with me here!"

(Gundham) "I...uh...er..."

(Sara) "That's cute. Ah, to be young again..."

Sara left the two to talk amongst themselves before finding the next...person?

It was an extremely fat rabbit that was grey and white.

(Sara) "What in the hell-"

BIG BIG CHUNGUS, BIG CHUNGUS, BIG-

(Sara) "Okay, screw that."

Sara finally saw the mayor and approached him, and when he turned she almost jumped.

It was a Piranha plant. She thought so anyway, it was covered in white polka dots and bright red.

(Plant) "Ah, welcome to the town miss?"

(Sara) "Uh, Sara. Sara Valestein. Listen, there's this weird face that attached itself to a butterfly outside your place! You're gonna do something right?"

(Plant) "Did...did you say a face float down? OH NO."

(Familiar Man's voice) "OH YES."

(Sara) ?

(Anakin) "Uh, master?"

(Obi-Wan) "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

The platypus, fat rabbit, and the discord notification looked up into the skies, getting increasingly alarmed.

(Gundham) "THIS DARKNESS...IT'S...IT'S OVERWHELMING!"

(Sonia) "His voice sounds grating like Souda's..."

(Plant) "COINS PRESERVE US! IT'S..."

[Imperial Will - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

(Dark Lord Chris) "KNEEL BEFORE YOUR GOD, AND OFFER YOUR FACES UNTO ME!"

(Sara) "...Faces? You mean like services or...?"

(Anakin) "Maybe that's metaphorical?"

(Obi-Wan) "I'm not sure I want to find out-"

(Chris) "NO, YOU REALLY DON'T. ALSO NO. I MEAN IT LITERALLY!"

Several faces began to fly off the townspeople.

First was the platypus's face, quickly followed by the discord notification and Anakin's.

(Obi-Wan) "ANAKIN!"

Then it was Sonia and the fat rabbit's faces that floated next to Chris.

(Gundham) "AAAAAAAGH!"

(Plant) "OH MY GOD, THIS IS HORRIBLE!"

(Sara) "Can someone tell me what the hell is happening?!-"

(Chris) "THESE NOW BELONG TO ME! NOW, GO TELL THE OTHERS WHAT YOU'VE SEEN HERE, FOR I WILL BE COMING FOR THEM NEXT!"

Chris flew off into the skies, the faces following closely behind.

(Sara) "What an asshole!"

(Plant) "ADVENTURER, PLEASE YOU HAVE TO HELP US!"

(Sara) "Right uh..."

Sara reached for her sword and pistol, which was nowhere to be found.

(Sara) "Well, that's just great..."

Obi-Wan struggled to walk over to here, still not accustomed to his body and looked at Sara.

(Obi-Wan) "Ma'am, I'm afraid I cannot go into battle myself to assist with this matter. And we don't appear to have our weapons either..."

(Sara) "So, what do you reckon I do? Ask nicely?"

...

(Sara) "Damn it."

OUTSIDE OF TOWN...

Chris was floating away from the town when Sara finally caught up to him.

(Sara) "HEY, JACKASS!"

(Chris) "...Oh, you mean me. I-I mean, OH, IS SOMEONE TRYING TO BE THE HERO NOW?"

(Sara) "Don't play smart with me you glasses wearing freak! Give back their faces!"

(Chris) "Or what? You're going to fight me?"

Sara cracked her knuckles.

(Chris) "...Oh shit. Uh, here have it."

The face slowly floated over to a slime, which reattached itself and began hopping towards Sara.

(Anakin's voice) "OH MAN, I THOUGHT THE KID BODY WAS BAD!"

(Chris) "Uh anyways, LATER!"

Chris quickly flew away from Sara, leaving her and Anakin's face on a slime.

(Sara) "Alright, LET'S GO!"

Sara drove her fist into the slime, which quickly bounced off.

(Sara) "...Oh right. It's a slime."

The slime retaliated by knocking Sara onto her back.

(Anakin's voice) "Sorry!"

(Sara) "Damn, my weapons aren't anywhere to be found either!

"I AM THOU...THOU ART I..."

(Sara) "Oh, what is it now-HURK?!"

Sara reached for her head as the voice boomed thunderously.

"THOU ART...Okay, no we're not rhyming. I'm your guardian spirit, Sara!"

(Sara) "Really now? And where were you during Erebonia?!"

"ANYWAYS, it seems you're in a bit of trouble! Do you need some help?"

(Sara) "It's either getting help or getting killed by a damn slime of all things, so...Yeah, sure."

"Good choice! Now, I bestow upon you the awesome power of the guardian!"

(Sara) "You're gonna explain later where I got this from, right?"

"That depends, do you want the plot to get moving? Our other posts are slowed down as it is, and this has gotten too meta in just the first few lines of this."

(Sara) "Ugh, fine."

Sara's outfit shined forth and became donned in armor, wielding a new sword.

(Sara) "Hey, you cheap bastard, where's my gun?!"

"This is a fantasy RPG, why would you get a gun? Just kill the damn slime already!"

(Anakin's voice) "WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?!"

(Sara) "Hold on, I'll getcha outta there, HIYA!"

[COOL QUIRK: WEAK POINT]

Sara took one swing of her sword and smacked the slime into the floor, it quickly disappearing.

Anakin's face floated off the slime and back to the town.

"That was..."

(Sara) "Really anti-climatic."

"You should uh...probably go back to the town and check up on Anakin."

INSIDE OF TOWN...

Anakin's face slowly floated back onto the child's body, making him trip over.

(Anakin) "AGH!"

(Obi-Wan) "So, how was it?"

(Anakin) "I was just put into a slime's body, how do you think I feel?!"

(Obi-Wan) "Same as usual, got it."

Obi-Wan turned to Sara, who now looked like a proper knight.

(Obi-Wan) "You have our thanks for helping us, Miss?"

(Sara) "Name's Sara."

(Anakin) "Thanks for helping me out there. What are you gonna do? We'd join you but our bodies would just get in the way."

(Sara) "I'm going to uh...Hey, what is the plan?"

"What do you think? You're the only hero in a fantasy land."

(Obi-Wan) "Is she alright?"

(Anakin) "Yeah, she started doing this earlier, no idea what's up with it."

(Sara) "Might as well go after the others, see what happens I guess. Anyways, I'll be back once I restored this town, until then!"

Sara held onto her sheathe and ran out of the town, those still faceless watching her leave.

(Gundham) "Please hurry. Sonia is...unsettling me."

(Plant) "Miss Valestein, you're our only hope...!"

(Anakin) "Think she'll be okay? That talking thing is really concerning me."

(Obi-Wan) "Probably...?"

[Chase Me - Faky]

(Sara) "Right so...do I just go forward?"

"Where did you see him fly off to?"

(Sara) "Was a lot more focused on trying NOT to get murdered by the slimes."

"It was just a slime, you've killed enemy mechs and demonic beasts like it was nothing!"

(Sara) "That's when I had my weapons and ARCUS unit!"

"..Still. Should've had no problem. I probably didn't even have to interfere."

(Sara) "Good goddess, am I going to be stuck with you? Actually WHO even are you?"

"The narrator! In a sense anyway."

(Sara) "What-"

And so begins the tale of Sara Valestein and her quest to defeat the Dark Lord Chris!

What friends will she encounter on the way?

How much of the meta can we break more than we have?

How many more jokes will the writer run into the ground as this series goes on?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON HOUSE MIISEKAI!

(Sara) "...What?!"

STARRING:

And yours truly as the antagonist for this story!

Here's to some more god-awful written meme stories like this one, everyone!

[chattegeorgiana]

Hello! It's been yrs & I still feel totally disrespected by how Naruto declined after/during the Pein arc. I thinking everything including & before Jiraya's death was 👌, but after it just spiraled down like a bad fanfiction. Everyone's character suffered tremendously. Of the things I wished happened: 1) I wish Naruto made a personal mistake. He had protag protection that prevented him from his personal wrongs & flaws from having real damaging affects & consequences, like Sakura's confession. It made him a bit 1D & predictable (aside from god power ups w/ his reincarnated brother but who would have guessed that...). His personal growth felt lacking bc the story didnt show the flaws in his personality as real consequential flaws. 2) GOD I WISH OROCHIMARU RETURNED AS/REMAINED THE MAIN VILLIAN. Orochimaru was absolute top tier antagonist & was genuinely terrifying & unsettling. And, most importantly, he was bad almost just for the sake of being bad. They didnt try to soften him to the audience with an overtly tragic backstory (not that a tragic backstory SHOULD redeem his honestly autrocious crimes, esp in a shinobi world where tragic backstories are as common as weeds) & I just really, really appreciated that.

Ooh there's something else I rlly miss: 3) Intelligence in battles. Genin!Sakura & Shikamaru fights were my favorite to watch, even in filler movies, bc they utilized much more clever thinking. The Sasori fight was a great balance between intelligence & action & we see it again...never? I'm bitter about the missed genjutsu too but moreso what happened to my girl who worked her way through an impossible chunin exam test filled with college level questions requiring critical thinking, understanding & application of theorums, & proofs? & Even tho they were just filled movies from SP of all ppl, where's the girl who thought to lure a wolf beast woman to a natural (?) applifier so that her howl would cause the pillars to collapse on herself in Stone of Genele? And where's the girl who took a few seconds to calculate the flight pattern of an enemy snow ninja to such precision it was like she had clairvoyance in Clash in the Land of Snow? I KNOW studying medicine is HARD, those 7-12 of school required to be a medical practitioner are no joke. We know Sakura is intelligent, I wish we saw that intelligence & clever thinking used more often in a combative situation. Not just with Sakura fights, but in general. (2)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wholeheartedly agree with what you said! The only good thing about Naruto after the Pein arc is his mother’s arc. After that?

It’s sprinkled with good moments here and there, but the plot overall and its mechanics? An absolute mess! It defies its own logic and it becomes more fantasy than fantasy itself.

One thing that the story did wrong is like I said, being too fantasy. And when you’re writing a fantasy story, in order to not overbear the reader is recommended to add realism into it.

And that’s why Naruto was so successful back in part 1.

Because despite the fantasy lore he was built into, it brought a lot of realistic elements into it. Like you said, in Sakura and Shikamaru’s battles we had peak display of what truly meant to be a ninja: a combination of brains, techniques and body capabilities.

All those things went down the drain after the Pein arc and that’s where the story fell flat, sadly... And it’s a shame because it was what drew us all into it back in part 1.

The fact that even if they lived in a fantasy world, we had elements of realism that we could connect to. We had mechanics that made sense and functioned within the established rule, not outside them.

And about Orochimaru, OH MY GOD YES! For me he was the epitome of villain. I don’t see Pein as a villain, more like a political antagonist. But Orochimaru?

Orochimaru was pure evil and that is what I loved most about his character. Because in the real world that’s what happens with some people too: they are pure evil. They don’t care.

I get that Kishimoto wanted to explore the path that gets some people evil but like you said, at some point that shouldn’t even care. A sobbing story shouldn’t excuse your actions though?

And that’s a major problem this story had: accountability. It lacked a great deal in this department and gave people motives to excuse every shitty action of every villain. And that’s not ok.

We could’ve had medicine being explored from both povs: that of a mad scientist like Orochimaru and that of a normal doctor like Tsunade & Sakura.

But sadly we also missed that opportunity. We also missed the opportunity to see WHY it’s so hard to train a medical ninjas. Imagine the mechanics we could’ve had there.

The story just tells it to us, but never really shows it. Which is so sad.

But yeah, like I said, I wholeheartedly agree with you 100%. I think this is a subject we could talk for eternity lol.

But at the end of the day, they did it the way they did so eh, what can we do?

[readerbookclub]

Hello everyone! I’m back with another book list. This time, all the books are written by Nobel laureates (for literature, of course).

Usually I preface each book with a short explanation about how it relates to our theme. But this time, I did something a little difference. Before each book, I included a short quote from the Nobel website, explaining why the writer won the award. 

The critics love these books, will we?

Toni Morrison - United States of America - 1993:  “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality”.

Beloved, Toni Morrison:

Sethe was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has borne the unthinkable and not gone mad, yet she is still held captive by memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. Meanwhile Sethe’s house has long been troubled by the angry, destructive ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Sethe works at beating back the past, but it makes itself heard and felt incessantly in her memory and in the lives of those around her. When a mysterious teenage girl arrives, calling herself Beloved, Sethe’s terrible secret explodes into the present. Combining the visionary power of legend with the unassailable truth of history, Morrison’s unforgettable novel is one of the great and enduring works of American literature.

Jose Saramago - Portugal - 1998: “ who with parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality”. 

Death with Interruptions, Jose Saramago:

On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration—flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home—families are left to care for the permanently dying, life-insurance policies become meaningless, and funeral parlors are reduced to arranging burials for pet dogs, cats, hamsters, and parrots. Death sits in her chilly apartment, where she lives alone with scythe and filing cabinets, and contemplates her experiment: What if no one ever died again? What if she, death with a small d, became human and were to fall in love?

Orhan Pamuk - Turkey - 2006: “who in the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures”. 

My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk:

The Sultan has commissioned a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land to create a great book celebrating the glories of his realm. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed. The ruling elite therefore mustn’t know the full scope or nature of the project, and panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears. The only clue to the mystery–or crime? –lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Part fantasy and part philosophical puzzle, My Name is Red is a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex and power.

Kazuo Ishiguro - United Kingdom - 2017:  “who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”.

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro:

Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it. Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

Olga Tokarczuk - Poland - 2018:  “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life”.

Flights, Olga Tokarczuk:

From the incomparably original Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk, Flights interweaves reflections on travel with an in-depth exploration of the human body, broaching life, death, motion, and migration. Chopin’s heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. Through these brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time. Where are you from? Where are you coming in from? Where are you going? we call to the traveler. Enchanting, unsettling, and wholly original, Flights is a master storyteller’s answer.

Please vote for your favorite here.

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[trickster-4]

Chapter 2

Lilith stood there paralyzed as the demon in child form walked towards her sister. Her magic was gone snuffed out like a candle. Lilith couldn’t even a cast a spell to warm her body and she felt so.. cold.

“Such a monstrous creature .. I should make this permanent.. No, I won’t do that, it’s not what Eda would want..”

”That voice.... Her entire presence feels so dark...” Lilith felt horrified at the feeling of the human’s mind..

Warmth began to return to Lilith’s body and she slowly began to recover. Just in time to see a human child undoing her curse with ease.. Seconds after she begins to gawk at Luz who had reclaimed Eda’s staff and began to fly away.

Thirty minutes later…

“She is to be left alone..”

“Sir?”

“She altered the flow of your magic twisted it with ease..” Emperor Belos sat in the chair with a cold demeanor.. “Luz or whatever the entity wishes to call itself could have stripped the magic from your body as easily as breathing..”

“But isn’t she a danger?”

“Immensely so.. Nevertheless the power she possess though infinite could be taxing on her mind. Notice the duality she struggled with after casting such a spell.. The more power she accesses the more memories there is of this Shabragnido in her mind..” The Emperor shook his head at the idea of that. This entity was an unknown. Letting it loose was dangerous, but provoking it when it proved capable of damaging his palace despite his best spell? That was foolish..

“And my sister?”

“The same.. Keep your distance until this creature is gone or weakened..”

“.. Yes my lord..”

“The Human is dangerous, but can be maneuvered around... The instincts of this entity however.. It’s an animal it craves destruction...” The Emperor seemed fascinated and yet repulsed as he continued to described her true nature.. “And the scale of it’s appetite are for lack of a better word far reaching… I have never felt such sadism from any being.. She wanted you dead Lilith in a way a mere mortal cannot desire.. The only thing that held her back from finishing you off is Amity Blight..”

“Amity?”

“Love…” Bellow began to laugh cruelly.. His head shook with cruel mirth.. “Such a novel thing.. And so easily twisted.. Hard to believe such a malicious thing like Luz Noceda could love..”

There was a cruel cackle of laughter that echoed from the throne room. And all across the palace even the servants of the emperor shivered in fear.

Elsewhere…

Luz looked in the mirror trying to find anymore demonic features staring back.. She finally sighed in relief. Besides her red eyes and her shadow occasionally flickering between a demonic figure or a girl; Luz still looked human for the most part.

“What am I gonna do?”

“Kid don’t worry.. Word up the grapevine is that you’re not to be crossed..” Eda patted Luz on the shoulder trying her best to comfort the young girl.. “Apparently whatever show you put on has them spooked..”

“Great..” Luz smiled sarcastically.. “Hexside is gonna be awesome..”

The following day…

Luz was not used to being avoided like this. The countless eyes staring at her with fear and trepidation were unsettling. More so was the reverence some of the faculty and the older students were showing..

“Lord Ruby Eyes….” Principal Bump gave a bow as he passed Luz by. “We’ll attempt to keep classes normal as per your desires..”

“Thanks…” Luz continued to walk through the hallways only to come across Willow and Gus. She smiled at the sight of them and approached them. “Hey guys how are you doing?”

“Oh hey Luz.. We’re doing fine..” Willow seemed rather unsure of herself. Her family were of the old worshipers devoted to the first dragons. They knew of the battles between Ruby Eye and her Lord.. “I’m glad you made it out in one piece.”

“Thanks I’m glad you’re doing good as well..” Luz hugged Willow who was caught off guard but she embraced her friend tightly.. “You guys didn’t get in trouble did you?”

“Nope..”

“Our parents.. were concerned but they’re holding off judgment…”

“Judgment?”

“You’re kinda a religious figure in Old Witch lore..” Amity walked in with a small smile. She held several books upon approaching Luz.. “You made combat magic, curses, hexes, transformation magic, we owe you much and it’s terrifying having your legends walking among you.. Especially when there’s a lot of evidence you are who you say you are.. Your aura is old, ageless, and dark and you matched Emperor Bellows easily despite being a “human”.. No one wants to make a god angry.”

“But I’m not a god it’s just me..” Luz protested even as her shadow shifted once again to the notice of Willow and Guz.. She muttered annoyed and was about to protest. Suddenly it felt like static in her brain and there was the taste of copper in her mouth. Then Luz looked at her hands and saw they were soaked in blood.. “No…..” The girl couldn’t believe what she was seeing and was distrusted by it.. “No No No No NO NO NO..”She ran towards the water fountain.

The girl scrubbed and scrubbed trying to get the blood off. She heard the crying of children and death screams of countless people. It hurt, it hurt so much and to feel that to understand that was absolute torture..

“Please stop it Luz!!”

You gotta stop Luz..”

“Luz!”

How many people did she kill as Shabragnido? How many jealous husband cursed their wives using her spells? How many kings sacrificed their children for power in her name. How many civilizations did she lay to waste just because she enjoyed doing it?

“Please stop Luz!”

“Your hurting yourself please stop Luz!!”

“LUZ!!”

Luz finally stopped scrubbing. There was never any blood she finally realized that. Though her hands was heavily rubbed raw and shaking. “Amity…” She grabbed her friend tightly and began to cry..

“It’s going to be okay Luz..” Amity promised..

The classes were thankfully over quickly though Luz had to lean on Amity constantly for her support.

That Afternoon..

“Well I figured something like this could happen.. Luz’s old life is ancient. And reawakening her powers has caused those memories to unspool. It’s not gonna be an easy job.”

“But you can do it right?” Amity looked at her crush’s mentor.

“Of course I can, best witch on the boiling isles here..” Eda boasted before sighing looking tired. Despite the fact that physically she felt great and had even regained her red hair; the witch was exhausted after making this artifact. Hopefully this would block out her old memories for a short time.. “Now once the spells have set this will keep your past from rearing it’s ugly head during the day. But you need to take it off later after school it has to recharge after eight hours.. Also your mind needs to deal with these memories Luz..”

A black head band glowed yellow mysteriously in Eda’s hands..

“Are you sure!?”

“Yes and I’m serious this could cause damage to your mind..” Eda gave her apprentice a stern no nonsense gaze. She wouldn’t budge on this in the slightest and upon seeing the over enthusiasm for the artifact put it into a jewelry box and locked it.. “You’ll take it off after school and you’ll be doing mental exercises with Amity and me for a few months..”

“Exercises?”

“Excuse me?”

“After your little excursion last time into Willow’s mind. I think you get the gist of it..” Eda leaned down to Luz and hugged her tightly for a moment. “It’s something similar but you two are gonna do deep diving and organizing of Luz’s old memories.. It’s going to be hard.. But, it’ll get easier and eventually you won’t need those little tuneups..”

“So this is not a permanent thing?”

“No it’s just a matter of helping Luz’s mind deal with the impending shift in gears.. Once that’s done she can heal naturally..”

“Oh thank goodness…”

“Why? Are you worried about seeing your crush’s mind?”

“Shh Luz doesn’t know that!!” Amity blushed angrily as she looked towards Luz who still seemed to be stuck in her thoughts. Thankfully she heard nothing.. “She’s going through a lot right now!! Luz can hear about that later..”

“Sure just don’t wait too long. Last thing we really need is a love triangle..”

Amity glared at Eda even as she fought to keep her face from blushing hard. She couldn’t believe her teacher and this woman were related..

“There’s something that I’m wondering about… Is Shabragnido really me?” Luz looked towards her shoes trying to avoid seeing what form her shadow was taking on at the moment. ”Part of me says yes…Or am I just a vessel for him? I feel things he felt, remember things he experienced. But, this goes beyond just sympathy or empathy doesn’t it?”

“There’s no one else in there Luz..” Eda waved off her concerns of identity.. She held her apprentice’s gaze with a compassionate smile. For a brief moment her eyes glowed yellow for a few seconds. “Frankly your soul looks different.. At some angles it looks human, and others it looks like an overpowered demon.. But, it’s just you Luz.. There’s just more to you than you actually knew about.”

“What if I go full demon? What I get swallowed up in all these memories..” Luz’s eyes began to tear up only for Amity to take hold of her shoulder and smile. “Thank you Amity..”

“No problem it’s what friends are for..”

“Now then let’s get started.. Here’s hoping you kids don’t land into one of Luz’s fantasies..”

“What?!” The two girls screamed before they both faded into Luz’s mind. Eda shook her head laughing to herself. There was a sudden knock at the door she tensed for a moment before summoning her staff. The Elder Witch opened the door slightly.

“Who’s there?”

“H-Hello… Eda..”

“Leave Lilith.. You weren’t welcome here, but now my policy is shoot to kill on sight..” Eda glared at her sister with a cold unfeeling stare. She felt her mind shift to a number of deadly spells. “You’re dead to me.. Get away from my house. Go wherever you want to go, but to me Lilith Clawthorne died at age fourteen..”

“Eda..”

“I will never forgive you..”

Lilith’s head began to ring as those words rippled through her mind. The words that she never wanted to hear from her sister and haunted her darkest dreams.. Those words that were never spoken until today. I will never forgive you. I will never forgive. I will never forgive you. I will never forgive you. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!!

Luz’s mind...

Luz and Amity slammed the door on the door. They were both blushing heavily and sweating while they walked away unable to look each other in the eye. Amity never knew Luz had such an attentive and creative imagination when it came to those things..

“Okay...” Amity looked a thousand miles away her face was blushing pink. She stared blankly ahead trying not to remember that vivid scene. Nope we are not thinking about. It’s Luz’s fantasy and I am not going to comment about it!! “Let’s just try to get into your memories and put things in order..”

“Soooo let’s get started..” Luz looked ahead towards a greek looking door.. She felt that it was new a recent emergence into her mind. “That place looks like a good place to start.”

“Ancient Atlantis… Whoa..”

“What?”

“Sorry it’s just a bit of a sore spot for witches one of the most magically developed civilizations.. Now we’re getting a look at those days..” Amity smiled excitedly. She took Luz’s hand into her own. “It’s a huge deal think of the discoveries that we can make..”

“I can’t believe that Atlantis actually real..”

They walked into the streets of an Grecian like city. Luz and Amity were in awe of the architecture. Water flowed through various aqueducts buildings were being built in seconds through magic. They were quickly approaching a black stone temple. Luz flinched at the sight of Shabragnido’s statues..

“Huh, I’ve never actually seen what Lord Ruby Eyes looked like ..”

“… So where is he? I mean where am I?”

The two girls suddenly heard the sound of laughter in the streets below the temple. They followed the sound until they saw a little girl playing with a strange horned brown rabbit with ruby eyes.. The rabbit was glumly silently even as he was forced into an embrace by the child. For a moment they actually saw a glimmer of enjoyment in it’s eyes..

“Damn my idiot of a brother..”

“Wait is that supposed to be me!? Why am I so adorable?!!”

[metellastella]

Mao Mao Pride Week Prompts, Part 3

A continuation of the prompts put out by @maomaosmother Part 1 https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/621726687992872960/hello-everyone-happy-pride-month-to-all-of-you Part 2 https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/621834183114932224/mao-mao-pride-week-prompts

7. Marriage

“But first,” Mao’s sister clapped her hands together, “I wanna talk weddings some more!”

“Right on!” the badger agreed. He whooped. 

“Oh good grief,” Mao rolled his eyes. “Fine. You two can chat with the king about the possibility. And I reiterate. Possibility. When you’re ready to make good on your promise, come find me.” 

She clucked her tongue in disapproval. “Fine. Be the usual stick in the mud. Don’t know why I’m surprised.” 

He grabbed a few more things off his plate and left. 

“So,” she sat back down, “I guess if you favor men, the animals here didn’t have to petition for marriage laws to be amended, huh?” 

”Correct.” the lion replied. 

“Though some thought I was … ironically … being ‘biased.’ Oh well. Can’t help that. Royal power is absolute, for better or worse. I’ve traveled to other nations and, during debates, have suggested that they not use the term ‘marriage’ as I have. Law is, at least in some peoples’ opinions, supposed to be ‘secular,’ and not ‘religious,’ anyway, so why cling to a specific term that isn’t? Simply afford all the exact same rights to civil unions or domestic partnerships. Or make up a third designation. Much easier to get it passed that way. Bypasses a whole lot of entrenched resistance. People can hash out in their own communities what to do with the non-legal angles and rituals and what to call it. But for a ‘marriage’ certificate? What, after all, is a rhetorical difference, in the end?” the diplomat and statesman snapped his fingers. “And like that, less angst for absolutely everyone involved. It’s not always that easy to reconcile or find middle ground. I can’t think of practically any other issues where simply altering one single word could have that effect. Despite a couple of decades worth of rhetorical experience under my belt.”

He sat back, and interlaced his paws contentedly. “Some countries insisted they were still going to adjust tax breaks because of the very unlikely event of children. Unless surrogates are involved, and properly registered as such, to try to avoid wrangling over child custody. That’s a whole other kettle of fish to get into, obviously.” 

She nodded. “Well like Mao said, I’m not here to talk politics. Let’s hear your fantasies about the most important day of your life!”

The badger shook his head. “Well it’s not like that for everyone, but don’t get me wrong, I wanna hear, too!” he said excitedly. 

“Erm … “ the lion looked down. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. 

“It’s just … I’m more enthusiastic about the idea than Mao, but I’m still a long way off from that myself. So, I don’t want to insult you by making you think I’m further along, just because I have envisioned a marriage … regardless of who the groom is.”

She frowned a little, thinking. “All right then.”

“But I would love to hear about some of your customs, in that event.”

Her face fell some more. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

“Oh?”

“The homeland, though the majority is plenty accepting of pairing in general, has not approved marriage between men,” she said, “so any customs you applied to each other or one of you … might be seen as disrespectful. For example. Would Mao dress as the woman, since he’s chosen to sub? Not only do I think he would never, ever do that …” she looked at the badger for confirmation.

He shook his head, “Oh most definitely not.” He thought for a second. “Maybe that’s why he got up out of here, for that matter. He thought we were gonna suggest doing that. We’ve been to weddings like that. Again, a little like misgendering, no? Even in the rare cases where he gets a mind for it, he’s not at all like a typical sub.”

The badger paused. 

“He doesn’t really fit in when I would hang out with other subs. One panda I met just could not wrap his mind around Mao. It was kinda funny. Irritating for him, though. I would be totally down for dressing like the female counterpart in a wedding, if it were me. I’ve pictured it both ways. Maybe even a costume change in the middle?” he waggled his eyebrows. “Or whatever my partner wanted? If a polar bear gave me any direction I’d melt under his strong paw,” his gaze unfocused, and he hummed appreciatively. “Tuxedo? Coming right up. What color? What style? White wool tunic and stole, as is customary for you big guy? I’ll match you! Usus? My Ursus. My dear ursine. Coemptio? Confarreati? Gown? Dress? You got it, my bae bear. I’m male, sure, but a lot more loosey-goosey in that way. But. It’s not me.”

He sighed romantically. 

“If I understand Mao,” the lion said slowly, “in general, he’s less sentimental, at the very least in expression, so maybe it’s simply that he doesn’t get as wrapped up in it as you or I would.” 

The badger shrugged. 

“Also, women tend to get more excited about wedding planning. Not a hard and fast rule of course, but I think we’ve established that you and I have a lot more in common with women, so it makes sense we’d be more enamored, even if it didn’t necessarily need to be that way.”

The badger slapped his forehead. “Oh yeah, wow. How could I not think of that!” He put his paw down and gestured towards her. “I mean this whole conversation we've had a vibe and Mao has seemed the odd one out, gender wise, but I didn’t consider that.”

The badger went on, “Even without a wedding on the table, which is usually headed up by women in this part of the world, it’s often awkward in the first place for a typical guy to be in a room with all women and vice versa … so this visit has kinda been like that for him, I think. I mean, Mao’s always eager enough to go to a wedding, excited about hitting on and dancing with some ladies, and all, but that doesn’t mean he’d necessarily enjoy planning one. He might even leave it all up to you even if he was totally ready for it!” 

The three femme animals spent the next few hours discussing flower arrangements, color palettes, the band of tolerant aristocracy he would invite, and who among the clan would approve enough to come. That was hard for the sister to get through, as she thought of those she loved who would refuse to give their blessing and ‘miss all the fun.’

8. Self-Acceptance

Mao threw up his hands in exasperation. “This was different than anything anybody knew of. Other clans’ elders who had wielders hurt badly were brought in to consult. We wielders can be slammed around by dragons, can be thrown into the ground and make craters, and walk away. With lesser wielders, bruises could be shrugged off and healed. But SOMEHOW, the universe had, like a homing pigeon bent on mouse’s blood, found one little chink in our armor. . . . Delicate tails aren’t resistant enough to damage to withstand direct crush force. Some of the visiting canine elders spoke of a time when groups of semi-sapient non-magical hunting dogs had their flowing, floppy ears or long tails surgically cropped to keep them from injuring themselves on hunts. To potentially avoid something like this happening again … by cave-ins, like mine, by boulders hurled by some types of dragons, even just being stepped on by a dragon big enough …  Should all wielder animals, intending to fight these beasts … should every species with long tails start doing this removal with our children, they asked? With consent, of course. Like removing tonsils or primates removing the appendix? Lizards probably couldn’t do it, because their slanted gait was too dependent and their tails too heavy. So maybe just the tips? Surely the thicker parts of their tails withstand something like this? They asked. The elders of felines and canines and rodents and otters … the later they waited to dock tails in a trainee’s life, the more they would have to adjust to the missing counterbalance just as I was. They swarmed me and questioned me about it relentlessly. They were asking among themselves … What age would this terrible offered choice be appropriate?”

His green eyes widened in horror at these questions. As if he needed any more psychological stress after being temporarily crippled, he seemed to have altered the entire course of history with the way clans viewed preparation for wielder heroes.

“Inwardly, I felt like …” he once again tried to force the words out he had started before. “I felt like I was causing an implosion of the whole clan. The tranquil meditation spaces were overrun with visitors. Children still hid from me. Our elders argued over whether they should move me for the duration of my recovery, from the clan’s circle. They argued over what to do about the little ones. But didn’t I deserve to feel safe, too? Of course I was ripping everyone apart! It was what always happened when I was around! When we were all younger, and my sisters occasionally came to my defense from one another or dad, I felt it was somehow my fault they argued, too.”

Even if the elders made these new procedures for children voluntary, he would still be virtually ‘responsible’ for possibly unneeded selective surgical alteration of innocents.

“Blue says that’s common, for bullied children to feel like it’s their fault.”

He looked towards the door, probably thinking of the dog’s unruffled voice of reason.

“I try to listen to him. I try to like myself. B-but I … it seemed l-like my family w-was disintegrating because of m-m-me. And my stupid ‘mistake.’ The whole world of wielders, even! Sometimes it still does, when they visit …! Arguing over father’s treatment of me. Remember when my sister said she wasn’t sure starting arguments over lesser wielders was worth unsettling future heroes? Now imagine what I was thinking when the little ones didn’t feel safe in the circle of the clan because of me. I was drowning in self-blame and the only way I felt I could escape it was to work harder, push myself more, and get away from there.” 

Could Blue even help him out of this? The lion pictured him like a seeing eye dog this time, trying for all the world to lead the black cat out of such darkness. 

Bonus:

From my second story, Outnumbered. Tanya sashayed around the red-caped cat. “Hello Mittens.” “Tanya I swear if you do not stop calling me that, I’m going to use the wrong pronouns for you,” the cat threatened. “Touchy, touchy,” the tanuki tutted teasingly, but her normally chipper attitude got a dent in it. “As if that’s an even trade, anyway.” The masculine magic cat said gruffly, “Maybe not. But I’m tired of you mocking me without consequences. Just because that’s the only thing that ever gets under your skin is no fault of mine. Perky little miss.” She rolled her eyes. “So, you try to make gendering me correctly even sound derogatory. No wonder I broke up with you.” The cat’s fists tightened, but he spoke cooly. “If you can’t handle all this. I’ll just find someone who can.” 

“Like the king you’re serving as a bodyguard to?” the fox-like animal said in a silken tone. “The only kind of lion with no birth mane. Are you a chaser, you dog?” “First off. No. How dare you. Targeting gender non-conforming animals may not be officially dishonorable, but as a concept, it is,” the samurai bristled, “We’re not involved, and we’re never going to be. We’re not attracted to each other, as my nose could clearly tell if he was. Second of all. Since when do you have something against dogs?” “It’s an expression.” “An expression that’s derogatory towards dogs,” the cat sneered. “I can’t imagine the blue therapist dog could be less like that. It’s like ‘sexist pig.’ The yellow pig back in Pure Heart would be crushed if he ever heard someone utter it. Yet outside that nice little paradise, it’s a common saying. King Snugglemagne is having to adjust mightily to the outside world. You may be used to it, steeped in it, but for magic’s sake, stop teasing him about it.” “Oh, a king can’t take a little hardship?” she said lazily. “Of course not, he’s been ensconced in his fancy-pants palace. Now that he has an idea of how it is for everyone else, he crumples at the slightest trouble. Sorry I can’t muster up enough energy to care.” “You should care. Given that he has the same problems you do.” “With pronouns? Puh. Since I’m a roaming outlaw,” the orange animal said flouncily, “I don’t expect either other crooks or enforcers I encounter to respect that my gender doesn’t match my body’s smell. The former doesn’t even respect the law, so why should I take that personally? And the latter are more focused on getting me behind bars. So, no, not my problem. Too much of a bother.” “If you settled down, and got a respectable job,” the cat pointed out, “Established yourself as a constant presence, people would probably collectively accept you.” She laughed derisively. “Oh no, I value my freedom far more than that, Mi-” she swallowed back the nickname. He laughed just as derisively. “I see you do value my word on the matter, though,” he said suggestively. “Are you just not as tough as you make out, or do you still harbor some feelings for me, my sweet little illusionist?” 

She opened her mouth, but then shut it again. 

“You slippery mirage master,” he said “you do, don’t you?”

He paused. “Hm. ‘Master,’ maybe I should say ‘Mistress’?” he amended. “There’s . . . really no good choice there,” she chuckled hesitantly. “There are ‘Head Mistresses’ at some schools in Snugglemagne’s kingdom,” the cat pointed out. 

“Yes but . . . still has connotations. I don’t break the law that way,” she said, normally carefree attitude wobbling. “Even I have standards.”

“Hasn't stopped you from dangling the offer to get what you want,” he said. 

She blushed.

“Yeah, word gets around,” he went on blithely as she uncomfortably gripped one of her arms. “Don't know why I should be surprised that playing with hearts isn't beneath you. But more to the point. I know you’re ultimately reasonably principled in that arena, if really flirty. You ever want to get back together, babe, the invitation is open,” he winked. 

“And endure your jealous behavior again? I think not. I’ll file that away with other useless knowledge,” she said icily. 

“Oh that’s not like you,” he said in a low baritone. “You’re sweet to everyone, even if they can’t catch the mocking tone sometimes.” “Not everyone’s as smart as you, cupcake.” He looked caught off guard by the compliment. “She brushed her fingers under his chin. “I guess you’ll just have to miss me.”

She somersaulted away from him, waving goodbye and blowing a kiss.  He said under his breath, “As if I’d ever misgender you. You may play a lot of mind games, love, but you didn’t catch that bluff.”

Comic page: https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/621837213819437056/mao-maos-specific-trigger-should-not-be First chapter of Piercing the Swordsman https://metellastella.tumblr.com/post/617045879413719040/piercing-the-swordsman-chapter-1

@beesechurguer @king-himbo

[spamela-hamderson]

For the prompt! “You’re jealous”

For you ao3 link

:::

Robert comes up with the plans. It’s been this way for as long as he can remember; he used to plan minor distractions outside of the house when he was younger, so he could get a few minutes alone to dismantle a beloved home appliance with his mind while everyone else was out searching for a missing flock.

He’d come down once the coast was clear, with his trusty notebook in hand (to track his progress) and Victoria’s old baby blanket tied around his neck (‘WizKid’ scrawled across it in blue paint; he’d still wanted to be a superhero then), and get to work.

The problem, as it has always been, is that Robert never was the best at executing said plans.

You see, the plan was always to dismantle the appliance, and then put it back together in its previous condition. But he never quite managed that. As it turned out, building a working machine was a lot harder than taking it apart. And by the time he remembered that, someone would catch on to Robert being the only one not with them and rush back into the house, too late, to find bits of metal strewn over the countertop and footsteps banging back up the stairs.

:::

He succeeded just once before having to leave home. Slapped the radio back into form, (sans make-shift cape; he’d long grown out of it by then) and apart from a mystifying minute of ticking every time you pressed play, it had worked fine.

A month after that, he would play a stupid game with his stupid brother, wouldn’t be able to save Max King and would be sent away for not being worthy of his powers.

:::

Aaron had been planned as well.

Well. Sort of.

Robert had made his debut into the criminal underworld with a series of small jobs that went without a hitch. But things got complicated once he’d set his sights on riskier targets. 

On his own, his powers and charm only got him so far. He needed someone who would watch his back. Someone who would help him finish what he set out to do.

What he needed, he thought, was his very own henchman.

The prospects had trickled through in stops and starts. Some, Robert worried were too stupid to keep up with him, and others, in their comic book villain ensemble and annoyingly peculiar affectations, were clearly too interested in a fantasy that Robert didn’t have the patience for. It was the exceedingly normal ones, however, who had unsettled Robert the most. 

(Sanity is an illusion in their line of work. The really messed up ones, the sort who carved into innocents for fun in their underground dens of torture, were also the ones who seamlessly weaved mundanity through their to-do-list of horrors: calling out a neighbourly hello through the kitchen window as they scrub blood from under their fingernails, taking a ten-minute break from their day job to look up large plastic tubs (big enough to fit an adult), and installing an entertainment system in said underground den of torture so they don’t have to miss strictly while laying out tools, scared whimpers harmonising with Gymnopédie No.1 and the cheers from the crowd.) 

When Aaron had slammed out of their first meeting with a glare more frightening than the rough scar running down the length of his face, his permanently bruised knuckles clenched tight in a blazing fist, and dislike lining every inch of him, none of it hidden away, Robert had been ready to try trusting him with his life.

By the end of his first day at work, Aaron had expressed plain doubt that Robert was a card-carrying member of the League of Nefariousness (Robert had threatened to show him the framed letter of acceptance, hung at pride of place on his office wall). By day three he’d slammed him into a wall, snarling into his face, and Robert had had to come to terms with the very confusing situation in his pants. It took till the end of day four, after too many hours of covert staring, to admit that he might have a problem. 

By his second week, when shit had hit the fan in the middle of what was meant to be a simple intelligence-gathering operation, and Aaron had taken charge, flipped the script, and saved his neck,—literally, from a very sharp knife—Robert realised he’d gone and found himself a partner instead of a henchman. 

There was no way Robert could’ve prepared for him.

And that brings him back to his current plan of action.

:::

Robbing the science facility while the gala is in full swing at the first floor of the building, instead of doing it days after that as they had originally planned, will mean they’ll be working on a tight schedule from now on, he decides. And he’ll have to make a list of other changes as well, taking into account all the extra pairs of eyes that’ll be scuttling around at an event of this scale, and the tighter security that’ll come with it. But it’s better this way, really; Robert’s always preferred performing to an audience anyway. And if he wants to get the message out, he needs everyone watching.

They’ll make their move late into the evening. Give the guests enough time to get bladdered, and the security complacent. It’ll work out, Robert decides.

Besides, he deserves a posh night out. It’s been months of clandestine weapons trades in grimy warehouse buildings and stopping for bad takeaway on the way back from rooftop shootouts, leaning heavy against Aaron under the guise of exhaustion. He wants an excuse to wear a suit and polish off flutes of champagne while he’s at it. 

But the upper crust only ever throws their parties—with diamonds dripping down necks and camera crews parked outside to greet them—for Heroes. Nevermind that they’re also the ones secretly bankrolling half the evil schemes in play across the city on any given day.

Robert wonders if Aaron will let himself be talked into wearing a suit. He knows he won’t do it just because he’s asked, and Robert can make up a reason, tell him it’s an essential part of the plan, but Aaron’s got quite the knack for sniffing out his bullshit. 

He sighs, feeling sorry for himself all over again, and watches a boxy suit jacket take form over his little digital doodle of Aaron running down the side of the updated plan on a loop, a mock-up of him on his way to empty out a heavily guarded vault, eleven floors below ground, where 35 grams of rare dryadrium is being stored; More than three times the amount Robert needs to finish building his killer robot prototype. But staring at doodle-Aaron’s over-serious eyebrows makes his chest too heavy to ignore, so he gives up and slumps back into his seat noisily, away from his tablet. 

He lasts about six seconds before sending the offending item flying off the table and into his palm, a new window already open (and sharing the screen with his list) to the paparazzi shot of Aaron and the Red Rider for him to glower down at. He’s never been one for self-restraint.

COFFEE DATE WITH MYSTERY LOVER!

Will the darling of justice Red Ride off into the sunset with his new bad-boy?

To the undiscerning eye, Robert supposes they might look undeniably involved. They’re stood so close it’s amazing the two disposable cups of coffee clutched between them haven’t spilt, the Red Rider’s hands are around Aaron’s upper arms like he’s pulling him in for a hug, and his smile might be described as teasing, by some (Robert just thinks it makes him look like a tit).

But Robert sees right through it. He recognises the street they’re pictured on as the one between the abandoned power station they work out of and the cafe closest to it. The article mentions they were spotted yesterday morning. Probably right after Aaron had picked up their usual order of one americano and one regular coffee with a splash of milk, same as he does on the days he comes in before ten.

While Red‘s got his meticulously focus-grouped smile in place, Aaron looks totally baffled by him (though the article tries to pass it off as starstruck). And why wouldn’t he be? That is a lot of red lycra to take in before you’ve had your morning coffee. 

So yes, Robert knows it’s stupid for him to be feeling so strongly about this photo when there’s clearly no truth behind what it’s saying. But he can’t help but find it extremely unfair that it’s the Red Rider who gets to be paired off with Aaron (even if it’s only in the eyes of bored commuters looking for a bit of morning gossip to get them through the day) when Robert’s the one wreaking glorious havoc across the city with him. 

Of course, it’s not like the public knows who Aaron is.

But still. Of all people. It had to be a Hero. Ugh.

Thus, the plan. And he can’t wait to see it play out, too. The darling of justice, dancing the night away at a gala held in his honour, while 1.7 million pounds worth of precious metal gets swiped from right under his nose. Robert sneers down at the crude stick figure of the Red Rider sketching itself into existence, tears shooting out of his eyes in black dashes of ink as his adoring crowd turns away in disgust. 

:::

He’s so busy trying to glare a hole into Red’s smiling face without accidentally blowing the tablet to bits, he almost misses the low hiss of the lab doors sliding open behind him. He blinks and the window closes, leaving him with only the details of the new plan to stare at, just as Aaron plunks his coffee in front of him. 

He also gets a tired nod, a non-verbal hi as Aaron makes his way around the table, and already Robert feels better about the day.

He manages a mumbled thanks back, somewhere between grabbing at the cup and tilting its contents onto his tongue. It’s too hot to drink comfortably still, even after having weathered the icy spring air on its way here. He leans his mouth against the lid of the cup instead and thinks about Aaron seeping warmth back through its walls with his hands. 

“You’re sure these are microwave safe, yeah?” he asks, eyes blinking wide in false innocence, but doesn’t hold back his chuckle at the devastating judgement he gets for it. He’d watched Aaron blow up his lunch once, food and cracked pieces of a bowl all over him and the floor, and hasn’t shut up about it since. 

“Right, I’ll leave you with cold coffee next time then, shall I?” Aaron says. His voice is still rough with morning disuse.

Robert puts his coffee back on the table so he can rest his chin on his palm and look up at Aaron. It brings him a little closer to him. “You wouldn’t. I’d moan on about it too much.”

“You’d be a nightmare,” he agrees, smiling behind his own cup. He’s just finished folding himself onto the only other chair in the lab in a way Robert can’t imagine to be comfortable, coffee cradled close to his chest, when he snaps his fingers. A small flame floats over his thumb. He slumps even further into his chair.

Aaron bears his power like a spare limb tucked away too tight and always too long, even if it’s only been minutes, never fully comfortable until he can stretch it out, feel it break apart from the perimeters of his skin and breath on its own. 

They watch it skip lazily across the back of his fingers and weave through them for a moment.

“Has Tate said what she wants from us?” Aaron asks.

Robert feels his stomach begin to sink. “That’s today?”

Aaron raises his eyebrows at him. “She’s sending her driver to pick us up at 10, Robert. Remember?”

Robert thunks his head against the table and groans. They don’t have the time for whatever Tate wants. At this rate, they’ll be stumbling through the job unprepared, and Red will come swooping in to save the day, and they’ll be the laughing stock of the city, another notch in Red’s shiny, crime-fighting belt, and Aaron will leave him for being a screw-up. 

Robert groans louder.

“Robert?”

He takes a second more to hide behind his arms, then pulls himself back up.

Aaron’s hand is half extended towards him, his flame extinguished and his eyes worried.

No. He wants this to work. He wants the world to see them together, see that they work. It might not be as Robert and Aaron, not to anyone else. Maybe not even to Aaron. But it’ll be close enough.

Robert leans back into his chair to pull his phone out from inside his trouser pocket. He can fix this.

“How about we cancel the meeting with Tate?” he says, but he’s already typing out a ‘Something’s come up, can’t do today’ to send to her.  

“You what?” Aaron laughs.

“You never liked her anyway.” Aaron had dragged his feet when they’d first taken a job for her. She’ll start thinking she owns us, he’d said.

But Robert had insisted. They’d needed the money, then.

Aaron puffs his cheeks out. “I’m not complaining, mate. But she’s not gonna like it.”

“Eh,” Robert shrugs it off. They finished their last job with her, clean and simple, and they haven’t agreed to anything new. There’s no reason for any business to be left hanging between them. 

“You gonna tell me why?” Aaron asks.

“We’ve got enough on our plate now.”

That gets a confused head tilt. “Do we?”

“About that. I was thinking–” he stops to roll his eyes at Aaron’s cheeky wince. “What if we broke into the facility on Saturday instead.”

The head tilt stays confused. “Before the gala?”

Robert shakes his head. “At the gala.”

Aaron huffs out an unsure laugh like he thinks Robert might be pulling his leg, then sobers when he sees he’s being serious.

“Why?” he wants to know. “Did something happen?”

“Nothing, I uh.” Right. A reason. “I thought about it, and it’s better this way.”

Aaron looks at him like he’s gone mad, which. Robert should’ve expected that, really. He takes a second to wonder why he hasn’t prepared a script for this.

“I don't…" Aaron squints at Robert like he’ll find an explanation on him somewhere if he looks hard enough. When that fails him, he searches blankly around the lab, perhaps looking for a clue to where he should even start.

Robert waits.

“This isn’t what we prepared for,” he lands on.

“It’ll be fine.” Robert will make sure of it. “I know the mechanics of the security set up around the vault like the back of my hand by now.” 

It’s a precise clockwork of systems designed by a Swedish company, and it’s kept Robert up for weeks trying to puzzle it out. 

Aaron nods his head slowly, like a man who’s had to endure long hours listening to Robert mumble to himself in increasing desperation in their shared office space.

“I’ll get you past it. Trust me.” 

Aaron nods more readily at that, and Robert’s heart finds a moment in all this to skip a beat. He urges himself to get a grip. 

“There’ll be more guards, yes, but the gala should keep them occupied for the most part. The new guards aren’t there to protect the dryadrium, Aaron. They’re there to keep the high profile guests safe.” 

Aaron still doesn’t seem convinced. “There’ll be cameras everywhere. Ministers, Heroes, tycoons, journalists… How’re we meant to get in? Or out, for that matter.”

It’s then that the idea hits him. Oh, he thinks. I’m a genius.

“We won’t seem out of place if we pretend we’re just another two names on the guest list…”

And here’s the tricky bit. All he has to do is be light-handed with the delivery. Just throw it out there, nothing to it.

“…We’ll fit right in in a couple of suits.”

Aaron barely gives him a second to hope. “Yeah, no, we’re not doin’ it on Saturday, then.”

“Wh–”

“I’m not wearing a suit, Robert. Not unless I’m stood in front of a judge.”

“But–” Robert tries not to panic. “But you have to.”

“And why is that?” Aaron leans back into his chair, comfortable as ever, and slips both hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. “You haven’t said.”

Robert’s been hoping he won’t notice. “Well,” he starts. “It’s like you said. There’ll be loads of cameras there. And reporters from major news networks. It’s time we introduced ourselves to the people. Officially. Don’t you think?” 

It’s time they learn you’re mine, he tries not to think. 

Because it’s not true, however much he wants it to be. He’s not… they’re not…

There’d been that one time, sure, that one kiss–

(Gold light filtered over his skin, cutting through the shadows of his face and making his scar dance. Robert had seen seasoned criminals give Aaron a wide berth, everything about him screaming: get any closer and lose your teeth. Right then, watching him watch flames rise up into the night from what was left of the hideout he’d just tossed a giant ball of fire into (killing, in the process, a jumped-up mobster who hadn’t known his place), soft was the only word that fit. 

The tension he’d accepted as a part of Aaron had bled out. His lips had fallen open around barely a hint of a smile, and his eyes… they were drooping down the sides a little, tired after a long fight but still lit up by the beauty of the destruction he wrought. 

Robert couldn’t look anywhere else. 

He saw his hand on Aaron’s cheek before he realised he’d put it there in the first place. The tips of his fingers reached past an ear and his thumb smoothed against the rough beard under it. There was no force behind the touch. He didn’t want to interrupt, he just… he wanted…

But Aaron had turned to him anyway. Unwaveringly steady, where Robert was starting to lose his grip. 

He’d caught Robert then, with his heart beating outside his chest, and his eyes had lowered to his lips, asking for more.

And Robert had gone to him.)

–but they don’t talk about it. 

Aaron watches him. “You’re up to something.” 

Aaron can prove fuck all. Robert’s always up to something. He’s the man with the plan. 

“It’s just… we’ve been doing this for half a year now. We’re good at it. We’re not common thugs, Aaron, we’re Supervillains. We’re going to snatch the world from them one day and they should at least get to know our names.”

Their names. Tethered to each other for the rest of their careers. Inferno and The Operator.

“No faces,” of course not,  “but our signature on the scene of the crime. For a real audience, this time.”

They’ve been trying it out, a network of gears scorched into the ground or up a wall, but the powers that be have been able to keep it out of the papers somehow, credit for their work—at least the ones they haven’t been able to hide from the people altogether—being sloppily assigned to gang disputes. “Let’s stick our names under it as well. They’ll have to take notice, “ he says, grin turning wild at the thought. 

He can tell Aaron’s starting to give in by the sulk settling in in his cheeks and around his mouth. “Don’t know why you had to wait till now to decide that,” he grumbles quietly, and then stops.

Robert allows himself a small smile at the victory. His tablet screen unlocks. 

Aaron’s on board, and he’d known that would be the toughest hurdle to get over, but they still do need a way to get on the final RSVP list. Robert starts another list for that. He wonders if Leyla will know anything. She’s had some experience organising events like these in the past, before she was found out to have swindled millions of pounds from investors and had to leave the country. Or maybe they could comb through the building plans again. See if there’s another way for them to sneak in–

“You saw the article,” he hears.

The digital ink stops its frenzied scrawl across the screen. Instead, it quivers in place, forming a nervous-looking black blob at the end of a half-written letter. “Hm? Oh! You mean the one from the tabloid?” he says to the blob. “Think I saw someone reading it on the train.” He could stop there. He should. But of course, he doesn’t. “You two make a cute couple.”

“You’re jealous,” Aaron accuses.

(So maybe they don’t talk about the kiss, but sometimes they do talk around it.)

Robert doesn’t flinch. He looks over at Aaron, schooling his face into the picture of incredulity. “Of you?” he scoffs. “What, you think I’ve been secretly pining after the Red Rider all this time?” Robert laughs, shaking his head at that. He knows he’s overdoing it, just a touch, but that’s kind of the point. 

It works. Aaron looks thrown off for a couple of beats, and then his face falls, before a carefully blank mask gets put up in its place. “What,” he says, mouth tight around the word.

Wait, no. “No, no, no, I’m not,” he rushes to assure Aaron, serious this time, and feels like he can breathe again once Aaron’s shoulders start to lower. 

He almost regrets correcting him so quickly, with the way Aaron’s back to squinting at him and making Robert want to run.

After painful several silent minutes of Robert avoiding his gaze in favour of animating an illustration of the pair of them cackling next to a mountain of stolen dryadrium (aesthetically more impressive than drawing them cackling next to a small, 35 gram pile, however accurate), he peeks up just in time to catch Aaron scratch at his brow and shake his head at the table between them like he can’t believe this is what his life has come to. Robert relates deeply. 

“It wasn’t–” Aaron gestures uselessly with his hand, turning pink in the face. 

Robert watches him struggle. “What?” he asks, around the grin on his face.

Aaron’s glare might be more effective if he isn’t still blushing hard. “He walked right into me outside the cafe, and then he wouldn’t stop,” more gestures at his face, which is pulled into a grimace, “smiling.” He says this the way only he would when confronted with a too-friendly, (allegedly) good looking superhero: with confusion and a healthy amount of dread. Robert tries not to smile. “You know how they lose their heads over ‘im.” He shrugs like Robert hasn’t been moping and plotting all morning over this.

He’s got a point, though. The tabloids were dead set on the Red Rider hiding a secret family in Spain only last month. Two weeks after that, they were speculating on wedding colours after a picture of him chatting with a cashier at the grocer’s started circulating. Why he felt the need to do his shopping in his hero suit is anyone’s guess. 

Also, Robert possibly spends too much time reading the tabloids.

Robert clears his throat. “I wasn’t thinking that.”

“Sure you weren’t.” 

He doesn’t know why Aaron’s smirking quite so much, because it’s true. He wasn’t. Robert knows Aaron can do miles better than that self-important twat.

“And you deciding to rob the facility during the gala has nothing to do with the Red Rider being there, yeah?”

“As if,” Robert says, verging on petulant. “This really is the best chance we’ve got of getting our names out,” he insists, which is also true. And that’s when another thought hits him. Oh, he thinks. You idiot.

Because what if being professionally tied to him is the last thing Aaron wants for himself? They’ll be sharing more than headlines. They’ll be sharing successes, failures, enemies. And even if (when an uncharitable voice in his head injects) Aaron decides one day that he’s had enough of dealing with him, the consequences of their partnership will stick with him. 

“We can wait, if,” Robert shrugs glumly, “this isn’t something you want.” He hopes he doesn’t sound too miserable. “If you think we’re going too fast, or–”

“I already agreed to it, you muppet,” Aaron informs him. “But if you’ve changed your mind again,” he rolls his eyes, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “guess it saves me having to buy a suit.” 

“I’ll buy you the suit.” Robert doesn’t need Aaron staring back at him in surprise to know how quickly he’d said that, and how embarrassingly low and rough his voice had gone then.

An eternity passes before Aaron finally mumbles out a “Sure, whatever,” at the table, his cheeks pinking again.

“Yeah,” Robert starts, eager to salvage some of his dignity. “Now that we’ve settled that, let’s go over some of the other details.” He lets his tablet float to the middle of the table and resolves to not look at Aaron, or his twitching lips, or his knowing looks, for the next 15 minutes at least. He has a plan to perfect.

[eyebeastposts]

House of the Filthy Fly Girl

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Commission Info

WARNING THIS STORY CONTAINS: A Filthy Fly Girl Burping and Farting

  An office worker returns home to find it taken over by a filthy fly girl who intends to make it her personal landfill. This is a commissioned story for Mysowrites (https://www.deviantart.com/mysowrites) , featuring their OC Maggie.

  After a long day at the office, Todd wanted nothing more than to relax in the comfort of his own home. His fantasies of a peaceful evening vegging out in front of the TV were shattered the moment he discovered his door was unlocked. The need to protect his belongings making him neglect calling the police had him bracing himself to duke it out with whatever intruder was lurking for him inside.

  Pushing the door open, Todd was met with a gust of foul wind billowing out from his once neat and tidy abode. The smell seemed to have come forth from the depths of an overturned septic tank, every logical part of his brain telling him to turn around and never come back. Clamping his fingers tight around his nose, he managed to power through the heavy smog to enter his house. In a momentary lapse in judgement he closed the door behind him, blocking off the escape for both himself and the horrible odor that had filled his home.

  Moving about the halls, he couldn’t recall having such a wide collection of overturned trash bags and rotting food strewn about each room. Tape had been sealed against the edges of the windows and vents, preventing the awful miasma from escaping. The tacky wallpaper that he had learned to tolerate had begun to peel off the walls from the sheer power of the built up smog. Shuffling his way through the powerful stench and plethora of useless junk, he heard something buzzing around in his living room. Cautiously peeking his head around the corner, he wondered if his watery eyes were hallucinating from the fumes.

  Hovering off the ground with the help of a pair of rapidly beating, translucent bug wings was a young woman with bright green skin. A raggedy, stain-riddled, blue, buttoned down shirt and a pair of grungy, white underwear clung to her filth ridden form. Strands of neck length, dark green hair dripped a mysterious goo onto her shoulders that trickled down to the floor. Upon seeing the fly woman’s bright red, compound eyes, Ted let out a gasp that allowed an unhealthy amount of the house’s rotten odor to fill his lungs. Breaking into a coughing attempt in a futile attempt to rid his body of the toxic air, he almost didn’t hear the mischievous laughter emanating from the monstrous invader.

  “Hello there,” the fly girl said, hovering a few feet in front of Ted to show off her seemingly friendly smile. “My name is Maggie. I’m assuming you’re the owner of this house. Well, former owner at least. I’ve taken quite a liking to this place and I intend to make it my new home. Don’t suppose you’d be against having a roommate?”

  Ted opened his mouth to protest, but was soon shut up by the lingering odor of roadkill clinging to Maggie’s breath. Backing up in an attempt to find breathable air, he tripped over a worn-out boot. He fell backwards into one of the many piles of trash, finding himself surrounded by filth as equally disgusting as his home invader.

  “I knew you’d like it,” Maggie said, an excited smile on her face. “I spent all day bringing my collection over from my last house. It used to be so cramped and unpleasant, but here I can really spread out and admire my precious, personal landfill as much as I want. Speaking of which, I think I’ve earned myself a chance to relax and freshen up a bit.”

  Stopping the flapping of her wings, Maggie sent herself falling into a nearby trash pile. Squirming about in her vile hoard, she gave her body a new layer of slime and filth. As she continued to roll about, Ted became aware that she was permeating with her own horrible fragrance in the form of a thick musk of body odor clinging to her skin. While it was hard to make out amongst the rest of the trash, he could sense the distinct scent of a woman who hadn’t bathed in her entire life. He had to face this fact head on as she rolled up mere inches form his face with a banana peel clinging to her hair. Shooting him a toothy grin, she inadvertently gave him another taste of the rancid breath seeping out from between her teeth.

  “Isn’t this nice?” she asked, either ignorant or uncaring of his growing nausea. “Surrounded in a collection of wonderful garbage really makes this place feel like home. It was all so stuffy when I first got here. So much unused space, too much fresh air from the outside, and not to mention that flower smell coming from those candles.” Maggie shuddered as she recalled Ted’s preferred way of living. “This place really needed a filthy gal’s eye for interior decorating. Thanks to me, the house is almost perfect. It just needs one last finishing touch.”

  Pulling herself out of the pile, Maggie flew over to a corner of the room. Shooing away flies buzzing around the mound, she stuck her hand in and began to fish around. Holding up her hand, she showed offer her prize of a half-eaten apple tainted by dark green mold and bites taken out of it from maggots. Licking her lips as she inhaled its rotten scent, she opened her mouth and devoured it in just a few bites. Turning away from the disgusting sight, Ted glanced back at Maggie just in time to watch her gather up an armful of more rotten food.

  Spreading out her disgusting feast across the floor, Maggie went at her meal with animalistic savagery. Sinking her teeth into a dozen more over-ripened pieces of fruit made a sickening juice slather her chin as it dripped more stains onto her shirt. An ancient looking corndog was stripped clean in a single bite, allowing her to toss the leftover stick into her collection for later use. A half-eaten sandwich paired well with an old box of onion rings slathered in a heavy amount of month old mayonnaise. Finishing a dessert of stale muffins covered in a mysterious, black sludge, she set her sights on a carton of spoiled milk. Putting the carton to her lips, she tilted her head back to chug down the chunky, green milk to help wash down her feast of filth.

  Wiping stray droplets of milk from her lips, Maggie tossed the empty carton to the floor. The sound of cardboard bouncing against the trash made Ted fight against his better judgement to glance back at the fly girl. He watched as one hand picked off leftover crumbs from her shirt to be used as a post-meal snack while the other massaged her stomach. The feast had left her with a beach ball-sized, stomach bulge that made her hover a little lower than before. Her bright green skin peeked out between tears in her shirt to show off the taut surface of the bloated orb. Ted felt a sense of unease as he watched a series of tremors go through her body.

  “I can’t remember the last time I UUURRP ate like that,” Maggie belched, rubbing her distended belly. “Should make good fuel to properly redecorate this place.”

  Before Ted could have a chance to ask what she meant, he heard an unsettling groan emanate from her. Grabbing hold of her food baby, Maggie pressed into it to force out a bassy belch that spread her rancid breath throughout the room. Wiping a stray drop of drool from her mouth, Maggie lifted up her head to inhale the lingering gas cloud. Pleased with the result, she opened up her mouth to let out another thunderous belch. The burp was followed by several others, doing the job of filling the house with the reverberating noise and seeping her breath into the walls.

  Just as Ted’s ears stopped ringing and his nose powered through her burps, he was horrified to hear another sound coming from lower in the fly girl’s digestive tract. Bouncing around the room like a fairy of filth, Maggie looked as if she was attempting to hold in a building pressure. As the rumbling in her body reached its apex, she showed off a wide grin as she clutched her stomach and flew up to the ceiling. Hovering above a terrified Ted, she let finally let it all loose.

  A blast of air came squeaking out of her rear at first, gradually turning into a deep bellow that fluttered the hem of her shirt. The fart quickly engulfed the room, the odor overpowering the already foul atmosphere to be overtaken by noxious cloud of the various rotten meals that had been stewing in her stomach. Ted’s nostrils felt like they were on fire as her flatulence reached him, his eyes a watery mess and his lungs dying to get a semblance of fresh air.

  To his utter horror, he watched as Maggie scrunched up her face and pushed out more boisterous farts to further taint the house with her stink. Laughing at the worsening aura of odor surrounding her, Maggie’s chuckles were interspersed with more burps to add to her gassy outbursts. The sound of her constant belches and farts mixed with her childish laughter. Opening her mouth wide after a particularly nasty belch, she was more than happy to re-taste her revolting meal as the gas bubble glided across her tongue. Overtaken by her own enjoyment, her hands slid over her bloated gut to push out more gas and revel in the layer of filth caked onto her. Taking a deep inhale after a particularly long and rancid fart, Maggie finally felt at home.

  “Isn’t this BWOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRP wonderful?” Maggie asked. “Everything is just the way I like it. Wonderful décor, amazing food, and an irresistible odor make this place absolutely perfect.” Pushing into her stomach, she reveled in the feeling of a loud PHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTT sputtering out from her butt cheeks. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Ted couldn’t answer, too busy being unconscious on the floor. His body had mercifully gone limp in an attempt to avoid further torment from Maggie’s stench. Assuming he was just tired from overexcitement, Maggie flew down to his motionless form and cuddled up next to him.

  Pushing her belly against him, she gave one more blast of flatulence to give them a warm blanket of foul air to get comfortable in. “We’re going to be great UUURRP roommates,” she said, wallowing in her trash pile as she got ready for her first night sleeping in her new home.