#me when i discover that i can just get a piece of paper and suddenly have a teeny book in my hands

[eddieintheocean]

studying and being a good student (creating a cephalopod zine)

[reachartwork]

how to write fight scenes

many people have told me that Chum has good fight scenes. a small subset of those people have asked me on advice for how to write fight scenes. i am busy procrastinating, so i have distilled my general ethos on fight scenes into four important points. followed by a homework assignment.

Fight scenes take place on two axii - the physical and the intellectual. For the most interesting fight scenes, neither character should have a full inventory of the other's abilities, equipment, fighting style, etc. This gives you an opportunity to pull out surprises, but, more importantly, turns each fight into a jockeying of minds, as all characters involved have to puzzle out what's going on in real time. This is especially pertinent for settings with power systems. It feels more earned if the characters are trying to deduce the limitations and reach of the opponent's power rather than the opponent simply explaining it to them (like in Bleach. Don't do that). 1a. Have characters be incorrect in their assumptions sometimes, leading to them making mistakes that require them to correct their internal models of an opponent under extreme pressure. 1b. If you really have to have a character explain their powers to someone there should be a damn good reason for it. The best reason is "they are lying". The second best reason is "their power requires it for some reason".

Make sure your blows actually have weight. When characters are wailing at each other for paragraphs and paragraphs and nothing happens, it feels like watching rock 'em sock 'em robots. They beat each other up, and then the fight ends with a decisive blow. Not interesting! Each character has goals that will influence what their victory condition is, and each character has a physical body that takes damage over the course of a fight. If someone is punched in the gut and coughs up blood, that's an injury! It should have an impact on them not just for the fight but long term. Fights that go longer than "fist meets head, head meets floor" typically have a 'break-down' - each character getting sloppier and weaker as they bruise, batter, and break their opponent, until victory is achieved with the last person standing. this keeps things tense and interesting.

I like to actually plan out my fight scenes beat for beat and blow for blow, including a: the thought process of each character leading to that attempted action, b: what they are trying to do, and c: how it succeeds or fails. In fights with more than two people, I like to use graph paper (or an Excel spreadsheet with the rows turned into squares) to keep track of positions and facings over time.

Don't be afraid to give your characters limitations, because that means they can be discovered by the other character and preyed upon, which produces interesting ebbs and flows in the fight. A gunslinger is considerably less useful in a melee with their gun disarmed. A swordsman might not know how to box if their sword is destroyed. If they have powers, consider what they have to do to make them activate, if it exhausts them to use, how they can be turned off, if at all. Consider the practical applications. Example: In Chum, there are many individuals with pyrokinetic superpowers, and none of them have "think something on fire" superpowers. Small-time filler villain Aaron McKinley can ignite anything he's looking at, and suddenly the fight scenes begin constructing themselves, as Aaron's eyes and the direction of his gaze become an incredibly relevant factor.

if you have reached this far in this essay I am giving you homework. Go watch the hallway fight in Oldboy and then novelize it. Then, watch it again every week for the rest of your life, and you will become good at writing fight scenes.

as with all pieces of advice these are not hard and fast rules (except watching the oldboy hallway fight repeatedly) but general guidelines to be considered and then broken when it would produce an interesting outcome to do so.

okay have a good day. and go read chum.

[fev3rish]

THREE ISN’T A CROWD. ami wakita x reader x kenji sato (2.7k words)

In which Ami and Kenji find a piece of their hearts in you.

warnings. reader is a college graduate (23ish), emi appears only briefly in this and doesn’t interact with reader. i finished this in one day and barely proofread it. notes. no one: me, ( @victoirey ) after returning to tumblr after almost a year in hiatus, with a new alias and a new account: hey y'all...

but really i do hope y'all enjoy this little comeback!! I watched Ultraman completely sleep deprived, so i’m real sorry if there are any errors !! YOU HAVE ALL NEGLECTED AMI WAKITA TOO MUCH. I am taking my seat as the first person to ever post an x reader that included her 🙏 reblogs appreciated more than likes! let me know what you think!

it starts with Kenji & Ami. The tension between them is too strong to cover up as just friendly, and against his better judgment, Kenji can be a weak, weak man. Ami is as beautiful as she is elegant and kind. she’s also irresistible. So, Kenji asks her out on a date.

They go together well. Ami is a caring girlfriend, & Kenji, although a busybody—is a sweetheart to her. Their relationship is stable for the most part, and while Kenji does have trouble communicating, Ami is everlastingly patient.

five months into their relationship, Ami meets you.

You are just stepping into the real world, having graduated college a month ago and starting things off slowly. She remembers you, you interned at the company she worked for. You had done well—and they had requested to have you work full-time.

You were as competent as she expected; having been asked to take you under her wing until you were skilled enough to become a senior journalist like she was, she threw you into the career mercilessly. Maybe it was on purpose, maybe it wasn’t—but Ami had good intentions. She had expectations for you.

You exceeded them.

When Ami first took you under her wing, she expected you to have a hard time adjusting. You did, make no mistake, but not for long. It seems you just naturally coordinated well with her—it kind of pissed her off. You were so good at your job, and you were both such a good team. She can only imagine how much better you’d be once you finally became a senior journalist. 

“Ms. Ami?” She jolted in her seat. Her eyes scanned around the room for who called, and her eyes landed on you. Ah, yes. That’s right, she’d asked you to fetch some of the papers she printed from the printing room a couple of minutes ago. She smiled kindly, welcoming you in.

“Your papers.” “Thank you.”

As you handed her papers over, Ami’s eyes landed on your hands. She didn’t know what came over her.  She shook your hands the first time she met you, she’s given you high fives before, so why did it feel different now? Why was there a spark so suddenly?

—And as she indulged in her own selfish desires, letting her hand caress yours as you handed her the papers, why did she want it to last longer? You left the room, smiling at her one last time. Her eyes creased as she smiled back, but you never had the chance to see it. She wishes you did. Would you have reacted to it? Why did she care so much? Ami gulped nervously.

This was a problem. Ami’s growing feelings were a big, big problem. You had her wrapped around your finger, and you didn’t even know. Kenji was clueless. Ami wanted to keep it that way; she loved Kenji the same way she always did after all: infinitely.

Polyamory wasn’t new to her, but it also was. She’s known of it, she’s known how it worked, courtesy of a boring day, free will, and Google—she didn’t know she would actually be considering getting into it!

It gnawed at her, and she refused to get into it with anyone. Even her darling boyfriend, who noticed, and asked about it. Ami shut down any attempt to ask what was wrong with a newly discovered fire, saying that she wasn’t ready to talk about it. She wasn’t. 

Besides, Kenji had a scheduled interview with you in two hours! He had better things to worry about. 

Kenji was used to reporters trying to get his attention.

That’s how he met his love, Ami. She wormed her way into his heart and showed him what balance meant, and unknowingly, she also helped him with Emi. He owed Ami more than she knew, and he was planning on paying that debt in full—hopefully, she would accept payment in love. 

Kenji is head over heels for his girl by the time you enter the picture, and he sits down with you for an interview. 

It was an idea Ami put into your head, and you set to work—shyly asking the woman if she could schedule you for an interview with the athlete. You wanted to exceed your own expectations for yourself, and you thought that a face-to-face interview with a (truthfully, intimidating) athlete would get you there. Ami grinned once you opened up to her about it, and she agreed.

So now, here you were.

twiddling your thumbs and clicking your pen, you waited for the famous Kenji Sato to arrive at the table you had reserved. You didn’t know when you started spacing out, but when you snapped back in—he was already in front of you, awaiting your next move. The pen you clicked was gripped with such fervor as you tried to collect yourself, sheer shock filling your veins because how could you just space out like that—

“You’re going to interview me, yeah?” The star had asked, and you swallowed the blockage in your throat, flustered. “Yes, yes, Mr. Sato—“ You blurted out, obviously unprepared. 

Kenji would never admit it, but he thought it was cute. It was really, really cute. You could say your own embarrassment charmed him, with how he spoke to you in response. His tone was calm, soft; friendly. “Hey, hey—loosen up, it’s all good. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Your mouth went dry. He only smiled even more, and before you knew it—as if his inner peace was contagious, you breathed in and out. Then, you smiled back. “It’s nice to meet you too, Mr. Sato.” You had replied, “I take it Ms. Ami has filled you in on me, yes?” He nodded, and that’s where it all truly began.

You had cracked a joke, and he cracked up. You had asked such deep questions, ones that made it seem like you weren’t trying to garner answers from the Baseball Star Kenji Sato, but rather from just Kenji Sato himself. It was refreshing. His posture slouched as he joked around with you, and it was then he realized why Ami and you seemed to get along so well. You were…for lack of a better word, you were pleasant to be around.

Kenji only got closer to you. It seemed like you were everywhere he & Ami were, and wherever you were—you indulged in nice little conversations. Most of the time, he really only planned on saying hi—and most of the time, he and his girl just caved and started gossiping with you for a good thirty minutes.

Ami & Kenji had shared their personal numbers with you by the fifth time you three ran into each other, and eventually, you started hanging out outside of your own professions. Informal hangouts, at the most spontaneous of places. Kenji & Ami, who had recently revealed they were dating you—basically adopted you. Think of it like the “mama y papa” audio, but it’s you recording—and the other two are being mama and papa.

Of course, fate works in confusing ways. You ended up in a conflicting situation.

You noticed things you didn’t even notice about yourself, like how Kenji’s smile was a bit lopsided when he laughed but only around you two, or how Ami’s eyes sparkled most whenever you were hanging out in the local cinema and the light landed on her just right.

Your love for them did not hit you like a truck. It was like you knew. It was a pat on your shoulder, just to catch your attention. It did.

It gnawed at you like it did Ami.

Kenji, unlike the two of you, was positively clueless to the point that it was almost cute, as irritating as it was. He didn’t know he felt some type of way about you, he just thought the blush that formed in his cheeks was because of the fact Ami was near, not because you laughed so shamelessly and so prettily at a joke he came up with. 

He loved Ami a lot, almost to the point it suffocated him, and he still did when he started feeling that same way about you. That’s when he realized. He realized that maybe, he liked you; but he was so confused. He had Ami, and he felt the same way about her, so why did he feel the same way about you?

It was then a thought went into his head. He likes Ami, and she has a suite reserved for her in his heart—but what if that suite was built for two?

Fortunately, when that thought comes into his head, Ami enters his bedroom and finally asks him to talk.

Unfortunately, it is one of the rare situations Ami doesn’t know how to begin, and Kenji is an amateur communicator.

“So.” Ami clicked her tongue. “So?” Kenji tilted his head, resting his chin on his closed fist as he sat on the edge of his bed— Ami right next to him, although the woman could not even look in his direction. Ami poked the inside of her cheek with her tongue, uncharacteristically unsure. She sighed and then started. “Them.”

Them.

You. Ami meant you. Kenji knew that from the get-go, it was always you, you, you. You were their soft spot, as much as they were each other’s soft spot. And you didn’t even know.

“What about them?” Kenji replied. Ami sucked in a breath and placed her hand over Kenji’s own. “I… I want—“ Ami stammered, scared; how would Kenji react? “I want to love them. I want them as much as I wanted to love, and still want to love, you.” Ami whispered. Kenji looked at his Ami, and he sighed, but it wasn’t in disbelief. No, instead, he was relieved. He looked at Ami and responded, “Me too.”  

“Si- What? Since when?” The woman stammered. “Since they laughed at my joke that one time last month when we hung out at the festival.” He replied, not facing her but smiling nonetheless. “How about you?” He inquired.

“Since they delivered the papers I asked them to pick them up from the printing room,” Ami replied, still shocked. Kenji just laughed, sprawling himself out on the bed. Ami looked down on him, “Do you… Have you heard of polyamorous relationships? Of throuples?”

“Of course I have. It wasn’t really a common sight back in America, but it also wasn’t rare to just look at a group of people and go, ‘Oh, they definitely have group cuddles at night.’ “ Kenji laughed, and Ami scoffed.

“…Well, do you wanna try it out?”  She bit her lip, trying to test the waters. “With them, I mean.” Kenji looked at Ami, then at the ceiling. Then, back at Ami—and back to the ceiling. “Well, fuck.” He groaned,but Ami could hear the crack of a smile. “It wouldn’t hurt, right?”

Ami shook her head. “I don’t think so. Not if it’s them.”

“You’re so corny.”

Ami & Kenji invited you out the following week, and three hours before the prior hangout, they were both freaking out over how to properly ask you about it. Mina had to intervene a bit. They were disturbing Chiho, after all.  

With bated breath and flowers in both of their palms, they watched as you walked into the restaurant and greeted them. You slid into the empty booth, sitting across from them as you questioned why they had decided to meet you here so suddenly.

Ami wanted to slowly guide you into it, but Kenji wanted you to join as soon as possible. He interrupted his girlfriend, blurting out how they ‘wanted you to be their girlfriend because you’re really cool and would fit right in’

Ami looked at him like he had grown two heads. You fixed your collar as you processed his words in shock, and then—finally, you quietly accepted.

“I’d like that.” You whispered before Ami could tear through Ken. Their heads snapped in your direction, Ami’s eyes widened beyond belief and Kenji with the biggest grin you had ever seen him don. “Are you serious? Are— Are you certain?” Ami nagged. You shrugged and nodded. “I mean, I’ve... I’ve liked,” You really, truly, and utterly meant love—but that.. was scary. “I’ve liked you two for a while now—and if you’ll have me, I’d love to join your relationship.” You concluded. Kenji’s grin got impossibly wider, “So it was that easy?!” He exclaimed, and Ami smacked him upside the head. You laughed. Kenji did too, & Ami’s eyes creased the way you always loved, as a bright smile made its way to her face too. She looked at you, a bit unsure, but nonetheless determined.

“We’re all new to this. Let’s take it slow, okay?” You nodded. Kenji only raised his hand and went, “Waiter! Can we get some drinks in here? For a celebration!” 

Looking at Kenji’s toothy smile, and Ami’s content expression, you perked up. You had waited for your turn at the rollercoaster of love, and now you were buckled in. It would be a hell of a ride.

Ami and Kenji will run you ragged (positive) adapting to their love languages. Kenji is very physical, he likes to give you two back hugs, and he does them way too often than he should. Ami, however, is more of a quiet lover, but you know she loves you. Your proof? The fact she orders for you and gets it right all the time, the way there’s always food made when Kenji and you sleep in—and the tender way your hair is combed when you first sleep in the same bed as them.

Her love language is acts of service if you couldn’t tell.

Ami & Kenji, in contrast to other throuples, usually schedule dates where all three of you can spend time with each other. They want to spend as much time with you as they can, both being as busy as they can be—with Kenji being a part of the Giants and also literally Ultraman, and Ami being a renowned journalist, there is not a day where they yearn for you three to reunite once more. Of course, while Kenji is busy—Ami and you always cuddle, and vice versa, but they truly prefer three-way dates. Triple the love, Kenji says.

When you met Chiho, she put her Ultraman mask on you first thing. You laughed and placed it back onto her head—stating that she fit it much better than you did. Kenji joined in, too. The two of you played with Chiho, not knowing that Ami, in her study, was watching over you three: love clouded her eyes as she watched Kenji lift Chiho up, her Ultraman mask on, as you, the ‘villain’, cowered in fear of the mighty superhero she was.

Chiho clung to the three of you like glue after that. All she knew was that Mr. Kenji and Mama loved you as much as they loved each other. That was enough for her to love you even more.

You and Ami aren’t that stupid. You both know who Ultraman truly is—you both know what Kenji’s hiding. even if you aren’t admitting it. You just both remember to shower him with a little more love when he takes a nastier beating.

It takes Kenji five months to finally confirm it, though. He says he’s Ultraman and he can’t even look you both in the eyes. His pretty skin is bruised, and his eye is beaten black. You and Ami look at each other, then at him.

The two of you treat him tenderly, an ice bath having been prepared. He swears he’s in heaven when he sees his two sweethearts lean over the bathtub to give him kisses—a kiss from you on the left, and a kiss from Ami on the right. He asks you both to join him and you shut him down. Boyfriend or not, an ice bath is an ice bath… and an ice bath is freakishly, freakishly cold.

That same night, you lure Kenji into bed, Ami already tucked into the blankets as she opens up Netflix and smiles at the two of you. Kenji takes his place in the middle, ready to be coddled because the Lord knows he needs it with how stressed he is.

You place a hand on his chest to give him a kiss on the forehead, and Ami rests her head on his shoulder. Kenji can’t even focus on the movie, he can only focus on the two of you. He wonders if the two of you feel the same way he does; he already has his answer: Yes.

He feels so loved.

[stllmnstr]

sacred monsters [teaser!]

pairing: lee heeseung x f reader

genre: academic rivals to lovers, vampire au, slow burn

teaser word count: 1.7k

teaser warnings: swearing

release date: saturday, august 3, 10 PM EST

soundtrack: still monster / moonstruck / lucifer - enhypen / everybody wants to rule the world - tears for fears / immortal - marina / supermassive black hole - muse / saturn - sleeping at last / everybody’s watching me (uh oh) - the neighbourhood

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A literature student in your third year of university, you’ve been dreaming of having your writing published for as long as you can remember. With a perfect opportunity dangling at your fingertips, the only obstacle that stands in your way comes in the form of a ridiculously tall, stupidly handsome, and unfortunately, very talented writer by the name of Lee Heeseung. Unwilling to let your dream slip out of reach, you commit to being better than the aforementioned pain in your ass at absolutely everything.

But when a string of vampire attacks strikes close to your city for the first time in nearly two hundred years, publishing is suddenly the last thing on your mind. And, as you soon begin to discover, Heeseung may not quite be the person you thought he was.

note: this fic is my BABYYY so I really hope it’s well received and you all have a good time with it. it’s probably no surprise that still monster is one of my absolute favorite enha songs, and this story is essentially (my interpretation of) it in written form. this is going to be a multi-part story, and as of right now, the first part is almost ready to share. for now, enjoy this snippet!

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Crossing a dark line through the word you just penned, you sigh. 

This is the fastest you’ve put a story together in ages. It’s cohesive, and the writing is solid. Your use of metaphor is strong and concise, and the prose feels true to your identity as a writer. 

But something in you withers a bit with every new word you commit to paper. It’s not that you hate your topic. If anything, it’s just that you have no stake in it at all. It doesn't feel innovative or exciting or representative of your creativity. 

No matter how easily the words flow out of you, something about it just feels… flat. One dimensional. 

You need something new. A different angle or an alternative perspective or… Or a fresh set of eyes. 

Struck with a sudden idea, you pull out your phone, plan taking form in your mind. The literature club at your university hosts bimonthly peer review sessions, and you haven’t taken advantage of them nearly as much as you should. They’re a chance for any writer, literature major or otherwise, to come together and workshop any piece of writing of their choice. 

Tapping your finger impatiently on the table, you wait for the page to load. The fall semester did end almost a week ago, so it may be a long shot. You’re not sure if the club typically holds sessions over winter break. But as you pull up the club’s calendar of events, a small smile tugs at your lips. 

Luck seems to be on your side this time. It’s written there in plain, bold font that there will be a session this upcoming Friday evening. That means that if you attend the session and get some solid ideas for revision, you’ll have exactly five days to refine your draft before you present it to Professor Kim. 

The idea of having not only a topic, as the schedule outlined, but an actual complete,  well-written draft to show him next Wednesday, turns your small smile into one that overtakes your features. 

Energized with a new vigor, you reach for your pen again. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you remind yourself, even as a turn of phrase makes you cringe. Even as a piece of punctuation feels out of place. It just needs to be written. You just need to have as much content as you can to share on Friday. 

Besides, you’re sure that a second opinion will help you fine tune this story into something you’re proud to share, something you’re excited to attach your name to.

The afternoon is quick to blur into early evening, and you’re still bent over your favorite corner table. Coffee long drained, you’re full of a new confidence. The thought of proving yourself suddenly doesn’t seem like such an unachievable, out of reach task. 

And when you do finally gather up all of your belongings and make your way back to your apartment for the night, you’re sure that this is the exact boost you needed. 

That same stroke of self-assuredness carries you all the way through a finished first draft. It’s rough and messy and littered with loose ends, but it’s tucked away in the bottom of your tote bag with a smile as you haul it to classroom number 105 in the university liberal arts building Friday evening. 

You pause at the door to the classroom, only for a moment. The inhale you breathe in is deep, full. Nodding to yourself once, you push open the door. 

You haven’t been to one of these workshop sessions since the second semester of your first year, back when you had just switched to a literature major. You remember being wide-eyed and incredibly protective over your work. It was hard to part with it, to let anyone else read over the sentences you were so unsure of. The writing you had little confidence in. 

But your partner had been kind. Another girl in her first year, she had nothing but gentle feedback to give and reassurance that your writing was worth reading. Honestly, it was such an overwhelmingly positive experience that you would have come back for more sessions if you weren’t constantly struggling to find minutes to spare in the day. 

You’re hoping that tonight will be just as rewarding as you enter the classroom, tote bag in tow. But as you survey the space around you, your face falls flat, easy going smile dropping from your lips. 

You weren’t expecting a big crowd, considering that it is winter break and most students are deliberately avoiding campus right now, but you were hoping there’d be more than one other person in attendance. 

Well, you think, deciding to look on the bright side of things. At least you’re not the only person. 

The other attendee is sitting in the far corner of the room, occupying a desk near the front of the classroom. At the sound of your entrance, they turn to face you. 

With that, your small disappointment is quick to snowball into an intense wave of exasperation. Because why is the universe so hellbent on playing games with you?

Your mouth drops open without your permission. “Heeseung?” 

Your sudden outburst fills the room and lingers long into the awkward silence that follows. You hadn’t meant to say anything, but really, what are the god forsaken odds?

If he’s bothered by your reaction to seeing him, Heeseung doesn’t show it. Instead he looks strangely… relieved. It makes absolutely no sense for him to feel any sort of relief at the sight of you, but it’s hard to put a more apt descriptor to the way tension drains from his shoulders, crease between his brows softening as he looks at you, scans you from head to toe. 

A moment of stilted silence passes between the two of you. Another. Your heartbeat feels too loud in your chest.

You exhale, a cross between a scoff and a laugh so humorless it could freeze a flame. Weighing your options, the most tempting by far is to just turn on your heel and exit the way you came. 

Heesung seems to read your intention before you can commit to it. 

Breaking the heaviness in the atmosphere, he acts as if you’ve greeted him like an old friend, not as the source of all your recent headaches. 

“Hi,” he nods, so tentatively you almost want to let your jaw drop open in shock. Almost. 

Because what the fuck does he mean by ‘Hi?’ This has to be some kind of mind game, some way to get in your head and ruin this for you. 

“Right.” Your lips pull into a tight line. You don’t bother to return his greeting. “I’m just gonna go, then.” Hiking up your bag on your shoulder, you turn to do just that. Your first draft will just have to be unpolished. Oh, well. You’re sure Professor Kim will have better feedback for you than Lee Heeseung ever would anyway. 

Once again, Heeseung’s voice cuts across the classroom. “Wait.” There’s a command in his voice. Gentle, but firm. Insistent. So pervasive that you find yourself following without really meaning to. 

Mind made up and dead set on leaving, now you’re just annoyed. What a waste of a Friday evening.

“What?” You turn back to him. You’re not sure if there’s more venom in your voice or your eyes. 

And Heeseung, who commands a classroom with quiet grace, with his steady, unwavering presence, suddenly looks so damn unsure. As if tormenting you is uncharted territory. As if he’s never once left you in the cold with flaming cheeks and a thoroughly shattered ego. 

“I…” he trails off, not quite meeting your furious gaze. “Didn’t you come here to get feedback?”

“Right.” You scoff again. “Because I’m sure you’d love nothing more than to tear my writing to shreds. Forgive me, but I’m not interested in being the butt end of your joke tonight.”

“What?” If you didn’t know any better, the ignorance he feigns would be rather convincing. “That’s not why I’m here.” He shakes his head. “I brought something I want reviewed too.” 

Your brow arches. He can’t be serious. “Even if I did stay,” you counter, “you’re actually the last person I would want to read my work. Feel free to be offended by that, by the way.”

For a solid minute, Heeseung just looks at you. He wears that same damn deer-in-the-headlights expression he had after you brushed him off when he intercepted you in class the other day. He pauses, weighing words on his tongue. “Look, ____.” The sound of your name on his lips strikes a strange chord in you. Until now, you were certain he didn’t even know it. “Did I do something to offend—”

And no. Absolutely not. No way are you rehashing that day in the quad with him now. 

“You know what,” you interrupt. You need to go. Now. You need an out. “I’m actually, like, super tired. I think I’m just gonna head back, and—”

But then it’s his turn to cut off your train of thought. “It’s your piece for Professor Kim, isn’t it?” Heeseung takes your silence as confirmation. “Publishing is a big deal. A second set of eyes will only make your work stronger. And if you hate my feedback, it’s not like you have to use any of it.”

You hate it. You despise the way his reasoning matches your internal monologue nearly word for word. The way your thoughts align exactly. 

You pause, a decision weighing heavy on your mind. He is an excellent writer… There would probably be substance to his feedback. Real, actual, good substance that you could use to make your writing bloom into something truly amazing. He could be the exact spark you need to make your story come to life. 

You purse your lips. “What’s in it for you?”

Heesung smiles, a nearly imperceptible quirk of his lips. He knows he’s won. “Like I said, I brought something I’ve been working on.” There’s an intention you can’t quite read behind his gaze when he adds, “I want to know what you think of it.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

With a grumble, you take reluctant steps towards where he sits on the opposite side of the classroom. And if you slide down into the seat next to him with a little more force than necessary, well, it’s just because you’ve had a long week. No other reason. None at all. 

“Fine,” you relent, reaching to pull your notebook out of your bag. “You get twenty minutes.”

“That’s not nearly long eno—”

“Thirty,” you concede. “And don’t push it.”

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TO BE CONTINUED...

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note: thanks for checking out this little snippet! I can't wait to share the full first part soon. this one is going to be so much fun I'm buzzing already. I don't have a tag list, but I will most likely update this post and reblog it once I have a confirmed release date. like I said in the note at the beginning, I'm anticipating it will be ready to go by this sunday (august 4 EST) at the latest. woo!

[ihavemanyhusbands]

Wrapped Around Your Finger

Hannibal Lecter x Fem!Reader

Also on AO3

Summary: Hannibal decides to switch things up a bit, relinquishing his power to you.

WC: 1.8k words

Warnings: SMUT! (18+ only, minors dni), light bondage, femdom-ish? (not really tho lmao), oral (f receiving), p in v, unprotected sex (don't do it at home), that's all I can think about so lmk if I missed anything!

------

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 drifted out of the living room speakers. Outside, there was a thunderstorm, rain falling heavily and ceaselessly, the wind howling. There would be glimpses of lightning between the drapes, and you counted the seconds before the low growl of thunder would follow. 

There was a fire in the hearth – yes, a hearth! You were dating a very fancy guy , after all – crackling softly. The room smelled pleasantly of firewood and old books and him. You had a glass of white wine in one hand, your body loose and languid, warm all over. 

It was simply the perfect night to stay in.

You were slightly bent over, looking at a section of his book collection. Cookbooks were the vast majority, which wasn't surprising, but your interest was also piqued by tomes on art history, natural sciences, and even anatomy. 

You picked one up at random and leafed through it absently. Dr. Lecter -- as you sometimes still liked to refer to him -- was such an exciting man, knowledgeable on things that you had never even imagined. He had undoubtedly expanded your palate, but you had to admit he'd expanded your mind quite a lot too.

You wore no pants, only the shirt Hannibal had been wearing earlier, which just barely reached your knees. He was down to his briefs, lounging on a chaise and absolutely devouring you with his gaze.

"Are you going to read to me?" Hannibal asked, directing your attention back to him. 

Though his tone was teasing, he secretly wished that you would. He did love your mellifluous voice, especially when reciting sonnets. Or moaning his name to the wind, like a ravenous wolf called to the full moon.

You blushed, a bit timid that you'd been caught so utterly distracted. "Sorry, just poking around..."

He smiled, feeling a little smug. "Find anything interesting?"

“Hard not to.” You said, approaching and swinging one leg over him, straddling his hips. 

His free hand immediately came to rest on your thigh, thumb tracing fire on your skin. 

Your voice hitched as you added, “Y-you know, you can tell a lot about a man by what he has in his home.”

“Oh? And what have you discovered about me?”

You chuckled, setting down your glass. “You like to ask a lot of questions.” You leaned down to plant a kiss on his lips, adding, “And you like being in control.”

“I suppose I do,” he returned the kiss with fervor, swiping his tongue over your bottom lip. You shuddered against him, and he pressed closer to you. 

“Oh, but that reminds me…” he continued, suddenly pulling away. “I’ll be right back.”

You plopped down on the chaise as he got up and headed down the hall to his bedroom. You watched his muscular back as he retreated, biting your lip. You felt a little lightheaded from the sudden influx of arousal, so you lay back, rubbing your thighs together. He always knew how to get you going, but he did have a bit of a tendency to be a tease. He wasn’t like Will, who loved getting straight to the point.

Not that you were complaining about either of them.

When Hannibal came back into the room, he handed you a black box. There was a piece of paper with your name on it on top, and you traced your fingers over his refined penmanship. Your eyes then widened, and you couldn’t help but panic a little bit at the prospect of forgetting something important. 

“A gift?” You squeaked.

“Of sorts,” he smirked, utterly devious.

“What for? Oh, Hannibal, you shouldn’t have.”

“Just open it, darling.”

So you did, sliding the top off to reveal the last thing you had expected – lengths of crimson-colored rope. Not just any rope either, but silk rope, the expensive-looking kind. You blinked, momentarily shocked, but when you looked up at him, his smirk had only grown.

“I thought we could do something fun– turn the tables a bit.” He purred, kneeling before you. “You have been such an angel with me, and perhaps it is time I surrendered to you.”

“And you want me to…” you trailed off, eyes flicking down to the ropes in your lap.

His eyes were a bewitching flame that kept you captivated. “Yes, sweetness. And perhaps next time, they can go on you. It’s only fair, you know?”

“Are you sure?” 

“One hundred percent.”

You smiled, all sharp teeth ready to sink into his divine flesh. You captured his lips in a fierce kiss, pressing yourself flush against him. You felt his teeth graze your lower lip, making heat pool in your belly.

When you pulled away, you tied his arms behind his back, one resting over the other. You figured you’d keep it simple tonight, even if you were already imagining all of the patterns you wanted to tie all over his body. You could make him into an utter masterpiece – not that he wasn’t already one.

You kissed his neck and up to the back of his ear, feeling his chest heaving against yours. 

“You okay?” You whispered against his skin, and he nodded.

Your eyes roamed over him, your hands soon following, sliding over the expanse of his chest. Up to his shoulders, down his arms. Then they stopped at the edge of his briefs, fingers teasing the elastic.

“This is all mine, isn’t it?” You said, biting your lip.

“Yes, my darling, all of me,” he breathed, and his breath hitched as your hand wandered lower, cupping his length over his briefs. “And what parts of you will you give to me?”

“The tastiest bits, of course,” you smiled, and his eyes mirrored the hunger you felt. “Stay on your knees for me, will you?”

Stepping back, you ever-so-slowly began to unbutton the shirt you wore. He was unable to tear his gaze away from you and all the skin you were revealing. You still had Will’s teeth marks on your inner thighs, now a faded pink and yellow. His eyes lingered on this detail, and he swallowed hard. 

You let the shirt fall off your body, pooling on the hardwood floor. Next, your thumbs hooked on the sides of your underwear, a little lacy black number you knew he loved. Your hips swayed as you pulled it down ever so slightly, looking coy as you teased him.

He strained against the ropes, wanting to touch you, to retaliate for this delicious torture you were making him go through. But he needed to be good, he reminded himself. He was rather enjoying how things were unfolding, after all. 

You felt a sudden thrill at watching him squirm, loving that you had such an effect on him. Your underwear also fell to the ground, and you approached him slowly, a mischievous glint in your eye. 

“So, would you like a taste?” You asked huskily.

In response, he eagerly leaned forward, which made you chuckle a little. You bent down until your lips were only a hair’s breadth apart, and you whispered, “Can you say please?”

“Please,” he breathed, and you pulled back a little as he tried to kiss you. “Please, I want to taste all of you.”

Satisfied, you planted a quick, chaste kiss on his lips before standing back up. You ran a hand through his hair, pulling his head back a little. Then, leaning on one of his shoulders, you draped your leg over his other shoulder, pulling him closer.

In the next moment, his face was buried in your cunt. He was absolutely ravenous, licking you with an almost trance-like gusto. He shifted against his bindings once more, wanting to add his hands into the mix, but to no avail. His frustration only fueled him on, and you dug your hands into his hair once more.

Arching your back, you completely lost yourself to the sensation, baring the column of your throat to the skies as your eyes fluttered closed.

“That’s it, right there,” you encouraged, words melting away into a moan.

You let out a shuddering breath as his tongue began to trace slow circles around your most sensitive spot. Then his teeth were then added into the equation, adding just enough pressure to make lightning bolts of pleasure shoot through you. Almost involuntarily, you began to rock your hips, seeking more, more, more.

Greedy thing, he thought to himself, both amused and absolutely bewitched. He hummed deeply in approval, and that coil in your stomach wound tightly, just on the brink of snapping.

“H-Hannibal,” you breathed, muscles tensing. “I-I’m gonna…”

With a keening wail, you stumbled over the edge, heat rippling throughout your body. Your legs turned to Jelly as you gripped his hair tighter, grinding your cunt against his face with wild abandon. He moaned deeply, utterly lost in the all-encompassing feeling of you. You panted, your movements slowing as you rode out the aftershocks, coming down from your high. 

You straightened, pulling your leg back and letting go of his hair. He smiled up at you beatifically, the lower half of his face glistening. He loved the sight of you trembling like that, face and chest flushed, eyes glassy with stars. How you would feign demureness after orgasm, as if ashamed to have displayed such carnality; Such wantonness. 

We are made of flesh and fault, he recalled you saying once. 

A moment later, when you were feeling much more merciful, you untied him and lightly massaged his arms. But he immediately descended upon you, kissing all over your body – adoring every inch of you. Your thighs gripped his hips, urging him closer, and he happily complied. When he sank into you, it felt like two pieces of a puzzle finally coming together, where they belonged.

You clung to him, digging your nails into his biceps. Your eyes once more fluttered close, but he immediately said, “No. Look at me.”

You complied, gazing into those intense amber eyes of his. “Good girl,” he praised with a small smile, giving you a quick kiss. 

The words were like a flame licking over your skin. He could feel you clench around him, which elicited a low moan. He went harder, faster, his pace losing control. You could tell he was close, and you stretched up to kiss him, biting his bottom lip. His muscles tensed and he cursed under his breath, your name soon following. He reached his own climax, holding you close to him.

Then the two of you lie sprawled on the floor, breathing hard, limbs tangled. Your head lay on his chest, listening to the rapid beating of his heart. You kissed him on the ribs, right atop it, and sighed contentedly.

“So, about the next time we do this…” you trailed off, a playful edge to your tone.

He chuckled, stroking your hair. “Oh, you have no idea what I have in store for you.”

--------

[muffinsin]

Hello my FAVORITE child, your Mother stopping by to drop a HC request if ya don't mind humoring me. I give you free reign with the maidens.... they are replaceable . But my vases and flowers are off limits still. You still do no wrong and are so perfect, smart and intelligent.

Also make sure u drain the blood the way Alci showed with the maidens. Now to my ask...... *unfolds a long ass piece of parchment paper and puts on my glasses*

Ok so hear me out. You know my HC on Feral Cass after her Cadou implant. Like babygirl is dumb ass rocks. She cant speak, talk, read, write, like nothing. Her whole brain gets wiped from something going wrong w her Cadou. She ask like a legit animal, like growling and snarls instead of words. U know feral feral.

SO like I would LOVE to hear your HC's on what Feral Cass would be like if she is like on a hunt and finds a pregnant women in the woods. For some reason or the other the women is lost from the village cuz preggo brain. Like she can smell that the women is with child and gets maybe curious about just what that means. *dumb ass rocks Cass but still has those baser instincts to know that this isn't normal prey* And maybe Cass like ends up protecting the women from an attack *cuz u know those woods aint never safe* so she is even more confused on why she did that. Why protect this "bloated "human ? Its just a human... right? She kills humans just to kill, what was different about this one type.

OK I go now... I ramble. BYYYEEEEE MY FAVORTIE CHILD!!!!!!

Hello, Mother @darkittensniper ! I suppose the vases and flowers being off limits is acceptable aims hatchets at the windows Being right and correct and all😌🙌 Dw, I know how to drain em >:)

Nooooow, abso-freaking-lutely! We love sum feral Cassie in this house🙌

Let’s get into it :)!

Masterlists

Noises, smells, visuals, everywhere. Cassandra loves and hates it at the same time

Her head jerks, from left to right, up and down. Her eyes wide, her lips parted enough to allow a glimpse of sharp, white canines dripping blood

Every little sound has her attention

Every little movement has her twitch and glance in the direction

Every scent makes her growl quietly

A hunt- a good hunt, this one will be. Certainly

If only she could settle on a prey. There is simply so much to choose from, she’s foaming at the mouth and growling in excitement already

Birds, boars, rabbits, villagers and hunters, Lycans and bears, even a varcolac!

She turns her head to the right, so fast it feels as though her neck is snapping

Cassandra snarls at the sensation, and for a moment it’s enough to drown out the noise she has just heard

Ah, but it returns. Panting

Yes, unmistakably

Female. Exhausted. Panicking. Crying

Cassandra’s eyes flash dangerously for a moment

She snarls for a mere moment again, her claw-like nails digging sharply into the handles of her daggers. For a second she considers dropping them, before the memory of the special engravings on its handle remind her not to do so

Then, a smirk appears on her face when she catches the direction of the strange scent

She is ready to hunt

She runs fast, uncaring and unaware of her dress getting stuck on twigs and thorns and ripping free again seconds after

Often, it nearly makes her trip. She pays it no mind, only keeps running

She can’t think, can’t talk, can’t do a thing but follow the noise and follow her basic instinct to discover, claim, and kill

The closer the gets, the more feral she seems to become

Her mouth waters at the loud heartbeat she hears, her eyes widen at the overwhelming scent that hits her

Suddenly she stops in her tracks, so sudden it’s as if she’s run into an invisible wall

She snarls, then whimpers, as though in confusion

Certainly, this scent is different than a normal one

Hunger and brutality is met with curiosity

As her legs come to a final halt and she stalks quietly, she finds her prey

She moves under twigs and through bushes, quietly snarking and smacking them away with the sharp sides of the daggers

Her lips curl upwards when she finds her prey again, this time being granted a closer look

Panting, crying, hissing and groaning, clutching her bloated stomach. Poor thing. Not that Cassandra understands

A woman. This much is clear

You’re unaware of the feral, beast-like brunette watching you from among the trees

You don’t hear her growl, her snarl of frustration when she can’t figure out what’s different about you

You don’t care, either, though

Not when all your attention is pulled to your foot and the harsh metal spikes piercing it

The flesh of your ankle is swollen and red, pulsing and radiating heat. You cry out and pant to yourself as you attempt to work on the sharp metallic teeth

A bear trap

Cassandra catches wind of this, too

Her lips are all too dry, and as her tongue darts out to lick them, her eyes flash to the blood covering your ankle

Hunger takes over her again, and as she inhales sharply, a small, excited squeak passes her lips

Her head jerks sideways again when a roar is heard, loud enough to cover her hiss and growls of displeasure and loud enough for even you to hear

A bear

She feels excited again, her bloodlust returning wholly, among something else

She needs to slay this beast

She practically tastes your panic in the air as the sound rings out and scares nearby birds

Is she about to watch the bear devour you? It doesn’t seem so

With a mind too clouded, the feral brunette can’t even entertain the idea of it

Instead, she swarms fast, the tip of her dagger grazing your shoulder as she stands in front of you

Protectively, even

She bares her teeth at the large animal coming from among the twigs and bushes, her own, sharp canines on display, blood and drool forming at her mouth

The beast stares for a moment, as though to think this over

Both are locked into a staring match, neither advert their eyes, neither moving at all

She takes in the black fur, the brown eyes, the mouth pulled to form a snarl similar to hers

Sharp teeth, perhaps even sharper claws on the animal’s paws

She practically vibrates with excitement, her flies buzzing both excitedly and aggressively

After a few seconds, she can’t stand the anticipation any longer

She charges, a growl and snarl coming from her

Yet, in her dizzying bloodlust and excitement, she is once again too fast and little strategic

As the bear moves sideways, Cassandra hisses. She slams against one of the trees, the wood hard against her shoulder

She snarls angrily, her body turning back to the bear running at her. It too is ready to charge now

She rips herself from the tree, her daggers slicing harshly into the bear’s massive neck

As blood spills and slaps her in the face, she laughs, the sound almost high pitched in excitement, the most human one she has been able to make so far

Clearly, she is enjoying herself

You watch in awe as she fights the beast, the show temporarily distracting you from the aching and biting pain of your ankle

The bear falls fast, a loud roar the last sound coming from it when daggers and teeth dig into its neck and rip brutally

A quick death, albeit a bloody one. You wonder if yours will be the same

The brunette hasn’t yet turned her attention back to you

She’s studying the body, sniffing and prodding, cutting and licking the blood off the blades, uncaring when she accidentally makes a cut at her own tongue or lip

You watch her, elegant, yet not elegant at all at the same time…her movements are fast and animalistic, feral

She snaps her head when she hears something, sniffs and tilts her head to examine the corpse

And yet, the way she holds her daggers, the way her back is just slightly arched as she has a look…she has something regal about her, a mere trace of elegance deep within

You turn your attention back to the bear trap

When you attempt to grasp one of the metallic claws and tug the trap open, you nearly scream in pain. It doesn’t budge, and you can’t see it properly with your stomach disallowing you to sit up as you’d like to

You bite down on your lip harshly, so that only a whimper comes from you, and gently stroke over your stomach to calm yourself

You remember what you have been told. To stay calm. To avoid stress. Well, that’s working out well for you…

Yet, you don’t realise that your pained whimper immediately has her head snap back to you

She’s back at you in an instant, her eyes following you when you flinch backwards

She feels- confused

Why did she save you?

Cassandra hovers over you, the blood at her face immediately catching your attention

Yet, with your leg stuck, you can’t even pull away as she climbs over you, the slightly torn parts of her dress almost ticklish against your trapped leg

You watch her face lower to your stomach, her expression almost confused

Cassandra snarls for a moment. No response comes from you or your stomach

Why is it like that? Why do you smell so odd?

She catches the scent, yours, and your blood. And another. A light one. Coming from your stomach

You tense as she inhales, her cheek brushing against your covered stomach

Cassandra only grows more curious. Uncaring about you, she sinks her teeth into the fabric of your shirt and pulls it up

Yet, when she doesn’t find a human curled against you like expected, but a large stomach only, she jumps back in surprise

Had it not been for the quick beat of your heart and the painful ache of your leg, you might’ve laughed at the strange view of this woman being startled by your stomach

However, she is quick to approach you again

With her head tilted sideways, she eyes you curiously

You realise- she isn’t going to hurt you. Nor is she going to hurt your unborn baby

Instead, she keeps sniffing about, eyes wide, fingers poking and prodding as though to confirm it’s your skin

When you attempt to sit up, you scream, having momentarily forgotten about the bear trap

Her eyes flash and widen, and for a mere moment the beautiful gold in them catches you off guard

You watch her move down your body, sniffing and inspecting you, as though checking for more wounds

Then, she is right at the beartrap

She grabs it, and with a firm yank, it comes loose

You scream, and for a moment, clutch your stomach tightly

Confusion sets in when Cassandra copies the action, her bloodied hands on top of you too

She seems unsure of her own actions, as though they’re driven purely by instinct, rather than actual thought and consideration

She watches you for a few more moments, before leaning close to your stomach again

You gasp in surprise when she suddenly smears her face against you, her bloodied cheek rubbing against you

Affectionately, almost

She growls as she repeats the action, again, and again

At last, she faces you again

Her head tilts. She takes you in, you realize. She is curious about you

“I’m from-the village”, you clarify for her. You wonder whether she can even understand you

She certainly looks human

“I got lost”, you admit, your voice raspy from screaming and crying

You don’t dare look down at your injured leg, instead keep your eyes fixated on her golden ones

She whines and snarls for a moment, then seems to come up with whatever she has been trying to think of

You shriek in surprise when her arms wrap around you and you’re lifted off the dirty ground

With certainty, she begins to walk, seemingly bringing you deeper into the forest

[takeurexam]

dynasty || II

genre:

non idol au, time travel, romance, rivals to allies to friends to lovers, crown prince to emperor taehyun, reader gets appointed as an concubine

pairing(s):

taehyun x reader

(warning, this does not reflect the REAL idols personality, and no smut will be written to respect the idol, and i am not comfortable as well, and the taehyun in this ff is not the actual taehyun)

summary:

in which you, an excellent law student about to graduate collage suddenly gets dragged into the past, meeting the famous-fawned over emperor of the kang's dynansty. but you getting dragged into this mess was beyond a mystery, and it seems like you have something deep to discover. meddling with the past is a risky decision after all.

dynasty masterlist

2. Mountain

The Kang Dynasty was a family famous in history books- they maintain their reputation even when they're remains and only found on history books, museums, and people still fawn over them.

As a collage student, you would encounter this topic in history. Students fawn over them because of their 'good deeds' and 'glamouring' looks. Especially the emperor in this generation you're traveled into, Kang Ta...

"Who was he again? Gosh, I havent thought about history in a while." You get lost in thought as you clean the campsite of Soobin and Hobak as a sign of gratitude for saving you.

Its been officially a day since you've arrived here; you've built the pieces and it seems that you have time traveled for some absolute crazy reason.

"It was those masked people. Im so sure! I thought they were theives.." You sigh as you finish gathering the leaves on the ground and throw them in a pit.

"Somehow.. I still have this chopstick." You put it in your hair as you remembered the ladies from this dynasty wearing them on their hair. "I think it was that lady. Or she maybe predicted this and wished for my downfall because I looked stupid." You mumble to yourself as you grunt and sit down on a big rock waiting for something to happen.

Soobin and Hobak were cool honestly. Soobin was handsome but really introverted. He could just say one word for the day and go on. Hobak on the other side, is short compared to Soobin and very talkative, what a unique duo.

They went out to town because Soobin needed more herbal medicine for you because he thought you had memory loss or things that you couldnt understand what he was saying.

You wipe your hands and stand up to go back to your tent which was originally Hobak's that he was kind enough to share.

"Hey! Were back!" You hear Hobak shout before you could even reach your tent.

"Yo, something happen?" You ask.

"Nothing really crazy, but I saw the Crown Prince today! He looked handsome as hell but not as me. Anyways, I dont know why they're at Daedo, but it seemed really suspicious and at the same time important." Hobak rants on, and Soobin just nods his head.

"Cool. I cleaned a bit for you guys, and dont worry, I didnt displace anything." Soobin smiles at your work and places down the baskets he brought.

You all go inside the main big tent which is where the two of them eat, make ingredients and make medicine.

"What are you planning to do?" Soobin asks you.

"I dont know.. I still havent gained my memories, but the best thing to do right now is explore. The problem? Im broke." You knew that saying you time traveled is just pure stupidity because one, they dont know that, two, you'll be called crazy. So adjusting to Soobin's diagnosis would be for the best.

"You can work for us. I can give you money." Soobin happily drops out paper in the table and grins, "You'll be like an herb collector for me."

"Sure, that would be cool." You grin back and write his so called 'requirements' in the paper he placed down.

Morning comes, you hear the chickens attempt to wake you up for your first task, which is to travel to the mountains to find herbs Soobin needs.

"Wait. How do people find their way home though.." You thought as you prepared to go out. "It is what it is."

You walk over to the main tent and see Soobin sitting, drinking a cup of coffee. "Heres the list." He smiles.

"Good mood?"

"I like seeing people volenteer to help me."

"Cool."

You take the list and shove it down your pockets, "If you dont need anything else, then i'll be on my way." Fixing your shoes, you get ready to leave to the mountains.

"Goodluck." He smiles again.

The mountains were filled with leaves as it was autumn, and there were many trees compared to the present. It was truly refreshing to see a nice environment after a while.

"If I get killed by a bear, will I go back to my time?" You talk to yourself as you go on the mountains.

"Holy! Its this thing from the list!!" You look at the drawing and the plant and see alot of similarities, "Bingo." You pick up the plant and put it in your basket.

"Checked.." You put a check mark using charcoal that you randomly found in the ground.

"Next!" You hop on.

Soobin advised on how to get home, that to try and head to Daedo, which was at the South and Hobak would pick you up because he had errands there.

You knew directions enough to go, so it wasnt much of an problem.

"Ooh! Another one." You pick up another plant and mark it with the charcoal as you go on once again to the mountains.

You left the base at exactly morning, which for you was eight in the morning, and you had no issues on the way so far. Soobin's list is almost complete so you had no worries because you seemed lucky today.

"Check, check.. check. This is easy!" You giggle as you jump around the leaves.

"It dosent seem to bad to be in this dynasty. It feels good to have an escape from the suffocating gates of university and issues going around. It feels like life just became fresh again here." You sigh as you feel the wind swarm around with your thoughts.

"One last plant! And lucky for me, its over here." You crouch to the ground and pick up the plant and place it on your basket. "Wooho!"

But somehow, you couldn't shake off a weird feeling. Because everything was going so well; nothing has happened to you. And you felt like something right now is gonna go wrong.

........

"WHAT THE FUCKK!" You get trapped in a net, which seemed like a booby trap for animals and hunters to catch.

"I PREDICTED THIS. URHRHRHG." You groan and move around the net to try and make it give up because of your heavy ass.

You hear footsteps approach and you just start praying in your mind that they dont kill you and actually let you go and they're a kind soul and..

"Why are you here? This wasnt made for you." A tall man in a pony tail with his long hair and wearing black armor as he held a sword. He was hot as well.

"Whats good?" You smile at him awkwardly as you were in a position with tangled arms and legs.

"Who are you and what is your purpose?" He draws his sword. "Hey, hey! Im good- im innocent! Uh- im just looking for herbs!" You shout.

"See?" You shake your basket at him. He looks at you with a raised brow but dosent draw back his sword.

"So please, help?" You grin.

He dosent reply and cuts the rope with his sword which drops you to the ground "Ouch!" You fall ass flat.

"Thank you.. uh.."

"General Beomgyu of the Palace."

"Yeah! Thank you so much dear General Beomgyu!" You jump around in joy as you hug your basket.

"Its dangerous out here. Why are you collecting herbs?" He asks with his sword drawn back and crossed arms.

"It is? I never encountered any danger." You were lying. You saw booby traps in some areas, like alot. But decided to avoid them, but this trap you fell in was well hidden.

"...Okay. Who do you serve?"

"Uh... Soobin. Do you know him?"

"Oh. Its Soobin." He mumbles as he fixes his throat, letting the air engulf the two of you. He speaks after a while, "I have to get going."

You suddenly have an idea in mind, "Wait-" You stop him from walking, "Where are you heading to?"

He looks at you suspiciously but still answers, "Daedo." Your eyes brighten as you grin, "Can I come with you? Arent you concerned about the dangers lurking? Then a General like you! Can help me." You smirk as he looked genuinely suprised at your remark.

He thinks for a while, "Alright. Just dont be a bother."

"Wooho!" You shout with your fists thrown into the air as he just eyes you and proceeds to walk the direction to Daedo.

"Hey, do you serve the Crown Prince?" You ask as you both walk down the leaf filled ground. He looks at you for a short time and looks away.

"Yes, I do."

"Why are you here at Daedo?" You ask him. You remembered Hobak ranting about how the Crown Prince's prescence was both suspicious and seemingly important.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because im curious? Who lets the Crown Prince go along Daedo randomly?" You shrug as you two walk down a path.

He hesitates to answer, "We have business here in Daedo. You should be aware then that I cant share that information to you."

"Im aware, I just wanted to see if you would tell me or not."

"What?" He looks at you a little confused, "You're crazy."

You laugh at his comment, "Thanks."

You both become silent for the meanwhile as you observe your surroundings- you might need to know this place for future tasks or just incase you get lost.

"What do I even do after? I dont plan on working my whole life for Soobin. Well, that dosent seem so bad. I can explore Daedo then go practice fighting to look cool and build a base and-" Your thoughts get cut by Beomgyu, "We're here."

"Oh, theres my friend!" You notice Hobak near a corner. "Well, General Beomgyu, I wont forget you!" You wave goodbye as you run to Hobak.

"I wont forget you too." He mumbles under his breath before heading to his designated place.

<previous chapter

>next chapter

hi everyone!! heres the 2nd chapter <3 hope you enjoyed!

for kdrama lovers, if ya know empress ki, you know who im referencing beomgyu to (general taltal) i love him teehe

welcome beomgyu ‼️

[joelletwo]

(sets a timer) the exorcist postcanon lore i can remember off the top of my head

well the precanon is they were teenmarried in an impulsive haha jk unless 'lets run away from our restrictive homes' moment they immediately chickened out of post-signing the license. and then immediately the various inciting incident cracks in their teenage tenuously extended-grace-bc-theyre-lonely-w/o-peers ability to cooperate that happen as they become adults (seiji dad death-now new heir of the clan-eye attack, and whatever shuuichi's doing to get away that makes him go insane and become a celebrity in three years) makes them more or less lose contact and ignore the elephant in the room until canon. though seiji (and nanase) do poke fun about it sometimes and any time natoris like fucking hell i cannot let the paparazzi find out im legally married itll be a whole Thing can you please sign the divorce papers hes like hahaha what a funny joke shuuichi-san /_^ [mails them back folded into origami]

[various natsume-fueled char development we've disturbingly stayed kind of sort of on track for in recent arcs] -> matoba reconsiders his whole life and the fact that as an adult hes in total control of it and he kind of completely hates it. he wants a less black and white relationship w youkai he's forlornly looking thru the window at natsume and all his sick ass youkai friends. he gives up his eye to eye-eater to settle the matoba debt and (at least temporarily) quits his job and leaves the community and lives a life as just some weird-ass guy whos suddenly free to have hobbies (just picking up and trying whatever) and go to therapy and physically recover.

[per my fics] nanase uses this to get her favorite matoba child back into the picture and help them reconcile as seiji passes the clan back to [matoba sister. i have not reconsidered with shinobu i cant handle it kjsf] and they uncover some of the misunderstandings that drove them apart as kids

[also per my fics. NOW DEBUNKED I GUESS] when natori hears that matoba quit his job he seethes in anger bc FUCK he was gonna do that!!!!! now he cant!!!! but its an opening for them to reconnect and similarly patch up some misunderstandings or figure out where, now changed by time, they fit together differently and less conflictingly than before. natori has also been gently prodded by natsume into therapy and lots of outdoor hobbies where he can Find Inner Peace

i really still adore the idea of. matoba gets settled in his lonesome. um he adopts a youkai-seeing kid thats varyingly important i love her to pieces i cant get into that. read my fics look at our art. but matoba's got his own thing going on hes broadening his horizons in his new life. natori's happy to dip in and out but hes got ten million lives hes busy hes all over the place. they get back together but like. only strictly Share A Life in the typical sense like. in passing. irregularly. always keep in contact but theyre not like. moving in together. for a long time at least.

natori does lose his leg in a freak accident at random one day and he DOES keep the lizard afterwards. really important to me. he grows to love this guy. disabi/_^y 4 disabi🦎y

broad strokes. funny specifics:

matoba gets into doll restoration and has lots of pickling jars w body parts all over his place. natori spends lots of time in the woods lookin' at bugs as he gets fond of the gecko and learns more about geckos and then learns more about little guys in general. hes perfectly positioned to like. anthropology out the symbiotic relationships he discovers between insects and youkai. he writes an pseudonymous guidebook about this thats nichely successful and taken as whimsical fantasy

meanwhile sasada has never given up the goat on trying to prove youkai exist even tho her whole friend group wont admit it. i forget the details but she gets into the book and gets really into bugs to see if she can reverse-engineer the youkai side of the relationship without being able to see it. at some point meets natori thru natsume in just-some-guy capacity and finds out they both like bugs and they bond over that without her knowing hes the author. comedy of errors time ^_^

[saintunhinged]

asra is planning to propose ; second part [ last part ]

word count : 1.8k

part one can be found here!

Your perturbation was compounded by the fact that you discovered the space next to you empty when you awoke in the morning. Rather than feeling the warmth of the body of your lover, the bed was abundantly strewn with quilts and soft throws. In contrast to the careless jumble of blankets that you were used to from tossing and turning in your sleep, a bright colored quilt was considerately laid over your body. You figured Asra had taken the time to cover you while you slept, making you smile at the thought that he had done so.

As you were preparing to leave your bed, you heard a soft rustling sound of a piece of paper scrunching. You found a note beside you, one which reads the following:

In spite of the fact that you weren’t sure how he intended to keep you busy while he was away, you were fascinated by the idea nonetheless. Your morning whizzed by fast. You were happy to learn that Asra left a cup of tea on top of a small metal rack above a tea light candle. Next to it was another note, this one much smaller in comparison.

Throughout the day, Faust slithered her way into the shop. You assumed Asra was sending the serpent back and forth to check in on you. She never stayed for more than a minute or two. Each time she returned, another note was attached to her body along with ribbon to hold it in place.

‘Meet me in the garden behind the palace. And bring Faust’s bow please. I forgot to grab it before leaving. XO Asra’

Before leaving, you closed down the shop. When sure you secured the bow in your satchel, you set out to the palace.

If you didn’t know any better, you would have assumed the guards protecting the palace were waiting for you. Your face was easy to recognize among the guards, you guessed that was the reason why getting inside was no issue. You effortlessly slipped around to the back where you meeting Asra.

A gentle smile spread across his face when he saw you. “How do you do that?” He inquired warmly, standing in front of the fountain with his hands clasped behind his back.

Thrown off by his question, “Do what?” You curiously asked.

“Always look more beautiful than before. Each time I think it can’t possibly get any better than this, you show me just how wrong I am.” His genuine words suddenly left you feeling self-conscious.

Flustered, you felt a rush of warmth spread across your face. “Flattery gets you everywhere?” Your indistinct ruse was only a sly attempt to divert his compliments away from you.

"What are we doing here?"

A mischievous glint sparkled in his wide amethyst eyes when he offers you his hand. It’s a gracious gesture on your part to accept it. “I was hoping you’d ask.” You watch Asra step into the water. With your hand in his, he guides you to the edge where he carefully pulls you in with him.

You instantly feel the cool water lapping at your calves. You barely have a second to protest before he’s speaking again. “There’s something I want to show you, but you have to close your eyes first.”

After shooting him a quizzical look, you eventually succumb to his request. Your world darkens, but you’re fully aware of his presence in front of you. His hands caress your cheek as he gives you a fiery gaze, burning you to the core with its depths and passion.

His forehead came to rest on yours seconds later. Your senses aid you in the realization that you’re no longer in the same place. The air is quiet around you, safe for luminescent insects carelessly flying past your ears. The water you once felt on your legs was replaced by an almost humid warmth. Bright colors that resemble Asra’s energy paint the atmosphere

Indigo, orange, and violet paint a beautiful backdrop for the abundance of green trachycarpus sprouting from the ground. The pond before you reflects the glow of the sky, and colorful butterfly koi swim and jump eagerly through the water.

The world you find yourself in is Asra’s gateway, a place you never tire of. But even still, you’re a little confused as to why Asra has brought you here. “What is it you could possibly show me in here that I haven’t yet seen?” You ask the question with a sense of curiosity in your heart as you think about the possibility.

Asra wasted no time responding, his soft gaze searching the endless paths of mystery around you. “So much.” He confidently stated. “Though, we’ll have to explore another day. I’m not sure whether or not there will be enough time for it.”

“We’re not staying long?”

“I can’t say. That all depends on you.”

Your head falls to the side as you stare at him. “So if I choose to stay and explore, we’ll stay?”

“No, not exactly. Unless you’re prepared to sleep here.”

“If you’re my pillow throughout the night, I’ll stay here forever.”

Clearly amused, a faint laugh falls from his lips and he shakes his head. “Maybe not forever, but I think that can be arranged. Come on, we should get moving.”

With your hand in his, he leads you through the thick trees. “Can you at least tell me what it is you’re showing me?” You imploringly inquired, when silence began to settle between you.

“I can.” You waited for him to continue, but as one second turned into fifteen, you realized nothing else would come from him.

“Well are you intending to?”

Asra came to a stop, turning to steal a playful glance at you. “No,” he started, as he took a step backwards. “see for yourself.” Thick vines from trees hung low in front of you to create a wall, and for a second you weren’t sure what you were meant to see until he pulled you through to the other side with him.

The scene before you appeared to be an entirely different world. Fluorescent orbs floated languidly through the calm atmosphere. Different from the colors behind you, aqua green and blue painted this sky. Where trees were supposed to be, giant mushrooms like plants glowed magenta and purple, safe for the green stems. Wild flowers decorate the ground entirely.

“This is amazing!” You couldn’t describe the feelings bubbling within you. Every worry in the world you had before vanished. You felt carefree and hopeful, as if all your dreams could become a reality at any second.

You felt his gaze buring through you for a long time, studying you as you studied your enviroment.

“I don’t remember it very well, though I believe my child brain constructed this place. I stumbled across it awhile ago. I’ve been altering it to make it less puerile.. I should say.”

You take in the environment, your eyes never staying on anything particular for too long. “It’s a beautiful sight Asra, but why here?”

He hesitated before responding. “It think it sounded better in my head. Saying it aloud might sound rash.”

“I promise it won’t, and if it does I won’t tell you.” Your joke causes him to crack a small smile. You hold out your pinkie as an oath to your promise, but instead of twining his finger with yours, he encases your hand in both of his.

“I should hope so.” His warm lips meet your fingertips, lingering for many seconds before they’re gone. ”Your childhood– I know you don’t remember anything from it, and this doesn’t make up for what you lost. I thought maybe sharing a part of my childhood would let you rekindle your inner child.”

He was always so thoughtful. The tenderness in his voice matched his level of vulnerability. “I can’t believe you’d want to share this with me.”

“I want to share everything with you.”

Your brain didn’t process the meaning of him getting down on one knee until Faust appeared around his shoulders with another ribbon tied to a small crystal-encased box. It hung loosely around her neck. In front of you, Asra looked more confident now. His gentle eyes complimented the benevolent smile that adorned his lips, his gaze never diverting from yours. 

“Not just the past, but the future, too, because quite frankly, there is no future without you.” The words that came out of his mouth were sweeter than honey.

You didn’t know how to feel. Shocked? Maybe even the tiniest bit of terrified. But nothing could conceal the familiarity of the joyous warmth you felt spreading through your body.

“Every smile and kiss and tear— my life— I wish to share it all with you.” Asra carefully freed the box from Faust’s possession, placing it in his right hand and opening it with his left. “No amount of time will be enough for me to tell you how much I love you, but it won’t stop me from trying anyway. I want nothing more than to be with you forever; so will you give me the honor of marrying me?”

He opened the box to reveal a beautifully crafted ring with a striking gemstone in the middle. His expression was careful, as he analyzed your reaction.

Your heart swelled with love for the person on his knee proposing to you. Proposing to you. You were speechless, but you had to give an answer. You already knew what it was.

Your gaze flickered from the piece of jewelry to his face. You always thought he was beautiful, but the dim light from the sky illuminating his features made him almost irresistible. For a second, you easily imagined your future together— filled with bliss.

“Yes.” You whispered, until you found yourself repeating it over and over again, your voice gradually growing louder. “Yes, of course!”

Emotions flashed across his face. His eyebrows shot up as his eyes slightly widened. “Really?”

The enthusiastic nodding of your head couldn’t be stopped. “I’ve never been more sure.” You decide against throwing yourself at him for a bear hug knowing the momentum would bring both of you to the ground.

A compassionate smile reached his lips. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that from you. I’m the luckiest person alive.” You failed to tear your eyes away from the ring Asra slipped on your finger. 

But the more you stare at it, the quicker you come to a realization. “Oh my Gods, they knew!”

Completely confused, Asra muttered, “Hm?”

“That old couple from yesterday, Asra— what part did you play in that?!” The pieces were falling into place with ease.

The look on his face says it all. Standing up from his position on the round, a sly grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Me? What could I possibly have done?”

Your mouth drops at him openly denying his role in yesterday’s events. You give him a playful shove, one that causes him to let out a contagious laugh that echoes all around. “I’ll tell you later. Right now I only think of what to do with my soon to be spouse.”

Your mind drifts to the noticeable weight on your finger. You didn’t need anyone to tell you what the future held. With Asra, you knew everything would be a life to live for.

[inventors-fair]

All For Nothing: Zero Commentary

Alright, and that's a wrap! I'd just like to thank everyone once again for all their entries this week, it really made my first stint as a judge a truly unforgettable experience. I encouraged you all to get weird with it, and by golly if you folks didn't deliver in spades. With that said, though, I feel as though there's a fine line between "weird" and "excessive." Not to say any of you crossed it, of course, it's just something to keep in mind.

But enough prattle, let's get into the thick of things!

@bergdg — Pact of Annihilation

Okay, first things first: four of these in your opening hand is a turn 1 kill. That's an easy fix, of course, just need to adjust the numbers down a tick. That aside, though, this is a lovely little piece. A pact is a natural fit this week, and this one feels more quintessentially red than the one we currently have. Very much calls to mind Pyrokinesis, although it's not without an identity of its own. Centrally, trading the card disadvantage of Pyrokinesis for the delayed payment makes the decision intriguing, and giving it the ability to hit players in exchange for a strict two target cap is super smart. It's a solid design all around, cheesy OTK notwithstanding.

~

@curiooftheheart — Belzym, Veteran Grafter

This is just a big ol' bundle of all things Simic, huh? Graft and Coiling Oracle, together at last. Right out of the gate, I want to say that I really appreciate the commitment to asking for specifically 0/0 creatures, rather than just either/or. That does a lot to instantly inform deckbuilding around this, but it's still open enough that players can have a "Eureka!" moment when they discover the perfect card for the strategy.

I'm not quite as sure about the reward, though. As much as I appreciate the Coiling Oracle callback, as I said, it feels a bit disconnected from the condition besides the ongoing green-blue commitment to "do thing, get value." I could maybe see the logic be that scaling X creatures like hydras would want the ramp, but with the card so flavorfully tied to graft, I don't think that quite resonates.

~

@hanavesinauttija — Rogkhar, Kher Keep Raid Leader

Next in the storied (which is to say, unfortunate and short-lived) line of Kheer Keep kings, here comes Rogkhar, shouting their little head off. We've seen extra combat effects with a degree of specificity before—Akki Battle Squad springs to mind—but none quite so specific as this one! With that said, as much as I appreciate the joke, part of me does think this should cost some amount of mana. Even if nothing gets to attack, there's a surprisingly high number of uses for an extra combat step, especially with all the effects these days that trigger at the beginning of combat. Not to mention the extreme synergy with hydras and their ilk, which wouldn't be quite as much of a problem if this couldn't be thrown into literally any deck that could want it. In a similar vein to Phyrexian Metamorph, it allows for an effect that's very strongly tied to its colors (in this case, extra combats) to bleed outside of it, which is potentially dangerous. Even just one red pip would go a long way, but I do really want to see this little guy succeed.

~

@helloijustreadyourpost — Mindbreak Phoenix

I can't think of many phoenixes that simply allow you to cast them from the yard rather than tying their revival to a trigger, but I also can't think of any other way to make this hellbent, so I won't hold it against the card. Among the most aggressive phoenixes I've seen, too, which is saying something. This thing isn't about to give your opponent a moment to breathe, and even though its defenses seem paper thin, it'll just keep coming back given half the chance. Tying the discard to being blocked is super smart, too. Suddenly, blocking this thing can almost hurt more for your opponent than letting it through, because not only will they have to lose something, but it'll bring you closer to just being able to recast the dang thing. Wicked!

~

@hypexion — Spectral Host Prelate

Spooooky. The idea of Phyrexian Spirits is pretty suitably terrifying. I'd say this would fit snugly in defender decks if it weren't for the incubator. In general, I think the incubator might verge on a bit of a misdirect? Outside of precisely Brimaz, incubators are generally intended to be large vanilla creatures. So, in decks built around them, the spirit may end up feeling less like a compelling reason to sacrifice them and more like consolation prize when they get removed. That's not an actual knock at that gameplay, just a bit a communication issue. And who knows, I might be overblowing it. On a gameplay level, though, this runs into the problem that if you can reduce the spirits' power to 0 through an aura effect, you've suddenly got an infinite chain of spirits, which probably necessitates a contingency. Sorry if that got a bit negative. I really like what this card is doing, I just feel like the card itself doesn't quite get that across all the way, y'know?

~

@jestingmaniac — Sanity Blast

Well, this certainly lives up to its name! Just roll your sanity into a ball and spike it at some poor sap like you're in gym class and they just said something particularly unflattering about your mom. That said, I think this actually might be a bit too much cost for the output you're getting. Discarding cards is usually used as a substitute for other costs, and discarding your hand even more so. Not being able to target players is smart, but limiting this to just a single target feels like a bit much. It'd have to be a very big creature that throwing your entire hand at it wouldn't feel like comical overkill. Some way to target additional permanents—or even just making this a full-on boardwipe—would go a long way, I fell. You're on the right track to making something bombastic here, but take care you don't blast your own sanity too.

~

@just--a--penguin — Untimely Creation

We've seen plenty of mana rocks that can animate themselves over the years, but none quite so extreme as this one. I love the idea that it only gets up the moment right before you die, but I'm seeing a few rickety parts in the execution. The idea of sitting at zero life as a last chance hit point is great, but the fact that it requires you to hit precisely zero to work means it seems like it wouldn't actually happen much. Perhaps make it a one-time version of the Fortune Thief effect to lock you at 0? The body it becomes, then, is suitably large, but without evasion or defensive utility, it may struggle to close out the game or stand fast against the presumable army bearing down on you. I love what you're doing here, but it's just not quite there.

~

@misterstingyjack — Zeke, Zero Theorist

In contrast to some of these cards, this one is comparatively quite straightforward. Make big modular creatures, swing in for big number, with an attached fractal to jumpstart the process. Especially with how big some hydras can get, the ability to just entirely sidestep blockers is quite fearsome. Straightforward is good, though! It's clearly stating what it wants you to do with it, and a lot of people will be drawn to it. The one part where I think the straightforwardness hurts it, though, is the choice to use fractals. Fractals made a name for themselves by having all sorts of weird ways to scale their power that were often completely unique to the card that generated them, so a flat X/X feels...not bad, just stings of missed potential.

~

@mudthing — Possibility Tender

Next up is this adorable little sprout, here to teach us about the importance of the number zero, and also the importance of scale. A mana dork that draws you cards is certainly a tempting prospect, and we've seen this kind of design before, where it rewards you for spending the mana on a specific type of spell. A word of caution, though: the existing versions of this effect (specifically Battery Bearer and Gilanra, Caller of Wildwood) both require you to cast high-cost spells to draw cards, which require high commitment and can't be cast until later in the game. Comparatively, casting a zero power creature every turn is far more achievable, which means this has the potential to produce a truly dizzying amount of value, even more so with multiple copies. A higher mana cost or a reward a bit smaller than drawing a card could do a lot, though!

~

@nine-effing-hells — Aspect of Progenitus

With all this talk of hydras, you'd think there would be more hydras this week than just the one, but oh, what a hydra this is! Protection from spells is a really clever derivative of Big P's protection from everything, and the shift from five colors to just Naya feels so natural as to just be a no-brainer. This is another one of those cards that encourage you to convoke them down to zero, but having these be a modular spell rather than a fixed cost you have to chew through changes the gameplay significantly. Suddenly, it's not a binary yes/no decision, and there's a whole range of options depending on exactly how much of each resource you have available. Oh, I just adore it! I can feel confident saying that no matter what you put into this, you'll feel like you got your mana's worth, which is always the place to be for X spells.

~

@partialgardens — Unity

This is a strange one, to say the least. Mana value isn't a characteristic Wizards has every really explored, although there's technically nothing stopping you from messing with it. The card on the surface reads like a hate piece, but I struggle to actually call it that. You said in your submission that you intended it to synergize with all the removal that only targets creatures with low mana value, and I can kind of see that...but the larger problem is, the only cards that care about the mana value of creatures on the field are more or less those removal spells, or otherwise cards meant to be pointed at your opponent's stuff. So, I can't think of many situations where this disrupts someone's strategy based on that. The color removal is more on the right track, but it's still very specific, and actually works against the swathe of white effects that care about white creatures. A fascinating concept, but I think this is crying out for some amount of objective power if you want the effect to be this specific. Even something as simple as attaching it to a body or having it draw on entry.

~

@phyrexiandreadthot — The Void Engine

To say the least, this one's a house and a half. Hoo boy. Okay so, first off, I appreciate the forethought to have a measure against cheating this out, but I fear you may have gone a bit lenient with it. For one, plenty of decks have no issues hardcasting this early. I'm sure any tron player would salivate at the idea of casting this on turn 3 and promptly dumping their entire hand onto the table. Also, the fact that this only wipes the once means it's entirely possible to just rebuild afterwards (aided by the obscene discounts this gives you), even if it didn't also hamstring your opponent. It also crucially misses nonland permanents that produce mana, meaning that careful setup could make this barely set you back at all.

Beyond that, the fact that the cost reduction applies to abilities as well, and without the clause seen on cards like Training Grounds that prevents the cost from being reduced below one, means this is liable to create all sorts of hilarious infinite combos (every generated infinite black mana with Initiates of the Ebon Hand?). As I mentioned earlier, the Praetor-like reflection of the effect on your opponent is positively crippling, ratcheting up every cost they pay as much as double. Furthermore, this also means that the best counter to a Void Engine is another Void Engine, as colorless decks are hit the hardest.

On a rules level, while the effects groks well, "generic mana costs" are still mostly unexplored in the rules. As well, "rather than pay" as language usually refers to replacing an entire cost, rather than a part of it. All in all, this is a crazy ambitious design that I respect the intent of, but I think you may have flown a bit too close to the sun.

~

@railway-covidae — Miser's Bargain

I really want to love this card, and it's so, so close, but it runs into one crucial issue that plagues so many designs: memory. Every effect so far that modifies hand size is either a static ability of a permanent, or sets that number to infinity. Without any built-in aid, tracking whichever number between 0 and 7 you set your maximum hand size to across multiple turns sounds like a headache, and can possibly even cause irreparable gamestates if you end up forgetting. The effect is gorgeous, though, presenting a real spectrum of choices that has merits in choosing either end. Although, I'm not sure for what reason besides symmetry you' allowed people're allowed to choose 7, given that causes the spell to resolve without effect. Oh, and also tasteful reference to the obscure Miser cycle from original Kamigawa. Those guys are neat!

~

@real-aspen-hours — Teachings of the Void

First off, it's "you draw a card and lose 1 life." Sorry, that's the pedant in me speaking, and I see that mistake a lot. The rest of me, though, says that I like this card a lot. I love the tension of a card that ideally wants you to have an empty hand, but draws you cards. Naturally the best way to play it is to simply empty your opponent(s) hands with discard, but the fact that you also have to find a way to empty your own hand every turn to get the best results is a fascinating play pattern. I'm not entirely confident in the decision to make this an uncommon, though, especially paired with the ETB effect. That, or maybe adjust the cost just slightly up. Just minor tweaks, though! The core here is very strong.

~

@wifeswarmacademy — Shoo Away

The name and the flavor here are great, immediately. Following on the heels of such stars like Access Denied and Didn't Say Please, it's always fun to inject of bit of levity into your countermagic. The card's all-around solid, too, though I will say that leaves me wanting a bit more. Specifically, Remand (and more recently, Reprieve) can do the same thing with fewer hoops to jump through, and I feel that this one would stand out more with a reward just a little more bombastic than drawing a card. Convoke on countermagic is a bit tricky, too, as holding up creatures is far less visible to your opponent than holding up mana, which could potentially create some pretty feels-bad moments. Although, there aren't many examples of it yet, so I'm really just speculating. Now, shoo!

~

@wildcardgamez — Voidheart Core

An alternate level up cost, eh? Well, you've certainly got my attention right out of the gate. The fact that it's not a creature until it's levelled up is also a fascinating twist. A manaless 2/2 that requires you to sacrifice some resources is pretty hefty, but perfectly workable in the right deck. It's past that you start to lose me, though. Eight more sacrifices to boost it up to a vanilla 6/6 is a huge ask, and I'm not sure how much you're liable to have left to sacrifice once you get there. Level up is famously hard to judge without playing with it, though, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and leave it at the fact that I love the concept.

~

That's zero entries left, and I'm feeling pretty zeroed out myself. See you next time!

@spooky-bard

[some-pers0n]

ooh unpopular opinion time!

Mindreaders shouldn't have been able to mindread just dragons and scavs. It either should've been dragons only or most animals being able to be mindread by more powerful mindreaders. Seems pretty silly to have scavengers be the one exception, when, like, a lot of animals do still have emotions that can be mindread; they just don't have the same complexity as humans for the most part.

Turtle comes off as far more transfem than transmasc imo. Transfem Turtle is an under-appreciated headcanon in the fandom.

Deathbringer literally treats Glory the same way Undauntable treats Wren. It's just seen as cute and romantic with Deathbringer because Glory likes him back.

Darkstalker is a sympathetic villain and that doesn't make him morally grey in the slightest. You can sympathize with a villain while still acknowledging that they're pretty much pure evil.

Oh, on a related note, AUs where Peacemaker discovers he's Darkstalker aren't actually overrated. There's just a small minority of fans who like to say that it goes against the message of the book, when these AUs are often purposefully about pointing out the flawed messaging. And I have trouble believing Foeslayer would be a good mom to any of her dragonets, especially to the dragonet enchanted to be her "do-over" from the guy who killed her husband.

Luna's tapestry thing never really bothered me. What upset me was seeing the giant jump in character from being extremely ready and willing to fight to essentially being made into a pacifist because they needed to keep to the stereotypes.

Freedom was a bad choice of character plot-wise, but a lot of the people critiquing her just seemed to be picking on that she wasn't the perfect ever apologetic abuse survivor. Of course she's going along with what her abuser says, who's literally trapped her in his mind as a hatchling forever. At the same time, her pretty much suicide wasn't very impactful because... well, we never got time to get attached to her. She was just thrown in at the end to be a big emotional moment, and that's not really how character deaths work.

Yeah I agree with the mindreader bit. I'd love to see more unique and interesting bits with that.

I do love any sort of trans Turtle headcanons. Maybe I'm stupid but I just look at him and go: "he has no gender" and becomes just like me fr. Trans fem Turtle is so cool though,, oh you can do so much with that.

Imma be blunt and say I do like Undauntable and Wren's sort of dynamic, but as platonic. Same goes for Glorybringer. Take out the flirting and replace it with playful banter and make it platonic and you're golden. Glorybringer in its current state? Ehhhh....no thank you...

Precisely that. I love me my villains and objectively terrible characters who I WILL make relatable and hold traits the readers can identity with. Does that make them even remotely morally grey? No! It just means they have more complexity and depth than a piece of paper.

I refuse to believe Foeslayer, or Hope now, could go back to a somewhat normal life with Peacemaker. I've been itching to write a oneshot about that for a while. Also, good stuff with the other things. I just woke up and can't formulate thoughts as well lmao.

The tapestry thing bothers me a little cause it seems like Luna constantly harks back to it at the worst and most distracting bits. Not that much though. I just think it's funny to point at how much she mentions it. But, yeah, her character was pretty rushed.

On the topic of rushed characters...oh my god Freedom....you could've been so much better... But, yeah. People critique her and make her out like she's bad because she's not a perfect abuse victim who's always good. She's not that great of a character cause she doesn't have a natural and smooth arc of becoming redeemed and good. It just kinda suddenly happens. Also just because something made you cry doesn't automatically mean it's good.

[ashboy-3]

Haunt Separation

Fandom: Danny Phantom Prompt: Haunt Character: Tucker, Danny, Sam, & Frostbite Words: 881 Summary: With Danny's acceptance to college, he is discovering a new challenge. Haunt separation. Luckily he has his local ghost doctor to go to to help solve this problem; Frostbite.

The first time Danny left Amity after the portal accident was an experience. His core hurt for a reason that he couldn’t explain. The longer he was gone the more he longed for his home. If it was longer than a week, then Danny would be in physical pain at the separation between him and Amity.

It was never really anything that he had to worry about.

That was until he got accepted in college. A college that was all the way in California. He was ecstatic! This was the college that he worked all year for. The college the Lancer put a lot of work into helping him get into. It completely slipped his mind about his separation problem.

He could shout to the sun how grateful he was for his friends. His best friends who keep track of everything for him. Who keep his life in check. Who have been a bigger help since he was announced Prince of the Ghost Zone and suddenly had more responsibility.

“Remember Danny you have an appointment in the Far Frozen with Frostbite. It’s your bi-monthly check up,” Tucker informed him as they walked towards Casper High.

“It’s after school, right?” Danny lifted an eyebrow. Ever since the whole college and king business both fell into his lap he’s been worried more about his human life. It took a few therapy sessions to realize that his human half was just as important as his ghost half, especially with all of the extra responsibilities.

“You are correct. You are meeting with Lancer during your lunch period to study and makeup on some work. After school you go to Frostbite and then you have Greek lessons with Pandora and finally Esperanto lessons with Wolfe. It’s not packed today, but we did that on purpose. After that you come back and we got started on Homework,” Tucker taped away on his trustful PDA.

“Nothing to do with the council today?” Danny raised an eyebrow.

“Not today. Saturday however you will be in meetings all day.”

“Don’t forget to ask Frostbite about the pain you feel when leaving Amity,” Sam said, now joining the two on their way to school.

“Okay. Got it!” Danny said confidently, not seeing the look his two best friends were sharing.

“Here is a cliff notes version checklist of everything. We can handle any ghost that come along,” Sam promised as she handed him a small piece of paper.

“Thank you, guys. . .really,” Danny hugged the best friends he ever could have had, the trio walking into the school.

It was after school, Danny was now in the Far Frozen, in a warm hut, sitting with Frostbite.

“How have things been Great One?” the yeti asked.

“Chill. Pun intended,” Danny smiled at his old friend.

“Well, you are in normal health, nothing wrong. Any questions?”

“Actually, I do have one,” at the Yeti’s quirked eyebrow, Danny decided to continue. “When I leave Amity for to long I get this pain in my core. It becomes physically more painful the longer I’m gone. It wouldn’t be a problem but I’m moving to California for college soon.”

“Sounds to me like a haunt separation,” Frostbite scratched his cheek.

“a what?”

“Ah. Let me explain. When a ghost primarily lives in the outside world, they have a haunt. Where they reside, if you will. Well, the longer the ghost lives there the stronger their bond to the haunt is. Making it painful for the ghost to leave.”

“Well, is there a way to reverse it!?” Danny was shocked.

“Of course! It’s a little difficult and I’m sad to say it will take time out of your schedule,” Frostbite warned.

“Well, it’s something that has to be done. So, I’ll just have to make time,” Danny shrugged.

“In that case here’s the remedy. Fly out of Amity, till you feel the pain in your core. Sit down and just mess around or meditate for thirty minutes. Every few days it should extend a little bit further, until the bond is canceled out,” Frostbite smiled.

“That’s it?” Danny was confused.

“Yep! Nothing to big. Like I said just do something at the spot you first feel the pain. It should slowly get farther. Anything else?” Frostbite asked.

“Nope that was it. Thanks Frostbite! I’ll see you at the meeting Saturday?”

“Wouldn’t miss it Great One,” the two said their goodbye’s as Danny flew to his next meeting. Once he was done with all of his things that day he called Sam and Tucker, letting them knew what Frostbite had to say.

“Done, added to your schedule. From now on you have a forty-minute haunt time. This should be enough for travel and the thirty minutes for extending haunt times,” Tucker said into the phone.

“Give us a few days and we can probably find a way to merge it with homework or something, that way you still have time for other things,” Sam told him.

“Alright. If we’re lucky we can break this bond soon,” Danny said into the phone, saying night to his friends.

Lo and behold, as time went on the pain became less and less until Danny was able to leave Amity with no feelings. Just in time for him to leave for college.

[thepilgrimbetweenworlds]

Power Trip, Part 1

Kevin struggled feebly against the glowing bonds which held him. It was no use however, as they seemed to tighten the more he jerked in any direction. Resigned, he looked up at his captor with indignant surprise. This was Heather? That same introverted nerd that gushed over Michael Morningstar all the time? She looked so different now. Her hair, her look, even her attitude felt more assertive… vindictive. More like himself honestly, but Kevin wasn’t going to admit that anytime soon.

“Hi Kevin.” she said with a bored tone that clashed with her bitter stare.

“…Heather? Is that you? Geez, what happened to you?”

She only sneered at him, disregarding his question. “Wouldn’t you like to know, so you can bully me some more.” With a flick of her wrist, Kevin was suddenly suspended in midair, his arms and legs splayed outwards. “Why are you here Levin? And don’t play any silly games with me.”

Kevin scoffed. What was she talking about? Did she know about Quadsmack and Hotshot? He had to play dumb, throw her off somehow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m just passing through town with my dad, you started manhandling me.”

“Don’t lie to me you feckless bully! I saw you arrive in town with those grimdark rip-offs of Ben 10’s aliens. You’d always talk big back at school, but you’re not nearly as clever as you’d like to think.” She sneered, her power flashing in response to her outburst of anger. Kevin had a feeling this wasn’t going to end well. “Come to think of it, you spent most of your time tormenting me as well as Ben. Always making fun of my hobbies, stealing my notebooks, mocking my-“

“Alright I get it! I’m not in the mood for a backstory reveal, so just tell me why you’re here Heather.” Kevin huffed, clearly now.

“Be quiet!” She shot back “And I’ve taken on a new identity. You may refer to me... as Charmcaster.”

Charmcaster? Really? What kind of name was that? Kevin fought the urge to roll his eyes and fun of that name. She hadn’t changed, not really. Even with all those magical powers she gained somehow, she was still acting out one of her silly fantasy novels, or whatever boring movie or TV show she watched. Kevin didn’t really care, but he wasn’t stupid either. If this was still the Heather he knew, she wasn’t nearly as tough as she thought either. He needed to get of here and back to Quads and Hotshot.

“Ok, Charmcaster, what’s the deal here? Since when have you been able to do all this? The last I saw you, you could barely flip through a deck of cards.”

“You first. How on earth did manage to command those two thugs anyways? And why do they look so similar to Tennyson's aliens?” Charmcaster said, raising her eyebrow in apprehension.

“Guess the jig is up. Alright then, I managed to create a replica of his watch, only better and eleven times more awesome. Something went wrong after our first fight though… I lost the watch, but all the aliens I had stored inside became their own people or something. Now I’ve got me a crew of kickass aliens, ready to show that dweeb who’s really strongest.”

Charmcaster failed to repress a smirk and chuckled at Kevin’s postering. “Wow. I can’t believe it. You’ve somehow gotten even worse since Bellwood. I mean, copying that failure hero Tennyson? What a waste of your undeserved talents.”

Kevin chuckled himself, hiding his hurt expression from her. “Wow, did your latest fantasy fix come with a free dictionary?”

“Silence! I’ve grown since then Levin.” Charmcaster said with a flick of her wrist, summoning a piece of enchanted paper. From the ink on the page formed a ball of purple energy, one that crackled in her hands. “I used to be meek and easy prey, but after I discovered this spell book my life was changed forever. I became something new, something powerful, something great! I wasn’t weak little Heather anymore…”

Kevin could feel the malice pouring off He- Charmcaster, as she continued to rant. He hated to think about it, but he had to admit they did feel a little similar as far as their motivations were concerned. Being

“I finally had the power to assert my dominance, and finally take control of my lot in life. No one would call me weak, or look down on me ever again.” She then looked at Kevin, a semi-devilish look in her eye. “But then again, you know all about weakness, don’t you Kevin?”

Weakness? How dare she say that to his face, of all people. Kevin wasn’t weak. He built the Antitrix and gained all of Tennyson’s powers and more! He may have lost it, but what he lost he gained times eleven. Who was she to mock him? “Who are you calling weak? I’ve got nine more badasses just like them waitin’ to back me up. No one messes with Kevin 11 and gets away with it!”

Charmcaster merely laughed at Kevin. “And there’s the problem. You’re not the big shot you think you are Levin. Deep down you’re just a cowardly bully who relies solely on his own pack of brutes. Without them Kevin, you’d be nothing but a scared little boy.”

Kevin was practically fuming. He was not weak. He was not a coward! “Shut up! He struggled again, pulling against his restraints with all his might, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t break free. Charmcaster laughed at his pathetic attempt and held her head high in pride.

“Just what I thought, all bark and no bite. Goodbye Levin, perhaps I’ll let you loose when I’m done here.” Charmcaster started to walk away, leaving Kevin suspended in the dark. He had to get out and warn the others, but how? What was he supposed to do, bow his head and- Oh… he was gonna hate himself for this.

“WAIT!” He cried. “Don’t leave me here! You’re right!” Charmcaster stopped walking. That got her attention. “I am weak… I am helpless… without my friends I am just a scared kid. And I’m sorry I bullied you.” Kevin put on his best pleading voice and looked down to avoid her gaze. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just let me go.”

Charmcaster sneered at Kevin. She walked to him, her eyes glowing with a supernatural intensity that rivaled Bootleg’s cold stare. She stopped just inches from his face and whispered deeply. “Why should I let you go? What can a monster like you do for me?” Her breath practically vibrated with the power she was holding. Kevin gulped hard and wracked his brain for a proper response.

“…I- I want to be stronger. I don’t want to be the tagalong kid anymore. What can I do for you so I can become better?” The pitiful lie burned his tongue as he spoke it, but it managed to intrigue Charmcaster long enough that it staved off his demise. She leaned back and considered his offer.

“Alright Levin, I’ll let you be my little helper. However, you will do what I tell you without question. If you talk back once, or try to get in the way of my revenge, you’ll wish you never left Bellwood.” With a snap of her fingers, the bonds holding Kevin dissipated and he fell to the floor with an anticlimactic thump.

“Ok… Whatever you say.” He said face down. Not even free for a second and he was already pushing it. Classic Kevin. He brushed himself off and massaged his aching arms. “Wait... you said revenge. Why are you here?

Charmcaster sighed heavily as Kevin reminded her of her own dark motivations. "You seek to battle Ben in a battle of supremacy? Fine, be my guest. However, I have a score to settle with his cousin Gwen."

That last line made Kevin's heart leap. Charmcaster was after Gwen? What did she have against Gwen? Sure, she could be a bit of a know it all and liked to blab on about how much they both found Ben annoying, but what did she do to piss Charmcaster off? Kevin felt uneasy now. What was she planning for Gwen? He had to keep up this ruse long enough to learn more.

"So… what’s our first move?” Kevin asked, trying his best to hide his interest in Gwen.

Charmcaster opened her spell book, cycling through a collection of different enchantments. “You said you wanted to be on equal terms with your allies? I’ve got something here that might just do the trick…” She carefully ripped a page out of her spell book and handed it to Kevin. He eyed it quizzically, unable to decipher the complex symbols. It was two points being connected by a helix, which intertwined with a circle in the center of the page.”

“What is it?” Kevin asked.

“It’s a power transfer spell. Relatively beginner level for someone like you.” Charmcaster said with a smirk. “Press the paper to a target and recite the phrase ‘Transferus Osmosis.’ This will transfer the properties of anything you touch to you. Press it to concrete and your skin becomes as hard as stone. Or…”

“Use it on a living thing to gain their powers…” Kevin said, dumbstruck for a moment. He realized that this spell was capable of transferring the powers of anything it touched to him. That means... That meant... He could take the powers of Ben's aliens. Not just Ben's, but his own too! He could finally be on equal footing with the others and finally make a name for himself.

Should he really be doing this, though? The more he thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Kevin may have brought the aliens to life, but they almost never treated him like that. He created them, gave them a purpose, but they usually treated him like a little kid. They only listened to him when he gave them stuff to do or when Bashmouth convinced them by bribing or threatening them. Even Bashmouth, who treated Kevin more amicably than the others, still tried to talk him down or get him to let up on some of his more ambitious schemes.

Why? Did he… see him as weak too? Was Charmcaster actually right? Doubts swirled within Kevin’s mind as he tried to process his hectic thoughts. He looked at the spell page and furrowed his brow. Did he really deserve their attitudes? The longer he looked at the page, the more he realized he didn’t deserve it. Why should he? If he’s going to be seen as their leader, he needs the power to back it up. A wave of warmth spread down his spine as Kevin felt himself fill with determination.

“Alright, you got yourself a deal.” With that, he gripped the page in his hand and felt its power begin to seep into him. His eyes went wide as a burst of energy flooded his body and pooled in his stomach.

“Woah! What is this… feeling?” He asked, the feeling spreading to the rest of his body.

“That’s the power of the spell primed and ready. With that, you can steal the power of Ben’s aliens and use them for yourself. However, you might need to test it first.” Charmcaster’s voice waivered with power as magic began to swirl around her.”

Kevin felt an eager butterfly in his stomach as he realized what was coming next. He knew what he had to do. Betraying Charmcaster would have to wait. “You’re right… let’s give this thing a quick test run…”

Part 2 coming soon.

[ninjadeathblade]

Moulin Rouge Discotrain AU (part twenty six)

Summary: (Post-game canon) The Conductor and DJ Grooves agree to finally work on a movie together. They come up with 'Moulin Rouge', a musical drama filled with romance. Over time the two directors grow closer and discover that maybe they don't hate each other as much.

Beginning | Previous | Next

Word count: 736

Warnings: None

Author's notes: They're so in love, I can't. Good job the confession is soon. God I need to write the confession. How do I have the end of the fic written but not the confession? Oh peck. Anyway, take this morsel.

A week had passed and they were back to filming.

Snatcher was still occupied with whatever was going on in Subcon Forest.

Grooves had taken to letting Conductor borrow his jacket.

Conductor had taken to wearing turtlenecks in the cold weather.

Empress returned, bearing pieces of jewellery for Conductor to use as Satine. As well as costume designs for some of Satine's dresses.

"These are gorgeous!" Owlice gushed, looking between the sketches and the shelves of fabric at the side of the room.

"I did nae know you designed clothes," Conductor said.

"You don't know a lot about me." Empress shrugged.

"H- hold on!" Owlice pushed the papers back into Empress' paws, running and picking up a bolt of red fabric.

"This!" Owlice cheered, rolling out a bit and holding it up next to Conductor. "Please sir, let me make that dress design with this fabric! For the Elephant Love Medley! Oh sir, Satine would look brilliant!"

"Go on lass, make the dress. You've already got my measurements from the other costumes," Conductor laughed. "In the meantime, I'll try on the necklaces, rings and bracelets that Empress bought."

Owlice let out a squeal of delight, running over to her desk and putting down the fabric before quickly darting back for the dress designs.

"Want me to help?" Empress offered to the director. "You haven't worn bracelets in a long time."

Conductor looked up at her. "What? How would you know that?"

"Lucky guess. Plus, you seem like the guy who wore bracelets a ton when you were younger," Empress explained as Conductor took off his coat and waistcoat.

"Which should we try first?" Conductor questioned.

"I got a good necklace for when the Duke gives Satine a gift. Want to try that?" Empress suggested.

"Sure."

Empress took out a silver necklace filled with diamonds, undoing the multiple clasps at the back.

The door opened and Conductor looked over as Grooves walked in, the penguin staring at the script in his flipper.

Empress looped the necklace round the front of Conductor's neck, doing it up.

"I just don't get it, why does the Duke have to be so creepy?! Satine never did anything to make him think she loved him. She's a courtesan for-" Grooves broke off as he looked up, beak opening and closing a few times. "-peck's…sake…"

"Hi Mr. Grooves!" Owlice greeted as she ran across the room, holding a small cushion with multiple pins and needles in.

"You, um. Y-you look nice," Grooves stuttered. Conductor's feathers ruffled at the compliment, bushing up around the sides of his face.

"Heh, thanks," Conductor breathed. Empress rolled her eyes, walking over to Owlice's desk and looking at the dress designs with the owl.

Conductor swallowed nervously, self conscious now Grooves was here.

"I came to ask if you wanted coffee," Grooves said suddenly, speaking rapidly. "But you're busy so I'll just get you one and come back later."

Grooves turned to leave.Conductor strode over to the penguin, grabbing the sleeve of his friend's jacket.

"Coffee would be great," he chuckled, smiling up at Grooves.

"Well, how can I ignore the best director I've ever met?" Grooves joked as the two of them left the room.

Conductor's face heated and his talons moved to fidget with the necklace he had on.

"Do I look okay?" Conductor asked, feeling like every owl or penguin they passed was staring.

"You're the sparkling diamond. You look perfect," Grooves assured. "And you're the angel of music. So if people were staring, it would be out of jealousy."

"Shut up," Conductor laughed before shuddering from the cold.

Grooves rolled his eyes behind dark lenses, slipping off his jacket and draping it around Conductor.

"I thought you would have learnt by now."

"I had ta take it off to try on the necklace!" Conductor protested.

"Mhm. Sure darling."

"Let's get coffee already. I cannae be working on our movie if I'm gonna fall asleep."

Grooves laughed, taking ahold of Conductor's hand and spinning him around as they walked down the hall.

Conductor tripped over the edge of the large red coat, slipping out of Grooves' grip and onto the floor.

"Looks like you fell anyway," Grooves teased.

Heat flushed Conductor's face as he scrambled back to his feet.

"Yeah. I guess I did," he mused, staring at the penguin.

Grooves tilted his head to the side with a smile.

"Coffee then?"

"Coffee then."

[ashxketchum]

✧ HAPPY BIRTHDAY @deathberi ✧

Honestly, I'm so glad that we became friends because it's so hard to find people who vibe with your entire thought process and share all the same reactions or inhibitions over everything. Thank you so much for always lending an ear to my crazy and petty fandom or life related rants, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be as active in the Mimato fandom as I am now had we not become friends when we did 💗

After almost 2 years of telling people that there will be a part 2 of the post-Tri coffee shop oneshot, I've finally managed to pull myself together and write it for Eri's birthday!

And for a change, I'll be posting the entire fic on tumblr, though you can also read it on FFN/AO3 if you wish 🫶🏻

Summary: After the Ordinemon incident, bit by bit the kids are able to pick up the pieces and move on with their lives. Amongst the chaos of change, Yamato and Mimi discover their friendship runs deeper than either had ever thought.

Word count: 5743, Fandom: Digimon, Pairing: Mimato, Genre: Slow burn/friendship/romance

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

“I’ll have a venti matcha berry frappe, nonfat, refrigerated chilled milk, absolutely no ice, extra whipped cream, which, make sure, is layered perfectly, with three pumps of caramel syrup and two of vanilla.”

He could feel his manager’s eyes boring into his back, so Yamato did what any other good employee in his place would, he kept a straight face and diligently noted down the customer’s request before moving on to ringing it up without once bothering to look at the girl standing behind the counter or ask for her name. He wondered if his manager would find it strange, that he hadn’t taken the customer’s name, but seeing as Yamato was already putting all his effort into concentrating well on his job and not exploding on the brunette who seemed to take some pleasure out of his misery, he decided that he was allowed this one slip. He’d deal with his manager later, since the bigger problem was in front of him, eyeing him with a teasing glint in her caramel eyes as he picked up the paper cup and moved on to the workstation to begin her order. He did however, keep a track of what his manager was doing from the corner of his eye, and the minute the older man was out of sight, Yamato breathed a sigh of relief and spun on his feet.

“Please Mimi, by all means, go ahead and make my job more difficult.” Yamato seethed, managing to keep his voice low to not attract any attention to them.

“Well, if you’re going to ask that nicely,” Mimi smirked, as always she had the upper hand in the conversation due to the safety guaranteed by being a customer at the shop.

“Just take the drink and go, let me work in peace.” Yamato attempted to maintain a superior tone as he begged her to leave, turning again to add the finishing touches to her order as quickly as he could before his superior caught a whiff of his not-so-welcoming attitude towards their customers.

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Mimi beamed at him, as she accepted the finished product from his hand, her fingers brushed against his own for a brief moment, suddenly making Yamato hyper aware of the spot at the back of his hand.

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Entrance exams to worry about?” He asked exasperatedly, she seemed too carefree for someone who was in the last year of high school, remembering his own experience of it from the previous year.

Mimi scoffed in reply, waving a hand in the air to brush aside his concern for her education. Instead of turning to make her way out of the store now that she had received her order, she settled on the empty bar stool on the other side of the pick-up counter, resting one elbow on the countertop as she took careful sips of her drink from the other hand. He watched her like a hawk, Yamato wouldn’t put it past the brunette to make fake claims about the taste of the drink just to get him into trouble. This had been going on for a few months now, every time he had a shift during her after-school hours, Mimi would make it her life’s purpose to show up and annoy him to no extent. He’d attempted to explain to her, that he needed to keep this job to maintain his living expenses, but apparently, the pleasure she got from watching him stumble around while making coffee seemed to take precedence over his livelihood.

Of course, Mimi wasn’t the only one to blame here, if only his roommate at college wasn’t a bigger pain in the ass, Yamato would never had have to take up this part-time job in the first place. When he had complained to his father about not being able to get along well with his roomie, instead of agreeing to raise his monthly allowance so that Yamato could move out and rent a place of his own, his father had promptly told him that as an adult, he should learn to solve his problems from now on. Yamato had half a mind to remind his father that he and his friends had not only solved the Digital World’s problems on multiple occasions, but also saved their own world by doing so, but he'd stayed quiet and accepted his fate. On Takeru’s recommendation, he took up a job at this popular coffee joint, the pay was decent and the hours weren’t too bad and well Yamato always did have a knack for being good in the kitchen, so it suited his purposes of saving up to move out of the college dorm as soon as possible just well.

Until Mimi happened to walk in one day and decided to take matters into her own hands.

She was surprised to see him behind the counter, and at first, she had just been curious, about what he was doing here or what he had been up to since the graduation ceremony. Yamato admitted, that ever since he graduated high school, he’d finally understood what Jou had been struggling with for the longest time, it wasn’t easy to maintain friendships when one was thrust with the responsibility of taking care of every single aspect of their life and somehow pursue studies on which one’s future life depended at the same time. He considered himself lucky if he was able to have a phone conversation with Takeru that lasted more than 5 minutes in a day. So he hadn’t been wary of Mimi popping up every now and then, updating him about her and Koushiro’s school life, and sometimes Jou’s and Sora’s too. It gave him a way to stay connected with everyone without having to make time for them, and while he did feel guilty about this on multiple occasions, he was grateful for it too.

That was before Mimi got bored with just talking about their lives, and decided to spice up their encounters by getting him into light trouble with his manager. It was usually just silly little things like claiming he got her order wrong or giving extremely complicated and hard to follow requests, and she had never pulled something huge that would seriously get Yamato in trouble, but it was still frustrating and it ruined his mojo for the rest of his shift.

There was also the question of why Mimi had suddenly taken such a liking to spending time with him, of all people, since they'd never been close enough for a relationship like this. They’d spent time together before sure, and they’d had their fair share of agreements and disagreements when it came to matters related to the Digital World, but apart from that Yamato could barely remember any interactions with her that didn’t circle back to the Digital World or their Digimon Partners. So the thought always nagged at him, at the back of his head, when she would appear with a skip in her step and fix him with one of the brightest smiles he knew.

But then she would go on to do something diabolical, and he’d be reminded of how similar she was to his little brother, which led to him missing Takeru and left him irritated and wishing for her to leave.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Yamato turned his attention towards the brunette sitting in front of him, she had set down the drink on the countertop and was currently surveying the store with her bright eyes, the mischievous glint in them indicating that she was just looking for something that could serve as a prop of the day in interfering with his work. Relieved that he had caught her while she was still in her planning phase, Yamato decided to take control of the situation before his manager returned and reprimanded him for being rude to their customers.

“You really don’t have anything better to do?” Yamato began icily, making Mimi turn her gaze towards him, the challenging look on her face seemed to put the last nail to his patience’s coffin as he snapped at her, “Don’t you have any friends?”

He regretted it the minute those words left his mouth, biting his tongue in an attempt to stop himself from groaning outwardly.

The effect on Mimi was immediate, all colour drained from her face and her eyes shone with a blanket of tears just waiting to fall, but with a single blink she managed to keep them at bay and faced him with a hardened look as she replied quietly, “I thought that’s what we were.”

And before Yamato could make any attempts to take back his statements or even begin to apologize for his behaviour, Mimi was out of the door, leaving behind her drink on the counter, without sparing a single glance in his direction.

Yamato allowed himself to groan out loud when he picked up her cup to clear the counter and found that it was still heavy, she had barely begun to drink it. He couldn’t help but chide himself internally, for missing something so obvious, for even deliberating on an answer that was right in front of his eyes this entire time.

Yamato couldn’t believe that he, of all people, had missed out on the signs of their budding friendship, and had pushed it aside as nothing but an occasional nuisance within his routine. His optimistic side hoped that he would just explain himself to her when she’d show up tomorrow, even offer her her favourite drink for free as a token of his apology. But a tiny voice at the back of his head reminded him, that there was no way Mimi would come back to spend time with him after this.

Unfortunately, it was the tiny voice that prevailed in its prediction, as Mimi didn’t show up the next day or the one after that, or after that.

At first, Yamato consoled himself by devoting himself to the tasks at hand, happy to finally be able to concentrate on his work, he managed to win praises from his manager on multiple occasions which pushed Mimi’s absence from his surroundings out of his head, and for a while, it worked.

But then there were slow days when he didn’t have much to do but stand behind the counter and look at all the people sitting around in groups or twos and threes, laughing and chatting loudly as they sipped their coffees and munched on their food. The sight would tug on an invisible string in his heart, making him long for Mimi’s teasing smile as she rattled off an order comprising of the most incompatible ingredients, laughing loudly at the look of horror that would take over his face as he wrote down her instructions. There were days when the shop would be eerily silent, and he’d hear her voice in his head, telling him about something that had happened at school. There were days when someone would walk by with a pet, cuddling it and showering it with affection, making him miss Gabumon’s soft fur and he’d instinctively turn towards the pick-up counter, hoping to tell Mimi about it but was met with emptiness instead.

He hadn’t realised, just how much he had managed to share with her during their encounters, and how he had begun to depend on her company to get him through his mundane work life. And in true Yamato fashion, he had gone ahead and messed it all up by thinking about things from only his perspective.

It was on another such slow day when Yamato was just standing behind the counter with mundane blue eyes watching the people that passed by the cafe's entrance that his father’s words echoed in his mind once again. As an adult he had to learn to solve his problems without help from others, so was standing here day in and day out, waiting for Mimi to appear through the door once again really how he wanted this to end? He knew he was capable of doing better, and that realisation came with a burst of motivation to take matters into his own hand.

Looking at the ingredients lined up on the shelf behind him, Yamato put his mind and then hands to work, coming up with a coffee drink only Mimi would enjoy sipping through. After he set the finished drink aside, he carefully checked his manager's office, which had been empty when he had clocked in, and to his delight was still so. Asking around among his colleagues he found that their senior was on leave today and after a quick roster negotiation with the staff he was on good terms with, Yamato picked up the coffee cup and ducked out of work early.

His feet carried him towards his school without needing many instructions from his brain, but what he did notice was that his coffee shop was actually not that far from it at all. Maybe another reason why Mimi had ended up dropping by so frequently, it probably was just a stop on her way home from school. When he arrived at the school gates, he checked the time on his wristwatch and smiled to himself, just a few more minutes and the students would begin pouring out in herds.

As time passed, however, Yamato shifted his feet restlessly, he hadn’t visited this area since he graduated and standing outside the entrance to his school while he was not in uniform made him feel like he was doing something wrong, that any of his teachers would just waltz up to him parroting off the school policy any minute. He didn’t have much of a choice, however, since this was his decision and turning back now just to escape a little bit of embarrassment would set him back a few steps over the progress he was trying to make. He gripped the takeaway coffee cup in his hand and reminded himself that the reason he was here was to make amends, no matter what the consequences.

So he stood a few paces away from the school’s main gate and kept a watchful eye on the students passing by in groups of threes and fours, hoping to catch hold of the person he had come here to see soon enough. Yamato had expected her to be out the doors mixed in with a big group of girls, laughing and chattering away about their day, but he'd been standing here for a while now and despite the large crowd of students that had already exited the building, he was yet to lay his eyes upon her. The coffee cup in his hand had been chilled to the point that it felt frozen when he left the shop with it but now it was starting to slowly lose its coolness, and he wondered if he had chosen the wrong day to show up. Maybe Mimi was busy with some club meeting after school or she might’ve taken a sick day today, which would mean that he’d have to repeat his efforts some other day. The school could easily let him camp outside for a day, but surely he’d raise some questioning eyebrows if he appeared here for two consecutive days.

But just as he was contemplating turning around and going back, his eyes finally caught sight of the familiar shade of pastel hair, that shined with a hint of pink when the light hit it just right. To his surprise, however, Mimi was not exiting the school in a large group surrounded by friends, she was walking all by herself with hands shoved in her coat’s pocket and her head hanging low, a sight that Yamato never expected to see. He didn’t want to seem like he was putting her in a mould, but at some level for him, Mimi was the personification of brightness, so to see her look so dull and drained was almost eye-opening in some sense. Now he felt even more guilty for his actions before, for pushing her away and treating her like a nuisance without ever giving a second thought to what kind of problems she was facing by herself.

The Ordinemon incident took its toll on each of them in different ways, for Taichi witnessing their teacher’s death made an irreparable hole in his heart, for Hikari coming to terms with the fact that she and her brother shared idealistic differences hadn’t been easy, for Jou and Sora, completely moving on from their responsibilities as a chosen child to focus on themselves and their futures was a bittersweet choice, for Takeru learning to make the most of the things that hurt him took centerstage in his life, and for Koushiro drowning himself in working to make the connection between the Digital World and their world more stable became his life’s only goal.

And yet somehow, Yamato assumed that Mimi was unaffected, that she was the only one out of them all who conquered the painful memories and continued to live life as happily as she always had. It hadn’t crossed his mind at all that the reason why she sat across him at the coffee shop day in and day out could have just been a way for her to avoid dealing with her problems. He never even considered the possibility that the few moments of laughter and teasing she shared with him could have been the highlight of her day. Perhaps, it had been reassuring for Yamato to think that at least one of them made it out of that fiasco unharmed, maybe assuming that he had one friend less to worry about was an easier truth to accept.

After all, what help had his silent presence been of to Taichi, or even to Takeru for that matter? Had he been able to find the comforting words to tell Jou and Sora that they made the right decision? Had he ever taken a moment to understand where Hikari’s anger towards Taichi came from, or what kind of unreasonable expectations Koushiro set for himself? No, the only moment when Yamato felt that he was doing something right as a friend was when Mimi sat across him with her bright eyes and loud laugh filling his world with colours unimaginable.

Taking a deep breath, Yamato kept his eyes fixed on the brunette who now had reached the school gate without noticing him. He knew that if he called out to her, it might draw unneeded attention towards her so he waited for her to turn her back to him as she walked in the direction of the train station. Swiftly, but as unsuspiciously as he could, he followed her before eventually falling into step with her. With her head still hung low, it seemed that Mimi was yet to notice his presence.

“Hey, Mimi!”

Yamato called out to her in a normal tone, but Mimi still jumped up in surprise, eyes wide with disbelief as she halted in her tracks and looked up at him.

“Are you looking to get punched?” She frowned at him as she rested a palm on her chest, possibly trying to calm herself.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to startle you.” Yamato smiled sheepishly, realising that he hadn’t made the best move after all.

“And how’s that working out for you?”

The sarcasm dripping from Mimi’s voice and the gloomy aura that surrounded her was a clear sign of how maybe today was not the best day for Yamato to carry out his plan. But the now slightly less cold cup of coffee in his hand reminded him that since he made it this far, there was no point in turning back now.

“Sorry, again,” Yamato said, moving quickly to make space for a passer-by which put him directly in front of Mimi. With all the courage that he had left in his bones, he raised the cup of coffee in his hand, offering it to her as he spoke, “I got some time off today so I thought I’d bring you a peace offering.”

Mimi didn’t immediately take the cup from his hand which made a shiver run down his spine as she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head up towards him, shooting a glare at him with her fierce caramel eyes as she asked, “And why should I bother to accept this peace offering?”

Yamato bit his lip nervously as his grip on the coffee cup tightened. The apology he had practised at home, kind of tied in with the premise that Mimi would accept his little token and then agree to hear him out in her usual lighter mood. He couldn’t be sure if the words he originally picked would please the Mimi that stood in front of him now with a guarded posture and distrustful eyes.

“Look, I really am sorry for the way I behaved,” he said. Mimi immediately scoffed at him and began to roll her eyes so he hastily explained himself better, “I know you find that hard to believe right now, but I’m not sure how I can prove it to you if you don’t have a little faith in me.

Maybe it was the sincerity in his voice, or it may have been his blunt choice of words, but there was a flicker in Mimi’s eyes as her head perked up, indicating that she was beginning to let down her guard. She raised a hesitant hand and before he knew it, her fingers brushed against his as she decided to take the coffee cup he had prepared for her.

Yamato curled his fists to contain the excitement that rushed through his veins at the thought of being able to earn Mimi’s forgiveness just as he had imagined it in his head. He recounted his next words carefully in his mind before speaking up again, his voice filled with twice the confidence he had started with.

“Of course, I consider us friends.”

Mimi’s eyes widened at his simple declaration, it was hard to miss the colour that rushed to her pale cheeks, the sight of which made his own heartbeat pick up pace, though he did not understand the reason why it happened.

“I have always considered you as a friend, right from the very first time we got dumped into the Digital World.” Yamato continued, knowing that he had her undivided attention, he didn’t want to waste any time dwelling on his own feelings. Chuckling softly, Yamato ran a hand through his hair before he spoke again, “And believe me I know that I haven’t exactly been good at showing it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Again, I’m sorry about what I said, and of course, the way I behaved.”

She averted her gaze the minute he stopped speaking so at first, Yamato thought that he had said something wrong. A thin veil of silence settled between them and each passing second that Mimi did not look up to meet his eye started to feel like a hellish eternity. Had she been expecting him to say something else, had he not understood why she was mad at him, had he stood there and apologised for something else entirely, questions like these kept racing through Yamato’s head as he waited for the brunette to, in some way, acknowledge his words.

When Mimi finally did raise her head and peeked at him from under her lashes, he thought the relief that filled his body would make him faint but instead, her shining eyes and the smile tugging at her lips made him feel like he was dangling on the edge of cloud nine.

“Thank you for saying that.” Her voice was faint, but the sweet smile that gradually graced her face made up for it. She tucked the strands of hair, that always framed her face perfectly, behind her ears. Her hands then shifted to the hem of her school skirt as she fidgeted with it, dropping her gaze once again before saying, “That, uh, means a lot to me.”

Finally being able to apologise, and have his apology get accepted did lift a heavy weight off of Yamato’s shoulders, but somehow watching Mimi squirm nervously under his stare made an unfamiliar feeling settle in his stomach. Perhaps he was just surprised, he thought, that Mimi wasn’t gloating over getting him to admit his mistakes or acting smug about it the way she would have done back when they’d been younger. It was just an effect of being privy to a new side of his childhood friend, he told himself, he shouldn’t attach too much meaning to something so irrelevant. Rather, he should be focusing on the fact that he had just won Mimi’s forgiveness and although in reality the two still stood rooted to their spots on the side of the pavement, Yamato felt that they had taken a huge step towards each other at that moment.

But still, just to be sure, Yamato decided that he needed to hear her say it more definitively.

“So…”

“So?” Mimi raised her eyes as she began to walk again.

“Am I forgiven?” Yamato asked nervously, as he quickly followed in her steps and settled into a pace next to her.

“That depends, am I allowed back in the coffee shop?” She stuck her tongue out at him, indicating that her spirits had been lifted and that of course Yamato was forgiven.

“I never stopped you from coming in!”

“But you acted like you didn’t want me there.”

Her teasing, sing-song voice struck a nerve with him but Yamato just rolled his eyes. Not even a full minute had passed since they’d made up and Mimi had already begun to mess with him. But this time, he wasn’t as bothered as he used to get, in fact, he welcomed her little giggles here and there since it just meant that they were back to being friends again. Being teased over little things was but a small price to pay for having Mimi’s melodic laugh back in his life.

“Yeah, yeah, you can come by any time you want.” Yamato shook his head as the two took a turn that led them down the steps towards the train station.

“Well, of course, I’m not going to come by any time, I’m going to come when you’re working!”

“That’s great. Just perfect.” He muttered under his breath dejectedly as Mimi shook with laughter next to him.

When they crossed through the gates of the station, Yamato knew that he needed to head in the opposite direction to reach his home, but he still found himself tagging along with Mimi, having wordlessly decided that he might as well drop her off till her house. The train they boarded was crowded at first which didn’t give them many chances to continue their conversation, but after a few stations, their compartment cleared and the two quickly grabbed a pair of seats together. Having settled down comfortably, and with their stop still being a bit further away, Yamato decided to bring up something that had been bothering him for a little while.

“Uh, is everything okay at school?”

His sudden question surprised Mimi and she whipped her head in his direction with an incredulous look on her face.

“Why do you ask?”

“You just looked a little down when you got out,” Yamato said, rubbing the back of his head out of an anxious habit.

“Okay, stalker.” Mimi chuckled quietly, despite the smug look she sent his way, it was easy to tell that her voice lacked a hint of humour.

“I wasn’t stalking, I was waiting for you!” He still defended himself despite knowing that she might have teased him to get on his nerves and change the subject.

“School’s the same as always, I don’t really fit in.” Mimi tried to shrug off the disappointment in her voice as she turned her gaze towards her sneakers.

“What about Koushiro?”

“He barely attends classes these days, his scores are so good that they let him do remote learning.”

“Oh. So you’re…” Yamato stopped mid-sentence, swallowing the word that was at the tip of his tongue.

“Alone.” Mimi finished for him with a dry smile, “Mostly. Unless Miyako and Hikari spare me some time or if Takeru runs into me in the hallway during lunch break.”

“I see.”

While leaving school Mimi had looked quite grim, but as she talked about it right now, the solemn look on her face made it seem like she had made her peace with the way things were. Maybe it had just been Yamato’s luck that he’d managed to catch her on a bad day. He kept this thought to himself, and even Mimi didn’t speak much for the rest of the ride. As they exited the train at the right station, Yamato wondered if he should say something to make Mimi feel better, even if it didn’t particularly look like she needed it. But since he had brought up the topic that had made the conversation go stale between them, he felt that it was his duty to do something to make things pick up pace between them again.

“College isn’t so easy either you know,” he remarked as the two passed through the exit gates, catching Mimi’s attention immediately. She motioned towards the way her house was located once they were above ground and Yamato realised that even if the neighbourhood felt familiar, it had been a long time since had last been around this area. Shaking his head, he continued to explain his own predicaments to Mimi, with the hope that it might help her feel that she wasn’t the only one struggling, “My roommate is an ass, everyone in my year is so competitive, I don’t feel like I can trust anyone enough to call them a friend.”

“Wow, you sure shouldn’t be allowed to speak to any high school seniors preparing for their entrance exams right about now.” She looked at him pointedly.

“Wait, I meant...no-jus- argh!”Yamato felt his ears go red as he realised how he’d spoken without thinking things through. He exhaled a deep breath, the sound of which drowned under Mimi’s laughter over his behaviour, in a more stable and sensible tone he added, “What I meant was that for me, college isn’t easy just like school isn’t for you. I am in no way trying to demotivate you from applying.”

“I know, I know.” Mimi grinned at him as she bumped her shoulder against his arm lightly, letting him know that yet again, she was just teasing, “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

The two walked in a comfortable silence after this and it wasn’t until Mimi’s apartment building came into sight that she suddenly spoke up.

“Things would be easier if I had just one person to lean on. Just one friend to talk to.”

Yamato stopped in his tracks and so did Mimi, a few steps ahead of him. The sight of her looking wistfully up at the light purple dusk sky, coupled with the longing reflected in her voice, spurred something inexplicable inside him. It was the first time Yamato realised how beautiful her pastel hair looked under the faint evening light, how her caramel eyes mirrored alluring gold coins as the light danced off of them, and how even at a distance her porcelain skin looked like it was soft enough to melt against his touch.

“You’ve got me.”

Though his voice was barely above a whisper, the words escaped his lips before he could control himself. He hoped that the warmth that filled his cheeks at the moment could be attributed to the weather when Mimi shifted her attention towards him with a curious look on her face. He wasn’t sure whether his words had reached her so Yamato cleared his throat loudly, attempting to get rid of any unnecessary thoughts that had begun to cloud his mind, he rephrased what he had blurted out accidentally in a more suitable manner.

“I’ll be that friend, gladly.”

“And what should I be,” Mimi fully turned herself in his direction, putting her hands behind her back, she tilted her head and with a mischievous smile playing on her lips she finished her question, “in return, for you?”

It wasn’t easy for Yamato to maintain eye contact with Mimi and not blurt something stupid out again, especially not when the stars that were now starting to appear in the sky behind her almost forming a halo around her head with their glow. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, was his heart really beating faster than it had ever before, was the heat coursing through his body not a sign of some kind of illness befalling him? How did his simple wish to make amends with Mimi over a cup of coffee make him end up here, asking questions that had never crossed his mind before?

Yamato peeled his eyes away from Mimi and looked at the ground, rubbing his neck with one hand as he answered her question, “Friendship isn’t a give and take kind of situation, you can just be yourself.”

“Deal!” She laughed and winked at him, before bowing her head slightly in thanks for accompanying her home. With a wave and a loud bye-bye, she pushed open the door to the apartment entrance and disappeared behind it.

Yamato stood at the pavement, watching her silhouette slowly fade behind the glass doors of the building entrance, only one thought circling around in his mind. He had just labelled their relationship as a friendship, even though he knew that the tightness in his chest which grew the further away Mimi got from him was not something one would feel for a friend. He raised his hand and rested it over his chest, feeling the rapid and loud beating of his heart until it gradually became normal again.

It was funny how trying to resolve things with Mimi had left him with many more unresolved feelings and thoughts, the opposite of what he had expected today’s encounter would lead to.

With a scoff Yamato turned on his heel, facing the vast sky above him he reminded himself that following his dad’s advice never did seem to work out well for him.

x

[pbjplatypus]

The door burst open, and Dr. Scott ran into the dark laboratory.

"Miller! What the hell is going on here?"

Dr. Miller smiled. "Ah, Dr. Scott, so good of you to finally join me!"

As Dr. Scott ran up to his colleague, he saw the shadow of a man bound to a strange device in the darkness.

Miller chuckled. "Finally accepted my invitation, have you?"

"Miller, you son of a bitch, who do you have tied - " Dr. Scott circled the shape of the man, and it seemed to change. Parts seemed to separate and shrink into thin air, and at certain angles, it looked like a blob of flesh, veins and muscles pulsating in the open air.

Dr. Scott was taken aback. "What do you have locked to that machine?"

Dr. Miller laughed, a perverse joy spreading across his face. "This is what I've been working on, Dr. Scott. All of those grants, teaching those lectures and seminars... It was all for this. This... My angel."

"Your... Your angel?" Dr. Scott looked at the shape, the creature, and back to Miller. "Dear God, man, when you began looking into extradimensional science..."

"That was the end phase, yes. And finally, FINALLY, I know enough to capture an angel. To perhaps even get to its heaven myself."

"Get there... Miller, it hardly seems alive here, what do you think this heaven might do to you??"

Dr. Miller looked down at his hands. His arms were shaking with anticipation. "Perhaps... Perhaps it would give me peace."

He looked back at the angel and started toward it. Dr. Scott made a motion to stop him, but stopped midway. The angel might see that as a threat. Dr. Scott didn't know. He couldn't know.

Dr. Miller stood over the angel's primary form, the central point from which its undulating masses seemed to orbit. "Well. You know what you took from me. Give it back."

The voice that responded to him was wet, and reverberated across the laboratory with a delicate force. "What is it that you seek, Garth Miller?"

Miller clenched his fists, rage building up for just a second before he regained his composure. "The knowledge. The knowledge that you took from me, Michael, decades ago!"

The angel was silent. Miller frowned.

"In the winter of 1918, as I was leaving Germany, I found a book strewn on what once was a wheat field. It was beaten up, almost as though it had been through the Great War itself. It took me a year to translate it. What I read in that book tore open my eyes and rended my soul apart. Suddenly I could SEE, I saw the universe for what it WAS. It was as if I was following electrical cables toward a control box! And had I been given the time, I'm sure I would've deciphered the controls, as well!

"But you. Just as I was noting my observations of the unseen world I was discovering, YOU appeared in front of me! You touched my head, did - did something to my mind, and TOOK my book! And all of a sudden, this beautiful revelation I was moving towards was gone! Trying to think of it, think of how it worked, think at ALL, was like attempting to grasp a slick glass vase, only to have it slip and shatter. You did this to me, Michael!

"But now, I have you. I can see your organs straining under the shape of this world. You're from somewhere else, somewhere higher, and it's like if I were to try to fit myself onto a piece of paper. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Dr. Scott called out. "M-Miller! Stop this madness!"

Dr. Miller ignored him. "Well? Give me what I want, or I, the insect, will squash you, the man."

The angel's voice resonated through the room yet again. "What knowledge you gained was not yours to keep," Michael said. "Nor is it mine to give. Had we let you continue, Garth Miller, you would have set down a path of destruction unlike that which this world has ever known. You... All of you... Are not ready for such knowledge."

Dr. Miller nodded his head, his whole body shaking with anger. "A waiting game, is it? I can see those shapes of flesh you call a body. They're changing faster now. I can tell that you're in pain."

"Miller, I don't think - "

Dr. Scott was cut off as Michael's voice replied, "Do not perceive my flesh as your flesh, nor my body as your body... Nor your frequencies as my frequencies."

The laboratory suddenly went pitch-black.

"Dr. Miller!" Dr. Scott called.

Suddenly, a blinding flash of light burst from where Michael had been. Every piece of metal in the room was blown back, clattering into the walls with a great crash. Dr.s Scott and Miller were both thrown to the ground. And then, darkness.

After a moment, the lights of the lab flicked back to life with a hum. Dr. Scott rubbed his eyes, sitting up.

He looked to Dr. Miller. Blood was beginning to soak into his lab coat.

"Miller!" He scrambled over to the doctor, checking for a pulse.

Miller grinned. "I'm quite alright, Dr. Scott." From under his lab coat, he produced a fragment of the angel's flesh, still pulsating. He also held up a scalpel.

"Now... Would you like analyze the matter of heaven, Scott?"