#this is one of the few things ive seen from the chapter i live a life of fear and anguish

[meringuejellyfish]

oh my worm

[alessiamalfoyzabini]

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨

Pairing | Yandere Jungkook x Reader

Word Count | 1,672

Warnings | +18, bullying, attempted sexual harassment, panic attack

This does not reflect my way of thinking or living at all, it is just a work of fiction, it is like watching a horror movie, many of us love horror movies, but we would never dream of what we see in those movies happening in reality as well.

Simply put, this story was written for entertainment purposes, it should not be seen as a reflection of my values, opinions or morals. I absolutely do not condone such acts.

⤷ Summary | If she had paid attention earlier to the sin that dwelt behind those obsidian irises, she would never have trusted it.

If she had noticed earlier the devouring love that dwelled in his corrupt heart, she probably would have fled.

She had done none of that, and now she had to come to terms with her new reality.

➢ Author's Note | I'm back with the second chapter of Happy Ending, I hope you can enjoy it 🥰❤

Chapter List - I - II - III - IV - V - VI - VII - VIII / The End

Toward the end of class, some had already turned in their drawings, others had yet to finish, and Jungkook intimated that they should bring them the next time they saw each other. Y/N shakily got up from her seat, sent down too much saliva as she came within a few steps of the boy, who lifted his face in her direction, giving her a warm smile. "Y/N! Are you done?" The girl nodded, unable to verbalize her thoughts, so she placed the drawing on the desk, bending down a bit, this gave Jungkook a chance to get a better peek at how she was dressed that day, drinking in the sight of her legs and imagining how soft and creamy they might be in his adoring hands. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the most unruly strands back, and Y/N froze, following his movements with her eyes.

"Wow, Y/N...great job, as always," he complimented, proud that his good girl had done such a detailed job of depicting the disembodied cloud with shapeless, skeletal hands-that to her was bullying, something no adult could see, but which managed to trap its victims in a spiral of suffering and muteness. The girl blushed at his words, bowing slightly before reaching her seat. Behind her back she sensed a slight snort that caused her to stiffen. Jungkook had to leave the command to another colleague, stared disgruntled at the girl, but vowed to do something for her, or rather, for both of them. He would not let that terrible pattern continue, Y/N deserved better, in his arms he would be able to give her the happiness and love she lacked, as he could clearly see.

And so the day continued, until it was time to return home.

Y/N hurriedly packed her things, the threat of Yoozu loomed over her, and anxiously walked out of the classroom. She didn't greet anyone, and no one greeted her, she looked fearfully at every corner of the corridors, a hustle and bustle of students and teachers did not allow her to increase her pace, she found herself pushing through the crowd almost in desperation, she wanted anything but to be in the jaws of her classmate. Oh, if only she had known... "So, beggar!" someone brutally grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to him right outside the university, Yoozu stared at her with anger concealed behind a fake smile, "We still haven't discussed the slap you so kindly printed on my face," he growled.

Y/N felt herself dying, she tried to wriggle out of her companion's firm grip, but it proved utterly useless, the boy's icy fingers pressed on her tender skin without restraint. "Let go of me! Let go of me, Yoozu!" she exclaimed in panic, her breathing shorter and her heartbeat faster, but he if possible painfully increased his grip on her wrist, painful bruises would appear shortly. "Not so fast, first you have to pay me back for the shit you made me look like today," he hissed, dragging her toward a more secluded alley, Y/N grabbed the mirror of a car parked nearby in a desperate attempt to save herself, but Yoozu was much stronger than she was, "Be good, I'll only need your mouth, then I'll let you go for today." Those words were the straw, the girl began to scream and call for help, Yoozu immediately plugged her mouth but it was too late. Someone had heard her, and that someone was smoking with rage.

"What the hell is going on here?" The quiet but unusually dangerous voice made the boy pale, and he suddenly let go of his grip on the girl. Y/N fell to the ground with momentum, right at the feet of someone she knew. She lifted her gaze and caught the icy expression on Jungkook's handsome face; she also seemed to catch a glimpse of murderous fury in his irises, but in fact she could not be one hundred percent certain. "I... nothing, I just wanted to apologize to Y/N for today," Yoozu dared to say, but Jungkook did not buy that pathetic excuse. "Is that so? It would seem anything but to me." Jungkook had seen the whole scene, had even managed to hear those vulgar words that had screwed up his self-control. "Professor, it really went like this! But Y/N didn't understand, she thought that-" a sob interrupted his absurd explanations, Jungkook's heart clenched, as did his eyes. "Kang Yoozu, you are expelled." "Wait, what! You can't do that! You are not the principal, and on the basis of what then?!" Yoozu panicked, Jungkook found it disgusting. "I'm not the principal, but I'm on good terms with him, as for the motivation...how does attempted rape sound to you?" he asked wryly, making the boy gasp. No, with such a charge no other university would have accepted him and his parents would have sent him to some godforsaken place in shame. "Professor, can we talk about this? Please, this will ruin my life," he prayed agitatedly, admitting his real intentions that way. "The more I listen to you, the more I want to ruin something else too! Get out of my sight, Kang!" he shouted furiously, Yoozu at first seemed not to understand, then casting a glance at Y/N's kneeling figure he took a step back and began to run.

Jungkook inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself somehow, he couldn't believe what had happened before his own eyes, he turned to the girl and felt only immense pain, she was on her knees on the icy asphalt wet with rain, she kept holding her head in her hands, trying to stifle her sobs. He lowered himself in her direction, god, she was beautiful even with her face overflowing with tears. He brought two fingers under her chin, gently forcing her to lift her face to his, chaining their eyes together. "Hey, Y/N..." he gently blew on her, gathering the tears that ran down her full cheeks with his thumbs, "Are you okay?"

If possible, Y/N exploded into more sobs, throwing herself on her professor. She pushed into his chest seeking comfort, Jungkook was frozen for a moment, he did not expect such a reaction from the girl, his heartstrings tugged filling with warmth, he returned the embrace immediately, holding that tender body to him. "It will never end," she cried into his neck, breathing hard between sobs and bathing the boy's skin with warm salt water, "It will always be like this." Jungkook stroked her hair, imprinting the sweet scent of her on his mind, mentally whispering to her that no, it would not be like this anymore, that he would protect her. "No, Y/N... I'll talk to the principal, they won't hurt you anymore, trust me," he said instead continuing to gently caress her back, having her like this was like a dream just realized, he didn't even know how long he had wanted it, "Can you trust me, Y/N?" He moved her face away from his chest, seeking a clear answer from her, he wanted to be sure she wanted his help. Y/N let a trembling sigh escape, nodding. Jungkook's eyes were so sincere and crystal clear that it was natural for her to trust him, although her body still trembled at the mere thought of what Yoozu wanted to do to her. "Yes, I can," she murmured, Jungkook felt the need to kiss her just then, she was so polite and tender his little girl, who knows if she would have said the same begging him to give her more.

"I'll drive you home, Y/N, I have my car right next door, okay?" the young woman nodded without thinking much about it, her mind still too shocked by recent events to really think. Jungkook helped her up, escorting her to his car as if she had been a little doll in his hands. They both climbed into the vehicle and Jungkook got directions to find their way, cast a glance at the younger woman's legs, his hand itching to touch them, but he forced himself not to go too far for the moment. Rather, he focused on the magnificent smell of his favorite student, but the closer he got to his destination, the more he found himself turning up his nose. He didn't like that neighborhood; it was one of the most dangerous in the fucking city. Every day on the news there were reports of robberies, or worse. He cast a sidelong glance at the girl, wondering how she had survived in that place so far. Knowing her in that bad place upset him in no small part, and when they reached the apartment building Jungkook's gaze grew hard-they could all get to those windows, they were pretty old, too.

"Well, I live here, professor! Thank you for the ride and... for the help," she found herself saying impishly, Jungkook melted into yet another smile that day, the real and sincere ones were all for her, she just didn't know it yet. "Just ask, Y/N...and I'll be here for you," he said earnestly, the girl nodded, unable to respond and opened the door to get out of the car, gave one last wave and then ran inside. Leaving behind the eager gaze of her teacher. She closed the door to her apartment behind her back, a deep warm throbbing did not hint at leaving her anytime soon.

Jungkook's presence was all she could think about, she let herself slide against the surface of the door, in her mind were imprinted images of the man holding the steering wheel firmly in his strong hands, his muscular arms still uncovered and damp with rain, seemed strong enough to carry her without any effort at all, not to mention how he had defended her without too much trouble, quietly defying the economic power of Yoozu's parents, she clutched her legs to her chest, hiding her red face between them. Damn, she was really in love.

[nyxyxx]

Godly Desires - Part 5

Disappeared for a while for holidays and stuff. Happy New Year folks. This chapter is quite short but the good parts come next so that's exciting. (Also with a little bit of lore hehe). I. II. III. IV. V. Warning: This series will contain yandere content and religious themes.

"The City of Wind"

-

In the woods, stirring from its ancient slumber was a darkness so wicked and vicious, the very life that surrounded it began to wither and decay, rotting away from its presence alone. This darkness, it had a mind of its own, yet had no name to accompany it. Perhaps it once had a name, but said name has been long lost in the archaic oceans of time. Sunk deep within the waters of the world, lived a name so egregious, that uttering it would only bring about misfortune.

There was a prophecy to be told about this darkness. An ancient prophecy, one that was older than the gods themself. A legend told from within the land, an old story that was soon to be unearthed. Though this story would very soon present itself, discovered in the depths of the sea, now is not the time.

"It is the calm before the storm, my love."

-

"Stop right there!" A young girl emerged from the trees and promptly ran towards you. Dressed in red, white and brown, alongside the pyro vision at her hip, it was the ever-so recognizable Outrider Amber. She stood in front of you, with an air of justice and gentleness. "May the anemo God protect you, stranger!" She announced, suspiciously gazing over your strangely dressed self. "I am Outrider Amber, of the knights of favonius, and who are you?"

"Oh uh...I'm [___]"

Amber simply stared at you in silence, looking a lot different than her typical self. Almost like she was thinking really hard about something, but also staring at you. Noticing how weird she was being, she kinda just turned away from you, her ears tinted a little pinkish.

...

There was somewhat of an awkward silence following. You gave her a fake name, as Diluc had mentioned it may be a good idea to do so, though you found it to be quite strange. Still, this was just way too awkward. Why wasn't she responding? Did you already do something wrong?

"Oh um...right. Where was I..." Amber snapped back into her usual persona, and thus you carefully explained your situation to her, keeping a few things hidden, but otherwise being truthful. She seemed to relax after a while of talking to her, even opening up a little bit.

"If you'd like, I can take you to the city, there have been lots of monsters in the area recently." She said, a little bit shy. It was uncalled for, but since she was offering you her company, you accepted happily.

Reaching the gates of the city, you glanced up at the sky. Though you had seen Mondstadt many times it looked so much more beautiful in person. Maybe your dream just had such great detail to it. Amber hastily showed you around, though it was mostly unneeded, as the entire city felt so familiar, to you. She quickly mentioned that she had to get back to work, and hoped that you had a good time while you remained in Mondstadt.

You couldn't help but shake the feeling that there was something that you were missing. Some important reason that you had to come here. Like you had been sent here for some purpose that you can't quite remember. You tried really hard to think of what that could've been, but attempting to do only led to your head hurting.

Well, you were here anyways. You might as well try and find something fun to do. So, swallowing those strange feelings, you decided to try someplace that might be interesting. The local tavern, perhaps.

-

Taglist: @justyoureader; @mmeatt; @iamapotatoe; @clavichordcleffa; @yu-ulda; @c3rtifiedsimp; @eravariety; @vianitry; @dulcedelechenginamo; @reveihehe; @liansh3ng; @angelofdarkness2; @yarabutterfly;

[yanderu-deredere]

bite.

★ what kind of girlfriend invites you to some bonfire in the middle of the forest only to leave you there? a shitty girlfriend, that's who. now, you're kind of buzzed and lost. thankfully, you spot a cabin. hopefully, the people there can help you out.

a/n: mom says it's my turn with the wolf pack!! here's another long thing but this time it's for the wolfie pack that ive been promising for a while now! hopefully it lives up to your guys expectations LOL i really love these yanderes and the werewolf lore i sprinkled in is my own brand of crazy

for those in disbelief, wondering how does this fit in my lil city. well, there's a forest at the outskirts of the city and i want there to be werewolves so there's werewolves!! got inspired by @not-a-bot-just-shy and their poly wolf pack so please check theirs out too!

while i was writing this, i decided that it got like really long so i decided to write a few more parts LOL im so sorry ive been slapping you guys with so many different chaptered stuff! but i hope itll be worth it!

part one (here) ★ part two ★ (chew.) ★ extras (bite and chew.) ★ extras (taste) ★ part three ★ (swallow.) ★ part four (digest.)

pairing: poly werewolves x male reader word count: 3475 warning: bottom reader has male parts and pronouns, reader is implied to be attracted to both genders, reader may be under the influence of alcohol, reader may have a shitty girlfriend, yanderes may be under the influence of the moon? wild, polyamorous ending (all three with the reader)

You grumbled, pushing past branches and leaves as you stomped around the forest, angry at your girlfriend for basically ditching you. Well, not ditching you. But, she did invite you to this stupid bonfire only to force you to drink and then ignore you the entire night.

She was the kind of girlfriend who was super into the full moon, tarot cards and mystic readings so she thought it would be fun to run around half naked tonight, thinking maybe something witchy and magical would happen.

You thought it meant having a hot make out session in front of a sexy bonfire so, of course, when she begged you to come, you agreed.

You were unfortunately wrong.

She was probably with that stupid buff friend of hers, draping herself all over him. So what if you couldn't tell whether or not you were a 'Sagittarius rising' or whatever and he could? You couldn't help but be annoyed at the thought of the two of them having fun.

You wouldn't call it cheating but it was definitely something.

You had stormed out in anger, hoping your girlfriend would care enough to chase after you. Unfortunately, she didn't even care enough about you to do that.

Or, even worse, she didn't notice that you'd left at all.

You pulled your phone out of your hoodie pocket and glanced at the time and battery. It was getting really late and your phone was almost dead. Damn. You didn't have any signal either so no hopes of calling someone for help.

Why were you so petty and dramatic anyway?

You heard a thump and your heart jumped into your throat. You looked around, scared as all hell, only to realise there was light in front of you.

You hurried forward, hoping to whatever higher power there was that it was civilization. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Fortunately, it was some sort of rustic looking house, large enough to fit a big family.

The thumping was from someone chopping some wood.

He looked buff, like a weightlifter with a little bit of pudge. He was a ways away from you but you could tell he was definitely taller than you, with the messiest ginger hair you had ever seen.

The stranger was wearing a tight worn down tank top and jeans which, honestly, he made look really good.

You hadn't even gotten close before the guy whacked his axe down, looking around the clearing like he was searching for something and, as if he'd heard you, his head snapped right to you.

You flinched but decided just coming out right then was less suspicious than hiding.

"Uhm! Hello!" You stepped forward, face and ears feeling a little hot from embarrassment "I'm really sorry to bother you but I'm like so lost and I just need directions--"

"You're not supposed to be here." He suddenly snapped and it made you take a step away from him, your eyes fluttering from one of his bulging muscles to the other.

If he wanted to snap you like a twig, he could easily do it.

"Right," you held your hands up as a sort of sign of surrender, "I totally get that but my friends-- We have a bonfire nearby-- Well, I don't really know how nearby-- I got lost--"

He seemed to see how frantic you got because he sighed and nodded, holding his hand out "C'mon, there's no way anyone would find their way through the forest at night."

"Stay the night and we'll drive you to Lovelock in the morning." He wrapped an arm around your shoulders when you got close enough though, from the tone in his voice, he didn't seem very happy.

"You can call me Mel. I live here with my partners, Leo and Sam." He guided you to the door and opened it for you "Sorry I'm a bit messy, was trying to cut wood for kindling."

"All good! Thanks for housing me. Sorry I'm being such a bother." You bowed your head a little, very apologetic since he seemed so inconvenienced.

Then, you didn't know if it was the alcohol in your system or if it was just from how good-looking the guy is but you suddenly felt the urge to lean against him and giggle "You know, I'm not entirely convinced this isn't some elaborate mirage."

"Mirage?" He looked understandably confused as he easily held up your body which practically draped itself on him.

You nodded, sighing almost dramatically "I was stuck in that forest for forever! I thought I'd never find my way! And I feel like super-sexy--mean-muscle-lumberjack is the exact fantasy my mind would conjure up."

He seemed to realise he was being a bit stand-offish or something (probably from the fact you described him as a mean muscle lumberjack) because his personality did a complete switch "Oh, ummm, I apologise. Sorry for being weird, my partners and I aren't really-- em, in the state for having guests--"

Just as the two of you finally made it through the front door, Mel definitely much more easily than you, the sound of someone else caught your attention.

"Melk--" Speak of the devil, a fluffy ashen haired head peaked out of one of the doorways leading further into the house, blue bespectacled glasses peering at you "Who's the twunk?"

You felt your cheeks grow warm. Twunk? You were definitely more hunk than twink. What even constituted as twink anyway? You doubted you were small or thin enough! In fact, if either of you were the twink, it would've been him, with his lithe model body!

He was like an exact opposite to Mel; where Mel was tanned and muscled, this stranger was pale, of average height and looked like he could shove you a little at most.

Differences aside, he both of them were absolutely handsome. It made you feel a little left out. Were you on some movie set?

"Leo, don't be rude. He's our guest." Mel placed both his broad palms on your shoulders, introducing you before giving you a little nudge forward "And this is ou-- umm, my partner, Leonard. He's a pain in the ass but he grows on you."

The little stumble in Mel's sentence went completely unnoticed to you but the sudden weird expression on Leonard's face didn't.

Still, you didn't want to be rude to someone who was putting up with you for a night so you smiled as sweetly as you could "Hi, really nice to meet you!"

It was obvious Leonard didn't think the same because his smile was obviously forced "Nice to meet you too!"

Then, he hurried off and you could hear his sock-clad feet thumping through the wooden floors of the house "Saaam!"

"I'm so sorry about him." Mel pulled you to him, your back against his chest, and leaned forward, apologetic expression on his face.

You just chalked it up to him being a really touchy person and smiled nervously, nodding "It's all good! It's totally understandable, I came out of nowhere, after all!"

That polite look on Mel's face vanished for a second, replaced with a look that was gone too fast for you to place. Thankfully, you didn't think you had to worry about it because Mel was helping you take off your shoes and leading you to the kitchen.

"You must be starving." He pulled out a chair for you "Let me heat something up for you."

"Handsome and polite..." You murmured, your hand rubbing at your aching and empty stomach before, a bit more loudly, you said: "No, I can't possibly ask you to feed me too!"

"It's really nothing, just pressing a few buttons on a microwave." Mel waved off your concerns, grin on his face as he did just that; sticking a glass tupperware container in the microwave and setting it to some arbitrary time.

You sighed and relented; mostly because you were definitely still hungry and buzzed from the alcohol. You wanted nothing more than food in your tummy.

As you were taking in the yummy smell of food heating in the microwave, there was the cacophony of hurried steps on wooden floor before Leonard and a man you didn't know appeared in a doorway.

He was also gorgeous. Goes to show that good looking people flocked together. He had black shaggy hair in a low pony and a noticeable scar on his upper lip but it didn't take away from his pretty face.

He even had two moles under his left eye which made him look even more beautiful (if that were even possible).

He was like a middle man; not exactly twink-ish like Leonard but not exactly buff like Mel. Definitely on the more muscular side, though. Definitely bigger. He could probably bend you in half, that was for sure.

"Leo said--" The man burst in before turning absolutely dark red in the face upon laying eyes on you, an almost inhuman whine leaving his lips "Hello."

"Hello." You grinned at him, finding his actions way more funny than weird "You must be Sam, right? Nice to meet you."

"Isamu. Y-You can call me Sam." He nodded, agreeing.

Then, to continue his train of weird actions, he bowed at the waist, still looking flustered, before scurrying away. Leonard snickered, looking especially mischevious before following after him.

"What's up with all of you and your partners looking supernaturally gorgeous?" You whispered conspiratorially to Mel.

Instead of asking, he just laughed, all deep and rumbly, like you'd said a particularly funny joke.

You pouted, unsure if you'd really said something that was worth laughing at that much.

"You were at a bonfire, you said?" Mel said instead, opening the microwave to pull the glass tupperware out, whatever food in it obviously steaming.

You nodded, excited at the prospect of food "Yeah, my girlfriend invited me but then she ditched me to go hang out with some buff guy."

"Jokes on her, I guess, I found an even buffer, hotter guy to hang out with instead." You grinned at him, looking quite like the cat that got the cream.

Mel just let out another smaller laugh, putting the tupperware container with a plastic spoon and fork in front of you.

You were a little awed by the fact that he could touch the hot glass but chalked it up to the fact that he was just really tough.

The food was just fried rice (which was honestly more fried vegetables than rice and it made you almost laugh) and what you guessed was grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce. Aside from the vegetables in the rice, there was also broccoli.

Thankfully, there was a lot of chicken so there wasn't too many vegetables.

"Make sure to eat your vegetables." He sat in front of you, looking like he was holding back a smirk.

You pouted at him but rolled your eyes and speared a small broccoli branch and put it in your mouth. Then, you made an exagerrated 'MMM' sound to show him how tasty you thought it was.

He laughed again but, this time, it sounded fake "Sorry, I always have to remind Leo to eat his vegetables. It becomes habit after awhile."

"Understandable." You gave a curt nod "I'm bad at eating healthy so I can relate to Leo."

"Well, you definitely won't be eating badly under my roof." Mel crossed his arms (which made his biceps absolutely bulge) before leaning back in his chair, an almost arrogant expression on his face.

"Good think I'll only be living one night under this roof, huh?" You joked back, thinking that was the right thing to say.

Instead of the laugh you expected, that strange expression was back on Mel's face. You stopped mid-bite, looking at him curiously, a worried expression on your face "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." The expression was gone quickly, like before, and his polite grin was back.

He sat up again, his arms uncrossing and his hand reaching over to cover yours on the table. You just grinned at him, confused by the gesture but figured, like you thought before, he was just a touchy guy.

"Sam, Leo, come here and hang out with our new guest!" Mel suddenly yelled, making you flinch a bit with how unnaturally loud his voice got.

"Sorry." His hand tightened around yours, apologetic expression on his face as his thumb rubbed comforting circles onto the side of your hand "Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay, just got surprised!" You waved off his concern as you smiled and shrugged his hand off so you could properly eat. You didn't want to admit it but his touch had your heart fluttering wildly in your chest!

"Here, you were at the bonfire to have fun right? We can have our own fun here." Mel wolfishly grinned at you, his eyes alight with a playful look on his face "We have a couple of cases of beer here if you want?"

"Sure." You looked eager at the offer, nodding your head quickly. Usually, you wouldn't have accepted, Mel being a stranger and all, but you were already a bit inebriated and he was just so handsome that he convinced you easily.

He stood just as Isamu and Leonard entered, both looking flustered and weird.

Of course, excited by the prospect of getting more drunk and forgetting your problems with a bunch of hot strangers, you gestured for them to come sit next to you, not at all minding their weirdness.

Isamu quickly sat next to where Mel was sitting, his back ramrod straight and his hands in his lap. If you had a protractor, you were sure he would measure at ninety degrees exactly.

Leonard, on the other hand, looked relaxed and almost cocky as he sat next to you, even going so far as to scoot the chair closer.

"Mel said he was going to get some beer, do you want to drink with us?" You asked them happily and Leonard made a face like he was disgusted with the suggestion while Isamu immediately nodded.

"Our handsome guest here was just telling me his girlfriend ditched him for someone else." Mel walked over, two bottles of beer in each hand "We can't have him being sad over that right? We have to help him forget all about that stupid bitch."

You scowled, feeling as if maybe you should defend your girlfriend. Mel couldn't just randomly call her a bitch like that, right?

But then, he literally flicked the caps off of the beer bottles like they were made of paper and you thought maybe, a muscly hot guy like him was allowed a few red flags.

He handed you a bottle and you took a fat swig before giggling "Thank you so much for taking me in and for taking care of me like this! I feel so bad for imposing on you guys! You guys are so wonderful!"

Leonard leaned against you, your shoulders bumping against each others' "Don't worry about it. In fact, it's really our pleasure!"

You grinned before wrapping an arm around Leonard and pulling him close, completely missing the look the three of them shared with each other.

Before you knew it, you were just knocking them back, swapping happy stories with the three of them.

Apparently, Mel first moved out here and built the house with the money he inherited with his family. The family itself seemed like a sore subject but he looked entirely too happy to rant about how he made the house.

Then, Isamu came next when he got lost trying to find his dog? The dog died a couple of years later since she was already a senior dog but the two hit it off and started dating almost immediately after Mel helped him find the old geezer.

After Isamu's dog died and he graduated college, he moved in and they literally found Leonard who had tried running away from his overly controlling parents.

When Leonard graduated college, he moved in too. Now, the three of them lived together. The only one of them that really commuted was Leonard but not that far since he worked at a cafe pretty much near the edge of the forest.

You awed and gushed over their relationship, absolutely enamoured by how sweet it was that they all found each other.

At least, that was the last thing you remembered.

"You're a little bit of a light-weight, aren't'cha?" Mel laughed and you felt his entire chest rumble under your palms, his collar bone hard and cozy under your cheek.

"Huh?" You hummed, a little confused.

You got the gist that he was carrying you somewhere. You could feel his big, warm hands on your waist, his fingers almost sneaking underneath your clothes and his rather noticeable nails tickling your skin.

You could also feel your feet stumbling a little on the floor so you knew he wasn't carrying you.

"Hey, pay attention!"

You snapped into reality a bit there, looking around. You weren't in the kitchen anymore. In fact, you were standing in the middle of a living room, right in front of a coffee table.

Mel's hands were all over you and Isamu was right next to you, fretting about whether or not you were going to fall over. The only one not touching you was Leonard who had his arms crossed, looking at you annoyed.

"Oh, sorry." Your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to understand what was happening "I don't know what's going on with me, I just--"

"It happens to the best of us." Mel waved your apology off, wolfish grin on his face as if he was quite proud of himself "Nobody can out-drink me, after all."

"I feel like none of you are drunk at all! Just me..." You groaned, forehead pressed against the crook of Mel's neck, arm around him tightening just a little bit.

Even with all of your strength, he didn't even budge one bit.

Isamu just chuckled nervously, his warm hand comforting as it rubbed up and down your back "Call it a buff guy's fast metabolism."

"Leonard isn't even buff!" You pouted at Isamu, your head suddenly flinging back to lean against his shoulder, looking at him with the sweetest puppy eyes.

Isamu stuttered, cheeks reddening "L-Leo didn't drink, di-didn't you see?"

You turned your head a little, cheek still resting against Isamu's shoulder as you squinted at Leonard.

Your memory was so hazy now, after the number of bottles you drank. You couldn't really remember how many bottles Leonard drank.

Or, really, how many bottles you or anyone drank.

"I think I need to lay down." You huffed, moving to go to the couch.

Before you could, Mel wrapped an arm around your middle, pulling you close, his lips brushing against your ear "Woah, there, watch for the table."

You felt your ear immediately turn hot and so did your cheeks. You knew it definitely wasn't the alcohol either because you felt the heat between your legs a little too.

You cursed the three of them (especially Mel) for being so sexy.

Then, you looked down, glaring at the offending piece of furniture. You didn't think you were about to trip on it but it must've moved to foil you on your way.

"Thank you." You turned your head and, as you did, you underestimated how close Mel was and accidentally brushed your lips against the corner of his.

Instead of apologising, you just giggled and escaped his grasp when his arm went slack. You practically dove into the couch, unfolding the what felt like dozens of comfortable soft looking blankets and scattering the pillows.

You started arranging them around you, forming a little nest of sorts. You figured the giant sectional was where they'd put you up for the night so you might as well get comfortable.

You thought you heard the three of them muttering but you got so focused on getting your sleeping arrangements right that you couldn't find it in yourself to pay much attention.

It was wild to even see the sectional! You definitely couldn't complain! The thing could fit the four of you easy and then some! You would sleep comfortably by yourself!

"Well then!" Mel suddenly cleared his throat, making you flinch and turn your head to him (reminding him oddly like an adorable meerkat) "I guess we should leave you to get settled..."

In your daze, you missed both Isamu and Leonard huffing and shoving at Mel but you definitely didn't miss the way Mel took a step back, as if more than happy to leave.

Immediately, your eyes watered. "Wait, you didn't want to hang out more?"

The three of them panicked.

"Oh, no, no, you just looked like you were getting comfortable--"

"I-It's just that w-we just didn't want to get in your way--"

"Way to go, meat-head, you dumbass--"

You just crossed your arms and sniffled, trying to look as angry as possible "I'll forgive you if you hang out with me a little longer."

"I may be a little... emmm, inebriated but I'm not sleepy yet." You added, a little proud of yourself for being able to use such a big word.

Mel chuckled a little but nodded "Okay, sounds good. What do you want to do then?"

"Let's watch a movie!" You immediately pointed to the TV, grin on your face as you moved to lean against the back of the sectional, pillow in your arms and blanket draped over your lap. "C'mon, sit next to me."

At first, all three of them seemed to hesitate but, when Mel sat next to the arm of the sofa, Isamu and Leonard quickly followed.

Like in the kitchen, Leonard sat the closest to you, his shoulder bumping against yours. Isamu sat next to you too but he sat rather stiffly and, lastly, Mel sat on the other side of Isamu, his elbow resting on the arm of the sofa.

"What movie should we watch?"

[smallfrenchstudyblr]

Justice as spectacle in Fontaine, or a too long word vomit from a tired PhD in Law gushing over Genshin 4.0

Alternative title: “Justice must be seen to be done”, a visual playbook by Genshin 4.0

Intro: This is a valid use of a PhD in law, actually.

I made the mistake of playing the 4.0 update of Genshin while I was finalizing my PhD in law and politics, and the result was my brain refuse to think about anything else than judicial performativity and the use judicial spectacle in Fontaine. So time to make good use of 9 years of University by dissecting why I absolutely love how Fontaine’s justice system is presented. It was initially much longer and covering why justice as a spectacle is not necessarily an issue or sign of a disfunctionning legal system,  then what exactly about the Fontainian justice system is actually fucked up, but it got too long so I’m keeping that for the indeterminate future. So the pitch of this thing is: Mihoyo is basically providing us with an animated First Person POV game version of legal ethnographic works on justice and the courthouse, and it is really cool.

And since I am a nerd with both too much time to read and to play, we are making this a proper academic, with literature and all, because listen to me, LEGAL ACADEMICA IS COOL, ACTUALLY, and law and literature at large is a genuine field of study that we, as a society, need to talk about more.

[also there is non-zero chance that I edit this brainrot and submit it for publication at some point]

Warning: I am basing this on 4.0, up to and including Act IV Chapter II (hence no discussion of the prison system) and if Mihoyo thwarts the whole thing with 4.1  [oops I am late so now 4.2, since 4.1 did not thwart it] then let’s do what we do when new results contradict existing theories in academia and just collectively agree to ignore it.

TL;DR: Someone at Mihoyo read Simonett’s 1966 essay on The Trial as One of the Performing Arts [Here, just read it, it is fascinating] and decided to make it everyone’s problem

Part 0: if this was not Tumblr.com I would make a recap explaining broadly what Genshin and Fontaine are but since you are reading this I’m going to assume you already know the context.

Part 1: Ok so how does the Fontanian Justice system work, exactly?

Alright, so each area of Teyvat has 1) one core theme/value and 2)a threat to that core theme/value.

Mondstadt has Freedom and people living in fear of a dragon.

Liyue has Contracts/order and the pandemonium of having Rex Lapis killed.

Inazuma has Eternity and being virtually frozen in time.

Sumeru has Knowledge and being entirely manipulated by the Akademia.

Fontaine has Justice and… Justice being parodied into a spectacle?

WRONG.

Because the spectacle of justice, especially the way it is done in Fontaine, is not antithetic to Justice itself. Spectacle is part and parcel of Justice and of any courthouse. Sure, all the dials are turned to 11 and y’know, it is legit called an Opera, but that is more the writers being a bit on the nose and adding drama for the player. The spectacle of Justice, itself, is not that far off from reality. And, hot take but bear with me: it is not (necessarily) a problem.

Ok, let’s dive into what we know of the justice system in Fontaine.

Broadly speaking, we have seen the criminal justice system, and it is an accusatorial, or adversarial model. It’s the US-style criminal procedure: you have a defendant trying to prove that they didn’t do it your honor, and a prosecutor proving that they totally did it your honor. To avoid this becoming a fistfight, you have a strict procedure to follow outside but especially inside the Court, and in the end, a neutral third party decides on the outcome or the trial.

Ok, now let’s zoom on a few things, and why the theatrics of them are actually very common.

Furina, our cringefail darling, is the prosecutor. And they get a lot of stuff right regarding the role of the prosecutor! She decides whether or not to prosecute, based on the information that she has, and whether she likes her odds or not. Fittingly since she is the Archon, the prosecutor in a trial represents the State, the interest of the State (the judge ! does ! not!). It makes sense that Furina, the ruler (theoretically) would be prosecutor and not judge. Moreover, and as we see plenty of times during the trials, Prosecutor Furina is not concerned with the victim, and not even necessarily with the truth; the prosecutor wants to know how likely they are to obtain a conviction in the end. Her job is to be convincing enough to establish a legal truth.

Neuvillette, for his part, sometimes look terribly powerless… but friends, that is what a Judge sitting during a criminal case often is. The first part of his job is to find sufficient information for the prosecution to decide whether or not to prosecute; he is supposed to be entirely neutral at this stage. He kickstarted the investigation straight after the death of Cowell, and was also the one starting investigation on Vaughn right after Lyney is proved innocent. He gathers enough evidence, hands them over to Furina and asks “So? Are you game or do you want to leave that alone?”

And once the prosecutor has decided to move forward with prosecuting, his job is to make the procedure move along, take some decisions based on new information, ensure all respect the rules (hence Childe’s immediate smackdown when he starts to act out a bit too much at the end. My man is here to make sure the rules are enforced and that also applies to Snezhnayan gremlins). In the liminal space of the courthouse, he is the supreme authority… over the procedure. He can tell anyone, including Furina, to stfu k thx. He starts and stops the trial. He allows witnesses to be heard or not.

And the last party involved at this point is the defense, usually the Traveler and any adorable twink we befriended that day [good for you, Traveler, good for you]. They present evidence, they have to be convincing, it’s basically Ace Attorney, we know that part.

Part 2: Mihoyo makes it clear that we are all actors in the Courtroom

Ok, first moment of pause.

Even though these are the most basic parts of a criminal trial, they are ALREADY steeped in drama and theatrics, both IRL and in Fontaine.

First off, Furina plays a prosecutor, Neuvillette plays a judge and the Traveller plays the lawyer.

No but really: they play their role in the Courthouse.

The game painstakingly presents Furina for the first time not as a prosecutor in a courthouse but as a cringefail princess. When we see her initially welcoming the Traveller, going “Fight Me” at them in the streets of Fontaine, she is not a prosecutor, she is just Furina the cringefail princess.  We meet Furina as Furina, and later on only, we see her with her Prosecutor face. Furina is not a prosecutor, outside of the Courthouse.

I don’t even have to explain how much Traveler plays lawyer. We are, and I cannot stress it enough, NOT lawyers (yes, even you who developed an unhealthy obsession with Ace Attorney before Genshin). The developers even took the time to develop an entire new gameplay to really, really highlight that is a behavior that the Traveler can only have in the Courthouse. Traveler is not a lawyer outside of the courthouse.

Neuvillette is a bit of a special case. We do meet him for the first time in the Courthouse, as a Judge. But once again, the moment we meet him outside of the courthouse, he is much more approachable, definitely not the same persona as when he bitchslapped my problematic Harbinger into the Meropides prison [we are so going to write something about the Meropides prison once I have played enough 4.1 my friends – update post 4.1: ok Mihoyo that was weak commentary on the privatization of prison and prison labour but I’ll take it]. Neuvillette is probably the one that is the most associated with his courthouse persona, but there is still this gap between Neuvillette-Judge and Neuvillette-reflecting-in-the-end-of-Chapter-II.

So everyone is just themselves in their daily life, but there is something about a Courthouse that turns people into their judicial role. That’s what we call the liminality of the courthouse (Hadar, 1999). And it exists IRL, in a way shockingly close to what we see in the Opera Epiclese.

Magistrates, whether prosecutors or judges, do not act in their own names, they have a role to play. Someone woke up that morning, had breakfast, swore at the neighbour who did not park properly again, spilled some coffee on their documents again ffs, stumbled a bit on the little steps leading to the courthouse, and then, they put on their costume and started to play the role of the judge. As someone who has been in what can only be referred to as “backstage”  of a court , and entered the courthouse with the magistrates, I cannot stress enough how drastic the shift in person is the moment a magistrate steps into the space of the trial room.  

From there on, they are a Role. Furina, like any prosecutor, is not a prosecutor, until they are The Prosecutor, and then they are not themselves anymore, in the enclosed space of the courthouse. Have you ever seen a lawyer talk in their daily life the way to talk in a courthouse? No. Someone is just some person, until their put on the robe and their Lawyer Face and start their Lawyer Movement and Lawyer Tone. Traveler cannot go all OBJECTION when they have a disagreement with a random shopkeeper in Teyvat. The game doesn’t even give you the option – because you are not lawyer, unless you are in the court. None actually plays a lawyer, unless they are in the courthouse.

And an adversarial model encourages this. You have character, but for it to be a play, or an opera, you need a narrative (murder, ok, that will kickstart a narrative) and you need dramatic tension. Drama is created by the opposition of two characters having opposite goals, confronting each other. Simonett, a former Minessotta Supreme Court Judge, has a fascinating article called “The Trial as One of the Performing Art”, which really ecapsulates how an adversarial system is built on this drama:

‘The trial has a protagonist, and antagnonist, a proscenium and an audience, a story to be told and a problem to be resolved, all usually in three acts”.

More than an inquisitory model (hello, fellow continental Europeans), parties are encouraged to bounce off each other, take initiative, undermine and interact with each other. US courthouse TV shows loooove that, and Genshin absolutely leaned into that. The potential for drama was so strong and intrinsic to the story that For the first time, we got to play a character that was not even with the traveler: Traveler was off investigating, and we played Navia in the courthouse, because the sheer drama of being in the courthouse is too good for the game to pass.

Do you see it yet? Here is more. A judicial role is a role. IRL, a lot of it is emphasized by the robes -the - sometimes complete with wigs and accessories- that judges and magistrates must wear before entering the space of the courthouse. You put them on like you put on a costume -defendant, prosecution, judge and even audience alike (Cabatingan, 2018), there is a ritual of preparing for the performance of a trial the way you prepare for a play. Genshin characters cannot change their clothes [give us a proper fancy-af-judge-robe for Neuvilette Mihoyo you COWARDS], so the game does all it can to realllllyy show you a separation between the judicial role and the actor playing I in the courthouse.

Part 3: Game designers said yes this an Opera and a Courthouse because these are the same thing and they are right

[The urge to include Foucault in this section, but I do not have Discipline and Punish with me rn, rip]

Ok, ok, why not. But what about the stuff that is not in your random courthouse, like a damn AUDIENCE and the fact that it takes place in an actual OPERA ?

Aight, we gotta dive a bit deeper into two things: the role of audience in the judicial spectacular, and studies on legal architecture/judicial space. I told you legal research was cool.

Let’s start with the most obvious one: architecture.

The architecture of Courthouse is actually really important for the delivery of justice. The building embodies the task itself, and targets evert single person that interacts with the building in any way? It matters specifically because we take it for granted, that this this is just a building, that there cannot be more to it. Or: “Law in its everydayness, banks on the usage of visual means of representation, for they seem to lack artifice, and thus enjoy high persuasiveness” (Kumar, 2017, also this is a study on the architecture of the Indian Supreme court and it is so good). But thi is, of course, on purpose.

My friends, your local courthouse looks like an opera. Recently, I went to a play which was entirely a trial, and they barely had to do anything to set-up the scene because… the opera looks like a courthouse, and vice versa. Fontaine’s Opera Epiclese is this on steroid, and also actually used for entertainment like the magic shows, but its architecture and structure are so close to a proper courthouse that once you see it you cannot unsee it. Not matter how different they might look from each other, all, ALL courtroom have the same setup:

Judges on an elevated position compared to all other parties : Neuvillette absolutely kills it here [my man is placed so high up I was close to writing something about the religiosity of justice.]

Prosecution and accused on two opposite sides, virtually separated by the judge, even putting the defendant in their own little liminal space in the liminal space (Zoettl, 2016, Mulcahy, 2007)

Audience space and trial space clearly separated, with interdiction for the audience to enter the trial space

Audience space allowing to clearly see all angles of the trial space

The architecture of courthouse is strikingly similar to that of an opera’s, both in its spatial organization and its grandiose. The entire building is an opera, not just the ground of the stage. You even have a lobby, the space right in the Opera but not the courtroom, which is very similar to the space where people mingle during the interlude at the Opera – the social settings were many legal negotiations happen (Hansen, 2008)

[Fun fact: I am pretty sure the design of the audience space of the Opera Epiclese was inspired by two Parisian Opera houses: the Théâtre de la Comédie Française et the Théâtre du Châtelet. The stage itself is almost more church-like ; I am curious if anyone knows what the inspiration for the “outside building” actually was, for the Opera Epiclese?]

Eltringham (2012) has some really cool writings about the architecture, and people interact with the structure of courts (in his case, the International Criminal for Rwanda) and how all these features contribute to making the courthouse this liminal space where people can play their role, whether they realise it or not.

But, Almost-doctor, I hear you say, what about the spectacle ?! The audience enjoying the show ?!

Ah, yes. The audience. Just as with an Opera, the audience and the actors enter through differentiated means (the “segregation of circulatory systems”), all with their own point of access to the stage or the seats, and never the two shall meet. It is so important to a court system that you will find this feature highlighted by the architects that renovated the Bordeaux Courthouse and the US courthouse design and planning guide [These are just fun and striking illustration I stumbled on while writing this, you can find dozens of others from any given country]. These differentiated access path help reinforce the liminality of the courthouse not just for the actors, but for us, the audience as well.

You could even agree, with Garapon, that the audience itself is “playing” the audience, in the Courthouse (go read Garapon’s 2004 book, if you read French, it’s so good I swear and like it fueled 90% of whatever this word vomit is)). You are not really yourself, you have new, liminal role of spectator. A trial has a “need for a public”, even a silent one. “'Performance always intends an audience”, for Kapferere. and we can indeed talk about a Performance of Justice, when talking about how justice unfolds in the courthouse, especially in a criminal trial (Sausdal and Lohne, 2021).

The audience is an inherent part of the spectacle of justice – because is there a spectacle if there I no audience? If comedians perform a play with no audience, did it really happen? In the words of our own European Court of Human Rights (I am quoting the ECtHR on Tumblr.com, what is life): “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done” (Delcourt v Belgium, 1970). For Garfinkel “Legal rituals ... depend on the outside witness to confer on them not only recognition but validity” (Garfinkel, 1956);

Or, to put it more eloquently: “The need for the presence of a validating public at trials is enshrined in many constitutions and built into the very fabric of court complexes throughout the world. (…) Tthe court as a whole requires its reflection in the bodies of validating witnesses in order that this created place will bring sufficient gravity to itself.” (Eltringham 2012).

If a courthouse was just about the truth, or the parties involved reaching an agreement on what the truth is, there would be no need for the theatrics. We could handle a trial in a meeting group like problem-solving session in any run-of-the-mill company. Put everyone around the table, have a moderator, have a decider. That actually exist, it’s called arbitration, and you may have never heard of it despite the absolutely enormous amount of money that are involved (we are talking literal Billions of dollars every year, here), because the whole point is that it is discrete and confidential. But that is not how trials are, anywhere. It does exist though. It is called private arbitration, a form of private justice that focuses on problem-solving, expediency and secrecy, often because my friends, it involves big names and big money.

But justice? My friend, it needs to be a spectacle. It needs an Opera. Because this is how it gains sociological legitimacy, and it needs sociological legitimacy to function. By having an audience, it gains transparency and accountability.

Conclusion: teaser on why the spectacle of justice is not necessarily always totally bad, but also I am too tired to fully argue that.

Now, you might that it’s a bad idea. That what Genshin is doing is denouncing this inherently spectacular aspect of Justice, that there is something inherently wrong in justice being public and publicized for the gain of legitimacy, and sure, spectacular justice can become a parody of justice or a manipulation of justice and this has happened many times in history. And yes, you could go for that (although show trials have typically been at the service of an authoritarian regime in a transition phase, rising or declining, and target political opponents, which we do not see in Fontaine) but… I have another take for you.

Justice being a spectacle is not…  inherently bad. 

Hear me out. Making justice into a spectacle does not have to affect its outcome. The presence of a public does not change the course of a play.

Spectacular justice brings elements of entertainment such as narrative fulfillment and catharsis. That is clearly what Fontainians want: a satisfying end to the story, the truth exposed. Justice as a spectacle help people make sense of their reality, comfort them in knowing that justice does prevail. That the guilty do not go scott-free, that the good guys win, that justice is transparent, that prosecutor need to be able to build a good story to prosecute, and there is no good story is there is not someone who caused harm, and a victim that deserves justice. And, from the information we have so far, this does not seem to lead to miscarriages of justices, or a generally biased justice system. But frankly this is too long already and I just wanted to show that the depiction of the Spectacular in everyday justice is actually present everywhere IRL, and Genshin is just providing a really handy illustration, at this point of the story.

The Fontanian system is fucked, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not about the spectacular on its own. Long story short since it be worth its own word-vomit-style essay, it’s because the jury has been replaced by ChatGPT and there is no civil court, only a criminal court, k bye.

[luniidae]

~ A BIT OF ~

KINDNESS

Chapter IV

Note: Yay young Gortash !

Hi everyone! Here is a... Kind of a chill chapter ? To be honest, I wrote it to join two chapters together 🫣

____________________________________

Raphael didn't seem to be mad at Luvia. Anyways, he continued to treat her just the way he used to. He kept teaching her a whole bunch of things, from the history of the Hells to that of her disappeared people, and even poetry. Korilla (who was in charge of teaching her the practice of magic) sometimes took pleasure in teasing Raphael about it.

"Is everything alright with Luvia ?", the dwarf asked.

"Assuredly. She's very perceptive and attentive. I must admit that I look forward to see how things will be going", the devil replied, his voice slightly filled with satisfaction and excitement.

Korilla chuckled and the cambion raised an eyebrow, looking at her.

"What is so funny, Korilla ?", he asked.

"It seems like you've grown attached to her over time."

His eyes widened, as if he didn't want to admit it.

"Don't be ridiculous....", then he paused for a few seconds before adding, "How did you make this conclusion though ?"

He was staring at her, a hand leaning on a piece of his desk, the other on his hip, waiting for her explanation.

"I didn't know poetry was useful to conquer the Hells", she said with a grin. 

Raphael was keeping his eyes on her, expressionless, as if he was looking for a proper answer he eventually didn't find. He took a deep breath and turned on his heels without saying a word, vexed.

Korilla chuckled.

"You'd be surprised by the power of the words...", he finally said. 

"Oh I have no doubt"

Meanwhile, in the corridors....

For his part, Enver had recovered from his lynching session, as he always did.... But it wasn't that bad thanks to Luvia. That wouldn't stop Nubaldin from beating him again, but at least this time she maybe had avoided him the worst.

Luvia didn't approach him anymore, but he could briefly see her from the corner of his eyes from time to time, observing him from a distance. She may thought he didn't notice her... He missed their little interactions though. The food she used to bring him was always more than welcome, but most of all, he eventually got used to her presence.

He wondered why she was there though, in this so-called "House of Hope". Was she really Raphael's daughter ? It was strange to him as the cambion seemed to love no one but himself.

But he didn't plan to stay long enough to find out. Enver was smart; "too" smart according to his parents, those very same who had not hesitated to sell him to the devil. He would pay them a visit someday.... All he had to do was to find a way out. 

The young boy already had the occasion to see the mirrors room. He had observed them and had seen the worlds through them.

Waterdeep, Neverwinter, Luskan..... And of course.... Baldur's Gate. This is where he once lived, and he was determined to get back there. He would prove to the entire city, and the world, that you wouldn't get rid of him that easily.

Enver smirked at this thought, thinking about his escape, imagining his parent's face when he'd come back. All of this sounded fabulous. 

But he had not the time to think any further about it since he noticed someone 3 meters away from him: Luvia. She was standing there, facing him without a word or expression, but her scarlet eyes looked friendly, almost compassionate. 

Enver didn't know how long she's been there, but he said nothing. It's been about two weeks since what happened in the prison..

But something had changed since their last encounter. She looked confident, or resigned.

After a few seconds, Enver decided to break the silence.

"You're supposed to stay away from me"

She seemed about to say something, but instead, she assuredly headed towards him and took him in her arms. The young girl couldn't believe she was doing that, but she didn't have the occasion to apologize for what happened to him because of her. And maybe she would never have the opportunity to do it. 

Enver's breath got cutted by surprise. He didn't give the hug back, but it didn't stop her from holding him tight against her.

"I am sorry", she finally whispered in his ear.

That was the first time he heard her voice. It was soft and calm, and so different from what he used to hear. Enver was usually surrounded by the Eternal debtors and his jailor. Between the cries of despair or madness from ones and the barks from the other, there was no place for kindness and yet....

It was also pleasant to feel another kind of "grip" for once, he thought. 

Luvia could sense his bones through his clothes, and he could feel her little heart beating against him. That sounded weird to him.... He wasn't used to that kind of proximity with anyone. Even with his parents. 

Suddenly, she took a step back when she heard Nubaldin in the distance. She didn't want Enver to be punished because of her again... She was scared of the gnome, but she hated him more. She hadn't forgotten his expression while he was beating the young boy before her, how he seemed to have enjoyed it more than he should have. She was hoping to make him pay someday...

The jailor arrived in Enver's back, barking as always. 

"Hey shithead, you...", the gnome stopped himself and talked in a softer tone, which surprised his prisoner as it was very unusual from him, "Oh, Milady", he made a little bow, "My apologies, I hope you haven't been bothered by this...", he was looking for the right words but didn't find anything correct to say,".... Anyway, it won't happen again"

"You're the only one who's bothering me right now", she cutted him sharply. 

Enver and Nubaldin both looked at her with astonishment. None of them was expecting her to say that... And to be honest, Luvia didn't either. 

She happened to hear Raphael talking like this sometimes, and she had noticed the effect it had on people. She wanted to try it too.

Nubaldin went pale, "Of course Milady, I beg your pardon"

The young girl restreinted herself from smiling whereas she felt a pleasant feeling. She could almost understand Raphael, it gave her a sensation of.... Power ? Authority. That was a somewhat vague subject to her but it seemed to work somehow. 

But.... What was next ? What was she supposed to say after that ? Her brief moment of glory quickly vanished at this question. 

Luvia did her best to keep her calm and started to look for something to say.

"Aren't you able to speak to him without yelling ?", she asked rethorically.

"I.... Well, yes, I suppose...", he answered, frustrated and looking at Enver from the corner of his eyes, "But, you know... I'm not but a servent to my Lord and Raphael gave me specifical instructions for.."

"Does it imploy to be as noisy as possible ?", she continued.

Nubaldin looked annoyed. He didn't like Luvia. Not only because she was another child to handle, but mostly because of her sufficient look. He didn't understand why she was so important to his master. To him, she was nothing but another arrogant little brat.

"Should I report to Raphael that his beloved daughter disobeyed him again ?"

"What do you mean ? I was on my way to my chamber", she said, frowning. 

"Maybe....", he said shrugging his shoulders, "Or maybe not. After all, I just arrived and you two were here.... Together. And if I remember well, Raphael wasn't really happy about it the last time". 

Nubaldin knew that Luvia admired his boss as much as she was scared of his wrath. 

Enver could sense her frustration. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Her eyes even began to glow for a moment, but she remained inflexible.

"That's what I thought", he added with a satisfied grin, then he looked at the boy, "You, with me. I'm not done with you yet, you bastard".

Enver wanted to fight back, he couldn't bear to be treated like that by this idiot. But he needed to keep a low profil if he wanted to have a chance to escape. He couldn't risk having his surveillance reinforced because of a misstep, so he followed the gnome without any protest. 

Luvia wanted to smile at him, to make him know he wasn't alone, that she cared. She really did. But her anger towards Nubaldin was so strong she couldn't feel anything else at this very moment.

She looked at him go without a word and ended up losing sight of them. 

She stayed in the corridors for a few seconds, thinking about what just happened, and what could happen to the young boy.

Anyways, she looked forward to grow up to show Nubaldin who he was dealing with...

To be continued....

Bonus:

[rorywritesjunk]

Be gentle with yourself as you uncover Your best kept secrets yet to be discovered

Buggy meets an infamous pirate who dabbles in magic that everyone seems to be after, but they only have eyes for Buggy. Why is he so special?

Rating: PGish. Warning: None. Buggy is Buggy. A/N: My "Howl's Moving Castle" fic based off the movie because I never read the book. It will have different moments than the movie just to omit some things. This story uses "You" but I couldn't not give the character a name and for some reason "Shore" is what I thought of. And Shore is referred to as they/them, nonbinary, and breaks hearts wherever they go. Buggy is Sophie in this fic, is 22, and not always in a good mood.

Title comes from "Better In The Morning" by Birdtalker.

Taglist: @lostfirefly @fanaticsnail  @youreinthewind 

Chapter 1 + Chapter 2 + Chapter 3 + Chapter 4

Chapter IV

Buggy definitely had his work cut out for him as a maintenance man. 

There were creaky stairs, some loose floorboards, a wobbly chair, and shelves falling off the walls left and right. As he fixed one in the main living area, another one would fall somewhere else in the ship. Was Shanks somehow doing this to be obnoxious? Buggy sighed as he hammered in another nail to secure a shelf before giving it a few shakes to make sure it was secured. Why did he say he was a maintenance man? 

The table was… okay. He had enlisted Luffy to help him clear the table first of dishes and other nonsense, but the boy broke one plate the second he picked it up so Buggy just had him get out of his way. He didn’t want to clean up after the boy while cleaning the rest of the ship. 

Buggy spent time cleaning the table off, sanding down any roughened edges, and hammering in any loose nails. In the end, it looked better than when he first walked in though it had still seen many meals at it. There were stains, dents, and scuffs in the wood, but that didn’t bother him that much in the end. 

“Mister Bogey, what’re you doing next?” Luffy asked as he stood there with a broom. He thought he was being helpful by sweeping, but honestly, he was just making a bigger mess by creating dust clouds.

Buggy sighed. “It’s Buggy. And I’m going to hang you outside by your toes if you keep making a mess, kid!”

“I’m helping!” Luffy insisted.

“You’re helping make a bigger mess!” Buggy shot back as he pointed to the stairs. “If you want to sweep then do it out on the deck!”

“But I want to help you!” Luffy insisted, gripping the broom handle tightly in his hands as he pouted at Buggy. That made him pause for a moment. He wanted to help, really? Buggy… wasn’t used to that. Back at the circus he stopped asking for help because the times he did he was met with resistance. Why should he expect help now from a kid? He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shut tightly as he tried to think of a task Luffy could do that would actually help him.

“Fine. Can… you organize the dirty dishes by what they are?” Buggy asked, knowing he would need to tackle that task sooner rather than later. “Silverware, plates, bowls, cups. Organize them like that.”

Luffy took in what he was asking and nodded before hurrying over to the sink where the dishes were piled up. “I can do that!”

“Carefully!” Buggy ordered. “No more broken plates, kid!”

“Okay Mister Boogie!”

“It’s Buggy!”

~

Buggy replaced a step that had snapped in half that led up to the main deck. He and Luffy weren’t able to get up there without much difficulty, so he had the boy find some scrap wood so he could fix it and Buggy was pleased that the boy came through, finding an old step stool that had seen better days, so Buggy managed to repurpose it into a step. 

He straightened up, rubbing his back as he looked proudly at his finished task. He never thought to add maintenance man to his list of possible jobs after leaving the circus, but so far he felt he was doing alright. Sure, every joint in his body was aching, he had some splinters, he hit his thumb with the hammer a few times already, causing it to bruise and swell, and Luffy only managed to break two plates and a bowl when he organized the dirty dishes for him. So far the day was okay.

“So, Mister Buggy, how did you come to find us all the way out here?” Your voice startled him as you came down the stairs, stopping just above the step he fixed. He looked up nervously, wondering if you could see through his curse or if you even remembered him. He hoped you didn’t. He didn’t want you to see him become a pathetic old man instead of… a pathetic young man who needed rescuing. 

“Oh, well… you see…” He wasn’t sure how to respond. Would you see through any lie he said? Maybe you’d kick him off the ship, fire him from this ‘job’ that he made up on the spot, leave him to die out in the wilderness to be food for scavenging animals. 

You held your hand out to him suddenly and he looked at you in surprise before taking it. Carefully, you placed your right foot onto the newly finished step, then the left, smiling at him as you looked down at him from it. 

“I hope to keep you around to fix things when they break, Mister Buggy.” You smiled as you descended the last few. “Please don’t go away any time soon.”

He hated how warm his face got at that smile, or the way his heart started pounding. Was this his heart giving out in his advancing age? Why were you still holding his hand? 

“What's in your pocket, Mister Buggy?” You suddenly asked, shaking him from his thoughts. He looked down, his free hand reaching into his pocket while his other hand held yours. He dug around for a moment and frowned, pulling out a snail shell and holding it out to you. Smoke started to come from the shell, it felt hot to the touch suddenly and Buggy dropped it, watching it land on the step he just repaired. It fell apart, leaving a sigil scorched into the wood. 

“What is that?!” Buggy asked. “I just fixed that step!”

You crouched down, waving your hand over it and Buggy saw the marks rise up from the wood and into your palm. It was a sight to see and he knew he’d have to get used to seeing magic in motion if he was going to live on this ship. You smiled at Buggy as you straightened up.

“Just a message from an old friend.” You told him, clenching your fist for a moment before opening it to show him your empty palm. “The Witch of the Waste sends her regards.”

Buggy bristled at the mention of Alvida but he didn’t speak, knowing it wouldn’t do any good. You said nothing as you brushed past him, heading over to Shanks and giving him instructions. Buggy only caught a few words, his hearing not what it was just days before as a young man, but he heard you say something about moving the ship elsewhere. Oh, were they stationary this entire time, or did it float around among the clouds freely? Buggy actually wasn’t sure, he hadn’t taken the time to look out.

You suddenly brushed past Buggy to get on the step he just fixed, giving him a smile. “I’m going to wash up. When you have time there’s a broken cabinet in my bathroom, could you fix it when you have time?”

“Uh, yes, of course!” He nodded. “I’m your maintenance man after all! I can fix anything!”

You chuckled softly and nodded in agreement. “I’m glad you joined us then. There’s a lot to fix around here.”

You ascended the stairs after that, leaving Buggy alone at the bottom. You were glad he joined, even if it was a surprise for all of you. It felt nice to hear that but he quickly shook the feeling off, figuring you were just saying that so he’d fix the cabinet sooner. He would get to it next, once you were out of the bathroom. It was just weird to feel appreciated like that but he tried to brush it off. Sooner or later you’d probably kick him off the ship to fend for himself anyway. No one wanted a pathetic maintenance man on their crew.

~

The main living space looked better now that Buggy repaired wall shelves, fixed furniture, and even washed all the dishes. It was a little more like a home now than a chaotic space. He felt proud of his work, though the next thing to do was check the chimney. While Shanks seemed to have no problem burning along, enjoying the stacks of wood Buggy had given him earlier, smoke was getting everywhere, and before Buggy could attempt to clean the soot from the wall, he had to see why the smoke was so bad.

“Can you hear me?” Luffy yelled up to him from the fireplace as Shanks looked up. Buggy had gotten outside onto the main deck, finding the chimney that was near the main mast. Was it safe to have a chimney like this? Wouldn’t sparks light things on fire? Then again, you were a wizard of sorts, so things could be enchanted to prevent that. He had a broom to knock loose any soot that built up. 

“I can, are you able to see anything, kid?” Buggy shouted back from the opening of the chimney. He was ready to shove the broom in bristles first, but he wanted to be sure it was safe to do so. Shanks would be just fine.

“No, I just see Shanks and hear your voice.” Luffy told him. 

“Get out of the way then!” Buggy shoved the broom down the chimney, gripping the handle tightly as he plunged it up and down, trying to knock loose as much of the crud as possible. He fought for a few minutes before it became easier. He must have knocked it all loose, so he looked down the chimney, seeing just a bit of the fireplace but without a fire. “Everything okay down there?”

“Shanks is out!” Luffy sounded panicked which worried Buggy, so he hurried back down as fast as his body allowed. He nearly tripped on the steps going down, but he stopped when he saw you at the fireplace, picking up a small coal surrounded by flame. He watched as you gently blew against it, seeming to breathe life back into it, before setting it down on two fresh logs. When Buggy approached, you looked at him with an amused expression.

“Please be careful with Shanks, we do need him around.” You told him gently as Luffy cheered as Shanks started bemoaning the fact that Buggy just tried to kill him. It was all an accident, really, but you didn’t seem mad at him. Instead you touched his hand gently and he felt the warmth of the fire for a moment before you pulled back and headed for the stairs to leave the ship. You spun a dial beside the door, Buggy watched it spin for a moment before it stopped and you opened the door, stepping outside and leaving the others behind. 

“Why’d you try to kill Shanks, Mister Buffy?” Luffy asked innocently. Buggy huffed in annoyance, scowling at the boy before he went to grab his makeshift tool box he cobbled together.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, and besides, Shanks is fine! A little soot won’t hurt him!” Buggy snapped at him as Luffy went to grab another piece of wood for the fire. “Now, I have work to do in the bedrooms, got it? If you don’t want any of your things thrown out, you better deal with them now, kid.”

Luffy’s eyes widened and he rushed past Buggy and up the stairs. His room was not the cleanest and he wanted to protect his treasures from him. Buggy smirked and looked over at Shanks; the flame was watching him carefully.

“Y’know, if I go out then that’s the end of Shore.” The flame told Buggy. “We’re connected, we can’t live without the other.”

“Well, that’s just dumb.” Buggy grumbled; he couldn’t imagine such a life of having someone to depend on. He depended on himself and that was it. “Try not to go out then, you silly little flame, if Shore needs you that badly.” 

He turned to head up the stairs but glanced back at the flame for a moment, thinking over what he said. Could you really die if Shanks was put out? Buggy didn’t really want to think about it, instead choosing to be more careful next time even if Shanks was annoying. With a sigh, he started up the stairs, wincing as his lower back and hips protested at the movement. Right, he was old. He needed to get used to it since he would likely be this for the rest of his now short life. 

He managed to make it up the stairs to the level where the bathroom and bedrooms were. Oh, right, he would need his own room, wouldn’t he? Though, he could just do with a cot, even if his old bones would protest it. Shaking his head, he headed for the bathroom, opening the door and freezing at the sight before him. Clutter, a cabinet resting on the floor, holes in the wall, and a tub and toilet that looked as though they had never been clean. There were bottles and products scattered all across the floor as well. 

How could two people live like this?

Buggy went to open the window first, wanting to get fresh air in there. Movement below caught his attention and he saw that they were actually moving, sailing over the rocks and terrain as clouds drifted by. Oh, this ship really did sail in a way, didn’t it?

“Shanks, is that you making the ship move?” Buggy shouted down to him.

“Of course it is!” The little flame called back to him. Huh, it was impressive, but Buggy wouldn’t say that.

“Guess you’re good for something then.” Buggy mumbled before he turned his attention back to the bathroom. Okay, it was time to start cleaning.

[stranger-fanfiction-n-things]

CHAPTER 5: THE FLEA AND THE ACROBAT

This is an Original Character fanfiction. All Stranger Things characters and content are owned by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers.

a/n: I picture Eddie not being able to express himself through his words so he uses song lyrics. In my head he always had a strong connection to music because of his mother (this was before I read FOI). Finally an Erica/Diana scene! What do y'all think of Steve and Diana?

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 2440

Masterlist

PART I || PART II || PART III || PART IV

SINCLAIR RESIDENCE 

It’s mid-afternoon when we arrive back home from the funeral. Dad stops the car in front of our house to let Mom, Erica and I out before he drives over to the Wheeler’s house to drop Lucas off to hang out with the boys. I follow behind Mom and Erica thinking about what to wear later today for when Nancy and I meet up with Jonathan. I bump into Erica, who frowns at me for stepping on her, and I immediately apologize for not watching where I was going. I look ahead wondering why we stopped when Mom picks up a bouquet of wildflowers and a note laying in front the door. 

“Candy Girl? Who’s Candy Girl?” 

Erica grunts in annoyance as I push pass her to snatch the flowers and note from Mom. Sure, enough the note said Candy Girl. My face burns and I bite my lip trying my best to hide my smile. Mom’s brows shoot up in surprise at my hastiness and I smile sheepishly at her, apologizing for my behaviour. Her gaze sweeps over me. 

“Hm.” She grunts, pursing her lips and guides Erica in front of me to not get trampled on again. 

As soon as I step inside the house, I take off my jacket and heels, pushing my sunglasses over my head and rush upstairs to my room. My heart is hammering against my ribcage as I close the door behind me. I admire the array of blue, purple, pink, and white wildflowers tied together with a piece of string. Some petals of the flowers are flat and squished but I think they’re pretty nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, I put the bouquet on my dresser to give my full attention to the note. My hands are practically shaking as I open it.

If the sky that we look upon, should tumble and fall.

Or the mountains should crumble to the sea. 

I won’t cry, I won’t cry. No, I won’t shed a tear 

Just as long as you stand by me. – Ben E. King 

I reread the words three times before flopping down on my bed. A smile lingers on my lips at the gesture. Will’s funeral is of public knowledge, shaking up the entire town. I haven’t seen or spoken to Eddie since we had lunch together two days ago and I know he wouldn’t attend the funeral because despite it being of public knowledge, it was still an intimate event, but I never thought he would do this. Something so simple and thoughtful for me. This doesn’t help my case with Mom and I’m sure this raised more suspicion about Eddie, but I can’t stop smiling. I wonder if I should write a note back. What would I say? How will I even give it to him? We don’t have school tomorrow and I don’t know where he lived to even thank him for being so kind. My thoughts are so scrambled I have to force myself back to earth and the task at hand. 

I hide the note in my desk drawer and change into more comfortable clothing settling on a pair of jeans, t-shirt and zip up sweater. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and fixed my bangs in the mirror satisfied with my appearance. Back at the wake, Nancy, Jonathan and I agreed to meet at 5pm and it was now, 2:00pm. Nancy would be here in fifteen minutes and I needed to find a weapon. I can’t go out in the woods to find a wild animal without one. Even though Jonathan had a gun, I’m not sure if he knows how to use it. 

I open my door and sneak across the hall to Lucas’s room. Surely, he wouldn’t mind if I borrowed his wrist-rocket for a few hours. I try to be as discreet as I can going through his drawers, closet, even checking under his pillow and I can’t find anything, not even his headband. I frown, pursing my lips in thought. Where could he have put it? Then it hit me. Under his bed. I drop to my knees pushing my arm under his bed to feel for anything. All I find are dirty socks and comic books. I blow my bangs away from my face to get a better look and—

“What are you doing?” 

I jump hitting my shoulder against the top of the bedframe. “Ow!” I whimper, holding my arm in pain, praying I don’t develop a bruise. I stand up feeling my lower back seize. Erica is standing on the other side of the bed arching her brow in suspicion. I ignore the pain in my arm, feigning nonchalance. 

“I’m just cleaning, Lucas’s room.” 

Erica frowns. “His room is always clean.” 

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be cleaner now does it?” 

Erica shrugs, not caring about my poor excuse for why I’m in Lucas’s room even though I know she doesn’t believe me. She’s always been a skeptic. Her first word was “no”. She lingers, tilting her head to the side, toying with a loose thread on the duvet. 

“Who sent you the flowers?” 

“A friend of mine.” I respond simply, though my heart picks up speed. Erica smiles slowly and now I feel uneasy. It’s one of the many different smiles she has. This one isn’t as…devious. That smile is only reserved for Lucas. No, this smile is like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. 

“An admirer.” It’s not a question. 

“A friend, Erica.” I repeat, albeit tense. 

Erica lies down on the bed, holding her chin with her hands. Any other moment she would’ve looked cute in her bubbles and pigtails, but again, this smile held a hint of mischief. 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” 

I shift from side to side. “No…” I squint. “What makes you say that?” 

Tired of the innocent act, Erica’s smile vanishes. “No boy just leaves a bouquet of flowers on your front step with a note unless its an admirer or a boyfriend.” 

“That’s not true.” I disagree, sitting on the bed. 

Erica gives me a pointed look, pursing her lips just like Mom. “Oh yeah? Prove it.” 

My body grows tense under her fierce stare. There are times I wonder if I’m related to Erica. Our personalities are so different. Erica is outspoken and bulldozes her way through life while I’m quiet, awkward and shy.  

“I—” I start, then close my mouth. I have no experience with boys to even know where to start about relationships. 

“Exactly.” Erica confirms, kicking her feet. The conspicuous grin returns as she continues. “You have a boyfriend.” 

“No, I don’t.” I reply quickly. My face is burning. 

“Well, you sure were eager to take the bouquet of flowers and note away from Mom. You nearly knocked me into the bushes to get it which means…” she wiggles her eyebrows. 

“Erica.” I plead. I do not want to talk to my little sister about boys, especially Eddie. I don’t know what to think when it comes to him. I just know how I feel and I was definitely not going to try to explain to an intrusive eight-year-old girl like my sister, plus Nancy will be here soon and I needed to get Erica away so I can leave without another interrogation. Erica sighs, rolling her eyes and sits up tucking her knees under her.  

“I won’t tell Mom or Dad if you have a boyfriend,” she says, leaning forward putting her hands on my shoulders. “By the looks of it, Mom is already suspicious of you, but she won’t say anything unless you bring it up. Your just lucky Dad had to drive Lucas to the Wheelers because if he saw those flowers and note on the doorstep,” Erica eyes widen slightly. “He’d lock you in your room forever and hunt all over town for this boy.” Erica isn’t wrong. Dad is extremely protective. It’s why I’m glad Mom hasn’t told him about Steve’s house. 

I stand up, combing my fingers through my thick hair in its ponytail. “You don’t have to tell Mom and Dad anything, okay. Eddie is just a friend.” Any close friend of Eddie’s is a close friend of mine. That’s what Ronnie said. Erica lights up. 

“Eddie, huh?” She grins, satisfied that she at least got a name. 

 “I don’t have an admirer or a boyfriend.” 

Erica ignores the sharpness in my voice. “But you like him.” I glare at her, a warning to stop pushing. “Fine,” she sighs, rolling her eyes again. She rolls off the bed strolling to the door. “I’ll leave you alone to clean.” There’s a cheeky little grin on her face as she lingers and it tells me all I needed to know. Erica isn’t going to drop this. She found something new and shiny to play with and will until she gets bored. 

“Candy Girl.” 

My jaw drops. Erica runs to her room, closing the door behind her before I can gather up my thoughts. 

Oddly enough, I didn’t find anything in Lucas’s room which is why I am scrounging around Dad’s tools in the garage. Screwdriver? No. Wrench. Maybe. I pull out a rubber mallet from one of the toolboxes. It’s thick and has a bit of weight to it. It’s no gun but it’s the best I can do right now. I take a few steps back and practice swings trying to get a feel of the weapon. Part of me cannot believe I’m doing this right now; risk going into the forest to find some animal I have never seen before nor, understand to find Barb and Will. I lift the mallet way over my head not calculating my strength because I lose my balance stumbling back on my feet. 

“Whoa! What the—” I drop the mallet and the person behind me yelps. I’m ready to bolt into my house when I hear my name. I whip around, my heart beating a mile a minute. There he was, hair and all his glory standing in front of me. He’s the last person I’d expect to be at my house. The last time I’ve seen him was in the parking lot at school confronting Jonathan about the photos in front of Tommy H and Carol ending with smashing his camera on the ground. 

“Steve?” 

“Hi,” he waves, sheepishly. 

I blink, shaking my head. “How do you know where I live?” 

Steve stiffens at the question. “Uh,” he stammers, combing his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t—I don’t,” he corrects, clearing his throat. I raise my eyebrows expectantly eying the pink in his cheeks. Was Steve “The Hair” Harrington blushing? “I was driving to Nancy’s and saw you and just…” he takes a deep breath. “Wanted to say hi.” 

I squint. “To me?” 

“Yeah,” he chuckles dryly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Why wouldn’t I?” Because we’re not friends. I want to say. When I don't respond Steve swallows, rubbing his lips together. "I actually wanted to...apologize."

I pick up the mallet holding it over my shoulder. “For?” His gaze flickers to the mallet then me and I rub my lips together trying to hide my smile. He deserves to squirm a little. Now he knows how it feels when his friends make me feel uncomfortable. 

“Being an asshole.” 

“Oh.” 

“I’m sure Nancy told you about our last conversation,” Steve continues, looking down at his New Balance sneakers. “And you both deserve an apology for the way I acted.” 

I blinked in confusion for a moment and then remembered when Nancy came into my room to show me the photos and I mentioned what Steve thought about everything. A momentary look of discomfort crosses Steve’s face when he finally looks at me. Part of me believes the apology wasn’t only for his talk with Nancy or about Barb, but for the way he handled things in the parking lot. I remember the look of sorrow in his eyes before he stormed away. I meant it when I told Jonathan I don’t think Steve needed to break his camera but it was justified. Steve’s privacy was invaded too. What I picked up on that day in the parking lot is that Steve isn’t this aggressive, mean, bully like Tommy H and Carol are. It’s not in him to be that kind of person and it pained him to break Jonathan’s camera. He knows I noticed his shift in demeanour. I oddly notice a lot about Steve. His contradictions, his mannerisms. What he doesn’t do.  Steve tilts his head waiting for a response. 

“Um…” My brows twitch. “Apology accepted.” I say softly, taking a step back. Steve doesn’t respond and I don’t think anything of it. Thank you seems awkward to say right now. 

“Um,” he scratches his nose. “Have you heard from Barb?”  

“No, the police think she ran away, but I know that’s not true. Barb wouldn’t do that.” Steve nods his head shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“I haven’t known Barb for long, but she definitely doesn’t seem like the type to do that.” Another comment that doesn’t need much of a response. 

I fiddle with the mallet letting the awkwardness settle in. Surprisingly it’s not from me, but Steve. Steve, the most popular boy in school who exudes such confidence walking down the hallway, who turns every head without trying…is being awkward. It’s hard to wrap my head around it. Steve takes a step towards me but decides against it. I tilt my head, wondering what was going on in his head. Maybe he’s having a mental breakdown. 

“I heard about the funeral. I’m sorry for your loss.” 

“Thank you,” I answer, taken aback by his sincerity. “He was my little brother’s best friend.” 

“Give your little brother a hug for me.” He winced, regretting his words. I smile. Steve laughs and combs his fingers through his hair. His face is bright red now. “I’ll uh, leave you to…” he gestures to the mallet. “Whatever you’re doing.” I nod my head, grinning. “Bye.” He says, waving awkwardly. I wave back amused by his mannerisms. 

I watch Steve walk out my garage his brown hair flopping lusciously through the wind. “Steve?” I call out. He turns around startled. “Thank you.” I see his gaze soften, instantly knowing I’m thanking him for apologizing and he smiles nodding his head before walking to his car. When Steve drives down the street towards Nancy’s I swing the mallet again chuckling softly to myself. 

“What a dork.”

Taglist 🤍: @tinydramatist

[autumnfangirler]

ill be the first to admit that i dont interact with the gaa fandom as much as i should, so id be very glad to be wrong about this, but from my (admittedly very limited) observations in the fandom susatos talked about mostly in the context of a) other male characters(naruhodo, kazuma, mikotoba, holmes) or b) shipping. which is fine, it makes sense! shes not very attention grabbing in the game, and while she does have her goofy moments, shes not nearly as silly as the rest of the cast. shes more of a straightman than anything else. but shes such a good character and i really want to see more people talk about her so fuck it, were making the overdue susato rant ourselves gdi

major spoilers for great ace attorney under the cut and in the tags!

i think a lot of people see susato as a #girlboss, which is true and undisputed, but ive never seen people dig into why. personally what sticks out to me is how determined she is. its overshadowed by kazuma, but she Clearly learned a few things. she was willing to travel halfway across the world to work as a judicial assistant, and in kazumas death she helped naruhodo become a lawyer in his stead. she broke the law to help naruhodo win ginas case, a decision that tore her up so much she nearly resolved to quit. and of course she won a fucking courtcase at the age of 16 while succesfully pretending to be a man. when she has a goal in mind, shes seeing it through. shes consistently pulled naruhodo out of (rightful) uncertainty and hesitation with this mindset. she followed kazuma, and then naruhodo, to the ends of the earth because she truly believed it was the right thing to do. shes competent in her work, and shes firm without being unkind.

thats another thing about susato. shes one of the most emotionally mature characters in the games (games filled with adults– iris is probably one of the few characters who rival her in that respect). shes emotional about the things shes passionate about, but shes never overwhelmed by it. the only scene i can think of where emotions really did overtake her was at the end of the first game, where she nearly threw her judicial book into the sea. which is,,, still relatively reasonable? she broke the law and had to leave britain to go back to japan. she couldnt practice as a judicial assistant anymore, and nobody back home had a need for her skills as a judicial assistant. why would she need it anymore? in every other instance, shes polite, calm, and most importantly, the heart of the whole cast.

because while shes a great character on her own, her main role in the story is always in servitude to others– whether that be as holmes number one fan, iris' big sister, or naruhodos ever-reliable judicial assistant. we never get the sense as to why until the 4th chapter of the last game, where her backstory is finally revealed. with it, a lot of who she is is recontextualized. she never had a mother and her father left her before she could have any real memories of him. shes headstrong and driven because there was no direction for her. shes compassionate and polite because her only role model for her formative years was her grandmother. shes emotionally mature because she learned what loss was at a young age and how to live with it alone. and all of that translates to a young girl with a fire to help others in whatever way she can.

shes just,,,, shes such a good character man. i love her.

[iamthenerdqueen]

The Red String of Faith - Chapter IV

Idol!AteezXOCs Soulmates!ot8AteezXOCs OCXOC Slight Social Media AU!

slight twigger warnings: Polyamory, group of 10, two OC's -feel free to replace one OC with yourself if you'd like- ,eventual smut, listen this is an idea me and my best friend had and is something for fun read at own risk, not edited as always, also we are starting to explore themes such as bxb and gxg if thats not for you, this story may not be for you.

Chapter I, Chapter II, Chapter III, Next

A/N: enjoy :)

No one could convince Lyra that packing was an enjoyable thing. Trying to decide what was supposed to go with her for the next couple days was more stressful than the phone call with her mother the day after they had made it home from Atlanta and telling her everything that had happened. 

In the past few days, a lot had changed and yet at the same time, nothing had changed. Everyday went on as it had before finding out about the other 8 people in their tether. What was really different was the near constant communication with the boys.

As soon as they had gotten inside their apartment after arriving from the hotel, Lia had called Hongjoong which then turned into a facetime call which lasted until nearly midnight. All of them, just going about their business, but on facetime.

Everyday since they had texted constantly, well near constantly, there were times when the boys had schedules and obviously when they were on stage plus Lia had a strict rule about not looking at her phone while on stream. And the one thing that had sent their daily routine into a bit of a spiral was Lia’s announcement to bunnies. 

The day after they got home, Lia decided that during her normally scheduled stream, she was going to let them know she was planning to take a break in the near future. More specifically, she told them that from April 1st to June 1st, she would not be going live because she would be moving to the other side of the world. 

The cover story, as they had agreed on and what was told to her fanbase that it was so Lyra could follow a job opportunity. This was the exact same thing Lyra told her boss on the same day, in writing setting her official last day at the library as Friday, April 1st. Were both of these announcements very early, yes. Was this the easiest way for the girls to do it, also yes. 

To them it was like ripping the bandaid off and didn’t allow for either of them to ponder on the situation or try to back out. Lia promised bunnies two things that would happen during her break. One is that she would be pre-filming a special Sims series to post once a week to her youtube channel through the months she would be gone. Second was she would be posting some vlog style videos of the things she was doing during the break and those would be posted more sporadically. 

Bunnies were up in arms for a couple hours after the announcement, but eventually everyone calmed down and wished her well. And now, both girls were trying to figure out what exactly to bring with them. 

Both would consider themselves overpackers, but for very different reasons. Lyra was convinced that something would go horribly wrong and ruin her clothes so everything needed a backup. Lia also had this fear, but was more concerned with the fact that she would probably hate at least one outfit she put together by the time she was supposed to wear it, so each one had a backup. 

Currently, Lia was debating on just how many pairs of underwear were too many.  Not feeling up to yelling across the apartment to Lyra who was in her room trying to finish shoving things into a carry on, she decided to text her instead

Chaos. Pure unhinged chaos was the only way to describe the group chat between the 10 of them. In the seven days since they had seen the boys they had all gotten comfortable, at least speaking over the phone. 

Currently, their favorite thing was for the girls to call them before they went on stage. Everyday, the girls would facetime a different member's phone about an hour before they were set to go on stage and together the girls would wish the entire group good luck for the show. 

The girls had no idea just how much it also meant to the boys to hear from them and to know that they were routing for them even though they were separated. 

Then each night, the girls would call a different boy, trying to get to know them on a personal level too. They had each fallen asleep on the phone with six of the boys in the past several days, as the first night they were on a giant group call and in just a few minutes they would be on their way to the airport to rejoin their darling boys. 

To combat this, they had promised to sit in between the boys they hadn’t gotten to call during their second flight from Dallas to LA. 

Lia was going to be sitting between Jongho and Yunho during the flight while Lyra was going to be sitting between Mingi and Hongjoong. The other boys had been pouting on and off about it since the day before. Everything was still new and they wanted to spend as much time together as possible. 

The boys had also grown comfortable enough to show their affection for each other in front of the girls. It was Lyra’s favorite thing to watch how each of them had a different way of showing how much they cared for each other. Some were more reserved, only giving a quick kiss to the cheek or pecking someone on the lips while some were more than happy to makeout, sometimes forgetting they were on facetime. 

When Lia had been on her call with Yeosang the night before, Wooyoung made a surprise appearance and thank god for Lia reminding them that they weren’t supposed to give hickeys before a concert because Woo is a biter. 

Time seemed to drag, even though the girls only had a few minutes before Lyra’s mother would be there to drop them off at the airport, it seemed like they had been trying to put the finishing touches on everything for half an hour now. 

Like a mind reader, Hongjoong sent a text checking up on them. They had sent the boys their flight information and knew they were keeping a close eye on them until the were in the air. 

In the back of Lyra’s mind she wondered how they had gotten this shy bean to turn into a flirt that was almost as bad as Lia, but there was a part of her that also knew this part of his was probably reserved only for his soulmates. 

It was odd to think that they got to see a hidden side to the boys, well maybe hidden wasn’t the right word. A special side of the boys and in return, they shared a special part of themselves with them. 

It wasn’t even a minute later that both girls could hear a series of honks coming from outside their apartment building. It was a distinct pattern of honks that only belonged to one person, Lyra’s mother. 

With that the girls did one last scan of the living room, grabbed their bags and set their alarm before heading out the door. 

“Hello Ladies!” Lyra’s mother, Jamie, said from the driver seat as the girls got into the car. 

“HI Mom”

“Hey Jamie!”

After everyone was buckled in, they headed toward the local airport, which was only about 20 minutes from the apartment. Jamie had offered to drive them and pick them up so they didn’t have to worry about leaving one of their cars at the airport. 

“So, tell me again why i’m letting you both do this? I get that y’all are all soulmates, but neither me nor Ange (Lia’s mother) have met them.” Jamie was a protective mother, and as someone who had never found her soulmate was reluctant to just let things happen. 

“Well, we’re grown, so you can’t stop us. But besides that, they’re schedule is not flexible at all. Almost every moment of every day is planned for them, plus they’re currently on tour, Mom.” Lyra and her mother were close enough to be brutally honest with each other. 

“She’s right, Jamie. We can’t interfere with their schedule.” It has taken years for Lia to get comfortable enough to drop the Mrs. from Jamie's name, but she had never been afraid to match the blonde woman's energy. 

“I just don’t like the idea of the two of you going across the world because of some guys. If something happens, we can’t be there for you two. Y’all will be leaving your families behind.”  

Lyra didn’t think she could roll her eyes any harder than she was currently, maybe they would get stuck that way. 

“Mom. We’re only going to LA tonight. And you know just how offensive it is to refer to them as just some guys? Do you think we are stupid enough to decide to up and change our entire lives for some random dudes?” Lyra’s tone had gone from passive to stern with her mother in an instant. She knew her mother always had something to say, and she loved her for it, but right now her mother wasn’t even trying to see the whole situation. “Listen Mom, I understand you have a very particular viewpoint on soulmates, but the situation is what it is. We have two months before we leave for Korea and in that time I promise you will get to know them in some way, even if it's a couple phone calls. But a time comes for everyone when they have to make a choice in life, to take the chance at happiness or to be complacent. Frankly, we don’t want to give them up and the chance at feeling whole with the people we are destined to be with.”

With that, Jamie had run out of words and arguments. The truth was, she didn’t have anything against the boys. From the little bit of research she had done into them, they seemed like good people, but this was her daughter. In her mind, both girls were her daughter even if they weren’t romantically involved. She was scared at the thought of her youngest child being on the other side of the world. She may have never found her soulmate, but her children and their soulmates, the makeshift family they had all created together, was her whole world. 

“It’s all going to be okay, Mom.” Lyra said as she came to a stop to let them out of the car as they had arrived at the airport drop off. 

“I trust you both, and love you both. Just please be careful in LA and call me when you land in Dallas.” Jamie got out of the car to hug them both around the neck and watched them walk into the airport before pulling away. 

Overall, Jamie had been the most stressful part of the whole check-in process at the airport. That was one of the good things about it being a small airport was that there was barely anyone there. They would go from Columbia to Charlotte with only a twenty minute layover before going from Charlotte to Dallas. 

They wouldn’t really even get the chance to call or text anyone during their layover at Charlotte as their plane had arrived late and they had to run from Gate A2 to Gate C14 with only 10 minutes before their flight was set to take off. So, their flight planning skills were less than brilliant, oops. 

It was just under 3 hours from Charlotte to Dallas, and thankfully this plane left on time and arrived about 5 minutes earlier than scheduled. That last walk from the plane into the terminal was nerve wracking. The girls knew they would be meeting Hajoon there before going to a private lounge, yet neither of them could stop the jumpiness that set into their bones. 

Lia saw Hajoon first and helped guide Lyra, who had gone ahead and called her mother toward the manager. 

“Hello again, Hajoon!” Lia put on a blinding smile as she gave a small wave to the man. He nodded in return, offering his own hello. 

“Can I help either of you with any bags or help you carry anything,” Hajoon asked quietly as they walked toward the lounge. Lyra was still on the phone with Jamie, but shook her head at him with a polite smile before mouthing ‘i’m okay, but thank you.’

“It’s okay, we only have one bag each and our purses. We’ve got it, but it’s very nice of you to offer. Really, we’re very grateful for you helping us with all of this. It’s been more than we could have ever asked for.”

Lia’s words were true. Hajoon had gone out of his way for them countless times, not only the last time they had seen the boys but in the last week he had helped them with the NDA KQ had asked them to sign. It had nothing to do with their relationship, but it was very strict and clear that they weren’t supposed to talk about any unreleased music or content coming out for Ateez. 

It was surprising, all of the higher ups were more than pleased that the boys had found the last two in their tether. They were behind them in this as much as they were behind the boys. It was heartwarming to see how close they were with their artists and how much they truly cared for their well being. 

Lyra finally got off the phone and properly greeted Hajoon as she caught up with them. 

“Lia now would probably be the best time to film in this airport, just so you don’t have to leave the group later on.”

“Yeah, hold on let me get my camera out, it is okay if we go a bit slower Hajoon? It’ll let me get some decent footage of the airport.” 

“Sure, we’ve got time to spare before take off and have to cross the airport to get to the lounge. Get what you need.” He was no stranger to content needing to be filmed and how to stay out of the line of the camera. 

Lia spent the next few minutes as they navigated their way through the airport speaking to her camera, getting some shots of her and Lyra here and there. It wasn’t very intense filming as the vlogs were very casual and wouldn’t be regular content through the break. 

She finished up as they were passing the cluster of restaurants that was dead center of the airport.

“Have you all eaten? The boys, you and the other staff?” Lyra asked Hajoon, she knew that her and Lia had very little time to sit and eat through their long day of travel. 

“Oh, we all had lunch and the lounge has some finger foods. We’ve been slightly off schedule today, so we will probably get something for everyone soon. Why? Are you hungry?” 

Lyra couldn’t help but grin at Hajoon’s instinct to take care of others first. “I am hungry, but I was asking because we’re right here. I’m sure you would know what everyone would want to eat, it’s on me tonight, so let's go ahead and stop.” 

“Oh no, it’s my responsibility to take c-” 

“Hajoon. You take wonderful care of everyone, even me and Lia who are not your responsibility. I know buying food and treating people to food is very important in Korean culture. This may not be a large meal out with delectable meats, but please. Let me show our gratitude this way, until we can take you all out to a wonderful dinner.”

Hajoon was touched at the effort the girls were making and after a little more arguing, gave in and let Lyra buy the food for everyone. They settled on buying fried chicken for everyone who was currently with them as a large portion of the staff had already made their way to LA. Those who were flying with them were mostly managers, security for the boys, and one of the stylists. 

All of the staff on tour had been notified of the soulgroups situation, and upon the return of Ateez to Korea the rest of the company who needed to know would be informed. The girls were hesitant for so many people to know, the boys were private people and this was their livelihood. Who knew what the reaction would be from fans if someone told them when the boys weren’t prepared to address it. 

Hajoon and the boys let them know that everyone who worked at the company was contractually obligated to a strict level of confidentiality. It was apparently so legally binding that if someone were to leak information on the boys, about their music or personal affairs, they would not only be terminated but may also face legal repercussions as a violation of privacy in Korea. It was intimidating, just the thought of how much went into this new life they were stepping into. 

But even just the week of talking to them over the phone was more than enough for them to know it was more than worth it. 

After giving the poor workers at the chicken place a heart attack with their order, they were off once again and at the lounge. Hajoon had taken Lyra’s suitcase from her to make it easier for her to carry the bags of food. 

He entered the lounge first and every one of the boys whipped their head to the manager. In seconds they were all standing trying to crowd around the door as the girls came in after Hajoon. 

“Wow, I knew you guys liked fried chicken, but damn. I didn’t know it was enough to get this type of reaction,” Lyra couldn’t help but make a joke about the boys reaction to them entering the room. Affection was hard for her, it was one thing for Lia to show her some affection and be excited to see her. It was still hard for her to think that any of this was real, and they were just as overjoyed to see her as she was to see them. 

She placed the bags of food on one of the tables in the lounge and told Hajoon to get the staff so they could grab some food first then they and the boys would get their food after. 

“YA! I don’t care about the food,” It was Wooyoung who had wrapped his arms around her from the back pulling her into a hug, “I’m excited to see you!”

Lyra gently grabbed his hand that was resting around her waist and squeezed it before turning around to give him a proper hug. Wooyoung was only three inches taller than her, so Lyra’s head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck.

Over his shoulder she could see Lia getting pulled into a hug by San, him picking her up off her feet just slightly causing her to let out a little yelp. At that Lyra let go of Wooyoung so she could go see the other boys and give them their own hugs. 

As she let him go, she turned her head towards his and was met with him doing the same. Their faces were so close that even one small tilt of the head the two could be kissing, but instead she just grinned at him. 

“I missed you,” Wooyoung’s voice was quiet as he spoke the words to her

“I missed you,” Lyra had a brief burst of confidence as she kissed his cheek before heading over to pull Mingi into a hug. 

Lia had already been able to see San, Hongjoong, and was now in the arms of Yeosang. Yeosang had a death grip on Lia, he didn’t say anything as he held on to her just savoring her being there. The playful persona he had taken up with them slipped for a second, but before Lia could even process that she felt his hand go from her lower back to her ass. Then he squeezed. 

“SIR! THAT IS MY BEHIND!” Lia was not quiet in her words causing a few eyes to turn toward the couple and particularly to where Yeosangs had was still on her butt. 

“I am very aware. It’s nice and soft.” He gave it one last squeeze before letting her go and flashing her a smirk. 

“You, specifically, are going to be the death of me.” Lia said to him over her shoulder as she went to hug Jongho. 

Some greetings were longer than others as some boys were more comfortable with physical touch at this stage. The same with the girls, Lia thrived on physical closeness but Lyra was more hesitant. It wasn’t something she was accustomed to receiving from anyone other than Lia and even then it was mostly just her holding her hand or generally being close to her. 

Lyra tended to show her affection through her actions or words, which sometimes worked out and sometimes didn’t. 

“Get some chicken, please. I’ll go last, I really don’t mind.” Lyra and Hongjoong had been going back and forth for a minute or two now about who would go last in grabbing their food. 

“You choose first, I am okay taking whatever is left.” Hongjoong tried putting on his leader's eyes in a silent attempt for her to give into him. 

“Sweetheart. If you don’t get you food right now I will not be a happy camper. I know you all had practice today and you’re all exhausted. Get all the food you want, there will be more than enough food for me after you’ve gotten all you want.” Lyra challenged in her own way turning on her stern southern lady voice in that moment. She was smiling at him and her words were confusing to him, but her eyes left no room for argument. 

To the surprise of all the boys, and the staff who were secretly invested in the small bickering of the two, Hongjoong gave in and went about getting his food. 

“Wow, how did she do that?” Mingi wasn’t sure if he was more scared or impressed that Lyra had just pulled that move on their captain as he asked Lia to explain. 

“She can be very persuasive when she wants. She very rarely takes charge like that, but she kinda like a mama bear sometimes. I think she’s used to taking care of people, she took care of her dad her whole childhood and has taken care of me anytime I get even slightly sick since we were teenagers.” Lia was eating her chicken beside Mingi and looking at him. 

“You get sick?” Seonghwa asked from the other side of her. 

“I have a crappy immune system, so I catch colds easily. Like this past week I had a pretty constant headache and Lyra was making sure I had everything I needed or keeping me from overworking myself.” Lia was casual in her response, not realizing the concern she had stirred in the boys sitting around her.

Lia was focusing on her food when she felt a hand start playing with the back of her hair before carding through it. It was Seonghwa, playing with her hair and looking intently at her.

“Please, don’t be sick. I don’t want you to be unwell, especially if I can’t be there to take care of you.” His words were so gentle.

Lia smiled at him softly before speaking, “I will do my best to be healthy, but that means you and everyone else have to do the same. Don’t think me or Lyra are blind to how tired you all are right now.”

Seonghwa smiled at her and nodded, still playing with her hair. Everyone was settled around the room just waiting until they were to get on the plane, some of the boys seemed to be fighting off sleep now that they were fed and all their soulmates were in the same place. 

The time came to board the plane, the boys and security went first. Then the staff and the girls followed. Almost all of the first class was full of KQ staff and the soulgroup save for one or two empty seats. 

Take off was Lyra’s least favorite part of a plane ride, the feeling of leaving the ground made her whole body hurt. It was like being on a rollercoaster, as the plane took off Lyra grabbed both Hongjoong and Mingi’s hand in hers and squeezed hard.

This caused both boys to turn their heads toward her, seeing her eyes closed tight and her jaw clenched telling them what they needed to know. Her grip lessened as the plan steadied itself in the air. 

“Are you okay?” Mingi asked Lyra from her left

“I’m okay” she answered still holding both of their hands

“You sure?” Hongjoong asked on her right

“As long as you’re all here, I’ll be okay,” she was smiling at them now, but made no move to let go of their hands. 

A row back, Lia was between Jongho and Yunho. She was playing with Jongho’s hand and had pulled Yunho’s hand to sit in her lap for now with full intention to play with his next. She knew she would fall asleep before long, the calming hum of the plane always got to her. 

LA was only a few hours away and then they would get three whole days together. Well, as together as they could be with the boys schedules and concerts, but they would be there nonetheless. 

A/N: Hello all! I am back again :) Also, like always this is something me and my best friend are doing, so it might not always make sense but its just to make us happy lol. Shout out to my best friend for the text convos! I got asked about a tag list, so if you're intrested please let me know! The next chapter will probably have our first bit of smut ;) so get ready for that.

Tag List: @babyhailey819

P.S. If y'all see a spot where i any of Ateez's names are wrong please let me know cause my computer HATES me and always changes them.

[stygianheart]

its a shame your fics dont have more art theyre so good like if I could draw well id probably turn them into picture books. do you wish you had art?

but besides the point I actually have questions and I wanna ask em.

first up, who’s the back up? luffys mentioned the backup a few times and I cant help but wonder who it is. if thats a major spoiler than you dont have to answer but considering your love for this one guy i kinda think its sabo or the rev army. either that or like traffy. it would be funny if it was sabo though because of koby’s brief jealousy of how luffy was talking about him.

this might be just me as an aot fan overanalyzing everything but I feel like that devil fruit in the beginning was something important and so was the auction in broad daylight.

also ive seen a lot of fics where kobys favorite food is buttered potatoes but i think yours is the first where his favorite food is downright plain butter. the guys a psychopath for that. like why would you do that. where did you even get the idea.

I also have some other questions! unfortunately uh revolving around the second favorite ship brymeppo…

does helhippo realize he likes bryan or no? also i really came into the fic thinking I wasnt gonna give a crap about him but somehow you made me like him a lot so kudos to you. his relationship with bryan is so rivals to lovers coded and thats one of my favorite tropes. I really do hope helhippo lives up to his promise and takes bryan to the symphony. I know that wont happen in tsats but if you could make a one shot of helhippo and bryan going out on small dates that would be amazing 🙏 for us rymeppo shippers #rymeppo shippers unite oh and as much as i wanna see bryan take revenge on elijah for all the things the guys done to him i also wanna see helmeppo smash the guys face in. please. kill elijah. I hate him.

omg sorry that this is so long but I still have some more questions!

kobylu wise, who do you think fell first? koby or luffy? its obvious that luffy likes Koby but why hasn’t he said anything? does he understand how he feels? and after this is all said and done how are they going to stay in contact? it’s not like koby can just talk to luffy whenever he wants since hes a marine and luffys the pirate king.

anyway thats all! I hope i was able to help your creativity in some way :)

I mean, yeah, art would be cool. But when it comes to engagement with my fics, the most I hope for is for someone to simply read it. Besides, it’s self indulgent! I’m just writing the stuff for me and sharing it along the way.

Anyway, questions. *pulls out glasses*

The back up? Well, it’s not Traffy, that much I can say. Considering we (last I checked) don’t know if Trafalgar is alive or not, I just decided to…y’know, leave him out.

Greetings, fellow AoT fan, you are NOT mistaken! I kinda like hiding little things in the fic—not EVERYTHING has a purpose like AoT, but a lot of things are put there for a reason. I like being sneaky like that.

And yes. Koby’s a psycho. He eats straight up butter—and said it tastes better when dipped in sugar. I got this weird headcanon from my bestie who also happens to eat butter sticks. I once saw him dip it in sugar and was so disgusted by it, and he was just like “it’s good for you. Besides, it’s ✨tasty✨” like sir no. What on earth. That’s weird. You do you, but please, not in front of me. Besides the point—for some reason I decided to implement that onto Koby. I have a habit of weirdifying characters.

As for the RyMeppo question… I seriously never expected people to love this ship so much wtf. In Chapter 5, Helmeppo is completely unaware of his very obvious crush on (B)Ryan. He thinks he hates Ryan, when it’s obvious it’s more than that. As of Chapter 10, however, the moron is 10000% aware of how he feels. He and Ryan’s relationship is really fun to write with the constant bickering/flirting. I never intended them to be a romantic relationship, but alas, that’s where it headed.

And the KobyLu questions! Yay! Koby definitely fell first and he fell hard—don’t think anyone could fall harder if they tried. As for Luff: he knows how he feels about Koby. Buddy went to Sanji’s school of flirting and failed the classes spectacularly yet tried showing off his grades to Koby. He’s made it very clear how he feels—Koby, unfortunately, is just too damn dense. Luffy could yell “I LOVE YOU” to Koby and he would probably think Luffy meant platonically. He gets his density from me, of course, I’m the exact same way.

I hope I answered your questions well! Thanks for the ask, it actually did help a bit.)))

[pityslash]

IN THE WATER. chapter four

SHIP: bakugo x fem reader

DESCRIPTION: one year unexpectedly turned into two, you start to think all hope is lost in the apocalypse. spoiler warning: the real danger in the zombie apocalypse isn't the dead, it's the living.

TAGLIST: @smashboxgirl26

　　IV. WE’LL BE HEARD

the clicking of channels fell on deaf ears as news reports split through the hum of static. “rates have risen to the tens of thousands worldwide and the government leaders are still trying to say they understand this virus. you know, james, i call bullshit! how many more—”

click.

“—notified by the media or public safety. you are advised to minimize contact with all outside services, avoid droplets or residues, remove contaminated clo—”

click.

you spent the first few days of the outbreak alone, in a dark room and you couldn’t tell if you were even conscious. maybe you should open the curtains, but were you ready to look outside?

before the news cuts off for the last time, you make out the voice of a man, scared like the rest of humanity. “ladies and gentlemen, if you have a god; now is the time to pray. may he have mercy on us all.”

“we’ll meet back here.”

izuku shouldn’t have lied, it felt wrong and it wasn’t him, but he could form his own opinions. he watched you walk off with a pep in your step. the warm sun felt nice against his face and he took a deep breath. it was midday and he put it off long enough.

so he turns around and goes the opposite direction, scratching at his cheek. soon the itch on the palm of his hand became unbearable —the streets were empty and maybe he was psyching himself up the whole way there.

he mutters under his breath before undoing the wraps. there was a bite, veins prominent under his pale skin and he flexed the stiff joints.

“midoriya!” shoto stabs the undead in the neck, blade deep in the rotting flesh and he throws it to the ground. the monster growls from under his foot, trying to claw at his pant leg.

izuku winces at the loud clatter of shoto’s staff on the ground, there was a bloody mess. he held a look of despair and held izuku’s arm. “no, i- i’m fine! look, it’s okay. maybe—”

it was then he suddenly felt his bicep tense up, and he almost screamed, fist clenched tight. the bite was swollen and inflamed, izuku wanted to rip his entire arm apart.

shoto watched the infection spread underneath the skin and tunneling its way into his veins, rotting him from the inside out. “i’m sorry, i wasn’t paying attention.” he whispered.

small clouds reminded you of jumping bunnies in the sky, colored orange and purple and pinks; the air wasn’t clean by any means. the mass unrest and widespread death all around.

you stopped in front of the drug store further in the city, doors were locked and you weren’t going to break the glass. the walls were cracked and sprouts of stems— life wasn’t all dead, you glared at the thriving weeds in the shade.

suddenly you see a shadow past your reflection, and your nails dig into the skin of your palms. walking around the building and you try the back doors, the narrow alley smelled gross and you bury your nose in your shirt collar.

the back door was open, not much but it was just enough to raise suspicion. then you hear the footsteps.

the monster slowly moves into an aisle. you were about to pull the trigger when it spun around —there was a cold blade against your neck, and you’re staring back into the prettiest eyes you’d ever seen. the man glared at the barrel of the gun pointed at him.

“are you human?” there was a noticeable scar on the left side of his face, and his weird hair was a mess but it still looked perfect. you said the first thing that comes to mind; “can the dead speak?”

“yes, but not like that.” he said. you slowly lower your gun (and he did the same with a literal katana,) realizing you were both just survivors. but you kept your guard up.

there were boxes and boxes of medicine on the floor, and you start to check for any usable food left. he seemed to have already looked through everything.

“what’s your name?” you asked. he paused briefly, but turned to you with a small grin. his nose crinkled and it was charming. “shoto.”

you notice the walkie-talkie strapped at his waist, and it piques your interest. but he didn’t seem like much of a talker, huh?

you were going to open your mouth when there was a loud bang, like a fist on metal, and you both froze. you definitely closed the back, but now you weren’t sure. a beat goes by. then two. “hello? anyone in here?” shoto perks up hearing the voice, light and strung with recognizable dorkiness.

“midoriya?” he called out. and there the boy was, a smile so bright you feared you’d die of radiation poisoning. his face dropped, however, when his eyes met yours, and suddenly he looks uncomfortable.

“i’ve been looking for you, midoriya. where ha—“

“around.” izuku clears his throat, cutting him off. shoto looked up from the canned goods and izuku glanced at you, who stood on the side watching them. you catch them, and raise an eyebrow. are we keeping secrets? shoto took a moment to think, before throwing his bag over his shoulder. we’re friends.

“i have to meet back with the others.. are you coming?” shoto asked izuku loud enough for you to hear, and you watched the two shake hands. “they will be glad to see you. especially ochako, but i wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”

“you have a group,” you feel a lump in your throat. “is that where you go?” the freckled boy scratches at the back of his neck with a smile, it was obvious that he didn’t want to say too much. izuku acted so differently. “uh, kind of. we stick together sometimes, don’t worry about it.”

you bite your lip and stare at the ground, but it wasn’t long before you three gathered bags and started toward the exit. the walk back home was lonely without izuku. a part of you was surprised but the other not so much.

the bag is full and heavy on your back, even after splitting it three ways. a loose black thread on the old straps tickled, when you felt a sharp ache on your neck and rub the sore spot.

“y/n?” it was loud and your light footsteps ceased, turning around slowly. you try to stem your breathing and silence your heartbeat; just in case katsuki’s calling out for you.

you see something from the corner of your eye. you freeze, with only the bristles of leaves and trash blowing in the wind. you hear your name being called again, and it was so familiar; one you wanted to forget.

and then you see the most important person in your life, and all at once you felt grief and heartbreak. “oh, look at you. it’s been so long..” the soft touch of a hand on your cheek, but you couldn’t get out a word. it was like your body wouldn’t allow anything but a whisper.

“y/n, are you done?” they asked. it started to hurt, like the innocent prick of a rose horn on your fingertips. “come home. it’s time to rest.”

.. home?

the drag of a body dragging against the concrete floor. and suddenly you’re staring at a monster, unaware of your presence, its teeth chewing at the neck of another unlucky. your face was hot with tears, the crowbar almost fell through between your fingers, you wanted to unleash the anger.

the savaged face was one you couldn’t recognize. but you don't think about that, not now. your shoes pound against the pavement, swinging your lifeline and digging the curved end into the side of its head. every last one of you.

warm blood hit your face. god, it made you feel sick.

you couldn’t take in the moment and burning of your arms, a scream ripped out of your throat when nails dug into your ankle, breaking skin. teeth tearing the flesh of your lower leg and the pain was unimaginable.

“fuck! fuck!”

you feel everything and nothing at the same time. you had a gun, and so you shoot.

blood spills over, tears falling down your face— most likely due to shock —slumping to your knees. the bullet would bring others, so you had to pull yourself together.

your hands come down to cover the exposed, gushing wound on your calf, but it’s too late. the parking lot is empty and you hear nothing else.

izuku should have died the day he got bitten. should— unless he already was and this was all some kind of sick dream. but after the shock wore off, he woke up alone, and cleaned up, with food and a bottle of water next to him.

a specific gene found in some people has proven immunity against the E-20 virus. and there has to be a cure, there has to be something they didn’t know about.

nine made him feel on edge no matter how many times he’d come ask for favors or rations for two, when there was only him. izuku has never killed someone before; he helped people, he saved you.

but izuku knew too much.

over the time he spent at your small sanctuary, he realized just how oblivious you were to the world around. the people hiding in the shadows, willing to take everything from you.

eventually he and shoto were standing in front of a group, small next to the huge men armed with guns and he did not want to know what’d happen if he says the wrong thing.

it was a quick stop.. green eyes met grey and a hand shoved his shoulder forward, izuku trips over his own feet. we’re so close. tell him, say it.

“you.. were looking for two kids, right? a little girl and boy. i know where they are. how about a trade?”

[raccoonfallsharder]

Chapter 16/25+ Window Across the Galaxy (new 10/17 ♡)

girl falls first; raccoon falls harder.

It’s not like Rocket had really meant to steal the batteries.  Sure, he’d thought about it. Fantasized from the moment they were mentioned: selling some, and pocketing a few others to screw around with. And yeah, sure, maybe the minute he’d seen the dais on Sovereign, he’d started calculating how he could get his hands on them and sneak them away without Quill or Gamora or Jo noticing. But that was just how his brain worked. It didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t packed with any real intention.  Then the opportunity had just… opened up in front of him. Blossomed, really.  A perfect moment of distraction, while Jo had been taking the big guns back to the ship with Groot, Drax and Quill were bickering, and Gamora was cleaning her godsword.

Chapter XVI. Run. in which Rocket falls victim to his superstitions.

get in loser we're going self-sabotaging

General summary/notes + links to recently preceding chapters behind the cut. let me know via comment, message, or ask if you'd like to be added or removed from my fanfic/headcanon taglist ♡

General Summary~

Rocket is captured by a Ravager crew hoping to get rich off the excessively large bounty on his head. Throwing a wrench in everyone’s plans is the Terran girl they hired to do some freelance assessing on a recent haul of goods they’ve seized from a Xandaran luxury liner. Oops.

let me be real with you: this fic is really about wish-fulfillment. not just the eventual smut (but that too). mostly i just want someone to be nice to my best raccoon

Chapter I. A Delicacy. in which our reluctant heroes meet atop a crate of Sovereign porn in the bowels of a Ravager ship. Chapter II. Monster For A Pet. in which one hero wrestles with his inner Groot, and the other is quite possibly a moron. Chapter III. A Kindness. in which Rocket gets in his own damn way: not for the first time, and certainly not for the last. Chapter IV. Got There First.in which our heroes obtain an arsenal and street food. Chapter V. Things No-One Has Said Before.in which one hero refuses to babysit and the other refuses to leave. Chapter VI. Two and a Half Billion Units. in which we lean into the “they were roommates” trope. Jolie has misgivings, while Rocket has fantasies - about getting rich, of course. Chapter VII. I'm Here.in which we visit Knowhere. Chapter VIII. The Care & Feeding of Human Pets. in which our heroes practice breathing and we lean into a new trope: “there was (technically) one bed.” Chapter IX. Scrapmetal and a Dream. in which we redefine homemaking. Chapter X. Thin Fucking Ice.in which our heroes get fucked. Not in the good way. Chapter XI. Let It Be .in which Xandar is saved and good lives are lost. Chapter XII. So Much It Hurts. in which we try not to fuck up the vibes. Chapter XIII. Don’t Wait.in which a lost sister is found and Drax grapples with the concept of sarcasm. Chapter XIV. Exactly Like a Flower. in which comfort is shared. Chapter XV: Galaxy-Breaking Shit. in which more comfort is shared, and life is good. Briefly. Chapter XVI. Run. in which Rocket falls victim to his superstitions. Coming Soon: Chapter XVII. A Seedling. A Fox. A Little Girl. in which the party is divided.

slight AU starting pre-GOTG volume 1 (but will hit most of the same major plot points). slooowww burn + eventual smut with a lot of pining in the middle. kinda enemies-to-lovers? (but only one of these idiots thinks they're enemies). elements of hurt/comfort because rocket is the saddest-angriest boy. rating will go up and tags will be added to as needed.

@evolvingchaoswitch♡@wren-phoenix♡@pretty-chips♡ @suicidalshitstick

[prfctparis]

I’d Give You My Lungs So You Can Breathe (I’ve Got You, Brother) [CH2]

AO3 Link / Ch1 / Next / Masterlist

summary:

Danny Fenton was adopted at age ten, with little to no memories about his former family. At age fourteen, he died yet lived and those memories began to return. He didn’t do anything about those memories – didn’t plan to, at least not yet – but then he got captured by the GIW, saved by his friends and someone who might be his sister who he only somewhat remembered, and taken to Gotham to, apparently, his biological father for safety until further notice.

Team Phantom was there, too, and they did not sign up for this family drama.

a/n:

here’s chapter 2!! ch3 will be up in a few days :)

warnings for entire fic:

canon-typical violence of the DC variety; angst; memory loss/repressed memories; do i need to say major character death(s) or is that just a given for this fandom; questionable parenting tho every parent is trying to do good & care for the kids; implied/referenced past child abuse bc of the child assassin backgrounds; pls tell me if i missed something

CHAPTER SPECIFIC WARNINGS: mentioned/implied vivisection, but i don’t go into detail; athanasia mercilessly kills so many people; violence; blood; i think that’s it?

CHAPTER TWO —

When the first appearances of the Guys in White were seen back in October, Danny had no idea it would lead to this—

Locked to a metal table with scientists surrounding him and two assassins on guard at the door.

That was really all he was aware of. Everything else? Only pain. A dull burning pain that went throughout his entire body, and the cause was the IV attached to his arm. The contents were unknown, but Danny knew some percent of it was made out of blood blossoms – just enough that it didn’t kill him; just enough that it rendered him useless against them.

A metal mask covered his mouth and nose. It kept him from speaking, or biting, or screaming.

There were one or two other things that did something… Danny didn’t remember. It’s all been so fuzzy lately. It made something in the back of his mind panic.

More pain washed through him. It was worse this time, like it always was. Each day hurt a little more. Each day he got a little weaker.

What were they doing to him?

Danny squeezed his eyes shut. He breathed through it the best he could.

His chest ached, as if there was an open wound.

He peeled opened his eyes.

Oh. Right. That’s what they were doing to him.

Vivisection…again.

Lovely.

He distantly heard the door open. The scientists began to speak; a conversation started above him that wasn’t about his guts, for once. He did his best to focus on listening to them.

“…ill haven’t found the ghost’s core…” one said. “There is a high chance he won’t survive another operation after this one.”

“As long as he survives this one,” a different voice said.

And it was…familiar? Why–

A hand touched his hair. He flinched involuntarily, eyes rapidly blinking. When his vision focused and he trailed his eyes upward, fear gripped him instantly.

“I want the pleasure of killing you for good, Phantom,” the face from his nightmares spoke. “Or should I say,” the grip on his hair tightened and the man sneered, “Dányál.”

+++

Voices filtered through the vent grate from the room they were over. Three people were at the console; in front of them, multiple screens showing the security camera’s feeds played before the operatives’ eyes. A few of them were loops, curtesy of Tucker Foley and his way with technology.

Two more people were in the security room, as well, but they didn’t speak. Athanasia could just make out the edges of their shadows from where they stood at the door. They stood stock still; posed and ready to begin fighting at a moment’s notice.

Three GIW Operatives. Two members of the League of Assassins. Five in total.

She’s had worse odds.

Mentally, she quickly devised a plan that wouldn’t get them caught, and then acted.

Ever so slowly and quietly, she lifted the grate. One of the GIW operatives stood up and stretched. The man moved to stand directly under the grate, unaware of Athanasia and unknowingly making this a bit easier – something she was definitely not going to complain about.

She dropped out of the vent, directly on top of the operative and consequently knocking him out. Drawing one gun from the holster on her back, she shot the two League of Assassins members before they could even react. Thanks to the silencer on it, the gunshots were barely audible, and two bodies fell to the floor with twin thuds.

She then threw two manji shurikens at the operative who reached to call in reinforcements. One went into the back of his hand, and the other his forearm. At the same, the third operative rushed at her. Just in time, she dodged to the side and pulled out a dagger, finding a home for it in the man’s gut, slicing upwards. She trained the gun on the one she threw the shurikens at, and a bullet landed right between the eyes, slumping in the chair he never got a chance to get out of.

The man she landed on began to move. She stomped on his temple with the heel of her boot, hard enough to kill. The man went limp immediately.

“It’s safe,” she called, and moved two of the bodies from underneath the vent. Blood was already pooling and made sure not to step in it. “Do not land in the blood, unless you want to be the one to get us caught by tracking red footprints everywhere.”

Red Huntress, AKA Valerie Gray, came down first. She whistled lowly as she took in the room. “Damn,” she muttered. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were an assassin.”

Next came Samantha Manson as Athanasia went to move the two LoA members from the door. She glanced over her shoulder as Manson said, “You didn’t believe her with all the weapons she carries?”

Red Huntress slipped off her helmet. “Excuse me for not immediately believing someone when they tell me they’re the long lost twin assassin of our friend. Which, by the way, I’m still iffy on the twin thing. You’re too different.”

Athanasia raised an eyebrow. “Wow, it is almost as if we are fraternal twins with different personalities, and have been separated for eight years.”

Red Huntress rolled her eyes. “Geez, okay. Chill with the smartass-ness.”

“Look, I understand your distrust, Valerie,” Manson said, “and I didn’t believe it at first, either, but who else could she be?”

“You can still be a genetically altered clone,” Tucker Foley said from where he was wiggling out backwards of the vent. “Like Ellie.”

“I can promise you that I am not.”

“Not helping, Tucker.”

Foley finally fell down. Athanasia was quick to move, and placed a hand on his shoulder as he became unbalanced.

“Don’t put your left foot down,” she ordered.

He froze. “Um.”

She turned him until he wasn’t about to step in a puddle of blood, and then let go. “Okay.”

He hesitated, but did put his foot down. Then, he took a large side step away from both the blood and Athanasia. “Thanks,” he said, a little awkwardly.

She nodded once. Then, turning on her comm while wiping off her dagger on her pant leg and sheathing it, she said, “Weston, do you copy?”

Foley moved to the many consoles of the computers. He sat down in a chair, the furthest from the one with the dead body, and pulled out equipment from his backpack. Manson followed and watched the screens with a keen eye, and Red Huntress stayed near the door, though watched the camera feeds as well.

“Loud and clear, Phantom’s twin,” Wesley Weston replied. “Your get away car and it’s driver are in position.”

“Good. Stay connected to this line. Depending on how fast everything goes down, we will need extraction at a moment’s notice.”

“You got it, dude.”

“Have I mentioned how nice these comms are?” Foley questioned. “Because I’m in love with them.”

“Only about a hundred times,” said Manson.

“Can you blame me? Even scrambling their signature with ectoplasm, the sound is so clear. No type of ghostly feedback whatsoever. I need them for myself once we’re done here.” As he talked, he worked on connecting with the GIW’s system, hacking away undetected. “Where did you get them?”

“I stole one from Batman and then replicated it.”

Silence fell. Foley froze for a second time, and Manson’s expression turned into shocked disbelief. Red Huntress mouth parted in surprise.

Then, all at once, they began speaking.

“No way you did that–.”

“You’ve met Batman?! Do you know his identity because I have a theory–”

“Everything you say makes me more confused–.”

“You replicated tech from Batman?!”

“Guys. Guys!” Athanasia raised her voice. “Focus,” she snapped. “We are on a time limit, here.”

“But–”

“Shut up, Weston,” she ground out.

Wesley let out a disappointed sigh.

“The shift changes in forty-five minutes,” she reminded them. “Unless we want GIW operatives and more assassins to find us earlier than planned, I suggest we get to work on saving Danny.”

That settled things down quickly.

Part of her regretted not doing this by herself, which had been the original plan, even way back when she first heard her twin was within GIW custody. She had been so tempted to go in there with no plan at all, to find Danny and get him out. But she wasn’t familiar with the GIW. Luckily, she knew who was, and she went to them.

(Neither Manson or Tucker trusted her, or even believed her, those first couple of weeks.)

Even still, she sent a message to Damian asking him to look up the Ghost Investigation Ward. She didn’t get an immediate response from him – not like it mattered. The moment Danny’s best friends allowed her to work with them on saving him, Foley had created a device that scrambled any and all tech to keep them from the GIW’s eyes, and consequently everyone else outside of their area.

And then she learned the League of Assassins were working with the GIW, for some reason.

She tried to back out, to convince them to let her do this part by herself. The League was dangerous, simply put, and she didn’t want anyone, especially the people Danny cared most about, to get hurt or worse by them. But Danny had a good group of friends who were particularly stubborn and headstrong. As annoying as it was, she did like that about them. It meant they weren’t going to give up the search anytime soon.

Valerie Gray and Wesley Weston joined in on the mission a few weeks ago, when she and Manson and Foley were finalizing the plan. They realized it would be best to bring in another person or two, just in case.

And so, she was stuck with what they deemed as ‘Team Phantom’. A group of not so regular teens from a haunted town, who were definitely a little odd but trustworthy.

Team Phantom was good – each of them in their own ways.

So, as much as she regretted this, she also was glad she decided not to go in alone. It was easier. Nicer.

They also may be growing on her. Like mold, or moss, or fungi, or something.

She didn’t really know how to feel about that.

“Okay,” Foley mumbled. “Let’s see… Ah, 3D floor plans. Sweet.” He pulled up the floor plans on his laptop. “So we’re here,” a green dot appeared on the 3D floor plan where the security room was, “on the first floor. These are the exits,” he highlighted them in a light orange, “and the far left ventilation shaft on the roof is where we came in,” it was highlighted a darker purple while the rest of the vent system became more of a lilac color, “There’s three floors, not including what seems to be a secret basement. It’s not on the original floor plans I found, but it is on here and there are cameras.”

“That’s probably where they’re keeping Danny,” Red Huntress said as she walked up.

Foley pulled up the basement cameras. Empty holding cells filled up three of the screens. All of them were closed, except for one. The door was left open, with only part of a thin mattress on a metal frame in sight because of the angle.

“Are there any cameras for the room at the end of the hall?” Manson asked, cutting into the disappointed silence. She pointed at one screen, where a inconspicuous door could be seen.

Athanasia kept her eyes on the screens as Foley worked. Worry are her up alive on the inside, but she refused to show it.

“…No,” he said, and the disappointed silence returned.

“That’s not suspicious at all,” Red Huntress muttered sarcastically.

“Yes, there has to be a reason there are no cameras,” agreed Athanasia.

The other girl suggested, “I can check down there after I comb through the first floor like we originally planned.”

She frowned a little. “It may be heavily guarded.”

“I regularly fight ghosts. This is nothing.”

“From what the cameras can see, the basement doesn’t have many guards,” said Foley. “Operatives are walking around, and maybe one or two of those assassins, but other than that there’s no one.”

“Then Danny’s not there,” Manson said.

“If you really are up to it,” started Athanasia, “you should still check it out, Red Huntress. Perhaps there might be something the Doctors Fentons left behind before Danny was able to send them to the Infinite Realms.”

If that was where they were. Manson and Foley explained to her that had been the original plan when Danny went to save them.

Red Huntress nodded with determination. “I’m up for it, definitely.”

“Which floor is most heavily guarded?”

Foley’s eyes went from the security feeds to his computer, back and forth again and again. “From what I can tell from the cameras, they’re all equally distributed on each floor. Definitely one of the top floors, though.”

“There are some labs on the second floor,” Manson commented. She pointed at another screen, where one operative entered a room as he held some sort of vial and clipboard. She then pointed to a different feed from the same floor, where it showed a couple of operatives leaving a room with mechanics of some sort. “I’ll take this floor. Destroy what they have by planting the bombs, take what may help us figure out how to fight against them better, and what they might have gotten out of Jack and Maddie.”

“So, that leaves Athanasia with the third floor, and me here corrupting any files in their system they about Danny and ghosts in general, while also leading you guys around to avoid getting caught,” Foley concluded. “Right?”

“Right,” the girls chorused.

“Send Weston a file of the 3D floor plan,” Athanasia ordered. “It will aid him in knowing the possible exits he might have to meet us at.”

“Oh, I hadn’t even thought of that,” Wesley said.

“I figured.”

“Hey, rude.”

She ignored him. She went over to the body in the chair, and took back her manji shurikens. Like she did with the dagger, she wiped off the blood on her pant leg, and put them back in their respective sheaths along her thigh, nestled with the others.

Mentally, she quickly made note of her other weapons. The gun holstered on her right thigh, and the dagger sheathed on the calf of the same leg; the twin swords sheathed in an X on her back; two more guns holstered at her lower back, which were made with knives that came out of the grip when needed. She had hidden types of shurikens, a small knife hidden in the sole of both boots, and not to mention her fists and feet and teeth. (Biting was very effective, okay?)

Red Huntress had her usual weapons, plus the bombs, as did Manson and Foley. Athanasia made sure they knew how to handle them correctly one more time.

And then the search and rescue began.

Red Huntress parted with Athanasia and Manson at the security room’s door. Foley led the former one down the hall, while the latter two were led to the staircase. One floor up, and Manson parted from her to scope out the second floor.

Foley spoke the most, informing them of incoming GIW or LoA people. Red Huntress gave a few updates on the bomb placements, and Manson, after having slipped into the first empty room on the second floor, told them she found pieces of a prototype of the Fenton’s portal machine.

“Take the important pieces if you know what they are. Place a bomb on the rest to destroy them,” Athanasia told her.

“I’m taking the blueprints, too. We can check to see if they’re at all accurate with Danny later,” replied Sam.

“Where the hell did he come from,” Foley’s voice came through, confusing the girls.

“What? Who?” Manson asked.

“Some regal, evil looking dude is in the basement. I think he came out of the room that doesn’t have cameras, but I’m not one hundred percent sure… Is it just a thing that bad middle aged men have pointy-ish hair?”

Athanasia faltered three steps away from reaching the third floor. “What.”

“Plasmius’ hair curls up, so it sort of looks like devil horns or something. This guy’s hair is similar but not as dramatic, and the points are more on the sides than the top of his head, but I think it’s because it’s just slicked back. Guy’s got a thing for dark green, too.”

Dread began to fill her gut.

“Maybe I can meet him half way and beat some answers out of him,” Red Huntress bit out.

“Do not,” Athanasia hissed. “Stay the hell away from that man, and do not go into the basement until he is out.”

“Why not?” asked Manson. “It’s just an old dude, apparently. We have experience fighting them.”

“Unfortunately,” Red Huntress grouched. “Is he another Vlad? Because I do not want to deal with that.”

“He’s getting in the elevator, so Val should be safe if–.”

“If you go against him, you will die. What floor is he going to?”

“Let me get into the right elevator’s cams… It looks like he pressed for the third floor.”

Her breath hitched, and Athanasia cursed in Arabic under her breath. A sneer formed on her face. She took a step back, only to nearly slip off of the step. Quickly, she rebalanced and turned, and hurried back down the stairs.

…Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe she jumped to conclusions too fast.

“Is he gray at the temples? Tall? Goatee minus the chin hair and mustache?”

“Um… yeah.”

Okay. She didn’t jump to conclusions.

“Okay,” she muttered. “Okay,” she repeated in Arabic.

“Atha–.”

“Do not use my name,” she spoke so fast she wondered if they even understood her. “Call me…” Her mind went to the few times she aided Red Hood in Gotham from the shadows. She knew that he knew she was there, but neither one of them spoke to each other or made it known to the civilians, which freaked them out a bit when a bad guy would be impaled out of nowhere. A few had started to use a name for her. “Use Shrike.”

“Is everything okay?” Wesley asked.

The others answered ‘I don’t know’ in varying ways at the same time.

Fear gripped at her, causing her mind turn into a whirlwind. She did her best to calm down so she could think rationally about this, but the only thing her brain could truly focus on was that Ra’s al Ghul was here. Her grandfather. The man who ran a sword through her twin’s chest with no remorse.

And if he’s here… He knew Danny was alive. There was absolutely no way that he didn’t.

She didn’t plan for this. Stupid. How did she not think of the possibility of Ra’s being here?

“You all continue with your parts of the plan, except for Red Huntress. I will be going to the basement in your place; stick to the first and second floors. No one is touching the third floor.”

“Now, wait just a minute–.”

“I will not wait–.”

“Um, it’s a figure of speech–,” Foley tried, but Athanasia continued over him.

“I know that, and my statement still stands. Follow my orders unless you want to die by the sword of the Demon’s Head. Are there stairs to the basement?”

A beat of silence.

“…No. Only the elevator.” Just as she reached the stairwell’s door, Foley added, “Two assassins are about to enter your location, Ath– um. Shrike?”

Athanasia ducked behind the door as it opened. Keeping her footsteps light, she stayed next to the door as it moved to close, out of their immediate line of sight. When the door shut all the way, she lunged with her dagger in hand, grabbing one assassin from behind. One hand covered their mouth while the other lifted her to slit their throat.

Assassin #2 immediately noticed what was happening, and drew a sword to attack. Athanasia used the first one as a shield before shoving the body away as she drew one of her own swords. It didn’t take long for her to overtake Assassin #2, though they did get a couple hits in. She now had a cut on her cheek, and a bruise forming on her side from a harsh kick.

Before speaking, she muted her comm.

“Pathetic,” she sneered, holding Assassin #2 against the stairwell’s railing by her forearm on their chest and sword against their neck. “Is this really what the League has become? I was expecting a harder fight.”

“You,” they hissed, a little bit shock on their features and disbelief in their voice. “You are supposed to be dead.”

“Are you really surprised?” she questioned. “Look at who my grandfather is. But that is not what I am here for.” The blade pressed harder against skin. “I am here for Phantom. Where is he? What does the League want with him?”

“Why should I tell you? You will just kill me after.”

“And you think I will let you live if you refuse?”

The assassin raised their chin in defiance. “There is a reason you left the League, no? It is the same one why Ra’s killed your brother. The Terror Twins – both too soft and weak to follow simple orders. You and him are the pathetic ones. Not us.”

Athanasia raised an eyebrow. She didn’t verbally rise to the bait. She merely pulled back enough to where she kept the assassin in place with the sword, and removed her other arm. In a flash, Assassin #2 moved to knock the sword away, but she was faster. She drew out a gun and shot them in both knees and one shoulder.

Assassin #2 crumpled with a shout of pain.

Sword now sheathed but the gun still on hand, she bent down and lifted him back up by gripping his hair.

“That,” she began, “That was me being nice. You seem to have forgotten who I am: Athanasia al Ghul, daughter of Talia al Ghul and the greatest detective in the world, and granddaughter of Ra’s al Ghul. I was trained as a potential heir, and lead the Demon’s Fist. I am the Demon Princess of the League of Assassins, dead or alive, and let me be clear that I have not lost my touch over the years I have been gone. I know multiple ways to kill you before you can take your next breath, before you even know what is happening.

“You think I will not kill you if you refuse to give me answers? Perhaps not immediately, but I will leave you writhing in pain until it is the one thing you beg for, and who’s to say I will do it even then.

“So. Let’s try this again.” Her finger flicked the button on her gun that released the knife in the grip. The blade pressed against Assassin #2’s neck hard enough to draw blood. “Where is Phantom?”

For a moment, she thought they weren’t going to answer. Then, resigned and obviously mad about it, they told her, “There is a floor below the basement. Phantom is there.”

“See? Now was that so hard?”

The assassin stared with a heated glare. Before she could act properly, they raised their good arm and slashed at her. The knife cut into the forearm that held her gun, and instinctively she dropped it as she moved away. They lunged for a killing stab at her chest, but by then she was ready to block the attack. One hand still gripping their hair and the other now holding back the hand wielding the knife, she twisted the wrist until it broke and bashed their head into the edge of the steps.

Assassin #2 went limp.

Were they breathing? She didn’t know, nor did she care.

Careful of her now wounded arm, she picked back up her gun. The knife went back in its hiding place, and she put the gun securely in the holster. Then, she turned back on her comm.

“I know where he is.”

+++

Getting to the basement was easy. With Foley’s help, she avoided operatives and assassins on the way to the elevator, and that was that. He also unlocked the door at the far end of the basement’s hall. It had been locked via a hidden mechanical lock that she would have needed false identification for if Foley wasn’t with them. It took only just under two minutes, and then the door opened with ease.

Athanasia took a step into the doorway, and then froze.

“Shrike?” Foley asked. “Why did you stop?”

“Is she in the room?” Manson asked.

“She just, um, froze in the doorway. Are you okay? What is it?”

“…I am,” she said. “But I think it’s better if I do not tell you.”

A League issued torture room. Nothing about it said it was for the Ghost Investigation Ward.

The only thing that eased her mind a little was that it obviously hadn’t been used in a while.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then continued on. Soon enough, she found a hidden staircase, and went down without hesitation.

“I’ve got no eyes on you, Shrike,” Foley reminded her. “Stay safe.”

“Give ‘em hell,” Manson said.

“With pleasure,” she replied back.

The hall she entered from the stairs was reminiscent of a League base. Her fingers twitched, an uncomfortable feeling settling in her stomach at the sight. Pushing that aside, she walked down the hall at a steady pace towards two LoA members guarding double doors.

They noticed her immediately. It quickly became a fight of two against one, but it ended just as fast. She picked up their respective swords and twirled them in her hands as she walked to the double doors, kicking them open.

Everything and everyone in the room stopped.

Athanasia didn’t give them a chance to act first. The two assassins that guarded the inside began to fight back almost instantly, but it took the GIW operatives and scientists a few seconds to do the same.

The fight was brutal. Against the most people so far today, though it wasn’t necessarily hard, it was the longest one yet. They used their numbers to their advantage and attempted to overwhelm her, but Athanasia was quick to improvise and seek out the weaker of the fighters first.

By the end, Athanasia was out of breath and bloodied (some hers, some splatters from the assassins and operatives) and bruised. There was even a burn or two from the ectoplasmic guns the GIW wielded. The two swords of the League members from the hallway were impaled through two of the scientists that had been standing over her twin.

Dányál – Danny. Currently in his Phantom form. He was strapped, locked in, on a sleek medical table and a mechanical mask over the bottom half of his face. A y-shaped wound on his torso was only partly stitched, and there was an IV of unknown substance stuck into one arm. His expression was scrunched up in pain, white hair matted with sweat and eyes squeezed shut and jaw visibly clenched even through the mask.

Athanasia pushed aside the part of her of that wanted to be sick, and rushed to his side. She carefully pulled out the IV first, locking the tube so no more liquid would get out. Then, she went to the mask.

Danny flinched back.

She halted her movements.

“Dányál,” Athanasia spoke shakily, and corrected to, “Danny,” when his expression twisted even more. “Akhi, it’s me. I have come to help you get out of here,” she said with forced steadiness in her tone.

His eyes cracked open, the usual icy blue currently a Lazarus green. There was no recognition in them. Only confusion.

She knew that would be the case, but it still hurt.

She held up her hands to show that she meant no harm. Hopefully the blood splattered on them wouldn’t cause him to freak. And to her relief, he didn’t. He slumped a little, as much as he could with already laying on the table, and she began to work on removing the mask. After flipping a few latches, it came undone with a hiss and she tossed it to the floor.

Danny gasped, jaw dropping open. He went to speak, only for his voice to get caught in his throat and cause a coughing fit.

“I think it will be best if you don’t speak,” Athanasia murmured, and moved to unlock him from the table.

The coughing subsided, then turned into groans and hisses of pain.

“My name is Athanasia,” she introduced herself. “I am here with your friends – ‘Team Phantom’ as they call themselves.” The cuffs released him, but he still had GIW issued bracelets of sorts on his wrists. It affected his abilities, if the fact that he wasn’t healing fast was any indication. The others explained he had a super fast healing ability, and right now it seemed to be nonexistent. “We are here to get you out. No matter what.”

Danny groaned. “Still… Still hurts.” His voice was rough and hoarse.

Athanasia didn’t know what to say to that. So, she smoothed back sweaty bangs from his forehead, something she knew Mother did the few times she was allowed to comfort them when no one was around, and looked around the room. A table of medical supplies were nearby. Ignoring the scalpel, she grabbed a roll of gauze and bandages. (As well as an empty vial, which she filled up with the stuff that was in the IV.)

Carefully, she helped Danny sit up.

He hissed in pain again. It shifted into a whine.

“Sorry,” she said sincerely. “This will may hurt some more. Prepare yourself.”

“Hurts,” he mumbled. “The blood…”

“There is a lot of it,” she muttered. “On both of us.”

Athanasia wrapped the gauze around his torso as quick as she could, hoping it was tight enough to stall most of the bleeding but also loose enough that it wouldn’t unravel. When she finished, she allowed him to lean against her.

She soon noticed the lack of speaking in her ear. With a slight frown, she touched the comm, and was instantly met with Team Phantom talking over each other. She must have turned hers off without realizing while fighting.

“He’s here, and alive,” Athanasia spoke. “What the hell are you guys yelling about?”

All at once, they quieted. Then—

“Oh, thank the Ancients!” Foley exclaimed. “Don’t go offline like that again!”

“…I’ll think about it,” Athanasia said, vaguely confused. Why were they so worried? She handled everything just fine. “But it’s time to get out of here.” She paused as she helped Danny off of the table, only for him to nearly collapse. She cursed, ducking to place his arm over her shoulders to hold him up that way. “…And maybe someone should come down and help me. Danny will not be walking on his own anytime today.”

+++

Leaving the hidden headquarters of the Ghost Investigation Ward was not as easy as infiltrating it. (Although, it was easier than those months of searching for it – it was hell, never knowing if they would ever track the new location down). One of the assassins who guarded the outside of the medical room Danny had been in, was able to find just enough life in themself to send an alert out about intruders.

The two basement floors quickly became a point of interest for GIW operatives and LoA members alike.

Athanasia fought like hell, though her moves were limited. Keeping them away from her twin brother and fighting at the same time was tough. He was practically limp against her side, and from his feet movements, she knew he was trying to move on his own, but – body weakened and powers snuffed out because of the GIW cuffs – he was unable to do much of anything.

She made it to the first floor of the basement eventually, injured more than she’d like to admit. Her hair was falling out of the high pony she had put it in, the ecto guns gave her burns, there were new cuts and what may be more accurately described as gashes, and a few new bruises as well. Danny unfortunately got hit once or twice in the crosshairs.

That led her now.

Athanasia al Ghul didn’t let herself be cornered often. But to keep her twin safe? She’d do it a thousand times more. Danny, on his feet, was slumped against the wall behind her. She stood directly in front him, guns with the knives drawn and aimed at the group of enemies. She was not letting them touch Danny again.

Before anyone had a chance to act, the elevator door dinged open. Everything paused. Tucker Foley stepped forward just enough to stop the doors from closing.

Everyone stared.

He waved. “Hi.”

Red Huntress and Sam Manson jumped from a lone vent grate from the ceiling, using the confusion Foley caused to their advantage. From there, it was back to fighting.

When she suggested someone to come help her, this was not what she had in mind, necessarily. She wasn’t complaining, though.

Red Huntress judo flipped an assassin into an operative. They went down like bricks into a third person.

“Go!” Manson shouted. “We’ve got this, A– Shrike! Get him out of here!”

Athanasia hesitated, but listened. As much as she was wary of them handling themselves against the League and wanted to help, she wanted to get Danny out of there more.

Lifting him up bridal style after putting her guns away, she muttered an apology when the movement tugged on his injuries, and then ran for the elevator Foley held open. As she got closer, he ducked in and spammed the close button. She slid in right as it began to close, kicking Foley to one side of the elevator as she pressed herself to another.

Three ninja stars struck the wall they were just in front of.

The doors shut.

They stared at them in silence as Foley pressed the ‘1’ button.

“How did you…?”

“They can be predictable sometimes,” she admitted.

Foley ‘huh’ed. “Well… Thanks.”

Once the elevator stopped and opened, they were back to running. Foley used his Fenton Works weapons he had to take out whoever tried to attack them.

“Main entrance, Wesley!” Athanasia shouted into the comms.

“But that’s the most obvious one?” he questioned, though she heard the vehicle start in the background.

“It’s the closest one– hey! Watch the face, man!” Foley shot at an assassin who tried to hit him with shurikens. They went down immediately with a pained groan.

Just then, a large green blast burst through the hallway’s floor. Athanasia stopped, boots squeaking against the floor, and Foley’s halt was more of a stumble than anything. Before they could question what was happening, Red Huntress flew up on her board with Manson balanced behind her, the girls back to back. Red Huntress shot her large ecto-gun back down the hole.

“How you like that, assholes?!”

Manson fiddled with what looked like tiny rockets on her wrist. “Let’s go, let’s go!” She shot one down the hall behind Athanasia and Foley, right at another group of operatives.

Foley backed up, then ran and leaped over the hole, bolting to the main doors of the headquarters. Athanasia did the same, stumbling a little on the landing, but she recovered quickly, and mumbled another apology when the jostling caused Danny more pain. Red Huntress and Manson followed on the former’s hover board.

As they got closer to the doors, a line of League members convened in front of them. None of them stopped running as Red Huntress shot at them, and then again at the door.

“Setting the timer on the bombs,” Manson told them just as they got outside. “Twenty seconds.”

“Wes, where–”

Tires skidding on pavement interrupted Foley. A black van came to an abrupt stop ten feet away, and the back door opened. “Right here!” he yelled from the driver’s seat.

Foley helped her get Danny in the van first, carefully placing him on the second row. They then piled in with the door shutting behind them, and Wesley peeled off, the other two girls zooming in the air to follow.

The bombs went off.

The previously hidden GIW headquarters went up in flames.

“Any followers?” asked Athanasia. She opened the sun roof, and moved to the front seat as Foley maneuvered the backs of the second row to fold backwards.

Manson dropped onto the roof of the van, and then into the vehicle itself. “Not that I saw,” she said.

“Hm.”

“I’m going to make the van invisible just in case, though.”

“For how long?” Wesley asked.

“As long as I can.”

Foley spoke up from where he now sat, with Danny’s head cushioned in his lap, “Don’t overdo it, Sam. You’re still new to magic.”

“No promises.” Manson got situated in the third row of seats. “I’m not letting those fruitloops find us, Tucker.”

Red Huntress then came into the van, board disappearing as she did so. “I think the explosion will be keeping them busy for a while.” She slipped off her helmet, eyes falling to Danny while she sat at his feet. “How is he?”

Foley shook his head. “In bad shape.”

Athanasia frowned, and from a pocket pulled out the vial of the stuff from the IV. “This was in an IV they were giving him. I have no clue what it is, but I believe it was harming him.”

He took the vial with a frown.

“We need to get him someplace safe,” Valerie Gray said. “Or… You guys do. That is, if the plan is still for Wes and I to go back to Amity Park and Ellie.”

Foley nodded. “Yeah, it is. Get to Amity Park, and tell Ellie to find Jazz – she’s been out of the loop for too long.”

Gray winced. “Oh, she’s gonna pissed.”

“I know where we can take him,” Athanasia told them. She reached to the built in GPS to start inputting the address. “He will be safe there, and they will help us keep him safe.”

“Are you sure?” Foley asked.

“Absolutely.”

If not, then Jason Todd lied about Bruce Wayne being a good man.

Once the address was put in, she pulled out her communicator – the one that was part of a matching set. She debated on whether a written message or a voice call would be better…

Gray leaned between the two front seats. “That address is in Gotham, New Jersey.” She looked at Athanasia incredulously. “How the hell is that safer?”

“Because I’m taking him to our father.”

[lucyandthepen]

a lesson on style - ii . [ ljn | njm ]

pt. i, pt. ii, pt. iii, pt. iv.,  pt. v, pt. vi

you’ve always been content with being associated with one word and one word only: average. average in looks, academics and social skills, you’re just looking to graduate high school without causing disasters you’ll have to live with until you kick the bucket. when you’re paired with school king lee jeno for the semester-long physics thesis, you can’t help but think the entire situation has pretty much set itself up for failure. that is, until you strike a deal with your partner. alternatively: an au tale involving lessons in popularity, eleven consecutive B­ minuses, a secretly sensitive, chess­-loving jock, and an amateur sex tape.

pairing: jeno x fem!reader, jaemin x fem!reader verse: high school au { jocks!nomin ft. a super cute whiny ap physics genius renjun } rating: M sexual themes chapter warnings: none word count: 5.2k

author’s note: what if i said i wanted to post all 6 chapters of this already but i also need a ton of time to update so there’s no lag but i’m too excited for this fic so what do i even do with my life ANYWAYS enjoy :) 

                                                         *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“_________, is that you, honey?”

“Yes, mom, it’s me; I’m home,” you sigh, shutting the door with your foot. You hear the pounding of footsteps, and your mother appears, clutching the railing that prevented her from toppling over from the second landing. She grins widely, and you try not to comment on the fact that there’s still some powdery white stuff peppering the edges of her nose as you ascend the stairs.

You’re well aware that your parents had been the poster children for the hippie age, with their whole liberal, make love not war perspective towards life that they carried on with as they raised you and your siblings. Your mom still believes in all that ouija board, negative energy/positive energy bullshit with the weird healing crystal thing, and you’ve also seen your dad’s flamboyantly colored bell bottom pants with the super manly floral pattern at the ankles. While they are totally loving, totally nurturing parents who want the best for their children, sometimes it’s tricky to tell when they’re snorting it up in their bathroom. Once, you had walked in on them when you were looking for a pair of pantyhose you could borrow from your mom for some business attire thing you needed for school. You politely declined their offer to join them — you know, even if it was supposed to be a parental bonding moment, and stuff.

Other than that, though, they’re great. You guess.

“How was school, honey?” She coos, as though you’re five and not graduating from high school in the next few months.

“Oh, it was okay,” you walk into your room, and she follows you in as you pull Jaemin’s jacket off your back. “We’re having a Physics Term Project, mom, and you’ll never guess who my partner is — ”

“Baby, what happened to your shirt?” She interrupts you.

“What? Oh, that–” You try (see: fail) to glance at your back. “Yeah, it was just an accident, I’ll put it in the wash.”

“Oh, no need; let me,” without further ado, she approaches you and, with a tremendous tug, yanks your shirt up your torso and over your head.

“Mom!” You cry as she struggles momentarily with your shocked, writhing body.

“Hold still – ah. Here we go.” She looks triumphant as she detaches you from your clothes.

“Could you warn me next time?” You wrap your arms around your body, wrinkling your nose. She rolls her eyes.

“_________, I am your mother. I’ve seen you naked ten million times. I even birthed you from my womb, and you were naked then.” She ignores the affronted look that crosses your face. “Now, what were you saying about this physical project?”

“Physics,” You correct her. “Anyway, we got partnered up today, and guess who my partner is.”

“Ooooh, guessing games. I love guessing games. Did you know your father and I were planning to host a murder mystery party for our last anniversary? Okay,” she taps her lips with her finger. “Renjun?”

“No, he’s not even in my class.”

“Oh, that Chenle boy you went to junior prom with?”

“No,” You say, swallowing down the embarrassment that threatens to rise in your throat.

“Shame, I liked him.”

“Yeah, well he’s dating another one of your daughters now, so don’t feel too bad.”

“Huh. Oh, that really good looking boy who plays football next door? The one with the nice smile,” she says, and you cringe. She means Jaemin. Na Jaemin, your neighbor, who you’re pretty sure your mom has a mild crush on. Which is super duper weird.

“Ew, mom, don’t say stuff like that.”

“Well, he is cute! So is it him?”

“No, it’s not him. Close, though, they’re friends.”

“Okay, I give up. Tell me!”

“You give up so easily. Reconsider that murder mystery thing.” You pause, out of hesitation or perhaps for dramatic effect. “Lee Jeno.”

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Isn’t that the boy you’ve been stalking all year?”

“I haven’t been stalking him!” You defend yourself, before muttering an addendum. “And it hasn’t been just a year.”

“Is he the one with the small eyes who’s always in the boy next door’s house?”

“Yea – how do you know that?”

“I have a window and eyes, honey, it’s really not that hard to notice.”

“Oh, well, yeah. That’s him.” How much time does your mom take ogling at Na Jaemin? Is there something going on that you need to know about? You’re fairly certain you weren’t up for anything happening like they do in those suburban TV shows from America – you know, where your classmate suddenly becomes your stepfather, and you have to call him “dad” in the hallway, and all the kids make fun of you and you become a social pariah, etc.

“He’s also good-looking, isn’t he? That Jaemin boy?”

“Yes,” you reply to cut the conversation short. “Mom, do you know how weird it is when you think one of my schoolmates is good looking?”

“I’m just commenting on them for you, honey. Your father is all the good-looking I need.”

“Uh huh,” you pick up Jaemin’s jacket, passing it to your mom. “Do you think that’d be done by tomorrow?”

“Which, the jacket?” She turns it over, examining the lettering at the back with an amused face. “Yes, I’ll have it dried by tonight. Why do you have the boy next door’s jacket?”

“Let’s just not relive the moment,” you suggest, and your mother shrugs.

“All right, fine.” She proceeds to exit your room, but not before calling out, “Just remember, I’ll end up assuming my own things!”

Ew. You hope she doesn’t go around assuming anything malicious, like that you’d snagged Na Jaemin’s letter jacket from him after you’d banged in the supply closet at school just before the janitor came in.

You sit down on your bed, taking your phone out from its dock. Deciding Renjun would be home from school by now, you punch in his number, humming a tune to the ringing. The fifth ring is cut short by a click and an out of breath male voice.

“Hello?”

“Renjun, you’ll never guess what happened today, all right, fine, I’ll tell you, I’ve been partnered up with Jeno in my Physics term project and oh my god, right, I can’t believe it either, anyway, I need your help, I told him I’d figure something out for our proposal and it’s due tomorrow but I haven’t got a clue what to do but I really need to impress him with something that’ll get us and A-plus for sure, so do you have anything that you could maybe sort of suggest for us to do?”

A pause blossoms.

“__________, this is you, right?” Renjun sounds miffed.

“Yes.”

“Jesus Chr— I’ve just gotten home, and I need to pee.”

“All right, fine, but hurry up,” you say impatiently, listening to the phone clatter down on a surface. Five minutes later brings a slightly less crabby Renjun back on the phone.

“Okay, kindly repeat, with more punctuation marks, your hopeless Lee Jeno delusion.”

“It isn’t a delusion,” you argue. “It’s for real, we’ve been partnered up for Physics and it’s great, but I don’t know what to do the project on.”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“Help!” You frown at his unwillingness to cooperate.

“Help how?”

“Help me think of something for the project!”

“You mean, do the work for you,” Renjun snaps.

“Never mind, thanks for the support,” you say tartly, preparing to hang up.

“Hey, ___________, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but you’ll just spend all your time mooning over Lee Jeno and fall into a black hole with the project, so I’ll have to save the day and do everything the night before you pass it just so that you won’t fail.”

“So you don’t want to help me,” you challenge.

“I want to help you; I don’t want to help him,” he clarifies, like this makes everything better. “I’d gladly cross an ocean of burning coal for you, but I refuse to help that Jeno guy get an A he doesn’t deserve.”

“It’s a group grade, I deserve it!” You say defensively.

“If you’d stop swooning over him for like one semester you could get straight A’s, you’re totally capable of it.”

“Please,” you snort. “The only straight A’s I’ve ever had are sitting on my chest, and I’m not proud of it.”

He lets out a heavy sigh that the phone mixes with static.

“So? Will you help me?”

“Yes, fine, but I expect a lot of verbal worship for this,” he sounds resigned, and you bite back a huge smile.

“Great, can you come over?”

You hear him groan softly. “All right, all right. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. You could start researching.”

“You know I won’t.”

“Oh my go—”is the last thing he says before the line goes dead. Feeling accomplished, you put the phone back in place and slipped out of the room, strolling casually down the stairs. You enter the kitchen with full plans to raid the fridge for a snack (and, you know, maybe something for Renjun), only to find your sister seated at the table.

“Oh, _________, you’re off the phone, good.” She stands up and crosses to the kitchen phone. You can’t help but notice that the nape of her neck is speckled with little silver dots.

“Sooyeon, why do you have glitter all over yourself?”

“Oh,” she glances down at her body briefly. “The new cheerleading outfits are super sparkly, we tried them on today for flexibility issues.”

“Are you sure it’s not going to blind everyone in the stadium?”

“Yeah, they’re taking out the ones on the skirt, so it’ll just be on the top. But they look fabulous. Don’t you think so, baby?” She’s addressing the boy she’d left seated at our dining table, and you turn to him, watching him go slightly pink in the face.

“Um – yeah, of course.”

You went to junior prom with Zhong Chenle last year, after your parents had met his parents, new to town at the time, at their one-week attempt to “participate actively in religious activities”, and while that night was certainly a night to remember, it wasn’t exactly one you’d tell your grandchildren about with a sweetly nostalgic tone in your voice. You’d plucked up the courage to talk to Lee Jeno that night, especially since that was the only time you thought you’d get to look actually good in school, and for some strange reason you’d deluded yourself into fantasizing that he’d fall madly in love with you, sweep you off your feet and ask you to elope with him on some obscure island in Micronesia.

Of course, you’ve matured since then, but seeing him with Lee Gyuwon wrapped around his lean body just as you’d approached him kind of made you snap that time. In your fury and embarrassment (more of the latter), you walked the entire way home barefoot, presently forgetting about poor Chenle, who’d panicked, thinking you’d been tricked into having undignified sexual encounters with someone behind a bush.

Seriously. He’d checked all the greenery.

Of course, you’d talked to him the following day, and it was a painfully embarrassing experience for both of you (especially when he got to the part when he thought you’d lost your virginity behind a plant in the school greenhouse), but, luckily, Sooyeon had just been leaving the house for cheerleading practice and spotted him.

Long story short, you get to have mega awkward encounters with him almost everyday now, and your younger sister always stands there in witness.

Though, truth be told, if Lee Jeno didn’t exist in the world, Zhong Chenle wouldn’t be a bad choice, or something. He’s smart, in the same AP Physics class as Renjun (apparently, everyone’s in AP Physics but you), and he’s all gentlemanly and stuff, considering his parents are like pastors or saints or something super religious. Sooyeon adores him, and, thanks to the bubbly attitude that comes with being a resident high kicker at every football game our school participated, seems to make him much happier than you could ever. Alternatively, he makes up for whatever C’s she gets on her Chemistry tests. For some people, it really does work out.

“Why’d you need the phone?” You ask, turning away from the still-blushing Chenle to look into the fridge. You take out a donut from the half-emptied box.

“We’re ordering pizza; Chenle’s staying over for dinner.”

“Oh, okay.”

She puts the phone up to her ear before turning back to you, her eyes sparkling.

“_________, have you talked to Jisoo lately?”

“No,” you reply, mouth half-full of donut. “He’s always shut up in his room these days. I expect he’ll come out with a nuclear reactor soon.”

Sooyeon shakes her head, still smiling. “You haven’t been listening closely, have you?”

“Of course not. If there are noises coming from there, I really don’t want to be a part of the audience.”

“Oh you – hang on. Yes, I’d like to order a large pepperoni pizza, please, and…” she cuts herself off, now addressing the phone.

You and Chenle wait patiently for her to finish ordering, trying to avoid staring too long at each other. You both do your best to engage in a bit of conversation here and there, things like “So how’s school?” and “Fine,” but it’s clear no interesting things are going to be bouncing off the walls of the kitchen today.

When Sooyeon chirps the last “thank you!” and hangs up, you turn back to her, and she slides down into the chair she’d previously occupied.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?”

“Well I – yeah, okay,” you concede, wondering briefly if you should wait near the door for Renjun, who’s always impatient, before settling yourself down into the seat beside her.

“So, anyway, Jisoo’s taken to locking himself up in his room recently, and I noticed he’s also been tying up the phone sometimes late at night, which never happens —“

“So, he’s really ordering parts for a nuclear reactor?”

“And he’s taken to reading the magazines I accidentally leave in the bathroom; I saw him sneaking off with one and taking it into his room—“

“So he’s gay?” All the magazines you’d ever seen your sister own involved weird tips on how to make your boobs look two sizes bigger (something you probably should have perused at one point) and how to make men orgasm more than once (something you don’t for some reason, feel very ready for). You’re not sure if you’re surprised at the thought that Jisoo could be gay. On the one hand, no one in the house would bat an eyelash, but on the other hand, he also seems more likely to build a robot boyfriend than go out and get one.

“No,” A peal of laughter escapes your younger sister’s lips. “I’ve noticed he’s not eating much either, and he’s been asking me all these really odd questions about girls…”

“Oh.” Something began to dawn in the back of your mind. “Oh. You mean, there’s a… thing. A tiny one. With… yeah?”

“A girl, yes. I think.” Sooyeon grinned. “Isn’t it cute? Jisoo finally has a crush on someone!”

“I don’t really know if the word is cute…”

At that precise moment, Jisoo, with his eleven-year-old lanky figure and large glasses, walks in, holding an empty glass. Wordlessly, he walks to the sink, and begins to rinse the glassware. After a minute of silence, he speaks, his back still turned to all of you.

“Why are you all staring at the back of my head?”

The three of you turn away, unsure of why you’re embarrassed but definitely feeling like you should be.

“Sorry,” you reply sheepishly – well, you and Chenle do, while Sooyeon leans back forward to address Jisoo. “Hey, Jisoo.”

“Huh?” He mutters distractedly.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, never better, why?”

“Nothing, you’ve just been acting a bit odd these days,” she remarks before adding, “Oh, but not in a bad way, just in… an odd way.”

You want to do something, like kick her under the table, but your legs are too short, and you’re frankly afraid of what Chenle will do to you if he sees you roughing up his precious girlfriend. You content yourself to fuming at her and trying to catch her attention with ugly faces. Neither of these methods work.

“No, I’m fine,” Jisoo replies slowly.

“You sure? You know you can tell us anything.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, you know – things about school, friends, your dreams, hopes… girls… That sort of thing.”

You see the unmistakable red begin to creep around the base of the back of his neck. It’s a nasty family thing — the bright scarlet that makes you all look like you’re about to implode when you’re embarrassed or angry. He clears his throat. “Yes, yes, thank you, Sooyeon —“

“I mean, especially about girls.”

“Yes, I got it the first time around.” With finality, Jisoo puts the glass back in the cupboard and, without so much as a glance towards you, hurries out of the kitchen and back upstairs. You hear the door open and, for a brief moment, the music inside your brothers’ room grows louder until it’s once again muffled by the door closing shut. Metal. Ugh, that dumb, senseless noise.

“What about Jiho?” You think of your youngest brother, who’s the source of half the noise pollution that comes from this house.

“What about him?”

“I mean, has he got – I don’t know. A girl… thing?”

“Oh. Jiho? No. I’m pretty sure he’d sell his soul to a devil warlock or something before he went near anything with lady parts. Although,” she adds as an afterthought. “I have noticed he seems rather shifty whenever I walk in and he’s on the computer…”

The kitchen falls into a very, very heavy state of awkward silence. In that time, your mind forces you to envision your thirteen-year-old brother, in his goth-emo-punk-metal-almost-satanic phase, sitting in front of a monitor, trying very hard to conceal the fact that he’d just been perusing a 30-minute 480-px video equivalent of the kama sutra.

The doorbell rings just as you make a horrified face, and you get up, relieved to be able to leave this highly elevated state of discomfort. “That’s probably Renjun, bye,” you announce weakly, standing up and inching away from the kitchen.

“Is Renjun staying for dinner?”

“I don’t know; I’ll ask.” You hurry to the door and open it to reveal a somewhat out of breath Huang Renjun. You eye him and his body-wide sheen of sweat suspiciously.

“What happened to you? You look like you’ve just come from a jog across the border.”

“Excuse me for being late, your highness. You’d have trouble catching your breath too if you lugged this bag along,” with that, he slings off the strap of his backpack and flings the thing unceremoniously onto the ground. Wincing, he massages his shoulder.

“What,” you demand, eying his bag. “Is in there?”

“Well, everything we could – and probably will – need,” he kicks it inside, and you move to let him in. As you shut the door, you find Renjun staring at you with an odd expression across his face. You snap your fingers in front of his eyes, and he shakes himself out of the trance.

“Oh, sorry,” he blinks owlishly. “You look terrible.”

“Says the guy who’s wheezing like an old bat.”

“No, you look all… pale and sick. What did Lee Jeno do, drain your life source?” He chuckles at his own remark; you, on the contrast, don’t find it particularly amusing. “Did you just come from staring out the window into Jaemin’s house again? I saw his car parked in front of the driveway.” You resist perking up at this new information, choosing to morph your face into a sour, haughty look that Renjun doesn’t really buy.

“Ha ha.”

“No, really, _________, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” you slump down onto the couch, trying to drag Renjun’s backpack of books across the floor. You’re too much of a weakling, so it’s not working out too well.

“You look bothered.”

“I am not bothered.”

“Did Lee Jeno steal your soul?”

“No -– I’m sorry, quantum physics?” you demand, pulling out a book after glimpsing the title from the mouth of the bag, the zipper having given way as you’d tried to fruitlessly yank at the bag.

“Be prepared for everything — you know what they say.”

“You really think I’m going to end up doing a project about… I don’t know, string theory?”

“That’d be a fun challenge,” he tries.

“Not even the smart people have proven it; do you expect me to?”

“You and your beloved Lee Jeno could.” He pauses, as if he’s just said the punch line of a joke, but you don’t laugh, and he decides not to either. “Alright, fine — no string theory, then.” Renjun takes the book from your grasp and tosses it onto the floor. “What do you want to do?”

“If I knew, you wouldn’t be here.”

He rolls his eyes but says nothing, choosing to pull out his books from his all-but-split bag. You lean back onto the couch and cross your arms.

“Sooyeon told me weird things today.”

“What? Has someone on the cheerleading team got crabs again?” He asks distractedly, leafing through a few pages.

“No, it’s about my brothers.”

“Oh, scary and scarier?” You grunt in confirmation, choosing not to comment on a terrible but slightly true set of nicknames. “What about them?”

“Jisoo might be building a nuclear reactor —”

“Really.”

“Or might be into a girl.”

“Omo.”

“And Jiho might be sacrificing his soul to the underworld—”

“Right.”

“Or he might be watching porn.”

“Well, your life certainly never lacks color, does it?” Renjun laughs. “Though some of those assumptions are a bit alarming.”

“Oh, no, it’s perfectly normal to want to put up your soul for sale,” you reply sarcastically.

“It’s all just phase stuff,” Renjun shrugs. “At least they’re not having sausage fights in their shared bedroom.” This is, perhaps, the most uncomfortable and agonizing pause you’ve experienced all day. Even Renjun has to shift in discomfort at his own words.

“Well, with that super nice suggestion, shall we move on then?” You prompt.

“Yes, please.”

                                                         *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Two hours and twenty-five minutes later finds you on your laptop, scrolling through your news feed on Facebook, while Renjun, ever the responsible best friend/tutor, tries to pull you away from it.

“__________,” he snaps. “Focus. This is your project.”

“I am listening!”

“All right, what did I say last?”

“Something about the water thing with a funny name that starts with M.”

“The Mpemba Effect,” he says tartly. “and I said that like an hour ago.”

“But that was nice, why can’t we do that one? I love water? Oh, that’s funny,” you chuckle, clicking the like button on one of those stupid cat meme posts.

“______________.”

“Look, Renjun, it’s a cat praising Jesus in a kitchen, you can’t tell me that’s not funny— ” you try showing him the picture, but it doesn’t seem to lighten his mood.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake — give me that—”

“No wait, I wasn’t done reading Lee Gyuwon’s super annoying status update—”

“_________, focus on your physics thing— ” His voice begins to rise dangerously.

“I am focusing,” you retort. “I’ve just been taking a break—”

“For two hours,” he snaps. “Not counting your five minute bathroom break!”

“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do; that’s nature—”

“Fine! I give up!” He throws his hands up into the air, stuffing at least three books in one go back into his backpack.

“Renjun!” you whine as he gets up and begins to put on his jacket. “Renjun, come on, don’t be like that! I’m sorry—”

“__________, you asked me to come here and help you, and you’ve left me to do all the work once again and I cannot believe I wasted another two hours of my life being under appreciated again— ”

“I do appreciate you!” you cry. “I appreciate you so much!”

“Clearly not as much as a religious cat in a fucking kitchen!”

“You know I’m a stupid kid! Anyways, if you had a like button on you, I’d click it a million times!”

He pauses in the act of buttoning and eyes you warily, as though waiting for you to continue groveling – which, of course, he is.

“Come on, you know I think you’re much cuter and funnier than a cat.”

“It isn’t about the cat.”

“Then what’s it about? Look, I’m sorry, okay, it’s just —- physics really isn’t my thing, you know that, I can’t even pay attention in class.” You frown.

“It’s… ___________, come on, it’s not even about that. It’s like I’m not even here; you don’t -– are you even listening to me?”

“Wait, shh,” you raise a palm up, distracted. Your eyes are fixed on the screen, slowly widening in shock. Two notification bumpers had appeared in the bottom-left hand corner of your monitor while you had been trying to defend yourself.

“_______, I was just talking to you. This is exactly what I mean —“

“Renjun, look, look,” you beg.

“Oh, what is it now? If it’s another stupid obese cat with a burger, I’m going to strangle myself.”

“No, look,” You point at your screen, your voice growing hushed. A groan escapes his lips, but, after a moment of hesitant sulking, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he leans down to see what you’d been staring at. Following your finger, the expression on his face changes from confusion to irritation to defeat. He breathes out an immensely heavy sigh of exasperation.

Lee Jeno has accepted your friend request. Write on Lee Jeno’ timeline.

Na Jaemin has sent you a friend request.

“Jeno added me as a friend,” you whisper, as if the notification doesn’t make the fact clear enough.

“Uh huh. So did Jaemin.”

“Lee Jeno,” your voice is rising uncontrollably now. “Wants to be my friend.”

“Why are you acting like this is such a big deal?”

“Jeno added me on Facebook,” you near-scream at Renjun, even though his face is like five inches away from yours and he has to lean back to avoid the one grain of spit that leaps off your bottom lip.

“Facebook isn’t even real friendship! If Jeno were your friend, he’d be here helping you with your group project instead of me. I am the real friend here.”

“You don’t understand. I’ve been trying to add him for months. He’s finally added me back.”

“And that makes you feel good?”

“I feel like I could do anything now,” you laugh, giddy. Renjun isn’t sharing in your enthusiasm, though; he looks pretty sour, and his fingers rise up to his chest to continue buttoning his jacket.

“Well, I’m happy for you,” he mutters, and you ignore the fact that he doesn’t sound happy at all. “Why don’t you just text me when you need me again, like you always do?”

“Huh?” You look up distractedly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ve been helping you for hours, and you’re paying more attention to a stupid friend request than me. You keep ignoring me for Jeno.”

You glance between him and the screen, confused. “I’m not trying to ignore you. I’m just… excited. I’m just happy. I really like him. I feel like this could be my one shot. Is acting this way so wrong? You know I’ve wanted to be friends with him forever. Maybe something more.”

You and Renjun stare at each other for what feels like hours; his Adam’s apple is quivering, like he wants to say something else but is just swallowing it. His cheeks are flushed, and his bottom lip is jutted out, but you have no clue why he can’t just be happy for you.

“Renjun —”

“No, you’re right,” he cuts you off, and his voice is weird now; kind of forced and thick, like he’s been eating too many lemons. “I’m sorry. I know how much this means to you. I know how much you like him.”

“You’re mad. I’m sorry if I wasn’t paying attention earlier. Really. The cats aren’t as important as you. I just get so bored of schoolwork easily. It doesn’t have anything to do with me not appreciating you.”

“I’m not mad about the cats, ________, I’m —”  He raises his hands, like he wants to punch the wall, but it’s not his house, and your mom could come down from all the yelling, so he just forces them down along with whatever he had been planning to say. “I’m not mad. I’m not mad, okay? But I really have to go now.”

“You’re not staying for dinner? Sooyeon ordered pizza. Pepperoni.”

“I do like pepperoni,” he mumbles, wavering. “But I… think my mom wants me home for dinner.”

“Oh. Okay,” you chew on your lip, unsure of what else to say; luckily, Renjun is bustling around, gathering his books and ripping out papers from the pad he’d been writing on while you’d been reading Lee Gyuwon’s status. He hands two sheets to you.

“Here. There’s a list on it that you can use. Research them first so you can see if you can do it. You can message me if stuff isn’t clear to you, but at least try using Google first.”

“I will,” you promise, standing up as he walks towards the door, letting the night breeze carry in as he opens it and checks his pockets for his valuables.”Um, Renjun?”

“Hm?”

“I’ll call you later, okay?”

He pauses for a second, letting out a sigh that escapes through the open door. You’re worried for a second that he’s going to make up a blatant excuse not to talk to you, but he nods slowly.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll text you when I get home.”

A feeling of relief spreads over you, and you wave him goodbye, telling him to be safe walking back.

When you run back to your laptop, you see that there’s a new message waiting for you. Virtually no one but Renjun and your aunt in Beijing messages you on Facebook, so you’re surprised to see it’s a new name. That surprise washes out quickly, however, because the excitement at the idea that it could be Jeno is quickly overridden by the actual reality that it’s from Jaemin.

Na Jaemin: i didn’t know we weren’t friends on here yet.

Na Jaemin: sorry again for what happened in the cafeteria. ㅠㅠ

You: it’s fine!

You: i’ll have your jacket back clean tmr

Na Jaemin: don’t worry about it!

Na Jaemin: i don’t need it any time soon

Na Jaemin: you can keep it if you need it ^^

You: I have my own jackets

You: it’s fien i’ll give it back

You: *fine

You missed a call from Jaemin.

Na Jaemin: sjdg

Na Jaemin: sry

Na Jaemin: Jeon is

Na Jaemin: Jeno is asking about the project ?

You: is he there with you?

You: please tell him i started working on it already ^^

Na Jaemin: he’s here

Na Jaemin: he

Na Jaemin: he’s adding you on fb he says

You: yes i saw!!

Na Jaemin: ajarf

Na Jaemin: sorry jneo is playing with my dog and the laptop

Na Jaemin: keeps getting hit

You: it’s fine!!!

Na Jaemin: he says okay abt teh project

Na Jaemin: he

Na Jaemin: he says nice profile picture

[chain-draws-stuff]

Hello hello! Before you start reading this chapter I want to thank you to @caldraws for giving me the idea for this part! This story may be a little long so I had to cut it into 2 parts so it's not too long bc I don't want you guys to read something that's that long.

This story will be taking place in Questions and Answers to Watching lies. It's sort of a prolog but at the same time it's kind of not at the same time. So to make it simple for you guys It's like a back perspective of what or what was happening to the other half part of the 2 chapters so...enjoy! :D

And sorry if I was away for like a day long so uhh...here's the next chapter I guess? Also if you're wondering on what the end looks like when I wrote in one of my chapters "a blue mushroom area" I am actually using the updated end mod in minecraft! So uhhh yeah!

now...with that's said let's get to the story!

END KING!STEVE

Chapter 7

Freedom?...

Part 1/2

??? pov:

After centuries of spending my immortal lives banished in that barren wasteland he sent me to...I can finally...finally be free for once...but my fine time ended shortly when I wondered around the end until I passed by an opend ancient portal. It was covered in orange vines and some of those thalasium crystals 'this one must had been fixed by those other kings before him' I went into the lit portal heading on to the overworld. I wanted to see what the mortals we're doing in there mortal lives and see what there up to...

As I got through the portal I was thinking what the humans were planning to take over the end?, kill every single living thing that breathes, walk and crawl? Enslaving others? Or even better planning to destroy the nether...but unfortunately none of those ideas of mine were true but instead they built a civilization with tall houses and weird village's 'how long have I been banished for? Ive never seen mortals build something like this...' I thought to myself as i existed my mind scape and returned back to reality noticing a few humans near the stronghold seeing strange thigs they use for transportation 'i wonder what there up to..' I say to myself as a approach the huma not seen because apparently I'm still stuck on my ghost form I'm still free but not fully...I still needed my body back which is going to be a huge struggle since I have to drag that boy with me along the way I can't go through 3 dimensions in this form sure I am a God who can travel between universe's and worlds but my abilities somehow don't work in this form He  cursed me to, for almost an eternity...so I went closer what were the humans investigating...'the stronghold? What could they possibly want with this old structure?' I asked myself as I see the endstone slowly growing. As I slowly and carefully reached out to the endstone it started to create cracks the closer my hand(sort of claws, as you saw in one of my post about this) i came closer and closer revealing more cracks as I started to get closer with the endstone.

And as my hand(claws) interact with he endstone, a spike peirced through the cracks impailing one of he humans behind me causing him to pour out blood from his mouth leading himself to die....I was left in shock on how I have the ability to help the infection spread. This was a huge advantage for me to take over the overworld and defeat he nether and His upcoming armies.

As I was doing more of the infestation on the land I decided it was enough as Ieft taking pity on the humans and leaving the rest flee the scene Alive.

As I was following a random man (which is Shaw in Questions and Answers) for some little reason...I was finding more information about what were the human Really Planning because I wasn't convinced on that the mortals weren't planning something unexpected...as I was 'Stalking' this mortal named Shaw heading back home but first had to head to Steve's house 'huh...a human whi is looking for my Mortal Vessel? ' As I was observing him I noticed that Steve was more like a son to him. Once Shaw entered Steve's house only to come to witness his house looking like a ruin everything was broken down, shattered into small pieces. He was left in shock and wory he was then left running out of the house riding his so called 'car' he drove off leaving me in the middle of nowhere in front of someone's house.

I came into the house to check the place more looking at the cabinets, shelves, tables then I saw something...a book...I picked up the book and opened the first page...

Dear diary

Today was kind of weird...I was left in the middle of nowhere it was about to rain so I looked for shelter and found an open cave in the forest...

As I step deeper into the cave my clothes were soggy wet, like very wet I saw a dead person wearing a red cape, blue clothing and some other stuff I kind of don't remember...

I got deeper into the cavern finding a robot? I began chasing it while traveling through weird places and weird things until we stopped to a room filled with portals they call the checkpoint.

I was arguing with the small green round robot fighting about he fact they thought I was Stalking them

(Yes I watched the video U-U)

After a lady? Oh yes a lady popped out of nowhere.

- Steven #####

(Don't ask why i didn't finish it I was very lazy at the time rn bc I was writing this jn the middle of the night)

???: Steve's diary? Well...better keep it for better uses...

I checked the other parts of the house, talked to myself for a while and left to go follow the Shaw guy going somewhere. Looks like he was heading to another mortals home I got closer to see the people. As I can now see everyone on my view I saw a mortal dragging another mortal behind him

Chris: what is it sarge?

The mortal asked

Shaw:...umm...why are you dragging Austin?

Shaw said with confusion and seriousness

Chris:here trying to avoid going to bed. Now what are you doing here at the middle of he night?

He answered and followed by another question needed to be answered

Shaw: I came here to ask you something...

Shaw answered

Chris: what does that have to do with me or Austin?

He followed by answering with confusion

(INSERT EXPLANATION CUZ IM LAZY AF RN)

The human(chris) was shock on what Shaw had just explained the mortal was thinking on how or when did it happen as a few seconds passed the human thought before coming back to reality.

Chris:*sigh* all this thinking is giving me a headache...but I can assure you, we can go ahead and investigate Steve's house and the portal tomorrow if you want

The human(Chris) says with confidence as Shaw thanked him that he would help him during the investigation

Shaw: thanks kid...I also might interrogate you 3 tomorrow

Shaw added

Chris:wait who's the third?

He asked

Shaw:oh its his robot

Shaw answered

Shaw:we also need to start the investigation early in the morning tomorrow so we can get this mystery solved in no time

Shaw added, and with that the human(Chris) nodded his head then gently closed the door while Shaw left and headed home

I was left alone behind a bush as I watched everything what they said

????: hehe this is going to be fun~

I left the house and searched around for a place to camp for now.

As the sky goes dark and night had fallen everyone was now asleep...my eyes felt heavy and I closed my eyes as I slowly drifted away from reality

Part 1 out of 2

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