#(<- Aether was right that's actually pretty funny)

[the-shape-shifting-system]

That moment when you're in philosophy class and feeling very very sky worm dragon. Help, this body is terribly small for what it should really be rn.

[atzidraws]

Gaming's new piercing✨

I had a vision😳

And I made it real✨

[niiine]

𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐋

Character(s). Xiao, Scaramouche, Kazuha x Reader (Separate, ofc). Mentions of Venti, Heizou, and Aether.

Synopsis. In which they keep on denying having feelings towards you but then becomes hella possessive and gatekeeping experts when someone shows interest.

Modern! AU, Fem! Reader (I'm so sorry for putting this so late T^T)

Fluff

Tsundere! Scara and Xiao, as usual, and Shy Kazu bebi.

NOT PROOFREAD, please don’t expect.

Xiao

He’s just tolerating you.

Or so he says. But Aether always finds it amusing how you can pester XIAO from time to time and get out of it with just a sigh from the golden eyed lad.

Like today, for example.

- As an introvert, powernap at the university’s roof top is like a holy grail for Xiao. He treasures it so much that the moment the bell signifies lunch, he’ll dash out of the room in a heartbeat. His friends know better than to disturb him else they receive some icy words. But somehow, much to Venti’s amusement, Xiao let you crash his solace and talk his ears out on days that you feel like doing so. Pretty privileges. Venti thought, before gushing it out with their friend group.

Heizou tried to make him confess that he is head over heels for you. He just finds it so funny how Xiao keeps denying his very obvious crush on you. Come on, he’s pretty sure that he’s not the only one who notice how Xiao’s sharp eyes keeps drifting back to you every time.

“You don’t look at me like how you look at her!”

“No. It’s just that it hurts my eyes when I see you.”

It’s the talk of the group for like a week. How they would see Xiao being such a gentleman when you’re in the room, his patience longer than they’ve ever seen, and more.

“Just admit it lover boy. You simp for (name)” Scaramouche pointed out. A sinister thought playing in his mind.

-  “I told you, I don’t. She’s just much tolerable than the rest of our classmates” The questioned man rolled his eyes, not entertaining the idea because even if he does, he’s a hundred and ten percent sure that you’re not in love with him. “Well, if that’s true, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I go after her?” the indigo haired man piped, only to be met by daggers sent through Xiao’s eyes. Eerie silence filled the room until Scara raised his hands in the air, satisfied smirk decorating his lips, “I’m kidding.” (Much like what he had done in this one.)

“Thought so.”

Scaramouche

This man is so obvious it hurts.

And also, he’s extra mean to you. He wants your attention babe, believe me.

“Hah! I can do that better. You suck.”, “What? Speechless because you’re so in love with me?”

No, it’s the other way around and SCARAMOUCHE KNOWS IT.

But like, you don’t believe his attitude towards you because his actions say otherwise.

- “You’re an idiot. Acting so high and mighty while being pathetically weak.” And then he proceeds to help you pick up the books that have fallen from your grasp and took the remaining ones on your arms to carry it himself.

- “Heh. You think he’s gonna like you back by helping him out? No way you’re uglyyy” “I don’t like him idiot. I have to do this, so he’ll pay me nice and good” you rolled your eyes and he sighs in relief.

He’s actually pretty close to you since you’re friends since middle school.

Venti and Heizou will call the two of you an old married couple because of the continues bickering. Of which Scara will return with disgusted look because no, He can’t have it get to him because he will lose you if he does.

But his friends know otherwise. They notice how careful the man when it comes to you, how observant he is when you’re involved, etc. And besides, Venti just feels it.

And Venti turns out right (again) when their group passed by two students who are obviously gushing over you and one of them spot Scara.

- “Just confess to (name)! You wouldn’t know until you try.” One of them says, and Scara’s ears perked up at the sound of your name. “But aren’t they like with that scary dude?” cue Venti and Heizou snickering in the background. This resulted to the two met gazes with them. Their knees tremble at the sight of your bestfriend. His usually playful eyes now dark and looming—and it’s directed at them.

“Yes,” he started menacing look present in his lovely, porcelain face. “they’re taken by the scary dude.”

The two ended up running and Venti and Heizou needs to be intervened by Aether for them to stop laughing.

“Hey scary dude. I thought you didn’t like her?” Venti teased, and Aether just sighed.

“Shut up”

Kaedehara Kazuha

This man is a gentleman you wouldn’t notice anything if you’re not as observant as Heizou.

He smiles so gentle with anyone, he talks with utmost respect, this guy right here is the epitome of prim and proper.

“But he’s always giddy when he’s talking to them” Heizou pointed out to Venti one day, to which the latter ended up agreeing to. Because now that he mentions it, Kazuha really seems so excited talking to you.

His eyes literally sparkles when you’re in the room, and his smiles are wider and brighter than usual when talking to you.

And in addition to that, KAEDEHARA KAZUHA always go out of his way for you.

- “Kazuha?” The man turns to you, a tender smile immediately making its way to decorate his face, “Yes, (name)?”. “I made a (a dish with gourd in it). Would you like some?” And oh, the man will munch on it like it’s his most favorite thing on the whole Teyvat, only it’s not. He hates bitter gourd. But to make you happy? Give it all to him and he’ll eat it with the sweetest smile.

The lad also does everything in his capability to be near you. You need something from the cafeteria? He needs to buy something as well. You suck at this one subject? He’ll offer to teach you. You accidentally have no partner in light stretching for P.E? He, too!

But it seems like this fact hits Venti and Heizou earlier than him, as they can also see clear signs that Kazuha is not aware of his own feelings.

That’s why they took it to their own hands. They must help their friend in need you know! So, they did the most obvious thing one should do,

They asked him.

- “Zuhaa,” Venti piped in as Heizou placed his arms around Kazuha’s shoulder. “We’re wondering, do you perhaps fancy (name)?”. They received a soft chuckle from the lad. A very composed answer left his lips. “(Name) is certainly beautiful and wonderful individual,” he smiles and cleared his throat. Bashful and shy from his words, “But I am afraid I have to say no to you question.” The other two expected this. ALL their friends are like this, Kazuha is not the first one, so they know what to do. “Ohh That’s great!” Venti exclaimed, as if excited at the new found information before turning to Heizou, “You can pursue them then!”

Kazuha’s heart almost stopped at his friends’ words, so Heizou like you? Of course, he does. You’re beautiful and kind and gentle, and more. It’s only natural to like you. But he wants you! And words left his lips before he can keep it shut.

“No, they’re mine!”

Awe, the usually composed and collected Kazuha now red and ashamed of what he has done. The back of his hand failing miserably at trying to hide the red hue that painted his face down to his neck.

The other two looked at the outburst of their friend before erupting into laughter.

“Not if you don’t confess soon enough” Heizou said in between laughs and Kazuha sent him a sharp look. Face still beet red.

“Don’t do that again” he warned the other two, now caught up on their antics.

[witchpassing]

That mage you caught last night is starting to smell of ozone. There’s a feeling in the air like the afternoon before a summer thunderstorm, which is funny, seeing as it’s October and you’re keeping her - for the time being - in a basement.

And god, does she ever wish that storm would break: fingers twitching, teeth set against the bit in her mouth, pretty yellow eyes on your throat from the second you step through the door. Ring-in-ring of sorcerer gold, xanthous star-furnaces of pure and towering petulance.

If sore losing alone was enough to sublimate thought into action, this building would be a crater and your name would be an execration upon the lips of the living, fit only to be spoken by hungry ghosts, et cetera; but ‘the Art hath three cornerstones’, three levers by which the magician moves the world, and spite isn’t on the list. Something like one in five thousand practitioners can work with just two, something like one in fifty thousand manage something with one, and right now she’s operating with exactly zero. So here she sits, in her fulminating cloud of beckoned and unspent aether, seething.

You gesture with the tray in your hands. “You gonna try to ash me if I take that gag out for a second? I’m not risking somatics, too, so. Gonna be feeding you myself.” Shrug. “You know how it is.”

You actually feel her try to kill you for that, the swell and press of the aether against your skin. It passes. You wait. There’s a simple calculus here, hatred and mage-pride against the fact that twenty-odd hours is a long time to go without food, a real long time to go without water.

The wizard picks the wrong answer. Turns her head away in dignified - well, an attempt at dignified - silence, as if you and your stew are completely beneath her notice.

“Alright, then,” you announce, putting your foot on the bottom step of the basement stairs. “See you in another, I dunno, twelve, maybe fifteen hours. Holler if you need anything.”

You make it about, oh, two-thirds of the way up before the noises she’s making through her bit get pathetic enough to bring you back.

[robin-evry]

HII i'm loving your works omg! could i ask you to make a bronya!yuu or silverwolf!yuu? (you can choose just one if you want). take care or yourself and do your work at your time, no need to rush! :D

I decided to do two but sorry if bronya is so short , aww thank you.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐋𝐅!𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓🐺👾

A member of the Stellaron Hunters and a genius hacker. She sees the universe as a massive immersive simulation game and has fun with it. She's mastered the skill known as "aether editing," which can be used to tamper with the data of reality.

Silver wolf!yuu is rarely known in nrc, they prefer to stay behind the scenes only a few students know about their existence.

Rarely appear in public, mostly using their holograms to go to school. It's pretty rare to see them actually outside of the ramshackle dorm.

Has a habit of disappearing and appearing, imagine your standing there and suddenly a hologram or game particles appear and silver wolf!yuu appear beside you.

Every time Crowley manages to piss them off, silver wolf!yuu would choose an area to vandalize at school, and some students manage to learn when you take a photo of it you can get a hidden message from silver wolf!yuu about Crowley.

silver wolf!yuu has a habit of collecting data about students, they have a database about their past, quirks, strength and weakness.

A very famous gamer in twst known to beat unbeatable levels of any game in twst and they use a fake alias. They hear about idia ranting towards Ortho about their game persona and find it funny. And join many game tournaments and win them easily and they gained money for this.

The ignihyde dorm is their second home, the dorm has good wifi for gaming. And manage to get close to idia and Ortho and talk about games with each other.

Their uniform has technology imbued to it. allowing them to access and project holographic screens on command. These are mainly used for quick data checks, sending encrypted messages, or pulling up maps and files in real-time without needing a handheld device.

They possessed a higher advanced technology than anything in twst. Also they use their aether hacking to change the ramshackle to their liking.

In battle, they would dominate due to having a lot hex on their side, they can hack into reality and get in the students file and remove the overblot. Or use it to discover and apply weakness towards the enemy.

They also have a mysterious job, operated as a freelancer, known for taking on jobs that require skill, secrecy, and the ability to circumvent the most complex security systems. Their reputation was built on their expertise in digital infiltration, information gathering, and high-stakes hacking, often working for those willing to pay for their skills without asking too many questions. most of their clients seem to be suspicious or not morally good.

Notorious for being a phone addict always playing their game outside or inside of class and when they were asked a question they immediately answered it correctly.

They also have a talent of engineering zoning out imagining about creating new tech ideas, mods and strategies for games.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐘𝐀!𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐒𝐓 ❄️🌬️

Heir apparent to the Supreme Guardian of Belobog. She possesses pride befitting of a princess, but also the determination and integrity of a soldier.

Bronya!yuu is the embodiment of what a leader and an heir should be. Their charisma is able to encourage people and lead them towards the right path.

As well a dignified soldier bronya!yuu may look weak but are by far one of the most efficient in hand to hand combat, able to pin down a student who is bigger than them.

Has a tendency to reminisce about their mother and would just sit there and reminisce about them and grim would always be there to comfort them.

An expert marksman, rook and them once a week have a contest with each other who ever is the better marksman.

They are by far one of vil favorite, they are dignified, elegant and strong like a soldier and a princess should be, they also inspired epel to be more like them he admired them and have lessons with him where they tutor him.

They are patient and calm in the heeds of battle always believing as being one in harmony they could work together and forge a more successful path, as well being the back bone of a battle planning and helping them behind the scenes by shooting at the enemy

Them and Lilia would usually trade military tactics to each other over a cup of tea and also discussing other topics

They usually get burned out and they don't know when to rest, since they always have to keep a princess like dignity many of the first years notice and comfort them during hard times.

Bronya!yuu abilities allow them to enhance their comrade ability extremely towards its potential, as well to summon winter soldiers to help them but it takes a lot of energy.

Have a love and interest in history, usually seen in the library studying about twst long history and enjoy talking about them to their friends.

As well being a top student, always studying and getting good grades without any issue and always be respectful towards people

By far have a good reputation at school for being a capable leader, many students admire their discipline, while others have some sort of a sense of rivalry with them.

[wrathofrats]

WRATH PLEASEE WE NEED A FULL FIC OF NEWLY SUMMONED SWISS!! ALL TALK NO BITE FLUSTERED AND SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED MAN

Or the alternate idea of the virgin Swiss fic where he’s a cocky shithead and mountain makes him put his money where his mouth is.

Humiliation, degro, Swiss is a shithead but mountains worse, exactly what it says on the tin

-

“Aether was right, you do look a lot better on your knees”

Swiss perched himself on one of the workbenches in the greenhouse while mountain busied himself with trimming some of the plants that lay below it.

“Is that so?” Mountain straightened his back to look up at the multi ghoul. He had a cocky smile on his face, one leg perched on the wood lazily while the other hung off the edge. Swiss used the toe of his foot to lift mountains chin higher, more of a power move than to make him look him in the eye.

“Mhm, told me your lips get a pretty shade of pink when you’ve been sucking on something”

“Oh and that’s something you’d like to find out isn’t it?” Mountain swatted Swiss’ shoe away to stand up, moving to bracket him against the table immediately earning a surprised look.

“I- um, yeah, wanna see you sucking on something” Swiss scrambles once mountain is looming over him. He looks powerful like this. Enough to make Swiss sweat a bit, staring up at him wide eyed.

“I'm sure you do starlight” mountain grabs his chin lightly, chuckling at his panic before smiling and walking away.

It’s funny to him, the way Swiss talks a big game, always the first one to make a comment but can never back himself up when one of the ghouls threatens to make right on his words. Always backs down, gets flustered and runs off.

It’s cute to him, poor things never had sex topside and insists on continuing to try and talk himself up like he knows anything.

Mountain decides to take it upon himself to teach Swiss a lesson.

-

“Bet you taste a lot better”

Mountain rolled his eyes, snatching the spoon back from Swiss’ hands after letting him have a bite of his ice cream after dinner.

“If you’re so confident about that, why don’t you find out?” Mountain crowds him against the counter. It’s his favorite move to pull, knowing Swiss has a thing for how much bigger mountain is than him and with the way he speaks it’s really not his fault that he uses it against him so often. He can make him stutter just from looking down at him, can feel him chub up in his pants. Hes a bit too easy.

“I’m- I was just about to go to bed actually. Maybe next time” Swiss tries to wiggle out of mountains way. Mountain grabs him by the wrist before he can get too far. Swiss immediately looking at him scared.

“You talk a big fucking game sweetheart, how about you put your money where your mouth is?” Mountain pulls him back closer, leaning over to be eye level with him.

“I’m tired, long day ya know-“ swiss squeaks

“Shame, can’t back up the dirty shit you say?”

“I can”

“Then prove it, based on how often you run off I was starting to think you didn’t know how to do any of the stuff you talked about, honestly thought you were a virgin”

Mountain doesn’t give him anytime to respond, just pulls him along up to his bedroom while he stutters out half assed protests and tries to pull away.

He doesn’t even say anything when he opens the door, simply lets go of Swiss’ wrist and sits down in his chair across from the bed.

“Wha-“

“Go on. Said you wanted to taste me didn’t you?”

Swiss carefully drops to his knees in front of him. He studies his face for any sign he may be joking but he looks deadly serious, lazily laid back in his chair, waiting for Swiss to make the first move.

And he really doesn’t know what the first move is. Doesnt know where to start or what to do and he’s sure mountain can see how confused and scared he is and he’s sure he finds it more amusing than he should.

The belt is slightly tricky much to his embarrassment, Swiss reaches up to undo it, fumbling around until he able to get the leather undone from the metal, and even then he doesn’t know what to do after that.

“Awe there you go, proud of you for getting my belt off darling” mountains voice is condescending. It burns a small fire in Swiss’ stomach to hear mountain speak to him like he’s an idiot, something about knowing he should know how to do this but doesn’t, and is being treated like he’s stupid for not understanding.

The zipper comes next. Swiss pulls it down while looking at mountain for his approval. The only look he gets is one of amusement, making Swiss feel more shame by the second. He finally takes a deep breath before reaching to pull mountain out of his boxers, half hard and

Fuck

He’s huge, a lot larger than Swiss has seen and it’s the eighth time he’s realized he’s absolutely in over his head though his ego would never let him admit that.

Swiss looks like a deer in headlights, breathing heavy and just staring at mountains cock in his hands. He gives an experimental stroke, again waiting for mountain to say something.

“Come on baby, gotta get me fully hard first, you know how to do that right?” He smiles

“Shut the fuck up” Swiss blushes in response still gawking. He strokes him again, tells himself it’s just like what you do when you’re alone and it really doesn’t help when he can feel mountain laugh at him a bit.

“Let me help you-“

He puts his hand over Swiss’, guiding him through the motions. Swiss can only look at how mountains hand engulfs his, while Swiss can barely fit his over his cock, it’s intimidating, wonders if it’ll be too much.

“Gonna put me in your pretty little mouth? You seem to be so good with it right?” Mountain mocks

“I am” swiss grumbles, batting mountains hand away from his. He opens and closes his mouth a couple times, unsure of where to start. Clumsily puts his mouth on the tip, licking delicately before attempting to swallow him down.

Barely half fits in his mouth, the tip hitting the back of his throat. Swiss gags, pulls away and coughs, looking back up at mountain with tears in his eyes from the sensation.

“You poor thing. Gonna let me show you? I should feel honored being the first one to show you what having a good cock in your mouth is like”

A bright red blush forms on Swiss’ cheeks, letting mountain open his mouth and guide himself inside. It’s embarrassing, he’s hard and needy and can’t even fucking give mountain a proper blow job and he thinks if something doesn’t happen soon he may start humping the chair out of instinct.

Mountain doesn’t push as far this time, letting Swiss just hold him in a comfortable position and get used to the feeling. A bit of drool runs down his chin from his mouth being held open. His jaw aches a bit but fuck mountain tastes good, exactly like he thought he would. Salty, musky, Swiss could probably sit like this forever if he weren’t so pent up already.

A leg presses slightly against him in this position, making him whine around mountain.

“That needy? Oh honey, have you even ever been touched like this? Do I get to be your first?” Swiss prays mountain loses the condescending tone or he may actually cum in his pants from embarrassment. He pulls out, leaving Swiss panting and drooling all over himself.

“Please- mountain just need something I don’t care please”

“Admit it first. If you want to always act like such a whore admit that I’m your first”

Swiss whines at the words, can’t bring himself to do it. Can’t tell mountain what he already knows.

“Please just give me something I need it, Please”

“Then go on. If you’re not so inexperienced I shouldn’t have to give you anything should I?”

“Fine- please I’m a virgin I’ve never done anything you’re my first just please touch me, wanna cum, wanna cum because of you”

Mountain can’t help but coo at the pathetic thing at his feet.

“Good boy”

[st-danger]

I'm begging u, LITERALLY BEGGING U,

I need quintosis daddy Aether/Swiss. Mayb wreck Swiss a lil, at your discretion, but like Aether's still a sweetheart, ykwim?

I am desperate. Please.

Aether kisses him and Swiss feels the quintessence bloom within, a pleasurable glow that starts in his stomach and rapidly branches out, as if carried by his blood. He can't help but to moan, a noise Aether licks, and Swiss feels the tingling, intense and so good from his ears to his toes. He arches up against Aether, trapped between him and the many blankets that cover Aether's bed, and lets the sedation claim him. Were he still clothed, he would be begging to be stripped now; his skin is wildly sensitive, every nerve singing in the nicest way possible, every point of connection he makes with Aether lying on top of him, with the bed-

He throbs against Aether's belly, and hears him huff a laugh through the fog that encompasses his brain. He can't even raise his arms, which lay splayed out beside him.

"What do you think?" Aether asks, like he doesn't know.

"Unholyshit," Swiss slurs, stumbling over the words. His tongue feels thick in his mouth. He feels useless. He feels like he could cum right now, if Aether would let him. Aether shifts above him, pushing himself up, and the loss that comes with the movement actually makes Swiss sad. He can't remember the last time he's felt so needy.

"Hang on," Aether says, amused, smiling down at him with that sweet look that gives away how utterly besotted he is, eyes crinkling in the corners. "Can I suck you like this? Is that okay?"

Swiss nods, gathering strength enough to tilt his head up so he can watch Aether spread his legs to make space for him. To watch him lie between them. Aether wraps his fingers around Swiss's thick cock, and he expects to see and feel pretty lips closing around the head, but what he gets instead is Aether nuzzling his sack, and then drawing his tongue over his balls.

It's agony he couldn't possibly have prepared himself for.

He tries to swear, to form anything resembling a real word, but all he manages is noise, a low groan pulled from the very pit of his stomach, his abs clenching.

"You're so hard," Aether murmurs, and Swiss notes the pleased tone, the pink cresting on Aether's cheeks, right before his head hits the pillow again, pressing into the soft down. "Dick's so pretty like this."

"Please," Swiss begs. "Suck me, unholy fuck."

He can't bear to look when he feels lips brush against the head, pressing a sweet kiss to the tip.

"Can you say it? And I will," Aether promises, sounding almost shy. "I'll suck it as long as you want, I'll make you cry."

Swiss would say absolutely anything right now. He'd recite the Lord's Prayer, say a Hail Mary or five if that's what gets him inside that hot mouth. Under different circumstances, if he wasn't so narcotized on the magick Aether has drenched him with, he might find it funny. Goofy.

"Daddy," Swiss manages, summoning the willpower to clutch at the bedspread. Aether makes a small noise.

"Oh," he whispers. "Yeah, daddy's here. Gonna make you feel so good."

[zweetpea]

Freedom or Anarchy? Part 2 of 2

Cw: cringe, swears, innuendos. Mondstadt arc has concluded. Next chapter will hopefully be out by Monday. (Expect Monday or Tuesday)

‘Where am I?’

‘What happened to me?’

‘I wanna go home!’

“Time to get up.” You hear someone call. The voice sounds familiar, deep and most likely male (you don’t want to assume). 

You open your eyes and see blue. You’re still groggy from Albedo’s tea so you can’t really stand. Someone picks you up, supporting you under your legs and you back. 

‘Hang on, if this is Mondstadt… the only man with blue here is.’ “Kae…ya?” You say groggily. 

“She speaks… or are you a he? Hard to tell.” He sets you down on a couch in an office.

“This is the terrorist Albedo gave us?” Lisa asks. You can’t quite move but you aren’t as tired as before. 

“We’ll have to tie… him? Her? …Ah up! Tie up the terrorist.” Jean says. 

“Them… I’m gender fluid. I go by them. Sometimes I’m a he, sometimes I’m a she. But my pronouns are always them.”

“Well, at least we’re getting answers.” Lisa giggles. 

You say as Kaeya binds your wrists and ankles with rope. You lean forward onto him and whisper to only him. “Tighter, daddy~” 

“Sky, where did you say that Light and Paimon ran off to?” Kaeya asks, embarrassed and blushing. 

“We’ve met Barbatos, they went off to find him.” Aether says. That’s right, the twins didn’t tell anybody their real names. 

“We’re back! And we’ve brought a friend!” Paimon cheers. 

“Obviously this goes without saying but no one can mention this man’s true identity, okay.” Jean states with a harsh tone that you’ve never heard from her before. Everyone nods, except for you. 

Venti walks towards you and you look at him. “Are you the one Celestia fears?” 

“I have no idea what that means.” 

“The descender, the honored one, the adored one. Do any of these names ring a bell?” 

“No?” 

“Do not lie to me! Albedo said-” 

“Why the F you lyin’~ why you always lyin’~” 

“…” 

“Sorry I have a tendency to reference memes and vines. I’m Gen Z, it’s a part of who we are. I’m kidding, I think that’s just me.” 

“So the Adored One has a name, Jen.”

“No that’s-” 

“And these “Me-ms” and “vines” must be your sacred texts! You’re a nature spirit aren’t you!”

“No! And for the record I don’t think you are a god!” 

“Wow, the honored one looks down upon me.” 

“Boys, Girls, and squirrels, listen up! Because I’ll only say this once. I’m not from this world. I want to go home. The world I come from none of you are real.” 

“Honored one, saying “Boys, Girls, and squirrels” doesn’t help your claim that you aren’t a nature spirit.” 

“Oh for Shucks sake. Actually can I swear in here? I don’t think so. Hell! Bullshit! Kaeya’s tight Ass! Lisa’s big boobies! Mmhmm boobies~” you start to laugh maniacally. “I need to be put in a mental hospital.” 

“Oh for the love of-” Lumine cuts herself off and goes up to you then shakes your. “Pull yourself together long enough for us to get answers.” 

“Right, right. I’m just a college kid who majored in computer science and engineering. The world I come from you all are a game and I hacked into your code which brought me here. That “Boys, Girls, and squirrels” comment comes from a YouTuber I watch semi frequently.”

(A/n: Danny Motta is his name. He’s pretty funny. Go check him out) 

“How’d you heal Stormterror then.” Aether asked. 

“The sustainer of heavenly principles gave me her powers.” 

“So… none of us are real?” Amber asks. 

“Well, I don’t know how I’d be here if you guys weren’t real but to me you’re just a game. Any of you can be killed and revived at the Statue of the Seven.” 

“I suppose that does poke holes in my credibility as an archon.” Venti twiddles his thumbs. 

“Can I please leave now? I can take Dvalin with me and we can just leave.” 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If Stormterror is still enraged we can’t let him destroy other nations. It could spark an all out war.” Jean says. 

“What if we let them stay at that broken down building?” Aether suggests. 

“I still think that we should keep Jen here just in case Stormterror gets any more ideas about attacking Mondstadt.” 

“So we use Jen as a bargaining chip?” Lumine chimes in. 

“Exactly.” 

“Okay if you guys are going to call me Jen can you at least make it Gen with a G? I want to be different.” 

“But Jean! Isn’t that basically asking Stormterror for a fight?” 

“Amber’s right Jean. If we’re going to keep them here we’ll need a plan to tame Stormterror.” Lisa says. 

“I’ll tame him.” Venti says assuredly. “We just have to keep them here long enough for me to calm him down.” 

“BARBATOS!” Dvalin calls from outside. “GIVE ME BACK WHATS MINE!” 

“Everyone! To your stations! Protect the city at all costs!” Jean shouts and everyone rushes from the room. 

“Shit! I have to get out of here!” 

“Master Jean! I’m scared!” Klee runs into the office. 

“Klee! Perfect timing, I’m your brother’s friend.”

“Your big brother Albedo’s friend? Why are you tied up?” 

“It’s a long story. Right now I need you to untie me so I can save everyone.” 

“You can do that? I don’t know, usually only bad people are tied up.” 

“No no! Klee it’s more complicated. You want to save Albedo and Jean and Kaeya, Lisa, Amber, Razor and everyone else right? Then you have to untie me so I can make Stormterror go away.” 

“How do I know that you aren’t lying?” 

‘If gold knows me. Chances are Alice will too.’ “Your mom knows me. I’m the adored one. You can ask her about me.” 

“Mom knows you?”

“Yeah, and you know about Albedos secret lab in the mountains right? I’ve been there. He told me about how much he cared about you.” 

“You’ve gone there?! You really do know Albedo. Okay!” She comes over and unties you. 

“Thanks.” You go over to the window, open it up and shout. “Dvalin!” He comes rushing to you at your cry and you jump out the window and grab onto his tail. 

He flies towards the woods and you land in a stone arena. “Andrius! I need a favor.” 

“What could the East Wind possibly want from me?” 

“Protect the Adored one at all costs. 

“How can this puny human be the Adored one?”

As the two bicker you quietly sneak away. As you climb out of the arena you stop when you see black boots and look up. 

“Who are you.” Diluc looks down at you. 

“I am iron man.” 

“Iron man?” Dvalin roses as he and Andrius start to brawl. 

“Can you get me out of here?” 

“Are you the one rumored to have healed Stormterror?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Come on.” He grabs your arm and hoists you up. He then picks you up and throws you over his shoulder and starts to run. 

“Hey! Am I just a sack of potatoes to you?” 

“Quiet down or they’ll hear us.” He runs and runs until you two get to a water bank. “Follow this past west and you’ll be in Liyue.” He tells you as he sets you down. 

“Oh wow. My own dark knight. How romantic. Well for saving the fair ward of the dragon you get a kiss, as a reward.” 

“No thank you.” He grimaces at you. 

“Oh come on! I was promised debauchery! You’re no fun.” 

“Just leave.” 

“Thanks for saving me! I’m coming back for that kiss though!” You say as you run off. 

‘Hot dragon archon here I come! Please be like a lizard and have two co-‘

[ghoul-slime]

Mushy May Day 3 & 4 - Massage & Wound Tending/First Aid (Aether/Dew)

Ended up combining days 3 and 4 into one fic. Based loosely on that time Dew (presumably) injured his arm during the Prequelle era. As always, thank you @forlorn-crows for organizing this and to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!

Day 3 & 4 - Massage & Wound Tending/First Aid (Aether/Dew), cw for Dew's shoulder injury. Hurt/comfort, fluff, 1518 words

Aether notices it right away. The way Dew seems to be favoring one arm. The way he furrows his brow and rolls his shoulder seemingly every five minutes. How he makes soft little grunts and sighs of discontent at night when he’s trying to settle into his bunk above Aether’s on the bus. 

When he broaches the subject, Dew denies anything is wrong. His shoulder is just a little sore is all. Maybe he slept funny, he says, brushing off Aether’s concerns.

But Aether knows the truth, and is pretty sure the whole pack knows what’s up actually. It’s Dew’s new guitar. The Fantomen. For as beautiful as it looks and as powerful as it sounds, the son of a bitch is heavy. Even for Aether it can be unwieldy at times.

Of course Dew hasn’t let it affect his playing. He never would. He’s far too proud, and rightfully so. Dew’s the best player Aether has ever seen anywhere in his life. And his playing continues to be immaculate, so Aether doesn’t want to push. Instead he watches Dew power through their set each night for weeks.

Until Dew’s shoulder gives out completely in the middle of a ritual.

A missed note, glaringly obvious. Rare to be due to Dew’s mistake and not because of some equipment malfunction (or Aether’s own mistake throwing Dew off, something he can admit has happened more than once). Aether whips his head towards the fire ghoul, knowing immediately that something is seriously wrong. Copia and the other ghouls are watching him now too.

Dew curls in on himself for just a split second before catching himself and resuming his perfect playing. But Aether knows the damage has been done when Dew purposefully ignores the rest of his stage cues and instead shuffles unsteadily towards the back of the stage as he finishes out the song.

Thank Satan they’re at an intermission. Time for Copia to change out of his white suit and into the red cassock. Instead of taking his usual water break, Aether books it towards Dew, who he finds leaning against the wall just past the curtain.

Aether knows it's bad because Dew has his mask off. His face is pale and he’s sweating bullets, cradling his arm against his body as he struggles to even out his breathing. But before he can do anything there’s chaos. Copia and the crew are scrambling to do what they can to keep the show going. Aether is being ushered back to stage before he can get a word in. 

In the end Dew insists he can finish out the show from backstage, perched on a stool where he can rest the weight of the Fantomen on his lap. He even comes back onstage for final bows, cradling his bad arm gingerly, and Aether finds himself trailing behind him protectively instead of his usual routine of throwing out guitar picks and interacting with the audience. 

Finally, the curtain goes down and they’re free to go. Thankfully it’s a hotel night and then they’re off for two days before they travel to the next city. A small victory.

As soon as they’re in the room, Aether is looking Dew over while Copia watches on worriedly. Dew keeps grumbling that ghouls heal fast, so he’ll be fine, but Aether can see otherwise. The shoulder is swollen, angry red and inflamed. Dew’s definitely pulled something, maybe even a tear, and then he continued to irritate it night after night until it gave out. Aether feels guilty that he didn’t notice it was this bad before, that he wasn’t more insistent. He could have used some of his quintessence to keep it from going this far… He shakes the thought away for the time being.

“Alright,” Aether sighs and turns to Copia. “The bad news is, as of right now his shoulder’s fucked,” he says point blank. No point in sugar-coating any of this now. Copia pales and he hears Dew swallow nervously and shift from where he’s sitting on the bed behind him. 

“Good news is, I can fix him up in the next two days.” He turns to Dew to see a wave of relief wash across his otherwise stoic face. “But he’s gonna have to take it easy for a while after that. And that much healing takes a lot of quintessence, a ton of energy. If we push it any farther than that, you’re gonna end up out two guitarists.”

Copia agrees and they make arrangements for Aether and Dew to stay in his suite while Copia takes one of the regular rooms. The cardinal bids them goodnight and lets them know he’ll get them anything they need to be comfortable for the next few days while Aether works on Dew’s arm.

As soon as he leaves, Aether turns to Dew. He wants more than anything to scoop the little ghoul up in his arms and shower him in kisses, but he knows better than to jostle his bad arm. At any rate, Dew hates to be fussed over.

“How do you feel?” Aether chances, popping the cap of his water bottle and handing it to Dew along with a couple painkillers. 

Dew snorts, avoiding Aether’s eyes. “Like absolute dogshit,” he answers, blunt as always, before swallowing the pills and chugging half of Aether’s water.

“Alright then,” he motions to the compression shirt Dew still has on. “Let’s get this thing off of you so I can work on getting some of the swelling down.”

It isn’t easy, but they work together to hold Dew’s tender shoulder steady while Aether slowly peels the fabric from Dew’s body. Dew winces as he finally pulls his arm out of the sleeve, and Aether presses an apologetic little kiss to Dew’s temple.

The kiss seems to break some of the tension, and Dew’s body sags. He looks up at Aether with a sad little frown on his face. He looks guilty. “Sorry, Aeth…” he starts. “I know I should have said something before it got this bad…” he trails off.”

Aether shakes his head, tells Dew not to worry, that he’ll have him fixed up in no time. Jokes that thanks to his bum shoulder, they get to lounge around in Copia’s suite for two days in a king sized bed and in the jacuzzi tub. Says that if they play their cards right, Copia will probably even let them call for room service to their hearts’ content. The mention of room service seems to lighten Dew’s mood even further.

Meanwhile, Aether works Dew’s shoulder, pressing feather light touches to sensitive flesh while he focuses his energy on delivering enough quintessence to calm the inflammation. Once he’s satisfied with their progress, Aether pulls away to go draw a hot bath. Before he can go Dew reaches out, grabs his hand and pulls Aether back to him.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” Dew says softly, looking up at Aether. He holds Dew’s gaze, contemplating, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips, carding his fingers through Dew’s hair until they’re both humming contentedly against each other. 

Later, Aether sits beside the tub while Dew soaks, periodically working another round of quintessence into Dew’s shoulder as the little ghoul dozes off, finally beginning to relax as the pain goes down thanks to Aether’s ministrations.

Aether helps Dew out of the tub and wraps him in a fluffy bathrobe from the closet. Between the quintessence, the painkillers, and the hot bath, Dew is ready to crash. Aether guides him on wobbly legs to the bed, helping him lay face down into the pillows. From his prone position, Dew wriggles his shoulder.

“Feels better now,” Dew slurs, eyelids fluttering closed. “Can move it now n’everything.” He moves his shoulder in another little circle to demonstrate.

Aether chuckles. He loves to see Dew like this, blissed out and sleepy, he just wishes it were under different circumstances. Aether feels exhaustion pulling on him as well, between the crash of adrenaline after Dew’s injury and the copious amounts of quintessence he pumped into the little fire ghoul, his body is feeling beat. He’ll need rest soon, too.

But first, he climbs onto the bed and straddles Dew’s hips, careful not to press down too hard or to knock into his arm.

“Backrub?” Dew asks, eyes still closed and face pressed into the pillows.

“Backrub,” Aether confirms, leaning in to run his palms up Dew’s back, letting another dose of quintessence bleed from his fingertips into the fire ghoul’s soft skin, paying special attention to his injured shoulder. He massages Dew’s back until the little ghoul is half asleep and purring into the sheets.

Two days later, and they’re back on the road, en route to the next venue, Dew feeling better and set to shred once again, under the caveat that he doesn’t overdo it just yet. Aether has appointed himself Dew’s own personal masseuse. Now, after every ritual, Dew gets a nice, long, quintessence-infused shoulder rub.

Dew is happy to let Aether fuss over him, just this once.

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #3: Levinstrike

Prompt: tempest || Master Post || On AO3

A/N: Spoilers through the beginning of zone five. Mentions of someone throwing up, but said mention is non-graphic.

*stares contemplatively at this prompt fill* ...yeah, I'm gonna run cover.

*runs for cover*

--

There were a lot of reasons for why Rereha was finding herself very much not liking Yyasulani.

First and foremost, of course, was the giant purple dome of fucking doom that had engulfed the region, spat out murderous magitek automatons led by an equally murderous patricide with a chip on his shoulder, and resulted in the heartbreak and misery of a multitude of Turali, including her darling new not-so-little sister, Lamaty’i. (Lamaty’i had dibs on Zoraal Ja’s head, but Rereha would gladly do a live retelling of how she’d killed Zenos at the edge of the universe with her bow, using that warmongering asshole as her “assistant.”)

Second was the fact that Erenville, normally a bastion of cool-headedness and acerbic wit that rode herd on them all better than even Heron, Queen of the ‘I’m Not Mad Just Disappointed’ Face, was currently a spooked, jumpy, and generally upset young man. With every step they took, Erenville grew tenser and tenser, until he was practically vibrating with it, and unable to mask just how shaken he was to see his home so strangely aged and decrepit. Rereha did not like to see her friends (even the ones who refused to acknowledge they were, actually, friends) upset. Someone needed to be made miserable for this. (Probably Zoraal Ja.)

Third was all the gods-forsaken levin within the confines of the dome. Static snapped and crackled and popped (hah, that had a nice ring to it, actually) across all of them, and across every surface, and the only reason they likely weren’t shocking themselves was the sheer amount of levin aether soaking into everything, even making it difficult to breathe. Synnove had summoned Ipomoea, and the unaspected carbuncle was carefully perched on her person’s shoulder while maintaining a light shield around their group to lessen the pressure of so much fucking levin on them.

Fourth, and newest on the list, was the fact that little Roksana—not quite so little as she had once been like a bitty squishy Heavensturn mochi, the steady infusions of aether over the years ensuring she and her sister were now two-thirds the size of Galette—had just spontaneously manifested at Synnove’s feet.

Alone.

That is, by herself.

No Amandina.

Which had never, ever happened before.

Ever.

Synnove’s face was doing the kind of journey between expressions that would likely result in a pulled muscle and would, under any other circumstance, be funny to witness, but right now just made Rereha feel ill.

Mommy, Roksana warbled, eyes huge and teary, something’s wrong with Amandina.

“Oh, fuck this place in the ear,” Rereha said under her breath as the party dissolved into chaos.

--

They had hurriedly backtracked to Yyasulani Station and holed up in one of the decaying buildings. Synnove had folded herself onto the floor cross-legged, her bracelet of carbuncle foci cupped in her hands, and had spent a full bell coaxing Amandina into manifesting.

The black pearl carbuncle looked terrible as Synnove gently cuddled her. Her ears and tails were drooping, the aetheric glow of her coat was dim and dusty with no sign of the pretty purple among the black strands of her fur, and her eyes and nose were gummy and crusty and just gross. The poor baby looked like how Rereha felt after one of those stupid parties she used to attend as a dumbass socialite fuckwit in Ul’dah, and she resisted the urge to swipe at her own nose.

Mommy, I [have a tummy ache.]

Amandina’s harmonic had warped and rippled, ringing with multiple tones of trying to translate an untranslatable concept. Now Rereha wanted to reach into her own brain and scratch frantically to relieve the itchiness hearing that had left in her grey matter.

“What,” Lamaty’i whispered, arm raised up to rub her temple across the leather embossing on her collar as her ears twitched at high speed, “the fuck.”

“Your mind essentially force-translated Amandina’s aetheric harmonic into words you can understand,” Krile said, blinking rapidly and reaching up to rub at her eyes.

“At least into the closest approximation,” G’raha said, scritching frantically at the back of his neck until Alisaie swatted his hand away.

Amadina groaned, turning in Synnove’s arms and pulling herself up so she could burrow her face into her mama’s neck. Synnove carefully adjusted her grip on the carbunclet, one hand supporting her butt and the other stroking her head and ears, while Roksana, who had been draped atop Synnove’s head like a weird hat, practically oozed down on top of her twin. Ipomoea, perched on Synnove’s knee, wore an unfocused expression that meant she was still in the middle of running a full diagnostic scan.

“It’s all this fucking levin,” Synnove growled. “Her aspect means she’s already highly sensitive to levin aether, sure, but none of the carbuncles have ever been somewhere where they’ve been exposed to such dangerous levels of their respective aspected aethers.”

“Not even in Eureka?” G’raha said, ears perking. “I would have thought Anemos and Pyros would have posed some danger to Galette and Ivar.”

Synnove shook her head.

“The density of elemental aether was unprecedented at the concentrations encountered on Val,” Krile said, “but it does not compare to what has happened to Yyasulani. Despite each region of the island being warped to reflect their elemental aspects, they were also balancing one another, which allowed such diversity in wildlife to continue thriving. The amount of levin here has essentially rendered Yyasulani…”

“…ecologically dead,” Erenville finished, voice flat and eyes shuttered, even as a shudder briefly shook his frame. Lamaty’i pulled him into a one-armed hug and for once, Erenville didn’t fight it.

(Rere wondered if Lamaty’i was adding items to her mental tally of crimes for which to hold Zoraal Ja responsible. Rere certainly was.)

[Suggestion: Mistress Synnove,] Ipomoea said, her harmonic oddly distant as she continued her scan of Amandina, [a temporary ward on Junior Construct Amandina���s aetheric input sub-array may provide relief of symptoms. Estimation: effectiveness currently calculated at fifty-three point six five seven percent.]

“We’ll get started on mapping that once you’ve finished your diagnostic,” Synnove said, continuing to stroke Amandina’s ears down along her spine. “Amandina, do you want to de-manifest?”

Noooooooo, Amandina whined. Mommy cuddles feel good.

[Observation: physical contact has decreased hazardous levels of levin in Junior Construct Amandina by three point eight percent.]

“Hmm, might be actually be siphoning it off,” Synnove muttered, then sighed. “Carrying Amandina isn’t ideal as we’re reconning, but perhaps—”

Static SNAPPED through the room, causing them all to jump. Amandina whimpered.

Mommy, I think I’m gonna throw up.

There was a flurry of movement as Roksana scrambled off her sister and jumped into Rereha’s outstretched arms, Ipomoea leaped backwards, and Synnove scrambled to her knees, pulling Amandina off her shoulder as Heron dove forward with a pot yanked off Erenville’s gleaner pack. Heron got the pot beneath Amandina’s face just in time, and the poor carbunclet made an awful HRRK noise as levin aether so concentrated it was a liquid poured from her mouth.

Synnove twitched, jerking her head up to the stare at the ceiling even as she kept petting Amandina and making soothing noises in her throat. Heron had gone grey, and Rereha distantly noted similar expressions on Alakhai, Alisaie, and G’raha.

Who was she kidding, she was wearing it, too. Good to know she wasn’t the only one fighting back a bad flashback to certain events on the First.

Seriously, fuck this place in the ear. With something hard and sandpapery.

…I kinda feel a little better. Amandina’s harmonic very softly drifted through Rere’s mind. The carbunclet’s upper body was still mostly in the pot, until Synnove carefully picked her up and set to cleaning her face.

“Mages, on me,” Synnove snapped. Krile, G’raha, and Alisaie darted into motion, with Alisaie digging into Synnove’s pack and emerging with chalk, graphite sticks, and scrap paper as Krile and G’raha began clearing a spot on the floor. Synnove walked forward on her knees, then sat again with Amandina curling into a miserable, sniffling ball in her lap at the edge of the new workspace. “We’re making that ward now, and I’ve even got an idea on how to adapt it for non-aetheric individuals like ourselves to make this shithole less awful for us. Sorry, Erenville.”

“No, you’re right,” the Shetona said, forcing himself into motion to begin setting up a temporary camp for them all. “This is a shithole now.”

“I’ll give Zoraal Ja an extra punch for you,” Lamaty’i said solemnly.

“I actually appreciate that,” Erenville said wrily. “Rereha, could you dispose of the pot? I’ve got another and I’d rather not try to salvage that one.”

“Can do,” Rere said, tucking Roksana under her arm and darting forward to grab the ruined pot by the handle. “Come on, kiddo, let’s go dig a hole.”

Oooooh, digging, yay!

Awww, the sound of Amandina’s grumbling followed them out the door. Being sick stinks.

[balladingbard]

Hythlodaeus and Why Everyone is Important

It’s no surprise that Hythlodaeus is one of the most beloved characters to come out of FFXIV. He’s charming, loyal, funny, and just downright adorable.

But if we compare him and his talents to other Ancients of his time, he’s pretty…average, despite his keen sight. He can’t transform. He’s pretty terrible at manipulating aether. When he was nominated for the Convocation seat and refused it, people didn’t disagree. They essentially said, “Yep - you’re right. Hades is a better choice.” And went with him instead.

Hythlodaeus himself downplays his own importance, using words like “abysmal” to describe some of his skills. And when other Ancients are soaring to great heights and using their talents to make the Star better, he says that his purpose is to support Azem and Emet-Selch - their dreams, their talents, their purpose.

But if we look at Hythlodaeus’ role in Shadowbringers and Endwalker, we see that his importance is pretty essential. Despite implying he was the weakest link of the Azem/Emet/Hyth trio, he was actually the one holding them together. Once he sacrificed himself to Zodiark, the pair split - Azem going one way and Emet another, with the latter descending into grief and madness because of the loss.

But despite being in Zodiark’s clutches for millennia, Hythlodaeus’ influence remained, and his actions (or the actions of his shade) became critically important to saving the star.

In shade Amaurot, he helped the Warrior stay calm and not succumb to the light, giving them vital information on what happened during the Final Days.

He provided the crystal of Azem, allowing the Warrior to summon allies in important battles that would’ve been lost had they not been there.

On the moon, he stopped the other shades from hindering the Warrior’s progress.

In Elpis, he recognized the Warrior’s essence and convinced Emet-Selch to help, allowing the Warrior to learn of Meteion and Hermes, as well as provide information to Venat for the future.

In Ultima Thule, he helped Emet-Selch bring the Elpis flowers forth, making Meteion realize that all hope hadn’t been extinguished.

If we could ask Hythlodaeus what kind of role he played, he’d probably downplay it and say it was small. After all, he sort of says that in Ultima Thule, saying “he won’t say no to a bit part.” But as we can see, even the the ones who may think they aren’t important, are. Without Hythlodaeus, key events may not have played out, and both Azem and Emet-Selch would’ve had drastically different destinies.

It just goes to show that no matter how “abysmal” we may feel, we are still important. Small things can have big impacts, and even if we aren’t considered the hero who saves the day, our actions still matter. In fact, they may be the very thing that helps save the universe.

[skellebonez]

Happy (LATE) Birthday Lupin!

So. It took me a little extra time, but I finally got your birthday fic done @lunar-wandering! I hope this is funny, I had way too much fun imagining this in my head.

“We TOLD you this would FUN Red Son!” MK said while letting out a wheezing laugh.

“That depends on your definition of fun, NOODLE BOY,” Red Son said in exasperation, attempting to right his jackal hood from its skewed position. “… but I will admit. This has been an… ENJOYABLE way to spend the weekend thus far.”

“SUCESS!” Mei and MK shouted, unable to resist the urge to jump up and give each other a high five. The day had turned out better than expected, all things considered.

Somehow, by some sheer stroke of luck, MK and Mei had managed to convince Red Son to join them at a local convention that had moved to the city of Wàn Qiān Chéng. They’d always WANTED to come to this convention, but it had been just far enough before MK gained his powers to make it less worth trying to travel to (and asking for a day off from Pigsy). But, of course, immediately after his powers?

Convention moved.

It barely took them half an hour to get to it now, and that was attempting to drive normally! With his staff or cloud or Red Son’s fire it would be trivial. Mei did mention she could fly her jet, but as far as they knew it would be impossible for them to actually land it on the roof of the convention hall.

They’d been a little lost on exactly what to cosplay for a while. They wanted to go a group cosplay, preferably a trio or at least a duo who would be normally seen with the third character (or at least would be HILARIOUS if they were seen together). But that problem was solved pretty quickly when they managed to gain the interest of their friends. While Sandy had to sit the convention out (poor Mo needed to go to the vet), it didn’t take long for Pigsy to show interest in bringing his food truck and for Tang to invite himself along by proxy. Granted, they wouldn’t be joining them inside the con. Unlike…

“I have to admit,” Macaque said with a chuckle. “This has been pretty fun. It’s like putting on a play without all the stress of making sure it goes perfectly.”

“It’s so nice to walk around and have NO ONE know who I am!” Sun Wukong exclaimed with a tired and excited chuckle. “They only know who I’m cosplaying!”

Ah yes. The cosplays.

They’d gone over exceptionally well! To be fair they were cosplaying a group of characters from a very popular game, but they liked to think that people genuinely liked the quality of their cosplays. Who knew Sun Wukong and Macaque were THAT good at sewing? Making the armor and props was easy with Sun Wukong and MK’s powers (and given how complicated their outfits were and the fact they weren’t entering any cosplay competitions they were so grateful for not having to make THOSE), but the monkeys were DETERMINED to at least make the costumes themselves.

And boy did that pay off.

They honestly expected the two of them to be the most popular out of the group, but they really underestimated the power of a popular duo.

Mei and Red Son as Tighnari and Cyno were the spotlight stealers, especially with Mei’s mechanical ears that moved back and forth.

MK was decently popular as Aether, but not as much as the rest of his group. He wasn’t complaining though, this meant that he could act as the hype man for any one of them who was requested for pictures!

Sun Wukong and Macaque were almost as popular as Mei and Red Son, their Neuvillette and Furina cosplays gaining so many requests for Furina to be doing something goofy with Neuvillette looking on in confusion or annoyance. Something VERY easy for the two monkey demons to do!

All in all, it was a fantastic day at the convention.

But damn did they need a break.

That’s how they all found themselves outside the convention all in the garden attached to it. It was less busy than expected outside, probably because of the cold, but everyone except Red Son was pretty got in their costumes and could use the cooling off anyway (and Red was warm enough normally so the exposed midriff of his costume didn’t bother him even a little bit once outside).

They were enjoying a late lunch, separated from everyone in a nice secluded part of the garden surrounded by bushes and some early blooming flowers. Mei had Sun Wukong summon them up a tea set with his hair, insisting they all eat in costume while she filmed them. A slightly odd request, but she had been filming the day for a con vlog she was intending to upload later so it wasn’t THAT odd.

“Can we please take our costumes off for a minute now?” Red Son asked once they had finished their food, stretching so hard they could hear his back pop. “This hood is heavier than it looks and I’d like my scalp to be able to BREATHE for a moment.”

“Just one more thing!” Mei said, giggling wildly as she stood up and practically vibrated in excitement. “There’s this Genshin meme going around and I want us to do it!”

“Oh… Oh my gosh that’s why you had us eat in costume,” Macaque said slowly, piecing everything together. “It’s for the CALM parts of the video and why you had Wukong SAY THAT mid lunch.”

“You’re an evil genius,” Sun Wukong said, staring at the dragon girl in awe. “You tricked me so good! I’m supposed to be the trickster!”

“Hehehe,” Mei chuckled, rubbing her hands together. “You got it! Now, I have a plan for how this is going to go, a few actually, and I’ll edit the video together with the second and third parts based on what goes best. I need all of us to look horrified at Macaque for a moment while Wukong says the next line, then all of us are going to look at Wukong when he says the last one. Then the real fun begins. The first one is going to be Macaque dancing alone, then everyone except Wukong joins in, and then it’s all of us!”

“Oh oh,” MK shouted in excitement, waving his hands. “PLEASE let me break dance, I want to break dance SO BAD.”

“Only if you also moonwalk in at least on of these takes.”

“DONE!”

“What about me?” Macaque asked. “If I’m starting this what I do has to be good.”

“Fortnite default dance.”

“Diabolical, I’m in!”

“I assume I’m not joining in on the dancing until the last one?” Sun Wukong asked.

“Yeah,” Mei agreed with a nod. “Look as horrified at the rest of us as you want, but do whatever funny dance moves you can do for the last one. Maybe the worm.”

“I always wanted to be a worm at least once.”

“I assume I am being dragged into this mess?” Red Son asked with a sigh. “What do you wish for me to do?”

“Hear me out,” Mei said with a shaky chuckle. “I don’t care what you do for the drafts of the second segment. But for the last one, please. PLEASE stand close enough to my phone your feet are cut off so no one can see your fire and use it to slide you across the screen in a T pose as you slowly spin around.”

There was a beat of silence as everyone waited for Red Son to react, staring at him in anxious excitement.

“That… is the dumbest thing I have ever heard,” Red Son said slowly. “I love it.”

“LET’S GOOOOO!” Mei yelled, hurriedly checking her camera to make sure it was still good before sitting down. “Ok, ok, whenever you’re ready Wukong.”

The Monkey King smiled, almost unable to get rid of his smile and take on the neutral face of the character he was dressed as, but slightly more horrified as he looked at Macaque.

“We now turn to the ~Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale~!”

~

“Looks like everyone’s having fun at the convention,” Tang said, slurping up another bite of noodles, the last in his bowl, as he scrolled through Mei’s feed on his phone. “Mei’s posting memes.”

He sat on a stool outside the open back door to Pigsy’s food truck, bowl of the chef’s ever famous noodles sitting on a folding table set out in front of him. They were parked across the street from the convention hall everyone else was inside of, Pigsy working hard inside to prep food while Tang ate an excessively late lunch, right beside a park.

It was almost TOO good, prime real estate for a food truck to be parked in, and they had slightly underestimated how popular they would be compared to the simple ice cream food trucks that seemed to take over all the space at the convention center proper.

… why were there even 6 of those? Well, that didn’t matter.

Apparently when people are extremely hungry, they would actually cross the street for something that looks good.

“I still think you would have had more fun goin in with them,” Pigsy said as he fixed up a new batch of fresh jiaozi for when the next batch of hungry con goers comes up to his food truck. “You’re dressed as that… Piedmon character and you’re not even helping, you’re just eating my food.”

“It’s PAIMON. And I’m free advertising!” Tang protested with a smirk, taking a big slurp of broth to make the point even more clear. Pigsy couldn’t help but snort in both mocking indignation and amusement as he did this. “Who can possibly resist coming to a food truck when someone looks THIS satisfied with the food?”

“People who see the ‘opening at 6 pm’ sign on the closed awning,” Pigsy rebutted with a chuckle. “And since we’re not opening until 6, why don’t you show me what Mei is posting whole I finish folding these up.”

“Oh, it’s GOOD,” Tang said, barely holding in a chuckle as he went over to the open door and held up his phone. “If people knew the adults with the trio were it would blow up even more!” Pigsy stared at the screen, face slowly scrunching up in both amusement and confusion.

“OK, I get the dancing and all, but…”

“But?”

“Why are they asking for judgement from a bird?”

Nothing could have been better advertisement for the food truck than Tang immediately bursting out into laughter, holding his chest as he slowly lowered himself to the ground and started wheezing.

[secretsandwriting]

The Little Moments [Aether]

The little moments in which the ghouls realize that the feeling in their chest when they see you isn't just instincts anymore, it's love and their drowning in it.

A sequel of sorts to mate. Can be read alone.

[Dew] [Mountain] [Rain] [Swiss] [Poly]

            Aether sat with the other Ghoul’s outside of the no ghoul room, it was the dreaded tea time. The bane of their existence. The worst thing they could go through. They all Hated it. 

            Mountain, Rain, and Dew were all more adjusted to it since they had had their mates for longer. Aether and Swiss were still new to it. While they all could be doing something, the fact they couldn’t be with their mate during that time made it impossible to even consider doing something. 

            Every once in a while they could hear some laughter but the room had been soundproof so they couldn’t hear much at all. They could pick up a little bit of their scents but that was it. They were practically abandoned. No longer loved. Betrayed. 

            Aether had just reached the point he could actually stand to be separated from you for this long but he sure as hell didn’t like it. He really didn’t like it. Right now, he wanted to be sleeping in his nest with you next to him so he knew you were safe. But no, you had to have a ghoul free tea party once a week. 

            Tea time was a whole 2 hours too! The longest time. Too long. He was very much neglected by his mate. This shouldn’t be allowed. 

             The door finally opened and all of you came out, no one wasted any time sweeping up their mate and taking them back to their rooms for some quality time before they had to go back to work. 

            “Aether, I know you're big and strong and it’s honestly impressive, but I can walk and I would like to walk.. Don’t you make that noise at me I will start taking your hand off my waist.” Well Aether was never making that noise again. “Now please let me down.” He wasn’t going to put you down unless it was to put you in his nest. 

            And that was precisely what he did, once he was sure you were settled he climbed in only to be met with your giggles. Oh how he loved hearing you laugh, even when it was at him. Which he was pretty sure you were laughing at him this time and he wasn’t sure why.

            “What’s so funny?” He laid on top of you and rested his chin on your chest, his purr rumbling against your stomach. 

            “You look high.” He had no idea what you were talking about. He hadn’t gotten high in a few days. He must have looked confused because you just started dying. Aether moved so he wasn’t on your chest in hopes you would start breathing between laughing fits.

—---------

             Aether stood in the shadows and watched as you talked to some of the other siblings of sin. He was pretty sure you knew he was there, you had gotten good at sensing him. It startled him a few times as to how well you could sense him. 

            One of the siblings kept looking you up and down, he knew you noticed. The girl wasn’t subtle. He was trying to subdue the urge to just murder them for the sole reason that you would be upset and probably sleep in the no ghoul room for at least 2 nights and he couldn’t go two nights without you. 

            So instead of just jumping out and ripping the sister to shreds, he walked out, his appearance startling the group you were chatting with. Once he made it to you, he wrapped his arms around your torso and rested his chin on your head. The one eyeing you had the audacity to look annoyed which tested what little patience Aether had at the moment. He must have tensed against you or something because immediately after the murder thoughts came back, you grabbed his arm and gently squeezed it.

            He still wanted to murder them but maybe later. He knew their scent now so he could track them later and kill them, maybe make it look like an accident or suicide. Maybe he would just say fuck it and tear them to shreds.

            “Aether, you better stop figuring out how to murder them because If i hear she died I will be requesting a temporary transfer to another church for two months and for it to be kept a secret so you can’t come.” He visibly deflated against you, pouting under his mask. “Stop pouting.” 

            Maybe being clingy had its downfalls because he hadn’t heard any of the other ghouls saying their mate could basically read their thoughts. He’d ask next time he saw them. For now he decided to hold you while you continued talking.

—---------

            This was his favorite part of the rituals now. Ever since the people had first seen you they had demanded you come out at least once every ritual. Copia had left it up to you and the other mates when you would come out and what you would do. Today it seems you had chosen his favorite one, just chilling on stage with them for a while. 

            At the moment you were sitting at the edge of the stage, just out of the crowd's reach. Sometimes you would hand them one of the cards the clergy had custom made for the mates. Aether stood behind you, his favorite place to be in these situations because every once in a while you would just lean back against his legs or reach back and pat whatever part of his legs you touched.

            He loved being able to stay with you on stage, the rituals felt so much shorter when you were up there with him. Copia enjoyed seeing his ghouls happy so he didn’t really care what you did even laughing as you stole the spotlight on purpose sometimes. Sister Imperator liked it because the numbers went up and more people joined the church, meaning overall it was a win win.

            Aether handed you his pick once the song was over, grabbing a new one to play with and watching as you handed the pick and a card to a lucky person. Copia started on a ramble that didn’t look like it would end anytime soon so he stepped around and sat down next to you and rested his head on your shoulder. 

            You wrapped one of your arms around his waist and the ghoul practically melted against you. Aether really did love you coming on stage with him.

—---------

            Aether hated interviews, he stood to the side with Copia and the other ghouls watching as you and the other mates were interviewed. They had already done theirs but since your rise in popularity the interviews started asking for you as well. 

            “So you all seem comfortable with the ghouls. How did that come to be? It must be scary dealing with demons.” It was obvious the interviewer was joking that they were demons, fully believing they were humans like all the other fans. Aether would admit he was interested to see the answers. 

            “I mean, it was definitely scary at first. Mainly because all of them kinda just suddenly latched onto us. One moment we were just living our lives, the next there was a ghoul connected to our hip. But after a few week we realized that with us, their basically puppies in a humanoid form.”

            “What do you mean they just suddenly latched onto you?” He leaned forwards in his seat. Aether looked at the clock. Only 5 more minutes before the interview time was over. 5 More minutes.

            “Well, I was sitting in a meeting and Aether just came up to me and carried me back to his seat where I had to sit in his lap until the end of the meeting.” The interview seemed to get more confused as all their mates mentioned how they met. It was a little amusing and took up 3 of the five minutes. 

            “So how did you feel when you found out the people loved you?” You had always avoided that question. None of the ghouls had been able to get an answer from their mate, Copia and Sister Imperator hadn’t even been able to get that answer from you. 

            “Honestly, None of us really liked it.” Aether felt his heart sink, had you been doing something you didn’t like for him? Was he making you do it?

            “Oh? Why is that?”

            “We went from being unknown to millions of eyes on us in one night. So it was a lot to get used to. Now, after three months of it we’re getting used to it. It definitely took some adjusting but it wasn’t the worst and we’d all probably do it again.” Probably?

            The last 2 minutes had passed so the ghouls joined you again, all feeling a bit upset with themselves for not noticing that you weren’t happy. You didn’t even flinch when Aether sat down at your feet and hugged your legs.

            “One last question, what's something all the ghouls do but one is worse than the others?” 

            “Well, they all like to give us little shiny things they find. Mountain the most, I have so many shiny rocks I’m running out of space for all of them. I do however like shiny rocks so it's a win win.”

             “Swiss always wants me to wear something of his. If I’m not, he’ll randomly trying putting a scarf on me or hand me one of his sweaters.

             “Aether is a bit clingier than the others. He always has to be touching me somehow if we are in the same room. It’s really nice when it's chilly.” He tipped his head up to try and get more of the pats you gave him. The interview was ended after that and you were finally able to go back to the bus.

            Aether was about to try and con so many snuggles out of you. It didn’t work, you caught on and called him out on it but he still got his snuggles in the end so he didn’t really care.

Check out my ao3

[we-will-be-reun1ted]

─── ⋆⋅Body⋅⋆ ───

Okay so first straight off the bat, the twins are not human. That’s canon and that’s been established. So in my eyes, that means they aren’t going to have the same kind of bodies.

I’m not going to go into their appearances in this post as that’s a completely different thing. I may draw them but I’m not getting my hopes up.

Anywho bodies! So. The twins have very specific functions to do with their bodies to make it easier for them to travel around space from universe to universe. Starting of with this - they do not have stomachs.

I imagine that since they are travelling around space a lot when they aren’t in a world, they don’t really have much to eat up there. So the food that they do eat when they are in a world actually gets absorbed into their bodies and converted into energy rather than just being digested. This means that they don’t need the bathroom, don’t gain or lose weight or anything like that.

When travelling space they can’t really take food since on average the food will probably disintegrate into a dust and undergo chemical changes in the vacuum. So, to be able to have the energy to travel for a long time, they have to eat a lot of food before leaving. Like tons. The amount that would make even Paimon nervous.

The both feel pretty sick afterwards but it works!

Another thing kinda cool about their bodies is that the twins are able to change certain aspects about their body.

An example of this is that they could technically change their physical genders if they really want to.

I imagine both of them are comfortable in their genders (Lumine a girl, Aether a guy) but they weren’t really born as such. These two were created from an explosion and a lot of things happening at the same time which just so correlated to them being made. They were both kind of one being that split into two. Basically, shooting stars in the vessel as humans.

Neither were raised on a gender or had any concept of that until they started travelling to other worlds, which is when they technically ‘chose’ what to be.

This can be physically changed. It would take a lot of their energy but if they had the will and want, they could do it.

This doesn’t really happen though as it takes way too much of their energy and they are both happy as they are.

This is kind of relating to the last one about being able to change things about their body

This is a bit of an odd one so bare with me. Kinda inappropriate but in the biology class inappropriate way.

Right, they have stuff like sperm, egg, normal stuff like that though like ✨yassified✨cause these mfs ain’t human. Maybe Aethers cum is glittery or something I don’t fucking know.

Whatever so the cool thing about them is they are able to literally turn their fertility on and off like a switch. Neither want kids. They are planning on travelling forever why would either want to settle down and start a family with someone they meet in one of the worlds. I’m gonna use Lumine as an example of this in the least graphic terms possible.

So as I’ve said, Lumines a sexual being. Nothing wrong with that. When she has sex, she doesn’t have to use any form of protection as she can just turn her fertility off pretty much. If she ever wanted a child she could pretty much just turn her eggs or whatever back on and then bam. It does take a few days for her body to adjust so she would have to do it a few days prior. This is the same for Aether.

This one’s just weird to be honest. I say as if the last three haven’t been just as weird.

The two are able to grown back their limbs like lizards can crow back their tails.

I don’t say that lightly. They can’t just go “oh haha I’m gonna cut off my arm and throw it at someone for a funny prank XD” and then immediately grow it back. No it’s an extremely long and painful process. Firstly, losing the limb would be just as painful as it would be for the normal person. Maybe slightly less as they both have incredibly high pain tolerances, but certainly not ideal. To make matters worse, the growing part would be even more painful and cost them a LOT of energy.

It would take a long ass time. It’s not just gonna grow back overnight. And even after it’s back they are going to struggle to move it or do anything with it for a while afterwards so it will just be limp next to them for a while. They will basically have to relearn movements in that limb.

Say for example, Aethers right leg is cut off, poor guy. Once it grows back, if he had any scars or tattoos or anything on it previously it would no longer be there. It will be completely plain. A normal leg.

A rule for this is the brain must still be fully functioning with the rest of the body for this to work. You can’t just cut off one of their heads and expect the body to start growing again. If you cut off the head, they die. Simple.

[2dkapsddr]

June 18th, 2024 - Arcaea, Rotaeno, DDR WORLD

The Chronicles of PMs continues!!! Starting with Silent Rush (FTR-8, MAX-28) and Cosmica (FTR-8+, MAX-10) as FTR PMs #93 and #94 respectively, clearing out what I can of the Binary Enfold folder!!!!

following it up with this pretty cool Rotaeno sightread... very cool...

and then following THAT up with ANOTHER upscore on Singularity VVVIP, this time a 2-2 score!!! then also a very intentional 1-1 on Feels So Right for a challenge, and then my very first clear on PRAGMATISM -RESURRECTION- (BYD-11) as part of another challenge!!!

funny story, i actually got that PragRes clear on a bus with barely any audio! why was i on a bus, you ask? well, because i was heading to Round 1 to play me some DDR World!!! and i've got ALL the banger scores to show for it!!! warmed up with a very nice and cool set (lie) (it was all 15s+) (why did i do this to myself), and then immediately followed it up with the JUN SET JUN SET JUN SET FULL OF BANGERS (HAPPY ANGEL CSP-16, SILVER DREAM ESP-15, KIMONO PRINCESS ESP-15, and SUPER SAMURAI ESP-15), all AAA'd and Flare EX clears!!! (except HAPPY ANGEL for obvious reasons)

kept playing and gaming for a little while after that, getting a sick Flare IX clear on Eon Break ESP-16 and Lose Your Sense ESP-17 (which, really funny story: i tried doing the Akuma from Streets pose at the ending hold and ended up dropping the hold, but still keeping alive with the gauge . i thought it wouldn't hurt much, but turns out it was THAT HOLD SPECIFICALLY that prevented me from getting an AAA!!! why did i do that?!?!?! whyyy?!?!?!?!?)

after that though, my skill kinda started waning and i shifted from grinding singles to doubles, got a Flare VII clear on Yoidore Shirazu EDP-13, and then switched back to singles so i could play against a local friend to get a Flare EX on Nanahoshi ESP-15 and Flare VI on AETHER ESP-17!!!

realistically though, i couldn't really keep up with the game anymore and started feeling a little disappointed in my skill, so i packed it up and went home, stopping by boba on the way where i caught up on my rotaeno/arcaea stamina stuff :] (even got this sweet upscore on Swirling Blue while i was at it! AP soon?)

okay okay wait, i need to switch over to talking about arcaea quickly because this new score i got is INSANE. so i kinda really suck at beyond charts even at their lowest (level 9), which is why i was super surprised when i played Infinity Heaven (BYD-9) on the bus, barely any audio, and suddenly got... a PURE MEMORY??? MAX-34??? BYD PM #2???? LSDJFLSDJLFKDJESLKFJ

then of course, to cap off the day and use up all my Arcaea world mode stamina, a bunch of new PMs!!! Blocked Library (FTR-9, MAX-23), blue comet (FTR-8, MAX-2????), Prism (FTR-8, MAX-24), Eccentric Tale (FTR-8, MAX-19), and a slight +4 upscore on 1F√ (FTR-8, MAX-9) as FTR PMs #95, #96, #97, and #98 (barring 1F√ since i already had it) respectively!!!

and of course, to top it all off, i got a 970 on Tempestissimo BYD-11!!!! +0.01 PTT!!! woo yeah babey!!!

[starlite-writes]

can you tell us more about dr silk and dr tussah?

Sure! Putting it under the cut since it got a little long.

Dr Adaliah Silk (formerly Elysia Soros) is the head of the Aether Research Institute and the public face of IGORA as a whole, as I've said before. She has two doctorate degrees (astrophysics and computer science) and a master's in aerospace engineering! All in all, she's a very pragmatic and intelligent woman who is often seen as friendly and helpful despite actually being the epitome of corporate coldness. She's also quite curious about the possibility of alternate realities!

She has a couple of AIs she's programmed for various reasons! Their names are Azalea (her admin), Tocelyn (her personal assistant/pet fox), Maximilian (speech/language pathologist). She also has Del (space exploration), Tey (repair), and Sar (repair), who all belong to @packedlunchmeat!

All of her children hate her, with the exception of Azalea and Tocelyn. She's a bad mother (not a maternal bone in her body). Most of her kids have been kidnapped at least once.

Silk is one of those people who really likes to bully the people under her but in the way of like. she pretends she's just playing or it's an inside joke. For example, on April Fool's Day, she pays her interns in Monopoly money. Objectively not funny to the person missing out on a day's worth of pay, but hilarious to her.

Silk has three siblings! They're named Lysander (who works as IGORA's lawyer), Valeria (a history teacher), and, of course, Dr Tussah.

And Dr Caspian Tussah (formerly Aurelius Soros) is the head of the Nautilus Research Institute! He's more seen than heard, because he's not as good at the whole. politics thing. He's really just here to study fish! He has two doctorates (marine biogeochemistry and computer science) and a master's in oceanography.

Tussah is typically thought of as the hardass out of the two, but he's actually not. He's not soft, but he's definitely nicer (potentially attributed to his better work-life balance lol). The bar was on the floor, though. He has a pretty decent relationship with most of his employees but he's also prone to outbursts of violence (namely hitting people across the shins with his cane).

He's got a few AIs of his own! They are August and Tenebris, and they're both medical AIs. August is the sole surviving AI from the Coelacanth disaster (and that's a whole story on its own, honestly). He probably has more by this point but I can't remember them right now 😭

Tussah also did the physical designs for all of Silk's programs! He's an artist. Silk doesn't care about aesthetics but her brother very much does. If not for Tussah, all of Silk's AIs would be just. blobs or stick figures. The only one she designed was Tocelyn, by way of origami.

Silk's birthday is May 30th, and she's 38 years old! Tussah's is July 3rd and he's 36! They don't tell people they're siblings and keep it a secret, so there are a lot of bets around the office about if they're siblings, lovers, or old friends.

If you've made it this far, thanks! You might be interested to know that they both have... complicated relationships with two Very Notorious red and blue coded viruses. :)

If you think you know who they are... you're probably right!