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annlyticalarchive · 1 month ago

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CHAPTER SIX: Humanity’s Aegis

”You will be different, sometimes you’ll feel like an outcast, but you’ll never be alone”

Mark Grayson X Kryptonian/Clark Kent! Reader

Prologue | Chapter Five| Chapter Six (Here) | Chapter Seven

w/c: 4.2k

a/n: could not figure out how to cut/end this so this chapter is a teeny bit lengthier than the previous ones. also, am playing with the idea of writing one shots of Kent and Mark. I’m kinda playing with an Absolute!Kent X Mark too

The ballroom glittered in gold and crystal. A sprawling art-deco dream with vaulted ceilings and marble floors, it looked like something out of a movie rather than a fundraiser for a city initiative. Dozens of the cities most elite mingled under the soft light of chandeliers, drinks in hand, false smiles plastered across expensive faces.

You stepped inside, instantly hit by the wave of perfume, cologne, and the underlying scent of old money and polished ego. Lois still had your wrist and was weaving through the crowd like she’d done it a thousand times. Jimmy followed with his camera already up, snapping shots of the crowd, pausing briefly to admire the lighting.

You tried not to fidget. The jacket felt too stiff, the shirt too crisp, and the city suddenly too loud again.

“You know,” Lois whispered over her shoulder, eyes scanning the crowd for prey, excuse you, interviews, “you could learn to loosen up.”

“I’m loose!” you hissed. “I’m the definition of loose!”

Jimmy coughed behind you. “You sound like someone who rehearsed saying that.”

You sighed and looked to Jimmy. “Want to tag-team the mingling?”

“Let me get a few more wide shots,” he said, lifting his camera. “You go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

You nodded, making your way into the throng. The deeper in you got, the more chaotic it felt. People clinked glasses, posed for photos, and name-dropped like they were giving out candy. You were pretty sure three different people claimed to be the one responsible for funding the city’s new railway reconstruction effort.

Still, you did your job. You kept your eyes open. Listened. Asked questions, quietly and curiously.

And you didn’t push. That was the key.

Lois, on the other hand, was pushing, with the subtlety of a bull with a battering ram.

You found her again about half an hour later, mid-interview with a tall man in a very expensive suit. Her brow was furrowed, her arms crossed.

“So you’re saying you don’t know where the funding came from?” she asked, tone sharp.

“I’m saying I don’t have the clearance to discuss it,” he replied coolly.

Lois leaned in. “So it’s private money?”

The man stiffened. “I really couldn’t say.”

You watched as his smile grew thinner by the second. Lois opened her mouth again, but you gently stepped in.

“Sorry to interrupt,” you said with a small smile, looking up at him. “But I overheard you mention you’d visited Coast City recently? What was it like this time of year?”

His gaze flicked to you, visibly relieved. “Oh—actually, quite nice. Weather’s been better than expected. They’ve done wonders with the waterfront.”

You nodded, jotting that down like it mattered. “And was that a personal trip or something to do with development?”

“Business,” he said, more relaxed now. “We’re looking into expanding energy partnerships out west.”

You smiled again. “That’s exciting. Can I follow up with your office sometime next week?”

He nodded, offered a card, and left with a polite bow of his head.

Lois stared at you. “You asked him about the weather.”

“And he told us about the energy partnerships.”

She made a face, but didn’t argue. Instead, she turned away with a loud sigh and waved toward Jimmy. “Get this. Apparently weather talk is the new journalism.”

Jimmy chuckled as he joined you both. “Well, you did kind of come at the guy like a steamroller.”

“I just want answers!” Lois huffed, lifting a tiny quiche from a passing tray. “These people think their money makes them bulletproof.”

“It kind of does,” Jimmy muttered.

“I heard that!”

You grinned. The three of you slowly fell into rhythm, circling the room like a mismatched flock of birds. You trailed behind them, asking lighter, friendlier questions that made people forget they were being interviewed.

“How long have you lived in the city?”

“What inspired you to get involved in local reconstruction projects?”

“Do you think the mayor will actually follow through on their housing promises?”

That last one made Jimmy snort behind his camera lens. “You really are sneaky, huh?”

“I just ask them to talk about themselves,” you said. “People love that.”

Eventually, you all reconvened near a buffet table that had been thoroughly picked over. Jimmy flipped through his shots, Lois reviewed her notes, and you checked your recorder for anything interesting.

“You know,” Lois said, nudging your elbow, “for someone who didn’t want to come, you’re doing scarily well.”

“It’s my job,” You shrugged your shoulders simply, trying to avoid the compliments. “I should be good at this.”

“Lois isn’t doing good,” Jimmy said with a poorly hidden smile as he grabs a drink from a moving tray.

“Lois is the reason I’m getting answers. We’re like a one-two hit.”

“Flattery gets you nowhere, Kansas,” Lois rolled her eyes at you.

“Flattery gets me everywhere here.” You shot back with a smile. “These people like getting to stroke their ego with the idea that all the flattering stuff will get printed front page.”

“Ladies and gentlemen! Please, enter the main room. The unveiling is about to begin.” A voice rings through some loud speakers.

The crowd started to move like a lazy tide, drifting toward the large double doors at the end of the room.

Jimmy quickly raised his camera. “Time to catch the money shot.”

Lois tucked her notepad into her purse. “And time to see what kind of PR stunt we’re all here to pretend we care about.”

You followed them, notebook and recorder tucked under your arm. You couldn’t help the unease that crept up your spine, not because of nerves, exactly. Something felt off.

The second you stepped into the main hall, you understood why.

At the center of the room stood a massive object draped in a deep velvet cloth. Beside it: men in suits with military posture, clearly not just part of the event staff. Their eyes scanned the room, unmoving.

“Okay,” Jimmy whispered, already snapping photos, “this is either government-funded tech… or alien.”

Lois raised an eyebrow. “You think they’d unveil alien tech here?”

You didn’t answer. You were too busy listening.

Your focus zeroed in past the surface-level noise of champagne flutes and murmured pleasantries.

And then you caught it.

Lex Luthor. Speaking quietly to someone near the front of the room. You didn’t recognize the other voice, but you did recognize the words.

Names.

Names you remembered writing. Names tied to an investigation you and Lois had been digging into for weeks.

Names that had no business being spoken aloud at a public event like this.

Names that belonged in an article about organized crime.

“Oh no,” you muttered under your breath.

Lois glanced at you sideways, catching the shift in your tone, but didn’t ask. Not here, not yet.

You reached the side of the main room just as the lights dimmed and a spotlight landed on Lex Luthor, standing tall and proud at a sleek podium near the veiled shape.

He smiled, all teeth and practiced charm.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, “we live in a time of miracles and monsters. Of beings who can move mountains, bend steel, and level cities. For too long, the people of our city have relied on hope, hope that someone else will protect them. Hope that they will show up.”

Lex continued, voice rising with theatrical flair. “But the world needs more than hope. It needs certainty. And certainty… comes with strength.”

With a dramatic sweep of his arm, the velvet cloth was pulled free, revealing a massive robot standing at least fifteen feet tall. Gunmetal grey with glowing green eyes, it looked more like a weapon than any kind of protector.

Murmurs rippled through the room.

“I give you: humanity’s Aegis.” Lex gestured to the machine. “Fully autonomous. Controlled through secure satellite uplinks. Designed to protect us, from them.”

Lois muttered, “Oh, hell no.”

Before you could say anything back, a loud crack sounded overhead. Then came the smoke.

Dozens of small canisters exploded around the room, flooding it with thick, gray fog. Screams broke out. People stumbled. Cameras flashed wildly, trying to catch the moment before disaster but only causing the fog to light up.

You caught sight of someone running across the stage just as the lights flickered, and the robot powered on with a deep mechanical hum.

“I’m going to call the cops!” you yelled over the chaos, “You two get out of here!”

You were already bolting toward a corner to get out of sight.

The robot moved.

It stepped off the platform, metal feet shaking the floor, as several dark-clad figures pulled at a hidden panel on its back.

And Aegis responded.

Its eyes flared.

Its arm cannons slid open.

And you didn’t even hesitate.

You pulled off your jacket mid-run, ripped the dress shirt off, ducked quickly outside of the room, and tore free the hidden scarlet skirt and cape from your bag.

You crashed through a side window, high above the crowd, hoping it would pull attention away from civilians.

The air was thick with smoke, screams, and fear.

But your voice cut through it as you hovered, cape billowing behind you.

“Step away from the machine.”

The masked men turned and looked at you a few pulling guns from concealed holsters, as Aegis took one slow, thunderous step forward, and then another, before its thrusters flared, launching it through the shattered ceiling and into the sky.

You barely had time to process before bullets started flying.

Your body moved on instinct, arms raised in a half-shielding gesture.

But the bullets didn’t tear through you. They bounced off.

One struck your shoulder, another pinged off your ribs with a metallic clink. It didn’t even hurt, simply felt like someone tossing pebbles at you.

Your breath caught. You were bulletproof. Oh thank God-

One of the gunmen froze in disbelief. “What the hell is she?”

You shot forward, grabbed the nearest metal rail that had fallen during the chaos, and bent it around two of the men like a steel bow. They hit the ground with a grunt, pinned and disarmed.

Another raised his gun again, but you were faster

You closed the distance in a blur, yanked the gun from his hands, and crushed it in your fist like it was made of clay.

Grabbing the man by the shoulder, you zip him over to the other two, using your free hand to bend the metal around him as well.

You weren’t about to hit them. They hadn’t actively hurt anyone, so you weren’t about to hurt them in return. You didn’t even want to, regardless.

Running back out of the building, you scanned the crowd. The selfish bit inside of you looking for Jimmy and Lois first, letting out a small breath when you saw that they were fine. No one else was hurt, and you could hear sirens approaching, so you ran back inside and flew through the hole the robot left.

You hovered, squinting into the skyline, tilting your head slightly to isolate frequencies, your cape catching the wind behind you. Your brows furrowed.

Where did it—

WHOOSH.

A sudden rush of air beside you broke your focus as someone rocketed into your peripheral vision.

You turned sharply, shoulders tense, ready to defend yourself—

Only to freeze.

Because floating there in front of you, hovering with practiced ease, was a figure you didn’t recognize. At least, not personally.

But you knew of him.

Blue and yellow suit. The goggles. The dark hair poking out from under the mask. Breathing a little hard from the flight.

“Lose something?” Invincible asked, tone light, but you could see the shift happen mid-sentence. He froze. Mouth still open. Then he shut it, jaw tightening visibly.

“Luthor has. Or so it seems,” you replied, keeping your voice as steady and confident as you could manage.

You caught it, just barely, but you caught it. The twitch in his jaw. A subtle shift behind the lenses of his goggles. An emotion you couldn’t quite place a finger on. But one that definitely didn’t seem good.

“I’m handling it,” you added.

“Yeah?” His voice was cool now. Guarded. “That thing looked like a walking nuke.”

“It’s definitely been stolen, if not sold off and a made to look stolen.”

That snapped him back to focus.

“Then let’s find it,” he said, already accelerating, his body cutting through the air like a bullet. You followed close behind, heart pounding in your chest.

You hadn’t exactly had practice flying. At most you floated. So you struggled to keep up with him as he shot through the air, but based on how short his responses were, you were completely fine flying behind him.

It wasn’t long however, until you picked up a voice talking about the robot in the warehouse district.

“Down there!” You call it out to him as you let yourself dive down. Invincible paused before following you down.

The warehouse was dimly lit, its metal walls groaning in the wind. You landed just outside the entrance, Invincible touching down beside you with barely a sound.

Inside, Aegis stood motionless. The glowing red core in its chest pulsed slowly like a heartbeat, casting a sickly light across the empty space. It didn’t move. Not at first.

“I don’t like this,” you muttered, eyeing the thing.

Invincible took a cautious step forward, voice low. “Trap?”

Before you could answer, the robot’s eyes lit up.

And it fired.

Twin beams of concentrated energy blasted toward you both. You dove right, tucking into a roll, while Invincible darted left, the shot narrowly missing him and melting a steel beam behind him.

“Definitely a trap!” you yelled.

The battle was fast, quick in a way that nearly made you sigh with relief. He moved before you did. Invincible punched it square in the chest, cracking the core’s casing, only to be swatted into a stack of crates that exploded in splinters.

When it aimed its arm cannon at him again, you grabbed its wrist and crushed it in your grip until wires sparked and snapped as you ripped the arm from its socket.

Then, while it staggered, Invincible launched forward and drove a fist into the cracked core. The casing gave way with a blinding surge of light.

Then silence.

Aegis collapsed with a metallic groan, the light in its eyes flickering out.

You stood over the wreckage, chest rising and falling, dusting yourself off. Your ears rang from the blast, and for a moment, all you could hear was your own breath.

And then the scrape of boots on concrete.

You turned, but Invincible was already walking away, shoulders tense, his silhouette vanishing into the darkness of the warehouse entrance without a word.

“Thanks for the help,” you said, voice just loud to carry.

He didn’t turn back. Didn’t say anything. Just left.

You stood there, still catching your breath, confusion knotting in your chest.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

You don’t think you’ve ever seen a more horrifying sight.

Pinned to the corkboard in the intern office, bold and unmistakable, was the front page of today’s Daily Planet.

And there, dead center?

Was you.

Blurry, sure. Back turned. Cloaked in harsh shadows, cape fluttering behind you in the wind. But you’d recognize that symbol anywhere.

“Smallville! About time.” Lois snapped you out of your frozen panic, tugging you fully into the room. “So, last night? New hero shows up. A Superwoman, literally. Crashes the party, wraps up the robbers in metal, and takes off like it’s a Tuesday. I’ve got it on good sources that she helped Invincible take down the Aegis.”

“Oh, wow, that’s… uh—” You stammered, brain stalling as you tried not to look directly at the photo of yourself.

Lois was still talking, practically buzzing with excitement. “She’s strong. I mean really strong. Did you see how fast she moved?”

You tried to recover, playing it off with a shrug. “What makes her so special? I mean, there’s already a bunch of heroes out there.”

“That’s just it,” Jimmy cut in, turning his phone to show you another photo, this one much clearer. A woman in white floating midair, wind tossing her short hair. “She’s different. Like Omni-Man different. Or like this villain Invincible fought a month ago!”

You nodded numbly, recalling how hard Mark had struggled in that fight.

“Exactly,” Jimmy said. “Who just shows up like that and ties guys up in a stainless steel rod like they’re a Christmas present?”

“She’s powerful,” Lois said, eyeing the blurry photo like it owed her answers. “And smart. No wasted movement. No ego. Just in, out, done. The city is eating that up. But I want to know more. Who is she? What does she want? Is she just playing nice?”

You tried not to flinch under her gaze. It wasn’t accusatory, but Lois Lane didn’t miss much. And the glint in her eye was making your stomach twist.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” she added, flipping through her notes, “I like her style. But anyone that strong? They don’t stay anonymous for good reasons.”

You laughed, weak and nervous. “Well, maybe she just wants to help. Do good, you know?”

Lois raised a brow. “You’d be surprised. Not everyone is like you, Smallville. People aren’t good to be good.”

“Yeah. Sure.” You frowned as Lois and Jimmy, mostly Lois, began to discuss how they could find ‘Superwoman’ to force her into an interview.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

You don’t think you’ve ever been so excited for lunch.

Well—you were excited. That changed a little when you realized Lois and Jimmy were coming too.

Normally, you wouldn’t mind. But today? Today they wouldn’t stop talking about Superwoman. Every second was a new theory, a new article idea, or another blurry photo Jimmy swore he could clean up. It made your stomach turn.

Still, despite the growing knot of anxiety, you sent a text to Mark. He’d been quiet since the warehouse incident. Too quiet. But maybe this would be a good way to break the silence.

You: Me, Jimmy, and Lois are heading to the cafe on the corner of 4th and 16th for lunch if you want to come with!

You sent it, locked your phone, and tried to stay focused. Tried.

Then, a few minutes later, the read receipt popped up.

Read 11:38 a.m.

And that was it. No bubbles. No reply. Nothing.

You stared at the screen for a moment too long. Mark could be bad at texting, sure—but he never left you on read. Ever. Even when he was late to reply, he always said something. A thumbs-up emoji. A dumb meme. A joke about Jimmy's hair. Anything.

The silence wasn’t just strange. It was pointed.

Your stomach twinged.

You tried to shake it off, slipping your phone into your jacket pocket just as Lois returned from ordering.

"Two coffees, one iced tea," she said, sliding into the booth beside you with a tray. "And one ridiculous sandwich for Jimmy because he refuses to accept normal portion sizes."

“I need the protein,” Jimmy defended, squeezing in on the other side. “You don’t know what it takes to carry two cameras and Lois’s drama.”

Lois shot him a glare that could’ve melted metal, and you smiled faintly, grateful for the distraction.

“Anyway,” Jimmy added, already halfway through his sandwich, “do we think Superwoman’s from this dimension?”

You nearly choked on your drink.

Jimmy had already claimed a table by the window, flipping her notebook open before the menus even hit the table. “Okay, new theory: what if Superwoman is a plant? Like, not from here. An alien.”

Lois snorted. “We’ve already got Omni-Man. You think there’s a whole lineup of them waiting in the wings?”

“Maybe she’s an alien too,” Jimmy said with a shrug. “Or government-grown. Clone? Weirder stuff’s happened.”

“Can we not accuse her of being a government weapon until she’s done something bad?” you mumbled into your drink.

Both of them paused and looked at you.

“What?” you asked, too quickly.

Lois narrowed her eyes, her expression shifting just enough to make your palms sweat.

"You're defending her," she said, almost amused. "Again."

You forced a laugh. “Sorry for not jumping on the paranoia train. She saved a whole building. That’s a point in her favor.”

Lois leaned back. “Just saying... you seem pretty interested in her lately, Kansas.”

Jimmy smirked. “Didn’t know you were into heroes.”

You made a show of rolling your eyes. But your hands stayed curled into fists under the table, nails biting your palms.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

It wasn’t long after you got home from your shift that the front door opened without a knock.

Mark.

You’d given him a spare key months ago, just in case Pa ever needed anything and you couldn’t make it. He promised he’d be there if that ever happened.

Thank goodness it never did. But that key still got plenty of use. Mark used to stop by all the time, inviting himself in like it was second nature. You didn’t mind. Neither did Pa. He always said Mark was “a good one, raised right.” and was practically family by how much he’d visit.

But tonight?

Tonight was different.

Mark shut the door harder than necessary, his expression unreadable except for the tightness in his jaw and the way his didn’t soften when they met yours.

"Was it all just for show?" he asked, flatly. Coldly. Colder than you’d ever heard it directed at you.

You blinked, stunned. “W-what?”

He took a step closer, his voice rising. “Being my friend. Getting close to me. Pretending to be human. Was that all just an act?”

“Was it all fake? What? Were you just working up to the big pitch? Gonna try to convince me to join Viltrum too?”

You stared at him, stunned. “Mark, what the hell are you talking about?”

“You!” he snapped, jabbing a finger toward you. “You—you stood there last night, in a cape, flying. Like him. Like them. And you didn’t say anything.”

“Who’s them?” you asked, quieter than you meant to, your voice cracking.

“Oh, stop pretending.” Mark laughed. It wasn’t kind. “What’s next? You going to ask me to join Viltrum too?”

Your heart stopped.

“What are you talking about?” you breathed again, trying to hold your ground, even as your pulse pounded in your ears.

“Everything! You lied to me!” Mark’s voice cracked, filled with anger and betrayal. “All this time, and you never said a word. Then you, Superwoman, just show up out of nowhere—”

“Mark.” You tried to keep your voice steady, but even to your ears, it sounded fragile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Stop lying!” Mark shouted, his voice echoing off the apartment walls.

“I’m not!” you snapped, your own voice rising despite yourself. “I—I don’t even know what the hell Viltrum is! I don’t know why you’re so angry—”

“Because you’re an alien lying to my face!” he yelled, taking a step forward.

“I’m not! I mean—” you hesitated, your throat closing up, “I am an alien, but I have no clue what you’re talking about!”

Mark stared at you, chest heaving. “So what, you just conveniently left out that you’re not human? That you’re bulletproof? That you fly?!”

You looked away, guilt slicing deep. “Because I don’t know who I am. I—I don’t know.”

And once you started, it was like the dam broke.

“That’s why I left home. I came to Earth in this ship, but there was nothing in it but me. This time, when it activated, I got some insane vision of this man, but I couldn’t understand any of it. It was all fragmented, jumbled. And when I came to, I was in that suit, and—”

Your voice cracked. You swallowed hard.

“Good people help people,” you said quietly, eyes dropping to the floor. “If I can do the things I can, why wouldn’t I?”

Your words felt like shattered glass in your throat. You didn’t expect them to fix anything, but at least they were true.

Mark let out a long breath through his nose, the fire behind his eyes finally dimming. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at you with a mixture of caution and something close to regret.

“You really have no idea?” he asked, more gently this time.

“None.”

Mark sank down onto the edge of the couch, elbows on his knees, his shoulders sagging. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t have come in like that. I thought you were… something else. Someone else.”

“It’s fine. I get it. I probably would’ve been—” You stopped yourself mid-sentence, blinking as a realization crept in. You turned to Mark with a confused look. “The picture in the paper didn’t show my face. Jimmy and Lois didn’t see me clearly either, so how did… you…”

Your voice trailed off as you stepped closer, narrowing your eyes at him.

Mark’s ears turned red almost immediately.

You stared, studying his face. “Wait… no. No way.”

A second passed.

Then it clicked. A bit embarrassingly slow, but undeniable.

You gasped, eyes wide. “Mark. You’re—”

#kryptonian reader #invincible x reader #invincible x you #mark grayson x reader #mark grayson x you #softer than steel

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slowd1ving · 11 months ago

Note

Hello can u write a Dokja x Medusa!male!reader please

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR GORGON ゜゜・KIM DOKJA

'You listening, Dokja? Maybe if you followed the guides for dealing with intelligent species like this one, you wouldn't be in such a stupid mess.' yall think aegis can be used as a different sort of barrier?!?! sorry anon this is less mythology centric than i planned icl art by @ 1L9l2Aa8UCL0IGJ (blackbox) on x! pairing: kim dokja + male reader warnings: canon typical danger, mentions of self-sacrifice wc: 2.9k

ORV MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

There exist several unspoken rules when interacting with the particularly volatile species integrated onto Planetary System 8612. Most ‘monsters’ are unable to effectively communicate with the main intelligent species in the domes, thus are doomed for imminent slaughter. However, exceptions like the catalyst behind these reports must be treated with particular regard.

Guidelines will serve you well in the coming days, reader. If you’ve accessed these reports, it probably means the days are bleak and you’ve encountered one of these species. One thing is for certain; if you are reading this, you will survive your encounter with a gorgon.

< Observation log, section 1 > (Relative Earth time 21/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDING

‘Rule number one: if possible, do not engage with a gorgon. Though, considering your perusal of these records, it seems this was not successful on your end. Better luck next time!’

‘Sooyoung-ah, don’t be ru—’

Avoidance was always a good policy when it came to the apocalypse. It saved time, toil, and lives—much like a vaccine helped one bypass a virus. But one couldn’t rely on it entirely; neither vaccine nor evasion was infallible after all.

‘If they were, these records would not need to exist.’

And for humans, their biggest hamartia was their ignorance. Nerve cells could only do so much to detect dangerous stimuli and trigger a reflex for flight. If the hazard was less obvious, much more innocuous, then the poor human would only be wading into quicksand if they weren’t smart enough. Right before getting devoured.

‘Of course that squid was the blind one who got us into this mess.’

Just like these unspoken rules, it was de facto that Kim Dokja was unlucky. Unfortunate. Ill-destined. However you chose to put it, the man was born under a cursed star, which meant that the stranger sitting across from him in the park was naturally part of his jinx as well.

“What are you staring at?” Unlike the squid wearing his stupidly pristine coat, the man sitting on the bench facing him appeared to be a student: civilian wear and a lanyard still around your neck, like you’d frozen in time these past few months. Glasses rested on your nose, which you pushed up each time they slipped—even if they moved only minutely.

Perhaps you were nervous, but the caustic indifference in your tone suggested it was an unlikely possibility.

“Ah, sorry. I have a habit of looking at interesting people,” he laughed your question off, but the lack of information on you, coupled with the fact he didn’t recognise who you were, gave him the answer he needed. You weren’t a part of the original novel. “Uh, it’s a nice park, isn’t it? Lovely statues.”

You glanced at the reader, unimpressed. Just like that handsome bastard, there was that same impassive scowl plastered on your face. But as soon as he’d mentioned the sculptures scattered around this surprisingly lush pocket of Seoul, your face had softened somewhat.

“Art major?” he probed, for there was something about your gaze that drew words from his mouth. Or perhaps it was just how surreal this scene was: someone enjoying the park like anyone before the paid service began, just some guy taking a breather from classes with a thick, bound book beside him.

A ballpoint pen, rather than a sword or any other weapon. Blue ink, instead of bloody atrament.

You were a part of this world, yet detached from it all.

“No, chemistry,” you said. Deadpan, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m specialising in geochemistry. Rocks, soil, minerals. Humans do so underappreciate what goes on beneath their feet.”

Specialising. Present tense. Not specialised.

Humans: like you were utterly detached from anyone and everyone.

His breath caught in his throat.

The urging of constellations reminded him of just the situation he was in—about to run out of time in this sub-scenario, where hordes of monsters would soon swarm. Right in this very park.

“Listen, you’ll need to get out of here soon—there’s going to be swarms of insect-like creatures here in, uh, five minutes give or take. You’ll be in danger if you can’t fight,” he swallowed. A look of disdain flickered in your eyes, and his head throbbed with how much your expressions resembled that sunfish bastard’s. You’re the idiot, your brows indicated, while the set of your mouth held only one question: who said I couldn’t fight? In the same strand of thinking, the sudden curdle of your shoulders—hunched, guarded—seemed to gesture and who are you to tell me that?

‘If only you knew back then.’

In short, you could fight. You could fight, and you were absolutely terrifying to watch.

“Aegis,” you whispered, and the statues seemed to continue in susurration with you as the air warped in on itself. Dokja was thrown back by the shockwave as the space rippled—all in time for the main guests of the sub-scenario to arrive.

Insect mutations.

They crashed right into the distortions. A barrier. You’d set up an impenetrable defence in less time it took for him to draw breath, only for him to keel over behind you instead. Wow. Okay. He could still work with that.

“What are you—”

“Silence.” It would’ve stung less if you just told him to shut up instead, but from the very get-go you were never particularly nice. Kind? Somewhat, in the sense you’d viewed him as some useless, bumbling fool that would be better off behind the translucent shield you’d conjured. But nice? No, from the very beginning, you were never nice.

‘Deserved.’

That was fine. Bearable. Still in the realms of believability.

For Kim Dokja, the shock came after watching your hand raise to your face to slip your glasses off. From the back, he could no longer see the stern expression you no doubt wore. But he wasn’t focused on your face, but rather the warmth of the day instantly seeping from the molecules.

Time itself froze, and the insects did too.

No one breathed, and not a singular sound rang out—save something hissing. A tire, perhaps, but nobody was fool enough to simply drive cars during the apocalypse.

Then came the stirring of your clothes. It was a breeze only you felt, rippling and undulating until your hair moved too. Except it wasn’t the wind that hissed, nor was it the wind that wafted the coils. No, they twisted into thicker, scaly locks—snake-like, except these were snakes suddenly attached to your head. It was no longer a simile, nor was it a metaphor.

You had fucking snakes in your hair.

His breathing was shallow; in the sudden frigid climate, those puffs crystallised and condensed in small white clouds.

And what of those insects?

His eyes flicked back to the ground shakily, to where the arthropods lay crumbling. Statues, like the ones he’d complimented brief minutes ago. Pearlescent marble—no, stone. Your glasses were still grasped tight in your hand, and he knew if you turned to meet his wide-eyed stare he’d be next. But, alas—

“Who… are you?”

‘And this is how Kim Dokja put his foot in his mouth and demonstrated his exceptionally poor luck.’

< Observation log, section 2 > (Relative Earth time 24/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDING

‘Rule number two: do not stare into the eyes of a gorgon. Don’t even look, except for when there are protective measures in place. Case one: a blindfold. Case two: glasses, which he literally wears every minute of the day save for when he’s sleeping. Dokja, do not sneak up on the man when he’s sleeping.’

‘Dokja, you suck.’

It wasn’t often you let down your guard, with writhing, clawing humans nonetheless. Pointing fingers to find the monsters under their beds and threatening their cities—when in fact it was their bellicose faults that doomed them. A self-made end, a fitting conclusion for the snake that bites its own tail. If you had ever been human once, these people shared more blood with the beasts than they thought.

Point was: you didn’t particularly care for those who appeared to be like you. Bodies, soft and squishy from a life coddled in cities; smiles duplicitous and more monstrous than any snarl; and their thoughts, often more heinous than any demon. And despite their sins, they’d meander in life wrapped in the bliss of self-ignorance. Dead in their varying morals like shrouds of far-too different cloths.

In this, no human was the same. This was the philosophy that alienated yourself from your sisters.

This was also the philosophy that landed you in a warm, damp place—completely dark with something poking at your cheeks. Correction—even through the thin membrane and slightly thicker skin that covered your eyes, there appeared to be a dim redness seeping into the edges of blackness. It seemed your blood vessels were alit by some foolish beastling. Almost like the golden chariot was prancing afore your eyes, except only Aeos of the Dawn was trotting along your lash line with a proud toss of his shrunken head.

Your fingers twitched inside your sleeping bag, but you forced a deep breath in before you could hear any hissing.

Actually, you knew exactly who was prodding at your cheek with a frigid index finger; the faint brush of his scent gave him away almost instantaneously.

“Kim Dokja. Are you an idiot?” you ground out, eyes still tightly shut to avoid turning this fool to stone. “I’ve already agreed to travelling with your circus, so I’d prefer you refrain from getting petrified.”

“You really do sound like him when you’re irritated,” he let out with a suppressed snort.

“Aegis,” you whispered, and the impertinent hand ceased its movements.

The barrier was not, in fact, activated.

“Gave me a bit of a fright there,” he swallowed. “I just wanted to say, it’s fine if you open your eyes.”

“No,” you deadpanned. Though you couldn’t see the expression, you could feel your facial muscles twitch into an impassive wall. “Don’t involve me with your stupid plans to kill yourself off.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he corrected himself. Were all humans like this when you lived as one? “It just won’t work on me. Me alone, which is why I locked the door so no one could come in.”

“Why?” He was a fool like the rest of them—risking peril for a glimpse of cursed eyes. Like all of man, his hubris rested heavy on his shoulders.

“I just want to see your smug face without any glasses.”

“You’re looking at it presently,” you argued. Though your ire was evident with your furrowed brows, he didn’t relent. Where was that puny man who’d trembled behind you at the sight of insects? More importantly, how had he changed so quickly?

“With your eyes open,” he clarified. He was more insane than anyone you’d ever met.

“Does it really make a difference?” you stalled. “How can you be sure you won’t suffer the effects as every other human and beast does?”

“You care about me that much?”

It was a quiet question. A tentative venture into teasing, yet strangely vulnerable.

“You worried?” he echoed. It was a weak aegis of his own, already prepared to accept your scoff and firm no.

“Fool.” Both the skin eyelids and the thin membrane unsheathed haunting irises. You already knew what you’d see in them—a milky sort of quality to their natural colouring, even without the extra membrane. Slit pupils dilated minutely at the sight of him, and his breath caught in his throat as you gazed upwards, unblinking.

Fool. The word echoed in his mind, an answer to his question but not at the same time.

I’m not worried.

Peering, your claws gently grazed his face: almost a kiss, if a kiss left a slight sting behind.

“I’m always worried about you, Kim Dokja,” you murmured, and it was perhaps then that his heartbeat grew erratic. Staring into those pretty eyes of yours with your thumb tenderly swiping across his flushed cheekbones, it was no wonder he could taste his very pulse. “Remember our first meeting?”

“How could I forget?”

A back facing his hunched form, more dependable than the shield spreading and curling beneath your mighty palms. Snakes coiling down your back, but there was nothing scary about how they swayed like ribbons in the sunset. And finally those eyes, directly protecting him from the swarms of insects.

No, perhaps it was then when the thrum of the organ grew somewhat more rapid.

‘Glad you realised.’

< Observation log, section 3 > (Relative Earth time 03/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPTION OF RECORDING

‘Rule number three: do not feed the snakes. Do not feed the snakes, Dokja. DO NOT FEED THE GODDAMN SNAKES.’

“Is Kim Dokja a masochist?”

The question, like most questions, came out of the blue. Such an innocuous, casual tone veiled your usual clipped syllables that Han Sooyoung found herself seriously internalising your words, before—

“What— koff— huh?” she spluttered against the sudden taste of her lemon candy, expression turning troubled, then incredulous.

“Does he take pleasure in torturing himself?” you clarified, as though it were a matter of comprehension rather than tact.

‘I knew what a masochist was! Why would he ask that?’

“If it’s Dokja, probably,” she coughed finally. Honestly, she’d pondered this very question herself—staring deadpan at the numerous deaths he’d experienced by his own plans. “Uh, just so we’re clear, why do you ask?”

“Is it normal to try to feed my snakes?” Definitely not.

“That… idiot did what?” she stared at the resident gorgon with quite the perplexed expression, but soon regained her composure. “No, not particularly. Are they… venomous?”

“Yes. Very much so. Please tell him to quit.”

Yet, despite all the half-hearted chidings of you and Sooyoung alike, your little snakes were beginning to grow fat and affectionate towards the man. You could feel something fundamental begin to shift, and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling.

< Observation log, section 4 > (Relative Earth time 14/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPTION OF RECORDING

‘Rule number four: gorgon venom should not be ingested. If you are Kim Dokja, this applies perhaps most poignantly to you. You may be immune to its effects for whatever reason, but the venom is a nightmare to get out of clothing. Thanks.’

“An experiment?”

Kim Dokja’s face didn’t change from his usual, vaguely blurred visage; but it wasn’t like snakes had particularly good eyesight regardless. “Yes. Would you be up for it?”

You’d agreed on a whim. Why the experiment was to take place in a closed room, you didn’t particularly know. Maybe humans encountering an apocalypse had special customs to adhere to. “I am familiar with experimental protocol in laboratories and practicals.”

“Would you like to help me upgrade my poison-immunity skill?”

You’d initially refused outright—struck dumb at how recklessly he treated his life. Every time you thought he was a fool, he proved himself even more foolish—a crazed endeavour if you ever saw it.

Gorgon poison. Released in more diluted doses from the snakes on you, concentrated particularly in the bone-white fangs in your mouth. Like a vampire, Yoo Sangah had excitedly noted: much too excitedly for your liking.

Bite me, he asked you.

A pale wrist was held out cautiously in front of him. The air was no longer mere air, but an ancient altar dedicated to this sacrifice. Thus, you were the priest for this rite once more, but this time the ram carried the bronze knife itself.

He’s an idiot, you seethed, yet you were too.

For you suggested a less painful way of transferring venom, but he agreed. For you gently clasped his chin with razor sharp talons skimming the dermis of his throat, but he melted pliantly in your hands. For you leaned in with softened eyes, but his own simply fluttered shut in anticipation.

You surged, pressing him against the cold cement of the wall. Air was robbed from his lungs as he gasped, but rather than pulling back his warm, human hands merely wrapped around your nape to meld your body against his.

Why did his hands shake so? Was this not just an experimental procedure dedicated to strengthening a human?

Despite your analytical mind, your eyes closed too—both membrane and skin—and you savoured the lingering taste of the meaty dinner he’d eaten, and the underlying flavour of him. Hot blood pumped beneath his fragile oral mucosa; your greedy, long tongue prodded his own to find just where his pulse thrummed the strongest.

Ah, fuck, he thought dumbly; sloppily making out with you in a forgotten room was not how he’d envisioned this night, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

Even as he winced with sharp pain when your fangs cut his lips, he couldn’t pull back—objective achieved but long forgotten. Those pesky, wandering hands of his clung onto your body when his head canted: deepening the kiss rather than wrapping up his poison exposure.

Iron tainted his mouth. Dripping past the seams of desperate lips was the crimson mixture of blood and venom, dripping onto his sweater and corroding the very threads—yet Kim Dokja both did not notice and did not particularly care.

But all good things came to an end. The two of you were met with an extremely exasperated Han Sooyoung at the door as she gave you a look, one that implied I expected better from you. For Dokja, the reserved expression was I expected this, to be honest.

‘PDA is not appreciated during the apocalypse. Take that shit elsewhere.’

‘Thus, these reports can be summarily concluded in two points of advice:

1. Unless you are Kim Dokja, do not attempt any of these activities with a gorgon.

2. Simply don’t do what Kim Dokja does.’

#slowd1ving #res ･ﾟ writing #x reader #x male reader #ask slowd1ving #male reader #orv #orv x reader #orv x male reader #omniscient reader's viewpoint x reader #omniscient reader's viewpoint #omniscent reader #omniscient reader x reader #reader squared or smt #kim dokja #kim dokja x reader #kim dokja x male reader #kdj x reader #kdj x male reader

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snepril · 2 years ago

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We had our first session today (not counting Session 0), and I figured I'd be remiss not to mention how things went!

Most of my players are inexperienced or completely new to Lancer, so I wanted our first mission to be a safe chance to experiment and learn. Narratively, it took the form of a VR training mission - one last evaluation before they're sent into real combat. This also gave me some flexibility - by limiting this to a single mission before a resupply, I was able to hurt my players a bit more than if they needed to stay in fighting shape... or at least, that was the plan.

My players handled themselves better than I expected! They worked together, covered each other's weaknesses, and even though I didn't allow core powers (to "better simulate real-world combat conditions"), they managed to carve through to the objective without anyone taking structure damage - although they did come close a couple times.

The real MVP of this mission was a sniper NPC. It never even fired its weapon, but my players spent the entire encounter terrified of the little red dot of death. It was unexpected, and made me realize there were a lot of very fun ways to torment challenge my players without even dealing a single point of damage. All in all, everyone had fun and I'd say it went pretty well!

Hi Vex! First time Lancer GM planning the start of our campaign. I've recently learned that all of my players plan on piloting HORUS mechs, and you seemed like a good person to ask: how scared should I be, and do you know any good ways to mess with them as payback (narratively or mechanically)?

First of all: thank you so much for buying my campaign and running it! You have no idea how gratifying it is to see people enjoying something that I made.

Second, a disclaimer: remember that as a GM, you are here to challenge your players and provide them with a fun experience, not to actually fuck them up or kill their mechs and stuff.

With that disclaimer out of the way, here's how you fuck with an-all HORUS team.

Heat. With the exception of the Manticore and the Pegasus, HORUS mechs tend to have low heat cap, which they compensate for by having above-average E-Def to protect them from invades. But Invade isn't the only way to spike a player's heat. The Aegis' Ring of Fire, the Cataphract's Capacitor Discharge, the Hornet's HEX Missiles, the Mirage's Manifest False Idols, the Pyro's Explosive Vent and Napalm Launcher, the Rainmaker's Hades Missiles and the Scout's System Flayer all deal Heat that doesn't interact with E-Def.

Low Armor. With the exception of the Manticore, no HORUS mech has more than 1 Armor, and most have 0. This means that they can't ignore Reliable damage as easily, and low-damage attacks are more meaningful.

Melee. With the exception of the Balor, HORUS mechs prefer to engage at range: the Gorgon and Manticore at CQB range, the Lich, Kobold and Minotaur at mid range, and the Hydra, Goblin and Pegasus at long range. While some of these mechs can easily be fitted for melee combat, none of them have equipment packages or traits that spec for it like IPS-N and SSC mechs do.

High E-Def. There are a lot of HORUS mechs that like to Invade, and several weapons in their equipment packages that have the Smart tag, meaning they roll against E-Def instead of Evasion. Enemies with high E-Def include the Bombard, Hive, Mirage, Priest, Scout and Witch.

Hope this helps!

#lancer #first time GM #ttrpg #honorable mention goes out to that little Aegis #little guy held the line against the entire PC squad #he will be memorized

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germesthegenie · 4 months ago

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Seriously what was this guy’s problem

Been wanting to do a drawing with how I imagine Victoria’s fear aura to look like and this arc gave a good opportunity for that. Thoughts on the arc itself below

Ended up with a lot of thoughts this arc so doing this now rather than waiting for Arc 9. Also started writing more of these comments as I read rather than after the chapter/arc.

Arc 8

Looking at the audiobook and thought, Chapters at a reasonable length? Maybe?

Yay Defiant and Dragon!

I liked the little scene of Victoria asking about Armsmaster’s plan during the Leviathan fight in the context of her family’s deaths. Usually thought about if Aegis got killed as collateral damage from the luring plan and how Defiant felt about that now, kinda forgot Manpower was also there

Huh yeah kinda funny how tinker personalities divide like that. Some of these segments of Victoria’s narration do feel a bit rambly or tangential (sometimes kinda feels like WB taking any opportunity to expand the worldbuilding on powers) but at the same time can be fun and highlight how Victoria’s more of a cape nerd to Taylor’s power munchkin

“Wow Kenzie you sure know a lot about lead poisoning!” “Thanks I researched it a lot” … :(

More things building up for Capricorn’s story. Guessing he’s our next focus this arc or the next? Having to timeshare a body with contrasting personalities does sound like it’d suck, even moreso with the sexuality stuff

Damn Monokeros is creepy. Casually having Birdcage tier capes sitting in the same prison as lesser criminals, especially ones with that strong of a Master power, is probably the biggest flaw of the prison system here. Not to mention it being accessible enough to be the target of any capable masterminds in need of minions it seems. I forget, did Khepri or Scion collapse the Birdcage or something to that effect? Or is it just because it’s on Earth Bet that they don’t use it anymore?

Kenzie highlighted the main theme of Breakthrough’s powers: They almost all have incredibly strong and potentially deadly powers, but for one reason or another they hold back, for the most part because they’re heroes. It’s interesting, but also makes me wonder how things will go when they face a threat they can go all out on (like an Endbringer tier or someone with a kill order)

Finally got to see the whole “everyone jumps the rulebreakers” thing Tattletale talked about in the whole cops and robbers talk way back in Worm, at least for smaller time rulebreakers and not S Class threats.

Also still reinforces my thought that Prancer is essentially a more villainous Skitter from an outside perspective. The Undersiders were playing pretty loose with the Unwritten Rules as well by the end of things

Cryptid continues to get weirder and more horrifying what do you mean he has a form that gives birth

(8.7) Wretch, kill Monokeros with hammers please. And Kenzie please don’t internalize what the creepy child killer thinks.

I’ve only had the Major Malfunctions for 1 chapter and if anything happened to them I would kill everyone in this room and then Carol

Ok actually Carol is being kinda cool here… how is she gonna mess this up? Aside from the probably unintentional bit where she assumed Tristan was straight

(8.9) The little secret the group’s keeping from Victoria… I’m guessing its Wretch related or Amy related

“We’re gonna show everyone we can handle PR” ok cool how will you do that Vic- “by telling everyone what happened in Gold Morning” what

(8.11) This is feeling like a high stakes version of 25.4… This won’t end with a 7th Endbringer, right? /j

(8.11) These hosts could never be O, J, and Koffi like they are just all kinds of awful.

That said, it makes sense Victoria is better with PR than Taylor, given New Wave basically depends on PR

Speaking of, Taylor mention! Love the ascension of her rep to “traumatized literally everyone”, and not even using bugs to do it. Wonder how she’d react to that if she somehow learned about it on Aleph.

(8.12) Actually can a 7th Endbringer show up and kill Hamza and John Combs? What the hell is their problem

Between these guys and the Martins, by comparison Carol might actually not be that bad- wait Carol what are you doing

(8.12) Oh ok that’s where Carol messes it all up. Sees Victoria forced to confront her trauma in front of thousands and went “How can I make this about Amy 😈”

Granted, Amy was kinda dragged into the spotlight as well with all that. Fuck Hamza, seriously. Still, not now Carol.

(8.12)…Speaking of. Well damn Amy didn’t realize you had game like that.

(8.x) Please take all of Kenzie’s suffering and give it to Hamza and John Combs

Awkward girl who thinks of herself as weird? Surprising calm confidence in dangerous situations? Incredibly down bad narration around a specific guy? Close enough, Natalie. Welcome back Arc 1-7 Taylor /j

Hookline and Kitchen Sink losing to an untrained civilian and a mostly techless Tinker they are never living this down 😭

(8.y) Every fanfic with Scapegoat in it should have him just randomly keel over with injuries from another Scapegoat’s healing (ik thats not how it works but it’d be funny)

Gotta love power synergies, even if it’s Teacher exploiting them. Also Valefor really does just keep winning (in terms of getting to use his power, probably not gonna be winning as Teacher’s thrall)

Dinah mention?? What’s she up to now?

And a Contessa mention. Not liking that Teacher has plans for her.

#wardblr #parahumans #wildbow #ward spoilers #worm spoilers #fanart #victoria dallon #antares #im not tagging these hosts they suck #might do another post about how i visualize victoria’s aura / other powers in my head #worlds slowest ward liveblog #i mean i got through this arc pretty fast #but its what ive been tagging it so anyway

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charlataninred · 11 months ago

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Out of curiosity, have you heard Black Fox by Heather Dale?

I hadn’t before, but I’m listening to it right now anon! It’s going on my fox playlist :3 and if anyone else has fox-related songs feel free to send them in bc that playlist it quite small at the moment

#it mostly songs I listen to that happen to mention a fox at least once #ignore how this ask is like a month old oops #aegis talks to the void

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ggukkiedae · 3 months ago

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how did bts react when they found out about the breakup?? also happy ur back!!!

hi! thank you so much, i'm glad to be back! i'm honestly so excited to start writing again, ive been out of inspiration and motivation but i'm slowly getting into the groove of things again~

okay so since the boys were all in the military at the time, yoonmi told the boys that she and mark broke up through a message in the group chat. this is how they reacted:

jin immediately asked her if there was anything she needed. he felt guilty that he couldn't be there, so he ordered her favorite food for her and had it sent to her apartment right then and there. he'd make sure to send her a little joke every night after that because he wants to make sure she ends her day with a smile

yoongi's dad mode turns on and he is the first to text her privately since he sees her message right away. "you okay, princess?" he keeps it short and simple, knowing she'll open up when she's ready. as soon as he has spare time from his civil service, he calls her to let her talk about how she felt and what happened and carefully answers in a way where he shows he understands her and that he's there for her always.

hobi spams the group chat immediately. "are you okay?" "what happened, makdungie?" "did he hurt you?" "do you need us?" his worry is obvious. knowing she's prone to neglecting herself when she's upset, he sends her a long message privately reminding her that she's still the brightest like and no heartbreak can take that away from her. then he sends her cute little animal videos to cheer her up

namjoon, ever the doting leader, reminded her that it's okay to grieve over something that was so important in her life for six years. he also reminds her that she's not alone, she had him, the boys, her brothers and sister, and her friends to support her. although he was worried, he made sure to maintain a calm and stable presence she can lean on, even through the phone

jimin turns to their private messages, sending her voice messages. "hey, aegi, i hate that i can't be there with you right now. i'd give you the tightest hug ever. but know that you deserve better than someone who'd let you go, okay? lean on us, message us when you want to, we're always here for you". he puts together a care package with her favorite snacks and random comfort things labelled "for our princess"

taehyung sees her message and decides to go simple. he responds "i'm sorry, aegi. we love you". he curates a playlist of comforting songs leading into uplifting songs and sends it to her. aside from that, he waits for her to reach out first since he doesnt want to overwhelm her. when she does reach out, he sits patiently, reading her messages as she explains further in depth and just reminds her. "i'm here. i'm listening"

jungkook takes the breakup personally. that's his ride or die, essentially his twin. he messages "what did he do." none of his usual emojis or text nuances, showing how angry he is with mark. he messages haechan "tell him it's hiss loss." then inmediately applies for a leave for just a day (which is already a lot from the military). but while waiting for that, he spends his designated phone time at night on call with her, making her feel better because he would not rest until she felt okay. if there even is one mention of mark, all he'd say is "his loss. always." then move on, keeping him off her mind

#ask.yoonmi #yoonmi.markmi #it's been a year since markmi broke up #kinda miss them but it's a new chapter in yoonmi's life #bts 8th member #yoonmi #miya #kim yoonmi #bts female menber #bts female addition

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veebs-hates-video-games · 1 year ago

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I keep telling myself I'm going to do the Unicorn Overlord post and then not doing it, and it's just getting further and further from recent memory. Usually I like to let stuff sit for at least a couple days so it can bounce around in my head a little and I can sort out what I thought, but lately that hasn't been helping, and especially not with this one.

It's weird because while I was playing it it was one of my favorite games in a while. It does so many things so well and has so little friction to play for a little while, then play a little more, then just keep playing, because there's always something you can be doing, and there are always things available ranging from only taking a couple minutes to needing most of an hour commitment. It's very easy to "just one more turn" it for a few hours.

And yet when I'm not actively playing it it's just no thoughts head empty. I don't get it.

The story isn't the most memorable, especially not after Vanillaware's previous game, 13 Sentinels, but it was still pretty enjoyable and did its job giving reasons and motivations for what you're doing. I liked a lot of the characters and their interactions, enough that I unlocked all the support rapport conversations for everyone. The music's pretty good and the art is gorgeous, as is expected from them. They've continued to improve on their particular flavor of console-based RTS-with-pause, and it feels great to play.

But I'm really having to dig all these thoughts out of my memory because when I'm not playing it I hardly think about it. It's one of my favorite games I've played this year and doesn't seem like it's made that much of a lasting impression. I spent like 90 hours on it doing literally everything except for the extra postgame/online arena stuff (beyond just unlocking Amalia), and it's just like...bwoop, guess we're done with using that part of my brain, time to free up that space for something else now.

I do remember one funny thing from near the end though. I ended up playing on the second highest difficulty, and there was enough challenge to keep me actively engaged with it, but it never felt particularly hard to me. Turns out there's a tutorial popup about how to lose the game if you let an enemy unit get too close to your base with no one guarding it. I had it pop up on literally the last possible map before the final boss, and the only reason it did then was because I couldn't be bothered to move someone back there when I knew the win condition would trigger a few seconds before the lose condition. 90 hours in is a bit late for the tutorial to still be going, but sure why not.

Anyway it's a great game and probably still one of my two favorites I've played so far this year (we'll see how it settles after I go back and finally do the actual final best ending of the final route in Jack Jeanne for real this time, which is definitely my favorite for just my first run of the Kisa route and definitely not my favorite for every other run after that doing every other route), even if it seems to be specifically designed to slide right off my brain.

#unicorn overlord #mentioned:#13 sentinels: aegis rim #jack jeanne

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jinnie-ret · 11 months ago

Text

MY YOUTH | SKZ NINTH AU

stray kids x ninth member!reader (platonic)

<---------- back to my youth

<---------- back to main masterlist

chapter 5

genre: fluff, tiny angst content warnings: small mention of grief

word count: 1.2k

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

March 25th 2019

Lou couldn't thank the gods above enough that she had been transported two years prior to the world she was living in her home universe. It certainly benefitted her that she was already familiar with the Miroh choreography, and the fact she needed help with fine-tuning particular moves played to her advantage considering this version of her struggled with dance too. Maybe they weren't that different after all.

"Lou, you ready?" Minho asked softly, putting his hands on her shoulders and trying to capture her attention.

"Yeah! Yeah..." Lou nodded but the expression on her face didn't change.

"Don't think too much about the choreo, hm? It's automatic by now," he reminded her before guiding her to the group huddle.

He was right. Even though they had cheered each other on and hyped everyone up before finding their starting poses on stage with a 'hwaiting', the nerves still lingered. That was until the first notes of Miroh played and it was like a switch went off in her head, adrenaline suddenly flowing within her as she felt her face morph into exciting expressions, her body move sharply and softly when needed, and of course her gorgeous singing voice during the bridge of the song. It was when Chan normally sang, she noted to herself.

Stays cheered ecstatically after their performance, excited to see the boys and Sunny before their very eyes. Yes, she was Sunny here, and just Louisa back in her home universe. She was sure she even saw faint glimpses of her other self practising the Miroh choreography in her bedroom at home.

Thankfully that adrenaline was still present in her mind like autopilot, and that's what got her through the awkward backstage interviews. It was either that or Chan doing most of the talking as their leader.

She still found it crazy that Chan was her leader too.

A staff member came up to them as they sat down to recooperate, turning to Jeongin and Lou first.

🔴📹

"It was so fun, so it wasn't really hard at all," Jeongin grinned as usual to the camera for SKZ Talker.

"Speak for yourself," Lou said with her eyes squinting at the other maknae, whilst she was leant back against the wall.

"You didn't enjoy it?" Chan questioned intrigued, ruffling her hair.

"I'm joking, Bang Chan," Lou used an informal tone, exaggerating her voice weirdly, which got a laugh out of Seungmin and Stays in the future when they'd watch the vlog.

•NEW CLIP• 🔴📹

"Talker wake up," Changbin cooed at the camera sweetly.

"Just shout at them, I'm sure they'll hear your voice," Lou earnestly nodded, not one ounce of a mean tone present. She meant it as a compliment of course, it was truly impressive what the dwaekki could do with his voice. Yet the boys still thought she dissing Changbin and let out an 'ohhhhh' and clapped their hands laughing.

"Yahhh, why are you doing that I meant Changbin has a loud voice and knows how to use it!" Lou huffed, rolling her eyes, making Han pat her head and poke her cheek to get a smile out of her. He was quickly successful in his efforts, the aegi sun never not smiling for too long.

"Aish I knew Sunny wouldn't be mean to me," Changbin let out a cheer and did a little happy dance in front of her, wiggling his hips.

•NEW CLIP• 🔴📹

On the way back to the dorms, Lou was sat at the back of the car between her 'parents' Han and Minho, whilst Hyunjin and Felix were sat in the row in front of them. Chan, Changbin, Seungmin and Jeongin had taken another car back.

"Next time we ask you to provide the harmony stay," Minho pointed righteously towards the camera Hyunjin was holding to record the chaos of the car.

All it took was Han starting a note and then a nudge in the shoulder to Lou to gesture her to keep going. It made her jump but she nodded enthusiastically before a beautiful harmony filled the car. Amazingly, they both purposefully went out of tune at the same time making everyone burst into giggles.

"I got to host today with Seungminnie..." Felix began talking to the camera next to Hyunjin, but Lou was much more preoccupied with taking Han's snacks for herself and passing them to Minho at the same time.

❎📹

Finally the cars arrived at the dorm, dropping the kids off, and with the reunion outside the cars came a race between the youngest two to the front door, Chan facepalming as he led the others more calmly.

When they all got there however, Lou and Jeongin were stood confused at the parcel with some orange flowers attached to it.

"Woah what's this?" Hyunjin picked it up curiously, Seungmin stood at his side as they scanned it for a label.

"Oh it's for Sunny," Seungmin voiced what he spotted.

That gave perfect opportunity for Hyunjin to use his height against the young girl and hold the parcel way above his own head so that there was no chance that she would be able to reach it herself.

"Hyunjin! Heyyy! I will vandalise your room again," Lou threatened him yet laughing as she did so.

"Okayyyy, okay," Hyunjin laughed, still taking the threat seriously as he gave her the parcel and they all entered the dorm, sitting around on the sofas and watching eagerly as Lou untied the flowers from the parcel.

"Wah, the flowers, so pretty. I wonder what they are," Felix tilted his head in wonder.

"Marigolds," Lou blinked and said, without even having time to process the thought that seemed to come out of her so quickly it couldn't of possibly been really her. How did she know that?

"How did you know that?" Jeongin seemed impressed.

"I actually don't know," Lou shrugged, feeling impressed herself as she placed the parcel onto her lap and began unwrapping it excitedly. Maybe it was a gift from family or a friend that would give her more information on who she actually had support from other than the boys and some staff in this universe.

Her excitement and curiosity soon dulled down when she realised what was inside the parcel. She felt her heart break, and her eyes welled up without her cognition, struggling to keep her cool as she had nowhere to hide.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" Chan sat up from his sunken spot on the sofa when he saw the tears in her eyes and Hyunjin and Seungmin looking shocked and appalled at the same time.

"Garfield..." Lou sadly trailed off shoving the open parcel on the table and rushing off to her room to try and make sense of her emotions.

"I'll go after her," Minho frowned at the contents of what once was the sentimental cat plushie gifted by Lou's dead mother.

The boys knew how much this would hit their sun. The toy that was the only thing she had left from her mother, and it had been cruelly ripped apart, stuffing hanging out and over the few seams that were still intact. Such effort and care to go into a meticulously wrapped parcel when there was a chaotic wreck inside.

<-- previous chapter next chapter -->

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tagged: @akitfffr @aeinzzzketchup @linoalwaysknows @royal-shinigami @jolly04 @turtledove824 @yangbbokari @thisrandomgoofy15 @lieslab @hannamoon143

a/n so sorry it's been a long time since I've updated this series, but I feel like I've got a good direction for it now and I'm excited to share it with you all :)

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