#I already have the first 4 chapters scripted

[twilightofthesandwiches]

Pretty much as soon as the first Chapter of Deltarune came out, people were pointing out how the ending theme 'Don't Forget' came off as very... double meaning-y. It was ambiguous in a way that it could come off as very comforting and heartfelt or very creepy and threatening depending on how you interpret it.

My prediction (based on just, General Vibes of the kind of narrative I think Toby Fox wants to make) has always been is that both the heartwarming and sinister meanings of the song are True and present in the game. There's gonna be some Stuff happening in the game that will make the lyrics of this song come off as very sinister, but also stuff that make it seem like an honest heartfelt song about friends sticking together.

And I think that's pretty much what's been going on, especially with Chapter 4.

Cause while we already had the light running low, and places that we know turning into fantasy and light quite literally shining in our SOUL, the ending of Chapter 4 brought up one very important piece of lyric that wasn't really accounted for before.

The promise in our hearts.

So "Don't Forget" can be interpreted as a song from the Evil Phone Voice and/or the Knight (it's probably Carol Holiday, but I don't wanna make definitive statements before the whole story is concluded cause Toby might have one or more narrative curveballs up his dog-sleeve) reminding Kris that no matter where they are, even in the depths of the Dark Worlds they are bound by whatever Promise they made to follow Evil Phone Voice's plans.

"Don't forget, I'm with you in the dark" would be especially chilling if Carol is the Roaring Knight (or that it's Dess, 'the promise in our hearts' meaning they are both bound by a promise to Carol). It would be basically the Knight singing "hey you better not try anything funny or go off-script because I can and WILL kick your ass".

But, well... this isn't necessarily the only 'Promise' in this game. There are less 'official' and less sinister promises as well. Like Susie's promise to decorate Ralsei's room, and Ralsei's promise to be more honest with Susie and, well...

"Don't Forget" could also easily be about the promises of friendship between the Three Heroes, and their promises to try and prevent whatever terrible fate the Prophecy has given them, and to be there for each other in the Dark.

Especially when you consider the context for the scene where 'the light inside your SOUL' became very literal

was a very heartfelt scene of the friendship and caring both Susie and Ralsei hold for Kris.

In a way, the two interpretations of 'Don't Forget' kinda represent Kris' dilemma at the end of Chapter 4. They're essentially hearing "don't forget, I'm with you in the dark" from both Susie and the Evil Phone Voice.

[vsa-pieldepapel]

But alas it was not programmed

or an honest to god can't believe i am doing this, is this real life holy shit i am so excited ralsus analysis of chapters 3 and 4

Contains spoilers for both chapters, both main route and secret boss so unless you want everything thoroughly spoiled don't read. Also contains details of chapter 2.

The script dictates the play

Chapter 4 was VERY VERY INTERESTING. I will return to 3 when it comes to minor details on the development of the ralsei/susie relationship, but 4 was what cemented my view on this.

extremely shortly before the new chapters released I did snowgrave for the first time and discovered I am a weenie who can't cope with doing any bad route in toby fox games (i do want to see what happens if you make the fusion item of the thorn ring, so I will let noelle slap me and take it like a champ. im sorry kris). But it also brought forth details I had previously not considered, specifically when Susie goes into Noelle's room.

In chapter 2, if you return to the banner with the ferris wheel once ral and susie are in your party, Ral comments on how Susie must be thinking about her ride with Noelle, and he says this even if you refused to watch the scene take place (which I know because I did exactly that). Susie is not thinking about her ride with Noelle. She's thinking about the etymology of the word Ferris. Ralsei knew this event was going to happen even if he can't send the player to witness it.

When I did Snowgrave, Susie exits the same door she entered. This means there probably was no Ferris Wheel, since it does transport the two of them from a Point A to a Point B in the normal route. Ralsei seems very agitated about this and this is one of the hints we get that was thoroughly reinforced in the new chapters that he knows what events are supposed to take place and he can notice the actions of the player have made the prophecy go off course. He specifically asks Susie what she did with Noelle. My personal take is that since the weird route is you faux-emboldening Noelle by using Kris as a conduit to brainwash her into "taking what she wants" even through aggressive means, that thinking it was all a dream she took what she wanted and kissed Susie. Her refusal to tell Ralsei and then telling Kris she'll let them know later indicates to me that she's probably trying to protect his innocence and/or his feelings. I think Susie felt very cool in that moment and liked that kiss, because it's a boost to her poor self confidence to feel wanted by a pretty girl like Noelle.

Notably in chapter 4 we learn that the prophecy can get incredibly specific with the events that happen within it, down to details like Lancer calling Ralsei "toothpaste boy". Given Ralsei instinctually knows so much about how events are supposed to play out, he absolutely knows about how the relationships between the heroes will develop... which I am convinced is the reason he says "Susie must be thinking about her ride with Noelle".

And then you enter the second temple and find out

LOVE FINDS ITS WAY TO THE GIRL.

Suselle is a foretold event of the prophecy. It's scripted. He is worried about what Susie and Noelle were doing because there was a possibility one of the events that are supposed to happen isn't happening, and susie being vague about it leaves that question unanswered. Love finds its way to the girl, so after the Ferris Wheel he checks that off the To Do List of prophecy events.

Even the way that is phrased, Love finds its Way to the Girl, sets the girl as a passive receiver. I already saw someone say it as Ssuie finding love, but that's not what the prophecy says! The prophecy phrases it as "Love finds its way to the girl"!

That is the reason all of the scenes with Susie and Noelle are so saccharine and inoffensive, they have no conflict or development other than a cutesy but bland hangout. That is why you can simply speed your way past them both times they happen, once by outright skipping the scene, which has no consequences, and one by just touching the breaker and the guitar quickly (you only get all the dialogue if you stay still and wait for a long long fucking time). It is events playing out like they're supposed to play out. It is the trains following the track. I have seen people phrase the ferris wheel and this hangout as evidence that "susie and noelle are obviously intended to be shipped", and it's like, yes, exactly. That is what the prophecy says. That is what the game wants you to think.

But there is a problem

Dragon-shaped wrench

Susie does not do prophecies.

The guts stat is accepted fandomwise to be an indicator of how much the party member is up to defy the player. Susie has always had the highest Guts stat. You have never been able to tell Susie what to do. Susie doesn't do the prophecy the way it is expected.

She recognises the girl with her heart crossed with hope as herself, and she doesnt recognise the statue noelle had in her room as herself. But that Susie is using a sword, and our Susie uses axes because it's cooler. When Ralsei and her argue and make it out of the argument and he promises to be more honest, he states outright that the bows and ribbons are meant to be worn by her, which fits with the fact that she was put into bows as a kid. But Susie is gnc, she doesn't want to do bows, and so she doesn't. She is a hero, and embodies the core features of one, caring and bravery and perseverance, but she's also messy, aggressive, and loud. She is still the Hero of the Girl with her heart crossed with Hope, but she does that her own way.

She does follow the core beats of the prophecy, but at every step there is a twist to it, a subversion, because her will is just that strong.

Even if you explicitly tell Susie to flirt with Noelle in the Ferris Wheel (say something romantic), she doesn't.

Even if you tell Susie that Kris will take Ralsei to the Festival so she can invite Noelle, Ralsei is her first choice. She starts considering Noelle after it is abundantly clear that he cannot be there. She even brings this up in the susie noelle hangout in chapter 4, mentioning explicitly that there's this boy from another school she invited and he couldn't go.

Even then, she only takes Noelle as an affront to Carol, that is the last straw, what convinces her to invite her.

So love finds its way to the girl. But does the girl want it?

Boom Boom get out the way

The ghost of Gerson Boom is the secret boss fight of Chapter 4, a fight you do with Susie and ONLY susie. Considering Gerson is the first character we see shatter the prophecy holograms, which is very clear symbolism for taking things in your own hands, I'm convinced the reason he tests her and the weapon being for her is because Gerson can see that she's the one who has the strongest Guts. That she is the one that can show the gumption to do what he wants the youth to do: Take up the pen and write their own stories. Take fate into their own hands.

The dialogue in the Gerson fight is quite bluntly parallel to the major beats of the chapters, with specific turns of phrase and subversions. Obviously, the heroes don't "stop the dragon" by slaying it; they "stop the dragon" by befriending her and showing her the value of connections with others. Considering that, the fifth chapter onwards is really interesting.

Field of Pink and Gold... Pink and yellow are the colors susie's and Noelle's names and attack numbers show in the Dark World. The garden is burnt by the flames of jealousy. There is so much going on here. You have Kris there, seeing their childhood friend be gooey with their new friend. You have Noelle seeing Kris and Susie bond fast. You have Susie, insecure about the history Kris and Noelle have... You have Susie mentioning "the boy from another school". Often, perhaps. We can't know yet, of course. None of this may be true lol. But it gives me a gut feeling. And after the fifth chapter... Nothing! An open end! And Gerson asks Susie... What does she want? You have the controller, choose what to do

Going back to Susie and Ralsei.

All the way in Chapter 1-2 we have Ralsei being shocked and interested in Susie's impressive will. In the latter though there is an interesting thing he says, admiring her "selfish" tendencies, her just doing what she wants. And now we are seeing--- repeatedly--- that that's not just a seed planted in his head from observing her, but that Susie wants him to exert his will, to be "selfish". She gives him cake, and tells him to eat it all, that he deserves, at the very least, a slice. That he deserves a nice room, like the ones he has given them. Interacting with her across chapter 4 you do see her considering furniture to put in his room.

In chapter 3, if you ask her how she's doing rather than Ralsei, she's still anxious about the dark world not being real, but then she says: I wish Ralsei understood that doesn't matter that much to me. If you ask Ralsei how he's doing, he compels you to buy her some ice cream in his name, because he worries about being insufficient for her, though she desperately wants to have him around to the point she is willing to shatter the Last Prophecy to make it happen.

Contrary to the susie noelle hangout and the ferris wheel, you cannot skip these things, other than the "normal" skip of making text go by really fast. You get to see them argue, you get to see them fight for each other, you get to see Susie telling Ralsei that he can be player one; you see her promise to him that she won't let the Last Prophecy happen, filling him with wanting to live, with wanting to hope!!!, you get to see her invite him to the festival, initiating herself, regardless of what answer you gave her in ch2. Optionally, you can see them playing videogames together, you can see her giving him the cake, though she's very food motivated, you can see her deciding that he needs proper furniture, calling bullshit on his self deprecation, and all the way in chapter 2 you can see her cornered because she finds his face cute...

But Ralsei is not yet selfish.

I think he feels quite tortured. She is so nice "it makes his heart hurt". And I think on some level, this is because he knows that it's not what says in the script. That Susie should be with Noelle, because Love Finds Its Way To The Girl. But now he has all these new ideas... He feels like he can have his own opinions, be his own person. He's told it's okay to be sad. He now has to be, at least, conflicted about his own role versus his wants. And the game is very, very clear that Susie and Ralsei influence each other, often for the betterment of both of them.

Now, has anything explicitly romantic happened yet? No, there is no kiss, and no i love you. But is all that not love? Holding your bloodied hand to the face of someone you care for, an intimate touch to boot, telling him that it will be alright, that you're willing to break fate for his sake? That he will never be left behind? Admitting to finding him attractive and being taken aback by it? Learning his magic and wanting to perfect it? Finding things to make his home a little warmer because you know what it is like to be somewhere empty and sad? Is it not love to want to get someone else to do something nice for her, because you can't do it, as much as you want to? Is it not love to feel your mindset change because this person you care about introduces so many new ideas it makes you feel alive again?

Stories get boring with repetition

Tenna and Gerson actually touch on narratives growing boring and dull when you can predict them. Brother, fucking NO ONE saw ralsei and susie coming because everyone was so fixated on the predictable. Oh, it's alphys and undyne again. Oh, it's definitely gonna happen, just look at the ferris wheel. Meanwhile the story itself states emphatically that you should look beyond what you can initially see. Search, analyse. It was so subtle that I thought it was serendipitous, that toby was too dumb to realise what he was writing. I am beginning to think otherwise, and the wider reaction to it tells me so. It was unpredictable. It was not the story that gets old because it's so repetitive.

And with that I close this rant.

[akanemnon]

So um..................

I know your on a break but uh.. it was bound to happen but I suppose some things don't make sense now in twin runs right like toroiel.?

But also OH MY GOD WHAT A RIDE

What are your thoughts on the new chapters?

I suggest you read this post or the FAQ

Either way Deltarune Chapter 3 and 4 talk under the cut

SOOOOOOO that just happened.

I know the two chapters would be very different in tone, but I didn't think it would be THAT stark of a contrast.

I REALLY did not expect the Roaring Knight to make an appearance that early as Chapter 3. I honestly thought they would make their first appearance in Chapter 4, BUT I'M NOT COMPLAINING. Because WHOOOO that was a ride. I'm quite bad at the game, so I didn't get the shadow mantle before the encounter. But I DID see what happens when you actually go ahead and beat them! That puts so much shit into perspective. Especially with everything that's involving Kris.

I'm sure the fandom is busy putting all the puzzle pieces together and stuff. I know I AM! But it does feel nice to see that my interpretation of their dislike for the Player but outright needing them is pretty accurate. I didn't expect to be smacked with hockey stick, but hey... I getchu Kris. And I am really sorry.

ANOTHER thing I called was how dead people can turn into Darkners when tethered to an object. I feel really vindicated in my writing when I saw that.

Also can we talk about Gerson???? CAN WE TALK ABOUT MOTHERFUCKING GERSON BOOM???? Man, I am SO GLAD he got to shine in chapter 4. His presence in Undertale as a veteran of the human and monster war was already super interesting. And now he is IN THE FRIGGIN SPOTLIGHT AS A MENTOR FIGURE. I AM EATING THIS UP. Also his battle theme is a certified banger.

Oh yeah, speaking of the characters in general, I am SO HAPPY how much growth we got from both Susie and Ralsei in these two chapters. It is so insane how well-written these characters are. IT FEELS SO FUCKING REAL. Man, this is why Toby is such a big inspiration in writing for me. AND I DIDN'T EVEN MENTION TENNA YET????? I swear, when I first saw him I was instantly thinking of all the other Tenna interpretations out there and how they could have NEVER predicted this. And the SPAMTON CONNECTIONS??? These two idolized one another and took so much from each other but could never be the other. That is both sad and hilarious at the same time-

ALSO THE FUCKING TITAN AT THE END????? Now I can see why Toby would've never been able to do Deltarune as his first project. This shit was INSANE /verpos

I could go for hours about this btw. Still finding secrets here and there and rewriting bits from The Other Script as we speak...

[queenofmorningstar]

See You in Hell

Lucifer x f! Overlord Reader

Summary: Will the plan in motion go smoothly?

CW: MDNI, Threesome (Angel!Lucifer x Reader x Lucifer), oral (both f and m), dp

Word Count: 4.8K

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5| Part 6| Part 7| Part 8| Part 9| Part 10

CHAPTER SEVEN

The bed looked more like a chaotic war table than a place of rest.

Coloured papers were spread across the comforter—lavenders, blood reds, golden yellows and abyssal blacks, each scribbled with doodles, diagrams, and half-baked proposals. Lucifer was on his stomach, legs swinging up lazily behind him, chin resting on his palm.

Lucifer’s smile warmed, and his eyes lingered on you for just a second longer than necessary, still not quite over the fact that he had you like this. Beside him. In his bed. In his arms. Planning the future.

He cleared his throat and rolled onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow. “Okay, so there’s already a court system in the Wrath Ring. Judgements are passed by the sins and Goetia princes.”

You turned to face him properly, propping yourself on your elbow. “Then we upgrade it. Add balance. The system’s rigged for nobility. What if we included everyone in the courtroom structure?”

Lucifer blinked. “Everyone? Like… everyone everyone?” He tilted his head playfully. 

You started sketching a rough diagram of a new courtroom. “Then we change the structure. Overlords should have a say, they manage entire territories. Sinners should have representation, since it’s them being judged. And I don’t care how elite the Goetia think they are, if Imps and Hellhounds live here, they should get a seat too.”

Lucifer rested his hand on your thigh, gazing up at you with a soft smile that didn’t quite hide the flicker of admiration behind it. “You really believe this could work.”

“I believe in us making it work.”

He sighed dreamily, hand slipping up to your waist. “You’re gonna make me fall for you all over again…”

“You say that every time I pitch reform.”

“Because it’s hot!” he said with full sincerity. “You, talking political justice? In bed? A man can only take so much.”

You chuckled, leaning down to press a quick kiss to his nose. “Behave.”

“Never,” he said brightly, then gave a thoughtful look. “But okay. You want seats for each class of Hell. That means four more judge thrones added to the Circle. We’ll have to rewrite ancient law. Probably piss off the Goetia. Ooh, Mammon’s going to hate this. I’m in.”

You blinked. “That’s it?”

He shrugged, pulling you gently back down to cuddle against him. “You’ve already convinced me, remember? All that’s left is logistics. And paperwork. Lots of it. Let’s just make sure the courtroom has decent space for everyone. And maybe… a snack bar?”

You laughed and shook your head. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet, deeply lovable.”

You rolled your eyes but kissed his cheek.

*

Lucifer stood in front of the full-length mirror, frozen, as if his reflection might offer him a script or divine guidance.

He looked perfect, of course. Still, he fidgeted, adjusting his cufflinks for the third time, then rechecking the buttons on his vest like they’d somehow rearranged themselves.

You watched from the bed, propped up against the pillows, chin in hand and amusement glittering in your eyes.

Lucifer groaned dramatically. “I haven’t done this in centuries. What if I say something stupid? Charlie’s going with me. It’ll be the first time for a while we’ve presented something together. She’s...she’s so good at inspiring people. And I’m—”

You cupped his face gently, your thumbs brushing just beneath his eyes. “You’re brilliant. And now you’re trying. That’s what matters.”

Lucifer's gaze softened as he looked at you, melting into your touch. You stepped back slightly, brushing imaginary lint off his coat before fixing his collar just right. Then, with a smile, you rose on your toes and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his lips. “For luck,” you whispered.

He smiled faintly. “I might need another one.”

You kissed him again, slower this time, and when you pulled back, you kept your hand resting against his chest. “And don’t forget to tell Charlie,” you added gently. “About us.”

Lucifer stiffened slightly, not in fear, but in that all-too-familiar awkward hesitance. “She sees us together all the time at the Hotel. Isn’t it...implied?”

You raised an eyebrow. “Luci.”

“Fine, fine!” he threw up his hands in mock surrender. “I’ll tell her.”

You smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

He looked at you like you’d just spoken truth straight into his heart. “You always say that.”

“Because it’s always true.”

Lucifer kissed your hand, lingering for a moment longer, as if drawing strength from your touch. Then he took a breath, straightened his shoulders, and conjured his staff in a burst of golden light.

He turned at the door, giving you one last grin. “If I survive this meeting, I expect cuddles.”

You smiled, folding your arms. “If you don’t tell Charlie about us, expect celibacy.”

Lucifer gasped. “Cruel woman.”

“Go,” you said with a wink. “You’ve got this.”

You went back to curl back onto the bed, thumbing through the notes you and Lucifer had scribbled during your last brainstorming session.

You were just starting on some paperwork on your own territory when you heard a slight scrape, too deliberate to be the wind. You didn’t move, didn’t even lift your eyes. But you heard it again. The faintest pressure against the window frame.

A heartbeat passed.

Then—PHWOOOOOSH!

A jet of searing golden flame shot upward from the rubber duck sitting innocently on the windowsill, which you’d placed there. Lucifer had given it to you the day you arrived at the Hotel, a ridiculous little welcome gift. You remembered him saying it with a wink later on: “Don’t underestimate Sir Quacketh. He’s more powerful than he looks.”

The assassin, a wiry imp in black leathers, crashed through the window, tumbling in with smoke curling off his scorched clothes. He rolled across the floor, smacking out flames and yelping curses, before coming to a stunned halt at your feet.

You glanced at the duck with fond amusement.

The assassin looked up at you, horror in his bulging eyes. “W-What the fuck—?! That thing nearly fried me!”

You finally smiled. “That ‘thing’ was a gift,” you said, “from the King of Hell. For me.”

He scrambled back, hands raised in surrender, blood and soot streaking across the floor. “W-Wait! I wasn’t— I mean, I didn’t know this was his room, I swear—!”

You tilted your head, stepping slowly off the bed, barefoot and graceful like a predator stretching after a nap. “Did you think you could creep into his  private chambers undetected?”

Your smile never faltered. “See, now I have a very personal reason to play.”

You crouched in front of him, lifting his chin with one sharp nail. “Don’t worry,” you cooed, conjuring shackles of obsidian to drag him toward the edge of the room. “This won’t kill you. Not until I want it to.”

You hummed a gentle tune as you summoned your tools.

*

The teleportation to the Wrath Ring had just finished fizzling out, leaving a faint shimmer of sulfur and ozone in the air. Lucifer adjusted the lapels of his suit as he walked beside Charlie, the sky of the Wrath Ring overhead swirling in orange hues.

It wasn’t his favorite place, and frankly, he’d avoided visiting it in person for… well, let’s just say many, many centuries.

Charlie walked ahead slightly, bouncing with her usual optimism despite the ominous environment. Lucifer sighed. His palms were sweating. He cleared his throat and spoke before he could think too hard about it. “Charlie?”

Charlie turned her head, eyebrows raised, “Yeah, Dad?”

Lucifer tried to play it cool, as he looked anywhere but her face. “I, ah, just thought… y’know, while we’re on the way to this oh-so-fun-and-not-at-all-tense council meeting, I should perhaps, possibly, definitely mention something.”

Charlie slowed down a bit, curious. “Okay…?”

Lucifer winced, smile twitching. “You see, I may be, hypothetically, romantically involved with someone. Just thought you should know.”

Silence.

Lucifer tried to backpedal, his hands flailing slightly. “And it’s not, like, a fling or anything—I wouldn’t insult her like that. It’s serious. Like, serious serious. And—and she’s very important to me, and I didn’t want you to find out through gossip or—”

Charlie blinked. Then burst into laughter.

Lucifer paused, stunned. “Wait, are you…are you laughing at me?”

Charlie waved her hand, still giggling. “Dad. C’mon. You two are not subtle.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened. “You—knew?!”

Charlie laughed. “Oh my God, Dad. You two are so obvious! The glances, the way you disappear together, the giddy faces… you literally had her lipstick on your very-white collar the other day.”

Lucifer coughed. “I thought I took that out—”

Charlie burst into giggles.

“I’m happy for you,” she said warmly, reaching up and hugging him tightly. “Really, I am.”

Lucifer stood still, blinking several times as he slowly, gingerly returned the hug—arms wrapping around her as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“You’re not mad?” he mumbled into her hair.

Charlie pulled back, frowning. “Why would I be mad? You deserve to be loved too, Dad.”

Lucifer swallowed thickly. His eyes shimmered faintly with something he wouldn’t name.  Lucifer stilled for half a second, then wrapped his arms around her tightly. His  heart felt lighter than it had in millennia.

________________________

Just as you turned to clean up the mess, a sudden whoosh of air shifted the room’s pressure.

A glowing golden portal opened midair. You instinctively raised your guard.

But instead of another attacker, someone floated down like a feather from the sky.

Robes white and blue shimmered with divine glow. Feathered wings tucked neatly behind his back. His halo glowed faintly overhead, and his eyes—not red but blue—gleamed with almost childlike wonder. 

He looked just like… well…An angel.

Lucifer? No. Not your Lucifer. Not quite.

He beamed at you. “Hello, dearest!”

You blinked.

What.

The.

Hell.

“Hi!” he chirped with a smile as bright as day. “I’m here because the other me didn’t want you to be lonely!”

You raised a brow. “Let me guess… clone?”

He nodded eagerly. “Uh-huh! He didn’t want to leave you alone while he and Charlie are away, so he conjured me from memory! Isn’t that sweet?”

Your eyes narrowed. “Memory? Which memory?”

“I think it was before I fell,” the clone replied cheerfully. “I was still experimenting with constellations! Or was it mushrooms? Either way, hi! I’ll be here with you until the real me returns. He was too happy…like he was in Eden, so I guess he conjured me.”

You sighed fondly. Lucifer had definitely not thought this one through.

You folded your arms, eyes scanning the soft baby-blue eyes and almost awkward posture. This version of Lucifer was… shy. Cheerful. Absolutely unprepared for the bloodbath you’d just mopped up.

Then his eyes landed on the blood coating your arms, the crimson splashes on your clothes. He let out a choked sound. “Oh—oh dear heavens,” he gasped, horrified.

You raised an eyebrow. He fluttered forward, hands outstretched, worried. “Are you alright? Did someone hurt you? Is this—Is this your blood?”

You wiped a bit of blood from your cheek with the back of your hand, half amused, half exhausted. “It’s an assassin’s blood. He broke in.”

Angel-Lucifer gasped. “Someone tried to hurt you?”

You shrugged. “They tried. Emphasis on tried.”

He beamed. “Of course they failed. You’re amazing!”

You tilted your head. “You really are the angelic version of him, huh?”

“Why thank you!” he chirped. Then, gasping again, he conjured a towel and immediately tried to clean the blood off your face. “No no no, we can’t have you looking like this—what if you slip? Blood is terrible for footing! And staining!”

He gently scrubbed your arms and conjured warm clothes. Finally, he stood back, nodding proudly at his work. “There. Perfect. Spotless.”

You sat on the couch, towel drying your hair after a quick shower, still amused by the celestial being cheerfully dusting your bookshelves.

Angel-Lucifer had been nothing short of doting since he arrived—he'd folded your blankets, organized your weapons drawer alphabetically, and even complimented your torture tools with a “marvelous craftsmanship, very symmetrical!”

“You know,” you said, smirking slightly, “the other you wanted me to show off the dresses he bought for me.”

Lucifer stopped mid-hover, head tilting with childlike excitement. “He did?!”

“Mhm,” you replied. “Said he picked some especially for me. Should I model one for you?”

His eyes sparkled. “Oh yes, yes please! That would be wonderful!”

Suppressing a laugh, you stepped into the bedroom, running your hand over the delicate fabrics hanging in the wardrobe. You chose one of the more elegant ones. The neckline was modest, sleeves soft and flowing. 

You stepped back into the room. Lucifer turned and promptly dropped the tray of cookies he’d summoned. His jaw went slack. His wings stiffened with a visible tremble. “Oh—oh God—”

You blinked. “Too much?”

His jaw dropped slightly, lips parted in a soft gasp. “You look… divine.”

You laughed. “It’s not even the sexy one.”

“That doesn’t matter!” he said a little too loudly. His voice cracked at the end, and he cleared his throat with a bright golden blush blooming across his face.

Then your eyes dipped lower. And there it was. The bulge in his robes.

Oh?

He seemed entirely unaware for a moment, until he noticed where your gaze had landed.

He froze. You raised an amused eyebrow.

Lucifer let out a squeaky, “OH DEAR,” and immediately slapped both hands over the front of his robes like a child caught with stolen candy.

You couldn’t help it, you laughed until your ribs ached. Lucifer buried his face in a pillow. His wings twitched, as if trying to shield him from the weight of his own embarrassment.

And gods, it was flattering. You hadn't even worn something seductive. Hadn't even tried.

Your lips curled. “Do you want some help, honey?” you asked, voice smooth, casual.

He peeked over the pillow. “Help…?” he squeaked. “With—what exactly?”

You sauntered closer, slow. “With that tension of yours.”

His eyes went huge. “I—wait, no—are you—seriously—?”

You only nodded. “I’ll be gentle,” you said. “Just let me see you.”

He hesitated, but your gaze, and the gentle brush of your hand down his chest, undid whatever resistance he had left. Slowly, he lifted his robes, and your eyes widened as you took in what lay beneath.

Around his flushed, golden-tipped cock was a curious celestial adornment—three soft, glowing wing-like crests fluttering like a modesty veil, now fluttered open from arousal. It was… oddly beautiful. Like every part of him, even here, had been sculpted in divinity.

He looked down at himself and immediately panicked again. “I know! I look ridiculous, don’t I?!”

You gave a soft laugh, and shook your head. “No, dear. You look stunning.”

And then, slowly, you leaned forward, placing a kiss just above his navel. He gasped.

You glanced up through your lashes. “Just relax, angel. Let me take care of you.”

His voice was already trembling. “O-okay.”

Your kisses trailed lower, down the lines of his abdomen. The moment your lips finally brushed over his cock, he gasped, one hand flying to his mouth to stifle the embarrassing whimper that escaped.

The wings around his cock trembled and fluttered as if trying to shyly cover him again, but you brushed them aside with a soft kiss and began to tease him with slow licks.

His hips jerked, and he let out a breathy, “Oh God—” muffled by the back of his hand.

He squirmed and whimpered like the sweetest thing you’d ever heard, biting his lip, chest rising and falling in flustered waves. He moaned your name like a prayer, his hands finally gripping the sheets as he whispered all kinds of sweet nothings.

A slow lick up his length made him whimper, and he covered his mouth again with his hand. His other hand gripped the pillow beside him like it was the only thing anchoring him to the moment.

You pulled back slightly, just enough to murmur, “You're adorable, you know that?”

He let out a strangled sound. “Nghhh - love, please –”

You chuckled, warmth dancing in your chest. “But you’re doing so well, angel.”

You took him into your mouth again, slow and steady, and the reaction was immediate. His head fell back, lips parted in a helpless gasp, hips twitching despite himself. 

“Y-you’re…Mnghhg…” he breathed, sounding like he was moments from transcending into another realm entirely. “P-please,” he whimpered softly, “I can’t—”

“Just let go, honey,” you whispered against his skin. “Let me have this.”

And with a broken moan that nearly cracked into a sob, he did.

His wings spasmed outward and he bucked once, twice, before spilling over with a quiet, desperate cry of your name. You held him through it, letting him ride it out, soothing him with your touch as he collapsed back into the pillows, boneless and overwhelmed.

You kissed his hip one last time and crawled up beside him. His arms instantly wrapped around you like a koala, clinging.

*

The meeting with the Sins had ended.

Barely.

Mammon wouldn’t stop talking, Beelzebub was halfway into a sugar crash, and Satan had nearly flung the table at Asmodeus. Business as usual. But Lucifer had held it together, until he felt something odd. A flush of warmth, a spike of tension in his chest, a stuttering beat like his body was responding to something... familiar.

His eyes widened, realization washing over him.

Oh. Oh no.

Charlie tilted her head, concerned. “Dad? You okay? You look—”

“I—I’m fine, dear,” Lucifer managed with a shaky smile. “I think I’ll retire to my room early.”

He barely waited for her nod before he portaled away. Landing in his room, Lucifer blinked once. You were curled under the blankets, tangled in the arms of... him. Well, his clone. The sweet, glowing angel-form of himself. Looked like he conjured it without thinking it clearly.

The clone's robe was askew, wings twitching in the aftermath of what could only have been one hell of an intimate session. Your fingers were still gently carding through the clone's hair.

“Now, now…” he drawled, far too casual. “I leave for a few hours and find you in bed with... me?”

You opened your mouth to explain, probably something very logical and well-meant but Lucifer only smirked, far too calm.

“Oh, dove, you’ve been so naughty,” he purred. “Don’t you know it’s impolite to tease your king without offering him his due?”

He glanced down at the angelic clone, who blinked up at him with wide-eyed innocence. “I—I didn’t mean to—!” Angel-Lucifer stammered, flustered and adorably glowing.

Lucifer gave him a wink. “Oh, I know. You’re me, after all. You very well meant to.” His eyes flicked to you with a grin both wicked and smug.

You scooted up, your gaze half-challenging, half-trying not to laugh.

Lucifer leaned back, legs crossed, his cane resting across his lap. “Well?” he said with a crooked grin, eyes glinting like mischief itself. “Go on. Don’t mind me.”

At those words, his angel self lit up like a child told he could finally open his birthday presents. “Really?!” he beamed. “Oh—oh, thank you!”

You couldn’t help the chuckle that left you, right before the angel gently pushed your thighs apart, his breath catching at the sight of you. His hands trembled slightly as they brushed along your skin, and his expression turned awestruck, almost… dazed.

The angel lowered his mouth to you, with a soft whimper of delight the moment his tongue met your slick heat.

Your hand tangled in his hair, coaxing him lower. You didn’t miss the little tremor in his shoulders as he obeyed, mouth finding your clit with a shaky breath and a whimper. The angel let out a muffled moan against your pussy. His tongue moved in slow, desperate circles, soft gasps escaping him between licks.

You let out a soft gasp as Angel-Lucifer’s tongue flicked over your clit just right and Lucifer’s brows shot up. “Oh? That spot, was it? Noted,” he said, grinning.

Angel-Lucifer whimpered again, louder this time. He was panting into you now, lips shiny and slick, and completely undone by your taste.

You arched up into the angel’s mouth, nails raking lightly through his hair, and Lucifer's grin turned wicked. “You’re just full of surprises, sweetheart.”

Your eyes flicked to him, breathless but smug. “Jealous?”

Lucifer laughed loudly. “Of myself? Never! I'm enjoying the show, darling. Carry on.”

Angel-Lucifer moaned again, deeper, fingers digging into your thighs now as he fucked you with his mouth like he was starving for you, like he couldn’t help himself anymore.

Your moan spilled out before you could stop it, hips rising, breath catching, your thighs trembling under the angel’s tongue as he whined into your pussy.

“L-Lucifer,” you gasped, head tipping back… then turning, seeking him.

“Oh?” he cooed. “Is one not enough for you, darling?” But he was already standing. His coat slipped off with a whisper of fabric, and his cane vanished like smoke. He crossed the room in a few slow steps, joining you on the bed.

You were half-gone already, lips parted and eyes half-lidded from the overwhelming pleasure of the angel's mouth still latched to your pussy, but the moment Lucifer climbed onto the mattress beside you, your body reached for him instinctively.

He cupped your cheek. “I missed you, you know,” he murmured, lowering his lips to your neck, trailing kisses down your collarbone. His lips reached your breasts, and he sighed like a man finally home. 

He kissed over the swell of one breast, then the other—slow, doting, entirely enamored, before flicking his tongue gently over your nipple. You shivered, moaning louder as his angelic self below you whimpered at the sound and sucked harder, more desperately.

You tugged him close by his vest, and he groaned. “I love your taste,” he whispered against your skin, grinning softly. “I mean that. It’s nice that I can say it out loud now while he’s still busy licking it straight from the source.”

Your gasp hitched into a laugh, just before another moan broke free. “Luci—”

“I know,” he whispered, lips brushing yours. “I know, sweetheart.”

You kissed him, deep and aching and as his clone whimpered into you, your body spasmed with release, thighs clamping around his head.

You came hard, moaning into Lucifer’s mouth as he kissed you back sweetly, holding your face in his hands like you were his most sacred thing.

Lucifer practically scooped you up. You laughed into his neck, arms around his shoulders, glad to have him back. You both just stayed for a while, breathing each other in. For all this teasing, you’ll get back at him. You grind your soaked core down over the thick press of his cock.

“Oh, fuck—darling—” Lucifer whimpered, hips jerking upward. His teasing tone faltered for a beat, and it made you smirk.

“What?” you purred in his ear, rolling your hips again. “You enjoyed the show a little too much.”

You straddled him fully now, hands braced on his chest, lowering onto his cock inch by inch, watching his face twist in sweet agony.

Lucifer’s head thunked back against the pillows. “Oh my god. I’ve been good, darling. I’ve been so good. Please—ah, fuck, love—”

Your moan joined his as you sank fully onto him, your body clenching around his length. You began to ride him, hips moving in a delicious rhythm, skin slapping against his as his hands held your waist like a lifeline.

“I… I can’t take it anymore,” Angel-Lucifer whispered, crawling up behind you, breath ghosting over your spine. “You’re so beautiful—I just—I can’t stop—”

You felt the soft glide of his fingers on your ass, spreading you gently before one slick lubed finger circled your tight hole. You gasped, bucking on Lucifer’s cock and he shuddered, gripping your hips even tighter.

Lucifer chuckled breathlessly. “NGGHH… can’t resist you. Can’t say I blame him.”

Angel-Lucifer pressed kisses up your back, toward your neck.

“I love you,” Lucifer whispered, voice soft as he kissed you again. 

You barely managed a breath before you felt it—the soft, careful push of the angel’s cock, pressing against your back hole. “Is this okay?” he whispered, voice cracking like he was on the verge of tears and bliss all at once. “Please… I need to be inside you too…”

And you nodded, dizzy, thighs quivering as he slid in. Inch by inch, he sank into you, his breath catching. You moaned, collapsing against Lucifer’s chest, trembling all over. “Too much, too good—ohgodfuckkk…”

“Divine,” the angel moaned, thrusting gently, as if he couldn’t believe this wasn’t a dream. “You’re divine—so warm—thank you, thank you for letting me—”

Lucifer kissed your temple. “You're—gorgeous—so good—I can't believe I get to have you—fuck, I love you—”, Lucifer was babbling now, his voice high and shaking, barely able to string together words through his whimpers. “Fuck, you feel—too good—I’m gonna—please, sweetheart—”

You clenched around him instinctively, and he cried out. His fingers dug into your hips as his body arched beneath you.

You felt the rush of heat flood inside you, his face buried in your neck, soft gasps spilling against your skin as he came. And then behind you, the angel shuddered violently, hugging your waist from behind. “I—me too—!” he gasped, kissing your spine as his rhythm stuttered. “I can’t—I can’t hold it—!”

With a trembling cry, he came as well, his cum spilling hot and thick inside you. You could barely breathe as you came hard.

Your body sank into his as the last of your strength gave away, warm, sated, and full in every sense. Lucifer’s arms were already wrapping around you, pulling the blanket over both of you.

Behind you, the angel clone lingered with a gentle kiss to your shoulder until Lucifer snapped his fingers, and the clone was gone. He tucked your head under his chin and sighed, as if he hadn’t taken a single breath since he left.

You lay there in silence for a moment. His fingers traced slow, absentminded circles across your back, grounding you, while his heartbeat thudded steadily beneath your cheek.

“So,” you mumbled sleepily, “how was the meeting?”

Lucifer let out the most dramatic sigh known, arm flung across his forehead. “Oh my God, I nearly died from boredom. Ugh.”

You tilted your head down. “That bad?”

“I’ve fought angels with more sense,” he groaned, snuggling closer to your chest. “They tried so hard to cling to the old system. Called your suggestion ‘radical.’’

“But anyway—yes. I got them to agree. They’re restructuring the court. Full seats for Overlords, imps, sinners. All of it.”

You sat up slightly, eyes wide. “Wait, seriously?”

Lucifer immediately beamed. “Seriously. Because you asked.”

Your heart gave a small, dangerous flutter. 

His voice lowered. “I wanted to leave as soon as I got there, honestly. But then I thought about you. About what you said. And I—I just kept pushing. Because it mattered to you. And that made it matter to me.”

You wrapped your arms tighter around him, and his whole body eased into yours like he’d been waiting for this moment all day.

“I missed you,” he mumbled. “The meeting sucked. The coffee was lukewarm. But worst of all? No you. You’re my favorite part.”

You kissed him, and he made another one of those stupidly happy little whines before squeezing you tighter.

He was staring at the ceiling, brows knit together, lips parted like he didn’t quite know how to start. You looked up. “Lucifer?”

“I’ve scheduled a meeting,” he said finally. “With Heaven.”

You blinked and sat up. “You—what?”

Your mouth opened but nothing came out. You knew this was the direction you were heading. But…

“You already arranged it?” you asked, stunned. 

“...And you’re coming with me…?”

Your mouth parted. “What? Really?!”

“I’m not going without you,” he said. “I don’t want to go to any meeting without you. But especially not this one.”

He exhaled, his voice cracking, just a little. “You know what that place meant. What it took. I—I can’t promise it won’t hurt to be there again. I don’t know how it’ll feel. But I know this: I’ll survive it if you’re with me.”

Lucifer smiled, but it was small, quiet, almost fragile. “I know how important this part is to you. And to me.”

Your chest tightened all at once. He was doing this for you. Because he believed in your vision. Because he was willing to walk back into the one place that had cast him out, just to support your dream.

You moved before he could say anything else, throwing your arms around him. You buried your face in his neck.

Lucifer let out a small breath of surprise, then melted into you like a thread pulled loose. His arms wrapped around your waist, like he never wanted to let go.

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

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[xmaruu11]

Greetings Maru! I hope you are having a lovely day. Your and Kitsu's work on Double Hearted is genuinely so awe inspiring and lovely that it motivated me to pick up an old comic idea or my own! (Which, funily enough, also has to do with superheroes)

I was wondering what the script process is like and generally get a few advice on how to do dialogue script and page by page script. I have the overall timeline of the story that would probably fit within 4 volumes and a general sumary of each chapter for volume 1, but I tried to sit down and Script page per page the first chapter and I was completely stumped after 5 pages. Like I have the general idea, but executing it is giving me a bit of trouble. How do you do it personally? And how does that work with a separate artist? (As in, you give the script and they make the comic layout, how much of their work leads to the script etc...) I'd love to know.

Thanks for taking the time if you answer this, and I hope you have a wonderful day :]

HELLO HELLO HELLO!

Thank you for all the kind words :D!!

For the script writing process, Doody and I already have the plot of DDVAU stablished, from the start to finish and what main important plots need to happen to get to that point in the story. This way, it helps us know what we need to build up and what we should pay more attention to or less.

Usually we focus on Volume per Volume, yes we have some ideas on chapters that are gonan happen in future Volumes, but we don't write them until we need to draw them. This way we have more creative freedom and we can take things away if needed.

I DONT write all the scripts in one go, rather, I plan them on vcs, chats or in my head, and when its time to write them (usually when doody is starting to work on the previous chapter) I already have a clear idea of whats going to happen in the chapter and the view is as updated with the lore as possible!

Also, Doody can also change the script and dialogues as much as they please. They know the story and the characters as much as I do, and they have full creative control like I do. Similar to how they get surprises when I deliver final scripts, I get surprised with new dialogue when they send me the thumbnails SPEAKING OF THUMBNAILS! I usually edit the comic and help with the composition or sometimes I make thumbnails myself! this comic is a very big collaborative project! So we both have a lot of work together

[tessenpai]

Kono Oto Tomare! Chapter 144 Scans and Rough TL

Disclaimer: Please DO NOT use this translation to make your own TL of the chapter!! The KOT TL group works very hard to give you the most accurate translation, that does as much justice to the original script as possible. This is a ROUGH translation. That means is faulty and there must be mistakes in certain places. This is just for impatient people like myself to get a grasp on what is going on in the chapter! You can REFERENCE my TL if you want to discuss the chapter but never USE it as it was your own.

Scans (Use Adblocker): Kono Oto Tomare - 144 RAWs

Page 1

Side text: The announcement is reaching its climax.....

Judge Akagi: In 4th place

Judge Akagi: Osaka Prefecture, Chibana Girls' High School

Page 2

Judge Kurokawa: Chibana's song was also really wonderful.

Judge Kurokawa: For High School students to be able to convey such depth and nuance...

Judge Kurokawa: Has to be the result of endless research of trial and error.

Page 3

Judge Nanba: It was truly charming, and the sound of the koto was beautiful as well

Judge Nanba: I was deeply moved by the scenes that came to mind as I listened...

Judge Nanba: It was a performance truly deserving to be in the top 4.

Tomoe [thoughts]: 4th place....

Tomoe [thoughts]: Deep down, I probably knew

Tomoe [thoughts]: After hearing the other school's performances, that we would not be first.

Page 4

Tomoe: Even so----

Tomoe's friend: Don't look down!

Tomoe's friend: There's nothing shameful about this position! We were chosen among the four best in the Nation!

Tomoe's friend: Stand tall and proud!

Page 5

Tomoe: ----I know...!

Tomoe [thoughts]: We did everything we could, and gave that performance our all...

Tomoe [thoughts]: And still....

Page 6

Tomoe [thoughts]: It was unreachable to us.

Judge Tatsumi: ---Well then.

Judge Tatsumi: Shall we now determine the ranking among the three schools tied at the top?

Page 7

Judge Tatsumi: First off, Meiryou

Judge Tatsumi: You certainly cannot call it anything but "Perfect". A performance calculated to the last detail... It was simply brilliant.

Judge Iwagaki: Even the way they played with pace was perfect

Judge Iwagaki: Even while playing flawlessly in sync, they kept showing new variations one after another. It was truly exciting!

Judge Nanba: That's not something just anyone can achieve.

Page 8

Judge Nanba: The ability to calmly judge one's own strengths, and amplify them to appeal to an audience

Judge Nanba: I could clearly see the extraordinary effort put behind their performance.

Judge Nanba: ....Then we have

Judge Nanba: Ichiei.

Page 9

Judge Kurokawa: The moment they finished, I thought that the winner of this competition was already decided

Judge Iwagaki: Me too.

Judge Nanba: Probably everyone in the venue was thinking the same thing.

Judge Tatsumi: They were truly worthy of being called champions

Judge Tatsumi: The amount of information contained within the sound, and their technical expressiveness was overwhelming... Not to mention the high level of individual skill, their teamwork was also outstanding.

Page 10

Judge Agata: At the root of their success, is the student's high level of awareness and tireless self-improvement efforts.

Judge Agata: When I think these young will become professionals and elevate the world of Japanese traditional music, I can't help to be excited.

Judge Agata: And finally, the last school---...

Page 11

Judge Tatsumi: ...To tell you the truth, I

Judge Tatsumi: was having really awful thoughts before their performance.

Judge Tatsumi: Things like "Considering the public's perception is a pain, so it would be it would be easier if their performance was mediocre"

Judge Iwagaki: !

Judge Tatsumi: I'm sorry, that was truly terrible of me, wasn't it?

Judge Tatsumi: But when I actually heard their performance, it made me ashamed I even had those thoughts.

Page 12

Judge Agata: In 3rd place

Page 13

Ousuke: ---Please

Ousuke: Please, I'm begging you

Ousuke: I'm begging you, don't call our name yet.

Ousuke: Please.

Page 14

Judge Agata: Tokyo Prefecture

Judge Agata: Meiryou High School

Page 15

Asano [flashback]: Thank you, Ousuke

Asano [flashback]: Truthfully, ever since I became the president

Asano: I've been wracking my brain about how we can win against Ichiei.

Asano: "How can we be number one this time?" has constantly been on my mind

Asano [flashback]: Which is why, when you paved the way for us, I was relieved!

Asano [thoughts]: It's all thanks to you!

Page 16

*No text*

Page 17

Judge Agata: In second place

Page 18 & 19

*No text*

Page 20

Judge Agata: Nagano Prefecture

Page 21

Judge Agata: Ichiei High School

Page 22

Isaki: ---Eh...? Eh?

Page 23

Paper: Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award 1st Place

Page 24

Judge Tatsumi: Can't be... All in favor?

Judge Tatsumi: Honestly, I was prepared for us to content on today's results.

Judge Kurokawa: With a performance like that, there is no need for it.

Judge Kurokawa: This very morning I thought that they would be out of the discussion, but they completely overturned my expectations.

Page 25

Judge Kurokawa: How sincerely they faced their music, how deeply they cared for each other, and how much they built together...

Judge Kurokawa: It came through so vividly.... As if we had been living those moments alongside them... I was left speechless.

Judge Iwagaki: When all their sounds came together, I started shaking. Before I knew it, tears were pouring out.

Judge Nanba: Me too. I forgot I was a judge, I just kept thinking, "I want to keep listening", "I don’t want it to end"

Page 26

Judge Agata: Their music was their language, a direct expression of their hearts.

Judge Agata: The piece was of the highest difficulty, and yet they completely made it their own and performed it with exceptional skill.

Judge Agata: A supreme harmony

Judge Agata: And above all, the power to transform us judges

Judge Agata: Into mere listeners.

Page 27

Judge Agata: Without a shadow of a doubt ---

Judge Agata: Winner of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, and 1st Place

Page 28

Judge Agata: Kanagawa Prefecture

Page 29

Judge Agata: Kanagawa Prefectural Tokise High School!!!

Page 30 & 31

*No text, just me screaming*

Page 32

Isaki: Aaaaah, Brother! Brother!!! They did it!! They did ti!!!

Akira: Se- Sensei...

Suzuka:... Are you serious?

Page 33

Takezou [thoughts]: ...First place

Takezou [Thoughts]: We

Takezou [Thoughts]: Trully are---

Page 34

*No text, just me sobbing*

Page 35

Side text: A moment when words won't come out.

[mx-pokirby]

Deltarune Weird Route & Chapter 4 Spoilers

We just woke up and suddenly having thoughts about Choices in Deltarune

None of this Chapter 1 "do our choices matter?" shit, which is still taken seriously for some reason despite being told to us at the very start of a girl's arc who's about to learn her choices seem to matter more than everyone else's.

I'm talking about the concrete choices we are forced to make. Or Not Make.

(Pictured: Picking "Berdly" makes Kris scream out the choice we just made in sudden shocked confusion)

This happens no matter how long you linger over Berdly's name for to give them time to process, as though while in the box time freezes, and Kris isn't fully aware of exactly how we make the decisions we force onto them.

Despite the UI apparently at least existing on the same plane of reality as the Soul itself. Given that in the weird route, the sudden appearance of a choice for us to make physically teleports us through a wall.

So the UI has been physically diegetic on some level all along? At least known to Kris, maybe not anyone else, due to their connection with the Soul perhaps?

That's good and all, but now we feel compelled to ask. Why can we choose things Kris doesn't want in the first place? Because I wanna point out a separation here. We don't "make" any choices in the dialogue box. And I mean that literally.

The choices are presented to us, and we pick one. Which is already concerning with the boxes being diegetic. What makes them appear in the first place? There seems to be a logic governing what's "reasonable" for us to pick VS completely random options that don't make any sense...

Well. Most of the time. I guess.

But ignoring that edge case, it's not like we can choose to respond to "Who are you going to the festival with?" by reciting the entire Bee Movie script hyper-crushed to fit into the window. We're allowed to pick people we've spent a lot of time with, or to decline.

So at the very least, again ignoring edge cases like above for my own sanity even if it weakens my argument, it seems like the options we're allowed to pick are whatever would reasonably be at the front on Kris' mind, so to speak. Even if they're options Kris would personally rule out immediately without a second thought.

So alright. "The responses we pick are basically just how anybody makes a decision on the fly, between logic & intrusive thoughts, but we overwrite Kris' will and are allowed to pick those intrusive thoughts for them against their will sometimes and there's nothing they can do about it."

Or TL;DR, the choices we get to pick are decided by Kris.

That might almost make perfect sense, explaining why we can choose to Proceed with Noelle in Ch 4, despite how unfilteredly violently Kris' hatred towards us becomes after picking it.

It seems like even the worst choice we could possibly make that they'd Hate more than anything else, as long as we're presented with an omniscient diegetic dialogue box choice, Kris can't do anything about it.

It's not like they had the power to just shut us down completely from Proceeding with Noelle if they truly deeply wan

...

Fuck.

Okay the sarcastic bit is over. What the fuck do we do with this?

I see no other possible explanation for us being presented with this literal Impossible Choice other than

A: With the voice on Kris' phone's insisting that Susie must absolutely not learn the Shelter Code, which we can extrapolate into Susie needing to be kept in the dark about Everything Plot Important (at least until the time is right),

we can infer that Susie herself is a Wild Card that's unknowingly part of The Plan™ capable of ruining things if she knew/wanted to, and making sure she stays exactly how The Plan™ needs is somehow The Most Important Fucking Thing, that it even completely eclipses Kris' willpower to protect Noelle from us.

B: IDFK some divine Gaster interference bullshit so we can't go too far outside what the Prophecy has already scripted out (at least without Noelle's direct involvement) or something.

Because otherwise idfk how else to interpret this, if it doesn't mean that Kris has technically been able to shut down our choices themself all along, ie have actual control over what choices we're even allowed to pick them, which they would necessarily have to have been creating for us the whole time.

But that's already been debunked by Kris' confused shock at us saying Berdly is our date to the festival so

so

SO

I think my brain might be smoking

[pressplay-if]

hi there.

i just finished the demo and i really liked it. especially the style/format of the IF. the whole thing with the timejumps and interview, really interesting.

i have a few questions:

1.) during the interlude-chapter ("triggerwarning-chapter") there is an option for MC to say, that "they started drinking again once they became of age and quit smoking completely". does this mean MC wont do drugs like smoking weed or simply no cigarettes? im asking, because if i remember correctly, relatively in the beginning there is a choice, where its implied that MC takes drugs to relaxe.

==> same with alcohol: if i chose an option, where Mc drinks alcohol in earlier chapters, will this bereflected in the interlude-chapter?

2.) during the story, will MC be in a relationship with an RO? and will it be explored? also, if i understood it right, the band broke up at some point. would this mean, the (potential) relationship between MC & RO would break too?

3.) will romance/flirt options be marked? this question leads to the next point:

4.) during the whole demo, the relationship stats for the RO´s never changed. is this a bug? do you have to code it in? or does the choices so far have no influence on them?

==> same with the MC´s mind stats; besides the job choice in the beginning, i didnt noticed any changes with these stats as well.

i assume, that at the time you answer this, you already finished your exams. anyways, good luck with them.

and thank you for your answers.

hey there! First off, thanks for the compliment and well-wishes; for now I am indeed off the hook, but I've still got some tests coming up in April... That does not spark joy. Buuut for now, I do have a little break.

1.) the smoking in this case only refers to cigarettes, not weed etc. As for the second part, I'm actually not quite sure, but those paths were really tricky to script and I might have gotten confused along the way... I'll review them when I find the time and leisure.

2.) MC will have the opportunity to enter several relationships, some as soon as the start of Chapter 4. As for how they'll work out and what exactly will happen, you'll simply have to wait and see. There are certain things in the MC's future that are unavoidable, and will impact the ROs' trust in them immensely.

3.) I've received that question multiple times now, but I have to say, I really don't wanna do that. I just really don't like it for some reason. But don't worry, you won't be thrown into any relationship without explicitly stating your interest in an RO.

4.) the RO stats change very slowly actually! I figured it'd be weird if they did, and hear me out: Lin is at the point where they idolize MC, no matter what. As for the band, MC has been friends with Angel and Stevie for longer than we as readers have accompanied them, so it'd be weird if they suddenly skyrocketed at just one or two nice/mean interactions. Zima's resentment sits very deep, and since we haven't interacted much with them in the presence so far (but you will actually be able to reconcile with them in the upcoming chapter, which will significantly impact the stat.) In general, in the third chapter, changes like that are more frequent, but still pretty small, except for certain ones. That'll change over time.

Same goes for the mental stats, though they're more there to reflect the MC's development. All in all, stats mostly function representatively for most of this game. It's more of a book imo than stat-focused.

[demonslayedher]

What even is Kimetsu no Yaiba canon???

Good question, that's why I've done all this digging. But I've also been asked a lot about what officially released material is and is not considered canon. I am but one nerd on the internet and no authority on that and my attitude is that you should take and pick what you want to use in fan work, because it's yours. However, in a lot of my fics I love trying to stick to canon, and that also means trying to incorporate a lot of official material that Gotouge did not personally provide.

So instead of saying "this is canon, that is not canon," here is my tier list. This is especially relevant when you have two officially released materials that contradict each other. The manga has been self-contradictory too, so if you sweat too many small details, your fan work will never get done.

God-touge Tier: Content Penned by the Gator 1. The actual manga chapters, for this may be all someone has ever followed in the Shonen Jump magazines, and therefore they have no other context 2. All other material published in the 23 volumes, including Taisho Secrets, 4-panel comics, and expanded epilogue chapters 3. The two official fanbooks (also referred to by the fandom as under names like the databooks or encyclopedias), which are widely available in Japan, and (as I understand) have been at least partially translated into an official English version 4. Additional material provided for special events, like the Gotouge gallery and Mugen Ressha movie booklet for early showings (these have included Taisho Secrets not printed elsewhere)

Extremely Influential Tier: The Ufotable Anime Content 1. Ufotable's interpretation of the manga (except in cases when it contradicts Gotouge material, though these are slight, like animating a scene in the wrong season) in the TV episodes and movies as they first aired, including filler scenes based on but not found in Gotouge material (like the paper airplane contest) 2. Additional content Ufotable added later (like extra scenes for when the first arc was re-aired on Fuji TV) 3. Filler content only loosely based on the manga (like the Rengoku special)

Also Very Highly Regarded Tier: Official In-Universe Spin-Offs On the Same Shelves at Japanese Bookstores (none written by Gotouge) 1. The Tomioka and Rengoku Gaidens (except in cases when it contradicts Gotouge material, like how Rengoku got that hair color) 2. The light novels 3. Novelizations of the manga Like High-Quality Fanfiction: More Ufotable and Shueisha Content 1. Drama CDs produced by Ufotable (often just little side stories and character exploration, not major stories) 2. Kimetsu Academy, a.k.a. the official AU Spin-Off, and by extension, the "Total Concentration Drill" books that are a spin-off of the Kimetsu Academy spin-off 3. Additional art books and design books (though these are usually very careful to not introduce anything new, and merely reflect content already shown elsewhere) 4. Sometimes I am really tempted to put the Rengoku special all the way down here

Official material which I do not consider to have any baring on canon whatsoever, but which are simply fun and nice: 1. Any form of live stage performance (the musicals, the voice actors reading from scripts, concerts, the Noh adaptations, etc.) 2. Officially sanctioned games, especially the plot elements in a video game like the Hinokami Chronicles 3. Galleries like Zenshuuchuu-ten (though these usually stay entirely based on material already introduced in anime canon) 4. Tie-in collaborations 5. Any form of official sanctioned parody created by someone other than Gotouge (like the 4-panel comics compiled into a volume with the Gaidens) 6. Commentary from the directors, voice actors, etc.

Unofficial material which is fun for expanding on things but has zero baring on canon, nor should it have any influence on what the aforementioned officially sanctioned creators do with it: 1. Books that nerds have published with Kimetsu no Yaiba analysis while teaching fun facts about the Taisho period and demons and such (this is a bit of a trend in Japan, and maybe other countries have publications unabashedly capitalizing on the KnY trend) 2. Fans who create meta and headcanons 3. Fans who create fanwork out of love for the series, regardless of whether or not they stick to canon Things that make me say "nope" 1. Low-effort articles and videos that get the facts wrong 2. Fans who spread rumors by claiming something is canon, but that something is reflected nowhere in the aforementioned top four tiers 3. Anything AI-generated

[dual-cetacean]

Potential art for the second season of No Place Like Home, first chapter (9).

Btw about the art: I always forgot how bald Nine looks like without the hair spikes. Big ass forehead. XD

"Back on the road in their lonesome, Nine ventures into the big and wide green world of Mobius."

It's officially a year since I started this project. It is the ninth of February (the second month of the year, ->Tails), and this fic is about a character named Nine. So, it is the perfect opportunity to post the first chapter of the second season of NPLH!

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who checked out my fic and read the entirety of season 1. I never expected that this little obsession of mine of writing a better ending for Nine (and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the cast of Sonic Prime) would get so popular. No kidding, this is my most successful fic to date, and the joy I get from working on it is immeasurable. I love all the comments I receive on it, and even if I have not had the chance to reply to them, I read them, and they fill me with so much warmth and fondness.

Thank you so much for sharing your guys' excitement and love with me. Writing Nine's journey is a pleasure; uncovering the plot and putting it on paper (screen) is an incredible adventure. This is one of the few projects I have worked on that I`ve been able to concentrate on for longer than a year, and it wouldn't be possible without all of my readers, who keep reading all the updates and leave me heartfelt comments. Especially a very big thank you to my very good friend @morp, who encouraged this story from its inception. Without it, it wouldn't have been as creative, or, who knows, it would still be sitting in my drafts collecting dust.

I usually do not start posting my multiple-chapter fics unless all of my rough scripts are finished. However, I expected these last few months to be able to write season 2 of NPLH so I could post them in the first half year of 2025. I overestimated myself as the previous semester was very heavy. For a whole semester, every day of the week with multiple exams and assignments kinda heavy. I had little time to write, and when I did, they were done in short spurts. (Everything I posted from September until the beginning of January was works I pre-made but still had to edit)

So, unfortunately, I haven't finished writing season 2 yet. However, it surprised me when I totalled how much I had already written: Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 5 were already done??? I hadn't expected that. So, I have written more than 50% already, and with a strong outline for the rest, I feel confident posting this chapter now. It will be a bit longer before I can regularly post the following chapters and make art for them, and honestly, with school, I really can't put a date on when this fic will continue. But everything is going much more smoothly than I expected when I realised last semester was so brutal.

So, yayヾ(≧ ▽ ≦)ゝ!

Also, good news: I passed all my classes for semester 1! So, there will be no redo exams for the summer for the last four months! So I can go into the second semester tomorrow without too much stress. I'm also doing only half of my classes so it should be more relaxing than the full program. Funnily enough, I am actually looking forward to my first class tomorrow ( •̀ ω •́ ).

So, please enjoy the beta chapter of chapter Nine~!

[emytellsrandomstories]

I'm in love with your idea of ​​protective Kim towards Marcaniel! The fact that he canonically has two fathers is so amazing to me. I hope we get more content on this in the future, if you have more thoughts on this topic could you write them? 🫶

Oowww🥹🥹🫶🏽🫶🏽 I'm glad you liked it!!

I also hope to receive new content about Kim's parents. The way the series is representing LGBTQIA+ themes makes me very happy, excited and hopeful for the development of Kim's family in the episode "Sleeping Siren"!!

About the interactions between Kim, Marc and Nathaniel, I have some ideas!! I really wish write something to explore the dynamics of the boys group, something like a "Partycrasher 2.0", with the boys taking Adrien to shopping new clothes and change his look!! It would be an interesting situation to see the group's friendship dynamics!(and also to see a change of look for Adrien... All the characters got new clothes and accessories, why does he have to be excluded?). But I'm currently shelving that idea because I'm already writing a medium-length Marcaniel fanfic to create a illustration book for my artist portfolio, a 4-chapter script about "unshown scenes from the episode The Ruler", so I won't be writing or drawing anything beyond that until the end of July😅(hopefully)

Anyway, I'm going to share some points here that I think about Marcaniel and Kim's dynamic!! I hope you like it and forgive any writing mistakes, English is not my first language!!

(and if there is something written in Portuguese in the middle of English, please let me know so I can fix it!! My computer sometimes translates texts into my native language automatically and I'm afraid I may have missed a sentence among the corrections)

My little thoughts on Nath, Marc and Kim's friendship!!

(don't know what to name this, lol)

The first time Kim's dads saw Marc and Nath was at the Heroes' Day picnic.The boys were smiling at each other and talking shyly as Nathaniel showed what he had just drawn.One of the parents asks Kim if the "redhead" and the "noiret" were dating. He says no, they were just friends and comic book partners. The other parent immediately tells Kim to wait a few more months, they would soon be "changing the status of that partnership" , men recognized very well what was written in those looks... but Kim hadn't understood what his dads meant until the day she heard Alix teasing Nathaniel about his crush on Marc. It was from then on that he began to pay a little more attention to the boys, realizing how the little things they did for each other reminded him of the loving couple his parents were and how often, like his dads, the artists received sidelong looks and negative comments disguised as compliments… Kim grew up receiving these negative looks, knowing full well that whoever looked at Marc and Nathaniel's closeness like that would look the same way at his parents… The men always protected each other and their son from anyone who dared to insult their family. Kim just felt the need to do the same with the boys. If his family deserves to be respected, his friends deserve it too and he would make sure no one hurt them.

Kim is not a fan of reading, but he supports Marc and Nathaniel with their comics, always trying to keep up to date with what is happening in the story with each issue that the artists release even without having read the previous one completely. He has his own (and slow) reading pace, He is more of a conversational person than a reader, but he wants to support his friends and goes around recommending and asking about comics to everyone.

Ever since becoming a regular holder of the Monkey Miraculous, Kim has been teasing everyone about how awesome the Monkey King is! He openly shows himself to be the biggest fan of the monkey hero to the point of even trying to convince Marc and Nathaniel to make an exclusive comic about the hero, challenging them to do so over and over again. The boys refused every time, as they were leaving the superhero theme aside, to focus on in his new idea about knights, medieval times and fairy tales, but Marc secretly has a draft of a little one-shot that Nathaniel will illustrate for them to give to Kim for his next birthday. (Don't worry, after months of excitement and fanaticism for receiving your Miraculous, the weight of responsibility fell on Kim's shoulders and he went back to being just a "normal fan").

Kim showed the Sun-heart and Rain-piercer comic to their dads and they loved it! They followed all the volumes excitedly and, just like Marc's parents, they cried with emotion. Especially because Kim asked Marc and Nath to sign and write a special dedication to his parents in the last edition, right below the knights' kiss! The day after the latest issue of Sun-heart and Rain-piercer was released, the men personally accompanied Kim to greet and thank the artists for this comic.

Kim already challenged Nathaniel judging Adrien's clothing style, since the redhead designed clothes for his characters, he must have understood fashion. Nath threw the question to Marc, justifying that he himself didn't know get ready and it was noiret who taught him how to dress up. Drawing is different from dressing someone for real! And so, somehow, between jokes and teasing, the boys decided to take Adrien shopping for new clothes!

I imagine the boys shopping: Marc giving suggestions for clothes and accessories, putting together charming and varied combinations for Adrien, Nath helping him with color combinations and Max calculating the prices and probabilities of the combinations assembled making the blonde more or less attractive for his girlfriend, and Nino and Kim judging them to see whether or not they are doing a good job or not with their bro.

(Don't ask me where Ivan is, I honestly don't know where to put him. He's probably helping Marc hold the clothes or he went out for a moment to buy a brooch or bracelet for Myléne)

In the midst of this clothes party, Kim is paying attention to the strange looks that some others boys give Marc, trying to understand what he is and mentally disapproving the fact that this extravagant and exotic person, and his supposed boyfriend, is giving fashion advice to the son of the late great fashion designer Gabriel Agreste. Kim frowns and grimaces, scaring away anyone who wanted to say anything out loud, especially when Adrien admits to liking the composition that Nath and Marc put together and and the artists hug and kiss in celebration, happy to help.

----

Wow this is longer than I imagined… I'll be tagging @goldenwitherphoenix13 because you also asked me to talk more about my headcanons about Nath, Marc and Kim!! It's not really a fic, but I hope you like it!!

Thank you so much for reading this far! Kisses full of love and light ~Emy🌹

[bigproblemsfunnylife]

Batfamily x GN! Reader spouse

Chapter 2 ; Chapter 3 ; Chapter 4 ; Chapter 5

Title: Home is the place we build, CHAPTER 1

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth.

Summary: You, the new spouse of Bruce Wayne, arrive at the Batfamily’s mansion full of hope but often overlooked and alone. Despite painful moments and misunderstandings, you forge deeper bonds with them all, transforming the cold mansion into a warm, chaotic family home where you finally belong.

CW: Angst, emotional hurt/comfort, references to past neglect and isolation, canon-typical references to violence and danger (briefly mentioned), despictions of low self-esteem and intrusive negative thoughts, discussions of strained familial relationships, alcohol use (in one scene), mild language, some comforts scenes.

Advertisement: The Reader is on vacation for a while in the story and has many hobbies, such as gardening and cooking… There is no mention of their job.

Words count: ~ 1.9k words

The first morning you wake up in Wayne Manor, the sun filters in through gauzy curtains, soft and golden, casting delicate patterns across the cavernous bedroom. Beside you, the bed is empty. Bruce left hours ago, the lingering warmth of his presence already fading from the sheets. A note sits on the nightstand in his careful script: Patrol ran late. I’ll be home soon. Coffee’s fresh. I love you.

You smile at the words, running your thumb over the edge of the paper. It’s a small kindness, a sign of thoughtfulness he tries so hard to hold onto despite the weight of Gotham and the darkness that clings to his cape like a second skin. You tuck the note in your bedside drawer, adding it to the small, growing stack of similar slips. Little reminders that beneath the cowl and the armor, he is just a man trying to keep something warm and real alive.

You pad through the halls barefoot, your footsteps echoing faintly against marble floors. The Manor is so massive it feels like it could swallow you whole. Ornate portraits stare down from the walls, reminders of the generations that came before. Their painted eyes watch you as you move, silently judging the bright, hopeful stranger who has stepped into the space that was, for so long, ruled by ghosts and shadows.

You find Alfred in the kitchen, dressed immaculately as always, rolling dough on the marble countertop. He greets you with a warm, if weary, smile.

“Good morning,” you say softly, moving to pour yourself coffee. The pot is hot, steam curling into the air in fragrant tendrils. “Did Bruce come home alright?”

“He did,” Alfred nods, pressing the dough flat with expert care. “I believe Master Bruce is sleeping in the Cave’s med bay. He insisted he had a few files to update before resting.”

You wince, but you’re not surprised. Bruce never stops. Even when his bones ache and his scars reopen, he refuses to pause — terrified, you think, of what might slip through the cracks in the seconds he dares to breathe.

You sip your coffee, staring out the window at the sunlit lawn stretching out beyond the French doors. Birds flutter among the hedges. Flowers you planted last week nod gently in the breeze. It’s so peaceful, so normal, it almost feels like a different world from the city Bruce protects at night.

But as you stand there, mug warm between your palms, the emptiness of the Manor presses in. It swallows the faint hum of life, the soft ticking of clocks, the chirping of birds outside. For a moment, it feels like the walls themselves are holding their breath, waiting for something to shatter the fragile stillness.

You try to fill the silence. That day, you wander room to room, adjusting picture frames, dusting bookshelves, watering the sprawling plants Alfred set around the house in a quiet attempt to make the space less sterile. After all, you are vacation, so you have a lot of free time. You hum to yourself — half-nervous, half-hopeful — willing some warmth into the cold corners.

But there is no one to hear you.

Tim left before dawn, a note scribbled on a napkin: Out with the Titans, back in a few days. Damian vanished into the Cave early, ignoring you completely when you called a hesitant good morning. Dick is still in Blüdhaven, Jason — well, you don’t know where Jason is. Alfred says little, though he watches you sometimes with sad, sympathetic eyes.

You try to push the loneliness aside. You bake a tray of muffins, leaving them on the counter in case someone comes home hungry. You sweep the back garden, tug a few weeds from the garden. But every task echoes in the emptiness, every soft footstep swallowed by the endless halls.

You’ve only been here a few weeks, and already you understand the cavernous ache Bruce must have felt for years. A house this big, built to hold laughter and life, feels like a mausoleum when it stands empty. You tell yourself it will get better, that the others will come around. But sometimes, in the quietest moments, you feel the edges of doubt creeping in like ivy through cracked stone.

That evening, Bruce returns. He finds you curled up in the library, a blanket over your shoulders, a book unopened on your lap. He looks exhausted, his cowl tucked under one arm, cape trailing behind him. But his eyes soften when he sees you, and he moves to press a kiss to your hair.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, sinking into the couch beside you. “Long night.”

You reach for his hand, your fingers brushing over the faint tremor in his. “It’s okay,” you say softly. “I’m just glad you’re home.”

He nods, eyes closing for a brief, stolen second. But there’s tension in his shoulders, the endless vigilance that never quite fades. You know he wants to ask how your day was, to show he cares — but you can see the exhaustion dragging him under, and so you just squeeze his hand and let him rest.

Outside the window, the last of the sunlight fades, giving way to the deep blue of Gotham night. The Manor grows quiet again, the ghosts settling back into their corners. You glance around the empty room, your heart tightening, but you bury the ache and focus on the warmth of Bruce’s presence beside you.

You don’t know when the others will let you in, or if they’ll ever truly accept you. But you remind yourself — you made a promise to Bruce, and to yourself, to be a light in the darkness. Even if no one else notices right now, you’ll keep shining.

Because this place, as cold and lonely as it feels, is your home now. And you’ll do everything you can to fill it with warmth, no matter how long it takes.

The second week in Wayne Manor feels much like the first: quiet, sprawling days, punctuated only by the occasional soft clatter of Alfred in the kitchen and the distant echo of doors opening and closing, someone coming or going without a word.

You try not to let it get to you. Bruce leaves early, returning late, each time looking just a little more battered than the night before. He apologizes, sometimes, brushing a hand over your shoulder, kissing your forehead as he passes. But he never stays long. The city calls him, drags him back into the night no matter how much you wish he’d let himself rest.

You pour yourself into small things. Muffins in the morning, fresh flowers in the hall. You spend hours tending the greenhouse, though you don’t really know what you’re doing — your hands dirt-streaked and trembling by evening, shoulders sore from hauling watering cans and pruning thorny bushes. But it helps. Gives you something to do. Gives you something to leave behind, something bright and living that you hope the others might notice.

They don’t.

The few times you cross paths with them, it’s fleeting and tense. Damian brushes past you on the stairs, eyes narrowing, his small frame taut with coiled irritation. He mutters something under his breath in another language, refusing to look at you. You call a hesitant good morning after him, but he doesn’t respond.

Tim drifts through the kitchen like a ghost at 2 AM, eyes bloodshot, fingers trembling slightly as he downs mug after mug of coffee. You offer to make him something to eat, but he doesn’t seem to hear you, lost in whatever frantic swirl of data and half-formed plans is buzzing in his head.

Sometimes you hear Jason — the slam of the front door, the heavy thud of combat boots, the angry creak of floorboards overhead as he stalks to whatever corner of the Manor he claims when he deigns to be here at all. He never lingers. You try to catch his eye once, offering a careful smile, but he ignores you completely, his jaw tight with something bitter and raw.

And Cassandra, Stephanie… you haven’t seen them at all. They are still in a long mission as the good heroic girls they are. And Dick is still in Blüdhaven, you’re told. The first Robin, the golden son, busy tending his own city, his own broken corners of the world.

It’s hard not to feel invisible.

One evening, you linger in the kitchen long after Alfred has gone to bed, cleaning up the last crumbs from a failed batch of cookies you hoped someone might notice. You’re scrubbing the counter absentmindedly when you hear footsteps in the hall. Heavy, deliberate — different from Bruce’s soft, predatory tread.

You glance up as Jason appears in the doorway, helmet tucked under one arm, his other hand clutching a bloodied rag pressed to his side. He freezes when he sees you, eyes flickering, jaw tightening.

“Oh,” you say softly, startled. “You’re hurt. Let me get—”

“Don’t,” he growls, stepping back. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“I’m not— I just want to help,” you say gently, moving toward the cabinet where Alfred keeps the medical supplies. “I can grab the antiseptic—”

“Back off,” Jason snaps, voice sharp enough to slice the air between you. “You’re not part of this family, no matter what he told you. Don’t pretend you care.”

The words hit you like a slap. You stop in your tracks, eyes wide, your breath caught in your throat.

Jason watches you, chest heaving, knuckles white around the rag clutched at his side. His lip curls as if he might say more — something uglier — but then he turns on his heel, storming out of the kitchen. You hear him stomp down the hallway, hear the library door slam shut so hard the windows rattle.

You stand there for a long time, staring at the empty doorway, your hands trembling.

Later that night, you find the bloodied rag crumpled in the trash. The antiseptic is untouched in the cabinet. You consider knocking on the library door, offering help again. But you remember the venom in Jason’s voice, the contempt etched into every syllable, and you retreat instead, curling into bed alone.

When Bruce returns, hours later, he finds you awake, staring at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, crawling into bed beside you, pulling you into his arms. He smells like smoke and rain, the tang of blood faint on his gloves. “Another long night.”

You rest your head against his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat, steady and strong. You want to tell him what Jason said, how small and unwanted you felt, how you’re terrified you might never fit into this family he’s built around himself like armor. But he’s already drifting toward sleep, exhaustion pulling him under. And you can’t bring yourself to add more weight to the burden he carries.

So you lie there in silence, clutching the frayed edges of your heart, telling yourself it will be okay. That maybe tomorrow will be better. That maybe, somehow, you can find a way to prove yourself, to show them you’re not an intruder, not just some bright-eyed stranger fumbling around their carefully guarded darkness.

You close your eyes. And in the hush of the cavernous room, you try to imagine the day they might look at you and finally see you as more than a stranger — as family.

[purplemountain]

UNSPOKEN (말하지 않은)

genre: romance, slow-burn, fluff, angst, sexual tension, mutual pining

This is a story between Woo Chaewoon (Ju Jihoon) from Blood Free and Hong Haein (Kim Jiwon) from Queen of Tears

The undercover bodyguard and the chaebol heiress.

Woo Chaewoon was sent with one mission—get close to Chairman Hong, gain his trust, and uncover the secrets buried beneath Queens Group. But everything went off-script when the chairman, without warning, reassigned him as Hong Haein’s personal bodyguard.

Haein wasn’t just cold—she was ice itself. Sharp words, dismissive glances, and an iron-clad wall that no one dared to cross. “I don’t need a watchdog,” she told him on the first day, barely sparing him a glance. “Just stay out of my sight.” Her voice was clipped, her tone indifferent.

Chaewoon didn’t flinch. He met her gaze with the same level of calm he always carried. “Understood.” He said simply.

But he didn’t. He was always there—silently opening car doors, intercepting aggressive reporters, shielding her from prying eyes. She hated it at first. The way he was always watching, always within reach. But then came the moments she couldn’t ignore. The way he handed her warm tea on late, exhausting nights. How he stood in the pouring rain, waiting for her car to arrive, not moving an inch despite being drenched. The steady, unshaken presence that never demanded anything from her—just stayed.

She started to notice things. The way his eyes softened when she was exhausted. How his voice, always neutral, carried a quiet sincerity whenever he spoke to her. The way his hands, calloused yet careful, always seemed to steady her before she event realized she was faltering.

Chaewoon noticed things too. The way she laughed—real laughter—when she thought no one was watching. The tired loneliness in her eyes when the world wasn’t looking. The way her coldness wasn’t indifference, but armor.

He shouldn’t care. He was a spy, an outsider. But every time he called her name, every time she let her guard down just a little, he knew—his mission was no longer as simple as it once was. It was in the way his pulse slowed when he knew she was safe. The way he memorized his habits without meaning to—the slight furrow of her brows when she was deep in thought, the way she stirred her tea exactly three time before drinking it, and the way he started noticing the way her gaze softens when their eyes meet.

And when Haein, without thinking, grabbed his wrist one night, stopping him from leaving—her grip hesitant but firm—he realized she was beginning to see him too.

And that? That was more dangerous than any mission he had ever taken.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER LIST

Chapter 1: A Thorn in Her Side

Chapter 2: Day One - Unwelcome Presence

Chapter 3: Cracks in the Ice

Chapter 4: In His Care

Chapter 5: A Quiet Moment

Chapter 6: Curiosities

Chapter 7: Rain, Candy, and Curiosty

Chapter 8: The Sound of Rain and Heartbeat

Chapter 9: Almost on the Line

Chapter 10: A Worry He Couldn't Name

Chapter 11: An Unwelcomed Familiar Face

Special Chapter 1: Her Dress and His Necktie

Special Chapter 2: An Intimate Moment (Sneak Peek)

______________________________________________________________

Might actually make this into a full-length fanfiction with 10-20 chapters at most. I already have drafts but I still need to polish them. But idk we'll see :')

[akanemnon]

I apologize if somebody already asked this, but what are your thoughts on the weird route, specifically the scenes in chapter 4?

Me personally, I adored it but in a kind of oh my god this is horrible i will throw myself off a bridge this instant but also HOLY SHIT way. it makes me ILL🔥🔥🔥. It's so painful but in like a well written and good way. If that makes sense. the absolute roller coaster that tricky tony sends us on in the weird route really makes you remember that oh. toby is a fantastic writer and i've never felt more grossed out by deltarune.

The weird route was already messed up enough in chapter 2, but chapter 4 was like. ok but what if i make this worse. When I first watched the couch scene I was genuinely grossed out. like ok did you at least kiss the brick before smashing it in my face me at full speed toby.

Anyhow, are you ever planning on doing content for weird route? It would honestly be really interesting to see how you'd convey the intensity of those scenes, how you'd depict the relationship between Noelle and Kris, and how would you portray Kris's conflict with the player, and concepts similar to that.

this isn't supposed to be a request btw!! just gen curious. and it also isn't supposed to be a "is the weird route gonna appear in twin runes😜😜???" type of question. although that was probably obvious. still, i just wanted to clear that up! (on another note, it's pretty obvious that a weird route in twin runes is quite literally impossible and not the intended tone of the comic, idk why people even bother to ask it lmao.)

completely unrelated to this entire paragraph i just wrote but i love the way you draw ralsei he is the cutest!!! i love him

anyways have a wonderful rest of your day!!

Well... there is always The Other Script. There we're dealing with a completely different Kris, who's been though way different stuff than TR!Kris.

That is all I can say on that matter.

I think I commented on the Weird Route continuation before, but to reapeat myself, I am absolutely mortified what it allows us to do. The writing is amazing, but it makes me feel horrible to have the option to do it, even though I never even intend on doing it. That's how much that it messes with me.

[chireikiden]

do we know whether zun writes the script for each official manga word for word, or if he gives the artists a detailed outline and they write the dialogue? i often wonder this because i feel like the writing styles of each manga can differ quite a lot, and some of them feel really different from the way zun writes dialogue in the games.

I don't think we can say for sure how he works with each individual manga. However, the largest sample we have is from this spring's Dai Touhou Project Expedition, which included some of ZUN's scripts for Lotus Eaters. As photography was banned in this section, afaik we only have the recreated text in this blog post here, in Japanese of course.

In these examples, the dialogue is the one thing that ZUN does include word-for-word, while most other descriptions are very brief. This matches how the artists clearly draw e.g. characters' reactions and general behavior very differently.

The scripts have been reframed a bit for the expo, and Mizutaki's comments are a later addition, but we can assume the contents themselves are pretty unedited (or else there'd be very little point in displaying them as a showpiece). I'm gonna go through a couple.

Here we have the script for the first few pages of Lotus Eaters chapter 4. The Japanese dialogue is word-for-word identical between the script and the finished manga, and though this could be a change made for the expo, I doubt they did that. I've borrowed Alpha Beta Kappa's translation for the dialogue, but the point is to illustrate what is and isn't in the script:

Chapters 4–5｜"The Haughty Grab Even the Red Ape" (Part 1–2) Page 95 ― ZUN's Script ――Night-time cherry blossoms at the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, Remilia, Youmu, and some other usual characters may or may not be there. Everyone's already had some drink, and the party is in full swing. Sakuya brings out a dessert on a large tray. Marisa: "What's this?" Sakuya: "I tried my hand at a dessert. In the Outside World, it's called tarte soleil, or 'tart of the sun'. Supposedly it's quite popular for it's sunlike appearance. Although as the sun hardly suits my mistress, I tried rearranging it for a night theme. I call it the tarte lune. It's not too sweet, so enjoy." Everyone's excited. Sakuya looks proud. Marisa: "Fits right in your hand!" Reimu: "This is wonderful." Everyone happily finishes dessert as well. No one's looking at the cherry blossoms at this point. Reimu: "Jeez, your cooking's so good. I'm glad we asked you for help again, Sakuya." Sakuya: "Oh, it's nothing. I merely prepared it to entertain the mistress. Perhaps this is the best the shrine could hope for, but it really is nothing praiseworthy. To think you'd be so easily pleased." Reimu and Marisa smile awkwardly. Reimu: "R-Right... Well—" Marisa: "Y-Yeah, that's right!" Mizutaki's Comments ZUN-san's script didn't really clarify what this tarte lune was supposed to look like, so I just came up with something tasty-looking based on the appearance of the real-life tarte soleil. It says that Sakuya made this for dessert for Remilia, yet Remilia doesn't actually have any lines here. Luckily she's a pretty easy character to make move on page.

Obviously this is a pretty simple, dialogue-based scene, with not much else happening plot-wise, but it shows how all the little interactions on page and even what characters are present is left to the artist's discretion. Sometimes the script for an entire page is like "Miyoi's cleaning happily, when suddenly there's some noise at the door", and sometimes the script ends up becoming a different number of pages than expected. Because the whole point is to be the script for the story, though, it can also be pure description when that's what the story is being told through:

Chapters 11-12｜"Love the Customer, Hate the Sin" (Part 1–2) Pages 106–107 ― ZUN's Script Mamizou and Komachi begin to exchange information. Mamizou keeps the existence of Sanshoku Geidontei a secret, but tells her about the fake name customer. Komachi recognizes what she's talking about! And shares what she knows. Mamizou looks like she understands everything now, and seems satisfied with herself, but her face is also a little solemn. Mizutaki's Comments This scene had no dialogue, only ZUN-san's description of Mamizou and Komachi's conversation. Figuring out how to draw stuff like this is difficult, and I feel a bit lost sometimes, but it's also fun in some ways. Since the location wasn't specified, I wanted to give the feeling that they're hiding themselves from humans but doing so right under their noses, so I chose the underside of a bridge across the river (canal) that runs through the Village. Where else would Komachi be but a "river", after all!

In general, we have Mizutaki's word for the scripts being a bit vague sometimes, but being able to discuss them with ZUN during the process:

Chapters 1–3｜"A Drunken Evening Leaves no Memories" (Part 1–3) Page 77 ― ZUN's Script Suika: "Ah, yeah. I just figured she was that sorta youkai. The kind that always appears at bars. Getting people drunk and then wasting 'em. Good sake makes for a good suima. Bad sake makes for a bad one. And an oni's sake, well..." Reimu: "Well what?" Suika drinks directly from the gourd. She laps up the last bits of the bottomless Ibuki Gourd. Looking drunk and very smug, she goes: Suika: "That makes for... the strongest kind of suima. Unmatched, and unparalleled." Mizutaki's Comments At the time that I got the script, this scene had basically no stage directions. When I tried asking ZUN at our meeting what the mood was supposed to be like, he suggested that Suika blow an alcohol-laden breath at Reimu, so the end result is what you see. (*We were usually also drinking during our meetings, and it's not like I really have any clear notes from them, so there's also a good chance that I'll misremember things. Please read with that in mind...)

We don't get to know how much of the embellished fight scene against the dream-pig that follows was in the script, and how much of it is Mizutaki's creation. But it's already easy to see that with directions like this, any scene can be drawn in many different ways.

If this is representative of the other manga too, it seems that the dialogue itself is straight from ZUN, but almost everything else we see on page is just drawn based on his very general directions. This means that even if the text is pure ZUN, it can still be greatly affected by the context, and the less dialogue there is going on, the more of the page is made up whole-cloth by the artist.

Presumably there are differences in how he works with different artists for different manga, and CDS for example has far less dialogue than most of his other manga, but I must assume that is on purpose. For example, he's said on some show or other (don't ask me to dig up the source, sorry) that he enjoys how he can just kinda tell Akimaki to stick in a fight scene and cut loose (which tells us both that it's Akimaki's doing, but also ZUN-approved).

I can't say with confidence that the dialogue in CDS or any other manga is also word-for-word from ZUN's script, but I think it's plausible and likely, and the artists just have a lot of room to put their own spin on it even without touching a word of it.

There's also other factors in the dialogue pipeline, of course, such as:

ZUN himself is writing in a very different format in the games than in the manga, and the manga generally have a lot more and lengthier dialogues.

The text is split up very differently (into small text boxes vs. across multiple bubbles and pages). And believe me, if you've never translated Japanese, the way things like periods, ellipses, commas and conjuctions are placed is half translator preference and half trying to wrestle with the way the text is split.

The game translations are generally massaged by a number of translators, while the manga are hammered out by individual translators in a couple days with maybe proofreading at most, meaning that their individual styles also affect things more directly.

[lucid-loves]

First Light ~ Simon "Ghost" Riley Part 5

Pairing: bodyguard!Ghost x princess!reader (fem!reader)

Word Count: 4.2k

CW: angst, violence, blood, strong language, scars, verbal abuse by parents, physical abuse by parents, psychological abuse by parents, opposites attract, forbidden love, slow burn, fluff, attraction and sexual tension, reader POV and ghost POV, minors DNI, smut, virgin reader, first kiss

Let me know if I missed any CWs.

Story Synopsis: After receiving death threats from a mysterious terrorist organization, your royal parents make a decision to reach out to the United States for help. Specifically, they want the US to send a bodyguard to protect their precious princess. When the 141 is called upon to investigate, Ghost is the one assigned to protect you. With your lack of experiences outside of your royal life and his experience with nothing but deadly, worldly affairs, opposites attract.

Chapter Synopsis: You are having a blast doing what you want to do for the first time in your life. However, the longer you live with Ghost, the stronger the tension between you gets. One night, curiosity gets the better of you and Ghost can’t help but satiate it for you. 

Part 1 ~ Part 2 ~ Part 3 ~ Part 4 ~ Part 5 ~ Part 6 ~ Part 7 ~ Part 8 ~ Part 9

Ghost watched you watching your movie with a slight smirk under his mask. While you have already seen him without the mask a couple of times already, he still felt more comfortable with the mask. Especially since he was technically still working. While he has been having fun watching you run around the safehouse enjoying new knowledge, he still had to stay on his toes. Your life was still in danger as far as he knew. 

You were wrapped up in a fluffy blanket on the couch, your eyes trained on the screen that flashed movie scenes that were once banned for you. Since day one, you have been desperate to fit as many banned activities as you possibly could before you would go back, whenever that was. Watching movies was part of those activities along with listening to diverse music, exploring the wonders of the world wide web, and trying new foods that weren’t exactly the healthiest. 

In your hands while you watched the movie was a small journal and pen where you took notes. For you, this was more about enjoying the contraband. This was research. You took notes on the cinematography when it came to shows and movies. You took notes on the melodies and harmonies when it came to music. You took notes on ingredients and flavor when it came to new food. 

Anything and everything was a research opportunity in some way. And Ghost admired that about you. You weren’t too naive despite growing up the way you did. You picked up on things rather quickly, especially when you were in a groove. Now that you were free, you didn’t hold back in demonstrating just how smart and competent you were. He figured that if you weren’t a princess, you’d be a scientist of some sort. 

He suppressed a chuckle as you gasped and jumped from a jumpscare on the screen, the horror movie clearly getting to you. Not that you were silly for being scared. The original Psycho was a fantastic piece of cinematography from the horror genre. The lighting work, the script, the acting, and the camera angles all contributed to creating the creepiest horror movie that has stood the test of time. 

You wrote down your experience in your notebook, excited to add to your research. Just before the credits began to roll, Ghost walked over and sat himself next to you on the couch. The couch dipped under his weight, reminding you of how big a man he is. You scooted over, making sure to give him enough space that he took up. 

When the credits began to roll, you stretched your arms above your head to help out your back. Ghost stared at how your graceful arms raised up high, how your back arched slightly. He noticed how flawless your skin looked. It was no surprise that you had scarless skin. At the same time, though, you looked unbelievably soft to touch. 

Ghost had been thinking about that more often within the past week and a half. It was hard not to think about it as you became comfortable within the space. You wore more casual yet cute clothes, you carried yourself more easily, and you have been more active in maintaining the temporary home. Not to mention that you have been wearing that hair clip he bought you just about every day, exposing the nape of your neck. 

He wanted to snake his arms around your waist, pull you close into his lap, and kiss your bare shoulders. The desire passed as you looked at him suddenly. “Would you like to choose the next movie?”

“Me?” He questioned, surprised by your offer. Ghost hasn’t had much time to see a lot of movies. He’s seen the classics and some modern popular films, but his job didn’t exactly allow him time to really indulge in any binge watching of any kind. 

“I was planning on choosing a romance to directly compare the cinematography differences since I expect the contrast to be quite stark. However, if you would like to watch something else, I don’t mind.” You warmly smiled, happy to have Ghost join you in your movie binge. 

You had been trying your best to give him space since he was still taking his job very seriously. You were also trying to keep your crush on him under control by keeping a healthy distance. Though, you still always craved his attention. You wanted to spend time with him. Get to know him. Now was the time to perhaps learn something new about him.

Ghost held his chin in thought for a moment before grabbing the remote off from the coffee table. It didn’t take him long to find the movie he thought would be best for the both of you. Your small smile turned into a large grin as he started Casablanca.

“Is this your favorite movie?” You inquired curiously.

“It’s the best romance movie in my opinion. Not particularly my all time favorite, but it’s up there and a first choice if I’ll be watching a romance. Besides, it would probably serve as a good film to study alongside Psycho since they’re around the same era of film.” He explained, not realizing how easy it was to talk to you about his personal opinions.

You snuggled back into the couch, getting cozy once again for a new movie. The both of you sat in comfortable silence as the film played, feeling a sense of ease in each other’s presence. As the film progressed, you only became more and more entranced in the wonderful story on screen. 

It was hard not to sympathize and empathize with Ilsa. To swoon with her, smile with her, and cry with her. The acting was impeccable. It almost felt real. Especially when Ilsa asked Rick for a kiss for the final time without him knowing. A sharp pain went through your heart as they closed the distance, your notebook and pen falling into your lap. The bittersweet romance made you think of your own inexperience. 

You haven’t thought of it much before. Yes, you did read a few contraband romance books here and there. However, there were more important things to you besides finding a partner you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. It wasn’t until the event with the Duke that you began to think about it a little more each night. You were a grown woman. A capable, smart, curious, and slightly rebellious woman. Yet, you still haven’t had your first kiss. It was starting to make you feel like you were missing out on something in life.

“Hey, you okay?” Ghost called out to you, noticing how pained and distracted you were. He paused the movie for a moment so he could completely focus on you. 

“Ah, pardon me. I was just thinking about something serious.” You apologized, your cheeks flushing a bit. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He offered, causing your cheeks to turn even more pink. While you have been feeling more comfortable talking to your bodyguard, it was still a little embarrassing to talk about the romantic things on your mind. It was hard to refuse him though. You knew that he was genuinely concerned about you. 

Curiosity was getting the better of you too. You wanted to know what kissing was like. If Ghost had ever kissed someone before. He probably has given his age and ability to actually see the world. The image of him kissing someone made you a little sick to your stomach too. Oh god, what if he has a girlfriend back home? Or a wife?!

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your silly anxieties. If this were to be truly resolved, then you needed to speak up. Hopefully Ghost won’t judge you too much. “I. . . I was thinking about how I haven’t had my first kiss yet. . .”

He quirked a brow under his mask, not expecting that confession to come out of your mouth. He didn’t even occur to him before that you thought about those kinds of things. “Something like that bothers you?”

Your cheeks began to feel like they were on fire. He didn’t say it in a judgemental tone, but it was still very embarrassing to admit. “It doesn’t so much as bother me, but I do feel like I am missing out on something. Most women my age have already had their first kiss. Probably a lover. Some may already have children. I know that I’ve been locked away for most of my life so it isn’t my fault. Still though, I can’t help but wonder about it.”

“I can understand where you are coming from. Most people get curious about things like that eventually.” He reasoned, hoping that his understanding would make you feel better. It was obvious that you were getting uncomfortable talking about something like this with him. Your shoulders were tense, your cheeks were pink, and you stared down into your lap where your thumbs twiddled. 

“May I ask how your first kiss was?” You pried in a cautious tone.

Now it was Ghost’s shoulders that were tensing up. Besides feeling the instinct of keeping his privacy that he so strongly protects, it also didn’t feel entirely appropriate to talk about his experience with you. You were still a princess by nature. Plus he was still working.

It was hard to say no to you though. 

With a deep sigh, he leaned back into the couch. “I was a teenager. There was a neighbor who’s granddaughter came to visit every once in a while. She kissed me one night when we were hanging out. We fooled around until she left to go to college. Haven’t seen her since.”

You bit the inside of your cheek as you listened to his story. A part of you was glad that he left out the more intimate details. Another part of you wanted to know what his true feelings were within those moments. “Were you heartbroken when she left?”

“Not particularly. I already knew what was going to happen by the end of that summer. We didn’t really kiss out of mutual feelings either. It was more so just. . . curiosity.” He elaborated further, somehow finding it easy to tell you about these things than he expected.

“Have you ever fallen in love then?” You asked before you could think. 

This caused Ghost to tense up again, his heart skipping a beat. He didn’t know why, but the first thing that came to his mind when you asked was your name. Not even a yes or no. Just your name that danced at the tip of his tongue. 

He felt his body grow warm as he swallowed your name down, not ready to acknowledge what it probably meant. “I had a girlfriend several years back. Hard to maintain a relationship with my job.”

“I see. My apologies.” You lowered your head, somehow feeling like it was your fault that your bodyguard can’t settle down with someone. Like you were keeping him away from a lover that didn’t exist. 

He noticed how depressed you seemed about his answer. He didn’t mean to make you feel bad. “It’s just part of the job. And I won’t say that I was completely innocent in the breakup.”

You hugged your knees to your chest, unsure how to respond to his confession for a moment. You never really asked about his work before. All you really knew was that he was in the military and was one of the best at his job. Now that you thought about it, though, he probably had to move around a lot. He had to travel all the way to your country after all. 

“Did you want to experience your first kiss?” Ghost asked, switching the attention back onto you. The question made your heart feel like it was tripping over itself with how fast it pounded. At the tip of your own tongue, you wanted to admit that you wanted to experience your first kiss with him.

“Um. . .” You hesitated, feeling the butterflies in your stomach turn into a hurricane. It felt like your brain was malfunctioning. Still, Ghost waited patiently for your answer. Silently. 

He didn’t mind waiting. It just meant that he got to see just how flustered you were. While he did feel partially guilty for being the reason why you were embarrassed, he also secretly enjoyed it. It was too much of a treat to see just how pink your cheeks could get. It made him want to tease you. 

Finally, you raised a hand up to your face to try to cover your blush. You were just getting way ahead of yourself. “It’s not nice to tease a princess, you know?”

He wasn’t expecting you to say something so cute and cool at the same time. 

At that moment, Ghost wanted to pounce. Hover his weight above your body and give you a kiss you would never forget. Nibble on your kissable lips while you shivered underneath him. Or he could pull you into his lap and slide his tongue into your pretty mouth. Slide his hands along your waist as he tasted you. You probably tasted devine. Sweet.

He had to bite his tongue hard in order to get his mind out of the gutter. After that, however, he couldn’t help but chuckle. You were so much more full of surprises than he realized. 

Your eyes widened as he laughed. What could be so funny? Was what you said really that comical? Thankfully, your bodyguard was willing to explain. “Sorry, Princess. I don’t mean to laugh at you. What you said was just cool. I didn’t expect it.”

The attention went back to you, Ghost clearly not willing to let this go just yet. It was a little strange. You have never seen your bodyguard so playful before. Relaxed. It made your insides feel like they were melting. While you couldn’t see it with the mask, you knew he was smiling. At the very least, you could tell he was through his eyes. “Anyway, do you?”

You almost forgot what you were talking about until he brought it up again. It seemed that you weren’t going to escape this. “Well. . . yes. However, I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.”

“What about with me?” Ghost slipped up. He gauged your reaction swiftly, trying to figure out if you heard him or not. If you didn’t he could save face.

You did hear him though. Loud and clear. It wasn’t like there were many distractions that would cause you to miss what he said. The movie was on pause. There was no sound but the conversation at hand. 

This was dangerous territory. Saying no would result in losing your chance to not only experience your first kiss, but also miss a kiss with your crush. If you said yes, then the professional boundary of princess and bodyguard would be broken. That could lead into a whole whirlwind of issues if things were to progress. Or if the kiss was found out.

No, you could keep a secret. You have been keeping secrets for years. There were even some secrets that Ghost didn’t know about yet. You were sure that with his occupation and general character, the lieutenant could keep a secret to his grave. 

Could you excuse the kiss for research purposes? Accepting a kiss would satiate your curiosity on the subject. For now at least. Besides, the safest way to explore this was probably with the man that has been keeping you safe. He wouldn’t do anything you weren’t comfortable with or even sure of. 

This was your chance. You couldn’t miss it. “If you wouldn’t mind, then yes. . .”

It took everything out of Ghost to not pull you in right then and there. He didn’t even think you would say yes. However, he had to be sure. You had to be sure. “You positive? There’s no taking it back once it’s done.”

You seriously considered it again for a second before nodding, not much more confident and sure of yourself on this. “Yes. Only if you are willing.”

Oh, he was willing. He craved it. Slowly, he took off his mask, allowing you to see the face you didn’t even realize you missed. Your heart picked up speed. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as a surreal feeling took over. Was this really happening? Your first kiss? With your bodyguard?

As much as you wanted to just keep admiring his handsome face, you closed your eyes, waiting for him to make the first move. You felt the cushions on the couch shift as he moved to a more comfortable position. You felt his body heat become more noticeable as he got closer. 

You flinched slightly as his hand cupped your cheek, the feeling of his skin on yours sending fireworks through you. Ghost was feeling the magnetic pull too. Just as he thought, your skin was silky smooth. Your lashes were delicately long and your lips begged to be kissed already. He felt his own heart thud loudly within his chest as he got closer and closer.

He let his lips lightly brush against yours, not wanting to startle you too much. At first contact, your heart soared. Naturally, you leaned forward to really close the distance, feeling your bodyguard’s lips perfectly fitting against yours. 

Soft, sweet, thrilling. You wanted more. You really wanted more. Ghost felt the same way as he got lost in the way your lips felt. So perfect. So flawless. Without thinking, he deepened the kiss, pressing his lips firmer against yours. 

A subtle moan came from your throat, pleasure spreading across your body. Your lips moved in sync with his, despite this kiss being your first. It was amazing how warm you felt, how sparks flew. It was exactly what your romance novels described. It made you want to try the other intimacies you’ve read too. 

As much as Ghost wanted to keep kissing you, he had to pull back. He was getting too lost at the moment. Any more and he could completely lose control. This was meant to give you new knowledge. A favor. He couldn’t enjoy it as much as he was. 

The absence was devastating though. As soon as his lips left yours, you felt a terrible pain in your heart. It broke your heart that this could be your first and last kiss with him. Your bodyguard felt that strain too deep within his soul. 

He cleared his throat before speaking, trying to relieve the romantic tension that still lingered in the air. “Well, was it what you were expecting? Gonna write it down for your notes?”

You scooted back, creating distance between the two of you. It felt like he was an ocean away. “It was pleasant. I see why people like doing it. I may write about this a little later.”

An awkward silence fell as the both of you tried to ignore the magnetic pull. Ghost scolded himself for getting too close. He really shouldn’t have even entertained the idea of kissing you, but he couldn’t help it. His attraction to the beautiful princess next to him was consuming his mind, body, and soul. The kiss only heightened it.

You reached forward towards the remote and put the movie back on, hoping that this would distract the both of you from your intense attraction.

It helped somewhat as the movie audio filled the silence. However, while your eyes were trained on the screen, your mind was as chaotic as a hurricane. You loved kissing Ghost. You craved it now just like how you have been constantly craving his attention. 

This didn’t feel like this was just a crush on your bodyguard anymore.

Bittersweet, romantic music swelled as Ilsa and Rick said their final goodbyes and finally reached closure with each other. Ghost turned towards you once again, watching your reaction to the end. As he waited, he couldn’t help but gaze upon your lips. 

You felt his eyes on you, something that you were getting better at detecting. Turning your head to meet his gaze, you realized that he seemed closer than before. Did he move closer without you realizing it? Or did you?

Credits began to roll, the sweet music still filling the quiet. Before he could stop himself, Ghost had cupped your cheek, his thumb gently rubbing your skin. God, you were gorgeous. A princess from another world. Away from his world. Just looking into your sparkling eyes helped him escape the traumas in his life. 

On his own, he saw blood, guns, death everywhere. With you, he saw life blossoming from the ashes of the world. 

His lips crashed into yours, no longer caring if this was crossing the line. For now, he wanted that temporary escape. That fantasy of being with you. Of you being his.

You closed your eyes as he kissed you greedily, your arms looping around his neck. Your heart threatened to break out of your chest as he kissed you how he wanted. A real kiss. His kiss. You could feel every cell in your body melt under his touch. 

His hands moved down to your waist where he lifted you into his lap. Straddling him gave you an exciting rush of pleasure that traveled all the way down to the tips of your toes. Strong, large hands felt you up, sending shivers down your spine.

He nibbled your lower lip for a moment, making you moan not so subtly this time. Taking advantage of the situation, he slipped his tongue into your mouth. The pace wasn’t as greedy as he tasted you further. He slowed down to not startle you. But god damn did he want to take all of you. He wanted to take all of your firsts. This was shown with just how deeply he kissed you.

Your grip around his neck tightened as your tongue slid against his. Your chest pressing against his didn’t help the now sexual tension growing. His body felt amazing. Strong, defined muscles with the perfect touch of softness. True strength and power that has protected you. 

You could feel your sex tingle with need.

Ghost pulled back to give you a moment to breathe. He also was feeling himself responding to the sexual tension. It took everything in him not to start grinding into you. The side effect of holding back was gripping your hips tightly to hold you close. 

Feeling weak and out of breath, you leaned against him further, your head pressing against his shoulder. As the both of you began to calm down, his grip loosened. His hands now traveled around your back and waist, hugging you to provide more comfort.

Once your breath became steadier, he placed a kiss against the side of your head. He could tell that you were tired now. He did just take a lot of energy from you. “Why don’t you go take a nap in your room. I’ll be getting some work done.”

Your brows furrowed out of his vision. It hurt that he was sending you away so quickly. But, you did need a moment to think. Regain some energy too. With that realization, you then realized that Ghost was just being courteous to you. 

Slowly, you got off of his lap and headed to your room, fighting the urge to turn around. At the same time, Ghost fought the urge to pull you against him again. As soon as he heard the closing click of your door, he gave a loud sigh. He was really in it now.

You laid yourself down onto your bed, the phantom touch of Ghost still lingering. It felt like his arms were still wrapped around you. Like his lips were brushing against yours. You rubbed your thighs together unconsciously as you recalled everything about your sudden makeout with your bodyguard.

It didn’t take long for you to bury your face into the pillow, muffling your moans as you touched your slick pussy to the thought of him.

Before you were a princess, you were a woman after all.