#I keep editing this w more things i enjoyed but... there definitely were some choices I don’t quite Get

[blorbologist]

S3 eps 7-9 thoughts below the cut

This is all fresh after the episode and I gotta be up in a couple hours so it won't be fully thought out but...

I love a lot of the creative choices being made! But I think many weren't implemented well, or balanced nicely.

Just! as someone who has deconstructed Campaign 1 and made deviations to the timeline of events and etc (mind you, without the same goal of condensing things for television… but somehow the show has an equivalent perc'ahlia focus to a ship-centered fic?) I think… I can see several avenues of narrative choices that would strengthen the ideas they're going with instead of weakening them.

(My credentials here are 'almost 300k canon divergent AU that converged on a handful of similar plot points to TLOVM', but also the aims of an AU fanfic =/= that of a show. I understand and respect that challenge the team faced. But when a single amateur can point out issues that would be pretty easy to solve and detract from a very enjoyable experience... there might be a Problem)

Ripley doesn't need a sob story, she's getting a book anyways leave it there. Fully agree with @/aq2003. The whole point is that she's monstrous and evil and got her PhD out of a fucking cereal box. Percy is less like her than he thinks. But he dies and she just??? escapes??? IF Percy had to die without VM being present, having Ripley either die of her wounds right after or be unable to flee and get torn to shreds by them would have been excellent.

On that note - only Vex and Cass seem to show strong emotion about his death. Keyleth's supposed to be his best friend, and he and Grog were close this season, but. Well, not like we have any platonic relationships. Everyone's just Kinda Sad.

MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC OVER PERCY'S DEATH HUH. Flashbacks to watching Vampire Diaries as a teenager and pop songs coming on over the end-of-episode drama.

Again just. All the platonic, non-familial (Pike n Grog count. to me. buddies <3) relationships are so scant, which is especially hard on characters who lean on that so hard! Grog and Keyleth especially are hurt by this. Does Keyleth have a single conversation (not quip, conversation) that isn't with Vax? And in group contexts she only loudly brings up her distrust of Raishan without any of the solid backbone it has in fact. (Also her going from Raishan was right last time we should trust her now / She betrayed us! Knew it! / oh maybe she didn't and I should apologize. girl. come on. please)

I have Concerns about 'late Game of Thrones teleportation' syndrome happening here. Scanlan goes from Wildemount back to Whitestone (which are completely different continents) with no explanation. Kash and Zahra make it to Emon (again, different continent to Issylra) just in the nick of time. Which, sure, would take a couple of days to carve Percy a nice likeness (but you have a druid who can manipulate stone right there), and if Kash and Zahra changed their minds and set out as soon as Vax talked to them they might make it! But uh. There's a lot of transport that's omitted, while the scenes give the impression everything is happening within a short period of time. And a lot of these conversations are one-on-ones with the relevant characters without acknowledging they couldn't be there without magical transport. Where is Allura or Gilmore or Keyleth in the back of these shots twiddling their thumbs 'hey can we teleport to the next person on our HELP US list'?

IDK what's going on with Kash. He's likely gonna be used as a lead-in to Something to rez Percy (and him?) but. That quick buildup of him being too carefree to getting smushed was very transparent and Zahra's grief didn't feel earned (though it WAS baller. yes they made them bleed girl <3).

The fact Vax didn't ask him At All about the resurrection ritual in the Tomb stuns me tho. You think Vax remembered the offhand comment Kash made about the body needing to be warm while his sister was dead? We as an audience could have used a reminder, and Vax too. Because anyone who Doesn't remember this one line from S2 is Extra frustrated at everyone for being stupid.

Raishan or Ripley being moved to be the 'Vox Machina, united, with all their Vestiges' fight is... hmn. You could argue Raishan has solid buildup (what with the cameo in Brimscythe's lair), and it does follow campaign canon. She lacks the devastating power to justify the use of all the Vestiges (tbh given Thordak it might feel like a curbstomp unless her necromantic plans are successful)... but I could see it working. But why the fuck has Ripley escaped A THIRD TIME. Percy even duped her twice! How many times are we gonna do that song and dance?

If anything, I'd have moved some Ripley stuff here. If she escapes so be it but VM putting the fate of the world on hold to avenge their friend, THEN have Percy be back for Thordak, would be tasty.

... wait does this mean Percy might not have Cabal's Ruin by the final dragon fight of the season? ffs-

DID NO ONE LOOT CABAL'S RUIN FROM THE FACTORY.

Thordak fight was baller, having all our NPCs there to worry about? a bit much. Cass why are you here. Go home before Whitestone loses its last de Rolo.

Also. Thordak my dude I know you're insane. mad even. but uh... you sent your children into battle. A TON have already died by the time you sadly nuzzle the hatchlings. This was kinda your fault. There's a reason animals don't send their babies into combat. then again you're a large reptile who talks about milk so what do I, a reptile researcher, know -

(Don't give me that crap about reptiles being bad parents we have several snakes who require maternal attendance after birth or they're Asocial Weirdos, crocodilians are VERY goo parents, and there are social lizards too.)

'fix him - FIX HIM' being gutted fucking killed me :c

I sure hope Pike's 'IT'S ME' was uh. about faith in herself. Not abandoning the god she spent all of S1 figuring out how to devote herself to. While wearing the Vestige associated with another god. the vestige that explicitly made this possible and not a nuke fire falls u all die tpk. haha. ha. (@/burr-ell)

Yes yes yes I know the voiceover and visuals fill in for 'I hear my mother in the morning. Fuck you'. but. idk. Felt like the grief of that moment was taken out of it? Also it's a banger line

Raishan's little killsteal attempt being bumped from Vorugal to Thordak was tasty! Go green girl go! ... except it did nothing but set up a few quiet moments before she turned on everyone again.

The amount of times I'm seeing things happen Again in this is... not great.

Glintshore is Not Glinting. Where is my broken glass difficult terrain?

Perc'ahlia arc fuckin impeccable tho. Delicious

And Pike got lots of fun and stunning moments so far! And Grog takin down the lair!

I love a lot of this though. The hallucination gas. Percy vs Ripley in the factory was so cool. Percy downright being Put in a Box for a while. VEX'S CONVERSATION WITH SYLDOR!!! SO MUCH!! Her being the leader and feeling so responsible for all this, and seeing herself become her father! ELAINA BACKSTORY! Scanlan leaving the party only to miss Kaylie too! Thordak being A Dad! Percy's death/Vex's grief being the catalyst for Vaxleth! The animation was fucking stellar - Vax killing Thordak, Percy's death, Pike mastering the Plate.

I don't have concrete thoughts on how I'd restructure the episodes/season (seasons?) to better balance platonic and romantic relationships, and utilize the changes to their fullest potential. But damn if the temptation to do ANOTHER canon divergence rewrite / exploration of cause and effect to make things hit a bit more nicely... make myself a challenge to only use X amount of scenes per episode/chapter, to try and match the difficulty of adapting this to television... idk

[simplylove101]

2024 Horror Challenge: [41/?]

↳“It's trippy, huh?" It's What's Inside (2024) dir. Greg Jardin

Plot: A pre-wedding reunion descends into a psychological nightmare for a group of college friends when a surprise guest arrives with a mysterious suitcase that starts to tear the group apart.

Starring: Brittany O'Grady, James Morosini, Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Reina Hardesty, Devon Terrell, David W. Thompson & Madison Davenport

I love how vague that summary is even though the body swapping in the story is actually not a spoiler I'd say since it's essentially the main plot and the surprises are the little secrets & twists we get along the wild ride. And it is quite a ride. To be perfectly honest, I went into this with the lowest expectations for some reason. I think it's just cuz Netflix has like a 50/50 track record with me & their horror movies. I've enjoyed things like the Fear Street trilogy, Gerald's Game, Hush, Veronica, etc. but then I've also turned some movies on that I never finished (or truth be told, even made it 30 minutes in) so you just never know. I figured it'd be some mindless haunted house thing where the group gets picked off one by one or something (I didn't realize the title was referring to the body, not the mansion they're partying in lmao) The trailer intrigued me and I noticed some faces I remembered in the cast (Alycia Debnam-Carey, Gavin Leatherwood, David W. Thompson) so I decided to give it a chance. I'm glad I did since I actually ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected to. Like, it was a genuinely fun watch for me. Idk if it was an instant classic for me, at least immediately, but by the end of it, I really appreciated how fresh it felt. I loved the concept of them playing this game that goes sideways and people trying to figure out who is who. And then there was even a twist at the end I didn't see coming somehow so that was nice. The cast really gelled so well for me too. I love a good ensemble movie, those are my jam! The chemistry was great and overall, the acting was solid, especially since they're all playing multiple people throughout it. Another thing that really ties the whole thing to together are some of the editing choices. I was here for the aesthetics and I do like how they were able to remind the audience who was who at certain times (at least when we were supposed to know) in a way that was still visually pleasing cuz that could have gotten rather confusing with a lot of different names to remember. (Tbh I did still get confused a couple times though lol) Though really, while that may hinder your first watch of it a bit, I think that may help its rewatchability in a way since that means you'll always be able to find something new, the more you see it. This truly was an unexpected gem imo. Reminds me of how I felt after watching Bodies Bodies Bodies for the first time. I loved going on this ride with these characters. Definitely recommend if you want a fun & light watch that still manages to keep you on your toes a bit with where it's going.

[loaksky]

you are such a talented writer! i’m taking a creative writing class this summer and i wanna start writing my own fics, do you have any writing tips? like ur process and how tf you pull such wonderful imagery and feeling out of a story?? thank you! xx

hi babes ! sorry it took me a bit to get around to answering this ! thank you so much for such a sweet message AHHH ! i actually took creative writing my senior year of college as an elective and it was SO fun so hopefully you have a blast taking it ! also so excited that you're getting into writing your own fics, it can definitely be a gratifying experience. even though i feel like i'm not qualified to give writer advice, some thoughts are under the cut LMAO <3

my initial thought is gonna sound so unhelpful, but i read this quote / saying somewhere and it's stuck with me since: just write and keep writing after, even if you hate what you write. and the reasoning that came with the quote is that you already have 100 percent more to work with than if you were to write, hate what you produce, and then stop until you feel 'good enough' to go again. you can always revise, you can always edit, you can always delete and rewrite, but you'll have something to work with. this is something i really struggled with in high school when i was really getting into writing.

obviously you don't want to push yourself into a state where you develop an unhealthy relationship with it, but it's just a little encouragement or motivation that i used to remind myself of when i would get in a funk.

some random technical (?) advice in no particular order:

use pinterest for writing prompts, templates (for world building, character building, plot structuring), creating moodboards for your projects, etc. pinterest is my holy grail for writing both fanfiction and regular fiction / personal projects. possibilities are endless with miss pinterest.

said and says can get repetitive, yes, but they are still very useful. if you try to swap out said and says with too many alternatives, you run the risk of compromising reading flow and sounding a little too wordy.

in that same vein, try out different word choices, but be careful with which ones you choose! sometimes (like with said and says), writers will use a thesaurus and pick the 'smartest' sounding word and then it ends up throwing off the way the sentence reads...if that makes sense...i'm rambling now lmaooo

in regards to your specific question about my process:

i'm literally so all over the place. sometimes i'll think of a really cool title and then just run with that.

other times, i'll think of a conflict and craft a plot around the conflict and build outwards.

sometimes i'll already have my ending in mind and backtrack all the way to the beginning. then i'll the time to flesh out the foundation.

i also listen to a lot of music. if you go through my masterlist, you'll probably peep a lot of song titles hahaha. i usually use music as a way to feel out a vibe or write using inspiration from the lyrics.

as mentioned above, i love making moodboards and perusing pinterest !

also, this may sound lowkey crazy, but i love writing as if i'm describing scenes in a movie. or maybe directing a movie? i'm a very sensory person, so i try to make sure i include most, if not all, of the senses when constructing these 'scenes'.

and finally!

just have fun! in both the creative writing class and online, don't let outside pressures like your peers, numbers, or other things get in the way of you creating what you love and being apart of a community. it can be difficult and a little isolating at times, but no matter what, just remember what you went into your endeavors looking for!

ik i was a little all over the place, but this is what i can think of for now because my brain is absolutely fried lmaooo. if you have anymore specific questions: lmk, i love talking n chatting hehe

best of luck to you in your class and i hope you enjoy the journey of writing fanfiction as well! <3

[junicai]

Relationship with NCT 127

➣ Taeil ☾ taria 

taeil is the Sole Protector of aria’s sanity 

taeil loves his maknaes so much, but he literally looks at her like she put the stars in the sky 

the Proud Dad smile :’)

when aria first debuted, czennies thought that she was the same age as jungwoo - because she acted older than her age - but with taeil she lets her inner kid come out 

highkey dependent on his approval for things in relation to singing

“was, was that ok?” “perfect, ari.”  “ (O_O;)  - (◕‿◕)♡”

she will fight mark and donghyuck for his attention, and she will win

for a while, the two had shared a dorm room before they were rearranged, and taeil let her slip into his bed when she was feeling homesick 

the offer is still open, but aria takes him up on it less and less

taeil is NOT sad about that. absolutely not.

he’s vehemently against any and all diets she tries - saying that if she gets any smaller he’s going to be able to pick her up with one hand

que him dragging her out for ice-cream after a promotion, paying no mind to her protests

aria helps taeil with translating a lot of things into english during lives and interviews - so much to the point where he’s picked up a bit of an irish accent and the others never fail to clown him for it 

taeil still has the small braided bracelet that aria gave to the members on their first anniversary of nct (he keeps it in the drawer beside his bed)

aria is his self-professed happy virus. he told czennies in a vlive once that her smile makes him feel really happy and he wants to protect it to the best of his ability

aria always fixes his micpack before they go onstage if its crooked, because she comes out after him in the lineup

they have monthly movie nights and they alternate who chooses the movie / show (taeil normally goes for mystery or drama themed ones, while aria enjoys making them both sob miserably)

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

aria and taeil singing “I See the Light” from tangled for the NCT Music channel, and the tears that were shed by both moonis and realtai alike. sm really popped off with the staging and the lighting of the whole video - between the smiles that were on both of the singers faces and the whole ambiance created, its a cinematic masterpiece 

no one was surprised when it hit 2 million views in a day, and a lot of solo stans were born from that video

➣ Johnny ☾ johria

indisputable siblings 

there is not a single czennie who ships these two romantically, and that’s because they’re just too wholesome 

johnny is one of the few members that aria calls “oppa”, mainly because of the age gap and sm wanted her to appear respectful, but also because he thinks she looks so cute

very chill, excellent vibes

their vlives are either chaotic messes or the closest thing to therapy since ice cubes 

the blanket on aria’s bed? that was a gift from johnny - she had been complaining to mark about how cold she always was anemia tings

czennies are begging for sm to allow aria to open up a solo instagram account, becuse they see the amount of pictures johnny takes of her

in the park? he’s making her pose in front of the flowers. backstage before a show? the lighting, c’mon.

big big bear hugs - the height difference make nctzens want to die 

185cm vs 158cm? p l e a s e she’s so tiny in comparison  (/ =ω=)/

when she gives him backhugs it looks like a little kitten trying to wrestle with the family dog 

play fighting about vernacular:

“ITS CALLED A SIDEWALK” “S I D E W A L K, ITS A FOOTPATH YOU BUFFOON”

very vocal about her wellbeing, and has asked fans before to remind her to take better care of herself and get to sleep sooner

aria, starting a vlive at 3am: hi hi~

the comments: NO GO TO BED

johnny helped her a lot when it came to the style change in choreography, as aria was used to soft, flowing movements and not the powerful, sleek style that most nct dances have 

consistently forgets the fact that she is not the fourteen year old he first met, and is, in fact, an adult now. “you’re a child” “im 18″ “...no”

is the person to get angry on her behalf when interviewers belittle or ignore her 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

during a fansign, a fan asked aria who did she think was the most comforting when she was stressed (besides mark and donghyuck) and aria said johnny. “he’s so, constant? like nothing seems to knock him or throw him off, and that’s really comforting when i feel unsteady.”

johnny is now known as aria’s weighted blanket. 

that is all. 

➣ Taeyong ☾ ariyong

taeyong took one look at aria the first time she showed up for group practice and immediately adopted her (not literally, but he would if he could)

eomma meets highly protective older brother meets life coach type beat? 

so so soft for her its sickening 

says he doesn’t have favourites and will then spend an hour cooking for aria because she’s been in the studio for the whole day and he knows she hasn’t eaten yet

when aria was given a duet to do for the sm stages, she had to pick another member to do it with and her first choice was taeyong

she always has said that taeyong is one of the pillars keeping her upright and sane - without him she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to complete her training

because of all the schedules they share together, if aria isn’t rooming with mark then she’s definitely rooming with taeyong

whenever she does his makeup (more often than you’d think) she point blank refuses to cover his scar, even when he asks her to 

“please? i don’t like it.” *gasp* “how dare you.” 

sleepy aria! snuggling into taeyong’s shoulder when a schedule ran late! 

he gets uncomfy when the stylists put her in too revealing clothes, and has spoken to them on numerous occasions about dressing her in age-appropriate attire, no matter how “sexy” the concept might be 

he keeps little bags of sugar-dusted strawberry sweets in his bag incase she forgets to eat and feels faint after the last time (they used to be blueberry flavoured, but he heard donghyuck throwing out any and all “blueberry-contaminated” food one evening)

taeyong doesn’t tolerate hate towards aria, especially in person, so he always makes sure to sit down the line from her so that he can see when people skip intentionally her

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

taeyong had just been awarded the solo bedroom on the last night of the Mtopia series, and was staring off into the corner looking rather uncomfortable. aria, who was meant to be rooming with baekhyun looked over and saw his mouth curled downwards slightly. 

“baekhyun-oppa, is it ok if i room with taeyongie-oppa tonight? i ran out of my tablets, and he has some in his bag..” 

baekhyun looked down at her with a small smile and agreed, while on the video edited captions appeared with the words, “a cute maknae, asking to room with a younger member...”

➣ Yuta ☾ nakamiya

the president of realtai 

this man is absolutely, completely and irrevocably whipped for aria and she is not afraid to use that to her advantage

she beat him at arm wrestling because she pouted at him - she’s too powerful 

aria.exe stopped responding when yuta started to playfully flirt with her the first few times

*winks* “hu-wha-”

one of the most outwardly protective members of her, because he feels a sense of responsibility for the younger girl

he was one of the trainees she first befriended, aria’s korean not being good enough to hold a decent conversation, and yuta happy that there was another japanese trainee 

9 times out of 10, when the members are making their way through crowded areas like airports yuta is always behind or directly beside aria

during a fansign one of the fans asked why he did that, and he said that he needed to keep her in his line of sight or else he’d get anxious that she’s so small that she could get swallowed in the crowds 

yes aria hit him for the short comment 

yuta, 50% of the time: you’re not allowed date until you’re 35

yuta, the other 50% of the time: bro where’s your boyfriend

he complains that she isn’t as sweet as she was when she first joined, and that hyuck must have corrupted her (╬ Ò﹏Ó)

he let’s her braid his hair when its longer, them both sitting on a bed with yuta in front and aria kneeling behind him so she can reach 

he was the first person to take her home for the holidays, because ireland was too far to go back for a week over christmas 

“what do you mean you’ve never been to japan???” 

bitching about the other members in japanese? more likely than you’d think 

when aria turned legal in korea, yuta took her out drinking and made sure to post pictures of her with her flushed cheeks on his instagram story with the caption “aish, i told you to pace yourself....” “happy birthday riri”

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

you know that one clip of the sasaeng getting absolutely trashed by nct’s bodyguard and taeyong jumping 7 feet into the air? 

well taeyong wasn’t the only one startled; standing beside yuta, aria was closest to the wall of fans when the girl ran forward towards the members. aria jumped in fright, while yuta barely made a face (#unbothered). he simply wrapped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her around to the other side, tucking her underneath his arm.

tsundere!yuta

➣ Doyoung ☾ dori

*ahem* WHIPPED *ahem*

doyoung adores aria so much 

was he unsure about a girl being added to a group of boys? yes but it was moreso concern about how he was going to make sure she wasn’t accidentally trampled

they bonded over a night in the recording studio when he found her sitting on the floor with music sheets scattered around her 

a whole mentor when it comes to singing 

aria always turns to him after singing - especially when it wasn’t planned, like at a fansign - to see if she did a good job

doyoung has yet to tell her that she hasn’t but sue her, she appreciates the validation

the original mother and Will Not Let Taeyong Forget It

doyoung, dragging aria out of the studio: now listen here young lady-

kitten and bunny friends RISE

no seriously sm released merch of a kitten and bunny plushie and it sold out in a day

when aria had the accident that led to her two month hiatus, doyoung was the one who rode in the ambulance with her after refusing to let go of her hand 

“i’m sorry sir, only family are allowed in at the moment-” “we are her family” *nurse looks around the room at the 14 other boys sitting anxiously*

he is a weak, weak man he will crumple on any decision if she smiles and slash or whines at him even slightly 

carries band-aids and support strapping in his practice bag because he knows that she gets really bad blisters when she hasn’t practiced while wearing her heels in a while, and he makes her wrap her ankles for the first few sessions incase she falls 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENTS.

NCT 127 Take a Friendship Test (Glamour - 2020)

“ahh, my first impression?” *laughs* “actually, we first met in a recording studio, at like. 3 o’clock in the morning? he stuck his head in the doorway and i was so tired that i thought i had died and an angel had come to save me...”  (*μ_μ) 

➣ Jaehyun ☾ jaria

you know how cheetahs in the zoo get emotionally support puppies?

this is the same type of vibe

very snuggly together? but only in specific scenarios, like when jaehyun is too tired to move after a movie night, he’ll just kinda engulf aria in a hug and make her sleep on the couch with him 

any back hug she gives him turns into a piggy back, its non-negotiable 

likes to randomly compliment her to see how red he can make her face go

did she have a crush on him when she first moved to korea? yes, but who didn’t

that faded really quickly though once she started into the group officially - now they are more like siblings

they don’t interact that much on camera? rip to the jaria shippers

but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close with each other its just that a lot of their interactions happen off-screen

naturally, jaehyun began to think of her as a younger sister over the years they performed together 

jaehyun will end anybody who lays a hand on aria 

a little bap bap if you will 

he asked her to take him ice-skating one day, and the entire time was spent with aria laughing her ass off as he ate the ice nearly fourteen times before getting the hang of it 

he takes her out for food when he notices that she’s been put back on a strict diet plan (aria thinks she’s good at hiding those pieces of paper, but she forgets that when she puts it on top of things, that other people are a lot taller than her and have a higher vantage point)

the prince and princess of nct? check 

head pats

he likes to pat her head and she’ll swat it away immediately until she gets tired and just lets him do his thing 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT.

jaehyun was wearing a flower crown placed carefully on his head as he bent down slightly to run his hands through the damp grass. a soft shutter sound went off, before he heard a hum coming from behind him. “jaehyun-ssi, could you take off the flowers? we can’t see your face clearly because of the shadow.”

jaehyun glanced backwards at aria’s retreating figure, being chased by donghyuck with hands still stained green from the grass she had shifted through to find the fallen flowers. she stopped and waved at him before resuming her run.

“i’d rather not, if that’s alright. i think it fits quite well with the theme.”

➣ Jungwoo ☾ ariwoo

oh my god someone please stop these two

once jungwoo taught aria about the power that aegyo holds for persuasion tactics against the older members of 127, they were unstoppable 

you should be afraid of them

100% have plotted someone’s murder before (and have succeeded, czennies always wondered where that last manager went after The Incident)

aggressively cute together - to the point where your teeth will rot 

jungwoo will intentionally flirt with aria just to fluster her because its “so easy to do”

not very physically affectionate, but jungwoo has no hesitation calling out “uri fighting haeyadwae!” to her when she looks like she needs a little encouragement 

jungwoo is the reason she wants to do a bachelors degree after finishing high school 

he used to help her with her maths assignments after school when she was struggling with managing her time 

they’re called the “aegyo duo” of the group, and there has yet to be an outright winner of the competitions to find the cutest member (its aria. jungwoo said it himself, its aria but we been knew)

they have an odd dynamic of looking like best friends the first second, evil masterminds the next and then siblings who want to murder each other but they make it work 

will and has flopped down on her while she was laying on the practice floor and then whined when she tried to get up 

he spilled the tea that aria gets super emotional and affectionate when she’s drunk 

cutest shit ever that made ariwoo shippers lose their absolute minds was the clip that got released in the behind the scenes filming of Kick It, where jungwoo was half asleep in the corner and aria just pops up out of nowhere to shove a folded jacket under his head and made sure to prop it in a way that he wouldn’t get a sore neck when he woke up

jungwoo is the reason she knows korean curse words (dont tell doyoung)

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

aria wobbled in her heels slightly as she stepped out of the van, trying to hold a blanket up to protect her legs while she slid off the seat onto the ground. jungwoo extended an arm around her waist, gripping the blanket in his other hand and carefully holding her to make sure she didn’t trip on the cobbled stone.

➣ Mark ☾ mari

1/2 of the best friend crew

honestly at the beginning, mark and aria weren’t very close, having only really seen each other in passing or with johnny 

but after being dropped into training together the two quickly became fast friends, and now they’re borderline inseparable 

you thought you knew pain? watch aria’s reaction to mark’s graduation from dream :)

mark’s the reason why aria felt confident enough to pitch some of her lyric ideas to the team, after staying up until 4am to help her make some edits so she was as confident as possible 

kinda just, rests his head on her shoulder? and wraps his arms around her waist when he’s tired 

mari being confused in foreigner: ??? 

aria said once in a vlive that she finds mark really comforting to be around - when she feels stressed or worried about something she’ll go to mark’s room and just sit on his bed for a while

aria is so close with his parents - “ahh, how’s my favourite child” “i’m doing great mom.” “no not you, how’s aria?” “wh-hu-MOM?” 

you’d swear sometimes mark is younger than her, considering the pout he puts on and how much he whines when they’re not on the same team together for promotions

mark big protecc boi but also little small cuddly boi 

they’re so soft for each other ( ╥ω╥ )

in one of the fancams for mark’s solo stage during superm, someone zoomed into aria singing along with him in the wings and dancing to herself with the Proudest Smile(tm)

he’s! so! proud! of! her! constantly! she could be walking and he’d be like “omg get it” 

when aria refuses to get up and make herself food (this happens way too often, she just gets into the groove of her work and doesn’t want to move) mark gets her to by threatening to do it himself 

consistently caught by czennies just standing behind her and holding her hand in crowded areas - airports, waiting rooms, etc. 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

mark and aria were standing off to one side as the mc explained the rules of the game they were about to be playing. mark looked totally confused, and elbowed aria in her side before looking down and mouthing “what?” to her. aria opened her mouth, before closing it and looking down at the ground, muttering to herself, “결합... 結合..... le chéile.... le... le.. oh oh - combined! we have to put them together, markie.”

and thus, a new confusion meme was born

➣ Haechan ☾ arichan

the other half of the best friend crew

absolute heathens to be around when they are together 

donghyuck is the person aria is closest to, and someone she’d call her best friend (only when she was sure he wouldn’t hear her)

she calls him “the demon child i can’t get rid of” but will, and has definitely pouted when he ignored her for too long 

generally aria is a pretty soft spoken person, but not with hyuck around - he brings out all her chaos energy (please pray for the patience of dotae)

the pair have a little tradition of kissing the back of each others’ hands before going on stage for good luck. they can’t even remember how it started, but now its an unnegotiable pre-show ritual

he’s so clingy with her absolutely everywhere its painfully adorable  (ಥ﹏ಥ)

interviews? hyuck has a hand on her knee, or if she’s wearing a skirt he’s tucked his hand in between their chairs so she can hold it discreetly. in the dorms? full body tackle onto the couch, where he proceeds to lay on top of her completely. 

because of hyuck’s nickname being the sun, and aria always being around him, czennies gave her the nickname “moon” to go with him

fans thought that aria was older than hyuck for a good year and a half before she released her birthday on a vlive, because she’s normally the one tasked with reigning his chaotic energy in during promotions (that is, if she hasn’t already joined him)

but off-camera, aria is absolutely hyuck’s baby there is no disputing that. aria’s sad?he’s there with ice-cream and a blanket and a baseball bat.

the winnie the pooh character that is on aria’s bed was a gift from hyuck for her 17th birthday, after she made him watch seven episodes of the show on netflix with her one night 

yes he complained, but he slapped her hand away when she went to change it to something else 

a twitter thread of a czennie comparing their horoscopes together went viral when people realized that it was quite plausible that the pair were each others (platonic) soulmates 

after an incident involving blueberries, donghyuck took it upon himself to check the ingredients of every. single. food item in their dorm to make sure it was ok for her to eat 

hyuck clowns her for her irish accent, and aria curses him out in japanese

tldr: they cute or whatever 

FAN FAVOURITE MOMENT. 

donghyuck was doing a vlive in his bedroom, sitting and talking to czennies when aria opened the door to his room quietly. she didn’t say anything, just waved slightly with almost closed eyes before she crawled underneath his covers and tucked her plushie underneath her chin. hyuck didn’t even blink at it - so it must have been a regular occurrence.

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers GRAND EDITION for Switch ;; More, Blood ー Yuma [After Story]

ー The scene starts in the garden

Yui: ( One year has passed since Yuma-kun and I got married... )

( And now it’s time to harvest the vegetables we’ve been meticulously growing ever since. )

Nn...Just a...little more...!

( And right now, while Yuma-kun is letting me ride on his shoulder, I am in the middle of plucking them... )

( However, there’s just no way Yuma-kun - being the bully he is - would let me harvest them in peace... )

Yuma: Come on, ya gotta extend yer arms some more, Sow!

*Rustle*

Yui: Easy for you to say...!

You’re the one shaking me around...! I can’t get a good grip...!

*Rustle*

Yuma: Aahn? It’s shakin’?

Yui: I-It is...!

Yuma: How so?

Yui: How, you ask...? Kyah!

Yuma: Oi, oi. Don’t want any misunderstandings, do ya?

I’m not the one to blame, ya end up swayin’ from left to right ‘cause you’re too damn heavy.

It’s ‘cause ya haven’t been looking after yer own physique, right? Not my fault.

This is what they’d call ‘ya reap what ya sow’.

Yui: A-Am I that heavy?

( I thought I was around average, so it’s somewhat of a shocker if I actually am on the heavy side... )

Yuma: Aah, so heavy! If I continue havin’ to carry ya like this, Imma bust my shoulder.

Yui: Eeh!? It’s that bad!? 

( ...Uu, I seriously have to go on a diet then...! )

Yuma: ーー As if, there’s just no way.

Yui: ...!? You were lying just now!? You meanie!

Yuma: Aah? Who ya callin’ a meanie?

Yui: B-But...! I was about to fall into a depression for real...!

Yuma: Haah? Why? Aah, ‘cause I called ya a fattie?

Haha! That was obviously a joke?

Do I really look like the type of guy who would struggle carryin’ ‘round a skinny chick like ya on my shoulder?

Oi, what’s yer answer? Come on!

*Rustle*

Yui: W-Wah...!

Yuma: Come on, what’s wrong, Sow? I’m askin’ for yer answer, aren’t I?

Yui: L-Like I said! Stop shaking me like that!

Yuma: That’s not an answer to my question. If ya won’t listen to me, guess I’ll have to punish ya then.

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah! A-Aaaah, it’s dangerous!

Yuma: Hah! What? Pissin’ yer pants or somethin’?

This is kinda fun, makes me want to shake ya ‘round even more...There!

Yui: Wah! I-It’s scary when I’m up high like this!

Yuma: Hm? Scary?

Do ya have a fear of heights or somethin’?

Yui: I-I don’t but...

( T-Thank god...He stopped moving around... )

Yuma: Damn, ya gave me a scare for nothin’...

For one, you’re to blame for not gettin’ on with it.

Come on, don’t be such a slowpoke!

We’re runnin’ out of time! I have a busy schedule!

*Rustle*

Yui: Even if you say that...!

Do you want to let me harvest these vegetables or notーー

Which one is it, honestly?

Yuma: Are ya stupid?

Why do ya think I’m carryin’ ya, if I wouldn’t let ya help me with the harvest?

Ya don’t understand why I’m goin’ out of my way to lift ya into the air like this?

Yui: W-Well...I think it’s so I can pluck the vegetables.

( I want to believe that’s the case...But! )

Yuma: Then get those hands movin’!

Or what? Are ya doin’ this on purpose ‘cause ya wanna get punished?

Yui: That’s not it!

Yuma: Then get on with it! Geez, ya start cryin’ ‘round like a baby just ‘cause of some minor shakin’...

Come on, those ones on top look pretty good, huh? Hurry up and grab them!

*Rustle*

Yui: Ah! Like I said, it’s dangerous!

Yuma: Hehehe! Yer voice is quaverin’, Yui!

Yui: I-I’m gonna fall...!

Besides, if you keep on messing around like this, I don’t think we’ll ever finish the task at hand...!

Yuma: Aahn? You’re gonna start lecturin’ me...?

*Rustle*

Yui: I-It’s not about...lecturing you...! Kyaah!!

Yuma: Idiot. Ya really think I’d drop ya?

Look at that dumb expression on yer face. Who do ya think I am?

No matter what stupid things I may do on a daily basis, I wouldn’t let ya get hurt.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: I’m shakin’ ya ‘round ‘cause you’re too damn slow...

In other words, a punishment...Wait, no.

It’s tough love! (1)

Yui: Kyaah!

( I figured he’d stop but Yuma-kun’s really having a blast...! )

( I don’t want this ‘tough love’... )

Yuma: Come on! Pick them already, Sow!

Yui: Kyah...!

( Yuma-kun really always seems to enjoy himself whenever he’s teasing me. )

( But...I won’t lose. )

( If I give in here, we’ll never get anywhere...! )

( I have to...stretch my arm all the way... )

( Okay...! I got it...There! )

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyaah! G-Geez! Yuma-kun! Ah...Watch...out!

Yuma: Haha, you’re makin’ these really funny sounds.

Yui: Say, if you do this, we really won’t get this done, you know?

We have to properly pluck these in time for the harvest festival...

Yuma: Aah? You’re the one who brought that up though?

Yui: T-That’s true but...

( We managed to get this many delicious, ripe vegetables just in time for harvest season. )

( So I brought up the idea of holding a celebration. )

( Speaking of which, I feel like Yuma-kun was never truly on board with it... )

ー A flashback ensues

Yui: You know, these vegetables from our garden really are delicious.

Yuma: They sure are.

Yui: Say, why don’t we do something with these?

Yuma: Haah? What do ya have in mind then?

Yui: Hm...For example...Why don’t we hold a harvest festival like they do abroad?

Yuma: Harvest festival?

Why do we have to do that shit?

Yui: Look, we could turn it into a garden party and have a meal together with everyone outside...

I’m sure the vegetables we eat every day will taste even better than usual.

Yuma: Ya think so?

Yui: Of course! I’m sure it’ll be fun!

Yuma: But we’re eatin’ these veggies every day, right? What’s the point in doin’ this now?

Yui: ( Uu, seems like Yuma-kun isn’t too stoked about my idea... )

But you spent so much time and effort into growing them, so I just wanted to think of a way to enjoy them even more...

Yuma: ...

Yui: Please, Yuma-kun? Let’s harvest a bunch of vegetables and hold a party?

Yuma: ...

Yui: ...No?

Yuma: ...Che. Guess ya leave me with no other choice.

If ya want to do it that badly, I’ll tag along.

Yui: Really!?

Yuma: In return, you’re gonna be the one doin’ most of the work. That’s my condition.

Yui: Hooray! I’m so happy...Thank you, Yuma-kun!

Yuma: Haah...I always go way too easy on ya.

I can’t be like this...Gotta be more strict...

Soon, she’ll play me like a fiddle...!

She may be the chick I fell head over heels for, I’m not gonna let her use me as her loyal lil’ servant...I gotta think of some sort of plan...

Yui: ...

( I managed to convince him somehow, I guess? )

( Okay, I’ll try my best on the preparations for harvest season! )

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ( He gave me green light back then, but it’s Yuma-kun we’re talking about, so he might be sick of it already... )

Yuma: Whatcha spacin’ out for? Come on!

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyaah!?

*Swoosh*

Yuma: Woah there!

Yui: I-It’s dangerous...You just gave me a heart attack...!

Yuma: See? I caught ya so ya wouldn’t fall, didn’t I?

Even if I spook ya a lil’, I would never put ya through pain. 

Yui: You big dummy...! I was really scared...!

Yuma: Who ya callin’ a dummy, Sow? Ya can’t trust me or somethin’?

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah! Y-Yuma-kun...?

Yuma: This is what I do...to cheeky women like ya!

ー Yuma bites her

Yui: ...!

Yuma: Nn...

Yui: Ah...

( Geez, Yuma-kun, he suddenly bit my neck...! )

Yuma: Don’t be fightin’ back...! Nn...

Yui: ...Nn...!

Yuma: Nn...!

Haah...Nn...

...Per usual...Your blood’s...Nn...

The sweetest thing ever...Surpassin’ even Sugar-chan...Nn...

Yui: ...Geez...Oh you...~

Yuma: You’re at fault. For having...such delicious blood.

Haah...It’s hella delicious...Nn...Kuh...!

When I drink yer blood, I feel like I’ll let everythin’ else slide, it’s kinda odd.

I might have seriously fallen head over heels for yer blood...Haha!

Yui: Only my blood...?

Yuma: ...Aahn?

Yui: You only like my blood...? How about me as a person...?

Yuma Fool.

Whatcha soundin’ so miserable for?

Yui: W-Well...

Yuma: Whatcha sayin’ at this point? Ya really are a fool.

Yui: H-How could you!

Yuma: Listen to me. ...Yer blood is definitely delicious.

But if that was the only thing, ya really think I would have gone through the trouble of marryin’ ya?

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: Che. Geez, I really have to spell everythin’ out for ya, don’t I...?

Or maybe this is enough to satisfy ya? Aah?

Yui: ...!

Yuma: Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Nn...!

Yuma: ...Geez...

I...love ya.

Didn’t I say that I’m head over heels for ya?

Yet that’s not enough for ya, huh? You’re so greedy.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: Che. You’re makin’ me say all the embarrassin’ shit. ...Fuck.

For now, lemme suck yer blood...!

Yui: K-Kyah...! Hold up, Yuma-kun!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the shopping mall

Yuma: ...Say, there’s still more stuff to buy...?

Yui: Yeah. There’s still some daily necessities we’re running low on...

Yuma: Ahー Fuck! This damn crowd is drivin’ me mad!

Yui: It’s a holiday, so it’s more crowded than usual, isn’t it?

Yuma: Ya really should have just come by yerself.

Yui: But I can’t carry all of this stuff by myself...

Yuma: Hooh? So ya always intended to bring me along just to carry yer bags, huh?

Yui: I’m pretty sure I was honest about that when I invited you along...

Yuma: Yeah. I tagged along ‘cause I felt like I had no other choice after ya came cryin’ to me like that.

Yui: I-I wasn’t crying...!

( I also asked him because I enjoy going out shopping with Yuma-kun though... )

Yuma: Ya didn’t speak a word of this crowd tho!

Ah-ah, if I had known this, I would have much rather taken a nice nap at home.

Yui: ...

Yuma: ...What? Don’t go quiet on me.

Yui: ...But...I didn’t think you’d dislike it this much...

I’m sorry, Yuma-kun...

Yuma: ...Oi, don’t look like you’re ‘bout to cry.

I don’t hate it that much.

If I did, I wouldn’t have come.

Yui: ...Really!? Thank god...!

Then, can we go look at some clothes after getting the daily necessities?

Yuma: ...Excuse me? Ya sure change yer mood from one second to another...

Yui: Eh?

Yuma: Ya were in tears just now! Where did those go?

Yui: But you said you don’t dislike this, right?

ー She holds onto his arm

*Rustle*

Yui: I’m happy to be able to head out together and shop like this!

Yuma: ...Che. You’re a wicked woman.

Yui: Eh? How so?

Yuma: Oh well, whatever. But only use yer charms on me, ‘kay?

Come on, let’s go!

Yui: Kyah! You walk way too fast!

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: Ah, look! There’s so many delicious-looking fruits...!

Yuma: Ahー? We’re growin’ these at home so we don’t need them, right?

Yui: But there’s ones we’re not growing as well. We should buy different ones every now and then...

Yuma: Like I said, we don’t need them...

Yui: But...

Yuma: Are ya even listenin’!? If there’s a kind ya wanna eat, just tell me!

Yui: Eh?

Yuma: If ya want it, I’ll grow it!

Well, I can’t do it overnight ‘course.

But I’ll make sure they will be ripe and ready to be eaten by next year.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: Why are ya in tears again?

Yui: B-Because...!

Yuma: If ya actually start cryin’, I’m leavin’ ya behind, got it?

Yui: Eh? W-Wait! Yuma-kun!

Yuma: Che. Don’t go ‘bout shoutin’ like that!

Azusa: Huh...? Yui-san? And...Yuma as well.

Kou: Seems like the two of you are being lovey-dovey per usual~

Yui: Huh? You guys! What brings you all here? Out shopping?

Kou: Yeah, exactly. But the two of you really are close both at home and outside, huh? It’s almost making me jealous.

Ruki: Don’t stand out too much in public.

Kou: You tell them!

Yui: ...Uu, sorry...

Yuma: The fuck? Ya guys appear out of nowhere and you’re already callin’ us out?

Kou: Don’t you think you two are to blame for flirting out in the open like that?

Yuma: Fuck off! That’s our business, isn’t it?

We’re a married couple and she’s my woman.

I obviously gotta keep her close so some weird fucker doesn’t set his sights on her.

ー Yuma wraps his arm around her

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!?

Yuma: Come on, let’s go, Sow!

Yui: Y-Yeah!

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ...

Yuma: ...

Yui: ...

Yuma: ...What? You’ve been quiet this whole time.

Yui: Yeah...Ruki-kun and the others saw us earlier...

Yuma: Ahn?

Yui: It never bothered me up till then, but I suddenly grew embarrassed.

Yuma: Ah? What do ya mean, embarrassed?

What’s so embarrassin’ ‘bout bein’ seen together with me?

Yui: N-No. That’s not what I meant...

It was the first time they all saw us together outside, so I suddenly grew very self-conscious.

Yuma: You’re the one who clung onto me, right? It’s yer own fault.

Yui: That’s...true but...

Yuma: It’s not like we did somethin’ naughty in front of them, so don’t let it bother ya.

Yui: W-Well of course we didn’t!

( Who would do that in public...!? )

Yuma: Hmm?

Yui: W-What?

Yuma: I see.

Yui: Honestly, what?

Yuma: Next time ya give me that kinda cheeky attitude, I should just knock ya out with a single kiss, huh?

Yui: Eh!?

Yuma: It’s fun to see ya cry ‘bout as well, but I guess I should just do this when I want to shut ya up real quick?

Yui: W-W-Wait, Yuma-kun!

Yuma: ...What?

Yui: Y-You can’t? L-Like...kissing and stuff...Out in public...

Yuma: I won’t if ya behave. Yer fate is in yer own hands!

Yui: Eeh!?

Yuma: Well, ya better be careful!

Yui: ( Uu...! I will... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the garden at night

Yuma: ...They still won’t bloom, huh?

Haah...

Honestly...What has gotten into me...?

Why am I puttin’ so much effort into growin’ these...?

Do I blame it on her? Or am I doing it for her...?

Haah...

This doesn’t suit me tho...

...

But she was super happy with them the other time.

And she looked rather pretty when I put it into her hair...

It marked...the first step of our relationship after all.

I guess I can’t do much wrong by tryin’ to please her...

For one, it’s out of character for me to even worry ‘bout something like a wedding anniversary.

I guess this shows that love makes a guy go weak...

...

These roses are different from the ones I grew in memory of my comrades back then...

I grew these with her in mind...

I won’t give up, even if they won’t bloom.

I’ll keep lookin’ after them till they grow beautiful flowers...

...

...Che, I’m really not actin’ like myself...

Makes me laugh...

I can’t let her see me like this.

I hope they’ll bloom in time for the anniversary.

Or rather, I’ll make sure of it!

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the dining hall

Yui: Say, Yuma-kun.

Yuma: Ah?

Yui: Things are gonna get busy today!

Yuma: ...Why?

Yui: Did you forget already? Today is the harvest festival! I have to prepare for the party.

Yuma: Aah, that’s today?

Yui: I told you several times yesterday! How come you’re so out of it?

Is it because...you don’t want to celebrate the harvest festival?

Yuma: ...Not really, honestly.

Yui: ...

( I wonder what’s wrong with him? He’s been like this for a few days... )

Yuma: ...Aahn? Why are ya lookin’ at me with that weird look on yer face?

Got a problem with my behavior or somethin’?

Yui: No, I don’t but...

Ah, right.

Yuma: Ah?

Yui: I’m gonna start cooking now, so you lend me a hand too, okay?

Yuma: A hand?

I told ya that you’re gonna do most of the work for this festival, right?

Yui: Of course, I’ll give it my best shot as well. But it’d be a great help if you could at least assist me a little...

I can’t rely on you for help?

I’m sure you would be such an amazing help though...

Yuma: Che, ya always give me that crap. I don’t mind tho.

Yui: Hooray! Let’s start preparing the food right away then.

I’ll leave setting up the table outside up to you!

Yuma: Roger...

...Geez, first she butters up to ya and then starts orderin’ ya around like a slave...

Yui: ...Hm? Did you say something?

Yuma: No? Nothing?

Yui: Really? Okay then...

Well then, I gotta give it my best shot! I have to make sure it’s extra delicious today!

ー Yui walks to the kitchen

Yuma: Geez...Look at her bein’ all excited.

I shouldn’t have agreed to lettin’ her organize this garden party so easily.

Why do I have to help my own wife prepare food for some other guys?

I fucked up...

Yui: Hm? Did you say something?

Yuma: Nothin’! ...Ya sure have some sharp ears...

Yui: Ah! You were talking bad behind my back just now, weren’t you!?

Yuma: ...I wasn’t! Geez...

Yui: Really?

Yuma: Like I said, have some faith in me.

Yui: ( I do trust him but...He definitely said something just now, didn’t he? )

Yuma: You’re gonna make a real feast, right? Hurry up and get started on the food!

Yui: Yeah! Look forward to it, okay?

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the kitchen

Yui: Phew...Guess this is the best I can do...

Yuma: I’m all done. Woah! Looks good!

Yui: Really? I’m glad! Thank you for helping me, Yuma-kun.

Yuma: Yeah. Should I carry these?

Yui: Yeah. I’d appreciate it if you could take all finished dishes with you.

Yuma: Roger.

ー The scene shifts to the garden

Yuma: Oh? Ya guys are already here?

Azusa: Because it’s already...the designated time...

Kou: Wooow~ M-neko-chan’s homemade cooking looks delicious!

Azusa: I’ve gotten...kinda hungry...

Ruki: The meals she makes aren’t half bad for livestock.

Yuma: Hah! Right?

My Sow is well-trained after all!

Kou: And what are you so proud about...?

Ruki: Good grief, how shameless...

Azusa: You’ve become a total softie when it comes to her, haven’t you, Yuma...?

Yuma: Hah! What’s the problem with bragging ‘bout what belongs to me?

Kou: How many times do I have to tell you to stop subconsciously going into ‘loving husband’ mode!?

Yuma: I’m not doin’ that!

Anyway, what is she up to? She’s still not done?

She really is such a slowpoke...

ー The scene shifts back to the kitchen

Yui: Nn...There we go.

This wraps up the final dish...I guess?

What should I do? I’d love to sprinkle some herbs on top of the meat but...

I don’t think we’re growing any in our own garden?

I’ll go take a look.

ー The scene shifts to the garden

Yui: Hm...?

( There’s an enclosure I haven’t seen before...? )

I wonder what it’s for...?

*SCENE SHIFT*

Yuma: Hm...? Why is she there!?

ー Yuma rushes over to her

Yuma: Oi! Yui!!

Yui: Eh? Kyah...!

*Rustle*

Yuma: What are ya doing here!?

Yui: Hey, you’re hurting me, Yuma-kun!

Yuma: I’m askin’ ya a question!

Yui: I wanted to sprinkle some herbs on top of the meat of the main dish...

Yuma: Herbs?

Yui: Then I found this unfamiliar enclosure...So I was wondering what it could be for...

See, over theーー Ow!

You’re hurting my arm, Yuma-kun!

Yuma: Ya...can’t look at that.

Look away! Geez. I really can’t lower my guard for one second ‘round ya...!

Yui: ( Lower his guard...What does he mean? )

Say, what has gotten into you all of a sudden?

Yuma: Ah? ...Nothin’, really.

That’s just none of yer business.

Yui: W-What...?

I was just curious. Why do you have to get so mad?

Yuma: Fuck off! It’s none of yer damn business! ーー That’s all.

Anyway, stay away from it. Understood?

Yui: Yeah...But you could always tell me...

Yuma: Shut up!

Yuma: Just get goin’ and join those guys already!

All ya have to do is shut yer damn mouth and listen to me!

Yui: I know, I will. You don’t need to shout at me like that...

Yuma: Scram!

Yui: ...!

ー Yui walks away

Yuma: ...Che!

I didn’t think she’d come here...

Fuck!

I started panickin’ and accidentally lashed out at her...!

Yui, she seemed frightened...

Haah...

...Fuck...I don’t want to make her cry or anythin’ tho...

Why can I never be honest...?

*TIMESKIP*

*Cling*

Kou: Nnー! This is deliciousー!

Yuma: Oi, stop chowin’ down ya guys! I’m fuckin’ starvin’ too!

Kou: The same goes for us though? Right, Azusa-kun~?

Azusa: Yeah, I’m hungry too...I came here with an empty stomach because I was looking forward to Yui-san’s cooking...

Ruki: You are all being way too gluttonous. It’s a disgrace...

Yui: There’s still plenty left, so you don’t have to eat that quickly, you know...?

Kou: Really? Then keep it coming!

Azusa: I still have plenty of space in my tummy...

Yui: You’ll have some more as well, Yuma-kun?

Yuma: ...

Yui: ( ...Seems like he’s upset after all. )

( He has never given me the silent treatment like this... )

( I must have done something truly upsetting... )

Yuma: ...

...Haah, I’m goin’ to the restroom.

ー Yuma walks away

Yui: ( So he really is mad at me for what I did... )

( What should I do...? )

Kou: Sayー Aren’t the two of them acting kind of off?

Ruki: They are...

Azusa: It’s odd...

Kou: I wonder what happened?

*TIMESKIP*

Kou: Phew~ I’m stuffed! Thank you for the feast! It was delicious!

Yui: Fufu, I’m glad to hear that. Thank you guys for joining us today as well.

Kou: Yeah!

Yuma: ...

Azusa: The food was extremely delicious.

Yui: Thank you, Azusa-kun.

Ruki: See you.

ー The scene shifts to Yui’s bedroom

Yui: Phew...

( Yuma-kun’s mood remained sour the whole time after that... )

( That was never my intention...It should have been so much more fun of a day... )

( ーー Why did things have to turn out like this? )

( Yuma-kun retreated back into his room right away... )

I feel a little...lonely.

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the living room

Yui: ( A few days have passed since but...Yuma-kun’s mood just won’t improve. )

( He won’t shout at me, but he barely talks to me either. )

( It’s obvious he seems to be avoiding me... )

( What should I do...? )

*Ding dong*

Yui: ( Huh? A visitor...? )

Coming!

ー The scene shifts to the entrance hall

Reinhart: Hello.

Yui: Oh? Reinhart-sensei? Hello.

Reinhart: Hey, it’s been a while.

Yui: What brings you here today?

Reinhart: Yeah, I’ve got a little something to discuss with Ruki-kun.

Yui: I see... Ah, please come in. (2) I’ll go call Ruki-kun right away.

Reinhart: Thank you. Sorry for the trouble.

Yui: It’s nothing...

ー Yuma enters the manor

Yui: Ah, Yuma-kun, welcome back. Reinhart-sensei is visiting us right now...

Yuma: ...Heeh.

Yui: Uhm, I’m going to set some tea so would you care for a cup as well?

Yuma: ...Nah.

Yui: ...Really?

Yuma: Yeah.

ー Yuma leaves

Yui: Ah, I’ll go make the tea then.

Reinhart: Thank you.

Yui: ( ...Yuma-kun’s mood really won’t get better. )

( Furthermore, that attitude...Sensei might think of us weirdly now. )

( Sensei was there to witness our wedding vows, so I wouldn’t want to make him worry. )

( What should I do...? )

ー The scene shifts to the living room

Kou: Ah! Sensei’s actually here! Hello~ 

Reinhart: Seems like you’re doing well too, Kou-kun. Hello.

I ran into Yuma-kun earlier and...Did something happen between the two of them? The mood seemed somewhat tense.

Ruki: Right...

Kou: It’s been like that for days now. As fellow members of this household, it’s become kind of awkward for us as well, right?

Azusa: ...Exactly...

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: Sorry for the wait.

*Cling*

Reinhart: Ah, thank you.

Yui: You guys can have some as well if you’d like.

*Cling*

Kou: Thank you, M-neko-chan~

Ruki: I shall have a sip then.

Azusa: Thanks...Eve...

Reinhart: Smells wonderful. Is this a herbal tea?

Yui: Ah, yes. It’s made with the herbs we grow in our garden.

Reinhart: Heeh, you’re growing them yourself?

Yui: Rather than alone, I do it together with Yuma-kun.

Reinhart: Right, about the two of you.

Yui: ...Yes?

Reinhart: Things seemed a little awkward. What happened exactly?

Yui: ...Well...

( So he did notice after all... )

( But I’m not sure how to explain this... )

Things aren’t going so well...

Everyone: ...

Reinhart: Well, I’m sure being together every day comes with its up and downs but...

Since you married out of mutual love, I hope the two of you can talk it out soon.

Yui: ...Yes.

Reinhart: You know, I witnessed the two of you getting married, so I can’t help but be a little worried.

I know I might be sticking my nose into someone else’s business by saying this but...Are you okay?

Yui: ( Sensei’s worried about us... )

( I’m sure Ruki-kun and the others are as well... )

Sensei.

Reinhart: Yes?

Yui: I’ll try my best to make up.

So...We’re okay.

Reinhart: ...I see.

However, don’t push yourself, okay? When you feel like you’re at the end of your devices, make sure to rely on the people around you, okay?

Yui: Yes...Thank you very much.

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to Yui’s bedroom

Yui: Haah...

( I told everyone we would talk things out but... )

( In the end, we still haven’t had a proper conversation... )

( It’s almost our one-year wedding anniversary, yet things are still awkward between us. )

( What should I do...? )

( I know that I tried to approach something Yuma-kun wants to keep hidden back then. )

( But if I apologize without knowing why he got so upset exactly, he might only grow even more angry with me... )

( I hope the two of us can have a good talk... )

I wonder how we can make up...?

*TIMESKIP*

Yui: ...It’s finally our wedding anniversary...

( I would have liked to have talked things out with Yuma-kun by today... )

He was so very upset back then...

( However, he wouldn’t become aggressive towards me without a reason. )

( There was definitely some sort of reason behind his anger. )

...

I wonder if he has forgotten that it’s our wedding anniversary today?

( Even if he has, this is an important day to me. I do want to talk things out. )

( I have to talk to him...! )

( I don’t want this misunderstanding to last forever...! )

ー The scene shifts to the hallway

Yui: ( I’ll go see him...! )

*Thud*

Yui: ...Kyah!

Yuma: ...Yui?

Yui: Yuma-kun!?

Perfect timing...I was just about to drop by your room.

You see...I want to talk to you and make up...

Yuma: ...The fuck?

Ya really are...!

Yui: Eh...?

Yuma: Che...! Whatever, just follow me for a sec!

*Rustle*

Yui: Kyah!? Y-Yuma-kun? W-Wait...!?

ー Yuma tugs her along as they move to the garden

Yui: ( This is where we fought on the day of the garden party... )

( I’m sure there’s something here which he doesn’t want me to get close to... )

( ...Even though I didn’t know, I should apologize for upsetting him. )

U-Uhm...Yuma-kun...!

Yuma: Yui. Can ya listen to me first?

Yui: Y-Yeah...

Yuma: Ahー... Ya see...

Yui: Mmh.

Yuma: ‘Bout the other day...

Yui: Yeah...

Yuma: ...

Yui: ( Yuma-kun...? )

Yuma: Well, it’s that...

Yui: ...I’m listening?

Yuma: ...I know that much!

Yui: ( I wonder what has gotten into him? Unlike usual, he seems to be having a hard time expressing himself... )

Yuma: Oi, Yui!

Yui: ーー Y-Yes!

Yuma: ...I’m sorry for what happened the other day.

Yui: ...Eh?

Yuma: ‘Eh?’, my ass!

Knowin’ ya, I’m pretty sure that...Ya haven’t looked ‘cause I told ya not to, right?

At the...flowers from the other day.

Yui: Flowers...?

Yuma: So ya really haven’t looked.

Yui: Which flowers are you talking about?

Yuma: I lashed out at ya the other day, right? ‘Cause ya approached this place.

Yui: Yeah.

Yuma: I didn’t actually mean to get that upset.

But ya were suddenly standin’ here, I got completely thrown off.

Then I panicked and took it out on ya. ...I really do feel bad.

Yui: D-Don’t say that...! It was the first time seeing you so mad for me as well...

I figured I must have done something horrible, so I was going to apologize as well.

...I’m sorry too.

Yuma: Idiot, you’ve got nothin’ to say sorry for. ...I won’t suddenly shout at ya like that from here on out.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: Take a look. I just wanted to keep the fact I was growin’ these a secret.

Yui: These are...Roses...!

Wah...Amazing! They’ve bloomed beautifully...

Yuma: Back then they hadn’t bloomed yet...So that’s why I panicked.

But I somehow got them to bloom in time for today.

Yui: Eh? In time...?

Yuma: ...Say, Yui. Do ya remember the wedding ceremony we held here one year ago?

Yui: I do. I could never forget.

( Yuma-kun gave me such a wonderful memory back then... )

( I could never forget about such a lovely day... )

Today is a special day to me as well. That’s why I’ve been looking forward to it this whole time.

Yuma: Heeh?

Yui: That’s why I was on my way to meet you, because I definitely wanted to make things up to you today.

That’s when I coincidentally ran into you.

Yuma: I see. Guess ya were lookin’ forward to it in yer own way as well.

Yui: ...? What do you mean?

Yuma: Listen up.

I proposed to ya last year, right?

Yui: Yeah.

Yuma: Back then, I vowed to only ever love ya, forever.

That feeling hasn’t changed to this day.

Yui: Yes...

Yuma: So...

It was a rocky road but, I chose ya and ya chose me.

Yui: Mmh...

Yuma: But I’m not very smooth.

So there’s times where I can’t always treat ya with care.

And I might take things out on ya like the other day.

...But even so.

My feelings towards ya are the only thing which won’t ever change.

...Even after one year, they’re still the same.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: If anything...

Rather than changin’, I treasure ya even more than I did back then.

Yui: ...

Yuma: Che, this shit really is embarrassin’...

Yui: Yuma-kun...

( He’s a little awkward, but despite that, he’s still expressing himself... )

Yuma: Well, I do love ya properly.

It’s our anniversary, so I figured I should tell ya that.

Yui: I feel the same way, Yuma-kun.

Yuma: Ah?

Yui: I love you too.

Yuma: ...Whatcha sayin’ all of a sudden?

I know that already!

Yui: Fufu, but you gave me such a wonderful love confession. I want to return the favor as well.

However...I really can’t believe one year has gone by already.

Back then ーー I felt so happy when you made that vow to me.

Yuma: ...I only stated the truth, that’s all.

Yui: But you usually wouldn’t say those things, right?

Yuma: ‘Course not! Why would I have to proclaim my love to ya 24/7?

Yui: Maybe not 24/7, but I still feel happy when you do.

Yuma: Happy, huh?

Yui: Also back then, I was happy to receive the rose you had so carefully grown.

Yuma: That was...

Yui: You gave me the rose you had grown for the special people in your life.

So I felt as if I had become someone special to you as well...

Yuma: ...You...

Say, Yui.

Yui: Yes?

Yuma: I did raise that rose for Boss and the others but...

These are different...

I grew this one from scratch, with ya in mind.

Yui: Me...?

Yuma: Well, it’s still a rose of course. And both roses are special to me in their own right.

...But ya know.

But I wanted to give ya a rose, which was grown for yer sake.

This might just be my own self-satisfaction showin’ again tho.

How do I put it? I wanted to put my ‘feelings’ (3) in there...

So when ya nearly saw them before they bloomed...

I felt as if they wouldn’t properly convey my feelings so...

Yui: I see...

Yuma: ...It’s bullshit, huh? And there was really no point in fightin’ with ya over somethin’ like that.

Yui: It isn’t ridiculous...

( He’s properly conveying to me his thoughts in his own words. )

( Not a single one of those is pointless. )

Yuma: Well, I guess I wanted to make a distinction for myself.

Also, there’s actually one more reason why I grew these roses.

Yui: And that is?

Yuma: ...It’d be too out-of-character so I’m not tellin’ ya.

Yui: Eeh~? You already hinted at it, so I’d love to hear the rest now though...

Yuma: ...Geez, stop lookin’ at me with those puppy eyes (4)! Ya know I’m weak to those suckers!

Yui: Eh? Sorry...

( That wasn’t my intention... )

Yuma: Then, I’ll only say it once.

Yui: Yeah.

Yuma: I put a rose in yer hair last year, remember?

Back then, ya looked a lil’ different than what I expected...

Yui: What did you expect then?

Yuma: ーー For some reason, ya looked hella stunnin’ back then.

So I wanted to put one in there again, I guess...

It’s a really shallow reason. I just wanted to...see ya with a rose in yer hair again.

Yui: Yuma-kun...

Yuma: So!

This rose I grow with ya in mind...

I’ll put it on ya again.

*Rustle*

Yui: W-Wait! Yuma-kun.

Yuma: ...What?

Yui: You worked so hard growing those roses...It’d be a waste.

Yuma: It’s fine. These are for ya.

Yui: But...

Yuma: If ya really think it’s such a waste, we can just grow some new ones again.

Yui: Eh?

Yuma: Next year and the year after all, forever. As long as ya want the roses I grow...

I’ll raise them for ya, year after year.

Right...In that case, I might as well raise 999 roses at some pointーー

Then turn them into a rose bouquet for ya.

Yui: ...Fufu, I doubt I’d be able to carry that in my arms.

( However, I’m not happy just to receive roses... )

( The fact he’s giving me these flowers he grew with me in mind, is what makes me so happy... )

Thank you, Yuma-kun.

Yuma: ...Yeah.

Yuma: Say, Yui.

Stay by my side another year.

Then next year, lemme vow to ya again. That I love ya...

Next year I won’t just stick to one, but grow lots for ya.

*Rustle*

Yuma: Yui, I love ya...

Yuma: Better brace yerself for next year, ‘kay...? Nn...

Yui: ...!

Yuma: Ya will be my woman forever. Understood...?

Yui: Yeah...! We’ve made up now, right...?

Yuma: Yeah...We have.

Yui: If we can make up like this, then perhaps having a fight every once in a while isn’t too bad.

Yuma: Don’t be silly.

I seriously don’t want any fights.

Honestly, I thought I was gonna go fuckin’ bald from thinkin’ of a good way to apologize to ya...

Yui: You had such a hard time deciding? You did?

Yuma: I did! ‘Cause I definitely didn’t want ya to hate me.

Yui: Fufu...I don’t want to quarrel with you either.

Yuma: Good to know ya understand...Nn...

*Smooch*

Yui: Geez...Yuma-kun...Nn...

There’s no end...!

Yuma: Oh right. The harvest festival ya were lookin’ forward to so much kind of ended up being anticlimactic as well.

Yui: Yeah, but everyone enjoyed it...

Yuma: Next year we definitely won’t fight.

Even if we do, we’ll make up right away.

We just have to honestly apologize to each other.

Yui: Yes.

Yuma: So...

Let’s hold an even bigger party next time!

We’ll make so much food, even Kou will be stuffed to the point he can’t take another bite...

Yui: Yeah, we will. I’ll cook even bigger of a feast next time!

Also, want to try inviting someone over? The more, the merrier!

Yuma: Who would ya invite then? We barely have any acquaintances, do we?

Yui: How about Reinhart-sensei? He did seem worried about us after all.

Yuma: Well, he was pretty much our Priest too. I wouldn’t mind inviting him.

Yui: Gosh, Yuma-kun. Don’t put it like that.

Yuma: In that case, I wouldn’t mind addin’ one more into the mix by next year. A family member.

Yui: Eh?

D-Do you mean...!?

Yuma: You’re the one who said the more, the merrier, right?

If that’s what ya wish, I wouldn’t mind helpin’ out a lil’?

Yui: Geez...

( However, that might not be a bad idea... )

( Expand our little family by next year...Invite a bunch of people over... )

( And all have a feast together. )

( I’m sure...it’ll be a blast. )

Yuma: Well, either way, as long as you’re here with me, I’m enjoying myself, and feel happy.

Don’t ya dare forget that. ーー Never.

Yui: ...Yeah!

ーー THE END ーー 

Translation notes

(1) In Japanese, the term is 愛の鞭 or ‘ai no muchi’ which literally means ‘the whip of love’. 

(2) When inviting someone inside your house, you can use the verb 上がる or ‘agaru’ which literally means ‘to go up’ or ‘to ascend’. Most Japanese houses have a little step at the entrance hall to indicate, hence why they use said verb. 

(3) When 想い or ‘omoi’ is written with said particular kanji, it doesn’t just refer to ‘thoughts’, but to ‘feelings’ (often in the romantic sense of the word) as well.

(4) Literally he says she’s looking at him with ‘upturned eyes’. 

[purg2tario]

sparks - megumi fushiguro

megumi fushiguro x gn!reader

in spite of how much he loved you, he knew pushing you away would keep you safe.

lowercase intended! word count: 3800

fic playlist on spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Qc6oUOFiWYKj9syyt9BQ1

- thank you so much to @oumashuui on tiktok for beta reading and editing this fic, i wouldn’t have finished it w/o you <333

if it were any other day, he would’ve ignored you. he did it for your own wellbeing – or, at least he liked to tell himself that, - and he didn’t see any real problem with keeping you at arm’s length. with the lives you both lead, one of curses and bloodbaths with the safety of humanity resting on your shoulders, it was better this way. he could see you every day, still. he could see you and know in his heart that he felt this chain keeping you two together, he would never leave your side as long as he had a choice, he would never sever that tie and try to escape from your company. you were just there, just close enough that he could protect you and yet far enough away that the chain dangled, far enough away that he felt he could keep you in his life without ruining yours. it wasn’t that he believed he would treat you badly or that he would ever even try to harm you; it was that he thought that with him, you would be stuck, that chain would no longer be your connection, it would become a prison. you could never be free and spread your wings, become as great as he knew you had the potential to be, if you were tied down by the hindrance he perceived himself to be. he would only hold you back, because you cared too much... he cared too much too, so much so that it was better to keep you his friend and alive than keep you all to himself and risk losing you, losing it all.

he wanted to stay with you, but how could he?

he only dreamt of softly pressing his lips against your forehead, holding you close to his chest and telling you how deeply he cared, how he would never let anyone, or anything, hurt you and how he would love you for forever and the endless days that would follow.

“well it’s sweet that you remembered the recipe,” you stated, holding a rice ball as maki and inumaki continued to eat quietly. they evidently didn’t have much of an opinion on the recently deceased friend, itadori.

“sweet, but when did he even teach you this?” nobara added, quirking a brow at megumi, who until then had been spaced out, stoically sat as he remembered yuji, pondering your previous remark. it took everything in him to keep his smile to a polite and non-ecstatic one. still. even still, he couldn’t help the wistful tone that flickered in his voice when he replied.

“does it really matter? i cooked it and his recipe is still delicious, we’re just remembering him,” nobara rolled her eyes and kept her mouth set in a tight line for a while, not wanting to press the subject too hard. she knew how the blow of itadori’s death hit the three of them, especially megumi. he watched him die, an incident which she was falteringly grateful to have not been a part of.

megumi glanced back at you, who was now joining the tree kyoto sister school sorcerers in silently enjoying the food he’d served. something was oddly reassuring about watching you eat. it meant you were taking care of yourself, keeping yourself strong and healthy, keeping yourself alive. a calming warmness fell around him - knowing you were okay meant everything to him. 

a profound, guttural feeling of absolute adoration for you kept him anchored and as level-headed as he seemed to be. you were here, not risking your life fighting off roaming nightmares that crept out from under his bed, born from the trepidation of losing you to a monster he could not save you from. 

                                              ________________

you weren’t on a mission, and at last, there was no immediate cause for concern for a brief moment. you could all breathe, finally nobara could go and sightsee as she wished to, everyone could release the weight that had unknowingly tensed their shoulders and relax their fists for one afternoon. nobara wandered the streets of tokyo, watching them through her phone as she held it in awe, recording every building and photographing every inch of a market she found. meanwhile, you put some time away for megumi, you wanted to keep his head up and keep him thinking as positive as possible. he and itadori were good friends, from what you had gathered. he always seemed to only talk to you as much as he needed too, enough to not seem rude or like he wanted to escape you. as disheartening as it might’ve been, it didn’t stop you from being friends with everyone else. it wasn’t exactly by choice, if it wasn’t for them first approaching you it would definitely be a different story. 

“you want to go where?” megumi frowned, tentatively glancing out of the window as if he was checking that he wasn’t going insane, and it really was the middle of autumn. “it’s freezing...”

“i know that!” you stitched your brows together in back at him, insulted that he thought you were that incompetent. “it’s not like we’re going swimming! just for a walk...”

he quirked a brow, “you want to travel all the way to the beach, get on the train and everything, just for a walk?” at this point megumi knew how suspicious he was being. they’d been to the beach not too long ago, at this point his desire to be away from her was coming on a little too strong. his eyes briefly caught your features and for a moment his heart ached, the slight look of defeat gracing your expression sent his gut whirling. you nodded, deflated by his rejection. it stung in a different way to what you were used to with him. this impaled you straight to the core, why was he being so stand-offish? every chance he got he would turn you down, but you two would speak daily and seemed to be friends... it’s like he was only talking to you out of courtesy, not because he wanted to. 

maybe he was too polite for his own good, he couldn’t even be clear of his own feelings toward you. 

“meet me in the city,” he suddenly said, stopping her dead in her tracks. she whipped around to face him, a bewildered and unnaturally happy gleam to her eyes. but he was already walking away, down the hallway until he turned a corner and swiftly disappeared from sight. it was almost cool, and left you in awe, until his tousled black tendrils appeared once more, and his midsummer midnight eyes properly met yours for what might’ve been the first time ever. “specifically at sendai nights, the restaurant, uhm, please,” and with that, he was gone again.

for a moment you stood perfectly still, catching your breath at the moment that, for you, still hadn’t passed. he met your gaze. you saw him, and he saw you. had that ever happened before? he’s always looking at the ground, or at least anything that wasn’t you. he didn’t even do it when he shook your hand at your first meeting. perhaps it was just a him thing? but even so, he saw you.

                                             ________________

“thanks for meeting me,” you turned to see megumi approaching you from behind. he wasn’t in his jujutsu tech uniform, it was replaced with a loose jacket over a hoodie and shirt. he was still clad in black, though, so it wasn’t too shocking. what did seem unusual, however, was his lack of eye contact again. perhaps your encounter earlier that day was a fluke. the moment never left your mind though, recalling how you sank into those deep inky pools resembling the ocean at night in a manner of seconds. a fluttery, almost uncomfortable feeling hadn’t shifted since he’d left you in the hallway, standing statuesque as you tried to register everything that’d happened.

“technically i invited you out,” you remark, “you just changed the plan a little,” megumi’s breath formed a cloud in front of his face as a short laugh escaped him. he looked down at the sloping street he’d just climbed to meet you, and nodded in its direction. you followed him as he turned to return to the bottom of the hill and make your way to the train station. “but you’re welcome,”

something warm snaked between his arm and side, and megumi looked to find your arm linked with his, his hand in his pocket and yours gently holding his elbow. your tentative grip gave away your hesitance, if not how you were trying to keep your body as far away as possible while keeping your arms interlocked. his face softened, you didn’t need to do him any favours to try to make him feel comfortable. with you, he was at his calmest, he felt as if he could take one step upward and float through the air. almost like that one movie you loved so much, the one with the sorcerer who walked through the air with that girl. he didn’t really pay too much attention to the movie, his focus was on you and how happy you looked. he wished that you could stay like that forever. he could only wonder whether you could ever be that happy if you were with him.

“aha, sorry, i’m just cold,” you awkwardly chuckle, further loosening your grip on him. all of a sudden, before he could think about what he was doing, he’d clamped his elbow down on yours, firmly but tenderly pulling you into his side and into his warmth. his body heat immediately eased your shivering. 

“don’t apologise, y/n...” he began to say, keeping his eyes firmly on the street in front of him. with you so close his senses were heightened. this, the way you were, how close you were, sent him into a frenzy - every passer-by was suspicious and he couldn’t get rid of the thought that he never wanted to let you go.

reaching the station wasn’t long, in theory, but to two individuals silently walking arm in arm and barely breathing as to not disturb the peace, it took forever. standing on the platform with megumi positioned only a few feet away as you sat on the bench behind, both of you awaiting your train, the air was thick and icy. neither of you had spoken a word since he told you not to apologise, for a minute you wondered if he was secretly a cursed speech user. that idea soon faded as you watched him scouting out the train tracks and surrounding platform, his eyes on everyone else standing in close proximity except you. it was as if he was searching for something, someone, and that any sudden movements would send him flying in rage. with his eyebrows stitched together, a worrisome look ghosting his eyes, he looked quite beautiful, if you were being honest.

the train arrived after a while, and still neither of you spoke a word, you spoke in nods and slight hand gestures. you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t nice to just silently enjoy his company for a while, as usually the two of you would have the world on your shoulders and your lives on the line but now, you could just be together. which is all you both wanted, whether you were aware or not. 

“i’m sorry if i sounded demanding earlier,” the silence was broken, “it’s just me, aha,” his apology was met with silence, except the gentle rock and roar of the train moving from station to station, “but, i, really you don’t have to apologise, i don’t mind...”

“don’t mind because you want to link arms with me or don’t mind because you’re being polite?” you wondered. megumi’s face suddenly contorted in confusion. oh no, had you said it out loud? more questions arose as he shifted slightly closer to you on your shared seat, his arm lifted and coming toward your face. you closed your eyes, tight, thinking maybe when you opened them he would be in the same seat as before and not saying anything. 

the closer he loomed, the more your heart pounded. his hand reached the beanie you were wearing, and from it he retrieved a crispy fallen leaf, one that must’ve fallen onto you when you were making your way to the station. a brief and partly forced laugh left you as you tried to focus on the leaf he retrieved and not on how close he was to you, and how he was staring at the side of your face. to him, every curve of your side profile captured him, you were like an art piece in a gallery. he may have stared too long, as he noticed your somewhat sudden uncomfortable demeanour. 

“you know,” he said, almost in whisper, “i don’t want to make you feel that way, uncomfortable i mean, i just, it’s not my intention...” your face softens at his words, which he automatically mirrored, “i just, you’re nice to look at, is all...”

“for someone who hadn’t looked me in the eye until a few hours ago i find that hard to believe,” you found yourself speaking words without meaning to, though you found you weren’t embarrassed. you could say anything around megumi, that’s just how he made you feel. he did seem taken aback, though, until he laughed it off. little did you know it was only to keep the awkwardness at bay from such an upfront question.

he knew what his answer was. the rest of the journey to the beach, the two of you kept talking quite a bit, to both of your surprise, but not a single second passed that megumi didn’t drink everything in about you. as every second passed, his walls were lowering but it was as if you were already clambering over them at your own pace. he supposed you probably were intrigued by him. how could he fault you for that? he did keep himself a mystery from you, for your own safety.

                                              _______________

your train finally fell still at the station. just as the doors gave way to the fresh air of the coast so close by, megumi took your hand in his, a brave move on his behalf, and led you out and down the stairs to the street below. with your hand in his, you could feel how rough they were. intricate scars riddled his palm and fingers - despite them, his grasp was gentle and made your chest tight; you’d never felt safer in such damaged hands. 

he looked back to send you a reassuring look as he pulled you through the crowds of strangers, him being the only familiar face, his hands being the only ones you could trust. he looked at you then, his inky eyes piercing into yours. you couldn't help but think - you’d never seen such dark eyes with so much light in them. under fluorescent street lights the two of you navigated your way to the coast, until finally you saw the horizon, the sun bathing the ocean waves and the sparse clouds in dappled sunlight.  you instinctively squeezed megumi’s hand in excitement; a quick glance down and megumi found your hands completely interlocked with no hopes of wiggling free. it was perfect. his eyes trailed up your arm until he met your mesmerised face gazing into the distance. his heart rapidly beat against his ribcage, every thought was slurred by the intoxicating idea of you, just holding and being near you was enough to send his mind racing. 

“oh my god,” you whispered, entranced by the exchange of light and glittering waves before you, an oil painting for a sky above you, it were as if you were trapped in a dream. your head turned, a wide and breathless smile gracing your lips, and for a second time you met megumi’s eyes. your smile faltered purely out of embarrassment, you were so unbelievably close and the distance only seemed to grow smaller by the second. 

the feeling was so strange; it stretched throughout your whole body. it was overwhelming, yet made you feel complete. it had no bound nor length nor depth; it was simply absolute. it felt as though you were engulfed in flames, yet you were completely safe at the same time. it felt as though someone has given you peace. it felt as though your heart was dancing around your chest; and a hole, you were never aware was there, had been filled. you felt so light, like you’re on top of the world yet your heart is constricting and it feels as if there’s no oxygen in your lungs.

your lips meet, your eyes close, and time stops. 

in the moment of the kiss you both were your purest and most vulnerable selves.

in your embrace the world stopped still on its axis. there was no time, no wind, no ocean crashing into the land. megumi’s mind was at peace. how could it be that he hadn't felt your love for what it was before? pure. unselfish. undemanding. free. now, he felt it all crashing down on him like a ton of bricks. it was gentle and heavy all at once, almost as if you were releasing it all at once. he felt your body press in, soft and warm. ths was the love he'd waited for, prayed for. he inwardly thanked whatever force had brought you together and hugged all the tighter. 

breathless once more, you pulled back finally, “oh my god,” you whispered, again. the two of you laughed, never letting the other go from the embrace you’d found yourself in. megumi made eye contact, and your heart ached, that wasn’t going to lose its effect any time soon. he gently stroked your cheek, his thumb caressing it with a touch like a butterflies wing. he suddenly didn’t know what to do with himself, you were both entangled and the closest you’d ever been. 

“what happened to keeping you safe?” he wondered, helpless to the urge to kiss you again and again until he couldn't anymore. looking at you then, everything was clearer than it had ever been before, it all took on a newfound clarity, as if he’d been watching the world through a smoke screen until that moment. what’s different? what’s changed and left him completely unable to keep his feelings at bay any longer? every question he asked himself only caused more to arise. until finally you snapped him out of his thoughts, pressing forward and tenderly grazed your lips against his cheek, and it was as if you knew how he was feeling; like you could hear every question flowing through his mind. somehow, you could feel his whole being twist with the sudden mind numbing fear that he may have just ruined everything. 

“y/n…” he started, eyes tracing your wistful face. everything about you seemed to have changed. “i.., i thought that by pushing you away i was keeping you safe… we, we fight curses everyday together, risk our lives, and look what happened to itadori! i don’t know what i’d do if i lost you the same way,” by then the two of you had separated, you were walking toward the shoreline. he looked back to see you intensely staring at the ground, as he tried to push out the thought that perhaps you were laughing at him and were trying to hide it. “but i’ve realised, i, uh… i’ve realised that maybe i don’t have to,” you whip your head up to look at him, he’s still looking at you and he’s waiting for you to catch up. even in the most insignificant ways, he was always there for you - he wouldn’t go anywhere without you anymore. he wouldn't - no, he couldn't. he needed you by his side.

“what do you mean?” you ask quietly, now strolling down the shore, hesitating but longing to hold his hand. megumi stared out ahead of him, not quite sure if he really was brave enough to look you in the eyes when he said it. if he could fight and exorcise curses, he could look someone in the eye and tell them how he really felt. 

“i want to keep you safe and protect you no matter what,” he stated, “and i don’t want to do it from afar anymore…” he stopped in the sand, his body tensed and mouth dry, and offered out his hand in spite of how clammy he could feel it getting. your eyes didn’t leave his for a second as your fingers brushed gently over his palm, until they tangled with his and the two of you tightly bound yourselves to one another. it felt right. “i want… i want to be by your side, for as long as you’ll have me…”

“everyday is the same… i see you and i keep falling in love with you, each time is harder than the last. every time the feeling gets deeper, more profound. there isn't a thing i wouldn't do to keep you safe. ” his gaze is now set on the horizon, the sun nestled behind the waves. you haven’t spoken yet, or even moved since he started speaking. now, he was well and truly petrified of facing you. 

“but what about you?” your voice tears his focus from the ocean. there you were again being selfless. he questioned what you meant, but his thought was interrupted by your voice cutting through the air once more. “what about you? you’re talking about keeping me safe but what about you and your safety? i care about your safety too, it’s not just you…” 

had he been unintentionally selfish? he hadn’t even considered how you might’ve felt about his well-being. he was so dizzy with his love for you that he had only thought about whether or not you would reciprocate his feelings. “i, i didn’t think about that…” he admitted, now somewhat ashamed. your shoulders dropped, of course he didn’t. he worried too much about you to focus on himself. 

“i know… but, i mean,” you clutch his hand reassuringly, which seemed to startle him, “if you really do plan on staying with me forever, then i suppose i can worry about you, if you won't worry about yourself.” the corners of your lips turn upwards, and he sighs with intense relief. everything about him unbound itself and relaxed completely in your clasp. your free hand chose to roam his ivory cheekbones and into his navy curls. he smiled crookedly at you, with eyes that were somewhat glossy, but he withheld the urge to cry quite well; instead opting to kiss you once more.

[sabraeal]

Hypewired Unsolved Drinking Game, Rule #2: Shirayuki Despairs Over Obi’s Life Choices

Rule #1

Written for @ruleofexception on the occasion of her BIRTH. I thought this would be more ghost hunting and less metrics, but I should have known I couldn’t resist a premise-building chapter.

[Shirayuki] Have you ever heard of the Gardner Museum Heist?

[Obi] Oohhh.

[Shirayuki] *laughs* What was that?

[Obi] Oh, nothing, nothing. It’s just... I love heists.

[Shirayuki] You love heists? *laughs* No, I take it back, that doesn’t surprise me at all.

[Obi] *laughs* Come on, who doesn’t love a good heist?

[Shirayuki] This one *is* known as the biggest art heist of its kind.

[Obi] Oh ho ho ho. You’re saying all the right things to me.

The thing about haunted houses-- the real kind, not the ones that hire teenagers to wear stage make up and hold fake chainsaws-- is that they’re hard to book.

“Oh, in my hometown, they hired ex-convicts,” Obi says in the same casual way he says anything vaguely terrifying about his childhood, “and they gave them real, working chainsaws.”

Her jaw drops, face still plastered to her phone’s screen. Soft jazz worms into her ear. “That can’t be true. That has to be a-- a rumor or something.”

“Nah, nah, the farm had a work program with the local prison. I think sometimes they did seasonal work too?” He shrugs. “I don’t know. But it definitely made the hayride more popular. Gave it a real element of danger, you know?”

Shirayuki stares. “And they gave them real chainsaws?”

“Well, they only revved them a little.” He twitches his shoulder, as much of a shrug as he ever gives. “One time a guy hopped on the cart and chopped the bale next to me, but I mean, I probably deserved that.”

She might be sitting down, but oh, she could really do to sit down again. Harder. Mentally. Emotionally. “And you’re sure these were ex-convicts?”

“Yeah, probably.” Not an endorsement ringing with confidence. “I mean, I’m sure they were in for non-violent crimes, at least.”

There are two wolves inside of her, and one of them is pleased to hear about a local business working to place disadvantaged community members, and the other-- well, the other thinks that maybe everyone should be a little more solid on the whole non-violent convictions than they are.

Before she has the chance to suggest it, the phone clicks, and a pleasant female voice says, “Hill House, Donna speaking, how may I help you?”

“Oh, hi, yes,” she fumbles, “I’m Shirayuki calling from Hypewire. We would like to talk about booking your location.”

“Hypewire?” Donna pauses, the good long kind that means she’s probably from a generation that prefers to read its news on paper, and not from a website that has an option to react with emojis. “Oh, did you want to do an article on the house?”

“Ah, something like that.” Obi arches a brow, lips twitching as he crams another Funyon between them. He’s far too distracting to have around while she needs to have thinky thoughts, especially if he’s going to make faces at her. “I’m the producer of Hyperwire Unsolved, and we were wondering if we could possibly do a, ah--” she coughs-- “an investigation? Of the house? For the show?”

“Oh, Hypewire Unsolved!” The woman laughs. “My nephew loves you guys. But don’t you do true crime?”

[Sender]: sales@winchesterhouse.com [Recipients]: s.lyon@hypewire.com [Subject]: Re: Episode Filming

Thank you for your interest in our venue for an episode. Some of our interns are big fans of your show! However, we have to admit some confusion, as we were under the impression you were a true crime show…

“How’d they get that impression?” Higata grunts, hunching further over his keyboard. His screen in the only light in the editing bay, castling a ghastly glow over his face. “The art department just sent me six different aliens to pick from for the Roswell episode, and now we’re Serial? Come on.”

Shirayuki sighs. “I know. But it seems our more popular episodes are the ones about collar bombers and serial murderers. At least by the metrics”

Higata might only be twenty-six, but he’d be right at home at the VA buffet with the way he grumbles. “You know His Highness over there was talking to me about making true crime and supernatural separate seasons. Something about...keeping views and organizational groups or something.”

“Huh.” She sits back, nibbling on her lip. “It would certainly give me more of a focus each season. What do you think?”

“I guess it’s fine. Two editing credits for my resume for one show’s work is a good deal.” He overlays a shadowy police sketch into the video, shoulders rounded and tense. “What do I know? I just sit in the dark and pick which ghostly visage I want to layer over your audio.”

She leans in with her sunniest smile, squeezing his arm right above the elbow. “And you’re so good at it!”

“I am.” He’s too much of a professional to look away from his work, shifting the same image three pixels over and then three pixels back, but his bicep relaxes beneath her grip. “I am a top tier spooky face picker. All the commenters say so.”

She blinks. “Oh? They do?”

Higata twists in his seat, gaze somehow even more incredulous in the lack of light. “No, Shirayuki, they don’t. But they should.” He gestures to the screen vaguely. “They mostly just talk about how much they want to fuck Obi.”

“OH.” There’s some information she really, really didn’t need. “That’s um, ah--”

“Your job, according to roughly half our fan base.” His mouth hooks into a grin she does not enjoy. “What do you say, Lyon? I think we could break the bank if you kissed him once on camera.”

“I-- I mean--” it’s a ridiculous request, clearly a joke, but her heart is pounding so loud in her ears she can’t hear her own thoughts-- “that’s not really w-what the show is about.”

Higata laughs. “That’s what you think.”

“What does who think?”

Shirayuki jumps straight out of her chair.

It’s not an exaggeration; there’s literal air between her butt and the seat, and when she lands again, the soft cushion makes the most obvious whoosh noise in existence, only worse, since it’s slow too. No obnoxious whoopee cushion womp, oh no, just an endless, air pump whoosssssshhhhhh that’s as blatant as a rattlesnake in the silence.

“Obi!” His lean shadow fills the doorway—wow, is he actually that tall?—and his head tilts, just enough so that his eyes shimmer gold. “I—nothing! We were, um, nothing?”

“We were talking about true crime,” Higata supplies, darting her a pitying look, “and how that’s what everyone thinks we are. Winchester House just emailed back.”

Obi grimaces, teeth flashing white in the dark. “Ah, great. Another one of those.”

“Yeah,” she sighs, deflating into a slouch. “I could talk about Big Foot until I’m blue in the face, but everyone thinks I have nuanced opinions about Jeffrey Dahmer.”

One narrow brow arches toward his hairline. “But you do have nuanced opinions about Jeffrey Dahmer.”

“I just think animal mutilation is probably a sign things aren’t going right in your life and someone should have noticed.” She waves her hands, at a loss. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to explore a supposedly haunted house.”

His lips twitch, right at one corner. “For a skeptic, you’re really into the idea you could see a ghost.”

“Stories are part of the human experience,” she explains primly. “We use them to understand what feels inexplicable. And ghosts are part of how we compartmentalize death.”

“Or they are the remnants of people who died too soon.” Obi pushes himself off the jamb, sauntering over to where they sit. “Or whatever bad juju is left by human misery—hey, that’s a sweet mugshot. Who’s it supposed to be?”

Higata squints. “I keep thinking it might be Shiira? But the cheeks are all wrong.”

“Huh.” Obi leans between the two of them, nose hovering mere inches away from the screen. His arm presses into her shoulder, too warm. “Brecker.”

“Brecker?” Higata tilts his head. “Oh yeah, I see it now. He’s not gonna like that.”

He huffs out a laugh. “Good thing he doesn’t watch joyless tripe like Unsolved then.”

“Yeah.” Higata snickers, raising the opacity. “Good thing.”

Obi settles back on his heels, hand gripping the back of her chair. She dares a glance up, and there he is, watching her with one of those looks she doesn’t know how to read. “Don’t worry, Lyon,” he says, thumb rubbing at the plastic back. “The season’s only just started. Give it some time.”

“I’d love to,” she mutters, tilting her head back, resting it on his wrist. “But try explaining that to Izana.”

[Obi] I’m just saying, there’s no sexier crime than a heist. ...Well, I mean, that doesn’t involve actual sex.

[Shirayuki] *wheeze*

[Obi] You know what I mean.

[Shirayuki] Do I? Am I finding out too much about you right now? Is this how you get seduced at parties? Girls just cornering you and telling you about high-profile robberies?

[Obi] *laughs* This is absolutely not how I get seduced at parties. Unless you’d like to try...?

[Shirayuki] . . .

[Obi] Besides, it’s not like this is just a regular robbery. Heists don’t happen to normal people. Just the rich ones.

[Shirayuki] Well, this *is* a museum. It’s for learning purposes.

[Obi] Oh, like all that stuff actually *belongs* to a museum anyway.

[Shirayuki] Actually...this time it does!

[Obi] Wow, now there’s a mystery I want to investigate.

“We want to capitalize on the energy from this season.”

Izana isn’t a man who lounges; his mesh office chair is relentlessly ergonomic, only a few aggressively rolled lumbar supports away from a torture device. But still, he gives off the energy of a cat lazing in a sunspot, already gotten into the cream.

“Unsolved has always had excellent metrics, but since the premier--” he glances pointedly at Obi-- “they’re unparalleled by any other digital media Wisteria has put out on any of its platforms.”

Obi sprawls in one of the wire-frame chairs Izana has out, far too big for its delicate frame, every inch of him as still as the grave. Except for his one, bouncing knee, practically vibrating as he asks, “That’s...good right?”

“Very good.” Shirayuki may not be a metrics person, but working with Zen gave her more than a passing acquaintance with what success sounds like. “I think he’s telling us...we’re his cash cow.”

Izana’s lips lift into a smirk. “Just so. You’re more popular than Stand the Heat, and that’s saying something.”

It is saying something-- Obi’s show consistently has the most hits and the highest likes-to-views ratio. It’s been the backbone of Hypewire’s digital media section since it premiered last year, and now-- now Unsolved has passed it. If the graph Izana’s laid out is right, they’ve passed it by...a lot.

Shirayuki sneaks a glance at Obi as he leans over, taking in the numbers. She can’t move, can’t even breathe as he stares, eyes rounding as he understands what’s happening.

He rips the paper off the desk, shaking it at her. “Do you see this?”

She blinks. “Y-yes?”

His mouth breaks into a grin, like a Labrador who has found a particularly giant stick. “We’re awesome.”

“Oh,” she breathes, and wow, this is really not the time to think about the-- the Abayan effect, even if that smile makes it extremely hard not to. “Okay.”

“We should have you on the show.” His knee bounces a mile a minute, words barely keeping pace. “See if that makes the ratings draw even.”

Shirayuki stares at him, but there’s no hint of sarcasm, no undertone of agitation. For all intents and purposes, it seems as if he’s just...inviting her on his highly rated cooking show.

That can’t be right.

“Not a bad thought, Abayan,” Izana hums, fingers tapping at the desk. “Turn that in to me with the rest of your proposals for next season.”

Obi grins. “No problem, boss.”

“Wait.” This is all happening too fast; it’s all too much. Three weeks ago she was scrambling for a new co-host, and now she’s sitting next to Hypewire’s media darling, talking about how she needs to be on his show for his ratings. “I don’t-- we shouldn’t--”

“Oh, can you not cook?” Obi smiles, and it’s-- entirely too much. “Don’t worry, Lyon, you’ll be on top when I’m done with you.”

“N-no!” she chokes. “I-- I’m the daughter of a bar! I mean, my grandparents--” ugh, four years to get a journalism degree, and she still can’t word good-- “they owned a pub.”

“Great.” His teeth flash, half-feral. “Then you’ll know how to follow my lead.”

“I think,” Izana says, tipping her a speculative look, “that Shirayuki is less worried about her prowess in the kitchen, and more about what these sort of numbers might mean to a show like Unsolved. Isn’t that right?”

��Ah, I mean...” It’s terrible how good he is at his job. “It’s all so...quick. We’re still editing this season, and already I’m working on the ideas for next one, and I have to not only write scripts but also scout locations, and Higata is already stretched thin--”

“We’ll get you another editor.”

Her jaw drops. “W-what?”

Izana folds his hands, so calm, and tells her, “We’ll get you another editor.”

Shirayuki stares, mouth utterly dry. It had been a struggle to get Higata last season; after Obi had roasted the idea during Pitch Fight, Hypewire’s higher-ups had been loath to put any actual support behind Unsolved. Only his dogged enthusiasm-- and flagrantly working on the project behind their backs-- had gotten him on board after the pilot took off. And now Izana Wisteria was just handing her someone else. Personally.

She reaches down and pinches herself. Yep, this is-- this is real life. Somehow.

“You want to-- you mean that--” she gulps-- “you want to give Unsolved a team?”

He nods, brusque and efficient. “I can get you another researcher as well. Or if the locations appear to be a problem, perhaps a personal assistant?” He lifts a hand, a Wisteria shrug. “Just let me know your needs, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Unless it’s time, right?” Obi asks wryly. “That’s straight out.”

Izana’s mouth stretches into the barest grin. “The internet is instant, I’m afraid. You have to strike while the iron’s hot. I hope--” he fixes her with a meaningful look-- “we are all able to make the best of this opportunity.”

kisskissfall4luv: does ne1 no f this guy is gonna b here 4 the hole sesson? i luv Zen but i lik the nu guy 2 hes so funny!

kayla0202: I hope he is! I never thought I’d like something as much as Stand the Heat, especially a show about aliens and weird crime, but Obi and Shirayuki make me tune in every week! How long are Unsolved’s seasons again??

unsolvedjunky42: There’s only one other season, and that was 12 eps, though a lot of those were 10 minutes long, and these ones are averaging 17-20min. It looks like Obi Abayan is credited as co-host for the rest of the season: [follow link] So glad he signed on, I thought Unsolved would be dead in the water without Zen but Obi brings a whole new dynamic I didn’t ever realize the show was missing.

zenluvr999: i no were only 3 eps in but i think im gonna need a new name lmao

“Ah, I understand, but we really are looking to--” Shirayuki clenches her stress artichoke, its plush petals ballooning out from between her fingers, and stifles a sigh. “Yeah, I see. Thank you.”

The call cuts off with a beep, too cheerful a sound for its finality. Another opportunity lost. Shirayuki spills over her keyboard, groan lost beneath the function keys.

“Going that well, huh?” Kihal barely spares her a glance, but she does pull aside a headphone; the way editors show they care. “Tell me again how much you love this job.”

“I do love it,” she insists, muffled by the cool metal of her desk. “It’s just...so much work.”

“You know, we could just get that personal assistant.” Higata drops his headphones around his neck, settling back in his chair. It creaks beneath him, protesting his slouch. “I still can’t believe you said no to that.”

“We don’t need another team member.” Shirayuki lifts her head, just barely, to give him a warning glance. “We already have Kihal. That’s more than enough.”

“Really? We still have half a season left to edit, you have another season to write, and you want to tell me we couldn’t use another set of hands?” His eyebrow twitches up toward his hairline. “You just love making all those phone calls, huh?”

“It’s not that.” She rolls back, lifting herself upright. Her spine reminds her sharply that it doesn’t like doing that, that it was having a fine time as she was, but if there’s one thing Shirayuki knows how to ignore by now, it’s a complainer. “Unsolved was my idea to begin with, and if we can’t do the proposal we submitted last week, it should be me who’s to blame for it, not some poor intern.”

“She’s so cute,” Kihal coos across the cluster. “She’s got morals and everything.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Higata deadpans. “Didn’t you unionize the Yuris office?”

Her teeth flash predator white between the crimson stain of her lips. “Why do you think I volunteered to work this gig?”

He sighs, long-suffering. “See, this is the problem: the both of you like working too much. It’s getting in the way of having someone fetch my coffee for me.”

Shirayuki levels her best glare at him, the one she’s honed from one too many long nights in the editing bay. “If we had a PA, their job would not be to get you coffee.”

“If we had a PA, their job would be to make these stupid phone calls so Shirayuki can get actual work done,” Kihal informs him with a playful superiority than makes his eyes roll. “Instead of spending all day in a fugue of sadness and misery because no one will take her seriously.”

Shirayuki almost protests—there’s no fugue, and if anything, the rejections just make her more desperate and determined, but—

Her list of high-profile options has been reduced by a half, red lines spiking through some of her best hits with no relief in sight. She is about two seconds from eating her feelings through the oversized cinnamon buns in the company vending machine, and a fugue state is starting to sound like a preferable way to spend her afternoon.

“Ugh,” she decides, and lays down again.

“There, there,” Kihal croons, patting her back across their desks. “Someone will have to give you the time of day at some point.”

“I’m getting calls back.” She rolls over onto one cheek, thoughtful. “People are fans of the show! They just...don’t think we’re serious.”

Kihal scoffs. “About what? Aliens? Ghosts? I’ve been fielding queries all morning from Shuuka asking which direction we want to go for The Alexandria episode.”

“It’s the whole ghost hunting angle.” Higata leans over, liberating her artichoke from her grip, tossing it between his hands. “If I want to be fair, which I don’t, but here we are—it’s a new direction for the show. I guess it could be confusing to people used to our format.”

“I know, I know.” She pillows her chin with her hands, letting out a sigh. “I just wish one of them would give us a confirmation instead of—“ she waves her hand at her empty schedule—“all this.”

“They will.” She doesn’t know where Higata unearths all this unearned confidence, but she’s glad one of them has. “Let this season run its course. Zen was never big on the supernatural episodes, but these ones with Obi...people are definitely going to pay attention.”

He wouldn’t be saying that if he had to suggest waiting to Izana Wisteria. “They’re already paying attention to Obi. I’m always getting asked if--”

“If I’m as handsome as I look on screen?”

The thing is-- she’s not expecting it. One minute she’s sprawled across her desk, and the next Obi’s purr is tickling her ear, and--

“Ow, fff--” his gaze darts over where he clenches his nose-- “fudge. Sicles.”

“Nice save,” Kihal deadpans. “Now if only you could do that in the first minute of every video.”

“What can I say,” he honks, rubbing his nose. “I’m an off-the-cuff kind of guy.”

“You’re a ‘ruining our monetization’ kind of guy,” she shoots back, though she pushes over an abandoned chair for him to sit on.

“Oh, Obi!” Shirayuki yelps, hands hovering on either side of his face as he sits. “I’m so sorry! I was just--”

“Surprised, yeah, got that part.” he lifts his fingers, wobbling the bridge of his nose. “No harm done.”

“Good thing,” Higata mutters, “that face gets views.”

“Oh please.” Obi grins, devastating as always. “Chicks love a broken nose.”

Kihal barks out a laugh. “When it comes to you, chicks love breathing.”

He shrugs, sliding into a slouch. “Still no luck, I’m guessing?”

“None,” Shirayuki confirms. “Though people have been saying they enjoy the new season.”

“The concierge at the Roosevelt says you’re a lot cuter than Zen,” Kihal offers, needlessly.

Obi’s grin widens, wolfish. “You don’t say.”

“Maybe you should start using that Abayan charm to get us some bookings,” Kihal suggests wryly. “Earn your keep around here.”

“Please, I earn my keep. I’m the eye candy.” He winks. “Besides, I’d be happy to, but the big boss over here always tells me--”

“You don’t need to worry about it,” Shirayuki says, “it’s really my job--”

Higata waves a hand, long suffering. “You see the problem.”

“I do.” Kihal settles back. “Well, if you really just need a place...”

“I’ll take anything at this point,” she says to the particleboard of the ceiling. “Even if it’s just a haunted hole in the ground.”

“All right, well--” Kihal grins, sheepish-- “my condo is haunted.”

[Obi] So you’re telling me that this is just some crazy lady’s house, filled with all her stuff?

[Shirayuki] Isabella Stewart Gardner was a socialite and a philanthropist, *not* a crazy lady.

[Obi] Right, okay, but...she did turn her house into a museum, and then made everyone promise not to touch it. Not exactly what I think of when someone says ‘stable.’

[Shirayuki] Because she *curated* it, Obi!

[Obi] So what you’re telling me is that she knew that from forever to the end of time, she would have better taste than everyone else on the planet.

[Shirayuki] *sputtering* W-well--

[Obi] No, no, you’re right. I retract the crazy lady thing. Because that’s *baller*.

[Shirayuki] *laughs* O-obi!

[Obi] I want to be that lady. Like that is shade from the grave.

[Shirayuki] . . . . She also was personally friends with Monet.

[Obi] SEE? Life goals.

“So,” Obi hums from around a dumpling, his chopsticks already rooting for another, “what do you think?”

Shirayuki looks up, halfway through a very un-dainty bite of her own. “About--? Oh! I can’t believe they’re only fifty cents each! Where did you find this place?”

Despite his reputation on camera-- forward-facing, casual, intimate-- Obi isn’t someone who looks at people head-on. She’ll catch a glance sometimes, or maybe a considering look from the corner of his eyes, but for the most part, he’s always moving, eyes darting around to watch who filters into a room, or at the cars moving outside, or staring down the squirrel that likes to scratch at their window.

So when he looks at her, gold eyes trapping her as thoroughly as amber, she notices.

“Well,” he says after a long moment, “when you run a food show, people do give you some hot tips. But, ah--” he rubs at the back of his head, ears pink at the tips-- “that wasn’t really what I, ah, meant.”

Her mouth rounds. “Oh.”

His hands raise, chopsticks knitted under his knuckles. “Though I’m glad you like it! It’s, ah, one of my favorite places too. I just thought that you might have some, er--” he grimaces-- “thoughts, about the whole haunted condo thing.”

“Oh! That.” She taps her chopsticks on her plate, trying to gather her thoughts. “I just think...I don’t know. It’s not a bad place to start, but I just wanted...”

She blows out her cheeks on a sigh. “The ghost hunting is a new aspect of the show, and I wanted us to come out strong with an actual location...”

His mouth curls at a corner, too knowing. “And having us just carry around proton packs and talk about cold spots in a friend’s house isn’t really going to do much for our supernatural cred?”

“Yeah.” She slumps against the chair, defeat. “That. But I also feel like beggars can’t be choosers, and no one else is telling us yes, so...”

He nods, mouth pressed into a thoughtful line. “So there’s no rush to say no.”

“Right, yeah.” She glances at him from the corners of her eyes. “How about you?”

Obi blinks, eyes fluttering wide. “Me? This isn’t really my--” he hesitates, mouth working, starting a half dozen words-- “ah, I mean, I think...it’s smart. You’re right, a bigger place will give us more credit, but if one doesn’t come through then we have to start somewhere. Besides,” his mouth tics at a corner, twitching toward a smirk-- “I’ve always wondered whether she’s bikini or boyshorts.”

It’s only when her chin hits her chest that she realizes her jaw has dropped. “We’re not there to look in her underwear drawer!”

“Well, we’re not at work for her to look in my gym bag either,” he replies, sour, “but she did anyway.”

“She already said that was an accident--”

“--a likely story--”

“--That’s not what I meant anyway,” she admits with a huff. “I wanted to know if you were okay with the whole, ah...” her shoulders round, shy-- “metrics thing.”

“Metrics?” His head cocks, quizzical, but then-- “you mean, the stuff Izana showed us weeks ago?”

“Two weeks ago,” she corrects, heat flaring on her cheeks, “and, um, yes. I just...you’re not mad?”

Obi stares. “About what?”

“Unsolved.”

He shakes his head. “You’re...really going to have to be more specific than that.”

“The ratings.” She pokes at a dumpling, miserable. “Stand the Heat-- that’s your baby isn’t it? You pitched it and everything.”

“I...did?” he says, brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s just-- Unsolved is doing better.” It’s not bragging, she knows that, but it feels like it. “And it’s-- it’s okay if you’re, um, upset about it. You’ve been doing this for--”

“OH.” Obi coughs, suddenly looking anywhere but at their table. “No, I really-- you don’t need to worry about that. At all. Please.”

She stares. “Obi, it’s okay. I’m not going to take it personally if you--”

“Kid, please,” he begs, holding up his hands. “It’s nothing. I mean, yeah, if Stand the Heat was on top, I’d be happy. I mean, I was happy when it was on top. But, this is...” his fingers twirl his chopstick mindlessly-- “this is good, too.”

“But--”

“Listen, I know you may find this hard to believe, especially with how we, uh, met, but I wasn’t kidding when I said I was a huge fan of the show. Not even a little. Understated it, in fact.” The tips of his ears flush. “So, uh, it’s kind of cool that I joined my favorite show, and now it’s super popular. That’s sort of the whole fanboy dream, right?”

“O-oh!” She stares down at her hands, willing them to stop trembling. “I, uh...I didn’t...I didn’t really think of it like that.”

“Yeah, well, now you know you don’t have to worry about it,” he says with a laugh. “I’m living the dream here. Not only am I on the show, but I’m more popular than the last guy. And I get to take the cute host out to lunch and call it business. The only square I need to finish fanboy bingo is getting to ki--”

His teeth snap down, so loud she hears the click. “Haah, never mind. Hey look, is that the waiter? Could we, ah, get the check?”

[Sender]: iwisteria@wisteriacorp.com [Recipients]: s.lyon@hypewire.com [Subject]: Season 3 Hard Proposal

Is there any reason this isn’t in my inbox already?

Shirayuki closes her inbox with a grimace. “Ah, hey, Kihal?”

Her editor looks up, brows raised. “Yeah?”

She licks her lips, bracing herself. “Just...how haunted do you think your condo is?”

[dear-yandere]

—ask collection!

a collection of mostly very old chats and sweet asks that i never got around to answering! thanks for the patience and love!! 

beware, fairly long post... woops....

chat asks.

darling: Eu-jin is best boy. Change my mind.

vanya: i am physically incapable of fulfilling that request, how dare you do that to me... i’m biased since he’s my own oc, but i would die for my (very best) boy eu-jin... who can resist such a gentle yandere that loves you so whole-heartedly?

that reminds me! he’s actually based off of kuroyuki and gekkamaru from the otome nightshade, so if you want similar characters by any chance, do check them and the game out ♡

darling: I was watching the dub for Part 5 of JoJo's Bizarre adventure yesterday...Mista called himself Daddy and I like- sdfghjfgsdhnhnmj!! My heart can't take this--

vanya: WAIT HE DID???? i’m not even big on daddy kink and reading that made me go 😳 this is vital information to know... what episode was this??? for research purposes, of course. gotta perfect my yan! mista, after all~...

darling: for yandere songs, have you heard of the major to minor covers by chase holfelder :O? the way he delivers the lyrics in some songs (betty, all i want for christmas), added with the key changes to minor, is really fantastic, and gives a stalker-ish vibe imo! and he's a really good singer in general

vanya: i have!! a good chunk of them are actually on my personal yandere playlist, so i end up hearing them frequently when i’m writing!! i haven’t been keeping up with his uploads recently, so ‘betty’ is completely new to me and just, wow???????????? this man is an absolute god send for us “romantic” horror fans... ♡

this ask gave me such a lovely idea, though, darling: assigning yandere types/mbti based off each of chase’s minor key covers. i think i’ll do that just for you. ♡

darling @blossomiich​: I reread some of your old character interaction asks and saw the one with Jotaro hugging his Darling after a panic attack and the elephant seal plush reminded me of the iconic C H O N K Y ringed seal plushie that was kinda trending and I can totally imagine Jotaro having one of those >w< that's so adorable!

vanya: i honestly don’t remember that interaction, but then again i don’t remember most things hmghng so i looked it up and

j...just imagine star plat hogging it and not letting joot cuddle with it 🥺 the duality of man...thank you for this cute image...

darling: Umm, sorry for asking this. I'm just curious because of your bio language in your header. Are you Chinese too, perhaps?

vanya: no worries!! i’m mixed guyanese (indian, chinese, & possibly black and/or portuguese), but my family only celebrates (or rather, acknowledges?) our indian descent, since the majority of our family is predominantly east indian. 

my header is actually a quote from a danmei novel (and one of my all-time favorite fandoms), tiān guān cì fú (heaven’s official blessing)!

darling genki stan anon: Omg you're writing for free now, i didn't expect that one lol. It's a cute show innit? Not a nagi stan but I feel like nagisa has that kinda unsnapped personality that would make him peak delusional yandere material lolol like oikawa but less threatening and without his head being up his own ass 😂. Hope you're doing well!! -gsa

Gdjsjs im such a fool, i think my last ask said something about not thinking you'd write for free when i literally just pointed out kisumi on your sideblog LMAO my bad 😅 😂 also ill hold back on the gen chan requests because ive already asked so many in the past! Thank you though 🥺. Also feel free not to post this, it can just dip into my onesided chats with my lil flower 💐 so long as you receive them im fine 😌 -genki stan anon

vanya: nagisa isn’t my favorite (kisumi is), but gods if he wouldn’t make a great yandere. honestly, out of the iwatobi boys, nagi is probably the most unhinged. i wouldn’t peg him as delusional, at least not at first; i think he’s very lucid and knows exactly what he wants and how to manipulate people in order to get it!!! kisumi is fairly similar now that i think about it... i might... have a type...

please feel free to send in gen-chan requests whenever you want!!!! i’m kinda super asocial, so it’ll take me a while to answer, but i love getting asks from you since you’re so sweet and excitable!!! your little flower reads and cherishes them all!! 🥺

also darling genki stan anon: Sorry for spamming you with asks hdjkdks, u dont even need to reply im just kinda brain empty venting here whether you recieve them or not 😂 i just needed to confess that while yes i am #1 gen simp, and he is undoubtedly my fave oc of yours but that Ilya tentacle smut had me very much so highkey kinda 👀, had to re read the genki oral style drabble to bring my head back. He dont even need to worry about luca bc that man a thot. I think therin is a thot too but like lowkey, a classy thót -gsa

vanya: omg i’ve kept this one for forever mnmghngh i might’ve even answered at some other point, now that i think about it... but i just 🥺 gosh i hope i find my muse soon, because i really wanna write you a genki fic 🥺 hhhh

the ilya tentacle smut was so in character for that boy... i have no clue how to write monsters, much less tentacles, but i’d honestly do anything for him 🙏 kinky russian boy...

therin is definitely a classy thot, the kind that only bangs the finest concubines then turns around and slut shames you for banging the very same prostitutes gbfmngnfg rules don’t apply to him, in his kingdom...wish that were me tbh ✊😔

sweet asks.

darling one: i've read almost all of your dazai and chuuya fics and i love them so much!! your formatting is also super aesthetic just a question, i saw on your kofi that you also draw so i was wondering if you drew all the header arts?? bc they're all super pretty :) have a great day!

darling two: Just wanted to say love the writing and the way your format your posts is so aesthetically pleasing. One day I hope my posts looks half as good as yours because I legit can't get over how pretty and organized it looks.

vanya: omg thank you so much!!!! one of my bffs, yue, is to thank for the formatting and aesthetic choices, really! if you wanna see more of her aesthetic formats and posts, she actually runs a few blogs! you may know her as @milkscafe​, formally @milkaaton! i adore her and her aes choices so much 🥺

as for the headers, i don’t draw 99.98% of them! i have drawn a couple, but they’re so few and far in between since i almost never finish my art wips haha... my older posts are lacking proper credits because i’m an absolute idiot, but i’m slowly working my way backwards to credit them all where possible! they’re all indeed super pretty!!!

have a great day yourself, my love!!

darling: THEY’RE NOT BAD CONTENT, I LOVE THEM ALL

vanya: this was in response to a now-deleted lil blurb but i kept it in my inbox because i wanted to say i love u very much and seeing this ask each time i open my inbox makes my heart skip a beat ♡

darling: Listen I love your writing, you inspired me to start it myself! I've always loved to write, and read of course but your style and concepts just stick with me. If you where to write something besides Yandere content/fandom content and started your own series? I would read the shit, out of it. I'm always nervous to interact with my favorite writers because you know, I'm afraid of the impression I'd leave but I just wanted to say this anyway! 💞💞💞🔫😳

vanya: wowowow fgfnmgnfmngfg that’s such a high compliment my brain just gmfnbgmnf go boom fogjfngnfg and thank you for the interaction, us writers truly appreciate it no matter how awkward or nervous you think you may be / come off!!!

darling one: As a writer, your post struck a nerve with me. I don’t send feedback to writers I like nearly as much as I should (and certainly not as much as I’d like in return as a writer). So, as such, I’m going to start doing that when I can, starting with you.

You are an incredible writer. You were one of the first yandere writing blogs I found and you’re still one I check in on regularly to see what you have been working on. You can portray a sense of suspense and intrigue in a natural way that many other writers - published ones included - struggle with. You delve into the darkness without it feeling forced, and you have an amazing grasp on the psyches of the characters you write for (which is a quality I adore in writing and strive toward myself).

I’m not great at ending these things so I guess.. you keep doing you? Because the you is great and I appreciate it.

darling two:  hey. i'm here to tell you that from the bottom of my heart i love you and your writings. i really admire your writing skills. you inspire me. one of your posts once saved me from a nervous breakdown. thank you for everything you do. you're a wonderful person. good luck!

darling three: I wanted to tell you that thank you for writing such wonderful beautiful writings and that you take time to edit and write I hope you are taking care of yourself 💖❤

darling four: Thanks. I was having a hard time and deleted all my apps, but as soon as i opened my phone my first instinct was to look at your blog and i got my motivation back. Thanks (:

darling five: Hi ! I just wanted to say I really enjoy the stories you write and how they are detailed so well ! Stay safe and I hope you have a good day/night ! ლ(╹◡╹ლ)

vanya: ahhhh, these are very old asks mostly dating back to my “tumblr writing community is dying” post, and i’ve kept them this entire time because i’m just so starstruck. i have no clue how to reply to compliments, so i’m not sure what else to say besides that these asks made me very happy and got me through a few insecure moments!!! i’ve actually been feeling a little down about my writing recently, mostly because of lack of motivation / inspiration, so revisiting these really warmed my heart, so thank you truly ♡ i’m certainly keeping the originals in my inbox until the end of time!!

darling @monstrously-obsessed: psst, this local cryptic mom thing send all of their love for you 💕

vanya: your local herbo says she loves you very much momster 🥺 mwah

also, to the anon worried about my safety:

thank you so much for pointing that out!!! it hadn’t even crossed my mind when i made those ocs, so i appreciate your concern! i was contemplating revamping those two as is, so this is a great place to start! thank you again!!

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life Sequel (2/10) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words 1479 Chapter Summary: School is back into the schedule and everyone is busy. Marinette uses a school project as an easy way to get a video done and Alya pops by. Author's Note: I'm back! I'm so sorry for going MIA the past few weeks but school has been kicking my butt with projects. School comes first, tho! Hoping to get back into regular updates but my semester is about halfway over and teachers are picking things up. Keep an eye on tumblr/wattpad if things get postponed! Also the ending sounds ominous but trust me it isn't, I just wanted a good way to wrap things up.

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Life Updates

---

A few months into the school year

Adrien was still living with Marinette and her family. Though now he would have the mansion all to himself, he didn't want to be there. It was filled with harsh memories, and he couldn't even think about looking at the pictures of his father. Instead, he let Gorilla live there, rent-free and happy. He still accompanied Adrien when he went to Agreste Fashion, but he also knew Adrien could take care of himself.

But he couldn't leave Adrien alone after losing his mother, father, and closest thing to another parental figure. Gorilla was still there for him, picking Adrien up in the morning to get him to school, picking him up from school, and taking him wherever he needs, whether it be the offices or back to the bakery.

Marinette and her parents love having Adrien around. Tom and Sabine knew how hard it is for him, and letting him stay with them brought some normalcy into his life. Plus, he really enjoyed learning how to cook with them and even helping out in the bakery when it gets busy. They loved walking out into the living room to see the kids watching movies or playing video games, and waking up in the morning to find they fell asleep in the middle of their TV binge-watching time, all cuddled together.

Though it was more of an adjustment, Tom and Sabine also loved the Kwamis. Tikki is very sweet, and they love having Plagg taste test new ideas. Since Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't needed as much anymore, they're more like pets, but that doesn't change the love everyone has for them. Now with Marinette as the guardian of Paris' Miraculous, every so often, she lets them all come out to get a breath of fresh air. Being stuck in a box has got to be boring, and it's a lot of fun to see all the Kwami's interact.

Adrien loved the freedom of university and getting to study business. It was a lot to take on, but he was really excited to take Agreste Fashion in a better direction once he learned more and more. He may not be officially running it right now, and the COO is acting as CEO; he does get a lot of say in the way things go. When he first started, he immediately stripped Agreste Fashion of his father's name, and Gabriel is nowhere to be found; he will not let his father's bad choices run this business any longer.

While Adrien was having a great time with school, Marinette was stressing. Of course, she loved everything she was doing in her classes. She was finally able to take her designs to the next level and learn more than she could teach herself. Adrien already promised her a job at Agreste Fashion, but she's determined to earn her place and work her way up by herself.

Marinette had a busy week with a big project due. Since she's been distancing herself from videos (still posting at least weekly!), she figured to take advantage of the situation. Marinette had her camera set up to shoot the mannequin she was working on, and another camera pointed at her desk to get different shots for what part she was focusing on. She wouldn't post the video until after she got her grade back, but it never hurts to shoot something in advance.

As Marinette was carefully pinning a piece of fabric, she jumped at the sound of the trap door opening. "Ah!" She shouted when she poked herself. "Oh, Alya," She calmed down. "You scared me."

"I can see," She giggled. "I came to check up on you and bring you a smoothie," She offered her gift with a big smile. "And I wanted to see your work!"

Marinette gladly took the drink and nodded. "Thanks, nowhere near done yet. I'm recording the process for a video."

Alya gasped, acting offended. "And you're doing that without me, your camera operator?"

"You've been busy, too; I didn't want to stop you!" Marinette reasoned.

"Good point, but I'm going to sit here and help," She sat and sat on the chaise against the wall. Pulling out her laptop, Alya smiled. "I brought work with me. We can both work loving the company of each other," She said.

Marinette smirked as she got back to work. "Missing Nino?"

"Like you'd never imagine," Alya groaned back. "We talk all the time, but it's not the same. How's Adrien?"

"Honestly, better than I expected. He spends a decent amount of time at Agreste Fashion, but is always back in time for dinner. Speaking of, you want to stay?" Marinette offered, and Alya nodded in response. She yelled down to her mom to ask if it was okay, which Sabine said absolutely.

Alya started typing away at her computer to work on a paper while still making conversation with Marinette. "How are you all adjusting? I know Nino, Chloé, and I have gotten over most of it, but I'm sure it's different for you guys."

"Oh, you know, we're still working through it. Adrien sees a therapist, as expected, and it helps.  I think it just takes time, and school is definitely helping as a distraction. I can't imagine what will happen if Nathalie tries to contact him, but last we heard, she moved to the States when she was released. They made a compromise that she'd finish out community service there, especially since Gorilla said it would be more damaging to Adrien to have her still in Paris," Marinette rambled. "But other than that, good!" Marinette sighed, glad that she would be narrating the video in the editing phase.

Alya nodded. "I'm still shocked that he was a witness in court," She said. "But I'm glad he was. Though I don't believe her 'I was forced to!' defense, at least she won't be near us," Alya said. "It's a shame; she seemed nice. Well, before we found out."

Marinette shook her head with a slight laugh. "She scared me from the beginning. But so did Gabriel," Marinette reflected. They went back to work, having a few remarks here and there, and soon enough, they were called down for dinner. "Oh, Adrien, hey!" Marinette smiled when she got downstairs to see that Adrien was home, and had been, as he helped with dinner.

"Sorry I snuck in," He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Alya, how are things?"

---

ahhhh i love Marinette's designs so much thEYRE BEAUTIFUL

when is this going to be in stores?? i need it like yesterday

I wonder when Adrien will give her a job at agreste fashion. we all know he wants to. but w h e n. I need my fashion power couple to take over the world

I loved Alya just chilling in the back, that's friendship. working independently but together (also is anyone else trying to figure out what they were talking about??) >Marinette Design's Reply Oh trust me it's nothing interesting. Just getting caught back up about school and life!

I'm so happy when you upload! Thanks Mari, hope you all are doing well.

I HEAR A NINO TRACK IN THE BACKGROUND IM SEEING HIM WITH JAGGED IN A FEW WEEKS AHHHHHH

one day we'll get a vlog from Marinette preparing for her first big time fashion show. With Adrien as a model. Manifesting it.

Marinette snickered as she read through the comments from her most recent video, and even replied to a few. She was waiting for Adrien to finish getting ready so they could head out for their date, and she was highly entertained by the comments. Only a few more minutes passed before Adrien came from the bathroom in a green sweater with a big smile on his face. "Ready to go, Milady?" He asked and held his arm out for her to take.

Marinette nodded and linked their arms. She was wearing a casual dress with leggings, looking nice but not being overdressed. They were excited to have a nice dinner together and act like a normal couple, which they never really had. They left the Kwamis at home and were ready to enjoy the evening, ready for a night for just them. Gorilla picked them up and drove them to the restaurant, and they only had two rules for tonight: No discussing past superhero adventures, and stay off the phones so they can enjoy each other's company.

The rules were easy to follow, as all they wanted to do was sit, talk, and eat. Maybe their lives would go back to normal faster than they thought. They were happy and excited for the future, and both were happy to talk about anything else than the trauma they have suffered.

Marinette, however, did miss running around on rooftops with her cat.

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries  @toodaloo-kangaroo 

[wedreamedlove]

[Confessing Voice]

"Under the glimmering lights I was only watching your radiance. I'll place everything I wish to tell you in this song."

This is doing a rerun on the ENG server so what better time to post a translation on it than now? Maybe it'll encourage people to get the card. But I'm also curious about what people feel regarding the differences between the versions.

Does the Asian version seem more quiet with charged undertones while the English version is more physical? It reminds me of reviews I've read about different actors' takes on the Phantom of the Opera lol.

NOTE: This is the JP version with CN subbed lines because I needed to keep the literary reference with the song he sings.

[True Love Date]

I was meticulously checking the first broadcast of Miracle Finder for the New Year in the editing room.

It was an important broadcast related to our sponsors and our ratings this year. I looked over the show's contents with especially strict eyes.

Editing Staff: We've edited this 12 times already...

Everyone's line of sight gathered on me. They were waiting for me to give the OK.

MC: I think it's good this time. We're done with this!

Cheers rose. Looking at everyone who worked hard through consecutive all-nighters I felt bad.

MC: Good job everyone. I'll be generous with the project rewards so look forward to that!

Editing Staff: President, the person we need to thank the most is Professor Xu Mo.

I showed a confused expression.

Editing Staff: I secretly contacted Professor Xu Mo when we kept on redoing this. He gave me a lot of advice even though he was busy...

I looked at my phone screen in surprise. Two weeks earlier---

~~~

His face crossed my mind when I was troubled over this current project.

My hand moved on its own to call Xu Mo. It started to become a habit to contact him whenever I had problems.

Xu Mo picked up after several rings.

MC: Xu Mo? Are you busy right now? There's something I'd like to ask you...

Static crackled from the other side of the call. After a while, I heard Xu Mo's voice.

Xu Mo: I'm sorry but lately... I've been busy.

His tone was calm but also distant. It wasn't from exhaustion. I felt a coldness from somewhere.

MC: Don't worry. It wasn't anything serious, so...

Xu Mo: Mm. If it's nothing then I'm going to end the call.

MC: Okay...

Xu Mo didn't say anything further. That was more than enough to make me feel the distance between us.

MC: Wait!

MC: Um... you might be busy, but take care of yourself. Bye bye.

Just when I thought there was rough breathing it suddenly fell quiet. Hearing a monotone beeping, I came back to myself. Xu Mo had already ended the call.

MC: Did he hear my last words...?

Looking at the ended call I was struck by a strange feeling.

Maybe I was thinking too much? His words and speech was cold like never before.

MC: What am I thinking? Xu Mo is just busy...

Although I tried telling myself that I couldn't help but feel uneasy somewhere.

I shook my head and drove away my negative emotions. I relied too much on him. This time I needed to solve things by myself.

Editing Staff: ---President, President? Are the credits good like this?

I returned to the present after being lost in my thoughts. The words "Program Supervisor: Xu Mo" on the credits roll jumped into my eyes.

MC: W-what sort of advice did Professor Xu Mo give? Um... how did you get him to help? When was that?

Editing Staff: It was about 2 days ago. We were editing until 4AM but still had to redo everything... It was when you fell asleep on the sofa.

Editing Staff: After I called Professor Xu Mo, he asked me what happened to you, and I replied you were sleeping on the sofa.

Editing Staff: Then he ended the call saying he was busy. But the next morning an email arrived with detailed advice...

Editing Staff: The strange thing is that he wrote for me not to let you know. But you've found out already, so it's fine, right?

I wondered why Xu Mo helped when he had refused once.

(Why did he say not to let me know? Is there a problem if I know about it...?)

I also didn't understand the reason for Xu Mo's sudden coldness.

For a while there were no replies to my texts and his lectures were on break too. It was like he was distancing himself from me on purpose.

My heart clenched when I thought this.

Editing Staff: President, why don't we invite Professor Xu Mo to our New Year's party this time? He looked like he enjoyed our year-end party a few days ago and he helped us out this time too...

I said this while looking at the New Year's party notice I sent to everyone.

MC: He... seems to be busy, so he might not come.

Editing Staff: But he came to the year-end party even though he was busy, right...?

I hurried out of the editing room as if ending the topic.

On the day of the New Year's party, I came with everyone in the company to a newly opened high-class karaoke box in Lianyu City.

It was an elegant, modern, and spacious reserved room. A white grand piano and guitar were placed in front of the karaoke machine, and beside that was a small stage.

I checked my phone's text messages over and over again. A message from 3 days ago remained there.

Text: Xu Mo, my company's going to have a New Year's party at Petrichor 3 days later. If you'd like, why don't you come?

Text: You looked like you enjoyed singing at the year-end party a while ago, so I thought I'd invite you this time too. But if you're busy then please don't hesitate to refuse.

Even though the message was definitely sent there was no response. I sighed with worry and disappointment.

Yue Yue: President, why have you been staring constantly at your phone? Work is done for today!

Yue Yue quickly stole my phone, randomly touching the screen, and then placed it in front of herself.

MC: Hey, my phone...

I stretched out my hand but Yue Yue pushed a set of cards to me.

Yue Yue: You don't sing, right? Then let's play cards!

The company members around us gathered in interest. I had no choice but to pass the time playing cards with everyone.

Xu Mo's house---

The phone rang and a message arrived. It was from [NAME].

Xu Mo hesitated slightly and then picked up the phone. However, the message was just numbers and letters and he didn't understand what she wrote.

What was this? Xu Mo's expression became severe.

He searched on the internet and tried various methods but he couldn't decipher it. He felt a sense of frustration.

He wondered why she had sent this message.

Was she angry at being treated coldly? Or was it a demand for a reply to her New Year's party invitation...?

Xu Mo dialed her phone from his landline. However, only an automated voice saying "This phone has been turned off" came.

Xu Mo: What is wrong with me?

Xu Mo: When did I start caring about these conventions?

For a while, Xu Mo stared at the message which came from the girl 3 days ago. It was written with her usual detailed and kind words.

At the beginning, his objective was just to get close to her. But the closer he got the more he was drawn to her for some reason.

Xu Mo: Didn't I already decide to leave her life?

Why did he help her again even though he refused her once? Why was his heart unsettled from this incomprehensible message?

The intense pain in Xu Mo's heart insistently told him the reason. That over there was an answer he couldn't escape even if he desperately averted his eyes.

The moment the door to the karaoke room opened Xu Mo faintly understood the answer.

That he couldn't leave her.

~~~

MC: Xu Mo! You came?

Her clear eyes widened roundly and she looked at him. The person reflected in those eyes was him alone.

Xu Mo suddenly placed a hand on his chest. A thin thread was tightly squeezing his heart.

He sighed.

Forget it, he would be foolish once more with this foolish girl.

Xu Mo entered the room and sat beside her naturally.

MC: Weren't you busy?

MC: Erm, nevermind. You didn't reply so I didn't think you'd come.

Even under the dim lights he could clearly see her emotions.

There was joy and doubt.

He swallowed back the words he was about to say and softly stroked her hair.

Xu Mo: Sorry. I couldn't get through to your phone so I came here.

MC: You couldn't get through?

She looked down and searched the top of the sofa before showing him the phone, biting her lip awkwardly.

MC: I accidentally turned it off...

Xu Mo smiled lightly with some exasperation. Light and shadow were jumbled together in his eyes.

Xu Mo: Silly.

She gave a pure laugh and then, covering her face, her eyes darted around.

MC: Were you worried about me?

Xu Mo: Yes.

Xu Mo approached her and nodded without hesitation.

Yue Yue: Huh? It's Professor Xu Mo? President, you should have told us if the professor was coming.

MC: Uh... that's because...

Xu Mo: I heard everyone was having a New Year's party so I came without an invitation. I'm not interrupting, am I?

Yue Yue: No way. I was moved when I heard you singing at the year-end party. Everyone wants to hear it again!

Yue Yue said this and then ran back to the stage again to sing enthusiastically with Anna.

Xu Mo: Why aren't you singing together with them?

MC: Huh? I... don't sing much.

Xu Mo: I know. But I'd like to hear it.

My face turned red at Xu Mo's unexpected words.

MC: You're planning on teasing me again, aren't you...

The corners of Xu Mo's lips rose and then he sighed.

Xu Mo: It's true I was worried about you. It's also true that I want to hear you sing.

Xu Mo: Everything is true.

His casual words resounded in my heart more than any other noise in the room.

Yue Yue started singing a sad love song with Anna who was still on the stage.

Anna: Did you really throw away those glittering days...

Yue Yue: I had many dreams in those long nights. Don't remember me. One day you will also know pain...

Xu Mo looked at the words showing on the screen. The flickering light was reflected in his eyes.

The lively karaoke party on top of the stage repeated and, below the stage, everyone else amused themselves with games.

Seeing that Xu Mo had come everyone persistently invited him to join their game.

Gu Meng: Next is the improved version of Spin the Bottle! Whoever this beer bottle points to has to answer everyone's question. If they can't answer with the truth then as penalty they need to drink all this alcohol!

When Gu Meng clapped her hands the editing staff carried over a tray with five cups of whiskey.

Colleagues: This is overdoing it!

Looking at the lined up drinks, I became worried. I would get drunk from just one cup, so if I drank them all I might collapse.

That reminded me, I hadn't seen Xu Mo drink before. I looked at him inquisitively.

Xu Mo nodded and patted the back of my hand.

The beer bottle began to spin and then pointed at Gu Meng.

Yue Yue: Do you have someone you like?

Yue Yue, who had joined the circle at one point, began the questions. At that first question... everyone's eyes gathered on Gu Meng.

Gu Meng glared lightly at Yue Yue and then reluctantly nodded.

Cheers rose. Gu Meng spun the bottle as if trying to avenge herself. This time the bottle pointed at Xu Mo and stopped.

Yue Yue: Professor Xu Mo, is there someone you like in this room?

Gu Meng: How about trying another question?

Yue Yue: That's why I said "in this room"!

Xu Mo smiled and nodded decisively.

Xu Mo: There is.

That answer was so surprisingly clear that the area became quiet. After that cheers exploded and Gu Meng whistled.

My heart was already racing the second Yue Yue asked that question.

The person Xu Mo liked was in this room... My ears turned red and my mind went blank.

I unconsciously brought my hand back but Xu Mo grabbed it firmly.

Xu Mo: Why is your face red?

MC: Erm, uh... it's because of the drinks!

Xu Mo: But... it doesn't seem like you've drank anything yet.

MC: Umm, it's because it's hot then?

Looking at me as my voice gradually became smaller, Xu Mo chuckled beside my ear.

Yue Yue: Okay, next is Professor Xu Mo again!

The beer bottle pointed at Xu Mo again and stopped. This time Gu Meng restrained Yue Yue and asked a question.

Gu Meng: Who is the person you said you liked?

Everyone held their breath and stared at Xu Mo.

My heart wouldn't stop pounding. I looked down and reflexively pulled back the hand that was held by Xu Mo.

Xu Mo smiled, as if he understood something, and drained the drinks one after another.

Everyone was a bit disappointed and began to spin the bottle again.

I secretly glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked drunk and even his ears were red.

MC: Xu Mo, are you okay?

He nodded his head and brought his lips to my ear. His hot breath and the smell of alcohol drifted around me and it felt ticklish.

Xu Mo: I'm fine, although... you still owe me an answer.

MC: I...

I was at a loss for an answer and, at last after panicking, I fell silent. I just concentrated on touching my hair and hiding my discomposure.

Maybe it was because of the drinks or maybe the atmosphere of the place, but Xu Mo became talkative and his eyes were hazy.

Yue Yue: It's finally the president's turn!

Yue Yue and Gu Meng exchanged looks and then came up to me together.

Gu Meng: Who's the person important to you? Please be specific.

MC: How come I'm the only one who has to be "specific"?

Yue Yue: You have to keep to the rules. It's useless to try and run!

The person most important to me--- I looked at Xu Mo shyly and then breathed in deeply.

MC: That person showed me a world I didn't know about until now.

MC: He's warm but not oppressive. He's calm but not melancholic. He's a person that's like a clear sky and a deep fog.

MC: He also notices the slightest change in my feelings and taught me the laws of this world.

MC: Whenever I'm lost he leads me forward with a gentleness that surrounds me.

I sunk into my memories and continued to talk by myself, not noticing how beside me Xu Mo placed his glass down, furrowed his brows, and bit his lip...

MC: He is... a very, very important person to me.

Finished talking about my heart, I gave a deep sigh.

Colleague A: For the president to talk so passionately means that "man" isn't here, right? If he was here, then you wouldn't say this, huh~.

Yue Yue: I wanna know who it is!

MC: Hey now! Enough with the chatter, let's move on...

Everyone unanimously guessed at the "man" I talked about. Xu Mo remained silent and raised his glass, taking a mouthful of his drink.

Despite the game resuming Xu Mo seemed strange somewhere. It was like his cheer up to now had disappeared.

MC: Maybe he's drunk? He drank a lot earlier...

MC: I've never seen him drunk. I'm sure it'd be cute.

I stood in front of the sink, thinking about how he'd look drunk, and giggled.

~~~

The moment I stepped out into the hall to return to the room my arm was suddenly grabbed by someone. I was held against a sturdy chest with a force I couldn't fight against.

I was dumbfounded. The scent of summer grass and the smell of faint alcohol surrounded me.

When I came back to myself I was held tightly to Xu Mo. My back was against the wall and one of my arms was caught by him.

MC: Xu Mo...

My heart raced and I didn't know what to do.

Xu Mo looked at me with empty eyes.

Xu Mo: Is that person so important to you?

MC: Huh?

Xu Mo: Tell me. Who is that person?

Xu Mo suddenly came close, speaking in a censuring tone.

(Hold on. Didn't he hear me talk? Or... did he misunderstand?)

I looked up at Xu Mo. Complicated emotions that seemed about to overflow even now were being restrained desperately in his eyes.

MC: You've got it wrong...

Xu Mo: Tell me...

Xu Mo came even closer. The scorching heat of his presence enveloped my surroundings.

It was the first time I saw him with such a scary look. It was so surprising I had no idea what to do. I stared into his eyes and said this.

MC: It's you.

MC: ... The "man" I was talking about is you, Xu Mo. You're my important person.

Xu Mo's eyes became dazed for a second. The smell of alcohol disappeared.

MC: I was talking about you. But... it looks like I caused a misunderstanding...

Xu Mo regained his calm and quietly released my arm.

Xu Mo: I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?

MC: A little...

Xu Mo looked down and rubbed gently at my arm. I couldn't see his expression but his warmth reached up to my ears.

When we returned to the room everyone was still excited. My heart raced just from remembering what happened earlier.

Pressing on my chest, I told myself to "calm down". Then, so that he wouldn't drink any more alcohol, I secretly pulled his glass in front of me.

Yue Yue: President, you never sing, right? How about singing 1 song today at least?

Yue Yue held out the mic to me.

MC: Erm! I'll pass...

I looked at Xu Mo and nervously declined.

It wasn't that I was bad at singing. It was just that I wasn't prepared to sing in front of Xu Mo.

Yue Yue: If the president won't sing then I'll have Professor Xu Mo sing!

Hearing that, everyone became even more enthusiastic.

Xu Mo, who was looking at me, nodded. I also wanted to hear him sing.

He gave a soft smile and, holding a glass, went to the stage.

It was at that time that I finally noticed him wearing a black turtleneck and dark purple scarf.

The speckled lights shone on him and how he had a hand casually placed in his pocket. A languid and alluring atmosphere was brought out.

Xu Mo set his glass down. Then, after thinking a little, he came to me and nonchalantly took my hand and returned directly to the stage again.

He wasn't using a strong force, but there was a sense of pressure that brooked no refusal.

Before I knew it, he slotted his body against mine and placed his chin on my shoulder. The aroma of the alcohol mixed with a refreshing fragrance which was like grasslands after the rains stopped.

Xu Mo: What would you like to sing?

MC: ... Do I have to sing?

Xu Mo: I want to hear you sing.

MC: You won't be shocked after hearing my singing, right?

I raised my head and said this, pursing my lips.

Xu Mo: Then... why don't we try it?

His mouth came close to my ear and he said this in a low voice. I nodded in a dazed manner with a mind gone hazy from the alcohol.

Xu Mo operated the karaoke machine and a mellow melody rang out.

His palm covered my hand. It was a large hand which seemed to cover my hand and the mic together.

Something like a weak current seemed to run through my entire body from his dry palm...

His eyes stared straight at me... straight into the depths of my heart.

Something like a decision was reflected in those eyes.

Xu Mo: When I fall in love, it will be forever.

It was a low enrapturing voice, like a late autumn wind or the swelling night ocean. He sang with his heart in it.

That voice knocked on the door to my heart.

Memories came into my mind one after another.

The first time we met and his beautiful face under a dazzling light. The time we met in a movie theatre at midnight. That golden-colored picnic. That rainbow after the rain lifted...

All those memories rode on that singing voice and slowly flowed throughout the sparkling room.

MC: And the moment---

MC: I can feel that you feel that way too---

As we sang we came even closer together and our hands continued to remain touching.

From the beginning until the end, Xu Mo looked at me with a constant smile and eyes that held expectation.

Xu Mo: It turns out a song can be this short.

The song ended and we got off the stage.

MC: Xu Mo, you really do sing well!

Xu Mo's lips curved and he said this with mischievous eyes.

Xu Mo: Oh? Can I believe... the words of a little liar?

MC: Huh, what do you mean?

Xu Mo: I was actually looking forward to your shocking singing.

I remembered how I said earlier "You won't be shocked after hearing my singing, right?" and my face turned red.

MC: Who asked you to believe in that...

Xu Mo: Then what else have you tricked me on?

Xu Mo flicked my forehead with a finger.

MC: Um... before I said you didn't have to come if you were busy, but to be honest I really wanted you to come.

I looked at Xu Mo and, while thinking this and that, spoke awkwardly.

Xu Mo was surprised. Flickering light surged up violently in his eyes and I saw him swallow, Adam's apple bobbing.

MC: What's wrong?

He gave a long sigh and then spoke in a voice even lower than earlier.

Xu Mo: I won't do that anymore.

He looked apologetically at me.

Xu Mo: Why won't you ask if I've ever tricked you?

I blinked.

MC: Um... of course I know that you've tricked me.

Xu Mo: For example?

MC: You were clearly drunk earlier even though you said you weren't drunk. Even more, you misunderstood me...

Looking at her grumble, Xu Mo was a bit surprised and he laughed quietly. Then he drew in the glass beside his hand and drank a mouthful.

His mind was hazy. Her smile and the spotted lights swayed in front of his eyes.

He thought about how he was surely drunk. But that was fine. Being drunk was better.

The music could continue, the drinks could continue.

That way he could tell himself this. That he was taken in by this atmosphere and the alcohol. And that's what these gentle feelings and hesitation resulted from.

Xu Mo raised his glass and drained it all at once.

~~~

DATE DIARY

Everyone worked really hard for the first show of the new year. Finally, after it took shape, I learned that Xu Mo helped. I thought he had refused to though... Why?

On that day, if I remember correctly, I asked for Xu Mo's help but he refused me coldly. Why did he help me again at the critical moment? I don't really understand Xu Mo.

I thought Xu Mo wouldn't come to the New Year's party but he came on the day of. He said he became worried because I didn't answer my phone. During a game of Spin the Bottle, Xu Mo confessed for the first time that he had a person he liked.

I also talked about the person most important to me. But, because Xu Mo was drunk, he seemed to misunderstand that. I'm someone who rarely sings in front of others but for some reason I ended up in a duet with Xu Mo. There was joy in his eyes.

[kyluxtrashpit]

2019 Fic Recap

So I’ve done this for the past few years and I started doing it at the end of 2019 but never managed to finish it. I think between TROS and IRL and then I got really, really sick, I just haven’t had the chance to do so. But fuck it, I decided to finish it anyway even though it’s now 3 months late lmao. So anyway, a recap of my 2019 fics

Total wordcount: 96 419 words. Which is less than last year, but still not too shabby. I wish I could’ve banged something out to get it over 100k but eh, it just didn’t happen. I definitely have enough wip words and whatnot to get me over that bump, though

Tough Love, 6572 words, posted Jan 17

So this was an experimental one. As you all know, I’m pretty hard on the sub!Kylo/dom!Hux train. But I had a conversation with a friend and it turned into one of those ‘okay, I don’t like x dynamic because of a, b, and c. But is it possible to write x without those and make it into something I like?’ and as it turns out, yes, yes it was. Thus this fic happened and here we are. I still really like it and I have a lot of Feelings on this dynamic vs the one I usually write, but that’s an essay in and of itself lmao. It got some great feedback too, which was cool

Take My Breath Away, 1230 words, posted Feb 7

Ah yes, this one, which was based off a throwaway KOTOR ability but was an excuse for me to write Kylo getting stuffed from both ends with some asphyxiation thrown in. And also extremely rough sex + softer aftercare is a weakness of mine haha, so I just had to do it

Fix You, 1994 words, posted Feb 10

So this was my first piece for Bad Things Happen Bingo, which is an event I’m still planning to finish at some point lmao, and that I’ve had a lot of fun with so far. This fic was another that I tried for a more ‘classic’ feel with, though it’s a lot softer. The uncomfortable intimacy. The ‘feelings are happening but we won’t talk about them’. The shaky trust. All of that good stuff. I had fun with it

Keep Your Enemies Closer, 1657 words, posted Feb 24

Another for BTHB! I just love when Hux wins, okay. And I think this was one of those time periods where Kylo was doing all the winning in fics and I just. Needed something different lmao. Emperor Hux remains one my all time fave ideas and it’s still a shame canon never gave it to us. But I have the power to make it happen, so I did. Plus Kylo in a shock collar is always fun >:)

Indulgence, 17 357 works, completed Apr 19, first posted Mar 28

So! This was a continuation to my experiment from above and really it was just an excuse for lots of smut and pampering lmao. Much as I had thought I had said everything I wanted to say with Tough Love, apparently I had not, and this monstrosity formed. There may be a third, more serious piece to finish off the series this year, but I haven’t decided yet. Although, I have to admit, I’m still surprised how poorly this fic did feedback-wise, especially compared to its predecessor and considering it’s the more popular dynamic these days. Tbh some of my best smut is in this fic imo, but ah well, sometimes people just don’t like things and I suppose I have to accept that, even if I’m really, really proud of that thing

(Okay and the rest are behind a cut for length)

Best Served Bloody, 2666 words, posted Apr 29

Another BTHB and, again, not much deeper to it. Beating up Brendol is always fun though lmao. And when I was writing this, I really wanted Hux to be the one to strike at his father. A lot of pieces have Kylo doing it, which is great, but I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted Hux to have the power to save himself. It was fun to write in that way, as a powerful revenge fantasy

The Best, 6450 words, posted May 12

Ah, now this was a fun one lmao. It was born of a horny crack idea but I can’t do real crack, so it ended up as crack treated seriously. And really, I just wanted an excuse to have Kylo sucking dick. A lot of dick. All the dicks he can find lmao. Slutty Kylo fic remains my favourite pwp, so I gotta contribute to the cause, you know. It was a delight to write, though challenging cause it kept turning me on LMAO. Totally worth it though. It was one of the most fun this year for sure

Be My Outlet, 1003 words, posted May 23

There’s not really much of a story behind this one haha. I was horny and I wanted some classic, Not Nice Hux and hatefucking, thus this exists. Plus I miss Kylo getting choked and it’s rare these days to see stuff quite this rough. I also have a bit of a somnophilia thing, which this sort of fits in to. And I’m always a fan of messy, masochist Kylo. So yeah. Idk it’s smut lmao what else could we want? It’s just a short little pwp, but I had a lot of fun with it and it was nice to revisit the classic kylux days

Safe Harbour, 1616 words, posted Jun 13

This one was for kyluxomegaverse week and it was very fun. A/b/o is one of those tropes where I really, really like a lot of it, but there’s also some stuff that’s much less my cup of tea. So I don’t write a lot of it, even though there are aspects of it that I adore. Which this one includes a lot of lmao. I think the nesting is fucking adorable and I wanted to write something soft, so here we are. Plus omega!Kylo is just delightful. Also looking back on it now, this one did really well? Holy shit, I had no idea it was that popular!

With Dignity, 4475 words, posted Jul 1

This was the last for BTHB that I managed last year (and I still intend to finish my card eventually, it’s just been a rough go so far this year lmao). I’m actually very proud of this one because this is the exact sort of angst I love to write. I didn’t intend for it to be as heavy as it ended up being, but when I started looking up the mechanics of force-feeding and reading about the experience of it, the plan changed drastically because holy fuck. I had never thought of it as that much of a torture before. I also enjoy with Hux like, making the reader feel bad for him while also actively reminding them he’s awful and getting that perfect cognitive dissonance. So this was a great excuse to do exactly that. And I love how tough he is even in such circumstances. Despite the heavy subject matter, I had a blast with this one

Greener Grass, 3389 words, posted Jul 14

This one was originally a twitter thread that really got away from me lmao, so I edited it and put it on ao3 because I really liked it. I’ve always liked self-cest as a concept and I thought it’d be interesting for Kylo to interact with a version of himself that made some different choices. One that was happier. And then we see Kylo through Ben’s eyes, see what the dark side has wrought for him. And then, of course, some smut to pull it all together lmao. It was a really fun character study and I had a grand time with it

Subliminal, 5719 words, posted Aug 23

This one! Okay so I’m pretty sure I sent in a couple of khk prompts over the years that were basically this, but no one ever wrote them so I finally did it. I’m honestly surprised hypno kink isn’t actually used more in kylux, considering Hux is canonically in charge of the brainwashing program. So much potential. So I had to write it. I also went down quite a few rabbit holes in researching this (with mixed success lmao) and learned a whole lot about hypno kink in the process. I may have even acquired it as a fetish lmao. But anyway, this one’s a bit darker and it’s fun to write those every once in a while. I think I pulled it off well too

Ashes Among the Stars, 36634 words, posted Dec 1

Ah and my big bang this year! I had a blast with this one although it was quite the challenge. My first fandom was gundam so when I saw this prompt I was very intrigued and ended up getting it. This fic had a lot more world-building than I usually do, which was the primary challenge as I basically had to take aspects from both franchises and sew them together into a new world of its own. I think I did that rather successfully tbh. The plot gave me trouble too but also gave me some of my best eureka moments haha. My partner was also wonderful and made the experience that much better. I know crossovers don’t tend to perform as well, so I was expecting that, though I do wish some more people had given it a chance since I wrote it specifically so that no prior knowledge was needed. But alas, I’m still incredibly proud of it. It’s also my second longest fic ever!

Filthy, 5657 words, posted Dec 9

And here it is, the gangbang fic I’ve always wanted to exist lmao. I had wanted to write this one for a long time, but I could never figure out how to end it, what circumstances would lead to the gangbang. Then a convo with friends gave me the idea and boom, I could finally write it. This fic is just straight up smut and I fucking love it lmao. There needs to be more Kylo gangbang fics tbh

What have I learned?

Last year wasn’t as successful for writing as I’d hoped, given that I wrote less in 2019 than I did in 2018. But also a lot of things happened to me last year. I got a new role at work. My dad had a heart attack (he’s okay though). I had a pretty rough time with my mental health. And then there was the lead up to TROS and the frankly unnecessary amount of stress that caused me. So there was a lot going on and working against me, which is a large part of why I didn’t manage to write as much as I’d hoped I would, and there’s a lot in my folder that I started but just wasn’t able to finish before the end of the year. I worried for a while I was losing interest, but looking back, no, it was definitely the IRL shit lmao. That said, I’m also extremely happy with all of the pieces I did finish, regardless of how well they did. I’m proud of them and I loved writing them, even when it was difficult

One of my goals from last year was to write more, which I didn’t manage, and to get better at answering comments, which I think I did well on for the most part up until post-TROS lmao. I also wanted to do the big bang again (and I was hoping for a reverse, which it was!) and I did. And I also wanted to have fun and keep my confidence with my writing, which I think I was the most successful at. I feel really good about everything I made and I really enjoyed writing them, even if I didn’t manage to finish everything

Goals for 2020?

I think part of the reason I didn’t finish this post in 2019 is because of my TROS breakdown and subsequent stresses associated with it. Because I wasn’t sure what I wanted or what I was going to do. Sometimes I wanted to give up and find a new fandom/ship, other times I was sure I was over it and going to just do whatever the fuck I wanted, and then there was every emotion in between

Now, though, I’m sure I’m going to keep writing here. I haven’t managed much this year yet, but I can feel it coming back to me. I have a post-TROS fic I managed to solve a major problem with the other day. I also have renben as a new ship to excite me. And I still have a lot of wips and BTHB and various others I desperately want to do. Right now, I feel good about my writing and my interest in it is back to normal, which is great. So this year? I’m not going to set a hard goal. I’d love to write more than last year and maybe I will, but it’s okay if I don’t. I’d love to do another big bang this year, but I’m not going to kick myself if I can’t handle it when that time comes. I’d love to finish BTHB, but if it stretches into another year, who cares? My only goal is to just keep writing and keep enjoying it. I want to have fun with it. I want to be happy with whatever pieces I do manage to put out. I want to set aside time to read more fics from others, if I can. And I think all of those will really help with my mental health, which is starting to recover right now, and that’s what’s most important of all

Also thank you all for your patience with me. I know I’ve not been responsive, here or on twitter or to comments, but I am trying my best. It’s been a rough go and I don’t like to whine too much in my fandom spaces. I don’t know when or even if I’ll get back to normal, but I’m trying, and that’s what matters. I love every one of you on here <3

[emeraldtawny]

Author Interview

Thank you for the tags @claire-maccarthy and @toloveawarlord~

Name: I go by Tawny more than anything else. I will respond to Brooke though (since that is my name :3).

Fandoms now: Most active: Ikemen Sengoku, Ikemen Revolution, Ikemen Vampire Prefer to lurk: Obey Me!, Mr Queen: Love’s Choice, Code Realise

Want to do in the future: More Steam and console otomes (super looking forward to Collar x Malice and Piofiore no Banshou when they’re eventually released on Switch).

Where you post: 99% of my stuff is on tumblr. However, I do use AO3 for my longer multi-chapter fics.

Most popular one-shot: “Locks of Love”. I really enjoyed writing this one so I’m glad it’s as popular as it is uwu.

Most popular multi-chapter story: “Not Good Enough”. Nice little angsty adventure with the Oda warlords. I have another but it’s unfinished so I’m saying it’s this one gdujfxng

Favourite story you wrote: Hmmmmm, probably “Take A Break”. I was just soft and happy writing that one so the positive feelings have stuck around since.

Story you were nervous to post: Any AU hendkfgmrkd. I always feel nerves because I wonder if people will like it or not.

How you choose your titles: Something that’ll explain the fic in one word/sentence, an important keyword from the story itself or, when all else fails, symbolic metaphor.

Completed: Uhhhh....around 138 fics across both tumblr and AO3 (give or take).

Incomplete: All of them bar one are multi-chapter AU fics bndfkcgmd. IkeSen Modern AU (just need to write Kenshin’s...eventually), IkeSen Sex Worker AU (I’ve been stumped on that one for a bit so who knows when that’s getting revived), IkeRev Kyle multi-chapter fic (it just...stopped dead, that one gbdxcignkdx. another one where idk when it’ll see the light again), IkeRev Drug Dealer AU (now THIS one I know what I’m doing, I just need motivation).

Do you outline?: Sometimes. I always have a general blurb that I write for myself to keep checking back to as I’m writing a story. For my longer inter-connected stories, I have an outline.

Coming soon/Not yet started: On hiatus atm but when I’m back in gear, my first priority is to finish the Drug Dealer AU. Have another little project that I’m working on in secret but that’s very much a “chip away whenever I can” thing :3

Do you accept prompts?: I tend to open my askbox in bursts and then close them off after a certain amount of time. At the moment, they’re closed but hopefully I’ll open them soon~

Upcoming story you are most excited about: Definitely my Drug Dealer AU. Is it obvious I like this one? gbdnfkgmdflc. 

What do you use to edit?: I got that free Grammarly boooooiiiiiiii! Otherwise, it’s just me catching my own dumb mistakes.

Writing setup: Me on my bed, hunched over and ruining my back as I type on my laptop with some form of instrumental music in the background.

Do you use a beta reader?: I will ask some people to read over my works occasionally when I’m bone tired and can barely process words anymore hndifcgmdflc.

Where do you get your writing inspiration?: I want to share my ideas with anyone who will read them, although I will only post what I create if they meet my standards. Most of the time, an idea will smack me in the face out of absolutely nowhere and at a time where I can’t write it down for later (...thanks brain). But also, the desire to scream about my bois fuels me like I’m possessed >:3

Can we get a quote from an upcoming WIP?: Why, of course ^w^ “Each small shift in her movement - whether to snuggle further into the pillow or to mumble mindlessly from her no doubt peaceful dreams - warms Zero through, the numbness plaguing him gradually warded off by just her presence alone, unconscious or otherwise. He sighs again as he watches her sleep, still too tense to smile with his lips but what he feels is shown clearly within his deep azure hues.”

~

Tagging @shannie-writes aaand....everyone else has likely been tagged at this point. Anyone who wants to, go for it~!

[crionsbelt]

This may or may not go up by the time midnight hits or slightly after for me, let’s see what happens! I’ve been working on this since 9:30 PM EST, I expect it’ll be done by 12:50 AM EST. Hopefully I’m right so it ain’t too late gjnhg

For starters: Happy New Year everyone! Hard to believe we lived in the decade where this beauty was created. Nonetheless, there are multiple people I want to thank -- along with a much needed personal note from me. Everything will be put into a read more, but trust me, it’s long. Thank you all for making the final days of this decade very welcoming for me!

@kiidreamu​ & @theabyssalmuses​

It’s rather silly for me to start with you two, because I’ve got quite a bit to say; so here goes! I’ve known you two for...quite a while huh? I can’t recall the exact time, but I know we’ve been mutuals since I went by Phantom -- which was a long while ago. Regardless, I’ve always enjoyed you two on my dash; and I’ve always really liked interacting with y’all OOC! I’ve always had a blast speaking with you two (specifically now w all this fuckin Bear Ass shit).  I really enjoy the way you two write your muses, I think you both should have a lot more faith in them because they’re very fun to see on the dash! It’s pretty clear y’all put a lot of effort into your writing, even if you say you don’t, I for sure notice it.  Hime, I know you said you admired me - but there’s nothing to admire! You and Kii are equally as good as me, but I’m definitely not much. However, I never posted it (because I had it in my drafts and still do) because it meant a lot to me. I’ve never been told something like that aside from Norgie, so it made me feel happy in a dark time.  Thank you both for continuing to be my friends, truly. 

@fantasyacrossworlds​

Awoo! You and I have known each other for a long time, too (most people tagged here I’ve known for 2 - 4 years hujhj)! I’m VERY happy that we’re mutuals again, I’ve truly missed interacting with you! I’m so glad that it seems Orion and Cass are going to have a chaotic friendship that will always end on Orion running to Artemis LMAO. I’m looking forward to more interactions! 

@sanzenxsekai​​ 

I already gave you a super long post explaining how much me and Norgie are thankful for you, so I’ll remind you in a tl;dr version. WE ALL LOVE YOUR STINKY GREMLIN + YOU!! Please keep writing Nobu in 2020! Thank you so much for being such a good friend to me. 

@mcphistcples​

You don’t even realize how much of a positive impact you’ve had on both me and my girlfriend. You’re absolutely hilarious and I’m incredibly happy you chose to start interacting with a disaster like me. As a Dies fan, I fucking love your Rein. You write him fantastically and it’s always fun to see your interactions with BB’s JAlter.  I am looking forward to the dramatic reading of My Immortal: Bear Ass Edition : ) 

@stxrdust-pxper​

We haven’t talked much OOC properly, but we’ve known each other just about the same time as me and Norgie have been dating - so almost 2 years! You’re a pretty cool person, I’m happy you joined my new server because it’s given myself and others a chance to chat with you more. Thank you for all the kindness you’ve given me throughout the time we’ve known each other, I’ve never said it until now, but it truly has stuck with me and helped me become happier.

@bloodsoakedsakura​ / @idoldragos​

There’s actually a lot I’d like to say, some I’ll leave out for now. For starters, thank you for having my back for three years straight. Seriously. You’ve been there for me through a whole lot, honestly surprised you’ve stuck with me for as long as you have.  You’ve stood up for me when the time came for it and I’m honestly so thankful you did. Every time you hop in call with us it’s usually always fun and stupid (in a good way), so thank you for being part of my band of misfits as long as you have Sades. Even though you’re a boomer who didn’t stop me rolling 200 of my Quartz, I forgive you... dontkillmepls

@yuichiroswife​

Speka, you’ve been a great help to me and Norgie a great amount of times as of late. Thank you so much, you’re an incredibly kind person and I’m glad we became friends!!

@muniificus​

I’ve known you for 3 years too I’m 90% certain, it’s insane how long I’ve known a lot of you - it feels like forever but it also feels like time has gone by so quickly! Much like Sades, I’m very thankful you’ve stuck around for as long as you have Icarus. Thank you for putting up with my dumb ass, and ultimately having fun in return! alsoihavethereplyforanastasiadraftedipromise

@fakepriest​

I’ve sent you an ask with a lot of what would’ve been said in here, but I want to let you know that I’m extremely grateful that you’ve kept being my friend to. I enjoy our conversations a lot, especially when we talk about things like Heaven’s Feel because they’re usually always such fun things to talk about. 

Much like the ask I’ve sent you, your Kirei is so scarily accurate it nearly simulates his actual personality flawlessly. That’s how scary good at writing this tofu loving fake priest. I’m so happy it’s you who’s writing him, not to play the pedestal game, but I genuinely can’t see anyone else (not even myself) coming close to how phenomenal your portrayal is.  #kireisquad

@arkdiia​

Though our first conversation first chatting again wasn’t expected, I’m super glad you came back to Tumblr and I’m thrilled to be friends w you again! Hopefully for 2020, you and I /both/ catch a break lmfao.

@saintguine​

Much like Anna, I’ve already told you what I wanted to here in the form of an ask a few hours ago - however, I do wish to say smth that I’m sure a lot of people feel. Regardless of how you think about yourself, you’re a very good person BB and we’re all very blessed to know you. You’re absolutely one of my best friends, and though there was a point where we lost communication for a bit, I’m very grateful our friendship is the exact same. 

We all care u BB, thank u for bein gud to all of us

Kayla & Sere

This post is incredibly long already, luckily I’m just about done -- but I’ve got three people to go starting with you two!

Sere, you’ve heard me vent a lot and you’ve known me (Kayla has known me this long too) for a pretty damn long time if you ask me, 3 years may not seem like a lot to people, but with all the stuff we’ve all gone through these 3 years? It’s been a LOT and I can’t say I’d be the person I am without you hearing my dumb ass vent and creating Cursed Night.  I appreciate all of your icons, thank you for giving us (Hell) special treatment with them. Seriously! While you are a best friend for sure, you’re also practically family to me. Thank you again for everything. 

Kayla, the same of what I said for Sere is said for you. You’re legit like my older sister, you’ve been there for me for just bout the same amount that Norgie has; you’re someone who means a lot to both me and Norgie, so thank you for giving talking to us a chance way back when you were shy (I think that’s what it was!). There have been a lot of ups and downs for all of us, but I’m glad the downs at least had the positive effect of giving me a second family who I love dearly. I actually teared up on this part, so god help me when I write for Norgie.

@letoborn​ / @uwuwrote​

I’m going to save a lot of what I want to say to you for our anniversary in June, but I will say a few things because I love you so very much.

When I met you, I was not expecting you’d turn out to be the woman of my dreams. You’re genuinely my better half, and I have never been as happy as I am than I am with you. You’ve truly had the biggest impact in my life Norgie, you’ve made me laugh, cheered me up when I’m sad, called me out when I was dumb and helped me better myself. 

I’m so incredibly happy I got to spend the rest of the last decade being your boyfriend, and now, going into 2020 - a whole new decade with you. Like I said, you’re my better half - I can’t see myself with anyone else but you. You’re the greatest treasure in my life, I’m so happy we’ve had all this fun with roleplaying.

Thank you so much Norgie, for giving me Orion/Artemiis, all of our other ships - being my soulmate (at least, I think so). I hope 2020 treats us both well, but I’m willing to go through whatever as long as it’s with you.

Now, that’s the end of that -- but I have a few extra things to say.

My 2019 has been...quite possibly the hardest year of my life, at least on the internet. For a very long time, I was fearful of interacting with others - I made mistakes that I wish I could take back, I got put through hell for nothing...man, I don’t wanna go back in and say what happened, what is and isn’t true -- the long story short is, shit happened, but it’s the past now. 

I want to go into 2020 just..as positive as I can be, I’m tired of the drama, I just want to have fun with my friends and my girlfriend you know? So, I’m finally choosing to move on and just...try having fun again. This choice would be impossible without the people mentioned in this post. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you who have stuck around through it all for me. I’m so incredibly thankful to be part of the friendgroup I’m in, to know everyone I’ve met who’s put up with me. I’ve had so many times where I wanted to leave this site, but I wanted to keep trying to write with everyone -- to have fun with everyone. You all have no idea how genuinely happy you’ve all made me, just by writing with my Orion and Norgie’s Artemis. 

Though I couldn’t think of anything to say specifically for the others tagged below here, thank you all for everything as well -- just following me makes me happy. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some people, but trust me, I’m so very happy to know all of you.

@dekirukoto @wisesteyed @lacobscur @akhilleuskcsmcs

[sevngmin]

sue me; ksm

anonymous asked: 70 with seungmin please?

“what are you afraid of?”+fuckboy!au

listen to: sue me by sabrina carpenter

red solo cups filled with unknown liquids and empty buffet trays were littered all over the marble table overlooked intoxicated teenagers drunkenly dancing to the loud booming music played from the too-large speakers positioned at both ends of the ginormous living room. being in frat parties were definitely not your favourite, especially when the djs hyunjin often hires gives you chronic ear damage. the only reason why you’re there was that hyunjin’s your childhood friend, and it was your only chance per month that you’re able to socialise with the rest of your schoolmates.   

you squeezed your way through the sweaty crowd, tugging at hyunjin’s dior dress shirt to pull him aside. he sends over a quick glare, only to dissipate when he sees your frown. he apologises to his friends and followed you out of the crowd, to somewhere quieter where the both of you can actually talk without screaming at each other.   

“what’s up?” hyunjin ran his hand through his hair, that was, dripping in sweat.   

“don’t you have some friend i can talk to?” you folded your arms, glancing at the crowd of people in the living room, “not one of those that would grind on random girls.” 

“seungmin?” hyunjin cocks his head to the brunette who was talking to the captain of the cheerleading team at the bar, “he doesn’t party.” 

your face hardens as you heard the name “seungmin” roll out of hyunjin’s mouth, your hands fisting the purple suede material of your marc jacobs dress, knowing very well that the boy hyunjin just mentioned was someone you definitely do not want to mess with. 

seungmin was that one fuckboy that you could never hate, with that megawatt smile of his, and impeccable manners. he’s sweet, to say the least, showering every girl he sees with compliments and never-ending conversations that will sweep them off their feet. however, seungmin always manages to break it off just before things get serious, which explains his fuckboy reputation, and 1-week boyfriend status. 

to put it crudely, if you needed someone to impress your family for a day, you could easily approach seungmin and that would keep the pesky questions away from you for the rest of your life. 

before you knew it, hyunjin was already walking towards seungmin with 2 red solo cups. 

“seungmin!” hyunjin smirked, the blonde cheerleader taking it as her cue to leave, red fingertips slightly lingering on the collar of seungmin’s leather jacket, then planting a kiss on his cheek, “i’ve got a new friend for you.” 

“how many friends do you really have?” seungmin rolled his eyes, wiping off the lipstick stain on his cheek, then accepting the drink from hyunjin, “you call everyone at this party your friend.” 

“this time shes actually my friend,” hyunjin pushes you towards seungmin, shoving the cup into your hand, “y/n. we’re childhood friends. and she doesn't party so you boring people definitely are a match.” 

seungmin sported a plain black ralph lauren polo tee with a superdry leather jacket layered over, and a pair of yves saint laurent jeans to match. he had a pair of limited edition jordans on his feet, to top off his whole outfit. his hair was slicked back into a smart casual style, which made your stomach do flips for some reason. he had a smug smile planted on his face, angular jawline threatening to cut anything if it were to offend him even at the slightest.   

as much as you didn't want to admit it, seungmin looked really good. good enough for you to drunkenly own as your one night stand.

“hey, we’re not lame,” seungmin took a sip of the drink, sighing in content, “we just don't like that obnoxious loud music your whatever hell of a dj is mixing. it hurts my ears.” 

did this boy really just read your mind? 

“i don't like people grinding on me,” you added, shuddering at the thought of it, “i don't get the whole idea of grinding on people too.”

“well then,” hyunjin clapped his hands together, turning back to the party crowd, “thank me for playing cupid later, just join us for the games later if y’all want.” 

seungmin scoffs, then diverting his attention back to you with a smile, “y/n, right? i hear your name occasionally when hyunjin said he needed to leave early from our hangouts and i thought you were his girlfriend or something.” 

“hyunjin doesn’t do girlfriends,” you laughed, sitting on the velvet highchair, “i’ve known every single one of them and all were shit. and never lasted 3 days.” 

seungmin hummed as he placed the cup aside, motioning to the bartender, “is there any drink you want?” 

“moscato, please.” you nodded, glancing at the red cup in your hands, then pouring the contents into the sink over the counter.  

“fancy,” seungmin raised his brows, “i’ll have a martini please.”  

the both of you talked over alcohol, giggling over the most stupid things the both of you have spilled to each other. the more you talked with seungmin, the more you realised he wasn’t quite the jerk you visioned him to be. both of you were even so similar, enjoying photography as a passion. you then learnt that seungmin was an heir to a camera brand company, but he was just like one of your friends, with an innocent aspiration to do well in college, get a good paying job and settle down to start a family. you almost felt bad for judging him before you met him, and sure enough, you felt yourself falling more for the sparkly-eyed boy in front of you. you bit your lip mid-sentence, reminding yourself that you were talking to the resident fuckboy, no less. you really needed to save yourself from another heartbreak.  

“what’s wrong?” seungmin tilted his head, “you okay?”

“y-yeah,” you tripped over your words, taking a nervous sip of your moscato, “i can’t really drink that well, i think the alcohol is getting to me.”  

“then why did you order moscato?” seungmin laughed, “you could’ve ordered cola or something.” 

“well i don't have a choice here,” you gulped, looking at the array of liquor decorating the shelves, “cider’s too weak to be displayed here.” 

“do you want to sober up?” seungmin got off the chair, helping you get off as well, holding your arm, “we can go somewhere else.” 

your eyes widened, as you yanked your arm off seungmin’s grasp, making the boy surprised as well, “i’m waiting till marriage. don’t bother trying because i will deadass scream that you’re a pervert to this whole house and hyunjin will go after your ass—“ 

“relax, y/n, what are you afraid of?” seungmin huffed, raking his hand through his hair, “i’m not asking you to sleep with me. i don’t intend to either. besides,” seungmin lowered his head to your ear, breath dangerously hot to your skin, “i like you too much to do so.” 

the boy smirked, then helping you get off the chair, “we’re going to get milkshakes, don’t get me wrong.” 

you blinked your eyes, and if you blinked harder, you were sure your contact lenses and eyelash extensions would fall out, “w-wait you said you—“ your words were cut short as seungmin lead you out of hyunjin’s house, then to his car, a lamborghini, as your breath hitched in your throat. 

“shh,” seungmin hushed you, pulling the seatbelt for you, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “you talk too much for a somewhat drunk girl. don’t confess before i do, i wanted to be the gentleman here, if you didn’t notice already.” 

seungmin really had a way with his words and the right way to your heart.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #265

“all is fair in love and war, i’m still rotten to the core.”

What's the latest youtube channel you've discovered and binge-watched? Ha, a WoW channel that basically gives advice and tutorials on stuff. She doesn't have many videos, but she's pretty successful already and chill as hell. Kraken Latte. Does it snow where you live? Occasionally. Very rarely does the snow stick, though, because the ground will be too warm. Do you think your hair looks better long or short? Short. Do you look best with or without bangs? Bitch I loved my emo bangs fuck off. Well, they weren't technically bangs, my hair was just parted far to the left. Do you enjoy editing photos on your phone? Well, my phone doesn't have GREAT camera quality, but I usually do some subtle edits if I take a pic on it. What's your favorite thing to do on your phone? Play Pokemon GO REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Which season do you wish would last longer? Shit man, fall. At least here, the phase of colorful leaves is VERY short. Goes from green to totally bare in what feels like just a couple weeks. How many outdoor birthday parties have you had? Hell if I know. How much taller or shorter are you than your mom? We're the same height. Who is your favorite sibling? Lol wow that's mean. Do you have neat handwriting? Yeah. Do you like sushi? I've actually never tried it, but I'm quite certain I wouldn't like it. Have you ever tried seaweed? Actually yes, I believe in the 4th grade? We had I think authentic Japanese (or Chinese, idr) food, and I recall there being seaweed. I didn't like it. The only thing I liked was the white rice, I think. Do you have an actual pig-shaped piggy bank? No, but I think I may have as a kiddo. Did you dream of becoming famous as a kid? No. Have you ever been to a gynecologist? I actually haven't because I've always said I wasn't sexually active (back then it wasn't a conscious lie, I just genuinely didn't realize what we were doing was just shallow sex). I'm absolutely terrified to go anyway because I'm just very very very private about this sort of thing and honestly think I'll have a panic attack when I do have to for the first time anyway. Name three games that you are good at. Shadow of the Colossus, Silent Hill, World of Warcraft. What was your favorite board game as a kid? Ha ha, somehow, it was this shopping game called "Mall Madness." Veeeery unfitting of who I was and what I enjoyed as a kid. Do you get on Facebook every day? Pretty much. Did you watch the Kids Choice Awards when you were a kid? No. What was your favorite girl group when you were growing up? Spice Girls, I think. Do you have memories that still make you cry? Yes. Have you made your own mask to help prevent the spread of the virus? No, considering I don't leave the damn house like ever. Do you know anyone who has the virus? Yes. Not personally, but distantly. Are you proud to be an American? (if applicable) Sometimes. What countries have you visited? I haven't left America. Have you ever had a controlling boyfriend/girlfriend? No. How many true heartbreaks have you had in your lifetime? Romantically, I only consider one to be a *real* heartbreak. Have you ever cut yourself? Yeah. Do you feel like everything is falling apart around you? BOY DO I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was your first kiss romantic? Yes. Do you miss any of your exes right now? My PTSD has been awful awful AWFUL the past few days, so yes. A lot. Have you ever overdosed on anything? Yes. What would you say if you found out your last ex was in a relationship? I'd be happy for her of course, but I'd also be very confused. She's made it clear she doesn't believe a relationship is the best idea for her right now. Who was your date to prom? Jason took me to his senior prom, and I took him to mine. Do you still talk to your first love? No, I haven't spoken to him in over three years now. Wow. Whose wedding did you go to first? I don't remember. I'm sure it wasn't the first, but ONE of the earliest that I do remember was when my friend Summer's mom got remarried. He sadly passed away a long while ago though. Are you ashamed of anyone you've dated in the past? Tyler, yes. It was so pointless and a "let's see how this goes" versus a "I really like this guy and really want this relationship" thing. I honestly think I only said yes to dating because I didn't want to hurt his feelings and I was lonely. What about anyone you've been friends with? There were certainly times it felt very weird calling Colleen my best friend with how bitchy she could be. Especially when you consider how non-confrontational I am, while she charged like a goddamn bull into arguments. Have you ever made out with someone in a pool? Uhhh I think that one night when I lived at the apartment and it was just us out there late at night. He and I went back inside before Jacob and Amanda TO hardcore make out because we both way too obviously wanted it so I wouldn't be remotely surprised if we snuck in some action at the pool oof. Who’s the last person that slept over your house? Sara. Do you still talk to the last person you kissed? Yes. Have you ever kissed someone with a tongue ring? No, I was the person with the tongue ring. I actually took it out a little while back because I was tired of accidentally chomping down on it when eating and chipping teeth. I'd already told myself if I did it one more time I would, and especially right now, we can't afford to keep filling cavities that have come from it. I don't at all regret getting it and it'll always be one of the cutest piercings I think I've ever had, but it was just time for it to come out. Is it hard for you to get over a lover? I THINK I'VE MADE THAT!!!!!!!!!!! O BVIO US S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you ever tried making someone jealous? Not to my recollection. Did your last relationship end because of you or the other person? Both of us really, but she initiated the breakup, you could say. Who is the last person you flirted with? Sara. Who's the most racist person you know? Jesus Christ, I live in the South. I know dozens of racists. I guess the worst is uhhh OH the aforementioned Colleen, holy fucking shit. I highly highly highly doubt that has changed at all since we last associated with each other. If you could be a film character, who would you be? Let me be Alice Liddell. Crunchy peanut butter or smooth? Smooth is the only way to go with pb. Would you rather always be in a crowd, or be the only person on earth? "Always be in a crowd. It wouldn’t be fun, but I think it’d be better than being that alone." <<<< This. I legitimately think I'd wind up killing myself in the other case. Would you rather be rich, or famous? Why? "Rich, because...what’s the point of being famous if you’re not rich? Just everyone knowing all of your business?" <<<< Also this. Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the top or the bottom? "I start off from the top until it gets used enough that I have to squeeze up from the bottom." <<<< Lemme just steal all this person's answers lmao. How many children do you want? Girls or boys? None, but if I was to have kids, I'd definitely want a girl. Is there a story behind your name? What is it? No. What was one of the most fun things you and your college roommate did together? I didn't have a college roommate. Well wait no, during my first college attempt is when I lived w/ Jason, Jacob, and Amanda. I'd honestly prefer to not think too hard back on it to answer this. Does anyone know your bank pin number other than you? Who? I don't even have a bank account. Have you ever had a boyfriend/girlfriend who was depressed? Yeah, multiple. Would you be embarrassed to buy pads/tampons/condoms? Which one more? Pads or tampons, nah. I'd feel awkward buying condoms though. Are your parents gullible? Dad probably is; he has very little common sense. I got it from him lmao. Mom, heeeeell no. Do you still own a VCR? No. What color is the computer/laptop you’re on? Did you buy it yourself? It's black. No. Does the smell of cigarettes, weed and beer repulse you? All three do. Was the last person you kissed younger or older than you? Younger. Have you ever purchased Girl Scout cookies? Yeah. How often do you drink Monster? Never, because I don't like it. Have you ever made totally pointless videos with your friends? HAHA I was a cringy teen once, my friends. Do you like sitting on the inside or outside of a restaurant booth? Inside. I feel safer. Do you own a nightgown? No, I haven't worn those since I was a kid. Have you ever worn fishnets? Fishnet gloves. I WISH I could pull off fishnet pants. Would you rather go out to eat or be eaten out? In times like THESE???????? Bitch I wanna go eat out at a yummy restaurant. Do you always wear your seat belt? ABSOLUTELY. I get so stressed out when I see people not wearing one. Have you ever liked someone much older than you? Not much older. Have you ever been in a play? Just school ones as a kid. Is there ice cream in your freezer? No, but there's popsicles from when I couldn't get my tongue ring out and it was massively swollen and in terrible pain. Thank God I finally got it out. Have you ever liked the lyrics of a band but hated the music? Probably. Does your bathroom have a window? Yeah, but it's very small and up kinda high. Do you go somewhere to get your eyebrows done? I used to, but I don't anymore. I just leave them be. Do you believe prayer really works? Nope. Have you been on a date in the park? No. Are there any diseases/health problems that run in your family? A whole. Fucking. Lot. To just name a few, depression, high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes... Do you have asthma? No. Last person to take off your pants, besides you? Jason. Least favorite alcoholic drink? Mother of God, this white wine I tried at Colleen's forever ago. It was fucking repulsive. How did you meet the last male you texted? I mean I literally came from his balls so like Have you ever had an embarrassing email address? Ha ha yeah, the one I've always had. It's not very adult-ish or "serious"-sounding, but I don't want to change it now. Do you put shampoo in your left or right hand? Left. I squeeze with my right. Do you have a bull ring through your nose? No, I don't feel that would look good on me. Do you and your dad get along? Yes. When was the last time you did clay work/pottery? My last year of art in high school. I made an anatomical heart for Jason. I wonder a lot if he still has it after how much work I put into it. Do you like art, hate it or just not mind it? I adore art. The world would be so much more boring without it. If you had to choose would you prefer dull pain for 12hours or sharp for 2? Ew, dull. Two hours with sharp pain sounds awful. Do you know the words to the national anthem of your country? Yeah. Would you rather be a Model, Famous Scientist, Singer or Chef? Scientist, probably. I'd love to be a biologist anyway, and that's a type of scientist. Would you rather be a pilot, crime scene investigator or estate agent? Ohhh, crime scene investigator. Does making others happy really make you feel happy? Yes! Did you ever swear at a teacher in school? Why? No. Have you ever pricked your finger on Holly or another ‘sharp’ plant? Yeah. Have you ever written your own short story? Yes. What about a novel? Or perhaps you started and couldn’t finish? "I started writing several novels, but abandoned them all." <<<< Same yo. Either of the above, if this was the case, place short synopsis here: The first one was about a very close meerkat family, divided into elemental "breeds," and the prince falling in love with another of his kind. His father had a stray brother who constantly aimed to destroy the family, but he was converted towards the end. That's all I can really remember about that one. There were others like two species of animals I made also falling in love, despite being predators and prey of each other, and fulfilling some sorta prophecy with their offspring. The other two I recall- yo fuck it I keep remember more and more okay I wrote a LOT. Do you prefer SciFi/Fantasy/Action/Horror or Rom/Com/RealLife? I'm guessing you mean in books, given the last three questions? I have a strong preference for fantasy. What do you have a lot of faith in [note: can be anything]? Hell if I know. Would you rather have a big house, a lot of kids or a high flying job? High flying job, easily. I don't want kids, nor do I need a large house, especially considering I hate cleaning even this tiny one. Have you ever been to a creepy/haunted/abandoned place? Yeah. What did it look like and what were the circumstances? It was this really old, mostly dilapidated shack full of cool stuff. It was by the field near our old house. Me, my sister, and our friend hung out there and explored all the time until this freaky woman showed out and told us we shouldn't be there. Do you know a Jack? What’s he like? Yeah. I don't him that well though, so idk. How about a Lisa? What’s she like? Yeah, she's one of my WoW friends that I've become really close with. She is an absolute sweetheart, but talks about herself way, way too excessively to the point it's hard to have a conversation sometimes. I know she doesn't realize it, though. When you have children, would you like twins? I say enough that I don't even want kids, SO FUCK NO. Do you know any twins? If so, what are they called? Yes. Tyler and Taylor. I know others, but idr their names. What personality trait does nearly everyone in your family seem to have? We're stubborn as all fuck hell. Do you have any nicknames that aren’t derived from your actual name? Yeah, some online ones and then my mom has called me "Twinkie" since I was a baby. Do you have any allergies? Yeah, of pollen and silver. What is the longest your hair has ever been? To or maybe even past the small of my back. Have you ever been on a blind date? No, not my jam. What is the oldest piece of clothing you still wear and how old is it? I really don't kn- oh yes I do. I have these oooold old thin and sewn-back-up-fifty-times Batman pj pants from when Jason and I were together, so maybe like... seven years? Thanks PTSD, I'm attached to them because Batman was his thing. How often do you eat out at a fancy restaurant? Just about never. Nutella or peanut butter? UGGGGGHHHHH I've been on a nutella thing lately. Have you ever hosted a wild party? Definitely not. Name/author of the last book you read cover to cover. Do you recommend it? Wings of Fire: The Lost Heir by Tui Sutherland. Yes, it was very good. How many of your Facebook friends do you actually hang with? Besides my immediate family, like... none anymore. Have you ever donated blood? Yes. From 1-10, how much do you like decorating for holidays? This is hard to gauge. I've never seriously done it myself, and I don't really have the motivation to do it just to take it all down a month or so later. I love it in concept, but yeah. Favorite animated Disney character? Probably Kiara from TLK2. Have you ever cooked a big family meal by yourself? Ha, no. Favorite winter activity? TAKING PICTURES IN THE SNOOOOOOOOW. Do you consider rapping singing? I mean I guess? Does your home have a fireplace? No. Do you listen to any religious music? No. Do you drink soda? If so, which one is your favorite? Ugh... soda is my weakness. I'd probably lose weight easier if I just stopped drinking it. Mountain Dew Voltage is my favorite, and I've also been on a serious strawberry Sunkist thing lately. How easily do you cry? I cry very, very easily. Can you handle spicy foods? What is your spice limit? Oh yeah. The only way I know how to gauge this one is that I enjoy the "hot" sauce at BWW lol. I've actually kinda cut back on HOW much I enjoy it, though; like I'm more into enjoying my food thoroughly lately than the adrenaline of spicy food. What day of the week is laundry day for you? I personally don't do the laundry because Mom prefers to just do ours together, so. It varies, I think. Have you ever played spin the bottle? No. Do you have any stickers on your laptop computer? If so, what are they of? Not on mine, but the one I currently have to use has tooons. I don't feel like looking at the lid trying to list what they are tho. How often do you say "y'all?" It's pretty much in my normal vernacular due to where I live. Do you believe in evolution? Yes. I have questions and curiosities about it, but when you consider how truly short it has been since considerable natural selection has been observed, why couldn't it exist on a bigger scale? Do you live in an apartment or a house? I live in a house. How long have you been at your current job? I'm unemployed. Have you ever ended a romantic relationship? Yes. Phrase you say the most? Probably "oof" lmao. Have you ever kissed anyone of the same gender? If so, did you like it? Yes and yes. Have you ever given anyone CPR? No. Have you ever learned to do anything from a how-to video on YouTube? Yes, mainly just editing stuff. Have you ever auditioned for a reality competition show? No. Have you ever been in the audience for the taping of a TV show? No. I've been at hockey games with Dad, but I don't consider those "TV shows." Have you ever given money to a street performer? I've never even seen one. Do you own any homemade clothing? Not that I know of. Have you ever bought anything from a flea market? Yeah, decorations 'n trinkets and stuff. I love flea markets. Have you ever quit a job? Yes. Are your birth parents together? No. Do you or have you ever worn glasses? I've worn glasses for years now. Have you ever been broken up with? AKA died in spirit? :^) Have you ever been the victim of a nasty prank? Not to my recolleciton. Favorite fandom? Y'all been known, the Markiplier fandom is a goddamn family. Can you surf? No. What motivates you to do well in life? The knowledge that I've most likely only got one life to make something of. How lucky do you consider yourself? I mean, ALL things considered, I'd say I'm at just below the baseline, maybe? I mean I could be homeless or dying of malaria or something. Have you ever been summoned for jury duty? No. Favorite summer activity? Swimming! Have you ever lived on a farm? No. I wanted to for years as a little kid, though. How often do you get mad at yourself? I've lately been in an almost constant state of anger regarding myself, honestly. Have you ever gotten any stitches? Yes. Favorite YouTube channel? The Marker Plier guy. Do you have a pool at your house? No. Last thing that made you laugh? Something on Game Grumps. Earbud or earmuff headphones? Earbuds. Earmuffs hurt my head and ears. Have you ever been a bridesmaid or a groomsman? Yes. Have you ever gotten a New Year’s kiss exactly at midnight? I don't think so. Have you ever voted for a reality competition show? The only time I did that I remember is when Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. won America's Got Talent. I adored him and voted like mad. Does anyone in your family currently serve in your country’s military? Ummm maybe distantly? I don't know anyone off the top of my head. Are you comfortable with watching rated R movies? Well yeah.

[theonyxpath]

With a bit more than a week to go, Legendlore keeps rolling, even through the traditional 3rd week KS doldrums!

For our part, we continue to try and spread the word about this integrally inclusive setting with panels and actual plays like these:

Now, the very cool thing about Legendlore, and why I call it “integrally inclusive” as well as “Not your Father’s D&D” is that Steffie and team have taken an existing aspect of the original comic book world setting – the transference of a real-world person into this fantasy world – and designed the character generation system so that you have complete freedom to create the sort of character you want to play.

What I mean is that you can or can not be a direct port of who you are into The Realm, or you can change the characteristics and even change your species, but the choice of just what that means in terms of both the setting and the game rules is up to you. Being in a wheelchair, for example, is only a limiter if you want that to be the case with the character – maybe for story reasons, maybe for personal reasons; either way you decide.

And in a different spin on that basic setting concept, the game also explores the idea of taking your character from a different 5e setting and importing them into The Realm. In fact, The Metal Scourge Actual Play linked to above, does just that with characters from the Realms of Pugmire and the Scarred Lands!

Finally, besides all the porting in from other worlds, you can also play a character that was born in The Realm or the other regions in the world of Legendlore. It’s an amazingly flexible set of options!

If a game that is specifically designed to give players the chance to see themselves in the setting sounds like what you’re looking for in fantasy gaming, here’s the direct link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/legendlore-rpg-setting-for-5th-edition-fantasy-roleplaying-0

TC: Aberrant art by Lee O’Connor

#OnyxPathCon Follow-up

Not only did our Monday Meeting crew have an Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention “postmortem” late last week after we got our heads back together after the con weekend, but a bunch of us sat down earlier today with Gehenna Gaming for a con follow-up.

So here are some numbers and what they mean to us:

#OnyxPathCon as a hashtag was headed to trending all weekend, although it didn’t make it over the target to actually do it, although we had more than 1,000 mentions, which is pretty cool.

We raised over $1550 for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and over $1600 for the Bodhana Group! Both extremely worthy charities that we are so glad to be able to donate to. Thank you all who contributed to this effort!

There were 34 games drawn from our many game lines, and the players expressed a 90% satisfaction rate in the after-session poll. This is so fantastic to hear, as so much of our impetus for the con was to provide our community a chance to play during a time their regular gaming might be curtailed.

Let the Streets Run Red art by Oliver Specht

We were also told anecdotally that while most of the attendees were familiar with Onyx Path and played their favorite game lines, they also took the chance to try out our other games during the con. Plus, we heard from players that were trying out our games for the first time! So, from a PR perspective, the idea that we were getting fresh eyes on our games was another piece of great news.

Our convention web-site had over 7,600 unique visitors, which, you know, is more folks than some presidential election rallies, so we’re pretty thrilled about that!

Now, lest you think it was all us patting ourselves on our backs, we also looked into the operational screw-ups and miscommunications that occurred as well. IF, big if, we did this sort of thing again, we’d want to use the experience of having done this one to inform our efforts.

We would definitely give ourselves a lot more lead time, which would actually help us out across several levels. We’d be able to set up more, and more varied, games to play, and have more options for GMs, panelists, etc.

Not saying we will do another, BUT I’m not saying we won’t…

TC: Aberrant art by Lee O’Connor

Today We Talked About:

Lots of talk today about our Jumpstarts, and if we are making them as we should be. Are they providing players with enough to get them started playing the game lines? Overall, that’s what we are aiming for: a quick and easy way to start playing ASAP.

We want to be sure that we’re following through on those aims when push comes to shove with the many creative hands that add their efforts throughout the creation of any given Jumpstart.

These sorts of reviews are vital when we consider the sheer number of projects we’re doing, and sheer number of creators involved. We try not build our releases with projects that aren’t just there to fill out a part of the setting or system, but which also fill an “ecological niche” in our release schedule.

Finally, we also talked about DriveThru‘s massive fiction sale, whose link is below in the Sales Partners area of the Blurbs!. A great chance to get ahold of some fantastic stories that reveal and expand parts of their game worlds that can only be touched on in the rulebooks.

One of the reason’s we try and include fiction in our Kickstarters ties into the idea behind the Jumpstarts, too. In this case, fiction is another method of exploring the game world that doesn’t require other players to insure that you can immerse yourself in our:

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

The Legendlore Kickstarter funded and now we’re building towards Stretch Goals: the GM’s Screen, and starting the Legendlore Companion book PDF!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/legendlore-rpg-setting-for-5th-edition-fantasy-roleplaying-0

Grab your friends and escape to another world!

You’ve found an enchanted portal — a transition point — between worlds. The portal, called a Crossing, takes you to a world you thought only existed in novels and films: a magical land where dragons roam the skies, orcs and hobgoblins terrorize weary travelers, and unicorns prance through the forest. It is a world where humans join other peoples such as elves, trolls, dwarves, changelings, and the dreaded creatures who steal the night. It is a world of fantasy — of imagination.

It is the Realm.

It is Legendlore.

Onyx Path Media!

This week: a Game Designers Roundtable with Eddy, Danielle Lauzon, Travis Legge, and Monica Speca! They completely nerd out about game design for an hour!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

All our panels and games from Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention are all available on twitch.tv/theonyxpath!

All you need to do is head on over to the website and subscribe. If you have an Amazon Prime account, you can do so for free and access our entire catalogue of videos!

Don’t miss Jen Vaughn’s Legendlore actual play taking place on our Twitch channel every week on Friday night! Lost in the Crossing is an amazing story played through by a fantastic GM and excellent roleplayers, and handles the Legendlore world from the perspective of visitors and native inhabitants of the Realm! Make sure you’re tuning in every Friday or catching up afterwards by subscribing.

That’s not all for Legendlore, as we have actual plays by Steffie de Vaan and Corinne McCrory over on our YouTube channel, which you can find here https://youtu.be/UaQXSlEatDw and here https://youtu.be/ECRrErPLm64! Please give our GMs some support and tune in!

This week on Twitch, expect to see:

Behind the Screen – Scion

Realms of Pugmire – Paws & Claws

Legendlore – The Metal Scourge

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – They Came from Devil’s Reef!

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale

Legendlore – w / Steffie de Vaan

Mage: The Awakening – Occultists Anonymous

Legendlore – Lost in the Crossing

Scarred Lands – Purge of the Serpentholds

Get watching for some fantastic insight into how to run these wonderful games.

Come take a look at our YouTube channel, youtube.com/user/theonyxpath, where you can find a whole load of videos of actual plays, dissections of our games, and more, including:

Changeling: The Dreaming – The Last Faerie Tale: https://youtu.be/7-hEqJ5D2KY

Scarred Lands: Purge of the Serpentholds: https://youtu.be/HZN4IlP1PP0

Onyx Path News: https://youtu.be/kpCNbIYzB4I

What’s up with Onyx Path #1? (from #OnyxPathCon): https://youtu.be/wGvD5LnWHaQ

Changeling: The Lost – Littlebrook Reunion: https://youtu.be/EXyXKxJ5usM

Legendlore – The Metal Scourge: https://youtu.be/ECRrErPLm64

Chronicles of Darkness – Seattle by Streetlight: https://youtu.be/JyOeb7X7Y5w

Subscribe to our channel and click the bell icon if you want to be notified whenever new news videos and uploads come online!

A Bunch of Gamers continue their actual play of They Came from Beneath the Sea! and conclude it with a mini review: https://youtu.be/qIMwcOZmR8k

The Botch Pit have released a wonderful new guide for Changeling: The Lost right here. Do give them a like and a subscribe: https://youtu.be/Bd0UZQZt2OM

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

Check out the Massive Fiction Sale at DriveThruFiction.com! Fantastic bargains on huge amounts of our fiction books!https://www.drivethrufiction.com/sale.php?manufacturers_id=4261

On Sale This Week!

Available this Wednesday, we offer the third in the Scarred Lands Vigil Watch PDFs on DTRPG!

Also available this Wednesday on DTRPG: Scion electronic wallpaper and the PDF Scion Screen!

Conventions!

Though dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Anima

M20 Technocracy Operative’s Dossier (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

Squeaks In The Deep (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

V5 Children of the Blood (was The Faithful Undead) (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

CtL 2e Novella Collection: Hollow Courts (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Second Draft

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Development

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Manuscript Approval

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Editing

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Indexing

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Tales of Aquatic Terror – Handing off to Meredith to AD.

WoD Ghost Hunters (KS) – Prepping KS assets.

Aberrant – AD’d. Second new comic in.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant

Legendlore – KS running.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

Scion: Dragon (KS) – Waiting on art notes.

Masks of the Mythos (KS) – Notes back to Chris for tweaks, hiring artists.

Scion: Demigod (KS) – Art rolling.

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (KS) – Finals coming in.

TC: Adventure! (KS) – Shen Fei cover art finishing.

Geist: One Foot In the Grave – Contracted.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

TC Aeon Terra Firma

V5 Let the Streets Run Red

Pugmire Adventure

Scion Titanomachy

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart – Errata gathering.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Inputting errata.

Contagion Chronicle – At WW for approval.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

Magic Item Decks (Scarred Lands)

Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 Screen and booklet

At Press

Scion Companion – Awaiting errata from devs.

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Prepping PoD files.

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet – Files at press.

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Awaiting color correction from printer.

Creature Collection 5e – PoD proof ordered. Traditional files sent to printer.

Pirates of Pugmire – Files at press. Prepping files for PoD.

Pirates of Pugmire Screen – Files at press.

Pugmire Buried Bones – Inputting errata.

Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition Dark Eras Compilation – Inputting errata.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Three years ago, my good friend and one of the genuinely good people in TTRPGS, Stewart Wieck, passed away. He was the White Wolf, and without Stewart it’s doubtful that all the amazing game worlds that came out of WW and now from Onyx Path would have existed. Thank you, Stew, in your ivory tower in the sky, for giving so many of us the start for so much creativity and imagination!