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girlgenius1111 · 1 year ago

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that night was a mistake.

from a request for a childhood friends to lovers fic with Ona and reader :)

I had intended for this to be... significantly shorter and significantly less angsty but this is what I came up with and i'm rolling with it.

there will be at least one more part

tw. homophobia [not accepting parents]. panic attack. no smut... yet.

The news of Ona signing onto play at Barca should not have filled your stomach with butterflies, but it did. It should have just been an exciting piece of information to receive , but it wasn't. Instead, it sent you spiraling back to your youth, your confusing friendship with Ona. The way you'd left things. It had been a while since you'd seen each other, really seen each other. You'd stepped away from the national team like everyone else had, but unlike Ona, you had not gone back. Even then, you hadn't been around her much since you'd both played on the Barcelona B team. Since you'd so incredibly, so inexplicably fucked things up. The idea of seeing Ona again, not just for a week or two, but every day, was more than a little overwhelming.

Which is how you found yourself on Mapi and Ingrid's front porch at 10pm, the day Ona's signing had been announced. It only occurred to you that you probably looked like a mess, and your unexpected arrival would probably concern your older friends, once you'd already knocked. The door flew open before you could rethink your actions, and Mapi's surprised face stared back at you, quickly turning into one of concern.

"Are you ok? What happened?" Her voice was filled with worry, and you suddenly wished you'd come up with any other plan than the one you'd chosen.

"Um. I'm not really sure. Do you have a second to talk?" Your voice sounded shaky despite your best efforts to steady it, and Mapi's eyebrows creased even further, as she wordlessly stepped aside to let you in, putting a comforting hand on your shoulder, leading you to the couch.

Mapi looked at you with a searching gaze and asked, "Do you want me to get Ingrid?" after you'd perched on the couch, looking around for the defender's other half without even really realizing it. You paused, considering, before nodding your head, deciding that you needed to pull yourself together before you spoke again. Mapi disappeared into the bedroom, clearly taking a minute to explain that you were sitting on their couch and acting weird to Ingrid, as you heard muffled voices.

You focused on the little details of the room, attempting to force yourself back into the present. You loved Mapi and Ingrid's place. It was so them. So domestic. The comfy couch, the decorations that were clearly chosen by the Norwegian. The various items left strewn about on the counter, that could only have been left there by Mapi. You felt safe there, you reminded yourself. Ingrid and Mapi would never judge you. They'd do their best to understand, and maybe they'd be able to help.

Lost in your thoughts, you didn't realize the couple had walked into the room until you felt Ingrid's hand grab yours gently, her green eyes meeting yours, filled with so much concern, you felt yourself wilt a little.

"What's going on nena?" Mapi questioned as she took a seat on the couch next to Ingrid. You took a deep breath, deciding to launch into the story before you could change your mind.

It made sense that you were confiding in the older couple. You were young when you'd joined Barca, and Mapi had taken you under her wing. She'd become fiercely protective of you, and Ingrid had quickly followed suit when they'd gotten together. You told them everything. All of it. You'd never done that before, not with anyone. What had happened lived inside a little box in your head that you never let even yourself open.

You started from the beginning, how you and Ona had been really close when you'd played on the B team together. Best friends, before anything else. As you got older, things got different. The two of you got closer, until you were... confusingly close. Maybe it was only confusing to you; you'd been incredibly repressed back then. Staunchly convinced you weren't gay. Deep down, you had known, you'd always known. But that wasn't a reality you thought you could have, not with your parents being the way they were. Ona didn't seem to have the same problems that you did, always shrugging her shoulders at questions about the closeness of the 2 of you, as if she didn't care, when the same questions made you lose your breath, terrified of the implications.

Maybe it shouldn't have been surprising to you, then, when she'd kissed you. It was the obvious direction things were headed, but as she pressed her lips to yours in the dark of the club on her 18th birthday, all you could think was that this would ruin everything. It didn't matter how good it felt, how perfect her lips felt against yours, soft and tasting of cherry chapstick and tequila. It only mattered that you couldn't do this. Not you. Not with a girl, even Ona. It was fine if it was anyone else that was gay, it just wasn't fine if it was you.

So you'd pulled back, even though it killed you to do so. You watched the hurt flash across her face as you told her that you couldn't do this, as you backed away from her, out of the club, and walked all the way home. And even though you wanted to pretend that what happened had not mattered, it had. Because when you got home, you took one look at your parents sitting in the living room, at the crosses that hung on chains from their necks, the picture of fucking Jesus on the wall. And the words left your mouth before you could stop them. The kiss with Ona had changed something in you, and you couldn't go back.

"I'm gay." You had said, voice full of confidence, even as your heart pounded in your chest. They'd asked you to repeat yourself, and you had. They didn't seem surprised, only disappointed . Disappointed as they told you they expected you to move out the minute you turned 18, that they wouldn't support that kind of behavior. You hadn't fought them, hadn't yelled. You'd simply walked back into your bedroom, letting tears fall silently as you felt your family and your best friend, your Ona, slip away from you. She'd never really talked to you after that. She lifted out of your life like she'd never been in it. You never tried to explain yourself, determined that you could only be bad for Ona, that she was better off without you, without your mess.

At this point in the story, you were crying, tears streaming down your face as you admitted the truth for the first time. You lifted your gaze to see Mapi's face contorted in anger, Ingrid's eyes filled with tears. If you hadn't been so upset, you might have laughed at how typical their reactions were. Wiping your face harshly, you continued.

"I moved out the day I turned 18. Ona went to Madrid, and I stayed at Barca, and she never looked at me the same way again. I destroyed her that night, and I never told her why, never told her that I hadn't meant it. I'd just let her go. And now she's coming back, and I don't think I know how to be around her, how to talk to her like I haven't loved her with every inch of my soul for 6 years. And I just. Don't know what to do," your voice broke on the last word, and the sobs you'd been bravely holding in broke free, loud and filled with pain, filling the air.

It wasn't even a second before you felt yourself being pulled into Ingrid's arms, and you held on to her rather desperately, hand fisting into the soft material of her sweater, letting yourself fall apart completely against her. Her hands rubbed your back softly, and you felt Mapi scoot closer, pulling both of you into her arms. You cried until you couldn't cry anymore, and they remained a steady presence, holding you tightly until your sobs slowed to pathetic little sniffles you hated. You pulled away from them after several minutes, taking a deep breath, wiping the tears off your face, already knowing your breakdown would be evident the next morning.

Mapi handed you a glass of water that she'd seemingly procured from thin air and you gulped it down. You finally raised your head to meet their eyes, fearing the pity you would see there. You didn't find it; you only found empathy. You didn't miss the way Ingrid's hand was gripping Mapi's, or the way the sight of it made your heart clench, and your brain immediately fill with thoughts of Ona.

"Thank you for telling us that. I don't really know what to say, other than that you didn't deserve that from your parents." Ingrid spoke softly, as if she'd scare you away if she spoke in her normal voice. The two of them had always known something had happened between you and your parents, and between you and Ona, but you never spoke of it. Ever.

You nodded once, shooting Ingrid a weak smile, before looking to Mapi. She loved Ona, and you weren't really sure how she would act in response to your self perceived transgressions. She surprised you, as she often does, by taking one of your hands in hers. You focused on the tattoos littering her arms, instead of meeting her eyes.

"You can't beat yourself up for this, carino. You were just a kid, you were scared, and you were just trying to survive. It's been 6 years, maybe it's time you try to explain what happened to Ona." Her words were gentle, carrying a seriousness you rarely heard from the defender.

You shook your head. "She probably hates me. I led her on, and I ruined our friendship, and I didn't try to apologize or explain myself in the 6 years that have passed. It's not like I haven't had the chance, we see each other at national duties all the time."

"Well... then you just do what you do at camp. You be friendly, and you let her come to you. If she wants to talk, she'll tell you," she replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. That was one of your favorite things about Mapi. She always respected your decisions, even if they weren't the ones she would make. She never tried to change your mind when you were set on something.

"It'll take time to get used to her being here, but it'll work out," Ingrid chimed in. Suddenly, it all felt less intense than it had before. You could deal with this. Either you'd end up talking to her, or you wouldn't. Everything would be fine. Your friends were right, it would all work out.

"Thank you guys. Really. I'm sorry for bothering you with this, I know it's a lot," you tried to express your apologies, feeling like you'd maybe been a little dramatic, but they stopped you.

"No, y/n, you don't need to apologize. Both of us have told you to come to us if you need help; you did, and we're glad. We're always happy to help you." Mapi spoke firmly, leaving no room for argument. You nodded again, eyes a little watery again, mumbling another quiet thank you.

You yawned then, absolutely exhausted from the emotional ordeal you'd put yourself through. The other girls chuckled lightly, pulling you to lay down on the couch and covering you with a blanket. They left you to rest, with promises that everything would feel easier in the morning.

-----

Months passed, and you found yourself surrounded by reminders of the brunette defender you felt so conflicted about. Everyone was excited about her return to Barcelona, and the world cup she won only increased everything. You managed to keep your head on straight, not losing your mind and having a breakdown like you had in June. Your friends kept a close eye on you, Mapi hovering over you, the same way she did with Patri and Claudia in the weeks of the world cup, maybe a little extra concerned with you. Ingrid kept tabs on you through Mapi, and she called you often, asking searchingly how you were doing, as if she expected you to freak out again.

Your first interaction with Ona wasn't on her first day with the team. It came on your return from Mexico with the rest of the team that hadn't played in the final. Obviously, you'd seen Ona plenty over the past few years. She did her best to avoid you, which made sense, but total lack of contact wasn't possible when you played on the same national team. You didn't know what made today different, why your heart was pounding as you walked into the locker room on the first day back at training after the Mexico tour. It was different this time; more permanent. It wasn't just a few weeks of letting Ona avoid you; it was months of seeing each other every day.

You neared the locker room, and you heard loud voices echoing out of it. You weren't surprised, it was the first time the team was all back together since June, and there was a lot to catch up on. You entered, taking a deep breath, and walked to your locker, responding as the room echoed with greetings towards you. Your eyes immediately found Ona, sitting relaxed in her cubby, talking to Aitana and Mariona. She looked gorgeous. Even in the plain grey and black training top, her hair sitting loose around her shoulders, she was breathtaking.

She laughed at something Mario said, throwing her head back as she did. You couldn't pull your eyes off of her. She looked over at you then, still chuckling at whatever ridiculous joke Mariona had just told. She caught your eye, and you saw her smile fall slightly, an unreadable looking flashing through her eyes before she fixed her smile, raising her hand in a small wave. You returned the gesture, before forcing yourself to look away, walking to Ingrid's cubby, and wordlessly taking a seat on the ground in front of the bench. You handed her your hairbrush, avoiding the searching looks her and Mapi sent you, silently asking the Norwegian to fix your hair. She did, after giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Your first practice back was good, as were the rest of the practices leading up to your first game. The team worked well together, and it felt indescribably good to be back on the pitch with everyone. Especially Ona. The two of you played together just as well as you always had, her passes always miraculously finding you, and you miraculously finding the goal. Your chemistry would have been hard to miss, which is how you found yourselves paired up more often than not. She kept your conversations to small talk, but she was always kind, and if you hadn't known her as well as you did, you would have missed the way she always seemed to hold back around you. Not that you could blame her.

You congratulated her with a high five when she was told she was starting the first game, and tried to ignore how the feeling of her hand against yours sent electric shocks through your body. You guys kept your distance, until you couldn't anymore.

----

Your first game was an away game in Madrid, and you knew from the second you saw Ona on the coach on the way to the pitch that she was nervous. She sat next to Aitana, bouncing her knee, fiddling with her fingers, not saying a word. You'd never seen her this nervous before, and it had you worried. You must have been staring because suddenly the empty seat next to you was filled, and Mapi was plopping down next to you.

"Staring, are we?" she asked with a wry smile, making sure to keep her voice quiet.

"No," you responded defensively, "she just seems really nervous, I was just making sure she was ok."

"... by staring at her?"

"Fuck off. Would you just ask her if she's ok when we get there? Please?" Your voice took on a pleading tone, and Mapi sighed before responding.

"Of course. But you don't need to make sure someone is checking on her-- she has a lot of friends on the team, you aren't the only one who has noticed." she nodded to Alexia and Irene, who were both stealing glances at Ona every so often. Obviously. The captains would check on her. Not you. It wasn't your place.

You simply nodded in response, swallowing the inexplicable lump in your throat at the completely reasonable implication that Ona did not need you. You turned your attention out the window then, watching the cityscape pass you by, focusing on the game ahead, the music playing in your ears. Mapi got the message, moving back to her spot next to Ingrid with a soft pat on your knee.

You arrived at the stadium shortly after, and you forced all thoughts of Ona out of your brain. You got ready for the game, following all of your little rituals. You'd been successful in not thinking about Ona until you left the room with Pina to get tape for your ankles from one of the medical rooms. You were laughing about something as you pushed the door open, but did not find the room empty like you had expected. Instead, Ona was sitting on the floor of the room, knees pulled to her chest, as she frantically tried to catch her breath. You and Pina fell silent, taking in the scene in front of you. Ona was so out of it, she hadn't noticed you enter.

Thinking fast, you turned to Pina, keeping your voice quiet but firm. "Go get Alexia. Don't tell anyone else anything, or she'll be embarrassed. Just get Alexia." Pina nodded, face alarmed and pale, before dashing out of the room. You moved closer to Ona, taking a careful seat on the cold floor next to her.

"Oni? Can you look at me?" You carefully reached a hand out, placing it gently on her back, and she jumped at the contact, hand snapping towards you. Her face was streaked with tears, and she was gasping for air desperately, clearly in the throes of a bad panic attack. It wasn't the first time that you'd seen her like this, and you hoped that she still responded to the things that worked 6 years ago. You also hoped she wouldn't tell you to get out before Alexia could get there.

You started to rub soft circles onto her back, and she leaned slightly into you, resting her head back on her knees. You began to talk to her, trying to bring her out of her head.

"You're okay Oni, just take your time. Slow your breathing down. Everything is ok." You spoke as soothingly as you could, but before you could really tell if what you were doing was working, the door to the room opened softly, and Alexia slipped inside, brow furrowed in concern.

Alexia looked very official in her uniform, already with the captain's armband on, and as softly as she looked at Ona as she took a spot next to her, you knew she would bring the security and authority necessary to calm Ona down.

The midfielder guided Ona's head off her knees, speaking softly to her, taking one of Ona's hands in her own, and pressing it to her chest.

"With me, Ona. Breathe with me. You're fine, we've got you, just match my breaths." Alexia could have possibly the most soothing voice in the world when she wanted to, and Ona immediately responded, fighting to slow her breathing down.

She began to calm, and you decided to slip out, and give Ona the space you assumed she'd want. As you moved to stand, however, a hand reached out, grabbing yours tightly. You looked down in surprise, seeing Ona's flushed face looking up at you. Her deep brown eyes shimmered with tears, wordlessly pleading with you to stay, and without a second thought, you sat back down, entwining your fingers with hers, and squeezing tightly.

Alexia continued to talk to her softly, her eyes occasionally lifting to glance at you, an unreadable expression on your captain's face. Once Ona's breathing had returned to normal, she sighed heavily, leaning her head back to rest against the wall.

"Sorry." She croaked out, and you opened your mouth to assure her she had nothing to be sorry for, but Alexia beat you to it.

"No, I've told you before, you never have to be sorry for this. It makes sense that you're nervous, it's your first game, but we all have complete confidence in you." Her voice was firm, and left no room to argue, as Ona nodded once. Alexia rose to her feet, and you followed, each of you offering Ona a hand, pulling her to her feet. The two of you trailed out of the room after Alexia, who seemed to have the incredible gift of knowing when 2 people needed to speak to each other alone, as she sent you a look you couldn't decipher, before speeding up and heading back into the locker room.

Ona turned to you, coming to a stop, and you noticed the that you were still holding her hand. It had felt so right, so natural, you hadn't given it a second thought. You pulled your hand away, after giving hers another squeeze, forcing yourself to meet her eyes. The hallway was empty around you, though you could hear the faint sound of you teammates, and the crown outside, every molecule in your body was focused on Ona's eyes boring into yours.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. Sitting with me, and getting Alexia. Thank you, y/n." Her voice was quiet, but her eyes were determined, and you felt like you were really speaking to her for the first time in years. You decided to speak freely then, hoping that some level of honesty would make her feel better.

"Of course, Ona. I know things got... weird. And we never talked about it. But i'm your friend, i'm always gonna be here for you." You said the words gently, hoping your voice conveyed the sincerity you felt. One looked at you searchingly then, as if contemplating . You kept your gaze on hers, not allowing yourself to get distracted by the freckles that covered her face, or the way her jaw twitched as she tried to decide what to say.

"Would you maybe wanna get coffee tomorrow? At the place we used to go to? We're gonna be spending a lot of time together, and it probably makes sense if we talk." her words were hesitant, as if she wasn't really sure she should be saying them.

"Yes! Yes. I... I'd really like that." Your voice came out embarrassingly earnest, and you tried to recover, but the look on Ona's face told you that it hadn't worked. She nodded, sending you a slightly more confident smile. She raised a hand to brush over your upper arm, and you had to work hard to keep your body from shuddering at the featherlight touch.

"Good. We should go get ready though." Her smile seemed genuine, and she turned to head into the locker room. You stood in the hall for a second, replaying the light touch to your arm over and over, before you shook your head, and followed her path into the locker room.

----

part 2 will be less horribly depressing and a lot sexier i promise.

#woso imagine #woso #woso x reader #ona batlle x reader #barcelona femeni x reader #alexia putellas #mapi leon #ingrid engen #aitana bonmati #claudia pina #ona batlle

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dsknsk · 11 months ago

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Limbus Company and its visual portrayal of female characters, an essay

Limbus Company, and by extent, Project Moon has been a great example of how female characters are visually portrayed. In this article, I’ll try to dissect why and how, focusing on Limbus Company as it has by far the largest amount of images I can talk about. Let’s dive in.

Disclaimer: I'm by no means a professional so please, PLEASE don't clown on this i.e mention the summer controversy. I have a personal trauma on that and do not wish to revisit it. I know it's practically impossible to ask from tumblr, but still.

Visually portraying a subject

Where to start? At the very beginning, of course. Portraying a subject visually (not talking about female characters in specific yet) has a number of things attached to it. Perhaps the first question one can ask themselves is this:

Where do I want the focus to be?

Now, you can be short and say ‘the subject, of course’, but even then, that won’t often be precise enough. Let’s say you have a butterfly as your subject. Do you want the focus to be on its beautiful wings? Or its curious multi-faceted eyes, or its roll-up tongue? What do you want the viewer to notice immediately?

Arguably, even photos of landscapes have at least one point of focus. The pretty waterfall, the vast mountains, the green pastures or the starry sky. Some have the focus split up in two, where both the lake and the mountains are to be spotted immediately.

How focus can be created

There are multiple ways focus can be drawn to a specific part or to a specific subject.

One way is to simply make everything but your point of focus uninteresting. A common effect used is the Bokeh, which blurs out the background so that it will automatically appear as less interesting and more as a faded bunch of colors that contrasts with the point of focus which is sharply shot in HD. You can also make the background to be a flat color, like black or white. Some pieces of art additionally add colored shapes or lines behind the subject as to accentuate it further.

(an example of Bokeh. In addition, the direction in which another character looks shows what our main subject is, who is actually positioned off-center.)

You can also just…fill the space with the subject, as in a close-up of the thing in question. Following the previous butterfly example, it’s like only showing a small part of its wings, enlarged to comparatively huge proportions. This is also seen in portraits and to a lesser extent, similar art like waist-ups.

The eye is immediately drawn to what we should look at, which is the character who’s front and center in the image. Secondarily the blood. Her hair also uses the next point below: color.

If you’re working with color, then color is an excellent way to bring the focus to a subject. Bright colors and contrasts can be used, like what’s done here:

The bright red forms a direct contrast to the green that dominates the color pallette. It thus leads the eye to the red areas - aka the blood the character is spilling as well as her face, which is technically a tint of red. The red returning in her eyes which have a small trail, and on her bloodied face, as well as the yellow of her tie, further help to bring focus to her face and her expression. (Other than that, this image also has classic cartoon speed lines, which are minor but do help).

Light is also something I should mention. Using the image from above, the character is actually rushing towards the darker areas of the image. The light is coming from where she seemed to come from, judging by the speed lines and the trail of red we just saw in all its glory. The light forms a line around the subject which keeps said subject’s green uniform from blending into the darkness and the green of the image.

There is a specific technique called chiaroscuro (lit. ‘light-dark’) which is totally a real thing that even old masters like Rembrandt have used to bring focus. The gist of it is that the painting has very bright areas which is the subject, surrounded by dark areas, with not much in between. This technique is often used to make scenes more dramatic, and to immediately show us what the artist wants us to see, without any possible doubt. It’s like putting a spotlight on your head in a dark room. Chiaroscuro is also seen in Limbus:

You can’t actually see much of the room our subject is in. The only light is coming from the candles, illuminating the top part of our subject. The other, darker half is much harder to see the details of. This makes it so that the eye is led from either the character towards the source of the light (the candles) or in reverse, both of which are possible and valid because in both cases, we ignore the pitch black part of the artwork.

How to create focus with characters (in specific)

Now, humans and humanoids are fascinating subjects to focus on, because there are so many situations a person can be in, and so much stuff a person can be. Are they the commander of a spaceship? A medieval ruler? An overworked office clerk? There are specific things that more or less pertain to humanoid characters more. I’m going into two aspects, clothing and posing - I’m aware there’s more, but for the sake of making this not longer than it is I’m going into only those two.

1. Clothing

What someone wears makes up a considerable part of how they’re seen and what they are presumed to be. This is also a large part of stereotyping. If you're wearing a t-shirt with pants, sunglasses, and have a camera around your neck, chances are people think you’re a tourist. To them, it likely won’t matter if you are, they will perceive you as one anyway. This is also important here: you might want to pretend you don’t know anything about the portrayed character or show their image to an unknowing friend and see what they think that the character is.

And that brings me to this point that I have seen so many times with female characters: their description/role not directly matching with how they are supposed to look if that were true. I’m talking about the battle-hardened veteran without muscles or scars of both kinds (even if adequate healing/scar removal is available in the setting). I’m talking about the scientist with a leotard under their lab coat. However, I’m not saying they should look a certain way or be the same - that’d be boring - I’m saying that…hey, it might make the viewer not take the character as serious as you want them to be.

The way clothing is built up can also serve as a way to bring focus to a specific aspect. Which will most often be either the boobs or the butt (or both) in the case of female characters. Look at this (non-Project Moon) example.

The woman in the front (obviously the focus due to the place she is standing in being squarely in the middle, and her red hair standing out) is the leader of that squad…as well as the strongest in battle. Without any protection of vital organs. With a shape under her boobs that would stab her fatally in the liver if she does as little as bend over.

The way her clothing is built up also brings the focus to her boobs - not only with how they’re prominently on display, but also with the shape the top and the fabric covering her shoulders makes. In a similar vein, her ‘pants’ and the belt all lead the eye downwards to her crotch as well. Furthermore, her thigh highs look skin-tight, bringing secondary focus to her legs, of course.

And last but not least. The guys behind her are actually properly armored from the neck down, making them somewhat more of a homogenous whole… in theory. The different body types, hair, and colors of the armor of the right and left dude make them stand out slightly more, which in turn only accentuates this ridiculous difference.

I don’t really have many Project Moon-originating images on hand that are similar to this. Every time we’ve had an ID with a female character being the leader of their group (of which we’ve had surprisingly many, actually - Don has two Section Director IDs to boot) they have usually been posing alone, or well, posing…their full uptie art normally shows a moment when they’re beating their enemy into a pulp instead of posing for the camera like in the above image. This is really consistent with the other half of the playable characters, who are male.

I want to give a special mention to two characters despite that. Faust and Rodion are both known as the more well-endowed characters, but from their IDs and E.G.O it is treated as something that’s there rather than something to be exploited.

The blue glint is the highlight here, illuminating her blood-stained clothing but also finding its equal in her small, blue eyes. I have found eyes like this and expressions like this to be quite rare on female characters. Just look at her and her face. She’s completely lost it, wrapped in twisted and warped euphoria of the moment of ‘purging’ another ‘heretic’ - and from the looks of it, the last one on the scene. She’s not even trying to clean her own clothing or face, or expose her boobs. That’s not what matters to her image, showing any kind of skin doesn’t add to her character. She’s caught in this violent moment, having her victim completely in her literal grip - not even her eyes are looking at the camera. This image showcases the violent and sadistic nature of the character.

I find this art to be a curious thing. The background is actually rather bright, making the inverse true: the character is dressed in dark clothing, so that’s what the focus is on instead. Her coat flared out in such a way it can almost be mistaken for the underside of her long hair, making her seem even larger (something certain animals use when threatened to scare others into leaving). Her actual figure is thus more obscured, it only being a few tones darker. The thing that keeps her from being a dark blob in the foreground is her sword, large enough to be an odachi. Because she’s unsheathing it, the glint that comes from the blade immediately draws attention - arguably away from her partially unbuttoned top. The animation of this in the game supports this: no boob jiggle, just her standing calmly in the moment she’s just about to unsheathe her sword.

Because I’m going to use this example further in this thing, keep this one on hand.

An image that’s again in the middle of the action. Rosespanner Workshop Director Rodion is right now turning an enemy into an unrecognizable stain on the pavement with her huge weapon. The highlight is her weapon again, but this time it actually serves as a secondary source of light, illuminating her face. The yellow coloration of this secondary light source also makes the whole thing more interesting than if it just had the background light that serves a similar purpose as it did in the first image of this post. Even though the image has a heavy pinkish tint, the red that splatters all over the scene is still very much present and they draw the eye back to the yellow light. While her pose is ambiguous, it keeps things vague by not putting any sort of focus on her lower body. In any other piece of media this pose would be viewed from another angle, as to profit from as much of her body’s curves. Not here. Her killing an enemy with visible ease is important. Not her pose. This sounds logical, doesn’t it?

2. Posing

Which brings me to this. The way a character is posed also plays a part in their portrayal. It is possible to accentuate certain body parts with this - like when a character brings their hand to their chin, or the way their legs are posed. No matter the actual scene that’s meant, the way the character is posed is a factor that decides how it’s viewed and where the focus lies. Most often I’ve found this to be when a character is shown wielding a weapon, but their ‘battle pose’ being rather something that accentuates their bare skin, or their little clothing that does the same thing.

Is your character actually showing that they’re dangerous through being shown fighting…or are they just sexily posing with a weapon in their hands to add a sense of ‘danger’? Some can be highly difficult to distinguish. Some CGs can show the middle of the action yet the way the character is posed still brings the focus away from the violence or brings a secondary focus to it. Unfortunately I don’t have examples of those on hand but I know they exist.

A character just posing with a weapon isn’t wrong - I draw that all the time - but when the focus is brought to a character’s boobs and/or butt with the pose the character is in, it will be kind of obvious (even if it isn’t true) that sexualizing those features of the character what the artist is really intending to do instead of showing how dangerous she is with the weapon.

I’m going to use this image from Echocalypse as an example. I regularly take poses like this as a reference point and then attempt to make them more realistic, or, funnily, point out their weirdness by putting a male character in it. Often I do this by using them for a different, more appropriately clothed character. This goes to show that clothing can already decide a lot in posing itself.

This character is posing with a weapon, a…particularly huge odachi in this case (I thought it was a staff at first until I saw the hilt). Which is exactly the same what Rodion is doing up there in the image we already handled. Yet, there are subtle differences between that image and this one, and it’s actually more minor than you think it is (disregarding the thematics of the pieces). Both characters…

are posing with an odachi of similar size (assuming that both characters are of similar height for ease of comparison) as opposed to being locked in battle; theoretically making the focus more on how pretty they look

have long hair (that, minus the bun and the bangs, have a similar cut) that makes their silhouette appear larger than it is

do have a relatively bright and sort-of detailed background going on

have large boobs

are unsheathing their weapon just slightly

However, to get to our first difference, we need to get back to point 1: clothing. Using the same two images, the largest difference is clothing. Kurokumo Rodion is wearing all-black clothing that covers her from the head down except for the unbuttoned top. If I had to describe what the other girl is wearing, I’d say she’s wearing a piece of armor on one of her arms, a flowered collar, thigh highs but no footwear otherwise, and something…obviously lingerie/bikini derived. I’m actually not sure if that’s a tail or part of the clothing.

But to return to our point: posing. The pose of Kurokumo Rodion is actually fairly neutral. She’s just standing there, menacingly! (I should note that their normal character talksprites are also just standing there neutrally) No, literally. Anyone with working legs and arms, can reproduce that. Just give them a sword prop and you’re done. Coat cape optional. The way she is standing does convey some sort of subtle confidence, however, just like the way she is actually looking down (at the viewer). It’s likely you’ll see the sword first for the reasons I mentioned when first discussing the piece above and then look at her from top to bottom as usual.

The way our other girl is posed…is a little harder to replicate in real life to say the least. Not only is this a floating pose (i.e you’d need support), the way her body is bent sharply brings the focus upon her boobs and butt. The human body is actually rather flexible, depending on how you’re built of course, but even so I do doubt whether anyone can do this pose even if they could somehow float in mid-air. Or do this lying down. I (someone with joints that are a little too flexible for my own good) haven’t tried and highkey don’t want to. The thigh and upper leg that is prominently on display, along with the way her body curves leads the eye to her butt or downwards towards her legs and feet.

Her facial expression is neutral, but I get some sort of… ‘dreamy’ vibe from it from the traditional anime-like proportions (huge eyes, tiny nose and mouth). Almost as if she’s doing puppy-eyes to beg for candy or something. It’s, well, what most people call to be a ‘babyface’. Kurokumo Rodion is also in ‘anime-style’ and her facial proportions are still a little bit unrealistic, but I do dare to say they’re more realistic than those of the other girl.

Also, small sidepath. What do you think the second girl is based off? One would judge from her tail that it must be some sort of water creature but whether she’s a shark or any other kind of sea creature isn’t really obvious. Would it surprise you if I told you she’s based on a bake-kujira, a SKELETON-whale (which sounds cool as all hell)? Without any kind of skeleton-parts worked into her design? To be fair, I wouldn’t have guessed it either if it were not for her canonical description.

Also, one last note about that latter image. I think that an odachi of that format would be extremely tricky to unsheathe in such a pose, because of the distance between your arms. Her arm that actually unsheathes the thing is also obviously reaching out, so she’d need more strength to do that than what the look of her arms suggest.

Speaking about arms…

On paper, our Limbus girls would have all the reason to have twig arms. After all, the City allows one to get stronger without visually changing their physique much. One can carry around huge weapons like chainsaws, lances and zweihanders without visible muscles. And yet. And yet.

One of the few times bare arms are seen (most art prefers to cover them up - for Limbus standards, this would be the ultimate fanservice thing), it becomes very clear that they at least have a basic tone. Like, the basicest of basic efforts is done to make them not look malnourished. Even if this girl above is not like, the strongest of the world (for as far as we know...) the muscles she does have are very lovingly shaded and detailed.

To end this, I’ll showcase something one last time with a funny in-game example: Roseate Desire. Roseate Desire is an E.G.O which wraps the wearer in pink ribbons and is highly implied to especially speak to the sin of Lust (which is the affinity of the attack). In the game, this E.G.O is given to two characters, a girl and a guy. In any other gacha game, it would only be given to girls.

While bent over and with a happy expression, she’s still coming to get you. How can you tell? For one, the huge anchor she has with her is within her hand (i.e opposed to it being tied up next to her or something like that), and the shield that’s tied to her arm. Despite being wrapped up, she does still look as if a portion of her is still in control, and her attack suggests the same.

Hong Lu wearing it always makes me grin. He does wear clawed gloves and his fingers are arched, that’s true, but the way he’s strung up like a puppet makes it so that he can’t even get you with those. The manner in which he is posed and his head is tilted is highly reminiscent of how one would pose a marionette. And ingame properly he doesn’t even use these claws in close combat! He wraps up the enemy in the pink ribbons with doll-like movement. Even the way he’s covered evokes a sense of powerlessness, like he’s led on by the ribbons instead of controlling them.

I think this example, along with the others, is implicative of how Project Moon’s visual portrayal of female characters is done so well. They’re equally portrayed as the male characters, if not arguably more powerful, and there’s an equal roster of 6 to 6. They’re not overtly sexualized by bare skin or impossible poses while the men are covered up in a sensible pose. These are characters designed for their personality and role first, not with fanservice or money in mind first. Even the female NPCs fit within this rule, even though they have less art to go from. When you have a game which had 97% completion on the story and a mere 64% on the systems (i.e monetization) it would kind of figure that character designs fall in line with the role the character fulfills, is it not?

#limbus company #project moon

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mishapeep · 9 months ago

Note

Uh, I saw your post and you mentioned that you teach the kids... how do I put it... that are given to you at social functions due your park ranger aura for safekeeping how to tell the difference between predatory lightning bugs and normal lightning bugs.

And then you didn't tell us that secret! May I ask you to share the difference between predatory lightning bugs and normal ones?

Thank you very much :)

By popular demand and because this was the most polite ask: how to tell the predatory lightning bugs from the non-predatory lightning bugs.

First, there are over 2000 species in Lampyridea. I am not qualified to distinguish between all that. I grew up in Northern Ohio (71 species) and every year summer wasn’t official until the lightning bugs came out in the evenings (usually the first or second week of June).

This is our first clue. The first lightning bugs out each evening are a species of non-predatory chaps. Their glow goes in a special pattern. Flash, pause, “J” shaped flight about 2 -3’ off the ground. Repeat. Their glow is more yellow and lingers. These are the males of Photinus pyralis or the common eastern firefly. They look like this:

(Photo from iNaturalist: a lightning bug beetle, mostly black with gold lines around the wing casing. Head shield is yellow with a red “eye” with black iris in the center. Rounded front and back, long down the center.)

Their females hide in tall grasses waiting for the right suitor. If you’re lucky and clever you can see her dimmer flash in the grass beaconing the males closer.

As the dark of night progresses you’ll start to see a quicker, brighter, greener flash. Blip, blip, blip, blip, long pause. They are FAST! They’ll also mimic the flashes of Photinus females. These are usually higher up off the ground. Even in the trees! These lightning bugs aren’t looking for love.

Photuris (not gonna get to specific epitaph on this one without a sample and a key) are looking for dinner!

(Photo from blog.greatparks.org another lightning bug beetle. This one is slightly larger than the non-predatory bug. It has “shoulders” and extra gold lines running through the back. Its legs are longer and its shield is more “sharp”. The shield marking is less like an eye and more like a yellow D where the inside is a red triangle with a black line running through.)

Another way to tell is to go out at night and catch a bunch of lightning bugs (if you can; I hear they’re getting scarce). Offer them a slice of apple. If you wake up in the morning to only a few and the rest are dead, good chance you found some predators. (This is how I found out about them! Wooops!!)

Lightning bugs are freaking magical. I’m so sad to hear that they are yet another wonder that we are losing at an alarming rate. If this bugs you as much as it bugs me there are a few things you can do to help them:

1) do not spray for mosquitoes! That spray is not-species specific. It’s bad for lightning bugs. It’s bad for monarch butterflies. It’s bad for birds. It’s bad for bats. It’s bad.

2) kill your lawn. But Misha! You said they breed in the grasses! True! However native plants are going to provide so much more habitat for these guys than a gross monoculture of Kentucky bluegrass ever will. The Midwest has some of the best native plant nurseries in the country! Use that resource!

3) Advocate for them and donate to conservation if you’re able. Bugs don’t have voices and they fight an uphill battle just for being a bug.

Thanks for joining my ranger talk! Support your parks.

#lightning bug #fireflies #firefly #glow worm #bug #bugs #beetles

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rikebe · 21 days ago

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couple of ladybug redesigns ive been doodling while stark raving mad about how this show for little kids doesnt have more badass outfits for the characters. i basically take a crack at these every couple of months but this is the first time im really pleased w what i came up with!

i def wanna come back to these and tweak them or come up with more designs for the other characters. and i esp wanna do a hawk moth chloe..........

long winded explanation of my design concepts unser the cut

ladybug - this is kind of my brain process here. her canon design (the worst one in the show imo) just kinda looks like a polkadot onesie so i really wantes to give her more bug-like features. i gave her black eyes bc i think its really cool when miraculiur holders change eye colours to something unnatural and i think its pretty neat and comicbook-y, and also insect-like. i also gave her bug-wing hairclips and changed her pigtails to twin buns so they had more of a shape contrast to the clips. for all wing details i added turquoise as a third colour to give it some SPICE.

my first designs (1-4) went off the idea of a short dress/coat with puff sleeves to suggest the shape of bug-legs, and the coat tails serving as her wings. i think its a cute design that fits marinette's girly style, but i wasn't quite happy with it.

i had the idea of her sleeves serving as her wings instead of her skirt or coat tails, and looked a little into chinese styles of clothing with big sleeves like this to lean more into marinette being half-chinese. i found a style called hanyuansu, which is modern clothes modified with hanfu elements and took inspiration from looking at a few outfits, so i tried a couple different takes. i really like design 6 with the big coat, but it seems really impractical for crime fighting :/ maybe its like a formalwear alt look lol.

7 is my final design that i'm happiest with, as it has all the elements i wanted but is still simple enough to not feel overloaded. i made the yoyo black for a little contrast and just bc i think it looks really cool!

queen bee - chloe was robbed of a character arc and a cool design. i will avenge her.

this ddsign came to me muchhh easier. a beehive hairdo seemed like a no-brainer, as well as fur trims both because she's a bee and because she's a bougie rich girl. i wanted the look to scream elegance and be a little retro and 60ies-inspired to go with her hairdo. the shape and tights are like a cute minidress married to a fur coat meets bee stinger, which is the vibe i want! the gloves are full chic and also sort of like black insect legs.

again a light blue wing detail for a pop of contrast and just because wings are fucking cool, and it gave me an excuse for 60ies inspired blue eyeshadow! yellow eyes cause i love weird eye colours, and it just looks a little creepy and jaundiced hehe

no mask because everyone knows its's her anyways, so why bother? plus masks are sort of annoying to design around lol. i kept her feelers because theyre really cute!

queen bee x butterfly - ive wanted chloe to become the new hawk moth since the concept was teased. well now my heart is broken forever, but i can still dream!! so this is like, an au where she has a full epic villain arc, keeps the bee and also gets the butterfly miraculous and becomes the new big bad!

i kept a lot of thw elements from the queen bee design but modified them. the dress changes shape into something less like a stinger and more like a chic mini winter coat to match the giant fur trim she has now! obviously huge moth wings are a must, and more of a staff than hawk moth's cane because, hey. she's royalty.

her queen bee feelers change to fuzzy moth ones, and the colours are a little different to match better with purple! plus a butterfly mask now, and white eyes with solid yellow irises to diffirenciate her from.......

hawk moth - who is a fashion designer and should really have a better look!

i gave him solid white eyes to make him look less human and goofy, and again for that cool comic-booky look.

i based the whole design on wanting his silouette to mimic thw butterfly miraculous, so i kept and exaggerated his canon lapels and added two pointy coat tails for the bottom of the wings.

the long coat is a bit more dramatique and less basic, and i tried to give his mask a little flourish to keep him from looking so much like a silver thumb.

the only place i kept the silver is for the vest, which is segmented to imitatw to look of a butterfly or moth's belly. i spent the least amount of time on this one but i'm pretty happy with it for a rougher draft than the other three designs.

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous fanart #miraculous redesign #marinette dupain cheng #mlb marinette #queen bee #mlb queen bee #chloe bourgeois #hawk moth #gabriel agreste #mlb hawkmoth #hawkmoth #THESE ARE SO FUN TO MAKE #art only

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d0p3ys-delusions · 1 year ago

Text

Zeyko

zeyko [zɛj.ˈk·o] vtr. heal, fix

Pairing: Aged up!Neteyam(20) x Omatikaya!FemReader(19)

Word Count: 2.8k Started: 20.7.23 Finished: 21.7.23

Synopsis: reader who is found as a child in her dead mother's arms is taken in by the Omatikaya, Mo'at raising her to be a strong healer. She's reserved to her own duties as a healer, similar to how Neteyam is always doing his duties of a warrior and as the next Olo'eyktan. After scavenging for a medicinal root, they have a heart-to-heart which led to their unspoken feelings get out.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, mentions of death.

a/n: hiii :) this is the first time I have written a one-shot and decided to upload it on here. I used to write religiously but second guess myself and end up taking it down. I hope you enjoy :) ♡

Word Index: palulukan- thanator, carnivorous hexapedal animal ; ar'lek seeds- medinical plant ; lortsya- shimmyfly, similar to Earth's butterfly ; kelku- house ; 'evi- child (affectionate) ; sa'nok- mother ; sanhì- bioluminescent freckles ; uniltaron- dream hunt, final passage of becoming an adult ; paskalin- sweet berry (term of endearment)

Your first memory is of your mother. Your mother who held you in your arms as her back was abused by the claws of a palulukan. Covering you with her chest and the ground. Her eyes squeezed together from the pain. Up until the moment the vicious thanator left. Your mother who still didn’t let you go as she rest against a tree, singing her songcord until the moment she left to the ancestors.

.˚ * ꒰ঌ✦໒꒱ * ˚.

You jumped down off your Ikran, Sya, named after how you noticed her wings resembled those of a lortsya, running your hand down her head, “tam tam…” [there, there]

You smiled at her before leaving her be with the other idle ikran. Humming, you looked down and opened your woven basket slung around your shoulders to see the red medicinal plant the Tsahik had requested you’d look for. Finding them intact you start to walk away to the Tsahik’s kelku.

You walk in, bringing your hand to your forehead and bringing it down, “I see you Tsahik…” She’s treating a wounded na’vi and quickly says your name. You set down your basket next to her. “I brought the ar’lek seeds,” You smile and gently take the ointment in her hand to take her place, “along with some yalna bark and sari seeds.”

“Good, thank you, ‘evi.” She rushes to another na’vi waiting to be treated, “Kiri would enjoy the sari seeds.” Nodding you spread the ointment on the female na’vi’s back.

“Would you like me to prepare the yalna bark after?” As you said that, Kiri alongside her brothers and sister walk in. Your gaze lingers on the elder of the four before quickly looking down at the Na’vi’s back, ears tilted slightly down. “Where else are you wounded…” You ask the Na’vi quietly. She pointed to her shin, so you bent in front of her to put ointment there also. The na’vi seemed younger than you, thirteen maybe, you smiled and looked up at her, “okay… parultsyìp, you could go back to your sa’nok.” She smiled and hops up, quickly leaving afterwards.

Standing up you pick up your basket and grab the yalna bark, Kiri says your name, “is that yalna bark?” Kiri walks towards you and rests a hand on your shoulder, “see grandmother, even your greatest healer thinks yalna bark is better.” You chuckle and begin preparing the yalna bark ointment.

“It stings less…” You say softly and smile. You and Kiri grew close together from working with the Tsahik and the other healers. Kiri is what you would say warm grass feels, comforting. When they found you as a child the Tsahik took responsibility on you, with Kiri being close to her grandmother, naturally you would become friends, sisters even.

Not remembering that day well enough Mo’at reminds you how Ewya brought you to her, to the Omatikaya, seeing a woodspite hover over you. You who just held your mother’s songcord close to your chest.

“I am Tsahik, once someone else takes my place it’ll be decided.” Mo’at says while treating the other Na’vi.

Lo’ak chuckles and shakes his head, “Unless Neteyam here finds a mate, it’s going to be a long time Grandma, stay comfortable.” Lo’ak says before being harshly elbowed by his brother. “What! The mighty warrior is the one becoming Olo’eyktan.” Your ears twitch up and you listen to their conversation.

“Stop it– brother.” Neteyam spits out and glances at you, still focusing on making the ointment, not noticing his glance. Tuk sits behind Neteyam and rebraids some of the strands that got unraveled.

“Mama said you don’t want to look for a mate because of–” Tuk was quickly caught off by Neteyam putting a hand over her mouth. You look at the pair slyly and tilt your head. “What?” Tuk says questionably not understanding why her brother stopped her.

For the little memories you have from your childhood, you do remember meeting Neteyam and the rest. You hid behind Mo’at, clutching your mother’s songcord. Despite there being three kids, you thought Neteyam stood out from the rest. Even from the age of five he seemed strong, someone that was destined to become a warrior.

You stood from your spot and placed the yalna ointment away. “Kiri!” Spider came in and smiled, “Let’s go?” Looking at her you grab her hand gently.

“I thought we were going to loom bracelets…” Kiri looked at you apologetically and held your hand.

“I know, I know,” She looked down and then at Neteyam, “I forgot I promised Spider to go exploring with him and Lo’ak.” Nodding you let go of her hand. “See you later.” She smiled sweetly and left with the two boys behind her trail.

Glancing at Neteyam quickly, the balls of your feet shifted, nervous on what to do next. “‘Ite,” You look at Mo’at, “we might need… some octoshroom root.” Your head shifts to the shelves looking for the root but are unable to find some.

Sighing, you pick up your basket and sling it around your shoulder, “Seems we’re out, I’ll go get some Tsahik.”

About to leave you were stopped by Neteyam, “I’ll go with you, I have no other duties today.” Your eyebrows rose, you hugged your waist, you were hesitant to answer.

“Yes, yes now go.” Mo’at waved you guys off. You reluctantly walked beside Neteyam heading to your ikrans. Your gaze kept on the ground while Neteyam looked at you slyly.

Thinking for a moment Neteyam scratches his head, “Kiri has said you’ve grown to be a great healer.” You both reach your ikrans.

“Sya…” You pet your sister and smile, “You have grown to be a great warrior…” Neteyam chuckles and nods, petting his own ikran.

“Grandmother seems to adore you, everyones does.” You look at him and blush slightly, your tail swishes behind you. You jump onto Sya, grabbing your kuru, you make tsaheylu with her. “Ready?’ Neteyam smiles on his ikran.

Setting off, you Neteyam began to descend off High Camp. Your braids move from the wind, your eyes fall on the other ikran flying in groups. Neteyam ululates and you chuckle, your ikrans fly beside each other and go in a twirl motion. Your smile is wide and Neteyam's gaze stays on you.

Getting absorbed in the moment you whoop along with him. Your ikrans roar seemingly with you, happy with the moment as well. You and Neteyam fly down on a hallelujah mountain, sitting on your ikrans and watching the sky.

Sighing, you look at Neteyam “We should go find the octoshroom…” Neteyam nods and you both bring your ikrans down near an opening of the forest. Neteyam shortly settles beside you. You jump off Sya and give her a small snack. “Sìltsan, Sya, tam tam.” You talk to her affectionately. [Well done][calm]

All the while Neteyam watches you curiously. “What's the octoshroom for?” You give Sya a quick command to be alert for your call.

Neteyam follows you into the dimming forest, your sanhì glowing, “anti-venom… helps the stings of a slinger and other animals,” finding the tall fungi you crouch down to extract the root, “when grinded to a tea it remedies the affects.” Neteyam hums and crouches beside you.

He grabs his knife, “what am I looking for.”

You glance at him, “We need to dig around the base first,” you both start digging, “then this root… here” point at the dark colored root, “and just carefully extract the root with your knife.” You set your basket in between the two of you. You smile slightly seeing how Neteyam is focused on getting the root.

You think about to the conversion Neteyam had with his siblings earlier, “how come you haven’t looked for a mate?” You grab some root and set it inside the basket, “your iknimaya and uniltaron went well did it not?” After na’vi go through their rites of passage it’s common for them to look for a mate aftwards.

Neteyam looks at you, “what about you? You also haven’t looked for a mate.” You chuckle nervously, setting some root in the basket.

“Other na’vi think I’m strange,” you think to your unknown origins, “Not knowing where I come sets me behind some bit. But you– you are the next Olo’eyktan, eldest son of the mighty Toruk Makto, you should hear the girls in mine and Kiri’s weaving class. They’re crazy for you.” You shake your head, “Some of them even make courting gifts.” You chuckle thinking of the girls making the gifts.

Neteyam sheepishly smiles, “I bet you’ve been given some courting gifts.” He says with his heart slightly beating faster.

Humming you shook your head, “Once, Rey’aw gave a necklace, I think Rolä courted him at the same time though.”

Neteyam blinks and sets the last portion of root in the basket, “Were you going to accept?” He asked nervously.

“No, I gave him the necklace back after finding out, they’re happily mated as you know,” you chuckle and think to their little boy, “Their boy is almost a year old now.” Neteyam sighs in relief knowing that you weren’t going to accept Rey’aw’s courting.

You look at the basket and shake it to see how much root is in, content with the amount you stand up, tucking a braid behind your ear. “So? The mighty warrior hasn’t gotten any courting gifts?”

Neteyam stands up and bird calls for his ikran, you do the same, “No–no yeah I have,” biting your lip slightly at his answer you feel your chest tighten. Your eyebrows furrow when you don’t see Sya. “Where's your ikran?”

You stand up straighter and look around, doing your bird call again you still don’t hear the familiar roar of your ikran. “Sya!” You look at Neteyam and he quickly hops on his ikran.

“Come on…” He holds his hand out and you take it and sit behind him. “She must be back where we left them, sleeping.” You squint your eyes down on the ground seeing no sign your ikran, “She’s okay, she’s okay.” Neteyam tried to reassure you.

Memories of your mother surfacing. Your eyes shifted to every bark on trees, every blade of grass. Your ears twitched, listening to the chirps of the birds.

You tilt your head, eyes squinting some more when you see the recognizable blue wings, you tap Neteyam’s shoulder and point down, “Neteyam!”

You practically jump off his ikran before he even landed, “Sya!” You rush towards your ikran, immediately noticing the gashes on her body. “Sya…” You say soft and cradle her head. “What…” Tears welled in your eyes, Sya tried to lift her head as best she can onto your lap. “What happened?” You look into her eyes and rest your forehead onto her body.

Neteyam watches, looking at his own ikran before looking around, his bow in hand.

Your thoughts went back to your first memory, to the unforgettable gashes of a palulukan. Working as a healer you’ve seen these wounds dozens of times after your mother. You felt your throat close up, a sob seeping through, “Neteyam…” He hesitates and sits next to you, “Wha– I don’t understand.” Your shoulders shake, “why didn’t she fly away…” Seeing the tears in your eyes, Neteyam wraps an arm around your shoulders. His eyes shift to Sya’s wings, taking a deep breath when he notices the state of her wings.

He says your name softly, his ears are pointed down, “They– they might come back,” you shake your head, “come on…”

“No,” you sob out and shake your head. Sya looks up at you weakly, eyes reflecting your own, you release a heavy breath and rest your head against her again. Closing your eyes you think back to your mother again. She sang beautifully to lure you to sleep. You start to hum and sing your mother’s songcord to Sya. Neteyam’s ear perk from earring the unfamiliar song. He stares at your face, his hand resting on your back. Trying to comfort you as best as he can.

The next few moments were fuzzy. You finished singing to Sya as she joined the ancestors, Neteyam gently grabs a claw and scale of her wings, putting it in your basket. All remember grabbing a stone that resembles her wings and Neteyam leading you to his ikran to fly back to High Camp.

Neteyam was the one to bring his grandmother the octoshroom root, telling her what happened. Kiri and Lo’ak were back from their adventure, hearing the news also.

Walking back to your kelku seemed like a chore. Your body felt heavy as you walked, quiet sobs leaving when you reached your room, collapsing onto your hammock.

Kiri rushed to your home with Neteyam and Lo’ak. You were still on your hammock, just looking at the wall not making a noise. Kiri says your name softly, “Sister…” She sits beside and rests her hand on her shoulder, “We heard what happened.” You blink back the tears from her words. “I’m sure Sya is with Eywa now, with your mother...”

Getting close to the Sully kids of course came to telling them what happened to your mother. Knowing how close Kiri is to Eywa and her biological mother Grace, you listen to her words closely, trusting on what she says. “I bet she’s also with my mother’s ikran Seze,” Lo’ak add in.

You sit up and look up weakly, your eyes swollen from crying. Your lip shakes and you hug Kiri, feeling the sobs come back, Kiri rubs your back affectionately. “I’m so sorry sister.” Her eyebrows furrow and rock you both in comfort.

Sniffing, you pull away and grab your Songcord, it contains a rock you picked up when your mother died, when you first met the Omatikaya people, and taming Sya, all the moments in your life that made you who you are. Sighing you grab the stone you grabbed earlier, your hand shook so Kiri gently took it to help you tie it to your songcord. Neteyam and Lo’ak sat next together, watching you and Kiri quietly.

Once the rock was tied to your songcord you rub over the stones. “Thank you guys…” Kiri smiles and holds your hand. You look at Neteyam and look back down, “you don’t have to stay, I’ll be fine.”

Lo’ak shakes his head, “We could stay sis,” You smile at him.

“I’m alright,” Kiri goes to say something but you beat her to it, “really.” You try to reassure them. They hesitate but leave together. Netetam pauses and looks back at you, “Thank you Neteyam.” He nods and catches up with his siblings.

You’re not sure how long had passed, you were focused on making a necklace out of Sya’s claw and scale, looming it to have her blue colors. You hear a quick whistle and look up to find Neteyam, “hi,” you look back down to the necklace, “come in.”

He sits by you, placing down a bowl of sari seeds, “Kiri toasted some earlier.” He looked at the necklace and ran a finger down the intricate design you were weaving. “Looks good,” he smiles, “the mighty healer is also a mighty weaver.”

You chuckle and shake your head, “that’s just– stupid,” you jokingly say. “You know my mother had a beautiful voice.” You smile, “She could sing anything and it’ll manage to make me sleep. Even…” You take a deep breath, “Even as she was passing she sang to me.”

Neteyam looks at you and grabs your hand, saying your name, “Strong heart.” Rubbing his thumb over your hand, “in the tales mother tells us when she met my father, she saw he had a strong heart.” He looks in your eyes, his tail swishing. “When the sky people came back, dad said she had a strong heart.” He repeats your name softly, “You have a strong heart.” Your eyebrows furrow, tears welling in your eyes, “From the first time I saw you, I saw your strong heart.” A tear fell and you looked down.

Taking a deep breath Neteyam opens his pouch, pulling out a bracelet, “Kiri helped me make this…” He says your name, you look at him and tilt your head, “I–I asked grandmother if I could court you.” Your heart quickened, “I know she’s not your mother but– she took responsibility and felt it was best to ask still.” You gulp and blink at Neteyam, “would you accept my gift, paskalin?”

Some stray tears fell down your cheeks, smiling you nod your head, “Yes,” you laugh sheepishly, “yes, Neteyam, I will accept your gift.” Neteyam smiles widely, he grabs your wrist and ties the bracelet around your wrist. You chuckle thinking about the event of today, “Courting me the day Sya died… Classic Neteyam.” You both laugh and rest your foreheads against each other.

#avatar #avatar the way of water #atwow #neteyam x reader #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #reader insert #james cameron avatar #avatar fandom #atwow neteyam #atwow fanfiction #neteyam fanfiction #oneshot #fanfic

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dccomicsimagines · 2 years ago

Text

His Little Girl - Clark Kent x Reader

Requested by Anon - Can I have some sweet Superdad!Clark? Where he holds his baby girl, Lara, and it’s all fluff! Please!

***

Clark’s cape floated around him as he carefully opened the balcony door. The apartment was silent. He listened, smiling at the sound of your heartbeat. It was slower. You must have fell asleep.

Tilting his head, he caught the quick, fluttering heartbeat of his newborn daughter. He sucked in a breath as a wail erupted through the apartment.

Clark dashed to the nursery. “Hush, sweetheart.” He glanced down at his fussing baby, taking in her dark hair and perfect little face. A face that was so like yours. His heart melted. He cradled her in his arms, gently lifting her up against his chest.

Lara quieted, her little eyes opened. Her hand rested on his chest, right on the S. Clark hummed a lullaby Ma used to sing to him. A smile pulled at his lips. He heard you shift in the next room.

"Go back to sleep, little Lara. I know you're not hungry," Clark sang softly to the tune of the lullaby. Throughout saving the world tonight, Clark listened for you and Lara. For his own peace of mind, to know you were safe. He knew you fed her just an hour ago.

"And your diaper isn't dirty." Clark smirked. "So were you just lonely, honey?" Lara cooed softly. Clark held his finger out to her, letting her take it. She squeezed it as gently as the flap of a butterflies wing.

He sighed as he heard a shuffle behind him. “Clark? Is she okay?” You wrapped your arms around his waist, resting your cheek against his back.

“She’s okay. Just wanted some attention.” Clark glanced at you, smiling when you were almost asleep. “Go back to bed, sweetheart. I have her.”

You hummed, staying where you were. “How is the world?”

Clark chuckled. “Good, in less trouble now.” He turned in your arms. You almost slumped to the floor, but he caught you in one arm. “Woah there, let’s put you back to bed.”

“But I’m lonely too.” You melted into him. Clark kissed the top of your head. Lara cooed again. “We missed you.”

Clark chuckled. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You tilted your head up blindly, puckering your lips. Clark kissed you sweetly.

He pulled away and gently guided you back to your bedroom. “Go back to sleep, love. I’ll join you in a minute.”

You hummed, eyes closed as he lifted the covers for you to climb into bed. He chuckled when you seemed to pass out immediately. It would be interesting to see if you remembered this in the morning.

Lara whined. Clark sang softly to her as he walked back to the nursey. She was so little, so fragile. He studied her, pacing the room to rock her back to sleep. “I don’t know how my parents had the strength to send me off. It must have been like tearing their heart out.” Clark kissed her forehead. Lara cooed.

“Of course, I would do it to save your life.” Tears filled his eyes. He took a deep breath. “But I hope it would never come to that.”

Lara’s eyes closed. Clark listened as her heartbeat slowed, easing back into sleep. He gently laid her back in her bassinet. “Good night, little Lara.”

Moonlight drifted in through the window. Clark pulled himself away from Lara and went back into your bedroom. You were still fast asleep. Clark leaned down to kiss your cheek before moving to clean himself up.

“Clark?” You mumbled softly, rolling over once he climbed into bed. “Is Lara okay?”

“She’s fine.” He pulled you into his arms. You rested your head on his chest. He listened to your breathing, even and steady.

Looking down at you, Clark felt content. More content than he had been in his whole life. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off into dreamland.

#clark kent #clark kent x reader #clark kent imagine #superman #superman x reader #superman imagine #dc comics imagines #dc reader insert

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forlorn-crows · 10 months ago

Note

How's about kiss #19 with mountrain? ♡

#19 . . . for luck

“This is new for many of us. Including myself. But let’s give them a fucking good show, eh?”

Copia finishes his speech by sticking his fist in the middle of the circle. Each of the ghouls taps his gloved knuckles with their own, a silent gesture of solidarity. Copia smiles, clapping his hands together. “Let’s do it!”

Mountain glances over at Rain, head hanging low and peaked shoulders of his jacket drooping forward.

“Hey—” Mountain taps Rain’s arm gently with the tips of his drumsticks as they break away from the group huddle. “You’re gonna do great, tadpole,” he stage whispers.

The water ghoul takes his bass from a nearby tech and slings it over his shoulder, fingers immediately fiddling with the picks tucked under the pickguard. Miming out tabs with the other. Mountain can’t see the way his eyebrows furrow behind the mask, forcing himself to focus despite the first show jitters.

“Nervous,” Rain huffs after a handful of seconds. “What if they don’t like me?”

Mountain shakes his head. “I know they’ll love you.” He pulls down his balaclava so he can see his sly smile. “Plus, you look good in the outfit. Who’d be mad at that?”

Rain rolls his eyes, but a sliver of his bottom lip shows over his own covering as he bites back a smile. He nods. The grin fades when he glances past the wings at the stage, though, bathed in only the ultraviolet hue of the working lights. Eerily empty, jagged at the corners.

“Tadpole.” Rain jumps a little at the earth ghoul’s voice, shaken out of his daze. Mountain’s arm loops around his waist, and he knocks their fake horns together sweetly. “You’ll be by me, remember? I’ve got you.”

The water ghoul looks at him, glamoured baby blue eyes looking back at him with fondness and promise. “Okay,” he mouths more than speaks.

Mountain smiles then. “C’mere.” He pulls at Rain’s balaclava, tugging him closer and pulling it off his mouth at the same time. When their lips meet, he sinks into it, melting into the warm hand cradling his jaw. Gripping onto Mountain’s shirtsleeve like he might lose him if he doesn’t.

The kiss is tender, but brief. A moment of calm in the sudden whirlwind of bodies around them. Rain doesn’t want it to end, but he knows it has to.

“For luck,” Mountain says when he pulls away. He rights Rain’s balaclava, and then his own.

As if on queue, the droning synth of Ashes rumbles through the sound system, reverberating through the butterflies in his chest and sending a zing of anticipation down his spine. There’s a flurry of movement as everyone migrates to places, mumbles of directions to sound and lighting, microphones being checked and double checked by black-sneakered techs. Less than forty seconds to go. Dew silently squeezes past them and takes his place downstage left, head bowing low with arms tucked behind his back. Cumulus squeezes both their shoulders as she passes, bouncing on the balls of her little heels, giddy and ready to go.

And yet beside him, Mountain is still and unbothered, much like his namesake. Tenured into his role and his routines.

As soon as the children's nursery rhyme begins to echo across the auditorium, the earth ghoul grabs his hand. Tips his head towards the stairs upstage right and starts to move.

“Come along, darling. Let’s show them what you’ve got.”

#happy mountain monday!!!#crow caws #miasma #send me a number and i'll write a kiss #ficlet #the band ghost #crow writes #the band ghost fanfiction #mountain ghoul #rain ghoul #mountain x rain #rain x mountain #mountain/rain #rain/mountain #no more kissies for rain tho mountain is in SeriousTM mode now

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rita-repulsa-ke · 1 month ago

Text

The Reveal

Agatha feels a sudden bitterness welling in her chest, remembering her coven fastening her to a stake.

Teach me, she had begged. Please, teach me! Help me control it!

Instead, they’d chosen to die. Maybe Rio would like the same choice.

Technically a sequel to First Meeting, but you don't need to have read it. Agatha finds out Rio's true nature in the most Agatha way possible, by trying to get Rio to kill her.

After the first time they have sex, Agatha almost doesn’t say it, that’s how good Rio is in bed. But in her experience, it isn’t a good idea to drag these things out. Not that she’s worried about getting attached, but Rio is canny, as well as sexy and a little crazy. She’ll figure it out, if she hasn’t already, and so it's better for Agatha to get what she wants as soon as possible.

So she sits up, stretches lazily, runs her tongue over sore, bitten lips and says, “Wow, you are really shit in bed.”

She does get a thrill out of the way Rio’s eyes, half-closed, sated with pleasure, snap open to stare at her. Less thrilling is the way the other woman bursts into ear-splitting hysterics. “Liiiiies,” she says, scrambling to sitting to catch Agatha’s mouth with hers. It is a kiss akin to a final showdown, pistols at dawn, a duel to the death. Agatha returns it with equal ferocity, seduction is a battleground she rarely loses at, but for once, she finds that she's overmatched, left melting under the unmistakable hunger in the other woman's kiss.

It's a battle she almost doesn't mind losing.

Rio pulls back, leaves her with bruised, bitten lips and aching for more. “You’re going to have to pick a better insult than that,” Rio purrs, watching her half-lidded and smug. “You weren’t exactly quiet.”

Agatha feels her cheeks heat. “Fine. My turn, then," she says and leans down to kiss Rio.

She sees the other woman ready to meet it with force, do battle with tongue and teeth, but Agatha meets instead her with spun-sugar sweetness, delicate as a butterfly’s wing, slightly parted lips and shared breath, her hand cupping Rio's cheek like the other woman were the most precious thing in the world.

And she’d thought so before, but when she breaks the contact, she’s sure. Her new toy likes that so much. She's watching Agatha with blown pupils, her breathing coming in short, sharp bursts. "…Do that again," she whispers.

“Here, darling, let me,” Agatha purrs, savoring the power in this, as she does it over and over again, kisses as sweet as honey, soft as satin. She moves closer and pulls Rio against her, fingercombs her hair. Kisses Rio on the nose once and this is not her kind of interaction at all, she really prefers it rougher and hungrier, sex instead of affection, but the reaction makes it worth it—she’s got a trembling pile of green witch in her arms and once again, she contemplates waiting, savoring this a little longer.

But the longer you held on, the worse it was when it ended.

So she pulls back, looks into those beautiful eyes and prepares to blow it all up. “You like that, huh? No one ever nice to you? Stick with me, and I can take good care of you,” she purrs, one finger prodding Rio’s cheek. “You can be my dog.”

The other woman sighs deeply, like a sleeper being disturbed in the midst of an amazing dream. “Okay, Agatha, have it your way.”

Some part of Agatha is a touch disappointed. It would have been nice if it had lasted just a teensy bit longer.

But relationships are short-lived and power is forever.

Rio’s power blasts toward her, jagged black and green, and that’s more like it, there’s so much of it and it can all be hers—

Except when she reaches for it, her lungs lock up in her chest, her heart stops mid-beat and she’s aware of what’s happening for the space of single breath before the electrical activity in her brain stutters to a halt.

When she jerks back to life, her heart banging around in her chest like a prisoner trying to escape their cell, it's to Rio’s banshee shriek of a laugh. “Whoops,” the green witch says, watching Agatha doubled over, sobbing for breath, more aware of her lungs than she's ever wanted to be. “Too much for you, baby?”

“How did you do that,” Agatha gasps.

Rio reaches out and ruffles her hair, which Agatha would normally protest to, but she's busy re-experiencing what it is to be alive. “That’s your first question?”

“No. My first question is, can you teach me to do that?”

Rio stills, stares at her with something uncomfortably like delight, entirely the wrong emotion for this conversation. “I can’t.”

Agatha feels a sudden bitterness welling in her chest, remembering her coven fastening her to a stake.

Teach me, she had begged. Please, teach me! Help me control it!

Instead, they’d chosen to die. Maybe Rio would like the same choice.

She summons her magic to her, staticky purple threat dancing through the air. “Reconsider,” she says, a nasty smile crawling across her face.

“Agatha. Not I won’t. I can’t,” Rio says, gentle, patient. “Look.”

She drops the mask and Agatha’s power dissipates as she gapes, open-mouthed, at Death.

“Oh,” she says. “You’re beautiful.”

When Rio asks about this later, Agatha will deny saying it, but now she is utterly entranced by the sheer beauty of Death. She’s killed so many, but she’s never realized how breathtaking a part of the natural order could be.

Death looks mildly startled, then her skeletal features curve into a tranquil expression, the promise of a peaceful end. “You are never quite what I expect," she says, her voice a sepulchral whisper that raises the hair on Agatha's arms, but in the best way possible.

In response, Agatha leans up and kisses her, a brush of her lips over Death’s, chaste, even a bit overawed.

“…That was also really mean,” Rio adds after a number of heartbeats, each of which Agatha appreciates getting to have. “What you just said.”

Agatha snorts, more like herself. “Well, I was trying to get you to blast me. Being mean is kind of the point.”

“Still, maybe at least apologize before demanding I teach you all my secrets?”

“Should I? You did kill me over it, though. That seems like a decent enough revenge.”

”Other people might be afraid."

Agatha meets Death’s eyes and now there’s no awe, only Agatha, the smile on her lips certain to the point of madness. “I am not other people.”

Rio’s breath catches, and her mask falls back into place. Agatha isn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. “Agatha Harkness…” Rio says, and there it is again, completely unwarranted affection verging on adoration in the other woman’s eyes. No one has ever looked at Agatha like that before.

She doesn't exactly hate it.

“So what now?” Agatha asks, curling closer, pressing a kiss to the corner of Rio’s lips, playing with her fingers.

“You promised me bodies."

“I did.” Not crazy after all. Something far more interesting. “And I will provide.”

“Then I guess you’re stuck with me,” Rio murmurs.

“How will I live?” Agatha says, her smile playful, seductive. "You know, come to think of it, I was very mean to you before. Let me make it up to you."

As she leans forward and kisses Rio properly, taking her time with it, intent on making Death swoon, it occurs to her that she can't kill this one, that she might really be stuck with her. Of course, eventually she will leave on her own, when she gets tired of Agatha. Everyone does.

But, a treacherous thought whispers in the very back of her mind, what if she stays?

If you haven't, consider reading the Ritual of the Rose, now on AO3. Or, for fluff, try Flirting or for more of Agatha having issues, try rio stays

#agatha all along #agatha x rio #agathario #Agatha is so wildly arrogant here #It's very funny to me

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babydollmarauders · 2 years ago

Text

LABYRINTH — JACK HUGHES

jack hughes x fem! reader

summary: y/n goes through the 3 stages of falling in love with her best friend; realization, fear, and relief. based on the 3 “i’m falling in love” lines in Labyrinth by Taylor Swift.

notes: most of this was written when i was sleep deprived and it’s not proofread, so i apologize in advance! i’m still still trying to decide if i like writing in 1st pov or 3rd pov more tbh.

gif not mine.

REALIZATION

i felt like my fingertips may freeze off. and the longer i sat in the glass seat in Prudential Center, the colder they got. i’d been to too many of Jack’s games to count, but it never failed that i always forget how cold it really was sitting directly by the ice.

“i’m freezing my tits off.” i looked over to Luke Hughes, who occupied the seat next to me.

“Luke, you don’t have tits to freeze off.”

“what are you talking about? mine are bigger than yours, eh?” he jokes. i let loose a mock gasp and hit his arm.

“how rude!”

with two minutes left in the third period, i was grateful the game would be over soon. i was less grateful, however, that it was looking like the Devils would be breaking their six game win streak tonight. they’re currently down by one, with the Panthers having four goals against the Devils three.

i had my eyes glued to the puck, mumbling to whatever higher entity would listen, praying for a last minute game tying goal. luck was on our side tonight because with ten seconds left on the clock, Dougie managed to slap shot the puck straight past the head of Bobrovsky and into the net. i shot to my feet, clutching onto Luke’s arm as he stood beside me, both of us with wide eyes and our jaws dropped open.

we settled back in our seats a few minutes later to watch the additional five minutes of overtime, both of us hunched closer to the glass, my hands fidgeting in anxiety. i watched as Jack, Nico, and Dougie skated to the center of the ice for puck drop. Dougie gains possession of the puck quickly, skating it into the Panthers zone before dropping it back to Nico, who tries for a one-shot, which is knocked away by Bobrovsky. Jack gains control of the rebound puck and makes quick work of snapping it into the goal.

Luke and i once again raise to our feet, cheering for his brother and my best friend. Jack skates around the glass bordering the ice, arms up in the air in celebration before skidding to a stop in front of us. our eyes lock and he lifts his hand against the glass. heart fluttering, i place my hand directly against the glass to match his and he mutters out two words.

“for you.”

a low simmering arises in my gut and i feel my heart skip a beat, or three, as he skates away to hug his teammates. what was that? am i having heart palpitations? should i be going to see a doctor?

i catch Jack’s eye once more as Nico taps his helmet and he flashes a smile my way. in return, my heart flips again. my mind whirls through thoughts faster than a hummingbirds wings before settling on the only real explanation.

uh oh, i’m falling in love.

now i meet Luke’s gaze and he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, though his reason for it, i’m not too sure. i’ve been friends with all of the Hughes brothers since elementary school, it’s not as though he should suspect anything between Jack and i.

FEAR

it’s been 2 months since i came to the realization that i was falling in love with Jack, and now i’m leaned against the doorway leading into his bedroom, watching him pack for a roadie. the heart fluttering and stomach butterflies have long since vanished, leading me to believe that my traitorous heart got the memo that he and i will never be more than best friends.

“you’re sure you don’t wanna bring a friend out to the game? you can bring Luke if he can get away from UMich for a weekend.” Jack’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts and i give a slight shake of my head to clear my thoughts.

“i don’t know, i’ll let you know. i already talked to Luke but he said he has his own games this weekend. maybe i can find someone to come out with me, but you know i’ll be there regardless.”

“i would be sorely disappointed if you weren’t there. you know how happy it makes me to see you in the crowd.”

and as if a flip switched, the heart flutters were back.

“i’m your biggest fan Jacky, of course i’ll be there. no matter if i have to go alone or not.” i moved my way fully into the bedroom and picked up his messily packed bag, flipping it over and scattering the clothes on his bed before idly folding them and placing them right back into the duffel bag.

“you know you don’t don’t need to fold my clothes, right? i can do it myself.” Jack folds his arms and hits me with a half smile.

“obviously not, you still pack like a teenage boy. you’re gonna end up with wrinkles in all your shirts.” i roll my eyes and sit on the edge of the bed as i continue to fold.

“you love me.” he retorts, finally joining into the folding. my heart skips a beat once again, and i know that he doesn’t mean it in the way that i do, but my hopeless romantic side doesn’t seem to understand that.

after dropping Jack off at Prudential Center to catch the bus to the airport with the rest of his teammates, i’m laid in bed on the phone with my friend, Emma.

“the game is on Saturday, if you wanted to fly out with me. Jack is willing to pay for your flight so that i won’t be alone. but if not, that’s cool. i can go on my own.”

“yeah, i can go! although, i’ve gotta say; you’re really sure this guy is JUST your best friend? i mean, what “just friend” is willing to pay for someone to fly out to one of his games JUST so you won’t be alone?”

“that’s just the kind of person Jack is. he’s exceptionally sweet. and he has this protective nature. he doesn’t like the idea of me going to games alone because he knows how people can be. he’s so thoughtful and always prepared to help in any way he can.” i can feel the smile gracing my lips but no matter how much i try, i can’t will it away. i always get happy talking about my best friend.

“you’re in love with him.” Emma singsongs and i can hear her smirk through the phone. “i can tell by your voice. you get the same airy lilt that my sister gets when she talks about her husband. like you would do anything for him. like he hung the moon in the sky just for you.”

“he’s my best friend, Em. i’ve known him since i was an awkward little girl with lopsided pigtails and gap teeth. obviously i would do anything for him. just being his friend makes me immensely happy.”

“but you want to be MORE than friends. you can’t fool me. i’ve been where you are right now. you love him, but you don’t think he feels the same way. but i can tell you right now that any guy that would go through the lengths that he does to make sure you feel happy and safe, definitely loves you in more than a friend way.”

oh no, i’m falling in love again.

my sigh is loud and clear. rolling onto my side, i place my phone on speaker on-top of the pillow next to me.

“you need to tell him how you feel. or better yet, just kiss him.” Emma speaks again.

“it’s not necessarily just that i don’t think he feels the same way, although i do think that observation is wildly inaccurate. it’s the fact that it could ruin everything if i made a move and i was wrong. he’s my best friend and i can’t afford to lose him.”

RELIEF

the off season has officially arrived, and the thought of having Jack to myself for a few months has me more excited than i’d care to admit. we arrived at the Hughes lake house yesterday, meeting Luke who was already here, and Quinn and Trevor both arrived this morning.

We were all sat outside around a fire now, the guys all drinking beers and reminiscing on past summers spent here.

“oh, remember when Jack was dating that Stacey girl that was renting that house down the street a few summers ago? god she was awful.” Trevor’s voice was a few octaves higher than needed, due to the alcohol in his system, but it mattered little to the others because Quinn and Luke laughed along with him.

“oh c’mon you guys, she wasn’t that bad!” i could spot the red tinge to Jack’s cheeks from my spot beside him, the firelight sharing an orange glow to admire him in.

“uh dude, yeah she was! she was so jealous of y/n that she pushed her off the boat!” my eyes get wide and i start shaking my head at Trevor, dragging my hand in front of my neck in a stop motion, but he just kept talking. “and don’t you remember all those nasty things she said about her? girl was just plain awful!”

i look back up to Jack just in time to see the frown that takes place. he looks towards me with furrowed eyebrows.

“wait what? why did you never tell me any of this?”

“oh shit did you not know?” Quinn’s laughter cuts off and he looks genuinely concerned. “y/n, i thought you told him when you told us.”

i shake my head and avert my gaze down to my feet but Jack has other plans. grabbing ahold of my chin, he moves my head to look towards him again.

“i didn’t say anything because i didn’t wanna ruin your relationship or sound like a jealous bitch. and you guys eventually called it quits anyways, so what’s the big deal?”

“the big deal is that you didn’t tell me sooner, y/n. the big deal is that i would’ve tossed her to the curb immediately if you had told me she was acting that way. YOU wouldn’t’ve been the one ruining the relationship, SHE would’ve.” his voice is sharp and kind of daunting, contradicting his soft gaze pointed on me. i can see the worry in his eyes and know his next words before he says them. “are you okay?”

“i’m fine, Jack. it was a long time ago. can we please just forget about it?” i sigh and muster up a smile before turning back towards the fire. “do you guys remember the time we saran-wrapped Luke to his bed while he slept?”

“YOU WERE IN ON THAT?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!” Luke’s words make the other three guys all burst out in laughter.

“who’s idea did you think it was, Moosey?” Quinn is hunched over in laughter at the memory and i’ve slowly started scooting forward in my seat in preparation for what i know will come next.

“oh i’m gonna get you for that!” Luke shoots to his feet and that’s all it takes for me to set off like a race horse.

i can hear his footsteps not far behind me, chasing me into the house. i shut the back door behind me, in order to save me a few precious seconds and i run straight into the living room, leaping behind the couch and settling into a hiding spot between the sofa and the wall. i can hear Luke bound into the room before he moves onto the next room, but then i also hear the footfall of the other three coming in from outside as well. no longer than ten seconds pass before Jack’s head pops up above me, a large grin spread across his face.

“hello there.” the shock makes me jump and i laugh and poke his nose.

“shhh, don’t let him find me.” Jack pretends to think, nodding his head and tapping his chin with an index finger before-

“LUKE! SHE’S HIDING BEHIND THE SOFA!”

i let out an incredulous gasp and pop back up into a standing position, ready to run once more, but Jack wraps his arms around my midsection, keeping me planted in the spot.

“i thought you were my best friend! how could you betray me like this?! our friendship may never recover! i don’t think we can ever be friends again after this!” my mockery and jokes come to an abrupt pause when he takes a seat on the couch, pulling me down to fall into his lap. i can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and i look away, hoping he can’t see my blush from this angle.

“you can’t get rid of me that easily. we’re soulmates, y/n, remember?” and cue the butterflies once more. “you said that when we were 10. i didn’t really understand it at the time, but now i think you might’ve been right.”

oh, i’m falling in love.

i can feel his breath fanning my ear, and i peek over my shoulder to look at his face. our eyes lock and i know my entire face must be red and spotted from my blushing, but the look in his eyes makes me feel like the most beautiful girl alive right now.

his eyes flicker down to my lips once. twice. and one final third time, before he starts to lean in. and with a mind of their own, my lips follow until they graze his. the kiss is light at first, nothing more than a peck, before he finally captures my lips with his. his arms loosen around my middle and his hands trail to settle onto my hips, turning me mid-kiss to fit better on his lap. i pull back, leaning my forehead against his, and a wide and breathtaking smile graces his lips.

“i’m falling in love with you, y/n. i think i have been for the past eleven years.”

#jack hughes imagine #jack hughes #jack hughes x reader #nhl imagine #babydollmarauders #faithlynn’s writings <3 #new jersey devils

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pixiedustjellicle · 4 months ago

Note

Platoria one shot please

I don't like many ships, but they are soft and do give me feels.

A soft thump thump of paws hit the ground, but the white queen had picked up his scent before the vibration of his landing. Her nose scrunched up in a smile and she covered her face with one paw as she stretched out, pretending the patch of sunlight was suddenly far too bright. Really, she just wanted to hide the blush that certainly showed on her pale pink nose.

Two weeks since the Ball, and every day without fail, when her people left the house, Plato came to visit. Jellylorum called them twitterpated, whatever that meant. And Skimbleshanks had tried to sit them down to have some sort of chat about how when cats grew up, they started getting new feelings… but the two had managed to change the subject by asking him about his weekend on the Midnight Mail.

Plato laid next to her, reaching out to nudge her with a paw. When her blue eyes finally met his, the young tomcat just melted, a purr rising in his chest. He was growing less shy with every meeting, and for good reason. Victoria didn't judge him for his father, she didn't make fun of him for being more introverted.

<Do you have it?> He signed with his paws, green eyes wide with hopeful excitement. After only a moment she nodded, standing up and motioning him with her tail to follow her in through the open window.

That was new. Every cat's territory was sacred, and so far, he'd only been allowed in the garden. He didn't expect she'd let him inside, and his heart pounded at the consideration that she really trusted him so much. After only a moment, he followed her in, carefully stepping as he looked around at the fancy things she had. She'd told him about her people, how they brushed her and gave her toys and a treat every night.

He was jealous. Jealousy wasn't healthy, he knew. But to have a family that wanted you, feline or human… it sure sounded nice to the young tom, who'd never had either.

He paused to look at the softest bed, wondering if they both could fit, curled into each other, then remembered that she was a pedigreed cat. Her people had picked her specifically. They wouldn't want him when they could have her. Not that he blamed them.

Victoria jumped up to a human bed, a smaller one, and motioned to the book on it. Some cats could read- and Jennyanydots promised to teach him- but he couldn't yet. But Victoria had promised him a special book that anyone could read, because even her people's kitten could read it. In fact, she read it to Victoria so often, that even without hearing it, she'd learned it by heart. And she really thought Plato would enjoy it.

He looked at the picture on the cover and gave a goofy smile. There was a pure white cat, a ginger one, and three little kittens. When Victoria opened it, his eyes lit up. It was filled with pictures! Every page was full of pretty drawings, and they told the story… a sweet mother cat, ever beloved by her person, lost outside with her kittens. A- very handsome, of course- ginger tom to help guide them home. And when the tom was staring at the white queen’s eyes… Plato found he was no longer looking at the pictures.

Victoria looked up at him as she turned through the pages, to see if he was ready for her to move on, only to see him looking at her like the tribe looked at the Moon. Her heart fluttered like butterfly wings.

<What do you see?> she asked, tilting her head slightly.

<Bastet herself.> he replied, resting his head over hers. And this time, Victoria purred as well.

#cats the musical #victoria cats #plato cats #admetus cats #platoria #cats the musical fanfiction #theyre so soft #victoria is deaf #you can not change my mind

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bellekawata-san · 6 months ago

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𝐌𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍

EP.03

"Nights are when I can finally let loose," you think as you grab the key necklace and lock your room, picking up your phone to check the messaging app where you can clearly see messages from your parents. Each message explains how they'll be away as usual, which you don't mind much. Walking to the balcony, you open the luxurious doors. Sass, the snake kwami, emerges from his small hiding place, moving to stand in front of you, illuminated by the moonlight, the only light in the dark room.

"Another night... Sass, scales slither..." the kwami is pulled into your bracelet, and soon your body is adorned in that costume. Turning around, you begin to move towards the balcony, climbing onto the small wall before finally jumping to your semi-freedom.

"I hope I get to tear the wings off that butterfly pest," you think as you stand atop a building, already looking at your miraculous on your wrist."Second Chance!" you activate the miraculous power before leaping across rooftops, searching for any sign of Hisperia. Hearing a noise, you jump onto a roof and look down, only to see Claw Noir and Shadybug arguing as usual.

"Sucuri!" You feel someone approaching from behind and, already recognizing the voice, you don't even need to turn around. "Hello to you too, Queenbee~" you say, dragging out the words like a snake. The girl just scoffs as she stands beside you, watching the two arguing below."Those two are always fighting. That's why they never manage to catch that annoying butterfly idiot. They're—" Queenbee falls silent when you raise a hand to stop her from continuing.

"Leave them be. After all... if the Supreme entrusted them with Miraculouses, it's because they're useful. As my right hand, you should know that~" you say, dragging your words like a snake again. Lowering your hand and letting it rest at your side, Queenbee can only sigh as she watches the two below, each grabbing their weapons and heading after one of the akumatized villains now destroying posters of the Supreme or anything related to him.

"I could easily go down there and just finish off that insect," you say, shaking your head in disapproval as you watch the two arguing and attempting to take down the butterfly holder from a distance. You hum in disapproval, observing their chaotic efforts.

Before turning and walking to the other side of the rooftop, you say, "You can go back and rest, Queenbee~. It seems you won't need to get your paws dirty~" dragging out the last word like a snake. Queenbee sighs."Alright, Sucuri. When you need my excellent skills to eliminate that insect, just call me. Goodbye, dear," she says, leaping off the building and disappearing from view, leaving you staring at the moon above.

Sighing, you start jumping across the rooftops, following Ladybug and Black Cat from a distance. You watch as they seem to lose track of Butterfly once again. The argument between them begins before they each go their separate ways, perhaps to rest. Now finally "alone," you step out of the shadows, fully illuminated by the moonlight."It's on calm and empty nights like these that I feel good," you think as you look over the dark Paris, feeling the cold and comforting wind. You are about to head home when a leaf drifts past you.

Catching the leaf before it flies further, you notice scribbled lyrics on it. The person seemed to be trying to create a song, but the remaining words suggest they didn't have a solid idea. Looking confused, you turn to where the paper came from. The street is empty, illuminated only by the moonlight and streetlights. Even with your night vision, you still see the emptiness of the place. Sighing, you jump off the rooftop, letting the leaf in progress drift slowly to the ground. You couldn't care less about the owner or about carrying something so useless.

Leaping onto the balcony and detransforming, the night now comes to an end. Closing the balcony door and drawing the curtains, you observe Sass floating beside you. Raising your hand, you let him sit calmly on it. You then head to your bed, placing the kwami on the pillow next to yours."Rest..." you say before turning to go to the bathroom.

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 2 years ago

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Hi can I request a Hades x Persephone! Reader? Similar from their story in the Greek mythology but instead of persephone its reader? Thank you!

This wound up being so much more fun to write than I initially thought! This is one of my favorite Greek myths~~~

-You couldn’t begin to think about how long it had been that you considered yourself free.

-Your mother kept you on a short leash, never to stray far from her, forced to remain trapped under her watchful eye.

-Your mother did her best to keep men away from you, as you blossomed into a beautiful young maiden, threatening any who dared to approach you with physical harm.

-She kept you locked up as well, trying to keep you from the leering eyes of others, you were like a caged bird, just wanting to spread your wings.

-When out with your mother you could run around, play in the rivers and flower fields, making friends with nymphs who were taken by your kind heart and beautiful looks.

-Your mother told you that her protection, the reason why she keeps you close, is to keep you safe, not wanting anyone to steal you away from her, trying to scare you that everyone other than her only wanted to use you because you were pretty.

-You could feel the shackles that were her hands around your wrists and around your neck, keeping you with her.

-You were in a large field, flowers everywhere and the nymphs were running around, playing with butterflies while you watched, weaving a flower crown.

-The sound of a large dog then caught your attention, and you looked around, wanting to see the creature, as you wanted to pet the doggy.

-The ground shook once or twice, like something big was coming and you saw a fissure in the ground open up and out came a large 3-headed dog, the size of an elephant.

-The nymphs instantly ran, scared but your eyes turned into stars, “Aww~~ you’re so cute!!”

-You knew this was Cerberus, the god of death, Hades’, dog, but you weren’t scared as it immediately came over, seeing you, hearing our cooing and was instantly on his belly before you, his tail wagging as you were quick to stand and approach, scratching and petting the three heads.

-You weren’t sure how Cerberus got loose, but as the three heads all whined, wanting your attention, you couldn’t care less, enjoying the massive puppy dog!

-You then heard a voice, “Cerberus!” and you peeked out from behind the dog, seeing Hades running over towards you, panting a bit and he was surprised to see you, a little flower goddess, petting the ‘mighty’ Cerberus, with no fear and he was soaking up your attention.

-Hades smiled down at you, “Thank you for catching him for me. He slipped right out when I was trying to feed him.”

-You smiled warmly, not at all bothered, “It’s all right, he came right to me.”

-Hades was going to speak again, taken by your fresh looks and warm smile, but a sharp voice cut him off, “Y/N!” you turned, seeing your mother storming over, looking furious to see Hades and his hound both there.

-She immediately grabbed you, pulling you behind her, “Stay away from my daughter, Hades!” he immediately held his hands up, claiming innocence, “She helped catch Cerberus when he got away from me.”

-She rolled her eyes, “Sure he did- a likely excuse! Y/N go home- now!” you flinched at her tone, something she missed but Hades did not as you spared a glance to him and Cerberus, pulling your hands to your chest and you turned, heading home.

-Your mother arrived home shortly at you, immediately coming over, cupping your cheeks as she kneeled in front of you as you were sitting in your chair by the window, “Did he hurt you- try to touch you?”

-You shook your head, “No mother- I’m fine. I just pet Cerberus, he came out of a fissure that broke open and came over to me when I called for him, so he wouldn’t chase the nymphs. Then Hades came after him and just told me thank you.”

-She deflated, sighing in relief that nothing had happened to you, standing and hugging you close, “I’m so glad he didn’t do anything to you.”

-You were confused by her reaction, she was like this with all men, even those younger than you, unless if they were a child, treating them all like they were monsters who were going to hurt you.

-Over a week passed since you had been outside, basically locked in the house, as your mother didn’t want you to leave, not willing to risk your safety at the moment.

-You had tried to beg her to take you with her when she went out to her fields, just so you could go outside, but she was firm, not letting you step one foot outside the house.

-Hades was watching you, seeing how your mother treated you, keeping you locked up like you were some sort of precious jewel that nobody but her was allowed to see. He could see your sadness, just wanting to be outside again.

-He had been watching you, via the eyes of one of his birds, which was resting in a tree by your home, to not arouse any suspicion, seeing you longingly stare out the windows.

-When your mother finally let you outside, as if you had been the one being punished, you felt so free, immediately laying in the grass, soaking up the warm sunshine, as if you were a flower too.

-You wandered the field, close to where your mother was working, flowers blooming at your feet and you heard the warning in your mother’s tone, “Don’t stray too far, Y/N.”

-Your eyes were sad, something she didn’t notice, “Yes mother…” before you kept walking, remaining in eyesight of her.

-A single tear slipped down your cheek, landing on the earth below, you just wanted to be free.

-Your mother looked away for a moment, seeing you kneeling over some wildflowers, looking at the different flowers, and when she looked back, you were gone.

-Instantly she panicked, her basket falling, “Y/N? Y/N!!” as she ran to where you were only a moment ago, seeing the footprints but nothing else. You just vanished.

-You had been surprised when the ground opened up suddenly and swallowed you, instantly finding yourself embraced by Hades who smiled down at you.

-He set you down and took a small step back, “Hello again, Y/N.” you greeted him politely, only feeling just a bit nervous as you were alone with a relatively unknown man in what you were easily able to recognize as the underworld.

-It wasn’t scary like you had thought it was going to be, black marble pillars and matching tiled floor, torches lining the hallways, it was dark yes, but not overly scary.

-Hades took your hand, pecking the back of it gently, “Forgive me for pulling you so suddenly here, but when I saw you crying I couldn’t stand to see you so upset anymore.”

-You started, wondering how he had been watching you, before you remembered he was one of the strongest and most powerful gods in Valhalla before you spoke, your eyes falling, “My mother isn’t going to be happy that I’m here.”

-His hand gently gripped your own, getting your attention back on him, “I’m not worried about her happiness, I only care about yours at the moment…and Cerberus, he has been whining, wanting to see you again.”

-You couldn’t help but giggle softly, thinking it was cute as Hades showed you around, giving you a tour of his home, keeping you away from the more…unpleasant side of the underworld, such as the vengeful and evil souls that clogged his glowing river.

-You know it was a bit foolish, but you stayed with Hades, enjoying the tours, seeing Cerberus again, and just enjoying freedom!

-Hades let you go wherever you wished to in Helheim, in his section of the underworld, as there was more than one, telling his guards to protect you.

-You definitely didn’t fit in, your bright dress, the flowers in your hair that never seemed to wilt, your bright smile and sunny disposition, but everyone around could see how happy Hades was to have you around.

-You decided to remain in Helheim with Hades, not wanting to return to your suffocating mother, being afraid to in all honestly; if she found out that he had taken you here, she really would lock you up and never let you out.

-You hated doing that to your mother, as Hades had shown you what she had done to the Greek pantheon and on earth, but seeing her desperation to have you back, she scared you, so you chose to stay with Hades.

-He supported your decision, as you were free to go anytime you wanted, telling you that he would keep you safe if she ever came to get you.

-He never pushed you to do anything you didn’t want to do but you slowly fell in love with him, realizing that he had been in love with you since he first pulled you to Helheim, but unlike your mother’s tales of how men were cruel and vile creatures who would only hurt you, Hades treated you so gently, so fondly.

-It got to the point where if you asked him to go on a walk with you, he would drop everything to escort you, while his servants had been pleading with him to take a break for hours.

-You quickly became just as powerful, as you had Hades wrapped around your finger, something his servants used to their advantage, suggesting to you that you and him should go get some food together, or go take a nap, as he would listen to you without hesitation.

-When Hades finally asked you to marry him, you showed your powers when you turned so red, red roses bloomed all over his palace, covering his black marble with rose bushes; he wasn’t upset however, he actually roared with laughter, amused by your reaction.

-Zeus had his hands full dealing with your hysterical mother who had torn up so much of Valhalla, looking for you, even descending to earth to look for you, begging anyone she came across if they had seen you.

-Zeus knew you were safe, that you were with his big brother, and he could see how happy you looked now, as he had been worried about you, seeing how your mother had been smothering you, keeping you locked up.

-When humans started to die off, dying of starvation as your mother refused to do her job until you were back home with her.

-Zeus, as much as he didn’t want to, had no choice but to tell her where you were and she almost killed Zeus in a blind rage, furious that he knew the whole time where you had been and let her search frantically for you and starve humanity.

-Zeus did tell her, once she was calmed down enough, after being strapped to a chair to keep her from killing him or any other, “Your daughter was suffocating under you, Demeter. You kept her locked up and hidden away from everyone that she willing decided to stay with Hades, who gives her the freedom she so desperately wants!”

-Your mother was furious, screaming that he was lying, not seeing what everyone else had seen, demanding you back or she would let all of humanity starve and perish!

-Having no choice, Zeus sent Hermes, whom you’ve met before, as he taught you how to play chess, to fetch both you and Hades, to return to your mother.

-You instantly refused, arms crossing in front of your chest, before Hades, now your husband, was the one to try to reason with you, telling you that humans were dying because your mother was letting them starve unless if she got you back.

-Hermes was surprised when you yelled back, as you never yelled, absolutely furious, “She’s trying to blackmail me into going back to her by holding the lives of innocent people and creatures hostage! She’ll lock me up to keep me with her again! I won’t- I can’t go back!!”

-Hades hugged you tightly, seeing you getting frantic and you broke down in harsh sobs, sliding to your knees in his arms, angering not only him but Hermes as well, seeing how distraught you were to return to your mother.

-With Hades by your side you went before Zeus and the other Greek gods, including your mother who was instantly in tears, trying to rush at you, but she froze as you stepped behind your husband hiding from her.

-Your mother tried to scream and attack Hades, screaming that he had tainted you, turned you against her, but Zeus was quick to silence not only her, but everyone else in attendance.

-The meeting was long, filled with lots of shouting, but Hades was your rock, holding onto your hand gently, stroking the back of it with his thumb.

-After Hermes confirm it, a bit of plotting on the three of you, that you ate the fruit of the underworld, pomegranate, eating 6 seeds, Zeus proclaimed, to make everyone happy, that you would reside with your husband for 6 months out of the year and 6 months with your mother.

-Your mother wasn’t happy, saying that while you were away then she wouldn’t do her duties, something Zeus agreed to, which shocked everyone until he told her that she needed to tell humanity she was going to do this, so to prepare in advance so they didn’t run out of food, which she agreed to.

-Even with Zeus commanding it so, you didn’t want to return to your mother, not wanting to leave your husband, who was just was heartbroken as you were.

-He got you a phone, one that your mother had no right to look at, so you and him could communicate during the half of the year you were with your mother, which did help.

-As you called it, your mother tried to lock you away, hiding you from everyone, even your husband, not willing to let anyone else have you.

-She didn’t understand why you were so upset, you were finally home with her, you should be happy, not pining for the man who was just using you!

-You worked hard, bringing the earth back to life, earning your new title as the goddess of spring, shocking your mother on how powerful you actually were, with her right beside you when out and about, because who knows when that evil Hades would try to snatch you away again.

-When it came time for you to return to the underworld, your mother acted rather predictably, throwing a huge tantrum, actually locking you up in your room, screaming at Zeus, Hades, and Hermes.

-She wasn’t expecting a massive rose bush to bust down the wall of your bedroom to the outside, letting you walk out, pissed off as she tried to rush at you, “Don’t leave my daughter!”

-You stepped back, finally standing up to her, “This is why I want to leave, mother! You lock me up and try to make me believe my husband is the evil one! You’re too suffocating!!”

-She begged and pleaded with you, which did make you feel bad as she started to cry before Zeus patting your back gently, “Go on now Y/N. We’ll handle this.”

-You nodded and turned to Hades who smiled as you instantly beamed, running to him and leaping into his arms, flowers sprouting all around the two of you and in your hair.

-Your mother could only stare, seeing you smiling so much with that man who stole you away. You looked so happy, she couldn’t even remember you smiling at her once that wasn’t a forced smile these past six and a half months.

-She broke down in sobs, letting Hermes and Zeus comfort her as you and Hades returned to the underworld, hand-in-hand.

#record of ragnarok #ror x reader #ror hades

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katyspersonal · 6 months ago

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(my internet went out the moment i hit send so in case it didn't go through, here it is again, please ignore if you did receive it --)

i have another suggestion for the holes on rom's sides : spiracles ! they're openings that let many arthropods breathe, i am not sure about the few spiders that have them but for insects they're on the sides of their bodies just like that

Hey! This is an interesting idea! I will admit, although I love taking pictures of bugs, looking at bugs, holding bugs and cherishing bugs.. I haven't studied the bugs, so this information was new for me!!

Okay for the context of the ask in case if one of all 5 of you didn't see the earlier post, it was from this ( x ) discussion regarding Rom's legs and how she conveniently has holes by her sides in the Lake form:

There is a better look ( x ) provided by @beesmygod :

I suggested that the reason why Altar of Grief form, despite being implied as Rom, has legs is because past that point Rom 'grew up' and dropped her former legs with only holes remaining! And I also asked @herpsandbirds (all my cool creatures reblogs come from this blog, check them out) regarding insects and arachnids, here is what they said:

Here is on book lungs (also the wikipedia link ( x )):

I can't really tell whether Rom has anything like this from her view from below, since book lung would be located below this piece of body where legs protrude from.. which for her is her whole body?

However, something like book lung DOES seem to be present on Nightmare Apostles and Children of Rom!

I have a feeling that 'intention' might be here, but because Rom's type of spiders are so unusual and asymmetrical it is placed without the same relevance to legs! So, Rom might have it too, just less plainly so?

As for tracheae, I couldn't find any image showing Harvestmen having spiracles though, like I really don't know what I do wrong here fhsdh So I can't confirm or deny. Like I need to SEE for myself but Google is trolling me apparently :/ I found this, though:

Scorpions, for example, have several breathing holes placed below like this! With Rom the big ones go more on the side as you can see, but some still show below, and with Romlings too!

With caterpillars they do go on the sides! And yes, I brought caterpillars in because Rom IS sorta similar to one! There is an interesting bit about the 'spider' monsters and Kin in general - they are connected with Amygdalae!

Gardens of Eyes resemble Amygdalae and Nightmare Apostles serve them as we learn from Patches! Rom is like, a perfect Kin, combining all three 'branches' of eldrich; Sea because she was blessed by Kos and has tentacle tails, Star because she shoots meteorites and connection with Ebrietas and this arachnid one because of her legs and title! I feel maybe the fact spider one is 'dominant' is because you only deal with those if you sell your soul, and it was something she did, sacrificing herself for either research or humanity or both! But in any case, I am just saying maybe resemblance with a caterpillar is not accidental and she could, in theory, ascend further and become a butterfly? x) So that's why there is a hint of wings in these Kin! 'Ebrietas' is also a kind of a butterfly!

ALSO!!!

Funny enough, but Amygdalae DO also breathe in and out through a hole in the ribcage! Anatomically it is not where a book lung would be, but I thought it was relevant to the topic! Again, maybe we have to shift the anatomy of actual arachnids around a bit because these creatures were once humans (or in case of Amygdalae, resemble humans)!

youtube

^ Good video showing it well, you don't have to watch all of it, the right angles are shown soon enough. Also in general just look at Her

____________

So yeeeah.. In the conclusion, I now think it does work better if Rom shifted onto a different kind of arthropod upon ascension, whereas her "real" petrified body remained spider-exclusive. Due to maybe the specifics of WHY she left the "real" world! Also guys if anyone knows anything else please bring in up, this is deadass the first time I am learning all this information!!

#bloodborne #ask replies #rom the vacuous spider #children of rom #screenshots #bloodborne observation #bloodborne headcanons #nature #insects #arachnids #bloodborne reference

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yunarim · 1 year ago

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ಇ. broken melodies | chapter 1

⇢ ⁺ SMILE-LESS SOIREE˖ Yuu starts to adjust to the RSA and its inhabitants.

— PREVIEW (read for tags and synopsis) — MASTERLIST (open to read previous chapters) — AO3

⁺ w.c : 11k+

One day a little butterfly asked—well, fluttered its fragile wings rather than asked—Yuu what was the reason to get up so early in the morning. Back in Fairy Queendom, Yuu used to start her day with a benevolent moon radiating its light at her face at the time of the day Fairy Godmother enchantingly claimed as ‘morning’.

The ‘time’ itself was an unfamiliar matter for Yuu before she met Cinderella. The Princess patiently taught her how a gentle morning changed into a lambent afternoon, how a flamboyant day left a room for a mysterious evening, and finally, how everything fell into Morpheus’s caring arms during the night.

Cinderella undoubtedly was quite attentive to the atmosphere changing during the night and how drastic the changes were. Yuu would find herself doing chores at the very back of the kitchen; Cinderella’s hands smelled like soap and were still quite dry and covered with little calluses.

“I still do wonder how there’s no change of day in the Fairy Queendom you’ve mentioned,” Cinderella chuckled, sweeping the floor.

“According to what you’ve told me, it's an everlasting night where I live,” Yuu answered, wiping hands on a damp cloth. “Fairy Godmother says it’s quite gloomy… Maybe it is me who is wrong since I find night rather enchanting.”

“Vespertine darkness doesn’t suit her well,” Cinderella answered vaguely. “She herself resembles the brightest light, the ray of hope. And hope is always vivid.”

Yuu wondered if Cinderella thought that somber night would fit her well but decided to remain fairly ignorant, dreaming of being called light-radiating herself one day.

Yuu thought that living under a perpetual night’s vastness led to her not needing sleep. And yet she desperately had been fighting her drowsiness, eager to stay awake for a little longer. It was suspiciously humanic of her and right now when she needed sleep hopelessly, it seemed that it wasn’t the best timing.

Yuu stared at the smiling expression on a cheeky face of an intruder and tried to blink it away, first assuming it was the hallucination formed due to received stress. The silhouette did disappear but Yuu felt something wasn’t right.

“Show yourself,” she demanded.

“Hmmm~” A stranger’s amused voice echoed in the room, its owner nowhere to be found.

Yuu turned around, revealing her magic wand and furrowing her brows. The stranger’s purple hair locks flicked in the moonlight, before her very eyes as she jumped, ready to cast a protection spell.

But the person (his humanity was under question yet) positioned himself on the thin windowsill and remained silent. It seemed like a play of glances between them, his cocky and playful, and hers cautious and observant. Yuu didn’t know how many minutes passed while she was trying to read at least one clear emotion on his face, yet the stranger wasn’t quite eager to analyze her appearance at all. His gaze penetrated through her, giving Yuu the impression he somehow managed to grasp all the gist he needed already, now only enjoying the little show the two of them held.

Purple striped tail—Yuu refrained from making a remark on how fluffy it looked—wiggled playfully, but her cautiousness remained solid and firm. He didn’t radiate danger, nor did Yuu manage to catch a glimpse of ill intentions, but his mysterious play was slightly concerning.

The stranger wasn’t saying anything to the extent it was getting rather strange, so Yuu thought if she can’t make him talk, she would do it herself. Small steps formed a rigid base to start from.

“... My name is Yuu,” she almost whispered, but the stranger’s lip corners turned upward slightly. “Who would you be?”

“Who knows, Pointy ears-chan~”

Pointy ears— Anyway, this act wasn’t of importance. Yuu straightened her nightgown and let her magic wand disappear with bright golden sparkles. In case something happens, she can defend herself even without the weapon.

“... Hm~” A boy hummed suddenly. “How peculiar.”

“Yes?..” Yuu reasked in confusion. “... Huh. I will report to the headmaster about you if you won’t reveal how I can help you.”

“How curious,” a person smiled. “Not want but help? I see you’re quite an interesting human… Or should I refer to you as… Well, nevermind!”

Yuu blinked, wondering why his gaze couldn’t manage to put her on guard. His eyes were the embodiment of a mystery, containing something more of a value underneath.

“I’m Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker,” the stranger finally answered. “A third-year student here.”

Yuu sighed, massaging her temples with fingers and trying to follow his sudden introduction.

Would be understandable if you knew Anastasia, Yuu thought, remembering her dear friend's name sounded quite similar, was it Anastasia Nikolaevna?

It was highly unwise of her to spill her friend’s name so easily without thinking twice, but she was already tired enough to care dearly. Taking a deep breath, she continued.

“Nice to meet you, Artemiy-san,” she bowed slightly. “Though I’m afraid I don’t follow how I can be of help at this late hour…” She couldn’t process everything that was happening in the past ten minutes, including an unexpected encounter with a teacher and another boy she thought was a student.

“It’s understandable that you’re confused,” Artemiy grinned. “We all are. That is what makes us curiouser.”

“... Isn’t there already a curfew?” Yuu decided to try changing the subject, glancing at Artemiy and catching his penetrating gaze, which contained realization of what was happening so painfully obvious to him when Yuu herself couldn’t grasp even a glimpse of comprehension.

“Fun always happens at night.”

At night… Does it really? Yuu lowered her gaze right to the ground, imagining how she could have been watering the flowers in her garden. Magically grown flowers couldn’t compare to the real ones, waking up under the bright sun and full of vivid color palette shades. Was night really that fun?

“Actually,” he teleported on the corner of her bed, no sound coming from his movements. At this point Yuu decided to give up trying to analyze why would he behave that way. “I came to say that if you seek some fun, just let the road to me loom before you.”

He spoke riddles so tangled Yuu started experiencing a heavy headache.

“Yuu-san,” his cheeky voice sounded playful and full of energy. Yuu could feel an abrupt ardor running through her veins while a cheerful notes of his voice echoed in her mind, but she brushed off the thought quickly, mentally grounding herself back to earth. Or whatever this planet was. “You seem interesting. Can you stand on your head?”

“... Huh? I’m not aware if I can… I have never tried?”

He was so alien in this empty room drowned in a cold moonlight. Or was he the only normal while she was getting crazier with every passing second of their conversation?

“You should try one day,” Artemiy proved his unvoiced confirmation that he most definitely could stand on his head, turning midair and performing a pirouette-like move, causing Yuu to gasp in awe. “Who knows what things you might see from this perspective.”

Yuu approached him carefully, strands of his lilac hair brushing against her stretched out fingers. Artemiy seemed majestic, almost fairy-tale like character, despite he was a very human-like to her at this very second, his eyes of dandelion petals stared right into hers with flickers of curiosity.

“... What do you see then?”

Artemiy hummed, touching her ear once again before returning to the solid ground.

“One day you’ll tell me,” he answered vaguely, leaving Yuu blinking in incomprehension. “Well, see you tomorrow’s today, Wanderer~”

The boy dissolved within dust particles glowing light gray in the moonlight, leaving Yuu all alone.

Huh?

Yuu sighed. What was tomorrow’s today anyway? Also, Wanderer? Yuu turned around to hopelessly try to find the boy to ask him what he meant by that.

No one saw her actually landing in this realm, right? She might have been confused all along and maybe a person like Artemiy would notice her right away, or at least feel her presence, but was that really the deal? He didn’t look like a normal Prince to her, and even if the Beast didn’t look humanic at first, Artemiy resembled someone else to Yuu. In any case, it didn’t matter at the moment. Even if he wasn’t human, then he might be a.. Cat? Could a cat really tell Yuu came from another dimension?

Then the question was how much did he know. Yuu swimmed at the back of her mind, deepening in her own thoughts and trying to figure out if Artemiy named her that way just because she was the only girl attending an all-boys school or did the case lie deeper further than she could guess?

“Ah, right!” Artemiy reappeared before her face, his only head remaining. “Call me Che’nya. Bye-bye!”

“Arte— Che’nya-san, wait!! And he’s gone…”

Yuu fell on the bed, covering her eyes and sighing loudly. She had no right to complain right now. The reason why she ended up appearing in this foreign world was that someone was in danger. Yuu questioned if there was a princess to be saved or maybe destiny itself played a little trick, reversing the story current and demanding Yuu to save a prince instead. And even if she was wrong, there was no denying she must have accomplished the foredoom predestined for her.

Someone needed to be saved.

And with that thought Yuu allowed herself to finally rest, her eyelids feeling leaded. It was a rough day, but what will the following one offer to her tomorrow?

Once upon a time in midwinter, when the snowflakes were falling like feathers from heaven, a queen sat sewing at her window, which had a frame of black ebony wood. As she sewed she looked up at the snow and pricked her finger with her needle. Three drops of blood fell into the snow. The red on the white looked so beautiful that she thought to herself, "If only I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood in this frame."

Yuu stood right in the pile of the whitest snow glimmering under the gentle sunrise, and dared to touch blood drops, wondering if she was seeing things. The blizzard felt suffocatingly real, causing Yuu to shiver. The story seemed vaguely familiar, but before she could observe the place she happened to appear, a gray fog covered the surroundings, transporting Yuu to another place.

Soon afterward she had a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony wood, and therefore they called her Little Snow-White. And as soon as the child was born, the queen died.

Yuu frowned, hands wrought in a praying gesture, the grief splashed into her heart, pricking it with thorny glacial snowflakes.

A year later the king took himself another wife. She was a beautiful woman, but she was proud and arrogant, and she could not stand it if anyone might surpass her in beauty. She had a magic mirror. Every morning she stood before it, looked at herself, and said:

Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

Who in this land is fairest of all?

To this the mirror answered:

You, my queen, are fairest of all.

Yuu tried to look at her reflection, trembling before the Queen’s arrogant gaze aimed at herself, but couldn’t see what was hiding underneath the glassy reflection.

When did all the sorrow penetrate her soul?

“Ugh…”

You slowly opened her eyes, getting adjusted to the light coming through the window and tenderly sliding down her face. Her head was still covered with a mist of yesterday’s events, making her slightly dizzy. Sleepiness she thought she would never experience crashed down on her. Everything seemed surreal, resembling a vague delirious dream.

She has never seen a light so bright and gentle in her whole rather long life. She turned to the window frame, meeting the sun rays happily welcoming her, and had to close her eyes for a brief moment before the brightness could burn her vision.

Yuu slowly got up, bare feet touching a cold marble floor. She might have needed shoes to use in the so-called house in the future but it was okay for now. Yuu made her way to the window, opening it and exhaling fresh air, enjoying the sounds of nature playing in every leaf, every flower petal, in a puff of wind. Her gaze fixated on the sun slowly rising from far away, and she stretched out her hand, as if trying to reach such a majestic miracle of gold, and tender rays praised her with its shining once more, skimming over her pointed face features, as if trying to tickle her.

Yuu chuckled to herself bitterly, turning away from the window and sighing. Such wonderful mornings might become addicting.

She wondered what time it was. Probably the morning was still just rising, given how low the sun was positioned, and tried to guess with her own abilities. It was quite hard for her to concentrate on the day changings since she’d been living in an eternal night all these years.

“Ha~ah,” she sighed. “There’s no use.”

No matter how long she was listening to nature singing, no reply was received. Yuu assumed it was around six in the morning, but she needed confirmation before she could visit the headmaster and ask him about the details she needed to know.

She then remembered how Ambrose said that she’s currently staying within a clock tower. It would be only logical to check the clock itself now, so Yuu headed to the hallway.

The hall that she couldn’t really observe with Ambrose leading her to her room and with the night guests visiting her so unexpectedly looked different when sun rays were lighting it up. Apparently the clock tower was quite glassy with how many tall windows it had. She ran up the stairs with clear amusement on her face, and looked out of the window, enjoying different views. Despite the hall being fairly empty, it did impress Yuu with its powerful yet elegant columns and marble floors. A whole academy could be seen from this point, and Yuu decided to observe it today as carefully as she could.

The clock itself should have been on the highest floor, so she overcame another spiral staircase and saw a huge archway leading directly to the clock mechanism. There were enough stairs in the building, so she had to climb another one before she faced a gigantic room, the main highlight of which was an immense window. The gilded dial was framed with a gold rounded frame. The rays of the sun solemnly made their way through the transparent surface of the glass, illuminating the entire room, and revealing to the light the variety of attributes within. Extinguished lanterns in bizarre vessels suspended on golden chains. Tall bookcases with an incredible number of book volumes, as well as a lot of bizarre paraphernalia, apparently intended for the study of Astrology and basically anything space-related.

Yuu gasped, staggered, and stared at all this beauty looming before her. She forgot about checking the time and approached intriguing scrolls on the table made of wood. Yuu took a glance at familiar circles and symbols, frowning. She couldn’t identify all of them, as well as the meaning, but at least this realm had something similar to what she already knew.

“Solar Return chart,” she mumbled to herself, noticing Pluto being in 8th house in that one particular chart. “... I wonder whose one is that.”

Yuu wasn’t extremely good at interpreting charts but Pluto falling in that position was quite an observation, leading to significant change in one’s life. She chuckled and turned abruptly, regaining her thoughts and remembering she went here to check the time.

It was five in the morning. Yuu nodded to herself and returned to her room. It was the perfect time to decide what she could do. Everything seemed really quiet at the moment, so lessons must have not started yet. She didn’t know how much time she had before classes either, but decided to take a little tour around the clock tower and observe if there was anything needed to be done in terms of chores.

Yuu walked around the whole building, realizing that it was all well lit by daylight due to the prevailing number of windows. Yuu also saw a room that appeared to be a guest room. It looked a little simpler than her own. There was also a simple living room with a small fireplace and a coffee table, where there was a painted tray with one mug without any dust on it, but Yuu did not feel human energy there. Going deeper, she stumbled upon a small kitchen and pantry, which contained nothing of great value, except for the various types of cereals.

After sorting the kitchen utensils, Yuu also dusted the kitchen and tidied up the pantry. Summoning her magic wand, she pulled up the boxes and containers resting on the upper shelves, which were not so easy to reach with her small height, and then packed cereals and other non-perishable products in them.

Sighing heavily, Yuu lifted her head and looked at the light seeping through the windows, becoming more and more bright and gentle. She went outside of the tower, her eyes meeting with a free space which could be used for gardening purposes though she wasn’t sure if it was okay to use it, given she didn’t plan to stay here out for too long. The smell of morning dew floated in the air, shimmering from coniferous freshness to a salty sea aroma, embraced by the sand chilled after the night coolness. Not so far away, the flooding singing of seagulls and salty waves gently rolling on the shore could be heard.

This place wasn’t her home. Yuu shrugged the thought and a sudden sensation of getting excited over doing arrangements and chores and missing the feeling of doing routine she was fond of. Cleaning helped her to keep the mind in peace, letting all the worries sort out a little, but when everything was already done, she felt how a heavy anvil of unresolved problems dropped on her, pressing and crashing.

“Just what am I doing…”

Yuu summoned her magic wand, her fingers enveloping its base, and took a deep breath before taking a position and closing her eyes.

She tried casting a mirror to her home once more. This time she was going to try remembering how Mirror Hall looked in her memory. An enormously huge ballroom with mirrors hanging on the walls, different aura colors around Princesses’ portraits radiating from golden frames. Her Sprites cheerfully flying everywhere and dancing with butterfly maelstrom, Fairy Godmother teaching her how to hold the posture and—

“Argh!!” Yuu screamed, dropping the magic wand like it happened yesterday, and hissed out of pain, falling on the ground.

She opened her lidded eyes, white noise particles flooding her vision, and felt her veins setting ablaze. Pulse in her vessels were beating fast, every beat sending a wave of pain running underneath her skin and causing the veins to shudder, following the rhythm. Her mind was lost in the labyrinth of memories and strange hallucinations, dissolving in images of the mirror in her mansion getting blocked by thorny veins.

“So it’s not the spell being wrong,” she whispered, trying to get up. Her white nightgown became covered in stains of green grass and damp soil. “The mirror itself is blocked?..”

Yuu picked up her magic wand and tried to sort out the thoughts swarming in her head, but all in vain. Everything she could think of at the moment was her dearest Fairy Godmother.

“I want to see you again,” Yuu mumbled, hardly making her way to the entrance.

Maybe her magic still wasn’t advanced enough to make it through the block on the mirror? Yuu gasped, realizing that if it was the case, then she could practice more once she regains her energy after such a miserable attempt.

The problem was that she had no idea about block-removing spells. Her knowledge was embarrassingly limited due to Godmother teaching her only simple ones, allowing her to grow plants quickly and some basic attacking and defensive incantations. Yuu first found a book about potionology in Snow White’s realm, learning a few potions when she managed to take a glance at them.

Worlds she visited opened many doors of opportunities to Yuu that she was too humble to observe but did it nevertheless. It felt wrong to do something she was always prohibited to do — Fairy Godmother taught Yuu not to seek information she’s not provided with. Yuu remembered shivering in horror at the mere thought of doing something that Fairy Godmother advised her not to. Yuu couldn’t resist the urge to write a spell or two on the parchment, then throw it out, reaping in a myriad of pieces out of fear that her Mother would find out she was messing with magic spells.

Yuu knew it was insanely dangerous to practice unsupervised, so that her hysterical nights of delirious writings of spells enchantment turned into nights full of Yuu secretly writing down possible combinations she wouldn’t be able to test ever again, guilt filling her heart, consolidating with an unknown to her feel of rebellion.

Detailed, rather safe one, spells changed into small incoherent-looking notes, resembling silly scribbles, which actually contained more dangerous conjuration combinations she could have never tried casting.

Yuu gulped and took her magic wand again, the conscious restoring and clearing.

“Á lelya,” she whispered, waving a magic wand and causing a cheerful swirl of golden particles to reveal a slightly dilapidated book. “It’s been a while.”

Yuu touched yellowed with age, slightly damp pages with ink stains around the edges. She felt an indescribable relief because if she accidentally left her magic spell book at home, a catastrophe might have been caused. She looked through the pages, delicately flipping them one by one until she found her old invocation conjunctions.

She covered the book with a shield, leaving it levitating near her, and tried to transfer her consciousness to the Fairy Queendom realm, concentrating on her mind floating to the Mirror Hall, but all in vain — the image remained dark and hazy. The sun was shining brightly, its rays dancing on her skin, and Yuu gave up, sighing in defeat and deciding to try again later.

Yuu went to her room, changing into the ceremonial robes she happened to wear yesterday, and removed the coat to not stand out too much. Trousers felt alien and unfitting on her, but she was also excited to try something new. Yuu went to the bathroom near her room and checked her outfit in the mirror, nodding to herself, and went out of the clock tower.

The clock tower was located on a small ledge, being the farthest point on the campus from which one could see the entire academy. Yuu wondered where the rest of the dorms were, because the number and size of the buildings didn't match the number of students she saw yesterday at the ceremony.

She remembered the way to the headmaster’s office, so she immediately followed there, observing every candelabra she saw. The academy seemed even more welcoming and cozy in the morning, enveloped by warm sunny lights. The silence, covered by the morning dawn, did not seem as heavy as yesterday, and therefore it was not so uncomfortable to cut it with the sound of heels.

Yuu knocked twice, hearing a joyful “Come in!” and followed further in Ambrose's office.

The headmaster was drinking tea, Yuu smelled sea buckthorn notes and a variety of herbs mixed in there, and bowed to him in a greeting way.

“No need in bowing, child,” Ambrose smiled at her, gesturing to have a seat, and continued right after. “You’re quite diligent, aren’t you? I was planning to wake you up much later.”

“I can’t burden you more than I am already,” Yuu lifted her surprised gaze at him. “

“We need to do something with that extreme politeness you have here…” Ambrose said to himself and continued before Yuu could ask what was that about. “How did you sleep?”

Yuu recalled two strangers appearing in the clock tower at midnight, then Che’nya appearing in her room, and laughed sheepishly.

“Ha-ha… I did sleep well.”

“I see you’re adjusting to a new place,” Ambrose nodded. “Have you explored the clock tower yet?”

“I have!” Yuu smiled brightly, remembering the clock itself and all the astrology things in the room. “You’ve mentioned that someone comes for checking purposes. Do they study Astrology?.. They’ve left their notes.”

The headmaster smiled even wider, pouring tea into a cup and giving it to Yuu.

“Indeed. You will meet the person soon. Don’t worry and feel free to observe his notes, I believe he would be happy for you to join him in his studies.”

“Is it… really okay for me to do?” Yuu asked humbly, not sure if she could have looked through the notes made by another person who apparently worked really hard. “I will not offend him?”

“Of course not, child. If it bothers you a lot, just ask him if it’s alright when he comes. And now come here.”

Yuu followed Ambrose to the other wing of the office. He took out a small, neatly folded package and a box from the mahogany cabinet and handed it to Yuu. She looked at him questioningly, tilting her head to the side, but accepted the things.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Your school uniform,” Ambrose answered, chuckling at her funny startled reaction. “I thought I would find one uniform set of the smallest size, but it needed to be adjusted magically, given you’re quite… tiny, I would say. Forgive me for the rudeness.”

“H-huh?..” Yuu mumbled absent-mindedly and stared at him in bewilderment. “It’s okay! Thank you very much, how could I repay—”

“One more word about repairing, and I will use magic to silence you for a minute, child,” Ambrose said cheerfully but his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“Yes sir,” she answered.

“Well then,” he continued, making his way to the desk, Yuu followed him like a lost kitten. “Let me provide you with the information you need to adjust comfortably.”

Yuu nodded and took a seat in front of him, sipping the tea Ambrose prepared for her, a new obtained uniform resting on her lap.

“First, here’s a manual for you to always check it in case you forgot something or lost somewhere within the campus. Studies start from 8:30 am, so be sure to wake up by that time. I see you had no problem today with that though.”

“Understood,” Yuu nodded, opening the manual she was given and gasping in surprise. “It’s so detailed!”

“Glad you find it useful,” Ambrose smiled. “You’re in class A, and your seat number is 27. You can find your class location here,” He pointed to the map in the manual.

“Right to the teacher’s room,” Yuu commented. “I see.”

“Yes. Your class teacher is Emery der Licht. He is an impressively talented magician, as well as an incredible Teacher. Don’t hesitate to ask him in case you have a problem or don’t understand something. Okay?”

“Okay,” Yuu nodded and felt an excitement rising up. It’s been a while since she talked to someone, not to mention study with someone. “Uhm, headmaster…”

“Yes?”

“How many of the school staff are aware of my situation?..”

“Only me and the one who comes to the clock tower from time to time,” the headmaster said. “And Excalibur, too. Though he’s not really a school staff member.”

“It is ‘he’?..” Yuu asked. “I think he would be sad to hear it… I thought he was a… a teacher?”

“Haha!” Ambrose laughed genuinely at her answer. “Excalibur would be actually delighted to hear it! In any case, please don’t spread any more information about your origins to others, especially students. We’ll study your case together, and if nothing helps, I’ll report to the government.”

“Understood…”

“By the way!” He exclaimed. “If you want to find more information, come to the library. I think you might find something useful there.”

“Library!!” Yuu lit up, jumping from her seat, and apologized right after for her behavior. “I will do so, thank you!”

After a discussion which lasted for over an hour, Yuu thanked Ambrose, bowed to him again (despite him giving her a certain look so she decided that maybe she did something wrong) and got back to the clock tower to change the clothes.

She opened the box, revealing a pair of shoes and clothes. Upfolding the uniform and looking at all the elements of it, Yuu fell deep into the thoughts of how exactly it should be worn. Imagining the look in her mind, she waved the magic wand. All clothes elements danced around, the elements of ceremonial robes floated midair while other pieces of clothing were pulling on her body by itselves.

“I hope I did it right…” Yuu said, making her way to the bathroom to check out what she did.

The uniform was noticeably large even after using the shrinking magic, but Yuu didn't push it any further, thinking she would mess up intertwining two magics together. A white blouse with loose, wide sleeves was tucked into dark blue trousers with golden stripes on the sides. Seeing her pants being not so comfortable and big at the waist, she sighed and waved her magic wand again, and a wide belt appeared around her waist, fixing the problem. Yuu also tried pulling on a white blazer with navy blue inserts on the sleeves, but it was too bulky. She grimaced at the realization that she was not up to the task (namely, putting on the uniform properly) and decided for one moment to simply throwing the jacket over her shoulders, fastening its two sides with a golden chain on her chest, tucking it under the golden bow on the collar of her blouse.

She nodded approvingly to herself as she took one last look at the dark leather boots with not-too-high thick heels laced with white satin ribbons and a pretty bow at the top. Her hands felt bare and alien to her without the gloves she used to wear in the Fairy Queendom, so she made final touches and added almost transparent white mitaines and smiled.

“I hope I don’t stand out too much…”

And with that she opened the manual to check her destination.

Yuu… was scared.

She was sure she had never seen so many people gathered at one place. Even if she visited many Princesses' realms, she remembered people celebrating on the streets, she even recalled how Rapunzel insisted on having some fun together during the festival, but what was happening right now—

She couldn’t comprehend it. Somehow yesterday at the ceremony when people were coming to Excalibur one by one and the others were just standing beside her, right now all of them were moving. She stared bewilderedly at students who were fooling around, talking, laughing, gossiping, talking again… She could have endured that, but they were talking about her. Her instincts sharpened, making hearing range absolutely uncontrollable. Every smallest piece of information reached her, pounding loudly in her ears, and she tried to calm down as fast as she could.

“Oh, is that the girl that we saw yesterday? I thought it was a mistake?..”

“I know right? Who could have thought they would enroll a girl here.”

“Isn’t it like, against the rules tho?”

“Maybe they’ve decided to make the school open to all genders?”

“I guess so. She’s quite a cutie!”

Ugh… Yuu was getting dizzy. Yesterday she was too shocked to pay attention to the number of people surrounding her, and she also seemed fine talking to the headmaster and even Che’nya. She suddenly slipped out of her previous thoughts, remembering an unexpected encounter that happened at midnight.

Right, Che’nya! Yuu nodded in a greeting way absent-mindedly to two or three students who were staring at her while she walked, and thought about finding Che’nya. He said he is a third-year student here, so it shouldn’t be a problem… But then again, it actually might be quite a challenge to find a person who was appearing midair randomly just if he wished so.

“Ayo come look at this,” someone suddenly said quite loudly.

Yuu finally managed to concentrate on one particular group of students walking behind her, and listened.

“It’s Neige’s new project advertisement,” a student said.

“He’s starring in a new movie?! It’s been only two months since he won an award in a previous one!”

“He’s nailing it,” the boy seemed to be extremely proud.

“Agreed,” the other one said. “How in the world does he manage to study so well and also participate in all those projects? It’s insane!”

“And you’re just a first-year,” the boy said edifyingly. “Neige is a second-year by now. Must be tough.”

“I heard he’s also a dorm leader?”

“Yeah…”

Yuu hummed to herself, whispering the boy’s name to herself. Neige, she mumbled, rolling his name on her tongue as if trying to figure out what it reminded her of. He must be fairly diligent, given how others were speaking about him. And before she wanted to return to her thoughts again, she realized that practically everyone was discussing Neige, all of the people praising him and adoring. As much as Yuu wanted to continue hearing people talk, she took a deep breath and entered the Academy.

The interior of the Academy fascinated with its immense scale and abundance of spiral staircases. It flowed like a ballerina in a dance, and the fullness of warm bright light in the building filled ones with good and joyful feelings. Yuu stared at the central wing of the Academy, as if fascinated, not even imagining how much more unknown things were awaiting her.

Yuu, shifting her gaze from the manual to the corridors of the school, observed the interior. The huge difference between the calm and cozy atmosphere in the morning and the current liveliness and cheerful spirit seemed quite attractive to Yuu. The students got to know each other, discussed the beginning of the school year and looked quite enthusiastic. Yuu allowed herself to relax a little, despite the tenacious glances that followed her silhouette here and there, and reached the auditorium (located on the 8th floor) that Ambrose was talking about.

She took a deep breath and opened the door. The classroom was an auditorium with several rows rising up and a stairs in the very center. Opposite the stairs, near the entrance, there was a huge blackboard and a tribune for the teacher. Fancy lamps hung from above, but they weren’t litten up, thanks to the sun rays seeping in through the windows.

Yuu made her way to the seat number 27, trying to ignore all the stares locked on her. She was quite early, sitting on the middle row on the edge, and wondered who was the one who’s got to sit beside her. Yuu wanted to make friends.

She lowered her gaze, remembering Princesses calling her their dearest friend, and chuckled bitterly. Was she really?.. Yuu decided that if making friends was equal to helping them, then she should start doing exactly that, but she also couldn’t manage to find someone who needed help at the moment.

She was observing the classroom more closely, hearing people discussing first her (right when they walked to the class), then Neige again. Yuu also found copybooks and notebooks as well as a fountain pen lying on the hanging shelf under the table and opened the notebook ready to write.

The bell rang, and Yuu jolted in her seat thinking something happened, but apparently she was the only one panicking over nothing. As she heard from the boy behind her, it was indicating the start of the lesson. And indeed, a teacher came.

“Good morning to you all!”

Yuu stared at the teacher who entered in surprise. Familiar, unbelievably long blond hair almost reached the floor, and Yuu was sure it would have curled across the floor if it hadn't been styled in a stunningly beautiful braid decorated with small flowers. In the light of day, she was able to see his eyes in more detail. Green chrysolites of his big eyes gleamed charmingly in the sunlight. Pink shades predominated in the color palette of his clothes, giving the impression that he was very young. Yuu wondered how old he actually was but realized it was quite rude to think about it, even though whispers here and there were heard. It was the person who she saw this midnight in the clock tower! The one who jumped after the boy.

“Is this boy really our teacher??”

“He looks so young!!”

“Just how long is his hair?!”

“Young gentlemen, I can hear you,” he grinned, but his eyes weren’t smiling joyfully. “In any case, nice to meet you. My name is Emery der Licht, I’ll be your classroom teacher. I teach everything magic-related and alchemy, which makes us the closest friends ever from now on~ Don’t think about skipping my lessons, alright? It wouldn’t do anything good for you.”

Yuu nodded more to herself, and wrote down his name in the notebook.

“I see Class 1A is quite interesting this year, hm?” Emery looked at Yuu, making her tilt her head. “Yuu-san, right?”

“Yes!” She answered excitedly. He was teaching magic!! It was unbelievable. “That is me.”

“Hmm,” Emery chuckled amusingly at her pronouns choice. “How peculiar. I look forward to working with you, Yuu-san.”

Emery explained the freshman curriculum. Yuu found his words very entertaining and revealed her heightened interest in what was happening. She first entered an educational institution, and everything about the educational process seemed extremely new to her, mysterious, but infinitely broadening horizons of the mind.

The first lesson turned out to be an introduction to the structure of alchemy, a kind of acquaintance with this entertaining science. Yuu was so engrossed in taking notes that it wasn't until the end of class that she noticed her desk mate hadn't shown up.

She heard students claiming they were hungry, and hummed to herself. She didn’t need much food intake, but wanted to see the cafeteria and the food people eat there.

She slowly walked along the corridors of the Academy, studying the portraits of great figures in the field of magic, memorizing their names and surnames. Yu was interested in the curve of every fancy lamp, every shelving and every column capital.

Descending another spiral staircase, she finally found the cafeteria. A large number of oblong rectangular tables were located on the first floor, but Yuu noticed several round tables designed for a smaller number of people on the second one. On one side, from a wall-to-ceiling window a garden could be seen. And on the other side, beside the counter and the showcase, food was handed out by…

“Are those gargoyles?!”

“What the?!”

Yuu heard students’ surprised tone and could actually relate to their shock. Come to think of it, she… saw someone similar once?..

“We have names,” One of the gargoyles said loudly, giving a cupcake to one of the students. “Mine’s Vittorio.”

“Uhm, thank you.. Sir?..” Another student took his lunch from the gargoyle with the tallest horns.

“Hugh,” another gargoyle answered.

Yuu watched in amazement. Real gargoyles were handing out food to the students!! As soon as she looked at the vegetable salad, another gargoyle, apparently the smallest of them, immediately flew up to her and served a portion of the salad that Yuu had looked at ten seconds earlier.

“H-huh?” She said. “Thank you, sir!!”

“I’m Lavont.”

“I’ll remember. Thank you so much!”

And just when she straightened from bowing to him, Lavont already went to another student with a tray full of different dishes. Yuu made her way to the second floor where a lesser number of students were, and took a seat.

Despite the cafeteria filled from top to bottom with the noisy voices of students and the clatter of plates, Yuu felt isolated. However, she had to dine alone very often, which was not something unexpected. Yuu had time to grab the cutlery and was about to try the salad when a ticklish "Hello nya~" was heard behind her ear.

“Huh?!” She exclaimed, turning around but seeing no one.

“What are you doing here all alone?”

A familiar face appeared before her, and Yuu recognized Che’nya from purple hair strands, and exhaled in relief.

“Che’nya-san,” she greeted him with a little bow. “You sure manage to surprise me. For the second time today.”

“Life’s full of surprises, right?”

“I guess it is…”

Even despite Che’nya’s randomness, Yuu realized she actually felt better after his appearance. He was easy to talk to even considering his strange way of doing that, and also his voice was quite nice to hear. He waited for her to try the salad and smiled at her when she swallowed the first bite, making sure she was eating. Yuu wondered why he would do that in the first place, but decided not to comment at the moment.

“Che’nya-san, I wanted to ask you why you came to me today.”

“Hm~” Che’nya hummed, leaning a bit closely but not making her uncomfortable. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s quite obvious,” she told him, fixing her gaze on his eyes, and continued consuming food slowly. “I just want confirmation. My guess is that… well, isn’t it quite strange? I seem different not only in terms of gender, but also in the dormitory no one else lives. It’s just suspicious.”

Che’nya stared at her with an unreadable look for half of a minute before sighing in defeat, causing Yuu to startle a little. Did she say something wrong? But her words were only logical.

“Here in my dorm we appreciate curiosity,” he said suddenly, thanking passing by Vittorio who gave Che’nya his meal consisting of fish and a salad too. “Thanks, Tori~”

Vittorio chuckled, pouring a cup of tea for Yuu and going to another table before she could have thanked him.

“Anyway~” Che’nya regained her attention on him. “Your guess is far from renyality.”

“Oh,” Yuu gasped. “Then what is it?..”

“No fun in telling you that simply~” Che’nya consumed fish almost in one bite, making Yuu widen her eyes in surprise. “Well well, I have no choice other than to spend more time with you to help you find out.”

“Yes?.. I understand you less with each second.”

He didn't respond to her statement, only his fluffy tail wagged playfully. Yuu pondered over his words when a "curiosity" suddenly popped up in her mind.

“Che’nya-san,” she called him. “May I ask you a question?”

“Not ‘may’,” he said. “You should! Ask right away, especially if it’s about directions. I’m good at giving ‘em~”

“No, it’s not that… You’ve mentioned that you appreciate curiosity in your dorm. Do other dormitories also have features they associate their dorms with?”

Che’nya smiled brightly at her.

“Nice one this time! Nyep, they do. Want to hear?”

Yuu nodded eagerly. Che’nya looked around, as if scanning their surroundings, and returned his gaze to Yuu, making her follow his.

“The dorms here are divided into seven kinds. You can easily distinguish them by colors~ For example, that one person with a turquoise brooch on his jacket. See, nya?”

Yuu followed his glare, easily spotting a student Che’nya pointed out. Indeed, a brooch with majestic shades of green and blue sparkled beautifully in the light.

“That’s Merheronelle. If you see people wandering around and being all lively and vivid, they must be from there.”

“What a beautiful sounding name,” Yuu nodded but got startled when she saw another student with a warm, light beige-colored brooch. “Oh, and that one person?”

“A~ah, he’s from Dýnamieisos!” Che’nya replied with tail’s wiggling. “Quite valiant individuals, I would say!”

“Valiant? How come?”

“Don’t make me regret calling you Wanderer, mm?” He returned his gaze to her, meeting with her confused one. “You seem curious enough to fit in our dorm though.”

“Ah, forgive me,” Yuu covered her mouth with a palm in surprise, ashamed of herself. “I forgot to ask what your dorm is called in the first place… I’m sorry for being rude and unattentive.”

Che’nya sighed, releasing a sound similar to cat meowing but rather… annoyed cat meowing?

“Our dorm name’s Pandora Charm,” he replied. “Quite charming, right?”

“Oh, it really is!” Yuu agreed, letting her lips curve in a small smile but also not noticing a brooch on his uniform. “What’s your dorm color?”

“Bright blue, nya. Woah, watch that guy!” Che’nya managed to switch her attention to a boy with a bright orange-colored brooch. “You don’t see Huriirada students that often. Must be a first-year.”

“Hm? Why is that?”

“They’re rather determined but sometimes they look quite… lonely,” Che’nya’s smile dropped for a mere moment before she could have asked what he actually meant by that he switched her attention again, making her gaze fixate on another student somewhere on the first floor. The boy was surrounded by an insanely large number of people with red brooches.

“He’s from Edelwiese,” Che’nya said, his tail wagging cheerfully. Were they acquainted? Or maybe friends? “I think the most popular ones! The school staff wanted to ask Excalibur to rethink his choice because the number of Edelwiese students was quite large this year.”

“Huh? That many?”

“They’re all very kind,” Che’nya hummed. “But I don’t think that’s the only reason…”

Yuu narrowed her eyes, but he was already pointing at another student with a pastel pink brooch.

“It looks so lovely,” Yuu said. “The color. Reminds me of gentle peonies...” Yuu grew peonies of a similar light pink color in her garden, knowing how much the Fairy Godmother loved them.

“The name of the dorm is rather floral too. It’s Florevel, the students there also remind me of flowers sometimes.”

Yuu decided not to ask how a person could resemble a flower, and nodded at the boy who was running up the stairs when another two with similar bright yellow brooches were chasing him, causing quite a commotion.

“Aaah, them~” Che’nya laughed. “Kifurijua dorm members are rather dauntless. But those are… those seem reckless. In a good way, nya.”

Yuu wondered why this group of students were in such a hurry, but she continued to discuss school life with Che’nya and asked about various things. After a while, she glanced at the watch, horrified at how quickly time had flown by and how empty the cafeteria had become. Time always went too fast for her, as if it didn't exist at all. After bowing and making Che’nya promise to greet her normally next time, she hurried back to the classroom.

“I see you’re already socializing, Yuu-san,” Emery greeted her at the entrance, and allowed to make her way to the desk. “Ah, youth~”

Yuu blinked twice but decided not to push it. Getting ready for the class starting, she pulled her notebook and jolted again at the sound of the bell ringing, furrowing her brows. Loud noises were a bit painful for her ears, but she decided it was just a matter of time until she got used to it.

“Alright,” Emery said, grabbing a piece of chalk and writing down the next topic on the blackboard. “Our next subject is… wait a moment.”

Yuu noticed the teacher glancing at the door and wondered how far he could hear. She also heard a rapid sound of someone approaching this classroom by running. The next second the door was shut open instantly, and a boy she saw in the cafeteria entered the classroom.

“I’M REALLY SORRY!” He said, trying to catch his breath and straightened his back, greeting the teacher. “Good morning, sir!!”

“It’s professor der Licht for you.”

Yuu widened her eyes. So young and already a professor?! This Academy was amazing…

“So,” Emery crossed his arms. “Care to explain? You skipped two lessons already, and it’s literally your first day here.”

“Aagh, yeah yeah, hehe,” the student didn’t appear to be guilty at all. “I just kinda… overslept?”

The sudden silence put Yuu on alert. This student fluttered his eyelashes innocently as he watched Emery slowly walk over to the table and take something out from under it. No one had time to blink an eye, as a dull sound of contact between something metallic and something solid was heard.

“Ouch! Sorry!”

“EEEEGH?!”

Emery held a frying pan in his hands, looking at the student with a look that expressed something along the lines of "Uh-huh, hopeless." Yuu couldn't figure out which was worse, hitting a student with a frying pan, or the fact that the student looked completely unharmed and more like slightly puzzled.

“Go take a seat,” Emery sighed. “And don’t make me hit you tomorrow’s morning too.”

Yuu followed the student making his way to his seat and parted her lips slightly when he sat right beside her. So he was the one missing this morning! What a deskmate she encountered.

Yuu listened attentively to Emery, noticing that she already knew some of the facts, and allowed herself to take her eyes off the board to switch the gaze to her new desk mate. The boy in a good shape and with strong looking arms was tilted slightly forward, as if listening to the teacher, but his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else. His carefree look of sky-blue eyes fascinated with its crystal purity and innocent brightness, though a hardly noticeable shade of mischief was hiding underneath. His wheat-colored hair curled slightly in bangs that fell a little over long eyelashes, a pair of front strands of the hair matched the color of his eyes.

And the part that seemed extremely adorable and eye-catching to Yuu appeared to be a pair of animal ears (lion ones, maybe?), one of them was twitching at the sound of the professor slightly raising his voice so he could be heard on the further rows. Yuu swallowed, trying to erase an unexpectable eagerness to touch a fluffy-looking fur of a color matching his hair, and felt her heart beating a bit faster at his cuteness.

She also observed how messily his uniform was arranged, and how the bright yellow brooch almost fell off the short-sleeved shirt, not to mention the jacket tied around his torso. Something moved under his jacket in a jolly wave, and she saw a tip of a tail. It was much thinner and longer than Che'nya's.

He turned to her suddenly, causing her to drop the pencil she was holding, and smiled so brightly she thought the sunrise was just a mere joke before his cheerful expression.

“Hello!” He tried to whisper but it came out a bit loud. “I’m Luan, you?”

“Yuu,” she answered, not getting why he would continue staring at her without saying anything.

“No, you.”

“I’m Yuu,” she repeated and realized the pun. “My name is Yuu.”

“Eh,” he looked at her in surprise. “Mīnne? Idk what’s that. Anyway, nice to meet you!”

Yuu stared at him dumbfoundedly before saying something like ‘Nice to meet you too’ in return. She was almost getting used to people talking about her being a girl and not really trusting her and only Che’nya casually starting a conversation. But this boy looked so nice and apparently genuinely didn’t care, so she decided to give it a go.

“So we’re desk mates, right? So cool!”

“Y-yeah, it is!” Yuu tried to follow. “Oh, right,” he turned to her again. “Are you a girl? You look quite feminine.”

Yuu blinked at him. Did he not hear?

“I am.”

“Oh, cool,” he just shrugged it off, seemingly he really did not care at all. It was rather refreshing. “Btw do you know the teacher’s name?”

“It’s Emery der Licht, Luan,” she answered in a whisper.

“Super, thanks, Yuu!” He laughed. “It’s lame to call him by his surname anyway.”

“You know I can hear you, right?”

“Yep~”

Yuu smiled at how genuinely sunny and joyful his laugh was and decided to return to taking notes. Somehow the only presence of the boy around managed to put her heart to peace, leading to the realization that apparently not everything invoked her sudden anxiety over a big number of people talking about her in an overwhelming way.

“If you want to find more information, come to the library. I think you might find something useful there.”

Yuu remembered Ambrose’s words and right after the lessons she was heading out straight there. Some students hurried back to their dorms, others began to bond and gathered in the garden to get to know each other better, some preferred to enjoy the atmosphere all alone. Yuu, on the other hand, continued to walk slowly through the ornate corridors until she reached the giant doors, near which hung a gilded sign "Library".

Opening the doors, Yuu seemed to find herself in a parallel reality. Obviously, she really was in another universe, but still, what appeared before her was beyond praise.

In contrast to the predominantly marble decoration of the academy, the library was made of wood. Myriads of wooden bookcases sprang up in front of her, never knowing the end of the edge. Everywhere there were shelves with various kinds of relics, memoirs and other bizarre scrolls. The library featured dimmer lighting, maintaining a note of mystery. Yuu walked past a giant bookcase at least floors long, curiously touching a wooden step ladder that allowed one to climb to the topmost shelf. The floor was covered with dark blue carpets sheathed in gold to match the school's uniform.

Yuu went deeper as the light seeping through a window somewhere far ahead illuminated the whirlwind of dust particles dancing in the passageway. Yuu turned her head to the left, meeting the cylindrical bookshelves filled to the brim with books and the stairs leading to the mezzanine. On the right side there was a gigantic reading room filled with tables. There were cozy-looking table lamps on them, dozens of books were stacked in careless piles. From the reading room one could proceed to the next seemingly endless rows of bookshelves. Another spiral staircase also led to the second floor.

There were few students, and their small number created a special, very personal and indestructible atmosphere of mystery and hidden knowledge. Yuu walked up the three steps and ended up near what appeared to be the librarian's desk. It was a cylindrical stand, behind which a giant clock towered on a bookshelf-shaped stand. Yuu tilted her head up, meeting her gaze at the glass ceiling, over which the setting sun danced playfully, drowning in the crimson hues of the sunset.

Yuu walked over to the librarian's desk, peering under it curiously and noticing a mop of dark brown hair that looked like melted bittersweet chocolate. The person raised up, and Yuu gasped at his extraterrestrial beauty. Silky curls framed his face with neat, dreamy features. His solid elegant posture reminded her of royalty. He blinked, his lush eyelashes covered sandy eyes.

He held his chin high, not shying away from looking majestic, but not supercilious. The librarian gave her a curious eye, fixing a steadfast gaze on Yuu's eyes. At that moment, her own glare flickered over his features, and she couldn't help but notice the charm of the mole under his right eye.

“Good evening,” his voice appeared to be quite deep. “My name is Aell, I’m a librarian. How can I be of help?”

“Good evening, sir Aell, I am Yuu.” She bowed to him but he didn’t seem surprised or annoyed at her action, unlike others who she happened to meet. “Could you please tell me where’s the section with…”

Revealing her intentions to a librarian was a risky move, so Yuu smiled slightly and continued after a pause.

“Books about the history of monarchy kingdoms?”

The librarian nodded, seeming unsurprised at all, and turned to the right. Yuu still was too preoccupied with observing his features to follow his eyes, but noticed another mole on the tip of his sharp nose, staring at him in reverence.

“Second floor, section eight. There will be six tables. Come near the third. Somewhere in there.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Call me if needed,” Aell added, lowering his gaze to the book lying on the table behind his counter, lowering his gaze to the book lying on the table behind his counter, which distracted Yuu for a split second again. Some inexplicable aura of elegance and quivering charm of the librarian forced her to look at him again, and she noted how charmingly his eyes were distinguished by the presence of only one double eyelid on one of them and the absence of it on another.

Yuu followed his directions and indeed found the right section. She ran her fingers along the spines of the books, thoughtfully examining their bindings and reading the titles, when suddenly she heard a speech, one of the voices seemed suspiciously familiar to Yuu.

“Ya, don’t tell me!”

Yuu peeked out from behind the bookshelf, peering at the two figures sitting at the reading table. She saw the back of a familiar person with copper-colored hair, his voice resonating within her mind.

Opposite him sat (more like rested) a boy she did not know. He was laying on the table with his head resting on his hands, which were folded on the table in the shape of a frame. The setting rays of the sun made its way through the window frame, leaning against the silhouette and caressing his pale skin. Above his refined figure and golden curls of silky hair, slightly tangled and glossy with ornate ringlets delicately appeared because of his sleeping posture, trembled a mirage of something extraterrestrial. His eyelashes quivered reverently in the sleep, and his eyebrows drew down to the bridge of his nose, emphasizing something restless appearing in his dream. Motes of dust, lazily bending around the contours of the furniture in the library, did not reach the top of his head, dissolving in the light of the rays of the setting sun.

“You’re asleep?! For real? What in the world…” The boy was sitting with one leg pulled up to his chest and clasping it with one arm, hastily swinging the other one back and forth. “Yo, that’s insane dude… Gotta record this.”

Right, it was the boy who appeared in the clock tower this night and disappeared in a hole which was created absolutely randomly, and dissolved just the same way! His voice was rather loud and vivid in the gentle warm library atmosphere, even if he tried to restrain it, making it a bit lower.

Yuu's eyes flickered over their silhouettes in interest before dropping to the floor. She was torn apart by curiosity, she wanted to clarify what was the reason for their sudden so-called meeting that night, but at the same time ... Despite the fervent and friendly mood of the boy, she could not approach him so easily. In addition, his apparently friend had a dream, and, as it seemed, it was not so pleasant. The violent nature of the nightmare clouded his wonderful features.

A sudden loud thud from behind distracted her from the thoughts which started swirling in her head, making her mind hazy. Yuu turned to her left, noticing a book which fell off the highest shelf.

“A book, huh,” she said, intending to pick up a book which fell from the highest shelf, and turned to the two students, the sleeping one apparently waking up.

Yuu felt a familiar sensation of air trembling slightly when already extremely familiar purple hair locks appeared before her eyes, and then Che’nya’s face was revealed.

“Che’nya-san,” Yuu let out a sigh. “I thought you promised you would greet me normally?”

“I haven’t greeted you yet~” He hummed, this time not revealing his whole body and letting his head float midair. “Anyway, it’s still a bit early. Don’t rush it.”

“Yes?” She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Who knyaws~”

“Che’nya-san,” Yuu frowned. “I suggest you speak to me in a clearer way. Otherwise…”

“Othernyaise?” He reasked her playfully. Maybe it was the right moment to start regretting life choices? At this point Yuu felt a strange sensation, causing her to almost roll her eyes at his words, but quickly shrugged it off. What was this feeling called in the first place?..

“Remember I told you today,” Che’nya grinned with the eyes closed, the smile exposing his teeth. “Fun always happens at night.”

“I’m starting to believe I must have found a translator from your language instead,” Yuu sighed.

“As I’ve mentioned,” his purple strands flicked before her eyes. “I think I need to spend a bit more time with you. And that means…”

He disappeared again, but his voice could still be heard in the back of consciousness. “Next time I’ll greet you properly. I can’t break promises, after all~”

Yuu rubbed her temples with the fingers and thought that there was enough shock and strangeness for today. Turning around to talk to those two students, she realized that they had already disappeared while she was talking to Che’nya. Had his remark served as a vague hint that she should not approach them now? But for what reasons? Che’nya, nevertheless, was woven from riddles.

She picked up the fallen book, intending to put it back on the shelf, but became interested in the title, engraved in gilded letters: "Dead Kingdoms. Stories that have sunk into oblivion." Well... Maybe there really was something fateful in this meeting with Che’nya. Taking the book and realizing that the sunset rays began to change into cold evening ones, Yuu threw a quick glance at the place where the two students were sitting, and came closer. A suspiciously familiar smell of tea hovered over the table, and a playful sensation of something familiar and magical, tickled his veins. Yuu shifted her gaze to the table, where she found a colorful flier.

“Neige LeBlanche: Grand première”.

Yuu tilted her head, observing a boy’s silhouette. On the poster, he was turned with his back, his head slightly tilted to the side. The black poster stood out with a single element — a bright apple clasped in thin fingers.

She returned the flier to where it lay and decided it was time to head back to the clock tower.

Yuu hadn't yet taken this road back to the clock tower, but she wanted to take a walk to get a better view of the area. As Yuu passed by the garden railings, she felt an inexplicable attraction.

A feeling of unbearable longing penetrated her to the bones, penetrating into every cell of her body and responding with unbearable pain. She missed her mansion garden, her surroundings, the whirlwind of mischievous Sprites and tender butterflies.

She wanted to go through the gate and restore the clarity of her mind, when suddenly a distinctly sharp smell of blood hit her nose. Yuu winced, gripping the book tighter in her hands. Blood was one of those smells that unpleasantly tickled the nose, made fairies writhe in dislike, and was generally unpleasant to her kind. … Or so Fairy Godmother taught her, and in particular she instructed her to avoid the source of the scarlet liquid.

However, despite the obvious unpleasant associations, Yuu did not feel such a persistent, painfully unbearable rejection. Someone could be in trouble, and she had no right to wonder what to do when there was only one answer.

The smell grew stronger closer to the edge of the campus, outlined by the forest. Yuu approached the entrance, touching the barks of the trees and feeling unequivocally calmer. The trees whispered to her to move on, every blade of grass shuddering with her step, and Yuu's frown deepened.

Yuu came to a small meadow, in the center of which was a small youthful figure. She silently moved a little closer, and greeted the person in a low voice.

“Good evening?..”

“Ah!!”

A startled person turned to her, revealing his stunned expression. Yuu was silent for a while, studying in amazement the delicate, most beautiful features of the youth who appeared before her. His eyes shone dark brown in the evening's cold hues, and his jet-black hair was neatly styled under a pretty beret. It took Yuu a moment to notice a few pomegranate drops of blood on his thin, graceful fingers.

His gaze followed hers, and he realized what she was staring at so intently. The boy smiled radiantly at her, and an unprecedented tenderness shone in his eyes with a quivering gleam.

“You must be surprised!” His voice seemed marshmallow-sweet to her, it was lulling and infinitely warm, like a warmed milk. “I hope I didn’t startle you? Please worry not, the blood’s not mine…”

“I know,” she nodded.

You don’t smell like this one, she wanted to say but refrained from doing that. Yuu sat beside him instead, finally noticing the one who was bleeding.

A small cute rabbit with a wounded leg.

“Ah,” she gasped. “A poor thing!”

“Indeed,” the boy replied with a note of genuine worry in his voice resembling a nightingale’s trill.

The movements of his fingers were full of caution, parental care and sincere concern.

“Did you come to help?”

He nodded, his gaze fixed on the rabbit. Yuu wanted to use healing abilities, but wondered if it could be revealed yet. Did they exist here? But before she could do anything, the boy frowned.

“If only I had something to bandage the wound…”

“Don’t worry,” Yuu answered. “I can help.”

“Huh?..” He blurted out on an exhalation comparable to the light touch of a cloud in the morning mist.

Yuu ripped off a piece of her sleeve, taking a guess that this move wouldn’t be considered something strange. She handed a piece of cloth, leaving the bandaging process to the boy.

His slender fingers deftly bandaged the wound, and the bleeding soon stopped. The rabbit looked up at the boy, blinking a couple of times before limping to his knees and perched there, falling asleep. In his huge eyes—two precious stones—a bright childish hope was born, supernovae flashed, and a radiant happiness resurrected. A burst of laughter escaped his scarlet lips, and he turned to Yuu, completely oblivious to the two crystal tears that rolled down his cheeks, not from oppressive sadness.

“Your eyes,” he said suddenly. “Resemble a ripe apple. They’re very beautiful.”

Yuu shivered. The only thing she heard about her eyes was that they’re quite terrifying because of their color resembling blood. And yet his gaze painted everything in a radiant sunny hue, and Yuu forgot for a moment where she was, fascinated by the gleam of his bottomless eyes.

“My name is Neige,” the boy said, and Yuu gasped again. Neige? The one she heard about today? “And you?”

“I am Yuu. You’re very kind, Neige.”

He closed his eyes, and the corners of his lips pulled up, forming the most tender smile. Neige was so guileless in his innocent kindness and gentle friendliness that Yuu felt how the natural skepticism that wrapped her mind in thick vines began to melt like liquefied cotton candy.

“Hmm,” he nodded. “Thank you for your help. You too are very kind.”

“No, I…”

“I need to get going, it’s already late.” Neige stood up, carrying the rabbit extremely carefully to not hurt it. “See you around, Yuu.”

Neige waved goodbye to her with his free hand, and the moment he turned around, Yuu smiled back at him, feeling an unexpected stab of a longing feeling, alien to his image, pierced her very heart. The corners of her lips slowly dropped as soon as she noticed the fading spark, vibrating with viscous yearning in the bottom of his eyes.

“Have a nice dream today.”

“Yes, good night… Neige.”

Yuu watched the boy's receding silhouette. Thoughts did not obey her attempts to sort them into the shelves of her mind, confused by the illusory sadness, which flashed in the amber of Neige's eyes, resembling an autumn wind.

And yet she hoped for a nice dream today nevertheless.

★﹒﹒NOTES

✧˖ Yuu uses an archaic Japanese feminine form 妾 (わらわ / warawa). It was humble and self-effacing, but in most of historical anime/novels/etc it's used by female characters of high social standing. ✧˖ Mīnne — variation of Old English form 'min', meaning 'my/mine'. Another way of emphasizing Yuu's pronouns choice.

✧˖ Characters speak Japanese, but Yuu-You puns were inevitable, so don't be surprised :)

✧˖ 'Á lelya' — Appear (in a demanding, impreative way). Yuu uses Quenya (a constructed language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien) in her speech when casting magic spells.

✧˖ The dorm names are revealed! I'll provide you with detailed meanings of word formation used, but try doing your own research and of course have some fun!! (like we did with my bestie creating all of them~)

✧˖ Three new characters were introduced! Have fun guessing them too, given we deviated from the originals in terms of their appearances ha-ha... ✧˖ In case the dorm colors aren't compitable with your tumblr color palette choice, here's the names in a list: — Merheronelle — Dýnamieisos — Pandora Charm — Huriirada — Edelwiese — Florevel — Kifurijua

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst x reader #rsa #rsa x reader #twst x yuu #artemiy artemiyevich pinker #neige leblanche

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