#akin webtoon

[losgee]

AKIN Cast

[mafagafo-amancebado]

I was looking for nevermore characters on akinator and the question that made him know for sure that I was looking for Lenore was "are your character into blondes?"

I laughed so hard when this happened

[hashtagnevermore]

lf: someone to do this with

[pampamtiger]

my new husband 😌

[planetarymesss]

YALL. THAT WAS AMAZING. HOOOOOOOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME.

[hashtagnevermore]

its the main character effect

having the worst time of her life but looking absolutely beautiful while at it

[objectifiedcomic]

"A trained fighter in action iz something akin to music." - Pot Start reading now:

[dottores]

HELIOTROPES

pairing: dottore x fem!reader & segments

summary: the gods were sick and twisted. for five hundred years, he believed he was fated to be alone. he had long accepted it—embraced it, even. that is, until a midwinter night when that elusive red thread finally appeared on his finger. but as much as he wants to ignore it, the pull of a soulmate simply cannot be ignored.

genre: soulmate au, canon compliant for the most part.

warnings: fem!reader, worldbuilding for snezhnaya & fatui & fontaine, dottore's past includes webtoon mindset.

notes: okay y'all i know I gave u a choice over what u want to see int he next chapter but free choice is only an illusion & mother knows best & I took ur wants into consideration & decided against it bc I had a rlly great idea that can only be implemented in this chapter bc there would be no other opportunities for it later on. but im rlly happy w how some of these scenes came out so hopefully u guys are too.

RISE OF A KING, FALL OF A QUEEN

This again. 

You wanted to frown as you found yourself in a large room akin to a chamber with a tall, dome-like ceiling and marble pillars that stretched the height of the room. You were sat in a chair, wooden and creaky, and you could feel the cold shackles wrapped around your ankles without even looking down to see them for yourself. 

There were six figures sitting before you, each on large seats that reminded you of Chief Justice Neuvillette’s back in the Fontaine courthouse. Even the air was similar--damp and heavy, it made your skin crawl.

He was on trial, you put together quickly, but for what? And… where?

There wasn’t much in your line of sight besides the six people sitting in front of you. No, that’s not right. You could see a few more figures from the corner of your eye--they were armed with swords and polearms, tense and ready to act. They wore uniforms of some kind but you couldn’t make out what they were from, you didn’t recognize them. 

“Three hundred years,” one of the men in the six seats spat out. “It’s been three hundred years since the sages have had to gather for a situation like this. This should have been handled before it escalated to this, Sayid. He no longer brings shame just on the Kshahrewar Darshan, now he brings it upon all of us. This has gone too far.”

Sages, Darshan, this was the Akademiya. These were the Great Sages. The people lining the wall were the Matra.

“Attempting the forbidden, interfering with natural evolution, delving beyond the universe--three sins that he has committed and somehow this is still a discussion,” another voice--a woman this time--added on.

You thought that he should have felt anxious, upset, or even offended by the accusations but you could feel nothing. No tug at your heart, no feeling of your stomach dropping, just a cold and empty void where there should have been emotions. 

“It is a discussion because there’s not yet any proof of the sins having been committed,” a tight, male voice rebutted. “What say you, Zandik? Will you defend yourself or just sit there silently?”

Zandik. That was his name--only now you could remember, though it felt as if you had never even forgotten it.

Your lips moved as he responded, voice apathetic and dismissive: “There’s nothing to say… as you said, there is no proof of sins that I have to defend myself from.” His lips pulled up into a thin smile as he spoke, one that unnerved you and you couldn’t even see it. From the expressions on some of the people sitting in front of you, they were just as unnerved as you were.

“He doesn’t even care, Sayid,” the first man hissed. “He won’t even address the accusations laid against him.”

“Sins are not the issue at hand,” a new voice spoke up, voice low and heavy. “We are here to discuss what happened to my Dastur in the Apam Woods.”

Finally, a reaction from Zandik. He raised his chin in response to their words, a feigned attempt at confidence but you could feel the discomfort that began to stir within him--the unease. Somehow you knew that whatever he had been told he was called here for, this had not been it. They had caught him off guard.

“What is there to discuss about that?” Zandik asked. His voice sounded the same as it did before--indifferent, perfunctory--but you could feel the way his heart was beating just a fraction faster than it had been before, you could feel the way his shoulders had stiffened. “It was an unfortunate encounter with a group of Rishboland Tigers. Tragic and should have been avoidable but one of the other trainees had forgotten to set up incense to ward them off.”

“Yes,” one of the men agreed with him, “so the official report says.”

You felt restless as if you wanted to bolt from the room and hide… or he did, for the most part, but some of it was your own. You had attended enough court sessions at Fontaine’s court to know exactly what your soulmate was being accused of… and you had seen enough guilty defendants to know that the accusations were likely not far off from correct. 

Did he…?

“Yes,” Zandik agreed slowly, “because that is what happened.”

“Is it?” The man who initially changed the topic questioned. “The coroner has released to us the official report of Dastur Sohreh’s death. There were multiple trauma wounds… lacerations and contusions on internal organs… hemorrhage… but the fatal injury was a wound on the throat--a fractured hyoid bone caused by strangulation. You were the last person seen with Dastur Sohreh, were you not, trainee?” 

“Sharnama,” a woman’s voice warned but the man only held up his hand, silencing her, waiting for Zandik to respond. 

Zandik did not respond. You could feel the way he was scrambling for an answer, an explanation. You could feel how his heart was racing, how his body was tense. You could feel his anxiety and the realization dawning on him and it all made you sick to your stomach. 

What did you do? You wanted to scream at him. Why did you do it?

As if they could hear your questions, the man continued. “Dastur Sohreh reported to me several acts of insubordination while you were under her tutelage--three times in which you acted without her authorization and brought risks upon the investigation team and an encounter with a ruin hunter in which you insisted on bringing the machinery back to the Akademiya to be disassembled and reverse-engineered, which I personally had to reprimand you for and had you removed from the author list of the investigation’s research paper. When did that happen in regard to Dastur Sohreh’s death, trainee?”

“A week,” the words were frigid and biting as Zandik finally spoke up. “It happened a week before her death.”

“Yes,” he drawled, “that was it.”

“I had nothing to do with her death,” Zandik said. 

You thought you had gotten good at being able to tell whether or not people were lying. You spent three days a week in the court audience watching trials but you were in your soulmate’s body and you could not tell whether he was lying or telling the truth about murdering someone. His heart was racing and there was a twitch in the corner of his lip--the telltale signs of a lie but they could just as easily be a result of the anxiety stemming from being accused of murder. 

(You wondered, distantly, if you were just making excuses so you didn’t have to face the reality that had so suddenly been thrown at you. You had enough experience in court to differentiate the guilty from the innocent.)

“I suppose we have no way of proving that… so you are not at threat of imprisonment,” was his only response but Zandik was not at ease by those words, as if he knew exactly what was coming next. “But with reasonable suspicion of your involvement on top of the allegations regarding your research violating three sins provides grounds for expulsion… assuming it is a unanimous decision.”

It was a question cast to the other five seated in front of Zandik. You noted how Zandik seemed more anxious at the prospect of expulsion than he did at being accused of murder and you weren’t entirely sure how to feel about that. 

“Sharnama,” the only woman amongst the six spoke again, “you mean to make us the first council of sages to expel a student in centuries. The last time-”

“He murdered my Dastur, Anisa,” Sharnama snapped in response.

“I did not-” Zandik’s voice rose, harsh in defense of himself but he was cut off sharply.

“Enough from you, you had your chance to defend yourself,” Sharnama said, tone laced with venom.

“Sharnama is harsh but… the trainee has had a reputation since his time as a student,” one of the other men agreed after a few moments of silence. “His methods and theories… his interest in Khaenri’ahn machinery… It makes people uncomfortable.”

“Discomfort is not grounds for expulsion, Isami, but regardless, we cannot just dismiss all of these allegations. Should any of them prove to be true and it comes out that we knew and did nothing about it…”

“It would tarnish the integrity of the Akademiya,” the woman, Anisa, agreed quietly. “Sayid, Khalil?”

“This should have been handled when the accusations of him infringing upon the laws and rules our predecessors set up first came about,” one of the men said and you could feel Zandik’s throat spasm as he swallowed, panic beginning to set in. 

“... Sayid?” Anisa pressed after a few moments of silence.

And you could feel it. You could feel that small, minuscule bud of hope begin to bloom deep in Zandik’s chest as he shifted a wild gaze over to the sage called Sayid. You had a decent understanding of the structure of Sumeru’s Akademiya after having looked into it because of your suspicions about your soulmate, you supposed this man was the sage of whatever Darshan Zandik was a part of--Kshahrewar, you remembered one of the other men mentioning before.

Zandik trusted Sayid to defend him, you could feel it and you could feel the way his face fell and the way his stomach dropped when Sayid looked away from him, as good an answer as damning him aloud as Sharnama took his silence as agreement, waving his hand for the matra to take him.

You didn’t think Zandik even registered what had happened until rough hands were forcing him to his feet, starting to drag him from the room, and then, finally, the rage hit--bitter and deep, overwhelming. 

“Over rumors and false allegations,” Zandik spat out, hatred dripping from every word. “You’ll expel me for that?”

He got no response besides the harsh words of one of the matra urging him along but he struggled against them with every step, even with fingers digging deep into his biceps, bruising his skin, he was undeterred.

“You sages can’t even fall in line with the very virtues you set out to preserve,” he seethed, “and the sins that you deem so treacherous are just an excuse to chain anyone whose convictions do not fit your standards because you fear that a change in our way of thinking will displace your power.”

You had never felt anything like this before. This feral fury that had your blood on fire and your brain melting of coherent thought--uncontrollable and unquenchable, a type of bloodlust that shook you to your core and scared you because you could feel yourself angry too and you weren’t sure if it were remnants of Zandik’s rage spilling to you or not and you hated how you were being so influenced by his emotions that you couldn’t tell what was his and what was yours anymore.

“You’re going to regret this,” Zandik shouted as the matra pulled him through the doors of the chamber. His words, the sages’ words, they all echoed in your head over and over again--all of the accusations, his reactions, and you wondered what it meant and how much of it was true and you wondered who he was not for the first time and certainly not the last. “You’re going to regret this!”

He didn’t even bother to try the tricks he attempted last time--searching for something to read, yelling, blinking, he knew none of it would work and he wasn’t the type of person to make the same mistake twice. 

The room he was in--she was in--was large and enclosed with an overwhelmingly sweet and sickly flowery scent that made his stomach churn. He had always hated floral scents and this was beyond anything he had ever smelt before. 

And there were too many people. There were too many goddamn people. They were packed in seats before where his soulmate was sitting, they were lined up around the room as if they were waiting to do something, there were so many that the line was even pushed out two double doors, flowing into the hall.

What was going on? 

Dottore couldn’t tell. His soulmate was facing the crowd of people--there was something behind her, he could tell that much. He couldn’t see any flowers so he assumed that whatever that scent was, was coming from behind her. 

There was a man standing next to her--an older one with a cold, unfriendly expression and thick build. He watched as a woman approached the older man, disgust curling in his gut at the snot-faced expression painting her face, wide teary eyes and trembling lips as she reached for the man’s hand. Dottore wanted to step away, draw back and leave before the woman could set her eyes on him but alas, he was not in control of his body--her body--again. 

The more he thought about it, the more odd this was. The last time he had witnessed her past through dreams, her emotions had been loud and intense, deafening. It had him spiraling because he couldn’t understand what he was feeling and he couldn’t tell if he was feeling it or if it was her.

Now, it was empty. There was no joy, no anxiety, no fear or sadness; just a cool void, reminiscent of how the past week and a half of silence from her had felt. Dottore wondered if that was why Celestia was forcing him to sit through another sequence of dreams--punishment for trying to push her away.

Succeeding in pushing her away, he corrected silently, there was an odd pit in his stomach at the thought. He should be happy, he had been worried that not even a direct strike against her persistence would deter her but he had found success in the first attempt. 

It was what he wanted. He no longer had to deal with the frequent tugs on the thread. He no longer had to deal with the fluctuating emotions. He no longer had to deal with the good mornings and goodnights and the incessant questions. 

The past week had been the most peaceful and productive he’s had ever since that damned string appeared and yet somehow, he was not happy. 

It was what he wanted, he repeated but a part of him felt as if he might be trying to convince himself of it.

Around him, people were talking. He could see their lips moving and he could hear the words leaving their lips but they were unintelligible and garbled, it sounded as if they were underwater and only speaking half a word at a time, combining them to create words that didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t read their lips, no matter how hard he tried, it just looked as if they were speaking a foreign language. 

The woman who had been talking to the older man now turned to his soulmate. Instantly, dread was rocketing through him--he knew what was about to happen and there was simply nothing that he could do about it. 

Thin arms wrapped around her, tighter than he thought it would be and he wondered, hatefully, if his soulmate was some agent of Celestia sent to make his life a living hell. Three times now, he was forced to experience something through her that made his skin crawl. First, he was tossed around through that winter storm because she made stupid decisions. Then he was slapped. And now, there was a woman clinging to him, sobbing and speaking words that he couldn’t even understand and all he could do was stand there and let it happen because that’s what she was doing.

It took far too long for another woman to come along and drag her off. Dottore was livid, if he looked to the side, he was sure he would see snot on his soulmate’s shoulder and he could still feel bony arms digging into her sides.

He wasn’t sure how long she stood there. It felt like an eternity and only a few seconds somehow at the same time. People were passing by her in slow motion but they were gone in an instant. Dottore was distinctly unsettled, it felt like someone was fucking with his head, forcing him to perceive things wrongly. 

Eventually, his soulmate was approached by someone new--a younger man with dark hair and purple-red eyes. He ignored the older man to her side, everyone else had stopped at him first and then moved to her but he had beelined right to her. 

Something didn’t sit right in his stomach about that.

Dottore braced himself as best as he could as the other man reached out to grab his soulmate but instead of pulling her into a hug, he only grabbed her forearms, leaning his head down to say something that Dottore couldn’t understand again. 

He was undeterred by her lack of reaction, trying again and again and again. Dottore had half a mind to bash his head in and tell him to leave, fed up by this whole situation. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to escape this. When he thought he finally succeeded, he was dragged right back in by Celestia and their fucked up games. 

Then, at last, Dottore could hear again. His soulmate was snapped out of whatever daze she had been in and noise exploded around him: scraping of chairs against the ground, mindless chatter, a violin muted in the background, slow and mournful. 

A funeral. 

For who? 

It had to be someone close to his soulmate from how they were all approaching her and suddenly, he was reminded of that night all of those years ago during the event where Pantalone was being officially promoted to Harbinger. Father, branded right on his forearm. He had yet to get a look at his soulmate through a reflection--he wondered if this was the funeral.

Most of the chatter was sympathetic, talking about the deceased and reminiscing old times… but not all of it was. He could hear whispers of men talking about what this could mean for the stability of the court, eyeing up the new opportunities that came with this death, some sounded excited rather than melancholic, like hyenas feasting on one of their own.

“There you are,” the young man in front of her said with a small smile that made Dottore frown. “Ignore all of them, they did the same thing when my grandfather died. Came to the funeral under the guise of mourning just so they could see if there was any instability for them to leech on. There wasn’t then and there isn’t now.”

“There isn’t?” his soulmate spoke for the first time--her voice was hoarse and empty, the only sort of emotion was a dull sense of doubt. “All they talk about is how I’m too weak to take over for my grandfather. They say a woman is unfit to be warden.”

“If they saw the way you could work your family’s-” he began loudly.

“Wriothesley,” the older man standing next to his soulmate said, a warning written all over his face.

“Sorry,” Wriothesley said, looking away.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” his soulmate said after a few moments of silence, voice quiet. “The instability is right in front of everyone’s faces. They can all see that they’re not here, Wrio.” 

Wrio, Dottore thought to himself spitefully once he heard the nickname.

Wriothesley looked irritated at her words, glancing once at the older man again before speaking back up, “They didn’t show up at all? Your mother? Siblings? To your father’s funeral?”

There it was. Finally, a bit of emotion from her. She was hurt at his words, he could feel something pinching at his chest, a dark and unwelcome feeling but for some reason, it made him feel a bit more at ease after the past week of silence.

“They were busy,” she said quietly but Dottore could tell that she didn’t even believe the words herself. Neither did Wriothesley, if the expression on his face had anything to say about it. “They were, Wrio.”

Dottore wanted to roll his eyes once he heard the nickname again but instead, he distracted himself with what she had said. He thought back to the previous dreams he had of her past--being left behind by her mother and stepfather while they went to town, the argument with her mother and the slap… somehow, he wouldn’t be surprised if she had chosen not to go. 

Wriothesley scoffed loudly, loud enough to draw the attention of some of the other attendees. “They’re despicable,” he spat out. “Especially that skeevy, rat-faced-”

“Come, Wriothesley,” a middle-aged man who looked just like the younger man said sharply, interrupting him before he could finish his sentence. “This is not the place for this topic. You can speak to your betrothed another time.”

Dottore blanched. 

Betrothed?

Blood. 

That was the first thing you noticed. The thick, nasty scent of iron was all around you--around him, whatever. It was disgusting, overwhelming. You wanted to throw up, you thought that if you were in your own body, you might’ve passed out but you were in his, Zandik’s, and he was totally unbothered by the smell. 

Something was wrong with your eyes--that was the second thing you noticed. You had no peripheral vision, the only thing you could see was his hands resting on the lab table in front of you, fresh and dry blood staining his skin, dripping to the floor below. 

He was angry, the third thing you noticed. You could feel the rage curling in his gut; his nails digging into the table, grinding against the metal. You couldn’t figure out what he was angry about and you weren’t sure if you wanted to know because you had a distinct feeling that it had something to do with the blood on his hands and the lab table.

Zandik finally moved, an awful scraping sound meeting your ears as his nails dragged against the metal when he pushed off the table. He paced up and down the length of the room, muttering to himself. 

“Everything was right.”

“What went wrong?”

“-was supposed to work, don’t under-”

As he turned, you could see something--some sort of machine laying across the lab table that hadn’t been in your line of sight before. You wondered if these were ruin guards that he talked about so much. There was something pooling around it; from the distance you were at, you thought it might be oil but Zandik turned on his heel to move closer to it and a sinking feeling formed in your stomach when you realized that it was not oil, instead it was a massive puddle of blood surrounding the machine.

What the fuck? You thought to yourself as Zandik stood in front of the machine, taking one of its arms in his hand. The metal somehow felt cool and hot at the same time, uncomfortable to the touch. You wanted to let go of it, there was blood coating the metal and staining his hands even more, but Zandik’s grip was tight around it.

Why was a machine bleeding? You were sick at the thought, hoards of horrible possibilities running through your head but you didn’t get a chance to dwell on any of them.

Zandik sighed, annoyed, jerking away from the machine again to pace. His head shook back and forth in a rough manner that started to give you a headache, he did it over and over and over again and you wanted to scream at him to stop. 

“This was supposed to work, Grand Sage,” he said, clicking his tongue sharply once, then twice, and then a third time. “This was supposed to work. I did everything right. Why aren’t you working?” 

Is he talking to-

Zandik marched right back toward the machine, much to your displeasure. The longer he stared at the automaton, the more uncomfortable you felt. You could tell that it had been modified in several places, disassembled and put back together but it almost looked as if… he had put something inside it? 

“Why aren’t you working, Grand Sage?” he repeated, humming to himself irritably as he tapped his fingers against the metal. “I even went out to fetch you a new core, you’ve always been so damn ungrateful, haven’t you? Everything I did for your Darshan and you still turned your back on me. Ungrateful, even when I’m trying to make you greater than man.”

-to the machine?

You wanted to wake up, you didn’t want to see whatever this dream was showing you. You wondered if it was some cruel joke the gods were playing on you by showing you this. Or maybe they were trying to help you, you considered. He had made his opinion on you clear and yet every day you were still tempted to reach out to him, maybe they were trying to help you move past him.

“Is this what you plan to do with yourself?” a low, unfamiliar voice spoke up suddenly from the opposite end of the room. 

Zandik was startled, heart racing and head whipping to the side as he snapped his fingers together. Instantly, there was a loud whirring machine coming from behind him, metal scraping against metal--the sound of an automaton coming to life. His gaze focused on a figure stepping out from the shadows of the corner of the room, tall with graying hair and a mask that covered the entire right half of his face.

“Who are you?” Zandik demanded harshly and finally, you caught sight of him through the reflection of a metal cabinet. Red eyes stared back at you through a mask that covered three-quarters of his face and short silvery blue hair that had blood dripping from the tips of his curls. “Who are you?”

“So much potential wasting away in this poor excuse of a lab,” the man continued, undeterred by Zandik’s hostility. An eerie feeling swept over you--you weren’t sure if it was you or Zandik becoming unnerved by the man, maybe it was both of you. “Don’t you want something more?”

“What are you talking about?” Zandik asked sharply, a scalpel clutched tight in his fist--somehow, you knew that it was no match for the man standing before him and you had a feeling that he knew that too. “Did the Akademiya send you? Who are you?”

“I came after hearing rumors of an expelled student performing heretical acts… So far I’m unimpressed.”

The anger that spread through him was like wildfire, consuming all rationality and any other emotion he might’ve felt. In an instant, the automaton that had awakened behind him was moving, launching across the room at a pace that had you reeling, blades slashing outward but then at once, it stopped. A cold silence took over the room, Zandik’s brows furrowed and his lips turned down as the automaton came to a stop, shutting down right before his eyes. 

“Interesting enhancements… but unchanged at its core, meant to be operated by those that created them, not a follower of the gods.”

“I am not a follower of the gods,” Zandik spat out violently, stepping forward before he paused as if reconsidering the man’s statement. “Meant to be operated… you?”

“Yes,” he responded, ignoring Zandik’s entire change of demeanor at his words. You thought you might feel even more unnerved now, at the excited feeling bubbling inside Zandik as he stared at the man, waiting for him to continue. “What are your goals, outcast?” 

Zandik frowned. “That’s not my name-” he began but was interrupted.

“If I cared for your name, I would have learned it. If you prove yourself useful, you will be given a new identity anyway,” he told Zandik. “Now answer me, outcast, what are your goals?”

Zandik didn’t answer for a moment, staring at him, but then he glanced back at the automaton still laying on the lab table, the pool of blood beneath it now larger. Luckily, his gaze didn’t linger on it for long. 

“I’m going to enhance humans so that we can rival gods,” Zandik said, raising his chin to focus his eyes back on the man. “What do you mean? Prove yourself useful? To whom? You?”

“Lofty goals,” was all he received as a response. Zandik bristled. “How do you plan to do that? With what resources?”

Zandik opened his mouth to respond but no words left his lips. Finally, he pushed out, “I’m making progress just fine.”

“Yes,” the man said dryly, his visible eye drifting over to the mess behind Zandik. “I can see that…”

You didn’t think you liked where this was heading. Zandik was still suspicious but now he was intrigued, ready to listen to this man and whatever he had to say, and you had a feeling that this man would bring nothing good.

“I can provide you with resources,” he offered. “Funding, rare materials… new test subjects. All of the finest and as much as you need.”

“What do you want in return?” Zandik asked.

“There is a war coming,” he responded cryptically, “and you are going to help prepare us for it.”

“A war?” Zandik asked, baffled. “A war against who?”

But you knew. 

You knew. 

It was the same war that had the Hydro Archon’s paranoia escalating. The war that forced you to hide your soulmark and thread your entire life, that had you looked down on and whispered about because you had to tell people you had no soulmate. The war led by the same organization that had sent your stepfather to Fontaine as an infiltrator, the man who had killed your father and ruined your life. 

At once, all of your nightmares and all of your worst fears came true. 

“A war against the gods.”

Betrothed?

Dottore was appalled, reeling at the knowledge that was just forced onto him. The scene shifted, Dottore was now in a smaller room kneeling in front of a woman that he recognized from the first dream he had of his soulmate but he couldn’t even focus on the situation at hand.

Betrothed?? 

Since when had she been betrothed? Dottore thought that would have been one of things that she mentioned when she was rambling on about her days at night. He thought it might’ve been something that was at least hinted at when she couldn’t control what words were being sent to him. 

“I have to leave, mother,” Dottore’s lips were moving as she spoke but quite frankly, he didn’t give a shit about whatever conversation she was having with her mother. The lack of emotions she was feeling left a vacuum that allowed his feelings to spiral and he was having trouble trying to keep control of them. 

He couldn’t even tell what the emotions rattling him were. He thought that he had become better at pinpointing emotions ever since he was forced to deal with hers but this was foreign--green and ugly, beyond just anger or sadness, stronger than anything he’s felt in centuries.

“You do not have to leave, you’re choosing to.”

Dottore thought he might feel insulted--disrespected, even, being given a soulmate only for them to be married off to someone else. Another cruel joke played by the gods to spite him, a cruel joke played by her to spite him. He wondered if this was her getting back at him for never responding to those goodnight tugs she always used to do: talking to him, trying to get him to fall for her trap and respond, only for her to be with someone else. 

“I do, I have to go. There’s something I have to do.”

He shouldn’t feel insulted, or disrespected. He shouldn’t care at all whether or not his soulmate was betrothed to someone else. He never planned on speaking to her. He never planned on meeting her. And he absolutely never planned to do anything about the bond forced on him by Celestia. In fact, this should make him feel better. It meant that there was less of a chance for her to reach out to him again if she was in a relationship with someone else. 

It freed him of her. This should be a good thing for him, so why was he so angry?

“You won’t even tell me where you’re going,” her mother snapped. “Best not be to the north, there’s only so much more I can defend you from peoples’ suspicions. They’re starting to ask questions.”

But it was not a matter of whether or not he should or shouldn’t care. It was the sheer audacity she had to keep reaching out to him when she was set to marry, or even has married someone else at this point. She was trying to play games with him and if there was one thing that Dottore couldn’t stand, it was someone trying to play games with him--be it the gods, other Harbingers, or some random girl that Celestia decided to tie him to. 

“It doesn’t matter where-”

“Of course, it matters,” the mother said, fingers digging into his soulmate’s forearms. “What am I to tell Her Excellency when she asks about where you went off to? The last thing our family needs is the speculation that would come along with people thinking you went off to Snezhnaya.” 

Finally, he felt something from her--something sharp and jagged tugging at her chest that drew him from his thoughts, an emotion he had become acquainted with through her intimately over the past few years: sadness, disappointment.

“Wow,” she said dryly, “that’s what you’re worried about. Suspicions against your family. Not whether or not I might be going somewhere dangerous.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” her mother said, livid. “Of course, I care about whether or not you’re going somewhere dangerous. I’m your mother.”

“I’m not going to argue with you,” his soulmate said after a moment, rising to her feet and pulling her arms from her mother’s grip. “You can tell the Hydro Archon I’ve left for Mondstadt.”

“Is that where you’re actually going?” her mother rose to her feet after her, taking a step forward, but his soulmate did not respond. Her mother’s face fell. “You’re going north, aren’t you?” 

Dottore finally focused on the situation at hand. North? But the only thing north of Fontaine was-

“Aren’t you?” her mother demanded. “You’re going to Snezhnaya? Why are you going there? To find him?”

Him. She must be referring to Dottore. But why would his soulmate come looking for him if she had…?

“I didn’t say that,” his soulmate shook her head, looking away out toward the window. It was a dreary day, dark clouds hanging low and rain sprinkling down to the streets below. “I told you to tell the Hydro Archon I’m going to Mondstadt.”

“Why are you going there? Why? Answer me,” her mother’s voice rose, eyes tearing up as she stepped closer to his soulmate. She stepped back, freezing her mother in place.

“Have you ever communicated with your soulmate through thoughts? The words that show up on your forearm?” she finally asked, tone harsh and accusing, a sudden change of subject.

Dottore paused, trying to put together what this might be about now. This was another reason why he hated these damn dreams, he never had any context behind what was happening and Dottore hated not knowing things.

“What sort of question is that?” her mother hissed, taken aback. “Of course-”

Her mother cut herself off suddenly, brows furrowing and lips twisting into a deep frown. Dottore could feel his soulmate swallow thickly, watching the reaction to her question. She had been expecting this and he wasn’t sure if it was dread or satisfaction pooling in her stomach--maybe both.

“Have you ever thought about why you don’t communicate through it? Have you ever tried and he just doesn’t respond? Do you try flicking your thread? Does he flick it back?” his soulmate let loose a barrage of questions and a creeping suspicion began to arise, wondering if she was implying what he thought she was.

“What are you trying to say?” her mother shook her head, stepping away. “Enough.”

“I’m not trying to say anything,” his soulmate responded, turning on her heel to leave the room. “But maybe you should think about it.”

She didn’t say anything else as she left the room and finally, Dottore could think.

She was accusing her stepfather of faking the bond with her mother, Dottore realized. But how would he do that? He knew people were capable of faking bonds through old magics but as far as he was aware that type of magic was all but lost… Dottore’s mind was suddenly racing, remembering all of the things he had forgotten in the last dream he had of her past: what he had figured out about the spy in the upper ranks of the Fatui and they had a spy in Fontaine, one of Arlecchino’s spiders and Arlecchino was capable of the old magic, and his soulmate was coming north to Snezhnaya so obviously she must have reason to believe that it had something to do with the Fatui, could it be-

Dottore felt a headache coming on. 

He had a feeling that this was going to be very, very bad.

You woke up with a sharp, shaky breath. Your hand flew to your chest as you sat up straight, reeling from what you had just experienced. Blood, anger, betrayal, hope--what could you remember? What could you remember?

You scrambled to the small table at your bedside immediately, grabbing your notebook and panicking to find the pen that had fallen to the floor. You dropped to your hands and knees, fumbling around in the dark until you found it beneath your bed. You didn’t even bother rising to your feet again as you made yourself comfortable on the floor so you could start jotting down everything you remembered.

A cold, empty room. Six people. Exile? Sins and virtues. Lots of blood. An automaton. Uncontrollable, sickening rage. An unfamiliar figure. War. 

War.

But what was the context? Your head was pounding as you tried to remember, you wondered if Celestia was warning you against trying to push too hard for information you’re not meant to remember yet. You didn’t care. You had to know. 

War. The rebellion stirring in the north. But what about it? What was the damn context?

You glanced down at your forearm, frustration pricking at you as the window above you rattled against the Snezhnayan winter storm. You could feel the freezing air even from inside the warm room with the fireplace burning on the opposite wall--it was unlike anything you had ever experienced before, the cold storms at the estate that you thought were the end of the world paled in comparison to this.

You wanted to yell at him, demand to know who he was and what he had done, beg him for the answers that you should’ve received by now… but you remembered the words scrawled across your forearm, the cruel words that cut deeper than any of the nasty words that had been spat at you by people throughout your life.

He did not care about you, you reminded yourself, you have more self-respect than this. Do not reach out to him.

You sighed heavily, arm dropping to your side as you stared back up at the window, watching a branch scrape against the glass over and over and over again. You were only on the Snezhnayan border but already you were feeling anxious--you had half a mind to turn back but the only thing stopping you was the memory of your father, the lust for justice, vengeance. You couldn’t turn back, not until you had all of the information you needed, not until you were sure you could return to Fontaine and have your stepfather imprisoned in the Black Cells.

There was a heavy feeling in your heart as you pushed yourself back off the floor, putting the notebook away and taking a seat back on the thin mattress of the inn you were staying at, the wood of the bed frame creaking beneath you. 

You had a distinct feeling that your journey to find proof against your stepfather would lead you to him as well.

He sat upright, eyes wild as he tried to figure out where he was. His heart was racing, anger was still flooding his blood, he breathed in and out deeply as he tried to regain control of himself. He was back in his lab--not dealing with any more of those god forsaken dreams. He wanted to spit out a string of vile curses up toward the gods but he refrained, trying to piece together what he could remember before the vague memories faded. 

He flipped over the parchment he had been taking notes on before he had fallen asleep, rubbing the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut as he pressed his pen to the paper and noted down all of the hazy details.

Flowers. Wrio? Betrothed?? Mother. Leaving. Snezhnaya. 

Dottore exhaled, gaze zeroing in on the third word of his list--betrothed. He glanced down at the thread connected to his thumb, inhaling deeply as an unfamiliar emotion began to churn inside of him. Before it could take hold, Dottore diverted his attention to the last two words.

Leaving. Snezhnaya.

What did that mean? What was the context? He couldn’t remember. Was she coming to Snezhnaya? Was she in Snezhnaya and leaving? Or did the two words not have any connection? 

No, they had to be connected. It was something important, he knew that much at least, but what? The answer was on the tip of his tongue and again that temper of his began to thin, what was the answer? What was the goddamn answer? Why was she coming to Snezhnaya? 

Should he ask?

The option rang damning through his head as he looked down at his forearm. She could be in danger if she came to Snezhnaya--the nation was becoming more and more antagonistic to outsiders, especially outsiders from Fontaine and Natlan and especially because of the masked hostile that was running through Fatui camps and slaughtering their underlings. No matter how much Pulcinella and Pantalone demanded that they take caution with outsiders, there was no telling what a heat of the moment reaction could lead to if there was a possible threat and Arlecchino had made clear that Fontaine was on the verge of becoming a threat to the Fatui. 

As he contemplated his choices, Dottore suddenly paused, another realization hitting him suddenly: if he had dreamt of her past then…

Then she dreamed of his past.

Dottore waited, staring at his forearm--waiting for the questions, the disgust, the horror. It was inevitable, he knew it. Last time, he assumed they dreamed of similar time periods of their life. Hers was when she was young, five to twelve years old between both dreams, he assumed; and the word he received from her was cursed, which was directed at him from when he was a child up until he was chased from the village at ten. And if the time periods were similar… that left his Akademiya and post-Akademiya era up as options for what she could have dreamt about, and neither of those periods of his life were particularly pleasant.

He waited and he waited and he waited… but nothing showed up on his forearm, not a question nor an accusation, no emotion spread through him that he thought might’ve been hers--just emptiness, just like it had been for the past week and a half. 

Dottore exhaled heavily, leaning back against his seat and staring up at the ceiling above him, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with this and how he was supposed to make sure she didn’t get herself killed traveling through Snezhnaya.

The week and a half of peace was over and he realized, quickly, that it had only been the calm before the storm. 

rbs appreciated!

[samoankpoper21]

Duke! Gojo IB@gojonanami

A/N As soon as I saw this I KNEW I had to make an attempt at trying to write a scenario for this - tell me you read too many webtoons without telling me you read too many webtoons 🤭 S/O to @gojonanami for this prompt! My only hope is that I do this justice 🥺🥺Also your last name is Hamilton 🤣 It just sounds like a marquess last name 🤣

Word count: 2338

Noble factions trembled in fear or coveted his wealth, the lower class revering him akin to the Gods. Gojo Satoru. The name alone sounded deadly, goosebumps trailing one's skin.

Gojo Satoru rose up in ranks quickly due to his sheer strength; legend has it that he was born with the Divine Power of the Gods.

Every 20 years an individual was bestowed with the Divine Power of the Gods. The powers varied for each individual: there was the power of healing, immense strength, wielding fire, shape shifting, immortality, forming force fields, astral projection, regeneration, clairvoyance, and speed; each of the powers representative of the Gods. In Gojo's case however, the day that he was born, legends say that the Gods were clashing amongst one another resulting in Gojo being born with not one Divine Power but five: astral projection, clairvoyance, forming force fields, speed, and immense strength.

He was known as the emperor's sword. When the former emperor Rion of Novaland heard of Gojo's birth, he sought the boy out and trained him under the intense tutelage of the imperial knights where they were able to tap in to all of his powers. Once Emperor Rion heard news of this, he swiftly sent the then 15-year old to lead the Novaland imperial knights to numerous battles under the guise of defending Novaland. News of Gojo's victories spread throughout the land and beyond causing Rion's enemies to quiver in fear, forcing them to either pledge allegiance to Novaland or become victims of being conquered. He agreed to become the emperor's sword with the promise of earning his own land and the title of Duke.

All Gojo knew was war and blood so when Yaga ascended the throne, through the overthrowing of Rion, Yaga taught him that there was more to life than war. As promised Gojo earned his title, land, and new friends through Yaga's right hand man/scholar Geto Suguru and mage Shoko Ieiri.

*Current day*

The sound of swords clashing against one another could be heard throughout the courtyard. To the naked eye, all could be seen was a blur of white hair and his opponent being knocked on their ass, sword being pressed to the opponent's chest. "Satoru." Gojo sheathed his sword and made his way to the raven haired, circular spectacles man standing in the shadow. "You should be getting ready for the ball tonight. You don't have time to be practicing with your sword-"

"Suguru, you sound like my nagging wife." This comment caused Suguru to blush a little, Satoru smirking at the effect he had on the beautiful scholar. Suguru cleared his throat, continuing with, "Well maybe if you listened to Yaga, I wouldn't have to nag you." Satoru stuck his tongue out as they walked down the corridor. They walked in comfortable silence, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Satoru couldn't believe how much he changed under the guidance of Yaga: he was still stoic and aloof, but when he was surrounded by Suguru, Shoko, or Yaga he turned into a playful teenager; that right having been stripped from him being on the battlefield since he was 15. They didn't mind it though; in fact they welcomed Satoru's playfulness. The only time he crossed the line was when he mixed up the potions in Shoko's lab and it ended up causing a huge explosion; since then he has been banned from going near the potions. He reveled in the change of pace: from being constantly on edge to being relaxed. Yaga had promised him that he would no longer have to yield the title of being the emperor's sword, unless it was absolutely necessary, that that's what Shoko was intended for. "The only thing I need you to focus on Satoru is to find a wife." Wife. He scoffed at the word. Who in their right mind would send their daughter to marry the emperor's sword? Even after years passed, Satoru noticed that people would flinch or either flee at the sight of him. He convinced himself that it was ok but still felt a pang when he experiences it.

"What are you thinking about?" Suguru's question bringing him out of his reverie. Satoru crossed his hands behind his back answering with, "How Yaga keeps holding these pointless balls in order for me to settle down."

"It's not pointless Satoru. We're forming alliances with neighboring countries while trying to get you to find a suitable bride."

"So why doesn't Yaga pester you?" Suguru brought his right hand to the left side of his chest, bowing, saying, "I am but a lowly scholar. My title dictates whether I will be lucky enough to be wed." Satoru stood there silently staring at the man bowed before him. He knew Suguru was right; being a scholar/the emperor's right hand man dictated that Suguru may have a fling or two but his loyalty is to the emperor. Satoru sighed. "Don't worry beautiful. I'll be there at the ball."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You were staring out the window of the carriage as your father and stepmother were lecturing you about your etiquette. "Y/N!" the shouting of your name snapped you out of your daydream. "Huh?"

"Have you listened to a single word we said?" your father shrieked. Your stepmother flapped her fan open covering her mouth as she noted, "Tsk. Such a disobedient daughter." You clutched at the fabric of your gown tightly wanting to explode. You already knew why you were being sent to the ball: your father being a marquess of a small land was looking to expand financially and politically. You were his ticket. Having already made your debut into society, you were known to be reckless, a free spirit. What was meant to be you defending another noble woman against her abusive husband spun into you being nosy, impulsive. Do you regret stepping in? Of course not. Your mother's last words was to always strive for justice regardless of the cost.

Your father began rubbing at his temples. "What am I going to do with you Y/N?"

"Father, you have nothing to fear. I will act like the perfect doll juuust for you." A slap across your right cheek reverberated throughout the carriage, your stepmother gasping behind her fan. "Is this some kind of sick game to you?!" your father fumed. "If only it was you and not your mother who was taken away!"

"Shh," your stepmother chided him, rubbing his forearm. "That's enough dear." You could feel the tears pooling at the corner of your eyes threatening to spill over. You wouldn't give these people the satisfaction. You straightened your back peering ahead when your stepmother continued with, "Who knows, she'll probably catch the attention of Duke Gojo. He's an eligible bachelor, has an expanse of land, and is known for...taming unruly animals."

"Unruly animal?" you scoffed. "You should speak for yourself. Have you no pride or shame? Crawling into a mourning man's bed before the mourning period is over?" Another slap reverberated throughout the carriage, this time your stepmother fuming, shaking. "You're just as unruly as HER." Since your mother's passing, neither your father or stepmother referred to her by her name Luciana. You were ready to rip the pearls that adorned your stepmother's hair when your father put himself between she and you. "Y/N stop it this instant! Marilyn has been nothing but sweet to you stepping in since your mother died."

"You never call mom by her name anymore! You act like she never existed! As if she's a ghost!" Your father paused as the carriage came to a halt, an abrupt knock letting you all know that you have arrived at the palace. Your father shook his head, hoping to clear his guilty conscious after your harsh words pierced his heart. "Come out when you're ready." He replied. "Don't forget to fix your makeup." your stepmother proffered.

Gojo was internally fidgeting. He hated social events like these. He could tolerate being at death's door but what he could not stand was the stares, whispers. "All hail Emperor Yaga!" The attendees all stopped to bow or curtsy shouting, "Greetings to the star of Novaland", as he made his way to his seat, Suguru standing to the right of him. "Thank you all for attending this ball. I hope that this ball serves as a wonderful memory for you all. Let us enjoy the fesitivities! May the Divine Power of the Gods bless and be with you!"

"May the Divine Power of the Gods bless and be with you!" the music resumed and senseless chatter began to fill the air. "Duke Gojo." Yaga's booming voice greeted him as he took his seat. "Greetings to the star of Novaland. May the Divine Power of the Gods bless and be with you." he bowed. Yaga dismissed Gojo stating, "You don't have to be so formal."

"In a formal setting such as this one must oblige."

"Hm. Have you found anyone to your liking?"

"I have not Emperor Yaga."

"At least go and socialize. Dance. Be happy. Try to smile a little." Satoru looked to Suguru for help but was disappointed when he saw Suguru stifling his laughter. Yaga dismissed Satoru with a wave of his hand. He reluctantly dragged his feet grabbing a glass of champagne on his way to "socialize".

You lost track of how many glasses of champagne you had, only 3 of the nobles had asked you to dance and you reluctantly agreed. You caught a glimpse of your father and stepmother making their way around each table, trying to strike a deal of some sort. You scoffed at how pathetic they looked and gulped down another source of bubbly. With each glass, the taste became sweeter, causing you to almost forget about the earlier events. How dare they look down on you and your mother? It's not like saying Luciana was hard. Where was the man that fought injustice alongside Luciana? The man whose fire and passion for injustices was just as brazen as Luciana? Scoffing and downing another glass, you realized that that man had died along with your mother. That man, known as your father, is no where to be found. You grabbed the tray of glasses from the waiter saying, "I'll take these thank yoooouuu."

"Miss, at least allow me to carry it to your table."

"You can bring it out to the balcony that's fine." The cold air hit your face causing you to let out a breath you hadn't realized you were holding. You began humming to yourself when you sensed another presence. You turned and nearly dropped your jaw and champagne. This man was breathtaking. You took in his tall stature, broad shoulders, white hair, and beautiful, cerulean eyes. "Forgive me. I did not realize there was someone occupying this space." He bowed indicating his leaving when you stopped him; unsure of whether it was the alcohol or your loneliness that forbid him to go. "No, no! Stay! You can stay." You mentally facepalmed yourself at the fact you demanded him to stay as if he was a dog. He gently smiled and came to stand beside you. He noticed the tray with 12 champagne glasses asking, "Are one of these for me?" you were in the middle of drinking another one when you motioned with your eyes that yes he could take one. He chuckled asking, "If I may be so forward why are you out here instead of inside enjoying the party?"

"Pft. What's there to enjoy? My father and stepmother only agreed to come to the ball because I'm their ticket to wanting to expand."

"Who's your father?"

"Marquess Hamilton," you took another glass from the tray and chugged that one. "Wanna know the sad thing though? My dad is trying to marry me off to Duke Gojo." Gojo paused at that, instinctively feeling his hand clench around the glass. Here it comes. He thought to himself. The rumors and the fear. "Is that so?" he asked.

"Yeah but I don't even know him, let alone what he looks like." Gojo spit the champagne out due to him laughing causing you to glare at him. "Stop laughing at me. I genuinely wanted to meet him."

"My apologies. I'm just trying to understand why you want to meet him. Haven't you heard the rumors? How he's a monster hellbent on war?" You stood there in silence, with your head down, cheeks rosy, Gojo worried that you may have passed out standing up until he heard a low, "Forgive my language kind sir but fuck the rumors!" Gojo was surprised by your outburst taking a step back. "How dare these people call him a monster! What right do they have to judge someone huh?! Were they out on the battlefield?! Were they born with the Divine Power of the Gods?! Of course not! Half of these swines and cads wish they had a portion of what Duke Gojo has! And the most infuriating part about these said rumors is that they haven't even heard his side of the story! So how can they judge someone so easily without even trying to listen?!" You stood there trying to catch your breath, your hands shaking. Gojo stood there amazed, happy. There was someone who actually wanted to get to know his side. Due to the tightness of your corset and the copious amounts of alcohol, you began to feel light headed and began swaying to the side. "Whoa there," Gojo caught you pulling you towards him. He peered down and brushed a piece of hair out of your face, hearing that you had fallen asleep. He chuckled as he picked you up bridal style. I have to marry this woman. I'll get her out of her father's clutches and then I'll marry her. He carried you back into the ball, this time no longer feeling uncomfortable with all the peering eyes, announcing to emperor Yaga that he had found his bride.

[itsseohannbin]

〉Get On My Level, Bitch〈

Jisung Drabble

A lil something for my gamer girlies

© itshannjisung, 2024

♡ itsseohannbins masterlist ♡

Genre: Fluff. Crack.

Established Relationship.

Summary: After losing one too many rounds of Hyungs vs Maknaes in Call Of Duty, Jisung enlists help from his gamer girlfriend, who teaches him how to win and impresses his friends as she does so.

Pairing: Idol! Han Jisung x Female Reader

Warnings: Fluff. Crack. Swearing. Soft boi Han Jisung. Gamer Skz. Nerdy Skz. Lots of gaming terms are used. Gun and knife use (in-game). mentions of the boys being shot (obvi in game). Reader is older than Jisung, Hyunjin, and Changbin. suggestive towards the end.

** Members' clan tags/gamer tags are also used.

Word Count: 4k lol fuck

Inspired by a dream I had of exactly this, so this was completely self-indulgent LOL

Enjoy!

Waking up to an empty bed on a shared day off was extremely unusual for you. Typically, when you and your boyfriend had the same days off, you'd both lounge in bed together well into the afternoon, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. You'd usually be starfished out across the mattress reading Webtoons on your phone, while Jisung would be cuddled up between your legs, his back against your mid-section while he watched an anime on his laptop.

So, when you woke up to nothing but emptiness beside you one random Thursday morning, you were more than a little concerned. That was until you heard the faint sound of Jisung cursing aggressively coming from two rooms over.

A smile spread across your face almost immediately as you pulled yourself out of bed and wrapped one of Jisung's oversized hoodies around you. It had been a long time since he had stepped foot inside the game room.

With one comeback finishing and another one right around the corner, you haven't seen any of the guys online at all lately. They must've finally all gotten a couple days off together because Jisung never went online unless all of them did.

You were anxious to see what game they were playing, and admittedly, excited for the possibility of a gaming day with your boyfriend. Sure, lounging in bed all day with take-out and anime was the perfect way to spend time together, but you'd be lying if you said you didn't miss the days' pre-5-star comeback where the two of you would be in front of your computers for hours on end.

You grabbed your phone and slipped on a pair of comfy slippers before tiptoeing out of the room, giggling quietly to yourself as you listened to Jisung's annoyed words sounding all the way from down the hall.

"Yah! Quit camping and come face me like a man, Hyung!" Something akin to a laugh and a groan of frustration left Jisung's mouth shortly before a loud "Fuck!" echoed off the walls.

"Lino-hyung, you're so fucking dead!"

Once you reached the door to the game room where you and Jisung had computers set up side by side, you leaned against the door frame and watched him silently in admiration. Jisung sat in his big black leather chair, the RGB lights in the computer tower the only source of light in the room as they flashed different shades of red against the stark white walls.

His back was to you, his big chunky headphones covering both of his ears and his microphone stand that he got from Felix that previous holiday season was sitting way too close to his mouth. You had to suppress a laugh when his lips grazed the metal mesh of the mic so hard you could hear Changbin yelling through the headset for Jisung to stop eating it.

He was a rapper through and through on and off stage. You made a mental note to pick him up a foam microphone cover to help keep his teeth from grazing the material, and more importantly, help prevent Changbin from killing Jisung altogether.

"Top right, top right, top right," he then spoke quickly, his shoulders tensing up for a moment before relaxing again. "Nice one Seung. Good coms." he then praised.

You watched him for a couple more minutes before stepping into the room and coming up behind him. You were careful not to startle him while he was so clearly focused on his game, your hands lightly resting on his shoulders so he knew you were there.

"They're rushing B, they're rushing B, they're rushing B! Oh, hi Baby!" Jisung turned his head for a moment to beam up at you adorably with those large, brown eyes and full cheeks. He grinned and kissed the back of your hand quickly before he went back to focusing on the screen in front of him.

"Fuck, I died. Sorry. Innie behind you!"

Your eyes immediately became glued to the computer screen as he called for Jeongin again, another smile making its way to your face. They were playing Call of Duty, your current favorite game to play, and you had a sudden urge to sit down next to him at your own computer and join.

During the weeks leading up to the release of 5-Star, you spent a lot of your free time online playing the game with your own friends while Jisung and the boys prepared for their comeback. Jisung knew you loved to game, he loved that you did, but he didn't know just how good you had gotten at it in the hours you spent home alone while he was away.

You genuinely did love the game, as the franchise itself was one you played throughout your years growing up, but you mostly wanted to show off to Jisung and the rest of the guys. They would always tease you for playing 'girly' games, like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, and even occasionally, The Sims 4, so you were determined to improve your FPS skills and impress them.

"Fuck, how did you even see me there Binnie-hyung?" Jisung whined as you watched his screen go grey. He pressed a button on his RGB keyboard and quickly brought up the scoreboard to see how he was doing, and you saw that they were playing a 4v4 match. Hyungs vs Maknaes.

This wasn't going to end well.

When it was the older four versus the younger four, it never did.

"Aha, get on my level, bitch." Changbin taunted in response.

You felt Jisung's shoulders tense under your touch when the game ended a second later, his death being the final kill. He hit the top of the desk with his fist lightly in annoyance at his comical and unfortunate death before a laugh left his throat.

"Don't look at that guys!" he begged as the 'Final Kill' camera replayed across the screen. His hands went up to cover his face in embarrassment. "Please! I'm so embarrassed!"

You couldn't tell if the sound that left his throat a second later was a cry or a laugh, but you assumed the latter as you watched the Kill Cam show his character flying back into the match on a parachute. Changbin had seen him clear as day and sniped him right out of the sky, leaving Jisung's character to fall dramatically to the ground.

You could hear the hoots of laughter coming through the headset from the rest of the guys, his teammates included, and it made a laugh of your own escape your mouth before you could stop it. Jisung turned to look at you with squinted eyes, a playful grin on his face as he gaped at you in mock betrayal.

"Baby!" he cried as he watched your shoulders shake with the force of your laughter. "You're supposed to be on my side!" he feigned offense.

"I'm sorry Sungie," you giggled as you squeezed his shoulders reassuringly and planted a soft kiss onto his messy bedhead. Jisung sent you a playful pout before he turned back around. "You're just too cute for words."

Jisung scoffed and returned your affection, planting another kiss on your hand as the final scoreboard flashed onto the screen. Interested to see how everyone played, you leaned in to take a look at everyone's scores.

Hyungs (4/4) Score: 100

[3Racha] DaddyDwaekki99; Kills:37 Deaths:9

[3Racha] xCB97x; Kills:30 Deaths:15

[SKZOO] Butt-Hunter0325; Kills:25 Deaths:18

[SKZOO] Jin&Tonic00; Kills:8 Deaths:24

Maknaes (4/4) Score: 66

[SKZOO] BrownieBoiT_T; Kills:29 Deaths:12

[SKZOO] Nimgnues148; Kills:20 Deaths:27

[SKZOO] XxMAKNA3.0N.T0PxX; Kills:13 Deaths:27

[3Racha] QuokkaPrince; Kills:4 Deaths:34

"Are you serious? How the hell did I do worse than Hyune?" Jisung grumbled as he looked at the scores, his face falling to one of disappointment. You could hear Bangchan cackling light-heartedly through the headset.

You let your hands then slide down Jisung's broad chest and hugged him tightly against you in an attempt to cheer him up. You kissed the top of his head again before resting your chin on it.

"Hey, I think you did good." you voiced. Jisung's hand came up to rub your arm in appreciation, though he was still frowning to himself.

"You're supposed to say that," he mumbled. "You're my girlfriend."

You just smiled down at him and leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek. Jisung then lightly tapped his microphone to mute it before he reached up to cup your face, bringing your lips back to his for a gentle kiss. You smiled against his mouth before pulling away.

He tasted like coffee.

"Good morning, Jagi. Did you sleep well?" he asked now that he finally had a moment to talk with the game being over. You nodded and pressed a firm kiss to his exposed forehead, causing him to smile up at you.

"I slept perfectly," you answered with an adoring smile as you brushed some hair out of his face. Jisung craned his head back and puckered his lips once more, silently asking for another kiss, which you happily obliged.

His lips were slightly chapped and dry, probably from all the talking he'd been doing and lack of hydration, but they still felt warm against yours. You felt a shiver run down your spine when his tongue found yours a moment later, your body tingling with pleasure the way it always did when kissing him, even after all these years together.

"Did you eat?" you asked after his lips pulled away from you. The guys were busy upgrading their guns and changing their specs, so you had a little bit of alone time with Jisung before he was called back for another round.

"Mhmm., Jisung hummed as he swiveled his chair around and pulled you into his lap. He planted a kiss on your cheek and wrapped his arms lovingly around your waist before nuzzling his face into your neck. He loved physical touch with you, and he'd eat it up every chance he got. "I sure did. Just had some eggs and toast. There's coffee left if you want any."

"Thanks, Baby." you grinned down at him as you wrapped one arm around his neck and pulled him impossibly closer to you. His lips found purchase on the skin of your throat where he began peppering small pecks of love all over. "I'm really happy to see you back in here finally. You guys have all been working really hard lately and you all deserve time off to relax and have fun."

"There's a double XP event happening this week so we're trying to all get upgraded before we have to go back to work," he explained. You hummed in response, content with the affection he was currently giving you in between words. Jisung then pulled away, giving you an anxious look.

"Is it okay if I spend a couple of hours gaming with them? We can go watch some shows if you want to instead, I don-" You cut him off abruptly with a shake of your head and a hand over his mouth. Jisung peered up at you with wide eyes, waiting nervously for your response.

"Sungie, baby, if you want to spend the day gaming with the guys, I'm all for it. I promise," you assured him with a quick kiss to his nose. "I was actually thinking of joining you, honestly. It's been a long time since we had a gaming day."

You moved your hands to tangle in the wisps of hair that sat at the nape of his neck, toying aimlessly with the freshly-dyed strands of dark brown.

"Yeah?" he asked with a smirk. "You gonna' play some Stardew or something?"

You grinned down at him shyly.

"Actually, I was going to ask if I could try a round of Call of Duty with you guys. Would you teach me?"

Jisung's eyebrows disappeared behind his hair as he looked at you in shock. His mouth fell open slightly as if he couldn't believe his ears before it broke out into the most adorable smile you've ever seen.

"You want me to teach you how to play?" he asked, excitement already causing him to vibrate in his seat. He'd been waiting for the day for you to ask him to teach you how to play all his favorite games, even though there weren't a lot of them. He was absolutely ecstatic at your inquiry, he could barely mask it as he jumped happily.

"Of course, I will teach you, Baby!" he squealed when you nodded. "I'm not very good myself, but we can do a one-on-one match so you can get used to the controls without being overwhelmed."

The excitement and happiness on his soft features almost made you blow your cover. He was so cute when he got excited over little things like this. It made you fall impossibly more in love with him.

You shook your head quickly before he could even finish his sentence, causing confusion to glaze over in his stare.

"I want to play with the guys. Right now. I want the next round," you claimed as you shifted on his lap, turning around to take the mouse in your hand. Your other hand landed on the keyboard and your fingers twitched with anticipation. They fell perfectly into place and you hoped to god Jisung didn't notice.

Jisung was taken by surprise at your eagerness, but he just laughed and wrapped his arm around you and went to unmute the mic before you grabbed ahold of his wrist and stopped him.

"Don't tell the guys I'm playing. I want to surprise them," you insisted. Jisung raised an eyebrow at you.

"Surprise them how?" he asked slowly, his eyes suspicious yet amused. You beamed back and kissed him on the nose once more.

"I'm going to win this round for you. That'll stop them from teasing you so much." You could hear the guys shit-talking each other through the headset Jisung had looped around his neck when you initially sat down. It was all in good fun, obviously, but they were making a lot of digs at Jisung, which only made you more determined to bring home a win for Ji and the Maknaes.

Jisung gave you a skeptical look, biting his lower lip in uncertainty when he realized how serious you were.

"Have you played this game before?" he questioned. You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly.

"Once or twice while you were at work." you fibbed, hoping he didn't catch onto your lie the way he always did with you.

"Alright, but if you fuck up my K-D ratio, I'm gon' be really upset." he teased. He sat himself up straighter so he could lean his chin on your shoulder and watch. You rolled your eyes at him and let out a snarky remark, to which he laughed.

"Can't fuck it up more than it already is."

"Har har, very funny."

Jisung hooked his headset back onto one ear, allowing you to listen in on the conversation as well. You took the time to make yourself your own custom gun class, one that you were used to and had been using for months prior, but you tried to act clueless as you put it together.

So far, so good.

Jisung, and the rest of the guys for that matter, had no clue what was coming for them.

"Alright, so move your character using the WASD keys." Jisung lightly pushed the hand on the keyboard out of his way and demonstrated for you. "Space is jump and 'R' is reload. Use the middle button on the mouse-" he quickly moved his other hand to hover over yours, demonstrating again. "to use your lethal equipment, and the '1' key to switch to your tactical equipment."

You nodded along, playing dumb as you repeated his actions.

"The left mouse button is how you fire your weapon, while the right mouse button is used to aim down sight. 'E' is used to interact with shit around the world, and 'M' will bring up your map." he continued on without hesitation, waiting for you to nod in understanding before moving on to the next. "You can crouch and slide by pressing the 'C' key, or you can lay down by holding it. Cool?"

You nodded again, biting your lower lip to stop a laugh from escaping your throat as his vague instructions. Jisung misunderstood your action and began rubbing his hands up and down your arms reassuringly.

"It's okay, Baby. Don't be nervous. You got this. I'll be your eyes and ears, okay?"

After going over the rest of the controls, all of which you already knew and more, Jisung unmuted his mic and hopped back into the conversation the guys were having about the upcoming album due to come out in the next couple of months.

His hands were now resting on your hips reassuringly while he talked with the guys, acting as if he was playing, and you felt yourself getting jittery from the anticipation that tore through you when the countdown finally began.

When the clock hit zero and all players were free to move, you quickly worked your way around the familiar map and went directly to your favorite vantage point, perfect for sniping off of. Jisung snorted to himself when he saw your character pull out the sniper rifle you customized.

"Good luck, Sweetheart. Binnie-hyung is a sniper king," he mumbled quietly enough for only you to hear. You shook your head.

"Not for long," you whispered back.

Felix's voice came barreling through the headset suddenly, causing you to jump as adrenaline pumped through your veins. You loved the rush that came with these FPS games.

"Roof of the red building!" he yelled excitedly. Jisung's finger came up to point out where Binnie's character was sneakily army-crawling across a rooftop in the distance, just like Felix had said. You pulled out your sniper, aimed down your sight, and lined up the shot. In a second, POW! Binnie had died in one swift shot to the head.

"What the fuck?" Changbin laughed in disbelief into his mic, confusion clear in his tone. "Are you using a sniper rifle, Ji?"

You held back a cackle at his words, allowing Jisung to answer with a small laugh of his own, the disbelief in his own voice barely unnoticed. "Yeah, I figured I'd change it up a bit." he offered to his older member. He sounded so casual, but his eyebrows were once again raised in surprise as your lucky shot.

Looking through the scope of your gun, you watched as Changbin's character climbed back onto the same roof moments later and aimed his own rifle in your direction, a flash of light in the distance. You were quick to get up from your crouched position and move away from his field of view, your fingers dancing across the keyboard as you changed position and sniped him again from a different angle.

POW!

Dead again.

Binnie let out a string of curse words as his body rolled dramatically off the roof to the ground below.

"Yah! What the fuck?" he laughed again.

You knew your cover was now blown, so you jumped from the rooftop you were lying across and parachuted down to the ground, running for cover when you heard gunshots going off all around you.

"Ji, behind you!" Jeongin shouted. You twirled your character around and pulled out your secondary weapon, a simple pistol, seeing Lino's character running towards you at full speed with nothing but a knife in his hand.

Typical Lino.

You smirked at his antics and shot him point blank before he could reach you, causing Lino to squeal dramatically like a girl into the mic, which in turn, made you and Jisung both wince at the unusually high pitch of it.

"Nooooo! Dammit!" he laughed.

Jisung gave you a soft high-five at your kill and watched in awe as the game continued.

For fifteen minutes, you sat rock solid in Jisung's lap, your eyes hyper-focused on the screen as you ran across the map, killing off the Hyungs and racking up your team's points. The boys were all shocked at Jisungs 'sudden skill', suspicious of him cheating or hacking the system, but he had lost the ability to defend himself as he was too shocked to even say anything in response.

He muted his mic and was cheering you on, congratulating you on every kill and assist you got. He had chalked it all up to beginner luck, but when you got the game-winning kill, sniping Chan from across the map where he hid almost too perfectly between two barrels, barely in your sights, he knew.

He knew this wasn't your first, second, or even third time playing. Based on the snicker on your face when the scoreboard popped up, deeming you first place on the winning team, he knew you'd been practicing while he was away at work. And while he was envious of your skill and abilities, he was more proud than anything else.

"Okay, Ji, seriously? What the fuck?" How did you get from the bottom of the scoreboard to the top in the span of five rounds?" Felix was in awe. You smiled over at Jisung upon hearing the younger males' question., and before Jisung could answer with some cocky response you knew he'd have, you tapped the mic to unmute it and spoke into it playfully.

"Hi guys," you giggled.

As much as you wanted Jisung to take credit, you couldn't. You worked so hard to impress these guys and you didn't want to pass up the opportunity to prove them wrong with their teasing.

"Holy shit, Y/n?" Hyunjin chuckled in disbelief. "Was that you playing the entire round?"

"The one and only," you confirmed with a smirk.

"Fuck, I want you on my team next time. You snipe better than I do." Changbin spoke next. You shook your head and tsked at him.

"Sorry Binnie, no can do."

"Why not?" Hyunjin then added. "You're technically mine and Changbin-hyungs Noona, so you're playing on the wrong team!" You could practically hear his frown through the speaker of Jisung's headphones.

"Sorry guys. I play for Jisung and Jisung only."

Seungmin scoffed playfully at your words.

"You're a fucking simp." he joked. You laughed alongside everyone else before hitting them with the final blow.

"Looks like you guys are just going to have to, what is it that Binnie said last round? Get on my level, bitch." you mocked.

The guys all burst out into laughter at your impression, Binnie included.

While the guys went on to boast about your incredible win, Jisung muted the microphone once more and nuzzled his face back into your neck lovingly.

"You're a little shit," he teased, his nose tracing the shape of your ear. A shiver ran up your spine as his hot breath fanned across your throat.

"What did I do?" you asked innocently as you tilted your head to the side, allowing him to trace his nose along your neck before plating a teasing kiss below your jaw. He squeezed your hips and nibbled your skin gently as he laughed at your innocent tone.

"You've been playing this a lot, haven't you?" he questioned before biting your neck again and sucking the skin into his mouth. You sensed he was punishing you for playing him so well, but you didn't mind. You loved the feeling of his mouth on your skin.

"Every day while you're at work." you breathed out. "Gotta' learn how to put the boys in their place for teasing you so much. Gotta protect my baby." you then cooed.

Jisung's hands trailed up your sides again, sliding underneath the fabric of his sweater. His touch on your skin felt electric as his mouth teased your earlobe, his hands traveling further up your torso.

The bulge in his pants that he was rutting against you was growing harder with each passing second. Leave it to Jisung to get turned on by something as simple as you knowing how to game.

"Fuck," he whispered in an adoring tone. "I really hit the fucking jackpot with you, Jagi."

Hannjis Pookie Wookie Bears 🐻: @moonlightndaydreams @noellllslut @bethanysnow @channieandhisgoonsquad @queenmea604 @newhope8

[robonitrogen]

Hello! Welcome to the Robo Blog.

I'm Robonitrogen, THE white pansexual guy of your and everyone else's dreams.

I'm not gonna state my name or age here because internet creeps.

I don't feel strongly about anything in particular other than the obvious stuff like lgbtq+ rights and things akin to that. So talk to me about whatever.

I am the one who finally forced @real-british-empire to admit she was a cat girl and I take great pride in that.

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I married into the gimmickverse. My family is as follows.

Perfect darling husband @the-real-gmail

Father-In-Law @fistfulls-of-basil

Amazing Step-child @maryland-officially

Step-grand son @mid-maryland

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Current tags for my blog are as follows:

The Pinnacle of Edits

Robo's psych obsession

Robo workout and weightloss stuff

Gmail and robo

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I love talking to people about anything, message me about anything and I will be happy to debate or agree or converse with whatever you want to. This includes n/sfw stuff if you feel so inclined.

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My favorite pieces of media are in no specific order

Psych, the TV Show.

Ratatouille, the Movie.

Avatar, the last Airbender, the TV Show.

The comics of the DC universe.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Anime and Manga.

Community, The TV Show.

Elden Ring, The Game.

Hardcore Leveling Warrior, The Webtoon.

The Greatest Estate Developer, The Webtoon.

If you like Psych, moot me RIGHT NOW NOW NOW NOW I fucking love psych so much it's the best tv show ever, shawn spencer, my goat.

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I'm gonna list some other stuff here that I'm into. If you're into it as well, follow, moot, or message me.

Percy Jackson

Sonic The Hedgehog

My Hero Academia

Heroes Of Olympus

The Good Place

Brooklyn Nine Nine

RDR2

RDR

Minecraft

Terraria

Genshin Impact

Roblox

Incremental games

Cyberpunk 2077

Cooking

Cats

Warhammer 40k (haven't played it though)

D&D

BTD6

Pokemon

Naruto

Dragon Ball

The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Daily Life of the Immortal King

Webtoons

Manwha

Rainbow Six Siege

Jujutsu Kaisen

The BatFamily

A multitude of animes I can't currently think of

That's basically it, I'll probably add more stuff if I remember.

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I'm currently on a weight loss journey so I'll be posting about it from time to time. Currently down about 15 pounds and have started working out.

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Feel free to vent to me, I'm accepting of everyone and their various quirks, and will do my best to be comforting.

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[losgee]

Salome'

[hana-no-seiiki]

Happy Holidays Everyone!! As promised this was finished and published before Christmas so I can work on official portraits. Enjoy your gift from your one and only god, Yun ♡

I don’t know where this takes place in the timeline for the HNSverse and my webtoons but we’ll just go with whatever the fuck was given to me in my dream.

Likes & Reblogs are much appreciated!!

YANDERE POWER RANGERS-ESQUE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS x AMNESIAC! MALE! RANGER READER

OPERATION : PRETTY PINK LIAR ♡

tw/cw: dddne. yandere fic typical violence. mech/scifi fantasy violence. off-screen character deaths. in this version reader is male. check the masterlist for other versions of the fic. your name appears as [ REDACTED ]. one-sided semi-cestuous pining(by yan). brief mention/implication of cheating. necrophillia (implicit). descriptions of gore/violence.

fic type: long oneshot

status: unedited

[ MASTERLIST / CHARACTER APPEARANCES ]

When humanity needed them the most, the Elemental Squad Unit came to save the day. Composed of Earth’s mightiest, most righteous men, they drive those wretched aliens away. Protecting our daily lives, while risking their own.

That was the story often told to the people. Those who lived blissfully unaware of the turbulence in heaven. Everyone knew of the ESU, whether they liked it or not.

“[Y/N]. You really don’t have to do this y’know.” Blue Ranger: Kaguya, repeated. He had medium length navy hair tied into a ponytail. He was short, cute almost. Sparkle shaped freckles dotted the middle of his face. Throughout your stay in the hospital, he had been the second most frequent visitor. He always touched you in one way or another. His fingers always grazed a part of your body. His eyes in a glaze as he’d stare at your injured figure. You found out it was because you two were dating or had a mutual interest towards one another . . . you think. At least in the eyes of the other crew members.

To you he was just a rando that always seemed to ignore your boundaries. Even when you were adamant with keeping a certain distance.

You tried your best not to flinch every time he came close, meticulously concealed any involuntary reactions, and strived to maintain an unwavering composure. It was difficult being so intimate with a total stranger. What was more concerning was the way your heart wrenched at such occurrences. An unsettling sensation, leaving you with a peculiar awareness that the narrative he presented was a well crafted farce.

You rolled your eyes at his worried face. It felt so off on him. Instead of the average look of concern one might show towards an ill individual, Blue’s expressions and tone always came off as haughty, snobbish, pitying, condescending. Red assured you that it was just what Blue sounds like all the time due to his background but you still couldn’t help but grimace as you spat back, “The squad has almost been eliminated thrice since I’ve woken up and was able to watch the news. I think I do.”

Yellow Ranger: Malik, shook his head. Despite being the tallest and rather gruff looking in comparison to the other members, his nagging often made all the intimidation in your nerves melt away. He had been the worrier you observed. Except that his worry usually came in massive spiels and sermons that threatened to have your ears bleed if you so much as breathed the wrong way. He was the complete opposite of Blue. Fitting when you weighed in his hometown — the kingdom on the other side of the planet of Blue’s. Harsh and condescending on the outside, a complete softie on the inside. “You don’t even know how your suit works! And it hasn’t been responding properly to your commands—“

You sighed as the brunette continued, delicately slipping a hand into the control unit positioned before you. Your fingers glided within akin to a nimble set of needles, traversing through the viscous, gelatinous substance within the intricate contraption. Abruptly, the entirety of the suit burst into a vibrant display of illuminating hues.

【 SUIT ACQUISITION SUCCESS 】

You fought the wide grin from appearing on your visage as you completely enclosed yourself into the suit. The odd, metal like material encased your form. You closed your eyes for a couple of moments, embracing the darkness and the brief second of peace you had without the other team members on your 6, before opening it to see the outside world beyond your suit’s controls. Completely in your view despite your current location and condition. Holographic graphs and charts on the edge of your peripherals.

“Ranger Pink. Welcome back.” The leader of the ESU, Red Ranger: Jasper, smacked the rose colored sentinel. He was your half-brother as you’d learnt. With features similar to your own. Tall, muscular, he towered many of the members. You spotted a lot of scars throughout his body, a few could be found accompanying his facial features; lips, eyebrows, his nose.

In the advent of this world’s technology, those scars could have easily been removed. In fact you knew the procedure was popular with many of your other members. Yet Red refused to do so.

“I’ll accompany them.” Blue ran off to his sentinel. His steps leaving a layer of water across the launch pads in his excitement.

“Blue . . .” Yellow reached out to him, only for Blue to brush his hand aside and eagerly jumped inside his suit.

Green Ranger: Zelenka chimed as he chewed on a špekáček, “Way to be obvious about what his dick thinks.”

“Green!” Yellow smacked him at the back of his head.

Green only grumbled, not at all surprised, bothered or in pain. His face blank, and eyes drifting off in boredom, “It was a compliment. At least Blue is honest about getting hard when Pink’s around. Unlike some people.”

“S-shut your goddamn mouth.” Yellow gave one last ‘hmph’ before he stalked off of the platforms.

Green gave the seething man a brief glance before his eyes wandered to his own sentinel. After a long sigh, he got inside.

Finally, Red provided a go signal, and the three rangers took off. Their sentinels; gigantic, metalic humanoid stepping from within the Ranged HQ and into the deep dark ocean.

Red smiled to himself, rotating his body to walk to his own suit’s platform for his own set of missions, nonchalantly speaking into the air. “Black. Ensure nothing . . . unfortunate happens with Pink.”

A figure clad in black emerged from the shadows. Much larger than even the ESU leader’s form.

“Understood.”

【　MEMORY UNLOCKED 】

Accessing files . . .

“. . .”

As consciousness gently clawed its way back to the surface, a haze of confusion shrouded the mind. Blinking away the remnants of slumber, [ REDACTED ] ‘s eyes slowly adjusted to the harsh, artificial lighting of the hospital room. A flicker of anxiety danced across their thoughts.

“You’re . . . awake!” A muffled voice entered their ears. The sensation of cool, crisp sheets under fingertips became apparent, offering a peculiar contrast to the warm cocoon of blankets. And as their sense of touch returned so did their full hearing capacity.

A face, dark tan — excessively alluring really, your gaze was immediately glued — with golden eyes reminiscent of the blaring sun covered most of your vision.

“You goddamn idiot! I- I was so worried. Why’d you protect me?! I could’ve handled it y’know?!”

“Easy, Yellow.” Another voice. But you could not move your body to view them. But with such a beauty right in front of you, did you really want to?

“To hell with that.” The pretty boy continued, “You hear me, Pink? I’m one of the original three. I am above you. I don’t need your god damned pity. Or anyone else’s! Especially not a nepo baby like—“ His pointer landed on your chest, painfully despite the massive amounts of bandages the surrounded your nearly eviscerated body.

“Yellow, that’s enough.” The voice popped out again, this time more authoritative and firm. You see a gloved hand reach from behind and grab ‘Yellow’s’ shoulder.

“No, I need to hear it from him directly! Tell me you won’t do this again!”

“Your Majesty, I don’t think—“ This time another voice advised the young man in front of you. They sounded a lot more frail, older.

“Answer me, bastard!”

“. . . Who . . .” You breathed, struggling to form words as every second you remained conscious was agonizing as it much less when you produced any sort of moved. “. . . Who are you?”

The more delicate voice spoke up once more. Your vision was starting to turn blurry and dark. “As I was saying, I’m afraid Ranger Pink has sustained too much damage in the battlefield.”

On a more solemn tone they added, “We did the best we could do.”

“Who . . . are these . . . people . . ?”

You fought with everything to stay awake. You truly did. But as the moments passed and the world around you started spinning and blending into itself, you could not resist the temptation to close your eyes. Your once anxious mind now slowly faded into serene clarity.

【　MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 】

The world was lot more vibrant than you expected it to be. Everything looked apocalyptic whenever you watched the ESU in battle. The only thing that signaled an invasion was happening was the occasional alien and buildings that were being repaired post-fight.

You marveled at the view around you, almost in a daze.

The sound of a lazer being shot snapped you out of your stupor.

“The hell—?! Green! That’s friendly fire you mani—“ Blue hollered.

You’re sure that if this man were any more petulant his suit itself would be stomping the ground in anger.

“I just saved you, your highness.” Green’s suit does a curtsy. He then pointed to the dead blob on the ground.

“Thank you, Green.” You bowed back.

“Hahaha! I like the new Pink. Maybe he should never recover his memories—“

“Had an Alien on your shoulder.” Blue deadpanned after shooting a jet of high pressure water towards Green.

“Bullshit.”

You grinned at their antics. You almost couldn’t believe that these were the saviors of humanity. One of if not the only line of defense against its extinction. But then grimaced at an indicator flashing within the corner of your vision. “Enemy at 7 o’clock.”

“On it.” Blue’s sentinel hurried to the scene, moving around as if it were swimming in the air.

Green cursed. It wasn’t just a normal enemy. “Shit. It’s a full on ship.”

“We have to re-unite with —“

Green is promptly taken down. A group of fliers came at him like vultures to corpse.

“Pink!” Blue screamed, swiftly flying to close to you once more. His suit takes yours’ hand and held it tight.

“. . .” You looked at him, almost angered that he tore your attention away from Green’s potential demise.

“We have to fuse. You’ve seen the squad do it on the news right?”

“Ain’t no way I’m fusing with—“ Green screeched as he fought off the bird like creatures. Vines reaching to grapple the them, but are promptly sliced by support from above: the main ship.

“Well I didn’t ask you did I?” Blue practically hissed at him. When you saw the ESU fight before they seemed so in sync, now you were starting to understand why these men kept on almost dying recently.

“Will Green be alright?”

“You heard him. He doesn’t want to fuse.”

It takes you moments to reply and hesitantly you finally responded with, “Okay.” You nodded, closing your eyes as Blue’s sentinel moved towards you, melding into your suit.

Your eyes flutter open. You’re surrounded with water, but somehow you were able to breathe. You see Blue’s figure beside you.

“. . . Your interface.” He looked over to your system, most of which has been covered in the ooze aliens were typically made of.

You must have been infected while Green was first attacked, hence the reluctance to fuse.

“Enemies” You reminded.

“Right.” Blue shook his head. Every ESU member was taught to put the mission before their own well-being. He had a natural resistance to infection due to his cockpit’s watery environment. It should help stave off the infection for enough time until back-up arrives.

“Let’s switch forms this time.” He suggested. If he took more control he’d be able to help fight the infection off better. “Flight mode ON!”

A chase begun. You and Blue flew at a breakneck speed, leading the ship and birds away from any nearby cities and Green. While fused, you could feel what Blue felt. Anxiety, fear. Perhaps this was how the team worked together properly. It was hard not to empathize when these emotions were shoved in your face.

You release one of your hands from your interface and place it on his shoulders.

You feel a sudden wave of warmth. Calm.

“You forgot the boosters.” You advised, hoping to jog his memory a little in this moment of extreme pressure and stakes.

He fumbled, causing your fused sentinels to dip for a moment, but was able to activate the booster in time. Creating a workable distance

“Shit, we’re heading straight into a city.”

Panic returns to your senses once more. You release your hold over his shoulder. With a smile, an idea popped into your head and you take over.

“Perfect, I got this.”

You shove the hand you used to comfort him back into the sludge and take control. The whole cockpit turned pink with swirling black tendrils.

The enemy followed you as you passed a bridge leading into a city.

“What are you doing?! You’re going to get people killed!” Blue attempted to override your command but found himself unable to.

You try to keep the sentinel above most of the building as to avoid making the alien ship collide and cause unnecessary casualties.

You soon reach the center where a monstrous skyscraper stood. You figured out from watching other members use flight mode that it was based off of the distance from underneath the suit to its main hull. As such, if you went up close to scale the wall of such a tall building . . .

【　TARGET LOCKED 】

The system prompted you and Blue as your soared through the skies and above the aliens.

You waste no time and shoot. A beam of electricity, water, and . . . shadow? releases — piercing straight through the tar like material. You made sure to destroy the wings of the birds and the flight mechanisms of the ship.

And as an extra assurance you fly back down, switch modes once more, and use the suit to stomp on their soon-to-be corpses.

As you float back down to check, you spot an aura of shadowy wisps clinging unto the wreckage. It seemed to be minimizing the damage surrounding the area via changing the material’s weight.

“Black. Thank you for the assist.”

Black Ranger: Noir. Close friends with the White Ranger. They looked nothing alike, acted nothing alike, and you never saw them even speak to one another. But they worked in terrifying efficiency together — scout missions — and as such were assigned into a sub-unit that rarely ever crossed paths with the main ESU.

Red was watching over you.

Your body tensed in the suit.

“No problem.” Black muttered. He was a man of few words. Rarely ever seen. You don’t think he even wants to be.

“We should go check on Green”

【　MEMORY UNLOCKED 】

Accessing files . . .

“My name is [ REDACTED ]. It’s a pleasure to join your team!”

Your introduction was fine you think. Jasper told you not to make it too long as the team was usually chasing time enough as it is. You even added a bow at the end, in both the Lunar and Solar Kingdom’s variation as to show your respect and admiration for the team.

“I can’t believe this. Another one? Green is already a pain in the ass.” Yellow reacted first. You flinched at his reaction, which made his demeanor soften for a brief moment before it returned to its domineering self.

“Yellow.” Red glared at him, this time semi-permanently making Yellow sink into himself. “Welcome to the team, brother.”

Blue does not respond nor look at your direction. A grim expression painted his pretty features.

“Guess I’m not the only newbie anymore! What should I call ya?” Green vibrantly beamed. Poking your cheeks as he munched on a bag of cheese puffs. No doubt making the dust stick to your face with his saliva.

“P-Pink would be fine.”

“Pinkie it is!” Green laughed letting go of his snack and hugging you tightly.

Your hands slowly, inch by inch, raised hug him back.

“Your vital signs are all fine.” You mused as you put down sphygmomanometer.

“Thanks for your concern, Pinkie.”

You shook your head. There was no concern here. “No problem. We simply can’t lose our healer. That would be a dire situation.”

“Pffft— I’ll be up and about after a day no problem.” He waved his hands. Well, a hand. His other one was broken and almost completely detached from his body when you busted him out of his sentinel. He was able to heal it enough to somewhat move it safely, but otherwise it was unusable.

“ . . . Red is considering taking you off the team.”

“. . . What . . ?”

���He says you’re too much of a liability. Your conduct and lack of cooperation that is.”

“Lack of cooperation my ass.” Green sat up and straightened his back with a grunt. “What do you get by telling me this? I’m guessing you aren’t supposed to?”

“If he’s kicking you out I’m coming down with.”

“Pinkie . . . “

“You’re a valuable member to the team.”

“Hey, do you . . . do you have a name I can call you by? Your actual one I mean.” Green leaned his forehead against yours.

He peered into your eyes. The once pink color had now slowly faded into black with swirls of purple.

What was he asking? He knew your name.

And then you realized.

“. . . I don’t have one.”

“Then I guess I’m stuck with calling you Pinkie?” He smiled holding your cheek. Sluggishly his face tilted moved closer to yours —

“Get your hands off of him!” A whiny voice resounded throughout the medbay’s room.

“Augh, your highness. Can’t you see I’m having a moment with your ex?”

Dazed you pushed the Ranger away from you and left the room, bumping shoulders with Blue.

You were able to get quite a distance away and were about to take a long sigh in relief. You were too exhausted for the other member’s antics and drama.

“[Y/N]—!” Blue panted. It seemed that he ran after you. In any case, he yanked you by the wrist to face him. “I- I’m . . . I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“That we used to be—“

“In a relationship? I knew. White told me.”

“That bastard—“

“May you let go of me? I have another check up.” You raised your wrist and his hand, shaking it a little.

“No!” He shouted. You gave him a shocked look which led to him lowering his voice and talking in a nervous, timid manner. “L-look, we can make this work. Alright? I don’t want us to just — end up like this.”

You do not sugarcoat your words and simply spoke “Blue. To me you’re a stranger.”

You continue even after he flinched at your words. “I don’t know you. Coupled with the fact that you purposely hid something as big as that makes your reliability questionable at best.”

You watched as his face morphed into sadness, then grief,

“I’ll make the judgment when my memories come back. Until then . . . It’s a no.”

and lastly, anger.

“No? No! Do you think you can say no to me?” He squeezed your wrist and you hear bones crack.“I’m the goddamn crown prince of the Lunar Empire! I get what I want and—“

“And you need to get off your high horses.” You halted him from his spiel. “We’re all equal here. As rangers. As defenders of humanity. Only Red has the right to be ordering the rest. You’re the prince aren’t you? Go find another potential mistress. I’m not doing this to Yellow.”

“But I . . .” Blue’s tone finally went back to it’s more quiet and tolerable version. “I need you.”

You feel Blue’s hold slacken and immediately took the moment to pull your hand away.

“You disgust me.” And you walked off.

You heard him falling to his knees as he cried. Yet you do not look back.

The control room wasn’t a place many team members went to. It was implicitly known that it was Red and his most trusted entourage’s domain.

You weren’t a part of that group. Not even from the memories you’ve slowly started to gain.

But this matter was of utmost importance.

“I’d like to be taken off the team.” You said as the doors slid open. A robotic greeting could be heard in the background, signaling your entrance.

From your rare visits, it was mostly where Red and White would plan out patrols and store their information about the invading forces. The place remained unchanged. Most likely due to Green’s lack of interference in the decor, and overall organization.

“If this is about Green, then don’t worry. I’ve changed my—”

“It’s about Blue.”

Red looked more alert. His head flicked from the various screens inside the room to your direction. Finally looking at you directly. “I told you two that a relationship would be detrimental to the future of the squad. But none of you ever listen. See what happens?”

Beside him, Ranger White: Blanc, mumbled yet it was audible enough to be heard by you from across the room. “Let’s be frank here, Red. You said that because you were jealous.”

“White—?“

You didn’t know Red could even be flustered. He always seemed so level-headed, so dangerously focused on the task of eliminating the invaders that anything aside from a stoic look on his face looked . . . well . . . out of place.

“Red. It’s easy to see your favoritism.” Unlike him, White’s eyes do not leave the screens. The man’s void like eyes were trained unto the replay of the fight you just had.

“Aren’t we . . . siblings ?” You questioned. You weren’t unaware of his feelings. But you always viewed it as a over-protective if not suspicious brotherly act. Thinking of it otherwise . . . vile.

“Oh honey, you two aren’t completely blood related remember?” White swiped to another angle of the battle. “At least that’s what Red keeps reminding himself in order to lessen the guilt he feels lusting over you.”

“But — “

And then he suddenly looked at you.

Void meeting tar.

“Much less now that you’re hosting an alien parasite.

Fear. It was such a human concept. The way your heart thrashes within the confines of its boney cage. The way your mind goes blank. The way your instincts take over and all you could do is either fight, run or freeze.

You chose silence. Cursing this human shell for glueing your mouth shut and feet to the floor.

“What are you talking about?” Red gripped White’s clothes. A jacket you’ve often seen him wear that completely engulfed his body.

Completely unbothered by Red’s actions, White continued, “I was wondering why you weren’t able to get your suit activated at first. But suddenly you’re able to control it with ease. Better than you were able to from before actually.”

He then brings up a tablet of your previously brutalized state. Ooze of black, violet and magenta coming from every orifice and wound. Your bones mangled in a way that seemed almost uncanny. Viscera from all sorts of organs on display. If you were anything but an ESU member you’d been twice dead. You feel your . . . this body’s stomach reel at the way it was treated.

“Green wasn’t able to heal you either, you had to ‘recover’ the old fashion way. I bet he knows too.”

You know of that memory. Green was all over you that day. He was a sobbing mess. He was always trying to help you recover, until you gained consciousness he spent countless nights without sleep or much sustenance just trying to figure out why he couldn’t help.

Zelenka. He was one human you’ll spare to move unto to the next phase of your plan. Such selflessness and kindness deserve recognition after all.

But back to the matter at hand.

“That the original pink ranger is dead and only a gooey parasite in the brain remains.”

Red released his hold on White, turning to you in a flash, and in a gentle manner he laid his hands atop your shoulder.

“[Y/N], tell me this isn’t true.” His red eyes were overflowing with grief, held back by a single, cracking dam. You shivered internally at its uncanny look. His face devoid of emotion suited him far better. “You know I’ll only believe in you. Whatever you say, I will follow.”

You looked down, mustering all the tears you could squeeze out of your vessel’s eyes.

“He’s lying, brother — no — Jasper. I’m alive. I’m right here in front of you.”

“Yes. Yes, you’re right.” Jasper placed his head right atop your chest, “I can hear your heart beating. You’re still alive.”

“Red? Are you listening to yourself? Of course your brother looks and sounds alive. A parasite is puppeting his body, forcing his heart to beat, his eyes to blink, his limbs to move. But he’s dead.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Noir?

Black approached from the shadows. Without his suit you can finally see his handsome face. Dark skin and hair like the night sky, and white eyes that lacked pupils.

“You can’t be serious. . .”

“Dead or alive. At least [Y/N]’s body is here with us. Don’t you see it, Blanc? God has given us the opportunity to be with him again.” Black’s face was smeared with an expression akin to religious ecstasy. A fervor so unlike him that it gave you a whiplash harder than Red’s sudden change.

“Are you going to take that opportunity away from me Blanc?” Black’s hand reached to carress White’s pale features.

And with those words White visibly turned docile. “No. No, of course not.”

“Good.” Black planted a kiss atop White’s hair and forehead. “Now what was this about you leaving the team, [Y/N]?”

[ PRESENT TIME ]

Humanity was far from salvation. As such, your kind, the so-called ‘Alien Race’ were sent to end their suffering.

In a world where billions of their currency went into glorified missile measuring contests, you were there to reset them back to zero. To their naive, infantile, god fearing state.

“Your Majesty. The carriage to the Lunar Kingdom has arrived. The mission in the Northern Front was successful. Reinforcements will arrive in due time.”

Planting yourself into the world was an easy feat. Although you missed your designated target and occupied a much weaker vessel than you intended to, it ended up being a boon. It barely took a decade before you wiped out humanity’s biggest defenders from their main planet. Only a few more left standing.

You stared up into the heavens. The moon and sun’s destined reunion shall signal a start of a new age and you were its herald. Smoke billowed and obscured part of the sky, but the celestial bodies’ light still remained visible in the sky.

“Good.”

You arose from your throne of corpses. You felt no guilt, not an ounce of remorse for the genocide of billions. You knew this was for their own good. Besides, you have done this several times before. In the end, humanity would thank you, even see you as the deity you served. Not that you would want that. You were to loyal to Them after all.

“Let us break down Humanity back to its roots.”

You took your seat upon the helm of your army’s main commanding vessel. A large rose-like entity that covered at least a few cities below.

“Praise be to the Divine.”

“Praise be to the Divine.”

©️ hana.no.seiiki - yun | 2023

AUTHOR’S NOTE: I feel like this was just a glimpse into what this part of the HNSverse was like so I’ll be glad to make this into a holiday tradition instead of a one-parter if this post is successful.

And yes the romance/elements between the members is a Genshin reference.

[olderthannetfic]

Just learned about the Jocat situation and it was incredibly similar to what happened to the creator of the Boyfriends webtoon. Crytpo terfs from kiwifarms convinced a bunch of young “leftists” to attack a gnc cis dude for a video he made two years before because he made a new video for a trans charity. Zoomers have been conditioned to believe being ‘cringe’ is akin to assaulting someone. So if someone is trans or supports trans people and they have a big platform they are targeted by leftists.

--

[harrowclare]

harrowclare's 2024 reading lists

currently reading/listening to

The Exorcist - William Blatty Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

up next

a lot of books, honestly.

finished books

here is the long, long list of my 2024 reads with ratings & dates. because of tumblr's limit on links, i cannot direct to individual reviews. if you would like to view my reviews on their respective sites, you can find them on thestorygraph & goodreads.

dates are listed as month, day. manga volumes that are binged will be grouped so that this list isn't a million miles long, with the range of ratings for the volumes in the stack. a few of these titles were started in 2023, lol whoops! those are the only dates with a year stamp.

wanna read along or chat with me about books? i'm super active on fable.

reading challenges: horror bingo reaading challenge (2024-2025)

current reading goal progress: 113/100

* * *

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 10.09—10.10 - fiction

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 10.03—10.09 - fiction

Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 08.25—10.09 - fiction originally i listened to the audiobook, stopping at 57% & restarting the hardcover book from the beginning.

Walking Practice by Dolki Min 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 10.04—10.05 - fiction

Stormflower by Keegan Kozinski & Tristen Kozinski (eARC) 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 07.29—10.02 - fiction

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 09.27—10.01 - fiction

The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 - 09.25—09.29 - fiction

Stolen Tongues by Felix Blackwell 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 - 09.23—09.24 - fiction

Volume Ø: Issue 3 by multiple authors 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 09.21—09/22 - fiction

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 09.12—09. 21 - fiction

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 09.04—09.12 - fiction

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 09.02—09.12 - fiction

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 09.04—09.05 - fiction

Five-Star Stranger by Kat Tang 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 08.30—08.31 - fiction

The Haar by David Sodergren 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 - 08.25—08.29 - fiction

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑- 08.26—08.27 - fiction

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 08.19—08.25 - fiction i actually gave this a 3.75 on thestorygraph, which may seem obnoxious, but it felt right idk. sometimes rating shit 1-5 feels arbitrary and hard.

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.30—08.24 - fiction

Killing Stalking Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 by Koogi 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 08.24—08.24 - webtoon

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 03.16.23—08.22 - fiction

Schappi by Anna Haifisch 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 08.20—08.20 - graphic novel

You Will Own Nothing And You Will Be Happy #1 by Simon Hanslemann 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 08.20—08.20 - graphic novel, reread

Werewolf Jones and Sons Deluxe Summer Fun Annual by Simon Hanselmann & Simon Pettinger 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 08.20—08.20 - graphic novel

Something Akin to Revulsion by Judith Sonnet 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 - 08.19—08.20 - fiction

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 08.16—08.18 - fiction

Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 08.09—08.16 - fiction

The Troop by Nick Cutter 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 08.12—08.14 - fiction

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 08.01—08.12 - fiction

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 07.27—08.09 - fiction

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.30—08.06 - fiction

The Ruins by Scott Smith 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 08.01—08.05 - fiction

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 07.24—07.30 - fiction at the time of reading and reviewing this i was unaware of the controversies surrounding the author (uncredited use of the likeness of a video game and possible Zionism.) i don't want to change my rating & review because the book did have a profound impact on me, but i also do not believe in separating art from the artist, so i will not be purchasing the book or reading more from the author.

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.14—07.29 - fiction

Playground by Aron Beauregard 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑 - 07.23—07.28 - fiction

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑- 07.17—07.27 - fiction

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑- 07.15—07.24 - fiction

The Spirit Bares its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑- 07.11—07.23 - fiction

The Liminal Zone by Junji Ito 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑- 07.20—07.22 - manga

The Summer Hikaru Died Vol. 1 by Mokumokuren 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.19—07.20 - manga

Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 07.11—07.16 - fiction

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 07.10—07.13 - fiction

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 07.09—07.10 - fiction

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.08—07.09 - fiction

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 07.03—07.08 - fiction

Do a Powerbomb! by Daniel Warren Johnson 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕- 07.05—07.05 - graphic novel

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 06.27—07.03 - fiction

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 06.26—06.26 - fiction

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 06.23—06.25 - fiction

Victim by Andrew Boryga 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 06.14—06.17 - fiction

A Good Happy Girl by Marissa Higgins 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑 - 04.19—06.14 - fiction

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 06.06—06.13 - fiction

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑 - 06.01—06.06 - fiction

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 05.22—05.31 - fiction

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 05.26—05.27 - non-fiction

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 05.19—05.21 - fiction

You've Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 05.10—05.19 - fiction

Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 05.18—05.19 - fiction

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 05.14—05.18 - fiction

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 05.10—05.13 - fiction

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 05.01—05.03 - fiction review: thestorygraph, goodreads

The Measure by Nikki Erlick 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 04.21—04.23 - fiction

Tokyo Ghoul Vol. 1 - Vol. 8 by Sui Ishida 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 04.22—05.08 - manga

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 04.18—04.21 - fiction

Know My Name by Chanel Miller 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 04.05—04.18 - non-fiction

Chainsaw Man Vol. 1 - Vol. 11 by Tatsuki Fujimoto 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 04.16—04.22 - manga

Jujutsu Kaisen Vol. 5 - Vol. 26 by Gege Akutami 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 12.23.23—04.16 - manga

Tampa by Alissa Nutting 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 - 04.02—04.03 - fiction

Circe by Madeline Miller 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 03.29—04.01 - fiction

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 03.25—03.28 - fiction

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 - 03.23—03.25 - fiction

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 - 02.02—03.20 - fiction

Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vyong 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - 03.06—03.06- poetry

Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 - 02.01—02.01- fiction

Y/N by Esther Yi | fiction 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 01.31—02.01 - fiction

my tiny DNF pile

Falling by T.J Newman stopped at 6% - 10.07 - fiction

The Laws of the Skies by Grégoire Courtois stopped at 32% - 09.07 - fiction

People Who Eat Darkness by Richard Lloyd Parry stopped at 24% - 05.03 - non-fiction

new words

(tbh i know many of these verbally, but didn't know when when i read them - or vice versa depending on whether i was reading with my eyes or ears.)

acrimony, alacrity, allay, ameliorate, aplomb, assiduously, avarice, avulsed, conviviality, detritus, eddy, garrulous, germane, gloaming, gunwale, inexorable, itinerant, lassitude, lugubrious, moribund, palliative, palimpsest, pernicious, pugnacious, sententiously, scrim, sepulchral, shale, splume, stalward, surreptitious, rime, verisimilitude

[creativename87]

Everyone's 'how i got into orv story' is either just 'uh i read the webtoon and then i wanted to read the novel' or 'there was this one guy who happened to knock into this other guy on the sidewalk who got really angry and poured water all over the head of the next person they saw (me) causing me to accidentally mistype and pop onto a random web novel website which I promptly clicked off of and forgot about for 8 months until a friend of a friend of a friend mentioned it in passing at my mother's cousin's husband's sister's engagement party and told me to check it out in which I still refused to. Then once I finally got into the world of fandom and saw someone mention this other fandom I got onto the web novel website and read a web novel (not ORV) which I then learned had a webtoon which I read and along the way I got sidetracked by a pop up which got my computer hacked and when I went on the webtoon website to file a lawsuit I saw their orv webtoon being promoted. Then I decided to read it because my entire life and career were stolen from me and I had nothing left to lose and from there after I got attached and couldn't wait once per week I read the novel.'

however both of these are nothing like my 'how i got into orv story' which is definitely somewhere in the middle

but those who know of it, would find both of these oddly and somehow hauntingly akin to mine