#alas. they weren’t very good but it would’ve been neat to see. still though i’m set with the myriad bg3 fics i have cooking

[pricemarshfield]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Spread the self-love ❤️

thank you for the ask, neutral!! time to show my deeply multifandom roots and not have any of these share the same fandom 🫡 below the cut because i’m chatty as hell

number one on the list is a recent one but absolutely my all-time favorite thing i’ve ever written: talk, a bg3/raphtav-and-also-haarlep-is-there smut oneshot

i don’t use this tweet here because it’s smut, but because no fic has EVER gripped me by the brain and haunted me for months until i wrote it like this one did and also because the devil’s hot. i laid awake at night in a cold sweat thinking about this even before i’d finished house of hope for the first time. i’m not even being hyperbolic here, this fic GOT me. also this fic converted me from haarlep-neutral to haarlep’s personal cheerleader. they’re so fun

my beloved darling tav already had a very strong characterization to me but i still feel like i Learned her through writing this, and certainly learned a lot about her dynamics with raphael and haarlep. enough that i’m braving actually writing a longfic for them, and feel free to hold me to this because otherwise it’ll languish in my drafts for another six months. but i’m actually formatting the first chapter for ao3, it’s Genuinely almost done !! promise

fun story about this is i cheerfully told my mom i’d finished writing something after i posted this and she asked to read it. i was like haha. well i’ll do that after work! and then i didn’t ♥️

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number two on the list is what i’d have confidently said was the best thing i’ve ever writtennbefore talk, and that’s one of my dimension 20 big bang 2021 fics: plant a garden in the yard, then, a fantasy high/aelwyn & ayda friendship fic where they explore the deeply haunted tunnels beneath aelwyn’s deeply haunted house

it’s hard to overstate how personal this fic ended up being to me, enough that i hold it as close to my heart as my other d21bb fic which i wrote about grief while Actively grieving. both fics for that event ended up being a good deal more melancholic and introspective than i thought they would at the start, but this one Feels more intimate (for lack of a better word)

aelwyn & ayda are both characters that mean a lot to me on their own, and figuring out their friendship—prickly and uncomfortable as it starts—was honestly healing. there’s something really cathartic about writing a character who’s gone through such extraordinary circumstances in their canon finding a path Towards genuine connection and happiness, even if they don’t find it and Especially if things still aren’t perfect.

also the only time i’ve ever actually hit ao3’s comment length limit was on a reply to an absolutely lovely comment my friend shark left on it so :) the response to this fic was also really nice!

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number three on the list is my queen b magnum opus even though i have one that’s like 8 times longer than it: teeth, the book 1 mc/poppy romance i craved/theoretically a smut oneshot that became something more.

this is a remix of another fic i wrote, so it feels weird to prop it up higher than the original, but i’m just so fond of this one. queen b is a very silly game and poppy min-sinclair can be a VERY silly character but my bea for this fic is another oc i grew deeply attached to, and i think the sheer self-indulgence of the fic shines through, in a good way.

also, i think the characterization in this is strong enough that i’ve been able to recommend it to friends with better taste who haven’t played queen b, and they’ve still enjoyed it! which is just IMMENSELY validating as a writer :’)

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number four and five on the list are my niche oneshots which i wrote for a target audience of me, myself, and i, and i think that’s part of why they work as well as they do!

four is a session with dr. martin whitly, a prodigal son fic which focused on ainsley & martin, namely ainsley relying really heavily on her father, despite the fact he’s a serial killer that she Knows he’s manipulative and terrible.

the fact that i wrote this before the season 1 finale is astounding to me. i have never called characterization beats harder than this, and i feel comfortable saying that even though the actual plot points are quite different, and also even though ainsley isn’t canonically gay. that’s okay because i know and perceive the truth <3

prodigal son’s cancellation is something i’m hard-pressed to say i’m Upset about this far out, but i wish every day that the episode where some ainsley issues got addressed had lived to see the light of day.

this fic i Cannot recommend to people who haven’t watched prodigal son because it’s me extrapolating and picking at lines of dialogue that Suggest a lot without confirming much, but that’s also really fun, in its own way. some of the best fics i’ve ever read are enjoyable specifically as transformative media.

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five is walk with the devil, a the martian/ares3some noir au which was honestly 90% a style experiment but like i fucking nailed it?? there was a stretch of a couple years where some of my best work were from smashing together whatever pairing i wanted to write with a bunch of prompts and seeing what i could make from it (werewolf au caitvi was also one, and a runner-up on this list)

this fic has a lot of hallmarks that i know people aren’t usually a fan of, but i love it. non-linear narrative. major character death but also maybe not, you won’t get closure and neither will the characters. actively avoiding concrete details in favor of a strong, hopeless tone. bringing in a ton of the cast for no reason. LOTS of 1940s slang. and because of that it’s my baby. weirdly i feel like my johanssen characterization is better in this than in either of my two canonverse fics?

i don’t know that i’d write fic for the martian like this again—a lot of what i like about it is really different from the more transformative fandom approach for the things that compel me to write—but i’m glad i did, because this fic is my darling. more people should be experimental in their fics because some of the weirdest stuff will almost always be some of the best !!!

anyway answering this made me so very hyped to write more once i’m off work !!!

[beneathstarryskies]

Hello! May I request a oneshot (modern au or everybody lives au pls) where Obito falls in love with reader? With the whole falling out of love w/ rin angst as well pls (I like Obito so much and I am hella jealous of Rin >:( )

Word Count: 1,517

Warnings: Angst, fluff, fem!reader

A/N: I had a lot of fun with this, and I was so tempted to make it smutty but alas I practiced self control.

The village is bathed in orange light as the sun sets over Konoha. Obito sits alone on the rooftop, his eyes trained on the stone-carved face of his former sensei. His memories of being on Team Minato play in his head.

The journey to redemption had been long and difficult. Obito expected to die helping Naruto save the world, coming to fully accept his fate. Things didn’t happen that way, instead, he found himself having to face living. It was a scenario he’d not planned for at all. Kakashi had pulled every string possible to be able to give Obito a second chance.

“It’s what Rin would’ve wanted,” Kakashi had told him.

Rin.

Obito sighs as he tries to focus on his breathing in an attempt to clear his thoughts. His attention is pulled away from the air filling his lungs when he hears your feet hitting the rooftop. He turns to you slowly, his chest blossoms with warmth when his eyes fall on your shy smile.

You’ve been gone for a couple of weeks now on a mission, and Obito felt a tugging in his chest the entire time you were gone. It’d taken him a while to realize it was because he missed you. Truthfully, it was that realization which brought him here. Trying to come to terms with what it all means. Of everyone in Konoha, you were the first to truly accept his presence. You reached out to make friends with him despite his initial insistence on keeping you at arm’s length. Little by little he felt himself warming up to you, eventually coming to crave your presence when you’re away on missions or too busy with your other duties to hang around much.

“I thought I might find you here,” you say quietly. “What’s on your mind Obito?”

“Nothing really,” he shrugs. “Just trying to clear my mind a bit.”

“Hm, me too,” you hum.

Obito smiles weakly, “How did your mission go?”

You shrug, “Boring.”

You lay your head on his shoulder and let out a small sigh. A thought was bursting forth in your brain. The words linger on your tongue, but the way Obito tenses at the closeness you’ve presented causes them to stay trapped there. You bring your head back up to study the stern eyes of the past Hokage staring back at you.

“I missed you,” Obito says finally.

“You stole the words right out of my mouth,” you smile.

Obito feels his cheeks grow warm. He turns his face away from you to hide the pink dusting across his cheeks. Obito is certain by now you’ve noticed how flustered gets around you but is grateful that you don’t feel the need to point it out. There are so many things he’s grateful for where you’re concerned he lost count long ago.

You lean back on your hands, your hair falling behind your shoulders.

“Hey, maybe since I’m gonna be home for a while we should find something fun to do,” you suggest with a bright smile.

His heart pounds in his chest, “Oh yeah?”

“I could use a trip to the hot springs,” you suggest. “Or maybe we could find a carnival or something.”

“You choose,” Obito smiles.

I’d follow you anywhere, he thinks to himself as he looks at your sweet face. He wants to say it but keeps the sentiment to himself.

~

“I don’t deserve to love again,” Obito says in a hoarse whisper as he stares at Rin’s headstone.

His fingers trace over her name as light as a feather. Tears sting his eyes as he feels so consumed with guilt. He’d been willing to burn the world down for a chance to be with Rin again, but now he finds those feelings fading each day as you make a home in his heart.

Rin is always watching, he keeps telling himself. How would she feel to know he’s fallen in love with someone else? Is she watching it happen while being so helpless to stop it?

He turns these questions over in his mind until he gets the feeling he’s being watched. His hand pulls away from her gravestone to look around the grounds, finally spotting Kakashi leaning against the gate.

“I heard you were visiting the hot springs,” Kakashi says as he begins to walk toward Obito.

“We’re supposed to leave tomorrow.”

“Good,” Kakashi nods. “That’ll be good for you.”

Obito furrows his eyebrows at his friend, “Why?”

“Because you and y/n are close,” Kakashi shrugs. “Maybe this will give you a chance to bond.”

Obito’s chest feels heavy at Kakashi’s words. Was it so obvious? He shoves his hands in his pockets, pulling his eyes away from Kakashi back to Rin’s memorial.

“I think Rin would be very happy for you,” Kakashi’s voice has fallen to a soft whisper.

“Maybe,” Obito sighs.

“She would be,” Kakashi persists. “All Rin ever wanted was for you to be happy, Obito. If this makes you happy, then she would be fully supportive.”

“I don’t deserve this.”

“Love is not about deserving it.”

“What do you know about love?” Obito spits back, not even understanding why Kakashi’s words bothered him so much.

Kakashi just shrugs, as unbothered as ever. Obito groans because he knows Kakashi is right.

~

“I hope you don’t mind that I booked us just one room,” you say as Obito sets his things down. “It’s all they had on such short notice. Plus side though, we have a private onsen!”

Obito smiles, “It’s fine. We can take turns.”

You giggle, “We don’t have to do that. I trust you not to be a pervert.”

Obito’s cheeks turn bright pink. His heart pounds in his chest. Truthfully he doesn’t know if you should trust him so much. He’d never do anything to hurt you, but he’s not sure if he could stop himself from at least looking at you. Even in your usual loose-fitting clothes, he finds you absolutely gorgeous. Seeing your soft skin would be very difficult to resist.

But also, he’s scared of you seeing him. He’s still a bit insecure about the scars on his face. Your eyes never linger on the scars too much, in fact on more than one occasion you’re pressed a soft kiss to his cheek as though they weren’t even there. He’s worried this may change once you see the way they’re stretched over half his body.

You unpack your things in the room despite wanting to just strip off and jump into the hot water. Obito isn’t as neat as you. His clothes get shoved into the drawer, but he lingers awkwardly in the room once he realizes there’s no other way to get around the main purpose of this trip.

“I’m gonna get in now,” you say quickly. Obito realizes you’ve also been trying to get around it.

“Maybe you should get in first,” he suggests. “So I can’t see anything?”

“Hm, or we can just undress at the same time? That way we just won’t worry about it anymore.”

Obito swallows hard, “Are you sure?”

You laugh despite the blush on your cheeks, “We might as well. I don’t want us to spend the whole trip trying to avoid nudity. We’re at a hot spring after all.”

“I just,” Obito looks down at the floor. “You know these scars aren’t just on my face and neck.”

Your lips tighten into a frown as you step forward. Obito’s eyes slowly trail to your sad face. He’s not sure what he expected, but to feel your arms wrap around him was not it. Your lips brush against his cheek before you look up at him.

“Obito, you fool,” you say as you stare into his eyes. “I don’t care about that at all.”

Tears prick his eyes, and a knot begins forming in his throat. He opens his mouth as it becomes harder to breathe. Your eyes are so filled with adoration it’s overwhelming.

“You don’t?”

“Of course not. I was gonna wait until dinner but I guess I should just say it now,” you take a shaky breath. “Obito, I think you’re gorgeous.”

He bites back the sobs threatening to escape him, “Really?”

You lay your head on his chest to hide your flushed face, “Of course. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I-”

“I love you!” Obito blurts out as his arms tighten around you.

You look up at him with tears filling your eyes, “Obito, I love you too. I was so worried you wouldn’t feel the same way I just-”

He steals your words with a clumsy kiss. His heart feels like it’s going to burst when you eagerly kiss him back. Your hands move to tangle in his hair, and you raise on your tiptoes to deepen the kiss. Obito breathes you in, wanting your affection to wash over him and erase all his insecurity. By the time you pull away, both of you struggle to catch your breaths.

As your hands trace over his cheeks with a small smile, Obito can’t believe his luck.

[fishylife]

Street Dance of China, Season 4, Episode 4

- I’ve had issues with Tumblr not saving my posts again v.v I’ll just save often and hope that that does the trick.

- Latrice and Ibuki reenacting HB’s performance haha. From the behind the scenes clips I’ve seen, Ibuki does speak English, so I like to think they are now friends :D

- Hilty & Bosch have known each other since they were six years old T_T That’s cuuuute. Apparently they don’t get into arguments a lot because they always keep a distance between them XD Good strategy.

- San’er’s performance was great! He definitely brings the entertainment in his creativity (including incorporating a story line), but he doesn’t forget about the technical parts of dancing (the popping).

- Bouboo cheering on Rochka when he challenged Jianyan :P

- This spinning move he did was neat

- 不咋地 is going to be the recurring inside joke between Yibo, Rochka, and Bouboo ^^;;

- Yixing singing the SDOC theme song again XD With his super low energy voice XD

- Yibo was tipping the bench which was why Yixing and Henry were like, rocking back and forth at the same pace lol.

- Admittedly George vs. C-Lil was kind of rough. George tried to include Chinese elements in his performance, but he was injured, so he couldn’t really showcase them, and the latter part of his performance became just a typical contemporary dance. C-Lil’s performance was alright, but I think the judges were expecting something more impressive. While break dancing is very impressive to watch, I am starting to see the limitations of it, because if a dancer is not impressive, they are just kind of mediocre. George and C-Lil weren’t able to bring anything superbly impressive, which I think it was difficult for them to vote. Yibo abstained, and C-Lil got two votes, so C-Lil advanced.

- Zyko was incredible as always. It fascinates me how he’s mostly performed with these ballad type songs that don’t really have a beat. Also his flexibility is insane. I’m glad he got through with four votes because we need to see him more.

- I really liked Chika’s performance! I feel like women’s dancing is sometimes a bit limited in the mainstream because people just expect them to look sexy. It isn’t as much the case on this show because all of the ladies on this show are dancers and not idols or pop stars. But anyway, I just love seeing women dance without their bodies being sexualized. Chika’s dance showcased not only control over her body, but POWER. I loved her big movements. Compare the power that she shows vs. the power that say, Ibuki shows. Ibuki is a much smaller lady and it shows in her proportions, so how she expresses power looks different from how Chika expresses power, and Chika’s is the sort of power that I’ve really looked forward to seeing.

- Rochka fanboys over everybody, I love it. Keep spreading the love, dude.

- Ok, Xiaoji’s performance was pretty entertaining. I am not kidding when I say my jaw dropped, at the same time that all the captains went OH SNAP. But this guy definitely has charisma and stage presence. His confidence made up for his lack of ability to improvise XD I was CACKLING when this guy thought the song was done and Yibo was like “bro there’s more” and Xiaoji had to come up with something to end it off lol. I wouldn’t say his challenge was as good as Xiaohai’s, mostly because he hadn’t memorized the music like Xiaohai did. In terms of technical stuff, his performance did seem more impressive than Lai Wei’er’s, but he also did less “stuff” (like, there were a lot of pauses in his dance probably because he didn’t now the music). But Xiaoji’s was definitely more entertaining, though that may just be because of who he is and not his dancing. (By the way, Xiaoji’s real name is 林森. I thought the name 林木森 was just a joke because of how much wood was in it. I never guessed that someone would name their kid 林森 X’D Guess his 八字 indicated that he had a weakness in wood or something lol)

- Have some laughing captains, it’s good for the soul.

- Acky-san acknowledged that he’s probably not going to beat the younger dancers in terms of technique, so what he brought instead was style. The “robot” style of popping is pretty old, but no one else has done it in this competition probably because it’s so old school, and he definitely delivered in a way that only he could.

- Henry singing Frere Jacques with the French contingent X’D

- Thoughts on Han Yu vs. Boris. I can imagine what Han Yu was going for in his original performance, but I don’t think it worked. I don’t have the vocabulary to explain it, but basically the way his performance was choreographed just didn’t really impress. As Yibo mentioned, Boris was impressive in his dance to Han Yu’s music, but his dancing didn’t suit the song as much as Han Yu’s did. So the original dance + challenge was a matter of impressiveness vs. whether the dancing suited the music. Han Yu shone in the battle. I think he seemed a lot more impressive when back in a hip hop sort of groove, music that has a lot of major beats, compared to the piano music that was less grand an epic. As for Boris, I think that seeing a few of his performances in succession showed that his toolbox is a little limited in comparison to Han Yu. It hate to see Boris go because I loved his battle against Zyko but alas. I also wanted him to stay because he’s one of the few non-Chinese contestants who speak Mandarin relatively well. He had no issues speaking in Mandarin with most of the Chinese people on set. The ending was hilarious, when he was asked whether he had any last words, and Boris was like “well, I’m literally going to see these guys in two seconds when I’m back in the audience, I’m not dying” lmao.

- I don’t know how I feel about how the show has decided to deal with the last 29 contestants, of which three would be chosen to join the 49 dancers advancing. They’re competing fairly with the other contestants that haven’t performed yet, but they’re at a disadvantage compared to the previous contestants that were judged individually. For example, what if the fourth best dancer was better than a dancer that had already entered the 49? It would only be fair if the judges were allowed to take out people from the 46 contestants that had passed. It would’ve been a bigger problem if there were still a lot of big names to go though. Most of the best dancers have already secured a spot for themselves, so I think that’s why I’m not like, the most perturbed.

- I was low key waiting for Xiao Jie’s performance because his audition performance during episode 1 was so amusing. I thought his individual performance was fun! He managed to add some creativity and story telling (Chinese dude getting drunk) but also showcase some of his specialty skills (locking).

- I forgot to mention this before, but it amuses me that so the editing team will so diligently put in a “don’t try this at home” warning message whenever a dancer does a dangerous move haha.

- So the captains are doing a dance battle for the reborn event, but I’m not really sure how this is all gonna work. I’m digging Yixing’s look for the battle btw.

- Anyway, pre-battle hugs for all.

- KRUMPMASTER. Also I think he did some of the routine that he did back in Season 3.

- Not gonna lie, I wasn’t super impressed with Han Geng’s first dance but his second dance was pretty hype.

- Lol Yibo feels most comfortable challenging Yixing during his battles. He did move where he dropped onto his back right after Yixing did it (i.e. being like you can do it but I can do it better). Based on what I saw of season 3, I think Yibo would call out Yixing in his performances then too.

- Yixing was definitely heavy on the krump side, though I actually thought his first performance was really interesting because there was barely any krump in that one. He mostly stuck to other elements. As we got through the other rounds, he became more krump heavy, and I think he lost a bit in terms of variety there.

- The thing about Han Geng is that he’s no longer as athletic, so he relies more on power and control, but he needs to make sure he does the right moves that showcase that.

- I think Yibo impressed me the most. He had a lot of variety in his arsenal and he was very entertaining. He is also quite athletic, so as long as he can imagine it, I think he can do it haha.

- As others mentioned, Henry was extremely creative. He used a lot of dance moves to show a certain action, like tugging a rope or playing pool and such.

- Anyway, big hugs.

- Baby needs a nap.

- Yibo won the most points in the four rounds of the battle. This hug with Han Geng is uwu. Anyway, Tony Gogo mentioned that Yibo interpreted the music very well.

- Of course, Tony Gogo as well as the Gogo brothers praised Yixing for his krumping energy

- Philip said that Han Geng had a really good ear, and that was how he was able to take advantage of the best moments to unleash certain dances.

- The five contestants that were saved were A-wei, Boris, George, JC Jun, and Kelo & Uwa. I definitely think the editors purposely showed us more clips of them so that we’d grow attached lol. The only one of these five that I don’t quite remember is A-wei though. Anyway, very pleased that Boris is back haha.

- Pouty boi

- Yibo, Henry, Han Geng, and Ibuki getting really into 煞科 lol.

- I think next episode is going to have some team performances, which I think will be fun. Some of these teams are STACKED.

- Previews for Hot pot!

- They were talking about songs they listened to in their childhood. Han Geng started singing a song about an Office Black Cat? XD I’m guessing it’s a cartoon haha. Yibo listened to Leehom Wang and Jay Chou. Henry mentioned that he looked up to Leehom because he was also an overseas Chinese, plus he played a lot of instruments (just like Henry). As expected, Yixing looked up to Jay Chou (after all, Jay Chou was one of the earliest artists to popularize using Chinese elements in pop songs). Yixing said he also liked Leehom Wang, JJ Lin, and Khalil Fong (I legit have not heard the name 方大同 in a long time so that took me by surprise lol).

- Yibo mentioned Li Ronghao and Yixing was like OH WAIT YEAH HIM TOO. We know from Idol Producer that Yixing and Li Ronghao are bros haha. The captain says “不榮藝 組合” which pronounced the same as “不容易 組合” which is something like “unlikely duo,” except the the 榮 is from Li Ronghao’s name and the 藝 is from Zhang Yixing’s name lol.

- The robot spilled all the tea! Bad bot!

- I think they later played a listening game that Henry kept losing? lol

[xxanimecoolgirlxx]

Sooo Imma do some Candypunkland content. Warning this series is NSFW though nothing will be too explicit. Also warning for manipulating behaviors and abuse of power in this one

——

Cookie woke her in her bed, groggy and exhausted from the events of the previous night. She immediately glanced over to the later side of the bed, to be meet with the sleeping face of her.. partner to say, The Queen herself, Jelloni.

Cookie still couldn’t believe the events that had transpired to even have this scenario a possibility. She was merely a commoner, she expected to be assigned a role in their society like all the others and have an long peaceful and mundane life, working her part in the wheels of their world and bringing forth a new generation as would be expected of her.

But things didn’t happen like that. It was when she somehow met Jelloni’s eye that things went.. strangely. She didn’t know how or what she did in particular, the only interaction she and Cookie had was when Cookie had offered her the treats she had baked as tribute to high ranked officials as regulations stated when she first truly came into the ‘society’.

When she was assigned a home, she found a small little gift in her doorstep. At first she was told by one of the delivery men is that she had a gift from an anonymous source. He had this.. smile on his face, like he knew something that she didn’t. He gave her a “Congratulations.” Before leaving her there on her porch, confused.

The gift was a choker necklace made of silver and embedded in pearls. At first she was taken aback by the expensive looking gift. Who could’ve sent this to her? Maybe this was something everyone got for their first day joining the ‘real world’. But she didn’t want to question it further, just simply accepting the gift as she went inside her new home.

As the days went on, she started catching onto things. The guards that patrolled the neighborhood all seemed to give her looks when she walked past. They weren’t anything hateful or anything, but it was something else. One day she was pulled aside by one of them as she walked back to her home. They instructed her to prepare herself and her living space for an very important guest.

Cookie was of course shocked but at the same time very honored by the opportunity. She hadn’t know what she did in particular to deserve the presence of whatever high ranking person but she didn’t question it, that would’ve been most disrespectful.

That day she was instructed to wait until nightfall for the visitor to arrive and to make sure to tell nobody of this. She made sure everything was perfect, she had baked goods for the guest and made sure her house was as neat and tidy as ever.

It was around midnight that this guest came. Could you imagine her shock when she saw the Queen of her country walk in her door? She immediately dropped to her knees in a bow, shaking. She had thought it was an mayor or something like that,but not royalty. She began wondering if she did something wrong, so wrong In fact to get her Majesty to punish her personally.

But The Queen, Jelloni, did no such thing. She smiled as she softly titled Cookie’s chin up. She assured her that she hadn’t done anything wrong, so there was no need for her to feel scared. Cookie got up, a bit bewildered but just grateful she wasn’t in any trouble.

Cookie invited Jelloni to sit at the table as she served the pastries she made. As she did, she couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes digging into her. The entire time she never felt Jelloni’s eyes leave her. There was this.. look in her blue orbs that just seem to shake Cookie for whatever reason, almost throwing her off.

Jelloni finally spoke.

“Do you know why I’ve come here to visit you?” She asked her. Cookie lowered her head a bit and shook it.

“No, I don’t.” She said quietly. Jelloni just chuckled in response.

“I see.. potential in you, sweet girl. Although I’ve only seen you a few times, I feel as though you’d be perfect for the task I have for you.” Jelloni explained.

“Whatever it is I can serve you in, I’d be grateful and honored to do so.” Cookie said. She almost couldn’t believe her ears. She was being assigned a task by the Queen herself? She could hardly contain herself as she was giddy with excitement.

“Good.” Jelloni said. She then noticed the necklace around Cookie’s neck. “How do you like your present? I made sure it was customized to suit you best.” She said.

Cookie smiled as a hand went to graze her necklace. “It’s really beautiful, thank you.” She said with the brightest of smiles.

“Did you know what that was only the first half of the gift? I have another gift for you.” She said, a smile curling on her lips. Cookie didn’t know why, but that smile didn’t seem.. wholesome somehow, like there was something else she was missing.

Jelloni then reached into her bag that Cookie just realized she was carrying. It was then she pulled out this. Leash? It was adorned in gems,just like how her necklace was. Cookie quirked an curious brow as she glanced at it.

“Your majesty, forgive me but I don’t understand. I don’t have any pets.” Cookie was cut off.

“Oh I know. It’s for you, sweetheart. I just think that this will suit that lovely neck of yours best, don’t you think?”

Cookie froze at bit at that, she stuttered out a reply

“Y-your majesty. That’s supposed to be for a pet, I don’t think that it’s very appropriate-.” She was cut off once again.

“Are you saying you’re ungrateful for the privilege of my presence? I thought you said you’d be happy to serve me in any way I chose?” Jelloni said. Cookie stood up straight at that.

“Of course not.” She muttered.

Jelloni smirked “Good girl, now come here and kneel.” She commanded. Cookie quickly did as told, not wanting to test Jelloni’s patience.

With a soft ‘click’, the leash was attached to her necklace, now revealed to be a collar. Cookie kept her head held low, shaking with confusion and honestly fear. What was going to happen to her? She felt.. uncomfortable, scared, helpless.

A gentle tug from the leash made Cookie look up at Jelloni.

“Aww, you look so precious like this, such a pretty sight. Don’t worry, that’s not the last of my gifts.” Jelloni said before reaching back into the bag and retrieving two more items. Cookie’s eyes widened a bit when she saw what it was, a hard blush coming across her face.

“Your majesty. Those articles of clothing.. they’re prohibited for me to wear, that’s scandalous and against the laws-“

“Oh hush. I am the law. And who says it’s a scandalous thing? Who says it’s a sinful thing for someone as adorable as you to wear. I think it suits you.. don’t you think?” Jelloni asked, almost challenging her to say no.

“I… yes, It does suit me.” Cookie said submissively.

“Well what are you waiting for then? Wear it.” Jelloni said. Cookie could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. She truly didn’t want to do it, but then again, it’d be a great disrespect to the Queen. She felt as though she did owe her even something this small as gratitude for cleansing the country of disgusting degenerates and rebels.

“Yes your Majesty.” Cookie said. She took the articles of clothing, a pair of cutesy, ruffly lingerie and began walking to the restroom to change when a harsh yank on her collar stopped her.

“No. I want to watch you strip for me.” Jelloni said. Cookie could feel goosebumps go up her body but she couldn’t refuse. She began stripping down from her dress and underwear. The entire time, Jelloni’s eyes seemed to devour her naked form.

When she had finished changing, Jelloni get up from her chair, a lustful look in her eyes as she inspected her.

“God, you look so f*cking ravishing in this. It makes me want you so much more.” Jelloni said.

“Want.. me?.” Cookie asked.

“Oh yes, darling. This is how you’ll serve me from now on. You’re mine now, and mine alone. Don’t worry, though. I’m sure you’ll love what I’ll do to you two. I’ll make you feel so nice, so good that you won’t know what you would’ve done if I hadn’t stepped into your life.” Jelloni said, she leaned in closer to her.

“Let’s take this to the bedroom, shall we?” She said. Cookie felt she obliged to do nothing but nod her head.

Ever since that day, she had been visited by Jelloni at least once a week, letting her have her however way she wanted. Although it did admittedly feel… nice in the moment . It always just seemed so empty, like she didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Every time after the deed happened, she felt almost used, like it was her only purpose to please Jelloni.

This day was no different. Her arms crossed over her chest, as if trying to shield herself from the world, maybe to protect what little dignity she had left. Some days, she wants to just throw the towel in, but then there would be the venomous thoughts that came in, mostly from Jelloni’s words to her. This was a privilege, not everyone gets this opportunity to serve their great ruler who had done so much for them. Is it that hard to give even a little bit back in return, even something as insignificant as her body. She shouldn’t bother Her Majesty with trivial things like her opinions and silly wants. It seemed so obvious yet not at the same time.

Cookie snapped out from her own thoughts as she felt a soft tug at her leash. Jelloni had woken up.

“You’re up early, pet.” Jelloni purred. Cookie looked away.

“Guess I’m just a morning person.” Cookie said with an uneasy chuckle. Cookie had to stop herself from flinching backward when Jelloni went into for a kiss, the sickening sweet sensation of her lips against Cookie would’ve made her recoil had she not have gotten used to it. So she was thankful when Jelloni broke the kiss after a while.

“Last night was fun as always, Sweetheart. I’m glad you haven’t disappointed me.” Jelloni commented as she brushed Cookie’s hair.

“But alas, I must leave. I expect to see you tomorrow night, so please, be prepared for my arrival.” Jelloni said. Cookie only bowed her head obediently as Jelloni got dressed and walked out of her room.

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Haunted Castle Chapter Two: The Castle

Happy first day of Halloween!

First off, I have not actually finished this fic yet, which is not normally how I roll when uploading fics. But I want to release it over the course of Halloween month, putting the final chapter up on Halloween itself, so it should be fine. Second, I gloss over parts of this fic, not doing any real fight scenes; it plays out the way it would it would in game so it's not really necessary to write out. I also tried to come up with at least one cool boss ghost idea in a future chapter because the boss ghosts are always really cool in the games, but I couldn't really come up with one so unless something changes that's not happening either. I have a neat idea for a finale that would make up for it though I think but again I haven't written it yet so I don't know how it's going to turn out. So wish me luck on that as well as on just finishing this fic before the end of Halloween in general. :)

~

“You with Bowser Jr.?” was E. Gadd’s greeting as soon he answered Luigi’s call.

“Yes,” Luigi said with a sigh as he shifted to try to make himself more comfortable. Sitting with the Poltergust on his lap – Polterpup sat atop it, tongue hanging out as he enjoyed the air rushing by – and crammed in next to a small but spikey child made it a vain effort. The clown car was far too small but… sitting was still better than standing when it was so high in the air.

“Good! I knew he’d be able to convince you help him.  I’m on my way to Bowser’s castle myself. Since you’re flying, or at least I assume you’re taking Junior’s clown car since it’s faster, you’ll probably arrive before me so try not to clear everything up before I arrive, okay?” He chuckled, not at all bothered by this situation.

“Look, we need to talk about your efforts to contain King Boo. I can’t keep recapturing him for you.” Luigi had had enough of that by now especially since the more times it happened the higher the chance King Boo find a way to win.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, he got out again. It wasn’t my fault this time though, some of his boos broke him out when I wasn’t paying attention.” Did it not occur to him that he should’ve expected something like that and been prepared to prevent it? If it was possible to keep boos locked up then surely it was possible to keep them out as well, right? “It’ll be fine though, I’m sure you can handle him. What do you think his plan is though? He went straight for Bowser’s castle this time, thoroughly took over the place too according to Junior. There’s no way he’s forgotten about us though, I’m sure his got more up his sleeve than this. But what?” He sounded almost excited to find out.

Luigi hadn’t needed the reminder that King Boo would be coming for him sooner or later. “After I capture him this time you better keep him contained.” He forced anger into his voice in an attempt to hide his fear. After this he was done with hunting ghosts for forever. … That’s what he’d told himself last time though and well, here he was on his way to do just that. He meant it this time though, he’d had enough and he was putting his foot down.

“Don’t worry sonny, this time he won’t get out for sure.” He sounded so sure but he always did so it didn’t inspire much confidence. “But anyway, I got to drive, see you up at Bowser’s castle in a few hours.” He hung up.

With another sigh, Luigi hung up too. He was tempted to pull himself up to peek over the edge to get a lay of the land and maybe an idea of where they were and how far they were from their destination. But even thinking about it gave him a slight sense of vertigo so he stayed down.

“You know for a professional ghost hunter you seem awfully scared of everything,” Bowser Jr. said, looking at him with a slight frown.

Luigi could only shrug. “Ghosts are scary.” And while heights weren’t a particular fear of his, being this high up in something that felt so unstable was thoroughly unpleasant.

“Hmm… I guess I can’t argue with that. Still though, I don’t see how you managed to beat up King Boo and all his lackies three whole times. With the way you’ve been acting, I’d have thought you would’ve chickened out.”

Luigi shrugged again. “Had to save my bro.”

That earned a concerned look. What exactly Bowser Jr. was concerned about was unclear though and he didn’t say anything about it, turning his attention back to his flying instead.

 -

Hidden low in the clown car, Luigi wasn’t aware of how close they were until Bowser Jr. suddenly started lowering it. “I want to approach lower to the ground to so we don’t get spotted,” he said by way of explanation as Luigi sat up to peek over the edge.

They were indeed in Bowser’s Kingdom now, the familiar shape of Bowser’s castle still a decent distance away but plainly visible from so high up. It wasn’t quite as visible as it should’ve been though because it was dark, not a light to be seen anywhere on it. Luigi had only seen it a few times but every single time he had, there’d been lights in all the windows and fires in signal towers that made up part of the protective wall surrounding it. That at least confirmed Bowser Jr. was telling the truth about what happened. Not that there’d been much doubt, Bowser wouldn’t want to lay a trap for Luigi, especially since he was one of many people who didn’t even remember Luigi’s name most of the time.

It wasn’t much longer before they landed. Polterpup jumped out first with an excited bark. Bowser Jr. climbed out with the ease of someone who’d done so a million times before. Leaving Luigi to stiffly and awkwardly stand up before climbing out with exaggerated care lest he stumble and fall.

As soon as his feet were on the ground, Polterpup barked and did a quick run around his legs, almost making him fall over anyway, before dashing off too fast to see where he was headed. There was no easy way to call him back so hopefully he wouldn’t give away their presence by being seen or caught by a boo. Instead, Luigi hefted the Poltergust onto his back, pressing the button on the flashlight that decanted Gooigi as soon as it was in his hand.

Then, stepping away from the clown car on only slightly shaky legs, he glanced around at their surroundings. Bowser Jr. had parked them at the rear of the castle, within its border walls. It was a large open space that seemed to mostly training yard with a landing pad off to the side where they were. Bowser’s Castle loomed over them and… already Luigi could sense it was crawling with ghosts. It might’ve just been his imagination but after taking care of three whole full-scale hauntings he was pretty sure he had a feel for these things by now. And with that in mind he very much did not want to go in.

But alas, he was already here and Bowser Jr. was already headed for the small door leading into the castle and Gooigi was already following him and Polterpup had already run off to explore. And none of that left Luigi with any choice whatsoever on top everything that had convinced him to come in the first place. So holding back a groan of fear, he jogged to catch up with Bowser Jr. and Gooigi.

“I finally figured out what Gooigi reminds me of,” Bowser Jr. said as soon as he did so. “They look kind of like my old Shadow Mario disguise except shaped like you and green.”

“Um… okay.” Luigi had heard something about that from Mario, not much though because Mario’s main focus was telling him that Bowser had a son who thought Peach was his mother. Whether or not Bowser Jr. still believed that was unknown and now probably wasn’t the time to ask. Luigi was too busy already being afraid even before seeing a single ghost.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” Bowser Jr. asked as they reached the door and stopped so he could pull out a key for it.

Luigi shrugged. “I’ve done it before.” What was one more time really?

“Well, E. Gadd said you’re the best and he’s an expert so I trust him and it’s not like I have any other options so… I guess let’s go. Don’t mess this up though or you’ll regret it.” Pocketing the key once more, he opened the door. “You go in first, I’ll follow behind.”

Gooigi of course went in without hesitation. Luigi would’ve followed but… “You should wait out here or fly up in the car until E. Gadd arrives and then wait in his lab with him.”

“Uh… no. I’m not a coward who’s going to just sit out here and wait for you to do everything. And don’t go calling me one because I ran away. I only did that because I couldn’t win by myself so I went to get help. It’s smart, not cowardly, okay?” Hands balled into fists he glared up at Luigi as if daring him to call him a coward. Luigi would be a hypocrite to accuse him of such when he was the one who was a coward. Running away had been the right move and as far as Luigi was concerned Bowser Jr. wasn’t a coward for doing so but he was a kid so…

“It’s dangerous.” Which was a large part of why Luigi had come was because he couldn’t in good conscious let a kid run around in a castle full of ghosts. “You wouldn’t be a coward for staying…”

“I know it’s dangerous,” Bowser Jr. interrupted. “And I don’t care. I can take care of myself and I can help you guys because I know the castle layout and all of its secret passages.”

“But…”

“Also, it’s my dad and my siblings and my people that King Boo turned into portraits, I have to help them. So I’m going with you whether you like it or not. Now get your butt in there and start hunting ghosts.” He stamped his foot on the ground and pointed into the open doorway.

Luigi couldn’t exactly argue with that so… in he went. And Bowser Jr. followed, pulling the door closed with him.

“All good?” Gooigi asked. They’d been waiting right by the door.

No, but Luigi said, “I guess,” anyway. “Let’s get this over with fast, okay?”

They gave him a thumbs up before snapping around to face the rest of the room. It was a dark hallway, pitch black outside of the range or their flashlights. And there was definitely at least one ghost nearby somewhere, hiding and probably waiting to jump out and scare the three of them. …

Could Luigi really do this? He didn’t have his brother needing to be saved to motivate him this time so could he really force himself through this again? … Yes! Yes, he could! It was the fourth time so he wasn’t going to be afraid this time.

Squaring up his shoulders, he took a deep breath and strode forward, taking the lead. He could handle this, he’d done it before, it was fine. He’d defeat King Boo again and then…

A ghost burst out of the wall to his left, getting right up in his face, to stick out its tongue and blow a raspberry at him. He jumped back with a scream, quickly backpedaling away as he dropped his flashlight.

Gooigi, unphased as always, flashed it, stunning it, giving Luigi time to recover as they started vacuuming it. Its struggles came to a swift end when as soon as they had a good grip on it, Gooigi slammed it to ground. A few more slams and the fight, if it could even be called that, was over. A very tame ghost encounter over all but… Bowser Jr. was still laughing and even pointing at Luigi.

“It’s not funny,” he said, unable to keep himself from sounding a little grumpy.

“Nah, it’s hilarious! You should’ve heard the sound you made, it was…” Another ghost popped out of the wall next to him, tackling him and making him cut off with his own undignified yelp of surprise and fear.

Luigi flinched and jumped back too but… it was just Polterpup. “Good puppy,” he said as Polterpup ran over with a bark for a well-deserved pet.

Bowser Jr. stood back up, brushing himself off with an embarrassed look. He was a kid though so Luigi wasn’t going to laugh at him back, though it didn’t stop him from giving him a slight smirk before turning his attention back to Polterpup.

Maybe despite this being the fourth time, he was still afraid but with Gooigi and Polterpup by his side he would be fine. He could handle this even if it wouldn’t be pleasant or fun in any way and he’d do it because bad guys or not, it was the right thing to do.