#and even though its turn based it still plays fast as heck

[skylermadness]

Full Interlink (Guernica Vandham TF/MC/AP)

(Original Date of Upload: February 4, 2023)

Guess I'm uploading my stuff to Tumblr now! I've been writing on DeviantArt and FurAffinity for a good two and a half years now, and felt like maybe testing the waters to see how things will do on Tumblr.

Original Description:

I have written two TFs of the Vandham variety and both of them are Mature. I wonder what this means for me. Anyway, this was an idea I've actually had swirling around my head for a few months now. I wanted to try something based on one of the early game cutscenes, and I kind of went with something that might be considered possession in the least? I don't know. Anyway, this was a really fun story to write! I was trying to go more of an angle of self-exploration and pleasuring during the transformation, something I didn't really explore with many TFs before (except maybe the Thor one from last year). I'm quite proud of how it turned out though, might be among my favorite works! ...I say that with everything I upload, damn. I also wrote this story as a soft sequel to my earlier Xenoblade 3 story "Gray Matter". It's not really vital you read that one first, I just thought it'd be a nice connection to end things on.

   Smoke was quickly consuming the valley's battlefield with each passing second, the only sound heard being that of a grueling fight. Six people fighting against a gigantic, monstrous creature of an unknown Origin.

   Farther away from the fight there's the sound of metal clanging, and energy pulsating shortly after. An egg-shaped object sits on the ground, splitting open evenly as a piston within it arises and blue motes of light escape its internals. The shell of the object glows a bright green. An eighth person is on this battlefield as well: a burly, bearded man who was currently mortally wounded. Still, he was attempting to do something despite his life-threatening injury.

   As the object appears to power up, this man lets out a laugh of triumph. "That's what I'm talking about… looks like it wasn't all for nothing!"

   And for a second, the TV screen flickers.

   In truth, all of what had just occurred was merely a part of a cutscene. One that belonged to the game Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

   Sitting on the living room couch, a young man named Mike eagerly watches the scene unfold. He had originally spent a while procrastinating on even beginning to play this game, but once he started he found himself hooked. The characters interested him, and what little plot he's been given at this point in the story had interested him. 

   And considering Mike's fixated gaze towards the TV screen. He was captivated.

   The fight still continues in front of him. The mysterious giant manages to knock one of the fighters off her feet. But before he gets a chance to land a finishing blow, someone else comes and uses their sword to divert the giant's attack. The swordfighter isn't able to get both he and the girl beside him away from the giant fast enough, and things already are quickly beginning to look dire.

   But then a voice yells out in the distance; deep, aged, accented. "It's not over yet!!"

   Mike stares at the face of the man. Guernica Vandham. Admittedly he looked like an altered version of the Vandham from the second Xenoblade game, but that didn't make him any less interesting. Considering Mike's ardor towards the original, the copy was just about as good in his eyes.

   The older face, the thick beard, the Australian accent. Heck, the jumpsuit looked perfect on the guy! It was enough to make him unconsciously think about just being the guy. Having his face, his hair, his muscles, his voice…

   In almost an instant, Guernica pushes down the piston and a massive pulse of energy spills from the object. Spirits of the fighters appear to be ejected from their own bodies.

   This includes the spirit of Guernica Vandham himself.

   Time seems to slow, and…

   Mike barely gets a chance to react as the burly man's spirit almost seems to get expelled from the screen of his TV and descend onto his own body. His physical form and Guernica's spectral form seem to overlap each other for just a millisecond, then the hulking apparition disappears as if it were never there to begin with.

   At the same time his television seems to flicker, the power of it short circuiting as his Switch emits a worrying noise of electric crackling. Something builds up, then snaps as the TV forces itself off. The console beside it does the exact same thing as well.

   The sensation that pushes everything out of the weird slow feeling state of time was the electrical crepitation of the very controller in his hand, the object seemingly mimicking the actions of all the other electronics in the room. A massive shock entered Mike's hands and arms, the young man hissing in pain as he flung the object onto the table in front of him.

   "What the hell was that-" Mike said, his eyes wide as he took in the sudden change of state in his surroundings. His limbs tingle from the sudden shock of electricity, and his palms seemed a little red, likely due to the heat. 

   His gaze wandered around. Towards the controller, which now appeared fine. Then to the television, whose screen was black and pictureless with no sound coming from its stereos. He then took a glance at the Switch, seemingly inactive as well. But there seems to be something faint, and Mike squints to see what it was.

   "Is that… smoke?"

   He couldn't fully tell, but a barely noticeable stream of smoke seemed to be escaping the docked console's vent. "Aw crap, did it overheat??"

   He stood up from the couch and took a step forward, but was suddenly stopped when he felt a sudden spasm course across his entire body. "Agh, what…?"

   The tingling in his hands seemed to increase dramatically, feeling a new, strange sensation. It felt as if he submerged his hand in pure TV static. He looked downwards at his hands to check for any changes, and… he indeed found some.

   "Wha…"

   Mike's mind blanked, the young man dumbfounded at what he was witnessing. Both of his hands appeared to be growing. Both palms stretched, size increasing with each passing second. They swelled with a thick meatiness entering them. His fingers lengthened to fit the new proportions of his hands, and a significant thickness entered them as well while the tips of each finger blunted. 

   The discomforting tingling in his hands slowly subsided, the cause being another change that seemed to settle in his hands. As his palms enlarged, the skin upon them grew harder and dense with thick calluses etching upon them. The skin on the back of his hands began to weather, aging rapidly as it gained an almost leathery texture to it. 

   Mike flipped his hands over a few times in a panic, eyes wide at the sight of them. “What’s happening??”

   This strange occurrence then started to move upwards. The rapid aging of his skin cascaded upwards like some kind of reverse waterfall. Alongside that came a substantial amount of bulk in the affected limbs. Bulk that was a result of an increase in muscle mass. It started in his lower arms, the areas heating up as an almost instantaneous workout was forced upon them, their musculature increasing greatly in mere seconds. All the while, the bones in his arms extended, stretching to a larger length than they once were.

   Things rapidly reached his forearms next, his muscles growing in that area as well. Biceps began to bulge, triceps magnifying alongside them. The sleeves of his shirt strained against this growth, easily becoming sizes smaller in comparison to his thickening forearms. This was quickly exacerbated once his delts started to gain mass as well, practically ballooning in size. From there the changes jumped to his torso, etching into his shoulders and beginning to broaden them.

   The sound of the fabric of his sleeves tearing pierced the air of the room, Mike groaning while sweat started to bead from his forehead. The odd tingling had remained as a searing heat that reverberated around his form, and now that it reached his torso it was steadily plunging both downwards and rising upwards. 

   He blinked a few times, placing a massive hand at the side of his head. “Hot…” was the first word he could muster, the burgeoning heat messing with his train of thought and leaving his mind hazy.

   “Ugh, something’s wrong…”

   Although, something about that very statement felt incorrect. His earlier panic was dying down rapidly, easily being replaced with a dazed disposition. Confusion was setting in; that of why this is happening, what is even happening. There was also a state of curiosity as well. 

   His eyes slowly edged to a side, staring at a muscular arm and thick hand. “So… old and…” his cheeks flushed, “big…”

   At the sound of that very simple word, something else began to well up inside him. Heat surged within the man’s core, his bodily frame now starting to widen and slowly pull at the buttons of his shirt as his size grew in width. The strain on his shirt's split persisted, his chest swelling as his pectorals expanded. It wasn't long until their growth exceeded his shirt's limit; a button breaking an eyelet while another one just simply popped off. His pecs continued growing, thickening into two meaty slabs.

   It was at this point that Mike's attention had drawn downwards, his mind in a hazy stupor. The site of his newly massive pecs felt satisfying to him. There was also something enjoyable about feeling his shirt continue to rip itself open, more and more buttons breaking against his wide form and thickening muscles. His stomach churned at the feeling of his abdominal muscles beginning to bubble from his skin. Buttons strained, a few simply breaking off, as a six-pack sequentially rippled from the top of his abdomen down. 

   Mike smiled goofily at the sight, lifting a hand and dipping a finger into the cleavage of his pectorals. "U-urgh… this feels… nice…"

   His breathing shuddered. Did his voice crack? It sounded… deeper. And like an accent was beginning to creep in. But those thoughts quickly dashed out his mind as he moved a finger downwards, slowly trailing the midline of his new abdominal muscles.

   "Y-yeah… warm 'nd… big…" he said, voice quiet but getting noticeably deeper with each word.

   His back straightened, pressure wracking the vertebrae of his spinal cord. The floor was beginning to move further away, the hem of his shirt riding upwards. A sign that his height was increasing.

   The sensuality of the experience seemed to increase substantially as he felt hairs prickling from his skin. His eyes widened slightly at the sudden sight of dark hairs emerging from his skin. At first it was just a mild dusting trailing across his chest and the middle of his abs, but it quickly grew beyond that. The fuzz lining his midline thickened into a nice treasure trail, that blossoming of thick hairs seeming to move upwards until it reached his pecs. From there it formed a forest of fur, a sight that greatly contrasted the hairlessness of his arms. Even more peculiar, all this hair had a dusty gray color to it.

   He didn't have a lot of time to dwell on that thought though, his hand moving back to his pecs and rubbing them a little. Feeling the bush of fur beneath his calloused skin, watching the hairs break through from between his fingers. His cheeks flushed again, the man feeling so… warm…

   He could feel this intense warmth running downwards in more ways than one. The button of his jeans struggled against his widening waist, that region being the next to expand. 

   It started off simply at first. His thighs started bulging, mimicking the changes in the rest of his body as the muscles within them expanded. Ridges formed within the denim of his jeans quickly as they outlined the increasing size of his hamstrings and his quads. But things quickly got out of his, Mike beginning to feel his rear swell in size. The seat of his pants filled, his glutes growing. His ass was getting round, firm, and thick. So much so that it was evident through the back of his pants.

   Of course, the front wasn't left unscathed. He could practically feel the blood shooting downwards, the man blushing in a mix of embarrassment and euphoria. His groin stirred with activity, the zipper of his jeans breaking from his new girth. A bulge had formed, Mike letting out a deep, husky groan at the feeling. He couldn't help but move his hand down to the area and squeeze it for just a moment of pleasure.

   Meanwhile, more of his changes transitioned past his knees. His bones pressurized as they bulked beneath his new weight. They lengthened as well, the legs of his jeans moving upwards as his height increased some more. The denim also began to split at the sides, muscles continuing to bulge in size. The crus of his legs practically felt like they set ablaze as his calves swelled. His legs were effectively twice the size of what they used to be, although the same could be said for the rest of his body.

   The only piece of his clothing that wasn't torn up was his shoes, but judging by the increasing discomfort in that area it was easy to tell that wouldn't last long. With his footwear, his feet were steadily expanding. Stretching out to get larger, getting meatier as well. His toes grew as well, each one getting thicker. As the size increased, the toecap of his shoes started bulging, his toes pushing up against the leather. The seams holding his shoes together were quickly beginning to undo itself, the strings fraying and splitting apart over the bridge. His heel dug into the back, ankles into the sides. Then, in mere seconds, his shoes split open to reveal his massive feet, which continued to grow larger until they were in proportion with the rest of his body.

   Mike was practically growling now, slowly trying to get over his sudden erotic euphoria. "Everythin's so sparkin'... hot, urgh…" 

   He swallowed, feeling the lump in his throat swelling as his neck got larger. Thicker, swelling out into a trunk. His voice continued to deepen, his vocal cords altering it as they changed within his neck. 

   "Somethin' ain't right…" he spoke. His vocal mannerisms were shifting. His very accent was changing, becoming more and more Australian sounding.

   He felt so confused. So many emotions and feelings were firing in his brain at once, his senses being overridden with other feelings every second. Confusion, euphoria, warmth, haziness, erotic bliss, pleasurable desires, it was so much.

   "Grrgh, ain't never felt like this before…"

   His body swayed, the man unhanding his groin and pressing it onto a nearby flat surface (a table, he'd assume if he could think properly anymore).

   He started looking around. "The heck am I… this ain't Alfetto…"

   A-Alfetto? That's not… is it? He was in that valley, a fight was going on… or, or was that just… a game? N-no, it was real, right?

   "What's goin' on…"

   He placed his unoccupied hand on his head. His mind felt scrambled. Memories twisting and shifting, identity in turbulence. Where was he? Who was he? He should know this goddammit!

   "Can't let your age get to ya' now, M… Mi-... Urgh-"

   His head ached. Shit, what was his name again? How the hell could he forget that…

   He groaned again, aches beginning to reverberate across his entire skull. The structure of it was increasing in size; lengthening, widening. His jawline resculpted itself, hardening and chiseling itself out into something more wide and blunted. His head's shape was looking more rectangular by the second. Structures on his face were next to change. His eyes were getting slightly smaller, his eyebrows getting more curved. His nose probably underwent the largest restructuring as it grew bigger, rounder, and slightly bulbous.

   Shortly after, hairs started to prickle across his face. Dark at first, but quickly shifting to a gray coloration. Stubbly fuzz running down the sides of his head, across his chin, around and above his lips. It soon began to grow, however. It was slow at first, but the pace soon changed as it quickly bloomed into a short beard. Short, well-kept, gray…

   His entire body had aged at this point, his face was about ready to catch up. His younger features faded rapidly; wrinkles etching themselves at the ends of his mouth, the edges of his eyes. His skin was getting a tough, weathered look to it. Older and older he got; early 20s, mid 30s, late 40s, mid 50s. More and more age was sleeping into his skin, alongside a massive X-shaped scar that slit itself across his face and scarred over in a millisecond. 

   As he aged, his once brown hair was graying as well. Starting where it met his beard, quickly extending to the rest of his scalp in the blink of an eye. His hairline was even beginning to recede a bit, granting the man a widow's peak in seconds. The curly, messiness it possessed was probably what changed the most though. Follicles were realigning as they pushed out his head, getting longer and longer. From the sides and from the back it became quite long, moving past the nape of his neck and reaching his upper back. As for the top of his head, it extended, but also styled itself, growing and aligning into a perfectly groomed pompadour-style.

   A soft green glow illuminated his eyes for a moment before subsiding. "Sparks, is this what death feels like-"

   He placed a hand on his chest. His… bare chest. A part of him reflexively squeezed a pec, the man shivering in response. "Wh-what am I doing…"

   His mind was still in a confusing mess. Parts of him that didn't feel like him were being subsumed, his identity trying to supplant itself firmly in his mind. Turmoil and chaos was trying to settle itself, pieces falling into place as he was trying to determine what the hell he was doing here-

   Alfetto Valley, Ouroboros Stone, Mœbius, those kids…

   He squeezed his chest again. Why wasn't his hand wet? He could've sworn he was shot straight through there…

   He tried to reorient himself, to look around, although he felt woozy and disoriented. He'd make a joke about being drunk right now if he was in his right mind.

   The final changes occurred as he stumbled; that being the shifts of his ill-fitting clothing. From an outside perspective, these changes were almost instantaneous. His button-up shirt fused with his jeans, the material of both articles of clothing seeming to harden into leather. Whatever buttons remained got consumed by the leather, the combined split growing a metallic zipper to compensate before beginning to zip itself up. The sleeves of his shirt seemed to almost disconnect, leaving the newly forming jumpsuit sleeveless. The disconnected sleeves formed a second layer of grayish-teal cloth that went across his chest to form a t-shirt. His jumpsuit continued to change, the material finally changing color to a plain gray while the size of it enlarged to perfectly fit his body. The collar of it unfurled and lengthened, almost going so high that it would graze his face.

   Additional bits were being added. Slits formed in the abdominal region of the material becoming welt-side pockets, meanwhile a pair of gusset pockets bulged from the thigh region. A belt materialized and snaked itself around his waist, adorned with pouches and a weapon holster. While his t-shirt formed, the part that touched his hand seemed to cause another sudden appearance of a new material, black leather encasing his hand and lower arm while a metallic goo emerged and solidified into an arm guard. A similar accessory seemed to appear on his other hand shortly after.

   The last changes reached the remains of what could barely be called his shoes anymore. The simple fragmented cloth and rubber that composed of the footwear's entirety expanded, the once-solid consistency seeming almost liquid as it consumed his foot and moved upwards and around the crus of his legs. It then shaped itself, molding into what appeared to be boots, garnering a leathery black texture while this occurred. Metal plating then emerged from that leather, a pair of guards strapping themselves around his lower legs.

   A boot practically stomped on the ground under his weight, the older man slowly regaining proper mobility absentmindedly. He didn't even notice an eye patch appearing out of thin air and strapping itself to his head, his mind registering it as having always been there.

   "C'mon, Guernica, ya know you haven't had anything…"

   Guernica! That's his name! 

   He squeezed a pec again, the mindless self-indulgence seeming to have faded. He could barely even recall what had happened in those last minutes, only recalling flashes of pleasure from one side of his mind while having flashes of war from the other. He let out a deep sigh. His chest didn't hurt anymore, and unhanding it he saw it was… fine. As if nothing was there.

   Looking up, he peered around the room he was in. Living room of some kind, pretty well furnished too. Although it doesn't feel like anything he's seen in the City. 

   As he thinks that, his eye catched a glance of a nearby window. It's noticeably dark out, but he can definitely see the night sky, the outside.

   "This definitely ain't the City…"

   So where did that leave him?

   Part of him wondered if this was one of those fabled upper realms like those he's heard the City researchers talk about in passing. Elysium? Or perhaps the divine upper plane beyond two giants?

   Agh, whatever. He didn't listen to them long enough to know. He doubts this is some kind of post-death paradise anyway. Especially since the last thing he could recall was activating that Ouroboros Stone, and feeling like his very soul was pummeled from its body. 

   Did he even get a chance to die?

   He growled to himself. "Don't go thinking those thoughts to yourself."

   He feels alive. He has to be. He's just in some… unknown world.

   "Hm. If this ain't Aionios…"

   This could be a big risk, but…

   He lifts up a hand and grasps a notch on his eyepatch's strap, squishing it around to undo it. It takes a few moments, but he manages to do so and remove the patch.

   He blinks his eyes. "Sparks, that thing gets hot…"

   He then feels something within his Iris. Crap, he hopes it ain't a Mœbius signal-

   But after a few moments, he registers the signal. It's familiar. It's…

   "Gray…?"

[pikkish]

anyway y'all should go play Jupiter Hell

[nctinthehouse]

deja vu

based on “deja vu” by Olivia Rodrigo

reader x ex!Jaehyun

genre: angst, fluff, ex lovers au? idk

wc: 3.1k

AN: I wrote this a while ago but I wasn’t planning on releasing or even write it in the first place however, I just fell in love with the lyrics and song when it came out and I could not pass on writing about it. I guess this is my interpretation of the song? Way too many thoughts at night time lol. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it 💕

Do you get deja vu when she's with you?

Running is something you’ve always enjoyed. It’s relaxing, good for your health and helps you clear your mind. Even as a kid, you were always seen running around and giggling. It made you happy.

You’re currently out on a late evening run along the river. This particular area is your favorite place to go to, whether it's for a run, out for a walk or even on the way to work. You like to come here when you need a break from something. The river, the ambience; it made you calm. It’s a special place and means a lot to you. There’s even a cute small store a few minutes away that you discovered when you started coming to this area more often. It’s like a secret place, not a lot of people seem to know about it. Owned by a local lady, she’s so lovely and kind. Her face always lights up whenever you stop by. There’s a lot of memories around here.

It was a really nice day today; clear skies with a few clouds. The sun is starting to set, changing the colors of the sky and clouds with hints of pinks and blues. It kinda reminds you of cotton candy ice cream.

Hmm, you kinda want ice cream now.

You’ve been running for a while now so you decided to jog to the local convenience store and get some ice cream.

As you’re approaching the store, you immediately slow down before stopping completely. You spot someone coming out of the store.

It’s Jaehyun.

His arms around another girl.

You and Jaehyun make brief eye contact with each other. You realise that they’re now walking towards your direction. Snapping out of your thoughts, you lower your head a bit and start walking towards the store trying to avoid having any sort of contact with them. Luckily, you and Jaehyun just walked past each other without acknowledging each other.

But as they were walking towards your direction and walking past, you hear his girlfriend ask him

“Jae, that store is so cute! How did you find it?”

“Oh I was just in this area one day and stumbled upon it. Came here a lot ever since then”

“Well this will definitely be our place from now on, we should come here more often”

That was our place

I found it first

You think to yourself

Stopping again, you turn your head around and spot them smiling and laughing before walking in the store and greeted by the lovely lady there who gave you a huge smile and wave; also waving back at her.

As you’re looking around the store, you think back to the time when you first brought Jaehyun to this area...

“how am i just finding out about this place??” Jaehyun says as you both are currently walking hand in hand along the river

“well now you know” you chuckle

You tell Jaehyun about how you discovered this area as well as the store up ahead when you took a detour on your way back home from class. One of your classes got cancelled which meant you were finished for the day, much earlier than usual. You didn't have anything planned for the rest of the day so you decided to take a different route back to your house.

It wasn't a very busy place which you grew to love. It was perfect for someone who needed a quieter place to think and relax, away from the crowded pavements and honking cars; a place where you could de-stress

“oh Jae, here's the store, come on!”

You quickly pull Jaehyun towards the store excitedly

As you guys go into the store, you spot the lovely owner. You let out a huge grin and wave as you go up to the counter where she is

“oh, Y/N!! so nice to see you again!”

“oh! and who’s this fine young gentleman?” the lady raises her eyebrows

“this is Jaehyun, my boyfriend” chuckling and gesturing your hand towards him

The lady puts her hands on her chest and looks at you guys adoringly

“oh you guys are such a cute couple! Y/N you want an ice cream?”

“yes please!” nodding your head

“Jae you have got to try the ice cream here! the strawberry flavor is a bonus”

“why am i not surprised that it's strawberry flavored” Jaehyun chuckles

After browsing around, you go up to the counter where you’re once again greeted by the lovely lady

“hi sweetie! the usual today?”

You nod your head and chuckle “yeah, thanks”

Looking down at the counter, you look like you’re miles away. The lady notices and frowns a bit

“sweetie, you alright?”

You look up and give her a small smile

“yeah, i’m alright”

As you see your ice cream is ready, you take your card out of your pocket getting ready to pay. However, the lady gently pushes your hand away

“it’s on the house”

You look at her with wide eyes

“oh, no i-”

“i insist” giving you a smile and holding onto your hand

“thank you. i promise to pay you back next time!”

The lady waves her hand around

“oh sweetie don't worry about it! just think of it as a thank you for always dropping by my store”

“thank you again” letting out a small laugh

“take care of yourself ok? i’ll see you around”

“i will” giving the lady a smile and a wave bye before going out of the store

❀❀❀

As you take a seat at a nearby picnic bench and start eating your ice cream, you see that Jaehyun and his girlfriend are still around. Your eyes can't help but wander towards them hanging around by a car. His car. The same car Jaehyun would drive you around in especially during night time. You see them playing around and her feeding him ice cream. You start to notice small things about her such as the clothes she's wearing; she kinda reminds you of herself. Looks like she’s wearing that jacket too. Just like I did.

Is it jealousy?

Maybe...

But more like pity.

So when you gonna tell her that we did that, too?

She thinks its special, but it's all reused

❀❀❀

Moments later, you see them get into the car and drive away. All these thoughts suddenly start clouding your mind and you can't help but wonder

How fast did he move on?

Did he even move on in the first place?

You’re not just trying to replace me, right?

I wonder, how many more things we did together, you do with her too?

You began to reminisce on some of the things you and Jaehyun did when you were still together…

Do you get deja vu when she's with you?

Remember when we used to go on road trips to Malibu?

Music, ice cream and Jaehyun.

Those were the 3 things you loved and needed the most whenever you went on road trips. Heck you could probably throw out the music and ice cream and just have Jaehyun as company only.

Those road trips were often unplanned. Sometimes you and Jaehyun would go without thinking about where you guys would specifically go or what you guys would do there.

There was a particular time which was the most special. It was the first road trip you and Jaehyun went on after you guys made it official. Actually, it was also the first date you guys went on as a couple.

You remember back in high school when Jaehyun would tell you about the times he and his family would go on road trips to Malibu during school breaks for some family bonding time. You hadn’t been to Malibu before so you were very excited when Jaehyun decided on taking you on a road trip there, especially as a first date since you guys had not been on one yet.

Jaehyun drove up to your house and honked his car, letting you know that he’s arrived to pick you up. You run downstairs and look through the curtains and see Jaehyun getting out of the car. You quickly grab your stuff and head out of your house.

You jog up to him, both of you embracing each other in a tight hug. As you let go, you spot the jacket he currently has on

“wow i love your jacket! is it new?”

“oh this? nah, i bought this a while ago from some vintage store”

“can i try it on? i love vintage stuff” your face lighting up

Jaehyun smirks a little as he takes off your jacket with you taking yours off too. He hands you his jacket and holds onto yours as you put his one on.

You let out a gasp

“thanks, this is mine now” you grin at Jaehyun widely before jumping into the passenger seat of his car

Jaehyun looks blankly at you briefly

“baby what am i gonna wear then?”

“you don’t need to though, it's not even that cold right now” you say as you place your arms on the edge of the car windows

“but what if it gets a bit chilly later on?”

“just wear mines” pointing to your jacket that he’s currently holding

“this? you think this would fit me?”

“what? you won’t know unless you try it on” shrugging your shoulders

Jaehyun reluctantly puts on your jacket. He struggles a bit with the sleeves but he manages to get it on. You start laughing as you see how small your jacket looks on him

“kinda suits you though” you laugh

“shut up” Jaehyun says jokingly as he whacks your arms

You fake a loud gasp as you place both of your hands on your chest, not breaking eye contact with him as he gets into the driver's seat

“Y/N you know i’m only joking” Jaehyun chuckles as you glare at him with a unimpressed face

You look away from him and roll your eyes

“baby come ooonnnn i’m sorry i was only jo-”

“just drive” you say with a monotone voice

Jaehyun looks at you for a moment, noticing you biting your lips. He realised sometime ago that it’s something that you usually do to stop yourself from smiling or break out into laughter.

He takes your hand in his and gives it several kisses. Seeing you breaking out a small smile, he smiles to himself before starting the car and driving.

❀❀❀

When you finally got there, Jaehyun happily took you to some of his favorite places he loved to visit.  Hours went by quickly and you guys were hungry so Jaehyun decided to take you to a park and have a picnic. It was nice out too so why not.

You guys bought some food from a nearby cafe and set up a picnic spot that had a lovely view of the ocean. There was also a hiking trail in the area and you guys decided on doing that after some lunch.

After lunch, Jaehyun went and got both of you ice cream from an ice cream truck that was parked nearby

“you know what?” you say as you scoop out a another bite of the ice cream

“what?”

“i think i’m gonna make it a goal to try as many different strawberry ice creams i can whenever i visit a new place”

“sounds good baby”

As you look out towards the ocean, Jaehyun takes the opportunity to give you a small kiss on the side of your lips which surprises you. You jump a bit and stare at him with wide eyes

“sorry, you just had a bit of ice cream there” Jaehyun smirks

“oh”

You’re quiet for a few seconds before saying

“is it all gone…?”

Jaehyun leans in closer and closer; he rubs his nose against yours lightly

“almost” he whispers against your lips before locking in with yours

Your first kiss. Oh how sweet it was.

Do you get deja vu?

♡♡♡

Remember when you used to come over to my house?

If you weren't hanging out at Jaehyun’s, he’s usually at yours.

You and Jaehyun would stay over at each other's house every weekend. You guys often had days where you just didn't want to do anything special. Just chilling at home such as eating, sleeping and enjoying each other's company. When Jaehyun is over at yours, one of the things you guys like to do is to sit on the couch and binge watch your favorite TV shows. Today is one of those days.

You guys are currently sitting next to each other, crossed legged on the couch at your house; a bowl of popcorn on your lap while the channel you’re currently watching is doing reruns of one of your favorite shows, Glee. This wasn't exactly one of Jaehyun’s favorite shows. He didn't hate it but he wasn't a huge fan of it like you were. He doesn't mind watching it over and over with you as long as he’s spending time with you.

Grabbing some popcorn pieces, you look at Jaehyun

“Jae open up”

Jaehyun looks confused but opens his mouth anyway

You throw a couple of popcorn pieces, trying to aim it in his mouth but failing; the popcorn always hitting his face. You try a few more times before Jaehyun lets out a complaint

“babe come on!! your aiming skills are awful”

“hey it’s not my fault your mouth ain’t big enough”

Letting out a shocked laugh, Jaehyun grabs some popcorn and throws it at you. You guys end up having a mini popcorn fight before stopping as you realise you got popcorn on the couch and the floor. You guys weren't bothered to do a lot of cleaning today.

A while later, your face lights up as one of your favorite songs on Glee has come on. You grab Jaehyun’s arm and start moving it around, you were too excited.

Moments later, you grab the remote and get up from the couch. You pretend the remote is your mic and you start singing along to the song, belting out some words slightly out of tune

“WORKIN’ HARD TO GET MY FILL”

“EVERYBODY WANTS A THRILL”

Suddenly, you point the remote down towards Jaehyun, wanting him to sing the next bit. He hesitates for a second but joins in anyway, with you singing along

“PAYIN’ ANYTHING TO ROLL THE DICE”

“JUST ONE MORE TIME”

Jaehyun thinks you look ridiculous but looks at you in admiration; a huge smile on his face.

Still singing out of tune slightly, Jaehyun sits and watches you as you're dancing around. He shakes his head and throws his head back laughing. He wipes some of his tears away from laughing so much.

“DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’”

“HOLD ON TO THAT FEELING”

You whip your head towards him, slightly taken aback as Jaehyun suddenly gets up and takes the remote from you and starts belting out the lyrics

“STREET LIGHT PEOPLE”

You let out a laugh as you both dance around singing the rest of the song out of tune but somehow in harmony.

Do you get deja vu?

♡♡♡

Remember the first time you told me you loved me?

Being a music major, you spent a lot of time in a music room, especially in front of a piano. Growing up, you’ve always wanted to be a pianist. You remember the time when you were a kid and saw someone sitting in front of a piano playing a song at a train station. You looked at them with wide eyes and was so mesmerized by the upbeat melody. Letting go of your mum’s hand, you ran up to them and watched them play. You found out from the nice stranger that they were playing a song called “Uptown Girl’ by Billy Joel. It was at that moment you realized what you wanted to be when you grew up.

Ever since then, that tune has stuck with you. When you first got your very own piano, you spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to play it as well as listening to the song many times. Whenever you played it, it brought back all those memories. It meant a lot to you.

You were finished with lectures earlier than expected so you decided to head to the music room to work on a few things.

Whilst sat in front of the piano wanting to work on an upcoming assessment, your mind drifted elsewhere and you started playing Uptown Girl.

You were so focused on playing that you didn't hear Jaehyun coming into the room

“whatcha playing babe?”

You slightly jump at his voice before turning around

“what you doing here? i thought you were in class”

Jaehyun took off his backpack and sat next to you as you scooted to the side a bit to make space for him before he set his bag down beside the piano bench

“class got cancelled so i’m free the rest of the day woooo”

You chuckle at his response and nod

“soo… whatcha you playing babe?”

You told Jaehyun the story about how you came across the song and how your love for music came about when you were a kid.

You and Jaehyun met during high school and eventually bonded over music and grew closer throughout the years. Now here you both are, attending the same university as music majors.

“can you teach me?”

“i can try”

You played the song a few times so Jaehyun could listen to it and get the vibe of it before teaching him the basics then the harder bits.

“i think that's enough learning for now”

“okay” you giggle

Jaehyun asked if you could play him the whole song and you happily obliged. While you were playing, Jaehyun looked at you and was fascinated. You had a huge smile on your face and thought you were the most precious person ever. He wanted to love and protect you by all means.

You were about to go onto the next part when suddenly you hear

“i love you”

As soon as you hear those words, your hands come to a halt. You stare at your hands for a moment before looking at Jaehyun in shock, mouth slightly ajar

“i love you, Y/N”

Do you get deja vu?

A different girl now, but there's nothing new

Shaking your thoughts away, you roll your eyes and scoff before getting up and throwing the now empty ice cream cup away. You decided to head home and enjoy the rest of your evening by watching reruns of Glee with some more strawberry ice cream.

I know you get deja vu.

AN: Thanks for reading until the end! My longest fic I’ve written so far and I’m pretty happy with it. As always I’m happy to get any feedback on it and I really hope you enjoyed reading this. I’m currently working on another fic that’s based on a song I’ve been loving lately so I hope to get that one up sometime! Take care everyone 💜

masterlist

[kanene-yaaay]

Go to Sleep

Kanene’s note: Gosh, having a schedule is weird. I just wanna post everything I already wrote and ramble non stop about it asdfgtyujkigfdo. XD

Well, this was suppose to be a drabble, but it’s very long so sdftyujikgfred. I hope you like it!

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to Thomas Sanders from the serie Sanders Sides.

* This is a SFW tickle fanfic. If you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another blog. There are a plenty of fabulous arts in this site!! ^w^)b

* This is Lee!Virgil with Ler!Roman. Around 1.500 words.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Listen a bit to the birds today. Changing the way you think is not a bad thing. Drink water, sleep, eat and love!

[~*~]

Roman growled, missing by a few inches the button of his thunderous, infuriating alarm before finally hitting it. Staring and blinking lazily at the numbers his brain struggled to discern and recognize, only to confirm it was really time to wake up and start the day. He grabbed his pillow and squeezed it with all the strength he could muster, rolling from one side to other on the mattress, trying to wake up his body as quick as his mind and almost falling from the bed a reasonable number of times during the process.

 He got up, yawing, stretching and humming as the first lyrics of the day stuck on his head, hand rubbing at his eyes as he followed the kitchen’s direction with slow steps and tired sways on the beat of the song.

 Two dark, wide eyes stared right back at him, their owner completely frozen on the spot with his hand inside the cabinet, probably already holding some sort of a snack. Roman also stopped mid-step, gears running inside his mind, gaze locked on the other, his brow progressively furrowing.

“Virgil,” he began, voice slightly hoarse “What the heckty heck are you doing up? It’s barely seven in the morning!” Virgil only stared back, slowly closing the cabinet’s door, as if afraid the movement would startle the other. Roman proceeded to get some eggs and other cold ingredients from the refrigerator for the breakfast, his words growing more awake and vivid as they spilled with no filter or whatsoever from his lips. “You got an early shift again or something? Those are absolutely hellish. A bunch of people exhausted, tired and glaring at you as if you are the holder of all their problems and their solutions can only be achieved by being insufferable pieces of- Urg. I can’t believe they would give you one right after you got the night one. Damn, I didn’t even see you arriving here yesterday!”

 He turned his attention back at the other, looking for a kind of frustration in the place of the still startled, wide gaze which continued to be directed at him. Virgil nodded slowly, stepping away and putting some physical distance between him and the confusion on Roman’s features.

 Then, between the strings of sleepiness that clouded his brain, it clicked.

 Suddenly more details on the other’s behavior started to become clearer: the way Virgil’s hair was messier than his usual ““style”” (Roman scoffed mentally, thinking that if he rolled his eyes any harder they would never come back to his normal place again), his wary, yes, but way too much slow movements, the way he seemed to be unable to stop blinking at every millisecond and, above it all, the final piece of the puzzle.

 Virgil wasn’t wearing his pajamas.

 “YOU DIDN’T!” Roman gasped, as if Virgil’s life choices were a personal attack. “YOU DIDN’T GET ANY SLEEP LAST NIGHT!!” A turn of heels and he was again fixating his glare on the other, his free hand accusingly pointing in his direction, receiving an annoyed hiss as immediate answer.

 “Shut up!” Virgil snarled, practically growling back at him. “It’s fucking seven am don’t be so freaking loud.”

 “Don’t change the subject! Why didn’t you go to sleep?”

 The one being questioned just snorted, half amused. “Bold of you to assume I’d ever sleep in my whole life.”

 “That is it.” Virgil didn’t even have the time to wonder the meaning of his friend’s sentence before the aforementioned picked him up, resulting to a not very contained shriek escaping from his lips and his hands not much gracefully – or gently, although since they were keen on just jumping on each other out of nowhere to play fight Princey would be fine - meeting his friend’s face.

 “Roman! What the he-”

 “Did you just SLAP me? My beautiful face?! Before my own beautiful eyes??” Virgil Storm always got, even if he would never admit this out loud, surprised with Roman’s capacity of doing a series of offended incoherent noises which evolved to words before being carefully metamorphosed in weird noises all over again, and in the end still managing to form comprehensible sentences. His surprise did nothing to quell the grumpy snark immediately flying from lips, though.

 “And I’m going to do it again if you don’t let me go in this exact instant.”

 “You go and try to help and that is the acknowledgement you get,” The one wearing pajamas with little crows printed on it huffed, mumbling in a lower tone as he noticed the sharp gaze being thrown in his direction. “fucking unbelievable.”

 “I still can hear you, Princey. You’re literally carrying me.”

 “I sTiLL cAn HeAr yOu-OW! Ow! Ow!” The sentence was interrupted when the sleep deprived one punched Roman’s shoulder. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

 “Let me fucking gAAH!” In a way his wish was granted, one could say as they watched his protest being cut as Storm was impolitely tossed on his bed, Roman quickly following his friend on the mattress, arms hugging him from behind, and physically preventing him from escaping his current soft predicament. “Prince, you’re dead.”

 “Shhh, no talking. We’re sleeping.”

 “We are not. You are being a pain in ass and I am about to defenestrate you.” Despite his fervent protests, his sharp, flaming glare began to lose its heat, his body not doing any actual effort to free himself from the other’s – strong, good - grip, muscles starting to relax against the great warmth involving him in a comfortable and secure blanket.

 “Sure, sure, mister Grumpy Pants, you can do that when you wake up.” He tightened a bit his hold around Virgil, yet being the most careful as possible, actively ignoring the annoyed hiss his friend gave him. His hoodie was really fluffy at the touch, slightly remembering his stuffed animals he frequently hugged to sleep.

 For a moment, everything was pleasantly quiet. The one with smudged makeup, since he hadn’t time to get it off before being trapped by his roommate and best friend, felt the tiredness becoming sleepiness as the seconds went by.

 …That was until an electric sensation shot across his spine, leading him to almost jump in the same place 

 “S-stop nuzzling me!”

 “Hm? Oh sorry.” Virgil pressed his lips tightly closed, preventing the wobbly giggles to escape as Roman speaks, not realizing how close his mouth was from the base of his neck, every breath sending tickly shocks across every nerve. “You’re just too much sooooft.”

 Roman opened an eye when realized that no snark remark from the other followed his words, the figure in his arms shaking too much to be asleep. A frown painted his feature as he readjusted the position of his hands, trying to get a bit more of balance to look at Virgil’s face when suddenly a high-pitched yelp escaped, cutting the air and immediately catching their attention.

 “Did you just squeal?” He questioned as his glare assumed a playful shine seeing a blush spread on his now frozen friend.

 “It was NOT a squeal! It was a yelp.” Virgil’s words came so fast that they almost tripped on themselves. Roman snorted, a smile taking over his face. “Get off me!” and, in the moment the one wearing a hoodie tried to pry his hand from the spot on his right side where it was resting, the pieces finally clicked in the right place and his smile quickly submerged, giving space to a smirk.

 ‘No WAY Doctor Doom and Gloom is ticklish!’

 However, the red lover only blinked as the true personification of innocence and naiveness, his hand firm in its place, fingers starting to slowly move, light pokes being delivered on the sensitive skin. “But why that, Knight Mare? It’s cold and all I could ever want is just to hug my bestest friend!”

 “You already hugged me, now go aWAY!” His voice trembled in the last second, the exact moment his thumb experimentally scratched the spot right under the lowest ribs, leading a surprised squeak to leave Virgil’s mouth.

 They both stared at each other, gleaming, filling their wide eyes.

 “No.” Virgil said, trying to squirm away but finding himself stuck between Prince and the wall. Roman didn’t even attempt to hide his smug grin, anymore. This was going to be so much fun

 “Don’t you dare! Don’t you freaking dare!!” His friend only laid down again, now carefully, yet firmly, pulling him one more time against his chest, growling playfully. Years and years fighting for the Tickle Monster title on his family, battles and battles against Remus only sharpening his skills, which showed by the way his fingers seemed to find every single weak spot on Virgil’s skin, wiggles, scribbles, pokes and scratching exploring everywhere. “No! Nononono! You fucker, you moron, you bitch, you-” A few chuckles cut his curses as he one wearing pajamas squeezed his side a couple of times, the tip of his fingers also teasing his ticklish stomach. “Roman!!”

 “No, no, my so dear, so ticklish, friend. Roman is no longer here, this is…” He paused for a dramatic effect, basically beaming at the giggly giggles and wiggly wiggles from the other. He shoved his face on his neck, the next words vibrating almost as bad as the spidering on his ribs. “The Tickle Monster!!”

[sugarmaplewings-fics]

Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold (Part One)

Pairing: Pirate!Bakugou x mermaid!reader

Warnings: Ehh, this portion is gender neutral but from here on out the reader is referred to as female. This does work as a stand alone story, though. Otherwise no warnings from this one.

{Pt. 1} {Pt. 2} {Pt. 3} {Pt. 4}

Author's Note:

Sooo, I know I said I probably wouldn't have this out for another while, buuuttt, I didn't have anything for today and this one was just staring at me 🥺. I don't quite have a concrete plan for the full thing, and there's no guarantees for when part two is going to come out. Also I might draw something like last time to use as a banner. The one that's down there is a placeholder.

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this! I've been wanting to write this story for almost a year now, and I finally have the chance! If you'd like to be part of the taglist for this story, please message me!

I think that's it. Love you!!

-Sugar

⊱ ──── 《∘🕱∘》 ──── ⊰

⊱ ──── 《∘🕱∘》 ──── ⊰

A shadow slid across the ocean floor.

Basking in the warmth of the sun, it truly made for an unwelcome interruption. You'd been partaking in a nap only moments prior, mind slowly shifting through half-baked thoughts as the sun shone down onto the sand beneath you. Prompted by the change of brightness and temperature, you blinked your eyes open, rolling over to your back with a lethargic stretch of your arms. Squinting, you frowned up at the surface rippling a considerable distance above you.

There you saw it, some strange shape making its way over the water above. It seemed to be some kind of brownish color, wide and tapered to a point at each end.

Your annoyance faded as curiosity struck you. You didn’t think you’d ever seen anything like it before. You studied it from your vantage point on the ocean floor even as the sunlight reappeared on your relaxed body. It wasn’t as though you were doing anything important right now, you figured. Maybe it was something worth investigating, at least for a short time.

Rousing yourself from the sand, you flicked your tail to propel yourself up in the direction of the object.

You poked your head out of the water, body bobbing up and down with the motions of the waves. You blinked, bringing a hand out of the water in an attempt to shield your vision from the blinding sun. How did anything live up here? It felt as though your eyes were going to dry up and incinerate to nothing.

There it was, the strange object that had cast such a shadow. It was even bigger above water. Mahogany planks shaped it into that odd form, making it float on the ocean, cutting through waves as though they were nothing. Large masts seemed to sprout up from the center like kelp in a forest, sporting billowing white cloths rippling in the air currents.

Ah, yes, it was a boat, and an impressive one at that. You suddenly remembered seeing the ones just like this that couldn’t float anymore, having swum past the ruined, swollen wood during your time in this part of the sea. They were ominous, sitting still on the ocean floor, carrying a dark, somber aura about them as they laid dead where they’d never move again.

But this ship was every meaning of the word alive, shining in the midday sun and skimming dutifully over the bright blue water. Its size might have looked intimidating, but the thing itself was also very intriguing.

Naturally, you swam closer.

The thing was fast, but luckily, so were you. You dived back down, your powerful tail bringing you a few body lengths up to the submerged bottom of the ship. Popping out of the water again, you looked all the way up its side.

Now that you were closer, you thought you heard something. The sounds were new to you, similar to whalesong. But this was deeper, choppier, and somehow harsher. You frowned in the direction of the noises. What was on this boat?

You circled it underwater—careful not to get too close—coming back up a few times to get another look from a different angle.

You had to admit, it carried an odd beauty about it. Something like this must have been built, but the craftsmanship was so intricate, and it was massive . . . .

You sprung up above water again some ways away from it. Perhaps this thing wasn’t as exciting as you’d initially thought. It was a pain to keep up with and the noises coming from it kept hurting your ears.

Just as you turned to leave, a movement caught your eye. There it was, a flash of gold just at the side of the ship. It looked vaguely . . . familiar.

You went closer again to get a better look, and it was then that you met a pair of golden eyes, looking much like those of your people of the sea.

The figure startled as soon as he saw you, blinking and squinting in your direction. He made more of those strange chattering sounds you’d kept hearing, looking behind him and frantically pointing at you with his outstretched hand.

Rude, you thought, but what was a merman doing all the way up there?

A second head appeared next to the first, this one with vibrant, spiky red hair. You experimentally waved at them in greeting, wondering why you couldn’t understand them. Maybe they were from a different ocean you'd never seen.

They both leaned over the side. It looked like they were trying to communicate something to you, but whatever it was, you didn’t get it.

The red haired one turned and left, but was quick to come back with a weird circular object. It was attached to a rope and had an open circle in the middle, just big enough to put the top third of your body through.

To your mild surprise, he tossed it over the side at you, and it landed with surprising accuracy only a tail length away. You swam over to it, picking it up out of the water. It was oddly light—which probably explained why it floated so easily on the waves—and was made out of some strange material.

You glanced dubiously back up at the faces on the side of the ship. They were looking at you with . . . distress? What was this thing? Was it some kind of gift? What were you supposed to do with it? You couldn’t hold it down under the waves, so how were you supposed to bring it back underwater with you?

Either way, you thought it would be rude to decline. You grabbed the rope that was tied to it. It looked as though they were still holding on to the other end. You really wouldn’t be able to take it anywhere if it was still attached to the ship.

You grabbed the rope and tugged. They held onto it. Frustrated, you tugged again. Looking up at their faces, you matched their expressions of confusion. What were you missing here?

Perhaps they were only trying to show it to you. You decided to follow through with your initial idea of putting it around the upper portion of your body. You lifted it over your head—you fit through it okay, at least—and soon it reached the submerged base of your tail.

You floated there for a second. Was this all it was good for? Kind of useless if you asked yourself. Again, you made up your mind to leave. You had better things to do than play silly games with the weirdos in the sky.

Before you could slip back out under the object, you felt yourself being pulled closer to the boat. Now what were they doing?

You frowned up the side again, but this time you couldn’t really see them. They must have stepped back further onto the boat. Intrigued, you let them pull you along with them. You got closer and closer to the side, and finally the rope connecting you to the other end slanted completely vertical. You adjusted yourself so you wouldn’t slide out. Perhaps they were trying to bring you up so they could meet you. You weren’t sure what they’d gain by that, seeing as you couldn’t understand them. Heck, they probably wouldn’t be able to understand you either. But you were still curious. What did the boat look like from up there? It wasn’t all that interesting from the underside, but maybe if you were able to see it from the top . . . .

The two strangers began to haul you out of the water. It was a little scary, you had to admit. Slowly, your body was extracted from the water. Waves slapped against your tail ever lower, and eventually you were fully suspended in midair. You clung tightly to the rope. Glancing back at the sea below, you realized it was a long way down, and the higher you went, the less you were comfortable with the idea of falling.

You'd never been all the way out of the water like this, and it almost felt as though you were flying like those seabirds you'd see living on islands. Except this wasn't as fun. You were meant to swim in the water, not get dragged through the air.

Finally you saw the rim of the ship, and you picked up on the grunting and labored breaths from the two weirdlings you’d seen earlier. You reached up and grabbed onto the side, hoisting your body up. Then you saw them.

These weren’t quite the mermen you were used to. The things that were pulling you up had legs.

You stared at them for a moment, watching fascinated as they walked towards you. Tearing your eyes away from their tailless, split bodies, you glanced back at their faces. Why did they look so concerned? Did they always look like that?

The blond one was the first to reach you. He was quick to grab your hand to help you over the railing, chattering something at you. You let him pull your body up a little higher, and then he froze. To your surprise, he let go of your hand, dropping your bodyweight and causing you to pitch forward. You slid gracelessly to the dry floor of the ship like some kind of overgrown eel, fins and tail meeting the floor of the boat with a wet thud.

You spluttered, annoyed, curling your scaled appendage closer into yourself. “What is this?!” you finally asked.

The blond one had run back to the redhead, pointing frantically and clearly panicked. The red haired one also looked shaken, but otherwise seemed somewhat more collected as he studied you.

“Whatever,” you mumbled, sliding the flotation object off of yourself. “I don’t want this thing anyway.”

You glanced around, taking in the ship up close. It was pretty cool, but in hindsight, it probably wasn’t worth the whole fiasco you’d gone through to get here. The floor was mostly bare, give or take a few stacked boxes here and there. You recognized a net hanging from a pole, one of which you’d seen countless before. Was this where they came from?

“Those things are dangerous,” you said, pointing at it. “I’ve had to cut a lot of animals out of them.”

It was then that the red haired one stepped closer to you. You drew back just a bit, suspicious.

Examining him, you took in the mismatched rings that adorned his ears, and the billowy off-white covering he wore over his chest. The front was open, exposing the tanned skin of his torso. Darker brown fabric covered his lower half, tucked into clunky coverings at the very bottom. Another strip of cloth was tied around his head, making his vibrant hair stick up in odd directions.

He crouched down so you wouldn’t have to crane your neck up to look at him. He tried to say something to you again, but this time his voice wasn’t so loud. It was still foreign to your ears, but it was low and smooth.

You gave him an apologetic expression. “Listen,” you said. “This was fun and all, but I should probably get going.”

You turned and tried to slide yourself closer to the side you’d come from. Much to your annoyance, your tail hindered your movements. You were used to the grace of the water, but now you felt heavy and clunky. Scowling, you tried to pull yourself to the railing with your arms, but nothing was cooperating with you. The boat swayed with the motion of the waves down below, and as soon as you figured you’d made progress, you’d have to fight even harder against the force pulling you back.

You felt something touch your tail, and you whipped around with a threatening hiss, baring your teeth. It was the redhead again, and apparently he’d been the first to notice the rope that had gotten tangled around the fins and scales of your tail. Maybe he was trying to help, but he was touching your tail. You could do it yourself.

Jerking the lower portion of your appendage, you were able to smack him away with your fins. Feelings hurt, he stepped back.

You grabbed at the rope, cursing the fact that you’d ever gotten up from your nap in the first place as you struggled to untangle yourself from the device that had brought you up here. You wondered how you had gotten stuck so bad as you tugged at the coarse material. Seriously, you were so done with this today. You vowed to never go up to another boat again in your life if you could only get off this one—

And then you saw him.

The blond must have left a while ago but now you saw who he’d come back with. It was another being like the other two. He was blond like the first one, but his hair was shorter, spikier, and reminded you of the pale yellow of the sun. He was bigger than the other blond, but smaller than the redhead. You didn’t think you’d ever seen a face so handsome, even among the mermen back where you lived. He bore a scowl on his face, similar to the one you’d been sporting seconds earlier. Strength and authority rolled off him in waves, not only in the way he carried himself but also in the respect he garnered from the others around him.

He was tall, he was hot, and now you were just staring.

The sexy weirdling grumbled something, and you honestly weren’t sure to whom it was intended for until he stepped forward. You were slower to pull away as he approached, almost drawn to him in a strange way.

He knelt in front of you, pulling out a sharp object from a hidden pouch on his hip. Your heart fluttered in momentary fear as he brought it closer to your tail, but soon you saw the way he reached for the rope. Without scarcely touching your scales, he pulled on the material and sliced through it, cutting you free in a few fluid motions. You were caught up in watching him work, silently in awe as his rough hands delicately moved over your body.

Soon, you were able to move again, but before you could, he straightened and lifted your body from the floor. You gasped, clutching at his broad shoulders as you were once again suspended in midair. But this time you felt secure; his arms supporting the weight of your body. He met your eyes for a split second, and you became lost in the pools of orangey-red. They were deep, and bright, and you felt as though you could gaze into them forever.

Then you were hauled above the railing and tossed over the side.

Weightless, you fell back to the sea from which you came. It was surreal, watching his pale face grow smaller and smaller as wind rushed around you and gravity pulled you further away.

No, you thought, still in a daze. You wanted to stay with him, to keep looking at him, to know his name—

But all too quick, your back hit the cold water of the sea, skin stinging from the impact. With an impressive splash, you sank down again to the place you called home.

You didn’t know how to feel now, watching from below as the ship surged on without you. You were astonished and confused, lost and frozen in the deep blue world that surrounded you.

It was then that you vowed to see him again, no matter what.

You were warm—a little giddy—and you were determined.

You were in love.

…

To be continued . . . .

[Part Two]

⊱ ──── 《∘🕱∘》 ──── ⊰

Taglist: @aahilovetheatre @basicalyrandom @bumbyslair @f0leysgurl @hyunmin-1404 @kqtsukii @nabo39 @pyrofanatic​ @rainy-skys-and-bright-stars @sendhelpimstupid @ure-a-sunflower @xoxopam4 @deltajay @sillygoof @whipped-cream-writings

[davidmann95]

So RWBY/Justice League is apparently a crossover that's actually going to happen. Of the little we know right now, how do you think that's going to pan out?

Anonymous said: Those questions about Superman and Batman in RWBY seem prescient, because I'm hearing that an official crossover is in the works

Anonymous said: Um, so there's a legit Justice League/RWBY crossover coming

Anonymous said: So, that official DC/RWBY crossover, huh?

Anonymous said: So, how about that DC/RWBY cross, eh?

Anonymous said: No more speculating how Superman would fit into RWBY when DC themselves are providing their own answer XD

The immediate thing that leaps out beyond the Kingdom Hearts* level of utterly out of nowhere berserk this premise is: while the RWBY comic had a couple minor sequel hooks, and I don’t know how it did in its original digital chapters or in trade, as a monthly periodical it was selling poorly enough that DC didn’t bother to print its last physical issue after the return from the Coronavirus shutdown, and while I thought it was great a lot of fans complained about its art and characterization throughout. I hoped for that sequel, sure, but I wasn’t expecting the book to be regarded internally as anything but a sales failure, nevermind not only continuing it but tripling down in the most extreme and bizarrely specific way possible that’s neither intuitive (unless you have special interests like me) nor surface-level ridiculous enough like Batman/Elmer Fudd that people will buy it just to see how it works. I don’t understand why this comic is happening when no one but me wanted this.

(* The Kingdom Hearts comparison is apt because they were similarly close to the top of things I’d love to see cross over with the DCU that would obviously never, ever happen because that’s too precise and random a combination of my interests. Even if this is legally possible where that isn’t, that would still be conceptually simpler.)

I was asked a couple times in the past about how Superman or Batman could make sense in RWBY’s setting, and it turns out I was closer with the latter than the former - that rather than a dimension-hopping traditional crossover, this is reverse-engineering what the assorted members of the League would look like if they had always been part of Remnant ala JLA/Planetary, some of the old DC/Marvel crossovers, or the more recent Batman/The Shadow. Which actually fits really well with the series regularly evoking assorted fairy tales and mythologies with their characters; this bunch is just one more set to be added. Though that raises several more thoughts and questions:

* The solicit refers to them as Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Diana Prince, but will they actually be referred to as such in the story, and will people comment on them not fitting with the color-based naming conventions of that world? Or will they be renamed and evoke their sources purely through iconography, ala Ruby not literally being Little Red Riding Hood?

* How much will the origins of the assorted characters be changed? Batman, Cyborg, and Aquaman would all make perfect sense within the ‘rules’ of the setting with few major alterations, but will Superman still be from Krypton and Green Lantern a space ranger, or will they simply be ordinary humans with thematically reminiscent backstories and Semblances/weapons that evoke the classic powers? I think the latter could work, but I imagine the former is more likely (even if Bennett might keep it vague on some of the details to preserve the aura of mystique and avoid changing the shape of the world too radically) simply because everyone’s surely aware that fans would complain about being ‘ripped off’ for getting the characters ‘in name only’ otherwise.

* Speaking of changes to fit the setting, between being a Faunus and the apparent low-tech traditional armor look of his suit, is Bruce Wayne in here not operating from a position of wealth? You’d just think as a given the Wayne family would be easily plopped in as business rivals to the Schnees and Alfred would be on a first name basis with Klein, but it seems Bennett might have something very different in mind. Also, little disappointing he simply has a katana rather than those collapsible batarangs that turn into swords that Ellis always gave him which would fit perfectly here. And, as so many have already asked: how miserable is he every second of every day in a world where everything is also a gun. At least this isn’t a universe where anyone’s gonna think he’s irresponsible for training teenage sidekicks.

* And if we’re going into individual characters: RWBY Barry Allen is adorable, what the hell. He just looks so dopey and hapless, I sure hope he doesn’t ever have to die to stop the Anti-Monitor. We’re definitely getting a meeting with Harriet that retcons in that he’s the other person with a speed Semblance she mentioned running into, and if he’s tapping into the Speed Force then the jokes that that’s what Harriet does are probably gonna become at least a little bit canon.

* Are the Themyscirans magic, given all magic has a very important common root in this world?

* I don’t think there’s a dud redesign in the bunch? These are all really inspired in their own ways, which is good because unlikely as it seems this is I believe the first time we’ve really gotten any sort of official interpretation of “here’s what the DCU would look like as a Shonen”. Go ahead and say the hell with it and make it Earth 28, I’ve thought before making that an anime Earth would fit with the map.

(By Ag_Nonsuch)

* Bunch of obvious ways these characters can play off of each other: Ruby is paralleled with Wonder Woman on the cover, and I’m curious how Bennett will play that, but she makes most sense next to Flash, a super-fast fan made good, or Superman, a character she so deeply if unintentionally evokes on so many levels I felt I had to make clear when describing her that I didn’t solely appreciate her as a psuedo-Superman analogue. Weiss makes sense up against Batman either as a wealthy heir or a Faunus who’s likely faced his share of pain from the Schees who either way are cold perfectionists defined by inner pain stemming from their families, or Wonder Woman/Aquaman as fellow ‘royalty’. Yang is paralleled with Superman on the cover and that makes sense with the two country bruisers with issues regarding their lost parents, though she’d also make sense with Aquaman as the ‘temperamental’ members a lot of the time of their respective teams, or Cyborg as they both deal with their relationships with their bodies after requiring prosthesis. And Blake pretty much has her pick: like Superman she uses an article of clothing to ‘pass’ and shares the commitment to justice, she and Batman are dark children of privilege (or not in this case, though in this world they’re both Faunus), she and Wonder Woman both left the island homes where their people were safe to try and make the rest of the world better, she and Aquaman are both Faunus royalty, and Green Lantern is about overcoming great fear and in Jessica Cruz’s case specifically about the guilt of running away.

* Will this be entirely flashbacks to the pre-series/Beacon years, or will those be flashbacks set from a ‘present’, and if so when? What happened between the siege of Haven and the train setting off for Argus is the most loosely-defined period in the story and is right on the heels of the end of the original RWBY mini, so I’d imagine it fitting here. And given they apparently join together “to take on a force unlike anything they've seen before” rather than purely the character work of that previous book, what might that be?

* Hey, superhero comics/superpowers as an idea already exist in this universe, will that come up?

* If we can get one single scene in this and it’s going with a “yes they’re still aliens and magic and whatnot” premise I want Clark, who hasn’t thought of being Superman yet and therefore is still at least somewhat hiding his powers, being wracked with guilt over not pursuing becoming a Huntsman and therefore not being there at the Fall of Beacon. Which is a ridiculous thing to take the blame for, but of course he would, he’s Clark, culminating in trying to apologize to JNR for Pyrrha dying he feels in part because he was a coward (when they don’t even have the faintest concept for why he would think he should have been there or could have done anything).

* Once all’s said and done, how is their presence in the world justified as not being a factor in the series proper? It’s simple if they’re ‘ordinary’ analogues who can go off to quietly have adventures elsewhere, but if not then some of them either have to be shuffled off stage or presumably left with their stories incomplete, with a little afterward of “and they went on to be the greatest heroes of all...later, after the scope of team RWBY’s main adventures so that we never have to directly address them again” to avoid them becoming unavoidable major factors in the war against Salem.

In the end, will it be DC’s best comic? No, though I imagine one of their better ones this year. Will it be among the ones I look forward to most each month? Right up there with Yang and Reis’s Batman/Superman baby, this is a miracle freak of fate and I’m gonna appreciate the universe bending over backwards to make entertainment for me and me alone while it lasts. Given I finally checked out RWBY in the first place because I was curious about Bennett’s original comic, this is a heck of a full-circle moment.

[dukeofonions]

So I thought I’d try something a little different (and slightly more fun than my usual saltiness) and do my own little personal ranking of Sanders Sides episodes! 

Now I actually haven’t watched anything from the series for awhile so these rankings are going to be based purely on my own memories of each episode and how much I remember enjoying them. I’ll also be splitting the rankings up so I’ll do season one today and season two later on.

Eventually I want to go back and actually rewatch everything but I’ll probably wait until the season two finale comes out (whenever the heck that will be) but until then I think this will cover it.

Also important to note is that I will not be counting Asides in this since 

1. I’m salty

 2. It’s not supposed to be Sanders Sides anyway so why include it?

and 3. I’m very salty.

Alright, let the ranking begin!

Dang, can you believe season one has seventeen episodes? Starting with My True Identity on October 19th, 2016 and ending with Accepting Anxiety on July 15th, 2017. 

These episodes were a lot shorter too. The longest one, Growing Up, is only about 15 minutes long (14:39 to be exact because I already have the playlist pulled up to get all these references so I might as well use the info I have) and the shortest episode was Way Too Adult that barely makes it to the four minute mark. (Okay it’s 4:18 but that’s still closer to four) 

It’s really interesting to see how much the series changed just throughout season one alone, especially once it shifts from just being a silly series of one shots to a series with more fleshed out characters and beginning to scratch the surface of dealing with heavier topics. 

How did it do for me personally? Well if you made it this far I assume you actually want to know my opinion so I’ll go ahead and tell you...

For real now, let the ranking begin!

*cue drum roll*

#17 I'm in a Disney Show

Yeah this one is pretty forgettable, and it really sticks out like a sore thumb among the other episodes in this series since it’s based on something that happened in real Thomas’s life and later on they try to establish that Sanders Sides isn’t about real Thomas. Not only that there wasn’t much in this episode that stuck out as funny to me. The only bit I actually remember laughing at was when the Sides were throwing around click bait titles. 

So yeah, boring episode, feels out of place, moving on.

#16 Becoming a Cartoon

Like with the last one this one is just very forgettable to me. It also features someone who turned out to be a pretty shitty person so I can’t even watch it without feeling uncomfortable.

The only thing I remember laughing at was Patton holding a potato. 

#15 My True Identity

Okay I know it’s harsh putting the first episode so low on the list, especially when most of my problems with it stem from it being made before there were any intentions to make it a series, but like the first two it’s also kinda boring. I mean on it’s own it does a good job of introducing people to the basic idea of the series and gives an idea of what the characters are like, but they all basically act like the same person (yes I’m aware of the irony) with just one or two minor things to set them apart. 

Can’t really hate this one like the other two since, again, this was made with no intention of plot or character development, so it’s only this low because it doesn’t really stick out to me. But hey, it did its job at getting people interested in the characters so in that aspect it did its job perfectly.

#14 Taking On Anxiety

Oh the second hand embarrassment in this episode is too much to bear. Honestly any episode that has Thomas interacting with someone from real life just feels so weird to me and takes me out of the episode. However, I do actually have a bit more positive things to say about this one. The advice they give is actually helpful, and my gosh I love pre-AA Virgil. 

The snark, the sass, it’s easy to see why he became a fan favorite so fast. And fortunately for me, there’s plenty of episodes for me to love him in before I start to hate him. 

#13 Way Too Adult

This is gonna sound repetitive but again, forgettable. Doesn’t give me second hand embarrassment or make me feel negative in any way so that’s why it’s higher than the others. And hey, 13 is one of my favorite numbers so that’s gotta count for something right?

The best part of this episode is Patton, I really miss the earlier version of him where he actually took on more of a fatherly figure and had more of a serious side. Not that I don’t like him now and I still think he’s one of the better written in the series (more on that in another post) but it’s kinda nice to see him being portrayed in a way that doesn’t feel like he’s being dumbed down for laughs or is just sad and confused.

#12 The Mind vs The Heart

Or as I like to call it “Selfishness vs Selflessness in Five Minutes.” This episode is way too relatable which is both fun but also I don’t need the reminder that I can’t say “no” to people, but that’s a me problem not the episode’s. I like the format of using cutaways to show examples of how Logan and Patton clash in Thomas’s day to day life and honestly I wish they’d use it more since I think they only do it in this episode and in Growing Up but I could be wrong and I’m too lazy to check.

All in all this a cute little episode (and not cute for the reason you might think) and I enjoy it. 

#11 Accepting Anxiety Part One

Honestly not much to say about this one? It’s funny watching Thomas’s antics while the Sides have to try and figure out what’s going on. Which is a nice change of pace from the usual “The Sides are being goofy and zany and Thomas has to try and get them on track” that I kinda notice throughout season one and that starts to change to become the norm in season two, but I’ll get to that later. 

Reason this one isn’t as high as others is just because besides that one gimmick of Thomas saying and doing silly stuff is that there isn’t much beyond that, and of course that’s just because this is the first part of a two part episode so I’ll give it grace for that. Still a great set up though and is funny on its own. 

#10 The Dark Side of Disney

Alright, we’ve made it to the top 10! Here’s where things start to get interesting.

Personally, I find this episode hilarious because I do this kind of stuff to “kid’s films” all the time. Never to actual kids but to adults, it’s fun to see just how dark I’ll go. 

Of course this isn’t really what the episode does, it talks more about the messages in these movies as opposed to talking about how “dark” they are. Which, now that I look back I clicked on this episode thinking that it was going to be a part of the latter and had no idea it was a Sanders Sides episode. Maybe that’s how I found the series? I always forget which episode was my first...

Back to the episode, it also establishes Virgil and Roman’s little dynamic of being rivals and I love it. They have some of the best exchanges in the series and it’s fun watching them go head to head here, and even bonding a little as well. All in all, fun episode that provides some good character moments and some laughs. 

#9 A New Year of Lying to Myself... In Song!

Just the song, man. It slaps. 

But am I the only one miffed that Virgil technically got a villain song (about lying no less) and Janus didn’t? Not even an evil reprise? Yeah that’s some bull spit right there.

#8 Growing Up

Aw, the first name reveal episode on this list! This episode is a lot of fun, mostly because of the scenarios they come up with and the little cutaways they add in. Seriously. Just use these more instead of going to these great lengths to show us something that can be accomplished in six seconds of footage. 

It also has one of my favorite moments with Logan quietly asking Patton what they’re doing wrong after Thomas tries to force himself into the “serious adult role.” I really got a soft spot for this episode and honestly talking about it makes me wanna watch it again, but I’ll hold off for now. 

And I think Patton has one of the best name reveals. Like Thomas really thought his name was Pattoncake, and Patton’s reaction is priceless. I still want to know what “Pattoncake” actually is and how it’s played, but part of me also accepts that it’s probably better if we never know. 

#7 Making Some Changes

Why are Thomas’s friends so good at acting as Thomas acting as his characters? Seriously half the time when I watch this episode my brain doesn’t acknowledge that the Sides are now being played by different people until halfway through. 

This episode is one of the funniest in my opinion, and one I remember coming back to a lot. Do I still want an episode where the Sides pretend to be each other? Yes. Do I know it’ll probably never happen and if it did they’d find some way to just make it full of angst? Yes, yes I do.

#6 Alone on Valentine's Day

The first episode to be officially cowritten by Joan, and it’s great. It’s hilarious, and just seeing all the varying ways each Side tries to portray their idea of romance is the cherry on top. What more can I say about this episode other than I’m curious as to what Janus and Remus would have contributed to a conversation like this, maybe they’ll do another episode like this in the future with their inclusion, but who knows what the heck they’re doing at this point.

#5 Sanders Sides Q&A

Top 5 here we go!!! This is when ranking started to get difficult because I love all of these episodes so much. Especially this one. I think I’ve watched this one more than any of them and why not? It’s just pure goofball shenanigans and seriously, Thomas, why haven’t you done another one yet? Especially with Janus and Remus?! I mean I get if you’re waiting for “all the characters” but come on man! I need more of the energy this episode gives off.

#4 My Negative Thinking

This episode made me realize just how underrated Logan and Virgil’s relationship is. It’s also the second entry in the “Logan Fights Everyone” saga. I do love how this episode has actually helped me with my own negative thinking and I just freaking love Virgil’s sass in this. 

Did I mention I also love Logan and Virgil’s friendship? Ah, good times when they all more or less liked each other. 

#3 Losing My Motivation

The set up of this episode is just brilliant. Having it be a “mystery” for Logan to solve with Patton as his sidekick provided a lot of laughs and one of my favorite Logan moments with his little bit he does after realizing he was the “culprit” in all of this. Ugh, I really wanna watch some of these episodes now but I’m gonna hold out. 

One thing is that I feel like Logan got the short end of the stick with his name reveal. Like Patton just casually calls him by his name like it’s no big deal, yet pretty much all of the other names are revealed after some kind of emotional moment and are treated as a big deal. If Patton was comfortable enough to just call Logan by his actual name and Logan himself was fine with it then why didn’t any of them introduce themselves before? There’s not really an explanation within the series itself as to why this is or why the Sides even have names in the first place, like it makes sense why Virgil or Janus would hide their names but Logan, Roman, and Patton have been there since day one so what gives?

My personal headcanon is that the three of them had a bet going on to see how long they could go without calling each other by their names in front of Thomas and Patton lost because he forgot. 

#2 Am I Original?

Look, Roman is my favorite so of course he’s up here! Not only that but this episode resonates with me a lot as a creative person, and I just love watching the Sides trying all the ideas Roman comes up with.

And his name reveal is also great, probably my favorite one, and of course it’s followed by the now infamous, “You’re my hero” line. But I’m just gonna ignore what became of that and focus on the fact that Roman was actually happy at the end of this episode.

#1 Accepting Anxiety Part Two

What can I say other than this was the perfect way to end this season? Virgil has been the outsider of the group since day one, and seeing him go from this snarky antagonist to gradually being tired with the role until he decides that it would be better if he just wasn’t around at all. This episode has some funny moments too, but what sticks out to me are the more emotional ones. 

Roman’s entire speech to Virgil is just *cheff’s kiss* perfection. Their relationship has finally come full circle and when Virgil smiles at him? Ah it’s so good!!! Like the music, the acting, all of it comes together so perfectly and it makes my heart happy. 

Virgil’s name reveal is also great, after being teased about it over and over again we finally get the real thing and it’s executed perfectly. Although my favorite thing about this episode is probably the end card, it’s so sweet and makes me all sentimental. Why? I dunno, I’m supposed to be heartless but I somehow find my heart melting when Patton gives Virgil the card anyway. Ah, I love Virgil’s relationships with the others by the end of this season, and honestly I would have been satisfied if this had been the end of it.

Just a neat little way to wrap up this neat little series. 

Of course we all know that wasn’t the case and oh boy things certainly took a turn, but that is for another post! 

And that was the first part of my ranking! Like I said this list might change once I go back and watch the series again, but I’m pretty sure things won’t change much then. 

I’m actually surprised at how many happy memories I have with the season, like I seriously want to just go back and watch my favorite episodes again because I’m all up in the nostalgia but again, I’ll hold off for now. 

I hope y’all enjoyed this and I’d be curious to see other people’s rankings of season one. I’m glad I was able to have fun with this and just gush about the series for awhile because oh boy I know things are gonna be very different once I get to season two...

[nikxation]

A Close Encounter

Summary:

All Stan knows is that, if you see huge red eyes staring at you from the brush, look away, turn around, and run as fast if you can, assuming it’s not already too late.

So, when he finds himself face to face with a creature easily three times his size with glowing red eyes, he realizes he may be in one of those “too late” kinds of situations.

Notes:

Written for @buggy-mars for the 2020 Secret Santa exchange! You wanted mullet Stan angst, so here ya go! Hope you enjoy! And Happy Holidays!

Find it here on AO3.

Beware of glowing red eyes in the woods.

It’s one of the first things Stan learns when he starts making his presence more known around the small town of Gravity Falls, though he learns it mostly through indirect means (because while Ford had been here for over a decade, Stan has barely been here a month, and asking questions might draw a certain amount of suspicion and scrutiny that he can’t afford).

Most people would call it eavesdropping, but he likes to think of it as “directed listening” instead.

It’s hushed, frightened whispers in the back booth of the diner between two buff-looking guys holding steaming cups of coffee in shaking hands.

It’s the short exchange of words between two woodsmen as they pass each other in the street, one warning the other away from a certain area of the forest for the day.

It’s a woman sending her kids to go play and warning them to be careful even as they roll their eyes and run off, young and invincible against the dangers of the world.

Of all the things he’s heard, the red eyes seem to be the thing that everyone, without exception, knows to steer clear of at all costs.

Something about visions of nightmares or poisonous quills or just pure, unadulterated terror, he’s not sure. They don’t talk about it in as many words, circling the topic like two boxers in the ring, sizing one another up, neither willing to make the first move, to say the wrong thing, to admit too much. They dance around it, never getting close enough to give him any solid answers before jumping to another subject altogether.

All he knows is that, if you see huge red eyes staring at you from the brush, look away, turn around, and run as fast if you can, assuming it’s not already too late.

So, when he finds himself face to face with a creature easily three times his size with glowing red eyes, he realizes he may be in one of those “too late” kinds of situations.

~ ~ ~

The sleet is coming down hard as Stan trudges through the melting snow, shovel in one hand and worn map in the other as he aims towards another area of the woods that he hasn’t already scribbled out in pencil. The sun is finding its way down towards the treeline, which means he doesn’t have a lot of time today before it gets too dark to be able to effectively hunt for the other journals. Plus, he has more tours to prep for tomorrow, so he’ll have to make sure he leaves himself enough time to get everything set up again for that. But he plans to take advantage of whatever dying rays of sunlight he can.

He feels dirty, zipped up tight in one of Ford’s jackets that fits him a little too tight in the arms, one he found in some back closet when he finally started going through the man’s things. But there’s only so much he can do in a worn-out hoodie in this weather, and he has more important things to worry about than how wrong it feels to be wearing his missing (not dead) brother’s clothes.

At least his hair is keeping his neck warm, so this god-awful hairstyle is finally good for something other than looking terrible.

He looks down at the map again, glancing back up to see if he can find some kind of marker he should have left for himself to know where he left off, whether it be a slash in some tree bark or a pile of rocks in the snow. Based on the map, he should be getting close to something, but at this rate, the trees are starting to thin out as he makes his way into more rocky and mountainous terrain, so he can’t quite remember what he should be looking for.

A glance back down at the map, and he realizes that the sleet has begun to smear the ink and graphite on the page. He curses under his breath, shoves it into his pocket, and looks around frantically, spotting a shadow in a rocky face that might just be a cave that he can duck into for a moment, long enough to get out of the wet cold for a moment and reorient himself to his surroundings.

He was right in assuming it was a cave, finding himself in a small dark cavern that doesn’t seem to go more than a few yards deep and a few feet above his head. He doesn’t bother getting out his flashlight to check that assumption; at the mouth of the cave, he gets enough light to see what he needs to see, and he needs to save as much battery power as he can.

He also doesn’t plan to stay long.

It’s quiet save for the pitter-patter of the sleet on the hard ground and the sound of his own breathing echoing around the rock walls.

The map is a bit soggy when he pulls it back out, and he tries his best to hold it as gently as possible to stop it from ripping or falling apart on him. He knows he could get back to the house from here without it, but it’s his only record of his search, and he’d hate to have to start from scratch. Which is why when one of the corners flops down and tears itself, he curses again, this time a bit more forcefully as he tries to hold the paper back together, willing it to not get any worse.

It’s at that exact moment that something behind him shifts, the sound of scratching on the rock followed by a low, animalistic growl that makes the hairs on his neck stand completely upright, his whole body going rigid.

The possibility occurs to him that maybe the cave was deeper than he thought it was, or that maybe, just maybe, there was something big in the way stopping him from seeing all the way back.

It also occurs to him that maybe it wasn’t his own breathing that he had been hearing.

His whole body is frozen stiff as he waits to see what happens next, too afraid to turn around, too afraid to make a run for it, trapped in place like a deer in headlights.

He hears the thing stand, claws scraping against the stone ground as it does, footsteps heavy as it slowly moves forward, closer to him.

He should run. He should really run. Running would be a very good idea.

There must be a disconnect somewhere in his brain because no matter how hard he begs his legs to run, they stand frozen in place, trapping him in the mouth of this cave as whatever is behind him lumbers closer and closer with each breath.

And then it stops, everything falling deathly silent again, and he can all but feel the thing standing behind him, and everything in him is screaming to get the hell out of there right now, but he still can’t move.

Stan doesn’t know how long he stands there waiting, probably only a handful of seconds if he had to guess, even if it feels like an eternity. He swallows slowly, his heart slamming in his chest, in his ears, as he finally gains enough control of himself to turn, ever so slowly to see what exactly he’s dealing with here.

Two red eyes look down on him from scarcely a few feet away, and that’s all his brain can register outside of “big” and “huge teeth” and “run goddamnit run!”. But he still can’t move, and the thing lets out another low growl, this one much more pointed than the last, a clear warning. But his bones are somewhere between Jell-o and stone right now, his throat tight like he’s trying not to breathe even though the thing is looking right at him and it’s too late you should have run when you had the chance—

Its eyes flash, the sudden shift from burning red to bright yellow jolting him like a bucket of cold water to the face, and he has no idea what to make of it, and he’s still stuck in place right in front of this thing that’s making no moves towards him, his eyes locked on it like he’s waiting to see a reaction from it, waiting for it to make the first move.

And then, the yellow fades, the eyes returning to that same unnatural red, and he gets the vague feeling that something happened, he’s just not sure what, as the thing takes a small step back from him and just… stares.

It’s something of a stand-off, and he gets the impression that, whatever it just tried with the little glowing eyes trick didn’t quite work the way it expected. That this thing that could kill him with one lazy swipe of its arm (leg? Hand? Paw? What the heck even is this thing?) has yet to make an aggressive move against him for whatever reason and has done nothing but stare at him, and he has no idea what to do with that.

And this, whatever this is, feels fundamentally different than even a few seconds ago. And he’s not sure how that even makes sense given that he’s dealing with some hulking creature and not anything remotely human or rational. And yet, he swears the thing went from trying to intimidate him to… studying him? Like it’s reassessing how to handle him?

He must be losing his damn mind.

The thing regards him for another excruciatingly long moment before breathing out what sounds suspiciously like a hmph and then taking a step towards him. He braces, arms coming up, his legs still unhelpfully locked into place as he expects the attack to finally come. And the thing pauses, its hackles momentarily raising and a quiet growl rumbling in its throat for barely a second before it settles, pushes past him and…

Leaves.

It just… leaves.

In the dying sunlight and falling sleet, Stan gets his first full glimpse of the massive creature as it climbs free of the cave and stretches back out, easily towering over the cave entrance by many feet. Its whole body is covered in course hair that almost resembles quills, mushrooms of some sort growing from its back and shoulders. It stands up on its two hind feet (its claws are almost as long as his arm holy shit), seems to finish stretching itself out, drops back to all fours, and then dashes off into the woods and disappears into the darkness.

It takes him a minute to fully process what happened, for the adrenaline coursing through him to finally die out and the weight of the fear and relief to settle in. It’s enough to make his legs finally give out from under him as he sinks to the hard stone floor, the reality of how close he was to death worming its way into his bones like an old forgotten friend.

And yet…

A strained laugh breaks free from his throat, the sound oddly choked as he leans back against the rock wall behind him, his chest aching something fierce.

He knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that he just had an encounter with the creature the entire town is afraid of, and he made it out unscathed. He’s sure of it, in the same way that he’s sure his brother is alive somewhere, an unquestionable kind of feeling deep in his bones that’s the only real thing he has any faith in anymore. He knows that, somehow, he got lucky, and that thing let him be for whatever reason. He doesn’t know why or how, or what the yellow glowing eyes thing was or why it seemed to not really care about him after that (then it took a step back, so was it afraid of him? No that’s not possible, why would it be afraid of him?).

He sits there a while, lost in his own head, wondering what exactly he’s missing, why the entire town is afraid of something that ultimately decided to leave him alone. Wondering whether it was luck or something else entirely.

He doesn’t have an answer.

He’ll probably never have one, if he’s being honest with himself.

It’s well after dark by the time he musters enough energy to stumble back to the empty house that isn’t his, peel off the soggy coat that doesn’t fit him right, climb into his makeshift bed on the couch, and fall into a restless sleep to the sound of the heavy tapping of sleet on the windowpane.

[whumpflumpthump]

MacGyver Fic

Continuation of this.

I’m back!! So, I guess this is my first writing in the new year.  That’s weird to think about... Anyways, here is a continuation of my first MacGyver fic.  I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you enjoy!!

Warnings: This contains graphic depictions of violence, with a lot of torture.  If this triggers you, please be safe.

...

“After all, a lot can happen in an hour.”

Mac shuddered, and a look of fear flitted across his features, but was quickly replaced by hatred and defiance.  He would not let Murdoc see how terrified he was, he couldn’t.  He didn’t need to give Murdoc anything else to use against him.

If he had noticed Mac’s fear, Murdoc didn’t remark on it.  He stood in front of Mac for a few seconds, seemingly contemplating something, and then turned and walked behind him, out of view.  

“I’ll be right back Boy Scout, I just need to grab something, and then we can get started.”

Well that can’t be good.

Due to the strap across Mac’s chest, he wasn’t able to turn his head to look, so he was forced to wait while Murdoc was doing whatever the heck he was doing.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he here’s footsteps coming up from behind him.

As Murdoc rounded his chair, Mac braced himself to see what he was holding.  Mac had no doubt that whatever was in his hands would be used to torture him, Murdoc wouldn’t just sit and stare at him forever.  Mac’s suspicions were proved correct when he saw what Murdoc was holding, a relatively small knife, about the size of the blade in his Swiss Army Knife.  

“That’s it?” Mac asked, “I have to say, I thought you would come up with something more, I don’t know...creative.”

Mac was just stalling for time.  He knew Murdoc could come up with many creative ways to use that knife.  Desperately, he hoped for his team to come and rescue him.  

You know they’re not going to get here in time.

They probably don’t even know you’re gone yet.

Mac knew his mind was probably correct, Murdoc had taken him on his way home from Phoenix, there was no reason to believe anything had happened to him for at least another hour, like Murdoc had said, when he was supposed to meet Jack for dinner.  And, based on the restraints Murdoc had used, and his constant staring, there was very little hope that he would escape by himself.

“Oh Boy Scout, you and I both know I don’t need anything more than this knife to hurt you,” Murdoc said, snapping Mac out of his thoughts, “and I do intend to hurt you, MacGyver,” he added, his eyes darkening.

With that, he started to walk towards Mac, flipping the knife between his fingers absentmindedly as he did so.  Mac instinctively started struggling against his bonds, but to no avail, they held fast. Murdoc crouched down so he was on the same level as MacGyver, and then brought the knife up to trace along the skin underneath his eyes, not quite touching.

Mac kept his head as still as possible, but this time couldn’t contain the fear that came with Murdoc’s action.

Murdoc laughed darkly and pulled the knife away, leaving it to hover over Mac’s leg. “Don’t worry Angus, I would never harm that pretty face of yours, and I want to be able to see that delicious fear in your eyes.”

Well, that’s reassuring.

Before Mac could even register what was happening, Murdoc had moved the knife from above his leg to his exposed right forearm, where his sleeve was rolled up.  He sliced a thin line across Mac’s skin, drawing a line of blood and eliciting a small hiss of pain from Mac, who tried to jerk away, again not getting anywhere.

“Now now Boy Scout, we’ve barely even started,” Murdoc tutted, patting Mac’s face.

Murdoc moved again, this time bringing the knife to Mac’s collarbone.  He sliced a little deeper this time, driving the knife from the top of the bone to almost the hollow of his throat. Mac held in his gasp this time, managing to only glare at Murdoc as the madman smiled, almost gleefully.

“Let’s see how long that glare can last for, hm? After all, we still have about,” he paused, thinking, “forty-five minutes, give or take a few.”

Mac tried not to let the disappointment show on his face.

It’s only been fifteen minutes?

It’s going to be a long hour.

Mac was again pulled out of his thoughts, this time by Murdoc cutting through the fabric of his henley, exposing his chest.  When Murdoc was done, the fabric of his shirt was hanging open from his shoulders.  This gave him a clear view of all of Mac’s many scars that littered his chest.

“Wow MacGyver, I expected some, they come with the job, but this, this is a lot.  I am more than happy to add a few of my own though, I am a bit jealous though.  Well, that’s no problem, we can remedy that right now,” he paused, “Only I should leave scars on you.”

Mac tried to move to cover up his chest, his cheeks reddening.  Murdoc was approaching again.  This time he first put a hand on Mac’s chest, holding him still.

“Hold still Boy Scout, I can’t have you wiggling so much, wouldn’t want to hit anything vital, now do we?”

“Go to hell, Murdoc,” Mac growled, still struggling against Murdoc, and the strap across his chest.

This seemed to set Murdoc off, something in him seemed to snap. He moved his hand from Mac’s chest, and a second later, he was behind Mac, his hand in his hair.  He pulled Mac’s head back, which caused Mac to yelp in surprise, and placed the blade of the knife at the base of his throat. Mac stilled instantly.

“I wouldn’t test me MacGyver.  I may not want to kill you yet, but I will.  As much as I enjoy this game we play, I would still love to plunge this knife into your chest and watch as you bleed out,” he moved the knife so it was hovering teasingly over his heart, “As you gasp for breath as your lungs stop working, and then as your heart stops beating and the light leaves your eyes,” he stopped, then, keeping his grip on Mac’s hair, removed the knife from above Mac’s heart, and placed it back at his side, “Don’t give me a reason to do that.  You have made my life interesting MacGyver, I would hate to end our relationship so soon.”

Murdoc released his hold on Mac’s hair, and shoved his head back forwards as he walked back to stand in front of him.  He had his knife back out, and his face was back to its usual mask, his moment of rage gone.  Without even speaking, he brought the knife up to Mac’s chest and cut into it, deeper than the others.  This time, Mac could barely contain the moan that threatened to escape his lips.  Barely giving him any respite, Murdoc sliced his chest again, going even deeper, but still not enough to kill him, just leave scars.

Scars. That’s exactly what he wanted.

After that cut, Murdoc stopped. He raised the knife up to the light, causing the blood on it to glisten.  He chuckled darkly as he lowered the knife back down. 

Mac glared at he brought the knife up and set it on Mac’s knee, just out of reach of his restrained hands.  He glared at Murdoc, causing the man to feign sadness.

“No need to look so angry Angus, soon enough that perfect face of yours will be filled with agony.  Let’s do a little experiment, for science.  Tell me, Boy Scout, how long do you think it will be before you start screaming?”

Without further warning, Murdoc continued his rapid slicing, some cuts going deep, causing streams of blood to run down his chest, and some barely breaking the skin, just enough to sting.  After about a minute, tears were running down his cheeks, and after two minutes, Mac could no longer hold back the screams. They just seemed to encourage Murdoc, and he continued for five more minutes like that.  

When Murdoc finally stopped, Mac was gasping as he sagged in his restraints.  His whole chest was covered in blood, and it was dripping onto the floor around him.

“That was a great performance, MacGyver, truly.  It was everything I hoped it would be.”

“Go to-,” Mac started, gritting his teeth as he spoke, but before he could finish, Murdoc had placed the tip of the knife once again under Mac’s chin, effectively silencing him.

“Ah, ah, ah, Angus.  What did I say about testing me?”

Mac stayed silent, and that seemed to be a good enough answer for Murdoc, as he lowered the knife, this time placing it near his shoulder, running the tip down his arm.

“I think it’s time we move on, don’t you think?  How about your hands?” he said, drawing the knife along Mac’s forearm, down to rest between his index and middle finger.  “It would be a lot harder to build your little, contraptions, if you couldn’t use your hands.”

Mac’s tear-stained eyes widened as Murdoc continued to move the knife around his hand, and he tried to jerk it away, but with no luck.

“After all, what is Angus MacGyver, without his hands?”

Mac continued to try and jerk away, but all he accomplished was rubbing his already raw wrists even more.  He was starting to panic.  Not his hands.  Anything but his hands.

Murdoc dug in slightly in the next cut, causing a thin line of blood to form, bubbling up from the cut.  He repositioned the knife, and was getting ready to cut in again when Mac spoke up.

“Please, don’t,” he said quietly.

“I’m sorry, what did you say, I didn’t seem to catch that.”

“I said,” Mac continued, louder, “please, don’t.  Anything but my hands, I need them, I don’t know what I’d do...” he trailed off, new tears forming in his eyes.  His injuries were quickly catching up to him, his vision was getting blurry, and not from the tears, as he spoke.

Murdoc put down his knife.  “You really thought I would permanently injure the architects of your genius.  You must think I’m a monster.  No, where would be the fun in that, you’ll keep your hands.  But, oh Angus, you’re so lovely when you’re begging.  That could be addicting, you’ll have to do that more often.”

Murdoc stepped forward again, and placed the knife on his arm once more.  Mac’s body was so taxed, that he almost didn’t feel it when Murdoc sliced another cut into his arm, from the elbow to his shoulder.  Murdoc continued like this, whistling as he went, until the sleeve of his shirt was in shreds.  Mac stopped trying to hold in the screams as he moved to the other arm, and then his legs.  There was blood everywhere, but Murdoc was careful.  He never vut deep enough to kill, and always missed vital organs and blood vessels.

Mac almost wished Murdoc would just kill him.  His whole body felt like it was on fire.  The original aching in his head had completely vanished behind the searing pain of the many cuts strewn across his body. 

Eventually, when Mac was barely conscious, Murdoc stopped. 

“Well, it seems our hour is almost up, my dear Angus.  It has been fun, but I really must be going before your guard dog and the rest of your goons show up.  But, before I go, I must give you are parting present.”

Before Mac’s pain-dimmed mind could make sense of what Murdoc had said, he cried out as he felt the knife tear through his skin as Murdoc stabbed it through his thigh.

“Be seeing you, MacGyver,” was the last thing Mac heard before the darkness overtook him. 

...

I’ll probably add a rescue and comfort scene at some point, I just really need sleep :p.  Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!!  Oh, and Happy New Year!!!

[imnotwolverine]

Nerdflirt

Henry Cavill x reader twoshot (1/2)

Word count: 2.768

Disclaimer: tiny, tiny hint of fluff

Summary: There’s apparently a bit more involved than just paint and innocent flirting, when you meet a stranger on Instagram with a shared hobby. 

Find the second part here.

This story is based on a prompt I received from @aestheticqueenb

(Link to my Masterlist)

‘Maybe, you can like…I don’t know…find some new hobby or something?’

Your friend had said it more as an after thought during your Zoom chat, but here you were. Thinking yet again if she was perhaps right. A new hobby. It’s not like you hadn’t tried to find some diversion in these strange times. Like. You had ordered some of these picture paint books for adults since they were all the rage, but you had grown bored of them again.

Heck. You had even asked your boss if you could help him out while stuck at home. But apparently the restaurant business was really on its ass and you’d just have to wait for things to settle down and regulations to become less restricting.

This whole COVID-19 thing had initially seemed like a bit of a fad. Like some sick joke that nobody stopped at the right time. It was just a fever, right? Well, apparently…it wasn’t. You could still remember the moment all too well when you were sent home, told to wait for news. Hours passed. Days passed. Weeks passed. But there was no sign of things soon to improve.

And thus you resorted to adult colouring books and sulking away on your desk chair.

Stretching out you pushed the chair away from your desk, the tiny wheels immediately halting as you bumped against your bed. Oh yes, it was also good to mention you were slowly losing your mind because your studio apartment was SOO friggin’ small you couldn’t stretch as much as a foot without bumping into a piece of furniture.

Not a problem when you have a social life. But very much a problem when you hadn’t. Usually you worked a lot, went out with friends, enjoyed to go for a run. And home? Home was just a conveniently placed bed in the middle of London.

Now, however, it was a constricting prison that seemed to strip away your sanity piece by piece.

As had become second nature by now you opened your phone, fingers automatically refreshing the front news page. Scroll, scroll, scroll. No new news. Then your e-mail. No new e-mails. Then perhaps look for some “inspiration” - whatever you needed that for - on Pinterest? Scroll, scroll, scroll. Okay, no, this is dumb. Going back to the mainscreen your thumb hovered over the Instagram button. 

You honestly didn’t like the app much. Fake people. Fake fun lives. It just wasn’t your cuppa tea. And yet you never got so far as deleting it since you did enjoy seeing baby pictures of your baby niece.

Okay, fine, maybe there were some new pictures or something. It wasn’t like you had anything better to do and so you opened the app, only to be confronted with a somewhat confusing image. What’s this? A large pair of hands painting an absolutely tiny polystyrene figurine. Why is this on your timeline? Your eyes gazed up, even more confused when you read the name “Henry Cavill” above it. Pfft. Probably some attention whoring from another bored superstar. You shook your head and scrolled on, eventually giving up again.

You groaned, feeling the abyss of utter boredom suck you in once more, your eyes wandering to the world outside. It was sunny, a spotless blue sky, not a cloud in sight. Hilarious, ain’t it? It’s nice weather out in the UK and guess what? You’re stuck inside because the whole world is in lockdown.

So…now what? You just had lunch, your apartment was pristinely clean and you already went for a run this morning. You sighed and turned your chair back so you could awaken your trusty old friend again. Your laptop. Perhaps Google something random? See what you find? The internet’s your friend, right?

Open. Google. 

You bit your lip, thinking of something. Anything. But your mind was a blank.

Hmm. Oh. You know what. Maybe it’d be fun to know what kind of fake nerd Henry Cavill actually was.

You opened Instagram again and, of course, his post was back on the top of the timeline. It was almost too easy. #GamesWorkshop #ProperGeek #Custodes. Hmm, probably one of those three tags were the secret. You decided to enter “custodes”, since it sounded the least familiar and hit enter.

Before long you had dived head first into the miraculous world of Warhammer miniature strategy boardgaming and the most ludicrous, but fascinating lore. There was a medieval variant, a sci-fi variant and some ancient Rome and English civil war stuff. All including a well-thought out background story and even more figurines then you could count. Pretty cool figures too, you thought, haphazardly clicking on “order” while scrolling through one of the webshops.

Like it contained some kind of bomb, the mailman sprinted off, leaving the small package behind while you opened your door. Fuck this corona crisis. You couldn’t even..greet the fucking mailman.

Picking up the package you carefully moved it to your desk. Would they be fragile? How tiny could tiny really be? There was only one way to find out, you decided, picking up a pair of scissors and cutting open the small brown box.

Well. Okay. That’s tiny. Tiny tiny tiny. Perhaps you had been a bit too over enthusiastic about just randomly picking up a new hobby. Like..did you even need like special paint for this? Carefully you placed the kit sheets with the hundreds of tiny pieces in them on your desk and bit your lip, deciding what you’d do next. Tiny heads, guns, wings, all stuck in a meticulously thought out grid. Where to start? Perhaps look for some inspiration? Tips and tricks?

The internet is your friend.

Silly as it was you ended up scrolling through Instagram again, this time on the profile of some “SirEltharin” who posted daily updates on his miniature painting. And just like you, he had bought the Retributor Squad from the Adepta Sororitas, the all-female fighter division that were also known as “The Sisters of Battle”. Just thinking how ridiculous that sounded made you chuckle. Were you a nerd too now? Perhaps.

He just posted something new you noticed.

‘These ladies are hard to tame! Oops, painting accident..’ He posted, along with a picture of some smudged paint on one of the figurines. You chuckled, commenting without much of a second thought.

LadyGrim - ‘Well at least you started..I just can’t get myself to paint :X’ - 1 minute ago SirEltharin - ‘No need to be Grim, good Lady. What’s keeping you from starting?’ - 2 seconds ago

Hmm. He responded immediately. A smile reached the corners of your lips as you shrugged and typed again.

LadyGrim - ‘Painters limbo? No honestly it’s my first set and I’m out of my depth here.’ - 2 minutes ago

SirEltharin - ‘Well if large male hands can do it. Surely a Lady can do it too? ;)’ - 30 seconds ago

LadyGrim - ‘Size can be deceiving.’ - 2 seconds ago

Your eyes rested on the screen for a bit, hoping he’d respond, but eventually giving up. Your eyes turned towards the sheets with the figurine parts on the other side of your desk.

Welp, it’s not like anyone could judge you for trying, right?

You painted that whole day, finding it nerve wrecking and meditative all at the same time. You hadn’t even noticed that it was past dinner time, until your stomach really started to growl with hunger.

After cooking yourself a simple pasta dish you sat back on your desk chair, forking the pasta into your mouth while opening your phone to check on any news updates. No news. Mail. No mail. Pinterest? Skip. Instagram. Heck, why not.

*New message from SirEltharin* Hmm. A private message. You didn’t even know that you could send private messages in Instagram, but alas, perhaps you were just a failed millennial.

SirEltharin - ‘Hey :) Guess what? I totally screwed up that figurine and have to do it all over again. Started any painting yet?’ - 2 hours ago

LadyGrim - ‘Perhaps you gave me all your good luck? Just started and..maybe..it actually starts to look pretty cool?’ - 2 minutes ago

SirEltharin - ‘Which one did you start with?’ - 2 seconds ago

Damn, guess it wasn’t just you who was bored to bits. This guy was one fast responder.

LadyGrim - ‘The one with the book? At least, I think…. So many parts..’

SirEltharin - ‘Yea. Requires a bit of strategising hehe. Besides..holy fervour and good faith!’

LadyGrim - ‘So why did you chose the sisters? You’re a guy right?’

SirEltharin - ‘And that’s a problem? ;)’

LadyGrim - ‘No..’

SirEltharin - ‘Honestly though. They’re cool. Strong women.’

LadyGrim - ‘Who got betrayed by the man they promised to serve.’

SirEltharin - ‘Ah you read the lore? Yea..men are dicks haha ;)’

LadyGrim - ‘Can’t agree more.’

You back and forthed throughout the evening. Starting off with some Warhammer 40k related banter, but soon drifting off to talking about the Corona lockdown and the boredom that came with it. SirEltharin didn’t let off a whole lot about himself, which made your imagination run a little wild.

Perhaps it was this “milady” type of guy, that’d tip his hat at you, then grow annoyed as soon as you didn’t immediately fall in love with him. Or, maybe it was this skinny pimple-faced guy who only ever played female characters in games. Or a really, really fat guy. He did say large male hands. Large…could be fat? Or at least chubby? Ugh. What did it matter anyways. Men, you had decided, were always going to disappoint.

SirEltharin - ‘Hey, just curious by the way. Why did YOU decide to start painting?’

LadyGrim - ‘Are you asking just because I’m a girl? ;)’

SirEltharin - ‘Hardly. What do you even think of me?! ;)’

LadyGrim - ‘Okay. Don’t call me an idiot. But this movie star, Henry Cavill? He posted an image and though I absolutely think he’s one of those fake nerd celebrities who are in it for the attention, it did get me interested in the figurines..so..I just ordered and..here I am!’

He stopped responding after that. For the rest of the night. Did you say something wrong or did he just not see your message? Ah..whatever. It didn’t really matter. He was just some stranger on the internet. You started Netflix and crawled onto your bed, wasting away another evening bingewatching How I Met Your Mother.  

The next morning he had responded again. Around 5 am. Damn. Nerds ARE night owls, you thought, sipping your freshly brewn cup of french pressed coffee while leaning against your tiny kitchen block.

SirEltharin - ‘Can’t really say that without knowing him, right?’ - 3 hours ago

SirEltharin - ‘Anything in particular wrong with Henry Cavill?’ - 2 hours ago

LadyGrim - ‘Woa woa. No harm meant. Sorry. Guess I just don’t trust ‘em pretty boys?’ - 3 minutes ago

SirEltharin - ‘How’s that so? And good morning, Lady ;)’ - 2 seconds ago

You bit your lip and let out a deep sigh. Oh this man didn’t know what hellfire could come his way, opening THAT topic.

LadyGrim - ‘Good morning ..and..I doubt you’d be interested.’

SirEltharin - ‘You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.’

LadyGrim - ‘Fine. Let’s just keep it plain and simple. Lied to, cheated on and continuously disappointed. Guess I’ll just have to become a lesbian?’

SirEltharin - ‘Don’t let a few bad ones ruin it for the rest of us. Has it been long?’

LadyGrim - ‘Long?’

SirEltharin - ‘Apologies. I mean. Since you last dated?’

LadyGrim - ‘A year or so.’

SirEltharin - ‘And how old are you? Or am I being too bold asking such a thing?’

LadyGrim - ‘It’s fine. Thirty. Had my birthday two weeks ago. So yea..becoming a bit of an old spinster hehe.’

SirEltharin - ‘Belated happy birthday and..hardly a spinster, right? I mean. I’m 37 and haven’t found anyone yet. Heck. I guess I’m the old spinster here haha.’

LadyGrim - ‘I doubt the same rules apply for men.’

SirEltharin - ‘Trust me. We are all judged.’

Weeks passed and you and Sir kinda started to really get to know each other. You both lived in London - how practical -, were pretty enthused about sports, liked dogs (he had one, you wished you had one) and were close knit with your family. You with your sister, who already had a few kids. And he with his brothers. All with kids. Teasingly you donned each other the nicknames ‘Uncle and Aunty Spinster’.

You knew he had looked on your account. Seen some pictures of you. Even made a few comments on them and liked everything new you posted. But he, SirEltharin, remained mostly a mystery. You tried to talk yourself out of your curiosity, but couldn’t help but lay in bed fantasising about him. The only body part you had seen of him to this point were his hands, and they were actually quite pretty hands. Well manicured nails, strong fingers. It meant he probably wasn’t SUPER fat. So. That’s something.

Eventually the COVID-19 related regulations were becoming less restrictive and for the first time in months you could go back to work. The very news had made you both reluctant - you liked this new rhythm of painting and chatting with SirEltharin -, but also happy. Finally getting out of your tiny apartment, finally getting back to work. It may require some getting used to again, but this was just what you really needed.

In your enthusiasm you posted a picture on Instagram of your work outfit as it lay neatly spread out on your bed sheets. Your boss had made some quirky shirts to celebrate the reopening of the restaurant: “Brunello’s back” was written in fancy white lettering on the back of the shirt. You giggled as SirEltharin liked it within a split second.

SirEltharin - ‘Back to work hmm?’

LadyGrim - ‘Yep. Its all fun and games until the rat race starts again.’

SirEltharin - ‘Sounds Grim ;)’

LadyGrim - ‘You know me too well Sir. Anyways gotta go. Bye!’

SirEltharin - ‘See ya.’

See ya. You always thought it weird when strangers said that at the end of an online chat. Clients sometimes said it at the end of a phone reservation. That was understandable though; they were to come to the restaurant. But complete strangers? There was no such thing as “seeing you around”. However in the case of SirEltharin you were willing to let it slip. He probably didn’t think anything of it.

For a first night it was already quite hectic at Brunello’s. The room, although still far less bustling than usual, was filled. People were obviously eager to pick up their social lives again, the animated chatter of guests zooming around the room while you paced past the neatly spaced white clothed tables. Brunello’s was a rather luxurious restaurant and mostly businessmen and well-to-do families and friends came here to wine and dine. Tonight was special though, as a few celebrities were sitting in the far corner. Including a familiar face: Mr. Cavill, your eyes immediately falling on him as he seemingly was giving you a questioning look.

Perhaps he just wanted to order some drinks, you thought, halting next to the table and offering them your most kind, professional smile - ignoring the curious pair of blue eyes that tracked your every move.

‘Good evening and welcome to Brunello’s. Is there anything I can help you with?’ You spoke, the sentence fluently tipping of your tongue, your eyes wandering slowly over the guests. Most of them were unfamiliar to you. And Mr. Cavill..you tried to just not give him any attention as he was still burning his eyes into you.

‘We actually could use some advice on the wine. We’d like to start white, slightly fruity, perhaps French? Though the Italian one also sounds quite nice.’ A small blonde woman spoke, peering over her menu card.

As this was not your expertise, you called for the sommelier, stepping back to make room for him. And all the while you felt those eyes, gazing at you, almost brazenly. What was up with this Mr. Cavill? Or did you maybe have something funny on your face and did nobody dare to tell you? Shyly you excused yourself, leaving the guests in the capable hands of the sommelier, and quickly made for the women’s bathroom to check your face. 

There was nothing out of sort when you looked into the mirror. Strange. 

Peeking quickly on your phone, a habit when you were alone, you noticed a new message popping up on your Insta-chat.

SirEltharin - ‘I think we need to talk.’ - 30 seconds ago

--

Go to part 2

[cinnamonbunsenburner]

Love of a Billion Stars *Oikawa Tooru x reader Soulmate au*

- When you’ve heard of the concept of soulmates at school you were 8, you practically glowed with delight thinking that you probably have one of your own. Probably also thinking that it was ‘very easy’ to ‘feel’ if your soulmate was nearby.

- Lmao you believed that there was some sorta radar of something, or a bell that will go off if your soulmate moved

- *they’re not a dog y/n-chan wtf*

- But boy were you wrong 

- Then came your 16th birthday, the day you were supposed to have your mark that will give you a glimpse of what your soulmate likes in general. And on your 17th birthday, had you still not have found them, another mark will appear on your dominant hand

- You were imagining their symbol to be some sort of representation of who they are as a person, their inspirations in life, their dream career, and all that motivational shit

- To your surprise and demise, you were let down. Not really.. but the mark was very general and vague, and was NOT a symbol/ mark that will motivate you in moving through this life

- bread.

- fucking bread.

- what the fuck. 

- How in the world did you have to pair up your soul with someone who’s life inspiration was fucking bread

- What, did you need to go to France or shit to scavenge hunt your soulmate?

- ....

- no, y/n, you are not gonna think that that’s a good idea.

- no.

- Anyways

- Needless to say, you were quite irritated because how could you find someone that likes bread when literally everyone can like bread?! It’s very vague and looking for a person that has their life encompassed by a singular type of bread *milk bread to be exact* is very difficult considering that almost everyone likes that bread

- Fast forward to the time of your 17th birthday, you woke up with a dash of hope that maybe, JUST MAYBE, this soulmate of yours loves something else that’s more specific than a freaking piece of delicious milk bread.

- Alas you were surprised that this milk bread s/o of yours has their life revolved around volleyball!

- YEY they’re not completely as weird as you’d think they’d be lmao

- But, who were you to judge when you don’t even know what your mark was on them

- Maybe it was weirder than a piece of food

- Maybe it was a cow or dog or a fish 

- *very weird y/n, very weird indeed*

- The next day was a school day and you woke up bright and early, eager to hunt for your soulmate 

- You’re a third year at Seijoh and were quite popular because people thought your mark was  ‘intriguing’ *pfft* 

- anddddd because you’re gorgeous as heck ;]]

- Admirers flocked you, thinking that they might be your soulmate 

- They showed you their mark that was also some kind of pastry and that you guys paired ‘cause they also liked the pastry that was on the pack of your hand

- *you have like a line of milk bread bois at your disposal and it was kind of annoying so you give a different excuse every single time they try to confess to you. Such a player, y/n-chan*

- “l/n-san! I’ve heard that your mark was milk bread and I love that! Look, I have your *insert your favourite pastry* as my mark”

- *you were surprised because it was the first time that someone actually came up to you with your favourite pastry. But you were NOT feeling this dude. 

- C’mon, where’s the zing you were expecting and- and the slow motion eye contact-- thE ROMANCE?! Honestly, you were about to say yes ya’ll were soulmates BUT the gut feeling says that this was not it

- “Uh, sorry.. I’m lactose intolerant”

- *nice excuse y/n-chan, v v convincing*

- Then you just skrrt skrrt away ‘cause you may have a fan base but you were NOT gonna comfort that guy who’s borderline looking that he was gonna cry- nope; in the middle of the hallway, of all places. Gee, theatre boys are different

- In the back of your mind, you thought that the theatre dude was just acting that out in hopes of guilt tripping you. 

- trust issues, m8, trust issues are present because of these thoughts acCKK

- You sighed to yourself and went spy ninja sneak sneak towards the Aoba Johsai VBC, hoping that someone there might be your soulmate

- ‘cause you were v v tired of the self-proclaimed milk bread bois that was your fan club 

- But, you didn’t expect much once you were at the gym because there’s literally thousands of people in the vbc industry that might potentially like milk bread 

- You were thinking of maybe going out of town to hunt for your soulmate but you thought that you were probably gonna get strangled by your parents at how much money you were going to spend for finding a person

- *yes, you were getting desperate because you wanna FINALLY stop at being a third wheel when your friends were with their s/o*

- and maybe because you just want to hog someone else’s sweater and clothes and to do the premarital hand-holding oop

- ...

- You peeked inside the gym doors and was startled when this guy’s serve slammed to their opponent’s court 

- You’ve watched a couple volleyball matches when the second mark appeared to learn your soulmate’s passion. Awee

- And you just know that that killer serve could knock you out

- It was as if the universe was playing some sort of joke to you that his next serve landed out of bounds and rebounded towards your direction

- You shrieked in a banshee-like manner and moved out of the way just in time

- ‘I just saw my life flash before my eyes holy shit. So that’s what it feels like huh’

- While you were lost in your thought for a moment, a tall *and beautiful as fuck* guy went out the door and approached your still shocked form

- “Oh! Didn’t see you there. Sorry about that, my bad”. the tall guy said, rubbing his nape sheepishly, his eyes naturally falling on the hand that you raised up to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear

- “Uh.. no! It was on me. ‘cause I was spying- I mean sight seeing-- UH WATCHING you guys play hahaha” *real smooth y/n, v v smooth*

- He promptly reached down for the ball near his feet and you got a glimpse of his dominant hand

- His mark was a star constellation,,, your favourite star constellation and beside that was a symbol of your dream career

- “Hey, quick question... do you like bread?”

- The tall guy looked down at you and grinned his pretty boy grin *damn you is whipped.*

- *your gut feeling was going haywire holy shit*

- “Why of course beautiful stranger! Milk bread to be exact ‘cause my mom bakes it so deliciously”, tall guy said

- You’re heart flipped and skipped a beat-- scratch that, your heart skipped a whole nth of beats that you might as well be dead

- “We have a practice match going on right now, my lovely fan. If you have something to give me, you can still wait until later! Wouldn’t want to be punched by Iwa-chan again..”

- And with that, he turned away to go inside the gym once again

- “Cassiopeia..” you muttered loud enough for him to hear as he passed by you

- “Sorry?”, he stopped in his tracks and turned to you with a shocked look on his face

- “Cassiopeia” you repeated once more, with a shaky voice. “It’s the constellation on your hand, right?”

- Oikawa, with his popularity, had been approached by plenty of his admirers, often claiming that they love astronomy and that they knew what kind of constellation his mark bears

- But when he asked them with his usual flirty voice he perfected to please the people around him, that person stammers and just said a random planet of some sort

- ‘does this look like a planet to you-’ he thought and never had he faked a smile more than when admirers fake their interest in astronomy to get close to him

- While he does admire all the courage and effort they put in confessing to him, he also hates the fact that they give him this silver lining of hope that he finally has someone whom he can connect with emotionally as they both have a piece of each others’ soul

- So when you uttered the correct kind of constellation, he was frozen

- His mind ran miles per second, all of it consisting of ‘what ifs’ and ‘too good to be true’

- Both of you stared at each other, heart’s unknowingly beating as fast as the other

- “Oi Shittykawa, what’s taking you so long-”

- “Iwa-chan, take charge for me will you?”

- “What? Coach’ll get mad you know!”

- “Just sub someone in”

- Iwaizumi stalked closer to you guys and was prepared to beat Oikawa’s ass off but before he could assault his lame best friend,

- “Code star, iwa-chan.”

- The buff ace froze in his actions and promptly nodded silently and closed the gym doors

- The bestfriends talked before about what they’d do if they found their respective soulmates. Iwaizumi proclaimed that it was rather childish of Oikawa to have a ‘secret code’  just because his nerdy best friend believed that the aliens might take away his soulmate once they finally find them 

- Though oddly enough, the shorter male agreed to this *pfftt*

- Finally alone, never once had you both took your eyes away from each other.

- “Uh- are you- are we?” You gestured to the two of you

- “I- I think so??” Oikawa flushed, he was NOT used to being all blushy around people, esp since he has a large fanbase

- Ya’ll were awkward as shit lmao, its adorable

- “... You want some milk bread at the convenience store nearby?” 

- You yelled at yourself internally, ‘WTF BRAIN?! COULD”VE BEEN A COFFEE IN A COFFEE SHOP JFC I am overheating sm’

- He gave you one of the softest smiles he himself never thought he could unintentionally do

- “I’d love that!”

[bearpillowmonster]

FF6 Review (Overall)

I'm going to rate similar to the way I did FF7 Remake, but in only 2 parts, so there will be an overall review then a separate deep dive into the characters.

I played this game using an emulator and I'm not ashamed of it because I used the FF6 Relocalization project which I'll link

Basically nerd talk and explanation of what that means: It's basically a retranslation of the original SNES script using the GBA port as a base and mixing and matching some of the best parts so there you go. They have a way to mod the PC version to have the OG sprite work because sheesh is that thing ugly and they also have a way to resprite and resound the GBA version but this is the easiest and logical solution to get the best of all worlds. There's also "Anthology" which is the PS1 port that adds some CG custscenes which I just watched off of YouTube because it's only a few of the major scenes.

Anyways, yeah, I'm glad I emulated it especially because of the fast forward function. That first chunk would've been rough without it because you're left just waiting for one of your party's commands to be ready but it eases up as the game goes on because you get pretty busy with the combat.

I'm not a fan of turn-based RPGs which was the main reason I haven't touched a 2D FF game until now so this is my first and oh boy, what a first!

Could you just watch a playthrough or read the story then? I wouldn't recommend it. There are certain things that I feel are better experienced.

Gameplay actually wasn't all that gruesome, as I mentioned, it got better thoughout but I know for a fact that I didn't do everything it had to offer because I see other people doing it online and I just had no idea how. That's not to say it's not newcomer friendly though, I mean I beat the game, didn't I? I think it would've just gotten complicated and made me confused if I learned how to do everything in the game anyway.

I found myself liking some of the mechanics and recognizing some of the systems from games as late as today (I'm not sure if this is where they started but I wouldn't be surprised). The random encounters weren't all bad because of the emulator's speed up function but there were definitely times where it felt a little out of hand with the amount I was getting. (I'm looking at you Cave to the Sealed Gate!) So it's all pretty familiar, though there are "Relics" which are kind of like Materia but each member has 2 each where it gives you an ability, f.e. Reflect, every attack hits, extra power, auto cast protect, heal with every step, etc.

One of the drawbacks of using BSNES though was that there was no toggle for a L or R shoulder button, just turbo and while that's not a big problem, that is the button to Flee a battle, so I just never fled. There is an item that lets you escape any dungeon or battle but I didn't really use it, same with the permanent item that Mog has in the cave (pretty late in the game). I'd rather there be a repel than the warp stone, but I figured that if I just fought whenever the opp arrived then I wouldn't have to grind, which is another thing I hate about RPGs! Luckily, I didn't really feel the need to grind other than for the ending.

Difficulty wasn't really a grind but make sure once you get to the floating island, that you know what you're doing because that level was annoying and I felt a very stong spike in difficulty as soon as I landed on it. Another thing is that sometimes it'd glitch and an enemy would have infinite health so I'd just sit there on fast forward, watching and watching then finally use Libra and no damage was made, might be an emulator thing, might be a game thing and although rare, it still happened.

There are these sections called scenarios where the game branches off into multiple different paths and you can choose which order to follow the specific sets of characters. I really like that aspect and makes it seem less linear and interactive because it's letting you choose how to tell the story. I have a thing for games that let me interact with it (That opera scene is pretty interactive too).

For a 2D sprite game, it has quite a personality with its cutscenes. They can be very cinematic and defintely makes the characters just that more engaging with some of their mannerisms.

Ok, I get it now. The music is bomb. If anything, that would be worth doing a remake for, to get orchestral and updated versions of some of the themes. (I'd probably cry at that opera scene) But Celes' theme is probably my favorite. The PC port has pretty good remixes for the most part though.

Could this use a remake? It's a trivial matter because I think a good majority of fans want it to be remade and I understand why but at the same time I understand the other side of the argument as well. This was the last 2D FF game and that's special, in a way, the story kind of reflects that. And I think with all the personality comes a bit of caution because you might see something in these characters or scenes that may be misinterpreted or done differently in a remake, similar to how you read a book and just imagine how it's playing out. I think it lays enough ground so that you don't "have to interpret" like with most NES games (how the Super Mario Movie was born) from an outsider's point of view, it may first seem that way though. (myself included (yes, I know this was SNES era. Shut up!))

What would I want out of a remake? I would want the airship to return and be able to move around freely but keep the towns pretty faithful (which makes for more linear opportunities). I could see Edgar's tools being used similar to Barrett's but we have "First Soldier" now which is a 3PS Battle Royale, why not have his tools play similar to that? Then actually give him story opportunities to pick up his tools rather than "just because you bought them" It would be a nice natural progression. I would suggest the same with Sabin and Cyan, have them learn their Blitz and Bushido moves by being taught by Duncan, you do learn one move from Duncan in the vanilla game but I'd see it as more opportunity to build your characters and make it feel rewarded. So, in those aspects, I would like to see FF6 remade or improved but as for everything else, they should keep it a lot similar to the original than FF7R did. I think that's where a lot of the criticism with FF7R came from (as well as what I mentioned in the previous paragraph) While I'd prefer a gameplay overhaul similar to what they did with R, I'd rather keep the essence. There aren't sequels or spinoffs or anything of this game so this is all it has (unless you count the ports but that's minimal).

In the CHARACTERS section, I compliment the side-quest system but I would like there to be a better indication as to "what" you're doing, rather than just looking up the next steps or be left to travel around until the goal is clear. They have the quest completion menu as well as waypoints in FF7R, I could see that being put to good use in a game like this. It would also be cool to actually "visibly" wear the gear that you equip to your character but I understand why that isn't utilized in most of the games (probably makes for better character models) especially considering most of these characters' costumes could use an update. You didn't get to use the Magitek suits nearly as much as I thought you would from the marketing and even the dang cover and logo, so a remake could improve on that as well. Another small complaint is that it doesn't tell you what the items do WHILE you're in battle, only when you're in the menu, sorting them and while some are staples like Phoenix Down, I still don't remember what the heck a 'Gold Needle' does.

Overall I'd probably rate the FF games that I've played (but maybe not finished all of) as such: FF7 > FF13 > FF6 > CRISIS CORE > FF15 > FF12 but I think 6 and 13 are kind of interchangeable because if you said one over the other, I wouldn't really argue.

[undertalethingems]

Bark at the Moon Chapter 9: Setup and Punchline

<Previous / Next>

Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None

Chapter Summary: Terrorizing Snowdin is fun enough, but Flowey wants more--where's Papyrus in all of this...?

Flowey suppressed a giggle as he hid beneath the lowest branches of a pine. Two monsters--a purple deer and a double-eared fox--were hiking just outside Snowdin. Idiots. Didn't they know there was a beast running loose?!

Flowey's smile turned jagged. There was a crack, and plumes of snow burst around the hapless monsters. Withdrawing his vines, he sent them running with a shower of pellets, delighting in their screams. He'd gotten bored of killing, but instilling fear in people was still fun and he had the perfect scapegoat.

Well, more like scape-dragon. His little rumor had done the trick. Even if he couldn't get Sans to attack, the townsfolk were so used to nothing happening it was easy to whip them into a panic. A prod here, a nudge there, a hail of bullets in between, and all of Snowdin had been buzzing within a week. He'd given it another just to really let it set in--and then let his pet go.

Flowey hadn't actually seen Sans in a while now, though he'd noticed his tracks around town and heard him howling at night. To think the toughest opponent he'd ever faced could be reduced to hiding in the shadows and relying on people's trash to get by! Though... that's more or less what all of monster kind was doing... A simple fact of life wasn't the best insult. Flowey frowned, his gloating spoiled. So much for that.

His fun over for now, he left his hiding spot to check in on the latest with the Guard. They usually met around this time to discuss the day's orders now that living in Snowdin had actually become eventful. Flowey liked keeping track of just how much chaos he'd caused, so he popped up beneath another tree and eagerly listened in.

"Undyne should be here soon, right?" Doggo was saying, and there was a rustle--presumably one of the Dogi nodding.

"We're supposed to meet with her at nine sharp. I wonder what our orders will be now that we know the beast is real," Dogamy said, and Doggo growled.

"I don't like it. We can't smell it, barely anyone's seen it--and its tracks just disappear into nowhere! Maybe it did eat Sans and stole his weird... appearing without moving thing..."

Flowey stifled a laugh. How were they all so dumb?!

Dogamy sighed. "Those brothers sure were something... at least Undyne told us Papyrus is okay."

Huh. So someone knew where Papyrus was...

"I've just gotta wonder about Sans after he was so worked up... and then he got sick, and we haven't seen him since. I hope he hasn't... you know..."

Doggo huffed. "Yeah. Damn. Oh hey--there's Greater Dog with the rest of 'em, guess it's time. Undyne's probably two steps behind 'em."

Flowey ducked a little closer to the ground to see better. He could hear the clanking of armor as Greater and Lesser Dogs trotted up with Dogaressa in tow. All the dogs shuffled around each other happily, sniffing and yipping; Flowey gagged as the Dogi kissed each other sloppily. Then someone started the morning howl, and they collectively threw their heads back to cry, their hot breath sending plumes of vapor into the chilled air.

Flowey found it all incredibly dumb.

Metal clanking rose over their voices, and their howls died away as they turned to salute their captain. She returned the gesture as she surveyed her troops, and sighed. She looked troubled.

"Anything to report before I begin?"

"No ma'am," Dogaressa replied firmly, "to our knowledge, there have been no further incidents. What are our orders for the day?"

Undyne nodded. "Right. We need to see if we can capture this... creature. It's clearly not a human, which means it has to be a monster somehow, so I don't want anyone hurting it. Whoever they are WON'T escape justice. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am!" they chorused.

"Good. Now, if it's scavenging from people's trash... that's gotta mean it's hungry."

"I can relate," Doggo murmured wryly, and Dogamy elbowed him.

"Ahem," Undyne growled, then continued. "What I was saying was, we might be able to lure it out with food. Today, I want everyone to scout out places that look promising--where there's been a lot of tracks, places that naturally make escape difficult. We're NOT letting this thing get away."

Flowey quietly scoffed--good luck with that plan. Sans wouldn't be found if he didn't want to be, and he couldn't be caught so easily either. He would know--he'd had to keep him tied up personally at all times just to keep him from disappearing on a whim. This would be hilarious. Even more so if he messed with them the whole time. The guards broke their huddle to get to work, and Flowey followed with full intent to sabotage.

He dumped snow on the Dogi, threw a stick for Greater Dog that sent him skidding across a patch of ice, and kept pulling on Doggo's tail when he wasn't looking; Undyne was harder to mess with, but he still managed to clock her in the helmet with a big icicle. By the time the morning shift was over, he'd made a thorough nuisance of himself and was quite pleased.

"Maybe this beast is actually a ghost, and they're playing poltergeist with us," Doggo growled dejectedly during one of their breaks, and Greater Dog whined in agreement.

"We'll question the ghost cousins if we have to, but I want everyone to focus on our goal," Undyne commanded. "There's already been one incident today. Let's do everything we can to make sure there's not another. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

Flowey had gotten bored of messing with them, so he left them and settled for poking around town to see what other havoc he could cause while the Guard was occupied. There wasn't much--everyone had taken to keeping their things and themselves indoors, so the most he could do was tap on windows and scratch at walls. But not being able to see the fear on his victim's faces took the fun out of it, and he grew bored of that too. He might as well wait for Undyne to get home so he could find out where Papyrus was.

He wasn't sad to exchange Snowdin's ice for Waterfall's mud, popping up in the corridor just outside Undyne's home. He'd hang out here, then maybe catch her attention as she passed by.

The wait was almost unbearable, but he finally heard her clanking down the passage and wriggled with excitement. Finally, he'd be able to question her--wait, where was she going? She'd passed by and continued down the hall. Flowey lowered a brow, and ducked down to follow her. At one point he overshot--she'd stopped somewhere behind him, at a cleft in the rock walls that wasn't really a path. She sprang up, and he burrowed as fast as he could to catch up before he lost sight of her completely.

He came out in time to see her finish vaulting up the walls and frowned. It could take him hours to find a route through the rock... but he didn't want to keep sitting around. He wanted--needed--to know what Undyne was doing, because this pathway was new. He grit his teeth, and sent out his roots to feel for weak points in the rock.

He finally emerged on a landing some twenty feet above the spot he'd left, and muddy boot prints confirmed this was where Undyne had come through. He peered down the corridor they led into, and cautiously made his way forward. There wouldn't be so many places to hide here--but not far from the exit, he found a nook between a few stalagmites and hung back, listening as Undyne spoke.

"Yeah, sorry about that. There's just... a lot going on with this investigation. Nothing serious, don't worry! But it's got the Guard all worked up and someone's gotta keep 'em on task, y'know?"

"Of course!" Papyrus replied.

Flowey frowned. Papyrus was way out here? Why?!

"Are you sure I can't help yet?"

"No, we can handle it," Undyne replied firmly. "We're close to a breakthrough, I can feel it!"

He heard Papyrus huff. "I'm sure your investigation would be over instantly if I helped, but fine... Anyway! You wanted a sparring session tonight!"

"YEAH! Gotta stay sharp, especially now that there's an active threat. Plus, you're perfect for helping me against--" Undyne cut herself off.

"Against anything!" Papyrus supplied.

"Yeah," Undyne agreed. "Alright, let's get into positions... and, whenever you're ready!"

Flowey heard the familiar ping of a blue attack, and Undyne was already laughing eagerly.

"Right off the bat! Hell yeah, bring it ON!"

Flowey listened to them clash, wishing there was some way to watch--but he hadn't found any more weak points in the surrounding rock. Drilling straight through would take forever--they'd be done by then. So he sat back and listened, and flinched at the hum of a 'special attack'. Flowey shook his head. 'Gaster Blaster' was a cooler name than that, but he never could get Papyrus to use it.

"Hah! You're hardly TRYING!" Undyne taunted as she undoubtedly summoned a ton of spears. "Now, dodge THIS!"

He could almost picture Papyrus darting around each crashing spear--but the sounds he heard didn't match. They were scratchy, clicky, came too close together to make sense with his mental image. Flowey furrowed his brow. What the heck was Papyrus doing? Walking on bone stilts?

A raspy yelp startled him from his thoughts.

"Oh geez, sorry!" Undyne called. "Are you okay?"

More clicking sounds, and Papyrus cleared his throat. "Yes! I was simply startled by that arrangement, that's all! It was very good!"

"Fuhuhuhu, thanks! I based it on a thing Alphys showed me--I'm gonna surprise the humans by using their own tactics against them!"

"Clever! It certainly caught me off guard! But soon! I'll be on the Guard! Nyeh heh heh heh heh!"

Undyne burst out laughing. "Not so fast! You gotta get through me first, punk! Come on! Prove you've got what it takes!"

Their sparring match began anew, and Flowey continued to eavesdrop. Papyrus seemed to be using his special attack more often than usual--maybe he was getting over thinking he had to 'save it' to keep it special. But... oddly... it sounded like Undyne was holding back? For all her boasting, he could hear it--she wasn't using as many spears as she usually did.

Papyrus confirmed it. "Hmph! You tell me to go all out! But you! You're holding back on me! You think I can't take it?"

"No!"

Papyrus gave an offended gasp. "You don't?!"

"No! That's not what I meant!" Undyne retorted. "I meant 'no' I think you can! I just! Don't--I don't feel like it! Ngaaaah!"

Well, that sounded like the usual number of spears.

"See! I knew you could do better!" Papyrus cheered when the salvo was over. "I even got hit a few times! But this battle isn't over yet!"

"... I dunno, Papyrus. I don't wanna hurt you anymore."

A huff. "You keep saying that! Or things like it! I know you're a very strong monster--you're the Captain! But! You seem to be afraid of everyone else hurting me too, and though it's true I don't wish to be seen, that is not the same... as being able to handle myself in battle! Nyeh!"

Undyne grunted, apparently taken off-guard by his attack. Flowey pondered his words--he didn't want to be seen? He was Papyrus, he always wanted to be seen...

"That's not it!" Undyne grunted. "It's--attacking you right now... feels like attacking a puppy!"

There was a long pause as the battle ground to a halt, but Papyrus finally spoke.

"... I see."

"No, I mean--it's just--you're already so nice! And then, everything that's happened getting you down--I dunno, it doesn't feel fair anymore."

"Our fights are very fair, Undyne! Perhaps the most fair! I am not, despite appearances, a puppy, but a very capable and dedicated warrior!"

Despite appearances!? Flowey's mind raced. If he was right--no, no, he needed to see. He hoped this little chat would wrap up soon, it was getting in the way!

Undyne sighed heavily. "I know, but... Listen, forget I said anything. You're a great fighter. There's just been a bunch of junk that doesn't make sense lately. Let's head home and get dinner, that'll clear both our heads."

"... Okay. I'm sure whatever feelings you're struggling with will be subdued by punching vegetables!"

"Yeah! Need any help packing up?"

"No, I can manage!"

Flowey cheered internally, then ducked back and waited. He could hear Undyne's armor clanging as she approached, and the rustling as Papyrus gathered up whatever stuff he had. And then, more clicking, a steady rhythm against the cavern floor. Flowey practically vibrated with excitement as it grew louder, nearer. The hall darkened briefly as Undyne filled the entrance then passed, and then it darkened again--though not as much, and Flowey kept his eyes riveted to the opening.

Oh.

OH.

There it was. Flowey watched, tucked in his corner, as a tall skeletal creature walked by with an easy grace, its slender claws clicking on the stone. It carried its long head high, with bright orange eye lights reflecting on the corridor walls. A red scarf was draped around its neck, some sort of brightly patterned sash or skirt wrapped around its hips, and a light satchel was slung from its tall dorsal spines. A long, whiplike tail trailed behind, flicking idly as it walked.

Flowey almost couldn't believe his eyes as he passed by, but there was no mistake. It was so familiar, but different. No wonder Sans hadn't been bothered by threats of Papyrus finding out what he was... because he was like that too. They were both freaks who didn't want anyone finding out. A wide grin spread on Flowey's face, and he ducked out to go somewhere private--somewhere he could laugh freely.

Oh, this was all too perfect! He had to do something with this--and already had the groundwork laid out. Now, to figure out just how to use it...

[fermented-writers-block]

Just recently, I stumbled across @owls-house‘s post on MSN’s article about some of the first look details of The Owl House while looking through some of the older posts about upcoming news on the show before it came out, and this particular section caught my eye in light of everything we currently know about the Boiling Isles and the cast of the show:

The Owl House:

The Owl House is a living structure that Eda has charmed so that she could live there and be safe from outside forces. Quaint and cottage-like on the outside, with a storefront facade, the inside of the Owl House is full of secret rooms, with a labyrinth for a basement. Hooty, the door knocker, serves as the home’s defense system.

Given how the Owl House is supposed to be Eda’s safe haven and how she hasn’t really shown that much of an interest in puzzle solving and mysteries, the two bolded details immediately stood out to me. 

I mean, from what we’ve seen of her, Eda has never really struck me as someone who’d construct or even want to deal with a labyrinth in the first place - particularly one that’s completely unnecessary if its supposed to be a basement to simply just store things in - and I very much doubt Eda would install a whole bunch of secret rooms into her house that presumably go unused when she likes to collect things so often, let alone go through all the trouble of making entire rooms dedicated to being secret when we’ve seen her be content with the amount of rooms she already uses.

And that’s without asking where and what the heck these secret rooms are supposed to be about specifically, as while they are secret and thus understandably not generally supposed to be easily found, they would have to be VERY small rooms to fit inside with the relative dimensions of all the rooms we’ve seen so far compared to the size of the exterior, and that’s without asking about what purpose they would even serve.

As for the apparent labyrinth, such a word tends to evoke the image of some incredibly huge and complex maze-like structure with single overall path and no dead ends - although it’s often been used interchangeably used with ‘maze,’ which is basically a labyrinth with dead ends, so who knows what it actually looks like here - and yet there is no sign of any kind of tunnel when an animated Hooty stood up in Hooty’s Moving Hassle let alone hardly any implied space for the kind of grand, sprawling structure the word ‘labyrinth’ evokes.

Now, I’ve brought this up in my last theory about the Owl House as a structure, but as a brief summary, I deduced that it is not a place that Eda had constructed completely all on her own, but rather an amalgamation of a bunch of parts of different buildings that had gotten attached to one center section: aka the middle part of the house with white brickwork - or the Owl Temple as I’ve dubbed it before.

And after looking through the flooring and walls of the rooms we’ve seen so far of the Owl House, I’ve concluded that the labyrinth at the very least is located or accessible from either underneath the carpet in the living room:

Or somewhere inside the parapet/battlement thing that serves as the floor of Eda’s balcony:

Obviously, considering the likely size of both of these rooms in relation to the dimensions of the house, they must be hidden away by magic, whether it be through magical pocket dimensions or the like, but this just raises the questions of why these rooms exist in the first place.

For me, I can see only two possible explanations for both questions, both of which I’ve outlined extensively down below:

TLDR: Either the original people who used the Owl Temple a long time ago had build those rooms into it, or they are a potentially significant part of Hooty’s biology as the house itself

Option 1: They were built by the original inhabitants of the Owl Temple

Like I’ve discussed before, I suspect that - from the owl mural and the way the curtains are arranged - the living room used to be used as an altar or ritual room for some kind of owl spirit/deity, so following off that kind of conclusion, it’s possible that the rest of the temple was designed in a similar fashion related to the Owl Deity.

Perhaps these secret rooms are only unlockable through puzzles and riddles to play into how owls are usually portrayed as wise old creatures, hiding away ‘treasures’ not of gold and wealth, but rather of information and books. Maybe these secret rooms could have been like places of study where one could peruse ancient tomes or collect knowledge without being disturbed, or they could simply be full on ordinary rooms that people lived and slept in but with doors that can only be unlocked in a particular way ala the Ravenclaw dorms in Harry Potter.

As for the labyrinth, it could have been meant as a way to test one’s mind and observation skills/as part of one’s initiation, requiring an attentive eye to detail or such to figure out the one single route in and out of it. Maybe it holds some kind of great secret of knowledge or an important ancient artifact that only those who can figure out the path can find/use.

Of course, there IS the small chance it functioned more like a quirky cult with the labyrinth posing as part of kind of bizarre ritual or being used for sacrificial duty, but I very much doubt that this would even get past the censors let alone even got implemented with how un-cult-like the glimpses of the base design of the Owl Temple has been so far.

That said, given how I’ve speculated that something happened that led to the Owl Temple being abandoned, falling into disrepair and obscurity long before Eda first discovered it, she likely has next to absolutely no idea about the existence of at least most of these rooms, so it would be interesting to see exactly how the cast will eventually and inevitably find and explore these hidden rooms and labyrinth, especially with the chance at discovering long-forgotten knowledge or even uncovering dark secrets and old truths that have been suppressed and forgetten by the present day.

However, though I think this explanation and ramifications thereof would be interesting to explore in its own right, I can’t help but think that the second, more likely explanation would easily expand upon and add quite the intrigue to a particular character I’ve had my eye on for a good while:

OPTION 2: They are a part of Hooty and are only increasing in size and number as he grows

We all know that Hooty IS the house itself as demonstrated by his manipulation of various parts of the structure and from statements by Eda, but whereas the prior explanation was based on the idea that the old inhabitants had created the secret rooms and labyrinth themselves before Hooty came into the equation, here I’d like to propose that the rooms are a side result of Hooty slowly regenerating back into a full sized Owl Temple.

With the kind of importance and likely amount of people that would be present or living in such a place, it seems rather likely that what we see of the Owl Temple in the Owl House is but a small-ish remnant of the entire thing, especially with the doorframe in Eda’s room that most likely connected to another section or large area that she either couldn’t salvage in an intact-enough state or didn’t care about to bring with her.

However, though Eda’s additions seems to have been integrated relatively neatly with what she found of the Owl Temple for Hooty to probably be able to affect them, they are likely nowhere near enough to make up for the rest of the missing Temple. 

As such, Hooty could potentially and unknowingly be growing new rooms to make up for the rest of the Temple - kind of like a yolk becoming a baby chick inside of its shell, forming organs and bones and etc until it’s big and strong enough to emerge. 

Though here, instead of breaking apart the foundations and outside of the Owl House entirely, perhaps this transformation would be more like the structure suddenly expanding outwards and quickly stretching everything about itself similar a video about plant growth on fast forward, up until the outer dimensions match the ever increasing inner dimensions. 

With this kind of analogy, it’d make sense why Eda wouldn’t know about these rooms and why Hooty wouldn’t bring them up, as to the former, they literally weren’t there when she salvaged what she could of the Temple, and for the latter, they’re just such a natural part of his body that he simply doesn’t notice.

Now, why I think that this would add an interesting layer of mystique to Hooty’s character is because of the important question of - if and when he finds out about these rooms - whether Hooty would be able to consciously control their structure and arrangement however he wants. 

After all, if the answer is YES, then we might get to begin to see the full capacity of both Hooty’s power and his patience if he gets ticked off and decides to turn the inside of the house into this:

It would not only be an amazing opportunity for some glorious mind screwy animation with the transformation of a location we’ve all become accustomed to into something straight out of M C Escher’s nightmares, but would also give an opportunity to build Hooty’s character MUCH further beyond the complete butt monkey he’s been portrayed as.

Outside of Eda calling him a “state of the art defense system” in the first episode, he has barely gotten any respect and has never been treated seriously compared to even King. And even when he seems to have temporarily died in The Intruder given the crossed-out eyes and the lights going out in the house when they’re apparently directly controlled by him, Luz and King didn’t really stay that concerned for long. Heck, King was more annoyed at hearing Hooty’s voice again rather than being happy that he was still alive.

After enduring all of that, it’s a wonder that Hooty hasn’t snapped any sooner, so how he’d react when he finally can get people to listen to him without them being able to just simply ignore him or leave would open up the gates to his inner psyche and how he really feels about everyone and the way they treat him. 

Exactly how he’d manipulate the interior dimensions would be extremely telling of what kind of character he truly is at heart, what with the sheer kind of power trip from being in complete control over such a space vs how he would be calmed down from it, AND it’d mark a major and permanent shift in how everyone treats the being they live in on a daily basis due to how much mutual trust and respect both Hooty and his inhabitants would likely have to rebuild in each other to be able to go about their day and keep their relationships intact.

That, and it’d be a REALLY interesting glimpse into the full eldritch nature of a house with many more rooms on the inside than the outside suggests, one that actually has a mind and consciousness to drive it and thus one that you don’t really want to piss off if you can. Just think of all the fun horror/mind screw that could be done with such an episode about this.

Of course, this does bring into question exactly what is the deal with the labyrinth, but running off the seemingly one-time joke from the first episode where - instead of simply opening the door like he’s done in every other episode - Hooty lets everyone in by opening his mouth and even burping, the entire living room could easily be equated as Hooty’s stomach. 

I’ve discussed this with @sepublic​ a bit, but because of how he can stretch vertically instead of just his neck as shown above, as well as the likely placement of the labyrinth underneath the living room, I suspect that the labyrinth might be doubling as Hooty’s intestines given the way real intestines fold and twist around while also having one single route through them like a labyrinth does.

That, and that Hooty may have gained Eda’s trust as a good enough defense system for her to rely on by being able to do this to whoever tries to attack the house from time to time:

I would not be surprised if Luz or Eda or whoever checks out the labyrinth later in the series might find the remains of some of Eda’s old enemies down there.

That said, considering how much bigger the original Owl Temple might possibly be than the Owl House, Hooty would likely require quite a LOT of material/energy to build back those rooms and other parts of the Temple. And given how he doesn’t exactly seem to passively be feeding off ambient magic or something alongside the comparison to intestines, well...

It just makes one wonder just what state those remains are in, let alone how recognizable they even still are in the first place.

[ka-za-ri]

Demon Brothers and Mid-Autumn Festival

Happy early 中秋節 !This spawned from me crying over pretty mooncake packaging. And then I fell into a hole of matching the boys to boxes and this Mildy AU stuff happened. Uh... so I know this isn’t the only way to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, but it’s mostly based on my experiences and nostalgia. So excuse the super self-indulgence and have fun~ I tried to include links to things that might need some more explaining.

It’s my first time writing headcanons so pls be gentle on me .･ﾟﾟ･(／ω＼)･ﾟﾟ･.

Lucifer

“Mid-autumn festival? I may have heard of this before in passing.” 

“What is this? A Jewelry box?” 

Don’t tell him how long you went looking for the perfect packaging and flavor. 

Doesn’t celebrate the whole week, but will at least sit down with you for a night to share mooncakes

Prefers them without the yolk, but he’s not going to complain if they’re there.

Neatly cuts the mooncake into quarters and has to have it with tea 

Likes the wintermelon filled kind the best. The chewy texture goes better with tea. 

He’ll make an exception for black sesame lotus paste though

Unfortunately too busy to do any sort of moon viewing with you since he’s swamped with paperwork. 

At least he’ll share mooncake and tea with you while he does it 

Keeps the box and actually uses it as a lamp from time to time

You find out he’s using the tins to store wax seals and stamps too

He doesn’t have time for it, but appreciates the small bottle of osmanthus wine you leave at his door at the end of the festival. 

Finds you a month later on the next full moon to sit down and drink it with you. Offer him a Laopo Bing or leftover mooncake to go with it as a snack. (Of course there’s leftover mooncake) 

You share tea and cakes while sitting on a pavilion overlooking a lake. The moon’s reflected on the surface. Lotus flowers are blooming and the sounds of cicadas are in the distance. Wispy clouds float past the full moon but don’t really hinder its brightness. 

He brushes a stray strand of hair out of the way before maybe sneaking in a kiss or two. He’s much more entranced by how you look lit by the moon and not the moon itself.

Mammon

Got gifted a box of them from a designer as a gift after a photoshoot

You may or may not ogle at how pretty the packaging is. He teases you and taunts you with it. Of course they would only gift something so majestic to The Great Mammon. 

Doesn’t bother cutting into them, just eats them like a cookie 

Until he gets to the yolk 

“The heck is this? Who puts salted egg yolks into a sweet thing?” 

Looks up how much the mooncake box from a designer might sell for. 

So many gifted mooncakes

But he doesn’t eat any, unless you show interest in them. 

You find chocolate flavored ones among all the boxes 

Still doesn’t cut the mooncake up, but at least there’s enough to share. He’s less traumatized now that he’s had one that doesn’t have yolks in it. 

Spends the rest of the night sampling all of the weird ‘haute couture’ flavors of the year. 

The strangest one is the truffle and ham flavored one. 

He nearly spits that one in your face

Both of you are rushing to the kitchen to find something to wash away that taste. 

Thankfully there’s the bottle of Osmanthus wine you’ve saved for this occasion

He takes a giant gulp and nearly gags at how strong it is. 

Now you have a partially tipsy Mammon on your hands. 

Take him out on a long moonlit walk to get him sober. 

The air is crisp, the moon is bright, the leaves are just starting to turn color. There’s just a hint of dampness in the air but it’s refreshing. He takes your hand as you’re walking to make sure you don’t wander off. 

Ends the night kissing your forehead and thanking you for sharing so many memories with him this year. 

Doesn’t try to keep any of the boxes and tries to sell them all off if he can unless you find one that catches your fancy, then he’ll just give that one to you.

Leviathan

“Oh my gosh, it’s the Super Rare Limited Edition Ruri-Chan as Chang’e mooncake box?!?!?!?!?!?!” 

He doesn’t care what the flavor is. It’s Ruri-chan

Takes more care of the box than he does the actual mooncake. 

Prefers the small custard filled/lava ones 

They’re easier for snacking while he’s prepping for a raid. 

Raids don’t stop for holidays. Gaming must continue

Invites you to join him one night and gifts you the limited equipment from the current Mid-Autumn festival event in game. 

“It’ll look cuter on your character than mine.” Don’t question him on how long it took him to farm that gear. 

You end up playing games with him all night long and forget to watch the moon. 

Instead, the two of you decide to just watch the sun rise while snacking on the last of the cakes. 

Tea is in order, those things got really sweet really fast. 

The two of you are so loopy from staying up all night, you giggle at the dumbest things as you’re trying to sneak into the kitchen to get something to drink. 

“How long did you wait in line for that box?” 

Don’t tell him you just pre-ordered it like a normal person would. “Oh, maybe a few hours.” 

“Well, I guess I owe you a few hours of time as a thank you.” 

You nearly forget that tea’s done and almost wake up the house from the whistling kettle. Worth it for all the kisses you got in between that time though. 

Satan

“Oh yes, of course I’m familiar with the festival. I’ve read all about it.” 

He’s rather fascinated with how ornate the packaging can get for some sweets. “What’s so special about them?” 

Red bean paste with the yolk 

Cuts the mooncake into six 

Lets you eat on the bed as long as you make sure you don’t get crumbs anywhere. 

His room literally has the best view of the moon. It’s mandatory that you watch it from there.

Lets you gaze at the moon from his bed while he reads. 

Until you interrupt him and start reciting  Li Bai’s Quiet Night Thought. Mostly it’s to yourself out of homesickness

Moonlight before my bed/ Perhaps frost on the ground/ Lift my head and see the moon/ Lower my head and I miss my home. 

And then you start reciting “Drinking Alone Under The Moon” 

You really start drinking and living the drunken poet life. 

“You know, you’re not alone though.” 

He finally puts the book aside and joins you to watch the moon and listen to you recite poetry for hours on end. 

Asks you about Chang’e and listens as you drunkenly ramble off her story all the while nibbling on pieces of mooncake. He offers you the occasional piece so you’re not drinking so much on an empty stomach. 

Keeps the box and the tins but has no idea what to put in them so they end up gathering dust in the room until one day he needs something to put spell components in and he remembers it exists. 

Spends the week watching the moon and listening to you recite poetry or tell fairy stories. 

Often falls asleep in your lap, a half eaten piece of mooncake in hand.

Invites you over for moonviewings even after the festival.

Asmodeus

He can't tell if he should be more impressed by the packaging or by the cake designs. 

Snowskin mooncakes become his favorite

Rose and lychee flavors are preferred

He adores how pretty crystal mooncakes are as well

Absolutely no yolks please 

Refuses to watch the moon with you. Staying up late will ruin his skin care routine 

He will day drink the osmanthus wine you’ve save to go with the mooncakes while you watch operas

It sounds weird to him at first, but the makeup and the costumes draw him in. 

Cries at the end of Farewell My Concubine 

You end up spending hours telling him about the Four Beauties and China’s Four Most Handsome Men 

He’s upset that all of the stories end in tragedy

You try to cheer him up by going to a local festival and watch the lanterns and other festivities 

Gets super invested in lantern making and spends hours learning how to make one to hang up in his room.

While he’s gone, go buy him some Tanghulu Not only can he appreciate the bright red hawthorns, but they’re a delicious snack on the go while you let him explore the whole festival.

The two of you spend hours looking at cute packaging for mooncakes and buying them back for the others. He’s happiest with the one you gifted him though. 

Okay, maybe he can stay up late to look at the moon just this once. 

Take a small picnic to a grassy hill somewhere so you can admire the moon in its full glory. Most of the snacks are rice cakes and fruit and of course more moonakes. (Seriously, there’s so much mooncake)

He knows he’s supposed to be watching the moon, but he finds it easier and better to watch you instead. You’re just as ethereal as Chang’e in the silvery light of the night. 

Definitely keeps the mooncake box and uses it to hold parts of his makeup collection. It fits right into his room decor.

Beelzebub

You get him the biggest box with the most variety that you can find so he can try as many flavors as possible. 

He ends up liking the kind that tastes like Gai Zhai Beng (Sorry, I don’t know what this is in English?) with all the nuts the most since they’re the heartiest. 

Actually, he likes all of the more savory ones

If it’s sweet, it should have yolks. Four of them if they have those, if not, he’ll settle with the Cantonese style with two yolks.  

You take him to the festivals so he can try even more flavors

The best part is that you get to try them as well. He offers you at least a bite before downing the rest of the mooncake. 

Do the two of you go around eating everything until you feel like you’re about to burst? Absolutely. 

If you can’t see anything that’s going on during the performances at the festival, he’ll lift you onto his shoulder to get a better view. 

With how much time you spend at the festival and how much you’ve eaten, you don’t know if you can stay up late to watch the moon like you want to. 

He lets you piggyback on the walk home 

The sound of a pipa song from the festival echoes in your brain and you hum the song while half asleep on the way home. He gets it stuck in his head for the next month and a half. 

Worth it though, it means he’s reminded of the great time he had with you and all the food he got to try. 

Now he’s constantly asking you if you can make him mooncakes. 

Literally forgets the box and tins exist until he’s cleaning out his room for hidden snacks months later. 

Almost forgot about the osmanthus wine you gifted him as well. He hits you up on the next full moon to drink it while eating snacks and you get to tell him about all the legends behind the foods he’s eaten. 

“Next time, I’ll make you Crossing the Bridge Noodles.” 

“What’s the story behind that?” 

“I’ll tell you when I make them.” 

“Is that a promise?” 

“Of course.” 

Belphegor

Thinks a fairy must have visited him in his dreams when he rolls over and finds the box of mooncakes next to his pillow

Sleeps all day so he can watch the moon all night with you. 

Expect tons of cuddles while doing that

Find out when he’s halfway through eating the box that he prefers tang yuan over mooncakes

He covets the box you gave him regardless

Maybe you make the tang yuan with a little extra ginger to spite him

Too bad for you, he prefers it that way. 

Convinces you that the gardens is the best place for moon viewing 

He’s right since there’s an osmanthus tree there and it smells absolutely amazing this time of the year. 

His favorite dessert is pretty much impossible to transport, so he’ll have to deal with what you brought. 

Ends up quite liking sachima but not jin dui 

Beel drank the last of your celebratory osmanthus wine, it’s time to break out the baijiu

It takes only a few sip of this to have you both tipsy and slurring superlatives at the moon. 

“She’s just so beautiful. Look at her. So radiant and glowing and just the most magnificent isn’t she?” 

“I can’t tell if you’re describing the moon or if you’re describing yourself.” 

“The moon. Of course. She’s so beautiful that poems are written about her for thousands of years.” 

“I could do that for you too you know…” 

The two of you end up falling asleep in the garden under the tree. By the time you two wake up, you’re both covered in the tiny fragrant blossoms 

Take some back with you to make cakes and maybe some more wine to remind you of the lovely night you had. 

[all-hailtheking]

Hello King!! Can I ask for Soundwave x Human! Reader? Maybe a little bit of angst but ends with fluff? It can be any form you want (headcannons etc) Also! Congratulations on creating a blog!! Can't wait to see more lovely works from you!

(Hiya, thank you for the love! I’m glad you enjoy my writing so far. I hope you like this! 🌺💜🌺)

Imagine Soundwave’s S/O being taken by the Autobots

Standing in the middle of the Jasper, Nevada’s empty and rock-filled landscape would have been a whole lot nicer if the Autobots didn’t come when they did. You were supposed to be stargazing with Soundwave, but apparently, the world wasn’t in the mood for that. Standing on top of one of the many rocky columns found in the nowhere deserts of Jasper, Soundwave and you were enjoying some much-needed silence away from the boisterous Nemesis. Both of you recognized the sound of a ground-bridge opening and were then greeted by the roar of several engines.

Bumblebee, Arcee, and Optimus Prime we’re now aiming their blasters at the TIC. “Soundwave, leave the human child alone or we will be forced to take fire.” Soundwave simply shook his helm and opened a ground-bridge next to him. He then gently picked you up with his slender digits and casually walked through it as if nothing had happened. “We can’t just let the Decepticons keep that human. There’s no telling what they’ll do!” Arcee grumbles to herself and her teammates. “We will rescue the human, Arcee. Ratchet, we need a ground-bridge. Soundwave has returned to the Nemesis.” Optimus states. The only reply he had was an agitated mumble of, “I just sent you there…”

“Soundwave, I’ve gotta go! I can’t miss another day of work!” You say, attempting to persuade the silent mech. His only response was yet another shake of his helm as he continued to type away on his monitors. Of course, he knew you needed to go, but he had to be cautious now that the Autobots knew of his human. He wasn’t letting you out of his sights. No Autobot was going to take what he claimed as his own. He had lost too much already, so adding you to that list was a no go.

“Soundwave, I’m going to get fired if I don’t leave soon! They probably think I’m playing hooky and I need this job in order for me to have food. Please, I’ll be careful! You can even have Breakdown take me if you don’t feel comfortable with me going alone.” This time he stays silent and makes no movement to indicate his response. His digits stop typing and his helm raises up slightly. Soundwave then puts to digits to his helm and seems to relay a message to someone using broken audio fragments. Next, he turns towards you and nods, though he slightly flinches when he sees Breakdown make his way into the central command.

“You commed, Soundwave?” The bulkier blue mech spoke with a slight hint of confusion. “You shall- escort- (Y/n) to- her- work-.” Breakdown nodded his head and quickly transformed into his vehicle mode. “Sure thing. Hop on in, (Y/n).” You merely agreed and waved goodbye and blew a kiss towards Soundwave. A large blue and green ground-bridge opened before the blue-clad vehicle, causing said cybertronian to rev his engines.

After an hour of driving with Breakdown, you both finally arrived at work. “Thanks again, Breakdown. You’re a true blessing.” “Not a problem. Call me on my commlink, or contact Soundwave, when your shift is over.” He spoke, opening his passenger door. “Alright. See you later.” He then left as you began to head inside the KO Burger. Of course, being a manager had its perks, but you couldn’t abandon the fast food joint to your immature coworkers.

“Hey, Jack. I need you to man the drive-through. Amanda, I need you and Tim to man the registers. Everyone else, you know where to go.” As everyone began to make the way to their respective positions, you found Jack walking up to you. “What’s the matter, Jack?” The teen simply shrugged his shoulders. “I needed to talk to you, but I guess we’ll have to do that later. Is that alright?” You simply nodded and went to go talk to your boss.

After what felt like an hour, you were already done with your shift. As you were walking out of the burger joint, you find yourself without a ride. Darn your forgetful mind. “Hey, (Y/n). Remember how I need to talk to you?” ‘Nice, that’s two in a row.’ You thought to yourself. Quickly turning on your heels and made your way towards the black-haired boy. “Sure thing. Whatcha wanna talk about?” You ask, walking towards him and his motorcycle. “Where have you been recently? I know you don’t have to work every day, but you’ve nearly missed a week’s worth. Is something up?” He asks, concerned. “No, just had some family matters pop up that I had to deal with. My boyfriend was also being really protective. He had some stuff happen and didn’t trust letting me leave until he felt I would be safe.”

The Darby boy nodded. “Well, how about I take you home? Your ride doesn’t seem to be here.” I chuckle and shake my head. “Nah, don’t worry. He’ll be here soon. I just have to let him know that my shift is over.” The black-haired boy was then slightly pushed forward from some strange force. He then mumbled under his breathe towards the bike, “What the heck was that for, Arcee?” You tilted your head in confusion, only catching a few words. You didn’t trust this anymore; not when he made mention of an Autobot’s name.

“Well, I’m gonna go call him. Thanks anyway, Jack.” You say as you wave to the teen and walk back over to the fast-food building. “(Y/n), wait. I can stay with you until he shows up. I don’t wanna leave you alone; even though you’re an adult… I just don’t want you waiting alone.” He said, shaking his head from embarrassment. You rolled your eyes and shrugged. “Do what you wanna do.” His eyes then meet yours with a blushing smile.

Taking your phone out, you dial Breakdown’s commlink, knowing he’d be a better pick up than Soundwave because Jack is still present. “Hey, can you come and get me? My shift just ended. Yeah, take the back route. I know it’s safer for you that way.” You said, using your own code so that he knew not to ground bridge in close by. “Remember to wear your seatbelt, alright? I don’t need you getting caught without it.” “I’ll be sure to have it around me. See ya soon. BD out.” He replied. “Jack, my ride will be here in a few minutes. You can head home now.” “No, I said I’d wait until your ride got here.” What a hardheaded kid.

As you saw Breakdown pulling in, you saw a nice green Jeep following suit. You then begin to hop into the car, only to be pulled out of it by two teens. “(Y/n), it’s not safe!” Jack yells as he and Miko yank you back. “(Y/n)!” Breakdown’s holoform hollers, hopping out of his vehicle mode, only to be stopped by a tall black man in a green t-shirt. “We’re taking the human with us. She doesn’t belong with you, Decepticons.” The teens then put you into the back of Bulkhead’s vehicle mode. “Jack, you could be fired and reported for kidnap if you don’t let me out!” Jack only gulps and runs back over to Arcee.

Bulkhead then revs his engine as his holoform fizzles out and Miko climbs in. Your form gets wrapped tightly in your seat belt by your captor. Breakdown speeds after them, attempting to ram into the Green Autobot, only to completely miss as they take a sharp turn. “GIVE HER BACK, BULKHEAD!” The blue-clad Decepticon yells. “Never! Humans aren’t toys to be played with! She is safer away from you cons,” Bulkhead calls as he and Arcee enter a large ground-bridge, most likely heading towards their base. “Soundwave. They have her.”

Oh, he is beyond pissed. Soundwave has been through enough loss in his long life. Losing you is the final straw. He opens a ground-bridge and allows Breakdown to return to his hab-suite. He’s going to find you, even if it’s the last thing he does.

As everyone enters the Autobot base, Bulkhead is quick to get you out of his vehicle mode. “Stop kicking me! I’m trying to help you!” You kick his center consol one more time before being forced out. “You aren’t helping anyone! I was happy where I was and who I was with! You can’t just kidnap someone! Jack and whatever that chick’s name is could be facing time in a juvenile detention center for this!” You scream, pointing at the two teenagers. “Child, you are safer here than with the Decepticons-”

“Like hell, I am! I’m not a child! I’m a full-grown adult! You just kidnapped me from my workplace in broad daylight while my friend was trying to take me back to my boyfriend, and you’re telling me you’re safer?! So what if I’m friends with a Decepticon!? You have no right to take me somewhere without my consent!” Optimus then attempts to speak again, but you cut him off in a full rage. “I have been living with the Decepticons for the past three years and they have yet to do me wrong, yet! You haven’t even known me for two minutes and you’ve already kidnapped me and claim to be the better choice!”

“I understand your lack of trust in us after being taken here against your will. My teammates never meant to cause you any harm. They were trying to protect you from the Decepticons. We have been enemies with them for a long time now, so we wish not to have you harmed in a war you have no need in being apart of.” Optimus speaks, his voice gentle and sincere. “Then, I would greatly appreciate being returned to them. If you wish to see me safe so badly and have me take no part in this, then let me be with the Decepticons. Taking me away from them is causing more problems than I think you really see. I was happy and safe there. I was not their toy, as ludicrous as it sounds. ”

After speaking with Optimus more, you were able to have him let you go as long as he swore to leave me off the battlefields. “Just open a ground-bridge to a random location in Nevada. Soundwave will find me and take me back.” As unhappy as the Autobots are about your choice of sides, they seem to understand why you were upset. You had grown attached to the inhabitants of the Nemesis. They were family to you. Now, you need to return to Soundwave. Your energy was dropping quickly after the massive amount of emotional stress that today had brought. Maybe you could snuggle up against Soundwave’s neck? Just, resting close to him makes you feel so very comfortable and at ease.

Opening yet another ground-bridge, you have the Autobot Leader following behind you. Optimus Prime is the first to exit the swirling green and blue portal. Not two minutes later, Soundwave is found flying in. Mid-air, the purple, and black mech transforms and lands before both you and the Prime. “You will return- (Y/n)- to me-, Prime!” Different audio recordings speak for Soundwave. Optimus begins to walk forward, only to be forced to the ground by one of Soundwave’s tentacle-like appendages in a quick and harsh slam. “(Y/n) can- walk- to me- alone.” Optimus’ only reply is a groan of pain as he doesn’t struggle beneath the Soundwave’s grasp. You then begin to walk towards your beloved mech with a bright smile. “They didn’t hurt me, ‘Wave. It was all an attempt to rescue me from you all, but they know where I belong now.” Soundwave merely nodded and picked you up as he released Optimus. He then transformed around you and took you back to the Nemesis without another word.

As Optimus began to pick himself up, he questions in a mumbling tone to himself. “Why would Megatron send Soundwave to retrieve this human? What is (Y/n)’s importance to them?”

Once both of you returned to the Nemesis, Soundwave returns to his bipedal form with you in his servo. A quiet chuckle leaves your lips as his digits begin to gently press against your exposed skin. His visor turns to life once more, but a purple smiley face appears. His servo then raises to his shoulder to allow you to sit; instead of him holding you like a maraca. You quickly climb on and snuggle up against his neck. “Thank you for getting me, ‘Wave.” Carefully, he nods back and lets his digits gently rub the top of your head.

“How did you find me so quickly?” You ask in a tired tone, beginning to get tired because of how relaxing Soundwave’s digits are on your scalp. “Response: Will never stop looking for you.” With a large grin on your sleepy face, you calmly rise from your curled up position, only to place a gentle kiss on the side of Soundwave’s visor. “Thank you.”

((This fic is 2,180 words long and I am PROUD!))

(I hope you all enjoyed! I’m sorry this took so long, but I am extremely proud of how this turned out! I had so much fun writing this!🌺💜 Thank you @honeysugacube for requesting and being patient!)